Happy Halloween everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying this spooky holiday! For those wondering what has happened to me in the last year since this story has been updated, I just suck at writing this story. I have plenty of ideas and know where I want to go with this story, but I just never have the time or the motivation to.

However, it is the anniversary of this story and as usual, let's give the stats!

Reviews: 1

Views: 1,864

Favs: 16

Follows: 21

I just want to say thank you so much to everyone who has stuck with me and this story through my very infrequent update schedule. In truth, I have just finished this chapter a few days ago and started on the next one. Hopefully, I can finish it before next year!

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Pokemon or anything I refer to! Or the song mentioned! I only own my OCs!

So it's gonna be forever
Or it's gonna go down in flames
You can tell me when it's over

Chapter Nine

Dan's POV

Thud!

I snapped awake when something was slammed on the table in front of me. Through the dim light of the monitors in front of me, I saw a steaming cup of black coffee. I blinked the remaining sleepiness out of my eyes as the steam warmed up my face.

"I thought you need a little wake-me-up." A voice echoed through the quiet security room. I looked up and saw Hood standing there. He had a small smile on his face, but dark circles were apparent under his eyes.

"Ah, don't look so surprised to see us." Another voice filled the room. I turned to my side and saw Bree leaning against a table She had a mug in her hand as well.

"You just came back from a hard mission." Hood sat as he sat down in an extra chair. "Go sleep. We can take over for the rest of the night."

"Are you sure?" I croaked out. Arceus, my voice sounds horrible. I peeked at the digital clock in the room. Two in the morning. Huh. I was awake longer than I thought.

"Yeah. We know how much you work for the team. Rest up. We won't tell anyone." Bree winked as she walked over and leaned on Hood's back. "Now go!" she slapped my back. I winched and stood up from the force. I yawned and stretched before drinking the coffee in one gulp. Despite it being black, I drank it all. The bitter taste didn't bother me as I was able to fully open my eyes.

I quietly waved a goodbye to them as I walked out of the room.

I sluggishly made my way towards my room. Even with the coffee, I was still tired. As soon as I reached my room, I flopped on my bed. I didn't bother with my blankets as I flipped over and closed my eyes. I instantly fell asleep as soon as darkness covered my vision.

It felt like I only slept for a minute when I was awoken by something on my neck. The rest of my senses woke up as I opened my eyes. I could still only see blackness, but I felt a hand on my bare chest and long hair brushing my face. I blinked the sleepiness out of my eyes and looked down.

There was a faint shimmer of white in the hair from the dim light and I realized that it was a person. Whoever it was stopped kissing my neck and moved up to my ear.

"Sorry for making you wait so long." It was Alice. She whispered seductively in my ear before raising her head and pushing lightly on my chest to prop herself up.

I could barely make out her face in the darkness, but her eyes shone brightly. But there was something wrong with them. There was always a type of shine in her eyes, but they seemed empty now. They looked dead and void of any life. However, she had a sickly sweet smile on her face. Alice leaned down and kissed me directly on the lips.

I know I should stop and ask what was wrong with her, but I missed her so much. I moved my hands up to her waist and pulled her closer to me. I noticed that she was wearing her underwear and bra. I slowly moved my hands down her body as we continued to kiss.

I knew what she wanted and I wanted it too. It was far too late to go and get a condom now. Plus it would kill the mood. Our skins touched each other as her underwear skipped off. The same goes for my boxer.

I would say more, but this is a private session that I rather not share. And this is a story read by teenagers. Hopefully. Kids, ask your parents first.

Nonetheless, I gave in to my temptations that night.

Sapphire's POV

"Hey, do ya think Alice is gonna be mad at us?" I asked Ruby.

He only gave me a flat look. "Okay, first of all, don't talk with your mouth full." He stated as he wiped a crumb away from his face. "And two, I don't think so. After all, Dan was the one who dragged us into that mission."

