A/N: This "fast" update is an exception to what I've been saying about being slow. And if there's ANY character you want to see more of, feel free to tell me! R&R and enjoy the story!
(**Atlas is the [requested] OC Executive. To stay realistic, I made him the grunt that Ariana pulls in to fight when you fight her with Champion Lance in the games in Mahogany Town.)
Chapter 6: The Team Rocket Base – The Executive Order
After being caught red-handed snooping around the base, all three groups of Ash's friends now faced the executives in their way. With simultaneous battles going on, communication became less of the issue. The true problem became making it out alive.
Left POV - Proton:
"What do we have here?" the man in front of them started as he flipped on the lights.
"Move out of our way, mister!" Iris yelled.
"We have business to attend to!" Misty also yelled.
"I have a name, you know," the man said. "I am Proton, Team Rocket Executive."
"Proton?" Cilan said, stepping back.
"That's right. I am often labeled as the scariest and cruelest guy in Team Rocket, so don't even think about going anywhere!" Proton threatened.
"Oh please, you're more of a kid than anyone; my kid-o-meter even says so!" Iris mocked.
"Yeah, stop interfering so we can finish our business!" Misty scowled.
"Grr…it's OUR business that you shouldn't be interfering with," Proton glared. "Did you come here thinking you could mess with our plans?"
"No..we were just…" Tracey hesitated.
"Just forget it," Misty said dragging Tracey, "let's run past him!"
Misty, Tracey, Iris and Cilan tried to dash behind him, but to no avail.
"Where do you think you're going?" the irritated Proton said. "Golbat, go and stop them with Gust!"
"Aaah!" Iris screamed.
"Oh no!" Cilan yelled.
The Gust attack slammed all four of them back to the now closed third gate. Iris's Axew was napping the entire time, but it was only now that Axew woke up.
"Come on, Axew, use Dragon Rage!" Iris commanded.
"I'll help too," Tracey said. "Scyther, get out there and use Quick Attack!"
"Hmph, you really think you can win?" Golbat, dodge and use Wing Attack on both of them!"
Both Pokémon were already almost knocked out, especially the small Axew.
"Don't give up, Scyther!" Tracey said. "Slice Golbat with a barrage of Slash attacks!"
"Counter each one with Wing Attack!" Proton said.
While the Slashes and the Wing Attacks were ferociously clashing, Iris was desperately trying to tell Axew to get up.
"Come on Axew, I know you can do this!"
The feeble Axew confidently stood up, and Iris knew just what to do to end it swiftly.
"Use Giga Impact!"
Since Golbat was too busy with Scyther, Axew landed a direct hit, a hit so powerful that Golbat was done for.
"No," Proton said, how can they be this good?!"
"You did it Axew!" Iris cheered.
"Now let's run!" Tracey said, returning Scyther.
"Not so fast!" Proton demanded. "Go Crobat, keep them back!"
Right POV – "Giovanni"
A man in a black suit, red tie, and black hat turned on the lights to find Serena, Clemont, May, and Brock all scared out their minds. His hat shaded his face, preventing a clear view of his eyes. He also had a rose tucked in his shirt pocket. But when he didn't speak for 12 seconds after turning on the lights, the four felt less alarmed.
"Umm…who are you?" May asked.
"Yeah, who are you?" Serena questioned.
"Me? You don't know who I am?" the man said. "It is me, Giovanni, the majestic Giovanni himself! Wahahaha!"
"You mean THE Giovanni?" Serena said frightened. "Oh no, Clemont, what are we going to do?!"
"Hahaha, just hold on for one second," Clemont confidently smiled. "This person is not Giovanni!"
"Wow, Clemont," Brock said, "you must really know your stuff."
"First off, Giovanni's hair is brown, not purple," Clemont stated, examining him. "He also has less hair than this man, and the real Giovanni's eyes are smaller."
May sneaked up on him, took the rose, and tried putting the rose in her rose case.
"Why won't the case let me put the rose in?!" May pouted.
"That's strange," Brock said.
"That's because it's not a real rose," Clemont declared. "The true boss would possess a real rose, if any at all."
"So who is this then?" Serena asked Clemont.
