Chapter 16

Psychic Showdown

Silph Company Building Rooftop-

            The sky was turning dark when Agatha led Lance and the young girl, Blue, back towards to elevator.  The soft rain that drizzled her grey hair was calming.  Once upon a time, this would be an adventure for me. Now she was old and she understood the gravity of the situation: a highly organized crime syndicate intent on domination was able to bring the largest city in Kanto to its knees.  Yet she was calm; she had confidence and faith in her Pokémon partners. 

            She glanced at Lance.  He’s an old man living in a young man’s body. In a strange way, Agatha was glad she lost to Lance at the last Pokémon League Championships.  Nobody else could have handled the job this well in a crisis.  Well, maybe Samuel Oak... but he’s just as squeaky-hinged as I am now. 

            A glow caught her eyes away in the city.  She turned and approached the edge of the roof in that direction. 

            “A fire!” Lance said.  Blue looked scared.  She watched Lance look back and forth from the elevator to the building that was afire.  “Justice can wait, those people’s lives can’t.”  He released Dragonite again and flew off towards toward the flames. 

            “Ma’am,” said the girl.  “We can still go round up as many Rockets as we can!” She motioned towards the elevator, Poke-ball in hand.

            Samuel definitely knew what he was doing picking those kids. Kanto would need strong-willed, role-model trainers to take the torch from the old guard.  For the first time, Agatha accepted that her time in the spotlight was coming to the end.  Much to her surprise, she smiled at that fact.

            Agatha took one step back towards the elevator when she felt it.  The voice of Sabrina spoke as clearly as if the Saffron Gym Leader was standing in her ear.  You should have never let him go.  The building shook and Agatha heard a crash of a window pane hitting the ground.  Your friends are destroying this building from the inside out, and our Leader will get away, safely.

            Her friends.  Lorelei and Bruno, she thought.   As she rode in on Dragonite with Lance, her own Psychic senses could tell that they were fighting a battle inside the Silph Tower.   She could recognize the spirits of the two titans of Pokémon battling.  It wasn’t long before she focused on Bruno, and she could tell that Sabrina had taken hold of his mind.  You think you’re strong and powerful, Sabrina, she responded.  It’s a shame you have to wait for Lance to leave before you challenge me.  Or are you too afraid to take me on, too?

            She felt a hand on her shoulder and knew it was Blue.  “Ma’am, we should go.”

            “No, child.” She turned to face the girl.  ”You should go.  Find Team Rocket’s leader, and stall for long enough for me or Lance to get there.” Blue gave her an unsure look.  Agatha smiled in return.  “Professor Oak believed in you, and I’m telling you that I do too.”

            Thankfully, Blue made it back into the elevator just in time.  Seconds later, the whole building seemed to shake.  This was no earthquake, however.  The battle between the two Elite Four members was savagely ruining the integrity of the tower.  Agatha hoped that Blue had made it out of the elevator in case of the building collapsing. 

            It wasn’t long before Sabrina reappeared in a teleporting flash.  It was the first time that Agatha had seen her up close in ten years.  She had grown into a beautiful woman to be sure, but something was off.  The kind teenage girl that Agatha had taught to hone her Psychic powers was gone.  Her hauntingly purple eyes had deepened into a pitch darkness. 

            “What happened to you, Sabrina?” she asked.  “Why join Team Rocket?”

            Sabrina smirked in a way that Agatha had never seen before.  “Why not?” she answered as she conjured a Poke-ball out of thin air.  “They helped me embrace the finer points of my… personality.”

            Agatha gripped the Poke-ball on top of her cane.  “I’ll admit you were once my most talented student, but I never taught you all of my knowledge.  You need more than just sheer talent and Psychic abilities to master the bond between your Pokémon and you, and not to simply master the Pokémon themselves.”

            You were always scared of me, Sabrina’s voice rang inside Agatha’s head.  Out of her Poke-ball emerged Alakazam in a flash: hovering in the air with its eyes closed, legs crossed, and silver spoons raised.

            Scared?  No.  Troubled? Yes. Troubled of the thing that has haunted the depths of your heart since before the day I took you in off of the streets. Her Poke-ball opened, but no Pokémon came out, or so it would appear.  “The spirit you’ve been keeping inside you has taken over, Sabrina.  “I let you linger in her heart for far too long, but now it ends.  As the Master of Ghosts, you will leave her alone once I defeat you!”

