Obligatory Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.
Since I might be jumping back and forth between the two groups at various intervals, I'm going to start being a bit clearer about which characters are in focus at the time; generally at the start of each chapter, sometimes at other points as is necessary.
In addition, given the circumstances regarding timing in this chapter – you'll see what I mean very shortly – I'm going to start, as of next chapter, to be clear about when each chapter takes place on the "timeline" of events in this story in comparison to the other chapters. I'll probably also go back and do the same for the last few chapters, at some point, as this will only be important when considering the two split arcs of Ash/Cynthia/Hilda/May and Brock/Cilan/Dawn/Iris. As you'll soon see, there will be some jumping here and there; one chapter passing for one group does not at all mean that the same amount of time has passed for the other.
Second, on to reviews. Thanks again Nauran, I'm definitely going to have fun playing them off against each other.
To the guest reviewers, thanks for the compliments, though to the second I have to say that it's probably fairly unlikely that that would ever happen to the anime. Plus there's the whole load of issues to consider about creators reading and being influenced by fan fiction and such, and whether it would be universally liked, etc, given how tastes differ. Probably best to let the anime carry on being the cash-cow, oft-infuriating, sometimes heart-warming and all-round entertaining piece of television that it is.
Now, a PokéSpe anime adaptation on the other hand… That I'd want to see.
To the other guest reviews, thank you, I hope that I can keep the quality up. As for Ash and Zekrom, well, I thought that the episodes wherein Zekrom has been mentioned were sufficient mention of their first encounter and so chose not to expand on it past a brief recognition in chapter three; after all, they didn't exactly meet each other in BW:01. I might go into further detail in later chapters, however.
Brock, Cilan, Dawn and Iris.
The afternoon of the fifth day since leaving Viridian City.
This is not the best way… Not how I expected spending a vacation…
"Dragonite, destroy the wall with Flamethrower!"
"Mamoswine, you too! Break the wall open with Ice Fang!"
For all their strength and fury, the two Pokémon were unable to penetrate the sides of the enclosing space that the group was solidly trapped in. Whatever metal it was made of, the cage was more than more than resilient enough to withstand their attacks.
Of course, "cage" would generally imply that their prison actually possessed bars, that there would be some way of seeing out of it. All that they had in this particular example of well-designed containment was a small hole at the top for air; it was more like a box that anything else.
"Shut up in there!" The hole was also large enough to allow for clarity of sound – voices - passing into the box from the outside. The voice was familiar – they had heard it only seconds before – but it was now twisted in a mix of hatred and triumph. "You'll be let out right after we've taken your Pokémon!"
The four trainers responded, of course, by making even more noise; partly in defiance, but partly in hope, too.
After all, so many encounters in the past with three Team Rocket members in particular had taught them that the more you force your enemy to get angry or even adapt their plans, the more likely they are to make a mistake.
A mistake that can often be quite simple to capitalise on.
Unfortunately, the foes that they now faced had also learned from past mistakes, and would not be drawn in by such juvenile taunting. They efficiently prepared the required machinery for transporting the box and its contents, quickly operating it with the same haste to move their prize into a waiting truck.
"We're being moved." Brock realised as they all felt the box rise briefly into the air as it was lifted, then lowered as though it went down an entire level, then come to a stop as it entered the truck.
"And now we're being driven someplace." Cilan posited as they heard the roar of an engine from the outside and felt their confinement begin to shake ever so slightly.
That suspicion was confirmed moments later by a solitary ray of sunlight that poked bravely into the otherwise-dark box; still not enough to illuminate their captivity, however.
Perhaps that was for the best, though. It meant that they were unable to see the looks of defeat uniformly plastered across each of their faces.
The light also reminded them of just how beautiful the day was outside, and how nice it had seemed as they had woken that morning.
Dawn and Iris sadly recalled Mamoswine and Dragonite, recognising a futile endeavour when they saw one.
Dawn sank to the floor of the box, hugging Piplup – panicking as he so often did – tightly. Iris moved her hand to comfort Axew, but realised that her first dragon-type had slept through the whole situation so far, and was glad for it.
