"We need the reserves here yesterday!" Brock hissed into the radio, staring up at the impassive visor covering Sabrina's eyes.
"We've got one channeler squad a few minutes away," Tory replied. "Will that be enough?"
"We'll be lucky to last ten seconds, let alone a minute," Brock whispered back. He took stock of his squad out of the corner of his eye.
Amanda had Abra and Jynx out. Both of the psychic types were glowing. Brock didn't know they were up to, but he trusted that Amanda had enough sense to wait for his signal.
Misty, Cindy, and Visquez had formed up on his flanks. They each had pokeballs in hand and were staring down the blank faced trainers floating over the buildings on either side of the street.
Brock risked turning his head a little to try and see where Kayden was, but the poison-type specialist was nowhere to be seen. Brock hoped that it meant that Kayden was hiding and waiting to strike, not that he had been wounded or killed.
He returned his full attention back to Sabrina. She hadn't moved a muscle. None of the Saffron trainers or pokemon had. They just floated there in the falling rain that soaked their clothes, pattered off of Sabrina's helmet, and collected in the street.
"I think they're trying to read our thoughts," Amanda whispered over the radio. "I've had Abra and Jynx shield us, but keep up your own defenses."
"Do they suspect an ambush or do they just want our plans?" Misty whispered back.
"I'm unsure. Most likely both."
"How long do you think they'll keep this up?" Cindy asked, her voice steady, but Brock could see her trembling even out of the corner of his eye.
"Impossible to say," Amanda replied. "Just get ready-"
Sabrina and her entourage glowed and Amanda's pokemon cried out. Brock could feel the intrusion in his mind, his defenses barely holding. Visquez let out a growl, Misty clutched her head, and Cindy fell to her knees.
There was sudden movement from behind Sabrina; Kayden, along with his pokemon Lancer and Muk had stealthily scaled the building and were now attacking. Kayden had two knives drawn as he soared through the air towards Sabrina, Lancer firing off a Poison Sting attacks, and Muk was launching off rapid blasts of poisonous goo at the same time.
None of the enemy so much as moved. None of the enemy needed to.
There was a brilliant purple light flared, a blinding explosion of psychic energy. When it faded the poison type specialist could no longer be seen.
"KAYDEN!" Cindy shrieked.
"YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!" Visquez hollered. "CONJOINED THUNDER!"
"Wait!" Brock shouted, but it was too late. White light blazed all around Visquez as she sent out her pokemon all. The air grew thick with static as the pokemon came out rearing, their hackles raised, sparks crackling around them. A giant column of electricity shot up, a yellow light rivaling the sun. Like a striking snake it snapped at Sabrina-
And then curved up and back, puppeted psychics glowing as the electricity gathered in the center of their floating gathering. A crackling sphere of electric power sat there, larger than a snorlax.
"MOVE!" Brock shouted.
Misty and Amanda grabbed Cindy and then started sprinting. Brock and Onix both scrambled out from beneath the sphere.
"Counter! "Visquez commanded just before the electricity speared down. A dome of galvanic power sprung up to meet the spear and there was another blinding flare of light as the buzzing of electricity grew into a fearsome roar. The street shook.
The clash turned into an explosion, the shockwave taking the remaining gym brats off their feet. A wave of dust and smoke over them, clearing quickly so that they could see a gaping hole in the street leading to the sewers where Visquez had been standing.
Hoping Visquez had managed to protect herself and her pokemon, Brock turned his attention back to the psychic trainers and pokemon floating above. He didn't know if they were going to start scanning them again or telepathically attacking them, but he couldn't let them seize the initiative.
Just before he started to act, Cindy rose to her feet, her face grim and tear stained as she stared up.
"Brock, be ready!" Cindy called out, getting to her feet and throwing a pokeball. "Empress, turn that building into ammunition with Sand Tomb!"
Empress was already stomping her foot when she materialized and Brock saw lines of sand appearing in a nearby small office building. The structure fell apart in chunks, making it the perfect ammo for Onix.
"Rock Throw!" Brock shouted and Onix slammed into the debris. Debris became projectiles and soared up at each of the floating trainers, slabs as large as cars moving fast enough to reduce a grown human to paste.
With the smallest movements all the floating people and pokemon avoided the missiles. Their postures never changed and their gazes never moved, blank eyes remaining fixed on Brock and his squad.
The rain continued to fall.
Gary ran down the hallway, Eevee and Squirtle bounding at his heels. The path back to the trubbishes had been cut off by Team Rocket. Hightailing it away from them, Gary had managed to find a stairwell and run down several flights of stairs before catching a glimpse of another Rocket squad.
