It was silent for a long moment and the only movement was that of hair and clothing being whipped about in the wind. Misty remained where she was, Gary's gun still gripped in her hand. Despite her need to help Ash, she knew that she was not the one who could make that decision. She and the other rebels remained safely hidden behind the boat, staring at the entrance to the cave where Gary had earlier taken refuge. Misty held her breath in anticipation as Cassidy squatted next to Ash, took a handful of his hair and forced his head up, placing her gun under his chin. "Shigeru! You are trying my patience." Butch stood next to her, his rifle in hand, waiting for a target to present itself. Misty bit her lip to keep from screaming in frustration. By surrendering they were placing their lives in the hands of Giovanni, who very likely had lost patience with them and wanted them dead. But in remaining where they were, hidden from view and danger, then Ash was certain to be killed. It was then that Gary appeared from the entrance to the cave, throwing the rifle he had been using to the ground, and placing his hands in the air. Her stomach clenched as Butch quickly aimed at him, his finger gently resting on the trigger of his rifle, ready to shoot if Gary tried anything. She had to do something, anything. Raising the pistol in her hand, she searched the beach, looking for a target that would somehow get them out of this mess. Misty knew as well as Gary that if he surrendered he would be killed. Gary's gaze met hers and for a moment they simply stared. He shook his head slowly, sadly, warning her not to try anything. Misty slowly lowered the gun, swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat. He was willing to give himself up, despite the fact that this was a trap. They all knew that Cassidy had no intention of letting Ash live, and she and Butch would make sure Gary didn't make it off the beach alive. Gary broke eye contact with her and slowly began to walk towards Butch and Cassidy. His hair was pushed from his face by the wind, but his expression remained steady. Misty was so intent in watching what would unfold that she didn't notice when the wind picked up. It wasn't until her clothes began to whip around violently that she noticed anything out of the ordinary. A gasp from behind her caused Misty to turn to her companions. She saw Lorelei staring up at the sky, a huge grin on her face. The others simply looked on in wonder. She turned to see what had created such a reaction and had to refrain from gasping herself. Above the Rockets hovered one of the largest pokemon Misty had ever seen. She marveled, openmouthed, at how its small wings were able to keep such a large body in the air. The Rockets scattered as the dragonite landed with a thud. It was then that Misty saw that the dragonite had a rider. A dark haired man leapt from the large pokemon and landed in what had become a ring of Rockets. Cassidy had stood, leaving Ash alone, in order to command the remainder of her troops, which had already been diminished to a small number thanks to Ash. "Lance," Cassidy said, pushing her way to the center of the ring, her gun at her side. "Come to save your wife?" she taunted. Lance did not answer, he merely glared at her, his arms crossed. His dragonite snorted, dragging its clawed foot across the sand. Cassidy narrowed her eyes at the pokemon. With a gesture of her hand, the Rockets all had pokeballs in their hands. With a grin she maximized her own pokeball, and threw it into the ring. In a flash of energy Lance and his dragonite were surrounded by nearly fifteen pokemon of different size, shape, and elements. Lance only smirked, and with a roar Dragonite attacked. As Lance battled the Rockets' pokemon, Gary was able to make it to Ash's side. The wounded man's eyes were closed, but scrunched up in pain, his hand clutching his stomach. Gary could see the blood seeping between his fingers. "Ash?" Gary asked, kneeling next to him. Ash opened his eyes and looked at him. "What's going on?" he asked, frowning at the sudden sound of vicious pokemon battling. Gary ignored the question. "Let me see," he said, gently pulling Ash's hand from the bullet wound. He sighed when he saw the quickly growing crimson stain on his shirt. "Pretty bad?" Ash asked through clenched teeth. "Can't tell yet," Gary said, slowly lifting his shirt, the blood causing it to cling to Ash's skin. The blood surrounding the wound made it impossible for Gary to evaluate the damage the bullet may have done. He ripped a piece of cloth from Ash's shirt and pressed it to the wound. Ash hissed in pain. "Sorry," he apologized. "I have to stop the bleeding." Ash nodded but said nothing. There was a flash of light and then a chilling cry of a pokemon. Gary tensed for a moment and turned. He watched in a horrified trance as the snarling dragonite used a slam attack, crushing an already injured bulbasaur. He heard the terrified cry of its trainer right before the dragonite turned towards the human, then nothing as the human was crushed as his pokemon had been. Gary had seen pokemon die, he had also seen humans die, but never before had he seen a pokemon so powerful and so vicious that it would kill not only a pokemon, but it would attack and kill a human as well. Another flash of light forced Gary to tear his eyes from