Dragonite and Mamoswine were the strongest Pokémon that the four could really bring to bear, and their failure to cut a path out of the prison did not bode well for future attempts. Even so, they tried other Pokémon in a few further short-lived attempts to escape, but Crustle's subsequent efforts to melt the wall with its corrosive spray were quickly showed the futility of such action.
Having their smaller Pokémon combine their attacks might work, but they quickly decided not to attempt it unless they were in even direr straits.
Dragonite and Mamoswine had only managed to fit into the box with them because the four had pushed themselves up as far as they could against the back wall of the container.
If they tried to put too many of their smaller Pokémon up against the wall – and they would need a good number of them to make the plan work in the first place – there would be an ever-increasing risk of the attacks backfiring and hurting either the Pokémon or the trainers themselves in the process.
Iris had assumed, given that so much time had passed without incident, that Ash was something of a magnet for trouble, or at least for unusual situations. It was a conclusion that had been brewing since he had left with Cynthia to travel to Sinnoh and then Hoenn, and she had believed it confirmed by the complete normality of their vacation so far.
Now, though, it seemed that her assumptions had been far too premature.
In total, five days had passed since they had left Viridian City, and thus six had gone by since Ash had followed a different path alongside Cynthia. They hadn't attempted to contact either of them for that time, as they had no idea where the two might be by now, and as far as they knew, neither had a Poké-gear or Xtransceiver available for a call on the move anyway.
Brock was normally the one to bring up their absent friend in group discussions, sometimes regaling the others with more tales of their adventures; Iris was particularly interested to hear details about Johto's dragon-type gym leader, Claire, and the shrine around which said gym was based, the Dragon's Den.
Interestingly, Dawn seemed to be the least talkative whenever the topic of conversation ever came anywhere near Ash, and practically clammed up if asked a question about him, to the other's complete confusion; once only replying with a hasty "No need to w-worry!".
Only Piplup truly knew what was wrong with Dawn – either that or he was entirely oblivious, more so than anyone had thought before – and if it was the former, then he seemed not to think of it as a matter of particularly great concern. Of her Pokémon, Togekiss showed the greatest sympathy, hugging the blue-haired trainer every time it was called out of its Poké ball for lunch and refusing to leave her side until it was recalled, even if she showed no signs of the occasional melancholic attitude that swept over her at the repeated return of Ash's name.
Still, noticing her reticence, Brock strived to keep his reminiscing to the first two regions that he had travelled through, and she looked happier for that appreciation.
The first two days of their trip after leaving Viridian City were predominantly spent navigating the densely-packed woodland of the Viridian Forest; camping out under the stars on the first night, and making it out of the forest and into Pewter City midway through the second day.
As the only Kanto native in the group at the time, Brock had been the only one capable of finding the attitudes of the others hilarious; specifically, their amazement towards such "rare Pokémon" as Caterpie, Weedle and Pidgey. Still, no Poké balls were thrown that day; primarily because, to their shared embarrassment, the four realised that they had forgotten to restock on the important item for a very long time, and had no way of actually capturing any Pokémon at the time.
Brock recalled that Ash and Misty had claimed that it had taken them nearly a week to make it from one side of the forest to the other and reach Pewter City; which was confusing in comparison to the amount of time that the four took to cross it until they realised several things about the duo's first excursion through its boundaries.
First, Ash and Misty had no navigator or guide at the time, Brock having joined them in Pewter City shortly after, and as such probably ended up getting lost multiple times.
Second, and perhaps more importantly, the area that made up the forest had seen some important developments in the six years that had gone by since the very beginning of Ash's quest to be a Pokémon master.
That said, the bulk of said developments had taken place barely two years prior to the present day, and had resulted from Lance's efforts to modernise the region. Such intentions had resulted in a clearly-marked path through the forest, which easily reduced the amount of time spent path finding, particularly under the artificial darkness that occurred whenever the canopy became particularly thick.
To call it a path would perhaps be an understatement, however; in most places it was practically a fully-fledged road, with obvious stretches of pavement also sporadically appearing here and there through the forest. They had been passed several times by vehicles; cars and trucks, the former most likely commuting, the latter most likely delivering. One in the latter category had even stopped to offer them a lift to their destination, but, thanking the driver anyway, they had turned said kindness down with a smile.
