Pokémon HGSS#16: Return to Ecruteak
Jonathan and Beatrice left in the middle of the night to head towards Mahogany Town at the suggestion of Professor Elm. During their reunion with Zuki and the rest of the Kimono Sisters, Jonathan received a call from the Pokémon Professor warning them of some kind of disturbance around The Lake of Rage and the disappearance of the local Gym Leader, Pryce. Professor Elm thought that there might be some connection to Team Rocket which was enough to get Jonathan and Beatrice motivated. They packed up quickly and made their way Eastward along Route 42 through the mountains.
“What do you think Team Rocket is up to?” Beatrice asked. “They kidnapped a Gym Leader, sending off strange sirens at the lake, and there’s some kind of giant, red Pokémon. It doesn’t’ really make a lot of sense, does it?”
“No, it’s quite odd,” Jonathan said.
“What about the reinforcements Professor Elm talked about?” Beatrice asked.
“He didn’t say,” Jonathan replied. “But I’m sure we will find out when we get there. No matter what, I think we need to prepare for a fight. If Team Rocket is planning something, it’s not going to be easy to stop.”
Beatrice nodded.
“Plus we have to figure out what is going on with Silver,” She said.
“Yeah there’s a lot we need to figure out,” Jonathan said. “Let’s just make it to Mahogany Town. Once we are there, we can investigate the town and figure out what we are going to do next.”
“Sounds good, Jonathan,” Beatrice said.
Eventually the two made camp for the night and spent the night in the morning. The next day they continued their journey Eastward. It took a couple of days, but eventually Jonathan and Beatrice made their way into the town.
Everything seemed normal enough. It was a small town nestled into the surrounding mountains. It was colder here then any other town they had been in before and there were large pine trees growing all around. There was no sign of people dressed in the black and red uniforms of Team Rocket.
“Now where do we go?” Beatrice asked.
“I’m not sure,” Jonathan said looking around. “Maybe the Pokémon Center?”
“Yeah we can get our Pokémon healed up there and ask around to see if anything odd is going on,” Beatrice said.
They agreed and made their way to the Pokémon Center. There they got their Pokémon healed up from the travels and struck up a conversation with the local nurse.
“Excuse me, but have you noticed anything strange going on in town?” Jonathan asked.
“Odd? What do you mean?” The nurse replied.
“Like strange noises or suspicious people hanging around here,” Beatrice said.
“There have been strange sounds coming from The Lake of Rage to the North of here if that’s what you mean. Siren noises going off all the time and construction noises,” The nurse said.
“Have you been to The Lake of Rage?” Jonathan asked.
“No. The whole place is closed off for construction. There are a ton of people up there at all hours of the day and night. Completely off limits to everyone else.”
Jonathan turned to Beatrice.
“That seems like a good place to start,” He said.
Beatrice nodded before turning back to the nurse.
“Thanks for the help,” Beatrice said before they left with their healthy Pokémon.
They made their way towards The Lake of Rage to investigate further. Just north of the town there was a wall of chain-linked fence cutting off the path which had signs warning people to stay away.
“We need to find a way over this,” Beatrice said.
“Or though it,” Jonathan said.
Beatrice gave him an inquisitve look.
Jonathan pulled out a Pokéball and with a flash of light, his Steel Bug Pokémon, Scizor was by his side.
“Scizor!”
It clamped its metal claws together.
“Scizor, cut a hole in this fence with your claws,” Jonathan said pointing at the chainlink fence.
Scizor nodded and used its claws to cut through the fence, cutting a large enough hole that both Jonathan and Beatrice could fit through it.
“Great job, Scizor,” Jonathan said peeling back the cut wire. “Now let’s hurry.”
All three of them ducked through the fence and continued to sneak northward sticking to bushes and large trees for cover. They made their way quickly but stealthily towards the lake. As they went, they passed by large machines and construction equipment, but there was nobody around.
“It just looks like a large construction site,” Beatrice said.
“But where is everybody?” Jonathan asked.
“I’m not sure,” Beatrice said as she looked around.
“Let’s keep going,” Jonathan said before leading Beatrice and Scizor further down the path.
After a couple of minutes, they started to emerge from the brush. Up ahead they could see a large lake filled with crystalline waters.
“There it is,” Beatrice pointed.
“Woah, hold on,” Jonathan grabbed her and pulled her back behind a large bush just as a couple of people walked by.
