Journey

Death of Duty

Part 7: The Fall of the Pokemon League

War

The point of war is not to die for your beliefs. Its to make the other poor bastard die for his. — Ranger Lt. Col. Emmet "Surge" Roth

The world flipped end over end as I tumbled through the air. I would have screamed if I had been able to draw a breath. Instead, I grabbed desperately at my ball belt.

I was going for Artemis. She might've been able to catch me. The wind fought back, tearing my hand away from the ball. I pulled it close and worked my hand down to my waist. My hand tapped the ball and I heard her roar over the wind rushing past me.

I caught a glimpse of Artemis tucking her wings into a dive as I flipped again, before the city replaced it once more. Rooftops whizzed past me as I plummeted towards the street.

She grabbed me, talons digging into my stomach and impaling me with her haste. Her wings snapped out and I felt myself bend violently as she slowed our descent. Then her talons let go and I fell into open air once more.

"Surge has been forced back several blocks," Leopold droned. "we cannot hope to sustain this attack without his assistance."

"Doesn't matter," I spat bitterly. I wiped the Rocket at my feet's blood from my blade. "Retreat is death."

He limped over to me, taking care to remain behind the car that we had sheltered behind. "So is this," he said. "We have to—"

I grabbed him and forced him down as I lashed out. My blade found purchase in the soldier's neck. He stared back at me in surprise, before slumping back to the ground.

Brutus let out a victorious bellow. The gunfire had slowed to a halt, at least on this block. War still raged in the distance, violent chaos echoing from every direction.

"Go," I said. "back to support Surge's push. Take the men and go, before I change my mind."

"My Lady Anzu—"

"No," I replied. "Just Janine," I said. I was not my mother. The failures piling up at my feet were proof enough of that.

I looked up at the Silph Tower in frustration. We'd been fighting our way through Saffron all night with no real progress to show for it. Rocket had been joined by elements of the Kanto National Army in an act of treachery.

From what we had been able to tell, Giovanni had one of his men inside the Indigo Parliament initiate a lockdown of the Parliament chambers. We hadn't been able to get in contact with any of the civilian government, nor the League's Board of Directors.

Military leadership had been similarly affected. Army and Air Force officials at Indigo Command were non-responsive, with Ranger Command going dark minutes later. In that same moment, the Saffron Rangers came under attack by elements of the KNA. The Rangers had routed and the KNA had fortified the city.

That was yesterday. Today, Surge had spearheaded an assault by our makeshift coalition, drawing on support from Cerulean, Celadon and Fuchsia. It hadn't gone well. Neither had the surprise attacks in each of those cities by more traitorous elements of the KNA. By all accounts, Kanto was quickly descending into a full-blown civil war.

Surge had penetrated the furthest into the city, but a series of missile barrages from military positions east and west of the city had forced Vermillion's finest to retreat. He was leading another assault on the main approach to Silph, but even he was hard pressed to take much ground.

Erika and her gym trainers had managed to seal the western gates behind a hundred years of plant growth, cutting off the army's main supply route into the city. Rocket and the army had retaliated. My last contact with Erika had been two hours ago, when she had relayed her intention to sweep north and link up with Misty and the Rangers out of Cerulean.

I grimaced at the thought. Misty had sounded in a rough spot at her last contact. Hopefully there was something left for Erika to link up with. Hopefully Erika was still alive to link up with Misty.

"My Lady, I must insist that you—"

"I'll move faster alone," I said. It was true. I would have been able to creep past the last guard post if I had been alone. It had been one of my shinobi that had slipped up. "and I can do more good this way. We need to get into Silph."

He scowled, a common reaction from my second in command. "You will do no good if you are dead," he replied. "I will not—"

"Leo," I started, in an attempt to project calm. "this is the way. This is how we win." I conveniently left out the part where I mentioned that my supply of potions was gone, and that I'd used more than I cared to admit on myself.

He was quiet. He knew what I meant. Giovanni had to die for this to end. He knew what I was proposing.

"Fight well," he said solemnly. "be swift and silent and victory will not elude you."

I nodded and grabbed his hand. He pulled me in with one arm, wrapping the other around me for a brief moment. "Be safe, little thorn."

