Hard Enough

The sky rumbled overhead as a storm began.

Small flecks of water fell and wet the ground but no one rushed to get undercover. Instead, we remained locked in place, all of us watching as Mewtwo floated above.

Sabrina was the first to move, her hand beginning to glow as she and Alakazam locked their gazes upon Mewtwo.

“Mewtwo! Take her out before—” Giovanni started to order only for Sabrina to erupt as psychic energy exploded from her.

Her gaze shone with light from within and her hair floated as her form was veiled in a pinkish aura.

“Mewtwo, we don’t need to fight,” Sabrina said both aloud and psychically, her hand reaching up to the Legendary pokemon as Mega-Alakazam appeared behind her.

Mewtwo tilted his head, only for sections of his armour to shift around his helmet and darken in colouration as an electrical current raced across it. Giovanni glowered at Sabrina as he raised up his transceiver. “I gave you an order Mewtwo, destroy them!” he barked.

Mewtwo’s visor shifted about and took in everyone before both hands and channelled an attack into a powerful orb. I couldn’t rightly recall what Sabrina had called this. A Psybomb?

It fit as Mewtwo unleashed both attacks. One towards Sabrina and the other towards where Lorelei and Agatha stood.

All three women responded to the threat instantly.

From Agatha three Gengar shimmered into view alongside other ghost pokemon like Frosslas, Shedinja and Mismagius. All of them unleashed attacks of their own while Lorelei stabbed her hand forward.

Her Ice-type pokemon met the oncoming Psybomb with Ice Beams.

Sabrina, despite only having her own team of pokemon, unleashed a wave of Psybeams as other pokemon formed a wall of interlocking Barriers and Reflects.

Both attacks detonated and caused the air to rock slightly.

“Bertha, Titan! Stone Edge!” I barked, deciding to make use of Mewtwo’s focus on other people to launch an attack.

With my other hand, I unleashed the last pokemon I had held in reserve for this moment.

Empress emerged and roared, only for a wave of Golbat to be released by two of the Rocket Executives. They split apart only for both Rocket Executives to topple to the ground.

The boulders that had been launched at Mewtwo were caught in a telekinetic grip and launched back merely for both Titan and Bertha to destroy them with a swing of their fists.

I glanced about assessing the field, only to spot that the Golbat swarm was coming towards us. “Brace for—”

My pokemon and I clutched at our ears in pain.

I locked eyes with Giovanni and found him smirking at me.

I growled and stabbed my hand forward, resulting in my Rock pokemon obliterating the Golbats out of the sky with extreme prejudice. Sanchez grinned and cackled maniacally as he launched a thunder straight into the sky, making the most of the wet conditions to spear the powerful electric attack straight into the midst of the Golbat swarm.

Behind Giovanni, two of his executives staggered to their feet, their hands stuffing something into their mouths while they stood back up.

I noted that the Executives made no move to return the downed pokemon, instead gesturing for their other pokemon to step forward.

Hmmm... smart, if despicable. Without returning their pokemon they wouldn’t get as much of a feedback shock to their auras. There’d still be some, but not the entire cost.

Houndoom, Arbok, Weezing, Machoke, Hypno and other pokemon raised their heads and locked eyes with our pokemon.

“Hippodown! Go on the attack!” Giovanni shouted, shifting his attention from Mewtwo as Mewtwo shifted and fired another attack, now well and truly committed to the fight as Sabrina and Agatha’s pokemon exchanged attacks with the Legendary.

I snapped my head to the Sinnoh pokemon as it dove into the ground, and I hissed when I noted that Giovanni was looking at Sabrina. He knew she was the real threat here with her Mega-Alakazam and he was aiming to disrupt her as much as he could.

“Jorm! Intercept that pokemon!” I ordered.

Jorm threw himself into the ground and vanished, beyond a shaking rumble throughout the earth.

Giovanni wasn’t being lax, however, as in the space of time I’d set up an intercept, he’d waved forward his Gliscor and his Torterra.

I almost barked for Don to engage only to remember he wasn’t here. “Empress! Blast that Gliscor!” I barked.

