Chapter 81; Battle of Goldenrod City
A news helicopter flew over the taken over Goldenrod city as the police's siege on the city kept getting nowhere due to team rocket's pokemon outnumbering them two to one.
Thomas the news reporter from the previous two major livestreams regarding team rocket was talking to the camera.
"My friends… the worst has happened. As you can see below us, Goldenrod city has turned into a war zone. In the early hours, at dawn specifically as witnesses state, team rocket swarmed the city, creating an impenetrable perimeter around town. We cannot clearly make out what their purpose is but whatever it is, it can't be good. Miranda what can you tell us from the ground?"
"We are live from ground level on the northern entrance of the city, where team rocket has created a makeshift barrier with the trucks in which they arrived in. The barrier is protected by their army of pokemon, rendering all attempts to enter, be it via battling or any other way impossible. We'very also been informed that the situation on the southern entrance is pretty much the same as here. On scene are as many of the police forces of Johto, doing their best to save the civilians and stop the criminals. Strangely detective Looker, the lead detective in the case of THESE very criminals" she pointed at the barrier "is nowhere to be found. Makes one wonder Thomas, whose side he is really on".
The broadcast was muted at the police station as the chief of police was screaming his lungs out at Looker.
"Some detective you are! My homeland is overrun by criminals and you pursued a gang of teens instead!"
"Chief I assure you the situation will be settled without any problems".
"Without any problems?! Without any fucking problems?! Look at the television you imbecile! This is the very same predicament Saffron city found itself in! And the one individual who resolved that matter, at the cost of so much is dead! Dead! Who will stop them now?! What are they even doing in there?!"
Looker felt the pressure of the situation get to him but fought to remain calm.
"Chief please calm down. I promise you, a strategy is being worked on right now".
The chief gave Looker a dirty look and left, feeling the need to be there. Looked sighed and slumped on the chair.
He turned the mute off.
Just as Miranda was finishing her report.
"That's all we know so far. On a final note we received a call the chief of police of Ecutreak city is on his way to help any way he can. I pray to mighty Ho-oh his arrival changes something, anything" she went silent for a moment.
And then she decided to go off script.
"If you're watching this, detective Looker, then ask yourself this. Is the cost of upholding the law to a T worth it? Is the suffering of these people worth team Sonic's doom for going out of their way to help them? And who's going to help them now?"
The live ended as Looker indeed asked himself this.
Had he worked together with team Sonic, there was a huge chance things wouldn't have escalated this far.
But at the same time, he couldn't accept Sonic the hedgehog out into the world, free.
He needed to pay for what he indirectly did to Looker. And now he had.
In Azalea, Cosmo, with sentret on her lap, watched the stream anxiously, hoping from the first moment, something would change.
That Tails and his friends would come to the rescue.
But nothing.
For three hours the same loop of the police attempting to enter the city only to be repelled.
With every minute she felt her heart lose faith, one tiny bit at a time.
"Tails would never let this escalate" she thought. It was like he had died all over again.
Sentret rubbed its head against her, trying to comfort her. She hugged it for comfort but it was no use.
Her ringtone played as she received a message.
She picked up the phone, then proceeded to almost drop it when she read the message.
"Tails?!"
The message read 'meet me where we met. Quickly'.
Rushing out of the house without even locking the door, Cosmo raced to that spot at the entrance of Ilex forest.
But when she arrived her heart sank.
Tails wasn't here.
Forcing a tear back Cosmo went to leave when she heard her name called.
"Cosmo over here".
It was Tails' voice.
Rushing into the woods, she began shouting his name.
"Tails?! Tails!"
The fox appeared stealthily behind her and covered her mouth shusing her.
"Be quiet. Someone could hear you".
Forcing his hand off her mouth she turned and almost broke his spine hugging him.
"Where have you been? Why did you shut your phone off? I was so worried, I thought you died".
"There will be a time for all of this but it's not now Cosmo. You've probably seen what's going down in Goldenrod".
"I know. Why aren't you there stopping team rocket?"
"That's where we're going. It's a very long story to tell right now. But we need your help".
"My help?"
"Yes. Sonic will explain when we meet up with him".
Cosmo then noticed the wound on Tails' arm, horrifying her.
"What happened?" she asked with a quiver.
"It's nothing. Look I promise you I will tell you everything when this is over. But before that there's someone I want you to meet".
Taking her by the hand, he led Cosmo behind some bushes.
Cosmo was weirded out by this suddem move until her eyes met the sight of Raikou.