            Sabrina laughed maniacally.  ”You will never defeat me.  It was because of me that Sabrina was able to surpass the master.  Alakazam! Underneath you!” The Psychic floating Pokémon opened its eyes and pointed a spoon at the soft shadow it was casting on the ground.  Two red eyes and a wide toothy grin appeared in the shadow and it attacked Alakazam, but not fast enough.  Sabrina’s golden Pokémon created a bubble of energy around itself, repelling the shadow back onto the rooftop.  The building shook from floors below again.

            Gengar, Agatha’s Ghost-type Pokémon slowly emerged again from in front of its trainer once again. Its body shook as it giggled through its mischievous smile.  Agatha smiled as well.  “Your Pokémon has grown strong, but my friend here knows that it’s no match.” The old woman shook her head.  “I had such high hopes for you… You could have risen so much higher than Gym Leader.  After all this time, you have come nowhere close to my level, much less Lance’s.  You must’ve known to wait until Lance went to rescue the people in the building that is on fire.  The building on fire in the city you were sworn in to protect!” Gengar disappeared, and Alakazam fell from its hovering seat in the air.  The Psychic Pokémon put its spoons to its head as it cried out in pain.  Eventually, Gengar reappeared beside Agatha while Alakazam was in a fetal position.

            Agatha went on.  “You focused too much on yourself; on your own power.  Talented may you be, perhaps more than I, you neglected to spend time with your Pokémon and to treat them as your friends.   That’s what allowed the spirit inside of you to grab hold and reinforce your behavior.  As I stand before you now, I have no choice but to rid you of the evil inside of you… for your own good! Gengar!”

            The dark purple impish ghost raised its arms at Sabrina, reading her mind.  Agatha closed her eyes, and joined her consciousness to her Pokémon.  Gengar amplified Agatha’s power, and she gave the Pokémon confidence.  As she searched Sabrina’s mind to find the girl she used to know, she was cold.  She was in a cave, with strange writing on the walls.  She found a little girl, crying. Sabrina… But when she tried to approach her, Agatha found herself back atop the Silph Co. Rooftop.  The building shook violently, the infrastructure was getting worse. 

            She had never been kicked out of anybody’s mind before, she looked at Gengar.  The confident grin was gone and Gengar’s mouth was a small point; its eyes full of fear.  Agatha was stunned.  A human alone shouldn’t be able to force me out.  The evil spirit inside must be…

            A Pokémon. A new voice was in Agatha’s head.  She didn’t even turn around to look at the tall man standing behind her.  She knew who she would see: the Phantom, hooded and cloaked in grey with a black bandana covering half of his face. 

            Finally we meet… And how would you know about Sabrina’s affliction?

            I have a similar condition. Give me your hand.  

            Agatha somehow knew she could trust him.  She felt like a missile as she catapulted back into the cave inside Sabrina’s mind.  Such power… she had never been able to enter anybody’s mind as fast.  The little girl Sabrina was there, sobbing still.  Agatha had no need of her cane inside the minds of a human, and she ran to her.

            The Phantom was there beside her.  Hand her to me.  Agatha did as she was told.  The Phantom’s eyes glowed blue as he held the young Sabrina up in front of his masked face.  Suddenly, the little girl began to laugh slowly.  She grabbed the Phantom by his gloved hands, and crushed them.  The grey Psychic didn’t even wince as his ring and little fingers on both hands were crushed.  Even in this world there is pain… this man truly is a master of the Unconscious World.

            “Don’t lie, I know it HURTS!” said the little Sabrina as she twisted.  Agatha’s mouth gaped open; how could he withstand such pain.  The Phantom slammed Sabrina against the wall, and the little girl’s voice got deeper with every word.  “THIS IS MY WORLD, SILLY HUMAN!” The girl vanished and appeared again behind Agatha.  “THIS IS MY HOST!” Agatha fell to her knees as she covered her ears.  The voice was evil, pounding in her ears.  The little girl sent a lightning bolt burst of shadow rimmed with red at the old woman and the grey man. 

