The Mirror-World Menace

THE MIRROR-WORLD MENACE

by A. Jeung

Author's Note: This story fits in somewhere during the Johto journeys.

Need a disclaimer? OK. Pokémon and its characters are copyrighted by Nintendo/Game Freak/Creatures Inc. and are used here without permission. The author is making no profit from this fanfiction.

CHAPTER 1

"In a system of infinite universes, every variant of existence is realized."
- Professor Maple, Professor of Metacosmology, Celadon University

Over the vast expanses of multi-dimensional space there exist a multitude of worlds. All are similar and yet each is different from all of the others in its own unique way. Some worlds have Pokémon unlike anything we have ever seen or imagined. Some, amazingly, have no Pokémon at all. Still others are almost identical to ours except in some small, minor respects. And despite their differences - or perhaps because of them -- each and every world has its own story to tell.

*

"Ekans, look out!!" The words echoed throughout the surrounding mountain pass.

The warning came just a little late. The wild Lickitung's long tongue lashed out, leaving its sticky, paralytic saliva all over the Ekans' face. The big snake stiffened up and staggered briefly, but somehow managed to remain standing.

"That's it!" cried Jecy, still hopeful. "Let's see now ... umm ... okay, use, umm, use Poison Sting!"

Ekans glanced at its stammering master expectantly, waiting until the complete command was given. Then it opened its jaws, and dozens of the tiny toxic darts came shooting out of its mouth. Most of the flying stingers missed their target, but two or three managed to implant themselves in the Lickitung's tongue. The pink creature stumbled, then fell forward onto the rocky terrain.

"Pokéball, GO!!" Jecy's voice rang out as she tossed her ball.

The half-red, half-white plastic ball sailed through the air, finally reaching the weakened Lickitung that was its target. The ball struck the odd creature, opened, and bathed the Pokémon in a warm, red glow before absorbing it inside.

Jecy ran up to her pokéball and stared at it, holding her breath in anticipation as the ball beeped and shook. One beep, two beeps, three ... Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the ball lay still.

Jecy squealed in delight at the top of her lungs, "I did it! I captured a LICKITUNG!" Her long, red hair, reaching out far behind her back in an odd but graceful curl, waved about wildly as she jumped for joy. Her blue eyes sparkled brightly in the bright mountain sunshine.

"That was great, Jecy. Your first capture!" exclaimed her friend Jaymz in his accented voice. He brushed a wayward strand of blue-tinted hair out of the way of his green eyes as he ran up to her.

Jecy grinned at her friend, then glanced proudly at her Ekans, exhausted and bruised from its battle with the Lickitung. It had been a couple of months since she had gone to Professor Oak to get Ekans, but she could remember the event as if it were yesterday.

*

Jecy and Jaymz were fidgeting nervously in the Oak laboratory as they waited for their first Pokémon.

They had met just a couple of weeks back, at the admissions examination for Pokémon Tech. They had both scored very high on the exam, but unfortunately scholarships for the school were in short supply that year, and neither of them could afford the tuition without one. They had been quite disappointed by the news, but they had resolved instead to go and become Pokémon trainers the old-fashioned way, by traveling around and collecting badges. So they had come together to Pallet Town, the starting point for all Pokémon trainers in their section of Kanto.

They were an unassuming pair, unpretentious even in their choice of clothing. Jaymz was dressed in a tan colored shirt with a brown jacket and gray pants. Jecy was dressed in similarly modest attire, with an off-white shirt and long gray pants, and no jewelry except for a pair of tiny, round, green earrings. About her only concession to flamboyance was a pair of black, knee high boots that she really liked and wore everywhere.

Jaymz fiddled with a red rose that he always carried around with him while they waited. At long last, Professor Oak came out, a somber look on his wrinkled face.

"I'm very sorry to have to give you this news," the professor declared, "but I contacted all the breeding centers in the area and there are no starting Pokémon to give you."

"What?!" cried Jaymz incredulously, as Jecy sat in surprised shock.

"I'm very sorry about this," Professor Oak said. "As you know, Team Rocket has been making ever more daring thefts of Pokémon in the last year."

The two prospective trainers nodded solemnly. It seemed as if lately, the newspapers had another article every week about the infamous crime syndicate and its daring series of thefts. It was rumored that the organization had been bolstered by two new top agents who went only by the code names Red and Blue.

Professor Oak continued. "The breeding centers have had so many incursions that there just aren't enough starter Pokémon to go around. I'm afraid that there's simply nothing for me to give you. Please accept my apologies."

