Episode 36 - Survival of the Fleetest

Somewhere below the faintly sun-tipped trees of Alia Forest, two battered figures wearing equally scuffed Team Rocket Elite uniforms shakily arose to greet the new day. One was far happier than the other, and with good reason. She didn’t happen to be sporting an empty Magcargo shell that had become firmly jammed upon her head after landing heavily upon it following their unscheduled flight the night before.

“Aw c’mon Maya,” the turquoise-haired female giggled as her partner struggled to remove the shell to the accompaniment of muffled cursing. “Why you wanna get rid of such a nice hat?”

“I have many words to say to you, Dinah…” came the dark reply as Maya’s eyes could be seen narrowing through a hole where weathering had eaten away at the shell’s surface. “But I am not going to waste my breath, for your skull is obviously too thick for any of them to get through!”

“Hmmm… okay!” Dinah grinned. This unperturbed reaction only served to irritate Maya further; then she realised the Magcargo shell wasn’t as empty as she had first thought. Yelling loudly, the woman began to leap around, trying all the harder to separate herself from the bulbous greyish object.

“Something in there?” Dinah inquired, raising an eyebrow at the scuttling noises emitting from near Maya’s head. A loud, fractious bellow answered her question.

“GET THIS THING OFF ME, YOU IDIOT!”

Rolling her eyes the figure wandered over to her twitching associate before grabbing the edges of the shell and giving a swift tug. Maya gasped as the sunlight returned to her face and Dinah smirked, taking in the sight of a rather terrified Paras nestled amongst her luxuriant blue hair.

“Awww… how cute! I think it likes you,” she commented. The Paras uttered an odd squeak as Maya snatched the creature from her head before tossing it into a nearby bush.

“This is a disaster!” the woman snapped, while Dinah stared down at the shell and considered stuffing explosives in it for kicks. “Do you even realise what you did back there? You ruined the one chance we had to remove those exiles once and for all!”

“But you wanted to blow up Butchy…” Dinah pouted, glancing back at Maya. “Did that assignment really say we had to hurt ‘em? Can’t we just dig a hole trap or something?”

“Oh yes, of course,” Maya responded with heavy sarcasm. “Let’s dig a pathetic little hole and hope they will just waltz right into it.”

Dinah said nothing but continued to sulk with her arms folded. Maya groaned and took to massaging her forehead as she so often did when things got too much to bear.

“And I thought the others were just joking when they told me you were responsible for driving your partners to handing themselves into prison.”

“They told you that?” Dinah blinked. “I thought they were just allergic to dynamite.”

Maya raised an eyebrow. Despite her odd innocence that bordered on the moronic, Dinah certainly wasn’t going to be fooled into eradicating Butch; even though he had clearly defected from Team Rocket. Seems she would have to go about things in a more unconventional manner.

“So you’re saying that you’re not going to go through with this plan if it involves hurting the gravel-voiced, grass-head Politoed guy?” she reiterated. Dinah responded with furious nodding.

“Fine,” Maya sighed. “If it’ll make you cooperate we’ll take them alive. Happy now?”

“Yay!” Dinah squealed, picking up her satchel and positioning it enthusiastically over her shoulder. She wasn’t at all unhappy over the fact this turn of events would require a lot less explosives, so long as Butch was safe.

Besides, this way she’d have a lot more ammo for blasting those pesky rocks.

***~~***~~***~~***~~***

Denise winced and attempted to ignore Cassidy’s mumbled orders as the woman lay in slumber under a nearby tree. Snorlar, who appeared to be a rather light sleeper, had long since become agitated with the persistent noise and had wandered into the forest with Triply to gather some ingredients for breakfast. The human members of the group were been forced to choose between continuing to listen to the low thrum of instruction or to wake their companion and face a much louder barrage of verbal abuse.

“Bring me some tea…” Cassidy remarked under her breath, waving her arm upward at no one in particular. “Where’s my shampoo? Have you taken my brush again?”

“Well doesn’t this bring back some unwanted memories,” Jessie groaned, balancing a kettle she had retrieved from her phase pack and filled with water over the restored campfire. Rose and Denise gave her confused glances.

“Back during Team Rocket’s prep training I used to share a dorm with Cassidy,” the woman elaborated. “And she was just the same. If she wasn’t bossing me around while conscious, she was just as happy to attempt to do the same in her sleep.”

Rose glanced up at the early morning sun as Cassidy spluttered into life after unceremoniously getting a face full of Taillow droppings. She and the others would really have to think about making a move soon - hanging around one place for too long at such a critical time was asking for trouble. But neither could they leave without Triply or Snorlar for extra protection.

“What’s the big idea?” Cassidy bellowed into the branches, causing the Taillow to chuckle amongst themselves and flutter away.

“They were probably all bothered by that racket you’ve been emitting from that cavernous mouth of yours,” Jessie smirked. Cassidy began to growl, but Denise was quick to put a stop to the developing furore.

“Don’t start that again!” she hissed. “You’re both going to give our location away with the noise you’re making.”

Rose twitched as she heard a faint rustle from somewhere above her head.

“Did you hear that?” Jessie frowned, turning to glance at her companion. Denise’s expression grew anxious; being somewhat inexperienced in the world of active duty she felt awkward among a trio of professional operatives.

“It’s just the wind blowing through the trees,” Cassidy remarked coolly.

“You’re all just too flinchy for your own g-“

Her sceptical remark dissolved into a slight gasp as she clutched the area of her left arm where something sharp had made contact. Pulling out the offending object Cassidy glanced at it for a moment as her eyelids began to lower.

“She’s…found us…” were the woman’s final words, before her body collapsed limply to the ground. The remaining members of the group dashed over to examine the projectile.