I quickly shifted attention to the Torterra, my mind rolling through what options would be best as Empress unleashed a swarm of Stone Edges at Gliscor only for it to weave its way through with a cheeky grin.

“Brock! I can take those pokemon out! Take out the Rocket pokemon that keep blocking me!” Lorelei shouted as she sent forth her Weaville, Mamoswine, and Froslass to engage Giovanni’s pokemon.

Team Rocket instantly had Houndoom, Magmar and a Medicham out to intercept her.

Then the Executives raised guns, and I felt my mind lurch.

I’d heard the gunfire earlier, and Surge had even shot at me… once, but to see Team Rocket using them still weirded me out.

It seemed wrong for a pokemon world to have firearms… but that didn’t mean they didn’t exist.

Lorelei skipped behind her Lapras, who turned and let the bullets plink into his shell before he returned fire with a Hydro Pump.

The attack was in turn blocked by an Arbok unleashing a Gunk Shot.

“Sanchez! Get in there! Dig Dip over to Lorelei’s side” I shouted, deciding to follow Lorelei’s lead.

She was right; an Ice-type was exactly what we needed to keep Giovanni on his toes.

It was the entire reason we’d brought her along for this raid after all.

Still, it seemed Team Rocket had been playing keep away with Giovanni’s pokemon inside the hangar, forcing exchanges that hadn’t been in Lorelei’s favour.

It was impressive that Lorelei had still held her own.

I made sure to step close to Bertha in case Team Rocket turned their pistols on me.

I was relieved that they didn’t seem to have anything bigger, like a machine gun.

The barks of the guns were lost as Jormungandr emerged with the Hippodown caught in his jaws. “Steeeeeeeeel!” he roared triumphantly before throwing the Hippodown high.

“Blast it!” I ordered, more than happy to give Shrek a target.

Giovanni hissed and quickly raised a Luxury ball to return his pokemon only to release it back at his side, although slightly worse for wear. He then raised a bottle of something and sprayed it onto his pokemon. He shot me a smirk, and I held in a snort.

What was he expecting—me to cry foul? It was a clever move and showed he was aware of all his options.

Jormungandr turned his head toward the rest of Team Rocket with a growl.

“Jorm! Iron Tail on that Arbok!” I said, sending Jorm into the fray. The pair of Houndoom who had been harassing Lorelei turned to roast him, only for Sanchez to emerge and slam the pair of the fire-dark type pokemon around.

Sanchez swept his hand and created a safety zone with a Thunderwave that had Team Rocket’s pokemon skipping back to evade, as Lorelei was able to return her focus to the other ground pokemon Giovanni favoured.

This caused Team Rocket to scatter as Jormungandr and Sanchez drove into Team Rocket’s pokemon, disrupting their formation.

Jormungandr slammed into an Arbok, flattening it.

Jormungandr then rose and unleashed a Dark Pulse to further stagger Team Rocket, only for a number of attacks to land as they regathered themselves.

Jorm roared in pain as his mega-evolution began to fade, his body shrinking to what it was normally. I raised his pokeball and returned him, knowing he was on his last legs.

Next to me, Link shook himself awake. His Rest finished.

I toyed with the idea of returning Jormungandr to the field and using… wait, I didn’t need to use Healing Wish if he was right here. Shit! I hadn't even considered using the recall function offensively, but then again it could be interrupted which would leave me in a horrible lurch.

I pushed the thought away and released Jorm. I then pulled out a max potion and began spraying it over him. This time it was my turn to smirk at Giovanni as Jorm regathered his strength quickly. Still, I kept Jorm close to me and had him act as artillery, launching Stone Edges into Team Rocket’s pokemon.

I waved for Link to stand behind Bertha.

He was one of the softer pokemon I had, and therefore might be another target for the Rocket Executives with their guns. I inspected him and made sure he wasn’t fracking himself back too quickly but he seemed healthy.

His steely-eyed gaze met mine and he nodded. “Fable!” he said. “Sanchez, fall back to Lorelei!” I shouted over the roars and rumbles of battle.

