Ash dropped to the ground on instinct, sweeping the first man's feet out from under him. The opposing trainer barely had time to blink before Ash had him on his knees, squeezing a pressure point in his shoulders before he slumped over, unconscious.
Psychic, Dark, and Bug-type Pokemon rocketed into the clearing, then reversed direction as Staraptor let out a menacing screech. Glaceon, Luxray, Pikachu, and Zorua leapt into action, orbiting the clearing to pick off the weaker Pokemon.
"Any ideas?" Ash panted, ducking a Dark Pulse and taking a boot to his side.
Aurian landed a hard kick, the agent's breath knocked out with a whoosh. We can't afford to overuse our teams- it'd look suspicious to call in back-ups from base the trainers down first, their Pokemon will be easy prey after that."
A tulip, tip buzzing with electricity, shot past Aurian's head and buried itself in the trunk of a tree, which caught on fire.
"What did that tree ever do to you, Domino?" Ash asked, enjoying the look of shock on the operative's face as her hood fell away. "You'll have to do better than that."
Glaceon extinguished the fire with an Ice Beam before barrel-rolling to avoid an Assurance from an enraged Houndoom.
The Black Tulip grimaced, pulling another flower from her quiver. "Y'all aren't giving me any chances to aim! Have we met?"
"You'd be surprised how often we get that," Ash muttered, ducking the second flower. The tulip buried itself in the leg of the Houndoom in question, sending it into slumber.
"Dammit, I had that one specially made," Domino pouted, drawn out of her thoughts by a flurry of punches from Aurian.
One of the other three agents pulled a dagger and ran towards Ash, who couldn't dodge quite fast enough. The dagger sliced skin, blood spattering against the trees behind Ash.
"You'll regret that," Ash said, charging forward to grab the man's wrist. He pulled the dagger from the other man's grasp before driving the butt of the weapon into the agent's stomach, wind leaving his lungs in a satisfying woosh. Ten seconds later, the second agent hit the ground, out sounder than a Snorlax at the witching hour.
Ash turned over his shoulder to find his best friend locked in combat with Domino, who steadily lost ground. For a second, he found himself in Orre again, the sounds of Flamethrowers and Dark Pulses hitting their mark eerily reminiscent of their last battle against Greevil.
Zorua crept through the underbrush, looking for opponents to take down. The little fox turned around to find Ash fighting the two remaining agents, running on the defensive. Zorua clenched his teeth and shifted, letting loose a blood-chilling roar.
Ash grinned when he saw the rampaging Ursaring, taking advantage of the chaos to take hold of both agents, cracking their heads against each other.
An out-of-breath Aurian pushed forward, pinning Domino against a tree trunk. Her Luxray appeared from behind a tree, snarling as he advanced.
"Hey now, we weren't here to hurt anyone," Domino protested, hands up. "Just for a little friendly discussion, that's all."
Aurian rolled her eyes, then knocked her out with a hard punch to the left temple. Domino crumpled to the ground, unconscious.
The patonai pulled back to assess the damage as the agents' Pokemon wheeled around, looking for any sort of direction from their trainers. Staraptor and Bisharp herded the remnant into a corner of the clearing, keeping an eye on the motley crew.
"That was… something," Aurian groaned as Ash stepped over a downed branch in the clearing. "All these beautiful trees, defaced by Rocket's ambush."
"I think Zorua may have done most of that if I'm being honest…" Ash shrugged.
The Pokemon in question gave a happy yip as he reverted to his true form and leaped into Ash's arms, licking his face.
"Hey buddy, you did great out there tonight," Ash scratched Zorua behind the ears. "As did everyone else!"
The patonai's Pokemon gave chatters of approval before returning to their Pokeballs, leaving the clearing silent.
"You're hurt," Aurian said, taking Ash's arm and spinning him so the slash wound came into view. "Nothing I can't fix, though."
A flash of blue burst from her fingers, aura seeping into the wound. Skin reknit before Aurian's eyes, leaving only a small, thin scar.
"Thanks, Ri," Ash smiled.
"That's what you get for thinking you could take on four agents on your own!" Aurian protested, arms flung out wide. "You have to let me help you with things!"
Ash flushed red. "You took care of Domino way faster than I could've. Remember what happened in Johto?"
"Ugh, don't remind me of that trainwreck. Now for the fun part… preparing these five for extraction. Volcarona!" Aurian called, the fire moth appearing at her side with a smile. "Use String Shot on these Rockets, please! Extra tight, so we don't have to play clean-up later."
