Chapter Six "And to believe Gary chose /you/ as the squad leader..." Misty rubbed her forehead. She was beginning to get a headache from listening to Watt's arguing. He was an egotistic man, ambitious for power, but not competent enough to handle it. "Watts," she answered patiently. "If you think you can handle this, you're welcome to go off by yourself and get yourself demoted- no, /killed/, okay? We have a potential danger on the loose and I can't afford to have a thorn in my side while I'm tracking him down." Years of experience with training Psyduck into Golduck had lent her knowledge on how to deal with nuisances. Watts remained silent, even though it was obvious that he was sulking. The squad's four experienced trainers stood, determined, at the foot of the Silph Co. building. They were checking Pokeballs and equipment over for one last time. An order of evacuation had been spread through the intercoms to get all Silph employees out of the building. The memory of the Rocket invasion still fresh in some of their minds, the employees had fled quickly, allowing the squad to do its work. Misty released her Marril, while another trainer took out a Venonat. "Marril, see if you can track down Ash," Misty ordered. "Mark," she said, turning to the other trainer. "Take Watts and Venonat with you and go up a floor. We'll meet you up there. Don't leave /anything/ unturned, we're gonna find Ash no matter what it takes, understand?" Mark nodded grimly, leading Watts and the Venonat to the elevator. Misty turned to the trainer left, a woman named Maurice, a fellow water trainer she had learned to trust and rely on. "C'mon, let's go." Ash considered. When Gary ordered a search- and he certainty would- the searchers would most definitely work from the bottom of the building up, in an attempt to trap him; if not on one of the lower levels, then they would certainly grab him on the roof. Ash crouched, almost shaking in his agitation. He was in one of the older storage rooms. The inside made a perfect hiding spot for him to think, devoid of light except for Sneasel's glowing eyes. Ash looked at Sneasel. It stared back at him with large, emerald-colored eyes that glinted in their cunning. It was well-trained, he knew, probably one of the strongest Pokemon he'd encountered in a while. But there was no way that it could fend off numerous amounts of equally well-trained Pokemon; the people at Silph weren't slackers. The only chance he had was to find Raichu and his other Pokemon before they found him. He considered again. He would have to do his best to either flee to the roof before the search squad could find him or get out through the lower exits. By now they would have the building secured and the employees evacuated- he could hear anxious footsteps of half-panicking workers on the lower levels. He had no chance of getting out from the bottom floor now. The roof was his only option. Also, he needed to find Raichu and his other Pokemon. Ash estimated that he had about five minutes before the searchers would find him, maybe more if they combed the building more thoroughly. He had to move fast. He motioned for Sneasel to follow him as he exited the storage room. The two stalked through the building, almost blending in with the shadows, taking care to make no noise whatsoever. It was precautious going, as even the slightest noise would alert the tracking Pokemon the search squad would most /definitely/ be using... "Did you hear that?" Misty asked her Marril. The mouse nodded and twitched its ears. "Marril, Marril!" "Didn't sound like footsteps to me," Maurice responded. "But you got the master ears, little mouse." "Marril!" The thing squeaked, twitching its ears again. "Marril, Marril!" It pointed to the ceiling. "Marril!" "Dammit, where the hell do they keep the map for this place?" Ash wondered. From his memory, there was a lab on the 10th floor where he had met a man who was doing a study on Lapras. But the teleportation pads that were scattered along the floor were /really/ irritating him. Ash backtracked, then accidentally stepped on a pad he hadn't seen before. His surroundings melted; he saw Sneasel turn around and run towards him, but then the hallway he had been in vanished completely. Instead, he was in a place he'd never seen before, in all his exploration on previous expeditions through this maze of a building. A completely white, sterilized room that reflected light off of itself with a glass panel at one end. The glass, even though it was transparent, was glowing a reddish color. Ash recognized it immediately as a Pokemon containment field, but he had no idea that Silph had the ability to stretch one over such a large surface. Not a single trace of doubt crossed his mind on what was being kept here. Through the red-tinted glass he could see three Pokeballs, two of which he recognized very well. There was a whoosh behind him- Ash spun around, alarmed, but it was only