Chapter 45: God Only Knows...
Pikachu's ears were ringing in part due to the deafening screams from all around him. His vision briefly going dark, he realized that in the commotion, an alarm was going off. When his surroundings finally ceased rocking back and forth, his world became stable and he could make out the sounds of crackling electricity and coughing.
Shaking on the floor, he carefully began to get up and he realized that he was completely unharmed. He looked around and saw people and Pokémon writhing on the floor and groaning in pain, some on top of each other and others completely knocked out. Seeing the chaos, Pikachu grit his teeth and looked over to see his new group in much the same state. Hanging over the entire room was the monitor which was displaying nothing but static at the moment.
The mouse's ears pricked up upon hearing Valens mutter something off to the side. Coughing, the white-haired leader struggled to get off the floor. He had remained unconscious for several minutes, having been knocked out immediately after the attack.
Even from where Pikachu was, he could tell that the leader had suffered a terrible blow to the head. The mouse watched as the man seemed to have trouble getting to his feet, his body twitching here and there.
Groaning, the PLA leader grabbed the side of his head as a trickle of blood started to come down his forehead, the scarlet river appearing prominent against his white hair, staining it pink. Then he reached for a microphone that was resting on a control panel.
"Attention all crewmates, the enemy has opened fire. Man your stations." Valens managed to say before taking a moment to turn away from the mic and cough and hold his head in pain.
In response to that, everyone else in the room tried to get back up, many cursing or whimpering in pain.
"Sir..." A PLA crewmember said, looking closely at a separate computer monitor. "Their attack has seriously damaged our main cannon and several areas of the ship are in the red."
"(Jeez...)" Sid mumbled as he got to his feet, a hand over his forehead. "(They're not playing around.)"
Pikachu frowned at him. "(No...no they're not. You guys got too confident.)"
Before Sid or any of the others could respond, the monitor that hung above the room went from static to displaying the words "Connecting..."
A few moments later, the screen showed the smiling faces of the Team Rocket captains.
"Anybody still alive onboard?" The burnt-faced captain laughed.
Valens glared at him.
"You guys really thought you could pull it off eh? Trying to push us out of the region?" The captain continued.
Pikachu merely watched the exchange. The guy had a point. Team Rocket had played its hand and now it looked like the ship was seriously damaged. Who knows how much more it could take? And what could they really do in response to-?
Valens looked over to another crewmember and mouthed something before giving them a nod. The grunt quickly sat down and began typing on a keyboard that was connected to a large computer.
Pikachu looked around and saw that most of the others in the room were on their feet albeit mostly scuffed up. Then he heard something rather strange from the monitor that hung above them all. He looked over and saw both Team Rocket captains look off to the side as a grunt handed them a walkie-talkie. Confused, the burnt-faced captain took it and held it up to his ear.
"Hello? We're in the middle of something, what's the prob-?" He managed to say before jerking his head back in response to the screaming over the device.
"THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!" The voice shouted, a static-like effect accompanying it.
Utterly perplexed and somewhat nervous, the captain looked to his colleague before he held the device back up to his ear.
"Marcos? What do you mean? What's everywhere?" He asked as the other captain leaned in to listen.
"MAGNEMITES! MAGNETONS! THEY'RE ALL OVER THE SHIP! HOW THE HELL DID THEY GET ON?!" The voice screeched as everyone confusedly looked at each other.
Pikachu blinked at that and as soon as he did, several other monitors along the wall came on and showed different angles of Team Rocket's airship. One of the monitors quickly zoomed in, the image briefly becoming blurry before clearing up. For a moment, the mouse couldn't register what he was looking at: several small blips along the hull of the airship, no pattern whatsoever. It was only when the screen cleared up did Pikachu's mouth hang open.
Indeed, there must have dozens of them. Magnemites, magnetons and magnezones in random assortments all over the hull like barnacles on a seafaring vessel. Many were spread out along the bottom of the airship while others were clustered, seemingly around something. As the camera panned over the opposing airship, Pikachu could see that there appeared to be panels and what looked to be metal protrusions here and there along the hull, many of the magnet Pokémon clustered around them.
