Prologue
Erika was busy gardening in her gym when the letter arrived. It wasn't often that the Celadon City gym leader received mail. An occasional correspondence with her sisters or Misty of Cerulean City was the only form of mail she would expect. "Tell No One. Kanto is on the verge of war, and has need of you and all other gym leaders. A helicopter will take you to Indigo Plateau. Bring your best pokemon. Be at the helipad at the top of the Celadon Department Store in 3 days," read the paper, signed at the end by the letter "L."
As she finished reading, Erika looked up through the skylight that encompassed most of the gym's ceiling. There was not a cloud in the sky and the sun was shining as bright as ever. Kanto just went through a war ten years ago, she remembered. What could possibly be happening to start another one?
The last Kanto war had taken a significant toll on the region. Many trainers and soldiers died in the fighting that stretched for almost three years, as well as countless pokemon. Thousands of children grew up parentless, cities were destroyed, and the pokemon world had forever changed.
A day went by before she agreed to the letter's demands. I will not sit idly by and watch another war plague this region, Erika contemplated. She gathered her best pokemon: Vileplume, Scyther, and Victreebell. Erika later informed her fellow gym members that she would be taking a leave of absence for the next week or so. I'm not lying, she thought. But I cannot tell them my whereabouts. It is my duty as a gym leader to help Kanto.
The day finally arrived to leave for the Indigo Plateau. Erika said goodbye to her garden, her pokemon that weren't strong enough to come, and her friends at the gym. She packed her suitcase, placed the three pokeballs on her belt, and proceeded across the street the department store.
Once inside, Erika made her way to the roof of the store. As expected, a black helicopter awaited her on the helipad. A single man in a blue suit stood at attention just as she stepped off the elevator and took her luggage. Though, what proved most interesting was the Elite Four logo on the side of the vehicle. What business does the Elite Four have with war in Kanto, she asked herself.
She boarded the helicopter and lifted off towards the Indigo Plateau. After a couple hours of flight, she began to see the immense tower of the Elite Four take form across the horizon. The pilot lowered the helicopter on the helipad at the base of the tower. Erika, exhausted by the flight, slowly exited the aircraft with her luggage. The pilot turned off the engine and escorted her to the entrance.
"Can I be taken straight to my quarters? It has been a long journey," she asked the pilot.
"I'm sorry, ma'am. I've been instructed to bring you straight to Lance," he replied. "I will take your luggage to your room, though."
Lance? The dragon pokemon trainer of the Elite Four? I haven't seen him since I was sworn in as Celadon City's gym leader. This must be more serious than I anticipated.
The pilot ushered Erika through the doors of the Elite Four building. The room they entered was completely deserted. There was no Nurse Joy sitting behind the pokemon healing station. The entrance to the Elite Four Challenge had a "Temporarily Closed" sign hanging above the gateway. It was very rare for the Elite Four to be closed entirely.
In the back of the wide room sat an elevator. The pilot led Erika into the elevator and pressed the penthouse button before stepping off. "Rainbow is on the way up, Lance," he said into his Bluetooth. The elevator shifted and began to rise quickly to the top of the building. She could feel her ears popping as she neared the top. The elevator came to a rather abrupt stop and the doors opened to a dark room.
Seeing that no one was there to greet her, Erika stepped off the elevator and spotted a slightly illuminated door. She could hear shouting coming from the other side, and more so as she approached the door. Just as she reached for the doorknob, someone opened it from the other side. Standing in front of Erika was the most battle-tested person in the entirety of Kanto, Lt. Surge.
"Nice to see you again, Erika. Took you long enough to get here. How many years has it been since my Raichu zapped your Vileplume?" he asked with a cheeky, masculine grin.
Not this old story again. "I was young then, Surge. If we had time, I would be up for round two. But I understand that we have more pressing matters that require our immediate attention, don't you think?" Erika responded with absolute authority.
"Right. Well, get out of my way. I've got to take a piss," he said laughing, as he barreled past Erika in some hurry towards the bathroom. "The rest of them are waiting in the room. Join them."
Always the gentlemen, she thought. Though, if war broke out in Kanto, there would not be a person she would want more on her side than Surge. A proven commander in the field, Erika has long heard of Lt. Surge's service in the Kanto War.
Erika turned back to the door and continued into the room. In the middle of the room sat a podium and a large table with eight chairs, five of the chairs occupied by her fellow Kanto gym leaders. "Erika!" she heard from across the room. Misty rose from her chair and walked over to the door. "How's my favorite grass pokemon gym leader been? It's been so long since last year's meeting in Saffron."
"I'm well. You should see the garden in Celadon City, the grass pokemon absolutely adore it. And how have you been, my friend?" Erika responded with a smile, as they each gave each other an overdue hug.
"Great. Cerulean City looks so beautiful this time of year. Staryu and Starmie are becoming stronger everyday," said Misty. She turned around and went back to her chair. "Here, come sit down."
