Celadon SlugfestAsh faced Giovanni. "Let's go," he said. "Pick your Pokémon." As champion, Giovanni was obliged to pick first.
Giovanni nodded. "Very well, I choose Dugtrio." The three-headed Ground Pokémon exploded from its ball.
"Piece of cake," Ash said confidently. "Blastoise! I choose you!" The enormous shellfish Pokémon materialized opposite Dugtrio. "Blastoise! Hydro-Pump it now!"
"Dugtrio, Dig," Giovanni ordered. Dugtrio's three heads shot underground a split second before Blastoise's twin blasts of water shot through the space they had occupied. Seconds later, Dugtrio popped up, slamming hard against Blastoise.
However, Blastoise's shell was nearly impregnable, and it was only shaken. Before Dugtrio could disappear again, it loosed a blast of water, catching the Dugtrio square in the face. The Dugtrio slumped forward, knocked out. Ash was up by one.
Artemis, crouched in the rear seat of the minivan, watched intently as the crowd around the battlers continued to grow. Three more Rockets left their posts in the mart, which was now almost devoid of customers. Many of the salespeople were also gone.
"Down to twenty or so," Jenny said. The former policewoman was just as poised as Artemis, as were the other adult Resistance members. "It it time."
Artemis didn't respond at first. Another Rocket left, then another. Then nothing. Something told Artemis that the time wasn't going to get any better. "Now," she finally said sharply, and Major Surge flung the door open.
"Magneton, go!" Giovanni barked, and the magnet Pokémon popped out of its ball and floated forward. "Thunderbolt attack!"
"Blastoise, Earthquake," Ash instructed.
Magneton struck first. A purplish-white bolt of energy lanced from its body and hit Blastoise solidly. The huge Pokémon staggered and nearly fell, but then it brought its huge foot down, and the earth trembled. The seismic wave resonated up to Magneton and shook it from the inside out, disrupting its internal circuitry. It fell to the ground, spewing sparks. Blastoise looked half-dead, but remained on its feet.
"Is that the best you've got?" Ash taunted Giovanni.
Giovanni ignored the insult. "Machamp! Go!!" The four-armed Fighting Pokémon materialized, ready for action. "Machamp, Use your Seismic Toss!"
"Blastoise, Ice Beam," Ash ordered. A beam of icy energy shot from Blastoise's hydrocannon, staggering Machamp but not stopping it. A split second later, Machamp had grasped Blastoise and flung it to the ground. Blastoise did not move again. Ash's most powerful Pokémon was out of the fight.
The Rocket had proceeded into the doorway, intending to recall his comrades. He never got the chance. Surge didn't even bother to use either his weapon or a Pokémon. His fist connected with the Rocket's face, hard enough to send him flying through the glass windowpane at the front of the store.
Artemis threw a double-handful of Poké balls, releasing all of her Pokémon, then used her rifle to stun the nearest Rocket before he could release his. Two others nearby did release theirs, but to no avail. Artemis's Pokémon were trained to pick out targets, and they did, and Surge's pistol felled the trainers as well. Jenny's Pokémon, led by an Arcanine and two Growlithes, efficiently devastated another group.
"Jenny! You and your team secure the basement!" Artemis ordered. "Surge, you get the middle floors. I'll take the upper levels!"
Ash thanked his lucky stars that Artemis had let him keep her Hitmonlee. He unleashed it against Machamp, and the two Fighting Pokémon tore into each other. Hitmonlee landed a Rolling Kick. Machamp countered with a Karate chop. Hitmonlee used a Double Kick. Machamp landed a Low Kick. Hitmonlee drove home a Jump Kick. Machamp used Submission to devastating effect. Hitmonlee was staggering, but it managed another Jump Kick. Machamp could only absorb so much punishment. It sank to the ground, knocked out.
Giovanni sent out Jynx, and its Psywave quickly finished Hitmonlee. It had been savfagely beaten by the larger but slower Machamp. Ash's next Pokémon was one that Blaine had given him. "Ninetales! I choose you!"
The Fire Pokémon shrieked its battle cry as it leaped into action. Jynx's Ice Punch staggered it, but it countered with Fire Spin, and Jynx writhed in pain as the flames cascaded over it. It counterattacked with a Psybeam that shook Ninetales from nose to tailtips, but then Ninetales' Fire Spin hit it a second time, and Jynx's part in the battle was over.
