Chapter 36: Overwhelmed
Firefly and Indigo sped through the air towards the cave. Both of them were filled with a sense of fear they had never before experienced. The fact that the cave they were hiding in, a location they believed would never be found by Team Rocket, was not only found but was under attack while they were gone filled them with not only fear, but guilt as well.
"We should never have left the cave," Firefly said. "Oh, this is all my fault."
"Don't blame yourself. I went along with you so I'm just as much to blame," Indigo explained.
"Yeah, but…"
"We'll have time to place blame later. Right now we have to go help the others fend off Team Rocket's assault," Indigo said.
"Well… okay," Firefly reluctantly agreed.
"Come on. I think the cave is in this direction," Indigo said. Firefly nodded as she followed Indigo, one thought repeating itself over and over again in her head.
"Please everyone… please hold on…"
The sudden attack caught everyone by surprise. No one was ready for the onslaught of Pokémon that Team Rocket brought. Many of the stronger members of the group were trying to fight off the Team Rocket attack while the others were doing their best to protect the younger and weaker members. Leading the defensive stand was the trio of Hoshiko, Rusty and Shadowfire while Farris, Pearl, Aqua, Sage, Solarflare and Firestar stood at the entrance to the cave protecting the younger Pokémon.
"This isn't looking good! Those guys out there need some backup, and fast!" Pearl shouted.
"I know, but right now our job is to make sure everyone else is safe!" Farris answered.
"Are Mommy and Daddy coming?" Summer asked.
"Don't worry. They'll be here soon to make the bad men go away," Firestar said. "At least, I hope so." In the meantime Rusty, Hoshiko and Shadowfire had their paws full with Team Rocket and their Pokémon.
"Man, where did these guys come from?" Rusty shouted as he delivered a Focus Punch to a Mightyena.
"I don't know! They just came out of nowhere!" Shadowfire replied while he battled a Dusknoir. "How you holding up, Hoshiko?"
"I've… got… things… under… control… somehow!" she answered while repeatedly dodging Night Slash attacks from a Scyther. She was handling the situation well, but was getting tired of staying on the defensive.
"Okay, time to put you out of my misery!" she declared. After dodging one more Night Slash she knocked him back with a well-placed Power Gem. The attack damaged the Scyther greatly, forcing the Rocket to return him.
"Nice one, Hoshiko!" Rusty complimented.
"That's showing him who's boss!" Shadowfire added.
"Thanks, guys! It was no… AH!" Hoshiko screamed as she was violently yanked backwards. Looking behind her she saw an Ariados had tied her legs up with String Shot and was trying to drag her back towards it.
"Someone get this thing off me!" she shouted.
"Hang on! I'm… whoa!" Before Shadowfire could come to her aid the Dusknoir he was battling surrounded him using Double Team.
"Crap! Which one's the real one?" he growled. As he searched for the real Dusknoir all of them began powering up Shadow Punch attacks.
"Oh shoot!" she shouted.
"Don't worry! I'll get him off you!" Rusty shouted. He made a move to go help Shadowfire but the Mightyena he was battling cut him off.
"Out of my way, dog-breath!" he demanded. But instead of moving the Mightyena spun around and struck him with an Iron Tail.
"Bro, no!" Rubic cried. She tried to run out to help him but Aqua stopped her before she got too far.
"What are you doing, Aqua? I have to go help him!" she argued.
"You can't! It's too dangerous!" he told her.
"But…"
"It's for your own good. I can't let you go out there and get hurt," he said. Realizing that he wasn't going to change his mind Rubic was left with no choice other than to watch as her brother and friends struggled against Team Rocket. Just when it seemed like all hope was lost a Flamethrower came out of nowhere and struck the Ariados, badly burning him and disintegrating the String Shot around Hoshiko's legs. While that was happening a volley of Shadow Balls rained from the sky onto the Dusknoir, dispelling all the doubles and badly injuring the real one. During the confusion the Mightyena became distracted, allowing Rusty to get in a solid Focus Punch to knock him to the side.
"What the? Where did those attacks come from?" Hoshiko asked.
