TheoLeung@Sprint.ca

"I’m going to kill him!" Charles exclaimed, slamming his tiny fist into the nearby wall, denting it in.

"Charles, calm down…" Lin told her Charmander friend. She patted Charles’ back, but he only swatted her Pikachu hand away. "Charles…" Lin muttered, leaving the fire type alone.

* * * * * *

Tim looked over to where Charles stood, the Charmander’s back towards the human. His tail burned brightly with anger and rage. Tim sighed, and burned back to face Sam and Ryna.

"Are you going to try to rescue Flare?" he asked, although he knew the answer. Ryna nodded. "I guess you’ll need help then," Tim replied.

"You don’t have to involve yourself in this," Ryna said. "This is between me and Des."

"It’s more then you think," Tim said, sighing. "Gather your Pokémon and follow me," he said, walking upstairs. Sam and Ryna exchanged confused glances, but did as they were told.

* * * * * *

"Whatever you hear in these moments in here do not leave this room," Tim told all of them. The group sat in a small room upstairs, with no chairs, tables, nothing. The only source of illumination was the faint light that filtered through the blinds at a window. Slasher and Rocky doubted Tim’s judgement, but loyally followed their master no mater what.

"We understand," Ryna said, speaking for her side of the group. Sam also agreed, nodding silently. Tim exhaled, then began.

"This town is basically under control of Team Rocket," he started. The small circle of gasps ensued, but soon died down. "Team Rocket already owns half of this location, including the research center and gym."

"So you’re saying Team Rocket took Flare?!" Charles interrupted, still angered.

"Charles!" Ryna barked, silencing the Charmander.

"Sorry…" he replied, calming down greatly.

"It’s okay, you have the right to be angry," Ryna told her first Pokémon. "Continue Tim." Tim nodded.

"I’ve been sent here to stop Team Rocket from taking anymore, or liberating the city," Tim continued. "I can’t tell you who sent me, but I’m here now."

"Sorry to interrupt, but you trying to be the ‘one-man-army’?" Lin asked, her tail erect with interest. Tim smiled.

"Kind of," he told them. "I have my Pokémon, don’t forget," he told them, patting his Graveler and Sandslash. Both smiled, happy to serve Tim. "Anyway, I guess you know what you’re up against partially." Ryna nodded.

"I’m still going," she told Tim defiantly. "That’s my Pokémon Des has in there, and I’m not going to sit around idly." Tim sighed again.

"I was planning to move in tonight. It would be better if we all moved in together," he suggest, Ryna and Sam nodding. "I’ll brief you on the plan after I make a few alterations."

* * * * * *

Flare groggily blinked, rubbing her eyes with her paws. The fact that when she lifted her paw made some chains rattled almost instantly sharpened her senses.

"Wha?" she whispered, her arms and legs shackled to the wall, though the chains were long enough to allow her to explore the room. The room its self was very plain, only four white walls, the door being one side, a large reflective mirror being on the adjacent wall of the door. Flare glanced, around, walking a bit to get the cramps out of her bones. She quickly made note of the four cameras situated in each corner of the room. A small ventilation shaft was on the wall opposite to the mirror, though Flare would never be able to get to it, with the chains and all.

"I’ve got to get out of here," Flare told herself, looking around. The door was obviously lock, the ventilation shaft was a good possibility it she could get out of her chain. The Flareon decided to try to melt the chains.

"AH!" she yelped, electricity surging through her body before she even burned the chains for a second.

"I wouldn’t try that again," he said, Flare turning her attention to the new body in the cell: Klik. Flare growled at her counterpart, but was shocked again. She instantly silenced. "You’re chains are designed to send shocks at the first sight of external thermal energy. Of course, I can also send shocks if I feel like it," he added, smirking.

"What do you want with me?!" Flare demanded, only getting shocked some more.

"I’d watch that tone of voice, my pretty lady," Klik mocked, laughing. "And I seriously doubt you want to know what’s going to happen to you in this facility."

"Try me!" Flare challenged. Klik ignored his impulse to shock her again, seeing how sweet this moment is. He grinned.

