Pokémon

Avenger by BenRG

Legal Disclaimer

Pokémon, the Pocket Monsters and their human friends and enemies are all the sole copyright and trademark property of Nintendo Entertainment and 4 Kids Productions. No breach of any copyright or legal property is intended.

Author's Notes

This is the last part of my first Pokémon fic. As sad as it is, after all this time I still don't know all the monsters or all the moves. I base my story purely on what I've seen of the cartoon and absorbed from other fan works. I thank all the other Pokémon writers on this board for providing plenty of inspiration. Special thanks to Charles "RocketBoy" Reilly, Wind, Joshua Falken, Chuchino and Catalina Storm for their comments, advice and encouragement.

Text in [squared-off brackets] indicates the translation of a Pokémon's language into English.

Text in italics but not in quotes indicates thoughts.

Text in "quotes and italics" is speech from a speaker, telephone or some other electronic means

Text in Bold Text is an email sent by a mobile 'phone.

This is an Alternate Universe story

Ages: Ash is 17 and Misty has just turned 19; Brock is 25; Jessie and James are both 24; Richie is 17; Duplicia is 18; Sabrina is 24; Lance is 16; Joy is 29; Delilah is 38; Professor Oak is 47; Gary is 18.

Censor: R (Equivalent to UK '15' Certificate)

Content Warning: Swearing, explicit violence, description of injuries, implied sexual activity and mature topics.

Book 3 – The Return of the Crusaders

What has gone before…

It is the mid-twenty-first century, and in the land of Kanto, a war has begun. The heroic young Pokémon trainers known as Team Thunderbolt are waging a terrible struggle against the evil world-wide terrorist organisation Team Rocket. Leading these young heroes is Ash Ketchum, one of the greatest Pokémon trainers ever to have lived. Leading Team Rocket is the insane Giovanni diRocketti, the man once known as Joseph Oak, Ash's father.

After six months of struggle, both sides have inflicted terrible wounds on the other. While Team Rocket has lost many of its' hidden bases to lightning attacks by the young heroes, Team Rocket has inflicted a terrible revenge by destroying Pallet Town, Ash's hometown.

Now, Ash faces a terrible deadline. During the destruction of Pallet Town, Team Rocket kidnapped his mother, Delilah, his uncle and the man who has acted as his father for all of his life, Professor Samuel Oak, and one of his friends, Joy Burke. He has fourteen days to locate them and rescue them from his father's grasp or they will die a horrible death. Ash, in despair, is closer to the same fall into darkness that claimed his father than he is ever in his life. He is sustained only by the love of Misty Waterflower, his oldest companion, and the woman who he loves more than anything else.

Ash has put a risky plan in motion to rescue the three hostages, but as Giovanni's deadline runs out, it seems that everything may yet be lost and that nothing may stand in the way of Team Rocket becoming absolute overlords of the Earth.

A final battle has begun between Rocket and Thunderbolt, between father and son. A battle which only one will survive…

And now, the continuation…

Chapter 1 – Declaration of Intent

It was dawn in Vermilion City, one of the largest and most prosperous cities of the Kanto region. In the old commercial quarter of the city, there stood a building once known as the Vermilion Hyatt Hotel. In recent years, however, this building had gained a new owner, the feared terrorist organisation known as Team Rocket.

The building, known in the organisation as the Vermilion Tower, had many purposes, but primarily it served as the home base for field operatives in Vermilion County. It also served as a security holding area for people that the Organisation wanted alive but weren't worth the risk of taking them to the Headquarters facility on Black Island.

Right now, two of the agents based at the Tower were returning with a most important prize. The base's commander, an Elite 'Red' Rocket named Mary-Jane (or MJ for short) and her second-in-command Peter were waiting as the Speareagle and the Fearaven circled towards them. There was a rider on both Pokémon, and the Fearaven also was carrying a passenger that the two Red Rockets could tell was slumped over in unconsciousness.

The two third-level evolved flying-types landed on the rooftop helipad. Their Trainers swung off of their backs and they co-operated in manoeuvring their (clearly unwilling) passenger off. After recalling their Pokémon, the two White Rockets dragged their prisoner towards their superiors.

MJ strode forward, her face split with an ecstatic grin. "I couldn't believe it when you two reported this!" she called out. "Yet here you are! The Boss is going to be ecstatic when he hears about this!"

The pair of White Rockets paused in dragging their semi-conscious prisoner and straightened perceptibly as they absorbed the base commander's praise. "Thank you, Ma'am," the man with a blonde hair and a droopy moustache. "But we're only doing our duty."

"Speak for yourself, Andrew!" the woman with shoulder-length black hair responded. "I think we're overdue a promotion."

"Shh… Kim, keep it down!" Andrew said with a grimace, shooting a significant look at MJ. Kim just rolled her eyes.

"Don't be afraid to boast of your achievements, Andrew," MJ said. "The Boss rewards his best agents, and you have done what very few have even attempted to do! You have caught a Thunderbolt!" MJ strode over and lifted the prisoner's head by her hair. It was a woman with fawn-coloured hair in two fluffy pigtails and what was probably a cheerful face when it wasn't beaten like that. MJ grinned at the prisoner when she realised there was a hint of consciousness in her eyes. "Welcome to Vermilion Tower, Ms. Simmonds," she sneered at Duplicia.

"Up… yours… bitch…" Duplicia groaned.

"Watch your mouth," Kim snapped, thumping her prisoner over the head.

MJ laughed cruelly. "Why don't you take Duplicia down to join her colleagues?" she suggested. "I'll tell The Boss the good news. I have no doubt that you will be rewarded handsomely for your service to The Organisation."

Andrew and Kim nodded and dragged Duplicia off. As they left, Pete walked casually over to his commander. "Are you really going to tell The Boss that they captured Simmonds?" he asked.

MJ laughed darkly. "Why should I do those two grunts any favours?" she asked. "No, Petey-boy, you will be glad to know that this little success was entirely mine from planning to execution!" Pete laughed too and the two Red Rockets walked to the stairwell leading from the rooftop.

***

Delilah Ketchum jumped to her feet in surprise when the door to their cell swung open, Joy Burke and Samuel Oak just a split second behind her.

"Hey there, scum!" shouted the big Dan'in guard standing at the door, "we've got a surprise for you! One of your little friends has come for a visit."

A blonde man and a black-haired woman stepped around the corner and threw a fawn-haired woman that Delilah recognised immediately into the middle of the cell. "Say hello to your friend," the woman laughed. "You're going to be spending lots of time with her until your execution!"

Delilah jumped forward with a despairing cry. "Oh no! Duplicia, how could this have happened?" she asked. Joy moved forward to help her friend too, but Sam Oak caught the blond White Rocket's eye. There was something familiar about that lanky man, and he reacted in surprise when the man winked at him significantly. Then the guard slammed the door shut again and the sight was cut off.

Joy and Delilah dragged Duplicia to an unoccupied bunk. The former Imaté artiste was limp and her limbs hung in a way that suggested multiple fractures. "Duplicia! What happened?" Joy asked urgently.

"Uh… they came out of nowhere…" Duplicia moaned. "No time to… think let alone… uh…" the woman sagged and her eyes rolled up as she fainted.

Delilah felt her knees buckle. She felt a great despair in her heart as she realised that yet another of Ash's friends had been captured. Pretty soon, her insane ex-husband will have rounded up them all. She wanted to keep strong, but it was difficult. Sam put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't give up Delilah," he murmured. "It isn't over yet."

"I know," Delilah said. "But it's hard, Sam. How long before Joe has captured them all?"

Joy had grabbed the bucket that contained the prisoners' drinking water ration for the day and dipped the filthy bit of towelling they had been given for washing in the bucket. When the cloth was wet, she lifted it up to wash Duplicia's face. The girl was a mess, there was no doubt about that. Both her eyes were reddened and swollen, her left cheek was swelling from a blow and there were bloody cuts over her yes and on her right cheek. "What the hell did those bastards do to you Duplicia?" she asked helplessly. It was kind of reassuring that her friend hadn't been taken easily, but it was painful to see her so badly battered.

Joy tenderly leaned over, intending to wash her friend's cuts and soothe her bruises (she didn't want her getting an infection, after all). However, when the wet towelling touched the big cut over Duplicia's left eye, her face seemed to ripple into a pink mask before returning to its' previous shape. Joy nearly fell over backwards in her surprise. "What the…?" she blurted. Her utter shock attracted Sam and Delilah's attention and all three clustered over the battered girl.

