PoKéMoN
Avenger by Ben Russell-Gough
Legal Disclaimer
Pokémon, the Pocket Monsters and their human friends and enemies are all the sole copyright and trademark property of Nintendo Entertainment. No breach of any copyright or legal property is intended.
Author's Notes
This is my first Pokémon fic. I don't know all the monsters or all the moves. I base my story purely on what I've seen of the cartoon. I thank all the other Pokémon writers on this board for providing plenty of inspiration.
Text in [squared-off brackets] indicates the translation of a Pokémon's language into English.
Text in Italics but not in quotes indicates thoughts.
Ages: Ash is 16, nearly 17; Misty is 18; Brock is 24; Tracey is 19; Jessie and James are both 23.
Content Warning: Swearing, explicit descriptions of physical injuries and minor character deaths in detail. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED- This is no sappy AAMRN!
Book 1 – The Last Hope
What has gone before…
Ash has finally succeeded in his quest to become supreme champion of the Pokémon League. However, all is not well in the world. Giovanni de Rocketti, the leader of Team Rocket, disgusted with the continual failures of Jessie, James and Meowth to capture Pikachu (who, unbeknownst to him has just evolved into a Raichu), has replaced them with the brutal Butch and Cassidy.
As night falls after Ash's victory, he is called to meet with his mother and Professor Oak. The time has come for Ash to learn the truth of his past, and to face his destiny…
***
Oak stood up and began to pace. "Ash, your father had a gift. A strange, terrible and wonderful thing that no one had ever seen before. He could talk to all Pokémon. He could understand their languages and how they thought. He could instantly determine any species' strengths and weaknesses and design his strategy around it. He could also compartmentalise his thoughts, review his strategies and tactics in the field while simultaneously directing his followers and his Pokémon. It is these strange gifts that made him such a superb trainer." Oak looked up at Ash, his eyes clear and certain. "You have those gifts too, lad. I saw it when you played with my Scyther and Magneton as a child. I saw it in the arena during this season of the League. You have those gifts and they have made you a superb trainer, not only equal to your father, but far superior."
"Giovanni knew or guessed that my son would share his gifts," Delilah said bitterly. "There were several kidnap attempts when you were a child. When you went on your quest to become a trainer, he sent his minions to try to prevent you from achieving your goals. He knew that only one trainer could stand in the way of his plans. You, Ash Ketchum, his son."
Ash stood up with a shout of protest. "No!" he cried. "I will not be a part of this! I have not become a Pokémon trainer simply to fight a proxy war on your behalf against my own father! You can't ask me to do this." Ash, much to his frustration, was crying. He collapsed to the floor, back against the wall, his face buried against his legs, his arms wrapped around his head. Delilah hugged him hard.
As his mother tried to soothe him, Ash heard Professor Oak speak. They were hard words, he knew, but Ash also knew them to be the truth. "Ash, you cannot avoid this," he said in a sympathetic tone. "You must understand that you are our only hope. Besides, Giovanni knows about you. He has already tried to stop you becoming a full trainer. That plan failed, but he will have others. He knows that you are the only person who could possibly stop him. Believe me, Ash, that is not a state of affairs he will tolerate for long."
Delilah continued to stroke a sobbing Ash's hair as Professor Oak mercilessly spoke the words that ended the young man's existence as he knew it and closed forever the door on his childhood innocence. "Either you will go to him, or he will come to you. In the end, it does not matter. You will face and destroy Team Rocket. You will face your father. You will defeat your father and you will hold him accountable for his crimes. It is your destiny."
And now, the continuation…
Chapter 2 – The Price of the Dark Path
Misty Waterflower was roused from her sleep by the sound or a loud argument from nearby. She was momentarily disoriented by her strange surroundings. Then she remembered: The spare bedroom in Delilah Ketchum's hotel room… She rubbed her eyes and rose to her feet. The voice she could hear was that of her closest and most dear friend, Ash Ketchum: Pokémon Trainer extrondinaré and all-around heroic type. What the hell is going on?
Misty was just trying to get her mind back up to speed to find the answer to her question when Ash suddenly stormed into the room. "Misty, are you awake?" he asked in a rough tone. His hair, neatly combed for the party when she saw him last, was now messed up. His eyes were red and not from fatigue. He's been crying, Misty realised.
"No," Misty said out loud with a yawn. "I'm asleep, this is a recorded message." Misty immediately kicked herself for the flippant remark. Way to go, girl she groaned.
What happened next was something of a surprise. Usually Ash had an instant reply, either mischievous or angry, for her teasing. Now, he just shot her a tired, angry look and muttered "Good" before enticing Raichu to his shoulders and picking up Togepi, who had folded up into his 'egg' form for the night. "Come on," Ash said, still in a grim tone, "we'd better get back to the Pokémon Centre before Nurse Joy locks up for the night."
Misty slid off the bed and leaned down to pull on her sneakers. When she was up, she saw a tearful Delilah and a grim Professor Oak watching Ash with frightening intensity. "What's up?" Misty asked with innocent curiosity. Oak and Delilah looked at each other in worry.
"Uh, nothing," Ash said a little too loudly. "Okay, Mom, Professor. It was a great party and everything. I'll call you when I decide about… you know, about it."
"I don't know what there is to decide, Ash," Oak said quietly, his face sad and grim.
"Well that proves you don't know me half as well as you think, does it Uncle?" Ash snapped back and launched himself towards the door. Misty babbled an apology to Oak as she followed her friend out of the door. She got half way through a 'goodnight' to Delilah when Ash shouted at her from the other end of the corridor to hurry up.
There was a time, when an 11-year old tomboy Gym Leader and a 10-year old wannabe-Pokémon Trainer walked the roads of the continent, that Misty would have been outraged at Ash's lack of manners. There would have followed a screaming fight that would have led the two not to exchange a civil word for a week. That was then and this was now. Misty and Ash had been through several shades of Hell together in the last seven years and she knew him. She knew that Ash would never treat his mother and the man who was effectively a father like that unless he was very, very upset.
Ash was also uncharacteristically silent as the two made their way back to the Pokémon Centre where they were bedding down for the duration of this year's League Season. His mood could best be described as 'brooding,' which was all-too-common for her friend when something had gone wrong. "Ash," she began. "What is wrong?"
Ash laughed, a hollow and angry noise. "What is wrong?" he asked in a self-loathing tone. "Hell Misty, ask me 'what is right.' Believe me it is a shorter list!"
Uh oh, Misty thought. It's Sulk City, all right. I'd better get used to having the strong silent type around for the next week or so.
Finally, they reached the city's main Pokémon Centre. A yawning Nurse Joy welcomed them with a smile and congratulated Ash on his victory. The two friends then walked down the corridor to the small sleeping room that Nurse Joy had assigned to them. Normally, a pair of teenage Trainers of different genders would be in separate rooms, but space was at a premium during the League Season and Joy had told them (with a mischievous wink) that she thought that she could trust them. That, Misty remembered, made both her and Ash blush brightly.
The room was a bare affair really. Two bunks, a small table with two chairs and a balcony with sliding glass doors. However, it was pretty good for a free room, and Ash and Misty had learnt how to make do in such Spartan accommodations over the years.
Misty changed while Ash was out of the room, probably in the bathroom. When he returned, he seemed slightly more relaxed, but there was that set to his eyes that Misty recognised all-too well. He's gone into his introspected self-critic mode. Misty decided. Damn, she thought. When did I get to know the guy so well that I can read every nuance of his body language? She shook her head and climbed into her bunk. Down girl, she chided herself. It is not as if he is available or anything. He's a League Trainer now, and that will take all his time from now on. Really Misty thought she should return to Cerulian City and help her three sisters out with the Cascade Gym, but something held her to Ash's side. She knew that she had fallen helplessly in love with the boy who had become the man who was now sitting on the top bunk, but she also felt that he could do better than the skinny tomboy of a provincial family.
