Chapter 44: Hit 'Em Up
ENTRY NO. 20
WE HAVE ENCOUNTERED THE PLA OVER LEONID ISLE.
IT IS UNKNOWN HOW THEY MANAGED TO SLIP PAST OUR RADARS, BUT THE AIRSHIP'S COMPUTERS HAVE BEEN MALFUNCTIONING FOR THE PAST WEEK AND A HALF ACCORDING TO T-5. EVEN NOW, WE ARE STILL TRYING TO RESOLVE THE ISSUE.
THE PLA'S LEADER HAS DEMANDED THAT WE LEAVE WITHIN A FEW HOURS. THEY EVEN ARRIVED IN AN AIRSHIP WITH CAPABILITIES MATCHING OUR OWN AND DESTROYED OUR CARGO VESSEL. SEVERAL CASUALTIES WERE CONFIRMED.
WE WILL BE TAKING A VOTE ON OUR NEXT COURSE OF ACTION, ALTHOUGH T-5 IS CONFIDENT THAT WE CAN OVERTAKE THEM.
CAPTAIN ERIC JOHNSON (GAMMA-7) SIGNI
Gamma-7 leaned back in his chair and turned around in response to a knocking on the door to his quarters.
"Come in." He said as he watched the door open only to see T-5's half-burnt face.
"Hmph. Writing another report?" The younger captain snorted.
Gamma-7 rolled his eyes and grimaced at him. "You know I have to. Especially now."
"Because of the PLA thing?"
"Yeah. Because of the PLA thing."
T-5's frown quickly brightened into a smirk. "Well...I think I have an idea that'll solve our little dilemma."
Gamma-7 stared at him for what felt like a long while before sighing. "Please tell me that it isn't more threats?"
"No, not at all." T-5 firmly said while shaking his head. "Sheesh, it's like you don't trust me or something."
"Well you did just instigate a fight and thanks to you, we lost about six crew members."
"Hey, I didn't think they'd actually fire first! I mean, when do you ever take those guys seriously?" T-5 yelled.
"They have an airship with guns!" Gamma-7 sternly shouted back. "You take people that have an airship with guns seriously!"
"Duly noted..." T-5 muttered, rolling his eyes before looking back at his colleague. "...You remember when the boss said that we can bring whatever we wanted to the island to secure it?"
"...Yeah?" Gamma-7 muttered; an eyebrow raised.
"Heh..." T-5 chuckled, a sense of excitement glimmering in his eyes. "Well just in case we ran into trouble, we brought along some...other things."
"(A new recruit?!)" Ariados gasped in disbelief. "(And you just brought him here right away?!)"
Pikachu and his new PLA teammates had just arrived onboard the massive airship that lazily glided through the air. It was only when they arrived at a lobby complete with furniture and windows did they meet up with two other members. Everyone was gathered around the room with Pikachu standing atop a chair next to a window.
Sid gave him a proud smile and nodded his head. "(Yup. Seriously, you should've seen how he handled those Rocket punks!)"
"(Three Rocket punks.)" Grovyle emphasized.
"(Three huh?)" Honchkrow muttered before looking at the mouse. "(Still, it's pretty strange right? A Pikachu here on this island?)"
"(He's from Kanto.)" Skuntank quickly retorted.
Pikachu tried to keep a calm face as the other two PLA members stared him down. Burying whatever nervousness he was feeling, he quickly nodded his head.
"(I take it you asked him what living on the island has been like?)" Ariados asked.
Sid, Grovyle and Skuntank all looked a tad surprised, then slightly ashamed.
"(Er...no.)" Sid mumbled.
"(We were asking him other things to get to know him.)" Grovyle sheepishly said. "(...Like how he got strong enough to beat up three guys without breaking a sweat.)"
Honchkrow raised a wing up to his face and muttered something in annoyance. A few seconds later, he lowered it and looked straight at Pikachu. "(Okay, so I guess it's up to me. What's it been like living on the island? Have you seen anything...strange?)"
Pikachu blinked at him and looked between everyone. "(Strange? What do you mean?)"
"(You know, like...just strange stuff.)" Ariados said, twirling a leg in front of himself.
"(I-I don't-)" Pikachu managed to say before being cut off by Sid.
"(Yeah you know...it's one thing to see someone like you in Unova, but that island makes it extra strange. The place has a...reputation.)" Sid said, his voice becoming quite low and serious.
Pikachu merely stared at him. The Ghost-type didn't look like he was joking around. Strange they said? It didn't seem so strange when he was on there. It looked just like any other island.
"(I'm not sure what you mean. It's been pretty normal there.)" Pikachu said, giving him a side-glance.
"(You're not from here right? So you don't know then?)" Honchkrow asked only for the mouse to silently shake his head.
"(For a long time, there were rumors about that island. Some say legends.)" Grovyle said, looking out the window and down at the landmass in the middle of the sea. "(The locals are afraid to go near it. Things happen on there...things that scare people.)"
Sid nodded his head and looked at Pikachu. "(They say that something enters your dreams when you go to sleep. Whatever it is, some say that it's pleasant and helpful and others say that it's frightening and...that it knows things about you. Things that it really shouldn't...)"
Pikachu looked out the window at the island down below. He couldn't help but start to feel a little creeped out.
"(Nobody is really sure if it's the island...or if it's something that lives on the island.)" Grovyle said. "(The inhabitants who first lived there are long gone and whatever Pokémon that are still around are always in hiding, if they're even there at all.)"