"Shh…" Duplicia murmured. "No-one make too much noise. They don't have this cell wired for vision, but they do have it wired for sound." Duplicia waited for her advice to sink in before she suddenly swung to her feet, her movements suddenly strong and decisive.

Delilah gasped at seeing a wounded person moving so smoothly. Her nurses' training protested at the sudden exertion. "Duplicia…" she gasped.

"What…?" Duplicia said quietly, "oh, the 'injuries!'" Duplicia stood up and touched her face. "Okay, Groucho," she said. There was a liquid rustling sound and suddenly Duplicia's face turned into a pink mask that flowed off down her body to the ground where it swelled into the familiar shape of a Ditto. Duplicia winked at the other three, her face completely untouched. When they were about to say something, she touched a forefinger to her lips in a bidding of silence. She stroked her short leather jacket, which also slid off with a liquid sound, turning into a second Ditto.

Delilah kept silent, knowing that it was critical that the Rockets not realise what a miracle had just taken place, but that didn't stop her from hugging Duplicia hard. "What do we do?" she murmured into the girl's ear.

"For now, make like I am still unconscious and you're trying to help me," she replied.

Delilah nodded. "I don't like the look of those cuts, Joy," she said loudly.

"I don't either," Sam added, grinning widely. He pulled a sheet off of one bunk and began to tear it. "Here, use this instead of that scrap of cloth. It is still fairly clean."

"Okay," Joy said, her eyes twinkling with mischief.

***

"Hey, Andrew, Kim! Nice job!" a White Rocket called across the corridor, waving at the heroes of the hour.

"Yeah, you'd better remember it," Kim replied with a smirk, "because we're going to be on the Black Teams before too long!"

"Kim!" Andrew protested again, making his partner laugh at his embarrassment. The two continued to walk around the habitat levels, making sure that as many people as possible saw them. After fifteen minutes, they suddenly turned off the well-travelled corridors. Like fugitive ghosts, they fled down several poorly lit service corridors, and finally darted through a door that led to the emergency stairwell that linked every level of the tower.

After climbing twenty stories (an experience that made them thankful for years of regulation callisthenics), they arrived at Level 30, the tower's highest level. This area was mostly the home of the tower's water tanks, the elevator machinery and a few electrical service panels. However, there was also something else up here, and it, specifically, was what brought them up here.

Up ahead was a small office made up of pressboard walls where the most isolated terminal of the base's computer system was located. It was here that a very bored technician named Nigel watched over the base's water system. It was a thankless and unglamorous job, which made Nigel only too glad to talk to the two junior field agents who took such an interest in his duties.

"You know what to do," Jessie Scarlet said to James Weston. The man with the dyed blond hair nodded once and walked off into the maze of water tanks and piping.

Jessie watched him go and gathered her thoughts. Ash's plan was… well it was ambitious. It called for split-second timing. However, this level of precision was necessary given the three vulnerable hostages that needed to be saved before their captors realised they were under attack. Jessie nodded to herself, put on her best seductive smile and then walked over to Nigel's office. Without bothering to knock, she barged in. "Hey, Nigel!" she called.

Nigel turned around from his paperwork with a surprised expression. "Miss Kim!" he said in surprise. "How nice to see you! Where's Andrew?"

"He's somewhere about," Jessie said, dismissing 'Andrew' with an airy wave of her hand. "I just thought I would come and see how you are doing today!" Jessie, using the skills all women know instinctively, moved slightly, thrusting forward her full breasts and cocking her hips seductively. It was rather pathetic, but Nigel almost started to drool. Jessie rolled her eyes. It was the sort of reaction she was expecting, but it didn't make her view the technician any more kindly.

Some distance away, James was standing in front of a locked metal mesh gateway. A sign on the gate read: 'Fire-fighting Supply Lines. No Unauthorised Access.' James was staring at his watch, counting down the seconds. "Five, four, three, two, one…" He pulled a Pokéball from behind him and activated it. "Go Victreebell!" The massive motile pitcher plant materialised beside her Trainer. It was a testament to years of training and intense battling side-by-side that the Pokémon no longer tried to eat him alive. "Okay, Victreebell, rip off that gate!"

Victreebell turned, extended her vine whips and used her immense strength to literally tear the gate off of its' hinges.

Back in the office, Jessie had Nigel completely hypnotised with her body. "So you see," she cooed seductively, "I was hoping I would be able to see you alone." She winked coquettishily. "I knew that I would be sure to get the appreciation I deserve from someone like you!" She put a gloved finger under the man's chin and towed him forwards. She looked into his glazed eyes. "So, what are my chances of getting my own personal hot water ration?" she asked.

"A… anything Miss Kim," Nigel said, not really understanding what she was saying. Jessie noticed that a red light had blinked on behind Nigel indicating that someone had gained unauthorised access to the room where the riser pipes for the sprinkler system were housed.

James was now in the small room, looking at the pipes that supplied water to the entire building's sprinkler and fire hose system. "Go Piloswine," James said, releasing his Ice-type. The massive two-legged tusked snow pig materialised right in front of James and, as usual, greeted his trainer with the smelliest and foulest lick in creation. "Yuck! Ugh…" James wiped his lips. "Piloswine, use Blizzard on those pipes!"

Piloswine looked at the pipes and snarled. He immediately charged and slammed his massive bulk against the pipes, fracturing several of them and sending water jetting across the room. James cursed venomously under his breath. Jessie never had this trouble with Wobbuffet and Magcargo. He could only assume that he really wasn't very good at this Pokémon Training game. "No you dumb throw rug!" he hissed at the ice-type, "use Blizzard not Horn Charge!"

[Oh! Gotcha, Boss!] Piloswine said in his good-natured voice. He breathed out and the temperature in the room dropped instantly. The pipes were instantaneously covered in a good half-centimetre thickness of ice. The water that was jetting everywhere was also frozen, turning the room into a strange kind of ice sculpture. James nodded in satisfaction.

Jessie now had Nigel virtually on his knees staring at her in dumb-witted way. "Now… how can I repay you for being so nice?" she asked with a winning smile.

Nigel was spared the problem of answering that question by a sudden audible alarm. He turned around and stared at his status panel in a combination of anger and confusion as he tried to get his mind back onto his assigned duties after the pleasant void of staring at 'Kim's' body. "What…?" he blurted. He blinked stupidly at the flashing red lights on the schematic of the building on the far wall for a few seconds before realising what was happening. "Hey! The entire sprinkler system has had a pressure failure!" The man lunged across the room and hammered at the keyboard of his terminal for a few seconds. "The pumps are fine! I'd better check this out!" He grabbed his toolkit and fled the small office!

"Don't be too long!" Jessie called. As soon as he was out of earshot she added in a quieter voice: "you loser and pervert!"

Jessie sat down at the terminal and briefly composed herself, remembering the lessons that Richie had given her. In seconds, she had accessed the underlying program grid of the base's entire control system. One could normally only alter the functioning of the computer at this operating level if you had both the commanding Red Rockets' access codes, but Jessie had something better. She slid an LS-120 floppy disc into the 'A:' drive and let the vicious virus it carried auto-install.

Nigel stood there, completely aghast as he looked at the flash-frozen pipes. "How… how did this happen?" he asked in disbelief.

"Can't you guess?" asked a slightly nasal male voice.

Nigel half turned hearing the voice of a man known as 'Andrew,' but what he saw was a massive grey-white two-legged snow pig charging towards him. "PILOSWINE!" the creature bellowed and knocked him tumbling across the room, quite unconscious.

"That was unsubtle, James," Jessie commented as she walked up to join her partner.

"Hey, whatever gets the job done," James remarked, making her laugh. Jessie and James tied and gagged the unconscious technician before turning to descend to the detention levels once more.

***

At Team Rocket's headquarters on Black Island, Giovanni diRocketti had been reviewing the organisation's accounts for the previous calendar year. The last year had seen a massive drop in profits, due almost entirely to his son and his band of foolish but dangerous allies. Still, the scheme that he was currently undertaking should end that particular liability.

Ash Ketchum had not yet surrendered himself to the forces of Team Rocket, but that didn't particularly worry Giovanni. There were still four days left to his deadline, and he felt certain that his son's… stubbornness would make it unlikely that he would appear before the deadline had anything more than minutes left to run. Even so, he felt modestly confident that this strategy would defeat Team Thunderbolt. Even so, a tiny voice in his head told him that there was no strategy foolproof enough to defeat his son…

Giovanni shook his head and blinked in confusion when he heard his intercom buzz. He only infrequently engaged in introspection like that and the lost time always bothered him. The intercom buzzed again. He pressed the 'accept' switch. "Yes, go," he said.

