Chapter 11

My body went ahead of my thought process as Ariana's Hydreigon appeared out of the poke ball she had withdrawn. I immediately shot up out of my cot and moved toward her. Nova moved as well and we began to leave the room. It was at this point that my mind caught up with everything. She had just taken me by surprise in that quick instant that she threw the EMP grenade down onto the floor. I knew it. She was different from the rest. She was ready to tell Giovanni to fuck off. But first, we had to get out of here.

"Okay, where are we going?" I asked Ariana.

"It's pretty straightforward." Ariana said as she moved into a jog, Nova and I mimicking her pace. "We go down this large hallway here until we get to a large door…that's when it gets complex. Just follow me, kid." Several lower level team rocket grunts appeared in the hallway before us. They sent out their pokemon, the typical Rattata and Wheezing.

"Nova! Use flamethrower on the wheezing!" I called.

"Dragon rage." Ariana commanded. Nova and the Hydreigon let their attacks loose into the enemy pokemon and downed them instantly. The grunts, now completely aware that Ariana was assisting me, looked at her in confusion.

"Executive Ariana!" They said. "What are you doing?"

"I'm helping the prisoner here escape." She said before pulling a handgun on them. "Out of the way. Now." They nodded at her and moved, very intimidated by her glare. We continued to run down the hallway.

"Why didn't they have guns?" I asked her.

"The pokemon themselves are usually sufficient for offensive and defensive purposes. Only higher-up members and executives get guns around here." Ariana said. I didn't have trouble doubting this. Having a pokemon with the capability to melt entire boulders down certainly seemed to minimize my own need for a gun.

"Now thanks to that EMP grenade, none of these cameras are picking us up." Ariana said. "They probably know we're out, they just don't know where we are. That gives us an advantage. But that just means we have to get the hell out of here as soon as possible."

"There's only one exit?" I asked her. She looked at me.

"We're a high-profile crime syndicate that is infamous around the country." Ariana said. "You think we'd make a base with more than one entrance and exit?" We came to a rather large storage area and immediately took shelter behind some crates. Several grunts were meeting up and talking.

"This is where it gets complex." She whispered to me.

"Apparently Ariana's flipped and she's helping the prisoner." One of the grunts said. "Giovanni wants her captured ASAP."

"Oooh, I wouldn't want to be her right now." The other grunt, a girl, said. "What do you think he'll do to her?"

"He seems to have a fondness of burying people." The male grunt said. Ariana and I moved along the crates, staying completely hidden from the simple-minded lower-level grunts. We eventually made it all the way through the storage facility and left. Ariana exhaled sharply and wiped her forehead.

"Okay, we make this upcoming right." She said to us. "Stay close." We moved as quickly and as silently as we could, taking shelter wherever we could. Suddenly, a small fireball struck the area on the wall next to my head. It turned out it was an Ember from a Magmar owned by a Team Rocket member. He seemed to be higher up than the standard grunts, as he had a grey outfit on instead of the usual full black. Along side him stood a girl in a matching outfit. She sent out a Meganium that cried defiantly at us. They sent them forward and drew their guns and began to fire at us. Ariana, myself and our pokemon took cover.

"Nova, use giga impact on those fucks with the guns!" I cried. Nova stood and ran around the fray, using her intense speed and heightened senses to get to the trainers before they could cause too much damage. Nova easily knocked the two team rocket members unconscious. The two pokemon stood helpless without their trainers.

"Roar." Ariana told her Heidriegon, which then let out a deafening roar, frightening the two confused pokemon away. The loud noise was sure to have attracted almost every member of Team Rocket to that location.

