Triumvirate

by Renaerys

In an untamed world filled with monsters and beasts, four young people discover that true horror lies not between gnashing jaws, but within the hearts of men and women just like them. [Realistic Pokemon AU] [Mangaverse w/ some anime and game influences]

14. Saffron City, Part 1

Triumvirate, chapter 14: Saffron City, Part 1
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon

---

Ivy didn't sleep the night before they marched on Saffron. She lay in bed next to Gary, who slept soundly and silently. Espeon breathed shallow breaths at the foot of the bed, equally sound asleep, but Umbreon opened one yellow eye and peered at Ivy through the gloom. She rubbed her eyes and sighed.

"Can't sleep?"

She jumped and turned to see Gary looking right at her. "Wow, I was sure you were fast asleep."

He ran a hand up her arm, and she shivered at his natural warmth. "I could...hear you thinking. It was loud."

She propped herself up on an elbow. "I'm sorry, what? I thought you said you weren't psychic?"

He rose up on an elbow so they were at eye level with each other. "I'm not. Espeon just kinda drifts. I can't do it normally," he said quickly. "Just...when I'm dreaming."

"...Wow."

"Listen, I wasn't trying to eavesdrop or—"

"No, I mean, clearly you're becoming a better Clairvoyant ever since Espeon evolved. I'm starting to see why the Gym Leaders like to surround themselves with one type. It must have this effect."

"Makes sense."

They lapsed into silence and shifted in the bed, disturbing the felines at their feet. Espeon and Umbreon got up, stretched, and hopped off the bed.

"Can I tell you a secret?" Ivy said softly.

He twirled some of her long hair around his finger. "What is it?"

"I'm...afraid. Of what we'll do in Saffron, I mean. Not the fighting or anything like that." She laughed a little. "I'm used to that life, you know."

"What're you afraid of?"

She smiled. "You believe me?"

"Why wouldn't I believe you?"

She lay back down and laid an arm over her eyes. "Even Agatha was afraid of me. What I am. What I can do... Ash, and even you." He shifted, and she put a hand over his lips. "Don't deny it. I'm not angry or anything, it's just the way I am. I guess it's how I've always been. Well, not always, I mean, but long enough for it not to matter anymore."

"Ivy..."

"I'm happy you believe me, okay? That's enough."

Gary sighed. "You're not a monster. Don't listen to Erika. She doesn't know you."

In the darkness his face was so clear to her eyes, right down to the faint scars that ran along his forehead and cheek where Team Rocket's Meowth had attacked him in Lavender. "I don't care about that. I just care about what you think." She closed her eyes. "It's not about whether I'm a monster or not. It's about whether you're okay with it."

"Ivy, what's going on? You're bad at riddles. Just say what you mean."

Despite herself, tears welled in her eyes when she looked at him. "I'm afraid...you'll see me for real in this war. I dunno if I want you to see that. I dunno if you'll be able to stand it."

He slipped a hand around the back of her neck and entangled his fingers in her loose hair. His breath was warm on her lips as he leaned in and touched their foreheads together. "I've already seen everything there is to see."

She sat up fully and hugged her knees. His hand fell to the pillow. "No, you don't know, not really. You know my story, yeah, but there's a difference between me telling you and actually living it." She buried her face in her knees and took a shuddering breath. "Team Rocket, the Masked Man, and even this Reaper thing... I'm in the dark, and I can't see the bottom. I can't drag you down there with me. I don't know what's down there."

Gary had proven himself to be a very hands off kind of guy, emotionally and physically, for the most part. She'd never complained, having found a rhythm with him first as uneasy acquaintances, then as almost friends, and finally as lovers. But Agatha's words still haunted her to this day. Someone like her, and someone like Gary, they were night and day. The sun never meets the moon, and if it did, it would have the vast, endless night to battle just to get within reach.

"I'm afraid of what I'll do," she went on. "And I'm afraid I won't regret it." She turned back to him, and he watched her with an unreadable look in his half-lidded, green eyes. "I'm afraid I'll like it."

He sat up but refrained from touching her. They sat next to each other, knees to their chests, and breathed. "Okay."

She blinked. "Okay?"

"Okay."

"That's all you have to say?"

"Yeah. Look, we both know this fight's gonna be bad, the worst we've seen, for sure. People will die, Pokémon will die. I think we have a shot at winning, but not without a heavy cost. Maybe Erika's willing to pay it, but I dunno if I am. I don't even know what it means, not really. But you," he glanced at her askance, and the green of his eyes dazzled her sensitive sight. "You know exactly what you have to do. What it'll cost. I envy you that. I guess when you can see in the dark, you see what no one else wants to see, and somehow you still face it. I wish I was that brave."

"Gary," she said, barely audible. "You don't know what I'm capable of."

"I think you're capable to doing what's necessary, even if it's hard. We're gonna need people like that. Ash and me...we're still learning that part. But I trust you."

Tears dripped down her cheek and landed on her bare arm, cold, like the rest of her. "You trust me?"

He smiled a genuine smile, the kind he reserved only for dark places where no one but she could see them. "I trust you with everything."

She sniffled and wiped her eyes. "Damn. I hate you when you're like this. Makes me all jello-y."

His soft laughter made her stomach to a flip, and before she could dry her eyes, he'd pinned her to the bed beneath him. "Sure you do."

They crashed together in a desperate kiss that went on forever, lips and hands and the heat he shared. She ran her palms down the front of him, dragging her nails the way she knew he liked, and grabbed him firmly enough to mean it. They broke apart, and she took just a small moment for herself to admire him, the way he watched her like there was nothing but the air between them, and even that was in the way. The abyssal green of his eyes that, if she was being honest, had captivated her from the first moment she'd seen him, so eager to cut him down and so invigorated every time he got back up. He never got old, never tired, never bored, and he never looked away.

"Ivy," said through gritted teeth.

Her tears were still wet on her cheeks as he pulled her close and kissed them away. She drew red paths along his sinewy back, marking where she'd been and where he had yet to go. Caught up in the passion of him, she flipped them and he hit the mattress with a grunt as she pinned him with her hips. Smooth hands gripped her thighs and pulled her closer in rhythm as she threw her head back, unable to remain silent. Pink toes curled around the silken sheets as she arched her back and closed her eyes to the ever present darkness. His palms were searing hot against her bare skin, drawing in her cold making it his as they collapsed together. She landed on the pillow next to him out of breath and lost for thought as she just watched him through the haze. Her cheeks itched with her dried tears, and she rubbed them with the back of her hand.

"Get some sleep," Gary said, out of breath.

He threw an arm around her waist and wrapped the sheet around her before she could agree. Darkness fell around them once more and filled the silence, comforting. His arms were warm around her back, sturdy, and she thought about Agatha's words again. They lived in her memory, never quite silent, but for now they seemed a distant echo that failed to dispel the pleasant thrum up and down her skin.

"Goodnight."

He said nothing as he held her, pulsing with warmth. And for the first time all night, she let her eyes droop and drifted off to a place far away.

---

Gary stood at the base of a tall tree, fully armored and squinting into the distance. The Barrier surrounding Saffron glistened in the predawn light over a thousand feet high. Espeon rubbed against his leg, and Gary kneeled down to pet the violet feline.

An image of shadowy, bipedal figures materialized before his eyes, there but not quite.

I know, he communicated silently. Lotta strong Psychics in there.

Espeon twitched its ears, and the shadowy figures faded. The grass and trees blurred together as Espeon's telepathic sight explored deeper into Saffron beyond the third and final wall. A sharp whistling preceded a sudden, acute pain in Gary's head, and he cried out before falling to his hands and knees, clutching his aching head. Espeon hissed over him and slashed the air with its bisected tail.

"Gary, hey, you okay? What the hell happened?"

Ash jogged to his side with Pikachu and lent him an arm to stand. Ivy was right behind him.

"What's going on?" she demanded. "What'd you do?"

Gary hissed and rubbed his temple to will the pain away. He blinked, bleary-eyed, down at Espeon. "At least we tried."

"Tried what?" Ash said.

"To see past the Barrier, get an idea of what we're up against." He tugged at his hair. "But something—someone blocked me out. I've never felt anything like it. That had to be Sabrina behind the third wall."

Ivy thwacked him on the head. "Idiot. Are you trying to get yourself killed? You know she's got the home field advantage here, and I'm sorry to say, but she's obviously been doing this a lot longer than you."

"Did you see anything at all?" Ash asked. "You know, before she kicked you out?"

"Just that there's an army of Psychics waiting for us. Nothing we didn't already know."

"Then I suggest we get started."

Erika approached the trio with Lara at her side. Both women were armored from head to toe in sleek black and green. Gone was the makeup, the hairdo, the expensive kimono. The Erika standing before them now was the Gym Leader of one of the most powerful metropolises in the world, and she was tired of waiting.

"My warriors are in position," Erika went on. "All that's left is to strike at the opportune moment."

Gary nodded. "The others are ready and waiting. I can feel them."

