Chapter 8 – Breaking and Entering
"And the wolf that keep it may prosper,/But the wolf that shall break it may die./As the creeper that girdles the tree trunk,/The law runneth forward and back -/And the strength of the pack is the wolf/And the strength of the wolf is the pack." -Rudyard Kipling, Now this is the law of the jungle
[18:12PM] – 21st May – Saffron City – Saffron Gym –Ash/Lance/Sabrina/Erika
"Finished with your manly chat?" Erika giggled as Lance and Ash arrived back in.
Ash smirked slightly, vanishing and reappearing almost instantly behind the black haired girl. "What were you saying?" The Celadon Gym Leader jumped, before pouting. She flicked her hair in Ash's face as she pointed to the map they had laid on a table Alakazam had conjured up for them.
"The base is huge. For the four of us to take it…"
"Hey!" The small black fox complained. "I told you – you need to factor me, Va, Rai, and Luca into your plan! It depends if your Mime and Alakazam are coming as well…. and if Lance's two dragons are going with us."
The red head champion looked towards where his two blue Dratini and Dragonair were curled, resting lightly. At the mention of them, the elder dragon tilted her head. "TiniAir," she chimed, blinking her large blue eyes at her master.
"I…I think she said yes," Lance spoke for his dragon. Ash and the dragon nodded.
The raven translated, "She told you she'd be at your side always," He subtly nicked the pencil in Sabrina's hand and began crossing out and drawing in more lines.
The Psychic frowned. "How does that work?" she pointed to the crisscrossing lines.
Ash shrugged, "Who needs plans? We go in – split down these four directions and clear them out and meet up again here," he starred a spot by a staircase. "There two people stay guarding and the other two go in. Lucario will stay at the top with those two…" More pencil lines and more of Sabrina's careful planning was scribbled out.
"Ash – is your Lucario really lazy?" Erika asked, as she looked at the sleeping jackal. "He hasn't budged an inch for… ages."
"He's searching for something, he'll be awake by morning," Ash seemed unworried by the condition of the jackal. At the moment he seemed more concerned with something the Eevee morph was communicating as the current Espeon strolled towards him.
"What do you mean meet here instead of there?"
"Don't stay split for too long – your stronger together, then meet by the stairs and clear a way out while you grab the gears."
Ash considered the Espeon in front of him. "That actually makes sense. All right then, we meet up again here..." He drew some more lines.
Lance paced over to the map, squinting at it. "You know that doesn't make any sense," he baffled as he turned his head upside down trying to read it. "And I thought you said you had a Vaporeon,"
Ash and Sabrina snapped at Lance simultaneously, "It does make sense," And Lance stepped back, hands up in mock surrender.
"Okay, Okay! Don't bite my head off,"
Ash glanced towards his Espeon which was stalking up and down. "And she's a Vaporeon…"
"Sometimes," Erika added.
"And an Espeon too…"
"Sometimes."
Ash nodded at the Gym Leader, "Exactly."
"You what?" Lance didn't understand.
As an answer the purple fox titled its head, red jewel on its forehead glittered before its entire body shimmered and rippled, changing that of an icy blue Glaceon. "Gla?" she asked. (Better?)
"Much," Ash smiled as Lance's jaw dropped open. The raven pushed up his sleeves, leaning down to look at the map as Sabrina muttered something in his ear. The champion found his attention drawn now the splash of pink tied just above his arm.
"Is that?" Lance paused, as he took a step forwards, "Is that Misty's handkerchief?"
Ash's one hand flew to the pink material tied to his left arm, eye flashing with pain. He nodded silently.
The orange mouse stalked forwards, tail whipping back and forth as it chirped, "RaiChiRai RaichuChuRai RaiChu," (He doesn't like to remember but he doesn't like to forget Misty)
Of course this made no sense to Lance and the stuff that Sabrina and Ash were arguing about now didn't make any sense either. He sighed and leaned against a wall, sliding down it tiredly.
"Worst day of my life," he muttered. "Can it get any worse? And nobody had even cared to explain why we're plotting to break into Team Rocket Headquarters! Fantastic."
His Pokétch on his wrist began to ring.
"Now that's not fantastic. Spoke too soon. Spoke way too soon."
Ash and Sabrina looked up but it was Erika who voiced the question. "Who's that?"
