Showdown with Lt. Surge

“Let's go.” Machine whispered as Mr. Chairman wished the three of them good luck. Machine, Hakel, and Kusa, after finally receiving a Poke Ball Strap to hook their Pokeballs onto, headed out to where a large, cruise line ship sat, bobbing in the water. They all ducked behind a few barrels where the three of them saw a light on in one of their window's.

The moon was the only thing besides that that, lit up the city. Machine stared up at the moon for a few seconds as the figure in the window started to move. Machine, Hakel, and Kusa then reviewed the plan once more before seeing a few Team Rocket grunts with guns that were strapped to both of their arms. The gauntlet would send high pressure of sounds outward but they had not actually been tested. Machine nodded to Hakel, as he took on step one of the plan.

Hakel, taking two Pokeball's out from his Poke Ball Strap, tossed them both into the water. Watortle and Pidgeotto burst out of the capture devices. Hakel landed on top of Pidgeotto and nodded to Wartortle as it dove underwater and Pidgeotto flew high into the air above the what he thought was the S.S. Anne. He looked down at the dark ship and saw that no one was on the main deck. He pointed down at the deck as Pidgeotto nodded and swiftly landed on the deck. They rolled away from the main side and put their back's to a wall where a conversation was beginning to take place.

“Lt. Surge, sir, the three Trainers have been spotted...” The Team Rocket grunt said as Lt. Surge laughed evilly, his voice raspy and old from years of aging.

“Excellent. Have preparations been made to capture them and deliver them to the boss?” Lt. Surge asked, as the grunt nodded. “Very nice. Now, go out on the boat and scout the land around Vermillion. I know they're here, I can feel it!” The grunt nodded and ran down to a lower deck where he told the grunts to find the Trainers that had been giving them so much trouble.

Hakel gulped hard, not expecting them to find them this quickly. Wartortle hopped up onto the deck and ran over to Hakel, as two grunts came by them. Hakel hopped out of his hiding place and gave Wartortle a signal to attack. Wartortle threw both of the grunts into the water and dove in after them. Wartortle took them out quickly and headed back to Hakel. Hakel then called Pidgeotto and Wartortle back to their Pokeball's and called out his newly owned Pikachu. Pikachu hopped up onto his side as he told him to jump onto the top of the building that Hakel had been hiding in the shadows of. Hakel then jumped up after it and scoped the area. They didn't spot anything except a few grunts running out to find Machine and Kusa.

The second part of the plan could be initiated. Machine was next up. Machine and his newly obtained Growlithe ran onto the boat, and by ducking and dodging behind corners, Machine made into the dining hall where he saw the most disturbing sight.

“Son of a bitch...” Machine said quietly, staring at the bodies that hung from the ceiling. Everyone of those bodies were dead, hanging as lifeless bodies. Team Rocket had killed all of the passengers on the S.S. Anne, leaving no one alive. Machine started to walk forward, but as he did, the bodies of the passengers started to move. They jumped all around him and stopped him from going anywhere, circling him. “Shit! Come out, everybody!” Machine called out the rest of his Pokemon that had been stashed in their Pokeball's. They all looked grimly at the situation, ready to fight against this horde of zombies.

Machine told his Pokemon to attack with whatever they could, and make a way for Machine to get to the final room, the bridge. Eventually, Machine was able to get to the bridge but as soon as he opened the door, a giant missile came at him. Machine and his Pokemon jumped back out, barely dodging the explosion as it crashed into the door. The man that had fired the missile came out and revealed himself to be a simple Team Rocket grunt. But, when Machine looked at him twice, he noticed this grunt's eyes were rolled to the back of his head. He was dead as well being controlled by something in the ship. He fired another missile from his launcher, sending Machine and his Pokemon flying backwards into one of the table that was laden with blood.

He got back up quickly as Machine looked at his two fastest Pokemon, Vulpix and Growlithe, “Vulpix, Growlithe, go take that dead guy down! Agility!” They both growled ferociously, charging at the man with the missile launcher in his hands. He pointed his missile launcher at Vulpix and Growlithe, but they were able to dodge every attack, too quick for the zombie to move. “Vulpix, Growlithe, now! Ember!” Vulpix and Growlithe appeared behind him and sent a short stream of powerful fire from their mouth's, sending him falling to the ground. He dropped the missile launcher as his body faded into existence, leaving only bones in his defeat.

Charmeleon crushed the weapon easily as Machine and his Pokemon stepped forward, to the last room in the ship. The lights were flickering in the room but, at least, they were still on. It wasn't bright, but Machine could still see the area around him. As he stepped into the bridge and walked forward, the door shut behind him as they all turned around quickly. A familiar, evil face stood behind them, laughing in triumph. “You've finally come, Machine...” The person said, hiding in the dim light in the room.

“Who the hell are you? And how do you know my name?” Machine asked, getting ready for battle letting Sandshrew stepped forward to fight.