"My data suggests that is Petrel, Team Rocket Executive!"
Petrel took off his entire disguise and threw it on the ground. "I don't sound anything like Giovanni? I don't even look like Giovanni? How come? I've worked so hard to mimic him!"
"Maybe it's because you're NOT Giovanni?" May said.
"It doesn't matter; I am a Team Rocket Executive," Petrel stated as nicely as possible. "I'm going to have to take you in for questioning."
"Not if we have anything to say about it!" Serena said.
"We'll have to settle this the hard way then," Petrel said. "Koffing and Weezing, come on out and stop them!"
Petrel sent out a whopping five Koffing and one Weezing. The group felt like it was an army, especially in the confined space.
"Use Ember Fennekin!" Serena boldy said.
"What's an Ember attack going to do?" Petrel laughed. "Pin Fennekin down with a Sludge attack, Koffing!"
Not only did the Sludge dirty Fennekin, it also left Fennekin trapped.
"Oh no, Fennekin!" Serena cried. "Return!"
"I think it's time to put all of you down!" Petrel declared. "Sludge, all of you!"
Each poison-type Pokémon shot two Sludge per second, so the group was doomed to be trapped like Fennekin.
"We won't let that happen!" May said. "Venusaur, use Petal Dance and Razor Leaf at the same time!"
"Chespin! Bunnelby!" Clemont yelled in desperation. "Use Pin Missile and Mud Shot!"
"Croagunk, use Poison Sting!" Brock yelled.
The Pokebelt worked just as Clemont promised it would and all of their Pokémon were sent out using their moves. The clash of missile barrage attacks furiously raged as each Pokémon attacked its hardest.
"Koffing," Petrel commanded, "spin so you can shoot three in a second!"
"Stay strong Venusaur!"
"You can do this Chespin and Bunnelby!"
"Don't give up, Croagunk!"
Unfortunately, it was Petrel's side, not the group's, that was winning the barrage clash.
"I don't know if we'll be able to hold on much longer!" May worried.
Middle POV – Ariana
The lights turned on and the alarm stopped its ringing. To Ash, Dawn, Max, and Bonnie appeared a man and woman conveniently blocking the way. The man and the woman came from the same room at the same time, making their entrance even more shocking and sudden.
"Who are you?" Dawn gulped.
"I think the real question is who you kids are," the man said. "You don't belong here!"
"Allow us to introduce ourselves," the woman said. "I am Ariana, the only female Team Rocket Executive here."
"And I'm Atlas," the man said. "I'm a new-"
"Would you be quiet?!" Ariana scolded. "You mean nothing to Team Rocket even as admin that's going to be an executive!"
"But I definitely mean something to you!" Atlas said with a wink.
"Oh please," Ariana said blushing in denial.
"You guys took my Pikachu!" Ash immediately accused.
"That's why we're here, to get him back!" Dawn said.
"So this is what they're all about," Atlas said.
"Of course," Ariana said, "but this is as far as they're going to get!"
"Give us Pikachu back or else!" Bonnie yelled.
"Yeah!" Max yelled. "Let us through!"
"Well that's too bad," Atlas chuckled.
"Because you're going to have to get through us!" Ariana announced while sending out her Pokémon. "Are you really brave enough to fight us?"
Max and Bonnie were fearfully hiding behind Ash and Dawn's legs respectively. But Max was still composed enough to talk.
"I think you'll have to settle this with a tag battle," Max plainly told Ash and Dawn.
"A tag battle?" Ash and Dawn questioned. They thought for a second, and then their faces lit up.
"Yeah!" Ash and Dawn said with joy.
Ash turned his body to face Ariana and Archer's. "You won't be able to stop us!"
"If we work together…" Dawn started.
"…then we can escape from any pinch!" Ash finished.
"Is that so?" Ariana jeered.
"We can stop them 'together' also," Atlas snickered, "just like we did in Mahogany Town!"
"We'll put you two in a pinch you won't be able to escape!" Ariana cackled. "Vileplume, let's go!"
"I'll show you how wrong it is to mess with Team Rocket!" Atlas said. "Muk, let's do this!"
But Ash and Dawn's entrance was even more in sync. "Quilava," they both said in unison, "come on out!" Both Ash and Dawn's Quilava were on fire and ready to go.