I swallowed my mouthful of bacon and eggs. "I just feel kinda guilty, ya know? Alice is our general and we usually get permission from her."

"I know." Ruby sighed. "But to be fair, she was on a mission of her own and that means that Dan is in charge of her team while she's gone."

"It does?"

"At least that's what Dan told me."

"…"

"…"

"Ruby."

"What?"

"Do ya really think you should trust what Dan said about Alice and her team?"

"…"

"Ruby."

"No."

I sighed. I've known Ruby for several years, but never have I seen him be this stupid. I'm supposed to be the irrational one in this relationship! Wait a minute, I didn't mean it like that! We're not dating! I meant a friendship! That's all! We're nothing more!

"Anyways." Ruby coughed, his face was slowly turning red. "Where is everyone else? We're the only ones in here."

I copied Ruby and took a look around the room too. He was right. We were the only ones in the break room reserved for the higher-ups in the teams. "Yeah. Where's Jade and Garnet? Jade should've dragged Garbet out here by now."

"You're right." Ruby nodded after he finished his cereal. I pushed my own clean plate in front of me. It used to be full of bacon, eggs, and toast that Ruby was kind enough to make for me, but now it's just a few crumbs left on there. "I wonder what they're up to?"

"Hopefully not what Dand and LAice were up to last night." I shuddered. "Ya know, having super senses are really hard to live with."

"Wait, Alice is back?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah." I nodded. I sighed "I could barely sleep while-"

"Please stop." He pushed a finger to my lips. "I don't need to know the details."

"I wasn't gonna say anything like that!" I exclaimed, nearly biting off his finger, but he pulled back in time. "I was just gonna say that Jade and Garnet were arguing so loud last night that I couldn't sleep!"

"Oh, you were talking about them." Ruby sighed. "Thank Arceus." He leaned back in his seat and stared at the ceiling. "Sapph, I still don't understand how you can hear through soundproof walls."

"I don't understand it either." I huffed as I placed my head down on the table. "But it's useful though."

"I know. That's why Alice uses you a lot for spying missions." Ruby looked back at me. "Hey, how long has it been since we met?"

"Why are ya asking now?" I asked. That was odd. He never said anything about something like that before. "But uh, let's see." I looked up and counted off of my finger. "We're fifteen now and we've been in Team Rocket for six years, so that's eh…" I thought all the way back before Team Rocket. We knew Jade and Garnet before we all joined.

In fact, the reason we joined was to escape our foster home. Our foster mom wasn't so bad, but the dad was just plain horrible. Our mom was so kind and tried her hardest to take care of all four of us, but the dad was abusive to her and all of us. Jade was his main target, but the rest of us never let him lay a single finger on her. He then tried to target me, but with one wrong word and I became his focus of physical abuse instead.

He abandoned his advances on Jade and focused on me instead. However, unlike Jade, I could defend for myself. That bastard knew that he could do it in front of Ruby or Garnet and he used every chance when I was alone. But I fought back. I ended up with a few bruises and cuts, but I didn't care. I had my dignity to defend and I sure as well was doing it.

We were all hanging out at our nearby park when I forgot my pokégear which I left back at the house. It wasn't too far from the park so I ran back to grab it. Unfortunately, I forgot that Bastard Dad was home early from work that day so when I entered through the front door, I was instantly cornered by him.

I tried fighting back the best I can to keep him away, but he kept on hitting me until I was almost out of energy. I didn't know how long it lasted, but I was almost passed out. All I could remember was Ruby breaking through the door and seeing me all beaten up. I gave him a weak smile to reassure him, but I fainted after I did.

When I woke up, I was in the middle of the forest with Ruby, Garnet, and Jade surrounding me. I was all patched up, but Ruby was bleeding from a head wound. I tried yelling at him, but Jade forced me to rest. He promised me that he would explain later, but the next day, it seemed like he forgot that the entire thing happened.

