"Poison Sting."
As Red made the command, his Beedrill flew to the air before descending at an astonishing speed, readying his stingers as it shot small needles out of them which went towards Vileplume. The Grass type stood unhinged as the needles hit it, the attack barely able to make it move or wince in pain as it dusted itself off.
"You should know by now that there is a huge difference in skill and power, kid. You're not winning this battle, just face the facts. Vileplume, why don't we give him a demonstration?" Ariana said, cackling as her partner let out a ball of sludge at the raven haired teen and his Pokemon. The trio barely dodged the attack before Red quickly fired a flurry of stones which were evaporated by the pollen exerted from Vileplume's flower, which showed to be darker in color from the regular pollen.
'Oh boy.' The raven haired mentally commented before having to dodge another ball of sludge that quickly dissolved a nearby rock. Ariana continued laughing as she watched the boy fleeing for his life like a child watching their favorite cartoon.
"You can grovel and beg for my forgiveness and I may spare your pathetic life." She said, her hearty laugh echoing through the cave almost like she was a ghost in the cave. Red continued to run and dodge for his life as he silently made a command to his Pokemon. "Shinx, Leer. Beedrill, I need you to harden as much as you can."
The Pokemon nodded, each doing their as Beedrill stayed still as its body started to shine and Red taking up Shinx which confused the Pokemon as it looked at him with quizzical expression on its face. The raven haired teen seemed to sense its confusion as he explained his plan. "I'll give you the opening you need to Leer Vileplume. For now, use Charge."
After the young trainer explained, Shinx nodded as it absorbed the particles in the air, its body glowing from the electricity its holding. Red took out a few items which he reserved in his jacket pocket as he ran towards as he swerved and nimbly avoided the attacks that the Grass type threw at him. The teen then shot multiple rocks at the Pokemon which connected through the light miasma, hitting Vileplume on its head before shooting some more. As he shot a few more stones, he quickly changed his angle, aiming and colliding two stones which changed the trajectory of one as it aimed for Ariana. As the Flower Pokemon realized what was going on, it was caught off guard as it saw Shinx, glowing with energy, glaring at it menacingly. Red smiled as he saw this before he made another command. "Now Spark."
Following its trainer command, the Pokemon ran towards the Vileplume as the glow disappeared, surprising both it and Red as it tackled the Vileplume with the standard electrical power of the Electric type move, barely able to move the Grass type.
'What the? What just happened? Shouldn't Spark be stronger after Charge was used?' He thought before he heard an ear piercing screech, turning his attention to Ariana who was holding her right hand which had blood trickling from it. With eyes full of fury and anger and her teeth grinded to the point that the whole cave could enhance the noise, she yelled in a voice that most would compare to the same wavelength and volume as a Loudred. "YOU INSOLENT LITTLE FUCKER! HOW DARE YOU HURT ME, AN ADMIN?! A FUCKING ADMIN OF TEAM ROCKET!"
Her voice roared through the cave, causing Red and the other Pokemon to flinch at the sound of it. The redhead then started to pant heavily as her right eye started twitching uncontrollably, not able to control her immense rage as she glared at the raven haired teen. If looks could kill, Red would be eviscerated and murdered within a millisecond once Ariana's eyes focused on him.
"THAT'S IT! NO MORE PLAYING AROUND! VILEPLUME, SLUDGE BOMB!" The woman shrieked, Vileplume nodded before it shot another Sludge Bomb at Shinx, barely dodging the attack but was hit when part of the attack splashed on it, much to its trainer's worry. The raven haired teen ran to the Pokemon and picked it up, fleeing as he sidestepped from the direction of another ball of sludge which hit his arm, causing a painful burning sensation to the teen who bit his lip and continued running as he endured it. As he ran back to Beedrill and went to shelter behind a huge boulder, he looked at Shinx to see it was badly wounded however it was able to survive the attack but when he saw the shocked look on his Pokemon faces, he turned to the direction of their stares and was startled to see his entire arm almost purple. 'My arm!'
The teen tried to lift his arm realizing it was numb and barely able to move.
'Could be worse.' He mentally commented before he went into his bag, taking out one of his emergency Full Restores along with a Super Potion. Quickly and carefully, the raven haired teen applied the medicine to Shinx and Beedrill all the while giving himself an Antidote for his condition before he heard Ariana's yells and screams echoing through the cave.
