Chapter 5- Rocket Assault! BEGIN!
It's been several days since I've joined Team Rocket, and despite being a bad guy, it's actually been pretty fun. I mean it's the first time in ages I've been going against enemies of the normal kind, and NOT the superhuman genre. Now that I'm the new 001, the first objective is complete, and the target is in our sight… yet one very loud and annoying obstacle blocks my way… an obstacle named Aquamarine, out to kill me… again. I swear… the guy needs a new hobby…
-Ash Ketchum
(Location- Team Rocket HQ)
"ASH KETCHUM! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Aquamarine shouted
"A-AQUAMARINE!" Ash gasped, nearly choking on the doughnut, "WA!" he exclaimed as Aquamarine's fist came down and smashed the table in two, hitting the floor and shattering the tiles, "Grr!" Ash growled, jumping back and equipping QuickSilver…!
"CORAL CUDGEL!" Aquamarine roared…
CLANG!
"Argh!" Ash growled as he blocked, yet his whole body slid back, "Ow…!" he gasped, his arm trembling. The shock alone from that weapon hurt his arms…
"Ash Ketchum… I never should have let you lived! As if stealing Misty wasn't enough, NOW YOU'VE PUT HER LIFE IN DANGER!" Aquamarine roared and attacked again fiercely! He kicked Ash in the face, causing the trainer to reel back… he lifted the harpoon gun to his face and pulled the trigger…!
"AH!" Ash quickly let himself fall back, just missing the harpoon as it flew and tore through more tables. Aquamarine pressed a button and reeled it back in
"That poison killing Misty… it's all because of you!" Aquamarine growled
"What do you mean?"
"JAVELIN RAIN!" Aquamarine leapt into the air and threw dozens of javelins down. Ash yelped as he grabbed a table and lifted it high over his head, shielding himself.
"HA!" Ash shouted, throwing the table at Aquamarine, which the fiend simply smashed as he landed. Ash suddenly darted forward and struck him directly in the face with his armoured right fist! Aquamarine gasped and stumbled back, but returned the favour, smashing against Ash's head with his own fist! Aquamarine let out a savage roar, as he continued hitting Ash fiercely, continuously striking him against the face and gut. Ash stumbled, stunned by the pain, but he wasn't gonna go down. "SILVER BULLET!" Ash shouted as he swung his arm and the boosters flared increasing the strength even further…! "NO!" he gasped when Aquamarine evaded it!
-THUNK-
"AH…" Ash's eyes opened wide, when he felt the full strength of the fiend's fist smash into his stomach… "S… strong…!" he gasped, but Aquamarine wasn't done yet. The fiend roared and he smashed Ash and sent him flying
"You call dare call yourself her lover? You dare call yourself a MAN!" Aquamarine snarled. Ash groaned and got up.
"(Urgh… this is bad…!)" Ash growled… though he had grown a lot stronger than before, Aquamarine was still stronger than him…! "SILVER BULLET!" Ash aimed his arm forwards, the QuickSilver flared as he shot forwards, towards Aquamarine… smashing into him and sending him flying, crashing through many tables and chairs
"Grr" Aquamarine emerged from the pile of tables. Growling, he drew his coral weapon and darted forward, "CORAL CUDGEL!" Aquamarine swung it
WHAM!
Ash fell to the ground, floor when hit by the coral mace, and Aquamarine growled, stepping on his neck… "GRRR…!" Ash pointed the QuickSilver at Aquamarine's face and pulled a built-in trigger…
BOOM!
"NGH!" Aquamarine gasped when a nitro ball was fired. He had just evaded it, but barely, as it hit the ceiling and exploded. Ash immediately sprung to his feet and swung his fist, striking Aquamarine and sending him flying. "Urgh… No doubt about it, Ketchum. You HAVE gotten strong…" he growled, taking his fighting stance…
"In more ways than you could imagine, HAAAAAAA!" Ash charged at him…
"RHAAA!" Aquamarine charged towards Ash…
The two of them fought with incredible speed, strength and skill! Attacking one another fiercely, trading blows, neither of them was willing to give up…!
"HMM!" The two of them jumped back… both of them panting and hurt…
"Urgh…" Ash growled, struggling to stand. His body was in pain… "(Gah… he's too strong…!)" Ash gasped mentally…! Though he put up a good fight, it was clear which one of them was stronger! Aquamarine was winning…!
"(He's grown so much stronger…)" Aquamarine thought to himself, trying to block out the pain he felt in his own body. "(From the battle in the forest… in that period of time, he's grown this much? How is that possible?)" He began to growl. No… he had a job to do, and part of it included eliminating Ash… "HAAAAAA!"