If he did want to bring it up, then I wouldn't. If he wants to talk about it, then he'll start the conversation. Until then, I just let him be. Sometimes when he takes off his headband, I can still see the two white slashes on his head. Those scars were from that day, but I worried about what happened to him when I was passed out and how we escaped from there.

Jade told me that they left a note for our mom when they left, but we haven't been in contact with her ever since. The main reason being that we're in a criminal organization now. We can't endanger her like that. We really care for her and we don't want her in danger.

We had no other choice than to join. We can't get a pokémon or buy a pokéball unless we have a guardian's permission, but if we tried to get our mom's help, then the bastard would find us. We couldn't take that chance. That's why we join Team Rocket. It wasn't so bad. We're not as heartless as some others, but that frustration from all those years was able to be let out. We hurt people, but never fatal or sadistic. We would never sink that low.

Deep down, we always try to help people. We do what is needed to survive and if that meant hurting people and stealing, then we'll do it. This is the only home that we can trust and we have to do ur part of we want to be part of this family.

I was too deep into thinking, that I was tilting my chair back a bit. Unfortunately, I leaned back too much and I ended up falling on the floor. "Ouch!" I yelped as I fell flat on my back.

"Sapphire!" Ruby exclaimed as he stood up and rushed over to my side. "Are you okay?" he asked as he kneeled beside me.

"Yeah." I groaned as I propped myself on my elbows. I rubbed the back of my head with one hand. I felt a bump raising. "I was just thinking too deeply."

"Well, that's a new one."

"Hey!" and just I thought he actually cared.

"Come on. Get up." Ruby stood up and picked up both of our dishes. He walked over to the sink to wash them while I stood up.

"Thanks for caring," I grumbled as I sat back in my seat.

Ruby finished washing the dishes and came back with a cup of berry juice for me while he had a mug of green tea for him. He also had a bag of frozen Rhindo berries.

"Ew!" I spat. "I hate Rhindo berries!"

He rolled his eyes. "You don't have to eat it. Just put in on your head to stop the swelling." He handed it to me. I pouted and crossed my arms. He sighed and slapped it on my head. "Ow! That hurts! And cold!"

"You could've done it yourself." Ruby shrugged as he sat back in his seat across from me, sipping his tea. I glared at him, but I used one hand to keep the frozen bag on and used the other to drink my juice.

A few minutes passed and we finished our drinks. I felt the back of my head again and the swelling has gone done. I picked up Ruby's mug and brought it and my cup to the sink. I placed it on the counter first and went over to the fridge to put away the bag of berries. I closed the freezer door and washed the cups before sitting back down.

Ruby already turned the TV on and was watching the news. That was finally when Jade and Garnet came into the room.

"Well guess who finally woke up." I grinned as they got their breakfast ready. They each poured a bowl of cereal and went to the fridge for milk.

"I would've been up later, but this idiot pulled the plug on my alarm clock, Sapph, so I overslept," Jade explained as she glared at Garnet.

"And if she doesn't wake up, night do I," Garnet added.

"Makes sense." I shrugged.

"So I'm guessing you two ate already?" Jade asked as they sat at the table.

"Yeah. We finished a while ago." Ruby nodded.

"Hey, what's that on the news. Turn it up." Garnet pointed towards the TV screen. We all looked up at it while Ruby turned up the volume.

The news was on and it was covering a breaking news story of the mysterious death of the CEO of Silph Co. Apparently, his throat was slit in the middle of the night while he was working in his office and he died of blood loss. The brutal thing was that his chest was stabbed several times, according to the reporter, with a red metal shuriken stuck in his chest, going through his heart.

"Oh my Arceus." Jade's spoon slipped from her fingers on its way to her mouth and landed in her bowl. My mouth was wide open as I listened to the news story.

"It can't be," Ruby whispered, but it was loud enough for us to hear.

"That can only mean…" Garnet started.

