Last chapter, Brayden and Trace finally found the place the lost Cubone had been hiding. However, they were too late, as Team Rocket Grunts had taken the little Lonely Pokémon captive the previous night! With Erika, and Mary, one of Erika's Gym Trainers, they broke into Celadon Department Store. Now, Trace must battle Rocket Executive Petrel for the fate of Cubone, while the others fight off a horde of Grunts on the first floor…
As Charmeleon's Metal Claw and Raticate's Hyper Fang collided, Trace immediately called for another attack.
"Flamethrower!"
Charmeleon exhaled hot flames on Raticate, forcing the Normal-type to back away.
"Ugh. I wish Agena hadn't left. I could sure use her help right now…" Petrel muttered.
Trace looked up at the screens showing the first floor again.
"Just hold on, guys! I've got this!"
Back on the first floor…
Pokémon attacks blasted back and forth across the reception area as the Rocket Grunts slowly advanced towards Brayden, Erika and Mary.
"Agh! Even with all of our Pokémon out fighting, we just can't push them back!" Brayden shouted irritably. "Wartortle, use Water Pulse! Pidgeotto, Twister! Electrode, Rollout!"
Wartortle's water ball splashed right into the face of a Koffing, leaving it confused. Pidgeotto's tornado tore up a duo of Beedrill, while Electrode gleefully bowled over a Grimer and Rattata.
"Don't let up! They may outnumber us, but our Pokémon are in better condition than theirs! All that abuse and experimentation will only serve to bring their downfall!" Mary encouraged. "Ivysaur, Razor Leaf!"
"True, but be cautious! They'll resort to any tactic to achieve victory, no matter how heinous!" Erika warned.
The Manager's Office, upstairs…
"Charmeleon, Brick Break!"
The Flame Pokémon charged at Petrel's Raticate, ready to attack with a fierce chop.
Petrel's mind raced to think of a counter, and he remembered one of Raticate's attacks that he had forgotten.
"Raticate, Sucker Punch!"
Raticate acted like it was cowering in fear, but as Charmeleon came within striking range, the Normal-type suddenly lashed Charmeleon with its tail.
"How do you like that?" Petrel said with a grin. "Sucker Punch always goes first. You can't evade it. Now take this! Use Hyper Fang!"
As Charmeleon continued to reel from the Sucker Punch, Raticate bit him with its large front teeth.
"Ah! Charmeleon, no!" Trace cried.
Charmeleon fell to the floor, Raticate continuing to bite him. He immediately tried to get up, but Raticate kept him pinned down, in spite of its smaller size.
Trace couldn't afford to let this continue, so he brought Charmeleon's Poke Ball out.
"Charmeleon, return!"
Charmeleon vanished inside the capsule, causing Raticate to drop to the floor.
"Changing Pokémon already? Heh, I knew I was cut out for this Executive thing. I don't need Agena after all," Petrel said snidely.
"I have no idea who 'Agena' even is," Trace said with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "Besides, I'm not even close to giving up! Go, Poliwhirl!"
The Tadpole Pokémon burst out of his ball, looking determined.
"Use Mud Shot!"
Poliwhirl created several balls of mud in his hands, then threw them in rapid succession at Raticate.
"Yikes! Don't let that mud get your eyes, Raticate!" Petrel yelped.
Raticate jumped from one corner of the room to another, narrowly evading every shot of mud. Eventually it leapt right onto Petrel's panicky face, but Poliwhirl's attack finally found its target, splattering on Raticate's back and knocking Petrel over.
"Darn it! Get off me and continue fighting!" Petrel said to Raticate as he pulled the Mouse Pokémon off his head. Still on the floor, he pointed at Poliwhirl and ordered, "Zen Headbutt!"
"Block it, Poliwhirl!" Trace said immediately after.
Raticate's head shone with a light-blue glow, and it launched itself at Poliwhirl head-first, but was caught by Poliwhirl's steady hands.
While Trace and Petrel mulled over their next action, a beeping sound rang out from the communicator on Petrel's wrist.
