Chapter 68; A whirl of conflict, part 1
Detective Looker was sick to his stomach.
Two bodies in one day.
And both killed in the same way.
Team Rocket had crossed a big line today.
"All because team Sonic pushed them into a corner" he thought in anger.
The moment an anonymous call arrived, secretly made by Kanto gym leader Brock, he knew something was taking place in that very moment somewhere close.
And that somewhere else had to be the whirl islands.
After all the murder of captain Stevens meant this very thing; team Rocket was planning something at the whirl islands. And it was most likely going down now.
"And he was the only one who knew how to safely cross the whirls" he thought in frustration "that's why they killed him. To make sure they wouldn't be followed by sea".
"What do we do now detective?" an officer asked after finally gathering all the evidence from the crime scene.
"Man the boats and circle the whirl islands as soon as possible. Team Rocket is there now. That means team Sonic will go there as well. This is our chance to capture both".
The officer nodded and rushed to relay the order to bring out the police boats.
When Looker however came out of the apartment, the same crowd that had been trying to get answers about the death of dr Leeds had gathered outside.
At first Looker paid them no mind. He thought they once again had come to confirm the murder. After all captain Stevens was a beloved member of the community.
But he soon realized they were not there for the death of the captain; instead they were all looking towards the whirl islands.
Looker was about to ask what was happening when a helicopter flew over the crowd heading for the whirl islands.
At the same time, a TV crew arrived. A reporter came out and positioned herself in front of the sea so that the whirl islands could be seen behind her. She then started talking as they went live.
"We are live at the scene of the murder of beloved ferry boat captain Kai Stevens. The crime has been confirmed to be the doing of the notorious criminal gang known as team rocket. Evidence points to the criminals having interrogated and executed the captain for information regarding safe passage to the whirl islands complex where for decades people have speculated the legendary Lugia has made its home. Thomas what do you see from up there?"
Looker, who had blended in with the crowd, stood next to a young woman as she took out her phone and entered the livestream of the channel reporting the news.
"As you can see Miranda below us there in the distance is the famous ferry boat that captain Stevens used to sail the bay so many times in his life. Also there's seems to be some activity down there. We will try to get a better view".
Looker couldn't believe it. How did the public know of this? The death of captain Stevens was not more than two hours ago.
Who had leaked the news to the public?
In the distance the chopper attempted to lower down towards the islands only to be forced to retreat when a barrage of poison, ground and flying type attacks threatened to bring it down.
The livestream then went back up.
"As you probably saw Miranda we were almost struck down from the sky. There are tens of team rocket members down there, obviously standing guard. I am afraid the worst yet to come".
Miranda turned back to the camera taking over the feed.
"Unbelievable news ladies and gentlemen. The whirl islands have been taken over. What are the authorities' plans to apprehend the criminals? Stay tuned for more soon".
The onlookers immediately started discussing amongst themselves.
"Team rocket needs to be stopped".
"But who will? The police hasn't made any progress in stopping them".
"Do you think team Sonic will come to the rescue?"
The last question made Looker mad. Quickly removing himself from the crowd he dialed a number.
"Where are those damn boats already?"
"We uuh… have a slight problem sir".
"Slight? How slight we talking about?"
"Well… someone emptied all the boats of fuel slight".
"Say what?!"
"They were locked away sir. That means there are moles inside the police".
"Don't point out the obvious! Fuel them and get out there!"
"It's going to take a while sir".
Looker cursed.
"Make that while last less! And hurry!" he yelled hanging up and rejoining the crowd.
As he was about to approach reporter Miranda to have her get his statement that the police boats were about to set out for the whirl islands to apprehend the criminals, the livestream started again.
"Thomas you got something for us?" Miranda spoke the camera.
"Yes Miranda! I got something the world needs to hear! Hope lives! Help is on the way".
Looker smiled in satisfaction.
But he had smiled prematurely.
The livestream then played a scene of the sea below the helicopter which was on the other side of the bay.
"Underneath us, even though they're too far to make out clearly, three trainers are heading towards the whirl islands".