"Heh, what's the matter?" Valens asked with a smirk as he stared directly at the screen, his comment causing the captains to look at him. "Been having some trouble?"
"What is this...?" The one-eyed captain asked, anger rising in his voice. "When did you-?"
"You guys aren't as stealthy as you think you are." Valens quickly replied as he stood straight up. For a few moments, his eye twitched. "Somebody else might have taken notice...and maybe they had the foresight to have a contingency plan."
"Contingency plan..." The burnt-faced captain muttered as he looked at the walkie-talkie in his hands.
Valens tilted his head. "Oh, what's the matter guys? Can't rely on your radios? Having problems with the ol' computers?"
"The computers...?" The one-eyed captain repeated incredulously before his face twisted in horror.
The captain's colleague gripped the walkie-talkie even tighter as he grit his teeth in anger. "You caused those problems?!" He furiously screamed.
Valens shrugged. "We were nice enough to turn them off so we could talk. We were hoping for you to come to your senses and peacefully leave...but here we are. Gotta say, not a well-designed airship if it was that easy to disrupt your communication." He nonchalantly said before he took a moment to wipe some blood from his forehead.
Pikachu looked between them. So those magnet Pokémon were disrupting the Team Rocket's radios and messing with their computers then? Well...why would Valens just reveal that? What purpose was there in telling them-?
"Signal is being sent now." A PLA grunt announced as everyone else started quickly backing along the walls.
Pikachu merely looked at them and before he could discern anything, he felt Sid's hand grab his shoulder and pull him back, causing him to gasp.
"(Hang on kid, things are gonna get messy!)" The Ghost-type shouted as he held the mouse close against the wall. Pikachu struggled to look over at the monitors and when he did, he saw something rather odd.
Amongst the numerous cameras focusing on Team Rocket's airship, Pikachu noticed that...the hull was turning red? The mouse turned his gaze on a monitor that had a closer shot of the ship and his mouth hung open from shock.
Actually no...the ship wasn't turning red...the eye of every magnet Pokémon was!
Valens gave the captains a proud smirk.
"Bye-bye." He calmy said with a wave.
Buneary's paws covered her mouth as her horrified gaze frantically looked at the monitor, hoping to catch a glimpse of Pikachu. Her body leaning forward a little, she wished for nothing more than for him to be okay. She was so concerned in fact, that she wasn't even paying attention to what the humans were saying. It was only when she saw Pikachu getting off the floor did she start to ease up and give a quiet exhale of relief.
He was a bit roughed up and groaning, but he's definitely been through worse!
Her mind no longer racing, she looked over and from a computer monitor, she saw a faraway camera view of the PLA's airship and she saw that there was a large amount of smoke billowing from one side of the vessel. Indeed, it looked like the main cannon's attack had punched a hole through one side and exited out the other. How the ship was still flying was anyone's guess.
She turned her gaze away from the monitor in response to several grunts and Pokémon around her muttering in confusion. Looking around, she could see that everyone's expressions went from confident to perplexed if not somewhat nervous.
"Marcos, get out of there now!" T-5 yelled into the walkie-talkie.
"You don't have to tell me twice sir!" The voice on the other end replied.
Buneary merely looked at the captain as he frantically shifted from side to side, terror clear on his face.
Wait, what's going on? Something about magnets on the ship?
The main monitor that showed the PLA's side suddenly cut to static.
Gamma-7 quickly whipped his head back at everyone else.
"EVERYONE! BRACE FOR-!" He managed to yell just before the entire airship began to violently shake!
Everyone around Pikachu began to cheer and hurl insults as every monitor showed countless explosions occurring along the hull of Team Rocket's ship, the bottom of the vessel becoming engulfed in flames.
"Yeah! How do you like that?!" A grunt yelled.
"(You're getting what you deserve!)" An ampharos shouted in-between laughs.
"Sir, all magnet Pokémon have successfully self-destructed." The grunt at the control panel said. "Opposing ship has sustained massive damage."
Valens smiled at him. "Good, we can't waste the opportunity." He said before turning towards another member. "We're going in, set a course for close combat!"
Everyone continued to watch the computer monitors showing the opposing airship.
As the flames on Team Rocket's vessel began to die out, a rather large hole on the side became visible.
