Tommy managed to take three steps out of the forest before Spencer tackled and pinned him to the ground.

“Let me go!” He growled as he tried to wrestle away from Spencer’s grasp. Tommy was big and fairly muscled but Spencer easily outweighed him. Try as he might, he couldn't get out from under his friend’s iron grip.

“Calm down!” Spencer said between grunts as Tommy refused to give up his wriggling.

“They have my sister,” Tears leaked from Tommy’s eyes and his vision began to blur as he watched his sister thrash and scream in the distance. “Tori…”

He turned and threw a punch, connecting squarely with Spencer’s jaw and the startled boy relinquished him. Tommy scrambled to his feet but before he could take another step Spencer was back on top of him again.

“You’re not thinking man!” Spencer growled. Tori’s screams from across the glade vanished behind the closing bunker doors and Tommy stopped squirming and dropped his head to the grass in defeat.

Heaving sobs wracked his entire body as images of those bastards torturing his sister plagued his mind. If only he were quicker, if only the beast had found him sooner and teleported him to the ranch to save his sister. He thought back to that first day of travel, Ashley had asked him if he wanted to stop and see his mom and sister and he said no. Now he may never get to see them again; he thought of his mom too. She would never let anyone lay a hand on Tori willingly. Was she dead?

Images of Aubrey’s smiling face flitted into his mind and he growled in rage. She was dead. If he crossed paths with her in that bunker, he would kill her. He had forgiven her back in Mahogany for betraying him but now she attacked his family. He swore to his father that he would protect his mother and sister. He had failed.

He would find Aubrey and kill her.

“…Tommy!” He snapped back to reality wondering how long Spencer had been screaming at him.

“I’m fine, get off me,” Tommy said evenly. Spencer let him go and he got to his feet and brushed himself off. “I’m going to save my sister.”

“Chill man,” Spencer winced as he got to his feet, swaying slightly. He rubbed his jaw and Tommy felt a bit guilty. “Man, you can throw a punch.”

“Sorry…” Tommy mumbled.

“It’s fine man,” Spencer grinned. “I’m gonna get you back though once we save your sister, you hear? Now, how are we going to save her?”

Tommy shook his head. “You should go back to the group, or try to make it to Azalea or something. I fully expect it to be a one way trip for me if I go in that bunker.”

His friend shrugged. “Then so be it. I’m not leaving you to go alone. Besides, you and I both know I'll never make it to help and back in time. Quit trying to pretend you’re noble. It’s you and me against all of them; accept it.”

Tommy smiled weakly. The beast almost hadn’t brought Spencer along. He wouldn’t have made it past the Vespiquen if it wasn’t for his friend.

“Well what’s the plan then?” Tommy asked. “You stopped me from rushing over there to save her. You better have an idea on how to get us inside.”

“I stopped you from rushing to your death, let’s get that right. You think you would have done your sister any good rushing into a throng of twenty armed guards?” Spencer looked back towards the forest that they had just run out of. “As far as plans go though, I think I have a pretty good one.”

Tommy followed his friend back to the place where the two guards were tied and bound. One of the two was stirring from unconsciousness but Tommy kicked him in the head as hard as he could, sending the man back to oblivion.

“Tommy…” Spencer started to say.

“Don’t start with me man,” Tommy spat on the unconscious guard. “These bastards don’t deserve any mercy, kidnapping twelve year old kids.”

He stepped aside as Spencer pushed past him and started to strip the uniforms from the guards. Guilt gnawed at his stomach at his friend’s tone of voice, but he forced those feelings down and steeled himself; now was not the time to show mercy.

Once the two men had been disrobed, he and Spencer quickly donned their two shirts, pants, and caps and shouldered their school packs. They stepped out from behind the trees and began to walk across the glade to the bunker doors. “So what’s the plan for getting in? Aren’t we supposed to be on patrol? What if someone recognizes that we shouldn’t be in there?”

“I haven’t thought that part out yet,” Spencer laughed despite their situation. “We could always go with diarrhea again? It worked with Melanie.”

Tommy turned his head so his friend wouldn’t see the smile that he cracked. They reached the bunker doors and he flashed the key card he stole from the guards at the side door. He and Spencer stepped through the metal door and walked inside the bunker.

“Why are you not at your post?” he heard a voice call from off to the side.

“Diarrhea,” Tommy said as he blinked his eyes rapidly in the well lit corridor. They were slow to adjust, but when they did he saw Spencer cover his hand with his mouth to stifle a laugh.

“Wait a minute,” the man said as he stepped out from around the desk. “I don’t know you two. State your names.”