After all, they agreed, who wouldn't have wanted to walk on a beautiful day like that?
They had spent the afternoon of the second day exploring Pewter City, having arrived around midday. Cilan, Dawn and Iris were introduced to Brock's family, spent some time at the City's laboratory – primarily at Cilan's urging, given his desire to see some examples of fossils - and even had the chance to view a gym battle too, watching a haughty, experienced trainer lose handily to Brock's brother, Forrest, who pulled out all the stops and used his Rhyperior after realising the extent of the man's arrogance.
They hadn't stopped for the night, however, recognising how crowded the house was already with Brock's parents and nine siblings.
The Pokémon centre had also been full up that night by the time they arrived there, having eaten at the gym and then waved goodbye, so instead they had camped just outside the city for the night in the silhouette of Mount Moon.
The third day was spent crossing Mount Moon. They decided to walk over the mountain as opposed to the underground route that Brock had led Ash and Misty through during their first journey through Kanto. The mountain path was far-less travelled, given how comparatively challenging it was to take.
Before they had ever travelled alongside Ash and seen what they had seen, Cilan and Dawn at least might have had some trouble with the narrow paths and higher altitudes that characterised the mountain.
Not now, though. Dawn had braved Mount Coronet in the company of her friends, and with a short break for lunch around midday, this was child's play in comparison. As for Cilan, he had done a fair amount of hiking around Iccirus City, and again very recently around Unova's route fifteen.
They had arrived just outside the boundaries of Mount Moon as the sun went down on the third day, and set up camp there, in the shadow of the other side of the moon.
Getting up early on the fourth day allowed them to make it into Cerulean City before ten o'clock to meet Misty, who had been delighted to see them again. She had no gym battles booked – or even assumed – for that day, and so, leaving a conspicuous note on the door of her gym, she popped out with them to share lunch and show them around the city.
This time there hadn't been much need for catching up, as they had seen each other so recently anyway, and after grabbing a bite to eat the reunited five trainers went shopping, wherein Cilan and Dawn spent a lot on various items, Brock purchased little and Iris bought nothing, declaring that she would be saving her "hard-earned" cash for something special.
At one point in their two-hour shopping spree, Misty had dragged Dawn off, Piplup trailing behind them as the youngest of the Sensational Sisters giggled and pointed excitedly at something apparently around a nearby mall corner, and the two were gone for some time.
Brock and Cilan had thought nothing of it at first, but had their interest slightly piqued when the two had come back, Dawn smiling even more broadly than she had done for several days, and hadn't reacted negatively at all when Iris had mouthed off about Ash the second that they departed the mall.
They had then returned to the gym, where Misty offered them the chance to use the gym battlefield for normal or contest battles; however as they saw fit, and so the rest of the day, apart from dinner, was mainly spent undertaking said activities. Dawn won the majority of the contest battles, a few of which even Iris was somehow roped in to, while conversely the dragon-tamer won the majority of her actual battles, with the coordinator winning the least, and the others falling somewhere in the middle.
Winning and losing wasn't what really mattered, though; they had been having fun, and that was what was important.
They had slept at the Pokémon Centre that night, and waved to Misty in the morning of the fifth day as they headed south towards Saffron City.
It had been, overall, a predominantly happy time for the holidaying trainers; exactly what a vacation should be like.
It was utterly surprising and unwelcome, therefore, for any spectres of their past – or at least Brock's, given the current composition of the group - to come back to haunt them at this time, but two particular shades ended up doing just that.
Midday on the fifth day since leaving Viridian City…
"I think that this has been the most beautiful morning yet!" Dawn declared, and the others hardly saw fit to disagree.
"The weather's just been brilliant since we left Viridian City." Cilan noted as he and Brock began to hand out lunch for the day and then moved on to prepare food for the Pokémon. "Not a rainy day in sight!"
He was right, and what was most impressive about the circumstances was that the official forecaster app that Cilan had downloaded for his tablet had so far been wrong about the weather conditions each day.
