Poke-genetics: battle in the dark
«Still grumbling in your corner, Ben? » someone asked in a whisper.
Said man didn't answer and just looked at the pitch black forest they were hiding in. Why should he be anything but unhappy? Things had taken a turn for the worst, more than once. At first, they had failed to stop their rival from getting their hands on a few bank accounts, but nothing really drastic… until they revealed how far they were ready to go to bring them down, to get control over Kanto. From the moment Team Blast had shown what aces they had up their greasy sleeves, Ben knew they had been done for. It was just impossible to win anymore. The proud Team Rocket had been reduced to a mere shell of its former self and even that shell looked ready to crack.
«…you should try to sleep; our commander said we'd move away. We tried everything we could think of with that thing here. » the same person insisted.
Ben gave up and leaned against a tree, slowly sitting down. Their situation was hopeless, but at least a bit of sleep could give him the strength to continue.
«Goodnight Ben. » his friend wished.
«…Goodnight Michel. » he whispered in reply.
He sighted once more and closed his eyes; things couldn't really get much worse.
Ash took one last breath before the assault. He had to be timed perfectly right or else… With one powerful impulse, he began to run, using his nose and ears compensate for the lack of light.
He heard it, behind him: the sound of moving bushes. He jumped away, aiming for a nearby tree. He felt a sharp blade of pain bruise him in the back, where one of the razor leaves had hit him. Without losing time, he jumped down and continued to run.
They had to reach the camp immediately after the leaves. It had been chosen as their plan.
«Listen everyone, we'll start with the grass-types. Their role will be to attack from a distance to weaken them first. For that, they'll use razor leaf. » he had explained before.
«But why razor leaf? It's not that strong… » one of his pokemon had objected.
«That may be the case, but it has a definite advantage. It's extremely hard to detect in a forest, unlike most flashy moves you know, and it can be used from a fairly big distance. Plus, it'll create some confusion. »
«Confusion? »
Ash ignored the few leaves surrounding him and charged right through the bushes, erupting in the middle of the camp.
«Attack! » he yelled.
Most of Gary's and Ash's pokemon jumped in the middle of the camp, throwing in their strongest moves at the humans struggling with the torn pieces of their tents. In a matter of seconds, the camp turned into a battlefield. Not down for the count, the enemies had called their pokemon and started fighting desperately.
In the center of this agitation, Ash was searching for one thing: the artifact that they got their hands on. This was the key to their conflict, he had to get it... and more importantly, make sure Team Blast didn't.
A flash of light to his left alerted his senses just in time for in to dodge the incoming orb of fire. He used a quick-attack to evade it and landed on a branch. From his newfound perch, he could see the fights below him.
He bit his lips; things were violent... as far as he could assess. The darkness made it hard to see sometimes and his other sense were overwhelmed in such conditions. For a second, he was tempted to give the signal, but… he shouldn't! Fortunately, his side seemed to be winning. That comforted him and reminded him of his goal: finding the item they had retrieved.
There! A man with an unusual Team Rocket uniform was attempting to run away with something in his hands!
Without hesitating, Ash jumped toward the man, focusing on him entirely.
A big mistake.
Just as he was about to land, the scenery suddenly turned around and he was sent flying against a tree. Under the veil of pain, he saw a pidgeot diving toward him, wanting to finish what it started.
The former trainer focused as hard as he could, charging his energy. Ash gritted his teeth, pushing the pain away and preparing his counterattack.
The bolt of lightning erupted from his body at a frightening speed, heading straight for the flying type.
It dodged.
Ash gasped in shock as he saw the pidgeot change its trajectory at the last second and accelerate toward him. It was too fast; he wouldn't have the time to stand up.
«I can't… dodge! » he realized with horror.
Ash stared at it, waiting for the impact.
«HEY! DON'T RUN AWAY FROM OUR FIGHT! » a pokemon suddenly yelled.
And before Ash could react, the pidgeot was tackled in midair by one of his allies.
«Gible? » the teen said in disbelief.
«Oh, hi Ash. » he waved a paw at him. «What are you doing, lying against a tree? »
«He's as slow as ever...» Ash thought.
When he saw that his pokemon was sincerely expecting an answer, Ash added in a sight.
«I was hit by that pidgeot while I wasn't looking… Oh crap! The artifact! » he finished with urgency, hit by the realization.
«Huh…what artifact? » Gible asked.
Ash jumped on his four legs and made a sign to his pokemon.
«There's no time to explain, just follow me! »
Followed by Gible, Ash slalomed between the fighters, going in the direction of the man he saw before. Unfortunately, he was nowhere in sight.
«I hope he didn't have a psychic type with him… » he wished.
