The Outcast
Part 7
General
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. 

Nine trainers had made it past the aerial Rocket guards, and prepared 
to blast their way into Team Rocket HQ. Koga was in charge of this 
operation, and it would be a risky one. But hey, Team Rocket was gonna 
try and destroy the world so there was not much they could do about the 
danger level.

"Change of plans," Koga said just before they climbed over the hills. 
"We'll attack from two points, Team A will attack from the first and 
Team B will attack from the back door, or a window if there isn't one. 
Team B sneak around so they can't be seen. Me, Jasmine, Gordon, Falkner 
and Will are team B. The rest is Team A."

Isaac screamed inside it head, he didn't want Seviper to meet that jerk 
Greg ever again. But he had no choice. 

"Go for it! We can't be detected, so we'll have to crawl our way even 
though that won't work. The minute we're spotted, we release everything 
we got on them and blast our through. Any questions?"

Nobody responded. 

"Good, let's do this!" 

The nine hit the ground, and slowly crawled over the hills. Isaac felt 
like he was moving the weeds too much, but he couldn't do anything 
about it. It would only be a matter of time before they were detected. 

"Intruders!" that moment came too quickly. Now Fang would have to see 
Greg. Isaac sighed inwardly to himself. He popped out of the tall 
weeds, and called out his three Pokemon. Everyone else did the same. 

Greg watched in disbelief as his former Pokemon, Seviper materialized 
on the tall weeds. Isaac gritted his teeth. It took Fang a while to 
notice Greg's presence, however he did. 

Greg and Seviper's eyes locked. For a minute Isaac was afraid Seviper 
would go back to Greg, but his fears were ended when Seviper turned its 
back on him, and attacked the opposing Rocket. Off to the side, he 
could see Team B, not yet detected.

"Fang! Haze! Everyone! Forward!" Isaac yelled, emphasizing each word. 
Everyone pushed on. Isaac recalled his Seviper, just for now since it 
was only one lone guard.

They approached the looming building, and Isaac saw the door up ahead. 
He'd need Pineco for this job. But before he could do anything, Greg 
hogged the spotlight.

"Go! Weezing! Use your Explosion attack on the door!" Mike called out 
his gas-filled Pokemon. It floated over to the HQ door, and then 
exploded. The door burst off its hinges, and six Rockets greeted them.

"Fly over them!" Isaac said. "Fearow!" 

"Dragonair!"

"Charizard!" 

The four flew right over the surprised Rockets. Isaac landed, and 
called out Pineco to explode. However, before Isaac could do anything, 
Pineco glowed a blinding white. 

"ARGH! What the heck is my Pineco doing?" Isaac wished he could see 
what was going on. The Rockets were awed by the glow too, but they knew 
exactly what was happening.

When the light faded, Isaac was facing a Forteress. It was now a part 
steel type. It looked like a large disk of steel, with holes to shoot 
out spikes. It was in fact a fortress. Nothing could penetrate it.

"Forteress! Spike attack!" Isaac's newly evolved Pokemon fired a 
barrage of spikes. The Rockets were trapped.

"Now, let's get Giovanni!" Mike said. 

They ran down a hallway, and came to what appeared to be a commons 
area. In the distance, they could hear cries of pain and Pokemon 
roaring. Team B had broken in. 

"Come on, they can catch up later. Go to the stairs!" At the south end 
of the commons, there was a gloomy stairway bathed in shadows. Everyone 
released his or her Pokemon. Rockets greeted them, but Nancy's 
Dragonair used Dragon Rage and the Rockets went flying.

"We know for a fact Giovanni likes to have his office in the top floor, 
but we'll let Team B deal with them. I think we'll have a better chance 
if we take a scientist and make him stop the sequence." Nancy 
explained. Everyone nodded in agreement. Isaac looked out a large 
window, and saw the volcano was spitting out magma and ashes. He saw 
the Ponyta lines being chipped away, and the last of the aerial strike 
withering. The League needed to get reinforcements to keep the Rockets 
busy until Giovanni was caught.

"Isaac! Come on! We don't have all day!" Mike snapped Isaac out of his 
thoughts. He jumped up, startled. Then, he blushed at his stupidity. 

"Coming," 

****

Having just three flights of stairs to go on the 85-story building, 
Team A was exhausted. They entered a floor, which was dotted with 
computers. The scientists were here.