"I SWEAR I WILL HAVE YOUR HEAD SERVED ON A SILVER PLATTER, YOU LITTLE SHIT!" As the words echoes and resonated through the cave, Red bear witness and realized that the boulder that he was hiding behind melted instantly as Vileplume shot multiple Sludge bomb at the teen and his Pokemon, each covering and blocking every escape route that he was running towards, much to the young trainer's dismay. Before long, the raven haired teen realized that he was surrounded by a puddle of sludge, hearing Ariana's laughing evilly at his situation.
"What's wrong, child? You seem stuck. Oh boo hoo! Poor boy." She mocked the teen, faking a worried expression before she continued laughing. Red growled silently at the admin before he took a look at his surroundings, observing the almost melting rocks around him before he got an idea, turning to take a look at the cages of captured Pokemon to see some of them having switches. Finding the location of each switch, he put down his bag as he check his supplies before he took out his slingshot, aiming it straight at Ariana as he prepared three stones, much to the woman's confusion.
"You dare point that thing at me? AGAIN?! Plus, do you not realize that Vileplume here can melt your little stones, boy?" She said before the teen shot them at her, her Vileplume's pollen protruding at the teen's ammo, melting them, much to Ariana's delight as she smirked at the teen. Her eyes widened as a fourth stone went their way and hit the vehicle, exploding into a cloud of black smoke that enveloped the red haired woman and her Pokemon as they both coughed in the thick haze. Red smiled at the result of his Smoke Ball as he ran to both Shinx and Beedrill, getting a plan as he shared his plan with them, both of his Pokemon agreeing with him as they made prepared themselves.
As the smoke cleared, Ariana opens her eyes to look around before she heard a command that echoed through the cave.
"Spark now!"
As the words resonated through the air, the redhead saw Shinx running towards her at an astonishing speed as it's enveloped within a huge veil of electricity, much to the woman and her Vileplume's surprise.
"What the?" Those were the only words that escaped her mouth and both of them dodged the Electric type, only to see Beedrill flying towards, almost in front of them as it jabbed the Vileplume multiple times with it stinger, frightened to see that the Vileplume was unaffected. The Bug type attempted again to only be rewarded with failure once more as Vileplume brushed away the attacks like it was nothing.
"Try as you might, Vileplume is way str-" Ariana's threat was interrupted as a loud sound behind her, turning to see Shinx hitting the cages, breaking the bars of some of them and knocking over a few others which released some of the captured Pokemon as they ran away and went back into the cave with some of them thanking the Electric type. The woman's teeth started to grind and grit as he regained her angry composure, ready to destroy everything and anything that was unfortunate enough to be in her path. The redhead was about to make a command until she saw a rock flying to her face, barely dodging it as she saw a group of Geodude holding stones and throwing, she then got attacked by a pack of Zubats and Golbats which knocked her back and onto the ground. As she looked around, she saw the once captured Pokemon of Mt Moon, all of them going against her and getting ready. Ariana then realized when looking through the crowd that something was amiss.
Red was not there.
Before she could fully register, she then heard multiple banging sounds along with the cries of a familiar Pokemon she has encountered before, her mind playing one question. 'I-It can't be, can it?'
Once she turned around, her suspicions were answered as she saw the once defeated Steelix glaring at her with angry eyes before she saw Red riding on its back, aiming and shooting at the cages and hitting the switches which released more captured Pokemon. Before Ariana realized it, she was surrounded by almost every inhabitant of Mt. Moon which made one of the red haired woman's eyes start to twitch uncontrollably as she look at the vehicles to see three cages still holding Pokemon.
"All our work… gone just like that…" She commented with a dumbfounded expression on her face before she saw one of the switches of the cage get hit, turning her gaze to the teen who was jumping off Steelix and making his way towards the last cages, much to her frustration.
"Vileplume…" Ariana said in a silent and threatening which made the Flower Pokemon turn to its trainer with a scared look on its face. The woman then lifted her arm as she said one phrase. "…take them out...and get the boy."
As the words left her mouth, Vileplume went against every inhabitant, holding its own against the congregation and easily knocking Pokemon as it made its way to the scarlet eyed trainer. Witnessing this, Red clicked his teeth as he saw the Grass-type making a B-line towards him as he tried his best to accelerate himself. He then made himself to the cages only to be stopped as he barely dodge a blast of light that made a crater on the ground before him. The teen was pushed away from his initial position as another blast came and missed him again. The teen let out a breath that he didn't know he held until he saw a pink Pokemon with wings beside him, barely able to get time to think as the pink fairy started dragging him into the direction of the cages as others started to follow and shield the teen which barely did a difference as Vileplume quickly took care of them, still in pursuit of the trainer.
