Pokemon: Radical Redux-Chapter 346: Lake of Rage

Ash arrived at the Lake of Rage with Abby. When they got there, he saw Silver sitting on a log, waiting. Silver gave him a nod toward the lake.

The lake itself looked normal from the outside. Ash looked at Silver, "Is this the place?"

"Yeah, from what I got, anyway," Silver responded as he stood up. "My guess is there might be a hidden entrance around here. Their real base is probably underground."

"Alright, let's look for it. The soo—" But before Ash could finish, the water suddenly began to bubble. From beneath the surface rose five raging Gyarados, though none of them were red. ƒгeewёbnovel.com

Ash and Silver frowned. Silver grabbed a Pokéball while Pikachu stood ready.

"Think this has to do with Team Rocket?" Silver asked.

"Let's see: waves that force Pokémon to evolve, and a suspicious number of Gyarados... No, I think it's some other evil team," Ash said sarcastically.

"Then I guess this settles it. They're here somewhere. Let's take these down," Silver said as he threw out his Magneton.

—--

{With Lance}

Lance was flying over the forest. He had started in Ecruteak, but there was nothing, not even any clear signs of Team Rocket. He flew around the area and still found nothing. So now, he was headed toward Olivine.

As he flew, his communicator suddenly crackled to life. Static hissed, then a single clear signal came through, a ping from one of their trackers, set to detect unusual electromagnetic activity. A message followed from the information team: "We found something. Check it out."

Lance didn't really have any better leads. He patted Dragonite on the head, "Left turn here."

Dragonite nodded and banked left, speeding toward the Lake of Rage.

It only took a few minutes to arrive. Lance scanned the area from above. At first glance, nothing seemed out of place, except for two figures holding their ground against five hyper-aggressive Gyarados.

And he recognized one of them, It was Ash.

Lance's curiosity piqued. He pointed down, "Dragonite, help them out!"

—--

"Pikachu, [Thunderbolt]!" Ash commanded.

"Magneton, [Flash Cannon]!" Silver added quickly.

Bright arcs of electricity and a sphere of blinding light streaked toward the Gyarados, striking one hard and forcing it back into the lake with a loud splash. But the others didn't falter. They were wild with fury, as if something inside them was driving them beyond reason.

"These guys aren't normal," Silver growled, dodging as another Gyarados whipped its tail dangerously close. "They're more aggressive than wild ones."

"Would you be happy if you were forced to grow up?" Ash said, sliding under a swinging tail and flipping over another. Pikachu jumped up and shocked both midair.

"Fair point, I guess," Silver said as he sidestepped left, avoiding a blast of water. Magneton fired back, blasting the Gyarados in the face.

As three of the Gyarados fell, four more shot out of the water and roared, charging together with a united [Hyper Beam].

Ash jumped up, "Leave this one to me. Pikachu, [Counter Shield]!"

Pikachu flipped into the air and started spinning on his back like he was breakdancing. As the beams came closer, he whipped his tail up, blocking the attack. The beams were deflected, flying right back and slamming into the charging Gyarados.

"Not bad," Silver said, rubbing his chin. "So that's what that looks like in person."

"Well i did make the move myself," Ash said back

But just when they thought it was over, all the Gyarados swam back up, running on pure rage, literally too angry to stay down. They roared, their bodies sparking with wild energy. Ash and Silver braced themselves to go another round, when suddenly a powerful [Thunder] struck from the sky, blasting them all at once.

The Gyarados cried out in pain before finally collapsing back into the lake with heavy splashes. Ash and Silver looked up to see Lance descending from the sky, riding in on his Dragonite. He jumped down, landing smoothly in front of them.

"You two handled yourselves well," Lance praised, then his gaze sharpened as he looked out over the lake. "But this confirms it. Something unnatural is driving these Gyarados berserk."

"Hey Lance, good to see you too," Ash said casually. "We—uh, I guess you could say we interrogated a few Team Rocket grunts. They told us the base and the source of those weird signals were somewhere around here at the Lake of Rage."

