Chapter 7: Into the Fire

June, last year

I sat tapping my feet on the floor as the phone rang once, twice, three times. It would just go to voicemail, like always. I wasn't sure why I still bothered.

But then, miraculously, a face appeared on the screen.

"Hello?"

I brightened instantly. "Ajia! It's been forever!"

She gave a sheepish grin. "Ahh, sorry, I know I've been really bad about answering my phone lately."

"Guessing you've been… busy with stuff?" Busy, always busy.

"You know it," Ajia replied with a wink. "What about you? You're on summer break, right? Have you started your journey?"

"Uh…" I didn't want to think about failing the test. Not right now. "It might not be for a little while."

Ajia tilted her head. "Huh… well, let me know when you do, alright?"

I nodded distantly. If I ever did get to leave before she came home.

"Are you coming back to school in the fall?" I asked, a bit too hopeful. I was still torn between wanting her to return home and wanting her to keep journeying long enough for me to join her.

Ajia shrugged. "Well, I'm planning on participating in the Johto League in August. After that, who knows?"

It was pretty rare to keep journeying during high school. I had thought she'd be home after fighting in the Indigo League last year, but…

"Dad's cool with me staying out longer," she added. "And I've been doing fine with my online homework. So, y'know, I might keep going another year."

Next year. It felt so far away.

Anything I could talk about from my life felt boring compared to what being on a journey would be like. Who cared if Rudy and I saw a wild Rapidash on Route 26 the other day? Real trainers could see them all the time.

"Have you seen Starr lately?" I found myself asking.

Ajia's face fell. "No, not for a long time."

So much for that. I'd had even worse luck getting ahold of Starr than I had with Ajia.

I was still stuck on what else I could say when a large pair of ears poked into the corner of the screen. And then another.

Ajia glanced down at them. "Yes, hello, what do you two want?" she asked in an amused tone. Two curious faces suddenly popped into full view. One violet-furred, one black.

I gaped at the screen. "How on earth did you meet an Espeon and an Umbreon?"

Ajia chuckled a bit at my shocked look. "I got them from a rescue organization. And, you know, I'd been kinda thinking I wanted to train some more team members ever since Furret and Clefable went back home. I need a full team for the Johto League, anyway."

Espeon tilted his head and said something to Ajia in Pokéspeech. She laughed and shushed him.

A slight grin found its way onto my face. "What did Espeon say?" I'd caught the words 'interesting' and 'story' but that was about it.

"Ah, he was just making a joke about how we met," Ajia said casually. "Which reminds me! I've got to tell you about what happened in Goldenrod last week. So these two were walking with me and we were looking for some place to eat, and then—"

She rambled on for a while, telling various stories from her journey. It was easy to listen to her and imagine that one day I'd get to have experiences like that.

We didn't usually get to talk this long. It felt a little bit like old times. I'd enjoy it while I could.

Today

A faint beeping pricked at my ears. I blinked in the darkness before groaning and rolling over, trying to block out the sound. It wouldn't go away… why not? And then somewhere in the cloud of sleep, my brain registered that it was, in fact, my alarm. I reached over to hit the watch button that turned it off, and then sat up, trying my hardest to clear the haze of tiredness and stress from my head. But it didn't want to leave. And part of me kept screaming that I was insane. I was insane, I was trying to oppose Team Rocket, and I was going to fail miserably.

But I'd already made my decision.

By now I could see a roughly Pikachu-shaped figure in the darkness walking across the covers toward me. I blinked a few times, trying to get a better look at him.

"*Time to go,*" he said.

I put a finger to my mouth. "Quiet. We don't want to wake the others," I whispered.

He tilted his head. "*Why not?*"

I didn't answer. I turned to look at the floor where Firestorm was curled up on the tarp, which was the only thing I hadn't sold out of the camping supplies. Swift was perched on the back of a chair with his head resting under his wing.

Chibi gave me a sideways glance. "*What good is a trainer without Pokémon?*"

"I'll have you with me, won't I?"

I watched him for a response, but he didn't give one, so I slipped on my shoes and grabbed my room key before carefully stepping over to the door. I opened it and peeked around the corner, slowly at first, then gradually leaning my whole head out. The lights in the cabin hallway were dimmed and there was no one to be seen. Then again… three in the morning, most everyone was probably either asleep or in one of the all-night lounges or bars. (And with trainer's party attendees making up the majority of the passengers, that would leave most too young for the latter.)