"Good. We only have one shot at this, so there's no room for failure."

The trio followed Erika to the vanguard where most of her warrior trainers stood, all armed and armored and ready for action. Behind them stood the foot soldiers, men and women with military training, ex mercs, and a group of local Pokémon trainers loyal enough to volunteer for the cause. With an army two-thousand strong, roughly a quarter of whom were Pokémon trainers, Erika had spared no expense for this expedition.

"Everyone, stick to the plan," Erika shouted so her army could hear. "Footmen, stay back until I give the signal. I will breach the Barrier, and when that happens you will all need to move quickly. Our reinforcements will reach us once we've reached Wall Trophonius. Until then, we're on our own."

"Ma'am!"

The soldiers saluted from their stations among the heavily wooded Route Seven.

"Whatever happens, remember that I will be fighting with you. Together, we will prevail." She raised a fist. "Saffron's tyranny ends today!"

The soldiers mimicked her gesture and huzzahed.

"Wonder what she's paying them to make them risk their lives like this," Ivy whispered.

"Doesn't matter," Ash said. "All the money in the world can't buy real loyalty. Look."

The men and women in her vanguard grinned and whispered among themselves. They wore Celadon Gym's green coat of arms proudly on their armor. Some looked on at Erika with barely constrained reverence as she released her sturdy Venusaur and climbed atop its back. Unlike Ash's Venusaur, this one bore a pale yellow flower on its back, and its leathery skin was a darker shade of blue, a genetic variation indicative of its subspecies.

"They believe in her. Whatever we might think about her, she didn't get to be Gym Leader on her family's dime."

Ivy favored him with a smile. "Ash, that was actually kinda wise."

He shrugged. "What? I can be wise."

She laughed and selected a Pokéball from her belt. "More than wise, we need to be smart today. Got it?"

He nodded grimly. "Don't worry about me. Today's about Team Rocket. I won't forget that."

"Good."

Gary released Arcanine, who trotted into place next to Erika's Exeggutor and panted. The Coconut Pokémon side-eyed it with its six, swiveling eyeballs and drooled from two of its three mouths.

"Here we go." Ivy released Tyranitar, who immediately glared at the Psychic Barrier and bared its teeth.

"Ready to break some stuff?" she said.

Tyranitar ambled after her into place next to Arcanine, big tail swishing in anticipation of the carnage ahead. Ash gazed through the Barrier to the northeast where the Cerulean and Pewter forces would be waiting to strike at the agreed upon time. He took a steadying breath and released Snorlax. Gengar sensed his anticipation and materialized over his shoulders like his personal thundercloud.

"Hold," Erika said as she watched the horizon. "On my mark."

With Exeggutor on her left and Victreebel on her right, she encouraged Venusaur forward a safe distance from her her vanguard. The trio followed with their bulkiest Pokémon and came to a halt in line with each other.

Ash patted Snorlax's thick fur. "You ate everything between here and Celadon," he said. "So now, time to burn off those calories. Ready, big guy?"

Snorlax gazed lazily between Ash and the other large Pokémon standing in line with it, then at the Barrier just thirty feet away. It fell to its four paws and shook out its thick hide before opening its toothy maw in a yawn.

And then, silence.

Gary watched the horizon and counted the seconds as the sun slowly dared to encroach upon the night. He held his breath and fisted Arcanine's great mane. The first, fledging rays of sunlight breached the eastern horizon, and the Barrier sparkled like cut quartz. The shadows fled from the group's cluster, exposing them to daylight. Erika slammed her arm down.

"Now!"

The edge of Route Seven lit up in a rush of blinding Fire Blasts, Hyper Beams, and Solar Beams that mingled over and around each other until they hit the edge of the Barrier with a deafening crack. Veins of superheated light zigzagged along the Barrier as its Psychic energy battled against the assault. To the south, thunderous electricity sent sparks along the wall that reached all the way to the ceiling, while to the north the Barrier whined against a pressurized water onslaught. Something pounded in rhythm against the walls, shaking them harder and harder with each connected hit.

"Steady!" Erika shouted over the roar.

"A little more!" Gary said as he scanned the Barrier with Espeon's mystical sight.

The Pokémon doubled down and let loose. Tyranitar and Snorlax sank their claws into the earth as they heaved. The veins of light engorged along the Barrier and sank through its translucent walls, smoking, until all of a sudden it gave and shattered into a million glass-like shards. Waves of Psychic energy released into the atmosphere where the Barrier pieces ripped apart at the seams. Espeon leaped into the air and threw up a thick wall of sapphire light just as the imploding Barrier reversed direction and shot outward at all angles. Bolts of Psychic energy slammed into the Safeguard and burst into silvery dust before they could hit Erika's army. Gary followed the Barrier's collapse as the cracks raced higher along the walls and tore into the ceiling.

Behind them, the Celadon warriors whooped and clapped. When the Barrier had fallen altogether and Espeon lowered the Safeguard, Erika wasted no time in rallying her army.

"To Wall Trophonius!"

The foot soldiers brandished all manner of swords, staves, and crossbows honed from their military training during the Great War as they took off just behind the Pokémon trainers. Vast farms and few houses stood between Route Seven and the edge of Wall Trophonius, Saffron's first line of defense. It was a grey, stone structure that stood two hundred feet tall, the shortest of the three perimeter walls that rose up higher in succession to protect the city's most valuable political and economic assets from even its own citizens. Beyond it lived Saffron's bulk citizens, the poor and the middle class that staffed Saffron's farms and factories.

Not a hundred yards beyond where the Barrier had been erected, Saffron's own foot soldiers were waiting with sharpened steel and wooden bolts. Gary threw another Pokéball and released Nidoking just in time to catch Ivy's eye.

"Earthquake!" they both shouted.

Nidoking and Tyranitar threw their armored heads back in roars that could wake the dead before slamming their meaty front claws into the ground with tremor-inducing force. The earth began to shake and thick crags split the ground, racing straight for the Saffron forces. They screamed and tried to scatter, but the rock spires that rose from the bowels of the earth knocked a number of them into the air and buried even more. Bones cracked and blood flowed, and it was all the spark Erika's warriors needed to charge in.

Gary released Golduck and Scizor to join Espeon, Nidoking, and Arcanine and initiated communication with all of them at once via Espeon's telepathy. He scanned the enemy forces, lingering on their amber-gilded crests marking them as Saffron soldiers.

Scizor, Nidoking, Arcanine. Take out as many as you can.

The three large Pokémon took off, their targets set. Scizor slammed a Metal Claw into a large man holding a crossbow just as he fired off a bolt that pierced one of Erika's warrior women through the chest. The red mantis popped the man's skull clean off his shoulders like a bottle cap between its tempered pincers, dropped the head, and moved on to the next one.

Erika had no qualms about releasing her entire army of Grass-types and wreaking havoc on the Saffron soldiers. Tangrowth morphed into a squirming mass of vines that all but swallowed two men whole, constricting them and shoving sentient vines into every orifice until they fell still, suffocated.

"Get to Wall Trophonius!" she shouted over the sounds of battle.

Ash recalled Snorlax and tossed out three more Pokéballs from his belt before taking off running toward the wall. In a rush of light and wind, Charizard, Blastoise, and Venusaur landed on the ground at his back just as a handful of Saffron soldiers made to corner him. One of them loosed a bolt from a crossbow at him before he could react, but a blur of green shot out in front of him and caught the bolt out of thin air. Venusaur snapped the two-foot projectile in half with the crushing force of its Vine Whip. Charizard let out an otherworldly howl and lumbered down next to Ash.

"Blast 'em!"

Blastoise hunkered down on its right arm and released the twin cannons in its huge shell. Jets of Hydro Pump shot out and slammed into the nearest three soldiers. The ones who didn't get hit fumbled for the Pokéballs at their belts and released a small army of Raticate and Tauros, along with a particularly menacing Nidoqueen. Charizard's maw smoked and sparked, and after a moment's power up, he spewed a thick Flamethrower that sent the Raticate scattering and rammed Nidoqueen in the gut. The huge rodent dug her hind legs into the ground and caught the fire with a grunt of pain, but she held her position and slowly charged forward.

"Flamethrower!"

Another jet of fire joined with Charizard's as Houndoom landed next to it. Ivy ran past the two Pokémon and skidded under the fire while drawing a knife from a holster on her arm. She let it fly and it landed in the leg of Nidoqueen's trainer. Distressed by its trainer's cries of pain, Nidoqueen faltered against the fire pummeling it and lost its balance. It screeched in pain as the heat finally overpowered it and it fell over, smoking and charred, on top of its trainer. His screams died slowly as he was burned and smothered to death under her cooked flesh.

"You're fucking crazy!" Ash shouted even as he ran ahead and joined some of Erika's warriors, who were also fighting with Grass-type Pokémon.

A horde of Ivysaur, Tangela, and Weepinbell gathered together to launch a storm of Razor Leaves that scattered the Saffron soldiers long enough to clear a direct path to Wall Trophonius three hundred yards due east. Ash waved a hand to his Pokémon.