"(The place is called Leonid Isle. It was named because it was found during the Leonid meteor shower hundreds of years ago.)" Ariados said before shrugging. "(Well...that's the story anyway. Nobody's around to really say. Everyone on the mainland thinks the place is just abandoned.)"
"(Well...mostly abandoned anyway. Team Rocket certainly thinks that there something there.)" Honchkrow followed. "(So then...nothing like that happened to you?)"
Whipping his head in the bird's direction, Pikachu's nerves started to go haywire. He couldn't just say "no" could he? It might look suspicious!
"(W-Well...)" The mouse said, rubbing his arm as he looked away. "(I have had dreams. A lot of them actually. I just...thought that it was because of what I went through and all.)" He said, being sure to pause to make it seem like he was in deep thought.
Sid leaned back and scoffed. "(Hmph...based on what you told us, I don't blame ya!)"
"(Hmm? What'd he tell you?)" Ariados asked.
"(Heh, wouldn't you like to know!)" Grovyle laughed before he ushered for the mouse to repeat his totally real and factually correct life story.
Buneary gently and repeatedly tapped her paw on the bottom of the container, remaining ever-so-agonizingly patient. Still in the dark, she wasn't leaving the wooden box until she was sure that it was safe. It had been at least ten minutes since she heard any new voices from nearby so that was good...
...If it wasn't for all of the other voices that had been dominating the room. Shouting, crying, cursing...all of which was in Pokéspeech.
What made it even more disturbing was that she could clearly hear the distressed voices of younger Pokémon often calling out for their parents and siblings.
She fiddled with a piece of packing material in her paw. After ten minutes had turned into fifteen, Buneary figured that it was as safe as it ever could be at this point. Resolved to get out, she stood up and – peering through the darkness – took a few steps back to get to one side of the container. Taking in a deep breath, she rushed forward and kicked the opposite wall, breaking it off.
All of the voices ceased at once and from their cages, the imprisoned Pokémon watched the bunny step out from her container before quickly putting the wooden box's wall back in its place, making it look like it was never opened to begin with.
Dusting herself off, Buneary looked around and didn't see any Team Rocket members nearby. Instead, she looked up and realized that she was in a rather large room that was filled to the brim with wooden shipping containers, all bearing the Team Rocket logo.
Huh, guess this was where they store the cargo.
It was somewhat noisy thanks to the ships movement through the air yet not so much as to be too distracting.
A light sneeze caused her ears to fully extend and she looked up only to see rows and rows of eyes staring at her.
"(...What are you doing?)" A purrloin asked from her cage.
Buneary looked over at the cat and from there, slowly began to scan the many faces in front of her. She saw Unova Pokémon of all sorts trapped in large metal cages along the wall, some small enough to be placed in the same container while others were too big and had to be put in their own separate, larger enclosures. Soon, she saw each of their faces...but not a certain mouse's.
As Buneary looked amongst the prisoners, she had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.
Jeez...there must be dozens of them here! Way more than just the ones she had seen on that red pickup truck!
"(Are you lost?)" A simipour asked with a concerned look.
"(Sorta...)" Buneary responded, trying to find the Water-type amongst the sea of faces.
"(Hey if you have a minute...can you please let us out?)" A blitzle asked.
"(She's not gonna do that! She's one of them!)" A tranquill muttered from nearby.
"(How is she one of them? She just got out of that box!)" Blitzle yelled back.
"(Well she's not in here with us, that's all I see!)" Tranquill shouted.
Buneary's mouth hung open as she saw the yelling devolve into mindless squabbling which started to make one hell of a ruckus.
"(Shh! I'm not with them I swear!)" Buneary shushed, motioning with her paws to tone it down.
Unfortunately, this did little to quell the noise. Panicking, she looked over and almost immediately saw a shadow moving from nearby. Quickly looking back at the prisoners, she saw that they hadn't even noticed that someone was approaching. Not wanting to take the risk, she hopped to some crates and rounded the corner...
...Only to smack right into the leg of a Team Rocket grunt.
"Hey!" The man shouted as he looked down at her and tilted his head. "What're you doing? Are you the reason everyone's freaking out?" He sternly asked as he looked up and saw the commotion.
Buneary groaned as she rubbed the top of her head. Upon hearing the man's voice, she stopped what she was doing and looked up at him. "(I-I uhh...)" She stuttered, her mind going blank. Oh legends...it's only been a minute since she got out of the crate and already she's been captured! How's she gonna-?
Grimacing, the grunt walked past her and over to the cages. Seeing that the prisoners' shouting wasn't letting up, he banged on the metal bars of their containers.
"SHUT THE HELL UP!" He screamed, causing many of the other Pokémon to quiet down and back away in fear. He looked between them and stepped a few feet away before exhaling. "Good...stupid animals."
All was once again quiet save for the occasional cry of a youth.
"(It's okay, shhh...)" Purrloin said to a young lillipup as she gently held him from within the same cage.
Snorting, the grunt turned to look back at Buneary. "Who do you belong to?"
Taken aback, Buneary tried to think of something to say. "(M-Me? Oh, I uhhh...y'see...)" She mumbled, still unable to come up with anything, even forgetting that the human wouldn't understand what she was saying.
The grunt merely shook his head in annoyance. "Heh, bet it was Ozzy. I told him to hold off on taking more Pokémon..."
"(Please!)" A minccino shouted as she grabbed the metal bars of her cage. "(I have a trainer! She's probably worried where I am right now!)"
"(So is my mom!)" A cubchoo pleaded.
"(I have kids!)" A sawsbuck yelled, leaves sprouting from its antlers. "(They need me, so just let me go!)"
With that, many of the prisoners started to shout again. This time however, the grunt's annoyed frown became downright irate and he whipped back around to stare them all down.