“It’s a tranquilliser,” Denise concluded firmly. “Someone’s out there sniping us!”

“And not just any someone,” Jessie muttered, passing the tulip-shaped dart between her hands. “This is Domino’s work.”

“Giovanni certainly isn’t holding back now,” Rose commented, biting her lip and attempting to hoist Cassidy over her shoulder. “We’ve gotta get out of here!”

“But what about the Pokémon?” Denise protested.

“They can take care of themselves!” Jessie exclaimed. “Right now I’m more concerned about the state of our-

…dammit!”

Denise yelped and ran forward as Rose crumpled to the floor under the weight of Cassidy’s unconscious body. The girl soon discovered another dart protruding from her companion’s ankle. She gazed back at Jessie, a desperate expression upon her face. Naturally it was useless to panic, but how could she not when the adversary they were facing insisted on concealing herself amongst the leaves and bringing her targets down with pinpoint accuracy?

“Keep moving,” Jessie whispered, keeping her eyes firmly fixed on the branches over her head. It was obvious the woman was attempting to seek out the location of their attacker. “You’re far too easy to hit standing still.”

The girl was quick to oblige, darting around while desperately trying to work out how to escape and drag Rose and Cassidy to safety at the same time. Another faint rustle was heard, causing Jessie to swing herself around in a full circle and plant her foot directly into the trunk of a nearby tree. Her efforts were rewarded by the appearance of a rather aggravated Aipom which toppled from the foliage, directly onto Denise’s head.

This addition of an unexpected purple assailant to an already stressful situation was enough to throw the young figure into a state of utter distress. Such a distraction was all that was needed to strike the hunter’s penultimate victim.

“We’re out…for the count…” Jessie slurred, keeling over shortly after. Denise’s eyes widened as the Aipom leapt into the safety of the forest, having been startled by the swift rush of air that had cast the third dart into the open. A triumphant cackle echoed from amongst the trees.

“Don’t you realise how stupid you look, missy?” a pernicious voice cooed mockingly while Denise continued to run from side to side, glaring up at where the comment had come from. Shortly afterward, a young woman clad in a dark grey and white Team Rocket Elite uniform dropped neatly to the ground; a rifle in one gloved hand.

“Me?” Denise snapped. “You’re the one who still wears that uniform, Domino!”

“Well well,” the figure responded calmly, rearranging her golden curls under the hat she was wearing.

“Such harsh words from someone who is about to lose their free will.”

Denise gulped but reasserted her glare as Domino raised her weapon to eye level before aiming it at the defiant-looking exile. But as she was about to pull the trigger, a noise from behind caused the Team Rocket Elite to pause and swing the rifle toward the duo of new arrivals to the scene.

“Hey!” Maya yelled. Domino relaxed her stance slightly before positioning the rifle back in Denise’s direction. The young girl bit her lip and hurriedly glanced around; one Team Rocket Elite operative was bad enough to deal with alone, but three? Things were starting to look very bleak indeed.

“Oh,” she commented disinterestedly. “It’s just you.”

“What do you think you’re doing?” the blue-haired woman continued in exasperation. “This is our territory!”

“I don’t think so,” Domino smirked, momentarily distracted. “The Boss would certainly not leave a job as important as this to a pair of half-rate and equally skilled operatives such as you two.”

“Neither would he leave it to some flower-arranging cosmetically obsessed floozy like you!” Maya retorted.

“Hah! Whatever gets the job done best,” Domino reminded her, bringing out a lengthy cane with a tulip-shaped tip from her phase pack and displaying it in a stylish fashion. “And your primitive methods did squat in this situation.”

“Oh yeah?” Dinah retorted, waving a stick of dynamite in front of Domino’s face.

“You’re just a Miltank with Vileplume breath!”

Denise watched this odd scenario from against a nearby tree and tried desperately hard to work out her next move. She knew Team Rocket operatives were prone to competing for the limelight but this was ridiculous! It was almost like she and the other travellers had become the prizes for some twisted criminal game show. On the upper hand it was giving her the time she needed to calm down and reorientate herself.

“Time to step back and let the professionals do their job,” Domino commented, turning back toward her target. Maya stepped into the woman’s line of fire, fists shaking.

“Make me.”

“Very well, “Domino shrugged, re-aiming the rifle at Maya’s forehead. “If obtaining a reward means removing a few pests along the way, then so be it.”

Maya cartwheeled neatly aside as another dart shot past, embedding itself into the tree trunk just beside Denise’s ear.

“You’ll have to do better than that!” she laughed, moving her right foot back a little to arrange herself in a nonchalant fashion. The heel of her boot brushed against something, causing the woman to flinch. Turning around, Maya felt her chest tighten as she took in the view of a seemingly lifeless yellow-haired figure sprawled across the earth below.

“…Cassidy?”

That slight lapse of attention was all the time Domino needed to reload her weapon and release another tranquilliser with deadly accuracy. Maya gasped as it hit her in the ankle.

“Is that better for you?” Domino sneered, as her quarry crumpled over Cassidy’s unconscious body. Dinah’s eyes became wide with shock as her gaze flitted this way and that; unsure whether to run or try and drag Maya to safety. But Domino wasn’t wasting any time now; Dinah uttered an amusing squeak as the barrel of the rifle was aimed straight at her.

Scrabbling for her lighter in a state of illogical panic, Dinah unleashed a flame upon the stick of dynamite in her hand and hurriedly tossed it at Domino before escaping into the foliage. Domino responded by swinging her leg upwards in one graceful movement; sending the explosive coursing past Denise’s head and into the trees beyond. A loud explosion ensued, intermingled with an angry roar.

<Okay, now getting rudely awoken I can just about stand…> Snorlar began as he thundered into the open with Triply in its humanoid James form running alongside him. <But having explosives thrown at me just takes the biscuit!>

Domino staggered backward in alarm, only to be snatched up into the air by Snorlar’s ample paws.

