In some seconds I was spit out on the ground by this monster. Covered with saliva and dirt, shocked and confused… but alive!
"Ven!" Bill got out of his machine and rushed to me. The monster moved a bit back, heavily breathing, but didn`t touch the engineer.
"What`s happening?" I wheezed while trying to get up.
"Choppers fought off our men from the roofs, but we now press back. Just one is remained, and we can`t get it. Giovanni is going to escape from the roof!"
"No!" I jumped on place and looked up. "We can`t let him get away! Where`s your air support?"
"Ready to help, but… you know… three minutes," Bill guiltily replied.
"Damn it!" I swore loudly and looked around. Flying types are the actual weakness in our army… Because we don`t have them. But I have to get to the roof right now!
I moved this idea a bit away and rushed to Bill`s machine. The small box below his gun was the modified healing machine, upgraded for portable use. Right I need this more than any when else.
So, I placed five my pokeballs and then stopped on Magikarp`s greatball. My last pokemon remained there on the eleventh floor. Or… did he?
I switched my eyesight at the huge creature that saved me. His body was speckled with wounds, small cuts, pieces of glass. It has nothing common with Magikarp, but still… Can this be him?
I unsurely raised the greatball and pointed it at the monster. And… the red beam actually worked, struck large blue body of pokemon and turned him into the energy that was absorbed inside greatball.
Unbelievable… This IS my Magikarp. But now he has become a scary blue snake-like monster nearly of six meter length! I didn`t have a slightest idea that Magikarps can evolve at all. No one told me that!
But this doesn`t matter right now. Only Giovanni does.
I looked at Bill`s machine where small box with my five capsules was stored in it, ready for healing. And I got a plan…
"Bill, target your beam into the sky!" I commanded to the inventor and headed back to machine to place the last greatball into healing machine.
"Wha…Why?!" He questioned me confused.
"I have to get to the roof immediately!" I turned the machine on and activated the mode of emergency heal. The powerful shockwave struck all pokeballs at once. This works like a defibrillator – quick and effective, but dangerous. After such treatment my guys will need the real medical attention, but right now… They can fight some more!
"How? Did you…" Bill interrupted himself. He understood my plan.
"Yes!" I grabbed all pokeballs back and placed them back on my shoulder belt. While ignoring the worried look on Bill`s face, I climbed up his machine and sat on the gravity beam myself. "Shoot me into the air!"
"No, this is dangerous!" He shouted shockingly, "my laser doesn`t reach the roof, and… and… we don`t have much power left!"
"Then put ALL the power into one shot," I gave the command. He knew that nothing will stop me at this moment, and had to obey.
I knew that if something goes wrong – he will not be able to catch me with this thing again. I knew that one degree mistake in targeting – and this thing will press me into the wall. But all that worried me… Was getting Giovanni.
Bill raised the cannon with me, pointing it up.
"Are you sure?" he tried his last chance to change my mind. It didn`t work.
"Fire!" I commanded.
And the gun turned on. Bright blue laser appeared around me and immediately began to push up. The speed was increasing with each floor, until… the laser ended and I continued flying on my own, on my momentum.
This was almost enough to get me to the roof, and I grabbed the ledge.
Maybe, this idea wasn`t that good… considering that ledge was wet and slippery after the rain. But I was already hanging on the damn eleven-floor-height on the only ledge, and it`s too late to go back!
So I gathered all strength and pulled my body up to the roof.
And here he is… On the other side, walking to his helicopter to escape his inevitable doom. To escape ME!
I grabbed all me capsules at once and threw them into the air. Six monster silhouettes of different danger degree appeared around me. Six deadly creatures thirsting for blood of Team Rocket.
"TAKE HIM!" I gave the command, and all my pokemon rushed toward the helicopter, through the roof.
It was already taking off as Giovanni noticed my return. He just nodded to his pilot, and chopper literally jumped on place to ascend high and fast. Maybe he escaped us on solid floor, we still have what to hit him with.