"She couldn't have," I mumbled. I knew that Alice came back in the middle of the night, but did she do that? There was no one else who had shurikens like that. Hers were unique and they were only made for Team Rocket. Only she had them and no one else in the organization.

But Alice has never done anything like this before. She would never kill anyone. Even her brother. I know she hates him but she still didn't kill him. She hesitated for a moment. And Alice never hesitates. But now she brutally killed a man. If I recall, the CEO of Silph Co was a business partner of Team Rocket, but he hasn't been holding up his end of the deal.

Luckily, the reporter moved on to another news story. We were still all in shock after seeing that. We didn't say anything and it looked like Jade and garnet lost their appetite. We heard the door open and close, but we didn't bother looking to see who it was.

"Geez. It's so depressing in here. Did someone die or something?" it was dan. As always, he had such a wonderful choice of words for the perfect moment. We all looked up at each other. We knew what we had to do.

We won't tell Dan anything.

We don't know anything.

And it's for the better.

Alice's POV

Another job is done. Quick too. Good riddance. I never knew so many idiots made deals with Madame Boss. Big names in the world who thought they could get away with it. Clearly, they have no idea who they were dealing with.

My heels clicked on the road as I made my way back to my rendezvous spot. The night sky was my only cover, but it was perfect. I always work at night now. I scout out during the day but perform all my best work at night. It was worth it. Whenever I finish one job, I crave more. You can call it addicting.

It was better if I worked alone nowadays. I usually only bring Espeon now since she's the only one who can teleport me to my destination. Pikachu, Lucario, and Absol are usually training back at the base. I dropped my bigger pokémon off at the center with Bree so she can just take care of them. Umbreon tags along sometimes, but that's only because she blends in with the darkness and helps me sometimes.

As I walked through the woods, I wiped my knife off on my skirt. It was dark enough that the blood was unnoticeable. After cleaning it the best I can, I placed it back in its sheath. As I brought a hand up to move a strand of hair out of the way, I saw blood on my gray gloves. I frowned at it. That last job was a bit messy, but I wiped any traces of me being there clean. Other than my calling card of course.

It doesn't matter. No one will notice at all. I usually get back to the base late at night so no one will see me. I also report to Madame as soon as I can and leave at dawn. I ignored the blood and continued to walk towards where Espeon was waiting. I sent Umbreon ahead to check the area before I even tried to go out. I always want to be unseen so I made sure no one is in the vicinity.

I flicked a branch out of my way as I walked into a clearing. Espeon and Umbreon were already waiting there for me. I still give them time to talk to each other whenever I finish a mission. I know it's intense work, but I still give them time to relax a bit. But not too much.

"Time to head back to the base." I old Espeon. I walked over to the sisters and they both curled around my legs. Espeon closed her eyes before a dim purple light surrounded us. In a flash, we were back in the base. The two immediately shot off out of the room and back to my room, as they always do now. I didn't mind at all.

I walked out of the room myself and towards the lower levels of the base. As I passed the night guards on duty, they just stood out of my way and saluted. I ignored them and continued on my way.

I stopped outside of Giovanni's office. Matori's desk was empty. That's off. She's usually at her desk. If Giovanni called her into his office, she'll usually leave a note. This time, her entire desk was cleared. I frowned. Something was wrong. I knocked on Giovanni's door.

I waited for a few seconds, but there was no reply. Still odd. "Giovanni, sir?" I spoke aloud. "It's General Alice, reporting." I knocked again, out of curiosity. Still no answer.

Something must be really wrong. Madame Boss told me to report to Giovanni since she was in another base, but if Giovanni nor Matori was here, then something else was going on. I knew Giovanni wouldn't like it, but I kicked the metal door open. I dented it with my boots and the door caved in. A few more kicks and the door fell down. The hallway was empty, and the sounds of my kicks echoed off the bare walls.

I stepped into Giovanni's office. I hope he can forgive me for his door. I had a good reason. When I looked in his office, the desk was cleared and the monitor behind him was black. I walked farther in the room. Even his Persian's stuff was gone. Where could they have gone?