"The… The legend of thunder…"
Raikou, not knowing Cosmo or that she was an ally, growled defensively.
"Raikou no. She's a friend" Tails told the beast.
Raikou sized Cosmo up and the sat back down waiting.
Cosmo, with her mouth hanging open turned to Tails.
"How in creation did you join up with the legendary Raikou?"
"What can I say? There's more to me than meets the eye" Tails winked as he mounted Raikou.
"Seriously though we have to go. My friends are waiting".
Cosmo, with her heart beating fast at this development – like who would even imagine meeting, let alone riding the legend of thunder in their lifetime – climbed behind Tails, who helped her on by holding her hand, the sight of him causing her eyes to bulge. He was like a knight. A dream come true, at least in her eyes.
"Hold on to me" Tails instructed as Raikou began racing through the woods, heading deeper into the forest.
At the end of the run, Cosmo couldn't hold a gasp in.
Awaiting them were Sonic and Knuckles riding Entei and Suicune respectively.
"You caught…!"
"Yes, the beasts have joined us" Sonic confirmed "Cosmo listen closely cause we don't have much time. Is there any spot in this woods that has view of Goldenrod city but where we will not be spotted?"
Cosmo, overcoming the shock of team Sonic taming the legendary beasts, nodded positively.
"Yes. There is a spot. But I don't know exactly what directions to give you to get there"
"Could you lead us there then?" Knuckles asked her.
"Yes, easily".
"What about afterwards? I don't think there will be enough time to return you to Azalea".
"Don't worry about me Tails, I can find my way back if I can lead you there" Cosmo assured him "why do you need to get to higher ground though? Shouldn't you be there fighting?"
"We need to plan the attack first" Sonic explained "improvising and blitz attacking almost got us killed. Can't take this chance again".
Cosmo looked at Tails, half hesitating and half demanding to know if Sonic was implying that wound on Tails' arm really almost killed him.
"Later. Please lead us there".
Cosmo immediately started directing Raikou towards the desired destination.
The four teenagers raced through the woods, Tails, Cosmo and Raikou in the lead, followed by Sonic and Entei, and lastly by Knuckles and Suicune.
The ride seemed endless until finally, the path took a slight incline.
Tails had Raikou stop so Cosmo could get off.
Sonic and Knuckles caught up and told Tails to join them soon as they raced up the incline.
Tails and Cosmo were left alone.
"Are you sure you're going to be ok? Making your way back alone?"
"Have no worry. I know this forest like the back of my hand. I will be fine".
"Alright then. I'll come find you when it's over".
"Wait" she took his hand stopping him.
Tails could tell by her voice she was struggling to not be emotional in the moment.
"Why… why did you fake your deaths? I… those few days… they were the worst of my life".
Tails closed his eyes in guilt.
"Because I was an idiot who thought I could beat team rocket admin Ariana at her own game. I thought by faking our deaths we could lose the heat and catch them off guard. I was wrong".
"Did you… did you even consider calling me?" Cosmo asked him while staring.
Taking a leap of faith Tails decided to seize the opportunity this time.
Running his finger on her cheek, moving her hair out of the way in the process, he thought it was time to be brave.
"Every waking moment. You never left my mind".
And leaning in, he kissed her, letting himself get high on the feeling as she kissed him back.
Moments later she broke the kiss.
"Go get them tiger".
Tails chuckled raising his eyebrow.
"Be honest. Was that for me or for Raikou?"
Cosmo chuckled too.
"Go. Your friends are waiting".
Demonstrating his flight to her for the first time, Tails flew back on Raikou as the beast took off up the path.
Cosmo watched them leave.
"Be careful Tails".
At last Tails and Raikou joined the other four at the end of the path where Sonic was assessing the situation with the binoculars.
"How bad is it?" he asked.
"Very. They're playing it very smart. But good news is I have eyes on all 3 admins".
"All three?" Tails gasped.
"They must have broken everyone captured out before converging here. This was in the works for months, so they had time to plan everything" Knuckles filled him in.
"So Petrel is back… and what are they doing?"
"Archer is at the radio tower, I can see him enjoying the view on the balcony. Look at him all high and mighty" Sonic said in disgust.
"Petrel is at the port… he and his squad are keeping an eye on their hostages" Knuckles grimly added.
"Hostages?!" Tails exclaimed. That went south very fast.
"And Ariana is at the power plant, messing with the generator. Can you tell me what they're doing exactly?"
Tails looked through the binoculars.
"They're rerouting the power to the radio tower. They must be attempting to connect to the Atachi satellite. But from what I see they've only just began".
