A herd of trucks sped into Goldenrod City, and thereon to the Radio Tower. The sun had already disappeared from the sky, and it grew darker. "Team Rocket's already gotten here," said Red.
"And we're going to welcome them," remarked Blue.
"They'll be sorry for trying to bring the world to ruin," Green snickered.
Outside, Lance, the Elite Four, and all of the Gym Leaders had left their vehicles. "All right, is everyone present and accounted for?" He checked. Everyone was present. "OK! Now it's time for the final showdown!"
They all ran into the tower's entrance; the flood overcrowded them, but after some management (and Chuck's Primeape to knock down part of the wall) they made it inside.
---
Conner and Sandy looked out at the window. "More people?" Conner complained.
"It looks like Kamon and his friends were our enemies all along," ridiculed Sandy. She pulled out a cellular phone, saying, "Elites, please bring Duncan and Crystal Caliduct to us now."
---
Kamon and Axel scurried down the stairs, floor after floor, until they reached the ground floor. There, Kamon saw the Elite Four, and the Gym Leaders! In addition, they had created a massacre of unconscious Team Rocket Grunts. "What the heck? You came!"
Blue then said, "Whoa! You came too! Isn't that a coincidence?"
Green then reminded him, "That was the plan, Blue."
Red said, "Yeah, Blue. He was going to go there anyway."
"Actually, we originally chose to just stay home," corrected Kamon. "But when Team Rocket came over, we were forced to make a change of plans."
Lance then interjected, "Anyway, it's good to see you again. Where was that audio tape you were going to give us?"
"Oh, yeah!" He reached into his pocket, and handed the tape, which was labeled, "Team Rocket saying they'll draft us."
"Thank you, Silver," Red said happily.
"Hey, no problem," replied Kamon.
"All right, is everyone ready for the big night?" asked Lance.
"We're ready for anything," replied Blue.
"We beat them once, we'll beat them again," Red stated.
They all ran through the floor, heading upstairs, except for Lorelei, Bruno, Koga, and Janine. Koga then said, "OK, people, let's get downstairs."
"All right, Axel, let's head down into the basement," Kamon told the Persian.
"Fufushaa!" cried out Axel. The translator showed that he said, "We can't go without Gold and Crystal!"
"What? Oh, yeah! Let's go get them. All right, you remaining four, here's the key card to the basement."
"Thanks, Silver," said Bruno. "All right, let's go underground."
---
Duncan and Crystal were gone. "What the- I told them to stay here," mumbled Kamon. "Where could they be?" Axel had a note in his mouth. Kamon took the piece of paper.
"OK, it says...
Hey Silver, If you ever want to see your friends again, please head into the basement, at the warehouse room. Don't try anything funny, or we'll make your life a living hell! That includes hurting Gold and Crystal! Your enemy, Rebecca Tina Drayan."
This was not good. Why did they do this? "We're in a lot of trouble." Oh, well. He was going to go down there, anyway. "Come on, Axel, let's save our friends and stop Team Rocket!" With the Elite Four, his safety was guaranteed.
---
Kamon and Axel arrived at the automated door, which had a sign saying "No Unauthorized Entry Beyond This Point". It was still unlocked, and it opened when Kamon came near it. They headed down the stairs, hoping that no alarm would go off. As Kamon reached the bottom, no alarm sounded. He switched on the light switch. Florescent light bulbs illuminated the small, dusty, relatively cold room. The walls were metal and the floor was concrete. He had to reach the others and rescue Duncan and Crystal... and fast!
---
Spike was locked in a small and uncomfortable cage shivering from the coldness of the basement and in fear. Duncan and Crystal were tied together to a pole with Ben Pyrolic and the Radio Tower director, Omri Cinedima. "Now, you three, let's not get hasty here..." said the elderly gym doorman.
"Shut up, old man!" ordered Becky. "We're keeping you here until Silver comes!"
"What happens if the boy doesn't show up?" asked Omri. "What's so important about the kid?"
