Chapter 14 – Keeping to the Plan

It was dark, and it smelled like rotting garbage. Few of the buildings were well lit, and even fewer streetlights shone in the darkness, leaving the numerous alleys in Vermilion City dark and menacing. From most of the alleys Haunter could hear the sounds of barking dogs or the whisperings of the homeless. Of course none of this bothered the ghost as it floated invisibly down the sidewalk, observing its surroundings with the utmost interest. To Haunter the whole situation seemed a great adventure, a break from the monotony Lavender had presented.

More than once Haunter had stopped to investigate some noise from an alley or a flash of light from a high window. It had come across several fascinating scenes, some heartwarming displays of kindness, such as when a woman living out of an abandoned dumpster took two hungry children into her care and split her already meager spoils with them. Other scenes were nothing short of lurid, such as when the ghost happened across three men beating a woman senseless and dragging her behind an apartment building. In the latter case Haunter decided to intervene. Sickened by the display, Haunter revealed itself as a shrieking, laughing monstrosity that chased the men from the alley, and hid their unconscious victim behind a pile of boxes where she could recover.

Haunter's exploration of the city remained guided by a purpose however. Ash had instructed the ghost to seek out the Vermilion Gym and investigate the facility as thoroughly as possible, learning numbers, strength, and reporting back to Ash the next morning. The trainer specifically forbade Haunter from killing anyone, "we're not assassins," he had said, and Haunter agreed to the order. However, the ghost reasoned, Ash had said nothing about pranks, and how would the trainer know if Haunter's fun softened up the gym for the day's attack?

Vermilion Gym, a well-maintained and brightly lit structure setting on the edge of the bay, proved simple enough for Haunter to find, and as the clock tower in the distance sounded 4am, the ghost floated silently inside.

"Is he going to be ready to fight?" Ash asked, standing behind Joy. The young trainer crossed his arms, watching the procedure.

Joy nervously lifted Charmeleon's bandages and cut away the stained cloth, watching as the Pokemon eyed her and growled. The corner of Charmeleon's muzzle tugged up, revealing a row of razor sharp teeth as Joy carefully inspected Pokemon's wounded flank. She took a moment to inspect the wound from various angles, making sure not to touch it directly, before taking a step away.

"I've never seen a Pokemon heal this quickly," she turned to Ash and wiped her hands down the front of her scrubs. "The smaller scratches and cuts have already closed up completely and the deeper wound on his leg is well over half sealed." She glanced over her shoulder at the irritated little dragon, glad that Ash's steely gaze had been restraint enough for the Pokemon's volatile attitude. "I can't say if he's ready for a fight though. Strenuous activity wouldn't be good for the wounds. You'd be risking reopening them."

Ash sighed and dropped his hands into his pockets. The early afternoon sunshine flooding into the room through the skylight and the big windows on the eastern and western walls washed over Charmeleon and glinted off his bloody scales in a threatening display of red and orange light. Pikachu, sitting on Ash's shoulder and watching Charmeleon like one predator sizes up another, chittered uncomfortably. Ash and Pikachu both could feel the fiery Pokemon's building aggression and neither wanted to be around if it boiled over.

"Charmeleon are born and bred to fight," said Ash, as much to Charmeleon as to Joy. "And this one is a prime example of the species. He might feel left out if I didn't unleash him on Surge today. Plus, with what you've said about Surge using mostly electric-types, Misty will be out of the picture and I'll need all the firepower I can get."

A deep rumbling sounded in Charmeleon's throat and the Pokemon's tail swept through the air and slapped down on the table on which it lay. The resulting bang made Joy jump and take shelter behind Ash. The trainer however nodded and met Charmeleon's burning gaze with his own icy one. A puff of smoke hissed out from between the Pokemon's jaws and rose to linger about the skylight.

"You'll get your chance," said Ash calmly, reaching up to pet Pikachu as the rodent's cheeks sparked.. "Save all that aggression for the Gym, both of you."

Joy broke in by clearing her throat. "So you'll be going to the gym as soon as your partner gets back then?"

Ash nodded. "Misty wanted to go have a look around town, get a feel for the place. We're losing daylight and I want to confront this Surge guy before he gets wind we're here."

"I don't mean to pry," said Joy, "but what exactly do you plan on doing when you get there?"

Ash shrugged, stepping up next to Charmeleon and inspecting the tear in his leg. The trainer focused on the wound, wondering if his eyes were playing tricks on him or if he was actually seeing the tissue knit shut while he watched. It was subtle, but Ash thought that maybe Charmeleon was regenerating quickly enough for Ash to watch the process. "I'm not totally sure," said the trainer. "As far as I know, no one has ever gone around from city to city, challenging the gym leaders one by one to win their support for a suicide mission. I'm still trying to get the hang of the process."

"Right," Joy nodded, reviewing in her head what little of their plan Ash and Misty had revealed to her. "It's unorthodox, I'll give you that." She paused and bit her lip. "I don't want to keep pressing the issue," the nurse went on, "but do you think that, if you can I mean, that you could try to get Surge to leave town? I don't know what would happen after that, but it couldn't be any worse for Vermilion than Surge is right now."

Ash pulled a pokeball from his belt, and returned Charmeleon to the glowing little orb. "I'll challenge him for his recommendation and the gym badge," said Ash. "And we'll see where it goes from there. You've got to remember," he said, turning to Joy with an innocent grin as he reached up and put his hand behind his head, "I'm in pretty unfamiliar territory here. Politics have never been my thing."

"Right, right," Joy nodded with a sigh. "Anyway," she said, "I'm going to go check on your Arcanine. You want to come with me?"

Ash paused. He looked over to the window on the eastern wall, feeling a familiar and cold presence hovering just outside the glass. "Thanks," said Ash, looking back at Joy. "I'm going to go for a walk though. I'll trust you to take care of him."

She patted Ash on the arm and turned to the door. "I understand," she said. "Don't worry about him. Your Pokemon's in good hands."

"Thanks," said Ash, waiting until Joy had left the room to look back at the window. "Hey Pikachu," he said, leaning down and setting the little Pokemon on the floor. "Gimme a second," he stood up and walked across the room to the bathroom door. Pikachu cocked its head at its trainer, then curled up on the floor and set about licking itself clean.

Ash shut the door behind him, nodded, and seemingly out of nothing, Haunter's purple shape took form, floating silently towards Ash with a toothy grin splitting its face from one side to the other. "Glad you're back," said Ash. "What did you learn?"

Haunter's grin widened and it reached out with one disembodied hand for Ash, moving to touch him on the forehead with its talon-like index finger. Ash braced himself, wondering if Haunter was again the mischievous ghost he'd met in Lavender. As Haunter's luminescent purple form brushed over Ash's temple, the trainer's eyes snapped shut and his frame went rigid as he slumped against the wall. The ghost moved quickly and caught him before he fell, propping Ash up for a moment until the trainer's eyes opened.

For the better part of a minute, Ash was silent, processing the memories Haunter had imparted to him. "That's all well and good," said the trainer, looking up at Haunter as the ghost's smile shifted from playful to awkward, "but I explicitly told you not to hurt anyone."

Haunter held up its hands and took a floating step away, sending across the empathetic link, the notion that the ghost's fun hadn't hurt anyone, physically. Nightmares and bloodcurdling screams don't cause any physical harm after all. Ash shook his head and took a deep breath. He pressed the ghost for details and clarifications, minutes rolling by as Haunter expounded on its report of the Vermilion Gym's numbers and layout. Up until the end, Ash listened calmly, nodding occasionally or asking the ghost to explain a certain image in more depth. The young trainer couldn't help but feel it was almost unfair that such a perfect spy had fallen in his lap.

