Andy and I walked down the road to Violet City. Now our Pokemon group included Pichu, Meowth and Haunter.
We sat down on a bench. "Hungry?" I asked Pichu.
Pichu looked up at me and smiled. "I'm sure hungry," Andy said. "We haven't eaten since yesterday morning."
I nodded and reached into my backpack. We had stocked up on food before we left Cherrygrove. My backpack also worked as a lunchbox. It kept cold foods cold and hot foods .... Fairly warm.
I pulled out two sandwiches and two bags of chips. I then took a plastic bowl out and dumped some Pokemon food inside. I put it on the grass for Meowth and Pichu.
"Well, it's been officially a whole week since we started this journey," Andy said. "You caught a Haunter, we met Mr. Pokemon and escaped Team Rocket twice."
I smiled and reached into my pocket. I was going to pull out a tissue to wipe my nose, but my hand landed on something hard.
"The Sapphires!" I gasped. "We never told the police that they were in that mansion."
Andy shrugged. "So? They were in an old basket and they weren't put in that net very neatly. The way I see it, whoever lived in that mansion couldn't have seen too much value to them if they left them in a small room without coming back for 'em."
"Well, if Team Rocket wanted to steal them, they had to be worth something," I protested.
"Team Rocket work for the ACXX," Andy muttered. "The ACXX will steal anything if it's shiny and worth more than a buck."
I laughed.
We finished our lunch and threw the trash into the garbage can. The hot sun shone down on my face. "Violet City's only a few blocks away," Andy said as we picked up our bags. "We can catch a bus. My feet are sore from all that walking."
The bus pulled up. I climbed on, followed by Pn oichu and then Andy.
"Twenty cents a mile," the bus driver said. "How far ya goin'?"
"We're going to Violet City," I said. "Um ... Silver Street."
We took a seat in the front of the bus. It rolled down the hill. Andy tapped my shoulder. "Hey, look!"
I followed his gaze. I gasped at the poster. "SJ Fulls in concert!!!"
I gasped. SJ Fulls was a huge rap star. He was only about 15 years old and every girl in the world loved him. "Oh my God!" I nearly screamed. "I have all four of his albums. We hafta go see him!"
Andy smiled. "I know ... but we don't have much money."
I dug into my pocket and then into my backpack. I pulled out a ten dollar bill, a twenty and a few dimes. Andy reached into his pocket and pulled out five dollar bill, a penny and some lint.
"We have thirty-five dollars and forty-one cents," I counted. "The tickets are $20 for humans and $3 for every Pokemon who watches the show. "So we nee $49..."
"We need about fourteen more dollars," Andy said. "We can work for it. Get a job at a Pizza Barr something. Wait on a few tables, make tips, and quit the next day. It's genius, I tell ya."
I shook my head. "We can't do that ... but I agree with you on the earning money part."
We got off of the bus. Not too far from the Violet City Pokemon Gym. "We're going to work in the gym," I said. "We're going to earn that money. I don't care if I have to work my hands off for those fourteen dollars. I am going to see SJ and I don't care how long it takes me. We'll get into that concert one way or another."
"You say you need money?" a man with a harsh voice asked behind me. I turned around. The man was about six feet tall. He was bald with a long scraggly beard. He had long black jeans that came over his shoes and was wearing a tank top that showed his huge muscles.
"Yessir," Andy and I said in unison.
He laughed. I noticed he was wearing sunglasses. "I'm Joseph, and you don't need money ... but I am in the band that plays for SJ Fulls. I'm opening for him and playing for some of his songs. We need to have four people. But our bass player is out and we need a dancer. How would you guys like to earn about $100 dollars each and still get into the concert for free?"
Andy and I smiled. "YES!" I cried. "When?"
The man handed each of us a card. "Be at the studio tomorrow night. The concert is in two days. Don't be late." He walked over to a beat-up car. I saw three other figures inside. He started it up and drove away.
I smiled. "Oh my God! I can't believe it. We're going to be---."
"Are you crazy?" he demanded. "Neither of us can play bass and we KNOW I suck at dancing."
