Normal POV
The very next day, everything seemed to be going smoothly on the island where Team Rocket's Hoenn base was located. All of the grunts were calmly doing their rounds as they kept watch for any sign of intrusion while also making sure to stay out of the way of the wild flying Pokemon that happened to have been "recruited" by the mind control waves they'd unwittingly flown within range of. As far as they were aware, with the aquatic Pokemon under the mind control waves' thrall in the ocean areas within the immediate vicinity of the island seeming a perfect discouragement from attempted intrusion by submarine, plus a mixture of mind-controlled flying Pokemon at the ready to handle any attempted intrusion by boat or aerial transport, it certainly wasn't looking as if there was really any need for dedicated patrols.
Little did Team Rocket know, however, that their defenses were not as impregnable as they thought. For at that very moment, in a cove on the eastern side of the island that Team Rocket had thought would be too easy for the mind-controlled aquatic Pokemon to prevent any intruders from entering (and had therefore not bothered to station any guards at), a submarine had just so happened to enter and was now rising into view at the shore. The mind-controlled wild Sharpedos who'd been "on duty" at the cove's entrance had ended up getting into a vicious fight against each other, as a result of the mind control essentially turning off any inhibitions they'd had in their high aggression. As a result, the Sharpedos had ended up so distracted fighting each other that the submarine had been able to calmly sail right underneath them and into the cove without them even noticing.
And now, with the submarine having successfully docked, the rooftop hatch opened up. Ash, Adam, and Megan climbed out and hopped onto the island shore, with their respective Pikachus and Espeon swiftly joining them. At that moment, they were all fully prepared to carry out the established plan, with all three trainers having their provided transceivers on their ears and their three active Pokemon all wearing the provided anti-mind-control safeguard headgear to shield them from the effects of the still-active mind control waves.
"I'm still surprised that we were able to sneak past those wild Sharpedos so easily." said Megan.
Adam chuckled and said, "Team Rocket's mind control waves may be fantastic at turning Pokemon into mindlessly violent and aggressive soldiers that will stop at nothing to defeat their enemies, but it's really inconvenient to use it on a group of a species that's both naturally ill-tempered without mind control, and territorial at the same time."
"Indeed." Ash stated. "But don't forget, those mind control waves will still be highly detrimental for us if we don't get them shut down as soon as possible. That's why the current primary objective is for you and Megan to find and destroy the machine generating the mind control waves, and to make sure that everyone else waiting outside the waves' range is made aware of the machine's destruction, once it's been achieved."
"Don't forget Brittany. We need to rescue her, too." Megan pointed out.
"I haven't forgotten." said Ash. "And I'm all for you and Adam looking for her, but my point still stands. And at any rate, I'll be plenty busy in my own right while you two are searching for Brittany and the mind control generator."
As the trio had ultimately ended up discussing and making clear over the course of their travels in the submarine, Ash himself wouldn't be directly accompanying Adam and Megan in their search for Brittany and the generator. He'd be searching for Jacob, and hopefully stop him from summoning Groudon and Kyogre.
"Remember, I do have a backup plan waiting in the sky, in the event that Jacob's able to bring Groudon and Kyogre into the picture before I can stop him. But I can't use that plan unless the mind control barrier is gone. So I doubt that I need to remind you of just how much our chances of success today depend on you two."
"Don't worry, Dad." Adam stated, a determined smile on his face as he raised his clenched right fist. "We've all stopped Team Rocket before and we can do it again!"
"Pika, pika!" Adam's Pikachu said in agreement.
"I certainly hope so. And on that note, we'd best get a move on. It's already been at least 10 minutes since we first put the mind-control safeguard headgear on Espeon and our Pikachus. That leaves another 50 for us to get the generator shut down before the headgear's no longer able to keep Espeon and our Pikachus immune to the mind control. So the sooner we shut down the generator and allow more of our Pokemon to safely enter the mix, the better."
And with that, the trio and their Pokemon quickly and quietly made their way from the shore and straight to the base. Thankfully, it only took five uneventful minutes for them to reach the eastern side of the headquarters on the island. Upon reaching the side door built into the building, Ash drew out an automatic hacking device he'd been given aboard the submarine and used it to get the door open. They then split off as planned, to get to work on their respective searches.
... ...
About half an hour later, deep within the base, Jacob Berlitz was seated in his office having a video chat with Hunter Mya. The latter was in her ship, which just so happened to be floating in the sky, not far away from the base.
"You're certain that you've got the cameras on your ship pointed in the right direction and set to the exact settings required?" Jacob asked.
