Chapter 89 – Naked and afraid

The Halberd...

"These are seriously the kids who have been disrupting our field agents." Matori's face twisted into a sneer as she spoke. She peered through her glasses at the four boys bound and gagged in front of her. "There nothing more than a bunch of juvenile misfits. They look like they've barely hit puberty..."

In all the time Ash had faced Team Rocket, he had never felt as vulnerable or as frightened as he did now. Brought aboard the Halberd, Team Rocket had wasted no time in restraining them. That was to be expected, but Team Rocket hadn't just tied him and Cameron up. They had the two boys to strip down to their underwear, threatening to make their hypnotised Pokémon it does it to them if they didn't comply.

"You can either strip to your undies, or I can have Koraidon, Charizard, Zoroark and Lucario here rough you up a bit, and tear your clothes from you," Butch had threatened them in his gravelly voice. "And don't think they won't do it. Thanks to our new and improved Pokémon control device your friends no longer have any sense of self, and they can't access the memories needed to trigger the emotional response. Even your mates won't hesitate to hurt you."

Cassidy put on a demonstration. "Raise your right paw," she trilled.

Ash felt a lump rise in his throat as he watched Pikachu, Ashachu, Charizard, Zacian, Hunter and the others raised the right paws and claws into the air without a whisper of resistance of protest. Their eyes had become a dark pupilless red.

"And you left," said Cassidy.

In one synchronised motion the Pokémon, Axew, Geyser, Flygon, Lucario and the rest, each lowered their paws and raised the other.

"P-Pikachu," he croaked in a hoarse voice. "Ashachu. C-can you hear me?"

None of them gave so much as a twitch of their ear or tail at the sound of his voice. They just stood motionless with their paws in their air, awaiting the next command.

"The exits are located at the front and rear of the aircraft."

Pikachu and the others turned on the spot, lifting each arm in turn to gesture towards each end of the Halberd. A grizzly parody of an airline safety demonstration, just to reinforce the point that their Pokémon were now Team Rocket's puppets.

And as if there was any doubt... "See, we can make them beat you up, then do a safety demonstration," said Cassidy smugly. "Now strip, chop chop!"

"You heard her," rumbled Butch. "Clothes off, and hands in the air."

It was Cameron who had made the first move. He gave Lucario one desperate look, before giving a heavy sight and forcefully tearing off his shirt. Ash followed, closing his eyes and his shed his jacket and pulled his shirt over his head. He did not want to see the expressions on Cassidy or Butches faces as he revealed his body to them. He kept them shut as the two of them secured his hands to metal cuffs dangling from the ceiling, which were mechanically raised until he was forced to stand on the balls of his feet with his arms in the air above him.

"What are you going to do with us," asked Cameron. "What are you going to do with our Pokémon?" Ash hated hearing the defeated and desperate tone in his voice. Surely, he was not prepared to give up now.

"Oh, don't worry hehehe," Cassidy giggled. "You'll be alright."

"We'll let you go once the operation is complete," grumbled Butch. "This actually has nothing to do with you. It's Necrozma the boss wants."

"We don't waste our time chasing around basic Pokémon like Pikachu the way Jessie and James do," said Cassidy. "But you twerps sure have a habit of getting in our way."

"Although now we have Pikachu," added Butch. "And all these other nice Pokémon. I'm sure the boss would be very appreciative to have them..."

The two of them laughed. The sound of their laughter sent a chill down Ash's spine. When he eventually did open his eyes again, it was just in time to see the last of his Pokémon disappearing into the distance. It was Zacian and she didn't so much as turn her head as she marched.

"Shit." Ash felt a lump rise in his chest, and he had to force himself to breath to avoid being overtaken by panic. He turned his head to his left, to Cameron restrained beside him. Tears of either anguish or anger were streaming down his face. "What in the distortion world do we do now."

The room they had been restrained in, wasn't so much a room as the end of a long wide hallway. It contained nothing except a long series of glass and steel tubes staked one on top of the other. From within the glass something was giving off an eerie blue glow...and a lot of heat. It was stiflingly warm. Within only a few moments of their captivity, sweat was running down the boys bodies, soaking their underwear.

