Obligatory Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.
And here we are again after a few more months. Believe it or not, I've had five-sixths of this chapter written for over a month now – I just couldn't finish it for some reason. Sorry again…
At least it's a little longer than average. Probably my longest yet!
First up, then, thanks for the review Agent of Fire! I'm starting to wonder if you're psychic – at least on the shipping issue! Yes, you're quite right, I'm an Amourshipper now. This chapter should clear up a bit more regarding Ash and romance, and while not tying up all the loose ends, ought to set things on that matter towards their conclusion.
Indeed, just because I've switched to another pairing doesn't mean that the story will become about that pairing; just that it won't involve the pairing that I had previously planned on using (hint: it also began with an 'A'!). Introducing Serena now and making it seem realistic would be difficult, if not impossible, especially since I've already said that I don't intend to have the main cast visit Kalos. I don't know, though… maybe in a sequel? We're still a very long way off from that!
On your other theory, you're certainly going along the right lines when it comes to the bomb; although they wouldn't have been too fussed if their targets had been further injured – Ash would have rushed back either way!
I've identified one or two lines in previous chapters that won't really make sense without a resolution in favour of the previously-intended pairing. I intend now to go back and make some edits to get them out and sort any spelling/grammar issues I come across as well, but I'll probably get a few more chapters done before I go about that.
Either way, on with the story!
Chronologically, this chapter follows on directly from chapter twenty-five.
Team Rocket HQ
"Sir, we've received confirmation from all team leaders. Our agents have initiated Operation Pallet Storm on schedule. Primary and secondary targets have been engaged. Tertiary targets are under observation. The cordon is holding."
"Excellent." He smiled, refilling his glass from the water cooler by his desk. "And the champion?"
"The champion took the bait. He's en route to the Indigo League now."
"Outstanding. Tell them to continue the mission as planned." He paused, savouring the feeling of triumph so close at hand. "And pass my authorisation on for the second mission. Operation Indigo Treachery is a go."
"Sir." His secretary bowed, and left.
It was odd, but he found himself now rather nonplussed about however the mission in Pallet Town progressed. No matter if Ketchum lived to fight another day, no matter if Professor Oak would be able to continue to operate, his control over the region would be so ironclad…
Kanto and Johto would be Team Rocket's by the end of the day.
They would be his by the end of the day.
And all Giovanni had to do was sit back and watch.
Indigo League HQ
"How are those reports coming, Malkinson?" The voice of his boss echoed down the hall, startling the league agent out of his daydreaming stupor. He'd been so, so close to falling asleep, too…
"Coming, boss!" He shouted back hurriedly. "They'll be with you by the end of the day!"
"See to it." His boss replied, out of view. Malkinson made a face.
It wouldn't be too difficult for him to make the deadline, in fairness. He was two-thirds of the way through already. It was just so damned hard to concentrate when he was sitting near Jessica.
He snuck a glance across the room at her desk. She caught his gaze and gave him a side-on smile.
She was charming, funny, intelligent and drop-dead gorgeous. Best of all, she seemed genuinely interested. Her eyes danced whenever he cracked a joke. She always paid him so much attention.
Her smile helped him get through the day.
He'd been working up the courage to ask her out for weeks. And today, at last, he would do it. After work.
If I can get these reports done in time, anyway.
Who even cares about the effects of a 0.5% decline in the usage of the Magnet Train anyway?
Malkinson forced himself to concentrate for an hour, typing deliberately away.
Eventually, he looked up again.
And realised that she was gone. He hadn't even noticed her leave.
That's odd. She ought to be finishing same time as me, and she'd need to walk straight past me to go to the toilet. Weird.
He paid it no more heed. He was so very close to finishing. Only two hundred more words to-
The screen in front and the overhead lights ahead flickered off, plunging the office into darkness.
The immediate thought of Good thing I'd just saved the document… passed through his head, swiftly replaced by confusion. The League's power supply was isolated from the main grid; and backed up twice by auxiliary generators. How could they have suffered a power cut?
He stood up, feeling his way around the office as his eyes adjusted to the gloom. He could hear voices down the hall, expressing equal confusion.
"Boss?" He called out. "Jessica?" He rounded out the rest of the names of those working in the office, with the occasional response.
Things were very strange; he'd heard them all working only minutes before.
His eyes finally compensated to the darkness enough for him to be able to see Jessica's desk. She was crouched over the computer, doing something to it that he couldn't quite make out. He remembered that she had a Computer Science degree. Maybe she's trying to work out what's happened.
Malkinson made his way carefully across the empty space, moving to stand behind her.
"Jessica?" He asked again. She squeaked, jumped, and fell off the chair.
"Ow…"
"Sorry, sorry!" He yelped hastily, going bright red, and helped her to her feet. "I didn't mean to startle you. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."
"I'm… fine." She replied hesitantly. "Just trying to find out what happened."
"Me too. I was about to go look for the boss." That's it. Be decisive.