It wouldn't be wise, he thought, to count on Haunter to be my trump card all the time, but still...

Haunter reached the scenes in the memories of his slow and methodical investigation where he had found the center of the gym itself, the inner sanctum as it were. In what appeared to be an ostentatious building full of neon displays and electric lights, Tesla Coils and other glowing novelties, the door at which Haunter had stopped seemed uncharacteristically plain, hidden away almost. Much to Ash's surprise, the ghost had stopped short of checking the room where it most expected to encounter Surge. There had been another presence beyond the heavy steel portal, one the ghost recognized as a powerful psychic.

Its senses clouded, Haunter had debated whether or not to peek inside for a look around, but when it had tested the wall the ghost quickly found that the psychic presence extended beyond the bounds of the room and formed a wall of force within the concrete wall, beyond which Haunter could not move. As soon as the ghost prodded the psychic shield the presence grew irritated and undulated within the room. Haunter abandoned the investigation and returned to Ash immediately.

The trainer raised one eyebrow and looked at the ghost. "A Psychic that could keep you out?" he asked. "I thought ghosts were any psychics nightmare..."

Haunter nodded erratically, making no additional response to the statement.

Ash sighed and rolled his neck around, sitting on the closed toilet and resting his elbows on his knees. "So what are our options...?" he muttered, beginning to take a mental tally of what he and Haunter knew. "The Gym has Surge, five part-time trainers, two real trainers loyal to him, and a psychic... I've got Pikachu, Charmeleon, and you," he looked up at Haunter, unsure of the ghost's mischievous grin. "Misty has Blastoise, Staryu, Starmie, and three empty pokeballs. The odds don't seem too great."

Again, Haunter nodded and bobbed up and down. Ash didn't miss the note of enthusiasm. "Right," sighed the trainer. "At least you and Charmeleon are up for a challenge." He pushed himself up and put his hand on the door. "Stay out of sight, will you," he asked nonchalantly over his shoulder. "We'll wait until Misty gets back from casing the gym and see what our next move should be."

Misty turned her head and spat her chewing gum onto the flat, sun-baked roof of the small duplex. From the street she had spotted the vantage point, and getting through the dilapidated chain link fence surrounding the premises proved no problem. Scaling the fire-escape in broad daylight had drawn next to no attention from the people in the street. Now, at just after one in the afternoon, Misty sat concealed beside a small air conditioning unit as she watched the Vermilion Gym through a pair of cheap binoculars. Her one gripe was the heat. Vermilion's coastal locale meant the temperature rarely dropped below eighty during the day, and up here on the roof with no shade and no cross breeze to speak of, Misty had been sweating profusely for an hour.

Finishing off her second bottle of water, Misty tossed the empty container aside and wiped the moisture from her forehead. "Damn..." she muttered, glancing up at the sky, grimacing at the lack of hope for cloud cover. "Oh well," she returned to watching the gym for activity. "If this gets me a look at this Surge guy..." The name rung in the back of Misty's head like a church bell, prompting her to wonder where exactly she had heard of the man.

Less than a stone's throw away, just across the wide street as a matter of fact, the Gym sat like a fortress in the center of the slowly decaying port town. The complex consisted of three squat buildings, only one of which Misty thought large enough to be the actual Gym, ringed by a wall higher than any of the buildings it protected. A chain link gate protected the only opening in the wall, and wires ran atop the wall. Misty could hear the hum of electricity emanating from the wires and the gate from her spot on the roof, and she wondered silently to herself how exactly she and Ash were to gain entrance to the complex when the time came. Ringing the doorbell struck Misty as unwise.

"Huh," the girl's gaze snapped to the front door of the large building. Misty lowered the binoculars and scanned a broad swath of the courtyard for context, then refocused her attention through the binoculars as the big, garishly painted door swung open.

The first to exit were two tall figures garbed in flowing robes the color of faded lavender. They obscured their faces under hoods which cast shadows that seemed too dark for the time of day. Next to exit, as the first two characters stood motionlessly beside the door, were two more people, both of whom wore pokeballs at their belts and paramilitary uniforms, stepped into the sunlight and stood at ease beside the other silent figures. Misty's eyes focused on the fifth figure however, to the exclusion of all else, as the young woman in purple and black exited the building.

A chill shot down Misty's spine as she looked down at the courtyard. The woman walked with an ethereal grace accentuated by her alabaster complexion. The deep purple suit and her long atramental hair only made the woman's pale features more ghostly, even in the overpowering sunlight, but what made Misty stare, was her mark's cold gaze. Through the binoculars, Misty could make out the woman's eyes, one iris the color of amethyst, while the other sparkled wine red, and for a moment the new arrival's glance lighted across the rooftop, freezing Misty in place as though she'd suddenly been clapped in chains. The feeling passed as soon as the woman turned to the men waiting in the courtyard and spoke, too quietly for the observing trainer to hear.

Trying to quietly catch her breath, Misty paid less attention as the woman pulled a pokeball from her black belt. In a flash of white light, a humanoid creature the color of an egg's yolk, sporting white fur, angled facial features, and a strange silver utensil in each hand appeared beside its trainer, looking around absentmindedly. It could have been that Misty was too unsettled from... whatever it was the trainer's passing glance had done to her, but as soon as the girl refocused on observing the scene before her, there was no one to observe.

Misty bolted forward and rubbed her eyes before hurriedly scanning the courtyard for any signs of movement. To her immediate chagrin Misty realized there were no people on whom she could spy. The courtyard was empty. Thinking to check her watch only confused her farther as it was less than a minute after she'd last looked.

"The hell?" she muttered. "That's a new trick."

Quickly packing her small cache of supplies, Misty descended from the roof and picked her way through the town, keeping her hand at her belt at all times on her way back to the Pokemon Center. Thinking as she walked, the girl decided that he most likely scenario involved the Pokemon she'd seen in the courtyard turning the people around it invisible, or less likely she thought, teleporting them a short distance away. Misty had heard that some Pokemon had the ability to travel from one place to another by flashing in and out of space, but she'd never seen it first hand. Finding Ash at the Center, Misty set about telling the young trainer what she'd seen. It surprised her when his spirits lifted at the news.

"That's five more people we don't have to deal with," Ash said when Misty asked why he was smiling. "It sounds like the Gym is pretty inactive in the first place, and with those five gone the odds might just be even."

"You think we should head out now?" Misty asked, crossing her arms and looking about the foyer of the Pokemon Center.

"If we're going to take advantage of the Gym's weakened numbers, then yes," he said, patting the pokeballs on his belt. "You ready?"

"I don't know for sure," said Misty, going over in her head all of the places where she might have heard of Lt. Surge, but coming up short. "I know we need to get the Gym's recommendation for the Elite Four, and it would be a bonus to drive him out of Vermilion, but are you sure this is a good idea? Maybe we could call Brock for help."

Ash shook his head. "If we had more time I'd agree," he said. "But Brock is probably halfway to Cerulean by now, and he has things he needs to do too..." He smiled at Misty and reached out to touch her arm. "Besides, I think we can handle ourselves here. Trust me," he grinned.

Misty sighed. "You sure don't lack confidence."

"Nope," said Ash. "Fortune favors the bold. C'mon."

