The Pewter City Gym door swung open with a rumble. Pokémon Master, Ash Ketchum stepped through and looked around. The Gym's battlefield was a standard rock field which he remembered from when he was last there. He looked up to the ceiling to note that the sprinklers were no longer there, smiling to himself with respect to the first gym battle he had ever fought. He stepped further into the gym, to see the Gym Leader stand up from where he had been sitting at the far end of the field. Forrest stepped forward and started to speak.
"I would normally start this with a challenge, but here I don't think that is wise. Welcome to my Gym 'Champion'."
Ash looked at the leader and nodded, striding to the centre of the field. He stood, did a full turn looking around the field, and then looked back at Forrest.
"I will let you know when I'm finished." Ash then turned and strode through a door at the side of the arena, to look around the gym more, leaving Forrest to sit back down and get his breathing back under control.
Ash stepped into a room which was an exercise room. It was in use by two men, who looked up at Ash and were about to get up before he gestured for them to carry on with what they were doing. He proceeded through the rest of the gym before returning to the main arena. In there he found Forrest battling, and Brock refereeing. He stood and watched Forrest's Onix be defeated by his opponents Wartortle, stepping forward after the challenger had left the Gym.
"Forrest, your Gym passes. The attached Breeder Center is impressive credit for I believe must go to you Brock Slate. Keep up the good work here, and you'll not here from me very often. Questions?"
"You know about me?" Brock asked.
"You were interviewed by me two months ago for the review of the license of Misty Waterflower."
Brock blinked. He hadn't realized that he would be remembered so clearly by the Pokémon Master.
"Do I need to improve on anything?" Forrest enquired.
"Nothing yet. Once the review is complete, I will send out further instructions."
"Nothing else. Thank you 'Champion'."
Ash nodded and strode out of the Gym, released Charizard and flew into the sky, heading straight for Cerulean City.
"Hey! Hey you! I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!"
James opened his eyes, to see a man stood in front of him. The man was wearing flamboyant clothes, a bright yellow shirt with an orange pattern, and electric blue trousers. He had a Pokéball in his hand, and was glaring at James. James looked to his side and saw Meowth lying there, asleep.
"Oi! Are you gonna battle or not?"
James turned back to the man in front of him, before smoothly standing up.
"Where I come from, I usually introduce myself before I fight somebody." James said, whilst smiling civilly at the man in front of him who was now fuming. "So, shall we try this again? Hello, I'm James Kojiro, may I inquire as to your name?" the purple-haired trainer said, whilst extending his hand.
"I don't care who you are, battle me!" screamed the furious man.
"Very well. Shall we go for a two on two?"
"Make it a double battle kid, I don't have time for long fights"
"Well you did challenge me. I accept. A double battle it is." James reached down and expanded a pair of Pokéballs. "Growlie, Pichu, its battle time."
James' childhood Growlithe appeared in front of him, before turning to lick his face, whilst Pichu hid behind his trainers leg. James smiled down at the small electric type. It had been nearly five years since Pichu had agreed to come with him. James had spent months searching for one, as he wanted to keep one as a mark of respect to the Pokémon that turned him into a trainer. Pichu had trained with Pikachu and had become far stronger. The two insisted on a spar every time they met. However, despite all this time, Pichu still loved to play games. Pretending to be timid was his favorite, if he was in a battle he would invariably hide behind James leg to lure his opponent into making a mistake. James knew this, and despite trying to change his Pokémon, Pichu carried on. Turning his attention back to his opponent, James raised an eyebrow.
"Going to call out your Pokémon? I thought you were in a hurry."
"Grr. Dugtrio, Marowak fight"
The two Pokémon appeared, and looked menacingly at James' team who were still attached to their trainer. Behind him, James heard Meowth mutter in his sleep, and grinned. He could tell by looking at them that his opponents Pokémon weren't particularly strong, and he wanted to wake Meowth up in the battle. The difference in Pokémon strength gave him some leeway in how he fought, so he turned back to his Pokémon.
"Come on guys, what do you say we wake Meowth up?"
Growlie barked and jumped down to in front of his trainer, whilst Pichu smiled up at James before taking his place.
"Dugtrio, Marowak, combine Earthquakes."
The two ground types started to make the ground shake. James merely smiled calmly before retaliating.
"Pichu, Thunder. Growlie, when you're ready, Dig."
Pichu fired a huge bolt of electricity into the ground between the two pairs of Pokémon, causing a crack in the ground that absorbed all the power from the dual earthquake. As soon as their side of the field stopped shaking, Growlie dug underground.