These two people were not construction workers like Jonathan expected to see. Instead one was dressed in a black uniform with a large, red R on his chest. He also had purple hair. The other person was a lady dressed in a lab coat and held a clipboard.
“How is the radio tower holding up?” The Purple Haired Man asked.
“It is being reconfigured as we speak,” The woman said. “The latest test was promising, but we believe we can get the radio waves to be more precise. It should be ready in the next couple of minutes and once it is up and running, we will be able to test it again.”
“What about the Red Gyrados? Have we been able to track down its location?”
“We have Rockets scouring the lake, but we believe it has hidden itself on the bottom of the lake. However, turning on the siren once we turn on the radio signal, it will be forced to come to the surface alongside the Magikarp of the lake.”
“Excellent. Get the radio tower back up and running so we can get that Gyrados. I know Giovanni will be impressed that Team Rocket has mastered Pokémon Evolution. He is sure to return,” The Purple Haired Man said. “Now if you excuse me, I need to check on Ariana and make sure he has fixed the issues we’ve been having with the generator.”
“Yes, Sir.”
The man gave a smile and turned away heading down the path back towards Mahogany Town. The woman made her way towards the lake.
Jonathan and Beatrice watched her turn towards a small building next to a large metallic radio tower.
“What was that all about?” Beatrice asked. “Red Gyrados? Magikarp? Pokémon Evolution? What was he talking about?”
“I don’t know but he mentioned Team Rocket. Plus his uniform had the large, red R on the front. That proves that something bad is going on here and we need to put a stop to it,” Jonathan said.
“What are we going to do?
“We need to make it to that radio tower. Apparently that is the key to all of this and that’s what we need to stop.”
“Right,” Beatrice nodded.
Beatrice and Jonathan emerged from the brush and stealthily made their way towards the small building that sat beside The Lake of Rage. The whole place seemed mostly abandoned other than a few boats on on the lake and the people Jonathan assumed was inside the building.
“Now what are we going to do?” Beatrice asked as they sneaked up to the side of the building.
“We need to find some way inside,” Jonathan said. “But I don’t think we are going to get inside through the front door.”
“I don’t see any other way in,” Beatrice said glancing around the corner.
“Well front door it is,” Jonathan sighed.
ATTENTION ALL PERSONNEL. RADIO TEST WILL COMMENCE IN ONE MINUTE
An announcement came from the building.
“One minute, we need to hurry,” Jonathan said.
“Let’s go,” Beatrice said pushing Jonathan towards the front of the building.
There was a solid metal door. Jonathan grabbed the handle and pulled on it, but it wouldn’t budge.
“It’s locked,” Jonathan said as he pulled on the handle.
“It looks like it needs some kind of card key,” Beatrice said as she examined the door.
“HEY YOU!”
Jonathan and Beatrice turned around. There were a couple of people dressed in familiar black and red uniforms of Team Rocket.
“You’re not supposed to be here!” They yelled as they ran towards Beatrice and Jonathan.
“Oh crap,” Jonathan said.
“We’ve been spotted,” Beatrice exclaimed.
“Hault!” A voice yelled and Jonathan and Beatrice glanced over to see a new person emerge from the woods. “Stop what you are doing right now.”
There was a man dressed in a blue suit with a black cape around his shoulders. He had light red hair and stood with a commanding presence. He did not look like a Team Rocket Member.
“Who are you?” The Team Rockets pointed towards the new man.
“My name is Lance, Dragon-Type Trainer and Champion of the Indigo Plateau Pokémon League,” He said.
He then turned behind him to a large Pokémon covered in yellow and white scales with small yellow and green wings.
“This here is Dragonite,” Lance smiled.
“Dragonite!” It let out a roar.
“Uh…uh…” The two Team Rocket Members stood there in disbelief.
Lance turned towards Jonathan and Beatrice.
“Are you two with them?” He asked.
“No! No! We’re trying to stop Team Rocket,” Jonathan yelled.
“Yeah, what he said,” Beatrice added.
ATTENTION ALL PERSONNEL. RADIO TEST IS COMMENCING NOW
A terrible wailing sound emerged from the tower and everyone immediately grabbed their ears.
“That must be the terrible noise Professor Elm was talking about,” Beatrice yelled as he held her ears.
“We need to stop it,” Jonathan yelled.
Lance and Dragonite stepped up beside Jonathan and Beatrice as the two Rockets scattered.
“Look there,” Lance said pointing out towards The Lake of Rage.
There on the surface there were several fish Pokémon leaping out of the water and splashing back into the lake.