"I've got a good idea! Look up there!" Shadowfire answered. He pointed to the sky. When the others looked they were met with the welcome sight of Firefly and Indigo flying into view.
"Alright! You guys made it!" Rusty cheered.
"Is everyone okay?" Indigo asked.
"About as okay as we can be given the situation," Hoshiko answered. Firefly looked around before her eyes settled on the cave entrance. Kaiser, Summer and Tsunami were all looking at her, a mixture of relief and fear in their eyes.
"Mommy!" Summer called.
"It's okay, sweetie! I'll protect you!" she told her.
"Man, just look at all this," Indigo said. All of the fighting had stopped when they arrived, almost as if everyone was waiting for something or someone.
"Well, I was wondering when you'd grace us with your presence, Firefly." The Vulpix's eyes grew wide when she heard that rough, unfriendly voice.
"No… it can't be him," she gasped. She prayed it wasn't, but as she looked in the direction of the voice her worst fears were confirmed.
"It's been a while, hasn't it…"
"G-Giovanni!" she gasped.
"I'm glad you remember me," Giovanni said as he stepped out into the open, his loyal Persian by his side. "And if you remember me then I'm sure you remember what you did to me!"
"Yeah, I remember," Firefly answered. "If you ask me that look is good on you. It gives you that 'Evil crazy dictator' look."
"I see you still crack jokes. Well I can assure you the time for joking is over!" Giovanni declared. "You will be coming back with me whether you like it or not!"
"Sorry, but that's not in my future!" Firefly responded.
"Like I said, you don't have a choice!" Giovanni repeated.
"We'll see about that!" Firefly challenged. With a flap of her wings she took off towards Giovanni, intent on making him pay for attacking her friends. She had just about reached him when an Ivysaur jumped in front of her.
"Gah! Where did…" Before she could finish the Ivysaur fired a small seed from the bulb on his back. The seed hit Firefly in her chest.
"Oh crap! That's a…" She was interrupted once again as the Leech Seed sprouted vines that wrapped themselves around Firefly. Her wings were pinned to her sides, leaving her with no way to remain airborne. She fell to the ground, struggling to free herself.
"Hey! Get this mess off me!" she barked. She tried to untangle herself from the vines, but all that did was tangle her up even more.
"Hold on, Firefly! I'll get you loose!" Indigo shouted. He began making his way down to her, but Giovanni's Persian cut him off, slashing at him with his razor sharp claws.
"Careful, Indigo!" Firefly warned. Seconds later the bulb began to glow red. Firefly glanced at it momentarily before her body was filled with excruciating pain. Firefly screamed, the pain overwhelming.
"Firefly!" Aqua roared.
"Mommy!" Summer cried. Seconds later the pain subsided, but by then the damage had been done. Firefly was left physically drained.
"Now that you've been left helpless by that Leech Seed I think it's time for me to collect my prize," Giovanni announced.
"What about the others?" one of the Rockets asked.
"I could care less what happens to them. Kill them if you feel like it," Giovanni answered. Firefly and her friends gasped when they heard that.
"You… can't… be serious," Firefly gasped. Giovanni looked at her, his eyes filled with nothing but hate and malice.
"You should know by now that I am very serious," he replied. The Rocket who had just addressed him made a move to order his Pokémon to resume its attack, but before he could a Flamethrower blazed past his head courtesy of Firefly.
"I… I won't… let you hurt them!" she growled.
"Well… it seems you still have the strength to fight," Giovanni commented. "Guess we'll have to do something about that." He motioned for one of his other subordinates to approach.
"What do you require, sir?" he asked.
"I believe our captive here is being a bit unruly and needs to be disciplined," Giovanni said. "If you would…"
"At once, sir," the subordinate answered. He called his Pokémon over, a rather large Cloyster.
"It's time to teach her a lesson! Hydro Pump!" he ordered. The Cloyster opened his shell, reveling his sinister smirking face. Seconds later hundreds of gallons of gushing water was forced out. Seeing the Hydro Pump heading for her Firefly struggled to get free, but her last attack left her too weak to do so.
