Chapter 92 – Sky Wars II – A big dope

The Halberd...

"Whaaa…."

Meowth's jaw had dropped so low that it was nearly on the floor, as he started up at Gozu in utter disbelief. He had to be joking. There was no way this could be his assignment.

"You heard me loud and clear," Gozu grumbled irritably. "You want to be a fully-fledged Team Rocket grunt. Then you're going to work like a Team Rocket Grunt. I expect this place clean by the time the operation is over. Got it!"

This place was the crew quarters. A realm of chaos amidst the precision of the rest of the Halberd. Neary every inch of the floor space was taken up by bunk beds, lockers and crew possessions, and dirty clothing and towels littered the space the parts of the floor which weren't. The beds were a tapestry of worn sheets and mismatched pillows. Casting an eye around, Meowth could tell that a made or clean bed in this environment, was rarer than a pink Entei.

"And when you're done, you can do the mess," added Gozu.

"Ya…ya gotta be kidding me," stuttered Meowth.

"Nope. I want the sheets, uniforms and underwear taken to the laundry. The beds are to be changed and made, and the floors mopped. Got it!"

"Ahhhh." Meowth continued to gape at him and said nothing. In fact, he was incapable of speech at that precise moment.

"And for fuck's sake, get those damned twerp Pokémon back to isolation on habitation," Gozu continued, gesturing to Pikachu and Charizard who were standing by the door in the hallway outside. "I thought I made the mission directive very clear. All Pokémon are to be secured when not in use. That means either in a prize master, or if they're under the control of EM waves, in a secured unit. Put the eggs in my office. Understood."

"Ahhhh!"

"I SAID UNDERSTOOD."

"Yah….Yes Sir." Meowth snapped out his reverence and stood at attention.

"I'll be back to inspect. Jessie, James, with me!" He strode swiftly out of the room, gesturing to Jessie and James to follow him.

"G-guys," Meowth whimpered as they turned to leave.

They looked back at him with pitying expressions on their faces.

"Sorry old chum," said James.

"Here. Use this if you need us." Jessie tossed something to him.

Meowth caught it in his paws above his head. It was small back communicator device.

"Good luck Meowth."

They both left the room to follow Gozu, leaving Meowth with a not so little problem. He took another look around the crew quarters, feeling his heart sink. It looked as though a Voltorb had exploded in the middle of a trubbish nest.

"Even Grimer would say, nope this place is too messy for me," Meowth mumbled as he plonked himself on one of the bunks….And then leapt off it a second later as he realised what he was sitting on. "Urgh."

Something wet and sticky was stuck to his back side. Winching, he gripped the edges off it in his claws and pulled it off. It was a pair of underwear. He really hoped the stain around the crotch was sweat. He tossed it dramatically aside.

"How in the da distortion world am I meant to do this…" And then he remembered something. "Wait. I don't 'ave to." A gleeful smile crossed his face as he called out, "Oi, twerpachoo, Charmie. Get your fiery butts in 'ere!"

Without hesitation, Ashachu and Charizard marched silently through the door and into the room. The eggs were still cradled in their arms. What became immediately clear was that Charizard was going to have difficulty moving between the bunks, and Ashachu was probably a little too small to carry large amounts of laundry or use a broom or mop. That didn't stop Meowth though.

"Right. Charmie, you start stripping bunks and collecting the sheets for the laundry. Ashachoo, go collect underwear with dat tail of yours. You can put your eggs on dat bed." He gestured the bunk behind him he'd just been sitting on. "Any questions." When they were silent, he beamed and added, "I thought not. Now get to it!"

Charizard shuffled around him, and Ashachu scooped the gross pair of undies up – the ones that ones that had been stuck to the cat's butt only a second before - off the floor with his tail, Meowth looked down at the communicator in his paw.

"Now let's see, can this access the PA system on da habitation deck...Success." He licked his lips gleefully as he raised the device to his maw and said into it, "Hey guys, I need some bi-pedal Pokémon to give me a paw. Hunter, Geyser, Dragonite. Get ya tails up to crew quarters, deck one. Oh, and use the service elevator so no one sees you!"

