As soon as we entered I saw the receptionist's desk, and to our right was the elevator door. The door was being guarded by two grunts.

They turned as we entered and each sent out a Rattata. Tyrogue quickly swiped his arm down onto the two Pokémon, knocking them away with Brick Break.

Typhlosion snarled at the grunts. They glanced at their two weakened Pokémon and surrendered, letting us get inside.

We scanned the panel of the elevator. The top floor of the building required a key card to access.

Blue scratched his chin. "Alright, maybe someone left a key card in one of the lower floors." He theorized.

"Anyone who has a key card probably wouldn't let it out of their sight." Daisy pointed out. "That'd be pretty stupid."

Blue tilted his head. "I guess that's true. But it's not like we have any other options for finding one."

"Do we need one?" Daisy proposed. "Maybe there's some way to override the requirement?"

An idea crossed Blue's face. "Tweedle-dumb, have your Pikachu hot wire the system," Blue ordered. I gave him a blank look that matched Pikachu's.

"Do you really want to trust Pikachu to play around with the wires that control the metal box we're in?" Daisy pointed out.

Blue was clearly growing irritated at this point. "Well, what do you suggest if you're sooooo smart?" Blue asked my friend.

Daisy held up Venonat and Tyrogue's Poké Balls. "Give me five minutes on the first floor,"

I pressed the button that would take us to the first floor. The elevator shook and began to ascend, lifting us up to the first floor.

The doors slid open and Daisy ran outside onto the first floor. I was about to follow her when she shook her head. "I'll handle this."

I was about to object, but Daisy sent out her Pokémon. "C'mon, Red." I could see there was a bit of pleading in her eyes. There was more to this that she didn't want to tell me.

I relented and the girl charged off into the corridors. I heard the sounds of battling echo down the hallways of the office.

I glanced at Blue, who shrugged at me. "She's always been like this. Aren't you supposed to be her best friend? How's this a surprise to you?"

I gestured to my hands and rolled my eyes. Go ahead and ask me a question, genius. You don't know sign language.

I heard a loud crash down the hall and Daisy exclaimed. "Take that! Venonat, watch out!"

Blue didn't seemed bothered. "Sorry I don't speak hands, kid. Was punching me in the face sign language too?"

The jerk had a sly grin on his face now. The bruise had mostly faded, and now one wouldn't be able to immediately tell that I had hit him.

I held up Pikachu's Poké Ball and mouthed 'rematch.' Blue rolled his eyes. "You want to have another battle? Let's see how you do with Team Rocket. How many badges have you gotten so far?"

I held up my badge case, showing off my three badges. Blue chuckled. "Awww, they're so cute. I've got five, so you're slipping behind."

I wondered how many badges Yellow had at this point. Thinking about Yellow, I suddenly remembered that she and Blue had a history.

I wasn't sure how to bring the girl up, especially since it's not like I wanted to play charades with Blue.

We heard more shouting from down the hall, and I saw Daisy running with a key card in hand. A few grunts were tailing her and her Pokémon. "Close the door! Close the door!" She shouted.

I began to push down on the button to close the elevator door. Daisy sprinted down the hall and jumped into the elevator. The doors slid shut and Daisy inserted the key card.

"Good work baby sis," Blue remarked. Daisy rolled her eyes and pressed the ten button.

The elevator began going up. The three of us stood there listening to jazz again. I had to wonder what would be waiting for us at the top.

Silph Co. produced all sorts of experimental technology. What did Team Rocket want with a place like this? They had never attempted something of this level.

When the elevator finally reached the tenth floor, the door opened with a ding and we walked out.

The tenth floor was a complete mess, furniture and papers were scattered across the floor, and a table was flipped. I saw some papers that were marked as confidential, at the top was the name Rogue Two.

"Give me the damned Master Ball or you're going to regret it! We've got your whole company under our control!" A voice screamed. We turned our attention to the far side of the room, where two men were standing.

The first one had blue hair and was wearing a black hat. He had on white gloves and boots with long black pants and a long sleeved black shirt.

The second man was hard to see, but he was clearly the president of Silph Co. He was seated at his desk, shaking from the situation he was in.

"S-sir please, we haven't finished testing the Master Ball, it could still be faulty! A device like that shouldn't be released to the public yet! The president attempted to reason with his captor. We stepped out of the elevator, but the two didn't seem to notice.

The man rolled his eyes. "I don't care! The boss wants the Master Ball! So give us the Master Ball! I'm not going to tell you again!" The blue haired man ordered and he pushed the president, causing him to fall over in his chair.

"Hey! Leave him alone!" Daisy shouted. The captor turned to look at us, his sick grin grew wider. He had chaotic green eyes. The same color as uranium.

"Well lookie here, I think I've found some kids who have stuck their noses in something they don't belong in. Well, sorry to say but I'm not one for mercy. You three get to be taken down by the world's greatest rocket admin, Proton!" He laughed and removed a Poké Ball from his belt.

"Proton huh? You're one of the admins. Let me take this one kid." Blue told us and he took out a Poké Ball of his own.

"Hey, we can take him just as much as you can!" Daisy protested, but Blue shook his head.

"This is serious, Daisy." Blue's voice was stern now.

"You kids don't know what you're getting into," Proton growled. He sent out a Weezing. The evolved form of Koffing was very similar to its previous form. The large purple ball was now much bigger. A smaller head was attached to the large one. Both of them sent out puffs of smog.

I looked Blue in the eye and held up a Poké Ball. Blue had insisted he'd battle me if I was strong enough. It was time to prove it.

