"You have no idea just how powerful these Pokémon are, do you?" Jessie laughed maniacally. "Even with two gym leaders, a former gym leader, an Elite Four member, and," she paused, looking Bella up and down, "whatever you're supposed to be, you still have no hope."
Bella growled under her breath at the insulting remark, but didn't bother firing back.
"We're finally going to win, Jess," James squealed excitedly. "After all these years, all the humiliation, we finally get to win. We're actually going to beat the twerps once and for all."
"Maybe we should concentrate on actually beatin' 'em, Jimbo, before we start celebratin'. Just sayin'," Meowth cautioned.
"Oh, where's your confidence, Meowth?" James grinned. "We can't lose this time. We have the ultimate genetically enhanced Pokémon on our side, and all of theirs are just about history. Look at them. They can't possibly win from here."
Suddenly the GE Exeggutor went down, and it didn't get up.
"What now?!" Jessie screamed.
"See what happens when ya speak too soon, Jimmy?" Meowth complained.
Erika quickly noticed that not only was the Exeggutor not moving, it wasn't even breathing.
"I noticed too," Sabrina told her. "That last attack killed it."
"What attack? I didn't see anything," Erika replied quietly.
As if on cue, Gary stepped onto the battlefield with his Umbreon. His Umbreon looked fine, but Gary himself looked awful. His clothes were torn and filthy, one arm dangled uselessly by his side, his hair looked almost scorched, and he had a heavy limp. Erika tried to rush over to him, but felt Sabrina holding her still with her telekinetic powers.
"Exeggutor might be down, but those other three can still kill you," she explained. "Gary can take care of himself."
"But he's hurt!"
"He might have just turned this battle in our favour," Sabrina rebutted. "If we don't win this, a lot more people than just us will be hurt."
Jessie turned to face Gary, then grunted in irritation at him.
"So what?" she huffed. "You think you've changed anything here? Exeggutor, get back up and finish this loser off!"
"Exeggutor's not getting back up," Gary snorted. "Umbreon's Dark Pulse made sure of that."
"Fool!" Jessie grit her teeth. "These Pokémon won't stay down. It'll get back up and annihilate you all!"
"Jess, I think –" James tried to explain.
"Not now, James."
"But Jess –"
"Would you shut up?"
"It's dead!" Meowth yelled at her. "Dat twoip killed it."
"WHAT?!" she shrieked. "That's not possible."
"I hated having to do that," Gary said solemnly. "It's not Exeggutor's fault that it's the way that it is. It's your fault. You've taken away their souls. They could never live normally again. I had to set it free, even if it means killing the poor thing."
"All Pokémon exist for Team Rocket," Jessie frowned back. "And we still have three GE Pokémon left."
Gary snorted again, then quickly turned to the others.
"Guys!" he yelled. "We have to take them out for good! Don't hold back, or we'll be finished!"
"You mean, kill them?!" Brock protested. "I'm not gonna kill a Pokémon. No way."
"It's the only way!" Gary pleaded. "These Pokémon can't learn or adapt, and they can't go back to normal. They're stuck this way forever. I hate it too, but we have no choice! These Pokémon, they're no more than slaves."
"Enough!" James interrupted. "I'm not going to fail again! Dragonite, Charizard, Rhyperior, use Outrage!"
The three GE Pokémon immediately became totally manic, attacking everything in sight, including Jessie, James, Meowth, and each other. The three Rockets quickly ran for the relative safety of the stadium seats as Dragonite whipped its tail with lightning speed straight into Umbreon, powerfully launching it into the battlefield fence and knocking him out instantly.
"No way!" Gary cried out in disbelief. "Umbreon! Return!"
He aimed his Rocket Ball at Umbreon and quickly returned him before the Dragonite, Rhyperior, and Charizard could do any further damage, then desperately limped his way over to the others.
"Gary!" Erika screamed as the Charizard noticed Gary and fired off a Flamethrower attack. She tried to run to him, but was again held back by Sabrina, who promptly teleported herself over to Gary. In a flash she was back again, and Gary collapsed to the ground.
"I owe you one, Sabrina," he muttered with a grin.