"Get out of there, Firefly!" Indigo shouted.
"I can't! I've used up too much strength!" Firefly responded. Indigo knew he had to get to Firefly somehow, but no matter what he did Giovanni's Persian would not let him around. Just when it looked like Firefly was done for a Solarbeam came out of nowhere and intercepted the Hydro Pump, easily cutting through the attack and hitting the Cloyster hard.
"Who fired that Solarbeam?" Indigo asked. He got his answer when a black and gold Mawile suddenly appeared.
"Who's that?" Firefly asked.
"Why don't you try fighting someone who can fight back!" the Mawile declared. From the sound of the Mawile's voice they could tell it was a female, and clearly was very upset with what Team Rocket was doing.
"At least she appears to be on our side," Indigo commented. His observation was proven to be correct when the Mawile used the massive jaws on the back of her head to bite through the Leech Seed, freeing Firefly.
"You okay?" she asked.
"Yes," Firefly replied. "I don't know who you are, but thank you."
"Let's not worry about that now. We have bigger fish to fry before we can give thanks," the Mawile told her. Looking around Firefly could see that, though she had been saved from the Cloyster they were still greatly outnumbered.
"Well now, I didn't know you had some backup hidden away," Giovanni commented. He snapped his fingers, calling his Persian back to his side. With nothing blocking his path Indigo was able to make his way to Firefly's side.
"Are you okay, Firefly?" he asked.
"For the most part. I am a bit exhausted," Firefly told him. "I guess that Leech Seed took more out of me than I thought it would."
"Looks that way," Indigo agreed. As he checked on Firefly's condition the mysterious Mawile approached Giovanni, a stern look on her face.
"I don't know who you are, but from the looks of things… you look to be the one in charge here," she observed. "Now, where's Shin?" Giovanni appeared to think for a bit before replying.
"I'm assuming you mean Project Shin," he replied, folding his arms loosely across his chest.
"Project Shin? I wonder who that is," Firefly said.
"Tell me!" the Mawile yelled. Giovanni laughed at her reaction.
"He's exactly where he should be."
"Answer me!" she demanded, her eyes narrowed in anger. Giovanni glared at her.
"I answer to no one, especially not a Pokémon!" he answered. Firefly guessed from the verbal exchange between the two of them that whoever this Project Shin was he or she was important to the Mawile, not that Giovanni cared though.
"I've had enough of these distractions! Now, Firefly! You will either surrender to me or suffer the consequences! Which will it be?" he demanded. Before Firefly could answer Indigo stepped forward.
"She's not going anywhere with you!" he declared.
"Very well…" Giovanni turned and addressed his subordinates.
"Kill them all! Leave none alive!" he ordered. With those words the attack resumed. Chaos ensued as all the Pokémon began fighting once again. Firefly tried to go help them, but she was still weak from the Leech Seed.
"It's no good… I still haven't recovered from that damn Leech Seed!" she growled. A sudden hissing sound made her look up. Giovanni's Persian was standing over her, his paw raised and ready to deliver a Slash attack.
"Firefly!" The next thing she knew Indigo had jumped into her, knocking her out of the way of the Persian's Slash.
"Are you okay?" he asked. Firefly nodded.
"Are you able to fight?" he asked.
"Not yet. That Leech Seed took a lot more of my energy than I realized," she answered.
"Can you get your strength back soon?" Indigo inquired. Firefly glanced up at the night sky. There weren't any clouds, meaning there was nothing stopping her from healing herself.
"I should… give me a few minutes," she told him.
"Whatever you need," Indigo told her. He took a defensive stance in front of her as her body gave off a dark glow, the healing properties of Moonlight taking effect. Unfortunately Giovanni took notice of this.
"Stop her! Do not let her get her strength back!" he ordered. Indigo looked up and immediately saw a group of six Pokémon charging for them. He tensed up and got ready to fight back when the Mawile made her way to his side, standing shoulder to shoulder with him.
"You won't be having all the fun here," she said with a smirk.
"I don't know if I'd call it fun but I do appreciate the help," Indigo told her.
