Gengar and Haunter led us into the building, with Gawain and Hypnotoad following behind them.
Outside, the building had blended in with the valley wall, with a few sparse windows that initially looked like cave entrances. From closer up, I could see that they were large sunlights that allowed light to filter down into a much larger structure.Much to my, and the others' surprise, even with Sabrina's map, we didn't instantly walk into a building, however.Instead, we walked into a long hallway of narrow, uncovered tunnels that caused us to walk single file. I instantly didn't like it.It was like walking through a trench, only the trench was too deep to allow you to peer out of. It was, in fact, a chokepoint. "Shrek, hop up there," I said, jerking my head upwards.Gengar noticed the order and turned. "Geng, gen, gaaaaar!" he said mockingly.I frowned and shook my head. "I'm not sure I follow."Jenny stepped up. "I think Gengar is saying that he's already cleared out the Team Rocket members that would have held this chokepoint."Jenny's announcement of what we were walking through caused a few of the police officers to stiffen. They quickly threw some pokeballs up onto the upper level. A few Machoke got on their knees and tried to lift up their trainers, only for the gap to be too tall.I hummed and started looking along the tunnel walls.The open tunnel was a trick I'd heard Surge mention once about allowing defenders to have the high ground while limiting the flow of attackers. According to him, there would be hidden ladders in the walls that would allow defenders to reach the upper level, where they could launch attacks."Check the walls for inbuilt ladders!" I called, moving further along. After twenty metres, I found a door embedded in the wall that I couldn't open from my side. "Get one of the Machoke—" I started to say, only for the door to click and open to reveal the pleased face of Gengar.He waved me on, and I followed up a circular staircase that allowed me to walk out onto the raised level overlooking the entry tunnel. I found a number of snoring Rocket Grunts lying to the side where Gengar lounged, floating in the air with feigned nonchalance."Done this before, have you?" I asked, eying the ghost.Gengar pointed at me like I'd won a prize, and I could only nod. For all that Surge had told me about these sites, I had no doubt Agatha and her pokemon had actually done this… probably a lot, considering how useful she and her team would be at phasing through walls.I glanced around and realised just how much open space there was in this cavern. The building itself was a few hundred metres back from the valley wall and where beams of light shone down a number of gardens had been set up.The building itself was modern in every sense. It had bright lights all around it that made it as bright as walking around under the sun for what looked like a multistory school complex. Large antennas extended up from the roof of the school into the cavern with support pillars rising up in certain areas to hold the overhead structure. It was a phenomenal work of engineering.I had to shake my head and wonder how Team Rocket had managed to get all the work done on it. Was there a secret evil building corporation they could contract with for this sort of work?It was an impressive setup and more than I had been expecting."All of this for a school to teach criminals out of?" I said with a shake of my head.Jenny sighed. "The lengths that criminals will go to so that they can have an edge…" she shook her head as she cuffed the hypnotised Rocket Grunts.A rumble from outside caused me to frown as a section of wall on the far side crumbled. I watched the rocks tumble down, only for them to suddenly glow and shift to the side. A giant Onix appeared, and it stared at us as we in turn looked back. Then it roared, causing a number of the G-men to shift and bark orders for their pokemon to get ready to fight.I scowled at the pokemon that was revealed. "Hold your pokemon back," I called. "That's Bruno's Onix," I said, recognising it from matches I'd observed on Battlecast.Sure enough, the Onix drew back and Bruno appeared a moment later, followed by a floating Sabrina who was scowling at Bruno. Bruno didn't seem to care as he merely walked on.Sabrina swept her gaze over our group and locked onto me. She lowered herself into a walk as the rocks that Onix had knocked from the wall rose and wedged themselves further into the wall.I glanced at it. "Good to see you; that was a strong entrance," I said grinning only to falter as Sabrina gave me the flattest expression I'd ever seen.Sabrina stared at me like a woman who was just so done with today."You alright?" I asked.Sabrina just shook her head. "No." Her eyes flickered towards Bruno before coming back to me.She rubbed at her temple. "We were delayed in our entry due to Lance's group losing track of the Executives and some of the Grunts that attacked his group. They were disguise specialists, and Lance wasn't sure how to proceed, so he called me in to find the woman and her lackeys.""She was hiding as one of the G-men?" I said leadingly."No," she said, giving me a confused look. "She had burrowed into the ground and was escaping with a pokemon that knew how to Dig. She was close to getting out and Teleporting when I intercepted her."Sabrina tilted her head and inspected me. "Is that what happened to your group?"I nodded. "Yeah, but Looker is something of a savant when it comes to disguises,\; plucked him right out of the crowd."Sabrina frowned and a lightbulb seemed to go off as she perked up. "I had best go and secure him then, there were a number of devices that we found on Executive Sham that would allow her to break captivity." She pecked me on the cheek and then marched away quickly."Good luck with Bruno," she said over her shoulder.I blinked as she hurried away quickly. What was that about?"Alright! Attack!" Bruno said, causing me to snap my head around, realising that Bruno had moved past me to the front of the group and was now pointing straight at the underground building."Hey, wait what?!" I said. We needed to clear the field first and check for traps first!Bruno ignored me. "You all heard me! Let's go! Follow my lead!" He popped a few pokeballs and a pair of pokemon were revealed. "Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee, get in there and start busting skulls! The faster we get this done, the faster we can get back to training!" he barked.The pokemon sprinted away and I could only gape as they jumped through a window instead of the main entrance. The sound of fighting soon broke out."Woah! Bruno! What are you doing?" I said, inserting myself in front of him and putting my hands up to block him.When he kept walking I dug my heels in and glowered at him."We need to secure this site, not destroy it!" I growled."Koga and Agatha can handle that; I'll take out the threats," he said."If you destroy the building, that won't help! Team Rocket are notorious for trapping their buildings! We need to be smart about this!" I said just as an explosion went off in the room Hitmonchan had leapt through."It won't break from a few lovetaps." Bruno cracked his neck right and left. "It might draw out any other strong trainers, though." He seemed all too interested in this line of thought. It did, however, cause him to stop pushing against me, so that was good.I relaxed a little and ran through what he'd said. It somewhat made sense, even if it was only barely logical."Well…" I said trying to conjure up an argument that would appeal to him. "You should probably stay out here with a few people then! Chances are a strong trainer will come to pinch us off here! You need to stay here and…" I searched for the right words. "Be a threat they can't ignore!" I said aloud while mentally designating him as securing the line of evacuation if things turned ugly."Hmmmmmm," he said, rubbing his chin in thought. He nodded slowly and then unclipped two more pokemon. "I'm going to have to think about