In that moment, all shouting once again ceased and the prisoners' expressions became horrified and any who were pressed against the bars of their cages sank back and trembled.
Confused, Buneary looked at them. The prisoners were staring off into the distance, focused on something other than the man. She suddenly heard something steadily breathing and she turned to see an umbreon using Scary Face on them.
Completely taken aback, she nearly jumped in place and stared at the Dark-type, its focus entirely on the prisoners. A moment later, it eased up and ceased its attack.
Joining Buneary, the grunt looked over and smirked upon seeing the culprit. "Nice of you to join us. Thanks." He chuckled.
The umbreon snorted and looked away but not before giving Buneary a quick glance.
Making a dry gulp, the bunny looked between the two of them only to see the grunt give an exasperated exhale.
"Alright..." He said before looking at the umbreon and motioning towards the exit. "Bosses said that we're having a meeting, so head to the observatory."
The Dark-type stared at him before it nodded its head and shuffled away. A few seconds later, it was out of the room and walking down the hallway.
"That goes for you too..." The grunt said, looking down at Buneary. "Go on now."
Blinking at him, Buneary straightened her posture and saluted him. "(Er...y-yes, right away!)"
With that, she started to follow to where the umbreon had gone.
"(Tsk...told you she was with them...)" Tranquill muttered as he watched her walk away.
While Buneary felt some relief at getting past the goon, a dark cloud was still hanging over her head and she couldn't shake a rather dreadful feeling.
"How the hell am I going to get out of this?" She anxiously thought as she headed towards the exit. "Arceus knows that I can't just fight everyone onboard this ship...and I can't just leave those Pokémon in cages! Maybe I can just blend in with the crowd and then I-"
Buneary's thoughts were interrupted by the sudden crying of a younger Pokémon from one of the containers. Her curled up ear extending in response, she paused and looked back...
But she really wished that she hadn't.
...Because the grunt was approaching the cage with something in his hand. It looked like some sort of baton.
Buneary's eyes only widened in horror as she saw sparks of electricity crackling at the tip of the object.
"Can't stay quiet huh?" The goon muttered before giving a sadistic grin.
"(I just wanna go home!)" A young lillipup cried out only for the purrloin next him to whisper for him to be silent.
The man continued to press his finger on the weapon's button. The electricity that was dancing along the cattle prod continued to glow a bluish white color.
"Some assets just can't follow directions..." The grunt muttered before angling the taser up to the cage. "Well...fine by me!" He cheerily proclaimed as he closed one eye to take aim through the metal bars.
Many of the prisoners gasped and screamed.
"(Stop!)"
"(You can't...!)"
"(Don't do it!)"
"(Please don't...!)" The purrloin squeaked only to see the man take a step forward. Panicking, she threw her body over the young lillipup and braced for it...
...Only to hear a different sound followed by the man gasping in surprise. The feline hesitatingly glanced back and she could see the man looking directly at them...as his body was being frozen.
Everyone once again gasped as they saw the grunt drop the metal object with a clang. The upper torso of the man was quickly enveloped in ice and he fell over to the side, his eyes widened in both horror and surprise.
A moment of silence passed before everyone got a look at the culprit.
Buneary quickly hopped forward to rummage through the goon's pockets and as she did, there was a quiet murmuring amongst the prisoners. A few seconds passed and the bunny took a step back with a huff.
Nothing...no keys on his person...drat!
Great...after all that, she still can't free them!
She sighed. Well...at least it was the right thing to do.
Her annoyed musings were interrupted by a voice from above.
"(You froze him...)" The blitzle muttered, completely astonished.
Looking up, Buneary nodded her head. "(Yeah...I did. I told you I'm not with them.)"
Some of the prisoners continued to stare at her with curiosity while others looked at each other.
"(...Better move him somewhere safe then.)" The tranquill said in a serious voice.
Buneary looked back at the fallen grunt. Oh shoot, that's right. If someone were to come by and see him...not to mention that the umbreon saw her so it wouldn't take long for anyone to connect the dots.
Trying to quell a sense of panic rising within her, she grabbed the man by the pant leg and pulled with all of her might. Thankfully, the floor was rather well polished so his half-frozen body was somewhat easy to move. She quickly looked around for a hiding spot.
"(How 'bout that big container over there?)" An archen asked, pointing with his wing towards a rather tall, open wooden box near the back of the room.
Buneary glanced at it and figured that it was as good a place as any. With that, she pulled the frozen grunt into the hiding spot as fast as she could and put the panel of the container in place, making it look like it had never once been opened.
Taking a moment to catch her breath, Buneary put her paws on her sides. Okay, that takes care of him...so now what? The grunt thought she was with someone named Ozzy and so maybe she can roll with that, but it wasn't exactly a reliable story right? Someone might not recognize her and demand to know who she was with and when she joined their crew.
No...it was best if she stayed hidden somehow.
"(The vents.)" The minccino said, causing the bunny to look at her. "(The vents are probably big enough for you to crawl through. They have to keep us cool in here, otherwise we'd pass out from the heat.)"
"(Well some more than others...)" A darmanitan muttered as he looked at the cubchoo's cage who in turned glanced elsewhere.
Buneary looked up towards the ceiling and saw that there were indeed air ducts scaling the walls, including in the direction of the exit. Then she looked back at the minccino.
"(I'd go for it.)" Minccino said reassuringly. "(The guys who have the keys would be the captains or the lieutenants. We saw one of them carrying a keychain.)"
