The Team Rocket Chronicles
By Red Dragonfly (aka Rebecca Lang)
. . .
Chapter 36
Team Rocket Blast Off at the Speed of Light
. . .
. . .
Karen turned away from the battle. It was over.
Her partner had lost. Jesse, James, Meowth, Jared, Gadara, Mountaintop City, and Jaquie had all won. How was Karen supposed to feel about that? Happy?
Kris will be alright, she told herself. If Jesse and James could endure Pikachu's electrocution, her partner certainly could.
Still, Karen didn't watch the actual moment. She missed the thunderbolt.
But she did see what happened after. The giant bird pokemon falling to the ground like dead flies. The pathetic wreck of Jesse and James' army surrounding them. The surrender. She even watched as Kris was arrested and taken away.
The clouds rolled away, but the wind blew colder than ever. Karen rubbed her arms. The pokemon left the mountainside, and Karen remained seated on the floor of her little cave, knees pulled up to her chest, alone.
Now what?
She didn't want to go back. Back meant to the city-states, to Kris' old schemes, to war against Jaquie. No, she couldn't go back.
But she couldn't go forward either. She couldn't go into Mountaintop City and face a defeated Kris and a triumphant Jesse. She couldn't bear the guilt of betraying her own leader.
She shivered. I don't belong anywhere.
I don't need to belong, she thought defiantly. I can survive on my own. I won't prove Kris right. I won't be some weak little girl. I'll show him just I can hold out just fine without him.
She dusted off her skirt and headed down the mountain. Karen kept her chin high and her back straight. But her feet betrayed her, and she trudged into the jungle with slow, heavy steps.
. . .
The celebration lasted a week. Parades were held, honors were bestowed, parties were thrown. Jesse was swamped with medals and gifts and praises. It turned her a laughing pink and gave her a big head, but she was happy. Finally, her little sister was happy.
Jaquie chose to stay out of the spotlight. This was Jesse's moment, not hers. Besides, she had other work to do.
The surrender caused almost as many problems as it solved. Mountaintop City didn't have enough jails to hold Kris' entire army, but fortunately most had lost the will to fight. In the end, Gadara simply explained Kris' deceit and teleported the pokemon back to their city-states. They returned to their normal lives, disillusioned and disheartened but wiser as well.
Gadara also confirmed that the other four mayors had been drugged with amnesia serum. The advisors stepped up in their place. But the four city-states were in the midst of a crisis. Pokemon had been tricked into violating their sacred principles; many were depressed and confused. The advisors asked Gadara to help their citizens deal with these issues, and Gadara was only too happy to oblige.
Strangely, this left Jaquie in charge of any important matters in Mountaintop City. First, she had to arrange a prison for Kris and set up a rotation of guards. When pokemon wanted to return to the jungle but worried about Karen, Jaquie made a brief speech, advising them to ignore her.
"Karen isn't as vicious as Kris and she doesn't attack well. Chances are, if you leave her alone, she won't hurt you. We'll catch her once things settled down. For now, be cautious and you should be fine."
This calmed some, but not all of the pokemon. So Jaquie organized volunteer police, sent them on patrols, and set up a system of communication throughout the island. By the time Gadara returned to Mountaintop City, Jaquie had seeped into the lives of the pokemon there. They still regarded her as distant and intimidating, but they respected her.
She wasn't so evil, after all.
. . .
Gadara opened the door so softy that Jaquie didn't hear her come in. Jaquie's head curled deeply into the covers of a massive gold-plated book. Gadara knew that book well. It was the founding document for the island of New Pax and the rules of governance for all five city-states.
Jaquie's face looked peaceful, contemplative. She closed the covers and set down the book on the rough-oak table. Only then, did her eyes fasten to Gadara.
"I've been looking for you," Gadara said. "I might have known I'd find you here. You seem to have made the library your own private place of recluse."
Jaquie nodded toward the book. "I wanted to learn about the island."
"So I supposed."
"Why did you break the Alliance Obligation?" Jaquie asked.
Gadara sat down across the table. "Because I knew humans were a threat. I wanted to keep them away from us, and I didn't think the other city-states would approve."
"So you became a dictator."
"Yes," Gadara admitted. "I did."
Jaquie nodded. "We're a lot alike, you and I. We have too much power. We try to use it to protect others only to have it backfire on us."
"I know its wrong," Gadara said. "It is not fair for them not to have a choice."
"It's not fair for us, either," Jaquie pointed out. "We have to lie and deceive and weave our tangled webs alone. We carry the weight of the responsibility and the guilt."