that… Machamp! Heracross! Get in there!" he shouted.I whirled around but could only watch as the pair of pokemon charged across the open ground without setting anything off."Bruno! We have a guide pokemon to get us past some of the traps! You don't need to do that!" I said, indicating the Gengar lying to the side. It waved lazily and turned back to watching Machamp and Heracross.The Machamp leapt through another window while the Heracross went to the rooftops where a fight started to break out.I felt a throbbing build in my head. Was this what Sabrina had been forced to deal with for the last… it couldn't have been longer than half an hour, surely? I'd been with Bruno for no more than two minutes and he was already causing me a headache."Shit! They found us! Launch the ordinance!" shouted a voice on the roof.Everyone in our group snapped their heads up as a wave of pokeballs were launched with a 'choom' into the air.They released Graveler, Weezing, Electrode, and other pokemon that I could recognise as all being capable of using Explosion or similar moves."BRACE! Pokemon out and knock them back!" I shouted releasing the pokemon I'd withdrawn into their pokeballs once more. The air suddenly filled with rocks that acted like anti-air.Bruno grinned and released his own team. "Knock 'em flat! Hoo hah!" he said.He then raised his hands wide as though he was welcoming the wave of pokemon arcing towards us.His pokemon roared along with him and unleashed their own barrage.Most of the Pokemon fell short, while others, capable of hovering, proceeded to slowly drift down towards us. Others hit the ground and rolled. Some of them began to glow as they did so. The threat of them exploding in our midst caused warning sirens to ring out through my mind.Selene moved before me and glowed, causing a huge sweep of psychic energy to radiate out of her and push back the falling pokemon.Some detonated early and a wave of force washed over us. A number of people stumbled and fell back, but none were harmed, with the explosive pokemon never getting close to us.Bruno laughed. "Ha! That was great!" He cupped his hands around his mouth. "Got any more?" he shouted to the rooftop Rocket Grunts.I, and a good number of the rather frazzled-looking G-men, glared at Bruno.When Team Rocket launched another barrage, the glares intensified. Bruno just laughed.I stepped back and took in the situation. The rooftops of the academy all played host to a team of Rockets that were firing what looked like mortars with pokeballs up into the air. I wasn't sure how much 'ammunition' they had, but I didn't want to allow them to keep arcing exploding pokemon at us.I pointed to a few G-men. "Circle some pokemon around and get them up on the roof to join Bruno's Heracross! We need those mortars taken out!""Sir!" said the pair. I scowled. If I hadn't left Zephyr and Don outside, I might have had the perfect pair of pokemon to take out the bunkers. Instead, I had to delegate and endure the wave of pokemon that were being launched at us.Inspecting the actual threat made me realise we'd been fortunate to not have advanced closer to the academy when we emerged from the tunnel.If we had, we'd have been in the firing range of the mortars.Bruno, for all that he'd leapt without considering or conferring on how we should approach this, had triggered a rather dangerous trap before anyone could truly be threatened by it.Another rumble behind me had me looking back to see Lance knocking his own entrance into the side of the valley to lead his group in. He made sure to take a moment to stop with the light behind him."Having some trouble, Gym Leader?' he said as his cape flapped around him grandly.I huffed. "Stop posing and get in here. Bruno's forcing Team Rocket to up their game, and we need the firing teams on top of the Academy taken out."Lance inspected the issue, ignoring how various pokemon from Team Rocket were being piled up as they exploded and knocked themselves out. I grimaced, knowing that the callous use of explosive pokemon in this fashion would see many of them not getting back up.Ever.The knocked-out pokemon were being blown around by subsequent explosions too much.Lance took all of this in, and his expression shifted to one of scorn. "Blasted Team Rocket! G-men! Let's move!" he said, tossing out a Salamance that he hopped on as other dragon pokemon flew in behind him, quickly followed by the rest of his strike team.Lance soared through the air, and his pokemon descended on the now helpless group of Rockets. Shouts of surrender quickly followed, with Lance stepping up to the edge and waving at us. "It's safe to proceed!" he announced.A few people started to do just that, and I raised a hand. "We should check for more traps!" I shouted back.Lance nodded slowly, and a group of Growlithe and Houndour were quickly sent forward to sniff out a safe path. The precaution turned out to be unneeded, as Team Rocket hadn't trapped a potential walkway.The lack of traps didn't have me relaxing.Instead, it had me searching the walls as we entered the Academy building proper. Gengar walked along in front of me, a huge grin stretching his face as he did so, his hands laced behind his head—the perfect picture of a pokemon without a care in the world.He led us past empty lecture halls and rooms full of computers that I could only imagine the uses for. It still boggled the mind that Team Rocket had such a building. It was grandiose in every sense of the word and easily matched up to Pokemon Technical or some of the universities that I had walked through in terms of scale."Crime pays a little too well, I think," I said aloud.Gengar paused suddenly when a door that he'd been about to float past opened of its own volition."Hyp….no," whispered a pokemon. A moment later, a crowd of Hypno slowly stepped out of the room. They moved slowly, and their hands twitched. When they sighted us, their noses twitched, and they began to raise their hands, medallions starting to swing.Officer Jenny hissed. "Oh Arceus no! I've seen how this ends!" she hurled out her Arcanine and pointed straight ahead. "Blast them!!!" she shouted.From her Haunter a Shadow ball was formed and unleashed while Arcanine let loose a Fire Blast that slammed into the Hypno.The Hypno, for their part, each tried to raise a Barrier, only for the Shadow Ball to tear through it with the Fire Blast following in its wake.The Hypno were blown back and off their feet. Jenny punched her fist forward. "Haunter! Hypnosis! Do not let them use those medallions! Gengar! Stop lazing about and get to work, or I'll have you back in basic!" she roared.Gengar twitched and raised its hands, only to pause and frown. It gave Jenny a surprised look before it smirked and did as she asked.I inclined my head towards Gawain and Selene. "You know, they would have taken them out before we were threatened, right?"Jenny shuddered. "Just! A group of Hypno like that in a dark corridor…" she clenched her fists a few times. "Yeah, that's some nightmare fuel!"Behind Jenny, a few other G-men agents who were women nodded in solidarity. Jenny shook her head. "My therapist is going to hear about this!""You see a therapist?" One of the men behind us asked. I turned and shot him a look and he blanched. "I mean! Not that there's anything wrong with that! I guess?"I grunted and turned back. "Good for you, taking care of yourself," I said.Jenny shot me an amused look. "Being a policewoman can be rough."I raised my hands. "Hey, no judgement!"She rolled her eyes and waved for us to move forward when Gengar indicated he'd gotten all of the Hypno asleep. Behind us I heard something that sounded like a grunt of pain, but when I looked back a number of the women were sporting innocent expressions while the man that had spoken up was nursing his stomach. He shot me a thumbs up and I decided I didn't need to poke my nose into whatever that had been just now.Jenny paused when she drew level with the asleep Hypno. "Urgh, they're starved."I nodded, noting how you could see their