"May," Lance looked down at his beeping wristwatch. He would have to take the call or the brunette would have a go at him later. He glanced up at Ash. "You should probably keep quiet for the next minute or two,"
Blue eyes flickered red, then calmed to a pale grey. The raven simply nodded as the red head pressed the small button on the side.
He angled the watch so he could see the small screen, a high resolution image of the brunette's face appearing on it. He smiled but then stopped, seeing her depressed expression. "What's up?" he asked.
"I…" May bit her lip and in the background, her Ninetales cooed softly. "I ran that number of the Shadow through our records,"
Blink. "Didn't you do that already?"
"I did it again."
"And…"
"I ran it through the dead ID this time."
Lance's eyes flickered upwards to Ash and down again. When he spoke his voice was deathly silent, "So what came up?"
May had taken her blue bandana off and was twisting it in her hands like a dish cloth, "I was speaking to Dawn and Brock…and they agreed…too many coincidences…"
"Just tell me the bloody name May!" Lance sighed, exasperatedly.
May squeaked. "Ash. It was Ash's ID. The man's an aura guardian. He knows us. Brock told us his quote regarding Politics was 'The League can rot in hell and the Teams I'll send there myself, but SECTION isn't half bad.' He worked for SECTION and the League were the ones which ordered that stupid plan up at the Plateau that day. I ran a search on Fergy, that guy that was killed up at the Ruins, he was one of the ones who supported the idea. And he funded researchers to visit Orre but I can't see how that's important and-"
"May, you're babbling."
Lance stared up at Ash who had paced over and had been the one who had spoken. For a man who was meant to be dead he looked faintly amused, glancing down at the Pokétch.
The reaction from the brunette was slow coming. "Lance…who was that…?" Then a pause and…. "Oh Arceus he's there isn't he?"
Ash's eyes flickered to black at the mention of the deity's name but he replied, "Long time no see Saph."
"My name isn't Sapphire! And… oh Kyogre… is it really you?"
A chuckle. "No I'm not Kyogre. I'll take you to meet him if you want." His tone was light and teasing, but it then dropped, "I don't know." The reply was quiet and contained a note of some strange emotion. "I don't know any more, May."
A pause. "I'm not going to ask what happened to you. There'll be plenty of time for that later."
Lance and Ash were silent.
"Won't there? We will see each other later right?"
"May… the reason I haven't come back is because there… won't be a later… Once all this is over… I'll be gone… I'll be truly dead. No coming back."
Blink. "Uh…all right then… well…uh…" she sniffed, but the harder, and stronger May than before the war swallowed it down, "If that's the case can I just spend some time…uh… talking to you… because I guess I won't see you after this…"
"You can't tell her," Ash's only reply. "If you tell her it'll kill her."
Somehow, the brunette far away in Viridian knew who he was talking about. Instead she inquired, "What about… Dawn, Brock?"
Ash sent Lance a 'Can't you handle this?' look and the red head glared at him. Still, the champion spoke, "Tell them. Keep it quiet." On the small screen May nodded, eyes dry and resolute.
"We can… end this…can't we?"
Ash's eyes flickered blue. "Yes. Yes we can."
[7:00AM] – 22nd May – Saffron City – Saffron Gym –Ash/Lance/Sabrina/Erika
Ash blinked tiredly. He had spent half the night, talking quietly to his old friend. Just talking, rambling about stupid little thing, contests and ribbons, Pokémon and evolutions. Eventually May had yawned loudly, blinking at the screen and Ash had told her to go to sleep.
The screen had flickered to black leaving the raven with the rest of the night to sit there and plan.
Now with the sun rising and his Lucario shifting on its black paws, crimson eyes glowing, Zorua, already flitting between various disguises, Eevee, snarling to herself as she licked a paw and Raichu, stalking up and down one wall.
Presently Lance, Erika and Sabrina appeared eyes sharp and ready. The psychic gym leader frowned at Ash, still sitting on the floor, back propped against the wall and eyes half closed. "You having fun down there?"
"Time of my life," Ash snorted, standing with one fluid movement, taking a single step and appearing across the other side of the room. "Ya' all ready?"
Lance shook his head, "This is madness,"
Ash shrugged, "It's Team Rocket we're fighting. Go figure."