"My trainer is looking for strong female Flareon," Klik started, stopping intentionally to keep Flare on her toes. "You know how it goes, mix strong with strong and you get something stronger." Flare gave a peculiar look, not understanding. "I see you don’t get it," Klik said, reading her expression. He gave a mental laugh. "Des wants me to have a strong offspring."

"But that means…" Flare said, gasping when she finally put two and two together. "No…" she whispered, lowering her head. "You can’t possibly serious?!" she yelled out, getting shocked again and bringing her down. "Could you…" she whimpered. Klik only grinned, and left the room, allowing Flare to sulk alone.

* * * * * *

Tim exhaled, taking of his fake glasses and his lab coat. Sam and Ryna also stripped off their lab coats. Ryna checked her watch.

"Seven P.M," she told the others. "Proceed as planned?" she asked, Tim nodding. He wore a military issue vest, the pockets filled with all sorts of contraptions. The trainer called out his Sandslash from his Pokéball.

"I would’ve liked it if we hid our Pokémon, but I guess it can’t be helped," Tim said, referring to how Charles, Lin, Spark, and Hydra followed these scientists. They got more then one odd stare from others, though no one asked for details. The storeroom was cramped, but it provided what the three infiltrators needed. Tim knelt down, and pulled the grating off from the ventilation shaft. Each Pokémon donned a small head set that fit perfectly for their type. With the headset was a small screen that could be flipped down over the eye to transmit signals. Each human wore an identical head set. "You all know where to go, right?" Each Pokémon that was going in nodded. "Good luck," Tim encouraged. Charles, Slasher, and Lin ran into the maze of shafts.

"Now we wait…" Ryna said, sighing, and sitting down on the cold, stone surface. She glanced at the cable Slasher carried with him, and how it was connected to Tim’s portable computer. "Come on….please find Flare…" Ryna silently prayed.

* * * * * *

Slasher ran down the tight shaft, his quills scraping against the ceiling from time to time. Still, no one would hear with him inside the ventilation. After a few minutes of searching back and forth, the Sandslash found what he was looking for: an access panel. He pried the panel off, then hooked up the cable to the database.

"Ground 1 here, objective secure," he reported into his mic.

"T1 here, acknowledge," Tim told his Pokémon. "Proceed to point delta to rendezvous with Fire 2."

"Confirmed, moving out," Slasher said, continuing down the corridor.

* * * * * *

Lin scurried down her part of the ventilation system, looking for the grate she needed. She turned the next corner, ran down that, turned again, and was relieved when she found her destination. She peeked through the grates, finding the generators that ran this scientific facility.

"Electric 1 here, at point beta, target confirmed," Lin spoke through the mic.

"T2 here, good job," Ryna’s voice said. "Prepare for code A66."

"Acknowledge," Lin said, setting herself down and waiting for the attack code. The Pikachu slowly began to count away at the time, hoping Flare was okay.

* * * * * *

"Okay Hydra, up to you now," Sam told her Squirtle. The turtle nodding, knowing he had to find the point where all the Pokémon in the ventilation could escape to the roof through the exhaust.

"The location is on your map, go for Water 1," Tim said, pushing a few buttons on his computer. Hydra flipped the small eyepiece down, a map appearing on the screen.

"I’m off," he said, beginning his trek through the system. Sam sighed, waving her Squirtle good bye for now, some how getting the feeling something will go wrong.

* * * * * *

Flare looked up from her spot, her eyes damp with tears. The door creaked open, revealing Des and Klik. Flare looked away, not wanting to face these two.

"It’s time," Des said, apparently not caring for anyone but himself and his own Flareon.

"Make it easy on yourself Flare, just don’t resist," Klik suggested, making his way towards his ‘mate’. Flare still only looked away, holding back even more tears.

"Charles…help me, please…" Flare pleaded mentally. Klik walked over, licking the neck of Flare. "Get AWAY from me!" Flare yelled out, giving a hard backhand swing to Klik. The Flareon was taken completely aback, sending him staggering backwards a but, rubbing his wound. He sent a shock up Flare’s body in retaliation.

