(Sorry about the late update.  I’ve been restructuring my “Pokémon Empires”
series for release, so I haven’t been putting much time into my already started
works.  Not to mention the amount of homework I’ve been drowning in.  Well, here
is the next chapter in the Flood Tide fanfic, but I warn you, it is long.)

Flood Tide, Part 1 of the Third War of Land & Sea Trilogy

A Pokémon tale by Legend 22

(Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, nor do I own the names of any of the places
mentioned.)

Chapter Four: The Flood Gates Open

    Ryan’s visit to Mauville has uncovered more questions than answers.
    “Chaz?”
    “Long time no see, champ.”
    Ryan could not believe it.  Chaz.  Chaz Rivers.  His best friend from Kanto.
Here.  He let out the breath he had been holding.  “Too long.  Almost two years,
right?”
    “Come October.  How ya been?”
    Too long indeed.  “Fine, just fine.  Listen, about what happened in
Majestic...”
    “Aw, don’t worry about it,” Chaz said casually.  He obviously did not want to
talk about their journeys together.  Those were great times, but they were gone
now.
    Sitting down on one of the slot machine stools, Ryan proceeded to question his
old friend about the adventures he’s had since they parted.  “How you been doing?
I’ve been kinda isolated from the world for a while.”
    Chaz smiled.  “Yeah, you gave us a scare after you just left like that,
especially Lex.  You know she is usually tough, but she did not come out of her
room for almost a week.”  His smile faded as his eyes became downcast.  “Then she
left, just like you.”
    Ryan sighed.  “I’m sorry about that.  I just… needed some time to myself.  So
I left for the mountains & wilderness of Taohu for some intensive training.”
    “To get away from your failure?”  Chaz took a deep breath.  “Away from us?”
    “Nothing like that!” Ryan shouted, more angrily than he intended.  “You & Lex
were my closest friends...”  He took a deep breath to calm down.  “My only
friends.  I would never leave because of you.”
    Chaz stood up, rearing to his full height, which came to about Ryan’s chin.
Even still, it was impressive to see someone smaller than himself to almost take
command of the situation away from him.  “Well, you did.”
    It took a moment for Ryan to realize that he was standing.  Forcing himself
to sit back on the stool, he placed his hands dejectedly on his knees.  “That was
not what I intended.  I’m sorry.”
    “Then what is this about?”  Suddenly, his eyes darkened.  “Is this about the
tournament?”  
    Ryan grimaced.  He owed Chaz an explanation for leaving the group, but thought
that his resentment toward him was ill-founded.  For Chaz, the loss had been no
big deal.  To Ryan, it was as if he had lost his life’s purpose in that match, &
it was all because of that prick of a Dragon trainer.
    Reassuming his smile, Chaz continued to speak.  “I mean, it was a great match
& all, but you could not have done anything different to change the outcome.  I
myself doubted that he could pull it off, but at the end there… Whew.  I’ve never
seen a Pokémon pull off a Terrain Break attack like that.”  Ryan only continued
to grimace.  Chaz shook his head, as if in disagreement.  Or maybe in pity.
    Damn him, I don’t need his pity!  Ryan thought glumly.
    Chaz continued to smile.  “You’ll get him next time, so don’t worry about it.”
    Ryan looked up.  “A thought?”
    “A fact.”
    Ryan smiled, genuinely this time.  It was hard to stay mad at Chaz.  He had
some sort of aura about him that emitted, well, pleasant energy.  He could step
on your foot intentionally & still make you like him.  It was just that difficult.
It reminded Ryan of how they had met.  “True.  Now what are you doing here?  For
some reason, I don’t think you’re going for the Hoenn Championship.”
    At those words Chaz’ smiling expression turned grim, & he stared at Ryan as
if he had spoken something tabooed.  But it only lasted for a moment, just until
his smile came back.  Only this time, it was obviously fake.  “Nothing, just
checking up on a few friends.”
    Ryan just stared at him blankly.  When he spoke, his tone was emotionless.
“Chaz, we’ve been together long enough for me to know when you were lying, which
you never were really good at to begin with.  Now tell me the truth.”
    There were a few minutes of silence, one that seemed to be unable to be broken
even by a 7.0 Richter magnitude earthquake.  Finally, he too sat down on a stool,
& called out into the darkness.  “Vaporeon?  Come on out.  He’s a friend.”  At
first, Ryan saw nothing.  Then the strange mer-cat appeared, appearing to rise out
of the ground.
    Acid Armor, he thought.
    “Give that here,” Chaz said to the Eevee evolution of water. Obediently, it
walked over & dropped something into its trainer’s hand.  “I believe that this is
yours,” he said while tossing the object over.
    It was Mightyena’s Pokéball.
    “Alright, the truth.”  He took in a deep breath before continuing.  “I’m
hunting down Team Aqua.”
    Something in Ryan’s mind snapped.  Realization swept over him like a tidal
wave.  “I saw you in Slateport.  You were hunting that guy in the red coat – he
said he was an Aqua Agent.”
    He nodded.  “Yeah, Fry Daye.  I tracked him down sure enough.  It took a
while, though.  I had to be sure, you see.  At the time I only suspected.  When I
finally cornered him, he told me everything, including the drop point in Mauville,
so I came here to find out what I could.  But as you can see, there is nobody
here.”
    Ryan nodded.  “Yeah, I’m a little confused there too.  Where is everybody?
What happened to them?”
    Chaz shook his head.  “I don’t know, but everything is locked down.  These
people most likely left of their own free will, because they had time to secure
their holdings.  I had to make Vaporeon use Acid Armor to break into this place
just to find a place to stay,” he said, stoking his Pokémon’s scaly body.  Ryan
did not understand his appreciation for the Bubble Jet Pokémon.  Sure it was
unique & marginally powerful, but personally he found it freaky & unattractive.
Chaz should have taken his advice & gotten an Umbreon instead, but that was just
his opinion.
    Suppressing his thoughts, Ryan focused on the matter at hand.  “Did you find
anything?”
    Again, Chaz shook his head.  “Nothing.  At least not here anyway.  I got a
good look into the Daye Conspiracy Agency over in the Agent’s apartment.
Apparently, he’s one of a group, the best trained espionage agents Team Aqua has
ever trained.  They are lead by someone who calls herself Monica Daye.”  He
leaned back on the slot machine, trying to seem relaxed.  “This guy wasn’t even
very high on the totem pole, though.  He was only number five.  But even so, it
was difficult to find him.”
    “So there are more of them out there?”
    “Yes, & each one of them has in some way infiltrated specific points in the
Hoenn region.  Their job is to either destabilize the area, or weaken it, for
invasion.”
    Ryan was shocked.  It couldn’t be true.  It just couldn’t be.  “But how?
Team Aqua would never be able to take control.  Their numbers are too pitiful to
seize Hoenn.  Surely they cannot think-“
    “Ryan, Team Aqua has grown.  Last I checked, near five thousand people sign
up last year alone.  At first I doubted it – rumors have a tendency to grow as
they spread – but Fry Daye’s laptop confirmed it.  They have over thirty
thousand people in their organization.  At least twenty-five thousand grunts, not
counting the engineers & scientists.  If they had the proper equipment & vehicles,
they could sweep across the Hoenn region, & grow in number as they spread.”
Another pause allowed his words to sink in.
    Ryan, finding the joke inappropriate for the situation, sighed.  This allowed
another silence to take hold.  He couldn’t believe it.  It just did not seem
possible.
    Or is it? he thought sourly.
    Forcing himself to look Chaz in the eye, Ryan asked what was on his mind.
“So, what do we do now?”

    ><><><>< 

    Rocket Executive Samir Barnet was a coward at heart.  Though he always tried
to put the best face on things, he always submitted to the whim of every other
Executive of higher or equal rank.  There were not many in Team Rocket that fit
that range, but Executive Hunter was one of them.  It was just pure chance that
he ran into him in the hallway.  Before he knew it, the larger man had him pinned
against the wall, crushing Barnet’s arms to his chubby sides.  Right then, he was
regretting going to get a late breakfast at the Executive café. 
    “Hello Mr. Barnet.”
    “O-oh, h-hi G-Gord-d-dan.”
    “That’s Hunter to you, you sniveling little Weedle.”  He wore a pained
expression, one similar to a rich jerk who had voluntarily stuck his hand into
a pile of Ponyta shit because he had to.  Anyway, he was obviously mad.
    “Y-y-yes H-Hunter, s-sir.”  
    “Good.  Now, what have you thought of the emissary from Team Magma?  Think
carefully, very carefully.”
    Barnet may be a coward, but he was no fool.  He knew what Hunter wanted to
hear.  “I-I th-think th-that it is a w-waste of t-time.  W-we d-don’t need th-
them.”
    Hunter smiled; a cold smile, one that could have frozen boiling water
instantly.  “Yes, that’s right, it is a waste.  They should be tossed out of
the complex.  Or better yet, shoot them & have their bullet-riddle bodies mailed
back to that bitch Moxie.”
    “A g-good idea s-sir.” Barnet shivered as his smile grew colder.  
    “Yes.  Now, at the meeting today, I will petition them to be thrown out.  You
will agree with me, or there will be serious consequences.  You understand, fatso?”
    “Y-yes.”
    “Good,” Hunter said, releasing the man & letting him drop to the ground.
Barnet shivered one last time as Hunter rounded the corner.  Then, slowly, he
picked himself up & continued toward the café.  Stress always brought the desire
to eat.  He just hoped that there were still some doughnuts left.

    Hunter chuckled to himself as he turned out of Barnet’s sight.  That made
three, enough to give him the leverage he needed to silence the Magma emissary
Harland & remove Karen as a major opponent for the Interim Chair.
    Of course, not all of the other Executives could be bullied in such a way.
A few of them, like Executive Harris, had to be bribed.  Harris was a little vague
in his response to Hunter’s offer, but it was clear enough for him.  Everything
was going according to plan.
    That last thought made him frown.  He did not like the plan, but if he wanted
the Chair, he had to come to terms with his options.  He knew he was never liked
on the Council & that he would have to find support from outside sources.  The
problem was, who?
    Then, finally, after almost a year of searching, he had found a supporter,
someone powerful enough to guarantee his long-sought-after position.  All he
needed to do was follow the plan.  Then he would cut them loose.

    The guard at the entrance to the Executive level found Hunter giggling on the
stairs, but he knew better than to inquire as to the joke.

    ><><><>< 

    “Message from Captain Admin Dakotah Hale from on board the Tsunami: Victory
at Mossdeep total.  Losses in manpower heavy on both sides, but it is clear that
there is no organized resistance still present on the island.”
    Aqua Admiral Admin Seth Waters had been waiting days for such good news to
reach him.  He should have been dancing on the tips of his toes like a young boy
awaiting a Christmas morning not more than an hour away, but his rank & reputation
denied that.  He was that giddy.
    This has to be coincidence.  The CVN Tsunami free from battle on the same day
Davie gives me the go-ahead for Phase Two of Operation Flood Tide.  It is too good
to be true!
    Quickly composing himself, Waters dismissed the messenger grunt with a wave of
his hand & the beginnings of a smile on his face.  The grunt looked only too happy
to go, despite Waters’ pleasant mood.
    After the grunt left, the admiral depressed a button on his com.  An Aqua
operator appeared immediately.  “Get me Captain Admin Formosa.”
    “Yes sir, one moment please.”  A few seconds later, Formosa was appeared on
the screen in place of the operator.
    “Hello, sir.”
    “Hello Captain Formosa.  Listen, I’m going to take a short break.  I’m going
out into the field.  You will be in charge until I get back.”
    “Yes sir.”
    “Oh, & I expect some more progress to be made on the Cave while I’m gone, so
don’t slack off – I’ll know.”
    The captain only grimaced.  “Of course, sir.”
    “Power to Aqua,” Waters began the parting ritual shared among high-ranking
Aqua members.
    “Long last the sea,” Formosa responded, completing the ritual.  The screen
went blank.
    Next, Waters pushed the button again to summon the same operator.  This time
he wanted to issue an order to Captain Hale onboard the Tsunami, but the senior
officer on deck told Waters that Hale was inspecting the island & unavailable at
the moment, so Waters left a message.  For Hale’s sake, the captain had better
receive it before Waters got there.
    Picking up his laptop & putting it in his briefcase for travel, Waters walked
out the door.  Outside was a grunt he did not remember assigning to guard his
quarters.  The man immediately came to attention.
    “Sir, I am here to escort you to the copter ready for your departure.”
    Without giving away a hint of emotion, Waters nodded curtly & motioned for the
grunt to lead the way.  As soon as the man’s back was turned, Waters brought the
full weight of the briefcase to bear on he guard, striking him where the shoulder
met the neck.  The grunt collapsed like a sack of Wepear Berries, unconscious.
    Waters looked up from the fallen man to see another grunt, this one carrying
a large wooden crate, across the corridor.  His eyes were as big as saucers.  The
moment he noticed that Waters was staring at him, he jumped to attention, dropping
the crate on his foot & causing all manners of fruits & berries to be spilt out.
Waters chuckled as the poor sailor preformed a little one-legged hop.
    He dismissed the hopping grunt with a wave of his hand, of which the sailor was
so grateful for that he ran away without collecting the fruits.  At this Waters
chuckled harder.
    His attention immediately returned to the unconscious man.  Waters frowned.
He did not inform anyone of his departure & certainly did not request as escort.
This man was obviously an assassin.  Waters had encountered the like before,
having been on both sides of the deal, & being either employer or target.  Only
once had an assassin come close enough to make Waters sweat, but after Waters
was through with him, had he lived, he would still be sucking hamburgers through
a straw & peeing in a bag.  This guy on the floor had come close too, but only
physically, though that in-&-of-itself was an accomplishment.
    The man groaned, so Waters brought the suitcase down again.  This time, he
heard the bone-chilling snap that announced the breaking of his neck.  That was
too bad – Waters would have liked to know who had sent him.  Plus, watching a
mind deteriorate during questioning & torture always woke him up in the morning.
    Sighing, Waters stepped over the corpse & proceeded to walk down the corridor.
He had a helicopter to catch.