The dual-type nodded, giving a cry of 'Volca!" before artfully tying each Rocket's wrists and ankles together.
"Now to make sure they stay knocked out…" Ash muttered. "Think this is a job for Cottonee?"
Aurian raised an eyebrow. "Research hasn't approved that method yet."
"We're giving them an invaluable opportunity to collect real-time field data," Ash shrugged, dialing Lance's number and holding as the call went through. "We can always ask, I guess."
Aurian returned her team members and exchanged them for her fluffiest Pokemon, who hovered under her chin and begged for scritches.
"Twice in two days," Lance groaned, clearly half-asleep. "Report in, patonai."
Ash grinned, turning the PokeGear camera around to show five unconscious Rocket members. "Special delivery. What are your orders?"
"Excellent work! What'd you discover?" Lance asked, back straightening.
"They were all wearing the same aura-masking cloak that Lily wore when she worked with Team Galactic," Ash sighed. "I don't think they knew that we could sense the hole that it left in the surroundings, but it was a valiant effort on their part."
Aurian fished through pockets and unearthed Cassidy's Rocket Pokedex and a burner phone with Domino's black tulip symbol painted on the back. "Ta-da! Do you want me to take both or leave them for Research?"
"Leave it, we'll have Steven and Lucas look through that tomorrow morning. Anything else of note?"
"Domino's almost out of tulips, even though she only used five against us," Ash said. "We aren't the first people they fought tonight. What do you want us to do with them?"
Lance frowned, drumming his fingers against the hotel room table. "I'll call two members of Dragonite Reserve out here to take clean-up. Can you try that new containment method that Research introduced right before you left and leave them at the back wall of the Center?"
Ash grinned, nudging Aurian's side. "Knew it."
"You don't have to brag about it," Aurian muttered, "but yes, we can make that happen. Anything else?"
"We may need you to come in for interrogation at some point within the next few days, especially if these five don't speak. The three you brought in last night are pretty tight-lipped… surprisingly. Doesn't match their record."
Aurian nodded. "Noted. We'll have them ready for pick-up in fifteen."
"What happens next?" Ash asked.
Lance frowned. "They're all competitors, if I'm not mistaken. We'll withdraw them tonight."
"Got it. Thanks!" Aurian flashed a thumbs-up.
As soon as the line died, Aurian patted Cottonee's head and set her around the unconscious Rockets.
"All right, Cottonnee, this is your moment. Remember that modified Poison Powder we experimented with a few weeks ago?"
The grass-type fluffball nodded, eyes crinkling up in a smile.
"Give it a try… but don't go too overboard. We want them to be okay in a few hours," Aurian said, pulling Ash back and giving her team member a bit of extra space.
Cottonnee closed her eyes, two streams of delicate powder streaming out from each side. Purple and silver mixed, drifting over the Rockets.
"We need to thank Research for figuring out that combining Sleep and Poison powders looks like a mild case of alcohol poisoning," Ash muttered. "Now for the fun part… moving them."
Ash released Xiphos, who recoiled at the scene on the ground and at Cottonee's glee at causing minor misery for their opponents.
"Don't give her that look, she's helping," Aurian pouted, returning her team member.
Xiphos rolled his eyes. "She has her duties, I have mine. How can I help?"
"Would you mind teleporting us to the back side of the main Center? Dragon Master asked us to leave a special delivery for him," Ash motioned to the wreckage.
"Gladly," Xiphos nodded, eyes glowing pink before the world spun under their feet. A few seconds later, they slammed into the ground behind the Center, knees buckling on impact.
"I swear I'll never get used to that," Ash muttered, pulling himself to his feet and dragging the unconscious Rockets against the wall.
Aurian stepped forward, doing her best to arrange the bodies as if they passed out after a night of debauchery. "This'll do, right?"
"Close enough," Ash said. "Take us home!"
The patonai vanished in a blink of pink energy, leaving nothing but their footsteps behind.
Eight minutes later, Brock stepped outside, a huge yawn escaping as he took a walk around the Center. There was only so much rest he could get with Forrest sleep-talking his way through the next round's battle at two in the morning.
Maybe a walk will tire me out enough to sleep through his tactics cram session, Brock thought, walking around the Center. He nearly tripped over his own feet when he saw five figures in all-too-familiar uniforms passed out along the back wall.
"The hell? What's Rocket doing here?" he said, sliding next to the person closest to him and checking their pulse, pushing the obvious String Shot wrist bindings aside.