"Boss," said Old Mondo, "we have a signal for you from Vermilion Tower Base. Agents-in-Charge Mary-Jane Parker and Peter Smith have some excellent news they wish to report to you personally!"

Mondo did not see his Boss's eyebrow go up, of course. "What is this 'good news?'" he asked in a bored tone.

"They have captured one of Team Thunderbolt!" Mondo said, his voice excited.

"Really?" Giovanni was surprised. "Well, put them through then!"

***

The two Dan'in outside the cell where Professor Oak, Delilah, Joy and Duplicia were being held were calm and relaxed. The cell was one of the most secure on the base, sealed on an electronic and physical level making escape an impossibility. According to the Security Watch Commander through their Secret Service-style radio earpieces, the cell was fairly quiet within, with all three conscious prisoners concerning themselves with treating their new companion's injuries.

Even if they were aggressively trying to escape, the construction of the cell door, three inch-thick steel with an inflating door seal, made it impossible to get out unless someone were to turn the depressurisation wheel and open the door from the outside.

Suddenly the older guard looked up and saw Kim and Andrew walking down the corridor. "Hi… uh…" Kim paused for a moment and looked at the guard through narrowed eyes, "John, right"?

"That's right, Agent Walton," the guard replied gruffly. "What can we do for you?"

"Oh, we just came to look at the prisoners," Kim said with a sick, sadistic smile. "You know, ogle at 'em and gloat."

John stiffened. "I'm sorry, Ma'am," the Dan'in guardsman said in a very formal tone of voice, "but no-one is allowed into this cell without the Base Commander's authorisation."

"I know that, silly," Jessie said. She walked up to the guard and violated his personal space, pressing herself against him and stroking his chin. "Still… could you make an exception for little old me?"

John tried to stay professional, but Jessie's performance made that difficult. "Ma'am… please, I'm on duty," he said in a hoarse tone of voice.

John's companion was interested in this show and was watching as John tried to fend Jessie off. Because of that, he did not notice 'Andrew' looking at his watch. James knew that this required split-second timing. The moment came and James slid discreetly behind the second guard and span the depressurisation wheel. The loud hiss of the airbags that sealed the door suddenly emptying caught both guards' attention. "What the… stop that!" the younger guard shouted. "Are you mad?"

"No, I'm quite sane," James assured him with a winning smile. I'm just freeing the prisoners."

The younger guard pulled his pistol from its' holster and levelled it at James. "You're under arrest!" he shouted. Suddenly, there was a choking noise from behind him. The guard risked a look behind him and saw John staggering backwards. Jessie was hanging onto his back, her arms wrapped around the big guard's throat in a sleeper hold.

James took the moment's distraction to lunge towards the younger guard and grab his wrists, forcing the pistol up and away. "Security Alert at Cell Fifteen-Twenty!" the guard shouted, using his glove-mounted control to activate his radio throat-microphone. No-one replied to his frantic call. All that he could hear over his radio earpiece was the hiss of white noise.

As John slumped to the floor, quite unconscious, the young guard desperately tried to struggle with James. At that moment, something made of pink gel slid out from under the suddenly-unsealed door and rose to form a Ditto. The little morphing-type saw what was happening and, as his Trainer had commanded seconds before, transformed himself into a Weepingbell. He breathed stun spores over the guard, whose eyes rolled up and he collapsed.

"Yuck, I hate the smell of stun spores," James said with a grimace. "Thanks… uh… Groucho is it?"

"Ditto!" Groucho said, nodding his bell-shaped head in agreement.

Jessie grinned in triumph and stepped forward to open the door to the cell. The door swung open to reveal Joy and Duplicia in a combative posture with a Machamp standing in between them. "Woah! Guys, it's me, Jessie!" Jessie said, taking a few steps back.

"I know that, silly," Duplicia said with a girlish giggle. She stepped out of the cell and patted the pseudo-Weepingbell on the head. "Well done, Groucho," she said. "Revert."

As Groucho the Ditto returned to his 'default' shape, Jessie took umbrage at Duplicia's priorities when it came to handing out praise. "So aren't you going to thank us?" she asked tartly.

"No; you are egomaniacs," Duplicia said with a laugh, "and you don't need any praise from me to confirm your high view of yourselves."

Jessie grunted angrily, but James took Duplicia's comments philosophically. He would go trawling for compliments when they were out of the building. He opened his tunic and pulled out two packages. He threw one to Duplicia and one to Joy. "Here you go," he said calmly. The two Thunderbolts tore open the packages and found their Pokébelts within. With an expression of relief, they strapped them around their waists.

Delilah and Professor Oak stared at the two 'Rockets' in disbelief. "Jessie and James?" Delilah said quietly, not sure who she could trust at this point.

"In the flesh," Jessie said with a cheery wave. With swift motions, Jessie and James pulled off their no-longer needed disguises and were once again in their civilian clothes. James was wearing a green polo shirt and blue jeans, Jessie was wearing a black vest top and a black pair of slacks.

"I thought it was you in disguise," Professor Oak said in a sage tone of voice. "No one walks quite like you, Ms. Scarlet."

Jessie blushed at that off-hand comment. "Come on, Mrs. Ketchum, Professor," she said, "it's time to go."

Joy had just finished tearing off the two unconscious Rocket's radio microphones. "What's the plan?" she asked.

"For now, stay out of sight," Duplicia said, her mischievous side suddenly buried beneath the cold warrior that had developed over the last six months of her life. "Is everything on schedule guys?" she asked Jessie and James.

"Would we be here if it wasn't?" Jessie asked with a triumphant smile. At that point, the lights all went out. A few seconds later, the dim red emergency lights blinked on.

"Okay, folks," Duplicia said, "as I mentioned, we're on a schedule, so let's get moving."

Delilah suddenly felt an incredible hope swell within her breast and the exhaustion of nearly two weeks of imprisonment and starvation-level rations was gone. The four Thunderbolts and their two friends jogged away down the corridor.

***

"Once we realised that the Thunderbolts were reconnoitring the base," MJ was telling Giovanni, "it was a simple matter to wait for the next time one of them came close and trap her." The Red Rocket puffed up in pride. "She put up quite a fight, but Peter and I were able to take her in the end."

"Kindly dispense with your tale of courage and genius," Giovanni said in a cold, dispassionate tone. On the screen MJ began to sweat. "I want to know what the Thunderbolts were doing near the base where we have our hostages. I also want to know how much they know. I assume you have interrogated the new prisoner?"

There was a long pause before MJ replied. "In… interrogated…?" she squeaked.

Giovanni rolled his eyes. "Of course you haven't, you idiot," he spat. "You were too eager to contact me and boast of your achievement. Now I want you to take your head out of the clouds and get me my answers." Giovanni poked a finger at image of the Red Rocket. "And if you don't do so quickly, Ms. Parker, you will not be looking forward to promotion or a reward, but facing a firing squad! Do you understand?"

MJ went white and tried to babble something, anything that would make The Boss less angry with her. "Sir!" she blurted. "I assure you that we find out everything that she…" the picture flashed with interference and MJ's voice began to come and go, drowned out by hissing static. "Questioning… right now… Peter… certain… results… quickly… sir… worry… duty…" The picture snowed over and the voice was silent.

Giovanni sat back in his chair. "Communications," he said calmly, "what has happened to the signal from Vermilion Tower Base?"

There was a brief pause. "Signal cut off at the source, sir," replied the technician manning the communications console. "We've lost the carrier wave too. Shall I try to re-establish the link?"

"No," Giovanni said, his voice glacially calm. "Order a general alert for the Vermilion sector. All field teams are to converge on the Tower immediately."

***

"What the hell happened to the lights?" Peter snarled to one of the technicians in Vermilion Tower's Command & Control Centre. It was a difficult question for the technician to answer as every computer terminal in the building had locked up. The lights had gone out and the intercom system was completely jammed. It was times like this that Peter was glad that every major operational location in the building had a stock of battery-operated walkie-talkies.

"Sir… I'm not sure," the technician replied helplessly. "It… it seems to be a problem with the main computer system!"

"Then fix it," Peter suggested angrily. "You know how vulnerable the base is right now!" The technician nodded fearfully and turned away from the enraged Red Rocket, wondering how he was supposed to fix the computer system when there was no way to access it.