the dragonite and look at Pikachu, who had joined the fray and fried a pidgey that had been diving at him. He also noticed that Pikachu was taking care to remain away from the rampaging dragonite. "Is Pikachu okay?" Ash asked. "He's fine," he said, turning back to Ash. Anguished cries of humans and pokemon filled the air as the dragonite continued its attack. Gary repressed a shudder and forced himself to concentrate fully on Ash. He lifted the cloth he had been using as a compress and checked the wound. Now that some of the blood was gone Gary could see that the bullet wound resided near his abdomen. A few inches and the bullet could have hit a lung. A loud roar and a bright flash caused Gary to look again at the battle behind him. His jaw dropped when he saw the once clean sand now littered with bodies of both humans and pokemon. Some were crushed, others electrocuted. His eyes widened when he saw the blood dripping from the dragonite's mouth. Surely Lance wouldn't... his slowly gave a closer look to the bodies on the sand. His stomach lurched when he noticed some of them were missing appendages, arms and legs were simply gone. Gary's gaze then moved to Lance, who remained exactly where he had been when the battle had started. The man seemed unfazed by the fact that his pokemon had just eaten human flesh. Never before had Gary seen anything like that, and he prayed he would never see anything like it again. When he turned back to Ash he saw that his friend was now unmoving save for the rise and fall of his chest. "Ash?" Gary asked. When he received no answer he began to lightly slap him on the face. "Come on, Ash, you have to stay awake." The only response he received was a low moan. "Damnit!" he muttered before trying again to wake him up. He was so focused on Ash that he didn't notice the large shadow that had suddenly been cast over them. "Oh, give it up," a low voice said from behind him. "He's a Rocket. Not worth saving." Gary nearly choked in rage as he spun to face the speaker, only to come face to chest with Lance's dragonite. He took an unsteady step backwards and looked up to see Lance staring with cold eyes down at both him and Ash, who had fallen unconscious. "Excuse me?" Gary all but yelled, ignoring the danger he had suddenly found himself in. "What do you know about him? Or anyone for that matter?" "Oh come on," Lance said, leaning forward so his dark hair fell over his navy blue eyes. "You're Shigeru, and that thing down there is Satoshi. You two are the most notorious agents Giovanni has." Gary's fists curled into balls as he angrily stared up at the dragon trainer. A warning snort from the dragonite prevented him from doing anything though. "Pika!" Ash's pokemon called as he ran towards his trainer. Gary took his attention from Lance to Ash, who's face was now contorted in pain, despite his being unconscious. Gary quickly knelt to see what was wrong. He ignored Lance, who had gotten off of Dragonite. He couldn't ignore the soft click of a safety by his ear though. "Get up," Lance said, pointing his pistol at Gary's temple. Gary looked at him, then slowly stood, glaring angrily. "Now you can watch him die before I kill you," Lance spat. Pikachu dropped to all fours and began to power up, sparks emitting from his red cheeks. Lance nodded to his dragonite, who, with speed uncommon for such a large creature used a wrap attack, squeezing the little pokemon so hard he could barely breathe, let alone use an attack. Gary watched as Ash grew pale and beads of sweat formed on his face, leading Gary to believe he had a fever. He cast a dark look at Lance but stood helpless. He was unarmed and it was rumored that Lance had a black-belt in the martial arts. That put him near the same league as Ash, which was way out of Gary's league. Ash's breathing began to come in wheezes and Gary frowned. He shouldn't be struggling for air. The bullet hadn't hit a lung. Gary turned to Lance. "Please let me help him," he begged, something Gary was not prone to doing. Lance shook his head, grinning. "First he goes then you. Just like the rest of your team mates," he said gesturing to the Rockets who laid dead or unconscious across the beach. Gary closed his eyes in frustration. Throwing caution to the wind he began to yell. "You took out about ten or fifteen of those men. Who do you think took care of the other thirty-five before you got here?" he shouted. "Do you think a large gust of wind just blew them over?" Lance's expression wavered, and for a moment Gary thought he had gotten through to the cold man. But then he realized that Lance wasn't looking at him, but over his shoulder. Gary turned to see Lorelei moving unsteadily towards them, a look of near hysteria plastered on her face as she carefully walked around the bodies that lay on the sand. The others followed mutely behind her, looking very much like they were going to be sick. "Ash!" he heard Misty cry. She ran and fell to her knees next to him, slowly pushing his hair from his face. "Lance," Lorelei said when she neared them. Gary could see her eyes frantically searching out her husband's. "What did you do?" she asked, gesturing towards the dead bodies. "They were Rockets. They deserved what happened to them." Lorelei shook her head. "They were human. No one deserves... that." "They would have killed you without a second