Chapter 11

Brock

It had taken a little too much time for everyone's liking, but Brock's Pokemon managed to free everyone from the sticky pink substance. Once they were free, everyone went outside to try and find Team Rocket. To their dismay, their balloon was nowhere in sight.

"Damnit." Said Flannery in frustraction. "Now what do we do?"

"We're just going to have to spread out and search for them." Said Norman as he took charge. "I still have my Slakoth and Vigoroth. Brawly you still have some Pokemon too?"

"Yup." Said Brawly before bringing out a Pokeball. "Still got my trusty Hariyama and I believe Tate and Liza have some Espurrs they got during the Coronation Series."

"We do." Said Tate as he brought out a Pokeball along with Liza.

"Then we should be fine in terms of Pokemon." Said Norman. "Alright, I'll take Tate, Flannery. We'll go to town and see if anyone there has seen Team Rocket's balloon. Forrest, is it okay if you tag along to help guide us?"

"No problem." Said Forrest as he looked at Brock, who nodded in agreement at Norman's plan.

"Then the rest of you go into the nearby forest. Team Rocket may have gone there to hide from us and ensure our Pokemon don't cause them any trouble." Said Norman. "Brawly, Liza, and Brock. I'm counting on you all to make sure everyone is safe. And if you encounter Team Rocket, send a Pokemon like that Crobat I saw earlier for us or call us and we'll try to hurry to help you out as best we can. Though you may need to fight Team Rocket all by yourself in order to stop them from taking off with all our Pokemon."

"Agreed." Said Brock, having collected Crobat, Marshtomp, Blissey, Sudowoodo, Croagunk, and even Fortress for going up against Team Rocket. The rest of his Pokemon were with Forrest just in case. "Don't worry Norman. We'll get our Pokemon back." Norman nodded at that before taking off with his group, leaving everyone else to decide what to do. First off, Brock's siblings.

"Guys. I need to go and get back some Pokemon from Team Rocket. Yolanda, I trust you to keep everyone safe while me and Forrest are gone." Said Brock as he looked at his oldest available sibling.

"You got it." Said Yolanda along with Salvadore. "We'll make sure everyone is safe. You just get those Pokemon back and teach Team Rocket a lesson." Brock promised he would before taking off with his group of Hoenn Gym Leaders for Viridian Forrest with Marshtomp in the lead. The Pokemon's sensitive fin and tracking capabilities should help them in finding Team Rocket.

"Alright, if I know Team Rocket, then they're most likely going to the Viridian Forest to both hide from the authorities as well as secure our Pokemon so they don't escape. So we need to head there quickly before we lose them." Said Brock as he and his group ran.

"Are you sure they'll head there?" Asked Roxanne as she ran with everyone, Brock in the lead of everyone along with his Marshtomp. "Viridian Forest I mean. It's quite a distance from Pewter City."

"Exactly." Said Brock. "It's a perfect place for them to go to. Not only is it far away enough that they can put some distance between them and any pursuers, but the forest is dense enough that they can hide there long enough for them to restrain our Pokemon. Plus, there's enough clearings there that they can land their balloon safely without fear of being spotted by the police. Besides, with how some of our Pokemon are, I doubt they want to wait longer than they have to in order to restrain them properly given how powerful they are." Roxanne could see the logic in Brock's argument so she decided to trust his call on this. After all, his Pokemon along with his brothers' was also on the line.

Brawly, Liza also trusted him on his call. After all, it made sense for Team Rocket to try and restrain their Pokemon before leaving with their spoils. Plus, they weren't exactly the brightest of people. They still flew in an air balloon still after all. They just hoped Brock was right otherwise they'll be short several Pokemon and friends.

Sometime later

"This wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for me." Thought Winona bitterly as she ran with everyone to Viridian Forest to get back their Pokemon. During the run, Winona had been thinking about what happened earlier. About Team Rocket capturing her friends Pokemon. Though she knew she couldn't have been any real help in battling Team Rocket, Winona knew that if it wasn't for her Team Rocket wouldn't have captured a good chunk of her friends' Pokemon.