"Huh!" Ash exclaimed as Aquamarine dashed forwards with lightning speed
SMACK!
"AGH!" Ash took a heavy blow from the elbow in his face. He stumbled back a few steps, but straightened up and looked, but Aquamarine was gone!
"Behind you!" Aquamarine shouted. He standing behind Ash. Before Ash could react, Aquamarine kicked back of his legs and made him trip
"AH!" Ash fell and hit his head. He gasped at what he saw when he looked up
"CORAL CUDGEL!" Aquamarine swung the weapon down to his head…
CRACK!
The floor smashed open. Lucky for Ash he moved his head, because that blow would be lethal. "HA!" Ash attacked Aquamarine with all his strength. Ash advanced, showering the Super Fiend with a flurry of powerful kicks and punches, and Aquamarine was defending himself, backing off…
"Grr…!" Aquamarine growled at Ash's fierce attacks. "You're good… BUT I'M BETTER!" He roared, slamming Ash and attacking fiercely. Aquamarine was throwing everything he had, smashing Ash with countless powerful blows, they weren't stopping! "HAA!" He spun around and kicked Ash across the face…
"Ngh…!" Ash gasped, dazed… he fell to the ground. Aquamarine had won.
"Ash Ketchum…" Aquamarine stepped over to Ash and grabbed him by the front of the shirt. Bending down, Aquamarine pulled Ash up with one hand, and held the harpoon gun to his face, his finger over the trigger. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't spike your brain and scatter your guts all over the room right now?"
"Ugh…" Ash was dazed, but he shook it off, "Agh… Why are you trying to kill me?"
"Because I hate you…" Aquamarine tightened his grip on the harpoon gun, "You stole Misty from me… the one person who matters most. That's not all, but the way everything just conveniently falls into your lap… You're so weak and pathetic, slow and stupid! Look how you had just lost to me! You can't even defend your own honour, much less protect her!"
"So then what are you trying to prove by attacking me?" asked Ash
"You remember when that poisonous dart was shot?" He asked, "Instead of taking it like a man, you had to let MISTY be the one to take a projectile intended for you! Now she's on the verge of death, and I won't allow this insolence to go unpunished!"
"Then if you wanna to 'punish insolence' then don't come after me, but attack the freaking guys who freaking DID this to her, you freaking idiot!" Ash shouted
"…My god! You're right!" Aquamarine exclaimed, letting Ash go. He turned around and started walking away, turning his head to Ash one last time, "Sorry, gotta go now, got some Kaisers to kill. Instead you can just stew in the knowledge that someday I WILL come back to kill you… but for now… bye" he left the room.
"Whew… lucky for me he's an idiot…" Ash sighed in relief… thankful that Aquamarine was stupider than him… however, he was also that much stronger than him as well. "I have to get stronger… because next time I don't think I can talk my way out of this…" Ash sighed, stepping out into the hallway, Gary and Bonsai stepped out. Ash looked up and he could see a very-well hidden AntiArctic camouflaged on the ceiling, and Goth's invisibility shadow on the ground.
"Um, what happened here?" Gary sweatdropped.
Everyone sweatdropped when they looked down the hall. The floor was littered with the bodies of Team Rocket members, some of them had their faces embedded into the wall. One guy even hung unconscious by his shirt to a ceiling fan. This path of destruction ended at the end of the hallway, where an Aquamarine-sized hole could be seen in the wall.
"That's Aquamarine's handiwork" said Bonsai, "And by the looks of it, he was in a particularly bad mood. The fight didn't have anything to do with Misty, did it?"
"Uh-huh" Ash nodded
"That explains it" AntiArctic and Goth appeared
"Tell me, is Aquamarine always this insane?" Asked Gary, "I know he should be mad if Misty is going for someone else, but aren't death matches taking it a bit far?"
"Hmph… that sort of talk you'd only hear in this generation… you're all too soft. Thanks to that pokémon league, fighting has become nothing but a game, and actual warriors are close to extinction. It's sad how the flow of time can be so cruel…" Goth shook his head as he sank into the shadows again, vanishing from sight
"What's with him?" asked Ash
"Meh, he just hasn't gotten used to the way things work in the present era" said Bonsai, crossing his arms, "Though there is some truth in what he says, how strong people like us are practically nonexistent in this age"
"What do you mean? How old is he?" Asked Gary
"Well… none of us are sure exactly how old he is, but he stopped aging very, VERY long time ago. We found him entombed in a crypt and he's been with us ever since" Bonsai sighed. "The undead… they can be really depressing you know…"
"Okay…" Ash sweatdropped at the knowledge that Goth wasn't just dead-looking, but actually dead. He quickly changed the subject, "Let's move on before Giovanni comes. I'm on his good side, and I don't want to change it by being seen around this mess. Might hold us responsible and make us hang around and clean it up…" he said as they all walked off to a more private spot. It was about time they talk to Ebi again
(Location- G.I. Jolt's HQ)
BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP
Ebi reached over to the transceiver phone "Hello?"
