Hey Everybody! It is really late, and I'm super tired after a really full week, so I'm going to keep this short. First, I am still in the process of getting back to all of your reviews. Please know though that, if you reviewed last chapter or this one, you will indeed be getting a response from me in the near future. Second, this chapter is the last chapter that will be a week late in getting published for a while. Summer break has finally started, and my workload at home is finally finished too, so I've got plenty of free time over the next two or three months to focus on my story and get regular two week updates back up and running. Since the last three updates in a row have all been a week late, I'm sure you'll be happy to hear this. Third, please read and REVIEW!
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or any of its affiliated companies including, but not limited to, 4Kids, The Pokemon Company, Game Freaks, or Cartoon Network. The characters written within this fic are soley based upon the fictional characters created by these companies, and the story is not meant to, nor will it, receive any monetary funding.
Characters' Ages:
Ash: 17
Brock: 22
Misty: 18
Delia: 41
Oak: 56
After what felt like an hour, the van came to a stop and Ash's body was thrown against the backseat. He again resisted the urge to groan at the dull ache in his head, and instead remained quiet as he heard the doors at his feet open.
Natural light instantly flooded the inside of the vehicle. There were a few quiet seconds as he felt someone's gaze prod his limp figure. "Whoa, do you know who this is Sam?" a gruff voice asked.
There was a pause as the clatter of footsteps made their way to the back of the van.
"I dunno. He looks kinda familiar, but you know how it is."
"Well, believe it or not, I think we got the Sinnoh Champion in our midst…s'posin' I'm not mistaken."
"Really?" Ash felt a hot exhale blow upon his face as one of the grunts moved in closer to examine. "Yeah Jim, I think you're right. I recognize that mug from one of those big League contests they have. And to think, we were told it was just some kid. They really don't tell us anything."
"What do ya think the boss wants with him?"
"No idea, but it just goes to show ya how powerful he is, right? I mean, he can even kidnap the strongest trainers in the world with no problem!"
"He's definitely well-connected," the man who was apparently Jim replied. "How about you slug him over your shoulder and we'll take him into the room the boss has set up. I'd do it myself, but I'm still a little sore from that little fiasco at that power plant a few days ago."
"Yeah, that didn't look like any bird Pokémon I'd ever seen." Sam breathed again on Ash, this time leaning in to get a grip around his tied mid-section. The gun dug into the former champion's side, and once more Ash muffled a grunt as he was slung like a rag doll over the henchman's shoulder. He could tell the man was quite strong by how easily he'd been picked up. "Let's hurry and get this over with. The sooner we're done here, the sooner we can get outta this town."
"Why're you so excited to get outta here?" Jim asked as Ash was pulled from the back. He kept his eyes closed, not wanting to risk being seen conscious by the thugs. "It's a pretty place, I think. I mean, it's the city of water, and I'm actually from Cerulean, originally."
"Huh, I didn't know that. I just don't like it much myself. The people are too friendly, and it's too clean for a big city. Gimme Viridian any day of the week, where people keep to themselves and it's got a little dirt to show for itself."
"Yeah, I guess it doesn't really feel like a big city," Jim agreed.
The whoosh of sliding doors sliced through the air, and Ash felt the cooling temperature of an air-conditioned building surround his body as the sound of dozens of boots stomping across metallic floors permeated his eardrums. Along with the idle noise of footsteps and chatter, he also made out the sound of dozens of keyboards being rapped upon, and even more papers being shuffled. If he hadn't known any better, in fact, he would have guessed he was in a normal office environment from what he heard.
"Is that the kid?" a female voice suddenly asked to his right.
"Sure is," Jim answered. "We're taking him to the room now."
"Good to see he's already tied up…I hate having to do that. Makes me feel like one of the bad guys in those old-timey movies or something."
"Well, we're not exactly the police here, hon."
"I know…I just don't like it, is all." There was a short pause, and though he couldn't see the woman, he got the feeling she was sympathizing with his pathetic present form. Nevertheless, the next words came from her. "The room's been all set up, so you can dump him in there. I'll tell the boss he's here."
"Thanks baby," Sam replied gruffly, suddenly shifting his position and presumably walking towards the aforementioned room.
The sound of buttons being pressed came to Ash's attention as another door slid open.
"Be careful, Sam. Remember what the boss said about hurting him…I don't think he'll be happy about seeing what Mallory did to him already, so let's not make it worse by dropping the kid."
Ash silently thanked the Rocket crook for his friendly advice as, instead of just dropping his body onto the hard steel floor, Sam instead carefully lifted him off of his shoulder and laid him across.
"Alright, lock up and let's sign out."
"Right." The next sound to follow was the closing of a strong metal door and the consequential clicking of locks reverberating throughout the small room.
Fluttering his eyes open, Ash was less than surprised to find that the room was nothing more than four metal walls with fluorescent lighting shining down with an annoying buzz from above. Before him he saw the door that had just closed. It surprised him to find that it had no handle from the inside, and almost blended completely in with the surrounding wall.
Obviously don't want me getting out, he mused with a small smirk. The fact that they were being so cautious almost appeared to be a good omen in his eyes. Giovanni must be worried about me doing something.
