38 Battle in the Sanctuary

"Hmmmm... Your wound is closing up nicely. If you don't strain it or do anything to aggravate it, then we should be able to take the stitches out tonight." Mini Joy told me as she scrutinized my chest, though I felt like she was touching me more than she needed to as she did so.

Rather than call this peculiar Joy out on her peculiar behavior though, I focused my attention on the fairly large group of Pokemon currently running around the inn's stadium, which Riolu was leading.

"ONE MORE LAP! KEEP IT UP!" I shouted down to them, making most of the Pokemon groan as they all already felt like dropping.

Currently we were going through our usual morning training routine, though I couldn't participate since I was still healing.

Joining us in the stadium was professor Oak, mini Joy as she checked up on my wound, Daisy, and the entirety of May and Dawn's teams as they trained alongside my own. May and Dawn themselves were still in bed after a fairly....tiring night.

And while the rest of my team trained, Happiny was playing nearby with mini Joy's own Happiny since she was too young to start training. As it was, when she did start training I was already planning a very different regimen compared to the others, as her primary role would be support and healing anyways once she was strong enough.

I had already been fairly surprised when I scanned her this morning and discovered just how outrageous of a Happiny I had.

~~~

Happiny- the playhouse Pokemon

This Pokemon carries around a small round rock that it believes is an egg, and will often give said rock to those it considers its friends. It is also often bothered by how curly its hair is. This Pokemon has the Natural Cure, Serene Grace, Healer, and Friend Guard abilities.

Moves- Pound, Charm, Refresh, Gravity, Heal Bell, Helping Hand, Metronome, Present.

~~~

Needless to say I was more than a little stunned by how stacked my healer was despite literally just being born, so mini Joy had explained to me about the Chansey line Pokemon that were bonded to their clan.

Through the Joy clan's efforts, all of the Happiny born from their partner Chansey and Blissey had their potential maximized from the start. Meaning they all had most, if not all of the abilities the Chansey line could possess, and were born already knowing several moves without needing to learn them first. This meant my Happiny was already significantly more powerful than a Chansey that I might've found in the wild.

Though the idea of that in itself was fairly unlikely, as Chansey outside of Pokemon Centers were stupidly rare.

And naturally I was excited to learn she already had the move Gravity, which is mainly used in battle to force flying and levitating Pokemon to the ground where they were easier to attack. However I had other plans for Gravity, mostly copying a certain anime that anyone interested in fighting or working out wound know of.

I can hardly wait!

By now all of the Pokemon were finishing up their last lap around the stadium, most of my Pokemon leading the pack from having been training for a while now, and May and Dawn's Pokemon straggling behind for the most part with only Combusken being able to keep up. Taking up the very rear though was Combee, who was unused to physical exertion even before I handed her a weight to make her work for it.

And as the little bee finally crossed the finish line, I clapped my hands once to get their attention while stating,

"Ok! That's enough for now!"

At my words everyone, sans Riolu, collapsed from exhaustion.

"Good work everyone! Take a rest for a few hours and later in the afternoon we'll challenge other trainers to a few battles in order to put everything you've learned to use. It'll be a few days until we can challenge Brock, so make sure you get as much training in as you can until then!"

A few muffled cheers was all that answered my declaration, but I could feel the intensity from my Pokemon as they eagerly awaited our first Gym Battle.

Though Dawn, May, Misty and I had all been registered to challenge Brock, I had been informed this morning that it would be a few days before we could battle him since he had been called out of town for League related duties. But that was fine by me, as I planned to train my team up a bit more and get the used to battling by challenging several trainers before going to take on Brock.

Riolu could probably solo his entire team, but I didn't want to only rely on him for every battle. None of the rest of my team would grow if I did that.

But rest was just as important as effort when it came to training, so I called all my Pokemon back to the their Pokeballs to give the chance to do just that. And as I stood to return to the suite, the door to the stadium opened to reveal a very haggard May and Dawn.