Buneary slowly opened her eyes and her vision settled on the ceiling. All around her, she could hear the agonized groans and mutterings of those in the room. Strangely, she didn't feel any pain or even discomfort. In fact, she didn't even think she was on the hard floor because whatever she was laying on was rather soft. What could she have land on that-?
"(Hey, do you mind getting off me?)" A zangoose grumbled as Buneary's head rested on his stomach.
Blinking, Buneary nearly gasped as she jumped off and turned to him, a light blush on her face.
"(Oh! Sorry!)" She squeaked as she watched him get up.
The zangoose muttered something to himself and started limping away. As he did, Buneary looked over at the main monitor and saw that it was turned off.
Instinctively, her head jerked up in response to shouting coming from the center platform. She turned her gaze over to it and realized that Gamma-7 was frantically walking back and forth, yelling into the walkie-talkie and angrily swiping the air with his arm. Nearby, T-5 was lying face-down on the floor.
"I said focus all power on offense!" He yelled and paused to listen. "...What do you mean? Well ju-just direct power to the guns that can fire then!"
Groaning nearby, T-5 hesitantly started getting up.
"Ughh..." The younger captain on the floor muttered to himself. "Did we win yet?"
Gamma-7 gave the man a stern look as he sat up. "Look, we can't hesitate. We need to fire another shot at them."
"So let's do it already. Blow 'em to hell and let's get this thing over with!" T-5 grumbled, rubbing his temples.
"That's what I'm trying to-!" Gamma-7 yelled before several grunts started shouting.
"What the hell are they doing?!" A grunt yelled as he approached the window.
"Are they insane?!" A female member exclaimed.
"We're all gonna die!" A third gangster screamed.
Before anyone knew it, several members began to crowd at one of the windows. Curious, Buneary got closer and used Bounce in place to get a look at what they were shouting and pointing at. As she got up a few feet into the air, she realized that the PLA ship was heading right for them!
"Everyone, get away from the windows now!" T-5 yelled to which many in the small crowd started screaming and running away, several members making it out of the room and down the hallway.
As more and more of them left, Buneary started slowly walking closer to the window and saw how the opposing airship at first appeared to fly straight at them only to soon turn to its side and become parallel with their vessel.
As she watched the ship fly by, she could see some smoke billowing out from the side, the source just barely out of the window's view.
"Looks like they're going to try and board through the hole they made." Gamma-7 muttered.
T-5 scoffed and stomped over to a microphone. "Oh yeah? We'll see about that!"
"Is that everyone?" A PLA member asked to which another grunt nodded in response. "Good. Alright, listen up!"
Everyone in the hallway stopped their murmuring and stood in place to look at him. Behind the slightly older man was a rather large metal door with a keypad next to it.
"(Look alive man.)" Sid whispered to Pikachu as they walked to the front of the crowd. Pikachu briefly looked at the Ghost-type and then to the man in charge.
"Their defenses are weak and they're caught off guard." The PLA member said, his hands behind his back. "Now, their first attack damaged several of our ship's guns, including the main cannon. We'll have to initiate a close combat scenario and that means that once we get close enough, our ship's bridges will extend and we'll come aboard their vessel."
Pikachu merely blinked at him and incredulously looked at everyone else. This guy can't be serious right? Are they really going to engage them this way?
Sid and Grovyle gave the mouse a side-glance and smirked.
"(Told you it's gonna get messy!)" Sid snickered.
Pikachu merely looked at him before turning back to the PLA member.
"You have all been trained for close-quarters combat. Remember: just because they have Pokémon on their team doesn't mean that they are willing to negotiate. Enemy Pokémon are still enemies." The man said to which many replied in the affirmative. Smirking, the man leaned forward a little. "What we have here is a rare opportunity to dismantle an evil in the world. They don't show mercy...so they don't deserve it in return."
Pikachu gulped as the lights in the hallway began to flicker on and off.
"That's our cue." Another PLA member said as he walked over to the key pad on the wall.
"Alright, everyone get ready then." The other man said. Pikachu could hear several members in the crowd take deep breaths.