ribs. A sure sign of poor nutrition, especially with a pokemon that usually had a rather thick coat that obscured their bodies. "Team Rocket probably uses food to keep them in line," I said.Jenny growled and stomped her foot. She quickly opened the door to a room that had a number of chairs set up to look at an array of television screens.She reached in and flicked a switch. The lights came on, but so did the televisions."Welcome to Rocket Induction. You are Rocket… or you will be!" said a dashingly handsome man.On the screen, a woman joined the man and smiled winningly at the viewer. "You should hope so anyway! If you prove you have what it takes to become Rocket you will be joining a special group!"I stared, unable to tear my eyes away from this… recruitment video? Jenny huffed and moved about the room, opening cupboards and drawers, looking for something.The man on the screen grinned. "Few people know this about us, but we're very discerning about who we recruit! Over the next few days, you will undergo—"Jenny flicked the switch back off, causing the television to switch off as we retreated out of the room.I worked my jaw back and forth. "That was a room for indoctrination… wasn't it?" I said.Jenny just nodded. She held up a few pokeballs that she must have picked up in the room. She pointed them at the various Hypno and returned them while pocketing them. I raised an eyebrow, and she sighed. "If we left them out… they might wake up and see the other passed-out Hypno as tempting meals… especially if they know Dream Eater.""Ah," I said, before waving a hand so that our group could continue moving forward.Our earlier fight must have caused some noise, because as we advanced we ran across a group of Team Rocket Grunts."Shit! It's the po-po!" shouted one before hurling out a Raticate.The Raticate landed and glared, only to stiffen as the pokemon we already had out smirked at it.Raticate turned and bared its fangs at its owner. The Rocket Grunt blinked and glanced around only to realise everyone else in his group had turned and run off. He joined them, with Raticate quickly following."After them!" shouted one of the G-men, only for me to reach out and snatch him back."Nope! Not yet! Secure the main targets first!" I said. I did not want more people running off getting caught in traps. No splitting the party. No way, no how.Gengar quickly led us to the data servers, where Agatha appeared with a cackle. "It took you long enough!" she crowed as some of our group twitched.Gengar stepped up and offered her a mocking salute.Agatha gave her pokemon an amused look. "What's gotten into you?" she asked.Gengar pointed to Jenny who stiffened at the sudden attention she was given.Agatha gave Jenny a once over before grunting. "A modicum of talent I suppose." she sniffed. "Worth nothing without some work, though!" She waved a hand. "Well, with you here, Brock I think I shall as they say these days, go for a walk."She then strode straight through a wall before I could ask her to take the other G-men with her.I sighed. That was rather typical for Agatha, I supposed.I waved a hand at the others who had followed along with me. "Let's secure the room. Make sure no one gets in."The G-men quickly guarded the entrances with their pokemon. Mine stalked through the server banks, Selene hovering over them with a looping orbit that saw the room under an impressive amount of surveillance.Jenny patrolled sternly with her Haunter following along with exaggerated arm pumps, as though it was a clown following around a straight man in a comedy routine.I snorted, and the Haunter shot me a pleased look. Jenny just rolled her eyes, apparently used to her pokemon's antics. I got the feeling she was patrolling part from nervous energy, and part of doing so made her pokemon follow her to play around, thus keeping it out of mischief.I leaned against the wall and considered whether I should move off to anywhere else. Koga would have the electrical grid locked down, and all we needed from there was the security complex itself, which would allow Sabrina and other pokemon to Teleport around at will.Would I be better served anywhere else?I played with that idea a bit more as I decided to walk around the room. I found a pair of G-men staring at a computer console embedded in a wall."Is it worth pissing off the higher-ups?" said one man."I took some courses on data security! This model doesn't have a lock after too many attempts! We can just have a few tries!" said the woman emphatically.I stepped up. "Something you found?" I asked, eying the strangely familiar computer setup.Why did it look like… a Pokemon storage system from the games?I blinked, realising that was what it was.I frowned. How had I missed this when I'd checked the room over earlier?The woman coughed into her fist. "Charles here found a hidden compartment in the wall and pulled it aside to find this computer. I recognise the software that the security system is using and was considering having a few attempts at common passwords to see if we could get in…"She licked her lips. "If… that's alright with you, sir?"I chuckled and waved her off. "Technically, I'm just here as muscle and Looker is in charge of our group… but I have to admit to being curious as to what's on this computer." I suspected I knew without actually seeing it, but I wanted to confirm it.The woman turned and tapped something out, and the man groaned. "Really? Password?""It's the most common," said the woman firmly as the password was rejected. "Hmmm what about Password but only one s?" she said trialing a few combinations.I chuckled when she shifted to typing admin, Rocket, and other common phrases.I coughed into my fist. "Don't forget to look under the keyboard for any sticky notes," I said, offering up my own two cents.The woman smiled and did so, only to scowl when she pulled out a sticky note with a sequence of numbers and letters on it. We all stared at it. The woman dutifully tapped out the rather long string of letters and numbers, and when she was sure she had it, she hit enter.A successful chime heralded the software opening up. Instead of a user interface, a series of pokeboxes presented themselves in the traditional storage system layout. I huffed and noted that the entire box was full of pokemon.I could see Rattata, Ekans, Pikachu, Machop, Geodude, Graveler, and more. I glanced up at the tabs, which indicated how many storage boxes there were. Out of instinct, I turned and counted out the number of server banks in the room.There were easily fifty and the number of boxes was much higher than that.The woman started flicking through them. "Damn, this is a lot of pokemon," she said as each box held pokemon from across the Indigo region.She kept flicking, and I was surprised when rarer pokemon were shown with Ivysaur and Golduck, along with what had to be Feraligatr in one box only for another box to house what appeared to be an entire cluster of Voltorb and Electrode."If these are all people's pokemon… we're going to return so many of them," said the woman, continuing to flick through the boxes with quicker and quicker speed."Hey wait! Go back!" said the man just as I was about to leave them to their business. "What was that?" he asked.The woman stopped clicking the mouse and instead moved back in the boxes only for a box full of water type pokemon to reveal itself. I frowned as one pokemon stood out."Who's that pokemon?" said the man, tapping on the small, pixelated form of a small shark-like pokemon. I inhaled sharply as I recognised exactly what pokemon that was and what its appearance in the storage boxes meant.Team Rocket had to have very strong links with Sinnoh to have access to a Gible.A window of information appeared with a much more detailed picture of the pokemon. "Don't do that! The screen is touch!" snapped the woman but she leaned in to read what had been revealed. "Gible? I've never heard of that pokemon before…" she muttered.I sighed. "It's a pokemon from a different region… I've encountered