The Path of Sacrifice

Fate: You love it and you know it. ^.~



Link: I\'m surprised you haven\'t figured it out.



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Angel stood, thinking hard on the offer. If she failed, they\'d still have a chance to destroy the team, but if she won, then that chance was much more increased, as well as the fact that she could get Gary\'s pokemon back and protect herself. The odds were so terribly stacked against her, moreso than her first battle, with that Onix. That pokemon was closer to Moonlight\'s level, but then again, that pokemon was a lower level, but had mass on his side. This Kangaskhan had stats, moves, and level on his side. Either way, she would be going to the hq, but the whole idea of Giovanni owning her wasn\'t exactly an idea that spoke of kittens and flowers.



"Define \'own\'. I\'ll only agree to that if I come out of this with my sanity in tact, and Gary by my side." she spoke. Giovanni turned around and looked at her. Much to his surprise, the girl wasn\'t scared. Was it due to stupidity, or sheer ignorance of who he was? No. She knew what he was capable of, and who he was - she just wasn\'t scared of him. Curious.



"Oh, don\'t worry. I have no intention of damaging your mind. I have other things in mind..."

"Will my clothing stay where they belong?" she replied, adopting a casual stance with her arms crossed over her chest. Giovanni\'s eyebrow rose, as a glimmer of entertainment shimmered in his eye.



"You mean, will I let them rape you. No, I expect no one will be near you with your boy with you, nor your little illegal pokemon. No, young one. I will not let anyone rape you. You will help me, girl. You will have a hand in helping me take over Kanto, as well as Johto. If you perform well and do exactly as I tell you...then, I won\'t kill you. I might even feel inclined to let you do your stupid little gym run and your damn league challenge."



Angel\'s eye rose. He was looking to take over the two local regions? That was it? Something smelled as if it were missing - like there was something he wasn\'t telling her. What was the harm in Giovanni taking over Kanto? She couldn\'t see anything wrong - the worst he could do was become a bad dictator or whatever he\'d call himself. If she wasn\'t going to be raped, then what was the harm in -



"And." the man interrupted. "Your friend can have his pokemon back. He will need them if he is to help you..."



Gary frowned. This whole thing reeked of something far more sinister. He was being way too generous; something in this story was missing. But, if Angel could pull this off, she had a fast track into the root of the rockets.



"But," Angel spoke, as something occurred to her. "If I win and am made an Admin...Won\'t you just order me to do what you want anyway?"

"Admins do not complete the grunt work - the field work. You would be more likely in charge of Game Corner, or sent to take out unreasonable trainers standing in our way - no, you won\'t be doing anything you would be if you lost."



Angel frowned. Now she was sure she was missing something. She turned her gaze to Gary. This was all for him - every little inkling of her willingness to do this was for him. She couldn\'t back out. Not when they were so close to getting his pokemon back and to destroying this man.



"Moonlight, Confuse Ray!" she spoke, suddenly. Technically, they\'d been in battle, and she was going to take the opportunity. Without missing a step, Moonlight launched the ray of sinister light at the large brown pokemon, which had fallen asleep waiting for his master\'s command. The pokemon began wavering in it\'s sleep, as Moonlight readied himself for the next attack. Giovanni\'s brow rose with an impressed look as he eyed his sleeping and now confused pokemon.



"You stupid oaf, wake up and use Dynamicpunch."

"Angel, that move is powerful but it\'s very inaccurate!"

"Okay. Moonlight, Sand Attack until it\'s stats are low!"

"BREON!" Moonlight exclaimed, sliding around to fling the little bits of dust in the room at the Kangaskhan, which was still asleep. The balls of dust floated into the eyes of the pokemon; once, twice, three times, then four. Giovanni, though stone faced in reality, was growing a little concerned.

"Kangaskhan, wake up and use Dynamicpunch! You idiot." Finally, the pokemon flicked open it\'s eyes, but cried out in pain as the dust fell within. He began swinging his fists in the air, trying to obey his master desperately, but the confusion rung true as he spun around and teetered over. Moonlight skidded out of the way, and the Kangashan fell and collided with the ground.

"Moonlight, bite!" Angel commanded, her confidence boiling over. Gary stood there, rather surprised with her. He hadn\'t expected her strategy to win this time; if that pokemon hadn\'t\'ve fallen asleep, Moonlight would likely have been hit by Dynamicpunch, and taken out.



Moonlight bolted towards the fallen Kangashan, who was still trying to get up in it\'s knot of blindness and confusion. His fangs sunk into the throat of the big pokemon, who cried out and attempted to pathetically scratch away the critically striking Umbreon. He dropped away before the paw could even bat at him.



"Hmm. Kangaskhan, counter!" Giovanni barked, the stress showing in his tone. He hadn\'t ever lost before; would this be a first? His pokemon probably was down by half now - a couple more attacks like that, and he would drop.

"Moonlight, quick attack!" the Umbreon wasted no time launching the attack, which clipped the right shoulder of the pokemon. As Moonlight skidded back into his spot, the Kangaskhan\'s paw slammed just beside him - a near miss, but just enough to make the ground quake, and Moonlight lept away as the towering mass of brown fell once again and struck the ground, crying out in pain.



