Journey

Death of Duty

Part 5: War on the Water

Storm

Hate is emotion at its purest. — Indigo Elite Lorelei Kanna

"Where is it?" Janine shouted, storming onto the bridge with me in tow. We'd only just stepped aboard the Fang and she was like I'd never seen her. She could get angry, but right now she was murderous.

One of the bridge crew turned, his eyes glued to the display in front of him. "Still heading southeast," he said. "Current estimates put its course for Four or Five Island."

"Put us on an intercept course," Janine ordered. "full speed."

He nodded. "Yes, ma'am. We may not be close enough to intercept them before they reach their destination."

She rounded on him, fire in her eyes. "Then follow them to their destination!" She paced back and forth, looking nervously around as the ship lurched to life on a rocking wave.

I took Janine by the arm, pulling her out of the bridge and out onto the deck as we pulled out to sea. The ship cut through the swells easily, angling after the radar signature. "We need to talk," I said. "Your mothe-"

"No," she said coldly. "What I need is to find the bastard on that ship that got away. What I need is for you to be your fearless Ranger self and stand at my side for this. What I need is to find that ship and kill them for what they did."

My eyes met hers. I didn't see hurt, I saw fire. I saw vengeance and fury, not a hint of sadness. She needed the focus that the fire gave her, needed the fury right now. I couldn't take that from her right now. Lady Anzu's final request could stay hidden for just a little longer. For Janine's sake.

"I… I'm… I need to be alone right now."

I reached out to her for a moment's hug, but she pulled back and I knew she needed the space. "It's alright. I understand, Janine."

She stepped back, shaking her head. "I'll be in the med-bay if anyone needs me. Come get me when we're closing on that ship."

I nodded, understanding. I stepped back. I knew I needed to tell her about what her mother had asked, but I couldn't bring myself to at the moment. She deserved her time to grieve and she still needed to focus. She didn't need the distraction.

I watched her go, furiously storming along the deck. She didn't say a word as she left and I stayed silent.

"Ranger, we have an incoming sat-call for you."

I turned back to the crew member. "Surge?" I asked.

He nodded.

I followed him to the phone picking up the thick handset. "Wright here," I said. "It's been a while, sir."

"It's been a hell of a week, kid. Hope you're enjoying the vacation."

I scowled. "Hasn't been quite the trip I hoped it would," I said sarcastically. "Lost Vector a couple hours ago to some crazy modified pokemon. Rocket has a significant presence out here, looks like Elite Lorelei could be involved." I sighed heavily. "With all due respect, the mission is fubar at this point."

He chuckled over the line. "So is the world lately," he replied. "Rocket's gone dark on the mainland. It seems we've found all the cells we know about, but none of the known leaders. Your friends also took out some kind of ghost summoning operation in Lavender. We had nothing on Rocket in Lavender, so who knows what else they've got hiding."

"Some crazy shit," I replied. "something dangerous."

Surge paused for a moment. "Look, kid. I don't know how else to say this. Something dangerous already happened. Something big, in Hoenn."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Groudon and Kyogre have appeared. They're apparently heading towards each other…" he trailed off and I could hear more panicked shouting behind him. "they've already destroyed Sootopolis and Lavaridge. Pacifidog is gone and we're expecting massive waves crashing against Kanto's eastern shores."

"We haven't seen much yet," I said as we cut through a particularly large wave. "But it might be starting."

"Expect it soon," he replied. "You're a hell of a lot closer to Hoenn than we are. Stay safe, Ranger."

"I'll do what I can," I replied. "Rocket isn't making it easy on us."

"They never do," he said. "Keep in touch when you can. Surge out."

The call died and I watched as we broke through the crest of another large wave. "Do we still have the Sat-line?" I asked, glancing over at the comm tech.

He nodded and I lifted the phone once more. I had a few calls to make. A certain Fuchsian hospital had an update to give me, and Celio's project gave me an idea.