This could be a perfect opportunity for him to impress her…
"Lead on." He could just about see her smile in the darkness, and it gave him strength.
"Right." He turned and started walking back down the hall to the boss's office. He could hear her walking behind him.
He only belated realised that Jessica had changed her clothes in the half hour since he had last seen her. Before, she had worn a light blue summer dress. Now, she was wearing something much bulkier. With a large letter emblazoned on the front of her top…
Malkinson stopped in his tracks and turned to question her about it. Or, at least, tried to.
He was on the floor before he'd even realised that she had hit him.
He rolled over, groaning, as the room seemed to spin and grow even darker.
Her face loomed over his, frowning. Even so, she was still beautiful.
He tried to reach out and touch her cheek, but couldn't move. The pain in the back of his head was going, and he could feel himself drifting off.
"Why…?" He managed to gasp.
"Sorry." She whispered, and disappeared from his limited view. "It isn't personal. Just business."
And then the darkness took him.
Oak's Lab
"Need some water?" Tracey panted, taking a long sip himself as he pointed to a number of bottles. Cynthia took one and downed the contents in one gulp.
It had taken nearly an hour to clear out Team Rocket from most of Oak's Lab. The hardest part had been the initial break-out. They'd had ten of their agents holding that first door, all with three or four Pokémon each. Garchomp had forced them back under cover from Spiritomb, unleashing a relentless assault which forced them to retreat downstairs, cleared the landing and bought the defenders some breathing room.
From there, Cynthia had spread all of her Pokémon around the house and steadily pushed Team Rocket outside – except at the side garage, which they were unable to seize. Garchomp, Oak's Dragonite and Tracey's Venomoth watched that door. Glaceon and Braviary covered the front door; Gastrodon, Scyther and Marill the back. Spiritomb took to hovering around the outside, dodging the occasional burst of flame or smog and raining down the occasional Dark Pulse to 'keep them honest', as Oak had put it.
Fortunately, Rocket had been unable – or perhaps unwilling – to break into the Pokémon storage area of the lab. Either that or they were planning on doing it later…
Surprise and speed had bought them initial success, and now they had had the opportunity to regroup and build up minimalist defensive positions, from which they were able to keep greater numbers at bay. For the moment, at least.
"I swear I've seen the same Koffing twice." She observed. "They must have potions, or maybe even a healing machine. I think I saw a truck outside earlier; that could be how they're doing it."
"Then we're going to run out of healing before they do." Tracey muttered. "Maybe we should go after the truck?"
There was a crash before Cynthia could reply, coming from the rear of the house.
"That'll be the garage again." She sighed, and starting to make her way towards the sounds of battle between the attackers and the two dragon-types guarding it. "We'll keep an eye out for an opportunity to counterattack, but in the meantime, we'll have to hold on."
She didn't have time to dwell on where everyone else was, not while they were boxed in like this. She hoped at least that they were together, or weren't even being targeted. But knowing Team Rocket, and what they had done in Goldenrod, she wasn't banking on it.
Ash's House
"This is ridiculous." Hilda was having none of it. She paced around the room crossly. Dawn remained in her bed; Misty had moved to lean against the chest of drawers in the corner.
"Please, just listen to me." Misty whispered sorrowfully, and Dawn sighed.
"I know it's hard to accept." The blue-haired coordinator nodded. "But the sooner you do the sooner you can move on." The champion shook her head.
"I get it, he doesn't like you like that. I'm sure that was hard to accept, but-"
"He doesn't like anyone like that." Misty tried again. "It's Ash. Can't you see? We both tried for years to get some kind of reaction from him – and nothing! Oh, there were times when we thought that he might – that we kidded ourselves into thinking that we were just that special to him-"
"And we are special to him, all of us-" Dawn put in quickly.
"Yeah, but not romantically. It's Ash. He's just not wired like that." Misty finished.
"You both just gave up!" The champion said, nonplussed.
"Three years, Hilda! Three years of bickering, flirting and trying to coax some feelings from him, and the closest I came to it was a dance at a festival, after which he just ran off for food!" The redhead shouted back, then calmed slightly. "You've known him for what, a week?" She went on. "These videos of yours don't count." She quickly added, as Hilda opened her mouth again. "I've known him for six years, Hilda. Six years of companions, and I've never seen him that close – in that way - to any of us. Me, Dawn, May…"
"May doesn't seem to know about this, from the way she looks at him." Hilda interjected.
Dawn and Misty exchanged uneasy glances.
"We haven't had a chance to talk to her yet. I didn't see it until Misty laid it out clearly to me." Dawn confessed, shaking her head. "Please, Hilda… Just let it go…"
The champion paused in her stride for a moment, as if to mull this over. Then a rather smug smirk worked its way over her features.
"You're… You're both in league with May, aren't you? You want her to get together with Ash, is that it?!"
"No, no, no!" Misty yelped quickly, eyes wide. Dawn stared out in shock, wondering at how the other girl had put the pieces together to come to such a far-off conclusion. "Hilda, we-"
"And for that to happen, you'd need to get me out of the way…" Hilda muttered, hand on her chin, no longer listening to the pleas of the others. "And- aha!"
