CHAPTER 10

Giovanni and Jonathan fell to the ground and quickly reached for the Master Ball. Giovanni shoved Jonathan to the side and held the Ball up for the G.A.T.R. members to see.

"This is what you put your faith in?" He roared. "A Pokémon…a Pokémon that can be caught like any other, one way or another! Now…go, Mewtwo! Show them that Team Rocket is superior! Kill them!"

Everyone tensed for the worst. And the worst came.

In one Psywave most of their Pokémon were knocked out. In another only Ash's Pikachu was left.

"VOLT TACKLE!" Ash commanded, but even his Pikachu knew it was a losing battle. In another Psywave, the Pikachu was out like the rest of the Pokémon.

"It's hopeless." Kaylee yelled. "We can't win!"

"It's not hopeless!" GhostKing shouted back. "We still have our Secret Weapon!"

Giovanni stared at her. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, we still have out Secret Weapon."

And that was when a Pokѐball fell out of the sky and opened to reveal a Gengar.

WITH IVAN…

Ivan resurfaced again, took a huge gulp of air, and dived back down. Behind him, the Rocket members and their Seadras were gaining on him. This just wasn't a very good day.

When Ivan took another gasp for air one of them grabbed the back of his shirt and hauled him onto the Seadra.

"You're going nowhere," The Rocket hissed. "except to our boss!"

Ivan did the bravest and probably most trickiest thing he had ever done. He managed to stand on the back of the Seadra, evade the Rocket as he tried to pull him down, throw a Pokѐball in the air and jump onto his Charizard's back as his Pokémon took flight. Behind him, he could hear the Rockets yelling, but he didn't turn back.

"Now to where we need to meet back up with the others!" Ivan shouted. "Go, Charizard!"

They flew back to the others in lightning speed. But when they reached them, Ivan got a nasty surprise…He watched the Master Ball catch Mewtwo.

"Oh, this isn't gonna be good…" He muttered, drawing a Pokѐball out of his pocket and muttering, "Use Perish Song." Before throwing it down.

THE OTHERS…

GhostKing was very glad she could see very well, otherwise she would not have seen Ivan circling the clearing up in the sky. And just as she thought he would, he threw down a Pokѐball. What happened next was more than she had expected. When the Gengar popped out of the Pokѐball, it used Perish Song, a move that would make all effected Pokémon faint after three moves.

"What? Do you honestly think that that puny move can stop me? The leader of Team Rocket, the best Gym Leader in all of-" Giovanni was cut off as something hit his wrist, causing him to drop the Master Ball, where it rolled over to Jake's feet. The thing that hit his wrist was another Pokѐball, and a Sandslash hopped out, looking ready to battle.

Meanwhile the Perish count fell to 2 for Gengar and Mewtwo.

"Who's laughing now?" Jake taunted, but he quickly was terrified as Mewtwo tried to take the Master Ball from him by flinging him into a tree.

"HOLD ON, JAKE!" Misty yelled, running over to him and grabbing his arm. That did nothing, and the two of them were being thrown around the clearing as they desperately tried to hold onto the Ball.

And the Perish count fell to 1.

"Come on, Mewtwo! Take what rightfully belongs to me away from them!" Giovanni hissed. "Take it and destroy them!"

Sabrina's eyes glowed a red to match Mewtwo's and Jake and Misty stopped flying around the air less intensely. It was clear that Sabrina possessed some powerful Psychic abilities.

Taking that distraction, the Sandslash slashed at Mewtwo, breaking his concentration. Jake and Misty fell heavily to the ground and the Master Ball bounced into some bushes. Mewtwo and Ash dived for it.

The Perish count fell to 0.

Both Mewtwo and Gengar fainted and Ash reached the Master Ball and recalled Mewtwo. "Told you, Giovanni. Good guys win."

Giovanni's face was bright red. Jonathan's was pale, like he couldn't believe what was happening. Ash had a slightly evil grin on his face, making him look like some sort of maniac.

That was when Ivan fell from the sky and landed in a tree.

"Wow, that was farther than I thought…" He muttered, climbing down. "So, did it work? I saw you guys in the clearing and Mewtwo and…oh, we got the Ball. Good. Now let's go heal all the Pokémon!"

After a very Ha-We-Beat-You-Again-You-Should-Have-Never-Joined-Team-Rocket ish smile, GhostKing had teleported back to the nearest Pokémon Center and the others followed.