"Shoot it with everything you`ve got!" I joined my team on the other edge of building and pointed at helicopter.
Dumpling tried to reach it with his Flamethrower, and failed. Harry tried to throw his Stun Spores to somehow block the machine, but didn`t reach it. Loser and… Magikarp couldn`t do anything from the distance, but Reaper and Moment headed to the chopper personally.
Suddenly a Rhyhorn appeared in the opened helicopter and made a shot with rock that hit my Reaper to the ground. Moment dodged that attack, but the second was much stronger – and it was enough to bring him down on the roof too.
Angered by the despair, Dumpling spread his wings wide and jumped off the roof to fly for them too. He didn`t have a slightest doubt – he just did it. And almost immediately lost control of his flight. He tried his best to raise higher, he flapped his wings as strong as he can, but he couldn`t fly.
And right at this moment Bill`s air support appeared to catch my Charizard. One Pidgeot tried to do it alone, but the flame pokemon seemed to be too heavy for him, and all the rest had to help.
The last hope flew away… Just like Giovanni.
I was staring at him slowly distancing from us, unable to do anything. Fell down my knees from disability to stop him. So, I did all I could – I promised him to find him again… with showing him a middle finger jest.
He knows this isn`t the end.
I remained still on my knees until the steps behind became too close. Resistance forces finally reached the roof and found me. I couldn`t see them, but I heard perfectly. Anyway, I didn`t move an inch even now.
"Ven!" Leaf`s worried voice sounded from behind and soon I felt her touch on my shoulders, "Ven, are you all right?"
"He escaped," I whispered her, "I have lost…"
"No, Ven… You have won!" she cheerfully informed me, "you saved the city!"
"I don`t give a shit about the city! Giovanni got what he wanted. And I do not."
"Um… You`re too tired to think straight," she took the talk away, "let`s go have some rest, we`ll take you to the hospital. You deserved it."
I got up by myself before she helped me. The sight was quiet horrible before me. Moment and Reaper beaten and brought to the ground, Harry, Loser and new Magikarp are very tired too. Dumpling is somewhere on the street, I`m sure Bill takes care of him.
Everyone is looking at me awaiting for the next order.
"Let`s have a rest, gang."
This failure will have its consequences. I saw them. I felt them.
A new nightmare began to visit me. The nightmare where I fell from the roof and Bill catches me with his gravity gun in the mid-fall. But then it breaks, and I continue to fall down. The whole city gathers to see my death and laugh at me. Then they all turn into wooden puppets controlled with Giovanni`s strings. Then the master himself appears, and begins to laugh louder than all of them.
At this moment I woke up in cold sweat.
I was in my room of local Pokemon Center. Saffron City hospital suffered too much from the siege and needs to be restored, so PC is now the place for healing both people and pokemon. Thankfully, there are a lot of volunteers among people. Saffron will arise someday…
And, by the way, it`s day already! I wonder what time is it… What date is it?
I got from the bed and looked into the window. Well, I have to admit, in the daylight Saffron City looks MUCH better, even when trash and dirt are more visible.
"Nice view, isn`t it?" the sudden female voice startled me.
"Holy shit, Misty, please!" I twitched from the suddenness, "after a night like this I can accidentally kill anyone with a fright."
I completely forgot about her. She helped me to find and book a room for two in Pokemon Center. The bed was too for two, but we were too tired for something bigger…
"I`m sorry," I apologized and turned back to the window, "I was nearly dead for three times in three hours, you know…"
"Everything could be better if you followed your own plan…"
"I DID follow my own plan." I turned to the table where a bottle of mineral water was standing. My throat was horribly dry, so I grabbed it and drank the half of it with one try. "Ah, no gases… Disgusting…" And after that I finished it completely.
Misty just shook her head and went dressing up. The sight of almost-naked girl raised my mood a bit, but not very much.
"How was the fight?" I tried awkwardly to start the dialogue.