I took my first tentative step outside, content with the lack of Rockets within sight, and waited until Chibi had stepped out before I shut the door behind us. We walked down the hallway in silence—I had the vague urge to say something but couldn't figure out what.

"*You didn't tell them what we were doing,*" Chibi said slowly. His tone was rather deadpan, so I couldn't tell why he said it.

I didn't respond. I just stared at the floor as we walked, hoping the elaborately patterned carpet was a believable enough distraction for me to ignore his statement. I could tell he was still eyeing me, though. It was weird—even without any force from the hybrid, there was that one look that unfailingly could get me to give in and answer him.

"It's just…"—the more I thought about it, the more stupid I felt—"this is something I have to do. I don't want to drag them into it pointlessly."

"*But if you fail, they'll die anyway, so it doesn't make any difference.*"

I froze, feeling an uncomfortable tightness in my chest. "…Yeah. I guess you're right." He sure had a knack for jumping right to the unpleasant truth of any situation. After that, Chibi looked away, either satisfied at getting to me or content to let the topic die. Not long afterward, we arrived at the staircases that led to the other decks, which had the effect of yanking my attention back to why we were here. I had to focus—we were going to stop the Rockets. It was just a matter of how.

"So… we know they're going to set up explosives. What else do we know?"

The Pikachu paused, looking contemplative. "*Not much. Though with remote bombs, they could leave the ship and blow it before anyone had a clue what was going on.*"

At least he seemed to know a thing or two about Team Rocket's standard operations, being created by them and all.

"*… It's just a matter of where they'd be.*"

"Well, we're on one of the lower decks right now. The engine room isn't too far away. We could start there. Blowing up the engine room would be the fastest way to sink a ship, right?"

"*Let's go, then.*"

We continued down several flights of stairs until we reached the right deck, then followed the hallway to the ship's aft. I'd spent most of last night studying the S.S. Anne info booklet repeatedly, so at this point I knew the ship's layout by heart. The lights were off in this area—I wasn't sure if that was because the engine room was unmanned, or because the Rockets had done it. I could feel myself already starting to tense up. I knew I couldn't afford to get nervous, especially before anything had even happened, but couldn't help it.

We were nearing the end of the hallway. Various metal hatches lined the walls, but our goal was at the end. I was only vaguely aware that I'd started glancing over my shoulder every ten seconds. Of course there was nothing there—why did I keep looking?

Had to keep my focus—that was the only way I was going to get through this. Focus…

"*Don't lose your nerve now,*" Chibi said, jolting me out of my thoughts.

"I'm trying not to," I replied, a slight edge to my voice. Still, he'd said it with concern, not scolding. Then I had to pause as it hit me—I hadn't been anticipating his words, yet I still had understood them. I really was getting better at Pokéspeech, wasn't I?

A dull roar of machinery was starting to fill my ears, but I was honestly surprised we had gotten this close before being able to hear the engines. A few more steps and we reached the end of the hallway. A large, rounded metal door lay in front of us. Time seemed to slow as I reached out to turn the wheel. It didn't move. No, don't tell me… we'd be screwed if it was locked. I braced myself and turned it more aggressively, willing it to open. Come on, it had to.

Finally, after a few metallic creaks, the door swung open, and I couldn't help letting out my breath. We stepped inside, and I closed it behind us. From the faint illumination cast by a small, blinking light in the corner, I could tell that we were in some kind of changing room filled with goggles, gloves, and other safety gear. The door on the opposite end of the room was cracked open. I blinked at it in the darkness, seeing a dull glow coming from the other side.

"*Careful,*" Chibi said sharply.

I nodded, walking forward with slow, controlled steps. I pushed the door open as gradually as possible and extended a leg through the doorway.

The engine room was huge. I mean, I was expecting big, but this was just crazy. A system of metal platforms spanned the area, with massive generators on level with me, and from what I could tell, countless tanks and pumps covering the platform below us. I couldn't make out the ceiling—the room just seemed to keep going. The noise from the engines overwhelmed any other possible sound, and the air was hot and sticky and uncomfortably thick.