“Lemme go you lousy excuse for a Pokémon!” she bellowed, while Triply proceeded to examine the female figures slumped about the surrounding area.

<Sure, I’ll do that> Snorlar replied with a mischievous grin. A second later Domino was seen hurtling into the air at great speed; having ended up on the wrong side of a Vital Throw attack.

“This is humiliatiiiiing!” were the last words the figures below heard from her before she vanished from sight. Denise relaxed visibly and stepped away from the tree trunk she had pressed herself against.

“Good riddance,” she commented, picking up the weapon Domino had left behind and wondering whether she could make modifications to it. “Thanks Snorlar. We owe you.”

<Darn right you do> the Pokémon muttered, rubbing its left shoulder.

While Snorlar and Triply watched Denise accessing Jessie’s phase pack in the hopes there’d be some kind of revival serum inside, Dinah attempted to sneak closer to Maya with a worried look upon her face. Sure, the woman had often wished for her partner to go away and stop spoiling her fun, but this was hardly what she had in mind!

Unfortunately for Dinah, however, she wasn’t best known for her stealth. Triply’s long ears twitched as a twig cracked under the Elite’s foot.

“Hey!” Denise exclaimed, causing Dinah to freeze in mid step. “You were the one who caused that avalanche, weren’t you?”

“Kinda?” Dinah murmured, glancing up at the frowning Snorlar and smiling nervously. Denise shook her head in disbelief; this woman certainly didn’t seem like the usual cold, careless types that were so often granted Elite status.

“This is a mess…” she groaned. “Pretty much everyone’s out cold and there’s nothing around here to revive them with.”

“I got splodey powder,” Dinah said proudly, holding out her hand to reveal a small mound of black grains.

“And how is that going to help?” Denise inquired with audible weariness. Triply, now back in its original form, sniffed at the powder tentatively and wrinkled up its nose in utter disgust. Noticing this reaction, Denise’s eyes brightened.

“Of course!” she exclaimed. “Maybe the potent odor of that gunpowder will be just enough to act as a substitute for smelling salts.

Let’s see…”

A few minutes of unorthodox scent therapy later and those who had been previously tranquillised were now sleepily rubbing at their deadened limbs and attempting to focus. Jessie smiled faintly and ruffled the fur in-between Triply’s ears as the Pokémon uttered pleasured rumbling at the attention it was receiving. Rose carefully sipped upon a cup of coffee made from a number of ingredients retrieved from Maya and Jessie’s phase packs while Dinah quietly arranged her explosives inside her satchel. And Maya sat beside Cassidy with an expression of confused anger upon her face.

“Why, Cass?” she exclaimed. “Why have you suddenly turned against everything you worked so hard to achieve?”

“Hey, it wasn’t by choice!” Cassidy insisted, momentarily forgetting herself. “I was demoted! If it hadn’t been for Jessie this whole thing wouldn’t have-

…oh who am I kidding? Continuing that existence would have been the worst decision I could make.”

Maya blinked in puzzlement, causing Cassidy to lean a little closer and lower her voice.

“You’re being used,” she whispered. “You’re all being used”

“Whuh-what do you mean?” Maya spluttered, while Dinah glanced up with renewed interest.

“Have you noticed any severe lack of Grunt-rank operatives lately?” Denise asked.

“Well, yeah…” Maya replied, somewhat uneasily. “But-“

“This was all a distraction tactic,” Rose cut in firmly. “Giovanni apparently doesn’t want most Elites to know. He’s probably afraid they’d become exiles too if they found out.”

“And you can imagine how much of a threat too many rebel Elites would be to him,” Cassidy added.

“So…what happened to the Grunts?” Maya asked, her voice weakening slightly.

“Ever heard the rumors that Bonnie, the Tatto HQ Executive used mental reprogramming on her husband?” Denise began. Maya and Dinah nodded in unison. “They weren’t rumors. Our friends Kevin and Jenna barely survived an attack by two reprogrammed Elites a few weeks ago; a woman with green hair and a man with red hair.”

“And combining that process with the process of gene splicing those twisted scientists have been using to create those enhanced Pokémon,” Jessie continued.

“They’ve subjected every lower level operative they could get their hands on to hideous experimental mutation, against their will.”

“That’s… that’s sick!” Maya grimaced, starting to feel most unclean for just being in a Team Rocket uniform. Dinah’s stunned exterior had rapidly deteriorated into upset; now she was hunched up against a nearby tree sobbing like a frightened child.

“Th-that meanie boss guy’s a bigger meanie than I thought…”

“Now do you see why we oppose that system so?” Rose told them.

“I understand,” Maya responded in her usual impassive manner, standing up with renewed energy. She had considered the possibility of odd happenings unfolding within the walls of Team Rocket for some time now, but without much to prove her suspicions she’d had no reason to leave. Cassidy also got to her feet.

“We need to get to Alia Summit,” she instructed. “All of us. If Giovanni is after what I think he’s after, then there’s more than one reason for us to gather everyone we can to rise up against this threat.”

“But not without the others,” Jessie reminded, turning her penetrating glare toward the latest additions to their group. “And since you two were the ones who broke us apart, you’re going to help us find them again.”

Snorlar backed this statement with a triumphant grunt, while Maya took out a portable scanner and glanced at it for a moment.

“It’s not going to be easy,” she responded. “Looks like Domino wasn’t the only operative trying to cut in on our mission. Whoever it is has set up a device to block passing psychic signals, most likely to prevent you and the others from finding each other while at the same time honing in on their location by tracking any telepathic emissions.

