And Into the Fire

"Petrel." I snarled at the leader of the force, the same Team Rocket executive who escaped me the other day.

Petrel look at me weirdly before his eyes widened in realization all of a sudden.

"I recognize your voice! You must be the man who rounded up my men the other day!" Petrel exclaimed at me, before smirking confidently. "Must be my lucky day~."

I rolled my eyes at him, but inwardly couldn't help but to worry.

With the exception of Pidgeot, my entire team was still exhausted from the battle against the Parasect from earlier. Most of them could and would fight if we needed it, but they wouldn't be able to fight at full strength.

"So, what's your name?" Petrel asked me as I trying to figure out how we were going to get out of this.

"I'm Joe." I told him while of course avoiding my real name.

"Joe?"

"Yeah. Joe Mama."

I watched as Petrel actually closed his eyes and took a deep breath while pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Ok then, let's try again. Your REAL name this time please." He asked while trying to remain civil.

"Deez." I answered.

"Deez?"

"Yeah, Deez Nuts!" I exclaimed while grabbing my crotch.

I swore I could see the vein on Petrel's forehead pulsing in irritation from my bullshit, which would've made me laugh in any other situation.

"Wait a second... I recognize him sir! That's Ace Ketchum from Gabby's Corner!" One of the other Rockets suddenly declared.

Shit.

"Ace Ketchum?" Petrel said with even more interest as he looked at me. "I remember now... You're the runt who revealed us five years ago."

"I'd hardly say I'm a runt considering I look taller than you Petrel." I said with a false smirk.

"That right? The little kid is all grown up, just like his little girlfriends." As he said that, Petrel glanced around at May, Dawn and Misty, making me frown as several of his underlings chuckled while eyeing them up and down.

"I'd keep them in check if I were you Petrel. Thugs like them look like they'd be bad for business." I told him.

"I know what you mean." Petrel said as he glanced at his own men with a look telling them to knock it off. "As professionals, we DO have standards after all."

The men who had been leering at the girls shuffled awkwardly in place after that, or otherwise looked dissatisfied.

"You'll have to forgive them. They're a batch of new recruits after my last crew got arrested." Petrel said with a not-so-friendly smile, to which I shrugged.

"So what now?" I asked him.

"Now? Now I take you and your Pokemon in." Petrel with a small smile, before a giant mass of Beedrill descended from higher up in the air behind him.

Where the fuck did they come from?

There had to be more than a hundred Beedrill in the air above us, making Misty cower behind me from yet ANOTHER swarm of bug type Pokemon that we had to fight. This was getting ridiculous.

"What, was there a bargain sale on Beedrill or something?" I asked Petrel with annoyance.

"Something like that. We just got our hands on the true Alpha not too long ago, and now we can churn out as many of them as we want, with a relatively high percentage of them being alphas themselves."

I blinked at the sudden handing of information, before saying a bit confusedly, "well thanks. That was helpful?"

"You're welcome, but I doubt you'll ever be able to do anything about it anyways." Petrel stated as if it were obvious.

"We'll see." I told him, while also trying to think of something else to keep Petrel talking to buy some more time.

"While we're here, mind telling me about any other Team Rocket operations you guys are gonna do?" I asked him since he so readily volunteered information already.

"Tut tut, even I wouldn't do that, though points for trying." Petrel said in an amused tone.

"Tch." I clicked my tongue in annoyance, since it seemed like he was done volunteering information.

"Now then, I'd say it's time to get this party started!" Petrel declared as he pointed at us.

"Beedrill, ATTACK!"

"Riolu, GO!" I cried out as the swarm of Beedrill charged us.

"""GO!""" I heard all three of the girls cry out as they too sent their Pokemon out to fight on the oncoming swarm.

"RI!" Riolu cried out as his fists lit with flames to deliver a series of powerful Fire Punches, readily drawing the attention of their alphas to himself to give the others more of a fighting chance.

"PipLUP!" Piplup cried out as it charged forward with its beak glowing to spam Peck, surprising me slightly as it spun in the air to hit its opponents like Sharpedo had against Brock's Aerodactyl.

"KEEEEEEEEEEN!!!" Combusken cried out as it charged forward while cloaked in flames, taking down as many of the opponents as it could, as quickly as it could.

We might be able to do this.

I couldn't help but to think that as I watched the girl's Pokemon fight, each one showing how much stronger they had gotten as well since arriving in Kanto.

Tropius was darting through the air at speeds that didn't suit its size, using flying type attacks to cut down as many Beedrill as possible. Baltoy was using its psychic type attacks to take out the Beedrill from the ground, which dealt significant damage against them due to their poison typing.

Misty's Pokemon meanwhile were combining their efforts with Pichu and Luxio, using water type moves to dampen as many of their opponents as possible before the two electric type Pokemon, along with Starmie, delivered them a 'shocking' defeat.