"Aha?"
"She's out there right now with Ash, isn't she?" Hilda cried, pointing her finger accusingly at the only gym leader in the room.
"Well, uh, yes, but-"
"I knew it!" She roared triumphantly. "I'm going to go out there right now and interrupt them!" She marched over to the door.
"But- wait-"
"Good day!" She snapped matter-of-factly, and slammed the door shut behind her.
There was a silent pause.
She reopened the door. Having just walked into a closet.
"…After I walk out the right door."
Once she was gone, the two other girls sighed heavily. The tension slipped from the room a little, although things still felt unresolved.
"Well, that didn't go to plan…" Misty noted somewhat unnecessarily.
"I guess we'll have to try a different approach towards Operation: Heartbreaker." Dawn replied.
"Not you too! We are so not calling it that!"
Oak's Forest
"Stay low, keep running!" Ash pulled May along, although he didn't really need to; he had a feeling that she could probably put on a burst of speed and outpace him if he let go of her hand. The girl had always been fast…
"Isn't this back the way we came?" The brunette gritted her teeth as they went cross-country through the forest.
"They attacked from in front of us, we either need to get back to the lab or get around them."
"Can't we just fight through them?"
Ash looked down at his empty belt.
"Well, uh, I may have kinda let my Pokémon earlier out to catch up… They're all waiting for us at the clearing."
"…"
"Oops."
"Looks like it's down to me then!" She shook herself free of his grip and danced out of the way of an incoming ball of fire. "Glaceon, Munchlax, take the stage!"
Her Pokémon burst out into the forest, quickly nipping into cover and diving for the ground as a number of attacks flew their way.
"Munchlax?"
"Sniff them out!"
"Munchlax!" The big-eater nodded happily and took a long sniff of the air. It pointed down in the direction of the trees to the right.
"Glaceon, Ice Beam! Follow where Munchlax points!" The ice-type complied, lancing out a streak of ice towards the targeted area. They couldn't see the effect of the move, but from the way the fury of the attacks against them let up a little it had probably forced their assailants to seek some protection.
"Nice job!"
"Ash, you need to get to Pikachu and your other Pokémon!" The coordinator shouted to him. Another wave of wind and flame shot from the cover of the shadows opposite them, forcing the two and May's Pokémon down again. "They won't let up otherwise!"
"But- I can't just leave you-"
"I'll be fine!" She winked and smiled, and it reassured him a little. "I'll give you some cover to get you started!"
He nodded, and she tossed another Poké ball. Venasaur emerged behind them.
"Venasaur, Frenzy Plant, towards those trees! Glaceon, Ice Beam, again!"
The moves were executed perfectly, and blocked what little they could see of the trees from view.
"Go!" She urged him again, and he hurried off to the left, forging through the forest back to the path that they had been forced off earlier.
He looked back to see May coordinating her Pokémon in battle. There was a grim intensity on her face as she called out commands and dished out praise. She was sweating visibly, covered in dirt now too, but it didn't take anything away from her image – it just made her look fiercer.
He'd never been more proud to call her his friend.
Outside Ash's House
The Rocket agents waited calmly outside the house, carefully concealed behind the delivery truck that had 'broken down' nearby and which was currently 'being prepared'. Very, very slowly.
They'd had eyes-on to four active hostiles around the house; three females, one male. They'd also spotted one girl in bed on the second floor; intel confirmed her as one of the targets from the Goldenrod op. All fairly young. All not to be underestimated.
Well, except perhaps one. They'd managed to sneak two agents round the back, at times almost in plain sight, and she hadn't noticed them even when she had been working in the garden. Another of the Goldenrod targets. One of the grunts had joked that perhaps the blast had damaged her head or something.
Not many of them found that funny.
They were all people, after all. All human. They had friends, family. Loved ones.
The members of Team Rockets all just shared a different sort of moral code to the one held by most people.
Strength. Power. These were more important than right and wrong.
The rest of the world was just too blind to see it or too proud to admit it.
Two of the others were gym leaders. They were a threat, to be sure, but they could be dealt with – through weight of numbers if by nothing else. They had the ten-to-one advantage, and were planning on using it.
The last was perhaps the most concerning for the Rocket field commander on the scene; a brunette, wearing a cap, a white short-sleeved shirt and a cap. They had no intel on her; her accent was all they had to go on. It suggested that she was from far away – from the same place as the girl in the garden, from the sound of the latter's annoying voice – not that that sum knowledge was particularly useful to them. But it would have to do.
Apart from the people, there was also one Pokémon out in the building; a Mr. Mime. Its trainer was known to be out, and would hopefully be kept away by the cordon.
Either way, it would pose no problem.
But their orders – for now – were to observe. These were tertiary targets. They were to be contained, and only engaged with the intent to supress and hold them where they were – and only if necessary.