"Be careful. I don't want you two to get hurt because of me," Firefly told them. Indigo looked back at her and smiled.
"Trust me. The only one's that are going to get hurt are Giovanni and his Pokémon," Indigo said.
"That's Giovanni?" the Mawile asked. Now that she knew the identity of their attackers she tensed up, something Indigo took notice of.
"Don't worry. We've dealt with him in the past. His Pokémon are strong, but we're stronger," he explained. Hearing his words of encouragement helped her relax.
"The name's Rei by the…"
"Watch out, Indigo!" Firefly shouted. Before Rei could finish introducing herself she and Indigo looked up and saw Giovanni's Persian lunging at them with a Night Slash attack.
"Not going to work!" Indigo declared. He raised a Protect barrier in time to bock the Night Slash, but the remaining Pokémon began to launch attacks at them as well.
"Damn! I don't know how much longer this barrier will hold!" Indigo growled.
"I'm going out! It'll be easier to hold the barrier against half the attacks!" Rei told him. Indigo looked to her and nodded.
"Good luck, Rei," he said. She nodded before rushing out through the protective barrier and tackling one of the charging Pokémon, a Houndoom. When she recovered she saw that rather than one there were now two Houndoom.
"Oh… damn…" she muttered.
"Come on! If we don't hurry up they're toast!" Rusty shouted. Both he and Shadowfire went to assist Indigo and Rei, but the others realized that they would still need more help.
"We've got to go back them up! Come on!" Aqua said.
"Right behind you, big guy!" Shadow announced.
"Oh yeah! This is what I've been waiting for!" Icy announced. The three of them ran out there, joining Rusty and Shadowfire as they stood next to Rei.
"Where did all of you come from?" she asked.
"Just call us the cavalry," Rusty answered.
"We're making sure we all make it out of here alive!" Aqua declared. Rei looked back and forth at the Pokémon who stepped forward to help her. After a while she turned her attention back to the attacking Pokémon, a smirk appearing on her face.
"Well, what're we waiting for?" she shouted before leading the charge. She was the first to launch an attack, striking the Houndoom with a powerful Mach Punch that knocked him to the ground.
"And stay down!" she shouted. Looking around she saws the others each taking on an opponent of their own. Aqua was squaring off against the second Houndoom, Shadow was facing off against a Machamp, Icy and Shadowfire were against a pair of Gloom and Rusty took it upon himself to take on Giovanni's Persian. Indigo looked on, his Protect barrier still up as he defended Firefly while she recovered.
"Come on, guys! Take them down!" he cheered. Firefly looked on, silently praying that they would be able to win.
"Man, you're not even worth my time!" Rusty yelled as he jumped over an attempted Bite attack from the Persian and retaliated with a Focus Punch, driving the feline Pokémon's head into the ground.
"This is almost too… whoa!" Rusty's bragging was cut short when he was forced to dodge a Flamethrower from one of the Houndoom. He first glanced to Rei, seeing that she still had her opponent well under control.
"If it wasn't her then… damn! Aqua!" He quickly found Aqua and saw that despite his size advantage the Houndoom was managing to put up quite a fight against him.
"You okay over there, buddy?" Rusty asked.
"Just fine!" Aqua answered. "This one's just being a bit stubborn!" He tried to douse the Houndoom with Hydro Pump, but the canine jumped to the side, a taunting smirk on his face.
"Smirk while you can, dog-breath!" Aqua growled. He fired another Hydro Pump, but the Houndoom ducked underneath it. This time, though, the canine decided to go on the attack. He lunged at Aqua, his fangs bared and ready to deliver a Crunch attack. Before Aqua could do anything the Houndoom latched onto his left arm, his fangs digging deep into his arm.
"Ah! Let go!" he roared. He flailed his arm around in an attempt to dislodge the Houndoom, but the canine held strong. While he struggled with the Houndoom, Rei was also having a bit of trouble with her Houndoom. The canine had tackled her to the ground and was trying to bite down on her, though all he got were mouthfuls of dirt.