Thrice it had predicted rain, and thrice it had been proven wrong. The day after they had left Viridian City there had been no suspicions of rain, merely of large clouds to obstruct the sun, but even then the clear skies had prevailed throughout the day.
Iris, after the third day of mispredictions, had angrily demanded that Cilan stop referring to that "piece of junk" given how wrong it had been, and her ire – and the others' amusement – had only increased as it proved itself to be even more incompetent.
Cilan had laughed off her annoyance, pointing out that the forecasters hardly claimed to be able to see the future, though he too was slightly intrigued after the fourth day.
He hadn't even looked at it on the morning of the fifth day, but no-one even expected it to be accurate this time.
"So, what're we doing in Saffron City today?" Dawn asked as they began to eat. Cilan shrugged and flicked open a checklist on his tablet.
He'd been using it over the past few days to record and tick off the things that they had wanted to do or accomplish while on holiday; basic things like see the laboratory in Pewter City, or visit Misty.
Even if they didn't have an overall direction or focus to their vacation, it was still helpful to keep some level of organisation to the whole set of proceedings and provide a basic framework for the journey.
Iris had teased him, as she always did, for fussing over the details instead of enjoying things as they came, but even she saw the value of keeping track of what they wanted to do, and was grateful to him for taking on that responsibility himself; even if she didn't show it.
"There's an exhibition at Silph Co. that Brock and I would like to see." He answered Dawn's question at last as he reminded himself of what he had written there the night before, absently offering his Jigglypuff of the poffins that he had crafted from Dawn's special recipe during their stay in Cerulean City; using Misty's kitchen, as she had been quick to point out. "Dawn wants to check the shops and Iris wants to go to the fighting dojo."
"It'll be awesome!" Iris shouted, doing a wide variety of completely imaginary and probably ineffective karate moves that Axew proceeded to imitate and which also caused the other trainers to back slowly away from her, fearful for their safety and wellbeing.
"And then it's off to Johto on the Magnet Train!" The others could easily tell that this would be the highlight of the journey for the former Striaton City gym leader, and Dawn and Iris quickly moved to head off any attempts of his to proceed into any part of his metro connoisseur routine.
"Well, better head off to Silph Co.!"
"Yeah, gotta see that exhibition before it all goes away?"
"But they don't stop showing it until next week…" Cilan grumbled as they dragged him off towards the centre of the city, Brock chuckling as he followed in their wake.
The exhibition turned out to be about technology through the ages; well, technology produced by Silph Co. and its subsidiaries or affiliates, at least. It ended up being predominantly comprised of examples of Poké balls - understandable, perhaps, given that they were the company's best-known product – from the earliest designs carved simply out of apricorns to the latest models, from the standard ubiquitous type that everybody knew to the more auxiliary aides to Pokémon trainers; Lure balls, Net balls and the like.
There were a few other sections to the exhibition which Brock and Cilan were eager to examine and which Dawn and Iris dutifully followed them through. Everyday objects such as phones, televisions, etc. generally had one of their Kanto-based designs crafted by Silph Co. and duly released every year or so to a loyal customer base.
Finally, a few esoteric items languished at the back of the hall, looked over sceptically by the majority of visitors, which, ironically, turned out to be the ones that Dawn and Iris were most interested in, and that Brock and Cilan found funniest, including the patented Silph Scope, advertised as the only way to reveal spooky spectres and ghastly ghouls! – at a staggering amount of Poké dollars per purchase.
They left after an hour and a half of wandering around the auditorium of the Silph Co. building, Dawn having finally convinced the connoisseur and prospective doctor that they had seen all that there was to see in the exhibition at that time.
Shopping had never sounded so good to Iris.
They spent an hour and fifteen minutes perusing the sales that Saffron City had to offer before concluding that there was little to see there that they had not already viewed in Celadon City the week before. Even so, Dawn was able to purchase a new outfit for when she would eventually travel to Johto to compete in the contest circuit there; Brock and Cilan restocked on their dwindling supply of Pokémon food, given the need to feed seventeen Pokémon, after all, and all four finally remembered to obtain more Poké balls, so it was hardly a wasted trip.
At the end of all that merriment, the four trainers set off for the fighting dojo for Iris' location of choice for the day.
