Part Ten: Gathering of Heroes, Part One
It was anything but the best of times, and everything from the worst. It felt as if a boulder had been strapped to the hearts and spines of everyone taking a breather outside, a burden of unfamiliar weight cast upon them by their very recent loss. Of course, Jessie and James were actually the most optimistic ones there, since they had become so used to losing. They were very cheerful and sunny, going around and sharing their smiles of relief and "victory" with everyone else. Their kindness lightened the burden for everybody, but it did not remove it.
The more mature people in the group knew that it was folly to expect perfect victory. There was no way that any of them could have challenged Team Rocket without a few bruises and scars to show for it, just as there was no way to climb a mountain without receiving some injuries. It really wasn't even the defeat itself that ate at their hearts and minds, it was the concept of it. Ash, Brock, Gary, and Misty were just not used to losing, especially to Team Rocket. It was a lesson they would have to learn the hard way, and certainly not with speed, but it was a gigantic step towards maturity.
Joyleen and Lenneth, along with the rest of the medical staff, were completing their rounds as Thatcher prepared a sparse meal. Brock and Jennifer had received the brunt of punishment from the previous battle, but thanks to the kind care of their individual counterparts, they both recovered with little more than scars. Brock loved to have the attention of Lenneth even more than Joyleen, due to the fact that they were drawing very close together. Lenneth was an enthusiastic ray of sunshine to the breeder, and a valuable crane that pulled everyone else out of the mire of depression.
Ash and Gary were moping the most, of course. Misty saw their downcast faces and initially felt sorry for them, but she also remembered that young boys oftentimes had big egos, and these two had the biggest. Gary immediately assured her that everything was fine, and if a few minor circumstances had gone differently, he could've won the battle easily. Ash was at least a little more humble, welcoming Misty's presence with a faint smile--and later, a denial of his dreariness. Misty couldn't help but sigh in annoyance, but at least they were trying to stay optimistic.
"So what do we do now, Captain?" asked Joyleen as she walked in on the older man. He was smiling softly, singing an old sea shanty as he fried the evening's dinner. As with most sailors, whether by sea or sky, Thatcher was an impressive cook and knew how to turn most anything into a meal. The brew was as delicious to smell as his song was to hear, and they both lifted the Nurse's spirit's a little.
"Well, I figger we can eat first," he replied with a sly smile. "Can't save the world on an empty stomach, eh? Next, we'd better rest. Them last two battles took a lot outta all of us, specially the ship, so we'll need to recuperate. Then, I guess we'd better get moving again and see if we can't whittle their bases down."
"Are you sure that would be a good idea, sir?"
"Nurse Joyleen," he stated, as if speaking firmly to a curious daughter, "if you ever learn anything while livin', it's that there ain't no other way to move except forward. Goin' backwards wouldn't work cuz' we can't change the past, an' goin' sideways to avoid the problem won't get us anywhere either. The only place left for us to go is forward, so that's what I intend to do." Joyleen smiled warmly at the Captain's profound speech, herself moved almost to tears at how eloquent the brash man could be.
Thatcher indeed wrote himself off as a wild card, a very heavy drinker, a man who liked his pipes and would pilot anything if it could float or fly. He was loud as the crashing waves, and very boisterous, and loved to command his people and his presence everywhere he went. Yet Captain Red Thatcher could also be very warm and compassionate, a tough man with a heart of gold and strikingly respective of everybody, no matter how frail they were or how drunk he got. He was freakishly roguish and a harmless charmer, a good man whom his followers would accompany straight into Styx and back, a cavalier without any fear, but a yearning for adventure that always burned.
"Captain… you're right," smiled Joyleen, clasping her hands together. "I'm sorry. It's just that… well… I'm worried about the morale of this group. I know you'd keep fighting as long as you still had a breath and a pulse, but everybody else seems so down."
"One loss don't make a war," he reminded her sagely. "There never was a perfect army, nor a perfect General. I'm just glad we got this far without feelin' too much of a sting. I'll let everyone cool off, though, and maybe I can give'm a rousing speech. I'm good at those."