"Well, he happens to be our old boss' son," answered Courtney.
Tabitha interjected, "If he doesn't show up, you're gonna get pulverized!"
"Exactly," said Duncan. "And they want to get me and Crystal to join Team Rocket with him."
Ben then exclaimed, "That would be the reason Team Rocket liked you. They can't wait to get you to become criminals."
Becky roared, "How the heck did you get that?"
"We stole it, remember?" reminded Crystal.
Duncan sighed in resentment. He wished he had never messed with Team Rocket. "I guess we'll just have to wait for him to come."
---
Kamon and Axel walked through the cold basement. It was even scarier than the higher floors. The lights were dimmer, too.
"Ariados, String Shot!"
A large spider-type Pokemon emerged from the darkness and shot a sticky string at Kamon, binding his legs together and causing him to fall to the ground. "Whoa!" Axel quickly dashed out of the way.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't see you very well," apologized Janine. "It's really dark in here."
"OK, just let me out of this string!" Kamon tried to pull his legs loose, but they were stuck together tightly. Axel unsheathed his claws, and scratched the string off of Kamon, who stood up free. "Thanks, Axel! Anyway, Janine, I need to get to the others."
"All right, follow me."
---
Janine, Kamon, and Axel reached Bruno, Lorelei, and Koga.
Kamon felt a bit more comfortable with powerful trainers around him. "Hey, everyone, Gold and Kris got captured- again - by Team Rocket! But they're in this basement. Where's the warehouse room?"
"We haven't gotten to there yet," replied Koga. "That's one of our stops."
"But our allies are prisoners," interjected Bruno. "We'd better get there soon!"
"Right," said Kamon. "Or Team Rocket might kill them." He couldn't imagine it.
"Well, don't just stand there," insisted Lorelei. "We've got friends to save!"
---
As they ran into the warehouse, Lorelei screamed in extreme pain. A Machoke punched her face; it was now battered, and her glasses were cracked. A Victreebel then forced her arm into its big mouth, digesting the flesh. Lorelei then pulled her fleshless arm loose; Machoke then punched her rib-cage, and she fell to the ground.
Kamon grew disgusted at the body. "Quick, Axel! Fight that Victreebel!"
Axel then jumped out, unsheathed his claws, and pounced toward the digestive flower, scratching it violently. Victreebel attempted to force the cat into its mouth, but Axel put all of his strength to keep himself from getting digested. He then took a bite out of Victreebel, making a large tear on its body.
"Quick, Hitmonchan, make sure Machoke doesn't get to Axel!" Bruno then called out the boxing-gloved humanoid Pokemon. Hitmonchan walked toward the other humanoid, and punched it twice. Machoke turned away from Axel and Victreebel, and reached for Hitmonchan. The boxer quickly jumped back. Machoke jumped toward Hitmonchan, smashing the concrete floor; the boxer was too quick. Machoke then rammed towards Hitmonchan, but missed, and hit the metal wall, fazing the wrestler Pokemon. Hitmonchan then punches the dazed Machoke in the head, causing the wrestler to fall to the ground, unconscious.
Axel whipped the Victreebel with his tail, sending the flying flower sprawling.
Koga and Janine then came to examine the dying Lorelei.
Lorelei breathed heavily, and everything seemed to go black. "I... don't think I can make it through..."
Bruno felt a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Come on, Lorelei, you can hack it."
"I can hack it... ugh!" Lorelei spat up blood, and completely stopped all motion in Bruno's arms. Tears began to leak from Bruno's eyes. "I loved her... Why have I been granted bad luck in my life? Why? We wanted to raise a family together!" Bruno was crying in emotional pain.
Axel, roughed up and slightly battered, but still okay, ran towards Kamon. "You really sent that Victreebel packing!"
Koga then told everyone else, "We'd better keep moving; Team Rocket isn't very patient."
"Let's go get some payback," said Bruno in revenge.
"We're going to kick their butts for killing one of the Elite Four!" exclaimed Janine.