They were not alone down here. There were two other boys restrained on either side of them. Naked save for a pair of tatty underwear and with their hands tied above their heads. Indeed, Ash and Cameron had been shocked to find them when they had first been brought here by Butch and Cassidy. It was Jimmy and Gladion.

"Mmmm MMMMMMM."

Unlike Ash and Cameron, they had been gagged, albeit crudely. A strip of tape had been placed over their mouths preventing them from speaking. They could only communicate or single to Ash through muffled grunting and facial expressions. And, of course, without the use of their hands they had no way of removing it. Except perhaps one...

"Wait I got an idea," said Cameron. He leaned his head to each side so as to wipe his eyes on his arms. "If we can get close enough, I might be able to bite that tape off you."

"MMMMMMMMMMM." Jimmy and Gladion gave him a wide-eyed stare.

"Well do you have a better idea?"

Neither responded.

"Right, if we just shuffle, AHHHH." Cameron tried to move closer to Jimmy. Although they were tightly restrained by their hands, there were no cuffs on their ankles or feet. Even so, the extent to which their arms had been pulled above their heads allowed for very little freedom of movement. Another inch and they would have been hanging by their wrists. Cameron was unable to maintain his balance and tripped, stumbling into Ash who in turn knocked into Gladion. Like a human newton's cradle.

"Okay, okay," said Cameron. "That was a bad idea. What if we hook our legs together..."

"MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!"

[Pokémon]

"No no," Dragonite whimpered. "S-stay away from me." Dragonite had once been one of the most powerful dragon type in southern Galar, but he cowered at the Pokémon standing over him. Of course, he was in no condition to fight, being in the middle of the process of laying an egg. His abdomen racked with pain and his eyes swimming with tears.

His assailant was a Dracovish; a dragon type and one of the strangest Pokémon around. It had the head of a fish and the back legs and tail that were vaguely similar to a Charizard or Charmeleon's, except longer and stockier and covered in green scales with three bony plates protruding from its torso, which was double over itself. Presumably from the weight of its giant fish like head.

Dragonite shuffled backwards, pressing himself into the corner. He had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. He was backed into the corner. Any direction he tried to run, Dracovish would pouch on him. He couldn't muster the strength to fly away, and even so the ceiling was not high enough to make that a viable option. Normally, he would fight. But when he tried to power up a dragon pulse attack, he just felt pain in his belly.

"Ahhhh." He doubled over and fell to his knees. His vison swam as he started to cry. "Please no. W-why are you doing this! Y-you're a p-Pokémon too. aren't we kin."

Dragonite wasn't talking to Dracovish. It was doubtful it understood what he was saying anyway. No, his comment was aimed at the cat like Pokémon standing in the shadows behind Dracovish. He was talking to Meowth. Meowth pulled a face but didn't say anything. He was holding in his paws, an orange and white egg. His paws caressed it softly, hugging it against his chest, though he seemed to be avoiding looking at it, with his eyes firmly fixed on Dracovish.

"Draaa-covish!"

The fish like dragon creature attacked, sensing Dragonite's vulnerability in that moment. It ran forward and in a flash was upon him. Dragonite lifted his head up as he heard him coming and had just enough time to see Dracovish giant fish like head next to his. It was roundly circular with a rounded triangular plate on top. On the plate was a red and white region extending between is eyes. It eyes were round bugles with black pupils. And then there was its mouth; wide with three harp teeth in the middle. Two fins protruded from the bottom of its jaw.

"Covish!"

And then everything when dark. Dragonite could hardly believe what was happening. Dracovish had swallowed his head. Open it's jaws wide and bitten down on Dragonite's head. Dracovish was, of course, too big to swallow Dragonite whole. But its maw was large enough to fit the other dragon type's entire head inside. It's sharp teeth drug into Dragonite's neck and shoulders, holding him in place.

"What the fuck. Let me go, it's dark and smelly in here."

Poor Dragonite had no ability to fight, or even to struggle. His instinct was to thrash about, and to lash out at Dracovish with his free claws. But he had no strength to do so, and instead just went limp. And that was when he felt a massive pain in his abdomen and his muscles started to clench.

"F-fuuck!"