Sliding himself backwards, he leaned back against one of the walls and began thinking. He knew the former champions and Chris were supposed to show up soon and get him and Misty out of here, but he couldn't help but wonder if they'd be able to carry through on their commitment. Though he had his eyes closed as he entered the facility, he knew Giovanni wouldn't leave this secret hideout unprotected, and the thought of any of his friends from the League getting hurt trying to get in caused him to grimace.
Despite the fact that the thought of others suffering to protect him made him feel ill, perhaps the only thought worse was the idea of what would happen to Misty if they didn't show up in time. Left to his own devices, he'd have to somehow rescue the two of them and successfully escape the hideout unscathed. While it's true he had an army of Pokémon at his disposal, the last thing he wanted to do was leave any of his battling partners in the clear for getting seriously injured by one of Team Rocket's goons.
There's always my gun… He cringed at even the thought, though. He loved Misty and he knew it, but he was worried about how he'd act in such a situation. Would he really kill somebody to protect her? It just…wasn't who he was, was it?
However, the thought of the alternative – leaving Misty at the hands of Team Rocket in the name of his "morals" – suddenly caused him to shake his head in disbelief. How could he live with himself if he didn't do everything in his power to stop the nefarious villains?
Yes, he decided. If it comes to it, I'll do anything to save her…even that. That thought also made him feel sick to his stomach.
Meanwhile, just several dozens of feet away, Giovanni had reentered Misty's temporary abode.
"It's time to wake her up," he informed the agent, who immediately replied with a "yes, sir".
"Gengar, wake her up now," he commanded the ghost type. As the purple monster slowly began to force the water trainer awake, the grunt looked to his commander. "Sir, despite the previous, er, incident, her vitals are perfect."
The redhead stirred, and the boss grinned. "That's good to hear. I want her fully aware of what's going on."
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Chris quickly pulled out the locator, and to his distress found that Mallory was right. The dot on the screen was no longer moving, and that could only mean Ash had already arrived.
Giving a quick growl of frustration, he called Dragonite to his side. "Let's go!"
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"Can you get a hold of him yet?" Cynthia asked Steven, the urgency of the situation rising with every second. They'd meant to take off the second after defeating the Tyranitar, but had been unable to get a hold of their G-Men operative or Lance as of yet.
The steel trainer shook his head. "I dunno what's up, but they're still not answering. Maybe they can't hear it over the wind as they're flying or something?"
"But how are we supposed to help Ash if we don't even know where he is?" the blond asked, clearly worried. "For all we know, he's already at the hideout, and no one's there to save him!"
"I'm sure Chris has it under control," Steven assured, though he couldn't quell the same feeling of despair his counterpart appeared to be struggling with at the moment. They were supposed to all stay in contact with each other so they would know where to rendezvous. "Like I said, he's done this plenty of times before. He'll probably answer as soon as he can hear his phone again. I'll leave him and Lance a text so they knows we're looking for them, but for now we can use Metagross and Togekiss to go in the same general direction that they took off in." He pointed down the road that he'd seen Lance follow in pursuit of Mallory about an hour earlier.
Sighing, Cynthia agreed. Calling out her flying type once more, she silently prayed for a returned call soon. We let Ash do this…he can't get hurt on our watch!
"Off we go!"
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Maybe we shoulda planned a little better, Ash thought as he continued staring at the blank wall before him. There was no way for him to know if the others were just about to smash into the hideout, or if they'd all been captured by Team Rocket grunts, and as the moments ticked away, he felt himself grow more concerned.
Mulling over the situation, he decided to play it safe. Ever so slowly, he turned the knife blade within his right palm over so that the blade cut against his glove. Raising his wrist slightly, he began to make fast work on the bottom rung of the thin rope binding.
He laughed a little despite the situation as he watched the thin threads of twine break. Chris was right…this is easier with an adrenaline rush.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"Hm?" Misty's vision was temporarily blurred as she arose from her slumber. She felt as if she'd been out for days, and she slowly yawned and stretched, reaching over to pull Ash closer to herself. However, she was surprised when her hand grasped nothing but air. Rubbing her eyes hard, she slowly began to take in her surroundings. "Where-where am I?"
She sat up on the cold metal bed implanted into the floor. She first noticed the Gengar staring directly at her, which was scary enough, but was even more surprised by the sight of a man sitting behind a computer screen wearing a Rocket grunt uniform.
Jumping off the bed, she reached for her waist. "Who are you?" Her hand was once again thrown by the feel of nothing but air as she grabbed for Starmie.
Looking down, she suddenly remembered.
I was in the gym, wasn't I? What-what were those sounds? Was that Team Rocket?
The onslaught of incoming inquiries was suddenly silenced as she heard another man clear his throat from behind. Turning on her heel, and balling her fist in anticipation, she was surprised once more by what met her gaze: before her stood the most hated crime boss in all Kanto.
She was speechless for the first time in a long time.
"I'm glad to see you're fully awake Ms. Waterflower. This is why I prefer Pokémon to drugs in these situations. You can control a person's Circadian Rhythm with a psychic or ghost type, but drugs are always a hit and miss. What if this whole show had gone on and you were left blissfully unconscious throughout?"
She was so confused. Beginning to feel dizzy, she clenched the side of the metallic bed, and muttered out a quick thought. "What do you mean 'show'?"
"Oh, you'll find out soon enough Ms. Waterflower," assured the Rocket boss, giving the girl a grin. "Now if you wouldn't mind following me, we have an appointment to see your boyfriend."