texts about it before… It's from a place called Sinnoh, which we lost contact with."The woman looked interested in what I was saying, but the man was eying the Gible. "Look at this! They've even got information on who they stole it from? This one was a wild capture from a nest? Damn Team Rocket that's cold! This is a baby pokemon" he said, tapping on another pokemon next to Gible and a Tentacruel was revealed."Stolen from Mark Jnr… two years ago?" he murmured."Hey! Go back to the other pokemon!" snapped the woman, tapping on the screen."I wasn't done reading that!" said the man, tapping back, only for his hand to be slapped away.Because of this, his hand hit another button to the side as Gible's information was brought up. Another prompt came up.Withdrawing pokemon.A noise whirred as, behind us, one of the server banks whirred to life."Shit!" what did you do?" wailed the woman, tapping on the screen to stop it only for the man to get in her way."Stop!" I barked, making them freeze. "Just let it play out, and we can see what happens. Smashing our faces on the keyboard won't help," I said firmly.The pair nodded contritely.I ignored the woman as she jammed an elbow into the man's ribs. Next to the computer, a chute appeared with a raised receptacle. A noise like a ball rolling came from the chute, and a moment later, an ultra ball appeared."Huh, it deposits the pokem—" was all I got to say before the ball popped open and a small pokemon appeared. It tottered from side to side as though dizzy before sneezing, causing itself to fall onto its back where it tottered on its back before rolling around."Daaaaw!" It's ador—" was as far as the woman got before the Gible smiled at her, revealing its sharklike teeth."Gib?" said the little pokemon with a tilt of its body.The woman froze, while the man screamed in surprise. Gible stiffened at the sudden noise and then turned and sprinted away.Gible wove its way through the server banks, dodging as people sprinted to find out what was going on, causing more noise and further frightening the tiny pokemon. It made for the door only to be denied by a Machoke.It turned and threw itself into a small space at the bottom of one of the servers where it made tiny growling noises.I stood, listening to people shout orders and suggestions. I clapped my hands together once and silenced everyone. "Alright, let's calm down. Gible is a rare pokemon from another region but it's just come to, in less than ideal circumstances. Give it some room!" I said moving towards where everyone had gathered. "Check your security points as well!"That got everyone hurriedly striding back to where they were supposed to be.Jenny eyed the bottom of the server where the Gible was hiding. "You got this?" she asked.I nodded, reaching into my pouch to pull out some pokemon food and a collapsible pokemon bowl which I filled with water.I put both into the server cubbyhole, ignoring as Gible flinched and nipped at me. I made sure to strengthen myself with rock aura to allow me to ignore the tiny bite."Hey little one," I said, recalling what I'd seen of the Gible's information. "You're scared and confused. I would be too. You're a long way from home, aren't you? How about you have some food and water and calm down?"Gible didn't say anything and I sat down, content to let things deescalate. A few moments later, the sound of food being devoured could be heard and I smiled. When Gible was done the bowl was pushed around a bit causing scraping noises to fill the room as Gible tried to get every morsel of food it could."Want some more?" I asked.Gible paused at that and stepped closer to the edge to look me over.I raised an eyebrow at it. "Brave little one, aren't you?" I said calmly.Gible continued out and glanced around. When it noticed all the eyes on it it backed up and I chuckled drawing its attention back to me. 'You're alright, we're the good guys. We just beat up the people that took you away from your home, and found you. Sorry for pulling you out like that but we'd never seen a pokemon like you before.""Gib?" it said.I shrugged. "Well, you're pretty rare around here. You're in a different region. This is Kanto, specifically the northeast part, not that it will mean much." I put a hand on my chest. "My name is Brock." I waved a hand, and Selene floated down. "This is Selene, she's part of my pokemon team and is very strong and nice. Could you let her talk with you?"Gible ventured a little more out and began speaking with Selene.My pokemon nodded along with whatever was said. I hummed and pulled out some more food, causing Gible to turn away from its conversation. It shifted from foot to foot and looked me over.It apparently liked what it saw as it strode up to me, hopped in my lap and began to quickly devour the offering of food I had. I snorted. This was just like a baby pokemon… or a little kid.When Gible was done it yawned, its giant mouth stretching wide before it turned in a circle a few times before settling down in my lap. It reached out with a tiny hand and grabbed my shirt. I looked into the single eye visible as it watched me. "Gible?" it asked quietly.I raised a hand and gently ran my hand over its fin. "You're safe," I said gently.Gible's eye closed shut, and it began to slumber.I sighed. Well, that pulled on the heartstrings a bit.I remained seated and endured a wave of G-men patrolling past me and smiling at the sight of me sitting quietly with the tiny pokemon in my lap with Selene resting at my side.Jenny inched up and smiled. "He's certainly different from the local pokemon, isn't he?" She leaned a little in and took a picture of him and I together. "He alright?" she asked.I shrugged. "He might be a she. I have no idea of its gender…" I tilted my head. "Unless it says so on the information about Gible?" I asked.Jenny shrugged, and I hummed. Something to work out later. "Well, Gible was pretty stressed out. I think sleep is just its way of dealing with the stress of finding itself in another region away from its family. I don't think the rest he got in the storage system was quite right for him." I accepted the Ultra ball and settled in to wait for Gible to wake up.Jenny went over to the storage device and brought up the past information to learn what she could after twenty minutes she reported her findings. Gible was a male. Jenny stared at her notepad. "He had been caught in a cave system so he's probably rock-type," she said with a nod.I almost spoke up and corrected her, before realising I would have no way of justifying said knowledge. So I stayed quiet.In the end, Gible remained asleep for another thirty minutes when Lance and Sabrina walked in and found me sitting on the floor still.I waved. "Hey, we had a little incident," I said.Lance tilted his head while Sabrina merely raised her transceiver and took a picture.Lance sighed. "So, this is where you've been. I was wondering if you'd chased after Bruno." I raised an eyebrow, and he waved the statement off. Instead, he directed his gaze to the pokemon slumbering in my lap. "Is that a trainer's pokemon?""Wild pokemon that Team Rocket got from its nest in Sinnoh from a cave," I said. I felt an idea form. "Jenny think's it's rock type, which is why it likes me." I knew otherwise. Food and treating it kindly had done me a lot of favours.Lance clicked his teeth. "Damn, proper confirmation that they do have access to another region. We've found some notes in the main offices, thanks to Sabrina."Sabrina inclined her head and crouched down to inch her way towards me. When she reached me she crouched down and extended a hand towards Gible. Gible opened his mouth and Sabrina twitched before continuing to reach forward. "No. Biting. Me," she said, making sure to enunciate her words.Gible stilled and watched her hand slowly move forward to lightly brush against his skin. "He's rather… coarse?" she said. She continued to rub his head lightly. "He's very small," Sabrina said."Baby pokemon," I said, causing the scowl to deepen on Lance's face as he remained