It was a tough climb up tens of stories through zig-zagging trubbish tunnels. At certain points the passage was actually too narrow for Gary to fit through so his guide had to expand the tunnels with her Acid Spray. Gary waited in the darkness, listening to acid sizzle on metal, trying to figure out when it was safe to move forward without burning himself. He clung to Eevee during those times, burying his face in her fur while his thoughts and worries circled him like a pack of ravening wolves.
Eventually the trubbish lead them to another gap between the false office ceilings and the floor above. Using gestures, she indicated that their destination was below them.
Heart still hammering away in his chest, Gary put his ear to the tunnel floor, trying to pick up any trace of human activity below. He could hear the constant groaning of the superstructure as it held up the building, the gentle rush of water from the plumbing, but no human voices.
Next Gary crawled out so that the upper half of his body was out of the tunnel and over the false ceiling. He listened again, trying to filter the false noises created by his fears from any real noises that would prove those fears correct.
The whirr of the air conditioner kept sounding like people conversing to Gary's stressed ears. He kept thinking that he had heard things, but after he listened closer, he realized that there had been nothing. He was frozen in place, an unbearable tension seizing him.
Gary didn't know how long he lay there, ear to the false ceiling, heart going a mile a minute, dread so thick that it was a physical ache within him. And then he felt something cold and wet press against his cheek, Eevee's nose. A small limb clasped his shoulder, the comforting forepaw of Squirtle.
"I'm f- I'm not fine," Gary's voice cracked. "But we've got to do this."
Except he didn't, a voice inside of him whispered. He could go hide with the trubbishes and live off of garbage until the League retook the city.
Had Gary been thinking clearer he would have been able to see the flaws in that temptation. How garbage wouldn't be enough to sustain him and how it would probably sicken him. How Team Rocket could find him if they brought in telepaths or specialized equipment to search the building.
But, in that moment, living in darkness and filth seemed to be more viable than leaving it.
"I- I-" Gary shivered, taking deep breaths, in and out, in and out, in and out. "I need to do this. I need to help stop Team Rocket."
Gary slid the panel of the false ceiling off, feeling like he had been submerged in ice water. The area below was clear. Heart in his throat, Gary turned around, and slid out of the false ceiling feet first. There was a loud thump as he hit the floor and rolled. The boy froze up at that, until Eevee daintily landed on his shoulder and Squirtle slid the panel back in place before joining them below. Their trubbish guide waved farewell as the ceiling closed.
Gary forced himself to start moving. He was in a hallway, next to a set of offices with the logo of the Pokémon Talk Radio company hanging over them.
A small corner of Gary's mind was surprised; he hadn't realized that they had a station in Kanto.
He inched forward, moving slowly, trying his best to be quiet. The door creaked when he opened it, the sound seeming to fill the room.
Gary crept through the darkened offices, Squirtle and Eevee at his side, until he found the broadcasting studio.
Having spent much of his childhood in Professor Oak's laboratory, Gary was somewhat familiar with all kinds of different electronic equipment, including radio transmitters. He had a basic idea of what he needed to do.
However, Gary realized that he didn't know the League's frequency when he went to set it. He froze up for a second and then set the transmitter to broadcast on all frequencies.
Team Rocket would hear his broadcast for sure.
Gary needed another minute to collect himself after that realization. He wondered when exactly he became trapped in a nightmare. When his life had become nothing but fear and misery.
"Get ready you two," he told his pokémon. "They'll be coming soon."
Gary put on the headphone and picked up the mike. He flipped the switch.
"This is Gary Oak, broadcasting to all forces of the Kanto League."
Ash and Leaf shot straight to their feet, Pikachu nearly falling off of Ash's shoulder. They turned and looked at each other, with wide eyes and gaping mouths. They grabbed each other's arm by the elbow.
"I repeat, this is Gary Oak…."
"I'm broadcasting from the Pokémon Talk radio station in the Silph building," Gary went on. He felt like he was in freefall. "I've got some- some info on Team Rocket. First, I managed to catch some info about their movements…"
"Send scouts to try and confirm this intelligence," Brock ordered, listening to HQ with one ear and listening to Gary's broadcast using a borrowed radio receiver with the other.
