I do NOT own Sailor Moon or Pokemon. I love 'em but I can't have 'em. What a
tragedy (sob sob). Yeah... well... here is the fourth chapter of this lovely
never-ending fic. Never-ending cause I'm outta ideas (as usual)
**********************************************
Ami looked at her position. She was tied and shackled, her body slumped
against a vertical prop of some sort. She assumed it was a board. A tingling
sensation of fear began to sweep through her. Now that Team Rocket had found
her, what were they going to do with her? Her mind chilled at the thought, and
even more at the thought of her pokemon, Mercury, and where it was at the
moment. Closing her eyes, Ami tried to sense the aura of her Seel, and met
nothing but a strange barrier. This barrier seemed to block all her powers from
projecting, encasing and effectively stranding Ami from any possible escape. Her
mind wailed at the implications of losing their only hope - the power to resist
whatever force Team Rocket had against pokemon attacks. But now, even that hope
was lost. Ami fervently hoped that Usagi had enough common sense not to come
- that would simply be overkill. She looked around, taking a good focus of her surroundings. It seemed as if she was in a plain white room, with some strange
equipment on the side, containing multitudes of dials and data that both fascinated
and repulsed her. Another side contained a shelf, full of glass tubing,
and beside her was a large tube, encased with thick-looking glass.
It was quite large - in fact, large enough to fit a human in it. Realizing the sudden
implications it brought, Ami shuddered, hoping, wishing, and most of all,
desperately calculating a way to get out of this mess.
Suddenly, the door slipped open, revealing a fragile-looking girl, who
seemed younger than even Ami herself, wearing a rather too-big-for-her labcoat.
Her eyes were dark and serious, and regarded Ami with a fashionable sense of
calm, almost shyly at first. Ami glanced at this girl, and her heart sank when
she saw the red "R" emblazoned on the back of the girl's labcoat.
"So. What are you going to do with me?" Ami asked, trying to sound
nonchalant. So far, she was failing, and the girl knew it.
She jerked her head in Ami's direction, her black hair swirling a bit
around her, barely touching her shoulders. She seemed uncertain, as her gaze
flickered to Ami, and then quickly to the ground.
"I've heard about people like you." She finally whispered, her voice
barely audible. Ami strained to make out the words. "Strange stories about
humans able to power their pokemon through a bond not thought scientifically
possible." Here, she stopped, as if debating whether to say this or not. "My
father's a scientist here. He studies cases like this, but I don't agree with
them."
Ami's eyes widened. "Then, are you..." She couldn't utter what she wanted
- it almost seemed impossible, now that she was in the heart of trouble.
And yet, the young girl nodded, pushing back stray strands of hair. Her
violet eyes locked into Ami's, so haunted and sad, that Ami had to break the eye
contact before her emotions betrayed themselves.
"Tell me." The girl murmured. "What's it like to bond with a pokemon?"
Here, her voice seemed almost hopeful, an eager child waiting for a story.
It was incredulous, Ami, tied to a board, telling this girl about...well,
her experiences. Ami doubted whether she could trust the girl, but it wasn't as
if she could loose anything from telling. After all, Team Rocket could only
understand the scientific. Her mind went over all the implications, and she
finally gave in. "Well, you can feel the power inside you when you battle, and
when you channel the power to your pokemon" - here, she closed her eyes,
imagining and reliving the event - "you feel as if you are at one with your
pokemon, looking through its eyes, and having its attacks, its power laid out in
front of you. Essentially, you become your pokemon for a that single moment when
you combine powers."
The girl listened, enraptured by Ami's words, before turning away slowly.
Ami watched, wary, as the black-haired girl began typing an intricate series of
codes onto the screen. There was a slight beep, and a pokeball fell into the
slot in front of the girl.
Ami recognized it immediately. Her pokeball.
With a swift motion, the girl swiped a card through a slot on the side of
the wall, and immediately, Ami's shackles were released. The blue-haired girl
fell to the floor with a soft thud, her feet weak from not standing so long. Ami
massaged her ankles a bit, getting the blood into them. Something klunked close
to her, and she turned around, seeing her pokeball on the floor. With hesitance,
she touched it, picked it up, and let out a sigh of relief. Her Seel was in
there. And, with a gratuitous smile, Ami turned to her unknown benefactor.
"Thank-" Ami stopped in mid-sentence. She was gone.
**********************************************
Usagi sorely missed Ami. Even with three other people beside her, she felt
unsecure and lost. If only Ami was here with her computer... but she had no time
for useless wishes. Another Team Rocket member passed by them, and the quartet
sunk into the shadows, wary. They had found the Rocket headquarters in
Vermillion easily enough - Makoto had used her Magnemite's Detect to locate the
place. The hard part, after sneaking in, was to make sure that Team Rocket
didn't see them. Which was kind of hard when you were traveling in such a large
group.
After hiding, and nearly being caught by yet another Team Rocket member,
Usagi was getting a little ticked off.
