Chapter 10: This Is Awful

"Come on Charlie!" Charlie yelled. "Out of bed!"

"What?" his older brother moaned.

"Field trip remember?" Charlie said.

Shane slowly rose up as Charlie kept on nudging him. Charlie looked at Shane hopefully. Everyone around them was scurrying to brush their teeth, combing their hair, putting makeup on and other stuff. Shane and Charlie had put the books of Executive Miller's and her key into Executive Miles' arms and told him both of us had done our part to help.

They explained how we successfully got past the locked doors and infra red beams and he immediately gave them two C-Point coins! They were in Charlie's pillow for safe keeping. But Shane was still tired from what happened last night and Charlie didn't blame him.

"Come on and get up!" Charlie said. "Come on!"

"I think we should skip the field trip," Shane said. "Let's ditch it and do something cool instead. We could go to the Safari Zone and explore it like we did last Thursday."

"I don't know about that," Charlie said. "Executive Miller said we proved to him we could handle this extremely important role in the field trip. Don't you remember when he told us that last night?"

"Not really," Shane said. "If it's a field trip furnished by Team Rocket, how could that possibly something worth going to?"

"We might miss a big opportunity," Charlie said. "If we pull this off correctly we could secure ourselves a long ways up in the success ladder in Team Rocket. The sooner we do, the sooner we could get our dream Pokemon and the sooner we get more money."

Shane smiled.

"My dream Pokemon…" Shane said and Charlie saw on his face the look of sweet contemplation. "I can't decide between Tangela, Exeggcute, Oddish, Bellsprout, their evolutions and-"

"Well you won't get them by sleeping or goofing off," Charlie said matter of fact-ly. "We're just going to go do this part, all right?"

"Do you even know what it is we're doing?" Shane asked curiously.

"Nope," Charlie said. "Executive Miles said it would be a surprise and that we should have our Team Rocket uniforms on."

"I don't know about that Charlie," Shane said. "I'd rather be swinging on vines in the Safari Zone and swim in the watering holes than on a Team Rocket mission."

"We have to if we want Team Rocket to think we're worthy enough to be strong Pokemon trainers. We gotta do things we don't particularly like."

Shane looked down at the bed kind of sorrowful.

"Okay," Shane replied.

"Don't worry," Charlie said. "It'll be fun!"

R

"This is awful," Shane said.

"Give us the Aerodactyl now or we blow their brains out!" Executive Miles yelled with Executive Miller and Executive Petrel standing beside him.

"No we won't," Shane said to them. "It'll be okay."

Charlie were standing inside a laboratory on Cinnabar Island with maybe fifteen Team Rocket cadets forming a barrier in front of them, all of their classmates who their Executives knew had powerful Pokemon that could fit into the building. There were scientists standing in white lab coats, staring them down, with ten or so armed police officers. Charlie was glad the police couldn't see Shane or him, protected from their eyes by the mass of Team Rocket agents.

"You got some nerve sneaking into this place!" a police chief said. "Surrender Rockets!"

"We'll go quietly with no casualties if you just give us the Pokemon you regenerated from that fossil," Executive Miller said.

"We'll never do that!" a scientist said.

"Than we have to do away with your family!" Miller yelled at them.

"No," Shane replied. "She's bluffing."

And that was their part. Charlie was holding a gun to the back of a young woman, tied up with a gag around his mouth. Shane had a gun in his hand pointed towards the back of her four year old, tied just as the boy was. Both of them were crying and moaning in fear.

"This is soooooo wrong," Shane whispered. "I'm really sorry. Trust me I'm not going to hurt you. If only my idiot brother wouldn't have woken me out of bed this morning."

"Hey!" Charlie said. "It's not our fault! Stupid Team Rocket would've done it anyway!"

"We were the ones who helped them sneak into this place!" Shane said. "Who knew a tunnel, some buzz saws, and a some of Tommy Ray's glue was all it took to sneak into a highly guarded lab without anyone noticing."

