Chapter Twenty-One

Set Them Free

You making moves,
You're gonna lose.
You know you played yourself,
And now you thinking, thinking;

You can get one by me,
But you'll never win,
But you'll never win.
Try again,

'Cause the game is over…

The Game is Over

NSYNC

Sam's Point of View

As it came onto the field, the dragon-type gave a roar that sent a chill of fear through the marrow of anyone near it. On the other side of the field, a Cubone, recently born, quaked as it realised that it was being made to fight a creature three times its size.

Giving a smirk, I levelled my eyes at the boy on the other end of the field; a Lad, judging from his costume design within the game. He gave me a cocky look back, obviously confident he was still going to win this.

Since gaining and training my new-found digital Pokemon, I had set fires in my path as I went along. Not literally of course, which I would have had fun doing, but nobody knew where this new trainer had come from, with his high-levelled monsters. "Ok, Salamence, let's sweep this field and get going. Fly!"

In front of me, the large Pokemon flapped its wings. Wind; generated by the program, blasted my hair and clothing backwards, but physically, I could feel nothing. The Cubone did nothing, simply looked straight ahead. A twinge in my stomach reminded me that this was not an actual battle; the Pokemon had no emotions, and no brains.

"Cubby! Bonemerang!"

Looking at the Lad, I mentally shook my head. Responding to its Trainer's commands, the Cubone let go of its prized bone, throwing it directly at Salamence. Salamence simply flew higher, out of range. Catching its bone easily, the Cubone continued staring at me, making me feeling uncomfortable. Shuffling sidewards out of its direct line of sight, I looked back up at Salamence, waiting for it to make its move. When it did, it moved quickly, flying down and slamming into the Cubone, throwing it backwards. Closing my eyes to a squint, I waited for the inevitable collision, but was instead rewarded with a view of the Cubone going through its suddenly pixellating Trainer. Opening my eyes, I raised an eyebrow, wondering what was going on. Remaining squares for a few seconds, the boy suddenly disintegrated before me, his particles disappearing; his Cubone following suit.

"Lad John has been disconnected. He forfeits the match. Victory goes to Cool Trainer Jamie. Jamie is awarded with one hundred and seven PokeDollars as a result of the forfeit."

Shaking my head, I frowned with worry. More and more Trainers were doing this; suddenly disconnecting in the middle of battles. I had a suspicion that Rocket was warming up their Mind Control Program already, but there was only one way I could help these people.

The rest of Organisation Thirteen had disappeared a few hours ago; and all I was waiting for was a nearly deserted Absol Park. Once there was no-one around, I'd track down and destroy the program, which was apparently hidden within a huge statue of the Pokemon the park was named after; Absol, ironically, since Absol would usually appear to people before a crisis took place.

"Hey Sam, it's me." Jumping in place, I looked around, before realising it was a voice I knew.

"Hey Nick. Couldn't sleep, huh?"

"Something like that. The others are out cold, and Ash went somewhere a while ago. You have an hour and a half left until midnight, just letting you know."

"It's only ten thirty? Wow, time seems to slow down when you aren't having fun. Everyone is disappearing from here as well, so I can't really occupy myself."

A sigh rolled down the lines. "Yeah, I know. I saw that last battle, awesome graphics, but the Pokemon seem really, I dunno, lifeless." Nodding my head, which would appear as the screen bobbing up and down, I'd take a guess, on the television he was watching.

"I'm getting the same feeling. How's everything on your side?"

"Artemis is starting to get worried. He doesn't show it that much, but he does care about you, a lot. This is probably the longest you two have ever been physically separate since the start of our journey, huh?"

Giving a chuckle, I nodded again. "It feels weird without him around. He's kinda become my incredibly annoying, sarcastic and prank-pulling safety blanke- Nick?"

Through my head, an explosion seemed to tear through my ears. Giving a scream, I ducked down, covering my head with my hands, feeling the feel of the virtual reality helmet. Through the speakers, crackle and snapping sounded, but went down in volume.

"Sam, this is Mikey. Hold tight, Rocket has discovered what's going on and they're attacking the palace. We won't be able to wait until midnight, so you need to move now. We're getting the others to a safe location, which should be here, but you need to start the self-destruct now."

I was physically shaking. Standing up slowly, I nodded. Grabbing my Pokéballs, I unleashed the full power of my team. Taking off at a dash, I motioned for my team to follow me, and follow me they did. Everyone got out of my way; an automatic reaction. It wasn't everyday you saw someone run around with enough might to destroy a town.

