"Hey, back off!" Misty heard a burly male voice whispering. "I've got the keys. I know what I'm doing."
"Sir, if you don't hurry it'll be too late," a female voice whispered back.
Misty's eyes couldn't adjust to the light, and she panicked a little as she woke up from her involuntary slumber. She couldn't hear Brock, and the last thing she remembered was trying to push a huge boulder with Cassidy and Butch.
"I think she's waking up," the female voice whispered.
Unable to see much in the darkness, all Misty could make out were the bars surrounding her on five sides and the two silhouettes of a man and a woman outside the cage she was locked in. As soon as she was confident her cognitive abilities had returned, she went straight into action. She leapt up and grabbed the bars above her, then swung her legs through the bars in front of her and wrapped them around the male's neck. She quickly locked her ankles and started squeezing, hearing the panicked cries of the man as he fumbled desperately with his hands, trying to pry her legs apart.
"Let me out of here or he dies," she stated coldly, knowing full well she couldn't possibly kill the man this way.
"NNNNNNNGRR! LT…MGGH...GHHOOOO!"
"Shut up!" Misty shouted. "You do so much as move another inch and I'll squeeze your fucking head off!"
To reinforce the threat, she tightened her grip slightly, and the man began to panic even more.
"Misty! Let him go! Do you want them to hear us?" came the female's voice.
"Huh?" Misty muttered, tightening her grip, just in case.
"MISTY!" the girl whisper-yelled. "That's Surge you're squeezing! Let him go!"
"Lieutenant Surge?" she asked in disbelief.
"STOP IT!" the girl pleaded. "He's gonna pass out!"
Misty unwrapped her legs, then lowered herself to the icy ground and took a step back from the bars. She felt another person on the ground behind her as she stepped back, and immediately halted, thinking it might be Brock.
"God damn girl, that's one hell of a grip you got there!" Surge coughed. "I almost passed out! Incredible!"
"If I'd known you were gonna enjoy it so much I would have actually put some effort into it," Misty spat. "Haven't you guys got a light or something? How do I know it's even you?"
The man dangled a set of keys in front of Misty's cage, but the girl snatched them off him, then set to work trying to figure out which one would unlock it.
"I wouldn't be trying to release you if I just finished locking you up," the girl said.
"Bella?"
"I'll take you squeezing the Lieutenant and not me as a compliment," she snorted. "Just a sec, I've gone through almost all of these keys…"
Suddenly the lock clicked, and the cage door swung open. Misty felt a pair of arms wrap around her neck and a pair of soft lips against her cheek. She still couldn't see very well, but she knew it was Bella giving her a kiss and a hug.
"Time to go," she said. "Cassidy and Butch won't be far away. Thanks to you, they're pretty much defenceless now, but they won't stay that way for long."
"How so?" Misty asked.
"You took out their GE Pokémon, but they can get more," Surge explained. "They don't have any communication inside here, but they can ask for more Pokémon to be delivered if they go outside."
"We took the opportunity to escape," Bella told her. "They kept blabbing on about how they captured you and Brock, and we'd been digging a little tunnel out of the cage for a while."
"Where is Brock?" Misty asked.
"Ugh...right here," he answered. "What did I drink?"
"You were drugged. Both of you," Bella explained. "Apparently they knocked you out, then quickly administered some kind of sedative. You're fine now, but we have to leave."
"Where are our Pokémon?" Brock asked.
"With them. Same with ours," Surge answered. "They used some weird black pokéballs on them and captured them."
"Where's Gary?" Misty whispered.
"We don't know," Bella sighed. "They took Surge and I here after we were captured, but I don't know where Gary is. We split up as soon as we entered Vermilion Hub."
"Do you remember the way out?" Brock asked them.
"Nope, same problem as you guys," Bella answered. "We woke up here. Your guess is as good as ours."
"Fine," Misty sighed as she tried to come up with an alternative plan. "Brock, stay between Surge and I. Lieutenant? Watch our six. Bella and I will take point."
"Heh, you're startin' to sound like a Lieutenant yourself, Waterflower," Surge chuckled.
The group slowly made their way out, following Misty's bearings and whichever way the ambient glow of distant lights seemed strongest. They kept their pace slow until the way brightened slightly, so as not to risk unnecessary injuries, given the unpredictable surface of the Seafoam Caves. Eventually Misty and Brock found that they recognised some of the chambers they'd entered, and were able to lead the group outside. As they approached the entrance they stuck to the walls of the cave, inching closer and closer, and listening to any noise coming from outside.
