"Totodile, Hydro Pump!" Mellanie shouted. As the Big Jaw Pokémon fired the attack, which sent her opponent crashing to the ground, she heard the crowd roar.
"Totodile is the winner!" the Referee called. "Advancing to the Final of the Johto League is Mellanie Rigger!"
Another, louder, roar swept across the stadium as Mellanie turned to the crowd, waving.
As she walked out of the stadium, she was hit by a hug from Sam. As she recovered, her childhood friend stepped away, so she could see his grinning face.
"Congratulations Mel" he said exuberantly. "That was amazing! I'm so proud of you!"
"Thanks Sam." Mellanie said breathlessly as the rest of their friends appeared.
"Congratulations Mellanie." Max said with a smile, a sentiment that was quickly echoed by the rest of the group.
Mellanie continued to revel in their praise as they headed towards a Pokémon Centre. Inside Mellanie handed over her Pokémon, and they turned to face the door where the Pokémon Master stood. He looked at Mellanie and gestured to a corner of the room, the same one where he had last spoken to Mellanie and Sam, and strode over there. Mellanie turned to her friends.
"Please give me a minute. I think I know what he wants."
Mellanie walked over towards 'Champion' and sat down when he indicated for her to do so.
"This will only take a moment." 'Champion' said. "Firstly, congratulations. To reach the final is an achievement made even more impressive by the fact it is your first tournament. Secondly, regardless of the outcome of the final, I would like to extend an invitation to you to train under me after the Johto League. This training will mean that you will spend at least a month with me in the aftermath of the league, and after that you will be allowed to train as you will whilst always being welcome to return to Indigo as long as I am Pokémon Master."
Mellanie sat in shock. She had expected to be reminded of the need to avoid over-confidence, not an offer such as this. She stammered out a thank you, but stopped when 'Champion' spoke again.
"Whilst this does not depend on your performance in the final, I remind you that I will only train the best. Do not let me down." He said.
"Yes sir." Mellanie stammered. "What about Sam?"
"You are correct Miss Rigger. I feel that he also has a similar level of potential, even if he failed to defeat you. I also suspect without him, you would refuse. I will approach him after the tournament. Do not mention this to anybody; I will inform them myself at an appropriate time."
"Yes. Of course." Mellanie said quickly. "Thank you sir. Thank you."
'Champion' started to walk away, but as he left he turned his head slightly.
"Good luck Miss Rigger." He threw over his shoulder, before leaving, his customary cloak sweeping around him.
'Champion' strode away, but reached the rest of the group who looked shocked when he stopped next to them.
"Miss Waterflower. My condolences on your defeat to Aaron. I am impressed with your Pikachu, although I must question your wisdom in using a Pokémon you are unaccustomed to the typing of in a battle like that. You may have won had you used a Water Pokémon you were more familiar with."
Leaving Misty open-mouthed behind him, 'Champion' strode away, as Mellanie came up. "Ready guys?" she said.
As they walked away, Sam fell into step next to Mellanie. "What did he want Mel?"
"To wish me luck. And reiterate that there is no room for complacency." Mellanie replied instantly. Sam's eyes narrowed. He knew that she was withholding something; he could tell with Mellanie. If she didn't want to tell him then fine. He would have to find it out another way.
Cynthia sat, curled up in her room. She had measured the passage of time by counting the meals she had eaten. Although it would never be precise, it gave her a rough idea. She estimated that she had been trapped for just under three weeks. The isolation was slowly killing her. It wasn't as if her room was tiny; it was a reasonable size. It was just completely silent, and lonely. She had never realized how effective trapping somebody by themselves could be. She was desperate for release, even to the point where if Agent offered her a way out she would probably take it, regardless of the cost. It made her ashamed to realize that she had fallen so far, but there was little she could have done. She was paying a high price for a mistake, although she felt she had gotten to the bottom of Agent's secret. He was either an aura-user or a psychic. She suspected that he was a psychic; the odds of having two aura-users appear so close to each other were ridiculous, and she was fairly certain that 'Champion' was the former. It would explain how he knew that they were there and how he had been able to sneak up on Mewtwo.