"But I can dance," I said. "And you can learn how to play bass. Mitch told me it's easy."
"The same Mitch that tried to shoot you and tear us away from each other?"
I shrugged. "Yeah ... but -- c'mon. Let me show you. It will be simple. We'll have a good time and get to meet SJ Fulls. Think about it. We can be famous. Everyone will know our name."
I thought about the idea and eventually slipped into a daydream.
"And now, performing with SJ Fulls and the S-Rox Band. Here is Laura and playing bass is Andy! Enjoy the show everybody!" SJ Fulls winked at me and hit the first notes of his hit song "Leaving Forever Now". The song had a catchy beat and I found it easy to dance too. There were two dancers also behind me. A boy and a girl, about a year older than me. Joseph strummed on his electric guitar and Andy played the bass perfectly. There was a young boy (maybe 12 or 13) playing the keyboard and another one scratching the disks. The song ended and the crowd cheered. "Laura! Laura! Laura!" ......
"Laura. LAURA!" Andy snapped.
"What?" I muttered, realzing where I was.
"I said look at this poster," he said. "Bass lessons," he read aloud: "We can start teaching as soon as you register. Play in one week or your money back."
I turned to him and frowned. "We have two days, not a week, Andy."
He shrugged. "I know. But they can start right away. I'll pay them for overtime."
I hit him in the side of the head. "Earth to Andy! The reason we got the gig was because we needed money in the first place!"
"Oh yeah," he murmured.
"Okay, listen. We'll just call Joseph and tell him the truth. Tell him that you can't really play the bass and see if he can help us in any way. He didn't seem like too big of a jerk. Maybe he'll understand. Maybe he'll even tutor you and get you to play in a few hours."
I reached for my cell phone, but Andy grabbed my wrist. "NO! I can learn. We just need to rent a cheap instrument ... so I can learn how to play it. I'll follow the music notes and know one will even realize I've never played before in my life. You can't tell Joseph. He'll think we're total liars."
I sighed. "I got you into this, and I'm going to get you--."
I was struck hard from behind. I gasped as I fell to the ground and landed hard on my elbows and knees. And trust me, it hurts when you land that way on pure cement and gravel.
I grabbed my scraped elbow and turned to my attacker ... but no one was there.
Andy looked down at me. "What the frick are you doing on the ground? You lose something?"
"Someone punched me in the back," I said.
"Pii," Pichu said, who had been quiet the whole time.
"Pichu, you didn't see anybody-- or anything either?" I asked.
Pichu shook its head slowly. I frowned and felt my back. I could feel the pain throbbing through my spine. Andy pulled up the back of my shirt. "You have a nasty bruise here," he pointed out. "Looks like someone heaved a rock at your back or somethin."
I climbed to my feet and looked around. Some leaves rolled across the ground as the wind blew. A few people were now staring at me as if I were crazy.
Pichu, Andy and I cut through the park. We were trying to find a place (maybe a Pokemon Center) to sleep at for the night that was close to the sight of the concert.
"Hey, come back!" a girl's voice cried.
Andy and I turned. The girl was chasing a small blue Pokemon which I realized as a Totodile.
"Please, stop that Totodile!" she cried, frantically. She was tall and dressed in all black. Her baseball cap came over her eyes, shielding the top half of her face.
I turned to the tiny Pokemon which was now only yards from me. "Pichu, use a Thunderbolt at that tree branch!" I commanded.
Pichu nodded and jumped onto my head, then jumped high into the air. It let loose a charge of electricity. It hit the tree. Sparks, flew and then the branch fell. Totodile gasped and looked up as the branch fell.
It dove out of the way, but Pichu shot another bolt of lightning down. This time it hit Totodile right in the head, knocking at backwards with an incredible force. Totodile glared up at me and spit out some water. It was weak, so it didn't go very far. Totodile then put its head down and groaned in pain.
The girl ran over to it, got on her knees and cradled it. "Oh thank you. I don't know what's gotten into it."
"It's been sippin' that Haterade," Andy snapped.