"Yes...ma'am," Cassidy spat. "We've still got Surge and his brat, and now we have Misty and Brock too. But they took out our GE Pokémon."
"We need you to give us some fresh ones," Butch added. "Yeah, we captured theirs. We've got a Starmie and a Golem now, as well as Surge's Raichu and the girl's Electivire."
"What?!" Cassidy blurted. "You expect us to go all the way there with no protection? We can't use their Pokémon! They won't listen to us! They're not even Shadow Pokémon!"
"Please, ma'am, you ask too much of us!" Butch pleaded. "We're willing to serve, and we've done what you ask."
"Okay...we'll await the aircraft...ma'am," Cassidy growled as she lowered her phone.
"I can't believe those three idiots," Butch grumbled.
"Butch, look...we hold the cards now," Cassidy reasoned. "They want Misty so badly? Then they'll have to come and take her from us. She's the key to all of this, and they know it. We have the power here, not them. We'll take their stupid plane to Indigo Plateau, but we won't take the prisoners to Jessie, James, and Meowth. We'll take them to the boss instead."
"We'll show the boss that we can do what those morons can't!" Butch grinned. "Finally, we'll receive the glory that's so long overdue."
"You're gonna receive somethin' alright," Bella smirked as she stepped out of the cave.
Cassidy and Butch turned to run, but stopped when they remembered they were surrounded by ocean.
"So, Indigo Plateau?" Surge remarked as he stepped towards them. "And you got us transport, too."
"How the hell did you escape?" Cassidy growled.
Bella whipped a knife from her belt, cleverly concealed by a flap at the back that looked like a regular utility pouch.
"Doesn't look like much, but that's what everyone thinks before it ruins their day," she said with a grin.
"I'm done talking," Misty huffed.
She stomped her way over to Cassidy, then heaved a fist into her belly, doubling her over. Cassidy cried out in pain as she fell to her knees, and Butch quickly ran over to help her. Misty stepped to either side of her neck, wrenched her up high between her legs, then snapped them shut. She held up a finger at Butch as he approached.
"Don't even think about it," she warned him. "I'm finished playing nice with you Rocket bastards. I'm done being a good girl and I'm sick of being messed with. Now I'm putting the pressure on." She emphasised her words by jolting a quick squeeze on Cassidy's neck that made the woman cry out in pain. "Give us our Pokémon back."
"You gotta be kidding me," Butch snorted.
Misty grunted in fury, then tightened her grip twofold on Cassidy's neck, making her pry desperately at her thighs, moaning in panic, before whimpering and crying as fear overtook her senses and she realised she had no hope of escape.
"I won't ask again," Misty seethed. "Tell us where to find Ash and Gary, and give us all our Pokémon back, or she dies. Then you do too."
"BUTCH!" Cassidy tried to scream, but it came out as little more than a feeble wheeze. "DO WHAT SHE SAYS! PLEASE!"
"Time's up," Misty said coldly, then clenched and squeezed as tight as she could, almost instantly knocking Cassidy out cold. She spread her legs apart slightly, letting Cassidy fall limply to the sand face first.
Butch looked down at her, his face betraying some measure of concern. How much exactly, Misty couldn't tell, nor could she care less. She grabbed the unconscious Cassidy by the ankles and dragged her into the ocean.
"WAIT!" Butch shouted. "You can't just do that! What kind of monster are you?"
"You call me a monster?!" Misty roared at him.
She stomped her way over to him, dropping Cassidy's feet into the water and leaving her there, then smashed a fist into the side of his face as hard as she could. She tried to hit him again, but Surge had grabbed him by the armpits and dragged him away from her. Annoyed, she turned to where she'd dumped Cassidy's unconscious body, but Brock was dragging her ashore.
"What are you two doing?!" she yelled at them.
"Plane's arriving," Brock pointed. "Cool your jets, Mist."
Sure enough, a military cargo plane arrived, landing smoothly on the rather short beach runway available to them. The cargo bay ramp lowered, and a pretty young Rocket grunt stepped out onto the sand and took a look around. She looked at Butch, who was helping Cassidy to her feet, then at the four prisoners. Misty, Bella, Surge, and Brock were seated around a rock with their hands behind their back. The grunt snorted at the sight of them, then turned back to Cassidy and Butch.
"How the hell did you two idiots manage to capture Brock and Misty?"