In a white flash of light, Onyx disappeared into its pokeball. Brock tucked the orb between his cloak and his body armor, stopping to look out across the long grassy clearing in the seemingly endless sea of forest. Spotting the checkpoint, he began walking and quickly closed the distance between himself and unassuming buildings. Upon parting with Ash and Misty, Brock had decided almost immediately to return to where he'd met Fey and her mercenaries with an offer. He refused to actually hope that they would accompany him to Pewter and take up a post there to aid him in keeping the city free of Team Rocket's influence, but secretly he caught himself desiring just that.

The evening light cast long shadows across the clearing as the sun began to dip behind the treeline, and Brock took a breath of the crisp air. He knew that only a few miles to the west lay Saffron City, likely still roiling in turmoil, but here at the checkpoint he thought he might receive a sanguine welcome.

Approaching the arch between the building however, wary of a potential warning shot from a crossbow, Brock hesitated. Instinct warned him not to proceed, and scanning the arch and the tops of the checkpoint's buildings gave him additional pause. No one sat ready to meet intruders. Brock spied no mercenaries nor anyone at all. As far as he could tell, the checkpoint sat abandoned. He briefly considered announcing his presence, but instinct again warned him to remain silent.

Quietly taking a breath and checking the sun to determine how much daylight remained, Brock reached down to his shin and drew out his boot knife. With his other hand he unclipped Golem's pokeball from his belt. Slowly he approached the northern building and took a steadying breath. Scanning the windows as he neared confirmed Brock's fears. Glass had shattered inward from several of the panes and the heavy door set in the eastern wall lay many yards away from its broken jam. Brock quickly pressed his back to the exterior wall and peered inside. The waning sunlight revealed the parlor, strewn with broken glass and a trio of dead human bodies, a shredded Scyther's corpse, and several smaller Pokemon's bodies.

The Gym Leader weighed his options as he waited outside the building. "Shit," he muttered under his breath, afterward pressing his lips together and deciding not to speak. Inside he would be alone as Onyx and Golem were too large to maneuver. Simply leaving struck him as the best option, though inside there might be survivors. Brock shook his head. Deciding that his altruism would one day be his undoing, he held his long knife close and stepped inside.

Avoiding the crunching broken glass, Brock investigated the dead men. Each wore the emblem of Fey's mercenary company and the Gym Leader judged by their wounds that it was their blood that had spattered the walls of the parlor. Picking up one man's crossbow and loading one of the broadhead-tipped bolts, Brock sheathed his knife and turned towards the stairs. Step by step, until his eyes were level with the second story hallway, Brock peered down the dark corridor. Illuminated only by the sunlight streaming though smashed in doors on the hall's west side, the whole scene left Brock uneasy.

He counted two more human bodies, he thought, though the cadavers were in so many places at once he couldn't rightly tell exactly how many peoples' remains lay in the hall. Brock quickly remembered Lavender Town, deciding that all of the unpleasant sights there didn't match the flagrant slaughter here, and he wondered what kind of animal had instructed its Pokemon to commit such an act. Picking his way amongst the mess and trying not to focus on the gore-splashed walls and ceiling, Brock searched the rooms, one by one. He discovered what he thought to be enough bodies in the first several rooms to account for most of the mercenaries. From some of the more intact corpses, he quietly lifted purses or other small resources and slipped them around to his pack. Coming to the last room, Brock stole a glance inside, and bit the inside of his cheek. Walking quickly to the far wall and setting down his crossbow he knelt by the figure leaning into the crushed drywall.

"Fey," he hissed, gingerly cradling the woman and glancing across the room at the dead Ninetails laying there. "Fey," he repeated a little louder when she didn't answer. The mercenary captain remained silent and Brock sighed. "Shit," he muttered, gently letting the body down on the floor when he saw the woman had been nearly broken in half by some enormous impact. Two huge puncture wounds, one clean through her neck and the other in her temple had left her dead with her eyes half open. Clenched in one of her hands was a thin spike of a knife, colored dark red with dried blood. In the other fist her death grip had torn away some of her killer's hide: purple snakeskin.

They were ambushed and couldn't use their larger Pokemon or their weapons effectively inside, Brock thought as he took the comforter from the bed, closed Fey's eyes, and covered her body. He stood up, holding his breath as he heard glass breaking downstairs, and quickly stepped out into the hallway. Avoiding the remains of the fallen and moving like a ghost to the stairs, Brock shouldered the crossbow and waited, hearing voices on the floor below.

"Fucking hell," one voice floated up the stairs as some equipment clattered. "Those agents sure did a number on these guys. Poor slobs never stood a chance."

"That's Jesse," said another voice. This one Brock thought sounded feminine. "I knew her back in the day. Girl has always been crazy. She'd sooner kill you with her nails than turn that rabid Arbok of hers loose and let it turn you to chili... though both ways end about the same."

Stiffening as the voices neared the stairs, the stillness ringing in his ears, Brock took a slow breath and decided on his course of action. Waiting in silence as the boots stepped up the first few steps to the landing, the Gym Leader lurched forward as a head came into view. Brock's heavy boot slammed into the man's temple with a squish and a splitting crack as the Gym Leader pivoted and took aim with his crossbow. As the man fell like a cloth doll and the woman screamed, Brock flicked the trigger. The crossbow lurched as the bolt tore forward and pierced the woman's wrist, pinning her arm to the wall against which she'd stumbled.

In an instant Brock stood with his face an inch from hers. He held her good hand in his iron grip and pressed his knife to her cheek, drawing blood. "Move and you fucking die," Brock growled, making no effort to hold back the bile in his tone as he saw the shiny red 'R' she wore as a hair clip. "Are you Team Rocket?"

The woman whimpered and tears began to roll down her cheeks. "Don't kill me," she hiccuped. "I'll do whatever you want..." her eyes flitted across her dead partner as blood flowed out of the split in his skull and stained the stairs. "Oh god..." she nearly gagged.

"Then answer my question," Brock barked. "Are you Team Rocket?"

She nodded as completely as she could without further cutting her face on Brock's knife. "Y-y-y-yes," she answered. "You're hurting me..." she cried.

"You picked the wrong employers if you want my sympathy. Why were you sent here?"

"I had orders to clean up after two of our agents," said the Rocket Grunt, a lock of blonde hair falling into her face.

"Jesse and James?" Brock probed, tightening his grip until her good wrist popped.

As her eyes widened with both pain and surprise, the girl broke and began sobbing, dropping until only the bolt and Brock's grip held her against the wall. "Don't kill me," she gasped as her eyes and nose both ran. "I'll tell you anything, just don't kill me, please, please just let me live."

Brock felt his chest tighten and he looked away. Swiping down with the knife's small pommel he snapped off the back of the crossbow bolt, making the girl scream from the jolt of pain. Taking her arm and her hand he jerked her wrist free and squeezed higher up her arm to stifle the blood loss as she cried and collapsed to her knees, pleading for her life.

"You're going to answer every last one of my questions," Brock made his position clear, bandaging and tying off the wound as roughly as he could without causing further harm. "Clear?" He could tell by the glassy look in her red eyes that his prisoner had broken.

For the next half hour, the Rocket Grunt hemorrhaged information at a pace that made the Gym Leader's head spin. He gathered that Jesse and James had indeed been sent here to intercept Ash Ketchum, and capture him. The agents had then opted to kill the mercenaries for their part in sheltering Ash and his companions. Brock learned that the Vermilion Gym was indeed linked with Team Rocket, as were the Fuchsia and Saffron Gyms, and that Sabrina of Saffron, who held a position of great power within the shadowy organization, was expected to retake her city any day now with the help of Rocket reinforcements from Vermilion.

"And why does Team Rocket want to capture Ash Ketchum?" Brock pressed. "Why's he so special?"

