Brock soon realized that he had sorely underestimated how quickly the cavern was flooding, but there was nowhere else to go but in the direction they were already heading—the path sloped upward, meaning that everywhere behind them would be already rapidly submerging further.
But their situation wasn't much better—the narrow path that had once been dry was now slowly disappearing underwater. Meowth was panicking, clinging on top of a levitating Weezing for dear life, and Charizard had resorted to flying, scowling at the water beneath him. Brock and Arbok had pressed onward, but as the water level increased, Brock had to resort to clinging onto the wall.
"Charizard…" he said. "I know how you feel about Team Rocket, but I need you to give Arbok a ride until we get out of here."
Charizard looked incredibly opposed to the idea, but let Arbok onto his back with the utmost reluctance.
"And what about yourself?" Meowth queried, incredulously. "Youse ain't exactly a water-type, either!"
"I'll keep holding on to the wall; we've got to be getting close—that fresh air is getting stronger."
"Hey, dat's right—look, I think I even see a light up there!" Meowth exclaimed. "It's da way out!"
There was a pause, and before Brock could say anything, he heard a familiar voice—
"Meowth!?"
Charizard roared in excitement at the sound of Ash's voice.
"Ash!" Brock called up to him. "Are you guys okay!?"
"Yeah, we're fine!" Ash called down, emotion evident in his voice. "How about you guys!?"
"It was a little rough going, but it'll be okay now!" Brock said.
"No kidding!" Ash exclaimed. "We're still working on getting the hole wide enough for you guys—just hang tight a bit longer!"
"A bit longer is all we got!" Meowth quipped. "We're takin' on water here!"
Geodude picked up the pace as safely as he could; once the hole was large enough, Meowth, Weezing, and (after a tight squeeze around his hood) Arbok made it through to safety, reuniting with Jessie and James.
"Just a bit more, Geodude!" Brock called, slowly trying to make his way closer. "If you can just make it so that Charizard can get his wings through—"
Charizard looked to him and grunted, indicating that Brock could probably squeeze through now if he got on his back, but Brock shook his head.
"You stuck with me to help me earlier," Brock reminded him. "You can bet I'll stay with you now."
Charizard, clearly moved, nodded, but then indicated that the floodwater was now up to Brock's knees. Without wasting another moment, Charizard lowered a wing to allow Brock to climb onto his back—despite the wing now being partly submerged by the water, too.
"Alright, if you insist…" he sighed, getting on Charizard's back.
Barely a few minutes had gone by before the portion of the cavern wall that Brock had been holding on to gave way in a small slide. Brock stared at the now-buried spot where he'd been, unable to suppress a shudder.
Geodude had finally cleared enough space to allow Charizard to fly though.
Soon, they were all reunited outside in the fresh air, the trainers in their own group hug and Team Rocket in their own, all of them overcome with emotion.
"You're sure you're okay?" Ash asked, his voice cracking. "Both of you?"
Charizard gave him a quick, reassuring roar, proudly shooting off a flamethrower into the sky.
"Yeah, he's alright," Misty grinned, wiping a few happy tears from her eyes.
"You should be really proud of Charizard, Ash," Brock said. "If it hadn't been for him, I wouldn't have made it. I'd have fallen in that aquifer and probably drowned if he hadn't caught me."
Ash shuddered at the thought, and gave Charizard a grateful look.
"Thanks, Buddy," he said. "You're the best."
Charizard blew a pair of smoke rings from his nostrils, as if to say You've got that right.
"Yeah, I'll second that," Brock said.
"And then I'll third it," Misty added.
"Pikapika!"
Ash's smile faded somewhat, though, as he realized just how close a call they'd had.
"Brock, listen… I gotta apologize."
"He's right—me, too," Misty added
"Hey, don't worry about it," Brock assured them. "It's fine—"
"No, it really isn't," Ash said. "I got so caught up in wanting to cut down the time to get my next badge…"
"…And I was in a rush to get back to civilization," Misty added. "We were both thinking of ourselves, and nothing else."