"Of course I'm certain, sir." Mya responded. "And I'm working on the finishing touches for the hacking codes and other equipment right now as we speak."
"Excellent. Just make sure that you get a full view of Kyogre and Groudon's summoning and broadcast it to all of the regions as planned. It's of the utmost importance that we show the entire world that we mean business, especially after how our previous effort in Johto didn't go as planned."
"Don't worry. So far, the beginning of the end is looking set to unfold as planned, right on schedule."
"It had better. I want the people of Hoenn to know of their impending destruction, and of how powerless they are to stop it."
Jacob then cut off the video feed and directed a meaningful glance at the two all-important orbs currently lying on his desk.
"Team Aqua and Team Magma were such fools." he muttered. "Only controlling one Pokemon each, and for entirely separate goals. If either one of them had chosen to summon BOTH Groudon and Kyogre, or if they'd both put aside their petty rivalry and been willing to actually work together, they could have been truly unstoppable." He then grabbed the orbs, with his right hand slamming atop the Red Orb while his left hand slammed down upon the Blue Orb. "But I'm no fool. I have one clear goal instead of two separate goals that are at odds with each other. And with both Groudon and Kyogre under my control, there will be precious little that can stop me."
He closed his eyes and concentrated hard, the orbs starting to glow before suddenly transforming into energy that was absorbed into his body. He started laughing as this happened, the sound increasing in volume and speed until finally it became a full-on Mightyena-style laugh of power! He then opened his eyes and lifted his now-glowing hands skyward.
"GROUDON!" Jacob roared. "KYOGRE! COME FORTH! YOUR MASTER COMMANDS IT!"
... ...
Meanwhile, Adam, Megan, Pikachu, and Espeon were currently hiding in a supply closet, after having spent a decent amount of the past half hour sneaking through the base, hiding and avoiding all of the grunts that had come near them. Naturally, their current effort at hiding in the supply closet had coincided with a need to take a brief rest before they continued their search for the generator. Unfortunately, the fact that they had no idea of the exact layout of the building meant they were completely in the dark as to where in the base they'd find the generator.
"You do realize that we can't keep searching blindly, right?" Megan asked.
"Yes, I do." Adam admitted. "But right now, I have a general idea of how to proceed from here."
"Do tell." Megan inquired, raising her eyebrow, with Espeon doing the same.
"Right now, I'm thinking that we should keep heading further inward and look for the most securely-guarded room. I mean, considering just how much my grandfather's current plan relies on the mind control wave barrier remaining active around the base, he'll obviously want it very heavily fortified and guarded. And the deeper inside the base, the easier it will presumably be to set up a viable line of defense."
"Pika, pika." Pikachu said, nodding his head in agreement.
"That makes sense." Megan admitted, nodding her head in understanding.
Adam then listened carefully towards the outside of the closet before saying, "Alright, it looks like the coast is clear. Let's get a move on."
Adam and Megan exited the closet and continued heading deeper into the base as Adam had suggested. Fortunately, it was only another five minutes before they finally caught sight of a doorway that looked very much like the kind of doorway that would likely lead to the generator.
Not only was the door made of what appeared to be an incredibly thick metal, but there were about 20 grunts standing outside, as if acting as direct guards for the room that the door led into. But as formidable as all of this made the act of approaching the door seem at first glance, there was at least one detail that made it all seem hilariously ineffective.
"Seriously?" Megan whispered from her current position alongside Adam as they peeked out from the side of a wall close to the short corridor leading up to the doorway. "It only requires a simple keycard to unlock?"
"That's certainly how it's looking, Megan."
"With how important that generator is for the base's security, you'd think that Team Rocket would go to the trouble of going the extra mile for keeping it defended. You know, like having the lock require a retinal scan or something?"
"On the bright side, it should be all the easier for us to get that door open once we've gotten the guards out of the way."
"True. I'll bet that one of those grunts has the key. But we're gonna have to knock them all out and search them to find out which one of them has it."
Adam thought to himself for a moment, then looked to Pikachu and Espeon.
"It shouldn't be a problem. Espeon can probably just knock them all out with Psychic while Pikachu is busy electrocuting them."
"Sounds like a plan, Adam. Let's do this."
But before their Pokemon could move, the ground suddenly started shaking!
"Whoa!" Adam yelled as he was briefly knocked off-balance.
"Gah!" Megan shrieked as she briefly fell flat on her back.
The stunned grunts and yelps of the 20 Team Rocket grunts guarding the generator room's door were also heard as they were evidently knocked off-balance by the sudden earthshaking as well.