"Well… Not very difficult," Misty answered lightly, "there were not so many patrols on my route. Half of them surrendered immediately."
"No casualties?"
"Thank Arceus, no," she replied, "but I heard when helicopters attacked, some people were actually injured. We were controlling the first floor at that moment."
"Good girl," I complimented Misty and petted her head when heard she followed exactly my plan, "now tell me, where`s my greatcoat?"
"Why do you need this now?" the girl hugged me carefully, "what`s the rush?"
She spoiled my mood making me remember why I need to hurry. I guiltily lowered my eyesight and stepped back away from her.
"Because damn Giovanni escaped. Because Team Rocket still lives," I explainer her grimly, "and now he wants my head more than any when."
"And you`re running after him?! Right now?"
'Yes! What else can I do? If he have captured the whole city just for creating a perfect pokeball, who knows what else can HE do?!"
"A perfect pokeball?" she repeated questionably.
"He called it… the Masterball. A pokeball that captures any pokemon without fail and completely submits to the master`s will," I explained.
"That sounds horrible…" Misty said with a bit frightened tone, "what would he need that for?"
I guessed that right after she asked. I didn`t like my guess, but I can bet my damn life that I`m right.
"I will find out," I promised Misty and turned back, "he is planning on something. Something big and evil. I feel he is close to realization. And THIS is the rush."
"Oh, you…" suddenly the girl sounded very judging towards me, "what can you do now? Do you know where to head now? Do you have any more trails aside from Saffron City? You told me yourself – you do not. And your team needs rest… YOU need rest. Please… Don`t make it worse."
And I also hate when she`s being right about things she better not be. I actually have no clue where to go now. No more suspicious Team Rocket activities, no more sieged capital city and no more ideas.
Maybe now I should really take some time and watch over the news. Team Rocket will appear again, and then I will find them.
"Where`s Sabrina now?" I changed the topic.
"Oh, she may be busy dealing with the prisoners," the gym leader answered uneasily, "you may not want to interrupt her now."
The idea of prisoners looked good enough… I will visit them a bit later.
I finally finished dressing up and looked at Misty. She looks so good with loose hair… And her short yellow topic… and nothing more.
"You may not worry. I will not," I approached the girl and took her shoulders, "I will go to the junkyard on the south of city. And I need YOU, my dear, to interrupt Sabrina and tell her meet me there."
"No-o-o, why me?!" she begged me.
"Because you`re pretty and she will not kill you on first sight. See ya!" I gently tapped her shoulder and headed to the exit, grabbing a cookie from the table.
On the first floor I met a nurse running around, very busy with her job.
"Hello, may I know how is my team doing?" I gently distracted her for a second, "my Charizard, Beedrill, Golbat…"
"Ah, it`s you!" somehow she recognized me and smiled. I afraid, someone did uncover my role in all this crap, "they`re still in process. They had some hard time, so they may need to rest for a couple of days."
"Well, thanks," I sadly replied and let her do her job.
I… expected this. The battle was really hard and long. Even battles, all of them – and this night we had a lot. Bill warned me about the side effect of his defibrillator, so my guys will need more rest than usually… Maybe my pokemon also need some time to rest from me.
That was some sad thought. But I knew it is right. So, I sighed loudly, hid my hands in greatcoat and headed outside, to the street and to the junkyard where I found the trail of my car.
That place was pretty damn far from Pokemon Center. I spent, maybe, an hour just to get there on foot, but I had plenty of time to think. Plenty of time to look around and see what Team Rocket have done to this city.
And now Saffron slowly returns to its regular life as it was before Giovanni came. I still can`t understand the sense of all this shit. He wanted Silph Co. to create a super-secret perfect pokeball for him. Fine, I get it. He had Team Rocket bandits to get money from people across the whole region to sponsor the research. I get this too. I guess, he also paid a lot of money to mass media to cover his operations… Even this is understandable. But why taking the whole city under the curtain? Cut it from the outside world… What`s the point of THIS?
And what place in this plan the grass-type pokemon have?
