The Grey Journey

Chapter Fourteen

"Haunt! Keep the small fries away!" Grey yelled, before giving a curt nod to Norman. "Norman! Sucker Punch!"

"Rat-ta-ta!" the Rattata exclaimed, flickering out of sight as it threw a punch at the Growlithe of one of the officer Jenny.

"Koffing!" James yelled, "Poison Cloud!"

"Kof-fing!" the Koffing said, twisting in mid-air as the gas erupted from his pores. The police holding the Pokémon tower under siege began to cough visibly.

"This is Team Rocket, assaulting at the speed of light!" Jessie yelled, sending her Ekans to constrict a nearby Growlithe from another officer.

"If you don't want to die, get the hell out of my sight!" James continued.

"Meowth! That's right!" Meowth retorted.

All of them wore gas masks, to protect them against the Koffing's poisonous cloud.

"It's Team Rocket! Don't let them get in the tower!" another officer Jenny yelled, wracked by coughs as a waft of poison reached her nose. "You scum! Growlithe, use Flamethrower!"

"Grow-lithe!" the pokémon said, opening its mouth to unleash a stream of fire.

"Haunt! Dark Pulse!" Grey retorted, "Everyone, behind Haunt!"

"GEN-GAR!" the Gengar yelled, slamming a giant sphere of negative energy on the ground. The cars and motorbikes of the officers flew and twisted, while the police officers fell backwards. Behind Grey's Gengar, Koffing and Ekans stood, while Norman remained to the Gengar's side.

A Growlithe stood hesitantly on its feet, before Norman slammed against the canine pokémon and sent it back on the ground, its teeth ripping at the dog's throat to keep it down.

"Rat-ta-ta!"

"Let's do this quickly," Grey said, giving a nod to James and Jessie. "I'm going in. You keep everyone else outside."

"You sure about that, boss?" James said, eying the tower warily. "I mean, we did lose contact with the team inside."

"It's fine," he replied. "I have the full team with me, and Meowth, you're the extraction team, so prop up the balloon somewhere safe," with those words, he stepped inside the tower with the Gengar and the Rattata.

"Yes boss!" Jessie and James saluted, before turning around, pokéball in hand.

Meowth saluted too, "Meowth! I'm off!" he said, before scurrying away with a large backpack on his back.

The chill and the cold ran deeply down Grey's spine as he entered the tower. "Gen-gar," Gengar growled. His eyes flashed as he spun, before pointing his finger at a shadow on the nearby wall. "Gen-gar!"

"Haunter," a ghost pokémon emerged from the wall.

"Ghastly," another pokémon came from the floor above.

Grey clicked his tongue. "Make way, Haunt! To the upper floors!"

"GENGAR!" with a bellowing scream, Haunt charged ahead with Grey hot on his heels and Norman following, the minor ghosts rushing away at the sight of the Gengar.

Outside the tower, the Officer Jenny remained unconscious as James and Jessie moved them to the sides. "Growlithe fetch a nice price," Meowth said cheerfully, holding a bag with the pokémon within, back in their pokéballs, "A firestone and voilà, Arcanine!"

"Good job, Meowth," Jessie grinned. "Now let's get back to the balloon and prepare to get the boss out of there."

Elsewhere, Red and Leaf gazed at Sylph Co's entrance, sprayed with blood.

Ash, Misty and Brock had disappeared aboard the S.S Anna, which had then departed —without them, because the security threw them out.

As it stood, both trainers looked at one another with worry on their faces.

They were following Blue's tracks, and they led to the Sylph Co. The blood however…it didn't make sense.

There weren't police officers in sight either —as if the blood on the window panels was normal.

"Red," Leaf said quietly. "I don't like this."

Red looked at Leaf and then back at the doors, slightly ajar and broken. "Me neither," he took a deep breath, and then sent out his pokémon.

"Ivysaur!" the Ivysaur said, looking around with its wide eyes.

"Come out Wartortle," Leaf said, calling out her own pokémon. With his namesake cry, her pokémon came out too.

The two trainers nodded to each other, and then stepped through.

There was chaos.

The entrance of the Sylph Co. Corporation had once been pristine, with parquet and potted plants, comfortable sofas and a reception. Now, it was all in disarray as if someone had fought a bloody battle within it. A battle that had ended with the corpses of a Rattata and a man in Team Rocket uniform on the ground, covered in slashes. There was the acrid smell of burnt flesh.

Leaf screamed loudly at the sight of the Team Rocket on the ground, her eyes wide with fear.

"Leaf," Red said grimly. "Maybe we should call the police and—"

"No," Leaf shook her head. "Let's get to the bottom of this." She clenched her fists. "I'm not going to reach Grey if I run away from things like these."

"This isn't—"

"Red? Shut up and follow me," Leaf muttered.

Red hesitated, but between staying in the grim and bloodied entrance alone or following Leaf…he knew which of the two choices he preferred.

Meanwhile, as Red and Leaf entered Sylph Co, Grey was not having a good day.

Possessed Rocket grunts and their pokémon were stopping him at every turn, and if it weren't for Haunt's ruthlessness in pushing his hand through their body and crushing the Ghastly or Haunters within their bodies, he'd have stayed there for a week.

He didn't bother wasting time on more than his due. He had to reach the top of the tower; he had already forgotten Sabrina's words. It was as he reached the end of the tower, the last steps, that a ghostly image forced him back.

Large ethereal wings opened wide as a ghastly visage looked down with scorn at him.

Grey looked up, and clenched his fist.

"They wouldn't dare."

Dragonite roared —its ghost did.

"Seabreeze," Grey whispered. Haunt narrowed his eyes.

The Dragonite roared again, and another ghostly pokémon appeared. This was a Charizard.

"Charcoal," he muttered. "Does this mean…"

A Blastoise.

"Blaster."

A Venusaur.

"Vinny."

A Nidoking.

"King."

And finally, the last one appeared.

A Ghostly Persian.

"Perseus."

Grey looked at his old team.

"Why?" he asked.

Yet he received no reply.

His blood boiled.

"Why are you here?"

The ghosts barred his path.

"Stand aside," he snarled.

They did not move.

"Stand aside, or I will make you move."

The six pokémon he had battled the league with in his youth did not move. They eerily stood in front of him, growling and menacing to the point where even Gengar was starting to sweat.

"Fine then," Grey exhaled.

He looked straight at Perseus, his old Persian pokémon. "Let's battle this out."

He was going to wring Sabrina's neck by the time he was done here.

Not literally, of course…but he would definitely challenge her again.

Author's notes

And this chapter's out too.