Then they could be dealt with later, by the full force of Team Rocket's might. But their mission would be a success if the enemy could just be prevented from linking up with their friends.
And so the Rocket agents waited. And watched.
And were nearly spooked by a message over the radio-net a few minutes later.
"All units, perimeter breach!"
Oak's Lab
"They're coming at the front again, aren't they?" Tracey asked.
"Looks like it." The blonde-haired champion finished spraying the contents of a potion onto Braviary; the flying-type squawked appreciatively, and perched itself on a nearby banister. "That was our last potion."
"I can bring Venomoth around to help out." Tracey suggested, and she nodded. He ran off to fetch it.
She watched him go and sighed. Ash's friends were always so willing, so enthusiastic. Even a situation like this didn't seem to be fazing Tracey too badly.
"The energy of youth, eh?" The professor said from behind her, looking down from the top of the stairs. She turned and raised an eyebrow.
"…Are you calling me old?"
"Old enough to understand what I mean."
"True." She turned back to regard their defences, her Pokémon, and the door ahead. "I think we can take another three, maybe four attacks. After that I don't know. Perhaps we could try to break out, but that would leave the lab vulnerable…"
"If it comes to it I could risk letting them all out to help, but you know the problems inherent in that idea."
She did. As a last-ditch plan, Oak could, given some time and access to the inner lab, release all of the Pokémon stored there to defend it. It would almost certainly work, but…
They would face a logistical nightmare in putting them all back into storage, trying to work out which Pokémon belonged to who. It would be difficult to explain to the trainers why it had been necessary. The collateral damage to the lab would probably be extensive.
And there was always the possibility that Team Rocket might be counting on such a show of strength and could be ready to counter it. Or subvert it – Cynthia recalled the events of the White Forest in Unova with no lack of clarity.
They could hope it wouldn't come to that, but it was looking increasingly likely.
"Professor?" Tracey called, and they turned to him as he re-entered the room. Venomoth fluttered in his wake. "I think I heard something around the back. It sounded like a car."
"I can't see anything out the front, and that's the only road you can drive up around here." Cynthia said as she peered around the edge of a closed curtain. "You don't think they've brought another truck round, do you? Wait…" She stopped still and strained her ears; the others did the same. "I can hear it here now…"
"You youngsters and your youthful ears." Oak grumbled.
"It doesn't sound like a truck." Cynthia went on. "I recognise the sound of that engine, actually. And it sounds like it's going round the-"
CRASH
"-back."
They ran through the house to investigate the sound, worried that Rocket had breached the garage again, but found the door intact and Dragonite and Garchomp unharmed, if a little confused.
Cynthia carefully nudged open the door and found the garage to empty – they were sure it had been full of waiting grunts only minutes before. She motioned for Tracey and the professor to stay behind, for Garchomp to come with her, and then moved up to the garage door. She opened that, too and looked cautiously out into the light of day.
The Rockets had indeed had a truck parked around the back - 'had' being the operative word there.
Someone had rammed an SUV into the side of the truck. Then it had been somehow ripped in half and torn to scrap.
She absently realised that it was one of her SUVs that had been used in the bold attack. And it was completely written off.
Cynthia suddenly had a pretty good idea as to who had rammed the truck.
Her suspicions were confirmed by the sight of a few grunts running away – or, to put it kindly, tactically retreating – from a rather large blue reptilian Pokémon. It roared after them as they disappeared over a nearby hedge, screaming all the way.
"Hello, Swampert." She grinned as it waved happily upon seeing her and gave a hearty below. "Where is he?"
Swampert pointed a fin around the lab and stomped off the other way. She heard more shouts and cries of alarm.
Rounding the corner of the building, she quickly spotted the one who had come to their aid; or at least, his jacketed arm. The rest of him was buried under a bundle of angry Rocket grunts.
Cynthia rolled her eyes and gave Garchomp a nod. Her ace leapt into the fray, bowled aside the enemy and sent them staggering away, then dragged the former champion out of the mess he had gotten himself into.
They all retreated back around the wall and into the garage. She noticed Swampert taking up a guard position outside, and beckoned Garchomp to do the same.
"You couldn't even pull of a rescue properly, could you?" Cynthia sniggered.
Cameron looked at her and raised an eyebrow.
"You're welcome."
Oak's Forest
Ash kept running, desperate to cover as much ground as quickly as possible and link up with his Pokémon. The faster he did so, the faster he could reinforce May.
The ground exploded just ahead of him, and to the right; he stumbled but managed to veer left. It appeared that whoever they were facing would not be too easily mislead.
He was still being pursued, and knowing that made him run even harder.
His muscles ached as he exerted them, but fresh adrenaline fuelled his movements and kept him going. He couldn't stop now.
The clearing couldn't be too far ahead. He leapt over a root and behind a tree just as something big crashed down behind him; an escape born more out of luck than good judgment. Looking back at what had caused it would have been a waste of precious seconds.