"…And because of that, we nearly lost two of our best friends," Ash finished.
Brock now put a hand on one of their shoulders.
"Look, you two—you didn't realize the danger at first; that's only natural. My little brothers and sisters have done that before, and being with you two reminds me a lot of home—I'll give you that."
Ash and Misty both managed wan smiles.
"The important thing is, you did realize that something was wrong and tried to leave when I insisted on turning back halfway—and when things really went wrong, you all stepped up to help us out of that," Brock continued. "There's no way any of us could have expected that explosion." He paused, frowning. "And speaking of that explosion…" He glanced over at Team Rocket, who were still in a group hug. "Hey, Meowth! I think you ought to tell Jessie and James what you told me."
"What's this about?" Jessie asked, as James looked on in confusion.
Meowth's expression fell, but he knew he had to break it to them.
"I hate to be the one to tell ya this, but… Well, dis is what set off the explosion earlier, and… well… just take a look…"
He pointed at the gold-plated pen, and both Jessie and James's expressions fell, realizing what it meant.
"I don't get it," Ash said, softly. "What's up with that?"
"That charge was set off by a Team Rocket executive," Brock replied in a whisper. "It's highly unlikely that they didn't know that the trio were in the cave at the time."
Misty gasped quietly as Ash stared, wide-eyed.
"How many executives are stationed in Johto?" James asked.
"Four," Jessie replied. "Archer, Ariana, Petrel, and Proton."
They paused, exchanging glances with each other and Meowth.
"…It's gotta be Proton," they said, in unison.
Even Ash was feeling sorry for them.
"So… what are you guys gonna do?" he asked them.
"…What else can we do?" James asked, glumly. "Am I supposed to go back home and marry Jessiebelle? I'd rather take my chances with whatever executive did this."
"…Are you serious!?" Misty asked, gobsmacked.
"Look, we all have our reasons for doing what we do," Jessie said. "Ours just happens to be that… we have no other choice."
"But maybe if—" Ash began.
"Look, Kid, I get where you're going with this," Jessie interrupted him. "You're lucky to have other options—but we don't."
"Our best bet is just stayin' out of Proton's way," Meowth agreed. "And if youse guys are smart, you'll stay outta his way, too."
"Executive Proton is known for his cruelty and lack of mercy," James added.
"So you're going to stay with Team Rocket, in spite of this Executive Proton and what he did?" Brock asked.
"Until we can find something else to put food on our plates, sure," Jessie sighed.
"But we can't let him get away with what he did!" Misty exclaimed.
There was a long pause.
"You know, if there was anyone who could put Proton in his place, it just might be you twerps," Jessie realized.
"It's too risky now, though," James added.
"But maybe we can keep tabs on him and let ya know," Meowth mused.
"That might be something," Ash said.
"Sure, but don't be getting any ideas on confronting Proton without our help," Jessie warned.
"Yeah; he's a real piece of work—and it's a cinch he knew you three were in the cave, too—you weren't exactly quiet," James pointed out. "I wouldn't wish his wrath on anyone—certainly not you twerps."
"Understood," Brock said. "Don't worry—I'll keep the others safe."
"Right," Jessie said. She paused. "You know… As much as I hate to admit it, we owe you for helping Meowth and our Pokémon get back to us. So, don't get used to this, but… maybe we can extend our truce just long enough for you to ride with us in our balloon over this mountain."
"I think we'll take you up on that—just this once," Ash said, as the others nodded.
It was inevitable that soon, they'd fall back into their old routine of battling over Pikachu—but the knowledge that, someday, they might be able to bring Proton to justice was undoubtedly going to be on their minds, as well.
For now, they would be grateful for their escape and that they would soon be traveling on, together once again.
Notes: And it's done! I realize I left it at an open ending in regards to Proton evading justice, but I do have plans to address that in a future fic if inspiration allows. Thanks to everyone who supported this!