"Dad!" Adam yelled into his transmitter, already having a feeling that his dad was already aware of what was happening. "Is that shaking what I think it is?!"
"It is, Adam." Ash said from the other end of the line. "Kyogre and Groudon are being summoned! You need to get that generator offline NOW! Before Kyogre and Groudon breach the ocean's surface!"
"Hey!" one of the grunts yelled from back at the door to the generator. "I hear intruders! Just up ahead of us!"
Adam and Megan exchanged worried glances. They were in big trouble now!
... ...
Antonio and the rest of the assault team were still waiting patiently on their boats and helicopters, a safe distance outside the confines of the mind control barrier when they felt the water start to shake and saw the ocean start to become slightly more tumultuous as a result!
"Oh...this can't be good." Jason muttered as he watched the boats down below start to get affected by the newly-roughened waves.
"Agreed." Antonio stated, already drawing out his binoculars and putting them to his eyes as he looked ahead closer towards the island.
As he looked at the waters just a couple of miles ahead of where he and the rest of the assault team were positioned, his eyes widened at the sight of two giant shapes, one of them red and the other blue, slowly rising towards the ocean's surface from deep within the depths! In a flash, he lowered his binoculars and tapped onto his radio transmitter.
"EVERYONE! BE READY FOR ANYTHING! KYOGRE AND GROUDON HAVE BEEN SUMMONED! THEY'RE ON THEIR WAY UP FROM THE DEPTHS AT THIS VERY MOMENT!"
Hearing this, everyone in the helicopter alongside Antonio went white, all too aware of how they were sitting Psyducks and would almost certainly be killed if they were still in their current position in the event that Groudon and Kyogre finished rising into view and unleashed their full power on the area around them.
Amber looked nervously at her dad and asked, "What do we do?"
"I'm afraid there's nothing that we can do right now, other than keep hoping that Master Ketchum, his son, and your friend Megan successfully get that mind control wave barrier shut down. Because unless they do, there's truly nothing else that we can do." he solemnly told his daughter.
Amber, Jason, and Michelle all looked nervously at each other, and then back towards the island and where Groudon and Kyogre were rising up from the ocean. At this point, Antonio was right. There was nothing that they could do, other than hope for the best.
Adam, Megan, please be safe in there. And please hurry. We're all counting on you. Amber thought.
You'd better not fail me, Adam. And Megan, if you think that me not knowing you as long as Adam will excuse you from being given what-for alongside him in the afterlife in the event that you fail and we all die, you're gonna be sorely mistaken! Megan silently vowed.
Just try to hurry up in there, Adam. I can't lose someone who's like a brother to me. Jason thought.
... ...
Fortunately, at that very moment, hope still remained for Adam and Megan. Mere seconds after the grunts guarding the doorway had caught on to the intruders' presence and subsequently gone rushing over to take them out, Adam and Megan had given the order for Pikachu and Espeon to use their respective Thunderbolt and Psychic attacks in tandem to get the guards knocked out.
"Good work, Pikachu." Adam said. "I knew that you could do it."
"You too, Espeon. You did great." Megan added.
"Let's find the keycard and get the generator taken care of. If that mind control wave barrier is still active by the time Groudon and Kyogre fully rise above the surface of the ocean, our friends and the rest of the assault team outside will be sitting Psyducks for whatever chaos ensues." she said.
"Not to mention that I've got a bad feeling that it won't be long before Pikachu and Espeon's immunity from that headgear wears off." Adam admitted.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get a move on!"
They quickly searched the grunts for the keycard that they needed, with Pikachu and Espeon helping as best as they could. Fortunately, it wasn't long before Megan found it - plus a handy map of the base - in the pocket of the grunt closest to the door.
Megan rushed over to the door with the keycard in her hand. With a beep, the door was unlocked and slid open automatically. Megan and Adam immediately caught sight of the generator. It was a Blastoise-sized black satellite machine sitting in the very center of the otherwise empty room.
Whistling silently, Megan placed her finger on her chin and wondered, "Hmm, how do we shut this down?"
"No time to wait, Megan! Pikachu, blast it with everything you've got!" Adam shouted.
"Pika...CHUUU!" he yelled as he unleashed the strongest Thunderbolt that he could muster.
The generator completely overloaded and started violently shaking and sparking. Adam and Megan went white, the former clearly having not expected Pikachu's Thunderbolt to cause the generator to react in this fashion that quickly!
"GET BACK! NOW!" Adam yelled.
Adam, Megan, Pikachu, and Espeon hurried out of the room and back into the corridor. They had only just enough time to slap their hands over their ears while still running before the generator exploded with a loud bang, with a massive cloud of smoke erupting out of the room and into the corridor, sending both young trainers and their Pokemon flying forwards with a shriek!