When the other man finished punching in the code onto the keypad, the metal door made a strange noise as it decompressed and then appeared to loosen a little. Pikachu tightened his abdomen in apprehension as he saw the door open and with that, everyone could see the outside world.
It was rather surreal. The blue sky was all around them, no sight of land anywhere. It almost appeared dreamlike, as if they could simply step out and walk onto the thin air. Straight ahead, they could all see Team Rocket's airship which was no closer than perhaps fifty yards away. Most jarring was the giant hole in the side of the enemy's airship, smoke billowing out in several random directions and even some small fires that somehow managed to survive at this altitude. Indeed, the newly-created gaping maw on the side of the ship was so wide that everyone in the crowd could see the inside of the vessel.
As soon as the door had opened, a metal bridge-like platform began to extend from the bottom of the doorway and straight towards Team Rocket's airship. After about a minute, the metal platform had connected with the opposing vessel, giving everyone the opportunity to board it.
"Alright, let's go!" The man in charge yelled, pointing forward.
Together, everyone gave hearty battle cries and with that, the entire crowd started rushing forward! For a brief moment, Pikachu looked over at his teammates and saw that they were just as hyped as everyone else. When it was their turn, their small crew bolted forward and stepped onto the metal platform. Taking a deep breath himself, Pikachu followed them. As he stepped onto the bridge and essentially into the open air, he looked around and realized that there were other extended platforms on either side of them, each with other PLA members and Pokémon charging forward.
"Okay, this is getting out of hand, I just need to find Buneary and save the prisoners!" Pikachu's panicked mind thought as he ran on all fours. "We'll get on board and then I'll just keep an eye out for her. Yeah...and then after that we'll sneak away and-"
His thoughts were interrupted when about halfway across the metal bridge, he saw everyone else stop in place.
Skidding to a halt, he nearly bumped into Honchkrow and he tried peeking to the side.
"(Hey, why'd we stop?)" Pikachu asked as he tried getting a better look. He didn't need anyone to answer that question when he looked down the bridge.
Near the hole of Team Rocket's ship was another large crowd of humans and Pokémon, all of whom were staring down at them.
"So, they caught on quickly huh?" One PLA member said with a smirk.
A Team Rocket grunt stepped forward in front of everyone else.
"Alright you jackasses, you wanna get thrown into the ocean? Fine by us!" He yelled before extending his arm forward. "CHARGE!"
Bellowing war cries, the Team Rocket group began advancing towards them!
"Let's go! Take them all out!" A PLA member yelled and with that, they continued rushing forward.
Pikachu gulped as he followed suite. The sides of this metal bridge had rails, but what good would that do the second things get crazy?
Unfortunately for the mouse, he didn't have any time to continue dwelling on that as the first clash between an ampharos and a heracross occurred.
With that, the battle for the sky bridge between the two airships had begun!
Almost immediately, it was absolute chaos! First off, there wasn't much room for more than a few fighters shoulder to shoulder at a time, not to mention that the Flying-types immediately took off either to fight opposing forces in midair or to rain hellfire down on them!
Gritting his teeth, Pikachu used Quick Attack to zip past several enemies in the hope of getting to the other side and onto Team Rocket's ship. As soon as he whizzed past a miltank, he came upon a tyranitar! Unable to get past it, Pikachu slowed down and the dinosaur-like dual-type looked down at him.
Electricity emanating from his cheeks, Pikachu put on his most intimidating face.
Great...his first opponent and it was part Rock-type! He didn't have much in his arsenal to use in this case. Iron Tail was his best bet. It also didn't help that he no longer had Volt Tackle at his disposal, having forgotten the move some time ago during this journey into Unova.
Unleashing a furious roar, the tyranitar craned its neck back before suddenly leaning forward and opening its jaw as a dark purple energy swirled out in a bizarre ring-like pattern. For a moment, Pikachu hesitated as he saw the horizontal column of energy rush towards him.
What was that? Dark Pulse maybe? In any case, he can't allow himself to get hit by it! Focusing his energy into this legs, Pikachu jumped high into the air and performed a forward spin to dodge the attack. The dual-type gave a confused grunt as Pikachu began to descend down upon him and he noticed how the mouse's tail began to glow a different color! The tyranitar didn't have an opportunity to react as Pikachu slammed his Iron Tail against the top of his head and he fell forward with a loud thud.