"Dugtrio, follow that mutt, Marowak, Bone Club the rat."
The three heads of Dugtrio vanished into the ground, and Marowak started charging at Pichu. As he got closer, the small electric type simply ducked under the club before scampering away to where Meowth sat. Marowak was swinging his club again and again, missing each time. Eventually, Pichu stood right next to Meowth, and Marowak slammed his club down. Pichu just rolled backwards out-of-the-way, and Marowak hit the ground right next to where Meowth stood. There was a crack, and the ground suddenly fell away, with the Bone Keeper Pokémon falling into a hole that had suddenly appeared. As he fell, Dugtrio chasing Growlie raced into the hole causing the two Pokémon to collide. Meowth had woken up and instinctively grabbed at the side of the hole. Looking up, he saw Growlie and Pichu stood over the hole, grinning with the two Pokémon inside. James, the smirk on his face now very pronounced gave his final order.
"Thunder and Overheat."
As the two Pokémon fired their attacks, there was plume of fire which sparkled with electricity. Pichu and Growlie stepped away as the two Pokémon inside the hole were comprehensibly beaten. Meowth, having only just got out-of-the-way scowled at James.
"What was that for? I was just having a snooze" the Scratch Cat Pokémon asked.
"Sorry Meowth, I couldn't resist." James said whilst grinning. He turned back to his opponent. "I think that wraps this up. Good battle."
The man just glared at him as he recalled his Pokémon, growling "Piss off" at James as he stomped away. Watching him leave, James just raised an eyebrow, with Meowth grinning. Turning back to his Pokémon, James recalled Growlie and Pichu before gesturing to Meowth that they should go.
James was travelling again, just without Jessie for once. She had gone to Goldenrod City to a store that she was in the process of opening to sell the clothes that she was designing. In the seven years that she had been doing it, she had opened a few shops, but this was going to be by far the biggest, and it was taking up all her time. James had taken the opportunity to wander around Kanto and train his Pokémon a bit more. He had considered challenging the Gym's, but hadn't gotten around to it just yet. As they walked he turned back to Meowth.
"Do you reckon that they'll pass the inspection?"
Meowth thought for a moment, and then answered. "Theys should do. Them twerps had long enough to do what theys needed to." The cat thought for a moment. "Norman went tho'."
"Yeah, but he's hardly the brightest spark is he? He wouldn't of worked like Brock and Misty to protect their Gyms."
Meowth chuckled. "True."
The two continued to chat as they made their way past Mount Moon. Suddenly James' head snapped up, seeing something in the distance. He pointed it out to Meowth who stared for a moment then grimaced. The Charizard that both had seen was heading towards Cerulean, but it was something that they both recognized. It was 'Champions' Charizard, which meant that the Cerulean Gym review was about to begin. The two friends looked at each other before heading towards the city. They owed it to their friend to find out what happens.
Pikachu was bored. Usually he enjoyed staying with Misty when he wasn't in Pallet Town, but she had been so busy recently that he had been forced to entertain himself for long periods of time. He was a powerful Pokémon, and Misty had told him he could go anywhere, so he didn't feel guilty wandering around Cerulean City all day. However, at the moment he was resting on the top of a tall building, having climbed up earlier. His thoughts started to drift, as they always did when he was bored, back to his first trainer, his best friend. Ash Ketchum. Pikachu still felt the guilt of leaving. Seven years on, and it still hadn't faded. He thought at the time he was doing the right thing. Ash had pushed his Pokémon harder than ever before, and Pikachu felt that Ash had stopped caring about them. He saw them only as the means to achieve his aims. Over the years Pikachu had started to question that view. When he thought back, Ash had never actually shown any cruelty to his Pokémon. Pikachu knew that Ash had become more distant, but the intense training hadn't exactly been good towards time to sit down and relax together. Coupled with the other Pokémon leaving, those that couldn't endure the training and Ash would have been under huge strain. It was the time that Pikachu should have stood by him, but Pikachu had left. At the time it felt like his friend was becoming somebody colder, somebody Pikachu didn't feel was the same. The Ash Ketchum he had once loved was disappearing, which is why he told Meowth that Ash was dead. Pikachu wondered what had happened to Ash. After all the years he could have been anybody. He remembered the day he left with the rest of the Pokémon. He wanted to return to Pallet, knowing that if Ash ever came home, it would be the Ash he wanted. None of the others wanted to. They were angry that Pikachu had forced Ash's hand, and made them make the decision. They had all headed off into the wild, leaving Pikachu to do the journey alone. As the memories flowed, tears fell down Pikachu's cheeks. He wanted to be able to go back to how it had been, but couldn't.
