He really didn't know how he got roped into this. All Zaffre had wanted was to finally cross the mountain, but now he appeared to be involved in some altercation with a criminal organization. He really wasn't cut out for this.
Since the entire group had decided to split into two and try and flank the underlings from the side passage, the two who had gone with him, the trainer Aarik and the breeder Latrio began their battle with multiple members in the opening to the main cave, leaving Zaffre to hold up the back. Unfortunately, this Team rocket had caught onto their clever plan and stolen it, as five more of the team came to try and attack them from behind, leaving them in a bad position and essentially surrounded, and thus leaving Zaffre no choice but to fight.
Of course, whatever code trainers normally adhered to seemed of no concern to the two who had tried to flank them, as Zaffre suddenly found himself accosted by six of the pair's team at once.
Frowning slightly, he glanced over the team he found himself against. Two Koffing and Rattata, an Ekans and a Machop. Both of them still have more to pull out too, and the room to maneuver here isn't the best... This could be rough. Gotta see if I can nullify the poison users first though.
"Shroom, Stun Spore, Lanturn, Thunderwave." He started, calling out the attacks just as the pokemon were released from their balls, before the Rocket members had time to react. The Thunderwave hit, causing the Koffing it had been aimed at to suddenly plummet to the ground, but the other managed to drift away from the sudden release of pollen. However one of the Rattata was not so lucky, making Zaffre painfully aware of how incredibly easy it would be to accidentally hit one of his other partners with the moves if he wasn't careful. As one of the rocket members ordered the Machop to start focusing energy while the other called for the remaining Koffing to unleash a Smog on the boy's entire party.
Zaffre suddenly wished he had a pokemon with gust, because he was decidedly going to avoid using such attacks purely because of how easy it was to turn such an attack on them. Still he had more important things to worry about, as he released the rest of his team. "Pecker, Fly, Cotton, Thundershock, Torch, Tackle!" He ordered, making sure to direct each attack to the appropriate target. The unimpaired Ratatta met the Cyndaquil's tackle head on, but ultimately the additional boost provided by his flames prevailed, sending the rat flying, straight into the now electrified Koffing. Both fell, heavily injured in no small part due to the increased electric power the magnet provided, but neither was quite done yet.
A fact soon rectified with a quick order to Chinchou to direct its bubble on the both of them. Unfortunately at that moment the Ekans caught Torch with a wrap attack, as both Machop and the impaired Rattata were ordered to take him down with a Low Kick and a Tackle. The rat pushed through paralysis and charged, as Zaffre gave his commands. "Shroom, Rock Smash. Torch, Tackle!"
The Ekans still holding the Cyndaquil in its coils quickly learned why doing so was a foolish tactic, as the flames on its back flared up again, seemingly more intense than before. Torch charged at the Machop, just as Paras effortlessly knocked the impaired Rattata flying with the exceedingly effective fighting move. Worried, both rockets tried to pull out their remaining partners as one of them called for the impaired Koffing to let out a smog, but thanks to the Thunderwave it still couldn't rise.
Before Machop and Torch could clash, Pecker descended, ramming into the Machop hard with a devastating flying attack. While not enough to do it in, the resulting impact from the fire pokemon's flame boosted charge was, as the heat finally proved enough to force the Ekans to release its grip. At the same time, the sudden flash of red light signified that the rocket members finally managed to get their partners out, but already Zaffre was ready for it.
"Pecker, Fury attack, Shroom, Scratch! Lanturn, bubble! Cotton, Thundershock!"
The bubbles washed over the released pokemon an instant before the electricity, magnifying the already devastating power of the attack, leaving a very fried ekans in blissful Unconsciousness. The Paras rushed to Torch's side, it's claws running through the very burnt snake the moment it was close enough, as the Spearow's Fury Attack devastated the disoriented Machop who had just been set loose. Realizing the Machop wasn't quite done yet, despite the incredible flurry of attacks from Pecker, Zaffre readied himself to end it.
