Arc Two:

Little drops of water

Little grains of sand

Make the mighty ocean

And the pleasant land. Thus the little minutes

Humble though they be

Make the mighty of ages

Of eternity

Chapter 21: Might is right

Half a year later, afternoon

Johto, Mahogany town

Beneath the souvenir shop

Silver really missed the lowered platform in their Kanto base. The red head was seated on a sofa and staring at a giant mirror set in the wall before him. Their new common room was smaller and instead of the laminated flooring, it sported cream colored tiles. Black velvet couches were arranged before a huge, stylish coffee table and one side of the room was separated by a screen. The partitioned space housed computers and other stolen artifacts which were haphazardly dumped and kept out of sight. Once the shelves were fixed into place, the priceless objects will be put on display again. The adolescent sighed and blew a strand of hair, watching Proteam Omega on a wall sized screen...Will probably never happen again. Although, to give credit to his sister, this place was much more work orientated, he was sure Ruby will appreciate the several mannequins and mirrors decorating the room, not to mention the coffee table had a hologram function built into it...Where did Blue get it anyway? He wondered and then promptly banished the line of thought. No doubt something like this was most probably stolen. Picking himself off the couch, he decided to look around the base, the past few months, they were hard at work salvaging everything from the previous hideout in Kanto and bringing it here whilst dodging the police radar.

Poor Green, the brunette took it upon himself to act as the diversion. As Silver was walking down the metal lined corridors he bumped into the man who looked a bit stressed. Coming through another hallway was Lack-2, Gold's so called apprentice. They boy had his arms full.

"And where should I dump this?" the russet tinted youth drawled, "don't tell me we're gonna start using them, I'm still a kid after all." He was referring to the several firearms and other dangerous weapons he currently held. Strategy's leader eyed them distastefully before issuing an order.

"Silver, take them and incinerate them somewhere...When you are done, give the base a sweep, I'm going with Lack-2 to check out execution's room." Nodding, the red head took the load off the boy's arms and moved away. Folding his arms behind his head, the brown haired child walked with Green in a tow and the moment they entered Execution's room, the older male frowned and stared.

"Lack-2...I told you to destroy the battle simulator, why didn't you?"

"Why should I get rid of it?" the Unova native asked, "I happen to like battle simulators...don't have to deal with morons." he mumbled the last part out.

"Red hates them" the commander replied.

"Why?"

"Something about being forced to train in one when he was the champion of the league, says he can't experience emotions when battling in one and it robs people of compassion...Anyway, just do as you are told and don't ask so many questions...Also, who transformed the back of the room into a kitchen?" The trainer eyed the stove, cabinets and refrigerator with disbelief, jade irises swept over the place and took note of several photos lining the walls, a humungous television, sofas, chairs and couches of mismatched colors were littered throughout the room instead of being placed around the rectangular glass topped table. The floor was dusty and his eyes trailed up a ladder set in the middle of the room, it gave access to a second floor. Warily climbing the ladder, he gazed at the second floor and scowled. Bookshelves and beds were placed side by side; a gleaming counter housed several computers and a pokemon healing machine. All in all, the situation in this room has not changed.

It was still chaotic

"Who...Set up this place?" Green demanded as he descended from the upper floor, Lack-2 was reluctantly tearing the machine apart with his dewott.

"Hmm...Senior Black, Sapphire and I did. We all decided to include a bit of everybody's hobbies in here. The kitchen is for Diamond, that computer counter and bookshelves is for Black, that slot machine over there is for my mentor..."

A slot machine? The spiky haired male was dumbfounded.

"...That punching bag is for Saph, but we still need to find a place to hang it up. As for me, I designed the flooring space, since commander Red likes battling so much, we can simply kick the chairs out of the way and voila...A huge space opens up in the middle. Oh yeah, the table, we use it for those useless stacks of paperwork you will obviously be forking over to us for no particular reason. Our common room's setup is great isn't it?" Done tearing the simulator apart, the boy listlessly examined the jagged pieces and watched as dewott sharpened his scalchop on them, the pokemon was rigorously dragging the organic blade over the pieces of alloy and the friction caused a few orange sparks to be thrown off. Green tapped the floor with his shoe and spoke up.

