This is a bit of a shorter chapter but I promise you there's a reason for that. Just a reminder that the poll is still up on my profile (I did make a mistake putting it up, thanks for pointing that out), and I'd like a little input from the readers you guys are the whole reason I'm writing this in the first place. Hope you're enjoying the story so far, so please leave a review to let me know what you think.

In direct answer to Lord Geovanni's review. If Jay does die, he won't be gone from the story. There are going to be quite a few supernatural elements to this story, so stay tuned. Sqcircles out!


Brock's blade pierced through the Rocket's chest, driven straight through flesh and bone from behind. He pushed the dying man off his blade with his shield, motioning for the others to follow him deeper into the Rocket facility. Before he could finish it, another Rocket grunt charged him screaming a savage war cry. Brock snarled back and engaged the man, trading blows and quickly gaining an upper hand.

Misty brought down the other Rocket grunt, stabbing one knife through her neck and the other through his back. The man fell and was quickly dispatched by a third stab through the base of his neck.

Jay brought his shield up just in time to deflect a club that had been headed right towards his neck. He blocked two more blades before going on the offensive with his shield. They exchanged blows, Jay managing to keep the Rocket on his left side and away from his undefended right arm. Finally he received help in the form of Misty barging into the man from behind, knives repeatedly jabbing into the man's chest. Jay brought his shield down on the man's neck, crushing his windpipe. They looked up to see Brock and his brother bring down the last Rocket grunt.

"Three more down. The lights still aren't down though." Misty yelled to them.

Jay shot her a nervous look before speaking. "We'd know if they'd been captured or worse." He stopped himself, not wanting to worry anyone. "They're probably just waiting for the way to clear or something." He said.

Misty looked unconvinced by his assurances, glancing back at Brock. "Are you sure the generator was down that tunnel?"

Brock nodded. "Had to be. Those noises couldn't have been anything else."

Jay looked over to where their pokemon were finishing off the remaining Rocket pokemon. His growlithe was tearing into an ekans, ripping through the scales and belching flames into the open wound. His nidorino stood over the prone form of a raticate, blood dripping off his horn and snout.

"Looks like our pokemon won again." Brock gave them a quick glance, scanning for injuries. "They all seem fine. Just tired. I don't know how many more Rockets we can handle." He said.

The sound of feet pounding on the rocks came closer. Jay hefted his shield and his pokemon snarled and drew closer to him. "Here they come!" He yelled.

Ash and Gary burst out of the tunnel ahead of the group, followed by pikachu and Sergei. A massive onix burst out behind them, roaring in anger. Jay roared an order, stopped by an angry shout from Ash.

"He's with us!" Ash shouted, waving his arms back and forth to get their attention. The onix reared back as far as it could, clearly startled by the other humans. "He's helping us fight off the Rockets. They're right on our asses, so get ready."

"What happened to the lights?" Misty yelled.

Ash shot her a visibly annoyed look. "The legion of Rockets guarding it stopped us." He turned to look right at them. "I think we found those agents too."

Brock stepped up at that. "How do you know?"

It was Gary that answered. "I know because they killed Lizzie." He said with a sullen look on his face.

"Your nidorina?" Jay asked. A short nod from Gary confirmed it. Jay knew better than to ask how she had died. "We'll give her a proper burial. And you can be sure we'll get the bastard who did it back." Jay attempted to comfort the young Oak, patting his shoulder and speaking softly.

Before anyone could say another word, a small horde of Rockets and their pokemon came rushing out of the tunnel the boys had come from. The huge onix coiled up, inhaled and spat a stream of blue flames at them, bathing the barrier one of their psychic types had managed to throw up. It roared in anger and lashed out with its tail, sweeping through the barrier and crushing the Rockets against a wall. A sickening crunch and screams of agony followed. The onix inhaled and spat another steam of blue flames at the crushed Rockets, silencing them permanently.

The group couldn't help but stare in awe and fear at the massive beast. Brock especially was entranced by the massive rock snake.

"Guys…" Brock started. "I think you found Carris." He sounded in awe, admiration clear in his voice. "I never believed the legends…" He trailed off into silence.

Jay gave him a nervous look. "Brock, who's Carris?" He asked.

Brock turned, a gleam in his eye. "Carris is the queen of the mountain. She's supposedly one of the first onix to have ever existed. The legends say she fiercely defends her territory against any human aggression. She's fifty feet long and supposedly can breathe dragonfire. Judging by those blue flames, we've found her." He looked up at the massive beast. "Carris!" He shouted.