'Damn it. It's still gaining on us. C'mon, body. Just a little bit more.' Red thought as he picked up the pink Pokemon and increased his speed as much as he could to escape the Grass type. Before Vileplume could attack, it was suddenly attacked by a Disarming Voice from Clefairy which made it disorientated as a group of Zubats let out a Supersonic at it which made it dizzy. The Grass type teetered in its track as it tries to gain its bearing and chase the young trainer only be attacked by the Steelix as they both battled, resulting in a stalemate despite Vileplume's wobbly condition. Red then got to the vehicles, climbing them and seeing Ariana running towards him, pushing and knocking away all her pursuers and assailants while glaring at them with fury in her eyes. "I WILL KILL YOU!"
"Alright, Clefairy. Let's quickly get to the cages and free your other friends." The raven haired teen said to the Fairy type as they quickly hurried to the cages.
Realizing that the switches were either broken or out of reach, Red quickly thought as he took up a pick axe and used all his strength to smash the bars open, taking a bit of time as the bars were strong. He then broke some of the bars of the first cage as he made his way to the second, using all his strength to knock it open, getting help from the Geodude which made him have an easier time breaking them. As he made his way to the third one, he got knocked off the vehicle along with the other Pokemon, looking up to see one of the workers looking at him with a purple bat with a tongue out of its mouth flapping its wings beside him.
"Nice one, Golbat. Keep up the work." The man commented to the purple Pokemon who squealed happily.
Ariana then caught up to them, a wicked smile coming across her face as she saw that some of the grunts are regaining their consciousness as they surrounded the teen. If things could not get worse, the cave shook intensely which surprised everyone, turning their attention to see Steelix and the other Pokemon on the ground and Vileplume walking towards Ariana, barely scathed from the battle.
"Nice job Vileplume. Now where were we?" The admin said, petting her Pokemon before she turned her gaze at Red who was barely able to gain his balance as he panted, looking at his poisoned arm.
'The poison is getting worse by the minute. This is not gonna end well.' The teen thought as he observed that the odds are against him as Ariana cackled once again before holding out her hand towards the teen, confusing her grunts and the young trainer.
"You have one last chance, kid. How about that offer? With the skills that you have, you could be an Admin in time with the proper training." She said as the other men looked at the teen in jealously and anger, some surprised at the offer.
"Miss Ariana a-actually offering an invitation? That doesn't happen often."
"…it doesn't happen at all…"
"You better take the offer, kid. Not everyone gets taken in by an Admin."
As they commented on the situation, Red was able to gain the energy to stand upright as he looked at Ariana with confidence in his eyes as he muttered one word out of his mouth.
"No."
The woman's eye started twitching as a vein appeared on her forehead before she let out a breath to calm herself down, shaking her head and she looked at the boy with a scowl on her face.
"As you wish, child. At least, I will give you a death worth of merit for making me work up a sweat." She said as she snapped her fingers, Vileplume walking up in front of her and ready to shoot before out of nowhere, the Grass type got enveloped in a blue hue, confusing everyone in the cave. Before anything was said or mentionined, the Pokemon was sent flying towards Ariana, knocking both of them into the workers, much to Red's confusion.
"What the-" Before she could finish her statement, she heard sirens all over the cave which made her click her tongue in frustration and cursed under her breath as she made a command to the men. "Let's go. We need to go now. We have no time. Take up everything you can. This is over."
The sirens got louder as she returned her Pokemon and got into one of the vehicles, the rest of the grunts following her as they hurried and drove off. Snapping out of his stupor and realizing that Team Rocket was leaving, Red immediately threw the pick axe in his hand towards the cage, making a dent before he shoot all of his ammo at it, barely able to do anything as the rocks broke on contact. As he was about to get out some more from his pocket, he was quickly put a chokehold as he saw that the attacker was one of the workers from his previous battles. The teen's scarlet eyes widen as he saw the rest of them waking up, releasing their own Pokemon which consisted of a Golem, Tyranitar and a Rhydon. As soon as the Pokemon came out, they were instantly knocked out as an immense shockwave threw some of the men off balance.
