Ch. 25: Abandon Ship!
Malik and Xenos rushed into the room that was holding all the Pokémon, but they were gone. Malik had suspected this might happen, but luckily, Umbreon had been too exhausted to leave its ball. Malik clutched the Moon Ball in his hand, and looked down at it as it shimmered in the light. Fate seemed to be both against him, and on his side, but as they rushed into the main entrance of the spa, Malik's resolve would be put to the test.
As they came to a halt, Malik noticed something strange about the women who had greeted them upon their arrival. They were motionless, and lacked any kind of facial expression. Xenos was standing still in utter confusion, but Malik took a step forward. The silence weighed heavily on their ears, but that's when Malik's foot came crashing down on a piece of glass, and the sound broke the silence.
All at once, the heads of all the assistants jolted up, facing Malik and Xenos. Upon closer inspection, Malik and Xenos could see their eyes glowing, and the duo pondered what they could be since they were obviously not human. Taking yet another step, the women did the same, and Malik became curious. Finally, one of them spoke, but the voice was robotic and mechanical sounding, and there was no emotion in the echoed noise.
"Halt, trainers," the thing demanded, "You are not to leave until you and your Pokémon have been fully revitalized."
"I'm feeling fresh enough," Xenos shouted with a hint of frustration in his tone, "Now give us back our Pokémon, and get out of our way."
"Repeat," said another of the robots, "Trainers are not to leave until fully revitalized. All Pokémon have been placed on a permanent stay."
"Like hell," Malik muttered, but was interrupted by Xenos dashing forward towards the androids.
One by one, Malik watched as Xenos struck down every one of the robotic beings, and parts flew left and right. By the time he had finished, there was little more than a scrap heap of mangled appendages left on the ground, and Xenos was heavily panting. Stepping forward slowly, Malik could feel a faint hint of energy filling the room, and he was shocked to sense the machines' energy.
"What is it," Xenos asked, watching Malik reach down to the floor with one hand.
"I can feel them," Malik said, "They're not living beings, but I can feel their essence."
"Impossible," Xenos detested, "They're just scraps and spare parts, they hold no such energy."
"All things hold energy," Malik argued, shooting a glare at Xenos, "Even your flapping tongue."
As Xenos stormed towards the far wall angrily, Malik listened for the energy once again, and closed his eyes. His mind flashed with visions of the people who had been here being taken away by force. Again, he could see the glowing eyes of the androids, and among the people taken, he saw Athaliah. He followed the vision, hearing her cry out for help, and saw the room they took her to along with the others.
"I know where they've taken the others," Malik declared as he stood up, "and our Pokémon."
"Whatever would we do without your wisdom and knowledge," Xenos said sarcastically, "Oh blessed one."
Malik almost said something, but Xenos had already ripped off a security camera, and hacked into it to replay the footage. Malik's vision and the video being played were the same, and he pat Xenos on the back hard.
"Good job, buddy," Malik proclaimed in an overly excited tone, "Lead the way, oh mighty warrior!"
Xenos shrugged off his shoulder, growling, and he and Malik made their way to the wall near where the Team Rocket duo had been thrashed by Malik. Malik and Xenos stood in front of the wall, and again he placed his hand on it to see how the secret passage was unlocked. His mind flashed yet again, and revealed a panel of numbers hidden under a sliding piece of the wall.
Acting on memory of his vision, Malik hastily punched in the code, and a massive piece of the wall opened. Malik and Xenos ran in, not thinking to close the door behind them, and followed the dark hallway to a hidden room. They stopped just outside the door to the room, and Malik could hear talking.
"Well, Jeice it seems we have finally out-done ourselves," said a female voice.
"Yes," Jeice replied, "We finally have all the rare and powerful Pokémon we promised to get for the boss."
Realizing that the Team Rocket duo must have awoken, and ran into the hidden room before Malik and Xenos had returned, the two trainers ran into the room to face them. Seeing them, the two thieves pretended not to be intimidated, but Malik could sense their fear of him immediately.
"It's them," said Jeice in a panick-ridden tone.
"Settle down, you fool," Jade scolded, "We have their Pokémon, there's nothing they can do to us now!"
"Oh yeah," said Jeice, "I almost forgot."
"In times of peril, in times of hate," Jade shouted.
"Team Rocket returns to seal your fate," Jeice added.
"We're mean and ruthless, you soon will see," she continued.
"How powerful merely two can be," Jeice said in an upbeat tone.
"Jade," she said.
"Jeice," he said.
"Team Rocket, standing for the fate of all," Jade shouted, striking a pose.
"Surrender now, or prepare to fall," Jeice finished, also striking a pose.
Before Malik or Xenos could react, a poke ball busted open, and a howl echoed through the room. Malik smiled with immense pride as Houndoom proudly glared at Team Rocket. As they slowly backed away in fear, Houndoom saw Malik, and ran over to him happily.
"Houndoom," Malik said indifferently, "I know you missed me, but right now we have to stop Team Rocket."
"Ha," Jade shouted, "Even you should know that one Pokémon isn't enough to best two, go Liepard!"
"Sandslash," Jeice shouted as he tossed his poke ball, "Attack!"
Houndoom quickly rushed forward, dodging Liepard's slicing claws, and lunged at Sandslash. Sandslash dodged Houndoom's crunch by inches, and knocked him back with a powerful slash. Houndoom caught its footing, ignoring the blood dripping from its eyebrow, and rushed again. As Jade's Liepard attempted a biting attack of its own, Houndoom jumped up, and caught the spotted cat's tail in its mouth.