"Why don't we just steal a lab coat, and then we'll look like them." Usagi
grumbled.
Minako thought about that for a moment. "Great idea! When in Rome, dress
like the Romans do." She exclaimed smartly.
"Its act, not dress." A voice said from the background.
Everyone jumped, and Makoto slid into a defensive position, ready for the
onslaught if necessary. But none came. Out of the shadows crept not a Team
Rocket member, but Ami, looking very perturbed. On one hand she held her mini-
computer, and combined with the lab coat she was disguised in, she looked
extremely... well... scientifically nerdy. But not in a bad way.
Ami gave a little smile, shaking her head a bit to clear away her
thoughts. "Looking for me?" She asked, sweetly.
The only answer to that was a pause, followed by a very mutual:
"HOW ON EARTH DID YOU GET OUT??"
Ami jumped, nervously looking around while telling the others to be quiet.
"I'll tell you when we leave this place." Here, she shuddered a bit, and
lowered her voice. "I've seen what they do with the pokemon
here, and I can guarantee you, it's not pleasant."
All the other girls nodded, Rei resisting the urge to say a small 'amen',
and with no other words, they began their way out, oblivious to the trio
watching them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The three observed the younger girls, following them at a close distance
as the girls made their way out of the Rocket headquarters. Although wearing the
significant Rocket lab coats, they looked out of place; in a way, even more so
than the other girls.
The sandy blond swept a hand through her short hair. "They made it out."
"Mmm." Was the aqua-haired girl's only reply. She peered in her mirror,
brows furrowing. "But even my mirror won't tell me their purpose."
"Their purpose is what you know, and not what you seek to find." Setsuna
answered, her garnet eyes steady.
Haruka nodded, slightly. "Ironic how they came at the same time we did."
She seemed thoughtful over her comment.
"Maybe we are all bonded together somehow." Michiru observed.
"Maybe." Haruka sounded dubious. "But they don't understand half of it,
and telling the truth to them would only hurt them."
Setsuna sighed, looking far older than she was. "I wish I could. I really
do wish."
Michiru turned to Setsuna, hope filling her eyes. "Will they be able to
find their guardians?"
And Setsuna nodded. "Of course. Its their destiny."
The trio nodded to each other, and blinked out, as if they were never
there.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Minako looked around, feeling rather giggly and happy. Of course, she was
usually giggly and happy, but hey, that was what Minako was all about! She
looked at the group she was travelling, sighing contently.
"You know, I haven't gone travelling for a long time." She exclaimed.
"Especially when it involved cool stuff like rescuing the world from evil and
such."
Rei looked at Minako. "You mean, you've rescued evil before?"
Minako's only reply was a cheerful grin. "Just a tad here and there,
nothing like this."
For a moment, she became serious, very un-Minako-like. "This will determine the
fate of the world, and we are risking more than our lives."
Makoto looked strangely at the blonde-haired girl. "The fate of the
world?" She echoed.
Minako nodded, strands of blonde hair shaking eagerly. "Yup. If Team
Rocket manages to control the pokemon and use them in bad ways, then they can
take over the world. Even worse, they can destroy humans and pokemon alike,
stopping at nothing."
Ami was feeling a little drowsy, and she made no reply, simply pondering a
bit to herself. She recalled what she had seen in the Rocket Headquarters and
shuddered. Some of the stuff was simply unspeakable. Strange mangled half-
pokemon half-humans, unwieldy creatures that stared at her from the tubes, with
blank caving eyes. Others were pokemon mutated to such an extreme that even the
most gentle was too gruesome for words. Ami closed her eyes, remembering.
Flash.
A Ninetales, pitch black, its head sprouting ivory horns that travelled along
the ridge of its back.
Flash.
A Charizard, with skin like armoured steel plates, its forelegs and heels ending
in sharp scythes.
Flash.
What looked like a hybrid
between an Arbok and Houndoom, making it appear to be a sinuous and enlongonated
greyhound, with steel horns protruding from its head. Its claws dripped of
poison.
And... here, Ami's memory hesitated, unsure of what she had seen. In the
shadows, it appeared to be a sinister looking serpent, its body to vague for her
to distinguish except that its tail ended in a strange scythe, the only part of
the creature that reflected, not absorbed light. She had seen this pokemon in
her research books before, or so she thought. Something poked at her memory,
something about this...
"Hey Ami! You still awake!" Shouted Usagi, staring strait into the blue-
haired girl's blank face. Ami gasped, and almost fell backwards.
Usagi stared. "Uh... sorry?"
"N...no. I'm fine." Ami gave a false smile.
The pigtailed girl gave an intent look on her friend. "You sure?"
Ami nodded. "Of course."
Suddenly, Usagi's Clefairy came to a halt. And would not budge any furthur.
Literally. Usagi, shocked, turned to her Clefairy.
"Moonbeam, what's wrong?" Usagi turned to pick up her paralyzed pokemon.