The ground was still fairly unknown to him – his Pokémon hadn't been using it as a meeting place for too long, and he'd had no reason to come to it before. For a moment he feared that he had gone off course after all, but that fear dissipated as he burst out of the treeline into the unshrouded opening in the woodblock, to many cries of greeting from his friends.
Pikachu jumped up on his shoulder straight away, visibly concerned by his current breathless state. He had to dodge Bayleef as it immediately attempted to glomp him.
"Guys…" He began, as the sound of the approaching enemy grew louder through the trees. "I could use your help with something…"
Team Rocket HQ
"I want eyes on the ground, now!" Giovanni barked. His secretary greeted the outburst with her usual stoicism. "Do they know who broke the cordon?"
"Reports indicate that it was a single man, in a black and yellow sports utility vehicle." She replied. "There have been no confirmed matches on his identity. I will begin running database analyses once we are passed a clearer description."
"Is he using any Pokémon?"
"Several agents engaged a Swampert shortly after he arrived which is presumed to belong to him. It forced them to retreat and is now guarding the laboratory alongside the Garchomp presumed to belong to the Sinnoh champion."
"The teams assigned to that objective should have cleared it long before this could become an issue, especially with Lance out of the way." Giovanni growled. "What of Assassin, and the primary objective?"
She shook her head.
"We have had no communication with Assassin Leader since he called for radio silence an hour ago."
This wasn't good news either. Leader operated like clockwork; he would always report in once he had completed his objective. The fact that he hadn't done so made it clear that the battle was taking longer than they had hoped. Ketchum might be putting up a fight, but…
"And the tertiary objective?"
"The teams posted outside the Ketchum house have reported no change in the situation, and no attempt to move from the house by the current occupants has been made."
"At least there is some good news." Giovanni nodded, and looked down at the holographic model in the centre of his office of the objective area. It was slowly evolving to account for the changes in the battlescape; they were unfortunately unable to access real-time updates today. He forced himself to calm down; as much as the thought of a blow to his pride angered him – and Team Rocket failing in Pallet would be such a blow - the other operation was proceeding on schedule. That was his main effort today. That was what mattered.
It took a frustrating amount of effort for him to remember that.
Ash's House
In the end, Dawn and Misty managed to convince Hilda to stay and hear them out. If 'locking all the doors downstairs and refusing to let her out' could be counted as 'convincing' her, anyway.
Brock joined in with their efforts as they sat (or paced) around the kitchen table over cups of tea, Misty having helped Dawn hobble down the stairs into a chair. Iris was nowhere to be found, probably off somewhere in the house with Fraxure. Mr. Mime was busying itself with the chores, and darted in and out of the kitchen at times.
"I'm not going to accept this." Hilda said for what must have been the hundredth time.
"He's focused on his goal. He wants to be a Pokémon master, and he never really stops. Why do you think he always keeps jumping around the regions?" Misty said wearily.
"We've known him for six years." Brock added, unknowingly repeating what Misty had said earlier. "We know him. Maybe someday he'll change, I guess..."
"But for now, you're just wasting your time." Dawn finished.
Hilda looked at them in silence for a minute, and then shook her head.
"Alright, I don't believe that you're trying to steal him from me, or let May take him." She admitted. "But I still think you're wrong."
With that, she walked out of the kitchen towards the porch.
"Well, I guess we tried." Brock shrugged, and sipped his tea. "What else can we do?"
"She'll just have to fund out for herself." They all nodded at this.
"Uhhh, guys?" Hilda's voice drifted across the hall to them. Ash's house had pretty good acoustics – you could hear quite a lot across it. "Are there normally men in black outside the house, because- woah!"
The front door slammed, and Brock and Misty rushed out to investigate. The brunette had jumped back inside, shut the door and hit the deck; she frantically motioned for them to stay low.
"Whoever they are, they've just chucked a Sludge Bomb at the front door." She said urgently as they came over to join her at the window. "I think I saw a Grimer and a couple of Koffing. It looked like they were watching the house, and were just changing shifts when I looked outside. They were standing up and everything…"
The two gym leaders peered over the top of the windowsill. They were able to make out a number of people arrayed across the road and the hedge of the Ketchum house, with more pouring from a nearby truck that had been there since earlier. They all looked panicked and jumpy, as if anticipating a fight, and were sending out their Pokémon in waves. Indeed, there were lots of pure poison-types, as well as Zubats, Magnemites, and the occasional Geodude.
Another wave of poison-type moves suddenly exploded on the glass in front of them, causing the two to duck back out of sight.
"And I just cleaned that window…" Brock groaned.
"Notice anything about them?"
"Yeah. The emblem."
"Team Rocket." They both nodded. Hilda looked intrigued.
"The same people who set off the bomb?"
"Mhm. They've had some people following Ash around for years, but they've been upping their game recently." Brock summarised quickly. "Lance said they've been building up to something big; maybe attacking us here is the next stage of their plan?"
"But why go for us?" It was a valid question. Sure, they were attacked in Goldenrod, but Lance had been with them then. Unless…
"What if we're not the main targets? What if they're after Ash and the others as well?" Brock gasped, his eyes wide with realisation.