"Makes sense, big city, need to take control first" Sonic agreed "so how much time does that leave us?"
"I'd say 30 minutes tops. What's the plan?"
Sonic considered their options for a moment.
"Divide and conquer".
"What?! Every time we split up something bad happens!" Tails objected.
"I know. But there is no other way. We need to save those hostages and sabotage the connection in 30 minutes. Every second counts".
Tails looked at the city. Too much was at stake to play it safe.
Cosmo's encouragement rang in his ears.
"Alright. What do we do?" he said determinedly.
"Here's the plan. Knuckles, you and Suicune get to the port from the sea, STEALTHILY! Wait for the signal and attack the rockets hard enough to get the hostages somewhere safe".
"Got it. Wait what signal?"
Sonic took a moment to think.
"Wait I have an idea" Tails stepped up "here. Earphones. I bought them here when we first came around intending for us to use them in our battles but… I ended up forgetting about them…"
Sonic examined it for a moment and smiled.
"Better late than never" he said putting it in his ear.
Knuckles mimicked him before taking off on Suicune, wishing his friends good luck and assuring them he would be expecting the signal.
Sonic then turned to Tails again.
"Tails, you and Raikou handle the rockets in the generator".
Tails' eyes widened as that meant facing Ariana again.
Sonic read through the hesitation.
"The last few days were not your fault Tails. We didn't fake our deaths just to catch the rockets off guard. Looker pushed us to do it".
Having Entei approach Raikou just enough, Sonic placed his hand on Tails' shoulder.
"You're the only one who can outsmart Ariana and foil her plan for the generator Tails. I trust you".
"How do I know I'm not going to mess up again?"
Sonic gave his friend a warm encouraging smile.
"Did you hesitate kissing Cosmo this time?"
Tails processed the question and then nodded.
"Right… it's a leap of faith".
Sonic nodded as he and Entei prepared to move out.
"Wait. What are you going to do?" Tails asked him.
Sonic stopped and took a mischievous expression.
"I'm going to take the fight to them. After all someone needs to cause a distraction right?"
Tails nodded as the two friends prepared to move towards their respective targets.
"Wait I almost forgot" Sonic stopped "do you have a jacket with a hood or something you don't mind losing?"
On the north entrance of Goldenrod another plan of the police, more specifically their attempt have a negotiator approach the barrier and have his partner machamp ambush them and break it down , failed miserably.
That same moment the chief of Ecutreak police department arrived.
"What's the progress?" he almost barked out the question.
"Nothing works sir. There is just too many of them and they won't be tricked".
"Dammit. What did they say about the hostages?"
"They said the hostages will remain safe as long as we don't try anything funny".
The chief cursed but then his gaze turned.
A hooded figure was walking towards the street, straight down the middle of the two factions.
"Hey you!" the chief called out "get out of here! Don't you see what's happening around you?!"
The figure didn't stop. With steady but assuring steps he got to the center of the street and turned to face the rockets.
"Team rocket! I'll give you one chance. Surrender or face my wrath!"
The police looked at the figure as if they were crazy.
On the other side the rockets burst out laughing.
The figure too chuckled before unzipping his jacket and removing it.
The laughter turned to cries of fear.
"No way!"
"It can't be! He's dead!"
All the grunts were taken over by a feeling if nervousness and doubt their plan would work.
In front of them stood a very angry and determined Sonic the hedgehog.
One of the grunts almost screamed into his communicator.
"Admin Archer sir! It's the hedgehog!"
The chief was about to try and talk Sonic down, as there were hostages involved.
A hand grabbed his shoulder.
Turning he was met by…
"Detective Morrison?!"
"Hello chief".
The chief was barely holding it together now.
"Did you know? That…"
"That Sonic the hedgehog was alive? No I didn't. That's why I came. Because I feared no one would be here to stand up to them".
"Sir this is insanity. He can't possibly take on them all on his own. We got to stop him" a lieutenant tried to reason with the chief.
"No sir" Morrison countered "let him do his thing".
The chief was torn.
"Why should I listen to you? Looker reported you stole a critical piece of evidence from Mahogany".
"I know sir. And I am ready to accept any punishment the law deems fitting for my actions. But right now I'm asking to trust me. Trust him" he pointed to Sonic "if anyone can turn this thing around it's him and his friends".
The chief spat. There wasn't really a choice here.
"You better be right about him Morrison. The fate of our homeland is in his hands".
"In their hands chief. In their hands" Morrison confidently corrected the chief.