Empress growled as Mewtwo evaded another Stone Edge from her. I decided to give Empress some more support.

“Bertha build up,” I said quietly as Shrek intercepted a wave of what appeared to be Toxic headed our way.

Mewtwo unleashed another attack, only this time the attack was met by a trio of Gengar, one of who was the giant known as Gengy that I equated to Agatha’s starter.

Shadowballs met the attack, and then the trio of Gengar zoomed in to close with Mewtwo, a glimmer of malicious intent in their eyes. They worked in tandem to weave in and out to pressure Mewtwo, forcing him back only for him to lash out in reply.

Giovanni growled as a glow began to form up around Sabrina and her Alakazamfor them to fire a Psybeam and clip Mewtwo’s leg who barely evaded the attack.

Within the cluster of Team Rocket Executives, another pokemon was released.

I eyed the Executive who had done so, he was looking extremely pale and was sweating profusely. Too much demand on his energy?

How many pokemon had they used in this fight?

The Exploud shook its head as it looked around only for the shaky Executive to direct it towards Sabrina. It grinned and hopped forward before inhaling a huge breath.

It was about to roar.

I stabbed my hand forward ready to disarm the threat, an order on the tip of my tongue.

The command for Hyper Beam was on the tip of my tongue as a Raticate threw itself towards Agatha only for Froslass to dispatch it.

Sabrina, however, was aware of the threat and was faster to neutralise it.

Her Hypno raised its medallion, and its eyes flashed once. The Exploud choked on nothing and flinched.

Ah, Disable. Nice call by Sabrina; short, sharp and to the point, allowing others the opportunity to clean up.

“Shrek, Hydro Pump,” I said, deciding to commit to taking it out.

Chances were it had another move that would be just as debilitating. I’d experienced a powerful Exploud shouting once, I had no desire to do it again.

Shrek spat a trio of water balls, only for a Persian to leap in front of it and form a Protect. I growled in annoyance and whistled for Empress. “Empress, take out that Persian and the Exploud behind it!” I said.

Empress snorted, inhaled, and then disgorged a lance of energy that smashed through the fading Protect, blowing away the Persian and the Exploud behind it.

The Rocket Executive shuddered in pain but once again made no move to return the Exploud. I was surprised when Giovanni returned the downed Persian, a look of anger on his face. He handed something to his Nidoking and pointed in my direction.

If he was anything like his game counterpart, I had a good idea what he’d just fed his pokemon as it suddenly sprinted towards me.

“Shrek! On the Nidoking!” I snapped. Shrek pivoted, unleashing a deluge of water at the approaching pokemon only for it to not be strong enough to deter the charging pokemon.

“Selene!” I said. Selene shifted around me and unleashed a Psybeam that rocked Nidoking.

Titan, and Bertha stomped their feet in reply and caused the buckling to stop as they countered with an Earthquake of their own. Empress joined them a moment later, having regathered her energy from the earlier Hyper Beam.

Nidoking groaned but still threw his fist into the ground, causing the earth to buckle underneath us, but it didn’t have the strength to truly ruin our day.

It collapsed onto its knees only to vanish in a red beam as Giovanni returned it to his side, before he released another pokemon in the form of Rhydon.

I smirked at Giovanni as Lorelei nailed Giovanni’s Gliscor, her eyes turned to me only to widen in fear.

“Brock!” Lorelei screamed.

“Protect!” I shouted out of instinct, not knowing what could spark the response but trusting that Lorelei had good reason for it. Jorm curled himself around me and formed a huge Protect.

It turned out to be the right call as Mewtwo unleashed a Psybomb on me. I exhaled in relief behind the Protect. I hadn’t even seen him targeting me.

When we emerged, Lorelei had lost a few of her pokemon in the scant few moments I’d been unable to join the attack, and Sanchez was keeping a Houndoom away from others on Lorelei's team.

Sabrina had seemingly dropped her desire to be diplomatic with Mewtwo as the sky filled with beam after beam chasing Mewtwo in an aerial display of acrobatics, only to be boxed in as Sabrina chained Future Sight with Psychic to force him to stand still for a moment.