A kid from the crowd identified a familiar spiky blue head.
"It's team Sonic!" it shouted with all its lung capacity.
Everyone started murmuring and looking at their screens trying to make out what they were watching.
Soon enough the murmurs started turning into loud cheers.
Looker tried to make out what they were saying.
"Kid's right!"
"It's them!"
"Team Sonic is here!"
"Go get them team Sonic!"
And before Looker knew it the entire port was screaming one singular phrase.
"GO TEAM SONIC GO!"
Miranda positioned herself to show the cheering crowd behind her while instructing the channel to play the video footage Thomas got from the helicopter.
"My dear watchers. Hope lives. As you can see in the video footage playing and hear the roars of the crowd behind me, the heroes known as team Sonic, consisting of the hero of Kanto Sonic the hedgehog and his two loyal allies, having been identified as Miles Prower and Knuckles the echidna, are on their way to once again foil team rocket's plans. With just their emergence they have restored hope to everyone. And after their great victory against the criminal organization two weeks ago, I dare say the legendary Lugia has nothing to fear".
Jasmine, who was watching the livestream while helping Sonic navigate towards the island was satisfied at what she was seeing.
"You hear that guys?" she asked them via the phone "everyone's cheering for you".
"We can hear them from down here too" Sonic confirmed.
"Turn left. Reef up ahead".
Blastoise turned, avoiding crashing into the barely visible underwater reef.
"Close call. Thanks Jaz".
"Don't thank me yet. There's still a ways to go".
"We know" Tails said as he could see they were still too far from the islands to relax.
As the crowd of onlookers kept cheering for team Sonic, Looker left for a few moments.
Then returned with a couple of officers and a megaphone.
As he tested it, the annoyed crowd turned to the source of the sound.
"Attention, attention! Remove yourselves from the scene immediately. The police will shortly be heading out to arrest the criminals".
The onlookers remained silent for a moment then immediately went back to cheering for team Sonic.
Looker sighed in disappointment. The crowd wouldn't listen. At least not to him.
Approaching Miranda he requested that he be allowed to make a statement on the case. As he was positioned in front of the crowd he took a deep breath.
The legend of Sonic ended today.
"Residents of Johto. I am detective Looker, the lead detective in the case of team rocket. And today the police is going to arrest all lawbreakers that are on that island complex".
"That's great detective. How soon will the police be joining team Sonic in the fight against team Rocket?" Miranda asked pointing the microphone towards him.
"I believe there's a misunderstanding here. There will be no joining. The police doesn't cooperate with criminals".
Both Miranda and the cameraman exchanged a look of confusion.
"I must be misunderstanding something myself here detective. For a moment there you seemed to be indicating that the police is planning to arrest team Sonic as well".
"That is exactly what's going to happen on the whirl islands today" Looker said, his entire being flooding with a sense of satisfaction.
The effects of his last phrase however were profound.
The crowd immediately went silent. And they all turned to look at him stunned.
"It's time the truth comes out about team Sonic. They are not the heroes everyone thinks they are" Looker continued undeterred, revealing the photo of the destroyed truck.
"This is the aftermath of what you called their great victory. A truck torn apart by an explosion and over 10 team rocket members dead. This is THEIR work. These!" he shouted pointing towards the islands "these are your heroes! Nothing more or less than cold blooded murderers who are out to completely obliterate team rocket!"
The crowd was looking at the photo through the livestream. They could not believe it. It couldn't possibly be true.
Jasmine herself was shaken by the turn of events. But not for the same reason as everyone else.
"Guys! Detective Looker is painting you as monsters!"
To her surprise however Tails responded with an uncanny calmness.
"I thought that would happen. Thankfully being a tech savvy genius, I have an out to this. But we will need your help Jaz. You spread the rumors that turned us into heroes in the eyes of the Johtonians. Therefore you are the only one who can shatter Looker's effort. Will you do it?"
"Of course!" Jasmine agreed in a heartbeat though not understanding how.
"Good. Then allow me".
Getting his phone and using an advanced software he developed himself based on the technology tech experts used to connect from afar to other peoples' computers for tech service, he hacked into Jasmine's phone.