Her head was clearing. "You have Ash?" She narrowed her gaze as Giovanni's smile only grew wider.
"Why, yes. I believe we all have some business to take care of."
She let go of the table and stood straight. This was all happening far too fast. A minute ago it felt like she was standing in the gym, and now she was instead standing in front of the man who'd somehow kidnapped both her and her boyfriend. Wracking her weary mind, she decided that she wasn't going to just heed the older man's orders blindly. "I'm not going with you anywhere until I get some answers! Now where are we?"
"For someone who just awoke from near-death, I find you surprisingly unthankful." His grin never left his face, and Misty felt her heartbeat speed. "However, I guess there's no harm in telling you that we're near your hometown; Cerulean. Now, can we get going?"
She shook her head. "I still have more questions." Honestly, she didn't know why she was stalling. After all, he wanted to take her to Ash, right? However, she couldn't shake the creeping feeling that something was beyond amiss here, and though her finger couldn't quite be put on it, he seemed just too eager to reintroduce the young couple.
"I'm afraid I'm not going to wait any longer," warned Giovanni, snapping his fingers.
Gengar floated behind the young woman and lifted her into the air.
"Hey! Let me go!" she commanded, to no avail. "I said let me go you stupid ghost!" She began to physically struggle, kicking backward as hard as she could muster. In spite of her best efforts though, the kicks simply went through the dual poison and ghost type.
"Follow me, Gengar," Giovanni ordered over the young woman's demands for freedom. He walked through the door and motioned for the ghost to stay close behind.
"You shouldn't be so dismissive of my commands, Waterflower. I just want you to see your boyfriend. You'd think you'd want to cherish the moment."
Her screaming died down as the last statement swam through her mind. "Why would you even want to bring me back to Ash?"
That certainly shut her up, Giovanni thought happily, continuing his stroll down the side of the building. Various Rocket grunts passed by the two as they made their way towards Ash's room.
"I think it's only fitting that the two lovebirds see each other one last time. I'm not completely heartless, after all."
"What are you talking about, Giovanni?" Misty inquired, narrowing her eyes.
He came to a stop outside of a number code-locked door. Turning to face her, he gave yet another smirk. "Like I said, this will be the last time to see you boyfriend, so you shouldn't spend it screaming at me…maybe try to think of something poetic to say."
For a moment she was numb. It almost felt as if the words that were leaving the crime boss's lips held no meaning. How could this be the last time she would see Ash? It was as if her brain refused to accept the now-pending darkness of the situation.
"I'm glad to see you're taking it so well," he mocked, giving a small laugh at her confused gaze.
The mystery of the brain is an ever-changing riddle, and Misty realized this as the words finally began to make sense. Why it didn't happen before was unknown to her, but as she floated there, looking down at Giovanni's hateful gaze, she physically felt the realization sink in; as if a cattle branding iron was slowly pressing into her consciousness, the searing heat of the truth burning away the callous skin of naivety.
And then, just as soon as it all became clear, her eyes went wide and she suddenly felt herself lose control.
It was all too much, and in a flash of rage, she hated everything with white-hot passion as she began screaming at a blood-curdling decibel; startling all of those around the two, and even temporarily wiping the smirk from the Rocket head's mouth.
"Let me go! Let me go!" she cried over and over again, kicking and punching the air with all the ferocity she could muster.
All the pain and turmoil she felt rushing through her veins; all the confusion and frustration pounding and competing for her attention throughout her rattled nerves; everything was causing her to go into panic. How did this happen? She didn't know. Why would he want to kill Ash? She didn't know. Were they going to live?
…she didn't know.
She felt tears suddenly come to the corners of her eyes, and she kicked harder and screamed louder. She was the little girl in the closet again; helpless as the adults made their decisions.
"What are you gonna do? Why are we here?" She went on and on, but to no avail.
Regaining his posture after the unexpected outburst, Giovanni only laughed in return as he turned his attention to the number lock.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"Ow!" That was the fourth cut. Four cuts and he'd only disabled two rungs of the rope tied around his midsection. Though his palm was bleeding quite a bit, and his glove was absolutely torn to pieces, he shrugged and focused again on the work.
"Let me go!"
"Huh?"
Though he couldn't be sure, Ash could have sworn that he'd just heard Misty's voice beyond the door. However, after another moment all was silent once again and he quickly shrugged it off as his imagination…at least, he prayed it was his imagination.
He turned his attention back to the rope.
Though only the bottom two rungs had been completely cut through, he already found the grip of the binds very loose. He knew that one more would completely free him.
"I said let me go!" Another horrible cry from just outside. His heart began to hammer in his chest, and he took a deep breath to calm his shaking hands as he rubbed the rigged blade against the rope.
That definitely wasn't in my head. C'mon, Misty, please just give me a little more time, he pleaded silently, watching piece after thin piece of twine break away.
It was obvious that Chris's plan hadn't worked. It was up to him now.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"There we are." Giovanni pushed one final button on the pad and a loud clicking sound could be heard from within the barrier. "Are you ready to meet our guest of the hour?" He flashed yet another large grin up at his hostage, and she felt her heart skip several beats, forcing her to calm down from her repeated cries for information.