"Give me a second, kid. I gotta answer this real quick," Petrel said casually, to Trace's bewilderment.
The Executive pressed the "accept call" button, and was greeted with a face that gave him equal parts relief and shock.
"Ah! Agena! I… wasn't expecting to hear from you again…" Petrel said, nervously grinning.
The woman on the screen folded her arms and scoffed.
"I'm outside the entrance. See, Archer asked me to come back. I told him to let me work under Ariana or Proton instead, but he insisted that you needed my help more. And judging by the fact that you have the building on lockdown, it would seem he's right. What's the matter, can't handle a few intruders?"
While Petrel groaned with annoyance, Trace felt fear creep back into his heart once again, but he wasn't sure why. Did he recognize Agena's voice somehow?
"You don't understand. The Gym Leader AND those two kids who beat Ariana are here! Surely Proton told you about them," Petrel said with disgruntlement.
"Don't worry, he told me everything. Now let me in. I want to punish them personally," Agena said darkly.
Petrel gulped when he heard that.
"Alright, alright!"
He scrambled back to the security desk and pressed one of the buttons.
"Sheesh. Sometimes I think Archer SHOULD'VE assigned her to work with Proton. But then, I would've gotten stuck with that insufferable Loki…" Petrel thought.
On one of the screens, Trace saw the metal wall blocking the front entrance rise just enough to allow the doors to open, allowing Agena to enter.
"No… NO!" Trace shouted fearfully. "Not her!"
It was none other than the woman who had tried to rob the store months ago, and whose Golduck had nearly robbed him of his memories.
Her clothes had been completely different back then, but now, she was dressed in the same outfit as the female grunts. The one exception was her hat, which was large and floppy, like one you'd wear to a beach.
"Not good. Please, Brayden, stop her!"
First Floor…
"Alright, everyone!" Agena shouted at the wall of grunts. "It's me, Agena! Let me through!"
To her great displeasure, everyone continued fighting as if they hadn't heard her.
Agena smiled coldly. This gave her an opportunity to demonstrate her power to her old subordinates and to her enemies. She opened the Net Ball she was holding.
Without warning, all the grunts and their Pokémon began floating in the air.
"What's happening to them? Is that… Confusion?" Brayden wondered.
"No, Confusion could never lift this many things at once," Erika said. "It must be a Psychic! But what's using it?"
The wall of grunts and their Pokémon were shoved aside, then fell back to the floor, revealing a lone woman wearing a black floppy hat, and a Golduck at her side.
"That would be my darling Golduck," she said as she walked over. "And I am it's Trainer. Call me Agena. Elite Grunt."
Agena glanced over at Erika and spoke to her.
"It's been a while, Gym Leader. How ironic that the store you fought so hard to protect from me and my partner is now under the control of the very organization he and I are associated with, don't you agree?"
"Ah! I thought you looked familiar!" Erika remarked.
"You messed with Trace's head?!" Brayden snapped. "And you're in Team Rocket?!"
"TORTLE!" Wartortle shouted furiously.
"That's right! And you're Brayden. I've heard so much about you. You've been so troublesome that the Executive commander had to ask me to come back to the organization. To think someone like you could beat Proton single-handedly…"
Truthfully, Brayden was just as surprised that he had beaten Proton. Considering that he had needed Trace's help to beat Ariana, and only beat Loki because Primeape had gone berserk, it seemed nearly impossible that he had beaten Proton so easily.
"Maybe it was luck that got me this far. Or maybe, I've been beating you guys because I treat my Pokémon right. Why don't we fight right now and find out?" said Brayden.
"Brayden—" Erika started, but Mary stopped her.
"Don't bother. I get the feeling this woman wanted to fight him regardless."
"How perceptive!" Agena remarked. "If my subordinates haven't crushed you by the time I'm done with the boy, I'll gladly do it myself. Speaking of which…"
She snapped her fingers loudly, and the grunts paid attention.
"Back to business! All of you focus your efforts on the Gym Leader and her protégé. Leave the boy to me!"
Mary immediately thrust herself back into the midst of the grunts, but Erika stayed near Brayden.