Ash turned off the lights and Misty listened to the sound of his regular breathing for a while before she surrendered to sleep.
***
Once, he had allowed compassion and his emotions dictate his actions. He had allowed first love, then pity and finally rage to control him. He had learned his lesson, oh yes he had learned. Giovanni diRocketti sat in his huge main office at Team Rocket's hidden headquarters and pondered strategy. The silence was oppressive, but it helped him think more clearly.
Things were not going well, of course, and it seemed increasingly likely that the final construction of an orderly society might be left to his spiritual heirs. Giovanni had no desire to conquer without enjoying the spoils. Things needed to speed up. What was needed was a firm, dispassionate hand to complete the destruction of the world's corrupt societies, something he had dedicated himself to do. He had already taken steps to improve discipline within the 'grunt' force of Dan'in fighters. Next would come the firm purging of weaker operatives from the junior White Rocket and the senior Black Rocket field teams. Then there was the increased use of his elite Red Rocket teams. If, inside him, a tiny core that was still Joseph Oak screamed and protested at his every action, it was a minor irritant that had finally subsided to a comfortable whisper after several years of being totally ignored.
That Boy. He shook his head. He had been a fool, of course, to allow Delilah Ketchum into his heart. He should have realised that allowing himself an attachment would ultimately create a rod with which to beat his own back. That Boy, who had clearly developed into a skilled and deadly Trainer, was a threat. Ideally, he would prefer his son at his side, but… Hey, the kid was an ugly mistake anyway. He should have kept using protection, even after his ill-advised marriage to that… that whore.
Giovanni drew in a deep breath to push down his rage once more. Ash Ketchum had been an annoyance, then an irritant. Now, he was a danger, and like any other problem facing Giovanni, he had to be completely and efficiently eliminated. A shame, though. That Boy could easily be a vital resource in the struggle ahead. He smirked as he imagined Delilah's reaction to the news. Yes, that was a definite bonus.
The communications screen before him chirped and Giovanni saw the face of his closest subordinate, Mondo. "What is it?" Giovanni asked in a bored tone.
"Team Black Sigma are on the channel, sir," faithful Mondo replied. "Do you wish to conduct the briefing yourself?"
"Of course," Giovanni replied. One thing he prided himself in, one thing he demanded of himself was hands-on command. He would never delegate the issuing of missions to his teams to some faceless lieutenant. The fact that no one had seen his face for nearly two decades was an irony lost on him.
"Butch, Cassidy," Giovanni commented as the brutal green-haired giant and his sadistic blonde partner-in-murder appeared on the screen. "I have contacted you because I have a critical new assignment for you. I am sure you will recognise this face." Giovanni touched a hidden control, and on Butch and Cassidy's communications screen, the image of Ash Ketchum appeared.
"Ash Ketchum," Butch hissed. "Yeah, we know him Boss. Cassidy and me have both got plenty of scars we owe to that piece of shit."
Giovanni repressed a sigh. For all their efficiency, Team Black Sigma were intellectually weak. They were perfect for their tasks but somewhat disappointing in conversation. Well, once they served their purpose, he would have no reason to keep such… imperfect human specimens around any longer. He touched the control again to reactivate his camera and send the signal to the two killers. "Yes, Ash Ketchum, the recently crowned Supreme Champion of the Pokémon League at just sixteen years of age. Quite an achievement really. A pity it must end so soon."
"Sir?" Butch asked dimly. Behind him, Cassidy's already lethal smile took on a positively vampirish nature.
"He is to be terminated, immediately," Giovanni said. "He has become a threat to Team Rocket that we can no longer permit to exist." Giovanni raised a brow. "I am sure that you two can devise a suitably… dramatic conclusion to Mr. Ketchum's career."
"We're on it right now, sir," Butch replied with a salute.
Giovanni sighed out loud. "No you moron, you are not. If you two attempt to face Ketchum and his three allies by yourself, they will post your mortal remains back to me in a small envelope." Giovanni raised a small PDA and read a screen of data that he had already memorised. It made him look in charge: a good 'Commander' image. "Dan'in Squad Two-Nine is en route to you and should arrive at your location in an hour. Once you contact them, I want you to proceed to these co-ordinates." Giovanni touched another control to send the co-ordinates to his two agents. "There is a facility that may be the source of plentiful financial resources there. I want you and the Dan'in to secure the facility and strip those financial resources. The fate of the personnel already on site does not matter."
"Yes sir!" Butch replied.
"Excellent," Giovanni hissed. "Once you have integrated yourself with the Dan'in in this practice operation, move immediately against Ketchum." Giovanni leaned forward slightly. "There are to be no witnesses, Butch. Do I make myself totally clear?"
"I understand sir," Butch said.
"Party time ahead," Cassidy commented, her voice low, sensual and dangerous.
Giovanni smirked, although given the 'mood lighting' of his office neither agent could see it. "Indeed," he commented coolly. He was struck by a strange notion. As it could do no harm, he gave in to it. "I will be grateful if you could deliver a small message to Mr. Ketchum before you complete the mission," he added. "Tell him: 'Blood we may be, Ash. However, the dream and the future must come before such considerations. Take comfort in the fact that this is for the greater good of all humankind.' Do you have that?"
"Every word, Boss," Cassidy assured him. Giovanni nodded and cut off the communications link. There was nothing more to say. If that insignificant voice was shouting again, he ignored it.
***
Misty awoke again because there was a draught blowing through the small hostel room. By the open balcony door, Ash was standing, looking out into the night. His whole posture was tense. Misty smiled sleepily and watched her friend's broad unclothed back.
People got funny ideas about Pokémon Trainers, she knew. Some thought that they were some kind of super-elite who lived in luxury and fed off of the pain and effort of the Pokémon. Nothing could be further from the truth. Outside of the Arena, Trainers faced as much danger and as much pain as their little friends did.
Ash's back told that story for any unbeliever. It was criss-crossed with scars. There were the long shallow scratches from that nasty fall down a cliff he took three years ago when they were fighting Team Rocket. Those villains had never come closer to victory. There was that triple scar diagonally across his back from that fight with that pack of wild Charmeleons. Then, most awful, was the almost impact crater-like scar on the right side of his abdomen from a wild Nidoking's omni beam. Ash had taken that shot for her and she had almost lost him forever on that day. If it hadn't been for the fact the material in the official League jacket Ash wore at that time diffuses omni blasts… well he lost his beloved jacket but it saved his life.
Misty shivered, this time at the memories rather than the cold. She had her own collection, of course, everything from Meowth's scratch to a pattern of lumpy scars on her thighs provided by a wild Tentacruel. Yes it was a hard, often brutally short life, but Trainers accepted that for the benefits of bonding with the strange, friendly Pokémon who were so very willing to allow their human friends to enter their worlds. No one could go unchanged by an exposure to such different viewpoints.
Ash was still in some kind of pain, Misty realised. Not the simple pain that caused the physical scars that time diminished, but the more powerful pain that squeezed the heart until there was nothing left. She rose and walked over to her friend.
Ash was surprised when two arms wrapped themselves around his waist and a warm form leaned against his back. Misty he realised, smelling the unique sent of his closest friend. Friend, he thought bitterly. He would love for their relationship to be more, but what could a Pokémon Trainer offer a full Gym Leader? No, she would see sense eventually and leave him and his broken heart. Right now, however, he was glad for her presence.