"I'm in," Erika's eyes were glowing with anger and her bow was in her hand. "Let's do it. Now. While those bastards are still asleep."
Sabrina looked mildly impressed, "I'm with Flowers," she nodded her head to the Celadon Gym leader who glared at the nickname. She had found a green poncho somewhere of soft material, and underneath a pale coloured shirt. She wore a pair of jeans and brown boots that came over her ankle, thick and hiking appropriate.
Sabrina was decked in her usual gym clothes, as Lance was in his Champion's gear. Ash was glad he had toned it down to navy and had lost the red cloak though. Now that would have attracted attention.
Ash barely glanced twice at the large, orange dragon that perched outside just within the wards. The other two blue evolutions were talking quietly in quiet hums and coos. Erika jumped at the sight of them before recovering her composure with a sad look on her face, likely thinking of her lost Pokémon.
Lance shook his head again, "This is madness," he repeated.
Ash smirked, "No. This is war."
[7:06AM] – 22nd May – Saffron City – Outside Silph Co. – West - Sabrina
Sabrina shook her head. One minute behind schedule. They should be in the damn base by now!
She almost slammed her fist against the wall but at the sight of an approaching rocket guard she decided instead to flatten herself against the brick work.
The footsteps paused.
Sabrina held her breath.
And then slowly, but gradually the hated sound of rubber boots on concrete approached her hiding place.
Go away! The psychic willed, trying to turn the approaching mind.
Nothing.
In her hand she gripped the small knife.
Click Clop Click Clop.
She held her breath as the step approached. But still they appeared. Again she tried to wrestle control over the person, but her mind swam over it like there was nobody there. Almost like when Ash had first turned up with that damn fox of…
"Sabrina?"
The gym leader relaxed as the rocket peered at her. Deep purple eyes of a Zorua stared back, despite the outward appearance of a dark haired Team member. The psychic bared her teeth at the disguised fox, "You damn fool – I thought you were Team!" she hissed through clenched teeth.
The woman shrugged, "Not my fault – you missed your signal."
Sabrina glanced at her watch. Two minute late. "What happened with the others?"
Zo shrugged, "Who knows – I lost connection a while back. This base does weird things to your head." The fox cast a curious look to Sabrina, "How's your psych?"
"Well enough once we're done and through with this crazy plan of the dead guy." Sabrina muttered, standing straight, hand clenched tightly around the knife as she slipped along the wall like a shadow to make any ninja proud. The door along the alley way was already open, swinging loosely in the breeze.
Sabrina hid a smile.
She was in!
[7:06AM] – 22nd May – Saffron City – Outside Silph Co. – East - Lance
The champion tapped the wall quietly, listening. Nope, that definitely was solid. He moved along half a pace, tapping again and listening with a cup he had filched from the kitchen downstairs. Lucky nobody lived here anymore.
Well…he hoped nobody did.
Otherwise they might soon discover a large hole in one of their upstairs bedrooms.
Thonk. Thonk.
He hid a grin as the wall echoed. Hollow.
He gestured to his smallest blue dragon. The small dragon glared at him for a short moment with a "TiniDrat!" (I'm not a flamethrower!) before rolling its eyes and started to charge up a Dragon Rage.
Lance wised up and moved into the next room.
The sound of crumbling walls and bricks and mortar was quiet, just like he had hoped. A small chirped from his dragon called him back. Once again he wished the other two were with him but he reminded himself that they were safely hidden in the sky, ready for their quick get-away.
The youngest dragon he tucked onto his shoulder. "Watch my back," he told his faithful companion before turning back to the small man sized burnt and battered hole in the wall.
The champion grimaced, "Bring it on," he muttered, as he stepped through.
[7:06AM] – 22nd May – Saffron City – Outside Silph Co. – North - Erika
The woman paced slowly up to the large, blank wall. The last patrol had just passed and she reckoned with five minutes before the next one appeared. "So what's the big plan?" she asked the fox and mouse that stood by her side.
"RaiRaichu!" The mouse waved his long tail around emphatically. (We break in!)
Erika shook her head, "I don't understand guys. Just do what you have to – I'll follow – Right?"
"Feon," the fox who was trying to be nice was in Leafeon form. (Right) Va glanced both ways before calling out to the mouse who was currently looking at something near the top of the building.