Tommy and Spencer shared a look then pounced on the man before he could reach his walkie or sound an alarm. Tommy smacked the man into unconsciousness with one end of his staff and then Spencer dragged his body behind the desk.

“Well it’s already going swimmingly, wouldn’t you say?” Spencer grinned. He came back around the desk to stand beside Tommy. “Any thoughts on which way we should go?

“Nope,” Tommy replied, not caring to waste any time deliberating. He set off down the first of three corridors that led into the hill, unmarked steel doors passing by on his right and left every few meters. He tried each handle, the majority of them were locked and wouldn’t open with his keycard so he continued on down the hall until one of them finally turned.

He and Spencer stepped into a lounge of sorts, it almost reminded Tommy of their dorm back at school, and as the door shut behind them at least ten off duty guards looked up from their various activities.

“New recruits?” One man asked as he stood from the bartop. He walked over to Tommy and Spencer and extended his forearm. “You guys look kind of young. Are you supposed prodigies like Commander Ryker then?”

Not trusting himself to speak, Tommy just nodded his head at the man, and clasped forearms; he felt like he was about to be sick. Maybe if he kept his mouth shut the man would continue to ramble and give away information.

“Well, was tonight your first time out on patrol?” The off duty guard asked. He turned and headed back towards his seat at the bar so Tommy and Spencer followed him. The two boys sat in two empty bar stools next to the guard.

“You guys look a little young to drink,” He grinned to himself. He reached over the counter and pulled out a jug of MooMoo Milk. Snickering at his own wit, he poured each of them a glass and slid them across the bar top. “Have some of this then.”

“It was an eventful first watch for us,” Spencer spoke as evenly as he could. He stared into his glass of milk so that his eyes wouldn’t betray him. “You guys put on quite the show for us tonight.”

The guards around the room laughed in unison. “Did you like it then? The boss promised to reward us handsomely for anyone who was brave enough to kidnap that little girl.”

“Wow, they needed ten of you to kidnap one child?” Spencer tried to ask as innocently as he could. “Was she well protected or something?”

“It was a fucking nightmare let me tell you,” A second guard sat down at the bar on their other side. “Twenty of us went to that ranch. Boss told us to take no chances and he was right, only ten of us came back; it was a good thing so many of us went. Who knew a couple of ranch hands would give us so much trouble?”

“What happened to them?” Spencer said.

The guard snorted. “What do you think? We killed them, and a couple of rampaging Pokémon too. They had this big Tauros, the bull must have gored at least four or five guys to death before we managed to take it down. After that it was just the mom and the daughter. The mom put of a hell of a fight too until we beat her half to death. I would have had my way with her right then if I could have, she was fine, let me tell you, but Commander Ryker said no. Fucking cunt…”

Tommy heard nothing else the man said over the ringing in his ears. His hands were trembling so badly he placed them in his lap as to not give himself away. Mom… Tauros… He couldn’t find his breath, he was hyperventilating. The edges of his vision were going black until he felt a hand on his shoulder bring him back.

“You alright rookie?” The first guard clapped Tommy on the shoulder and grinned. “Hey Johnson, get a load of the rook here. He looks a little squeamish, you must have shared too many details!”

Tommy didn’t know what happened next. One second he was on the bar stool, the next he was atop the guard’s chest and was slamming his fists into the man’s face over and over. Blood and spittle flew from the man’s mouth, both his eyes blackened, and long after the man was unconscious, Tommy was still throwing his clenched fists into the bloody pulp that was once a face. He felt the skin on his knuckles split as they dragged across the man’s loosening teeth but he felt no pain at all; just overwhelming rage. Again and again, he pummeled his fists repeatedly into the face of this scum, grinning from the pleasure of hearing the dull thuds of his fists and the man’s ragged unconscious breath. He wrapped his hands around the throat of the guard. This was it. There was no coming back from what he was about to do…

“Tommy!” Spencer’s desperate screams pulled him back. He blinked his eyes in shock and looked up at his friend who had drawn his short sword and was desperately parrying the short daggers of the nearest two guards. Spencer’s Phanpy was out of its Pokéball and the little gray elephant was running around the room, flinging itself into screaming men. “A little help would be nice!”

Tommy scrambled to his feet and called out Solosis. “Use Confusion!” he told his Pokémon, pointing his finger at one of the two guards that was attacking Spencer. He had no qualms about ordering his Pokémon to attack these men, they were worth less than the garbage around them as far as he was concerned. The man that was hit by Confusion immediately stopped attacking Spencer and turned his attention to his comrade. The second guard groaned in frustration and went on the defensive as he tried to parry his comrade’s dagger with his own. Spencer slammed the hilt of his short sword into the man’s temple and he crumpled into a lifeless heap.