... ...
Jacob couldn't have felt happier as he stared out the window of his office and toward the front of the island, a maniacal grin on his face as he glowed with the combined power of the Blue and Red Orbs that flowed through his veins. And naturally, the fact that he could now fully see Groudon and Kyogre above the surface of the ocean only further heightened his feeling of glee at how perfectly his plans appeared set to unfold. And while he admittedly felt a twinge of resistance in both Legendary Pokemon as a result of their longstanding bitter enmity against each other, the combined power he now had over them allowed him to swiftly quash this brief twinge of rebellion.
"You have answered my call." he said, his hands spread upwards as if in a "behold" gesture. "And for that, as your master, I am thankful."
He then pointed towards the general direction of what lay behind the two mighty Legendary Pokemon of Hoenn.
"GO NOW, MY FAITHFUL SERVANTS! FIND THE NEAREST LAND AND DESTR-"
A sudden blaring alarm interrupted him and he gritted his teeth in surprise and annoyance as he turned his head towards the alarm device in his office.
"What's going on?!" Jacob yelled in his communicator.
"Boss! An explosion just went off in the generator room! The mind control barrier is down!"
Jacob's eyes started almost literally glowing in sheer rage as he swiftly connected the dots, realizing, "Then there are obviously intruders!"
"My thoughts exactly!" said the grunt who'd just broken the news to Jacob. "What do we do now?!"
"What do you think, you fool?!" He then switched the call range so that every grunt on the island, plus all three of his loyal hunters, could hear him through the communication network. "ELIMINATE THE INTRUDERS AND GET THE GENERATOR BACK ONLINE! THAT IS A DIRECT ORDER!"
In a flash, all of the grunts available for action hurriedly rushed off to obey his orders. And while he didn't hear any response from Michael or Paul, he had a strong feeling that they were also getting to work on dealing with the current issue. He then reduced the scope of the call so that he was talking exclusively to Mya.
"Mya," he said firmly, "Land your ship and get back in here to help."
"But what about the attack by Groudon and Kyogre?" she asked. "We've already shown their arrival to the world."
"The world's just going to have to be kept in suspense for now. Right now, I need all hands on deck to ensure that the plan goes the way it's supposed to."
... ...
Adam and Megan slowly started getting back up from the floor, groaning in discomfort from the hard landing they'd suffered as a result of getting sent flying by the shockwave of the generator's explosion. Pikachu lightly tapped his head against Adam's shoulder to try to help him up.
"Don't worry, Pikachu." Adam said as he slowly got up, first to his knees and then to his feet. "I'm okay."
"Me, too." Megan added. She got to her feet, wincing briefly as she placed a hand on her side. She had a feeling that she'd probably pulled a muscle or two. "I will admit that we probably could have been a lot more subtle there, however. I mean, the whole base probably knows about us now."
"So we kicked the Beedrill's nest. But look on the bright side: We've completed the first task. And it's not like we had time for a different approach, after all. And hey, at least now we no longer have to sneak around and can freely battle through the rest of the grunts who come our way, especially now that we're no longer limited to just Pikachu and Espeon." Adam explained.
Megan shrugged and admitted, "I suppose that's true. A little painful, but worth it."
Adam nodded and hurriedly tapped into his transceiver, saying, "Good news, everyone! The barrier's down!"
"And not a moment too soon." Ash's voice said from the other end of the line. "You hear that, Antonio? Begin the attack!"
"And get ripped apart by Groudon and Kyogre?" Antonio exclaimed. "I don't think so!"
"Leave them to me. Now's the time for me to put my backup plan in motion!"
"I'll let you worry about that, Dad." Adam said. "Megan and I will go and look for Brittany now, and get her to safety. Good luck out there, everyone!"
Adam then ended the call and turned to Megan.
"That map that you found? Does it have Brittany's location shown on it?" he asked.
"It would certainly be convenient if it did." she admitted as she unfolded the map and started looking it over. "And what do you know? It IS shown here, clear as day."
"Then let's not waste time! Let's get moving!"
... ...
Ash ran as fast as he could through the second floor corridors of the base, trying to reach the top floor where he was sure Jacob would be. A respectable number of grunts had naturally been in the area and tried to stop him, but he'd been able to easily take them all out with Aura Spheres before any of them could even draw out a Pokeball. But as he continued racing through the hallways, there was one other thing that he was looking for.
"There's gotta be a window here somewhere." he muttered under his breath.
