The Journey Never Ends
Chapter 36: Betrayal Triumphant
The lush tropical rainforests just north of the Amazon Basin were home to hundreds of rare species of Pokémon. Most had been discovered by international Pokémon professors and their assistants. It was considered to be a great honor for graduate students to study abroad in the region, and gave them an important advantage in their studies.
Even after years of research, however, the existence of one Pokémon remained unproven to all but a select few trainers.
In the canopy, a pink bubble hopped from branch to branch. It eventually underestimated the distance to the next branch and fell into the mighty river below. The bubble remained buoyant, floating gently with the current.
Suddenly, the being within the bubble shrieked in pain. It sensed the coming pain of hundreds of people. The feeling was too horrid to bear. The bubble popped. The being had a mission; it had to stop something horrible from happening.
With its tail twirling behind it, the tiny Pokémon floated high into their air, determined to once again be helpful to people. Its big blue eyes twinkled in the sunlight as it flew across jungles, mountains, and oceans.
It was time to return to Kanto.
Allie didn't know how long she had been there for.
It felt like days, but it could just as easily have been weeks.
Allie didn't know how much longer she could keep sane.
It wouldn't be much longer.
She lay on the floor of the engine room, locked behind a metal gate. When she first arrived, she had tried to see if there was some way to cripple the ship's engines, but it seemed impossible. The electrical units were all sealed behind welded steel plates. Pistons moved behind her, but they were so large she didn't even try to stop them for fear of hurting herself. There was no way out and no way to damage the aircruiser. It was truly a prison.
Her Rocket uniform was thrown in a crumpled pile in the corner of her prison. That was the worst part about the engine room: the heat. She had only been in there for a couple hours before her clothes were saturated with her own sweat. Never in her life had she felt so miserably warm, not even in the burning Dante Club. There was a perpetual heat that pervaded the room. Early on, she had stripped out of the uniform because of how uncomfortable it was in the heat. Few guards bothered to check on her except to feed her the commissary's leftovers, so she didn't care that she was underdressed.
And so Allie Dogwood sat in the Ubume engine room wearing nothing but her underwear. It was humiliating, but embarrassment was the least of her concerns. She was exhausted, but could not get comfortable enough to fall asleep. She had a terrible lump on her head from her capture. And she knew the worst was still to come. Eventually, someone would come to interrogate her. Or perhaps they wouldn't. Allie wasn't sure which prospect was worse.
Allie was lying on the floor in intense pain when the Rocket grunt appeared. He showed no emotion until he reached the door to her cell, when a sneer crept across his fat face. If she had the energy to, she would have tried to hurriedly put the disgusting uniform back on. As it was, she didn't have the energy or the motivation, so she lay curled up on her side and glared at her captor.
"The commander is ready to see you," he told her, unlocking the steel gate and stepping inside her enclosure.
"Tell him I'd rather drown in a vat of Muk," Allie replied. It wasn't a hyperbole; she meant it.
"You can tell him in person when I drag you to him. You can come either of your own free will or I can pull you there by your pretty blonde hair."
Knowing that she couldn't overpower the man even if her body was in good shape, she decided to relent. The trainer struggled to her feet, just to be knocked back over by a punch to the gut. The grunt rolled her onto her stomach and pulled both of her wrists behind her back.
"Handcuffs first, girl."
Allie scowled, but submitted to the injustice.
The guard escorted her to a large room on the Ubume's highest floor. She was weak from hunger and exhaustion. The Rocket had given her a thin chemise that covered a little more of her body. Although it wasn't much, she was grateful to at least have something remotely substantial to wear.
She was led to the bridge, where she was pushed to her knees. The high-tech room was lined with computers and titanium walls. A glass window at the front showed the sky ahead of the massive ship. Grunts and officers stood around, glaring at their prisoner. In the center region of the room, there was a platform where the leading officers were.
In the large command chair in the center of the raised area, Ash sat staring down at her. He nodded to one of his officers, a sallow-faced man who looked like a Rattata. He stepped forward at the signal, nodded to Allie's guard, and the man stepped away. The girl was now in the middle of the room, friendless and half-naked in a den of criminals.
Ash coughed gently, as if to draw her attention to him. It wasn't necessary. Allie's angry eyes hadn't looked away since they first landed on him.
"Your name is Allison Geary, right?" asked Rocket Commander Ash Ketchum. There was no response. The girl just continued to glare at him indignantly. "Can I call you Allie?"
You always have, she thought angrily.
"Welcome to the Rocket Aircruiser Ubume. I, Ash Ketchum, am the commander of the Rocket Nation forces aboard this ship." As he spoke, he stepped off the platform and approached his prisoner.