On the other side after receiving an order, the grunt opened the massive screen on the entrance of the city, which was normally used to greet those arriving in town. Archer had had it wired so he could send a message to the police if need be.
Archer's face appeared on screen.
"Well, well, well" his voice took over, the volume set to max "what do we have here? The hero of Kanto comes back from the dead. Where are you two pathetic friends? And more importantly, where is your partner?"
He burst out laughing, thinking Sonic was alone. Some of the grunts also joined the laughing.
Sonic chuckled.
"How these next 30 minutes go down Archer, is entirely your choice. You would all do well to end this pathetic circus performance you put up and surrender".
"Please. Or else what hedgehog?"
Sonic shrugged.
"Ok then. Prepare to be invaded".
Many more of the grunts broke into laughter again.
"Invaded? By you and what army?" Archer mocked Sonic.
Sonic grinned taking out 5 pokeballs.
"This army" he replied and started throwing then in the air.
One by one, Meganiun, Quagsire, shiny hitmontop and shiny tyranitar emerged on the sides of their trainer.
The final pokeball opened and a pillar of fire was risen to the sky as the ferocious roar of Entei echoed through the plain and the forest.
At the sight of the legendary Entei by the side of the hero of Kanto the side of the police was filled by hope while the rockets struggled to maintain the composure, the only thing keeping them together was Archer's confidence.
"That is an impressive squad hedgehog. But team rocket already bested Raikou before. What makes you think its brother will make any actual difference? Face it. You have already…"
Sonic didn't reply with words.
His reply was taking out his final pokeball.
At the sight of that ball Archer's confidence was replaced by a mix of curiosity and anxiety as he stopped his monologue.
Sonic, with a confident grin of his own, sent out the final pokemon.
A huge lightning bolt, not unlike the pillar of fire Entei invoked only moments ago, came crashing down in front of Sonic and his team.
Once the lightning dissipated a cry was heard.
"RAAAAIIII!"
That was the last drop.
"It's his Raichu!"
"That's not possible!"
"It's immortal!"
"That can't be!" Archer murmured "the evidence pointed to death!"
It was accomplished. Their morale had broken.
Before any of the rockets could regain their composure, Sonic made his move.
"Entei! Sacred fire!"
Entei charged the move for 3 seconds before firing at the barrier, tearing it down with incredible force that shook not only the rockets but the police too to their cores.
"He broke through!" a grunt screamed.
"Now my friends!" Sonic shouted referring to his pokemon "CHARGE!"
His pokemon, all letting out war cries, went into the offensive.
Raichu immediately began with a quick attack, slamming against a sandlash.
Meganium, Tyranitar and Quagsire followed up by mass attacking with razor leaf, rock slide and surf.
Hitmontop, joining Raichu in taking the fight to their enemies, worked together with the electric type. With Raichu's iron tail and hitmontop's triple kick combined, hitmontop became an unstoppable force breaking through any formation it came across, even knocking out a trio of golbats with a single move.
And when the first attacks were completed, Sonic ordered Raichu and hitmontop back.
"BURN THEM DOWN ENTEI! FLAMETHROWER!"
A huge jet of flames came crashing down against team rocket, who all retreated in fear despite Archer's protests to fight back.
The officers were all left in awe of the sudden turn of events as well as the power of Entei and the fearlessness of Sonic and his pokemon.
Miranda of course went live without confirming with the studio.
"People of Johto! We are witnessing a miracle! Our prayers have been answered! Sonic the hedgehog has returned, assisted by the legendary Entei!" she said with passion in her voice as the camera turned to the pandemonium at the city's gate.
Among the tens of moves fired from pokemon to all directions, the silhouette of Sonic could be seen, with his back turned and his spiky hair billowing from force of the moves as he ordered his Meganium to shield everyone with a massive protect as the other bunched up around Sonic and behind Meganium.
"He's alive!" Ash exclaimed from Ecutreak as he had only just arrived there with his friends, watching the broadcast through a TV store's display glass.
Misty and Brock didn't reply as they were too focused on the screen.
Pikachu witnessed its rival taking out enemy pokemon nearly every second, being entirely in the zone, not thinking, just acting.
"Pika pika! Pikachu!" it cheered on for its rival.
From atop the radio tower, Archer was watching as everything they had worked for for entire months was falling apart.
Checking the task bar, seeing it was only at 31% Archer sighed and, riding his massive Crobat, flew down to ground level.
"Damn those imbeciles. No matter, I will stop him myself! One way or another!"
Just as Entei completed another flamethrower attack, an air cutter attack struck it and Sonic, who ended up doing a backflip in the air due to the force applied before landing on his feet and meeting the sight of Archer riding his Crobat.
