Chapter 14

Help I'm Alive

Just a quick playlist for those interested. There's really only one song I think works this time around.

Help I'm Alive - Metric (at the tail end of the chapter...not gonna spoil it)

The prisoners? I thought to myself. Does he mean Lance and the others? Maybe his plan worked after all!

I couldn't help the quaint little smile that played on my lips as I saw all four executives' faces turn from shock to confusion to rage.

"Ariana! Assemble the grunts in an all-out frontal attack!" Archer shouted. The woman in question nodded and quickly left the room, followed by Petrel, who sort of chuckled to himself and Proton, who darted past both of them. Archer then began furiously pressing buttons as he called on numerous grunts to begin their assault. I just sort of stood there waiting to be told what to do. But then I thought why am I standing here when this chaos could allow me to escape? As Archer was distracted by his maniacal rage, I slowly crept backwards and searched for a way out. At this point all of the other Executives were attempting to stop my friends from saving me and not even paying attention to the girl they were trying to save! What luck! I thought happily as I noticed that the door had been left ajar. Seems chaos can cause people to be a bit forgetful.

I dashed to the door, but really I shouldn't have, because Archer whipped around to notice me attempting to run away.

"Oh no you don't!" he yelled at me as I yelped in fear. I gripped the door and was going to slam it in his ugly face, but he had grabbed my arm before I could even make it a few steps out of the doorway. Darn this pretty dress! I gasped as he whipped me around and stared at me. "Trying to run away like always, Ashley?" he sneered. He then proceeded to drag me back to the computer. I knew he was going to attempt to press that button again, but instead he stopped in front of it. In the reflection of the glass I could see his sneer widen. "You've practiced your lines well enough, haven't you?"

"I didn't get a script," I retorted with a glare.

"Then we'll just have to improvise." It was then that he pressed that red button. A camera appeared on screen and reflected both of us. I could see a tiny red symbol indicating it was recording us. In the bottom corner, I could see a list of cities all around the world that were flashing in response. Was it because I was standing near it that the whole world could hear and see us? Or was that some sort of weird coincidence?

Archer began speaking with a creepy zeal pulsating in his voice, "People of the world! I am Archer, interim head of the syndicate known as Team Rocket! For years, we have been searching for our lost leader, Giovanni. He is out there somewhere, and if we are to find him, we must make our presence known not only in the region of Johto, but the world this girl belongs to as well!"

He pushed me forward so that I was center stage.

"If you wish to surrender to us peacefully—and spare the life of this poor, innocent girl—give us earth and water belonging to the capital cities of every nation. Then, we will begin our rule over the entire world!"

Who does he think he is, Cyrus the Great? I thought.

He continued rambling into the camera and made eye contact with me throughout it, but what I was more focused on was getting out of here and stopping this transmission! If it really was reaching the corners of both our worlds, then I had no idea what the UN would do. And I certainly didn't wanna be the star of a drama that involved me being the main conflict! It was during this sort of mind-melding that I realized that I could have a say in what went on. This entire time I'd been weak and defenseless (no thanks to all the times I'd fainted) and not once had I really looked inside of myself for the strength I needed. I was the key to either peace or chaos. I had made it into this world on my own right? I could certainly destroy one madman's quest for domination, too. And I certainly couldn't let down the new friends I'd made who were probably now fighting for their lives against the thousands of lackeys Team Rocket had to throw at them. I couldn't let them down, not when they'd experienced such grueling punishment at their hands. I closed my eyes remembered all the fond memories I'd created with every single person I'd met here. Yes, even Silver. I opened my eyes and stared at the man who thought he was in control and grinned.

If Archer needed me to fulfill a grand plan that involved enslaving the entire planet, I was not going along smoothly.

"Not on my watch!" I shouted loudly as I slammed my foot on Archer's boot and used my free arm to press a flurry of random buttons. I had no clue whether or not it would work, but it was worth a try. As Archer yelped in pain and grabbed at his now tender foot, I noticed that the screen had turned fuzzy and that no reception was being picked up. Doing a little fist pump in the air, I stuck my tongue out at Archer (who said a very nasty curse to me) and ran out of the room.

Alarms were screeching loudly all throughout the building and more than once I had to cover my ears, they were so deafening. This building was foreign, but I could remember some of the hallways I'd been through and hoped I'd see a glowing exit sign. After a few minutes of wandering, I heard a cacophony of footsteps running towards where I was. I shrieked in horror and quickly ducked into a hallway and pressed myself against the wall. At least twenty grunts went whizzing past, all of them shouting, "To the main gate!"

I smiled and considered my luck as I quickly followed behind them. They eventually led me to a pair of sliding doors that exited out onto a road. I must have been in the Goldenrod Radio Tower this whole time! That's the only building in Johto that would've allowed them to make a widespread message. Quickly scanning the area, I saw a large group of people to my left where the Global Link building was.

"That must be where Lance and the others are!" I said happily as I ran to catch up with them. Just as I was about to reach them, a gigantic Xatu blocked my path and cawed at me menacingly.

"Uh…nice birdie…" I said apprehensively as I stuck my hands in the air.

"Who are you?" said a voice from somewhere above me. I turned to notice a young man with purple hair and a mask dropping down to meet the giant bird. Even without being able to meet his eyes, I could tell this guy was fuming.

"I'm human!" I said. "I-I mean, I'm Ashley! I come in peace! Or at least that's what I initially came for."