Suddenly, I felt a rumbling coming from the floor above. Cracks spread across the ceiling and pieces of rubble fell. The emergency sirens blared in the room and red lights flashed the dimly lit room.

"What the hell?!" I exclaimed. I ran out of the office and went to check on the Executives. Their offices were still closed, but I could hear pounding coming from inside. When the alarm activated, they must have been locked inside.

As much I hated the Executives, I still couldn't let the second, third, fourth, and fifth-in-command of Team Rocket die here. Another tremor rocked the base as I kicked each of the doors down.

"Alice! Thank Arceus!" Archer exclaimed as all four of them escaped.

"What the hell is happening here?!" Ariana demanded.

"Do you think I fucking know?! Unless you want to fucking die here, run!" I snarled back. Arceus, I hate that bitch.

Without another word, the four of them escaped to the upper floors with me following them. When we got to the base lobby, grunts were running everywhere and pokémon were going in every possible direction.

"What the hell just happened?!" Proton grabbed a grunt and demanded.

"Intruders! We're under attack!" the grunt exclaimed nervously.

"Just our luck." Petrel sighed as Proton let the grunt go.

"You four go escape. You're in no shape to fight this." I told them.

I saw that Ariana was about to say something, but Archer stopped her. "She's right. We're more important to Team Rocket. Alice, I trust you can handle things here?" he asked me.

"Yes, sir." I nodded. "Just go!" I stopped a trio of grunts and old them to escort the Executives to the escape tunnel.

I left the Executives and ran up to my room. I needed my pokémon.

"Alice!" I looked up and saw Espeon, Umbreon, and Pikachu jumping off a railing above me. I caught Umbreon as Espeon and Pikachu landed safely with her Psychic. "I got everyone!"

"Where's Dan? And our commanders?" I asked.

"They should be around the entrance of the attack. Follow us!" Umbreon jumped out of my arms and she and Espeon led the way. I ran along a sea of grunts heading towards the upper floors.

As I was running, I noticed a large piece of rubble falling towards the lower floors which were filled with grunts. "Dark Pulse!" I told Umbreon. We stopped as Umbreon blasted the piece of rubble, pushing it into a wall where there were luckily no grunts.

I had to send out Lucario and Absol to help destroy any rubble falling towards the grunts. It might have taken more time than needed, but we made to where my grunts were.

"Ruby! Sapphire!" I shouted.

"Alice!" I spotted the familiar white headband and blue ponytail in the crowd. They are back to meet me as their Gardevoir and Gallade continued battling whoever.

"Finally, ya back!" Sapphire exclaimed. "Where have ya been?"

"It's doesn't matter now!" I exclaimed. "What's going on here?"

"Bunch of trainers found and attacked the base!" Ruby shouted over the sirens. "There was no warning at all! Apparently, they knocked out the lookouts and directly attacked the middle floors! They hit the containment area for the pokémon and set them all loose. There are grunts stuck in their dorms, so Dan and his squad went up to help them. What about the higher-ups?"

"Giovanni and Matori just disappeared. Seems like they knew this was going to happen. AI got the Execs out safe." I replied. "Do you know who's attacking?"

"I didn't get a close look, but I heard some other grunts saying there are gym leaders," Ruby answered.

"Gym leaders? Arceus damn it, Sabrina." I growled. I knew accepting those three was a bad idea. I told Ruby and Sapphire to follow me as I pushed my way up to the frontline. I saw some of my admins as we moved to the front. I instructed them to get the injured grunts out of the base and move the fainted pokémon out too.

When we did get to the front, I saw Lt. Surge, Koga, and Sabrina fighting against their own grunts. Rage boiled in me. Traitors. They'll always be traitors!
"You fucking three," I growled at them. "Giovanni put his trust in you and this is how you repay him?!" I snarled.

"Slow down there, girly!" Surge sad as his Raichu deflected an Aura Sphere form Lucario.

