We quickly ran back through the base, looking behind every door, searching for some sort of power source. We had nearly made it back to the entrance when we found one door, shut tight and locked.
"This has got to be it." Lyra pressed her ear to the door, listening. "Yes! I am sure of it! I hear this electrical-like buzzing! Come on guys, lets break this door down!"
Suddenly, there was a strong female laugh coming from behind us. "Please, a scrawny child like yourself can't even dream of breaking that down."
I turned around quickly to see a grunt walking next to a very tall and very beautiful woman. She was in a white dress with black accents and a leg slit that went almost a little too high. A red 'R' was sewn onto the black breast pocket of the dress. She wore knee high white boot heals and her hair, which fell down her back, was a deep shade of red.
"Who are you?" Lyra took a defensive stance.
The woman laughed again. The sound was beautiful and frightening all at the same time. "Ariana. The only female Team Rocket executive. I am here to stop you from meddling any further."
"You can't stop me by yourself!" Lyra had a strong tone of defiance in her voice, like a bratty teenager back talking their mother.
Ariana smirked. "That may be so, but that is why I brought him with me." She waved her hand over to the grunt that stood next to her. "There is no way you can take down both of us together. Prepare to be defeated." Ariana slipped a poke ball out from who-knows-where and prepared to throw it. The grunt grabbed a ball from his belt.
"Now hold on!"
I knew that voice. As did the rest of the team.
Lance came running up to Lyra's side. "A two-on-one battle. Doesn't that seem a little unfair? So typical of Team Rocket. Allow me to join this battle!" Lance stood pridefully next to Lyra. Archer was behind him, letting out a battle cry.
"What?! You had an accomplice hiding in the shadows this whole time? How low. At least you were aware of mine! No matter! I will still show you why you shouldn't mess with Team Rocket!" Ariana thew her poke ball forward, releasing an arbok. The grunt threw his ball forward, letting out a drowzee.
The arbok was a frighting sight. It was tall, purple, covered in scales, and had a long tail snaking out from behind it. Its hair was black, with red tips, and fell low enough to just barely cover its eyes. It had a pattern on its chest and it looked surprisingly like a face with red eyes and a wide smiling mouth. I shuddered.
"Go take them down Ray!" Lyra pointed her finger forward and Ray ran in front of her.
"Show them how its done, Archer!" Lance smiled as Archer stepped forward.
Before any of us could think about moving, Archer let out a cry and lighting struck the arbok. All of us, even Ariana, looked stunned as the fainted arbok hit the floor.
"You didn't even tell it what to do! How does that work?!" Lyra asked frantically, mouth agape with surprise.
Lance looked at her and a cocky smile passed over his face. "Please. Archer and I know each other so well, its like we have this telepathic connection going on. I don't always have to tell her what move to use. She knows. Now you might want to tell your little eevee over there what to use before it gets confused."
"Ah! Yes! Ray, use Shadow Ball on the drowzee!"
Ray pressed his hands together and shadows began to collect in between them, forming a ball. The ball began to grow. Ray thrust his hands forward, propelling the ball towards the drowzee. It struck and the drowzee stumbled, but it caught itself, bringing itself back up to its feet.
Ariana threw another poke ball forward. "Go murkrow!"
The murkrow was a short little pokemon. It was covered in black feathers and its hair was a crazy mess, pointing in every other direction. Its hands and feet were the only things not covered in feathers. They were yellow and scaly, resembling talons. Its fingers and toes ended at a sharp point. A pair of wings sprouted for its shoulder blades, stretched out and ready for flight, while a small bushy tail poked out from its lower back. The murkrow's eyes were red, and it stared down Ray with them.
Ray shook a little and gulped. "It's okay Ray, don't focus on it! Use a Shadow Ball again on the drowzee!" Lyra said, trying to keep Ray steady and unafraid.
Ray conjured up another Shadow Ball while Archer flew up into the air.
The Shadow Ball hit the drowzee just as Archer flew down with incredible speed onto the murkrow. Both were knocked out.
"Okay Ray, that's good for now. Go on out Kenji!" I stepped forward just as Ariana sent out a gloom and the grunt sent out a grimer. "Kenji, use Flamethrower!"
I sucked in a deep breath as Archer launched herself into the sky again. I let a stream of fire out onto the gloom while Archer pummeled the grimer. Once again, both were knocked out.
Ariana and the grunt looked stunned as they brought their pokemon back into their balls. "How…could you possibly defeat me…?" Ariana shook her head. "I don't get it…"
Ariana and the grunt started to walk away, but Ariana stopped in her tracks for a second. "You guys are strong. Really strong. How about you two join Team Rocket! You would get paid handsomely and all that strength will be used for something!" She had a huge smile on her face as she reached a hand out in our direction.
"No. I would never do that." Lyra shook her head.
"HA! Fat chance!" Lance laughed and stuck up his middle finger.
Ariana's smile twisted into a scowl. "Fine! But don't expect any of us to go lightly on you next time! You will face the true wrath of Team Rocket soon enough!" She then turned on her heal and stormed off.