The Grunt shook her head. "I don't know," her voice broke. "I don't think Jesse or James know either. The orders come down from the top... probably has something to do with Professor Oak. What else do you want to know?"

Brock hesitated. He'd moved his prisoner downstairs, bound her hands, and set her on the couch. "Those knots shouldn't take you more than an hour to work loose," he said. "Your wrist isn't bleeding anymore and your pokeball is on the table..." he leveled against her the iciest glare he could muster and watched as she went absolutely pale. "Team Rocket has dangerous enemies. Remember that."

The Gym Leader turned and walked for the door, not turning to look back at the stunned Rocket Grunt.

"If you want to be free of them," he shouted as he left the building, "head to Pewter!"

"So this is it," Ash said to himself, looking through the electrified gate and into Vermillion Gym's open courtyard. The whitewashed buildings, decorated with buzzing neon and glinting lights presented an impressive facade, prompting Ash to take a moment to look on in simple fascination. "I've got to give this Surge guy credit, he has a flare for the dramatic," acknowledged Ash, holding his arm out to one side, allowing Pikachu to walk down his sleeve and sniff at the gate.

"You sure about this?" asked Misty.

Ash nodded as Pikachu's fur began to stand on end. The little yellow Pokemon jumped out and latched onto the gate, chittering and squeaking as a single bolt of electricity arced between its cheeks for a split second. Ash reached out and put his hand on the gate, flinching reflexively when nothing happened, and reaching through the chain-link to undo the locking mechanism on the other side. With a grunt the trainer shoved and the gate rolled on silent wheels to one side, allowing Ash and Misty unobstructed access.

"See?" Ash grinned as Pikachu leapt back to his shoulder and shook like a wet dog drying itself. A shower of little sparks flew in every direction and Pikachu's fur poofed out. "Grandpa taught me that one."

Misty took one look at Pikachu, who had turned around on itself to try and lick its fur back into place, and couldn't contain a laugh. Pikachu looked over at Misty, tongue sticking halfway out its mouth, and narrowed its gaze at her. The girl held back another laugh, but continued to snicker as Ash led the way to the front door of the largest building.

The young trainer took a steadying breath, already missing Arcanine's reassuring presence, and pulled on the copper doorknob. Feeling a stinging energy pulse through his hand, Ash pulled harder and held the door ajar for Misty.

Misty shook her head as she walked by. "Such a gentleman," she joked as Ash followed her inside and shut the door behind them. "Any idea where we go from here?"

Ash stepped up beside her and took a look around. The main chamber of the gym hummed with the activity of several tall Tesla Towers standing at even intervals throughout the warehouse floor. Lightning arched overhead between the towers with booms and hissing cracks of air. Between the towers, at ground level, walls of cobalt energy crackled and forms opaque barriers leaving Ash and Misty confined to the main room of the gym. All of the several side halls and a larger hall directly opposite the trainers remained cut off by the glowing barriers.

"Looks like a security system," said Misty, eying the towers. "And I'm not about to mess with it."

"Doesn't seem very practical," said Ash. "Effective though." He reached out with a thought and grabbed Haunter's attention, asking why the ghost had left this out of its report. Haunter's confusion echoed across the pair's link as clearly as Ash's. Floating invisibly beside its living partner, the ghost could only guess these had come online after Haunter had left.

"Pikachu," said Ash, looking down at his companion. "Think you can overload one?"

The rodent looked at Ash and cocked its head to one side, unsure of whether or not to take its trainer seriously. Ash shook his head and crossed his arms. "Well hell," he said, walking up to one of the crackling blue walls of energy. Both Ash and Misty turned around as a crack sounded behind Ash and one of the blue walls sectioning off a small hallway vanished long enough for three men to pass into the main chamber.

Ash reached down to his belt, just as one of the new arrivals looked up and met his gaze, and threw a pokeball to the ground. In a white flash of light, Charmeleon's red form leapt into being beside Ash.

"Holy shit!" the man across the room shouted in surprise as Charmeleon sprang forward with a hissing roar, closing the thirty feet between itself and the three men in an instant.

"Stop!" Ash barked, prompting Charmeleon to stop mere feet away from its targets, claws skidding along the ground and leaving thin troughs in the concrete floor. "Charmeleon, stay there!"

"What the hell is going on?" one of the men shouted, putting his hands up as his two companions did the same. Despite the pokeballs at their belts, Ash quickly noted that the men were far from experienced trainers... probably some of the conscripts Haunter had mentioned. "Who are you!"

Ash walked up beside his snarling Charmeleon, making a point not to touch the Pokemon. Pikachu's cheeks crackled with flickers of lightning as Misty casually approached and stood beside Ash. "I'm here to see the Gym Leader," Ash said calmly and politely. "How about you help me out and tell me where I can find Lieutenant Surge?"

The man at the head of the three frightened trainers glanced at Charmeleon. The Pokemon's jaws opened and black smoke boiled out from between its teeth. "Hey, easy," said the trainer. He and his associates shook in their boots. "We don't work for Surge, not really. If you've got a beef with him you can leave us out of it."

"Just call off your Pokemon," one of the other men squeaked.

"I'll be happy to when you tell me where I can find Surge," said Ash.

"Over there," said the first trainer, reaching up to his yellow hardhat and adjusting it, nodding off towards the opposite side of the warehouse. "He's got a big room down that hall and tucked away in the back. There's an arena where he trains his Pokemon and everything. Hey," he added with a nervous grin. "You obviously know what you're doing. Why not let us go an we'll promise not to get in your way."

The other man piped up again, "We're not wort your time, really. We'll stay out of your way and everything."

"How do we get passed the barriers?" Misty asked.

The man in the hardhat pointed at his pocket. "I've got a keycard here that can get you access to any of the rooms in the building. It will also deactivate the towers. I'm going for it slow, okay, so keep your Pokemon under control please."

Ash nodded, watching carefully as the man slipped his hand into his pocket. "Easy," said the trainer as the man in the hardhat began to pull an item from his overall's pocket. "Don't make any quick moves."

"Here," said the man, producing a small black card with a golden magnetic strip. He held it out for Ash. "All yours. Can we go now?"

Ash silently took the card and handed it to Misty. "Mind investigating?" he asked without taking his eyes off the other trainers.

Misty nodded. "Of course," she answered, taking the card and crossing the room. Nervously investigating the tower for a minute, every watchful for a stray bolt of lightning, Misty found a small slot in a keypad at eye level. Inserting the card and removing it quickly prompted the girl to leap back in surprise as a crackling hiss sounded in the room. The tower hummed quietly and faded as the blue barrier disappeared, leaving the construction little more than an unassuming metal spire. "I think it worked!" Misty shouted back.

Ash smiled at the three men. "I think it's your lucky day," he said. "How about we all agree that none of us saw each other?"

"Sounds like a plan to me," said the man in the hardhat. "And by the way, if you manage to beat Surge, don't feel bad if you kill him. No one around this town will miss him."

"We'll see," said Ash as he positioned himself between Charmeleon and the three men. The fiery lizard growled and hissed as it watched its potential prey speed across the open floor and exit through the door. Ash breathed a sigh of relief when they were gone, feeling Charmeleon's blood lust abate some. He patted Charmeleon on the head to get its attention, and nodded towards Misty and the hall. "Let's go," he said. "You'll get your shot."

Waiting patiently, Misty crossed her arms and offered the card to Ash as he neared. "Seeing as how I'm mostly backup anyway," she said, turning down the hall and walking beside Ash, opposite Charmeleon, "I figured you might want this."