LATER…

"That ruled!" Bill exclaimed when all their Pokémon had been healed. "We should do th't again more often!"

"I think not." Sabrina muttered.

"Well…I think we should head back to the Center with that secret passageway and heal all those Pokémon now." Trevor suggested.

"We should. See you there." GhostKing teleported out.

After everyone found means of transportation they all met on the front mat of the Center. "Well, GhostKing, you can get your Growlithe and Lucario back now." Ivan said.

"I can't wait." GhostKing sighed. "It's been a long, long time, it seems."

They all trooped down into the secret passage as happy as they could be…until they turned the corner.

"Give us the Master Ball and no one gets hurt."

The G.A.T.R. group was taken by surprise as the scientist in a long white lab coat blocked their path. GhostKing looked ready to beat this girl, whoever she was.

"Viva, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to take the Master Ball away from you and give it to someone worthy enough to wield it. Hand it over, and no one gets hurt…and we won't let your Pokémon die."

It was only then that the group realized that the healing unit that GhostKing's Lucario and Growlithe were in was turned off. They were going to die unless someone did something.

"NO!" GhostKing yelled. "HOW COULD YOU?"

"Just give us the Master Ball. How much time do they have left?" Viva called into the room, where another Rocket member was guarding Nurse Joy and a couple of Trainers.

"Less than five minuets." He muttered.

Ivan didn't know what to do. He sure as heck didn't want GhostKing's Pokémon to die, but it looked like they had no choice. It was either save her Pokémon…or the world.

"Here."

With a look of defeat, Ash handed the Master Ball to Viva. She smiled a sick smile and turned to the other Rocket member. "Turn that thing back on. Believe me, they'll need those Pokémon in the future."

"You're not getting away that easily, though." Ivan said, drawing two Pokѐballs out of his pockets. "We're not going down without a fight."

"Have it your way." Viva looked eager for a challenge. "Go, Mewtwo. Show these rebels their place."

"Give it all you've got." Jake whispered nearly silently as his three Pokémon appeared on the ground in front of him. "We've got to prove that we're still strong."

GhostKing's six, Bill's six, Ivan's six, Jake's three, Trevor's three, Sabrina's four, Misty's two, and Ash's six all tried as best as they could to not show their fear as they faced off against the World's Strongest Pokémon. They would be fighting a battle they cannot possibly win.

Trevor made the first move. "Charizard! Flamethrower!"

All at once, everyone began shouting attacks. In the small room, the sound was magnified and the battle intensified. Nurse Joy, the couple of Trainers, and the Rocket member all ducked into another room to escape.

After the first barrage of attacks and when the smoke cleared from Trevor's Flamethrower, Mewtwo was still standing there as if nothing had happened. The purple shield around him and Viva faded.

"You'll have to do better than that." Viva smirked.

"Use Dig!" Bill commanded at his Flareon. In a flash, it had dug a hole in the ground and vanished.

"Stripes, Fly!" GhostKing said. Her Pidgeot flew up to the roof and then dived at Mewtwo at lightning speed. Even he couldn't block it and was thrown into the wall.

"Dig! NOW!" Bill shouted, and his Flareon jumped out of the hole it had dug and pounced at Mewtwo, knocking it back into the wall as it tried to get up.

All the G.A.T.R. Trainer's voices mixed together as they gave orders while Mewtwo was still down.

Surprisingly, Viva let Mewtwo take the hits. Once the attacks subsided, she smirked, "Revive."

"NOW WAIT ONE DARNED SEC'ND!" Bill yelled. "Th't's cheatin'!"

"Psychic!" Viva commanded.

Everyone shouted at the same time, "DODGE!"

Most of GhostKing's Pokémon dodged the attack, but Jake's stood firm to take the hit for Ivan's. They didn't seem to feel the attack.

That was when Sabrina whispered something to her Gastly. It nodded, and began to spread the word among the Pokémon. Soon everyone except the Trainers seemed to know the great plan.

"Um, Sabrina, what exacally did you tell them?" Ivan asked nervously.

"Tackle!" Sabrina shouted, and everyone's Pokémon charged at Mewtwo.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?" Everyone yelled at the same time, but it was too late to change her mind.