"Cle..." Moonbeam managed to stuggle, its body frozen stiffly in mid-stance.
Ami and Rei both stared at Moonbeam, while Makoto rushed to help Usagi
pick up her pokemon. After a few moments of struggling, they didn't even manage
to budge the paralyzed pokemon.
"I bet you Team Rocket is behind this." Rei muttered.
Makoto looked at the ebony-haired girl. "They track us so effortlessly,
that its like they're playing cat-and-mouse with us. At this rate, we'll end up
betraying ourselves." She observed hopelessly.
"Don't say that!" Usagi said, tears in her eyes. "Even if they're after
us, we gotta at least try to fight against them." Here, she hugged her still
pokemon. "I'm still willing to try."
Rei nodded. "You know Usagi, you've got lots of gut. And I guess, yeah, I
admire that." She paused, not quite sure why she just complimented Usagi. Could
it be because she actually liked the girl? Rei hesitated that that thought.
"We have to find who's doing this first." Ami reasoned, ever so logical.
"There's no need."
All girls turned around, to see who was speaking, and gasped (save Usagi,
who didn't know who the person was). She seemed eighteen or so, with long black
hair, that was tinted a faint green. Her eyes seemed a normal blue, but there
was an unnaturual red aura to them. But what shocked the girls the most was the
Team Rocket outfit she wore, a simple white Rocket shirt with black pants and
boots.
"S...Sa..." Minako stuttered, unable to bring herself to say it. It
couldn't be! This was violated against all laws!
Rei's eyes narrowed. "You can't trust anyone."
Usagi was feeling pretty irked, not to mention completely confused. Sure,
this was a Rocket member, but why the big fuss? Weren't there female Rocket
members? "Look guys. I'm sure we can handle this Rocket member." Usagi
encouraged. "Even if she is female."
Had the situation been less intense, all the other girls would have
SERIOUSLY facefaulted. Even the Rocket attacker sweatdropped.
"Usagi." Makoto's voice was firm, her teeth clenched a bit, "I'm sorry if
you wanted to battle for badges, but I think the Gym Leaders have such entered a
major corruption scandal."
That triggered nothing in Usagi's understanding. "Yeah... so?"
"What she means is that this Rocket Member is none other than the Gym
Leader of Saffron City, Sabrina." Rei finally answered the obvious.
It took Usagi a few moments to digest that in. Then, "Oh... my..."
Rei glared at Sabrina, practically radiating her anger. "What do you
want?"
Sabrina smiled. "A pact. A small promise."
"Like what?" Makoto demanded, her emerald eyes radiating cold distrust.
"That you leave, go back to your homes, and never again continue this
silly little journey of yours." Sabrina's voice seemed oily, persuasive. "I'm
sure that you all realized that its much better to just be at home than
endangering your lives."
Usagi, who had been quiet up to now, suddenly rose, her figure trying to
be both imperious and commanding. "Never. You'd think that we would let creeps
like you just plan the destruction of the world while we sit? We'll fight, and
fight to the end." Here, the blonde looked around, eyes asking for her
companions' support. And slowly and firmly, each one nodded, agreeing.
"This is our planet." Usagi continued. "And we'll fight to keep it safe
from people like you. So in the name of humans and pokemon alike, we'll punish
you!"
Sabrina's eyes simply flickered, amused. "Then, prepare to die." She
stated calmly, not even moved by Usagi's speech. The Gym Leader of Saffron
city's eyes glowed a dark red, and suddenly, the four girls were blasted into
the air, landing painfully a few meters away from where they had just been. Like
an eerie-looking figure of doom, Sabrina rose into the air, laughing a bit.
"You're too easy." Her eyes gazed on each one. "Which one shall I finish
off first?"
Usagi whimpered, unable to move. "Eenie."
Ami closed her eyes, her mind processing rapidly. "Meenie."
Rei's eyes were furious, and it was as if she was muttering something.
"Mienie."
Makoto glared, her voice choked with anger. "Moe."
With a swift motion, a grey blur rushed at Minako's throat, its
gleaming teeth threatening to rip her neck apart and revel in the bloody
entrails. Sabrina smiled faintly at the girl, whose eyes were wide open with
pure fear.
Suddenly, there was a small flash of light, and the attacking pokemon
roared, its voice indignant at whatever had interrupted it's quarry.
All the girls looked up to see a strange man, his face and age not quite
appearant because he wore a long cloak that covered him for most of his body.
The rest was also garbed in black, and made his figure seem subltely menacing.
Sabrina glared at the newcomer, her eyes flashing furiously. With a blast
of psychic energy, she send the rescuer tumbling, smiling a bit triumphantly
afterwards.
"Next time." She stated, "Don't interrupt me."
But slowly, the cloaked figure got up. "Girls!" He shouted, in a
commanding voice. "The secret to your power lies in your hearts. Open your
hearts and you will defeat her!"
Frankly, Sabrina almost choked and could have lost there for completely
losing her composure at hearing such a cliched quote. Couldn't they at least
hire better rescuers? She thought to herself.