"What is wrong, Ash?" she asked after hugging his strong form to her for a long minute. Ash sighed deeply and turned around. Hell, when did he get so tall? She asked herself. Ash had gone into his adolescent growth spurt a year back and was suddenly a head taller than Misty.
Ash looked into her eyes and smiled bitterly. "Misty, you've been with me since the beginning. Since I was a crazy know-nothing kid who probably wouldn't have survived six months without you and Brock to back me up. You are a vital part of my life and I don't want to jeopardise our relationship. Not ever."
Misty shook her head in incomprehension, while a part wanted to bawl at Ash's admission that he needed her as much as she did him. "I don't understand, Ash. What are you afraid could do that?"
Ash's smile fell and his eyes clouded. "We all have dark secrets," he said, almost to himself. "We all have a darkness we have to live with, but I don't want that to change what we have." Misty was about to press further when Ash leaned forward and kissed her chastely on the cheek. "Ask me another time," he asked.
Misty nodded quietly. It tore her apart, but she couldn't press to quickly with something like this. "Will you tell me then?" she asked, trying to keep her tone light.
"I…" Ash almost looked away. "I don't know Misty. It is a dark thing indeed. It is not that I don't trust you… I don't trust me."
Misty repressed a scream of rage. Damn men, she shouted to herself. They either keep their feelings in or get all macho and refuse to let us help! "Ash," she sighed. "Ash don't do this to yourself. You are a good person and I trust you. Nothing will ever change that."
Ash reacted to that with surprise. Despite the continual flirting and teasing, he and Misty had never really admitted their feelings for each other in the other's hearing. "Do you… trust me?" he asked, sounding shocked.
"I trust you," Misty replied firmly.
Ash leaned forward and looked into her eyes with almost frightening intensity. "Do you love me?"
Misty's first instinct was to either laugh or bolt, but Ash's gaze, that seemed to cut through her emotional defences like a Scyther's claw, held her. "I…" she replied stupidly. "I… love you. You know that you're the brother that I never had, Ash."
Ash's expression was utterly open and vulnerable, making Misty's breath catch in his throat. Misty felt triumph as he relaxed slightly. "Then love me, and trust me now," he asked. "Stick with me on this and I promise you that you will know the truth… as soon as I am sure about that myself."
Ash shot Misty a lop-sided smile that made her laugh. She released her hold and kissed him impishly. "Okay," she allowed reluctantly. "I trust you and I will be patient. Just… just don't leave me alone because of this Ash. I don't think I could handle that."
Ash hugged her suddenly, catching her completely by surprise. He hugged her as if he suddenly needed her strength, determination, kindness and wisdom; All the things that made her precious in his eyes. Misty held on too. With a sudden utter dread, she knew that a shadow was falling over all their futures. She hoped that Ash would not wait too long to let her know what it was.
***
As dawn broke over the Viridian Forest, the Team Rocket blimp was slowly working its way towards the sea and the organisation's distant headquarters. Inside, Jessie, James and Meowth were going through a depressingly familiar routine for the aftermath of an encounter with the 'Twerps.'
James lay on the table of the Blimp's small combination sickbay/sleeping area. He stuck a rolled up piece of cloth in his mouth to muffle a scream as Jessie re-located his left shoulder that had been dislocated by the impact with the back wall of the Trainer's Locker Room at the Stadium when Electrode detonated. "Shit," James gasped as the pain subsided to a dull throb.
Jessie looked down at him with secret sympathy. "My poor broken soldier," she said with a slight sarcastic smile. "Does baby want mommy to kiss it better?" James looked up at her with a venomous stare that made her heart shrivel. Why the hell do I keep driving him away like this? Jessie asked herself. It is not as if he deserves it after what he's gone through over the years.
"Remind me never to break your fall again," James hissed. Jessie cocked her head as she considered her partner's battered form. She quite liked looking at James stripped to the waist like this, but not when he looked like raw meat. Truth be told, he came out worse from this confrontation. As well as the shoulder, he also had hundreds of point electrical burns (now anointed with a violet burn potion usually used for Pokémon) and three broken ribs that Jessie had just finished taping up. Compared to that, Jessie's electrical burns and the massive burn on her back from Electrode's detonation were nothing, and Meowth's fur would grow back without a sign of damage.
"I don't think that you will have a choice, James," Jessie teased, a slight genuine smile showing on her face. "Not unless our luck turns really soon."
James sat up with a hiss of discomfort. "Well with luck," he said darkly, "Butch and Cassidy will deal with those Twerps and no one will have to suffer this… agony again." He made the effort and turned away from the alluring view of Jessie he currently enjoyed. Her uniform had been burnt and shredded by the Electrode blast and he was admiring her stripped to her sports bra and panties. If she knew that, of course, she would throw him from the blimp into the ocean. I have no idea why she hasn't transferred to a more successful team, he thought ruefully, but at least I can enjoy her company and dream of her actually noticing me.
Jessie pulled a reserve uniform from her footlocker and pulled the tunic over her head as James rose to his feet and stretched to test the bandages on his side. Jessie looked on and frowned at the patterning of scars her partner wore, knowing that she used plenty of powder and foundation to cover her own collection. Those long gloves covered several nasty momentos of past jobs. Somehow, Team Rocket was not the glamour career that she had dreamt of as a child. However, on this world, every real profession gravitated around the Pokémon and Jessie did not fancy herself as a faceless secretary or some dumb actress or model.
The two battered humans slowly walked out into the control area, where a bandaged and philosophical Meowth was watching their course. "Hey, Meowth," James said quietly.
"Hey, James," the small feline Pokémon replied. "Jessie's got you back into one piece, I see. Do you want to spend the day in a Pokéball? Meowth! I can promise that you'll feel like new afterwards!" Meowth was worried about James and was covering it up, as usual, with acidic commentary.
"I don't think so," James managed with a slight smile. "I'm not even sure if they work on humans." He gently pushed Meowth out of the way and sank into the navigation chair with another wince at the pain. He didn't see Jessie wringing her hands at his suffering, which pleased her, as she did not want to disgust him with her weakness. Meowth, with his sharp eyes, did notice. He purred and rubbed her leg supportively, getting a scratch between his ears for his trouble.
"Hey," Jessie suddenly said, glad to get a distraction, any distraction from her mixed feelings. "I thought I recognised this patch of forest. Your family pile is near here isn't it?" 'Pile' was an understatement. Jessie and Meowth were among the few to know that James was really H. James Kojiro Weston IV, the Viscount Viridian and the heir to one of the world's last hereditary fortunes. He had run away from home and joined Team Rocket under an assumed name. This was partly because he didn't want that responsibility, but primarily because the woman chosen by his parents to be his future wife, a woman named Jessibelle, was a psychotic nightmare from hell, determined to break him into some pre-conceived notion of proper conduct. Although Jessie knew intellectually that James hated Jessibelle and wanted no part of his parents' fortune, she could not shake the deep-rooted fear that, eventually, he would see 'sense' and leave her alone and friendless to claim his wife and his massive fortune. "Do you want to drop by? You know, beg some tea and hot cakes from Foster and give the Fiancée a kiss?"
"Very funny," James grunted. "Frankly, my dear Jessica, I have no desire to dodge a whip and sniff Vileplume's stun spores today." James scowled out of the window. Then his expression turned to confusion. "There is a fire over there," he suddenly said, his finger shooting out, pointing out the column of smoke in the distance.
"Meowth! Hey, yeah," Meowth replied, leaping up onto the control panel.
"It's a big one, too," Jessie added.