    ><><><><

    John’s cell in the Lilycove Jail was dark & damp, but he did not mind.  All
he thought about while cringing in the corner of his cot was that he had failed.
It was supposed to be a simple assignment – almost a hit-&-run operation, except
that two teenage girls happened to screw it up.  Now, his two partners were dead
& he was captured.  After several interrogations with a few… persuasive police
officials, his spirit had finally broken.
    He was so deep in his own little world that he did not notice his cell door
open.  In fact, it was not until the intruder was standing over him that he
noticed a new presence in the room.  He looked up, but the face was an indisting-
uishable shape silhouetted by the light from the still-open door the intruder had
entered through.   But he was sure of one thing: his intruder was a woman.
    “You’ve failed, A1-79.  You drew too much attention to your team on the ferry.
For your failure, regulations call for your execution.”
    Those sentences shattered his fragile world.  Whoever this woman was, she was
obviously a member of his own organization.  Hope momentarily filled him, but was
soon replaced with the sense of depression he had become so used to in his
confinement.  She was not here to save him.  She was here to kill him.
    The woman tilted her head to the side, slightly, as if recognizing his
reaction.  “That is what regulations say, but I am willing to offer you a second
chance, Grunt A1-79; a chance to make up for your failure.  Will you accept?”
    Hope filled him anew as he nodded his head, perhaps a little too enthusiast-
ically.  But he really wanted out, & the hope of escape was overriding that sense
of curiosity & familiarity.
    “Very well.  Now listen.  At fifteen hundred today your cell lock will
deactivate for reasons unbeknownst to the police.  Here.”
    An overstuffed backpack was dropped on the bed.  It did not look strange,
or even too heavy.  His curiosity for the situation grew, & with it, that sense
of familiarity.
    “Take this to the armory & stuff it someplace out of sight.  After you have
done that, proceed north & out of the city to wait for pick-up.  Try not to be
seen yourself, because I will not help you again.”
    Suddenly, something clicked.  That voice – he recognized her voice.  “I know
you,” he muttered.  He could not be sure, but he thought the woman frowned.
    “In that case, A1-79, do not be seen or I will personally see you dead.”
    Turning around, she left without another word.

    ><><><>< 

    Ben grumbled as he was shaken awake.  It was his turn at the southern watch;
third watch, just after midnight.
    Perfect, he thought bitterly.
    The small resistance group had pressed on through the rest of the day & had
come to occupy a small cavern that laid directly in the path of the Aqua force’s
march to northern Ever Grande.  There, they had met up with another group who had
found the position defendable.  The southern entrance opened to a narrow pool that,
while only waist-deep, would hinder any force trying to cross it.
    Just north of the pool was a low cliff – about seven feet high.  The only way
up from the south was through a narrow pass cutting at a shallow angle.  It was,
of course, blocked off by a massive boulder David had moved into place.  Ben was
in awe by this feat, though none of his comrades-in-arms seemed to care.  They had
seen him lift more.
    Pulling his .45 caliber Winchester close to his chest, Ben once again scanned
the area across the pool, paying close attention to the entrance in the cave wall.
If there was going to be any attack tonight, it would come from there.  They had
checked & back-checked all the tunnels behind them – no Aqua Grunts were found.
Well, none alive anyway.
    Grumbling again over his misfortune at drawing the third watch slot, Ben
reached into his pocket for a stick of gum, but instead of his usual pack of
Winterfresh, his fingers brushed against a piece of crumpled paper.  Curiously,
he pulled it out & smoothed it out on a rock.  It was a picture of Harriet & him,
taken outside the Arena C, just after his defeat in the Silver Conference Pre-
liminaries.  Neither of them had made it to the top sixteen, but it had been fun
while it lasted.
    He rubbed his thumb against the image to clear off some dust, trying to get
a better look at her features.  Her long auburn hair was flowing in the breeze.
She was smiling, or maybe laughing.  Her arm was wrapped around his shoulders,
emphasizing his reddened face.
    'Now why did I decide to keep this picture?' he wondered.  '& where’s my gum?'
    “Eh-hmm.”
    The noise caused a reflexive action in Ben to stuff the picture away.  He
did not even recognize the man before it was deep inside his pocket.
    “Can’t afford ta git distracted, sonny.  Da watch es yours, an’ if da Aquas
come marchin’ in on us now, we wouldn’t know et till dey was on top of us.  You
gotta keep da watch ta make sure deys don’t wake us wid a gun muzzle in da gut.”
    It was Lector, the oldest man in the group & David’s second-in-command,
probably out on inspection.  He held his shotgun easily at his side, but Ben was
almost certain that it was loaded.
    “No, sir, I was not getting distracted,” he lied.
    Lector smiled.  “You be da boy who sleeps too much, aren’t ya?”
    Ben opened his mouth, trying to force out an answer.  A sentence.  A word.
A syllable!  By Ho-oh, just say anything!
    The old man chuckled.  “Yeh, you be da one.  Well, go back ta da camp, an’
I’ll keep vigilance fa da rest of da watch.”
    Ben’s mouth fell open wider.  He tried to make a protest, but the man planted
himself firmly on the cliff overlooking the pool.  If Ben could have managed any
sort of sound, it probably would have fallen on deaf ears.  Or in Lector’s case,
half-deaf.
    At least.
    Sighing, Ben slowly turned back to the camp.  Patting his pocket, he made sure
that the picture was still there.  Maybe he would look at it some more in the dim
firelight.
    By Ho-oh, I hope she is alright, he thought as he made his way back.

    In a cavern less than half a mile away, but separated by solid rock, Harriet
Nacres was trying to go to sleep.  It was difficult – no matter how she lay, at
least one rock stuck out of the ground & made her uncomfortable.  Not that she
could go to sleep anyways – she always kept wondering about Ben.
    In the end, she just decided to take a stroll around the camp.  It was not
big, taking up a small cavern about twenty feet in circumference.  There were two
tunnels that connected to this cavern: one that headed west & one heading south.
The second tunnel connected to a smaller cavern which has been converted into a
temporary sentry post.  If the Aqua Army decided to attack, the lookouts would
provide an early warning.  She hesitated outside the southern tunnel & thought of
relieving the guards.  A chilling breeze came through, & she decided against it.
    Leaning against a rock near the tunnel entrance, she found her thoughts
drifting back to Ben.
    He’s always getting himself into trouble, she thought with a smile, reflecting
upon a humorous memory involving a Ludicolo & a pond… & a Swead.  She giggled at
the memory.  She could not help it.
    “Please, Ben.  Please be alright.”
 
    ><><><><

    Admiral Harland was given living quarters on the second floor of the west wing
of the Rocket compound.  The Executive quarters, as Agent Ender said, were on the
third floor of the east wing.  It wasn’t that far of a walk – just difficult for
someone riding on several hours of sleep followed by a 30-hour day.
    Ender stopped him outside a room numbered 06.  The Rocket Elite Agent then
pressed a button on the touchpad where the knob should have been.
    “Admiral Harland of the Team Magma Navy to see you, madam,” he announced.
    “Send him in.  Alone.”
    Ender stepped aside as the door slid open, allowing Harland to go in.
    What the admiral saw astounded him.  It was a large apartment, larger than any
given to a Magma member; not even Moxie herself would have a place so fine.  On
the right side of the room was a canopy queen-sized bed, with a door that seemed
to connect to a separate bath.  On the other was what appeared to be a small
kitchen.  But what really caught his eye was the converted office space just in
front of him.  Or rather, the person sitting across the desk in front of him.
    “Executive Nadian,” he said with a slight incline of his head.
    “Admiral Harland,” she replied.
    A few moments passed in silence.  Harland was becoming impatient.  “Is there
some reason you called me up here?”
    “As a matter of fact, yes, I called you up here because I can help you.”
    Harland’s thoughts raced.  Something was wrong.  It is one thing if she had
said this in front of the rest of the Council, but she had made this meeting
private.  She wanted to talk to him alone, where the other Executives couldn’t
hear.  She was planning something personal.
    After taking a few moments to think about what she had just said, Harland
decided to play along – for now.  “Really?”
    She smiled.  It was not wicked, but more sensual.  “Yes, but you must help me
first.”
    I knew it, thought Harland.
    Executive Nadian stood up; at her full height put her eyes at about level with
his mouth.  She was still smiling.  “Your leader, Moxie, is quite an intriguing
person.  Smart of her, to create a direct transmission to your room, but she must
learn to first check the satellite she is borrowing, to make sure there are no
hidden listeners.”
    Harland froze.  She knows, the bitch actually figured us out!  Slowly, so as
to not be noticed, he began to slide his knife out of his pocket, ready to defend
himself if he was attacked.  It would be futile, of course.  Most likely there
were armed guards ready to leap out of hiding to kill him, or at least she would
have a gun hidden under her desk.
    Still smiling, the Executive walked out in front of her desk.  “Now, now, Mr.
Harland.  There is no need for that.  You can put that away – I only wish to talk.”
    Eyes scanning for any other sign of a threat, Harland let the knife slide back
into his pocket.
    “You did not seriously think that you could sneak a weapon inside without my
knowing?  I personally examined your bags’ x-rays after our little meeting.  The
grunts on duty may have been easily fooled by your little trick, but not me.”
    Harland gulped.  He wished he knew where this was going.  She said she had
wanted his help, but could she really help him?  Help Team Magma?
    Ms. Nadian continued to smile at him.  “You want Team Rocket’s help to force
Team Aqua back out of Hoenn, but I do not have the power to order such action… yet.
 This is where you come in.  You will help me become the new Interim Boss of Team
Rocket & it will be within my abilities.  You catch what I’m saying?”
    A coupe, thought Harland.  “You want me to help you overthrow the present
establishment.”
    Her smile widened.  “Very good, Mr. Harland.  Now allow me to elaborate.”
    “You’ve noticed the large chair in the middle of the table in the Conference
Chamber?  Well, that is the seat of the Head of Team Rocket.  For over a century,
since Giovanni’s fall, that chair has been occupied by numerous Interim Heads,
each able to control the magnificent crime group known as Team Rocket.  Well, as
good as it sounds, it is not the top of the totem pole.  The Interim Head is
restricted in many matters by the Council.  He or she must have at least half of
the support of the Council in nearly every matter.  An Interim Head is pretty much
just a figure head,” she paused, “but a full Head can take complete control of
Team Rocket.  To be able to grip it in an iron fist & mold it into a force even
more powerful than when Giovanni ruled.  That’s what I want to be.  That’s what
you are going to help me achieve.”
    “& why should I help you?” Harland asked, trying to get a better picture of
her plan.
    “Bec1ause there but one person who stands in my way.  You met him earlier: a
Mr. Gordon Hunter.  He will do anything to keep me from gaining that power I seek
because he wants it for himself, & I can guarantee you, if I do not obtain the
Head’s chair soon, he will, & he will not turn a sympathetic ear toward you or
your organization.  You would be lucky to leave this complex alive.”
    Harland just stood there, absorbing everything she said.  He knew that every-
thing she said was true, otherwise it was an extremely clever trap woven from the
moment Moxie sent her message.  Harland sighed at her speech.  “Do you have a
plan?” he asked.
    “Yes, I have a plan.  I have found out some... incriminating information
regarding Hunter’s loyalties.  It may be enough to turn the rest against him, but
it will not get me on in the chair.  I have reason to believe that the other
Executives are in his pocket.  I cannot risk exposing my intentions while he is
on the Council, & I cannot kick him off because the rest of the Executives are
scared out of their wits of him.”
    “But if they are all too frightened of him to stand up against him, how can
you win the Council?” Harland asked.
    “That is where you come in, Mr. Harland.  You will give them reason to make
me the official Head of Team Rocket.  I believe that one or two may have the guts
to stand up without your help, but it is better safe than sorry.  I can bring you
help, but only if you’ll only agree to my terms.”
    “& if they do not agree?”
    “I have a backup plan.”
    Great, thought Harland.  He looked down at his toes as if hoping they would
provide an answer to his predicament, but it was, of course, only a way to delay
his decision.  He was caught in a trap, & the iron jaws were closing shut – fast.
If he did not agree to help, he would not likely leave in one piece, & Team Magma
will never get the help it needs.  If he did agree, & this plan failed, then he
would probably envy the death already coming for him.
    When he looked up, he found himself staring into her eyes.  She was still
smiling.
    “Well, Admiral Harland, what will it be?”
    Harland resumed staring at his toes.  There was one minute of awkward silence
before Harland could answer.  “I agree.”
    He could not be sure, be Harland thought that Nadian’s smile widened – he was
staring at his toes at the time.
    “Good. Now, here’s the plan.”
    It was crazy.  It was insane.  It was the largest load of crap Harland had
ever heard in his entire career, yet it just might work.  Oh, Groudon help him but
it just might work.
 
