Misty cried out as an explosion sent her and Starmie careening through a doorway. Brock watched helplessly, torn between wanting to see her spring right back up and hoping that she took the opportunity to lie low or flee.
Brock was sheltered within Onix's coils, clutching a bleeding arm, a battered Geodude at his side. Onix was panting and trembling, his head hanging low over the street. His hide was pockmarked with craters and burns.
Cindy and Empress had been forced underground, the nidoqueen having lost a chunk of her side to a telekinetically hurled metal beam. Empress would be able to make a full recovery in the long-term; provided that she and her trainer could survive the short term. Amanda and her pokémon had chased after them to cover them.
Sabrina, her trainers, and her pokémon weren't showing any signs of tiring. Brock didn't know if it was because they were being controlled by an outside force or if the fight against the vanguard squad had been no harder for them than a walk down the street. The enemy's number had continued to drop, but Brock still couldn't tell why.
"Come on boy," Brock whispered, leaning against Onix. "Just a little bit longer…"
Harsh pink-purple light cut through the early night under the storm. A growing ball of psychic energy already the size of a snorlax had formed in front of Sabrina and Brock recognized it as another Psybeam. A giant one capable of leveling the block and blasting down to the bedrock.
"Fuck…" Brock growled, trying to think of a way out of the situation. He just stared at the energy, awash in its light, his mind blank until he forced himself to do something, anything.
"Onix, go in the building that Misty went into!" Brock shouted. "And then Dig down!" It was a long-shot, but if they could find Misty and then get underground then there was a slim chance-
"Oh, wait will you? I'll deal with that attack if you would just stay put." A female sounding voice, one that Brock felt he could almost recognize, came from right from the other side of Onix. "I don't feel like chasing you down later."
"Wha-" Brock began, standing up to see between Onix's coils. Someone with long wavy hair swiftly walked past. They entered the growing light of the psybeam and Brock saw that it was a woman with silvery blue hair. At her side was an umbreon and a houndoom, both looking utterly unconcerned about the deadly energy gathering.
"Umbreon, that light's bothering my eyes," the woman said, smirking up at Sabrina. "Destroy it."
Darkness gathered around Umbreon, darker than the storm, dark as true midnight on a lightless night. A comet of pure void flew from the dark-type's body, smashing into the charging Psybeam before it could fire.
The orb shattered, psychic energy flying away in chunks and dissipating into nothing. The floating psychics were buffeted by the shockwave, their gazes leaving Brock for the first time since they had arrived.
They reassembled themselves and their gazes switched over to the newcomer. And the newcomer, Karen, the remaining member of the Johto Elite Four, met their gazes and smiled.
Arianna turned away from the radio and towards Archer, her face deathly pale.
"Control just called. The situation has escalated," she told Archer, her voice barely trembling. "An Elite has joined the battle."
"Oh, human gods," Archer prayed, a sickening wave of fear collecting in his stomach.
"I was taking a tour of the region before the negotiations were finished and heard about what was happening here," Karen turned to Brock and gave him a smirk. "I didn't want to miss out on the fun, so I figured I'd stop by. Hellhound, Blackfire Barrier!"
A dome of darkness that burned like flames surrounded them all as another barrage of Psybeams lanced out. Light vanished and Brock was left blind.
"Onix, Geodude, return," Brock panted. He recalled his pokémon, aiming from memory, and then fell to the street.
Rain hissed as it fell against the black flames. Psybeams whined and then fell silent.
"You didn't do a half bad job," Karen said casually from somewhere in the darkness. "You lasted what, ten minutes?"
"No," Brock shook his head despite the darkness. "We- we lost someone in the first minute of the fight."
"Ha," Karen snorted. "You mean that ninja boy? Give me some credit here. He's alive."
"What!?" Brock's head snapped up, futilely looking at the source of Karen's voice. She gave him a wicked chuckle.
"I got here just after Sabrina arrived," she explained and Brock could hear the smirk in her voice. "I've been watching and picking off those gym trainers and pokémon when I could. I know you didn't see me, but I think you saw my handywork."