"I see that you may be angry." Sabrina somehow said calmly.

"But we must put up acts as well." Koga finished.

"Who do you think told Giovanni to get his butt out of here?! We're trying to save him!" Surge exclaimed.

"Our fellow gym leaders had this attack planned for months. We're just playing along with them." Koga said. "Speaking of which, Sabrina?"

Before I could say anything, my pokémon and I were teleported out of the base and landed in the forested area outside.

"The hell!" I exclaimed. Those three are going to pay. However, I heard a branch snap from above. I looked up to see an arrow fly towards my face. I rolled out of the way and jumped up to my feet.

A flurry of arrows flew out of a tree and towards me. I dashed to the side, seeing the arrows impale the tree behind me. I ducked as more arrows came. I felt a blast of heat coming to my side, but Lucario stepped in and blocked it with her aura.

It's no time to be distracted now! She growled at me. I nodded and threw my shurikens at the tree the arrows were coming from. Several ended up in the branches and a girl fell down.

She had short black hair with a red hairband. She was wearing a golden warrior kimono and a red obi. One of her hand was covering her other arm where a trail of blood was running down her arm. IN her wounded hand was a bow with a quiver of arrows on a belt around her waist.

Another Gym Leader. It seems like those three weren't kidding when they said the Gym Leaders swarmed the base. But why did they teleport me here?

"I see these are the skills of the infamous Scarlett Scar." The woman, Erika, huffed out between labored breathing. "Your reputation does not lie."

"Ah, I'm flattered my work has been recognized." I sighed. "And here I am thinking my hard work was for not."

"Yes, like killing endless people is something you wish to be known for." She spat out.

I actually laughed. "Oh dear! Do you even know me?" I smirked. "I'm Team Rocket's top general, yet you wonder why I would kill all those idiots who thought they could trick Team Rocket?"

"You're just some lapdog, cleaning up someone's business." Erika retorted. "You'll never be your own person. You'll never survive. You'll always be weak."

Something snapped. "Weak? Ha! You call me weak?!" I lost my mind. I joined Team Rocket to escape this. Why can't I escape? Why can't I be happy?! Why do I have to live like this?!

I've been in the shadows for so long. I never had the chance to shine. I was never recognized for anything. Weak. I was seen as weak. I had no name. I had no achievement. I was just another useless trainer stuck in the world where the only thing mattered was power. Compassion means nothing. I couldn't get by in the world with just compassion. Love meant nothing. The only thing I can do to be known is to gain power.

Power. IT's something I always wanted. Some are born with power and never had to do anything in their life. They are celebrated for their talents, but no one sees hard work. They say power can always be reached. They say power is inside everyone. But what will it take to achieve that power?

"You have no idea what I had to go through." My body was shaking. With rage? I don't even know. "You were born with a title already in front of you and you never had to work to rise to the top! You had power. I had to take it. I needed to take it. You don't even deserve it!" I screamed.

"Blaine! Now!" Erika yelled. Red covered my vision as I felt the area around me grow hotter. I don't even know where my pokémon has gone. I think they were battling. But who? Was there someone else?

Despite my stubbornness, I felt my strength fading away. I fell to my knees, my arms weakly holding up my upper body from colliding with the ground. I was breathing heavily. But why? Why does it feel like I can't breathe? As I was gasping for oxygen, I felt something hot coming closer. My face is sweating so much. I can't breathe. I'm getting dizzy. What is going on?

Suddenly, just as quick as the heat arrived, it cooled down. I felt hands grab my shoulders and my back was against a tree. "Huh?" I blinked my eyes several times, snapping myself out of my daze. I looked up and saw a mess of brown hair and matching eyes looking in mines. "dan?"

"Thank Arceus you're okay." He sighed. "You had me worried. Why weren't you defending yourself?"

"What?" I looked around and saw a ring of scorched earth around where I was standing. The last of the flames were being stomped out by Dan's Charizard.