What Shane said was true. They had come here via submarine that was guarded by the rest of the Rocket cadets. Miles, inspired by what Shane and Charlie did, dug a tunnel at first to get inside the building and then used buzz saws to get through the floor and glued the floor back together. Then they all climbed into the air vents and crawled in and jumped out into the computer room via rope. Before they got caught Miller had hacked into the lab's computers and copied all of the scientists research onto a CD.

When they were caught by the scientists they rushed out but not before Petrel noticing a mother and her kid and kidnapping them. They then used their rope they had brought and captured them. The police rushed over as soon as they could and…well that's where they were.

Charlie's mind was plagued by guilt.

This is all my fault. he thought. I shouldn't have agreed to do this. A field trip with Team Rocket? Please, I should have known I would at least be involved in breaking in to a place.

"That's my family!" a scientist in a lab coat said. "If you lay a hand on them I'll kill you!"

"Tell it to the kid Daddy," Executive Miller said.

"Now you hand us over that Aerodactyl or we put some lead in your beloved," Executive Miles said.

"That won't happen," Shane assured the hostages.

"Admit it, your in no position to barter. So give us what we want," Miles said.

Charlie saw the scientists started murmuring to themselves, trying to decide what to do.

"Team Rocket may have not gotten this far if we never showed them what to do!" Shane said. "This is all our fault!"

"Fine!" Charlie said. "It is! Now would you shut up!"

Charlie tried to calm down. An idea was forming in Charlie's head about how they could let the young wife of the scientist escape with her children. He and Shane were already a fair distance from most of the group and they weren't even paying attention to them.

"Charlie we cannot and will not hurt-" Shane was saying.

"I know!" Charlie yelled quietly. "Now would you shut up and just follow my plan!"

"What's your plan?" Shane asked.

"It'll let these two get away safely but without the rest of them knowing that were the ones who helped them," Charlie said. "If this doesn't work the Executives will either execute us or at least kick us out of the Academy when they find out."

Charlie was so scared. He didn't want to kill anyone but if push came to shove and the Executives ordered their death, what could Charlie do? Why did seven year olds have to be put in this position?

Charlie brought out his most prized possession yet, his pocket knife. He bought it from Tommy Ray with for a C-Point a few weeks ago. Charlie thought the knife was worth more than triple its price he got it for. It had so many different types of tools besides a simple blade like screwdrivers, corkscrews, and other nifty tools. But for now Charlie would just use the blade.

Charlie walked over to the woman and started sawing the rope restraining the woman's arms but made sure not to saw all the way through.

"Don't worry ma'm," Charlie said. "Just stay calm and don't get up and run just yet. Can you tell your child to remain as quiet as possible until we get a distraction?"

He pulled the young woman's gag down to her neck.

"Son?" the woman said. "When these boys cut the rope be still until I tell you to get up and run."

The boy nodded.

"So what do we do?" Shane asked.

"I'll use the gun to shoot the lights," Charlie said. "While its dark they make a break for it and we act like we were injured."

"Won't work," Shane replied. "They'll know we shot the lights by the direction it came and the noise. Plus, that won't explain what happened to use while they lights were off."

Shane just explained the obvious holes in my plan. It sent my mind in frustration to think of another plan.

"Don't worry," Shane said.

He reached into his pants, felt around a little, and took out the electro magnetic field generator he used last night. Shane, like all of the cadets, had clothes beneath their white uniforms with R on them.

"I wore the same clothes as I did yesterday," Shane said. "Sorry."

Charlie rolled his eyes. His gentle natured, naïve brother didn't even care that he wore the same clothes as the day before. Charlie had told Shane not to a million times before but today it may have saved a woman and her son's life.

"I'll trigger the magnetic field while you cut the boy's ropes and she'll run down the hall, out of the lab," Shane said. "Then the police will take care of Team Rocket."

"Do we want them to take care of Team Rocket?" Charlie asked.