The mention of the pet name my mother had given me in childhood took me aback. "I always am, Leo," I whispered to him. "they gotta find me to kill me, remember?"

He chuckled. "They'll never see you coming."

I hesitated in responding for just a moment. Fleeting self doubt swelled within me until I drowned in it. It would only ever take one mistake. One person looking left when I thought they were looking right.

Leo knew. He always knew. He had been the first of my father's men to pledge himself to me, mere moments after I'd done the deed. He could see me better than even Marcus could at times.

He nodded. "After all, neither did he."

My resolve came flooding back. I was Lady Janine of the Anzu Clan. I had taken my place atop my city. Father had not stopped me, despite all his efforts. Rocket had not stopped me, despite all their efforts. I was an Indigo Gym Leader and I would prove what that was worth.

I crept along the tunnel, blade raised and ball ready. It was silent, though I did not trust that meant that tunnel was empty. Rocket had fooled my senses before. They'd found a way to imitate the abilities of the Shades through strange artefacts, and warped science a thousand strange ways. I had no doubt that they would continue to do so here.

This was their big play, their last hurrah. They'd emptied themselves for this attack, spent every last drop of manpower and manipulated their way into more. They were desperate and that made them unpredictable.

I emerged from the tunnel into a small chamber. Pipes and wiring ran in bundles along the ceiling, and the only light came from the small emergency bulbs that slowly pulsed every few meters.

A small rustle of wind moved through my hair. I heard the sound of a rusted door wrenching open and multiple people rushing through. I was no longer alone down here, if I had ever been. I reached up and pulled my hood over my head, slipping into the corner of the chamber and behind a large crate. I would retain the element of surprise, no matter who was coming.

A harried whisper broke the silence from the tunnels. "Which way, Elias?"

"I don't know," replied another voice. "I've never been down here before today." He paused for a moment, breathing heavily. "Damn thing's still bleeding."

I heard someone fussing over him and the obvious frustration in his voice as he waved them off. These were trainers. Injured trainers, if they were to be believed.

They emerged into the chamber I was hidden in, three of them carrying a fourth between them. The woman in the middle was dripping blood from a gaping wound on her side. She looked pale and haggard, and though her eyes were still open they drooped dangerously.

"Set her down," said the man who'd spoken before. He had white hair, though it was flecked with blood and dirt in spots. "give me a minute to think."

"We don't have a minute," replied the other man. "they'll be on us any second and—"

My hand tapped the ball on my left hip. The seal around Brutus' ball popped open as I buried my hooded face in my elbow.

The flash of light and sound hit me like a fist in the chest. Even with my hood up and my eyes covered, my senses were rocked by the flashbang seal.

To the four trainers in the chamber, it was deafening.

To the trio of Rockets that had just burst in after them, it was just what I needed..

I moved fast and quiet, leaving Brutus' ferocious bellow to draw the attention of the stunned Rockets. One man fell beneath my blade before he could even realize I was there. The second turned in shock, only to have me separate his head from his body.

The third managed to reach the ball belt on his hip. A light flashed, before my blade did the same and relieved the man of his hand. It dropped to the floor, ball still clutched within it. He tried to scream, but I silenced him with a quick thrust.

Brutus took the hypno before it could bring its power to bear. He batted the stout psychic type across the chamber and into the wall. It crashed into the wall, leaving a bloody crater behind when it slumped to the floor. My drapion scuttled his way over to the downed hypno and dispatched it with a swipe of his pincer.

I scanned the chamber, making sure that there wasn't another group coming down a different tunnel. When no more Rockets made themselves known, I finally turned to the trainers. I cleared my throat.

"Thank you," said the white haired man. He squinted at me, blinking rapidly and try to regain his vision. "They've been on us since Silph."

"Silph?" I asked.

He nodded. "Some kind of big project got completed and their boss is trying to secure the prototype." He glanced back over his shoulder, at the tunnel they'd come from. "But you aren't getting in that way. They sealed off the tunnels after the Ranger got in through them."

"Ranger?" I asked. Marcus was still in Pallet Town with Oak as far as I knew, but with all the chaos he might've come to Silph early. I couldn't tell with Ranger communications in such disarray. "What Ranger?"