"EBI!" Ash's voice called, "This is Ash! (CRRRR…)"
"Ash! You're still alive? I didn't think you were gonna survive Aquamarine!" said Ebi
"Very funny. But who told you I fought him? How do you know about this?"
"It's my job." Ebi simply replied, "You worried about him getting stronger?"
"Well… yeah… but I mean… it's not like I'm really in trouble, am I?"
"If you'd think about it, how many times did he say he was gonna kill you?"
"Um…" Ash thought back. There was that time when he was on the roof spying on them, and realised that the one he was following was Ash Ketchum…
"ASH KETCHUM! You've done some damage, but THIS CROSSES THE LINE! You may have beaten Doppelganger, but I'm stronger in EVERY WAY! ASH KETCHUM! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" He crushed the binoculars to pieces. As he dropped the pieces, he sighed, "Ugh… I have GOT to stop doing that. This is how I lost my cell phone, my pokédex, my gameboy, and this is why I have to get up to change channels…"
Then there was that time when Ash called him Misty's idiot stalker…
"WHAT'D YOU CALL ME!" Aquamarine shouted, "THAT DOES IT! ASH KETCHUM! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" he pulled out his trident, "DEEP SKEWER!"
When he lost that time, and told the rest of the Fiends that Ash won because he had a flying skateboard… in which case, everyone was laughing at him…
"GRRR!" Aquamarine slammed the phone shut. "Damn you Ash Ketchum! First you steal Misty, now you humiliate me in the eyes of my team! GOD DAMMIT!" He slammed the wall with his fist, and the wall began to crumble, "GRRR!" Aquamarine growled, (a tear in his eye, clutching his now broken hand) "I swear… ASH KETCHUM! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"
Also when he and Ash first clashed in combat, with Ash's first rupture battle…
Aquamarine leapt into the air and dove down with his trident towards Ash, "PREPARE YOURSELF! ASH KETCHUM! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"
He said those words twice that time.
Ash and Pikachu ran as fast as they could, while Aquamarine was following closely, swinging that electrically charged weapon through the air. "COME BACK SO I COULD KILL YOU, ASH KETCHUM!"
Then there was ALSO that time when Ash made it look like Misty was waiting for him and got him to go away to that place, namely Mt. Everest…
"AH…" Aquamarine gasped. Veins became apparent on his forehead, and his eye started ticking, "Ash… Ketchum…" he twitched, gripping the rock so tight, he crushed it into dues, "GRRRRRRAAAAAHHHH!" He and roared, "ASH KETCHUM! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!"
KILL YOU! KILL YOU! KILL YOU… Aquamarine's voice echoed over the horizon.
Then when they were about to enter Team Rocket HQ…
"That's for you to find out, four-eyes" Aquamarine said to himself as he stayed hidden, "Correction, SEVEN of eight super fiends!" he laughed quietly. "You're not the only one who knows how to cure this poison! I'm gonna be the hero, I'm gonna save Misty… and Kill Ash Ketchum!"
In the previous chapter, he smashed trough the wall and made his message clear
"ASH KETCHUM!" Aquamarine shouted, "I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!"
And then when he left during the fight…
"Sorry, gotta go now, got some Kaisers to kill. Instead you can just stew in the knowledge that someday I WILL come back to kill you… but for now… bye" he left the room.
"So exactly how many times was it?" asked Ash
"Enough to be worried, (and why did you have to have a flashback of that last one? It was like, five minutes ago!)" said Ebi "So what did you call to talk about?"
"I'm calling to say that I've found the heal sprout but can't get to it. I don't wanna wait for Misty's condition to get critical. I need a distraction to get to it!"
"Well then you're in luck!" said Ebi, "Tell Gary to ditch his disguise and Bonsai to get rid of that Rocket uniform, and you do it too! Get AntiArctic and Goth to come out of hiding and cause some mayhem! It's time for the big battle, because we're gonna bust in and do some major damage, while you grab the heal sprout!"