"Freeze!" Nancy said, holding out a gun. Isaac leapt back at the sight 
of the shiny, metal object. He never knew Nancy carried a weapon. "Guns 
are only given to League Officials like me," she stated, and then 
focused her attention on the three scientists that were in there.


"Stop the seismic activity, we have people ready to catch Giovanni." 
Nancy heard footsteps, and referred to the five running. Falkner waved, 
but other than that nobody seemed to notice them. Team B kept running.

"There's no point in resisting. Stop your mission, NOW!" To add some 
more effect, Nancy cocked the hammer back. "NOW!" 

"Y-Yes, of course," One scientist, with a mustache, a white lab coat 
and glasses pressed a red button. Then, he grinned evilly. "Fools! The 
plan will stop, but the building will self-destruct in one hour. Think 
you can get out of its range it just one hour?" Then, the scientists 
ran in unison to the window. They crashed into it, shattering the 
glass, and fell down the 82 stories. The scientists had committed suicide.

"Idiots, we have plenty of time. Let's back Team B up." Nancy said. Everyone else was still shocked at what just happened.

****

Giovanni saw the destruction that his building suffered. Nine trainers 
came out of nowhere, infiltrated his security and blasted their way to 
his office. They even managed to stop the sequence of events that 
would've destroyed the world.

He gritted his teeth in anger. There seemed to be two teams. One team 
did less damage, coming in from the front door. The other team flushed 
out every guard he had in there. All he had left was Butch and Cassidy, 
standing quietly by his door, ready to follow his next command.

He had one last plan to escape to safety, and then bring Team Rocket 
back up again. It would cost his guards their lives, but they were 
replaceable...though they were quite loyal. He would almost regret seeing 
their death. 

In his security cameras, he saw the two teams had united. They were 
awfully close.

"Butch, Cassidy," Giovanni said. They snapped to attention.

"Yes sir?"

"Nine intruders are coming your way. All you need to do is hold them 
off until I get away," Giovanni said.

"Of course sir. But, how will we get away?"

"Fight your way out,"

Giovanni was lying through his teeth, but he was good at that. Butch 
and Cassidy could never hope to battle their way past nine people, much 
less hold them off for very long. However, it would be long enough. He pulled out an object from his desk drawer: a parachute. He'd simply jump off, and his Rockets would assist him and let him fly on one of their flying Pokemon. Then he'd outrun them, with some aerial Rockets at his side and escape to a remote island he'd found.

****

"That door ahead! It's his office!" Isaac shouted. "Forteress! Explosion! Fang! Haze to blind the guards! Fearow! Go in for Giovanni!" The three Pokemon did as they were told, creating an explosion, a thick black fog, and an eagle flying into the room.

"Cassidy! NOOO!!!" Cassidy had ran the wrong way, right into a window and fell off. Butch went in after her, but lost his footing. He fell too.

"Fools! They were supposed to hold them off! No matter, they made an opening for me, that should save valuable seconds!" 

Giovanni could be heard from the impenetrable fog. Fearow could see right through it with its excellent vision, and found Giovanni. He charged right for his neck, but Giovanni ducked and hit Fearow's gut. Fearow cawed in pain.

"Fearow! Blow the Haze away!" Isaac said. "The guards are gone!" 

"Dragonair! As soon as you find Giovanni, wrap him!" 

"You too, Fang!" 

Fearow took a few moments to blow the thick fog away, and they saw Giovanni running for the door with a pack on his back. 

"He's got a parachute! Parasect! Stun Spore!" Mike said. However, Fearow didn't stop blowing the air away, so the spores flew around harmlessly. Giovanni jumped out of the window. "Oh no you don't!" Mike ran after him, and grabbed out for the CEO of Team Rocket. Mike caught thin air, and lost his footing. 

"NOOO! Mike! Fearow! Go for him!" Isaac said. Fearow shot off like a dart for Mike. It returned a few minutes later, with a shocked Mike. 

"Good lord, I almost died." 

"Don't EVER pull that stunt again, do you hear?!?" Nancy said. Isaac happened to glance left, and saw Seviper and Greg standing face to face, eyes cutting holes within another. Finally, Greg's eyes softened.

"Oh Seviper! I never knew you grew so much!" Greg was in tears now, looking at the friend he abandoned. "I should've never abandoned you, had I seen the power harvested within!" 