"C'mon!"

Venusaur and Blastoise lumbered forward over trampled corn crops and golden grass, following Pikachu, while Charizard took to the skies and soared over Ash's head. He grinned.

"We're almost there!"

This is too easy, Gary thought as he made his way forward, flanked by Golduck and Espeon. Erika and her soldiers were making short work of the Saffron forces minus the unavoidable casualties here and there, both people and Pokémon. But it wasn't the insurmountable resistance he'd been expecting, not by a long shot.

Something's not right.

They were nearly in range of Wall Trophonius, and Nidoking roared as it knocked down several Saffron soldiers with a deadly Poison Jab. The men went flying, pierced with poison, and skidded into the corn fields on all sides. Gary looked around through his Pokémon's eyes filled with blood, flayed flesh, and dust as they rampaged almost without restraint. Movement atop Wall Trophonius caught Arcanine's sharp vision.

"Incoming!" Gary shouted.

From the top of Wall Trophonius, Fighters bearing boulders flung the massive stones hundreds of feet out. They arced overhead before gravity caught up to them and sent them hurtling to the earth like a small meteor shower. A group of Celadon military men were buried completely by a falling boulder just five yards to Gary's right. The tremor that reverberated through the ground when the thousand pound boulder hit was enough to draw frightened panic from both sides of the fighting.

"Shit," he swore as more came flying. "Arcanine!"

He scrambled backward and broke into a sprint, but the falling boulders were too fast to outrun. He scooped up Espeon and led Golduck as quickly as they could go as one of the boulders tracked them through the sky. In a blur of orange and black, Arcanine raced past Gary and dipped its head so he could grab a fistful of golden mane. The big canine's powerful muscles hoisted Gary up onto its back, while Golduck leaped up behind him and held fast with the help of its telekinesis.

"Go!"

Arcanine lurched forward in a burst of inhuman speed, tearing up the ground and burning corn stalks in its wake. The falling boulder smashed into the ground at its heels, and Arcanine leaped. The rapid jostling drew bile to Gary's throat, and it was all he could do to hang on for dear life as Arcanine maneuvered the war zone with the help of Extreme Speed.

Nearby, Ivy ducked with Houndoom under Tyranitar, who punched one of the boulders with its bare fist and shattered it like it was nothing but a piñata. Pebbles and dust exploded outward and rained down on Ivy and her Pokémon as the prize for Tyranitar's well-aimed brute strength.

Ash's Blastoise and Erika's larger Grass-type Pokémon did their best to blast the rocks out of line with the Celadon army in a combination of Hydro Pumps, Egg Bombs, and Vine Whips, but it wasn't enough. Gritting his teeth, Gary searched around for the boulders, following their trajectories.

"Send them back!"

Espeon and Golduck pulsed with energy that rippled the air and warped Gary's vision. He trusted Arcanine to keep him safe while he directed his Pokémon's attacks, aiming for the falling rocks. Golduck caught two with Confusion, and Espeon bristled with a Psychic attack that reversed the rocks' paths and sent them careening back for the ones responsible. The boulders struck the top of Wall Trophonius with enough force to crack it. The Fighters and their trainers standing near the edge lost their footing, and some of them fell. A Machoke skidded against the vertical wall, each point of contact a sickening slap, and landed with a soft thud on the ground. It was joined by three human trainers. None of them got up again.

But the boulders kept coming. The Fighters knew no bounds to their physical strength and stamina, and so high up, they were virtually untouchable to the Celadon forces' Pokémon. Gary could only do so much with Espeon and Golduck.

Scizor, get up there!

The red mantis fluttered its translucent wings, splattering the blood of the fallen onto the golden grass. It scanned the top of the wall with calculating, red eyes and began to buzz. In an untraceable blur of light and celerity, the big Bug took off toward the wall and began to crawl up it. Some of Erika's soldiers began discharging crossbow bolts at the attackers on the wall, but they fell just short. Scizor, however, did not. Someone screamed when it reached the top and began Fury Cutting its way through the trainers. It was stopped by a hefty Hitmonchan that impeded its progress with a flurry of Fire Punches. Scizor hissed and backpedalled, unwilling to suffer a lethal burn.

U-Turn!

The command echoed in Scizor's head, and it ducked down and lunged with blinding speed at Hitmonchan. The Fighter swung and grazed Scizor with its Fire Punch, but it opened itself up for a quick and dirty feint. Scizor spun around the disoriented Fighter and trampled it with its weight. Hitmonchan struggled for all of two seconds under Scizor's girth before falling flat on its face and coming under the merciless power of steel-tipped pincers and a hungry mouth.

"Gary, watch it!"

Ash's warning came too late, and the Saffron soldier charging him swung a long machete at his head. Arcanine reared and kicked up fire to protect Gary, but just as the soldier was about to slash through Arcanine's chest, something swooped in out of nowhere and scooped him up in large, red talons. A Flyer Gary didn't recognize took to the sky, flew as high as Wall Trophonius, and dumped the soldier near where Scizor was feasting on Hitmonchan's remains. The guy screamed and flailed, but he could do nothing to stop his crash-land into his fellow Saffron defenders atop the wall, sending them falling over the inside edge.

"Move!"

A familiar voice was followed up by three thick jets of water that cut through the thick of the humans' battle, disorienting everyone and opening them up to attacks from Erika directly.

"Petal Dance!" she shouted.

Her Venusaur growled low and guttural as the pale, yellow flower on its back bloomed wider and released a flurry of petals that swept up in a directed vortex toward the Saffron soldiers. Severed pieces of corn crops went flying and filled the air with kernels and leaves splattered with the blood of the enemy.

"Misty!" Gary said.

Misty, along with Starmie and Vaporeon, ran toward him with Violet and her Blastoise. Daisy was farther back, flanking the Saffron forces with a pair of Dewgong and a handful of sleek, armored trainers Gary recognized from his time living at the Cerulean Gym.

"We brought friends," she said, giving him a hand down from Arcanine's back.

Weathered faces dusted with dirt and sweat but showing no signs of fatigue brought up the rear behind the Cerulean reinforcements. They brought with them an array of Rock- and Ground-type Pokémon, from mighty Graveler to sturdy Rhyhorn to even a twenty-foot Onix. The rock snake's obsidian body was streaked with veins of rose quartz and ruby that pulsed like blood when it roared. A young man rode the Onix behind its head and shouted for it to use Stone Edge. The ground split under Onix's scythe-like tail, eliciting more screams from both sides of the fighting.

"We have to go through Wall Trophonius," Gary said.

"Leave that to Brock."

The unfamiliar Flyer swooped in again and landed near Misty, Violet, and Gary. It fluffed its bright blue and yellow feathers and turned a golden eye on Gary. Its rusty red tail swept over the ground and cut into it like a lash.

"What the hell is that thing?"

Ivy joined them in a small respite from the fighting as the Celadon forces, now bolstered by the Cerulean and Pewter reinforcements, overpowered the Saffron soldiers and pushed them farther back toward the wall.

Brock grinned. "This is Archeops, the only one of its kind alive today. Got him from my dad when he came back from a long stay in Unova as a thanks for clearing Team Rocket out of Pewter. Apparently, he charmed the pants off Professor Aurea Juniper. And by charmed I mean he convinced her to sleep with—"

"Okay, we get the picture," Misty said.

Archeops, about Charizard's size, towered over Brock and kept a weather eye on the battlefield, squawking in warning.

"We need to get through the wall," Ivy said. "Now."

"Hold on," Gary said. "This has been way too easy. I have a bad feeling about what's waiting on the other side, but I can't see past the wall with Sabrina's Psychics blocking me out."

"Then there's only one solution. We break it down and find out for ourselves." Erika, still atop her Venusaur and flanked by Exeggutor and Victreebel along with a few of her warrior trainers, drew up to the group. "Brock. Misty."

"Erika," Misty said, eyes narrowed. "Been a while."

Erika shifted her attention to Gary and Ivy. "We must move quickly before Saffron can regroup or adapt their strategy."

"Leave that to me," Brock said, reaching for a Pokéball at his belt.

"Hey where's Ash?" Misty asked.

Daisy and the rest of the Cerulean Gym trainers had cornered the remaining Saffron soldiers and their Pokémon on one side, while Ash cut off their escape alongside the Celadon foot soldiers. Charizard, Blastoise, and Venusaur worked together to surround them and, on Ash's command, unleashed a devastating combination of fire, water, and Razor Leaf that decimated the opposition's defending Taurus and Golem.

"Ash looks fine. Erika's right, we have to hurry," Ivy said.

Brock threw a Pokéball, and Gary stumbled backward to avoid getting buried under the living goliath that rose forty feet above ground. He shielded his eyes as the sun's glare reflected off the enormous rock snake's platinum hide. Arcanine whimpered next to him and raised its hackles.

"Steelix!" Brock shouted up to the colossal Pokémon. "Take out that wall!"