"Well, nothing we can do but start search—oof!" My foot struck something and then I was falling. I hit the platform hard, sending a jolt of pain through my knees where they'd collided with the metal. Fueled by a burst of panic, I rolled over in a hurry and kicked myself away from whatever I had tripped over. Except… it was soft. I froze, my blood running cold. I'd tripped over the motionless body of a man in engineer's clothing. And… something told me he wasn't a disguised Rocket.

I pushed myself away from him, now breathing hard, which wasn't very easy in such thick air. Chibi bounded over to me, looking unfazed.

"*This proves they've been here,*" the Pikachu spoke into my ear. I nodded weakly, my mouth still hanging open. I wanted to say something to the degree of, "Is he alive…?" but couldn't manage the words.

"*Come on. Don't go losing yourself already.*" He grabbed my hand and pulled it, willing me to stand. I shook my head roughly, trying to clear my mind. The hybrid's words kind of stung, and I didn't want him to think of me as weak. I couldn't let him.

I stood to my feet in one swift motion before continuing down the platform, ahead of Chibi. I couldn't hear anything over the roar of the engines, so I just turned in every direction, looking for anything out of place. Where were they? Had they already left this area? I rounded the corner at the far end of the room and scanned the lower level… and then got my answer.

From this angle, I could finally see where the dim, ambient glow in the room was coming from. Its source was a small light piercing the darkness on the far end of the bottommost platform. Within it, I could make out several human figures dressed in black, and a four-legged Pokémon standing with them, generating the light. I motioned to Chibi before carefully maneuvering down the stairs as low and slow as possible. It may have been fairly dim in there, but any sudden movement could be fatal.

I reached the platform and crept closer alongside one of the many tanks inhabiting the space. My heart was pounding now, almost painfully. I ignored it and kept going. Step by step I closed the gap between us, keeping out of view until I was in position to glance around the corner of the tanks.

I could finally make out the Pokémon with them—it was a Manectric. The blue and yellow dog stood firmly alongside a female Rocket, spiky fur standing on end. Every so often, a string of electricity coursed through its tall mane.

The Rockets were huddled closely in a circle, probably discussing something, though it wasn't like I could hear a word they were saying. I caught sight of Chibi approaching from behind, and turned towards him.

"Can you hear what they're saying?" I asked.

He scoffed. "*Just because I have better hearing than humans doesn't change how loud it is in here.*"

"Well, then what do we do?" I hissed, my teeth clenched.

"*Just look there,*" he said, pointing to one of the Rockets. I suddenly noticed that the man was holding some sort of small, black control device. "*I bet that's the detonator. I can't knock them out without the risk of shorting that thing and blowing this place up. So as soon as I get it from him, I want you to take it and run off. See if you can find the explosives.*"

I stared. "What?"

Without another word, the Pikachu raced off into the shadows and out of sight.

"But… what are you doing…" I whispered to no one, still staring at where he had disappeared.

Time dragged on, and all I could do was wait. While not knowing exactly what I was waiting for. It looked like the Rockets were preparing to move out—where was Chibi?

And then I spotted him. He was… clinging to a metal overhang? How…? A crackle of electricity swept across the Pikachu's paws as he slowly crawled forward into position above the group of Rockets. Just a few more inches…

And then the Manectric barked out, "*Up there!*"

Half the Rockets snapped their attention upwards. With a look of frustration, Chibi dropped to the floor suddenly, shooting out strings of lightning and forcing the Rockets to jump backwards, colliding with one another. With a wave of sparks, the Pikachu rushed off into the shadows.

"What the hell was that?!" one of them shouted. Most of the Rockets had pulled out guns and were preparing to run after Chibi, but then—

"I didn't say weapons at the ready, now did I?" a male voice called out. It wasn't angry, just decisive—the sort of voice that wasn't to be argued with. The Rockets halted on the spot, turning to face the one who had issued the order.

"Looks like number nine has graced us with its presence after all," he said. "Firearms down. Pokémon at the ready—electric-types for defense and physical attackers for offence. Don't want to blow the place yet, do we?"

But before any of the Rockets got a chance to grab a Pokéball, a yellow blur shot out of nowhere, right into the heart of their lineup. The Manectric snarled and put up a shimmering barrier, but the Pikachu wasn't aiming to shoot any lightning at them. At the last second, he leapt upward, swung his bolt tail, and smacked the control device from the hand holding it. The device hit the ground with a clatter right as several flashes of light burst out of Pokéballs, but Chibi darted forward, grabbed it in his mouth, and tossed it away from the group.