I know that now, I just wish I knew that a few days ago.
"The man to my left is Captain Frederick Mann. He is in charge of the ship itself." The rat-faced man gave Allie a snide grin. "Everyone in this room except for you is a member of Rocket Nation. So we're curious what you're doing here?"
"I'm going to kill you," she spat at his feet. "Traitor." They were the first words that popped into her head.
"Really?" Ash taunted her. He patted her on the head like he used to while they trained. It wasn't playful this time, it was condescending and insulting. "With what weapon?"
The room burst into laughter at her expense.
"She don't have many places to hide one," one of the larger grunts chuckled, cruelly reminding Allie of her immodesty.
"Silence," Ash roared at him. Allie was glad to see the smirk off the grunt's face, but the expression on Ash's face was even more terrifying as he turned back to her. "I won't deny that I have forsaken vows, but now I serve a higher cause. You will answer me, or you will suffer. Why are you aboard this ship?" he demanded. "Who sent you?"
He knew, of course. It had been him. Allie's lips twisted defiantly. If he was going to play games, then so would she.
"I came of my own accord," she told Ash. "I came because I want to see Rocket Nation destroyed. I came because I wanted to stop you. I want to watch you die." She imagined Ash, bloodied and broken, but the vision didn't fill her with the satisfaction she desired. The girl's feelings were still caught between love and hate.
Her answer clearly threw Ash off for a moment. Good, she thought. Serves the bastard right.
"Summon Squad F," Ash directed a grunt. "They're experts at information extraction," he explained to Allie. "Even if you don't want to tell us the truth, you will."
She shuddered at his ominous words, her mind unable to resist imagining the worst possibilities.
Squad F arrived several minutes later. Unlike the squad Allie attempted to blend into, this group was composed of only three members. Each had some disfigurement about them. One had a scar down his cheek, another wore an eye patch. The third member of the group was missing part of her nose and all of an ear.
"These three came to us from the Black Charizard Gang. It was absorbed into the Nation when they decided to join our noble effort."
The group sounded familiar, but in the heat of the moment, Allie didn't bother to think of where she'd heard it before.
"And what effort is that, Ash, which you would betray us for?" Allie challenged him, her voice rising. She didn't know what was happening, but she didn't even care anymore. All she wanted was to see that fierce grin wiped off his face.
A nervous voice came from the corner of the room. "Rocket Nation desires nothing less than the abolishment of the Pokémon League."
Allie gasped. She looked for the source of the voice, and saw Christina standing meekly in the corner of the room. She and a few other grunts from Allie's squad watched miserably as Allie suffered. At least they had the decency to look ashamed.
"Very good," Ash applauded slowly.
"Why?" she asked. Looking to the grunts around her, she said, "Don't you know that he's the Pokémon League Champion?"
"Of course we are aware of it," Lieutenant Gorrick responded proudly. The tall man was standing behind Christina, and Allie wondered how she hadn't noticed him before. "His support of Rocket Nation is further proof that our cause is just. We shall end the tyranny that has afflicted Kanto for far too long."
One of the Squad F grunts snorted at this statement. Allie figured that he was mostly interested in the chaos and profits of the venture.
"They're telling the truth," Ash confirmed. "I agree with their mission. The Pokémon League is too powerful and must be crushed."
"That doesn't make any sense. You're in charge of it," she protested, not comprehending why Rocket Nation would want to get rid of the Pokémon League.
"And now I'm in charge of the Rocket forces on Ubume." He saw she was still confused. "Poor little girl. You've gone and gotten yourself into something bigger than you. I command this division of Rocket Nation and will see to it that the Pokémon League falls."
Allie gathered her thoughts together before responding. When she did, her eyes were as harsh as Ash's. "What's wrong with you?" the girl asked flatly. "What's made you so desperate that you would go to such extremes? What happened that you're so bitter that you're afraid to trust anyone?"
Her words were like knives, as she had intended. The young man recoiled, proving that at least some of her Ash remained within the monster standing before her. At least, that was what Allie thought before he started laughing like it was some big joke.
He was joined by Captain Frederick and some of the other high officers.
"That's adorable, but I don't think you understand what's going on here. Before we interrogate you Allie, I want you to see someone. You've met her before, I think. The other night, we observed you trying to talk to her. Someone should have told you it was a waste of time to talk to an Empty One."
A door to Ash's left slid open and Mina stepped onto the bridge, cold and mindless as she had been that night in the corridor.
"Mina…" Allie mumbled as the brunette walked toward Ash.