It was happening, the egg was coming. He was laying, his body pushing the egg from him. He had no way of stopping it. And then, to his horror, he felt a pair of furry paws under his tail, sliding up to his tailhole. Meowth was going to catch the egg as it...well, as it fell out of him.

"W-what are y-you d-doing! Wha...AHHHHHH...No...No you c-can't have my e-egg."

It happened very quickly after that. Try as he might to keep the egg within him, where it would be safe from Meowth, but his body wasn't going to allow that to happen. He tried to resist as he felt his muscles contract again, squeezing the egg out of him. In a matter of minutes, it was all over. The egg plopped out of his tailhole and into Meowth's waiting arms.

"Ahhh!"

Dragonite slumped forward. He was panting heavily. An unpleasant experience when all he had to breath was the stagnant air side Dracovish's maw. He soon felt lightheaded. On the plus side, his strength was returning to him. He managed to get back onto his feet, standing hunched over with his head still trapped in Dracovish's mouth. He stamped his feet on the ground, trying to push forward. He was still too weak to do anything to Dracovish.

"Alright, let 'em go," ordered Meowth.

"Pua!" Dracovish spat him out.

Dragonite dropped to the floor as his head and shoulders were freed. He fell back to the ground, laying still for a moment, before heaving himself up. He raised his claws to wipe the thick coat of saliva coating his head from his eyes. The first thing he saw once his eyes were clear of the spittle, were the eggs Meowth was now carrying under his arms. The red one, he knew belonged to Charizard, and the other, powder blue in colour with a circle of white at the base. His egg...

"M-Meowth. G-give me m-my egg."

Meowth looked at him with an odd expression on his face. Was it pity? " 'fraid I can't do dat, big fella."

"P-please," cried Dragonite, tears welling up in his eyes once again. "Let me hold my egg. I just want to hold my egg."

"Draaa." Dracovish moved so he was directly in front of Meowth. A defensive position. He lent forward, opening and closing his jaws and growling at Dragonite. A warning.

"T-the Dratini in there is only a baby. I-I need to be with it when it hatches," Dragonite sobbed. He wondered why, in this desperate situation, his instinct to fight to defend his offspring had failed him. "If you have a heart. Or any sense of a conscience. You'd give me my egg. You've still got me. Just let me be with my hatchling."

Whatever Meowth thought of that, he didn't have a chance to respond. At that moment, Butch and Cassidy came up from behind him, followed by the trail of Ash and Cameron's hypnotised Pokémon. They were both silent, saying nothing to Meowth, nor even acknowledging he was there. Butch raised a gauntlet covered hand and pointed it at Dragonite.

And Dragonite's mind went blank...

[Pokémon]

"Almost there...Just hang on and stop whining."

It was a bizarre and, even in this situation, erotic sight. Cameron had managed to wrap his legs around Jimmy's and get them around his waist. This raised his body a little higher and gave him some slack in the chains restraining his arms. Enough to put his face against Jimmy's and try to tease and pull the strip of tape off his mouth.

"Mmmmm MMMMMMMMMM." Jimmy, his body bearing the weight of Cameron's body on his and with a lot of Cameron's slobber now cover his face, groaned in protest.

Ash watched incredulously at this bizarre, restrained tussle. His cock was straining annoying against his underwear at the sight of the two bare-chested boys rubbing against each other, in spite of the seriousness of the situation.

"I've almost got it. Keep still," grunted an annoyed Cameron. He had managed to get a corner or the tape to peel back. Enough to bit down on with this teeth and pull. Slowly. Very slowly. The tape came free, until Jimmy had the use of his voice back.

"Ahh. Dude, what the hell," he snapped, glaring at Cameron.

"Hey, it worked didn't it," Cameron protested, as he freed his legs from Jimmy's waist and rebalanced himself on the balls of his feet. "Not like we had a lot of choice."

"That was wrong on so many levels."

Cameron sighed and rolled his eyes. "Really. We're both boys. We both like other boys. We've both seen each other naked before."

"And I have a mate," said Jimmy. "So do you!"

"Yeah, mates who are both in real damage if we don't work out how to get out of this," Cameron replied. "Now how'd did you end up here in the first place." He looked briefly at Ash and added, "You can do Gladion."

But Gladion shook his head furiously at this suggestion. "MMMNNNNNN!"