[Pokémon]

"Commander Gozu on deck," Cassidy announced as Gozu, Jessie and James entered the primary flight deck.

The Craydilly had been relieved of their command of the Halberd. Butch and Cassidy were piloting the vessel now. They were seated at the forward console, with Matori standing over them. Outside the windshield the sky was as dark as a Darkrai. Unlike regular night, there were no stars or moon to light the darkness. It was pitch black. On a small orange dot in the distance was visible.

"Commander Gozu sir," said Butch. "We have the Plasma Frigate in sight and are preparing out attack."

"I've sent an alert to the secondary flight deck," added Cassidy. "They're ready to fire as soon as the Frigate is in range."

"Excellent," barked Gozu. "Exactly as planned."

Aboard the Frigate the alarm had been sounded. Sirens went off throughout the flying ship as Zinzolin reclaimed his place at the wheel and radar operator Barrett screamed, "We've got incoming sir. Team Rocket's Halberd is approaching at critical speed. I estimate less than ten minutes and they'll be in range to fire."

"How in the distortion world did they repair their vessel so quickly," Zinzolin wondered aloud. "I suppose it doesn't matter now. If Team Rocket want a fight, they'll get it. Divert all non-essential power sources to the engines. Full steam ahead." He pulled his communicator out of his pocket again and announced his orders to the rest of the ship. "All crew take your seats and fasten safety belt. Prepare to take evasive manoeuvres. Mr. Colress, ready the cannon."

"Target's in range," Cassidy suddenly announced.

"FIRE!"

Gozu's voice was so loud giving the command it probably would have reached the secondary flight deck without the need for the communicator. A red ion beam fired from the Halberd's forward cannon at the distant orange spot that was the Plasma Frigate. But the Frigate pulled up and to the side, narrowly avoiding behind hit with the laser cannon.

Gozu cursed, slamming his fist into the wall. "FUCK…Keep firing assholes. They're not getting away this time."

The dark sky turned red as a barrage of laser cannons fired from Halberd…But Zinzolin had a plan. To avoid the laser cannon's the Frigate entered a step dive, plummeting downwards nose first until it was nearly vertical. It disappeared from out of the view windows of the Halberd.

"What the…"

"NO."

In a state of utter disbelief, Butch and Cassidy rose from their seats to see where the vessel had gone, as though trying to look over the edge of the windshield.

"What the hell are you doing," Matori snapped from behind them. "Remain at your posts."

A split second later a loud beeping sounded, and lights begun to flash in the flight deck.

"Proximity warning," cried Butch as he dropped back into his chair. "The Frigate's heading towards us. They're preparing to fire."

"I'm taking evasive action," said Cassidy.

The move had been clever. While the Halberd had cannons on its underbelly, it was not as heavily armed down here as it was above. It is commonly thought that a dragon-types underbelly is its weakest point. Zinzolin was applying the same principal here. He pulled the Frigate out of the steep dive as soon as it was clear of the cannons and brought it back up towards the Halberd. There was a bright flash as the cannon on the bow fired.

Fortunately for Team Rocket, Cassidy was quick witted. The Halberd managed to perform an aileron roll, raising its left wing high in the air, and causing the vessel to all but roll over. It worked. The Halberd banked just enough that the blue and orange beam missed it. As it rose into the air towards nothing the world briefly had light again before it faded leaving only darkness behind. Now the Halberd had a problem.

The Plasma Frigate had managed to get behind them, making the Halberd more vulnerable to attacks. And, behind the larger vessel, the Halberd could not manoeuvre as easily as it's smaller opponent. They had lost the advantage of sneaking up behind them. Something that was not lost on Zinzolin.

"DAMNIT." He punched the wall hard again. "Can't you fools get anything right. I should have put the A Team of Jessie and James here in charge."

The comment was greatly appreciated by Jessie and James, both of whom had to cover their mouths to stifle their giggles. It was not appreciated by Butch and Cassidy, though neither of them were in a position to protest at that moment.

