Chương 133: Infiltration Plan

"Alright then, let's go." I declared while leading my group down into the sewers after ripping open the gate sealing them.

With me was Lucario, May, Dawn, Ash, Gary, Kate, Luana, Crawford, Barlow, Brock, Lucy, Bruce Jackie, and Goh. We were the infiltration group, who's job was to actually do most of the battling and fighting to break up Surge's operation.

The other group consisted of professors Oak and Cerise, Talia, Tracey, Wendy, Daisy, Joy, and Misty. They were the ambush group, who were waiting individually at the different exit points of the warehouse we were preparring to raid.

Normally Joy and Daisy especially wouldn't be part of this particular operation, but we needed Joy nearby in case someone got hurt, and she and Daisy would both be protected with some pokemon from the professor. They might actually be the safest people in Kanto right now.

Misty meanwhile was assigned to the harbour that was connected to the warehouse, where she was supposed to prevent anyone leaving by ship, while Wendy was on standby in case anyone tried to fly away on pokemon. She was known as the flying Ranger after all. And for both girls, I loaned both my water and flying type pokemon to help them out.

The plan was that we would infiltrate the warehouse through the sewer entrance, which wasn't the main entrance. From there we would split up into groups of two or three, and make our way to previously designated locations within the warehouse to await the signal.

"Are you sure we won't get lost?" Goh asked me with a bit of a tude to his tone.

"We have the map, and my contact marked the way for us beforehand." I said while pointing out the arrows scratched on the wall.

"Right. Your 'contact' that only you know about." Goh replied, making my brow twitch. I was trying to be considerate of him, due to his childhood friend being captured, but he was making it really hard.

"Well, there isn't much point of having a SECRET contact if everyone knows who they are." May said back to Goh irritably.

"..."

Thankfully Goh was silent after that, letting us travel through the tunnels in peace. But damn did it smell down here, BAD.

"So does anyone know what's up with the 'monster' that's supposed to be down here?" Ash asked curiously.

"Actually yeah!" Goh piped up again, but this time at least he seemed to be acting helpful.

"For my entire life there's been stories about the monster. It would terrorize anyone who came down here, especially workers who were supposed to maintain the sewers. Because of this, no one comes down here anymore, and the sewers have fallen into disrepair. Not only that, but there are also reports of tentacles or something coming out of the drains and manhole covers, which then try to grab people and drag them down."

"Tentacles huh?" I muttered while in thought.

"This 'monster' is more than likely a pokemon, so that helps to narrow it down... Were you planning to catch it when you came down here last night?" I asked Goh curiously.

"HA! No way!" Goh declared as if he found my question hilarious. "The first pokemon I'll catch is gonna be Mew!"

"""..."""

"Please tell me you're kidding...?" I asked incredulously.

"Nope!"

"""..."""

"So that means, you came down here with the intention of fighting Team Rocket, without a single pokemon of your own?" I asked.

"Yep!"

Every single one of us just gaped at Goh in disbelief.

I literally stopped and turned to look at him seriously.

"Listen Goh, leaving aside how reckless you were in coming with us, you need to stop and think long and hard about your actions when it comes to catching pokemon. Especially when it come to Legendary pokemon like Mew." I told him.

"Humph! and what do you know?" Goh asked with disdain in his voice. I ignored the way that May, Dawn and Kate all looked at one another at that, and instead tried to explain to him,

"All of the Legendary pokemon have specific roles to perform in nature. By carelessly capturing them, you are preventing them from being able to do their jobs. Just think about Team Rocket and the way they treat pokemon. Is that how you want to be?"

Goh just scoffed at me, apparently thinking I didn't have a clue what I was talking about. Maybe I'll mention him to Mew next time I see it? Mew would probably have a blast messing with Goh.

At the moment though, I just shook my head slowly at Goh and his attitude before continuing into the sewers.

"Just to let you know, I'm not going to be the one that has to babysit him when the fighting starts." Lucario quietly muttered to me.

"Don't worry, I wasn't planning on it." I muttered back to him.

We continued on our way through the sewers in silence after the talk of Mew, with Lucario and I both keeping our senses peeled in case any Rocket patrols were wandering around. That was why I managed to pick up something else, following behind us.

