In the last chapter I told you about the song I listened while I was writing it. It was a guess about the Blue Leaf for you, I use songs as inspiration. If I write something about Sailor Moon I'll listen something from the anime's soundtrack or from the one of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (the live action). If I write something about Saint Seiya, I'll do it listening Pegasus Fantasy. Now, what's Friend or Foe subject?

by lord Martiya

TALE 06: VS DRAGONITE

Some time after the Riolu hunt my father decided to show the strenght of Team Rocket and force the World Governement to give in the battle against him. Yes, I'm talking about the Team Rocket's Battle of Saffron.

The goal was simple: capture Kanto governement, the (then) official gym and the Sabrina's one, steal every single Pokemon in the city and strip of everything the Silph Co. A such strike would create terror, making every people bow before Team Rocket might, and bring to TR a lot of strong Pokemons and resources. The only drawback were that it required so much people that a failure could cripple Team Rocket for years and that it would create so much destruction to make doubtful various people, like Andreas.

"Why so much destruction?!" he shouted while the four of us were alone. "And killings! And possible casualties! It's like a war! POKEMONS ARE NO WEAPONS!"

"Indeed, Pokemons were often used as weapons even in open battles(1), before the Mother of All Wars..." Domino replied. When she saw us glaring at her, she said: "It's the sad truth: a well-trained Pokemon IS a weapon, inferior only in respect of the forbidden devices and, sometimes, the mightiests of the airships. And I'm talking about non-legendary and non-Elite Four Pokemons: some legendaries, like Mew or Rayquaza, have firepower in excess of the biggest forbidden device, and Elite Four Pokemons... Well, time ago I saw Lances Dragonite do practice with his Hyper Beam, and the explosion was a lot more powerful than the one originally supposed for the Tsar Bomba(2)."

We remained speechless. Then she said: "But if you are telling us that using Pokemons as weapons of terror is wrong, I can buy it. Sadly, you're not the boss, nor I am, so we will obey. Now, I'll prepare myself for the battle, and I'll suggest you to do the same: Saffron City is not a normal city. Goodbye."

Domino went away, and Rose said: "Sometimes that girl scare me..."

"She's totally crazy." I answered. "But she's right, we have a job to do and we'll do it."

I went away also, losing a chanche to not make myself suffer.

Some day after, Team Rocket acted. Now, you know, Saffron City was fortified in the immediate prelude of the Mother of All Wars, and, seeing how they managed to defeat the Dragon's Clan and its Dragonites during the First Battle of Saffron and to hold on the fury of four World Governement airships and a lot of mechas and tanks before capitulate in the Second Battle, the fortifications were even powered-up by Teleport-blocking devices after the Unification. So, we couldn't use the Teleport tactic that gave the victory to the Governement, and a direct assault with Pokemons, armours, air support and artillery was not an option because of the incredible thoughness of the fortifications and the numbers of defensive and AA artillery. And this is where I came in the plan: my father resuscitated the old mining tactics of the siege warfare.

Mining warfare consists in dugging a tunnel under the enemy fortifications using wooden pillars to substain it, and then make the tunnel collapse with the fortifications by burning the pillars(3). We didn't have the time to dig an adequately big tunnel, but we had various Fissure-capable Pokemons, like Federico, who could obtain the same effect in much less time.

I was the leader of a platoon of the first wave, and I was bounded in open a hole with repeated Fissures. After reaching the position, I began to wait the moment of the attack, when a childish voice asked if we wanted to play.

The voice came from a small and cute girl about 5-6 years old dressed like an old china-made doll holding a Pokeball. A very scaring girl, for me. Why? Because I perfected enough in the Aura to recognize a solid psychic projection, and the child was solid enough to came from an incredibly powerful psychic.

The Grunt nearest the child was not so gifted, and before I tried to warn them of the real nature of the girl he tried to kick her. I ducked, and I was the only one spared by the Psybeam. While sixty Grunts were incapacitated by the blow, the girl and a familiar voice said: "You dared to attack our child part. You shall pay for this, playing bowling as the skittles. Your leader shall be spared for not wanting to attack us, but shall not be spared for not listening to us."