"Good morning you two!" I exclaimed energetically, making the two of them groan after going through their first night of experiencing me being 'serious'. But then again, what else did they expect after I spent my entire life fine tuning my body into a powerful weapon, and constantly enhancing it further with aura whenever I could?

I may had been taking it easy on them as we traveled, and because they had both just lost their virginities a few days ago, but with three women to entertain I hadn't held back last night.

"Morning guys!" Daisy exclaimed with just as much energy as me.

"Ugh.... How?" May groaned at us irritably.

"Well..... I've been forging my body into a weapon ever since I was a child, and Daisy has been doing yoga every day for a last several years." I told her seriously.

"Ace taught me. You guys should join me as well!" Daisy suggested energetically, making both May and Dawn groan from the idea.

Daisy wasn't taking no for an answer though, as she then proceeded to hook her arms through May and Dawn's, and drag them away to get changed. And either the two girls didn't even try to fight back, or they were just too tired and sore to bother putting in an attempt.

When they left it was just me left with mini Joy, the professor, and Riolu, who looked at me and barked his intentions for the day.

"Ri!"

"You sure buddy?"

"Lu!"

"Ok then. Be careful."

After saying that Riolu took off out the door on his own, confusing professor Oak and mini Joy as the former asked, "What's he doing?"

"Riolu's going to go out and train by himself for a bit. He'll probably head into the forest and find some wild Pokemon to battle or something."

"Is he going to be alright by himself?" Mini Joy asked worriedly.

"Oh yeah. Not only is Riolu really strong, but if something DID happen, then I'd be able to tell through our link."

By this time the three girls returned, accompanied surprisingly by Misty, and all four dressed in tight sports tops and either yoga pants or spandex shorts. Unsurprisingly, Misty refused to look me in the eye as they arrived.

"So are you just going to stand there and watch, or are you going to join in?" Daisy asked me suggestively.

"No! He can't do anything that might strain his chest unnecessarily!" Mini Joy protested immediately, while her Happiny cut in with her own firm "Piny!"

I looked at the girls and shrugged, before saying,

"I guess not. That's ok though. I'm gonna go and take a ride with Pidgeot since I haven't in a while." As I said that I looked to mini Joy beside me, who gave me a stern look as she said,

"Just make sure you don't go too hard!"

"Yes ma'am." I replied cheekily, making her scowl at me reproachfully.

She then stood from where we were seated and made to leave since she had already finished examining my chest, only to accidentally step on the hem of her dress and fall flat forward. And as she fell, the back of her dress flew up just like last night, flashing a pair of light pink panties this time at me.

"Owee..."

"Piny piny!" Her Happiny cried as it rushed to her side, a bandage already in hand to patch her up.

"Thank you Happiny... !!!"

It was only after applying the bandage that she became aware of her compromised appearance, at which point mini Joy hurriedly fixed her skirt before fixing me with an angry pout.

"Did you see?"

I deadpanned at her as I retorted, "you're the one who keeps flashing them."

"Humph!" Mini Joy harrumphed before leaping to her feet and storming out of the stadium angrily.

"She's very....unique." Dawn muttered quietly, to which I started smirking in amusement before also rising to my feet.

"I'm gonna get going while you ladies stretch. We'll meet up later for lunch or something, ok?" I said while walking towards the exit, much more secure in my gait than mini Joy was.

The girls waved me off as they began following Daisy's directions, groaning as they moved and stretched their bodies in ways they weren't used to.

As they did that I made my way out the front of the inn and looked to the skies, where I saw a minuscule dot flying above the city.

"PHWEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"

The people around me jumped as I whistled loudly at the dot in the sky, which came hurtling down at me at breakneck speeds only to pull out of the dive at the last possible second.

The glares and dirty looks I had been receiving for my whistle became looks of awe as everyone beheld Pidgeot in his Alpha glory, his plumage practically gleaming in the late morning sun.

And even though he still hated humans, much to the girl's' dismay, Pidgeot still proudly puffed out his chest to show off his majesty to his admirers.

"Enjoying yourself? You glorified peacock."

