Part Five: Chaos
"Attention… Attention… Citizens of the world, hear our broadcast, and make note of this historical day! Team Rocket as you know it is undergoing a little change! Its previous leader, the man known as Giovanni, is dead."
All across the world, a single announcement went from satellite to satellite, from station to station, and was broadcast on every radio, television network, loudspeaker, and public announcement system on the globe. The voices heard came directly from Team Rocket headquarters, courtesy of the fiercest and most effective agents ever to be employed. And now, with the announcement of the Team leader's death, everyone across the world was aghast. Marion and Morrison now had a solid audience.
"But worry not, people of the world! The old order is passed, and a new one has risen up from its ashes! No longer will any of you be burdened by that aged old fool whose only goal was to conquer the world Pokemon market! No longer will you endure petty theft or simple felony at the hands of Team Rocket agents! No longer will you live in such uncertain times, where your Pokemon may be in danger. This is a new era we are approaching; the old ways are gone."
"In their place is a more strict organization, one with broader horizons and loftier goals. We as Team Rocket have finally gotten our place in the world by capturing a reported 90% of its Pokemon, all thanks to the efforts of two invincible agents--those same very people who are addressing every single one of you right now. Allow us a moment to introduce ourselves!"
"To ignite the world in devastation!"
"To unite all chaos within all nations!"
"To proclaim the truths of anarchy and hate!"
"To set the world for a doomsday date!"
"MARION!"
"MORRISON!"
"Team Rocket, destroying everything in our path!"
"Surrender now, or feel our wrath!"
All across the world, the shock and fear of every human being increased as they heard the new Team Rocket call. From Pallet Town to Cinnabar Island, and everywhere in between, the people were now facing against a united organization whose promise was that of oppression, fear, chaos, lawlessness, slavery, and horror. Even in the Euphrates, where many of the crew were still reeling from the announced death of Giovanni, people were paralyzed as they forced themselves to listen.
"This is the ugly truth which you must understand, citizens. With the old regiment gone, its leader destroyed and its ideals out of date, a new season must come from it--one that takes everything from the former regime and improves upon it. No longer will our goal simply be that of taking Pokemon at our own will, but the very subjugation of the world as we know it, by force if necessary."
"It is necessary for such a revolution to take place--after all, the entire world's disorganization has been the cause of every war in our long history. With the world scattered and its leaders divided on so many issues, no real sense of peace can ever be attained. However, with Team Rocket throwing its hat into the ring, there shall be nothing to oppress us from realizing this one single goal."
"To unify all nations under our flag… to make Team Rocket the sole dominator of the world… to literally have say over everything, from politics to economy… that is our goal. No longer will any of you suffer under the contradictory rules of your previous governments; now there is only us, the ones who will forever rule as the rightful owners of this planet's sanity."
"Of course, there will be those who oppose us. You will all meet the same fate as the man who previously held rule over this organization!! There is no point in rebelling; we have the powers on our side to wipe out any dissents. Ninety percent of the world's Pokemon are ours, and the morale of Team Rocket is unwavering. No army in the world can overthrow us now; we are unstoppable, so it would be wise to join, rather than to perish."
"There is nothing else that need be said. The world has suffered too long under the impossible yoke of anarchy. Unification is the answer if any of you ever wish to obtain peace: unification under the flag of Team Rocket, enforced by might and power, kept pure by terror and fear. Resist, and you will be crushed. Join us, and you and everything you know will be spared. There is no escape, and there is no hope, outside of Rocket's protective embrace!"
"Twilight has fallen on the old order; dawn approaches on the new, and the phoenix will rise once again to lay claim to its rightful inheritance. Upon this day, the name of Team Rocket declares itself the unquestioned ruler of the Earth, the one force worthy of such a title! Together, the citizens of the world and Team Rocket shall finally obtain peace…… no matter how much disaster we must be witness to before it happens. That is all we have to say. Good day, and may Team Rocket live forever!"
"An impressive speech, if I do say so myself." Marion smiled wickedly, fully agreeing with her partner.
"Yes… Now that our rule is complete and unquestionable, it feels as if the challenge in life is over, though."
"Only for now," noted Morrison. "It'll be a challenge just to keep all those wannabe rebels off our backs. But don't worry; Team Rocket has the might to repel them all."
"We are a bit unstoppable, I'll admit." She chuckled darkly, fanning her long blonde hair away from her eyes. Marion excused herself so she could get some rest, leaving Morrison to take over things in the office. Of course, neither one of them expected everyone to follow their plan, not even the agents of Team Rocket--but with the death of Giovanni still fresh in their minds, and the outstanding record of the two assassins, there was little chance of a civil war in the headquarters.