Landing on his feet, Pikachu quickly looked back and saw the tyranitar groaning as it tried to get back up but to no avail. Having no desire in continuing this fight or getting into another one, the electric mouse rushed forward. Both from up ahead and even behind, he could hear shouting and cursing of all sorts.
He saw as several members of both teams fall over or were flung off the side, their forms disappearing through the clouds and into oblivion.
Pikachu winced at the very thought of it all but he couldn't think about the madness that he was in. He just needed to punch through the crowd and get to the other side!
To Buneary and to the prisoners!
After about a minute of running and dodging allies and foes alike, Pikachu was about another hundred feet away from Team Rocket's ship when a zangoose emerged from the crowd and took a swipe at him!
Gasping, Pikachu fell backwards, the Fury Swipes just barely missing him. Having fallen onto his back, he looked up and saw the zangoose closing the distance! Jumping high into the air, the Normal-type screeched as his claws began to glow purple.
Pikachu tried to scramble out of the way but he already knew that he couldn't avoid it in time! Just as the zangoose was about five feet away from making contact, something rushed forward and promptly punched the Normal-type in the face, knocking him backwards. Looking up, Pikachu saw Sid standing over him, his fist glowing an icy-blue color.
Panting, the rotund Ghost-type looked down at him and smiled. "(Eager huh? You're way ahead of everyone else!)"
Pikachu merely looked at him and then cleared his throat. "(Er, yeah...I guess so!)"
Sid's smile faded and his expression turned serious as he looked forward. "(Heads up, they're trying to-)"
A few feet ahead, a Pokéball flew forward and hit a ledian, enveloping it in a red light and sucking it in. The ball landed with a metallic clang as it rocked back and forth.
"(Take out the humans!)" Sid yelled back to his teammates who were frantically fighting behind them in the distance. "(Take them out! Don't let those bastards catch us all!)"
Getting back to his feet, Pikachu looked at his teammate. "(Thanks by the way.)"
Sid glanced back at him and nodded his head. "(Just be careful okay?)"
"(Right...)" Pikachu muttered as he looked forward. With that, the duo rushed forward.
Now about fifty feet away from Team Rocket's airship, the teammates came upon two Rocket grunts.
"I got two over here Butch!" A female member with long blond hair said.
"You get the ghost; I'll take the other one!" The green-haired man with a gravelly voice said.
Pikachu blinked at them.
Wait...hasn't he seen them from somewhere before?
"You're mine!" The woman shouted as she flung the Pokéball at Sid while the man thew his at Pikachu.
Thinking on his feet, the mouse quickly jumped and twisted his body and his tail swiftly smacked the Pokéball right into the other one, knocking the two over the side of the bridge.
"(Nice reflexes man!)" Sid exclaimed as he stared down the humans with a confident smile.
"(Years of practice!)" Pikachu said with a smirk as he landed nearby.
"Oh crud..." Butch muttered, dumbfoundedly looking at his opponents.
The woman stomped her foot and growled. "Okay fine! Suit yourself then!" She yelled as she pointed forward. "Last line of defense! GO!"
Rushing past the two were several blurred bodies. Before Pikachu could react, Sid stepped forward and used Scary Face.
Immediately, the intimidated figures of an umbreon and a granbull stopped in place. His fist once again glowing, Sid stared down at Pikachu.
"(I got this! Take out the third one!)" The Ghost-type said before jumping towards his opponents.
Pikachu looked forward and grit his teeth. Electricity emanating from his cheek sacs, he got down on all fours and stared down at his opponent...
...Only to see a familiar-looking vest on an even more familiar-looking bunny.
Immediately, Pikachu eased up, his eyes going wide and the sparks on his face disappearing.
"(Buneary...?)" He quietly muttered to himself as he stared at her, still on all fours in an attack-position.
Just like him, she was posed for battle only she wasn't easing up upon seeing him.
"(PLA trash! Are you ready to meet your maker?!)" She shouted.
Maintaining the same position, Pikachu merely looked at her, his brow furrowing a little. Huh? What was she talking about?