thought, and you feel pity for them?" Lance asked in disbelief. Lorelei didn't answer for her gaze had fallen on Lance's gun, which remained trained on Gary, although his hand had began to shake. "What are you doing?" she asked, looking first at Lance, then at Gary. Moving forward she took the gun from his hand. "What is wrong with you?" she asked harshly. As soon as the threat was gone Gary dropped to his knees to examine Ash. Misty scrambled back to give him room. Pushing Ash's now damp hair from his face Gary felt his forehead, which was burning up with fever. His breathing was still coming in irregular gasps and Gary had no idea why. Erika and Brock stood worriedly over Gary, casting wary looks in Lance's direction every now and then. Lorelei had made Lance command Dragonite to release Pikachu, who quickly scampered to Ash's side, but staying far enough away to not disrupt Gary. Gary checked the bullet wound again. It was still bleeding, but not nearly as badly as before and it was not near his lungs. "So why is he having trouble breathing?" he muttered to himself. The sun beat down on them and caused Ash's sweaty face to glisten. "And why the fever?" All eyes turned quickly to Gary when he tensed then straightened up. "Shit," he said suddenly. "Shit." "What?" Brock asked. "What is it?" Gary didn't answer. Instead he gathered the unconscious form of Ash into his arms and stood, making his way quickly toward the large Team Rocket ship, which still sat floating by the dock. Pikachu was the first of the group to follow, sprinting quickly after Gary. The others exchanged worried glances before hurrying to catch up. They followed him onto the boat, which was the size of a small battle ship and had enough weapons to be one. Gary had apparently been on this ship or one like it before, because he quickly made his way around the deck and down a flight of metal stairs without so much as a pause. Their boots echoed off the metal floors as they hurried to follow Gary, who now and then would utter a swear. He stopped in front of a door that seemed no different from any of the other doors that lined the hallway under the deck except that it had a small red cross stenciled next to it. Pushing the door open with his foot, he turned sideways so he didn't bump Ash's head against the door frame. He walked into a large room full of cots. Gary quickly laid Ash down on one of the cots and made his way across the sickbay, opening drawers and pulling out what appeared to be surgical equipment. In the silence of the room Ash's wheezy breaths were more audible than they had been on the beach. "Gary, what's going on?" Misty asked, becoming fearful as he took a scalpel and a few other tools back to where Ash was. "The bullet has to come out," Gary said, pouring rubbing alcohol over the instruments to sterilize them. "Now." "Isn't that dangerous?" Lorelei asked, following him with her eyes. "Shouldn't a professional do it?" "Yes," Gary said, although he never paused in his movements. "There's no time though." Erika, who had been silent until this point, moved to where Ash was and knelt beside him. Placing her hand lightly on his forehead she felt his temperature which was a good two or three degrees above 100. "How did they poison him?" she asked suddenly, after feeling his pulse. Gary glanced at Erika for a moment before using the instruments for an impromptu surgery. He was extremely grateful Ash was unconscious for the whole thing. "Team Rocket was developing a bullet that would release poison into the body after it hit." "Like a poison dart?" Brock questioned. "Yes," Gary agreed, "But with the added pain of a bullet in you." "That way if the bullet doesn't finish you off, the poison will," Brock said, understanding. "What is the poison made of?" Erika asked, examining Ash. "They were experimenting with arbok venom." Erika nodded. "The symptoms are consistent of that venom." Gary suddenly pulled the bullet out. Despite the blood the group could see that it was an acid green color. Dropping the bullet with a clink into a small tin he looked at Erika. "Can you make an antidote?" She nodded. "If the right ingredients are on board." "Hurry," he said, looking at Ash's sweaty form, which had just begun to shiver from chills. "There's not much time." A/N: Never write with the Lord of the Rings soundtrack playing unless you want to write something depressing or gory, or a combination of the two, which is what I appeared to end up doing. Sorry to those of you who are a bit sqeamish about the idea of a person being eaten... I honestly don't know where that came from. The Lance I had originally intended to write was a nice guy, who held a good deal of hatred for Team Rocket... the Lance I wrote... well he's not so nice. He took on a life of his own. Please forgive the long waits, I'm doing my best. I want to respond to a reviewer, who thoroughly confused me. I never said that it wasn't the government's right to do search and seizure. I simply said that this fic is a look into what might happen if the government got out of control... and if we all lived in the pokemon world... I don't have any problem with the government or the way its run, and I'm not sure exactly why you feel I should remove my author's note. Anyway, I hope this chapter was worth the wait. Please review and let me know wat you think.