Chapter 50: Won't Back Down
One...two...three...four...
As Pikachu counted his steps, his eyes darted every which way. There were countless spots for enemies to hide in, not to mention that his list of attackers was long. He just had to keep counting his steps. Just take it from the top.
One.
What was he up against again?
Two.
The PLA.
Three.
Team Rocket.
Four.
Some kind of strange mysterious force that guards this island.
Five.
Bizarre hidden island Pokémon who probably didn't want to be disturbed.
It was just a matter of time until he came across someone.
The dirt path he calmly walked upon was soon flanked by small rock walls that had somehow withstood the test of time. He was just on the outskirts of the abandoned city when he heard a sound come from his left.
Sparks emanating from his cheeks, Pikachu whipped his body to stare down his opponent, ready for anything. He immediately leaned forward in an attack position on the verge of pouncing...
...Only to stare directly into the smirking, grubby face of Buneary.
Pikachu eased up and the sparks dissipated. Truly surprised, he blinked at her, unable to say anything.
Leaning over a rock wall, Buneary's smirk only grew.
"(Were you gonna die alone?)" She calmly asked.
Pikachu leaned back and straightened his body, all the while looking at her. Then he slowly stared forward towards the city. He did his absolute best to remain calm.
What in the world is she doing here?! He specifically asked Meloetta to keep her safe! Was the sprite here too? Did she simply ignore his plea or merely abandon them?
Furrowing his brow, Pikachu calmed himself down as Buneary began to walk around the rock wall. In the distance, he could hear the sounds of fighting and yelling coming from the abandoned city.
No...that doesn't sound like Meloetta. The girl was incredibly shy but she wasn't a coward nor was she selfish...
...No, in order for Buneary to be here, the sprite must have been convinced to do something else. And knowing how the bunny can be, she probably came up with a better idea...plus it was hard to argue with her kind of stubbornness.
When she walked around the rock wall, Buneary stood on the left side of the dirt path, urging him to continue forward.
Taking in a deep breath, Pikachu walked over and stood on the other side of the road. With that, they proceeded forward to the city on either side of it.
The questions can wait. For now, they had to be ready for what came next...
A few minutes went by and the two were walking through the ruins, white marble obelisks on either side, the remains of buildings of unknown use looming over them. All the while, neither said a word to each other.
When they first entered the city's vicinity, they could both hear the shuffling and mutterings of several different Pokémon before everything went completely silent.
Simultaneously, Pikachu and Buneary carefully looked over where their potential enemies could be, neither making a sound save for their light footsteps over the grass.
Pikachu peered forward as he started to pass by the marble ruins of what looked to be a shop. Judging from where they were, he guessed that they were about halfway through the city. If they keep their heads down and not make too much noise they'll-
Pikachu flinched as a ball of energy whizzed about a foot ahead of him and slammed into the marble ruins, chipping it and flinging debris in random directions. Pushing past his frightened nerves, he whipped his head to the left side and saw a fairly tall white building with what appeared to be a balcony jutting out from the side. Standing atop that was a farfetch'd who was already rearing up to throw out another attack!
Before Pikachu could even turn his body around, Buneary had already angled her body from below and unleashed an Ice Beam. The bird screeched as he was encased in ice and the two watched as he fell over the side of the balcony and landed onto the ground with a loud thud.
Pikachu took a step back and his gaze went towards Buneary who looked back and affirmatively nodded her head at him with a smirk. Doing the same, Pikachu looked forward and they continued further into the abandoned city.
Far behind in the distance, they could hear yelling and the sounds of explosions. It seemed that both teams were close by and had already begun battling in the direction from where the two had come from. It was faint, but the duo thought they heard the sounds of cannons being fired from far away.
Up ahead, they could see some dust being kicked up which obscured their view. Then they saw two silhouetted figures appearing on either side of the road. Emerging from the dust cloud was an absol and a gabite. Pikachu and Buneary stopped in place and both sides stared each other down. The distant explosions rang out again before something started to whizz through the air. Perplexed, everyone looked around.
It sounded like...it was heading towards them?
Panicking, Pikachu and Buneary briefly glanced at each other and then darted behind the buildings that stood on either side of them. As soon as they did, a cannon ball slammed into the middle of the road, the explosion occurring between the two groups with a large amount of dirt and debris being kicked high into the air.
Knocked over and coughing, the absol and gabite slowly got back up to their feet, each swatting the air to clear the dust that had obfuscated their vision. A few seconds passed and the surrounding area started to clear up and they saw that both the mouse and rabbit had disappeared. They looked from side to side, expecting to catch a glimpse of their opponents.
Suddenly, Pikachu emerged from a ruined building that was behind the absol. The mouse gave the Dark-type a light whistle, causing him to look back. As soon as he did, Pikachu unleased a Thunderbolt which propelled him away.
Startled, the gabite looked at the mouse before Buneary stepped around a pillar that was right behind the dual-type.
"(Hi there~!)" She brightly called out and as soon as he turned his attention to her, she struck him with an Ice Beam that threw him backwards.
The duo saw how their opponents were completely knocked out. They then looked at each other, smirked, and continued walking forward.
A few minutes went by and the two estimated that they were about two-thirds of the way through the city. The distant shouting and explosions had died down and it seemed that whatever conflict was going on from behind had ceased.
Regardless, they wouldn't ease up just yet. They couldn't allow themselves to be caught off-guard.
And they wouldn't back down when they've come so far either!
Pikachu squinted and up ahead he could see the outer edge of the city. Beyond that was another narrow stretch of land. Here they were...just up ahead was the tower, he was sure of it. At least according to what the Pokétch that rested on his arm had said anyway.
After another minute of walking forward, Pikachu silently urged for them to stop and he leaned on a marble column which was connected to a one-story building made of stone. He carefully surveyed the area, hoping that they had gotten past every-
Pikachu's ears suddenly twitched in response to something from above and – with his paw still resting on the stone column – he felt the tiniest of vibrations. He looked up and saw a marowak reeling back to throw his bone!