"Don't panic and sorry in advance. That is me. I will hack into the livestream with your phone so that everyone can see and hear you. Afterwards it's up to you".
Jasmine understood and agreed.
A few clicks and processing bars later everything was set. In the meantime, Jasmine could see the people faltering in their beliefs. It was natural though.
Looker had spoken first. He could paint the situation any way he chose unless stopped.
"We're set" Tails' voice informed her. You ready?"
"Yes".
Tails took a deep breath. From atop Blastoise Sonic nodded.
Now or never.
"Here goes nothing" Tails said establishing the link.
The live feed was cut. Looker's face was replaced by Jasmine's.
"My friends this is gym leader Jasmine. Don't listen to detective Looker. He is not telling you the whole truth".
Everyone started murmuring.
"What?!" Looker exclaimed then turning to the reporter "what's happening?"
"We're not live anymore. Someone hacked into the system" the cameraman said.
Looker couldn't believe it.
It had to be the hedgehog's tech savvy friend's doing.
"What the detective showed you is real" Jasmine continued trusting that trust was built on truth "but it wasn't team Sonic who did this. That was the revenge the legendary Raikou had on team rocket. Team Sonic released it and it chose to destroy its captors".
The onlookers seemed to believe it. After all rumors of the legendary beasts being acquainted with team Sonic was no longer just rumors but facts according not only to gym leader Morty but known legendary beast researcher Eusine.
"Detective Looker is painting them as monsters because of their unorthodox actions. He is out to get Sonic the hedgehog for what happened at Silph co in the Kanto region. But by doing so he is dangerously ignoring the big picture" Jasmine continued with her voice gaining a hint of passion.
"Team Sonic may not be officials… but they are the ones out there right now. Heading to the whirl islands to save pokemon. They are the ones about to risk their lives selflessly to save Pokemon for the who-knows-how-manyeth time. So it's time someone said it at last" Jasmine said before taking a deep breath.
"Team rocket are monsters. And team Sonic are the monster hunters we need. So let's give them all the support we can. For right here, right now… it is them who are on their way to the whirl islands! Not the police! They are the ones about to risk their necks again for the safety of the pokemon as well as our own, not the police!"
Every last one of the onlookers started roaring cries of support that easily reached both the ears of team Sonic as well as Ash who had been trying to find a spot to land on the whirl islands while the rocket grunts were making his life harder.
"Woah" both he and Noctowl froze for a moment as they heard the cries of support "look at that".
Detective Looker wasn't ready to give up however.
"Stop supporting them! They have caused the collapse of Silph…" he tried to say through the megaphone before the mob grew angry and tried to get him only to be stopped by the two officers revealing their guns.
Fleeing the scene in defeat Looker again called to see what was going on with the boats.
"We found a mole sir. But he is not talking".
"What about the boats?"
"That's the problem sir… we caught him trying to sabotage the boats. He drilled holes in the hulls. We need to plug them first".
"Damnit. Do so but quickly! Team Sonic will escape".
"Sir don't you mean team Rocket will escape?"
"I know what I said! Do your job!"
Hanging up, he leaned against the wall.
It couldn't possibly be happening. He had told everyone what team Sonic had done and still they supported them.
"Why…" Looker muttered defeated "why is no one looking at the bigger picture?"
After Jasmine's speech, Tails cut the link with her phone, although the call continued.
"You did it Jaz. I knew we could count on you" Sonic thanked her.
"We owe you big time" Knuckles added in gratefulness.
"Kick team rocket out and we're even" Jasmine's voice answered.
"Will do" Sonic said confidently. "how close are we?"
"You're almost there. Dodge the underwater rock in front of you and you will have successfully passed through the whirls".
Sonic patted Blastoise. The water type swam by the underwater rock and just like that team Sonic had entered the whirl islands.
A pair of rocket grunts stationed nearby refrained from engaging, calling the head of the operation, admin Petrel, for instructions.
"Stop them by any means necessary!" was he short and angry reply.
As he shut off his communicator, he looked forward at the crossroad.