"Sure," said the young trainer, taking the card and leading down the hall. Sending Haunter ahead with a thought, Ash followed behind the ghost with Charmeleon and Misty in tow. Both trainers fell silent as they trekked deeper into the surprisingly large facility, following the hall as it twisted and curved. The only sounds beside their own footsteps were the different pitched buzzings of the electric lights lining the walls.

Ash tracked by intuition Haunter's movement as the ghost took a sharp corner and disappeared through a metal door. "Hold on," said Ash, holding up a hand to stop the group as he peered at the door, waiting for Haunter to report on what waited on the other side. Ash instantly recognized this simple portal as the one from Haunter's visions of earlier that morning. "Do you hear that?" he asked to Misty as a faint crackling emanated from the doorway and echoed down the hall.

Misty nodded silently. "Sounds like... lightning?"

"Right," said Ash as Haunter touched his mind over the link. The ghost had found the inner sanctum, and the master of the gym. "Shall we?"

"Plan?" asked Misty.

"Walk in, get what we came for, walk out," said the young trainer with a confident grin. "We'll make up the rest as we go." Ash walked forward, Misty beside him, and put his hand on the knob. Opening the door flooded the hall with a brilliant combination of sunlight and artificial illumination that dazzled both trainers' senses.

Small trees snapped out of the way as the massive stone serpent slithered through the underbrush without regard for subtlety. The boughs of larger tree limbs broke and tumbled in Onyx's wake while Brock, laying atop his Pokemon's skull, clung fast and tried to ignore the twigs and branches that tore at him and the crossbow slung across his back. Pushing south and southwest, searching in sweeping arcs through the morning, Brock made every effort to keep an eye on his surroundings, hoping that he could make it to Vermilion and flush out his quarry along the way as Onyx tracked the two Rocket Agents by the scent of a certain snake's hide. Banking on the hope that Jesse would keep Arbok out in the open had worked for Brock thus far. Onyx had picked up the Pokemon's trail and followed it like a hunting dog across the miles of forest.

If those two are after Ash, thought Brock, and they catch him in Vermilion when he's confronting Rocket's puppet Gym Leader then Ash won't stand a chance. He'll be up against impossible odds. Why did we separate? God that was stupid!

Onyx's rumbling growl snapped Brock's attention to his Pokemon. The huge serpent had again caught wind of Arbok's scent, closer this time than ever before. At Brock's direction, Onyx reeled around and turned towards the edge of the thick forest. Charging forward like a battering ram, Brock broke through the edge of the forest and onto the top of the hill overlooking the coast on which Vermilion sat. To the Gym Leader's joint horror and relief, he spotted a small party of figures walking along another edge of the woods less than a hundred yards from his position, angling for a road that led straight into the city. Onyx rumbled and sniffed in that direction, eyes locked on the serpentine Pokemon slithering amongst.

"That's them," said the Gym Leader, spotting the white uniforms and tell-tale Pokemon. An Arbok slithered just beside the shorter of the two figures, while a Weezing hovered in midair some distance behind the party. "Let's get them," said Brock, patting the sides of his Pokemon's skull with his heels and taking a second pokeball in his free hand.

On that order, Onyx tore forward like a striking viper, closing on the Weezing and rearing up to strike before the other Pokemon could float around to see what was happening. Leaping down to the ground and throwing out the pokeball, Brock's steely gaze locked on the two trainers as they glanced around. Jesse gasped and James raised an eyebrow as Onyx came crashing down on his Weezing like an avalanche while Brock disappeared behind Golem as the second Pokemon appeared from a flash of white light.

The stone serpent smashed Weezing into the ground and reared back up to its full height, roaring and swiping its scythed tail about. The pulverized Pokemon hissed out a cloud of black smoke and went still as the reeking fumes dissipated. "Gotcha," Brock whispered, pointing forward as he took shelter behind Golem. "Onyx! Body slam them!"

Jesse and James took a single glance at one another and split off in different directions, each grabbing pokeballs from their belts while Onyx locked onto Arbok. The purple snake lashed to one side and dodged out of the way as Onyx attacked, avoiding the serpent by a comfortable margin. Brock meanwhile tried to keep Golem between himself and Jesse while watching James like a hawk.

"You think you can go after my friends," shouted Brock, "and not have to deal with me? Rocket's little game is over!"

Flashes of white light formed into a Venusaur beside James, and a Machamp beside Jesse. James jumped behind the green behemoth while Jesse stepped in front of her Pokemon as it cracked its knuckles. Arbok again dodged out of the way as Onyx swiped at it with a bladed tail.

"You're outnumbered," Jesse sneered, flipping her ruby hair behind her. "And you're outmaneuvered. You aren't going to keep us from getting what we want. We'll just kill you, take your Pokemon, and move on."

Moving like lightning, Brock pulled the loaded crossbow from behind his back and fired. The Machamp's hand shot in front of its trainer's face not a second too soon to block the bolt. Dark red blood splashed Jesse's face as the broadhead bolt tore through tendon and bone, its point stopping within an inch of the Machamp's eye.

Neither James nor Brock hesitated then. James ordered his Venusaur forward and Brock repositioned as Golem prepared to meet the charge head on. Reloading the crossbow for another shot at a very surprised Jesse, Brock flinched at Golem's cry of pain as the Venusaur's razor-like vines shot forward and burrowed into the chinks in Golem's heavy armor. Stepping around as Golem grabbed hold of the Venusaur and tried to lift the Pokemon into the air, Brock again aimed and fired. The heavy black bolt accelerated forward and again Machamp sacrificed for its trainer, grabbing Jesse with its three good hands and pivoting, taking the bolt for her full in the back.

"Shit," Brock swore, reaching around to the quiver hanging at his leg and finding it empty. I must have lost ammunition on the trail... He threw the crossbow aside and drew out his long knife as Arbok slipped around Onyx and rushed at him.

Finding themselves on the edge of a sandy arena, much like a vast boxing ring, Ash and Misty cast about to get their bearings. Standing in the center of the room were two figures, one obviously human, the other quite obviously not, but still man shaped. The two were grappling and throwing each other about with great heaves and cries of effort, until finally the man won out and threw the yellow and black Pokemon to the ground.

He turned away from the Pokemon then, towards the door where he saw Ash and Misty. His blond hair, blue eyes, and silver dog tags all glinted in the excessive light as the tall man with the lean, if freakishly muscular, physique put his hands on his hips.

"And who the hell are you?" he called out. "I don't recognize you and I don't remember inviting anyone to my gym. And I don't take kindly to trespassers."

Ash stepped forward as the yellow Pokemon, one he recognized as an abnormally large Electabuzz, stood up and positioned itself between Ash and the Gym Leader. "Ash Ketchum," said the young trainer, already beginning to sweat under the heat from the florescent lights and the glass skylights. "And I'm here with an ultimatum for Lt. Surge. That's you, right?"

Surge laughed and nodded. "You've got an ultimatum for me, in my gym, in my town? Where do you get off kid, arrogance or stupidity?"

"I want your gym's badge, and I want you gone. I know you're with Team Rocket and you're the one responsible for sucking Vermilion dry. Sound fair?"

"Ha!" Surge laughed again, throwing his head back and crossing his arms. He looked at Ash, scanned across Charmeleon and Pikachu, until his eyes lighted across Misty who had been staring at him since she entered the room. Surge's smile faded and the two looked at each other, both staring for the longest second of Misty's life. "Well I'll be damned," Surge muttered, almost under his breath. He turned back to Ash as Misty's face went pale with recognition. "For someone who doesn't like Team Rocket, you sure keep some weird company. I'm no saint, but that thing right there," he pointed a finger at Misty, "I've got nothing on it."