Delcatty and Glameow meanwhile were both darting too and fro amongst the enemy Beedrill, slicing at them with their claws and darting away before their opponents could retaliate.

Spheal was rolling around on the ground as it shot ice type attacks at the Beedrill, freezing their wings to send them crashing to the ground. Once there, Rosalia would lash them with her thorn covered whips, which also scattered spores to induce both sleep and paralysis.

Caterpie and Silcoon meanwhile were both perched atop the cave exit, where they were using the height advantage to spray String Shot at any passing Beedrill to slow them down. Or they were, until a Beedrill attacked them to land a hit on Silcoon , splitting her open.

Instead of blood though, light poured out of the split before a pair of wings blocked it off.

"F-f-flyyyyyyyy!" The newly evolved Beautifly cried out, before using one of her new moves to bring the battle to the Beedrill. Caterpie could only watch on longingly, desperately willing himself to evolve sooner.

"""Go Raticate!"""

"""Go Zubat!"""

"""Go Koffing!"""

"""Go Ekans!"""

Seeing their army of Beedrill being gradually pushed back, the group of Rockets all threw out their own Pokemon to join the battle.

"""Smog!"""

At their order, the Koffing proceed to flood the battlefield with poisonous gasses. I immediately reached for Vespiquen's Pokeball to have her disperse the gasses, but before I could I heard a low whistle on the air.

"What is that?" Petrel asked as he looked around warily.

"PIDGEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!!!"

With a great cry, Pidgeot finally arrived as he blasted right by us, creating a powerful draft of wind that blew away the haze of poisonous gases so everyone could breathe a little better.

"Bout time you showed up!"

"Geo!"

"Yeah? The scales around your beak say otherwise!" I shouted back to Pidgeot, making him awkwardly look away as he tried to dislodge the last of the red Magikarp scales covering his beak.

With the last of my powerhouses here at last, there was a notable turn in the tide of battle as Pidgeot took on the remaining Beedrill all on his own. This left the rest of our Pokemon open to take on the others sent out by the Rockets.

But I wasn't going to just stand around and watch them have all the fun.

"Guess it's our turn, Petrel." I called out to the executive who'd ambushed us, making him whirl around to look at me in alarm.

I then started stripping off my upper layer of clothes, starting with my jacket and ending with my weighted vest. Then went the weighted wristbands, before I peeled off my weighted boots and socks.

Now I was standing there in nothing but my pants as I hopped in place a little to get used to the difference in weight.

"Damn it! Get ready!" Petrel swore while ordering the the rest of his Rockets to prepare for combat.

I bounded forward on the balls of my feet, rocketing towards the Rockets as the Pokemon battling around me became a blur.

I immediately centered my vision on the largest of the group, a brutish looking man who had already readied his baton, and was even bending it while grinning in anticipation of the coming fight.

"Pft!" I snorted at the man as I darted right at him.

He flexed his muscles threatening and raised his baton as I approached. "Die puny little man!"

Before he could bring his baton down though, I rushed forward as quickly as possible and planted my aura enhanced fist into his chest.

*boom!*

The giant man was sent flying back to crash into a tree, where he crumpled to the ground and didn't get back up.

"One down." I smirked at the rest of the Rockets, who were all staring at me fearfully now.

"Well don't just stand there. He's only one man." Petrel stated to them as he pulled out his own baton, which crackled with electricity as he pressed the button on it.

Soon I was surrounded by the sound of crackling as all of the Rockets turned on their batons, but all I did was smile.

I quickly darted at a couple of Rockets who were close together, and swung at me at the same time. I could tell they weren't too well trained yet since it was an exaggerated swing that left them both full of openings, which I used to swiftly take them down.

By that point another group of Rockets had closed in on me, trying to use me focusing on the first two to their advantage. And while normally five on one would be difficult, I wasn't normal.

Once the group was close enough I swung around while swinging my arm out in a wide punch. The scene probably looked funny to the surrounding Rockets, up until a large amber colored fist formed that hit all five of them and sent them flying.

I sensed another Rocket trying to attack me from behind while I was focused on the front, so I jumped in the air and did a front flip while kicking my leg out. My foot caught him under his chin and knocked him silly, making him teeter on his feet for a moment before collapsing into the dirt.

"RAAAAAAA!!!" Screamed one Rocket as he charged with his baton held high, but a quick kick to his wrist immediately disarmed him, before I delivered a punch to his solar plexus that made him crumple.

"Hey Petrel..." I called the Rocket executive suddenly without even bothering to look back at the guys rushing me.

"What's the point of a secret training facility when you don't even properly train people there?" I asked while taking out another group with minimal effort.

That made Petrel's brow twitch noticeably as I continued beating his men with ease. As I said, amongst humans, I was a monster.

It helped me too that they were all disorganized and uncoordinated, with only a few amongst them even trying to work together to take me down. The only ones worth mentioning were those who obviously had a history fighting for survival, as they took a couple hits to go down instead the one that the other guys took.