Pulling up close to the Absol Statue, I looked it up and down, looking for a weak spot. Its head looked the most vulnerable, since it was lying down.

"Ok team, destroy that statue."

"Sam, it's Nick again. We're all here, and we're safe. Ash and the others have gone to defend us, but we need for you to act fast. We'll hold them off, but Mikey simply told us to back you up."

Giving a quick nod, I frowned at the tower. Swampert had lumbered up to it, drawing its fist back. Snapping it forward, it sped towards the virtual concrete, but stopped just short of the statue. Around Swampert's hand, strings of binary data began flying and moving around Swampert's body. Blinking in surprise, I watched as Swampert suddenly disappeared in an explosion of pixels.

"Oh no, guys, they're protecting the statue."

I heard someone swearing on the other end; I took a guess at Nick. Trying to think quickly, I came up with a blank.

"Kat here, Sam, none of the scientists are in the room, we're stuck here with you. Mikey was the last one, but he went off to fight Rocket. Is there any way you can touch the statue?"

Bending down, I picked up a pebble. Hefting it in my hand, I threw it at the barrier, watching as it too pixellated and disappeared. "No, nothing's going to get close to that thing. Gonna take a guess and say that Rocket upgraded their defences since the time of Pokemon Gold and Silver."

"Out of the way Kat." Brendan said. Hearing a squeak of indignation, I grinned. "Ok, Sam, firstly, you do realise that Pokemon Gold and Silver are only games, right?"

"Duh."

"Ok, anyway, I'm going to take a crack at this. I've done a bit of hacking in my day, mostly to get into my Dad's files and learn about Pokemon. He had some pretty tight security, made by the best in the business. If Rocket wants to fight dirty, I'm going to hand it right back to them."

"Go Bren."

"I'll try this, and if I can't remove the barrier, I'm going to pump up your Pokemon."

"Ok, just try for whatever you can do. Kat, watch the door with all the Pokemon, at the slightest sign, get Dirden or Drogan to freeze or melt it shut."

Over the speakers, I heard Brendan relay the message. "She said she will. What do you want Nick to do?"

"Provide me with some shred of sanity. See if there's another speaker around."

"You got it. Let's get this show on the road."

"Agreed."

Standing in front of the Absol statue, I looked around at my Pokemon. "Ok team; aim all special attacks at the barrier. Raichu, Thunder, Frezent, Blizzard, Infernape, Burn Blast, Leafeon, Solarbeam, and Articuno." Giving a pause, I thought for a moment. "Sheer Cold."

All at once, the team attacked. It was easy to tell you were in a game, when the attacks were perfect synchronised. Watching the attacks hit the barrier, I growled as they simply went through the barriers. It seemed special attacks were exempt from the rule.

"Brendan? The Barrier lets special attacks though."

"Yeah, I saw that. I'm working on a way to make it stop destroying anything physically hitting it. Who knew those nights altering computer files on all my computer games could actually come in useful?"

"Ok you two, less talk, more work. What do you need Sam?"

"Just help me with ideas Nick. Special attacks work, but not physical."

"Um, this actually sounds familiar…It's there, ah, got it! Have you seen Pokemon 3: Spell of the Unown?"

"Um, duh. My younger siblings love that movie."

"Ash got into Molly's Fortress by jumping into the stream of Totodile's Water Gun, can you do that?"

Looking back at my team of Pokemon, I raised my eyebrow. "Swampert got destroyed. None of these other ones have a special attack that can get through either."

"Um, ok. I'll keep thinking."

"Think fast. We're running out of time."

Looking around, I frowned as I tried to figure out ways out of this situation. As a small head of fuzz rubbed itself under my palm, I jumped, before realising that it had to be Diana. Giving a gentle smile, I bent down and picked her up, cradling her close. Giving a small purr of contentment, she licked my hand once in encouragement, before jumping out of my arms to land on the floor nearby.

"Wait, Brendan, what if you don't move the barrier? How about, instead, you move that statue?"

"Move it outside of the barrier?" Silence reigned over on his end as he considered the possibilities. "Yeah, that could actually work. Give me a few minutes."

"Ok, let's get this party started." I said, grinning. Watching in expectation, I frowned as the statue remained where it was.

"Brendan?"

"I can't move it. It's too heavily protected by security programs. That's the hub of the program, destroy that, and it'll destroy it in all the systems. That's why it's so protected."

