Team Rocket Murder

Pokémon was always my favorite show growing up. I always enjoyed watching it. I would spend countless hours in front of the TV, dreaming about being the next Pokémon Master. My connection with grew into an unending love for Ash and Pikachu. I used to pretend I was Pikachu, Imitating his voice constantly. Thoughts about the joy Pokémon brought me always make me remember those good times. However, there is one time from my past where I experienced Pokémon in a way that shattered that love into pieces, and made me so mortally afraid that I had nightmares about it for the past 10 years. It was the day I came across what seemed to be a lost episode of the Pokémon series, immortalized on video tape. This is a recollection of what happened, so forgive me if my exact memory isn't extremely accurate.

It all started one day when I was 8 years of age. Pokémon was the main thing in my life that was important. My parents loved me so much, and they had spoiled me a lot by buying me so many different things relating to Pokémon. I had the games, the episodes, everything. I was happy child, and I thought I had everything in the world. My parents had went to a local yard sale, just to browse for a view hours. I was a very attention lacking child, so naturally I got bored easy and began to sulk around with my mom and dad right in front of me.

After a while of searching I saw a familiar object caught my eye: A video tape in a Pokémon illustrated case. My heart leapt with childish joy as I quickly picked up the tape and observed the illustration. It had the Pokemon logo on the front, except the letters were red and black. The illustration was nothing like I had never seen before. It had Ash's Pikachu on it; except it was colored paint white and its cheeks were blue, as if it were sick. Its expression was vacant, and his eyes seem to stare at me with this morose stare. The case coloring was the familiar red, but there were no other markings on the box at all: no other illustration or episode explanations. At this time, I had owned all the VHS tapes except for a few into where Ash goes to the Pokémon League, since they hadn't come out yet. I was so excited that the front cover of a "dead," Pikachu didn't faze me. I felt happy as I ran with video in hand to my parents. I begged and pleaded with them, but for some reason they said no, firmly putting their foot down; however I saw my father go over to the kind gentleman and whispered something I couldn't hear and before I could investigate any further, My mother Pulled me away and led me to the car. I was angry with them, seeing as I didn't get my way, and I didn't talk to them much the rest of the day.

Eventually I went to bed in my room. I had a nightlight that gave off a mint green glow. I sat there in the dark, unable to think. I was still angry that I didn't get the tape. I couldn't get my mind off of it. It was if the video tape had drawn me in and now it was the only thing I could think of. I was so obsessed over it that I overlooked the obvious question as to why the cover was so depressing. All I wanted to do was watch it. I had to force myself to sleep, and I did eventually, except I slept restlessly. I kept dreaming of the Pikachu on the cover, its pain-filled eyes looking into mine, seemingly pleading for me to help him. A blood stained tear dripped from his eyes as he seemed to whisper something, but I couldn't hear what it was saying.

I awoke from my nightmare, bewildered and frightened. It was morning. The sun was blinding me as it peered down through the window. The house was eerily quiet. Usually I heard the voices of my parents, but there was nothing; I kicked my sheets off of me and began to search the house. Their room was right across the hall from mine, so I knocked very cautiously, no answer. I opened the door as it creaked with age. The room was completely empty, except something was out of place. Their belongings had been all thrown across the room. Clothing, books, and the shelves that before were upright and full of various items were all upturned and spilled onto the floor. I was starting to feel a lump in my throat forming as I went to the living room to see if I can find any signs of my parents, but to no Avail. Our family TV was on, static was playing with a cacophony of white noise. Exasperated, I sat down on the couch, tears were about to fall from my child eyes until I realized that I had sat on something, something hard. I reached my hand behind me and pulled out a blue rectangular package, wrapped in black wrapping paper. On the wrappings, there was a sticky note that said Play Me, in jagged capital letters. I carefully opened the wrappings as I thought I felt a presence watching me from the hallway. I tore them until they were completely gone until I saw the red video case I saw yesterday at the yard sale.

It was the Pokémon video that I begged my parents for. I froze as the shock went through my veins. The discolored Pikachu was accounted for, except one bloodstained tear rolled down its cheek, just like the dream I had. I nervously held the tape in my hand, as if it were going to explode. Whether it was childhood curiosity or utter fear of not obeying the words on the note, I was too curious to see what was on the tape. I put it into VCR next to the TV and hit play, seeing as I had no other option.