"Already on it, sir," Tory replied.
"And there's something else," Gary went on. "They've been moving lots of tech and pokémon into the Silph building…"
"Get a squad up there!" Archer shouted. "I want them there yesterday! Capture that damn kid again!"
"This is the second time he's pulled something like this," Arianna seethed. "We shouldn't have kept him in the building."
"Too late for that," Archer said. "I'm stopping the transfer of psychic assets. We need to deploy Sabrina ASAP!"
"Whatever they did to Sabrina, or still doing, it's being done in this building" Gary announced. "They've got a station of some variety on the fifty-seventh floor. They're worried about something going wrong when they deploy her."
"I don't have anything else to tell you, I'm sorry," Gary said, glancing up at the clock in the studio. "I've been talking too long already. Doing it again, I'm sorry. I gotta go. S…. Smell ya later… I hope…."
With that Gary tore off the headphones and sprinted out of the broadcast studio. He didn't bother shutting off the transmitter.
"Come on," he said as he ran past his pokémon. "We'll have company soon."
Pokemon and people wearing the uniforms of Team Rocket groaned, laying against a wall in the living room of a house in the east outskirts of Saffron City. Furniture had been scattered about the house, overturned and torn up.
One of the Rockets had been dragged and put up against the kitchen wall. Opposite them, someone had pulled up a table and chair and were listening intently to a broadcast coming with a radio that had been borrowed from the Team Rocket patrol.
"With just one pokémon," the member of Team Rocket managed to croak out. "Who are you? You didn't even need to kill us…"
"It doesn't matter who I am," the figure said. They had what sounded like a woman's voice, but the member of Team Rocket couldn't tell if that matched the person. The kitchen was dim; no lights were on in the house, leaving the only illumination the grey light coming in through the windows in the other room. All they could see was a sitting silhouette. "What matters is what we just heard."
"That brat's babbling?" The member of Team Rocket managed to say, trying to discreetly reach for a knife they had hidden in their boot.
"Looking for this?" There was a thunk and the Rocket member saw the knife in question suddenly embedded in the floor by their foot. "And that brat's just given me a list of questions.
"You see," the voice continued, the owner standing up, "torture can be so ineffective. People will say anything you want to get the pain to stop, but they won't tell you what you need."
There came a growling from next to the Rocket's head and they thought they smelled smoke.
"It's much easier when you know what you need to ask," the figure said and the Rocket member could hear the smirk in their voice. "Now be good and answer my questions. We wouldn't want my pokémon to get too wild with you, now would we?"
The League forces moved swiftly, Tory and the command staff dispatching squads to counter the movements or attack positions based on what Gary had reported. Team Rocket was sent reeling back, losing all positions between Sixth and Ninth street and even losing a few key positions in their Ninth street fortifications. Fires bloomed lighting up the streets under an ever-darkening sky, the air alive with the sounds of pokémon roaring and bellowing. Fortified buildings collapsed, gutted by the struggle as the League continued to drive back Team Rocket.
More League units began to mass up behind the front lines, gathering for an attack to break the crumbling Rocket line. Fresh squads mixed with squads that had been fighting all day with only a few minutes rest, their commanders constantly on the radio with headquarters as the next stage of the battle was planned out.
It was then that Sabrina appeared.
A shopping complex and a small office building on opposite sides of a street rumbled, glowing with a faint purple light, and then fell forward onto the street where League forces had gathered. Special attacks futilely lanced upwards as the masonry and metal fell.
Sabrina's group popped away and appeared over another gathering. Sabrina was still wearing the helmet, but now she was wearing a set of grey armor as well, covering her torso, shoulders, and hands.
Before anyone below could react, beams of psychic energy lanced out from above. People and pokémon screamed as they were consumed by the explosions. And before anyone could counterattack, Sabrina and her entourage teleported away as swiftly as they had arrived.
They appeared over another League position, unleashing a telepathic shriek that brought down trainers and teams. Squads were crushed with telekinesis. Hypnosis neutralized attacking units. Blades of psychic force cut at members of the League while shining translucent barriers protected members of Team Rocket.
