Chapter 19
"Visitors"
"Ringringring! Ringringring! Phone call! Phone call! Ringringring! Ringringring!"
Giovanni picked it up so it would shut up.
"Who is this?" he asked angrily.
He was using a videophone, but the picture hadn't come up yet, and it wasn't facing me, so I couldn't really tell who it was either. I could hear it though.
"This is Cassidy, sir. We've caught two little morsels that I'm sure you'd like to take care of."
"I don't have time for this Cassidy. Why can't you take care of them yourself?"
"Oh…But these are two very special people……One of 'em's a traitor…"
"What? Who?"
"Remember Billie?"
Billie!?
"………Send them to me."
"Will do, sir."
They hung up. Giovanni turned to me. He seemed…excited?
"Ash, the next part of your training will begin shortly……"
He laughed to himself.
What's so funny!? What are you talking about!?
"…I was planning on having you move on to live targets anyway……"
What…?
"You'll see."
He moved over to another machine. It had a large screen and lots of little control things at the bottom. I couldn't help but wonder whether or not some of those controls were just for decoration…
He pressed a button and the screen flickered to life. It looked like there was nothing to see at first, but then something white-ish appeared in the middle, and two people came from out of nowhere and landed on a square on the floor that looked a little different from the rest of the room…That wasn't saying too much though, because there was nothing in the room. No doors, no windows…nothing at all.
What? A…warp tile?…A room without any doors or windows?…Aha! I know where we are!!
The first time I'd visited Saffron City, Team Rocket had trapped us all in what was probably the exact same room that Billie and……
They were both wearing Team Rocket uniforms, but I didn't know anyone other than Billie, Jessie, James, Cassidy, and Butch who even owned Team Rocket uniforms…The two of them looked towards the screen and I could start to make out their faces. Billie wasn't too hard to figure out. The other person was a boy…about the same size as me, when I was human…brown hair, blue eyes……
Richie!? Billie!? What are you two doing here!!?
I don't think they could hear me. The machine probably wasn't set up to hear mind-speak…
"Richie…? So that's the name of the other one?" Giovanni said curiously, "…Aren't you the one whom Ash beat in the fourth round?"
"Uh……Yeah…So?"
"Where is he, Giovanni!?" Billie demanded.
"He's right here. And there's no need to worry about him, Billie. He's under good care…As for you……well……You know what the punishment is for traitors…"
"Wait!"
"Oh? Did you decide to come back? I see that you're wearing our uniform. Maybe you had a change of heart…?"
"………Let us see Ash!" she said.
"……Fine…Ash, come here."
What?
"I said come here."
Without even thinking about it, I found myself floating towards him and landing by his side.
Huh!? How did that happen!?
"…Here he is," Giovanni said to Billie and Richie.
"Ash!" Richie called.
"…What…What's he wearing?" Billie asked.
"…It's a very special device…Ash here, is too valuable to run of the risk of him turning against me. That's where this armor comes in. Not only does it amplify his powers, it focuses them only to where I direct."
"You're just a control freak!" Billie exclaimed.
"……Billie, you don't sound like you care too much for your life……"
"Uh……"
What? What are you talking about!? I asked Giovanni.
"…All members of Team Rocket who turn traitor must either swear devout loyalty, or face the ultimate punishment."
…What's the ultimate punishment?
"……Death…" he said softly, "…Preferably a slow and painful one……"
What!!? Billie! Don't worry about me!! It's not worth it!!
Giovanni laughed very quietly. "She can't hear you, you know…"
…I……know that………
"…Hm……Billie, Ash wants to tell you that he's not worth getting yourself killed over."
"…Why should I believe you?"
"……With that kind of attitude, it's not going to make much difference what you say…I'll still be able to consider you a traitor."
"……Billie, I don't know whether or not Ash really said that, but it's right. This isn't worth getting killed over…" Richie said.
"He's going to kill me anyway……"
"What?"
"…It's what happens to all traitors………Besides…one more death on his mind won't hurt him…"
Billie……
She's the only one left in her entire family……I can't let him kill her!! She's my friend!
"Ringringring! Ringringring! Phone call! Phone call! Ringringring!"
"Urrgh…Who is this!?" Giovanni growled, picking up the phone.