"Rationally, I know this. And yet... I still don't want humans on this island. We aren't ready. Karen and Kris proved as much. Humans created our culture, yes, but they can just as easily destroy it, unless we learn how to live without them, how to be strong without them, and how to make decisions without them."
"You can't keep humans away forever," Jaquie said.
"I know," Gadara said sadly.
Jaquie looked thoughtful. "You came looking for me. Was there something you wanted?"
"Oh yes," Gadara said. "I think I have a way to make up for the mind search."
Jaquie crossed her arms and inadvertently tightened.
"I know I can never completely atone for what I did to you," she said apologetically. "But I thought I'd try. Giovanni will pick you up by boat, correct? Well, I've talked to water pokemon in the Northern Shore and the Northeastern Beaches, and they're willing to help you exact your revenge."
Jaquie's eyes remained hard. Gadara shifted.
"It's just a suggestion. You can refuse, if you like."
"No." Jaquie straightened herself. "If I want revenge against Giovanni, I'll need your help. I'll take your offer, but not as a patronizing way of mending my hurt feelings. We'll strike a deal. You lend me the army and in return I'll keep your island a secret."
Gadara opened her mouth to protest that wasn't necessary, but her words looped around on her tongue.
"You can do that?" she found herself asking.
Jaquie smiled. "Only three people know the location of this island: me, Giovanni, and one of the sailors who first discovered it. The sailor isn't your problem and after I finish with Giovanni, he won't be either. The only in a position to tell your little secret is me."
"And you won't do that if I help with your revenge?"
Gadara spoke proudly, even warily, but her insides quivered. This was what she yearned for deep within her heart: time. Even just a couple years free of humans would be enough.
"I can't guarantee humans won't come to your island," Jaquie said. "But if they do, it won't be from me. This will be a simple business transaction between the two of us. No patronizing, no favors." She stuck out her hand. "Do we have a deal?"
Gadara hesitated. Was she was doing the right thing? She had tried to isolate her people before and it had been a disaster. Yet, Gadara knew in her heart that they weren't ready for humans yet. She'd learn from her mistakes. She wouldn't protect them this time; she'd teach them independence. And she'd hope for the day when humans returned and pokemon could bargain with them as equals.
"Yes." Gadara took Jaquie's hand in a firm handshake. "We do."
. . .
They all gathered in Gadara's study that night.
Gadara sat quietly in her arm chair, and Zeroun stood behind her. Jesse, James, and Meowth chatted by the fireplace as the sparks popped, while Jared paged through the bookshelf for titles. Nidorino lay with his legs stretched out on the floor besides Leah, who watched Jaquie with attentive curiosity.
Jaquie waited. When the talking settled into a hush, she spoke.
"You are all aware, I'm sure, that we have only three weeks left on this island."
Actually, they were not aware.
"We're leaving so soon," Meowth protested.
"Two months," Jaquie said. "That's how long this expedition is supposed to last."
"Has it only been five weeks?" Jared wondered. "It seems like we've been here forever."
"Can't we stay longer?" Meowth asked. "We all like it here."
From her corner, Gadara made a small smile.
"Unfortunately, no," Jaquie said. "In three weeks, Giovanni's boat will come to pick us up."
"And then we can tell him how we beat Kris' army." Jesse perked. "He'll hire us back for sure. We'll be part of Team Rocket again."
Her statement echoed into silence.
"You didn't tell her?" Jaquie said to Gadara.
"Tell me what?"
"We were busy with Kris. It must have slipped my mind."
"Tell me what?" Jesse yelled again.
"That I'm going to overthrow Giovanni and take Team Rocket from him," Jaquie said. "Once I have control, I'll disband all criminal activity and turn it into a legitimate business. Do you understand? The Team Rocket you know will be gone."
It seemed that none of the trio had been informed. Jesse's face became white with shock, and Meowth's mouth gaped open.
"What?" James squeaked.
"You can't do that," Jesse said frantically. "Everyone knows Giovanni is the boss. They won't listen to you. They won't let you destroy Team Rocket."
"The science department will," Jaquie said calmly. "Most of them only entered Team Rocket for the money to research their projects, and I'll continue to provide that. The people who capture pokemon? They'll continue under my supervision. The lawyers, the tax accountants, the financial advisors, the managers of our Rocket casinos, the secretaries, the clerks, the laborers? They don't even know Giovanni exists. Giovanni may be content to call himself the boss and sign paychecks, but as far as actual work goes, I'm the one in charge."