"Torch, Ember!" The wave of flames that issued forth near engulfed the Machop, leaving it unconscious before the attack could even finish. Zaffre sighed in relief, pleased that the battle had gone far more easily than he'd thought. All they have left is a paralyzed Koffing, one or two attacks should take care of that real-
When he turned his gaze to where the Koffing had been to only be met with the malicious gaze of a different rocket and a Machop who had clearly just used a low kick, a horrible feeling of fear settled in his chest. A random bit of trivia he'd learned over his weeks of study suddenly came to mind. "Because Koffing stores several kinds of toxic gases in its body, it is prone to exploding without warning." It was the Chemical reactions he'd said, causing just enough heat to allow the entire creature to suddenly burst out with explosive force. "TOR-"
The paralysed Koffing the new Rocket's Machop had kicked into the path of the ember attack had only an instant to register the fear as the one errant speck of flame ignited the smog that naturally released from his body. Torch didn't hesitate for a moment, his back suddenly flaring as he turned, but as opposed to getting out of the path as quickly as he could he used the force to slam into the nearby Shroom hard enough to send it flying, away from the resulting explosion.
Zaffre himself felt the force of the blast, only able to watch in fear as his Cyndaquil was caught up in it. Mercifully, he still had enough momentum to get out of the worst of it and his fire resistance stemmed some of the damage, but clearly he was in bad shape. Before he could even think to return Torch to the safety of his ball, another two Ekans slipped out from under the ground, intent on finishing the fire type off. Paras however leapt to his defence, taking one of the attacks head on as Pecker blocked the other.
Regaining his composure, Zaffre ordered for Chinchou to use Thunderwave on the two ekans, hoping his position would allow his Paras and Spearow room to dodge, but this only made him miss the sneak attack by the two Rattata to land directly into Cotton's side, slamming it into the wall, right into the awaiting grasp of a third ekans. Before the researcher could grasp just what was going on, he caught sight of the Koffing above them, steadily and slowly releasing it's flammable poison into the area.
Three new rockets, apparently having pushed aside some stone to make another passage into the area, stood before him, each with a nasty expression on their face. The one with the Machop who'd sacrificed his colleague's partner spoke now, his tone mocking. "Honestly, you two couldn't even handle this kid? He's not even a trainer, look at him. We just devastated his entire team in one go. The boss is not going to be happy when he hears this let me tell you."
He'd seen this man's type before, a lot came to Oak also seeking to get ahead purely for the glory. However, whatever he thought of him, now wasn't the time. Torch was barely hanging on, and Mareep wasn't in good shape either. He glanced at the ekans, quickly realizing he'd only managed to nail one of them with the thunderwave. Considering this new load out wasn't all the three had, he was in a really bad mess now. Subtly, he set his pokeballs settings to autoreturn. He wasn't risking his partner's lives if this went bad, and given how carelessly they sacrificed that Koffing, he really wouldn't put it past them.
"Come on now, this shouldn't take too long. Look, that little fire rat is pretty much finished. Koffing, end it with a smog."
"DODGE!" Zaffre yelled, backing up slightly, amost wracked with indecision as he tried to figure out which orders to give firstas combat raged around him. Defiant to the last, the little Cyndaquil rose as the wave of poison was ushered forth, setting his back ablaze to push him forward, as at the same time it ignited the gas behind him. The flame spread quickly, and before he was going to let opportunity pass him by, the researcher gave out his next orders. "Cotton, Tackle! Lanturn, Flail!"
As his remaining partners grappled with the Machop and remaining Rattata, Koffing exploded, faster than his orders could be followed. But that didn't mean the flames remaining wouldn't hurt them. Even wounded and under the constriction of the Ekans, Mareep managed to charge, slamming hard into the paralysed Ekans enough to send it flying towards the inferno of smoke. The Chichou spun, its antennae slamming hard against the body of the Rattata, straight into the blaze. However at the same moment the other Rattata managed to slip by Pecker and slammed into Mareep again hard, causing it's legs to begin to buckle under its own weight.
The Rocket Grunt's expression soured as the three were taken out at once. "Come on now, you're just delaying the inevitable." He paused a moment, glancing at Torch, before another smirk came to his face. "Though I suppose you weren't quick enough."
Casting his gaze on his Cyndaquil, he noticed the tell tale rise of the purple mist. He'd been poisoned. Turning to his other partners, he quickly noticed Cotton buckling on its feet, as the Ekan's wrap attack continued. Things weren't looking good, he needed to get that snake off fast. "Thunder-"
"Tackle, Ratty!"
"Wrap, Snakey!"