"Wow," Bonnie marveled, "Ash and Dawn are doing a tag battle!
"But keep your guard up," Max warned. "They could sneak attack us at any time!"
"This will be over before you know it," Ariana stated. "Vileplume, use Sleep Powder!"
"And keep them down with a Sludge attack!" Atlas commanded.
"Use Flame Wheel!" Ash and Dawn both said.
The Flame Wheels tore through the Sleep Powder and the Sludge, giving the Quilavas a clean hit on both Muk and Vileplume. Vileplume couldn't really handle the fire-type attacks but Muk took them in like a tank.
"Try using Sludge again," Atlas said, "but aim straight for Ash!"
"Look out Ash!" Dawn cried. "Destroy Sludge with Swift!"
Ash nearly avoided getting trapped by Sludge. "Thanks for the help Dawn!"
"No problem! Quilava, use Smokescreen!"
The smoke covered the room for a long time.
"(coughs) Where did they go?" Atlas asked. "I can't see in this smoke!"
"It doesn't matter, I'll send in Arbok now to snatch those little ones!" Ariana whispered.
"Good idea," Atlas agreed.
However, Ash's Quilava emerged out of the smoke right in front of Ariana and Atlas. "Quilava use Flame Wheel!" Ash commanded.
"Absorb the hit for Vileplume, Muk!" Atlas said.
"And use Eruption to back it up!" Dawn commanded her Quilava.
Muk could handle Flame Wheel all by itself but backed up with Eruption the attack was just too powerful to handle.
"Muk!" Atlas cried.
"Yeah!" Bonnie exclaimed. "Go Ash and Dawn!"
All of a sudden, Arbok burst out from the side to use Wrap on Max and Bonnie.
"Look out!" Max cried.
"Eeek!" Bonnie cried. "Dedenne, use Nuzzle!"
The amplifier bags of Max and Bonnie really worked on Arbok. After being shocked by the massive amounts of electricity, Arbok fizzled to the ground as dead meat.
Ash and Dawn looked back to see what had happened.
"How could you do such a thing?!" Dawn said in madness.
"That's cheating and it's not fair!" Ash cried. "Just like you taking my Pikachu!"
"Life's not fair," Atlas said.
"I just tried to do what I had to win," Ariana shrugged.
"I say we finish them now," Ash declared.
"Yeah," Dawn agreed, "let's finish this!
"Quilava," Ash and Dawn said together, "use Eruption!"
"And you use Nuzzle on those bad crooks!" Bonnie told Dedenne.
The sheer power and force of the blast was too powerful for anything and anyone to handle. The Eruptions' enormous damage included an open, unearthed flooring to walk through out to the courtyard with everything obliterated in its way. Ariana and Atlas were burnt out and on each side of the hallway. Their combined Eruption attack even demolished the door leading outside.
"Yeah!" Ash and Dawn rejoiced, embracing in a high five. "All right!"
"Now let's get out of here!" Max said.
"Right," Bonnie, Ash, and Dawn said, running down the rest of the hallway to the courtyard.
Atlas and Ariana helplessly watched them run off.
"Those two were some team," Atlas stated.
"How could a few kids be that strong?" Ariana pondered.
Right POV 2 – Petrel
"Come on, Venusaur, hold on for just a little bit longer," May told her Pokémon.
"We're not to be able to make it," Brock said.
"If only we had more power," Clemont said.
"We could always send out more Pokémon," Brock suggested, even in the intensity.
"It's too late, the Sludges are almost at us!" Serena cried.
"Well if we lost, at least we gave it our all," May said starting to cry. She held one of the Mega Stones that she got from Drew as her last hope. She didn't know if it would work on not. "I know you have more in you Venusaur!"
As May wrapped her body around Venusaur, a miraculous occurrence took place. Venusaur took one of the Mega Stones into its own hands and mega evolved! Its flower bloomed stronger, its leaves grew thicker, and it acquired a strength it never had before! The Razor Leaves and Petal Dances were now upgrading to a more powerful attack, and May used this to her full advantage.
"Yeah! Venusaur, use Petal Blizzard!" May said.
