Alright, here is the next chapter. I am going to try to update Electric Fury every Sunday, but with my schedule between work and college, I apologize in advance for any future hiatus that may occur.

"You six deliberately went outside the parameters of your mission." Giovanni stated; the cold fury of his tone sending a chill down Infernape's spine as he, Bayleaf, Charizard, Snivy and Sceptile watched Pikachu be chewed out once they returned to the base. Pikachu glanced up at the Rocket Boss with narrowed eyes as he spoke.

"When I asked you how to deal with Lance, you told me to, and I'm quoting you, Figure it out. The Johto Champion had us backed into a corner, and I made a move to ensure victory. A move by the way, that worked!" The mouse retorted.

Giovanni stared down at Pikachu unimpressed before he scoffed and pulled out a remote in one of the drawers of his desk. Pointing it towards the Television against the wall, the Rocket Boss pressed the power button, clicking on the news.

"For those who have been unaware, tragedy struck starting just two days ago in Johto's own Mahogany Town, as our very own champion Lance discovered that the nefarious crime organization "Team Rocket" had set up base in the humble town. One of the Rocket Executives was stated to have been responsible for the mass evolution of over hundreds of Magicarp into Gyarados, all of which led to mass destruction of a good majority of the North Eastern section of the region –

Pikachu will forever deny hum of pride he felt at being called an Executive.

"Property Damage was said to be within the millions range, and a reported number of over 4483 casualties were estimated due to this despicable act of terrorism. Despite our attempts, Champion Lance refused to comment on –

Pikachu turned towards Giovanni with his arms crossed. "What's your point? Are you saying we were overkill? Last I checked, my team and I were successful in our mission to prevent the G-men and the champion himself from attaining –

"Keep Watching." The boss retorted coldly. The mouse let out a scoff before turning his attention back to the news broadcast with a roll of his eyes. The other members of his squad glancing up at the screen in curiosity as the broadcast continued.

"In other words, even further tragedy occurred in the Mahogany Forest, with two young teenagers being found dead at the scene. Max Maple, the youngest son of prestigious Hoenn Gym Leader Norman Maple, and Bonnie Citrus, the younger sister of Kalos's Lumiose City Gym Leader Clemont Citrus, were traveling the Johto region together and were discovered in the Mahogany Forest yesterday morning, seemingly mauled to death by wild Pokémon. It is assumed that the two children were in the forest during the Team Rocket incident, and that the rampage of the Gyarados had frightened the Pokémon of the area, making them hostile to those they viewed as intruders."

Pikachu blinked as he watched the news broadcast that explained away Max and Bonnie's deaths before he realized just what Giovanni was so pissed about. He turned towards the Boss, rage in his eyes.

"Are you kidding me? You knew from the very beginning that the death of the traitors was our end goal. You know that that's the whole reason we even signed up for Team Rocket in the first place. You cannot possibly be surprised that we would absolutely jump on an opportunity when one arose?"

Giovanni stared back coldly at the mouse as the remaining members of the squad realized just why the Boss was chewing them out and narrowed their eyes at him. Giovanni stared the mouse down and spoke.

"That was not part of the assigned mission. Your responsibility was to ensure that the base wasn't compromised, and in the chance that it was, to destroy all evidence. If the confrontation with Lance and the resulting evolution of the Gyarados occurred due to this then so be it, but that was your mission. Nothing more, nothing less. If you have an issue with anyone outside of Team Rocket walls, then deal with it on your own time."

Infernape blinked in astonishment before his face contorted with rage. "Deal with it on our own time?! I don't know if you fully understood this from the report, but the mission was over with! We were waiting for EVAC when we noticed the little fuckers!"

Pikachu and Giovanni both turned towards Infernape with rage in their eyes. They didn't need to voice for him to shut his mouth, the shut the fuck up eyes they were giving him sent the message clearly enough as the fire monkey quietly got back into line, trying to ignore the shaking of Sceptile's head.

