CHAPTER 4

"Should we contact Mr. Simpleton and tell him his Blastoise is being stolen?" Ash inquired, as he hung on to the front seat for dear life.

"Cym-PEL-ton," Officer Jenny corrected. "And we can't. He went to Valencia Island for the evening on Pidgeot Passenger Express. He's not expected back until tomorrow morning."

In just a few minutes, Ash could see the convention hall approaching rapidly from ahead. As they approached, he could see some figures lying still on the ground just outside the impressive marble building. His eyes grew wide as he realized that they were the security guards for the building. They were all unconscious and thoroughly drenched with water.

The police car screeched to a halt in front of the convention hall, and the occupants quickly jumped out of the car and raced into the back door of the building.

They entered a large, dimly lit, and very humid room near the back door. Since Cympelton kept neither his Blastoise nor his Magikarp in a pokéball, one of the rear chambers of the hall had been converted into an oversized terrarium for the water Pokémon. The smooth marble floor was covered with a clear plastic tarp, on which a collection of various plants, rocks, and small trees were erected to produce the appearance of a natural environment. The Magikarp, reflecting a beautiful rainbow of colors off its scales even in the low lighting, swam peacefully in its crystal clear tank against one wall.

Near the tank stood the Blastoise. The giant tortoise was unmoving and simply stood there with a blank, dull expression on its face. A small, silver disc, about the size of a quarter, was stuck to the Blastoise on its right shoulder. And between the Blastoise and the tank stood a dark figure with a ninja-type mask, short and light of build, and dressed completely in black from head to toe. The intruder was holding a second silver object, and was in the process of reaching into the tank to attach it to the Magikarp.

"Halt! This is the police!" shouted Officer Jenny, taking out her pokéball. She tossed it in the direction of the intruder, calling, "Go, Growlithe!" In a blaze of light, the canine Pokémon materialized, baring its teeth and growling fiercely at the black-garbed figure before it.

The figure paused, then silently countered with another pokéball. The ball cracked open, and a Starmie appeared.

Jenny's eyes opened wide for just a moment. "A dark figure with a Starmie," she mused. "Just like the police report on the Cloyster Pearl Jewelry Store thief. Well, you've just saved me the trouble of having to track you down. Growlithe, Flamethrower attack!"

The Growlithe opened its mouth and spewed out a blazing column of fire at its opponent. The Starmie was ready, however, and it spun around and easily dodged the flames, which instead incinerated a nearby palm tree.

"Starmie, use Water Gun," the thief commanded in an artificially modulated voice.

The powerful jet of water shot from the Starmie hit the unfortunate canine dead center, knocking it back several yards into a tropical plant. The drenched puppy whined miserably as it struggled weakly to get back on its feet.

Ash thought things looked bad. Whoever that guy is, he thought, his Starmie is well trained, and a fire-type Pokémon like Growlithe is no match for it. He didn't normally like stepping into someone else's Pokémon battle, but it didn't look like Officer Jenny stood a chance without some help. He whipped out a pokéball, expanded it, and threw it out, yelling, "I choose you ... Bulbasaur!"

"Bulbasaur!" called the plant Pokémon as it appeared and faced its opponent.

"Bulbasaur, Leech Seed!" Ash ordered.

A small seed shot out of the bulb-like pouch on Bulbasaur's back and zoomed straight at the Starmie like a tiny red missile. The purple star dodged this way and that, but the seed was too fast for it. The tiny red pod caught up with its target, and, implanting itself in the Starmie's hard shell, instantly sprouted a matrix of vines and leaves that encircled the starfish Pokémon. The Starmie collapsed to the ground as the network of leaves, glowing and pulsing, sucked away the energy from its helpless victim's body.

Ash looked with satisfaction as the thief held out the Starmie's pokéball. "Starmie, return," the thief called. The star creature glowed red briefly before being dematerialized back into its ball.

"Now," commanded Ash, "catch that thief with your Vine Whip." A strong, sinuous vine emerged from the grass-type Pokémon's body and snaked towards the intruder's wrist. The vine wrapped itself around the thief's arm tightly, forcing the small silver object from the dark figure's grasp. The shiny round piece bounced on the floor a few times and was lost in the dense terrarium vegetation.

Still silent, the thief brought out a second pokéball, and Ash readied himself for what might come next.

The dark figure tossed out the pokéball, and in a flash of light appeared a Psyduck.

Ash almost had to laugh. He had prepared himself for some threatening Pokémon, a Machoke maybe, or even a Nidoking. The last thing he had expected to be faced with was a little Psyduck.

"Psyduck, Confusion," the dark figure commanded. Ash's expression of amusement quickly turned into one of shock as the Psyduck started powering up, its eyes glowing with the intensity of a raging inferno. Behind Ash, Tracey and Officer Jenny instinctively backed up a few steps.