"This can't be!" exclaimed Jaymz, standing up. "There must be some Pokémon you can let us have, anything, it doesn't even have to be a proper starter!" Jecy stood up also, facing the professor with a pleading look in her blue eyes.

"Well," Professor Oak said slowly, "there might be something." He turned and opened a cabinet in the back of the room and took out two plastic pokéballs. "I bred these two myself," he explained. "I meant to keep them for my own studies, but earnest young trainers such as yourselves deserve to have a Pokémon to start. Mind you, however, these are not what I would normally recommend for beginning trainers and you will have an uphill battle to get started."

Jecy took the ball nearest to her and tossed it. The ball cracked open, light spilling out of it as the creature stored inside materialized.

Jecy had seen an Ekans before. There had been one in a glass case in her classroom back in elementary school. The students took turns feeding it, and by time she graduated it had grown over five feet long. This one was barely half that length, and looked hardly threatening at all as it hissed at her harmlessly.

Jaymz took the other pokéball and tossed it also. It opened, and a rough dark-purplish ball with eyes and a mouth appeared in a blaze of light.

"Koffing," it said.

Jaymz had never seen a Koffing before. Green eyes blinking in wonder, he stared at the balloon Pokémon as it floated before him and puffed out the occasional cloud of toxic fumes.

The two trainers turned back to the professor.

"They're perfect," they exclaimed together, gratefully. "We'll take them. Thank you, Professor."

*

And now, just two months later, the snake stood an impressive four feet tall as it hissed and panted, trying to catch its breath.

"That was great, Jecy," said Meowth, a big grin on his cat face, "but your Ekans over there is saying that it'd like to rest in its pokéball now."

The two friends turned to look at their newest companion, a talking Meowth. They had discovered the unique but impoverished feline, begging for scraps of food in an alleyway in Viridian City, about a month ago. They had asked him to come along with them, and he had enthusiastically accepted. He turned out to be an extremely useful companion as he could translate between human language and that of the Pokémon. More than that, he had a kind heart and was a good friend to the two of them.

"Of course," Jecy replied. "Thanks for telling me, Meowth." She took out a second ball and pointed it at her Ekans. "Good job, Ekans," she praised, "you battled very well. Return!" The snake hissed a sigh of relief, its coils visibly relaxing as it was bathed in the red glow before being sucked into its ball.

Jecy bent over and picked up the pokéball containing the Lickitung. She admired it for a moment before collapsing it to miniature size and putting it away in her pocket. She started to turn back to Jaymz when she heard a slow, rhythmic clapping behind them. They turned to look at the source.

The boy himself didn't look that intimidating. He was not that tall, with faded blue jeans, a black shirt, and a blue jacket with short white sleeves. A pair of green half-gloves covered his hands, which continued their rhythmic clapping in mock applause. A bit of unruly jet-black hair poked out from underneath a faded red and white baseball cap. Next to him, a Pikachu crouched on all fours and glared at them defiantly.

It was the symbol on the boy's cap that gave away his identity, the symbol that Jaymz and Jecy had seen countless times in the news and had hoped desperately never to encounter in person. On the cap was prominently emblazoned a blood-red capital letter "R".

"Guys," Meowth whispered in fear, "it's a Team Rocket agent." The two trainers nodded grimly.

It was Jecy who gathered up the courage to speak first. "You, there," she declared, trying hard to sound indignant and not scared, "what do you think you're doing here? Have you come to steal my Lickitung? I just captured it, you know..." Her voice trailed off. She knew she didn't sound as threatening as she had hoped, and she was unsure how to continue.

The boy laughed in derision. "My mission is to acquire Pokémon that are rare and unique," he told them, "and your Lickitung is neither." He turned to the cowering cat between them. "Your talking Meowth, however, is another story."

Meowth gave an involuntary gasp as Jaymz finally broke his silence. "Meowth? But ... you can't! We ... we won't let you have him!"

The boy laughed again. "YOU won't let me? I've heard that said to me a thousand times before, trainer." His smile disappeared abruptly as he focused his gaze directly on Jaymz. "And every last person who said it lived to regret it. But since you dare defy me, prepare to feel the power ... of RED!!"

Meowth hung his head. It was hopeless. Red was reportedly Team Rocket's top agent. He had carried out innumerable thefts and had defeated an uncountable number of Pokémon trainers and Officer Jennies alike. He was possibly the greatest Pokémon trainer who had ever lived. Jecy and Jaymz had no chance against him.

Although terrified, Jaymz was not willing to give up so easily. Knowing that Jecy's two Pokémon were still weak from their previous battle, he took out his own pokéball, and, with trembling hands, tossed it out at the Team Rocket agent. "P-p-p-pokéball, go!" he stuttered.