Pikachu turned back to Giovanni with a twitching eyebrow. "Infernape's interruption aside, he has a point. The mission was concluded, and we were waiting for evacuation. Your idiot pilot gave us an hour waiting period before he could safely come and get us, so it's not like we didn't have ample time. Besides, I assumed you were happy about the ten Pokemon we took from them."

Giovanni shook his head as he spoke in annoyance. "That's not the point I'm concerned with. You encountered someone you hate with a violent passion while out in the field, and you changed your entire plan because of it. The mission may have been completed beforehand this time, but what about next time? What's to stop you from abandoning the mission midway to chase after a ghost from your past?"

Pikachu was about to comment about the idiotic question before he stopped himself. That…

…that was actually a good point.

Pikachu never thought about what would happen if he had encountered any of them during a mission, and by the stumped looks on his squad, neither did they. What would happen if they encountered a traitor while in the middle of a mission? Would they abandon it outright; or continue onward knowing full well that another opportunity for revenge might not come along for a while? Pikachu didn't know the answer to that.

"I can see by your silence, that this is a question that's never occurred to you." Giovanni concluded. Pikachu's glare never dissipated although he reluctantly nodded his head. Giovanni nodded in confirmation. "Glad you acknowledge this. I want you to remember that the mission comes first. Focus on your personal issues on your own time."

Pikachu and the rest of the squad nodded. "Anything else? Or are we excused?" The mouse asked, trying and failing to keep the bite out of his tone. Giovanni closed his eyes, as if debating if he wanted to continue or not, before he spoke. "As a matter of fact, there is something. I want you to rest for a couple days before I have you and your squad undertake in a crucial mission in a very familiar city."

Pikachu blinked in confusion. "And where would this mission be located?"

Giovanni smiled almost cruelly at the mouse's question, allowing the silence to build up the tension before he responded.

"Pallet Town."

Pikachu felt all the moisture in his mouth disappear. Their next mission is in Pallet Town?! He hadn't gone any further than Celadon City since that day three years ago. Judging from the noise that just escaped Snivy's throat, she's not too fond of the idea either. Pikachu took a glance around at his team and saw varying degrees of discomfort and uncertainty.

Nice to know he's not alone in his apprehension.

Pikachu turned towards Giovanni, trying to keep the unease out of his voice. "And what exactly is in Pallet Town that's crucial enough to warrant our return home?"

Giovanni's lips curled into a smirk as he looked into the mouse's eyes and spoke, not even bothering to hide the smug tone. "Oh I did forget that we have a native of Pallet Town. I understand the area might be a sore spot, but the mission is quite important." Pikachu narrowed his eyes at this response, knowing full well the bastard didn't forget anything. This mission is most probably something stupidly easy that any random grunt is capable of, but he's sending them back to a very painful location as punishment for the Max and Bonnie thing.

Fucker.

Giovanni's smile melted off his face as he grew more serious. "Professor Oak seems to be studying a new phenomenon that has recently manifested in the Galar Region. It's a new transformation that allows Pokémon to grow to almost skyscraper size and upgrade their attacks astronomically."

Pikachu put a hand under his chin as he listened to the briefing. Transformations of some kind, increased attacks and Skyscraper like Gigantification? Outside of the increasing size, that sounds exactly like Mega Evolution. He looked up at Giovanni. "And after we gather the date from the lab? What then?"

Giovanni's eyes darkened, cold malice oozing from his voice. "Burn the Lab and surrounding Ranch to the ground. Kill any and all witnesses. As for the Pokémon that used to belong to the Ketchum boy, if they remain within the Ranch, then permission granted to kill them if desired."

Giovanni took pleasure in the evil smiles that stretched their way onto the faces of all six of the Pokémon in the room.

Ten Minutes Later

After being dismissed from the office, the squad made their way down the hallways heading towards their quarters. It was during this walk that Infernape spoke: "So…am I the only one who's a bit…uncomfortable with returning to Pallet Town?"