Bursting with power, the Psyduck suddenly released its mental energy in a violent psychic maelstrom that blew the two boys, Officer Jenny, and Pikachu off their feet and into the air. Ash had seen Misty's Psyduck use a Confusion attack before, but this was the first time he had been on the receiving end of one. His body was buffeted by the intense psychic energy as he flew backwards into a large bush.

As he landed roughly in the dense foliage, Ash could see the Psyduck turn, pointing its rounded beak towards the wall on his right. The duck Pokémon's eyes glowed intensely once more as it directed its awesome psychic energies at the large vertical marble surface. With the force of a wrecking ball, the Psyduck's attack blew a large hole right through the wall, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the building. There was a clear view of the pier through the hole created by the telekinetic blast.

Bulbasaur had been hurled into a tree by the initial Confusion attack, and the thief had no trouble in getting free from the grass-type Pokémon's now loosely entwined vine. With surprising agility, the black-garbed figure gracefully climbed over the rubble and raced out the hole in the wall. The Psyduck quickly waddled behind its dark trainer, and, to everyone's surprise, the Blastoise also got up and lumbered after the thief, still with the same blank expression on its face. Sprawled on the ground, Ash could only stammer in bewilderment, "Wha - wha - why is the Blastoise following that guy?"

"I don't know," said Officer Jenny, getting to her feet and dusting herself off, "but we have to follow them! Come on!"

Ash stopped just long enough to recall Bulbasaur to its pokéball as he and Pikachu followed Officer Jenny and Tracey out the hole in the wall. The thief was running towards the pier, apparently planning to escape over the ocean. Perhaps he's got a boat or something, Ash thought. The thief had a good lead, and it didn't look like any of them would be able to catch up to the dark figure in time.

Out of nowhere a woman's voice rang out. "Prepare for trouble!" it said.

"Not again," Ash muttered to himself. The thief and Jenny stopped running and looked all around trying to figure out where the voice was coming from.

"And make it double!" came the accented response, this time a man's voice.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight fight fight!"

"Me-owth, dat's right!" finished a third voice triumphantly.

Team Rocket was standing on the pier with their usual flamboyance. "Well, well, well," Jessie declared in an amused voice as she eyed the black-garbed figure. "It appears that someone else has gone and tried to get the Blastoise before us."

"Yes," James agreed, with a snicker. "It's almost too bad that he went through all that trouble only to have to deliver the Pokémon to us." His voice took on a threatening tone as he reached the end of his sentence.

"Hand over da Blastoise," Meowth ordered, "before someone gets hoit."

The dark figure paused only for a moment before continuing on silently, apparently in complete disregard of Team Rocket's threat. The Psyduck and Blastoise began to follow in turn.

Jessie was incensed. "How dare you ignore us without even a response!" she snarled. Throwing out a pokéball, she yelled, "Arbok! I choose you!"

There was a blinding flash as the snake Pokémon materialized. "Chaaa..." it hissed in eager anticipation.

James tossed out a ball of his own. "Go, Victreebel!" he called.

The plant Pokémon came into existence and, as usual, immediately grabbed James' head. Arbok was ready, however, and confidently charged at the thief with full force.

The thief barely stopped to look at the new threat, but instead turned to the Psyduck and commanded, "Psyduck, use Disable."

The Psyduck's eyes glowed intensely blue as it stared at the oncoming Arbok. The charging snake Pokémon took on a expression of surprise as it suddenly began slowing down, losing momentum little by little until it stopped completely, falling stiffly to the ground in front of the Psyduck with a heavy thud. Jessie, with a chagrined expression on her faces, recalled her now paralyzed Pokémon. Meanwhile, James finally took control of his own situation, sucking Victreebel back into its ball without a battle.

Meanwhile, Officer Jenny was taking advantage of the diversion provided by Team Rocket to catch up to the thief. She had almost reached the Blastoise when the dark figure gave a final command: "Psyduck, Confusion!"

Jenny instinctively pulled back as the ground seemed to explode right in front of her. Ash gasped as he realized that the Psyduck was directing its psychic attack at the terrain around it. Around the Psyduck in a perfect circle, the earth was being forcibly lifted from the ground and thrown into the heavens as if sucked by some invisible vacuum in the sky. The thief, Psyduck, and Blastoise stood perfectly calmly as grass, rocks, and soil erupted and flew into the air all around them.

Like the ripples from a stone in a pond, the circular region of psychic destruction began to expand, stretching outwards over the surface of the ground and ripping it to shreds at successively greater distances. A small bush to the left of the Psyduck was completely uprooted and thrown into the air, tearing itself to bits in the process. In another area, an underground water main burst under the intense psychic energies, causing water to gush out of the soil.

