"That is…unfortunate."
The crimson-haired beauty drew in breath as the shadowy figure on the laptop screen in front of her reclined slightly in his chair. Giovanni, the fearsome leader of Team Rocket, was not a man to overreact to challenging situations. Unfortunate, where Jessie and James were involved, these challenging situations presented themselves all too often. In this instance, however, the dark cloud of Lance's death had a significant silver lining for Team Rocket. "Unfortunate, but hardly terminal to our Unova plans. I want you to follow the boy to the Village of Dragons and pillage the cache of dragon eggs that Lance claimed Drayden is holding. If those eggs fall into our hands, we will have insurmountable power at our disposal. Nobody…not in Kanto, not in Unova…not in any region throughout the world, will be able to resist the Dragon-fuelled Team Rocket."
Jessie and James sat pensively at the edge of Icirrus, the now cleared path heading towards the Village of Dragons laying at their feet. Small footprints could be seen heading down into the distance, with the small pattered feet of Zorua by their side. Jessie, as usual, took the lead between the two. "That is all well and good, sir…but how do you propose we break into the Village without Lance's help?"
A low chuckle came from the shadowy man as he slowly stroked the elegant Persian by his side. "You are a fool to believe that Lance would have helped you. His offering us a share of the eggs from the Village was little more than a deceitful lie."
A lie? "But…but he seemed so genuine when we arrived, before he…I mean, when we were travelling together," James uttered, failing to think before speaking, as usual. "Why would Lance have betrayed us when we were nothing but loyal to his cause?"
"Lance had a reputation to uphold. Not to mention his position in the Elite Four of Kanto," Giovanni quipped. "He invited us into his plans as nothing more than mere scapegoats. Did you really think I was not aware that he abandoned you shortly after arriving in the Unova region? And has not all of the blame for the childrens' deaths been laid at the feet of Team Rocket?"
James fell back, just managing to catch himself before sprawling helplessly on the ground. "You knew about Lance leaving us to go rogue?"
Jessie was not so subtle, shouting into the screen, forgetting her place for a moment. "If you knew Lance was manipulating us for his own purposes, why did you agree to assist him in the first place?"
Giovanni smiled; not a warm, happy smile that you would find on the faces of most satisfied people, but a cold and calculated smile that told of a plan that only he was privy to. "It is quite simply a matter of cost versus opportunity. Send my most expendable agents with Lance in the hope that his own plans failed, and then we could swoop in and steal his own target. If he succeeded, then I would have had you attempt to defeat him personally…though given your history, I wouldn't have held my breath…"
Jessie clenched her fist, trying to hide her fury from the boss. Expendable? Did he just call us his most expendable agents? Feeling a sudden urge to throw the laptop through the trees and smash it into a million pieces, she took the more diplomatic route. "We will get you those eggs from the Village, even if it kills us as well."
Giovanni opened his mouth to respond, but Jessie had already slammed the device shut and had thrust it into her knapsack. James looked startled at the rude ending of the conversation, but one look at his partner's face told him that it better to stay silent on the issue. He had certainly learned that lesson the hard way over their many years of service together. A different tact, he figured, would be to change the subject straight away. "I maintain that he try to capture that Sawk, Jessie. You saw its raw power…imagine having a powerful local Pokémon like that on our team!"
The seething woman turned and grabbed James by the collar, shaking him viciously. "I'm sick of chasing individual Pokémon for our personal benefit! How did that turn out with Pikachu, huh? It's time we think bigger, aim for the stars! If we pull off this heist with the Dragon eggs, the boss will make us rich beyond our wildest dreams! I'll finally be able to retire in some obscure, sea-side town…tanning myself every day, sipping tropical cocktails, dipping my feet in the warm ocean currents…and here are you, worrying about capturing a single Sawk off another stupid, little twerp?"
Jessie composed herself slightly, brushing her hands through her hair and releasing James to drop to the ground at her feet. "Besides, it is high time we prove ourselves something other than completely useless. Don't you agree?"
"You took the words right out of my mouth, toots."
The pair turned to find Meowth galloping through the clearing and hurriedly down the weathered path through the trees. He quickly popped his head back to find his confused and bemused team-members staring at him. "What are ye waiting for, huh? Let's go! Those Dragon eggs won't steal themselves!"
With a toothy grin, the cat was gone once again. Jessie helped up James, and the two quickly packed up their things and made their way down the path as well. "Well, you can't fault his enthusiasm," James commented.