Peter's worry was well founded. Built in the middle of a heavily-inhabited commercial district and disguised as a civilian office building, Vermilion Tower was a security specialist's nightmare. Anyone could, theoretically, walk off the streets and into the middle of a Team Rocket base. To prevent that, the building had a very strictly and well-disguised security system to control who and what got past the building's public façade in the lobby. However, with the power distribution system compromised and the main internal communications network down, most of these systems were now dependant on the abilities of the two dozen disguised Dan'in fighters in the lobby. Those guards were doubtless confused, disoriented and operating at less-than-optimum efficiency with most of their equipment suddenly disabled.

Peter looked up as, with a great deal of groaning and exertion, MJ managed to half-open the door from her office into C&C. "What the hell is going on?" she snapped. "I was in the middle of talking to The Boss when I lost the communications line! A few seconds later all the lights go out and I had to force the door open."

"Your guess is as good as mine," Peter replied. "All I know is that the base's computer system has seized up." Peter scowled at nothing in particular. "This is what we get for giving contracts to the lowest bidder."

"You idiot!" MJ snapped. "Has it occurred to you to question why we would have had such a specific system failure now of all times? The Thunderbolts must be about to attack the base! We have to secure the prisoners."

"Now don't get your jocks in a twist, MJ," Peter said with admirable calm. "I've already sent extra security to the cell." No-one had to ask what cell that he was referring to.

***

Ten armed Dan'in were charging down the corridor towards the special security cell where The Boss's special prisoners were kept. In the dim half-light provided by the emergency lighting system, none of the terrorist fighters saw the web across the corridor until they were tangled in it.

"What the…?" one of the Rockets spluttered. "Where did this web come from?"

"From here, actually," said a voice. The Rockets just had enough chance to see a blonde-haired man in civilian clothing standing by a suddenly-opened closet door before the Weezing hovering beside him breathed out a Smog attack.

"Show off," Jessie said, punching her boyfriend on the arm. James grinned unrepentantly as he recalled his Tetrantula to his Pokéball and then he led the escapees and infiltrators along the corridor and their meeting with old lady liberty herself.

***

"What do you mean you haven't heard from the security team?" MJ was shouting into her walkie-talkie. "Ten armed Dan'in do not simply disappear!"

"I… I'm sorry, Ma'am, but none of them are responding to my signals…" babbled the security watch commander.

"Don't give me more excuses," MJ snarled, "just send some more troops to find out what is going on!"

Suddenly another voice broke into the connection. "Alert in the Lobby! We're under…" There was a loud crashing sound from the other end of the new signal followed by a series of screams and the sounds of numerous Pokémon attacks.

"Intruders in the Lobby…"

"Watch out…!" MJ heard the sound of what could only be an Omni-blast attack and an explosion followed by several screams.

"Rai… CHUUUUU!" shouted a high-pitched voice, and then there was only silence.

MJ went pale and just stood there, staring into space. Peter grabbed her walkie-talkie. He knew what to do now, The Boss's orders on the subject left no room for interpretation. "Commander, get some men down to the cell with the four Thunderbolt prisoners," he ordered. "Release the nerve gas."

***

The security watch commander was a veteran of fifteen years standing. He was no fool and he didn't like this situation one bit. However, he was also a company man to the bone and he wasn't going to disobey a direct order, no matter how terrifying it was to be here. He walked along the semi-darkened corridor from his control station to the cell with the special prisoners, armed to the teeth. He was carrying a pair of MP-5 sub-machineguns and a full load of Pokémon.

Suddenly he came upon an incredible sight: ten of his troops tangled up in what was some kind of spider's web, undoubtedly spun by a Spinarak, a Trapdoom or some other spider-like Pokémon. He was surprised, but not enough to freeze. He reached behind him and pulled out a Pokéball. With a smooth movement, he released a Kabutops.

"Kabutops, cut through that web," he ordered. The fossil/fighting-type Pokémon complied. As the Black Rocket walked forward to step through the newly opened gap, he smelt the unmistakable stench of a Koffing or a Weezing's Smog attack. That explained what had happened to the ten troops (who were mostly still tangled up in the web – he didn't have the time or the inclination to cut them free).

After carefully rounding a few corners, he came to the cell where the prisoners taken from Pallet Town (plus that one caught just this morning) were being kept. As has already been stated, this man was no fool, so he wasn't remotely surprised to see the cell's two guards slumped, either unconscious or dead, and the cell door wide open.

The man pulled his walkie-talkie from its' holster. "Command and Control, this is security. The prisoners have escaped; I say again, the prisoners have escaped."

***

With an enormous roar of collapsing masonry, Ash's Rhydon used Rock Slide to smash through the back wall of the lobby and into the interior of the Team Rocket base. Ash, Misty, Sabrina and Lance strode boldly through the devastation. "Split by pairs," Ash ordered. "Deny the Rockets the use of this level."

"Yes, Ash," Sabrina said. She reached behind her and pulled out a Pokéball. "Go Misdrevous!" she shouted, releasing one of the powerful ghost-types. "Misdrevous, start using Terror!" Immediately, the few Rockets who had appeared in the corridor turned and ran, screaming in terror. "Good work, now get ready to use Hypnosis on my command! Let's go Lance!"

Lance released his massive Machamp and the two of them (plus Pokémon) ran down the right-hand corridor. Ash watched them go, seeing a single Rocket dive out of a room, only to be punched straight through a plasterboard wall by Machamp.

"Okay, Misty, let's do it," Ash said, gesturing down the left-hand corridor. Misty grinned and nodded in agreement. Preceded by Togetic, and Raichu, the two soul-mates set off. Their mission was a simple one: render every Rocket on this level unconscious and knock out every method of reaching this level from another by smashing every staircase and sabotaging every elevator.

There followed the most intense few minutes of battle that Ash had ever experienced before. The two Red Rockets who were the base co-commanders had obviously figured out that an attack would have to secure this level first and had poured every available troop they had onto this level in an attempt to beat the Thunderbolts back.

As Raichu used his Thunder Wave attack to drive back a dozen Rockets and their Pokémon, Ash allowed himself a smile. With all this effort and all this power going into the attack, it was almost a pity that it was for nothing. Ash had planned and executed a few diversionary attacks in his time before this, but this one was a big one.

***

"What do you mean 'the prisoners have escaped?'" This was the first thing MJ had said after several minutes of shocked paralysis.

"That doesn't matter, MJ," Peter said discreetly.

MJ shot him a surprised look, but figured he was correct. The hows and whys of this situation were both things best left to an official post-mortem in the weeks to come. Both Red Rockets knew what they had to do. The Boss had ordered that the prisoners were to be executed if there was any risk of the Thunderbolts freeing them. "Peter, I want you to go down to the security level and find the prisoners. Take as many troops as you need."

Peter nodded once and turned to leave the C&C centre. To his surprise the door didn't open. Peter scowled and used the manual crank to laboriously open the door. "When will these systems be on line again?" he roared.

The sweating systems technician tried to look innocent and helpless. "I… I don't know, sir," he said. "It looks like someone inserted a malign program into the computer system! It has locked all the major systems, changed the security passwords and switched everything into standby mode!"

"Then get it out!" Peter shouted.

"I can't the technician wailed. "It's written itself into the system BIOS. I would have to physically change the BIOS chip in every file server to remove it."

There was a long, disbelieving pause. "Then I suggest you get moving," MJ said quietly. The technician paled, but he saw he had no choice. As soon as Peter had the doors open, he fled the room.

With a terrifying scowl, MJ turned back to watching the frozen and unresponsive controls in her C&C room. The implications of this attack were terrifying. It meant that the base had been infiltrated and its' most secure systems compromised. But how? How did the Thunderbolts get an agent or agents into her base? MJ started to think furiously. There had to be a way to blame this on someone other than herself. The Boss would demand an explanation for this debacle, and MJ didn't want the blame to fall on her. The curious thing was she hadn't yet considered the possibility that Team Rocket might lose this battle.

***

Twenty levels below, Ash had got into a nice, relaxing Pokémon battle. "You're dead, kid," a big, beefy White Rocket hissed. "Scyther, cut him to sushi!"

Ash tensed as the fighting bug charged. At the last moment, he dived through the creature's legs and rolled upright. As he did so, he caught one of his Pokéballs and activated it. "Pidgeot, I choose you!" Ash's evolved flying-type materialised between Ash and the Scyther with a white flash. "Use Razor Feather Throw, Pidgeot," he commanded.