---
"Well, there you are," said Becky. She then saw that Kamon had brought along Koga, Janine, and Bruno. "I didn't tell you to bring anyone else along!"
"Well, he did," retorted Koga. "And we're going to get back at you for killing Lorelei!"
"Lorelei's my cousin!" exclaimed Becky. "Why would I kill her?"
"Yeah, man, why would we kill anyone?" asked Tabitha.
"Well, one thing," Kamon pressed, "your Victreebel tried to eat Axel!"
"Hey, I just thought he could use some fighting!" argued Tabitha.
"By putting him in danger?" questioned Janine. "You could have had that Persian killed!"
Kamon secretly untied Spike, Crystal, Duncan, Ben, and Omri, and they secretly sneaked out of the warehouse room while Team Rocket quarreled with the stronger trainers.
Janine, who searched Lorelei's corpse and took her Pokemon, called out Jynx. "All right, Jynx, let's freeze these Rockets!"
Jynx shook her head, refusing to take orders from the ninja girl, and only from the Elite Four trainer.
"Come on, Jynx! Lorelei's dead," insisted Koga. When Jynx heard that, she planted a kiss on Tabitha, causing him to loose consciousness.
"Oh, man... I'm feeling sleepy..." He passed out.
Jynx then curled her fists until they became encased in blocks of ice. The human-like Pokemon then socked the punches on Becky and Courtney, freezing them in blocks of ice.
---
As Lance and Karen reached the top of the tower, they noticed that it was completely empty. "Where are those Rockets?" asked Lance.
"They got away!" said a shocked Karen.
All the other allies murmured to each other in disbelief.
"What are we going to do?"
"They might succeed!"
"We can't let them!"
---
As Kamon, Duncan, Crystal, Ben, and Omri traveled through the basement, those two Team Rocket interim bosses showed up halfway through. "Oh, great! Not you guys again!" whined Kamon.
"Trying to escape!" questioned Sandy. "Well, we've decided – would you like to join us in our future work and be reunited with your father?"
"No way!" rejected Kamon. "I've decided to find my dad on my own!"
"We're going to shut you down once and for all," added Duncan.
"I really think you should reconsider what you're doing," Crystal told Conner and Sandy. "It's bad for the Pokemon." Spike shook in fear.
"I'm sure Spike can be put to use," said Sandy. "We can modify him to make him super-powerful."
Crystal quickly batted against that idea. "No! I won't let you change a Pokemon's natural ability!"
Kamon told them, "Pokemon aren't tools of war; they're living beings like us!"
"Well, if you refuse, we'll have to force you," said Conner. "Go, Muk, let's teach them respect!"
"Come on, Arbok, we'll convince them!"
Arbok and Muk moved toward Duncan, Crystal, and Kamon. "What are we going to do? We're not strong enough..."
Suddenly, a Charmeleon dashed into the basement, his lit tail flaring, illuminating the basement. "Come on, Blowtorch! Let's save our cousins!" That was Red!
Accompanied with Red were Green and Blue.
"Well, if it isn't our old enemies, the Color Triad," mumbled Conner.
"You're just more pests to get rid of," added Sandy.
"All right, guys, let's face the final showdown!" exclaimed Green. The battle was about to begin!
---
As the Color Triad started to fight Team Rocket, the others left the basement, and up to the ground floor. As they climbed through, they were surprised to see the many unconscious grunts sprawled around.
"What a mess," said Omri in disbelief. "The Elite Four must have come and stomped them!"
"Well, they did," said Duncan.
"One of them – Lorelei – got killed when we were trying to save you," said Kamon sadly.
"Oh..." Omri was sad to hear about Lorelei's death. "It's always a sad time when one of your allies dies."
They saw Lance pacing the floor in failure. "We've failed... Team Rocket has won."
"If you're looking for Team Rocket," Omri told Lance happily, "they're in the basement, fighting the Color Triad!"
"That's great to hear!" Lance's adrenaline began to rush through his body.