Had they made it there, they might have been able to avoid the trouble that they soon found themselves in.
"Hey, guys?" They were walking down one of the least crowded streets in the city at the time when Dawn stopped and pointed across the road, and the others paused to follow her gaze. "Isn't that the guy from the tag battle tournament that we entered last week?"
"Yeah, that's the announcer!"
The man in question happened to notice their scrutiny, not that it was hard.
He smiled as he hurried over to them, but his true glee was only shown on the inside. They've taken the bait.
"Well, now, if I'm not mistaken, you two young ladies entered our little Tag Battle Tournament last week in Celadon City! A pleasure to see you again!" He beamed at them.
""Little?" It was awesome!" Iris declared.
"Thank you! Ah, and if I'm correct, you won it, too!"
"Yeah, my partner and I did win!"
"I do have a good memory. So what brings you to Saffron City?"
"Oh, not much, we're just having a look around here and there."
"Well, if you're not doing anything specific, do you fancy participating in one of our little tournaments? We've got one set up in that building over there, no parks to use in this city unfortunately." He added a hint of persuasive pleading to his tone as he continued. "We're a little under-attended, to say the truth… It would mean a lot to us if you could help out."
They paused to think over his suggestion briefly, and for a moment the announcer was worried that he had overdone it a little.
"Iris?" Cilan asked. "You all right with doing it? We might not be able to see the dojo today if it goes on too long."
Iris simply shrugged.
"Meh. A chance to battle and maybe win a few prizes? I'm there!" She replied, indicating without question that she would be happy to participate if the others were.
Cilan turned to Dawn, who nodded, then to Brock, who waved a hand in affirmation towards the building that the announcer had pointed to just moments before.
"All right, looks like you've got yourself a deal."
"Wonderful!" Big mistake, kids. The announcer thought as they walked back across the road towards the building where the "tournament" would be "taking place".
"Looks pretty small for a tournament to be taking place in there." Brock commented as he peered through the door.
"Oh, that's just the ground floor, go through there-" Their host pointed inside. "You'll see a flight of stairs. Head up them, through the door that they lead to and you'll be in the battle hall. I'll join you in just a moment."
"All right." The trainers filed past, but none caught the avaricious stare with which the announcer proceeded to give Axew and Piplup as they were carried through by their unsuspecting trainers.
Up the stairs and through the door, they quickly emerged into a darkened room, which certainly did seem big enough for actual battling – from what they could make out in the darkness, at least.
"Why're the lights off?"
"Y'know, I don't like this." Brock was suddenly suspicious. "Wasn't there supposed to be someone up her already waiting for us?"
"Oh, come on." Iris countered. "It's just a dark room. I'm sure they'll turn the lights on in a second. I mean, what could they have to gain from-"
CLICK
WHOOSH
SNAP
The first sound was the noise that the mechanism briefly made as it was activated, quickly putting their devious plot into play as they noticed that all four trainers had moved to stand together in the centre of the room.
The second sound was produced by the sides of the box, rising quickly through the air.
The third sound was made as said sides came together, neatly trapping them in the box, capped off by the roof of the enclosure falling from the ceiling of the room to land on top.
Five minutes later…
"We've followed them for five days and that was all it took?" Cassidy scoffed as she drove the truck. "Pur-lease. We should've done it days ago."
"The boss wanted more intel first." Butch countered. "That was why we waited. Plus, that annoying announcer guy was busy out in Fuschia City until yesterday, and we needed him to make it convincing…"
"No, we didn't. Jessie, James and their annoying Meowth might have needed his help, but we could've fooled 'em with any old disguise."
"Better to be safe than sorry, Cassidy. The boss isn't exactly happy right now, and he won't be until everything's taken care of. He needs every single piece of the plan to work perfectly, and this-"
"-Goes a very long way towards making the plan work." She finished for him. "I know. I was there when he briefed us, remember?"
"Sometimes hard to tell…"
She bit back an angry retort. Both were aware that they were still rather stressed having spent five days very carefully trailing the four twerps, and both were aware how crucial this mission was – removing one of the biggest stumbling blocks to Team Rocket's success as it was, after all. They sat in silence for a while as she drove.