"Petal Blizzard?" Petrel gasped.
"Yeah, go May and Venusaur!" Serena, Clemont, and Brock cheered.
The Petal Blizzard ripped through all the Sludges thrown at them. Combined with Venusaur's Mega Evolution power, the Petal Blizzard fainted all of the Koffing and Weezing and pushed Petrel off to the side. They were now free to run outside, and that's just what they did.
"Way to go, May!" Brock congratulated while running.
"Thanks," May said, "but I'm still wondering about Venusaur's transformation. I guess the Mega Stones had to do something with it."
"I remember," Clemont said, "Professor Sycamore was researching Mega Evolution!"
"Maybe that was it!" Serena said.
With Petrel's Koffing army defeated, the four rushed outside to the courtyard.
Left POV 2 – Proton
I'll take Crobat!" Iris said. "Dragonite, use Thunderpunch!"
"Hmph, you can't beat my Crobat in speed!" Proton said. "Dodge and use Sludge Bomb!"
"Dragonite, no!" Iris cried.
Misty watched how hard Iris was trying to win. Seeing this, Misty felt sorry for how she acted with her.
"I'll help you out!" Misty said. "Starmie, use Hydro Pump!"
"I'll help too!" Cilan said. "Stunfisk, use Sludge Bomb of your own!"
"Our Sludge Bomb is better!" Proton declared. "Dodge those attacks and use Sludge Bomb to pin all of them down!"
Starmie, Dragonite, Stunfisk, Axew, and even Scyther got pinned to the ground by Sludge Bomb. Also, the Sludge Bomb trapped Misty, Tracey, Iris, and Cilan; they were in deep trouble.
"Knock their lights out with Brave Bird! And charge it up so you can strike with full power!" Proton commanded.
"Oh no!" Iris said while squirming.
"What are we going to do?" Cilan helplessly flailed.
"I know!" Tracey said to Misty. "We could use Water Gun to free us!"
"Good idea!" Misty said. "Azurill, come on out!"
"You too, Marill," Tracey said.
"Use Water Gun to free us!" they both said.
The Water Guns completely washed off any Sludge that smothered the Pokémon and trainers. Now they were free to go!
"Marill!" Tracey said.
"Azurill!" Misty called out.
"Use Water Gun on Crobat!
"Stunfisk, use Thundershock!" Cilan told his Pokémon.
"Dragonite, use Ice Beam!" Iris yelled. "And Axew, use Dragon Rage!"
"Scyther," Tracey said again, "use Skull Bash!"
"And Starmie, use Hydro Pump!" Misty finished.
To put it simply, the combined attacks stopped Proton and Crobat cold. The four proceeded to run off out to the courtyard.
"I'm sorry for overreacting back there," Misty apologized.
"And I'm sorry too," Iris told Misty.
Courtyard
"Hey Ash!" Tracey, Misty, Iris, and Cilan called from the left.
"Ash!" Clemont, Serena, May, and Brock called out from the right.
The two groups finally joined together in the middle of courtyard where Ash and Dawn was in the middle. Now all 12 of them were back as a whole, and they were delighted to regroup. However, it was still pitch-black outside since it was night time.
"You see that staircase leading up to that door up there?" Clemont said. "That's where we need to go!"
"Let's hurry!" Brock said.
"Right!" everyone agreed.
(Back in the hallway)
"Pull the alarm!" Ariana told Atlas.
"Good plan!" Atlas said, pulling the lever.
While the 12 of them desperately tried getting to the next door, an even greater alarm resounded, this time through the entire building. Many helicopters flew in with floodlights shining right on them while picking up large amounts of wind. A multitude of Team Rocket Grunts ran out of each hallway and surrounded every side of the courtyard. Each Grunt sent out two Golbat prepared to attack at any time. And as the cherry on top, one man stood in front of the door they were destined to go through with a megaphone.
"We're too late!" Dawn said.
"We're surrounded everywhere by trainers," Misty worried.
"And Golbat!" Serena added anxiously.
"And helicopters!" May cried.
"STAND RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE AND DON'T MOVE!" the voice boomed through the megaphone.
"We have no other choice," Tracey said, "so we have to stop."