Misty, pale and unable to breathe, looked at Ash. She couldn't tell why he was still looking across the room at Surge. He's lying, she wanted to lie, but the words stuck between her lungs and her throat like a lead weight.

"You want to talk about murderers and thieves and whores," Surge went on as Ash swallowed the lump in his throat, "I can tell you some tales about Team Rocket's best deep cover agent in years." He waved his finger at Misty and grinned. "Even when I worked for Rocket outside Kanto, I heard about some of her exploits. Ha! I don't suppose she told you about the time she got engaged to some poor sap working against Team Rocket in Cerulean to get close enough to knife him in the back for us?"

Ash twitched but remained stone faced, even as Misty began to shake. She wrapped her arms tightly around her waist and remained staring at the side of Ash's face.

"I'm not here about her," Ash broke in, interrupting Surge as he was about to speak. "Are you going to give me Vermilion's badge, or not?"

A smug grin spread across Surge's face as he stared across the room at his challengers. He turned around and walked to the opposite side of the arena, taking three pokeballs from his belt and tossing them to the ground. Three little explosions of white lit up the room and surrounded Surge with a trio of Pokemon. In front of him sat a golden and black Raichu, standing up to nearly double Pikachu's height. On his right stood a second Electabuzz, this one nearly the same size as the one which remained in the center of the ring, and on Surge's left appeared what looked like a pokeball more than a meter high. The Electrode rolled around on its side and looked across the arena with an unsettling grin.

"Bring it!" Surge laughed, holding out his arms.

Ash turned around and looked at Misty. Immediately she looked away and went even paler, pressing her lips into a thin line. "It'll be alright," he said with a reassuring grin, as though absolutely nothing in the world was wrong. "I promise."

Misty looked up but couldn't say anything. She couldn't tell whether her heart was beating fast enough to explode or if it was a motionless lump in her chest, but either way, all she could do was nod.

Ash turned around, leveling a confident glare at Surge as he walked out to the edge of the arena, flanked by a Charmeleon that looked ready to fly into a rage, and a Pikachu as cool as ever. Reaching out with a thought for Haunter, Ash instructed the ghost to hang around the middle of the arena. If you can do anything to give us an edge, instructed the trainer, go for it. Don't be too obvious though. We need this to stay one on one and look at least mostly legit or Surge might rush us. If that happens, we're all dead. Clear?

Haunter acknowledged with a giddy laugh, audible only to Ash, barely able to contain its excitement.

"So," Ash called, "what do you say about single combat, one at a time? If I win then you give me a badge and leave town. If you win-"

"If I win," Surge interrupted, "you're a dead man. Electabuzz, you're up!"

The big Electabuzz in the middle of the ring remained put, sparks of lightning crackling between the nodes on its head. It slammed its fists together in a shower of sparks that sprayed out more than ten feet.

"Good," said Ash. He looked at Charmeleon and nodded. "Get in there," said the trainer. "I don't think I need to tell you what to do." Practically vibrating with energy, Charmeleon jumped in front of Ash, tail thrashing about and cutting dusty swaths in the sand. Ash stole a quick look at Charmeleon's flank and raised one eyebrow. He wasn't sure if it was a trick of the light, but as near as he could tell, the Pokemon's wounds had completely closed up.

"Thunderpunch!" Surge yelled, beginning the match.

"Tear it to ribbons!" Ash ordered.

Electabuzz tore forward at the same instant that Charmeleon bolted on all fours with a screaming battle cry. Electabuzz swung at the lizard, fist shining with energy, and yelled out in surprise when Charmeleon disappeared in a blast of sand. The electrically charged punch connected with nothing but empty air as Charmeleon's tail threw a blinding wave of sand into the Pokemon's eyes, and scuttled behind it. As the yellow Pokemon reached up to its eyes, Charmeleon leapt at it, all four legs out with claws ready to rend and tear.

"Claw it!" Ash ordered.

Immediately Charmeleon latched onto the Electabuzz with its front legs and jerked its back legs downward, raking the Electabuzz and tearing into its pelt. Surge grinned a little, even as his Pokemon tried to fight off the Charmeleon's furious assault, and cleared his throat. Charmeleon hissed and bit down into its prey's shoulder, fangs cutting deep and staining yellow fur red.

Surge shook his head. "Sloppy," he muttered. "Electabuzz!" His voice rose. "Shockwave!"

The yellow Pokemon's eyes snapped open and flashed white. Charmeleon yelped in pain, flung off his target and sent skidding across the ground, propelled by a wave of sparking energy. Ash grimaced as Charmeleon landed and rolled, "Get up!" he shouted. "Charmeleon move!"

"Thunderpunch," Surge called out.

Clenched fist glowing brilliantly, Electabuzz charged in towards a staggered Charmeleon and swung downwards. Ash gritted his teeth and braced to watch Charmeleon take the blow, but a wisp of cold air, perceptible only to Ash, whipped around the charging Pokemon's feet and lifted one foot slightly higher off the ground that normal, toppling Electabuzz forward where it slammed its face into the ground before Charmeleon. The electrical energy exploded out in a shower of sparks as the Pokemon lost control of its attack, stunning itself.

Thank you Haunter, Ash sighed mentally. "Flamethrower!" he yelled.

The word seemed to resonate in Charmeleon's mind even before Ash finished uttering it. The fiery lizard rolled onto all fours, maw snapping open. The red fire rolled out of Charmeleon's mouth like lava, then picked up speed as the Pokemon roared to blast it forward. The firestorm seemed to ignite even the sand, much less Electabuzz, and the yellow Pokemon's fur burst into flame. As Surge cursed under his breath and reached for a pokeball, his Electabuzz rolled around on the ground, slapping at its burning patches of fur and screaming in a low drone.

Ash gritted his teeth, and watched as Surge pointed the pokeball at his Pokemon. "Alright, you've managed to take down one," said Surge as his Electabuzz turned white and vanished into the red laser shining out of the pokeball. "But that's just one down," he clipped the ball to his belt. "Electrode, get out there!"

The red and white orb of a Pokemon acknowledged with a rumbling hum and rolled out onto the field as Charmeleon watched with blood rage in its eyes. The fiery Pokemon hissed its call and slapped its tail to the ground, waiting for Ash's order. The young trainer swallowed hard and looked around at Misty. Something felt horribly wrong. He all of a sudden wanted to walk away and forget about the fight, insane as the idea sounded, but seeing Misty standing there, even if she didn't smile back at him, reassured him some.

"Tackle!" Surge ordered.

"Slash it!" Ash countered.

The Electrode spun on its axis and shot forwards toward Charmeleon. Whizzing passed it as Charmeleon raised one claw to cut it as Electrode shot by. The spherical Pokemon's hardened outer shell shrieked under the impact and a bolt of electricity arced between its form and Charmeleon. The fiery Pokemon hissed in surprise and anger, charging after the retreating orb and leaping at it.

"Be careful!" Ash shouted after his Pokemon. "Don't be stupid!"

Surge took a contented breath and sighed as Charmeleon came down on Electrode, digging all its claws into the spherical Pokemon and biting at it with smoking jaws. "Self-Destruct," he called out casually as Electrode and Charmeleon rolled towards Ash.

Ash froze as the Electrode, with no hesitation, flashed white and disappeared. Less than an instant later the whole world seemed to go silent and completely white. A crushing wall of pressure and roar of wind threw Ash to the ground just before an infernal heat basted over him and knocked him several feet backwards, out of the arena. Sucking in a breath only filled his lungs with hot smoke, making Ash wheeze and cough. Opening his eyes and looking around, he for a moment thought he was blind and deaf, but gradually clarity returned to the world and he could hear fuzzy sounds. One sound was his name.

