The Army of Ash! Destroy Team Rocket!

Chapter 8: Jailbreak!

Within the cliffs surrounding Team Rocket HQ, there were many cell blocks constructed for the sole purpose of containing the hundreds of valuable Pokemon stolen and captured by Team Rocket. Each cell block contained various types of chambers for keeping Pokemon imprisoned. Some Pokemon could be contained by simple bars, while others were placed in more hightech chambers. One such Pokemon that needed slightly higher security was one particular shiny Gardevoir.

The blue and white Pokemon lay slumped against the back of the chamber, a thick plexiglass door holding her within the square meter room illuminated by a single fluorescent light in the ceiling. The only things in the room with her were a water bottle mounted on the wall and a small door below it for administering kibble. The bottom of the floor was thinly padded at the very least, although Gardevoir rarely got any sleep in this Hellish prison. Her only distraction were the desperate muffled cries from the Pokemon on either side of her.

However, something brought Gardevoir out of her stupor. It started as some loud thumps, then some louder crashes and shouts. Gardevoir slowly crawled forward and pressed her nose against the plexiglass, straining to see towards the cell block door several feet away.

Then the door exploded.

Gardevoir shrieked and quickly crawled to the back of the cell. Loud heavy footsteps could be heard, as well as several more loud crashed. Then, the huge imposing figure of a Dragonite came into view.

Gardevoir, utterly broken down by her time as a prisoner of Team Rocket, trembled with fear as the Dragonite looked her up and down through the plexiglass, and then tore through it with a single Dragon Claw. She covered her face and shuddered, waiting for the Dragonite to tear her apart. The shiny tensed up as she felt arms wrap around her body, but rather than being crushed, the arms were gentle and warm and careful.

Surprised, Gardevoir uncovered her face and looked up at the Dragonite as he carefully rubbed her back.

"Shhh. . .it's okay," Dragonite said softly, "You'll be safe. We're here to rescue you. All of you. You don't have to be trapped in prisons or cages anymore. I promise."

As Gardevoir laid in Dragonite's warm, tender embrace, tears of joy and relief welled up in her eyes, and she desperately hugged the Dragon-type back. Meanwhile, the rest of Dragonite's team were tending to the rest of the Pokemon Dragonite had busted out.

"FREEEEEEEEEEEEDOM!" Oshawott shouted, his Scalchop raised high as chased a Team Rocket Grunt away with Razor Shell attacks.

Rowlett, Snivy, and Bulbasaur looked on as they attended to a couple of Aron and Vulpix their team had liberated.

Rowlett turned to the other two Grass-types and said awkwardly, "That Oshawott is kinda. . ."

Snivy nodded solemnly and replied, "He certainly is."

Rowlett shifted his feet and said, "Well, I'm gonna go find Totodile. Be careful, you guys!"

After Rowlett flew off, Bulbasaur turned to Snivy and said, "Good thing Ash got Goh to help us. With his Pokemon helping us, we can take out Team Rocket with sheer numbers."

Snivy folded her arms and smirked. "Don't forget all the Pokemon we're saving. Our army is getting bigger."

Bulbasaur shook his head and said, "No, Snivy. These Pokemon have been through so much. They've been hurt, locked up, no fed enough. Look at them, we can't ask them to fight."

Snivy frowned and took a glance at the two Aron and three Vulpix. The Arons' eyes were dull, and the three Vulpix were still trembling and looking around nervously.

Snivy sighed and said, "Fine. I suppose you're right- LOOK OUT!"

Bulbasaur turned to see a man with long dark blue hair and a steel grey uniform running their way. He had stoic expression with determination in his eyes, and he held an electrically charged baton high in his right hand. Snivy sent out a Vine Whip to to grab the man's arm, and then turned the weapon onto him. The man cried out in pain as he was electrocuted, and then fell down to the floor unconscious.

Bulbasaur turned back to Snivy and said with wide eyes, "Wow. Thank you. You really mean business."

Snivy folded her arms smugly, then she raised an eyebrow at the man she knocked out and said, "Huh. I recognize this guy. He was in Unova. I think his name is Pierce, or something. Not that I care."

Leavanny suddenly ran over with a Turtwig in his arms, while being followed by a pair of Growlithe. The Bug/Grass-type set the Turtwig down next to the others and said, "We're making good progress. We're trying to secure one of the cell blocks deeper in as a safe haven. Please keep these young ones safe."

"That's all they had in the room you broke into?" Bulbasaur asked, surprised that Leavanny had only brought back three Pokemon.

Leavanny smiled and said, "Pignite made a speech, and most of them wanted to join in on the fight!"

