Pokemon Heart Soul Adventures
I'm back! Boy, writing this chapter was harder than I thought, but anyway... we have finally reached the denouement for the Fortune Island part of this arc, and we will soon see whether Ash and his friends can manage to pry the Ruby away from Team Rocket's clutches! And more than that, we'll also take a look at how some trainers we all know and (maybe) love are doing in the land of Hoenn... this chapter features another well-known character returning, and he'll have a pretty nasty run-in. You'll see what I mean soon enough...
Anyway, that's about it, for now! If you want to see whether Ash, Pikachu and their friends will manage to disrupt Team Rocket's plans here, just keep reading! Oh, and if you have the time and will, be sure to leave me a review!
See you soon!
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Chapter 33 - Fortune Favours The Bold
A small Pokemon Center, in a small village in the continent of Hoenn. It was a place just like many others, filled with trainers waiting for their turn to have their Pokemon healed and recovered from a full day's work. In other words, a perfectly normal place, where nobody was expecting anything exceptional to happen...
...
"AAAAARGH! I can't believe it! This is just my rotten luck!"
That is, except for the strange girly-looking guy with long purple hair and dressed up like a Cacturne who, right then, was ranting his head off at the news he had just read, right in the middle of the Pokemon Center's waiting hall!
"This is just maddening!" Harley shouted, with over-the-top emphasis. "I mean, one gives it his all to be recognized as a great Pokemon coordinator, doing trials every single day, returning to official competitions and finally managing to get top place in an official tournament... and what do these incompetent journalists write? Yeah, they write that it wasn't quite as spectacular this year because she... SHE... did not take part in it! AAAAARGH!"
By that point, Harley was being watched by several people who were probably asking themselves what the deal with him was... but the gaudy-looking purple-haired coordinator did not seem to give them the time of the day, and folded back the newspaper he was reading before putting it back in its place. Then, seeing as he already had had his Pokemon healed and rested, he decided to take his leave and get out of the Pokemon Center, muttering annoyedly to himself all the way.
"Darn... why is it that whatever happens, that brat always manages to one-up me somehow? That's just not fair at all!" Harley lamented as soon as he was out. Deciding to take a stroll in order to calm his nerves, the purple-haired young man began walking along a small path surrounded by trees, reflecting on how he could wash away what he considered as an humiliation. "Oh, but don't you think this ends here, my dear May! Harley, that would be me, will not forget this, you can bank on that! I swore I would defeat you one day... and I will defeat you! You'll see how badly I will take you down in the next Grand Festival!"
Harley was so busy ranting to himself and blaming his ill luck on May, that he did not notice the slight masked figure in uniform walking towards him from a nearby bush until it was only a few metres away from him. Surprised, the effeminate-looking young man turned to the newcomer, asking himself who that strange person might be, and what did he want from him: or rather, what did she want from him, seeing as even if a gas mask of sorts was covering her head, it was still plain to him that he was dealing with a young girl, probably around 12 or 13 years of age. Unfortunately, Harley was unable to discern anything more about her, seeing that her whole body was covered by her black uniform, with a mirrored R drawn on the chest, and nothing could be seen of her face.
The mysterious young girl kept advancing until she was only a few feet away from Harley, who stepped backwards in surprise and glared suspiciously at her. "Hey, hold om a second... who are you supposed to be, and what do you want from me?" he asked.
She said nothing immediately, but simply took a Pokeball out of her belt. "I want you to come with me." she finally stated after a few moments of silence. Harley did think there was something familiar about her voice, but the gas mask distorted it to the point where the flamboyant coordinator couldn't recognize it at all.
"Wh... What? Hey, hold on a minute, here, kiddo! You can't just waltz up to me and tell me what I must or must not do! It's not exactly the most polite thing in the world, now wouldn't you agree?" he protested as he produced a Pokeball himself and got ready to fight if need be. "Anyway, if you want me to come with you, you'll have to best me in a Pokemon battle! And I'm warning you, I'm a great coordinator! I just won a national tournament, if that tells you anything!"
The unimpressed girl threw her Pokeball, which opened up and released a magnificent azure-white Glaceon with hypnotic coal-black eyes, who settled down on the improvised battlefield and got ready for the battle. Harley was not daunted by that, though, and he gave his own Pokeball a quick kiss before tossing it as well. "A Glaceon, huh? Very interesting, but it will be no match with my own Pokemon! Come out, Octillery, it's time to shine!"