As it so happened, his backup plan required him to be outdoors, and a window was quite frankly the quickest means that he could think of to get outside the building. And with Groudon and Kyogre already summoned and at risk of preventing the rest of the assault team from reaching the island, then it was of especially high importance that he get his backup plan set in motion as quickly as possible.
Ironically, he was so focused in his frantic search that he very briefly ran right past a window leading directly outside. Fortunately, the sight of said window fully registered in time for him to not be too far away, and he hurriedly turned around and rushed back over to it. He subsequently blasted the window to smithereens with an Aura Sphere.
"STOP RIGHT THERE!"
Ash turned his head in time to see more grunts - two male and one female - standing about a yard behind him.
"I don't have time for this." he growled, sending an Aura Sphere flying at the three grunts.
They didn't even have time to react before the Aura Sphere struck the female grunt. The resulting explosion sent all three of the grunts flying backwards, shrieking in surprised unison before landing all the way back at the furthest end of the corridor.
Ash, meanwhile, completely ignored the trio of grunts he'd just sent flying, and jumped out the gaping hole where the window had been, drawing out a Pokeball in the process.
"Charizard, I need you right now!" Ash yelled.
In a flash, the mighty Fire and Flying Pokemon was released from his Pokeball just in time for Ash to land on his back. Charizard growled in acknowledgement, already having a feeling what his master needed.
"No time to explain, Charizard." Ash stated, getting into a comfortable riding position at the base of Charizard's neck. "Just get me above the base as quick as you can!"
Charizard growled in affirmation as he began flying up towards the top of the base. Thankfully, Charizard was a fast flyer for his size and it wasn't long before he was hovering high above the base with his master still aboard.
Ash then took off the glove he'd been wearing on his hand that bore the Mark of Arceus. He then raised the hand in question up towards the sky, channeling his Aura into it and causing it to glow in the process as he concentrated with all his might.
"I choose you, Rayquaza!" Ash called out into the sky.
The Mark of Arceus turned green and a mighty roar suddenly split the air. Ash looked in the direction that the roar had come from, and descending from the clouds was none other than the mighty green dragon of the skies. It wasn't long before Rayquaza's full body emerged from the clouds and came to a stop, hovering directly above the base, roaring right at Ash with a determined look, waiting for orders from the person who summoned it.
"Master Ketchum, should I be worried about the sudden appearance of Rayquaza?" Antonio's voice suddenly came through to Ash.
Ash quickly tapped into his transceiver, saying, "Easy, Antonio. I'm the one who called it here. Rayquaza's the backup plan that I mentioned. Rayquaza's the only Legendary Pokemon in Hoenn known to be on the same general level of power as Groudon and Kyogre, which means that it's powerful enough to put up a proper fight against them. So as long as it's able to keep Groudon and Kyogre busy, you and the others should be able to get past them without too much trouble, so long as you're careful. As for me, I should likewise have just enough time to find Jacob and get Groudon and Kyogre free from his control. Still, Team Rocket's forces will still have their own Pokemon on hand to help them defend the base when you get to the shore, so be ready for anything! Also, once Rayquaza's started battling Groudon and Kyogre, we'll all need to move quickly. It may be able to put up a good fight against them, and could very well be capable of defeating either one of them in a fair fight, but the fact that it will be fighting both of them at once means that there's no guarantee that it will be able to keep them occupied forever, let alone defeat both of them without help."
"Understood." said Antonio. "Just do what you can to find Jacob and get Groudon and Kyogre free from his control, and we'll do what we can."
"Copy that." Ash said before ending the call. He then nodded his head at Rayquaza. "You know what to do."
Rayquaza snarled, turning its head in the direction of Groudon and Kyogre, who were both currently floating in the waters between the island and the assembled assault team members. Then it roared, opened its mighty jaws, and fired a Hyper Beam right at Groudon and Kyogre's heads. In a flash, the two Pokemon bellowed in surprise and pain as Rayquaza's Hyper Beam struck them both. The three Legendary Pokemon then all roared in fury, ready to battle it out!
"That's our cue to get out of here!" Ash exclaimed.
The sound of shrieking and flapping wings caused Ash, Pikachu, and Charizard to turn their heads away from Rayquaza just in time to see a sizable flock of Team Rocket's Crobats flying right towards them. Charizard flew his trainer and Pikachu back to the busted window and let them jump back into the base.
Ash then returned Charizard and said, "Alright, Pikachu. We'd better get a move on. Jacob can't hide forever!"
... ...