Blue grit his teeth. "Alright, fine. Go on then, show me what you've got."

I smiled and went forward, taking out Charmander's Poké Ball. "You've got this, Red!" Daisy cheered.

"Finally, let's just fight so I can get rid of you kids and get that damned Master Ball!" Proton mumbled impatiently.

I sent out Charmander and the Fire-Type yawned before turning to face his opponent.

"Alright, Weezing use Sludge Bomb!" Proton barked and the Weezing launched a sphere of purple at Charmander.

Charmander was struck by the move, which exploded upon making contact with him. He rolled across the ground and narrowed his eyes.

Charmander use Ember! Charmander sent a small flame at Weezing, who recoiled in pain. Now use Scratch! My Pokémon leaped into the air and swipe his claw into the Weezing's face.

"Smokescreen! Now!" Proton growled, and his Poison-Type sent smoke from the holes in its body. The battlefield was consumed by smoke. I covered my mouth with my arm, but I wasn't able to see anything in front of me.

Charmander are you alright? I called, and the fire type stumbled out of the smoke, hacking up a storm. How do we counter this? Think, Red. Think!

"Alright now use Tackle!" The Weezing raced forward from the smoke, catching Charmander off guard. Weezing slammed into Charmander, sending him sprawling backward.

My Pokémon tumbled across the ground and Weezing faded back into the smoke. I thought back to Daisy's battle against Blue.

Charmander, let's go all out! I called. Run in when I say the word!

Proton seemed to grow impatient. "Weezing, Tackle again!" Weezing flew out from the smoke. Jump back and use Ember! Charmander leaped back as Weezing dove in.

My Pokémon launched a flame directly into the gaseous foe, sending it flying back. The smoke started to dissipate, revealing an irritated Proton.

Proton stomped his foot on the ground. "Heat Wave!" Fire burst from Weezing's pores, slamming into Charmander. He fell over from the assault.

I glanced at Blue, who seemed ready to jump in. Then I looked back at Charmander.

Charmander please get up... I know you can do this. I pleaded. Charmander's eyes snapped open.

He roared as power surged around him. Suddenly, Charmander began glowing and growing in size. His arms, legs, and tail extended, a horn appeared on the back of his head, and sharp claws sprung from his fingers and toes.

When the glow finally subsided, Charmander was no more. Instead of his yellow skin, he now had a darker red shade of skin. He was now a Charmeleon.

"Wow, Charmander evolved!" Daisy awed. "This is your first evolution, Red!"

Blue seemed less impressed. "Pokémon evolve all the time. Show me if you've got the skill to take advantage of it."

Charmeleon use Flame Burst! Charmeleon began to form a flame in his mouth and then fired it at Weezing. Hot flames flew in all directions, landing on some of the furniture.

"Weezing use Sludge Bomb!" Proton commanded. Weezing launched the purple sphere out at my Pokémon.

Jump over it and use Slash! Charmander leaped over the incoming projectile. Then, he swung his claws into the body of the Weezing. The Pokémon seemed to be nearing his limit.

"Dammit!" Proton growled. "Use Tackle!" Weezing sped through the air and slammed into Charmeleon. "Now use Smokescreen!"

Weezing sent out another blast of smoke. This time, I knew what we had to do. Use Slash! Finish this!

Charmeleon's tail flared to life, showing off his location. The Pokémon's claws expanded in size and darted through the smog, finally striking true.

The smoke cleared, and Weezing was now unable to battle. "Oh..." Proton sighed and returned his Pokémon. Suddenly his walkie talkie began to go off.

"Proton! Proton pick up!" A harsh voice on the other side barked, and Proton removed his walkie talkie from his belt.

"Proton here. This is the worst time you could have called Ariana" He stated.

The voice on the other end seemed to be in a hurry. "Not my problem. Get out of there. We have the blueprints for the Master Ball, we can make our own!" The other voice sounded excited. "We're needed elsewhere. Archer's assault is still underway, and we need to make our next move with Team Zero."

Proton sighed. "Yeah, about that. I'm kinda cornered by a group of kids... and they knocked out my Pokémon" Proton explained, and then the other end went quiet. "Arceus dammit! First the boss sends me to deal with the windbag and now this!"

"Alright. Enough of this," Blue sauntered up to Proton. "You've lost fair and square. Now it's time for some long prolonged revenge!"

The doors of the elevator suddenly burst open. I looked to see multiple police officers storming out of the metal box.

"Put your hands where we can see them!" One ordered and we all complied.

Once everything was cleared up, Proton and the grunts that had been captured were hauled off by the police. The president of Silph Co. then came to us.

"I'd like to thank all of you for saving me and my company. You're quite an impressive bunch." The man commended. "I'd offer you some of the Master Balls, but unfortunately they're not yet complete."

Blue shrugged. "Eh, probably for the better since those grunts got ahold of the blueprints."

We finished our conversation with the president and then exited the building. Saffron City was now being cleaned up and recovering from the invasion.

I looked Blue in the eyes and he sighed. "Yeah, you want a battle, right?"

I nodded. "You'll get one. Next time we run into each other. You've still got some catching up to do, and I think I need to tweak some strategies. But I'll give you this, you actually impressed me."

Daisy rolled her eyes. "Why're you such a jerk, Blue?"

The boy began to walk away from us. "Just my style. Stay out of trouble, losers."

"I just don't get him," Daisy mused as her brother strolled down the street.

I looked down at my hands and made fists with them. I was going to get stronger, and I was going to beat him.