"Shut up and take us to Indigo Plateau," Butch growled. "You have your orders."
"Well, none of those orders say anything about helping you get them on board," she smirked, then boarded the plane and entered the cockpit, leaving Butch and Cassidy alone with their four 'prisoners'.
"Bella, Brock, just hold them still and make sure they don't go anywhere," Surge said quietly as they followed Cassidy and Butch on board. "Misty and I will take care of the pilot and that grunt."
They noted that the cargo bay had a camera feed into the cockpit, so Misty, Brock, Bella, and Surge kept up the prisoner act until the plane had reached sufficient altitude.
"Surge, let's go!" Misty said impatiently.
"Our ascent seems to have levelled out a bit," Surge told her. "I think we're okay now."
"About time," Bella grumbled.
"Misty, grab the grunt while I secure the 'chutes," Surge ordered. "I've been on one of these old things before, so I know where they are."
Misty was barely listening. She was still seeing red, and just wanted to inflict some violence. She opened the cockpit door, and neither the pilot nor the grunt turned around to regard her.
"Don't bother us," the grunt spat. "It's bad enough we have to come all this way to pick you up. The least you can do is stay put and mind the prisoners, and not bother us."
Misty rolled her eyes at the grunt's complete ignorance and laziness, then slid an arm around the girl's neck and locked her up. She panicked immediately, grabbing at Misty's arms as she began to cough and splutter in protest. The pilot turned his head to see what was happening, and his eyes went wide with shock at the sight of Misty.
"What are you doing?" he blurted. "S-stay back! I can crash this thing and kill us all, you know!"
"Nice try, dumbass," Misty snorted. "But we have all the parachutes."
The girl grunt kept coughing and moaning hysterically while Misty held her in the choke hold. The pilot paused and thought about his predicament a little while longer.
"Crash...nnngggg..the…PLANE!" the girl grunt choked.
"Ugh...idiot," Misty muttered as she tightened her arms and knocked the girl out. Then she regarded the pilot again. "Tell me what your orders are. Now."
"Well," the pilot hesitated, "I'm not entirely certain –"
"Just hurry up and tell me, moron!" Misty yelled at him. "Don't think I won't throw you and your dumb friend here out of the plane, 'cause I definitely will!"
Surge entered the cockpit then, looked down at the unconscious grunt, then grinned at the pilot.
"I know how to fly one of these buckets," he laughed. "Just in case you think she's joking."
"I'm just the pilot!" he protested. "I was told to fly to Seafoam Islands, then fly back to Indigo Plateau! That's all, I swear! She's the one who has all the details."
Just as he finished speaking, the girl started to wake up. Misty slid her arms around her neck again, but didn't squeeze. As the girl's senses started returning, she realised where she was and felt Misty's arms around her neck and began to panic madly again.
"Tell me your orders," Surge demanded.
"Wait, WAIT!" she shouted, completely terrified. "Please don't let her hurt me. I'll tell you what I know."
"This isn't a discussion of terms of surrender," Surge grinned. "Talk. Now. What Misty does to you is Misty's business. I can't guarantee anything."
"Uh...fair enough," she whimpered. "My orders are to escort the prisoners to Jessie, James, and Meowth, and make sure Butch and Cassidy don't try anything on the way. That's all, I swear!"
"What are you expecting them to try?" he pressed.
"W-we think they might try to take you all to the boss instead, try to claim you all entirely for themselves."
Surge looked at Misty, and Misty raised an eyebrow in interest. Surge nodded to her in an unspoken agreement.
"Here are your new orders," Surge told the girl. "You're gonna take Brock, Bella, and I to see Jessie and her two friends, and you're gonna let Cassidy and Butch take Misty to see your boss."
"Sounds good to me," the girl laughed nervously. "Whatever makes you happy, right?"
Misty tightened her grip again, knocking the girl unconscious once more.
"That's what makes me happy," Misty huffed. "Now let's hope our earpieces work up here. We need to tell Sabrina what's going on. Can you watch these two?"
"How come you get to have all the fun?" Surge complained jokingly.
"If you did that, you'd pop the poor girl's head right off her shoulders," Misty grinned. "Have you seen the size of your arms? They're bigger than my legs."
"Go call Sabrina," Surge laughed. "And tell her Bella and I are just fine."
"Good to hear your voice," Sabrina said. "What's the situation?"
Misty explained what had happened in detail, from them finding Cassidy and Butch in the caves to hijacking the Team Rocket plane. Sabrina didn't seem all that surprised.