Snivy smiled proudly, then gave Bulbasaur a cocky look that said 'I told you so.'

Bulbasaur was surprised, but smiled and said, "That's great news, Leavanny. We'll have freed everyone in no time!"

"You intruders should really pay more attention."

The Pokemon all turned around fast to see that Pierce was fully conscious, currently kneeling on one knees as he gave them a cold, hard stare. Pierce held a communications device in his right hand as he said, "Never assume your enemy is vanquished, or it will cost you. I already have called for backup."

The clicking of high heels caught their attention, and they turned to see a red haired woman in a white dress-like uniform enter the room. She looked at them with disdain and said, "Hold it right there! We can't have annoyances like you on the loose. It's harmful to Team Rocket's pride, you see."

The woman was joined by a man in a dark grey uniform, with a dark grey hat over his green hair. He cracked his knuckles and said, "I'm going to enjoy unleashing the full extent of my wrath and cruelty on these intruders!"

Pierce casually walked around Ash's Pokemon and towards the two Admins. "Ariana. . . Proton. . .I trust the other two Admins are protecting Giovanni?"

Ariana rolled her eyes and said, "Petrel is useless, as usual. Thankfully, Archer will cover for him."

Proton took out a Pokeball and said, "Forget it. Let's not waste any more time and just get on with crushing these annoying interruptions! Go, Golbat and Wheezing!"

Ariana nodded and sent out her Pokemon as well, "Arbok! Vileplume! Murkrow! Attack!"

Leavanny, Bulbasaur, and Snivy stared at the five Pokemon they were up against. Leavanny stood out in front and said, "We're outnumbered here. I'll try to take the brunt of the attacks while you two try some hit and run tactics."

Snivy huffed and said, "Don't you baby us. We can handle these idiots. They can't be all that tougher than Jessie and James' Pokemon."

Bulbasaur frowned with uncertainty and said, "I don't know. Three against five doesn't sound good."

"Make that FOUR against five!"

Lound, thundering footsteps could be heard approaching fast. Everyone turned to see Pignite using Flame Charge to crash through the doorway behind the two Team Rocket Admins. Proton and Ariana both jumped out of the way, and their Pokemon quickly moved to do the same. However, Ariana's Vileplume wasn't fast enough, and Pignite scored a direct hit on the poisonous Flower Pokemon. Vileplume was sent tumbling right over Bulbasaur, who quickly hit the floor and ducked. Pignite made the most of the opportunity, and sent out a Flamethrower right over Bulbasaur's head and into Vileplume, knocking her out completely.

"Four against four!" Pignite said with a grin as he turned around to face the remaining foes.

"WHAT?! Reinforcements?!" Ariana shouted in a rage at the swift defeat of one of her Pokemon, "You couldn't just fight us three on five? Where's your sense of honor? Of dignity?"

Snivy stared at the redhead in annoyed disbelief and said, "She insists on fighting us dirty and then has the nerve to talk about honor and dignity?"

Bulbasaur got up from lying flat on his stomach and said, "Pignite? Shouldn't you be with the rest of the team?"

Pignite gave a reassuring smile and said, "Gengar showed up and is leading the charge alongside Palpitoad and Bayleef. With them being able to take out most anything in their way, I figured that I could just Flame Charge back to make sure no more bad guys come in here."

Leavanny nodded and said, "Good thing too. Sorry Snivy, but these two don't look like regular grunts to me."

Ariana recalled Vileplume and said, "Enough of this! Your little invasion ends here! We're going to take you all down!"

Proton just smiled cruelly and cracked his knuckles, "Heh-heh-heh. These fools just want to make us angry. How about we teach them to be careful what they wish for!"

Snivy swiftly took charge and said, "Bulby and I will take the the green haired guy. You and Leavanny can take the redhead. Let's make this quick!"

"Smoke Screen, Weezing!" Proton shouted.

Weezing unleashed a massive cloud of smoke that filled the room.

Ariana smirked, "Perfect! Now get in there! Crunch! Wing Attack!"

"Fly in and Bite them, Golbat!" Proton ordered.

The three Pokemon all charged in to attack, only to sudden get caught up in a swirling vortex that quickly dispelled the Smoke Screen. Snivy had used Leaf Tornado, which caught the enemy off guard. After the attack finished and she landed, she quickly sent an Attract Golbat's way. The pink hearts reached their target, causing Golbat to be immobilized by love.

"NO! Don't let her do that to you!? IDIOT!" Proton shouted, enraged with what he was seeing.

Ariana stood defiantly and shouted, "Hahahaha! That trick won't work on my Pokemon! They're girls! I pity you all, really. You're never leaving this place!"