"Ah! Get off of me!" she yelled. During her struggling she saw Aqua was having a bit of trouble with his Houndoom opponent, his jaws locked onto his arm in a painful Crunch attack. Seeing an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, or in this case two Houndoom with one move, she maneuvered her body to where she could clamp down on the Houndoom using the massive jaws on the back of her head. She then threw the Houndoom in Aqua's direction. The two Houndoom collided, taking care of both of their problems.
"Thanks for the assist!" Aqua said. Rei winked and gave him a thumbs up.
"Rei, you alright?" Indigo asked. She looked back and nodded.
"Never better!" she answered. Meanwhile Icy and Shadowfire were having a field day with the two Gloom they were facing off against. No matter what they tried the two Grass types couldn't land a hit on their more agile opponents.
"Man, I'm getting tired of dodging!" Icy complained. "When do we get the chance to attack?"
"If you want to attack then let's make it a good one!" Shadowfire suggested.
"What did you have in mind?" Icy asked. The male Vulpix looked to her and smirked.
"Let's go with an old favorite… Freezer Burn!" he answered.
"Oh you evil little thing… let's do it!" The two of them faced the Gloom, waiting for the right time to strike. That time came soon when the Gloom fired a pair of Energy Ball attacks. The two of them ducked to the side, easily splitting the attacks.
"Now!" Shadowfire shouted. Icy smirked evilly before blowing a strong Blizzard at the Gloom. The attack lasted mere seconds, but when it was over the two Grass types were encased in a large block of ice.
"There's the Freezer…" Icy started.
"Now here comes the Burn!" Shadowfire finished. He broke out in a full-on charge towards the frozen Gloom. As he approached his body became engulfed in flames. Seconds later he plunged into the ice block, his Flare Blitz allowing him to cut into the ice. Shortly after that the ice block exploded, showering the area with ice shards and steam. When the steam cleared Shadowfire was seen standing where the ice block was, and at his feet were the defeated Gloom.
"Well, they went down easy," Icy commented.
"Figures. Nothing could stand up to our Freezer Burn," Shadowfire commented. This left Shadow and his opponent, a Machamp. Unfortunately his foe was proving to be a more difficult fight than the others.
"Of all the opponents I had to face I got the one that's the biggest handful!" he shouted. With four fists trying to pound him into the ground Shadow had no choice but to stay on the defensive. That, unfortunately, was proving to be quite the difficult task. The Machamp refused to let up on his assault, his four fists punching as if they were pistons. Shadow eventually became wore out, giving the Machamp the perfect opportunity to press his advantage by grabbing the Pikachu by his tail and hoisting him into the air.
"Hey! Put me down!" Shadow shouted. The Machamp, however, had other ideas. With an evil smirk he struck Shadow with a powerful Mega Punch. The Pikachu let out a painful gasp as he hung there in the Machamp's grasp. Before he could get his breath back the Machamp hit him again. The Superpower Pokémon repeated this a few more times, each one causing Shadow great pain. When the beating finally ceased Shadow was left gasping for air, his lungs begging for life-giving oxygen.
"(Hehe… puny little Pokémon too weak to fight back,)" the Machamp gloated. Shadow was about to respond when he saw the Machamp bring one of his massive fists back. It then started to glow as he powered up a Dynamic Punch.
"(Any last words?)" he asked. Shadow paused for a moment before a wicked smile appeared on his face.
"Yeah… I actually do," he answered. "And those are… good night!" Before the Machamp could put any thought towards his words Shadow flooded his body with thousands of volts of electricity. The Machamp roared in pain, absentmindedly releasing Shadow's tail. Now free the Pikachu pressed his advantage, jumping up and delivering a well-placed Iron Tail to the side of the Machamp's head. The Superpower Pokémon stumbled backwards a bit before finally falling to the ground. Shadow walked up to his fallen body.
"Remember, it's not the size of the Pokémon in the fight… but the strength of his attacks that matters," he commented. Giovanni looked on in disgust as his Pokémon were defeated one by one. As a finishing touch Rusty and Rei each delivered a Mach Punch to their opponents, knocking both a Houndoom and Giovanni's Persian back at his.
