When Erika, Sabrina, Vileplume, Bella, Bill, and Surge arrived back at Oak's ranch, Misty and Gary were already back. She leapt off of her Pidgeot, only to forget that she'd hurt her knees, and fell over upon impact. Gary rushed over to help her up, but Erika brushed him off.

"Help Sabrina!" she yelled. "She needs immediate attention!"

Gary's eyes widened in horror when he saw her. Sabrina's eyes had rolled back, and she'd been foaming at the mouth. He carefully picked her up and carried her inside.

"Gramps! Quickly!" he called. "I need help here!"

Oak quickly ran off with Gary, and Erika tried to follow, but Oak stopped her.

"Misty needs you," he told her, then continued on with Gary inside the house.

Erika turned around to see where Misty was, and heard her wailing hysterically out the back of the lab. She hadn't noticed it up until then, as she was far too concerned about Sabrina. She ran over to her, and stopped cold when she saw Raichu's lifeless body cradled in her arms. Misty's clothes were covered in Raichu's blood, and she wouldn't let go of her. Surge's Raichu was slumped on the ground nearby, feeling as though he should be doing something to help, but unsure of exactly what. He was struggling seeing a fellow Raichu struck down like that, and was confused.

"Misty," Erika said softly, gently touching her shoulder. "I'm so sorry...I don't know what to say…"

Misty gently placed Raichu on the ground, then grabbed Erika and hugged her so tightly that she thought she was going to crack a rib. Erika gently stroked Misty's back, tears slowly rolling down her face. Surge's Raichu padded his way over to Misty's Raichu and held her paws, tears rolling down his own cheeks, causing sparks as they passed over his electric sacs. He tried shocking her back to life a few times, and couldn't understand why she wouldn't wake up.

"I'm sorry, Raichu," Surge said in his best attempt at a comforting tone. "Misty's Raichu was a brave soldier, but she's not gonna make it home this time. We need to honour her sacrifice, and take a moment to remember our friend. But then we need to move on. This war ain't over, and the rest of us soldiers need to continue the fight."

Erika let go of Misty, then turned around and slapped Surge in the face as hard as she could. Surge didn't flinch, and didn't try to stop her.

"How can you say that?!" she screamed. "Can't you see what's going on here? Misty's friend just died! How can you possibly expect her to just 'move on'? Give her a moment!"

"I'm sorry Erika," Surge answered. "I agree, she needs to take a moment – we all do. But then we need to move on. While we sit here mourning, Rocket United are gathering their forces. And their forces might be more than we can handle."

"You bastard," Erika growled. "I can't believe what you expect of her. She's not like you! She's not a soldier, she's a nineteen year old girl!"

"No, he's right," Misty sobbed. "Thanks Erika, you're a good friend, and I love you, but Surge is right. We can't stop yet, even to mourn the loss of a friend, as much as it hurts me to say it. We need to make a new plan."

"But Misty," Erika said softly, "are you sure? I mean, this is a lot to deal with."

"And it's not gonna be any less difficult after all this is done," Misty frowned, trying to turn her anguish into anger. "But we need to strike now, when it suits us. Not when it suits Team Rocket. And I want revenge...for Raichu…"

Try as she might, she couldn't hold her composure. She began to tear up at the mention of Raichu's name, and quickly became hysterical again. Erika held her old friend as she cried and cried, and Surge tried to rally everyone else.

"Come on," he frowned. "Everyone else, we need to talk strategy."

"No," Oak said from the doorway. "Right now, we take a night off. It's late, and this has been a terrible day. Any plans we come up with now will be severely flawed."

"Fair point," Surge conceded. "Fine then. Oh-seven-hundred tomorrow, we gather and we plan our next move."

"Oh-eight-hundred," Oak frowned back at him.

Surge nodded, then turned back to Misty and Erika.

"I'm sorry if I seemed...harsh," he told the two girls.

"It's...okay…" Misty replied between sobs.

"And Surge?" Erika added. "Thanks for the rescue."

"Don't mention it. I'll owe you guys for the rest of my days," Surge smiled, then turned sombre again. "And don't worry about Raichu, I'll take good care of her. We can do this all properly tomorrow, okay?"

"Thanks…" Misty sniffed.

"Say, where's Ketchum?"

"Head into the lab," Oak said as he stepped outside. "Brock and Gary will fill you in – I mean, debrief you."