"Now they all know where we are." Ariana said. "Let's get moving." We continued to run through the hallways that seemed as if they'd never end. We came across a few grunts led by one of the higher-up members, who opened fire on us with his handgun while they sent their pokemon forward. Ariana returned fire and shot the shooter in the neck, making him fall to the ground and begin to bleed. Nova and the Heidreigon took care of the grunts' pokemon easily enough before Ariana sent the rest of them running scared. I looked down at the bleeding team rocket agent, my eyes widening. I had never seen someone die before. It made me sick to my stomach. We always act as if it would be so easy to kill someone as horrible as this man…how easy it would be…but it's not. Ariana looked at me.

"Logan, come on!" She cried. "We don't have time for this!" For some reason my mind told me to regard the dying agent a little more.

"Logan!" Nova said, pulling me by my arm. "We have to go now!" We continued to move, not changing pace for anything. I was getting very tired, and Nova noticed this.

"Are you okay?" She asked me as we ran. I looked at her, smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm alright." I said to her. "Just gotta lay off the tacos." She couldn't help but return the smile. We came to a large open area that seemed to be a lobby.

"Alright!" Ariana said. "We're here! The exit's just ahead." As we moved toward the exit, however, the three other executives, Proton, Archer and Petrel jumped in front of us. They sent out their pokemon, a Golem, that particularly vicious looking Raticate and an abnormally large Seviper. They then withdrew the assault rifles they had armed themselves with. They were accompanied by about fifteen grunts who sent out their own pokemon, Koffings, Ekans and Rattata's mostly. This was it. We were fucked.

"End of the line, Ariana." Proton said. "No further." Archer eyed her, seemingly hurt deeply by her decision to assist me in escaping.

"Ariana!" He cried. "Why are you doing this to us?"

"Did you really think you'd escape?" Petrel asked with a snaky smirk. "I always knew you were a disloyal bitch."

"And I always knew you were a loyal dog, Petrel." Ariana growled.

"Better to be a dog than a rat." Proton quipped.

"Just give up now, and Giovanni might make your deaths quick." Archer said. "As much as it pains me to say."

"Heidriegon! Use thunder wave! Try to target their guns!" Ariana said quickly.

"Giga Impact, Nova!" I cried. "Go for the Golem and use your speed to dodge him!" The thunder wave was successful in disabling the guns as Nova barreled forward at top speed, surprising the array of team rocket grunts and executives. She seemed to be coated in a superheated energy and she launched herself into the Golem, knocking it back into a wall.

"Hyper fang!" Petrel ordered his Raticate. The rat pokemon dug it's fangs into Nova, who let out a cry of agony. My heart jumped in concern for her. She promptly elbowed the Raticate in the side, sending out an audible cracking noise before throwing it away. The Rattatas and Ekanses began to pile onto her, receiving several commands of "Bite" and "Quick attack" from their team rocket masters. Nova fought them off and turned to see the Seviper recover from a dragon rage attack from the Heidreigon before coiling itself for a strike toward her. It launched itself at Nova, who promptly dodged it and took a hold of it before beating it senseless. She then threw it into the air to be knocked to the ground by Ariana's Hydreigon. I looked at Ariana and smiled. She returned the smile before her expression changed to one of worry. Her Hydreigon had been hit dead center with a chunk of earth launched by the Golem in a Rock Blast attack. It spiraled to the ground and laid there unconscious as the Golem prepared to use Rollout on it to crush it. Nova moved quickly.

"Use flamethrower, Nova!" I cried. Nova let out a blast of fire that caused the Golem to focus on her. It used Rollout toward her, but she dodged it easily and engaged the Golem up close. She fought it, scoring her fair share of hits, but eventually received a punch from the Golem that knocked her back into the freshly recovered wave of lesser pokemon. She fought hard and attempted to get them all off, but there's power in numbers. They steadily overwhelmed her and got her to the ground and the Golem approached to finish her off. My mind raced with what to do. My love was being beaten down in front of me…and the only thing I thought of to do was Eruption…but it was a low ceiling in here.

"Nova!" I called. "Use eruption!" She didn't respond. This terrified me above anything else that had happened so far. What if she was beaten or worse, dead?