"This is far enough hedgehog! Take one more step and the hostages will pay the price!"
"Hostages?" Sonic feigned shock.
Archer smiled maliciously.
"Yes hedgehog. We are not above taking hostages. Tell your pokemon to stand down or the hostages will all find themselves in a watery grave!"
Sonic decided it was time.
"NOW!" he screamed, pausing for a second before continuing "now I see the Giovanni in you. But if you think that this pathetic attempt to stop us could actually work, you are dumber than I thought".
"Hahaha! So be it, hedgehog! Team rocket wins either way! Petrel start getting rid of the hostages!"
All that came out of his communicator were battle noises.
"What?! Petrel what's happening?! Respond dammit!"
A few moments earlier at the city port
Admin Petrel was pacing back and forth in anticipation. Today was their day.
Team rocket was making its comeback. The world would tremble before them again.
"Please let me go" a woman from the crowd of hostages, guarded by a squad of poison type pokemon begged "I'm all my kids have left".
"You stay quiet and you might live to see the next day" Petrel advised menacingly.
"You won't get away with this rocket scumbags!" a man next to her suddenly spoke up.
Petrel snapped his fingers.
One of the grunts slammed a crowbar on the man's back with great force knocking the wind out of him.
As the man wheezed tried to catch his breath, he was dragged away from the crowd before the first grunt was joined by another as they started mercilessly striking at him with their crowbars.
"STOP! STOP IT PLEASE!" the woman from earlier begged.
Petrel snapped his fingers again as the man laid on the ground, twitching from the pain.
"Listen here peasants! And get it in your head! We are in charge here! No one, I repeat, NO ONE, is coming to save you! So do yourselves a favor and shut up!" he threatened them enjoying the feeling of dominance.
A loud crashing sound reached their ears in that moment. Petrel was taken completely by surprise.
"Archer what happened?" he spoke into his communicator.
Several seconds passed before Archer responded.
"The hedgehog is here!"
"What?!"
A tall pillar of fire, followed by a lightning bolt crashing near the north entrance of the city shook Petrel to his core.
"The legend of fire is with him!" Archer reported.
"Say what?!"
"Yeah! Get them hero of…" a teenager tried to cheer before being smacked with a crowbar.
"Listen closely. If I tell you to, start killing the hostages!"
"You sure Archer? We lose our leverage like this".
"Trust me on this. Just be ready once I give the signal. I will go confront him".
"Whatever you say bossman" Petrel shrugged.
"Now!" a voice was suddenly heard.
Petrel turned around.
"Who said now?!"
No one confessed.
Petrel pointed at the teenager who cheered for Sonic.
"Beat the hell out of him!"
The grunt raised crowbar and was about to bring it down, before being punched in the stomach so hard he was sent flying.
"Now Suicune!"
A hydro pump was fired at the poison types guarding the hostages, sweeping them away along with half the grunts surrounding them.
"Ready for round three?!" Petrel heard the annoying voice of Knuckles the echidna challenge him.
Following it to the source, he found the annoying echidna that just wouldn't stay dead. A little further back the majestic Suicune was staring him down.
"You just can't seem to stay dead can you?!"
"As long as you and your kin are free, we will always come for you! Even if it means returning from the dead!" Knuckles taunted him.
"What are you waiting for you idiots! Get the hostages!"
Some of the grunts hesitated but sooner or later, Knuckles was facing down an army of Pokemon.
But to their horror, he smiled, sending out all of his other pokemon.
"You still want to do this?" he challenged them.
"Attack!" Petrel ordered the grunts.
The grunts all fired a barrage of attacks. Knuckles' pokemon fought back but since none knew protect, Tyranitar stepped up and took the brunt of the assault.
"Typhlosion! Flame wheel! Run them down!"
Typhlosion cried out and turned into a huge a flaming wheel, rolling with intent towards the rockets, some of whom fled in fear and the rest dodging and attempting to fight back.
"Victreebel! Free the hostages with your razor leaves!"
Victreebel protruded its sharp side leaves as the hostages started rubbing their bonds on them, gradually being free and helping the others.
Petrel's communicator rang.
"Petrel start getting rid of the hostages" Archer's malicious voice came out of it.
A bunch of Pokemon next to Petrel were knocked out by a massive megahorn attack from Knuckles' heracross.
"What?! Petrel what's happening?! Respond dammit!"
Petrel was forced to dodge a thunderbolt by Knuckles' Ampharos and send out a weezing to keep it busy before replying.