Truth be told, she was finding the demure attitude with which he was handling the entire situation even more unsettling than the words he spoke. He reminded her of a game show host waiting to reveal the prize behind the "mystery door", and the fact that he was finding such joy as he caused others pain was nerve-rattling.
Maybe it's just an act, she reasoned in her frenzied state. Her mind was racing, trying to see some light at the end of this tunnel, and this seemed like the most reasonable plan for escape. Maybe he's just hiding his guilt. No one can force someone to watch a loved one die and feel okay with it, right? He can't be serious.
In a desperate attempt to save Ash and herself from whatever it was he had planned, she looked directly into his dark eyes, searching for some hint of sympathy or humanity that she could cling to; some point from which she could proceed to melt the ice from this clearly-deranged and bitter man.
But all she could see was hate.
His eyes reflected no sympathy, no kindness, and certainly no degree of willingness to set her free from this literal nightmare. If anything, the only word she could describe the look with would be "mirth". She was trapped here.
"I'll take it from your silence that you are." He stepped forward and the motion-processor detected the movement, sliding the door open. "Didn't I tell you I just wanted to bring you to him? You shouldn't have fought so hard to stay away."
Taking a quick moment to compose himself, he straightened his tie. "Let's go say hello."
He took a step inside the medium-sized empty room and gave the seated former champion a glare from above. "If I were you, I'd be suspicious as to why my girlfriend was so hesitant to see me. She fought me from the second she awoke, but I finally got her here so we can get on with business." Snapping his fingers, Gengar levitated into the room.
"Thank you for your services, Gengar, but she's no longer a threat. Release her."
With a nod, the poison type let go of the girl's arms, allowing her to fall to her knees before her boyfriend. Her head was down, and her fists tightened into balls.
"Ash…"
"Misty, are you alright?"
She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. With so much going on, she just wanted to fly into her boyfriend's reassuring embrace. She began to stand up to do just that, but as she did, she felt a hand on her shoulder push her back down.
"I'm allowing you to see him, not touch, little girl," mocked Giovanni, the grin still eerily plastered to his lips like the Gengar behind him.
"Hey, you let her go!" Ash commanded, his voice going hoarse as he yelled with all the strength he could muster. "She didn't do anything wrong!"
Turning his attention back to the former Sinnoh Champion, Giovanni shook his head. "She did do something wrong…she met you. Besides, this isn't the time for either of you to be disregarding my commands. Not with so much at stake, at least."
She tried to push against the strengthening grip anyway, but as she felt the ghost Pokémon's presence grow closer behind her, she knew Giovanni wouldn't allow it.
Steeling her determination and forcing the tears back where they came from, she looked up and at her best friend. She was a little surprised by the lack of worry etched in his features, but nevertheless she instantly felt better seeing that he was still alive and well for the moment.
"H-hey Ash."
It was so odd to start this conversation with a simple "hey", but in her distressed state, she could not think of anything more sincere. She felt like her brain was going into overdrive trying to think of ways out of the current situation, and all of her attention was required for the creation of an effective plan.
"Hey, Mist." It struck him too as bizarre to start their conversation with such generic pleasantries while so much remained at stake, but his mind was far too preoccupied with slowly slipping his now completely-loosened hand to his belt without Giovanni's notice to ponder this for long.
After a tense moment of silence, a confused look crossed Giovanni's smiling face. "As I told Ms. Waterflower, this is the last time you two will be seeing each other, so I suggest if you have something more interesting to say-" he took this moment to reach inside his sport jacket and pulled out a revolver, "-you say it now."
Slowly, the thoughts swimming through Misty's mind began to slow. From the moment she awoke, she'd been struggling to grasp with how she'd been captured and how she was going to escape, but as the boss nonchalantly polished the handle of the gun in front of her, the reality of what was going to happen suddenly dawned on her.
More tears suddenly threatened to flow as he cocked the gun.
…he's pointing it at me.
At first, she thought it was some strange mistake. That he was going to slowly turn the gun towards her boyfriend instead. However, after he showed no intention of changing the target of his weapon, she started to put the pieces together. Suddenly, it all made sense. Why would Giovanni have brought her all the way out here to watch him kill her boyfriend? She was no threat to his organization. No, the only reason he'd bring her here was if he intended for her to never come back.
"I assume you were expecting this to be directed at your friend, correct?" Giovanni gave another short, chilling laugh at the silent, confused look on the girl's face. "It seems like the smart thing, to those who know nothing of strategy. But it makes far less sense to me. You see, I kill Ketchum here, and another young, naïve trainer takes his place in the League and challenges my authority foolishly just as your boyfriend did. However, if I scare enough sense into him now, I never have to worry about that happening again…a little trick mother taught me years ago using your parents, actually."
My parents? Honestly, so much was going on as she stared down the barrel of the weapon, Misty couldn't completely tell if she was hearing the older man correctly, and her fuzzy mind was already too entangled with the present situation to care why Giovanni was doing this to her. All she could think of at this moment was how her life was literally coming to an end right before her eyes.
I can't believe it's just going to end like this. After all that's happened, I'm just going to die here. The bleakness of the situation caused more tears to fall freely, and she gave Ash one more sideward glance.
"H-he's right, Ash. W-we should s-say what we want to before…before it happens."
Ash shook his head, surprising Misty again by his lack of emotion. "Don't worry, Mist. This isn't the end."