The static on the screen abruptly went black, then nothing for a about a minute. I perked up my ears, so as to see if I could hear anything, but it was complete silence. Then from the TV came a haunting screech, almost like a Pokémon cry from the video games. The screen flashed once more and the "show," began. It had skipped the intro clip that always played before every episode and went right into the title screen for this episode. It wasn't Ash's voice reading the text however. It was deeper, and more demonic. The text that came after words haunt me to this day :

Team Rocket Murder…

Those words I would forever see in my mind. The scene that followed was of Ash, Misty, and Brock sitting in what I thought was the cafeteria area of a Pokémon center eating lunch with all of them looking morbid. Ash's head hung down, his dark eyes wracked with pain. Misty said nothing, but she was looking intently at Ash, as if she wanted to comfort him. Brock stood stern and silent. The weirdest thing was that Pikachu was nowhere Some eerie, sped up music similar to Lavender Town's theme played in the background. I sat there on the couch; my eyes glued to the TV as Ash got up and began to walk towards the door behind him. The screen went to black and cut to text. The text was written in shaky lettering, blood dripping down as voices so quiet it was almost unable to hear, but its malicious tone still rang in my mind:

2 Hours Ago…

The scene was changed to a different location, a forest area filled with trees. Ash and his friends were being bothered by team rocket as always, although something was different. Instead of doing their normal antics in the show, Jessie and James stared down Ash with evil grins on their faces. Their eyes were full of anger and bloodshot. Even Meowth bared his claws in an attempt to intimidate Ash and his friends. Ash said his normal taunts to all three of them as he sent Pikachu out to fight them as they had Arbok, Weezing, and Meowth attack Pikachu. I watched with awestruck fear and interest. Every part of my mind was trying to decipher what would happen. Pikachu tried to thunder shock them all at once, but he missed entirely. Ash tried to call him back, seeing as was outnumbered, but it was too late. Meowth cut Pikachu over and over as he screamed feebly. Blood gushed out, so real I thought it was actually happening. Arbok began to contrict Pikachu and his screams got louder. He sunk his poison fangs into Pikachu's neck, as he began to throw up and cough his last breaths. Pikachu began to turn blue as he yelped to Ash pitifully, making Ash Scream with anger and frustration. Weezing's smokescreen suffocated whatever life was left in Pikachu. Ash screamed and cried for Pikachu as he stood their unable to move.

The scene continued for ten minutes, as if in a loop, all the while, actual pictures of a couple's dead body started flashing on the screen. They were cut up and bloody, and their body were pale as white paper with a hint of blue mixed in. they had been strangled, I thought to myself Their necks seemed to have bruises on them They were holding each other's hand, as if they either knew they would die or they died when they were sleeping. The scene around the room was a bunch of turned over shelves and broken items. Then to my horror I realized who they were. It was my parents. I began to weep very soundly in my building madness and self-hate. I blamed myself, since I was the one who begged them for the tape. I was only eight years old, and I was an orphan.

The tape seemed to understand when I figured it out, because when I did, the scene flashed suddenly to a crying ash standing over his dead friend, who now resembled the front cover. Team rocket began to mock and taunt him, and Ash Snapped. He summoned all of his pokemon team, consisting of Bulbasaur, Pidgeotto, Charizard, and Squirtle. He ordered them to kill the rockets. Jesse and James laughs turned into shrieks of fear as Meowth, Arbok, and Weezing were all incinerated by Charizard's flamethrower. They ran as they were chased by Ash's comrades. All of Ash's Pokemon eventually caught up to them and they all did their strongest attacks on the helpless rockets. A Solarbeam, a Flamethrower, a Gust, and A Hydro Pump all hit them at once. Their screams were even worse than Pikachu's been. Jessie and James's flesh burned off leaving bloody messes of flesh. The force of the water and the gust broke their bones and tore off their limbs as the solarbeam completely obliterated them. Team Rocket had been murdered. A crooked smile flashed across Ash's face, then it faded back to the present time. Ash stood over Pikachu's grave. He cried silently, his entire body shaking. The crying sounded like it was happening in the room. Then all of a sudden, Ash Pulled out a gun, whispered something inaudible to the gravestone, then shot himself. Blood and skull fragments rained from his skull as he fell saying his last words looking towards me. The screen zoomed in on his gored face as he looked into my soul and said his final words.

Greedy Children Turn into monsters.

He was talking to me as he said this. The screen faded to black, then there was silence. my tears muffled the scream coming out of my chest. My parents were murdered. I was alone, sitting on our couch, horrified as I watched my hero die. I didn't have time to weep for my hero as the police came barging into our home. I sat there, my red eyes filled with crystalized tears dripping as they pointed their guns at me. As I jumped with the door slamming opened, they yelled at me, telling me not to move in an enraged voice. They put down their guns when they saw me, a helpless child in front of them. They said that a neighbor had heard screaming and had called the police. I tried to explain to them that explained my parents were missing, though I didn't tell them about the photographs in the video. They searched the house, until they got to my room. They smelled a foul order coming from my closet, like a corpse festering in a graveyard. They checked my closet. The bodies of my mother and father fell out of my closet. The cops immediately took me in handcuffs to their squad car for questioning, as I looked back at my house in the back I could see the Dead Pikachu, Smiling at me.