"The echidna jumped us! He is freeing the hostages!"
"What?! One of him and an entire squad plus you and you are losing, you useless idiot?!" Archer screamed into his communicator as Sonic enjoyed the show despite fighting off his own bunch of rocket grunts and pokemon.
"What was it you said? Team rocket wins either way? Care to reconsider?" he taunted Archer, part of him hoping he fell off Crobat and made his life a little easier.
Archer gritted his teeth and looked at his watch.
Ten minutes to go.
Sonic noticed this and remembered they were on the clock.
"Tails talk to me buddy. How're we doing?" he spoke as quietly as he could, trying not to be noticed by Archer, the chaos of the fight helping with that.
"Not good. Their progress is a lot further along than I thought".
"What does that mean? What's our timeline?" Sonic asked fearing what answer he would get.
"Rough estimation… ten minutes tops".
Sonic's eyes widened.
"Take out the rockets and stop the connection!"
"Even if I do that Archer will be able to broadcast to all of Johto!"
"Don't worry about him! I'll handle it! You focus on beating Ariana!"
Tails signed off, taking a deep breath. Raikou rubbed against him to comfort him.
While his two friends were engaging their enemies, he had been assessing Ariana's progress with the connection to the Atachi satellite. And as he had explained to Sonic, the three friends had ten minutes to defeat team rocket.
"Raikou it's time to battle. Ready?"
Raikou purred in agreement. Tails couldn't help but relax. Who'd knew a legendary pokemon could be so cute and yet look and be so deadly at the same time.
"Good. Here's what I need you to do".
Admin Ariana in the meantime was working her butt off with her grunts, trying to speed up the connection so Archer could broadcast their message and hopefully get into contact with Giovanni.
As she connected another extension cord to the generator to harness even more electricity, she contacted Archer.
"Where are we in terms of process?"
"Last I checked it was at 31%".
"Then check it again and tell me".
The sound of a flamethrower came out of the communicator.
"Archer?"
"I'm can't! The hedgehog is unstoppable! If I let him get to the tower it's all been for nothing!"
"Curses! Get the two morons to hold him back!"
Archer considered this possibility.
It was alluring indeed.
It didn't matter whether they won or lost as long as they got to contact their boss.
"Alright. I'll let you know what the progress is when I get back in. And tell your grunts to be careful. Petrel has engaged the echidna and I'm currently engaging the hedgehog. That means the fox may be near you. Do NOT let him anywhere near the generator, you hear me?!"
"Roger. Over and out" Ariana signed off.
After turning around however, fear took hold of her.
All her grunts had been knocked out.
Stunned.
"Where are you fox?! Show yourself!"
A small bolt of electricity came out of nowhere, barely missing her. Ariana turned to the direction it came from.
"Not there Ariana" Tails teased her without revealing himself.
"Where are you?! Come out of hiding and face me!"
"Like you did at Mahogany? You and Archer ran away. You left Proton to die".
"He knew what he signed up for! Show yourself coward!"
Another small bolt of lightning came out of nowhere. Ariana was barely fast enough to dodge.
However that gave her an idea as to where the bolts were coming from.
"You think you can beat me in a mind game fox? Me? The brains behind team rocket?" she calmly tried to taunt Tails.
"See that's the thing about us smart individuals. We tend to overthink everything, believing complicated means better".
"Compilated is better fox. You were too much of a simpleton to see what was right in front of you from the beginning" Ariana taunted him as she took out Muk's pokeball, remembering how Tails' stun gun couldn't stun living goo.
As she was about to turn the corner she believed Tails was hiding behind, he chuckled.
"And you are too blind and arrogant to see I'm just stringing you along".
Ariana turned the corner as Tails spoke those words.
In front of her was Raikou with eyes glowing with fury.
Before Ariana could turn and run, Raikou pounced.
Ariana was tackled to the ground, the sight of two huge saber teeth terrifying her into staying still.
She then noticed a phone taped on Raikou's fur.
"You sneaky trickster fox!" Ariana yelled in anger, realizing Raikou had been baiting her by using thunder shocks to replicate Tails' stun rounds.
Looking up, she saw Tails flying by the side of the generator examining her work, trying to find a safe way to stop it.
Ariana, drowning in a sea of inability to act, averted her gaze.
"Forgive me boss. I failed" she uttered in a dramatic tone, causing Tails to roll his eyes.
"What a drama queen" he commented quickly stunning her with a shot so he could focus.
Ariana's communicator rang.
"Hey Espeon. Pass it to me please?" Tails gently asked as he called it out.