Almost acting on instinct, Pikachu took a step back and used Iron Tail on the column that stood in front of himself. The stone pillar shattered into countless pieces and as it did, the foundation of the building that the marowak stood upon crumbled. Pikachu jumped back a few feet as the structure collapsed as the Ground-type screamed all the way down.
When the dust finally settled, Pikachu and Buneary walked up to the stones that were once the building and looked around. Suddenly, the marowak emerged from the rubble and held the bone high over his head.
"(Filthy PLA! Team Rocket will-!)" He yelled before he was suddenly smacked in the face courtesy of Buneary's Ice Punch.
The Ground-type fell over onto the rocks, completely unconscious.
Pikachu looked over at Buneary. "(Thanks, I-)"
"(Shh...)" Buneary interjected as she extended both of her ears and carefully listened. Pikachu looked around the area, doing his best not to make a sound. A moment later, Buneary curled up one of her ears and looked at him.
"(I think that's all of them.)" She finally said.
Pikachu gave a sigh of relief and nodded his head.
"(Good...)" He muttered as he looked at the land beyond the city. "(The tower is just up ahead.)"
Buneary took a moment to look where he was staring at and braced herself.
They calmly walked forward and soon; the two were out of the city.
They continued onwards for some time and all the while, Buneary explained how she had managed to catch up with him.
"(So then I said that you were going to need help and after a while, I finally got through to her and she let me go on ahead.)" Buneary said as Pikachu gave her the occasional side-glance.
"(I see...)" Pikachu quietly replied, looking forward.
"(Please...)" Buneary gently remarked, lightly grabbing his arm and they both stopped in place. He looked back at her and stared right into her eyes. "(Please don't judge her, I practically had to drag the truth out!)"
Pikachu, without showing any real emotion, merely shrugged. "(Okay.)" He practically whispered.
"(I mean it...it's not her fault. She really tried to do what you asked.)" Buneary said, taking a step while giving a shrug. "(Plus...she isn't exactly the best liar so...)"
Still looking at her, Pikachu blinked and then mentally, he frustratedly put a paw up to his face.
Of course...he should've known. Someone as kindhearted and shy as Meloetta...why did he even think she stood a chance against Buneary?
"(Alright, I won't.)" Pikachu sighed before giving her a little smirk. "(I guess I should've figured it was only a matter of time...)" He said before his grin faded and he looked a bit saddened. "(I was just worried Bun.)"
"(I know...)" She gently said, her ear drooping a little as she reached out to hug him.
His heart starting to quicken, he returned it in kindness and his smirk became a content smile as he rubbed her back.
"(You crazy bunny...what am I gonna do with you?)" He said, lightly chuckling.
"(You can let me help you with this. There was no way I was just gonna let you go off on your own.)" She replied, hugging him a little tighter. "(I know you're worried about me, but...I'm not gonna let you do this alone...okay?)"
Her head pressed against his chest, Buneary could feel and hear Pikachu's heartbeat. She smiled a little as his chest began to rise and he took in a deep breath before giving her a quiet sigh.
"(You can get mad at me later but let's take care of this thing first. Sound good?)" She said, trying to hold back a laugh.
Doing the same, Pikachu amusedly shook his head as he gently broke away from the hug to look at her yet his paw was still in hers.
"(Okay...)" He said before he looked around. "(So is Meloetta still here on the island then?)"
"(No, I said it was best if she got back to the mainland.)" Buneary said, twirling her wrist around. "(I told her to get someone: Ash, Dawn, Officer Jenny, the military, anyone that could help and then get back here as fast as she can.)"
Pikachu frowned and looked at the ground before kicking a stone away. "(I guess it's for the best. Team Rocket's already after one Pokémon, if they realized she was here, they'd do everything to get her too.)"
"(Exactly.)" Buneary said, nodding her head before her expression became more determined. "(So how about we put a stop to this and save the day...again?)"
Pikachu looked back to her and gave a confident smile. "(Sounds good to me!)"
Pointing forward, Buneary walked ahead and when her sights were fully taken off of Pikachu, the mouse tilted his head a little.
Huh...you know...for someone who just narrowly escaped death...she sure was handling it fine. Was she...still trying to keep strong?
Pikachu merely shook his head and started to follow her. For a moment, Buneary glanced back at him and they locked gazes.
It was only for a second but as soon as Buneary started to turn away, Pikachu inwardly sighed.
He looked into those famous eyes of hers. The same eyes that he had gotten lost in more than once before. And what he saw...was that she was lying. Lying to herself. Lying to him. Lying to everyone. Behind those lying eyes, he could sense a deep fear and sadness that was being held at bay through sheer willpower. It was something he himself had experienced more than once, often to put up a front to not worry those around him.
He wanted to speak up. To get to the truth right away. But right now, they had a job to take care of. There will be plenty of time to divulge when the lives of innocents weren't in immediate danger at the moment.
Silently gulping, Pikachu started to walk up to her.
Tsk...she could only keep it up for so long before that strong front eventually crumbles...it always does.
The duo continued walking for a few more minutes and they saw several half-crumbled stone monoliths, several of which had some strange phrase carved into them, often in a language that neither understood.
It didn't take long for them to come across something that was legible.
They stopped and tilted their heads at what appeared to be a large drawing sculpted onto the side of building. It was a bit worn out but if the two squinted, it almost looked like a mountain spewing something in a great hail of smoke and fire. Below was a most unusual phrase.
IT EMERGES FROM THE API BIRU
Pikachu and Buneary merely looked at each other and continued onward before they saw something rather curious off in the distance. Cautiously approaching it, they saw that it was a marble statue.
As the duo approached the structure, they got a much better look at it. It was small in stature and appeared to resemble a Pokémon.
Pikachu slowly leaned forward. It almost looked like it was a celebi yet...
Likewise, Buneary did the same and she tilted her head a little. Clearly, the years had chipped away at the structure because its defining features were either weathered away or simply gone.
Indeed, it resembled the legendary time-traveling Pokémon. The pointed head, the apparent wings on its back, plus it was around its height...