"Get rid of the soaking junk, this entire base is constructed out of iron and a mixture of other metals, even if you put a thick rug on top of it, the water might soak through and the floor will rust. Clean this place up as well, Gold and Red will be returning shortly."

Lack-2 looked up from his phone.

"How do you know? We haven't heard from them for over six months. Are you sur-?"

"They will be back by evening...Mark my words."

Done with crushing the firearms into a pulp worthy of modern art, Silver returned to base and looked for Crystal, he needed to confirm if Gold was returning today or not. Returning feraligatr back into a pokeball, he stuck his hands deep inside his pockets and ambled down the harshly lit corridors. The surroundings were already familiar to him so he had no problem navigating through the maze. At a junction, he saw Saph hefting a potted plant and marching to strategy's room. He followed her and when he entered, he blinked his eyes.

The room was tastefully decorated.

There were no wires crisscrossing the floor and there was a stone colored vinyl sheet covering the ground. A long rectangular table was placed in the middle complete with plush chairs and laptops. No mammoth monitors, no hum of electrical machines. Instead of a wall covering bookcase, several small ones were placed along the walls. Pictures and paintings depicting pokemon and still life were hung. Floor lamps and extravagant wall fixtures threw light in the space. To Silver, who was gaping, it looked like a very expensive meeting room. Off to the corner, Saph was placing the plant and shifting it to a place Crystal was pointing at.

"This place looks nice" he murmured once Crys came over.

"It's all thanks to Rald; he got rid of the clunky machines and developed a new system where we can use laptops to process everything that's going on...He also mentioned piggybacking the Radio Tower's signal. I didn't really understand what he meant but I'm glad we don't have to watch out for wires anymore. I couldn't even sweep the floor properly because I was scared of tripping over one of them and cutting an important connection." she turned to her best friend, "doesn't the new place look lovely? Yellow and I decorated it"

No wonder it appeared so lavish.

"When is Gold coming back?"

"Gold...Ah, you really miss him don't you?"

"As if" he turned pink "who'd miss that idiot anyway? I'm simply making sure things are proceeding according to schedule."

The girl laughed and he reddened further. "You sound like my leader" she teased, "yes, Gold's coming back with senior Red this evening, you best get some sleep Silver," she eyed his tired countenance, "the rest will arrive shortly and you can count on a rowdy party when they all return, you don't want Gold to see you like this right? He will make fun of you." Inhaling deeply, he turned his heel and marched out, nodding to Yellow whom he met in the hallway. In Constellate's common room, he poked his head inside to see Whi-2 lying on one of the sofas and reading a book, her servine and foongus were frolicking on the floor. Imparting a greeting to his engrossed junior, he made a beeline for his room. Opening the door, he took of his jacket and threw it on the bed and thereafter crashed on a small couch inside his room and curled up. Crys had implored him to take some rest, alas; sleep won't come to him easily. After all, this place was riddled with bad memories.

It was Team Rocket's former headquarters.

His father's criminal legacy was seeped into the very foundations of this building.

A few years ago

Johto

Team Rocket's headquarters

"Be more vigilant will you!" Crystal fumed as the three of them ran down the passageways, sneakers thumping odd rhythms against the metallic floor. The gold eyed trainer merely winked and the girl next to him curbed the desire to kick him through the next wall. Cameras followed their every move and Silver decided to ignore the bickering duo next to him in order to focus on the path before him. As they turned a corner, a grunt blocked their path and before anyone of them could send out any pokemon, the brutish man's neck issued a snapping sound and he dropped to the floor, eyes rolling upwards. A brunette with and impassive look was standing behind him.

"Don't you three know the meaning of covert?" Green hissed and his scizor's pincers gleamed, "Gold, make another ruckus and I'm tossing both you and your idiotic mentor out of this place! Kadabra," he ordered the psychic, "use teleport."

"Pfft, no need to get your spikes in a tangle dude." the capped trainer whistled as the trio snuck around the corridors, they noticed another grunt patrolling the area and the teenager yelled exuberantly. Calling forth his Exbo, he commanded the volcano pokemon to scorch everything in sight. This caused the alarms to start blaring, smoke detectors went off and water rained from the roof. Cursing, the three of them bolted from the area.