He focused on the face above him as Misty came into view, kneeling beside him and trying to pull him into a sitting position. "Get up," he heard her saying as though she were far away. "Ash, please stand up!"

The young trainer, shell shocked and aching all over, crawled up to his feet, holding onto Misty and looking around. As the smoke cleared through the shattered skylights and windows, Ash saw Surge, standing behind his second Electabuzz like a shield. He saw Charmeleon and his heart jumped. The Pokemon lay unconscious, but breathing he saw, in a heap on the other side of the gym. How Charmeleon had survived, Ash had no idea. The Electrode was nowhere to be seen.

"Are you alright?" Misty asked, her voice becoming clearer as Ash reached for his belt. "Ash, can you talk? Are you OK?"

The young trainer nodded and shifted to stand on his own, grabbing a pokeball and taking aim at Charmeleon. "I'm alright, I'm alright," he muttered, throwing the pokeball towards his Charmeleon as Misty helped steady him. "What the hell happened?"

Surge waved his hand in front of his face to clear away some of the dissipating smoke. "Whew!" he shouted to Ash after a cough. "That was really something, wasn't it?" He laughed once. "Funny creatures Electrodes, so willing to blow themselves up on a moment's notice. That one was a valuable asset and look how quick I was to use it to its fullest against you," Surge smirked. "Now if I'll treat one of my own like that, what do you think I'm going to do with the two of you?"

Ash glanced at Misty, then down at Pikachu who hunkered shivering behind his leg. He felt about the room for Haunter, finding the shaken ghost waiting for orders to one side of the arena. Across the empathetic link Ash couldn't miss the sudden fear in the ghost's attitude.

"Two to one now little man!" Surge shouted. "And I have reserves. Electabuzz, get your ass out there!"

Without a sound the second Electabuzz, a look of determination and calm on its face, stepped into the arena as the last of the smoke cleared. Ash looked to Pikachu, who looked up at him, ears flat back against its head. "You're up," said Ash. "Be careful."

Pikachu nodded and walked forward, chittering nervously. Ash shook his head, more glad than ever that Misty was there to help keep him stable. "We might be in trouble." This guy has got to go...

The Arbok flailed wildly, and Brock could only be glad that he'd turned in time. Rather than being swallowed whole or skewered on Arbok's fangs, the serpent had rather swallowed the Gym Leader's right arm and shoulder when its fangs deflected off Brock's armor. Lifting the Gym Leader up in the air and tossing him about like a toy, Arbok tried to snap Brock's arm loose, but the human drove his free hand into the snake's eye and held fast. Fortunately for Brock, he'd been holding his knife in his right hand when Arbok struck and now, screaming and holding on for dear life, he stabbed again and again into the Pokemon's soft palate, hoping to strike Arbok's walnut-sized brain.

While Brock grappled with the serpent, Golem struggled furiously with James' Venusaur. The boulder of a Pokemon bled from numerous wounds cut in the softer flesh between the chinks in his armor. An exhausted Onyx contended with a nearly crippled Machamp, swiping at the more agile Pokemon with its scythed tail or trying to slam it to keep it away from Brock. Jesse and James stood back, confidently watching the display for the shade of the woods.

Brock yelped in pain as Arbok spat him out and slapped him down on the ground, expectorating blood and hissing venom. The purple snake reeled overhead, hood flared out wide over him just before the lethal blow. The Gym Leader steeled himself, refusing to die afraid and glad that, if nothing else, he'd bought Ash a little more time and given these Rocket bastards a good fight.

A sizzling blast of white energy shot over Brock's head and crashed into Arbok, sending the snake reeling and immediately drawing James and Jessie's attention. A black figure bolted over Brock and hovered there as the air filled with a screeching yell. Looking up, Brock thought a pair of trees had stepped into position between him and his attackers. He could only push himself up to an elbow and watch as the trees, which stood on two legs and sported crowns of tall blades of grass rather than branches, shook wildly and threw out small seeds towards Jesse and James. The seeds exploded in midair with deafening shock waves and blinding flashes of light that made Brock bury his face in the crook of his elbow.

Shouting and screaming followed, trampling feet and flashes of light occupied Brock's attention for the next minute, until he got his bearings and pushed up to his feet. Golem was laying on its back, bleeding from several large, if nonlethal, wounds, and the two trees, exotic Pokemon Brock saw, stood between the Gym Leader and where the battle had just finished. Onyx roared and shifted as though he wanted to pursue the attackers, but elected to wait for Brock. Jesse and James were gone.

"Hurt, not bad, need to stand up, might still be trouble," Brock heard the voice and turned around to see where it was coming from.

The sharp aquiline nose, white lab coat, and eccentric grey hair were unmistakable. "Bill?" Brock muttered, getting to his feet. "Not to... I mean... where dd you come from?"

"Stupid question, need to get to town, away from those two, they'll be back," Bill rattled off in a second as he paced about. "But came looking for Pokedex. Been no data transmission for days, minimal amount before that, needed to know what Ash was doing, make sure he hadn't died." Bill sucked in a sharp breath. "That would be bad."

"Um," Brock stammered, looking towards Golem as the Pokemon rolled over and slowly got up. "Thanks for saving me."

"Exeggutors saved you," said Bill shoving his face towards Brock. "Thank them. Where's Ketchum?"

"Vermillion I think," said Brock. "He went to challenge the Gym Leader for the badge."

Panting heavily and smoking, Pikachu arched its back and hissed as the Electabuzz fell in front of it in a heap. Surge, long since passed laughing, returned the defeated Pokemon to its pokeball with a flick of his wrist and a flash of light.

"Raichu," said a fuming Lt. Surge. "You'll be more than a match for this one. Take it out."

"Pikachu," said Ash, anxiety gnawing at him as he watched his beleaguered Pokemon square off against Surge's fresh trooper. "Finish this last one and we're done. We're almost there." Chittering an acknowledgment, Pikachu made the first move and shot forward like a bullet out of a gun. Catching a surprised Raichu off guard, Pikachu slammed into his opponent with a burst of sparks and light.

"Quick attack!" Surge and Ash yelled in unison.

From her vantage point at the back of the arena by the door, Misty could only try to keep track of the battle as Pikachu and Surge's Raichu disappeared in blurs of sand and speed, appearing just long enough to make a slam attack against the other before disappearing again. Little dirt devils were the only indicators of where the Pokemon might appear before they struck, and as often as not, Pikachu and Raichu would zap into and out of view on the opposite side of the arena from the tufts of dust they kicked up when they ran.

Haunter! Ash called out, trying to catch the ghost. You've got to do something to trip up that Raichu.

Over the empathetic link, Ash sensed the ghost's quandary. Both Pokemon were moving too fast for Haunter to do anything that didn't involve a flashy display that would catch up Pikachu as likely as Surge's Raichu. Shit! Ash swore in his mind. He jerked around when he felt Haunter rush passed him and out of the room. Wait, where are you going? Stop! He called after the ghost.Come back!

"This is bad," Ash muttered.

In a blast of electricity that made the hairs on Ash's arm stand up, Pikachu and Raichu appeared in the center of the arena and crashed into one another. Both Pokemon went tumbling, trying to recover from the impact, but the fresher Raichu got to its feet faster and charged Pikachu. As Raichu slammed into the smaller rodent, it bit into Pikachu's shoulder and ripped the Pokemon about.

