The Team Takes Over: Final Showdown

The two remaining team members arrived at headquarters. To their surprise, there were no guards, and that could be either good or bad. Musashi and Kojiro looked at each other and nodded solomnly. They took each other's hand and walked inside. In the building, there were also no guards. The team suspected that it meant Sakaki knew they were coming. At the end of a long hall was a huge double door with a red letter "R" painted on it. They cautiously opened the door and found Sakaki waiting inside for them, as they hoped he wouldn't be. What they found with him was hardly a surprise...Nyase. Several Rocket members appeared out of nowhere and lunged at its ex-members. Soon Kojiro and Musashi were tied up and held. Vulpix was stuffed in a large bag.

"Nyase, you jerk!" Kojiro shouted, trying to charge at the cat from behind his bonds. Musashi, however, has another thing in mind. "Sakaki!" Musashi yelled to her former boss. "I challenge you to a match!" Sakaki, who was standing in front of her, lifted her chin slowly. After staring at her for a moment, he dipped her back and kissed her squarely on the lips. Musashi tried desperately to pull herself away, but to no avail. Finally Sakaki let her up. Musashi longed to wipe her mouth out, but she settled for spitting instead. Sakaki turned to Kojiro, who was glaring at him furiously. "Oops...was that your girlfriend?" Kojiro burst away from the guards, running towards Sakaki., but the Rockets quickly caught him and threw him back. As he sat up, Kojiro felt a slight tug at the ropes behind him.He glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw Nyase pulling at the ropes with his teeth. He loosened it just enough for Kojiro to work his way out. Kojiro continued to hold his hands behind his back to avoid trouble.

Meanwhile, Sakaki circled Musashi curiously. He seemed to be contemplating something. Finally he nodded to a couple of his subordinates, who untied the baffled Musashi. Sakaki stood in front od her, an odd smirk on his face. "So you want another match with me?"

Musashi stood with one hip out to the side, her arms folded across her chest. "That's what I just said, wasn't it?"

"I'll give you two options." Musashi raised an eyebrow. "And they are?"

"One, you can forget the match and walks out of here, unharmed."

"That easy?"

"It's never that easy, my dear." Sakaki's eyes flickered with a sort of cruel bliss. "You walk off unharmed.." He turned to Kojiro. "But we kill him." Kojiro sank down on the floor under Sakaki's glare. Musashi looked at Kojiro for a brief instant and turned away. "What's the other choice?"

"You can fight me and Kojiro goes free. Be aware, though, that if you lose this time there is no escape." It was Kojiro's turn to stare at Musashi. Her face was expressionless, but he already knew her decision. After all, it was every Rocket for himself...or, in this case, herself.

Musashi barely hesitated before replying. "I'll fight you."

Kojiro's eyes widened in shock. Why would she..?

Sakaki seemed surprised as well. "Hm. It means one of three things. You're either very determined, very confident, or very stupid." He pulled a monster ball from his pocket and threw it out. As Musashi ran off the battle field, she saw a familiar blue bird from the corner of her eye.

Musashi was prepared this time. She hastily grabbed Charmander's ball and threw it, and with one blast of flamethrower Articuno fell to the ground.

Sakaki's face showed no sign of impression. He calmly pulled Articuno back. He looked at Musashi gravely as he pulled a Master ball from his jacket. "Game's over." He tossed the ball out and a kangaroo-shaped red sillouette appeared. The figure slowly formed into Mewtwo, who almost immediately surrounded Charmander with a misted blue aura. After tossing the small lizard around for several moments, he finally let it drop from the ceiling.

Musashi silently called it back, pulling out another ball as she did so. Moments later, she called it back as well. She brought out all her Pokemon, one by one and watched each one fall, giving her a sense of deja vu. As he dropped her last Pokemon to the ground, Mewtwo looked up at his opponent. His eyes began to glow white, preparing for its Psychic attack, and Musashi resigned herself to his gaze in defeat. For several moments he held her there, and suddenly he pulled back with a confused look on his face. He stared at Musashi hard, as though searching for something. His starfe went to Kojiro, who cowered at his glare. "Don't hurt me!" His look then slid to Nyase, who simply stared back. He finally returned to Musashi. She prepared herself for her fate. The creature stepped towards her, towering over her. But, to her amazement, he knelt in front of her. To her greater surprise, he hung his head and uttered in a low voice, "Gomen nasai."* Her shock slowly dissipated. She smiled a little and set her hand to its head. "We know what it's like to be used as toys." Sakaki glared at them all, infuriated. "How dare you!" he shouted, removing a shotgun from his belt, aiming it at Mewtwo and Musashi. Before he could fire, Nyase tackled him from behind. Sakaki was prepared for this, and slammed the handle of the gun into Nyase's head. Nyase yelped and fell. As he aimed again, a voice sounded behind him. "Hold it!" He looked back. "Now what?!" His eyes grew wide as he saw a blue haired officer pointing her gun at him. "Put that gun down now!" Sakaki reluctantly did as he was told.

As a small force of policewomen led Sakaki away, Officer Junsa** stepped up to the Rocket Gang. After examining them carefully, she frowned slightly. "Hey, aren't you--"

She was interrupted by Mewtwo tapping her on the shoulder. "Huh?" She turned to him for a second, then after a moment looked back at the team, shaking her head. "...Nevermind. I can't remember. Are you the gym leaders?" The trio and their new ally looked around at each other. After one brief moment they all nodded in understanding. Musashi looked back at Officer Junsa. "Hai. We're the leaders. The leaders of Veridian Gym.

***The End***

*For you Japanese illiterate: I'm very sorry. **Officer Jenny in the english version.

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