"Then we need to break out of this trap fast!" Hilda cried.
"Well, if you have any ideas…"
They racked their brains, trying to work out the best way forward.
"Think they're round the back as well?"
"Probably." It looked like a big operation, and they doubted that this new-style, competent Team Rocket would be so foolish as to leave them an easy escape route.
"If they want a fight I know who'd be happy to give it to them!" Hilda raised a Poké ball threateningly and made as if to move upwards, but Misty held her down.
"No!" The redhead hissed as another salvo of poison-type attacks hit the glass; Hilda's arm had been visible only for a moment. "They're on a hair trigger out there. It's too risky. They could take your arm off before you even get a chance to throw it!"
Hilda pouted, and they thought on. Poké balls were designed to open in two ways; the standard way, upon being thrown by a trainer, and the emergency way, in which the button in the middle could be pressed to disgorge the Pokémon inside in a situation where the ball could not be thrown. The former approach would have to be discounted. The latter was not without its own dangers; the Pokémon would pop out right next to the trainer, almost worryingly close, and if that Pokémon were particularly large…
"Then we need another place to throw it from." Hilda resolved. "Upstairs?"
"It'll have to be. Brock, you go update Dawn. She'll want to know what's going on." Misty said, and the other gym leader nodded. "We'll head upstairs and try to find Iris."
They crept back into the house proper and split up; Hilda and Misty went upstairs, and Brock returned to Dawn, who had been joined by Mr. Mime. Delia's only Pokémon had noticed Team Rocket out the back after Hilda had forced their hand, and had started frantically setting up Light Screens as fast as it could.
The champion and the gym leader found Iris with Cilan in the end; the connoisseur was still asleep. She turned to them as they entered the room.
"I thought I'd check and see if he'd woken up again yet, but no…" She told them sadly. "Is everything alright?"
Misty explained the situation to her, while Hilda checked the windows. From the way that a few attacks bounced off them as she did so, it seemed that the grunts had thought of that too.
"So we could probably use a distraction just to get a Pokémon out there, and then we can go from there." Misty finished.
"Well, if they're using Poison-type moves, why not use a steel-type against them? They're immune, after all." The dragon-trainer suggested.
"That's an idea." Misty replied. "But it doesn't solve the Poké ball issue… And I think Brock sent all of his steel-types back to the gym…"
Iris pulled out a Poké ball.
"I've got Excadrill."
"Okay, but we still need a distraction."
"We could just get someone to go outside, jump up and down and wave their hands about." Hilda said sarcastically, still looking through the windows as surreptitiously as she could.
"Hmm… I've got it!" Iris said. "Why don't you two stay inside and jump up and down in front of these windows, while I let Excadrill out downstairs!"
The others looked at each other.
"Um, I'm not so sure about this." Misty said uneasily.
"I was joking…" Hilda sighed.
Iris was already halfway out of the room.
"I'll get in position! Just wait for my signal!" She shouted. "What could go wrong?"
"The windows could break, for one…" Misty muttered as they reluctantly moved to each side of the window. "And I don't wanna be covered in sludge."
"At least it could be a bonding opportunity." Hilda offered, and then looked away from the redhead's withering gaze.
They knew that the chickens would try to fly the coop eventually. Now all that mattered was keeping them there and buying the other teams some time.
They had teams covering each angle of the house, Grimers and Koffing ready to spew gas and sludge at the slightest hint of movement. They had Geodude to tank some harder hits, and Zubats for their Supersonic-induced confusion.
Some higher evolutions would have been nice, but they weren't the main effort of the operation, and they knew it. At least they had weight of numbers on their side.
The grunts kept their heads low and focused on watching their targets and commanding their Pokémon to fire when necessary.
One grunt in particular was eager to do well. He was by day a clerk from Celadon, and this was his first major op in Team Rocket. So far, it had gone extremely well, except for the slight hitch that had occurred when one of the targets had noticed them swapping watch shifts.
At least it hadn't been him that had screwed up, anyway.
There was movement inside the house, and all of the grunts tensed, ready to give the order.
And then two of their targets starting jumping up and down at the upstairs window. Both were girls; one redhead and one brunette. The latter was unknown to them, but everyone recognised Misty, gym leader of Cerulean City.
Are they taunting us?
Two squads worth of Sludge Bombs flew at the house, and the two ducked back out of sight as they slapped into the glass. Heh. That'll teach them.
Then, quick as a flash, an arm popped out of the front downstairs window holding a Poké ball. They had no chance to prevent the action – their Pokémon still needed to wait a moment to have the energy to attack again.
The ball burst open to reveal a dark-coloured, mole-like Pokémon, with huge, threatening claws and a deep scowl on its face. He didn't recognise it, and doubted that it could normally be found in Kanto. Aren't some of the targets supposed to be from other regions?
It began advancing towards them, so they had their Pokémon fire on it again. To their dismay, the poisonous volley simply seemed to slide off it and had no effect – at most, it seemed a little angrier.