"This whole damn place is a maze" he thought fighting to maintain his calmness.
"Sir, where do we go?" a grunt asked from behind, agitating him further.
"We split. Half of you go right, the rest with me on the left. Let's go chop-chop. Lest you want to stay here to slow team Sonic down".
The grunts didn't need another word. Quickly splitting into two teams they proceeded deeper into the caves.
On the surface, team Sonic finally managed to get on the main island where the cave was located. Quickly spotting the grunts on patrol, Knuckles knocked them out, though not as quietly as he hoped.
There was no follow up however. And that worried the three heroes.
"Where is everyone?" Tails inquired as he flew around for a bit seeing no one.
"Jaz?" Sonic spoke to the phone "give me something. Do you see where the rockets are?"
A short pause later she replied.
"On the other side of the island. And they are trying to capture Ash!"
Sonic gasped but was also filled with disappointment.
"Why can't that moron ever listen? Let's go!"
"Wait!" Tails stopped him "I have an idea. Knuckles look for the entrance to the cave. Sonic with me. I need you to be the bait".
"For what?"
"You can say its' time to unveil what I've been tinkering with" the fox smiled mischievously.
Both Sonic and Knuckles were intrigued but had no time to ask for details. Knuckles immediately started scaling the walls of the rocky surface, his gauntlets digging into the rock like it was butter.
Tails then soared and grabbed Sonic's hands, lifting him high in the air, as he began explaining his plan.
A little further away
"Raticate super fang!"
Raticate's attack connected, damaging Pikachu greatly.
"Golbat air cutter!"
Golbat unleashed the power of the wind towards Heracross. The massive bug and fighting type fainted instantly.
"Heracross no!"
"Surrender kid!" one of the grunts warned Ash "you are outmatched".
"Never! I'm the one who will become a Pokemon master! I won't let you hurt any more pokemon".
"Hehe that's rich. You can't beat us alone!"
"He is not alone!" Sonic called out from a higher ground.
Just as the grunts all turned to see their nightmare incarnate, they saw a barrage of rocks heading their way.
All of them ducking out of the way, bought the heroes time.
"Do it Tails".
Tails then took out, to Ash's surprise, what looked like a gun.
"What are you doing?!"
Tails opened fire.
From the barrel of the gun came yellow shining energy. Coming into contact with one of the grunts cause him to go limb.
Before Ash could even take in what had happened, Tails fired over and over, getting each and every one of the grunts, not all on first try though. Making a self-note that he needed to practice on his targeting abilities after today, he carried Sonic down to meet Ash.
"They… you… what did you do to them?!"
"Relax, they're just stunned".
"Stunned?"
Tails revealed his creation. Up close, it no longer seemed like a regular gun. It resembled more a mix of parts having the shape of a gun.
"It's a stun gun I invented. You see after our battle with Raikou I discovered I had also gained the ability to shoot small amounts of electricity from my fingertips. Like that space wars movie series I once saw. So I gathered several parts and put them together building this baby. The idea is that I shoot electricity which is then conducted through the hilt towards an empty battery. The empty battery then gathers the electricity to its tip, gathering not only its amount but its intensity as well into a singular spot. The trigger then pushes a small platform through the hollow battery, ejecting the energy through the barrel. The aim is always straight forward, as energy is not affected by wind resistance and can only affect biological beings since…" Tails rumbled on and on until he heard Sonic trying to refrain from laughing.
Ash on the other hand was looking at Tails with his head tilted and totally lost.
"Huh?"
Tails sighed.
"I'm doing it again aren't I?"
"No… pffft" Sonic said looking ready to burst out laughing "no not at all pal. Pffft".
Tails gritted his teeth in cringe.
"To put it simply this is a stun gun meant to harness the electricity coming out of my fingertips and fire it towards enemies. A non-lethal weapon to use against team rocket".
"Oh I see" Ash answered without an ounce of understanding. But at the end of the day it was an advantage against team rocket and that was good enough for him.
"Jokes aside" Sonic then went serious "what are you doing here? I told you to stay at the lighthouse with Jasmine".