"Erika, don't worry about me. Go help Mary!" Brayden insisted as Agena and Golduck drew closer.
Erika seemed concerned, but smiled as she had the night before as she tended to the wounds of his and Trace's Pokémon.
"Very well. Trust in your bonds with your Pokémon, and you should prevail! Good luck, Brayden."
She cast one more supportive glance at Oddish, before joining Mary in the scuffle with the grunts, leaving Brayden and his Pokémon with Agena and Golduck. Agena laughed quietly.
"Trust? What good is trust against overwhelming power and strategy? What trust was there between you and that Primeape?"
Brayden felt a sudden twinge of pain in his arm, which was still in the cast in had been put in Lavender Town's Pokémon Center. His body trembled as his anger began to rise.
"You couldn't even stop it from breaking your arm and running away. That's all your 'trust' is worth. Nothing."
"Stop it! I'm not fully to blame for Primeape's actions. Loki drove him—all of us— too far! And look where it got him! Chased off like the coward he is!" Brayden spat back.
Wartortle and the other four Pokémon shouted in agreement.
"Even if we're one team member short, we'll keep fighting until you Rocket jerks are stopped! Wartortle, Water Pulse!"
Wartortle blasted a water sphere at Golduck, but the Duck Pokémon punched the projectile as it approached, causing it to explode into harmless droplets.
"You'll have to do better than that," Agena said.
"Tch! Electrode, Rollout!"
The Ball Pokémon rolled forward at speed, but Golduck caught it with both hands. Electrode refused to buckle, however, and rolled even faster than before, burning Golduck's webbed hands and pushing the Water-type back bit by bit.
"Use Psychic!" Agena commanded.
The jewel in Golduck's forehead glowed, then Electrode, after coming to a sudden halt, was flung backwards right into the metal wall, with Brayden and Wartortle only just barely leaping out of the way.
"Trode…" Electrode said, dazedly.
"Darn it… return," Brayden said, downhearted.
"Come on, I know you're capable of more that that!" Agena shouted irritably. "Proton and the others went on about how weirdly powerful your Pokémon are, yet my Golduck is barely breaking a sweat!"
"FINE THEN!" Brayden roared back. "Pidgeotto, Twister! Butterfree, Silver Wind!"
Pidgeotto stirred up a fierce tornado, and Butterfree shook up some silver scales and sent them into the Twister, where the moves combined into a singular, powerful whirlwind of scales.
"How's THAT?!" Brayden exclaimed. "I thought of it after Erika told me about combining her Victreebel's Leaf Storm with her Vileplume's Petal Dance! I call it Silver Tornado!"
Golduck's eyes went wide, but Agena remained calm. She definitely wasn't expecting such an attack, but she was nonetheless certain that she could overcome it.
"Well, that's more like it. I'm going to enjoy taking you down, after all."
Agena snapped her fingers again, and Golduck unleashed Psychic again.
At first, Brayden wasn't sure what she had targeted, but then, he noticed that the Silver Tornado was moving back towards him.
Golduck was pushing the attack back with its mind!
"No! Pidgeotto, Butterfree, push it back! HURRY!"
Both Flying-types flapped their wings at a breakneck pace, adding more power to the attack while sending it back in the other direction.
"So those two together can match Golduck's mind? Interesting. But it's only a matter of time before they run out of stamina. How long can they hold out?" Agena asked sadistically.
"They won't lose to you! Keep fighting, guys!"
Managers Office…
"Hmmm. You're making this awful hard for me, kid," Petrel groaned.
Poliwhirl was still locked in combat with Petrel's Raticate, but both were beginning to run out of steam.
Trace knew he had to take Raticate out quickly, but there was a high risk that Petrel would call for Sucker Punch again. There was only one option left. Did Poliwhirl have enough energy left to pull it off?
The Tadpole Pokémon looked back at his Trainer, eyes burning with determination, and nodded.
"If you're up for it, then that's what we'll do, Poliwhirl," Trace whispered to his friend. "When I say 'now'…"
Petrel was suspicious, but no matter what attack came next, he was relatively certain that Sucker Punch would ruin whatever plan they had in mind. Sweating nervously, he waited patiently for Trace to make a move…
"NOW!"