"Yes we do," Shane replied.

"But how will we explain the two of them getting lose?" Charlie asked.

"We'll pretend a Scyther from nowhere came out and cut the ropes," Shane said. "I'll make a Scyther imitation while you do that."

Charlie started cutting the ropes that held the boys feet apart. Then Charlie cut away what restrained his legs. Charlie then went to work on the woman's leg ropes and cut through them. The woman could break through what was left of the ropes but the little boy didn't have that strength. He untied the boy's gag and nodded to Shane.

"Hear's the Aerodactyl!" a scientist cried, holding out a Pokeball.

"Now," the woman said to her son.

Charlie saw Shane press the red button on the device.

And the lights went out due to all electricity in the building short circuiting by the magnetic field. It was pitch black and Charlie had no visibility. Charlie and Shane automatically dropped their guns.

Charlie heard the boy and his mother getting up and running away. Before he felt her hug him and whisper "Thank-you."

"Scyther!" Shane cried, sounding exactly like a Scyther. "Scyther! Scyth! Scyth! Scyth!"

Shane's been to the Safari Zone so many times, a lot more than I have. Charlie thought. He must be able to mimic the Pokemon sounds he's heard there.

Charlie put the blade back in the knife and put it back in his pocket, just so no evidence would be found he cut the ropes.

"Aahh!" Shane and Charlie cried in false pain.

Charlie laid down on the floor, holding his chest like he'd been hit there. All the while, Charlie could here sounds of chaos and screaming from the cadets he attended the Academy with.

"What the heck just happened?" a guy screamed.

"Who's there?" someone else said.

"That was a Scyther!"

"Who did this?" someone yelled. "Is this a malfunction?"

"Who's Scyther was that?"

"Turn on the lights," someone moaned.

"Ow! Get off me!" a girl yelled.

Charlie felt around for Shane until he felt someone's body lying on the ground who said in Shane's voice "Is that you Charlie?".

Charlie got real close to Shane so he could whisper to him.

"Just give it another minute or two," Charlie whispered. "We'll make sure to give the woman and her son just a bit more time. Just enough to make absolutely sure she got out."

"Kay," Shane replied.

"Then you pocket the device and turn the field," Charlie whispered very quietly.

"Ouch! My foot!" a person yelled.

"Was that a Scyther?" someone asked.

Charlie waited for a long moment, the screams and confused yells sort of scaring him, but still keeping his cool. Then he whispered, "Now."

Five seconds later the lights came back on.

"Ow!" Charlie, Shane, and everyone in the room yelped.

The adjustment from darkness to light hurt their eyes and stung for a bit. Then Charlie's eyes adjusted and so did everyone else's.

Charlie's classmates' eyes seem to turn to him and his brother.

"What happened to the hostages?" a girl asked.

"Apparently a Scyther came out of no where while the lights were out," Charlie said, hoping they would by it.

"It cut the ropes and when we tried to grab hold of it, the Scyther just kicked us down," Shane said, the electro-magnetic field generator gone from his hands. "They're long gone by now."

Oh please by it. Charlie pleaded in his mind. Please don't think in terms of how or why but what we just answered, like, who or when. Don't think deep into it…

"The Scyther must have been a guard Pokemon, hidden somehow!" a cadet said.

"Yeah! I heard the Scyther myself!"

"Someone on the police must have turned the lights off and sent out a Scyther!"

"Scyther are sneaky and fast! It could very have just zoomed over here as soon as someone killed the lights!"

"Ah! The disc!" Charlie heard Executive Miller scream.

Charlie and Shane slowly rose up to stand to see Executive Miller holding up her right hand. It was devoid of the disc of lab information. Charlie could see a police man with the disc in his hand.

He smiled a coy smile. "I merely stole the information from your hand when the lights were off. Would not one of your petty Rocket Agents do the same thing?"

"You crooks!" Miller yelled and held up a Pokeball from out of her pocket. "Give. That. Back. Now."