"You guys go on ahead. I have something to check out." I told them.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, can you find your back to us?" Luana and Barlow asked worriedly.

"No problem. I won't go far, and I got the map as well. I'm more worried about YOU guys to be honest, so just follow the arrows." I said wryly, earning me numerous looks.

"You need a hand?" Lucario asked.

"Nah, I'll be good." I answered, turning and walking back the way we had previously come.

Once the group was out of sight, I tucked myself into a little corner so that whatever was coming wouldn't see me. Sure enough, a figure standing at around four and half feet tall strolled past me.

"Saur. Saur. Saur."

"Holy Arceus!"

"Saur!?"

I couldn't help but to swear when I saw what was before me, which had to be the sewer monster, a giant Bulbasaur.

But it was unlike any other Bulbasaur I had ever seen.

Not only was it significantly larger than a usual Bulbasaur, but it's green skin was covered in purple splotches. I could also feel an abundance of poison type energy coming from it, compared to normal Bulbasaur that were primarily grass types with poison as a secondary.

"Bulb bulba saur!" It cried with hostility while amassing poison type energy, preparing to attack if needed.

"It's ok, I'm not going to hurt you." I said in a gentle tone while channeling calm feelings towards it.

This seemed to work slightly as the Bulbasaur appeared less wary, but had not let it's guard down completely. From it I could feel that it was angry, scared, and most of all, lonely.

I slowly began to step towards the Bulbasaur, all the while channeling peaceful thoughts towards it. And while it kept it's guard up, it did not attack while I approached it.

Soon I was close enough that I could place my hand atop it's forehead, and, while it recoiled at first, I was then able to touch it directly.

"It's ok..." I told the Bulbasaur in a soothing voice, still channeling calm and peacrful thoughts to it as I began to rub it's forehead.

"Saur...." Bulbasaur said, letting it's guard down even more as it leaned in to my touch. I could even see some tears in it's eyes as I prolonged the physical contact.

With it letting it's guard down, I then channeled my psychic powers to dive into it's mind, allowing me to view it's memories.

Starting from the beginning, I saw through the eyes of a young Bulbasaur that was nowhere near as large as the one before me, happily wandering through the woods. It was then hit by something before being sucked into a pokeball, being captured by a trainer.

Later, when Bulbasaur was released from the pokeball, it found itself looking at a small human boy.

"From now on, you belong to me." The boy had said.

Following that, The young Bulbasaur was then made to fight against another pokemon, a Fearow. Naturally, having never fought before, the Bulbasaur lost. Badly.

And then it lost again.

And then again.

And again...

In between these memories of Bulbasaur losing battles, there was the boy who caught it yelling at the Bulbasaur for being useless and weak, stating how the only reason it kept losing was because it wouldn't evolve.

Finally there was the scene of the boy building a small raft, and then directing the Bulbasaur to get onto the raft.

"You won't win a single battle for me, and you won't evolve either. I don't need you anymore."

"Bulbasaur!"

But Bulbasaur's protests were ignored as the current pulled at the raft, bringing it right into the sewers. The last thing Bulbasaur saw was the boy breaking it's pokeball in half.

For years after that Bulbasaur lived in the sewers alone, never having a friend, or anyone who cared about it. The only other things living in the sewers were the Grimer, who attacked it whenever it got close.

But, even if people did come down into the sewers, they would run away at the sight of Bulbasaur. And when it would occassionally find a spot where a little bit of sunlight could trickle down into the sewers, Bulbasaur would extend it's vines to try and feel more of the sunlight, only for there to be screams before the vines were attacked.

As I stopped viewing Bulbasaur's memories fury rose up within me from the way it had been treated until now.

There had been nothing wrong with it being captured, or even losing battles, but from what I could tell the boy who caught it never even TRIED to train Bulbasaur. He just expected it to win battles for him.

But that wasn't what was infuriating to me.

Trainers abandoning pokemon was nothing new, and I held nothing against the majority that did since circumstances may have forced their hands. However, literally banishing your pokemon to a life of darkness and solitude was despicable and disgusting, making me wonder how a person could do such a thing and live with themselves.

I quickly went from rubbing Bulbasaur's head to dropping to my knees and hugging it.

"!!!"

"Bulba!"