            Agatha shielded her face but the shock never got to her, it was vanquished by a blue force field.  She opened her eyes, and saw the Phantom holding Sabrina by the throat and his whole body was glowing blue.  The cave around them was fizzing in and out.  The look on Sabrina’s face had gone from sadistic grin to uncertain stare.  With his back to Agatha, she saw the Phantom pull the bandana down from his face and the little girl was kicking trying to get away.

            This is SABRINA’S body, and when I expel you, you will leave MY world.  He threw the little girl through the wall of the cave, and the illusion shattered.  The Cave had disappeared into nothingness, and the little girl that Agatha thought was Sabrina was transforming into a black cloud with one eye and a red collar rimming its face.  It was the only glimpse she caught of the evil Pokémon before the Phantom blasted it with a direct blast of Psychic energy.

            Agatha opened her eyes at the Saffron City Pokémon Center next to Sabrina who was unconscious. She looked out the window at the top of the Silph Tower where she stood seconds earlier.  The Phantom was a speck the size of an ant at the top of the tower, but when Agatha focused on his spirit, it was larger than anything she could ever imagine. 

            The tower visibly shook and dust had begun to visibly belch out from the bottom of the tower.  It wouldn’t be long before the tower collapsed on itself. When she looked at the top again, the Phantom was gone. 

Inside Silph Tower-

            Blue had to stagger to keep her feet.  The tremors were frequent and short in between now. Some of the walls were collapsing.  She had to navigate and slide her way through rubble and the computer lab where she had left Lorelei was frozen solid.  Jagged icicles jutted out from the floor and ceilings and walls, but the Elite Four members were nowhere to be found.

            She released Ivysaur and used its vines to help her reach and climb any set of stairs she could find.  “Sorry, boy. No elevators,” she told her Pokémon as it found solid footing at the top of every flight to hoist her up.  “Not in a wrecked building.”

            She could feel a crash many floors below as she reached the very top of the staircase.  She and Ivysaur raced down a short hall and she knew what she would find when she reached the door labeled “Chairman’s Office.”

            The Rocket Boss was waiting for her, the unconscious Gym Leaders Misty and Lieutenant Surge, and Erika were in a corner.

            “It’s over,” she said; her voice trembling.  “Lance and Agatha are here and the authorities from all four surrounding cities are on their way to this very spot.  If you want to save whatever face you have left you should just give up without a fight.”

            “For now,” the Boss said.  His suit was unruffled, the red R shining even now.  “I came for my prize, but it was gone.  But make no mistake, I will find what I want.  I always do in the end.”

            The Boss looked at a Poke-ball his hand and Ivysaur growled and raised its vines menacingly.  “Even if you send out Kangaskhan, I’m not going to let you get away before help gets here.”  The Pokeball released and a five foot tall, purple spiked Pokémon emerged.  Blue knew what kind of Pokémon it was: Nidoking.  This particular Pokémon, she knew, was of the same species line of Nidorina, but its final, ultimate stage of evolution on the male side.

            “You are a brave girl,” the Boss said calmly.  “I’m very impressed you didn’t need your sniveling little boyfriend here to give you confidence like last time.  Yes, you are very brave… And we’re not so different you and I.”

            “I’m nothing like you! You kidnap Pokémon from their trainers, and hold entire cities for ransom! And for what?”  Blue was disgusted with this man.  How could he even make such a statement?  Ivysaur could feel its trainers mistrust and shot a single Razor Leaf at Nidoking.  The blade of the leaf hit head on, yet it crumpled to the ground and Nidoking bared its fangs.

            “We’re all alike, deep down,” continued the Boss.  “We are all the same.  You, me, Lance… We are the choices we make.  I’ve chosen the choice to become powerful, and I have succeeded.  Even now, you have a choice.  You can let me leave and try save these Gym Leaders from this building’s inevitable collapse, but you won’t make it to the ground floor before it falls.  Or you can fight me, and gamble on stalling for time with your life, my life, and the lives of the Gym Leaders.”

            She could feel her face flush with anger and sadness, she knew there was no way this could end with her making it out alive unless Lance showed up.  “If I won’t make it to the ground floor anyways, I might as well take you down with me.” Tears welled in her eyes.  Lance was busy rescuing the people in the burning building miles away. Who knows how long he’ll be. She began to realize she would never see her mother again, or Red.  Red… The last thing she would see is the face of the Rocket Boss just before the building collapses.

