“Altaria, use ice beam!”

The opposing Staravia was unable to dodge the crystalline beam shot towards it, taking it dead on and dropping to the ground as it fainted. “No!” Her opponent cried as he rushed over to cradle his pokemon.

Iza smirked at the scene as Altaria drifted down beside her and nuzzled against her neck. The 19 year old trainer was dressed in a white and red cropped hoodie, black shorts, black clunky combat boots, and a white cap. A bag was slung over her shoulder and her dark brown hair was pulled into a high ponytail that stuck out of the back of her cap. She walked over to her opponent, planting her fists on her hips. “Where’s that confidence now?”

The boy, probably the same age as her, visibly trembled as she stood over him. Prior to the challenge, he’d been very cocky and had made some remarks about her, so Iza did what she enjoyed doing and that was absolutely destroying people like this. Altaria was the only pokemon she needed to wipe out his team, leaving him distraught and embarrassed at being beaten this badly by a cute girl. With his head down, he handed some money over to Iza and began walking towards the Pokemon Center in the distance. She grinned as she tossed the coins in her hand. Maybe I’ll go shopping. She thought lazily to herself.

With three gym badges and working towards her fourth, Iza felt that she was doing pretty well for herself even if she was an older trainer. Most of the upstarts taking on the gyms and the Elite Four were between 10-14, but her parents had insisted that she stay at home to finish school. Although she had been frustrated with her parents forcing a decision on her as she watched some of her close friends leave their hometown to start their adventures, she had to admit now that it had been good for her. It allowed her to mature, build confidence, and train several extra years with her pokemon, evolving her Swablu into Altaria and growing close with her Fennekin that had been gifted to her. Now as she stood in the outskirts of the city, she tossed her hair back behind her shoulder and recalled her Altaria. First things first, she needed to heal up her pokemon so she followed her defeated opponent towards the red roofed building in the distance.

The city streets were bustling with people. The city was home to a couple of major corporations, as well as numerous sights but Iza didn’t care much for that. She was still heading towards the next gym so she needed to move on from the city quickly. The pokemon center was very quick and professional, healing her pokemon using the machine before handing them back. Thanking the nurse, Iza headed down the sidewalk, intent on finding the department store to restock on some supplies. Many heads turned to stare at her that Iza promptly ignored. It was a byproduct of both being attractive looking and her outfit showing a lot of skin, which she often used to her advantage but for now she projected the air of confidence and iciness as she strode down the street. She was eyeing some of the stores across the road from her when a voice drifting out of an alley she walked past caused her to pause. “Everything is going as planned so far.”

Iza glanced towards the mouth of the alley, getting suspicious of what she heard as she walked over to the edge of the brick wall and peeked into the darkness. Behind a couple of dumpsters were a trio of Team Rocket grunts! She recognized the black uniforms with the red R emblazoned on the front, grey boots, and grey gloves immediately. Two males and one female continued to talk about some plan before walking deeper into the alley and rounding a corner.

Iza glanced left and right, no other passerby seemed to notice the Team Rocket grunts, but she knew that they had to be up to no good and if they were putting a plan in motion, a lot of people were about to be in danger. Steeling herself, she entered the alley and picked her way carefully through the bins before reaching the corner that the grunts had gone around. She peeked around the edge of the wall, noticing that it led to some back roads behind the main buildings of the city. Moving to the entrance of the second part of the alley, she glanced both ways and just caught sight of the grunts rounding another corner further down the road. Racing down the thin road, she caught back up to them and began trailing them at a decent distance. They seemed to have no concern about potentially being followed as they continued through the back streets of the city until they reached a warehouse. On the outside, the warehouse seemed very clean and modern but there was little sign it was being used. It looked like any other of the half dozen warehouses in the row, but Iza watched as the grunts did a hand motion in front of a sensor and the door opened for them. This must be the Team Rocket base. She thought as she slowly crept towards the door, checking for any cameras that might have caught her approach. To her surprise, there were none and she was able to walk right up to the sensor and copy the hand motion. The door hissed open, revealing a long metal hallway that was completely empty.

Iza was confused. Maybe it was a relatively empty base and Team Rocket had already headed out to conduct their plan? That couldn’t be right. She stepped cautiously inside, searching for any sign of security or traps but could see nothing. She continued down the hall, very confused but with one hand on her pokeballs. There’s no way I can just walk into a Team Rocket base like this. She thought to herself incredulously.

Right on cue, a door hissed open up ahead and a grunt stepped through, glancing in both directions and doing a double take when he spotted Iza. “Hey!” What are you doing here?”