“You don't remember me, Machine?” The person asked finally stepping into the light where Machine could see him. Machine and his Pokemon stepped back in fright and disgust seeing that Rai had sold his soul to join Team Rocket. He had the outfit and everything on. “Ah, I see by your surprised face that you do remember me... How do you like my new outfit?”

“Rai, you joined Team Rocket?! How the hell could you do that?” Machine asked, as Rai laughed menacingly.

“Stop being such a damn idiot. That shit is going old.” Rai said, confusing Machine. “You should know, Machine! I don't like playing the hero!”

“Is that why you joined this organization?” Machine asked angrily. “Come on, Rai, we may not have got along much but we were classmates!”

“Yes, but I never respected you as my equal.” Rai responded, pulling out his own Pokeball. “Even when you got your first, I still didn't you nor that bastard Hakel could ever be like me. That's why I dropped out of that damn Academy, for good. It wasn't doing nothing for me and after you two humiliated in front of your annoying friend, Kusa, I decided to do it. I decided to join Team Rocket! I wanted my own Pokemon and I wanted to be truly accepted! I wanted to kill you and Hakel for what you did to me!”

“For what we did? You were the one that teased us, bullied us, and treated us like crap! You ever hear that saying, Karma's a bitch? Well, maybe you shouldn't have treated us like shit for all those years, you punk ass bitch!” Machine said obviously condescendingly.

“You're still looking down on me! Stop doing that! It pisses me off!” Rai ordered, tossing his Pokeball up and down on his palm.

“Admit it, Rai! The only reason you feel like we look down on you now is because you can't defeat us anymore! And the fact that you joined Team Rocket is one less reason to let you live anymore!” Machine shouted back, stunning Rai. He had never seen Machine so angry at anyone, especially him. “You're about to sell your soul to an organization that is going to destroy the world! Their boss is ruthless, I could tell after I beat one of your elite's! Team Rocket's boss is going to kill everyone in his way, even if it means killing himself in the process.”

“You know nothing about what our boss is going to do. You have no idea what he's capable of. He could wipe you out in the blink of an eye. If you would have chosen to join, this could have been avoided, Machine. But now, I must be the one to kill you.” Rai said, as he finally made his Pokeball grow larger. “Remember that Pokemon I stole in the Red Star Academy! Well, since I became part of Team Rocket, I was able to catch me, my own! Go, Dragonite!” Machine watched as a gigantic Dragonite exploded from the white light and knocked back Machine and his Pokemon. They flew through a few contraptions without knocking them unconscious.

“Damn it, a Dragonite! They must really be desperate!” Machine shouted as Dragonite came at them again, knocking them all through the air. Dragonite then slammed its fist into Machine once more, knocking him through the bottom of the boat, into the water below. Rai smiled menacingly as Machine began to drown, his head knocking against several rocks. He could barely see anything anymore but he could feel something coming towards him. It was a large Pokemon, about the size a Charizard. The Pokemon quickly picked him up and burst out of the water, dropping Machine onto the deck. “Huh?” Machine soon came to and saw that all of his Pokemon had evolved at the same time. Dragonite was stunned by one of them, standing by, feeling the pain that it had received.

Charmeleon had evolved into a Charizard, and was standing by Machine, protecting him with its own wings. Machine's Sandshrew, now a Sandlash walked over to him and smiled. What Machine found really strange was the fact that his Vulpix, Growlithe, and Eevee had evolved. It made no sense because they needed Firestone's to evolve. But then, Machine finally realized it. Because of the fact that all of Machine's Pokemon evolved at once, they all must have been exposed to the same rays as the evolutions had. This would have forced Vulpix to evolve into a Ninetales, Growlithe to evolve into a Arcanine, and Eevee into a Flareon. Machine smiled and stood back up to his feet, leaning on Charizard, coughing a bit of blood from his mouth.

“Rai, you are so done.” Machine said as Rai scoffed, his huge Dragonite stepping forward to face all of Machine's Pokemon at once.

“Please, just because your Pokemon evolved at once, doesn't mean they're ANY stronger. They just looked tougher.” Rai said, confident that he could win this fight with just his Dragonite.

“Is that so?” Machine asked as his Pokemon appeared around Dragonite in a flash. “Well, let's see how you deal with this!”

“Dragonite, Hyper Beam on all of his Pokemon!” Rai ordered, panicking in distress.

“Not today! Charizard, Arcanine, Ninetales, and Flareon! Use Flamethrower!” Machine ordered as all of his fire Pokemon released a torrent of burning hot flames onto Dragonite, sending a scorching blaze around him. Dragonite was burned heavily but it was still standing on its feet. As the flame burned brightly around him, Machine held up his hand shouting, “Sandslash, go! Finish this fight with a full power Slash!” Sandslash ripped through Dragonite's body sending him flying backwards in defeat. Rai called his Pokemon back to its Pokeball. Machine did the same, glaring at Rai as he ran over to him. He grabbed onto his collar before he run away and held him there.