And luckily for the girls, that single moment when Sabrina lost her
composure was also when she lost control of her paralysis on them. Usagi sighed
in relief as she realized her limbs were free.
"You," Usagi stated, glaring at Sabrina, who was preparing for another
psychic blast, "Are Moon dust."
"I don't think so." Sabrina calmly stated, and her eyes glowed a menacing
red, forcing another blast of psychic energy at the girls. Most of them leapt
out of the way, with the exception of Usagi, who stayed firm, defiant.
And Usagi's Clefairy took that one split moment between attack release and
impact to conjure a Barrier attack, which blasted away most of the energy.
Sabrina glared at the Clefairy, and her eyes flashed once. Suddenly,
behind her, something snarled, and leapt straight at Moonbeam.
It seemed to be made of pure silver, feline-like, with a beautiful split
tail. On its head was a single gem that glowed blood-red in the light. Usagi
heard herself scream her Clefairy's name as it went crashing, severly damaged to
the point of passing out. She rushed to rescue her pokemon, when Sabrina blocked
the younger girl, her eyes flashing triumphantly.
"I should have finished you off much earlier." She said, as if it was the
most plainative thing in the world.
"Try it." Makoto spat, and chose a pokeball, releasing her Mareep upon
command.
Ami, Rei, and Minako took Makoto's cue, and they too released their
pokemon - a Seel, Vulpix, and Meowth, respectively.
Even then, the added pokemon looked shrimpy in comparison to the evolved
and angry pokemon that Sabrina weld, each one a potential weapon of disaster.
There was the too-intelligent Alakazam, the strangely passive-looking Hypno, a
wildly flapping Venomoth, its attenae bristling, and a rather comical-looking
Mr. Mime. From the way that they held themselves, they looked neither passive
nor comical.
For a moment, there was a complete pause as both opposing groups
hesistated to make the first attack. Then, it was all broken by a single word.
"Kill." Said Sabrina, smiling wickedly.
And her pokemon bore upon the girls' pokemon with legendary, unbeatable
frenzy.
Usagi could have cried as she watched Ami's Seel struggle to remain
standing, bruised and bleeding severly from several gashes a Venomoth had dealt
with its deadly mandibles when psychic power hadn't satisfied its need. And
Usagi could hear Makoto curse as her Mareep cried in pain, its body giving a
visible thud upon impact on the group. Somewhere else, Minako was trying to
protect her Meowth, bracing the wounds for herself, in an uncanny sacrifice. And
admist all the brawling and battling, Usagi screamed, so loud and pure that it
seemed to shake the very air molecules themselves.
"STOP IT!"
For it moment, it did seem as everyone stopped, but as Usagi looked
closer, she realized that it was something else. Somehow, time was slowing down.
Confused, Usagi tried to make sense out of this, when suddenly she heard a
strange humming from the distance.
:Where are you?: A voice seemed to blaze in her mind, full of fire and
light.
Usagi whimpered at the sheer power of that voice.
:WHERE are you?: The voice demanded, its tone firm and commanding.
Again, Usagi hesistated to answer, but she did, defiant of its power. " I
am here!"
It paused, as if thinking.
:Are you worthy?: It finally asked, dubious.
"I... I don't know." Usagi admitted.
:Did you protect your friends?: Its demanded, unrelenting.
Usagi sighed. "I tried, but I can't!"
:Of course you can, little one. Call me, and you can.:
Confused, Usagi looked around, but saw only a strange white mist
surrounding her, her friends nowhere in sight. "But, how?"
:Use your heart: It replied, and it seemed gentle and calm in tone now.
Usagi nodded, and closed her eyes. In her mind's eye, she could see the
power, shifting growing stronger with the presence of this voice. She could feel
its brilliant pearly-white light, and it beckoning her to set it free and
release it, for it to help her and not be helpless anymore. And, accepting,
Usagi freed the caged power, letting it soar from her into the sky, still part
of her but strangely separate.
The sky burned with brilliant light, and the glowing flame that Usagi had
released solidified, still too brilliant to look at for along time. The fog had
cleared and time seemed to have resumed, but no one else could move or even
twitch.
The other girls gasped as they saw the flying creature, and only Ami, who
had conducted pokemon research after research knew it for its true name.
"Ho-oh?"
************************************
Zoo says:
Ho-oh is a really stupid pokemon name. Its sounds just plain odd.
Oddish: Odd!
Zoo: Ara.... (sweatdrops)
Also, thanks again to Myst_Lady and the support given out through the reviews! If you're
a Sailor Moon fan, go check out my other fics (that is, if you have the time)
Sabrina: Hi Zoo! I'm here to get back on you for making me so evil in this fic.
Zoo: o.O;;; I didn't mean to! It was my... uh... my Eevee muse's fault! Yeah!
(Zoo's Eevee muse is currently on vacation)
Sabrina: Yeah, whatever. Any last words, Zoo?