    ><><><><

    Sunlight streamed in through the window in the fifth guest room of the
Lilycove Pokémon Center, casting a ray of light on the sleeping body of Alexis
Ardorn.  The light did not disturb her, but it did rouse the blue & yellow furred
Pokémon resting on her covers.  It was her faithful Quilava, who has stayed by her
side ever since it had evolved, & even some time before that.
    Standing up on its four short legs, the Quilava yawned, stretched, &, with
feline grace, jumped off the bed & onto the cold floor.  It then proceeded to
rummage through Lex’s backpack, successfully withdrawing a packet of Pokémon food.
Its trainer was not always an early riser, so it learned to find food on its own.  
    Firmly gripping the top of the packet in its jaws & the bottom between its
paws, the Pokémon tore it completely in two.  Pellets of brown feed scattered
across the floor.  Satisfied, the volcano Pokémon began to pick at the pellets one
by one.  Hopefully, it would be able to finish & hide the packet before its
trainer woke up.
    The sound of footsteps outside in the hallway caused it to perk its ears.
This was soon followed by the sound of the doorknob turning.  Acting on instinct,
the Quilava quickly gathered the wrapper & as many pellets as it could before
diving under its trainer’s bed.  Fighting the urge to light its flame, the Quilava
waited, watching the door open.
    A pair of pink sneakers came into view, attached to a pair of slender legs.
The Quilava sighed.  It was only its trainer’s friend, the girl that had saved it
on the boat.  Its memory of the battle with the Crawdaunt was foggy & full of
holes, but from what its trainer had told it had caused the Quilava to shudder.
Drowning was the worst death the Fire-type could think of – to be smothered by
water, unable to breathe, unable to light up, unable to cry for help.  It
shuddered again.  It was a terrible way to die, but this girl had saved it from
that fate, & its trainer said that they could trust her.
    The Quilava thought about revealing itself, but hesitated.  The pink tennis
shoes were lifted out of sight.  The girl had sat down on her bed.  Quietly, the
Pokémon turned back to the food it had gathered under the bed.  It would be a
while before its trainer woke up, & there was still some food left to be eaten.
Without further thought, it went back to breakfast.
   
    ><><><><

    Aqua Captain Admin Dakotah Hale was cursing the island’s unfinished communi-
cation network.  It had been severely damaged in the attack, an outcome no one
had expected.  He had been ashore all day & no one thought as much to inform him
that the supreme commander of the Aqua Invasion Force was paying a surprise visit!
He would chew up the operator who had delayed his notification & hang him from the
rigging by his thumbs!  IDIOT!
    Regardless of the incompetence of his crew, Captain Hale was silently thankful
that he had included a tour of the CVN Tsunami in his schedule, but now he had
little time to prepare for the admiral’s arrival.  Waters had forced him to move
up his times tables, a rigorous schedule of life at sea that no man would want to
change.
    He was walking to the flight deck, accompanied on either side by a pair of
bodyguard grunts.  Each carried an AK-47 Assault Rifle with two spare clips.  A
9” dive knife hung at each other’s hip, ready to be drawn incase of hand-to-hand
combat.  Hale had personally picked them for their experience & record.  Neither
had failed in their line of duty, & each had taken his own share of wounds for the
job.  They were elite.
    The sound of a voice boomed over the comm. system.  “Captain Hale, trans-
mission on Line 3.  Captain Hale, Line 3.”
    There were communication lines wired throughout the ship, used mainly for
conversations & reports Hale could not trust to be used over the loudspeaker
system.
The operator had just announced a call on the most secure line.  It had better be
important.  
    The comm. booth was allocated in a separate room which only high level officers
of the Aqua navy could open.  There were several scattered about on every level of
nearly every ship for the convenience of their officers.  The door was soundproof
to prevent outside listening, & swept every day to prevent bugging the line.
Despite these safeguards, Captain Hale was still wary about someone tapping the
line.
    Calmly, the captain picked up the receiver & entered his identification clear-
ance card.  After the operator affirmed his clearance, she put him through.  The
voice on the other line made the hair on the back of his neck rise.
    “Hello, captain.”
    “Hello, admiral,” Hale responded.
    “I hope I did not catch you at a bad time.  I’ve been trying to get a hold of
you ever since I left the base.”
    Sweat began to condense on his forehead.  “I’ve been ashore, admiral, over-
seeing the reconstruction of the city.  The phone lines were down, & we were out
of contact with the fleet.”
    There was a pause.  “I see, captain.  Why didn’t you take a radio with you?”
    “None of our portable radios were powerful enough to reach the fleet.”
    “What about the radios on some of your smaller assault vessels, captain?”
    Hale gulped.  “They were all damaged in the attack to capture Mossdeep.”
    “All of them?”
    “All of them.”
    Another pause.  This time, it was Captain hale who broke it.  “I was on my way
to inspect the CVN, admiral, when I heard of your arrival.  To put it mildly, I
was outraged.”
    “At my arrival?” hissed the admiral.
    Hale threw up defenses.  “No, at my communications officer.  He failed to notify
me by runner.”
    “Incompetence of an inferior officer?  Well then, you are partially excused.”
    Hale breathed.  
    “Just be sure to replace him, for your own sake.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “Good.  Now, you are aware of my arrival?  Good.  Prepare the fleet.  You need
to be ready to move westward within the hour.”
    Hale was shocked.  An entire fleet?  Ready to sail within the hour.
“Impossible.”
    “Well, you better find a way to make it possible, captain, or you may find
yourself scrubbing the latrines under the supervision of the lowest deckhand.”
    Hale paled.  He did not realize that he had said that last part out loud.
    “My e.t.a. is half-an-hour.  Be ready.  Waters out.”  The phone line dis-
connected.
    Hale removed the receiver from his ear, staring at it like he would a wild
Seviper.  Waters did not give the standard parting ritual, signifying that Waters
now thought Hale was no longer high enough to receive his individual attention.
For the first time since the Battle of Epoch Isle, Captain Dakotah Hale of the
Aqua Navy CVN Tsunami was afraid.  His demotion was almost assured.
    Shakily, he forced himself to stand up straight & check his uniform.  He still
had a chance – a chance to regain favor with his admiral.  Returning the receiver
to his ear, Hale made a call up o the bridge, giving them an order that should be
relayed throughout the entire fleet.  It was time to move.
    Hanging up the receiver, he turned around & walked back out the door.  His
bodyguards came rigidly to attention.  With a sweep of his hand, one of the two
stepped in step with the captain while the second trailed a short distance behind.
He had work to do.

    ><><><><

    Near midmorning, Ryan Pilot & Chaz Rivers had finished a scrap breakfast & had
begun to explore the city.  It was just as Ryan had seen it last night – deserted.
    “Come on,” said Chaz, gesturing with a wave that his companion should follow
him down the street.  “We should check the police station – they may have a record
of what has happened.”
    The station was designed to be almost impenetrable.  The doors were steel
reinforced oak & the windows were imbedded with wire cross-hatching to make it
bulletproof.
    “We won’t get in easily,” muttered Ryan.
    “Well, you’ve backed down from a challenge before, so why would you quit now?
Remember that fortress outside of San Gretta?  Or the Rocket Base near Celadon?
We’ve broken into much more heavily guarded places than this.  & look – no guards.
This’ll be a walk in the park.”
    “If you say so,” muttered Ryan.
    Chaz turned around to stare at him.  “What’s happened to you, Ryan?  You used
to be so confident.  Now, it’s like you’re considering that fact that you might
not win.  I’ve never seen you like this before.  It’s not natural for you.”
    Ryan returned the stare.  Chaz had not known what it had been like.  His dream
had been to become the World Champion, a title only awarded to trainers how had
conquered every single Great League.  Ryan remembered the day he strolled into the
Majestic Colosseum in Majestic City, Taohu, with the Johto & Kanto Cups flanking
him on either side.  If he won, he would have been declared the greatest Pokémon
trainer on the mainland, a feat only two others had accomplished.  As the tourna-
ment progressed, Ryan made his way up, battle after battle, to become the crowd’s
favorite.  After defeating his final opponent to become the Tournament Challenger,
he had to face-off against the reigning champ, a Dragon trainer called Jason Verit.
It was a hotly contested match, perhaps the hardest Ryan had ever fought.  But he
had belief – belief in himself & his Pokémon, & he thought that that, along with
his skills as a trainer, would bring him victory that day.
    But he had been wrong.  Jason battled with a precision Ryan had never
encountered before.  He had an eye for detail, able to turn the smallest imperfect-
ion on the battle field to his advantage.  Ryan had lost the battle that day, but
it felt as if he had lost much, much more.
    “Well, people change, Chaz.  I’ve changed,” Ryan responded.
    “So I’ve noticed,” Chaz remarked as he walked up the steps to the doorway &
leaned against the door.  “But underneath, you’re still the same guy as before.
Nothing could change – Whoa!“
    As Chaz shifted his full weight onto the doors, they caved inward, letting
Chaz fall flat on his back.
    Ryan calmly walked up the stairs & past his friend.
    “You were right, that was easy,” he remarked as he passed through the doors.
    Chaz got up & brushed himself off.  “See?  You’re still that cynical bastard
you were a year ago.”
    Ryan grinned.  “& you’re still that ignorant Water trainer I met three years
ago.”  He turned around.  “Now come on, we’re wasting time.”
    Chaz’ eyes followed his friend as he continued into the station.
    “& still always down to business, I see.  Well, it can only be an improvement,”
he muttered before following.