“Machine, don't do anything rash! I'll quit Team Rocket, I swear! I really have learned my lesson, I swear!” Rai said, as Machine sighed and shook his head.

“Rai, you've become pathetic. How did someone that bullied me only a few days ago, become like this. It's sad. Now, I can finally reveal to you that I was holding back my real strength when you beat my ass that day.” Machine lifted his arm and slammed his elbow into Rai's stomach sending him flying into the sky. He fell unconscious, falling into the water, far away from Vermillion City. Machine fell onto his back, exhausted by the fight that had just gone on.

However, as he closed his eyes, someone was tossed on top of him, unconscious as well. This, coinciding with the pain that Dragonite had caused him before, knocked him out. Kusa lay on top of him sideways, as Lt. Surge slammed his foot into their backs, causing more pain to them while they weren't even awake.

“Hey, bastard!” Hakel shouted as Lt. Surge turned around, smiling evilly up at his last enemy, ready to take him down as well. “Cut the shit with my friends!” He jumped down from where he was standing, as Lt. Surge kicked Machine and Kusa's unconscious bodies to the back of the deck. Hakel called his Ponyta, glaring at Lt. Surge. “Who the hell do you think you are?!”

“Well, I think I'd be Lt. Surge and I think I'd be the one who is about end your life, Hakel.” He introduced himself, in a rather idiotic way. “And nothing you and your little Ponyta can do will stop me.”

“How do you know if I didn't try yet? Team Rocket has shown us a poor sport so far, you don't seem any different, Surge!” Hakel shouted as Lt. Surge laughed, giving him a threatening look.

“Look, I don't give a damn who you are and why you have screwing with our plans for the past couple days but it's pissing the boss off. And because I am one of the Elite's of Team Rocket, I must take you three out or into custody! I truly prefer the first option.” Lt. Surge said, raising his eyebrows at Hakel.

“Screw you, you're just like everyone else we've come across! Cocky, selfish, and evil! You don't have anything left and it's so damn tiresome! Let's go, Surge, bring out your Pokemon! Ponyta, charge forward!” Hakel ordered as he jumped onto its back. It let out its signature cry and charged forward, burning the ship's floor once more. Hakel patted Ponyta and told it to keep going, as Hakel jumped off of his Pokemon into the air. Lt. Surge let out his Raichu and told it to attack, slamming Ponyta into one of the ship's walls. Hakel went straight for Lt. Surge, slamming his fist into Lt. Surge's cheek. Lt. Surge grabbed him and threw him out to see where Hakel took out another one of his Pokemon. “Pidgeotto, come out!” Pidgeotto came out and soared through the air, tearing back towards Lt. Surge.

Lt. Surge threw another one of his Pokeball up into the air, just as Ponyta kicked Raichu away with his Double Kick. Raichu stopped itself and slammed its head into Ponyta, driving it towards the edge of the boat. Ponyta let loose a giant burst of fire at Raichu's head, knocking it backwards again. Raichu then released a gigantic blast of electricity at Ponyta, which it barely dodged, scratching its leg a bit. Raichu then drove its head into Ponyta once more, throwing it to the ground.

The Pokeball that Lt. Surge had released beforehand, popped out as Hakel drove his leg into Lt. Surge's shoulder. Lt. Surge caught the young Trainer's leg, grabbing him from where he was flying. Lt. Surge's Magneton chased after Hakel's Pidgeotto, as they fought airborne, slamming against one another although Pidgeotto was taking the most damage. Hakel tried to fight Lt. Surge with martial arts but it was no use. Lt. Surge was just too fast and too strong for Hakel.

Several times over, Lt. Surge was able to stun Hakel long enough for him to another command to his Pokemon. Hakel then forced himself to throw an uppercut up at Lt. Surge, knocking him backwards. Hakel came at him again and this time, it was much stronger. Lt. Surge saw it coming and grabbed Hakel's arm and snapped it, breaking one of his arms. Lt. Surge then gave a few explosively powerful kicks to Hakel's stomach. He flew backwards, battered with bruises and cuts. Pidgeotto and Ponyta fell next to him, defeated by their adversaries. Hakel pressed a button as Lt. Surge closed on him with his Raichu and Magneton, calling Pidgeotto and Ponyta back to their Pokeball's. Hakel believed it was all over until something unexpected happened.

Lt. Surge picked Hakel up and started to deliver the final blow but a large blast of water smacked into his back throwing him into the air. A Poliwrath then came out nowhere and delivered a powerful Mega Punch to Lt. Surge and his Pokemon, sending them splashing into the water. Hakel looked up and sighed, realizing that he had been saved. Just as he fell unconscious, he saw Red, Yellow, and Green come over and take him and the others away.