He frowned. "Scarred up side of the face, brown hair. Maybe a bit taller than you." His scowl deepened. "His name was Mar—"

"Thank you," I said hurriedly. He was here. And he was trying to take on Rocket alone. Reckless idiot. Brave, reckless idiot. "Keep moving away from the tower. There's a Ranger post set up at the south gates. If you can reach them, you'll be safe there."

"With all due respect," he replied. "We want to help." He gestured over his shoulder, at the injured woman. "Nicholas can take her on, he isn't a fighter. We want to help you take on Rocket."

I looked at them. They were trainers, experienced ones if the scars and weathered pokeballs were to be believed. I could use them as backup, or a distraction.

"Trainers help each other," he continued.

It took all the effort in the world not to drop my jaw. Marcus liked that saying, liked the simplicity in it. He'd used it when he met me, and I'd heard him repeat the phrase to himself. I nodded and felt myself grin. "Trainers help each other."

The fighting had intensified on the surface. We emerged from the tunnels onto a rooftop adjacent to the Silph Tower, having taken a staircase into a residential building. Surge must have been pushing closer, because the fighting sounded close.

"They're almost at the courtyard," The white haired man said. He pointed down at the men rushing about, taking up their firing positions and forming up at the south end of the square.

I'd learned his name was Elias. He'd met Marcus during the tenta-swarm attack on Vermillion. The other trainer was a young woman, maybe in her twenties. She hadn't given her name, but she had a thick Kalosian accent.

"But it's a goddamn killzone. The army is too dug in." Elias shook his head and stepped back from the edge of the building. "Not to mention any of the Rockets inside the building."

"Surge will handle it," I replied. "the army isn't a match for him without pokemon."

"Maybe he can, but that'll take time that we don't have." He stepped back and pointed upwards. "There's fighting near the top of the building."

I looked upwards. Lightning flashes and gouts of flame made it clear. The top of the building shook visibly as smoke and dust billowed out of the shattering windows.

"Marcus," I whispered. It had to be him. He'd ordered Elias and the others out of the building before they'd lost contact.

A few moments of silence passed as the Silph Tower belched smoke against Saffron's skyline. We watched the Jewel of Kanto burn. Rocket had caused all of this. Giovanni had caused all of—

Another window shattered, a figure tumbling free. It flipped end over end, flailing wildly. A flash of light erupted from the man and the unmistakable silhouette of an aerodactyl darkened Saffron's sky.

"MARCUS!" I shrieked.

I didn't hear Elias or the other two say anything. Shimmer was out in a flash, the giant venomoth guiding my leap with a psychic nudge. I released Cherish, my ariados, with an order that I'd given a hundred times. We soared upwards as though a hot wind were lifting us, but it still wasn't fast enough.

Artemis got to Marcus first. She closed her rear talons around him, spearing him in the belly. I saw the blood running off her in streams and knew that he was hurt.

"Tell her to drop him," I said, crouching low on my venomoth as we closed with Marcus. "and be ready to catch us."

Artemis glanced down at us and I knew she had heard Shimmer's mental command. She released her trainer and I leapt off of my venomoth. I'd done this maneuver dozens of times, but never before had it been so fraught with peril.

We collided hard in mid-air, drawing a pained groan from Marcus. I wrapped my arms around him as we plunged towards the ground. I felt the gentle tug of psychic telekinesis on us, but we still fell too quickly.

The net of webbing that Cherish had spun between the Silph Tower and our building enveloped us. It bent and bowed, warping under the impact of our bodies, but it held fast.

"Marcus," I whispered in horror as we settled to a halt on the webbing. My hands pressed into the gouges in his belly, trying to hold the blood in. "Oh my god, Marcus."

"Nnngg" he groaned in reply.

My heart raced, pounding loudly in my ears. He was bleeding so much, so fast. I'd caught him, but there was nothing I could do to mend the wound Artemis had given him. My potion supply was empty and none of my pokemon were healers.

Cherish was there, sparking me into action. I had to do something. "Get him over there," I ordered, pointing at the rooftop Elias and the others were waiting on. "bandage him first."

She scuttled over me, spinning a silk bandage around Marcus' midsection. I hefted him up and over her back, and my ariados crawled away.

I lifted off the webbing a moment later, Shimmer flew overhead, pulling me back to the rooftop in tow.