As he ran, he felt the adrenaline suppress the pain, letting him use his full strength again.
«If that guy escapes with it, this whole fight would be for nothing! »
As he dashed in the forest, he caught a glimpse of a dark silhouette moving between trees. He turned right, followed by Gible, and charged at him. The man's silhouette got bigger and bigger until…
«STOP! » Ash screamed with all his might, already in the air and preparing for an Iron tail.
The man turned around to see a flashing tail connect with his face and send him to the ground. Ash, panting, saw the Team Rocket member stand up as if that was nothing. Without skipping a beat, he threw a pokeball toward him.
«Go Muk! Flatten that damn rat! »
The mass of poisonous goo materialize just over Ash, casting its massive shadow over him.
«Look out! » his Gible yelled while pushing Ash out of the way.
Ash rolled on the ground with the impact of his pokemon. His Gible certainly packed muscles and his painful ribs were confirming that thought.
The man saw his muk fall on a pokemon he hadn't spot yet and grinned. That was one pokemon down.
«Gible! Use Draco meteor! » Ash ordered.
For a moment, he wondered if he had been heard as the muk simply stayed where he was, trying to suffocate his opponent. Then, he caught a faint muffled noise. After that, the muk started to twitch, seemingly uncomfortable. A red light started to emerge from under it.
The Rocket member felt his jaw fell when his muk was sent flying straight upward by an orb of energy. He practically gasped when it exploded in the sky and meteors rained down around him, creating clouds of dust.
When his vision was cleared again, he could see the pikachu and the gible staring at him.
«Pika Pi Pikachu! » it said to him.
He would be damned before his escape was ruined by a simple pikachu!
Ash saw the man turned around to run and grinned.
«Fine. If you want to do it this way… » he said.
He crouched, his body almost touching the ground, and pushed on his hind legs as hard as he could.
The man saw a line of light pass him by and stop in front of him. With an arrogant smile, the pikachu was standing in front of him, ready for a fight. He turned around and started to run again.
From times to times, he would see the pikachu quick-attacked to get in front of him and every time he'd run in the opposite direction. Why wasn't it attacking?
Breathing heavily, he stumbled on a root and fell to the ground, going right through a bunch of bushes. His face in the dirt, he heard a concerned voice asked:
«Captain Blackbird! Why did you come back? »
Horrified, he realized that the pikachu had led him back to the camp.
«YOU! » he shouted at the pokemon behind him.
It was over; he could see it with a glance. His subordinates were all worn out or unconscious. They had taken down a suitable amount of opponents, but it was as far as they could go.
Team Rocket had finally fallen.
«No! It can't end this way! » Blackbird desperately declared, clutching the wrapped up relic.
«You're a sore loser, you know that? » an unknown voice came from the woods.
As a single man (or pokemon), everyone turned toward the direction it had come from. Ash growled in anger when he recognized the red and black uniform.
It was a middle-aged man with a smug look on his face that walked in the middle of the camp, followed by a two dozens of subordinates.
«Seriously, Blackbird, all it takes are the pokemon of one or two trainers to bring you down. Knowing how to be the third dog sure is useful. Did you think that your pathetic team would manage to survive our rising to power? »
On the ground, said man replied with a spiteful:
«Huh? Is that a loser from Team Blast that I hear? It's hard to tell when they have their butts kicked by every single citizen of Kanto pretty much everywhere. I've heard you even had to move to avoid annihilation. Real impressive. »
«Pff, minor inconvenient, with what you're holding, those idiots will get their just desert for opposing us. That being said, give it to me. »
A flash of light blinded him and he jumped on his sides, evading the lightning that came in his direction.
«I see… ATTACK! »
Blackbird closed his eyes. It was the worst possible outcome. Those annoying runts from Team Blast were going to get the artifact Giovanni had wanted and use it to gain power over Kanto again. There was no doubt that they'd get the artifact; even the pokemon that attacked them earlier were too tired to defend against twenty five criminals.
He heard a determined «PIKA» and he felt his eyes open by themselves. It was not giving up!
Ash yelled once more before jumping into battle followed by his remaining pokemon.
As he ran, he saw the arrogant look on their leader's face and his rage burned even harder. Without realizing it, his charge turned into a quick-attack.
«Them! It's them! » he thought, slowly letting his anger take control of him. «It's their fault! »
The captain's smirk suddenly disappeared when he saw the lightning swelling around the pikachu's body. As fast as he could, he called out his own pokemon.
His primeape roared once before throwing a punch at the electric type.
Ash saw the punch come toward him and jumped to his right, running around the pokemon altogether. He had but one target…
He rocketed to the man's stomach.