"You really expected me to just sit back and watch as pokemon suffer? You and I both met Lugia. Therefore it's just as much my responsibility to help it as it is yours".
Sonic gritted his teeth but didn't answer. They had no time to argue.
A grunt who was on observation duty on a higher ground saw what happened.
"Sir" he spoke to his communication device "the maniacs took out everyone!"
"What?! I left two battalions worth of grunts outside. Just how incompetent are you lot?!"
"What now sir?"
Petrel cursed. He had to come up with something quick.
He couldn't understand how team Sonic had followed them. He and his squad had spent weeks trying to find a way through the whirls to get to the islands. How did their enemies get through first try? No one was that lucky.
"Unless… they had outside help" he surmised calling Ariana.
Admin Ariana was stationed near Olivine city, in a small van with 6 rocket grunts, ready to extract Petrel if need be. After learning of the details of Tails' abilities, Archer sent her there as backup. Even if they failed to get the target, the real goal was survival.
Her communication device beeped. It was Petrel.
"Trouble already?" she spoke into the device annoyed it had come to this so early.
"Trouble is an understatement. Our enemies have found us again. And I think I know how".
"Then get to the point and stop wasting time".
"They came right at our location. The only way they could have known was by finding that boat the idiots I command stole. And that means they must have seen the boat from afar. Yet they came from Cianwood. Therefore…"
"Get to the fucking point already Petrel! We don't have time for elaborations!"
"Someone must be helping them from higher ground. And the only higher ground one could see the boat from is…"
"The lighthouse" Ariana finished his sentence looking at the majestic building "say no more. We'll handle this".
"Good. That should distract them. Heroes prioritize saving others, like the idiots they are" Petrel said maliciously as he ended the call and headed deeper inside the cave.
"Floor it! Get us to that lighthouse!" Ariana ordered the driver.
As Jasmine was celebrating the small victory her friends had just achieved, she noticed the van heading for the lighthouse.
She felt chill running down her spine.
"Uuh… Sonic?"
"Calling to congratulate us?" Sonic innocently gloated thinking they had a second to spare.
"A van is heading for the lighthouse".
"Say what?!" Sonic and Tails both exclaimed.
"Correction. They have arrived!"
Pause.
"They're rockets!"
Sonic grasped.
"Jaz get out of there NOW!"
"I can't. I can't let them get their hands on Ampharos again".
Sonic fully agreed but still.
"Barricade yourself in quick! Any way you can!"
"Got it!" she replied and rushed down the stairs as quickly as she could.
"What's happening?" Ash asked Sonic and Tails.
"Jasmine is trapped in the lighthouse".
"Oh no! What do we do?"
"We save her duh" Tails roasted him.
"But how are we gonna get there? Noctowl can carry me but not all of you too".
"Tsk" Sonic spat "alright. Tails go with Ash to assist Jasmine. Knuckles and I will intercept the rockets!"
"You sure?" Tails said with a hint of doubt "last time we split…"
"It won't be like last time. You're much stronger now right? They won't a chance against the two of you" Sonic encouraged his friend.
Tails nodded fully inspired and battle hyped. With his tails spinning, he soared a few centimeters off the ground.
"Ash" he turned to face the Pallet town trainer "whenever you're ready".
Ash called out Noctowl and rode it. He then exchanged a glance with Sonic.
"Good luck" he said.
"You too. I'm counting on you to help Jaz. Now go!"
Ash patted Noctowl's sides with his feet and the owl pokemon soared with a loud cry. Tails and Sonic also nodded at each other and then the two tailed fox followed Noctowl.
"I'll never get used to this" Ash shouted to be heard over the wind.
"Flying?" Tails shouted back.
"You flying, not flying in general" Ash clarified.
After Sonic observed them fly away, he contacted Knuckles.
"Sonic we got a problem" Knuckles' voice came out of the phone "place has too many damn entrances. How do we ensure team rocket won't escape?"
Sonic thought about it for a moment.
"Use Larvitar's rock slide to seal as many as you can find shut. I will do the same for the ground level ones with mine. Then we enter through the one we leave open and catch up to them".