Blinking at the trapped Normal-type, Buneary noticed that several of them were muttering in agreement and nodding their heads. Taking in a deep breath, she cleared her throat.
"(What if I tried freezing the doors to your cages?)" Buneary said only to see Minccino shake her head.
"(Way ahead of you on that one. The cages are immune to all sorts of attacks.)" She replied, slumping her shoulders.
Buneary silently stared at her and looked between the others, their pleading faces pressed up against the bars and she sighed. Guess Team Rocket spared no expense when it came to securing them huh?
"(Okay...I'm going to try to stay hidden.)" Buneary finally said with conviction before she turned around, got into position and used Bounce to jump towards an air vent to grab ahold of it. Maintaining a good grip, she pulled with all of her might and a few moments later, the flimsy metal grating of the vent came loose. She gracefully landed onto the floor and slid the metal cover under a pallet which held another crate.
"(So are you here to help us?)" The young lillipup asked, causing Buneary to look up at him.
"(What are you going to do?)" The sawsbuck asked from the side.
Buneary slowly looked amongst them, they all appeared to be inwardly asking the same question.
"(I'm going to get the keys to free you. And then...I'll get you back to your homes and families.)" She said before they quietly murmured amongst themselves, some sounding not-too sure. She couldn't exactly blame them. It wasn't like she had an actual plan but she did have the element of stealth on her side.
It wasn't impossible. Difficult and scary...but not impossible.
"(So you'll come back then?)" Lillipup asked, his pleading face masking a subtle glimmer of hope in his eyes.
Taking in a deep breath, Buneary nodded at him. "(Yes, I promise. I promise all of you...)" She said, looking between each of them. "(...I will be back.)"
Not allowing for any sense of doubt to arise within her, Buneary turned around and used Bounce to jump into the air duct. Silently exhaling, she slowly and quietly started crawling through it towards the room's exit.
As she started her secret journey, she grimaced.
Pikachu wasn't among the prisoners so he might still be safe right?
Buneary looked forward as her mind began to race.
"Pikachu...just be safe and give me some time."
"(Oh man buddy...that's rough.)" Ariados muttered as Pikachu finished telling his tale.
"(Mhmm...)" Pikachu muttered, nodding his head.
"(He really smacked you and knocked the jelly doughnut out of your paws?)" Ariados asked.
"(Yup. Thought someone was gonna shoot at us. He was crazy.)" Pikachu muttered sadly, making sure that everyone was buying it.
"(So your ex-trainer still hasn't released you then?)" Honchkrow asked.
"(Nope. If someone tries to capture me, it won't work. Trust me, it's happened like a dozen times already.)" Pikachu grumbled, trying to sound as wounded as possible.
"(Well...maybe that can be a good thing. You don't ever have to worry about trainers ever again!)" Ariados beamed.
"(That's what I say!)" Sid followed with a smirk before walking over and wrapping an arm around Pikachu's shoulder. "(Listen buddy, that sort of stuff will only come in handy! We got a lotta work ahead of us y'know? First, we kick Team Rocket out of Unova, then we take back Sinnoh and from there we take over Kanto, just like how the first boss wanted!)"
"(First boss?)" Pikachu asked, confusion clearly on his face.
"(Yeah, the guy who started our group got busted in Sinnoh a while back. Real sad stuff. We didn't think we'd make it through all of that before Valens took over. A couple of months of recruiting new blood and...voila! We're back in action!)" Sid declared, waving his arm through the air for dramatic effect.
"(So what are you guys gonna do about Team Rocket? Ask them to leave again?)" Pikachu asked as he eyeballed each of the other members.
"(Well, first we're gonna-)" Ariados said before a voice came on the intercom.
"Attention all PLA team leaders: all groups are to report to the front deck immediately. Contact with opposing airship will begin in fifteen minutes."
"(Heh, guess you're about to find out buddy!)" Grovyle said with a smirk.
With that, the others started leading the way out of the room. As they walked, Pikachu saw numerous other PLA members – human and Pokémon alike – join them in hallway, the surrounding area being engulfed by mutterings and footsteps.
Pikachu grimaced and he looked up at the fluorescent lights that hung above.
How in the hell was he going to get out of this...?
Buneary continued to crawl as quickly as she could without making a sound. Thankfully, the metal that the air duct was constructed out of was sturdy enough not to bend under her weight. Perhaps if she was a human, it would give but for someone of her size, it was quite easy to move through. Plus, her fluff made her motions silent so that was good!
Occasionally, she passed a vent with a grate and she could peer at what was down below. For a while, all she could see was an empty hallway until she finally heard some distant murmurings. Taking extra precaution to not be noticed, Buneary continued making progress until she finally got to an air vent only to see some Team Rocket grunts passing by.
"So I tells him that he needs to get outta my face!" A green-haired member enthusiastically said. His voice was so gravelly that Buneary wondered if he had gargled a box of nails this morning.
"Woah. And what'd he say?" The black-haired man accompanying him asked.
"He was just like, 'Oh, oh man, I'm so sorry! Please don't hurt me bro!'" The other man said, making a pleading face before they both started to laugh.
Buneary rolled her eyes and she continued on her way. It didn't take long for her to come across another duct, this time with some Team Rocket Pokémon chatting amongst themselves.
"(So are these PLA guys supposed to be the real deal or something?)" A clefairy with a yellow scarf muttered.
"(Tsk, no way. The bosses don't seem very concerned. I heard they got ran out of Sinnoh a while back.)" A zangoose standing next to her replied.
Slowly trying to make their way past them, Buneary saw that the air duct branched into two different directions. Taking a moment to think it over, she extended both ears and listened carefully. There seemed to be muffled discussions coming from the left.