Pidgeot unleashed a hail of razor-sharp feathers laced with a neurotransmitter-inhibiting venom. Scyther's tough exoskeleton protected him from most of the impacts, but several hit his vulnerable joints. The bug squealed in pain.

"Use Gust," Ash continued. Pidgeot began to flap his wings, blowing the stunned Scyther down the corridor and into a wall. The creature slumped down. "Now, finish it with Peck and Razor Wing!"

"Pidg-EEEE!" Pigeot cried out loudly, speeding down the corridor. A few strikes were enough to knock the injured Scyther out.

"I'll get you!" the field agent shouted, lunging towards Ash. Ash, almost without any visible effort, blocked the man's furious lunge with a knife, seized his arm and then twisted it, forcing him to drop the weapon. Ash then punched the man under his diaphragm, kicked him in the back of the knee and sent him down for the count with a chop to the back of the neck.

Ash, panting hard, wiped the sweat from his brow. There was the sound of applause. "Thanks for the backup, Misty," Ash said in a tone of mock accusation.

"Now you know you wouldn't have liked it if I'd interfered with your grandstanding performance," Misty said with a broad, girlish grin. She stepped away from the wall that she had been leaning against and walked over. "Don't take it personally," she said, "I love you all the more for your effort, Hero!"

Ash grinned and winked her. "I always put my best show on for you, Misty," he said. Misty grinned and gave Ash a peck on the cheek. Ash turned to recall Pidgeot to his Pokéball.

[Can you two please keep your mind on business?] Raichu groused, making both Trainers laugh.

There was a sudden explosion at the far end of the corridor. Ash and Misty both swung around, grabbing Pokéballs. About a dozen terrified Dan'in came charging down the corridor, hotly pursued by Lance's Machamp and Hitmontop. Ash tensed as the fighters ran towards him. "Okay, Raichu stand by for a Stun Shock," Ash warned.

As it turned out, it wasn't necessary. Sabrina's Haunter and Ghastly suddenly phased out of the corridor walls ahead and to either side of the fleeing Rockets and simultaneously unleashed a Terror attack. All the Rockets froze in their tracks and a few of them fainted. All the rest were too scared to move before Machamp reached them and started banging their heads together.

A few seconds later, Sabrina and Lance rounded the same corner. Both of them looked fine, although Lance was looking at one of his Pokéballs in a worried way. "Are you two okay?" Ash asked. "What was that explosion?"

"Some kind of energy weapon that those Rockets were trying to set up," Lance replied. "My Golem took it out, but I think he might need some rejuvenation. He took a few direct hits."

"We've taken out every access point on our end of the building, Ash," Sabrina cut in.

"Well, we've almost taken out every access point at our end," Ash said, shooting Misty a significant look and a gesture towards the door from where Ash's former opponent had originally emerged.

Misty bowed mockingly and pulled a Pokéball from her bandoleer. "Always leaving the tough jobs to me, Ketchum?" she asked with an arch smile.

"Nah, only the ones that are appropriate to someone with your sense of subtlety," Ash responded.

Misty laughed and activated the Pokéball. "Come on out, Gyarados," she said. Misty's Gyarados materialised, filling the corridor. "Okay, Gyarados," Misty said, lovingly stroking her first Pokémon's snout, "please tear out those stairs for me, just the ones on this level." Gyarados curved through the fire doors and tore into the concrete stairs with a fierce abandon.

"That Pokémon enjoys this too much," Ash remarked. Misty shrugged easily. When her Pokémon emerged from the stairwell, she gave the huge sea serpent a stroke on the snout and recalled him to his Aqua-type Pokéball.

***

About ten yards below these events and about two hundred yards to the north, a fierce battle was taking place in what Professor Oak supposed was some kind of staging area.

Jessie, James, Duplicia, Joy, Delilah and the Professor were huddling behind a makeshift barricade made up from cargo containers as several dozen Black- and White-team agents accompanied by several high-level Pokémon and scores of armed Dan'in fighters attempted to overrun their position.

"This is suicidal!" Joy screamed as her Pikachu unleashed a Thunder Wave attack. "We'll be killed if we stay here! Let's get out of here!"

"No!" Jessie shouted as her Fearaven used Whirlwind to suck up a Koffing's Smog attack and flush it back at the Rockets. "We have to stay here or we're finished!"

"You're crazy!" Joy snapped, but she threw herself into the fray with even more determination. She unleashed her Geodude. "Okay, Geodude, use Rollout!" The Geodude rolled along the floor, knocking over a pair of charging Hitmonlees as if they were skittles.

"Why do we have to stay here?" Professor Oak asked James.

"Let's just say that this is our extraction point," James said with a slight grin. He stood up and looked at the battle. "Growly! Dodge right and use Flame Lance!" James' loyal Arcanine jumped to one side, avoiding a hail of Razor Leaves from a TR Bulbasaur. A few seconds later, his Flame Lance attack struck the small Plant/Poison-type on its' bulb and knocked it out.

"Our 'extraction point?'" Delilah asked rhetorically. She winced and ducked as an Omni-blast splintered the crate that she was cowering behind. I hate this, she thought, a red rage boiling in her heart. I've been kidnapped, seen my home and my hometown smashed, I've been beaten, starved and now I am being shot at. Well I have had enough! Motivated by rage, Delilah grabbed a pair of MP-5s that the escaping Thunderbolts had liberated from the guards and jumped up. With a cry of rage she squeezed the triggers on both carbines, sending a hail of 9mm bullets towards the Rockets, who all hit the dirt.

There was no chance of someone of her lack of skill hitting someone under these conditions, but it certainly kept the enemy back. Sam and the four Thunderbolts could only stare in astonishment as Delilah ran both guns dry and then dropped them, still breathing heavily. "Oh… oh my!" Delilah whispered, amazed and a little horrified at what she had just done.

"Okay, she's out of ammo, let's go!" shouted one of the Rockets.

"Weezing," James said. He got no further. The alarm on his watch bleeped and, suddenly, the roof caved in.

The Rockets froze for a moment, blinking blindly in the sudden sunlight after the gloom of the dimly-lit base. "Magneton, use Stun Shock," shouted a voice. There was a flash of golden-white electricity and the Rockets tumbled to the ground, twitching and smouldering.

The six escapees looked up (Joy, Delilah and Professor Oak with a feeling of amazement) to see Brock and Richie grinning down at them. "Hi guys, want a lift?" Brock asked. Before anyone could reply, Richie's Ivysaur and Bayleef began to lower their vine whips as make-shift climbing ropes.

***

"What are you doing, Ash?" Misty asked as Ash typed quick and one-fingered on the computer terminal.

"I don't want anyone hurt worse than totally necessary," Ash said. He entered the new command-level password that Richie's virus had created and reactivated the base's fire warning system. "I want to get everyone out alive, if I can."

Lance looked surprised and Sabrina looked approving. "You're my hero," Misty whispered into Ash's ear.

Suddenly there was a fluttering of wings and a patter of small feet. Ash touched a Pokéball, but relaxed when he saw Nightflight, his Venomoth, and Seeker, his Marril running towards him. Both Pokémon had originally belonged to Ash's dead friend Tracey Sketchitt, and their tracking skills had proven invaluable to Ash's campaign against Team Rocket.

[This level of the building is clear, Ash,] Seeker reported. [All the Rockets are unconscious and Nightflight has teleported them out into the car park.]

Ash nodded in satisfaction. "Okay," he said, "let's get out of here."

***

Delilah struggled to her feet and raised her face to the blessed sun, letting its warmth flow over her. She hadn't expected to see the sun ever again, not really. She might have hoped that Ash would save her, but she didn't really believe it in her heart. She was a little ashamed of that pessimism. Now she looked around at the car park of the Team Rocket base in some amazement.

There was a massive hole in the ground where Brock's Onyx and Golem had torn open the roof of the underground staging area. As Delilah watched, unconscious Rockets were materialising a few inches above the ground and dropping to the blacktop, their limbs limp. "Hey, we've got to remove their suicide devices!" Brock suddenly said. He drew out several pairs of dental pliers and threw them to the others.

As Delilah watched, the six youngsters went about removing the hollow teeth containing the poison that her psychopathic ex-husband had ordered his followers to use if they were captured. She shook her head. "Even after all this time, I still hoped, Sam," she said quietly. Professor Oak stepped up to her side and touched her shoulder supportively. "I hoped that, if Ash could capture Joe, we could cure him and I would have the man I still love so much back."

Sam's face darkened with a pain that didn't entirely result from just his brother's fall into the darkness. "Joe is gone, Delilah," Sam said quietly. "He died a long time ago. This is just one more bit of proof of that fact."