The police man with the disc got a Pokeball out as well from his belt.

"Over my dead body," the police man said.

"It would have had to come to that if you would have just given me the Aerodactyl Pokemon or given me the disc back," Miller said.

"Go Machoke!" Charlie heard Miles yell.

From the inside the Pokeball came a human-like, blue Pokemon, with a yellow belt and black athletic shorts, that intimidated Charlie. Even though Charlie was at least thirty feet away from it, the sight of its huge muscle made Charlie sure it could decimate this entire building.

"Machoke," the Pokemon cried.

"Go Raticate!" Petrel yelled.

From his Pokeball came a tan furred rat Pokemon with buck teeth and nude tail. It scowled at his the people across from him.

"Haunter go!" Miller yelled.

And finally Miller's Pokemon was a Pokemon Charlie immediately recognized to be a Ghost-type. It had a large tongue with no feet and hands not attached to its body. It was purple and had a creepy grin on its face.

Charlie saw three police men standing next to each other, one with the disc in his hand, throw their Pokemon out.

On chose a Ponyta, one of Charlie's favorite Pokemon, a Tangela, a Pokemon covered in vine revealing only its toeless feet and large eyes, and a Pikachu, an electric Pokemon that Charlie thought looked kind of cute.

"You okay?" a cadet asked Charlie and Shane.

"Fine," Shane said quickly.

"Scyther just knocked us down," Charlie thought of to say. "All it wanted to do was get us out of the dame and her brat's way. Dang hostages, just can't stand still."

"You got that right," the cadet, Sarah Mallarki, said.

"Can we fight with you, Madam Miller?" a cadet behind her asked.

"Oh no child," Miller said. "I'll tell you when to battle with your own Pokemon soon. These goody-to-shoes just need to be taught a lesson."

"Bunch a retards think they can take on the Rockets," Miles said.

"I'll show you who and who is not retarded!" a police officer cried. "Ponyta shoot a Flamethrower at Haunter!"

"Pony!" the Pokemon cried.

The Pokemon's mane and tail of fire grew twice as big as soon as it exhaled a scorching blast of red and yellow fire.

"What a simpleton," Charlie heard Miller say. "Haunter use your telekineisis."

"Haunt-ooooorrrrr!" Haunter screamed and from his eyes glowed a faint blue light.

The Flamthrower stopped an inch in front of Haunter's face. The shot of flames kept pulsing and moving from Ponyta's mouth but refused to go an inch further to make contact with Haunter's head.

"Get creative on me Haunter," Miller said.

"Haunt," Haunter said as he nodded at Miler its trainer.

Suddenly the Flamethrower took on the same blue light as Haunter's eyes. As soon as it did it split into a hundred different fireballs that levitated in the air. Then the fireballs molded into arrow shapes that were poised at Ponyta.

The arrow flames hit Ponyta, impacting its every square inch of its body.

"Pony…at," it cried weakly as its pale skin looked slightly blackened.

"I'd like a Shadow Ball at that pathetic thing," Miller said.

"Haunt-or!" Haunter roared.

From Haunter's chest hundreds of shadows of shadows were thrown across the wall. The shadows had morbid detail that were so strange because they seemed to depict something extremely lifelike but just couldn't be explained in words. But one word could describe the detailed shadows: morbid. The shadows cast upon the wall looked like fierce creatures ready to attack.

Then the shadows seemed to coil up, back to Haunter, until the dark shades were mixed together until they formed clouds. The ten clouds made by the mix of shadows circled around Haunter like satelites orbiting around a planet. When one of the dark clouds circling Haunter came near its disembodied hands haunter grabbed it.

The first place Haunter touched the cloud had a white star on it. From that white star pulsed dark color onto the cloud in rhythmic waves. As this happened the shadowy blob became less cloud-like and became a perfect sphere of pulsing dark energy with a white light in the middle.

"Haunt-OR!" Haunter roared and the Shadow Ball was sent flying from his hands at Ponyta.