Iza internally froze but she had to project confidence. “I’m here to have a meeting with your boss about his plan. Care to tell me where I might find him?”

The grunt practically growled as he took out a pokeball. “I hate meddling twerps like you. Prepare to face the might of Team Rocket!”

He cackled as a Golbat emerged from the tossed Pokeball, and Iza unclipped her Altaria off of her belt and tossed it out. “Just a Golbat?” She asked in an innocent tone.

The grunt’s expression didn’t change upon seeing his opponent. “Not just a Golbat. It’s a Team Rocket Golbat.” He said with a look of supreme superiority.

Iza cocked an eyebrow. From what she had heard from other trainers, most of Team Rocket wasn’t anything special so she was sure she could easily overpower them. Time to find out. “Use dragon claw!” She commanded, watching as the grunt’s smug look immediately faded as his Golbat was clawed up and tossed aside.

“Dragon pulse!” Was her follow up, knocking the Golbat out entirely.

“H-hey wait a second.” He stammered as Iza marched over to him, Altaria floating beside her.

“Where’s your boss?”

“B-boss?” The grunt said weakly. “You stand no chance against him.”

“That’s not for you to decide.” She growled. “Where. Is. He?”

The grunt pointed with a shaking finger down the hall. “S-seventh door on the left.”

She gave him a big smile. “Thank you!” before turning and walking down the hallway. “Hey!” She heard the grunt running after her and snapped her fingers, signaling Altaria to use dragon pulse again to blast the grunt into the wall.

Glancing over her shoulder, she could see the grunt in a daze, a dent in the metal wall where he had slammed into it and let a laugh escape her lips before she reached the door that he had indicated. She took a deep breath before pushing the door open and stepping into the room and immediately froze. Staring back at her in a large room were a dozen Team Rocket grunts who had been chatting, relaxing, or having a practice battle off to the side. A dozen pairs of eyes immediately turned to look at the newcomer and the shock of someone not in uniform seemed to make everyone hesitate. The mock battling grunts were the first to unfreeze, with a Koffing and Zigzagoon both turning their attention towards her and unleashing attacks. A sludge bomb was lobbed in her direction and Iza sprinted to the right to get out of the way of the poisonous sludge. Grabbing her two pokemon off of her belt, she tossed them out and Altaria and Fennekin both emerged into the room ready to attack. “Dragon pulse! Flamethrower!” She called as she sprinted to the side to dodge another sludge bomb.

By now, the rest of the grunts in the room had recovered from their surprise and were beginning to dig pokeballs out of their pockets to join the fight. Facing nearly a dozen pokemon, Iza grimaced realizing she’d need an ace in the hole early. “Fennekin! Earthquake!” She cried.

She braced herself against a nearby pillar as Fennekin unleashed the move, knocking all the grunts in the room off their feet along with their pokemon. The entire building shook, which likely alerted everyone in the base to her presence, but it also knocked out several of the opposing pokemon in one shot. When everything stopped shaking and the grunts began picking themselves back up, Iza took the chance to aim some dragon pulses at some of the recovering grunts, knocking one female grunt into another room and slamming another two other grunts into the wall where they fell into a heap. Not a bad start. She thought as she surveyed the room. 6 grunts and 7 pokemon left against her and her two trusty companions. “Well?” She asked as she stepped out from behind the pillar with a smirk. “Is that all you got?”

A round of battle cries was shouted as half of Team Rocket it felt like charged her. The next several minutes passed in a blur of attacks, dodges, cries, and her pokemon knocking out opponents one after the other. Soon, there were just three opponents left, with the other grunts groaning in heaps on the floor. A lull soon appeared in the battle as everyone left standing tried to catch their breaths. Iza looked at her two pokemon, who seemed to still be in decent shape. Then a man, not much older than her, entered the room with a pair of grunts flanking him. “That’s her boss.” The female grunt pointed.

Iza recognized her as one of the grunts she had beaten earlier, who apparently had gone running to get her boss. She finished dispatching the Poochyena of the female grunt she had just been fighting before turning her attention to the man that entered the room. “You’re the boss?”

He had the air of someone important and powerful, dressed in a black shirt with a white blazer overtop, white pants and white shoes. His face was handsome, although marred a bit by the irritated expression that looked like it was permanently fixed upon his face. “I am Team Rocket Admin Gordon, and you little lady, are not welcome here. Making a mess of my beautifully constructed base, I will now teach you a lesson you won’t be forgetting anytime soon.”