All signs pointed to alcohol poisoning, from what he could tell. A lot of spectators that were of age could still be found in the clubs and bars late into the evening. Even then, they must have consumed an extraordinary amount of alcohol in an alarmingly short amount of time to have passed out at this hour. But this… this felt different, and Brock couldn't quite put his finger on it until he shifted a hood aside to look for lacerations.
A wave of nausea settled in Brock's throat when he saw flecks of purple and silver on their exposed skin, a sinister confetti across all five unconscious operatives.
He hated Rocket and everything they stood for with a burning passion, but he'd never go this far. Someone here was out for blood and was intimidated enough by their presence to knock them out for good.
Brock cursed, knowing he left his supply bag in his room, and did the best he could to investigate without leaving DNA behind. Bruises bloomed under powder remnants, one of the taller men had a bloody dagger tucked into a holster on his belt. All of their Pokeballs flashed red, signaling exhausted team members. He caught sight of a few sets of footprints orbiting the area- two human, one Pokemon, most likely bipedal- that appeared and vanished with no tracks leaving the area.
"Well, only one way to figure this one out," Brock said, pulling a Pokeball from his belt and releasing a Growlithe.
Growlithe licked Brock's hand then sat back on his haunches, waiting expectantly.
"Can you sniff around for whoever dropped these guys here? I want to know what caused…" Brock waved his arms, motioning to the situation, "this. Once you've got something, lead the way forward."
Growlithe nodded, nose to the ground as he traced a pattern. The wind picked up pace, blowing directly into Brock's face and causing Growlithe to run into the forest, yapping for his trainer to follow.
As soon as Brock was out of sight, a Beheeyem and two men wearing some kind of fancy navy and red combat gear blinked into existence, gathered the five unconscious humans, and vanished without a trace.
"Well, crap," Brock muttered, jaw slack. Growlithe tugged on his pants leg, urging him forward.
Brock hoped his newest team member knew what he was doing- Growlithe traced a wide arc around the outside of the Island, nose to the ground the entire time. Just as Brock was about to give up hope, Growlithe led him into a formerly pristine clearing.
Downed branches littered the ground, dropped in irregular patterns. The gleam of Brock's flashlight revealed splatters of blood against an aspen, deep crimson in stark contrast to the ashen white of the tree trunk. Footprints danced along the ground, overlapping indentations in the mud fresher than Brock originally thought.
A rustle in the undergrowth sent the hairs on the back of Brock's neck skyward. He readied Steelix's Pokeball, ready to attack if necessary-
"Hey, wait, it's just me," a pajama-ed Misty said, hands up as she entered the clearing. "God, what's got you so nervous?"
Brock sighed, leaning back against a tree trunk. "Long story. What's got you up?"
"I heard a rustling at the campsite and saw that Red and Blue took a midnight stroll," Misty crossed her arms. "Noticed that their footsteps led here instead of anywhere productive, so I thought I'd see what went down… and none of this looks good."
"I'll say," Brock said.
He filled her in on what he saw at the Center, Misty's eyes growing wider with each detail he shared.
"I know we shouldn't extrapolate on circumstantial evidence, but there's no way that another brawl that size went down tonight with that exact same result, especially with the blood on this tree," Brock finished.
Misty frowned. "You think Red and Blue did this?"
"Maybe? That's the thing- they don't look like the 'we're-gonna-beat-you-up' type," Brock said with a shrug. "But I honestly wouldn't put it past them. Misty, they have major secrets. Who the hell willingly goes to Orre?"
Misty nodded. "I've had the same thoughts and I don't like where this is headed."
"You think they're working with a Team?"
"Nothing's too farfetch'd at this point," Misty groaned. "We'll have to keep our eyes peeled. What else do you know, Brock?"
"Whatever they're doing, there's a good chance that Michael's in on it, too," Brock started. "Max and I went digging and found articles from the Cipher Takedown that had photos of all three of them in action."
Misty paused, twirling a loose strand of hair. "So Orre wasn't an accident for them."
"Ooh, hadn't considered that take," Brock grinned. "Want to help Max and I out with some sleuthing?"
"If we don't get to the bottom of this, no one will," Misty said. "I'm in."
The next day, everyone settled into the grandstands for Misty's battle, funnel cakes in hand.
"Can I live off funnel cakes for the rest of my life?" Maddie asked, powdered sugar on her nose.