"Two can play at this game," Cassidy screamed. "Continue to bank. We'll hit them from the broadside cannons."

The Halberd arched around, turning back towards the Halberd. The cannons mounted on its side let loose a fury of laser beams and missile projectiles. To which the Frigate responded by once again dropping down and flying under the Halberd's tail. It emerged from behind the stern out of range of the cannons.

"Fuck it's behind us," yelled Butch. "If they get us in the engines with that Necrozma beam, we could be fucked."

"That won't happen," cried Cassidy. "I'm bringing us around now!"

The Halberd banked to the left, once again turnings broadside cannons towards the Frigate. Fortunately for Zinzolin, those crucial few seconds while the ship was turning had given the Frigate time to get clear of the range of the ship's broadsides. Breathing heavily, his heart thumping, he spun the wheel and brought the Frigate around for another attack.

[Pokémon]

Meanwhile…

The Halberd was fitted with technology on a scale never before seen in an aircraft in the Pokémon world. This included artificial gravity. To those onboard the acceleration and deceleration and the constant dropping and banking of the vessel could not be felt. Having been trapped inside a windowless corridor running the length of the ship, Ash, Cameron, Jimmy, Gladion and Koraidon were oblivious to the mid-air Growlithe-fight of which they were part.

Their journey through the vessel had led them to a round chamber with a high ceiling. Unlike the rest of hallway, they had previously been walking through, this room was filled with a faint red light that cast long shadows and gave it an eerie ambiance. The red light illuminated their naked bodies, dancing on their skin. The contrast of light and shadow brought out the definition in their chests and stomach and was strangely erotic.

"What the heck is this place," breathed Gladion with a scowl.

"Don't know but I love the way you lot look in this light," Cameron giggled, his eyes darting between his friends, taking in the sight of their smoot bodies. "Yeah!"

"Cameron," snapped Jimmy. "Time and a place."

Ash however felt his heart being to race as a feeling of de javu overwhelmed him. "Cameron." His voice was barely above a whisper. "We've seen this before."

Cameron frowned at him. "What."

"This place looks exactly like the Yveltal's room in Team Flare's secret headquarters," Ash explained. "Only it's not Yveltal this time. It's…look!"

Directly in front of them was a round metal dais. It was about as tall as the five of them were. A massive bipedal dinosaur like Pokémon was standing on top of the metal dais. Its skin resembled thick plates coloured red, with a grey underbelly. It had four claws on each of its hands and four dozer-like blades on the ends of its large tail. Three claws adorned each foot. Its head was squarish with four ridges on top and spikes sticking out of the side, that ran down the sides of its body.

There was only one Pokémon it could be…

"Yup, that's Groudon," said Jimmy.

"So, all we have to do is wake it up, and it'll shut down this infernal machine," said Cameron. "Alright." He looked gleefully at Koraidon. "I suppose this is where you come in big guy."

"Wait no," snapped Gladion, holding up his hand and cutting Koraidon off before he and even opened his maw. "We don't know anything about this ship or how it works. We could be doing something here that causes it to crash."

Ash bit his lip. The memory of Yveltal bursting from a cocoon and disabling the Ultimate Weapon replayed in his minds. Loathsome though he was to say it at that point in time… "Guys Gladion might have a point. If we free Groudon we might end up destroying the Halberd's only power source."

Cameron threw his hands up in the air incredulously. "But but. I thought we agreed on this. That this was our best plan. I mean does anyone else have any ideas. Because sooner or later Team Rocket are going to catch us."

"I though the plan was to turn the Pokémon control machine off," Ash replied. "Plus, if I can find my Pokémon and free them, we could fly out of here."

"Jimmy what do you think," Cameron asked furiously, looking at Jimmy.

Jimmy scratched the back of his head and thought about it. "Normally, I'd say we should be more careful but. Right now, we've got almost nothing to work with and pretty much nothing to lose and everything to gain. So, I say we try and shut this thing down."