Welp...the only way to get the key would be to go where other people are right?
And so she headed left. After a few more minutes of crawling, she came across another grate and peered into what appeared to be an office. There were two humans wearing slightly different uniforms compared to the other grunts she'd seen. One was sitting down in a chair, looking at the floor and shaking his head while the other younger-looking man was standing by the door talking. Outside of the room, the bunny could hear voices coming and going.
She looked a little closer and saw that both of them wore insignias on their shoulders that the other grunts lacked. Her gaze floated down and she held back a gasp upon seeing that they were both carrying keychains!
Fighting against the impulse to bust the grate open and rush them, she waited until she couldn't hear anyone else nearby.
"I'm telling you, it's a good plan!" The man who was standing said, his hands held out in front of himself. Buneary jerked her head back a little upon realizing that half of his face was terribly burnt.
The other man scoffed and looked away, folding his arms over his chest. "It's reckless is what it is."
"C'mon already! Will ya stop sticking to procedures for once?! You think these guys stick to procedures?!"
"If they're efficient then yes. And plus, the last time I didn't follow procedures..." The other man said before gesturing to his eye. "...It hurts to read now."
Buneary tilted her head before she held back a gasp upon seeing that one of his pupils was missing and that there was a noticeable scar extending from the top to the bottom of his eye.
Wait...that was the leader from the cargo ship!
The man with the burnt face gave a rather annoyed groan as he put his hand to his face. "Point taken. I'll admit that I underestimated their firepower. Look, if we don't do something, these guys'll blow us to kingdom come!" He nearly yelled before giving his colleague a rather intense glare.
A moment passed between the two before the other man gave a frustrated exhale and leaned back in his seat. "If we strike, we need to be quick. Can't let them retaliate. How confident are you that the first attack would incapacitate them?" He asked.
"Very confident!" The burnt-faced man said. "Look, we already have our guys in position on the island. We just have to give the word and we'll have the upper hand!"
The one-eyed man gave him an incredulous stare. "It's hotheaded is what it is." He said before smirking at his colleague. "I guess that's appropriate for you...Hot Head."
The younger man growled and took a step forward. "What's that supposed to mean you geriatric pirate?!"
"I'm five years older than you."
The man's colleague continued glaring at him for a few seconds before easing up. "Whatever. If you ask me, the sooner we take these guys out, the better. Plus all of this fighting might prevent us from getting the primary target."
The one-eyed man grimaced and muttered something before looking away. After a few seconds, he sighed and slumped his shoulders a little.
"The boss said that he wants this operation done as soon as possible. If we take them out, we'll take out some competition in this region. Kill two birds with one stone." He mumbled to himself.
"Sooo...?" The man with the burnt face asked with clear anticipation.
Slowly, the other man looked at him. "Fine. You have my vote."
His colleague looked rather proud and he chuckled to himself. "Heh, good. And when we're done with these idiots, we can secure the target and get the hell out of this region."
"Mhmm." The one-eyed man replied and then folded his arms. "Still, our research indicates that this target could be hard to fully contain. We might have to pause things to properly secure it. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if we had to get extra help."
The younger man looked a tad surprised. "It's that strong huh?" He asked only for his colleague to nod in agreement. "Damn...do we even have the backup for this? We might have to hire out."
"With an asset this important? We can't trust just anybody with it. Besides, they'd need to be highly qualified." The one-eyed man said.
"Who'd be up for the job then? Jackie and Magnus?" The other man asked only for his colleague to shake his head.
"I don't think so T-5, we shouldn't hire outsiders." The one-eyed man said. "It would have to be our guys."
The man called T-5 rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Will you stop with the codenames already? It's just you and me...and they already know who we are!"
"Our boss said we use codenames, so we're using codenames. Understood...T-5?" The one-eyed man sternly remarked.
"You know, you act like I'm a grunt, but we're the same rank!" T-5 yelled only to be met with his colleague's cold stare. "...Gamma-7."
As soon as he said that, a woman came rushing up to the doorway next to T-5. She had fair skin and long hair that was so blonde that it appeared golden. Like everyone else on this ship, she was in uniform.
"Sirs!" She declared, saluting and standing straight. "The enemy ship has been spotted heading towards us!"
The two men looked at each other.
"Okay." The one called Gamma-7 said before turning back to the woman. "You find your partner and head to the observatory deck. Contact our people on the island." He commanded.
"Yes sir!" The blonde haired woman said, giving another salute before she seemed to think of something else. "Er...permission to use the radio sir?"
"Permission granted." Gamma-7 replied.
"Umm...I-I don't know if I have the credentials to log into the system sir." She said, clearly quite embarrassed as she nervously tapped her fingers together.
An awkward silence passed between the three of them.
Gamma-7 finally sighed and he looked straight at the woman. "Just use the master passcode to bypass it."
"Uhh..." She muttered, blinking at him as a bead of sweat appeared on the side of her head.
Gamma-7 pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed again. "Oh man..." He muttered before looking back up at her. "It's two-four-one-ten-DLZ and then swipe your badge. "
Nodding her head, the woman saluted him. Buneary blinked as she noticed that the woman had a bead of sweat on the side of her head.
"Glad to see that we're all on the same page." T-5 said with a smirk.
Gamma-7 rolled his eyes before turning to the other man. "You keep having Marcos check things out to get the radios back on, alright?"
"Right...and stop acting like you're the only one in charge here!" T-5 shouted as he followed his colleague down the hallway while the woman ran off in a different direction.
As she watched them go, Buneary pressed her face against the grate to see where exactly the two men went. They seemed to be the main people in charge around here.