He tossed a pokeball forward and a Weavile emerged. “Go Weavile. Take her down.”

Iza didn’t want to give him the chance. “Sky attack!” She ordered her Altaria.

She was secretly nervous, as any ice type attack would deal heavy damage to her Altaria. Sky attack connected, knocking Weavile back and she had Altaria pre-emptively dodge the quick attacks that would be returned back. An ice beam flew past her Altaria, freezing the roof before Weavile used agility and began zooming around the room. Team Rocket grunts cried out as the Weavile knocked them aside, sending them flying into the walls but admin Gordon didn’t seem to care much for his subordinates. “Night slash!” He ordered.

Black shadow claw marks appeared on her Altaria, knocking it sideways in the air but Weavile had to be in physical contact range to use that move and that was exactly what she had planned out. “Fire blast!” She cried.

The five directional flames blasted Weavile head on, who was unable to dodge at that close range. The flames melted a star into the metal plates in the floor and caused her opponent to faint. Iza gaped as she looked at the damage in the room, especially since the flames had stopped just short of her boots, leaving the floor twisted and deformed. Gordon grudgingly recalled his Weavile. “You’re not bad, I see why you’ve been causing so many problems. But that ends now.”

He tossed out a second pokeball and Lucario popped out. Iza’s eyes widened, as this was the first time she had seen one of them in real life. With dog-like features and black and blue fur, it immediately assumed a fighting pose. “Surprised?” Gordon asked her, seeing her reaction. “A rare one indeed. Lucario, close combat!”

Lucario vanished from sight and Iza blinked, not sure what just happened before there was a cry from Altaria. She whirled around to see Lucario on top of her pokemon, beating it with a flurry of punches. After taking damage in the prolonged battle before this, Altaria couldn’t hold out against the fighting type power of Lucario and soon fainted. Iza clenched her fist as she was forced to recall her pokemon, leaving her with only Fennekin on the battlefield. “Flame Wheel!” She called to finish off an Ekans before summoning her pokemon back to her.

Lucario stood in the center of the room, tracking her Fennekin before it turned it’s gaze towards her and Iza shuddered as it inspected her. It’s canine-like eyes narrowed before it held its paws in front of its body and a blue energy ball began to form. “Aura sphere!” Gordon commanded.

To her surprise, the flickering energy sphere was shot in her direction instead of her pokemon. She barely had a moment to register what was happening before Fennekin leaped in front of her to take the attack. “Fennekin!” She cried as it took the attack full on and fainted.

She recalled Fennekin and clipped the pokeball back to her belt, before realizing that she was out of Pokemon. Gulping, Iza quickly surveyed the possible exits. Several defeated grunts were back on their feet, nursing injuries and glaring at her as they closed in. She tried to hide how much her hand was shaking as she reached into her bag and pulled out one last Pokeball. She smirked her trademark smirk at the grunts before tossing it into the middle of the room and shouting “Go Dialga!”

The effect was immediate as the grunts dove for cover around the room. Iza used that chance to bolt for the nearest door, slamming through it and racing down the hallway. In the room where she had just fought, Gordon stared as the pokeball hit the floor with a thunk and rolled until it stopped against his shoe. It was a simple trick with an empty pokeball and somehow they had all fallen for it. “AFTER HER!” He roared at the grunts in the room. “Lock down the base, make sure she doesn’t escape!”

Iza sprinted down the hall, her boots making loud stomping sounds that probably were not aiding her attempts to evade pursuit as she frantically searched for a way out. The metal hallways all looked the same, with room after room of equipment, pokeballs, and other machinery that looked ominous to her. She could hear shouting behind her as grunts fanned out through the base searching for the intruder, and it occurred to her that she really had not been prepared to single-handedly storm a Team Rocket hideout. There has to be a healing machine somewhere. She thought as she continued to check rooms, occasionally surprising more Team Rocket grunts or scientists in lab coats as she raced past doors.

Unfortunately for Iza, she knew that she probably wouldn’t get the time to heal her pokemon even if she found a machine. She also wasn’t a marathon runner and was beginning to feel tired from the continuous running she had been doing, meaning she needed to find a place to hide. Scrambling through a series of connected rooms, she found one containing all kinds of pokemon equipment like pokeballs and potions, none of which would help her in the current moment but she did find a few tall storage closets along one wall. Perfect. She thought as she opened up one of them and slipped inside, pulling the door closed behind her.