Though I felt it tense up, and Bulbasaur exclaimed from the sudden contact, I ignored both as I just hugged it tighter. And Bulbasaur, despite the shock it must be feeling, let me as the tension eased out of its body.

We sat there like that for a moment, as I hugged Bulbasaur and it let me. This was probably the first real contact with another being it had experienced in years.

Unfortunately, we couldn't just sit here like this.

Though I wanted to continue comforting Bulbasaur a little longer, as it was LONG overdue, I had to go and catch up with everyone else.

"Bulbasaur..." I muttered to it, drawing its attention away from the hug as I pulled something out of my bag.

"Can you come with me Bulbasaur?" I asked while holding up a luxury ball. They were one of the most expensive pokeballs on the market due to the fact that their interiors were far more luxurious than a standard pokeball.

Unfortunately though, the only people who were able to splurge that much money were the rich kids that never had to worry about any other expenses. However I of course bought some during my shopping spree in Saffron city, and thought this was the perfect situation to use one.

"I can take you out of here, let you see the sun again and play with all of the pokemon I have. You'll never be lonely again."

"Bulba.....saur....?"

Naturally, Bulbasaur was a bit suspicious of my offer. I couldn't blame it though after the life it had led until now.

But, instead of trying to convince it, I just continued channeling feelings of trust towards it, hoping they would convey my sincerity.

"Bulba!" Bulbasaur declared eventually, agreeing to go with me.

"Thank you Bulbasaur." I said with genuine gratitude, tapping it with the luxury ball gently.

The large starter was promptly sucked into the luxury ball, which gave a couple soft jerks before falling still with a soft 'ding'.

I looked at the luxury ball in my hand while filled with conflicting emotions. On one hand, I finally had all three of the Kantonian starters! But on the other, the horrible things Bulbasaur went through kept playing in my head, making me wonder just who could do such things?

Well, thanks to Bulbasaur's memories, I knew EXACTLY who was responsible, and planned to pay them a visit once we were done with Surge.

I then hurried to catch up with the others before they could get too far ahead, reaching them within a few minutes.

"So? Did you find the monster?!" Goh immediately demanded as I returned, while Lucario just silently stared at me. I doubt he cared about the 'momster', but he probably had felt my fury.

"There is no monster. Just a Bulbasaur that was abandoned, and grew lonely after being down here for so long." I told them, earning me a number of different reactions.

Ash and Goh were both disappointed that there was no monster, along with both Bruce and Jackie, surprisingly, while everyone else just nodded in affirmation as if they had expected such.

"Did you catch it Aniki?" Ash asked curiously, earning me a pointed look from Gary.

"I promised that I would never let it be lonely again." I said while holding up the luxury ball for them all the see.

We then continued moving through the sewers to reach out destination as quickly as possible. The only hiccup we experienced was an attack from a wave of Grimer, which Exeggutor made short work of. May and Dawn both quickly captured a few of the now unconscious Grimer to send back to professor Birch and Rowen, before I captured the rest so they would no longer be slumming up the sewers.

A short while later we finally arrived to a different section of the sewers, which was well lit and significantly cleaner than the areas we had been wandering up until now.

"Hold up." I commanded in a voice barely higher than a whisper, forcing everyone to stop.

"I sense ten of them." Lucario stated, making me swear inwardly since I could only sense nine.

"Raticate. Take care of this." I commanded while letting out my three rats.

"""Raticate!"""

With a silent salute, the trio scurried away as they went to deal with the Rocket patrols.

"Raticate?! Really?!" Goh hissed behind me, as I fought the growing urge to push him into the river of sludge beside us.

Instead of saying a thing back to him though, I just let my rats do their work while following them with my aura and psychic senses.

The first patrol guard didn't even know what hit him, as he received an Iron Tail to back of the neck. There was a thump as he fell unconscious, which then drew the attention of the patrol near him.

Before he could either investigate or report the incident though, he too received an Iron Tail and was knocked out.

My Raticate then quickly moved the two unconscious bodies out of the light to avoid them being discovered, before moving on to the rest of the guards.

I led the group forward without worry as the guards were taken out one by one, pausing our advance only long enough to search the unconscious patrols before binding their arms and legs. Needless to say Goh was speechless at how capable my Raticate were, and I had a proud smirk on my face the entire time we were advancing.

