I'm not prepared for this.
"Relax, Shannon, all we have to do is to stay here at the West Forest and help monitor the situation."
I gave Mary a weak smile while still fiddling with the Handheld Energy Anomaly Detector, or HEAD in short, that Mary had invented for us. According to her, this is supposed to help us detect any large surges of energy throughout the Indigo, which will help us to pinpoint exactly where Mewtwo will be appearing. While our information indicates that Mewtwo will be appearing at Indigo, it's wise to always have some degree of doubt. Being too trusting is never too good.
The HEAD is not just to monitor where Mewtwo might be, but also the missing Legendary Birds. If they had already fallen into Team Rocket's hands then it stands to reason that Team Rocket will put them to use today. In that case, then we will need to know where they are the moment they made their appearance. We need something that can monitor them in real time.
"It has started." Bill informed us as we gathered around a large screen in Volkner's garage, watching the proceedings of the celebrations being broadcasted live on TV. The police force had just finished their spectacular performance and now it is the Rangers' turn. People are cheering and waving and just… generally being happy.
I am too nervous to be able to share their joy. If only they know what is going to happen later.
"Everything will be fine. Have faith." Professor Elm placed a hand on my shoulder to give me some assurance. I'm probably not doing a very good job in concealing my emotions.
"I'm worried that I might have made a mistake in my calculations somewhere. What if I put in the wrong variable and it skewed the results so badly that it-"
"Shannon. We are going to be fine."
I can only gulp and nod in silence.
Everything is going to be fine. Everything is going to be fine. Everything is going to be fine. Every-
"The Rangers are taking a little long to appear. It is their turn now." Fuji commented while sipping on a cup of hot chocolate and keeping watch on his HEAD at the same time.
"Probably to create some suspense." Bill shrugged.
The suspense is there alright, but in the end who the audiences waited for turned out to be someone else entirely.
"Greetings, citizens of Indigo."
Instead of the Rangers appearing for their performance, the largest screen within the stadium lit up and changed its display. A man with short teal hair greeted us, but what is most striking is the large red 'R' printed on the left side of his shirt over where his heart is.
Ordinary people may not know him, but every one of us present all recognised him due to our recent work. This is Team Rocket's Executive Archer.
It's Team Rocket. They had made their move in the most unexpected way possible.
"What the hell is going on?!"
"The stadium's network must have been hacked. Maybe the control room has been compromised." Bill stated as he quickly took his seat and began to type away furiously on his keyboard. "Whatever Team Rocket is trying to do with this, it cannot be anything good. We need to stop that feed immediately. Not sure how much of a help I can be right now, but I will try to hack into the stadium's network and stop the video from being played any further."
Bill continued typing away. The only sounds echoing in the garage is the sound of typing keys and Archer's voice.
"Happy National Day! Five hundred years of our founding, built upon lies and oppression! It is an event to celebrate about, isn't it? Happy National Day everyone! Happy National Day!"
Happy National Day. Those words are meant to sound happy, but hearing it from Archer's mouth somehow made me sick in the stomach.
"Where's Lance and the rest? Why aren't they there yet?" Fuji asked worriedly, already standing up from his seat. I could only shake my head, not knowing how to answer.
"I am Executive Archer of Team Rocket! And today, on behalf of the organisation, I have come to deliver the perfect birthday gift for our nation! What is the perfect gift, you ask? Why, the truth, of course! Nothing but the undeniable truth! Starting from our very own President, Kain Briggs! Everyone, give him a round of applause please!"
"This is bad." Professor Elm stated. "If Archer starts to reveal everything Team Rocket knows about Briggs, even if it is just one damning thing that he had done…"
"The consequences are going to be huge." Mary agreed with a grim look on her face.
"DAMN IT!" Bill slammed his fists on the keyboard he was typing on earlier before quickly taking up a hammer lying around nearby and smashed the CPU in one powerful blow, rendering the computer useless immediately.
"Bill?!"
"I couldn't get in, and our computer almost got hacked instead!" Bill gritted out as he ran a hand through his messy hair in frustration.
"Sorry, the only thing I can do is to destroy the hardware before it has access to everything we have. Data cannot be hacked the moment the hardware is destroyed. Destroying the computer was the only method I could think of in the spur of the moment to stop our computers from being hacked."
