=Jake, wake up.= 
       “Five more, minutes dad!” Jake grumbled as he swatted blindly into the 
air.
       =Jake, we gotta go to Viridian City.= 
       Jake sat up straight. “What did you say?” He looked at Sundance’s 
pokeball, which sat on the coffee table that he was sleeping next to. 
       =We gotta go to Viridian City. The voice told us to.= Sundance 
replied.
       “What voice?” Jake looked puzzled.
       =The voice that I’m hearing.= 
       “If that voice told you to jump off a bridge would ya do it?” Jake 
asked rolling over.
       =Yeah, ‘cause I have wings. I can do that sort of thing.=
       “Shut up.” Jake said pulling the covers over his head. He shivered. 
Jake felt uncomfortable, like icy fingers had touched every vertebra on his 
spine. “C’mon, we’re goin’ to Viridian City.” 
       =Sweet.=
       Jake quietly rolled up his bedroll, and wrote a note, explaining where 
he and Sundance had gone. 
       He went out side and released Sundance from his pokeball. “Why do I 
feel like this is a bad idea?”
       =Don’t think about it, just do it.= Sundance replied, lowering his 
head so that Jake could climb on. When Jake was on, he kicked off of the 
ground and flapped his giant wings.
       “So what did this voice want from us?” Jake asked as he looked down at 
the ground below.
       =Dunno. I think it’s in some kinda trouble.= Sundance replied. 
       Jake reached into his pocket and pulled a pair of black leather gloves 
out. “Well, pick it up then. If we take our time, they might not be around 
long.”
       =Alright.=
       
       Viridian City Gym 
       
       Gary Oak stood in the back of the gym. Six Rockets stood behind him; 
all had their pokemon ready to attack the first person to enter. 
       “Giovanni said the cowboy would come here, so be ready for anything.” 
Gary ordered.
       “Yes sir!” They all replied in unison.
       After thirty minutes of waiting, the doors to the gym exploded into 
flames and a cloud of dust. Several seconds later a Tyranitar ran out of the 
cloud of dust. 
       From inside the cloud of dust, a voice yelled: “Rex, use Hyperbeam!” 
The Tyranitar opened its mouth and fired at a Nidoking.
       “Take him, out!” Gary shouted, but a ball of blue light slammed into 
him.
       The room was spinning. Gary fell down, and blacked out.
       When he woke up again, every Rocket was tied up to a large support 
column in the corner. Gary, himself was tied up to a support column on the 
other side of the gym. Gary glanced around. All of their pokemon were asleep. 
       “Oh, you’re awake.” Jake said looking down at Gary. “I need some 
answers.”
       “What happened to the pokemon?” Gary asked as he looked around again. 
       “They’re fine. They all took a hypnosis attack at the same time.” Jake 
answered. As he untied the ropes that held Gary, he said: “Listen. I need you 
to help me find Giovanni.”
       “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Gary grunted.
       Jake rammed his fist into Gary’s left cheek. “Way wrong answer!” He 
yelled. 
       Gary clutched his face. “I don’t know!”
       
       Orange Islands
       
       “Master Kruschev!” One of Nikolai’s agents had entered. “Giovanni has 
gone off of the grid!” 
       “What do you mean!?” Nikolai asked angrily.
       “Giovanni has disappeared! We don’t know where, but we will keep 
searching.” 
       “What about the boy?” Nikolai asked.
       “One of our agents reported that Gary Oak set a trap for him but we 
haven’t heard from that agent since.” The agent said.
       
       Viridian Gym
       
       Jake wrapped one hand around the scrawny gym leader’s throat and 
lifted him off of the ground. “I’ll ask you one last time. Where is 
Giovanni?” 
       “I don’t know.” Gary gasped.
       Jake threw him to the ground. Rage was beginning to take over. He took 
out Sundance’s GS Ball. “Then I have no further use for you.” He released 
Sundance from the GS Ball. 
       “I don’t know!” Gary tried to crawl away.
       “Sundance, use Aeroblast!” Jake yelled. The ball of energy formed at 
Sundance’s mouth.
       “Please, have mercy on me!” Gary screeched in a high pitched tone.
       “I have none to spare!” Jake replied evilly.
       “Jake! Stop this now!” A voice came from the entrance.
       Jake glanced over to see Officer Jenny from Olivine City and Officer 
Jenny from Viridian City standing in the door. “He doesn’t know anything!” 
Jenny from Olivine walked cautiously over to Jake. Taking his hand she said, 
“Please, don’t do this.”
       Jake looked over at Gary who was rocking himself in the corner. 
“Sundance, that’s enough.” The ball of light subsided, and Sundance lowered 
his head. 
       Jenny’s gloved hand was warm, and her gaze was comforting. Jake 
released her hand, and moved over to Gary, and picked him up by the collar. 
       “You’ve done some bad things kid. You can make up for them, if you 
tell me what I need to know.” Jake tried to reason calmly.
       Fear glistened in his eyes as he tried to avoid Jake’s cold stare. “He 
left. I don’t know where, exactly.”
       Jake sighed. “Well at least give me a hint.” 
       “South of Cianwood; I don’t know if there’s anything out there but 
that where he said he was going.” Gary said.
       “Team Aqua was using an underwater base, which was a couple hundred 
miles south of Cianwood. They just abandoned it one day for no apparent 
reason.” Viridian’s Jenny explained.
       “Maybe Team Rocket drove ‘em out?” Jake offered.
       “It’s a possibility.” Olivine’s Jenny answered.
       Jake patted Gary’s face, and smiled wickedly. “See there? You were a 
little bit of help after all.” 
       A cell phone started ringing. Olivine’s Jenny reached into her pocket 
and pulled it out. “Hello? Yes. Understood Sir.” She hung up the phone 
abruptly. “Jake that was Ben. He says he’s on his was down from Indigo 
Plateau.”
       “What was he doin there?” Jake asked quizzically. 
       “He had another meeting with the Police Chiefs of Johto, and all of 
the other regions.” She replied.
       