"And its coming from… home," James concluded, his voice suddenly without inflection. Jessie caught his expression as it changed from introspection to panic. James flipped the autopilot off, slammed the blimp's twin ducted fans to maximum power and hauled the rudder over, directing the Blimp towards the leaping flames and thick black smoke over Viridian Palace.
***
Misty was just brushing her hair when she heard Ash's voice raised in anger. "Professor, I said that I would think about it, okay?" he almost shouted. She stuck her head around the corner and saw Ash talking into his mobile phone to Professor Oak. "Yes, I understood your warning about how he is likely to respond to my winning the championship, Professor." A pause. "Well, big scoop! I'm not a private detective or a mercenary. I am not going to drop my life and put my life and the life of my friends on the line to satisfy your private vendetta." Another pause. "Well if that is the way it is going to be, then be my guest, old man!" Ash concluded his comments at a shout and slapped the mouthpiece closed, cutting off the call. He pressed the 'standby' button. "Let the self-deluding bastard talk to my voicemail," he hissed. He looked up and physically started when he saw Misty standing at the door to the room. "Misty!" he said, his face flaming with embarrassment. "Oh, uh, how long have you been standing there?"
"Long enough to hear you screaming at a man you owe just about everything," Misty replied coldly.
"Look Misty," Ash said firmly, "last night I asked you to trust me, yes?" Misty nodded mutely. "Well, the Professor and Mom hit me with some… really weird shit about my past last night. They expect me to just drop everything and go off on their say-so on some crazy crusade. Well, excuse me for not wanting to loose a life that has just started to come together."
Misty shook her head in disappointment. Still a spoiled brat at heart, she sighed to herself. Ash, with uncommon perception, realised that he had, somehow, failed to meet Misty's expectations.
"Look Misty, it isn't as if I don't trust them or don't love them anymore," he said more calmly. "You are right, I owe Professor Oak everything but…" He drew a shaking hand through his scruffy hair. "They can't ask me to do this, Misty. It isn't a favour, it isn't even something that I owe them. They are asking that I give up everything. They want me to place my life and your life and Tracey and Brock's lives all on the line because of some really bad things that happened long before I was born." Ash squatted and leant against the wall, his eyes closed. "I still don't even know if I completely believe their story. It is just so… damn clichéd. Like some bad vid movie or something…" He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
Misty squatted down next to Ash. "Are you thinking about it, Ash?" she asked, searching his face.
"Yeah, I am," he admitted. "Because if they are right, then this is something I have to do and no price is too high." Misty relaxed. I really shouldn't have doubted him, she thought. I know him well enough. "But, damn it," he said in an exhausted tone, "I can't go off on something like this on just their say-so. I've got to have proof positive that it is true, all of it."
Misty touched his arm supportively. "I'm here, Ash," she said.
Ash smiled and kissed her cheek. "I know," he replied. "Hey, I tell you what, we really need to find out about Raichu's new attacks and defences. How about you, me and Brock head into the forest and find a spot where we can really practice without damaging the League's fixtures and fittings down at the Gym?"
"You aren't getting out of this spot so easily, Ash Ketchum," Misty told him.
Ash shot her his irrepressible smile and got up. He swung into the room and grabbed his long grey coat and Misty's denim jacket. "Raichu, Togepi, we're heading out. Come on guys."
[Some action at last!]
[Whoopee! We're going out to play!]
Raichu danced out and leapt onto Ash's shoulders. Togepi waddled out much more slowly and Misty picked him up after accepting her jacket from a grinning Ash. You win this round, kid, Misty thought with a wry smile. Still, maybe some practice would loosen Ash up. With Brock and his calm wisdom nearby, she might get to the meat of this problem yet.
***
The Team Rocket Blimp landed amid scenes from Hell. Several of the avenue of tall trees along the driveway had been flattened and many others were ablaze. The mighty marble buildings were in ruins, smoke pouring from the windows. Growlithe's mansion-sized kennel was a flattened ruin and the elegant façade of Viridian Palace had been smashed.
James froze at the sight, looking around him in horror, mouthing 'No, no, no, no, no…' to himself over and over again. He broke from his paralysis and nearly leapt from the Blimp and raced towards the ruins. Jessie grabbed a first aid kit in the unlikely hope that someone may have survived the cataclysm and leapt out after her partner. Meowth safetied the engines, lowered the anchor and made a more graceful descent down the ladder.
James stood before the ruins, shouting. "Mother! Father! Foster! Growly!" He looked around desperately. "Jessibelle! Vileplume! Can anyone hear me?"
From the other side of the kennel came a long, distinctive cry: "Growwwllll!"
"Growly!" James shouted and leapt over the ruins towards the sound. Jessie and Meowth followed, trying not to gawp too openly at the scale and quality of the devastation around them. They stopped to see a crying James cradling a battered and bloody Growlithe's head in his lap. Around the hideously wounded canine Pokémon was at least a dozen dead Pokémon including an Ekans, the torn remains of a Koffing, a pile of fried charcoal that may have been a Victreebell and an eviscerated Charmander.
"What the fuck happened here?" Jessie gasped. "Who declared war while we were asleep?"
James looked up from where he had been stroking Growly's head in an attempt to comfort the creature. "Jessie, he's badly hurt," James said urgently. "See what you can do with him, I've got to find my family." James carefully transferred Growly's head to his partner's lap. He leapt away into the ruins, and Jessie heard him calling out again.
Jessie tried to focus her mind on what she knew of Pokémon medicine. First the burns. She took out a burn potion and readied shots of the antidotes for Ekans venom and Koffing nerve gas. "Meowth, go help James," she instructed. Meowth nodded and darted into the ruins without a word. Jessie fought back tears as she tried to comfort the hideously wounded Growlithe. "Easy, brave one," she cooed quietly. "We're here now."
James was in a tiny agony of horror and pain as he darted through the raped remains of his home. All around him was the signs of a brutal and single-minded pillage. Gone were his family's art treasures. More personal valuables like furniture and clothing had been piled up for use as fuel for the bonfires. No one replied to his increasingly desperate calls. Finally, he entered the main hall, the beautiful central staircase leading to all five levels of the palace. The place was a ruin, burnt and splattered with blood. In the centre there was a sight that brought him to his knees.
There was no way to identify the two charred corpses suspended by their ankles from the first floor banister, but James knew instinctively. "No," he whispered. "Oh Mother, Father, not you…" He bowed his head and wept helplessly amid the ruins of his past.
Meowth moved quickly and quietly, a grey blur amid the devastation. The sight of Growlithe's broken form shocked him, but he was even more shocked by how this had affected James. Pokémon did not really understand human emotions all that well. To a Pokémon, life was just one long journey between fights. You did not worry about this; it was just a fact of existence. What is home but a place to store your Pokéballs antidotes and potions? Why form friendships when they will evolve eventually and stop really being the same person?
Even so, he felt James' rage. To any creature, nothing was more sacred than the lair, be it a Pokéball or a marble castle. To see it so desecrated must break his friend's heart. Furthermore, for the rest of his clan to have been so brutally defeated in battle while James was not here to assist must make him feel… guilty? Was that the appropriate emotion? Meowth resolved to ask Jessie the next time he could.
Meowth's sensitive nose twitched as he detected the familiar scent of burnt human flesh. He cleared a partially demolished wall and found a battered and partially burnt human corpse. The human had been male, not long out of childhood. The corpse's clothing was in bad shape but still seemed strangely familiar. Meowth looked around and saw the remains of a Flarion. The vulpine Pokémon looked like a bomb had hit it. Beyond it was a scorched area that bore the hallmarks of an explosion. Meowth could smell smoke and… stun spores? Here was where Jessibelle's Vileplume fell, he decided. The idiot before him used a flame attack against the fungus Pokémon and paid the price. Under intense heat, stun spores made a crude but effective explosive.