"Geo?"

"They're colorful birds with flashy feathers that can't fly. Their only use is to look pretty."

"Pi!"

"Well you're the one acting like them."

Pidgeot snorted at me derisively from the comparison, making me roll my eyes as I said,

"Whatever. Just let me on so we can go flying."

The flying type looked at me sharply before turning and leaning over so I could climb up onto his back, which I did under the watchful eyes of the awestruck spectators. Once I was in place and had donned my goggles, mask, and red Ranger jacket, I patted Pidgeot's side and said,

"Let's go!"

"PIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"

With a great cry Pidgeot flapped his wings and created a powerful downdraft as we took off, going from zero to Mach one within seconds.

We shot up through a cloud that covered both Pidgeot and I in a thick layer of moisture, before we burst out the top of it and spun rapidly as Pidgeot flared his wings out, flinging the condensation off of us and into the air.

He then slowed to a lazy speed as we drifted amongst the clouds, skimming them with the tips of his wings as we bobbed side to side. Thankfully I was wearing my jacket to keep the chill and moisture out, though I still had to clean off my goggles every minute or so.

Time seemed to slow as we drifted amongst the clouds, the sun bearing down on us and wind whistling in my ears. A short ways off I could see a Fearow glaring at us as it too drifted lazily amongst the clouds, but it made no attempt to attack as we veered off in the other direction.

"Teriaaaaaaaaa!"

Cried out a wayward Alteria that blended in with the clouds around it with its cottony wings, before it too veered off into a different direction.

Soon there was a break in the clouds as we ventured further from the city, showing us endless rolling hills and mountains of wilderness broken only by the occasional lake or river.

Pidgeot then angled into a dive as we hurtled towards the ground, only for him to pull out of it a scant few feet above the surface of the largest river we could see from the sky. We were close enough that Pidgeot even lowered one of his claws so that it skimmed the surface of the river lightly, scaring the shit out of the Pokemon within it.

We followed the river for several minutes, the trees turning to little more than green blurs on either side of us, until I saw a large waterfall looming closer with each passing second. As we got closer I smiled daringly under my mask, a feeling shared with Pidgeot as rapidly inched closer to the waterfall.

Just as it appeared as if we were going to crash into it, Pidgeot pulled up so the water was spraying his belly, and my face, before we passed the crest and shot upwards back into the sky.

Our flight together continued for a while as we drifted aimlessly, before I used my aura to slowly guide Pidgeot back towards the city. And as we got closer I told him from under my mask,

"You know, you CAN be a bit nicer to the girls."

"Gi!"

"Yes, I know they're humans. But they're good humans. It was protecting May and Dawn that resulted in my scars you know, when they were targeted by Team Rocket as well."

Pidgeot was silent as I reminded him of that, as I had long since told him how I acquired my numerous scars. It had been THAT particular story that got him to eventually trust me.

As for his attitude towards the girls, it had mostly been minor things like glaring at them and such. But, there had been one incident where Misty tried to pet Pidgeot, and he smacked her with his tail feathers in response.

We drifted back to the city in silence as Pidgeot contemplated what I told him, enjoying the midday sun and warm breeze since we weren't as high up as we had been before.

There was only serenity, until...

*boom!*

An explosion near the Gym caught my attention, followed by a mass of fear that I could feel through my aura.

"Geo?!"

"I don't know, but we're going to find out!" I said as we turned towards the disturbance, my expression hardening under my mask and goggles.

***

*KABOOM!*

"KYAAAAAAAA!!!"

Screams filled the air as people fled the source of the explosions at the Pewter City Fossil Sanctuary, an area similar to a zoo, but for the fossil Pokemon that were being raised and bred by Gym Leader Brock.

At the source of the commotion was a large machine that appeared humanoid with numerous cannons, a shiny red R on the back, and three figures visible through a window controlling it within.

"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!"

"Meowth! That's right!"

The trio declared, their motto echoing through the sanctuary over the speakers on the robot.

"Team Rocket!?!"

"Run away!!!"