"What my friend means is that sometimes Pokemon get a little rebellious when they are cooped up for a long time and we're sorry for hurting it."
The girl shook her head. "That's okay. You did what you had to do. Thank you. I'm Lucy." She put out her hand.
I shook it. "I'm Laura and this is Andrew. Everyone calls him Andy though. Nice to meet you."
"Likewise," Lucy said, politely. She lifted up her hat. Now I saw her face. She had light skin and dark eyes. She had brown hair tied into a brown ponytail. I noticed the baseball cap.
"Oh, you like the Arboks?" I asked.
She nodded. "They're my favorite team, and they're supporting the SJ Fulls concert. I got a backstage pass."
Andy and I nodded. "So did we," we said in unison. "We're with the band."
Lucy smiled. "That is so cool. I'm a great bass player. Man, I wish I had been with you when you met the band."
Andy and I slowly turned to each other and smiled.
It was now close to 10:00 at night. Lucy, Andy and I had rented a room at the Pokemon Center. Pichu, Meowth and Totodile were asleep on their own bed. "You say you're a great bass player?" Andy asked as he bit into a cookie.
Lucy nodded. "I've been playing instruments ... and Pokemon battling since I was three years old. I'm a water Pokemon trainer. I play the flute, drums, sax, trumpet and of course bass. I'm a pretty good singer and rapper, I can dance. Hmmm, I can act pretty well. But I don't like to expose it. People always think I'm bragging."
I shook my head. "I think it's good to express your talents. Um, how long would it take you to teach someone like ... oh say, Andy to play bass?"
Lucy looked up from the soda she had been drinking and looked me square in the eye for the first time. "What?"
Andy bit his lower lip. "You see. Laura here," he muttered glaring at me, "Kind of signed a deal with the S-Rox band. And now I'm stuck playing bass. However, I don't know how. Pokemon battling has been my passion, not playing instruments. And since you're experienced in that department, I was hoping that maybe you could help me out?"
Lucy looked at each of us for a few seconds and then took a long sip of soda. "Well, I guess I do kind of owe you for stopping my Totodile. I can play bass. I don't know if I could teach you really. Are we talking about bass guitar or bass drums here?"
Our jaws dropped. "There are two?"
Lucy nodded. "Usually when people talk about bass they mean drums. Seeing as the band has no real drummer, I'm assuming that you will be playing the bass drums. It's quite easy actually. As long as you know what force you hafta hit each drum with."
She took a pencil out of her pocket. "Does either of you have some blank paper?"
Andy reached into his backpack and retrieved a piece. Lucy took it and started to draw a circle. "It is all controlled on timing, force and aim. The harder you hit the drum, the louder the sound will be and it will blend in with the other music. But with the bass, you can also use your hands sometimes. It's quite common among punk rockers."
"This isn't punk," I pointed out. "It's Hip Hop."
Lucy nodded. "Therefore the music will be a bit softer. Think of it as a Pokemon battle. The harder you hit, the better chance you have of winning. Now look at this bass. The softer you hit, the better chance you have of winning the crowd over. As long as you play fairly and the crowd appreciates you, you'll do fine."
I was amazed at how Lucy spat out facts on this. Comparing it to Pokemon battling ... she was a natural.
Around midnight, we went to sleep.
It was nearly 9:00 when I woke up. I rubbed my eyes. Lucy was sitting on the edge of the bed, fully dressed. She was watching TV with the volume turned down low. I saw a tray on a cart, with two paper plates on it. There was bacon, eggs and cheese biscuits (my favorite) on both of them. Lucy had already finished her breakfast. The paper plate was in the trash with a few remains from the eggs on it. I pushed myself up out of bed and over to the cart.
"Good morning," I said.
Lucy turned and smiled. "Mornin' Sleepyhead."
Andy who had been on the top bunk, rubbed his eyes and rolled over. He fell hard off of the bed and landed on the floor with a THUD!
My stomach lurched as I watched a Pokemon battle. They were destroying each other. Two trainers had decided to fight in the middle of the street. They stared angrily at each other.