She let go of her telekinetic hold and I crashed awkwardly onto the roof. I scrambled back up and over to Marcus' side.

I couldn't believe my eyes. It nearly froze me to look at him, but something pulled me in and held my gaze. My hand brushed the side of his face, smearing it with his blood. I tried in vain to wipe it away.

The makeshift silk bandage was already soaked through. His eyes flitted open, but they didn't focus on anything before closing them a moment later. He groaned something, but the words were obscured by the gurgle of blood escaping them.

My hand found it's way around his. "I'm here, Ranger. It's ok, I'm here." His hand closed on mine and I felt my heart flutter weakly.

He opened his eyes a crack this time and I thought that maybe he could see me. But his head went slack and slumped back and I knew that it wasn't real. His breath rattled horribly and I knew he was going to die.

"He's lost a lot of blood. He's going into shock," Elias said behind me. His hand went to his side and a small flash lit us for a moment. "Move, I can help him."

I glanced over at the trainer through teary eyes. I saw the indistinct shape of a ghost, the cloak and cap shifting and warping as I watched.

"Move," Elias repeated. "it has to be now."

I hesitated for a heartbeat and another flash behind me broke the spell. His scizor grabbed me by the shoulders and hauled me off of Marcus' prone form.

"Misery, use pain split. Try to focus on his internal injuries, if you can."

The spectre lowered itself over Marcus, settling over his midsection. I could still see the blood soaked bandage through the ghost, could still see the blood spreading out beneath him.

Misery the mismagius began to glow softly. I heard bones cracking back into place, had the squelching of flesh knitting back together seared into my mind forever. Then it ended as quickly as it began, and the mismagius floated gently back towards her master.

The scizor let go of me, and I fell to my knees. I didn't look away from Marcus, just stared in horror at his blood soaked midsection.

"He's alive," Elias said coldly. "though I can't do any more for him."

I crawled over to Marcus and took his hand again. His breath was steady, and I no longer heard a dying rattle in his chest.

"Thank you," I said quietly. I couldn't muster the strength to speak louder. I looked up at Elias. "Thank you," I repeated.

"Janie?" Marcus croaked. My heart jumped into my throat. He was alive. He was conscious. "You… you're here…"

I almost didn't mind the use of the pet name. Almost. My arms found their way around him and I held my Ranger close. "You big, brave, reckless idiot," I sobbed. "you're alive."

He nodded in the embrace and squeezed me back with all the meagre strength he had. "How?"

I pulled back and gestured over at Elias. "Him," I said.

Marcus looked over and seemed to raised an eyebrow in surprise for half a moment. "Elias?" he asked. "You made it out."

Elias nodded. "Thanks to your porygon," he replied. "Damn computer locked down half the building, started turning environmental systems on the Rockets."

Marcus slumped back against the roof. "Good porygon," he said with an exhausted sigh.

He turned his head to look at me. "We have to get back up there," he said. "Leaf and Gemma are alone…" he went silent and I saw the terrified look in his eye.

"What?" I asked. It wasn't like Marcus to be hesitant in action. "Marcus, what is it?"

"They have a cyborg," he replied. "something straight out of a shitty sci-fi flick."

I glanced over at Elias. He shrugged and looked up at the burning top of Silph Tower.

"Leaf and Gemma aren't a match for it," Marcus continued. He tried to brace and force himself up. "We have to—"

He fell back, groaning in pain.

"You aren't going anywhere," I said. "you're sitting this one out, Ranger."

He shook his head. "Luna… Curie…" he glanced up at the tower. "Up there."

I nodded. "I'll help them," I replied. "you need a medic."

He shook his head again. "Need to—"

I silenced him with a furious kiss. I didn't care if anyone was there, if anyone saw. He had almost just died and still the stubborn bastard wanted to fight.

We separated and I gave him a hard stare. "You need a medic," I repeated. "I'll go, I'll stop them."

Elias was at my side. "We'll stay with him, make sure he gets a medic." He hesitated and I got the sense he was not used to being in this kind of situation. Still, he put on a brave face and nodded to me. "He'll be alright."

I nodded and looked down at Marcus.

"Don't die," he warned. "this thing is stronger than most pokemon."

"So am I," I replied. I flashed a confident grin and got to my feet. "Cyborg or not, I'm a badass. I've got this."