standing, looking about the servers. "He got withdrawn from the pokemon storage system when some G-men unlocked it and realised how many pokemon there were. They found this guy and got curious."He looked to the side and saw the computer. "Good work on securing the computer!" Lance barked.This caused Gible to stiffen in surprise and snap his mouth closed. Sabrina didn't withdraw her hand, she must have realised Lance had merely startled the little pokemon. She shot Lance a flat stare.Lance coughed sheepishly. "Well, seeing as that's not a stolen pokemon and I don't want to put it back into the servers…" Gible cowered at the mention of the server. Lance nodded. "Brock, can you take this one in?" he said with a smirk, knowing I wouldn't reject it."I don't think we should give out pokemon like that," I said, more for appearance's sake than any true objection. Mentally I was laughing with glee. Lance had no idea!Lance waved it off. "It needs a nurturing environment, and your Gym has a good record for taking in young pokemon." He nodded his head to the side.I frowned, to keep selling the act. "Well, alright. I suppose I could take him in."Sabrina paused in stroking Gible to eye me. She knew me well enough to know something was happening here but she wasn't sure what.Lance smirked like he'd gotten one over on me. Heh.I rolled my eyes at him. "So, this is all wrapped up, and we can go home until we raid the next place?"Lance's smirk grew. "Oh, we've actually not stopped raiding sites."I blinked."Huh?"Lance chuckled. "Ranger Hank has been rallying the rest of the pokemon Rangers and some of the new Frontier Leaders have also stepped in. Team Rocket has had a number of other sites raided. All at the same time," Lance announced with a certain level of glee."We've raided a number of other bases and discovered a lot of equipment, such as giant robots and submarines, that we've confiscated. We don't yet have the true executives, it would seem, but their days are numbered. We're going to keep tightening the noose, don't doubt that Brock!""Any hint on the Rocket Brass?" I asked, hoping that Lance knew who his real enemy was.Lance hummed. "We have some ideas, but we're not going to say anything more here."He glanced around and I felt a surge of hope. "We'll talk more back at the League," he said carefully.If things played out as I hoped, Giovanni was soon going to have some people knocking on his door.Gible shifted in my lap and warbled up at me. I fed him again and glanced down at my… newest pokemon?When Lance moved off to check something else Sabrina tapped me. "What has you so smug?" she said firmly.I grinned and leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Gible are ground-dragon type, not rock type."Sabrina shot Gible a surprised look and then laughed darkly. I merely chuckled.I certainly wasn't going to say no to a pokemon that evolved into Garchomp, a signature pokemon of Cynthia, one of the all-time strongest Champions around.He was also a pseudo-legendary.While Lance was patting himself on the back for his clever ploy, I was going to take home a real prize today.Well, this certainly wasn't how I was expecting to finish out my weekend, but I certainly wasn't complaining.
165
Before going to the league, I had to deposit my newest pokemon at home. I marched into the living room and deposited Gible into Yolanda's confused grasp.Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and zeroed in on the new pokemon."Gib?" said my new pokemon, very unsure of what was going on. I straightened and waved a hand at the people and pokemon in the room."Gible, this is my family. They're nice, try not to bite them too much when they annoy you. Family, this is Gible, a pokemon I just rescued and who will be joining my team."Gible shot me wide eyes while his stubby arms reached for me. My family sensed weakness and approached as one."No!" I clapped my hands as they started to move in. "No crowding him! He's very confused with everything, so! Yolanda is going to take him out to show him around the reserve. Empress will probably get involved if you introduce him to Teddiursa I should imagine." I waggled my raised index finger back and forth. "There are not going to be any demands to hug him or pet him."I pointed at Yolanda. "Yolanda, watch out. He nibbles. Keep him away from Cranidos, because you know how that will end. Terra, he's a baby pokemon like you so be nice. Yes, he's a pokemon from another region."I then knelt down in front of Gible and offered him my hand to grab hold of. "I'm sorry, but I can't stick around right now, because Lance needs me to help take out some more bad guys."I locked eyes with Flint. Flint understood that meant I needed things locked down here. The distraction of the new, very rare pokemon would keep all of my family in one place."Salvadore, you should go get Greta and start documenting this pokemon as it hasn't been seen in this region. I've already fed him, so don't overfeed him too much."I frowned and looked around. Every child in the room was twitching as though held back by an invisible restraint. I was proud they'd lasted this long. I decided to give Yolanda a bit of a head start, so I picked her up and moved her towards the doorway while putting Terra in her other hand.Terra grinned at the new pokemon only to be pecked in the face. It didn't deter Terra from babbling at Gible."And off you go," I said, nudging Yolanda towards the front door.Every child still in the lounge room unfroze at the command and sprinted after Yolanda.Flint stood with a concerned expression. "Are you… going to be alright?"I nodded, only for Sabrina to step up next to me. "I'll look after him," she said.Flint nodded quickly. "Ho, he's in safe hands then!" he said, marching off after the rest of my family.I gave Sabrina an amused look. "Mind if I get my pokemon checked over before we head out?" I asked.Sabrina teleported us to the medical bay and Chansey squawked in surprise. When she spotted us, she huffed and made a 'gimme' gesture with her hands.I deposited my team in a tray, and she started popping them open and looking over them. She sniffed when none of them proved to be injured. It didn't stop her from pushing some pink healing energy into them before nodding and returning to her magazine about gardening.I stared a little at her, but she ignored me. A moment later Salvadore charged through the medical bay. "—and I've never seen this pokemon! It had teeth for days! It could be a rock-dragon or something!" Salvadore yelled as he sprinted through the medical bay with Greta and Crystal at his heels.I hummed. I had to give him points for getting half marks on the dragon-type guess. It was impressive.Chansey sighed and rolled up her magazine. She slapped it into her hands a few times before nodding and storming off after the trio. I blinked and realised there was a sign behind her that read: No running in the medical room!Huh, she was about to mete out some justice.Sabrina teleported us back to the League headquarters, where a number of other trainers were hurrying about. It was now rather early in the evening, but despite that, the League was in full chaos mode.Men and women bustled about, and trainers ran into each other, only to ignore the impact and carry on. I saw several police escorting what looked like reporters out of the building. It seemed Lance was keeping things close to the chest, or the reporters had gone somewhere they shouldn't have.I shook it off and ignored the chaos. Instead, I marched towards the central elevator leading up to Lance's office. With Sabrina at my side, we cut a swathe through the chaos. People moved around us, not willing to impede us, but I knew many took note of our arrival.When the doors opened at the top, I was surprised to find Lorelei standing guard. "He's got you doing guard duty?" I said, annoyed on her behalf and also annoyed at Lance being petty.She nodded. "At least until a few other G-men arrive, he said."I frowned. "Alright," I said with a nod.I walked in to