The Battle of Saffron

(This will be a long battle which will involve every evil Gym Leader and any trainer who can get into Saffron. That said, let's begin)

The day had come. The town of Saffron was busy with black suited men and women running around in a scramble. This was an important moment, and it seemed they had everything that they needed. Aki was within Silph Co. the company that made the Pokeballs as well as other trainer products. She sat in the President chair as if she were in charge. They had taken over the Silph Co some time ago, but what was the purpose?

Akio yawned lightly as he awoke in Celadon City. He'd went back to Fuchsia City to return the bike to Meladii, but she wasn't there. From there, he trained with Sierra. The note he had received troubled him, and today was the day mentioned on the note. He sighed lightly as he looked at all his Pokeballs. "I dunno what's gonna happen from here, but I hope that we're all ready."

"I'm assuming everything's going as planned, Aki?" Koreik said as he walked up to the Gym Leader. "Have you seen Meladii? She's not in her room right now."

"Yeah..." Siera said as looks over at the abandoned Celedon Gym. "I really hope you're wrong about this, Akio..."

Meanwhile, a familiar boy walked past them, looking at a map as a rather large dog walked next to him. "Four ways to Saffron...all of them are blocked off.."

Aki yawned lightly as she turned to him, seeming quite bored, or tired. One or the other. "I honestly couldn't care less about her," she said coldly. "If she hasn't yet returned Articuno then I can easily have it come to me. That said, I really have no use to someone who can't defeat a single boy in a battle against a Pokemon god."

"Guess you couldn't find that Aki girl," Akio said as he crossed his arms. "We can't really worry about it, though. We need to get to Saffron and find out what's gonna happen there." He looked outward as he spoke, seeing a familiar boy and an unfamiliar dog. Hey, is that... Zeiro? HEY, ZEIRO!"

"Yes but...Doesn't Articuno still have the prototype Collar?" Koreik asked. "That could prove quite troublesome." HE blinks in thought before glancing at Aki. "Speaking of prototypes, is that Master Ball finished?"

"Huh?" Zeiro blinks and turns around to see Akio. "Oh, Akio. Fancy seeing you here." At the sound of its trainer's name being called, the dog turns around and moves in front of him, growling at Akio.

Aki turned her chair lightly and said, "You'll have to talk to the Silph scientists about that, but I made sure they understood it needed to be done today. I've been working on the other device we'll be using." She moved her hand from her sleeve, pulling out a square, red item. "Straight from the creator himself, a modified Pokedex with enhanced analysis abilities."

Akio stopped with his hands raised as he said, "Hey, what's with the new Pokemon? And what're you doing here anyway? I didn't really expect it... unless you gave me that note before!"

"Oh?" Koreik's eyes raised slihgtly at the small object. "So you were successful. I shouldn't have doubt your abilities, but I didn't expect you to finish within this small time period as well as only looking through that kid's pokedex."

"Easy, Arcanine, it's ok." Zeiro reassured his pokemon. The dog pokemon eased down, then turned to its traienr and licked him in the face. Wiping the saliva off his face, Zeiro looks up at Akio with a slightly confused face. "I never sent you any note...The last time I saw you was in Cerulean. Speaking of which...what are you doing here?"

"Even I couldn't duplicate it with just that much," Aki said as she took back the device. "I was able to get the blueprint straight from the source, and he's still here of course. Professor Oak is in the basement forcefully awaiting his release. It took a Dream Eater to get the information, butit was worth it."

Akio blinked lightly and said, "You didn't huh? Well, I heard Team Rocket was gonna do something in Saffron today. I came with my friend Sierra. We're gonna try and stop it, but she's been looking for her friend, a Gym Leader here named Aki."

Koreik sighed, shaking his head. "And here I thought I found new respect for you...So that's why you wanted the grunts to head to Pallet Town."

Zeiro visibly twitched at the mention of Aki before turning his head. "You mean that Rocket witch? Let's just say I've had the PLEASURE of having a nice, long chat with her...by force, of course."

Siera's eyes widen as she took a step closer. "T-That's not true! Aki's not a part of Team Rocket!" She glances to the floor. "...She can't be..."