"All right! Ash out! (BZZT!)" Ash turned off the transceiver phone
"Amaebi, you're planning on staying here with Misty, right?" Ebi asked as he got up
"Right" she said
"That's fine! I'll be out for a while, kicking some butt!" Ebi said as he got up
"You mean that we're finally…?" Jolt spoke up
"That's right! Prepare yourself for battle! It's the moment we've all been waiting for! Let the best part of Operation: Rocket Crash begin!"
"ALL RIGHT!" They all cheered
(Location- Team Rocket HQ)
The alarms were ringing, red lights flashing, there was chaos everywhere!
"This is Squad Four! We have an emergency! We are under attack, I repeat, we are under attack! Squads five and thirteen have all been eliminated!" An agent shouted into a communicator as his squad ran through the hallways, "What's going on? Why won't you answer!"
"It's no use, they won't respond…" a voice spoke
"What!" Squad four turned around, and gasped when they saw him appear… all of them gasped when they found themselves facing the Icy Ninja, AntiArctic! "We have found an intruder! Requesting backup!" the leader shouted, but was responded with nothing but static, "Respond…! RESPOND! WHAT IS GOING ON?"
"I told you, I've eliminated your communications centre." AntiArctic approached them, "Cut off the head, and there's nothing to control the body. Without communication, you're lost." He smiled nastily, "Though if you really want to call help… you can always try screaming. Just make sure it's very loud…"
In less than a second, it was over. Before they could move, before they could call for help or attempt to fight back, all of the rockets collapsed to the ground, all of them had been taken out by the ninja.
"Hmph, picking off these low-ranked agents has gotten boring" AntiArctic glared at his defeated opponents. This was the third security squad he alone had taken out. "I'm in the mood for some excitement!" he immediately knew the place. The main battle arena was definitely the place to go, as it was also the place where they usually gather in times of crisis. That's the place where he'd find some action! "Let's go!" he darted forward, moving quickly through the halls. Any random agents he encountered on the way were immediately struck down, reaching the arena…
"I see we both had the same idea" Goth spoke as he fought as he stood in the main of the ring, whirling his scythe through the air with incredible skill and moving fast. Even against wave after wave of opponents, none of them could even touch them, while a single hit from his weapon could end your existence on earth! "The others will arrive soon, and as when they do, it'll be all over for Team Rocket!"
"Until then we'll just have to keep fighting!" AntiArctic darted forward and leapt into the air, practically flying as he spun through the air and fought with a series of stunning acrobatics! "HYOKEN!" he shouted as a thick layer of ice froze over his fist, as he evaded Hitmonchan's punches and slipped through its guard, striking it directly in the face! Looking around, he could see a number of flying pokémon flying at him. "HM!" Quickly he whipped out a number of thin, sharp weapons made of ice and threw them at their wings, damaging them and making them fall. An Aggron lunged at him from behind, but he didn't even bother looking back, "Kogoeshinu" he said simply, unsheathing his Ninja-to and stabbing behind him. Only the tip of the blade penetrated the steel pokémon's iron hide, but it was enough. Aggron collapsed to the ground, shivering… its body encrusted with frost and insides were close to frozen…
"EbiDex scan!" A voice called out
EBIDEX SCANNER:
NAME: AntiArctic
WEAPONS: Ninja-To
ATTACKS: Hyoken (Ice Fist), Hyohen (Ice Shards), Kogoeshinu (Freeze to Death)
CLASS: Ninja
RANK: A
"Hmm?" AntiArctic looked back and saw Ebi. Along with Ebi was Brock, Tracey, Cleft, Twin Dreamer and G.I. Jolt! "You're here!"
CRACK!
"RHAAA!" Cleft roared as he smashed the ground with his fist, creating a massive shockwave, sending everyone around him flying. "LET'S GO!" Each of the fiends charged forwards towards the hundreds of Rocket Agents…
"Quickly! Go find Ash!" Ebi turned to Brock and Tracey
"Right!" Brock said as he and Tracey began running to find their comrade
(Location- Team Rocket Labs)
"It's this way!" Ash said as they ran through the labs, towards the Cybermew room
"This can't be happening!" Giovanni's voice shouted. Ash, Gary and Bonsai were in hiding when they spied on Giovanni and a scientist, "this isn't possible! Do you know how much I'm paying you!" he was shaking one of them
"Giovanni sir, it can't be helped. The swelling on the brain is getting worse, and it will not survive!" the scientists said nervously
"And if the brain doesn't survive, then neither will the creature!" Giovanni shouted and slapped the scientist, "And if something were to happen to my precious pet, then I'll make sure you suffer the same fate!"
"y-y-yes sir" the scientist was shaking as he reached for the heal sprout, "This one should be enough to take care of it" he said as he held the plant in his hands
"Well? Do your job already!" Giovanni shouted.