"You owe me a lot more than one," she smirked back at him.
Erika was about to add something when she saw Charizard, Rhyperior, and Dragonite all storming their way towards them. Rhyperior's drill began to spin, and it jabbed Charizard with it as it ran past. This didn't go down well with Charizard, who blasted Rhyperior with a Flamethrower attack, but also hit Dragonite in the process. Then the three Pokémon began to fight amongst themselves, giving the group a small reprieve in the battle.
"Guys, you need to use this moment to take them out," Gary urged them. "This is a golden opportunity. Power up your best attacks and hit those three with all you've got. Hopefully it'll be enough."
"Get ready then, Vileplume!" Erika said. "Solarbeam that Rhyperior!"
"Psyduck, Blizzard attack on Dragonite," Sabrina called out. "Time it with Vileplume's attack."
"Raichu, Thunder attack! Maximum power! Hit that Charizard with everything you've got!" Surge commanded.
"You too, Electivire!" Bella yelled.
The wait for Erika's Vileplume was excruciating, but she wanted to make sure that the Solarbeam was the absolute most powerful blast manageable. Gary watched on, sweat pouring off him as he nervously kept an eye on Dragonite, Charizard, and Rhyperior.
"Dammit!" he cursed loudly. "They noticed us!"
Sure enough, Charizard turned around and launched a Fire Blast at Vileplume, prompting the other two to begin attacking them all as well.
"Come on, Vileplume…" Erika willed her on. "Please hurry!"
"Golem, Rollout!"
Brock's Golem roared into action out of nowhere, launching into the action without hesitation and slamming straight into all three GE Pokémon, taking them down like ten-pins. They all got up quickly and recovered while Golem continued rolling around the heavily scarred battlefield, picking up speed and occasionally flying into the air as he rolled out of one of the holes he'd created himself by using Rock Slide earlier. He continued striking the GE Pokémon, hitting them over and over again as Brock cheered loudly. Even he was surprised at how well Golem was doing.
"How did you even teach it that move?" Gary asked. "I didn't think Golem could learn Rollout."
"Normally it can't," Brock admitted. "But Golem and I, we've been friends for a long, long time now, and there isn't much we can't achieve together. All he needed was a little demonstration and a lot of practise."
"Really impressive," Gary mumbled as he watched Golem in awe.
The display was short-lived though, as Golem's momentum was halted by a well-timed Horn Drill from Rhyperior. Although it wasn't a direct hit, it was enough to stop Golem in his tracks, hurting the big rocky Pokémon enough to knock him out.
"Golem, return!" Brock yelled, aiming his Rocket Ball, but it was no use. Golem was too far away.
"Oh man, I don't like the look that Charizard has," Bella said worriedly as Charizard began breathing heavily, a deep shadow being cast over its eyes as its hatred of Golem began to overwhelm what little sense it still had.
Suddenly Brock noticed the Rocket Ball being snatched from him, and looked up to see Sabrina once again teleporting herself into the middle of the action, this time to recall Golem before Charizard could do something terrible. Sure enough, Golem was recalled just in time to avoid a vicious Iron Tail that would have killed him, but Sabrina collapsed in exhaustion onto the battlefield a moment later.
"Vileplume's ready!" Erika shouted. "Everyone, fire!"
As Vileplume's overcharged Solarbeam shot forth, so did Raichu and Electivire's Thunder attacks, and Psyduck's Blizzard. Brock screamed as he bolted for Sabrina, not caring whether any of the attacks struck him. The three GE Pokémon roared in pain as they were struck, and just as Gary had predicted, they all went down once again, this time for good. Brock saw the Rhyperior collapse right where Sabrina was laying, and somehow ran even faster to reach her, finding another gear in desperation.
"Sabrina!" he shouted, tears running across his face as he ran. "SABRINA!"
He reached the Rhyperior, but couldn't see Sabrina anywhere. He started panicking uncontrollably as he realised there was a good chance that she had been crushed to death by the falling rock Pokémon.
"Psy –"
The Rhyperior began to roll towards Brock. Startled, he quickly leapt out of the way, and saw Sabrina lying motionless on the ground, her arm clearly crushed. He sighed with massive relief that it was only her arm, then knelt down alongside her.