"It's over, Giovanni! You don't have any Pokémon strong enough to take us!" Rusty declared. The others stood next to him in a show of strength. Giovanni looked at them all before smirking.
"What's with that look, you bastard?" Shadowfire demanded.
"You may have the strength advantage, but in the end the numbers game always wins out!" Giovanni declared. He snapped his fingers, and immediately the number of Pokémon doubled as his agents released more of them into the battle.
"Oh come on! More?" Rei yelled.
"Not only that but the ones we just knocked down are getting back up!" Aqua shouted. Just as he had said the Pokémon they had just knocked down had gotten back to their feet and were now standing along side the new Pokémon that had just been sent out, forming quite a large group.
"What do we do now?" Shadow asked.
"What else… beat them all down!" Rusty announced. With a loud battle cry the Pokémon resumed their battle against Team Rocket. At first it appeared as though they would hand the newcomers the same definitive defeat they had the previous group, but this would not be the case. Just as Giovanni had said the numbers game was catching up to them.
"Watch my back!" Rusty shouted. He was engaged with Giovanni's Persian once again. The feline Pokémon motioned with a paw for him to come on.
"You want it… you got it!" Rusty shouted. He ran forward with his fist drawn back for a Focus Punch when he was blind-sided by one of the new Pokémon, a Hitmontop.
"Gah… damn it!" he cursed as he slid across the ground. He turned to face the Hitmontop, but that left him open to a sneak attack from the Persian. The feline pounced on him, pinning him to the ground.
"Oof!" he grunted.
"Sit tight! I'm coming!" Rei yelled. She managed to take one step before one of the Houndoom jumped in front of her, baring her path. She got ready to fight him when a growl from behind caused her to turn around. The second Houndoom was standing behind her, the two of them catching her in a pincer attack.
"…this sucks…" she grumbled. As she looked back and forth between the two Pokémon they opened their mouths, revealing small flames that were growing in size.
"Not good, not good, not good!" Rei shouted. She curled into a tight ball as the Houndoom unleashed their Flamethrower attacks on her.
"Damn! Rei's in trouble!" Shadowfire shouted.
"I've got her!" Aqua said. He flapped his wings and prepared to take to the skies, but before he could get airborne a massive weight slammed down on his back, pinning him to the ground. He craned his head around and saw a large Onix pinning him down with his tail.
"We've… got a real… heavyweight here!" he groaned. The Onix snarled at him before his attention was drawn to a shadow that had crept over him. Aqua glanced up and saw an Aggron towering over him.
"Aw hell," he groaned. The Aggron glared down at him before raising a massive claw over his head and slamming it down onto Aqua's head. The Aggron slowly raised his claw and surveyed the damage he had done. Though his head was throbbing with pain Aqua managed to look up and snarl.
"A… A Magikarp… hits harder… than you…" he spat. The Aggron became enraged by Aqua's taunting. He viciously slammed his claw onto Aqua's head over and over again until the Charizard was no longer moving. When he was done Aqua was still alive, but he had been knocked unconscious.
"No, Aqua!" Shadow yelled.
"He needs our help! Let's go!" Shadowfire shouted. He, Shadow and Icy started running towards their fallen ally, but they were cut off by the remaining Pokémon.
"Out of our way!" Shadowfire barked, sending a Flamethrower at the Pokémon blocking their path. The group dispersed, completely avoiding the Flamethrower. Then one of the Pokémon, a Koffing, shielded the others in a Smokescreen, obscuring the view of Shadowfire and the others.
"Stay sharp! They could attack from anywhere!" he warned. The other two looked back and forth, waiting for their opponents to strike. They didn't have to wait long, however, for mere seconds later two Energy Ball attacks flew from the Smokescreen and struck Shadow, blasting him back. Shortly after that the two Gloom jumped out of the Smokescreen towards the downed Pikachu.
"Shadow!" Icy yelled.
"Come on! We have to help him!" Shadowfire shouted. The two of them turned away from the Smokescreen to help their friend, but the minute they did two more Pokémon appeared from within the cloud. This time it was a Hitmonlee and a Hitmonchan, and both were heading right for Icy.