I returned Cherish to her ball and pulled out my gear. With a few commands, I set the auto-return function at fifty meters and slipped the device back into the pocket on my back.

Shimmer lifted me up onto her back again and I looked down at the three of them. "Get him to a healer," I said, hoping they took it as an order.

I looked upwards and squeezed my heels. Shimmer rocketed us into the air and towards the burning Jewel of Kanto.

The wind rushed through my hair, pulling my hood off. Shimmer flew us faster than she had ever gone before. I felt the g-forces press against me and held tightly to my venomoth. We suddenly decelerated and I felt Shimmer grab me with her telekinesis. I trusted in my pokemon and let go.

She catapulted me upwards through one of the shattered windows. I landed and rolled with the movement, sensing something moving on me.

A metal arm slammed through the floor, punching through the concrete with ease.

The cyborg.

I pulled my blade free, attempting a decapitating strike with my opening move. My katana clanged hard against the steel that ran up the left half of the man's neck and covered part of his face.

He grabbed the hilt of the blade and held it still. "Lady Anzu," he said in a cold metallic tone. "I've been waiting to test myself against you."

I reared back and slammed my forehead into his remaining human eye. He let go of the blade on instinct and I pushed off as hard as I could. We separated and I rolled backwards with the momentum.

He recovered from the assault and leered at me menacingly. "You will regret that," he said.

I flashed a grin and slowly pulled my hood up theatrically. I'd replaced the flashbang seal on Brutus' ball. All I needed was to keep his attention on me. "I honestly doubt that," I said. I looked him up and down derisively. "You look ridiculous, I can hardly focus on killing you."

The human half of his face snarled like an animal. "I am Rocket's perfect soldier. You will—"

I buried my face in my elbow and tapped the release on Brutus' ball with the same motion. Light and sound exploded as my drapion launched into action.

Brutus hit him in the chest, lifting him with both pincers. Support struts belatedly snapped out of the cyborg's legs, grabbing onto empty air. My drapion slammed him back down onto the floor, pinning the cyborg beneath him.

There was one quick movement and Brutus was sent flying. He hit the ceiling and bounced back to the floor. The cyborg stared back at me and then turned to Brutus, unconcerned about me.

Cherish was out a moment later. Brutus may have been my strongest pokemon, but my starter had a way of willing us to victory. She was oddly prescient for a bug and seemed to know my commands before I gave them.

"Cocoon slam!"

She snared the cyborg with a loop of silk and yanked viciously. The metal man jerked backwards and slammed into the floor. Cherish leapt forwards and began spraying her silk in an attempt to seal the cyborg to the floor.

A metal arm shot from the silk bonds and buried itself in Cherish's thorax. I swore loudly, tapping the return function on my starter's ball. She'd suffered worse injuries, but I needed to keep her in her ball until I could treat her.

My hand whipped to the next ball and I knew this was the deciding point. If I stopped this thing here I would win. If not, he'd burn through the rest of my team with ease. None of them had the physical durability to handle him.

I almost gagged on the stench. Only the years I'd spent training with my father had prepared me for this, and even then, Sludge had never smelled as bad as my father's muk had.

My amorphous blob of poison lurched into motion. The cyborg tore the silk off its torso just in time for Sludge to flood over it. I heard a brief metallic scream and then only muffled bubbling.

The silk wouldn't last long underneath Sludge. Neither would the cyborg. I hoped that the Silk would last longer.

He exploded from within Sludge, crashing headlong into the ceiling. I was on him as he fell, trying to impale him through his fleshy torso. The cyborg twisted and rolled away, my blade finding only hard concrete.

He spun his momentum into a flying kick that connected with the flat of my blade. It shattered under the impact and I lost my grip on the handle. The remnants of the blade skittered away from me.

I pressed the attack while he was still recovering from the kick, but he was just too damned fast. Every strike found a block. Every blow was intercepted or redirected away. He gave ground, but I could tell it was nothing more than a game to him. He was toying with me.

He lashed out while I was mid-strike, driving a metal fist into my chest. My attack was stopped dead as all the air was forced from my lungs. He followed up with a secondary blow to the midsection. I felt ribs crack and I soared backwards, tripping over my own feet and tumbling uncontrollably.