The man's expression softened as he calmed the Pokémon down. "So you're her? I envisioned you all in black…"

"Yeah, I had a quick wardrobe change in the middle of Act III,"

"This battle is a gruesome one…we've already had casualties on both sides." I could see him grimace as he continued, "But my vision did come true in part, because you are here."

"Wait, you had a vision?" I asked.

"Yes, allow me to explain while I escort you to the Champion." He motioned for me to come closer and once I did, we both climbed on top of his Xatu and soared high above the chaos. "About a week ago, I was haunted by a vision in my sleep. I couldn't shake it off, like I can with most apparitions. I told my fellow Elite Four about it and Lance mentioned he'd run into a girl who resembled the one in my vision. At this point you were battling with Proton outside of Mt. Mortar and Lance had returned to the Indigo Plateau to get his strongest Pokémon. It was then he told me that if we were to notice a Draco Meteor in the sky, that we were to get there as fast as we could."

"So what exactly happened in your vision?" I asked politely.

"Well, it began in complete darkness. Then I turned to see you holding what seemed to be a globe in your hands. Only it was floating, like an orb. It glowed more brightly than ever light I've seen and your face was filled with its radiance. But from behind you I saw a dark figure looming over you, hands seemingly hovering over top of the world you possessed. Suddenly, your eyes flew open and I heard you scream my name at the top of your lungs. It was then I woke up, drenched in sweat and fighting to inhale."

"Wow…" I said, surprised at his recollection. "How did you interpret it?"

"Now that Lance has filled me in on your past and we're currently engaged in battle, I have a better understanding of it. What I think it was telling me was that you are a sort of gateway to a world—your world, rather. The radiance is probably the hope you hold in your heart. That looming figure is Archer, as he's trying to take that light and warp it into something darker and more corrupted. He would steal your light and take the world for his own. Your scream is most likely the fear you have about losing your home."

"That makes a lot of sense," I replied.

"The only thing I couldn't make sense of is how you could know my name,"

I grinned. "There are a lot of things that you wouldn't be able to make sense of concerning me."

"Here we are,"

We both glanced down to notice a swarm of black clothed Rockets attacking a small group of very colourful people. Obviously, the good guys had a better sense of style. It was the tiny figure with red hair that caught both of us.

"Lance!" I cried out happily. He looked up and smiled as he released his Dragonite from its pokeball. In a flash, he was flying up and up towards us and in no time, he was hovering to my right.

"Ashley, it's good to see you!" He said, relief thick in his voice.

"It's good to see your making out alright too." I smiled.

"Thanks Will."

The man nodded and said, "Anything for the Champion."

"Here, why don't you hop on Dragonite? We could use your battling prowess to help knock out these pesky Rockets."

I couldn't help but laugh. "I would, if I knew where my Pokémon were. Those Executives took them from me when I was detained."

"Not to worry," said Will, as he levitated my five Pokémon towards me.

"Whoa, how can you do that?" I said in awe.

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me," he answered with a smile.

I looked down at the pokeballs and considered where I was going to put them. Realizing this dress didn't have pockets; I shrugged and said, "Eh, what the heck," and released them all, tossing them into the air elegantly. All six cried out in excitement as they looked to me for direction. "Kay guys, knock 'em dead." With that, they all jumped off of Will's Xatu and clung to each other as they searched for a place to land.

"Now to get my butt down there," I extended my arm and Lance did the same, getting ready to hoist me over and onto his Pokémon's back. Just as our hands were about to touch, a bright light shot up from the sky and knocked us back. I had no grip on Will or his Xatu in the slightest and in an instant I was falling.

"Aaaaah!" I screamed in terror as I went down, down, down in the air at a thousand miles a second.

"Ashley!" I heard both of them yell.

As I kept falling, I saw something dart past me. Hoping it was one of my Pokémon, I turned my head to check. Unfortunately it was the farthest thing from one of my own. A giant Golbat suddenly clutched my shoulders with its claws and my daring descent was ceased. I was only a few feet away from the ground at this point and the creepy bat Pokémon flew me towards two figures below me. As the golbat lowered me down, I was suddenly pinned down to the ground by a heavy mass. I gasped at the sheer force it was exuding and I looked up to see a menacing Houndoom snarling at me wickedly. Its claw comes down on my back and I'm forced to keep my head at a relatively low angle. But I could see the two men clearly now and they were both staring at me, one maliciously and one with a hint of amusement in his eyes.

"Proton…Archer…" I whispered.

Proton smiled at me deviously and knelt down in front of me. He took my chin in his hand and licked his lips. "Miss me, babe?"

A/N Ok so seven months pass before another update but at least it wasn't a year! This is the second last chapter of this fic, but I'll add a quick epilogue to the end of the last one though. Don't worry y'all! Because I have exciting news! That's right…

I'm planning on making a sequel, entitled "Caught in Reality With Me", which will pick up where the epilogue leaves us. I'm really excited for writing it, as I have a lot of fun ideas. I hope you all will join me again for the last chapter and I do hope you're enjoying the story! Oh and here's the last little blurb. (Also, I've started a new fic, entitled "Venom" with Proton in it, if you just can't get enough of the sexy exec ;))

Hey there, Ashley here. Just when I'd thought I was going to get the chance to really show Team Rocket how powerful I am, I'm suddenly back where I started. Archer's plans are still in motion and he is absolutely determined to take over my home. Lance and Will are still locked in the heat of the battle and I feel absolutely alone. If only there was some way I could get help. But who's left? Maybe I can get him to switch sides… if he's working with me, he might just stop Archer once and for all…just maybe…he is known as the scariest and cruelest guy for a reason. And I want to be that reason.