The rock snake roared in answer and spat a stream of dragonfire at the roof of the cavern. It glared down at Brock, disdain clear on its face. It jerked its head at the tunnel again and roared a challenge. All was silent for a moment, only Carris' roar echoing off the tunnel walls. Then a deeper roar answered her. Carris immediately belched a stream of dragonfire at the opening, only to have it deflected by a psychic barrier.

Four pokemon emerged from the tunnel, growling and snarling but holding back from attacking. A victreebell, rhydon, arbok and hypno stood across from the group. Two people walked out, wearing white outfits emblazoned with a bright red R on their chests.

"Well James, what do we have here?" The woman asked her companion. She stepped into the light and flipped back her bright purple hair. She wore a sinister look, almost like she was planning every way she could kill the group in front of them.

"Two little lordlings and their brave retinue of warriors. Pardon me my dear Jessie, but they don't look like much at all." The man stepped into the light as well, revealing dark purple hair cut to his shoulders. His voice had an almost musical sound to it.

A fifth pokemon emerged from the tunnel. A slender cat with a jewel on its crest slunk over to beside the two, licking blood from its paws. It's eyes never left Gary, hungrily staring at him. The blood drained from Gary's face, showing his fear to the persian that glared at him.

"You are going to die for what you did." Gary muttered under his breath. Jay shot him a look, not even daring to speak.

"You know what we have to do." Jessie said. "Unless you lay down your weapons and pokeballs silently, we're going to have to take… Drastic measures." She punctuated her sentence with a wicked smile and sinister chuckle.

Brock glared at her, weapons trembling in anger. Misty had a fiery look in her eyes that scared even herself. Jay, Ash and Gary had their weapons at the ready, waiting for the fight to break out. It was Brock's little brother who broke the silence.

The moment his war cry left his lips, the others charged. The Rocket agents, and their pokemon roared a war cry back and attacked.

Carris uncoiled her tail, swinging the blade at the rhydon. It caught the bladed tail, bracing itself with its massive legs. Carris let loose a stream of dragonfire, bathing the pokemon in blue fire. The rhydon withstood the fire easily, glaring at the massive onix through the flames. The rhydon charged, cutting off the flames with a blow to the rock snake's jaw.

Growlithe and nidorino were tangled in battle with the arbok. It was using its tail as a whip to keep nidorino at bay while it snapped at growlithe with its fangs. Tiring of their lack of progress, nidorino latched onto the poison snake's tail with its jaws, drawing attention away from growlithe. The snake turned and gave growlithe the opening it needed to attack. The little dog leapt onto the snake's hood, clamping down with its jaws while tearing at the snake with its clawed paws.

Ash's pikachu and Sergei (Gary's wartortle) took on the hypno. Bolts of electricity and blasts of water were met by psychic barriers and waves of energy that rippled through the air. Pikachu was lifted into the air by the hypno's powers and smashed into Sergei, sending them sprawling. The two pokemon untangled themselves and glared at the hypno. They leapt into action, dodging psychic blasts and returning their own with water or electricity.

Misty's pokemon were taking on the persian. Her staryu were circling the cat, levitating above its reach and using their psychic powers to pick up rocks and bash them into the cat. Her starmie was spinning, it's legs acting as blades as it swooped in while levitating itself. The cat was easily dodging the attacks with its agility.

Brock's golem was locked into a struggle with the victreebell, blood leaking from between the boulders that adorned its body. The victreebell's vines were easily able to find the cracks in between the boulders and reach the fleshy skin inside.

James grabbed a sword from the ground, retrieving one of the fallen Rocket's weapons. He whipped towards Jay, who was charging him with his shield held high. James easily battered him back, hammering blows on the shield until it was nothing but a splintered mess. Jay retreated behind a charging Ash, holding his arm close. Ash wasn't especially skilled with his blade, but he made up for it with a ferocity that drove James back on the defensive. Misty soon joined him, attacking James with a scream of pent up fury. James was hard pressed to block all the blows and was forced to retreat and release a huge machoke that drove back the two trainers attacking him. Jay rejoined his friends, having found himself a dagger to fight with. The machoke continued fighting, not even seeming to break a sweat.

Gary, Brock and Billy were facing off against the woman with far less success than their friends. She wielded a double sided spear, spinning and stabbing wildly. The three could barely keep up an offensive and were hard pressed to defend themselves, much less land any blows of their own.

A pained scream drew everyone's attention. The rhydon had gained the upper hand and tossed Carris to the ground. It had one foot pressing the onix into the dirt, and repeatedly was smashing the rock snake's head into the rock. Carris' attempts to knock the pokemon off were proving useless. The rhydon brought its fists down, hammering the onix back into the ground every time it tried to rise.