We were in the air again, the Fang sheltering in the small cove on the western side of Five Island. The radar signature had ignored Four Island, blowing past it on course to its real destination. The waves were getting more and more vicious, rocking the ship the the point that the helmsman was nervous. He brought us into the cove and we dropped anchor in the relatively calm shallows.

Artemis' chest was heaving, running on fumes at this point. We'd done so much aerial recon lately that she was struggling. She'd done wonders to improve her endurance but she had limits. She wasn't going to be much help in a fight in this state, something I was acutely aware of.

Janine was above me, almost a mile behind us atop her venomoth. She hadn't said a word to me since she had joined Leopold in the med-bay, silently following me into the air once was had arrived in the cove.

Our ground team was already in position, waiting just outside the compound. They would distract the main Rocket forces while Janine and I slipped into the base itself.

The Rocket base was clearly visible from above. I could see people rushing around, lashing down crates and securing large slats of cargo that sat on the jetty. They were preparing for the storm.

I raised my radio as a pair of the dockworkers pointed up at me. "Janine, we gotta move in now. No way they haven't seen us up here."

"Leader Anzu to the Fang." I glanced up. She'd told me not to call her that, that Lady Anzu was reserved for her mother. "Begin bombardment of the Rocket facility. Full salvo, rain fire for Fuchsia."

The radio crackled eagerly in response. "Roger that. Beginning bombardment."

A dozen soft thumps in the distance drew Artemis' gaze. She glanced backwards, hissing at the mechanical whine of the rockets as they wizzed beneath us. Another pair of louder thuds echoed over the island as the Fang fired her main cannons.

Brilliant explosions ripples across the facility as the rockets landed. Cargo went flying as the jetty disintegrated, bodies were tossed by the force of the explosions. The main cannons' shells impacted the facility itself, blasting huge holes into the side of the building. Slowly, a droning siren began to blare as the Rockets realized they were under attack.

A second salvo fired, another dozen rockets sailing from the cove. The cannons fired again as explosions carpeted the facility. Two massive blasts tore large holes in the main building and sent a hail of debris raining down on the courtyard.

"Team two, move in!"

The western edge of the compound erupted with light as a half dozen pokemon were released at once. Shinobi moved with them, all of them tearing into the few moving Rocket workers. There were a few flashes as some of the Rockets released pokemon of their own, but I paid them no mind. They were few and far between.

I leaned closer to Artemis. "Take us in!" I roared. "Drop us right on top of the building."

She tucked her wings against her side as we flew into a steep dive. I held tight to my pokemon, a cacophony of light and fire erupting from the ground. The bombardment hadn't taken out the anti-air cannons and our people were too close to risk another salvo. We were committed to the assault, for better or worse.

I swore and tugged Artemis to the side as a shell found the perfect trajectory. She rolled and the shell exploded in open air as we soared past. I felt the shockwave rock my aerodactyl, but we plunged past it without harm.

"AA fire!" I roared into my radio. "Take out those guns!"

I saw a muk envelop one of the cannons firing up at us, another one disintegrating under the burning light of a hyper beam. The fire continued though, with more Rockets and their pokemon rushing from the burning building as the battle began in full.

Janine surged past me on her venomoth. The AA fire redirected towards her, splashing harmlessly against a psychic barrier as her venomoth glowed with power. She swooped low over the battlefield and bathed another emplacement in psychic fire.

Artemis flared her wings, straining to kill our speed. She groaned in effort, landing heavily on a pair of Rocket grunts that had taken up firing positions in the bombed out building. I heard their screams of pain die under her as she crushed them with the impact.

I leapt off her back, releasing Acolyte before the third grunt could turn his rifle on me. My marowak dispatched him with a quick blow to the side of the head.

Artemis leapt atop the last Rocket as he fired a round that went wild. I ducked for cover and shied back behind Acolyte as my aerodactyl bathed the poor Rocket grunt with dragon flame.