Aurian passed over a napkin. "Nothing's stopping you, but we wouldn't recommend it."
Noah finished off his funnel cake and wiped his hands. "Now for the big question- how should we heckle Misty?"
"I'm so proud," Michael beamed, hands over his heart.
Ash motioned for everyone to lean in. "I have an idea…"
"Brilliant. She'll hate it and love it all at once," Brock laughed.
"Goooood afternoon, everyone!" a new voice cried, crowd cheering. "My name is Shauntal Simmons of the Unova Elite Four, and I have the honor of announcing for day two of preliminary battles! Joining me at the mic is none other than Flint Peralta!"
"It's a pleasure to be here," Flint said, "and we're looking forward to incredible battling in this afternoon block! Let's get this party started- in the blue tunnel from Cerulean City, Kanto, is gym leader and Sensational Sister Misty Waterflower!"
Misty exited the tunnel, waving to the crowd as she approached the box.
On Ash's cue, the gang yelled "Water, water, H2O, dehydration, no-no-NO!" at the top of their lungs, causing mass chaos in their section of the stands.
Misty couldn't help the laugh that exploded out of her, the load on her heart lightening considerably. She couldn't let her friends down, especially after a heckle like that…
"... okay then! From the red tunnel, all the way from the Orange Islands' Trovita Gym, is Rudy Rossini!"
The ever-confident Rudy blew kisses to the crowd as he exited, soliciting a whole bunch of high-pitched screams. Once he arrived at the box, he winked at Misty.
"Lovely to see you again, my dear."
Misty rolled her eyes. "Can it, Rossini."
Brock tried his hardest not to laugh. "Arceus, he's trying way too hard."
"Coming from you, that's a bit hard to believe," Max muttered.
The referee stepped forward to remind the competitors of the rules for a Single Battle.
"Pick your first Pokemon!"
Rudy tossed out a Pidgeot.
Misty shook her head, then threw out a pokeball that Ash didn't recognize.
A Gyarados erupted from the water and roared at Rudy's Pokemon, who cowered in fear.
"Hold the phone, since when does Misty have a Gyarados?" Max asked, eyes wide.
Brock shrugged. "She caught him three-ish years ago? Super proud of her for conquering that fear."
"Begin!" the referee yelled, deploying an umbrella.
"Sky Attack!" Rudy yelled, flashing Misty a 'call me later' signal with his hand after giving his orders.
Pikachu gave Ash a knowing look. "Pika, pikapi."
"Excuse you, I am not jealous," he whispered back.
"Pikachupi pikaka pikapi," Pikachu winked. "Chu!"
Ash flushed an ugly red. "Okay, maybe a little…"
Aurian nudged her best friend's side, doing her best not to embarrass him further. "Little one's onto something."
"Shut up!"
Gyarados slammed Pidgeot with a massive Hydro Pump, prompting the gang's section of the crowd to steal Ash's chant and yell it on repeat.
Noah grinned. "This is amazing!"
"We can totally help out here," Michael said, joining the cheers.
Brock took great pride in the way that Misty methodically destroyed any chance that Rudy had at winning- both the battle and her heart. Pidgeot crashed into the water, rendered unconscious by a vicious Dragon Tail.
Rudy frowned as he returned his team member. "Bit overkill, don't you think?"
Misty traded a glance with her Gyarados. "Oh, we can do overkill."
Rudy sent out an Electabuzz, who fired off a Thunderbolt almost immediately upon release.
"Earthquake!" Misty yelled, a triumphant fist in the air.
A grin split Ash's face as Gyarados leveled the platforms scattered throughout the water stage, leaving Electabuzz no choice but to retreat. "Hell yes!"
"Do you think she could pull this off with just one Pokemon?" Shauntal asked, barely heard over the impact of a Thunder and a Dragon Tail.
When the smoke cleared, Electabuzz was on one knee, panting heavily.
"Finish it off, Hydro Pump!" Misty crossed her fingers.
Gyarados' aim was perfect, nailing Electabuzz in the chest and slamming it into the back wall.
The referee blew her whistle, waving a green flag in Misty's direction. The stadium exploded in a riot of "water, water" cheers as Rudy called his second Pokemon back, replacing it with an Alakazam.
Misty paused, considering her options, then sent Gyarados forward with a roar and another Bulldoze.
Alakazam chose to hover in the air, rendering Misty's ace in the hole useless.
"Come on, come on, come on, you can do this," Brock muttered. "Destroy him!"