"(Bun, it's me.)" He whispered, leaning forward a little.
"(Last chance to walk away!)" Buneary yelled, still not taking her eyes off him.
Raising an eyebrow at that, Pikachu tilted his head at her. What in the world was she going on abou-?
Her eye twitched a little as she stared him down.
...
...Oh.
Ohhh...
...Gotcha!
His mouth making an "o" shape, Pikachu gave her a determined smile and his cheeks once again lit up with sparks of electricity.
"(Walk away? In your dreams lady!)" He shouted, glaring at her.
"(Then...DIE!)" She yelled as she rushed forward, the tips of her ears glowing a rainbow color.
Waiting until the last possible second, Pikachu jumped forward and angled his body out of the way of her Dizzy Punch and they each landed on opposite ends. As soon as they did, Pikachu saw Zangoose return and stand next to Buneary. The Normal-type stared the mouse down before giving him a smirk. His smile, however, disappeared upon seeing Sid stand next to Pikachu.
A moment passed of the four staring each other down before Zangoose and Sid made the first moves by rushing forward, followed by Pikachu and Buneary.
As Zangoose and Sid clashed to one side, Pikachu and Buneary exchanged blows.
Avoiding Buneary's Bounce, Pikachu hopped a few feet away.
"(That all you got?)" He teased.
"(I have yet begun to fight!)" She yelled back.
Off to the side, Sid also jumped backwards in response to Zangoose's Night Slash. For a moment, he flinched and held his arms in front of his face. The Ghost-type landed next to Pikachu and inspected himself for a bit before laughing.
"(Ha! Missed me!)" He haughtily laughed, his hands on his sides.
Zangoose smirked at him. "(Think again...!)"
Sid merely looked at him when he heard what sounded like stitches coming undone. Looking down at his arm, he saw his cloth bracelet that bore his team's logo tear apart and fall off. Baffled, Sid looked up only to see his opponent laughing up a storm.
Pikachu looked over at his teammate only to see the Ghost-type shake in place, his normally wide smile replaced with a prominent frown.
"(You...you think that's funny huh?)" Sid snarled; his bubbling anger barely contained.
"(Heh, sure do!)" Zangoose mocked.
"(Well...)" Sid calmly said, a truly deranged smile appearing on his face. "(How 'bout I just throw you off the side?!)"
The Ghost-type's fist once again began to glow an icy-blue and he jumped forward high into the air. In a strange mixture of excitement and fury, Zangoose did the same, his claws becoming iridescent.
As the two opponents leapt into the air, Pikachu and Buneary stared each other down. Another moment passed between the two before they smugly smiled at each other.
"(For Team Rocket!)" Buneary shouted as she charged up a familiar-looking pale blue energy from around her mouth.
"(For the PLA!)" Pikachu declared as his body was enveloped in a bright yellow light.
They both let out a battle cry as their Ice Beam and Thunderbolt collided, creating a bright flash of light.
Pikachu paused his attack as did Buneary.
The mouse held his bracelet-possessing arm up to his face to shield his eyes from the light. As the shining explosion finally began to die down, the mouse felt a paw grab his arm and pull him forward.
Gasping in surprise, Pikachu opened his eyes only to see Buneary motioning for them to get to Team Rocket's ship.
"(C'mon, everyone's distracted!)" She said in a hushed whisper.
Blinking at her, Pikachu looked back and he realized that what she had said was true. Everyone else was so busy battling each other that they had left the path wide open!
Not wanting to waste a golden opportunity, Pikachu nodded and together, they started running forward.
Around twenty feet away from the end of the bridge, the duo had to stop as they heard struggling from behind. Briefly looking back, Pikachu saw Sid attempting to get Zangoose off of him and for a moment, the mouse felt bad for his "teammate". After all, the guy had saved his hide mere moments ago...
Pikachu's ears pricked up upon seeing two humans emerge from the crowd of writhing bodies.
"Do it Cassidy!" Butch yelled.
"You're mine now!" Cassidy shouted as she began to reel her body back to throw another Pokéball at Sid.