I lifted my radio as I peered into the chaotic battle taking place. "Janine, I'm in!"

I saw her drop to the ground, her venomoth lifting another gun emplacement with psychic power. She glanced up at the building as her pokemon smashed the AA gun through the ranks of Rocket grunts. Men and mon were screaming, utter chaos filling the air.

"Go! Find Archer!" she shouted through the radio. "They need me out here!"

A large hissing arbok leapt from its coils and tangled around the venomoth's wings. I heard Janine curse over the sounds of battle and turn back to face her opponent. Brutus was out, roaring in anger as her venomoth tore the arbok off with psychic light.

Movement behind me drew my attention. The door had been blocked by debris, but a pair of Rockets were forcing their way through.

Acolyte was there, pinning the first of the grunts against the wall. The second grunt pushed past them as he raised his rifle for a clear shot at Acolyte. It would have taken too long to ready my own weapon and sight the target. I didn't think, I just moved.

I grabbed the barrel of his weapon and forced it upwards. A shower of wood splinters rained down on us as the grunt held the trigger down and fired wildly. We swung around, both my hands working around the rifle as we struggled. I fought to keep the barrel pointed at the ceiling, my hand burning as the metal heated rapidly.

I jerked forward, trying to throw the grunt off balance as I twisted the rifle away from him. Artemis closed her jaws around the upper half of the man and tore him away as Acolyte slammed the other grunt heavily to the floor.

I stepped back, holding the rifle at an arms length as my pokemon dropped the man. I felt sick to my stomach as I watched the man's blood pool where he lay. My aerodactyl panted heavily, looking at me for approval.

"Good girl," I said hesitantly. The grunt could have easily killed me, but now he was dead himself. The finality of it stuck in my mind. "Thank you," I said.

I dismissed Artemis to her ball and turned to Acolyte. My aerodactyl was too large to fit down the hallway and I didn't want to expose Curie to a battle like this. That meant it was just me and my marowak.

He looked at me, hefting his club. He'd evolved in the crucible of a battle against Rocket. He had just as much reason to hate them as me, even more when I gave it thought. He would be more than enough.

"You ready?" I asked. I dropped the rifle onto the floor, leaving it behind. Acolyte wouldn't be able to battle as effectively with me firing over his shoulder, but I lifted my own rifle and flipped the safety off nonetheless. "This won't be easy."

He nodded and turned towards the door. I fell in step behind him. Archer was somewhere in this base. The people that had killed Lady Anzu were somewhere in this base. All of this was because of Rocket. All of it had to end.

Three times we came across fire teams of Rocket grunts rushing to take up positions on the second level. Three times, Acolyte and I dispatched them without a problem. We broke our way into a stairwell that had been blocked by debris and dropped down to a lower level.

No trainers rushed to greet us as we entered the base proper, no Rocket grunts bottled us up in hallways. It was as if the base was empty, though with most of their men engaged with our assault it may as well have been.

I felt uneasy though. Something was wrong the ease of my infiltration. It was too simple, too foolproof. The opening bombardment hadn't done more than knock down a few walls. Doors that seemed to have been security doors were left mysteriously open while others with sounds of fighting behind them remained locked. I theorized that perhaps the security systems had been damaged, but it still seemed odd to me.

Acolyte was creeping along the opposite side of the corridor, his bone held up at the ready. There was a glass door at the end of the hallway with a stairwell leading down. More doors lined each side of the corridor.

I pointed at the glass door. "Looks important," I whispered. I crept up to the door, trying to pry it open. It stubbornly refused to budge. I glance back up at Acolyte and stepped away. "Break the glass."

Acolyte stepped up beside me, raising his club. The glass shattered at the touch. I looked around warily, but nobody came to investigate the noise. We stepped over the broken glass and I led Acolyte down the stairs.

I could hear voices shouting as we descended to a basement level. The shouts were echoing, the words mostly unintelligible. I waved Acolyte forward, stepping into line behind him.

