Chapter 10

Scratch-Cat Meowth

Syoran took a deep breath and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he began barking orders. "Nine! Go for the Arcanine! Z, take down the snake! Spirit…" I was already headed for the Meowth, slower than our last battle with Proton and with more caution. Syoran shrugged. "Sure, go for Meowth. Rio, you're on Carnavine. And Psi…well, keep the Wobbuffet occupied." The Rockets shouted at their Pokémon too, but I wasn't paying attention. I grinned at Meowth, stretching and doing my Swords Dance routine as I approached.

"Hello again," I said, "We met before, but I don't believe we were properly introduced. My name is Spirit. Would you care to dance?" I lowered my blade to show him exactly what sort of dancing I had in mind. He unsheathed his claws.

"Yeah. I'll lead," he said, lunging toward me. I grinned and ran to meet him. I swung just as he leapt. He landed on my back, but quickly abandoned his position when my bladed tail swept up towards him. He ended up behind me and I spun to face him.

Sending a burst of energy to my legs, I shot forward toward him, knocking him down before leaping back. He swung wildly at me, trying to land another hit, but I dodged backwards, staying just out of his reach. "Try and stay in step," I chided.

"Rio, Force Palm!" Syoran shouted. I had just enough concentration to spare to notice the Carnavine suddenly gain the power of flight. "Psi…keep doing what you're doing."

I glanced over. I got scratched for it, but it was worth it to see exactly what Psi was doing. He and Wobbuffet were staring at each other, seemingly waiting for the other to make an attack. The Wobbuffet blinked, causing Psi to cheer.

"I win! I win! I won the staring contest!" he declared.

"Aw…what a shame…" Wobbuffet said, "Best two out of three?"

" 'Kay," Psi agreed. They locked gazes and were as still as statues once more.

I went back to my battle. To be honest, it was fun. It was the first time on a long time where Syoran wasn't shouting orders at me and allowed me to just fight, not counting the previous battle where I'd been tied down for most of it. Meowth and I fought tooth and nail, but what would you expect from two Pokémon whose primary attack method is slashing and scratching? He was a pretty good fighter, agile and slippery. After a few minutes, we fell away from each other, breathing heavily.

"Tired already, kitty?" I taunted, "Am I going too fast for you?" One of the most effective tactics a Dark-type (or Darkling or Evil-type as we are sometimes called) is intimidation. Our presence tends to unnerve people, so I was playing that up a bit to my advantage.

"Shut it, twerp," he hissed, "I'll show you Meowth's da top cat!" He crouched and pounced, claws extended. I laughed wildly and leapt to meet him. We met in mid-air and went rolling across the ground, scratching, clawing, and biting at each other. His claws tore at my sides while I dug my teeth into his shoulder. Yowling in pain, he kicked me off.

"Heh, heh…ha, ha…ha ha HA HA HA!" I laughed. Grinning fiercely at him, I said, "That was fun! Let's do it again!" As I said, playing up my creepiness.

"You crazy? You call dat fun? You're bleeding!" Meowth countered.

"This?" I asked contemptuously, looking down at myself, "This is nothing. Now come…" I licked the blood off my paw and grinned. "You'll love the real blood." Meowth gazed at me in horror. Seeing my opportunity, I channeled darkness into my blade and attacked him, just like I had last night. He couldn't take it and went down. Relieved, I sighed. "Hey trainer!" I called to Syoran, "I got mine! Do I get a steak now or what?"

"Spirit!" Don't just sit there! Go help!" he ordered. His tone caught me off-guard. It was angry, furious even. I looked at him in concern. This wasn't like him at all. Rage was written into every line of his face and his hand hovered near the pistol, like at any moment he might go back on his word and just shoot the Rockets. He was not someone to cross right now.

"Help, right," I muttered. But who should I help? Z and Arbok were locked in combat, so entangled it was impossible to strike one without hitting the other. Nine and Arcanine were chasing each other around the room, each using their full arsenal of attacks to try and overpower each other. Getting between them was sure to be death by incineration. Psi was still in his staring contest. That left only…

"GET AWAY FROM ME!"

…Rio.

The Carnavine was slowly advancing on him, mouth drooling. One of Rio's arms was bleeding, but he still crouched in a fighting stance. However, his words gave away his fear. "S-stay back!" he said in a quavering voice.