"Icy, look out!" Shadowfire shouted. Icy turned around just in time to catch a Mega Kick from the Hitmonlee. She skid across the ground.
"Damn! That hurt!" she groaned. She tried to get up, but before she could the Hitmonchan bombarded her with a Bullet Punch barrage. She tried covering up, but the number of punches being thrown rendered any defense she could put up useless.
"Icy!" Shadowfire shouted. "Hang on, Icy! I'm… ACK!" While he was distracted the Machamp from before leaped out of the Smokescreen and came down on his with Body Slam. The Machamp then lifted him up by the scruff of his neck.
"(You hurt us, now we hurt you,)" the Superpower Pokémon grunted. While still holding Shadowfire he began punching the male Vulpix, each one more brutal than the previous.
"Brother, no!" Firestar shouted. She and Solarflare hated seeing their brother and friends being beaten like they were, but while Firestar believed there was nothing they could do Solarflare wasn't of the same mindset. She charged onto the battlefield without a second thought.
"Solarflare, what are you doing?" Firestar shouted.
"I'm going to help them!" she answered. She continued running, making a beeline right for Shadowfire. Unfortunately she was soon spotted by one of the Rockets. He grabbed one of his Poké Balls and threw it out.
"Stop that Pokémon, Abomasnow!" he commanded. His Pokémon, an Abomasnow, appeared soon after. The large tree-looking Pokémon spotted Solarflare running towards her brother and acted quickly. His eyes briefly glowed green, causing a pair of roots to spring out of the ground right in Solarflare's path.
"Watch out!" Sage shouted. Solarflare looked ahead and saw the roots. She jumped into the air in an attempt to go over the roots. However, the Abomasnow was quick to react. His eyes glowed green once again as he took control of the roots. They shot into the air and wrapped around Solarflare's legs, grounding the young Vulpix.
"No! Let go!" she screamed. She tried to pull her legs free, but the roots wouldn't give. Moments later a massive shadow appeared over her. Looking up Solarflare gazed into the eyes of the Abomasnow. He grinned evilly down at her before raising his massive hand in the air.
"No!" Solarflare screamed. She once again tried to free herself, but the roots still refused to release her. With no hope of escaping she looked up fearfully as the Abomasnow prepared his Wood Hammer.
"Ah!" Then, right at the last second, Sage jumped in and struck the Abomasnow with a Quick Attack, canceling his Wood Hammer and drawing his attention away from Solarflare.
"S-Sage!" she cried.
"Leave her alone!" he demanded. Locking eyes with the one who attacked him the Abomasnow let out a bloodthirsty roar and charged the Leafeon.
"Run, Sage! Get out of here!" Solarflare shouted. The Leafeon looked to her and smiled.
"Don't worry… I won't let him hurt you," he said. As she stared at him she couldn't help but blush. Somehow his calming words had mesmerized her. After saying this to Solarflare Sage turned his attention back to the charging Abomasnow.
"And now to take care of you!" he yelled. He jumped at the Abomasnow, his paws crossed in front of him. As the two closed in on each other Sage's paws took on a pale green glow.
"Time to cross you out of the equation!" he shouted. He slashed at the Abomasnow in a X-motion, dropping the massive Grass-and-Ice type on the spot. Sage landed and looked at the fallen Abomasnow.
"Looks like X-Scissor marks the spot where you fall," he joked.
"Okay, if you're done with the puns could you get me loose," Solarflare called.
"Okay, hang on," Sage replied. He started walking back towards her when…
"Sage, look out!" Solarflare screamed. The Leafeon turned around in time to see a Honchkrow diving down at him using Sky Attack, but not in time to dodge. The Big Boss Pokémon slammed into Sage, knocking the Leafeon a few yards away from the still-trapped Solarflare.
"Sage!" she screamed. Her outburst caught the attention of the Honchkrow, who showered her with a Dark Pulse. She screamed in pain as the Dark type attack bombarded her relentlessly. From behind his Protect barrier Indigo watched in horror as everyone was slowly being beaten down by Team Rocket's army of Pokémon.