“Those Magikarp look like they are in pain,” Beatrice exclaimed.
“It’s the radio signal. It must be causing them some kind of pain,” Lance said. “We need to stop it.”
Then there was a thunderous sound and a whole splash of water as a large, Red Pokémon emerged from below the surface.
“GYYYYYYYYR!”
It roared as its bright red scales simmered in the light. It looked firous as it thrashed around in the lake.
“That’s….that’s a Gyrados, but it’s color is all wrong. Gyrados is supposed to be Blue, not red,” Lance said.
“We heard Team Rocket Members talking something about a Red Gyrados living in the lake,” Jonathan said.
“And something about controlling Pokémon evolution. Maybe it’s all connected,” Beatrice said.
“Maybe it is,” Lance noted. “But for now we need to figure out how to stop that radio signal.”
The Red Gyrados let out another roar before unleashing a ball of blueish purple flames. The ball crashed into some nearby trees disintegrating them in an instant and leaving nothing but a smoldering crater.
“You two shouldn’t be here,” Lance said. “Go back to town, quickly.”
“No! We are here to help,” Jonathan said.
“We’re not leaving,” Beatrice said.
Lance let out a sigh.
“Alright, fine. You two figure out if there is some way to stop the radio signal. I’m going to keep this Red Gyrados from destroying the entire lake.” Lance said. “Come on, Dragonite. Let’s stop this Gyrados.”
“Dragonite!” It roared before flapping its wings and taking to the sky.
“Dragonite, use Thunderbolt!”
Electricity jumped between the two antenna on top of Dragonite’s head before it was unleashed, striking the Red Gyrados and getting its attention. The Gyrados responded by thrashing in the water some more and creating monsterous waves that crashed on the shore of the lake. Then it let out another ball of blueish purple flame which narrowly missed Dragonite and sailed harmlessly into the sky where it dispersed.
“The door!” Lance said as he pointed towards the building.
“Right,” Jonathan and Beatrice ran towards the door.
“Scizor, get us in that door! Use Metal Claw!” Jonathan commanded.
Scizor flew in front of them and slammed into the door with its claws over and over again until the door gave way.
“Excellent job,” Jonathan said before climbing over the door and into the room.
Inside there were a few different people dressed in white coats which they were over top of Team Rocket Uniforms.
“Hey, you’re not allowed in here,” One stood up to intercept Jonathan and Beatrice.
“Turn off that radio signal!” Jonathan yelled.
“You are hurting the Pokémon! Turn it off!” Beatrice yelled.
“You are trespassing, you need to leave,” The scientist said.
“Turn it off or else Scizor is going to start smashing stuff,” Jonathan said.
“Scizor!” It readied its claws.
“Wait!” The woman scientist Jonathan and Beatrice saw earlier stepped up. “This research is unimaginable. Plus we can’t turn it off.”
“Why can’t you?” Beatrice asked.
“With its most recent optimization, the radio tower is now self-reliant. We can’t control it from here,” The scientist said.
“Then how do we shut it off?” Jonathan asked.
“I…I….” The scientist stammered.
“Tell us before we start smashing things,” Jonathan said.
“Fine. There is an external power source that powers the signal. If you are able to take out the generator, we would lose power and the signal would stop,” The scientist said.
“Great! Where is this generator?” Beatrice asked.
The scientist looked back and forth between her research, Jonathan, Scizor, and Beatrice.
“It’s….It’s…. In Mahogany Town, below the souvenir shop. It’s a front for an underground Team Rocket facility. There you will find the generator. Now please don’t hurt my research.”
“That’s all we need. Come on Beatrice,” Jonathan said and both of them ran out of the building.
They saw Lance standing on the shoreline instructing Dragonite with its fight against the Red Gyrados.
“Lance! Lance!” Jonathan shouted as they ran up to him. “We can’t turn off the signal here. We need to head to Mahony Town.”
“There is a souvenir shop,” Beatrice continued. “Underneath is a generator protected by Team Rocket. If we destroy it, the signal will stop.”
“Alright, you two head there and stop the signal. Dragonite and I will keep the Red Gyrados busy. Please hurry,” Lance said.
Jonathan and Beatrice nodded as they turned and ran back towards Mahogany Town. They didn’t have much time and needed to shut off this terrible radio signal.
Header Photo Credit to @PokemonArt on Twitter.
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All photos of Pokemon and related content used were taken from Bulbapedia
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Allen The Writer 