Hi Everybody! Sorry I haven’t updated in a while, school has been hectic. Here is Part 4 of Only the Pure Hearts Survive. I don’t have anything to say except I don’t own Pokemon. I really hope you enjoy the story. Happy Reading! Part IV The town seemed so empty, now that all the destruction was caused. There was nobody in sight. All they could hear was…nothing…there weren’t any wild Pokemon running loose, no pedestrians carrying on a busy life…there was no life at all. They heard the occasional breeze hitting side of, still standing buildings and trees, but that was it. It was lifeless. After a little more walking, they came across the Pokemon Center. It had no damage to it, so they went inside to see if they could take a rest. “Nurse Joy! Are you here?!” Ash called out. But, after a few calls there was no response. They went in a back hallway that leaded to the rooms that were for the trainers. All of a sudden, they heard a loud thump!! “What was that?!” Misty asked. “It sounds like it came, from the food storage room.” Locknile pointed out, quietly. They snuck in as quietly as they could. When they peered in from behind the door, they saw a Team Rocket Grunt! It was scrambling through boxes of food. He was making him self look like a glutton. Ash held up his finger to his mouth, signaling for them to be as quiet as possible. Then Ash turned toward Misty and Locknile. They looked at each other, and nodded. They all knew what they had to do next. Misty and Locknile held up a Poke’ball and were ready. Ash looked at Pikachu, and they both were ready. It seemed they all could talk with each other telepathically. They all knew what they had to do. All three of them, at the same time, jumped into the room. “Hold it right there!” All three of them said at the same time. The Team Rocket Grunt turned around in surprise, with a scared look on his face. Then that scared look quickly turned into anger! “What do you idiots want?!!!” He said, while holding up a Poke’ball. “What are you doing here?!” Ash said angrily. “This destruction around here has Team Rockets name written all over it!!!” “This is none of your business! So, leave right now, before I have to obliterate you, just like we did to this puny town!!” “Team Rocket will not do any more harm! Go! Pikachu!” Pikachu jumped on to the floor ready to attack if necessary. “Go! Staryu!” Misty called. “Go! Mightyena!” Locknile called. All of their Pokemon, were ready to battle now! “Do you really think that you can stop me?!” The Grunt said, trying to be confidant, but Ash, Misty, and Locknile, could seen the fear in his eyes. “Go! Dragonite!” Now the battle had begun!! “This Dragonite looks like it’s at a high level, so be careful, guy’s!” Ash said. “Go! Dragonite! Use Hyper Beam!!” Dragonite charged up a powerful Hyperbeam and shot it at a very fast rate!! “Dodged it!” All three of our heroes, said at the same time. All three Pokemon successfully dodged the attack! “Pikachu! Use Thunderbolt!” “Staryu! Use Water Gun!” “Mightyena! Use Shadow Ball!” All three attacks hit at the same time! It did a lot of damage, but Dragonite was still standing!! “Man this thing is powerful!” Ash said with exclamation. “Dragonite! Use Dragon Breath!” The Dragon Breath was even faster than the Hyper Beam! It was heading right towards Mightyena! It was so fast that, Mightyena didn’t have time to dodge it!! It hit Mightyena directly, and Mightyena got thrown back against a wall! Locknile, immediately ran toward it to see if it was all right. The distraction left Dragonite open for attack! “Pikachu! Use Thunder!” “Staryu! Use Water Gun!” Both attacks were a direct hit! And, since Dragonite didn’t have anyway to defend itself, it did massive damage! And, since water conducts electricity, the attack was much more powerful than usual. Locknile’s Mightyena was ok, from the blow it took earlier. It was back in battle. Dragonite had taken a lot of damage from the Thunder Attack, but it still had fight in it. But, our heroes could see that it was getting very tired. Pikachu, Staryu, and Mightyena, were also getting tired, but they had much fight left in them. “Go! Dragonite! Fly up in the air!” The Grunt commanded. Dragonite took flight and busted through the roof of the Pokemon Center! The hit through the roof was really powerful, so the roof was really shaky and looked like it was about to collapse! “Guys! We need to get out of the building!” Locknile warned, “The whole roof is about to collapse, and we could get injured!” Everybody followed Locknile’s command and ran out the way they came! But, just before he left the room, Ash did something that he thought he would never do in his life. Ash was about to leave the room, but he turned around, back in the room. He saw the Team Rocket Grunt cowering in the corner, shaking very badly. Ash, all of a sudden, was having an internal struggle, weather to help him or not! Misty, Staryu, Locknile, Mightyena and Pikachu, came back into the room, not wanting to leave Ash behind. “Ash, what are you doing?!” Misty said with worry, “This roof could collapse any second!” Ash made a quick decision, and one that he would of never thought of doing! “I’ve got to help him, Misty! You guys run out side, and wait for us!” “Come on guys! Lets go!” Locknile said. Pikachu and Locknile started to go out the way they came, but Misty didn’t want to go. “Come on Misty!” “I don’t want to leave