"Well, since you've got a pokéball for Starmie, I think I'll do you a favour and bring one of your other Pokémon with me. We'll wait until you land, then Erika and I will meet you there. You're gonna need all the help you can get against this mystery Team Rocket boss."
"Actually, I'd prefer if you both went with Surge, Brock, and Bella," Misty said. "James, Jessie, and Meowth are tricky bastards. You never know what they're gonna pull. At least with numbers on your side, you might have a better chance. I get the feeling you may be up against more than a couple of GE Pokémon."
"Are you sure?" Sabrina asked. "I mean, whoever this boss is, they're gonna have more resources than those three. You could be up against someone insanely powerful."
"Which is exactly why I don't want anyone coming with me," Misty sighed. "Last time Amber got killed, and Ash almost died. And that was against Lance, someone who was our friend up until then. And he didn't have GE Pokémon. This time it's the person who's orchestrated everything. We have no idea what he's gonna be capable of. Anyone who comes with me is just gonna become collateral damage."
"If that's what you want, babe," Sabrina sighed back. "I just don't think it's a good idea to go into this by yourself. Not just because you might get hurt, or worse, but because it gives us all a better chance of being rid of the Rockets once and for all."
"I understand," Misty replied grimly. "But I've made up my mind. You can read my thoughts while I'm fighting, if you want. I just don't wanna see you guys end up like Amber did. I can't go through that again."
"I know, and I'll respect your wishes for now. But I'll definitely be reading your thoughts. How far away are you?"
Misty looked outside, and saw Cinnabar Island passing below them.
"Just flying over Cinnabar now. Probably an hour, I'd say."
"Hour and a half," the pilot told her.
"Who's that?"
"The pilot," Misty grinned. "I made him docile."
"I bet he's a little crushed," Sabrina laughed.
"Actually, I think he's the only one who isn't," Misty giggled.
"Lucky him. I'll see you soon."
She pressed a finger to her earpiece to switch off outgoing communications, then turned to Cassidy and Butch, who were seated next to the girl grunt with their backs to the fuselage, and looked pretty angry.
"You're gonna take us to see your boss," she told them. "Your little friend here is gonna take everyone else to see Jessie, James, and Meowth."
"Your funeral," Butch snorted. "Our boss isn't someone you go out of your way to meet."
"And who is your boss?" Brock demanded.
"Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you," Butch snorted back at him.
"You expect us to believe you don't even know who your own boss is?" Bella cackled. "How dumb do you think we are?"
"How dumb you are is irrelevant," Cassidy rolled her eyes. "Our boss has kept his identity secret since the beginning. None of us except Jessie, James, and Meowth even knew we had a boss until after you lot got rid of the old Elite Four. We thought they were in charge of all this."
"So it's a dude," Brock mused. "I guess that narrows it down at least a bit."
"Could be," Cassidy shrugged. "He's always using a voice changer. Could be a Pokémon for all we know."
"Maybe it's Mewtwo," Butch sniggered. "That'd be pretty funny."
"You know what else would be funny?" Misty growled. "Throwing you out of the plane."
"Do it," Butch goaded her. "See if the boss'll bother meeting you when I'm not there."
"Don't tempt me," Misty grunted.
"Enough," Surge interrupted them. "You'll do exactly as Misty says, got it?"
"Or what?" Cassidy snorted.
"Or the next hour and a half is gonna be a real long one for you," Surge grinned. "Wanna see some of the tricks I learnt in the army?"
"You ain't gonna do shit," Butch snapped. "You need us."
"Tell you what, I'll go easy on you at first. Bella?"
Bella smiled wryly as she stepped towards Butch, drawing her knife from her belt.
"I served with the Lieutenant for a while," she told him. "He showed me some of his 'tricks'. Guess I get to show you them first."
She grabbed his left index finger and pointed the tip of the blade towards his fingertip, slowly edging it closer until Butch gave in.
"Okay, okay!" he shouted, pulling his hand away. "I'll be good. Now leave me alone."
Misty sat down and relaxed as much as she could, and tried to figure out who the Rocket boss was. Try as she might though, no one came to mind. She was so certain it was Jessie, then Lance, and then Jessie again. Now that she knew it was someone else entirely, all she could think of was that it was Giovanni.
I guess if James and Meowth could trick us, then it's entirely possibly that Giovanni could too. But then again, I've been to one of Giovanni's restaurants. He's got dozens of them. It just wouldn't make sense for it to be him. But who else could it be?