"No!" Ash cried running. "I'm coming for you Pikachu!"
"Wait," Brock said, "Ash, don't go!"
"You won't be able to make it!" Clemont yelled.
"Throw in the synthetic cube," the megaphone voice commanded.
"Look out!" Iris screamed.
"We're all going to be trapped!" Cilan yelled.
"Ash!" Max and Bonnie yelled at the top of their lungs. "There's a Golbat!"
The Golbat propelled Ash backwards with a Gust attack right back with the rest of his group. Soon after, the synthetic cube enclosed all of them in a light blue transparent container where they were unable to escape.
"Let us go!" Max and Bonnie yelled banging from the inside of the cube.
"You can't do this to us!" Iris screamed.
"You must be quite the trainers," the man said. "In case you didn't know, I am Archer, the head Team Rocket Executive!"
"Another Executive?!" Cilan said in shock.
"Didn't we just beat them?" Dawn asked Ash.
"Urgh…that Team Rocket!" Ash murmured.
"We are going to regain our former glory," Archer proclaimed, "but this time we are going to control the entire world! We will have the world's strongest Pokémon in our possession and there will be no one who can stop us!"
"You guys are insane!" Serena yelled.
"What do you want with Pikachu then?" Clemont angrily asked.
"Yeah," Bonnie remarked, "give us back Pikachu!"
"Pikachu, eh?" Archer asked. "We just know that the boss wants Ash's specific Pikachu for himself!"
"Really?" May wondered.
"Yes," Archer responded, "the Pikachu is one of the world's strongest after all. Pikachu was the reason why Operation Tempest in Unova was a failure."
"Operation Tempest?" Iris recalled.
"That's right!" Cilan remembered.
"Did this happen after I left?" Dawn asked Ash.
"It was immediately after you left, Dawn," Ash told her. "We were lucky to have Ridley and Cynthia still on our side."
"As for you kids," Archer stated, "we will keep you into custody right here in this cold base! We will not let you interfere with our meticulous plans!"
"You can't keep us here!" May rebelled. "Go-"
"Don't do it May!" Brock warned her.
"They can probably shock all of us in this cube if they wanted to!" Clemont said.
"Don't you have anything we can do?" Max asked Clemont.
"That's right!" Clemont said."We can use the disablers!"
And so Tracey, Ash, and Brock pushed the button, but only to have the devices explode in their faces.
"Oh no!" Serena yelled.
"Looks like we're done for!" Clemont said worried.
Just then, a hooded man and a woman came out from the right.
"We can take them to their cell," the man grinned deviously.
"We'll give them good company," the woman said with a wicked smile.
"Good," Archer said, "take them away!"
The man and the woman rolled the synthetic cube and everyone in it through a door on the right of the courtyard.
"Everyone back to your rooms!" Archer commanded all of the Grunts.
"Way to go Archer!" Petrel said, lying down from a distance.
"Nice one," Proton said, also on the ground.
"It was a good thing we pulled the alarm," Atlas said winking at Ariana.
"There's no better team than Team Rocket!" Ariana maliciously declared.
The 12 of them actually got captured. There was nothing else they could do.
"Looks like this is it guys," Clemont sighed. "I'm sorry I failed you all."
"Clemont," Serena comforted, "it's ok; you gave it your all!"
"We all did," Tracey said. "And to think it was all to save Ash's Pikachu…"
"If only we haven't fought back there," Misty told Iris.
"Yeah, you're right," Iris sighed.
"What are we going to do now?" Bonnie asked.
"I wish I knew," Max said depressed.
"I believe there's still hope," Cilan boldy said.
"Cilan's right," May agreed, "it's not over yet! We still have our Pokémon!"
"But we're still trapped in this cube," Brock pointed out.
As the cube made its way towards the cell, Ash broke down.
"Pikachu…PIKACHU!"
"It's ok Ash," Dawn said, comforting him. "As long as we're together, we won't give up that easily!"
Is it really over for Ash and his friends? Do they still have a chance? Stay tuned!
"Are you ready to rock?" Blaziken Mask asked Meowth while putting on his mask.
"Yeah," Meowth said, "let's get that Pikachu!"
To be continued….