Ash broke the stalemate. He tossed a pokeball at Carris, sucking the onix inside with a flash of red. The rhydon looked at him and roared, furious with having its quarry stolen from it.

Jessie took advantage of the distraction, leaping forward and jabbing her spear into Billy's leg. The young man fell while screaming, his leg no longer able to support his weight. Brock bellowed and redoubled his efforts, smashing his blade against Jessie's spear hard enough to crack it in two. Her weapon broken, Jessie was defenceless to stop Brock from smashing his shield into her repeatedly, breaking her nose and bloodying her face.

James, seeing his partner was in danger, released a weezing that brought an eye watering smell with it. "Gas them out." He ordered. He pulled a mask from his belt and donned it quickly. Jessie did the same, using the weezing's appearance as a distraction.

Brock hauled his brother to his feet, yelling over the sounds of battle. "We need to run. Everyone get your pokemon and go!" His arm went up, pulling his golem into the ball. He turned and ran as fast as he could while supporting his brother.

The others quickly realized the battle was turning against them. With several more flashes of light, the pokemon disappeared into their balls. The trainers turned heel and ran, retreat their only option left.

Jessie and James simply laughed as they watched them go. They returned their pokemon, with the exception of James' weezing and slowly made to follow the trainers.

Jay ran as fast as he could with an injured man on his shoulder. He held one of Billy's arms, pulling him along with a frantic Brock. The three were lagging behind the others, only hearing the sounds of their feet on the rock.

"What the fuck happened?" Jay shouted while they ran. "I thought you guys beat the agents back?"

Brock glared at him, any trace of his jovial mood gone. "Don't ask me. That rhydon wasn't at the battle outside Pewter. It was only the persian and the victreebell then." He lifted Billy, taking on more of his weight. "Lets just get him somewhere safe so I can bind his leg." He looked at his brother. "You're gonna be ok Billy. I'm gonna take care of you."

They emerged into the massive chamber with the pit. The others were standing there, doubled over and breathing hard. Pikachu was laying on its side, breathing heavily. Jay and Brock set Billy down against a rock. Brock immediately dived into his pack, pulling out his medical supplies. He set about binding his leg, working at a frantic pace.

Jay stepped over to the others. "What the fuck happened?" He asked, looking pointedly at Ash and Gary.

Gary hung his head. "I got us noticed. We were doing an alright job of holding off the regular Rocket grunts until those fuckers showed up. The persian…" He trailed off, remembering what happened to his nidorina.

Ash picked up where he left off. "The persian jumped on Lizzie and broke her neck immediately. Then the arbok showed up and nearly got pikachu. We ran after that, all that mattered was getting back to you guys."

"They weren't that strong when we hit them outside Pewter." Misty said. "We beat them easily. Do you think they let us win?" She asked.

"What purpose would that have served?" Jay asked angrily.

"They probably wanted to lure us in. They wanted an easy way to eliminate two huge threats to them. I guess an ambush under Mount Moon was their idea." She answered.

A roar of fury echoed through the cavern, coming from the tunnel they had emerged from.

Misty stood up straight. She released her three pokemon, defiantly glaring at the tunnel. "Now they're coming to finish the job." She planted her feet, her actions mimicked by her pokemon. "I'll be damned if I die down here. I'm not letting them take me down without a fight."

Gary silently joined her. Sawyer and Sergei joined her pokemon, looking fierce and ready for a fight.

Ash looked down at pikachu. His electric mouse nodded and joined the pokemon. Ash held up the ball that held Carris. He looked at the others, then released the Queen of the Mountain. The onix roared in defiance and glared at Ash, furious at her confinement. Ash glared back. "Carris, I captured you to save your life. Now I need your help. Help us drive off the Rockets and I will release you." The onix didn't answer Ash, simply glaring at him. Then it moved over to the other pokemon, roaring a challenge for any to hear. The sound of that roar brought a smile to Ash's face.

Jay released his pokemon, ordering them to join the others. His growlithe lingered for a moment, unwilling to leave his master's side. Then with a pointed glare from Jay, it sauntered over to the other pokemon. Jay then walked to Brock's side, putting a hand of his shoulder. "You're a much better fighter than me. I'll take care of him if you go help the others.

Brock didn't move. When Jay prodded him again, the Lord of Pewter city stood up and walked to where the others were standing. Jay took his place at Billy's side, putting pressure on the wound on his leg.

The four of them and their pokemon stood defiant as the Rocket agents walked into the cavern. The rhydon walked out of the darkness behind them. It glared at Carris, growling. The Rockets smiled, then the rhydon charged.