The ocean sparkles under the late afternoon sun. Waves roll lazily toward and away. I take a deep breath as I look across the last distance between my Pokémon and me.

"Pidgeot, return," I say with a quick glance at him before he vanishes into the red silhouette.

Rebecca grabs my hand, making me remember that she's here for me. "I'm here for you, Ash," she says, repeating the words she already said in my mind.

"Thank you, Rebecca," I say. "I'll need all the help I can get today."

"You don't have to do it, Ash," she says. "You could just tell the police, the National Guard would come in–"

"If anyone was going to take down Team Rocket," I interrupt, "they would have done it already. I can't take them down. I just want my Pokémon back."

She squeezes my hand and lets go. I reach to my belt and pull out another Pokéball, tossing it in the shallows. "Lapras, help us out," I say.

"Lya!" he says.

I nod and jump on his back. Rebecca climbs up after me and I rub Lapras's neck gently. I pull out the GPS to relocate exactly where this base is and point straight out to sea, saying "Lapras, take us out."

"Lya!" he cries and pushes himself off the shoreline into the water.

"So," Rebecca says as I put away the GPS, "you're not trying to hurt anyone. We're getting on the base, and then trying to sneak your Pokémon out. Right?"

"I'll explain it one last time," I say, "but we need to stay quiet after this just in case."

"Okay," she says,

"When the base appears on the horizon, you will ride Pidgeot through the sky and try to find a safe way to land on the base," I say. "I will ride Lapras's back until we are close enough to dive for an underwater entry. We'll meet on the Southeast corner of the base behind the nearest cover."

"And if I can't land," she interjects, "I circle overhead in view of you. You'll cause a distraction, and clear a path for me to land."

"Right," I say. "After we meet up, we'll split up and search separately through the base."

"Okay," she says. "Perfect."

I look out on the ocean and see a small dot, poking out of the water. "That's the base," I say as I pull out a Pokéball. "Go, Pidgeot. Be careful, Rebecca."

"You got it," she says. Pidgeot appears, flying over the water, and Rebecca gingerly climbs on as Pidgeot struggles to support her inexperience in riding solo. She gets on stably and waves me goodbye before taking off high into the clouds.

I watch ahead as the base gets larger, taking a more defined shape. It looks like an overseas oil-plant with large crossing beams extended into the ocean to hold the platform steady on it's edges, but the meat of the base retreats far under the ocean. I rub Lapras's neck to calm my nerves. I can see a steel crane on the base, standing idly. As I get even closer, I can make out a few people on the deck.

"Lapras, dive," I whisper though we're still far out of ear shot. I take a deep breath and hold it as we fire through the current of the sea and toward the base.

I sit tight, holding onto Lapras's shell. He hurls through the water, but it's already been thirty seconds. I'm worrying if I took in a deep enough breath to make it. We just have to make it to the shadows, and I can breathe. Just the shadows. I swallow nothing, praying the nothing will turn into oxygen. My lips and teeth stay clamped shut. Just the shadows. I let out my exhale in sight of the shadows.

We emerge, and I cover my mouth immediately to stifle my loud inhale. We stay underneath the base for a moment, so I can make sure we weren't heard and I can catch my breath. We are completely out of sight. I bet Pidgeot is already circling over the base, behind the clouds.

I stand up and reach for the crossbars underneath the base platform. I pull myself up slightly, checking my area with just my eyes. I'm behind a stack of metal crates, and I look around quickly to make sure no one can see me. I hold on with one hand and reach down with the other to grab Lapras's Pokéball and press the button to call him back. I pull up silently onto the deck, rolling close to the crates for cover.

I look up at the clouds, trying to see Pidgeot, but he's well-hidden. I know he can fly up there for a long time, and he'll have to do just that. He won't have a chance to make a safe-landing. It would have been good to attack the base from two sides in case one of us got caught, but I wasn't going to risk her. At least if I fail, Pidgeot can take her away and get help. Maybe, the police will come if they think Team Rocket has me and is guilty for Professor Oak and the Charicific Valley massacre, which likely hasn't even been found yet.

I pull out Gengar's Pokéball, press the button, and Gengar's silhouette pops out with that mischievous smile. I put my finger to my lips before he can start cracking jokes. He puts on a face of mock seriousness and darts to the crates. He looks around with fake nervousness and points his fingers skyward like he's holding a gun in a James Bond style.

I want to smack him on the back of the head, but I know that will end in missing, which may force him to burst into laughter. "Gengar," I whisper, "I really need your help. Focus!"

He stops and turns to look at me. He bows slightly, waiting for me to fill him in.