Gary had dashed through the nearest door, hoping that there was no one waiting for him, hoping that Team Rocket wasn't about to jump out from behind a corner and grab him. Now he was dashing down hallways as he heard running footsteps all around him. His head was on a swivel, looking for a place to hide.
He kept remembering the sensations from the last time they had caught him. The body slamming into his own, the feeling of helpless as they held him down, and the chafing of the restraints. Gary felt tears in the corner of his eyes and he could feel his heart in his throat.
Something metal on the wall caught his eye. He took a second a second to examine it as he ran; it was a trash chute. It reminded him of the trubbishes-
The boy skidded to a halt and reversed his course, his pokemon briefly and quickly recovering as they copied his movements.
Gary opened the chute and then looked down at himself and then looked back at the opening.
"This is stupid, this is stupid, this is stupid," the boy muttered under his breath. The sound of running footsteps was growing closer and seemed to come from all around. Gary looked both ways again and then took a deep breath.
"I just hope Aaron doesn't find out about this," Gary said, grabbing the edge of the opening and swinging his legs up and in. "If he does then he'll never let me live this down after the shit I've given him. Hop on up you two."
Eevee jumped through a small gap between Gary's body and the rest of the chute and Squirtle jumped onto his back. Gary let go and slid into the chute.
He kept his elbows in as he fell, Squirtle's shells screeching against the metal wall. And then Gary's fall was arrested by something almost soft, but not quite. Eevee let out a squeak of pain as Gary squished her into the mysterious surface, but she popped out from under him quickly.
It was too dark to see what he had fallen into, but Gary's nose supplied him the answer soon enough.
"This is the second worst thing I've smelled today," Gary gagged. "Oh, well. It worked. Let's see if we can find a way out of here."
Team Rocket would be on him soon after all.
"More bad news," Ariana said, standing at Archer's side.
"I didn't know today could fit anymore in," Archer groaned. "What's wrong now?"
"We've lost contact with several patrols in the east side," Arianna informed him. "They failed to report in."
"I'll send some of the southside patrols to scout the area where the other patrols should be," Archer rubbed his forehead. "Once we're done with the League's vanguard squad, we should know what they're up to and we can reassign our Saffron psychic assets to deal with it."
"I'll compile a list of locations for them to check," Arianna nodded. "Once this is dealt with, we might just carry the day."
"I hope so," Archer sighed. "I wish I was out there, in the thick of things. I'm much better at commanding from the field."
"I know," Arianna put a hand on his shoulder. "But we need you here today."
Another flurry of psychic energy struck the ground, explosions surrounding Onix as he roared his defiance. Geodude darted across the street, hurling chunks of asphalt as he went. Amanda, Abra, and Jynx stood behind Onix, doing their best to shield him with telekinetic barriers and walls of ice. Cindy and Empress hurled streams of mud that cut through concrete roofing. Misty's pokemon alternated between attacking with high pressured streams of water and ice attacks from all directions.
None of the attacks managed to hit their targets. Each of the psychic pokemon and trainers may as well have had eyes in the back of their heads. They always managed to avoid the attacks with the smallest of movements.
Brock looked up at them, panting. He hadn't had time to take a count, but he could have sworn that there were less enemy trainers and pokemon now than at the start of the fight.
"Are-they being sent- away?" Brock whispered to himself between pants. He knew none of his squad's attacks had managed to connect. He couldn't think of another reason why the psychics would be gone.
"The reinforcements ran into some trouble," Tory's voice crackled over the radio. "They've been delayed."
"Acknowledged," Brock replied, eyes still on Sabrina. Then he winced as he felt another telepathic intrusion. Brock didn't know if they had managed to pick any information out of his mind. He thought his defenses were holding, but he had no way to be sure.
Brock heard the pop of something teleporting and then saw a stream of mud from Empress crossing with a high-pressured stream of water from Starmie. He looked around at the people and pokemon floating above them- One had a torn sleeve and bloodied arm.
Brock grinned and pumped his fist at the sight.
Several orbs of psychic energy appeared in the air and Brock recognized them as charging points for high powered Psybeams. He waited a second to gauge how fast they were gathering energy and then shouted. "Bide!"
An aura of red light surrounded Onix just before the beams lanced out. The rock-type screeched in pain, as large chunks of his stony hide were blown off of him. Brock grit his teeth at the sound of his pokemon's pain.