He hesitated a moment too long as the singed and paralyzed ekans rushed for Torch despite its afflictions. At the same time the other two rockets had already started calling out more attacks. Cotton was still restricted, and though his Paras moved to try and stop the snake, it was stopped by a sudden kick from the Machop, as the singed Rattata tacked his Spearow in mid-air. Chinchou meanwhile got caught in a wrap from the other Ekans still on the field. Torch however didn't even turn, his back suddenly lighting up as he was engulfed by a sudden glow.
The Ekans didn't stand a chance as the flames engulfed it, practically blasting it away with sheer force. A sudden cry called Zaffre's attention to his Marreep followed his interrupted command and let the electricity build up around it, as a similar glow engulfed it as well. Evolution?
For an instant hope filled him as a Quilava and Flaffy stood where his Cyndaquil and Mareep had just been, with a now unconscious Ekans next to the pair. But then he noticed that though they looked in better condition, they were still in bad shape. And worse still, it seemed the poison was starting to take its toll. Still the cocky rocket member looked a little taken aback.
"Well isn't that lucky for you. Of course..." Two more Koffing were released onto the field, by the other two Rocket members, as he released his Rattata. Worse still, the other two ordered the poison balls to stay low to the ground, near enough to his party to make him nervous. Fire would be out of the question it seemed. "You still aren't winning this."
If Zaffre could get a potion to either of them he might have a chance, but as things stood there were too many to deal with at the moment and he'd likely get caught up in the middle of it. The enemy still had at least two more Pokemon left, and with two more Rattata, Koffing, and a Machop and Ekans to deal with, things weren't looking good. One shot then. He thought, glancing at the convenient smoke cloud left by the explosion of the two Koffing That's at least half of what I need right? So 7 more and I can devastate the lot of them.
Stealing his resolve, Zaffre gave out his first order. "Protect Torch, everyone." He said, calmly. "Until there's enough, make sure nothing gets through."
The rocket laughed. "He may have evolved, but he's still only running on fumes. Honestly, you scientists really do have no idea how battle works at all do you?"
Zaffre ignored him, meeting his gaze with his Quilava's determined eyes. "Torch, Smokescreen."
Smoke engulfed the fire type, condensing with the already large smoke cloud filling the area, shrouding the entire field of battle. He heard more than saw his party break off and surround Torch, intent on letting nothing get through until the preparations were done. Even with the smoke dispersing the Koffing's smog, fire's still out of the question, and I can't use lightning either till I'm done. I'll have to play defensively, if they separate the team and break them off I'm done for.
The rocket started to laugh harder. "That's your trump card? I guess that's why you lab types are never good in combat. Let me teach you something good."
The grunt's Machop started to build up energy as his Rattata charged straight into the smoke mass, straight for Torch. "Shroom!" Zaffre ordered quickly, "Rock smash!"
Shroom responded quickly, moving directly in front of the Rattata's tackle, claws ready to strike, but within the smoke shroud the rat pokemon dodged it, instead ramming into the insect hard, before darting moving back as the rest of the team moved to respond.
"Weak moves like that to reduce visability aren't reliable in combat, all they end up doing is wasting time. And in this small cave, moves like smoke screen are just going to affect your accuracy as well. Machop, Low Kick!"
The now charged Machop rushed in too, ready to deliver a devastating attack, as the two Koffing were ordered in to tackle Torch directly. Zaffre responded quickly. "Lanturn, Bubble, Cotton, Tackle, Pecker, peck!"
Though still being constricted by the Ekans, the Chinchou obeyed the order, a wave of bubbles washed over the three, but due to the poor visibility, both Koffing managed to avoid most of the onslaught, as the Machop too the brunt of it and kept going undaunted. Pecker however completely avoided the onslaught, as he swooped in and rammed into the Machop hard with its beak, sending it flying right back out of the smoke cloud, just as Flaffy rammed into one of the Koffing, the other moving on to only to miss entirely. The ekans however finally released Chichou only to aim at Flaffy this time with a bite attack.
The Rocket watched the proceedings in shock. "Now let me teach you something." Zaffre said, "A Spearow's natural ability is Keen eye, which no matter what keeps any loss of visibility from affecting it's accuracy. So even in that cloud, avoiding your attacks while making sure to hit you is simple. Also..."