As Surge entered the lab, Oak handed Misty a bottle. She looked at him in surprise, wiping her tears away.

"But I can't," she shook her head. "I have to see if Sabrina's okay, and Bill, and –"

"They're fine," Oak smiled warmly. "Bill just needs some bed rest for a few days, and Sabrina...well, Sabrina's trained her mind to withstand attacks, even dark type attacks. She's in a sort of coma right now, but she'll be just fine. It's a defence mechanism."

"When will she wake up?" Erika asked.

"No idea," Oak shrugged. "Psychic abilities and neuroscience aren't exactly my field of speciality. I would guess that she's going to be out of action for at least a day or so, and after that...well, who knows? Her vitals are normal – well, normal enough for someone in a coma – and she hasn't received any other major trauma of any kind. She'll make a full recovery, don't you worry about that."

"But Professor, I don't...I don't understand," Misty sobbed. "Isn't dark type...s-strong against...against psychic?"

"Misty, my dear girl, you've hit the nail on the head," Oak frowned with seriousness. "The attacks she withstood would have taken down all but the most powerful psychic Pokémon on the planet, never mind psychic people. Whatever attacked her must have been outrageously strong. But enough of that. I want you two to share this with me."

Misty looked at the enormous bottle Oak had given her, and found that it was a twenty-year-old bottle of malt whisky from the Galar region.

"I'd been saving it for a special occasion," he told her, "and celebrating the life of a wonderful friend seems like a perfect occasion to me. Come, tell me some funny stories about the things you and Raichu got up to."

Everyone gathered outside early in the morning to say their goodbyes to Raichu. Professor Oak led the ceremony with dignity and compassion, and Misty got the impression he'd done this a few times before. She tried her best not to cry too much, but it was impossible. Raichu had only been with her for a relatively short time compared to old friends like Starmie and Seaking, but over the course of the last year or so she'd been a constant companion. She'd become a true friend to Misty, and the two of them understood each other in a manner similar to the way Pikachu and Ash did.

Raichu had been abandoned by her old trainer a long time ago, and Ash and Misty had found her playing with Pikachu while they trained together one day, just after they escaped from their initial confrontation with the old Elite Four. She'd taken an immediate shine to Misty, and began following her around. But it wasn't until Ash brought out Pikachu to battle against her that Misty realised she needed Raichu on her team. She'd known since competing in the Jessie League competition that she needed to diversify beyond just using water types if she hoped to be a proper threat to Rocket United, and she'd already started training up a Flareon, but she needed an electric type. Raichu had happily stepped in to battle for her, resulting in a narrow loss to Pikachu, and willingly became her newest companion.

Raichu – like Pikachu – tended to dislike pokéballs, but not to quite the same extent as Pikachu. She simply preferred to sleep outside, and liked following Misty around. Ash had always speculated that Raichu just didn't want to be abandoned again, but Misty knew that it was because she was extremely protective of her. And it was Raichu's fierce loyalty and big personality that made their short time together so intensely important to her.

But losing a second friend that she'd become very close to in a very short amount of time was bringing Misty dangerously close to breaking point. She couldn't take any more – seeing Sabrina so close to death had very nearly pushed her over the edge. All Misty wanted now was to punish Team Rocket, and wipe their organisation from existence for all time.

After the short service that Professor Oak so beautifully directed, they all entered the lab and sat down.

"So, let's go over our intelligence," Surge began.

"Alright, I'll start," Gary offered. "Team Rocket knew we were coming. I don't think they were expecting Misty, but they definitely expected an attack of some sort, and they definitely expected Ash. They took both him and Pikachu as their prisoners, and we were forced to leave without them. We were woefully unprepared for them, and especially for their Pokémon. Whatever they've done to them, it's frightening. Those...things…they were freaks. Even worse than Shadow Pokémon."

"Sabrina and I saw one at Bill's place too," Erika added. "An Umbreon. It was almost rabid. At least a Shadow Pokémon can reason. This one was just bloodthirsty. It kept attacking Sabrina long after she'd passed out, but it obeyed orders as well. I think obeying orders was just about the last semblance of sentience it had left."

"Wait a minute," Surge interrupted, looking at Gary. "Did you just say Team Rocket?"