"*Now go!*" he cried out before a newly-materialized Nidoqueen landed a punch on him.

I clenched my teeth and sprung forward, pausing just long enough to grab the controls before darting back the opposite direction. I heard the crashing of lightning against a barrier, which faded amidst the engine noises the further I got from the conflict. As soon I reached the end of the platform, I ducked behind one of the tanks and sank to my knees immediately. My heart was pounding, but I couldn't help feeling exhilarated—we'd gotten the controls from them. We honestly had a shot now.

I took a moment to finally get a good look at how the device functioned. It had a few small buttons on either side of a small screen. I hit the one that looked most likely to bring up a menu.

[Initiate countdown sequence?] the screen asked. Wrong one, wrong one, go back go back—

The opposite button closed the prompt and opened a menu, thank god. On closer inspection, the menu had a long list of unit numbers, each of them labeled 'armed.'

"Hang on…" I muttered, hitting the arrow buttons to scroll throughout the list. "These must be all the bombs they've set." An option at the bottom of the list read 'locator mode.' I selected it. And then I suddenly became aware of a small red light blinking at the corner of my vision. Was that…?

I stood up and approached it, holding out the remote to use the light from its screen like a limited flashlight. And then, sure enough, there it was—a smooth, circular device about the size of a CD was innocently sitting on the side of the tank. And yet it was a bomb poised to blow this whole place. I gingerly reached a hand toward it, feeling the hair on my arms raise the instant my fingertips touched it. Nothing happened.

I let out a breath. Come on, it wasn't like these things would blow that easily, right? Slowly, I curled my fingers around the edges and tugged at it. It detached easily.

I held the bomb in my palm delicately, scrolling through the unit list to get an idea of how many of these things there were. Five, ten, fifteen…god, there were eighteen bombs scattered around this place.

I swallowed hard before gently sliding the bomb into a cargo pocket and jumping to my feet. I didn't have a choice—I had to get them all. Or at least… as many as possible before I was caught.

I took off sprinting again, using the remote's locator mode to light up the remaining bombs and stopping just long enough to pry each one from the wall before aiming for the next one. One after the other, just had to focus on that. It wasn't long before my lungs burned and legs went numb from exhaustion, and yet I still couldn't think about anything other than finding the next one… and the next one…

Several times I caught scattered flashes in my peripheral vision, probably from electric barriers. Chibi couldn't attack effectively in such a dangerous space where one stray bolt could kill us all. And the Rockets had known that, which was why they were sticking to physical offense. But then, even if he'd had his electricity, how long could Chibi last through that?

I'd made three loops around the engine room, and my pockets were stuffed full with something like nine or ten bombs. It almost would have been hilarious if I weren't running for my life. I had to get rid of them somehow—throwing them overboard seemed like the best bet.

I threw open the door to the engine room and sprinted back down the corridor that led there. It was like a wave of cool water washing over me, leaving the hot and stifling environment of the engine room, but my lungs still felt like they were on fire. Couldn't pay attention to that though, had to keep going.

My footsteps echoed off the walls as I flew up the staircases one after the other, finally reaching the closest deck with outside access. I was met with a gust of wind in the face and what felt like the early onset of a rainstorm. I stumbled over to the edge railing and began the process of emptying my pockets, made longer by the way my hands just couldn't stop shaking. After what felt like ages, I had finally thrown the last bomb into the sea, where they sank to the ocean floor.

And then I sank to my knees, doubled over and gasping for breath. Couldn't stop… had to keep going. I glanced at my watch—it had been twelve minutes since I'd last seen Chibi. I'd heard scattered bursts of electricity as I ran; they were probably outside of the engine room by now, but he was still managing to keep them from following me. I grasped the edge of the deck and pulled myself to my feet. There was no time to stop; I hadn't even checked outside the engine room.

Except I'd just spotted a man striding towards me, dressed in the standard white crew shirt. His walk was forceful—not too quick, as if to avoid drawing attention, but with a definite sense of purpose.