Unable to hold their positions, the League forces began to withdraw and then run as the Rocket forces surged forward.
"I can confirm that Sabrina is in play!" Brock shouted into the radio as he and his squad rushed to aid those who had been caught in the debris of the falling buildings Team Rocket had made Sabrina dump onto the street. "Commit the reserves now!"
"Deploying the channelers from Lavender Town now, as well as all our Bug and Dark type specialists," Tory replied. "Darkai turn his gaze from us."
"Come on, come on, come on," Archer whispered, sitting next to a radio dispatcher. "What's the news…"
"Not the news you're looking for, but we've retaken Eighth street," Ariana said, coming up behind him. "And we're repairing our fortifications on Ninth."
"Damn that Oak brat," Archer growled. "Still-"
"Control has confirmed sightings of massed Dark and Bug type attacks," the radio dispatcher said. "I repeat, they have confirmed sightings of massed Dark and Bug attacks. We have unconfirmed reports of Ghost-type attacks from units in the field."
"Tell Control that there are to be no more unsupported attacks," Archer said to the dispatcher. "Have them start coordinating with unit commanders. I don't want our prototype weapon overwhelmed by type advantage."
"Looks like the League did come prepared," Arianna sighed.
"Someone must have gotten out of the gym," Archer hissed. "Too many trainers were unaccounted for."
"There wasn't enough left of several of them to be identified," Arianna pointed out.
"That's no excuse," Archer slammed his fist into the table. "I should have deployed scouts around the gym as soon as we caught that brat. We knew then that we wouldn't be able to covertly lock down the city."
"You had a hundred other things to take care of," Arianna sighed. "But yes, we should have had someone look into that as soon as we could."
"And of course, we'd have to convince the boss to leave today," Archer growled. "Our hold on the city wasn't complete and our western fortifications were unfinished. We may need to start the evacuation soon."
"I'll start sending away the wounded and any units that are no longer combat effective," Arianna stated. "The teleportation rigs were prepared earlier so they should be able to handle it. I'll also move several half strength units to secure the tunnels in case we have to issue a general retreat. But I don't think we're going to need them. I'm fairly certain this attack was rushed. Most of the damage has been done by several small units."
"That vanguard squad?" Archer asked, rubbing his temples.
"And a few others," Arianna answered. "They've been dedicating most of their forces to holding ground, except for those they were preparing to commit to that general offensive. What's more is that they're dedicating a significant portion of their strength to evacuating the civilians."
"What, those irregular units?" Archer said. "Oh, yes, scouts did report that there were a number of non-uniformed trainers handling the evacuation. I think I see what you're getting at. They rushed this attack, hoping to catch us by surprise with high-level units-"
"And disrupt our operations, while using the rest of their force to evacuate the city" Arianna finished. "I don't think they ever intended to take the city."
"Well, as long as they don't get too close to this building then it doesn't matter what they intended," Archer said. "The rest of the city is immaterial for our long-term goals, holding it is just a good way to sap the League's resources before our next move."
"I'm well aware," Arianna rolled her eyes. "But, if our assumption about their goals is correct, we may be able to drive them out of the city entirely."
"Maybe," Archer nodded. "But I don't want to overextend either. Let's do it slowly. Reform the ranks, then retake our old positions between Sixth and Third and then refortify them. How are our burrowers doing? Can we attack their rear at the same time?"
"Burrowers are either tending to the escape tunnels or skirmishing underground with League forces," Arianna informed him. "It's not a bad idea though. I'll see if there are any mobile units that we can spare to harass the League's flanks."
"Good," Archer clenched his fist. "They hurt us, yes, but now we're going to make them bleed."
With reserves committed, with Bug, Dark, and Ghost type specialists warding off Sabrina's rampage, the League's route turned into a holding action. Squads occupied the ruins of buildings that Team Rocket had once held and then started to rain attacks and projectiles on Team Rocket from high, while Team Rocket had to advance under fire.