Behind the scientist was a machine used for extracting the liquids inside the plant. He held the scrub carefully in his hands as he walked over to it…
"YOINK!"
"Huh?" Giovanni and the scientist looked up. The scientist was shocked to see that the scrub wasn't in his hands anymore! Bonsai was holding it!
"003!" Giovanni exclaimed, "What are you doing here!"
"It's not 003. I'm way prouder of my real than that pathetic number you gave me! I'm just here to tell you I quit, and I'm also taking the plant!" he smirked
"Why you… traitor!" Giovanni growled. He then turned and looked at Cybermew in the tank. Cybermew's condition wasn't good, and its brain was starting to swell on the inside of its head and soon it would die!
"Flattery will get you nowhere… whoa!" Bonsai exclaimed. Giovanni lunged at him, but Bonsai jumped back and threw the sprout, "CATCH!"
"GOT IT!" Ash jumped up and caught the heal sprout
"All right!" Gary cheered
"001! 002! I'm glad you're here! 003 has the sprout! Stop him!" said Giovanni
"Why? We don't work for you," said Gary
"You'll find out letters of resignation on your desk" said Ash as they both turned around and started walking off
"GRRRR…" Giovanni growled, "I think not!" he said
"MEOWR!"
SCRIT!
"YEOWWWW!" Ash shouted out in pain and surprise, the scrub flew out of his hands, and Gary ran and grabbed it "What was that!" he exclaimed. His question was answered when he saw an angry Persian in front of him
"Grr…" Giovanni growled, holding a pokéball. "I'll show you how I deal with traitors!"
"Hm!" Ash and Gary both grabbed pokéballs, "Pokéball G-"
CRACK!
"YAGH!" Both Ash and Gary exclaimed when the ground shattered, and stone slabs erupted from the ground. The two of them saw what was the cause, a Dugtrio!
"He's quick!" Bonsai gasped. The way Giovanni had released both Persian and Dugtrio without being noticed, it was because of his quickness in releasing them! "Hm! If it's a battle of speed you want, I'll be your opponent!" he quickly drew both war fans, "HAAA-AGH!" As he charged forward, he suddenly crashed into a large solid figure. "WHAT!" he exclaimed but gasped again when he suddenly felt the impact of a large stone fist in his face! It was a Rhydon!
"They used to call me king of the quick-draw" Giovanni smirked. "There's more to winning battles than power and strategy, and that's the skill of the trainer themselves. The first strike is crucial, and by releasing the pokémon faster than the opponents can react, I can win the battle before it even starts."
"Unfortunately, that strategy only works on regular opponents" Ash smirked. His other friends were here… and if they were here, it meant… "PIKACHU! THUNDER!"
"PIKAAAAA!" Pikachu sprang up out of nowhere…
BZZZZZZZAP!
"PSROOOOOWRRRR!" Persian screeched and fell to the ground unconscious.
"Great job buddy!" Ash cheered
"PIKA!" Pikachu jumped up and high-fived Ash
"Ash!" Brock and Tracey appeared, "The other fiends are busy taking care of the main forces, so we'd thought we'd handle the big boss!" said Brock
"Ebi's also here! He said to bring the sprout to him!" said Tracey
"Right, I'll take care of that!" Bonsai held up the plant and dashed off
"No!" Giovanni yelled, he had to get the plant back…
BEEEEP!
A sound came from the Cybermew tank. The vital signs faded, the brain swelling had gotten it… the lights faded as the computer shut down. Its program was complete, there was no more need for life support. Cybermew was dead
"N… N… NOOOOO!" Giovanni shouted at the top of his lungs. All those millions of dollars, all those months of hard work to create this pokémon… all his efforts, were for nothing! "You…" he turned around, his voice was bitter with fury and hate. He growled and the group readied themselves for whatever was coming. There was another beeping sound, it was his cell phone. He quickly answered, "What is it!"
"Giovanni sir! The entire base is under siege… our attackers… they're the Super Fiends…! They're too much! Our forces can't handle it! We're losing-!"
CRACK!
Giovanni crushed the phone in his hand before the agent could finish, "Because of you… our next Mew is dead, my army is losing, the entire Team Rocket organization I had put so much work into building is in pieces… all because of you…" he snarled
"Get ready…" Ash and the group readied themselves
"I am going to make you wish…" he growled, "THAT YOU WERE NEVER BORN!"
Though the infiltration was a success and the sprout was taken, heroes find themselves facing Giovanni himself! What is the leader of Team Rocket truly capable of? Find out next time on Pokémon: Shadow of the Deceiver!
(TO BE CONTINUED)