       Viridian Police Station
       
       Jake sat at a table in the waiting room, writing a report about the 
information he’d gotten from Gary. As was Ben’s request but Jake felt like 
this was a job for the police. Ben stepped in. 
       “Hey.” He said casually. “We’re goin’ to that base. You’re gonna go 
with us.” He told Jake. 
       “I was plannin’ to go there any how.” Jake said as he signed his name 
at the bottom of the form, to make it official.
       “Well, as it turns out, I know about that particular base. And because 
I know where it is, you’ll have to go with us, as opposed to alone.”
       
       Somewhere south of Cianwood City
       
       Jake clutched the seat of the UH-60 as it shuddered in the turbulence. 
He trusted Sundance more than he trusted helicopters. But Ben insisted that 
the Johto Coast Guard fly them to the undersea lab.
       “This is a re-breather! It converts the CO2 you exhale into oxygen!” 
Ben shouted over the thunder of the helicopter’s rotors. He handed Jake 
something that looked like a respirator, without a hose. 
       Jake turned it over in his hands looking for instructions. Ben grabbed 
his wrist, turned it over, and slapped something shiny and metallic in the 
palm of his hand. 
       Jake looked at it. It read “Federal Ranger.” 
       “Who are the ‘Federal Rangers’?” Jake asked sardonically.
       “You, her, and me.” Ben replied gesturing to himself and Officer 
Jenny. “The organization was founded yesterday. The Police Chiefs of the four 
regions decided central law enforcement was needed.” Ben looked at Jake with 
a serious expression.
       “Isn’t that what the Pokemon Rangers are for?” Jake asked
       “No, the Pokemon Rangers are more like Park Rangers. We on the other 
hand have authority in all four regions and are basically like cops. I’m your 
Captain, and Officer Jenny’s your new partner.”
       “You mean chaperone.” Jake retorted.
       “Well we can’t have a kid with such legal power running around 
arresting anyone he wants.” Ben said sarcastically.
       “She isn’t going with me down there.” Jake pointed down at the water.
       “The thought never crossed my mind.” Ben said. 
       After another shudder, the helicopter slowed to a hover. “We’ve got 
five minutes ‘til ‘Bingo’ Captain.” The pilot called back to Ben.
       Officer—Ranger Jenny handed Jake a communicator, “Please, stay in 
touch Jake.” 
       Jake nodded as he put his re-breather in his mouth. He released 
Sundance and jumped on his back. =Sundance, use Dive=
       Sundance dove into the icy waters. They went deeper into the ever 
darkening sea until they found the lab. As the lab doors opened, a large 
nuclear submarine slid silently out of the docking station, and Sundance swam 
in before the doors could shut again.
       Sundance surfaced inside the lab to find hardly anyone. 
       =Jake, where are all of the bad guys?= He asked looking at Jake. 
       “Ya got me.” Jake pulled himself out of the water, and returned 
Sundance. 
       Jake released Rascal. They walked silently through the halls of the 
undersea lab. 
       They came around the corner to what appeared to be the infirmary. 
Alone in the corner of the room a girl lay covered up. She was evidently 
unconscious and Jake recognized her as Kim.
       “Hey, that’s that girl that put a knot on my head yesterday.” He 
whispered to Rascal.
       “She’s in need of serious medical attention.” A voice came from the 
other side of the room. 
       “Who’re you?” Jake asked walking over to Kim.
       “My name is Zed. I was a prisoner on an island not far from here, just 
like her.” The stranger stepped out of the shadows.
       “Why didn’t you help her?” Jake asked turning his attention to Kim’s 
vital signs. 
       “I don’t know how. Besides those weren’t my orders.” Zed sneered as he 
spoke.
       Jake froze.
       “Truth, Hyperbeam.” Zed ordered coolly. A beam of light shot out of 
the shadows and hit Jake hard. He was flung against one of the other 
operating tables, where he heard a slight crack from his left side. 
       “Damn it.” Jake cursed as he realized he had a cracked rib. He dove 
behind the nurse’s desk and kicked it over to avoid another hit.
       “Rascal, use Thunder!” Jake barked at Rascal who was taking cover. 
Without hesitation, Rascal unleashed a fury of electricity. Jake heard the 
whimper of an Espeon, which he assumed was his attacker, which was followed 
by a soft thud. 
       Jake staggered to his feet, and pulled his badge from his pocket. 
“You’re under arrest.” Jake said holding up the badge. 
       “Catch me if you can.” A maniacal grin spread across Zed’s face. 
       Jake took one faltering step, but stopped when Zed and Truth flashed 
into a bright light and disappeared.  Jake moved slowly over to Kim and sat 
down. Jake pulled out the communicator that Jenny had given him. “Get a med-
tech down here. I got a girl down here who’s hurt bad, and I’ve got a broken 
rib.” 
       “We’re comin to getcha buddy.” Ben’s voice crackled from the other 
side. 
       Something rolled out from under the sheet that covered Kim’s 
unconscious form. Jake noticed it was a GS Ball. There was only one reason 
she could have one of those.