I backed away slowly, feeling a prickle of apprehension crawl up my neck. He couldn't be…

The man's walk quickened. You had to be kidding me. Come on! There was no way the entire crew was Rockets! Heck, I wouldn't even assume a tenth of them were. Why did I keep meeting all the fake ones?!

I immediately took off sprinting in the other direction, back down the staircases and jumping four or five steps at a time. My mind was racing—had to think of some way to get him off my trail. Chibi was right. I'd been stupid, and now I desperately needed help.

I cleared one staircase after another before arriving on the right floor. When I reached my cabin, I snatched my card key and waved it across the scanner on my door, then burst inside, slamming the door behind me.

"Firestorm, Swift, wake up!" I immediately shouted while flipping the light switch. The noise and sudden light woke them instantly.

Firestorm jumped to his feet. "*What's going on?*" Then his eyes widened as he realized that I'd been gone. "*Where did you go?*"

"Team Rocket was"—I gasped for breath—"planning to kill everyone, and Chibi seriously needs our help," I said in a hurry, grabbing my Pokéballs and shoving them in my pockets.

"*What? Is that why you were so quiet last night? Why didn't you tell us?!*" Firestorm demanded. I'd never heard him speak with that much conviction.

"I didn't want to drag you guys into this mess and wind up getting you hurt," I managed to say as I hastily shoved all of my belongings into my backpack, just in case I never got a chance to come back here.

"*Pokémon are… they're supposed to protect their trainer,*" Firestorm muttered. I ignored him.

"Come on, we've got to go," I said, throwing open the door and waiting for them to follow me. Firestorm had a weird mix of hurt and dread on his face, but he followed just the same. We stepped out into the hallway, and I threw several hurried glances in both directions. "…Alright… we should be g—" I was cut off by the sound of rapid footsteps to the left. And then I saw him—the man who had been chasing me earlier had just reached the bottom of the staircase leading to this deck. Had to do something. Had to do something.

And then out of nowhere, without even thinking, I found myself pointing forward and shouting, "Swift, use Gust!"

From behind me, the Pidgey's tiny, feathery form fluttered into view, flapping his wings quicker than seemed possible. In an instant, it was like all the air in the hallway had rushed forward, throwing my hair into my face and nearly knocking me off balance. I brushed a few strands out of my eyes just in time to see the Rocket struggling against a whirlwind before it swept him off his feet and sent him crashing into the wall. The wind ceased, and he slumped to the ground, looking dazed.

Swift fluttered down to the ground and turned to face us, tilting his head. "*I think that worked out well,*" he said, rather matter-of-factly.

I gaped. "Not just well… brilliant. Come on, let's get out of here before he gets up." I motioned for the two Pokémon to follow me and then took off down the hallway. Firestorm had to struggle to keep up on his short legs.

"*How come you didn't have anything for me to do back there?*" the fire lizard said in a small voice.

"The heck? What, you think I wanted to set him on fire? What could I have had you do?" The Charmander didn't say anything else.

I glanced back down at the remote that Chibi had stolen. All the bombs that I had already thrown overboard had stopped responding, and no longer showed up in the list. Still nine left, and there was a lot of lower deck left to search. I took a deep breath before resuming my search, stopping briefly to grab each bomb one by one. After a while, I was incapable of thinking about anything else. Just one bomb after the next, filling my pockets with them.

And then I had to stop and blink when I first felt my pockets full to bursting again. It barely felt like I'd spent any time gathering them. Either way, time to go back to the middle deck, and hopefully not run into any Rockets for once.

My pace was slower than normal as I made my way up the stairs, both so my Pokémon could keep up and also because my legs were nearly done transforming into jello. And then my feet had to go and catch the edge of the steps, because obviously that was what I needed right now. I had to finish this soon, or else I wouldn't even be able to.

My movements were on autopilot as I navigated back to the first open deck I could get to, going through the motions of disposing of the bombs yet again. When I was done, I began the descent back to the lower decks. It had been over twenty minutes since I'd left Chibi in the engine room. Where was he now… and was he still alright?

I stopped suddenly. Had I just heard that? I'd been thinking about him, so it might have been my imagination… but I could've sworn I heard the pained cry of a Pikachu echoing throughout the deck I'd just passed. Slowly, I backtracked a couple of stair steps and approached the nearest room to find that it was the main lobby we'd first entered on the S.S. Anne. It was completely dark aside from the moonlight shining in through the windows.