Mewtwo easily whacked GhostKing's Umbreon to the side along with Ivan's Sandslash. But the remaining Pokémon ignored him…and headed straight for Viva.

"What?" She yelled. "Mewtwo! Help!"

Eclipse leapt into the air, aimed straight for Viva's hand…the one clutching the Master Ball. Eclipse swatted at her hand, but Mewtwo's shield was put up and she was bounced backwards towards her Trainer.

The other Pokémon slashed away at the shield because they knew from experience with other Psychic Pokémon that it couldn't last forever. While all this commotion was going on Sabrina whispered to the others, "Get Viva to drop the Master Ball. If we destroy it, Mewtwo will be free and Team Rocket can be stopped."

"Well, DUH." Misty facepalmed. "Man, I'm dumb! Why didn't I think of that ten minuets ago!"

"If we have to, we'll all rush at her." Ivan looked really determined not to lose. "And we'll beat her for it!"

"Um…yeah…what he said." Ash said lamely.

There was sort of a mini explosion and all the Pokémon were sent flying backwards. Mewtwo's shield had gone out with a bang…literally.

"Good try, but not good enough." Viva pulled a Pokѐball out of her pocket. "Go, Muk. Destroy them!"

A dark green Muk appeared next to Mewtwo. "Death Poison…" Trevor mumbled. "Take it out before it takes us out."

"Flareon, use Dig!" Bill commanded. His Flareon ducked underground again but he never used the final part of the attack.

"What are you waiting for?" Viva taunted. "Scared? You should be."

"Pikachu, Agility!" Ash commanded.

There was a flash of fire, water, grass, and darkness as all the attacks seemed to combine into one. Mewtwo, the Muk, and Viva were thrown into the wall. They instantly got up and Viva commanded Mewtwo to use Revive again. That was when Bill completed the Dig attack. His Flareon sprung up out of the ground at Viva's feet and grabbed the Master Ball in its mouth.

"DIG! QUICKLY!" Bill shouted.

Viva, being as desperate as she was for the Master Ball, tried to grab the Flareon's tail as it dug. All she got for her efforts were second degree burns. While she was screaming, Mewtwo decided to take matters into his own hands and find that Flareon.

With another powerful Psychic attack, the Flareon was launched out of the ground and thrown at Bill's face. Both Pokémon and Trainer hit the wall and sort of lay there, stunned. The Flareon dropped the Master Ball and Ivan picked it up.

"Give that back!" Viva screamed. "Now!"

Ivan found that he couldn't control his legs as he walked over to her. "W…what? I…I can't turn around!"

"Throw it here!" GhostKing shouted.

Ivan threw the Master Ball at her and she tossed it on the ground where she brought her foot down on it as hard as she could.

It broke into three pieces.

"NOOO!" Viva wailed. "NOOOO! HOW COULD YOU? MUK, USE POISON GAS! KILL THEM ALL!"

Mewtwo blinked briefly and then stood in the way of the Muk. "You've caused enough damage here. Leave now or I will hunt you all down and kill you, one by one. From this point on, Team Rocket is finished!"

Viva recalled he Muk and ran for the stairs, the other Rocket member chasing after her.

"Well, that went well." Trevor said, glancing around the room that was soaking wet, brunt, and had bits and pieces of grass lying around. "So now let's heal the Pokémon and get out of here."

The group walked into the room with the healing chamber. Nurse Joy gently took Skeebee from it and handed him to GhostKing. Mewtwo's eyes glowed a bright blue, and then Skeebee cracked open his eyes and glanced around as if to say, Ok-What-The-Heck-Am-I-Doing-Here?

"SKEEBEE!" GhostKing yelled happily, hugging her Pokémon tight. "You're ok now! The Poison's gone!"

Skeebee licked her face and then jumped out of her arms and ran around in circles, yipping happily. Everyone smiled.

Meanwhile, Mewtwo was working on healing GhostKing's Lucario. After a second or two, he opened his eyes and gave everyone a look similar to Skeebee's WTH look.

"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner." GhostKing said. "We were trying to find Team Rocket's base…"

"I know. But I'm still alive, and think that's all that matters. So this is Mewtwo?" The Lucario asked. "Thanks for saving us."

"I helped too!" Ivan piped up.

Everyone smiled again. "Well, I think we should heal the other Pokémon that were infected. The sooner everyone forgets about this, the better." Nurse Joy said.