Well, looks like I have encountered another evil genius here, in Kanto. This is a man I shouldn`t underestimate. This is a man I should outsmart. Outsmart… and beat in a battle, fair and square. Even now I`m still not ready. Even after five gym leaders I`m not, damn, ready!
In my thoughts I didn`t even notice how I returned back to the junkyard. Well, maybe it`s not exactly a junkyard – a recycling plant, right inside the city. It is inactive now, and the field around it managed to collect some trash ready for recycling. When Saffron recovers after Team Rocket invasion, the plant will work again, but right now it`s just a typical junkyard. Maybe I can find Grimers here – who knows.
I found the truck trail again. Beginning in the center and disappearing soon after that… How is that possible?
This doesn`t make sense. I crouched before it and touched the ground near the trail. It`s nothing special – a bit wet after the rain. Right now the weather is pretty hot, and it`s quite stuffy after the rain. This reminded me a bit about the day I had an investigation on Route 3. That day was hot and stuffy too, but I didn`t care.
Ah, what am I thinking about? Current weather doesn`t matter, the trail does! It seem to be a bit erased by the rain, but I still can observe it.
I spent nearly half an hour walking around the trails, looking at the trails, touching the trails, sniffing and trying the trails… I could feel there is something I can notice.
But I could not. I tried my best, but I found nothing.
And then finally Sabrina came.
"Well, you seem to be busy right now," she said calmly and crossed her hands on chest.
"I`m glad to see you too," I sarcastically replied and smiled, "you should be busy too, I guess."
"And I was!" the gym leader sounded impatient, "until your girlfriend appeared and told me to come here. I hope you have a reason to bring me there."
"Firstly… Misty is not my girlfriend. She was… but then the awful me left her for adventures, money and – what`s more important – vengeance," I did the reasonable pause to attract her attention, "and secondly… Yes. I do have a reason."
I stood up and made a step back showing her the tracks. Sabrina looked down at them really confused.
"What is it?" she asked.
"The truth…" I answered mysteriously, "that`s what I wanted to find in your city."
"The… dirt?" almost smiling, Sabrina suggested.
"The trail!" I explained irritated, "the last thing remained from my car."
"I still don`t get…" woman honestly admitted, still looking like she does not completely want to understand.
"Ok… Look. Giovanni captured your city just to create a special pokeball. I have organized an army to free your city… just to find my car!"
Sabrina looked at me like at the idiot, but some seconds later she resigned to this.
"I did know you have some special reason to find me in the first place…" she said seriously, "I had no idea how far you can go."
"As you can see, I went really, really far…"
"You have spent a month on training my people, seeking for help and planning the attack," she looked away, thinking out loud, "you began the WAR!"
"Pfft, the war… Just some people beat some bandits on the streets. My school had fights bigger than this."
"But your ideas saved so many people! The one with… protector-class trainers. When choppers attacked, we got the chance to survive! Some people got injuries, yes, but if it`s not for you, they all would be dead!"
"If you want to thank me, then I accept only promising dates and 'Thank you'. We both know that you`re too proud for the second one."
She was interrupted for some time by my words and her own thoughts. And soon she decided to make a move – put her hand in pocket and take a small symbol looking like a strange golden coin.
"I want you to have this…" Sabrina said trying to keep the emotions on the edge. I saw that telling was hard for her, "the Marsh Badge."
"Is this the badge from your gym?" I asked suspecting her.
"Yes…"
"The one you give people for defeating you in a pokemon battle?"
"Yes," she definitely didn`t like the direction of dialogue.
"They why you`re giving it to a guy that didn`t defeat you in battle?" I asked her a honest question.
She displeased took it away and angrily looked at me.
"I just wanted to thank you!" Sabrina yelled at me like it`s my fault that I follow the rules. Well, it actually is.
"No, no, it`s too late… He have decided to have a date already!" I waved my hand before her.
"What… date? When did…"
"A minute ago, when you didn`t agree to my second variant. So… It`s a date then!"
