Disclaimer: The events of chapter one have an F-Zero origin, whereas all characters are from Pokemon. Both franchises belong to Nintendo.
Chapter One: Harland's Sacrifice
The day it all started was a clear one. It had been months after the duel between Kyogre and Groudon, the last time Teams Aqua and Magma had been seen on the criminal radar. Both Team Rocket and Team Ash were also involved in the duel, with Pokemon G-Man and Johto champion Lance also getting caught in the crossfire. Team Rocket was from Kanto, as was half of Team Ash; the other half was of Hoenn origin, like the two main suspects involved. At one location unspecified, members of the five main villainous groups - Teams Rocket, Aqua, Magma, Galactic, and Cipher - grouped up for a big race. This was Cipher's first foray outside the Orre region - Aqua and Magma were outside Hoenn for the first time as well, as was Team Galactic outside of Sinnoh - but Team Rocket was clearly not in their first non-Kanto operation (due to Jessie and James).
Each team had a uniform for its members: Team Rocket agents usually wore full black uniforms (Jessie and James wore white ones), similar to the blue or purple ones of Cipher but without the helmets. Team Galactic agents looked like teal-haired space explorers to the random bystander, whereas Team Aqua members looked like pirates (with too many navel piercings according to Magma agent Harland). Team Magma, meanwhile, wore hooded cloaks as part of their outfits (which Aqua agent Isabel said had horns equipped to them along with miniskirts for the females). Only a few Cipher members, and high-ranked ones at that, had confirmed faces; Team Galactic had only five members with hair colors other than teal; the Magmas faces couldn't be confirmed due to the hoods, and the Aquas wore bandannas as part of their outfits.
As the team members surveyed the circuit Venus of Cipher was talking to a helmetless blonde Cipher agent. Well, technically, this blonde was actually a GX native allied to Team Vexus as her hair contained several teal highlights; her name was Nella, and she was the most notorious member of what remained of the Terralon Rogues. She had a long history of criminal acts, most of them attempted on a ten-year-old girl from GX named Dawn. Dawn was an agent of the interdimensional crime fighters known as XQ, with 74P as her agent number, and she was also the youngest link of the Zelikarin fusion: the Pink Inferno was eighteen, one year older that the strongest member, known as the Amethyst Angel.
Over in another area of the track the bosses of the four groups Team Ash had dealt with - Giovanni, Archie, Maxie, and Cyrus - were talking about who they had entering the race.
"I've got myself plus Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn entering." Cyrus, a blue-haired twenty-eight-year-old, told the others. "Just myself and Harland for Magma." Maxie replied. "Got a few racers involved. Gotta watch out for Jessie - once her temper gets out of control there's bound to be a mess." Giovanni said; Jessie was the redhead of the most well-known Rocket duo, and had a short, fiery temper. Archie, meanwhile, was deep in thought about something; like Maxie, it was only him and Isabel entering for Aqua, and he knew his female ally was better.
"Racers, START YOUR ENGINES!" the MC yelled. Forty-six vehicles started up and after some warm-up laps, they were off as the green flag flew. The race was eventful at the start; Isabel had shot through the pack on the inside line entering the left-handed turn one, while Pierce and Dakim collided when the Cipher admin got forced up the track entering said turn. However, the race took a nasty turn on lap twelve of ninety-eight.
"Entering turn five the racers are - OH TROUBLE! Nella and James collide in turn four and cars are piling in, nowhere to go in the tight corner. This is massive, and Giovanni, just ahead of the wreck, thought Jessie would cause it." One announcer said. "The red flag is out for a massive wreck in turn four."
"Last time we were on the air for a serious crash Pico caused it trying to hit Falcon, mate." the other announcer said. This one had a bit of an Australian accent, and the two of them looked as if they hailed from another dimension. "One car in this mess has ignited and the racer seems to have been knocked out. By the way, Burter, fifty thousand zeni says Nella pulled a Pico."
"Lets go to the instant replay booth and see what happened." Burter, a blue alien humanoid from the Dragon Ball Z dimension, said. Looking at the replay footage Nella's car turned right into James and caused the wreck, with Isabel getting what looked like the worst of it. "You got me good, Jeice. Nella did deliberately do it. And it looked like Isabel clearly got the worst of - WAIT, WHAT'S HARLAND UP TO!" Harland had rushed to the burning vehicle and was pulling the occupant - an unconscious Isabel - out of the wreckage. "Man, what are the odds she lost more than just her consciousness in that wreck?" Burter asked his buddy. "Reminds me of what happened with Dan Wheldon last October. Wrong place, wrong time, and he lost more that his consciousness."
Hours later, Isabel woke up in a hospital. She seemed out of it a little.
"How'd i end up in here?" she asked. "Who won the race?" Isabel was in her early twenties, with very long red hair. She had had such a good race going when she got caught up in the turn four mess. Several Aquas were surrounding her.
"The race got canceled because of what happened there. You got the worst of the wreck. As for why you're in here, you lost consciousness in the accident, your vehicle ignited, and if it wasn't for Harland, we might have permanantly lost you." one of the females told her.
"Wait, where was Harland during the wreck?" Isabel asked. This time an unseen female Magma responded. "Harland was in the lead, ahead of the wreck, and when he noticed the state of your vehicle he rushed into action. He pulled you out of the burning wreckage and into a nearby ambulance, risking life and limb to do so. I think he might have feelings for ya." She then walked up to the recovering Aqua, stating "The name's Janelle." Janelle had long crimson hair, sparkling fuschia eyes, and was wearing the standard female Magma uniform. But something didn't seem right to Isabel - Janelle was wearing pink boots emblazoned with the Magma logo.
"Alright, Dawn, give up the whole infiltration act."