Underbelly

"Her pupils are dilated, though I can't find any traces of toxins."

I burst awake suddenly, heaving for air as though I'd been underwater.

The scientist who kneeled down beside me tumbled back onto his butt. "You're awake!"

I was on the floor, coughing and harking, willing my raging mind to stop and the effects of this darkness to go away.

"What happened, Aisha?" the low toned growl distinctive to my father vibrated through my eardrums. It wasn't a question of concern… it was a question that reluctantly held back the seething anger that would at any minute erupt on the nearest person who so much as looked at him sideways.

It meant only one thing… Lance had succeeded.

I took in a breath, forcing my mind to focus before finally exhaling what lingered of that darkness. It was only then that I allowed my eyes to concentrate on the mess that was my father's prized lab. Granted, much of it had been from the battle, but everything that had been on that counter – the research, the computer equipment, the samples and what remained of the Mew paw had been completely obliterated.

The pounding of a headache formed in my temples and it felt like I was suffering from the worst hangover in history. "It was Lance of the Pokémon G-Men" I cringed. "He took on the Dark ability. He did this."

I heard my father curse, which seemed so unusual coming from him. He helped me to my feet, watching me carefully as I clutched my screaming temples. And suddenly I pitied every psychic type Pokémon forced to go into battle with a Dark type.

"Here, take these," he had one of his men hand me painkillers and a glass of water.

"Giovanni," someone from the security department burst from the elevator. "We've managed to catch the intruder. He was attempting to escape the premises but one of the snipers on the roof got him.

My heart suddenly came to a screaming halt, "snipers?"

The security officer nodded. "Shot him in the shoulder. We're holding him in the foyer and we await your order, Giovanni."

My father said nothing, only allowing the slight smirk to escape his lips, he'd just found an outlet in which to release his pent up anger.

This wasn't good…

"Prepare the car. We'll meet him back at the gym."

I'd never seen the gym so bright before. Every light in the building was turned on and aimed at the battle arena. Agents lined the sidelines at attention and awaiting their orders. I stood with my father on the main floor just below his sitting platform.

The chill of the early morning rattled its way through my uniform. What time was it? 3 am? I had no idea. All I knew was that it was still dark out.

The front double doors came open and two security agents entered dragging one very sad looking Dragon Master.

My throat went immediately tight, especially as they threw him at Giovanni's feet. His face was raw and bruised and he clutched a bleeding shoulder where the sniper's shot had hit him.

The two agents stripped Lance of his pokéballs and handed them to their boss before taking their leave.

"Lance Drake," my father's voice was a sneer. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused to this organisation?"

"Not enough, obviously. Because its still here," Lance's snide remarks really didn't make his outlook any better.

Did he really have any idea what my father was capable of? He had the ability to make people disappear, no matter what their station in society. Even leaders bowed to him in fear.

I'd seen firsthand what he did to people who crossed him.

"It is time," said Giovanni as he handed me Lance's pokéballs and took off his suit jacket, throwing it aside, "to make sure you don't meddle in my affairs again."

He unclipped his gun holster from his chest and threw this and his gun aside before meticulously rolling up the sleeves to his expensive shirt.

I had to do something. He was going to kill him. "What about the police?" I said the first thing that popped into my head, but my voice was high pitched and desperate. I swallowed in attempt to calm the raging torrent of panic rising in me. Why did I have to care so much? "They'll investigate. With the League coming up in a few months, the gym can't afford that sort of publicity."

My father's look was not impressed, and I knew right then that he saw right through everything. He wasn't stupid.

"It seems that my daughter is concerned for your wellbeing, Lance," he watched the Dragon Master with a careful eye. "I get the impression that she has developed a soft spot for you, wouldn't you say?"

Lance's intense gaze turned into a shrill laugh, one that dripped with ridicule, "what infuriates you more Giovanni, the fact that I destroyed your little operation or the fact that I've been sleeping with your daughter?"

I watched every muscle in my father's body tense, fists and jaw clenching. He cast me a sideways glance, but the look on my face only confirmed Lance's statement. There was nothing I could do to stop him now. Lance had just signed his own death warrant.

I gripped the Pokéballs in my hands, having to look away as the Team Rocket Boss's fingers curled around a fist full of Lance's hair and dragged him all the way into the centre circle.

"I hear you have an ability of your own, Lance. Something along the lines of a Dark ability? Care to demonstrate it? And I'll show you a few little tricks of my own."

He allowed the Dragon Master to stagger to his feet, I could tell the pain in his shoulder was intense and severely hampered his concentration. He made his attempt at a faint attack but his movements were slow and sluggish and his contact with Giovanni did little more than cause him to step back.

WHOMPH! Lance didn't even see Giovanni's fist hit him in close combat that sent him tumbling backwards head over heels.

"Oof!" he hit the ground at my father's feet, wheezing and spitting up blood.

"Is that all you have?" now it was Giovanni's turn to laugh. "Surely you can do better than that, Champion," the title came out as a sneer.

Lance's left arm where the bullet had gone through was as good as useless. The sweat on his brow became a torrent, the look in his eyes turning to one that reflected his silent agony. I watched the energy waves that began to form around him as he called upon his Dark Pulse attack. But it just wouldn't amount, and my father was getting impatient.

"Its time to end this," he leered, lashing out a hand and grabbing Lance by the shoulder.

"Ahhhh!" Lance's yell sounded aloud across the gym, especially as Giovanni found the spot and dug his thumb into the wound.

I was going to be sick. I couldn't take this… but I couldn't move either. If I so much as twitched in attempt to intervene, I knew Giovanni's army of grunts were under strict orders to take me down.

I had no choice, just as my father intended it - I had to see it all. I had to watch as he forced the Dragon Master to his feet one final time. I had to watch as his fist came up into Lance's gut that sent him high into the air, an attack that formed into a Seismic Toss. I had to watch on as gravity took its place and dragged him the height of the gym's high ceiling and into the ground, knocking him out instantly.

I took in a staggered breath, suddenly realising that my face was wet with tears, unable to truly fathom what had just taken place here.

"Toss his body in the river."

Agents jumped on the Dragon Master, grabbing him and dragging him through the rear exit of the gym. Those who were left silently filed out through the double doors, knowing that if they spoke of this to anyone, the same punishment would surely apply to them.

We stood alone in the gym, my father with his back to me, wiping the blood off his hands with a towel. I couldn't look at him. I couldn't even be in the same room as him. I turned and stormed off, the sound of my heels echoing off the gym walls.