The back wall included a door, which hung open. Meowth padded forward and noted a trail of blood vanishing off into the distance. The blood indicated only minor wounds, but the hunter in Meowth knew that it was enough to bring the pack to the survivor's heels. He smelt fear now, terrible gut-wrenching terror, one of the few emotions to transcend all species barriers.
He returned to the human corpse and began to search dispassionately for some indication of who this person was. No wallet, no obvious form of ID in the clothing… Oh, what was this? Meowth reached out with a claw and snagged the brass necklace. He pulled it off and studied the two rectangular medallions that hung from the chain. Now why did this seem familiar? Then it hit him and he knew who had slaughtered James' clan. "Oh crap," Meowth moaned to himself.
James grunted as he lowered his father to the ground. He had already scavenged a pair of sheets from the under-stair cupboard where Foster kept the dining room linen. He walked slowly down the stairs to the sad remains and covered them over reverently. He noticed with rage that even the smallest hint of his mother's jewellery was gone. "Mom, Dad," he said quietly. "I know I haven't been the best of sons. I know that I was always a disappointment to you, what with running away and becoming a terrorist and all…" James fought down an insane desire to laugh at the inadequacy of that admission. He knew that if he started laughing, in all probability he would never, ever stop. "I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for giving me life and loving me as only parents can. I want to thank you for being willing to take me back without question when I returned those few years ago…" James wiped his eyes with a blood-and char-stained sleeve. "I love you Mom, Dad," James grated. "I'm sorry I wasn't here to help… But I swear that from now on I will live my life as you wanted. I come from a noble line, and it is time that I grew up and accepted the responsibility that comes from that." James' voice became harder. "I swear that I will find who did this… and I will make them pay for what they have done."
"Master… James…" a voice suddenly gasped in the unearthly silence.
James looked around wildly, sure that he had gone mad. That couldn't be the voice he thought… It was! "Foster!" he cried and sprang towards the bloody figure standing in the upstairs doorway.
The faithful old family retainer shouldn't still be alive, a rational part of James' mind admitted as he lowered him to the mattress he had ripped impatiently from a bed. "Foster," James said kindly. "Rest here. I will summon help."
"No… time…" Foster murmured. Blood pumped weakly from several bullet holes in his chest and abdomen. It was a miracle he still lived. "Master James… so happy to see you…"
"Foster," James whispered… "Charles. What happened here?"
"They came out of nowhere," Foster said quietly. "A dozen young people armed with guns and Pokémon. They demanded that we hand over everything to them, money and property…" The old man's eyes lost focus for a moment, then he came back, his voice a little stronger. "Lord Viridian refused… They shot him before my eyes, her Ladyship too… They set their Pokémon on myself and Miss Jessibelle." The old man began to cry. "I tried to hold them back along with your Growlithe and her Vileplume, but it has been so long… and I have forgotten most of the tricks..."
He was a Trainer? James thought in irreverent surprise. "Go on Charles," James said. "What happened to Jessibelle?"
"I think…" Foster said. "I think that she escaped into the forest, sir," the old man said as if he was reporting on a delay in preparing dinner. "But the young woman who seemed to be in charge sent two of her people after her. She was wounded by a Beedrill's needle attack and I don't know if she could make it on foot…"
Foster closed his eyes with a sigh. James drew in a deep breath and held the old man against him. "You should have seen Growlithe fight, sir," Foster said quietly. "He fought like a hundred Pokémon. He took down eight of theirs without taking a single hit…" The old man began to cry. "Then they set a Croconaw on him… Poor old chap, he didn't stand a chance. As I ran, they shot me and… and I suppose that I lost consciousness for a while there…" Foster's face screwed up in a frown. "I am sorry that I can't be of more help to you, sir."
James could feel the old man slowly slipping away and felt utter despair. He tried to fight away tears and failed. Foster reached up and wiped away the tears with an air of impatience. "You… are the last of the Viridians," Foster explained firmly. "You must be strong, and rebuild what was lost…"
"Who…" James grated, "who… did this?"
"That was what I found… puzzling," the old man admitted. "They seemed to be… associates of yours, Master… James."
"What?"
"They wore a similar uniform to yours, sir," Foster continued in a far-away voice. "Two of them, the large green-haired brute and the evil blonde harpy wore virtually identical clothing to yours and Miss Jessica's, apart from it being in black instead of white…" Foster gasped. "The others wore dark grey with forage caps." Foster reached up and touched the Team Rocket sigil on James' chest. "All wore that symbol, sir…" Foster gasped again. "I'm sorry, sir, but I don't think I can be of much more help to you…" His eyes began to glaze over.
James somehow controlled himself. "That is alright, Charles," he said gently. "You have done more than enough. You can rest now. You have done very well, old friend."
"Thank you sir…" Foster said in a barely audible whisper. "I am glad to have… been… of… service… to…" Then he gasped again and went limp.
Jessie was glad to have finally stabilised Growlithe. The canine had succumbed to the powerful anaesthetic spray she kept for chance Thundershock burns and had sunk into a healing sleep. Meowth had yet to have returned, but she saw James emerge from the smoking ruins, his face streaked with tears and wearing a blank expression. "James," she called. "Did you find anyone else?"
James did not reply. He wandered blindly out onto the scorched lawn and stopped. He staggered for a moment and turned, taking in the destruction once more. Then he tilted his head to the sky and screamed out a single insane, despairing wail. He screamed and screamed until he doubled over and was violently sick, vomiting out the entire contents of his stomach in a single bout. Jessie rushed over as he collapsed into his vomit and curled up into a tight foetal ball.
Jessie got over to him and hugged him desperately, utterly uncaring of his filthy condition. "James, oh James I am so sorry," she sobbed.
"Wha…" James moaned. He opened his eyes and saw the red 'R' sigil on Jessie's tunic. "What… NO!" he shouted. "No, get away… don't touch me you fucking murdering… bitch! Get away from me!"
Jessie leapt back a good two metres in surprise. She took in the almost feral expression on her partner's face. He was ready to kill her this very instant; she knew that. She knelt before him and spoke in the tone she used for wounded Pokémon. "James," she said gently. "James, it is me, Jessie. Tell me what you saw, honey. I won't hurt you, or come any closer if you don't want. Just tell me…"
James collapsed to his knees and responded on autopilot more than anything. "They are all dead, Jessie," he said in an all-too-calm voice. "Mom, Dad, Foster… If Jessibelle is still alive it is more by luck than design…" he began to laugh, an ugly, hateful sound. "And do you really want to know the joke?" He laughed again. "I'll tell you who did it," he said in a bizarre singsong voice. "I'll tell you. It was you!"
Jessie shook her head in despair and incomprehension. "God, no, James. Alright, I admit your folks aren't… weren't my favourite people, but I would never, never do this to you. You believe that don't you?"
James instantly sobered up. "I know that, Jessie," he said. "Nonetheless, it was you…" He began to cry. "You, me, Meowth, Mondo, the Boss. Most especially Butch and Cassidy as they were the ones who pulled the trigger. It was Team Rocket, Jess… Team Rocket did this." James began to laugh again through his tears and sobs. He laughed and cried and did not resist this time as Jessie walked over and hugged him to her, her heart empty except for a dark abyss of pain.
***
"Staryu! Laser pulse!"
"Star-ar!" A beam of ruby-red laser light flashed from the eye of the starfish-Pokémon towards its adversary.
"Raichu, Thunder Shield!"
"Chu!" The blast struck a glassy yellow field that materialised before the electric squirrel.