"Pi - ka - chu!" cried out Pikachu in alarm.

Officer Jenny backed up as the psychic wave expanded over the landscape. Right beside her, a large rock emerged from the ground and shot skywards as if shot by a catapult. She turned and yelled out to Ash and Tracey, "Run for it! Head towards the pier!" before heading in that direction herself. She sprinted around a lamppost, which cracked and fell over in a shower of sparks behind her as the pursuing wave of destruction passed through it a second later.

Ash and Tracey ran as fast as they could, Pikachu following closely behind. Ash pulled his cap snugly over his forehead in an attempt to keep the dirt and small pebbles that rained on them out of his eyes. He glanced back just for a moment and saw that the destructive wave was no more than ten yards behind and gaining on them rapidly. Jenny and the two boys rushed forward at full speed onto the pier and passed right by Team Rocket, who stood dumbfounded in the middle of the wooden structure as the oncoming wave passed through a tree in the park. Several branches split off, and the tree was denuded of leaves, which were ripped off their stems and scattered around in the air as if caught in a tornado.

The psychic wave continued expanding as it reached the connection point of the pier to shore. Large planks of wood tore themselves from the connected end of the pier and hurled themselves upwards, and the entire structure began to sag into the water. Tracey almost lost his footing, but Ash grabbed onto his arm, and the two of them kept running. Officer Jenny reached the end of the pier, saw that there was nowhere else to go, and promptly dived headfirst into the ocean. Ash couldn't think of any better ideas, and he jumped off the pier as well, with Tracey and Pikachu following in turn.

Meanwhile, the still expanding telekinetic wave was methodically obliterating one plank after another as it made its way towards the end of the pier. Jessie, James, and Meowth, still in the middle of the pier, simply stood in shock, unable to do anything but watch the oncoming destructive fury overtake them as it kept creeping closer and closer. Just as the wave was nearly on them, James shouted out reflexively, "Team Rocket's blasting off again..."

James' premature wail snapped Jessie into action. "NO!" she screamed, suddenly pulling herself together, "I said, NO MORE BLASTINGS!!" In the last second before the psychic maelstrom was on top of them, she grabbed James forcefully by the arm and Meowth by the tail. With the strength and determination of an Amazon, she dragged them both bodily to the edge of the pier and threw them into the water before jumping in herself. She had just barely leapt off the last plank of the pier before the wave disintegrated it entirely.

Now underwater, they could all see the destructive wave launch great sprays of water from the upper layer of the sea as it tore over the ocean. They dared not surface while the wave was passing overhead, so they continued to hold their breath and wait. Finally, the awesome psychic energies were exhausted, and with lungs bursting, they all came up for air. Ash took out a pokéball and released his Lapras, and he, Tracey, Jenny, and Pikachu all climbed up on its back. They were all sopping and thoroughly exhausted from running. Meanwhile, James and Jessie, still holding on to Meowth by his curling tail, swam over to the Magikarp submarine. It had been hidden underneath the pier and was in miraculously good condition despite the demolition of the structure above.

"Wait a minute!" Officer Jenny barked at the Team Rocket members. "Come back here!"

"Why?" asked Jessie with a smirk as she tossed a bedraggled Meowth into the sub, and she and James climbed inside. "We didn't do anything wrong. It's that guy in black who stole the Blastoise."

"That's right," rejoined James. "And he's probably long gone by now, too bad for you."

"So long, twerps," taunted Jessie, as she started to close the submarine hatch door. "Team Rocket's NOT blasting off this time." The two Team Rocket agents laughed derisively as the hatch slammed shut. Ash and the others could only watch as the sub paddled off and disappeared under the surface of the water.

The Lapras floated over the few yards to shore, and Ash climbed off his aquatic Pokémon onto the land. Pikachu sat comfortably on Ash's shoulder as water dripped from his clothes. They were amazed at what they saw.

The convention hall looked bad enough, still sporting a gaping hole in one wall. But the ground between the hall and what was left of the pier looked like a war zone. The entire terrain was uprooted and covered with rubble. Water was still gushing out of the broken main. Not a single park bench, bush, or even blade of grass was left standing. The only exception to this was a small circular area, about ten yards across, where the thief, Psyduck, and Blastoise had been standing when the Confusion attack had been initiated. It was the one place in which the ground was perfectly intact. And as James had predicted, the thief and Blastoise were nowhere to be found.

Tracey had climbed off of Lapras' back by this time as well, and he stood next to Ash to survey the damage. "I can't believe it," Tracey declared. "I saw it myself and I still can't believe it. I've never seen a Psyduck capable of such a powerful attack."

Officer Jenny stood behind them, examining the landscape with a sigh. She would have a really big police report to write tomorrow morning.