Erika sat down in the chair next to Misty. Across the table she spotted Blaine of Cinnabar Island, who gave her a greeting nod. He looked to be telling a story to Koga of Fuschia City. Meanwhile, Brock of Pewter City had a cup of coffee in hand while he tried to make conversation with Sabrina of Saffron City. A notorious oddball, Sabrina just stared into the corner of the room not saying a word. The rumors of her psychic abilities are well known throughout Kanto. They say she can bend spoons with her mind.
They all continued to chitchat for a couple moments until Lt. Surge returned and plopped himself in the chair next to Erika. "When is this thing gonna fucking start? And where is Giovanni?" he asked. Surge then leaned back in his chair and kicked his legs up on the table.
"Speak of the devil and he shall appear," someone replied from the doorway. They all turned around. Lt. Surge tried to adjust his seat to see but ended up falling on the floor. Though, no one else seemed to notice. Giovanni of Viridian City stood in the doorway wearing a black suit with his trademark slicked-back oily hair. In truth, Giovanni has always been the most mysterious of the Kanto gym leaders. Erika had only met him at official meetings, and each one of them uncomfortable just by his presence alone. He was always business-usual with everything in regards to pokemon and the gym leaders. "I hear that we have much to discuss in this evening. Where is Lance?"
"I'm right here," came a response from the door at the other end of the room. Lance donned his usual cloak and spiked carmine-colored hair. He took his place at the podium, while Giovanni claimed the last seat at the table. "There is no time for chitchat. You all know why I gathered you here, but you do not know what I am about to tell you, so listen."
The dragon-type trainer pressed a button, and a screen began to slowly descend from the ceiling. The lights dimmed, and the screen lit up to form a map of Kanto. "Recently, Team Rocket has been quite busy," said Lance. "My spies have acquired information of a recent spike in Team Rocket activity, particularly in Cerulean Cave. There is also evidence that Team Rocket cells are connected to the armory raids in Celadon City, Saffron City, and Mt. Moon."
"Cerulean Cave? No one goes in Cerulean Cave," replied Misty with disbelief. In truth, not much is known about the cave. Erika had once read about the wide variety of pokemon that existed in the cave, but the entirety of the area has yet to be explored.
"Furthermore, not only are they collecting firearms, but they are gathering amounts of pokemon the likes of which we have never seen. A pokemon army, if you will." Lance scanned the room looking if anyone had anything to say about the information being presented.
Lt. Surge rose out of his chair abruptly. "So, you're saying that Team Rocket means to make war?" asked Surge with the stiffest face Erika has ever seen. "Team Rocket is hardly a threat."
"Yes, they mean to make war," Lance responded with upmost severity. "The Team Rocket of years past is done. They have a new leader, who I believe will be catching a boat this evening. Which brings me to my next point, we must do something about this new head of Team Rocket."
"What do you suggest we do?" asked Sabrina in the most monotone voice possible. Everyone at the table, including Lance, turned in astonishment at Sabrina's words. Hell, even the catatonic Sabrina is worried, thought Erika
"Uh…," Lance mumbled, clearly startled by Sabrina's rare use of speech. "We have to cut off the head of the snake that is Team Rocket. The death of this ambitious chief executive will certainly bring Team Rocket back to their old, less serious ways." Koga nodded in agreement, and Lt. Surge began pounding the table with his fists.
"So, the plan is simple yet dangerous. My informants tell me that the Team Rocket executive will be on this evening's S.S. Anne voyage out of Vermillion. He will be meeting with several high profile Team Rocket members. There is not a better time to strike," said Lance. "It is our responsibility to protect the people of Kanto from those who wish to do harm to our region. Make no mistake, your lives will be in danger tonight."
"I think this is an excellent plan," said Giovanni with a laugh.
Blaine rose to his feet. "I'm in. These Team Rocket bastards can fill the heat of my Magmar!" he shouted with his fists in the air. Erika found herself standing up as well.
"It's settled then. We leave via helicopter in two hours," Lance stated proudly.
The next two hours passed quickly for Erika. All that I do, I do for Kanto, she thought. I took the oath to uphold justice in this region, yet why am I afraid? She found herself remembering the first time she met Gloom. Erika had been trapped by a Muk coming home from school. A passing Gloom came to her rescue that day and scared the Muk away. In time, she evolved Gloom in to Vileplume. That bond alone is enough to never be afraid, no matter the obstacle.
The time came to board the helicopter. They armored up with an assortment of handguns, Lance chose the Desert Eagles for good measure. Everyone appeared to be rather worried except for Giovanni. He still donned his suit and wore a confident grin as he sat down in his seat. The helicopter lifted off from the helipad and started the journey to intercept the S.S. Anne. An hour passed before Erika saw the ocean below the aircraft. Beautiful, she told herself. She scanned the ocean below until she spotted an enormous ocean liner.