"Damn it. Another Rocket." I turned my head back to see Erika standing there with an older man next to her. He was wearing a red long-sleeve shirt under a white blazer that matched his hat and pants. IN his mechanical hand was a cane. Next to him were several fire-type pokémon knocked out. My pokémon were facing them.

"You," I growled. I pushed Dan off and marched over to my pokémon. As if they were reading my mind, they pounced on the gym leaders and their pokémon. With the pokémon already fainted, the gym leaders were knocked down to the ground, tied down with Venusaur's vines.

"You son of a bitch." I snarled at Blaine. "It wasn't enough you took the M-2 project with you, but you dare come back and attack the people who gave you the funds and freedom for you to do your sick research?!"

"You may be more of a monster than I am," Blaine replied calmly. "At least I have redeemed myself. You don't even have the gull to show yourself to your own family."

Once again, red clouded my vision. My hand pulled my dagger out and was aimed for Blaine's chest. "Shut up!" I roared.

Before I could impale his heart, a hand stopped me.

"Alice! What the hell are you-!" I looked back to see Dan standing there. His eyes were wide and small. He keeps looking back at my face and my hand. "Is that blood?" he whispered.

I yanked my hand out of his grip. "Stay out of this!" I shouted.

"What the hell, Alice?! I thought you said-!"

"Forget her! She's gone! You know she's gone! She's been dead for years! She doesn't exist!"

"What happened to you, A-"

Before he could finish, a loud explosion came in the direction of the base. A large fire broke through the roof and was spreading in the lush forest. Black smoke covered the rising sun as the sky turned red.

"No," I whispered. My home. My sanction. It was gone. Without hesitation, I broke out in a run towards the base.

I heard steps behind me. I knew it wasn't Dan. It was my pokémon. They were following me, even if it was towards danger. Maybe I wasn't always alone.

The fire has already spread to most of the forest. I dodged burning logs and charred branches as I got closer to the base. There was an injured Gallade trapped under a tree. I knew I had to get to the base, but I'm not letting an innocent pokémon die like this.

With Espeon's and Lucario's help, we moved the tree off of the Gallade and went on our way. Pokémon were fleeing the site of the fire. The forest pokémon were trapped by the flams, but we helped get them out safely.

On my way to the base, I met grunts who were injured. I help them as well and saw some of my admins. I instructed them to go find any injured grunts and help them out of the fire. I even ran into Ruby and Sapphire.

"Alice! Thank Arceus you're safe!" Sapphire exclaimed. "We gotta get outta here!"

"You two go on ahead. I have to go check on something." I replied.

"Check on what?! Everything is on fire! We have to get out when we can!" Ruby exclaimed.
I placed a hand on each of their shoulders. "You two have done your jobs well. I couldn't have asked for better commanders. My last order is for the two of you to escape and get any pokémon or grunts out as well."

"…yes, ma'am." They nodded. I nodded back and ran past them. My chest was feeling heavy. What was that feeling? It was strange.

At last, I arrived at the remains of the base. The fire roared in my ears, but I could make out a lone figure watching the fire. "Sabrina," I called out to her. She turned around.

"There's nothing left here. You should go." She said calmly. "Unless you have business to attend to." With that, she teleported.

The feeling in my chest grew stronger until I felt my cheek grow wet. I reached up to my face to see the blood once again on my gloves. With a sudden burst of anger, I ripped my gloves off and threw them to the ground. As I did, I saw tears fall to the ground. I was crying. I was actually crying. Why? How?

However, before I could think anymore, a green blur jumped to my side just as a Thunderbolt nearly hit me. I turned to see a Gallade standing there. Burn marks covered his body with a large 'X' over one of his eyes. Fresh blood rolled down his face.

"Isn't that the Gallade we saved?" Espeon wondered out loud.