Ash behind!” Misty immediately ran over to help Ash! Ash ran, as fast as he could and grabbed the Grunt by the arm! The Grunt pulled away with force not wanting to go! “It’s ok,” Ash, said, “we need to get out of here. You could die if this roof collapses on you. You need to come with me.” “Yes, Ash is right!” Misty said, arriving to help Ash. The Rocket Grunt, looked up, and nervously got up, and ran out of the building with Ash and Misty! Just as they got outside, the building collapsed with a loud crash! Both Locknile and Mightyena were waiting out side, worried as heck. “That was a close one.” Ash said with a little fatigue. He turned toward Misty, who was also a little weary. “Misty…thank you for helping me back there.” “I was really scared, for you…I don’t know what I would do if I lost you.” Misty said. She started to sob. “Your more important to me than anything.” She said, as she threw herself in his arms. “It’s alright Misty,” Ash said, as he hugged her, trying to comfort her. “I don’t want to lose you either…you are the most important person to me in the world.” Ash, said as he started to cry a little bit. “But, I had to help that Grunt…I couldn’t just leave him there, and let him get hurt.” Misty looked up to him, deeply into his eyes. “And, that is one of the reasons I love you…you care deeply about all people and Pokemon…you’re the most caring person I’ve ever known.” Both of them looked toward the Rocket Grunt. Ash and Misty saw something that they would never have thought of, for any Team Rocket Member. The Grunt was hugging his Dragonite. It looked like the Grunt was a nervous wreck. Both Ash and Misty could see it in the Grunt’s eyes. *Maybe he isn’t bad after all, * Both Ash and Misty thought. * Maybe he’s just like Locknile. * The Team Rocket Grunt was calm now and walking over towards our heroes, with his Dragonite. All of our heroes and all the Pokemon were ready, just in case he was pulling a trick. “Don’t worry guy’s.” The Grunt said, as he had approached, “I don’t want to fight anymore…I want to thank you for rescuing me back there. I was so nervous in there, I couldn’t move. It made me think about how all the Team Rocket Plans are very harmful…making all people sad…in pain…. with fear. Pokemon should not be used as battle machines. They should be our friends.” The Grunt said as he patted his Dragonite on the head. “Thank you for showing me that.” All of our heroes had a smile on their faces. They saw that the Grunt had real compassion in his eyes. He wasn’t a threat anymore. “So, what are you guys doing in this once beautiful town?” The Grunt asked. “We are trying to stop that fiend Giovanni and trying to rescue Locknile’s family.” Ash said as he pointed to Locknile. “Giovanni will do anything to get what he wants.” Ash said now seeing Locknile distraught again. “You are right about that. He will do anything. He will even kill our members. It seems like he is a robot…just like that fiend Mewtwo.” The Grunt said. [Can you give any more information on that scoundrel?] Pikachu asked. “I don’t know if I can be of much help. Team Rocket Grunts don’t get much information on the upper classes plans and information. We just carry out the upper classes duties.” “Any information would help” Locknile said. “I was Giovanni’s right hand assistant, forcefully, until I finally got help from Ash and Misty.” Locknile said with a smile on his face. “Well…this is very little but may help. A long time ago when this project was just starting, this Pokemon was originally planed for creation, for total power, to be the most powerful creature in the world that would obey every command made by Giovanni. But, later on when the project was almost at the peak of the mountain, it backfired. The creature went out of control! It destroyed the whole lab that it was created in, but Giovanni survived along with a few other scientists. Mewtwo was then was convinced to join their group. It started to follow every command made by Giovanni, but now the trust between the two is breaking. Who knows how long this relationship will last. And, if it breaks Mewtwo could be more of a danger to us then with Giovanni. Mewtwo doesn’t know the peak of its power yet. It could destroy this whole planet with just one attack!” He said while every one gasped. “We have to keep Mewtwo from knowing its true power!” Everyone nodded. “Thank you, this information has really helped.” Ash said. “You should also be aware that Giovanni is going around the region every day and he will be tough to track down.” Everyone nodded with full understanding of what he just said. Our heroes said goodbye to the Rocket Grunt and they went their separate ways. The Team Rocket Grunt wasn’t a Grunt any more. He went on to find out what he was truly destined to pursue in his life. He vowed not to do evil again knowing the value of life, and how Team Rocket takes that moral out of its place. He hoped that more and more Team Rocket Grunts and all other classes would see the same thing. And especially, both he and the heroes hoped that Giovanni would realize this, and the evil would stop that tortures all the innocent people and Pokemon. They wish that all people were good at heart, because in this world Only the Pure Hearts Survive! Hope you enjoyed Part 4. I don’t know how long the rest of Only the Pure Hearts Survive will be (part wise), but the more the better. ^_^ Please review.