"How far away from the city should we go?" He asked, changing tack as they left the limits of the city and headed north-west into the forests.
"I'll drive for five more minutes. Is Shuckle ready?"
"It is. Never really used Sludge Bomb like this before, but it should do the job well enough…"
"That's the plan, then. We go in and take their Pokémon, then make off with them before they wake up."
"Yep."
Cassidy drummed her fingers across the dashboard, while Butch absently removed one of his gloves and began to chew on his nails.
It sounded so simple. And everything had gone to plan so far.
But then why were they so worried?
"Team Rocket, I'd guess. Who else?"
"Could just be normal criminals."
"Maybe…"
"Does this mean that there's no tag battle tournament?"
"Iris, there probably never was. It was a trap."
"Oh."
"Well, whoever did this, I'll bet that the announcer won't be happy with them misrepresenting his organisation like this!"
"Cilan…"
"What?"
"… Never mind."
They chattered nervously back and forth as they were driven by their captors. The issue of escape hung over their heads, but even as they wracked their brains for answers it was still hard to put into words the feeling of desperation that they all shared.
Desperation tinged with annoyance at themselves for falling for such an obvious trap.
If we'd have just gone on to the dojo…
If we'd have just kept walking…
If I'd just seen it coming…
"Enough, guys!" Dawn shouted, cutting through the silence like a knife through hot butter, and the others looked up at her in surprise. "We can't just give up! We need to figure out a way to get out of here, and fast!"
And suddenly, unexplainably, those words were enough to galvanise them back into action.
"All right, all right. Let's start at the beginning." Brock fell back into strategist mode. "What do they want?"
"Our Pokémon. They said it themselves."
"Could be Team Rocket, then –"
"That wasn't Jessie, James or Meowth, though-" Dawn pointed out.
"-but it doesn't matter. Now, I'm sure that they're sure that they can take them from us, but they also know that we're not just going to let them do it. Right?"
"Right!"
"Piiplup!"
"'xew!"
"So they must have some way of incapacitating us so that they can take our Pokémon… But what could it be?"
They returned to silence once again, hastily thinking through different scenarios, attempting to deduce their opponents' next moves.
The eureka moment ended up being Cilan's once again, just when it was most important. It arrived as he looked up to stare at the lonely ray of sunshine poking through the hole at the top of the truck…
The hole!
"Guys, guys!" He gasped hurriedly. "What if that hole isn't just for air? What if they're going to send something down it to knock us out?"
"Like what?" Iris pondered, puzzled. "It's a pretty small hole."
"Some kind of Pokémon's attacks, maybe?"
"An electric-type attack, or a poison-type move would be the most logical choices."
"If it is Team Rocket, then my money's on the poison-type move." Brock declared.
"Wouldn't surprise me." Dawn agreed.
"Let's assume that's what they're going to do then, let's focus on that. What are we going to do we do about it?"
"We could send an attack right back at them? If they clash and they're powerful enough, it might do just enough damage to open us up a way out." Iris suggested.
"We could, but what kind of moves can we use? They can't be too powerful, otherwise it could just end up backfiring…"
They sought the answer quickly as they felt the truck come to a stop and the voices became prevalent once more.
As it turned out, Iris had her brainwave just in time.
All of their well-laid plans. All of their preparation, their dreams of success.
All ruined, crushed in just a few short seconds.
They had planned to have Butch's Shuckle launch an extraordinarily strong Sludge Bomb down into the box through the small hole in the top. It would knock their captives out, whereupon they would simply open the container, take their Pokémon and flee, the mission complete.
They placed Shuckle on top of the truck before moving back to observe.
"Shuckle, now!" Butch gave the command, and his Mold Pokémon gathered poison at the edge of its mouth, preparing to spit into the gap as had been planned.
That part went fine, as did the spitting.
As for the explosion, well… Something exploded.
It just didn't have the same result that the Team Rocket duo had hoped for.
With an eardrum-shattering boom, the Sludge Bomb collided with a carefully timed, precise Dragon Rage from Axew in the box below. Shuckle was knocked down next to the stunned duo, clearly knocked out.
"Piplup, Whirlpool!"