"Yeah," Gary nodded, frowning with seriousness. "They're back. We think it was them all along. This whole 'Rocket United' thing was a ruse of some sort. Probably to eliminate the competition and throw us all off their trail."

"Heh, sounds good to me," Surge snorted. "If they're just Team Rocket, there'll be a whole lot less of 'em than before."

"Maybe so," Brock disagreed, "but they're more dangerous now than ever. These...super Shadow Pokémon, they seem pretty unstoppable. Not to mention a threat to everyone, everywhere. How do you stop something that strong, that won't hesitate to kill?"

"True," Surge nodded. "My Raichu's ultimate Thunder attack didn't even faze that Umbreon. And Raichu's no slouch."

"I may be able to assist you with some information," came Bill's voice from the doorway.

"Bill!" Oak rushed over to him as he limped and grimaced his way over to the group. "You need to be resting!"

"I'll rest when I've divulged what I've learnt," he told Oak with conviction. "First of all, these Pokémon are being referred to by Team Rocket simply as GE Pokémon, or Genetically Enhanced. A former Silph scientist named Jensen is working with Team Rocket, and he's been able to identify a common genome in all Pokémon that inhibits their power. He's also found a way to 'switch it off'. Unfortunately, it doesn't just inhibit their power, it inhibits their ability to think and reason like normal Pokémon, until they will obey a single trainer only. Without direct orders from their trainer, they attack indiscriminately."

"That's what happened at Bill's house," Erika realised. "Vileplume put Jessie to sleep, and then the Umbreon just kept attacking Sabrina, even after she was passed out. She was convulsing and frothing at the mouth, and this thing just kept attacking her."

"Jessie?!" Gary blurted in an unnaturally high pitched squeal. "She's back?"

"Unfortunately," Erika sighed. "I think she wanted Sabrina and Misty. Not me. There were far too many grunts there for them to have been for me. And quite frankly, if I hadn't had Vileplume with me to use Sleep Powder, I wouldn't have made it."

"Makes sense," Gary agreed. "They did seem a little surprised to see Misty at Silph."

"It's probably the only reason we escaped," Misty finally added.

"There's more," Bill continued. "This genome, when it's deactivated, it greatly shortens the lifespan of the Pokémon. Jessie was saying that some have lasted as little as two weeks."

"That's horrible!" Professor Oak gasped. "How can they do that?"

"This is Team Rocket we're talking about," Gary snorted. "They don't exactly have a long history of compassion."

"How do we get Ash back?" Misty asked flatly. "We can't leave him with Team Rocket."

"We're gonna need help from CJ, James, and Meowth if we're gonna find where they've taken him," Brock surmised. "They have all the resources of the entire Kanto police to work with. I'll get on to them right away."

"I can help too, Brock," Ritchie followed him.

"Before you do," Bill stopped them, and seemed incredibly tired all of a sudden, much more so than he did when he entered the room. "The pokéballs, there's a way to force them open. However, it will damage the ball beyond repair, and it takes an extraordinary amount of power. Not to mention that the device used to block the signal will only work for so long before it burns out. We'll need to use your backup generator, Professor."

"Just tell me what I need, Bill," Oak nodded. "I can handle the rest."

Bill turned back to the rest of the group.

"Choose wisely. We'll probably only get to free a few Pokémon. After that, we're on borrowed time."

It only took Bill a few hours to build his new device, once Gary and Ritchie lent him a hand. It was surprisingly small to Misty; she thought it would have to be a massive thing if it were capable of blocking a signal powerful enough to render every pokéball in the world completely useless. She stared down at her six pokéballs – one with a little love heart on it, which had belonged to Raichu – studying them and trying to decide which she would like to free. Tears welled in her eyes as she looked at the little love heart she'd carved into Raichu's pokéball, so she quickly reduced it to its storage size and placed it back on her belt.

Gary's Umbreon, Erika and her Vileplume, Surge and his Raichu, Brock, and Oak entered the lab and joined Ritchie, Gary, Bill, and Misty, all with stern looks on their faces.

"Brock, Ritchie, and Misty should go first," Gary announced. "They don't have any Pokémon with them, and we all do. If this little machine burns itself out, then we should at least make sure we all have a Pokémon with us before it does."

"That's fair," Oak agreed. "Ritchie, have you decided?"