A huge red octopus with a sucker-shaped mouth popped out from Harley's Pokeball and got ready to fight, holding fast to a nearby rock with one of his long tentacles before standing up on several of his other "legs", and glaring at the opposing Glaceon in defiance. "Hehehee... I bet you're surprised to see such a Pokemon in my team!" Harley commented, vainly combing his long hair with a gesture of his hand. "And before you think this is just another cookie-cutter Water-type Pokemon, allow me to demonstrate just how well I trained him! Octillery, if you please... burn that Glaceon with Flamethrower!"
The mysterious young girl frowned behind her gas mask, as the octopus-like Pokemon breathed in... and unexpectedly released a huge stream of fire, targetting Glaceon! The Ice-type squatted low on the ground and managed to avoid the dangerous Fire-type attack by jumping away, but the peripherical heat still managed to scald him somewhat, and the mysterious girl grit her teeth behind her mask in sympathy. Luckily, her Glaceon was much tougher than this, and managed to climb to his feet a second later.
"Hehehee... good for your Glaceon to have dodged that, but he won't be able to keep this up for long!" Harley chuckled. "Okay, Octillery... do it again!"
The octopus-like Pokemon attempted the same attack once again... but this time, the mysterious girl pressed her Glaceon's attack, keeping Harley's Octillery to go on the offensive again. The ice fox opened his mouth, and a glowing white sphere of energy appeared inside of it...
"Glaceon, use your Hail attack!" she ordered. Glaceon immediately answered by shooting a barrage of ice crystals from his mouth and sending them upwards, so that one second later, as Glaceon's attack came back down, Harley and his Octillery found themselves under a heavy rain of ice pellets, which they tried to defend themselves from as well as they could possibly manage!
"Argh... I... I didn't see that coming..." the purple-haired young man exclaimed. "Ouch... hey, quit it! This is not... fun at all!"
"It is not a joke. And I'm sorry you had to be involved in all of this." the mysterious assailant said, and for a brief moment, Harley was sure he had heard genuine regret in the girl's voice. "I have no choice but to do this. Therefore... I must wrap this up here and now. Glaceon, end this with a Blizzard attack!"
"Eon..." the cute Ice-type Eevee evolution exclaimed, sympathizing with his trainer's regret. But his hesitation only lasted a split second, before the Pokemon took a deep breath and shot a powerful gust of chilling wind and snow at his opponents, who could do nothing but widen their eyes in fear as they understood what a terrible situation they were in. After all, the normally inaccurate Blizzard becomes a sure-fire hit under Hail conditions...
"Hey... hey, hold on a sec here! Are... are you saying that... we're about to be turned into living popsicles by this groupie? No, wait! Hold on! This is not..."
These, or along these lines, were Harley's thoughts, just a second before both he and his Octillery were overwhelmed by the powerful Ice-type attack and covered in a thick mantle of ice and snow...
oooooooooo
It was a moment of extreme tension - with Ash and his friends on one side, ready to fight their battle; and Petrel and his underlings on the other, determined to make them waste enough time to escape with the Ruby they had just stolen from the bowels of Fortune Island. It looked like one of the two factions was just waiting for the other one to make a first move, in order to exploit the mistake... and in the end, it was Homura who broke the stalemate, letting out one of his strongest Pokemon! "Alright, since it's come down to this... we can't do much else but start fighting! Go, Arcanine! Show 'em what you're made of!"
Roaring in defiance, the majestic tiger-dog Pokemon popped out, blazes dancing all around his mane! "ARRRRRCANINE!" he growled in determination as he glared at the Team Rocket agents, managing to cow some of them into stepping back. One of tem, though, was not about to be impressed that easily and stepped forward, tossing his own two Pokeballs with a casual gesture.
"Fine then... if that is the case, we aren't going to waste time! Loudred, Zangoose, come out! Show these brats what Team Rocket is really made of!" he exclaimed.
"And I'm joining the fray too!" another grunt said with an irritating giggle. "Your turn now... Hippopotas and Claydol!"
As the other Team Rocket members unleashed their own Pokemon, and Petrel surrounded himself with what looked like a small army of Koffings led by a Weezing (which made James flinch for a moment as he recalled his own faithful Weezing...), the four Pokemon that had been called out first took their position at the head of the assault team: in front of the second grunt, there were a couple of bizzarre-looking Ground-type Pokemon: an Hippopotas, a creature resembling a miniature hippopotamus with an overlarge nose surmounted by a pair of small beady eyes, a mottled beige hide and a couple of holes on its back from which a slow yet steady flux of golden sand was streaming out; and a Claydol, a strange floating Pokemon looking like a terra cotta statuette with a vaguely humanoid body and an overlarge head crowned by large pink eyes, each one of which seemed to sport a different emotion. On the other side, there were a couple of Normal-type Pokemon - a Loudred, a short and squat creature with a huge mouth and circular ears decorated with eye-like drawings, whose short arms and legs ended with three clawed fingers; and a Zangoose, a Pokemon similar to a huge weasel or a wolverine, armed with long black claws on each paw, and noted especially for its enmity towards Seviper.