On the note of 'Champion', Cynthia had spent time trying to work out who he was. It was a puzzle which had initially helped her to keep sane, but was now driving her crazy. She knew she would never know unless she got out of her prison, but various ideas had struck her. Having only had a few looks at his face meant that placing his age was hard but there weren't that many trainers who vanished. She felt that if she could get access to a trainer database she would be able to work it out. Having spent three years working very closely with the database she knew it fairly well. And the trainers that had vanished she was very well acquainted with; every so often she would think about if there was a way to find any of them. The problem for Cynthia was that although she thought she remembered the names of every trainer with promise that had vanished, she couldn't be sure.
Cynthia sat up and looked at the door, blinking as light washed in from it as it opened. Stood there was Agent, looking down at her with a sneering expression on his face.
"I have something for you." The Rocket said, gesturing to what was behind him. "I feel you might want to watch what is coming up later. The Johto League final." Agent turned and pulled the stand that was behind him into the room, and pushed the television against the wall, reaching down to plug it in. He looked up to see Cynthia's eyes looking at the door, which he had left open. Agent laughed nastily.
"Go ahead. Try to escape. See how far you get." Agent said with a smirk. "Or settle down, and watch what promises to be a great battle."
Agent turned and strolled out of the door, shutting it behind himself, and locking the door. Cynthia looked at the television which came to life, and showed a stadium she recognized. Silver Stadium. Stood on one side was Aaron Olson, the man who had won the Johto League the previous year, mostly down to the power of his Absol. Looking at the other side of the field, Cynthia felt a stab of surprise. She had not expected to see Mellanie Rigger reaching the final. She felt her heart go out to the girl; she was good but no match for Aaron. Regardless, to get so far suggests that she was right. She did have potential.
Ash strolled into the directors' box. He watched Mellanie walk out onto the field and leant forwards slightly to watch the first person he had ever agreed to train. Ever since he had seen the way that they had looked upon their Pokémon when he had given them their starters he had known that the two youngsters would be special. They had not let him down, both reaching the victory tournament and Mellanie reaching the final. He had been amused when he had seen Sam exit at the same round he had years before in his Johto League. It was amusing how it came around again, a defeat at a similar point. Having watched them Ash thought that Sam would become the slightly better trainer, but then he saw the level of understanding that Mellanie had reached with her Totodile. It was at that point, when Totodile was dodging attacks and responding with the flow and grace that he expected from Water Pokémon that Ash knew Mellanie deserved to be trained. She had taken the teachings he gave during the training camp and incorporated them into her own style. She would be a tough opponent for Aaron, although Ash suspected that experience would win through. Experience and an Absol that nobody had ever seen fall. Ash smiled to himself; Absol wouldn't stand a chance against him. He had already chosen his Pokémon for the battle against Aaron. Aggron had been making barbed comments about the lack of fighting, despite his position as one of the strongest in the team. Ash had decided that he would have the battle against Aaron to show off what he could do. Although knowing Aggron, it would be a slaughter. Absol's endurance and strength was no match for Aggron who could hit as hard as Charizard and move surprisingly quickly across the ground. The rest of Aaron's Pokémon were no match for anything Ash had, they were just too weak.
Steven and Lance walked into the box together. Ash nodded to them as they took their seats. It was amusing how they were never apart around him, like being together gave them strength in the presence of the Pokémon Master. Ash had discussed a return to Hoenn at length with Steven, since there was a chance that Agent might try to strike there instead of at the Silver Conference but they had decided to trust the Elite Four in Hoenn to counter such a move. It was something that Ash was still getting used to; assuming that others could complete the tasks they were given. It was something that he hadn't done with anybody except his Pokémon since he left for his training. Trust didn't come easily to Ash Ketchum.
Out on the field Ash watched the two trainers release their first Pokémon amid a roar of sound from the crowd. He relaxed slightly. Agent hadn't reappeared, and neither had Mewtwo. It appeared that he had won this round, as shown by the rapid flight of the duo. As long as he kept winning, Agent was shackled. The only fear for Ash was if he slipped; there wasn't anybody in the Pokémon League that could conceivably stop Mewtwo and Agent; only his Pokémon. It was a duel that the Pokémon Master intended to win, but he put it to the back of his mind as he watched the battle begin below him.
Aaron smiled across the field at his young opponent. She had done extremely well reach the final, and he had been impressed at her skill, strategy and the strength of her Pokémon. He recalled his beaten Venusaur, his fourth Pokémon, and promised himself that he would train more for the tournament next year. Mellanie was hitting his weaker Pokémon too easily. He would still win; he still had Absol and Aaron doubted that Mellanie had anything that could match his Pokémon. But it was still galling for her to still have four Pokémon left to his two.