"No, Allie. Not Mina. This is Unit 139141. She's a copy; a clone, you might say."
"That's impossible." Was it impossible? Perhaps creating clones was an ability of some foreign Pokémon.
"They aren't perfect clones, no, but they are essential tools all the same." He ran his hand under the empty brunette's cheek. Allie burned with rage that Ash would play with her like that, even if this Mina was just a clone. "They lack fear, freewill, and the ability to feel pain." To underline his point, he slapped Mina as hard as he could across the cheek. There was no scream or cry of pain, only the brutal sound of flesh striking flesh.
"And what empowers these tools?" he continued, grinning at Allie's horrified reaction. "I'm sure you've heard of it. The Creature of the Cape acts as puppet master of the Empty Ones."
"No way," Allie whispered, stunned.
"Indeed," said Ash. "It, too, is a tool of Rocket Nation. Through it, the director controls an army of Empty Ones who will aid us in our mission to crush the Pokémon League."
All the people in the room started murmuring in surprise. Allie stared at where Christina stood, gaping at the revelation. Gorrick, too, seemed shocked that his noble cause would employ such a notorious strategy.
"Excuse me for speaking out of line, sir," said the blonde-haired military man as he stepped forward. "We were told that the Empty Ones were creations of the enemy."
"Remember your place, lieutenant, and don't interrupt," Ash barked at him. Gorrick saluted apologetically and returned to his squad. "The director didn't save them from the Pokémon League. He had them created in the image of his prisoners to use as weapons."
The grunts took up the words. "Prisoners? Weapons?" The whispers filled the bridge.
"Silence!" Captain Frederick commanded. All stopped talking.
"Do any of you doubt that our grand objective is worthy of extreme means?" Ash asked, dangerously quiet. "Yes, the use of the Empty Ones and The Creature is immoral. But so too are our foes. Moral sacrifices must be made for the greater good. Liberation must happen, no matter the physical, mental, or emotional cost. That is the philosophy of Rocket Nation."
Gorrick looked like he was going to be sick. Ash had made it clear that he had been praising the nobility of a cause that was entirely corrupt in its methods.
Even more rage filled Allie's broken heart. Christina, while not exactly a friend, had been kind to her. Rocket Nation was obviously taking advantage of the ignorance of its grunts. Hopefully the commander's revelation would turn some of them against the group. They wouldn't really accept that terrorism was justified by the ends, would they?
"Now, Allie," Ash resumed, turning his cruel gaze back to her. "I've spoken at length about our aims and our methods. But please, no more stalling. Tell me about your reasons for being here. "
"No." This was a whole new level of adamancy. It was born of necessity, fear, and anger.
"The commander didn't word it as a question, worm," Captain Frederick told her.
"No, I didn't," Ash commented languidly. "Squad F, please motivate the girl. Shame and fear haven't loosened her tongue. Let's see if pain is any more effective."
Just try me, thought Allie bitterly. I've been attacked by savage Pokémon, fought a man in a burning building, survived a mountain falling on me, and escaped your pet of the cape. You know that, Ash. You know that I won't break until the end.
The traitor seemed to know what she was thinking, for he added, "We have many ways of making you talk." He crept closer to her and whispered into her ear. "Rocket Nation has unconventional ways of extracting information if all else fails. You will tell us what you know, I promise. Before the end, you'll beg for mercy. Trust me."
She had trusted him, and this was how he repaid her.
"Do you have anything else to add before you become too broken to say anything except what we ask?"
She had just two sentences for him, and had spent much of her time in the engine room selecting them.
"I hope it was worth betraying everything you claimed to care about, Ash," she said simply. The thin girl didn't tremble or shake, though she wanted to. "I hope it was worth it."
Two of the torture specialists approached her and shoved her face-first to the floor. They removed her handcuffs, but held her forearms to the ground with such force that she thought the bones would break. The remaining member of Squad F stood at the base of her feet.
"I want to see her bleed," said Ash. Allie could no longer see him from her place on the floor, but the mirth in his voice was all too evident. "Flay her until her tongue loosens." Allie heard commotion from the corner of the room where Squad D stood. "No. Lieutenant, keep your unit here. I want them to see what happens to traitors and spies."
All was still for just a moment as the torture commenced. Allie could hear the sound of a Pokéball opening and four feet landed on the metal floor behind her.
"Use Vine Whip," the grunt growled in a deep voice.
Allie braced herself for immense pain.
But it never came.
The Pokémon did obey the order, though, and vines shot from the bulb on its back. However, something strange happened. Instead of whipping Allie, the Bulbasaur – Ash's Bulbasaur – was scourging everyone around her. The girl heard screams and profanity as Rocket Nation tried to avoid the lash.