Even the other members of Ash's team decided it was time to do their best. "Fine then... looks like we really can't pull our punches on this one! Okay... come out, Meganum and Infernape!" Ash exclaimed, letting out two of his strongest fighters. "Pikachu, I need you to help out as well!"
"Pikachu!" the yellow mouse nodded, sliding in a guarding position just as Meganium and Infernape materialized in front of Ash and got ready!
"Your turn now... Graveler, Rhyhorn and Croagunk!" Brock exclaimed. The latest comers in his team popped out and got ready alongside Pikachu, Meganium and Infernape.
"Nidoking... time to battle!" Gary exclaimed.
Lance whipped out another Pokeball from under his cape and tossed it in the air. "Very well... I need your aid once again, Aerodactyl!" he called out as he released the pterodactyl-like Pokemon. Even James and Meowth, despite knowing how outclassed they probably were in comparison to Petrel, decided to make a stand alomgside their temporary allies.
"O-okay, Carnivine... guess you're needed once again! Come out... and please try not to throttle me this time around!" James said. "You too, Slugma, come out!"
Both Pokeball sailed in the air and released their occupants... to which Petrel could not hold back a burst of derisive laughter when he saw the small lava slug crawl alongside Carnivine!
"Hahahahahaaaa! Am I supposed to be afraid of that sorry excuse for a Pokemon?" the purple-haired executive laughed, his index finger pointed at Slugma. "Oh, please! It's all too obvious that you have no idea what a real Pokemon is! Slugmas are useless and stupid critters! They can only crawl here and there, and squirt some molten rock around! You don't think that little runt can really give us trouble, do you?"
Annoyed by Petrel's derision, Slugma narrowed her eyes... but a low growl coming from Ash's Infernape made her jump up in surprise! The Fire / Fighting monkey was engulfed in a burning red aura, a telltale sign that his anger had reached its peak! And it wasn't hard to understand why... right then, Infernape's hard glare was affixed on the Zangoose among Team Rocket's Pokemon!
"Ouch... I had kinda forgotten that Infernape hates Zangooses..." Ash murmured, only then reminding himself of how his Pokemon had been acquired a fear of the mangoose-like Pokemon back when he was an abused Chimchar! And now that he had grown powerful, that fear had turned into hatred! Petrel frowned in puzzlement as Infernape began glowing... and a split-second later, the monkey-like Pokemon dashed forward, faster than the eye could see, and struck Zangoose in the jaw with a punishing Mach Punch that lifted the Normal-type off the floor and slammed him on the rocky wall right behind him! The mangoose Pokemon picked himself up... but he was unable to fight back as Infernape launched into a massive all-out attack against him, completely ignoring the rest of the enemies!
"INFERNAAAAAPE!" the Fire / Fighting dual type roared, before unleashing a tremendous Close Combat attack on his opponent, pummeling him with his fists in a whirlwind of blazing arms! Zangoose was thrown around as if hit by machine gun fire... and just when Infernape seemed to mercifully relent, the mangoose-like Pokemon was rapidly struck by a tremendously powerful Flare Blitz, turning himself into a blazing projectile and ramming his opponent with enough strength to literally pound Zangoose into the stone wall and leave a mangoose-shaped indentation! Finally, Infernape let his opponent go... and Zangoose slumped to the floor, eyes turned into spirals and fur blackened and smoldering!
"APE!" Infernape exclaimed, flexing his muscles.
Ash and Pikachu both sweatdropped as the monkey slid in a fighting stance once again. "Er... thanks, Infernape, but don't you think you overdid it just a little? I... er... think that will do for now!" Ash said, recalling Infernape in his Pokeball, while the other Pokemon began launching themselves at each other, exchanging terrific strings of attacks!
Several Team Rocket Pokemon, desperate to overcome technical superiority with numbers, swarmed Lance's Aerodactyl, attacking the prehistoric flying reptile from all directions... but the ferocious Rock / Flying Pokemon grinned fiercely and began blocking the attacks by folding his wings against his body, and all the attacks coming his way were about as effective as hurling rotten eggs at a block of concrete. The enemy Pokemon hung back in frustration and alarm, while the flying reptile took to the air with a single clap of his wings and began flying circles around his opponents, at least until Lance gave another order!
"Now, Aerodactyl! Use Rock Slide!"