Back in Jacob's office, the man himself was fuming with rage at the sight of this latest complication. Immediately after he'd finished his call to his hunters and grunts, he'd been taking deep breaths to calm himself down, knowing that it would likely be counterproductive to be trying to order Groudon and Kyogre around when in a state of rage, especially in light of how rage or similar strong emotions could have a negative effect on the concentration needed to keep the two immensely powerful Legendary Pokemon under his control, even with the orbs absorbed into his body.
Unfortunately, just one minute after he'd finally gotten himself calmed down and had been seconds away from giving Groudon and Kyogre the order to destroy any and all unwelcome vessels within their vicinity, none other than Rayquaza had unexpectedly announced its presence, which made it all too obvious that one particular individual was likely among the intruders at the island: Master Ketchum himself.
Snarling in rage, Jacob tapped into the base's intercom system, saying, "Attention! At this time, I want all personnel placing full focus on defending the base and eliminating intruders! And yes, that includes all who were in the midst of attempting to get the mind control generator back online. Don't take any prisoners! I want any and all who are not supposed to be here killed on sight!"
He ended the call and looked towards Groudon and Kyogre, who were both vocalizing in rage in the direction of Rayquaza. Tapping back into the power of the orbs, he voiced his first full proper command to them.
"DON'T JUST STAND THERE! FIGHT BACK! USE ANY AND ALL MOVES AT YOUR DISPOSAL!" he ordered.
This proved to be enough to get Groudon and Kyogre into action. In a flash, they both unleashed their opening attacks in a delayed response to Rayquaza's Hyper Beam, with Groudon spouting out an Eruption from its jaws while Kyogre shot off a Water Spout from its blowhole! And just like that, all three of Hoenn's biggest and most powerful Legendary Pokemon found themselves engaging in what would no doubt be a truly spectacular battle!
... ...
As the three massive Hoenn Legendary Pokemon were beginning their battle, Antonio and the rest of the assault team were already hard at work in travelling around the battle site and towards the island's southern beach.
"Just keep moving and stay as far away from the Legendary Pokemon as you can." Antonio stated into his transceiver.
Fortunately, despite a few close calls involving some of the attacks, the assault team successfully got past the three battling Legendary Pokemon and got within landing distance from the southern beach of the island.
But then, Amber happened to look out the door closest to her position and her eyes widened in horror. The sound of mass shrieking and buzzing from outside the helicopter caused her and everyone else aboard to look in shock. A massive flock of Crobats and Yanmegas were flying straight for them!
"Incoming attack!" Antonio yelled into his transceiver for everyone on the assault team to hear. "Ready yourselves!"
All of the police agents started sending out Pidgeots, Swellows, Pelippers, Fearows, and various other Flying Pokemon to keep the Crobats and Yanmegas busy so that the helicopters could have more time to safely land, with Antonio even sending his Aerodactyl into the fray.
It only took seconds for complete chaos to fill the sky as the Flying Pokemon involved unleashed a massive torrent of Gusts, Aerial Aces, Hydro Pumps, Sonic Booms, Supersonics, Steel Wings, Wing Attacks, and more! But some of the Crobats and Yanmegas managed to get lucky and successfully strike critical blows against some of the helicopters, causing them to crash and forcing the agents onboard to jump out and make use of their parachutes.
But despite the best efforts of Team Rocket's Pokemon, the entire assault team managed to successfully reach the island's southern beach and disembark or land with their parachutes from there. As the grunts gathered on the beach saw this, they all hurriedly started calling their Crobats and Yanmegas to come back down, with the assault team calling their own flying Pokemon to come down to them as well.
"We've done well so far, everyone." Antonio stated. "But now the real fight begins!"
"You heard my dad, everyone!" Amber yelled. "Let's show these criminals some manners!"
And with a loud inarticulate roar of challenge from both sides, the Team Rocket grunts and assault team members all rushed towards each other, with the various Flying Pokemon still flying at each other to resume their earlier clashing, even as their trainers below drew out Pokeballs to summon additional Pokemon to further aid in the battle. One way or another, there was no backing down now!
The grunts released their chosen Pokemon first. Naturally, the majority of the grunts' chosen Pokemon turned out to be Poison or Bug types, with a couple of Dark types also there. It wasn't long before the assault team started letting their own Pokemon join into the mix, with some of them choosing to let their already summoned Flying types stay in action, while others unleashed new Pokemon entirely.
"Aerodactyl!" Antonio yelled loud enough for the prehistoric Pokemon to hear. "Ready yourself!"
"Don't fail me now, Sandslash!" Annie yelled as she summoned Sandslash.
"Houndoom, I need you now!" Oakley yelled as she summoned Houndoom.