"This is all your fault." Green delivered his words with forced calm whilst next to him Red sweated nervously, "you said we needed a new place to stay, I point one out to you and you don't even have the decency to lecture your student about the mission protocols...We're done here. Blue" the brunette angled his head and spoke into an ear piece, "we are retreating from our posts, no use keeping the monitor room hostage when those three decided to announce their presence to the world. There are too many people swarming the base, we will...Hey Red, where are you-?"

"...I'm going to help them, things will swing in our favor if we end up joining the battle right?" A feral glint passed his blood red irises, "see you later Green!"

"Damn...Whatever, change of plans...do whatever you want and from the way you are not responding to me, you are already doing that aren't you?" Angrily, the trainer took the earpiece out and grounded it underfoot. Leaving his kadabra to guard the area, he too tore off after his best friend.

Bang

He was mercifully pushed aside by his best friend's pool cue as the shot rang out. The noise was loud in his ears, were the Rocket's using manufactured weaponry now? Ducking low, he careered up the stairs with Gold and Crystal and body slammed the grunts out of the way. Feraligatr swiped its massive claws along and he saw his pokemon's forelimb was tinted with blood. The metallic tang of it perfused the air. Not paying attention to the new swarms pouring from all sides, he ran straight ahead. Explosions and shouts rang throughout the base. Fire raged, water swelled in the hallways, short circuiting the cameras and throwing up an electrical storm. Plants bloomed on flesh, thriving and leaving their hosts in comatose states. It won't be long before the executives decide to take the stage, he was well aware of his seniors taking command of the monitoring room. A sly smirk worked into his face, things were going rather well. At this rate, he'll be able to get rid of his rotten parent before the day ends. Team Rocket's reign was over, time for a more gifted organization to leave its mark.

"Any idea where we are going?" the gold eyed trainer huffed, all this running was taking a toll on him, he wiped his soot covered face and pouted, "my face is all sweaty and stained, what will I do if I meet a fetching gal in this place?"

"I hope this fetching gal of yours kicks a brain into your skull."

"Nah uh Crys!" he winked, "there aren't many people with legs like yours."

"Quiet!" Silver hissed and abruptly halted, he pressed his back against the wall and strained his ears; his friends followed his actions and remained eerily silent next to him. Craning his neck, he caught a glimpse of four individuals exiting from a room and coming down the passageway. Unlike the other criminals they ran into, these four radiated authority and power. A red headed woman tossed her hair back and grumbled about something, the cyan haired man responded to her grumbles and smoothed the front of his pristine white suit. Two other men boarded them on the sides, both wearing deep grey uniforms decorated by an embroidered with a giant letter R. Silver's smirk, which was indiscernible in the beginning, had notched up to maniacal proportions. Pulling his co-conspirators, he began to unfold a plan before them:

"Listen here, soon the Rocket executives will come here and apprehend the ones disturbing the base, thanks to our seniors, they have no clue of your identities. Gold, Crys, I need you to keep all four of them busy."

"And what about you Silver?" Crystal questioned, she looked worried.

"I have something I must do, just do as I-" his words were cut off when Gold pointed his stick at his throat. The teenager had an unfathomable expression.

"We trust you, remember that. I want you to place the same confidence in us, when this is all over...You spill it. Everything."

A gloved hand gently pushed the slim piece of wood away from his Adam's apple, "alright" Silver promised, "I'll do so. I hope you don't hate me for who I am." Not willing to wait and see their reactions, he took off again, summoning his trusty weavile along the way. As his figure disappeared around the corner, the Rocket admins came into view. The woman snorted and flapped her hand whilst the males all had pitying smiles on their faces.

"It's just a bunch of brats." Petrel sneered as he surveyed the duo; he cracked his knuckles and unclipped two pokeballs from his belt. "I'll make short work of these two; the rest of you can go back."

"You truly are an idiot aren't you? There must be more of them hiding somewhere, we well take them all together, those brats are holding poke-dexes so they must be really tough, we don't want another fiasco like three years ago on our hands. Finally Boss Giovanni is back and I won't let another of these upstarts take him away from us again!" Archer delivered his speech passionately and Proton heaved a breath, nonetheless the four took stances around the two teenagers and sent out their pokemon.