The only reason they did so is because her friends came all the way from Hoenn for her. If it weren't for her, none of this would have happened in the first place. If she just had made better decisions weeks ago then her friends' Pokemon wouldn't be in danger of being taken from them. She wondered if things would have simply been better if Brock or her friends have never found her in the first place. That she just keep running away or just have stayed back at Fortree City. Then her friends wouldn't see her as the failure she was now.

"Maybe I should leave after all this over." Thought Winona as she looked at everyone as they ran. "That way I don't have to burden them with my mistakes again." It was then that she looked at Brock and remembered everything he did for her along with their talks with one another. How he been there for her no matter then remembered her friends and what they said to her. How they believed her to be innocent of everything that happened to her recently and how much they meant it by traveling all the way from Hoenn to Kanto. They didn't even get angry and disappointed at her for running. They just apologized and acted like she didn't do anything majorly wrong. How could she just get up and leave them after everything they went through just for her? Not to mention everything Brock did for her as well as what he endangered by helping her. Feeling ashamed at what just went through her head, Winona was about to tell everyone what she just thought when Brock yelled out that they were approaching Viridian Forest. Seeing the forest in sight, Winona decided against telling them. For now anyway.

"Alright, we're approaching Viridian Forest everyone." Said Brock as they stopped close to the forest. "Be careful everyone. Viridian Forest is filled with dangerous Pokemon like Beedrill. So try to be careful."

"You got it, Brock." Said Brawly. "Beedrill aren't exactly the most reasonable Pokemon out there. Best be careful in not driving them into a frenzy."

"You got that right." Said Brock, recalling all the times that he and his traveling companions angered a whole swarm of Beedrill and it always ended with them being chased by them. "And angering those Beedrill may give Team Rocket the chance to escape. So we can't let that happen."

"Agreed." Said Roxanne as she looked at the forest. "Let's get going. We can't afford to give them more time to escape. Everyone nodded at that and began making their way into the forest. Unbeknownst to them, however, someone was watching them from a distance as they entered the forest. They stayed watching them for a few minutes before going into the forest themselves.

Meanwhile

Viridian Forest

"We hit the jackpot!" Yelled Meowth as he looked at all the powerful Pokemon that they managed to take from those Hoenn Gym Leaders and that big twerp. Fortunately for them, with all those Gym Leaders and twerps stuck in their trusty sticky goo, they got away safely in their trusty hot air balloon. Flying towards Viridian Forest, the trio settled down there to not only secure their captured Pokemon so they don't try to escape, but also to celebrate their victory.

"The boss is going to be happy with all these powerful Pokemon we're going to give him." Said James as he finished putting all their captured Pokeballs in a special container designed to keep Pokemon from getting out of their Pokeballs, no matter how hard they tried. Now they won't have to deal with those pesky Pokemon from escaping their grasp.

"What do you think he'll give us for all these Pokemon?" Asked Jessie in excitement as she thought of the myriad of ways that Giovanni, their boss and leader of Team Rocket, will reward them for giving him so many powerful Pokemon. "Corner offices? Increased pay for us? Extra gadgets for missions? Maybe even get some new and powerful Pokemon that can mega evolve?"

"Whatever it'll be, the reward will be sweet." Said Meowth with a smile. "Now that our goods are all secured and everything, let's get going." With that, the trio were about to get aboard their hot air balloon when suddenly it was attacked by a Hyper Beam attack, blowing up the balloon and sending Team Rocket screaming in terror when they saw the Hyper Beam go through the balloon aspect of their transportation and out the other way. Once the attack was over and Team Rocket was certain nothing was going to attack them again, Jessie yelling out in rage.

"What the heck was that?" Demanded Jessie as she looked at their now useless means of transportation. "What Pokemon decided to go and use Hyper Beam on our balloon!?"

"No idea." Said Meowth as he looked at their balloon in shock and worry. They have a spare inflatable balloon to serve as a replacement, but the time to get it ready may give those Hoenn Gym Leaders and that big twerp time to find them and get back their Pokemon. Not to mention that Hyper Beam may have caused some unwanted attention to be brought upon them. Whether that be wild Pokemon or anyone pursuing them for their stolen Pokemon. However, he was still stunned somewhat that it was a Hyper Beam that attacked them. That wasn't something any ordinary Pokemon can do. It had to be a really powerful Pokemon to use it and Viridian Forest didn't have any such Pokemon as far as he knew. That possibly meant they have someone on their trail and they weren't too pleased with them taking other people's Pokemon. At least, that was his thoughts.