"Got it. Did you save Ash's skin?"
"We did but now he and Tails are headed to save Jaz's skin. Rockets had backup on land. They figured how we got here and are trying to get her. Oh shit I forgot to call her back. Get to work then meet me at the main beach of the island. The entrance we will enter through is there!"
"Roger. Over and out" Knuckles confirmed and called out Larvitar having it use rock slide. The attack cause a small scale landslide that sealed the entrance to the caves shut.
"Good. Onward to the next".
As Sonic began racing around the island, looking for cave openings, he called Jasmine.
"Jaz you ok?"
"Locked the door but that won't hold them forever. What's the plan? I'm strong but we can't handle them alone, my pokemon and I".
"Ash and Tails are on the way! Hold out just a little longer".
The door of the lighthouse was banged by something big sending chills down Jasmine's spine.
"The door doesn't seem likely to hold though".
Sonic's hand trembled momentarily.
"Hold out as long as you can. We will win Jaz I promise!"
"I know".
Sonic hesitated but knew he couldn't stay on the line and find the cave openings fast enough.
"Stall them ok. I got to go".
"Sonic?"
"Yeah?"
"If we all make it through this…"
"We will!"
"Let me finish… what say you we go for ice cream?"
Sonic's anxiety melted. Jasmine was calm enough to believe they would win and seize her chance.
"Honestly, that sounds like a really great idea".
"That's great" her very voice reeked of blushing "go get them hero".
Sonic's confidence burst through the roof. Team rocket was going down.
"I will. Talk later".
Jasmine hang up and sent out her Skarmory.
"Skarmory hold the door. We can't let them get Sparkle again".
Skarmory cried out and stood against the door, its metal talons digging into the floor for extra resistance.
On the outside Ariana was getting impatient.
"Get this over with already you morons".
"Ma'am the door won't budge"
"Oh for the love of… step aside" she pushed a grunt out the way and knocked on the door.
"Come on little girl and we won't hurt you much".
Jasmine breathed deeply to calm her anxiety.
"You'd love that wouldn't you?"
"We will bring the door down you know. You and your pokemon will be bargaining chips against our enemies. You can come willingly and not get hurt much, or we will force you to come and your pokemon will suffer. No one will deny team rocket!"
"You sure about that?!"
Before Ariana could figure who had spoken, Tails slammed into her, still flying. Pushing her away, Ariana rolled on the ground, as Tails landed and pointed his stun gun at her.
"End of the line. Surrender"
Ariana moved like a blur, kicking Tails on the side of the feet. The floor was swept from underneath Tails' feet and he crashed down on the ground.
"Seize him!" Ariana screamed.
Before any of the grunts could move however, a strong whirlwind knocked them off their feet. Ash and his Noctowl landed between the fallen grunts and Tails and Ariana. Dismounting Noctowl, it, Ash and Pikachu stood against the 5 grunts.
"You won't hurt any more pokemon! I won't let you!"
"You don't know who you're dealing with kids!" Ariana hopped up and attempted to stomp Tails down with her boot.
Acting barely fast enough, Tails used his tails to push himself out of the way and get back in the air, pointing the stun gun towards Ariana again.
"Don't make me use this".
"Yeah you show her" Ash encouraged Tails. Having found himself on the receiving end of a gun's barrel, it was nice to see someone deserving of it at that end for a change.
"Hehehe. You had to grow up I assume little fox. From not wanting to hurt Proton to being ready to shoot me in cold blood".
"You will talk about killing in cold blood? You of all people?! An admin of team rocket?!"
Taking advantage of his short monologue, Ariana sent out a muk. Tails fired as soon as he processed it.
To his horror the muk absorbed the blast.
"Of course" Tails thought in realization "it's just living goo. There's nothing in it to stun".
"You were saying kid?"
"You think I'm afraid of you?! Come on out!"
The ground rumbled as Tails' Steelix emerged with a loud cry.
At that moment, Jasmine came out of the lighthouse with her Skarmory to help in the battles.
"You caught a Steelix?!"