"Bwah-ha-ha-ha! What a tasty little morsel you look like!" Carnavine said, spewing drool and spittle everywhere. It wildly charged Rio, mouth agape. "LET ME EAT YOU!"

"Rio! Force Palm it again!" There was a loud smacking noise and Carnavine went flying over my head. I lashed out and left a long gash down its side as it passed, but it got up again and advanced on Rio, blindly ignoring anyone else.

"Look out, Rio! It's coming back!" I warned.

"MEEEAT!" Carnavine shouted. Rio screamed as it latched onto his arm once again and began chewing. I growled and tried to leap to his rescue, but a searing pain paralyzed me and I collapsed. I glared down at my traitorous body. I suppose I was more wounded than I had thought.

"Get off me!" Rio screamed, trying to pull his arm out of Carnavine's drool-filled maw, "Get off me, getoffmegetoffme, GET OFF ME!" He began to glow white, like he was about to evolve, but the light disappeared before anything happened. I took a sharp breath. He was so close. Nine had said that the only thing keeping him from evolving was that he couldn't accept his past. But, if he could evolve, he could easily trounce that carnivorous plant.

"Rio!" Syoran called, concerned, "Spirit! HELP HIM!"

I swallowed. "Rio!" I shouted, "Listen! I know you're worried about being a bred Pokémon and all, but that doesn't matter! No matter how you came into this world, you're here now! You're strong and I know you can win this! You are what you are, deal with it and move forward. Your past is what makes you what you are, and you are a good kid! If people are too dense and prejudiced to see that, then screw them! Even me! You understand me, Rio?"

Rio looked at me in confusion, and pain, because his arm was still in Carnavine's mouth. Then, suddenly he grinned and began to glow. How he could smile when someone was biting his arm off, I don't know. Fighters are crazy like that. "I think I do…" he said as the glow intensified, "It doesn't matter to you that I'm a bred Pokémon, does it? So why should it matter to me?" His eyes began to water. "Thank you, Spirit." The glow enveloped him and he grew. Boy, did he grow, becoming more muscular and sprouting a few spikes, one of which was now in the Carnavine's mouth.

"GRAAAH!" it shouted, releasing Rio. The light faded and Rio blinked, looking over his new form. He grinned widely.

"YEAH! I finally did it!" he shouted, thrusting a paw into the air, "I, Rio, have now officially evolved!" His voice was deeper, like he'd just gone through puberty in seconds. But his grin was still the same. He turned and Force Palmed the Carnavine across the room. "Ha-ha! Cool!" Rio said triumphantly before chasing after it.

"Help…me…" Z gasped. The Arbok had coiled around his neck and was choking him. To make things worse, his claws were having trouble penetrating the scaly skin. I tried to rise once more, but I was feeling a bit light-headed. My nice fur was stained with blood, mostly mine. It was going to take ages to get it out.

"Come on, Spirit!" I raged at myself, "Get up and fight! This is nothing compared to that Sneasel pack!" That had been a nasty fight. I'd literally been holding my insides inside me afterwards. A travelling healer had fixed me up and in return I'd predicted the weather for her so she could harvest her herbs on time. "Get up, Giratina take you! Your friends are in danger! Or are you going soft already? Are going to be Syoran's lap dog next?" I slowly managed to rise to my feet and staggered toward Arbok. "Hey ugly!"

The Arbok's gaze whipped around toward me. "What wasss that?"

"I called you ugly," I said smugly, beginning to clean my fur, "What are you going to do about it?"

The snake slowly released Z, eyes aflame. He collapsed, coughing and massaging his neck. I crouched in preparation for a fight. Arianna was yelling orders at her Pokémon, trying to get it to turn around and finish Z off, but it ignored her. Humans are really good at yelling orders, but they are useless when it comes to fighting unless they have some of their special weapons with them, like the gun Syoran was holding.

"You will pay dearly for that insssult Absssol," it hissed, "My pattern isss flawlesssss."

"Your pattern is fine," I said indifferently, "It's your face that is ugly." It hissed and struck. I swung, blade charged with darkness, and struck the bony part of the snake's cheek, deflecting its fangs as well as sending it flying. I couldn't take another protracted battle. I had to use my strongest attacks immediately.

"That was Night Slash," Z said, impressed, "When did you learn that?"

"Last night, fighting the evil, floating bell," I said with a shrug. Carnavine sailed over our heads and landed next to Arbok.