"Nova!" I cried even louder. "Use eruption!" For a few moments, nothing happened. Suddenly, from within the dog pile of pokemon shot a massive torrent of Lava, critically injuring them all and setting them ablaze. She let out a pure bestial roar from her core as the Typhlosion she really was. Gone was the mild mannered and sweet Nova that spoke eloquently and decisively. What she was at this moment terrified me. It rocked me to my core. The very look in her eyes as she eyed the Golem said that she meant to end that Golem's life. Still, the rock pokemon tromped toward her. The building had caught fire and begun to burn around us.

"Do something!" Archer yelled at Proton. "Take that Typhlosion out!" Proton pointed at his golem.

"Golem!" The executive cried out. "Uh…Uh use rock blast!" The Golem began to tear pieces of the ground up and hurl them at Nova. Nova charged for the Golem as fast as she could and dodged each piece. At this moment, seeing her moving now…Nova was a predator and the Golem was the prey…and it knew it. The fight or flight reflex in the Golem's mind kicked in as he began to turn around in fear of Nova, but she caught up to him and jumped onto his back. She let loose a torrent of flames into the Golem's head that I couldn't tell to be flamethrower or fire blast…Whatever it was, it was deadly. The Golem let out this awful shriek of agony as Nova bathed his head in her intense flame. Proton cried out commands to his Golem frantically, trying to get it to fight back. Tears ran down his face so I had to guess he raised the Golem from a Geodude. Proton's fellow executives stared on in astonishment at my Typhlosion's sudden and drastic viciousness. Ariana's eyes widened as she looked at me for answers. I had none. Truth was, even I was disturbed at how Nova was ending this Golem. It pathetically swiped at Nova with it's short arms, trying to get her off of it but it failed miserably. After a short and agonizing death, the Golem crumpled down to the ground and Nova stood on top of it triumphantly before giving out a deafening roar. One that frightened each and ever person in the room…including me.

"Nova!" I cried. "You didn't have to kill it! You went to far! Calm down!" Nova did not look at me, nor did she listen to me. She only slowly turned around to look at the executives, who were positively frozen with fear. She began to stalk toward them, the results of her rage burning the building around us down. Petrel immediately pushed past the grunts and other executives toward the exit door, but failed in his endeavors as burning debris fell in front of it. Now they were trapped with her…and she looked as if she was going to burn them alive. All of them.

"Nova!" I yelled, attempting once more to get her attention. "Stop! Now!" She still didn't listen to me and continued to move closer to them.

"Ariana!" Archer cried out. "Help us!"

"I don't want to die! I don't want to die!" Petrel screamed. Proton merely sunk to the floor, his eyes never once leaving his dead Golem's corpse. Ariana looked at me, her eyes widened with fear.

"Logan!" She cried out. "Control your pokemon!"

"I'm trying!" I responded, my voice becoming frantic. "She's always listened to me! She's never done this before!"

"Well do something, damn it!" Ariana said as she administered a revive to her Heidriegon. "Or I'll have to make him stop her!" I thought for a moment before taking off in a dead sprint toward Nova. As I moved toward her, she planted her feet and began to charge up what looked like fire blast. I got to her just in time and took hold of her arm. Her fur was so hot, it burned through at least two layers of skin on the inside of my hand. I ignored the intense pain and screamed-

"NOVA!"

She immediately turned and snarled at me, baring her teeth in my face. But as soon as her eyes made contact with mine…as soon as she realized who had just screamed at her, her eyes softened…her ears lowered…and she suddenly remembered who she really was. Tears flooded her eyes as she saw what she did to the Golem.

"I…I…" She said as I felt her fur rapidly cool. She looked terrified as she looked at my badly burned hand. "Logan, did I-"

"It's okay." I said to her soothingly. "It's over. We're getting-"

I was interrupted by a massive Arbok, the largest one I had ever seen by far, sinking its fangs into Nova's side, piercing her body and injecting it's poison. I have always known that an Arbok's bite is deadly.