Isolated Rocket squads managed to slip through while the League line formed and they fell upon the League forces handling the evacuation. The League regulars drove them back, but both them and the irregulars suffered casualties.
No Team Rocket forces targeted the evacuating civilians, but some were caught in the crossfire all the same. Screaming men, women, and children were hit with stray flames, electricity, projectiles, and more. Their bodies joined the human and pokémon corpses already in the street.
"Everyone, we're withdrawing," Jared announced.
Ash, Leaf, and the rest of Jared's squad were taking shelter in an alley closer to the center of the city. They had seen the purple light and felt the rumbling from just two blocks over where a massive psychic attack had utterly erased a League company that had been gathering for the assault on Ninth street.
Not a bad idea, Pikachu muttered, still staring in the direction the explosion had come.
"Where to?" Leaf asked, looking around.
"You're going to link up with another unit on the west outskirts and assist with the general evacuation," Jared informed her. "I'm going to link up with the air units in SAR and extract wounded personnel."
"We can help with that!" Ash said.
"No," Jared said firmly. "And it's not just me saying that, these are orders from headquarters. It's getting too hot in the city, all irregular SAR units and most of the regular ones are getting pulled out."
Ash clenched his fist, but looked down and didn't say anything.
"It's okay," Leaf whispered, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We're not giving up on Gary."
"Yeah," Ash whispered back.
"Okay everyone, first we go down Fifth, then we're cutting across Reynold's Ave and then we head south on Fourth," Jared announced. "We'll link up with a column there and follow them to our final destination. Let's move!"
The squad filed out of the alley and trotted down the street. Explosions sounded from what seemed to be the next block, people and pokémon screaming and shouting. Smoke drifted over the street, the smell reminding Ash of the last time he had been in this situation.
He pulled his mind back into the present. Jared was keeping the squad on the sidewalk, occasionally holding up a hand to bring them to a halt while he stuck his head around an alley or just listened. Pikachu was the only pokémon out but most of the squad had pokéballs in hand.
"Okay," Jared said, when they reached the intersection of Fifth and Reynold's, stopping half a building from the corner. The sounds of battle were growing more intense. "This is going to be dangerous. If you've got a pokémon you can ride that doesn't fly, get it out. Otherwise, you're going to need to sprint."
No pokémon were sent out.
"Yeah, I was afraid of that," Jared sighed. "Is everyone up for a run?"
Every member of the squad nodded.
"Then on the count of three we run. Everyone ready? Good. One. Two. Three!"
They took off, cutting across the street as they sprinted towards the opposite corner. Ash glanced over his shoulder and saw trainers in League uniforms commanding a kangaskhan, a magmar, and an electabuzz. Both the trainers and their pokémon were sheltered behind chunks of concrete torn out of a nearby building, the pokémon hurling special attacks at a group of Rockets.
Ash turned his attention back to the run, feet pounding, time stretching, hairs on the back of his neck rising.
There was a new swell of shouting and Ash looked back again. A series of fireballs arced over the League squad behind him and was coming right at his own squad.
"Incoming!" Ash shouted.
I've got it! Pikachu shouted, electricity sparking from his cheeks as he leaped off of Ash's shoulder. Buzzing spears of electric power shot out of him, stabbing through several fireballs and causing them to detonate with a boom.
But Pikachu didn't manage to get all of them. One soared through the streams of power and came right down towards the center of the squad.
"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Jared shrieked as he caught sight of the blazing orb descending. The rest of the squad scattered, except the trainer with the kalosian accent, who stumbled as she tried to suddenly change direction.
Without hesitation, Jared screamed and threw himself off his feet, tackling the woman as the fire landed.
Scarlet light flared, flames crackled, and there was a sharp boom as the attack landed. The shockwave knocked Ash off of balance. He staggered and fell back on the street. Smoke billowed and rushed out from the point of impact, acrid with hints of cooked meat stinging his eyes and choking his lungs.
Ash! Pikachu shouted, dashing over to his trainer within the blink of an eye. Are you alright?
Yeah, Ash said coughing once. I'm fine. Just get ready in case they send more after us.