"Why won't you let me eat you?" it wailed in frustration, rising at the orders of Archer.

"Um," Rio said, "Is that even a question?"

"I win again!" Psi shouted over the din of battle.

Wobbuffet sighed. "Darn it. I'll go KO myself now…" he huffed before banging his head rapidly against the floor until he fell unconscious. Carnavine hopped toward Rio again. Seeing this, Syoran sighed.

"Do I even have to say it?" he asked.

"No," Rio replied, preparing another Force Palm. Arbok slithered toward Z and I, murder in its eyes. Honestly, I think it was female, but with snakes it is hard to tell.

"You ready for this?" I asked Z.

"Yeah…" he answered in a raspy voice. We both charged at once, as quickly as our abused bodies could manage. Arbok had trouble deciding which of us to target, so we made the decision for it and both tackled it at once. I bit down hard on the tail while Z wrestled the head toward the ground. Carnavine came flying over once more and landed on top of us.

"Ow…bad meat…" it moaned.

"Get off me, fool!" Arbok spat. Rio's paws came down hard on the back of their heads, knocking them both out cold. I made a mental note to avoid ticking him off. He pulled Z and I out from under Carnavine and looked us over worriedly.

"You two okay?" he asked.

"A few cracked ribs and a bruised neck," Z answered, "But I'll be fine."

"I'm pretty scratched up," I replied, "But it's mostly surface wounds." I took a step and winced. "I think."

"Meat…" Carnavine groaned. We all glanced sharply at him to make sure he wasn't going to attack us. He was still out.

"So…" I said, "If they are all defeated, then that leaves…Arcanine."

"Yeah, but I don't want to step in the middle of that…" Rio said, pointing. I glanced over at Nine. She and Arcanine were twin beacons of blazing light and heat. And they were sending that power at each other, to no effect. The entire area around them was smoldering. If this continued…there was no telling what would happen.

"Give…up…" Nine panted, "You can't…win."

"I will…never betray my master!" Arcanine growled, "I will not leave his side again!" I gave him pointed for loyalty, but he lost them again for stupidity.

"What's…what's happening?" I asked.

"Flash-fire," Z said grimly, "They both absorb fire attacks as a form of nutrition and to boost their own power. This will continue until one of them can't handle any more." As we watched, Arcanine shot a massive blast of fire at Nine, who opened her mouth and swallowed it. Her glow intensified.

"What do we do?" Rio whispered.

"Simple," I said, "Stay out of it and try to find an area less likely to explode."

"You've lost!" Syoran shouted at Archer, "Just give up! If this keeps up, the explosion could kill us all!"

"Never!" Archer snapped, "My record is pretty bad when it comes to winning battles, but I've got to get lucky sometime! I won't let you destroy our dream of rebuilding Team Rocket, just the way the boss would have liked it!"

"Oh James!" Arianna said, hugging him, "I knew you wouldn't give up!"

"Oh for the love of…" Syoran said, slapping his forehead, "Nine, Confuse Ray."

"Yeah, sure," she said in intense concentration. Obviously, containing this much power was wearing on her. A purple beam from her forehead hit the Arcanine. He began to glow more brightly.

"Shoot!" I shouted, "Everyone hit the floor!"

"Young master…I can't…" Arcanine suddenly howled. Everyone threw themselves to the floor as the largest explosion I'd ever seen enveloped the room, melting the electronics and tearing the roof and walls to shreds. Nine's scream joined his and another just like it occurred, blowing over us and further devastating the room.

"Nine!" I shouted, but immediately had to hunker down again. It was at least ten seconds before I dared to peek at my surroundings.

The command center was gone, as was most of the top of the tower. By some measure of intent, the floor and those on it were unharmed. I think those two must have focused the explosion upward to keep it from frying anyone in the room. That must have taken an enormous amount of control and concentration from both of them.

The humans rose first and gaped at the newly redesigned room. It was one of those 'open' concepts, I'm sure, but I was more concerned about my friends. I glanced around to take stock of everyone's condition. Both Nine and Arcanine were both down. Z and I were battered, but standing. Rio's back was scorched, but his face betrayed little pain. He did wince once or twice as he moved, though. Psi alone seemed to be in perfect health.

"Growlie!" Archer wailed, running to him and throwing his arms around him. The Arcanine licked his hands weakly.