Speaking of which, the statue itself was about the same size as them however the pointed head that a celebi normally possessed actually appeared to be divided into two. In fact, upon closer inspection, whatever this small Pokémon was, it appeared to have two large, pointed ears. Not only that, but perhaps what they had perceived to be the wings was perhaps the...tail? They were certainly low enough on the figure's body as opposed to celebi's wings which were in the middle of its back.
Overall, whatever this creature was...resembled more of a rodent or a bat than a fairy. It looked vaguely familiar...
Carefully inspecting the statue, they looked down. What was written at its base captured both of their attention.
HERE IT SLEEPS
HERE IT REMAINS
A GOD THAT OVERSEES
A GUARDIAN SET LOOSE
TO FOREVER WATCH OVER US
IT LONGS TO PROTECT BUT A FOOL IT IS NOT
Standing straight back up, Pikachu looked over at Buneary and he gave a rather perplexed look. She returned it, her eyes appearing rather concerned.
Walking past some trees, the ex-couple began to hear chatter in the distance. Coming to a stop, they crouched down and carefully crawled up to a bush where it sounded like the voices were on the other side.
This time, the mutterings were clearly from humans speaking.
"You really think it was an accident?" One male voice asked.
"Heh, sure. My ass it was an accident..." Another one scoffed.
Curious, Pikachu slowly parted a bush and saw almost a dozen Team Rocket members standing in a circle. Buneary got closer and peered through the newly-created parting and immediately recognized the two captains. On top of that, she saw the grunt named Ozzy standing next to a man with short, light brown hair whose back was to her.
"Accidents like that don't happen...not when you've been given clear instructions." Ozzy replied, shaking his head in disbelief.
The captain known as Gamma-7 scoffed and folded his arms. He looked roughed up, his uniform torn in some parts.
"Not only did they miss the targets, but they missed the island itself..." The one-eyed man muttered.
Standing next to him was T-5 who was holding a towel up to his forehead, a red stain already seeping through the white cloth.
"You think they defected? Or abandoned this whole thing?" One member asked.
"Butch and Cassidy?" One grunt asked.
"Yeah." Another peon replied.
"The fact that we're not even sure says everything." Gamma-7 flatly replied.
"Yeah, what happened Ozzy? Weren't they with you?" Another grunt asked, turning to the aforementioned man.
Ozzy scoffed and gave a shrug. "Yeah, they were. When we landed here, we went through the woods for a bit, then the PLA attacked and we got separated. I haven't seen them since."
"Accident or no accident, the PLA is already here. The real question is what do we do now." The man standing next to Ozzy said before he leaned down to look at something.
Both Pikachu and Buneary squinted and they realized that another man was on the ground with everyone else circled around him. Notably, his uniform looked different, particularly the PLA logo on his arm.
"Yeah, what do we deal with people like you, huh?" Ozzy mocked with a smirk.
The PLA grunt merely scowled at him and he turned his head. Actually upon closer inspection, he looked to be in worse shape than any of the others. A black eye clearly starting to form, dried splotches of blood on parts of his body, his uniform singed and torn...he looked like he just went through an ordeal.
One of the other Team Rocket goons looked over at the captains. "So what do you think we should do sirs? Do we reach out to them again?" He asked.
T-5 muttered something to himself before lowering the towel, revealing a cut along the top of his forehead. Everyone went silent, awaiting his response.
Pikachu leaned back and urged for Buneary to keep moving. Carefully backing away from the bush, the two crawled on their stomachs to slowly move past the group. Occasionally, they caught glimpses of the humans between the leaves and twigs of the foliage.
"I've been thinking about that..." T-5 finally said. "I think all of that shooting from before was pretty obvious...but lemme make it very clear to you all. Historically, Giovanni always said that the PLA is nothing more than a glorified crew. Plain and simple: when we get the chance, we decapitate and we take out whatever's left."
Everyone went quiet and Pikachu and Buneary stayed in place, waiting for the next person to talk.
"I agree in spirit, but I have some questions." One member calmly said.
"They're not an official group. There'd be no retaliation." Gamma-7 calmly followed. "We see Valens, we take them out and then there'd be less resistance for moving into this region."
"...Take out an entire crew sirs?" Another member asked incredulously.
Gamma-7 took a step forward. "The PLA doesn't capture Pokémon; we activate the tower and they all come wandering towards it. When they do, we'll make sure the job is done. No capturing, no prisoners, no negotiations."
"I'm just saying is all..." The grunt muttered, rubbing the back of his head.
T-5 looked right at him and shrugged. "Listen...forget the cargo ship, forget Brumsfield who stayed behind to erase the aircraft's data and never caught up with us, forget all of the assets that were lost-"
"Sir, I'm not saying that setbacks haven't happened but-" The grunt managed to say before the captain interrupted him.
T-5 first scoffed and put his balled up fists on his sides as he looked at the ground. A moment passed before he started counting using his fingers. As he did, the ex-couple once again began to quietly crawl along the grass.
"Aqua, Magma, Galactic, Snagem and Cipher..." The captain listed before he gave a frustrated grunt. "...All of these organizations working in their regions as agreed upon, and we got this other pygmy thing here in Unova!"
Everyone else silently talked amongst themselves before one of them held up a walkie-talkie.
Gamma-7 stepped forward; his arms still folded over his chest. "There's no debating this." He firmly said as everyone looked at him. He frowned and stared them all down. "Make it happen."
"I'll...I'll send the word out." The man said, holding the device for all to see.
Another moment of silence passed before someone spoke up.
"You think Valens made it?" One member finally asked.
"If he did, then..." Gamma-7 said before pointing a thumb up to his neck and moving it across with a click of his tongue. He sighed and put his arm back down. "On sight, got it? We're not backing out of this now, and we certainly can't let any chance of future retaliation." He sternly said.
"I'll tell them that too." The man with the walkie-talkie said.
The PLA grunt on the ground growled at them. "You think you can take out an entire organization?! We always get back on our feet!" He yelled, leaning up a little from where he was. For a moment, Pikachu looked back and saw the grunt's face and recognized him from the observation deck. Roger was it?
