'Is that you?' we both yelled. Then Goh cleared his throat.
'You go first,' he said.
'Goh, is that really you?' I shouted, blinking.
'Of course! And Ash, you look exactly the same!'
'But you do too!'
We both stared at each other and blinked. Then we shook our heads.
'So what are you doing here?' asked Goh. 'Hi, Pikachu!'
'I'm a journalist. I've been told to investigate this place by my boss,' I explained. 'How 'bout you?'
'I work here,' said Goh. 'I mean, I've gotta get a job, don't I?'
Suddenly a girl with maroon hair tied into two plaits walked up to Goh. She looked like she had come back from school.
'Goh, I've got news,' she said. She then looked at me and shouted.
'Ash? That can't be you, can it?'
'Uh, hi Chloe!' I said. 'Long time no see!'
'Ash is here researching the factory,' explained Goh to Chloe, then turned to me. 'What's the reason, though?'
'Well, apparently your Poké Balls, when used, are sending Pokémon somewhere else.'
'Really?' Goh was surprised. 'I had no clue! Why, I've got to tell--'
BAM! Something had exploded, coming from the room at the far wall!
'What was that?' said Chloe. A ball suddenly hit her head, and she jerked towards where it came from to find some mean-looking girls. She chased after them.
Me and Goh ran ahead. Before flinging open the doors of that room, I looked back to see Goh being dragged into his boss's office.
Right, I thought. So I'm gonna do this on my own.
I flung open the doors to find a bunch of Pokémon, as well as a... hole in the roof?
There was a helicopter up above. Me and Pikachu ran to the Pokémon.
'What's happened here?' I said.
Then, suddenly, the next thing we all knew was that we were all swept up into a giant net!
'Wha--' I began, then realised where we were. Pikachu was on my lap. I managed to peek through the holes of the net to see Goh finally entering the room. He glared at the scene in front of him, astonished, then he shook his head.
Soon we were moving; the helicopter was leaving! This was my chance to discover the culprit!
Pikachu then asked if he should use Iron Tail to break us out. I still don't know what came over me, but I said no!
I'll pass the pencil onto Goh now, so that he can explain what he did afterwards. See you in a bit! (Don't worry, Goh won't be long!)
(POV: Goh)
I stood, astonished, not able to believe my eyes. All of the staff's Pokémon had just been stolen!
Then I pulled myself together. As the helicopter began to leave, I sprinted out of the building to find Chloe in an argument. All I knew was that she had won it, and then the girls from before were running off.
[Chloe just told me that the girls were actually drawn to a new shopping mall. But initially I don't remember seeing a shopping mall.]
'Chloe,' I exclaimed, 'Ash, Pikachu and the other Pokémon were all kidnapped!'
'Kidnapped?' asked Chloe. 'Whadda you mean?'
'Look there!' I pointed to the helicopter and the net. 'They're all inside that net! We gotta go after them!'
I ran after the helicopter. Chloe followed at my heels.
Soon we found ourselves in a wide field. The helicopter was still above us, but soon it parked onto the grass. Hurriedly, Chloe and I hid behind a tree, just in time to see a man with brown hair and a black suit exit the helicopter and de-attach the net from the vehicle.
'Let's wait here,' I hissed.
'And see what happens next,' whispered Chloe.
'Right.'
The man dragged the net along behind him. All I could see was a bunch of Pokémon... until I could briefly see Ash scrawling things down on a notepad, along with Pikachu looking rather hesitant and reluctant about something.
'There they are!' I whispered. Chloe nodded.
There was a building I hadn't noticed before. It seemed a mere black shack of some sort, made of steel and about as big as the downstairs of a house. I don't know how I could tell, I just could.
The man, accompanied by the net, opened the black door wide and entered the building.
'We'll wait for a while,' I breathed. 'If we go in now, suspicions could be raised.'
(POV: Ash)
Ok, so I'm going to jump straight in with this bit.
That man was Giovanni. Surely you know him, the leader of Team Rocket?
Well, he took us to a big empty room. And the net was spread out amid one whole side of the room. He walked around the outskirts of the net. Me and Pikachu didn't want him to know we were there, so we hid behind an Electabuzz. I anxiously sat with my arms wrapped around my knees, and Pikachu sat a ways in front of me, glaring at the Electabuzz for no particular reason.
'Well, well,' snarled Giovanni. 'A (I've no clue if he said "hoard" or "horde"!) of Pokémon. Cheer up, it isn't too bad here.'
I could hear my breathing. The Pokémon all made painful and angry and upset noises.
Soon Giovanni reached Electabuzz. I clapped a hand over my mouth to prevent loud breathing, but I could still hear myself.
Giovanni glared at the Electabuzz for a moment, and the grip on my mouth tightened. I shut my eyes for some reason, hoping this was all over in a moment...
My wish had come true! Giovanni walked slowly past, but eventually kept shooting Electabuzz suspicious and uncertain looks, as if something wasn't right. I internally did a fist pump, but still kept a hand over my mouth until he left the room after inspecting his successful catch.
My hand relaxed, then crawled towards my notepad, which was in my pocket. My other hand crawled towards my pen, which was hanging off the collar of my shirt.
'I need light,' I whispered, then noticed a Shiinotic some ways away.
'Shiinotic!' I seemingly hissed. 'Can I borrow some light, please?'
The Shiinotic made a polite noise and came up to me.
'Thanks!' I began to scribble down information.
'Giovanni... real... culprit...' I murmured, saying what I was writing.
'Pika-Pi?' said Pikachu. 'Pikachu-Pika?'
'Not yet, Pikachu,' I said, still scrawling down notes. 'Lemme just finish writing this... There. Now you can.'
Pikachu silently broke open the net using Iron Tail. We crawled out, then beckoned for everyone to come out too.
'Alright, me and Pikachu will come for you afterwards, alright?' I said, mid-exiting the room. 'First we need to figure out how to get out of this place, as well as inspect everything.'
The Pokémon nodded. Me and Pikachu left the room.