"Hey, not bad, kiddo," Misty taunted. "Tackle attack, Staryu!"
"Agile defence," Ash countered. Staryu whirled forward towards Raichu, who ducked under the first pass and then leapt over the second one. "Let's finish this!" Ash shouted, high on his and Raichu's adrenaline, "Thunderball attack!"
"Raichu-rai-CHU!" Raichu generated a ball of lighting that lanced out at Staryu. The starfish twisted around in mid-air, but Raichu could guide this attack and corrected the trajectory of the ball so that it struck home. There was a hiss of electricity and the stench of ozone. Staryu hit the ground unconscious.
"Ouch," Misty winced at the transmitted pain and surprise she felt over the empathic link with her oldest Pokémon. "Man, poor Staryu's going to feel that in the morning."
Ash had to pause for a split second to separate himself from Raichu's emotions and reactions, the intimate connection that all Trainers felt during battle. "I… that is Raichu didn't hit him too hard did he?" he asked with genuine concern.
Misty picked Staryu up and brushed the carbon scoring off of the tough chitinous shell. "Nah, his pride is more hurt," she assured her friend. "Nice evade, but the way."
Brock applauded from where he was sitting on a fallen log to one side of the clearing. There were a few more of those now, from when an improved Thundershock from Raichu had blown poor Graveller through a tree. "Very good, Ash," Brock said approvingly. He checked his watch. "That bout was just over seventy seconds. Considering how well Misty knows your fighting style that is an excellent performance."
Ash smiled from where he was administering a HP-Restore potion to Staryu while Misty industriously anointed the starfish's burns. "Why thank you, Gym Leader sir," he said with a laugh. "Do you think that I've earned that badge yet?"
"Hmm, I think so," Brock allowed. "Actually, you earned that badge a long time back, Ash, and it wasn't for your fighting prowess either." Ash was still young enough to blush at his friend's compliment and turn away in embarrassment.
Misty completed the first aid on Staryu and recalled the recovering Pokémon to his Pokéball. "So what next, Ash?" she asked. "Do you want me to pull out Natu to see how well Raichu adapts to a psychic attack?"
Ash shook his head. "No point," he replied. "No psychic attack is really the same as another, so Raichu will just have to adapt in situ to whatever we find." He grinned in a fey way. "Besides I'm getting tired of watching you shoot at him. What's got into you today?"
"Got into me?" Misty asked in outrage. "Why you pig-headed, overblown, egotistical, scruffy-looking… Tauros herder!"
Ash paused and looked back at her. "Hey," he protested in an equally hurt tone. "Who's scruffy looking?"
Misty was about to respond when Raichu shouted [Shut up, the pair of you!] and gave them a stun shock to calm them down. Both trainers pulled themselves off of the ground, smelling of electrical fires.
"I think he is trying to tell us something," Ash said ruefully.
Misty laughed as she brushed off her clothes. Another set of clothes Raichu-ruined, she thought to herself with a resigned sigh. She was beginning to make a collection of all the shirts, jackets, jeans and other items of clothing both she and Ash wore that had hundreds of repaired point burns from Raichu's (and before him Pikachu's) delicate rebuffs.
Misty was about to try to open Ash up on the mystery that had affected him so last night. Then the peace of the clearing was cut by a terrified, hopeless scream. A woman, somewhere nearby and in terrible trouble.
Ash, bless his heroic nature, was off in a second. Misty was more thoughtful and careful. She pulled out a Pokéball and tossed it into the air. "Dragonite, I choose you!" The graceful blue sea dragon emerged and rose away from her Trainer. "Dragonite, find the source of the scream!"
"Drago-oh-nite!" Dragonite did not even fly for a minute before she began to circle. It seems that Ash's instincts were accurate, he went in the right direction to find the trouble. "Drago! Dragonite!" she called. Misty ran forward after Ash, drawing Wartortle's Pokéball. Brock was only a few steps behind her.
The two friends exploded into a small copse of trees where Ash was confronting two of Team Rocket's 'grunt' Dan'in fighters. Ash's eyes crinkled with rage as he took in the battered and bloody condition of the woman one was pinning to the ground. She had been shot at least twice. That wasn't stopping the filthy monsters from trying to rape her. "If either of you value your manhood," Ash said in a very calm tone, "you will let her go and back off now."
The one on top of the terrified woman sneered at Ash. "Or what, kid? Will you fry us with your Raichu? Oh, I forgot, if you fry me, you fry this pretty thing too."
"Pitiful ape," Ash snorted. He pulled out a Pokéball and dropped it to the ground. "Venusaur, I choose you!"
Venusaur emerged into the light; her 2-ton bulk enough to intimidate even the dimmest Rocket. Surprisingly, instead of running, the one furthest away pulled out a semi-automatic shotgun and levelled it at Ash. "Restrain that beast or you're getting a new mouth, wimp," the man snarled.
Ash reacted immediately. He pointed the fore and middle finger of his right hand at the gunman while he simultaneously commanded: "Venusaur, vine whip restrain!"
[Eat THIS!] Raichu shouted from the trees. A flash of blue-white electricity connected with the gunman's shotgun. The man began to dance and wail as thousands of volts of electricity arced through his body.
[Disgusting creature, get off of that poor girl,] Venusaur growled. Her vine whips raced out and bound themselves around the hapless Rocket. She lifted him off of the terrified girl and into the air. The Rocket groaned in panic as the vines tightened, steadily strangling him.
"Go easy Venusaur," Ash said in a satisfied tone.
Then things got hot. Two more Dan'in emerged into the clearing. They both threw black-and-white painted Pokéballs that broke open, releasing a Hitmonchan and a Rapidash. The Rapidash, a unicorn-like Pokémon fired a flame-ball at Venusaur, striking her dorsal flower. More surprised than hurt, Venusaur dropped her captive Rocket and turned to face the new threat as Hitmonchan advanced on Ash, his massive fists raised to knock the young Trainer out with a single blow.
Rapidash charged Venusaur, who, at Ash's command, responded with a single solar blast that knocked the horse silly. The creature circled around and charged forward for another Flame Horn Charge attack. That is when a twin water jet smashed into its side. The unicorn-Pokémon was temporarily stunned as the water cannon attack inhibited its bio-thermal fire powers. Then Wartortle tumbled through the air, his head and limbs tucked inside his shell and slammed against Rapidash's head. The Rapidash tumbled to the ground, unconscious.
Hitmonchan experienced an unexpected check too. As he stalked confidently forward, Graveller floated between him and Ash. Hitmonchan fired off a few experimental punches, but injured himself more than the sentient rock before him. "Graveller!" the Fighting Rock Pokémon roared and sent Hitmonchan reeling back with a single right hook.
Ash noted that the Dan'in had drawn guns and were preparing an attack of their own. "Oh no you don't," he warned. "Venusaur, razor leaf attack!" Razor-sharp petals raced off of Venusaur's back plant. They sliced through steel, kevlar and flesh with equal impunity. The Rockets fell back, screeching in pain from the cuts they were suffering. One, in an excess of bravery (or stupidity) charged forward. "Venusaur, Solar Beam attack," Ash snarled. The golden energy beam tore into the Rocket, launching him back to his friends, the chest of his uniform a singed ruin.
Graveller finally ended Hitmonchan's resistance with a Rollout attack, using his boulder-like body to smash the fighting-type Pokémon flat.
A Rocket drew a grenade. Wartortle drenched him and Dragonite froze him solid moments later with her Blizzard attack. The three cowering Rockets recalled their defeated Pokémon and backed away slowly from Ash, Misty and Brock. "You will regret this, kid," the lead Rocket hissed. "No one crosses Team Rocket and lives!"