"Rai," he chirped, waving with his tail a bit more.
The cream fox narrowed her eyes, but after whipping several razor leaves into the brick Erika suddenly understand.
"The grating?" she asked and the mouse who was already scampering up the footholds nodded. Gingerly, the grass type gym leader followed, tucking her hair behind her ears as she ascended.
The fox quivered at her heels, chirping something that was only too clearly a 'Hurry Up!'. Up ahead the orange mouse had already iron tailed the grating.
"Chu!" (Look out!) Erika barely dodged the falling metal grate that fell to the ground below her with a clang. She stared at it a moment with shock.
"What was that?"
"How am I meant to know what goes on in this freaky town. You check it out!"
"No way Jessie – Meowth – you do it!"
"Whatevs guys – it not like someone's trying to break into the base or sompingk,"
Erika both cursed and thanked her luck. For some reason those three idiots were patrolling. They shouldn't be much danger unless they saw her. She just had to get into the ventilation system before they saw her, balanced precariously on the outside of the building.
Raichu was already in, calling down to her. The fox behind her nipped lightly at her heels, another way to tell her to get a move on.
"Okay, okay," she hissed, reaching for another hand hold and pulling herself up until she was face to face with the open hole in the wall.
"Jimmy Boy – can't believe ya' let Butch beat'ya at somping."
"That Cassidy…ugh she does my head in!"
Another foothold, another foothold come on come on come on come on
Erika froze as she saw their shadows below her. Nonono they were too early.
"Leafeon!" The fox cried in anguish. (Move you idiot!)
The shadows down below paused at the noise.
"What was that?"
Raichu stared at her with mournful eyes, telling her to move.
Arceus damn it. Erika found the foothold and pushed herself into the ventilation shaft. She could still hear the idiots muttering.
"A bottlecap! I found a rare bottle cap – I'm rich I'm rich I'm rich!" Thus followed the sounds of someone being hit over the head.
Then the small passage darkened as the fox jumped in, switching to an Umbreon with yellow rings providing an eerie glow.
Erika gave herself a moment's breathing space. She was in. Finally.
This might be harder than she thought.
[7:06AM] – 22nd May – Saffron City – Outside Silph Co. – South - Ash
The dark haired man strolled leisurely up to the front door of Silph Co. He looked so relaxed and at ease, that for some reason the guards barely glanced twice at him, ignoring the dangerous aura he was emitting. They assumed he was where he was meant to be.
When the blue aura blades formed in each hand and the Lucario next to him made a staff of blue fire appear well…
They took slight more notice of him then.
It was too late though as the aura guardian toppled them. In his right hand a blue sphere replaced the blade, and with a deft movement he spun around, slamming into the ground in front of the door.
Smoke billowed out from the door…uh… the thing that used to be a door. It hung of mangled hinges, blackened and charred, Ash's shadowy figure barely visible behind all the smoke. Lucario narrowed his red eyes as he took up a position next to his master.
The various rockets scattered around the lobby raised their weapons as Ash strolled casually inside. One of them, brave enough to call out, yelled, "State your business!"
Ash stared at him in disbelief.
"I just knocked down your front door. What do you think my business is?"
[7:10AM] – 22nd May – Saffron City – West Wing of Silph Co. - Erika
"I'm lost I'm lost I'm lost I'm lost!" the gym leader sighed as she came to another dead end. Well… technically it was the rat which was leading her around in circles. Erika made it her life's ambition never to go crawling around in ventilation shafts ever again.
There was a noise beneath her and the Nature Loving Princess rolled her eyes. She was going to drop out right now or stay stuck in this shaft until time reset itself.
She paused, kicking with her thick boot at the metal which lifted flimsily. After judging the distance to the floor the girl eased herself through the gap leaving Raichu and Eevee to deal with their mission.
Her bow was up and ready as soon as she landed and she had to stop herself shooting Sabrina and a rocket who must have been Zo in the face. She brushed a dust Buneary from her poncho, greeting them as if this were an everyday occurrence, "Found the vaults yet?"
Zo shook her dark hair, "Nope – but we heard the voice announcing somebody had knocked down the front door. Ash is in. Have Va 'nd Rai got the power yet?"