Denise, Rose and Jessie exchanged saddened glances. Knowledge of Caley’s abilities and participation in helping operatives break free had travelled deep into the Team Rocket organization and this would make matters of survival that much harder. Nevertheless, they couldn’t let that dishearten them.

There was more than one way to find someone, after all.

***~~***~~***~~***~~***

“Will someone remind me again just whose lousy sense of direction is at work here?” Butch muttered grumpily. The male figures had been wandering aimlessly about the forest for the past twenty minutes and it was becoming more than apparent that certain members were growing steadily more dispirited as time passed. James’ stomach had once again set up its familiar cacophony of complaints, but Adam didn’t seem at all interested in reprimanding the guy about it. In fact, he appeared to be very deep in thought. So did Caley.

Butch opened his mouth to utter an annoyed exclamation, but paused in mid-action. James also looked up; both men had detected a faint culmination of sounds a short distance away. Quickening their pace, the oldest members of the group prompted the younger ones to follow and as they drew nearer the low babble began to separate into several different voices. Adam’s expression brightened as he recognized one of them in particular to be that of his Cyameez Pokémon companion.

“Cyzel!” he exclaimed, stepping through the trees. “I finally found y-“

Before the adolescent boy could complete his sentence, a high-pressure jet of water shot out of nowhere, propelling him into a nearby bush. Butch chuckled in amusement as James groaned and carefully peered into the gap Adam had entered a moment ago. Rilly stood there, grinning sheepishly at his fear-induced impulsive action.

<Oops>

“James!” an excited cry greeted the man’s ears. Errol emerged from the shadows with Cory and the other Pokémon in hot pursuit. “I’m so glad we’s finally found youse guys.”

“The feeling’s mutual!” James grinned, approaching his old friend and ruffling the fur atop Growlie’s head. Once Caley had retrieved Adam’s sodden form out of the foliage he was immediately set upon by Li, Kota, Stian and Nijiro who clustered round him joyfully.

“What happened, Kota?” he asked worriedly. “I’d been calling to you telepathically since yesterday and you never answered once.”

Kota blinked in surprise while Butch gave Noxitar a faint smile.

I never heard you! he responded inside Caley’s mind. And I’d been calling you too!

“That’s odd,” the trainer murmured. “If we were both sending out telepathic messages and neither of us heard the other’s cries, then where did the messages end up?”

“Right here!”

Every figure looked up in horror as a deep, menacing laugh was heard from somewhere overhead. Before anyone had a chance to try and place an identity to the voice a barrage of black spheres flew out of the trees toward them. Thinking the group was being assaulted with hand grenades Adam yelled and leapt aside, pulling Cyzel with him and causing a couple of the objects to narrowly miss before bouncing harmlessly upon the tarmac. When no explosion occurred, the boy cautiously approached one of the black spheres before picking it up and examining the grooves across its surface.

“Huh?” he blinked. “It’s just some kind of wacked-looking Pokéball,”

“Not just any Pokéball, kid,” Errol corrected him, ducking. “Dat’s a Dark Ball. Gots da ability to override a Pokemon’s ID and deir mind as well, and dere’s only one guy I know dat uses dis kinda equipment. Da Super Elite Rocket agent Byron Daray, better known as…

Da Masked Marauder”

Caley’s eyes widened upon overhearing what Errol had to say. He knew the group needed the means to fight back but he couldn’t risk having his Pokémon overthrown and turned against him. Quickly he scrabbled for his Pokéballs, retrieving Stian and Kota in the process. Noting the trainer’s actions Butch did the same for Radeu and Noxitar. James and Adam followed suit, returning Cyzel and Growlie to a safer place; but other Pokémon were proving harder to call back. Nijiro soared about the trees in a panic while Li had taken it into her own paws to defend the Pokémon without Pokéballs to go to. Rilly looked up to see the electric feline’s metallic form in front of him.

<Thanks, Li> he smiled shakily. The Tisker flashed a reassuring grin, unaware of another Dark Ball’s approach.

“Look out!” Errol cried, diving between Li and the flying projectile. An odd metallic noise ensued as the Dark Ball hit the man in the shoulder, enveloping him in a shroud of violet light and disappearing from view. Caley took this chance to stand in front of Li, looking defiant as Cory approached the seemingly abandoned Dark Ball on the ground with a sigh at the fact his friend had yet again been captured. Before he could pick it up, however, it shot backward through the air with an almost magnetic force. A grey gloved hand caught it in mid-flight.

“You!” Butch snarled, taking in the sight of the tall, bearded, wide-shouldered figure clad in a black reinforced Team Rocket uniform decorated with a red spiked jacket. James shuddered.

“That creep is even meaner than he is ugly,” he commented. Byron uttered a faintly amused snort, the sunlight glinting from the surface of his helmet.

“No surprise that the Intermediate who failed so miserably happens to be one of the traitors,” he responded. “Though I’m surprised at you, Reynolds. You had the makings of a real high-rank agent. Even the Boss said there were big things in store for you.”

“I already know what he had in store for me, an’ the rest of you too!” Butch snapped, readying his fists. “An’ it ain’t something I intend to be involved in any more!”

“Such a pity,” Byron said carelessly, playing with the Dark Ball in his hand like this confrontation was little more than a game to him. “Regardless of your foolishness, an order is an order. You shall not be leaving this place alive.”

Byron tossed the Dark Ball he had been holding toward the group with a cry.

“Attack!”

Once the violet aura had faded yet again, Errol was seen standing in an odd manner before his companions; his skin disturbingly pale and his eyes having taken on a glazed appearance. Byron stepped back in alarm.

“What is this trickery?” he exclaimed, as Adam snickered over what part of the Super Elite’s expression he could see through the man’s mask.