Replacing Venusaur on his belt, he released his fifth Pokémon; Armaldo. Across the field Mellanie withdrew her Flaaffy and sent out her Graveler. Aaron groaned; he knew about this Pokémon, and how good Mellanie was at using it. He had watched the battle earlier in the tournament where it faced and defeated a Typhlosion as a Geodude before evolving. The way that she had been able to completely counter every single attack that the Typhlosion had thrown at her before defeating it was terrifying. Graveler had overwhelmed his Ursaring earlier; not an easy feat he knew.
"Armaldo Water Gun." Aaron said calmly. His Pokémon fired the water attack, but Graveler rolled out-of-the-way without waiting for a command from Mellanie. "Again." The same thing happened. "Close the distance Armaldo."
Armaldo started to move forwards, being watched by Mellanie and Graveler. As he got closer, Mellanie decided to make a move.
"Graveler, use Earthquake."
"Why not." Aaron said with a smile. "Armaldo, Earthquake straight back."
The two attacks collided and the field began to shake. Mellanie wobbled slightly and dropped to one knee while Aaron stood tall. As the shaking began to subside, the two Pokémon simply used the same attacks again, just stronger. The shaking came straight back even stronger.
"Armaldo, stop messing around. Knock Graveler down."
Armaldo nodded and jumped up, before unleashing an even stronger Earthquake at Graveler who was unable to withstand it. As Graveler fell to the ground Aaron ordered another Water Gun. Graveler tried to roll out-of-the-way but this time the attack was too quick. He was sent rolling towards Mellanie who groaned. Having fought hard earlier, Graveler was already tired before they started this fight and was showing signs of the strain as he rolled back up. Aaron spotting this decided to try to end the fight quickly.
"Armaldo use Rock Blast."
"Graveler, Dig." Mellanie countered but the tired Pokémon was too slow. As Graveler tried to dig down, the first rock crashed into him, knocking him out of the hole. The follow-up rocks knocked Graveler further and further back, while Armaldo advanced. As the last rock hit, Graveler slowly rolled to his feet once again just in time to see the Water Gun that knocked him out.
Cynthia winced as Graveler took the water attack. Aaron was showing how to be ruthless, although she had been very impressed with Mellanie so far. The youngster was showing that she had earned the right to be in the final, but Aaron was slowly edging through gears. The door across the room opened once again, and Agent stood there.
"I just wanted you to be aware that you will want to watch the next bit." The Rocket said. "It promises to be the best part for a while."
The door slammed shut, leaving Cynthia to watch Mellanie replace her defeated Graveler with her Poliwhirl, but her mind was no longer on the battle. She was trying to work out why Agent was showing her this. She had initially thought that it was to make her more compliant, more likely to agree to a deal, but now she wasn't sure. How did Agent know that there was something about to happen? How could he? Had he rigged the match? Was something else going to happen?
On the screen Armaldo struggled through another powerful hit, and was then knocked out by Poliwhirl, leaving Aaron to send out his last Pokémon. As Cynthia watched Absol appear, looking in perfect condition and confident despite him having to beat three opponents. She was missing something and she knew it. She focused away from the screen and started thinking.
Agent had left her alone to go away and do something. She assumed given the timing that it had something to do with the Johto League. What had he been doing there? Team Rocket had used to be in Pokémon stealing but Cynthia hadn't actually heard about any major operations. Although the way that they had been discovered by Falkner had been them trying to steal Pokémon. Maybe they were going for Aaron and Mellanie's Pokémon. Cynthia sighed. That didn't seem to be right. She was missing something. As she watched Absol dispatch Poliwhirl without any difficulty she saw the camera flick to 'Champion' sat in the directors' box. Cynthia felt a stab of annoyance that he didn't seem to be looking for her, but she quickly suppressed it. It was her fault that she was captured and the Pokémon Master couldn't easily go looking for her during a tournament. He would come, of that she was sure. And his explosive battling would destroy Team Rocket.
Cynthia kept wondering what Agent was telling her to watch as Absol went through a complicated series of attacks and left Flaaffy dodging across the field. She sighed. She was never going to work out what Agent's secret was. She would have to wait for it to happen. And then suddenly, shockingly, terrifyingly, it did.
Agent walked into Giovanni's office. The leader of Team Rocket was sat in shadow behind his desk. As Agent reached the desk and saluted, Giovanni spoke.
"Is it ready?"