Ritchie paused, then frowned with seriousness. It was a look Misty hadn't seen from him since his first Pokémon League championship when they were ten – or was it eleven? – years old.

"I think I'll pass," he told them. "I'd rather one of you guys have two Pokémon than me taking up one of the spots. I just don't think I have what it takes to help you out."

"Hey, don't be like that!" Gary assured him. "You're a great trainer, Ritchie. We need you."

Ritchie shook his head. "I can be of much more use to you here, than out there."

"Are you sure?" Bill asked him. "There may not be another chance for this."

"I'm sure," he nodded once in response.

"Very well," Bill replied, turning to Brock.

"I know who I'm choosing," Brock grinned, handing a pokéball to Bill. "Let's get started."

Bill took the ball, then placed it on a workbench. He aimed the device at it, then paused and took a breath.

"This little machine works by sending out a signal identical to the one being used by Team Rocket, but in reverse polarity. Because the signal is so powerful, and this one has to be equally as powerful, it draws a lot of power. I apologise in advance if your generator fails, Professor."

"It's fine, Bill," Oak assured him. "You do what you have to do. I can replace the generator."

Bill took another deep breath. "Brock, get ready to activate the pokéball."

Brock stood by, his hand outstretched, ready to push the button on command. Bill pressed a large red button on the device, and it began to thrum loudly. After a few seconds it started vibrating, and the vibration became increasingly violent. He struggled to hold it still, so Gary grabbed it as well. After around ten seconds, the red button on the device was ringed by a blue LED.

"Now!" he yelled.

Brock quickly pushed the activation button, and a red light flashed out of it, forming into a huge ball next to the group.

"Goooohhhlemmm!"

Brock's eyes lit up, and he quickly wrapped his arms around his old friend.

"It's so good to see you, buddy!" he laughed. "This is like the best present ever!"

"A wise choice," Oak nodded. "Your Golem is a very, very high level, Brock."

"Is that…" Misty muttered as she got closer to Golem, staring curiously at it. "Is that the same Geodude?"

"The one and only," Brock replied proudly. "The first Pokémon I ever caught on my own."

"He's in fantastic shape, Brock," Gary nodded in approval. "You really are a world-class breeder."

"Thanks, man," Brock grinned, but was interrupted by Misty clearing her throat.

"Sorry to rush you, but if we're done kissing each other's asses, I'd like to get on with this before the machine catches fire," she said, pointing to the device, which was now smoking quite heavily.

"We have one more left in it for certain," Bill pouted. "After that, I'm not sure."

"Have you made up your mind, Misty?" Oak asked gently.

She looked down at her remaining five pokéballs, which she held in her hands – Raichu's was on her belt, right at the back – and pondered one last time. She finally took one and placed the other four back on her belt.

"Let's do this."

She placed the ball on the workbench and stepped back slightly, extended her arm out the same way Brock had, and took a breath. Bill aimed the device, but Gary took it off of him before he could activate it.

"You better let me handle it this time," he insisted, then aimed it at Misty's pokéball and pressed the red button.

As it did last time, the device thrummed loudly – even louder than before – and began to shake aggressively as it powered up. It didn't take quite as long this time, but smoke began pouring out of it after only a few seconds. Thankfully, the button lit up blue not too long after that, and Misty quickly pressed the activation button. Red light spilled from the pokéball, and Misty sighed wistfully.

"I never noticed how beautiful that light is," she said softly as the red light formed into her Starmie.

Before she could get too emotional about reuniting with her old friend, Bill began yelling incoherently.

"Put it down! Put it down!" he finally shouted at Gary.

The device was smoking heavily, and a spot on the back was glowing red hot. Bill quickly turned it upside down, and after a few minutes it stopped glowing. The group looked at each other, hoping someone would supply an answer. Bill opened the device up and examined it, then sighed.

"It's pretty much toast," he told them. "We can give it one more try, but I'm not certain it'll work again."

"Bella, your turn," Oak waved her forward.

She sighed, taking two pokéballs from her belt, and studied them for a few moments. She looked at Surge, who nodded at her, but she dipped her head, then shook it.

"I'm with Ritchie on this one," she told Oak. "I don't think me having a Pokémon to use would be as useful as one of you guys having two. Misty, why don't you go again?"

"Oh no, I couldn't," she stepped back. "That wouldn't be fair at all."

"Well someone has to," Gary frowned with seriousness, "and I vote for you."