"MOM!" Ash shouted. He ran over and literally jumped into her arms. Delilah gasped as her suddenly so-tall and so-muscular son collided with her and nearly knocked her off of her feet. "Mom… thank God you're all right," Ash gasped, tears streaming down his face.

"Delilah! It's so good to see you safe!" Misty ran up and hugged Delilah too, making the woman laugh.

"It's okay, Ash," Delilah murmured, stroking her trembling son's hair. "Mommy is here, Ash my darling. Mommy's here."

Ash released his grip and grinned at his mother. "This'll show Giovanni," Ash said with a bright grin. "He'll have to learn from this!"

"Hey, what am I, chopped liver?" Professor Oak said with his slow, broad smile. Ash laughed and slapped the man on the shoulder. Misty stepped away from Delilah and gave the Professor a little kiss on the cheek that made him blush in embarrassment and made feelings that Delilah didn't want to examine too closely writhe deep within her heart.

Ash, who hadn't released his mother's shoulders, looked at her closely and noticed the healing cuts and bruises. His sharp, dark eyes also noted the tattered edges of her blouse and skirt. Delilah noticed his scrutiny. "Don't worry, Ash," she said quietly. "They weren't gentle, but no lasting harm was done."

"Mom they didn't… they didn't abuse you did they?" Ash asked, his voice quiet and darkly furious.

"No, they didn't," Delilah assured him. She didn't mention that she suspected that it was because Joe… no, Sam was right about that… because Giovanni wanted that pleasure reserved for him alone.

Ash nodded, not convinced, but unable to pursue the matter now. He released his mother's shoulders and turned back to the building. It would only take minutes for the Rockets to use ropes or something else to get past the smashed stairs and there would only be a few more minutes at best before the Vermilion City Security Police responded to reports of a disturbance around the old Hyatt hotel. "Okay, let's finish this," he said, reaching for a Pokéball. "Brock, you and Joy escort Mom and the Professor back to Pallet Town. Sabrina, I want you, Lance, Richie and Duplicia to smoke out the rest of the Rockets in the underground part of the base and secure them. Misty, you are with me." Ash threw his Pokéball. "Charizard, I choose you!"

Misty released her Dragonite and Ember, her Houndoom. The two young people leapt up onto their Dragons and launched themselves into the air. Delilah watched them go as Brock released his Aerodactyl. "Come on, Mrs. Ketchum, Professor," Brock said quietly. He kept looking at Joy who was amazingly tense and was actively trying to avoid his gaze.

Suddenly two massive streams of fire, one from Charizard and one from Ember, flashed from the Dragons and slammed into the ground floor of the building. Flames boiled out brightly and quickly began to spread upwards through the tall hotel building. Delilah gasped. "What… what is he doing?" she cried out. "He'll kill them all!" Delilah's voice rose to a scream as the nightmare possibility of losing her son as she lost her husband suddenly reared its' ugly head. "ASH! NO…!"

"Come on," Brock said, tugging on Delilah's arm. "Mrs. Ketchum, you've got to trust Ash! He knows what he's doing, but if we stand around waiting to be arrested, it will be all for nothing! Come on!"

Delilah reluctantly turned away and joined Joy and Sam on Aerodactyl's back. The fossil/flying-type screeched and rose off the ground, heading south-west towards Pallet Town.

***

A loud, raucous alarm filled the Command & Control Centre, making MJ jump. The last report she had from Peter was that he had cornered the escapees in the underground staging area. He had not reported in for five minutes now and she was getting worried. Now this. "What is that alarm?" she shouted.

"Every fire alarm on the ground floor has just gone off," a technician reported. His fingers flew across his terminal's keyboard before he remembered that all the terminals were still locked off by the virus. "The sprinkler system is out… the fire doors are all jammed open and we can't seal the ventilation system." The technician considered the flashing red graphics on the monitors around him for a few seconds. "Commander, the fire has already spread to the first floor."

MJ felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. The Thunderbolts had planned this to perfection. She had lost her base and now it looked like she was about to lose her life. She raised her walkie-talkie and selected the 'All-Call' frequency. "This is the Commander," she announced. "All units retreat to the top floor. I repeat all units retreat to the top floor immediately, that is all."

"Ma'am, why are we going to the top floor?" one of the technicians wanted to know.

MJ looked at him levelly. "It is the furthest point from the fire," she said. "The Boss must know we are under attack, so we wait up there for air transports to arrive and pick us up."

"And if there are no evacuation transports on the way?" the first technician asked.

"Then it is as good a place as any to make a last stand," MJ announced in a flat tone of voice. "Come on."

***

Outside the burning hotel building, Charizard and Dragonite continued to circle. Ash was beginning to sweat. He had a schedule to work to and it was tight. He didn't want to have to celebrate freeing his mother from captivity by having to fight his way out of the city through the ranks of the Security Police. On the other hand, however, too much haste on his part could easily cost lives.

Suddenly, Ash felt the most curious sensation in the front of his head. There was a sensation like an ice cold finger touching him and a familiar voice imposed itself on his consciousness. Ash, Sabrina announced telepathically, we have secured the building's lower levels and neutralised all the Team Rocket Agents' suicide devices.

Ash swallowed. Telepathic communication always made him feel weird, even if he was getting used to it now. Good work Sabrina, he replied. You and the others get back to Pallet Town. Misty and I will finish up here.

By your command, Chosen One, Sabrina said, signing off. As far as Ash could tell, there was no irony in her telepathic voice at all.

[Ash,] Raichu suddenly squeaked in his Trainer's ear over the roar of the slipstream. Ash turned to look his best friend in the face. [Nightflight says that all the Rockets are evacuating. He will tell us when they are all in the upper level of the building.]

Ash nodded and stroked Raichu's cheek in a gesture of thanks. He turned to look at Misty and waved his arm to get her attention. Then he tapped in a text message on his mobile 'phone: "std by – attk immed on cue :" Ash pressed the 'send' button.

Misty waved in reply to indicate she had received and understood the message. As Ash watched, Misty released her Xatu, who immediately took wing in formation with Dragonite. Suddenly, Nightflight darted towards his new Trainer. [Ash! They are all in the upper level now!]

"Right!" Ash said. "Okay, Charizard, use Firestorm!" Charizard, with a roar, unleashed a massive fire attack that slammed into the building two floors below its' upper level, causing the window panes to explode and flames to boil out of every window. Ash had planned this second fire to keep the Rockets trapped on the upper floor. However, he had to move fast before they did something stupid in an attempt to either escape or self-destruct.

Ash swallowed nervously as he prepared for his next move. He pulled out an all-black Pokéball with a blue equatorial bar and pressed the 'release' button. "Unown, I choose you!" he shouted. There was a flash and suddenly, twenty-six letter-shaped Pokémon were flashing around Ash, Raichu and Charizard in a strange interlocking pattern. "Unown, use Quicken," Ash commanded, pointing at the hotel.

[At once, my Trainer,] Unown groaned in their strange voices.

The cluster of glyphs stopped their eternal rotation and the 'Q' glyph went into a hover directly in front of Ash. The legendary Pokémon began to glow with unimaginable power and unleashed a silver-white energy beam that flashed towards the hotel and tore the roof off. The concrete, brick and metal were instantly reduced to gravel and powder that exploded out in every direction. Ash could see about three hundred Team Rocket agents, fighters and technicians looking around them in surprise and fear, standing in what used to be the thirtieth floor, and was now the roof.

Ash had to move fast, but what he was preparing to do terrified him a little. One of the least-well-known abilities of the Unown Alphabet was also its' most terrifying and the one most open to horrible consequences if misused. A Trainer of a complete Unown Alphabet could use the twenty-six Pokémon's combined powers to create small-scale alterations to the fabric of reality itself.

Molly Hale out in Johto inadvertently used this ability several times and this nearly cost Ash, Misty, Jessie and James their lives. Hell it created a clone of a legendary dog! Ash himself had only used this ability three times, and it still frightened him. Ash concentrated and began to imagine a new shape to the world. A world where the hundreds of terrified terrorists before him no longer had a suicide device implanted in one of their back teeth. A world where, no matter how hard they tried, they could not injure themselves without doing something pretty drastic…

Okay, it wasn't much of a change, but Ash would never try anything more large scale than wishing something small and local like this. He knew full well that the more one tried to change the shape of reality, the more likely it was that it would not end up in a shape you wanted…

The twenty-six Unown began to glow with unearthly power and Ash felt something move within himself as something began to alter the shape of the universe itself…

***

MJ looked around at the suddenly open area around her in panic. In a moment of blinding clarity, she suddenly realised that this was it. They had no way to fight back any more. Even if Ketchum didn't try to capture them, the Security Police would. The standing orders to all agents and support personnel in this situation were most clear. MJ was only 36 and had no desire to die… but she was also loyal to The Boss.