Tension and fear immediately shot up as word of Team Rocket's attack spread throughout the sanctuary, sowing chaos as people tried to flee from the group in terror.

"Look at them all run~!" James smirked.

"Idiots~! That just makes things easier for us!" Jessie sneered in reply as all three of them aimed their respective cannons at the different enclosures for fossil Pokemon.

"""FIRE!"""

The three of them fired their shots simultaneously, shooting large metallic nets out of the cannons that each captured numerous fossil Pokemon at once.

"Oh~! A big catch!"

"Let's reel them all in!"

Jessie and James said to each other excitedly, as the cord attached to the nets began to reel the captured Pokemon in to them.

"They're stealing the fossil Pokemon!" A voice cried out before numerous trainers surrounded the machine.

"Go Geodude!"

"Go Onix!"

"Go Rhydon!"

The cries of numerous Pokemon filled the air as if to answer their trainers, who were all rock type Gym trainers under the Leader, Brock.

"Oh look, local resistance." James sneered from seeing the numerous rock type Pokemon surrounding them.

"Yeah? Well there's a reason when the Gym Leader's away, Team Rocket will play!" Meowth declared confidently, even as numerous rock type attacks were suddenly delivered to their machine.

"What imbeciles~! Metal beats rock, don't they know that?" Jessie stated in a condescending tone, as all of the attacks bounced off of the machine harmlessly.

After taking a moment to laugh at the fruitless efforts of the Gym trainers, the trio then aimed a second set of cannons at the Pokemon attacking them.

"A serving of Gym trained Pokemon, coming right up!" Meowth declared as they all fired a second round of metallic nets.

"""NO!!!"""

The Gym trainers cried out in despair as their own Pokemon were captured, but they themselves were unable to do anything to help them.

"WAHAHAHAHAHA! This is turning out to be quite the haul!"

"The boss is sure to reward us handsomely!" Jessie and James stated excitedly, now imagining the recognition and promotions they'd get after capturing all off these Pokemon. And to think, they only thought of doing this cause they were getting bored waiting for the twerp with the Alpha Pidgeot.

As if on cue, there was a concussion of noise as something rapidly approached the sanctuary.

"GEOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

The source of the concussion cried, before numerous razor sharp blades of wind tore though the machine and the metallic nets, freeing the Pokemon within.

*Error! Error! Error!*

The machine declared as its alarms sounded to indicate it had taken damage, while the trio within were stupefied at the sudden turn of events.

"It's dat twerp! And the Alpha they told us ta get!" Meowth exclaimed as he sighted an overly large Pidgeot circling back around, and the figure riding atop it.

And as the Pidgeot came to a stop in midair, it's powerful wings created a great downdraft that buffeted everyone present as they tried to shield their eyes, and the women tried to keep their skirts from flying up. It was only then that they noticed who was flying the great Alpha Pidgeot.

Though his face was hidden by his mask and a pair of glowing amber colored goggles, everyone recognized the jacket he was wearing.

"It's a Ranger!" One of the numerous civilians present cried out, before a wave of excited muttering spread throughout the people who had been fleeing and panicking moments prior.

It also helped that in an instant that same Ranger had freed all of the captured fossil and Gym trainer Pokemon, so that now there was a small army of Pokemon ready to fight back.

"Bothersome brat! Try this on for size!" Jessie exclaimed as she threw out two of her own Pokeballs.

"Charbok!"

"Dust!"

The Arbok and Dustox cried respectively as they prepared for battle.

"Don't forget about me!" James declared, as he too threw out a pair of Pokeballs.

"Weeze!"

"Elec!"

Cried out the Weezing and Electrode that made their own appearance. And As the four Pokemon appeared Team Rocket reloaded their net launchers for the next volley once that annoying Alpha Pidgeot was taken care of.

However the Ranger readily showed once again WHY they were after him, as he ordered,

"ROLLOUT!"

Immediately every Pokemon in the vicinity that could use the move did so, all at the four Pokemon sent out by Team Rocket.