Giving a groan, I shook my head. "Anyone else got any plans?"

More silence, before Nick cleared his throat. "Stupid idea, I know, but is there any way you can turn all the Pokemon into special attacks? Just have them put under that category?"

Giving a chuckle, I could mentally picture Brendan nodding. "Yes, that's a great plan. And I've got the perfect attack to do it with. Who thought Substitute might come in useful, in a game?"

Raising an eyebrow, I raised my hand. I had done some damage using Substitute on my Gameboy, been very fun, actually.

"And that requires a few key strokes, here, there, and now we're set. Order one of your Pokemon to go through the barrier."

Looking at my party, I nodded. "Raichu, Headbutt." Dashing forward at a high speed, the Raichu met with the barrier. A painful, whining noise sounded out, as the barrier struggled with this new program, but eventually, the barrier yielded, letting the Raichu through. Giving a whoop of delight, I grinned at the rest of my party.

"Ok guys, go ahead and hit that statue with physical attacks!"

A tumbleweed wouldn't have been out of place at that point. Giving a sigh, I rolled my eyes. "Leafeon, Tackle. Articuno, Wing Attack. Frezent, Mega Punch, and Infernape, Close Combat."

They shot into action after that. Breaking through the barrier one by one, I bit my lip. "Hey, Bren, can you get me through the barrier in the same way?"

"No, Trainer Stats are really protected. But I can make you an NPC, which should do the same thing."

"Are you sure of that?"

"Um, say, Sam, ever heard of a coin flip?"

"…. I hate you sometimes."

"Love you too. Ok, go for it. Worst comes to worst, you just get pixellated and move around without a body."

"And no way to interact with the virtual world." Nick replied scathingly.

Reaching out my hand, it met with the barrier, passing through easily. Giving a satisfied smirk, I walked through the barrier, ending up at the base of the statue. The Pokemon were having the time of their lives; completely destroying it. Walking to the edge of the pedestal the statue was built on, I went to sit down, when I passed right through it.

"That's why I didn't make your Pokemon NPCs. You can't be changed back, but you can still talk. But you can't interface with the physical environment now."

"Either way." I muttered. "Ok, let's see what we have here."

Analysing the statue, now rubble other than its four legs, I quirked my mouth. The program must be buried under it, which meant we still had a way to go. "Articuno, power up your Wing Attack to an Aerial Ace. Leafeon, stop Tackling and use Giga Impact. Raichu, use Brick Break. Frezent, go ahead with an Outrage, and Infernape, um… keep on going with the Close Combat."

Within seconds, the rest of the statue was gone. Smirking, I looked down into the deep hole under it, wondering how far down the program was. Picking up a small piece of the rubble, I dropped it into the hole, which instantly sent out a vivid, purple stream of energy, pixellating the rock. Rolling my eyes, I looked back at my party of virtual Pokemon.

"Ok, let's finish this. Raichu, Thunder. Frezent, Dragonbreath. Articuno, Blizzard. Leafeon, Solar Beam, and Infernape, Blast Burn that thing." I said, pointing at the ball.

The effect was instantaneous, as per the program. The attacks culminated into the one, multicoloured beam tat would be impossible outside of the game. Hitting the ball, it was absorbed, turning the ball an angry red.

"Ok, keep doing that for the next five minutes." I told my Pokemon, happy that the Rockets hadn't worked out this little glitch in the program; letting the Pokemon attack automatically. Reaching my real hands up to my head, I lifted the helmet off of my head, blinking in the extremely blinding, white light that was the gaming chamber.

Turning my head, I found Nick right next to me. Giving him a grin, I clapped his hand in a handshake, giving him a wink. "So, Team Rocket, huh? Let's show them just how weak Beginning Trainers can be."

Returning my grin, he nodded. "Bring it on."

Explosions sounded out throughout the palace. Walking up the hallway, filled with new confidence, and flanked by Brendan, Nick and Katrina, and further by all our Pokemon. Artemis, much happier now that he was with me, had slumped himself over my shoulder, his traditional spot.

Running up a hallway, a Rocket…'Grunt', since I had no idea of the ranks, spied all of us and our Pokemon. Grinning, he pulled a Pokéball off of his belt, and flew into the wall from a combination of water, fire, lightning and icy beams. Smirking, I pointed up the hallway to my left.

"Ok, Katrina, guard that corner. Brendan, stay here. Nick, go to the corner on the opposite side to this, and I'll take that one back up this corridor." I said. We were covering each of the corners, essentially protecting the room where the machines and PokeTrainer Online was. As long as we protected it, there was no way to stop the project.