"The mouse keeps getting lost," Erika felt remarkably calm as she notched her bow and shot an approaching rocket over Sabrina's shoulder. The second received a dark pulse from the humanized Zorua, knocking him out.
The dark haired woman scowled, "Rai always used to insist it was Ash who got lost. But no-o, that mouse doesn't have a sense of direction since his electro field mucks up his magnetic one. Honestly. That mouse!"
[7:12AM] – 22nd May – Saffron City – West Wing of Silph Co. – Ventilation Shaft – Va & Rai (Please note – Pokéspeech will be temporarily translated)
The mouse in question let out a sneeze as some dust tickled his nose, "Gah!" he complained, swiping at it, "Why aren't we there yet?"
Behind him the fox was waving her tail slowly, gaze practically glaring at the Raichu, "Someone must be talking about you," she commented dryly as the mouse let out another comical sneeze.
"We're not lost," Raichu insisted.
The now brown Eevee blinked before stating patronizingly, "Just keep telling yourself that Rai, just keep telling yourself that. Now if you don't mind, I want to find the Generator sometime today and not into next year," and with that, she pushed past the indignant mouse, stalking off as best as one could when stuck in a cramped and dark metal shaft.
Raichu stared morosely after her before bouncing along, the lightning tip to his tail glowing slightly in the gloom. "When you're sick of leading us around in circles and come begging for me to lead you there I'll have to think twice before forgiving you," he tried to save some dignity.
Ahead of him Va snorted, "Leading us around in circles? Were you not just describing yourself a few minutes back?" She paused and Raichu almost walked into her fluffy tail. Morphing into a Jolteon with a slight shimmer, her fur becoming spiky and paling to a soft yellow, needle like spikes sticking up and around in a messy array of electric yellow. She unsheathed her claws, hooking her paw around a ceiling tile and with a deft flick, pulling it up.
Her eyes were smug as she curled her tail over her paws, looking innocently at the mouse, "I" she put emphasis on this word, "Never get lost,"
Raichu peered down below him, sighing.
But Va wasn't quite finished.
"Unlike some Pokémon I know,"
He glared at her, "All right, rub it in why don't you?"
She smiled, "I think I will," Before turning around and leaping down the hole in the ventilation system.
Raichu watched her go alarmed, "I'm an idiot," he muttered to himself.
"Yes you are!" Va called up from below, "Now get your sorry ass down here!"
Rai rolled his eyes, "Here goes nothin'," he sighed, pushing off into the unknown.
Talk about look before you leap.
[7:12AM] – 22nd May – Saffron City – East Wing of Silph Co. - Lance
The base was fairly empty Lance's side of things. He assumed that everybody was off chasing after…or more likely running away from the deadly aura guardian, or trying to capture Sabrina and Zo the opposite side of the base. He wondered vaguely if Erika had gotten in all right, as the lights were still on and power still running.
Dratini was once again slung over his shoulders as he took off down a corridor, heading towards the centre of the base. Towards the vaults buried deeply within the complex. The spiky red haired champion ran a hand though his hair as he ducked through a doorway, checking both ways down the corridor before heading west, away from the East Wing of the building.
Stairs, he ducked down them, feet clattering on the metal making it ring. His eyes were sharp as he checked for guard but still the coast was clear. He ducked his head to look at his wrist, where a compass was flashing on his Pokétch. He paused, watching as the needle swung lazily around to north, blinking for a second before picking a corridor that took him west.
Footsteps from up ahead gave him only a split second warning to dive down to the right, into what looked like an open storage cupboard. He almost fell over a box, as he pulled the door behind him closed, leaving only a hairline fraction through which to peer through. At the end of the corridor three figures in white had paused, looking down to where he had been standing only seconds before.
The blue haired man scratched his chin thoughtfully, "So who's breaking into the base again?" he asked, eyes sharp as he scanned the corridor.
The woman next to him with red hair tapped her heels against the ground impatiently, "Who knows? He just walked in here and the blithering guards didn't think twice until after he'd moved. We're got him penned in near the front though, so he shouldn't be a problem. We'll capture him and get some information out of him yet,"
The last man, purple haired and stooped sighed, "You're sick and twisted Arianna. Sick and twisted. We'll leave him to you then?"
The woman huffed, "Yeah, right. Let that new mad scientist we found to replace Fuji have a go. Wonder what will happen to this one?"