The red and white ball opened, and Jaymz's Koffing popped out.

At seeing the poison-type Pokémon, Red burst out laughing again, and the Pikachu next to him started chuckling too. "THAT'S what you're going to challenge me with?" Red asked incredulously. He thought for a moment, and brought out his own ball. "I was going to use a more experienced Pokémon," he remarked, "but since that's all you have, I think I'll use my newest acquisition instead and give it a chance to gain some battle experience. I had to send my Snorlax back to headquarters in order to be able to carry this one, but I think it'll be worth it in time." He tossed the pokéball, calling out, "I choose you ... Onix!"

The Onix was pretty small, as Onixes go. It was barely ten feet tall, and its rocky skin was a very light shade of gray, giving it a fresh appearance. It cried out with a high-pitched, sandy voice.

Meowth turned to listen to the rock creature's cries. "Where did you get this thing?" he asked, almost indignant despite his fear. "It's calling for its mother ... why, it's only a baby!"

Red nodded in confirmation. "I stole it from its nest two days ago," he declared proudly. "The mother never even knew I was there.

"Now if we're done with the formal introductions," he continued, "it's time for me to take your Meowth from you. Onix, Tackle attack!"

The rock serpent lunged forward with surprising speed, and Jaymz, now scared almost witless, was barely able to stammer out, "Koffing! Poison gas ... no, I ... I mean Smog attack!"

Billowing clouds of black, dirty fumes started spewing out of the toxic Pokémon's mouth, quickly filling up the entire air space around the battle as they enveloped the Onix completely. Unaffected by the smoke, the rock Pokémon burst right through the noxious gasses, striking the Koffing squarely in the middle of its purple body. Koffing fell to the ground, hard, its dazed eyes a clear indication that it was unable to go on.

Jaymz recalled Koffing to its pokéball as Red remarked with disdain, "I guess you know now that poison attacks don't work very well on rock-type Pokémon. Do you have anything else, or shall I take the Meowth now?"

Jaymz tossed out his second and final pokéball. This seemed even less likely to win than his Koffing, but for his friend Meowth he had to try.

The flash of light from Jaymz's second pokéball faded, revealing a Bellsprout. It swayed and wavered uneasily in the cool mountain air. Upon seeing it, the Pikachu laughed harder than ever and, unable to control itself, fell over and started rolling on the ground.

The Pikachu's laughter was cut off abruptly as its master glared at it. Red turned his attention from the yellow electric mouse back to the battle at hand. "Onix," he commanded, "Bind attack!"

The Onix swiftly encircled the tiny plant creature and caught it between its stony scales. The Bellsprout wiggled helplessly as it was slowly, inexorably being crushed by its opponent's body. "Bellsprout!" it called out, as if asking for help.

"Don't give up," called out Jaymz. "Use ... um ... use Vine Whip!"

Two slender vines came wriggling out of the Onix's grasp and desperately started hitting the rock creature's face.

The Onix cried out in pain, and was about to let its captive loose when Red screamed out at it, "Did I TELL you it was alright to let go? Keep it up, you worthless Pokémon!"

The rock serpent continued crying as it was struck, but the vines eventually got weaker and weaker as the Bellsprout slowly lost consciousness. Finally, they lay still.

As the plant Pokémon dropped to the ground, Red looked at his Onix threateningly. "You're going to need a lot more training before we take on any real opponents, I can see that right now," he declared angrily. Red turned back to Jaymz and Jecy, both stunned into inaction at their rapid defeat. "And now," Red continued, "I'm going to do you the favor of not letting you go on with this. I know that the girl will just send out her own two measly Pokémon, which are already weak from fighting each other, to be beaten as well, and so I'm going to save everyone the trouble and just take the Meowth now. Pikachu, Thunderwave!"

Red's Pikachu charged up briefly, then let out a tremendous electric barrage on the two trainers. It was unlike anything they had ever experienced. For a moment, Jecy and Jaymz became painfully immobilized as the crackling electricity locked up every muscle in their bodies. Finally, the attack ended, and the two humans and one Meowth found themselves sprawled out on the rocky terrain, unable to move.

"I ... can't ... get ... at ... my ... pokéballs," Jecy groaned through gritted teeth.

"Of course not," said Red. "Onix, take the Meowth now." The rock Pokémon bent down slowly, grabbed the now paralyzed Meowth by the scruff of his neck in its stony mouth, and turned to follow its master. Jecy and Jaymz could only watch helplessly as the Team Rocket agent departed, laughing, taking with him their feline companion and friend.