"Ok, all Pokemon, we need you to line the corridors, between us humans. All Pokemon under Katrina, line up between Katrina and Nick. All Pokemon under Nick's command, between me and Nick. All of Brendan's Pokemon, between Katrina and Brendan, and everyone else, between me and Brendan."

"Oh, one time saving the world and he's a master tactician." Katrina muttered. Catching my eye, she grinned. "Here to take you down a peg or two."

"Or twelve." Brendan added helpfully.

Shaking my head, I walked along the corridor, taking up my position. The sounds of the battles were coming closer and closer, which was setting everyone off. Artemis was bubbling at the mouth, which made a funny picture as the bubbles made him look about twice his size. Diana's fur was puffed up, making her look larger as well, while Helios looked bored, Hera was currently playing tag with her tail, and Zeus was sparking everywhere.

The wall next to me exploded suddenly. Dodging out of the way, I looked back at the Pokemon behind me, making sure they were fine. My response was to lose my eyebrows as blue fire dashed by me, searing another 'Grunt' who had tried to attack me with his Arcanine. Following up on the Dragon Rage, Dirden blew a jet of chilled air at the Arcanine, who, in reply, gave a yelp at the sudden cold. Standing up, I moved my legs out of the way as Artemis rushed around the corner, his bubbles somehow remaining around him as he tucked himself into a ball. Water flooded out of his mouth as he executed his taught move, Flood Roll. Making a direct hit on the Arcanine, I grimaced as the 'Grunt' was also nailed by Artemis. Skidding to a stop, literally skidding, Artemis attempted to get back on his feet, with limited success.

Wincing in sympathy, I crouched down to make myself as small as possible as more attacks came past me. Dirden gave the final shot as he shot a crystal-blue Ice Beam, freezing both the Arcanine and the Grunt in place. Giving a sigh of relief, I straightened up and had to quickly jumped away as Artemis came sliding back, his wet body not suited for the polished tiles of the Elite Palace. Grinning as I watched him goof around, my attention was caught by the sound of more footsteps. Katrina had noticed as well, as she walked up the hallway she was guarding. Yelps and cries came from that general direction, but when none of Kat's Pokemon moved, I shrugged and went back to my guard duty.

It was then, blinking once, I seemed surrounded my darkness. Looking around, and seeing nothing but black, I took a nervous step backwards.

"Nick? Brendan? Artemis?" I called out, my voice echoing in the darkness.

Shuffling sounds poured out around me, making me turn and whirl in an effort to see where they were coming from. All at once, the darkness lifted, turning into the special place in my mind that I had been in after Ashlee had wiped my memory. The grass wasn't moving, the gentle wind I had put there myself seemed to refuse to blow. Gathering my mind, I tried forcing something to happen, but a cough made me spin rapidly on the spot, to see a woman sitting on the rock I had put there, one leg crossed over the other as she smile at me smugly.

The Leader of Team Flora was a very secretive person, no-one knew what he or she looked like. The leader of Team Fauna, on the other hand, was a very public person, often seeming to pose for nay cameras that were around. Diane was also a renown psychic, her work on Astral Projection had been groundbreaking. It seemed she had almost perfected it as well. Astral Projection into the mind of other people wasn't very common.

"Nicholas Stone. Brendan Birch, and Artemis who I believe would be your start Pokemon." She said, her voice sounding out across the plains that filled my mind.

"How do you know that?" I asked nervously.

"Ten Children chosen to become trainers in my own region; I have been keeping track of all of you. Beginners are notorious for putting their noses where they do not belong." Diane's voice hardened. "You, on the other hand, are the one to watch out of all of them. One of two with psychic powers, but the only one to have his powers ripped away. You're also the one with the most publicity; your antics on the Trainer Games, plus your selection to be the Champion of Light in the Twilight Battle have earned you more than your share of the spotlight."

Raising an eyebrow, I crossed my arms before me. "Your point? Is this a friendly chat, or is there some purpose to it?"

Arching her own eyebrow, Diana smirked at me. "This is just a warning, young trainer. I've learned that my rival in Team Flora has acquired an artefact of immense power. I cannot say exactly what it is, as we do not yet know exactly what it is. We have it narrowed down to a Seed of Chaos, or a Seed of Gaios."

Frowning, I shook my head. "And why are you telling me?"