The barrage of psybeams continued, the light around Onix growing brighter until it reached an apex. Once more Onix roared and unleashed a shockwave of red light from its body towards the floating trainers, the shockwave tearing into buildings and rooftops on either side of the street, shearing right through them, stopping the rain from falling on Brock and his squad. Before the attack could reach them the puppeted trainers and pokemon teleported away almost as one.
A dome of red light illuminated the block as the shockwave from Bide travelled higher, until it faded underneath the grey sky. The rain resumed and Brock rushed over to Onix, two super-potions in hand. The stone snake was coiled in the middle of the street, breathing hard.
"Onix you did great, no one could ask for more," Brock told him as he began to apply the potions to the rock-type's wounds. "Rest for a moment-"
All of a sudden Brock found himself on the ground, a tremendous force pressing him down. It was like an invisible hand was attempting to crush him as one might crush an insect. Beside him Onix also collapsed to the street, groaning. Brock heard Misty, Cindy, and Amanda cry out. No doubt the same attack had gotten them.
Brock was having trouble breathing. Each time he exhaled he found it harder to inhale, the air being squeezed from his lungs. Suffocation would be the end result.
Cracks appeared in the street before Brock's eyes and he could hear a grinding sound. Onix growled, the sound a rumble that echoed in Brock's chest. The cracks in the street grew larger and the pressure lessened. Brock was able to lift his head.
Trembling with exertion, Onix was slowly rising, a purple-pink glow surrounding him as the telekinetic pressure sought to crush him. His struggle was taking a toll on the street beneath him; asphalt was crumbling and cracking as Onix pushed against it.
The higher Onix rose the more the pressure on Brock lessened. He was able to look up and see that Sabrina and the rest of the puppeted psychics had returned, their gazes focused on Onix as he struggled against them.
It was then that Brock realized that whomever was controlling them lacked access to any of Sabrina's experience or her knowledge. With that knowledge they would've known that the proper thing to do would have been to lift Onix into the air. Untethered from the earth, he would have no leverage with which to utilize his prodigious strength.
But, on the ground, the stone snake was able to withstand and overcome the full might of Sabrina and her gym.
"Misty! Amanda! Reinforce the street!" Brock called out.
"Starmie, Staryu, Ice Beam the cracks shut!" Misty ordered her pokemon.
"Jynx, Abra, help them!" Amanda shouted. "Make sure Onix can stand!"
Glowing purple and strengthened with ice, the street quit cracking and Onix rose higher. The pressure on Brock and the others lessened as more power was applied to keeping Onix down.
Brock regained his feet and glared up, staring straight into the impassive visor covering Sabrina's eyes.
"You're not going to win," he growled, half to the people controlling Sabrina, half for his own benefit. "Even if you kill me, you won't be able to hold this city. And you'll never be able to hold this region. You don't know the first thing about us, about any of the humans or pokemon you want to control. And that will be your downfall."
Whether he won or lost, Brock knew that he wouldn't regret standing against them.
Gary's chute maneuver paid off. Team Rocket hadn't expected him to slip past them and there had been no guards in the stairwells. He was able to make it down tens of stories before he encountered more of Team Rocket.
His legs burning, Gary barreled through the nearest doorway. He came out by a break room with vending machines near the door.
"Eevee, Squirtle, give me a hand!" Gary said, running over to the nearest machine. He began pushing on the machine's side, near the top, hoping to tip it over.
Eevee let out a sound of acknowledgement. She bounded off the walls and then slammed into the top of the vending machine. With a groan it toppled over, blocking the doorway.
"That'll buy us some time," Gary panted, hands on his knees. "Come on," he said between gasps for air.
Gary pushed himself onwards. It was another white-collar floor, with cubicles and offices decorated with motivational posters, joke posters, reminders, announcements, and all the other little touches of a subculture comprised of people who were paid to be in the same proximity of each other rather than people who sought each other out. With his heart beating in his ears and adrenaline singing in Gary's veins, it seemed even more superficial and insulting than usual.
He ran aimlessly through the floor while looking for another stairwell or garbage chute, or anything that might let him get off the floor. He looked until his throat grew raw and his side developed a stitch, couldn't find anything.
Turning a corner, Gary came skidding to a halt. He nearly ran right into a cord that was just above waist height, with a sign hanging from it that marked the area beyond off limits due to construction.
"Maybe," Gary greedily gulped down air for his burning lungs, "maybe we'll get lucky."
He and his pokemon slipped over and under the cord and into the hall. It might have just been his imagination, but Gary imagined that he could feel a cool breeze coming from somewhere ahead.