"Sucker Punch!"
Raticate lunged for Poliwhirl and swung its tail, but the Water-type vanished, leaving a strange doll to take the attack. But the attack fizzled out before it could even touch the doll.
"WHAT?!" Petrel wailed.
"Now's your chance, Poliwhirl! Mud Shot!" Trace cried.
From the top of a nearby bookcase, Poliwhirl threw a ball of mud at Raticate's bewildered face, blinding it.
"Now jump down and use Double Slap!"
Wasting no time, Poliwhirl dropped down and smacked Raticate repeatedly before knocking the Mouse Pokémon to the floor with a swift punch.
"Yes! Poliwhirl, we did it!" Trace cheered.
"Poliwhirl!" Poliwhirl responded happily.
"Oh no! You little sneak, you weren't preparing an attack after all!" Petrel shouted in dismay as he clutched his head from shock. "You used Substitute!"
"Right! Poliwhirl knew what I wanted him to do. That's how we were able to do that just know!" Trace explained. "Now, release Cubone!"
Petrel's response was to look away. It seemed that he had nothing left to do, so Trace moved towards Cubone to release him from the cage.
But as he got closer, Trace noticed something odd. Or rather, he smelled something odd. No, something awful.
And then, it dawned on him.
He had smelled that exact scent once before, when he fought the Gym Leader of Fuchsia City…
"Is that… GAS?!"
Poliwhirl's eyes went wide, and then he fainted.
"No! It's Poison Gas!" Trace cried as he slapped his hands over his nose and mouth.
"Heh heh heh heh!" Petrel sniggered. "Correct! I knew all along that you were coming, kid. That's why I laid a little trap in this room, just in case you managed to knock out my Raticate. Come on out, my gaseous friends!"
Four spherical, almost balloon-like Poison-type Pokémon emerged, two from behind the bookcase, one from under the desk, and another from behind a curtain from the other window.
"Koffing!" they said.
"You see, I have a certain affinity for these little guys. I know all about them, and they do whatever I say without question. It's certainly proven helpful whenever my disguises fail me."
Trace recalled Poliwhirl, muttering an apology as the Tadpole Pokémon vanished inside the capsule.
"Yeah? Well, my Pokémon and I are really close, too! Show him, Charmeleon!"
The Flame Pokémon appeared by Trace's side, fully ready to continue fighting. But moments later, the Poison Gas took effect, and Charmeleon took on a purple saturation.
"All we have to do is take down four Koffing. Even if we're poisoned, nothing will stop us from freeing Cubone, got it? Nothing!" Trace shouted courageously.
Behind him, Cubone was listening.
"Cu…b-bone…"
"Use Metal Claw!" Trace commanded.
Charmeleon swung at the Koffing with his claws, but the Poison-types began spinning around him at high speeds, surrounding themselves with a light-blue aura.
"What? Gyro Ball?!" said Trace.
"That's right," Petrel said. "A Steel-type move that gets stronger the slower the user is, and luckily for me, my Koffing are very slow. Good luck ever hitting them!"
Each Koffing slammed into Charmeleon, dealing massive damage. Though the Flame Pokémon was still standing, he wouldn't for much longer. Trace watched helplessly as the poison took effect, ebbing away the rest of Charmeleon's energy.
"No… Charmeleon…"
Trace felt the cold touch of despair as his dear friend fell to the ground, unable to continue fighting.
Now what? Both of his main Pokémon had been defeated. As long as Petrel still had his Koffing, he would not be able to get Cubone out of the cage.
But wait! He still had one more Pokémon.
Arbok!
Trace had hastily recalled the Cobra Pokémon after it had nearly taken a bite out of Petrel, but it had yet to actually battle. As a Poison-type, it would be immune to Koffing's Poison Gas.
But…
"Is it safe to send out Arbok to fight Petrel? What if it goes crazy like Primeape did?!"