"Hmpf, scared of a bunch of children crushing your organization...How pathetic," despite his bold front, the young trainer had broken out in a cold sweat, four executives of the most feared criminal group in both Kanto and Johto, they must be good. As soon as the words left his mouth, a searing pain emitted from his left shoulder. Biting on his scapula was a large purple snake, the fangs embedded in his flesh oozed acid and it ran down, dissolving flesh and clothes. He gnashed his teeth in pain and resolved not to scream out. Arbok retreated and ran a forked tongue around its bloodied fangs. Staggering, Gold partially leaned on Crystal and proceeded to battle.

Typholsion and arbok charged at each other. Flames writhed around the snake as it slithered from side to side on the floor. Rearing up, the volcano pokemon swiped a fire cloaked paw at a vileplume which was releasing paralyzing pores. Shaking its fur free of the stinging dust, it swatted the flower pokemon aside and wrestled the poisonous serpent to the ground. The toxic sludge pooling around the snake began to corrode the metallic floor. Exbo held arbok's head in the pool of acid and drowned the reptile in its own secretions. Satisfied, the beast tossed the creature to its owner, after cutting it into smaller pieces.

Understandably Ariana was furious, Gold's arm was turning purple but that didn't stop the flirt from imparting a victorious simper. Mortified, the woman retreated and Petrel took her place. Instead of having his pokemon battle, he ordered his creatures to go for Gold instead. This time the male screeched in agony and horror as a raticate used hyper fang on his leg and began gnawing on the bone. He fell to the floor and tried to kick the rodent away. Calling for his pokemon did not help, they were all engaged in a fight with Petrel's and Proton's other monsters. Crystal was kept busy with Archer who was proving to be a formidable adversary. Crobat was raining lilac acid and Mega was trying to keep itself together in such inhospitable conditions. The flower around the herb pokemon's neck was wilting. Natee's protect was slowly being eroded away. Bonee and houndoom were engaged in close quarter combat; the hell hound was breathing fire and lashing its whip-esque tail whilst the cubone was herding it off with a bone club. The bleached bone shattered and the lonely pokemon received a hellish whip on its face, with a whine it fainted.

"Bonee, no...Gold, hold on please...Mega, use solar beam!"

The arc of light missed the flapping crobat and hit weezing. The balloon of poison burst apart and engulfed the area in an acrid haze. Crystal coughed and Gold moaned on the floor. Pulling out gas masks, the admins put them on and gloated at a victory in sight. The mauve cloud was blown away by a whirlwind; it seemed a new person has joined the fray.

Or several new people.

"…" Red took in the scene before him and his ruby tinted eyes trailed up at the offender. Seeing him, the blood drained from Archer's face as he pointed a shaking forefinger at the adolescent.

"YOU!" the cyan haired male sputtered in anger, "how dare you show your face after what you did to us back in Kanto. Boss Giovanni...Because of you our boss went to hiding. Crobat, use acid spray on him, now!" The four winged bat zoomed to the trainer and was put out commission when a pikachu darted out from behind and met the bat in a head on collision. Sparks surrounded its body and it targeted Petrel's raticate next, one volt tackle was all it took to faint the rodent.

"…I don't like it when you guys pick on people weaker than you...And especially not someone who I hold dear" the glaring adolescent intoned, his student had fainted from blood loss and his leg and shoulder was a nasty sight to look at, "Saur, use frenzy plant."

"Red, wait!" Blue and Green simultaneously shouted.

Too late.

The floor burst apart and vines writhed and coiled around the four admins and their pokemon. The thick green coils constricted them so tightly a few ribs were cracked. Petrel spat out blood and screamed for mercy, as ominous shattering sounds issued from his body. Once they quartet and their monsters were completely still, they were violently dropped to the floor. The champion took no notice as he was trying to stem Gold's wounds. A bit shocked by the spectacle played out before her, Crystal slid to the floor and recalled her pokemon; she ordered her barely surviving mega to release some healing spores on her unconscious friend. Blue moved closer to her and enquired about her adopted brother. All Crys knew was that he ventured off alone to complete a task he set his mind to.