And if they have the keys...
Not wanting to waste another moment, Buneary crawled in the direction that the two men in charge headed off to.
"(Heh, we're gonna make sure that you have front row seats to the show!)" Sid laughed as he accompanied Pikachu to the rather large observatory deck. Indeed, it looked like dozens of people and Pokémon had already made their way in and several more were entering by the minute.
"(Front row seats to what?)" Pikachu asked, looking between his new teammates.
"(Oh, you'll see...!)" Skuntank laughed before a voice came on the speaker.
"Attention everyone." A male voice announced. Pikachu leaned over and saw a fairly-young, white-haired man sitting at the end of the room in a rather large leather chair. Next to him was a microphone and he was accompanied by several PLA members on either side. "We've given Team Rocket enough time to make their decision and I'm sure we all know that they're going to leave quietly." He said with a smirk before several in the audience started to chuckle.
Pikachu looked around and saw how many in the crowd seemed rather excited, which only served to make him nervous.
"(This is gonna be good!)" Sid whispered while tapping Pikachu's shoulder.
"In the event that they refuse to leave, you all know what your orders are. We have spent weeks preparing for this, so let's give it our best shot!" The leader said to which many in the audience cheered and applauded. Smirking, the man in charge motioned for the large computer monitor behind him to turn on. "Before that, we'll reestablish contact. After all, if they act like they own our territory, I certainly want you to see the looks on their faces when they realize who they're messing with!" He declared as the cheering became louder.
With that, the room gradually went silent as everybody waited for a connection to be established on the larger monitor.
After a few minutes of crawling through the air ducts, Buneary sighed.
Great...she lost them.
She peered forward and grimaced.
And what's worse is that the air duct was coming to a dead end. Noticing some light coming through a vent up ahead, she crawled and peered through it. Just like before, the vent showed a hallway, this time completely empty. Pausing for a moment, Buneary extended her ears and carefully listened.
Nope...nobody nearby. Well if she couldn't stay here...
Not allowing for any doubt to cloud her judgement, Buneary grabbed ahold of the grate of the vent and she used the gentlest Ice Beam she could muster until the flimsy metal turned brittle. Jiggling it a little, the grate came loose and she jumped down into the hallway. Immediately, she saw that there wasn't anything around her to hide the now-frozen metal grate, so she just put it to the side and quickly hopped around a corner.
A few moments later, she was down another empty hallway when she heard some commotion coming from one direction...and then another.
Soon, she saw humans and Pokémon alike walking down different hallways in the same direction towards her. Buneary blinked as each Team Rocket member nonchalantly walked past her, too engrossed in their own conversations.
"What's going on?" Buneary thought as more and more goons walked in the same direction, none of them batting an eye at her. It almost looked like there was some sort of announce-
A green light that was on one of the walls of the hallways began brightening the corridor, causing the bunny to look up at it.
"(Heh, boss was right. Guess we're getting good seats then.)" A zangoose muttered with a smirk as he walked past her.
Huh? What did he say? Getting good seats? To what?
Before she could finish that thought, a voice came over the intercom.
"Attention: all members ranked Captain or below are to report to the observation deck. Repeat, all members ranked Captain or below are to report to the observation deck."
Buneary blinked. Ohhh...so that's where everyone is head-
She nearly gasped as a torkoal wearing a bandana bumped into her.
"(Watch it!)" He grumbled as he continued on.
She grit her teeth and held back a sarcastic retort. Well...it's probably best to not look suspicious and simply go along with everyone else, right? Just standing here and bumping into more members would probably warrant some suspicious looks...
Inwardly shrugging, Buneary calmly walked alongside the others as they all made their way to the observation deck.
When they finally got there, it was a tad hard to see past everyone given her size. Looking around, she saw an empty spot on a raised platform alongside some other members and she quickly hopped over to it. She saw that it looked like nearly all of the people and Pokémon on this ship had tried to fit into this rather large room, some were pressed up against each other and others shoulder to shoulder. Curiously, some of the Pokémon were wearing different articles of clothing. Some wore scarves, others had vests and a few proudly displayed accessories. Huh, guess they kept whatever they had stolen for themselves...
Buneary slowly looked over the room and saw that it sort of sloped downward and ended with a circular platform at the other end. There, she saw two men standing in the center of the platform, clearly waiting for everyone to get settled in. All around them were several computers and control panels and above them all was one massive computer monitor for everyone to see.
The bunny focused her sights on the two men in the center of the platform. She tilted her head and she realized that it was the captains that she had seen earlier! Frowning, Buneary gave a quiet sigh. Oh wonderful, now how was she supposed to get those keys?!
Still eyeing the two gang leaders, Buneary saw that they were in the middle of a discussion and the burnt-faced man known as T-5 was holding a walkie-talkie. She leaned forward and tried to listen in on their conversation amidst everyone else's murmuring.
"M'kay, connection's been established with the guys on the island." T-5 said, holding up the walkie-talkie to Gamma-7 who affirmatively nodded in response.
"Alright." The one-eyed man said before looking off to the side at a female Team Rocket grunt. "Shay! Over here." He sternly said and immediately, a young brunette dashed over only for Gamma-7 to silently hand her the walkie-talkie. "As soon as they say they're ready, let us know."
"Sir!" Shay said, saluting to him before walking back to her position.
Gamma-7 leaned over to his colleague. "Has Marcos said anything yet?"
T-5 shook his head. "No, he'll tell us on the walkie-talkie. He's out there right now on the side of the ship."