Trace's mind raced furiously as he tried to decide if he should or not…
First Floor…
Pidgeotto and Butterfree were still clashing with Golduck for control of the Silver Tornado. Both sides were showing strain, but Brayden's winged duo were clearly closer to exhaustion.
"Grrr! Stop it already!" Brayden bellowed irritably at Agena. "Wartortle, use Rapid Spin to get around the tornado and attack Golduck!"
Wartortle was worried about this strategy's effectiveness, but seeing as Pidgeotto and Butterfree were nearly out of stamina, he had to take the risk. Tucking into his shell, he whirled to the left and made a beeline for Golduck's head.
Unfortunately, this is what Agena was hoping for.
"Golduck, let go of the tornado! Use Protect!"
Releasing its mental hold on the whirlwind, Golduck created a barrier around itself and, strangely, Agena.
Brayden was unsure of why Agena had taken a defensive action, but then he noticed something very off about the Silver Tornado. It had changed its coloring to something between red and purple.
OH NO—!
Brayden dove for the very frightened Oddish as the unstable tornado attack exploded.
Erika, Mary and the grunts were caught off guard by the detonation of psychic energy and were blasted off their feet by the aftershock.
When the dust settled, almost every human and Pokémon had been knocked out, and glass shards had scattered all throughout.
Erika coughed as she and Mary struggled to their feet.
"What on earth—?! Brayden!" Erika shrieked.
Brayden laid on the floor on the other side of the room, Oddish still in his arms. The Weed Pokémon was, miraculously, unharmed, but Pidgeotto and Butterfree had collapsed near him, while Wartortle was lying in the corner.
"Looks like it's all over!" Agena said insolently as Golduck's Protect wore off.
"What did you DO?!" Mary shouted at her.
Agena cackled loudly.
"The boy is quite ingenious! Combing Twister and Silver Wind… I never would've thought of doing something like that. But he underestimated the power of Golduck's Psychic. It was all too easy to bait him into overloading his own attack!"
Erika trembled with both pain and fury.
"Look what you've done to this place! To your own underlings! Isn't your goal to to conquer the world as a team?! How could you do something so foolish?!"
Agena looked at the destroyed reception area and at the fallen grunts, but scoffed.
"A small price to pay to put an end to those who would stand in our way! Now then, let's put an end to this, shall we?"
Agena turned her attention back to Brayden, and Oddish frantically squeezed out from under him.
"Odd! Oddish Oddish!" she cried, urging Brayden to get up. But he was still dazed from the explosion, and he couldn't move.
Oddish had no idea what to do. Her beloved Trainer was in serious danger, but she was too frightened to do anything.
The only chance she would have against Golduck is if she evolved, but she didn't want to be an ugly Gloom any more than she wanted Brayden to be hurt.
But wait… hadn't Erika given Brayden something for Oddish to use?
The little Grass-type opened Brayden's backpack and searched its contents as Agena ordered Golduck to use Hyper Beam.
Brayden was certain that it was all over, but as the Hyper Beam shot towards him, Oddish jumped in front of him and took the full blast herself.
"NO! ODDISH!"
"Ha! How adorable. It wanted to protect you. What a waste of effort," Agena said conceitedly.
But a brilliant light had begun to shine within the Hyper Beam. A very familiar light Brayden had not seen in some time.
Could it be…?
The light suddenly subsided, but almost immediately shone once more.
This time, Agena took notice of it, just as Golduck's attack finally stopped.
When the light vanished again, Oddish had been replaced by not Gloom, but instead…
"…Vileplume?!" said Brayden.
The Flower Pokémon faced Brayden and smiled sweetly. It was identical to Oddish's smile.
"So it evolved two stages," Agena said. "It still took all the damage from Hyper Beam! It can barely stand. Face it. You've lost."
"Don't be so sure," Brayden replied knowingly. "Golduck is wide open now that it's used Hyper Beam. Vileplume, Mega Drain!"
Vileplume's petals glowed bright green, then she bowed her head, launching an energy beam at Golduck. When the beam struck, energy was sucked out of the Water-type and absorbed into Vileplume, restoring her health.
That was definitely not Mega Drain.