"Oh yeah? Well tell me this..." Gamma-7 calmly replied as he leaned forward, his hands on his knees. "If you're an official organization, why did you have to borrow that airship then?"
The grunt known as Roger made a surprised noise as he merely looked back at him.
T-5 chuckled and took a step forward. "You really think that botched job of scrubbing out the word 'Plasma' fooled anyone?"
"A group that broke off from a real syndicate...that's what you lot are." Gamma-7 firmly said, staring the grunt in the face.
Roger didn't say a word. Glancing at him, Pikachu saw a mix of bewilderment and anger in the man's eyes.
"Yeah...I know about that." Gamma-7 whispered with a smile before tilting his head. "Not like it matters...that group doesn't have the muscle to stand up to us either."
"You got one last chance to tell us where Valens is." Ozzy remarked from a few feet away.
Almost beyond the vicinity of the group, the ex-couple tried their best not to make any noise whatsoever as they crawled along the grass.
"You'll know where he is...when he blows a hole in each of your skulls!" Roger defiantly shouted.
The others lightly chuckled in amusement.
"I think we got all we can get." Gamma-7 calmly said as he stood straight up and looked up to the brown-haired man standing next to Ozzy. "Crowley, you'll take care of this right?" He asked as he pointed down at Roger.
For a moment, Buneary looked back as the grunt turned to reply to the captain and she recognized Crowley as the man she had frozen back on the airship.
"With extreme prejudice." Crowley flatly said as he began to reach for a pistol that was holstered on his hip.
The two captains nodded at him. Almost immediately, Pikachu stopped in place and looked back. He had a sinking feeling about what they were implying.
"Good, we're gonna wait a few minutes here and then head out. We'll try to get everyone out of here by the end of the day." Gamma-7 replied.
There was muttering amongst the group before one of them spoke up.
"And Butch and Cassidy?" A female member asked.
The two captains looked at each other before T-5 shook his head.
"...No." The burnt-faced leader quietly said.
"No?" The female member asked.
"No." T-5 replied.
The others merely looked at each other in silence. Still hidden from the group's view, Pikachu and Buneary did the same. In that moment, they shared the same thought.
Great, now they have to make sure those two idiots don't get killed for all the things they did! Sure they were bad guys, but for the duo, they've already seen enough violence to last a lifetime.
Pikachu grimaced as he looked back to the wounded PLA member on the ground. Swallowing hard, he started to slowly maneuver his body in the group's direction. A second later, Buneary started doing the same. They tried to move as quietly as they could, not hesitating at all even upon seeing that several more of the Rocket members were armed. If those weapons weren't present, there'd be no question of ambushing them in the first place...
They both stopped in place upon seeing the two captains whisper something to each other and Gamma-7 walked over to the PLA grunt and leaned down.
"Actually, it's your lucky day." He cheerily said as the man looked at him rather confused. "You're going to get up and go back to your group. You tell them everything that was said here."
Both Pikachu and Buneary furrowed their brows as Roger stammered something in bewilderment only for Gamma-7 to shush him.
"Listen...you tell them. If we see any of you, Valens or otherwise, know this: we won't be understanding, we won't hesitate, we won't try talking again. If we see any of you, we start collecting heads. Got it?" Gamma-7 calmly said as the PLA grunt merely nodded in response. The captain smirked and he began to stand back up. "Good."
The ex-couple watched Roger rise to his feet and they saw how Gamma-7 shooed him off. With some difficulty, the PLA member stumbled away from the others and disappeared into the wilderness.
"You think that worked?" Ozzy asked, looking to where the man had gone.
"Some of them will definitely defect after getting the message. Others not so much." T-5 replied as Gamma-7 turned back to face everyone.
"Fifteen minutes. That's all everyone else is getting." The one-eyed man sternly said. "Then we're heading off to the tower. When we get there, we're activating it regardless of whoever hasn't made it yet."
"And you're sure that the mainland Pokémon didn't make it here?" Ozzy asked.
"Someone let them out, I saw them fighting our Pokémon near the escape pods." A female grunt replied.
"Well regardless, they're not here." T-5 grumbled, clearly annoyed. "We'll have to rely on capturing the island Pokémon then."
"After that, we proceed with the ceremony." Gamma-7 followed.
Almost completely out of earshot, the ex-couple continued to crawl away.
Fifteen minutes. That's the head start that they've been given. Pikachu looked down at the Pokétch on his wrist and it said that they were only ten minutes away from the tower.
It would be a tight window of opportunity, but they could end this whole thing if they played their cards right!
In a large clearing that was surrounded by trees on a cliff was a tall metal radio tower that was designed to resemble the nearby foliage. Near its base were two men in Team Rocket uniforms who were busy working their assigned tasks.
"How're the cages lookin'?" A male grunt asked as he typed on a computer-like device that stood up to his waist which was planted at the base of the tower.
Nearby, another man used a tool to continually tighten a screw that helped to maintain a large metal cage's frame. The cages were dug into the ground to keep them steady.
"Getting there...and the tower?" The other man asked as he reached for another tool.
"Needs a few more minutes to fully power on, but it'll be ready in no time." The male grunt replied as he took a moment to survey the radio tower's readouts. He gave a content smirk upon seeing that everything appeared to be in order.
The grunt next to the cages rolled his eyes. "You've been saying that for an hour now..."
The other man scoffed and pointed to an empty hole that his subordinate had yet to place the last cage in.
"Whatever, just fill the hole, hole-filler." He grumbled.
"Yeah, yeah...jackass..." The grunt muttered as he started to get up to push the last cage in place.
As the humans occasionally bantered, two pairs of eyes watched them from a nearby bush. They took a moment to get a good look at the structure.
At long last...they were here.
It was difficult for the two to say exactly how tall the radio tower was but taking a guess, it stood over one hundred feet tall. Adorned with fake tree branches, the structure appeared to be composed of blackened metal and near the very top were strange cylindrical-like additions. Perhaps even more bizarre, there was a spherical glass-like object near the top of the structure.