"How di-" The man could not finish his thought as he got struck at the neck, dropping Red to the floor as the teen finally was able to breath. The teen looked around to see someone who quickly dealt with the other men easily, knocking all of them out in record timing. As the man finished, he turned to Red and walked up to the teen. As the cave got some light shining through, Red was able to notice the man as all he had was a karate gi, minus the shirt with two solid wristbands on his arms with spiky black hair and piercing black eyes as he picked up the teen and shaking his hand.
"Good work out there, young trainer. Not most would've had the heart to accomplish what you have done." He said as Red looked down at the floor with a frustrated expression about to say a word until the man cut him off again.
"I understand your frustration, boy. They got away, able to see another day but think about it like this: you fought with people capable of taking on the strongest gym leaders and even the Elite Four and managed to hold your own despite the difference in strength and skill. And besides…" The man paused as he put his hand on Red's shoulder and turn him around to look at the cave to see the inhabitants thanking him and going to their living quarters in the cave. The scene caused something to click in the teenager's heart as his mouth curved upwards, the man patting the kid on the shoulder once more.
"Do not kill yourself over what you weren't able to do, young one. No one is able to save everyone but try to save as much as you can at least. Most trainers would think about winning the battle to be heroic. You're different. You thought about what you could do while holding them off as much as possible. And that is just as heroic." The man said as a Pokemon appeared beside him, it was a blue Pokemon with a tuft of yellow hair on its chest, resembling a dog.
"Ah! Lucario. Everything is taken care of." The man asked, the Pokemon responded by nodding quickly. The man then turned his gaze towards the boy.
"Remember, young one. You need failure to grow as well. Every success story starts with failure." The man said before he went off to the direction of Pewter City, waving with his back turned to Red, who returned the gesture. 'Thank you, sir.'
The teen then reunited with Beedrill and Shinx who both gave him a bear hug as he turned towards the inhabitants who all thanked him, some of them giving him Berries and other items as a sign of their gratitude before they went their separate ways. Red and his Pokemon continued through the cave, tired and worn out from the fighting until he was able to see light through the cave, coming out to see the night sky as he felt the breeze tickling his skin. The trio wobbled as he passed a sign that says 'Out of Mt Moon. You're on Route 4.'
The trio then took refuge under a bunch of trees, too tired to make camp as Red pulled out their sleeping bags as Shinx and Beedrill snuggled up beside him as they both quickly rested. The raven haired teen looked up at the sky, watching the stars twinkle as he closed his eyes, ready to get some sleep as he reminisced the events that happened prior.
'Today was hectic but I'm glad that everything went better than expected. I just wished I could save everyone else though.' As he paused, his face hardened before he continued before he looked at his Pokemon.
'Team Rocket, huh? I only heard rumors about them. I never knew they were real. Also, that man, he and his Lucario, I think that was what he called it, they were strong. Took care of everyone in a flash… I wish…I could get his name…' As the final thought went from Red's head, the teen yawned as he went to sleep.
A tapping sound resonated through the dark room as three silhouettes filled the room as they all stared at an empty chair, impatience present in their behavior. It was then that they heard a door open as the man with the spiky black hair and the piercing black eyes wearing a gi came into the room, sitting down on the chair with his arms folding as he saw the others looked at him with annoyed expressions.
"What took you so long? We were supposed to have this meeting minutes ago."
"Calm down. Four eyes, you need to learn to live a little…but she has a point. That is what phones and letters are for, young man."
"Speak for yourself, you hag. You need to do us a favor and retire!"
"All right! Be quiet!"
Everyone was silent as the silhouette in the middle slammed his hands on the desk, his cape flowing before he sat down and turned his gaze towards the man in the gi.
"Time to start our meeting, everyone. It is nice of you to join us this time, Bruno. A little late but thanks" The man said, to which Bruno responds with a silent nod as he kept his hands crossed.
"Now let us begin. Shall we?"
This chapter was nuts. Everything about it. Hope you liked the fact that Ariana is super strong because seriously, would it make sense that Team Rocket was around for so long and not one of them was able to take on the Gym Leaders or even the Elite Four. Also, how do you guys like Bruno's reveal at the end, I feel like if anyone should have a Lucario, it should be him. Well, I hope that you like the triple chapter threat. Tell me how you feel about it for I may publish the chapters in this fashion from time to time. Thanks for the views and reviews for the story. Enigma out.