Up ahead, Meowth giggled to himself as he could hear the footsteps of the two trainers following him quickly. His eyes quickly flashed back into their original form, then back to Meowth's, as the evil Pokémon's thoughts returned to the mission at hand. Thrusting his paw out to the side, he examined the sharp claws on either side. He couldn't help but imagine the piercing tips slicing their way through Iris' throat, before watching her lifeless body slide down the side of the mountain, just as she had done to his master.
"Hurry up! We ain't got all year!"
oOoOo
Back in the woods near the weathered path, Meowth struggled against the strong String Shot attack that had seemingly come out of nowhere. In an instant, whilst trying to find a nice place to relieve himself, he had found himself tied to a tree trunk, then any cries that could have been heard were cancelled out by a String Shot around his face. He had watched on in horror as the Sewaddle, or at least that is what he figured the Pokémon to have been at the time, slowly transformed into Ditto before his eyes, before changing into a perfect replica of him. The Ditto-Meowth had laughed quietly before leaning in, slapping original-Meowth on the side of the face.
"Don't you go moving, now."
With a skip in his agile step, Ditto-Meowth made its way through the woods to where Jessie and James had been talking to the boss. Meowth merely stayed in place, unable to move nor speak.
oOoOo
Some way further ahead on the path, Trip and Luke hastily made their way across the rocky outcrops that jutted sporadically amongst the sheer cliff faces and occasional patch of greenery. The path was proving very difficult to circumnavigate, and Trip felt a growing respect for the traders who had hauled their carts all the way to the Village through this extremely difficult route. Behind him, he heard Luke fall again with a muffled yelp, but he pushed on ahead. Best that you let him catch up by himself. He'll need to be tough to make it, and being soft on him won't help one bit.
oOoOo
"Hurry up, damn it! The storm will be here soon!"
Trip could hear his father's shouting above the howling wind, which was quite an achievement in itself. He stole a quick glance around the town, most of which he could see from the rooftop. The other families had seen the sense in preparing their homes in advance – most windows were boarded up, and the only other sign of life he could see was the occasional belated Pidove flying away from the incoming devastation. A loose sheet of tin became loose to Trip's left, and the sharp edge flew up and nearly struck him in the face. The boy gave a startled cry and fell backwards, nearly rolling off the roof. He held on for dear life, terrified. Down below, his father bellowed, angry at the pathetic display above him.
"Get the bloody hammer to your right and nail the tin down! The whole roof will come off if you don't get off your arse and do it!"
Trip looked to his left and saw the hammer just out of reach. He'd have to let go of the side of the house to grab it, but his hands wouldn't allow him to do so. Ignoring the negative bleatings of the man below, he strained his body ever so slightly and felt his fingertips just flick the hammer. Just as it seemed as though he may have been successful, the wind howled stronger and the loose tin gave one final groan before coming completely loose. Nails flew through the air, just avoiding Trip, who released the side of the house in horror and felt himself falling…falling…falling…
Thump.
"Useless. Absolutely useless."
The man ran into the house, screaming out something about buckets and a mop, ignoring the sight of his son laying on the ground. Trip could taste copper, and a flash of red illuminated his vision, clearly from a cut on his forehead. A throbbing pain in his side only became worse as he ran his fingers down and, to his horror, he felt the hard edge of a rib sticking out from his side. The boy's world became dark as the clouds did the same overhead, the first specks of rain hitting him in the forehead and causing the blood to fall freely from his face down onto the ground. The last thing he heard as he fell into unconsciousness was his father's voice ringing in his head.
"Soft. Weak. Pathetic."
oOoOo
Trip turned to find Luke struggling to get over a fallen log, the younger boy let down by both a lack of physical strength and also height. He looked up to see dark clouds gathering, and his mind instantly went back to that day. How he'd hated his father for leaving him there, unable to move. Trying to push that from his mind, he remembered the rainy night that he had spent just out of Nuvema Town. How he had shivered and struggled in the rain to find a comfortable place to sleep. How he'd felt when he had turned to find Iris' gift, a sleeping back to protect him from the elements, with a simple note attached to it.
I'm sorry.
He carefully felt around on his back with his hands and found the sleeping bag, giving it a warm squeeze. He knew what he had to do. Turning around, he walked back to where Luke was struggling and held out his hand. "Here. Grab on."
Luke looked up and, without a second thought, took Trip's hand in his. The older boy lifted his younger companion to his feet and, reunited, they both continued on the path together. A small gap in the dark clouds above appeared, and the sunlight poked through, lighting up the way forward for the beleaguered travellers.
oOoOo
There's nothing scarier than a crazed Ditto on the warpath for revenge! Or is there? Find out what Iris is facing next time, as Trip and Luke reach the Village of Dragons!