Zoo: -_-;;;
tragedy (sob sob). Yeah... well... here is the fourth chapter of this lovely
never-ending fic. Never-ending cause I'm outta ideas (as usual)
**********************************************
Ami looked at her position. She was tied and shackled, her body slumped
against a vertical prop of some sort. She assumed it was a board. A tingling
sensation of fear began to sweep through her. Now that Team Rocket had found
her, what were they going to do with her? Her mind chilled at the thought, and
even more at the thought of her pokemon, Mercury, and where it was at the
moment. Closing her eyes, Ami tried to sense the aura of her Seel, and met
nothing but a strange barrier. This barrier seemed to block all her powers from
projecting, encasing and effectively stranding Ami from any possible escape. Her
mind wailed at the implications of losing their only hope - the power to resist
whatever force Team Rocket had against pokemon attacks. But now, even that hope
was lost. Ami fervently hoped that Usagi had enough common sense not to come
- that would simply be overkill. She looked around, taking a good focus of her surroundings. It seemed as if she was in a plain white room, with some strange
equipment on the side, containing multitudes of dials and data that both fascinated
and repulsed her. Another side contained a shelf, full of glass tubing,
and beside her was a large tube, encased with thick-looking glass.
It was quite large - in fact, large enough to fit a human in it. Realizing the sudden
implications it brought, Ami shuddered, hoping, wishing, and most of all,
desperately calculating a way to get out of this mess.
Suddenly, the door slipped open, revealing a fragile-looking girl, who
seemed younger than even Ami herself, wearing a rather too-big-for-her labcoat.
Her eyes were dark and serious, and regarded Ami with a fashionable sense of
calm, almost shyly at first. Ami glanced at this girl, and her heart sank when
she saw the red "R" emblazoned on the back of the girl's labcoat.
"So. What are you going to do with me?" Ami asked, trying to sound
nonchalant. So far, she was failing, and the girl knew it.
She jerked her head in Ami's direction, her black hair swirling a bit
around her, barely touching her shoulders. She seemed uncertain, as her gaze
flickered to Ami, and then quickly to the ground.
"I've heard about people like you." She finally whispered, her voice
barely audible. Ami strained to make out the words. "Strange stories about
humans able to power their pokemon through a bond not thought scientifically
possible." Here, she stopped, as if debating whether to say this or not. "My
father's a scientist here. He studies cases like this, but I don't agree with
them."
Ami's eyes widened. "Then, are you..." She couldn't utter what she wanted
- it almost seemed impossible, now that she was in the heart of trouble.
And yet, the young girl nodded, pushing back stray strands of hair. Her
violet eyes locked into Ami's, so haunted and sad, that Ami had to break the eye
contact before her emotions betrayed themselves.
"Tell me." The girl murmured. "What's it like to bond with a pokemon?"
Here, her voice seemed almost hopeful, an eager child waiting for a story.
It was incredulous, Ami, tied to a board, telling this girl about...well,
her experiences. Ami doubted whether she could trust the girl, but it wasn't as
if she could loose anything from telling. After all, Team Rocket could only
understand the scientific. Her mind went over all the implications, and she
finally gave in. "Well, you can feel the power inside you when you battle, and
when you channel the power to your pokemon" - here, she closed her eyes,
imagining and reliving the event - "you feel as if you are at one with your
pokemon, looking through its eyes, and having its attacks, its power laid out in
front of you. Essentially, you become your pokemon for a that single moment when
you combine powers."
The girl listened, enraptured by Ami's words, before turning away slowly.
Ami watched, wary, as the black-haired girl began typing an intricate series of
codes onto the screen. There was a slight beep, and a pokeball fell into the
slot in front of the girl.
Ami recognized it immediately. Her pokeball.
With a swift motion, the girl swiped a card through a slot on the side of
the wall, and immediately, Ami's shackles were released. The blue-haired girl
fell to the floor with a soft thud, her feet weak from not standing so long. Ami
massaged her ankles a bit, getting the blood into them. Something klunked close
to her, and she turned around, seeing her pokeball on the floor. With hesitance,
she touched it, picked it up, and let out a sigh of relief. Her Seel was in
there. And, with a gratuitous smile, Ami turned to her unknown benefactor.
"Thank-" Ami stopped in mid-sentence. She was gone.
**********************************************
Usagi sorely missed Ami. Even with three other people beside her, she felt
unsecure and lost. If only Ami was here with her computer... but she had no time
for useless wishes. Another Team Rocket member passed by them, and the quartet
sunk into the shadows, wary. They had found the Rocket headquarters in
Vermillion easily enough - Makoto had used her Magnemite's Detect to locate the
place. The hard part, after sneaking in, was to make sure that Team Rocket
didn't see them. Which was kind of hard when you were traveling in such a large
group.
After hiding, and nearly being caught by yet another Team Rocket member,
Usagi was getting a little ticked off.
"Why don't we just steal a lab coat, and then we'll look like them." Usagi
grumbled.