"I need you to be invisible," I whisper and he immediately vanishes. I know he's still listening. "I want you to look around here. Check the floor below us, and see if you can find us a safe way to get down there. Short out the security cameras with Disable. Then come back here."

I see his red eyes appear quickly, flashing his acknowledgement. They vanish, and I turn my back to the crate again. I sit and wait, hoping for the best.

"What'd you do that for?" a man shouts.

"What the hell are you talking about?" a man with a deeper voice says.

"Shut the hell up, asshole," the first one says. "There's no one else here!"

"Keep talking," the man with the deep voice says. "I'll tear out your jugular."

I smile. Gengar found a way to have a little fun without doing anything stupid, and that is fine. I'm just glad he's doing what I ask instead of taking this time to crack jokes.

The purple, wispy mass appears again, bowing. He looks at me, waiting for commands.

"I need you to help me phase through the walls with you," I say. "Take me somewhere on the lower level where we will not be spotted."

He bows again and grabs my hand. I look at my transparent hand and see the floor through it, but I'm not invisible. We drop through the steel-platform.

I feel incredibly nervous as we pass through. If he were to let go of my hand on accident, I would be severed into dozens of pieces, dead before I knew it. I wouldn't even scream.

We make it underneath the base, hovering above the water in the shadows close to where Lapras and I were earlier. He pulls me farther, phasing through the wall in front of us with just his head. After a moment, he pulls me through with him into a long, curving, metallic hallway with fluorescent lights. My opaqueness returns, and I drop to the floor with a very light thud. I look around as Gengar watches me intently. I nod at him and he smiles mischievously.

"Alright," I say softly, turning right. "We'll go this way. I want you to scout ahead with invisibility. Disable cameras and phase through walls." I make waving hand signs between the walls. "Make sure no one is coming out. If there is anyway we could get caught, come back and phase me somewhere safe or turn me invisible with you." I look him in his red eyes. "If you find any Pokéballs or cages, take me there immediately."

He head forward and vanishes. I follow after him slowly, tensed. As we go farther down the hall, I force my shoulders to sink and my steps to be less careful. My eyes don't stop darting back and forth though. I trust Gengar, but this is nerve-wracking.

I descend a small set of stairs to the third level below. The occasional windows show the empty, blue ocean. The hallway is as quiet and metallic as ever. I cross one failed bulb before descending another flight of stairs.

Almost immediately after I reach the fourth level below, an invisible hand grabs me and yanks me to the wall. I nearly shriek, but bite down on my tongue to bring tears to my eyes immediately. I taste iron in my mouth as thick liquid seeps from my tongue between my teeth. I look down at my feet and see nothing.

Footsteps echo down the hall like metal clanging on metal. A long, light shadow approaches from down the hall, changing shape. The clanging echoes grow louder. My hands feel drenched with sweat and my heart pounds in my head.

The hall rotates, revealing a tall, skinny man with short, brown hair. He's dressed in all black with the red R covering his shirt.

I don't recognize him, but he reminds me of every other Team Rocket member. He reminds me of the blood on Professor Oak's floor. He reminds me of the dead Charizards spread across the Charicific Valley. My shaking stops. As he passes, I try to jump out at him, but I can't move. I try to look at Gengar, try to plead to let me attack him, but I can't move a muscle.

He passes out of sight. The echo of his footsteps pass out of earshot. Gengar appears at my side and floats down the hall, disappearing before he rounds out of sight. I'm still frozen against the wall. I see nothing for a long time. Sweat drips down my nose to make it itch. I worry that he left me.

Gengar appears suddenly in front of me and touches my hand to release me from my motionless cage.

I stare at him for a long time, trying to think of a way to scold him for stopping me. I wanted to tear that guy apart. He stares back with a genuine hardness that I have never seen in those huge, red eyes. I know what he'd say to me if he could speak. I let my eyes soften. He backs away, then turns to head down the hall, vanishing before he turns the corner.

The rest of the floor is uneventful. I nod to let my anger fade. Gengar was right in what he did. I would have ruined the entire rescue over one grunt. I'm glad he disabled me from moving when I think about it, but I would have torn him apart. I still want to tear him apart for what they did to the Charizards and all of my friends.

I force myself to focus again as I walk down to the fifth floor below. There are low roars echoing from down the hall. I can't imagine what they must be doing to whatever poor Pokémon is down there, but it sounds agonizing.

Gengar returns to me in sight, and I stop, cocking my head. He beckons me to follow as he turns his back. The roaring gets louder as we continue down the hall. My skin chills.

I recognize that roar.