"After I left you in the Hoenn region, Typhlosion, Nova and I headed back home to the Johto Region," explained Jimmy. "But we ran into those two creeps from Team Rocket in the Sevii Island. What are their names."

"Jessie and James." Ash felt the names burn in his mouth as he said them.

Jimmy shook his head. "Nah, the other two."

"Cassidy and Biff," offered Cameron.

[Pokémon]

Meanwhile...

"THE NAME IS BUTCH," Butch bellowed angrily. "WHO SAID BIFF."

Cassidy, who hadn't heard anything, rolled her eyes. "Will you get your head in the game and stop being paranoid. Matori wants us on the primary flight deck, and we need to store these Pokémon."

[Pokémon]

"They were trying to capture a Groudon," Jimmy continued.

"Groudon," replied Cameron. "Isn't that the legendary Pokémon from the Hoenn region."

"One of them, yes," said Jimmy. "Apparently it migrates between the active volcanoes. We tried to stop from capturing, but weren't able to, and they caught Nova in the process."

Ash and Cameron went wide eyed at that.

"What?"

Jimmy pursed his lips and nodded. "They took Groudon and Nova away in a boat somewhere far out in the ocean. I managed to sneak onboard after them and hide away below deck. We were on the ocean for about two days when they stopped in the middle of nowhere and this thing. This giant vehicle rose out of the sea like a submarine. They took Nova and Groudon onboard. Typhlosion and I snuck on after them, but we were ambushed and captured."

"How much have you been able to find out about it, or what Team Rocket are up to," asked Cameron.

"This ship's called the Halberd," replied Jimmy. "It was a secret government project that Team Rocket stole. It's engines and it's cannons are powered by aura, just like the Centurion."

"Just like the ultimate weapon," muttered Ash.

"That's why they needed Groudon and why they took Nova as well. Their draining their energy to power the ship."

"Do you know where they're holding Groudon," asked Cameron.

"You're thinking, if we free him the ship loses it's power source."

Cameron nodded.

"Somewhere at the back." Jimmy flicked his head backwards down the hall. "That's what these pipe is for." He indicated to the glowing glass tubes beside them running the length of the hallway. "They transmit energy through the ship."

"Do you know why they stole the vessel," said Cameron. "What this is all for?"

"Yeah. They need it to capture Necrozma. It's this ultra-powerful type of Ultra Beast that has the power to eat or steal sunlight. In the local Alolan legends they call it the blinding one."

Ash grimaced. "Yeah, we know. Lusamine said it was coming to steal the Alola region. She wanted to use Geyser to battle it."

Jimmy raised his eyebrows at this. "What. Team Rocket seemed convinced that Necrozma was imprisoned at Aether Paradise. The Halberd was to be used to mount an attack."

It was Ash's turn to look surprised. His heart thundered in his chest as he experienced a pang of fear and anger in the pit of his stomach. "So, the Aether Foundation had Necrozma all along. Lusamine lied to us. She told us Alola was in danger."

Cameron clicked his tongue, tutting. "Does that really surprise you."

"MMMNNNNN!" There was another muffled groan from Gladion, but Ash and the others were too engrossed in conversation to notice.

"What about Team Plasma. Where to they fit into this," Cameron continued.

Jimmy shrugged. Or, at least he did his best to, given how little freedom his shoulders had to move. "No idea. They're not part of Team Rocket's plan. They're probably here for Necrozma too. They are rival villains after all."

"So, if we can get to the chamber where Groudon, we can free him and end this nonsense," Cameron concluded.

"If you can work out a way to get us free from these chains," replied Jimmy. "Gladion and I have been here for hours."

Cameron looked up at the chains above his head and bit his lip. "Oh yeah! Well, they've got to free us at some stage, right."

"Don't count on it."

"No, but I might be able to help you there," came a voice out of the shadows. It made the four boys jump and nearly lose their footing again. This was followed by the giggle.

The hallway was not lit other than from the light coming from the glass tubes, leaving the edge of the hall in shadows. Plenty of places to hide. And so, from out of those shadows, stepped a large draconic lizard like Pokémon with a feathery mane on his head and a coy grin on his face.

"Koraidon," Ash exclaimed.

"Hola Amanté!"