"Yeah. Pretty sweet right?!"
Jasmine smiled confidently and sent out her Steelix. The latter Steelix and Skarmory then faced down the grunts.
"Ash may we?!"
"You bet! Pikachu thunderbolt! Noctowl confusion!"
"Steelix Screech! Skarmory steel wing!"
The 4 pokemon attacked the grunts who sent out several stronger pokemon than Tails expected. Amongst them were arbor, Sandslash, weezing, a couple of golbats, several raticates, a magnemite and even a crobat.
The pokemon all took the assault together but the intimidate of arbor allowed them to persevere and get back into it.
Tails considered joining in but Ariana had Muk use body slam on Steelix. The attack barely affected the massive pokemon but got its attention.
There was no helping it. He had to trust Ash and Jasmine to handle themselves.
"Looks like it's just you and me! Steelix! Bind!"
Steelix wrapped its massive body around Muk, dealing some pain to it.
"It will take more than that! Muk! Minimize!"
The goo pokemon used its liquid body to escape the bind with immense ease. Tails knew that the longer the battle went on, the more Ariana would use minimize to increase Muk's evasiveness. That combined with its liquid body would make it near impossible to beat.
"Steelix return! Espeon your turn!"
The psychic eeveelution emerged. Ariana simply laughed.
"A weak and pathetic psychic type like Espeon against my Muk? You still trying to play hero like your blue friend, kid?"
Tails smiled confidently.
"No. I'm not Sonic. Nor do I need to be to beat you".
Ariana felt doubt crawling up her mind. Agents Butch and Cassidy had informed her and the other two admins of how they were able to break the fox's mentality by making him feel powerless.
But the fox wasn't powerless anymore. Agent Cassidy was telling the truth.
The fox had become a major threat in more ways than one.
As she waited for Tails to make his move, her brain was racked on how to beat him. She knew from their data that Tails was incredibly smart. While she herself was a brilliant tactician, how did one outsmart a genius?
It was said that to defeat your enemy you need to know your enemy. But no matter how much team rocket learned about team Sonic they could never seem to get the better of them.
And that had all began when she first encountered Sonic in that warehouse all those months ago.
"Why isn't he afraid?" Ariana had thought then. And ironically that was her exact same thought against Tails now.
"Espeon confusion!"
Espeon used its psychic abilities to land a good hit on Muk. Muk may have been able to dodge physical attacks but an attack straight to the mind? That couldn't be dodged.
"Back you useless goo!" Ariana recalled it before it fainted. She didn't have the privilege of losing right now.
To continue the battle she sent out a small black bird.
"What the heck is that?" Tails questioned silently.
"Murkrow pursuit!"
Murkrow dived through the air, going for Espeon.
"Dodge and use confusion!"
Espeon jumped out of the way. However when it attempted to enter Murkrow's mind and damage it, it was unable to.
"Murkrow again!"
Murkrow again dived through the air.
"Why isn't it affected?" Tails asked aloud in confusion. That had never happened before.
Murkrow smacked into Espeon, dealing big damage.
"What gives?! What's going on?!"
"Murkrow keep it up!"
As Jasmine and Ash were trying their best to fight off the rocket grunts whose superior numbers made the battle more even than it should have been, the former heard Tails' loud statement.
Looking over her head she saw the matchup and knew what eluded him.
"Tails Murkrow is a dark type! Dark types are immune to psychic attacks and advantageous over psychic types!"
"Say what?!" Tails exclaimed. How come they hadn't come across a dark type before?
Unbeknownst to him of course they had. Harrison's houndoom was a dark type, but Sonic had fought it with Quagsire resulting in them never figuring out what a dark type was or what the matchups with it were like.
"Espeon retreat!" Tails recalled it "thanks for the heads up Jaz! Go!"
His new pokemon, Lapras, emerged.
"My, my. That's a rare one. Should make a good buck for the team once we sell it after I take it from you" Ariana taunted Tails still hoping to make him doubt himself.
Alas instead, the fox smiled.
"You really think I would fall for a taunt? I failed because of this once. Never again! Lapras! Ice beam!"