"I said you shouldn’t resist…" he muttered, advancing on the captive Flareon again.

"Charles…please…" Flare pleaded again, sobbing.

* * * * * *

"Fire 2, we have location of Fire 3," Tim’s voice told Charles.

"Roger," Charles replied, lowering his eyepiece, the map revealing its self. "Confirmed, moving in!" Charles said, anxious to see Flare again. He ran down the corridors, left, right, center, until he made it to his location.

"Flare!" he shouted out through the grating, seeing the grotesque scene. "At point delta, requesting code A66!"

"Water 1 at point gamma," Hydra said next.

"T3 here," Sam said. "Code A66 confirmed! Let all hell break loose!"

* * * * * *

"Get off me!" Flare squealed, but to no avail, the other Flareon was over powering her.

"I said stop resisting!" Klik shouted back. Des only watched, waiting.

"And I say get the HELL off her!" Charles yelled out, smashing the grate in and jumping down. He tackled Klik, sending the two sprawling across the room. Before Des could do anything, Flare unleashed a Flamethrower at the Gym Leader, sending him flying out of the room in pain.

"You damn Charmander!" Klik screamed, biting at the opposing fire type. The two kept punching and biting each other, each angered more and more with each passing blow.

* * * * * *

"Confirmed A66! Attacking target!" Lin shouted through her link, charging up electricity. Within a few seconds, the Pikachu sent volts of electricity through the grate and at the generator, shorting it out in a matter of seconds. "Electric 1 here! Target neutralized! Moving to point gamma!"

"Acknowledge, move out!" Ryna commanded.

* * * * * *

"Our turn to split!" Tim shouted, unhooking his computer. His two human companions nodded. The electricity went out soon, but emergency lighting compensated for the loss.

"Let’s go!" Tim shouted, kicking the door open and running towards the stairway, which was strategically located across the hallway. It didn’t take long for guards to react, and soon, sirens and intruder klaxons were heard all over the base, or would have been if there was electricity. Shots rang out as the guards futilely tried to stop the intruders.

"Up to the roof!" Ryna yelled, Sam and Spark following close behind. Tim followed at the end, getting his Pokéball ready for assault.

* * * * * *

Klik finally disengaged himself from Charles, both breathing hard after their long struggle. Charles took a menacing step forward.

"One more step, and I can fry Flare to crisp," Klik threatened, stopping his opponent in his tracks. "That’s more like it."

"Hey Klik!" Flare shouted, unleashing a Flamethrower at her counterpart. The female Flareon was no longer shackled, her locks picked by a master key that Slasher held in his claw. Klik took the full blow, getting blasted outside and slammed against the wall, with the obvious cracking sound. Charles looked over, then ran to Flare, the two embracing for a long moment.

"Hey, love birds, sorry to interrupt, but we got to move!" Slasher shouted, already back in the ventilation shaft. The fire types exchanged glances, then both jumped up, Flare ahead of Charles. The three made a beeline for point gamma.

* * * * * *

"There!" Hydra shouted, kicking the grate off. Clean, cool, night air engulfed him, as he clambered out of the shaft. Lin nimbly followed leaping onto the roof.

As if on cue, Ryna burst onto the roof, followed by Sam and Spark. Tim quickly followed, releasing his Pokéball.

"Rocky! Earthquake!" Tim commanded, the Graveler, in one quick move, leveled the stairway. "Good job, return!" Tim commanded next, recalling the Graveler. He looked over, seeing Ryna, Sam, Spark, Hydra, and Lin assembled. Slasher, Flare, and Charles were climbing out of the shaft. "All present! Let’s go!" Everyone agreed, but was stopped but a slightly burned Des.

"Don’t you think of going anywhere," he threatened.

"And who’s going to stop us?!" Flare shouted. "Klik ain’t with you!"

"Forget about him!" Tim shouted, recalling his Sandslash. "Ryna, Sam, get out of here! I’ll hold him off!"

"But…" Ryna protested, but didn’t get any further.

"GO!" Tim barked out, frightening everyone. Ryna didn’t argue, and did as she was told. Soon, the only people on the roof were Des and Tim.