Gladion pulled a face and shook his head. "Listen to you all, just rushing in there. Do you lot ever think things through."

Cameron rounded on him. "Well do you actually have any ideas of your own. Or are you just going to criticise. Now's not the time to be an edgy fuck."

Gladion was not impressed by that. "And just what's that supposed to mean," he demanded, as he took a step towards Cameron. The two boys were about the same height and had a similar muscle mass, yet his advance made Cameron flinch.

Jimmy interposed himself between them. "Hey, knock it off!"

Ash looked to Koraidon. "Look, I still don't know if I can trust you, but you're the only one who seems to know anything at the moment. So, what do you think we should do."

Koraidon frowned for a moment before responding. "I think," he started but was again cut off. This time by a burst of laughter somewhere in the shadows behind them.

"Ahahahaha. Even when you try to use your brain and not rush in foolishly Ash. You still make stupid decisions."

Ash felt a chill run through his spine…He knew that voice…Oh man, did he know that voice.

"Misty," Cameron snapped as a figure stepped out from the other side of the metal dais.

It was hard to tell at first that it was indeed Ash's former travelling companion. She was dressed from head to foot in the Ultra Recon Squad outfit, with most of her face covered by her electronic visor. The only distinguishing feature visible on her, was a lock of her fiery red hair escaping from the side of her helmet. But as soon as she opened her mouth, there was no mistaking it.

"What the hell are you doing here," Ash snapped, rage suddenly boiling within him. "As if we didn't have enough to deal with at the moment."

He felt a claw on his shoulder and looked up to see Koraidon right beside him.

"Careful Ash," the dragon whispered.

"Oh, what's this," said Misty, eyeing Koraidon. "A new catch. I've never seen that Pokémon before. Pity it won't be around much longer." Even wearing the visor, her sneer was quite distinct. "You see Ashy-boy your edgy friend here has a point. You don't know what will happen if Groudon here is set free. But I do. Like the Centurion, the Halberd is powered by aura. It's draining the aura from Groudon to power itself, just like the ultimate weapon. And I suppose you remember what happened to the ultimate weapon when the power was cut? Now Blade!"

What happened next, happened quickly. Before Ash or the others were ready to react. A blueish blur leapt like a ninja from out of the shadows behind them.

"Whao!"

"What the…"

It was fast. Just as Ash and the others spun around to see what was going on, it had leapt over their heads and landed on top of Groudon's head. And from there it was launched itself at the walls. The four boys and one Pokémon looked wildly around, trying to follow it.

"What the hell is that!"

"What have you done?"

What Misty had done was simple. Four long thick cables, about the size of Ash's arm, connected the dais to something else in the ship. They dropped down from points on the wall, just below the ceiling and connected to the dais at the base. The dark ninja, whatever it was, as severing them. One by one they all fell to the ground with a dull thud and a shower of sparks.

The impact was almost immediate. Groudon's eyes snapped open…bright, yellow, and angry. The legendary ground type raised its large head and made a deafening roar, before lumbering forward. Covering their ears, Ash and the others scrambled for cover, keen to get out of its way.

"Oh fuck!" cried Cameron. "This is not good."

"I thought this was your plan," Gladion bellowed. "You wanted to free it. What the fuck were you expecting to happen."

"HEY GROUDON," Ash tried calling out to it.

But Groudon was not in the mood for chit chat. With another loud roar, it lowered its head and lumbered forward up the corridor from which Ash and the others had just emerged.

"WAIT…COME BACK GROUDON."

"Yea haw. Take those cables. You've just been Snea-calped. Teh-he. Get it. Scalped but with a snea in front of it, because I'm a Sneasel…Wait who am I talking to."

While Ash and the others were distracted by Groudon, the ninja like creature had come to land on the dais it had been standing on only a second before. But, of course, it wasn't actually a ninja. Rather, it was a certain familiar Sneasel, with his claws in the air and a big grin on his face.