Giving a shrug, Diana looked down. "You are very close to Ash Ketchum, currently, and you have no psychic protection. You were the easiest to pick and choose."

Giving a sigh, I scratched the back of my head. "Fine. Ok, whatever, Pick on my weak spots, why not?"

Rolling her eyes in disgust, Diane continued. "We at Team Fauna do not wish for Team Flora to use the Seed. Our only knowledge is that they have it. We do not know where, or how close they are to actually using it. But we are su-." Cutting herself off, she looked to the side, as if seeing something that I couldn't. Raising a hand, a blue shield appeared just as a blast of energy shot at Diana. Absorbing into the shield, the bolt disappeared. Looking directly into my eyes, Diane smirked once more, before fading out of sight, her eyes being the last to disappear.

Looking to where the bolt at come form, I squinted as I tried to make out who it was, if anyone was there. Seeing no-one, I settled back, waiting for something, anything to happen. Minutes passed, and it was only as I was starting to get bored that something actually happened. An outline of a person appeared, transparent at first, but slowly becoming more distinct. Landing on the ground shakily, Katrina looked up at me as she gathered her balance.

"Are you ok?"

Nodding I stood up. I had long ago sat on the rock Diane had been on, my patience wearing thin. Giving a relieved smile, Kat outstretched her hand, offering it to me. Grabbing it, I felt the pull of my body, sinking back into it. Taking an inhale, I opened my eyes, blinking. My head hurt, which must have happened after Diane had pulled me away into my mind. Reaching up, I felt a bump that felt more like the continent of Hoenn. Touching it gingerly, wincing as I did, I looked around, noting that only Kat was in the room. Sitting up, and stretching out my back, I looked at her curiously.

Seeming to return to her own body, Kat jerked her body, as if she was catching herself falling to sleep. Blinking as she got adjusted momentarily, she looked at me.

"How you use psychic powers frequently, I don't know." She said, grabbing onto her chair to steady herself.

"Practice." I muttered. "How'd we go?"

"We managed to beat the Rockets off. Once you passed out, Ash and Max came to us. They've let out a holographic version of you; or what you looked like in the game, to throw the Rockets off. They'll be getting us out of here later. How are you, anyway?"

"Had a nice little chat with the Team Fauna Leader. She dropped round for the old cup of tea, scones and warning of an impending emergency."

Rolling her eyes, Kat shook her head. "Yeah, whatever. Ash'll be here to talk soon, so rest up."

Glaring at her, I stood up, hoisting myself out of the bed. The bump on my head throbbed painfully, but I could deal with it. Stretching, and carefully avoiding the bump, I moved to the door. I'd had enough of sleep to last me for a while yet. Opening the door for Kat, I grinned as she swept by me, acting like a high-class diplomat. Ignoring her, I moved into the hallway and began walking after her.

We eventually got to a small conference room. Kat knocked on the door and without waiting for an answer, walked in. Knocking the door as I walked in, I saw Ash raising his eyebrow as he looked at Kat. At the table with him were the rest of the high-levelled people that had master-minded the counter strike against Team Rocket; Keira, Wyatt, Max, Ash, Professor Oak, and a young woman who looked like she was in her late twenties. With raven hair, and green eyes, it was easy to identify her. Sabrina, the most powerful psychic in the world.

Stopping at the door, I wondered whether I should even be here. When Ash beckoned me in, Kat had already made herself comfortable. Sighing, Ash waved at her, telling her to leave. Getting up huffily, she left the room, closing the door behind herself. Sliding into the seat she had vacated, I looked around at everyone, wide eyed.

"Ok, Sam, to bring you up to speed, Team Rocket shut the game down. Obviously there are complaints, but they don't really care. Team Rocket has withdrawn, however, and from what our sources are saying, won't be coming out for a while. They made enough money off of the game to have made this all worthwhile, for them anyway." Ash said, looking at me. Shrinking in my seat as everyone looked at me, I wanted to turn invisible at that moment.

"Relax. We aren't going to bite you." Blinking, I looked around. When my eyes came to focus on Sabrina, she gave me a smile. Sitting a little taller, I leaned on the table.

"Ok, great. That means I'm done, right? I can get back to what I was doing?"

Looking at me for a moment, Ash slowly nodded. "I guess. We're sending out decoys, in case Team Rocket wants revenge against you, but you should be fine. We'll get you out of her in about an hour. But, until then, we need to go through this. And there's also the case of giving you your reward."

"Reward?"