Lance nodded. "Understandable. My communicator finally came back online. The intel team's reporting electromagnetic surges coming from this area."

Silver narrowed his eyes. "We're not leaving. We came here to take these losers down."

Lance sighed. Yep, he was definitely planning to tell them to leave this to the professionals. "Can't you be reasonable? These are dangerous criminals. You can't treat this like a game."

"Tch. Then maybe I should show you," Silver snapped, raising a Pokéball and pointing it at Lance. "If you won't let us help, then I challenge you. Because Lance, I'm going to surpass you."

Lance looked at Silver for a long moment, then sighed again, a hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "You're stubborn, you know that? ...I like that. Keep training. You're a couple years too young to beat me."

All the while, Ash had been scanning the lake with his Aura. His expression shifted. "Hey... what if we check out that very conveniently placed souvenir shop?"

Lance and Silver both glanced up—and sure enough, nestled at the edge of the water was a small souvenir shop.

"Why... is there a souvenir shop in the middle of nowhere?" Lance muttered.

"I can think of a few," Silver said, narrowing his eyes and starting to walk forward.

Lance immediately stepped in front of him. "Oh no you don't. If you want to help, you follow my lead. I need to make sure you two stay safe. Now come on." He turned toward the shop, Dragonite looming protectively behind him.

Silver's eye twitched, but he held back a retort and followed. Ash trailed behind them, hands in his pockets like this was just another Tuesday.

When the trio stepped into the shop, two bored-looking men sat inside. Their expressions shifted the second they saw three people, and a full-grown Dragonite, enter the building.

One of the men, bigger and bulkier like a security guard, got up. "Hello, are you here for—"

"Dragonite!" Lance snapped.

Before the man could finish, Dragonite charged a beam in its mouth and launched it straight into the guy's chest, sending him flying into the wall with a crash.

Then, with a swift tail swing, Dragonite knocked out the second guy behind the counter in one clean hit.

Ash and Silver blinked, caught off guard by Lance going full "kick-the-door-down" mode. Ash walked over and checked on the first guy, who was groaning weakly, "Well, he's alive. Probably gonna wish he wasn't, though."

Meanwhile, Lance was already moving, running a hand along the back wall of the shop. He tapped on part of it, hearing a hollow echo. Without missing a beat, he nodded to Dragonite.

Dragonite walked up and, with a blazing [Fire Punch], shattered the wall. Behind it was a hidden passageway, and the unmistakable red R logo on the inner walls.

"Jackpot," Lance said, crossing his arms and glancing at Ash and Silver. "Looks like we found our base. Let's move before they realize what's happening."

Silver looked over at the two unconscious men. "You did know they were part of Team Rocket, right?"

Lance didn't answer. He just started walking down the newly revealed stairs, leaving Ash and Silver to exchange looks before hurrying after him.

The stairway was dark, damp, and narrow. With each step, it felt like they were descending deeper and deeper, lower than they thought possible. The air got heavier, the silence more pressing, and there was a distinct sense that whatever waited below... wasn't going to be pleasant.

"How big do you think this place is?" Ash asked, his voice low.

"Big enough to house a whole evolution experiment setup," Silver muttered. "Team Rocket isn't exactly known for doing things small."

When they reached the bottom, they saw statues of Persian lining the hallway. None of the three boys were stupid, it was so obviously a trap you'd have to be missing a few screws to fall for it.

Dragonite flew up, grabbed the boys by the arms, and carried them right over the sensors, landing them safely on the other side. They pushed open a door and peeked in.

The room was massive, a sprawling underground base packed with Team Rocket grunts. Near the center, a man with slicked-back purple hair barked out orders.

It was Executive Petrel.

"Come on, all of you! We need that generator back online! If this thing goes into meltdown, we're all fried! And double-check that the power outage from the signal didn't mess with the experiments!"

Lance narrowed his eyes. "Purple hair... weird uniform... This must be the guy Erika said was impersonating Giovanni."

Silver's eyes snapped toward him. "What did you say?"