The sound of the Shadow Ball hitting Ponyta was a loud SHWI! From where it was it on its side there was a huge vortex of darkness that turned that impacted skin into something black. Not black as in burnt, but its skin had dyed black.

"Po-" it cried weakly and then fell down on its stomach, its legs splayed out on the floor.

No. I thought as tears streamed from my eyes.

"Huh! Ponyta!" the officer cried.

The officer returned Ponyta to its Pokeball.

A good choice. Charlie thought. A Pokeball helps stabilize the vital conditions of the Pokemon held within it. Even weakened Pokemon are able to stay alive if they're in their Pokeball.

The officer walked towards Miller.

"How dare you-!" the officer started to say.

"Machoke, Focus Blast," Miles calmly said.

Machoke held out his hand and a red beam of energy shot out. The blast went right through the officer. His Pokeball rolled beside him along with the disc of lab information.

"No!" the officer next to him yelled. "You'll pay for that!"

Everyone was silent. Everyone, even Charlie's cadet classmates.

I would never think even Team Rocket would be that bold. Charlie thought.

Charlie was crying now at the death of the police man. He hated his Executives even more now than ever.

"Pikachu use Quick Attack!" a police man said.

"Pika!" Pikachu yelled.

Pikachu ran at Machoke but Raticate jumped at Pikachu, bit Pikachu's tail until it bled, and threw it into its police man trainer. He was knocked down.

"Tangela!" a police officer yelled. "Go up and use Bullet Seed on Machoke!"

"Tangela!" Tangela cried.

Charlie had to admit, the Pokemon was really fast. It had zoomed right pas Raticate after jumping over him and gotten right behind Machoke.

"Tang!" it cried.

From near its eyes small, kernel shaped seeds, three times as big as a corn kernel, appeared. They were yellowish-green and color and were clustered together like bubbles.

"Tangela!" Tangela cried.

The kernels disappeared into Tangela's body and then in a clustered rapid fire attack shot out Machoke.

"Ma," Machoke bellowed as the seeds bounced harmlessly off his back.

Tangela, very quickly, maneuvered to Machoke's side and face, hitting almost all of its exposed body. Machoke didn't even seemed to mind.

Then Tangela was apparently all out of seeds and Machoke turned towards it.

"Choke," it growled and grinned.

"Machoke kick it into the air!" Miles ordered.

"Choke," it growled.

Machoke's foot hit Tangela skyward.

"Tangela!" Tangela was rocketing skyward until it hit the ceiling.

"Now Machoke! Focus Punch!" Miles ordered.

Machoke put its fist near its forehead and his hand started glowing.

Why is hand glowing? Charlie thought to himself. I mean, how is that possible and what does that mean?

When Tangela fell back down in front of Machoke, Machoke punched Tangela with his glowing fist. And Tangela didn't fall any lower.

"Huh!" Shane and Charlie gasped.

To their horror Machoke's glowing fist had come out to the other side of Tangela. It had literally passed through his body so that it was stuck on his arm like a vegetable on a shish-kabob. Part of Machoke's arm was covered in a green and yellow liquid that looked like watery blood. Tangela's body immediately went limp.

"OH NO! TANGELA!" Tangela's trainer said.

Machoke threw Tangela down onto the floor. Its eyes were now closed. Machoke's evil grin expanded into a smile.

"You, you monster!" the police officer ran at Machoke.

Machoke kept smiling as the officer punched Machoke in the gut, each punch Charlie knew hurt because the man's fists were turning purple.

"Machoke, make him shut up," Miles said.

Machoke swatted the police officer in the head. When its fist met Miles's face I could here the CRK! of bone breaking. The police officer was slammed into the wall, just below the ceiling, where his body broke through the thick walls and fell outside.

Charlie was speechless. His mind was gone blank from the sheer horror. Why did he have to see that?

"We don't need a few hostages!" Miles said. "We'll take that disc and Aerodactyl by force!"