Horrified, Pikachu stopped in place and promptly used Quick Attack to run back! Crap, they must've stepped away from their battle to wait for a good moment to strike again!
"(Hey! What are you-?!)" Buneary shouted as she turned to see what he was doing. She stopped speaking upon seeing Pikachu jump over Sid and right into the path of the Pokéball! Buneary's eyes widened as the Pokéball opened and enveloped the mouse in a red light only for it to dissipate and for the item to drop onto the floor of the bridge.
Butch and Cassidy merely stood in place, their mouths hanging in shock. Even Zangoose looked up to see what had just happened. Sid smiled at his opponent and kicked the Normal-type off of himself, the mongoose slamming into the railing of the bridge.
Pikachu landed a few feet away and as soon as he did, Sid gave a hearty laugh and he put a hand over the mouse's shoulder.
"(Heh, I knew that little thing of yours would come in handy!)" He proudly exclaimed.
"What...just happened?" Butch wondered aloud; his shoulders slumped.
"I think...we better get out of here..." Cassidy replied, taking a step away from the two.
Buneary watched both humans back away and she looked over at Pikachu who was staring them down.
What...what was that about? Why did he-?
Suddenly, several bodies in the crowd exclaimed as they were knocked to the side or even over the bridge as a golem, its head and limbs tucked against its circular rock body, rolled forward towards them!
"(Heads up!)" Sid shouted as Butch and Cassidy frantically got out of the way. As soon as the Rock-type closed the distance, Pikachu and Sid quickly jumped over it.
As he glided through the air, Pikachu looked behind only to watch in absolute horror as the golem continued forward towards Buneary! Caught off guard, Buneary used Bounce to jump back only for the golem to follow her and at the last possible moment, she just barely managed to get out of the way save for her left foot which was caught between the Rock-type and the guardrail of the bridge.
Squealing in pain, Buneary's expression went from agony to rage.
"(GET OFF OF ME!)" She roared as she used Ice Beam on the golem, completely freezing it into an ice ball. The fluff atop her ears glowing a bright whitish blue, she leaned forward to use Ice Punch to punch the Rock-type away as if it were a pinball, its spinning form going back into the crowd.
Leaning back and hissing in pain, Buneary grabbed her foot. It was numb to the touch yet she felt intermittent bouts of pain shoot out. Great...
Suddenly, both of her ears extended as she heard something rushing forward.
"(No! Stop!)" Pikachu screamed.
Looking up, Buneary gasped as she saw Sid who had jumped forward, now descending upon her!
"(Can you handle this?!)" Sid shouted with a large, wicked smile as he thrust his arm forward to use Brick Break.
Battling through waves of pain, Buneary rolled her body just out of the way of the attack which collided with the guardrail whereupon it was immediately turned into shrapnel.
Successfully dodging the attack itself yet unable to fully avoid the blowback, Buneary screamed as her body was pushed backwards and she tumbled over the side of the bridge!
Pikachu shrieked as he saw her body go over and he sprinted towards the newly-made opening of the guardrail.
No...No! NO! NO!
As he ran, he could hear shuffling feet from behind and Sid looked past him.
"(Hey! Enemies at your flank!)" The Ghost-type shouted before he ran to confront whatever it was that was coming up from behind the mouse.
As soon as Sid had stepped away from the hole in the guardrail, Pikachu came up to it with a screeching halt, his heart beating out of his chest, not at all ready to accept the truth. In that moment, his head was foggy and right around in the corner of his mind, insanity was ready to take his psyche away.
When he looked down, he didn't see open sky...
...He saw Buneary's terrified-sharpened gaze staring back at him. Holding the edge of the bridge with one arm, she looked straight into his eyes and a faraway sense of relief passed between the two.
Not even allowing himself a moment to take a breath, Pikachu leaned forward and extended his paw to her. She quickly swung her free arm and grabbed his paw and with that, he pulled her up onto the bridge.
As soon as she was on the solid floor, she fell into his arms panting.
"(Th-That was...)" She managed to say before her words turned into incomprehensible gasps for air.
"(Thank...thank the legends above...)" Pikachu sniffled as he leaned his cheek on the top of her head and hugged her tight. He gently rubbed her back and waited for her to catch her breath. Her chest was pressed up against his.