The dragon amer motioned with his hand, and the Rock / Flying living fossil dashed to the ceiling, with a speed and agility that looked almost frightening in such a massive beast! He rammed the ceiling with all of his might, causing a huge barrage of stones, most of which the size of a man's fist, to detach from it with a deafening rumble and to plummet on the enemies, knocking out many of them in a single blow! Nearby, Homura's Arcanine was taking care of an opponent's Hippopotas, who openedhis jaws wide and unleashed a powerful Sandstorm attack which forced the tiger-dog to step back under a rain of debris, sand and peebles! Arcanine shook the dust and the sand off of himself, then closed his eyes and tried to locate his opponent with his Odor Sleuth attack, sniffing the air in order to guess where Hippopotas could be. For a short while, the Fire-type stood on the defensive, as if trying his best to weather the Sandstorm... then, he growled and took aim, keeping his eyes closed, as a flaming kanji-shaped projectile lit up in his mouth!
"Strike, Arcanine! Use a Fire Blast, now!" Homura exclaimed. The canine Pokemon took a deep breath and shot his most powerful attack at the opponent, who could do nothing but widen his eyes when the Fire Blast completely occupied his view. The Sandstorm receded, useless against such a powerful attack... and the Rocket grunt Hippopotas belonged to, in a moment of panic, gave the only order that could spare his Pokemon from a painful attack!
"Aaaaargh! Dig, now!" the Rocket exclaimed, shouting the first thing that he could think of. The hippopotamus-like Pokemon suddenly closed his mouth, interrupting his Sandstorm attack, and began furiously digging into the ground in order to try and avoid Arcanine's attack. But he only managed to dig himself a couple inches into the ground, before the Fire Blast impacted on him and exploded in a huge fireball, sending Hippopotas flying with a pained moan. The Ground-type landed heavily, smoke billowing from his blackened form, and fainted.
"You're not getting away with this!" Petrel exclaimed, still surrounded by his Koffings. "Okay, boys, let's get rid of these fools! Attack with your Sludge!"
The bunch of floating Poison-type Pokemon opened their mouths and rained some toxic, foul-smelling viscous substance upon James' Slugma, who incinerated all the shots with her Flamethrower attack before they could get too close, while Loudred and Claydol tried to attack Rhyhorn and Graveler. Nidoking, Croagunk, Carnivine and Meowth were busy fending off lower-level opponents... but the sheer numerical superiority of the Team Rocket Grunt did not bide well for the team, especially since Archer had not shown himself just yet...
"Now, Graveler! Use Rock Polish!" Brock ordered. The Rock / Ground Pokemon quickly obeyed, blocking a Stomp attack by Loudred and rubbing his own shoulders with his four hands, in an attempt to scrape off as much useless debris as he could. For a moment, some sparkling lights danced around Graveler's body, who then started moving with much more swiftness and adroitness. Croagunk was taking care of a couple of Mankeys trying to double-team him, while James' Slugma was having an hard time facing Claydol, whose psychic powers were allowing him to easily handle the Fire-type slug. An Extrasensory attack, unleashed with deadly precision, flung Slugma against a wall, but she was not going to give up so easily, and she got up with a quick jerk of her body, opening her mouth and creating a huge ball of fire inside of it...
"Resist, Slugma! Attack him with Flamethrower!" James exclaimed. Slugma took a deep breath and spat out a torrent of fire from her mouth, but the enemy Claydol answered with a Rapid Spin attack, spinning on himself like a top and swaying the flames threatening to engulf him, which greatly weakened the blow! Meanwhile, a huge Weezing, the leader of Petrel's small army of Koffings, was approaching ominously...
"Hehehee... did you really think that was all you needed to defeat Claydol?" Petrel chuckled nastily, while the Ground / Psychic type levitated upwards, and his own Weezing began breathing out a cloud of noxious purple vapors. "Really... Slugmas just don't have any talent! Really fitting for failures like you and your friend! Team Rocket? Heheheee... don't make me laugh, you and that stupid friend of yours would only be useful to us as floor cleaners!"
That was the wrong thing to say... and Petrel understood that just a moment too late, when a red flame burst out of Slugma's semi-liquid body, a telltale signthat the magmatic slug hadn't taken kindly to Petrel insulting her trainer! With an enraged screech, Slugma began to literally make the lava forming her body boil...
"Y'know what, pal? I think you've gone an' pissed her off..." a sarcastic Meowth commented, before dodging a Nidorina's Tackle attack and striking back with his own Fury Attack, doing little damage but managing to throw his opponent off for a second. Petrel shrugged off Meowth's warning, but James decided not to let this occasion go to waste!