Minako thought about that for a moment. "Great idea! When in Rome, dress
like the Romans do." She exclaimed smartly.
"Its act, not dress." A voice said from the background.
Everyone jumped, and Makoto slid into a defensive position, ready for the
onslaught if necessary. But none came. Out of the shadows crept not a Team
Rocket member, but Ami, looking very perturbed. On one hand she held her mini-
computer, and combined with the lab coat she was disguised in, she looked
extremely... well... scientifically nerdy. But not in a bad way.
Ami gave a little smile, shaking her head a bit to clear away her
thoughts. "Looking for me?" She asked, sweetly.
The only answer to that was a pause, followed by a very mutual:
"HOW ON EARTH DID YOU GET OUT??"
Ami jumped, nervously looking around while telling the others to be quiet.
"I'll tell you when we leave this place." Here, she shuddered a bit, and
lowered her voice. "I've seen what they do with the pokemon
here, and I can guarantee you, it's not pleasant."
All the other girls nodded, Rei resisting the urge to say a small 'amen',
and with no other words, they began their way out, oblivious to the trio
watching them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The three observed the younger girls, following them at a close distance
as the girls made their way out of the Rocket headquarters. Although wearing the
significant Rocket lab coats, they looked out of place; in a way, even more so
than the other girls.
The sandy blond swept a hand through her short hair. "They made it out."
"Mmm." Was the aqua-haired girl's only reply. She peered in her mirror,
brows furrowing. "But even my mirror won't tell me their purpose."
"Their purpose is what you know, and not what you seek to find." Setsuna
answered, her garnet eyes steady.
Haruka nodded, slightly. "Ironic how they came at the same time we did."
She seemed thoughtful over her comment.
"Maybe we are all bonded together somehow." Michiru observed.
"Maybe." Haruka sounded dubious. "But they don't understand half of it,
and telling the truth to them would only hurt them."
Setsuna sighed, looking far older than she was. "I wish I could. I really
do wish."
Michiru turned to Setsuna, hope filling her eyes. "Will they be able to
find their guardians?"
And Setsuna nodded. "Of course. Its their destiny."
The trio nodded to each other, and blinked out, as if they were never
there.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Minako looked around, feeling rather giggly and happy. Of course, she was
usually giggly and happy, but hey, that was what Minako was all about! She
looked at the group she was travelling, sighing contently.
"You know, I haven't gone travelling for a long time." She exclaimed.
"Especially when it involved cool stuff like rescuing the world from evil and
such."
Rei looked at Minako. "You mean, you've rescued evil before?"
Minako's only reply was a cheerful grin. "Just a tad here and there,
nothing like this."
For a moment, she became serious, very un-Minako-like. "This will determine the
fate of the world, and we are risking more than our lives."
Makoto looked strangely at the blonde-haired girl. "The fate of the
world?" She echoed.
Minako nodded, strands of blonde hair shaking eagerly. "Yup. If Team
Rocket manages to control the pokemon and use them in bad ways, then they can
take over the world. Even worse, they can destroy humans and pokemon alike,
stopping at nothing."
Ami was feeling a little drowsy, and she made no reply, simply pondering a
bit to herself. She recalled what she had seen in the Rocket Headquarters and
shuddered. Some of the stuff was simply unspeakable. Strange mangled half-
pokemon half-humans, unwieldy creatures that stared at her from the tubes, with
blank caving eyes. Others were pokemon mutated to such an extreme that even the
most gentle was too gruesome for words. Ami closed her eyes, remembering.
Flash.
A Ninetales, pitch black, its head sprouting ivory horns that travelled along
the ridge of its back.
Flash.
A Charizard, with skin like armoured steel plates, its forelegs and heels ending
in sharp scythes.
Flash.
What looked like a hybrid
between an Arbok and Houndoom, making it appear to be a sinuous and enlongonated
greyhound, with steel horns protruding from its head. Its claws dripped of
poison.
And... here, Ami's memory hesitated, unsure of what she had seen. In the
shadows, it appeared to be a sinister looking serpent, its body to vague for her
to distinguish except that its tail ended in a strange scythe, the only part of
the creature that reflected, not absorbed light. She had seen this pokemon in
her research books before, or so she thought. Something poked at her memory,
something about this...
"Hey Ami! You still awake!" Shouted Usagi, staring strait into the blue-
haired girl's blank face. Ami gasped, and almost fell backwards.
Usagi stared. "Uh... sorry?"
"N...no. I'm fine." Ami gave a false smile.
The pigtailed girl gave an intent look on her friend. "You sure?"
Ami nodded. "Of course."
Suddenly, Usagi's Clefairy came to a halt. And would not budge any furthur.
Literally. Usagi, shocked, turned to her Clefairy.
"Moonbeam, what's wrong?" Usagi turned to pick up her paralyzed pokemon.
"Cle..." Moonbeam managed to stuggle, its body frozen stiffly in mid-stance.