Vileplume had learned a new move!
"NO! Giga Drain?! That's even worse than Mega Drain!" Agena shouted furiously.
"Get ready, Agena, because this is where the tables turn!" Brayden yelled as he stood up. "Vileplume, use Acid!"
"Don't bet on it, brat! Use Focus Blast, Golduck!"
Vileplume launched a ball of toxic liquid from the top of her head, while Golduck flung a sphere of energy in retaliation.
Manager's Office…
Trace and Petrel had been watching the events taking place downstairs on the security monitors, and upon seeing Brayden's rejuvenated resolve,Trace's hope was restored.
"Brayden's right, Petrel! This is the end of your schemes! Go, Arbok!"
"Arbok Ar!" Arbok hissed, baring his fangs menacingly.
"Use Ice Fang!"
Arbok exhaled cold air to freeze his fangs, then lunged for and chomped down on one of the Koffing.
"KOFFING!" it yelped, before dropping to the floor, where it froze into a block of ice.
"Wah!" Petrel blurted out.
"D-d-don't think you've won! I still have three more Koffing! Use Dark Pulse!"
Though frightened, the remaining Koffing grouped up in a triangular formation, then shot dark energy rings from their mouths into Arbok's stomach, making him flinch.
Unfortunately for them, this only made Arbok angrier.
"ARRRRRRR…"
"Arbok, don't overdo it, okay?" Trace begged quietly.
Arbok heard Trace's words, and he glanced back before nodding. Rising up to his full height, the Poison-type glared intensely at the Koffing. Without warning, his eyes glowed a deep red and shot a beam of dark light at the trio.
"Koffing?!"
They were so terrified of Arbok that they were literally paralyzed from fear!
"D-don't be scared of it! Use Gyro Ball!" Petrel stammered, pointing at Arbok.
The Koffing tried to spin again, but to no avail. The paralysis was simply too strong.
Petrel knew then, that it was all over. Sighing dejectedly, he dropped his hands and waited for the inevitable.
Trace was surprised that Arbok was able to use Glare. He could've sworn that his Pokédex hadn't listed it as one of the moves the Cobra Pokémon currently knew, but that didn't matter now. It was time to end this! With a determined shout, he gave the final command:
"USE IRON TAIL!"
Arbok's tail became as hard as steel, and he battered the Koffing right into Petrel's gut and face like they were baseballs, sending the Executive slamming into the wall.
"Ow…" was all Petrel could muster before sinking to the floor with his Pokémon.
Trace was breathing hard. He hadn't noticed until now due to how focused he was on winning, but his heart was pounding rapidly. Was it fear? Excitement? He wasn't sure which.
"Is…it over?"
Petrel was definitely out for the count, but it wouldn't matter if Brayden hadn't beaten Agena.
The screen showing the first floor was still on. Trace and Arbok stared at it and watched…
"No! You stubborn little twerp! You can't beat me! I NEVER LOSE!" Agena shouted despairingly.
"Well, there's a first time for everything, isn't there?! Vileplume, end this with Razor Leaf!"
"PLUME!" Vileplume yelled as she blasted Golduck with sharp leaves.
"GOLDUCK!" Golduck cried out as the leaves battered it. In an instant, Golduck collapsed.
"And that's it! We've won!" Brayden said with satisfaction.
Back in the office, Trace was exploding with celebration.
"Yes! Yes! We did it!" he shouted joyously.
"Ar, Arbok!" Arbok chimed in.
Trace went back to Cubone's cage, opened it, and pulled him out.
"Did you hear that, Cubone? You're free now!"
Beneath his skull mask, Cubone smiled. This boy and his Pokémon had fought so hard to free him from the bad people who had taken his mother away. Knowing he was now safe, the Lonely Pokémon dozed off once again.
Later, outside…
"There we go, every last bit of powder is gone," Trace said as he finished wiping Cubone clean from the Sleep Powder.
"Cubone Cu bone!" Cubone replied gratefully.