find Lance locked in a stare-down with Pryce. Sabrina and my arrival caused their attention to shift, and for a moment, I felt their auras wash over me.I shot them unimpressed looks. "What's going on here?"Pryce sniffed. "I have been remiss in making sure that my granddaughter is being treated appropriately it would seem. The… current Champion,—" Pryce said, some sting in his words as he reminded Lance that he, Pryce, had once sat where Lance was, and that Lance could be ousted as well. "—has apparently not been treating her as he should. I hadn't known, as my dear girl has been stoic about the entire affair, something I must applaud her for given how… demanding this situation has been."Lance worked his jaw. "I have merely been setting her tasks appropriate for her skills," he said.Pryce sniffed. "You should reconsider what you think she is and is not skilled in then!""Riiiiiight," I said carefully, realising I was stepping on thin ice. Still, I had to say something. "You have been a bit dickish to Lorelei though, Lance."When he shot me a betrayed look, I raised my hands to ward him off. "It's probably your instincts acting up. She is a threat to you, as you do have a rather strong dragon aura."Lance nodded slowly. "Perhaps… I have allowed my instincts to speak up more than I should have. I will consider your… statements going forth." He seemed pleased by the idea of his strength being what was holding him back. Or at least that his strength was being acknowledged.Pryce snorted, showing how much he thought of that.Lance grimaced before turning to the others in the room. Koga, Bruno, and Agatha all looked to be in various states of amusement about the way things had been playing out.Sabrina nodded in greeting and then dragged me over to claim a seat, with her promptly sitting in my lap. I noted we were away from Bruno.Lance raised a hand. "There's no need to sit down. We're going to go to another meeting room; there are too many people coming otherwise."With Sabrina in my lap, I couldn't pinch the bridge of my nose like I wanted to. With one statement, he'd just revealed how petty he was being. Something that Pryce didn't miss as the room literally dropped a few degrees in temperature as the former Champion glared at Lance.Lance raised his hands. "We still needed to vet the people coming in?" When that didn't result in Pryce losing his ire, Lance nodded. "I'll call her in now," he said with a huff.Agatha cackled. "Oh, it must rub you the wrong way to be on the outs now, Pryce, eh?" she prodded.Pryce swivelled his gaze onto her and Lance relaxed as he called Lorelei into the room. Pryce stared long and hard at Agatha, and she met his gaze without flinching.Pryce narrowed his eyes. "How long have you known about the Snorunt evolution for the females of the species?" he asked, causing me to perk up with interest.Agatha's grin grew. "Oh, that would be telling! Did you really only now find out why all those Snorunt's kept appearing in your mountains?" She cackled as a form shimmered into view behind her shoulder. The Froslass held up a hand to her mouth and giggled innocently, hiding her mouth like a fine lady might in polite company.It was rather ruined by the scornful eyes staring at Pryce.Pryce inspected the newly revealed pokemon with a critical eye. "Long enough for you to raise a pokemon of its type into your Elite team, eh?" he said thoughtfully. The door opened, and Lorelei stepped in.She froze when she spotted the ice-ghost type. "That's! Grandpa?" she said, apparently flabbergasted by the pokemon's appearance.Pryce shook his head. "It's Agatha's," he said tightly."Oh," Lorelei said, blinking as she processed this. She tilted her head and inspected Froslass. "Would it be possible to work with you on my own Froslass, Agatha? I'd love to get my own Froslass up to strength! I have her ice-type training all set out but I only have Grandfather's observation notes on ghost types from fight—""AHEM!" said Pryce firmly.I turned my head, feeling like this was the luckiest spectator event ever. Was Pryce blushing? What were in those notes? Agatha stared at Pryce. "You took notes about our fights?"Pryce threw up his hands. "You were one of the trickiest combatants during the war; of course I took notes on what you were doing or how you acted! You were a significant threat to Johto!""Oh… but your notes continue well up to your time as—" Lorelei started to say only for Pryce to level a glare upon her. For a moment, I thought I saw the flickers of a smirk on her lips making me mentally sit up. Was she?Pryce twitched, and I realised I was right!Lorelei was teasing her grandfather! It sort of made sense that she would do this, seeing as she'd had to endure his rather poor behaviour for a number of years only for me to apparently swoop in in the last few months and make him clean up his act.Agatha's grin was more subdued, but she seemed rather pleased with how things were going. "I suppose it would be… a good idea to help correct any misconceptions you might have about the Ghost-type. Yes, before I retire, I think I would enjoy that," Agatha said while smiling smugly at Pryce.The man twitched in annoyance, and I held in a chuckle.A slow clap sounded from the doorway, causing most of the room, barring Koga, to jump in surprise. "My goodness, it is pleasing to see that the Indigo League is doing well!" said Samuel Oak.I turned and found him beaming at us like a proud parent who had just discovered that his children had cleaned up after themselves. Agatha huffed at him, while Pryce and Koga merely nodded.Bruno started eyeing Samuel up and down, sizing him up.I wanted to stop him, but another part of me was whispering to let them fight.I glanced up and noted Sabrina had a matching expression as her eyes flickered between Oak and Bruno. After Bruno's rather poor behaviour with Sabrina and myself, it would be rather cathartic to watch Samuel smack him around.For some reason, I didn't doubt that Samuel could still do it either.Samuel coughed. "Well, regardless, I have come as a courtesy to Champion Lance; do you wish to talk?" he said, directing his gaze towards Lance.Lance stood, "Yes, we have a few other people that will need to be part of this conversation, however," he said, directing us to stand and follow him. Instead of entering the elevator, he stepped around to the wall and pressed a hand against a panel, causing it to light up in a handprint display that you would have had to know existed to unlock."Feh! Made some changes, have you?" Pryce said snidely.Lance nodded. "I've made some additions, yes. One of which is a meeting room with the latest security features that we have available to us."Pryce sniffed while Samuel merely looked around the hallway, acting like he was a tourist. The hall itself had a camera in each corner, and the doors were solid metal with number pads set into them.I whistled, "This is quite the setup, but are you going to have to personally ferry everyone else up here?" I asked.Lance shook his head. "Most of them are already here. They completed their raids and objectives before us. It was just Gym Leaders Sabrina and Brock, along with Professor Oak, that we needed." He led us to a door and rapidly tapped out a sequence of numbers.I decided not to point out that Sabrina would easily be able to remember the code, despite how fast Lance was punching in the numbers. He seemed rather proud of himself.When the door opened, a number of faces looked up.I only recognised a few of the G-men who'd sat in on Daniel's interrogation and Commander Hank of the Rangers.I could recognise that there was a cluster of Rangers. All of the commanders were dressed the same, but a number of them had different badges on their sleeves denoting their fields of work. The prominent ones appeared to be oceans, grasslands, mountains, forests, and, interestingly, what looked like a swamp from what I could see from my angle.The men and women all nodded, not rising when our group strode in. Lance claimed a seat at the table, and