The boy staggered back to his feet, shook his head, and then jogged over to check on the rest of his squad. Several members were picking themselves up from the ground, including Leaf. Most of them were dirty, but unharmed.
Then Ash saw Jared and the trainer with a kalosian accent. The trainer with a kalosian accent was picking herself up, her body armor scorched, but Jared was still lying on the ground, small flames flickering on his body like candles. Acting on instinct, without feeling or thinking, Ash rushed over and began to beat at the flames flickering from Jared.
"Shit!" Leaf swore as she got back to her feet.
"Commander's down!" another trainer shouted.
"Go Rain!" A trainer called out, a seel appearing in a blaze of white light. "Put him out and then help that pikachu keep us safe!"
"His pokéballs," Leaf shouted over the squeal of water on fire, rushing over as the seel doused him. "Are they safe?"
Ash knelt down by Jared, the trainer with an accent doing the same on his other side. Ash saw that the older boy was still breathing, his chest rising and falling, but his skin was blackened and cracked, an angry red around the edges.
"They're fine," the kalosian trainer said, her voice hoarse, holding up a few of the pokéballs.
"The pidgeot?" Ash asked Leaf, guessing where her train of thought was going.
"Yes, his pidgeot should know how to carry him and where to take him," Leaf said, taking the pokéballs and looking for labels or for the small bit of transparency on the ball that would let her see what pokémon was inside.
"Come on out!" Leaf said, more fireballs detonating above her as Pikachu and Rain covered them. More white light blazed and then Jared's pidgeot, Gale, appeared.
Jared! Gale shouted, leaning over his trainer. Oh no, nononononononononononono-
Calm down, Ash whispered, leaning in by the side of his head, down where his internal ears would be. He's still alive!
The pidgeot stopped his babbling, still frozen over his trainer.
"We need you to take him to where you've been taking the other wounded people," Leaf explained, putting a hand on the top of the flying-type's head. "Can you do that without him? He doesn't have much time."
Yes! Gale nodded. Move!
"Give him some space," Ash said, backing off. Leaf scrambled back as the pidgeot unfurled his wings, gently grasping his trainer in his talons. He blasted away, the wind from his passage ruffling everyone's hair.
Can we keep moving or do you want to stand there until we miss one! Pikachu hollered from behind them.
Ash turned around, seeing streams and spikes of electricity, water, and ice continue to spear upwards through the descending fireballs. A single charmeleon from Team Rocket was continuing to launch the streams of fireballs at Ash's squad while the rest of their pokémon continued to attack the other League squad. A scyther was defending the League squad, dueling a raticate and a tyrogue while the other pokémon continued to trade long range attacks.
"No," Ash growled, grabbing pokéballs from his belt. "Pidgeot and Squirtle!"
"We're fighting them off then?" Leaf said, coming up beside him. "Go Vines and Octillery!"
"Go Cyndaquil!" Another trainer shouted.
"Go Fletchinder!" The trainer with the kalosian accent called out.
The six pokémon assembled before their trainers as Pikachu and Rain continued to counter the fireballs.
"Gust Bullet and Bubblebeam!" Ash shouted, pointing at the charmeleon.
"Razor Leaf and Octazooka!" Leaf ordered.
"Flamethrower!" The other two trainers shouted in unison.
Blasting bubbles, swirling wind bullets, razor sharp leaves, a high velocity ink projectile and two streams of fire raced down the street at the Rocket squad. The charmeleon tried to dodge, but there were too many attacks. The ink slammed into its face, snapping its head back and knocking it off of its feet just before the other attacks landed.
Steam hissed and wind howled as the fire-type was hurled back, bruised and bleeding into the Rocket squad, disrupting the other pokémon keeping the League squad hunkered down behind the concrete.
The tide turned in an instant, the Rocket squad falling back under a hail of attacks. The raticate and tyrogue, covered in several shallow cuts from their fight with the now battered scyther, were recalled to their pokéballs.
"Go! Get out of here!" Ash screamed at their retreating backs. Get out of the city you damned bastards! May your dreams be visited by Darkai!