The voices grew louder and were joined by the sounds of dozens more as we hurried down the spartan corridor. There were no lights save for the few bare bulbs mounted on the walls every dozen meters or so, but there was only one path.

We followed the corridor, coming to a T intersection. I glanced left and gasped as I pulled Acolyte back. The passage to the left opened to a vast cavern, water lapping at the hull of the submarine that Archer had escaped on.

I peered around the corner, looking for Archer. I didn't see him anywhere but the sub confirmed that he was here somewhere. I ducked back behind the wall and lifted my radio. "Ranger to Fuchsia leader," I started. "Do you copy?"

There was no answer. Not even static. I cursed under my breath, retreating back along the corridor I'd come down. I couldn't take that room alone and my radio wasn't working in the base's sub levels. I dashed back down the way I'd come, skidding to a halt at the bottom of the stairs. Acolyte growled, raising his club.

"Could've just been the bombardment," said a nondescript voice. "Most of the upper labs are completely destroyed. The shockwave could have blown the glass."

"No," said a voice that I knew well. "The Ranger is here. He landed in the upper labs ten minutes ago." I heard the sound of glass crunching under someone's boots. "Prepare the sub. We must leave at once. They are here for me."

"Yes, Archer."

I swore silently, backing down the corridor. This was not a place to stage an ambush. There was one other passage. I needed a place to hide or I was dead. I turned and ran, returning Acolyte to his ball. I dashed around the corner and sprinted hard to the right. I opened the door as quietly as I could and slipped through.

I stopped dead in my tracks as the abominable stench reached me. A flygon was strapped down to an operating table in the centre of the room. It was motionless. A doctor was standing over the table with a buzzing hacksaw held aloft. I immediately shouldered my rifle and levelled it with him, waiting for him to make a move.

The man clicked off his saw and lifted the protective mask covering his face. He cocked his head to the side and looked at me with an amused grin that sent a chill down my spine. "Curious," he started in a happy tone, almost as if he had been expecting me. "The Ranger, just like Archer said."

"You know me?" I asked, my weapon lowering slightly in surprise. My every instinct was screaming at me to run, to fight, to do anything other than remain in this man's presence. "Should I know you?"

He slowly shook his head. "We haven't been formally introduced yet, Marcus Wright. But I have read a great deal about you." He placed the saw down on the table and stepped back carefully and bowed deeply. "I'm afraid introductions are in order. My name is Gideon."

My eyes widened and my forehand dropped to Acolyte's ball. "You're Celio's traitor. You're Rocke-"

A door slid open behind me, interrupting my answer. I felt the words die on my tongue as hot breath blew down on my neck. It smelled like rotting meat and sewage and I bit back a gag.

"I wouldn't be so quick to lift that ball," he said with a musical smirk. "It could be detrimental to your health." He lifted a strange device from his pocket and fiddled with it. The gem atop the device shone and I felt something large move behind me as he tucked the device away.

I glanced behind me and it took everything I had not to empty my stomach. The thing had been a machamp once, before Rocket had taken it apart and put it back together. One pair of arms had been amputated at the elbow, replaced by cannons reminiscent of a magmortar's. Tubing and wiring wrapped around the mutilated pokemon's arms and ran down into a glowing chamber where its stomach should have been. The other two arms had been reinforced, metal struts and armour plating covering meaty fists.

"The pokemon hybrids…" I trailed off as I turned back to face him in horror. This was the man who had killed Lady Anzu. This was the man responsible for Vector. "Those were you."

"Bah," he spat forcefully. "Rocket wanted miracles. They spat on my work and gave me scraps! I ask for Articuno and they gave me chattel." He gestured up at the creation as it plodded around the operating table and took its place behind him. "I cannot create a god. Not with these… these vermin!"

I glanced down at the flygon. "More chattel for your experiments?" I asked, gesturing to the unconscious pokemon. He hadn't cut into it yet, maybe I could still save it. Maybe I could get him distracted and talking.