“Maybe the assembly line’s been malfunctioning?” James replied awkwardly, unwilling to explain about the fact that Errol was still biologically part Pokémon. “You know how cheap the Boss is about equipment.”

“I do not use cheap equipment!” Byron bellowed. Such a remark had clearly incensed him - Errol twitched dangerously in turn, screeching and leaping straight for James with hands outstretched. The unpredicted action was so sudden that it caused the remainder of the group to turn their attentions toward the struggling figures upon the floor for just a moment. It was all the time Byron needed.

“Snap out of it!” Cory protested, trying to prize Errol’s hands from around James’ throat and receiving a sharp kick in the side for his efforts. He glanced at Rilly helplessly. “You gotta douse Errol with water! Maybe that’ll bring him to his sens-

ugh!”

Adam’s mouth dropped open as the enhanced water Pokémon swung one of his lengthy fins at Cory, knocking him backward. Sitting up and rubbing at his reddened face the figure glowered back at Rilly accusingly only to utter a horrified gasp upon sight of the Pokemon’s face. It too bore a disturbingly empty expression just as Errol’s had.

“Oh no…” Cory murmured shakily.

“He got you too.”

“C’mon you guys, listen to us!” Caley exclaimed in the direction of Sia and Persep’s subdued forms. “Whatever this guy’s done to you, you gotta fight it!”

“Nice try, kid,” Byron smirked as Aquarill returned to its commander. “But after that little fiasco with Celebi, I’ve made sure this latest model blocks any incoming voice transmissions. The only one they can hear is me!”

He knelt down to stroke the top of Sia’s head in a pretend caring manner. It was clear that he was enjoying himself.

“And surely you wouldn’t wish to take down one of your own, hm?”

“Maybe not,” Butch responded, his eyes narrowing. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t smash the Dark Balls controlling ‘em!”

“I’d like to see you try,” Byron chuckled, placing the shrunken orbs into the indentations upon his jacket before relaying yet another order to his captives.

“Eliminate them!”

Already Persep’s eyes had begun to glow, trapping Caley, James, Adam and Butch in a state of psychically induced paralysis. From the branches of a nearby tree, Nijiro sat quivering as he watched the scene unfold. The Thiesis couldn’t let Caley or his companions suffer such a terrible fate - he’d never be able to forgive himself. There had to be something he could do to buy the others time… but what?

With a desperate cry, Li dashed directly behind the immobilised figures, unleashing the brightest Flash she could muster upon their approaching portents of their demise. Persep, Rilly and Errol staggered backward in unison, clutching at their eyes while Butch let out a horrific yell - the white light enveloping his body like a blinding sheet.

He wasn’t sure whether it had been all the telepathy he had subjected himself to broadcasting some time ago or the recent release from Persep’s psychic restraint, but Caley knew something was different within him. This inexplicable new feeling had worked its way through every vein, every muscle of his being. A sense of ominous power welled up, something the trainer was not accustomed to despite having displayed and used unusual abilities before. Caley felt himself panic, temporarily trapped in his own moment of fear at what this could mean. Then he heard James’ petrified exclamation.

“Not again!”

Before Caley could react, a small bluish figure hit him in the chest. The trainer toppled to the floor, and as he did so he caught sight of the mutated Kenjoko’s blood red form looming above his head.

This isn't good, this isn't good! Nijiro’s anxious voice echoed into Caley’s mind. I don’t know how, but I believe the Flash Li sent out to try and stop the others attacking might have caused your friend some serious harm.

“Not as much as it could cause us,” Cory grimaced, trying his best not to sound annoyed at Li’s actions. After all, the Tisker had only been trying to help. Caley retrieved Nijiro and reassessed the situation. Exactly why Butch had transformed again would have to be figured out later.

Recovered from their temporary blindness, the quartet of controlled creatures resumed their advance. Standing its ground, the Kenjoko quickly turned its head to glare back at the group of uncertain human figures standing nearby, uttering a loud grunt.

“We’re doomed!” James squealed. Even Adam was looking noticeably disturbed, but Cory had put on a more surprised expression.

“Butch? You’re still there?”

<Of course I’m still here!> the reptile snapped, returning his gaze to the task at hand.

<Now do what I said and get behind me!>

“What’s going on?” Caley blurted out as Cory hurriedly ushered him and the others into the requested position.

“Are you nutso?” Adam spluttered, trying to run away only to have his path blocked. “Why the hell are you making us all stand behind the psycho beast?”

“Yeah, wouldn’t you consider this the worst place to be right now?” James piped up.

“Of course,” Cory nodded.

“If the ‘psycho beast’ wasn’t on our side.”

Butch wasted no further time, flapping his wings vigorously to blast the approaching threat away.

“Well this is an unexpected development,” Byron commented with calm interest, keeping his distance and ignoring the fact his captives were toppling head over heels in their attempts to keep upright and move forward. “But you’re only prolonging the inevitable.”

Caley turned to Cory with a determined expression while James and Adam looked on somewhat helplessly.

“I doubt Butch will be able to keep that up for long,” Caley remarked in lowered tones, placing a hand on Cory’s shoulder. “We’ve gotta search for how Byron’s keeping control of our friends, and fast.”

"We?" Cory almost squeaked. "But I can't! What if I-" He trailed off, noticing Caley's expectant expression. "What if I mess up?"

"If anything happens to you, I'll be ready," Caley responded firmly. It was at this point Cory was certain the trainer knew of his buried, in-built assassin nature. With that, the figure nodded and placed his hand on Caley’s shoulder in the hopes that this contact would somehow combine and amplify their psychic abilities. No sooner had they plunged into the realms of subconscious thought than Caley felt that ominous power rising to meet him yet again. Despite it bearing the same unnerving malignance as the previous time, the force seemed more centred upon one point. Caley concentrated harder and the blurred violet aura began to take form.