it took me a moment to realise that it was in fact round, allowing for people to sit as equals.It seemed an odd touch for Lance considering his pride, but he merely adjusted his cloak so he wasn't sitting on it."We have much to discuss and little time," Lance said to get us underway.We claimed our seats as Lance continued to speak. "Over the past day, we have, through previously restricted methods, taken in a number of higher-ranked Team Rocket Executives that have allowed us to move on a number of key sites within Kanto and Johto."I shifted, having not expected that.Lance nodded. "A few smaller sites were raided, but the primary sites were located in the rail subbasement of Goldenrod City, along with a daycare centre, a hidden communications tower north of Mahogany Town, and a sleeper cell in Blackthorn City…" The last admission caused Lance to gain a pinched expression."These have been taken care of, while in Kanto, the Academy was raided, which stands as a sizeable score for us alone, other hidden bases were also found in Mt Moon, Gringey City, and Dark City."Lance let his gaze roam the room. "This has been the biggest raid pulled off since the formation of the League and has been the first major operation of the G-men working in conjunction with a number of different groups. You have my praise and respect for pulling off what you have."The room seemed to shift a little as people accepted the praise, with a feeling of pride swelling through them.Lance didn't let his stern expression drop. "Those of you here have proven to me without a shadow of a doubt that you are trustworthy. I have sealed the doors, and I have confirmed all of your identities through various methods." He raised a hand. "I apologise for this, but the news I am going to release to you is so important that I had to."He once again locked eyes with everyone."During a number of raids, we have come into possession of a number of documents that cast certain high-ranking members of our society as being part of Team Rocket."I blinked. Holy hell, was Lance about to share what I think he was going to share?I let my gaze cast about the room. I didn't linger on Agatha and Koga, that might be a bit telling, rather I made my gaze roam to take in everyone's reaction.The main expression seemed to be a stoic willingness to hear things out, but there was a tinge of worry now.Some people seemed to be toying with Lance's statement, trying to fit it in with what they knew. A few people seemed grim. Hank was one of them.Koga seemed oddly focused, while Agatha had a predatory set to her shoulders. She looked like someone waiting for a very choice steak to be placed before them. As much as she anticipated this, she obviously planned to savour this moment.They must have done something.I tilted my head and toyed with the idea. If they'd known where a number of raids were going to take place, it would have been child's play for someone like Koga, or Agatha, or any number of Koga's ninja to plant evidence.Evidence that would point the League in one direction.I flicked my eyes about the room. Inserting such evidence might not pass muster on a single location, but if a number of sites were verifying it? Well, that was a dangerous game certainly. But the pay off?It would be worth it.Agatha had tried to tell me something before the raid took place… Perhaps this had been it.With the League finally moving she must have felt safe in pointing them in the right direction.Lance clicked a slide, and a list of names appeared. "These are all the known Rocket plants that we have discovered within the Indigo League. These people are being monitored and will, over the coming hours, be quietly arrested and interrogated." The number of names caught me by surprise. There seemed to be over a hundred names."How many are card-carrying members?" I asked, thinking that this was too many people, but then again, I had no idea how big Team Rocket was in terms of staff. This could be a tiny percentage, in truth.Lance clicked his tongue. "At this stage, that is unknown. Some of them are simply passing along the information to any and all that pay, for which they will still be punished. I have no doubt there will be some Team Rocket members hidden away. Before that, however, I will be aiming for some of the larger fish, so to speak."Another click revealed another list. "These are the known Ranger plants; these names have already been forwarded to the Commanders.""We'll see to them," said one grey-templed man. Other Ranger Commanders nodded their heads sternly. I noted a few of them had pained expressions, and it took Sabrina tapping a name and rank for me to notice that one name on the list was a commander themselves.One apparently not present, but that would see some very interested parties coming their way soon.Ah... awkward that. Still, it wasn't the worst reach that Team Rocket had demonstrated by far."Moving along," Lance said, clicking a button and shifting the slide. This time a picture of a person was revealed.Grey, the Gym leader of Neon Town was revealed."Gym Leader Grey is a recent addition to the Kanto Gym Leaders. He comes to us as a solid recruit who has a few years in the Ace circuit along with a facility that was well suited for facing challengers. His tender was accepted and he passed probationary periods with no hassles beyond not having enough Gym trainers, something that was quickly rectified."Lance clicked another button, and a list of banking transactions was shown. "We have, with the information provided, investigated his banking and linked him with identified holding companies that move money for Team Rocket. He has been a plant for them and one that offered a voice at some of the highest levels. He is not the only person that we have discovered that has raised concerns."He clicked, and another slide presented itself to display a woman's face. "This is Haley of Florando, another Gym leader at the minor scale. She has been a Rocket plant for over five years and was in a position such that if any of the Johto Gym's fell in status, she would move into the top eight of Johto."Pryce snarled at that. "Her?! I approved her!" he said, leaning forward. "She was a war veteran and a skilled water-type trainer."Lance nodded. "Indeed," he said placidly. "She served well and, in recent years, has been bought off by Team Rocket. Her husband is, in fact, Team Rocket."I hissed. Ah, literally and metaphorically, in bed with Team Rocket."Two Gym Leaders?" muttered one of the G-men."They're minor," said another man dismissively. "It makes sense they would use what connections they had to boost themselves," said another man.I held in a grimace, knowing the worst was still to come.Lance sighed, agreeing. "They are not the major concerns we have at the moment. There are larger concerns that we have to focus on.""The raid upon the Goldenrod rail system… revealed that Hannah of Goldenrod, and Samwise of Olivine are also in collusion with Team Rocket. Goldenrod… due to finances," Lance said, causing a chorus of scoffs to ring out.The rebuilding of Goldenrod, it seemed, wasn't something that was being accepted as an excuse by the others in the room.Lance nodded. "They will be taken in. I will have teams assembled for the Johto Gym Leaders led by Bruno, and Clair." He then held up his hands. "Others in this room will have other targets. There are more," he said with a defeated tone. I felt a bit bad for him, apparently discovering the sheer scale of the rot that had pervaded Indigo was rather getting to him.Lance clicked another button, and this time the room hissed.Professor Oak stood and leaned in closer to stare at the display. He seemed to age a little before slumping. "Ah, I find… that I am not actually surprised," he said as he stared into the face of Blaine.A number of articles appeared around Blaine, and I whistled as they continued to spread. Lance held a grim expression while Pryce seemed to devour the information—a look I couldn't quite place my finger on, taking hold."Former Elite