Silver noted how the aisles were all deserted, the only thing keeping him company was the cameras and the electrical drone of machines. His senses were all alert and smoothly he traversed from one corridor to another as he sought the man he was looking for. This area must be restricted and only accessible to the administrators, atrocious pokemon experiments were probably also carried out behind these metallic walls. Running, he came to a crashing stop when two individuals and their pokemon stood their ground before him.

"Prepare for trouble" the woman began and struck a pose.

"And make it double," the man echoed.

"To protect the world with devastation"

"To unite all people within our nation"

"To denounce the evil of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!" the female introduced herself with a dramatic flair.

"James!" the male followed suit.

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Meow" the little meowth between them licked its paws.

He stared at them, half waiting for the cat to start spouting some nonsense in English, when it became apparent that no, the meowth can't speak, he calmed down and glared at the offending duo.

"What is this?" he snarled and the two hugged each other with comical terror, "a freak show? Out of my way, I have some unfinished business with my dad!" Bowing humbly, the two opened up a path and he regally brushed past them.

"I didn't know boss had a son" James commented when the youth had left.

"We don't know a lot of things James including how to do our job." Jessie slumped to the floor.

Sitting on his wing backed chair, Giovanni listened to the cacophony brewing outside and stroked his Persian's head in a lazy manner. He was aware that some teenagers had broken into their headquarters but he did not mind. Most likely it was the black haired youth who shamed him a few years ago. Persian purred and stretched, getting up, the feline turned on its spot a few times then snuggled back into its owners lap and emitted a satisfied meow when its human began stroking it again. The head of Team Rocket was well prepared to deal with anyone wanting to tear his empire down. He heard the door creaking and got up from the chair, his opponent must be worthy if he got past the Rocket executives, in that case, the enemy deserved to be greeted courteously. The man smiled down at the nidoqueen secured in his palm.

The double doors creaked open and a figure stepped in.

"Hello father." the red head greeted.

His hand went slack and the pokeball fell from his palm and onto the wooden table, from there it rolled to the floor and came to a stop at Silver's feet.

"I...I've been looking everywhere for you...Son." the boss faltered, he took note of his son's features, his red hair was long, falling below his shoulders, sharp silver eyes peeked beneath messy bangs and his face was set into a sneer.

"Looking for me? Why? I periodically announce my presence on television, I'm sure the news reports me doing one thing or the other right?" The young male spread his hands apart and glared, "I found it funny that other people concern themselves over me more than you."

Giovanni couldn't speak, he simply stared at his shoes, the scorn in his son's voice was tangible.

"And now, I'd like to hand you over to the police" the man looked up in shock, "your time to stand at the top is over."

"What are you saying?" Team Rocket leader's voice had a dangerous edge to it, "do you think I'll just do as you say and step down simply because you asked me to? Son, that's not how it works here, I'll defeat you and take you in. Remember those with power always rule."

The teenager trembled, "power...Power you say? Is that why you are using weapons now? Because the pokemon partners are too weak? Ha, you are a funny one... father. You as an individual is weak, to have senior Red take you down while he was running around competing with gyms? Pretty pathetic if you ask me, you hide behind the face of your organization and you go by reputation alone...And cheap tricks it seems like." He eyed the way rhyhorn was stomping on weavile; the dark pokemon uttered a pained cry and fainted.

"You are not making any sense child and as your parent, I'll drill some common sense into your head. Also you should stop mixing with bad crowds...Rhyhorn, rock blast.

"What wrong crowds? Those people...Care about me more than you ever will! Gyarados, thrash"

The red atrocious pokemon started to bash his head against any solid surface in the room. The oak desk splintered, glass cabinets shattered, walls were cracked and in the midst of it all rhyhorn fainted. Giovanni side stepped as the shiny monster rammed its head into a steel cupboard set to the back. The chamber, once neat and tidy, now resembled a ransacked room. Finally, gyarados exhausted its energy and flopped tiredly to the floor. Both pokemon were returned and new ones sent out.

"Kangaskhan and Nidorino use mega punch and horn attack."