"Alright, time to show him what we can really do!" James exclaimed. "Slugma, shut that buffoon up with a nice Lava Plume attack!"
"SLUG!" the lava snail answered. The burning fluid that made up her body began squirting towards Claydol and the Koffings, who could not react in time and were hit! The strange Ground / Psychic Pokemon writhed in surprise and pain and tried to lower itself to the ground while the Koffins dispersed with hoarse exclamations of panic, but Slugma was not going to relent, and threw herself at her opponent in fury to deliver a powerful Body Slam attack! Much to the surprise of Petrel, who had written her off as slow and clumsy, the lava slug hit the strange statuette-like Pokemon with all the weight of her body, which combined with her high body temperature put quite a dent in Claydol's defenses! The Ground / Psychic type was left reeling in midair, a rather nasty burn on its underbelly where Slugma had hit him!
"Curses..." Petrel mutered in rage. "The Flame Body ability... should have expected it..."
"Hehehee..." James laughed goofily as his Slugma landded with a somersault and nodded, a small crimson flame billowing from her nostrils. "Now you don't think my little Slugma is so weak anymore, do you? Well done, Slugma, you showed him what's what!"
"Slugma! Slugma!" the Fire-type snail squeaked pridefully.
"Hey, James! Less talking, more fighting! These guys outnumber us!" Meowth recalled him as he tried to avoid a Poliwhirl and a Bidoof's Water Gun attacks. The battle was still raging around them, with Ash and his team seemingly at an advantage, especially thanks to Lance's Aerodactyl mowing down the opposition... and Pikachu and Meganium helping in no small part.
But things were still far from being under control: Team Rocket was still managing to slow them down, and if given enough time, they would soon be able to escape with the captured Ruby! They had to end the battle soon, or they would not get a second chance...
"Alright, guess the kiddie gloves are off..." Gary muttered, while his Nidoking was busy handling an enemy Gloom. "Nidoking! Get rid of that pokemon with Mega Punch!"
"Graveler, use Defense Curl... and then bowl them over with Rollout! Croagunk, use Rock Smash now!" Brock ordered. The toad-like Pokemon, the faster of the two, was able to get the jump on his opponent, a massive Sandshrew, and knocked him out with a vicious overhead punch, causing him to fall with a dull thud.
Graveler, on the other hand, curled itself into a ball, then rolled against the enemy Loudred at high speed, trying to ram the Normal-type... but the noisy Pokemon and his trainer seemed to have expected that, andwere ready to counter with one of their own attacks! The wide-mouthed Pokemon cleared his voice and took a deep breath as he prepared to unleash his signature attack on the rolling boulder...
"Loudred! Use Hyper Voice, now!" his trainer ordered. Loudred complied at once, unleashing an ear-shattering roar that created a barrage of powerful sound waves, literally ripping the rocks off the ground and shaking the very walls of the cave, to the point where Ash and his friends actually worried about it collapsing! And it was worse for Graveler and Gary's Nidoking, who were inside the radius of action of the attack!
"Uuuugh... careful, Graveler! Nidoking!" Brock managed to exclaim over the powerful noise. The powerful soundwaves struck Graveler and Nidoking, knocking them down... but they managed to climb back to their feet soon enough, and Nidoking quickly countered by shooting a Sludge Bomb at his opponent, catching him straight in the face! Then, as Loudred flinched, using his hands to try and clean off the foul-smelling mud clinging to him, Graveler curled into aball once again, boosting his defensive ability... and then threw himself at his opponent, who was unable to do anything to stop him this time! Loudred widened his eyes in panic when Graveler reached him, a moving wall of stone and anger... and struck him with overwhelming force, sending him to the ground! Loudred tried to stand up and attack again, but Graveler quickly got away, speed-climbed the nearest wall... and then turne around and attacked again with Rollout, with increased power this time around! Another terrific slam lifted Loudred clean off the ground, and this time, the Normal-type was unable to resist it, and remain unconscious on the cold hard floor!
However, Ash and his friends still hadn't made any step forward... and Team Rocket was actually managing to buy all the time they needed to get away with their prize! Had Ash and his friends not hurried up, the Ruby wwould have flown away...
...
Sure! Fly away! That was the ticket! Lance, who had come to this sudden realization, knew that it was a risky plan and its success wasn't assured... but at that point, it was worth at least a try!
"Aerodactyl! We cannot waste time here anymore, we have to stop Team Rocket before they get away!" Lance exclaimed, recalling his pterodactyl Pokemon, who quickly shrugged off a bunch of unworthy opponents trying to hold him off and, with a low screech, landed close to his trainer in order to allow him to ride on the massive Rock / Flying type's back. "Guys, I'll try to stop the Rockets before they can get away... can you handle the situation here, while I do that?"