"It must be a steel-type!" One of the commanders shouted from behind. "Send the Geodude in!"
On cue, the rugged Pokémon moved up and engaged the hostile mole. It threw off the first, turned aside the second and the third, and grounded the fourth, but there was only one of it, and there were ten of the rock/ground-types, which forced it to the floor in a huge pile-up.
That went alright. They'll think twice about doing that again.
As if to prove the grunt's thoughts wrong, another Poké ball soared out of the house.
They can keep sending them like that. The grunt thought, just before it burst. One at a time, there's nothing we can't handle.
Looking back, he would regret just how badly mistaken about that he was.
They all heard the roar first, before the effect lighting dissipated. Then, hardly a second later, they witnessed a dark draconic nightmare.
The radio net immediately went crazy, consumed by panicked voices.
Its eyes burned red as a raging fire; its scales crackled with electricity and its footsteps were like thunder. With one claw, it swatted aside the Geodude swarming the stricken mole, reached in and pulled it to safety.
Barely holding onto their nerve, the grunts reacted as one, directing their teams of Pokémon to attack the terror before them – for all the good that it did. It didn't even appear to flinch from the barrage sent its way, and when the smoke finally cleared, it had barely taken a scratch.
Then it took its turn.
Two swipes sent two whole teams of Pokémon flying, their trainers running terrified after them. A blast of electricity boomed into the air and took out their meagre aerial forces.
Just like that, the Team Rocket forces at the front of the little house were scattered. The dragon stomped off contemptuously around the corner, and within moments, those remaining rear forces that had not retreated upon hearing the radio reports or upon seeing the light show silhouetted against the building were gone too.
Running for his life across the open farmland, the last thing that the grunt saw of the objective was the dragon making its way back around the house and accepting the brown-haired girl from before onto its back.
We completed our objective. We held out as long as we could. But… What Pokémon was that? And what kind of trainers are they, to be able to control it?
He had a terrible feeling that someone very high up indeed had significantly underestimated the enemy.
Oak's Forest
May exhaled and then breathed in deeply as the dust cloud dissipated. A large Pokémon belonging to the foe had hit the ground hard and thrown up an obscuring natural smokescreen, which had quickly faded in the summer breeze, but provided them with a brief respite from the battle.
Glaceon was out cold, but she still had Venasaur, and the grass starter was doing an excellent job at fighting the two remaining enemy Pokémon alone – having just taken out one, in fact.
She hadn't been able to keep all of Team Rocket engaged there, but at least she'd been able to distract one of them.
I hope Ash is okay…
"Hidden Power!" she cried as a Weezing rushed forth through the woods. Venasaur channelled for a moment before hitting the poison-type with a fiery blast and knocking it back. It wasn't down and out yet, but that had clearly been the last straw for its trainer. A red beam lanced out and connected with it, recalling it to safety.
And just like that, there was quiet in the forest. The battle was over.
May punched the air, and then ran out from cover to hug her triumphant Vensaur.
"Not bad, I'll give you that."
May jumped and looked up towards the voice, finding Hilda sitting atop Zekrom, the legendary gentling flapping its wings to keep stable.
The coordinator raised an eyebrow. "How long have you been up there?" she asked.
Hilda shrugged and grinned, clearly not bothered enough to answer the question. "Catch ya later, hon! I'm going to go find Ashy…"
Zekrom sped off deeper into the forest, taking the champion with it and leaving May by herself.
May growled after her. "Oh no you don't…" She recalled Venasaur and started back in the direction she had seen Ash run in earlier.
Whoever he was battling right now, they were putting up a very good fight.
Ash guessed that they were Team Rocket, but could only assume it. He hadn't seen any trainers at all, just Pokémon, and those Pokémon were quick, or extremely bulky; a Magnezone, a Weavile, a Machamp, a Crobat… The list went on. The only evidence that there were even people after him was the black darting blurs that never seemed to stay in one place for too long, and always kept to the shadows.
His Pokémon made him stay behind them, and behind Torterra, Muk and Donphan in particular, while they fought the mysterious assailants. He tried to direct them as best as he could, but it was hard to order around so many Pokémon at once.
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt now! On your left, Tauros! Hit 'em fast, Infernape!"
Slowly and surely they were gaining ground, and the enemy was becoming more desperate. They attempted more and more frequent thrusts down the middle and flanks, trying to find an opening, but were blocked every time.
It was only then, as his Pokémon turned away the fourth such effort, that Ash belated realised that the Team Rocket grunts – or whoever these people were – were hunting him. They'd ignored May, and left her alone; or, at least, most of them had. They were going for him.
And they weren't trying to steal his Pokémon. They were attacking to hurt. Maybe even to kill. How come Team Rocket's so much more vicious all of the sudden?
It didn't matter. Survival did. And keeping my Pokémon safe matters even more.