"Cadets, get rid of the hostages!" Miller said to Charlie and Shane.

Charlie didn't respond. Charlie couldn't respond.

"Go Growlithe!" many of the officers said as they threw out their Pokeballs.

Charlie also heard heard "Come out Kadabra!", "Come out Slowpoke!", "Go Lapras!", as well as threatening to arrest Team Rocket if they would not stand down.

Charlie heard the names of Koffing, Ekans, Arbok, Drowzee, as well as other random Pokemon from the Team Rocket cadets.

"Charlie take cover!" Shane yelled.

Charlie's mind suddenly became rational again and ran under the nearest table he could find with Shane.

"Growlithe no!"

"Growlithe use Flamethrower!"

"Water Gun and then-!"

"Then Poison Sting!"

"Eat my Koffing's Sludge Bomb!"

"Arbok tie Kadabra with Wrap!"

"Oh no!"

"No!"

BOOM!

"Okay who threw the rocks!"

"Cha-baka!"

"Koffing!"

"GROWL!"

"AERO!"

"Kadabra!"

"Ekans!"

"ARCANINE!"

"MACHOKE!"

"Slowpoke."

The room turned into a huge Pokemon stadium full of shots of fire, poison, wind, water, punches, kicks, head butts, tackles, and a bunch of other crazy attacks.

Charlie saw a Growlithe blacken an Arbok's face, a Golbat created gashes in Beedrill's body with an Air Cutter, and Machoke blow up Aerodactyl's Rock Tomb with its Focus Blast.

And just as he layed there like a coward something rolled across the floor that he recognized.

"The disc!" Shane yelled.

Charlie grabbed it like his life depended on it and shoved it in his pocket. Even though Charlie had tears stinging his eyes he ran down the hallway and headed for the door. Shane ran after him.

"Charlie wait!" Shane screamed.

Charlie was a few feet from the door when a Pikachu was thrown an inch from his chest and into the wall. Charlie turned his head to see it was the work of Petrel's Raticate. In Raticate's mouth was the bleeding body of Pikachu's trainer. Raticate spit it out to reveal, just polished by Raticate's saliva, the police man's name tag: Lt. Jacob William Oak.

Charlie thought he was going to be sick as soon as he saw that and Pikachu climbing out of the wall, nothing of its body torn but just such a cute thing hurt so bad it was horrifying.

"Okay Raticate," Petrel said. "I think that's enough playing around. Let the pathetic yellow Pokemon go. Hey,why are the two of you crying?"

Petrel stared at me, waiting for an answer. I couldn't speak, especially after seeing something so awful. Luckily Shane's brain was still working.

"We both just got grazed by a Poisin Sting attack," Shane said.

"I can-" Petrel was saying.

"Oh no we're fine," Shane replied. "Just need to go where it's safe."

And with that we ran out the door, most likely the same door the mother and her son used to escape the lab. Charlie went outside to set his boot into the sand of Cinnabar Island. The sun beat down upon Charlie's back.

"Charlie-" Shane said.

"I hate Team Rocket!" Charlie yelled into the sky. "I hate Team Rocket!"

Charlie brought the disc out of his pocket and threw it against a small stone in the sand. Charlie then slammed his foot against the disc as hard as he could. He lifted up his foot to see that the disc was now in pieces.

Shane came up to Charlie to see what he had done.

"All this crap over a stupid disc!" Charlie said. "All this over a stupid Pokemon that's so valuable because its older than my Grandma! All this death, hostages, and more death because they went to know how to get the strongest Pokemon ever!"

And then Charlie just sat down and cried with his head in his legs.

"I hate Team Rocket to man," Shane said. "You know what? We'll leave this school one day. One day we'll leave, never come back, and be Pokemon Masters. No killing anyone. But before we do we'll hurt Team Rocket just like they hurt us and others."

Charlie wiped the tears from his eyes.

"Really?" he asked.

Shane put his arm around his little brother.

"We will."