Gamma-7 merely scoffed and turned away. "Damn. I'll bet it's a blown fuse or something. As soon as he figures it out, I want all hands working to get the radars back online."
T-5 merely rolled his eyes and murmured something under his breath.
A few minutes later, the lights flickered on and off, causing everyone's mutterings to settle down until all was quiet. Gamma-7 stepped forward and spoke into a microphone that was resting on a control panel.
"Everyone settled in? Good." He said before carefully scanning the room. "It seems that the PLA's ship is returning. We expect them to establish contact soon."
Everyone in the crowd once again started muttering to themselves before T-5 spoke into his own microphone.
"Yes, yes we know. Seems like they want to hear our answer. No matter what, we still have our orders of which we fully plan on carrying out." He said before smirking. "Now we all know how 'dangerous' the PLA is..." He sarcastically chuckled before several in the audience did the same. "But regardless, if they think they're going to pose any kind of threat, we'll just have to show that they're sorely mistaken!"
Many in the crowd cheered, clapped and whistled while Buneary looked out the window, hoping to see some sort of airship yet all she saw was open sky and clouds.
Gamma-7 briefly looked at his colleague before leaning into his own microphone. "So with that, we're going to reach out and see what they have to say. If anything happens, remember your training and man your stations, understood?" He said to which many in the audience replied in the affirmative.
"Yeah boss!"
"(You can count on us!)"
"We'll show those chumps who's in charge!"
T-5 nodded before leaning forward to speak again. "We know that the radars and computers have been malfunctioning for the past few days, but our colleagues down on the island have already been informed of the situation."
"Indeed." Gamma-7 followed. "If everyone here is ready, let's get started."
With that, the two leaders looked towards the hanging giant monitor which displayed the words "Establishing Connection" on it with an hourglass occasionally turning.
A few moments later, the words "Connection Successful" appeared on screen.
"Pssh...now the computers work..." T-5 mumbled, rather annoyed.
A few moments of waiting passed and everyone in the room was completely silent. Buneary was actually a tad surprised that there wasn't any whispering whatsoever from the crowd.
She could hear some others around her steadily take in breaths as the monitor suddenly revealed the PLA leader's face.
Standing not too far away from the PLA leader, Pikachu blinked as he realized that one of the Team Rocket captains had a burnt face and the other had only one eye.
Hey wait a minute, wasn't that the same guy from the cargo ship?
"Hello Team Rocket." Valens said with a smirk. "We've given you enough time, have you made your decision?"
"We have." The one-eyed man replied.
"Let me guess..." Valens quickly retorted with a handwave. "You're not going anywhere right?
"What gave that impression?" The captain asked.
"You guys aren't exactly subtle." The PLA leader responded before sighing. "Alright then, if that's how it is, we'll have things go another way."
"Another way huh?" The burnt-faced man muttered, looking down. "And there's really no other option then?"
"'Fraid not." Valens said. "You see, Unova has always been our territory. It's where we got started..."
As the PLA leader continued to speak, Pikachu's eyes glazed over the monitor, taking note of everyone being shown in the opposing airship. To his slight surprise, the camera had actually managed to capture quite a large portion of the room. He saw the two Team Rocket captains side-by-side, some grunts directly behind them, their Pokémon including a zangoose, a sentret, a Buneary with a vest, a clefairy with a sc-
...
...!
A Buneary with a vest?!
Pikachu's mouth practically hit the floor and he took a step forward to get a better look. Let's see, it was an orange vest with half of a pink heart on either side of the front where it opens up...yup that's gotta be her! It'd be a pretty huge coincidence if it wasn't right?!
Despite all of the craziness surrounding him, Pikachu only felt immense relief upon seeing her. Oh thank the legends above...she wasn't a prisoner and she seemed okay!
...
But that begs the question...what on earth was she doing with Team Rocket?!
Before he could wonder that any further, he saw her nearly gasp in surprise.
Buneary continued to blankly watch the screen. She saw the PLA leader sitting in what looked like a rather comfy chair. She also noticed the crowd behind him which was composed of all sorts of people and Pokémon like a yanma, a gengar, a pikachu with a letter bracelet, a skunta-
...
Wait...hold on.
Buneary tilted her head a little upon seeing him. He was standing behind some other figures so if he just moved to the side a little...yeah that's it. He was...wearing a letter bracelet! Her letter bracelet! The same one she gave him back in Hearthome City! There's no way she was mistaken! He's over in that ship and he's okay!
Upon seeing Pikachu's bracelet, Buneary silently gasped and she put a paw up to her mouth, a look of shock clearly on her face. She could see that he was doing much the same, almost as if he had spotted her.
Curious, Buneary gave a subtle wave only to see him do the same a second later.
Yup, it was him alright! But how in the world did he get onboard that ship?!
Almost as if he could read her mind, Pikachu gave a "how did we end up in all this?" pose only for Buneary to reply with a slight shrug. Not really sure what to do, Buneary looked around only to see windows on either end of the room. She looked back at the computer screen only to see that the PLA leader's face was covering the spot where Pikachu was and it didn't look like he was going to be moving from there as he continued to talk about their organization's history.
She looked back at the window and – making sure that she wasn't getting anyone's attention – moved to it. From there, she could see the other ship in full view off in the distance. Without really thinking, she put her paw on the glass and longingly stared up at it.
After seeing both Team Rocket captains move closer to the computer screen, Pikachu could no longer see where Buneary was. Giving a dry gulp, he looked to the side and spotted a smaller section of the ship with a window. It appeared to jut out to the side and nobody was there. Giving his new teammates a side-glance, he quietly moved over to the window. It was a good thing that they were so captivated by their leader's monologue otherwise they would have noticed that the mouse had stepped away.