"Well, whatever the case is, we need to hurry up and fix our balloon." Said James as he went over to their damaged air balloon to get their spare inflatable balloon. "Better call Pelipper to come here Meowth. We may need the Pokemon in the Rocket Prize Master in case those twerps and Gym Leaders come to take back their Pokemon."

"Yeah, I'm on it." Said Meowth as he went to go find a way to contact Pelipper to come to them. "You know, if you two just get back your own Pokemon, we wouldn't need that machine all the time. Why don't you guys do that by the way?"

"Because…actually that is a good question." Said Jessie as she touched her lip. "We really should go pick up our Pokemon. I am missing Seviper and Yanmega along with my other Pokemon."

"Same." Said James as he thought of Mime Jr. and Carnivine along with Inkay. Oh, how he missed his Pokemon. "But let's focus on getting our balloon fix otherwise the boss won't be happy." With that in mind, the trio began working on fixing their balloon so they can make an escape.

Meanwhile

"Did you hear that?" Asked Roxanne as the group traveled in Viridian Forest. The group had been searching for clearings in the forest when they heard an explosion a distance away.

"Yeah, that sounded bad." Said Brock as he looked at the general direction of where the explosion came from. "I know that we're looking for Team Rocket, but that explosion sounded quite bad. We should go check it out."

"But Team Rocket might get away." Protested Liza, not wanting her Lunatone to be at the hands of Team Rocket any longer than necessary.

"No, Brock's right, Liza." Said Roxanne as she looked at the direction of the explosion. "That explosion can only have come from a Hyper Beam or something similar in power. And if I have my facts correct, Viridian Forrest doesn't have any Pokemon that can use Hyper Beam. At least those powerful enough to learn it without help from humans or haven't been caught yet."

"That's right." Said Brock. Most of the time Pokemon in Viridian Forrest get caught by Trainers before they have a chance to learn a move like Hyper Beam. He heard of some Pokemon that manage to escape this fate, but they tend to be deeper in the forest, where trainers typically don't go. And since they were in the outskirts of the forest, that meant only two things. One, some unlucky trainer managed to anger a Pokemon that knew Hyper Beam or two, it was Team Rocket that was at fault. It's been a while since he faced them so he had no idea what kind of Pokemon they have now. Plus, he heard from Ash they use a machine that deposits their Pokemon now instead of bringing their own. A machine filled with powerful Pokemon. So, with some luck, Team Rocket had something to do with that explosion.

Besides, Brock and everyone else wouldn't forgive themselves if they didn't investigate that disturbance and learned later that some Pokemon or people got hurt and they do anything to help. So, as much as it may cost them their Pokemon, the group went towards the location of the commotion with some of them hoping that Team Rocket was there.

A few minutes later, the group found the source of the commotion and couldn't believe their eyes.

"Team Rocket!" Yelled Brock, catching the attention of Jessie, James, and Meowth as they were fixing their hot air balloon in a clearing within Viridian Forest.

"Give back our Pokemon!" Yelled Liza as she brought out her Espurr's Pokeball, ready to fight for her Lunatone.

"Oh great! You twerps again!" Yelled Meowth as he looked at the group of Gym Leaders and Pokemon doctor in frustration. They didn't need to right now.

"That's right and we're giving you one chance to give back our Pokemon peacefully." Said Brawly as he brought out his Hariyama. "Otherwise, be prepared for a battle."

"That's right." Said Winona as she stayed behind the group with Roxanne. Between them, they only had Winona's Gligar and she wasn't going to be of much help against Team Rocket so they're going to let the others deal with the criminals.

"Crobat! Come on out and go get Norman and the others." Yelled Brock sending out all of his Pokemon at the same time. While the rest of his Pokemon gathered around Hariyama and Liza's Espurr once she got it out, Crobat left to go find Norman and the others. Numbering seven to one, Team Rocket was at a huge Pokemon disadvantage. At least for now.

"Jokes on you, blokes!" Yelled Meowth. "We got a trick up our sleeves."