Espeon let out a positive cry and using its psychic powers, passed the ringing communicator to Tails.
"Ariana. Agents Butch and Cassidy went down instantly. Progress is at 62%. Send some of your guys to stall the hedgehog quick!"
Tails smirked.
"Ariana is unavailable at the moment. And you better sit because this is the end of your plan!"
And with those words, Tails and Raikou cut the cords connecting the generator to the radio tower.
Sparks flew as Tails warned Espeon to stay away from the exposed wires.
However, just as he thought they won, the generator started making loud noises as if it was kicking into overdrive.
Tails was dumbfounded. This wasn't supposed to happen.
That was when he noticed it; a third cord, carefully concealed underneath the surface of the generator with metal plates covering it to make it blend in. Tails however noticed the end of the wire at its connection point with the generator.
Quickly examining it, he just couldn't help but be impressed by Ariana's genius; it was built like a collapsing circuit. Disconnecting the original wires had triggered the third one to kick in and pump more juice to the radio tower signal, and much faster too.
"Sonic we got a big problem!"
"How big?"
"Ariana installed a failsafe! Energy is being pumped much faster than before. Rough estimation, the connection to the Atachi satellite will be achieved in 5 minutes!"
"Five minutes?!"
"If we do not hurry, not only will they be able to contact Giovanni but the continuous pumping of energy will overload the city's power grid causing a blackout! Huge chance it will be region wide too!"
Sonic weighed their options forcing himself to keep calm.
"Alright then! Is there a way to stop it?"
"Yes but we got to get into the radio tower to cut the connection from there!"
"Got it. Start working on it and I'll get back to you".
Tails signed off and started working on stopping the failsafe.
Close to the radio tower now, but with around 50 grunts blocking his path, the only thing stopping them from charging him was Entei's flamethrowers and sacred fire blasts, Sonic contacted Knuckles.
"Knuckles I need backup! Are you finished there?!"
Punches and brawls filled the inside of his ear.
"You kidding?! They're not giving up! Beating the soul out of Petrel didn't change anything, they are all simply waiting for me and Suicune to get exhausted from fighting them all off!"
"Shit! I need you here though! We need to get into the tower to stop the signal transmission! Ariana installed a failsafe to make sure they can contact Giovanni even if they are arrested! I need you and Suicune here to break through them!"
Knuckles knocked another grunt out with a powerful punch to the face as he considered his options to get out of this predicament.
An idea crossed his mind. It was a longshot but if their actions were really that impactful, there was a chance this could work.
"Suicune! Victreebel! Tyranitar! Use your ranged attacks to keep them at bay!"
The three pokemon started blasting their opponents with hydro pump, razor leaf and rock slide as Knuckles turned to the now free hostages.
"Does anyone have pokemon they can fight with?"
Over half the crowd raised their hands.
"Listen closely. I hate to ask this of you… but Sonic needs our help! He needs to get to the tower!" he said pointing to the radio tower "and for that I need to get there to help him. So I need you all to fight back against the rockets here and now!"
"Are you crazy?! You're the heroes here" the man who was beaten up earlier replied in shock.
Knuckles took a second to think before answering.
"I know you all think we are some sort of super trainers. But here's the thing. When we started this journey my friend Tails and I had nothing to offer to our friend's cause. We had zero experience in being trainers. Same goes for Sonic when he got his first pokemon. He was just like all of you, a normal trainer without anything setting him apart. And yet he fought back against the fear of team rocket when they at the peak of their power. If he could do that what's stopping all of you?!"
The crowd started murmuring.
"Those… rockets… came here today, threatening your lives, your pokemon! They carry all those pokemon of their own with them. But their only real weapon is fear! And real heroes are stronger than fear!"
The crowd were now captivated.
"Fot heroes are not born" Knuckles continued trying to rally the crowd "They are forged. Sonic the hedgehog forged his own path for his own reasons and that proved him worthy to be a hero! Now I ask you all to find that same hero in you! Fight back with us against the monsters that are team rocket! Help us bring them to justice and save your homes! Now who's with me?!"
The hostages responded by sending out an army of pokemon of their own. Knuckles smirked and whistled. Suicune came to his side and he rode it.
"Today you all become heroes! Today team rocket falls! Today hope reigns supreme!" he rallied them further, unnerving the rockets opposing them.
"To battle everyone!"
Chaos ensued as the Goldenrod residents charged forward with their partner pokemon. The rocket grunts found themselves faltering. The greatest power of team Sonic was shining bright, signaling their defeat.