"Stop!" Ash yelled. "You win! I'll surrender!"

"I told you," said Surge as Raichu threw Pikachu to the ground and stood over him like a successful predator, "When I win, you're a dead man."

Ash could have dropped to his knees at the sight of his Pokemon, barely hanging on, laying there beaten. "Surge, wait," said the trainer as the Lieutenant strode forward into the arena, drawing a short knife from his pocket and flipping it point down. "I'll do whatever you want," he said. "Just don't."

Misty stepped up beside Ash, grabbing a pokeball and readying to throw it.

"Oh please," Surge sneered at Misty. "You're Pokemon are no match for my Raichu. He's got enough energy to fight that battle five times over again."

Ash clenched his fists and would have bolted forward, but Misty grabbed his arm and held him back. "We should run," she hissed in his ear.

"No!" Ash barked. "Not without-"

"Your little Pikachu?" Surge interrupted, holding the knife right beside the unconscious rodent. "Aw I wouldn't worry top much about him anymore."

All three trainers turned in surprise as the door to the arena creaked open, shattering the atmosphere. In the doorway stood a single man in overalls and a yellow hard hat, flanked by two other figures standing in the shadows. Ash couldn't miss the presence of the ghost as Haunter floated invisibly behind the new arrivals, quickly contacting Ash and gloating about bringing reinforcements.

"Baily?" Surge spat, standing up and ignoring Pikachu. "Where the fuck have you been? I could have used your help half an hour ago."

Stepping from behind Baily into the light and raising a cocked and loaded crossbow, Brock leveled the weapon at Surge and fired without hesitation. The Broadhead thudded into Surge's chest, cutting through his sternum with a spray of red and jutting out his back. Surge stood there for a moment, mouth wide as he looked down at the wound, and then up at Brock. The mortally wounded soldier twisted his lips to say something, but fell back before the words escaped his mouth. He dropped into the sand and stared at the ceiling as he stopped moving and his panicked Raichu wheeled around in shock.

Misty released Blastoise and Starmie to flank her as she glared at the Raichu. "Get out!" she ordered the Pokemon. Surge's Raichu squeaked in fear and bolted for a shattered window, scampering up the wall and leaping outside.

Running forward and scooping up Pikachu, Ash looked down at his Pokemon, assessing the wounds and breathing a deep sigh of relief. He'd seen Pikachu in worse condition, no matter how much it pained him to see it like this now. He turned around and saw a battered Brock, the man in the hardhat from earlier, and Bill walking into the room. The young trainer's face lit up as he walked back to the group and tried unsuccessfully to think of something to say.

Bill beat him to the greeting. "Why haven't you been working on the Pokedex?" Demanded the professor. "Answer! Thought you might be dead! Thought Rocket might have captured device! Speak!"

Ash looked at his grandfather's old friend and laughed once. "I'm so glad to see you guys," he said at length. "What are you doing here?"

"Pokedex!" Bill shouted.

"We," interrupted Brock, putting his bruised hand on Bill's shoulder, "thought you might be in trouble and decided to come look for you. I ran into Bill outside Vermilion and we came into town together to find you. That was when Baily here ran into us and asked if we were real trainers and if we could help another trainer beat the Gym Leader."

Baily nodded and piped up, "I figured that if someone was really going to challenge Surge like you said you were, then I should do my part and find help for them wherever I could. The man was ruining my town and I'm glad he's gone."

"Baily showed us the way here," said Brock. "And not a moment too soon by the looks of it."

Ash sighed in relief, feeling Haunter come over the link with a smug reaction. The ghost told Ash it had sensed Brock's familiar aura nearing and went to make sure he found his way here. The young trainer shook his head and thanked the ghost. "Well," he said, looking back as blood formed a pool of red sand around Surge's body. "It might be hard to get him to sign a recommendation now..."

"I think the Elite Four will understand," said Misty, putting a hand on Ash's shoulder.

"We'll be needing someone to take his place," said Baily somberly, reaching up and removing his hardhat. He ran a hand through his sparse black hair. "Someone will need to take over the gym and see to it that Vermilion can get back to running profitably."

"Well then answer is simple," said Bill, drawing all the attention in the room to himself and then stopping short.

"Yes?" Ash prompted. "What's the answer?"

"Ay," Bill sighed, scratching his scalp. "Fishes and sharks. You," he pushed his finger against Ash's chest. "Ash Ketchum will take over for Lt. Surge."

"What?" Ash stepped back, putting up his hands, nearly dropping Pikachu, and stumbling to catch his unconscious Pokemon. "What do you mean me?"

Misty walked forward and carefully took Pikachu from Ash, rocking the Pokemon and stroking its fur. "I'm not sure it works that way," the girl said to Bill. "Gym Leaders have to be appointed by the Elite Four or voted on by the citizens."

"Corrupt Gym Leader is dead," said Bill. "Town needs protector more experienced than any trainer here, and Ketchum would work. Simple, and you will have time to work on Pokedex instead of traveling. Defeats purpose of giving you Pokedex in the first place, since I wanted you to travel, but this would be better than you not working on it at all. Acceptable compromise then. Yes?"

"You did save Lavender," said Brock. "I can vouch for you there so your credentials aren't in question."

"Whoa, hold on," said Ash, turning to Brock. "What makes you think I want to be a Gym Leader?"

Baily cleared his throat and plopped his hardhat back on his head. "You stood up to Surge, so you can't be any worse than him. I'll vote for you if you want the job, and the rest of the gym will follow my lead. We do need someone in charge and it sure isn't going to be me," he shrugged. "And after Surge, I'm not sure I trust the folks in this town to vote for someone to lead the gym."

"What about the mayor?" asked Ash. "He'll want a say in this."

"Let the fat prick rot in Celadon," Baily said, not hiding his disdain. "That guy abandoned us for money so I say we let him see what it feels like to be abandoned himself."

"Brock takes care of dealings with Elite Four," said Bill, "Engineer Baily rallies gym staff so Ketchum can become Gym Leader here and work on Pokedex. Settled."

"Not settled," retorted Ash, holding out his hands, heart racing. "I have not once said I want to be a Gym Leader. What about taking on Team Rocket? We need to keep going after them."

Brock put a hand on Ash's shoulder. "Surge was Team Rocket. He represented their interests in Vermilion and with him gone there's a vacuum. Someone needs to step into it before Rocket can recover and put in someone they want. Ash, I think you're a good bet. If you can keep Rocket out of Vermilion then that's a lot of resources they lose. That is going after them where it hurts, their wallets."

"I don't know the first thing about running a city or a gym," Ash responded.

"You wouldn't have to run the city," said Baily. "Your friends are right, I think. We need someone in place who can keep Rocket at bay and you seem good for the job. With Surge gone it won't be hard to put together a city council to run the day to day affairs. You'd be in charge of making sure that the council had the safety to do their jobs without worrying about physical threats."

Ash pursed his lips and crossed his arms. "I don't-" he began and stopped, going silent for a minute. "I mean I wouldn't know-" he stopped again. He quickly turned to Misty, looking her in the eye and making her jump as he did. "What do you think?" he asked.

Misty stammered for a second and looked at him. She smiled a little and pushed the anxiety in the back of her mind away completely. "I'll follow you in whatever you do," she said. "But I think the others have a point. You're a born leader and you'd be good for this."

Ash nodded and took a deep breath, thinking for a moment in the silence his friends let him have. "Fine," he said after a long pause. "I'll do it. Now what?"

Chapter 14 - Chapter 14 – Keeping to the Plan