    ><><><>< 

    Lex woke up to a vision of Emma shaking her.
    “Come on, time to get up.”
    Groaning, Lex looked at her bedside clock.  It read 11:30 pm.  A little late
to be getting up, but she could use the sleep.  She had a long day yesterday & has
a big day today.  Today, she would go explore Lilycove City & purchase supplies for
the road to Fortree.  She got up to start to put on her trainer outfit, but dis-
covered that they were not were she had left them.
    “Looking for your clothes?”
    Lex looked up, seeing her bunkmate, Emma Nordstrom, sitting on the bed, fully
dressed for the day.
    “I gave them to the Nurse Joy,” said Emma, “She said she would have them
cleaned for us – free of charge.”  She tossed her a white bathrobe.  “& I figured
that since we were in a Pokémon Center, we may as well enjoy the luxury of a shower.”
    Lex thought this over.  It has been a while since her last, salt-free wash.
Yes, she would enjoy that a lot.
    Getting up, Lex covered herself in the bathrobe.  She took a seat on the bed to
allow herself wake up fully.  That was when 42 pounds of muscle, fur, & combustible
materials jumped on top of her.
    “Quiiiiil-lava!”
    “Quilava!” cried Lex joyfully as her Pokémon nudged its head under her chin,
rubbing up against her.  “It’s good to see you.  Feeling any better?”
    “La-va!” it cried.
    They were all happy, even Emma was smiling, trying to enjoy some of the positive
atmosphere.  After a few minutes, Emma said she would take Quilava outside while Lex
got washed.

    After showering & washing her hair, Lex emerged from the shower & into the
women’s communal bathroom.  It was sparkling clean.  The Nurse Joy at this center
kept a strict regime against grime.  & on a stool just outside her shower were her
trainer’s outfit & her Pokéball Case, which she always kept in her sleeveless
sweatshirt pocket.  Two of her three active Pokéballs were full, but all were
accounted for because Lex knew that Quilava was with Emma.
    Within half-an-hour, Lex was ready to shop.  First, she would go meet Emma &
Quilava outside & head to the Lilycove department store.

    ><><><><
   
    The sound of the rotor blades increased in volume as a night-black helicopter
descended onto the flight deck of the CVN Tsunami.   Several yards away stood Aqua
Captain Admin Dakotah Hale, commander of the Aqua naval force code-named Gamma Fleet,
with his most senior staff officers.  He was nervous, but it was understandable.
    The side door opened as the Ka-126 Hoodlum landed, & several heavily armed Aqua
grunts in jet-black uniforms jumped out, AK-47 Assault Rifles at the ready.
Following just behind them was ma man in his mid-twenties in blue pants & a black,
high-necked jacket: Aqua Admiral Admin Seth Waters.  He brushed aside his long black
hair as the down-draft from the rotor blades blew it across his face.  His face was
emotionless as he walked toward the reception party.
    “Glory to Team Aqua,” said Captain Hale, thumbing his fist to his heart in
salute, “& the Admiral Waters.” 
    “At ease, captain.”
    Hale relaxed.  Waters seemed content, which was perhaps the best sort of mood
you could get out of him.  Hale’s position was safe – for now.  Hale gestured to
the doorway in the CVN’s island.  Waters simply motioned him to go first.  The
captain nodded, walking a step ahead of the admiral.  Hale’s two bodyguards preceded
him, inferring Hale’s destination to be the bridge.  The two black garbed guards
followed in step after Waters.
    “Sir, the fleet has responded with record time.  We will be ready to sail within
five minutes.  All we need now is a course.  You gave us a general direction, but
not a destination.”
    “Our destination is Lilycove City.”
    Hale nodded.  He had been guessing that Lilycove was the next target.  The
invasion was to continue.
    “I have special agent already inside,” continued Waters, “ready to render the
city defenseless upon our arrival, not that they will be able to fight against our
newest weapon. Now, is the device ready?”
    Hale stumbled.  Half-an-hour of notice for the Supreme Admiral of the Aqua Navy
& he had forgotten to check the admiral’s pet project!  Hale inhaled slowly to find
the correct words.
    “It will be readied in transit.”
    Waters turned to face him, an angry gleam in his eye.  Hale had chosen the
wrong words.
    “I-I only had thirty minutes of notice of your arrival.”
    Waters continued to stare at him, the glimmer, & the anger, did not subside.
For several seconds, Hale thought Waters was going to kill him.  The defenseless
Aqua captain tried to smile, hoping to faint innocence.  To his surprise, the
admiral smiled back.
    “That’s alright.  With your current streak of bad luck, I suppose it is best.
After all, if you had tried to activate it & damaged it in any way... well, use
your imagination.”
    Hale sighed.  He had escaped Waters’ wrath yet again.  He allowed himself to
relax, but only a little.  With Waters around, it was best to always be on your
guard.
    “By the way, did you deal with that incompetent communication officer?” he asked.
    Hale nodded.  “Yes, I set him to someplace where he would be useful.”
    “& w0here is that that, my dear captain?”
    “Why, at the bottom of the ocean, helping to build a better ocean-centered world
by feeding the various organisms that inhabit the deep.”
    Waters’ smile widened.  “How poetic, Capt. Hale.”
    “I had hoped so, Admiral.”
    “Now take me to the device; I will oversee its deployment.  Now you, my friend,
will go up to the bridge & relay my orders to the rest of the fleet.  It’s time to
begin the true Operation Flood Tide.”
 
    ><><><>< 

    “What is it, sir?”
    It has been an hour since Admiral Harland’s meeting with Executive Karen Nadian.
In that span of time, the plan had preceded with a velocity neither Harland nor
Karen had predicted.  The Council of Executives formed almost instantly at his
request for a session to hear out Team Magma’s newest offer.  Their eagerness was
making him uneasy.
    “We’re going to a special session of the Council of Executives, Miss Bardo.
Now, when we enter, you are to step aside to the left & say there.  Do not move.
Do not speak.  Understand?”
    Gwen could only nod.  Harland knew that she could sense his uneasiness.  She
could not even understand why he was wearing his standard Magma admiralty uniform
instead of the maroon suit.  Thankfully, she wordlessly fell instep with her
superior officer as he opened the Council doors & walked inside.
    The Council of Executives of Team Rocket was arranged just the same as it was
last time: a curved table on an elevated platform encircling half the room, &
across the table from Harland, on the other side, was a throne flanked by six
unadorned chairs.  Four of those six were occupied.
    “Sit down, Admiral Harland,” said the Executive on Harland’s far right,
furthest from the throne.
    Harland glanced at a small stool in the center of the room – a decoration he
did not recognize as being there before.  He wordlessly sat down & sized-up the
Executive who had spoken.  He was a chubby little man whom Harland did not find
all that frightening.  In fact, Harland could not believe that this squat man was
one of the most powerful people of the most organized crime organization in history.
His powers must rely somewhere other than field work, Harland guessed.
    “Speak,” he continued.
    Harland stared at him, but the man did not break eye contact.  “But the entire
Council has not arrived yet,” Harland said.
    “You are here to present a new case to the Council of Executives, Mr. Harland,
not question our procedures regarding the running of this organization.” the chubby
man continued, “Speak, or you shall be shown out.”
    Taking a deep breath, Harland mentally ran through everything he had discussed
with Executive Nadian.  By Groudon, this had better work.
    “As representative of Moxie, head of Team Magma, I propose-”
    The violent opening of a large set of doors behind the Executive table drew
everyone’s attention away from the Magma Admiral.  The fine figure of Executive
Nadian herself strode through, the object in everyone’s eye.  She kept walking
until she was standing right behind her usual seat, to the left of the Head’s
throne.  She did not even sit down.
    “An important piece of information has come to my attention which requires
immediate action.”
    The fat little man on Harland’s right questioned her, though reluctantly.
“M-Miss Nadian, on w-what grounds to you make this claim?”
    “He’s right,” said another.  “Only a Head can make such a decision, & you are
no Head.”
    There were some whispers among the rest, but they soon fell silent, allowing
Nadian to finish.
    “There is a traitor among us.”
    This remark caused a further stirring among the Executives, though none stood
up to openly challenge her.  The only one who stayed silent was the one who opposed
her motion under the rule that only a Head of Team Rocket could pass such a decision.
But after the silent discussion died down, he stood up & made his own announcement.
“Then we must elect a Head.”
    Executive Nadian nodded as the man sat back down.
    “I nominate myself,” she said.
    “You can’t do that!” shouted the fat man on Harland’s right.  “You can’t!  In
ll the history of Team Rocket no Executive has ever...”
    “That is correct, Mr. Barnet.  No Executive before me has ever nominated his-
or herself for the position of Head, but that does not mean that it cannot be done.”
    The fat man – Executive Barnet – still looked a little skeptical.  Miss Nadian
simply smiled & continued.
    “I’ve checked the rules, regulations, & requirements, Mr. Barnet, & I assure
you that in no place do they specify that you cannot nominate yourself for the
position.”  She crossed her arms & took on a snug expression.
    But Executive Barnet was still doubtful.  “W-we’ll need time t-to check the
rules...”
    “There is no time,” Nadian stated, practically cutting off the squat man’s
words.  “This must be resolved now, & to do that, we must vote now.  Any delay
will only make the situation worse.”
    Silence, until the man who made the suggestion to nominate a Head stood up
again.  “I second the nomination of the position of Head to Karen Nadian.”
    Executive Nadian nodded, her face still but content.  It was all she needed.
    “Then we must vote, but Executive Hunter is not here yet,” said a woman
Executive to Barnet’s left.
    “There’s no need for Hunter to be here,” Nadian said, finally taking her seat.
Had she been standing up this entire time?  “As I said, there is little time to do
this.”
    “But surely, we must know of the problem.  How else can we vote on it?”
    Nadian looked down at Hunter.  To the other Executives, it seemed that she
had just noticed him.  But Harland caught the smile in her eyes, even though the
rest of her face could have been carved out of ice.
    “This is Rocket business,” said Nadian, “& it does not concern those of Team
Magma.  Their proposal will have to wait.  Until then, they will have to wait out-
side.”
    Harland nodded understandingly as the doors opened behind him.  The plan was
in motion, & all was going well.