"Been a while…friend…" Des muttered, taking out a Pokéball.

"If only you didn’t leave the Special Forces…" Tim said, sighing. He took out his own Pokéball.

"Oh well. I’m going to beat you this time," Des said, grinning. "Blastoise, go!" The massive turtle appearing, his high power cannons on the shoulder threatening Tim.

"Great…" Tim thought. "All my Pokémon have a weakness to this…" Tim sighed, as he saw the smirk on Des. "I still have to try! Burner, go!" Tim yelled out, releasing his Pokéball. With a bright flash, the Pokémon revealed himself: the legendary bird Moltres.

"Burner, Fire Blast!" Tim commanded, the Moltres unleashing the attack.

"Hydro Pump!" Des commanded, the Blastoise unleashing two high powered water shots at the attack, vaporizing the flames and hitting the Moltres square on. The bird of fire squawked in pain, falling to the ground, but quickly regaining its strength and taking to the air again.

"Fly!" Tim commanded next, but to no avail, as it was shot down again before it could do anything. "Come on Burner, I have faith!" The Moltres gave out a faint cry of pain as another Hydro Pump slammed against it.

"Sorry…Tim…" Burner said, weakly, collapsing onto the ground.

"I win," Des said, about to recall his Pokémon.

"No!" Tim yelled out, shedding a tear. "You knew! You never fought fair!" Des only shrugged.

"How do you think I got this far in life?" he replied.

"I’ll beat you!" Tim shouted out angrily, his cross-shaped pendant glowing. "I will beat you!" he yelled out one last time, the glow on his pendant intensifying. Soon, blinding light shot forth, able to seen for miles away. Des covered his eyes, unable to take the sheer intensity.

"Burner, time to take out the trash…" Tim whispered, the light subsiding. Burner was reinvigorated, ready to take on round two with the Blastoise.

* * * * * *

"What is that?!" Ryna shouted, seeing the Moltres. At least, it was a Moltres, until the light changed it. The feathers were more solid, yet, also just as fiery. The wings were longer, the beak of this bird shortening. Three flaming tail feathers formed. Ryna, not one to use a Pokédex, pulled her one out to identify.

"Species: Unknown," was all the Pokédex said.

"What is it?" Sam asked, in awe.

* * * * * *

"Burner! Phoenix Storm!" Tim commanded. "Show Des the power of fire!" Burned flew high, feathers falling off his wings, then flying towards their target: the Blastoise. The water type tried to shoot them down, but couldn’t fire enough to shot then all. Explosions rocked the roof as the feathers impacted, stunning the massive turtle.

"I can’t lose here!" Des cried out.

"Burner, Fire Corridor!" Tim ordered next. The Phoenix flew high up, storing energy, glowing with power. Soon, the bird of fire dived down against the Blastoise, a trail of fire following him. The water type tried to Hydro Pump Burner, but the water evaporated in a matter of milliseconds. The flame trailed engulfed the water type, the howl of pain could be heard.

It was over in a matter of seconds.

The Blastoise lay on the ground, exhausted and defeated. The Phoenix hovered high in the sky. Tim exhaled.

"Good job Burner," he replied, recalling his newly acquired Pokémon. "Until next time Des…" Tim said next, walking away from his defeated opponent.

"How can it be possible?" Des mumbled, on his knees.

* * * * * *

"Tim! You’re okay!" Ryna exclaimed happily, hugging her comrade tightly.

"I told you I’ll hold him off…" Tim said weakly. Ryna nodded, crying into his shoulder. She never felt like this to another person before. It was a very different feeling, but a feeling she liked.

Sam smiled, sitting down on the grass outside the perimeter of the research center. Hydra, Spark, and Lin enjoyed the fireworks that Burner caused. Flare and Charles were hugging each other tightly, happy to be with each other again.

"What was that Pokémon you used up there?" Ryna asked, whispering into Tim’s ear.

"Let’s just call it a Phoenix, okay?" Tim whispered back. Ryna nodded, not really caring, only happy to have her friends back.

<Fin>