While his subordinates were preoccupied, Ash again leapt down from the platform and landed next to Allie. He hastily lifted her by an arm and pulled her to the side of the bridge. He pulled a level, and an emergency hatch opened. Because of their altitude, the room filled with freezing cold air. Glancing at the hurt expression in Allie's eyes for one final time, he pushed her out of the opening.
He was grateful for the deafening sound of the wind; it would still have been painful for him to hear her scream. Her limp body quickly disappeared into the clouds below.
Turning his attention back to the chaos, the commander studied the situation. The grunts and officers were still struggling to cope with Bulbasaur. He had unleashed a leaf storm which was wreaking havoc on the inside of the bridge. It was so strong that even the titanium interior had scratches in the wall, and the computer screens were cracked and smoking.
"Enough!" Ash commanded.
On cue, Bulbasaur's attack subsided. He nodded to Ash, ran to the emergency exit, and jumped out of the airship.
His trainer felt bad that he would have to endure the cold of the upper atmosphere, but it was better than the watery depths to which they would soon descend. The commander of Rocket Nation slid the door shut, restoring the temperature and air pressure to the cabin. He looked at the others in the room, waiting for them to react.
The underlings stared at Ash with severe suspicion, many still occupied with cuts from the storm of leaves. Finally, Captain Frederick stepped forward. "Sir," he said cautiously. "Could you explain what just happened?"
"Bulbasaur distracted you while I handled Allie. She's now plummeting to her death. Torture is so tedious, don't you think? I just made it go a lot faster."
"Why would you do that?"
"So that I can bring this ship down without her on it."
The lower level grunts mumbled concernedly, but the officers remained stoic.
"So you planned to betray us after all," Frederick scowled. His expression suddenly changed to one of arrogance. "You foolish trainer. Do you think we were not prepared for this? You are surrounded by our army. Not even the great Ash Ketchum could defeat us all."
The lieutenant of Squad D once again stepped forward to speak his mind. "Our cause is just and our will is strong. Traitors to Rocket Nation will not be tolerated."
The captain shot him a glance. "Shut up, Gorrick. You talk too much."
The tall man fell back in line.
"I told the director that we couldn't trust you, but he already knew. He knew he could use you as a pawn. And you played your part so nicely."
The words disturbed Ash, but they were likely desperate lies.
"We were always on the opposite side," he countered. "It was just a matter of who would betray the other first."
"Why play the game for so long, though?" the captain demanded. "The girl was your friend, wasn't she? You let us do all that to her?"
"I needed more time. I tried to keep her safe, but we all have to take risks."
"And indeed you did. You are a Teddiursa who wandered into a hive filled with Combee."
"You've got me all wrong. If anything, I'm an Ursaring who just got his honey."
"This conversation is ridiculous," Frederick raged, ignoring the fact that he originated the metaphor. "What do you hope to accomplish by betraying us?"
"I plan to destroy this ship to stop the rise of Rocket Nation."
"How do you expect to do that?"
Ash pulled his Xtransceiver out of his pocket and tapped the screen three times in rapid succession. The explosion was immediate, and deafening. The bridge was located in the tower above the engines, so the violent detonation threw everyone to their knees. From the sound of it, they had just lost all of their engines, and would soon lose their ability to remain airborne.
Grunts rushed to the remaining computers in the room trying to check the conditions of the ship. Ash tapped his device again, and the screens turned blue.
Frederick turned back to him in a panic. "You wouldn't. How do you expect to escape?"
Ash smiled grimly. "I don't." This was the end. He had known it since Allie got herself captured. Someone had to activate the explosion from aboard the airship. He had hoped to fool a grunt into setting it off, but after the grilling he had just given his best friend, he couldn't bring himself to face her again. Anyway, destroying the ship would be massacre; going down with it would be sacrifice.
He charged forward at the Rockets just as another massive shockwave knocked them to their knees. Ash, who had more experience under difficult conditions, managed to keep his balance and run through the door to the corridor.
"After him," Frederick ordered, and Squad D joined the pursuit. The captain turned to his engineers, hoping that there would be something they could do to get the systems back online. When it became clear that Ash's computer virus had left the airship totally unable to fly, they advised the captain to order an evacuation. He accepted reluctantly, moved toward the emergency hatch to find that it had sealed itself.
"Get a Pokémon and tear it open!" he screamed, starting to lose restraint as the ship suddenly jerked downward as they lost altitude.