Gazing downwards, they could see several devices scattered along the ground near the base of the tower, one of which was a computer-like setup that one of the goons was working on.
They saw how one of the men was working on constructing large metal cages a few feet away from the tower and they both shivered.
The ceremony...
While they were surrounded by trees, the two could hear the ocean in the distance. Apparently this location was the highest elevation that the villainous group could establish the structure. Gazing off to the side and beyond the trees, they saw how the island was an almost horseshoe-like pattern. Across a small stretch of ocean, the two could see the island's large mountain jutting proudly into the sky.
Eyeing the two men, Pikachu grimaced. It had taken him and Buneary about ten minutes to arrive here running at full speed after they had snuck past the captains. They didn't have a lot of time left to do this.
Remaining hidden, they whispered what they would do and what would be the most effective way to disable the tower. It seemed that the only real solution was to knock out the two grunts and short-circuit the structure's devices. Simple enough right?
"(I'll freeze the one at the cages, you take the other one and then zap every device you see. Sound good?)" Buneary whispered.
"(Sounds good.)" Pikachu quietly said back with a determined nod.
The two started to carefully part the bush they were hiding in, being sure not to make any noise in doing so.
"(On three...)" Buneary muttered as she and Pikachu got into attack positions. "(One...two-)"
They stopped in place upon hearing a screech from above. Startled, they looked up and saw Honchkrow fly above them only to dive bomb into the foliage several meters away.
The ex-couple looked on as they heard a brief struggle before the bird began to drag out a protesting munna. Its tiny legs kicking, the little Psychic-type struggled to get out of the bird's grasp. Oddly enough, instead of a light pink, its body was bright yellow with the five-petal flower markings being green rather than purple.
The two men looked over at the commotion and they smiled upon seeing what it was.
"Alright!" The grunt at the computer cheered to the bird. "First catch of the day, good job!"
Honchkrow dragged the munna over near the base of the tower and set it upon the ground. It stared it down as the Psychic-type got onto its feet.
"So there are Pokémon on this island..." The other man muttered to which his teammate chuckled.
"Yeah, good thing too. I don't think any of the mainland Pokémon made it here." He said.
"None? You sure?"
"The captains sounded pretty sure on the walkie-talkie. At least now we don't have to delay things. I'm sick of this place."
Remaining hidden in the bush, Pikachu and Buneary scowled. Great...they hadn't even noticed Honchkrow roaming around, who knows how many others are nearby?
The two looked at each other and shared the same thought. Well…it was now or never. So they should just-
They heard rustling from the path leading up to the tower and everyone turned to it. They saw several Team Rocket members making their way over. The ex-couple saw Butch and Cassidy in the middle of the group, their hands behind their heads and terrified expressions on their faces.
"We found them on the way over here." A female member shouted to the two men.
The man by the computer scoffed and shook his head. "Well...have them stand off to the side. We're about to get ready."
The others nodded in agreement and ushered Butch and Cassidy to the outer rim of the vicinity.
"C-C'mon guys...!" Butch whimpered as he walked alongside Cassidy who nervously laughed.
"Don't you think this is a little overkill?" She asked only for Butch to grimace at her.
"Don't say the word 'kill' you idiot!" He practically shouted.
Pikachu and Buneary watched them walk to the opposite side of the tower, all the while they continued bickering.
This isn't good. There were too many of them now! How on earth could they-?
Buneary stifled a gasp as her superb hearing picked up on something and she looked over only to notice the two captains and several other members enter the vicinity. In total, there were many more than when they had last seen them.
Damn...
The goons surrounding Butch and Cassidy looked up and several of them grinned at their bosses.
"We got 'em sirs!" A man called out with a wave before pointing at the supposedly-traitorous duo.
"Please! This all a big misunderstanding!" Cassidy desperately yelled, a bead of sweat on the side of her head.
"Yeah! We swear that we did what you asked!" Butch cried out.
The captains looked over at their captors and T-5 nodded his head. With that, Butch and Cassidy were shoved to the ground onto their knees.
"NO PLEASE! I CAN'T DIE IN A PLACE LIKE THIS!" Cassidy screamed, tears in her eyes as Butch shook in place.
Buneary watched the entire scene unfold and she felt her stomach drop.
Gamma-7 walked up to T-5 and whispered something to him. The younger captain quietly said something back and they started talking for a full minute. All the while, Butch and Cassidy continued their loud protests before the captains looked back at them.
"We'll deal with them later." T-5 said, causing Butch and Cassidy to stop talking and confusedly mumble to themselves.
Gamma-7 looked up at the tower and stretched his arms out.
"First...the ceremony is about to begin!" The captain declared as he eyed the man next to the radio tower's computer. "Is it ready?"
The man at the computer appeared to snap out of some sort of trance and quickly nod his head. "Oh! Uhh...yes sir. We're ready to go."
Gamma-7 looked at the man next to the cages. "And those?"
The other man saluted him. "Sir! Everything's ready for the assets!"
Gamma-7 smirked at him.
Pikachu and Buneary looked at each other in a panic.
Crap...CRAP!
They're too late! It's over...
What could they even do now? They were surrounded and the tower was about to be activated and all sorts of innocent Pokémon were going to be lured over and then...and then...
Pikachu's face suddenly became determined and he grit his teeth.
No...they can't give up just yet. They can still try to stop this!
He looked at the tower, then to the humans and he remembered something...
Pikachu's ears twitched and he suppressed a gasp.
He had an idea...it was a short-sighted plan...but it was still something!
As fast as he could, Pikachu took off the Pokétch one arm and his letter bracelet off the other.
Buneary raised an eyebrow at him.
"(What are you doing?)" She quietly asked as she watched him put the two items in an adjacent bush.
Pikachu looked back at her. "(You still have those earplugs?)" He firmly asked.
Buneary jerked her head back a little, not expecting that. "(Err...yeah, why?)"
"(Put them on. And put them somewhere where the others won't see so easily.)" He said, holding his paw out.