But that lasted only until we reached the actual entrance to the warehouse, where an entire squad was standing guard instead of the single or double patrols they had dealt with so far.

Instead of sending my three Raticate, I sent out Gastly to deal with them.

I pointed towards the group of men around the corner silently, and Gastly flashed me a sinister smile before it phased through the wall behind me.

I leaned up against the wall casually while listening to the sounds of alarm and gasping that filled the hall around the corner, before one by one we could hear the bodies hit the floor. And when the last one fell, I readily turned the corner just in time to see Gastly pulling itself back together.

"Good job." I told Gastly and my Raticate.

"Gaaaaaastly."

"""Raticate!"""

I quickly returned all of them to their pokeballs before hurriedly searching and binding the now unconscious Rocket grunts.

Once that was done, Lucario and I spread our senses out to make sure no one was coming, before we started to move on to the next phase of the plan.

"Alright. Now we need one person to stay here and make sure these guys aren't discovered, while the rest of us spread out to our positions." I said while pulling numerous hooded cloaks out of my bag.

"What are those for?" Gary asked curiously.

"None of us can risk being recognized, and these will help us blend in." I answered while handing one to everyone present.

"They will?" Brock questioned.

"I feel like they would make us stand out even more..." Lucy added.

"Normally yes, but you have to remember that this is an illegal market. There are plenty of people who would want to use the services here without their identity getting out. You'll only stand out if you act like you don't belong." I explained while donning my cloak.

The Rangers readily did the same without questioning it, probably due to being in similar situations before, along with the girls, Bruce, Jackie and Ash. Soon we were all dressed as I looked evryone over one last time.

"I'll stay with these guys, and stop anyone who tries to run away when everything starts." Luana readily volunteered.

"Ok, great. How about you stay here with her as well Goh? Seeing as you can't actually help fight." I added pointedly. However, he adamantly shook his head before stating,

"I may not be able to fight, but I can record everything on my Rotom phone for evidence later!"

That....actually wasn't a bad idea. However....

"Rotom phone?" I asked curiously.

"Yep!" Goh declared while proudly displaying a literal fucking smartphone.

"They're from the Galar region, so they're still REALLY rare in this part of the world, and each one has a Rotom living in it to make it's use easier! There's a lot of speculation that they'll make the Pokenav obsolete within the next year or two!"

"..."

I fucking want one!

That would have to wait until later though, as I nodded at Goh and said, "Ok then. Make sure not to draw attention to yourself both before, and after the battle starts. You have no pokemon to defend yourself with, and I'm not going to have someone dedicate themselves to babysitting you."

Though Goh seemed offended by the idea of him needing to be watched over, I ignored him while looking to May, Dawn, and Kate.

"You three be careful out there." I told them.

"Of course." Dawn said reassuringly.

"I'm more worried about you. You DO have a track record of getting yourself hurt." May retorted.

"I'll be ok! This is just another day in the life of being a Ranger!" Kate said energetically, to which Crawford, Barlow and Luana all nodded.

"Alright then. You all know where to go." I said, drawing the hood over my head as we stepped out to join the throngs of people.

Immediately, I was assaulted by the rush of emotions around us as people enjoyed themselves in ways that would be frowned upon by most of society.

In every direction around me I could feel the highs of people getting a good deal on some pokemon, literally getting high on drugs, like refined Hypno blood, celebrating their bets paying off in the arena nearby, partying in literal rave styles, and indulging in sex without a single care of who was around and saw. I'd heard that fucking while high on Hypno blood was one trippy experience, but had no desire to see for myself.

But along with all the highs that people were experiencing, there just as many, if not more, lows as well.

I could feel the terror and despair of the pokemon that were caged up to be sold, imported, or exported, I could feel the desperation of the pokemon in the arena as they literally fought for their life, and I could feel the resignation and pain of the men, women, and even pokemon that were being exploited as prostitutes in the private rooms.

"I do not like this place." Lucario said beside me, making me feel sorry for him since his aura senses were stronger than my own.

"Me neither, but we just need to put up with it until we get the signal." I told him, pulling out my Pokenav to message Janine that we were getting into position.

She had set up smoke bombs all throughout the warehouse to serve as the signal, which would create mayhem and distract the Rockets while we went on the attack.

