~Nameless Supplanter~

Act 21

Rocket-V raised his velcro-strapped wrist closer to his mouth and spoke into it.

"Manyula, let's go with 'Dokukurage 4'."

Rocket-V was quick on his first command. His voice retained its softness.

Manyula tapped its ear once, nodding, and dashed forward towards Dokukurage.

He took a closer look and saw what he perceived to be a receiver inside Manyula's ear and the velcro strap on Rocket-V's wrist was the communicator. It would be the only way the pokémon would be able to hear his commands with his soft voice during a battle.

Michael, now known as Nebula-L, counter-attacked.

"Use Toxic Spikes to block his path!"

Dokukurage spun around unleashing the same purple spiked objects that it used when it fought him in the gym. He thought of his pokémon who was quickly defeated by Dokukurage and hoped it wasn't too injured.

Manyula continued to run straight toward Dokukurage oblivious to the spikes it was nearing. He looked at Rocket-V who remained still, silently staring intently without blinking at Manyula. It would soon be too late for him to give a command to avoid the spikes.

"Now." said Rocket-V.

Manyula instantly used Double Team creating the fake copies of itself. They all ran in circles around Dokukurage each stepping on one of the spikes. One by one they vanished from touching the spikes until none were left. The real Manyula was missing.

"Wha-?" Nebula-L looked around then above to see Manyula in the sky landing behind Dokukurage, its right fist glowed a bright sky blue color.

"Go for 8. Stay at threshold." said Rocket-V.

Manyula struck one of Dokukurage's back tentacles with its glowing fist. It didn't seem to do anything that he could notice.

"Now, go for 6."

"Stop him with Hidden Power!" shouted Nebula-L.

Dokukurage turned around and formed an orb of electricity in its mouth.

"Adjust plan, inverse the order."

Manyula nodded. The pokémon leapt over Dokukurage as it fired the electrical pulse down at where it was before. Manyula landed beside Dokukurage and struck a second tentacle with its glowing fist again. Once more, there was no noticeable effect he could see.

"Continue."

Nebula-L and he were unable to ascertain what Rocket-V was up to.

Manyula would continue to strike one of Dokukurage's tentacles before leaping away from Hidden Power. He saw how Manyula would stand the same distance each time in front of Dokukurage but the reason for this and the tapping of the tentacles were unknown to him.

He turned for a brief moment to see Rocket-V's eyes. The eyes were focused on the battle with such intensity that he was sure he could not afford to blink. This look of determination was something he had not seen in anyone since his own battle against Kasumi.

Thinking about Kasumi gave him an intense pain in his chest. He anticipated this reunion ever since he was convinced to escape the Pokémon Center after having saved her Starmie. All the TVs in his mind played the same image of him seeing Kasumi enter through the gym doors, a bright light would signal her arrival. That gentle soft smile filled with hidden loving emotion that she herself would not be able to comprehend. It would require his presence around her, his embrace of her against him, and the touch of his hand caressing her body to till and nurture that hidden emotion into infatuation. All these TVs that predicted this future that he desired were now gone. He did not feel he had lost her completely but the very thought this reunion would not be at the level he had hoped was maddening. All the painful waiting, all the tiring drama, and all the stressful battles made him feel he deserved the best. Michael had single-handedly ruined all this and he was going to pay him back as soon as this battle was over.

"Do not worry." said Rocket-V to him, his eyes still fixated on the battle.

"I can sense your anguish. This is not only my battle but yours as well."

He had no response to that. It was unthinkable that he had any idea what he was going through. The torrent of emotion he had would be too much for this passive speaking Team Rocket member.

"Completed."

Manyula had hit the last tentacle and leapt over to the opposite side of Dokukurage. It lowered its arms and took a step closer to it.

"It's over."

Nebula-L looked at Rocket-V like he was crazy.

"Dokukurage use Wrap on Manyula!"

Dokukurage roared and turned quickly around to face the defenseless Manyula. It attempted to raise its tentacles but it froze in place.

"What are you doing? Grab it!" yelled Nebula-L.

There were was a familiar cracking sound that echoed around them. The sound was the same that he heard from when Yukimenoko had frozen his hand from Ice Beam.

He shuddered slightly and grabbed his wrapped arm reflexively.

The sound got louder and they could now see Dokukurage's tentacles were being encased in large blocks of ice.

"How!?" exclaimed Nebula-L.

"You have caused my ally great suffering. His pain is our pain." said Rocket-V.

Our pain?

Manyula raised its arms and swung them once towards each of its sides, its claws gave a sheen of red. It had used Sword Dance.

"And..."

Manyula swung its arms again but with greater ferocity. The red sheen on its claws turned into a crimson sanguine color resembling the color of blood.

"...you too shall feel it."

Nebula-L's face was full of fear for what was to happen. The obsessive craze that was once there had shifted to the timid state. No words could escape his lips.

Dokukurage struggled to move but the ice blocks were too heavy for it to be mobile.

Rocket-V closed his eyes.

"Night Slash." said Rocket-V as he lowered his arm and turned his back on the battle.

Manyula leaned forward with its claws held across each other on its chest.

What he saw next was difficult to imagine. Manyula had vanished and the area surrounding Dokukurage was a large mass of darkness that emerged from no origin. There were two streaks of a darker shade of black lined with the same crimson sanguine color as Manyula's claws across the mass. A piercing deafening sound followed, ringing in his ears very briefly. The dark mass had exploded into a gust of black air before vanishing as quickly as the ringing. Dokukurage was on the ground unconscious. The ice blocks were shattered into pieces littering the area. Remains of trees had scattered around them in such a horrid fashion they looked as if they had burst from the inside out. Manyula was on the other side of Dokukurage, its body still leaning forward and its claws spread outwards. The claws on its hands continued to hold the same bloody aura.

Nebula-L tried to speak but could only stutter. He fell on his bottom, shaking.

Seeing this raw power that Team Rocket was capable of also made him feel the same awe that the fallen Team Nebula felt. Just how powerful was this organization and could he expect such strength if not more so from their rival organization were questions that weighed heavily in his mind. If such ability existed he could not fathom the reason why they wanted him to join them.

Michael regained just enough of his composure to hastefully stand and called back his Dokukurage in its pokéball. He immediately ran away afterwards.

Seeing the Team Nebula member trying to escape awoke him from his daze that instantly reverted back to his rage. He had to get answers from him about how they knew about Kasumi and him and who the spy was. As he attempted to dash after Michael, Rocket-V's arm blocked his path.

"What are you doing!?" he yelled at Rocket-V.

Rocket-V opened his eyes and faced him.

"I have someone following him. He won't escape."

"But..."

He wanted to argue but he could see the same focused determination in his eyes that he had in the battle.

"Remember what I said. This is our burden as well."

The rage he had toward Michael now was imprinting toward Rocket-V. He wasn't sure what the reason for it was. Michael kidnapping him which ruined the eventful moment he would see Kasumi again, the idea of a spy who knew about his quest for her, who this Viceroy was, why Team Nebula had information on him, and the very notion of Rocket-V being able to understand just how much anger and anguish he had and preventing him from chasing Michael for answers all had to have been factors in this new displacement of rage.

In this thrill of emotion he grabbed Rocket-V by the shirt and pulled him closer.

"Just what is going on here?!"

End of Act 21