To distract himself, Pikachu looked out over the city. In the distance he saw a Charizard winging its way across the city. Watching it fly, Pikachu felt that he knew it from somewhere, but he couldn't place it. As he watched, the dragon started to descend, with a particular building looking like its destination. The Cerulean Gym. Deciding to head back towards the Gym to try to get another look at the Pokémon, Pikachu headed down from his building, before starting to run towards the Cerulean Gym. As he ran he thought about his fitness. Since he came back, he had continued with the planned endurance training. He was still as physically fit as he could be, and quicker than a little Pikachu had any right to be. Thinking about the Charizard, Pikachu gritted his teeth with determination and accelerated, whilst still dodging pedestrians as much as possible.
Cynthia was sat in her office once again. She had spent nearly two months working without actually managing to complete her primary role. She had intended to spend only a few weeks putting together the group of trainers who would be taught under her, but two months on, she was now struggling to find time. Each of the gyms across the four regions had started to send her names to observe, and she was becoming more and more burdened with the work. The fact that she wasn't able to leave Indigo for long further restricted her. However, she had finally found the alternative, and was in the process of organizing the first of a series of training camps. They would last for a week, and trainers from a particular region would be invited. She had decided that the first region would be Johto, and so had already contacted Professor Rose to get a list of top trainers. In addition she had consulted the Pokémon Leagues computer, and found some more trainers who she could use.
As she worked, she began to think about what she thought of the Pokémon Master. 'Champion' was an intriguing man she felt, but there was something off about him she felt. The way that his office doors opened and shut by themselves was the most obvious thing, but there was more. There just seemed to be too many things about him that were kept secret, things that he had buried and she couldn't reach. Cynthia had prided herself on her research before she became Pokémon Master herself, and she wanted to try to work out some of the mysteries around her boss. She also decided to keep it quiet, because she suspected he would not want her digging around in his mysteries. She had made a list of all the things that she had either seen him do or heard of him doing that didn't make sense, such as the way doors seemed to always open themselves around him, and the way that he healed Golduck. She thought to the meeting when he had offered her a job, and she thought of something else. His eyes had been very strange then, one glowing electric blue, the other dark and lifeless. In all her years of research she had never heard of anything like that. Cynthia sighed. This was the real reason she hadn't made as much progress on the teaching front as she liked. She was distracted trying to work out mysteries. The eyes though, was something she could investigate. It was clear that 'Champion' had spent time away from civilization, for him to become so powerful without anybody knowing. As a result, it was very possible that he had found something that caused it. If so, it would be potentially possible to find a point in history where something similar had happened, and use it to suggest what had happened to 'Champion'. But even then it would be useful to have a place to start. She tried to think back to her research, some of it having been ignored for a while, before she realized that she hadn't actually touched her keyboard for nearly five minutes. Cynthia groaned and forced herself to focus on her work once again, highlighting trainers that she could invite. She wanted thirty of the best for the first week, and had chosen all but two. The last few were proving problematic, but she had ideas. Sighing once again, she went back to her lists, to track down the last two trainers she wanted.
Misty was wandering through Cerulean City with May. Since Norman had been removed from his gym, May and Drew had decided to make their way through Kanto once again, not competing in contests, just enjoying themselves. As they had passed Cerulean City, May had dropped in on Misty, and seeing the state of her friend, had insisted on a day out. They weren't doing anything in particular, just making sure that Misty had a break from the Gym. Sitting on a bench in a park a few minutes' walk away, Misty leaned back whilst May just sat watching. After a few minutes, May decided to strike up a conversation.
"So will the Gym pass?"
Misty looked across, warily. "I thought this was to make me take a break?" The redhead asked.
"It is, but you're clearly still thinking about it." May countered.
"We should. I dunno what the Pokémon Master will do, but there is little reason for us not to. We have a good record, and the expansion implies dedication to the training, coupled with the fact that my sisters have actually gotten rather good."
"Yeah, what happened there?" May asked. "I thought that they weren't any good at anything, and then a year ago you were willing to leave the Gym to them. Seems a bit odd."
Misty smiled. "It's a long story."
"We're not going anywhere."
"Alright then. It was nearly four years ago...