"Ratatta, use Quick Attack!" the boy with red hair ordered. "Full power!"
The Ratatta bounded towards a Chikorita, but the Chikorita lashed out a Vine Whip attack. Ratatta was wrapped into the vines. "Throw it!" the other trainer commanded.
Several people gasped. The Ratatta flew high into the air. Chikorita then jumped high after it. Ratatta came down. Chikorita jumped on top of Ratatta and the two Pokemon went rushing through the air. They in a pile of trash cans.
I gasped and ran over to the wreckage, as did many other trainers. Both Pokemon were laying, motionless in a pile of broken wood, glass and food scraps.
The trainers glared at each other and one returned his Ratatta and walked away, vanishing in the distance.
Chikorita struggled, but eventually got to his feet. Several people clapped. The boy looked around. "Who is next for us to battle? We can keep this going all night!"
I rose my hand, but was grabbed from behind. I spun around and saw the tall figure of Joseph towering above me. He was wearing faded blue jeans and a white tank top. "It's time to come," he said. His sunglasses still covered his eyes.
I was practically dragged to the van. He opened the back door and motioned for me to climb in. I did so.
"Where are Lucy and An--."
I screamed as Joseph--or at least who I thought was Joseph-- grabbed me. He wrapped his wrist around my neck, driving me hard into the backseat.
"What are you doing?" I choked out. Joseph reached up to his sunglasses and pulled them off. He then pulled off a fake beard and mustache. Lastly, he pulled off the top of his head!
I gasped, but then realized it was only a cap. Spiky hair stuck out of it. But I stared ahead at none other, than Mitch!
He let go of me and laughed. "You didn't think I'd forget about you didja?"
He chewed on his gum, making an annoying noise and put his sunglasses on. I struggled open the door, but it was jammed shut!
To make things worse, Florida peeked her head over the passenger seat. She was also chewing gum and wearing sunglasses. "We're going to have a fun ... fun time, Laura," she said. She leaned over and kissed me on the lips. I squirmed away from her.
"Let me go!" I yelled.
But the van jumped to a start. It sped forward, even though Mitch wasn't even old enough to be driving. The seatbelt wouldn't come off. I seemed to be pinned to the seat and the door wasn't locked.
I remembered Pichu was with Andy and Lucy, at the Pokemon Center. But Team Rocket didn't know I had another Pokemon. I looked down at Haunter's Pokeball.
"Where are you taking me?" I demanded, struggling to get my hand into my pocket.
"It's no business of yours!" Florida hissed. "You cost us big time. Twice! But we will not let you get away again. This time we're going to handle this the old fashioned way." Florida turned to me and pulled a knife from her pocket. I didn't even hafta ask what it was for. I knew what they planned to do to me. I knew they wanted to kill me and steal my Pokemon. I knew that they'd do anything to make my life a living Hell. I knew this all. But I did not know something. I did not know why I had been setup in the first place. I did not know why I had believed such an evil scheme. I didn't know why they wanted to hurt me. I didn't do anything to hurt them unless it was to defend myself. But this time I was not going to let my guard down. I had to be prepared for anything.
I don't know where we arrived, but it was at some warehouse, about 15 or 16 miles from where we started. Florida hopped out of the van and over to my seat. Without any reason, she punched me hard in the face. But I couldn't do anything. I was glued to my seat ... literally speaking. She tied me up with a rope and then broke the seatbelt. She grabbed me by my hair and pulled me out of the van. I landed face first onto the ground. I felt blood coming out of my mouth.
Mitch kicked me hard in the head. I groaned and rolled over. Florida grabbed me by the hair and dragged me into the warehouse. She once again kissed me on the lips, longer this time.
When she was done, I saw she too had blood on her mouth. She licked it off. She was like a vampire, drinking my blood.
I was pushed onto a chair. It was hard and cold. I was again, wrapped around this one.
"Scared?" Mitch asked. He chuckled.
"No," I said, bravely. My heart was pounding. I was terrified. I knew I was probably only seconds away from death. Florida picked a knife off of the table. She examined it and put it back down. She then picked up another one. She looked at me over her shoulder and then came close to me.