He shrugged. "I never said that they were useless. Just… unsuitable for my project." He shook his head. "But you're stalling. Trying to sidetrack me. It's a good idea. I do so love the sound of my own voice. Archer was right, you are smart."

He turned, rummaging through the papers strewn across the table behind him. "I'll indulge you, since I'm such a gracious host." The machamp leered down at me, watching carefully as its master turned his back. "I know I have it around here somewhere."

I glanced at movement to my right. A man was locked in a holding cell, discreetly trying to get my attention. He pointed furiously at something across the room, mouthing something through the bars of the cage.

I followed the man's arm, my eyes falling on the ball belt strewn over the side of the table. I nodded curtly and tightened my fists as the man turned back, a crude sketch in his hands.

"This was my dream," he said proudly as he thrust the picture towards me. "A new god to replace Rocket's clumsy failure. Something to supplant Fuji and his incompetent attempt at creation. I called it Project Triplet."

I peered closer at the sketch. I could see cold blue blending into crimson fire, golden lightning crackling around the gargantuan raptor's wings. "That's not possible. It's insanity. Not even Rocket would-"

"Rocket would and they did," he said nonchalantly. "You would be surprised by the lengths that man will go when pressed with extinction." He shrugged, still at ease. "Or perhaps you would not. It is of no concern." He kept that same wild grin the entire time he spoke, unnerving me. "Genius is often seen as insanity by those deficient of imagination. I am not concerned with what lesser minds may think. Fuji stretched the bounds of known science with cloning to fit Giovanni's needs. I will change it entirely with my creations."

I pointed at the sketch. "That is not genius. That is a perversion of nature." I pointed up at the machamp. "That isn't progress. It's suffering masked as knowledge." My hand dropped to Acolyte's ball and I swung the barrel of the gun towards Gideon. This was the man behind the fusions. This was Gideon in his element, Rocket's mad scientist playing god with the secrecy that Sevii's remoteness gave him. "Someone has to stop this."

His amused smirk twisted into a cruel scowl and I saw demented fury flash in his eyes. I felt the tension in the room thicken as he let the sketch fall from his hands. "Do you think that's going to be you?" He asked, his voice growing louder with every word. "A lone Ranger, only one truly battle-capable pokemon with you? You're a pathetic excuse for a trainer. It's a miracle that you haven't washed out of the League yet, or gotten yourself killed. What a truly magnificent hero you are."

I clenched Acolyte's ball tightly. "I never said I was a hero," I said forcefully. The faces of the nameless grunts that my team and I had killed to get here flashed in my mind. Reyes and Wertz, Pride and Vector, Lady Anzu, everyone Rocket had killed on the way here stood with me now. "Too many people are dead to sail that ship and bear that title." I shook my head. I didn't know a lot about my place in the world, but my next steps were clear as day. "I'm just the guy that's gonna kick your ass."

Acolyte and Curie appeared at my sides, glaring at the monstrosity before us. The man in the cell was screaming and I felt the machamp's bellow shake me to my bones.

Acolyte moved first, charging as Gideon disappeared through the door behind him. I held the trigger down, peppering the heavy metal door with lead. It remained stubbornly shut as the machamp raised an arm cannon in response.

Curie leapt in front of my marowak as fire erupted from the machamp's arm cannon. I couldn't help the scream of utter terror that came out of my mouth, watching my precious Curie roast alive.

Acolyte was there, hammering his club into the device embedded in the machamp's stomach. Smoke and flame belched from the machinery. One hand clamped down over the bone club as the abomination struck back with an armoured arm. Acolyte catapulted across the room and slammed headlong into the bars of the holding cell.

"My belt! Get my belt!" The trainer in the cell was shouting.

I ducked under the stream of fire, tearing my attention away from Curie with willpower I didn't know I had. I slid past the machamp and grabbed the belt as I turned to face it.

There were four balls on the belt. I hit the release button on all of them. Three spears of red light ignited, releasing a trio of pokemon around us as the flames withered and died.