Pignite raised a fist and shouted, "Well, how about THIS!" Pignite punched the floor and sent a Fire Pledge towards Arbok and Murkrow. Arbok was caught up in the pillar of fire, but Murkrow quickly flew above it.

"Wing Attack!" Ariana ordered.

Murkrow's wings glowed as she flew over the flames towards her opponents, but Leavanny was ready for her and caught her with a String Shot. Leavanny then proceeded to slam the Dark/Flying-type into the wall.

Meanwhile, Snivy shouted, "Bulby! Reel lover-boy in!"

Bulbasaur used Vine Whip to grab the love-struck Golbat, and pulled him in close so Snivy could jump up, flip, and strike him down with Leaf Blade.

Proton stared at Snivy in disbelief. "Ugh. . .What are you!?" he said with both fists clenched.

Pierce was still standing by calmly, and he frowned as he said, "You two had best take things seriously. There is a breakout going on, and we can't afford to waste time trying to stop just these four Pokemon."

"That's IT!" Ariana shouted, shaking with rage herself, "We're taking that Snivy out first! Murkrow, use Astonish!"

Leavanny gasped as Murkrow suddenly vanished. Murkrow then reappeared right in front of Snivy, her face covered in shadows as she let out a frightening squawk. Snivy let out a gasp, flinching from the sudden sacre.

"Poison Sting, Arbok!" Ariana shouted.

"Sludge, Weezing!" Proton shouted.

It all happened so fast that no one could stop the two attacks from making contact with the stunned Snivy. She fell flat on her back, her cheeks turning purple from poisoning as she lay with splotches of toxic sludge on her body.

"NO!" Pignite and Leavanny shouted as they ran in to her defense.

"Wrap them and Crunch them, Arbok!" Ariana shouted.

The snake quickly slithered in and captured the two in her coils. Luckily for Arbok, Leavanny was thin enough for her coiled body to capture both the bug and the pig. Leavanny moved her head back to suse Razor Leaf, but Arbok chomped down on his head with Crunch to put a stop to that.

Bulbasaur ran forward as well, but Proton called out for Weezing to use Double Hit, which knocked Bulbasaur back in the wall. Weezing then sent out a cloud of Smog before Bulbasaur could get back up. He coughed and gasped as the toxic gas stung his eyes, but he could still hear what was going on very clearly.

Snivy opened her eyes a bit to see Crobat, who had snapped out of his infatuation and was hovering right over her.

"Leech Life, Crobat! Show her the wrath of Team Rocket! Make her suffer!" Proton shouted viciously.

As Snivy saw Crobat's fangs glow as he opened his mouth extra wide, she coughed and gasped out, "No. . .not like this. . ."

Suddenly, out of the cloud of Smog, Bulbasaur flew forward while surrounded by a golden aura. Letting out an enraged roar, Bulbasaur slammed into Golbat with everything her had, blasting the bat into the wall so hard that not only did it knock the enemy out, but it make an impression in the wall.

Snivy blinked as she still lay on the floor, still poisoned and weak, but her mind utterly reeling as she thought, "Did he just use. . . Take Down?"

Bulbasaur panted heavily, the recoil damage for the attack weakening him greatly, and he said, ". . .won't. . .let you. . .hurt her. . ."

Snivy's eyes widened as a sudden realization came to her, and various memories and feeling from the recent past all took on a brand new context.

Proton shook his head, "Grr. . . For a pair of unevolved starters to be this good, I didn't see it coming. But now it's time to show you true fear! We're taking out this Bulbasaur now, Ariana!"

"With pleasure!" Ariana said gleefully, "Poison Sting, Arbok! Nightshade, Murkrow!"

"Sludge, Weezing!" Proton called out.

Pignite struggled to free himself for Arbok's Wrap, but was unable to as the snake let go of the weakened Leavanny's head and shoot a Poison Sting towards Bulbasaur. Murkrow and Weezing fired off their attacks as well. However, at that very same moment, Snivy suddenly jumped up over Bulbasaur and used Leaf Tornado in mid air. The swirling vortex of leaves deflected the attacks, sending the Poison Sting and Nightshade into either wall and the Sludge right into Murkrow's face. Because Murkrow was airborne at the time, getting blinded by the Sludge attack caused him to fly too close to the Leaf Tornado and get sucked in. When the attack was over, Murkrow was laid out on the ground, knocked out.

Ariana's eyes were wide with disbelief. "Wh. . . wha. . .why are they so strong!?" she exclaimed.

Snivy caught her breath for a moment, then then turned to Bulbasaur, who looked nearly as shocked as Ariana.