"Don't down talk my talents so quickly," Aki said as she turned to him, now getting angered. "Don't forget that I had to get the information of of him and make the device myself. All in a day at that. It too the Professor years to make it, and I made a better one in less than 24 hours, so don't start with me!"

"Wait, you saw her?" Akio said before he turned to Sierra. "This is what we wanted to find out, right? Zeiro, can you tell us a little about what happened? I came here to help you before, but I don't think I saw any Gym Leaders, and I still don't get what's happening here."

"I can tell you that..." a voice said as a man with a white karate robe started waling from the Saffron gateway over to them. "I've heard of you kids and what you want to do... I can't just let you pass."

"Wait till it explodes..." Koreik muttered under his breath before crossing his arms. "At any rate, what else is there to do? I'm getting rather bored of this conversation...no offense."

"Why should I tell you anything?" Zeiro turns to Akio and glares at him. "After all, I doubt it'll make any difference. You'll figure it out once you get to Saffron."

Siera flinched at his harsh tone, hiding behind Akio as she peeked over his shoulder. Zeiro turned behind him to see the man, grabbing one of his pokeballs as his Arcanine growled threateningly. "Who are you? What do you want wit hus?"

"Do what you want," Aki snapped, turning again. "Better yet, check on the Master Ball process. We are going to need it, and making people fear you is kind of your thing."

"If you want to reach Saffron City, you must go through me," he said as he lifted his hands and revealed two Pokeballs. "Hitmonchan! Hitmonlee! To battle!" As he said that, he threw the balls and two human-like Pokemon appeared. One was a boxer and the other had very long legs. Akio glared lightly as he placed his hand onto one of his Pokeballs.

"If you really want a fight, then you just found one," Akio called out.

"I'll take that as a complement." Koreik replied as he walked off. "All right, I'll go do just that."

"Hmph. Fighting Pokemon." Zeiro flipped out his Pokedex, scanning both pokemon quickly before retreating it back into his jacket pocket. "Arcanine!" Arcanine barked as it stepped up. "Stay out of my way, Akio. Arcanine, Extremespeed!" Without giving the opponent any warning, Arcanine rushes towards Hitmonchan.

"Mach Punch!" the man called out as Hitmonchan rushed at Arcanine with almost equal speed, moving its fist to attack the foe. Arcanine was faster though, hitting first, but the punch did also connect, with reduced power.

Akio threw a Pokeball of his own, revealing his Wartortle. He pointed at the Hitmonlee and yelled out, Ice Beam, go!" The Pokemon answered back by firing a blue beam of energy at the long legged Pokemon. "Hi Jump Kick!" the man responded, commanding his Pokemon to go into the air and attack Aqua from above. The turtle went into its shell and the kick hit the shell completely. "Now, Rapid Spin into Ice Punch!"

The shell started to spin quickly, causing Hitmonlee to lose its balance and allowed his arm to extend and punch Hitmonlee in the leg, causing it to freeze from the knee. "You two are, indeed strong..." Hitmonchan, Thunderpunch! Hitmonlee, Rolling Kick!"

The Thunder Punch seems to connect with Arcanine. However, ARcanine faded away as if what Hitmonchan hit was an illusion.

"Arcanine is much faster than your pokemon." Zeiro declared as he poitns at the pokemon. "Aerial Ace!"

From Hitmonchan's blind spot, ARcanine jumps up, extending its paw at the fighting pokemon before dealing a deadly Flying attack that cannot be missed.

"Dodge and use Hydro Pump!" Akio called out. As he did, the turtle moved under the Pokemon's kick, an easier feet than usual as his leg had been frozen partially and his speed decreased. As that happened, a powerful burst of water came from the mouth of Aqua, hitting Hitmonlee at the same time Hitmonchan was hit. Both Pokemon fell, defeated at the same time.

"I see... so you ARE strong enough," he said as he returned the two Pokemon, his eyes closed. "Let me explain. I am Bruce, the Leader of the Saffron Gym. At least I was until a Psychic trainer defeated me and took ownership of the Gym in my stead. When I discovered that trainer was a member of Team Rocket, I knew I had to do something to stop them. However, I am not strong enough to defeat that person, but you two just might be. I cleared the gate to Saffron from here so you can take it. I merely needed to know if you could handle the fight."