It’s worse than I thought, Cory’s voice echoed in morose tones. I’d assumed the Dark Balls were responsible for continuing to transmit the mind domination waves to Errol, Rilly, Sia and Persep but that’s far from the case. They were simply used to ‘install’ the means for Byron to transmit those waves. The transmission itself…

Is coming directly from him, I can see that now, Caley responded sternly. Even if we destroyed the Dark Balls, our friends would still be under his control. Somehow he’s converting his own negative emotions into a form that overtakes the minds of his prey, leaving them as slaves to his wishes. In which case, we need to intercept those waves at the source to stop them reaching Errol and the others!

But how? Cory spluttered.

Just follow my lead, Caley replied calmly.

I’m pretty sure I know what I’m doing.

At this point, Cory experienced an odd loss which he figured to be Caley’s psyche moving away from his own and toward the aura he had detected before. He urged himself to pursue and as he did so, the figure noticed four luminescent strands being emitted from the now-humanoid mass. His spirits lifted - those had to be the connections Byron had established with Persep, Rilly, Sia and Errol’s minds.

Inducing Byron’s mind into creating positive energies should be what’s needed to break the connection between him and his targets, Caley informed him. Are you ready?

Ready, Cory acknowledged.

Good, came the determined response.

Let’s GO!

The two plunged forward in unison toward Byron’s consciousness, intensifying their focus in an attempt to penetrate it and thus prevent any further transmissions. But their efforts were in vain. James and Adam fell back in alarm as both Cory and Caley yelled out in agony, grasping at their heads and toppling in opposite directions to the ground. His concentration momentarily averted, Butch glanced over his shoulder anxiously.

“Ice beam!” Byron snapped in Rilly’s direction. The enhanced aqua mouse let out a vicious cry before unleashing a chilling ray at the Kenjoko, much to the surprise and horror of all those watching. Before Butch had a chance to react, his entire body had been encased in a semi-transparent prison, rendering him utterly immobile.

“How…” James exclaimed. “How did you know he could do that?”

“And why didn’t he ever use that attack before?” Adam muttered, recalling a number of times where such an ability would have come in most handy. Byron simply chuckled.

“Some of us actually bother to research into the skills of Team Rocket experiments,” he remarked. “Aquarill is quite a formidable opponent, despite what those idiot scientists thought. All it needs is the proper guidance.”

“It’s no good…” Caley murmured weakly.

“Something’s protecting his mind from being entered,” Cory agreed, his eyes still shut from the exhaustion of his efforts. “If we could work out a way of bypassing it, then maybe we’d have a chance of stopping this madness.”

“Protection?” Adam blinked, casting a look at the Team Rocket Elite. “What about that goofy-looking helmet?”

“That’s it!” Caley exclaimed, a little too loudly for his own good. “He must have something built into the helmet to prevent any psychic mind tampering!”

“Clever, clever,” Byron smirked, lifting his hands up to steady the aforementioned article. “Now we’re all better acquainted, I think its time I took you back for a little soiree.

Aquarill! Ice Beam!”

“Move!” Caley yelled, gathering what was left of his strength and dashing toward the man. Cory, James, Adam and Li followed with furious cries - using the agility training they had received to dodge the frozen assaults projected by their blue-skinned attacker. Upon Byron’s infuriated command, Errol leapt forward to block James’ path only to be thrown aside by a sharp blow to the face.

“Sorry about that, buddy!” James called worriedly as he continued running. A well-aimed Ice Beam managed to hit one of his legs, causing James to stumble and become pinned by Errol who had recently regained his bearings. Cory was the next to fall as Sia’s Aerial Ace attack completely knocked him out cold.

“Persep! X-Assist!” Byron instructed. Eyes glowing brightly, the enhanced Espeon released a white sticky string which bound Li and Caley tightly.

What the…? String shot? the trainer spluttered mentally.

“Just look at your bewildered little face,” Byron sneered callously. “I bet you thought the Assist attack only borrowed moves from the Pokémon's battling companions. But Persep’s attacks are enhanced, just like its physical form. Its Assist can borrow moves from any Pokémon in the surrounding area, whether they be ally or-”

The agent paused to lift up a fist and thrust it firmly into Adam’s torso, halting his attempts to snatch the Elite’s helmet and sending the boy flying sideways into a nearby bush.

“I don’t appreciate being mocked,” he commented, pressing a button upon a device he was wearing on his left wrist. The exiles uttered communal gasps as a mechanical construction rose up from between the trees to greet them. “Good thing I shall be paid handsomely for such treatment.”

“You sure will,” James muttered coldly as Errol hauled the man’s ice-stricken body over his shoulder. Byron turned to Persep, readying another Dark Ball.

“Weaken the specimen,” he instructed, pointing at Butch. Persep repositioned herself for another assault, but before she could unleash it a violet blast of energy shot across the clearing. It enveloped the psychic Pokémon, causing her to stagger backwards with a snarl.

“Get him!” came a passionate cry from amongst the trees. Butch glanced up in temporary surprise as a stick of dynamite appeared from the same direction as the bolt of energy and headed straight for Byron. The Super Elite thrust out his hand.

“Psychic!”

Leaping forward, Persep took control of the dynamite - using telekinesis to reverse its motion and send it flying straight back where it came from. From beyond the foliage Jessie and the others cringed as the resulting explosion threw debris in all directions. Triply clung to Snorlar’s shoulder as the lumbering green figure stood firmly before his charges in his attempts to deflect the blast.

Disregarding the fact a huge dust cloud was still present the woman dashed toward the clearing and where they’d hoped their companions would still be. They were, but only barely. James cried out helplessly from his position over Errol’s shoulder as the hypnotised figure wandered slowly but purposefully toward the opening hatch of the awaiting mecha.