Misty had been cleaning up the gym at the end of a hard day when she heard a knock on the door. Surprised at the prospect of a late visitor, Misty headed to the door, only to see her three sisters there. Unlocking it, and letting them in, she saw that they all looked upset. Misty made them all cups of tea and waited for the story to pour out. Daisy was the one to eventually tell it. They had been released by their tour company, as after seven years their popularity was in decline. It was impressive that they had lasted as long as they did, the majority of stars only lasted a few years. However, they had been told politely but firmly that their careers couldn't go any further. As Daisy finished explaining, Misty sighed. Her sisters were once again relying on her to do everything for them whilst they loafed around at home. However, Lily proved her wrong.
"So we were like thinking, we could like become proper Gym Leaders. Like where we actually win battles instead of being crap." The middle of the three sisters suggested. Misty hadn't imagined this, and could only stammer agreement. And over the course of the next few years that is what they did. They trained with Misty, they took her advice in battling and they didn't spend days messing around where they did nothing. Eventually Misty was willing to let them battle in Gym matches, and they managed to maintain quite a high win rate. When she asked them why they had become so focused, they told her that it was because they needed a career and being Gym Leaders was something that they wanted to do, and could do. Since they could no longer be the 'Sensational Sisters' in the beauty sense, they could be the 'Sensational Sisters' as Gym Leaders. It enabled Misty to focus more on her own training, allowing her to become the trainer that she was.
After Misty finished telling May about her sisters, May was impressed. It seemed that the sisters who had been absolutely useless had finally made something of themselves. It had made Cerulean into one of the hardest Gyms to tackle in Kanto, although it had been weakened when Misty finally gave it up to her sisters so she could go on a journey to train even more. The two friends continued chatting until Misty suddenly spotted something. A Charizard was flying across the city, before descending to land just outside of the Cerulean Gym. Pointed it out to May before standing up and heading for the gym herself.
Ash recalled his Charizard and stepped inside the Cerulean Gym. It had barely changed since his first visit, except for the construction area at the back. As he walked through he was greeted by a receptionist, who told him that the Waterflower sisters were currently battling, but he was welcome to have a look around. Ash nodded to her, and walked through, noticing the area set aside for training, and the battlefield. He watched the battle going on, where Daisy thrashed the challenger, and nodded to himself. Returning to the front desk, he handed the receptionist a piece of paper confirming that the Cerulean Gym had passed and stepped back outside. As he reached to release Charizard once again, he saw a red-headed women moving towards him. Misty. Behind her he noticed another person that he recognized. May Maple, another of his travelling companions. Releasing Charizard he climbed onto the dragon's back as Misty arrived.
"Champion', did you make your decision?"
"I did. Your sisters still have a Gym Miss Waterflower."
"So we passed?"
"You sound surprised."
"I didn't think you would be so kind to us"
May had caught up by this time and was stood behind Misty somewhat nervously, whilst looking somewhat angrily at Ash. Misty felt the hostility behind her, as May glared at the man who had taken her father's gym away from him. Looking down at her from his position on Charizard's back, Ash also noticed her fury, but chose not to comment. He was about to fly off when Misty spoke again.
"Why are you doing this? Reviewing all the Gyms, what incentive do you have?"
"It's my job."
"No, you chose to make it your job. The league worked fine before you started interfering."
"And yet my changes are popular. Miss Waterflower, be careful with your words."
May chose this moment to join the conversation. "Not everybody approves of your changes. My father doesn't."
"Miss Maple, your father would never approve simply because I replaced him. If I had not, he migt have been far happier. Ask your friends sisters what they think."
"Why did you replace him though? He was one of Hoenn's best leaders." May queried.
"Because he wasn't doing what he was meant to. If he is failing at his job, he cannot continue. I have no sympathy for him."
"Why are you so heartless?"
Ashs head snapped around. "That is an opinion Miss Maple. Usually I wouldn't bother, but I'll make an exception. I simply do not permit emotions to affect my judgement. The removal of your father was not a grudge, or any kind of emotion. I merely found him lacking, and so replaced him."
Before either women could respond, there was a flash of yellow as Pikachu arrived at speed. He jumped up onto Misty's shoulder, and looked at the Charizard. Ash, having already seen the little Pokémon at Misty's interview took it in his stride. Charizard however, wasn't as restrained. He glared at Pikachu with a look of fury in his eye. He, along with the other Pokémon that had stayed, blamed Pikachu for the changes in Ash. They believed that had Pikachu not left, Ash would never have become as cold as he did. They still loved their trainer, and he loved them, but he wasn't the same. Pikachu was trying to work out what was so familiar about the Charizard in front of him, but was taken aback at the anger he felt coming from the Pokémon. Jumping down from Misty's shoulder, he approached the dragon.