"Damn! At this rate everyone's going to…" He wanted nothing more than to rush out there and help everyone, but his priority was keeping that Protect barrier up and guard Firefly until she had finished recovering. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the light from Firefly fade and go out. Looking back he saw her getting to her feet.
"Ready to get busy?" he asked.
"You know it," Firefly answered. He dropped the Protect barrier just as Firefly took her place by his side.
"H-Hey, look! Firefly's r-ready to fight!" Rusty managed to shout. Everyone looked to the two Fire types, Giovanni included.
"Get 'em, Mommy!" Kaiser shouted. Firefly looked to the cave and smiled, something Giovanni took notice of.
"Well now, it seems that I may have found the perfect bargaining chip…"
"Let's get ready to rumble!" Indigo shouted.
"Right with you!" Firefly added.
"I wouldn't move if I were either of you," Giovanni suggested. Firefly and Indigo glared at him.
"And why not?" Indigo barked.
"This is why," Giovanni replied. "Hyper Beam!" As Giovanni's Persian stepped forward the two of them braced themselves, expecting the Hyper Beam to be fired at them. But to their surprise and horror the Persian directed his Hyper Beam at the cave. The beam hit the top of the cave, causing much of the roof to collapse, right down towards Farris, Firestar and the others.
"No!" Firefly screamed.
"Look out, guys!" Indigo warned. Despite his warning they were too frightened to move. It was Pearl who reacted first, throwing up a Protect barrier at the last second to prevent them from being crushed by the falling rocks. Firefly and Indigo both breathed a sigh of relief before glaring with hatred at Giovanni.
"Just what the hell do you think you're doing? You could have killed them!" Indigo barked. Giovanni looked at him with emotionless eyes.
"You tell me like I should care," he responded.
"If you do that again…"
"I won't have to, if you do as I ask that is," Giovanni told Firefly.
"And what would that be?" she asked.
"What else… surrender."
"Like that's ever going to happen," Firefly spat.
"Very well, then you leave me with no choice," Giovanni said. He snapped his fingers. The Houndoom that were battling Rei jumped forward and fired a pair of Shadow Balls at the cave.
"No!" Firefly screamed. Seeing what was about to happen Shadow forced his way past the two Gloom he was fighting and jumped in the way of the Shadow Balls.
"I've got them!" he shouted. He fired off his trademark Dark Lightning at the two dark orbs, destroying one of them. Unfortunately his aim was a bit off on the second. The Shadow Ball hit him and blew him back into the top of the cave, causing some more rocks to fall. Once again Pearl had to erect a Protect barrier to defend everyone, but it was clear to see that this was becoming a strain on her. The Smoochum was breathing heavily and looked ready to collapse at any moment.
"Stop it, Giovanni!" Firefly shouted.
"You know what it takes to get me to stop," he said. "Surrender yourself to me!"
"I… I…" Firefly didn't know what to do. If she surrendered then it was possible he'd leave the others alone, but what if he didn't? Taking her hesitation as a refusal Giovanni ordered his Persian and the two Houndoom to prepare to attack once again. His Persian gathered energy for another Hyper Beam while the Houndoom each formed Shadow Balls.
"Well, will you surrender?" he asked. Firefly opened her mouth, but words simply would not come to her. Seeing this Giovanni raised his hand as he prepared to command the Pokémon to attack.
"Last chance," he announced. Again Firefly was silent.
"Very well," he said. "Persian, Houndoom! Atta…"
"Alright!" Everyone looked to Firefly after her outburst, seeing a defeated expression on her face. Indigo's face was one of fear, for he somehow knew what the next words out of her mouth would be.
"Please… please don't let her do it…" he begged. Giovanni looked to her, waiting for her to continue.
"Well, what is your answer?" he asked.
"You… you win," Firefly sighed. "I surrender…"
Overwhelmed by Team Rocket's Pokémon Firefly is left with no other choice but to surrender and hope this makes Giovanni spare the others. Will her gamble work? Find out in the next chapter of Firefly: Queen of the New Breed!
Author's Note: Rei the Mawile belongs to Angel Stryker
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