"Yes Sir." Agent replied. "The team did exactly as I ordered them to. 'Champion' appears to have assumed that Mewtwo and I were the only two in Silver Town. That was his mistake."
"How is Mewtwo recovering?" Giovanni asked.
"Fairly well. The battle with 'Champions' Charizard tired him, as well as having to fight off two Psychic Pokémon as we escaped. He will be back to full strength in roughly another day."
Giovanni nodded, before leaning forwards, his face coming into the light.
"You have done well Agent. I am pleased with the progress you have made since you joined us. You know you are one of our most valuable, you just don't know how valuable to me you are."
Agent stood in silence, unmoving as Giovanni spoke. He was unsure where the Rocket leader was going with this.
"Because of all of this, it pains me to know you are hiding things from me." Giovanni said, his face neutral. "When were you going to tell me?"
Agent's mind started to race. He was sure Giovanni wouldn't have been able to find out that he was holding Cynthia, but he couldn't think what else it could be. He hadn't done anything against Giovanni and he hadn't hidden anything from Giovanni.
After waiting a few moments Giovanni nodded and stood up. He walked across his office to a shelf on the wall and picked up a piece of paper, before returning to his chair and handing the sheet to Agent. Agent skimmed down it, before feeling a surge of relief. It was a report from the combat squad in Silver Town, claiming that Agent had let himself be discovered to lull the Pokémon League into security. Agent looked up as Giovanni started speaking once again.
"I'm impressed." Giovanni said. "I didn't think you'd have it in you to make a mistake like that, but it seems to have worked well. And now I think we can enjoy your success. The team confirm that they are ready for the command."
Giovanni pushed a button on his desk. Behind Agent a screen flickered into life, showing Absol firing an attack at Flaaffy as the Electric-Type dodged and dived across the field. Giovanni pulled out a phone and handed it to Agent.
"When you're ready." The Rocket Boss said with a smile.
Agent looked at it, before dialling a number. He put the phone to his ear as Absol dodged a Thunderbolt and fired a Shadow Ball that sent Flaaffy flying.
"This is Agent." A pause. "Do it."
'Champion' leaned forwards slightly as Mellanie called for Flaaffy to fire a Power Gem. He was impressed with the way that she was handling Absol; the Disaster Pokémon was quick and strong, but she wasn't being overpowered. He was fairly certain she would lose though. Absol twisted through the air and fired a pair of Flamethrowers that had Flaaffy scampering away once again. As Absol landed and shook himself down, Flaaffy righted herself and glared at Absol.
'Champion' looked around the stadium. The crowd was full and enjoying themselves, completely unaware of the threat that had nearly hit them. He was lucky that he had found Agent underneath Silver Stadium, otherwise the Rocket Agent may have had a chance to rig Silver Stadium as well. 'Champion' and his Pokémon had gone through the stadium in the aftermath of the battle, but there was no sign that it had been rigged. Agent clearly hadn't gotten that far. Thankfully Agent worked alone. Suddenly 'Champion' had a terrible idea. Agent always worked alone. But what if this time he didn't? They had driven off Agent and Mewtwo but what if Agent revealing himself had been intentional? What if there were other Rockets here?
As 'Champion' stood up, on the field Absol leapt over a Thunderbolt and fired a Shadow Ball that sent Flaaffy flying. 'Champion' had turned to the exit, and was calling for Espeon when he heard a roar. As he spun back towards the field Lance and Steven jumped to their feet next to him. At the very centre of the field a towering column of fire had appeared causing the referee, trainers and their Pokémon to back away. Silence reigned for a moment, before a single ear-piercing scream ran out from the crowd. It rose in volume and reached a crescendo before slowly dying down, before being drowned out by a roar, growing in volume. Next to 'Champion' Espeon and Alakazam appeared, and watched as the explosions continued to rip through the stadium.
Cynthia was in shock. That Team Rocket would be able to launch such an attack was terrifying. 'Champion', for all he had done for the Pokémon League was going to be under an incredible amount of pressure to deal with the resurgence of the criminals. As she watched flames spurt up around the stadium, and the field begin to crumble, she fell back against the wall. Team Rocket had succeeded in something that they had never managed before. An attack on a Pokémon League tournament.
Agent and Giovanni watched in silence as the first part of the stands began to collapse. As the explosions began to die away, and smoke rose to cover the stadium, Giovanni turned to Agent and extended a hand, which was taken. Agent turned away and walked out of the office in silence.