"It's time, gym leaders. Lock and load!" shouted Lance. The helicopter lowered altitude to land on the cruise ship. As Erika and her fellow gym leaders descended towards the ship the helicopter started shaking. The engine sputtered to a stop, and then the aircraft started free falling. The fall was interrupted by a sudden halt in midair. Erika looked out the window to see that the helicopter was barely ten feet from the deck of the ship.
"I've lost control of the helicopter!" the pilot screamed at Lance.
Then the helicopter started lowering slowly onto the deck. Erika could see the stress on her companions' faces. Misty was damn well near hysteria. Sabrina, odd as it is, had her eyes closed. The aircraft landed on the surface of the deck, and Lance unbuckled quickly.
"Remove yourself from the aircraft with your hands held above your head," boomed the ship's loud speakers. The rest of the gym leaders unbuckled and left the confines of the helicopter to the deck. Outside, uniformed Team Rocket grunts sat with machine guns aimed at the gym leaders of Kanto. Lance was the last to emerge from the helicopter.
"Well, look who we have here," shouted a figure at the center of the deck. "Lance, you have made quite the mistake coming here." The male had long blue hair with a black executive vest.
"James, let's not play games. Your plan will never work. Your leadership of Team Rocket ends today," Lance spouted back. He made to draw his gun, but it was quickly yanked away by an unknown force and deposited into the ocean.
"There was another mistake you made. Do you ever learn, Lance?" asked James, who Erika assumed to be the leader of Team Rocket.
"I don't believe he ever will, my love," responded another voice emerging from the other Team Rocket members. The lady had long red hair and wore a white skirt. "We should probably take those other weapons away from them. They'll be of no use soon, anyways." She snapped her fingers and a mechanical creature appeared behind James. Wires and metal armor decorated the exterior of the device. It raised its arms. Immediately, Erika felt her gun on her hip flung from its holster into the ocean. The same happened to the rest of her companions.
"Jessie, how good of you to join us," said James to the woman. He took her hand and kissed it gently. James turned back to face Erika and the other gym leaders. "Now, we can do this the hard way or the easy way, your choice."
Erika had no idea what he meant by that statement, but she spotted Lance and Koga glancing at one another. Koga gave a Lance a reassuring wink. What's Koga doing?
"By all means, please waste more of my time," said James as he rolled his eyes.
As if almost in synchronization, Koga and Lance snatched pokeballs from their belts and tossed them in the air. Erika glanced over to see the rest of the gym leaders do the same. She found herself reaching for Scyther as well.
"Open fire," screamed James. It was too late. Erika spotted Koga's Weezing first dispersing smokescreen across the ship's deck. Lance's Dragonite was already firing a hyper beam at James himself. The gun shots had begun to fire but were deflected by Sabrina's Alakazam's clever use of Light Screen.
In the midst of the chaos, Erika heard Lance shout, "This is Dragon! Send Emergency Extraction Team now! Situation Compromised!"
Chaos had already erupted on the ship when Scyther made it out of the pokeball. Stunned, Erika looked around the warring ship. Brock's Onix used a body slam to crush the rocket grunts. Misty's Starmie froze a Team Rocket member in place with a well-placed ice beam attack. Lt. Surge had somehow managed to grab a fallen grunt's gun and fired into the smoke towards Team Rocket. Though, a loud explosion soon caught Erika's attention.
The explosion knocked Erika off her feet entirely. The smoke cleared and she spotted someone lying on the deck in a pool of blood. Blaine. Erika felt someone tugging on her arm. The Celadon City gym leader looked up to see Giovanni with a gun pointed at her head. "What happened to him?" she shouted looking at Blaine.
"I shot him in the head, of course. Get up or your next, my dear," he said.
Erika felt the barrel of the gun placed to her temple as he dragged her to the other end of the vessel. "Scyther!" she screamed. The bug pokemon appeared out of nowhere running on the ship's deck. Two grunts stood in the way, each of which was sliced in half by the deathly sharp blades of Scyther. Just as Erika's pokemon reached Giovanni, it froze. Slowly, its blades were pulled gradually apart. Scyther started to cry out, to the horror of Erika. She looked around and spotted the mechanical creature with its arms raised towards Scyther. It then violently threw its arms apart, and just as it did, Scyther was completely split in two.
"No!" screamed Erika, tears streaming down her face. Scyther was one her most loyal and powerful pokemon, and it was no more.
Smoke began to cover the ship once again and the commotion ceased. Erika glanced into the sky in time to see multiple Pigeot flying away.
"Your friends have abandoned you, Erika," said Giovanni with a grin of victory. "You are witnessing history in the making, my dear. Team Rocket's ascension to glory starts today, due in large part to my new partner over here." He motioned his hands toward the mechanical creature that tore her pokemon in half. "Erika, meet Mewtwo, the most powerful pokemon in the world."