"Aaron, you're code-switching again," Leaf said quietly, standing by his shoulder. Red light flashed out and her pokémon were recalled. The other trainers followed suit.
Ash, calm down, Pikachu hissed, running up to his shins.
"Sorry," Ash muttered, recalling Pidgeot and Squirtle, who were giving him odd looks.
"What language is that anyway?" Leaf asked. "It sounds…. strange."
"Not now," Ash said. "Don't we have to, uh…"
"Our orders were to help with the general evacuation on the west part of the city," another squad member said. "But first I'm going to check up on that other squad."
"Same," another one said.
"I'm going to the west part of the city then," the trainer with a kalosian accent said. "I'll find another unit to link up with. You two should come with me."
"No," Ash snapped, looking down at the street.
"Right," Leaf said quickly. "We should split up so that something like this doesn't happen again. Him and me can probably find some places to squeeze through and they might not attack us if they only see kids."
"I don't know if that's a good idea or not," the woman sighed. "But I don't think I can force you to come with me. Good luck and for the love of Life and Death, stay safe."
"We'll try," Leaf nodded. "Aaron," she tugged on his shoulder. "Come on."
"I'm going-" Ash growled.
"Come with me so we can plan out our route," Leaf said, tugging more insistently. "Come on, let's get going before the rain gets worse.
"Just listen to me," Leaf leaned close and whispered. "I've got a plan, okay?"
Reluctantly Ash let himself be pulled along, into an alleyway while the rest of the squad dispersed.
"I'm going to go after Gary," Ash said after Leaf quit pulling him, Pikachu jumping onto his shoulder. "And I'm going to fight Team Rocket. I'm going to try and stop them from hurting more people. I'm not letting them keep their hands on Gary any longer."
"Obviously," Leaf rolled her eyes. "I'm going too. I just didn't want the rest of the squad trying to stop us. Now we just have to figure out how to get to the Silph building. Do you know the way?"
"Uh…. no," Ash admitted.
And yet you were still going to try and get there alone anyway…. You idiot, Pikachu muttered.
"Do you know where it is?" Leaf asked.
"Uh…. isn't it the biggest building?" Ash said.
"Yes, but… that's going to be hard to see right now," Leaf said, pulling out her pokégear. "Luckily, my pokégear comes with maps of all the major cities of Kanto, so I can look up the address even if we don't have any signal….. And it's at Sixteenth and Wobbafett."
"Great! How do we get there?"
"Umm…. Huh, I thought the street names would be in alphabetical order, but that would be too convenient for us," Leaf sighed. "It looks like Wobbafett is near the center of the city, between Davison and Abomasnow."
"So, we head west and south until we see any of those streets?" Ash asked.
"I don't have a better idea," Leaf said, putting away her pokégear. "We've just got to be careful…. Of course, being careful would mean that we shouldn't sneak across a city held by Team Rocket while there's a real battle going on, but…. But…" She grit her teeth and clenched her fist. "But I'm not going to abandon Gary, not even if there's little chance that I could save him."
"Yeah," Ash pumped his own fist.
"Even if this is stupid and crazy and will probably get us killed," Leaf said, her voice quiet. "I don't know why I'm doing this."
Because you're willing to fight, duh, Pikachu said. If you don't go forage in the field you'll starve; you can't let the fact that predators are watching stop you. I just wish you humans weren't such idiots about how you go about doing it.
"Would you want Gary to do this for you if you were in danger?" Ash asked with a shrug.
"No!" Leaf protested. "I'd want him to stay safe!"
"Good point," Ash conceded, thinking about his own futile attempts to get his pokémon out of danger while remaining in it himself. "I guess… I don't know why either."
"It doesn't matter," Leaf shook her head. "I don't think I could sleep if I didn't even try to save him. Enough. Let's go."
AN:
I'd like to thank Amationary for beta reading.
It can be hard to keep up the buffer at times, but it's really worth it. This chapter and what should be the next chapter were significantly revised long after they were initially written to add some new scenes that help everything flow better and make sure to address some points I would have otherwise forgotten about.
Don't forget to review! Concrit is welcome!