The rain became a deluge. The city grew darker, everything falling into deep shadow under clouds so dark that they might as well have been black. Lightning cracked and thunder rumbled.
The city was thrown into sharp relief for a moment; everything was black and white as Ash crept through the briefly lit downtown streets. Water dripped off of his helmet, lost in the sheets of rain drumming on the skyscrapers, sidewalks, and roads around him. His boots and his body armor were soaked through and squelched when he moved.
Lightning flashed again and he looked up to see the Silph building towering above him, rising above the other skyscrapers that comprised the heart of downtown Saffron.
Ash was getting closer.
"Oh, ah," Gary rubbed at his side. He was leaning against a partially deconstructed plaster wall. His chest heaved and he was covered in sweat. Eevee and Squirtle alternated between giving Gary worried looks and looking behind them.
The sound of pounding footsteps echoed from somewhere behind them. Gary broke into a sloppy run, panting and stumbling as he forced himself forward. He let out a loud curse as he banged his shin against a portable metal tool cabinet, sending it wheeling into the wall with a thud.
"This way!" He heard a woman shout and Gary winced again. He pushed himself harder, sprinting through the exposed plaster and over plastic sheets with a limping gait, Eevee and Squirtle at his heels.
A cold breeze brushed over his skin as he turned another corner and then he skidded to a halt. The hallway had been extended into the beginnings of a skybridge reaching towards the skyscraper across the street. Rain battered against the glass roof and wind ruffled his hair and picked at the plastic sheets in the building proper.
Behind him the sound of pursuit grew louder. Gary turned around, ready to bolt down a different hallway. Before he could move, he saw Rocket grunts with houndooms and growlithes running at him. Blasts of fire flew to either side of him, cutting off hope of escape.
"Fuck!" Gary staggered back. "Bubblebeam! Eevee, Quick Attack anything that gets too close!"
Blasting bubbles soared down the hallway, exploding on contact with the people and pokemon from Team Rocket. Some humans, houndooms, and growlithes were knocked over, but the remainder quickly countered. Large fireballs came flying back, overwhelming Squirtle's attack with the weight of numbers. Flames bloomed and Squirtle screamed.
"Squirtle!" Gary cried out, throwing himself to the side to catch the water-type as it was hurled back. He grunted as the breath was knocked out of him, but he managed to catch his pokemon. Leaning against the wall, Gary looked down. Squirtle was covered in burns but he managed to look up at his trainer and croak something Gary couldn't understand.
Eevee let out a cry of alarm and Gary looked back up. Team Rocket was advancing on him again, the pokemon staying back while the humans came forward. Eevee stood just in front of Gary, hackles raised, fur rippling and growling with her teeth bared.
"No," Gary whimpered, stumbling back. Tears mixed with sweat on his cheeks and cold wind caressed the back of his neck like the icy fingers of death.
"Stand still kid, you don't want to get any closer to the edge," one of the Rocket grunts said. "It's a long fall and we don't want to have to mop up after you."
Gary looked back at the edge and then back at Team Rocket. He took a step closer to the edge, the wind and rain growing stronger.
"Easy kid," the grunt said. "You don't want to do something you'll regret, now do ya?"
"Well, if he jumps, he won't regret it for long," another grunt said, eliciting a series of chuckles from their comrades.
"Quiet," the first grunt told the other before returning his full attention to Gary. "Don't make any sudden movements kid."
Gary took another step back, Squirtle cradled in his arms. He could imagine the drop behind him, a wave of tingling fear washing through him just as the cold rain washed over him in turn. The wind tugged at his sodden hair.
"Don't be stupid," the first grunt said slowly walking closer with his hands held up as if he was no threat. He halted when Eevee's growling reached a new crescendo. "Tell your pokemon to stand down and none of you will be hurt."
Gary shook his head. He couldn't trust himself to speak.
"Kid, either you come back with us and we find ya some new accommodations or we start looking for a bucket to store what's left of ya after you take another step or two."
Trembling, Gary inched backwards away from the man, until the edge of his heel was no longer on solid ground.
Darkness fell as the boy couldn't bring himself to keep his eyes open any longer. He couldn't bring himself to watch whatever came next.
AN: I'd like to thank Amationary for beta reading.
I think it's fairly obvious that I enjoy some of the more nonsensical physics breaking bits of anime battles compared to other forms of pokemon media, like what Sabrina's Abra did during the second gym match. Electricity does not work that way but it's a cool idea.
Due to real life things I won't be releasing for the next two weeks. Provided everything goes well the next chapter of Symbiotic should be released on May 26th.
Anyway, don't forget to review! Concrit is welcome!