    ><><><>< 

    Lex remembered the Department Store in Celadon, but that was nothing compared
to this.  Sure, they were about the same size, but the fifth floor... oh, shopping
supreme!  Posters, carpets, dolls, & every other kind of Pokémon merchandise!  Oh,
sweet joy!
    “Wonderful, isn’t it Lex?” said Emma as they exited the store.
    “Eh?  Oh, yeah.  Right,” Lex couldn’t see her friend behind the wall of
shopping bags she was carrying.  They were packed to the brim, of course.  With
what, Lex could only guess.  Probably with everything from the fifth floor that
was not nailed down.  Lex smiled.  She had more self-control than Emma.  She had
only a dozen bags to Emma’s nineteen.
    “Quillll-lava!”
    Oh, & Quilava was carrying two of her bags as well, so that was fourteen to
nineteen.  How can that small girl carry so much? Lex wondered.  She knew Emma
was training a Fight-type Pokémon, but a single Medicham could not be intense
enough, especially since it had just evolved.  Her new friend was full of surprises.
Lex wondered just how many more she held.
    Emma brushed past her.  “You done?”
    “For now,” Lex replied, “I have enough in my arms to deal with for one afternoon.
Well, I better go load this into my PC, then I want to go to the police station &
check on our prisoner.  I’ll meet you back at the Pokémon Center, then we can go to
the Fortree Gym.”
    “Okay,” said Emma.  “I want to do some shopping at the Art Museum Gift Shop first,
but I also want to head down to the seashore to try & catch a Staryu.  So I’ll be back
late.”  Staryu were nocturnal.  
    “Well, good luck,” was all Lex could say.
    “Hey, if all goes well, we can start out for Fortree early tomorrow morning.”
    “’We?’ You mean travel together?”
    “Sure,” Emma answered.  “If it’s alright with you.”
    Lex pondered this.  It has been awhile since she had last traveled in a group.
She had forgotten how much fun it was.  “Yeah, of course it’s alright with me.  I
would love to have a traveling companion.”
    “Great.  So, see ya later!”
    So Lex started downhill toward the center of town while Emma headed west toward
the Art Museum.
    “Que-ill?” Quilava inquired.
    “Yeah, I have your Soda Pop right here, Quilava, but let’s wait until we get back
to the Center, okay?”
    “Quill.”
    “Good.”
    Now you should know, walking down a flight of stairs while balancing a dozen
shopping bags is not easy.  Fortunately, Lex had a lot of practice.  Unfortunately,
things still manage to go wrong.  For instance, the bottom step was higher off the
ground than the previous steps.  This plus the fact that Lex was overburdened plus
the fact that she could not see where she was going caused one of her many famous
shopping accidents.
    “Whoa – Ahhhhh!”
    *THUMP* Lex landed face-first on the ground, her valuable cargo scattering across
the lot.
    “Whoa – Ahhhhh!”
    *THUMP* Someone tripped on one of her stuffed shopping bags & landed on top her.
    “Oh... Ow!” Lex moaned.
    “Miss, I’m sorry, but you must learn to what your step,” a familiar voice spoke
to her as she was helped up.  After finding it within herself to stand on her own,
Lex looked at her helper.  It was Officer Jean.
    “Oh, sorry Officer Jen – Jean.  I couldn’t see where I was going.”
    “Small wonder – look at all this!”
    As Lex brushed herself off, she surveyed the immediate area to check all her
merchandise.  Everything appeared to be there – she would have recognized if anything
was missing.
    “I was just taking it to the Storage Box for drop-off,” explained Lex.  “I was
heading for the Pokémon Center when I tripped.”
    “Well next time just be more careful.  I would not like to motion a report
requesting a limitation on the number of bags a person could carry,” she joked,
though with a touch of seriousness.
    Lex nodded, seeming to understand.  “I will, officer.”
    “Good.”
    “Oh, & Miss Jean-“
    “It’s Ms. Jean.  I’m not married.”  The good officer seemed a little bit
irritated by that answer.
    “Oh, okay, but, Officer Jean, I was hoping to check on the prisoner.  You know,”
Lex paused to look around before leaning in & lowering her voice, “the Aqua Grunt
prisoner.”
    Officer Jean shook her head.  “Out of the question.  We have him under strict
isolation.  No one may see or certainly speak to him.”
    “Why?”
    “It’s an interrogation method.  You separate the individual long enough from
human contact & he, or she, will eventually either begin speaking to themselves,
or to an imaginary individual, to ease the loneliness or offer information in
exchange for some company.  It’s no different than starving a prisoner until he
agrees to talk in exchange for some food.”
    Lex seemed horrified.  “Isn’t that inhumane?”
    “What’s inhumane is that their killing innocent lives over some insane belief,”
Jean responded with a touch of disdain.  “This is the only thing they can understand.
Is that enough, Ms. Ardorn?”
    Lex could only nod.  Was what the woman said true?  She had seen how ruthless
Team Aqua was onboard the S.S. Cactus, an event which had kindled a flame of hate
for Team Aqua.  But she had fought worse people & won.  These guys were probably
nothing more than bullies & cowards hiding behind an excuse even they do not believe
in.
    Officer Jean checked her watch.  “Now, I have to get back to headquarters.  Be
careful, okay?”
    “Okay.”
    So Officer Jean walked away, headed in the direction of the Police headquarters.
Lex watched her a while, pondering the officer’s words.  Then she checked her own
watch.  It was 3:00pm.  She still had time until Emma returned to the Pokémon
Center – plenty of it.  Maybe she would head down to the harbor & have a talk with
Captain Conan Doyle.
  
    ><><><><

    Captured Aqua Grunt John was free!  & if that wasn’t good enough, he had a
mission – a mission to redeem himself for his failures.  After the Aqua Agent
released him from his cell & gave him the backpack, the mission was all that
consumed his mind.
    Upon reaching a T-section, John paused long enough to check the directions on
the wall.  The way to the left led to the officer lounge.  To the right led to the
supplies & gear.
    Bingo, he thought.  ‘Supplies & Gear’ was probably the armory.  He stepped down
the right fork.  Everything was going swimmingly, until the sound of footsteps ahead
caused him to halt.
    “So, you hear about the large fishing fleet coming in from the East Sea?”
    Shit! he thought.  Just some idiot cops out for a walk, but they could foil the
plan!  Reacting quickly, John stepped inside a nearby, steel-plated door.  After
shutting it as quietly as he could, the Aqua Grunt leaned against the door, waiting,
listen for their footsteps to pass.  &, after near half a minute of torturous
suspense, John heard the cops pass down the hall & out of hearing range.
    Relaxing his tense muscles, John turned around to lean against the door.  The
sight of the concrete bunker lined with metal shelves containing ordinance & other
equipment.  He breathed a sigh of relief.  He did not have to search the complex
anymore.  He had found the armory.
    Slipping off the backpack, John walked around the underground cache of munitions.
Looking at all the weapons gave him an idea.  He could steal some equipment &
ordinance & use them to blow his way out of Lilycove, commandeer a ship in the
harbor, sail his way back into Aqua controlled waters, & hope to be picked up by a
friendly patrol.  Better if the ship he seized was the S.S. Cactus, them he would
not have failed his original mission.
    But there were many problems with that plan.  First, he did not know how many
cops were outside or how many of them were armed.  Worse, what if there were no
boats in the harbor? He would be stranded until the cops shot him down.  Besides,
even if he could steal a boat, it would either be too big to control by himself or
too small that it did not carry enough fuel to get him out.  No, the plan given to
him by the Aqua Special Agent was good enough.  Odds were she would try to smuggle
him out, a plan which discretion was of the utmost necessity.
    John found a spot behind three barrels of C-4 explosive which he considered an
ideal place to hide the backpack.  He was just finishing stuffing the backpack out
of sight when he heard the familiar sound of a door opening.  He quickly jerked
himself upright & turned around, his had reaching for a P90submachine gun resting
near him on a rack.  He was just in time to witness Officer Jean close the sound-
proof door behind her.  She lifted her head & saw John standing between a shelf
holding submachine guns & several crates of explosive.  She also saw him reaching
for a P90, but her expression was empty.  Grunt John’s was the exact opposite.
    “You!”
    “Don’t bother with the guns,” answered Officer Jean, “we never keep live
ordinance in them.”
    “B-but what are you d-doing here?” John stammered, confused.
    Jean smiled.  “Me?  Well, I work here.”  She lifted a 9mm Smith & Wesson 59
model handgun out of its holster.  “But you’re trespassing, Grunt A1-79.  I told
you not to be seen.”
    She pulled the trigger.  The sound of the gunshot did not penetrate the sound-
proof walls of the armory, & neither did the sound of Aqua Grunt John’s body as it
fell lifelessly to the ground.

    ><><><>< 

    Aqua Admiral Seth Waters stood on the balcony overlooking the flight deck of
the CVN Tsunami.  It was a peaceful afternoon.  Just beyond the plain of metal &
asphalt lay the landmass of Hoenn, rearing like a colossal menace before the ocean,
the source of the power threatening to destroy the sacred oceans of this world.
It made Waters sick to just look at it.
    He was so engulfed in the vileness of the green blotch that he did not notice
his executive officers standing at attention.  “Sir, the fleet had just reported
in.  They are in position.”
    Waters nodded.  “Good.  Have we received a signal yet?”
    “Our inside agent just radioed in.  The police station will soon be incapac-
itated.  The assault is good-to go.  We are awaiting your command.”
    “Excellent.  Commander Dieter, station the lookouts.”  The man on his right
saluted & walked away.
    “Captain Lamar,” continued Waters, “locate a passing satellite for aerial
confirmation of the attack.”
    “Right, sir,” responded Lamar, also giving a quick salute before heading off
to perform his task.
    Waters took one more look at the city of Lilycove.  Soon, he thought, it will
no longer offend my sight.

    ><><><>< 

    “Captain Doyle!”
    The old captain of the S.S. Cactus immediately looked up from his work.  His
face broke out in a smile.  “Lex, my dear, how are you?”
    “Feeling fine, captain,” responded Lex.  “How about you?”
    “Not as well as I would want, but I’m sure everything will work itself out.”
    “What?  Wait – what happened?”
    “I’m stuck moored to the dock,” Doyle harrumphed.  “The dock master won’t let
me sail anywhere.  & it’s not just me – she won’t let anybody leave!”
    “Huh?  I don’t get it,” Lex responded quizzically.  Something didn’t click.
    “Neither do I!” yelled the outraged captain.  “I mean, I have passengers to
take to Mauville!  I have a ferry service to run!  She can’t keep me docked forever.”
    Wait, thought Lex.  I thought the dock master was a guy...
    “Captain, this dock master, what did see look like?”
    “She has no right in this free world to – err what?”
    “The dock master, captain.  What did she look like?” repeated Lex, he voice
growing tense.
    “Well, err, she was tall, just past my height... had greenish-blue hair in one
long Ponyta-tail that came down just past her shoulders... & her eyes were a
brilliant green.  Say, she could have passed for a decent Officer Jen- hey, what’s
that?” Captain Doyle asked, pointing out to the eastern horizon.
    Lex followed his finger out to sea, where a large fleet of ships were waiting
at anchor.  Something was wrong.  Their color…
    Lex grimaced.  “Team Aqua.”
    Captain Doyle pulled a set of binoculars out of his side bag.  While focusing
the lenses, Doyle felt the hair rise on the back of his neck.  Something was wrong.
The Aqua grunts who attacked his ship, the dock master, the waiting ships...  His
gut feeling was telling him that trouble was coming.  No, trouble was already here.
    “Fly, Lex!” he roared. “Get out of here!  Fly!”

    ><><><>< 

    “Admiral, Captain Lamar reports that he has successfully acquired a passing
satellite & is ready to begin at your command,” stated a messenger grunt.
    Waters nodded.  “Execute.”

    A massive suppression of water occurred several dozen feet beneath the CVN,
causing a small swell to form.  The ship rocked a bit, but that was okay.  The
crew knew that they were in no danger.  It was all planned.  Soon, Team Aqua would
rule the world.

    Down is the lower holds of the CVN Tsunami, the twenty-foot cylindrical device
began vibrating.  It had begun the moment the trigger device had been activated.
Now it was focusing, directing the swell toward the shore at increasing speed.
    When the swell hit shallower seawater, the water could no longer continue to
move horizontally forward.  So the water surged up, causing the swell to grow larger
& larger.  The shallower the shore, the larger the swell became.  Eventually, the
swell broke, creating the typical wave.  Only this wave was twenty feet high, &
growing.
    The cavitation generator was working – Team Aqua had created a tsunami. 

    ><><><>< 

    “Fly, Lex!  Get out of here!  Fly!”
    The sound of Captain Doyle’s voice nearly made Lex jump out of her skin.  She
did not know that Captain Doyle had such a commanding side.  She stared at him for
a moment, long enough for him to notice.
    “Lex, listen to me.  Use your Charizard.  Fly away – as far from here as you
can.  You understand?”
    “What’s happening?” asked Lex, growing concerned over the captain’s worried
tone.
    “Don’t ask, just go.”  He took one more look at the Aqua fleet.  They seemed
smaller than before – lower in the water.  His survival instincts screamed at him.
“NOW!” he yelled at Lex.
    “Charizard, come on out!”
    The five-&-a-half-foot-tall dragon materialized in a flash, ready to fly.  Lex
quickly jumped on, pausing only a moment to get one last glimpse of the man who
reminded her so much of her father.  Then she took off, leaving Captain Doyle in
the wake of the biggest disaster in the history of Lilycove.
    From her altitude approximately one-hundred-twenty feet off the ground, Lex
watched in abject horror as the enormous wave swept into the city, eroding found-
ations & toppling buildings.  People scattered, running west in hopes of escaping
the tsunami, but each was soon covered by water.  Nothing on land could outrun a
tsunami.  Nothing.
    Emma.  Lex quickly scanned the hilly northern area of the city, noting that
its high elevation & steep cliff helped it escape pretty much unharmed, though
some houses on the eastern end fell into the ocean when the land beneath them gave
way to the wave.  The Department Store &, to Lex’s relief, the Art Museum where
undamaged.  It was during her scans of the hills that Lex noticed a single female
figure standing out in the open, watching the flood tide sweep away many people,
Pokémon, & debris into the ocean.  Lex recognized her.
    Officer Jean.

    ><><><>< 

    “Report!” Admiral Waters snapped at Commander Dieter.  The sub-admin jumped,
but quickly ran over to the observation platform where several men were scanning
the shoreline through binoculars.  Meanwhile, Captain Lamar appeared, asking
Waters to join him at the Satellite Imagery Station (SIS), where the satellite
they used to record the attack had finished transmitted the images.
    The images were impressive.  Nearly all of the once grand city of Lilycove was
submerged – only the smallest section of a northern district remained.  It was
fortunate, in a way, because the surviving section included the well-stocked
Department Store & the priceless Art Museum.  Now Waters only had to secure the
area before any survivors gathered & fortified it.
    “Sir,” a messenger grunt interrupted, “we got a priority signal from Special
Station Three.”
    The DCA, thought Waters.  This had better be important.
   