Ash calculated that Giovanni was down to two Pokémon, and one would have to be Persian. If the latter was his prize Pokémon, it would probably fight last.
Artemis's Flareon took point at they went upstairs breathing a cloud of 2000-degree fire ahead of it. The Rockets and their Pokémon that opposed them either retreated or fainted.
"Gengar, go!" Artemis shouted as they reached the fifth floor, second from the top. "Everybody down!" Her team and their Pokémon hit the floor seconds before Gengar used Explosion, and everyone on the floor went flying as the shock wave hit them. Artemis took the floor with minimal difficulty. Only the top floor remained, and it would have more Rockets than any of the others.
"Giovanni calls Pidgeot," Giovanni said calmly, and a hundred pounds of feathers, beak, and talons materialized. "Pidgeot, Whirlwind!"
Pidgeot flapped its winds, and an incredible gust of wind picked Ninetales up and threw it against a wall. Ninetales countered with a Flame Blast, which missed. Pidgeot used a near-sonic Quick Attack, and Ninetales was out of the fight.
"All right," Ash said. "Nidorino! Go! Use your Thunderbolt Attack!"
The Poison Pin Pokémon materialized and obeyed. Had it been an Electric type, it might have done the job, but electric attacks used by non-electric Pokémon were weaker. Electricity lanced through Pidgeot's body, and the Flying Pokémon was hurt, but it somehow managed to stay in the air. Pidgeot countered with a brutal Fly attack, knocking Nidorino out of the fight.
Ash considered sending Pikachu out, but decided not to. He would need its power against Persian. "Persian, your turn!" The sleek, creamy cat leaped into battle. "Use your Bubblebeam!" Ash ordered.
Persian shot a blast of bubbles at Pidgeot. Pidgeot countered with Fly, but Persian evaded the attack and used Fury Swipes, and Pidgeot tumbled from the sky. Giovanni was down to his last Pokémon.
One of Artemis's teammates shrieked as a neutron pulse blew her apart. The top level had been as full of Rockets as she had anticipated, and they had been entrenched solidly. Not even Gengar's second Explosion had been enough to soften them up, and if their weapons had Stun settings, they weren't using them.
Flareon and Ivysaur had fainted in the battle. As Artemis watched, Wigglytuff fired off a final round of Solar Pulses (taught by TM), then went down under heavy attack.
Artemis continued to press on. the president's office was only a few yards away, and once she controlled it, she would be able to secure the store. If she couldn't get there, then all of the deaths and injuries would be for nothing.
"Gengar, go!" Giovanni shouted.
Ash felt a chill. He had believed that Giovanni only had six Pokémon, and that Persian was his last one. he had been wrong. And Persian's attacks would not be very effective against a Ghost type.
"Persian, use your Bubble Beam again!" Ash shouted. The bubbles hit Gengar, but they weren't very effective.
"Gengar, Night Shade," Giovanni said. Waves of darkness emanated from Gengar, and Persian collapsed to the ground, badly weakened. "All right. Hypnosis attack! Now!" Persian, already quite weak, could not shrug that off. It fell over in a heap.
"Persian, return!" Ash ordered. "All right, Pikachu. It's up to you now!" And the little yellow electric mouse leaped into the ring.
The head Rocket crouched back against the wall of his office, holding the screaming young girl in front of him, the gun pressed to her head. "Back off or I'll kill her! I swear, I'll do it! Get out of here!"
Artemis could have told him to let her go, but she knew that it would be an exercise in pointlessness. She spun the setting switch on her rifle to Maximum, then pulled the trigger. The charge of neutrons hit the Rocket leader square in the face, with horrifying results. The girl shrieked as her tormentor's corpse hit the floor behind her.
Artemis checked the top floor, then spoke into her radio. "Artemis here. Top floor secure. One fatality on my side. Several Pokémon down as well."
The others reported in immediately. They had also secured their areas. Jenny had lost a team member as well. Surge had taken his objective without losing anyone. Hundreds of dead and fainted Pokémon littered the floors, but the only ones left standing were those belonging to Resistance members.
The celadon Department Store was in the hands of the Resistance.
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Ash yelled, and lightning lanced through Gengar.
"Gengar, Licki!" Giovanni roared. Pikachu shivered horribly as Gengar's tongue passed over it, but came through with another Thunderbolt, then nimbly dodged a Night Shade. The waves of dark energy swept through the milling crowd, causing many of them to turn greenish and faint.