"You're why they kept vanishing!" Brock realized. Karen let out another wicked sounding giggle.
"The rest of your squad is resting three blocks to the north," Karen told him. "Stay underground if you can. I'll keep Sabrina occupied. In exchange I'm going to need you to go to the Silph building. I trust that you heard the broadcast from that boy?"
"You want us to cut Sabrina's strings?" Brock asked, standing back up in the darkness.
"I could kill her, but that would probably start my tenure as a member of the Kanto-Johto Elite Four off on the wrong foot," Karen answered. "Saving her after saving you and your gaggle of gym brats means all the Kanto gyms would owe me a favor, wouldn't you say?"
"That's one way to put it," Brock agreed. "But Team Rocket holds most of the city between here and Silph. Going alone, I might be able to make it, but not if we have to move as a squad."
"Team Rocket's going to have their hands full." Once again, even in pitch darkness Brock could tell that Karen was smirking. "Everyone knows Lance has his G-Men, but the rest of us Elites like to be less… public with our trainers. Right now, a few of my people and some of my pokémon will be giving Team Rocket a surprise that they won't soon forget…
"Crap," a ginger trainer in a League uniform said looking at the bloody phlegm they had just coughed up. They were slumped on the floor against a wall in a wrecked and abandoned apartment building. All the lights were off, but there was illumination leaking in through the window, covering some of the apartment in a pale blue shroud.
"That's not good," a black-haired man also wearing the League uniform said, panting and steadying himself against the same wall as the ginger.
"No shit, Alex" the ginger trainer growled, their chest heaving as they fought another cough. "Just leave me here. I'm fuckin' dead anyway."
There was the sound of wood breaking from in the hallways outside the apartment. Both filched at the sound.
"Stow the attitude," Alex said. "I'm not leaving you to die. They're getting close. Let's move back another room. Do you think your quilava'll be ready to fight after a minute?"
"No," the ginger groaned. "She needs more time and maybe another potion."
"Okay, then it's up to Hitmonlee," the man said, crouching down and offering his arm to the ginger trainer. "Up ya go."
"Fine, but if I vomit blood all over your shirt I'm not paying for the dry-cleaning bill," the ginger trainer moaned.
The two limped further into the apartment, coming into a room with a wide window overlooking the city. Rain battered against the glass and a neon sign outside shone bright enough for the duo to see inside the room. Darkness pooled just outside the room where the two had come from.
"Whoever rents this place is definitely getting ripped off," the ginger haired trainer muttered. "You couldn't pay me to live here. Even cockroaches have higher standards."
"Not really relevant," Alex said, lowering the ginger trainer against the corner of the room. More wood shattered, this time from the apartment entryway.
"Hitmonlee, I hope you've rested enough, because we're going to need you now," Alex said, grabbing a pokéball off of his belt.
"Got you now!" a woman roared. There was the sound of large bodies bounding through the apartment, causing the two trainers to tense. White light blazed as Alex sent out Hitmonlee, just as a doduo, a poliwhirl, and a furret shot into the room.
"You're not getting away now," a violet haired woman in a Team Rocket uniform growled. "Now you pay for what you did to my squad."
"Your squad was a load of wankers who got what they deserved," the ginger trainer piped up. "If you didn't want to get ambushed, then maybe you should have looked where you were going."
"Oh, I'm going to make sure your death lasts long enough for you to regret that," the woman said through gritted teeth. "Cecil! Make sure to capture that one!"
The woman looked over to her side and then her eyes widened.
"Cecil?" She said, her voice much softer. "Cecil!"
Her glare turned to the two League trainers.
"What did you two do to him?" she shouted. "Tell me or I'll make you regret being born!"
"Couldn't say," the ginger trainer smirked through their pain. "But you're in luck, I've regretted being born since I saw your ugly mug."
"You've got nothing left to threaten us with," Alex said.
"That's it!" The woman growled. "Twins, Drill Peck that hitmonlee! Whirlpool, Bubblebeam the humans! Furret, help take down that hitmonlee!"