"I don`t go on dates…" she brutally replied.
"Come on, it`s fun! Even you will like what plan I invented…" I tried to convince her, "You liked my earlier plan, do you?"
"The one with abandoning us right before the attack? No, I didn`t!"
"Hey, that was necessary. Otherwise you would catch Giovanni and burn his brain before me. And I NEED his brain!"
"And now he escaped, thanks to you!" she judgingly poked me in the chest.
"And I still have the chance to catch him by myself and extract all the info I need!" I told her. "I guess that you guys can`t actually search specific memories in human brains, you just burn everything in it and feast upon what`s left…"
This formulary didn`t seem to be liked by Sabrina, but she didn`t argue. That means I am right.
"I need him to help me on my investigation. Some things got out of his control, so he is actually one of my few trails I have! I can`t let you burn this trail just because you hate him with all your heart!"
I left her for some time to think and returned to telling my original idea.
"You psychics are strange guys. Nothing comparing to us common psychos, but are pretty weird too. You have the skills humanity will never understand. I want… to use these your skills."
Sabrina didn`t look too shocked about it. On the contrary – she looked interested in this.
"So… Here`s the mission. My car was stolen. And this is the place where it have been – these tracks are the only one of their kind, so I know for sure. Use your… psychic something to find the clues, trails, evidences – something for me to continue the investigation."
The gym leader suspiciously looked at me, but stepped forward to the tracks.
"Why do you think I can help you?" she asked.
"Because you have a special mentality. You think wider than regular people, you can move things with your eyes!" I approached her trying to cheer in my usual unusual way, "maybe you can see what I can`t!"
Sabrina distracted from my words and looked at the tracks once more. In a few seconds she frowned and approached them.
"It`s strange…" she said with intriguing tone, "they appear out of nothing and then disappear…"
"Exactly. The same thing was on Route 3," I added some of my own observations.
And now it was her turn to investigate. To my surprise, she did not focus her attention on the tracks – instead she observed the beginning. The touched the ground near it and closed her eyes. After some seconds she opened them again and walked back disappointedly.
"This is really interesting…" she whispered. I guess, she really got into it.
Sabrina looked around slowly and carefully observing the territory. When her eye twitched, I thought she noticed something.
And then she made a step forward, away from the track and her heel pierced the dirt behind. This distracted her and made look down.
"There is a dent…" she said thinking.
I approached her and looked down. She appeared to be right about this… The large but not very deep dent could be seen on the ground… at some angle. The tracks begin right in its center, crushing the dirt more than anywhere else.
Then we together looked at the other end of trail – there was another dent, a bigger one. I would never pay attention to a detail… this big.
"Yes, you seem to always look for smaller clues," Sabrina chuckled.
"Do you read my mind again?" I thought looking at her.
"You do not resist when you`re focused on something…" she replied telepathically and immediately left the corrupted mind of mine.
Damn, I need to stay alert when doing something like this with her…
"You can`t always be on guard…" the voice of Sabrina sounded in my head.
"Scat!" I drove her away.
Her sudden smile actually scared me, but I returned to observing the place.
"So… A dent here… a dent there… and the tracks go from the center of one to the center of another…" I completed the picture and tried to find some sense in it, "it has no sense."
"Were these on Route 3?" Sabrina asked interested.
"They were a bit different – they looked logical but undefinable. Also, the tracks were on asphalt, I would definitely notice the dents in the first place," I explained, "these ones are on dirt. This is why we are able to see them."
"Why do you think they disappear?" the gym leader questioned me, "don`t the tracks leave such traces just… like… when they brake or start? At normal speed cars don`t leave traces."
Partly she was right about that, but I felt this is not all. And I had just one simple answer for her question.
"Tracks are too short to be a braking distance."
And suddenly the rain appeared. It was the shining sun just a minute ago – and now the sky is covered with dark clouds. The drops began to fall down the sky – on me, on ground, on the trail… slowly erasing it.