Steelix slowly turned its heavy head toward the wall, and the few soldiers and Pokémon that remained on top began to scramble down the other side on ropes, shouting in fear. The young guy riding the Onix, who turned out to be Brock's brother, Forrest, ordered Onix to follow Steelix's lead and head for the wall.

The two rock snakes decimated the fertile land and corn crops in their path while the rest of the Celadon, Cerulean, and Pewter forces followed close behind. When they reached Wall Trophonius, both Steelix and Onix began whaling on the grey stone with gusto. With each ear-splitting blow, more of the stone cracked, and deep crags began to form along the stone's impurities.

Boom, boom, boom.

Wall Trophonius began to crumble and cave in on itself under Steelix and Onix's relentless siege. Brock mounted Archeops again and flew the ancient bird in an arc just below the top of the wall to avoid detection. Steelix crouched down and, in a stunning display of brute strength, rammed the remainder of the stone wall with its iron head. Any resistance the barrier had left in it was reduced to shambles as a breach at least fifty yards in length opened up along the wall.

"Forward!" Erika shouted over the dust and debris that inundated the length of the opening.

Gary ran alongside Arcanine and recalled the slower Nidoking as he passed the big rodent. Espeon's telepathy picked up on Scizor scaling the crumbling wall, where it leaped from Steelix's back and then to Onix's on its way back to the ground.

At first, nothing much happened as Gary focused on putting one foot in front of the other. Espeon and Golduck detected nothing amiss, but as he came upon the other side of Wall Trophonius, it was as if he was running through waist-deep water. Something was pushing back.

"Look out!"

Ivy slammed into him, knife drawn, just as a thick, calloused foot came down in a High Jump Kick that hit her in the shoulder. She slashed with her knife, but the Hitmonlee was damn fast and narrowly avoided her blade as she crumpled to the ground. The shoulder shell of her armor had cracked and fell apart under the Fighter's unmatched, concentrated strength, and she clutched it with her other hand.

"Psychic!" Gary shouted.

Espeon released a silvery wave that cut to Hitmonlee's very soul and sent it flying. Arcanine bounded after it, aflame, and ran it over. But the orange canine didn't stop there and stampeded right on through to Hitmonlee's trainer, as well as a small Primeape that had hung back. Flame Wheel burned the Primeape alive, but Arcanine's wide paws trampled the trainer to death before he could suffer the heat.

With the dust settled, the residential part of Saffron came into stark relief. Fighters abounded, more than Gary had ever seen gathered in one place. A slew of Hitmonlee and Machoke dashed straight for Steelix and Onix, but Misty and her Water trainers took turns shooting them out of the sky with well-aimed water jets.

"Ivy." Gary helped her stand, but she pushed him off.

"I'm fine. Worry about yourself."

"You're not fine."

"I'm not dead. So seriously, concentrate on the fight—"

An entire house still filled with its screaming residents rose from the ground on invisible strings and hurtled toward the bulk of the invading army. Erika, Lara, and a few other warrior trainers were right in the house's trajectory, scrambling to move but not fast enough. A tri-colored combination blast of fire, water, and a white-hot Solar Beam shot at the side of the house and blew a hole in it with enough force to knock it off course and send it crashing into a convenience store nearby. Some people managed to scramble out of the ruin in various states of life and death.

Ash caught up with Erika with Charizard, Blastoise, and Venusaur right behind him. "Stay low and target the Fighters!" he shouted up to Charizard.

The winged reptile roared and took off into the thick of battle, spewing molten fire and leaving a trail of screams and smoking bones.

"Psychics," Ivy spat. "I can smell them."

"They're behind Wall Dodona," Gary said. "Just as I thought, they're staying outta harm's way and sending the Fighters to do their dirty work for them."

"They want dirty? We'll give 'em dirty."

Brock flew overhead and guided Steelix and Onix toward Wall Dodona, which was alabaster white and three hundred feet tall. But resilient Fighters flew at the slow-moving behemoths and rammed them with precision kicks and punches that slowly but steadily chipped away at their stamina.

"C'mon!" She beckoned Tyranitar and Houndoom to follow and released Crobat. "Keep those Fighters away from Steelix!"

Crobat took off like a purple bullet and, without the need to worry about a rider on its back, let loose with a devastating Air Cutter that sliced through a charging Machamp just as it made to punch Steelix with everything it had. Razor wind tore two of its four arms clean off and drew a deep, weeping gash down its chest all the way to its thigh, crippling it where it stood.

Fires broke out, civilians took to the streets in search of shelter only to wind up in a cross bow's path or as collateral to an errant Razor Leaf. The main street to Wall Dodona was a straight shot a few miles long, and the invaders moved slowly. Too slowly. From the other side of the wall, the Psychic trainers focused their efforts on hindering progress wherever possible. They uprooted lamp posts, entire houses, even screaming people to throw at the invaders. For every mile the resistance gained against Saffron, people and Pokémon dropped like flies.

A lamp post narrowly avoided Erika's Victreebel, but a skilled trainer and her loyal Heracross came at it fearlessly. Heracross pierced the pitcher plant's porous hide with Megahorn and tossed Victreebel clean over its head, where it collided with one of the Pewter trainers' Rhyhorn. Green blood oozed from Victreebel's mortal wound, and it fell still over the smaller Rhyhorn, suffocating it with its bulk and the poison that leaked from its mouth.

Erika, rage and adrenaline spurring her forward in the face of Victreebel's untimely demise, went after the trainer herself, sword flying, but the girl was a Bellatrix, a naturally skilled Fighting-type Tamer beyond the abilities of even formally trained warriors. She subdued Erika with lightning speed and turned her sword on her, but Lara flew in and tackled her in a rage. Heracross came to its trainer's aid and jumped on Lara's back, where it sank its hidden fangs into the soft joints of her armor at the shoulder.

"Petal Dance!"

Erika's Venusaur growled and released a flurry of golden petals that hit not only the enemy Tamer and her Heracross, but also Lara and herself. Erika shielded her face and tackled Lara to the ground, forcing Heracross to abandon its attack and open itself up to the brutal Petal Dance that was sharp enough to slice through its reinforced carapace.

"Throw her!" Erika commanded.

Thick vines slithered from Venusaur's back and wrapped around the female trainer, lifting her through the vortex of knife-like petals. Then it tossed her aside through the second story window of a nearby house, where she remained, unmoving and bleeding out.

"Erika," Lara said, shaking.

Erika's face was badly cut up and bleeding, but she barely noticed as she helped the woman stand. "Can you walk?"

Lara nodded. "I'm okay. But you got hit. And Victreebel—"

"I'm fine. We have to push forward."

Victreebel lay in a heap several yards away, its fly trap hanging open and leaking poisonous drool. Already, its dark eyes had begun to glaze with a sticky film that would attract carrion pests. Erika set her jaw and looked away.

"We have to push forward," she said more to herself than to Lara as she returned to Venusaur on autopilot and hoisted Lara onto its back. "Exeggutor."

The Coconut Pokémon lumbered up next to her and swiveled all six of its eyes to try to see her. She glared down the street, where more Fighters and their trainers, Bellators and otherwise, amassed and got ready to launch a coordinated attack on the advancing Steelix and Onix before they could reach Wall Dodona.

"Solar Beam."

Exeggutor's palm crown quivered as it absorbed the bright sunlight overhead, and Erika laid her palms flat against its bark-encrusted back, lending it her own strength of aura. Exeggutor released the Solar Beam as a shaft of pure, unfiltered sunlight, deadly concentrated and so potent that it burned up the people and Pokémon in its path about sixty feet ahead. They immolated where they stood, sunburned to a crisp and none the wiser. Erika swayed and held onto Exeggutor for balance as she panted and wiped the dripping blood from her lip.

"Forward," she managed.

Her warriors rallied, and forward they moved.

---

Ash found himself playing a game of hide and seek with the Fighters in his path. They acted under duress, and for that he couldn't bring himself to kill first, ask questions later. But they still acted, and he had a job to do that required he remain alive. Gengar's Aura veiled his physical form in indigo light but sharpened his eyes. The Tamers became bright spots in his vision, Bellators that flamed with an earthy, burgundy glow. He avoided them at all costs.

"Aqua Jet!" he called to Blastoise, pointing.

The bulky, blue turtle obeyed and shot a pressurized water canon at the sidewalk, which forced the Pokémon and trainers in the streets to abscond into the alleys or face the full might of a pissed off Blastoise. With Ivy and Gary working with the Cerulean trainers to neutralize the direct threats to Steelix and Onix, Ash was left to look ahead. But when Gengar screeched in his head out of nowhere and momentarily robbed Ash of his motor controls to scoop up Pikachu and leap as high as he could, Ash was forced to watch as a scorching Solar Beam tore through the street below and incinerated the trainers in its path ahead.

"Holy shit!"

Pikachu squeaked in terror at the sight and from vertigo as Gengar floated them a good thirty feet off the ground. Erika was closing in behind him more determined than she'd been before the breach of Wall Trophonius. Sensing the change, more inanimate objects magically uprooted themselves and hurtled for her, stopped only by the coordinated efforts of a slew of Vine Whips.