"Pikachu, use your Agility! Keep those Thunderbolts coming!" Ash shouted.
Pikachu obeyed. Time and again, it skittered about, landing bolt after bolt of electricity. It darted around Gengar's body. It rolled through its legs. It even jumped through it once. Gengar landed two more Licks and a Night Shade, but could not get Pikachu to stay still long enough for a Hypnosis attack. The crowd was screaming deliriously, oblivious to the carnage at Celadon Pokémon Mart.
Finally, though, Pikachu's luck ran out. It feinted, rolled itself through Gengar's legs, and then froze as the Ghose Pokémon wheeled and used its Hypnosis attack. Waves of sleepiness struck the yellow Pokémon, causing its knees to get very weak.
"Pikachu, hit it!" Ash bellowed. "Thunder Attack." He realized too late that Pikachu had forgotten Thunder, so that it could learn the similarly powerful but more accurate Thunder Beam. "I mean Thunderbolt!"
It was too late. Pikachu unleashed the attack that was closest to Thunder. A precision beam of electrical energy exploded from its little body and struck Gengar solidly. The Ghost Pokémon was struck solidly between its glowing red eyes. It dropped without a sound. Giovanni had lost.
Misty and Nicky stared in horror at the scene before them, the fallen Gengar, the weary Pikachu, and their respective trainers. Ash had won his battle, but he had blown their cover.
Ash had been hoping that Pikachu's accidental use of the Thunderbeam attack would go unnoticed, but he quickly realized that his hopes were in vain.
"I've never seen that move before!"
"What was that? It wasn't a Thunder attack, that's for sure!"
"I've seen it before! The Resistance uses that move!"
"Get him!" Rockets converged on Ash from all sides. Pikachu stopped the first wave of them with a blast of electricity, but the second group plowed into Ash. Someone's fist slammed into his face, and he tasted blood. He heard Pikachu's squeal of pain as it was downed as well.
Ash hoped that at least Nicky and Misty would be ignored, but no such luck. The three of them were thrust together into the middle of the ring. Misty's clothes were dirty, and Nicky's left eye was already starting to close. He would have a nice shiner the next day, assuming any of them lived that long.
Giovanni walked slowly up to Ash, smiling menacingly. "So, young man. You really had us going there. But why? What was so important that three of you come down here and put yourselves and your Pokémon at risk?" He backhanded Ash across the face, hard. Blood from Ash's freshly split lip mingled with the blood that was already gushing from his nose. "Why? What were you up to?"
"Go suck on a Muk," Ash wheezed.
Giovanni drew back his fist, and Ash knew that this time it wouldn't be a backhand, but the impact never came. Instead, a voice did.
"The Resistance! They just took over Celadon Mart!"
Giovanni spun. "What?!"
The Team Rocket guard that Surge had punched through the window was bleeding from a dozen nasty glass cuts, but he had managed to get to the Pit, leaving a trail of scarlet droplets behind him. "A whole bunch of them! They've hit the whole place!"
Giovanni nodded wrathfully. "While we were occupied with this bunch. I see. Very clever." He reached into his suit and pulled out a wicked-looking knife. "Well, they'll trouble us no more, that's for sure." He grasped Ash's shirt with one hand, drew back the weapon, then stopped. "No. You'll go last, I think. You can watch me gut your two friends first."
"It doesn't matter, you sack of Grimer puke," Nicky spat at him. "Team Rocket is dead meat anyway."
"Tough talk for a little guy," Giovanni said. "Well, if you want to be first, that's fine." He grabbed Nicky by the hair and drew back his weapon.
"HOLD IT!" bellowed a familiar voice.
Giovanni turned, then sighed. "Get out of here, James. This isn't your business."
The tall, purple-haired teen shook his head. "Everything that happened today is Ares's business. He's going to want to ask these three some questions, and they can't answer his questions if they are dead, can they?"
"I think it's plain what happened," Giovanni said, lowering the knife but keeping it in his hand. "These three lured the Celadon Mart guards away from their posts. The Resistance troops attacked while our guard was down. Now they've got the whole department store under their control."
"And they're also trapped," James said boredly. "There's no way out of the place except for the front and back entrances. Cover both sides. I think Ares will be interested in this one." He indicated Ash. "He was one of the three involved in the Lavender attack. He may know where Artemis and the other leaders are."
