Chapter 17

The Nugget Bridge

Pewter City-

When Lance's Pokémon arrived at the Pewter City Gym with his hostage, he didn't let go of the man. The tall dragon walked into the Gym holding the Team Rocket Captain's arms behind his back. Brock arrived to see what the fuss was about, as the Captain was making a lot of noise kicking and screaming.

"You can't hold me here!" he said. "I didn't do nothing wrong!"

"Can it," said Brock. "There must be a good reason why Champion Lance's own Pokémon is restraining you. We'll just wait for him to get here." Brock had stayed up all night replacing the Boulder Badge he had given to Red. It had to sit just right upon the stone pillar at the far side of the stadium.

Eventually, Lance arrived accompanied by Lorelei. If your mind needs refreshing she is also a member of the Elite Four, and is Lance's girlfriend. Lance began the interrogation then.

"Who do you work for?" he asked. He wanted to get straight to the point.

"Nobody," said the man. "Team Rocket works for themselves."

"Oh," said Lorelei. "Then why did the kids you battled at Mt. Moon say you mentioned a 'Boss,' a higher authority?"

"They're lying," said the Captain. Sweat had begun to dribble through his red headband.

"They also said that you left with the Moon Stone to return to a 'Base Camp' while you left your underlings to deal with them. They said you intended to steal their Pokémon."

"We were just trying to scare them into not battling as hard that's all."

"You threatened them with a Voltorb," said Lance. "I saw you hold it up like an explosive. Pokémon aren't to be used as weapons to harm other trainers."

"Just a scare tactic."

Lorelei scoffed in disbelief. She could tell he was lying, but they couldn't prove that he had broken any law. Trainers go to excavate Moon Stones all the time, it wasn't a crime. Lance then became curious.

"The kids said after you came back, you didn't have the special Moon Stone anymore. What happened to it? Did you chuck it off the mountainside to be found later by more of your gang? And they said they heard a deafening explosion, but yet you didn't use the Voltorb against them. Care to explain?"

The Captain shuddered. The two Elite Four members and Brock could see fear in his eyes. At last, he spoke. His voice was shaky with terror.

"It's gone… The Fossil Moon Stone… I… I ran away from the battle. I ran for about a hundred yards down the passage…" His eyes grew wide, he was telling the truth. He had forgotten all about being a member of Team Rocket, and instead, seemed like a small child begging for help. "Someone was in my way, he wouldn't let me pass. I thought it was one of our thugs so I says 'Get out of the way, we gotta go now.'

"Then he says 'I agree, let's go. I have some questions for you about that rock you carry.' Then I got a closer look at him… He looked like a phantom… Dressed in grey, I couldn't see his face. I couldn't move. His… his eyes wouldn't let me!

"The air around me felt terrible and twisted, like something didn't belong. The man-the thing- started walking towards me… I was so scared… I says 'If ya want the rock come and get it!' It started coming faster, I reckon that wasn't too smart to say… I threw the rock at it, then a grenade and BOOM! The whole passageway became rubble… I escaped it just in time."

The three Great Trainers were fascinated by this story. Lorelei suggested a Psychic-type Pokémon was to blame. Brock corrected that Pokémon don't talk, not even Psychic-types. Lance was more in thought than ever. He turned to Brock.

"It could've been a ghost," he said at last. The others stared in disbelief at him. Lorelei rolled her eyes at him as if to say "Now's not the time for jokes." "Think about it guys!" he continued: "The Team Rocket guy here said he looked like a phantom! And he heard voices in his head! There's only one thing to do, and I only know one person in all of Kanto who is a master of Ghosts. She might be able to shed a little light on his story."

"Agatha!" Lorelei said. Agatha was the third member of the Elite Four. She was a Ghost-type Pokémon trainer. Her many years on this earth had also brought her great wisdom.