"That we do." Said James before pointing up, causing everyone to see a Pelipper coming with it's mouth holding something. "Presenting the finest of Team Rocket technology. The Rocket Prize Master!" It was then that Pelipper disgorged it's mouth's contents, revealing it to be essentially a toy vending machine on four legs. Stunned with the strange machine, Brock and the others watched as Meowth put his charm in the machine's slot while James turned the crank below that and out came two dark purple Pokeballs with Team Rocket's insignia. The two human Team Rocket members then grabbed them and let out the Pokemon inside.

"C'mon out!" Yelled Jessie as the two Pokemon were released from their Pokeballs. To Jessie's satisfaction, she got a Yanmega while James got a Skarmory. Both of which looked exceptionally powerful. She was so caught up on seeing her Pokemon that she failed to notice Winona acting up.

"No." Whispered Winona as she saw a Skarmory was their opponent. Upon laying eyes on the Skarmory, Winona began to hyperventilate. Roxanne noticed this and was immediately concerned for her friend, whose eyes were going blank while she was hyperventilating. Realizing that there was going to be a battle soon, Roxanne grabbed Winona and began trying to drag her away from the soon-to-be battlefield.

"Now, Yanmega Sonic Boom!" Yelled Jessie as she started the battle. Her Yanmega then sent out a Sonic Boom at Hariyama and Espurr.

"Skarmory! Use Flash Cannon!" Yelled James as he read the pamphlet that came with the Pokeballs. Skarmory then used Flash Cannon on Blissey and Croagunk, who dodged the attack.

"Blissey provide support to the others from the back!" Yelled Brock. "Croagunk! Use Poison Sting on Skarmory! Fortress use Rapid Spin on Skarmory as well! Marshtomp use Mud Bomb on Yanmega!" Brock's Pokemon did as they instructed and began attacking. With them was Brawly's Hariyama and Liza's Espurr providing support or were in the frontlines with Brock's Pokemon.

"Espurr, use Psybeam on Yanmega!" Yelled Liza as she helped fight Team Rocket. Her Espurr obeyed her command and sent out a beam of Psychic energy at Yanmega, which dodged it but was soon hit with a Poison Sting from Croagunk that was followed up with a Water Gun attack from Marshtomp.

"Hariyama! Get up close to Skarmory!" Yelled Brawly as his Hariyama got close to Skarmory as it fired another Flash Cannon at it's foes. Hariyama dodged the Flash Cannon from the Skarmory, who then suffered a rapid spin attack from Brock's Fortress. While it wasn't an effective move on Skarmory, it did distract the Steel Pokemon from seeing Hariyama jumping towards it and then grabbing it, putting it into a chokehold. "Good! Now Seismic Toss!" Hariyama obeyed his trainer and began doing Seismic Toss as he and Skarmory began falling to the ground because Skarmory couldn't use it's wings to fall anymore.

Skarmory then went headfirst into the ground before being tossed in the air and enduring a Force Palm from Hariyama that sent it flying towards Yanmega, who was preparing to launch another Sonic Boom at Espurr. The sudden tackle from Skarmory caught Yanmega completely by surprise, causing it to send it's Sonic Boom way off course of its intended target and instead towards Winona and Roxanne.

"Oh no!" Yelled Brawly as the Skarmory went towards Roxanne and Winona, the former of which struggled to get Winona to safety from the battle as the lavender-haired woman had shut out everything around her as she remembered what happened in Fortree City, completely rendering her helpless and hard to budge for Roxanne. "Roxanne! Winona, watch out!"

Hearing this, Roxanne gasped when she saw what was coming at her and Winona. With no time to react, Roxanne was prepared to take the hit for Winona when Brock pushed her and her friend to the ground. Having been the closest to them and seeing where the Sonic Boom would go, Brock went into action and pushed them to safety. Due to his actions, the Sonic Boom missed them and instead hit the ground, sending dust and debris all over them but otherwise, they were unharmed.

"Thanks Brock." Said Roxanne after the worst was over. Brock just gave her a smile before looking over worriedly at Winona, who was still in a blank and frozen state. More worried than ever for Winona, Brock was about to speak when Liza spoke out.

"That's it!" Yelled Liza, having seen what happened to Roxanne and Winona. Angered at the attack, no matter how accidental it was, Liza yelled out to her Espurr to use Psychic on Team Rocket themselves. With Team Rocket's Pokemon distracted or injured, Liza decided that it was time to end this battle. Team Rocket yelled out in fear as Espurr psychically lifted them up and held them in place for his master.