"Feraligatr, superpower go!" lumbering at an astonishing speed towards its opponent, the crocodile met the mega punch with a fist; its arms bulged from effort, veins distending visibly. With and almighty roar, it pushed kangaskhan back and the parent pokemon lurched backwards and fell, it was unable to battle. A sharp stab to the big jaw pokemon's side had it growling in fury, it lashed its claws out, caught the poisonous beast by the ear and flung it away. Stomping its feet, the water type bulked itself up and roared, causing the nidorino to flatten its ears against its head. A stream of boiling water hit it and the barbs on its back emitted steam.

"Good," the red head praised, "now use hyper beam." The energy in Giovanni's body left him as he beheld his squirming pokemon being incinerated in a blinding white light; the smoky silhouette within the column distorted and eventually vanished all together. When he tried to recall his pokemon, all he saw was a blanched skeleton. His son...Son had gotten rid of his pokemon.

"Remember, those with power always rule was it?" An ugly grin had plastered itself over his son's handsome face; the boss was getting dizzy, very dizzy. Everything was turning around him, once he dropped to the floor; Silver went over and retrieved the tranquilizer dart he shot earlier. He stared at his father's fallen figure and his expression turned to one of utmost sorrow.

"...He never treated me like a son anyway" he muttered to himself, "didn't even care if I existed or not." Heaving the prone body on his back, the male failed to see a lone picture of a smiling man holding up a red headed child. Although, even if he did, the deed was already done.

And cruelly so.

The next day

Johto

Mahogany Town

Falkner was shocked to see Team Rocket's elites all unconscious and bunched together in front of the local police station. He was just going to open up the building when he was subjected to such a sight. Holding the baton in one hand, he advanced cautiously and came to a stop before the five individuals. All of them, except for Giovanni, sported various wounds on their body, slowly, he encircled the group to look for any other evidence, and found three small cards laid out near the bodies. Gingerly picking them up, he looked at the stiff white pieces of paper and his eyebrows furrowed. The three cards depicted strange images, One half of the cards had a pictures of two maroon swords, crossed over each other, a lime green chess piece and a cluster of dark blue stars. The other half sported portraits of various pokemon. Turning them over he gaped at the back, which was left blank save for a single letter written in fancy script, an E, S and a C.

The police officer diligently searched their bodies two more times, alas, he came up with nothing.

Present day, evening

Johto

Dex criminal's new hideout

A loud cheer resounding through the base forced his drooping eyelids to snap back to their respective place, if the noise levels were any indication, it seems as if Gold and Red were back. A half-smile formed on his face and he curled up further. He was in no mood to join their festivities. What he did that day still haunted him somewhat, but at least they were wiped out of existence, to him, no other criminal organization would be as bad as the one his father created. He and Blue were kidnapped by them at a very young age and the acts performed on him had scarred his young mind. The satisfaction of putting his father in his place outweighed all other negative aspects of his inhumane deeds. At least, that is what he kept on telling himself. He was birthed by a criminal, he'll die a criminal and there is nothing to it.

"Might is right." he mumbled and looked at the small brass plaque in his hand; he picked it off his father's desk all those years ago.

"Oh man I smell depression in here! Silver, what on earth are you doing? Can't you even welcome your friend back?" Gold sauntered in and began tugging the red head off the couch. "Come ON! Senior Red is back and so is your sister, everybody is back! Today was supposed to be our reunion remember? Crystal is worrying her hat off for you!" Giving up the tug-of-war, he allowed Gold to drag him to the kitchen were raucous laughter was spilling out. The doors opened and he looked at all the warm smiles given to him by his juniors and seniors, bad ruminations forgotten, he took his seat next to Blue and contently started eating.

Maybe being a criminal was not so bad after all.

A/N: So sorry for disappearing from the face of the earth for so long! I was away on a vacation. But now I'm back! To all those who read and reviewed the first arc, I give you my utmost gratitude, those reviews were very motivating and fun to read. Virtual Devil's food cake to you all. At Jack54311: Misty joining the team, that would be a terrific twist no? Does she join them? Heheheh. At Eevee: Once again, I'm dedicating this chapter to you, (to be honest, it was your latest review which spurred me on to post this chapter) your concern is heartwarming and your reviews cracking. I hope you enjoy this chapter. To the readers: Updates will be back on schedule again. Please read and review, as usual constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. And so is crackpot theories...

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, merely this story. The arc introductory quote is by Julia Abigail Fletcher Carney