"I'll go get Agatha," said Lance. "Lorelei, you go tell Misty in Cerulean City that we've caught the Pokémon-napper. Brock," he turned to the Pewter Gym Leader and had an important tone in his voice, "Guard this man at all costs until I return with Agatha, in case Team Rocket discovers his location and decides to come free their friend. You must do this even if it means shutting the Gym down for a day or so. I'll be back as soon as I can. Come on, Dragonite!" Lance and Dragonite walked out of the underground stadium and flew off towards Indigo Plateau.

There's our side, thought Lance. The side of good, the cops. There's Team Rocket, the robbers. What does that make this "Phantom?"

Route 4, West of Cerulean City-

Red and Blue packed up camp. The road they followed slowly wound down from the rocky mountainside. Their path soon turned east and became lined on either side by lush green grass. They sky above them was Blue with great puffs of cloud seen here or there. They could see a river flowing north to south in the distance. Beyond the river was a great hill many miles in diameter. On top of this hill they could see houses and buildings: Cerulean City.

As the road approached the stream they came across a sign. It read:

Nugget Bridge Ahead. Only way across the River.

A mile or so later, the young Pokémon Trainers came to the bridge itself. It was tall and very wide. It crossed over the swift river at fifty feet high. To their shock, Green was waiting for them, sitting on a step.

"I figured I'd be seeing you here if I waited long enough, Red," he wore the same smug look on his face as they day Red defeated him in Viridian City.

"If you want a battle, let's skip the chatter," said Red pulling out a Poke-ball. Green laughed and held his hands up.

"Let's not be hasty, pal," he gestured up to the bridge. "That thing right there: that's the Nugget Bridge. The only way across is to beat five Trainers in a row, a daunting task for one Trainer…but if the three of us work together, we can do it."

"Why would we want to work with you?" asked Blue, her hands on her hips. Green looked at turned his head to her.

"Because the only other alternatives are going three days around the river or swimming through it, and if you haven't noticed, it constantly runs into rapids and waterfalls. We'd drown. So what say you, guys?"

Red reluctantly nodded his head. "We'll go."

They walked up many stairs to enter on to the bridge itself. At the top of the stairs, there was a young Pokémon Trainer with his hat on backwards waiting for them.

"Well, well, do we have some challengers?" he asked.

Red stepped forwards as if to battle him, but Green held his arm out. "I'll take the first one," he said as he grinned. He was anxious to show off to his rival. "Go, Charmander!" Charmander came out of Green's Poke-ball. The flame on its tail burned brightly.

"An impressive Pokémon," said the Nugget Bridge Trainer. "Go, Pidgey!" The tiny bird Pokémon appeared in the air out of its Poke-ball. It was smaller than Red's. The trainer ordered a Quick Attack, but Green was ready.

"Use Ember, Charmander!" The orange lizard spun around as small flames shot out from its tail, burning the Pidgey as it got close. "Now use Metal Claw!" Charmander ran towards the steaming bird, and raised its arm while brandishing its claws. The claws seemed to reflect the light like a sword glinting in the sun. When the arm came down, it devastated the Pidgey and knocked it out. Green recalled his Pokémon.

"You may pass," said the Nugget Bridge Trainer.

They walked about fifty more yards when they came across another Trainer standing in their way.

"My turn," said Red. He had seen Green's impressive victory and didn't want to be outdone. The trainer that stood in opposition sent out a Sandshrew, the golden colored Ground-type Pokémon gave out a small cry. Red knew he had a type-advantage, so he sent out his starter Pokémon, Squirtle. It appeared out of its Poke-ball in its signature pose.

The other trainer commanded the Sandshrew to use Tackle. Before it could get close, Red commanded a Water-Gun attack, which knocked out the golden hedgehog in one hit. Now two Nugget Bridge Trainers had been defeated.

The third Trainer on the bridge was a young woman. She had seen the previous two battles from afar and was already waiting for them. The Pokémon at her side reminded Red of Blue's Nidoran. It had the same large ears and bucked front teeth. However, it was a little larger, and the toxic horn on its head was larger, and it was purple. Its name was also a Nidoran. However, it was the male species of the Poison-pin Pokémon.