The Rocket suddenly noticed his Rattata was giving off the same purple mist as the Quilava. "Poisoned?!"
"The natural ability of a Paras is effect spore, so if you attack directly there's a chance some of its spores will get on you."The Ekans gave off a sudden cry as paralysis suddenly took hold of it, forcing it to release the Flaffy before serious damage could be done. "Flaffy similarly has an ability called static, which paralyses your pokemon with direct contact. If you don't take this kind of information into consideration, your likely to find yourself overwhelmed at the wrong moment."
Torch's first release of smoke finished, painting the area around them with black. He couldn't even see the other two rockets on the other side, much less the pokemon still in the mass. However in terms of visability he still had the advantage, he just need to keep it for long enough. "Torch, again!"
Positively livid now, the Rocket yelled to his companions. "Attack all at once!"
Another rise of fear filled Zaffre, as he turned his gaze to the mass of smoke again realizing every one of the rocket's pokemon would be charging in before he had a chance to fully form it or more importantly pull the rest out. Even though that last wave had gone relatively well, if they started to coordinate now he didn't stand a chance. "Lanturn, Flail! Pecker, Fury attack! Shroom, Rock-"
Taking his gaze off the rocket had been his mistake. He'd been a little too caught up in how normal trainer battles worked and though these guys seemed to break the rules a bit, he didn't quite consider that the rocket would try attacking him at any point. The sudden fist knocked him to the ground, he felt the foot press hard against his head as the sounds of the entire team of the rocket's pokemon started to move.
"Don't you get it yet, you labrat? You aren't cut out for battle. Give up."
If he'd been able to see it, he would have known how well his team fought despite the sudden charge of the six enemies at once. The fury attack managed to hold off both the Koffing while Lanturn's flail met Machop's low kick, holding it back just enough for Cotton to ram into him with a tackle. Paras's Rock smash managed to knock one of the rat's aside, but it recovered quickly, and being much faster managed to twist around Shroom to break though. The other rat slipped by, now leaving both aiming for the Quilava still releasing the onslaught of smoke.
Torch lept back, right out of the smoke and into Zaffre's sight, despite one of his eyes being smashed against the rocks below. It's sudden worried glance at him however made the flame pokemon hesitate, just long enough for the Rattata's Hyper Fang to hit dead on.
Torch's eyes nearly went white for an instant as Zaffre's blood ran cold, the beeping of his pokeball signifying that his partner was in critical condition. In the smoke cloud things got worse, as the Ekans dig attack hit Lanturn head on, allowing the Machop just enough leeway to knock Flaffy aside and rush out of the smoke towards Torch, just as the second Rattata Paras had knocked away closed in for the kill as the poison started to take effect.
A miracle happened at that moment, a blast of electricity and water from the trainers still fighting behind him, likely sent purely to aid him between their own hard fights. The attacks knocked both the Machop and the Rattata away, back into the cloud. The sudden aid gave Quilava just enough time to focus everything into finishing the massive exhalation of smoke before the poison spreading through his body finally lost consciousness. His body faded into red as his critical condition activated the autorecall system.
"See," The rocket said, as the red light engulfed Torch, sending his unconscious body back into the ball on Zaffre's belt. "If you hadn't had a team of worthless pokemon, you might have actually been able to do something here. Well, maybe not entirely worthless." He said, suddenly reaching for the Quilava's ball as he pulled it from Zaffre's belt.
"This little guy is certainly worth stealing." He said with a smirk, pressing his foot down on Zaffre's head even harder as he casually tossed Torch's pokeball in the air to catch and grip it even more tightly in his vile grasp. "The rest of your little pals however not so much. Tell you what, if you tell them to retreat, we'll let them go, no need to send such a pathetic team down to the labs after all. Our science boys tend to be a lot more brutal than you lot. Just tell them to high tail it and we can get on our way to finishing off your little buddies."
He wasn't even paying attention to the mans words anymore, such a vile unnatural feeling was filling him. He hadn't quite realized it was possible to feel this angry. Certainly it was not at his partners, and not even at this rocket, but himself for letting Torch lose to such low level trash.
Of course, at that moment, he realized the sudden change in the battle field. The smoke cloud swelled unnaturally, the exact reaction he'd been studying with Torch on the field. Already? Zaffre felt another surge of pride at his original partner, it seemed even to the last, the fire pokemon would do everything in its power to drive the researcher to victory.