"Don't let them take you down! Electrode, use Thunder!"

"Trode!" Declared the Pokemon in question, as it unleashed the most powerful electric type attack it was capable of at Pidgeot.....or one of the Ryhorn.

"Wha-?" James uttered dumbfounded, unaware that one of the abilities possessed by the Ryhorn line was Lightning Rod which drew all electric type attacks to the possessor, who was typically immune to them.

But before he could even register what had happened, a ton of rock type Pokemon using Rollout crashed into Electrode to knock it out. To avoid the Rollout wave Weezing and Dustox quickly floated up out of the way, while Arbok used Dig to hide underground.

"Earthquake!" The Ranger ordered next, which a Rhydon answered as the very earth beneath their feet began to shake, damaging the machine even more before a very battered and bruise Arbok shot up from the ground, only to collapse in a pile.

Earthquake was doubly effective against Pokemon who had used the move Dig, and even more so when they were a poison type that was weak to ground type attacks.

"Rock Throw!" The Ranger ordered next, and every Pokemon that knew the move, and wasn't using Rollout, proceeded to pick up chunks of rock to throw at Dustox and Weezing.

"Deal with them Dustox!" Jessie cried in alarm from how swiftly they'd lost two of their Pokemon.

The moth-like Pokemon glowed with an eerie light as it used its telekinetic powers to catch several of the thrown rocks, but not all of them as its body was hammered until it could no longer stay aloft.

Now all that was left was Weezing and the damaged machine that Team Rocket was still hiding in, which was under assault by the Pokemon still using Rollout.

"Weezing, use Smokescreen!" James ordered urgently before their last Pokemon was defeated, but even as Weezing obeyed his command, the powerful gusts of wind being generated by Pidgeot quickly blew any smoke or smog Weezing generated away.

After that it too was immediately defeated as the rock type Pokemon continued using Rock Throw, and Weezing joined the other three in the losers pile.

"Th-this can't be happening!" Jessie exclaimed in disbelief.

"Damn that twerp!" James swore as he watched his Pokemon go down.

"I tink we've got bigger problems..." Meowth said worriedly.

*ERROR! ERROR! ERROR!*

The machine was screaming at them now as the damage it was taking continued to increase, until it was well past the breaking point.

"Someone hit the eject button!" Jessie cried out with urgency.

"I did!" Meowth replied as he slammed the button repeatedly, but nothing happened.

"Don't tell me were trapped in here!?" James exclaimed with growing fear, while the alarms not grew louder and the machine began to vibrate dangerously.

"Pidgeot." The Ranger said all of a sudden in a low voice that was still audible to all of them.

"Air Slash."

The Alpha Pidgeot didn't hesitate to obey the Ranger's command, as it unleashed a single Air Slash that would cut through steel with no problem, nearly rending the machine in two.

And with that last bit of damage, the machine could no longer hold itself together.

*KABOOM!*

One last explosion shook the sanctuary as the machine blew up, sending the members of Team Rocket flying away along with their Pokemon.

"""TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAIN!"""

They cried out in unison, before disappearing into a little speck in the distance.

"Hooray for the Ranger!" One of the trainers cried out as Team Rocket disappeared.

"RANGER! RANGER! RANGER!"

The crowd of civilians and trainers began chanting, as that very same Ranger turned about on his Pidgeot and took off, never so much as revealing his face.

***

"Well that was 'fun'." I remarked to myself as I stripped off my mask, goggles, and jacket, before storing them all in my bag.

Currently I was hiding out somewhere on the sanctuary grounds after I had Pidgeot drop me off, so that I could stay and help the people in charge of the sanctuary treat and return the fossil Pokemon back to their habitats.

I had obviously removed my mask and goggles since I wasn't riding on Pidgeot anymore, while the jacket was so that I didn't get swarmed by people after my 'performance' as a Ranger. I couldn't help any of the possibly injured Pokemon if people were swarming to try and thank me, and I could just show the people in charge that I was both a Ranger and Breeder with my Pokedex.

