Adrian Steele
Part II: Freedom
They had spent a full fifteen minutes without opposition from any Rockets. Perhaps it was the terror that the Salamence represented, or it was the fact that their prisoner had escaped so casually. Their hopes of being able to simply trash the base without opposition were dashed, as they found the room the Salamence broke into guarded by several people.
As Bruce went completely to town on them, Adrian took the liberty of searching for his Pokemon, and found a small cluster of Pokeballs where they were. In addition to those Pokemon, he found a fourth Pokeball nearby, and decided to send it out, and it turned out to be a very large Rufflet, doubtless because of its higher level.
"Want to join us in crashing a party? After that you can go free if you want." Adrian greeted it with an offer of freedom as he had done with the Salamence, who was already finishing off the weaker elements of the opposition.
"I'll come along with you, alright. You seem like a strong kid to me." The large Rufflet shook his feathers, and added in his two cents. "But I've got one question. What's with those eyes? I've never seen a human with that color before."
"It's something a set of bad people did to me. Trust me, this blue color isn't natural." Adrian was about to turn around and send out the rest of his Pokemon, but the Rufflet insisted on having the last word.
"They're not blue. They're a weird purple. It's intense, but one could get lost in those eyes. Just don't stare at me and we'll be all good." The Rufflet went and joined the Salamence in raising hell by using Crush Claw on everything it saw.
He sent out the massive Volcarona, who was already awake -- and angry. She turned and saw the carnage being caused by the battle the Salamence and Rufflet were having with the Team Rocket thugs, and she noticed her Trainer as well. "What's going on? And what do I put to the torch?" She was angry, and yet relieved at the same time to see her Trainer intact. "And what's with your eyes?"
"They gave me something that seems to have patched me up, and I just learned that my eyes aren't blue right now. Now, shall we trash the competition?" Adrian gripped his somewhat mangled cane like a weapon, feeling like a conqueror.
Supernova's only response was to use Morning Sun, followed by Fire Blast, right at the thick of the opposition, which was quickly getting worn down by the Salamence's attacks, coupled with Supernova's Fire Blast -- along with the Rufflet's indiscriminate destruction.
Adrian then let his other two Pokemon loose, and out came the Haunter and the Shellder. "Alright, it's good to see you guys again. I need you to forget everything I said about restraining yourselves for a bit. Trash this place and meet up with me once those goons go down. Got it?"
The Haunter let off a maniacal laugh, and disappeared. The Shellder simply started smashing his shell against the nearest object, and went nuts with pelting everything in sight. Adrian in the meantime was examining a jar full of strange crystals, and took out what looked like a Water Stone.
"Hey, want an upgrade?" He showed the Shellder the Water Stone, and after seeing an excited response, tossed the stone his way, and watched it evolve before his eyes into a Cloyster. "Awesome shell, Frostbite! Alright, now join that Rufflet over there and see if we can't get out of this place."
The newly-evolved Cloyster was only too happy to comply, and started smashing everything around it with its powered-up attacks. In the meantime Adrian was rummaging around the room, looking for spoils to carry out, but he found nothing other than the small jar of stones which he pillaged.
Seeing the Rocket grunts defeated by the Rufflet, Salamence, and Volcarona, and seeing the place itself trashed by the Haunter and Cloyster, he decided to call it quits while he was ahead. "Let's get out of here. There's nothing else for us to do."
He turned around, and saw his jailor blocking the passageway with his Venusaur. "Going somewhere, kid?"
"As a matter of fact I am. Supernova, blast them!" Adrian watched as she managed to outspeed the Venusaur and smash it with her most powerful Fire Blast, taking it out on the spot. "By the way, thanks for giving me back my mobility, but you chose the wrong allies to stick around with. I'll give you a chance to escape and save face, because of your gift to me earlier. Then we'll be perfectly even."
At the mention of this, the oversized Salamence turned around and let out a fierce snarl at the Rocket captain. He started approaching, not caring at all that there was possible opposition.