Brutus intercepted his next strike before he could finish me off. Both pincers wrapped around the cyborg's midsection and pinned his arms to his sides. I heard an almighty groan and watched as my drapion strained against the metal man's pushback.

My hand went to my belt, flipping open the hard container on my waist. The constant motion of battle had cracked and broken most of my black eggs, but I had one left. I pulled it from the container and whipped it into the cyborg's face.

The human part of him had seemingly burned most of his skin off when Sludge had laid on top of him. My black eggs were packed with a mixture of spices, glass, sand, and ash mixed with some of Shimmer's more potent poison and paralytic dust. The powder mixture was painful just to smell. To have it splattered across raw, burned flesh? It would be agony.

He screamed in utter pain, flailing wildly and breaking out of Brutus' grasp. The human half of his face was contorted in a scream, but the robotic eye was transfixed on me. He spun and kicked, catapulting Brutus through one of the shattered windows. I couldn't afford the time to worry, he'd be returned to his ball before he reached the ground.

Shimmer chose that moment to burst through the window. She carved a screaming furrow through the office, an iridescent beam of light smiting the cyborg from the side.

I'd seen that same signal beam carve clean through Gideon in Sevii. The metal man managed to turn and throw up his robotic arm just in time. His arm split the beam into a dozen spears of vibrant light, all of them carving paths through the destroyed office.

Shimmer disappeared into her ball as Sludge hit the cyborg again while he was distracted. My muk enveloped him once more and I prayed that we were doing some real damage.

The ceiling imploded, torrential streams of water washing through the sudden hole in the ceiling. I caught a glimpse of Sludge washing out one of the windows and held fast to one of the support columns. He'd be fine, I was the one in danger now.

The water rushed over, grabbing at me and trying to tear me out into open air. I held on for dear life, knowing that to let go meant death. Something heavy struck me in the waist and I felt the column slip from my grasp.

I scrabbled and tore and grabbed for anything I could. My hands found purchase on something and I prayed that it was solid enough to hold up to the sudden deluge.

A furious roar was met by a defiant bellow and I finally saw the source of the water. It was enormous, plated with metal that no doubt hid machinery like the cyborg. Both eyes glowed ominously red, and I knew that I wasn't going to be able to fight it.

I didn't have to. The creature bent over the cyborg, who had latched himself to the floor with the clamps on his legs. He'd collapsed and was twitching wildly, unable to keep his human eye open. Sludge had finally taken his toll.

The monstrous feraligatr gently lifted the cyborg, taking the time to growl at me menacingly. It turned, slowly plodding over to the shattered windows. I saw the cyborg's robotic eye find me again, and then they were gone.

A machamp landed in front of me, eyes darting around wildly. Its gaze settled on me and I saw the uncertainty plain on the pokemon's face.

"Holy shit," a woman's voice said. The machamp visibly relaxed as it looked up at the hole in the ceiling it had come through. "you actually beat him."

I looked up, through the hole into the floor above. She wore civilian clothes and had the telltale pack and belt of a trainer.

"Holy shit," she repeated. "Janine Anzu."

I smirked. It had to be Gemma, Marcus' friend inside Silph. "In the flesh," I replied. "You must be Gemma."

Her face morphed into a mask of worry. "Marcus, he got—"

"I caught him," I answered quickly. "He's hurt, but he's alive."

"Thank Mew," she breathed. "We were worried."

Another girl, younger than Gemma by at least ten years, stepped up to the hole. "The door at the top of that stairwell is sealed tight. Short of smashing down the wall, we aren't getting through."

I clambered up the pile of rubble that led up to the next level. Gemma hauled me up, taking my hand and lifting me to my feet.

Luna hit me from the side, smothering me with her warm tails. I felt her presence touch my mind with overwhelming gratitude as Curie wrapped her arms around me from behind.

"Domitian might be able to get through," Gemma said as her machamp leapt up through the other hole in the floor. "but we'll still-"

A flash of light blinded us momentarily. I blinked rapidly, trying to clear my eyes as quickly as I could, Luna and Curie wailing nervously. I staggered over towards the windows, in the direction of the source of the light.

A beam of violet energy erupted from the ground, several blocks away from the Tower. It hungrily reached towards the sky and then split suddenly in the air. It slowly came back down in curtains, creating a massive dome over the city.