"They are not only prepared, they are also organised." Mary stated calmly. "But what are they doing this for? Defaming Kain like that in public? To sway the public's opinion? It cannot be just that. Team Rocket had poured too much into this, they must have another agenda."
The video that is showing Archer's speech to the whole world is still being played live on TV, broadcasted to the entire world.
"Do you know how Indigo prospered? Do you know how we earn our money, enjoying the riches that we enjoy today? Do you know who we have to thank for that? It's President Briggs! Mr President, do you want to share with us your secret to success?"
"So the problem is, what is their next step? Right?"
"Team Rocket aims to conquer the entire Johto, and subsequently the Indigo. That is their end game, so we need to think how and why they have decided to make this move. They must be confident that Archer revealing Kain's deeds on TV can help them in their endeavour." Fuji rationalised as a frown marred his face.
"We all know Mewtwo will be there. If we were Team Rocket, how would we use Mewtwo?" Mary asked.
"If I had something that powerful I would use it to take out the largest threa- Oh shit. Lance. They are going for Lance." Bill said in growing realisation as we all exchanged looks of horror.
"Lance has his Elite Four with him right now, together with Volkner and Elesa." I reminded them. "They are prepared for this. We prepared them for this."
"No? It's fine, I understand. You are just shy, aren't you? In that case, let me do it for you! Kain Briggs, the man who defied the impossible and became the leader of a nation at twenty-two years of age! The youngest President to be appointed into office in Indigo's history in its most turbulent times! Never losing a single election, the man adored and respected by both regions that made up the Indigo! Now, how did you do that? It's impossible!"
Despite my best efforts to ignore the video playing in the background, I could not not pay attention to it.
"I have a feeling that whatever Team Rocket is aiming for is not something as simple as taking Lance down." Fuji shook his head in disagreement. "Yes, I know that them wanting to get rid of Lance is definitely one of their goals, but there should be more to this. It will fit Giovanni's modus operandi. He never does things without a good reason, he always manages to complete several objectives in one move."
"Defaming Kain, swaying the public's opinion, taking down Lance, is that not enough?" Professor Elm asked.
"Giovanni is capable of more. I know Giovanni is capable of more. I should have expected that he would do something more than simply sending Mewtwo over to Indigo Plateau."
"You couldn't have expected that he would do something so bold as televising everything they know about Kain live on TV."
"It's simple. You are an expert manipulator, in more ways than one. Your empire is built upon illusions upon illusions, lies after lies! In fact, Team Rocket would never have existed if it wasn't for what you did two decades ago! Today, we are here to tear down your lies and expose the truth to the whole world, live on TV! Right on the day of our nation's founding!"
"They are really doing it." I gulped.
"Today, I will tell you the truth behind the founding of Team Rocket, starting from the great economic depression two decades ago! Starting from the extermination of some of the greatest and most loyal minds Kanto has to offer! Many of you here present would have heard of the event, the extermination of SKIP! Separation of Kanto from Indigo through Peace! That was us! That was what Team Rocket was before we were forced to become Team Rocket! Forget everything you thought you know about SKIP! None of that was true, lies spun by our dear Mr President in his last ditch attempt to hold onto his seat of power and we have the evidence to prove it! Today, let me tell you our story!"
Even within the Indigo Stadium itself, nobody stopped the video from being played. I have no idea if it is because nobody could stop it, or if people don't want it to stop.
Either way, that was how the truth was revealed to the entire world, and we are all here to bear witness.
"Let me start off by telling the world the story of how our President publicly ordered a genocide in Kanto without the world knowing about it, the genocide that gave birth to Team Rocket."
In the end, chaos erupted without us being unable to stop it.
That doesn't mean that things didn't go according to plan at all. In the end, the Indigo forces stationed at the stadium had still managed to swiftly evacuate the civilians there. Last we heard, Mewtwo had finally been freed and had decided to single handedly wipe out all of Team Rocket's Kanto bases and the Rockets in it all by itself, allowing Indigo to focus all our attention to resolving the war that had just erupted all over Johto. Reports are starting to come in, detailing the situation at each and every single city in Johto. The battles are hard and there were many close calls, but most of them should be doing fine.
