Early the next day the group went to explore Cerulean City. Their aim was to identify the various routes between the palace and their intended hiding places, and to find which once had more ways to hide from and lose a pursuer. Eventually, they came across Rose's house. It looked in better condition than the majority of dwellings they had seen.
Timmy was closest to the front door so he knocked. The door soon opened to reveal a young woman, seventeen or eighteen years old, with long, wavy blonde hair and a plain but new-looking dress.
She saw Timmy and the group of youths behind him and gave a start. She and Timmy caught each other's glance. They stopped and stared at each other. He tried to speak.
"Hello... uh... are you... uh..."
"It's me. Brock," said Brock. "We're here to talk about Misty."
She regained her composure.
"Come in," she said, and shut the door behind them. "Who are these people with you and what do you want with the Princess?" Behind her was a squirtle who stood and watched warily.
"Rose, I don't know if you remember my brother Timmy. We are accompanied by Prince Gary and Ash of Pallet. In short, Rose, we're here to rescue Misty."
Rose gasped. "What... how...?"
"We'll break into the palace tonight. We think we can hide her, but two of us, Ash and Timmy, we're hoping you can hide them here. And Ash has a pikachu too. Hey Ash, give it some fresh air."
Ash had been carrying Pikachu in his backsack all morning. He let it out. It gave a sigh of relief and stretched its little paws wide.
But as soon as Pikachu and Squirtle noticed each other, Squirtle tensed up; the other monster followed suit.
"This is Misty's Squirtle," explained Rose to the group. "It came here the night Misty was imprisoned. I've heard it said that squirtle and other water monsters have an instinctive fear of pikachu. First time I've seen it." She turned to Squirtle. "It's okay, Squirtle. Pikachu is going to help Misty come back."
Eventually rose coaxed Squirtle and Pikachu to relax with each other. She turned her attention back to her visitors.
"Excuse me for my rudeness," she said, "please take a seat. Can I offer you something?"
"I apologize for intruding on your hospitality," said Brock. "We would appreciate a little food and water if you could spare some."
While they were eating, Rose asked, "So you need to hide Prince Timmy, Ash and Pikachu. You know that if Misty is rescued, this'll be the first place they'd look. Misty and I close."
"We won't bring Misty," said Brock, "but if you can hide Ash and Timmy until tomorrow night, that would be a great help."
"I have an idea. When I had the roof fixed, the carpenter had to enter through the ceiling. He loosened one of the panels. Ash, if you stand on the couch, you can push it up a bit and slide it over."
The ceiling was made of wooden panels nailed from above onto horizontal beams. Ash stood up on his seat and prodded. He found one of the panels was loose and followed Rose's instructions.
"Now can you pull yourself up on the beam?" she asked.
Ash hauled himself up, his biceps bulging under his sleeves. It proved awkward but manageable to get inside. The roof was low, so there was no standing room.
"There's room for me and Pikachu," he said coming down, "but it's going to be a real squash with Timmy in there too."
"So where can I hide?" Timmy asked.
"I've got an idea," said Gary. "You don't have to hide at all."
They all stared at Gary.
"Simple! Just pretend you're Rose's boyfriend," he said. "Assuming she doesn't already have someone else."
Ash figured that only Gary could come up with an idea like that.
"You know I think it might just work," she replied. "What you think, Timmy?"
She looked at him. He looked embarrassed.
"Well... uh... maybe... we'll... uh..."
" Oh come on," she said, "it's just pretend. Oh one more thing, I'll get some scarves for you—you'll need masks so they won't know who you are."
"You mean like Butch and Cassidy?" said Ash.
"Who are they?" asked Rose.
"Raiders from Viridian who attacked Pallet two years ago," explained Gary. "They made off with quite a haul so they've become infamous. They wore scarves over their nose and mouth."
Rose went to a wardrobe and fished out one more item.
"Take this dark cloak for Misty."
Ash put the masks and the cloak into his backsack. Pikachu went in on top.
"No peeing in there Pikachu," Ash said sternly.
"Pii...ka..." it replied, and Ash put the bag on his shoulders.
"Good luck," said Rose, as she opened the door. As Timmy went past, she put her hand on his shoulder. He turned around to face her. "Take care," she said.
Timmy nodded. He stood there looking at her until Gary hauled him away.
♦
They explored the way from Rose's to the palace and figured out some strategies. When they reached the palace, Ash was taken aback. Compared to the outward show of splendour in Cerulean, King Samuel's residence was a mere hut. The building was large and intricately crafted, adorned with colourful banners. The broad courtyard included flower gardens, small pools and decorative statues. One pool was surrounded by several small statues of poliwag. The other was surrounded by statuettes of a star-shaped monster he had never seen before.
Security was an evident concern. With people living in shacks, it was no surprise that such royal extravagance had to be protected by armed guards at the door and bars on every window in sight. Even the courtyard was surrounded by a five-foot stone wall, although the iron gates were open.
The group stopped at a stall in the vicinity of the palace and bought a bread roll each with some of the few coins they had brought with them. While they were eating, there was an unexpected commotion. Two soldiers were dragging a man by the arm. He must have been in his thirties. He was resisting. A woman and four children followed, the youngest in the arms of the eldest.
"Please, stop!" screamed the woman. "We'll pay somehow! Give us time!"
The soldiers ignored the woman, until finally she threw herself onto one of them. He pushed her away and kicked her in the stomach, far more brutally than necessary. Winded, she keeled over. Her children ran up to her, crying and screaming.
Ash went to put down his backsack. Gary, understanding Ash's intentions, grabbed his arm firmly.
"No Ash, you can't help this time," he whispered into his ear. "We're here to save a whole kingdom, not one man."
Ash tried to pull away, but Gary held firm. Finally, Ash relented. He turned sharply to face Gary.
"What do you care? Isn't this what you want to do to Pallet?"
Gary turned his face away and looked down. Meanwhile onlookers came to the woman's aid. They brought them to the baker's stall. He offered a rusk to each of the children, who took them and began to gnaw at them ravenously.
"My children were sick," she sobbed. "We couldn't affod to pay the whole tax, but they didn't care."
"What will they do to him?" asked Ash.
"Where hae you been?" said a man. "They'll work him hard until they deem he's paid up. If he's still alive, they'll let him go."
"Still alive?"
The man looked at Ash oddly. "If you work hard for weeks on meagre rations, no help if you get sick..."
"Some come back all right," said the baker. "Most are skin and bone. Some no-one sees again. I guess you're family's been lucky enough to be able to pay the taxes, but many don't."
Ash fished out another coin. He gave it to the baker and said, "Give the lady some food." He walked off, head bowed, teeth and fists cleched. The rest of the group followed him.
"Let's do this," he said.
They found a secluded spot where they sat down and made their plans for the night.