Good Arceus...her heart was going so fast! Not like he could blame her. Hell, his own was beating just as hard and he was sure she could feel it against her own chest.
"(Thanks Pika...you really saved my life...)" She panted, the fear of it all not yet leaving her voice.
"(Are you okay? Are you hurt?)" Pikachu asked, leaning back a little to get a good look at her.
"(My foot...)" She replied, wincing as she touched it.
"(Well, let's get to the ship and-)" Pikachu started to say before they both heard shouting from behind.
"(Hey!)" Sid yelled, looking back at them as he struggled to take down a houndoom. "(What are ya doing?! She's the enemy!)"
They both stared at him and then saw Grovyle and Skuntank emerge from the crowd and look at them rather baffled.
"(Time to go.)" Pikachu said as he saw Honchkrow flying around in the distance before dive-bombing an enemy on the bridge.
All of them were getting closer...
"(Right...)" Buneary muttered, looking off to the side and her gaze moved downwards. For a moment, she saw a platform with a door several feet below the bridge.
Suddenly, they both heard something from nearby and they turned to the hole in Team Rocket's airship only to see a salamence emerge!
Stepping in front of her, Pikachu stared it down, sparks once again emerging from his cheeks.
"(Don't worry! I'll-!)" He shouted before suddenly, Buneary pulled him back. "(Huh? What are you-?)"
He didn't get the chance to finish that sentence...
...Because she grabbed his torso and used Bounce to take them both over the side of the bridge!
"(Hey, woah!)" Grovyle yelled as they all watched the two disappear from sight.
"(Kid?!)" Sid managed to shout as he continued to try and overtake the houndoom.
"(AAAHH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!)" Pikachu shrieked as they fell about a dozen feet below out into open sky. "(HOOOOLY SHIIIIIII-!)" He screamed only for the both of them to land on the metal platform that jutted from the side of the ship. When they hit the floor, Buneary fell forward with a hard thud.
They both stayed where they had landed for a few seconds before Buneary opened her eyes, her cheek pressed against the cold metal.
"(Ugghh...)" She groaned as she rubbed her foot. "(I really did it this time...)"
Pikachu gave himself a few seconds to get over the shock of what had just happened before he sat up. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, the mouse quickly got to his feet, patted himself and inspected his own body. "(We're alive...? We're alive!)" He exclaimed, nervously laughing a little.
"(Of course we're alive...I wouldn't anything happen to you.)" She sighed as she struggled to get back up. Seeing her having some difficulty, Pikachu quickly stood up and helped her to her feet.
"(Well we're away from everyone else...now what?)" He asked as he momentarily looked back up to the bridge, the sounds of desperate fighting still ringing through the air.
"(Now...we find a key.)" Buneary said, looking him straight in his eyes before turning to the metal door.
Looking at it, Pikachu smirked. "(I got this.)" He said before his tail began to glow a different color and he quickly twisted his body to swing it and immediately tore the door off its hinges.
Staring down the dark hallway, the two looked at each other with confident smiles.
"(Alright, let's go save those prisoners!)" Buneary declared, but as soon as she took a step forward, she stumbled.
Acting on instinct, Pikachu quickly reached to catch her and she looked back to him before giving a sheepish smile.
Holding onto to each other, the two started making their way inside Team Rocket's airship.
Arceus above only knew how they were going to get out of this whole thing, but at least they were reunited.
And they would do it together.
Author's Notes:
Hoo boy! A lot of action for this chapter eh? Honestly, I was hoping to put this and the next chapter into one but it was getting too long so here you go! An entire chapter of mostly action!
Let's see what our favorite ex-couple are going to do to free a bunch of Pokémon prisoners! That should be pretty easy right?
Shoutout to Sunhat Leafon's fic "PMD: Verge Uprising". With their story's setting on some islands with tension rising as some big thing is happening, it helped to finalize this part of my story...it's definitely not a one-to-one comparison but still! Plus, chapter eight starts with a mission log which is something I always wanted to do! Go ahead and give their fic a read and while you're at it, check out their other stories!
Up next, a pretty big chapter, with BIG things happening! Stay tuned for more excitement!