Still not entirely sure, Buneary reached into her fluff to grab their ear plugs.
"Everybody ready?" Gamma-7 asked, turning to the others. They all replied in the affirmative. "All of your Pokémon protected?" He asked and motioned to his ear. Everyone muttered in agreement and there appeared to be no discrepancies.
"Then let's get started!" T-5 declared as he pointed to the man at the computer. "Activate the tower!"
"Yes sir!" The man replied as he began typing on the keyboard. A few moments later, the tower began to make a stirring noise and a low-pitched sound began to constantly emanate from it.
Everyone watched in eagerness as the tower fully came to life. It didn't take long for them to hear low mutterings from the distance. Looking over at the only path out of the vicinity, they could see an entire group of Unova Pokémon of all shapes and sizes heading towards them. Every one of them had a dream-like faraway gaze and their expressions were neutral as they groggily made their way over.
It looked like a horde of zombies was shambling over to invade them...
Their earplugs put in, Pikachu and Buneary watched the rather large group of island inhabitants enter the vicinity of the tower and the two could make out the features of several of the hypnotized Pokémon.
They could see an audino near the front of the group. It's normally pink body was actually a light purple. Behind it was a seismitoad whose bright green and orange form was easy to notice. Slowly hovering above the group were several swoobats, all of which had the same colors of a bright yellow head, light green tufts of fur around their neck, brown wings and pink tails. A rather small member of the flock of bats landed upon the bright pink flower that sat atop the head of a lilligant. For a moment, the Grass-type's blue arms and leaves shook in response.
Pikachu and Buneary briefly looked at each other and nodded before quietly sneaking through the foliage to merge into the crowd. From up ahead, the humans cheered and laughed as they saw the inhabitants get closer.
"Can you believe it?!" One man excitedly asked.
"I know right?! All of our hard work is finally paying off!" Another grunt replied with a smile.
Sneaking into the group, Pikachu and Buneary assumed the same pose and expression as the others. Shambling forward, they did their best to appear hypnotized. Occasionally, Pikachu kept his eye on Honchkrow who was still standing next to the munna. The little Psychic-type – just like the others – had fallen under whatever hypnotizing signal was being broadcast and stood in place, a dead and vacant stare on its face.
"Sirs, the tower's got a few seconds left before powering down." The man by the computer declared.
"That's fine, keep it going until it turns off." Gamma-7 said as he continued to eye the crowd.
As more and more Pokémon joined the group, the grunts began to get the cages ready.
A few moments later, the tower powered off and went completely silent. The entire group of Pokémon stopped in place and mindlessly stared off into the distance. The humans muttered amongst themselves as they began to usher the Flying and Water-types into the cages.
"Get your Pokémon ready!" T-5 declared as the other humans took out their Pokéballs.
With that, everyone released their Pokémon and the once empty vicinity was filled with voices in Pokéspeech.
Pikachu and Buneary did their best to keep up the act.
"Alright, organize by type, let's go!" Gamma-7 firmly shouted.
The ex-couple watched as the humans began to take the hypnotized Pokémon of the same or similar types and put them in groups. Surrounding them were the humans' Pokémon who stood guard and occasionally mocked them.
Pikachu tried his best to not raise an eyebrow. What in the world are they-?
"You there! C'mon!" A grunt shouted as he walked over and grabbed Buneary's arm.
Both she and Pikachu barely stifled a gasp as the bunny was led away to several other Normal-types. Pikachu – still maintaining his hypnotized expression – carefully looked around and noticed that one of the groups was solely composed of Electric-types. Not wanting to arouse suspicion, he slowly shuffled over to them and stood next to a purple zebstrika with a light blue mane.
Pikachu's eyes slowly went over each group of Pokémon. He saw how everyone was herded into groups except for the Water and Flying-types who were put into the large metal cages. He saw a group composed of Fire-types. Surrounding them were the humans' Pokémon who were all Water-types. Looking over, Pikachu saw how the group of Ground-types were surrounded by Grass-types. Frowning a little, the mouse looked over at the Normal-type group and saw them surrounded by Fighting-types.
Not liking what he saw, Pikachu slowly glanced around his own group and saw several Ground-types standing guard.
Uh-oh...
Starting to piece it all together, Pikachu felt a shiver go up his spine. So this was going to be the torture then? Intentionally subject the prisoners to attacks that would be super effective? Whatever caused the most amount of pain...
"Jeez, a little more crude than I would've liked..." T-5 muttered to his colleague. "Is this really the best we could do?"
Gamma-7 sighed and shook his head. "After all that stuff with the PLA, most of our supplies were lost. There just isn't enough time to fully prepare."
T-5 grumbled something to himself. "You see any PLA Pokémon?" He asked, his hand shielding his eyes from the sun as he gazed outwards.
"Hard to say. Any non-Unova Pokémon I suppose." Gamma-7 said, eyeing their new captors.
"So the ceremony first, and then whoever isn't a Unova Pokémon...?" T-5 wondered aloud as Gamma-7 looked back at him.
The one-eyed captain merely nodded and made a motion across his neck.
Elsewhere, Pikachu slowly backed into the group of Electric-types and looked to where the tower was. It wasn't terribly far from where he was standing. If he could just sneak over there, maybe he could disable it and undo this strange hypnotic spell...
As the mouse began to scooch away, he noticed how several grunts began zip-tying some of the stronger-looking Pokémon. It looked to be the same zip-ties he himself had used on Raticate...
"Alright everyone! Listen up!" Gamma-7 shouted, causing all conscious eyes to look at him. "We don't have a lot of time; we need to get started right away! We'll start with the cages..."
Pikachu looked over and saw how the metal compartments were all hooked up to some sort of strange device. Standing next to it was a male grunt who started fiddling with the controls.
"Test run..." The man said before pressing a few buttons.
With that, a zapping sound rang out and every Pokémon in the cages jolted with a startled gasp.
"(G'AAH! What was that?!)" A braviary with blue feathers yelped.