"Sabrina!" he said quietly, attempting to sound soothing, but panic still crept into his voice and made it shaky and nervous. "Hey, Sabrina! Come on, wake up!"
He placed his fingers on her carotid artery, and sighed with relief again as he felt a strong pulse. Satisfied that she'd indeed been hurt, but was very much alive, he lifted her up off the ground and carried her back to the others.
"Where the hell do you think you're going, twerp?" Jessie screeched. "We're not done with you yet!"
Brock didn't even turn his head to regard her. He just kept walking. He passed Gary, who gave him an 'is she okay?' look, to which he nodded, and Gary limped out onto the centre of the battlefield to assess the three downed GE Pokémon. He carefully looked them over, then snorted and turned to face Jessie, James, and Meowth.
"Looks like you are done with us," he grinned. "Your three slave Pokémon are all dead. Now they're free. Free from slavery, and free from you."
"We've got plenty more where that came from," Jessie snarled. "Bring them out! I want ten more here! No, twenty more! I want to crush this arrogant little brat with every Pokémon we've got!"
"But, Jessie," Meowth told her with a wince, as if he was expecting to be hit for what he was about to say, "we don't got no more Pokémon."
"Bullshit!" Jessie roared, pointing a finger in Meowth's face. "We're Team Rocket! We've got them coming off an assembly line!"
"He's right, Jess," James tried to calm her down. "They're not easy to produce."
"And besides, da boss said we can only have four," Meowth added. "He also said we had to give 'em back –"
"We can still have these twerps," Jessie fumed, madder than ever. "Gimme that thing," she snarled, snatching the remote control from Meowth, then furiously mashing one of the buttons.
Suddenly the battlefield's sprinkler system came on, drenching Gary, Erika, Vileplume, and Psyduck. Gary and Erika looked at each other, both looking totally confused.
"I take it back," Gary said sarcastically. "We give up now."
"Gary!" Erika shushed him, but couldn't stifle a giggle. "Don't push her!"
Blinding pain overcame both of them, as well as Vileplume and Psyduck. All their muscles felt like they were on fire, and they were completely paralysed. After a few seconds, they all collapsed on the ground, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.
"Stupid twerp," Jessie spat. "You should know by now that we always have a backup plan."
"Yes," James agreed with a dark grin. "After all these years of being electrocuted again and again, we thought it was your turn. Not pleasant, is it?"
"It's too bad we can't make 'em blast off!" Meowth laughed.
Both Gary and Erika had passed out from the pain. Vileplume and Psyduck were already exhausted, and the electrocution was one step too far for them.
"You two, go and gather them up. We'll bring them to the boss," Jessie ordered.
"Or what?" Meowth challenged her. "Why don't you gather them up?"
"Yeah," James agreed. "We've done quite enough."
Jessie and James suddenly started coughing and spluttering, and Meowth leapt back in defence, only to run into an Electivire.
"Hey!" he shouted. "What's goin' on here?"
"We agree," Lieutenant Surge grinned.
"We also think you've done quite enough," Bella finished.
The Vermilion Gym leader and his star pupil had snuck up on Jessie and James and grabbed them in choke holds while they weren't watching, having quietly snuck off while they were bickering amongst themselves. The two Rockets panicked wildly as they grabbed at Bella and Surge's arms, desperately trying to free themselves. Jessie dropped the remote control in the process.
"Be still," Bella warned Jessie. "If you annoy me, it's lights out."
Surge's Raichu stepped out, picking up the remote and presenting it to Surge with a gleeful smile.
"Nice work, Raichu," he smiled back. "You can zap it now."
"Wait!" Meowth shouted. "If you do dat, it'll electrify da whole stadium! We'll all get cooked!"
"Then we'll leave you with Raichu while we all escape, and he can zap it after we're gone," Bella retorted. "Raichu will be fine."
"You can't do dat!" Meowth pleaded. "You're really gonna lower yourselves to our level?"
Bella answered the question by tightening her grip and knocking Jessie out cold, then letting her limp body slump down into one of the stadium's seats. She stepped in front of James and cracked her knuckles.