Dawn's starter gathered its strength and hurled a blast of water at the roof of the box. Weakened by the prior explosion, and not particularly the strongest part of the prison anyway – the roof was ripped apart by the conjured maelstrom, and the four trainers and two active Pokémon quickly climbed out and leapt for freedom, landing opposite to Butch and Cassidy, who still couldn't quite believe what had happened.
Unlike the Team Rocket Trio, however, the duo happened to be professionals. And being professional meant recovering fast from any surprise upset to your plans… and to always have a plan B, too.
"Cassidy and Biff?" Brock asked, the only one of the group to recognise them.
"It's Butch! Oh, why do I even bother…?"
"So you guys are Team Rocket members!"
"Spare us the motto!" Dawn shouted, cutting Cassidy off from whatever she was about to say next.
"Fine." She said instead. "No mottos, not today. We'll just settle for taking your Pokémon the good old fashioned way, instead! Go, Sableye and Raticate!"
"Go, Mightyena and Primeape!" Butch roared, chucking the Pokémon balls as he also recalled Shuckle.
"Doesn't look like you want a fair fight, then, huh?" Iris pulled out three of the containers, and the others did the same. "Go, Dragonite, Excadrill and-"
"Not so fast!" Plan B wasn't just battling for their goal, of course. No, it was far sneakier than that. The duo produced net launchers with practiced speed and fired them with excellent aim at the soaring objects, enveloping them just before they could burst open, then reeling them back in to a single large net.
"No!"
"Didn't we fall for this a week ago?" Cilan sighed as he realised that, once again, they had overstretched and attempted to send out all of their Pokémon. And it had once again gone wrong.
"You thieves! Give them back!"
"What gave you the first clue?" Cassidy taunted. "If you want them back, you'll have to battle for them…" She directed her gaze at Axew and Piplup.
"We won't lose to you! Ready, Piplup?"
"Piip!"
"You too, Axew!"
The two smaller Pokémon leapt down to face their much larger adversaries.
They were outnumbered and outsized all round, but they would give their all to save their friends just the same.
Team Rocket wasn't going to give them that chance.
Giving them a chance would open a hole for the failure of their plan. They'd learnt that lesson personally, back in the Orange Islands, and had seen countless mission reports that the trio had filed of losses simply because they had underestimated their opponents.
That wouldn't happen today.
Today, they would make sport of them – and for a while, that was exactly what happened.
Mightyena and Primeape tossed Piplup around, giving it hardly the slightest chance to break away and gain the range he needed to effectively use his BubbleBeam or Hydro Pump attacks.
Axew fared a little better, but Sableye and Raticate went no easier on it, and it was soon solely focused on defending itself rather than counterattacking.
The trainers shouted encouragement to their last hopes, but their desperation only fuelled their opponents' desire for victory.
What finally turned the tide, however, was a combination of resolve, bad luck on the part of the duo, and to some extent, simply over-attacking it by their Pokémon.
One exceptionally vicious swipe sent Piplup flying with a pitifully shrill scream to land next to Dawn, who helped her starter up, now extremely worried. What neither of them noticed was the tiny object that rolled away from the Penguin Pokémon as it hit the floor.
"Axew, hang in there!" Iris cried as it adeptly blocked an attack with its claws, though the force of the strike forced it back towards its trainer nonetheless.
"Surely you're ready to give up, now?" Butch taunted as he hefted the sack of Poké balls over his shoulder.
"We won't quit!" Iris angrily retorted. "Axew, use Dragon Rage, go!"
"Piplup, Hydro Pump!"
The attacks came with such alacrity and ferocity that the recipients had no chance to dodge. Raticate and Primeape were sent sprawling by the attacks, but quickly returned to their feet after a glare from their trainers.
"Is that all you've got?" Cassidy looked down on the pair of short, brave Pokémon that stood defiantly in their way.
They answered her snarky attitude with their own cries of anger… Cries that were both quickly joined by a brilliant white glow.
"Axew, yes!" Iris screamed in shocked delight.
"Piplup, no!" Dawn and Brock screamed in horror.
"It's evolution time!" Cilan shouted.