"Ash, I know it's h-hard to accept," she began, choking on the sobs forming in her throat, "but it really is. We don't have any little tricks or f-friends who can b-bail us out this time. I-I'm just so-so glad that it's me who he chose-"
"Misty, don't start talking like that," Ash ordered, his hand creeping ever closer to its prize. He felt his index finger brush against the red and white orb.
"Don't interrupt m-me, Ash. J-just let me say what I need to say. I've been afraid to tell you for a while, but I-I-"
"Now!" roared Ash, his right arm shooting out of the rope entanglements, a grown-Pokéball at the ready. A flash of light temporarily blinded everyone in the room, and the sound of gunfire, along with two screams of terror, instantly pierced the air as one of the lights above flickered to darkness. As the luminescence of the pokéball disappeared, Ivysaur stepped forward and gave the boss a menacing growl.
As the pandemonium from the sudden unexpected outburst died down, Misty was the first to react with a clear head.
Ash!
She first checked to see if her boyfriend was okay. After a split-second examination, she was grateful beyond words to see that Ash didn't appear to be the recipient of the shot, though she did note that some blood was dripping from his right palm onto the floor.
…was I hit?
She quickly turned her attention to herself, wondering if she'd somehow avoided feeling the pain in all the panic of the moment. However, after another half-second of examination, she saw that she too was fine.
But then, where did he shoot?
She looked to Giovanni, and was pleasantly shocked to see that the boss had the gun pointed in the air. Realizing that he must have fired the weapon to retake control of the situation, relief temporarily flooded her veins and calmed her mile-a-minute heart. For the moment, they were all still here.
"Recall your Pokémon…now!" barked Giovanni; his voice echoing back and forth across the room. He still held the gun high, preparing to use another warning shot as the grin from earlier was suddenly nowhere to be seen.
I'm not letting him take control of the situation. I've planned this perfectly, and I'm not gonna let some grass Pokémon get in the way of my revenge, Giovanni thought, seething at the interruption.
Though his heart was hammering in his chest from the gunshot, Ash did his best to look confident and cool after he saw where the weapon had been fired.
"Yeah, right."
Ash gave the boss a smirk as he noted the irate look on Giovanni's face. The fact that he'd shot the gun into the ceiling was clear indication that he had no intention of hurting him or Misty until he had the situation back under control.
He's so obsessed with his revenge that he's actually giving me a chance to win this!
Taking advantage of his temporary luck, the trainer pointed at the Rocket head. "Take that gun out of his hand!" Ash ordered, standing and letting the rope, knife, and gun fall to the ground in a heap.
Ivysaur growled his acknowledgement of the command and shot his vines out from under the large flower on his back. However, as the long vines approached the boss, Gengar suddenly interfered, grabbing both ligaments and shooting Ivysaur backwards with a Night Shade from his eyes.
"Saur!"
"Ivysaur, are you okay?" Ash hurriedly reached for another Pokéball from the vast collection he now held on his belt.
Scizor might be-
"Whoa!"
He was surprised by the sudden feeling of the wind being knocked out of his lungs as he was somehow shot into the air and thrown against the back wall.
"Good job Gengar. Now take the belt away from him!" ordered Giovanni as the ghost Pokémon finished his Shadow Punch attack and allowed Ash to hit the ground with a hollow "thud". Reaching down, the Pokémon snapped the belt off the trainer's waist and threw his fighting partners away.
"Ugh," Ash groaned, looking up from his knees at the tall ghost and poison creature, who smiled down with a terrible grin adorning his features. However, the smile disappeared instantly as vines appeared around his torso from behind.
"Ivy-saur!" Ash's Pokémon threw Gengar back towards his master, who quickly ducked to dodge the incoming ghost. Gengar instead hit the wall and then fell to the ground.
"Saur!"
The grass type followed up with a Razor Leaf attack at Giovanni's right hand.
"Ah!" His hand began to bleed profusely as the razor-sharp edges dug into his skin, simultaneously forcing the gun to hit the ground.
"Gengar!" The ghost Pokémon suddenly reappeared in front of his master, creating a dark shield to protect him from further damage.
Misty hurriedly moved away from the two feuding creatures and against the right-side wall of the small room. Truthfully, there was no where she could hide in this dinky empty area, but she still felt safer watching the battle from a distance rather than being in the direct middle of it.
Taking account of all that was happening, Ash realized now was the time to escape.
Struggling with his breath, he stood back up and shouted to Misty. Though the attacks of the two Pokémon were too loud for him to be heard, he was able to successfully motion to his belt, which was in the corner nearest where she sat.
"Throw it over!" he yelled, as Ivysaur now prepared a Solarbeam attack, and Gengar shot another quick Night Shade.
She bent down to grab it, but was surprised as someone grabbed her wrist before she could get a grip. Turning her head, she saw Giovanni wearing a bizarre grin as he twisted her arm backward.
"Ash, help!" she yelled, trying to get away.
"I'm coming!" he responded, coming over to take care of the boss personally. However, as he turned, the sound of an explosion recaptured his attention.
The Solarbeam attack! he realized as light and smoke simultaneously filled the small room and fogged everyone's view. Despite the smoke though, through the haze Ash could make out new light filtering in from the opposite side. He blew a hole through the wall!