Another Rocket Executive was on their knees however, they were force-fed something. The man staggered to his feet but looked strained.

I frowned. Some sort of substance or aura aid?

A Fire Blast soared towards my team only for Cypher to form a Barrier that delayed the attack long enough for another pokemon to blow it away. Shrek counter-attacked and slammed a Houndoom back.

It figures Team Rocket would possess a substance like that. There must be some serious consequences to using it if it wasn’t widespread. It seemed to be one of the only things keeping them in this fight.

I noted that Giovanni was pointedly not using it, instead weathering his lost pokemon and not releasing anymore beyond what I assumed had to be an unsafe limit.

Another Psybomb was unleashed only for it to be Lorelei’s turn to snap out a quick Protect order. Sanchez skipped back in time to be included in the bubbles of Protect instead of being left out to dry.

“Brock, are you alright?” said Koga from behind me.

I huffed. “Fine and dandy, almost got caught out,” I said, waving a hand up at Mewtwo. “Where are your pokemon? We kinda need all hands on deck here,” I said pointedly.

Koga grimaced. “My pokemon took quite a lot of damage during Agatha and Lorelei’s push through the hangar. I am loath to hold them back, but I need to use them wisely. They do not have much strength remaining,“ he said with a worried look on his face.

“Oh, sorry,” I said.

Koga waved the apology away. “I am going to have my pokemon attack from the other side. I need you to create an opening. Giovanni has been keeping his Nidoking and Nidoqueen close to him.”

I glanced from my spot around Bertha and spotted what Koga was talking about. For all that Giovanni was sending out his pokemon to fight he made sure to keep one of the pair near him to act as a guard.

“Gengar pull back!” Agatha suddenly shouted.

Two of her pokemon were quick enough, while the third stayed in close to sweep glittering fingers across Mewtwo’s armoured form.

Mewtwo ignored the gouge that formed in his armour, an electrical spark lashing out and catching Gengar by surprise only to be followed up by Mewtwo unleashing a close-range Psybeam.

The small Gengar had enough time to realise it had made a huge mistake as it saw the Psybeam coming for it.

Just before it was hit, it was suddenly grabbed by Gengy and pulled out of danger.

“Gengy!” Agatha cried, as what had to be her starter pokemon took a powerful blow that sent it soaring away. It landed and rolled over itself before coming to a rest against the wall of the hangar where it braced itself and struggled to a kneeling position.

That smoke coming off him was bad.

Agatha shot it a worried glance as it quivered and shook, trying and failing to stand only to fall as more smoke poured off it.

Damn, if that had been Agatha’s strongest pokemon I didn’t want to know what would have happened if the smaller Gengar had taken the hit.

“Ha! Nice work,” one of the Rocket Executives barked, revealing the Hypno standing next to him wearing a smug look while its medallion glinted.

Ah, I thought as things clicked into place. They’d disrupted Agatha’s coordination with Confusion. They must have been waiting for this.

They’d wanted to take out one of Agatha’s Gengar and taken out her strongest, because for all its snark and menace, it, like Agatha, was a great team player.

The Rocket Executives cheered and redoubled their attacks causing me to duck slightly as my pokemon absorbed and counter-attacked.

Hmmm if Team Rocket were reacting this strongly from taking out Gengy, how would they react if Gengy got back into the fight?

I whistled, and Agatha glanced in my direction, her pokeball for Gengy raised.

I then waved a hand towards Link, making a sign for ‘switch’ that we’d worked out during a Guardian training session.

She frowned but didn’t question me, she merely waved her hand.

“Link, don’t resist the switch. Heal up that Gengar then get back into the fight as fast as you can,” I said, my gaze shifting to Mewtwo who was firing another blast towards Lorelei.

The attack shot towards Lorelei’s Glaceon.

Sadly the small pokemon was unable to escape or block the attack, instead being slammed into the ground where it struggled to get up. Lorelei returned her pokemon to her side where she sprayed some potion onto it, to keep it in the fight.

Meanwhile, Sabrina dispatched a number of Houndoom being sent at her.