MJ spared a moment to look at Ketchum (for it could only be he who was flying that Charizard). She noticed that the dragon-type was surrounded by what looked like twenty-six shooting stars, which were orbiting it in an interlocking pattern. As she watched the 'stars' grew brighter and brighter until they turned into a flash of silver-white light, which turned into something like a ripple in the fabric of the universe.

The ripple raced out in every direction and flashed over MJ and her remaining troops. She refused to be distracted and bit down on her hollow tooth… only to find it was not there. Additionally, and this really distressed MJ, the floor under her feet had suddenly turned into a tangle of vines that made it impossible for her to move. Even if she were the sort of person to try to jump off the building, she wouldn't be able to do so now.

***

Ash blinked and looked around him, making sure that the sky was still blue, the sun was still in the sky and there weren't dinosaurs or something worse walking the earth below him. He was reassured. At first glance, nothing had changed. However, the Rockets, all though far more panicked than before, were still all standing. No one had fallen in death, and no-one had tried to jump. It had worked. "W… well done, Unown," he said, feeling quite intimidated. Somehow using this power always chilled his heart. 'Absolute power corrupts absolutely,' was a profound truth that his mother had taught him. The one sure way to avoid corruption was not to use the power that corrupts. "Unown, return," he said, recalling the legendary Pokémon to their ball.

Ash watched as Misty pointed both fingers at the building and the snared Rockets. Xatu darted forward and released a Sleep Wave attack, putting all the Rockets into a peaceful slumber. Misty waved at her flying psychic-type gleefully in congratulations. Moments later, Dragonite used her Water Gun attack to extinguish the fires blazing in the hotel, which had all served their purpose.

Ash sighed and felt a dreadful exhaustion. He typed in another text message to Misty: "home and bed :"

The two dragons turned to the west, heading for Pallet Town. Below him, Ash could see police and fire vehicles pulling up to the building. Used to avoiding detection, Ash and Misty ordered their mounts down to tree-top level.

Suddenly, Ash saw something that made him smile. He waved to Misty and pointed downwards. Although Ash couldn't see her face clearly, he could imagine her rolling her eyes at this particular boyish whim.

***

At the edge of the Ilex Forest, two White Rockets by the names of Vin and Chris were both watching the last few seconds of the rout of Vermilion Tower. "What was that white flash?" Chris asked her partner. "Mr. Mime nearly went crazy when it happened." Chris was stroking her trembling psychic-type's head, trying to calm him down. He had broken out of his Pokéball when the flash illuminated Vermilion City and had started yelling crazily in a way that made both Rockets wish they understood his language.

"I don't know," Vin said, looking through his binoculars at the distant tower. "Whatever happened, though, it didn't affect us directly."

Chris tried to be reassured, but it didn't do much good. "What's happening now?" she asked.

"The Security Police have whistled up a few blimps and are pulling everyone off of the tower's roof," he said. "And Chris, it doesn't look like they're moving corpses."

Chris swallowed. "Great," she said. "The Boss is going to love hearing that yet more Rockets have been taken alive. Why do we have to tell him this?" Vin shrugged. Suddenly someone cleared their throat and the two Rockets span, staring in panic.

Behind them stood a tall, heavily-built black-haired man and a slightly shorter ginger-haired woman. The man had a Raichu riding on his back, and the woman had a Togetic fluttering at her side. Behind them, a Dragonite and a Charizard glared at the Rockets dangerously. Chris and Vin recognised the two Trainers immediately of course. After all, their faces were only on 'wanted' posters in every Team Rocket base on Earth.

"A… Ash Ketchum and Misty Waterflower?" Chris blurted.

Vin fell to his hands and knees, his face pressed to the ground. "Don't hurt us, Mr. Ketchum," he wailed. "We didn't have anything to do with what happened to your hometown."

Ash sneered. "And that is supposed to help you how?" he asked. Misty rolled her eyes and elbowed him in the side. Ash grunted, disappointed that he wouldn't be able to make the two Rockets dangle. "Don't worry," he said, "I'm not going to hurt you. I want you to do me a favour."

"A… a favour?" Chris asked. Vin looked up, half-hoping that he might live.

Ash pulled out a DVD-R disk. The disk had the double-thunderbolt-through-a-circle Team Thunderbolt sigil printed on it, and the case was marked 'For the personal attention of Giovanni S. diRocketti.' "That's right," Ash said. "I want you to take this disk to your boss."

"Why… why should we do anything you… you say?" Chris asked suspiciously. Vin looked at her as if she were crazy and tried to mouth something to her. Chris ignored him and waited for the leader of Team Thunderbolt to reply.

"Because your boss will be very angry if he finds out you have hidden something from him," Ash explained. "Besides, if you don't take this disk to him, what reason do we have to let you go?"

There was a long pause before Chris realised that Ketchum had a point. "O… okay," she said taking the disk from Ketchum nervously.

"Don't forget now," Ash said, waggling his finger in reproof, "directly to your boss or I will know. You don't want to get on my bad side, do you?" Both Rockets shook their head frantically. Misty was desperately trying to keep her professional façade and not start laughing. Raichu and Togetic weren't even bothering to try to hide their laughter.

As the two Rockets watched, their most deadly enemies climbed onto their dragons and flew away.

***

Aerodactyl flew over Pallet Town from the direction of Vermilion Bay and the old harbour. Delilah's eyes were filled with tears as she clearly saw the deep wounds her hometown had suffered for the first time. The old harbour was still in ruins and she could clearly see the massive damage the commercial district had suffered.

Yet, there was reason for hope. For there was not one wrecked building that did not show the signs of recent rebuilding and the streets were filled with people moving about and working on bringing their hometown back to life. Massive construction machines were sitting all around the commercial and harbour districts, demolishing ruined buildings and building gleaming new towers in their place. Pallet Town was coming to life.

Tears ran down Delilah's cheeks and were caught away by the slipstream. Tears of joy now, instead of tears of pain. Delilah let go of Joy's belt with one hand so she could touch Sam's hands, which were wrapped around her waist. "He hasn't won, Sam," she shouted over her shoulder. "He'll never win. Not as long as people are willing to rebuild like this." She wasn't sure how much he heard, but he squeezed her tightly, making her feel good.

Aerodactyl landed in front of Delilah and Ash's house. The street was filled with the sounds of construction work. Delilah slid off of Aerodactyl's back and started crying again when she saw her house restored to some kind of order. The windows were all repaired, the door was back in place and her garden, and her beloved garden had been replanted. "Did… did Ash do this?" she asked hoarsely.

"Yeah," Brock confirmed with a broad smile. "When he wasn't working on getting you three out of captivity, he and Misty were here, trying to put this place back together. I think they did a pretty good job."

Delilah couldn't stand up any more and fell to her knees. She was feeling a terrible confusion of pain, pride, loss, triumph, hope and fear. Sam Oak knelt beside her and hugged her gently as she covered her face and let the tears freely stream down her face.

Joy watched the two of them with an unreadable expression. "Uh… Joy," Brock said. She turned from her consideration of her two former cellmates and looked at the man who was once the boy she loved. "I… I'm glad we got you out of there," Brock continued.

Joy managed a slight laugh. "You can't be as glad as I am," she said ruefully.

"No, I'm far more glad than you imagine," Brock said. He stepped forward and stopped just outside of reach of his former lover. "Joy, I told myself that it was over and that I only felt friendship for you… But that was a lie." Brock sucked in a deep breath and wiped his face nervously. "The truth is that, from the moment you were taken, I was on the edge of madness. I… I couldn't stop thinking about you and what was happening to you… I couldn't stop thinking that you might die when I never told you."

"T… told me what?" Joy asked, going pale.

"Joy, I still love you," Brock said. "I don't think I ever stopped. I… I can't live without you and I don't even want to try."

Joy gasped and several contradictory notions collided in her head. Her first impulse was to laugh in Brock's face and run as far and as fast as she could. Her next impulse was to lie and try to drive him away. However, she wasn't a good liar, and she never was. "Brock," she said, her voice filled with pain and hope, "how… how can you love me after what I did to you?"