The beam attack had more than one effect. Surprised by the blast, Giovanni's grip loosened to a point that Misty successfully slipped through his fingers. Turning around, she quickly kneed the boss in the groin as he continued staring in the direction of the now-blasted open doorway, forcing him to moan loudly in pain as he fell over and scrunched into the fetal position. Looking up, she too saw the light and heard alarms ringing throughout the structure as the smoke began to lift.
"They'll be flooding this place any second!" Ash yelled above the noise of the alarm and the grunts approaching the room. "Send out my Pokémon!"
"Right!"
Misty bent down and grabbed the belt as Giovanni continued to writhe in pain. Gengar was nowhere to be seen, but she stayed alert as she ripped three pokéballs off and enlarged them, throwing them in the air. She did this a couple more times, and soon, ten of Ash's Pokémon were crowding out the small room and filtering into the outside main area of the building. The sound of Rocket shouts and orders being made forced Ash to act quickly.
He bent down and grabbed the gun, just in case. Standing back up, he addressed all of his loyal fighting creatures and friends, who seemed confused as to where they were and why. "Everyone, I don't have time to explain, but I need you to help me find a way out of here! Me and Misty are right behind you!"
Almost in unison, the Pokémon began running from the room and through the building at the order, and soon the sound of opposing Pokémon attacks filled the air as the building around them groaned from the sudden inward pressure.
Misty grabbed his hand and led the two out of the room and away from Giovanni. They were following close behind his Muk, who made quick work of a Raticate that suddenly appeared and tried to surprise him with a Bite attack.
"Be careful, you guys!" Ash commanded, his voice growing more worried as a few gunshots rang throughout the building.
Misty gripped his hand tighter. "Uh-oh."
"What-how is it that big?" Ash was almost tempted to reach for his Pokédex as he beheld the single largest Electivire he'd ever seen suddenly emerge from a dark room on the other side of the building. The enormous electric type stood at least twelve feet tall, and appeared ready to take on an army as he pounded his charged fists together repeatedly, sending off shocks in all directions.
"Guys, watch out!" he warned as his Sceptile and Noctowl both closed in on the electric type. They were charging straight ahead, with Sceptile preparing a Leaf Blade, and the crest atop Noctowl's head beginning to glow in preparation of a Confusion attack.
As they approached, dodging the random computers and desks that stood between them, Electivire simply continued punching his fists together. More energy continued to surge from his hands as he awaited the assault, and the second the two came within reach, he countered.
"Vire!" The monstrous creature shot his fists out and instantaneously shocked both of the Pokémon severely, sending them flying backward well over a hundred feet and into the wall.
Sceptile, though badly injured, stood back up after rebounding, but Noctowl appeared completely gone as his body laid limp on the ground. Electricity pulsed throughout his body for several seconds, and Ash looked to his girlfriend.
"Try out the pokéballs and figure out which one is his," he said, motioning to the silent and crumpled shiny Pokémon. "We just need to get outta here, not stick around for a Pokémon battle. I'm gonna look for the exit fast and then we can get all the Pokémon back in their pokéballs safely."
Though they had been thrown into a tumultuous situation, his Pokémon had quickly gathered that their opponents were the Pokémon belonging to the Team Rocket grunts, and they were all now engaged in their own battles with several Arbok, Raticate, and Weezing.
Misty nodded and handed him several of the shrunken capsules. "Let's hurry. Giovanni can't stay down forever."
"He might with how hard you hit him," Ash flashed the girl a grin for the first time in a while, but was interrupted from continuing as more grunts with their Pokémon appeared from another random room. In the distance, to his right, Ash saw two large doors that could have been the exits. Though he was carried in, he remembered the vague sensation of being brought to the left side of the building. However, as more grunts swarmed in with pokéballs in hand, he began to wonder how they were going to escape.
He gripped the gun in his hand tighter, knowing that it wouldn't be enough to handle this massive onslaught even if he did find the courage to use it. He needed help.
"Ash, watch out!" Misty commanded, as the raven-haired trainer turned just in time to see an angry Arbok leap towards him.
"Ah!" He covered his face, but was surprised when, a second later, he didn't feel his skin being punctured by the serpentine Pokémon's pointed fangs.
"Tile!" Sceptile cried victoriously, standing on top of the poison Pokémon after successfully taking him out with one hit.
Behind him, Tauros suddenly drew up on his hind legs and then brought his front ones down with enough force to shake the entire building. The floor around the bull-like Pokémon opened up many feet deep and swallowed several grunts and their Pokémon.
Turning around and feeling confident as Misty unleashed even more friends, he made a sprint towards his Torterra, who was finishing off several Raticate with an Energy Ball.
"Hey buddy," he said, kneeling on one knee and whispering loudly into the Pokémon's ear as battles continued to rage around them. "I need you to open those doors over there, okay?" He pointed in the direction of the two large metallic sheets.
"When you open them, if it's the outside, get out and look for people who might be coming to help until we make it out, okay?"
"Torterra!" cried the large Pokémon. He wasn't Ash's fastest, but he was certainly one of his toughest, and if he was going to cross this heated battle terrain relatively unscathed, he would need to be.
"Tile!"
Ash suddenly caught a side view of his other grass type being thrown across the main lobby area again as Electivire presumably picked up where the two had left off. Though there were several battles now raging, it appeared that the electric type was still interested in finishing off his original prey.