Tommy pulled his staff out and raced over to help Phanpy. The elephant was buried under a press of men and was being kicked ruthlessly. Tommy threw himself into the fray, swinging his staff with no discernable pattern; everything Melanie and his father had taught him over the last month went out the window as he gave into the primal rage that overcame him. He slammed the blunt ends of his staff into as many men as he could, their punches and kicks ignored as adrenaline coursed through his body. He didn’t know how long the melee lasted for, he saw Spencer dive in at one point to rescue his Pokémon, but when it was over Tommy, Spencer, and their two Pokémon were the only ones left standing. Them, plus the Rocket Grunt that Solosis was still controlling; he stood ramrod straight off to the side with no life in his eyes.

Tommy spat blood and then took Spencer’s outstretched hand and got to his feet, cringing guiltily when he saw his friend’s badly bruised Pokémon. He turned to apologize but was knocked flat on his ass as Spencer decked him in the face as hard as he could.

Tommy heard Solosis shriek angrily but he called out to it before the Pokémon did anything. “It’s fine Solosis, back down!” Solosis came over to Tommy and he smiled as he patted his friend gently on the head.

Spencer reached his hand down again and helped Tommy to his feet a second time where he wobbled for a moment. Spencer held him in place while he collected himself.

“We’re even now,” Tommy said. “Thanks for having my back and thank you too, Phanpy.”

“Yeah, we’re even,” Spencer said. “Though I don’t blame you for what you did. I would have lost it too.”

Tommy swallowed tears, trying not to cry again in front of his friend. “My mom, do you think—”

Spencer placed his hand on Tommy’s shoulder and cut him off. “One problem at a time. We have to get your sister out of here, then we’ll go find your mom, okay?”

Tommy nodded. “We should have figured out where they were keeping her first.”

“The guard said they were holding her at the bottom of the complex. He must have said it after you blacked out,” Spencer said. He grimaced as he placed his Pokémon down on the ground “We need to find the stairs though, and I don’t want to open any more doors at random. One bar room brawl was enough for me.”

Tommy reached into his bag and pulled out the jar of Honey. He scooped a small amount of it onto one finger and looked it over thoughtfully. He plopped it into his mouth and then passed the jar over to Spencer. His wounds and bruises felt slightly better and then he turned his attention to the guard that Solosis was still controlling.

“Do you think the guard is still conscious in there somewhere?” Spencer asked as he passed the Honey jar back to Tommy. “I’ve never seen a Psychic Pokémon attack a person before.”

“I don’t care, to be honest,” Tommy lied to himself. He swallowed the lump in his throat and looked down at Solosis.

I’m sorry, I have to find her, he tried to impart his thoughts into his friend. Forgive me for what I’m about to ask, please. It won’t be your fault, I’ll take the blame.

“Break his mind, find us the stairs to the bottom of this place,” Tommy told his Pokémon. Solosis squeaked sadly and then turned to the guard. Tommy watched the man’s eyes roll into the back of his head as small grunts and groans passed from his lips. He relieved himself in his pants and Tommy and Spencer covered their noses at the stench.

A moment later the guard began drooling and babbling as Solosis relinquished control of his mind and led the way back over to the corridor. Spencer recalled Phanpy to his Pokéball and the two boys headed to the door to follow Solosis. Tommy gave one last look into the room, the guard had his shirt over his head and was windmilling his limp arms in circles. He ingrained the image in his mind, he would carry it with him to atone for forcing his Pokémon to do something so horrible. He then turned to follow Solosis and Spencer who were already walking down the hallway.

Solosis led them to a door at the end of the corridor and Tommy flashed his key card to gain entrance. The door opened into a spiraling staircase that led down into the depths of the earth. They began the walk down, reaching the second floor, then the third, and onward all the way down to the bottom floor. He tried his keycard when they reached the bottom but it didn’t work so Spencer called Phanpy out to ram the door down. The elephant forced his way inside and an alarm immediately began to blare once the door was blasted from its hinges. The room that the two boys stepped into opened into two different corridors and Solosis clearly didn’t know the way; the guard whose mind he peered into must have never been down this far.

“Let’s not waste any more time,” Spencer said as he looked up at the blaring red siren. He darted down the left passageway with Phanpy galloping after him. “See you on the other side!”

Tommy set off down the right passage with Solosis on his shoulder. At any moment he expected to be accosted by more armed guards than he could handle but after a few minutes it was clear that this area must have been off limits to the rank and file. He followed the passageway with its various twists and bends until he came into a massive room with a giant aquarium. The giant glass tank was slowly being filled with water and Tommy saw all manner of fish and aquatic Pokémon swimming inside already.