Bella came and sat down next to her, and before they knew it, the two girls had fallen asleep on each other's shoulders.
The plane shook violently, waking Misty and Bella up as it landed. They quickly realised it was all totally normal, and got to their feet. They checked to see if their new 'Rocket Balls', as Bella had called them, were still there, then got to their feet and prepared themselves mentally for what was to come.
As soon as the plane's cargo door lowered they started moving out. They made sure that the pilot, grunt girl, Cassidy, and Butch went last, to keep the impression that they were still in charge. A pair of male Rocket grunts met them as they disembarked, both armed with Shadow Pokémon: a Machamp and a Marowak.
"Sir! Ma'am!" one of the grunts said as they both saluted Cassidy and Butch. "You're expected by Jessie."
"Change of plans," Butch told him. "This pipsqueak's taking these three to Jessie, but we're taking the redhead to the boss."
"You two can tag along with the pipsqueak," Cassidy added.
"But – with all due respect, sir," the other grunt countered, "our orders come from Jessie herself. We're to assist you to escort all the prisoners to her immediately."
"And our orders come from the boss," Cassidy growled in irritation.
"I'll have to confirm those orders," the first grunt stated.
"You must be pretty important to have a direct line to the boss," Butch smirked. "So who are you confirming with? Jessie?"
"What do you think she's gonna say, hmm?" Cassidy continued. "It's okay, I'll just tell the boss you didn't like his orders. I'm sure he'll be perfectly reasonable."
"No, that's okay," the other grunt quickly said, stepping in front of the first one. "We'll assist in escorting these three to Jessie."
"Good choice," Butch grinned. "Don't let us hold you up."
"Uh, no sir! We'll be on our way!" the grunt replied enthusiastically all of a sudden, then started shoving Bella and Brock. "Come on, you three. Let's go! Jessie's very eager to see you."
As soon as they were out of sight, Sabrina appeared with Erika, Vileplume, Psyduck, and one of Misty's other Pokémon. Misty's eyes lit up immediately at the sight of the massive behemoth.
"Gyarados!" she squealed. "Oh, it's so good to see you!"
Gyarados roared in what passed as a gesture of happiness, then Misty turned to Sabrina.
"How did you manage this?" she asked. "Gyarados was stuck in its pokéball."
"Professor Oak came up with an idea to build a small, collapsible box made of lead," Erika explained. "The jamming signal couldn't penetrate it, so when we activated the pokéball inside the box, Gyarados came right out. Problem was, it pretty much destroyed the box, so we couldn't use it again."
"Well we won't have to worry about that for long," Misty frowned with seriousness. "Pretty soon that signal will be history, along with Team Rocket."
She took out the Rocket Ball containing Starmie, then released it. Starmie and Gyarados had a little reunion while Misty cleared the Rocket Ball and recaptured Gyarados.
"We ready?" Sabrina asked.
"Ready," Misty nodded. "You two go after the others. They were taken that way to see Jessie."
"That's where the grass field is," Erika surmised.
"Stay on your toes," Misty warned them. "My guess is that Jessie's gonna have some surprises. Expect GE Pokémon and more than a few booby traps. You know what those three are like."
"Good luck, Misty," Sabrina said softly, her voice full of concern. "I'll be keeping my mind open. The first sign of trouble, just let me know somehow. I'll be there as fast as I can."
"Thanks, you guys," she said as she hugged Sabrina, then Erika, for what could be the last time. "Thanks for everything."
"If you're quite done with all the hugging and crying, we're starting to feel a little exposed out here," Cassidy complained.
"You, shut up," Misty snapped. "Just take me to see your boss before I lose my cool. Stay in front of me, and don't make any sudden movements. Maybe I'll let you live."
Erika and Sabrina watched as Cassidy and Butch led Misty and Starmie towards the Kanto Pokémon League Main Stadium.
"She's going to be fine," Erika told herself.
"Misty's full of anger and confidence right now," Sabrina said to her. "Unlike you."
"And I suppose you're not worried at all, right?"
"Erika, I'm figuratively shitting myself."
"Oh, that makes me feel so much better," Erika muttered.
"Come on," Sabrina chuckled. "We have to finish this. Misty will be fine, and so will we. Then once this is all done you can go back to sleeping for a living, and only wake up when you have a challenger."
"I think I'm going to sleep for weeks if we get through this," Erika sighed.