"Maybe we should release one of Ash's Pokémon," she offered. "He can use it once we free him."

"And it'll be useless to you until you do," Oak disagreed.

"Well I'm making your decision for you," Gary said, stepping forward and taking a pokéball from Misty's belt and placing it on the workbench. He aimed the device at it, then pushed the button, and it immediately began to shake violently, smoke pouring from it. After a mere few seconds, the device caught fire. Just as the red button began to glow blue, Misty realised which pokéball it was. But it was too late. Gary let go of the button just as the device made a loud popping sound, followed by a loud bang from outside the lab. The lights flickered once, then went out.

"What the hell was that?" Brock exclaimed.

"Generator's had it," Gary told him. "Good thing we didn't run this thing from the mains, or all of Pallet would be in darkness right now."

Misty slumped to her knees as Oak flipped the power back over to the grid, but blinked a few times in surprise when she realised nothing had come out of the ball. She grabbed it from the workbench, then examined it more closely. Gary stepped over and had a look too, but stopped when he realised Misty was growling. He turned his head slowly to face her, and she looked mad.

"Don't get mad at me! How was I supposed to know the device would blow up?" he yelled defensively.

She swung an open palm at him, striking him in the face and sending him stumbling into a cupboard.

"It's a good thing it didn't work!" she shouted back at him. "That was Psyduck's ball!"

"What's wrong with that?" Surge asked. "Psyduck's psychic abilities would have come in very handy."

"Not this Psyduck," Brock laughed.

Surge looked at Bella in confusion, but she just shrugged.

"Have you ever seen a Psyduck that can't swim?" Brock chuckled some more.

"Uh, not exactly," Surge responded, still confused. "Is that even possible?"

"It's possible, okay?" Misty seethed. "Just be glad the device blew up."

"Actually," Bill interrupted very nervously. "It did work...um, look just over there."

He pointed at Starmie, who leapt aside on cue, revealing Misty's Psyduck.

"Psy?" he said absently, then immediately began holding his head in agony.

"Goddammit!" Misty shouted. "Now what am I going to do?"

Gary stepped back slowly, staying a foot or two outside kicking distance, until he realised that Psyduck was in a particularly large amount of pain for some unknown reason.

"Psy-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi!

Psyduck began running around the lab at full pelt, unable to stand the pressure in its head, then suddenly stopped cold. His eyes began to glow blue, and several objects around the lab started to levitate.

"I don't believe it…" Bella said softly as she watched the incredible display. "That's one powerful Psyduck…"

"I believe Team Rocket's blocking signal may be causing Psyduck's headache to rage out of control," Bill theorised. "I can't be certain, though."

"He's definitely not like this all the time," Misty confirmed, her jaw gaping.

"What's going on here?"

Everyone turned around to see Sabrina standing in the doorway, looking perfectly fine.

"This is getting very strange," Brock mumbled. "How are you even awake?"

"This Psyduck woke me up," she told him. "I don't know if I could have snapped out of it on my own."

"This is awfully odd," Erika agreed with Brock. "I'm not sure I understand anything that's happened in the last few minutes."

Sabrina gestured a hand at Psyduck, and all the levitating objects in the room slowly dropped back down.

"Duck," he said flatly.

She then waved a finger, and Psyduck's eyes stopped glowing blue, and he appeared almost normal again, except that he wasn't acting his normal goofy self.

"Sabrina, what's going on?" Misty asked, still completely bewildered, much like everyone else in the room.

"I must have formed some sort of connection with your Psyduck when it woke me up," she shrugged. "His headache is making his psychic abilities stronger than normal, but he's also incapable of controlling them properly without assistance. I'll have to help him out."

"Be my guest," Misty stepped back. "If anyone can make use of that kind of power, it's you."

"He's incredibly powerful," Sabrina noted. "You must have trained him very, very well."

"Actually, Psyduck's sort of impossible to train," Misty laughed, mostly with embarrassment. "It's only when he gets a headache that he's of any use at all in a battle."

"If you'll let me, I'd like to borrow Psyduck for a while."

"That seems fair," Oak agreed. "Sabrina doesn't have a Pokémon to use, and she seems to be the only one who can control Psyduck at the moment."

"Then we each have one Pokémon," Gary stepped forward again. "So now we can take the fight to Team Rocket."