"How PATHETIC! You call yourself a pokemon. KANGASKHAN, CRUSH CLAW!" now, the rocket boss was getting angry. A bunch of dust and a ghost move did this to his prized high-level pokemon?

"Moonlight, Bite!"

"Breon!" The pokemon replied, and latched his teeth into the neck of the opponent once again. As the pokemon\'s claws neared the little shiny Umbreon, the whole pokemon shivered, and returned to his position from before. It had flinched.

"Okay Moonlight, finish it!" Gary, the four rockets, and even Giovanni himself stared in shock as the Blue Umbreon sunk his fangs into the stronger pokemon. The Kangaskhan screamed out as it flailed in his spot, but began to twitch as his eyes were replaced with swirlies. Moonlight released it and stepped back, his fangs dripping with Kangaskhan blood as a small puddle of crimson formed under the large KOed pokemon.



"...Return." came the solemn command of the Rocket Boss, whom seemed as much in shock at his underlings. The pokemon was returned to the Ultra Ball, which was tossed over to the nearest Grunt. "Take it to the boys under Game Corner; make sure it is really dead before it\'s disposed of. If it can be saved, do so." the rocket grunt nodded as he ran off down the stairs, clearing them two at a time. "Well, I suppose I was incorrect. I owe you my word, even if I had expected to win. Perhaps you should re-name your Umbreon \'Slayer\' instead of Moonlight, for now he is a serial killer. George, give the children two uniforms and cell phones, and make sure the pokemon are given back from Game Corner...We\'re going back to the base. Find your own way there, child. Don\'t hurry..." the boss rocket barked, as the Mr Mimes began to drag the prisoners along behind the man as he slipped past them, down the stairs. The last rocket stayed behind, as he watched his boss walk away in a cloud of wrath.



"I have never seen \'im this mad, have I?..." George spoke with a Cockney accent, staring at the vanishing figure. "You\'re gonna get it, arn\'tcha? \'e never Admins anyone on the spot like that \'asse? I\'d watch your back, and come to the base with some bloody strong pokemons, wouln\'I? Aah well, you come on to game corna\', an\' ol George\'ll give ya them pokemons an\' your stuff, wouln\'I? He\'ll come lookin\' if I don\'t tell him you came, wouln\'he?" he spoke, then vanished down the stairs.



"...Why was everything he said in the form of a question?" Angel muttered, trailing down the stairs slowly as Moonlight followed, licking away the drying blood from his mouth.

"I think it\'s a Cockney thing..." Gary replied, still in shock that Angel had actually won. If she managed to take out his pokemon after all that, maybe she could take out all his pokemon. The mere fact that she\'d gotten them a ticket into the roots of the Rocket HQ was amazing; but, she\'d just taken out a pokemon of the final gym leader, the rocket boss, and the last gate before the pokemon League. He could hardly believe it\'d really happened.



* * * * *



"Oh...Oh! MOONLIGHT, CONFUSE RAY!" Angel exclaimed, as her eyes spotted a lone orange ears and mane of a head peeking above the grasses of route seven as they moseyed along towards Celadon City. She knew exactly what pokemon that was. The off-toned pokemon jumped, startled, and tried to bolt, but fell over it\'s feet into the open as the ray struck it. Wobbling around, the Vulpix murred a faint protest as it flopped onto it\'s belly. Gary raised his brow as the scene exploded in front of him in a matter of seconds. How she spotted that pokemon was amazing; he hadn\'t even seen anything. But what luck did she have; it was a bloody shiny!

"Moonlight, quick attack! Don\'t let it faint or we can\'t catch it!"

"Breon!" he replied, and slammed himself into the pokemon.

"Vuuul!" the little fox whisper-yipped, and slid back a bit.

"Pokeball, go!" Angel exclaimed, tossing the ball excitedly. She was about to catch her first wild pokemon! Moonlight didn\'t count, he caught himself. The Vulpix vanished inside the ball, and tried to fight, but it just didn\'t know which way was up - thanks to that damn Umbreon that\'d come and attacked. After a moment, Angel plucked up the ball containing her newly caught Vulpix, and released it.

"Vul?..." the pokemon spoke, looking up at the human. The confusion seemed to miraculously vanish. Angel pressed the button of her scanner once again, as the pokemon tilted it\'s head quizzically.

"SCANNING."

"...Vul...?" the tiny voice spoke. "Skipping previously scanned pokemon...Pokemon Present\' Vulpix. Shiny. Female. This pokemon is of level twenty four with a Quiet nature, and the following moves: Ember, Tail Whip, Quick Attack, and Confuse Ray."



"Hmm. You need a nickname. I want to give you something cool...." \'Please don\'t name her something girly...\' Gary thought to himself, as the Vulpix seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"I know...I\'ll name you...Slaughter. Sounds fierce, I think." Both the Vulpix and Gary blinked in surprise. That was more like it!



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No cliffy for youuuuuu. :D