Endless Night by Mana Lugia

Disclaimer: Through this Disclaimer, I shall discuss the issue that 
describes the characters in this fanfic are for Nintendo to claim. If you 
are in disbelief, don't. Nintendo shall be able to set you straight. In 
other words, Nintendo owns all characters in this fic.

[[Part 2]]

The calmity of Saffron City was interrupted violently by a loud rumbling 
noise. Meanwhile, a flaming figure flew away from the origin of the noise, 
heading towards the Pokemon Center. It slowly landed, and Brock got off 
first, and then helped a sobbing Misty from Charizard. He helped her into 
the center, and through a cup of tea, recounted their experiances to Officer 
Jenny and Nurse Joy.

When he finished, Officer Jenny looked at them with a sorry expression on 
her face. "I'm so sorry I got you people involved in this..." She 
apologized.

Brock shook his head. "It's not your fault. We wanted to help, so we have to 
face the consequences."

Misty was silent throughout the whole conversation, and Nurse Joy asked, 
"Are you feeling ok, Misty?"

Brock quickly dragged her aside and whispered something in Joy's ears. Joy 
covered her mouth with her hand in surprise. "I never knew... I'm so 
sorry..."

Misty still did not speak. She stared into her tea, watching the ripples on 
the water. Her mind seemed to be somewhere else. Suddenly, she woke up from 
her daydream, and with a monotonous voice, said, "I'm going back there."

"Misty, you can't go back there. It's too dangerous!" Officer Jenny 
declared.

Misty shook her head. "I'm sorry, I've made up my mind. I'm going to rescue 
Ash and Sabrina. And I'm going alone."

"I respect your wishes, Misty, but if something happens to you, what will I 
tell your sisters?" Brock tried to persuade her.

"Just tell them the same thing you'll tell Ash's mom if I don't go," She 
replied. "Charizard, let's go." She handed a sleeping Togepi to Joy, and 
beckoned to Charizard.

Once outside the center, she got onto Charizard, and said, "To the window 
where we left, Charizard, and hurry!"

As the giant dragon and his passenger lifted off, Brock watched, and quietly 
muttered: "Good luck, Misty..."

=============

The red dragon flew up high into the sky, disappearing into the clouds. 
Moments later, it swooped down towards the Silph Co. building. It fell at 
such a high speed that anyone in the building who saw would only see a 
sudden blur. It slowly descended towards the broken window on the back of 
the building, and upon hearing no sound from the corridor, hovered in front 
of the broken window. Misty climbed off, patted Charizard, and watched as it 
flew back to the Pokemon Center. Then, she turned to examine the room. The 
aftermaths of the battle was evidently disastrous. Electrical wires were cut 
and crackling, the hallway plant filled with bullet holes, and a burnt smell 
filled the room.

"Oh, Ash... where can you be?" Misty muttered. She slowly advanced down the 
dark corridor, listening intently for any voices. As she reached a fork, she 
heard a voice down the left passage.

"... Brat... ... captured... ... boss... ... top floor... ..." was all she 
could make out. She moved silently down the left passage, and saw up ahead a 
guard who was speaking into a walkie-talkie. Lucky for Misty, the guard had 
his back turned. Misty silently released Staryu, and a ordered it to use a 
rapid spin attack on the guard. The starfish pokemon jumped, and started 
rotating at a high speed toward the guard. The guard turned just in time to 
see orange limbs hitting his face, knocking him out.

"Good job," Misty said, and returned Staryu. She examined the guard, and 
found a card key in his pocket. She quickly pocketed it, and proceeded to 
look for the elevator. She wandered around the halls, dodging now and then 
to hide from guards. After what seemed like an endless period, she found the 
elevators where the group had came from the first time. Looking around, she 
found no one in sight. She walked up the the elevator, and upon inserting 
the card key, the elevator door opened, and she entered. As the door closed, 
Staryu was again sent out, in case of guards on the top floor.

The elevator reached the top floor with a "ding" to announce its arrival. As 
the door opened, a Rocket guard stood there, ready to welcome any intruders. 
Before he could react, Staryu had already spin tackled into his stomach. As 
he doubled over in pain, another tackle to the back of his head knocked him 
out. Misty saw a gun by the side of the fallen guard, and taking no chances, 
she took it.

The top floor of Silph Co. was much smaller than it looks. There were only 2 
corridors, each leading to an executive meeting room. Misty debated to 
herself, and decided to take the left corridor. She cautiously approached 
the large door, and after arming herself with the gun, slowly pried the door 
open.

The room was dimly lit by three small lamps, and it was populated by a few 
chairs. There were about 5 prisoners of Team Rocket were each tied to a 
chair by a chain. Their mouths were gagged, and as Misty slowly entered, 
they let out grunts. Misty used her hand to signal them to be quiet, and 
closed the door behind her. She looked around, but in the dimly lit room, 
she found it impossible to find Ash.

"Staryu, flash. Light this room up a little more," She hissed. The starfish, 
at her command, began to glow. She immediately found Sabrina, who was tied 
up at the back of the room unconcious. She was particularly well chained, 
with handcuffs as well. She was surrounded by four electrical posts, humming 
quietly. They were no doubt used to prevent Sabrina's psychic link to get 
free. Most of the others, she presumed, were Silph Co. Employees, who were 
needed to help run the building. Try as she might, she could not find Ash.

"Staryu, use a trickle of water to wake up Sabrina."

Staryu immediately moved to the back of the room, and shot a jet of water 
onto Sabrina's face. Slowly, Sabrina began to come to, and looked up at 
Misty in surprise. Misty found the key to the handcuffs hanging on the wall, 
and quickly unlocked the handcuffs. Then, she went to work on the ropes and 
chains.