"But. . . .Snivy. . . you were poisoned. . ." he said in amazement.

Indeed, Snivy's poisoned status was completely gone. Snivy just shrugged, trying her best to appear aloof, and said, "Oh, I got over it. . ." then she smiled warmly and said, "I couldn't let you worry, now could I?"

Bulbasaur blinked his eyes, then smiled back in return. "Wow. . .so. . .maybe. . .after this all over. . .maybe we could. . ."

Snivy got close to Bulbasaur and said one word, "Yes. . ."

The two Grass-types smiled with joy as they looked into each other's eyes. Then they rested their foreheads together, before suddenly starting to glow bright blue. Their bodies got slightly bigger and changed shape, until after a brilliant flash, there now stood a Servine and an Ivysaur.

"Are you serious!?" Proton shouted.

Pierce glared at the two admins with a look of disappointment and said, "Giovanni will hear about this. His Admins should be far more capable than this."

"SHUT-UP!" Ariana shouted, "Arbok! Use-!"

SLAM!

Pignite finally broke free and used Brick Break on Arbok, slamming the snake into the floor.

Proton quickly turned and shouted, "Weezing! Quick-!"

BOOM!

Weezing was swiftly taken out by a double Razor Leaf attack from Servine and Ivysaur, along with an Energy Ball for Leavanny. Arbok hissed and tried to get back, only to be knocked out by an X-Scissor from Leavanny.

Leavanny panted heavily and said, "Okay. . .I know pettiness and revenge is immature. . .but wow, did that feel good!" He then feel forward, thoroughly exhausted. Luckily, Pignite was there to catch him and give him a well deserved pat on the back.

"Aaaieeeee! This can't be happening!" Ariana shrieked, "I fought hard, but I still lost!"

Rage was evident in Proton's eyes, but he kept relatively calm as he said, "You may have won this time, but all you did was make Team Rocket's wrath grow." He pointed at the four Pokemon and said, "Mark my words! A bunch of small, insignificant obstacles like you won't be much of a problem for Team Rocket in the long run. Giovanni's forces are stronger and bigger than you realize. You can defeat us, but you'll never defeat the massive organization that is Team Rocket! None of you will get very far once Giovanni brings out the big guns! I advise you to be very afraid of what is to come!"

"Funny. I was about to say the same thing."

Pierce, Ariana, and Proton were suddenly all lifted into the air by Psychic. They were then all spun around to face an army of Pokemon that had gathered behind them. However, this army was not the army that had invaded Team Rocket HQ initially. With the acception of Ash's Dragonite at the front, this group was composed of newly liberated Pokemon that had spent so long trapped within the confines to their holding cells. These were the stronger willed ones. Although many weren't in the best of health or even all that well fed, they all still possessed the spark of life, and a desire for vengeance.

Standing at the front of the group, right next to Ash's Dragonite, was the one who had spoken to them using her Psychic powers as she used those same powers to levitated them all helplessly in mid air; the shiny Gardevoir.

Ninetales with matted and dirty fur, Slowkings with cracked shell crowns, various bird Pokemon with clipped wings, rusty Steel-types, rodents and canines and felines that had bald spots all over their bodies. All of their eyes were fixated on the three humans. Proton was very well known for his cruelty, which he did unload on his enemies and any Grunts lower than him. However, the ones he truly enjoyed tormenting were the Pokemon Team Rocket held captive. "Breaking them in" was a favorite past time of his, and Ariana often joined in on this practice. Although she never truly took part in the action, as she claimed to not enjoy being cruel, she nonetheless assisted Proton by suggesting what the best tool would be when it came time to "break in the new arrivals." What's more, Ariana's laughter at the Pokemon's feeble attempts to fight back or escape was a sound that all of these Pokemon knew very well.

As for Pierce, nearly all of the Pokemon imprisoned by Team Rocket had received a "controlled shock" from him at least once for "misbehavior."

As the angry mob's eyes bored into the three members of Team Rocket, Proton's eyes were glazed over as he finally came to the realization of what his fate was to be. "The fortress is crumbling down. . ." he said hoarsely.

Ariana nervously turned to look at Pierce and asked, "Surely, Giovanni has bigger plans, right? Plans for a situations like this? Plans to stop a major containment breach?"

". . .I don't know," Pierce said in an empty, hollow voice as he stared into the shiny Gardevoir's hate filled eyes.

Gardevoir raised her right arm slowly, and Dragonite gulped as he quickly got out of the way, not even bothering to try and talk the mob out of what they were about to do.

". . .We'll never know. . ." Pierce whispered.