Once that was done I stepped out into the crowds of people and spread my aura to see if there were any fossil Pokemon that needed help, and detected a weak aura in response a short ways away.

I quickly made my way over to the aura, which was located around a group of vending machines, and found a small Cranidos hiding between them.

"Dos!?"

"It's ok! I'm not going to hurt you." I said to it while trying to transmit calming energy to it so it wouldn't try to run away.

Thankfully it seemed to work as I felt the Cranidos start to calm down, though it was still fairly wary of me as I reached out to it. So to encourage it to come to me, I pulled a jar of the honey I had on me out and opened it, allowing the sweet scent to waft over to the Cranidos.

"Cran?"

"That's it..." I said softly as it sniffed the air tentatively, before slowly stepping towards me while remaining cautious.

Step by step the Cranidos slowly approached me, lured by the scent of honey combined with my calming aura. Until finally, he was close enough to touch as I patted him gently while giving him honey.

"There you go. See? That's the good stuff." I continued speaking in a soothing voice, before finally taking it into my arms.

"Dos?"

"Don't worry little guy, I'm just taking you back to your home." I told him before making my way through the sanctuary.

From what I knew, this Cranidos was one of the very few living in the sanctuary since the vast majority of fossils found in Kanto were from the Omanyte, Kabuto, or Aerodactyle lines. But with Brock's success in raising and breeding them, I knew numerous fossils had been sent to him from varying regions to try and repeat his success.

I was approaching what I believed was the Cranidos enclosure, when a voice suddenly cried out behind me,

"Hey, you!"

I turned to look at the speaker, but never could've anticipated what happened next, as a burning pain suddenly assaulted my eyes.

"AHHHHHH!" I cried out in pain and alarm, my first instinct to cover my eyes with my hands, but I couldn't with Cranidos in them.

And what was even worse, the Pokemon in my hands also cried out as I presumed whatever blinded me also got him. But it didn't stop there.

I felt what seemed like two pins hit my neck immediately after I was blinded, before a familiar feeling overcame me as electricity was pumped directly into my body. A current so strong, that it put the Thunder Bite I had received from Houndoom so long ago to shame.

My muscles seized up and I fell on my side, HARD, before both I and Cranidos began to jerk as the current continued flowing into me uninterrupted, and through me into Cranidos.

"HA! I've got you now you criminal!" Cried the same voice that called out to me, a voice that I only recognized now as she called me a criminal.

With my muscles still spamming from the electricity I couldn't fight back as Officer Jenny kicked me hard enough to roll me over, and grabbed my arms to slap a pair a handcuffs onto my wrists behind my back.

"Not only did you flee before I could arrest you yesterday, but now I caught you in the act of trying to steal one of the fossil Pokemon in the wake of a Team Rocket attack!"

Talking in what felt like as loud a voice as possible, Officer Jenny hauled me into a sitting position as I felt numerous people gathering around us to see what the commotion was.

"What going on Offcier Jenny?" One of them asked.

"I just caught this criminal trying to steal one of the fossil Pokemon! He was already wanted for evading arrest, but now I strongly suspect that he's an associate of Team Rocket! Maybe even a full-fledged member that was sent in undercover! I mean, look at what he did to that poor Pokemon!"

Still blinded from the pepper spray, and stunned from what I assumed was a stun gun, it took me genuine effort to try and argue my innocence as I struggled to say,

"N-no.....I-I....d-d-di-"

*SMACK!*

Before I could say anything something hit me across the face, possibly the officer's baton, as she yelled at me,

"Shut up you Team Rocket scum! Save it for judge!"

"Yeah!"

"You should be ashamed of yourself!"

"Jail is too good for you people!"

"You're a plague on this good region!"

These were only a few of the comments and insults thrown at me as Officer Jenny hauled me to my feet, after hitting me with her baton a few more times for being 'uncooperative', before she began to march me away towards what I assumed was the police station.

The entire time I was constantly being assaulted by insults, which quickly escalated to trash and anything else people could throw at me.