"Do you think we're going to let you do that?" Petrel answered. "Weezing, use Fire Blast! Stop that Aerodactyl, before it flies too high!"
"Weezing..." the Poison-type wheezed, and a large ball of fire lit up in his twin mouths as he took aim... but by doing so, Weezing took his attention away from Homura's Arcanine, who was upon him in a single elegant bound, causing Weezing to recoil in surprise! The tiger-dog hybrid smirked almost nastily, just a moment before Homura gave an order nobody could expect...
"Oh, no, you don't, pal!" the Fire-type expert exclaimed. "Now, let me show you why I was chosen as Gym Leader of the Fire-type Gym in the Sevii League! Arcanine, strike down that Weezing with Close Combat!"
Ash and Pikachu's eyes went wide with surprise. "Wh... WHAT? An... Arcanine knowing Close Combat?" the raven-haired young boy exclaimed in shock. "I... I never knew Arcanine could learn that!"
"Well, now you know! In fact, it's a rather recent discovery..." Homura explain, a roguish grin playing on his face. His Arcanine did not wit for the explanation to go further before leaping upon Petrel's Weezing and beginning to pummel him with a barrage of punches and kicks, using all of his paws and moving like some sort of kung-fu master! The surprised and pained Weezing tried to retreat, but by doing so, he found himself unable to keep Aerodactyl from taking flight!
The pterodactyl-Pokemon took flight with a single clap of his wings, and quickly flew up to the ceiling, ramming it with a powerful Take Down attack, which the prehistoric Pokemon easily resisted recoil damage from because of his Rock Head ability. The ceiling easily gave under Aerodactyl's attack, crumbling into a plethora of stone debris, and a huge light invaded the cave, blinding all those present for a split second before their eyes could get readjusted, while the Rocket grunts quickly ran away to avoid the falling debris. Lance's Aerodactyl was now free to soar above the now-ceilingless cavern and up into Fortune Island's skies as he began looking for Team Rocket!
"Alright, Lance! We can handle this ourselves now!" Ash exclaimed, keeping his voice high in order for the dragon tamer to hear him! Gary's Nidoking was up and about once again, and was easily handling a bunch of Zubats, while Pikachu ran here and there in a series of Volt Tackle attacks, bringing down anyone unlucky enough to run into him: Pikachu looked like some sort of electrified missile, nothing was able to stand in his way!
Petrel, for his part, was scared witless at the sight of what Lance's Aerodactyl had been able to do. "Oh, no... no... I can't... believe this! Leader Archer, get away... these guys are too dangerous! Get away!" he murmured in panic, unable to focus on the fight in front of him as the battle intensified once again... however, he quickly composed himself and smirked smugly to himself, though it was tinted by an hint of fear. "Heh... heheheheee... what... what am I worried about, anyway? Those fools have no idea where our leader is! They won't even know where to start looking!"
oooooooooo
Sadly for him, that would turn out to be absolutely false - sure, Lance had no way of knowing from where Team Rocket would have attempted their escape, but that did not mean he couldn't take an educated guess. In fact, as soon as he and his prehistoric ride reached a sufficient altitude, the dragon tamer looked around, concentrating on the coastline in order to locate a place from where the grunts and their leader could embark. It was not that hard to do for someone as savvy as he was, and he soon managed to see a particularly favorable place...
"That way, Aerodactyl! That seems to be the safest place to set sail from!" Lance ordered, pointing to a small gulf between a couple of low reefs. The prehistoric flying reptile screeched and dove towards the place his trainer had pointed to at breakneck speed, while Lance held on with all of his strength in order not to lose balance. A couple seconds later, they had already almost reached the place Lance had indicated... and the champion's guess was proven right as a large motor boat, with Archer and several of his men on board, set sail from there!
Of course, Team Rocket didn't take long to see Lance and his ferocious ride as well, and several grunts became panicked at the sight! "Aaaaargh! They found us!" one of them yelled. "Protect the Ruby at all costs!"
Archer looked quite flabbergasted as well, but managed to hold it together in spite of the suddenness of it all. "Everyone, keep a cool head!" he exclaimed over the noise of the engine. "Push the engine to its limit, and try to throw him off! I'll do my best to force him to retreat!"
"Y... Yes, sir!" the grunt piloting the motor boat answered as Lance called one of his Pokemon - a tall, fierce-looking Houndoom with charcoal black fur and vicious curved horns! The hellhound threw his head back and let out a terrifying howl, before turning to Lance and his Aerodactyl, who were now descending upon the boat.