Ice beam was launched. To Tails' surprise murkrow didn't faint bit was clearly in a bad shape.
"Peck!"
Murkrow attacked Lapras but the water and ice type unleashed another ice beam. The attack missed but caused it to retreat.
Ash who was about to beat the last pokemon of one of the grunts looked over his head for a moment and witnessed Tails battling.
The sight reminded him of Sonic. He felt his excitement burst through the roof. If Tails could hold his own so well thus far against someone like Ariana, even though Ash didn't know she hadn't brought all of her pokemon aalong, he could only imagine how strong Sonic and his pokemon would be.
"Pikachu! Thunderbolt!"
The electric mouse type fried another golbat knocking it out.
It had made the same thought as its trainer.
Even though it and its rival were far away from each other they were fighting for the same goal right now. But Pikachu had sworn during their training in Cianwood city.
It wouldn't rest until Raichu had fallen at its hands. It would beat its evolved form no matter what.
Ariana spat. The fox was more of a danger than they thought. His power had increased tenfold since their last meeting. One could only imagine how strong his two friends would be.
Pressing a button on her communicator she made the hard choice.
Tails felt the ground rumble from under his feet. Turning around he saw a second van racing towards him, intending to run him over.
Soaring while recalling Lapras he instantly knew what Ariana was planning.
He tried to take aim and stun the rocket admin but she jumped into the van door that slid open and closed in the blink of an eye.
"You're not getting away!" Tails flew and landed on the van but was unable to hold on to it on time.
"The admin had abandoned us!" one of the grunts shouted once he realized what happened.
The rest of his comrades tried to run away upon hearing this. Tails wasn't having it.
Landing in front of them, he called out Steelix. The massive iron snake pokemon prevented the escape of the grunts by laying down like a wall.
Hopping on top of Steelix, Tails opened fire on the grunts stunning each and every one of them.
"Heh, this is fun" he thought as he hoisted the stun gun on his belt.
Jasmine and Ash recalled their pokemon and cautious approached the knocked out grunts.
"Are they… dead?" Jasmine asked hesitantly.
"Of course not. Just stunned".
"What do we do with them?" Ash questioned.
Tails recalled Steelix.
"Call the police to come and arrest them, then hide. Looker obviously has no reservations on how far he is willing to go to arrest team rocket by the books as he claims. I don't want you to get caught in this".
"How do you know what Looker wants?" Jasmine asked though knowing she wouldn't like the answer.
"We might or might not have had to break into the police stations through the vents to see what the police had on us".
"What? That was crazy! What were you thinking?!" Jasmine berated him.
"Forget crazy! That was awesome!" Ash disagreed, causing Jasmine to face slap.
"In any case, do what I tell you. Call the police, wait for them to arrive and hide" Tails instructed them as he lifted off the ground again.
"Where are you going?" Ash asked Tails.
"Back to the islands. We have a score to settle there, my friends and I".
"I'm coming with you" Ash went to ride Noctowl.
"No. Stay here with Jasmine until the police arrives. These grunts must not escape. I trust you both to keep them here for the police to collect".
Ash gritted his teeth berore begrudgingly agreeing.
"Tell Sonic to kick their butts for me".
"Don't worry" Tails said as he turned midair to the direction of the whirl islands.
"We will" were his final words as he flew off so fast Ash and Jasmine had to close their eyes due to the sudden gust of wind. Jasmine then remembered something.
"Tell Sonic to take care for me!"
"You can call him and tell him yourself!" Tails' response came through the wind. Jasmine then proceeded to call the police.
As Tails flew towards the islands, he contacted Sonic.
"Hey Jaz is safe. She and Ash are watching over the beaten grunts until the police arrives to take them. Ariana was there but she escaped. How are things on your end?"
Static echoed.
"Bad reception in the caves" Tails thought.
"…Pursuing… bzt… rockets… Knuckles… bzzzt" the line was cut.
"Dammit. At least he sounds normal. Hopefully they are on top of things" Tails hoped as he continued to fly towards the next part of their conflict with their enemies.