Ash sighed. Same ol' same ol' he thought. "Raichu, Thundershock attack," was all he said. The massive electric discharge blew all four Rockets deep into the woods and out of sight. They soared away with a despairing wail.
When he was sure that the Rockets were gone, Ash moved over to the bloodied, unconscious woman. There was something familiar about her, but he didn't let it affect him until Misty gasped. "Ash, you know who this is?" she asked. Ash looked up at Misty and shook his head in confusion. "It's Jessibelle, James of Team Rocket's fiancée!" Ash looked again and realised that Misty was right.
As they worked on her many wounds, it quickly was obvious she was beyond their help. "We have to get her to the hospital in Viridian City," Misty said in frustration.
"Can we risk moving her?" Brock asked.
Ash shot him a slightly scornful look. "As if we have a choice?" he asked. He turned to Raichu. "Raichu, I want you to encase Jessibelle in your Thunder Shield." He turned to his friends. "That should keep her from too much jarring." Ash pulled out a Pokéball and activated it, releasing Charizard.
The gigantic red dragon looked down at his Trainer with the disdain all his kind felt for scuttling humans. "Charizard," Ash said, "I need you to carry this woman back to Viridian City. My friends and I will ride on your back."
[If you think it is really necessary,] Charizard grumbled.
"Yes I do, Charizard," Ash replied. He found that the best way to deal with his dragon was to be firm yet sympathetic. "A life is at stake, old friend. You know I wouldn't ask just for fun."
[Very well, then,] Charizard groaned in a long-suffering tone of voice.
As it turned out, Misty decided to fly on Dragonite to reduce the load Charizard would carry. Ash imagined that they must have been quite a sight, two dragons carrying three people and a woman wrapped in a sparkling electrical shell landing before Viridian City Hospital. Ash and his friends watched in distress as the ER staff closed around Jessibelle and took her into the trauma room. Misty shot Ash a look and shook her head. It did not look too good.
***
The sun was setting when James moved from the place he had sat for hours on end, not moving at all. The last move he had made was to grimly acknowledge Meowth as the cat brought him the three sets of Team Rocket dog tags he had scavenged off of corpses amongst the ruins. "Looks like your Growlithe got two," Meowth reported. "Da other one used a Flarion on Vileplume and was caught in da blast."
He rose unsteadily and walked towards the still-burning ruins of his home. Jessie awoke with a start from where she was lying next to Growly. "James," she asked quietly. As she watched in terror, he stalked towards a fire, stripping off his gloves and his Team Rocket tunic. Without a backward glance, he threw the items on the flames. Then he disappeared into the ruins.
Jessie gasped. She was no fool and knew what that gesture meant. James was out. He was quitting. But no one, no one ever quit Team Rocket. The Boss made sure of that. I don't think he cares, honey, Jessie reminded herself.
"Meowth, Jessie what are we gonna do?" Meowth asked plaintively. Jessie simply shook her head. She didn't know anymore.
A few minutes later, James emerged again, wearing civilian clothes. The sort of clothes one wears for hard travelling. Jessie found herself inappropriately appreciating the new look with heavy-weave jeans, a thick black cotton shirt, all set off with a heavy leather duster. James also had two big canvas gym bags, probably containing the few personal goods he could salvage from the wreckage.
"Jessie," he said to her. "I want to apologise for going to pieces earlier." Jessie tried not to break down at the tone of James' voice, but she began to cry anyway. He sighed reluctantly. "Look, you know I can't carry on with Team Rocket anymore. Not now. I'm heading off with my Pokémon and I'm going to get Butch and Cassidy for this. Then… well I'll deal with that when I get to it." Jessie marvelled at the sudden maturity and decisiveness of her partner's voice. The fire burns some, she reminded herself, and some are tempered and made stronger.
"They will come after you, James," she reminded him.
"Meowth, yeah!" Meowth cut in. "They'll cut you to pieces eventually, James. You can't do this!"
"Well maybe they will kill me like they killed my family," he almost shouted back. "But at least I'll die with some scrap of honour restored to me. Can either of you say that?" He shook his head angrily and stalked over to the Blimp. "Up to now I have lived a lie, Jessie, a brutal, murderous lie. I want to live with some decency and integrity before I head off to join my parents."
Jessie swallowed a lump of grief at James' rejection of her and all they had experienced together. All of a sudden she had a desperate desire just to curl up and die amongst the wreckage. Without James…
James had climbed up the steps into the car of the Blimp. After a moment he looked back. His face softened as he spoke. "Look, I'm going to take Growly in the Blimp to the Pokémon Centre in Viridian City," he explained. "I'll drop you off there and you can easily sneak back to a staging area and call for a transport to Headquarters. I owe you two that much." Jessie had to fight tears again as James continued in a colder tone as he entered the cockpit to open the side cargo doors. "After that, all bets will be off, Jessie, Meowth. As long as you wear that uniform and that symbol, we'll be enemies."
When he stuck his head back out, he noticed that Jessie wasn't wearing her tunic anymore. She smiled at him in a shaky way. Meowth looked at her in disbelief and then looked at the Team Rocket symbol she was grinding into the earth beneath her heel. Meowth sighed and realised that he really had no choice about his next action. He took of his Team Rocket collar and tossed it away. "Meowth," he sighed. "If you can't beat 'em…"
James smiled and there was a hint of tears in his eyes as he walked down to join his two friends. "Like you said," he commented, "they will follow us."
"As long as I am with you," Jessie replied, tears streaming down her cheeks, "I can fight the world." Then the two embraced.
After a long moment, James grabbed the second gym bag from the Blimp's door. "These are Jessibelle's," he explained. "You are about the same height and build, so they should fit you." Jessie nodded mutely as James picked up Growly and carried him aboard the Blimp. He turned back for a moment and shot her a dazzling smile. "Thank you, Jess," he said gratefully. "For everything."
Suddenly the videophone in the Blimp started howling. "Ring ring! Ring ring! Phone Call! Phone Call!" James turned around with a venomous expression as Giovanni's backlit image appeared on the monitor screen. "Jessie, James, Meowth," Giovanni growled. "You've missed three check-ins, where the hell are you and what the hell are you… Squee! Shrak! Skee! Crunck!" Jessie ducked as James pulled a MAC-10 machine pistol from the Blimp's weapons locker and emptied a 30-round clip of 9mm bullets into the videophone.
There was a long silence as smoke rose from the savaged communications appliance. James coolly ejected the empty magazine and slipped a new one in before putting the gun back into its locker. "Giovanni," James said quietly. "I've been waiting for eight years to say this: Shut the fuck up."
***
The Blimp descended out of the sky in front of Viridian City's Pokémon Centre. A very surprised Nurse Joy watched as two young people in civilian clothing jumped out of the Team Rocket air transport. The man was carrying a heavily bandaged Growlithe. "My Growlithe was savaged by a group of Team Rocket Pokémon," he explained. "We need your help."
Joy struggled to follow what was happening. "Where… where did you get that transport?"
"Does it matter?" The man roared in Joy's face. Joy looked the tall and desperate looking black-haired Trainer over and then looked at his companion, a woman with her red hair trailing gracefully down her back, wearing jeans, a short leather jacket and a sapphire blue vest top. A Meowth was standing at her side. She decided that discretion was, indeed, the better part of valour.
"No, it doesn't matter at all," she replied calmly. "Come with me."
Joy took Growly into the intensive care rooms immediately. To James' frustration she would not allow him to come in too. He briefly considered threatening her with the pistol he had tucked in at the back of his waistband, but thought better of it. He walked over to Jessie and Meowth. "It's in Joy and Chancey's hands now," he said quietly.