"I don't care about that," Brock growled. "I don't care about the mistakes I made and you made a decade ago. I only care that I love you and I want to be a part of your life… if you will let me." Joy suddenly burst into tears and covered her face. She began to blindly back away from Brock until she hit the kerb and fell on her behind. "Joy! Joy, why are you crying? What have I done wrong?" Brock said, sounding very distressed. He ran over and dropped to his knees at his one-time lover's side.

By now, the confrontation had drawn Delilah and Professor Oak's attention. Oak opened his mouth to say something, but Delilah slapped her hand over his mouth before he could say a word. He looked at her in surprise and saw her shake her head.

"Oh Brock, I… I never hoped…" Joy sobbed. "I… I never thought for a second you could feel anything for me any more… I… I never stopped loving you… and I missed you so much when I was in that damn little cell… I… I need you so badly…" Joy gasped in a breath around her sobs and looked up into Brock's amber eyes. "But… can we dare…?"

"I would dare anything for you," Brock replied simply and honestly. "Joy, I want you back so badly. You're the hole in my heart I've spent a decade humiliating myself trying to fill. Now I see that the cure was right back at the start of the path, not at the end at all."

Brock and Joy did not break eye contact for one moment. "I need you, Brock," Joy said quietly.

"I need you too," Brock replied. "I love you, Joy. You are the one true 'Joy' of my life, if you get the pun."

Joy started laughing around her tears. "Oh, you," she scolded, thumping him on the arm. She smiled then, the kindest, most blisteringly passionate and loving smile that Brock had ever seen. "I love you Brock," she said. "If you will take me, I will gladly come."

"You would make my dreams come true if you did," Brock said, tears beginning to fall from his eyes. Joy suddenly launched herself into his arms and Brock held her tightly. Then they separated just enough to manoeuvre their faces to claim a kiss that they had both waited so very long to claim.

While the two of them were still kissing hard, Ash and Misty dropped out of the skies on Charizard's and Dragonite's backs. The two of them stepped forward to stare at the two reunited lovers. "Wow," Ash surmised. "I guessed that they still loved each other but…" Ash shook his head and ran his hand through his hair, looking very surprised.

Misty was smiling in a slightly silly way. "All they needed to do was admit it to themselves," she said quietly. "A familiar tale, isn't it Ashy-boy?" Ash grinned at her in a fatuous way.

Joy looked up and blushed. Brock released her and the two of them stared around at their friends. "Uh… gee… this… well…" Brock stammered, blushing brightly and running a hand through his hair.

Joy laughed, the happiest sound the others had ever heard her make. For Brock, it brought back good memories. "I can wait," Joy whispered to Brock. "I have waited this long, a few more hours can't kill us."

Raichu skipped forward and watched the scene. Brock and Joy had started kissing again. Ash and Misty were looking at each other in that way that always made Raichu feel that he was intruding on something unique and wonderful. Even Delilah was standing closer to Professor Oak than usual and was leaning into his hug in appreciation.

[Must be mating season for humans,] Raichu remarked.

[I think it is always mating season for humans,] Charizard replied with a roll of his eyes.

***

Black Island: The headquarters building of Team Rocket.

All the staff in the Major Missions Room were shocked and horrified when The Boss walked into the room, his expression unreadable. In the last 18 years, only the oldest veterans could claim to have seen the last time that the Boss had been outside his inner offices and among his troops. Something must be happening. Something big.

"Mondo," Giovanni said, "what is the status of Vermilion Tower?"

Old Mondo, who had been standing at the main Situation Display Table, turned to face his leader. "Our field agents are all reporting in, sir," Mondo replied calmly. "They all confirm that the base has been taken. Our estimates show that between five hundred and a thousand members of the organisation have been taken prisoner."

"And our prisoners?" Giovanni asked, his voice deceptively calm.

Mondo swallowed and looked around, seeking something to distract Giovanni's wrath from his own head. "Um… er… our… our intelligence indicates that they were… freed, sir. By now, I suspect they will be in Pallet Town."

Giovanni nodded, his whole posture tense, but his expression almost deathly in its expressionlessness. "I understand that we have something from one of the Field Teams," Giovanni said.

"Yes sir," Mondo said. "Two members of Team Thunderbolt approached Team White Eta and gave them this DVD-R disc." Mondo held up the disc. "Our electronic warfare people have confirmed it is a simple MP3 audio file. There is nothing on it that could be used as any kind of weapon."

Giovanni nodded. "Play it," he commanded. Mondo looked around nervously. He didn't think it was entirely safe to do so around so many fighters and technicians. "Play it now!" Giovanni snapped.

Mondo swallowed nervously. He walked over to a console and placed the disk in a DVD player he had connected up the chamber's sound system. He pressed the 'play' button. Instantly, a familiar voice began to echo around the chamber. Ash Ketchum.

"Greetings Team Rocket," Ketchum said, his tone mocking. "And especially greetings to you, father. By now, of course, you would have learned of my friends and my… handiwork in Vermilion City. I hope that this has demonstrated to you all the utter futility of your attempts to defeat me."

Giovanni went bright red in fury. The boy was using almost his exact words in the message that Giovanni had left for him after the destruction of Pallet Town. The boy was mocking him! Perhaps only Mondo saw The Boss's hands clench into fists.

"You will know by now that Delilah Ketchum is free," Ash's voice continued, "as are Joy Burke and Professor Samuel Oak. They are out of your power, father, and you will never threaten them again. If you choose to take other hostages and threaten them, then Team Thunderbolt will free them too." Ash sighed and Mondo could visualise tiredness on the boy's face. "If you learn any lesson from this, it is that you cannot win, and that you will not win. If you want to prevent any more suffering on the part of more of your followers, most of whom I assume joined you in good faith, then you and your inner circle will present yourselves, alone and unarmed, at the Viridian Security Police Headquarters tomorrow morning. There you will surrender to the authorities and confess to your crimes." There was a pause. "Of course, I don't expect you to do that.

"I am going to bring you down, father," Ash said, his voice harsh and unyielding. "I will make it my business to see that you pay for your crimes against humanity, against the Pokémon, most importantly against your family… and especially for the murder of my twin sister. Whether you experience a minimum or maximum of agony in my achieving that goal is entirely your business. This is Team Thunderbolt… signing off."

There was a long silence in the chamber after Ash's voice ceased echoing around it. Suddenly, with a single violent motion, Giovanni lashed out and swept the DVD player from its place and sent it crashing to the floor, shattering it and the disc that carried his son's voice. "I HAVE BEEN BETRAYED!" Giovanni screamed at the top of his voice. "BY ALL OF YOU!" His eyes wild and unseeing, Giovanni gestured around at the dumbfounded and terrified Rockets in the room. "JUST AS I FORESAW IT! AND EVERY MAN'S HAND WAS AGAINST ME!"

There was a long, terrified pause before Old Mondo spoke, his voice completely calm and level. "You can still fight and win," he said.

Giovanni, who was bent double and breathing hard, looked up at his oldest and most trusted lieutenant. "Then I choose to fight," he growled, "and win."

Mondo nodded, pleased to hear that. He touched the Situation Display Table and called up a map of Kanto. With a few swift keystrokes, he highlighted Pallet Town. "Your son is currently in Pallet Town with all his allies. If we strike now we can catch him off-balance while he is still trying to…"

Giovanni blurred across the room, lifted a chair and smashed it into the table, crushing a five-million-dollar display instantly. There was a bang and a shower of sparks. Giovanni then struck Mondo a hard blow to the face. The other man went down hard. "You fool!" Giovanni shouted. "Can't you see? Can none of you see?" He looked around wildly at the terrified Black Rockets and technicians. "That boy is nothing! NOTHING save what I allow him to be!"

No one answered. Giovanni, his face pale, his eyes staring, suddenly turned and strode from the room. Mondo slowly, painfully, pulled himself from the floor. None of the others in the room dared move to help him.

Mondo Jones, once Charlie Mason, looked at the smashed display for a moment, and then looked around the silent, fearful faces, trying to decide what he should do next. Try as he might, all he could hear was Delilah Ketchum's words during their recent meeting, echoing in his head over and over again. 'Charlie, you love Joe very much, I know that, but you must see that he has gone mad… gone mad… gone mad… gone mad… gone mad…'

Mondo shook his had again. When he spoke, it was the very last words he ever expected to utter in this room. "All of you…" he croaked, what had happened to his voice? "All of you make whatever preparations you feel best for yourselves."

To be continued…