Chapter 48: Admin Resistance

All remaining rocket grunts stood at attention as Giovanni's helicopter landed, their leader walking out with an air of authority, his Persian and second in command Archer flanking him. He scowled as his three lieutenants bowed.

"Giovanni, sir."

"You had better have good news for me. I've received news that our operations have breached."

"Minor setbacks, sir. Besides, we're all set to open the Ultra Wormholes. Once we capture Type: Null and its master, the Ultra Beasts will be ours."

"Excellent. And the boy?"

"Walking into our hands as we speak."

"Excellent."

Without another word, Giovanni walked past them to oversee the preparations. Archer followed, pausing briefly in front of proton with a smirk.

"So, how long did it take?"

"Shut up."

After what seemed like hours of climbing, the group made their way into the higher floors of the Foundation. Gladion led the way, slipping his way out of the maintenance shaft before motioning for the others to follow him. Once everyone was out, he led the way down the corridor.

"Alright, we're approaching the Penthouse. If Team Rocket has Lusamine anywhere, its there."

"Hey, you punks aren't supposed to be up here!"

Everyone turned to find Proton waling towards them, a wicked grin on his face.

"Well, welll, well, looks like I've found my prey."

He pointed towards Ash.

"Let's go, twerp. Boss can't wait to meet you."

"Dream on! I wouldn't go near him with a twenty foot pole."

"I'm not giving you an option, now lets go!"

Before Proton could lay a finger on Ash, however, Looker stepped in and decked him, sending him to the ground. Despite this, Proton grinned as he picked himself up.

"So you wanna do this the hard way, huh? Fine, go Houndoom!"

"Croagunk, I choose you!"

Two two Pokemon eyed eachother, Houndoom pawing the earth and Croagunk punching the air to psyche their opponent out.

"Houndoom, use Fire Blast!"

"Hit him with a Fire Blast, Houndoom!"

"Mud Slap!"

Croagunk swatted away the massive blaze before throwing bits of mud at Houndoom, causing it pain and blinding it.

"Shake it off, you weakling, then use Flame Charge!"

Houndoom managed to regain its composure and ran full force, body covered in flames...

Only to stop and look around in confusion, its prey no longer in sight. Unbeknownst to it, the ground beneath was begging to shake.

"Beneath you!"

The warning came too late, as Croagunk burst up and dealt a sharp blow to his underbelly, sending it flying in pain.

"Follow up with Brick Break!"

Croagunk jumped up and did a hard chop to Houndoom's head, sending it crashing to the floor.

"Finish him off with Bulldoze!"

Houndoom had just barely enough time to push itself to its feet before Croagunk slammed into the ground, sending shockwaves the knocked it back to the ground in defeat. Proton was livid as he recalled his Pokemon, spitting on its Pokeball before pocketing it.

"Worthless mutt. Go-"

His words were cut short before a large amount of electricity entered his body, causing him to howl in pain. After a minute, he slumped to the ground unconcious, revealing a woman in glasses that Lillie and Gladion knew all to well.

"Wicke!

"You're alright!"

Wicke smiled as Gladion and Lillie rushed to hug her, leaving their companions rather confused.

"Uh, you guys want to introduce us?"

Lillie pulled back, wiping tears from her eyes.

"This is Wicke, Mother's trusted assistant. She looked after Gladion and me when we were younger, and helped me and Nebby escaped."

"Boy, are we glad to see you. How did you escape?"

"When Team Rocket first landed, they went after Lusamine first. I hid in a storage closet until they were gone, then grabbed a taser to defend myself. I overheard some grunts talking about a breach in security, so I went to investigate. I should've known it was you."

Despite his happiness, Gladion turned dead serious.

"Wicke, we need to find mother immediately and put a stop to this. Do you know where they're keeping her?"

Wicke frowned.

"They took her and Nebby to your father's private lab. She's not in good shape."

Gladion clenched his fists in anger.

"How dare they defile his place of work! If they get a hold of his research, it'll be the end of the world as we know it. Come on!"

With that, he took off running, Wicke and the rest chasing after him.

"Gladion, wait! Its too dangerous!"

"I don't care!"

Giovanni sat bored in his chair as the scientists made the final preparations, stroking his Persian to gently as tubes and wires were hooked up to Nebby's container. Ariana walked forward, a grim look on her face.

"We haven't heard back from Proton in 15 minutes. I'm afraid we must fear the worse."

"Humph. Good riddance."

Ariana's eyes widened in horror.

"Sir?"

"Proton was a fool who underestimated who he was dealing with. If he's been captured, so be it. Once we have the Ultra Beasts, any information he could give them will be useless. Are we ready?"

"Yes sir."

"Then let the new world order begin!"

Ariana hid her look of disgust as the prison worked its magic, electrifying itself and its prisoner as Nebby gave a devestating wail.

"PEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!"