“Don’t worry, we’ll put it back when we’re done with it,” Tommy saw Darius gesture at the aquarium as he stepped out of the passage at the other end of the room.

Tommy regarded his friend who was now blocking the only other exit from the room. “I really had hope that Jon was lying, that it was all some cruel trick.”

“Would have been nice, right?” Darius smiled sadly. “If we could have all graduated together and let the good days roll on?”

Tommy took a step closer to his friend. “Where’s my sister, man? Tell me where she is and we can go our separate ways.”

Darius nodded his head to the passageway. “She’s behind me, they’re preparing her as we speak.

“Preparing her for what?” Tommy’s heart was hammering in his chest. He just got confirmation that his sister was close.

Darius shrugged. “Who knows? Above my pay grade. Now I owe you one for helping me with Rhyhorn earlier this year. You can walk away right now, I’ll escort you and your friend out personally and see you both on your way.”

“How about you help me rescue my sister?” He asked though he already knew the answer. “We’d be square after that.”

“No can do friend,” Darius sighed. “So what’s it gonna be then? A Pokémon battle? Or are we gonna throw fists?”

“Pokémon battle of course,” Solosis hopped down from his shoulder and stood in front of his trainer. “Unless I lose, then I’m gonna come over and punch you square in the jaw. Hell, I might still come punch you even if I win. Knock some sense into your fat head.”

Darius grinned and threw his Pokéball onto the ground in front of him. Rhyhorn bellowed at the top of his lungs and stared menacingly at Solosis.

“Here we go…” Tommy grumbled.

Spencer hid in between two shelves as he tried to catch his breath. He had been chased by two goons into a workshop but he was pretty sure that he gave them the slip as he had heard them run down a different corridor. Luckily neither of the two men had a ranged weapon to attack him with and both of them were nowhere near as good of shape as he was; still, the run had left him winded.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead as he gave a cursory scan of the room. The workshop was crammed to the ceiling with shelves and boxes; curious, he peered into one at random and saw metal ingots and fixtures. In one corner stood a great forge and anvil and Spencer made his way over to investigate. It was still lit and a raging inferno burned in the hearth.

The smith clearly didn’t care about his craft, his tools lay strewn haphazardly around his workbench, and Spencer began to tidy up the man’s workspace to occupy himself as he tried to figure out his next move. He absentmindedly went to lift a box beside the anvil and almost gave himself a hernia. Frowning, he opened the lid and reached inside.

He pulled out a handful of the metal objects and held them up in the firelight to examine them. They were links to a chain, there must have been hundreds of them inside the box, and they were all crimson red, the color of blood.

Phanpy bumped into his leg and startled him from his introspection. He noticed the little elephant was holding a syringe wrapped tightly in its trunk and Spencer bent down to grab it from his Pokémon.

A metallic and viscous liquid slowly sloshed back and forth as he twirled the syringe between his fingers. There was no label on it but Spencer immediately recognized it, they were sold in the Mart back in Goldenrod for tens of thousands of dollars. It looked legit but the question remained, could he trust that this was the real thing?

“Didn’t anyone tell you that it’s not nice to go snooping in other people’s business?” A girl said from right behind him.

“I wish I could say that I was happy to see you Aubrey,” Spencer wiped the sweat from his forehead again as he turned to face her. He hadn’t heard the girl enter the room at all, let alone walk up right behind him. Apparently, neither had Phanpy.

“Don’t worry, it’s the real thing. There’s an official league stamp at the base of the syringe,” Aubrey casually said as she eyed the item in his hands. “It was supposed to be for Chikorita, a gift from dad. Stupid bastard thinks he can buy my affection. Take it if you want it.”

“Which move is it?” Spencer asked her, he continued to eye the Technical Machine warily. He turned the syringe over once more and saw an engraving of the Pokémon League’s symbol, a Pokéball with a triangle beneath it. He didn’t doubt though that on the short list of people who would illegally forge the league’s symbol, that Team Rocket was probably near the top of the list.

“Iron Tail, extracted straight from an Aggron the salesman guaranteed,” she grinned mischievously. “Phanpy should be able to learn it and you’re about to need all the help that you can get.”

“Yeah I kind of had the feeling you were playing down your strengths back at school. You lost on purpose more than once, didn’t you?,” Spencer asked her as she made her way back to the other end of the room.

“So tell me, number three,” Aubrey ignored him and rolled her neck and shoulders. “Are you ready to lose?”