The light subsided as it became clear that the features of both Pokémon had drastically changed. Both had gained height and size from the evolution, changing subtly in colouration and proportion in places.
Fraxure greeted its evolution with absolute joy. It examined itself happily, then arrayed itself in a combat stance against its foes, clearly having received its second wind.
Prinplup stared at itself, wide-eyed, briefly unable to comprehend the changes that had been wrought across it by its own biological necessity. It seemed closer to tears with every passing second as it crumpled straight down to the ground.
Cilan was perplexed at Prinplup's behaviour, but Brock and Dawn shared a knowing look.
Iris was too busy fawning over her evolved favourite to notice.
"This… This could really be a problem." Butch whispered to Cassidy, and for the first time since starting the battle, the duo were actually worried.
"All right, Fraxure, let's see what you can do! Get in there with Outrage!"
"Stop it, all of you!"
Fraxure's newfound massive strength was barely held back by the combined might of all four of its adversaries; indeed, it seemed eager to get back in the fray straight away after jumping back to avoid the counterattack, having gained a little speed too.
The end of the battle did not come from Fraxure, however; it came, rather anticlimactically, from Prinplup.
With a plaintive screech, the evolved Penguin Pokémon raged at its unwanted evolution, tears dropping down from its cheeks in its anguish. Eyes shut tight, it summoned a massive Whirlpool, far larger than before, and hurled it at the grouped-up enemies. Caught in its grasp, neither the Pokemon nor their trainers could do anything as they were quickly pulled in, tossed about, then sent flying by the furious water.
The sack of Poké balls fell from Butch's grasp at the last moment, tumbling down to earth to be carefully caught by Brock, waiting underneath.
Not at all comforted by its success, Prinplup fell back to the ground, water streaming from its eyes, as Dawn rushed in to catch it in a comforting hug.
They returned to Saffron City after that, eschewing a visit to the dojo and postponing their ride on the Magnet Train to Johto until the following day.
One of the biggest – and most understandable – of the problems that they found that night was the completely opposite attitudes that Dawn and Iris took towards the evolutions of their favoured Pokémon.
Iris' – and Fraxure's - pure glee contrasted rather unfortunately with the despair that Dawn and Prinplup clearly shared – though Dawn was unhappy more so because she knew exactly how terrible her water-type was feeling about the surprise evolution rather than because she was actually unhappy that he had evolved.
"I still don't understand…" She muttered weakly, sipping from a mug of hot chocolate in the centre. "His Everstone…"
"I'm sorry, Dawn." Brock produced the well-travelled stone from his pocket. "I found it just before we left the scene. I think it must have been knocked clear when he was attacked by Mightyena…"
Dawn took the stone without another word, pocketing it and thanking Brock for his concern, before returning to her bawling starter to comfort him for however long he needed.
She realised that Prinplup hadn't stopped crying since he had evolved, and wondered how long it would take for him to return to being the happy, energetic Pokemon that she knew.
Brock moved back, understanding that they needed some time together, walking over to Cilan, who had had the situation explained to him beforehand, and now shared in the melancholic mood.
Only Iris' spirits couldn't be dampened.
"Think he'll be all right?" Cilan asked.
"Hope so." Brock said sadly, then stiffened. "Look…"
"What?" Cilan turned towards the window, where Brock's gaze was locked. "Oh…"
It had finally started to rain.
"Let their mindless armies come and face the might of true genius."
- Varil, Neurok Partisan; Turn the Tide, Mirrodin Besieged
Just one last quick note, not that I intend to make a habit of adding things on after each chapter, but I feel it's necessary in this case.
I know that I've been under-using Piplup and Axew since I started writing the story, and I decided to write in their evolutions, apart from being beneficial to the plot, but also to try to rectify this and give them some attention – with admittedly little buildup, though Piplup is constantly ready to evolve in the anime anyway, the process being held only at bay by the Everstone he holds… And what if that was taken away? As for Axew, well, it must be getting close too.
Hopefully said evolutions don't seem too forced, but please say if they do, as I'll know for the future not to attempt stuff like this. I intend to continue writing about the impact of the evolutions – and what it means for them – when the story next returns to Brock, Cilan, Dawn and Iris.