"I failed you…master…" he said, "I'm…sorry…"

"Don't move!" Archer ordered, "We'll get you fixed right up! Just rest for now." He withdrew Arcanine and rose to face us, anger clouding his face.

"Thank you, Nine. Return," Syoran said softly and tenderly. He glared at Team Rocket. "Time to surrender," he said matter-of-factly.

"Team Rocket never surrenders!" Arianna declared stubbornly. Meowth dragged himself over to them, not in any shape to battle. Then again, neither were most of us.

"I'm all for it…" the cat muttered.

Syoran sighed and pulled out the pistol. "Now please," he said, annoyed.

"Um…" Archer hesitated, "If you don't let us go…"

"We'll toss Ethan off the side of the building!" Arianna finished in a perky tone.

"Psi," Syoran said, "If they try it, just teleport him safely to the ground, okay?"

"Darn you!" Arianna fumed. A beep came from her wrist. Some sort of human device, I was sure of it. She suddenly smiled and chuckled. "That's our ride. I think we'll be going now."

"Not a chance," Syoran said.

"Oh?" she drawled, "Despair! De-cloak, now!"

The sun was suddenly blotted out. I slowly raised my eyes and immediately wished I hadn't. A huge, metal monstrosity hovered above us, like the cruise ship but half its size and flying on jets of fire. The only oddity was that Meowth's face was painted on the side. I gulped. I heard Syoran draw a sharp breath. Arianna laughed, but Archer didn't join in, instead staring sadly at Arcanine's Poke-ball and sighing.

"Bit better than our last air-ship," Arianna said with a smile, "We'll be going now." In response, Syoran coolly lowered the pistol and squeezed off a shot. It landed right between her legs. She immediately jumped back, eyes wide in surprise and fear.

"You missed!" I said in disappointment.

"Um…Despair! Get us up there now!" she ordered.

"You three!" Meowth snapped, pointing at the three controllers, "Grab da Champ and his Pokémon. We're blowing dis popsicle stand!"

A flock of Golbat swooped down from the flying ship above us. Syoran took aim at them and fired, but missed again. Probably by design. In response, the bats scattered and flew erratically, trying to throw off Syoran's aim.

"Earplugs!" Arianna ordered.

"Earplugs?" Syoran repeated in confusion. All the members of Team Rocket produced the items in question and stuffed them in their ears. I was confused as well. Why would they need such things? It would only dampen their already dim battle senses.

Then, the screeching began; a high-pitched assault of sound bombarding us from above. I cringed and covered my ears with my front paws as best I could, but still I heard it. It disoriented and stunned me and I sensed the others were in no better shape. Even Syoran had clamped his hands over his ears to block it out. Only the Rockets stood unaffected as the Golbat swooped down and picked them up one by one, ferrying them, Ethan, and a belt with Poke-balls attached to it that I assumed belonged to him up to the deck of the ship.

"Golbats, cease Supersonic Bombardment!" Archer ordered. The horrible noise stopped and I slowly uncovered my ears. But when I tried to rise, I found my balance was screwed up and I couldn't stand. None of us could.

"Well, I suppose this is goodbye," Archer called, "Team Rocket won't forget your resistance. And I won't forget how you hurt Growlie!"

"You hypocrite!" Syoran shouted, "You hurt so many trainers and their Pokémon, but if yours gets hurt you get bent all out of shape?" He raised the pistol and fired, causing the Rockets to hide inside the ship. Syoran kept firing until the pistol started making a clicking noise whenever he pulled the trigger. He tossed it aside angrily. "That's why no one uses guns," he muttered, "Pokémon are so much more reliable." Slowly, the Rockets emerged and laughed mockingly.

"You fool!" Arianna called, "Our forces will establish control over this island. Your victory here means nothing! Team Rocket will rise to new heights! You, however…" She chuckled darkly. "Helm! Set course for the volcano! Let's initiate stage two." Slowly, the ship turned to head over the island. We watched helplessly as it slipped away from us.

"Psi, can you teleport us up there?" Syoran asked.

Psi considered it thoughtfully. "No…" he said at last, shaking his head for Syoran's benefit, "To many of you. An' Spi'it can't teleport."

"Hey everyone," Rio said, staring at the sky, "wasn't it sunny a few moments ago?"