            “Or,” the suited man continued, “You can come and join me.  You will be rich beyond your wildest dreams and I will personally teach you what it takes to make your mark in history.  No longer will you have to tail that buffoon winning everything and taking all the glory-“

            “No,” said Blue.  A single tear fell down her cheek and landed on Ivysaur’s flower.  “I’m going to fight.”

            “How noble of you,” frowned the Boss as he crossed his arms.  A loud crack shook the building.  “But that was the wrong choice.”  Blue couldn’t comprehend what happened next.  Nidoking grabbed Ivysaur’s vine and slammed the flower Pokémon into its own trainer.  Blue was gasping for breath as she felt Nidoking sling her over the purple Pokémon’s shoulder.  She was too disoriented to feel anger as she saw the Boss lift up Ivysaur, equally weakened. 

            CRACK! SMASH! CRACK! SMASH! The world moved around Blue.  She was on a different floor now.  She strained to look up from where she came as she was falling; falling through the holes on each floor.  She smiled as she realized her mistake, she didn’t do what Lance would have done.  Life before justice she thought to herself as the world went dark.

The outskirts of Saffron City-

            She woke up. She didn’t want to wake up.  She dreamt a sweet dream of a happier time.  She dreamt she was home, in Viridian City.  Her mother was cooking dinner, when the door opened and she ran to it.  Her father was home.  In his arms he held a little blue Pokémon with large rabbit ears.  It was a baby, and the baby fit in the palm of her hands.

            “She’s yours,” he said.  “She’s a Nidoran”…

            She tried to remember more, but she couldn’t.  She was so young when she heard her father and her mother hollering through the house that stormy night, and the next morning he was gone and he never came back.  She was too tired to remember anything else.  She turned her head and thought she saw a man in a dirty suit walking into the sunset, but she wasn’t sure so she went back to sleep on the grass underneath the big  pink flower petals.

            It was daylight when she finally opened her eyes.  How long have I been asleep? She thought to herself.  She couldn’t remember the last time she had slept so well.  When she rolled over to stretch, she started to tumble down into a gaping hole in the ground, but she was stopped by a cool, strong grip around her belly.  She felt herself be lifted up and set back up onto the grass.  She turned around to thank Ivysaur, but Ivysaur wasn’t there.

            A monstrously large blue warted head gazed into Blue’s eyes.  She stood up and caressed the vine that had kept her from falling into the hole.  “Ivysaur? No…” The flower on its back had bloomed, and it was taller than she was. The long pink petals speckled with gold reflected the sunlight in a rainbow of colors.  She saw her little bag next to her Evolved Pokémon’s gigantic foot, and she reached into it for her Pokedex.

            It was gone.  “Where is it?” Blue frantically looked through her bag.  She knew she should’ve known her own Pokémon’s evolved forms, but her head still hurt from whatever happened earlier.  She looked around and finally saw a little blue light flashing in the grass a few yards to the west. 

            She picked it up, and switched from the Trainer ID and Information Screen to the Pokémon Identifier.  Has Red been messing with my Pokedex? She didn’t care, she wanted to identify her Pokémon.  Venusaur, the flower on its back acts as a solar panel that drinks in UV rays and can convert the energy into regenerative molecules or a destructive blast.  It moves faster when the sun is out. 

            Venusaur’s bottom teeth stuck out of its mouth, and its skin was rough and covered with warts, but Blue had never seen anything so beautiful in her life.  She gave the Pokémon a great hug and cried when it all came back to her: Silph Tower, the Rocket Boss, the building’s collapse.  “Of course! You must have evolved to save us!” she laughed as the tears of joy rained down on Venusaur’s big face.  She could hardly keep her arms around the Pokémon as it nuzzled her back.  

            She looked to the east and saw the red roof of a Pokémon Center in the distance.  Blue felt a vine lift her up, and she sat on the leaves under the flower petal on Venusaur’s back as it carried her towards the city to find her friends. 

            She checked the GPS screen on her Pokedex, and sighed with relief when she saw that Red, even Green were present in that same Center.  She closed her ‘dex and her heart got caught in her throat when she saw a little message written on a sticky note on the back of it.  

            Forget about the offer until we meet again. You win this round.

 ­­–Former Team Rocket Head of Operations