    ><><><><

    “What are you doing here?” cried Lex as she landed her Charizard near the
standing figure of Lilycove Officer Jean.  “You should be down there, helping the
police fight Team Aqua!”
    “They never had a chance.”  Officer Jean’s words chilled Lex to the bone.  “I
saw the test run on the Southern Island, & that was only a prototype model, barely
a quarter this size.”
    Lex struggled to come to grips with what the Officer was saying. “You KNEW
this would happen?”
    She smiled.  “I planned it.”
    Lex was dumbstruck.  “Officer Jean, how could you do this!?”
    Officer Jean turned to face her, a mask of satisfaction plastered on her face.
“I’m not Officer Jean.  Not anymore.  I shed that name for a better one – a name
that will no longer remind me of the family that rejected me.  No more will I be
neglected.  No more will I be a black sheep of the gene pool.  No more will I
stand in the shadow of my family’s expectations!  No more will they leave me to
fend for myself!  I have a new people, a new name, & a better position than any of
my sisters or cousins could dream of.  I am Aqua Special Agent Satu Daye, & I will
lead Team Aqua to greatness!”
    Lex’s shock was soon replaced by hate.  Lex ground her teeth.  This woman
dared stand before her & declare herself to be with the enemy of the very people
she had sworn to protect!  & worse, the enemy of her & her Pokémon!
    “Not if I have anything to say about it!” she yelled as she whipped out a
Pokéball.
    Jean/Satu glared.  “You don’t have the guts.”
    “I have the right!” Lex retorted as she threw the Pokéball, allowing her
faithful Quilava to materialize.  It growled in anticipation of battle – a battle
against an Aqua scum.
    “Fine,” Jean/Satu smirked, pulling a red-&-white Pokéball from her side pouch.
“This’ll be quick,” she remarked as she released a Croconaw, one with a wickedly
fiendish grin on its face.  “Let’s begin!  Croconaw, use Water Pulse!”  The Pokémon
responded by releasing a supersonic jet of water from its mouth.
    “Quilava, dodge right!”  The Pokémon complied, easily evading the torrent of
water.  Now it was Lex’s turn to attack.
    “Now use Swift!”
    “Counter with Double Team!”
    Croconaw tried a Double Team defense, but Swift’s accuracy sent it flying.
However, the Big Jaw Pokémon seemed to be unfazed by the attack & was immediately
back on its feet.
    “Launch another Water Pulse, only aim for the girl!” Satu/Jean yelled.  The
Croconaw did not hesitate, & less than a second later, another torrent of water
was blasting straight at Lex!
    Lex gasped in horror, quickly covering her face in a futile attempt to soften
the blow.  But it never came.  Instead, a roar carrying immense pain was carried
to her by the westerly wind.  She broke her stance to see what happened.
    It was her Charizard, who had jumped in front of Lex just in time to take the
full force of the blast.  It screamed in agony as its body temperature dropped,
though not significantly enough to cause serious harm.  Lex had trained him well.
When the torrent stopped, the Charizard spread its wings, its face a mask of rage
& hatred.  Its tail flame sputtered, then turned green.  Soon, that eerie emerald
blaze spread across its entire body, causing it to emanate a strange, green glow.
    “What’s happening?” cried Satu/Jean.
    “Outrage,” explains Lex.  As if on cue, the Fire-type dragon ablaze with
emerald energy spewed forth an incredibly hot blast of Dragon’s fire, capable of
incinerating an opponent.  The Croconaw, not being swift enough to dodge, was soon
engulfed in the Charizard’s onslaught.
    “Noooo!” screamed Satu/Jean.
    “Yes,” stated Lex.
    When the field cleared, Satu/Jean’s Croconaw was a mass of burns – its body
paralyzed from the shock of the blast.
    “This can’t be!  I had the advantage!” bitched Satu/Jean.
    “One-vs.-two is hardly an advantage,” explained Lex.  “You should have learned
to count before you decided to battle me with only one Pokémon.”
    “No!” yelled Satu/Jean as she ran eastward – toward her own fleet.  She did
not even bother recalling her Pokémon, though she was kind enough to forget her
Pokéball, which lay on the ground next to where she had stood.  Lex picked it up &
recalled the Croconaw, knowing that it would need medical attention in the near
future.  Lex’s Quilava prepared to chase after Satu/Jean.
    “No!” yelled Lex, causing her Quilava to stop in its tracks.  “Let her go.
She is nothing more than a tortured-soul-turned-bully.  Let this be a lesson to
her, not to mess with other people’s lives just because she hated her own.”
    “I agree.”
    Lex was so started that she nearly leapt out of her shoes.  “Emma!  I thought
you were dead!”
    Emma shook her head.  “No, I was in the Art Museum when the whole place shook,
but I had to pay for all my merchandise before I could leave.”  She gesture to the
twenty-odd bags of Museum & Department Store Goods.
    Lex shook her head.  “We’ll have to leave them.  Satu will only bring Team
Aqua down on us, & the load will weigh us down.”
    “Where to?” inquired Emma.
    “The same place we’ve been meaning to go: Fortree City.  We have to warn the
people there before Team Aqua attacks again.”
    & so, two trainers flew off from the ruins of the once great city of Lilycove,
struggling to take a message to the leaders of the next town in hopes of evading a
second disaster.  
 
    ><><><><

    Further up the hills, Magma General Admin Jessica Karyte stood over the ruins
of Lilycove with her sub-admin & a dozen-odd Magma Grunts.  Karyte was of average
build for a woman nearing her thirties, with dark brown hair that fell to her
shoulders & dark brown eyes.  One of the Grunts was carrying a mobile video-recorder
computer, & had been recording the whole scene.
    “To believe,” General Karyte said, “that Team Aqua could have perfected the
weapon so quickly.”
    “We have to get word of this to Moxie,” said the sub-admin.
    “I agree,” replied Karyte.  She then turned to the grunt with the computer.
“Do you have enough film?”
    “Yes, madam.  I captured the whole attack on camera. I did not miss a detail.”
    “Good,” responded Karyte.
    The expedition team began to head back to the chopper, but Karyte stayed a
moment longer, to take in the destruction one last time.
    The sub-admin sensed his commanding officer’s thoughts.  “There was nothing we
could have done,” he said.
    “I know,” replied Karyte, “but I feel as if we should have done something.”
    A brief silence passed.
    “General, we did do something.  With this information, we can find a way to
stop them.”
    Karyte sighed.  “I do not think it will be that simple, Ivan.”
    “General!”
    A lone grunt came running up the hill.  He brought astounding news.
    “An Aqua Special Agent?  Here?” asked Karyte.
    The grunt nodded.
    “Are you sure?” asked the sub-admin.
    “I heard her yell it at the top of her lungs, with my own two ears.  Apparently,
she was the Officer Jenny in charge of the protection of the city.  She sold her
people for power.”
    “What?” Karyte asked in disbelief.  “That cannot be.  If the Jennies have given
up & turned, there may be no hope of turning back Team Aqua.”
    “But there’s more, madam, a young trainer was there.  She fought the traitor &
won.”
    “Really?  Where is she now?”
    “Last I saw she was flying west on a Charizard with another young girl.  I think
they’re going to Fortree to warn the inhabitants.”
    Karyte turned this over in her mind.  This girl is obviously powerful, to be
able to resist a Special Agent, & she’s obviously not of Team Aqua, since she just
fought a Special Agent & was now flying to Fortree to warn the locals.  It could be
a trap set up for her, but it was not likely that Team Aqua knew they were here.
Finally, Karyte made a decision.
    “Sub-Admin Barrett, you are to take the copter to Mauville Base & present the
information to Moxie.  The rest of us will take whatever Pokémon & weapons are on
the copter & follow the girl.”
    Sub-Admin Ivan Barrett could only nod.  This was not the time to undermine his
leader, not when Team Magma needed them most.  “Yes, madam.”
    “Good.  Now, squad, begin unloading the copter & prepare for sustained trek.”
The troops just mulled around.
    “Well hop to it!” yelled General Karyte.
    The dread of the upcoming hike annoyed the Magma Grunts, but the prospect of
facing an angry General made them put things into prospective.  Within half-an-hour,
the expedition team was ready to move out.
 
    ><><><><

    Almost an hour later, Harland was called back into the Council Chamber.  This
time he noted several distinct differences.  First, the only Executive in the room
was Nadian, sitting in the chair belonging to the Head of Team Rocket.  Second,
there were nine other men in the room besides Harland & Nadian, & all were heavily
armed.
    Nadian smiled.  “I did it.  You are now looking at the new Head of the Reformed
Team Rocket.”
    Harland gazed at her.  “A full Head?”
    Nadian’s smile grew.  “The election went quickly after the Council realized
that you have to be present to be nominated.  That sure pissed off Hunter when he
showed up.”
    Harland gapped.  “Hunter was here?”
    A chuckle escaped the Rocket Head.  “Stupid, arrogant oaf.  He was boycotting
this meeting.  How stupid of him.  He had hoped that by not going, the meeting
would not begin.  He failed to realize that he voluntarily gave up his voice when
he did that.
    “You should have seen him, the timing could not have been more perfect.  The
election ended quickly because no one present decided to run against me.  The rest
of the time was spent on establishing the restrictions the Council will have over
me.  That was when Hunter walked in.  His eyes were as large as saucers when he
saw me in the Head’s chair.  Ha!  He demanded to know what was going on, & I told
him!  Oh, he berated the other Executives for not waiting to check the Council
Charter.  He said that the Charter clearly states that an Executive could not
nominate his- or herself for the position of Head.  He continued by saying that the
Charter clearly states that all Executives must be present for such an election.  &
you know what?  He was right!  Ha, ha!”
    Harland was stunned.  This woman had lied & cheated to get on that chair.  & she
did it with more than half of the Council of Team Rocket unknowingly agreeing!
Amazing.
    Nadian continued with her tale.  Harland did not object – it was rather
interesting.  “Of course, Hunter then had the balls to tell me to step down, saying
that the election was void.  Now here I was, sitting in this very chair, looking
down at this outraged Hunter.  You know what I did?  I accused him of selling
invaluable Rocket secrets to a rival organization.  Ha, ha!  His eyes were as wide
as dinner plates!  Ha, ha, ha!”
    “Team Aqua?”  Nadian nodded, continuing to laugh.  Clearly she found the
situation amusing.  “Then what happened?” asked Harland.
    “Well,” Nadian continued, trying to regain her compose, “he was outraged.  He
tried to deny the claim, but it was obvious to the rest of the Executives that he
was lying.  He then tried to pull me down by force.”
    “& that was when I stepped in.”
    Harland turned his attention to the nearest heavily armed commando.  He recog-
nized him: Rocket Special Agent Ender.  The Agent stepped closer.
    “That was when we stepped in,” he continued, crediting the rest of the Agents
in the room.  “I caught him in a headlock & placed a 9mm against his head.  He was
real cooperative from then on.”  The rest of the Agents chuckled at this remark.
    Nadian nodded.  “Just as I planned.”
    She turned back to Harland.  “From then on I was the undisputed Interim Head
of Team Rocket.  However, as you recall, that basically means nothing.  It is just
a fancy title.  I wanted to be a full Head, to be able to take complete control of
Team Rocket & mold it into the weapon I plan to use against Team Aqua.  So-”
    “She ordered us to arrest the rest of the Executives on account of collaborating
with the traitor,” Ender finished.
    Harland’s jaw dropped.  He understood.  “Without the Council...”
    “I am the undisputed, absolute leader of Team Rocket,” Nadian gleamed.  Then she
let loose a chilling laugh, a cackle which reverberated across the compound to the
Mightyena stalls, & as far down as the dungeon cells...
 