Blue deducted that it was her turn to battle after Red and Green both stood with their arms crossed, seemingly waiting. She decided she'd also use the Pokémon that Professor Oak had given her.

"Go, Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur appeared from its Poke-ball with a small roar. It saw Green and remembered his harsh words back in the Pallet Town lab. He wanted to prove Green wrong.

"Nidoran, use Poison-Sting!" The purple Nidoran charged at Bulbasaur with its horn pointed at its target.

"Leech Seed, Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur shot the tiny seeds out of its bulb and upon contact with the Nidoran, they burst and the thorny vines wrapped around it. Blue then had Bulbasaur follow up the attack with a Tackle. Bulbasaur knocked out its foe in one hit. She recalled the Grass Pokémon and they continued.

They walked until they could see the end of the bridge. Awaiting them was another Trainer: the fourth out of fifth on the Nugget Bridge.

"You have done well to make it this far," he said. "I am the second to last Trainer, and I will pulverize you! Go Mankey!" Out of the Trainer's Poke-ball came a fuzz ball with a nose rather like a pig. Its lanky arms and legs were like those of a monkey. Its eyes looked extremely angry.

Red and Blue looked Mankey up on their Pokedex. All the 'dex could tell them was that it was a Fighting-type Pokémon. Fighting-types were notorious for their ruthless and powerful blows.

"I'll take care of this too," said Green. "You know what they say, fight brawn with brainpower! Go!" He tossed a Poke-ball and out of this one came a strange-looking Pokémon. It sat down on the bridge. Its head resembled that of a cat. It was yellow in color and had what seemed like brown shoulder pads. Its tail was tipped with white. I's eyes were closed as it appeared to be asleep. It was an Abra.

"Mankey, use Low Kick!" The monkey Pokémon ran forward and attempted to kick down at Abra's base, but suddenly, Abra disappeared and reappeared behind it.

"Abra, use Confusion!" Abra opened its eyes glared at Mankey. The monkey began to punch itself in the face. Blue couldn't control her laughter, though she couldn't stand Green's attitude. The punching continued until Abra shot another glare at Mankey and it jumped off the bridge into the water below. By now, all three young trainers were laughing hysterically. The fourth Nugget Trainer, however, did not. He ran down the stairs at the bridge and attempted to swim after his Pokémon. Luckily, the water was relatively calm and he was able to save it (though he got terribly wet).

"Wow, Green," said Red. "That was pretty impressive."

"I know," said Green. He put on his smug look again. "That's only a small taste of Psychic-Pokémon power. Abra is still relatively weak on the Psychic power scale, but just wait!"

They came down the stairs and there was the fifth Nugget Bridge trainer. He was clapping his hands in applause. "Bravo!" he said. "Teamwork is so touching isn't it? Team Rocket could use Trainers like you, so skilled yet so young. We could mold you into the greatest Trainers ever! So what do you say?"

Blue couldn't believe what she was hearing. "NO! I can't believe you'd block this bridge in an effort to find strong trainers to recruit!" She folded her arms. "And I don't think you've heard about my friend and me." She motioned towards Red. "We've defeated two of you at once back at Mt. Moon. And we're acquaintances with Lance of the Elite Four, Champion of the Pokémon League!"

The Team Rocket recruit man looked stunned. He knew he couldn't take all three trainers once they had revealed who they were. He had heard about a boy and a girl at Mt. Moon who put up a heck of a fight at Mt. Moon. He figured there was only one thing to do. He dropped the golden nugget prize and ran.

"These nuggets are worth a lot of money," said Green. "And since I battled twice, I think I should take it."

"I don't think so," said Red. "Let's battle for it." He smiled as he pulled out a Poke-ball.

Blue couldn't care less about the nugget. She wanted to get to Cerulean City to get cleaned up. She hadn't had a proper shower since Pewter City.

Green pulled out one of his own Poke-balls as if he was expecting this moment.