The man laughed. "You sure it was me that did it? By the way, if you ever see a Pokemon named Mewtwo running around, the Boss says for you give that monster his regards. After all, with his DNA now in your system, you're practically brothers. It's a good thing we kept a sample from the last time it was in our hands. If you ever want to join your saviors, just put on our logo at any time and we'll come pick you up." He moved out of the way, having thrust his dart, but convinced that this was a useless fight anyway -- for him at least.
Adrian paused as he was about to move forward. "Which way out? I don't want to really destroy this place completely. I'll want somewhere to vent next time someone gets me angry."
"Just take a left at the end of the hall, and blow out the wall. And we'll be long gone from this place by the time you get it in your head to try leveling it. Bravo on taking my Venusaur down in that one hit. That's a freaking strong Volcarona you've got backing you up. Trust me, it was quite a temptation NOT to take control of your Pokemon."
He laughed again and disappeared, leaving Adrian to recall his Pokemon and follow the given directions with the Salamence and the Rufflet. Once the wall was blown out, they were (as the man said) free of this place.
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It was supremely disturbing that he was let out this easily, but he didn't want to dwell on it. He simply wanted out, so out he went. Before he knew it, he was out in the open field with just the Rufflet and the Salamence.
"Well, you freed me, so go free yourselves. It was a pleasure trashing this place with you guys. Bruce, you'll make a name for yourself here before long; I'm sure of it." Adrian smiled at the two Pokemon, and tossed away the bent cane that he had. It was a cheap aluminum thing, after all, and it was now useless.
"Thanks for the help, kid. Hit me up if you need anything else. I rather like this island, so I'll be hanging around the coast. I've always been used to water, so that's where someone like me belongs. Catch ya later." The Salamence wasted no time in flying off, leaving the Rufflet there.
"Yeah, I'd rather stick with you, if you want. I was raised to respect strength, and you've got a lot of it. Ever since I left the nest, I've tried to be strong, but there's always someone who's tougher, and those are usually the bad guys." He paused. "That was why I was there. I was weak and Team Rocket got to me. I don't want to let something like that happen again. Besides, I don't doubt you and your buddies will make great company, and that's something I think I need."
"Sure, why not? But first thing is first. What shall I call you?" He produced the Rufflet's Pokeball and set it on the grass.
"I don't know. Just come up with something catchy. Doesn't really matter to me." The Rufflet proceeded to groom one of his wings, while Adrian came up with an idea.
"How about Titanic? That goes in line with your strength. I assure you that before long you'll be thrashing almost every opponent in existence." Pleased with his idea, Adrian waited for the Rufflet's approval.
"Sounds mighty fine to me. So, fill me in. What are the do's and don'ts?" He started on his other wing, and kept grooming himself.
"I honestly don't think it's as simple as that, but watch out for the Haunter and Cloyster. They're major pranksters, and Cloyster is sure to be going to go almost nuts with hitting things for a while. He's really excitable, and he'll always keep you on your toes."
"What about the Volcarona? She looked pretty scary out there. I'm honestly a bit worried." Even though he certainly didn't sound the part, his overall tone showed it anyway.
"She's mostly harmless when she's not being aggravated. Try to get along with her and she'll warm up to you quickly. Just try not to get too close before she gets to know you. Her fires are pretty intense for those she doesn't like."
"Sounds fine to me. It'll be good to meet everybody later." The Rufflet got done grooming, and was obviously ready to get this over with.
"Alright then, welcome to the team." He picked up the Pokeball, and recalled Rufflet. He then started making his way to the Pokemon Center near the Suicune Dorm. He would have to prove that the Rufflet was now his, having been poached from the wild by Team Rocket.
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Major events: Escaped from the compound.
Frostbite (Shellder) evolved and learned new moves.
Supernova (Volcarona) used Fire Blast instead of Flamethrower.
Rufflet (level 37) was added to the team, and named Titanic.
The Salamence (Bruce) returns to the wild.