I directed my attention upwards to a large glass window overlooking the entire warehouse, feeling numerous auras up there along with one that was significantly powerful. That must be Surge.

"Go hang out near the auction stage, and when everything happens set the pokemon there free." I told Lucario, trusting him to be able to handle that.

"Right. I'll also convince as many as I can to fight with us." Lucario said while nodding in affirmation, leaving to do just that. I just hoped no one noticed that he was a pokemon under his cloak.

As he did that I meandered towards the arena where a Tyranitar and Aggron were battling it out.

I tried to filter out the mounting emotions of the two pokemon as they desperately tried to kill the other, as their very lives depended upon it. But it was hard to do as I leaned against the fence surrounding the arena, which was of course electrocuted.

I could barely feel it though, thanks to the blessing of Zapdos, as I stared up intently at the window that Surge was hiding behind, presumably with Chloe.

***

"Lieutenant Surge!?" Chloe exclaimed with recognition when she laid eyes on the man running this entire operation, none other than the celebrated hero and Gym Leader of Vermillion city.

"Surprise." Surge smirked without a care as the women that had entered with Chloe began to work without being ordered, bringing him food, massaging his shoulders, lighting incense, and otherwise tending to him like he was some kind of king.

"Why?" Chloe asked in disbelief.

"Why would you betray all of us? Vermillion city? My parents? The League?"

"PFT! It was the League that betrayed me first!" Surge declared mockingly at her questioning.

"The wars I fought for them? The blood I and my pokemon shed for them? And what thanks do I get when the wars are over? I get shuffled off to this shit-stain of a city and region, abandoned to be a glorified guard Growlithe! So of course I leapt at the chance when Giovanni offered me something more! And look at what I've done with it!"

Standing suddenly, Surge put a massive hand on Chloe's shoulders and brought her forward to look out the large tinted window at everything below.

They were obviously in some kind of warehouse, but that was as far as Chloe got in divining their location as she instead gaped at what was happening beneath them.

There had to be hundreds of people intermingling within the warehouse, tons of which were surrounding what looked like a fighting ring. Others were crowding around the dozens of stalls that lined the walls, where Chloe saw almost every pokemon she could think of on display for buying or trading, in cages too small for them of course. And in another area there was music playing, like one would hear at a nightclub, accompanied by flashing lights, and tons of bodies moving in time to the music.

"Welcome to the night market." Surge declared to her with obvious pride.

"I built all of this from the ground up, even lower actually considering how much we had to dig! But it was all originally an import and export system for Team Rocket that I was managing for them. Of course, I got a share of all the profits made through the pokemon being moved through.

"After a while I asked the boss if I could expand a bit, dabble in some other business to try and make us more money. And when he gave me the go-ahead, I started expanding.

"Now we have the largest underground operation in this part of the world! Smugglers from every region come here to sell and obtain pokemon for themselves, and we have merchants selling goods from illegal pokemon breeders as well. Slowpoke tails, Sharpedo fins, Scorbunny feet, Hypno blood! You name it, we have it!

"On top of that we also began catering certain services to our beloved customers." Surge then pointed to a certain section of the warehouse, where Chloe saw numerous closed doors lining it.

"That's where the brothel is located. We keep mostly girls there, but also some guys as well. They're all trainers that have mysteriously gone missing while on the road, which is tragically all too common. BUT, we also have some pokemon as well for those with more exotic tastes!

"Lopunny, Jynx, Gardevoir, Delphox and Machoke/Machamp just to name a few. And man oh man, you would be amazed at how many ladies, and even some guys, want to take a pounding from a Machoke or Machamp.

"And over there you have the arena and the auction stage. The arena is used to house high-stakes death matches between pokemon, which we rake in the cash through with all of the betting that goes on. The auction stage meanwhile is where we auction off the rarer pokemon that come into our hands, as well as some of the girls. I heard we even got a rare duo in tonight, a Gardevoir and her little unique Ralts!"

Chloe barely heard Surge as he went on bragging about everything that was occurring under his watch, instead feeling horrified at what she was seeing.

Chloe never really liked pokemon all that much. Maybe it was because they always took Goh's attention from her? She didn't know, but the fact remained that she didn't really care for them.