"You wanna live?" Surge asked Meowth. "Tell us how to find Ash, and who your boss is."
"Sorry, but I can't help ya there," Meowth answered tentatively.
Bella heaved a fist into James' belly, and he wheezed as he tried to double over in pain, but was suspended by Surge's massive arms around his neck.
"Bella's only the warm up act," Surge told Meowth. "Electivire and Raichu still need to have a go."
Bella stepped back over to Jessie as she began to stir and grabbed her by the throat, compressing her carotid arteries and sending her into a mad panic as she woke up. She grabbed at Bella's wrist, and Bella smashed a fist into her face to shut her up.
"The lieutenant here taught me all kinds of cool stuff," she said softly into Jessie's ear. "Wanna see?"
Jessie's eyes went wide with fear and she started panicking wildly again, shaking her head desperately as she squeaked 'no'.
"You think we'd just forget that you three are responsible for some of the worst crimes in history?" Surge shouted angrily as he knocked James out unintentionally. "Now tell us what we wanna know. I won't ask again."
"I really can't help ya!" Meowth reiterated. "We don't know who da boss is! All's we know is dat da boss has your twoipy friend! I swear dat's da honest truth! But dere's no way you can get dere now. Even if we tried, we couldn't help ya."
"Why?" Surge asked, losing his patience.
"Da boss said he didn't want no interruptions! He wants to deal with Misty himself! He's got guards all 'round da stadium, and dey won't even let us in!"
"Cool story," Bella muttered.
"It's true!" Meowth yelled angrily. "I don't even care if ya don't believe me no more. It's pretty clear to Meowth dat dis is over. Take me prisoner, I don't care. Do what ya want. Da boss is gonna take out your redheaded friend, den you're all next. Meowth is gonna be fine. You still can't win."
"We'll take our chances," Surge nodded to Bella.
Bella nodded back, then promptly gripped Jessie's neck tightly in her hand and knocked her out again.
"Electivire, Thunder Wave all three of them."
They made their way over to Brock after Electivire dealt with Meowth, Jessie, and James. He looked up at them as they approached.
"How is she?" Bella asked, gesturing at Sabrina, who Brock had laid down on some of the stadium's seats.
"She'll be okay, but her arm is pretty bad," he answered solemnly. "I've done what I can to keep it immobilised, but she really needs proper medical attention."
"You've done pretty well, but I can still do a pretty good field dressing," Surge offered.
Brock stepped aside, and Bella walked him onto the battlefield towards Erika and Gary.
"So what did you find out?" he asked her.
"According to Meowth, the Rocket boss himself has Ash held prisoner, and Misty's walking into trap."
"That's a surprise," Brock replied sarcastically.
"I know, right?" Bella sighed. "We have to try and help her. But Meowth reckons the main stadium is filled with Rocket grunts, and there's no way we can get in."
"I don't know how much good we can be, to be honest," Brock admitted. "Vileplume, Umbreon, Psyduck, and Golem are all down for the count. Not to mention Gary, Erika, and Sabrina."
"Get 'em an evac," Surge said as he approached them, then gently laid Sabrina on a thick patch of grass that Golem hadn't destroyed. "And make sure you tell CJ about those three clowns over there too. Bella and I can go and help Misty on our own."
"Are you sure you wanna do that?" Brock asked. "Sounds like a suicide mission."
"We've been in worse scraps than this before," Surge grinned. "We've been out of the army for a while now, and Bella was only a kid back then, but we still know what we're doing."
"Besides, we owe it to Misty to do anything we can to help her out," Bella added.
Brock put his hands on his hips, frowning with disapproval and worry, but nodded his consent.
"You two look after each other, alright?" he told them. "And come back alive."
Brock watched as the two former soldiers fearlessly marched off to one final battle, wondering if this might be the one they didn't survive. He looked around, seeing Sabrina, Gary, Erika, Vileplume, and Psyduck sprawled out unconscious on what was left of the grass field.
We're counting on you, Misty. Spring that trap just like Team Rocket wants you to, then bury the bastards for good.