"Chibi! Are you there?!" I shouted, hoping my voice wouldn't grab any unwanted attention.

Suddenly, I tensed up. Footsteps. Lots of them. Heading this way.

"Crap," I muttered, whirling around to take off in the opposite direction. And then out of nowhere, a burst of flames shot into my path. What the heck?! I recoiled backward, narrowly avoiding the sudden blaze as waves of heat rushed into my face.

"*Jade!*" Firestorm yelled, dashing forward to stand by my side.

Shaking slightly, I turned to look behind me. I was met with a view of the dozen or so Rockets that had infiltrated the ship, half of them in crew uniforms and the other half dressed in what was probably a standard black mission outfit. In front of them stood the Manectric from earlier, now joined by a Ninetales. And then a crushing pain gripped my chest when I saw what one of the Rockets held under her arm: the burned and beaten form of a spiky-furred Pikachu.

The lead Rocket chuckled a bit at the look of my face and said, "I suppose I should thank you for returning number nine to us." Now that I actually had a full view of him, the lead Rocket was tall and thin, with an angular face and dark circles under his eyes, which gave his face a cold look in contrast to his ironic grin.

"You know, we were rather… upset when you took him," the man went on. "We need him for our experiments, otherwise we might never figure out how to break those overpowered, undeserving monsters you call Legendaries. That said…"—he held out a hand—"you have something else that's ours."

I hesitated, clutching the remote. "…You're not getting this back."

"*You'll have to go through us,*" Firestorm said in a cracked voice, stepping in front of me.

I stared at him. "What. No, there's no way you can take down their Pokémon."

To my surprise, Swift was the one who replied, "*It's too late for you to back down. So we have to be brave too.*"

"*We don't have a choice,*" Firestorm added through gritted teeth.

The lead Rocket closed his eyes and chuckled slightly at our inane attempt at resistance. "Still want to play games? Alright. Ninetales, attack!"

The large, cream-colored fire fox rushed forward, tails swirling dramatically as it leaped into the fray. It let out a battle cry and unleashed a plume of white-hot flame at its opponents. Swift took flight while Firestorm lunged aside, barely dodging it. While Ninetales dashed forward, closing in on Firestorm, Swift dove toward its face, talons outstretched. But it saw him. In one smooth motion, the fire fox turned aside and struck him on the back with its slender paw. I flinched as the Pidgey smashed into the floor with a pained cry. He just managed to flutter into the air before another spurt of fire hit the spot where he'd landed, but the superheated air prevented him from approaching his opponent.

Firestorm tried to take advantage of the enemy's distraction by breathing scattered embers, but Ninetales didn't even look fazed. In fact, the embers just sank into its fur, making its whole body glow with a fiery sheen. The fox smirked, then unleashed a pitch-black pulse of energy from its body, striking the fire lizard and knocking him back. Swift saw the opening and dove from above, ready to strike. But upon hearing its trainer's order of "Hypnosis!" the fox lunged to the side, eyes radiating with a creepy red aura and tails swaying rhythmically behind it. Swift caught its gaze and crashed to the floor, fast asleep.

I stared at the ongoing battle, a wave of dread slowly spreading through me. The sheer difference in skill—both between the Ninetales and my Pokémon, and between the Rocket and me—was starting to sink in. I pulled out Swift's Pokéball and recalled him before yelling, "Firestorm, we have to get out of here!"

Firestorm shook his head resolutely and turned back to Ninetales.

"Here's a fun move—Ninetales, Fire Spin!" the lead Rocket ordered.

My eyes went wide. Ninetales breathed out a narrow stream of flame, which circled around Firestorm no matter how he scrambled to get away. It caught his leg and snaked around his body, pulling him to the center of a swirling inferno.

"Firestorm!" I yelled, panic shooting through me. I pointed his Pokéball forward, but the flame blocked the recall beam. I could barely see his silhouette in the midst of the vortex, curled into a ball as Ninetales added more and more fire with repeated Flamethrowers. Sure, he had a natural resistance to fire, but how much more of this could he take?

And then out of nowhere, the vortex exploded. Ninetales jumped back, fur standing on end. I shielded my eyes from the flash of light as a flood of embers dissipated into the air. And when I opened them again, I saw Firestorm standing to his feet, wreathed in a raging red aura. He growled at the Rockets, gathering a large fireball in his mouth.