"Pokemon are not meant to be discarded like that, you need to make them tough on your own!" Isaac roared. 

"Isaac, leave him be," Nancy said. So Isaac watched. Seviper cocked its head, as if making a decision between his two trainers. Isaac hoped he wouldn't go back to Greg, but if Fang wanted to, it wasn't up to him to stop it.

Seviper looked at Greg for a long time. Greg's eyes seemed to be pleading, glossy from all the tears. Then, Isaac saw something he'd never seen Seviper do. The Seviper hissed, and without any sign of emotion, turned its back on Greg and walked over to Isaac. Then, Seviper glared, nearly paralyzing Greg. 

"Look, we don't have much time. Giovanni's probably flying now," Koga reminded. "We have to catch up. Jasmine and I don't have bird Pokemon; we'll go back to the battle on the lines of the Ponyta. The rest of you, good luck. 

"Wait," Gordon and Will said at the same time. "We're sick of this flying around, Koga, we're coming with you. Good luck everyone,"

With that, they walked down the flight of stairs. 

****

The four trainers pursued after Giovanni. The building had long since exploded, and Team Rocket's plan to bury the world had been destroyed so simply. Now, they had one last task to fulfill: capture Giovanni. Isaac himself couldn't see Giovanni, but Fearow's keen sense of vision seemed to lead the way. 

"Agility!" Isaac said suddenly. Dragonair followed suit. Charizard used Rage, to boost its strength and soon they were going double speed.

"Nice idea," Mike complimented. 

They passed the now silent mountain, and they were passing over the ocean. Since Isaac still had no idea where he was, he could only guess what body of water was below him. All he hoped was that Fearow wouldn't tire and collapse. He knew for a fact that Fearow could fly for months on end, but Isaac wasn't so sure if their versatility could last if they had someone who was heavier than them weigh it down. Also, since Fearow wasn't as big as Pidgeots out there, his feet were left dangling. It was quite nerve-racking, but he was worried he might lose his grip.

A couple minutes after Isaac was starting to worry about Fearow's condition, it seemed to get worse. Fearow may be able to fly for long periods of time, but this just wasn't working out. Fearow used to be in the lead but now it was lagging behind everyone else. 

"Nancy! Fearow's not gonna hold up too well, can you give me a lift?" Isaac called out, amongst the wind. Nancy barely heard Isaac's request, since the jet stream carried the sound around like a tennis ball in a tennis court. 

"Sure! If Fearow kicks the bucket on us, we won't find Giovanni!" Nancy said.

"Fearow, just hang in there a sec, go over the Dragonair and I'll get off of ya," Isaac said soothingly to the bird. Fearow understood, and flew to its right. Isaac just loved this fierce and loyal Pokemon. In fact, all of his Pokemon looked fierce and intimidating; besides the fact Forteress didn't have that "scary" voice. 

"Hey! I see Giovanni! He's on a Pidgeot and has twenty or so other guys with him!" Mike said, pointing straight ahead.

"All right!" Isaac said happily. Finally, this reign of terror would end. He saw an island up ahead, and he guessed that was where Giovanni would land. It was infested with plants and vines, a jungle. The island was relatively small, but Giovanni would have plenty of hiding spots in there.

"We have to stop him! If he reaches the island we'll never find him without getting hurt ourselves!" Isaac pointed out.

"Don't worry, we'll catch up to him. If we don't, Greg can burn the place down and there'd be Giovanni, shivering in his pants." Nancy said. Everyone laughed at that comment.

"Good Lord! They're firing at us! Dodge!" Falkner said suddenly. Sure enough, the Rockets were shooting some sort of gun that shot bolts of electricity. Nobody wanted to be around to see what it would feel like, and no one could care how it worked.

"Dodge it, Fearow! Use every formation and aerial tactic I taught you!" Isaac pleaded, watching his Fearow dodge the large orbs of energy.

Suddenly, there was a loud sound of electric charged particles, then the feeling of a thousand needles as Dragonair was hit. Isaac felt like he was thrown into an oven that was already heated up. He cringed in pain.

"EERRGH!" Isaac said, shaking involuntarily. 

"We can't keep this up! I have no idea what these guys are shooting at us, and I could care less. We need to land on the ground! Recall Fearow!" Nancy shouted back to Isaac. He shook off the pain, and recalled Fearow.