"(What happened?! Where am I?!)" A swanna with purple feathers exclaimed in confusion.
Every one of the encaged Pokémon started to mutter and yell in disbelief before their shouting turned into protests and several started banging against the metal cages.
T-5 gave a rather wicked smirk and assumed a proud pose. "Good. We're ready to-"
"Uh, sir...?" Ozzy asked from a few feet away as he stood near a group composed of Grass-types. The man waved his hand in the air to get the captains' attention.
"Hmm? What is it?" Gamma-7 asked.
"I was wondering...should we put any PLA Pokémon in their own group? I mean, if we're going to...do the deed...shouldn't we make it easier and just put them all together and then..." Ozzy said before making a cutting motion across his neck.
The captains – as well as several others – paused and then quietly discussed it amongst themselves. Meanwhile, Pikachu and Buneary – from their own groups – looked on. Finally, the two captains looked back at him and Gamma-7 sighed.
"Alright fine, let's make it quick." He said before motioning for his subordinates to spread out.
Within a few minutes, several other Pokémon that were not from the region were herded off into their own section somewhat near the tower. It didn't take long for one grunt to grab Buneary and another to push Pikachu into the new group. About five minutes later, the two found themselves standing next to a dazed stantler. When it was done, the grunts returned to their positions.
"Alright, everything good now?" T-5 grumbled to which Ozzy nodded. The burnt-faced captain scoffed and shook his head. "Good, now we can-"
He didn't have the chance to finish his sentence because every conscious mind in the vicinity heard something off in the distance. It started as a faded noise before it soon came closer and all ears heard whirring blades whizzing through the air. Looking up, everyone saw how several drone-like aircrafts broke through the clouds that hovered over the surrounding trees. Startled, Pikachu and Buneary nearly gasped upon seeing that each aircraft had several humans and Pokémon in them with numerous Flying-types accompanying the vessels. It was only a few moments after the drones made their appearance did a much larger one bearing the PLA logo rise up from the trees and hover over the crowd.
"Attention Team Rocket...!" Valens declared over the microphone; his voice as clear as a bell. "Your transgressions are indefensible; you have one chance to release those Pokémon and get off our turf!"
Looking up at their enemies, T-5 grit his teeth. "How the hell are their Pokémon not under hypnosis?" He growled.
"They probably raided our camps and took our earplugs." Gamma-7 muttered as he watched the sky and saw how it was gradually being filled. "This is why we needed those campsites destroyed..."
Some of the PLA aircrafts were getting so near to the ground that the trees and grass began to swish and Pikachu and Buneary nearly flinched at it.
"You want your Pokémon so bad?!" T-5 yelled, causing Gamma-7 to worriedly look over at him. Suddenly, T-5 motioned for everyone to get ready. "Come and get them!"
From the aircraft that he was in, Valens disappointedly shook his head. "You're really gonna make me be the jerk in all this huh?"
Caught off-guard, Gamma-7 opened his mouth to say something but stopped when T-5 took a step forward.
"We ain't goin' nowhere!" The captain shouted.
Gamma-7 incredulously looked at him and then to Valens.
"Look..." Valens said in a slightly calmer tone. Then, he held out his fits in front of himself. "I hold in my hands either negotiations or war. Which would you rather I choose?"
Everything went rather silent for a few moments and some Rocket members looked at each other.
T-5 gave Gamma-7 a quick glance and he smirked at him.
"Heh...wanna see who's in charge now?" The burnt-faced captain said to his colleague. Before Gamma-7 could say anything else, T-5 had already turned back to Valens. "Whichever one you want!"
Some Rocket members nervously looked back at the PLA's side, including Pikachu and Buneary who couldn't take their eyes off the exchange.
"Then I...choose..." Valens said before he suddenly thrusted an arm out. "...WAAAAAAAAAAAR!"
The drones and aircrafts in the air began to move and as soon as they did, T-5 gave them a crazed stare.
"You'll come to regret that decision!" The captain shouted. Then, perhaps to make some sort of twisted point or simply out of spite, he gave the signal to the man next to the cages.
Only taking a moment to hesitate, the man turned on the power and the air rang with the crackling of electricity from the cages. A moment later, all of the Pokémon who were put in them started shouting in pain.
Absolutely horrified, Pikachu and Buneary gasped as they saw the island prisoners briefly endure the torture before they saw Gamma-7 give all of the other grunts the order to turn their Pokémon onto the PLA.
Screaming furiously, the PLA charged at them and only a moment later, the two sides were fighting both on the ground and in the air above.
Standing within their group of hypnotized prisoners, the ex-couple watched the utter bedlam unfold. Humans fighting with weapons or fist, Pokémon on the ground tackling each other while those capable of flight sparred with other Flying-types or the PLA in their drones.
Pikachu's eyes watched the sky and for a moment he was entranced at how the calm blue was littered with small explosions and attacks by forces that had become unrecognizable. All he saw in that moment was one attacker going after the other. His sanity pulling him out of this strange trance, Pikachu quickly shook his head and he looked over at Buneary who was watching everything in horror. The mouse lightly nudged the bunny's arm and brought her back to reality. Without saying a word, he motioned for them to leave and slowly but surely, they quietly backed away from the hypnotized group.
As the fighting raged on, the Pokémon in their cages tried their best to withstand the pain. Thankfully, the grunt had only turned the electricity on to a low setting before he had to step away to defend against the onslaught.
In one of the cages was a swanna who squeezed her eyes shut from the torture. When she briefly opened one eye, she saw a buneary bolt out from one of the crowds. Confused, the bird opened both eyes and watched as the bunny stop and jump atop the control panel to the cages. The rabbit took a moment to eyeball her options before she grabbed ahold of a lever and push it up and suddenly, the electricity for every cage dissipated. The entrapped Pokémon relaxed and gave sighs of relief.