"How strange…" I looked up at the sky, "Looks like it`s raining a bit too often recently."
The rain erases my only trace so easily, so quickly…
Water.
The water can erase tracks. But why would it? How would it?
No, this is a stupid thought. It makes absolutely no sense.
"I guess, it`s over for today," Sabrina said crossing her hands, "I don`t want to catch a cold for nothing."
"It is not for nothing," I replied mysteriously and nodded, "let`s go back. You`re driving?"
"Yes," she coldly said and headed back from the sight. As for me, I stayed here for some more seconds until the rain erased tracks completely.
I WILL find the answer. I will…
"Drop me at Pokemon Center," I asked Sabrina.
"As you wish…"
Now her voice doesn`t sound that arrogant as usually. My presence actually works on people, yay! I have reeducated Erika, now I`m going to reeducate Sabrina. I just hope she is not reading me right now…
Her face was calm and focused on the road. No, I don`t think she is reading me now.
"When your gym will open again?" I questioned my companion.
"You`re the seventh one to ask me this crap today," she replied a bit irritated.
"And… will I be the one to receive an answer?" with naïve hope in my voice I asked her again.
"Ugh… I will deal with the captured Rockets and then return back to the gym. Only then I can accept challengers," she told me her plan.
"Yeah… the prisoners… Misty told me about them," I remembered what Sabrina was doing before our meeting, "are there many of them?"
"Fourty six. Some others escaped during the chopper attack, some others changed the side during the battle, a couple just shot themselves," she replied with cold tone.
"Ugh, really? Not good…" the idea of Rockets shooting themselves looked not so bad on one hand, but on the other… it did, "I suppose, you`re going to find out where Giovanni is?"
"Yes. I`m sure they have more hideouts in Kanto, so at least someone must know where it can be."
"Yeah, sure…" I began to spin the cigarette lighter boringly, "forget about me, telling you, they do not talk about it. They act like zombies when you ask them questions."
"Even zombies still have their brain…" Sabrina smiled cunningly, "that`s all I need."
"Ooh, clever girl!" I complimented her, "then I will leave them to you. I can try my own methods of searching for people. Much scarier than yours… brain-frying technics."
That made her smile a bit more.
"Actually, I came here for my own reason too. There is one… specific prisoner that wants to talk to you."
That came out suddenly. A prisoner that wants my attention? Who the heck could that be? One of that damn 2D squad?
"And who could this be?" I asked a question.
"You`ll see…"
We returned back to the central square where the large crowd was happily celebrating their salvation from Team Rocket. My companion carefully avoided their attention and got me to the police station on the other side of street.
"Well, finally this place contains criminals INSIDE the cells!" I gladly commented the sight when entered inside the building.
There were not too much of policemen in the station – more of a people`s squad. Those cops who willingly surrendered to gym leaders avoided taking under arrest, but remained under control. The others… Had to share the room with those who paid them for torturing people.
Sabrina calmly gave a signal to one of her men, and he gave her the key. I noticed a couple of janitors heading into the side corridor with a large box. I guess, someone actually has to work here every day.
We silently went to the jail section, passing the tightly filled rooms. I have seen so many imprisoned people just once in my life… Saffron City will need a really large prison for them all. I wonder how Sabrina will solve this.
The caged bandits paid a lot of attention to us. Some shouted curses, some begged to release them. Quite a lot of tried to spit at us through the bars, but Sabrina was easily catching all the spits with her telekinetic powers and sending them back into bandit`s faces. To my surprise, I didn`t see any familiar ones among all those… I expected to see someone from Lavender Tower. I gotta find them too a bit later.
And, finally, we reached the last cage. To my surprise, this one was single. With a single girl in Team Rocket uniform sitting in the corner and quietly crying.
I could do nothing but exhale loudly with disappointment when I saw her pink hair and one tail on the side. She heard us and turned around to face me.
"Do you know how often I become sorry for being right recently?... Susan Fuji…"