"NO!" I screamed before Ariana's Hydreigon knocked the Arbok away from Nova. It was at least twice the size of a fully-grown Arbok…but it was still very different. It looked to be about thirty feet long. It had spikes running down it's back and it's neck frill was lined with small prongs. Along with it's normal purple skin, it had strange green markings on it. It's teeth looked particularly sharp. At this moment, Giovanni came walking into the area, slowly clapping his hands.

"Logan, I've got to hand it to you, you manage to keep surprising me." He said with a large smirk. "I assume you've already met my Arbok. He's my favorite science project. Extremely potent, as Nova is finding out now." I quickly looked over at Nova, who was struggling to stand, but falling to her knees. She was trembling already from the poison.

"Ooh, I would not want to be her right now." Giovanni said.

"You piece of shit!" I cried. "Why are you even doing this?!"

"To teach you a lesson!" Giovanni yelled back at me. "See this is why you don't fuck with me!"

"You tell 'im Giovanni!" Petrel cried out like a fan boy.

"Shut the fuck up, Petrel!" Giovanni yelled at his number one fan. "Just shut the hell up!"

"But Giovanni, sir, I just wanted to compliment you." Petrel said. "As your executive, it is my duty-"

"You're only an executive because you worship me so much, you dog!" Giovanni said. "I don't need any of you sniveling cowards! You're all so useless! You think I've forgotten that you were all beaten by a little kid that one time?! Ariana's the only one of you who has any spine! She actually had the nerve to stand up to me!"

"Fuck you!" Ariana cried.

"Oh, don't think I'm not going to end you as slowly as I possibly can after all of this." Giovanni said. "That being said, you have my respect-"

I tackled the fucker. Sent us both to the ground rolling before he knocked me off. I heard his Arbok moving toward me, but it stopped after I heard Ariana cry out the command "Dragon Rage". That's another one I owed Ariana. Giovanni and I both stood up and fought.

"Arbok!" Giovanni cried. "Kill Ariana and her Heidriegon. Save this one for me, though." I moved toward him and threw a punch, which he easily blocked and countered, knocking me away. "Come on, Logan! That can't be all you have for me!" I growled and turned back toward him before moving in once more. This time I let him make the first move. He halfway connected, but I managed to get a good punch in on this face. He stumbled back a few steps and grabbed his jaw.

"Good arm, good arm." He said to me as I eyed him angrily. I needed to end this as quickly as possible so that I could get Nova some care…for all I knew she didn't have much time left.

*Ariana's POV*

"Dragon Claw!" I cried as my Heidriegon engaged Giovanni's huge Arbok. The gigantic Snake roared at my dragon pokemon as it performed it's attack…It actually roared. Heigriegon was faster than the serpent…but not by much. Eventually, in all probability, the Arbok would catch up to Heidriegon. "Dragon Rage!" I yelled.

Heidriegon let out a blast of dragon fire into the Arbok's head as it charged for him. It didn't seem to do much and the Arbok barely missed him again. My stomach leaped for the safety of my pokemon. The Arbok suddenly stopped…which intensely worried me. It turned and looked at Nova. She was still trying to get to Logan to help him…sweet thing. My stomach dropped as the Arbok moved toward Nova slowly, ready to inject another dose of venom and completely seal her fate.

"Heidriegon! Use dragon pulse!" I yelled. Heidriegon began to move toward the Arbok and charge up a dragon pulse, but the Arbok swiftly turned and launched it's tail into Heidriegon, sending him flying into a wall. My mind continued to race as I thought of something else I could do… Suddenly, to my surprise, the Arbok was distracted by Archer's Seviper and Petrel's Raticate due to the commands from their masters. Proton sent out a Persian that he apparently had stored away. Ariana quickly looked at Heidriegon, who had recovered from his damage.