"Darn... how did you manage to find us?" Archer asked the dragon tamer. "I was sure nobody other than me and my collagues actually knew about our secret escape routes!"
Houndoom breathed out a Flamethrower attack, which Aerodactyl managed to avoid with a quick sideways dodge. "In fact, I knew nothing of them!" Lance answered. "I just took a good look at the coastline, and worked out from where you would more probably have set sail. And now... give it up and give back what you've stolen from this island. It would be far too risky to leave it in your hands."
Archer's annoyed expression soon turned into a self-ssured smile. "Hm. So, you actually think I will give up the Ruby just because you're ordering me to do so? Well, I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you... I know all too well that I am not match for you in a straight Pokemon battle..."
As soon as the Team Rocket executive had said that, Houndoom ceased breathing fire and, instead, took another deep breath and shot out a large cloud of noxious, lead-grey gas right in front of Aerodactyl, who halted his descent in order not to inhale the poisonous gas... and with a swiftness worthy of the Pokemon belonging to an high-ranking Team Rocket executive, Houndoom executed a flawless Fire Blast, sending it straight towards the cloud created by his Smog attack!
Lance's eyes widened in realization, and with a light pull, he ordered the Rock / Flying type to gain some altitude... which the winged reptile did just in time before the Fire Blast struck the cloud of venomous chemicals, setting off a terrifying explosion! The Rocket Grunts all hit the floor as a gigantic ball of fire blossomed in midair with a deafening blast, causing the boat to sway dangerously, and throwing Aerodactyl and Lance back a good distance! The dragon tamer was forced to hold to his Pokemon with all of his strength in order not to be thrown off his back and into the water below, and Team Rocket managed to regain what ground they had lost, getting away from the island as Lance and his ride were busy getting away from the burning cloud!
"Agh... this... wasn't exactly part of the plan..." Lance muttered to himself, feeling the incredible force of the blast that threatened to throw him around...
As soon as he was sure that the motor boat had gotten away and was not in danger any more, Archer stood up again and ventured to take a look around, smirking in contentment as he saw that Lance and his Aerodactyl were now too far away from them to be a danger any more. "Well, that sure went about as well as I could have expected..." he told himself as he congratulated his Houndoom with a pat on the hellhound's back, before turning back to his underlings. "What about the Ruby, everyone? Is it still safely in our hands?"
"It is, Leader Archer!" one of the grunts answered, pointing at the blood-red gem encased under a glass dome near the main console. "We have completed our mission. Shall we send the order to retreat to Petrel and his men as well?"
"Do that right now." Archer answered with a nod and a prideful smile, now certain that their plan was going exactly as Giovanni had planned. "Also, contact Ariana and Proton and ask for update on their current situation. As we speak, they should have the Sapphire in their hands already... which leaves us with just the Emerald to grab!"
"Right away, sir!" the Team Rocket grunt answered, as he began fiddling with the console in front of himself...
oooooooooo
"Sure... sure, I see! That's great news, we just needed to hear that!" Petrel exclaimed, his spirits lifted at the news he was getting from his comm device about Archer and his men actually managing to escape! "Alright, then! I'll make sure to get away as well! Everybody, we're bailing out! We need to use the alternate escape route, that darn dragon tamer has just cut off the one Archer escaped from!"
"What? And what about the Ruby, sir? Is it safely in our hands?" a grunt asked just as his Exeggcute was taken out by a Body Slam from Gary's Nidoking.
Petrel smiled cunningly. "Yes, it is! The plan is still proceeding just as we predicted!" he answered proudly. "However, this place is lost to us now... we have to escape and reach Quest Island to rejoin the rest of Team Rocket... Prof. Sebastian, Attila, Hun and the others should already be waiting fo us there, and that's where the endgame will take place! But for now, recall your Pokemon and follow me! We're running away!"
"Alright!" the grunts immediately began retreating and recalling their respective Pokemon, except for a few stragglers that tried to cover their companions as they escaped, keeping Ash and his friends busy. The grunt with the Hippopotas had him use Sandstorm again, blowing a huge quantity of sand and debris in the opposition's faces and forcing them to retreat slightly.
"Argh! Hey, hold on a sec there!" Ash protested, as he and Pikachu retreated under the hail of sand and peebles. "Darn... they're getting away! What's going on out there? Lance and Aerodactyl... haven't managed to stop them?"
"I have no idea..." Homura answered, trying to wave the dust away from himself with his hand, while James' Carnivine and Slugma were desperately trying to see something through the thick sceen of sand. "But I'm afraid... we have little more to do here! Let's recall our Pokemon and get away from here! Team Rocket won't be returning to this island anytime soon!"