The members of Team Blast turned around as they heard the scream of pain and were completely shocked at the sight of their unconscious leader.
Ash staggered, feeling terribly dizzy. It was the first time he used Volt tackle and he finally realized how dangerous its side-effects were. The worst part was: he was still in the middle of a battle.
Furious, the primeape had turned around, his fists on fire. The ape pokemon shot its most powerful Fire punch at the pikachu that dared attack its master.
Ash closed his eyes as he saw the attack come toward him and flinched, hoping it wouldn't hurt too much.
«Huh? » the fighting type exclaimed.
Surprised, Ash looked up and saw vines holding the primeape in place. With a glance, Ash recognized his bulbasaur.
«We heard your signal. » he said, as if that explained everything.
It did.
That was the other reason they chose to attack with razor leaf first. It wouldn't be a great choice if they were going for an all-out battle from the very beginning. However, they taught things to be suspicious and dangerous enough for a little insurance. Razor leaves would be hard to trace back, so if there was hidden Team Rocket members, they couldn't trace back the grass-type. It would allow them to hide and wait for the right moment to strike.
It was truly the right moment. All four grass types had jumped and interfere with a crucial or finishing move, allowing a clean hit on Team Blast's pokemon. Gary's venusaur had stopped a dozen pokemon in the same manner Ash's bulbasaur did and was still holding them.
Gary looked proudly at his pokemon and concentrated on his opponent once more.
Ash, on the other hand, was trying to get to his feet. The after effects of his Volt tackle were fading and he knew he had to fight. One pokemon was more than enough to make a difference at this point. Once more, he jumped into battle.
He lost the notion of time. He fought an enemy with one of his pokemon and struggled to overcome it, then moved to another fight. More than ever before, Ash felt like he was no a trainer. No, he was one of the fighters, one that was desperate.
In the midst of the battle, he saw a thin veil of purple dust float over their head.
Not even bothering to wonder where it came from, Ash yelled to his pokemon.
«Everyone! Use attacks to blast things away! Those that can't take cover under the trees! »
In one second, he knew he couldn't get away without his opponent wasting him. Swallowing loudly, he focused the remaining of his strength in his cheeks.
«I hope I get this right… » he thought with apprehension.
Ash rolled on his back and started spinning.
Before the criminal he was facing could ask why he was acting like a top, Ash unleashed a Thunderbolt.
The lances of lightning spun with Ash, effectively shoving the poison spores away and keeping him safe.
All around the camp, Ash's pokemon and Gary's were acting in similar ways, not caring about the confused criminals all over the place. A series of explosion was more than enough to make them worry… too late.
When Ash stopped spinning, not even having the strength to fight anymore, he saw the criminals wincing in pain on the ground. Between two heavy panting, he whispered a weak:
«I knew it. »
But who unleashed a poison spore attack like that one over a battlefield? It couldn't be someone like Professor Oak as he'd never risk harming him and Gary. Neither could it be one of Team Blast's allies as they had all been surprised and beaten by it.
Who was it?
His question was answered as yet another group of people entered the camp from the cover of the trees. Those were wearing a green uniform completed by a white «K» on their chest. The woman leading them stopped next to the man who had led Team Blast here, who was twitching out of unconsciousness.
She shot a look so heinous at him that he flinched. However, her voice was perfectly controlled when she talked.
«You were the one that said being the third dog was useful, weren't you? »
This time, her lips formed a smile.
«You should know that by saying that, there might be a fourth one. »
«You… you're the ones that attacked us when we were moving away! » he said with disbelief.
«We are. »
«Who… are you? » he asked with a deep caution.
Ash could smell the sweat on his forehead, not a pleasant sensation, but useful information. He was afraid of who she was.
«Us? » she asked, as if surprised.
She turned around at her subordinates.
«Who we are? A member of Team Blast want to know who we are. We have to answer, don't we? »
Her followers expressed her feelings by laughing.
«It's ironic really. We're here because of you. »
«What? »
«We already existed in Kanto before you started to act like idiots. However, your success inspired us. You had Kanto in your hands for weeks. Had you not been sloppy in the end, you would have won. »
«That… doesn't answer my question… »
«Oh, but it does. We are the ones that are looking at the future. This region is decaying slowly. It won't change in our lifetime, but some here will: the children. We want to model the children into the ideals we believe in. Truly, up until two months ago, we were just debating in public and such, but you've shown us the true way to change things. Now, we want to destroy you, as you are a threat to our authority, then we'll be able to act on our true plan: raise the children of Kanto ourselves. You asked us who we were… we are the team that will control Kanto, we are TEAM KANTO! »