Without warning, the Charmander was engulfed in light. I blinked, staring in awe as his body doubled in height and completely changed in shape. Limbs stretched outward, heavy claws bursting from their tips. His face stretched into a dragonish snout, a single horn sprouting from his skull. The light faded, revealing deep crimson scales…

"He's… evolved into a Charmeleon," I whispered in awe. I'd never actually seen a Pokémon evolve in person. Part of me couldn't believe that lanky red fire lizard was really him, even though I'd seen it happen, right in front of me. Firestorm glanced back at me, his gaze sharper, fiercer, even.

Ninetales blinked in stunned shock for a few seconds. But the surprise quickly wore off, and the fire fox crouched defensively and snarled.

The lead Rocket eyed the Charmeleon with a sigh, shaking his head. "Just don't know when to give up, do you? How are you supposed to attack us with nothing but a fire-type, even if it's evolved now? I doubt you've taught it how to do anything beyond biting and scratching, and Ninetales can absorb all of its fire attacks."

What? It could—what?! Something in the back of my mind told me I should have known this—Ninetales had the Flash Fire ability, just like Arcanine. What on earth were we supposed to do now?!

Thoroughly enjoying the look on my face, the Rocket said, "As much fun as it would be to slowly beat the lizard down, I say we cut playtime short." He recalled his Ninetales and continued, "We've got a job to do, after all, and you're in the way." I tensed up. His words held a dangerous air, contrasting with his previous smooth attitude.

He paused and reached into his belt pouch to pull out a small item, hidden by the darkness, but glinting with a metallic sheen as it caught the light of the moon shining through the windows. "I don't think running would be such a good idea. In fact, you shouldn't be thinking about doing anything, really… besides handing over that remote."

I froze, unable to do anything but stare mindlessly at the gun pointed at me. I wanted to do something, anything, but I was paralyzed, terror spreading like ice in my veins. I was trapped. There was no way out of this. If I gave the remote to him, he would probably shoot me anyway, and even if he didn't, everyone on the ship would still die. I tried to manage some sort of response to the Rocket's demand, but I couldn't remember how to speak.

"I… my pockets are full of bombs. I'll activate this. So don't try anything." Words were coming out of my mouth, but I wasn't sure I was the one saying them.

"Mmm… somehow I don't believe you."

"I'll do it. You'll just kill all of us anyway if I give it to you. This way everyone else will still make it."

The man laughed. "At least they would have if we hadn't reapplied explosives to the engine room after you so thoughtlessly ruined all our hard work down there."

It was like my insides just stopped existing. I tried to keep my reaction off of my face, but I already knew I'd failed because of how much the Rocket was enjoying my expression.

But then I noticed it—Chibi had opened his eyes. He moved his head side to side ever so slowly, so none of the Rockets would notice. And then he kept throwing meaningful glances toward the lead Rocket with just his eyes. I stared blankly, confusion now added to the mess of emotions running through my head. But then somehow it clicked into place. There was a spark in his eyes. He had to have charged up some energy in the past few minutes.

"Well, what's it gonna be?" the Rocket said. "You've got five seconds."

"*Now!*" Chibi yelled, discharging all of his power into the Rocket, who slumped to the floor instantly. While I took off running with Firestorm, Chibi struggled to wrench himself free.

"Someone immobilize the damn thing properly!" the lead Rocket yelled, all amusement gone from his voice.

Seconds afterward, a high-pitched whistle tore the air. Then a pained cry from Chibi, followed by the sound of him dropping to the ground. I threw a hurried glance over my shoulder and saw the hybrid sprawled out on the floor, a dart sticking out of his shoulder.

I whirled around on the spot, ready to run back for him, but then—

"*Get out of here! They need me alive, but they'll kill you in a second if you wait around!*"

I recoiled backwards, staring in disbelief. I couldn't just leave him. I couldn't just leave him. But he was right, the Rockets were heading right for him, they'd catch me, they'd kill me, they'd—

"*Go!*"

His shout snapped me out of my spell and I bolted in the opposite direction, catching up with Firestorm. My legs were on autopilot, sprinting for what seemed like the millionth time that night, making as many turns around corners to make it both harder for the Rockets to find me, and harder to shoot if they did.