The machamp looked around and seemingly weighed its chances as a mightyena, manectric and growlithe growled threateningly. The trainer in the cage was shouting orders, desperately issuing commands as I returned to Curie's side.

I pulled a potion from my pack, hovering over Curie nervously. "Hang back, I don't want you getting hurt."

Curie shook her head, ignoring the burns covering her little pink body. She pulled an egg from the pouch on her belly and shook it vigorously. She looked at me then pointedly back at the machamp.

Then the three canines leapt into attack and Curie went with them. The machamp roared in pain, fire fangs and thunder fangs tearing plates of armour off of the machamp's arms. Curie bounded over the prone flygon and pitched her egg into the machamp's exposed belly.

The egg exploded violently, throwing the machamp bodily into the wall. The trainer's pokemon didn't miss a beat. Each of them launched across the room, pinning an arm as Curie bounded after them an pinned the creature's fourth arm to the wall.

Acolyte rose to his feet, groggily lifting his club and trying to shake off his dizziness.

"Help them!" I shouted, rifling through the clutter on the desk. There had to be keys somewhere around here.

The machamp roared as it struggled. It thrashed, smashing the mightyena down on the table beside me. My ears rang heavily with the deafening sound as I finally lifted the keys and dashed over to the cell.

Acolyte hammered his club into the device as I fumbled for a key. There were dozens of keys. The first one didn't even fit the hole and I moved to the next one.

A heavy impact slammed me face first into the cage bars. I swore as the trainer's growlithe clambered off of me and leapt back towards the raging machamp.

"Go!" the trainer shouted. "Wake up my flygon, I'll get the lock."

I tossed the key ring to his waiting hand and turned back as the machamp tore the mightyena off its left arm cannon.

It levelled the cannon at Acolyte and I saw flame stir inside the nozzle. Smoke and steam vented from the contraption in its stomach and the fire died as soon as it began. It roared in frustration and swung wildly, abandoning its fire in favour of its armoured fists.

I leapt atop the flygon, shaking it violently as I shouted. The manectric screamed in pain as it soared over me. Curie was shrieking and Acolyte retreating. My hand dug through my bag, searching for the pair of full heals I kept on me at all times.

Curie hit me from the side and we both went sprawling on the floor. The machamp bellowed, batting Acolyte's defensive blows away in annoyance. I popped back up only to watch my marowak be lifted into the air by the throat. A second arm deftly blocked his clumsy retaliation, dropping the bone club to the floor.

My precious Chansey wailed in fear and bounded back over the table. She beat on the machamp's arm ineffectually, a desperate attempt to free Acolyte. The machamp brushed her off with one of its cannons as it wrapped a second hand around Acolyte's throat and slammed him headlong into the wall.

She was back, grabbing hold of one of the arm cannons. She grunted in effort and tore the cannon off the machamp's arm with a spray of blood and sparks.

The reaction was immediate. It dropped Acolyte and swung both fists into Curie. She hit the wall behind me and slumped to the floor as the abomination roared in pain and fury. Acolyte grabbed his club, sweeping the creature's legs out from beneath it.

The trainer's mightyena was back, pinning the creature's arm before it could knock Acolyte away. The manectric and growlithe followed the mightyena's lead, pinning the machamp's two remaining arms to the floor.

Acolyte planted a foot on the mutilated machamp's chest and raised his club. He brought it down onto the pokemon's face in a vicious blow.

"Again," I ordered sombrely. The machamp was not in control of itself. It was a tool that Rocket had discarded in my direction, a vain attempt to slow me down. I took no pleasure in a battle like this. Again, I only felt sorry for the pokemon that had been stitched together in suffering. "Put it out of its misery."

My marowak pounded down, over and over. He hammered away at the Pokémon's skull until it finally stopped struggling and lay still. I slowly raised my rifle and fired once to make sure.