From his vantage, Ash made out Wall Dodona's metal gate, which had opened just enough to allow people to pass through. Curious, he drifted to the roof of a house in its direct path and squinted. "The hell?"

Understanding dawned when he made out the black uniforms that quickly scattered and flooded the streets. Cursing, he searched around for Charizard. The orange lizard was circling above with an eye on Blastoise and Venusaur. Ash raised two fingers to his lips and whistled. With a belch of smoke, Charizard touched down on the roof next to Ash and snarled.

"No saddle this time, be happy," Ash said as he swung a leg over Charizard's bare back, silently thanking whoever designed the Brigandine model armor for the extra padding and protection around the groin area. Charizard's glossy scales were as sharp and tough as shaved shale.

Just as soon as Ash and Pikachu got their grips, Charizard lifted off and angled for the approaching horde of Rocket Grunts, who had already begun releasing all manner of Pokémon to do battle. Ash bared his teeth in rage at them and tightened his grip on Charizard's neck.

"Fire Blast!"

Charizard swooped in low and breathed a stream of blue fire upon the Rocket Grunts' front line that heated the cobblestone street at their feet to a soft, molten gel. The ones unlucky enough be in front tried to scatter, but a few fell face first into the congealing lava where parts of their heads and chests melted, uniform and skin and bone. Their howls spooked the Grunts in back, who were quick to release their Pokémon and fight back. Charizard banked a hard right to avoid a deadly Gunk Shot from a boiling Muk.

"Pikachu!"

A thick, yellow lightning bolt arced from Pikachu, who was latched onto Ash's back, to the dispersing crowd below and managed to electrocute three or four of them as Charizard swooped by. Some Rocket Grunts dashed into alleyways or even broke down doors to get inside residences, anything to escape the elemental siege.

"Woo!" Ash whooped as Charizard angled skyward and made to turn for another sweep.

But the Grunts were not about to be taken for a ride again, and they threw Pokéballs two and three at a time with revenge in their sights. Two great Fearow, a Noctowl, and three Golbat took to the skies and all chased after Charizard. Ash swore under his breath.

"Aim for the Fearow!" he shouted back to Pikachu.

Pikachu once again sparked and sent a wicked lightning bolt over Ash's head, but the Fearow were fast and avoided it. Gengar, a black mist trailing behind Ash like a cape, opened its lurid eyes and burst out laughing as it rocketed toward one of the Fearow. The large bird cawed in fear and tried to bank left, but Gengar, unhindered by whipping winds and gravity, expanded into a cloud of noxious gas that swallowed Fearow whole. Ash couldn't make out much within the cloud, but Fearow's frantic squawking and flashes of spectral teeth were enough to get the idea. In a matter of seconds, Fearow's carcass fell to the ground as a mangled, bloody mess of feather and bone, barely recognizable. Rocket Grunts below scattered, but the carcass fell on top of a young, female Grunt and flattened her with a smack on the pavement.

The other Fearow gave Gengar and Charizard a wide berth after witnessing what had befallen its twin, but the three Golbat whipped by Charizard in successive Wing Attacks. Ash held on for dear life as Charizard swooped and spun to avoid the blows. Gengar regrouped and attempted to return to Ash, but the Noctowl, glowing blue with Confusion, flew straight through the Ghost and dispersed it with an angry hoot.

"Gengar!"

Wall Dodona loomed high above, blinding white, and Charizard pulled up hard to fly parallel with it straight up. Ash's eyes watered even through his goggles, and Pikachu's small but sharp nails dug into his shoulders deeply enough to draw blood. Two of the Golbat flanked Charizard as it flew higher, catching up fast. Ash gritted his teeth as his vision blurred with vertigo and whiplash. He reached a hand around toward Pikachu and fisted the scruff of the yellow rodent's neck.

"Give 'em hell, Charizard!" he shouted over the whipping winds.

And he let go.

At first, he was still defying gravity and hurtling ever higher, but in the blink of an eye Charizard's flaming tail bypassed him as its powerful wings carried it higher faster without the added weight of a rider. Gravity caught up to Ash and he fell backwards, clutching Pikachu to his chest. The third Golbat raced past him, tongue lolling, and spilled drool across his face and chest as it looked back at him. Above, Charizard spun in mid-air and caught the updraft on its spread wings. It threw back its horned head in a roar and spat out a Flamethrower that swept almost 180 degrees in front of it from left to right. The Golbat screeched as they attempted to fly out of the line of fire, but in their relentless pursuit they'd drawn too close to Charizard and suffered its fiery vengeance. One was completely consumed by the flames and burned to a lumpy crisp before falling against the alabaster wall and tumbling to the ground. It left a black and red skid mark on the pristine wall behind it.

Another got its wing incinerated and was unable to remain airborne. It screamed and began somersaulting through the air at terminal velocity to the ground far below. The third had managed to stay behind far enough to avoid the worst of the attack and suffered only surface burns. Enraged, the final Golbat veered off course and headed back for Ash himself.

In the short three or four seconds it had taken Charizard to eliminate the Golbat, Ash and Pikachu continued to fall at ever increasing speeds, now with new enemy in pursuit. Gengar was still recovering from the Confusion, and the remaining Fearow also honed in on Ash and Pikachu with a hungry squawk.

Ash shielded his face with an arm just as the Golbat was nearly upon him, but a crackling jolt of electricity slammed into it and fried it just a couple feet over Ash's head. The blue bat's eyes burst in its skull, and its tongue broke out with boils that popped and sprayed Ash with blood and pous. Before he had time to react, another Thunderbolt streaked toward Fearow, which it dodged, but as the bolts kept coming from different directions and at increasing speed and intensity, the great bird had nowhere to go and took the lighting attacks in its back. Something rammed Ash from the side and closed large talons around his middle just before he crashed through the roof of a house.

Wood and clay shingles exploded at his back and knocked the wind out of him, but something hot and more forgiving than the ground cushioned his fall. Coughing, Ash let go of Pikachu, who scampered out of his arms and onto the floor, squeaking frantically. Something shifted under him with a groan, and Ash rolled off his savior.

"Charizard," he said, dazed from the fall.

The orange pseudo-Dragon had caught him just in time and crashed through the roof of someone's house. Its tough wings had spared Ash the brutality of the fall and shielded him from harm. Smoke rose from its nostrils as it huffed and rolled over onto its four legs, reptilian eyes narrowed down at Ash like saving his life had been the day's most egregious inconvenience thus far.

Ash removed his goggles and wiped the Golbat guts from his face before throwing his arms around the stubborn lizard. "Thanks, buddy. I knew you secretly liked me."

Charizard snorted and rose up on its hind legs to shake broken shingles and wood from its back. Blood leaked from between its hardened scales, but Charizard was a tough old bastard and seemed to play it off like it hadn't just crash-landed through an attic at terminal velocity.

Pikachu was still squeaking like its life depended on it, and it ran to the window of the attic. Ash went to see what had it so preoccupied, and when he looked outside his spirits lifted.

"It's Surge and the Vermilion trainers," he said, grinning. "Looks like Jenny's with 'em. C'mon!"

Ash recalled Charizard and made his way downstairs to the house's front door. He passed by a cowering family hiding behind their living room couch, mumbled a brief apology about the hole in the roof, and ran outside with Pikachu. Just down the street, the Rocket Grunts were cramped for space as they tried to battle their way past Jenny and her revitalized Lavender Police Force. Her Arcanine ran through a small crowd of six or seven Grunts and scattered them with Flame Wheel, while some of the other police officers attacked with metal bats and swords.

"So, still alive, eh kid?"

Ash whirled and smiled like an idiot. "Surge! Man, am I glad to see you."

"Your Charizard's got some balls. I saw how it hauled ass to get to you and make sure you landed on a house 'stead o' the ground."

Surge was flanked by Electabuzz and Raichu, and two Magneton hovered over his head, their vacuous eyes scanning the sky and the streets for signs of trouble.

"You're just in time. We're clearing the way for Brock's Steelix to blast through Wall Dodona."

Surge spat on the ground. "Save yourself the trouble and have that thing break down the gate. Less effort, and we can kill some Rockets on the way."

"Ash Ketchum."

Erika appeared around the corner with Exeggutor and some of her personal guard, along with Ash's Blastoise and Venusaur. The two Pokémon were scuffed up, and Venusaur bore a thick gash on its front right foot.

"Erika, shit, what happened?"

Her pretty face was streaked with old blood and new, and there was a tried and tireless glint in her dark eyes that brooked no patience. "War happened. And the day's not over yet." She shifted her gaze to Surge and his Pokémon. "Lieutenant, good of you to join us."

"I gotta say, I never took you for the hands-on type, Erika. But for what it's worth, I'm glad I was wrong." He paused and gave her a once-over, noting her injuries and the scrappy Pokémon that had remained at her side. "Very wrong."