"Pikachu!" the lectric mouse squeaked, trying to retreat from the suffocating sand.
"Darn... just our bad luck!" Meowth lamented. "And here I thought luck was on our side for once..."
oooooooooo
Some time later, Ash and his friends had regrouped at a nearby Pokemon Center, in order to let their Pokemon rest and make a resume of the situation. However, needless to say, Ash, Pikachu and the others were quite disappointed to hear from Lance himself that Archer and his men had managed to escape and bring the Ruby along with them, and that Team Rocket had gotten away with such an important item. Now their enemies had another advantage on them, and all they could do was hope that Misty and Lorelei's team had had more luck than they had...
"Darn... this is quite a bad situation, indeed..." Gary muttered. "Now Team Rocket has that gem, and we have no idea what they're trying to use it for... I really don't like how the whole thing is turning out..."
"And we do know for a fact that Attila and Hun are still around, and they're probably with the rest of Team Rocket in Quest Island..." Brock wanted to add. "That's where all the executives are bound to gather, right? That executive said as much. We need to contact the girls and tell them that we'll rendez-vous on that island."
"Lance is already taking care of that..." Ash answered, pointing to a PC close to that island's Nurse Joy's desk, where Lance was talking to a full-screen image of Lorelei. "From what I know, it seems that Misty and the girls, at least, managed to thwart Team Rocket at Chrono Island, and they've gotten another gem Team Rocket was coveting... the Sapphire, I think they called it..."
"I see..." James affirmed, nodding to himself in a thoughtful tone. "Well, so there's more than just one of those gems around, huh? How strange... Jessie, Meowth and I knew nothing of ths part of Team Rocket's plans..."
"We've been away from HQ for quite a while, James... had to expect there was something we didn't know." Meowth answered. "And we haven't even updated the boss on what we were doing all that much, either..."
"Anyway, if Team Rocket managed to get all those gems, it could prove to be very dangerous for all of us..." Homura answered. "I have the uneasy feeling there are more around, and Team Rocket is looking of one more of them on Quest Island."
"That might very well be, Homura..." Ash answered as he cast a glance at Lance, who was still busy talking to Lorelei. "For now, Lance and Lorelei must discuss a place where we could meet... I'm sure we will have to rejoin forces, if we want to defeat Team Rocket as a whole."
In fact, that was exactly what the Elite Four and the champion were discussing at the moment, after updating each other on what had happened recently. "Well, that's the situation we're in..." Lance affirmed. "We need to meet at Quest Island as early as possible, and try to understand what the purpouse of those strange gems is. For now, the Sapphire is safely in our hands, which is admittedly a saving grace."
"Indeed." his colleague answered as she adjusted her glasses. "I already arranged for the Sapphire to be taken to the Kanto Pokemon League HQ, where it will be safer. As for the rest... do not worry about that, we'll rendez-vous at Quest Island in less than 24 hours. Just make sure we can locate you."
"Of course." the champion of Kanto and Johto answered. "We just need to agree on a place where to meet. Our quest is now at a critical phase, and we cannot afford to be stopped now..."
oooooooooo
Harley's expression, at the moment, was frozen in a grimace of surprise and alarm - literally frozen, as the flamboyant Pokemon coordinator and his equally flabbergasted Octillery were now encased in a large block of ice that Glaceon's Blizzard attack had created around them! The Ice-type glared with grim satisfaction at the result of his latest attack, before turning to his trainer and nod to her. Although, she didn't miss the sorrowful look Glaceon had given her in sympathy for what she was being forced to do...
"I know, Glaceon... I hate this myself... but sadly, we have no other choice..." May murmured sadly. Sure, she never liked Harley, an he had often tried to play unfairly with her, but he didn't deserve what she had just done to him. However, the girl tried to put on a brave face and took a comm device from her belt, activating it with a flick of her finger. "Hello? May here... I caught one of the thre targets... no, there were no problems at all... I'm waiting for you to come and get him... okay... then, I'll move to the next one right now... sure, commander Demitri, I know that... I am only doing it for my brother, after all... Sure... Later."
May cut off the communication and sighed. It was time to move to the new target, and it was certainly going to be much harder...
oooooooooo
TO BE CONTINUED...
Author's Note: Close, Ash. Close but no cigar. Now our heroes and Team Rocket appear to be evenly matched, with one gem each... and the tie-break will be played at Quest Island, the last of the Sevii Islands, where Team Rocket has some nasty surprises ready for our bold youngsters!
How will it go? Stay tuned for the next chapter!