"Sceptile, look out!" he screamed as the behemoth ran up behind his weakened Hoenn friend with his fists charged once again.
Unfortunately for Sceptile, he heeded Ash's warning just too late. Getting up, he made to jump from beneath Electivire's shadow, but the charged fist came down too fast, and as his body was slammed into the floor, the entire building quaked again.
Cringing at what he'd just seen, Ash ran forward to protect the starter Pokémon from anymore harm, but was stopped by Misty, who grabbed his hand from behind. "You can't go out there yourself! That thing'll kill you!" she cried with wide eyes. "I'm not gonna lose you here!"
"But I have to do something!" he insisted, pointing back to his grass type, whose joints appeared severely misplaced and broken. Though he was passed out, it looked as if Electivire wasn't quite done yet as he prepared another Thunder Punch attack.
"Tauros, help him out!" Misty cried to her boyfriend's normal type, who was standing directly behind the large creature. "Use Fissure again!"
The bull Pokémon gave a loud bellow of understanding before rearing back up once again. However, right before he came down, another bullet rang out, and Ash's eyes went wide as he saw blood suddenly sputter from his Pokémon's rear right leg.
"Tauros!" he cried, completely aghast at the site as his Pokémon cried out in pain and fell over on his side. Blood spread beneath his fallen body, and Ash quickly enlarged several pokéballs, trying to return his brown Pokémon with three different ones before finding the right match. At the same time, Sceptile was left to be pulverized once more by the raging electric type before being left in a heap on the floor as the Thunderbolt Pokémon went off in search of stronger foes.
Looking up from the capsule, he saw several grunts ordering around their Pokémon, but none seemed to be holding guns. It was impossible to tell who had done it, but a moment later, he heard another shot whizz right by his head. Looking to his right, he saw that Giovanni had managed to stand back up, and was carrying a firearm in his left hand as he leaned against the wall for support.
"Him!" Ash hissed angrily as another shot rang out and struck the exoskeleton of his Heracross, who'd been too busy dealing with three Raticate and a Koffing in the center of the lobby to notice. Though no blood spilt, the bug Pokémon clutched his abdomen as he fell over in pain, his leg twitching badly.
"Heracross!"
Ash pulled away from Misty's grip this time, tears coming to his eyes as he dodged attacks and another bullet and came to his friend's side. Getting down on both knees, he lifted the horned creature's head up and looked into his fading eyes.
"Heracross, you're-you're gonna be okay. Just-just hang on, okay?" He fumbled with the small pokéballs he'd put in his pockets, enlarging one after the other, desperately trying to return his raspy-breathed fighter, who seemed to be completely unaware of what Ash was saying as he looked up at the ceiling and muttered his name in a hushed, pained whisper. "P-please hang on, Heracross. We're not done."
As he sat there in the middle of the building, with only broken computers and desks and papers surrounding him, it didn't take long for the grunts to notice their target. They started to close in on him from all sides, but Ash ignored them all as he continued to whisper reassurances to his good friend and partner from Johto.
Fortunately for the former champion, Misty and his Pokémon did notice what was happening. Seeing them begin to close in, she quickly ran to his side, and all his Pokémon formed a tight circle around their master and fallen comrade, continuing the fight as Electivire and dozens of poison and normal type Pokémon pounded their numbers with more and more assaults.
Leaning in close to her boyfriend, she saw the broken look in his eyes. He needed time to process what he was seeing, but there was no time for that now.
"Try this one," she suggested softly, handing him a pokéball she hadn't found a match for yet.
Sure enough, Ash enlarged it and Heracross was gone in a flash.
"We've got you two surrounded," announced one nameless henchman from outside the ever-tightening circle of Pokémon that surrounded the two trainers. "Hand over your weapon and your Pokémon, and we'll return you to the boss as was planned. You're clearly outnumbered, so don't be stupid trying to act like a hero."
For a moment, Ash was silent. Getting off his knees, he stood up and faced reality. He saw the giant Electivire before him, and the army of Team Rocket members behind, and he knew that the smug grunt was right. There was no plausible means of escape with the six good Pokémon he now had out.
"Maybe we should surrender," Misty suggested quietly, sounding completely deflated after all that struggle. "There's no safe way out for us."
"I guess you're right." His will to fight was all but completely zapped after seeing what had happened to Heracross and Sceptile. He didn't know if either of them were going to make it, and he couldn't bring himself to let any other friends get injured in a hopeless fight.
"Saur-Ivysaur!" The grass and poison type suddenly interrupted his thoughts with a series of growls and grunts.
Looking up, Ash was surprised to find that his grass type was taking slow, intimidating steps toward the group of grunts and their Pokémon. As he drew closer, despite their huge advantage in numbers, Ash noticed that they were slowly backing up, and he couldn't help the small swell of pride that overtook him in the stressful situation as his other Pokémon followed the same action, slowly approaching the grunts despite the overwhelming disadvantage they faced.
They don't care if they get hurt…they just want me to be safe. Though this was certainly not the time, Ash almost couldn't help but want to thank all of his Pokémon for their dedication. However, he knew that there was no hope with their current situation, and slowly he raised both hands.
"You're right," he conceded.