'Misty... I had no idea you'd be here.' Misty heard in her head. She 
shrugged, and said "Do you know where Ash is? I'm here to rescue him."

'So, Prince Charming needs help from the fair maiden. Well, I don't know, 
but usually new prisoners are sent to the room down the hall, and 
interrogated. I think I can break out of my bond now, and I'll free the 
rest. You go look for Ash.' Sabrina had no trouble getting out of the ropes 
after the handcuffs were removed, and started heading for one of the other 
prisoners.

Misty nodded, and motioned for Staryu to follow her. They slowly opened the 
door, and left a crack as they left. They walked quickly down to the other 
room, and pressing her ears to the door, she heard sounds of yelling. She 
tried the handle of the door. It was unlocked. She quickly sent out 
Poliwhirl as well. She opened the door a crack, and said "Poliwhirl, haze."

Poliwhirl put its hands into the crack, and a heavy haze formed in the room. 
Yells of surprise was heard, and in the commotion, Misty snuck inside with 
Staryu and Poliwhirl, who was still emitting haze.

"Staryu, tackle all the guards you see until they faint."

The starfish went forwards and rammed into the first guard, who didn't see 
it coming. He let out a grunt before falling lifelessly to the ground. The 
other guards guessed that an intruder has come in, and fired their guns 
blindly. Staryu quickly disposed of another two guards, and then there was 
only one. Ash was sitting in the middle of the room, tied by a rope to the 
chair. He was worn down, and his face filled with scratches and bruises, 
probably from the beatings the Rockets must have given him. His pokeballs 
were on the table, and Pikachu in a cage.

The last Rocket guard, sensing that he was alone, quickly turned on his 
walkie-talkie, and hurriedly tried to call for backup. Before his message 
could be completed, Staryu knocked him into the wall.

Misty quickly ran up to Ash, and tried to untie the rope. It wouldn't budge. 
She looked at the knot, and gulped. She whispered to Ash, "Trust me on this 
one." Ash nodded weakly, and she pointed the gun at the knot, and pulled the 
trigger. The bullet cut through the thick rope, and severed it. She threw 
the gun away, and quickly pulled the ropes away from Ash, pulling him up.

"Quickly, before the re-inforcements arrive!" Misty said. But Ash staggered 
towards the table, and recovered his Pokeballs. Then, he pried the cage 
open, and out popped Pikachu, who was just as battered as Ash was. Ash 
picked it up, and popped it into Misty's backpack. Misty motioned for Staryu 
and Poliwhirl to follow them, as they charged out the door.

Misty armed her gun for any possible Rockets, even though she hates killing. 
They ran to the elevator, just in time to see Sabrina using her 
teleportation to teleport the prisoners away. She quickly enabled the 
elevator, and the duo's hearts pounded as the elevator descended. When the 
elevator opened again, Staryu surprised the guard standing there and knocked 
him unconcious, but re-inforcements had already turned the corner. Evading 
gunfire under a curtain of haze made by Poliwhirl, they ran in the opposite 
direction.

"Ugh... this is definately not my day," Ash muttered as they ran into 
another dead end, the same one they were at the last time. Team Rocket was 
fast approaching, but so was Charizard. It hovered out the window just as 
the first Rockets arrived. Ash quickly released all of his pokemon, and 
ordered them onto Charizard. He put Pikachu on Charizard as well, and Misty 
did the same. Ash then motioned Misty to hop on, but she shook her head. 
"Charizard! Go back to Brock! NOW!" She commanded. Charizard looked at Ash. 
Ash, seeing that there was no time for anyone to get on, nodded. The giant 
dragon took to the skies, and disappeared. Lucky for them, the mist was 
still hanging.

Ash looked at Misty. "Thanks, Misty... I'm so sorry I got you into this..."

Misty mustered a bitter grin. "It's ok, Ash... We're friends, and friends 
have to stick together."

Ash looked at the ground. "Misty, if I don't make it, I really have to tell 
you something..."

The Rockets by now has almost cleared away the mist. "Arg! Come out! 
Wherever you are!" A guard snarled.

Misty looked at Ash. "Hmm?"

Ash hesitated, but then, in a small voice, said "Misty, I-I love you..."

"You do?" She gasped. Ash nodded. Misty looked at Ash with sorrow. "Oh, 
Ash... I love you too... Why couldn't you have told me earlier?"

"Because... I didn't think you liked me," Ash said. "And now, we're gonna 
die, and the last thing I would want is for you to die."

Misty hugged Ash close. "Oh, Ash... If you're gonna die, let's both die 
together..." Tears were dripping down her cheeks now, and they were clearly 
shown, as the last of the mist disappeared. Rocket members had surrounded 
them, each with a gun aimed at them.

Ash hugged her tightly. "Misty... I'm so sorry it had to come to this..."

A Rocket guard stepped forward. "Boss's orders: Eliminate them."

Sounds of gunfire filled the night air around Saffron City.

=========================

A year has passed, and the City has gone back to normal. Thanks to Ash and 
Misty, Sabrina was able to organize a resistance group via the league. The 
Rockets were defeated, and the leader thrown in jail. A memorial was 
errected in the heart of the City, honouring the people who died in the 
Rocket's rampage throughout the city. Underneath it laid the corpses of the 
victims, be it innocent or rebels. Two flowers, one red and one yellow grows 
above the grave, entwined with each other. Maybe it's a symbol of the 
lovers' eternal love, maybe not. We shall never know...

~Fin~

===

So, What did you think? Send all comments to manalugia@yahoo.ca

If you want to flame this, flame away. I support constructive criticism, and 
since Golem puts out all the flames, you'd just be wasting your PP trying to 
flame me :)

Mana Lugia