I looked up. A cloud had formed quickly, blocking the sun and flashing with short spurts of lightning. I limped to the edge and peered down. I didn't know what Rio or the others thought, but this definitely looked like a very powerful Thunder attack in the making and I wanted to see who was causing it. I scanned the area, mostly seeing trainers battling Team Rocket members in machines and losing horribly. But over on the edge of the port standing atop a building was the blue-cheeked Pikachu from earlier. Even with my excellent eyesight, I could barely make him out, so I couldn't see exactly what he was doing. The results, however, were awe-inspiring.

The cloud writhed and crackled. I could see the Despair desperately try to turn and avoid it. Syoran caught on to what was about to happen a few seconds after I did. "Psi!" he shouted, "quick! Teleport up there and see if you can grab Ethan! His Pokémon will be fine since they're in their balls, but he's in danger!" Psi blinked out of existence. A moment later he was back, resting on Ethan's shoulders.

"Wah…? Oh, the Abra. Duh," he said, which didn't do much for my opinion of his intelligence. He rose, free now since Psi had brought neither the chair nor the ropes with them, and offered his hand to Syoran. "Thank you for saving me. And for beating those two. I was in a real tight spot." He laughed at himself, and it was a genuine laugh too, not a nervous or forced one.

"You're welcome," Syoran said, "Now, if you tell Psi exactly where your Pokémon are he might be able to snag them."

Ethan nodded and did so. "Brown haired controller. He's holding onto them. Wait until after the lightning strikes," Ethan told Psi with a grin, "I have a feeling we are about to see some major fireworks."

The Despair was making all haste away from the cloud, which was now a maelstrom of electrical energy. Archer and Arianna ran around, trying to find cover from the inevitable. Down below, the fighting had all but ceased as Rockets and trainers alike watched the sky in awe, wondering what was going to happen. Down on the rooftop, the Pikachu began to glow with a crackling aura. Then, with a 'BOOM' that shook the tower all the way to its base, a single bolt of lightning came crashing down, smashing into the Despair with the force of a meteor.

The ship shuddered and faltered. Several things exploded in rapid succession and the ship began to fall, careening toward the bay and passing over us as it went. Another explosion rocked the sky and nearly knocked us over once more.

"Team Rocket's going down again!" Archer and Arianna shouted.

"Bail out!" I heard Meowth shout, "Meowth ain't going down with da ship!" Members of Team Rocket dove over the edge, aiming for the tower. Most made it, including the two commanders and Meowth. Those who didn't…well, they would have to clean them off the ground with a mop.

A black leather belt with six Poke-balls attached to it clattered to the ground. The Rocket who had been carrying it had dropped it when he landed. In an instant, Psi had it and was handing it to Ethan, who quickly buckled it around his waist. Then, he plucked one off and tossed it into the air. "Cinder, let's wrap things up here!" he shouted. A giant, blue and yellow rodent with flames shooting out his back appeared in a flash of light. He cracked his knuckles and glared at Team Rocket.

"You want them cooked up, boss? Or just whipped?" he asked.

Ethan smiled confidently. "I think it's your turn to surrender to me, Archer," he said, "I promise no harm will come to you if you do." Syoran tensed at this and I glanced sharply at Ethan, but neither of us protested.

Archer hesitated. "Ya' better do as the boss says, Rocket Man," Cinder growled, "I ain't as patient as he is. Got a bit more of an explosive temper in me."

"James…" Arianna said worriedly, "We'll never defeat him… he defeated Red." All the Rockets were staring at him, waiting. He bit his lip.

"Alright…" he said, slumping in defeat, "We'll surrender on one condition."

"Which is?" Ethan and Syoran asked in unison.

Archer fell to his knees and held out a Poke-ball. "Please…make sure Growlie is okay. I'd…never forgive myself if he was seriously hurt on my account."

Syoran's eyes hardened. We all had similar reactions. How dare he demand his Pokémon be cared for when he makes a living abusing others? I growled angrily, lowering my head so that my blade was pointed at his throat. Was he really that arrogant? He deserved to feel a little of the pain he had caused others.

Ethan, however, proved himself to be a better person than any of us and stepped forward, a friendly smile on his face. "Done," he said, accepting the Poke-ball, "Now, radio your forces and tell them to stand down."

Archer smiled weakly in gratitude. Slowly, he raised his wrist near to his mouth. "This is Commander Archer," he said, "All Team Rocket forces…stand down. We've lost." He sighed and closed his eyes. "It's over."