I looked at the girl, seeing her, an Espeon and a mad Sabrina. Yes, Sabrina Blaustein. She told me something that I'll never forget: "Your attack is failed before beginning: Pokemon G-Men had a spy in Team Rocket, the Blue Leaf. She wanted to spare you and offer the chanche to desert Team Rocket, but you managed to avoid her. Now, as I predicted, you shall suffer."

I grabbed Snyer's Ultraball, but before unleashing him Sabrina teleported me away in a ruined fortress. At some meters over the ground: the child Sabrina made it as a joke.

"Damn... Where am I?" I said, totally surprised.

"Over me, Enrico." Rose answered.

Only then I realized that I falled over a saddened Rose. And a Wartortle. Before that I could realize who's that Wartortle, Rose said: "I have a thing to admit to you. I'm sorry, but..."

Then I realized, and I shouted: "BLUE LEAF?!"

She simply nodded. And I ran Gyarados(4) over Rose, while her Wartortle was blocked by her body. I was strangling her, when I received a blow who made me leaving the hold, return sane, even if still mad, and fly various meters. When I looked I saw a Dragonite covering his trainer and Rose.

"You will obtain nothing with anger." the trainer said. "Pacify yourself and listen to your friend, please."

I released Eugenio and ordered a Slash, but he repelled by a Barrier before landing the blow. I was too mad to understand who was my opponent(5). I then ordered a Brick Break, but the Dragonite blocked the attack with his hands, and then launched Eugenio at me.

"Pacify yourself, please." the trainer repeated.

I recalled Eugenio, trying to catch him by surprise, but he said: "I can feel your emotions, don't be a cheapshot."

With my trick uncovered, I released Federico and Snyer to try a combined Brick Break-Dark Pulse attack on the Dragonite, but he moved so fast to seem teleporting and repelld my Pokemons with another Barrier.

"Pacify yourself, you can't win." he said.

I released all my Pokemon and ordered a Beat Up.

"Well, you asked for this." the trainer said. "Barrier, and then Outrage."
I trained my Pokemon for such situations, so only five of them partecipated in the Beat Up: Eugenio was bounded in breaking the Protect with Brick Break. My other five Pokemon delivered the blow. I believed to have win. Then all my Pokemons were defeated by the Outrage of the Dragonite.

"Good job. Now, return." the trainer ordered to his Pokemon. Then he said: "Crap, too late."

Yes, the Dragonite avoided being recalled and tried to burn me to death with a Fire Blast. It's what happen when you order an Outrage and the Pokemon begin to rampage before you manage to recall him...

I was immobilized by fear, fear of that incredible power, and I would die if Rose didn't shielded me with her body and her Wartortle didn't defended us with an Hydro Pump. I came uninjuried, but the hot steam made by the clash between the Hydro Pump and the Fire Blast painfully hit Rose, making her scream. Then I passed out.

I don't know when I revived myself, even if it was in the same day. When I woke up, I saw Rose caring for me despite being injuried herself.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Isn't it obvious? I was expecting a 'thank you' for this..." she replied.

"After you betrayed Team Rocket?"

"I didn't betrayed Team Rocket, I infiltrated it. But I betrayed you. I'm sorry. I wanted you to desert in this occasion... Can't you come with me?"

"Nope."

After she sighed, I asked: "Was Rui serious in trying to kill us?"

"I was supposed to grab you under water, but you anticipated me." she answered.

"Why do you infiltrated TR?"

"To destroy it. Giovanni, your father, wants to take over the world, and I cannot let him succeed."

"Why?"
"A little tip: search for Mewtwo in the computers."

"It's a character of a book!"

"I hope. Are you sure that you don't want to come with me? Like A.J..."

"I want strenght, not..."

"What a pity... Because you're very talented." a voice said.

I turned to the voice, seeing Lance. And finally understanding who just beated me.