"James, what about Jessibelle?" Jessie asked gently.
James slapped his head. "I actually forgot," he moaned. "How could I do that?" He thought for a moment and came to a decision. "Jessie, stay here for word on Growly. Meowth and I will take the Blimp and use its search equipment to see if she is in the woods."
"No," Jessie contradicted. "Its' better if we don't split up. Let's try the city Datalinks first. It will show if someone has found her and save us a lot of time." The two were agreed and walked over to Joy's computer station. With years of espionage skills at their command, the simple civilian computer quickly gave up its secrets. Much to James' distress, he found Jessibelle.
***
Ash was standing quietly at the window watching Jessibelle's chest rise and fall as the life support machinery struggle to keep the hideously wounded woman alive. As much as the doctors might do miracles, he realised, she had to want to live after what she had seen and experienced.
Ash was desperate to do something, anything. He was quite relieved when the lift doors opened and Jessie, James and Meowth emerged. "Jessibelle!" James shouted and ran towards the ICU room. Ash intercepted him, grabbed him by the lapels of his duster and slammed him against the wall. "You have a lot of nerve turning up here," Ash snarled.
"Get you slimy hands off of me you Twerp," James snarled back, "or I'll drop you where you stand."
"Leave him alone!" Jessie shouted. "Can't you see we had nothing to do with this?" The redheaded woman ran up and began to tug at Ash's arms, trying to get him to let James go.
"Hands off you… hussy!" Misty cried and leapt at Jessie.
"Meowth! Back off Twoips!"
[You are cruisin' for a shockin' Cat!]
Things were spiralling out of control very quickly, but James and Ash were unaware of this. The two young men looked each other in the eye, concentrating on their own anger. "I always knew Team Rocket was evil," Ash said calmly. "What you have done to her… to your own fiancée for God's sake, goes beyond evil, James."
Tears started in James' eyes. "Don't preach to me, boy. You have no idea what Team Rocket has done to me. That is why I will personally destroy them all."
This caught Ash by surprise. He released James and backed off. It finally penetrated the military-grade armour plate around Ash's brain that neither Jessie nor James was wearing their trademark white-and-black uniforms. "You quit," he said, a statement not a question. The others were all frozen as the two men confronted each other.
"That's right," James said, smoothing down his lapels.
"I thought no one quit Team Rocket," Ash said.
"That changes as of today," James said. "They quit, or fall at my hands. It's their choice."
Ash nodded and stepped back. "I'm sorry James," he said. "What happened?"
"Butch and Cassidy plus a squad of Dan'in murdered my parents and levelled my home," James said as if he were relaying the weather forecast. He walked towards the window and almost collapsed there. Jessie knelt beside the crying James and hugged him, her head resting on his shoulder.
Misty couldn't believe what she was seeing. She looked at Ash and saw a grim look on his face. "Let's get out of here," he growled. He spun on his heel and left.
He was halfway down the corridor when a doctor rushed in. "Kid you say you have no idea who this lady's next of kin are?"
Ash pointed at Jessie and James. "The man is her former fiancée. I think that is the closest you will get if it is urgent."
"Yeah it's urgent," the doctor said. He looked Ash in the eye. "Twenty minutes, a half hour at most. She's got a critical infection. One of those people must have used a Grimer on her." Ash shook his head and led an amazed Misty out into the darkening night.
The doctor allowed Jessie and James in to Jessibelle's room. "Try talking to her, sir," the doctor advised. "We've given her a local anaesthetic for the pain, but she will hear you."
James took her hand as the doctor left. "Jessibelle," James said gently.
"James?" she whispered. "Why is it all dark?"
"You're sick, beautiful," he told her. "Your eyes don't work at the moment. That is all."
"I…" Jessibelle swallowed. "I'm dying, aren't I?"
James stopped and shot Jessie a tormented look. "Yes, Jessibelle. I'm sorry."
Jessibelle sighed and barked a single, rueful laugh. "Its' amazing," she admitted. "It wasn't meant to happen this way, James, sugah. I was meant to die in mah bed, surrounded by kids, grandkids and great-grandkids, not in the Intensive Care Room of some general hospital." Jessibelle frowned. "She is with you, isn't she?" she asked.
Jessie answered. "I can go if you want, Jessibelle."
"No," Jessibelle answered. "Hold mah hand too, honey." When Jessie complied, Jessibelle continued. "Now I want you to promise me somethin.' Both of yuh." Her southern accent was getting stronger. Usually she fought it with precise elocution, but this was not the time for such things. "James, honey. I want you to promise that you will be a good Lord of Viridian. I want you to promise that, whether or not yuh can do somthin' 'proper,' you will always do 'right.'"
"I promise," James said gently.
"Now Jessica," Jessibelle continued, "ah know we don't see eye-to-eye, but I know you love James. More than I ever have or could do. So promise me that that you'll be a good wife at all times and that you'll stand by him. You help him with the hard bits and make sure he is always happy."
"I promise," Jessie said, her voice breaking.
"And I want you both to promise that, no mattah what… you'll always be true to the good people yuh really are." Jessie and James squeezed Jessibelle's hand and the dying woman smiled gently. "Not much else to say, James," Jessibelle said, her voice breaking up. "I'm jest glad it won't hurt. Can't stand pain… never could." Jessibelle's voice became quieter. "It's warm and oh! There is yuh Momma and yuh Poppa. They'll look after you too, mah James. Try to remembah me well… I only wanted… best… for… yuh…"
The life support monitors began to wail. James released Jessibelle's hand, his face free of expression. Jessie began to weep and collapsed into his arms. He tried to comfort her as tears pricked at his own eyes. Both they and Meowth were gone by the time the doctor came to record the time of death.
***
Ash stood on the observation deck of the hospital, Misty at his side. "What is going on, Ash?" she asked.
Ash sighed. He could not lie to her. Not ever. "Misty, you told me this morning that nothing would ever change what you feel for me. I hope that is true. What happened to me last night… what made me so upset with my Mother and Professor Oak…" Ash closed his eyes and fought off a bout of nausea. "Four people are dead right now, because of Team Rocket," he announced. "James looks like he might be permanently emotionally crippled. All because of the leader of Team Rocket. All because of Giovanni diRocketti."
Misty nodded. "We've know for years that he is the devil behind this, Ash," she reminded him. "What has changed?"
"He is addicted to killing and savagery," Ash continued, almost as if he couldn't hear her. "And today, I felt what that was like. When Venusaur grabbed that Rocket. It would have been so very, very easy to order her to squeeze and squeeze. Until his eyes began to pop… and his veins stood out… and I heard his bones snap one by one…"
"Ash you're frightening me!" Misty shouted. Ash immediately snapped back to the here-and-now. He hugged Misty immediately and apologised.
"You see Misty, I haven't told you what I was told last night because I was afraid. Not of you reacting in the wrong way, but of reacting in the right way and getting as far away from me as you can. Because if what I heard was true, I could so very easily go down the same route and become a new, worse, Giovanni."
Misty shook her head. "No Ash, you are nothing like him. You are good and noble. He is… he is a monster, an animal that lives off of pain. You will never be like that and I will never have a reason to leave you."
"Won't I?" Ash asked grimly. "Won't you? I pray that you are right, my Misty. Fathers and sons, however, sometimes they are more alike than we realise."
Misty stood back in horror. "What are you saying, Ash?"
"Misty," Ash looked away and when he turned back, his eyes reflected a terrible darkness, something that frightened Misty and absolutely terrified Ash. "Misty, Giovanni diRocketti's real name is Joseph Oak. And he is my father."
To be continued…