The power of hope. The only power stronger than fear.
Knuckles riding Suicune and recalling his pokemon, charged through the rockets, Suicune knocking out as many pokemon with its attacks as possible to help the Johtonians fight back.
Amidst the chaos, Knuckles spotted Petrel trying to escape. Reaching out he grabbed him by the back of his shirt and quickly knocked him out by smacking him on the neck, before stuffing the admin behind him on Suicune. The legendary beast then started hopping across the rooftops, heading for the tower.
At the same moment at the tower, Archer was smiling maliciously as the progress bar was at 90%. It would only need about three minutes at worst.
Returning to the radio equipment, he started setting the switches on the desires positions so that the broadcast could begin at the exact moment contact with the Atachi satellite was made.
"Just a little more" he thought.
Once the boss heard his team was still loyal, surely he would come back and with him at the helm team Rocket would crash team Sonic.
The tower was suddenly shaken by something.
"An earthquake?" he thought rushing to the balcony.
To his horror, it wasn't an earthquake.
Entei and Suicune had used their combined power to take out all the opposing pokemon at once, with the hedgehog, his raichu and the echidna knocking out the grunts.
"Fuck no not now!" Archer cursed rushing back in, checking the meter.
92%.
He would need to buy time himself.
Rushing out of the room, he made his way to the electrical room.
Outside Sonic and Knuckles cleared out the remaining grunts.
"I'm going in to stop Archer. You three guard the perimeter" Sonic instructed Knuckles, Entei and Suicune.
"You got it. Go finish this!"
Sonic and Raichu then rushed in and up the stairs, getting into contact with Tails again and heading for the electrical room.
Outside the electrical room however, Archer blocked their path.
"No more running hedgehog. Let's finish this! Just you and me!"
"I wouldn't have it any other way Archer!"
"Go houndoom!"
"Raichu!"
The two pokemon collided with extreme force, their moves being bite and brick break. Houndoom got the worst end of the stick in this matchup but Archer wasn't going to lose. Not yet.
He knew he couldn't defeat Sonic. His pokemon had barely had any training after the first fall of team rocket.
That was the thing that made him hate Sonic the most.
Before he came along team rocket didn't need more power. Their pokemon as they were plus the crippling fear they instilled in their victims was enough.
But not for Sonic. He would just not give in to fear.
But it didn't matter anymore. Archer had to buy a little more time.
As houndoom fainted to a thunder punch, Archer sent out his Crobat ordering it to use air cutter.
The attack did stall Raichu for a few moments but thunder punch was in store for Crobat too.
Archer sent out his final pokemon; Koffing.
One iron tail knocked it out.
"Game over!" Sonic attempted to immobilize Archer only for the admin to use dodge and rush back upstairs.
Before Sonic gave chase, Tails called.
"WHY AREN'T YOU PICKING UP?!"
"Archer happened" Sonic explained.
Pause.
"Connection to the Atachi satellite is complete Sonic".
"Say what?!"
"We're too late".
"Not on my watch!" Sonic burst through the door and found himself in the electrical room.
It didn't take long to find what he was looking for; a weird device connected to some wires which in turn were connected to the tower's power grid.
"I have eyes on the device".
"Good. Destroy it".
Tails then heard a weak but sinister smile coming from Ariana.
"What's so funny?" he asked her in anger.
"Oh nothing. Go ahead. Tell your friend to go ahead".
Tails however wasn't buying it.
"What did you do?!"
"Destroying or disconnecting the device will release all the collected power that is being used to connect the radio station to the satellite" she explained with a sadistic pleasure.
"In other words if your friend breaks the connection he will be fried to a crisp!"
Tails was so horrified he aimed and fired a stun round, knocking Ariana down and halfway out.
"Sonic! Stop Archer from making the transmission!"
"No time! I won't get up there fast enough!"
"You mess with that thing you will get blasted with enough electricity to power the city for a month!"
To his shock Sonic chuckled.
"No worries, I got this" he said before signing off.
"No, no, NO!" Tails screamed, loading Ariana on Raikou and riding it, heading to the tower in a hurry.
"Sonic don't be an idiot!" he uttered in anxiousness.
Ariana groaned from behind him as they were hopping from rooftop to rooftop.
Just as they were 3 blocks away from the tower, lightning bolts crackled on the walls of the tower.
"NOOOOO!" Tails screamed as Raikou halted in utter shock, having felt the release of more electricity than 10 of its kind together could produce.
Knuckles felt the power surge from the foot of the tower, looking up with a mix of disbelief and fear.
"Sonic what did you do?"