After they had beaten Team Rocket, our heroes had tied up the criminals, then escorted them back outside. While they waited for the police to turn up, Erika loaned her handkerchief to Trace so he could remove the large amount of Sleep Powder had been hit with by the grunts' Venomoth. Now, the Ground-type felt much better.
"Hee hee. Cubone seems much happier now," Erika said pleasantly.
"Of course he is! Trace saved him, after all. Everything's going to be just fine now, right, Cubone?" Brayden said.
He moved closer to Cubone and offered his hand for a high-five, but Cubone cowered and buried his face in Trace's shirt.
"Huh?! What'd I do?" Brayden asked, confused.
Trace looked down at the little Pokémon, who was now shivering from fear.
"I think Cubone only trusts me right now. After all he went through, I can't blame him," he said sadly.
"It will take time for the little one to open his heart to others," Erika said regretfully. "But if he's with you, Trace, then things will only improve."
"Heh. Thanks, Erika," Trace replied.
Brayden placed his hand on Trace's shoulder and grinned.
"Here come the cops," Mary said as the police cars drove up moments later. "About time. I'm sick of watching these two."
Agena struggled to get out of her ropes, but to no avail. Petrel, who was tied up with her, merely sighed again.
"Alright, Team Rocket. This is the SECOND time you've sullied our town! You're not getting away this time," the Chief of Police said as he stepped out of his car.
"Even if you lock us up, it won't make a difference!" Agena shouted. "Team Rocket WILL conquer the world!"
Before the Chief or Brayden could brush her off, the voice of an enigmatic man rang in everyone's ears.
"Fufufufufu… well said, Agena."
"Uuuhhhhh… who said that?" Trace asked cautiously.
Brayden looked around, then spotted a strange sight hovering several feet above the police cars. There was an Alakazam, levitating itself, a Houndoom, and a tall man with short blue hair. He was wearing a white jacket and pants, and there on the jacket was the same red "R" everyone in Team Rocket sported on their uniforms.
"Up there! It's that guy!" Brayden shouted, pointing at the man.
"Oh, Archer! You've come to save me, haven't you? Thank goodness," Petrel said, relieved.
"Don't be stupid!" Agena snapped at him. "He's here for all of us, obviously."
"Correct, Agena.
"Hold up! You think we're just going to let you get away?!" Brayden interjected.
Archer narrowed his eyes and smirked.
"But of course. You're all in no condition to fight," he said, gesturing to Brayden, Trace, Erika and Mary. "And a meager police force is no match for one such as myself."
"WANNA BET?!" Brayden screamed. "Vileplume, use Razor Leaf!"
"Growlithe, Fire Blast!" the Chief ordered.
Vileplume launched sharp leaves at Alakazam, and the policeman's Growlithe shot a massive stream of fire at Houndoom, but they and Archer vanished, then reappeared a short distance to the east.
"That was Teleport!" Mary observed.
"If you wish for me to prove my point, so be it," Archer said calmly. "Alakazam, Focus Blast! Houndoom, Inferno!"
Alakazam shot an energy sphere at Vileplume, knocking her over. Houndoom breathed out a stream of intense blue flames on Growlithe, and the Puppy Pokémon fell down.
"You can't be serious," Brayden said under his breath.
"How is he so strong?!" Trace wondered.
"If you think I'm too strong, you'd never stand a chance against Giovanni," Archer replied.
He waved his hand, and Alakazam pointed his spoons at Petrel, Agena, and the grunts, teleporting them all away in a brief flash of light.
"This is only the beginning! Soon, we shall rally our forces and obtain a power that no one can match! You'd be wise to stay out of our way," Archer said to the police.
Looking at Brayden and Trace again, he added, "But you two are going to keep fighting us, aren't you?"
Brayden glared back at him, as did Trace, though with minimal reluctance.
"I look forward to our next meeting, boys," Archer said with a wicked smile.
A moment later, the leader of the Rocket Executives was gone.
Our heroes have saved Cubone at last, but though they defeated Petrel's squad, they couldn't stop Archer from getting away. What is Team Rocket's endgame, and can Brayden and Trace muster the strength to stop them? For now though, it's back to Lavender Town to rescue Pikachu!