Lance blinked at the intensity in Silver's voice but explained, "A few months ago, a Gym Leader, Erika, told us she saw Giovanni working with Team Rocket. But it turned out to be someone impersonating him."

Silver's fists clenched, teeth grinding. How dare they try to frame my father like that. In his mind, Giovanni was still innocent, no one knew he was the real Boss of Team Rocket. Not even Silver.

Lance noticed his expression, about to ask what was wrong when a few grunts ran up to Petrel.

"Sir! The two guards outside aren't responding. Should we go check?"

Ash, Silver, and Lance exchanged looks.

If the grunts went outside, they'd find the unconscious guards. Their cover was about to be blown, time to go loud.

Lance straightened, his voice sharp. "I'll handle the grunts and the Executive, he's out of your league for now. You two find whatever's causing the radio signals and destroy it."

Silver scowled but nodded. He wanted to be the one to knock Petrel out cold, but if Lance said he wasn't ready... he'd listen. For now.

Ash and Silver got ready. Lance gave Dragonite the nod.

Dragonite roared and smashed the metal door with a punch, sending it flying into the base with a screech of tearing steel. Smoke poured in as Dragonite stepped through the wreckage, towering, wings flared.

Lance walked in like a storm behind him. "Team Rocket, the jig is up! Turn yourselves in and maybe, maybe, I'll let you leave without brain damage! No, scratch that. If you're here, you probably already have it."

Petrel flinched, then recovered with a smirk. "Well, well, if it isn't the Champion himself. Cute entrance. But here's the thing... we're not stopping." He gestured around. "And you're outnumbered."

Grunts all around the room pulled out Poké Balls, dozens of them. Easily fifty to seventy-five Pokémon ready to be deployed.

Lance didn't even blink. "And you're outmatched."

With a snap of his fingers, Dragonite surged forward, charging energy in its mouth.

"[Hyper Beam!]"

—

While Lance and Dragonite unleashed chaos in the main chamber, Ash and Silver slipped away, sprinting through the winding corridors of the base. They passed scattered grunts, some of whom barely had time to react before being taken down — by Pokémon, or by fists.

Pikachu and Magneton raced alongside them, blasting down anyone in their path with precision Thunderbolts and Shock Waves. It was fast, direct, and brutal — the kind of teamwork you only see between people who trusted each other on the fly.

Eventually, they reached a heavy steel door.

Silver didn't even hesitate. "Magneton, [Flash Cannon]!"

The blinding beam slammed into the metal, blowing it clean off its hinges. It crashed inward, flattening a startled grunt on the other side.

Ash and Silver burst into the room, and froze for a half-second.

To the left was a massive Gyarados, not just any Gyarados. A red one. Angry, violent, its crimson scales gleamed under the lab lights. It thrashed against thick metal chains bolted to the floor.

To the right was a giant generator surrounded by a ring of Electrode. The poor Pokémon were trembling, eyes half-lidded, sparks leaking from their bodies. Wires fed from their sides straight into the machine, draining their electricity like batteries on their last breath.

Dozens of Team Rocket grunts filled the room, flanking a man in a lab coat, Professor Sebastian, the mastermind behind the radio signals.

A burly figure stepped forward in front of the others. "You brats," he growled, cracking his knuckles. "Name's Tyson. Elite Officer of Team Rocket. And your little hero fantasy ends right now. After everything you've done to us, there's no way I'm letting either of you walk outta here!"

The grunts rallied behind him, snarling and pulling out their Poké Balls. Sebastian ducked into the shadows, scrambling behind a console to hide.

Ash and Silver stood firm, eyes locked forward.

Ash glanced sideways at Silver, reading the fire in his eyes. No fear. No hesitation.

"Silver," Ash said, voice low and calm, "You take care of the Gyarados. I'll free the Electrode and destroy the generator."

Silver nodded without even looking, "Consider it done. Let's take these losers down before Lance even shows up."

Ash cracked his knuckles and grinned. "Obviously, I'm not letting him steal all the glory."

---

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