    ><><><><

    Ex-Rocket Executive Gordon Hunter paced about his holding cell, waiting for the
new Head of Team Rocket to call him forth & pass sentence for his crimes.  He racked
his mind trying to come up with some plan of escape, but they always began with
having an outside assistant & ended with him killing Karen Nadian, both of which
were just fantasies.  His only option was to wait, so wait he did.  Finally, after
an hour of rising impatience, Hunter received his first visitor.
    “Here’s you lunch,” mumbled the guard as he slid it under the food latch.  It
was a large bowl of gruel on a tray.  Since he was not hungry, Hunter did not bother
messing with it.
    As the hour wore on, Hunter struggled with a compulsive need to do something.
He had tried to sleep on his cot, but his nervousness kept him awake.  He had tried
to look out his window, but it was too high to reach.  Finally, he just picked up
his gruel (now cold), tray & all, & tried to make the most of what he guessed would
be his last meal.
    As he dipped his plastic spoon into the solidifying meal, a small strobe blinked
from within the gruel.  Curious, he poked it with his spoon, only the object did not
budge.  Hunter then overturned the bowl, but only the gruel spilled out.  The bowl
remained attached to the tray.  Inside was a camera for video recording.  He also
noticed a thin plastic covering adhered to the bottom of the tray.  Cautiously, the
ex-Executive peeled back the protective covering & discovered a plasma screen,
brilliantly disguised as an ordinary lunch tray.  Hope filled Hunter.  Maybe someone
was trying to help him after all.
    A whirring sound attracted his attention back to the camera, which had detached
itself from the bowl & fell to the floor.  While gently picking it up, Hunter noticed
a pair of clasps attached to the bottom of the camera to allow it to attach to the
top of the plasma screen.  By clasping it in place, Hunter unknowingly turned it on.
    “Transmission connecting,” stated the screen in a toneless voice.
    Reverently, Hunter propped the screen, with the camera attached to the top,
against the wall.  After several minutes of the screen flashing “Connecting...”,
Hunter was rewarded by the familiar face of the man who hired him.
    “Mr. Waters,” he said, meekly.
    “You’ve failed me, Mr. Hunter.”
    “I know sir.  I’m sorry, but please, give me another chance.  I can still win-”
    “You have been stripped of your titles & holdings & are now awaiting judgment
from the very person you promised was not a threat.  You deserve what is coming
for you, for such a failure.”
    Hunter shook his head.  This could not be happening, it just couldn’t!
    “Unfortunately, you were a valuable asset to our efforts to control Team Rocket.
Now that you have been compromised, we cannot allow you to remain there.”
    Hunter lifted his head.  “You’re going to break me out?”
    “Sort of.”
    The noose slipped over Hunter’s neck before he could react.  It pulled tight
before he could slip his fingers under.  Reaching behind his head to find the source
of the rope, Hunter felt a pair of rock-hard hands each gripping an end of the rope.
The pressure on his neck grew tighter.
    “We’ll break you out, in a manner of speaking.  It’s time to set your soul free,
Mr. Hunter.  Now go to sleep.  Go to sleep & never wake up.”
    Hunter’s last thoughts were of realization.  He now knew what he was – a pawn,
a willing pawn of some outside force trying to cripple Team Rocket.  The traitor to
his organization died berating himself for his mistakes, a fool to believe in the
promises Waters had made to him.  & because he alienated himself from every other
person, he died alone.
 
    His task completed, the unseen assassin stepped into view of the camera – his
face shadowed by the Rocket cap he wore.
    “Good work Special Agent Wes Daye of the Daye Conspiracy Agency.  You have done
well,” stated Admiral Waters.
    “Thank you, sir.”
    “Now, our foothold has been discovered, our plan to destabilize Team Rocket has
been foiled.  We must now move to Plan B.”
    “Sir?”
    “All the ringleaders involved in the overthrow of the Council must be terminated.
Any leaders of significant rank must meet ‘accidents’ so that they may not assume
control on their own.  We must throw the organization into total chaos, or be faced
with enough internal issues regarding succession that they will be unable to oppose
our takeover of Hoenn.”
    Aqua Agent Wes Daye nodded.  “Yes sir.”
    Waters nodded.  He was about to terminate the transmission when a thought crossed
his mind.  “Oh, & kill those bastard Magma members while you’re at it.”
    “It shall be done, sir.”
    “Power to Aqua,” said Waters.
    “Long last the sea,” replied Wes Daye.
    & the screen went blank.

    ><><><>< 

    The fourth watch guard was awakened by sounds emanating from the tunnel ahead.
There was only one possibility.
    “Attack!  Attack!  Wake up!  Wake up!  Hurry!”
    Dawn had almost come, even though no light was able to penetrate the rock
ceilings of Victory Road.  Still, a few people were up preparing breakfast for the
resistance fighters.  They helped arose those still sleeping.  Even Ben Strader.
    “Man the ledge!  Don’t let them climb it!”  David’s commands were passed amid
the scramble to arms.  Lights & fires were quickly put out.  Ben himself picked up
his Winchester hunting rifle.  Now, a hunting rifle is not that good in war combat,
but it has the power necessary to do some damage.
    Resistance fighters lined up on the ground atop the cliff.  Ben ended up right
next to Lector.
    “Are yah ready ta die, boy?”
    Ben didn’t respond.  He was afraid of what he might say.
    The sound of marching increased until lights shown out of the southern
entrance.  They were followed shortly after by several men in black-&-white
striped shirts & blue pants.  Aqua soldiers cradling AK-47s.
    They seemed to be oblivious to the line of riflemen atop the cliff.  Granted,
they couldn’t be seen without the camp lights on.  The grunts just mulled around
the pool.  On of the grunts shouted something back down the tunnel.
    “What do you mean, ‘impassable?’  The map shows that there is a passage
through here that leads straight to northern Ever Grande!  There must be a way
around, not find it!”
    He must be an officer, thought Ben.  What id David waiting for?  For them to
leave?  For more to come in?  There’s an officer on the front line, what more
could he want?
    “Well somebody wade into the pool,” commanded the Aqua officer, “It can’t be
that deep.  Besides, Water Pokémon are our allies.  They won’t harm us.”  There
was a smart remark down among the grunts which got the officer all worked up.
“It’s treason to talk like that!  Who said that?  You?  Well come here!”  There
were some scuffling sounds followed by a splash.
    “You find a way to cross that pool or I’ll pump your head with lead!”  There
was the familiar cocking sound of a 9mm.  “It might even be an improvement.  Now
move!”
    There were some sloshing sounds out on the pool, coming closer.  A flashlight
beam skipped across the waters, coming upon the cliff wall.  The grunt yelled
something unintelligible across the water, but the officer’s response was clear.
“Alright!  I told ya that there was a way.  Come on, ya sea Slugma, into the
water!”
    Multiple splashes marked the start of the Aqua advance.  But they still did
not know about the resistance fighters on the cliff top…
    “Open fire!” yelled David at the top of his lungs.  Several dozen rifles fired
in unison, tearing into the front, second, & even third ranks of the Aqua military.
An explosion in the pool meant that a resistance fighter had thrown a grenade taken
from a dead Aqua grunt earlier into the enemies’ midst.  The once organized Aqua
force fell into chaos as every single one of the grunts tried to get back through
the southern entrance.
    “Fire the RPG!” bellowed David.
    A small rocket-like grenade launched from behind friendly lines flew into the
southern entrance, killing perhaps a dozen.  Still, more & more Aqua grunts tried
to escape.  Some resistance fighters stood up, shaking their guns over their heads
in triumph.
    “Git down, ye idjuts!  Git down!” yelled Lector, but his shouts went for the
most part unanswered.
    That was when the return fire began.
    Some of the Aqua grunts were brave enough (or stupid enough) to wait as a
rearguard.  Several resistance fighters fell to their bullets.
    “Return fire!  Get down, now!”
    Those who did not heed David’s commands & dropped down voluntarily were brought
down by a hail of automatic fire.  David himself was crawling across the ground
searching for a bag of round objects.  Not his Pokéballs, of course.  No trainer
in his right mind would release his or her own Pokémon into this melee.  No, the
balls he was looking for were slightly darker.
    His hand brushed against something, a bag.  Inside were several smooth, sphere-
shaped objects.
    Smoke balls, David thought with relief.  You can’t hit what you can’t see.
    Taking out several of the smoke balls, David crawled back to the ridge.  An RPG
fired by Aqua forces sailed over the ridge & landed inside the camp grounds.
Fortunately, everyone was at the ridge, if you can call that lucky.
    Inside a few seconds, David had reached the edge of the cliff.  Pushing aside the
body of a dead comrade, David prepared to throw the first smoke ball.  But he stopped.
    It was quiet.  No automatic fire.  No RPGs in the air.  No fierce battle cries.
Only the moans of the injured & dying, unable to be consoled by their comrades-in-arms.
    Lector crawled up next to him.  “Dey left, sir.  Dey was only a rear guard, buyin’
time fa dere friends ta leave.”
    David waited a moment, then nodded understandingly.  “Take a head count,” he said,
standing up.  Lector followed his example.  “Identify those who are injured or dead.
Be sure to be accurate in the degree of damage to each individual.  I want to know who
can continue fighting & who needs to be evacuated.”
    “Yes, sir,” Lector said before he left.
    David turned his attention back to the line.  Everyone remain on the line, for the
time being.  Lector will come around & see if you need immediate medical attention.”
There were a few groans of disappointment.  “That’s an order!” yelled David.

    Ben himself was shaken.  He had come within inches of death when a bullet had
grazed his right temple.  Man, did it burn!  He managed to get in several shots in,
but he was sure that he had missed every time.
    He remained on the line.  He was sure that he wasn’t injured too badly, but he
wasn’t about to fake it just to get out.
    “Hows ya feelin’, sonny?”
    Ben didn’t notice Lector until he was right beside him.
    “Gut a graze, sir.”
    Lector took a glance at the wound then nodded.  “Yeh, it’s not dat bad.  Ya’ll
be right as’ rain en no time.”
    Ben smiled, a little, & nodded.  It was a relief to know that it was nothing
serious.
    A thought crossed his mind.  “When will they be back, sir?” he asked.
    Lector looked down the tunnel as if calculating the distance between the front
lines & the camp, even though no one could see through the darkness.  “I don’t
rightly know, sonny.  But dey’ll come when dey’re ready.”
    Ben nodded, then looked down the tunnel.  It was going to be a long day.
 
    ><><><><

    “Congratulations, Karen Nadian, new Head of Team Rocket.”
    “Thank you, Admiral Harland,” responded the woman across from him.  Their cups
full of authentic Winstrate wine touched with a *ting*, which resounded all across
the Head’s apartment suite.  “It has been a pleasure working with you.”
    “The pleasure was all mine,” responded Harland.
    Karen smiled at him, then turned to face the only other person present.  “& thank
you, Executive Ender, for your timely arrival in a deteriorating situation.”
    “Thank you, my mistress,” he said while bowing.
    Karen acknowledged with a nod of her head, then raised her glass in another toast.
“To the destruction of Team Aqua & the glory of Teams Rocket & Magma!”
    “Here, here!”
    *Ting!*
    The toast was followed by a moment of silence.  Executive Ender then set his glass
down.  “I must go check on the prisoner.  He’s been stewing down there long enough,
wouldn’t you say?”
    Karen nodded.  “Yes, go check on him, but it is not yet time.  Let him continue
to stew some more.  Then we will bring him before my judgment.”
    Ender bowed.  “It shall be done, my mistress.”  He then left.
    Karen gave a good long look-over of the Magma admiral.  He was older than her,
around late twenties to early thirties.  Strappingly hansom too, if a little short
for her taste.  She had always had a thing for tall men.  She blamed that prodigy kid
she knew back at the Pokémon School in Violet.  He was the cause of a lot of her
misery.
    Setting down her glass, Karen lifted her other hand to push back the Magma
admiral’s hood.  His eyes widened in surprise & his hand moved up to stop her, but
stopped just short of her hand.  He was entranced by her smile.
    “So, admiral, what do you say we make this agreement binding?”
    Harland remained silent as the woman maneuvered him toward her poster bed.
 