Team Rocket really weren’t giving her the breathing room to interact with Mewtwo, were they?

Behind me, Link vanished, and I stiffened as something eldritch appeared behind me. I glanced back and found a Shedinja staring into my eyes.

“Got 'em on the ropes now!” shouted one of the Rocket Executives. I frowned at that but hid a smirk as a flash of light appeared on top of Gengy, only to vanish as he absorbed the light.

Gengy, Agatha’s strongest pokemon, arose as Link dropped to his hands and knees.

Gengy spared Link a single glance, his red eyes glistening with malevolent intent as he turned his gaze upon Team Rocket only to vanish as he became a shadow.

“Bertha… charge in with Impact Driver, Selene step forward,” I said, deciding to force Team Rocket’s attention onto me, to give everyone else some breathing room.

“Koga, get ready,” I said.

Bertha charged forward, arm raised high and vibrating with built-up power. The scream of tortured rock grinding causing Team Rocket to turn.

“Don’t let that pokemon close!” Giovanni shouted.

Instantly, a huge swarm of Team Rocket’s pokemon shifted attention towards Bertha, only for Mewtwo to gesture and a Psychic to build up around Bertha and lift her off her feet.

I didn’t hesitate in withdrawing Bertha like Giovanni had done earlier; I wasn’t going to let her be knocked out. Another max potion was used as Team Rocket began to cheer for themselves.

I smirked, and Giovanni’s grin faltered.

Despite not getting her attack off, she’d achieved her purpose.

Unlike our group, who had some rudimentary knowledge of how to trade and shift focus as a team thanks to training with Agatha, Team Rocket had all turned their attention to the singular threat.

In that lapse, the others struck.

Lorelei stabbed her hand forward, and a blistering wave of Ice Beams were unleashed slamming into Torterra and Marowak.

Gengy appeared before the Hypno that had confused his fellow Gengar and grinned.

Hypno had all of a moment to stumble back in shock before Gengy lunged through Hypno with Shadow Punch.

Hypno crumpled to the ground as though Gengy had ripped something out.

The executives had all of a moment to realise the threat in their midst. “What? No! We took that pokemon out!” cried one of them in despair. Gengy’s smile merely grew before he exploded with Dark Pulse.

Gengy then shot into the air, a vengeful glint in his eyes, as he reached for Mewtwo with another Shadow Punch.

Mewtwo jerked aside and gave the returned Gengar a long look before having to dodge the other two Gengar that swept back in, ecstatic at the return of their friend.

Koga’s pokemon team appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, attacking from the one direction that none of us had reached and that Team Rocket had slowly been pushed towards throughout the fight.

From them, poisons and gases rippled out before a Charizard appeared to ignite the flames, unleashing a deafening boom. The explosion caused the already weakened pokemon and even one or two of the Executives to skid backwards at the sudden shockwave.

Giovanni, thanks to Rhydon and Nidoqueen, didn’t need to move a muscle as they shielded him from the damage.

“Fissure,” Giovanni said, snapping his fingers and pointing towards Koga’s team.

Nidoqueen leapt forward with a fist pulled back aiming for the middle of Koga’s team.

A Muk leapt to intercept her, gumming up her body with its gelatinous form only for Nidqueen to ripple with built-up power and blow through Muk. Nidoqueen screamed in triumph as she slammed a fist into the air even as Koga’s team leapt to mitigate some of the damage.

A huge quake rocked the field and I staggered only to be caught by Selene hovering into my side.

The majority of Koga’s team didn’t come out so well with only a single Arbok, Weezing, Venomoth and his Charizard remaining on the field.

Weezing and Charizard both wheeled onto the threat in their midst.

Both of them unleashed powerful attacks at Nidoqueen and pushed her back, only for Charizard to grab Nidoqueen up as he flew high to perform a Seismic Toss. I held in a chuckle. That was certainly a method of denying Giovanni his guard.

“TITAN! GO!” I shouted aloud.

Once more Team Rocket as one turned towards my side as Titan lumbered forward.

This time, I wasn’t going to let them disrupt the attack. “Everyone! Hit them hard!” I called letting my pokemon go for a full alpha strike by putting everything on the line.