"Like Blaine," Giovanni mused. "I'd love to get him working for us."
"Well, when this young fellow sings like a bird, we should have Blaine in our stable," James said. He grabbed Ash, shook him viciously, and flung him against the ground.
"But will he sing?" Giovanni wanted to know.
James rested his boot on Ash's back. "When Bart, Ares's interrogation expert, is chopping off his friends' fingers? Or roasting his beloved Pikachu alive in an oven? He'll tell us anything we want to know."
Giovanni grinned savagely. "I'd like to see that."
"I know. You're invited to come along. We can watch Bart in action from the lounge, drink beer and scarf tortilla chips and dip. It'll be even more fun than carving them up."
The next few minutes were a nightmare. Ash, Misty, and Nicky were tied up, tight enough to lacerate their wrists and ankles, then tied together. Picky and Pikachu were forced into Poké balls. Several Rockets took the opportunity to slap, kick, or punch them, and the ill-treatment only ended when a VTOL miniplane bearing the Team Rocket logo landed in the middle of the Pit.
The three battered youngsters were dragged roughly over to the waiting aircraft and flung into the cargo compartment. Nicky's head struck a bulkhead, knocking him senseless. The cargo bay door hissed shut, and Misty and Ash lay together in the dark, listening to the shouts and jeers of the Rockets outside.
"Nice going, LIEUTENANT!" Misty said sarcastically.
"I'm sorry," Ash said. "I forgot that Pikachu no longer knew that attack."
"Tell that to my fingers," Misty said. "I've seen Bart in action. He really does things like that."
"I've seen him, too," Ash said.
"I hope you like broiled Pikachu," Misty said.
"It's not over yet," Ash said.
"Oh yeah?" Misty sneered. "We're tied up, in the cargo hold of a plane, without our Pokémon or weapons, and one of us is out cold. So how do we get out of this one?" The plane shuddered, then began to ascend.
"I don't know," Ash admitted. "I wish I did, but I don't. We'll figure something out."
"That's bull****," Misty snapped. "You screwed up, Ash, and now all three of us are going to die. Congratulations."
Ash was silent for a minute, then he started as the plane set down with a bump. "What? That was a short flight. Was Ares here, in Celadon?"
"No," Misty said coldly. "He lives in Saffron City."
"We can't be there already."
"We're not," Misty said. "Maybe they can't wait. Maybe Ares called them and told them not to bother, to just dispose of us here."
The cargo door slid open with a whine, and people flooded in. People in Resistance uniforms. Someone produced a knife and began cutting their ropes. Freed, they stepped out of the aircraft, and were amazed to see that the plane had set down on the vast rooftop cafe atop Celadon Mart.
"Nicky's hurt," Ash said. "He hit his head." Major Surge nodded and gently picked the boy up, then carried him down the stairs. "What's going on? I thought they were going to take us to Ares."
Artemis was also present. "I can answer that one." The plane's passenger compartment opened up, revealing James, who was dragging Giovanni by the arm, and poking a pistol into his ribs. "James was working for us."
Giovanni spat at the teen. "Traitor."
"Traitor I may be," James smiled at him. "But I have you, don't I? And I'm thinking that you probably know some things that the Resistance can use. After all, you were a member of Ares' inner circle for awhile."
"You'll get nothing from me," Giovanni said. "You don't have Bart's guts."
"Torture may not be my thing, but I know a few tricks," Jenny said. "Let's go." She and James hustled Giovanni downstairs.
"Have a seat, both of you," Artemis said, handing both of them icepacks and wet towels to clean themselves up. "I heard what happened at the end of your battle, Ash. Why did you command your Pikachu to use Thunderbeam?"
"I didn't." Ash explained what had happened. When it was over, Artemis nodded.
"I understand now," she said. "But you still fouled up, and blew your cover, and Giovanni might have killed you all before James could intervene. In addition, you forced him to step in, and that cost me one of my best spies. James can't go back to Team Rocket; he'll be killed on sight."
Ash stared down at the tiles. "I'm sorry."
"So am I. Misty, you and Nicky performed admirably. I'll be promoting you to Lieutenant soon. I'd do it right away, but then Nicky would wonder why I hadn't promoted him as well. He's just not ready for that yet. In any case, both of you will receive our highest award for bravery, and I'll let you skip morning exercises for a week."