"I have waited to kill you for the past two weeks. Ever since you cost me a promotion. Now I finally get to do it!"
She thrust the knife at my face. I closed my eyes, waiting for it to go right into my nose. But it didn't come. Florida was just teasing me. She laughed hysterically.
Enough was enough. "Haunter, I choose you!" I yelled.
My Pokeball dropped to the floor and the ghost Pokemon popped out. Florida glared at me. "You're clever, but not tough enough to beat Grimer!"
She tossed the ball into the air. Grimer came out quickly.
"Haunter, use Night Shade!" I commanded.
Haunter shot a purple ball of energy at Grimer. It connected, sending the Pokemon backwards several feet. Haunter shot another one at Grimer.
"Grimer, Double Team!" Florida cried. The Night Shade attack hit the spot where Grimer used to be. Now there were ten of him surrounding Haunter. I used this as my chance to escape. The knife was lying on my lap. I used my free hand to grap it and furiously cut at the ropes.
"Sludge Bomb!" Florida ordered.
The real Grimer appeared and the others vanished. It shot a ball of acid at Haunter. Haunter dodged out of the way and the Sludge Bomb hit me in the chest. I gasped. It burned a hole through the ropes. I was free!
"NO!" Mitch yelled. He jumped at me. I dodged out of the way. Mitch tripped over my foot and his head thudded off of the chair, breaking it in two. (The chair, not his head.)
Haunter's eyes glowed white. He used Hypnosis. Grimer grew weary. He slowly sank to the ground. Grimer and Mitch were both knocked out on the ground. I looked at Florida. She looked back at me and sneered. "You think you're great now, don't you?"
She was suddenly struck from behind with a blast of electricity. I watched as she fell to the ground. I looked up and saw Pichu standing behind her. At the doorway were both Lucy and Andy. They were breathing heavily.
I hugged them both. "How'd you guys find me?!"
They smiled. "We trailed the van," Lucy said. "Nurse Joy let us use those bikes she had at the center. We saw Joseph ... or Mitch drag you to the car. We knew something was up."
Andy looked at them knocked out on the ground. "Come on. We hafta get out of here."
"Hold on," I said. I looked at the knife they had tried to kill me with. I thought about driving it though one of their heads.
But I didn't.
I did not want to become a murderer. I grabbed the rope and tied the two back to back. I returned Grimer into his Pokeball and put him into Florida's pocket. I glared at them both. I reared back my foot and kicked Florida in the face. She jerked her head back and blood slowly dripped out of her mouth.
Andy was at the van. He tossed the bikes into the back. "What d'ya say we take their van and call the police?" he asked with a smile on his face.
We drove the van back to the Pokemon Center, contacting the police as soon as we got there. Officer Jenny asked me about a dozen questions, while sending the policemen after the ACXX Team Rocket goons.
"Well ... so much for seeing SJ," I muttered that night. I took a sip of my juice and leaned back in my chair.
Lucy and Andy turned to each other and smiled. "Don't be so sure," they said in unison.
I looked over my shoulder. I gasped at what I saw. In the flesh, SJ FULLS!
I screamed and ran over to him, wrapping my arms around him. "Oh my God! S...J... Fulls. How did you -- when--."
He put his hand over my mouth and smiled. "I heard how brave you were with Team Rocket. So I decided to have a mini-concert right here in the Pokemon Center, and give you all passes to my concert. Front row."
"You can do anything," SJ sang. "You can do it if you set your mind to. You can do, once you do, you'll never regret.
You won't forget. To do what you think is right. Never giving up the fiiiight. In your power you have the muscles and might.
You might... you might just make it. No time to fake it. We're gonna make it. We're gonna make it!
In this world made up of you and me, everything comes naturally. Through Hell, fire and things between. We're gonna make it, you and me!
We're gonna make it. We're gonna make it. We're gonna make it. We're gonna make it."
I cheered as SJ finished up his song. He recieved a standing ovation from the crowd. Good things come in small ... and sometimes deadly ... packages sometimes.