I am still anxiously monitoring the Johto region through the HEAD, hoping that no unexplained surges of energy will be detected through it. We had even keyed in the energy signatures of Mewtwo's psychic wavelength and the energy emitted by the Legendary Birds using their gathered feathers as samples, because they are the biggest threats to our operation as far as we can think of.
I can monitor Mewtwo's activities using the HEAD through tracking its unique psychic wavelength. It helps that Mewtwo is not bothering to conceal itself, casually throwing around a large amount of psychic power that allows us to track its movements easily. Mewtwo is really in the Kanto region, appearing in one city before disappearing and then reappearing in the next. Mewtwo's stay in each Kanto town and city wasn't very long from what I can tell. It won't be long before it finishes its Kanto tour.
I lost count on how long I had been staying here, staring at the HEAD anxiously yet diligently, hoping that nothing out of the ordinary will happen. Was it an hour? Two? Three? I really couldn't tell.
Then all at once, every single HEAD in the room beeped, causing us all to frantically check just what was wrong.
"The Lake of Rage." Mary gritted her teeth as she looked at the readings coming in from her HEAD. The Lake of Rage is near where Akamu had been posted to, Mahogany Town.
"Is it-"
"No, it's something else entirely." Mary shook her head as she tried to investigate the readings that are coming in rapidly, the figures rapidly escalating to astronomical amounts. Bill had already taken the initiative to warn the Indigo League of this newest development, typing away in another computer.
"These are energies produced from evolution." Fuji stated as all of us began to help Mary in studying the readings as fast as we can. Fuji is right, the readings from the energy spike that we detected are those that could only be found when pokemon undergo evolution. But for such a huge spike in energy to be detected, just how many pokemon are evolving at the same time?
"The Lake of Rage… the readings are coming from the lake itself. The main pokemon species that reside in there are magikarp and gyarados. Gyarados cannot evolve further unless you are taking Mega Evolution into account, which shouldn't be possible considering the number of energy readings we are detecting, so that means-"
Mary's words got stuck in her throat and her eyes widened at the realisation of the line of thought she is having.
"The Mahogany Massacre. Team Rocket is recreating the Mahogany Massacre from two hundred years ago!" Bill exclaimed in alarm and stood up in agitation, his palms slamming on the desk.
The Mahogany Massacre was a very infamous historical event that happened around 200 years ago. What sparked the event was the destruction of the delicate balance between humans and pokemon.
Back then, the regions were undergoing a period of industrial revolution. Johto is not any different. At that time, the locals in Mahogany Town were mainly fishermen who fished for a living. However, there was a serious case of overfishing, causing a scarcity of food supply for the wild gyarados that reside in the Lake of Rage. One thing led to another and it ended up with the alpha of the local gyarados population commanding a large horde of gyarados to launch a siege on Mahogany Town in their rage. The rampage lasted for three days and by the end of it, the Indigo League was short of a Mahogany gym leader and a member of their Elite Four, together with half of Mahogany Town.
From then onwards, Governments from all around the world started to enact extremely stringent environmental laws, outlawing any form of urban development that came at the price of destroying the natural habitats of wild pokemon. That was how lasting the impacts brought about by the Mahogany Massacre had on the world.
We have no idea how Team Rocket is able to create a phenomenon where an entire lake of pokemon is undergoing spontaneous evolution simultaneously. It's rare, but it is not like such cases had never happened before. There are documented observations of wild pokemon evolving spontaneously and simultaneously when gathered together in large groups.
But never before had something been done on such a scale through human intervention and this is obviously the work of Team Rocket. Gyarados are well-known for their violent temperament, especially just right after they completed their evolution to a gyarados. They are going to destroy everything they see.
"I'm heading to the Lake of Rage." Mary stated as she started to walk out the door. Bill caught her by her arm, pulling her back.
"Don't be rash! What can we do even if we go there?! We are not trainers! We will only be a burden to those trainers risking their lives out there!"
"But we can find the source of whatever is causing those spontaneous evolution!" Mary argued back. "Something has to be causing it and right now, only we are the ones equipped with the right equipment to track it down! If we hesitate any longer more magikarps are going to evolve and it will become an even bigger problem!"
"Alright, assuming you can find the source, how are you going to go to the Lake of Rage all by yourself?! It's a warzone everywhere you go! You won't even make it to Ecruteak!"