The cell swung open and the trainer collapsed under his pokemon. He rolled back, laughing and smiling. "I'm ok, ladies. I'm ok." He got to his feet and stepped out of the cell, looking down at the machamp.

"You… you killed it," he said. He looked away from the corpse and back up at me as I lowered my weapon. "I think it was Darcy's machamp… before they took her."

"Are there any other prisoners?" I asked quickly as I returned Curie. We had to move quickly now, or Archer was lost.

He shook his head solemnly. "No," he said quietly. "Not anymore at least."

I understood the implication. I didn't press. I tossed him his belt and he returned his pokemon. He strapped the belt back on and turned back to me.

"I can't let them leave," I said. "You can come with me if you want, but I can't lead you outside."

He shook his head. "You can't take them all by yourself, not unless you've got one hell of a secret weapon."

I shook my head. "Just an exhausted aerodactyl."

He frowned. "Then I'm going with you," he said and I heard the slight accent. "It's like you said. Someone has to stop him."

I looked at him closely. He had a Hoennic accent and several pokemon from Hoenn. My mind immediately went to what Surge had told me earlier, about the events taking place in Hoenn. "What's your name, stranger?"

"Riley Walsh," he replied. "I was visiting Sevii with Darcy… we were from Hoenn."

I faltered, offering a weak smile. I knew what was happening in Hoenn. He likely didn't. This was not going to be a pleasant conversation. I opened my mouth to speak and felt the words die on my tongue.

"What's wrong?" He asked, catching my troubled expression. "Did somethi-"

"Something's happened," I said quietly. There was no way to keep it from him. "Groudon and Kyogre have woken."

He went pale and I saw his eyes widen. He was deathly still. "Then Hoenn's end times have begun. Gods walk the earth once more." He looked down at the floor and closed his eyes. "Rayquaza protect us."

I nodded, unsure of what to say. I was not religious myself, Kanto had largely abandoned her religious roots before I had been born and my father had instilled a distrust in the idea of an all powerful being. But I couldn't help but see the appeal in praying for a higher power's assistance. I looked down at the scattered mess of papers and immediately set upon the crude sketch Gideon had brandished at me.

I lifted the paper and stared at it. "Rocket means to create their own god. They mean to chain deities to their will." I looked up at him. "They're going back to One Island." I folded the paper and stashed it back into my pack. "They're going after Moltres."

He stretched experimentally, seemingly favouring his left shoulder. "Then we'd better stop them."

I went into my pack, pulling out the few healing supplies I had left. The assault through the base had severely depleted my supplies but I had enough left to heal Acolyte and get Riley's team back in fighting shape.

Our pokemon finally ready, we stepped out of the trashed lab. We burst into the underground dock and my worst fears were realized. Rocket was already gone.

The docks were empty of workers and the sub was gone. The entire assault, the destruction we had wrought was for nothing. We were too late. Rocket was gone and we had failed.

Pokédex Entry Addendum – Pokemon Fusions/Hybrids

Recent intelligence obtained by Ranger operatives have unveiled a new effort by the Rocket Organization to create pokemon fusions. These 'creations' should be treated with extreme caution. They are irregular, unstable creations that are extremely dangerous. Oftentimes they are slaved to their creator's will using illegal mind-control technology. Trainers are advised to report any and all sightings to their nearest Ranger post.

Early research in the field was pioneered by Samuel Oak, before abandoning it as "the work of crackpots and madmen". Some additional exploratory research was done by Dr. B. Katsura and Dr. I. Fuji, but abandoned soon after beginning over ethical concerns.

It is currently unknown how widespread their existence is or how many of these creations are in circulation. Ranger Command will update this entry with any relevant information.

Intermediate Trainer KT#07996101

Indigo Ranger Corps, Special Task Group, "Zapdos" Squad,

Corporal SN# 109-512-6591, Marcus Wright, current team:

Luna, Ninetales

Acolyte, Marowak

Curie, Chansey

Artemis, Aerodactyl