"Milady, you have saved my life. It is only right for me to protect you." The Gallade spoke. I looked towards where the Thunderbolt came from. A Pikachu was standing there with a boy behind him. Pitch black hair as dark as the night and shining brown eye illumined by the fire looked back at me.

"Y-You!" he pointed toward me. I smiled. It was about time. "You caused this! You crossed the line!"

"My, it's been a while. I still have to pay you back for my eye." I replied.

"Listen, I don't know what happened to you, but why are you like this?" he retorted.

"What do you mean? Isn't this your fault?" I answered. "After all, you always had the chance to prevent all of those people dying. In a way, this is your fault. Their blood is on your hands. Just like the flap of a Butterfree's wings, a disaster could have been averted."

"Don't turn this on me!"

"But why? You know it's true. You are the cause. You made them suffer. We could've all gotten along if you've done right."

"Milady!"

Watch out!

Lucario's paw slammed into my stomach as she pushed me out of the way of a Hydro Cannon, with the attack instead interacting with the fire. I heard flesh rip open as a flash of red collided with Lucario. Steam filled the area, but I could still see blood trickling down Lucario's body.

"L-Lucario…" I whispered. Her back was towards me, but when she turned around, her face had blood running down and one of her paws were covering her left eye.

See? This is why you should listen to me. For the first time in years, I saw her crack a smile. But it only made my chest feel heavier.

I got up to my feet. "Ha. I see now. You had no intention of ever admitting it. You've shown your true colors." I spoke aloud. "Both of you are cowards. Always playing the victims, but never wondering why. You will never own up to your mistakes. Well, listen here, keep believing your lies, but remember, I will never forget."

"Wait! A-!"

I didn't hear anything else as Espeon teleported us out of there. We were at the edge of the canyon the base was located in. The sun was up, but I could see the burning base in the distance.

The thick black smoke pillared into the sky as the raging flames consumed what was left of the building. I looked up as I heard a whirling noise. I turned around to see several helicopters with the Pokémon Association logo on the side. As expected if the gym leaders lead the attack.

I retreated with my pokémon back into the tree line near the edge of the canyon. Both Lucario and Gallade were bleeding. I had to do something to stop it.

"Is your eye okay?" I asked Lucario.

Other than not being able to see and blood pooling everywhere, I'm fine. She retorted.

"You could've answered nicely," Umbreon commented.

"And you, Gallade?" I asked.

"Milady, I am fine. Please don't concern yourself with me." He said.

"Your face is bleeding." I pointed out. I too off my grey vest and ripped it into strips. Absol and Espeon went to find some water while Pikachu went to find some herbs to ease the pain. My three larger pokémon where back int heir pokéballs for safekeeping.

When Absol and Espeon came back with water, Lucario and Gallade were already chewing on some herbs to help numb pain Pikachu brought. Using some of the water, I cleaned their wounds. I saw Lucario's left eye was completely closed shut and a large gash was running over it. Gallade had an 'X' on his cheek and claw marks on his forehead. The 'X' over his eye was not very deep but still drew blood. Seems like they would both be left with scars.

I mashed some of the herbs with water and applied them on the wounds. With the fabric strips, I bandaged them up.

"Um, so, what are we going to do now?" Umbreon asked.

"What else can we do?" I replied. "We just need to survive."

And the downfall of Team Rocket has arrived! What will happen next? Find out in the next chapter which hopefully will be out in a year or less!

While writing this, I realize that this story might be shorter than I expected in terms of chapters, but I think that's a good thing. I have two long-term stories going on and another shorter one so it would be nice to wrap this one up. The pace is faster, but I like to keep the action moving.

I hope some of you noticed that I have updated the cover image for this story. The old one was very basic and I wanted to draw something myself. After only a few hours I made a little piece incorporating what I think are essential parts of this story.

Once again, thank you to everyone who has put up with me and continued to read this story. I love you all and I hope I can finish this with everyone too!

I hope your Halloween has been spooky and candy-filled!

-AKCC, signing out!