"Sabrina," I whispered. The Saffron Gym Leader had finally made a move. We'd thought that she'd been taken out in the initial assault, but nobody had been able to get close enough to the gym to confirm anything. "What the hell are you doing?"

Leaf and Gemma approached the window behind me. Both of them were rubbing at their eyes, but were no doubt seeing the same thing.

Leaf seemed to be shuddering, as though she was freezing cold. She glanced around nervously as her breath quickened.

"What's happening?" Gemma asked, looking out at the glowing dome.

"It's so angry…" Leaf whispered. "I can feel its pain… its hate…"

We both turned to look at her. Her eyes were closed and her arms were huddled around her.

"It wants to…" she trailed off. Her eyes whipped open. "Oh my god, hold onto something."

I turned fearfully, scanning Saffron's hazy skyline. "I don't see-"

A blinding flash suddenly grew on the western horizon, cutting through the gloom and smoke with its brilliance. I sucked in a breath sharply. The light hit the shield and the world shook itself to pieces around us.

INDIGO ALERT — LEGEND-CLASS THREAT IMMINENT. ALL INDIGO TRAINERS ARE ENLISTED IN CIVIL DEFENCE. ALL TRAINERS ARE TO REPORT TO THE NEAREST POKEMON CENTRE FOR IMMEDIATE TELEPORT.

The building shook but it did not break. Silph was built of sturdier stuff than that. The psychic had done her job and Mewtwo's opening attack had been blunted. But now time was running out and he needed what he had come for.

The tall man leaned in towards the executive, a determined scowl on his face. "As you can see, Mr. Turner, our time is up. I need you to give me what I came here for." He leaned back and gestured out at the destruction. "Or else, everything dies."

The executive looked up at the Gym Leader." I can't give you the ball," he repeated. "You're a terrorist… you're evil…" he glanced around the room, his eyes finding the Champion lazily gazing out the window. "I can't—"

Giovanni slammed his hands down on the table, interrupting him. "I play the role that I must," he stated coldly. "I do what has to be done. I am the villain so that Kanto can survive, so that our heroes can rise to the coming cataclysm." He shook his head and leaned back. "Look at what is happening! Hoenn is in ruins! Indigo is on the precipice of collapse! Do you really think that we can stand against the gods without taking one for our own? Without harnessing that power for ourselves?"

He looked out at the broken skyline of Saffron. Buildings were falling and smoke clogged the air. Even through all the gloom, he could see that the forest surrounding Saffron's walls had been scoured from the earth. The walls themselves were little more than smoking piles of rubble.

"What is this?" the businessman asked fearfully.

Giovanni approached the window, looking out at the destruction. "This is my purpose," he began. "I play this part so that our species might survive. I play the villain because that is what must happen to save as many people as possible."

The Silph executive swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. "My family lives in the city… my daughter…"

"Then give me the ball," Giovanni said, never turning to face him. "and we will save as many as we can." He gestured over at Lance. "Why do you think the Champion is here?"

The executive leaned forward and flipped open a keypad on the conference table. He keyed in the passcode and a safe rose from the centre of the table. It whirred and clicked open.

Giovanni turned and strode back towards the table. He took the purple ball from the safe and inspected it carefully. "You may have just saved your family, Mr. Turner."

The Gym Leader looked over at the Champion. "Now, we must draw it in and weaken it."

"Are your heroes up to this?" asked the Champion. He looked out the window, staring across the broken city at the entity that Giovanni had created.

The Rocket leader joined him, scowling out at Mewtwo. The creature was his failure, a monument to his sins. "They must be," he replied. "or else all is lost."

Mewtwo stirred and disappeared into the billowing smoke.

Giovanni lifted a short range communicator and clicked it on. "General?" he asked.

"Yes, Giovanni?" came the reply.

"Activate the device."

There was a brief pause, then a flurry of commotion and light at the base of the tower. Screams of chaos rose, joined by an earth-shaking roar.

Elite Trainer KT#0621940

Fuchsia City Gym Leader

Janine Anzu, current team:

Cherish — Ariados

Brutus — Drapion

Shimmer — Venomoth

Sludge — Muk

Midnight — Crobat

Fog — Wheezing