    Executive Ender left the room in good spirits.  He was an Executive!  & better,
the commander of Team Rocket’s field operations!  He was the second-most powerful
person in all of Team Rocket!  He laughed.  Life was good.
    In fact, Ender was having such a good time that he did not even notice his
friend & colleague, Agent Tornaut, walking in the opposite direction.  Fortunately,
they noticed each other before they collided.
    “Hey,” said Ender, somewhat embarrassed by encountering his former superior in
the hallway.
    “Hey,” responded Tornaut, who had somewhat of an embarrassed look himself.
    “Nice to see you, again,” stumbled Ender.
    “What?  Oh, hey.”  Tornaut was a little bit more distracted than usual.  Ender
decided that is was best to leave him alone.
    “Well, see ya.  I’m off to check on our prisoner.”
    “Oh?  Hey, wait!”  Tornaut stopped him before he could pass.  “Listen, congrat-
ulations on the promotion.  It was well earned.”
    Ender tried not to smile, tried not to be amused by this flattery.  “Hey,
thanks.  I knew you wanted it for yourself & all…”
    “What?” Tornaut laughed, breaking out in a smile.  “I never wanted to become an
Executive.  That’s for old guys like you who grow tired of the field.  Nay, I have
a bigger goal in mind.”
    “Really?  What?”
    Tornaut waved him off.  “Nay, it’s nothing you would be interested in.  Trust
me.”
    Ender slumped.  “Sure, okay,” he responded dejectedly as he turned around, about
to proceed to the dungeon.  That was when he felt it – a sharp pain below the base
of his neck.  He opened his mouth to scream – to try & suck in air, but it was
difficult.  He fell, face-first on the ground, unable to move.
    He felt a firm grip on his shoulder as Tornaut turned him over.  The new
Executive of field operations stared up into the eyes of his former comrade, who
was holding a bloodied seven-inch field knife in his hand.  The dying man had only
the time to mouth a single word: “Why?”
    “For fortune, for fame, for duty, but mostly thrill,” said the top Special
Agent of Team Rocket.  He was no longer wearing a smile, & his tone was sympathetic.
“This is not how I wanted it to end, my friend.  I had hoped to kill you in a fair
fight, but you had forced my hand.  Goodbye, my friend.  Sleep, & dream of the
better world you will never experience.”
    But Tornaut’s words may as well have been thrown into the wind, for there was
no one else to hear them.
 
    Harland sat at the edge of the bed with his pants on.  He glanced at the
sleeping figure of Karen Nadian, noting the curves of her body even beneath the
heavy covers of the four poster bed.
    Wow, what a ride.  That woman was something special.  
    Harland rubbed fatigue out of his eyes.  It was exhausting work, but fun in
its own way.  He got up to get a glass of water from Karen’s bathroom.  He realized
that he needed to be awake long enough to get back to his own rooms, so he splashed
his face with cold water.
    After drying his face, Harland stared into the mirror.  He had gray eyes,
though not what anyone would consider ‘pretty’.  Those same eyes were now weary
from lack of sleep caused by a stressful situation.  The entire Hoenn region could
be toppling right now, & here he was, exercising his primal urges on a beautiful
woman!  & at her request!  It almost made him feel like a common whore!
    The familiar sound of the sliding door being opened brought Harland sharply
back to reality.
    I thought Karen locked that before… well, after Ender left.  Harland mused on
the fact that they were on first-name terms.  He left the brightly lit bathroom &
into the main room where her kitchen, office, & bed were located.
    Movement.  Even in the dark, Harland saw activity near the bed, a person.  At
first, he thought that it was just Karen stretching, but the figure was too tall
to be her.  The man (Harland was sure it was a man) was stunned by the sudden
stream of light flowing forth from the bathroom.  
    Then Harland saw the knife.
    With a wild yell, Harland raced across the room & through himself at the would-
be assassin.  The assassin brought up the knife to impale the Magma admiral, but
Harland managed to knock it out of the way as he landed.
    Both men fell to the floor, tussling over the knife the assassin dropped.
Harland drew back far enough to strike with a powerful right-hook which connected
with a *crack* against his opponent’s jaw.  The assassin groaned in pain as he
continued to reach for the knife.  Harland launched another right, but missed as
the assassin ducked.
    Suddenly, the assassin’s hand closed around the knife.  He brought it around
so it sliced into Harland’s chest.  Harland stepped back with a startled cry, but
the cut was shallow.
    The assassin swiped again.  This time, Harland avoided it.  The assassin tried
again, & Harland barely dodged.  Finally, the attacker thrust outward, knife point
first, & Harland grabbed the knife-hand by the wrist.  He was about to twist it
when a left-hook struck his temple, causing stars to explode in his vision.
    He recovered just in time to dodge another knife thrust, but tripped over his
shoes.  Harland landed on his back, his head striking the bedpost.  The assassin
planted his foot on the admiral’s chest, & prepared to bring the knife down for the
killing blow.
    In the light of the bathroom light bulb, Harland could make out his face.  He
recognized it from they morning he stepped out of the plane & onto Johto.  This
face was one of the two who had picked him up to take him to Rocket Headquarters.
Tornaut.

    Agent Tornaut was enjoying this.  The disappointment he got from not killing
his friend Ender in a fair fight had vanished.  The admiral, he was good.  He had
fought the way Tornaut had wanted from Ender.  Too bad his secretary was nowhere
near this good.  He could have raped her when he had the chance, but it was not
his way.  He was in this for the thrill of the hunt, not the sweet, sensual rewards.
Raising his knife, Tornaut prepared for the killing blow.
    That was when he felt it – a strong force colliding with his head.  He did not
even remember dropping the knife, or falling to the ground, only the stars that
exploded in his vision.  When he looked up, he was his attacker: the bitch Karen
Nadian, naked as the day she was born.  He rolled over & lifted his head to get a
better look, but the woman kicked him underneath the chin, sending him back onto
his back.
    Tornaut remembered the day when the girl was accepted among the ranks of the
elite Special Agents.  It was only two years ago.  She was only nineteen.  & yet,
despite extreme prejudice, she had surpassed both him & Ender.  She was 001 for a
year until she was promoted to Executive.  She had only a single black mark on her
record, & that was a shipping discovery in Vermillion.
    He had witnessed her first killing.  She was quick yet methodical.  Effective.
He knew that she would be a merciless with him.
    Tornaut suddenly felt cold fear, a sensation he had not felt before.  This woman
was special, unique, powerful.  Tornaut felt like a Magikarp caught in the grip of
a Pidgeot.  That helpless.
    His hand swept the floor & brushed against the knife.  He brought it up, ready
to fight.  Only this time, it wasn’t the thrill of the fight that drove him; it was
desperation.  He has in over his head here, even more than a Special Agent of the
Aqua Daye Conspiracy Agency & a Double-O Rocket Special Agent could handle, combined
as he was.  Struggling to remain calm, he brought the knife up to defend himself.
    A long slender leg moved, too quickly for Tornaut to see, & knocked the knife
out of his hand.  Simultaneously, her right arm moved, striking his windpipe.  Her
left arm struck soon after, knocking the air out of his lungs.  Her right leg came
up & struck him upside the head.  He was down & almost out.
    Karen walked around him to pick up the knife.  Tornaut suddenly realized how
helpless he was.  He was right to try & kill her while she was asleep.  She was
better than he.  This was not a fair fight, the way he wanted to die.  This was a
slaughter.
    But, in a way, he felt that he deserved it.  He had killed his best friend this
way.  It was only fair.  Yes, it was fair…
    Those were the last thoughts the traitor Agent Tornaut experienced before the
knife cut his life short.
 
    Harland struggled to get up, but the pain in his head washed out all other
thoughts.  He needed some Tylenol, but did not feel like he had the balance to
walk to the medicine cabinet.  He managed to stand using the pole of Karen’s bed
as a support.
    Wait... Karen...
    Harland banished all other thoughts & concentrated on figuring out what
happened.  He looked around, & found the light from the bathroom almost unbearable.
As his eyes adjusted, he saw a still figure lying prone on the floor.  At first,
he thought it was Karen, but she was standing over the figure.  She did not have
a single scrap of clothing on, but that was okay with Harland.  Then Harland
realized that the man on the floor was Tornaut.
    She killed him...
    “Karen...?”
    She looked at him, her face expressionless.  “I’ve heard of assassins killing
former Heads of Team Rocket before, but never had they been someone so familiar...”
    Harland walked up & tried to hug her in hopes of comforting her, but she drew
away.  She did not want to be comforted.  Judging by her face, she did not need to
be comforted.  It almost caused Harland to shudder.  “He was not just after you,”
said Harland.  “He tried to kill me as well.”
    Karen nodded, but ignored him.  “I would never have guessed.  Tornaut was a
devout Rocket, & honorable.  He would never have sold himself to some other
organization.”
    “Team Aqua?”
    Again, Karen nodded.  “He must have been an Aqua agent before joining Team
Rocket.  It’s the only way...”
    “Wait,” Harland cut her off, a thought popping into his mind.  “Why now?  If
he was going to kill me, why not when he & Agent Ender picked me & Gwen up at the
airport?  Or in the car, when we were both too tired to fight back?”
    “Tornaut would not have done this alone, not if Agent Ender was there to help.
They both know how powerful I am.  Besides, Team Aqua probably had other plans for
you,” answered Karen.  “They may have been planning to use you to put Executive
Hunter in power.”
    “Like you did to me?” Harland asked.
    “I had your permission,” countered Karen.  “Besides, I offered you something
in return, did I not?”
    “You mean besides the wonderful night?” Harland joked.
    Karen laughed.  What a wonderful laugh.  “Of course.  I promised Team Rocket’s
support in removing Team Aqua from Hoenn.”
    “Military support,” specified Hunter.
    Karen nodded, but waved her hand as if it were a trifle.  “Yes, yes, of course.”
    “Good.”
    Harland then walked over to the bed & began to put on the rest of his clothes
on.  Karen regarded him with a bit more interest.
    “Where are you going?” she asked.
    “I’m going back to Hoenn.  If they can infiltrate Team Rocket then odds are
they’ve infiltrated Team Magma too.  Moxie may be in trouble, & it’s my duty to
protect her & the rest of Team Magma, & I cannot do that here.”

    ><><><>< 

    “So Chaz, how’s the Water Pokémon hunt going?” Ryan asked as they searched
through a desk belonging to the former Chief of Police in Mauville.
    “Only so-so.  I managed to hook Chinchou while deep-sea fishing off the coast
of Sootopolis.  I figured an Electric-type would come in handy, but only as long
as it was part-Water, but that’s all,” Waters answered as he tried to smash an
external lock with a piece of word purloined from a chair’s support structure.
    “What?  No Wailord?  Didn’t you say that you always wanted one?”  Ryan
exclaimed as he momentarily removed himself from the task of prying a drawer loose.
    “During our trip to Denim Island in Taohu when you saw one, all you talked
about was catching it.  I wouldn’t have thought that you would leave Route 129
until you angled & caught one,” Ryan said as he violently yanked a drawer out.
He gave the empty wooden box an inquisitive look, but it only held is attention
for a few seconds & he threw it away with clatter.  “Besides, you could have at
least caught a Wailmer & raised it enough to evolve into a Wailord.  Why didn’t
you do that?”
    “Because,” Chaz grunted as he began tugging on the lock, “there were none.
All the large game has left the area.  It’s as if they predict a massive catast-
rophe is about to occur, & I can only think of one.”
    “Team Aqua’s on the move?  Already?”
    Chaz nodded as he exerted more force on the drawer.  “It’s the only logical
explanation.  No natural force is powerful enough to make them flee – except a
whirlpool or a maelstrom, & they do not just pop up out of nowhere.”
    Ryan nodded in agreement.  It was the only logical explanation.  The question
was, how much time did they have?
    “Oof!” Chaz grunted as the drawer shot free, creating a loud crash.  Paperwork
flew everywhere.  Chaz sat up.  “At least I got the drawer open,” he remarked.
    But Ryan wasn’t listening.  He heard a noise: the sound of footsteps outside.
 Looking at his companion, he noticed that Chaz had stopped talking to listening
as well.  Bringing a finger up to his mouth in the universal sigh of silence, Ryan
noiselessly crept up to the window & cautiously lifted his head high enough to
look out into the courtyard.  Outside were about a dozen men in red-&-black
uniforms, devilish in nature.  They were searching & sacking the city, breaking
down doors & raiding buildings.  There was no doubt about who they were.
    “We have to get out of here,” Ryan whispered to Chaz.
    Team Magma was in Mauville.


    End of Chapter Four