The mysterious enemies, sensing that the tide wasn't turning their way, changed tack and started trying to pick off the smaller Pokémon to weaken the outer line. As a strategy it might have worked, if not for the presence of such powerhouses as Infernape, Sceptile and Krookodile, who made it their priority to watch over their friends.
Minutes passed. The battle started to calm.
One final push, straight up the centre by the men in black and their very best, was met with a concerted defence from Ash's Pokémon.
The last-ditch attack failed. As one, the foes retreated to the closest treeline and then, with a final ominous look towards Ash, melted into the shadows.
Covered in sweat and grime, Ash took one look around to make sure that everything was safe, then promptly collapsed in a heap of his Pokémon, Bayleef at the top, thanking them for a job well done.
Oak's Lab
"I won't tell you nothin'." The grunt spat at the champion and the former champion in defiance. It was all he really could do, as Swampert had his arms held tightly behind him in a crushing grip.
Cynthia grimaced, and Cameron waved Swampert off. It moved away merrily, placing the grunt next to the other two prisoners they'd managed to capture and baring its teeth as an indication that it would be in their best interest to remain still.
Team Rocket – they had given up guessing, at this point; who else could the enemy be? – had gotten rather unlucky, in truth. They had run out of their stock of potions at the very same time as they had lost access to their restore truck, and it had all gone downhill for them from there.
Oak's lab was saved, but it had been a good hard fight. Cynthia couldn't remember the last time she'd used all of her active Pokémon at once.
Also, Cameron had managed to get himself dog piled at least three times after the first. Cynthia could only grin at the nonchalant, almost resigned way his Ferrothorn had dragged him out of the scrum the last time. Heh. Idiot. Serves him right for wrecking one of my SUVs.
"Three for Lance, then?" He enquired as they carefully made their way back into the lab through the ruined door. The damage to the outside of the house was generally superficial, but even so would probably still take some time to repair. The inside was mostly intact.
Cynthia grimaced. "Don't mention that name right now. Please." The ex-champion looked confused, but didn't press the issue.
Cynthia sighed. I could do without hearing Lance's name for an entire month. I could…
"The power is back up, and Lance has requested a videophone call." Oak piped up from a nearby room.
Maybe the universe just hates me at this point.
As much as she wanted to ignore him, Cynthia knew that she had to face him. She turned and marched into the living room with Oak's television hooked up to the call network, Cameron following lightly in her wake.
Lance sombrely stared out of the screen.
"You have a lot of nerve calling us like this after the stunt you just pulled…"
She trailed off as she realised just how downhearted he looked, and the state of the room behind him. He was standing in the Indigo League headquarters – she recognised it from an official visit to Kanto she'd had a few years back. A simpler time, certainly.
It had certainly seen better days. Half the lights in the ceiling weren't working, half-shrouding the place, and Lance, in darkness, and a few appeared to have had their wires ripped out by something – a Pokémon, most likely. The desks and cubicles visible in the shot were overturned. She could see a couple of office-workers in the back, all receiving or performing first aid.
They weren't lying, then…
"I'm afraid the recriminations will have to wait." Lance muttered distantly, his eyes bloodshot and unfocused. "We've got a much bigger problem now."
Team Rocket HQ
My very best couldn't get this job done! They couldn't deal with one… child!
It doesn't matter… he won't interfere…
…but what if he does?
Giovanni mulled back and forth over Leader's after-action report. Almost a complete disaster.
They had failed to neutralise Ketchum.
They had failed to shut down that fool Oak's lab for good.
And these reports of a monstrous dragon-type…
CALM. He forced himself to calm down, taking a long, slow drink of water from the cooler.
At most, it could be said that they had bought time for the main plan to succeed. And it was time to find out how that had progressed.
He paged his secretary, and she hurried in promptly with the latest report.
These results restored his good mood.
An operation that had taken more than a year of planning. Months of moving people into the right places, recruiting enough manpower, shipping Pokémon and supplies exactly where they needed to be.
And it has all paid off.
Seven out of eight Kanto gyms… taken. Some with their leaders present, while others, notably the Pewter and Cerulean gyms, were absent. He knew where they were, though…
The Viridian gym was last. And I'll be paying a visit to that one personally.
Six out of the seven Battle Frontier facilities… taken. Their leaders had all stood and fought, and were now his prisoners. The fools.
Even the legendary Articuno could not stand before my wrath! How much of a threat can this one dragon be, if I concentrate my might properly?
The battle pyramid could have been a problem, but it was still located in Sinnoh, and would pose no threat for the time being.
On to Johto…
All gyms were under his control, their leaders' captive or on the run.
More importantly, the Goldenrod Radio Station was effectively his. From there, he could broadcast to the entire region – and begin winning the hearts and minds of those who weren't already under his command.
The gyms in both regions would serve as excellent bases of operations.
The Indigo League had been gutted, the champion broken by betrayal. Giovanni expected no further trouble from Lance.
He laughed heartily, making a mental note to give all of his personal staff and the admins a raise. They certainly deserved it after such a success.
What does it matter if Ketchum still fights, when I dominate the region?