"So long as Sabrina and Team Rocket hold Saffron hostage, none of our jurisdictions are safe. There's no greater purpose for which to prove our mettle as Gym Leaders."

"I'll drink to that when we finish cleanin' out this shit hole. Sandra! Get over here!"

Sandra and several other trainers Ash didn't recognize but who were all armed to the teeth jogged to attention. They saluted like they'd rehearsed the action, and Sandra's Electrode sparked as it rolled along next to her.

"We're gonna clear a path to the gate for that." Surge pointed to the Steelix and Onix still making their way to the wall not far behind. "I don't want no surprises waitin' for 'em when they get here. Understood?"

"Sir, yes sir!"

He turned back to Erika. "Listen here. When we bust through that gate, we're gonna be in for the worst hell o' the day."

"What makes you say that?" Ash asked.

"'Cause the bigger the wall, the bigger the risk to Saffron if it falls. Sabrina's no fool. We ain't seen much of her Psychic army 'cause they're waitin' to strike when we're all spent. All this," he gestured to the ruinous warfare all around him, "it's just the appetizer. The real shit's on the other side, you mark my words."

"Then do you have something to propose?" Erika asked.

"I assume y'all got a plan to take out Sabrina and the assholes hiding behind her skirt in Silph?"

"Yeah," Ash said. "You're lookin' at him."

Surge frowned and then burst out laughing. "You gotta be kiddin' me. You're gonna take out Sabrina?"

"No, that's the Reaper's job," Erika said. "Ash will infiltrate Silph, quietly."

"Oh, right, 'cause that just makes a fuckton more sense. Are you outta your goddamned mind, kid? You can't just barge in on your own. Remember, I know the top brass, and I know what they're capable of."

"I handled Proton just fine in Lavender."

"You mean, you let that little bitch get away even with Agatha's help."

"Gentlemen," Erika interrupted. "Less arguing and more focusing on what's actually important. They're nearly here."

Steelix and Onix were only blocks away and still contending with the legion of Fighters.

"Well, if it's a path we need, I got just the guy to help clear it." Ash recalled Blastoise and Venusaur in favor of Snorlax, who landed on the ground with a mighty crash.

The air in front of Ash began to ripple as a shadowy hand materialized from thin air. Gengar slowly manifested, shaken from the direct hit it had taken. Ash reached for the Ghost and let it dwell within him. He shuddered as though a sudden draft blew the back of his bare neck.

"Then we're agreed," Erika said. "I'll alert Brock."

She released her Vileplume from its Pokéball, The flowering crown on its head spread fleshy, fuchsia petals in a magnificent bloom as it fixed its red eyes on its master.

"Solar Beam," Erika commanded. She pointed to the sky directly overhead.

Vileplume's flower crown trembled and bloomed as the petals glowed with solar energy. Ash pushed Surge back to avoid shockwave as the powerful shaft of light concentrated on Vileplume's head and shot up like a laser, up and up until it faded into the endless blue. In the distance, Steelix noticed the light and roared. It changed its trajectory and led Onix in a beeline toward the gate.

"Here we go," Ash said.

---

Ivy grunted with effort as she yanked her hunting knife out of a Rocket Grunt's skull. His three Ekans slithered about without a purpose now that their trainer was done for, and Houndoom made short work of them with a tried and true Fire Fang. It pulled one of the Ekans apart by the tail as it crushed the head with its thick paw and slurped up the charred meat like spaghetti.

The Fighters kept coming, their will to win unmatched. Nearby, Misty stabbed one of the Bellators with a spear she'd acquired from Erika's forces and impaled the man at the shoulder.

"Where's Master Itosu Anko?" she demanded.

The Bellator bared his teeth and merely grunted for his Hitmontop to pummel Misty with a spinning kick. Starmie's dinner plate-sized jewel pulsed with crimson light and stopped the Hitmontop in its tracks. The valiant Fighter floated off the ground and spun faster and faster until its small body could not handle the centrifugal force, and Starmie's Psychic energy literally ripped it limb from limb.

"We're here to free him!" Misty said. "Talk to me!"

The man coughed up blood. "You can't. No one can. She'll stop you."

Ivy, who'd overheard the conversation, pulled Misty's spear clear and hauled the Bellator trainer up by his collar. She held his scarred face close and glared up at him.

"You let us worry about Sabrina. Now, where the hell's your master? If we free him, will you fight with us?"

He looked between Ivy and Misty, who hovered just behind her. "We hold no loyalty to the Delphi."

"I'll take that as a yes."

"Tell us how to free him," Misty said, "and we'll let you live."

"My life means nothing," the Bellator said. "But...Master Anko's life means everything. He's being held at the Dojo, past Wall Dodona." He put his heavy hands on Ivy's wrists, but not to fight back. "Please, if you can save him, we'll help you take back Saffron."

"Then spread the word," Misty said. "Any Fighter who helps us will see their master freed and reinstated."

"Misty," Ivy hissed.

"I'll guarantee it," she shot back. "As the Cerulean Gym Leader, I have an interest in the Dojo's reinstatement."

The Bellator looked between the two women. "You have my word. I'll do what I can."

"Good. Let him go."

Ivy threw him down on the ground and whirled on Misty. "You can't just go deciding this shit like you're in charge."

"I'm a Gym Leader, in case you forgot. I can do whatever the hell I want. And I want the Dojo's trainers back in power. At least they're not Team Rocket."

Ivy bared her teeth, but the argument was sound and something Erika had also alluded to in their negotiations. To trust the enemy currently doing everything in its power to thwart their cause, though, was asking too much.

"I'll spread the word," the Bellator said. He was a young man with blond hair tied back in a high ponytail and a square jaw, not much older than Ivy herself.

"What's your name?" Ivy said.

"Yusuke. Yusuke Iwaishi."

"Well, Yusuke, you tell him," she pointed to Gary, who was fighting a couple blocks away, "what you told me, and if he believes you, then we have a deal. He'll make sure your master sees the light of day again."

Yusuke nodded and raised his hands in a placating gesture. "Thank you."

He ran off, one hand clutching his injured shoulder, and headed for where Gary was fighting.

"Hey, look!" Misty pointed to the northeast where a column of white-hot light shot into the sky.

"That's a Solar Beam. Erika?"

"She's the only one packing that kinda power. Look, the gate to Wall Dodona's beyond her."

"Then she must've found a way through. That'd be easier for Brock to get through than solid rock."

"I'll get my trainers." Misty ran off toward the group of Cerulean Gym trainers flanking Onix and Steelix.

"And I'll tell Brock." Ivy recalled Tyranitar and Houndoom and raised a hand to signal Crobat. "Batty, to me!"

A purple streak whizzed by in a blur before circling around and coming to a graceful stop in front of Ivy. She patted the big bat behind the ear and readjusted its eyepatch, which had come loose in the commotion. She swung a leg over Crobat's back, settled into the saddle, and pulled on her goggles, and soon she was airborne with a bird's eye view of the battlezone below. Brock flew near Steelix not far away, and Ivy steered Crobat in his direction.

"Looks like we got a new target!" she shouted over the wind current.

"I noticed!" Brock called back. "Let's make this fast before they can throw anything else at us!"

He signaled to Steelix, and the great, platinum snake shifted course and aimed for the gate of Wall Dodona. Ivy zipped ahead on Crobat to the gate, where she spotted Ash on the ground along with Erika, some of the Celadon warriors, Surge, and Jenny. Snorlax was leading the charge against more Rocket Grunts that had poured out from Wall Dodona, and Ivy narrowed her eyes at them.

"Let's say hello, Batty. Sludge Bomb!"

Crobat inhaled deeply and spat out a thick glob of venomous gunk that hurtled for the Rocket Grunts and their various Pokémon below. It hit a Dodrio and spilled over a couple trainers, eliciting cries of agony and smoking entrails as the poison did its work.

Despite their massive size, Onix and Steelix made good time to the gate. Whether or not Yusuke had anything to do with the Fighters' anabasis was anyone's guess, and Ivy wasn't holding her breath. But soon the big snakes were upon the gate and ready to break it down.

"Iron Tail!" Brock shouted.

Steelix roared and lowered its head to grant its deadly tail the space and momentum needed to ram the gate. Forrest's Onix was quick to follow with a tail whipping of its own. The metal gate whined under the measured assault.

Ivy landed Crobat near where Ash was commanding Snorlax to Hyper Beam and Body Slam its way through the resisting Rocket Grunts. She had to step over a maimed corpse that jerked unconsciously. The Grunt was covered in electrical burns and bled from his eyes.

"Ash, it's time for us to get moving. Soon as that gate's toast."

"Yeah, I know. Did you talk to Gary?"

"There's no time. We have to be ready. We may only have this one chance to bypass the Psychics. Can you handle it?"

Gengar rose from Ash's back and grinned down at Ivy.

"I'm pretty sure we can manage," he said with a grin that rivaled the Ghost's.

"Cocky shit."