“Jessie!”

“You monster!” Cassidy spat at Byron, dashing out toward Persep’s side as Dinah peered from behind a nearby tree. “What have you done to her?”

“Here, let me show you,” the man responded with a cruel smile before glancing at Persep.

“Make the traitor suffer.”

“NO!” Maya screamed, running out from the spot amongst the trees where she had previously been hiding as Cassidy’s face contorted and she began to rise into the air, surrounded by a bright glow. The blue-haired woman soon found herself upon the floor as Butch screeched and finally broke free of his prison in a cascade of ice shards.

“What the…?” Byron spluttered, taken aback by an occurrence he hadn’t expected to happen. Regardless he was quick to compensate. “Aquarill, Ice Beam!”

“Ice Beam?” Denise murmured to herself, astonished and deeply hurt that Byron had taken control of her Pokemon’s mind in such a way. Trying to push this thought to the back of her head for the moment, the girl ran toward Caley and Li before hacking at the String Shot in a concerted effort to grant the trainer and Pokémon back their mobility. Caley uttered a weak cough.

“Helmet.”

“What?” Denise blinked, her attention partially focused on helping to untie her friend and unaware of a turquoise-topped slender figure peering curiously over her shoulder like nothing unusual was going on.

“Remove…Byron’s helmet,” Caley mumbled faintly.

“Whatever for?” Denise exclaimed, slightly angry due to the fact she couldn’t understand how such an action could possibly help.

“No time to explain,” the trainer insisted.

“Just…trust me.”

While Byron was occupied with keeping Butch and Snorlar at bay using Rilly’s ice and water attacks, Jessie engaged Errol in combat, Cassidy continued to writhe in Persep’s relentless psychic grip and Rose tried to recall Sia with little success. Triply stood at the sidelines with a petrified expression upon its face, watching the scene unfold.

I gotta do something… it thought worriedly, its mind switching from determination to fear and back again. I’m so scared… .. but I gotta do something!

But I can’t… I’m too scared…

Suddenly Triply recalled Cassidy’s mocking grin from some months previous as she had gleefully remarked just how much of a coward the genetic Pokémon was. The memory was enough to cause Triply to narrow its eyes and bare its teeth in the woman’s direction, despite her being in such a vulnerable state.

<I’m no coward! I’ll show her!> it yelled, assuming its James-like humanoid form and diving toward Persep. The pinkish creature squealed as Triply charged into her side, causing Cassidy to drop to the ground in the process as Persep lost her concentration. But Byron was too focused on subduing the largest members of the resistance force to notice. And it looked like he was winning - Butch and Snorlar winced in a shared act of pain as the chill of the repeated ice assault rapidly set in.

“Don’t let up!” Byron bellowed, his anger only serving to intensify Rilly’s power. “Show them no-

…wha?”

It was at this point that the Super Elite realised something was missing. For one, his ears suddenly felt oddly cold. Turning around in a mixture of fury and horror Byron swiftly came face to face with his imminent downfall.

“My turn to wear the shiny hat!” Dinah exclaimed cheerfully, staring down at the metallic article she had recently snatched from Byron’s head. The man lunged forward with a roar only to meet the dirt in a humiliating fashion, as Dinah bounded aside giggling while putting on the helmet. With the biggest obstacle out of the way, Caley screwed up every remaining ounce of strength he had and flung his subconscious deep into Byron’s psyche one more time. He had to find just one positive thought - something he could use to taint the negative auras he could sense all around him.

He didn’t have much time. Caley grimaced as he felt the darkness closing in, but he knew he had to keep going. There had to be a glimmer of happiness somewhere - a memory of an experience long since buried by the abomination of Team Rocket. Just when the trainer was about ready to resign himself to surrender, the very thing he had been searching for revealed itself.

“Woo! This hat is stinky!” Dinah exclaimed loudly, swaying from left to right as Byron angrily picked himself from the dry earth.

“That’s it…” he snarled, his voice dangerously low. “When I get my hands on you snivelling excuse for an agent I’m going to-

…gurk!”

Taking matters into his own hands, Butch leant forward and plucked Byron’s helmet from Dinah’s head before returning to the spot where the tattered remains of his clothing lay and releasing Noxitar from its Pokéball with some difficulty.

<Hyper beam this piece of junk!> he instructed, waving the helmet. He had a sincere wish to direct the same fate toward the Super Elite who had previously worn it, but held himself back. After all, there was no way he should stoop to a Team Rocket operative’s standards. Besides which, Byron seemed to be in enough distress as it was. His eyes had widened rapidly and he was staggering about uttering odd noises from the back of his throat.

Butch tossed the shiny headwear upward where Noxitar unleashed a searing beam of light in its direction, obliterating it completely. Almost at once Errol released his hands from Jessie’s arms where he had pinned the woman against a tree and began to look most bewildered.

“Wha…what happened?” he murmured while Rose comforted Sia, Rilly and Li clung to Denise and Persep sat quietly, trying to gather her thoughts. “Last t’ing I remember was leapin’ in da path of dat Dark Ball dat was about ta hit Li and den...”

The man gasped in shock before covering his face with one hand.

“Oh no…it caught me instead, didn’t it?”

Jessie nodded slowly as James picked himself up and rubbed frantically at his limbs. Thankfully the earlier impact as a result of being dropped from Errol’s shoulder had cracked the ice sufficiently enough to enable him to break free. Unfortunately that didn’t mean the chill would be leaving any time soon. The ex-Team Rocket duo yelped in alarm as Errol threw his arms around them in an overly protective gesture.

“Please tell me I didn’t hoit youse guys!”

“Not as much as you’re doing now,” Jessie choked, trying to pull away.

“Yeah,” James agreed breathlessly.