"If you cared a bit more of Pokemon and a bit less of being invincible, you could be stronger." Lance said. "But it's your own choiche. If you're wondering what's happening at Saffron, well, using Rose's we ambushed various TR units with the help of the various Gym Leaders and their territory's trainers. Team Rocket's myth of invincibility begin to shatter. Goodbye, young trainer, and welcome to your home, where all this mess began."

Lance jumped on his Aerodactyl and flew away. I began to search in the ruins, trying to understand what Lance told me, and then I found a very old TR hat and a portrait of my father when he was young. In the portrait were present a woman very similar to an older version of Jesse and dressed in a customized TR uniform, a girl almost identical to my sister and various other people, specially a woman who somehow looked familiar and a girl who looked alike Rose. Rose pointed the woman and asked: "Are you wondring why you find her familiar? Well, according to my mother, she was your grandmother. And this girl is my mother."

Rose pointed the girl who looked alike her, then released Fairy, kissed me, ON THE CHEEK, YOU OLD PIG LEAGUE BOSS!, and teleported away, leaving me wondering what's happened in that place, the famous ruins of Viridian Forest.

I decided to rejoin my fellow Rockets, and I was assigned to the Celadon City base, where I met Domino. Domino was the one who told me that even Will was a mole and that he managed to make principal Karen a deserter and arrested Viper.

When my Pokemon were cured and returned to me, Rose asked me: "Who beated you? 'Silver Bullet' Ketchum?"

"Lance of the Dragon Clan." I answered. "With only his Dragonite."

"Oh... Did he used Barrier?"

"Yes, why?"

"Because he only use that move with strong enemies, with weak ones he don't even try to defend or evade, he simply absorb the attack without damage."

"Domino, do you know something about Mewtwo? A real one?"

"I was expecting this."

She bringed me and my Pokemons (she suggested me to make then exit from their Pokeballs) to a laboratory in the base and showed me various data on the computers. The data of Project Mewtwo, with various disgusting experiments on Pokemon and a failed Mewtwo who Transformed in a Pichu and blocked himself in that form, even forgetting that he was supposed to be a Mew clone. Seeing all of that, I vomited.

"My same reaction, you know?" Domino said while offering me a paper to clean me. "This is the reason I want to be the Boss, stop all of this. Then I could conquer the world, or something else... And I know, I'm totally crazy! But my beauty is also in this."

I and Snyer exchanged a shocked look, then I recalled my other Pokemon and exited the lab. To face the admin Vicious and another Domino.

footnotes

(1)See Lucario and the Mistery of Mew: in the beginning are shown two armies augmented by Aggrons, Rhydons and other massive Pokemons. One of the two even used Houndooms in patrol role.

(2)Little real-world link: the Tsar Bomba was an hydrogen bomb with a yield of 50 megatons, detonated to show the capabilities of Soviet Union's military technology. The bomb was originally designed to have a yield of 100 megatons, but was reduced to half to cut the fall-out. Now, if Lance's Dragonite Hyper Beam has a yield in excess of ONE HUNDRED MEGATONS... Hey, don't run away, Domino made a mistake in the yield calculation, that Dragonite is much less powerful! Even if the explosion of his Hyper Beam is really big...

(3)Real-world tactic of the siege warfare. This tactic was re-adapted twice for trench warfare using dynamite to collapse the tunnel, first during the American Civil War by general McLellal of the Union at , failing for lacking of co-ordination (the mine opened a huge gap in Confederated defence, but the attack came after one half-hour, when the Confederated troops had managed to bring troops and transforming the gap in a prepared killing zone), and then in the First World War at by the British troops, with success.

(4)For people who speak English as first language: read 'running Gyarados' as 'running Amok'. For people who don't speak English as first language: 'running Gyarados' is a Pokemon version of 'running Amok', an expression meaning 'going totally mad and insane trying to kill everyone in sight'.

(5)In the games there's a Dragonite who can use Barrier. If you can remember who's the trainer, you can guess who's this misterious trainer.