Seeing the horrible things that were being done to them though, even she could feel her heart breaking as she watched a man purchase a Bidoof from Sinnoh, separating from the others that must've been its siblings. Or when she saw someone else buy a pokemon egg, a fairly rare one if she recalled what her father had taught her correctly, only to turn around and scramble it on a nearby skillet to eat. And then there was the arena, where she saw a Tyranitar battling an Aggron, only for the former to fall in battle before the latter mercilessly killed it.

And it wasn't just pokemon, as she saw a small group of women being led up onto the stage, completely naked as they were led around and posed like they were livestock, before the bidding began over who would buy them.

"You should count yourself lucky that you're not over there with them."

"!!!"

Chloe whirled around to see Surge standing there behind her, leering at her body once again now that he had finished bragging about all of his success.

"When my men told me they found some girl wandering the sewers, we originally planned to sell her for a quick buck. But then they realized who you were."

As he said that, Surge hooked a finger on the microscopic blouse, and literally ripped it from her body. Sure it didn't even cover anything to begin with, but now her upper body was completely exposed.

Immediately Chloe tried to cover her breasts from his predatory gaze, only for Surge to grab her hands and pin them to the glass above her head with one hand.

"Ah ah ah, there's such a thing as too hard to get you know." Surge smirked while unashamedly admiring her tits.

His other hand then came up to shamelessly fondle them, making both Chloe and her breasts look even smaller than they actually were due to how large Surge and his hands were. And the second his hand came into contact with her delicate skin, it was like a bolt of electricity shot through Chloe's body.

"Hyan!" Chloe cried out at the sudden stimulation, making Surge's smirk widen as he commented,

"Feeling it? Took long enough."

He hadn't been monologuing for no reason after all. He had just been giving it time to kick in.

As the haze from the incense became thicker in the air, Chloe's resistance became increasingly futile and weaker until she was barely struggling against the stimulation that Surge was giving her.

"That's it..." He growled before spinning Chloe around, pressing her breasts and face up against the glass while her butt was sticking out at him.

"Now let's get to the good part!"

Declaring such, Surge proceeded to rip the little skirt off of Chloe like he had her top. Leaving her body completely naked aside from the stocking and shoes.

"Look how wet you are!" Surge declared as he knelt behind Chloe and spread her butt cheeks, giving himself a perfect view of her from behind.

"Gushing like a Blastoise! You wouldn't guess that you're a little virgin from how wet you are right now!"

"I-I-I'm not..." Chloe stated as a last act of defiance.

"Huh?" Surge uttered, wondering if he'd heard her right.

"I-I-I said I'm not... Goh and I..." Though she left the rest I said, it was obvious what Chloe was implying.

"..."

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHA! That's a good one!" Surge roared out with laughter, making her heart sink. She'd been hoping he would lose interest at least if she wasn't a virgin.

Surge however laughed for the better part of three minutes straight, before stating while wiping the tears from his eyes, "I'd sooner believe that you were whoring yourself out to pay for your daddy's research than that little baby laying his bitch hands on you! If you're gonna lie, then at least make it a believable lie!"

Chloe wanted to cry as Surge continued laughing, belittling both her and Goh as he did so. Tears did actually start streaming down her face at one point, and she started to think that no one would be coming to help her.

"That was a good laugh! But now let's get to the main event!" Surge declared as he ceased his hysterics, and once more grabbed Chloe's butt.

But suddenly...

*BANG! BANG! BANG!*

The sound of several explosions reached them as smoke flooded the warehouse, obscuring everything from their view and triggering a panic as people began to scream.

"SUUUUUUUUUUUURGE!"

Chloe and Surge both looked up as a single figure came flying out of the smoke at them, their body clad in lightning as they cocked their fist back.

Chloe felt as if she couldn't breathe as she watched the man flying at them, his eyes glowing viciously while his entire body cracked with lightning, before he hit the window she was leaning up against.

*CRASH!*

Immediately the window shattered where he had hit it to make a hole for him, allowing him to stand before them while fresh air flowed into the room.

*Thump thump.*

Chloe felt her heart racing as she looked at the man before them, a heat spreading through her body that may or may not have been because of the incense she had been breathing in until now.

"Look at that, it's the baby Ketchum!" Surge snarled, his previous mirth seemingly evaporating on the spot.