Had to get away, but… to leave him back there like that…?

I kept glancing over my shoulder—mostly to see if I was being chased, but also out of hope that I'd somehow see Chibi racing after me.

(He had a plan of escape, right? He had to.)

A flash of sparks, and a yellow blur streaking toward me. My heart leaped into my throat, but—no, it was too big to be Chibi, it was—

I staggered backward just as the yellow thing crashed into my side. A gasp of pain and I hit the floor, tingling numbness filling my limbs. What the heck was that? I rolled over in a hurry and then froze, staring eye-to-eye with the Rocket's Manectric. Firestorm snarled at the thunder dog, daring it to make another move. But all it did was fire a small string of lightning at the remote and race off before either of us could move.

I held an arm around my stomach as I struggled to stand, wincing at the pain worming through my insides. Seriously, what the heck was that about?

Sparks leapt from the remote and I jumped back, letting it clatter to the floor. I blinked at it, clutching my hand. Its screen was jumbled and glitchy, but I could just make out the words—

"No… you've gotta be kidding me…" I mumbled weakly. "I spent all that time… this can't be happening."

Automatic timed detonation activated.

The screen stuttered a bit before displaying a countdown, starting at five minutes. I fumbled with the buttons, but nothing would respond. My mind flew into a frenzy, struggling to think of something, anything to stop the detonation. The engine room was too far away; I couldn't possibly remove all the bombs in time. I stared hopelessly at the screen, crushing despair filling every inch of me.

It was over. The Rockets had won, and the ship was doomed.

The ship… But if we managed to make it off in time…

The idea hit me, and once it was there, it slowly spread through mind like wildfire. Could I even do it? No, whether I could or couldn't didn't matter—I had to.

"Come on Firestorm," I said hoarsely, once again dashing for the nearest staircase. He had no trouble keeping up—in my current state, the newly-evolved Charmeleon was faster than me.

We reached the main deck, and I froze at the sight of rain pouring down in violent sheets outside. Something nagged at the back of my mind—the sky wasn't like that before. But I couldn't afford to worry about that right now. Had to reach the topmost deck.

Only a few more staircases now. Soon I found myself in front of the sign for the ship's bridge and couldn't help feeling the slightest glimmer of joy at having made it this far. I grasped the door handle, threw it open, and—

And then my legs gave out and there wasn't anything I could do about it. I was falling face first, only barely able to throw my arms out to catch myself from faceplanting into the ground.

"What in the world—?!"

"Kid, what are you doing here?"

"Someone radio security, and get a medic while you're at it."

Voices surrounded me. I craned my neck upward to get a look at the four crew members standing around me with mixtures of concern and surprise streaking their faces. I couldn't tell which one was the captain. For all I knew, he might not even be awake at this hour.

There wasn't much time left. I had to warn them. "Explosion… in the engine room. We have to get off the ship. Now."

"An explosion in the engine room? Why wouldn't we have noticed? What were you doing down there?"

In the background, I could hear a voice saying, "Bridge to engine control, what's your status?"

I felt a hand grip my shoulder, not hard enough to hurt, but firm. I couldn't do anything but extend a shaking arm, still barely grasping the control device, and hope that someone would look at it. Less than four minutes left.

"Captain, I'm not getting any response from engine control."

A heavy pause filled the room. The man nearest me—apparently the captain, now that I got a good look at his hat and stripes—turned to face someone sitting at a control monitor and said, "Run the fire emergency alarm. Send the engine crew to perform emergency response procedures on any damaged areas."

Fire emergency?! They'd all just be heading to their deaths!

"There's no time!" I shouted, tears now stinging the corners of my eyes. "There are bombs all over the lower deck! We have to get out of here!"

In my blurred vision, I could barely make out the captain taking the control device from my hand. The color drained from his face as he stared at it. "Where did you get this? Answer me, now!"

My head felt hazy and distant. Words didn't feel like something I was capable of. "There's… no time…"

Everything hurt. I couldn't think anymore. But we had to get out…

The room was silent for several seconds. I had no idea if they were going to listen to me or not until the captain stood to his feet. And I couldn't help letting out a long, slow breath when I heard him say, "Gather all the passengers at the emergency stations. Send someone with this device to check the lower decks and report back to us the instant they can confirm anything. If that's the case, we must be prepared to abandon ship."