Bayleaf thought to herself for a moment before she replied, unease filling her own voice. "It's not just you. After everything we've been through and experienced, Pallet Town is just...not desirable to go to."

Pikachu hummed in agreement. Returning to Pallet Town made him feel anxious. As soon as he heard where their next mission was, a pit formed in his stomach that he knew wasn't going to go away any time soon. Pallet Town served as nothing more than a dark reminder of the innocence that was forcibly stripped from all six of them. The mouse continued to walk towards his quarters, deep in thought. Normally, it was impossible enough to look anywhere without being forcibly reminded of Ash in some way. But going back to Pallet Town? Where it all started, or where it all ended really. He knew it was going to be brutal.

Especially because of her.

He forcibly tuned himself into the conversation that the other five were having and noted how they were dividing up who killed which of Ash's old Pokémon. Some were a toss-up, like Leavanny or Krookodile. Nobody really cared who killed those ones, as long as they died. But there were some of Ash's old Pokemon that specific members of the squad wanted to personally kill.

Pikachu rolled his eyes on this, but if it took their minds off of Pallet, then so be it. As he continued walking, Infernape mentioned else. "So since Giovanni said that we're to kill any witnesses, does that mean we can just say that Ash's Mom was a witness?"

Pikachu felt electricity flow through his body as he began to vibrate with rage. He stormed ahead of the squad and took off, rage clouding his vision and brain.

As she watched him go, Snivy couldn't help but murmur. "Why'd he get so angry about Ash's mom? She also turned on him too didn't she?" She looked at the remaining members of the squad for answers and although she saw confusion in Infernape's face, as well as the normal stoic silence from Sceptile whenever a traitor was mentioned,

She saw something different from Charizard and Bayleaf.

Namely how Bayleaf had her head bowed sadly, and even Charizard watched Pikachu storm off with uncharacteristic gloominess. Charizard noticing her staring at him spoke. "You all know this, but outside of Pikachu, I've known Ash the longest of everyone here, and while the relationship I had with Ash is one that I will cherish forever in my memories, if I'm going to be realistic here, then Pikachu probably loved Ash more than all of us combined did."

Snivy rolled her eyes at that. Now that was something she doubted. All of them were hurt about the same when Ash died. Charizard, noticing her disbelief spoke. "Alright then Snivy, answer me this. What was your relationship with Ash?"

Snivy paused at the rather invasive question, weighing her words and thoughts before replying. "Ash wasn't just my trainer. He was my friend. A…very good friend that…that had the last thing he deserved happen to him." As she spoke, small tears gathered at the corners of her eyes. Charizard nodded in agreement before he turned towards Sceptile, Bayleaf and Infernape, asking them that same question, and while the words were different, the answers were the same. All of the Pokémon currently here had the same opinion.

Ash was a dear friend who they would give anything in the world to get back.

Charizard smiled sadly as he continued. "And because our answers matched, I know I was right. We were all friends with Ash, but Pikachu and Ash weren't just friends. The two of them became brothers."

As Snivy's eyes widened, Charizard continued onwards. "When they met, they didn't get a long at first. Their personalities were too similar and they butted heads briefly, but when they finally started working together they clicked. After that moment, there was this bond between them that was just…unexplainable; hell Pikachu had his own bed in Ash's room. So when I say that Pikachu lived in that house with Ash, I also imply that Pikachu lived with and was extremely close to Delia as well."

Sceptile's eyes widened in realization as the ramifications of what Pikachu was going through currently kicked in. For Infernape and Snivy, it took a bit to connect the dots, but when they did, their own eyes widened in sadness and pain.

For the rest of them, Delia was nothing more than the woman who gave birth to and then betrayed the person they care most about in the world, but for Pikachu? Delia wasn't just Ash's mother…

Delia was Pikachu's as well.

And That is the end of Chapter 9. And now you know why Pikachu was dreading Pallet Town so much.