She held her breath as she heard an army of grunts storming through the room. She held her breath as she heard them disperse and begin searching parts of the room hoping that she wouldn’t be seen. As she waited, she felt something cold brush against her legs and looked down, seeing a couple pairs of grey thigh high boots. Tracing her view up the boots, she could make out in the dark some female uniforms for Team Rocket hanging beside her and an idea began formulating in her mind on how she would escape. However, before she could get a chance to put her plan into action, the door to the closet was wrenched open and she threw her hands up to shield her eyes from the sudden bright light. “Found you, you little twerp!”

Iza yelped as she was multiple hands grabbed her and yanked her out of her hiding spot. Her bag was unhooked from her body, leaving her completely defenseless as grunts on either side of her seized her upper arms and frogmarched her out of the room. Despite her kicking, pleading to be let go, and struggling, the grunts were larger than her and had no problem keeping her in their grasp as she was led down various corridors back to the room that she had originally fled from. The boss man was waiting along with several other grunts that probably had been called back from the search for her, tapping his foot as she was dragged before him and shoved onto her knees. “Ow!” Iza grunted. “Is this how you show a girl a good time?”

“Always have to get a word in.” The boss grumbled. “You snoops should know by now that you’re just asking for this if you come charging in unprepared, what did you expect? This is a Team Rocket base!”

Iza looked at the grunts in the room. “Well, you’re guards kind of sucked, maybe you need to make some improvements there before your big plan.”

The instant she said something about the plan, she instantly regretted it as his head whipped around. “Plan? Where did you hear that?”

“A-around.” She said weakly as his eyes seemed to drill into her.

There was a moment of silence as Gordon’s eyes seemed to bore into her before he dismissed her with a wave of his hand. “Secure her in a cell. I’ll deal with her later.”

“Deal? What do you mean deal, hey! Let go of me! You can’t keep me here! Arrggghh!” Iza shouted as she was dragged away out of the room and down another set of halls.

She didn’t want to admit it to herself, but she was afraid. Her cocky, bad girl attitude was mostly dispersed now as she was hauled through the base, realizing no one knew she was here and there wasn’t any real hope of a rescue. To vent her frustration with herself, she lashed out with a booted foot against the grunt to her right. Her thick combat boots packed a punch, as the grunt experienced firsthand as her foot connected solidly with his shin.“Ow! That hurt twerp!”

She received a slap across the face in response, snapping her head back and causing her to tear up a little. She’d never been treated this way in her life, usually it was her dealing out the punishment and humiliating other trainers but now the shoe was on the other foot. Shocked, she didn’t offer any more resistance as she was dragged to her destination.

Finally the grunt parade with their captive came to a halt. Iza nervously looked at the metal door in front of her with a small window filled with metal bars. A prison cell of some sort, she realized and looking at the other doors around her, she wondered how many other captive trainers had been kept in these cells. The door was unlocked and she was led inside a small room, with metal walls and a hard looking chair bolted in the center of the room. “What, no bed? No TV? This isn’t how you treat your guests.” She said as she was roughly forced down into the chair.

“Shut up.” Came the response from one of the grunts behind her as they pulled her arms behind her and began binding her wrists.

Iza yelped as the rope was pulled tight around her crossed wrists, cinched, and knotted off. “Didn’t know Team Rocket was so kinky. Is this how you all spend your time between carrying out evil plans?”

“Shut UP already!” One of the grunts finally had enough and rammed a cloth wad into her mouth.

Iza gagged as the foul tasting cloth was stuffed into her mouth, filling it up as she tried to push it out with her tongue. She almost got it out when the same grunt shoved it back in with two fingers and plastered tape across her mouth to seal it in. “Mmmmph hrrrrr grrrr!” She cried as her voice was taken away from her.

“Finally some peace and quiet.” He grumbled. “Hurry up and finish tying her up so we can get back to work.”

“I’d much rather tie up this chick than do whatever the boss wanted us to do.” One of the female grunts muttered under her breath but quickly shut her mouth when the lead grunt glared at her.

Picking up more rope, the grunts closed in on Iza who soon had her legs spread and bound to the corresponding chair legs. More rope wrapped around her thighs, waist and chest, winding between the gaps in the chair to secure her in place and making sure she was completely unable to move any part of her body except her head. She did her best to glare but there was no intimidation factor for a girl helplessly bound and gagged to a chair.