"Hmmm come to think of it, Snea-lacking would have been more fitting." He frowned rubbing his head with his claws. "Or Snea-laugher." Then he shrugged and returned to his triumphant pose. "Meh, I'll use them some other time….Wait. Where the fuck am I." His grin wore off again as he looked around the room, as though noticing it for the first time.

And, speaking of noticing something for the first time…

"Wait, Blade," said Cameron. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd run off."

"Huh." Blade looked down at the four trainers and Koraidon. He was mildly surprised to see them. "Well, actually I was kidnapped. Thanks for the rescue effort, training. Heck, even noticing would have been nice. What is this place, what are we all doing here!"

"It's a very long story," Cameron replied. "How did you get here."

Blade rolled his eyes "Likewise, a long story."

"The short version is, this is a Team Rocket spaceship," said Ash. "They're trying to capture Necrozma. Our Pokémon are somewhere else being controlled by a Pokémon control machine."

Blade gaped at him incredulously. "Fuck, seriously. How did I ever get myself involved with you lot."

"Guys, we're wasting valuable time," said Jimmy urgently, before anyone else could say another word. "If Misty was telling the truth, then this ship could be coming down. We need to find our Pokémon and fast. Team Rocket said something about habitation."

"I'll help you look," said Blade jumping down from the Dais. "I can sniff out chu scent from a mile away."

None of them had noticed, that Misty had disappeared.

[Pokémon]

Back on the flight deck…

A maze of light flashed across the windshield as the Halberd took another steep nose dive to avoid a direct hit from the Frigate's laser cannon. It had been a narrow miss too. A split second later, the Necrozma-beam could easily have taken out the Halberd's primary cannon. Now coming at them from behind, the Halberd had the advantage.

"That was a close one," said Butch. "Cassidy put the shields to maximum power. At this rate it's only a matter of time before they hit us. And what the hell are those lights!"

"That's Olivine City," Cassidy snapped. "We must have reached the Johto coast. And I can charge the shields any further without drawing power from the thrusters. It's speed we need now, not defence."

"You two could not have fucked this up any worse," Gozu bellowed as he hit the wall once again. "You had one job. Sneak up behind Team Plasma, disable them and pull them in with the tractor beam. And you couldn't manage that! YOU COULDN'T MANAGE THAT!"

The worst was yet to come….

"Warning….containment breach….warning….containment breach…."

An electronic voice and a siren sounded, as a red light begun to flick on an off throughout the flight deck. At first, Butch, Cassidy, Gozu and Matori didn't notice. It was James who pointed it out.

"Umm, guys. I think you might need to see this," he said gesturing to a lonely computer screen to the right of the windshield. On it was displayed the image from the aura chamber at the other end of the vessel. There was no Groudon present, but there were four teenagers.

"The twerps," exclaimed Jessie. "What are they doing there."

"They must have freed Groudon," suggested James.

Gozu was a little slow on the uptake, but as his eyes moved from Butch and Cassidy to the screen, a fresh look of anger fell across his. "What! Weren't you two supposed to secure them!"

"W-we did, we did," protested Cassidy, not looking at Gozu as she tried to pilot the Halberd.

"We took their Pokémon, Pokéball, clothes and dignity," said Butch. "They were tied up below deck."

"Then how did they escape?"

James pointed to the image of Koraidon. "That's one of the Pokémon from the Aether Foundation."

This was enough to force Cassidy to look up at the screen. "But that's not possible. It was under the control of the ultra-remo unit. I swear, it was under our control."

"Well obviously it wasn't," said Matori. "And now it's freed those trainers, and Groudon. That could bring down the entire ship."

"We swear, we had it under our control," Cassidy cried, horrified.

Butch backed her up. "No Pokémon can resist EM waves."

"Jessie, James," snapped Matori. "Can I trust you to get those four back in their restraints."

Jessie and James jumped to attention. Neither was able to keep the satisfaction out of their voices.

"Right away ma'am."

"You can count on us."

"Wobbuffet!" And of course, a certain big blue Pokémon couldn't help popping out, to see what all the fuss was!