"Hey." He grabbed her hand and held fast. "You can do this. Hell, if I were Sabrina, I'd be pissing myself knowing you're comin' after me."

"It's not a matter of can or can't; we just have to do it. Gary's counting on us." She tossed out a Pokéball and Umbreon appeared on nimble paws, ears laid flat on its back as it smelled the carnage.

"Ivy!"

Officer Jenny bounded toward the duo atop her Arcanine, who was bleeding from various lacerations in its thick fur but still found the energy to hold its regal head high.

"I hear you two will be leading the attacks on the Gym and Silph."

"Yeah," Ivy said. "We're going for the head and the heart, so we could use some reliable backup."

Jenny grinned and patted Arcanine's mane. The big canine panted, oblivious to the grime and dried blood that caked patches of its magnificent fur. "I think we can manage to give you a proper send-off. Right, boys?"

Several uniformed men had tailed Jenny, some of the new officers she'd recruited for the Lavender Police Department.

"Captain!"

Screams broke out near the gate, or what was left of it. Onix and Steelix had decimated it and left a gaping hole in Wall Dodona, where the resistance forces were quick to stampede through. The Celadon army was first, followed by Vermilion and the Lavender Police Department, and finally Misty, her sisters, and Gary brought up the rear with the Cerulean and Pewter forces. Ash switched out Snorlax for Charizard and took to the sky with Ivy in tow, and they soared at a low altitude just over the resistance's heads. Gengar dissolved into a spectral cloud that cloaked Ash, Pikachu, and Charizard in a violet haze, while Umbreon sat on Ivy's lap and scanned for signs of Psychics.

They were the first through the gate and zipped to the other side of Wall Dodona. Onix roared behind them as it began to levitate, and the Psychic energy manipulating it flung it back toward the wall, causing a rockslide where it hit the side of the wall. The invaders scrambled to protect themselves from the ruthless assault, but to little avail.

Ivy and Ash had no time to turn back, though, as Wall Pythia loomed five hundred feet tall just ahead in all its ebony glory, black as pitch. Below, they passed over the wealthier districts of Saffron and key locations, including the Dojo where a number of trainers were positioned on the roof flanked by humanoid Pokémon that remained very still.

"Ash!" Ivy shouted over the whipping winds.

A thick, silvery beam of light shot through the air, aiming for the two Flyers. The small legion of Kadabra, Drowzee, and Mr. Mime on the roof of the Dojo fired off Psybeams and Psychics in rapid succession. Crobat screeched when a wave of telekinetic energy rippled toward it like a tsunami.

"Dark Pulse!"

Umbreon hissed and needled its black fur as a stygian wave of pure darkness exploded outward in all directions, dispelling the Psychic attack and scaring the living hell out of a Kadabra that narrowly avoided the backlash.

"It's okay, Batty, we're almost there," she said, patting the huge bat for reassurance.

Crobat picked up speed and left Charizard in the dust as it zoomed as fast as it could for Wall Pythia. Psybeams continued to rise like searchlights, but Ivy couldn't pick out the culprits that hid themselves in order to avoid direct confrontation. She clutched Umbreon close and pressed herself as close to Crobat as possible, trusting it to dodge the incoming attacks with its expert spins and plunges over her stomach's protests. Wall Pythia loomed dead ahead, and Ivy squeezed her eyes shut and tried not to think about crashing into it at such a high speed. But Crobat pulled up in an almost vertical ascent, ever the skilled acrobat, and scaled the great wall with ease.

Almost there!

They cleared the wall's crown, and for a brief second the glittering, glass skyscraper that housed Silph headquarters came into view straight ahead. Umbreon pulsed without warning, but it was just a fraction of a second too late to stop the full effects of the monstrous Psychic attack that slammed into Crobat as it dipped over the wall. With a screech, the purple bat lost its momentum and plummeted over the side of Wall Pythia.

Ivy screamed, and Crobat fought against the chilling wind rush to catch an updraft, but it convulsed with the super effective consequences of the direct hit. She managed to recall Umbreon before it lost its hold, but Crobat continued to struggle in the air. Ivy pulled up on the saddle with all her might.

"Batty!"

In a last ditch effort, Crobat spread both sets of wings and fired off an Air Cutter at the ground. They swerved in mid air, but there was no updraft to catch and they hurtled headfirst for a brick warehouse south of Sabrina's Gym. With only seconds to gamble, Ivy threw any delusion of making it out of this in one piece to the wind and yanked two Pokéballs from her belt. Crobat disappeared within one, and she popped open the second one.

The pavement rushed to meet her, and everything went dark.

---

Ash was having problems of his own as Gengar's ghastly cloak buffered Charizard against the Psychics' relentless counter siege. Charizard blasted out an almost continuous stream of Flamethrowers that scattered the trainers on the Dojo's roof, but as soon as Ash approached Wall Pythia, something had wrested control of Charizard's fire and manipulated it into the shape of a gaping maw that chased after it as it banked right and up to scale the wall.

"Oh, shit!"

The fire snapped its intangible jaws, and Pikachu squeaked in fear. Charizard climbed higher, but the pyrokinetic attack was gaining fast.

"Night Shade!"

Gengar expanded into a fearsome fog not unlike a thundercloud, amplifying its cheshire smile and glaring back at the sentient fire with enlarged, red eyes. It opened its huge mouth just as the fire tried to swallow the party and fused with the fire. Something screamed within the hazy, smoking cloud, and all traces of light and heat imploded and disappeared within the darkness.

Ash patted Charizard's neck. "We're goin' in blind! Pikachu!"

Charizard cleared the top of the wall with a mighty whoosh. It spread its wings to hover on the updraft and closed its eyes just as Pikachu let loose a searing Flash attack from Ash's back, shielding them from view. Gengar shrank to nothing but a thin shadow trailing behind.

"Straight ahead!" Ash commanded.

Despite the aftershock of the blinding attack Ash had made the two Pokémon practice together countless times during their training in Cerulean, Charizard shot forward directly for Silph. Below, a few trainers were shouting and stumbling about with their equally dazed Pokémon as they recovered from direct exposure to the Flash. There was no sign of Ivy and Crobat, and Ash assumed she'd made it to the Gym.

"Aim for the top floor!"

Charizard ducked its head and drew up to the glass, where it used its wings to jerk back into an upright position and attack the windows with its sharp claws. Glass shattered on impact, and Charizard crashed through on its four legs.

For a few moments, Ash struggled to get his bearings and remember how to breathe normally. Pikachu hopped off his back and settled next to Charizard, who scanned the room with a low growl of warning. Glass shards fell from Ash's armor, where a few of the larger shards had managed to rip the joints and get at the few patches of bare skin. One particularly thick shard had by pure bad luck found a weak spot in his armor and stabbed through his thigh. Gritting his teeth to the pain, he pulled it out in one go and bit back a curse. The glass came away with about two inches of blood along its face. He slipped off Charizard's back and quickly tied a tourniquet around his thigh from the small pouch at his thigh to staunch the bleeding. It wasn't perfect, but it would have to do.

"President's office, but no president," Ash mused as he scanned the destroyed office and settled on the plaque that had once sat on the now shattered glass desk.

Gengar put its shadowy hands on Ash's shoulder and rose from him. It sent an ominous chill through Ash's frame.

"I know, buddy. If the Admin's not here, then where the hell is he?"

---

On the bottom-most floor of Silph, Lily steadied herself on one of the iron cell bars.

"So this Silver Wing you were working on," Steven said. "It's finished?"

"Basically. I guess money really can buy anything, even a rush-ordered reconstruction. There's just a little bit left to do, but they don't need me for it when Santos can handle it on his own."

Steven leaned on the opposite wall with his arms crossed as he processed the information. Upon request, Lily had recounted to him every detail of what had transpired in the Silph labs above over the last few days.

"Then it's just as I suspected. They planned this from the beginning."

Lily frowned at his cryptic words. "What do you mean you suspected?"

The elevator dinged and the doors opened to reveal Big Tim. Lily instantly pressed herself to the back wall.

"I don't understand, it's done," she whispered. "Why's he here?" She spun the steel ring on her thumb nervously.

Steven let his arms fall and eyed the ring on her thumb. "Because you're no longer needed."

Before Lily could respond to that, Big Tim arrived at the cell door and glared down at Lily through the bars. His lower lip jutted out and fluttered a little with each rattling breath he drew.

"Woman," he said. "Time is up."

Lily glanced between Big Tim and Steven, but the latter gave her no sign, no reassurances. She swallowed hard. "So, you're here to beat me up again?"

Big Tim smiled and revealed a gold tooth among the others. "Boss man said you're all mine." He cracked his knuckles to drive the message home.

"Well, what about him?" She indicated Steven. "Did he say you could kill him, too?"

"No questions."

Lily remained pressed against the back wall, but Big Tim just stood there. "You know, you have to open that door if you want to get anywhere near me," she taunted. "No way I'm gonna come to you."

Big Tim's smile faded and he grumbled something under his breath. "No funny business."