"It's true," Jared said. "In the science department, there's a saying. 'Make Giovanni happy to get a raise. Make Jaquie happy to keep your job.' Jaquie has that much power."
"But then why destroy it?" James asked. "You're not nobodies like us. You helped to create Team Rocket. Most of what happens in Team Rocket comes from your ideas. Why would you want to tear that all apart?"
"I never wanted to be a thief," Jaquie said in a soft voice. "That was his idea. I never wanted to lead a corrupt organization. That was his idea. And I definitely did not want my sister to join Team Rocket. That was his idea. So I'm not just going to destroy Giovanni, I'm going to eradicate his life's work. I'll wipe out his past, his present, and his future—his whole eternity—just like that."
She sighed. "But you're right about one thing, James. Team Rocket is my life's work as well. That's why I can't destroy it altogether. Team Rocket will continue to exist. It will be altered, but it will survive."
"But what about us?" Jesse cried. "What place can we have in it?"
"You want to come back?" Jaquie tilted her head. "Aren't you reporters now?"
Jesse recoiled. Yes, they were. She'd been squeezing so hard to the idea of Team Rocket that she'd failed to see the truth. There was no going back. Jesse felt like she'd fallen from a cliff. All this time they'd been playing at reporter—but that was their future now.
"I know this is a shock to you," Jaquie said as gently as she could. "But we still have other business to cover. We need to decide who's staying on this island and who's going home."
She looked at Meowth and Leah.
"Jaquie and I talked it over," Gadara said. "Any pokemon Jaquie captured is free to stay here or come with her to the human world. Meowth, the same goes to you."
"If I stay," Meowth said slowly, "can Jesse and James stay here, too?"
Gadara shook her head. "They can visit. In fact, it would be good to hear from you from time to time. But for now I want my citizens to get used to living without humans."
"Nia, Nidorina?" Leah asked.
"No, you don't have to decide now," Gadara replied. "You have the three weeks to think it over."
"Nido, Nidorina, Aren? Nia, Ni, Rina?"
"That's a good question," Gadara said. "Leah wants to know what will happen to Aren and the other pokemon Kris dosed with amnesia serum."
"There is an antidote," Jared spoke up. "The formula's in the Team Rocket Labs. I don't know it offhand, but I know it exists."
"We'll find it and send the antidote as quickly as possible," Jaquie said. "They should be all right for three weeks."
"Three weeks." James sighed. "So little time."
Jaquie nodded. "Only three weeks to make our plans, to say our goodbyes, and to decide who stays and who goes. So enjoy what time you have, because after these three weeks, everything changes."
. . .
There was a sense of leaving in the air. April was beginning. The nights grew warmer and the birds chirped longer and little blasts of wind shook the trees. Soon the others would be off the island. Leah wondered if should she go, too.
The other pokemon Jaquie captured decided right away to stay on the island.
What happened to all that talk about pokemon and humans belonging together? Leah challenged. What happened to learning from them? What happened to friendship?
Well, it was nice training with her. But the Southern Tropics is our home. Our families are here. We've learned what we could from her, but, well now, it's time to go home. And Gadara is our leader.
They were fickle, Leah realized. Training with Jaquie had been exciting, but now that they were in the city again, they hesitated to leave the comfort of their homes. These pokemon changed loyalties according to proximity, from Gadara to Jaquie and back to Gadara again.
Perhaps Leah was fickle too, but in the opposite way. Everything about the island felt stifling to her. There was no challenge, no growth, no variety, just the same old traditions that made her bored and lazy. Maybe it was time for Leah to leave her home, to set out on her own and find adventure in the human lands.
The days passed by with speed. One day Leah found Jaquie reading in the library one and decided she had put off her decision long enough. She took a paper from the desk, dipped her tail in ink, and wrote her answer.
I'm going with you.
Jaquie smiled. "I'd hoped you would."
. . .
"Meowth, are you going to stay here?" James asked.
"No way." Meowth crossed his paws. "I already told Gadara. We're a team. Maybe not Team Rocket anymore, but we stick together no matter what."
This island was his mother's home, not his. Meowth loved Mountaintop City with his whole heart. But his place was beside the only two humans who had ever really loved him back.
He had to stay with Jesse and James. What would they do without him?
. . .
Jared lingered at the library door. He had mostly avoided Jaquie since Zeroun let him on the contents of her mind search. Did she still hate him for looking through her memories? He tried to apologize once during the celebrations, but she only gave him a dark look and told him not to mention it.