Satisfied with their captive’s helplessness and giving her bonds some extra yanks to ensure the knots were not coming loose, the grunts began filing out of the room. One stayed behind, Iza noting that it was the first grunt she had defeated upon entering the base and he looked down at her seated form with malice in his eyes. “I can’t believe I lost to a pipsqueak like you.” He grumbled as he reached down and felt her chest through her cropped hoodie,

Iza screamed as he squeezed her breasts, glaring at him but was utterly helpless to prevent anything as he continued to feel her up for a couple of minutes. He finally seemed satisfied with his revenge before he left the cell, locking the door behind him and his footsteps faded away down the hallway.

Iza finally got a chance to try and work her bonds, but found that none of the ropes binding her would budge. She gave a frustrated cry and writhed and struggled as hard as she could, but the only development was ropes beginning to chafe her skin. Still, she refused to admit defeat to Team Rocket and continued to struggle, breaking into a sweat as she constantly pulled and yanked and her fingers fluttered in search of a knot.

After several minutes, she paused her struggling to catch her breath, her chest heaving as her body was still somewhat recovering from her original marathon sprint through the halls. She heard footsteps outside of her cell and the door opened, revealing Gordon. His admin outfit still looked pristine as he walked into the room, closing the door behind him and inspecting his captive. Stopping in front of her and looking down at her, he grinned as she met his gaze evenly. She has a lot of spirit. He thought. Such a shame she’s an interfering twerp.

He reached down and tore the tape of her mouth, causing her to yelp. She immediately spat out the saliva-soaked cloth off to the side and glared at him. “You better let me go!” She said. “When I get free from these ropes I’ll kick your ass and-”

“And do what?” Gordon interrupted with a laugh. “Your pokemon are now ours, elsewhere in the base. You’re just a helpless little girl that we can use as a hostage.”

He circled her bound form like a shark circling its prey. “Here is what is going to happen. You’re going to tell me exactly who you told about our plan and what you know, and maybe I’ll let you go if you’re a good girl.”

“I don’t know anything!” Iza protested. “I didn’t hear anything about your plan! I just know there’s a plan.”

She was cut off as he grabbed her chin, squeezing her cheeks to force her to look into his eyes. “You should know that I don’t like liars.” He said harshly. “It will be so much easier for both of us if you just tell the truth.”

“This is the truth!” She shot back as she wrenched her face out of his grip. “Why is that so hard to believe? I don’t sit in on your evil planning meetings!”

Gordon stepped back to look at her, his face expressionless. Iza felt her resolve slowly slipping away as she stared at this stone wall of a man. This wasn’t something she was going to be able to get out of with her usual charm or words. “Please.” Her voice became desperate. “Please I promise I don’t! Can’t we work something out?”

Iza punctuated her statement by trying to thrust out her chest in an attempt to use her considerable feminine assets to maybe convince him to let her go. For a moment, he did seem distracted by her breasts before his resolve seemed to steel itself as if he had used Calm Mind. “You do realize I can do whatever I want with you, and I still don’t need to let you go.” He said with a smirk, towering over the helpless girl.

Iza tried to stamp her foot in frustration, but with the way she was bound she was unable to. “Come on! I already told you I know nothing. Why do you need to keep me here!?”

Gordon sighed before reaching into his chest pocket and pulling out a handkerchief. Iza caught a brief glimpse of an embroidered G on the cloth before it was forced into her mouth. She choked as the cloth filled her mouth, instantly absorbing the saliva and muffling her cry of protest as another cloth strip was pulled out and pulled between her teeth. Gordon knotted the cloth tightly at the back of her neck, securing the gag in her mouth before he stepped back.

Now that his mind wasn’t clouded with anger, looking at his captive, Gordon realized she was indeed quite attractive. Her struggling had caused her hoodie to ride up, exposing the bottom of her bra. His hand twitched, but he held back. There would be plenty of time later, she wasn’t going anywhere. “Mmmmmph grrrr rrrrtt!” She shouted at him through the gag.

“I don’t think so.” He laughed. “I’ll be back when you decide to loosen your tongue. Maybe I’ll send in some of my grunts to ah, encourage you to speak.”

His face broke into an evil grin as his captive shrieked in fear. Iza trembled at the thought of all those grunts in the room with her, playing with her helpless body. Her struggles renewed, but the ropes still held tight. “I’ll give you some time to think about it.” Gordon said as he left the room, plunging it into darkness except for the beams of light coming through the window.

Iza hung her head. It was the truth that she didn’t know anything about the plan, but she wasn’t sure she was going to be able to get them to believe her, leaving her at their mercy for who knows how long. A tear leaked down her cheek as she strained futilely against the ropes. She really was in over her head, trying to single handedly take on Team Rocket, and she now really regretted it.