Sneasel, following its master's steps. Ash turned back around to look for a switch to get through the glass. There was none. "Sneasel, cut through it," Ash ordered simply. The Pokemon brandished one of its razor claws and gouged through the glass like it was soft cheese. Ash removed the square of glass that had been cut clean away and reached through the field of red. He grabbed the three Pokeballs and pulled them out. Two he stuck in a pocket. The remaining he enlarged and released its contents. Raichu popped out, eager to be free of the confinement of the Pokeball. Suddenly, the thought struck Ash that it had been all too easy. Somewhere, there was a catch to all this. He didn't have to wait long for an answer. Watts and Mark materialized into the room, Pokeballs in hand. A Machamp and Venonat were simultaneously released. Raichu scampered forward to face them, sparks snapping from its cheeks. Mark pulled out a walkie-talkie and spoke into it. "Misty. I found them, where you thought they may be- in the containment room. Do you copy?" A few seconds later, "Roger that, Mark. We're heading over. Good work." Ash reflected bitterly. So Gary had asked Misty to lead the search? He always knew how to inflict almost ironic poetic justice, didn't he? "Raichu, go ahead. Knock 'em out." Raichu let loose a Thunderbolt, easily frying the Machamp. Watts swore and recalled it. The Venonat, however, was obviously of a higher level and encased itself in reflect. Mark couldn't help but grin. "Venonat, you know what to do." The Venonat shimmered and glowed. Ash had seen this trick played before. He watched as wings sprouted from the Pokemon's back and unfolded, levitating it up into the air. A newly evolved Venomoth stared down triumphantly at Raichu. "Evolving a Pokemon in the midst of a battle is very stupid, especially if your opponent is at a high level," Ash told Mark with some disdain in his voice. "Raichu, the thing has to get used to its form; it can't dodge. Knock it out, now." "Raichu!" The mouse acknowledged, zapping the thing with a Thunder attack. This time, Venomoth didn't even have time to flap its wings once before the electricity overtook it. "Damn," Mark muttered, recalling the Venomoth. Before he could send out another Pokemon, Misty and Maurice appeared behind him with a faint whoosh. The room suddenly became /very/ crowded as a Gyrados and a Blastoise flooded it with water. Anyone standing outside the building would have seen a great explosion on a small portion of its left side. Firefighters at the ready hurried to put it out efficiently, wondering what was going on inside. "Agh!" Ash growled, wiping off a trickle of blood from his cheek, where the Gyrados' Swift attack had slashed him. "Dammit!" Raichu could not electrocute anything now, not without hitting itself and him. "Sneasel, see if you can get them." "Uh-uh," Maurice smiled. The Blastoise leveled a water canon at it and shot a powerful stream of liquid into the Sneasel's light form, sending it flying. Amazingly, however, the Sneasel dug its claws in as it hit the wall and rebounded itself at the Blastoise, slashing too quickly to be seen. It seemed to materialize into shadow as it zipped away from the turtle Pokemon as it fell, making a loud /smack/ against the water. Maurice frowned and recalled it. The Gyrados was going to be another situation altogether. It simply spat out a Dragon Rage too fast to be comprehended and knocked Sneasel out cold. Ash recalled it without a change in expression and pulled another Pokeball out of his pocket. A Bulbasaur appeared onto the fray, seemingly unbothered by the water. Misty's breath caught sharply in her chest. A flood of horrid memories attacked her, but it was too late to act or even scream. Gyrados and Bulbasaur were at it with physical attacks, blow for blow, tit for tat, faster, faster, until Gyrados finally knocked Bulbasaur flying with a Headbutt. Bulbasaur regained its feet and swayed back and forth in the water, gently, almost peacefully. The Gyrados' eyelids began to droop as Bulbasaur's Hypnotism began to do its work. Suddenly, the calm was interrupted by a loud explosion from further in the building. A loud whir of Helecopter blades could be heard, beating against the wind. It occurred to Ash that he had no idea whatsoever what floor he was on; he assumed now that it was the roof. It also didn't surprise him when the right wall caved in. Water immediately began to spill and splash out of the small room. It was all confusion for a minute, then a roar was heard as a Rhydon smashed into the wall again, horn spinning and eyes tinted crimson from battle wrath. A man dressed entirely in a black outfit stepped forward. Following him was a woman dressed in the same garb. Both of their shirts had a red "R" stitched in the center. "Team Rocket," Misty hissed. DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokemon or any of the characters, songs, ect. Ninetindo does.