All he needed to do was to buy enough time to get everyone into position. "Shroom, Pecker, above, go."
The rocket crushed his head harder against the ground, but at this point he didn't even feel it, so focused he was on his plan. "Good thought, let them get out from here from the damage in the ceiling, but you might want to say it a bit louder." The rocket said, maliciously, as he pressed his foot down again. "I don't think they can hear you."
"Cotton..." Zaffre started, seeing his Spearow rise above the smoke cloud as his Paras scuttled up the rock wall. Lanturn would be fine, in fact after that dig he took, the following combo would be essential for victory. "Fall back."
As expected, the rocket wasn't the smartest, so it took him a moment to realize what the order entailed, so long in fact that he didn't manage to order his Rattata to try and stop him until the Flaffy was almost already out of the smoke.
"Hyper fang, Rattata!" He yelled, lifting his foot to stomp hard on Zaffre's head this time. Zaffre ignored it entirely, as the rocket's last pokemon charged towards the smoke cloud to stop Flaffy's advance.
"Jump, Cotton." He said, while motioning to Shroom with his fingers. Though this rocket was nearly tapped out, the other two clearly had at least one more pokemon left, and they probably wouldn't summon them until after this first gambit. A second plan was necessary, and mercifully one had already formed in his mind.
The Flaffy's evasion of the rat's hasty attack, couldn't have gone more perfectly, as it lept up, over the creatures head just as it rushed past, leaving it in the core of the smoke cloud, trying to turn around quickly. Unfortunately the two Koffing, apparently ordered by their masters on the other side to follow, were on their way out. Not fast enough though.
"Cotton, Thundershock."
The very instant the electricity met the massive cloud of smoke, the entire cavern they were in went up in a flash, devastating all the pokemon within in one fell swoop. As the rocket was knocked off his back with the sheer force, of the resulting concussive blast, Zaffre couldn't help but let out a wicked grin as the tactic finally worked for him for the first time.
Steadily he rose to his feat as he glanced around the area. The Two Koffing it seemed had managed to survive, but ultimately any one attack would end either of them at this point. The rocket who'd tried to take command of the situation tried to get to his feat quickly, but both the sight of the now electrified cloud, the unconscious bodies of the entirety of his partners, and the nearness of Cotton gave him pause.
The two Koffing rose steadily, wisely away from the now crackling smoke shroud as it gave of constant pulses of electricity. Zaffre'd been experimenting with the interaction between the attacks for quite a few days now between his searches, but even he couldn't help but feel impressed with the results. However the tell tale sounds of the release of two more pokemon brought him back to the situation.
There was no easy way through the effective thunder cloud now separating him from the two rockets on the other side, not without taking the lightning damage in the process, but he really didn't need to get through. Not yet anyway. He moved as close to the wall opposite the now terrified rocket as he could, he'd need quite a bit of space for this.
"Everyone, get ready, we're ending this now. Pecker, Lanturn, Fly."
Even under the realization that he was effectively tapped out, the Rocket couldn't resist mocking his order. "You think that stupid fish of yours can actually-"
"Stun spore, Shroom." The sudden wave of pollen coming from above cut the rocket's quip off early, as it instantly caught the two wounded Koffing and, from the sounds, the two fresh pokemon on the other side of the cloud. The rocket glanced at the top of the cave, realizing the researcher's paras had crawled up the ceiling above them.
"Stun spore activates in a wave of pollen, so by attacking from above and directing it downward, anything directly below or significantly above past a certain point will be completely safe." Zaffre said, as the rocket stared in stunned silence. He didn't savor the moment however, even if his suspicions were correct and all 5 rockets had the same five pokemon, there was still the chance that the paralysis wouldn't stop any of the four remaining from attacking.
"Lanturn, Flail." Zaffre ordered after waiting just long enough for the last of the pollen to disperse, playing his final gambit. "Pecker, Peck this way. Wipe out every single one of them."
"You intend for that spearow to get through that? A flying type would take the most damage from that electricity." The rocket said. He opened his mouth again bit the sudden change in the thundercloud cut him off before he could even start, as it started to seemingly swell and rotate, as the lightning started to draw to the center.