Four, Blaine… and the current Gym Leader of Cinnabar Island. He is a leading researcher in a number of studies that were never approved, such as the use of Ditto in human tissue donations for longevity treatments, the experimentation of pokemon Flare states, and the sharing of certain League secrets such as where certain former military bases were located along with supplies. Blaine has been a major scientific mind contributing to Team Rocket's development in the last few decades."Samuel rubbed his face. "Uh, he was always too willing to push the envelope of his studies…"I raised a hand, "Flare state? What's that?"Oak sighed. "It is a well-established ability for some pokemon to, while deeply injured, tap into reserves of energy that empower them further and allow them to fight harder for the duration of combat."Samuel sighed again, his eyes raising to the roof. "During the war, it was something that was regularly triggered. It was hypothesised that you could tap into this and permanently improve the power of a pokemon but doing so would require constantly injuring a pokemon to the point of being nearly knocked out or on death's door. Such studies would no doubt enrage a pokemon and lead to nothing but more harm all around. It was a line of study I banned in my tenure as Champion," Oak said.Oak put a hand to his forehead and rubbed it. "Blaine argued against my ban on it and other studies that I deemed unethical…" Oak stared into Blaine's picture. "I suppose he ignored my orders. For someone that I consider such an old friend… I can't say that I am surprised."Oak turned his head to Lance. "You want my help in taking him in, don't you?"Lance nodded his head. "He and others will be dangerous targets, and I wish to make sure we have the ability to handle anything Team Rocket might throw at us.""I also want to be there when we take him in," Pryce said gruffly.Lance frowned, "I was hoping to have you focus on the Gym Leaders in the Johto area, Izuo especially," he said.Pryce shook his head. "No, I know Blaine better than anyone here!"Agatha snorted. "I think I knew him in more ways than you did," she said teasingly.It took a moment before I understood, but when I did, I shuddered as the image of Blaine and Agatha came together in my mind.Agatha glared at the room at large. "Oh, don't be like that! We were young at the time!"Samuel chuckled, and Agatha shot him a venomous look before muttering something under her breath that I didn't try to listen in on.Lance coughed. "Regardless, there are others that we might be able to use for this, but for now I am laying out the targets." He clicked, and a final face appeared on the screen. It was of a man leaving his middle years behind with a combed-back hairstyle and a bespoke suit.A man of class and power. Someone that moved in the highest of social circles.I barely held back a smirk as Giovanni's face stared back at me.Gotcha."As we understand it currently, the man that leads Team Rocket and has been the largest beneficiary of their criminal activities is none other than Gym Leader Giovanni."A few people shifted, but this didn't elicit anywhere near the level of excitement that Blaine's reveal did.Lance raised a finger. "Giovanni has always been a man who has pulled a number of strings and remained beyond doubt. He is a known philanthropist, with his money coming through a number of investments that always seemed above board. He builds these investments with Team Rocket funds and will no doubt have a much deeper pool of pokemon than we have ever seen. He has a number of true Executives that he will be able to call on, and each of these are significant trainers in their own right."More slides appeared showing off faces I recognised from the games; Petrel, Archer, Arianna.Lance continued to lay out the facts. "He has gathered these trainers to him through debts, loyalty, or other methods, but the Executives are deemed to be at least able to match a trainer that has gathered all eight of their Gym badges, with all of them having full pokemon teams."Lance clicked, and a collage of pictures appeared of an armoured pokemon that I recognised as Mewtwo."One of the other dangers that Giovanni poses, is access to an as yet unknown Psychic type pokemon that appears to wield considerable strength."Lance clicked away a few times, and blurry pictures of Mewtwo fighting Moltres appeared, before shifting to an image of Mewtwo hovering above Vermilion. A video of Mewtwo's arm waving that I recognised as from my gym's security cameras.With a final click, a video of Silph Tower played. I frowned only to blink as the video panned upwards to show Empress' Hyperbeam blowing away a section of the tower. Whoever had taken this video screamed in surprise but held the video up to continue filming, their own words gibberish and fearful, only for a form to move in the smoke.I blinked as the smoke cleared and the armoured, tattered form of Mewtwo could be seen holding someone by the neck.I reflexively rubbed at the bruise on my neck. Oh, damn, someone had gotten that on video?I swallowed as I realised how far up Mewtwo was from the ground. Sabrina laced her hand into mine and squeezed.Lance shot me a look. "Brock, you and others submitted a report on this incident when questioned by one of the police, later that night." He tilted his head. "You said you unleashed a Hyper Beam at that pokemon from one of your Tyranitar…" Lance paused and let that hang for a moment before continuing on, "And it barely injured it? How would you rate its strength?""It's easily a Legendary pokemon… not as strong as Moltres, but I believe that might be only a matter of time from what I've read about Legendary pokemon," I said.That caused a shift in the room as people mumbled."What was it like? Was it angry?" Oak said, staring at the image.I blinked. "The voice coming from the armour around it was, but I never got the impression it was.""It wasn't," Sabrina said. "When I mega evolved my Alakazam I was able to talk with it and ask it to put you down. Until that moment, it had muted responses to everything around it, like it was just following orders as an automation would. When I interceded it seemed curious… like a child," Sabrina said."Hmmm, interesting," said Oak.Lance hummed. "I think then it is important that, should we require it, you be present when we move to take down Giovanni."Sabrina inclined her head. "I will be there when we move," she said with a firm tone.Lance nodded his head. "I am hoping… To make this easy on us, I will be asking Giovanni and Blaine, separately, for specific reasons pertaining to them, to come to the League to talk with me. With them away from their power base, I can arrest them easier," he said.I hummed. "No way he's going to take it; you'll be showing your hand."Lance drummed his fingers. "I'm all for the simplest solution. Does anyone else have a better method of disarming Giovanni?"I frowned. It was… logically, the easiest method if it worked. I could even imagine a world where it might work.But it would rely on Giovanni being naive and delivering himself into our hands, and my mind was screaming at me that there was no way in hell it would work.It was too simple.It wouldn't work for Giovanni, or Blaine either, for that matter.Samuel sighed. "It might be necessary to simply raid their bases of power," he said. "I shall intervene with Blaine… if he doesn't see reason, I will be able to handle him… with Pryce's help."Lance nodded and laced his hands together. "Very well, let us work on a plan for how things will proceed on Team Rocket's swansong." He locked eyes with everyone in the room."Let me be clear. By the time the sun sets tomorrow, I want Team Rocket to be a footnote in the history of the Indigo region," he said.Unconsciously, my spine straightened at his words, even as I smiled.It seemed like a thorn that had been bothering me for far too long was about to be dealt with. Now I just needed to make sure I was part of the team to guarantee that Giovanni and Team Rocket fell.