"We'll crash-land on the island, I'm sure there'll be plenty of landing space." Mike suggested. "Curse Giovanni!" He said, before his Charizard pivoted to the right, towards the island. Everyone else followed suit. Giovanni flew on ahead, and then landed as well.

Everyone braced themselves as his or her Pokemon landed rather roughly on the swampy, wet ground. Mud splattered everywhere on everyone's clothes.

"Ugh, I swear Giovanni's gonna pay for this," Nancy said, with bitterness in her voice as she tried her best to wipe off all the mud that stained her t-shirt and jeans. It just smeared.

"Well, I think Giovanni landed more up north." Mike started to say, but Nancy took out her phone from the pack she was carrying. She furiously pressed numbers, and held the receiver against her ear.

"Yes, this is Nancy," she began once the other line answered, "We've crash landed on a remote island, a few miles west of the main battleground...Giovanni's on the same island as us. He should be a few minutes away, but he'll probably be hiding...yes, yeah, mm-hmm." Nancy responded when the person on the other end replied.

"Yeah...right...of course...yeah...I'm calling 'cause I need some backup to assist me capture him, what's that? Oh. There are five with me, yeah. They're Falkner, and three other trainers. Sure. So, can I have the backup I'm requesting? WHAT?!? SAY WHAT? WE PULLED BACK?? Wasn't the idea to keep pushing until they gave up? Oh, I see. Ok. So there won't be any backup? Ok. Yes? ETA thirty minutes...Hm...tell them to head north. Ok, bye." Nancy turned the phone off.

"Bad news," She began, "The League withdrew its lines, and the Rockets are rampaging across the towns. We don't have many trainers with fighting Pokemon, so it'll be tough to hold them off. Around 4,000 active Rockets are going all over Vermillion and its vicinity." Finally, Isaac knew where he was at, just off the coast of Vermillion bay. 

"So now what?" Falkner asked. He idly scratched his Pidgeot's back. Falkner normally didn't use Pidgeot, since he was the first gym leader and he had a heart for the young trainers, but in this case he needed one. 

"Well, in case you didn't pick up, the League will send whatever it's got left and send them within half an hour. I said we'd be heading north to track Giovanni, so we'll do just that." Nancy finished with a note of authority and determination.

"How will we find them?" Isaac asked. 

"Good point, none of our Pokemon can detect scents very well, at least I don't think so," Greg said, disappointed.

"I know! I'm sure Raticate could do something. Raticate! Go!" Raticate gave its shrill cry and then looked over at Mike for directions. "Go sniff Giovanni out!" Raticate cocked its head. He didn't know what Giovanni smelt like.

"Here, let me try. Sevipers also live in the dense jungles from what my pokedex said, so I'm assuming it'll know by instinct what type of hiding spaces work best. Go! Fang!" His Seviper materialized on the muddy floor. Isaac could tell instantly that Fang was comfortable with its surroundings, until it saw Greg. It hissed softly at him. 

"Fang, Giovanni's out here somewhere, go try and see what the good spots for hiding is, after we go the approximate area we found him at," Isaac said. Seviper nodded in agreement. "Just to play it safe, Go! Forretress! Go! Fearow!" Everyone followed suit and called out their Pokemon. 

They walked for a couple of hours, in the hot humid air of the remote jungle they were in. Victreebells were quite common here, and Isaac was tempted to catch one, but he had a job to do.

Mike seemed to want a Victreebell too, and made a comment.

"Gee, those Victreebells look ripe for the picking don't you think? If I wasn't here out to kick Gio's raggedy butt into prison, I'd catch one of those," Leave it to Mike to comment about virtually anything.

****

Back at home; Isaac's parents watched the whole thing on Poke News Now. They were scared stiff as yet another report came out on the all-out battle between the League and Team Rocket, the two superpowers in the entire region.

"This is Vince Pierre, reporting on the battle-front. It appears Team Rocket had far outnumbered the League, and nine select trainers made it through the aerial assault that was conducted earlier today. They are," the screen switched to show the nine pictures. Isaac's father gasped at the sight of his son, risking his young life to catch this evil criminal. He then saw his wife collapse on the couch, fainted from shock. 

"Good God Isaac, if you don't come home I'm gonna kill myself," Isaac's father thought to himself.