"Dragon Rush!" I called, prompting Heidreigon to barrel toward the Arbok at ridiculous speed, knocking it down. As Heidriegon stood over the Arbok, Petrel's Raticate used Hyper fang and dug it's fangs deep into the snake. Archer's Seviper then used Iron Tail on the Arbok's head, dazing it.

"Roar of time, Heidriegon!" I yelled out. This was my dragon pokemon's ace in the hole. Heidriegon roared in it's face and the Arbok, already beaten down, let out a massive shriek as it seemed to be distorted heavily. It's body faded in and out as the roar coursed through it and changed it's reality in time and space briefly, making the Arbok faint where it was. I looked quickly over at Petrel and Archer, who withdrew their pokemon and began to move toward the exit that one of the grunts had made for everyone. They nodded at me, and I nodded at them. They helped me…so I supposed that I'd let them get away…for now. I quickly looked over at Logan to see him fighting Giovanni…He seemed to be winning.

*Logan's POV*

I growled as I let yet another fist loose into Giovanni's head. Once I had actually started to take my time in brawling with the villain, I was actually able to get a few good hits in. This latest one stunned him enough to where I could let loose on him, throwing my fists toward his face as much as I could. His fist colliding with my solar plexus stopped me as I bended down over his arm before he uppercutted me in the chin, knocking me onto my back. I groaned and tasted blood in my mouth as I got back up, breathing heavily. Giovanni was decently beaten up…but he probably didn't look nearly as bad as I did at that moment. He had given much more than he had got in this fight, and I was feeling it now. I felt blood run from my nose as my stomach, chest and face throbbed where he had peppered me with skillful blows. He laughed.

"Well now, Logan!" He cried. "Looks like luck isn't what you possess at all! No one's ever lasted this long against me."

"I've been waiting for this rematch, you motherfucker." I said. "I'm gonna make it hurt."

"Not if I do first." He replied with a small laugh. With no more time to waste on idle chatter I launched myself quickly at him, letting out loud grunts as I threw punches, which he dodged easily. He seemed to be having fun with me. After I threw a particularly fast haymaker, I felt a red hot burning pain in my abdominal region…followed by a rush of warm liquid. I looked down to see that Giovanni had buried a four inch blade in me, and I was beginning to bleed. A lot. I looked up at him and grunted deeply before he smiled at me evilly.

"Oh, look what I've done now." He growled before kicking me back and pulling the blade out. I stumbled back and fell onto my side, clutching my stomach. I didn't scream…I merely let out dumb moans as I felt the blood pour out of me. He moved closer to me and kicked me in the side of my wound. Now that made me scream.

"Look what you've done!" He cried out angrily as he let loose a punch into my head. "You little prick! Now I have to find a whole new facility! Hire all new recruits!" A flaming piece of debris fell about five feet away from us. I recoiled from the danger, but Giovanni merely stood still over me. I took out his knife and kneeled down next to me.

"At least they won't have to identify your burnt body." He snarled as he held the knife to my throat. This was it. I was going to die. They always say that your life flashes before your eyes before you die…nothing flashed for me. No, all I did was focus on Nova…I had failed to protect her. As I looked upon her unmoving body, tears flooded my eyes.
'Nova…If there's any afterlife….I'll see you there…and I'll make it up to you.' I thought as Giovanni grabbed my hair and pulled my head back to expose my neck. I didn't even try to fight him. 'I promise.' This was when Giovanni was interrupted by Ariana throwing her leg into his side, knocking him away from me. She engaged him physically while giving an order to her Heidriegon.