And so, Team Rocket would continue to drive on, only now more unstoppable than ever…
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"I… can't… believe it…"
James summed it all up with just four words. Everyone had been left petrified by the announcement, the long and terrifying speech delivered by two enemies with even more power and skill than the old Team Rocket itself. It was true about what they said: the old order had passed away, giving way to a more powerful, sinister, and ruthless version. The death of their old boss, the sudden takeover, the declaration of supremacy… it had all happened too fast for Jessie and James to register. They could only sit there staring, numbed by what they had heard.
"That's just awful…" squeaked Nurse Joyleen weakly. "They… they really killed the old leader of Team Rocket…"
"I never thought it would happen," murmured Misty. "I never thought that he would die, let alone at the hands of his own people! It's just too radical to think about!"
"I don't think they'd just be telling us all that stuff for publicity," reasoned Officer Jennifer. "Those two sounded serious, dead serious. Until we know for sure, we're just going to have to assume they were telling the truth."
"Then… in that case……… the boss really is dead!"
"Yes, it's true… I'm sorry." Jessie shook her head slowly, trying to regain her senses as everything she had heard sunk in.
"No… the old man had it coming. I don't want to sound heartless, but I'm glad he's gone. It's just a shame that these new people had to move in so quickly--otherwise, Team Rocket would have weakened, and we would've had our chance to strike. But now things are going to get even more dangerous."
"Well, we can't sit around here moping forever!" stated Gary. "We have to do something if we want to save what's left of this world, before Team Rocket gets their fingers around it. The trouble is, though, what can we do?"
"The Dreadnaught alone won't do us much good," grumbled Captain Thatcher, who has listened in with everybody else. "She's a strong one, but even she wouldn't stand up to Team Rocket in the state they're in. Even I know when it's best not to attack."
"That's quite a statement coming from you, sir!" remarked Officer Jennifer slyly. Thatcher chuckled.
"Yeah… I'm not usually the cautious type. Well, until somebody gets a really bright idea, it looks like we're just going to have to whittle them down, bit by bit."
"What do you mean, Captain?" asked Misty. Thatcher smiled at her, despite the bleak situation.
"Team Rocket doesn't have just one base in the world. Chances are, they're all spread out everywhere. If we can pick off the smaller bases first and build up steam, we may be able to suck their power away bit by bit. It'll take us a long time, and they're bound to catch onto our scheme sooner or later, but it's the best chance we have!"
"We could free any Pokemon in the areas we hit," added Nurse Joyleen. "I'm sure with less Pokemon in their possession, their power will shorten. We're going to have to play it carefully, though, because as the Captain said, Team Rocket won't just sit on its hands and let us chip away at it."
"Well, that's why we have the Dreadnaught," noted the Captain. "But it'll take us forever to do, since there's probably a hundred bases everywhere in the world. Oh well, eh? It don't matter if we save the world now or a year from now, long as we do it. I'm sure the people can wait a lil' while longer while we do our thing."
"But… are you sure this is the only option?" asked Ash. The Captain nodded his head.
"We're not strong enough to attack the main base," reasoned Lenneth gently. "We'd just get mowed down, and Team Rocket would have nobody to stop them. This way, we at least have a chance."
"…Right. But… where in the world do we start? They could have bases anywhere!"
"Not necessarily," noted a voice from the crowd. Everybody turned around and saw that James and Jessie were smiling again, in the very same way they did whenever they had a nasty scheme up their sleeve.
"What do you mean?"
"There's two very special people in this group who knows most all of Team Rocket's secrets!" he proclaimed. "If you let those two very special people speak their minds, you'll be trashing bases left and right before you know it!"
"Wow, I almost forgot about all that!" exclaimed Brock. "You two know more about Team Rocket than anybody else in here! Hey, I'm starting to think that we may actually have a chance now!"
"Who would have thought that Jessie and James would ever come in handy!" chuckled Ash. The two older ones glared at him, forcing him to shirk away rather than to suffer from their rage.
"We've come in handy plenty of times before!"
"We're your friends and we've helped out more than you can imagine!"
"That's right, we're not useless! We're the most invaluable team members you have here!"
"Yeah, you'd be lost without us!!"
"Humble as always," sighed Brock. Lenneth couldn't help but laugh. Ash apologized, and asked his friends very politely if they would lead them to the closest Team Rocket base. Jessie and James smiled at each other, their usefulness coming round once again, and asked the Captain to produce the biggest and most accurate map of the world he could find. He took them to the war room.
"Just give us a second," said James as he and his partner hacked on the keyboards. The information connected to the monitors above, slowly showing a world covered with flashing red dots. A single white dot was positioned somewhere near Pallet Town, so everybody assumed that it indicated the location of the Euphrates.
"There, it's almost up!" pointed Jessie. Once she and James keyed in a few more strokes, the entire virtual map of the world was covered in tiny flashing red dots. Nobody needed an explanation as to what they were for, not even Ash.
"So are these all the bases that Team Rocket has?" asked Officer Jennifer. Both former Rockets confirmed it with a nod.