Ami and Rei both stared at Moonbeam, while Makoto rushed to help Usagi
pick up her pokemon. After a few moments of struggling, they didn't even manage
to budge the paralyzed pokemon.
"I bet you Team Rocket is behind this." Rei muttered.
Makoto looked at the ebony-haired girl. "They track us so effortlessly,
that its like they're playing cat-and-mouse with us. At this rate, we'll end up
betraying ourselves." She observed hopelessly.
"Don't say that!" Usagi said, tears in her eyes. "Even if they're after
us, we gotta at least try to fight against them." Here, she hugged her still
pokemon. "I'm still willing to try."
Rei nodded. "You know Usagi, you've got lots of gut. And I guess, yeah, I
admire that." She paused, not quite sure why she just complimented Usagi. Could
it be because she actually liked the girl? Rei hesitated that that thought.
"We have to find who's doing this first." Ami reasoned, ever so logical.
"There's no need."
All girls turned around, to see who was speaking, and gasped (save Usagi,
who didn't know who the person was). She seemed eighteen or so, with long black
hair, that was tinted a faint green. Her eyes seemed a normal blue, but there
was an unnaturual red aura to them. But what shocked the girls the most was the
Team Rocket outfit she wore, a simple white Rocket shirt with black pants and
boots.
"S...Sa..." Minako stuttered, unable to bring herself to say it. It
couldn't be! This was violated against all laws!
Rei's eyes narrowed. "You can't trust anyone."
Usagi was feeling pretty irked, not to mention completely confused. Sure,
this was a Rocket member, but why the big fuss? Weren't there female Rocket
members? "Look guys. I'm sure we can handle this Rocket member." Usagi
encouraged. "Even if she is female."
Had the situation been less intense, all the other girls would have
SERIOUSLY facefaulted. Even the Rocket attacker sweatdropped.
"Usagi." Makoto's voice was firm, her teeth clenched a bit, "I'm sorry if
you wanted to battle for badges, but I think the Gym Leaders have such entered a
major corruption scandal."
That triggered nothing in Usagi's understanding. "Yeah... so?"
"What she means is that this Rocket Member is none other than the Gym
Leader of Saffron City, Sabrina." Rei finally answered the obvious.
It took Usagi a few moments to digest that in. Then, "Oh... my..."
Rei glared at Sabrina, practically radiating her anger. "What do you
want?"
Sabrina smiled. "A pact. A small promise."
"Like what?" Makoto demanded, her emerald eyes radiating cold distrust.
"That you leave, go back to your homes, and never again continue this
silly little journey of yours." Sabrina's voice seemed oily, persuasive. "I'm
sure that you all realized that its much better to just be at home than
endangering your lives."
Usagi, who had been quiet up to now, suddenly rose, her figure trying to
be both imperious and commanding. "Never. You'd think that we would let creeps
like you just plan the destruction of the world while we sit? We'll fight, and
fight to the end." Here, the blonde looked around, eyes asking for her
companions' support. And slowly and firmly, each one nodded, agreeing.
"This is our planet." Usagi continued. "And we'll fight to keep it safe
from people like you. So in the name of humans and pokemon alike, we'll punish
you!"
Sabrina's eyes simply flickered, amused. "Then, prepare to die." She
stated calmly, not even moved by Usagi's speech. The Gym Leader of Saffron
city's eyes glowed a dark red, and suddenly, the four girls were blasted into
the air, landing painfully a few meters away from where they had just been. Like
an eerie-looking figure of doom, Sabrina rose into the air, laughing a bit.
"You're too easy." Her eyes gazed on each one. "Which one shall I finish
off first?"
Usagi whimpered, unable to move. "Eenie."
Ami closed her eyes, her mind processing rapidly. "Meenie."
Rei's eyes were furious, and it was as if she was muttering something.
"Mienie."
Makoto glared, her voice choked with anger. "Moe."
With a swift motion, a grey blur rushed at Minako's throat, its
gleaming teeth threatening to rip her neck apart and revel in the bloody
entrails. Sabrina smiled faintly at the girl, whose eyes were wide open with
pure fear.
Suddenly, there was a small flash of light, and the attacking pokemon
roared, its voice indignant at whatever had interrupted it's quarry.
All the girls looked up to see a strange man, his face and age not quite
appearant because he wore a long cloak that covered him for most of his body.
The rest was also garbed in black, and made his figure seem subltely menacing.
Sabrina glared at the newcomer, her eyes flashing furiously. With a blast
of psychic energy, she send the rescuer tumbling, smiling a bit triumphantly
afterwards.
"Next time." She stated, "Don't interrupt me."
But slowly, the cloaked figure got up. "Girls!" He shouted, in a
commanding voice. "The secret to your power lies in your hearts. Open your
hearts and you will defeat her!"
Frankly, Sabrina almost choked and could have lost there for completely
losing her composure at hearing such a cliched quote. Couldn't they at least
hire better rescuers? She thought to herself.