"Uh…This is Butch…um……We called to warn you…that a Persian and a Pikachu just came through here…and they know where you are……"
"Persian!?"
"Uh…That's right…They're probably already headed there…"
"……Thank you for warning us……"
Giovanni hung up. He walked back to the screen where we could see Billie and Richie and he scowled at them.
"How many more of you are there?"
"What?" Richie asked.
"It can't be just the two of you, otherwise you would have brought those Pokémon with you. How many others are there?"
"……Should we tell him…?" Richie asked Billie.
She stared at the floor. "………There's no reason why we should tell him. He's already threatened our lives. What's the worse that can happen to us?"
"You're wrong, Billie," Giovanni whispered, "I only threatened your life. I have no reason to kill the boy…yet…Now tell how many there are, and tell me how you reached Celadon so quickly. There's no way anyone can walk from Indigo that fast."
"We're not gonna tell you," Billie stated, crossing her arms.
"…I think I can make you see things differently……Ash…"
Huh? What does this have to do with me?
"…Hurt her."
What?! No way!!
"You don't have a choice…"
I felt the metal around me start to buzz and whir. The energy that it had been storing became activated and used to absorb more from within me. It then channeled the energy outwards and directed it to the room where Billie and Richie were trapped. It centered on Billie, then charged at her. I could feel it as the machine did my dirty work…She screamed in pain and fell to the ground. If I looked at the screen, I could see a thin blue haze surrounding her…
Billie!!
"Billie!" Richie cried.
He wanted to help her somehow, but there was nothing he could do…He turned towards the screen and stared into my eyes.
"Ash! What are you doing!? Stop!"
I'm not doing anything, Richie……
…That's the problem! I have to try to get it to stop!
I tried to pull back at the energy. I tried to pull it away from Billie……but the harder I tried, the stronger the attack became. Every time I sent out even the smallest bit of psychic energy, it was absorbed and used against her…I was helpless…
"Ash!! Ash you have to stop it right now!" Richie yelled.
I'm trying…I'm trying……
…There has to be something I can do!…
Giovanni walked back to the screen. I hadn't even noticed that he'd left. I'd been too busy trying to help Billie.
"…Had enough?" he asked.
"Yes! Yes, we've had enough!…We'll talk…" Richie pleaded.
Giovanni shook his head. "What do you say, Billie?"
Billie didn't answer…I wasn't sure if she couldn't, or if she just didn't want to…
Billie……Just say yes…Please…
Giovanni shrugged. "Keep at it, Ash…You're doing very well."
I'm not doing anything!!
I could feel the energy being drained from her…She couldn't go on like this much longer, I would never be able to forgive myself if something happened to her……
'To protect the world from Team Rocket!'
'To keep the money out of their pocket!'
'To denounce the evils of lies and hate!'
'To extend our reach and retaliate!'
'Billie!'
'Ash!'
'Team Pikachu, shock 'em with electric light!'
'Surrender now, or prepare for flight!'
…We're a team……No matter what…I am going to stop this, if it's the last thing I do…………and it just might be…
I worked with the energy that was closer to me, the power that was being stored inside of the machine and then directed outwards. I grabbed onto it with all of my will and pulled back inside of me. It wasn't a relief to have it back. It was actually painful…but I had to keep going.
It's only a machine. Everything has its limits…This thing can only hold so much power……We're gonna see just how much it can take…
I took all of the power that I had gathered and shot it directly into the machine. It tried to shoot it straight back at me, but I kept up a constant flow of energy. It couldn't absorb and redirect so much at the same time. The energy kind of got caught halfway in between me and the armor. I felt as if I was being suffocated and shocked at the same time…
It doesn't matter…I won't give up…I can't give up…
The machine started to hum, then buzz, and finally it began to scream. It and I had just about reached our limits. It couldn't hold much more, but I didn't have much left to give…
This is it. It's all a matter of which of us can hold out the longest…
I let out one last burst of energy, and I made it as big as I could…That was all it took. I heard something pop, and the machine started to sizzle.
Is it gonna explode…?
"Ashura!! What have you done!!?"
I was done. I was defeated…I thought the machine was too……but I had given it so much energy…After I stopped feeding it, it turned all of my power back at me at once.
I don't know what happened after that…