Archer visibly shuddered, "Don't remind me. That last fellow… well… he got killed anyway. Do you reckon' Gio even knew it was the escaped experiment? When he was killed up at Indigo?"
Arianna nodded in agreement, but Petrol was distracted, pacing closer to the door. Lance froze, holding his breath, one hand on his sword.
"Nah. Gio wouldn't have killed him otherwise. I still say it was a mistake."
"Why?" the woman pouted.
"Did you see the champion? And the Waterflower girl? If they hadn't been held back then Gio would have been toast there and then. So what if he managed to kill one of the elites. Ever since we've had them on our tails, harder and more deadly."
Lance backed away, out of the light, stepping silently over the box he had tripped over earlier. His left hand went out to support himself, and it rested on a wooden shelf, filled with slotted circular holes.
The red haired champion blinked, as his hand met a smooth, red and white sphere.
A grin began creeping its way up his face and the dragon around his neck glowed softly.
[7:14AM] – 22nd May – Saffron City – West Wing of Silph Co. – Generator Room – Va & Rai (Please note – Pokéspeech will be temporarily translated)
"This is the last time I ever follow you!" Rai hissed, as he fended off a steel Voltorb with an iron hard tail.
Va snarled as she shot several razor leaves off at several Electabuzz, "Oh yeah? Well it's not like I'm going to follow you anywhere! So there!" with the last words she shot several shadow balls off, then bounded forwards with an aerial ace.
Raichu backed away from two Electrodes which had joined their smaller evolution. "Any ideas?" he asked the fox as the Leafeon morphed into a Flareon surrounded by swirling flames.
Va shot out a stream of flames, burning a small hole in the circle of generator Pokémon attacking them. "No," she hissed, as she batted an Elekid away with one paw. "You?"
Raichu's electricity was useless as he spun around with another iron tail, "One. But it might not work. Wanna' give it a go?"
"Why not? What have we to lose?" Va morphed back into a grass type, just in time to take an electric jolt. She winced, brushing it off as sent several energy balls towards Manetric.
"Trust me?" Rai asked, shooting a look at his partner.
Va smirked, but the grin was feral as the Flareon's fangs grew elongated and tinged with flames, "As long as you're not leading us through ventilation shafts!" She snarled, as she crunched down on a steel and electric Magnemite. "Otherwise, always."
Raichu stared at the army of Magnemite, Shinx, Electrodes, Manetric, Eleckrikes, Luxrays, Elekid and Electabuzz. He sighed, "Oh well. Here goes nothing."
Va closed her eyes.
Across the Team Rocket complex, the lights flickered and died.
A/N - I'm not going to apologise for the late update. I know it was late but I've just had exam hell. Seriously, who decided to dump four exams in the same week? And those hour and a half maths, one after the other?
But I'm back and with only one exam left (history in month) and next to no school I can start writing again! So hopefully I can write a bit more and begin posting more regularly.
To Cherucha – Yes, Both Ash and Pikachu died. Pikachu was shot and Ash had his throat slit. Both were half-dead from previous tortures before the incident which I'm not going to elaborate on. Their bodies were then thrown off the Indigo Plateau cliffs. It's mentioned by Sabrina in the chapter 'Saffron', Misty has flashbacks in the chapter 'Ghost Peak' and explained what happened after that in 'Western Horizons' by Lucario when he was at Mount Coronet, explained why to Lance in the same chapter. Hope that clarifies things.
Ash's mom and Prof Oak are dead. I think. How yet, I have yet to determine. Either that or I'll be nice and dump them in Unova. Of which, I'm not including any Unovian PKMN. I may, in passing, mention Unova as it is a certible region but I have no intention of doing more than that. Ash never went on an Unova journey. Any of those problems he solved I will assume the Player Black or White sorted them out. I will remain to vaguely mentioned Zekrom since he's the lightning god (has anybody else realised that a Thunder attack should just be a load of loud noise), and I'll leave it at that. And Zorua's a star but then she popped up in Sinnoh, so really she doesn't count.
Ash in a lab will be enlightened upon. By several characters who don't have permission to say anything (glares at Archer and Arianna (I know her name should probably have only one 'n'!)), but went ahead anyway, and by me when I finally decide to throw in the flashback.
~Eclipse~