The spearow burst through the cloud, seemingly entirely unharmed, rotating rapidly as it charged forwards. Drill peck?! How?
As the Spearow rocketed straight out of the electric cloud, the rocket caught a glimpse of the two now thoroughly devastated Machop being fling with it, as what looked like a storm of electricity followed in the flying type's wake. An electric Drill Peck?!
The now paralyzed Koffing tried to move out of the way, but too late, as the rapidly spinning and now electrified Spearow's overwhelming attack engulfed them, destroying the last of the opposition. The rocket could only stare in fear, now realizing that all of them had lost. As he moved however, he suddenly recalled the pokeball he now gripped in his hand. If I bring this to the boss, I can still salvage this entire mess.
The Rocket bolted as the now mercifully de-electrified cloud of smoke covered his attempted escape. Leaping over the unconscious bodies of his entire team as well as his now knocked out teammates, he tried to flee down the passage they'd come through.
Unfortunately all he met was a dead end, a large pile of rocks now blocking both entrances to the passage, meaning his only method of escape was through the researcher and the trainers behind him.
"Did you really think after all those explosions and that last attack that the area would still be stable enough to secure an exit?" Came the Researchers voice. Zaffre walked slowly, assured that the situation had been thoroughly turned around. Though weakened, his entire team was still strong enough to keep going. The Flaffy followed behind him, electricity sparkling off it's body as the Spearow flew close enough to the ground to drop the now significantly healed Chinchou.
"Volt Absorb. Didn't you think it odd, the only one I hadn't told to retreat from the smoke was Lanturn? You were absolutely right, had Pecker flown into that electric mass unprotected he'd probably not have made it to the other side. Fortunately I'd told him to carry Lanturn with him earlier. That's the entire purpose to fly after all. And since he uses flail by rotating the antennae around as best he can, if he was being carried and flown through the mass, he'd take the brunt of the electricity while making reverse engineering a Drill Peck a simple enough task with the right commands."
As he spoke, the entire team started to swarm around the lone rocket, Paras from above as the mushrooms on its back started to thrum menacingly, as the Flaffy stopped directly in front of its trainer. "I have to thank you for not playing by the normal rules. You were absolutely right earlier, I'd make a terrible trainer. One on one, sending only one Pokemon out at a time, I'd probably have been utterly slaughtered. However, with how things turned out..." Zaffre continued, his spearow deciding to rest directly on his shoulder as his Chinchou took position next to the sheep. "You have to admit, I make for an excellent scientist."
It was strange how, to the defenseless rocket, someone who normally looked so dopey and innocent could under the poor lighting and smoke become so demonic. Even the normally dopey looking creatures by the researchers side became incredibly menacing at that very moment.
"Torch definitely deserves to be with someone much stronger than me. He's strong, and in the right hands he'd probably make it to the top. However if someone like you can lose so easily to me and these 'worthless pokemon' as you put it, you're clearly not the kind of trainer he needs." Their eyes seemed to glow red as Zaffre's voice became very quiet, but in the silence the Rocket could still hear the words very clearly. "Drop him, or we'll find out exactly how much punishment a human body can take."
Whether it was fear or the rocket's pathetic sense of pride, he did not obey the command, desperately twisting around and attempting to climb up the rock blockade, desperate to escape. Unfortunately his wild flailings only succeeded in loosening the unstable pile, bringing a number of very heavy rocks directly onto his head before any of Zaffre's team could make a move. He hid the ground hard, knocked out cold.
The menacing aura didn't fade until Zaffre managed to secure the unconscious Torch's Pokeball and place it back on his belt. "Sorry, partner."
Glancing to his now exhausted team, he couldn't help but feel proud. Despite everything, they'd managed to pull through. He patted each of them in turn, before turning to the now unconscious rockets. He'd heard trainers usually took prize money for their victories, and after a rough battle like that, he wasn't about to miss out. Mercifully it seemed he wouldn't have to do much looking, it seemed a lot of items they'd had on themselves had been knocked out from their final attack.
Nabbing a nice sum of cash as well as an interesting pair of glasses as well as a net ball and Dawn stone, as well as a few other more mundane items, Zaffre made his way out of the smoke cloud, exhausted but victorious. Hopefully he wouldn't have to continue much on from here, as right now his entire time was desperately in need of a healing.