"Pika, Pikachu" (Is there a problem?)
Even in his anger, Charizard felt a stab of surprise. Pikachu didn't recognize him or Ash. That more than anything was enough to anger him further; the Pokémon that broke his Masters heart didn't even recognize him. Staring at the rodent, Charizard merely growled, not deigning to reply with words.
"Pika, pika, Pikachu, pika" (Why are you so angry? You look familiar, Do I know you from somewhere?)
Charizard didn't bother to respond, but merely spread his wings for flight. Ash who had watched the entire exchange patted his Pokémons neck, causing it to take off in a rush, the wind causing Misty and May to stagger whilst Pikachu was knocked back. The door to the gym opened behind them, causing all three to turn around. Gary Oak was stood there scratching his head.
"Blastoise recognized that Charizard. He seemed tense. He is usually only like that with Pokémon that have beaten him when he thought they shouldn't. I wonder why..."
Pikachu looked back into the sky after the dragon. He wondered why both he and Blastoise could recognize the Pokémon, and why it hated him. There was something about the trainer as well. The little electric-type slunk back into the Gym, already mulling over any possibilities. Charizard weren't exactly the most common Pokémon around, so it shouldn't be hard to work out which of the few that he could know of were the Pokémon of the Pokémon Master.
Alakazam teleported once again. Appearing alongside him was Ninetales and Beautifly, the scouts of Ash's team. They had teleported deep into Viridian Forest, where few trainers ever went, simply because the Pokémon there were far more powerful than elsewhere. The three Pokémon recognized the area, simply because they had trained there with Ash. The stronger Pokémon were a challenge to him, a challenge that he and his team had relished. This time however, they weren't looking for a fight. Alakazam adopted a meditation position, letting his mind wander out to try and detect any disturbances among the local Pokémon. Ninetales darted out, her speed enabling her to cover a large distance inside the forest. Every few hundred meters she would stop and sniff, trying to detect any human scents. Her strong sense of smell meant that if humans had passed inside the last few days, she should be able to find them. Beautifly flew up, and started to flutter to various trees as if she was looking for something. Eventually she settled down in a nook of a tree, near to the Pidgeot that was there, and started to ask if the birds flock had seen anything. Anybody watching would have been stunned at the little butterfly's bravery, but Beautifly knew this particular Pidgeot. It was an old friend of Ashs, having been the second Pokémon he ever caught. When he was training he had returned to the forest to see his old friend. Pidgeot had chosen not to come and re-join Ash, but remained as the guardian of Viridian Forest. Beautifly knew this, and chose to make the most of the connection. If there was a Team Rocket base nearby, Pidgeot would know. In fact, after seven years of training and travelling, they had these connections with Pokémon in almost every area around the world. It made searching for something far easier for Ash's Pokémon.
Pidgeot turned, and greeted Beautifly. After a quick discussion, Beautifly floated back down to Alakazam. Ninetales darted back in, and the three Pokémon had a quick conference. Deciding that there was nothing here, Alakazam crossed his spoons once again, and they teleported out. Total elapsed time, seven minutes since arriving. The Pokémon would work for most of the week, and they could cover the entirety of Kanto. If there was a Rocket base anywhere, they would find it, it's what they trained for.
Ash was sat down on the top of one of the tallest skyscrapers in Celadon City. Just like his psychic Pokémon did with their minds, as he meditated he cast his aura out. He knew that Team Rocket had originally had a front based in Celadon, and he wanted to make sure that they hadn't set up there again. He thought it unlikely, but wanted to make sure. As he cast his mind out he realized that the city had developed a very run-down area on the outskirts. Looking over towards it, he realized that if Team Rocket wanted to find recruits, they would look there. Gesturing to Charizard who was resting behind him, Ash climbed onto his Pokémons back once again and flew over to the slums.