Before the three Rocket pokémon could do anything, something silver and black lunged out of the darkness. Moving too quickly for anyone to react, it attacked the Rocket pokémon. It slammed into the furret, knocking it through the floor, then a blast of black energy bowled over the poliwhirl. The dodou shrieked as strong jaws clamped around its throats and it was dragged back into the darkness.
"Wha-" the violet haired woman said, her eyes wide as saucer plates. Without warning she fell forward.
"WAIT, NO!" she shrieked, clawing at the floor as she was dragged back into the dark. Her screams cut off abruptly, leaving them in silence.
"What just happened?" the ginger trainer asked after a long pause.
"I think someone had their pokémon save us," Alex said, rushing over. "But we can find out who's it was later. Come one, I'm going to call SAR for an extraction. Hopefully they'll have a window now."
"You lucky fuck," the ginger groaned. "Shoulda just left me to die. You always win these arguments by getting lucky."
"Now's really not the time to be complaining about losing an argument, considering you winning it would have led to me leaving you to die..."
"Shut up. I'll complain about whatever I want."
Brock trudged along, clutching his wounded arm, going down a dimly lit sewer walkway and then around a corner, finally reaching the maintenance station that Karen had directed him to. All the other gym brats were waiting for him as she had said they would be.
Cindy was wiping her eyes as she tended to a bloodied, but living, Kayden. His right arm was covered in bandages and Cindy had moved on to treating blackened and bloodied flesh on the leg of the same side.
Amanda was examining Visquez's head while the electric-type specialist winced every time said body part was touched or moved. Visquez had some splotches of dried blood on her face, forehead and forearms, but no visible lacerations.
Misty was standing guard over the rest of them, Starmie and Staryu at the ready. "Brock!" She cried out when he came into view. "She got you too?"
"In the most dramatic way possible," Brock groaned.
"Well, the only people who could be more dramatic-" Kayden said, before erupting into a coughing fit, wincing with each cough. "More dramatic than a gym leader would have to be an Elite," He resumed speaking. "I have to give her points for style. And saving my life, of course."
"She could have intervened sooner," Cindy sniffed. "Before you were hurt."
"Don't be so mad, Cindyquil," Kayden said with a faint smile. "She did what she could. I just should have done a better job shielding my thoughts."
"It might not have been your thoughts that betrayed you," Amanda said without looking up from Visquez. "They were networked to a degree where they probably were sharing fields of vision."
"That's even worse," Kayden groaned. "I'm supposed to know how to move invisibly."
"If you want to be actually invisible go learn some magic," Amanda rolled her eyes. "Or work with a psychic."
"Fine, move without being seen," Kayden rolled his own eyes. "Do you really need to argue semantics right now?"
"Well if you keep insisting on using the wrong terminology-"
Brock let out a helpless chuckle and then his vision swam. He felt himself wobble and put his good hand on the sewer wall to steady himself.
"Brock, are you okay?" Misty asked.
"Just tired," Brock replied. "I need ten minutes."
"Tend to your pokémon first," Visquez said as Amanda finally finished her examination. "Given how long you lasted against Sabrina, they must have gone through the ringer."
"Don't think flattery can save you, Visquez" Brock growled. "Just what in the Distorted World were you thinking back there?"
"Okay," Visquez winced. "So, yes, obviously not my best move, but-"
"Saying that was a bad move is like saying Groudon and Kygore got in a minor scuffle," Misty huffed, crossing her arms.
"Hey, at least I was touched by the gesture," Kayden grinned and then winced as Cindy firmly applied more burn treatment gel.
"Shut up you," Visquez growled. "If I had known you were still alive, I would have come after you instead for making us all think you were dead."
"Hey," Kayden protested, "that was on Karen, not me."
"Do you have any potions or ethers to spare?" Brock asked Cindy while the others bickered and bantered.
"A few," Cindy said, reaching into her bag. "But I really wouldn't recommend giving your pokémon another ether-"
"We don't have much choice," Brock told her, slumping against the sewer wall and sliding down. "In ten minutes, I'm going to need to attack the Silph building while Karen occupies Team Rocket and Sabrina's attention."