"Aggron, you're up!" Trevor yelled as he unleashed his fully evolved version of the Aron he'd caught, back on Dewford Island.
"Poliwrath, go!" Michelle screamed as she unleashed her Poliwrath.
"I choose you, Rapidash!" Amber shouted as she summoned her faithful Pokemon.
And with these Pokemon, plus various others called into action by the multiple agents, the assault team confidently began to engage in fierce combat against the Team Rocket grunts on the beaches!
"Aerodactyl, start things off with Ancient Power!" Antonio ordered. Aerodactyl roared, crossing its wings together in front of its face as multiple rocks encased in purple energy rose up from the sandy beach. Then Aerodactyl swung its wings outward in an x-shaped slash, sending the rocks flying right at Team Rocket's Bug Pokemon. The air was soon filled with shrieks and buzzes of pain and shock as the Bug Pokemon fell victim to the attack.
"Parasect, Fury Cutter!" a grunt yelled.
"Don't just stand there, Swalot!" yelled another grunt. "Use Sludge Bomb!"
Parasect rushed over towards the assault team in preparation for its Fury Cutter while Swalot took a deep breath in preparation for spitting out its Sludge Bomb. But Amber and Michelle were quick to act.
"Rapidash!" Amber screamed. "Use Flamethrower!"
"Poliwrath!" Michelle yelled. "Hydro Pump!"
Poliwrath's blast of water sent Swalot flying backwards while it was still in the midst of preparing its Sludge Bomb. Rapidash spewed out a jet of flames in time to blast Parasect and send it skittering away in terror as it started suffering from a burn effect.
One of the grunts, apparently a "leader" among the group, growled irritably before ramming his right fist against his left palm, shouting, "Don't just let them beat us up like that! Attack! Attack! ATTACK! KILL THEM ALL!"
And just like that, all of the grunts, agents, and trainers started rapidly calling out commands for their Pokemon with the entire beach descending into deadly chaos! It was an all-out, full scale Pokemon war!
As all of the agents and grunts contributed more and more to the chaos with the rapid orders of attacks from their Pokemon, Antonio and several other key members of the assault team were slowly working to make their way across the beach and towards the base.
"Rapidash!" Amber yelled. "Rush in with Quick Attack! Then trap them with Fire Spin!"
"Poliwrath!" Michelle shouted. "Splash them with Hydro Pump! Then beat them down with Dynamic Punch!"
"Typhlosion!" Jason screamed. "Daze them with Swift! Then roast them with Flamethrower!"
"Aggron!" Trevor roared. "Beat them down with Rock Slide! Then finish them off with Metal Claw!"
The air was promptly filled with the screams of various Team Rocket Pokemon as Rapidash, Poliwrath, Typhlosion, and Aggron did as ordered. But even with how close Antonio, Annie, Oakley, and the kids were to getting past the blockade, Team Rocket wasn't about to let up.
"Seviper!" One of the grunts yelled. "Use Wrap!"
"Cacnea!" Shouted another grunt. "Use Pin Missile!"
"Aggron, use Iron Tail! Now!" Trevor screamed.
"Typhlosion, blast through that with Flame Wheel!" Jason screamed.
And just like that, Seviper and Cacnea were sent packing by Aggron's Iron Tail and Typhlosion's Flame Wheel!
Jason chuckled as he caught sight of the outraged look that was now on the face of the apparent field commander of the grunts.
"Hah! Take that, Team Rocket!" Jason shouted.
"You'll regret this, you little brat!" shouted one of the grunts.
"Liepard, use Dark Pulse!"
"Mightyena, teach 'em some manners with Sucker Punch!"
"Rapidash, deflect it with Flamethrower!" Amber yelled.
"Poliwrath, hit Mightyena with Brick Break!" Michelle yelled.
Poliwrath and Rapidash were quick to act, with Poliwrath striking with Brick Break just in time to hit Mightyena on the head and knock it out. Rapidash's Flamethrower slammed against Liepard's Dark Pulse and ultimately proved stronger and plowed through the shadowy blast, crashing into Liepard and knocking it out as well.
"Not so much fun when you're picking on someone who can actually fight back, huh?!" Amber yelled.
The grunt field commander snarled, eyes narrowing into a glare at Amber as he said, "You could have had true glory, working as a leader to us like your grandfather used to. But you had to throw your lot in with these scum who can't see the bigger picture, and insist on thwarting our efforts at achieving the greater good for all of humanity! Well, guess what? You're gonna regret placing yourself on the wrong side of history!