“I appreciate concern up until the point where it starts cutting off my air supply.”

Caley smiled in accomplishment as he felt the dark and dominating aura ebb away - but his moment of self-satisfaction was brief. There were far more important matters to attend to. Opening his eyes, the trainer glanced across the clearing at the results of his efforts before suppressing a chuckle of amusement. Byron no longer stood proud and tall in his position of forced authority. Caley’s psychic rerouting had amassed the Super Elite’s mind with delirium and now he was huddled upon the ground carefully pondering over a half-trampled flower while wearing an exceedingly goofy expression.

Once the laughter had died down, Rose instructed for Byron to be bound tightly and returned to his own transport. Jessie, James and Errol were happy to oblige in this act and when it was completed Denise activated the mecha’s auto pilot, sending it and its dopey passenger trundling back amongst the trees and out of sight.

“Return to sender!” Dinah yelled after the receding shape, waving farewell. Maya couldn’t help but smile before her attentions were diverted elsewhere. She ran to Cassidy’s side, prompting Rose to turn around and scan the area. Thankfully collateral damage hadn’t been all that high; now the battling had ceased the forest was quiet once again, bar a certain nutmeg-haired figure who was currently groaning amongst the foliage.

Without giving matters a further thought, Denise dashed over to Adam’s side and grabbed hold of his arm before giving it a firm tug. Her intention had been to pull the adolescent out of the bush and to his feet. However, all this manoeuvre managed to produce was a loud yell. Denise let go in alarm and Adam toppled backwards amongst the leaves, clutching at his chest.

“Owwww man…” he complained, while his female companion looked most apologetic. “I think I’ve broke something.”

“No wonder,” Butch remarked gruffly, pulling on the last remnants of an outfit Cassidy had bought for him in Nintencu and previously had stored in her phase pack. “From what I saw, that kid got a full-force punch delivered using metal gloves.”

Everyone winced - even with Rocket endurance that kind of blow was bound to cause repercussions. But they couldn’t take any more chances by staying where they were any longer. With that in mind, Rose provided first aid assistance using bandages provided by Maya and Caley released Stian to act as a mobile stretcher for Adam until he felt able enough to walk on his own two feet.

“So, how’d you do it, Cal?” Adam inquired, once the party had begun moving northward yet again.

“Hm?” the trainer responded absently. His head was still reeling from the exertions, both physical and mental, he’d just previously put himself through.

“How did you manage to stop Byron in the end?” Denise reiterated with curiosity.

“Well it wasn’t easy, I can tell you that,” Caley laughed half-heartedly. “When Cory and I sensed the odd energy being released by those Dark Balls we decided we better go in further to take a look. And when we did, things were more complicated than we had first thought.”

“The Dark Balls worked by taking in Byron’s negative emotions, amplifying them and using the resulting energy to submerge the minds of whatever unfortunate victim happened to be caught within,” Cory explained. “We tried to prevent the emotive energy from Byron reaching those he had command over, but it was just far too strong.”

“Ingenious,” Errol commented. “Sick, but ingenious.”

“Jess, you were in that big twig monster thing Celebi created after Byron caught it,” James inquired. “How did the twerp manage to free it from the Dark Ball’s control in the end?”

“He kept persuading the Celebi to remember the good times it had experienced,” Jessie replied, pulling a face. “But I don’t really get how that would have helped.”

“Of course!” Denise grinned. “By doing that, Celebi would have jammed the incoming stream of negative energy using its own positive feelings!”

“Exactly,” Cory nodded. “And Byron had taken note of that flaw from his previous mission, installing audio blockers to prevent those under the influence of the Dark Balls to hear others’ attempts to get them to fight against being controlled.”

“The solution?” Caley persisted. “Disable the transmission at the source.”

“And that’s why we had to remove the creep’s wacked-out helmet!” Adam spoke up excitedly. “Caley, you are intense.”

“I gotta admit, the kid’s got guts,” Maya agreed. Suddenly the eyes of the male members of the group were firmly upon her and Dinah like they’d only just noticed realised the two women were there. Dinah flinched at their cold expressions.

“Suddenly I get the feeling we’re not wanted,” she whimpered. Maya groaned.

“I can’t possibly imagine what gave you that impression…”

“What are they here for?” James asked, sounding rather put-off.

“Exactly the same reason we are, dimwit,” Jessie snapped, dismayed that her partner could possibly forget there’d be others besides them who’d feel incensed by Team Rocket’s activities.

“We crossed paths with Domino while separated from you guys and helped them recover after she attacked them at the same time she attacked us. Once they’d heard of what Caley and Denise saw in the Artina HQ they no longer wanted to be a part of the organization either.”

“It’s so great to be travelling together at last,” Cassidy beamed, a surprising expression for a woman who usually looked so sullen. Dinah was wearing a very similar expression, all the while gazing across in Butch’s direction while the man tried not to notice but had his shoulders hunched uncomfortably all the same. Maya winced a little upon hearing Cassidy’s statement - it appeared she had already made up her mind about something.

“About that…” she began unsteadily, drawing to a standstill and causing the others to do the same. “We can’t travel with you.”

“What?” Cassidy and Dinah spluttered in unison, for completely different reasons.

“Not yet, anyway,” Maya insisted. “You don’t want other Elite operatives alerted to your location, do you? We can act as decoys to lead them off the trail.”

“Good idea,” Rose nodded. “Besides, it’s good to have someone in Team Rocket who can spread the truth to others willing to listen.”

Cassidy lowered her head slightly. The woman knew Rose was right, and as much as she wanted to travel with Maya it wasn’t worth blowing her cover.

“I understand,” she murmured. “So I guess this is goodbye, for now.”

“I’m not going anywhere!” Dinah e