They soon found, however, that the ship had been built so sturdily that even their strongest Aggron couldn't tear through the steel hatch. The majestic and ominous warship had become a deathtrap for its own occupants.
Meanwhile, Gorrick's squad had pursued Ash down several flights of stairs and into the main corridor. They reached a giant room the size of a gymnasium. The hangar had not yet been outfit with escape pods and helicopters, so it was simply an enormous open space. It amazed Ash that something so large could exist in the air. But, he then remembered, it wouldn't exist for much longer.
Additional grunts came pouring in from the opposing doorway, and Gorrick's forces blocked the hallway Ash had entered from. Ash looked around, but all the other doors were sealed shut or out of reach. He had nowhere left to run.
"Surrender now, traitor," Gorrick announced, his booming voice echoing around the mighty hangar. "You betrayed the glorious nation, brought death to honest men, and spread lies about our mission. You will not escape the noble vengeance of Squad D."
So, even after the truth about Mina and The Creature, they still believed that Rocket Nation was virtuous. It didn't matter. Soon, they couldn't threaten Kanto anymore.
Gorrick's unit surrounded the champion, though Ash noted they weren't as confident as he was. In particular, a girl with green hair and green eyes caught his attention. She was trying to put on a strong face, but it was obvious that she was trembling. Even if she was a Rocket Nation member, it was clear that she wasn't as corrupted as the organization. Seeing her there, dressed the same way as Allie when he had denied her, moved Ash to pity them for what was about to happen.
In the end, they were still human beings who could open their eyes to the evils of Rocket Nation and change. Allie had given Ash several second chances, even though he never earned them. Perhaps he owed one to these total strangers as well, even if they were Rockets.
"Don't try and stop me," he begged them, his voice cracking. "Try to find a way out of this disaster." He had done everything he could to make the ship inescapable, but perhaps the explosion of the engines would have created a tear in the hull of the ship. There must be some way to escape. His plan was detailed, but not perfect.
Obvious it's not perfect, Ash reflected solemnly. Or I'd live to see the end of it.
"Fair try, but you shall not distract us so easily." Gorrick Vortage pulled a Pokéball from his pocket and released an Electivire. The electric behemoth glared, ready for battle, but Ash didn't send out a Pokémon of his own.
"Gorrick, please!" he pleaded. "For the sake of your squad."
"Release a Pokémon and defend yourself. We'll end our lives nobly in battle if that's what's required of us."
"I don't have any Pokémon with me," the champion admitted, backed against a wall. "I didn't want any of them to be in danger when this ship crashes."
The lieutenant stared at him blankly. "How can we fight you if you don't have any Pokémon?"
"I don't know," Ash shrugged. "Think about if your mission justifies attacking unarmed humans. Do you really think that 'good guys' would kidnap, poison, destroy, and use The Creature as a weapon?"
Ash had Gorrick in his hands, and they both knew it. The man's sense of nobility and chivalry was too strong. He couldn't attack an unarmed man, nor could he deliberately leave his unit in harm's way. To Gorrick, it would be foolish to continue pursuing the Rocket's mission at the expense of all moral virtue.
"Lieutenant, what should we do?" Christina asked, speaking on behalf of her bewildered confederates.
"Go!" he shouted at them. "Get in the escape pods and get to safety. I won't risk your lives in such a manner."
The green-haired woman saluted, and led Squad D out of the hangar.
Ash just hoped they could find a way out and do some soul-searching.
"It's a pity more Rocket Nation operatives aren't like you, Gorrick, or the organization might not be half bad. More people on this ship need consciences."
"Silence," Gorrick said shakily, stepping toward Ash. "I will remain, and I will fight you."
"Don't be ridiculous," Ash told him. "This ship will be underwater in less than half an hour. You should try to escape too."
"I shall die doing my duty, and you will die doing yours."
"Couldn't have put it better myself," Ash grinned. Allie had escaped, provided she hadn't died during the fall. Squad D might get out, provided they could find an escape route. But for men like Ash and Gorrick, it was their duty to see the battle through until the very end.
The two men launched themselves at each other, both determined to go down fighting. Fists flew and blood spattered the otherwise clean floor of the doomed ship.
The ship plunged in to the ocean with a mighty crash. The escape hatches broke open on impact. Water poured into the hangar through the large steel doors, filling the large room.
Ash and Gorrick, covered in blood from their fight and from the crash landing, struggled to swim in the quickly rising waters. There was no way out, and they both soon succumbed to the deluge.
"Goodbye, Allie," Ash whispered, seconds before water filled his lungs. I'm sorry Allie. I'm sorry… May.
Author's Note on my profile.
Next time: Legend of the Island