"Sneasel, use Fury Swipes! Kill that girl!" With a loud squeal of bloodthirsty delight, a Sneasel suddenly jumped over the field commander grunt and went flying through the air towards Amber, a wild look of glee on its face as it drew its claws back in preparation to slice at her!
Amber had just enough time to widen her eyes before the Sneasel came inches away from slicing right at her neck...only for a Houndoom to suddenly land right between her and the Sneasel and send the latter Pokemon flying backwards with a Snarl! Amber, her friends, and the grunts turned their heads to see none other than a glaring Oakley standing nearby.
"Nice try, you scum. But I'm not letting you harm her, as long as I'm breathing." Oakley said in a threatening tone.
Amber was confused. Why was Oakley, of all people, acting so protective of her? Amber could see Oakley acting like that to protect her dad, since she was honor-bound to do so, but why her? Just to earn some good relationship points from him by saving his daughter?
"We'll see about that!" the grunt field commander yelled. And at a snap of his fingers, a large swarm of Skorupi came rushing out of hiding and straight towards the small group.
"We'll make short work of them." said Oakley. "Won't we, Sis?"
"You betcha." said Annie. "Sandslash, use Rollout!"
"Houndoom!" Oakley shouted. "Use Incinerate!"
Houndoom began spitting out several orbs of fire with bright centers and black highlights while Sandslash curled up into a ball and went rolling at high speed towards the Skorupi. The Skorupi all screeched in shock and pain as they were either crashed into and sent flying by Sandslash, or blasted and set on fire by Houndoom. And before long, the entire swarm had been taken out of the picture.
The sight of this caused the grunt field commander to grit his teeth and clench his fists in outrage, clearly at his wits' end. He then pointed at Antonio.
"Everyone!" he roared. "Send the Ariadoses and Crobats at the leader! Take him out, and the rest of this futile invasion will crumble!"
In a flash, the order was obeyed as the entire remainder of the Crobat swarm started to dive down towards Antonio with a shriek while a large swarm of Ariadoses burst into view and started charging in Antonio's direction as well.
"Do you really think that I'll be that easy to take out? Aerodactyl, use Ancient Power on the Ariados swarm!" he ordered. Aerodactyl did as asked, sending all the Ariadoses flying as the glowing boulders came rocketing down upon them.
"And don't think that I've forgotten about those Crobats." Antonio then stated as he drew out a second Pokeball. "Alakazam, your assistance is required!" In a flash, a very imposing-looking Alakazam was unleashed onto the battlefield.
"Alakazam, use Psychic on those Crobats! Give it all you've got!" Alakazam grunted as it turned around and lifted its head to face the incoming Crobat swarm, then snarled as it lifted both of its now-glowing spoons skyward, its eyes also glowing solid white. The Crobats all shrieked in surprise, rage, and terror as they found themselves encased in psychic light and forcibly paralyzed in mid-air. Alakazam then swung its spoons downward, causing all of the Crobats to be slammed down upon the beach with enough force to cause geysers of sand to erupt from their impact.
Once the sand cleared up, Antonio couldn't help but smirk in amusement at the sight of the slack-jawed looks of disbelief on the faces of the Team Rocket grunts.
"Alakazam, clear these ladies and gentlemen out of our way with another Psychic attack." he calmly asked. In a flash, Alakazam did as asked, encasing all of the grunts in psychic energy and lifting them off the ground before tossing them all towards the chaos still going on behind Antonio and the rest of the small group he was with. The grunts all shrieked in surprise as they went flying over towards the battle still going on with all of the International Police agents.
"Don't start relaxing now! This isn't over yet!" Antonio stated seriously.
"You heard him, everyone!" Oakley screamed, gesturing towards the newly-cleared path from the beach to the base. "Let's move!"
Author's Note: The battle for the fate of Hoenn has begun, and each of our heroes has an important part to play to ensure victory!
Adam and Megan have completed the first and most important objective of destroying the mind control generator protecting the island. Now they must find and rescue Brittany, who is still being held captive inside.
Jacob has absorbed the powers of the red and blue orbs and has summoned Groudon and Kyogre, but Ash has used his powers as the Chosen One to summon Rayquaza to keep them at bay, allowing the main attack force to reach the island. Still, Rayquaza can't hold off both Pokemon forever, so Ash has to find Jacob as fast as he can and break the control that he has over the two Legendary Pokemon!
Meanwhile, the rest of our heroes have worked together to fight through a war zone to reach the base's entrance!
Things are going according to plan so far, but Team Rocket's not beaten yet! Find out the epic conclusion to this climax in the next chapter of Pokemon NG!