And destroy him she did- two minutes later, Alakazam catapulted into the water, thrown across the field by a Sky Attack from Gyarados.
"That's all, folks! The winner of this preliminary battle is none other than Misty Waterflower!" Flint yelled, reluctantly joining in with the crowd's endless repetitions of the chant. "We'll take a five-minute break while we change out the field, then we'll be back with our next battle!"
The second that Misty vanished into the tunnel, Brock called her and put her on speaker.
"Mist, that was brilliant," Brock laughed, the rest of the party cheering in the background. "Want to join us?"
"Abso-freaking-lutely," Misty said, grin audible in her voice. "What section?"
Ash turned over his shoulder to find the number printed on the wall. "203, first row. Can't miss us."
"Awesome, see you in three."
"Okay, I'm buying Misty hot chocolate after that one," Max said, shaking his head. "Do we know if she's the first person to annihilate her first-round battle with only one Pokemon?"
Noah whipped out his PokeGear, sifting through almost two days' worth of battle information. "I don't think so, but she's definitely towards the top of the predictions list after that showing. I'm not sure how reliable this site is, but there are four other people that've done the same thing."
"You like the numbers games?" Aurian asked, motioning for Noah to pass his PokeGear down.
"Math's always been one of my favorite subjects," the younger boy shrugged. "Weird statistic for you- out of all the battles that've happened so far in the tournament, only twenty trainers made it through the first round without losing a single team member."
Ash and Aurian scrolled through the list, adding a few of the names on the site to their running list of trainers to look out for.
Aurian passed the device back. "Keep an eye on this for us, won't you?"
"Can do!" Noah mock-saluted just as Misty squeezed past the gang into an empty seat, receiving many a high-five and compliment from the surrounding spectators before sitting down.
"I am so, so stinking proud of you," Brock said, giving his friend a huge Ursaring hug. "Annihilation never looked so classy."
Misty beamed. "Thank you, Brock! That's the most fun I've had in years."
"You certainly earned your spot in the mass Gym shuffle," Ash shook his head. "That Gyarados scares me."
"Terry's a sweetheart once you get to know him, even if my sisters say otherwise. Besides, what would people think of me as a water-type gym leader if I didn't have a Gyarados on reserve?" Misty laughed.
Max gave Misty a high-five. "I'm buying you hot chocolate. What kind do you want?"
"That's really not-" Misty trailed off, noting the determination in Max's eyes. "If you do so insist, caramel hot chocolate with two marshmallows, please!"
"Come on!" Max said, leading the trainees off to the concessions area.
Misty put her hands over her heart. "He's too sweet. You three lucked out in the trainee department."
"We did! Agh, I just realized they're heading the wrong way, I'll go catch them before they get lost!" Michael said, dashing up the ramp after the trio.
Brock shook his head. "Kids."
"Remember being that young?" Misty asked, crossing her legs and settling in for an afternoon of battles.
Ash nodded. "I'll be the first to admit that the first year of my journey feels like a fever dream, looking back on it."
"Speaking of a fever dream," Brock started, crossing his arms, "I went on a stroll last night and found something pretty weird. You two know anything about an illegal battle that went down in a clearing close to your campsite?"
Aurian shook her head. "No, what happened?"
"Misty found the site first. I found the aftermath, consisting of five Rocket employees passed out against the Center, along with two sets of human footprints and another, belonging to a biped Pokemon about the height of your Gallade, Red."
Ash frowned. "Certainly is unusual. Were the Rocket folks still alive?"
"Barely. Looked like a pretty creative mix of Poison and Sleep powders, in my mostly-informed medical student opinion," Brock pressed.
Misty took careful note of the way that Red and Blue paled the slightest bit, somehow standing their ground without saying a word.
"Seems like a lot of circumstantial evidence," Aurian said.
"There's also the bloody dagger I found, and the fact that Red has a new scar that's consistent with the length of the blade," Brock shrugged, motioning to Red's exposed arm.
Ash tugged at his sleeve, never breaking eye contact with Brock.
"You two took on a group of five highly trained and potentially deadly Rocket members," Misty said, arms wrapped around herself, "and utterly destroyed them in both a battle and in hand-to-hand."
Brock raised a finger. "Not just any Rocket members, either. Special Operations, from what I can tell."
Aurian crossed her arms, daring Brock to speak further.
"Tell us…" Brock said, "who are you working for?"
(A/N): Not much to say here but thank you to thechinskyguy for great insight and commentary. Hope you enjoyed C9!