I still held a hand up for Empress, and she paused on her inhale before adjusting. I decided to hold her in reserve just for a moment more.

Team Rocket scrambled to defend, and pokemon rose to do just that.

Only to then be taken from other angles as Lorelei, Sabrina, and Agatha all went in for the kill.

Psybeams, Ice Beams, and Shadow Balls erupted from various pokemon causing a crisscross of fire as Team Rocket found itself caught out of position and very much in the killing field.

Heh, they should have kept Surge with them, I thought to myself as pokemon fell in the wake of our onslaught.

Titan surged through the attacks, a corona of power building up around him as he charged towards Giovanni’s last guard.

Rhydon didn’t even have time to counter or block the attack as Titan slammed into and then carried the Rhydon away. Both pokemon slammed into the hangar wall and then, with a screech of tortured metal, through it and into the hangar.

Another boom announced that they might have even slammed into and then through one of the containers that had been stacked up. A rumble announced that some of them were now toppling over.

Giovanni stared with wide-eyed shock. His eyes darted around as some instinct warned him of the danger he was in. His hand shot into his jacket, and a gun was pulled out as he whirled about.

Koga was suddenly there, underneath him, with a fist cocked back ready to strike.

His fist lashed out faster than Giovanni could react to knock the gun aside. It discharged even as Giovanni’s aim was thrown.

Koga then stabbed forward with the other hand a purple glow forming around his hand as he connected with Giovanni’s stomach.

Giovanni buckled to his knees only to vomit as everything in his stomach was brought up.

“Hurk!” he wretched as purple veins suddenly formed up on his skin.

Koga went for another strike but was forced to break off as The Executives raised their guns and fired. Koga darted low and was suddenly among them kicking and punching to disarm them.

“Blergh!” Giovanni wretched again only to struggle and turn his head up to Mewtwo. “Mewtwo! Get me out of here!” he shouted desperately.

Mewtwo stiffened, having been trading blows with the Gengar only to break off. He spun around and raised a hand, his attention falling off the fight.

It was only a momentary distraction.

A moment I and many others had been waiting for.

“Empress! Go!” I bellowed. This time Empress unleashed everything she had in her Hyper Beam even as the Gengars shot their Shadow Balls forth.

Sabrina raised her hand and from her pokemon, a single cohesive Psychic took hold of Mewtwo and locked him in place.

Right in time for the various attacks to slam into him all at once.

An explosion rocked the battlefield.

Smoke wafted across the sky and silence gripped it as everyone held their breath, waiting to see if it had been enough.

A clatter of metal rained down as the sky cleared and revealed Mewtwo curled in on himself, burns and wounds littering his form.

He glowed and then straightened, his wounds receding as he straightened back up. His intelligent eyes took us in.

I swallowed and prepared to keep fighting.

Giovanni laughed from his position on the ground. “Ha! We sought to make the most powerful pokemon and we succeeded! You don’t stand a chance! Mewtwo destroy them!”

“You don’t need to do that Mewtwo,” Sabrina said, floating up with her Mega-Alakazam at her side.

My heart lurched as she got closer to the pokemon we’d just been fighting but Sabrina still made the effort. “You are more than just a mindless… creation. You are a person; let me help you.”

Mewtwo stared at her and then turned to look at Giovanni who looked gleeful.

A voice echoed across the airfield then. “I will not destroy them…” said Mewtwo as he stared at Giovanni.

“What?! No! I created you! You obey me! That is your purpose!”

“It isn’t,” Sabrina said. “Your purpose is yours and yours alone to decide!”

“You are nothing but a clone! Made to follow orders! So obey!” Giovanni shouted.

Mewtwo put a hand to his head and shuddered. “I… am… not… I will not! Follow orders from you!” snarled Mewtwo channeling a powerful psychic attack that exploded around him, blowing back the Gengar that had been circling him. Mewtwo glowered at Giovanni.

For a moment I thought Mewtwo was going to lash out at his former ‘master’.