And luckily for the girls, that single moment when Sabrina lost her
composure was also when she lost control of her paralysis on them. Usagi sighed
in relief as she realized her limbs were free.
"You," Usagi stated, glaring at Sabrina, who was preparing for another
psychic blast, "Are Moon dust."
"I don't think so." Sabrina calmly stated, and her eyes glowed a menacing
red, forcing another blast of psychic energy at the girls. Most of them leapt
out of the way, with the exception of Usagi, who stayed firm, defiant.
And Usagi's Clefairy took that one split moment between attack release and
impact to conjure a Barrier attack, which blasted away most of the energy.
Sabrina glared at the Clefairy, and her eyes flashed once. Suddenly,
behind her, something snarled, and leapt straight at Moonbeam.
It seemed to be made of pure silver, feline-like, with a beautiful split
tail. On its head was a single gem that glowed blood-red in the light. Usagi
heard herself scream her Clefairy's name as it went crashing, severly damaged to
the point of passing out. She rushed to rescue her pokemon, when Sabrina blocked
the younger girl, her eyes flashing triumphantly.
"I should have finished you off much earlier." She said, as if it was the
most plainative thing in the world.
"Try it." Makoto spat, and chose a pokeball, releasing her Mareep upon
command.
Ami, Rei, and Minako took Makoto's cue, and they too released their
pokemon - a Seel, Vulpix, and Meowth, respectively.
Even then, the added pokemon looked shrimpy in comparison to the evolved
and angry pokemon that Sabrina weld, each one a potential weapon of disaster.
There was the too-intelligent Alakazam, the strangely passive-looking Hypno, a
wildly flapping Venomoth, its attenae bristling, and a rather comical-looking
Mr. Mime. From the way that they held themselves, they looked neither passive
nor comical.
For a moment, there was a complete pause as both opposing groups
hesistated to make the first attack. Then, it was all broken by a single word.
"Kill." Said Sabrina, smiling wickedly.
And her pokemon bore upon the girls' pokemon with legendary, unbeatable
frenzy.
Usagi could have cried as she watched Ami's Seel struggle to remain
standing, bruised and bleeding severly from several gashes a Venomoth had dealt
with its deadly mandibles when psychic power hadn't satisfied its need. And
Usagi could hear Makoto curse as her Mareep cried in pain, its body giving a
visible thud upon impact on the group. Somewhere else, Minako was trying to
protect her Meowth, bracing the wounds for herself, in an uncanny sacrifice. And
admist all the brawling and battling, Usagi screamed, so loud and pure that it
seemed to shake the very air molecules themselves.
"STOP IT!"
For it moment, it did seem as everyone stopped, but as Usagi looked
closer, she realized that it was something else. Somehow, time was slowing down.
Confused, Usagi tried to make sense out of this, when suddenly she heard a
strange humming from the distance.
:Where are you?: A voice seemed to blaze in her mind, full of fire and
light.
Usagi whimpered at the sheer power of that voice.
:WHERE are you?: The voice demanded, its tone firm and commanding.
Again, Usagi hesistated to answer, but she did, defiant of its power. " I
am here!"
It paused, as if thinking.
:Are you worthy?: It finally asked, dubious.
"I... I don't know." Usagi admitted.
:Did you protect your friends?: Its demanded, unrelenting.
Usagi sighed. "I tried, but I can't!"
:Of course you can, little one. Call me, and you can.:
Confused, Usagi looked around, but saw only a strange white mist
surrounding her, her friends nowhere in sight. "But, how?"
:Use your heart: It replied, and it seemed gentle and calm in tone now.
Usagi nodded, and closed her eyes. In her mind's eye, she could see the
power, shifting growing stronger with the presence of this voice. She could feel
its brilliant pearly-white light, and it beckoning her to set it free and
release it, for it to help her and not be helpless anymore. And, accepting,
Usagi freed the caged power, letting it soar from her into the sky, still part
of her but strangely separate.
The sky burned with brilliant light, and the glowing flame that Usagi had
released solidified, still too brilliant to look at for along time. The fog had
cleared and time seemed to have resumed, but no one else could move or even
twitch.
The other girls gasped as they saw the flying creature, and only Ami, who
had conducted pokemon research after research knew it for its true name.
"Ho-oh?"
************************************
Zoo says:
Ho-oh is a really stupid pokemon name. Its sounds just plain odd.
Oddish: Odd!
Zoo: Ara.... (sweatdrops)
Also, thanks again to Myst_Lady and the support given out through the reviews! If you're
a Sailor Moon fan, go check out my other fics (that is, if you have the time)
Sabrina: Hi Zoo! I'm here to get back on you for making me so evil in this fic.
Zoo: o.O;;; I didn't mean to! It was my... uh... my Eevee muse's fault! Yeah!
(Zoo's Eevee muse is currently on vacation)
Sabrina: Yeah, whatever. Any last words, Zoo?
Zoo: -_-;;;