As he got close to the ground, Ash just slid of Charizards back, returning the Pokémon as he dropped the last ten feet. He landed on the edge of the slum, before striding in. As he reached what passed for an open area, he stepped over to a small street stand. In the process of a short conversation with the owner, Ash determined that the reason for the area being so run down. Gym Leaders were the closest thing that many cities had to Mayors, and the fact that money had been withdrawn from infrastructure projects had caused many people to lose their jobs. The person who had withdrawn it; Erika. She had apparently taken money away from the project to expand the sewer network over the entire city to turn it towards making the upper class districts look prettier, the biggest cost being flowers. Ash took a small piece of paper from his pocket, and wrote a message on it. He released Charizard stowing the Pokéball into a pocket hidden inside his jacket, instead of his belt, before passing him the message, and muttering a command in his ear. Charizard flew into the sky, heading straight for the Celadon Gym. Ash turned back to the stall owner, thanked him, and gave him some money for his time. The owner thanked him, not realizing who he had talked to.
Striding through the rest of the district, Ash was still watching for a sign of Team Rocket. After a while, he found a run-down building, which made him suspicious. It seemed to go back some way, as if there was something being run in the back as well as the front. Stepping through the door, he found two men sat behind a desk. Aware of the lack of Pokéballs at his waist, Ash went up to the desk and waited. One of the men gave him a quick appraisal as he approached. Ash looked intimidating, with his cloak over his shoulders, but not quite disguising his athletes physique, the lack of emotion on his face and the hat covering his eyes, the man clearly didn't want to mess with him.
"What do you want?" the man behind the desk asked.
"I'm looking for a job." Ash said.
"That's what we do here." The man responded with a small grin, relaxing slightly. "What kind of job?"
Ash felt a flash of triumph as his instinct was right. Leaning confidentially across the desk, he continued. "I'm fed up of being exploited if you know what I mean. I'm looking for something different and I hear you know the right people"
The man leaned back, before giving Ash a more detailed look particularly noting the lack of Pokéballs. He looked across at his partner who nodded back. Standing up, the man gestured for Ash to follow him through to the back. As they got there, the man locked the door behind them and flicked a light on. They were in a large room with lockers along the wall on one side and shelves along the other, and an open space in the middle as if for exercise. At the back was a group of beds. Ash took it all in quickly turning his attention to directly in front of him. There was a semi-circle of five men facing him, each of them holding a pair of Pokéballs. Each of them had a large red R splashed across their chest. Ash turned to face the man who had brought him through.
"These men saw you when you came in and approve. They would like to extend an offer to you to join Team Rocket. You'll be given Pokémon, taught different skills and be a vital part of the team." the man told him.
Ash didn't say anything. He turned back to the five Rockets in front of him, evaluating them. They looked confident, but not excessively, they were wary, knowing that this was the most vulnerable point of the operation. Ash turned back to the man who had brought him through, opened his mouth and said one word.
"No."
As the Rockets registered he had spoken, Ash was already gone, his aura making him move quicker than they could follow. Three Rockets were down before any of them even moved, but the other started to release their Pokémon on instinct. Only one of them made it, the other was sent skidding across the floor by a blow to his chest. As Ash arced back to hit the last one, a force hit him, taking him by surprise and stopping him. There was a Drowzee stood in front of him with a Raticate next to him. The Drowzee had just used Psychic and looked surprised that it hadn't done more to his target. The man who had brought him through threw his own two Pokéballs, releasing an Arbok and a Golem. Ash stopped, watching the two men who seemed a lot more confident now that they had Pokémon with them. The Rocket stepped forward.
"Give up. You won't get away from us now, you've got no Pokémon."
Ash just looked at him and dropped to the floor. Behind him the garage door disintegrated and a huge plume of flame shot across the room, hitting all four of the Pokémon. As it stopped, Ash's two opponents stared in disbelief as all of their Pokémon were lying knocked out. Charizard landed behind them, looking pleased with himself as the flame hadn't hit anything but its target. Ash rose again, stepping forward. He gestured to Charizard who used his wings to knock each of the men out cold, before picking up their Pokéballs and recalling the Rockets Pokémon. Ash then took some rope from one of the lockers along the wall, and tied up the men. He then unlocked the door and stepped back through, grabbed the other man from behind the desk and hauled him into the back with the rest. Quickly tying them up, Ash nodded to Charizard whilst passing him another note. The Flame Pokémon flew back out through the door, the note clutched in his claw, heading straight for the Police Station. Whilst his Pokémon was gone, Ash began to search the room, working his way through the lockers and shelves. Eventually he found what he was looking for; where they sent recruits. It was a in a remote area beyond Lavender Town, an area filled with canyons. Apparently there was a training base there. As Officer Jenny arrived with a group of police officers to arrest the Rockets that he had discovered, Ash began to plan his assault on the base.