Eggman slammed the door on his way back in and Sonic looked up in alarm, but then scowled.
"What's wrong now?" He asked sourly as the door opened again and Knuckles stormed in.
"It's not MY fault your stupid pokeballs all look the same!" He snapped furiously at Eggman, who turned on him viciously.
"It's your fault that the pokeball was opened, though, wasn't it? You could have waited and brought all of them to me. I could have figured it out!" The genius declared in a roar of anger.
"I know you had a better chance than me, but if you couldn't figure it out, you would have crushed all of them, wouldn't you?" He hissed and Eggman gave a small grin.
"You know me too well." He chuckled as he calmed down "I can figure out a way. I can do it. Excuse me, while I go clean up your mess." He left as Amy glanced at Knuckles.
"What happened?" She asked him, but Knuckles nearly ignored her before realising Sonic wanted to know too. He sighed.
"Eggman had a little robot, completely full of those Master balls or whatever they're called, and it fired all of them. Everyone had been caught, except me. I smashed the robot and I couldn't figure out which one was the other Sonic..." Knuckles scuffed his foot against the floor, half embarrassed, half angry. "So I opened them and he got away."
"That's ok, buddy!" Sonic flashed him a smile "I would have done the same thing." The echidna looked up in surprise, before grinning slightly.
"Thanks, Sonic. Do you think we can catch him again?" He blinked as Sonic looked at his fist thoughtfully.
"Yeah, I don't think Supremic stands much of a chance with all of us against him. Especially if we're out of the water." His eyes narrowed as his grin widened "We'll get him next time."
"Who's Supremic?" Knuckles blinked and the blue hedgehog scowled.
"Dammit, Knuckles, that was supposed to be a dramatic cut. Get everyone in here, I need to talk to them."
Sonic told them his plan. Then he ran out and found the emeralds. Then he found Gary and Ash, who looked embarrassed to be found, and told them his plan. Then he found Meowth and Jessie and James and told them.
"Nope." Jessie decided instantly.
"Please, Jessie! I need Team Rocket to help me out!" Sonic persisted.
"We DID help you out." James reminded sourly as he folded his arms. Meowth sighed.
"Look Sonic, what you're asking is too much. You need to remember that we work for him, not against him!" The cat tilted his head sadly "If the plan fails, or if he were to find us out..." Jessie and James winced behind him. "Yeah, sorry, but Team Rocket is all we have." Meowth shrugged.
"You. Owe. Me." Sonic hissed quietly and the cat flinched, before biting his lip.
"Alright, give me a second." He hopped up and clung to James as he whispered to his companions. After a few protests, Jessie gave a thoughtful humm and whispered back, slowly growing enthusiastic.
"We're in!" They gave a thumbs up and Sonic returned it, but he had a weird feeling about it. Something wasn't right.
However, a few days later he decided he'd just have to trust them. Supremic was on the move with Giovanni and the opportunity was perfect. He asked Eggman if he wanted to tag along, but got shooed away. He was still busy, apparently. Sonic got everyone into place as Giovanni was escorted through a clearing and the plan was put in motion. First, Gary and Ash. The frontline.
They stepped out, holding up a pokeball with a Pokemon already at their sides. Pikachu's eyes flashed at them as Ash twisted his cap backwards, while Gary gave a smug grin as his Umbreon stepped forward. Supremic went for them and that's when the Sonic crew jumped in, smashing Supremic down. The next part was crucial, but it never came.
Team Rocket were supposed to send out gas bombs that absorbed moisture, but instead, they betrayed Sonic. Giovanni gave a small grin as they popped out behind him and held up a large hose pipe.
"Supremic, you have the honour of ending these creatures. Don't kill them just yet though, some might be of interest to me." The boss man purred as the hose blasted them off the evolved Sonic and kept them at bay as Supremic began to pick them off, one by one. But Sonic wasn't finished. He still had the emeralds!
Oh no, wait...
"Looking for something?" Supremic held the glittering jewels up with a grin "Remember, you're not the fastest thing alive anymore, buddy. I'm better than you. I'm the one that wins now and I think I quite like these emeralds of yours!" He sniggered as he smashed Sonic's head against a rock and let him crumple unconsciously before moving onto the rest. Ten minutes later, the hose stopped and the plan was ruined. Everyone lay, completely beaten, on the floor.
"Pika pi..." Pikachu pulled himself over to Ash and nudged him "Pika? Pikachu?" Panic tightened in the electric mouses chest as he remembered the last time he couldn't wake Ash- when he'd been turned to stone. "PIKA!" He shreiked in alarm and glared at Supremic as the Pokemon moved over to him with a cruel glint. "Pika." The mouse hissed at him.
"You can kill that one, Supremic." Giovanni called casually "I've already been through this with Team Rocket. That pikachu is only a pest to us."
"Sir." Supremic cleared his throat sorely as he tried to speak english, and pointed at Tails "Sonic's weak spot." He gasped and Giovanni gave a nod.
"Thank you. We'll go through all of them, just kill what I tell you for now." The boss walked over to the unconscious figures of Sonic's friends curiously, but before he could get a good look, he heard something. Spinning round, he pulled out a gun and pointed it. Eggman stood there, holding out a gun of his own; Pointing it at Supremic.
"You first." Eggman grinned before he fired it. It wasn't the usual master ball gun, it was something else that he'd been working on. The Pokemon warped as if it was going to go into a pokeball, but then it just shattered and created a beautiful mirage as what was left of it shimmered to the ground.
"You're quite irritating." Giovanni smiled "Well done." He shot Eggman square in the chest and the genius fell back with a grunt. Giovanni moved over to him and held the gun calmly. "Was it really worth it?" He asked as Eggman turned a dial on his new gun weakly. To stop him, Giovanni shot his arm and the gun fell away as he screamed.
"Dammit!" He cursed "I left it on self-destruct. That took me days to make-" He gasped and choked. His eyes fluttered "I'm dying." He whispered "No way..." Eggman smiled weakly. "Ah, screw you." He let his arms fall to his sides "Do me a favour and cut it short, eh? The suffering..."
"No." Giovanni chuckled as Eggman's gun imploded and put his own weapon away. "Pathetic little man. You can't stop Team Rocket. You could never stop me."
"Lucky... it was never my... intention..." Talking became too much for the genius. His final action was to hold up a single harsh finger to Giovanni before his eyes closed and his breathing slowed to a stop.