"I CAN TRY! AKAMU IS THERE! I HAVE TO TRY AND DO SOMETHING! AT THIS RATE THINGS ARE GOING TO GO REALLY WRONG AND HE WILL DIE!" Mary screamed back, tears in her eyes. "I'M NOT ALLOWING HIM TO DIE FOR THIS SHITTY PLACE THAT I HATE SO MUCH! HE IS THE ONLY PERSON WHO I HAVE LEFT!"
Bill remained silent, although his grip on Mary's arm did not relax, not even a little.
"Sorry, Bill, but Indigo is never my home. Never was. Alola is, the Lush Jungle is, Akamu is, but never Indigo."
With that, Mary released herself from Bill's grip and walked out of the door. That action broke me out of my stupor as I ran after Mary.
"Mary, wait!"
I caught up to Mary, who had already left the garage and climbed onto the back of her mudsdale. She was about to take her leave.
"Shannon, if you are here to stop-"
"N-No!" I shook my head vehemently and waved my hands in denial. I know persuading Mary to stay is a lost cause, because through the course of working with her I had seen for myself just how much she loves Akamu. They had nearly lost each other once to an Ultra Beast attack, her reaction to what is going on at the Lake of Rage is understandable.
Given their past, there's no way she is going to sit still now that she knows Akamu will be under attack from the entire gyarados population from the Lake of Rage. There's no way we are stopping her short of tying and locking her up in a room.
"I-I j-just might have a way to get you there safely!"
I knew my words caught Mary's attention when she took a pause. I quickly continued.
"I-I might be able to c-call psychic types to help you out! Just give me a moment! Just a moment!"
I don't know just what my gift is exactly, but I do know that I have the ability to call upon the help of psychic types during my time of need. I don't know if there is any meaning or purpose to me possessing such an ability, but if there really is one, I do hope it is to help others.
So, like I had always done, I closed my eyes and prayed, hoping that someone would heed my call.
'I have come, Mind's Eye. What is your wish?'
I opened my eyes upon hearing that foreign voice in my head. An aged xatu had silently appeared in front of Mary and I. Mary's mouth is half-opened in shock, as if she is not believing what she is seeing.
"T-Thank you for coming." I stuttered, still not believing that my gift had really worked without anything going horribly wrong. I gestured to Mary.
"S-She needs to head to the Lake of Rage immediately! She might be able to find a way to stop the gyarados population there!"
The wild xatu slowly turned its head towards Mary, its gaze blank yet scrutinising.
'The future… It is still bleak. I cannot see what is going to happen next at that place where the sea serpents rage, the number of outcomes are many and most are not pretty. What I do know, is that the future can still be changed, that it is possible to arrive at an outcome that is favourable to the world. For that, she is necessary.'
The wild xatu paused in its words, letting silence fall over us for a short while before it continued speaking within the confines of my mind.
'Fret not, Mind's Eye, I will lend you my assistance. Just like it is your fate to help save the world, it is my fate to assist you in your endeavour as a psychic type.'
'F-Fate?'
'Five hundred years. Five hundred years, the world has been waiting for the seven of you for five hundred years. The new cycle of the Seven Sages, the ones who will rise to protect the world. As long as you desire to help the world we will help you with no questions asked, that is our destiny.'
Xatu's form glowed a blue psychic hue the moment it was done conversing with me, emanating power so strong that the earth around us cracked in response to its power.
Then, the xatu disappeared in a Teleport, and along with it Mary and her mudsdale.
Thank you, I thanked the xatu within the confines of my mind once more as I headed back to the garage. I have no idea if it could hear me, but it is the thought that counts.
Hopefully, Mary will be alright. Hopefully, Akamu will be alright.
Hopefully, everything and everyone will be alright.
Character and pokemon list:
Shannon Juniper, Age: 18, Female, Pokemon Researcher and Assistant to Cedric Juniper, Niece of Cedric Juniper, Cousin to Aurea Juniper
Specialisation: Pokemon Migratory Behaviour, Pokemon Biology
Pokemon on hand:
1) Beheeyem (Xavier), male
2) Braviary (Rogers), female
3) Bisharp (Lancelot), male
4) Sawsbuck (Bambi), female
5) Carracosta (Koopa), female