"That's gonna need a full offensive," Misty said, standing over Brock, Cindy, and Kayden. "Not just you, Onix, Geodude, and Zubat."
"We can't afford to risk anyone else on full offensive," Brock replied. "I've told Tory to have the rest of our forces focus on holding the west part of the city and evacuating everyone they can. Karen and her trainers can keep Team Rocket off of their backs."
He then got out Onix's and Geodude's pokéballs, found the ports on the back, and began to apply the potions and ethers to them while they were still in the pokéball. Giving pokémon potions and other treatments via the port wasn't as effective as applying them directly, but Brock thought it was more important that his pokémon get a chance to rest.
"Do you have any more?" Brock asked Cindy after he was done.
"Just one more," Cindy said.
"Anyone else's pokémon need treatment at the moment?" Brock asked, looking around at the group.
Amanda, Kayden, and Visquez paused their bantering/bickering long enough to answer in the negative. Misty shook her head.
"I'll take it then," Brock told Cindy. "Next time I send them out I'll use it on them."
"You really shouldn't go through with this," Cindy told him. "Their headquarters will be well defended. You won't be able to take it alone."
"He's not going alone," Visquez said, staggering to her feet and then wincing and wobbling as she stood. "I'm going too."
"Noooo, you're not!" Amanda said standing up and grabbing Visquez's arm to steady her. "Look at you!"
"I'll be better in ten minutes," Visquez shot back, making a half-hearted effort to pull her arm away.
"I'm going to try another blitz," Brock said. "I'm hoping that Karen's people will disrupt their operations enough for me to slip through. It's their innermost defenses that worry me. I can at least keep them occupied, but…."
"Well, then I'll take care of the rest," Misty declared, hands on her hips.
"No," Brock shook his head. "You're going to escort Visquez and Kayden-"
"I think Cindy and I can handle that," Amanda interrupted. "If you're going to insist on this reckless endeavor then you should be accompanied by at least one of us. If nothing else Misty may be able to drag you away when the situation becomes too hazardous."
"It's Misty though," Kayden spoke up. "Knowing her she might just insist on staying because she wants to beat them up some more."
"That reminds me, I still owe you for that hair dye incident," Misty shot a glare at the wounded ninja.
"See!"
"You're not going alone," Misty said, turning back to Brock. "Either you take one of us or you call in some reinforcements. And if you call in reinforcements, I'll accompany them to make sure that you don't try and ditch them."
"I'm in charge here, you know. I can just order you to go back," Brock pointed out.
"And I can just ignore that. You can then file a complaint with my gym when and I'm sure they'll get right on it," Misty crossed her arms, cocking her head and smirking down at Brock. "You're not getting out of this one bub. And don't even think of going anywhere until you've done something about that arm."
"Fine," Brock groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Rest up then while I take care of myself. We leave in eight minutes."
Team Rocket struggled under dark skies. Their counter-offensive had been slowing when they ran into the hastily erected League defenses, but it completely faltered after Karen's trainers and pokémon attacked their rear.
The assault from the dark-type specialists came out of nowhere. Members of Team Rocket would turn around and suddenly see them just before the dark creatures attacked. Key people and pokémon were taken out, squads were scattered, supplies were pillaged, and important pieces of equipment were destroyed.
Bursts of obsidian wiped out entire groups wherever Karen's own pokémon had been dispatched. The strongest members of Team Rocket struggled, pitting their entire teams against single pokémon, only to be swiftly dispatched. Flight proved to be no better than fight as they were chased down and destroyed.
Team Rocket's puppet Sabrina was sent in to try and assist, but wherever she went, Karen herself was soon there. Psychic energy flared up again and again only to be consumed by darkness. The mind-controlled people and pokémon from the Saffron gym were whittled down one by one, caught in the jaws and claws of dark-type pokémon and knocked unconscious. Sabrina herself always just barely escaped, her controllers taking extra care to keep her out of the grasp of Karen's pokémon.
Team Rocket used all their tricks to kill Karen. More buildings were toppled into the street in attempts to crush the Elite, the city shaking from the destruction. Loose debris became bullets piercing through concrete and metal. Telepathic screams brought bystanders caught in the very edge of the attack down to their knees, clutching at their heads and crying tears of blood.