He fished for the right key on the ring at his belt and unlocked the cell door. It swung out and opened with a creak that made Lily cringe, and Big Tim occupied almost the entire space as he stepped forward into the cell and reached a thickset hand toward her.

With no warning whatsoever, Steven walked briskly to Big Tim and punched him hard in the gut. For someone so comparatively lean and small, beyond all reason and logic Steven somehow managed to knock Big Tim backwards several feet and nearly topple him over. Big Tim heaved and clutched his rotund belly, and when he coughed, blood splattered over his thick lips and onto the concrete floor. Lily had no time for shock when Steven silently closed in on Big Tim, seemingly unfazed by the hard blow. With the confidence of a trained fighter, or perhaps something far more terrifying, he slugged Big Tim in the gut again. But this time, the Grunt was ready to retaliate and doubled over to smother Steven. Whatever hidden strength Steven was packing could not stand unguarded against sheer weight and gravity, and they both fell to the ground in a heap as they grappled.

Lily shrieked in the back of her throat and ran out of the cell without thinking. She jumped on Big Tim's back and wrapped her skinny arms around his neck, clawing and scratching and trying to choke him the way the spies did in the movies. But she only succeeded in pissing him off even more, and he reared up. Steven rolled out from under him in the distraction, and Big Tim lurched backwards against the bars. Lily cried out in pain as her back smashed between the iron bars, but she held fast and squeezed his neck with all her strength.

Steven let fly another punch at Big Tim's chest cavity, and Lily actually heard the ribs snap and bend as a tremor racked the Grunt's burly body. He staggered and spit more blood, and Steven punched again. The force of his blows was so great that Lily was jostled from Big Tim's neck and scrambled to escape the danger zone. She watched in horror as Big Tim sank to his knees, heaving and drooling blood from his mouth like a fountain. Steven looked down on him with cold, grey eyes, ever silent, and swung one last time. Big Tim's face spun with the blow a sickening ninety degrees to the right like an owl. His face cracked as the bone broke through his flesh, and the sharp edges of his spine ripped through his neck where it had snapped. He fell still and slumped against the cell's bars.

In the silent moments that followed, Steven shook out his hand lightly and wiped the excess blood from his knuckles on the Grunt's shirt. Lily huddled against the opposite end of the cell, too afraid even to breathe as she watched his callous recovery.

"It's time to leave," Steven said in that same, soft spoken whisper that echoed like shouting in her head.

"H-How did you— I mean, he was so big, and you just...like he was doll or something. How?"

Steven fixed her with his steely gaze. "Pokémon aren't everything. Have you forgotten that already?"

She shook her head hard enough to make herself dizzy. He gestured to the elevator.

"After you."

It took every ounce of inner strength she could muster to walk by him and not look at Big Tim's mangled remains. The elevator was open and she pressed herself into the corner. Steven followed and hit the 'Close' button, but nothing more.

"We have a common objective, Lily. To that end, you can trust me to act in your best interests. I assume I can count on you to do the same?"

A hand on her shoulder would have made her jump if not for the sheer weight of it, like a ton of bricks. Resisting the urge to bite her lip, she met his gaze with every intention to appear level-headed and confident before him. "Yes."

His lips curled in a half smile, and he let his hand fall. "What floor is the lab on?"

She pressed the button for the thirty-seventh floor, and the elevator slowly ascended. The lights overhead flickered, and she didn't miss the way Steven's gaze lingered on them.

"We may not have much time," he said.

"Steven."

She waited until he looked down at her.

"What's in this for you? Why would you let yourself get captured?"

"A word of advice. That clever mind you have will serve you best if you keep it to yourself. The smart ones tend to die faster the more they flaunt their genius in front of the enemy."

"Answer the question."

He chuckled. "I told you before. I'm here as a favor to a family friend."

"Must be one hell of a friend for you to go through all this. Did you know about the Silver Wing all along?"

"I confess I did not, though we suspected something of the sort. Instead of posing all these questions to me, though, perhaps you should ask the only one that's relevant."

"And what's that?"

"Who commissioned the project in the first place?"

"Archer said it was for his superiors."

"An ambiguous answer that reveals neither the identity nor the affiliation of these 'superiors'. He let you assume this was a Team Rocket project. Perhaps it is. But there remains a possibility that it isn't."

"What? Why would Team Rocket spend all this money and go through the trouble of bringing me here if it wasn't for their own gain?"

Steven stared at the blinking LED overhead that counted up the floors, expression hard. "Why, indeed."

The elevator dinged again and the doors opened to the thirty-seventh floor. Archer was standing there, conversing with a woman in a blood-spattered uniform. Her face was pale and perspiring, like she'd just come from a war zone. Archer turned to the elevator and immediately zeroed in on Steven. Lily could almost see the blood drain from his face as his eyes widened and accentuated his horrified pallor.

"You." He reached for his watch and pressed a button on the face. "Katrina, kill him now!"

The Grunt reached for a Pokéball at her belt, but Steven was faster and came at her with his fist. She didn't even know what had hit her as she fell to the tiled floor, clutching her gut and dead from the single blow. Archer attempted to retreat to the door and fumbled with his palm at the scanner, but Steven advanced on him and swung again.

Archer was quick and managed to dodge the blow that would have snapped his neck like it had Big Tim's, and Steven's fist ended up in the painted, concrete wall to the side of the door. When he pulled it away, a small crater dented the wall and tiny cracks spider webbed outward from the center, shedding crumbly bits of rock to the floor. Lily gaped at the otherworldly strength of his bare hands, inhuman hands, but Archer put distance between Steven and himself. The door to the lab opened from the inside just then and a small team of Rocket Grunts poured out into the small foyer. A blaring alarm went off in the lab, alerting all personnel to the security breach.

"Look out!" Lily said.

Steven was swarmed as the Grunts tried to tackle him with their numbers, but he fought back. Archer wormed his way through the Grunts and disappeared into the lab.

"Stop him!" Steven barked.

Lily, who was smaller and less important than the immediate threat Steven posed, managed to snake in between the battling Grunts, shoving them as she tailed Archer. Someone pulled her long ponytail, and she kicked back with her leg. Her assailant yelped and let go, and she didn't stick around to give them another opening.

The familiar corridor and its glass-divided labs raced past her as she ran. Archer was just ahead attempting to punch in a code to one of the individual labs. Lily gritted her teeth and picked up speed. When Archer noticed her and how she wasn't slowing down, he tried to reach out and slug her in the face, but Lily ducked her head and rammed him with all her might. Archer grunted just before the two of them crashed through the glass wall of the lab. He broke her fall, but he didn't protect her from the rain of shards that hit her in her already abused back, exacerbating the pain from getting shoved hard into a wall earlier.

Archer groaned, and Lily scrambled to right herself. She shed glass shards from her hair and back and began to search Archer's blazer for her Pokéballs with shaky hands.

"Crazy bitch," he mumbled. He was bleeding from wounds on his back and head where he'd hit the glass.

She ignored him and found the pouch secured to the inside right pocket and yanked it free. The Pokéballs inside jingled around, and she rolled off him to dump them out. Her four Pokémon were accounted for, along with a handful of unfamiliar balls she could only assume belonged to Steven. She grabbed one just as Archer reached around to tackle her to the floor.

"So this is what I get for trusting a lackey to do his job. I have to do everything myself!"

Lily struggled under him, but he had her pinned with his legs and moved a hand to her throat. Somewhere behind her, a Grunt crashed into the wall and crawled on his elbows away from the elevator hub.

"P-Please," he whimpered. "I don't wanna die!"

Heavy footsteps approached and revealed Steven looking worse for wear. He bled from several scratches in his face and favored his left arm, but the blood spatters on his armor weren't his. "Everywhere I go, you people are all the same. Fearful sheep happy to follow wolves to the slaughter so long as it's not your own."

Scientists and more Rocket Grunts had begun to pour into the hallway in a panic as the alarm continued to blare. Some had the sense to release their Pokémon, and now a small army of Raticate, Weezing, and even a rather large Granbull stood between Steven and the way to the Silver Wing lab.

The commotion distracted Archer just long enough for Lily to suck in a desperate breath and toss the Pokéball she'd picked up to Steven. "Catch!"

Steven caught sight of her predicament and instinctively grabbed the Pokéball. He tossed it to the ground and white light bathed the room in a blinding haze momentarily.

"No!" Archer screamed.

Lily began to see stars from the lack of oxygen to her brain, and she could only barely make out the bulky Pokémon that now sat next to Steven. The Grunts and Scientists ordered their Pokémon to attack with Hyper Fangs and Smogs, but Steven's controlled whisper rang out to Lily's ears over the rest.

"Kill them all," he ordered.

The Pokémon at his side, a rugged Metagross with caved-in eyes like something out of a nightmare, began to hum and vibrate as its jagged hide glowed with energy. When it released its attack, the space lit up like a flash bang grenade and the cacophony of bleating Rocket employees drowned in ringing silence. Lily squeezed her eyes shut and prayed.