Deep inside Petalburg Woods, an extraordinary event was about to take place. From the highest reaches of the Ozone Layer, a rayquaza descended into the leafy depths of the dense foliage towards a mysterious lake. It appeared to know instinctively where it was going, as well as the best manner by which to navigate its sinuous form through the closely-packed trees. The legendary dragon was so engrossed in its quest that it failed to pay any attention to its surroundings for any form of danger. Without warning, metal grappling hooks shot from between the trees to wrap tightly around the rayquaza's long body in different locations, sending a crippling shot of electricity into the beast to halt any kind of struggle. Roaring loudly as it attempted to thrash in pain; the rayquaza's fights were futile as its captors revealed themselves along with the large machine they were using to subdue the pokemon.
"Sweet capture, how much d'ya reckon Giovanni's gonna give us for this one?" a very tall, heavily built man wearing a t-shirt sporting a large R on the front of it asked his colleague.
"Can't say for certain, though should be a very nice amount, Ned," his associate, a slightly-built woman with red hair and a fitted top adorning the same large R on it, responded coolly, "just think, we're the only members in Team Rocket to get our hands on a rayquaza!! We need to move it back to our temporary base before we contact him, though. We do want to give Giovanni a live rayquaza as opposed to an electrified hunk of meat, which is what it'll turn into if we don't move out!!" Ned jumped into the large tank from which the grappling hooks had extended, signalling for the woman to join him. Then, he swiftly turned the vehicle around before thundering through the trees towards an exit to the forest. However, the Team Rocket members' efforts had not gone unwitnessed……
Just a short distance from the lake on the other side, a young female trainer had heard the rayquaza's distress calls and came running from her intense training. Roughly 5ft 10 with shoulder-length blonde hair, piercing blue eyes as well as a mask across the lower half of her face, she quickly withdrew a pokeball from her inside pocket.
"Go, Bennett!!" she cried as she tossed it into the air. An arcanine materialised beside the trainer sporting an unusual thick collar, modified saddle on its back as well as reins trailing from the collar backwards. It turned around to wait further commands from its mistress.
"Bennett, take this tracking magnet and stick it to the rear of the tank which went off through the trees on the other side!! Once you've done this, come back here so we can follow it!! A rayquaza needs our help," the trainer called loudly to be heard over the racket the tank had been making. The large dog-like pokemon took the metallic band between his teeth before sprinting away in the wake of Team Rocket. In the interim of Bennett's absence, the trainer called out a magnificent pidgeot with pure golden plumage as opposed to pink highlights.
"Fiero, fly for help from any other trainers you can find!! Lead them to where the rest of us will be; we need to save that rayquaza!!" No sooner had the trainer barked her orders to the bird than Fiero flew high above the trees and out of sight. Once Bennett had returned, the trainer climbed astride the saddle, gave the arcanine a slight flick of the ear and they dashed swiftly off in pursuit of the captured rayquza.
Meanwhile, Ned and his female associate were fast approaching an imposing skyscraper building several miles from any town or city in the Hoenn region. This was the first Team Rocket base to be erected in the area, swiftly brought in after both Team Magma and Team Aqua disbanded following their disastrous ambitions to increase the spread of the land/oceans. Giovanni had been alerted by grunts scouting the area of a pokemon far more powerful than either Groudon or Kyogre, when Rayquaza had appeared from the heavens to quell the earth-shattering battle between the leviathans. Sending his highest ranking officer to oversee the Team Rocket expansion into Hoenn, Giovanni had then subsequently placed a bounty on Rayquaza for any agents who brought it in alive to the new base.
"Damn, Kelly, that monster doesn't know when to quit!!" Ned groaned as the rayquaza continued to roar indignantly.
"What do you expect? They don't refer to that thing as the legendary dragon for nothing," she responded simply, "Besides, as soon as we get it to Dr Leonhart, that's our part of the job done. We can then contact Giovanni and collect what's coming to us!!" She stopped the tank in front of a large shuttered door at the base of the building before beeping its horn three times. As the doors crept open, Kelly inched the vehicle safely into the hidden hanger where there also lurked a helicopter, a private jet, a motorbike and a large 4X4 all-terrain vehicle. All of these things had the trademark R on them somewhere. Jumping out of the tank, Ned and Kelly greeted an older man whose jet black hair was starting to show signs of greying. Wearing a pair of black trousers and a long white lab coat, the man walked around to the door in the tank through which the rayquaza had been pulled into. Ignoring the enraged roars coupled with the renewed futile efforts of struggle, he simply let out a gengar which unleashed heavy hypnosis waves upon the imprisoned pokemon. Once it had settled into a deep sleep, the man finally turned to address Ned and Kelly.
"Ah, I see you were successful in catching the beast, unlike so many of your colleagues!!" Dr Leonhart's voice was silky yet icy at the same time, "I was indeed beginning to lose hope that we would ever obtain one, Giovanni has been growing increasingly restless of late. I shall start work on it immediately; the both of you are hereby dismissed from my sight!!" Glowering at their superior, both Ned and Kelly stalked out of the room in complete silence until the door had slid shut behind them.
"I don't get why he gets to be Giovanni's number two!! He's way too arrogant for his own good, not to mention lacks the muscle to be anything intimidating to anybody in the organisation!!" Kelly growled before casting a dirty look at the door she'd just walked through.
"Beats me, although I hear he can do terrifying things to pokemon that would make your blood run cold to think about," Ned muttered back, "Anyway, he's not our problem. Let's go to the main boardroom where we can contact Giovanni to update him, then collect our reward."