Nothing worked. Karen and her pokémon slipped through falling buildings as if they were no more than a few scattered leaves floating on the breeze. Debris was obliterated by special attacks or casually avoided with minimal movement. And they walked through the telepathic assault the same way they walked through the rain.
In the end, Team Rocket could only try and disappear.
"Oh, human gods, whom we have forgotten and remembered," Archer prayed under his breath. "Prepare a seat at your table for the children who are to join you on this day."
"I don't care! You are to disengage now!" Arianna shouted into the radio. "Send your full-strength squads to reinforce Ninth Street and get everyone else to the nearest evacuation point!"
"Does anyone even have any squads that are still at their full strength?" Archer asked.
"There are a few," Arianna replied.
"What's the word from Control?" Archer asked.
"They're losing assets rapidly," Arianna replied. "The good news is that Elite seems to be going for non-lethal options, which-"
"Which may be the only reason we haven't lost her," Archer finished for her.
"Their damn sentimentality is proving fortunate for once," Arianna nodded.
"Should we recall her?" Archer asked. "The longer she's out there, the more time Karen has to grab her."
"No," Arianna shook her head. "I've reassigned her to cover the evacuation. The asset is disrupting the League at key points on the front line. I've told Control to stick to hit and run tactics to keep the Elite from retrieving her."
"Try to buy us another three to four hours," Archer said. "We've finished transferring half of the materials from Silph and are thirty percent complete with evacuating wounded personnel."
"I can use the asset to get you two hours, but after that I'm withdrawing her and the other psychic assets," Arianna told him. "They're not absolutely essential for Stolen Fire, but they will make the operation much more likely to succeed."
"Pretty sure the boss would rather have us save more of our members than hoard an asset."
"That's why I'm giving you two hours instead of moving her to storage right now. Use them wisely."
The noise didn't sound human and didn't sound like anything that could have come from the pokémon that Team Rocket had brought with them. That was what startled Gary into opening his eyes and he saw a hail of greenery flying around him.
Rocket grunts cried out, backing away from Gary and clutched at bleeding wounds. Sharp pieces of plant matter had been embedded into floor, walls, and flesh.
"Gary!" A familiar voice shocked the boy to his very core. Clutching Squirtle to his chest, he looked back into the darkness and rain, looking for where that impossible voice had come from.
"Gary, get ready to jump!" The voice, that impossible voice, Leaf's voice, sounded out again. "Octazooka!"
A glob of ink flew out of the rain and exploded in the midst of Team Rocket and their pokémon. They were sent tumbling off their feet covered in black fluid.
"Eevee, get ready," Gary said, his voice cracking. His nerves felt like they had been replaced by live wires.
A winged shape came out of the darkness, a golbat, its mouth open as it assailed the recovering Rockets with a Supersonic attack. And right behind it came Leaf and her ivysaur swinging on the pokémon's vines. Leaf was standing on top of the pokémon, clutching at its vines with one hand, as two came in towards Gary.
"Gary!" she shouted, holding out her other hand. "Jump! I've got you!"
He was in a place beyond fear and hope, a place where his actions seemed both automatic and inevitable. Without needing to think, Gary leaped out into the darkness, reaching for Leaf's hand.
The impact stung, leaving his hand tingling as Leaf grabbed his hand and pulled him to her, clutching him to her like she would never let go.
Gary barely registered Eevee latching onto the back of his shirt as they swung away, barely registered the feeling of Squirtle being pressed between him and Leaf, barely registered the jerk as the group switched directions, and couldn't even recall how he managed to get his feet situated on the ivysaur. The only thing he could comprehend was the warmth of Leaf's arm around him and how he finally felt safe for the first time since he was captured.
AN: I'd like to thank Amationary for beta reading.
So not a lot of writing happened the last few weeks, but at least there was a lot of driving!... Alright, the cheery tone is trying to disguise that real world events had me occupied and now I've got to scramble to rebuild my buffer to an appropriate level.
Anyway, don't forget to review! Concrit is welcome!