"Hey! No fair!" Yelled James as he and his friends were floating the air due to Espurr.

"Yeah! This ain't how you treat your opponents!" Yelled Meowth, causing Liza to glare at him.

"Why should I treat you fairly when you guys are just plain crooks? Not to mention endangering my friends!" Yelled Liza, having enough of them. She then told Espurr to send them flying into the air far away from them, to which Espurr obeyed. With a yell, Espurr sent Team Rocket flying into the sky.

"Oh come on! We were so close to winning!" Complained Jessie as she flew with her compatriots.

"True and this time it was something that we didn't even see even once." Said James sullenly.

"Next time, we're just running and not looking back." Said Meowth sullenly as well. And with that, they said one of their most famous lines.

"We're blasting off again!" Yelled Team Rocket as they were sent flying away from Viridian Forest.

"And don't you dare try to steal our Pokemon again!" Yelled Liza as she glared at the sky. With Team Rocket gone, she ran to Winona and Roxanne and immediately knelt down to them. "Are you guys okay?"

"I'm fine." Said Roxanne as she got on her knees. "Though I can't say the same for Winona. The poor girl froze up when she saw that Skarmory."

"Oh no." Said Liza as Brawly and the Pokemon came to them, watching as Brock held Winona as she hyperventilated, trying to calm her down. "Is she going to be alright?"

"I don't know." Said Brock as he watched Winona. It hurt him to see her acting like this and he couldn't do anything about it. His training didn't cover anything like this before. Roxanne was about to take over when they suddenly heard a roar.

Turning to the source, they saw the Skarmory getting on its feet and readying another Flash Cannon at them with the Yanmega preparing a Sonic Boom attack as well. Everyone gasped at this and the Pokemon were about to protect their trainers when suddenly a massive Hyper Beam attack came and hit both of them at once. The attack was so fierce and powerful that it sent the two Pokemon flying after Team Rocket.

"Whoa!" Yelled Brawly as he saw this. "Never seen a Hyper Beam that big before."

"Same." Said Liza in shock as she looked at the direction it came from. "I wonder what made that attack." Roxanne, also looking at the direction of the attack, was stunned to see someone coming towards them with a massive Pokemon in tow. Before Roxanne can tell anyone about this or tell the person to identify themselves, the person introduced themselves.

"No need to be alarmed. I'm with the Pokemon League." Said the person as they made their way to the clearing with a massive Tyranitar in tow. Over twice the size of a regular Tyranitar, this Tyranitar was intimidating to watch, the way it constantly made noise as it made it's way to the group showcasing it's weight and power.

Dressed in a black trench coat and a gray fedora, the person showcased an official Pokemon League badge, revealing them to be a part of the Pokemon League. Seeing the official badge, everyone calmed down and relaxed around him. Walking to the group, the agent saw what was going on with Winona, and brought out a glass tube filled with pills. He opened it and pulled out Pokeball.

"Vileplume, I need you to calm down Miss Caelus." Said the agent as he released his Vileplume, a normal-sized one. Upon being released from its Pokeball, Vileplume immediately began to use Aromatherapy on Winona. Immediately as the sweet-scented move made its way to Winona's nose, she began to calm down and breathe normally. Soon, Winona recovered from her panic attack and soon began to doze off into slumber, causing her friends to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Thanks for that. You're a godsend, man." Said Brawly with a smile at the Pokemon Agent, grateful for their help in calming Winona down. "So, if you don't mind me asking, what's a Pokemon Agent doing here?"

"For your friend, sir." Said the agent, causing everyone to look at him judging by his voice. "I'm a part of the Pokemon League's Internal Affairs. I believe you know what that means." Upon hearing that, everyone then realized that he was a part of the Pokemon League's Internal Affairs and what that entailed for Winona. "Miss Caelus and I need to talk once she wakes up. A long talk." Brock, upon hearing that, gritted his teeth and looked at the Pokemon agent, realizing that he was probably his toughest challenge yet to help Winona for a wide variety of reasons. The biggest of which is if he was willing to face the Pokemon League itself to keep his promise to a woman he only barely knew.