"Guys," he looked up and at his Pokémon who had stopped their large act of bravery and were now staring back at him. None of these creatures, his most loyal and the ones he'd had the longest, could believe what they were hearing. Was their master truly giving up a battle? "I know that you wanna fight, but there's no point. We'd lose. Just return to your pokéballs that Misty and I are holding…but thank you so much for wanting to help." He felt tears begin to well in his ducts for the third time that day, but he couldn't help it as his Pokémon continued to look confused. They'd been given many orders in their day, but never once "give up".
"You heard your master," spat the grunt, grinning widely. "Get back in your pokéballs before the Raticate and Arbok make you their lunch."
"Vire!" cried the great beast from behind Ash. He seemed to be warning the Pokémon too. However, they continued to stand there, now looking less confused, and more determined in their features. Slowly, Ivysaur turned his back on his master and continued his steady approach. One by one, Ash's other Pokémon soon followed suit.
"Guys, I said quit it!" Ash ordered, using the most commanding tone he could muster. He knew their hearts were in the right place, but this was no Pokémon battle. There was no way his team could win.
And if any more of them gets hurt because of me… He clenched his fist, and muttered a curse under his breath.
"I said stop it!"
At that moment, a loud explosion could be heard from outside the building, and everyone turned to look at the exit door. Though it wasn't open, it was clear that something had gone wrong.
"What's happening?" asked the grunt who'd confronted Ash just moments before. "Did the boss mention any explosives?"
A woman shook her head. "I don't remember him saying anything about that. Do you think it's the police?"
"No way! There's no way the police could have found us here. Hardly anyone in all of Team Rocket knows where we are, much less the idiots at the police station in Ceurlean."
"But then, who is it?"
"You go find out what's going on," ordered Giovanni, suddenly appearing in front of the two teenagers as the grunts and Pokémon cleared out of their respected leader's way. "I want to deal with these two personally."
"Yes, sir," barked several members, giving a quick salute before they ran off with their Pokémon out the exit. Soon, the entire building was empty, save for the Electivire, Ash's Pokémon, Giovanni, Ash, and Misty. All around them, valuable-looking equipment and documents laid askew and destroyed on the building floor.
To insure that Ash and Misty didn't try to escape, the dark-eyed man kept the gun focused on Ash. "Make one wrong move and I'll end it for you right here. That goes for your Pokémon and girlfriend too."
Ash grit his teeth so hard that it began to hurt his temple. This was the man who was trying to take everything away from him, and here he was taking orders from him. He felt the weight of the gun grow heavier in his hand, and he suddenly remembered Chris's words.
"It's already loaded. You just have to pull the trigger."
Giovanni almost didn't seem to notice that he was holding it, and as subtly as he could, he moved his right arm behind his back, while still nodding in agreement to the boss's commands.
"Good. Now the two of you get on your knees right now." He used the gun to motion to the floor and the two once again complied without a reply.
Misty looked over sideways at her boyfriend, wondering what, if anything, he had planned.
"Well, you've successfully made a full nuisance of yourselves." His voice suddenly sounded more annoyed than angry as he eyed the totaled facility. "I should have known you were hiding something. This was all just going too easily for it to have worked right."
He turned his attention back to the two. "Cerulean was one of our premiere targets for drug activity. Did you know that? We've been working hard the last year to establish a reliable market in this region so that we could expand profits. Do you see those papers around your knees?"
The two took quick notice of the papers as he motioned once again.
"Those were all the documents we had to record what we'd done. Those computers kept track of every ounce of every chemical we'd sold. It was all done over a year, and it took just a couple of Pokémon battles to destroy all of that work in a few minutes."
For a moment, Ash didn't know where he was going with all of this. His tone had mellowed, and now he sounded more melancholy than annoyed. "However, all of this loss was actually worth it."
He shifted the gun away from Ash. "It was all worth it just so I could do this."
A gunshot rang throughout the hollow building. Ash cried, and Misty fell backward. All of the Pokémon screeched their names in disapproval of the noise, and for a moment all was still as the barrel continued to exhaust small wisps of smoke from its tip.
Author's Notes: Like I said above, I'm keeping this short tonight because, honestly, I'm just really, really beat. However, I want to say that I know a lot happened in this chapter. I told PokémonPrincess a week or so ago that this was becoming my favorite chapter as I wrote it because of all the action that happened, but slowly that love I felt for this installment turned to hate. This was, without a doubt, one of the biggest pains for me to write because trying to capture all of the emotions and actions that happened in these latest scenes while not bogging the reader down in too much detail was nearly impossible. However, I am definitely proud of the finished product (I wouldn't have published it if I wasn't), so don't think that I just shoveled this out to you guys to make up for being late. Despite my pride though, I know it can be tough to understand in some places because of all the different thoughts and feelings of the characters, and I'm positive some of the action sequences will be hard to get (since I myself had to re-read a couple of them to get what was going on straight in my head). So yeah, if you have criticism, please let me know, because I need to know how to improve my skills. Also, for those of you wondering, this isn't the end of anything. We still have a bit more to go with this climactic scene, but I will caution you now that you should probably check for clues in this chapter if you want a guess at what's going to happen next. Also, for those of you who are inevitably going to ask if Misty, Giovanni, Heracross, Noctowl, or Sceptile are alive or dead…you'll just have to wait two weeks! Sorry, guys, but you know by now that cliffhangers are my style. Anyway, I better let you go. Later Days!