"Nidorina—Leah—I command you not to make a mess. Hey, stop, I said I command you."
Jared took deep breath and pushed the door open.
Jaquie blocked with her arm. "Jared, look out!"
But it was too late. Globs of blue paint spattered on his sweater and glasses. Jaquie took one look at him and cracked up.
"I suppose you think this is funny," he said, trying to wipe off the paint. "You know, I don't think I ever heard you laugh before."
"Oh no. You've discovered my secret. I am not a soulless, training machine. I am in fact human! How shall I go on now that my weakness is exposed? Leah, too much paint, you're smearing it."
In response Leah raised her tail and good-naturedly shook off paint in all directions. This time Jared ducked—and the paint got in his hair.
There was paint in Jaquie's hair too, but she didn't seem to mind. She laughed and her eyes sparkled like a flowing stream.
"What's this project?" Jared asked, feeling more comfortable. "Art class?"
Nidorina stood on a gigantic wooden board and carefully smeared paint across it with the tip of her tail. Nidorino, Slowbro, Dodrio, and Rhyhorn dipped claws and toes in paint and made much less legible scribbles on sheets of paper.
"Well, Nidorino, Slowbro, Dodrio, and Rhyhorn are learning to write," Jaquie said. "And Leah is working on my plan to capture Karen."
Karen had been at large for some time now. The patrols couldn't catch her and neither could Jesse and James' traps. She was troublesome, if not particularly dangerous.
Jared smiled. "I knew the solution would spring from your brilliant mind. So what's your strategy?"
"That board." Jaquie pointed.
"That's it?"
"That's all we need." Jaquie handed him paper. "Here's the basic outline."
Jared skimmed it over. "Simple, clever, and effective. It's foolproof. But why's Leah the one doing the painting?"
"Because my handwriting sucks," Jaquie said.
He handed back the paper. "Gadara wants to talk about the plan to take over Giovanni's boat. If you have time."
With a nod, Jaquie became all business. "I have some now. Can you supervise them, Jared?"
"If Leah stops shedding paint, then yeah."
"Good." She began to leave.
"Jaquie?"
"Yeah?" She turned around.
"You have paint on your hair."
Jaquie smiled and rubbed her head.
. . .
Humidity made Karen's hair wild, and it frizzled and tangled at her neck. Karen tried in vain to pat it down. Her hair had grown so dirty and disgusting over the last two and a half weeks, all she wanted to do was get it out of her face. She wished she had her brush, but she'd lost it sometime ago. Heck, she didn't even have a rubber band. She'd have cried if someone offered her one.
Karen crept by the stream. It seemed tranquil enough. She listened, heard the noises of the jungle and her own breathing. Still wasn't convinced, so she crawled hands and knees to the stream, stole a sip, hid behind a rock, and positioned her (unloaded) revolver. Nothing happened. She took out her pokemon and let them drink. Tried to clean herself. She had a cut on one leg that was caked in blood and dirt. Didn't want an infection.
Karen withdrew her pokemon and, feeling hungry, decided to gamble on the fruit trees down the river bank. The peanut butter she'd salvaged five days ago was going fast. She reached for an apple—and froze.
A large wooden sign post stood among the trees. English letters in bright blue paint dripped down the board.
Turn yourself in Karen.
Was this another one of their traps? If so, it was an obvious one. Karen didn't dare touch the sign, but she could read it just fine from here.
Turn yourself in, Karen.
We're sick of chasing you. You're sick of running. Turn yourself in.
You're low on food, your weapons are broken, your clothes are ragged. You have no medical equipment, and your pokemon are sick. You lost your partner. Turn yourself in.
The boat arrives May 1st. At this point all humans will return home. You will not be permitted to sneak onboard. You have no water pokemon, no pokeballs with which to catch water pokemon, and no pokemon on this island, water or otherwise, will be persuaded to do you any favors.
If you walk into Mountaintop City any time before May 1st you will be respectfully escorted to your prison. You will have food, water, shelter, medical attention, a new set of clothes, and security. Your pokemon will be treated. You may briefly talk to Kris if you like. On May 1st you will be permitted onboard the ship and taken home.
You don't have to prove how tough you are, Karen. We already knew. Please, turn yourself in.
Karen looked at the sign once more and left. The next day she walked into Mountaintop City. She was taken to her prison cell, a plain but not uncomfortable room. Her copy of Wuthering Heights rested on the bed. A nurse checked her leg, brought her a thick soup, and asked if there was anything else she needed.
Karen requested a brush. Once she received it, she combed her hair until it shone.