Finally the last guy went down, and I glanced to the side to see that Riolu and Pidgeot were cleaning up the few remaining Pokemon as well. So, I turned towards Petrel and said,

"Guess what! Its your turn Petrel!"

His expression quickly morphed into one of panic as I began to slowly approach him, as he began backing away hurriedly before tripping and falling over a root.

I reached down an picked up a handful of small rocks as I watched him dig through his own bag.

"Get me out of here Abra!" Petrel cried out as he took out a Pokeball, but before he could activate it I threw a rock at him.

The rock hit the Pokeball out of Petrel's hand before he could open it, and it stayed shut as it rolled away from him.

"No running this time." I told Petrel while tossing the rest of the rocks in my hand up and down casually.

I could see the fear rising in Petrel's aura as he tried to scramble away, though the Pokeball was too far for him to get to. So instead he reached for something else, and pulled out a radio this time.

"This is-"

*crash!*

The radio was the next thing to get knocked out of Petrel's hand as I threw the next rock, smashing it up on contact as well to render it useless.

"No calling for help either." I said while letting the rest of the rocks fall from my hand.

By this point Petrel leapt to his feet and tried to make a run for it, but I instantly caught up to him before grabbing and pinning him to a nearby tree.

"Now then, let's talk Petrel." I growled at him, fully intending to use this situation to gain as much intelligence from him as possible. I knew for a fact that, as an executive, Petrel would be privy to numerous secrets Jessie wasn't.

"O-ok. Let's be civil here." He said slowly, obviously trying to force himself to remain calm in this situation.

"My civility depends on how much my new 'friend' wants to share. So, how about it?" I asked with a fake smile plastered on my face.

"W-well... How about-" Petrel began as he probably tried to think on what information. I'd like to hear, but then something happened.

"!!!"

A strange sensation suddenly passed through my body out of nowhere. I couldn't see what caused it, but whatever it was was enough to make my hair stand on end.

"What was that?" May asked back by the cave entrance, telling me they had all felt it too.

The only one who didn't seem at all confused about the strange sensation was Petrel, who suddenly regained his confident demeanor. Just as I was about to ask what he was confident about though...

"We'll be there shortly." A voice suddenly declared, INSIDE my head. And it was a voice I think I recognized.

Immediately I released my hold on Petrel as my hands began to shake and grow clammy, while my guts felt as if they had instantly been liquified and frozen.

"..."

A single word escaped my lips in horror, a word that made Petrel's eyes widen in shock, but I ignored him. He was my very last concern now.

"GET BACK TO THE CAVE!" I roared out to the girls and our Pokemon as I turned on my heel and took off at a dead sprint. It was the only plan I could think of. But it was still infinitely better than staying right here with what was coming.

"Ace? What was that?"

"What's going on?!"

Dawn and Misty both asked me worriedly, but I didn't have time to answer their questions.

"JUST GET YOUR POKEMON AND GET BACK TO THE CAVE!" I roared back at them, surprising all three of the girls since I had never yelled at them before. But we needed to hurry.

And with them moving so slowly as they recalled their Pokemon, I proceeded to scoop all three girls up in my arms as I took them to the caves.

"Wait! Piplup!!" Dawn exclaimed as I turned back to see the little blue penguin hurrying towards us tearfully.

"You go, I'll get her!" I told Dawn as I set them all down, and sprinted back to get Piplup, the feeling of foreboding increasing within me with every passing second.

"PipLUP!" Piplup exclaimed indignantly as I picked her up, annoyed with being left behind.

"I'll hear it later!" I told her as I tried to get back to the cave.

*WHOOSH!*

There was suddenly an explosion of power behind me that almost made me freeze in place, though I had enough control to chuck Piplup at Dawn as hard as I could before a concussive blast hit me in the back.

"PIPLUPLUPLUPLUPLUP!!!!" I heard Piplup scream as she flew through the air. Though I only barely registered that as I face planted into the dirt from the force of the blast.

Even after the concussion passed I was unable to lift myself up as a unbearable pressure bore down onto me, to which I could only just barely roll over to see what was happening above.

The entire sky had been dyed with a dark bluish-purple as a massive vortex had been opened up, from which hundreds of Beedrill were pouring out of. But they were Beedrill the likes of which I had never seen.

On top of being attired in robotic battle gear, they were of sizes and colors that one would normally never see with Beedrill.

Several were large enough to put even alphas to shame, or possessed different modifications like larger or more stingers or wings. Meanwhile most possessed malicious looking carapaces of black and red, or noxious purples and pinks.

I immediately knew that Team Rocket must've made genetic modifications on them thanks to this 'true Alpha' or whatever.

But even that thought was put on the back burner when compared to the being floating there amongst the army of Beedrill.

It was a humanoid with light purple skin and a thick tail extending from its backside, though much of its body was similarly covered in robotic armor. But I knew exactly what it was, even as it stared right at me.

"Mewtwo...!"