South of Dark City lay a stretch of mountain country, range upon range of it, winding away without end.
Seen from the air it was a grand sight.
In ancient China this would have been high peaks and steep ridges, very hard to climb and terribly awkward to travel.
A road of terrors, one might say, and crags no man could climb.
But with Pokémon in the world, that was very largely made good.
"Cough, cough—"
A patch of rank grass stirred suddenly, and a man in a sorry state crawled out of it.
"I, Rufus, am a man of great luck and a long life. Trouble like this can't beat me. I've still got the climb to the top ahead of me — pah, pah, pah..."
Spitting out the bits of grass in his mouth, Rufus got up off the ground.
"If I can just get this material handed in, there ought to be a good deal in it for me. I might even have the resources to break through to Gym-class."
Rufus looked with burning eyes at the flash drive in his hand. He had copied it in secret from a Godbeast Gang base, and it held their research data on Legendary Pokémon.
Rufus could make nothing of the data itself, but he could see it was out of the ordinary, and once it was in the hands of his superior Blaine it would be worth a great deal.
"A pity it's only part of it. If it were the whole lot, I might have had the resources to reach Elite-Four-class. Had I known, I'd have waited a while longer."
Rufus said it regretfully. His being found out had had to do with that copying, too.
That day, after he had made the copy, something had felt wrong and he had got out of the base in a hurry. Sure enough, the base's technicians ran a check, found the problem, worked through the possibilities and came to him.
By then he was gone, moving from place to place outside, and at the right moment he had got a message off to Blaine.
In the ordinary way rescue ought to come soon, since he had in his hands something Blaine wanted; the man would certainly do his utmost.
By the same token, if rescue was coming, so were his pursuers, and which would arrive first was anybody's guess.
If Team Rocket's support reached him he might be safe, because the men hunting him had a Legendary Pokémon.
Secretly researched and manufactured from a sample of a real Legendary, it was true; but it was not to be taken lightly.
In the section he had been in there was a Trainer with one, and he had seen the man use it.
"I hope whoever comes for me can hold up against it."
Rufus looked off into the distance and prayed. If a crowd of weaklings turned up it would do no good at all.
There was not much he could be sure of, but the men hunting him this time were certain to include the superior he had served under while undercover, the officer commanding that base, who had a Legendary Pokémon and was very likely Elite-Four-class.
The nearest thing to here was the Dark City branch, he thought; but that branch had been destroyed not long ago, and there could not be much strength left in it.
Even whole and sound, the officer commanding the branch would be a Gym-class Trainer, and against that man there would be no chance of winning.
Even if headquarters had sent somebody, it would likely be the same level of strength. Dark City, in strategic position and in Pokémon resources alike, was no match for Saffron or Celadon.
So the Branch Chief they sent was in all probability no more than a Gym-class Trainer.
"Quick, quick, quick — search over that way. Don't let the little rat get away."
A body of men drove their Pokémon on, hunting everywhere for Rufus's tracks.
The word from above was that Rufus must be taken — alive if alive, his body if dead — and that he must not be allowed to leak the data.
If it got out, there would be trouble.
Elsewhere, Vance had brought his party into the district and was searching everywhere for traces of Rufus.
From the message that had been sent, all that was known was that he was in this mountain country; no particular place had been named.
It would not be an easy thing to find him.
"Work outwards by squads. Keep in contact. Hold a search radius of ten kilometres. Anything at all, report it at once."
Vance gave his orders and sent his men scattering out to widen the search.
"Fatty, you be careful too." With that Vance let out the Aerodactyl, sprang onto his back and went up into the sky with a rush of air.
"I'm going to have to catch myself a Flying Pokémon. That is far too good."
Ambrose muttered it, watching the Aerodactyl's grand shape dwindle away. He had no Flying Pokémon of his own yet, and could not go sweeping off through the air like that.
Travelling overland always had its inconveniences.
Being able to fly was an advantage, especially in mountain country, as here.
"Let's go."
"Yes, Division Commander."
After that Ambrose took his men on and went on searching.
...............
Blaine had not long left Cinnabar Island when he was stopped on the road.
In front of him stood a young man with a soft, womanish face, a smile at the corner of his mouth, apparently waiting for him.
What caught the eye was the Suicune that had appeared at his side.
"Wooo—"
A light wind blew, and the Suicune's mane and the two white streamer-like tails floated on it.
From the moment it appeared, the Water energy all round them rose sharply.
"You know something about me, I take it, to send a Water type like a Suicune to stop me."
With a Suicune in front of him Blaine showed not the least alarm. Instead he pushed his glasses up and studied it closely, with an enquiring eye.
"Not bad, not bad. By the look of it you have the flavour of the thing already. But it is not perfect yet."
"Oh? Then if it interests you, senior Blaine, why not join us and work at the great enterprise with us? I don't think the Sacred Order will disappoint you. Join us, and our core technology will be opened to you as well."
At that the soft-faced man held out an olive branch at once, inviting Blaine into the Sacred Order.
Blaine was no simple man. He was not only a Trainer but a Pokémon professor as well, and a very capable one in his field.
The Sacred Order knew that much about him.
At present the Sacred Order's technology had come up against a bottleneck, and it needed a great deal of talent to break through it and make any real advance.
"No, thank you."
Blaine refused flatly. Joining this so-called Sacred Order did not interest him.
Some of their technology did interest him, though, particularly on the Legendary side, which bore on research of his own; and the moment he saw this one he knew that this technology of theirs would be a great help in the work he had ahead.
"Then today you go no further. The Sacred Order's material is not for outsiders to know, and that little rat you think so much of will not be bringing any of it back."
The little rat he meant was Rufus, and the material in his hands — even a part of it — he would not allow out.
"Wooo—"
Energy swelled around the Suicune, drawn and not yet loosed.
"Then let us have it out. It is a long time since I raised a hand myself. Come out, Ninetales. Charizard."
Blaine took out two Poké Balls and threw them, and a Ninetales and a Charizard appeared on the ground.
"Suicune, go. Show them what you can do!"
"Ha ha ha. A real Suicune I might have thought twice about. But a counterfeit like that will not stop me!"
Blaine said it with a great laugh, and ordered his two Pokémon forward.
A terrible force broke loose in that place. Where the Pokémon met, the ground was levelled flat in an instant.
Even far off, you could feel the horror of it.
Behind him, Blaine's many subordinates were set upon by a body of people who appeared out of nowhere, and were tied up in a fight of their own.