"Use dragon rage, Heidriegon!" She cried out before Giovanni knocked her away with a punch and whipped out a taser and firing it into Heidriegon. It cried out shrilly as it hit the floor and convulsed. Ariana cried out and engaged Giovanni once more. As my vision began to fade, I looked at Nova…she was dead…but I still had something to live for. Alan…Jade…Flametail, Lockjaw, Blaze, Rose and Lucy… They were all still alive…and they were all still worth living for. I gripped my wound and pressed it. I grinded my teeth from the pain to keep myself quiet…but I knew I had to compress it to help stop some of the bleeding. I groggily came to my feet. My legs trembled as I stumbled toward Giovanni and Ariana. My vision faded in and out as I approached them. I only caught glimpses of Ariana chopping Giovanni's throat before disarming him, knocking the knife away. Next thing I saw was Giovanni grab onto Ariana's shoulder and let loose a massive punch into her face. Punch after punch he delivered, but it was not without it's difficulty since Ariana still fought back. He overpowered her though and knocked her down onto her back. He raised a leg to stomp on Ariana's head as I grabbed onto him and pulled him onto the floor. He cried out and tried to fight me, but I had caught him unaware. He was face down and I was on top of his back, gripping his throat with all my might. I squeezed as hard as I could as I beared down with all my weight. He struggled and struggled, but he could barely touch me. He whipped up a foot and hit me in the back. Normally it wouldn't hurt at all, but thanks to my knife wound it felt like a brick thrown at me. I clenched my teeth and squeezed even harder, letting out a rage-filled roar. This man had killed Nova…he had taken her from me. Now I was taking him. He stopped moving after about two minutes of struggle, but I continued to squeeze for another minute. I even felt a significant pop in his throat…must have been his windpipe. I squeezed until I couldn't bear it anymore and I fell off of him, breathing heavier than I ever had in my life. My vision faded fast as I was absolutely certain I was dying.

'So this is what death feels like…' I thought. 'Huh…It's surprisingly warm…'

"Logan…Logan." I heard a familiar voice calling to me from the darkness. I moved toward it…but no matter how much I tried…I just couldn't get closer. I felt a hand on my shoulder but I saw nothing there. "LOGAN!" The voice shocked me and I woke up in a hospital room…A tube up my nose and a large bandage on my body. Alan stood over me and more importantly…Nova.

"Oh…" Was all I could get out before I reached for Nova. My Typhlosion held back a sob and moved toward me and embraced me gently, minding the wound. I broke down in her embrace. For the first time in a long time, I let it all out and it felt really good. I cried for what seemed like ten minutes before I could finally speak. "I…thought you were dead…"

"I thought you were going to be." She said, moving back but putting my hand on her cheek, which I caressed.

"How…I…" I stammered before finally gaining control of myself and looking at Alan. "I thought I was dying…Giovanni stabbed me."

"He did and you were." Alan said. "We're lucky local police saw the fire in the night and sent a fire team to check it out. They found you being pulled out of the building by this lady and her Heidriegon." He gestured to Ariana, who I hadn't noticed sitting in the corner in a chair. I looked at her.

"What…happened?" I asked her.

"What, after you crushed Giovanni's neck?" She asked me with a smile. She had a few cuts and bruises on her face, but she looked to be fine. "I got you and Nova the hell out of the building just in time for the fire department to rush you to the hospital and Nova to the Pokemon Center. All the experts consider both of your current situations miracles. They say that you both should have been dead by the time they got you there."

"What about Team Rocket?" I asked in my raspy voice. "The rest of them I mean?"

"They're spread pretty thin. The other executives are still out there…but they won't last long without their leader." Ariana said.

"She told me everything that happened. How you and Nova were abducted right outside our apartment. And…what they were going to do to you." Alan said. "I knew something was up as soon as I found that note. You would never just pick up and leave. So I called the cops."

"I'm glad you did." I said.

"Speaking of the cops…" Ariana said. "When they interviewed me. I told them everything about Giovanni. Who he was and the things he did…and how you killed him." My stomach dropped. I was hard pressed to think that I'd be charged for murder, but who knows with this fucked up legal system we have.

"And?" I asked her.

"And…" She said before taking on a wide smirk. "You're now a nationwide hero."

Author's Note: Holy shit, that was a fun chapter to write! Next chapter coming soon. PEACE.