Sandslash wasted no time in rushing, but Houndoom had expected it to attack, and flung the Liepard into the spiked Pokémon with tremendous force. Meanwhile, Xenos had snuck over to where the cameras had shown the cell blocks holding the trainers hostage, and was attempting to hack into the locks. Houndoom howled mightily, and as the Liepard and Sandslash struggled to untangle themselves, Houndoom's eyes glowed bright red.
"Uh-oh," said Jeice in a squeaky voice.
"That's not good," Jade finished, watching the Houndoom's gaping mouth fill with red-hot flames.
As it fired a powerful blast of flames, the two thieves and their Pokémon were engulfed completely, and a massive hole was burnt out of the side of the SS Anne. The two crooks went flying outside, and plummeted to the water below. Just as Houndoom trotted over to Malik proudly, Xenos came running back from the cell block, along with all the prisoners.
"Excellent," Xenos said, "I leave you alone for five seconds and you steal all the glory."
Malik just chuckled, but just as he was about to say something back, Athaliah came running to him. She squealed with happiness, and as she jumped into Malik's arms, her breasts accidentally were smashed into his face.
"A proper reward for a hero," Xenos said with a hint of laughter in his voice.
Malik tried to respond, but his voice was muffled by Athaliah's impressive chest. Finally, she let him go, and they shared a kiss. This time, no one said anything, but the people that had been freed were talking among themselves. After a moment, one of them approached Malik, and what he said did not surprise Malik in the least.
"We heard them bragging about the captian," the man said, "Apparently the real captain is being held captive back their Vermillion city headquarters."
"Did they say where that was," Malik asked in a serious tone.
"No," the man said, shaking his head, "But I do recall a large black tower with a red 'R' on the top of it. I'm no genius, but I'd say that's a hell of a place to start."
"Sounds like we've got a captain to apprehend," Xenos said with a smirk crossing his face.
"It would seem so," Malik said as he paused briefly, "Okay people, listen up! Take what Pokémon are yours, and wait for us on the ship's stern. If you don't know what that is, it's a sailor's term for the back of the ship. If you don't have any water Pokémon, find someone who does in case of an emergency."
With that, Malik and Xenos gathered their Pokémon, along with Athaliah and the rest of the trainers there. As they waited, Malik and Xenos began contemplating a plan to catch the captain off guard, and put on male assistant uniforms they found in a nearby closet. As the last of the passengers exited the room, Athaliah stayed behind.
"You will go with them," Malik said, "Xenos and I can handle Giovanni Jr., but we need you to help people get to safety."
"It's because you have nothing but water Pokémon," Xenos blurted out, followed by a glare from Malik.
"Sounds great to me," Athaliah shouted with excitement, "Finally, I get to be the star! Caught in the spotlight of countless innocence just begging for me to help them! I can see it all now..."
As she returned from her daydream, however, Malik and Xenos had already vanished to the captain's quarters, and she stomped her way to the stern, pouting. Upon entering the room, there was an array of flashing buttons and a multitude of monitors, each one displaying a camera's view on most parts of the ship. There sat the would-be captain, still putting on an act, and one of the screens was fuzzy and grey.
"What is it," Giovanni Jr.'s voice echoed in a piercing tone, "that forces you to interrupt me while I'm driving."
"It would seem that we have a shortage," Malik replied in a deep voice, attempting to match Jeice's.
"A shortage of what," demanded the villain.
"A shortage of staff," Xenos yelled, already directly behind the false captain. Xenos was strangling the crook, and as the fiend gasped for air, he pressed a large, red button on the control panel in front of him. Suddenly, lights began to flash, and as the room glowed red with light, a mechanical voice thundered through the ship.
"Self-destruct sequence has been initiated," it said in an emotionless jest, "All passengers are to abandon ship immediately. Self-destruct in ten...nine...eight..."
As the ship began its countdown, Malik and Xenos tried to corner Giovanni Jr., who was backing away towards the window with a dark grin. They finally got him against the wall, and were both smirking, but then he cast out his poke ball, and revealed Machamp.
"A pity we cannot battle, but I have other matters that demand my attention," he shouted as Machamp smashed its way through the wind shield, "Perhaps next time I can give you a proper battle."
As he and his Pokémon leapt out of the control room, and fell to the waters below, Malik and Xenos were helpless to give chase. Xenos ran for the stern of the ship, but Malik stayed just long enough to watch the four-armed Pokémon swimming away with his greatest enemy. Malik finally gained his senses, but the sound he heard was more than unpleasant.
"Self-destruct sequence in three...two..."
Malik had no time to run for the stern, but instead sprinted and jumped out through the hole Machamp had made. As he dove down, hurtling towards the water, a massive series of explosions roared through the night sky. The water engulfed Malik completely, but he hurried to the surface of the water, and watched as the proud, revived ship once again sunk to the depths of the Kanto ocean. To Malik's relief, he saw both Athaliah and Xenos' Gyarados helping those without Pokémon to stay afloat, along with multiple life boats.
The water was colder than he had expected, but he had trained his body to adapt to temperatures rapidly, and began swimming towards them. While he was swimming, he heard a sound echo from deep beneath the water, and it made him stop and look down. It was a soothing sound, which he had never heard, and he could now see a massive form swimming through the water with great speed.
He caught only a small glimpse before the darkness settled into his mind, and the gang awoke the next day at the Cinnabar Pokémon Center. With no idea how they had escaped the water, or what had happened to Team Rocket, the trio was very confused. For now, Malik would not question their incredible luck, but instead focussed on the challenge ahead: The Cinnabar Island Gym!