"That's cool. Will I be running a team?" Misty wanted to know.
"You and Nicky will be working together," Artemis explained. "As for you, Ash, you only made the one mistake, so I won't be demoting you. However, you're no longer leading the team. I have a different assignment for you. We'll talk about it tomorrow."
Ash nodded. "I really am sorry about..."
"If it makes you feel better, capturing Giovanni was worth far more to us than losing James," Artemis said. "He knows a great deal about Team Rocket. And we're going to pick his brains clean."
Just then, a familiar young man emerged from downstairs, with two Resistance troopers befind him. Both of the latter were pointing guns at him.
Ash was amazed. "That's Steven! He's the guy who almost beat Misty."
"How'd he get in here?" Artemis asked sharply. "I thought the outer defenses were activated."
"They are," one of the troopers said. "There was a flash of light, and this guy was just standing there."
"What are you doing here?" Artemis asked Steven.
"I want to join up with you guys," Steven responded. "I hate Team Rocket, and I want to help you fight them off."
Artemis nodded. "Take him to Jenny." Officer Jenny's Alakazam was their chief interrogator. If Steven was a Team Rocket spy, the Alakazam would know it, and he would be thrown out.
Five minutes later, Steven returned, flanked by Jenny and her Alakazam. "He's on our side," Jenny said.
"All right, Steven is it?" At Steven's nod, Artemis continued. "Welcome to the organization. Jenny can find you a uniform, I think, and we'll see about getting you more Pokémon as well."
"Cool," Steven said. "One question. This place is surrounded by Team Rocket. How will you escape?"
"With the defenses up, they'll never get in," Jenny said.
"He's right though," Misty chimed in. "How will we get the supplies out? Or ourselves out?"
Artemis looked at her watch. "Funny you should ask that question. The answer should arrive in about three minutes. Come on."
They rode the elevator all the way down to the basement, which was also an armory of sorts, filled with neutron power sources, Poké balls, and weapons randing from crossboys and powder-fired guns to neutron pulse rifles. Nicky was already there. He looked slightly addled, but he was awake.
"Is Nicky OK?" Ash asked Surge, who was also there.
"He's gonna be fine," the huge Magor rumbled. "He's just got a headache."
"I'm not surprised," Misty quipped. "He has a head like a rock."
"Go French-kiss a Gyarados," Nicky told her.
"Shhh," Ash told them. "Listen!"
It was a song, very quiet, but growing louder by the minute. "Diglettdigdiglettdigdiglettdigdiglettdigdiglettdigdiglettdigdiglettdig..."
"It's a bunch of Diglett!" Nicky shouted.
"Diglett? Where'd we get a bunch of Diglett?" Misty wanted to know.
"From the best Diglett trainer in Kanto," Artemis responded.
Just then, a little brown head popped up. "Diglett!"
"Looks like they're here," Artemis said. In moments, twenty-five or thirty Diglett had popped up, then widened the hole until it was a tunney seven or eight feet across. One by one, Nurse Joy, Blaine, and little Emily emerged from the hole (Nurse Joy made a beeline for Nicky, knowing that he was injured). They were followed by a black-bearded man in a yellow hardhat.
"Hello," the man in question said. "You must be Ash. It's good to meet you. I am Heinrich."
Ash would have recognized that German accent anywhere. This man, in another reality, had been a construction engineer who had been trying to bash in the Diglett's heads with a sledge hammer. "Nice to meet you."
"The tunnel connects with our bases in Lavender Town and Aquamarine Village," Artemis explained. "And the Rockets don't even know it exists."
"So now we have footholds in three places," Jenny added. "And enough Poké balls and weapons to outfit an army."
"Not to mention Enhancers, TM's, and Evolution stones," Misty added.
"Right," Artemis said. "Now, it's time to discuss the next phase."
James entered the room. "Good, you guys are here. Ash and Nicky, I believe these belong to you." He handed them each a Poké ball.
Ash and Nicky both released their Pikachu and hugged them tightly. The two Pikachu hugged them back, then hopped down on the floor and rubbed cheeks with each other, kicking up sparks.
Misty smiled. "Looks like your Pikachu like each other."
Neither Ash nor Nicky knew what to say to that.
Artemis smiled slightly. "It's time for us to discuss the next phase. Ash, in my office. Now."
© Oddish c.2000