Buneary herself gave a much needed exhale and she looked back to see the man who was standing by the radio tower's computer being knocked over by Pikachu's Iron Tail. The grunt screamed and was thrown to the side, his yelp of surprise being masked by all of the other shouting and cursing in the area. Satisfied, Pikachu briefly locked gazes with Buneary and they moved on to their next task. Pikachu turned around and jumped atop the radio tower's computer station while Buneary looked for a button to open the cages.
Not seeing much of a choice, she started opening up each container one at a time. Some of the Pokémon were able to get out on their own while others needed help.
It was while Buneary was helping a ducklett out of his cage did someone speak up.
"Hey! They're letting our captors out!" A female Rocket grunt shouted as she managed to punch a PLA goon in the face.
T-5, who was in the middle of ordering their aerial forces to take out one of the PLA drones, didn't even look back.
"Stop them! We can't let the PLA interfere with the ceremony!" He yelled as he continued to watch the chaos in the sky unfold. Growling to himself, he put the walkie-talkie up to his ear in the hopes of calling for reinforcements.
In a complete panic, Pikachu fiddled with the computer's controls, hoping that one of them would fully shut off the tower. Before he could really figure out how the damnable thing worked, he heard footsteps running towards him. Acting by instinct, Pikachu jumped away from the computer just in time to avoid Raticate's Hyper Fang.
Skidding backwards along the grass, Pikachu grimaced at the infuriated rat before him.
"(Did ya miss me?)" The Normal-type quietly asked, his eye twitching.
Several meters away, Buneary dodged a Flamethrower by a familiar-looking salamence. When she did, the dragon was chased off by several PLA drones. Landing on her feet, Buneary briefly surveyed the frenzy.
She didn't know who the culprit was or when it happened, but at some point, a stray attack struck a group of hypnotized Grass-types, snapping them out of their trances. Soon after, a houndoom directed its Mud Shot straight at the group of Electric-types, violently knocking them back into reality. One right after the other, the number of entranced Pokémon dwindled and the already loud shouting turned into a cacophony of screams of confusion, anger and pain.
T-5 was shouting into a walkie-talkie for backup when Valens himself emerged from the cloud of dust and tackled him. The two wrestled on the ground, trading punches and one man briefly slammed the other down onto the ground.
During their tussle, T-5 looked straight into Valens' eyes and he saw that the PLA leader's pupils were of slightly different sizes.
"How'd you like this you son of a bitch?!" Valens roared as he smashed his fist against T-5's face. The burnt-faced captain promptly kicked his knee upward and pushed the opposing leader off before they started rolling around on the ground.
Things only came to a dramatic finish when Valens noticed the gash on T-5's forehead and – without any hesitation – promptly jammed his thumb into it, causing a spurt of blood to emerge and the burnt-faced captain to scream in agony.
Wincing at the sight, Buneary briefly looked back and saw Pikachu using Quick Attack to evade Raticate's Shadow Ball. She grit her teeth and stealthily moved forward.
Pikachu looked around, unable to see his opponent who was just a few feet away mere moments ago. He wouldn't have any issues spotting the rat if not for the tremendous amounts of dirt being kicked up by the brawling around him. The mouse squinted his eyes and he thought he saw Raticate to his left. However, once the dust had cleared up a little, he saw that it was actually a shiftry, the same one he had seen from before, sparring with a sentret. Frowning, Pikachu started to look to his right when the ground underneath him began to move. Caught off-guard, the mouse looked down and he saw the earth break apart! Yelping out of surprise, Pikachu fell backwards as Raticate began to emerge from the dirt!
"(I have you now you dirty-!)" The rat yelled before he was promptly propelled away via an Ice Beam to the face. His body twirling in random directions, Raticate tumbled and rolled along the ground before coming to a full stop and he merely lay there groaning in pain.
Panting, Pikachu jerkily looked over to see Buneary running up to him and she quickly started to pull him to his feet.
"(You okay?)" She asked.
Still somewhat startled, Pikachu tried to snap out of it.
"(Y-Yeah...thanks.)" He managed to say before they both heard a sudden squeal and they turned over to look at a little zorua being knocked over onto its back. Its brown and blue fur standing out amongst the bright green grass, it opened its ruby eyes and looked at the duo whilst upside down.
As soon as it did, Grovyle emerged from the crowd and jumped into the air before landing right on the little pup's hindleg, causing it to yelp in pain. A strange mix of both fury and terror went through the ex-couple and they started getting ready to rush forward...
...When something off in the far distance made a low rumble. The noise boomed through the air and most in the vicinity immediately stopped what they were doing to look up.
It almost sounded like the bellowing of some large beast awakening from its hibernation.
Struggling to get up from where he had fallen after being struck by a Draco Meteor, Gamma-7 managed to smile.
"It's...here..." He whispered.
At last, all fighting had fully ceased and many looked up to gauge where the sound had come from and several confusedly muttered to themselves.
Then, the ground upon which they stood suddenly shook and many fell over with startled gasps. Then the earth shook again and the sound grew louder. This time however, many – including Pikachu and Buneary – realized where it was coming from: the nearby mountain.
Across a narrow strip of water that had cut through the island and beyond that, the mountain that towered over the land began to move. At first it was subtle, but then it began to violently shake and convulse before something spewed forth from the top.
Pikachu and Buneary watched in astonishment as an electric blue lava emerged in a bright and horrifying display. With it carried the inner entrails from below the crust of the earth.
All at once, it felt like the entire island went silent for what was about to come from the volcano.
Watching in awe, Pikachu and Buneary mindlessly stepped forward as they saw a figure begin to emerge from the neon eruption.
Author's Notes:
Whoo boy, quite a lot of chaotic action eh? A small slice of chaos before we get into the real mayhem!
I want to give a shoutout to bc414 and their work "Nine Tales of Liberty"! If you like medieval settings and an original story, then you just might have found a great match! Apparently, the author takes inspiration from history, real-life stuff and pop culture which I can relate to. Seriously, apparently they researched modern farming for one of their chapters. Now that's dedication that I can get behind! If you're curious, give their story a chance!
After so much chaos, violence and buildup, what exactly is the primary target emerging from the volcano? And what can we expect from it?
You know the drill, only one way to find out!