Arcanine steadied itself and barked at Bruce's comment. Zeiro sighed, scratching his head. "At any rate, we better hurry..." HE turns to Akio and Siera. "As for you..." He points at Siera who flinches. "It's your choice whether or not you want to go...just know that what came out of my mouth is the truth." With that said, he heads towards the gate.

Siera whimpered as he peeks out behind Akio's back. "W-What should I do...?"

Akio turned to her as he held out his Pokeball and called out, "Good work, Aqua." The turtle returned to the ball and Akio then turned his focus to Sierra. "I'm going there," he said to her. "I wanna make sure that Pokemon can live with people as partners, so I can't let Team Rocket do whatever they want anymore. I can't ask you to come with me, but I think you should find out about these guys for yourself. Just because your friend is in Team Rocket, doesn't make her a bad person."

"One moment," Bruce said to Akio. "I was going to offer this to both of you, but the other boy already left. My prized Fighting Pokemon. I want you to have them and use them to defeat Team Rocket." He held out two Pokeballs, different from the ones he himself used, but holding within the same two Pokemon, Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee. "Please, chose one as you see fit..."

"Ohh....." Siera was confused on what to do. After much mental debate, she shook her head and gave Akio a determined face. "I'll go! I need to see this for myself! Besides, if Team Rocket keeps doing these bad things, then what will become of the pokemon?!"

Akio smiled with a nod to Sierra, happy to see she was coming along. He took one of the Pokeballs from Bruce and said, "I won't let you down!" With that, he ran off to meet Zeiro.

The gateway was filled with Team Rocket members on the ground. It was definitely the site of a battle. Akio ran ahead to catch up to Zeiro. "Hey, wait up! Zeiro, what's the hurry! We don't even know what they're doing!"

"That's exactly why we need to hurry." Zeiro said sternly sa Siera caught up with the two boys. He continued to walk a fast pace towards the gateway, returning his Arcanine to its pokeball. "The longer we wait, the closer they'll be to achieving their goal."

"And just what the heck IS that goal?" Akio said as he was trying to keep up with the hurried Zeiro. "You obviously know more than what you say, and you've gotta know you can't do it alone. I know, I've tried. Just tell us what's going on so we can know what we're up against!"

"I DON'T know what's going on, ok?!" Zeiro stopped and shouted at Akio. "All I know is that they've captured these three legendary birds and something WILL happen if we just stand around here like a bunch of idiots playing the Question Game! Does that answer your question?!" With that outburst said, he turns around and dashes inside Saffron.

Akio back away for a moment from his sudden outburst. He walked forward and said, "Okay, I get it, its bad. Funny that I didn't see those Legendary Birds though..."

Inside Saffron, Aki yawned lightly, looking at a monitor that showed Zeiro, Akio, and Sierra all entering the city through the gate. She pressed an intercom button and said, "All Team Rocket members, there are three pests on their way into town. Don't let them through!" Many Team Rocket members began to scramble, making their way out of the building and making a perimeter at the entrance and around the City.

"You saw it, you idiot. Remember Zapdos? I believe he's one of them." Zeiro grunted as he throws out a pokeball. "Gyarados! Hydro Pump them!" The mighty water pokemon roared out before letting a giant blast of water at the Team Rocket Grunts. "At any arte, no more questions or you're gonna be used as a fly swatter for these grunts."

As AKi made that annoucement, Koreik finally made his way to the Silph Co.'s science lab where the men were creating the Master ball. "How is it going?" he said calmly and innocently. "Is the Master Ball almost done?"

"Oh, right!" Akio said as he threw a Pokeball. "I'll try out the Pokemon I just got. Lee, Rolling Kick!" A long legged fighting Pokemon came out of the ball, spinning and kicking the nearby Rockets with a roundhouse kick a piece. "Sierra, go on in while we take these guys!"

One of the scientists cleared his throat and said, "We've almost completed it, sir. However, there is still one thing that eludes us. The capture net we'll need to create the ball must be stronger than anything a Pokemon can use to break it. We haven't been given a material like that we can use to make the net, only the material mined from Mt. Moon can be used for the ball itself."