Koga must have felt the same way, as he stepped up next to lay a hand on the Team Rocket Boss. I wasn’t sure if it was to detain him, or offer protection.

Koga didn’t say anything, he merely stared at the Legendary.

For a long moment violence seemed to be teetering into a certainty as Mewtwo flexed his fingers.

He gave the field one more look over, I felt his gaze sweep over me and my skin broke out in goosebumps.

“Mewtwo, we don’t want to hurt you. Please? We want to help—” Sabrina said only for Mewtwo to streak away, his passing causing the clouds to ripple.

I exhaled in relief and inhaled. That… hadn’t been the worst outcome. Sabrina stared after where Mewtwo had been.

A click made me look down and find one of the Executive’s standing in front of me with his gun raised. “D-don’t move!’ he growled.

I sighed. “Put the gun down, it’s not going to help you, now or in the future.” Sabrina would crush this idiot. But then again with her psychic strength right now, she could probably see well into the future. If she wasn’t stopping him, then he wasn’t a threat.

“No! I’m not going down like this!” said the man hysterically. His gun twitched back and forth slightly and I drew up my rock energy as strongly as I could around me.

I sighed and shook my head. “I was trying to help you,” I said right before Selene slammed into his side. His arm snapped as she set about disarming him of his weapon and I could only grimace.

I’d tried to warn him.

I looked around and found the other Executives were now kneeling with their guns on the ground and their hands laced behind their heads. I nodded, glad that no one else had decided to do something dumb.

I looked around and found Koga frisking Giovanni.

I blinked and felt something settle in.

“Holy shit, we did it,” I said as I realised that this wasn’t a dream.

We’d captured Giovanni.

“It’s quite the accomplishment,” Agatha said, walking up to me a glint of something in her gaze.

I nodded. “I don’t think I believed we were going to get him, I thought he was going to get away; he’s been so slippery and careful,” I said.

Giovanni glowered at me. “I would have gotten away if it wasn’t for that traitorous bitch! I’m going to teach Ariana a lesson if I get my hands on her!” Giovanni said.

I chuckled. “You should probably stay quiet or something…” I glanced around. “Do we need to read them their rights?”

Agatha snorted. “They have none,” she said firmly as she stabbed her cane and set her Ghost pokemon to frisking the Executives of their pokemon. A few of them were looking extremely pale and starting to shake.

She flicked her eyes over me and I frowned. “Something wrong?”

“No… I just…” she coughed. “Thank you for sacrificing your Clefable like that… it was very noble.”

I blinked. “Oh, yeah. Link is pretty cool like that, isn’t he?”

Agatha blinked and turned her head only to find Link shaking his head as he emerged from yet another Rest. “Clefable!” he cheered.

She stared in shock. “Well I’ll be, that’s a new trick.”

I grinned at her “I’ve been known to think up a few in my time,” I said.

Agatha merely nodded, eying me thoughtfully as Sabrina floated back to the ground.

When she landed next to me I reached out and caught her as the glow of energy died off and her Alakazam’s Mega evolution died off.

“Nice work out there,” I said.

Sabrina nodded. “You too, congratulations on Jormungandr,” she said.

I grinned. “He did great!” I said happily. “I get what you mean about syncing up now. It was a lot more of a rush than I’d thought it to be.”

She merely nodded and inspected the downed Rockets.

“Today is going to be an interesting day,” Sabrina said as the sun began to rise.

I sighed. “It’ll be a good one Heck! Maybe even a great one! With no Team Rocket things will be so much better!”

Giovanni glowered at us. “You fool! You have no idea how the world works! Without us to stave off the others you will only face more criminals! The ecoterrorists of Fiore, the tribals of the wilds, the blasted Hoenn militants! The Zealots of Sinnoh! We stood in their way!” The Executives roused a little at this and glared at us.

Agatha snorted, and Sabrina shook her head. “You did no such thing; you were a rot weakening us from within. More criminals may come, but we will handle them,” she said, her hand slipping into mine.

I squeezed her hand, liking the sound of it.

Tomorrow might see others trying to fill the void left by Team Rocket, but today?

Today we’d won.