When he finally got to the window, Pikachu could see the other ship and – with her in his thoughts – touched the window, hoping that she would be okay throughout all of this.
"Now with that being said..." Valens spoke, finally coming to the end of his speech. "Do you still believe that you have sovereignty here?"
"Our orders have been set. Team Rocket does not turn its back on a mission." The one-eyed man sternly remarked.
The PLA leader shook his head. "Then it's settled. I was really hoping that you'd see it from our perspective."
"Oh we do." The man with a burnt face said, causing Valens to look back up at them. The Team Rocket captain looked over at a nearby female grunt holding a walkie-talkie and she nodded at him. He turned back to the screen and smiled. "And we say, either get out of our way or this is the end for the PLA!"
Pikachu's ears twitched upon hearing that and he looked back at the screen.
Buneary quickly whipped her whole body back to see several audience members trying their best to hold back their snickering.
What are they-?
Then the bunny saw the female grunt named Shay walk up to T-5 and hand him the walkie-talkie.
"Private Brumsfield..." T-5 said into the device. "...Execute."
"Roger. Missiles are a-go." Another male voice said from the walkie-talkie.
"Sir! Enemy fire heading straight for us!" A PLA grunt said from behind his computer monitor. Many in the crowd started fearfully shouting.
"What?! From where?!" Valens yelled.
"From the island!" A female grunt screamed as another computer monitor turned on to reveal that indeed several missiles were being shot from the small landmass...straight towards them!
"There's no time to put the shields up, brace for impact!" Valens shouted as he gripped his chair as many in the crowd dove for cover.
"(Hang on kid!)" Sid screamed as he and his other teammates huddled together. "(Kid?)" He muttered as he looked around only to see Pikachu standing by the window. "(Kid!)"
Staring at the sky, Pikachu could see the faint glimmer of something heading towards them at an alarming speed. It almost looked mesmerizing...
"(Kid! Get away from the window!)" Sid yelled as he released himself from his group's huddle and rushed towards him.
"(Huh?)" Pikachu absentmindedly muttered as he looked back at the Ghost-type, too shocked to react any faster.
"(I said get away-!)" Sid managed to shout before the entire ship rocked back and forth, causing the two to fall to the floor. Many in the crowd screamed and shouted as the missiles continued to hit the floating fortress. Several were knocked from their spots and others slammed into each other. For a few moments, the screams were deafening and the mouse's vision went blurry.
When it was finally over, many started to get back to their feet, groaning along the way. Slowly, Pikachu and Sid did the same, both quite shaken up.
"That was a warning shot." The burnt-faced captain mockingly said to Valens who was trying to sit up straight in his chair only to fall to the floor. "But you know...you don't have a cargo ship to destroy...so I guess we'll have to compromise." He muttered with a wicked smile.
Many in the crowd whooped and hollered at seeing the missiles collide with the hull of the PLA ship, the captains' plan having worked like a charm.
Buneary quickly hopped closer to the center of the room and she kept her eyes on one of the computer screens that showed the extent of the damage. She couldn't believe that in an instant, things were getting this bad!
She saw that once the missiles had stopped coming, the side of the PLA ship was blackened and a few small fires were emerging on random parts of the hull. Indeed, it appeared to have taken quite a beating there.
"Sirs, we're ready." A male grunt with short black hair declared from off to the side. He was sitting behind another computer and a panel full of buttons and levers.
"Alright Ozzy. Proceed." Gamma-7 replied, looking back at the subordinate.
Buneary looked over at the man. Ozzy? That's who the other grunt assumed she was with right? Wasn't he on the cargo ship too?
Before she could dwell on that thought any longer, a voice came on the intercom. It sounded feminine and strangely soothing, like an air stewardess.
SHIP MAIN CANNON ACTIVATED
Buneary blinked and looked around.
...Huh?
"(Jeez man, you gotta pay attention.)" Sid grumbled as he got back to his feet.
Placing a paw up to his forehead, Pikachu merely groaned back.
"Sirs!" Another grunt yelled, causing many to look over at him. He was intensely eyeing a computer screen in front of himself.
"What is it now?" Valens muttered in annoyance as he tried to get up from the floor only for another screen off to the side of the room to turn on, revealing Team Rocket's ship.
What everyone saw caused many in the crowd to gasp and even scream in terror.
On screen, the nose of the opposing airship began to open and the metal that once covered it began to shift and move back. From the hole emerged an elongated steel body that was unlike anything else on the floating fortress.
Pikachu curiously watched as this new part of Team Rocket's ship sprung out as if it was pointing a finger at them in defiance. It almost appeared akin to the end of a firearm.
Was it some sort of...gun?
"Mother of God..." Another grunt whispered.
SYSTEM ONLINE. AWAITING FURTHER ORDERS
The man named Ozzy continued typing on his keyboard and off on another computer monitor, everyone could see the cannon take aim at the PLA ship. Many in the crowd cheered and applauded.
"Yeah, do it!"
"(Show 'em who's in charge!)"
"(Hit 'em up and hit 'em hard!)"
"Let's end this whole thing! Blow 'em to hell!"
"(Oh no...)" Buneary whispered in trepidation as she realized what was to happen next. Her paws flew to the sides of her head in horror as she saw the cannon charge up with some sort of intensely bright yellow energy
TARGET LOCKED
"No!" Buneary's horrified mind thought as her mouth hung open in terror.
"FIRE!" T-5 ordered.
"PIKACHU!" Buneary internally screamed.
FIRING MAIN CANNON