"Yes, that should be all of them. Even if it's not, it's a good start." The police officer studied the map carefully, and asked for a printed copy for her own personal use. Even though Officer Jennifer worked with Captain Thatcher, she still had a duty to the police forces of the world, and one of those duties included informing everybody of the whereabouts of all Team Rocket bases. Now that the world was under the heavy thumb of the organization, it was even more crucial to know such information.
"I can't thank you two enough for this information," she said softly as she snapped a salute. "I'll tell the other Officer Jennies of the world as well; they'll surely be a help to us."
"That's just wonderful!" bellowed Captain Thatcher proudly. "With all the other Officer Jennies in the world helping us, our workload will be much easier to bear! Now, where's the closest base?" Jessie leaned over and pointed to the red dot closest to the white dot.
"It's this one right here. According to this map, it's another twelve miles away. Gosh, I don't want to walk all the way there! I'm still tired from our last journey!"
"Why does that not surprise me?" groaned Misty. Captain Thatcher let out a hearty chuckle instead, and assured Jessie that walking was unnecessary.
"The base appears to be on the tip of an island--a sheer cliff of an island, to be exact. It's a short distance, for sure, but there ain't no other way to get there other than by flying. Couldn't sail there even if we had to."
"So we're really ready for takeoff?!" squealed Ash enthusiastically. Thatcher smiled proudly at the young boy and nodded his head.
"Oh, yeah! We're all fed, rested, and ready to roll! Everybody, I'm gonna start the ship! Get to yer stations and prepare for our maiden launch!"
"Maiden launch?" squawked Brock. "You mean to tell us that this ship has never been launched before?"
"Not by us, at least," shrugged the Captain. Brock groaned in horror just thinking about it, but as always, the Captain laughed. "Aw, don't worry, little man!! If Captain Red Thatcher's behind the wheel, then nothing can possibly go wrong! Nothing at all!!! Bwahahahahahahaha!!!"
"Except maybe the entire crew will go deaf from listening to that awful laughter!" Both Jessie and James covered their ears and grimaced as the flaming-wild man chortled. Once he gave the order for everybody to move out, they were left behind temporarily as they still had their hands over their ears.
"Come on, you two!" shouted Gary as he pulled them along. "You don't wanna be left behind do you? We're about to get into a really big fight, so come on out of the war room!"
"Coming, we're coming!"
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Ash, Brock, Gary, Lenneth, and Misty fastened themselves into chairs as they watched the bridge activate with life. Navigators everywhere prepared the ship for her first launch in years, while Captain Thatcher orchestrated it all from his position of command. Officer Jennifer and Nurse Joyleen were at his side, ready for whatever fate had to throw at them, and Jessie and James pursed their mouths as they prepared for the worst.
"Engines set and ready, Captain! Thrusters ready to go! We have clearance to launch!"
"Excellent! Control room, open the ceiling up for us so we can leave!"
"Roger, Cap! Ceiling opening now!"
"Start engines! Start thrusters!"
"Engines and thrusters starting! Countdown 30 for launch! Ceiling will be open in 10, 9, 8, 7..."
"Captain, will we make it?"
"Of course we'll make it, Miss Jennifer! Captain Red Thatcher of the Dreadnaught Euphrates always makes it!"
"You sure sound confident, Captain!" The man bellowed out a laugh as both countdowns continued.
"Three, two, one, ceiling doors open! We're free!"
"Countdown 20 for launch! We're almost ready!"
"Hang on tight, kiddies!" growled Thatcher happily. A wild look was in his eyes--well, more so than usual--and a grin as big as the sky was on his face. The man seemed absolutely giddy over such a simple thing, but it was really a test to see if everything went well. Nobody really doubted the Captain, except for James and Jessie, but still they all braced themselves and prepared for the worst.
"Captain! We're almost ready! Countdown is at ten now!"
"Well, this looks like this is the big moment! Now we'll see if all their hard work has paid off! Everybody ready to soar into the air like the heroes we are?!"
"NO!!!" screamed James. "I… I just remembered how much I hate flying! G… get me outta this thing!!"
"Don't chicken out on me now, James!!" spat Jessie angrily. "We're in this together whether you like it or not!" He smiled wearily despite the growing dread in his stomach.
"Okay, then let's go…!"
"Ah, that's more like it! Captain, we're ready to go!"
"So're we!" he shouted. "Euphrates, GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!"
With a mighty explosion and a powerful thrust, the great Dreadnaught Euphrates belched out of the port and the airport, sending gusts of wind tearing out all over. Old man Rutherford watched in awe as the giant vessel zoomed overhead, and let out a mighty cheer as the great behemoth became airborne once again. A mighty cheer lifted up from inside as well, as everybody (even James and Jessie) shouted in victory. The Captain stood proudly, his bared teeth clenching a wooden pipe as he watched the world fly by on the glass screen, and rammed his finger into the distance, where their destiny awaited them.
Elsewhere, in Pallet Town, Professor Oak got goosebumps as he watched an old friend soared into the air, ready to roll into battle once again…
To be continued…