"You certainly are!" agreed Joyleen with a bright squeal. "Why, just being around you has made me feel all warm inside! I feel like I could take on the entire Team Rocket all by myself!" Thatcher laughed out loud, though not impolitely, and jabbed at the Nurse with his pipe as if to encourage her.
"Yeah, I'll bet you could! But hey, you're even more helpful as a Nurse! Tell ya what: why don't you call everyone over here? I'm almost ready and I feel a whopper of a speech coming on! Go on, tell'em!" Joyleen obeyed and immediately dashed off to gather the main crew and passengers. Thatcher grinned as he saw her go, and put the finishing touches to the simple dinner. Having never experienced depression, fear, or personal failure, Thatcher's ability to boost morale and to see the good in any situation was just as integral to the team as his skills as a pilot and commander.
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Nurse Joyleen's heightened spirit, along with James' enthusiasm, Jessie's encouraging words, and Lenneth's bright personality, each goaded everyone else to gather together and listen to Thatcher speak. Of course, by that time, Misty was in a better mood thanks to a personal chat with Jessie, and Brock was in heaven after receiving a tiny kiss on the forehead from Lenneth, leaving only Ash and Gary still reeling from the loss. When they came to where Captain Thatcher had been cooking, the mere look on his zealous face told them that they would soon be fired up once again.
"I realize the lot of you are hungry and depressed," he began, sounding like a General stirring his troops. "Well, that's okay. I understand half of that, anyway: I'm always hungry but I'm never depressed. Well, I fixed y'all a good meal here, but before I ask you to stuff yourselves, I just wanna say how much of an honor it's been to have you lads and ladies on my team! In all my years, I've honestly never had the camaraderie that you all've given me, except for Jen, Joy, and Lenneth, naturally. Anyway, I don't know how to deal with depression or personal failure, since I ain't never been in those situations. I've always been the kind of guy who took life by the horns, no matter how powerful the bull behind them was. I've done pretty well so far, and even after this last incident, I feel confident that we can still win.
"I've literally been given the best team here! I got the grandson of Professor Oak, as well as the old guy's pupil, and two former members of Team Rocket. I have a water Pokemon expert, a Pokemon breeder, a fine police officer and a fine nurse, and of course, one of the most enthusiastic, warm, kind, and caring young ladies I've ever come across. We're the greatest team in the world!! Nuts to Team Rocket, I say; we're the best and there ain't no denyin' it! An' you all have been given the chance to serve and fight alongside the best and most brilliant Captain in the world, the one-and-only shark of the skies--me!"
Thatcher ended his speech with a thunderous laughter, earning applause from all save Ash and Gary, and only because they were not already elated when they arrived. By then, they were smiling and feeling unstoppable, and soon they joined in cheering for the Captain and his stirring speech. With a mighty shout, he called them over to eat their supper, and never was a more enthusiastic crowd so eager to dine. Perhaps nothing could have deterred their dreams now--perhaps.
"Hold it right there!!"
Everyone froze in their tracks and looked up to see where the voices had came from, and found two figures standing high above them on a plateau. The sun was shining down on them, casting their shadows over the group like some apropos omen of things to come. Jessie and James squinted in the light, and nearly dropped their plates as they recognized the intruders.
"Oh, no! It can't be!" she growled. "Anybody but them!"
"Yes!" shouted the voices. "It's us!!"
"For trouble!"
"And make it double!"
"To infect the world with devastation!"
"To blight all peoples in every nation!"
"To denounce the goodness of truth and love!"
"To extend our wrath to the stars above!"
"CASSIDY!"
"BUTCH!"
"We're Team Rocket, circling Earth all day and night!"
"Surrender to us now, or you will surely lose the fight!"
"It's Futch and Cassidy!!" spat James, clenching his fists. Butch growled even louder than either one of them.
"You nincompoop! It's Butch! My name is Butch! Can't you ever get it right?!"
"That's what I said!" argued James, taking a swipe at the air. Ash, Misty, and Brock groaned.
"Oh great… how did Team Rocket find us all the way out here? Hey, aren't you two supposed to be in jail?"
"Oh, we got out," gloated Cassidy with a wicked smile. "Our boss was extremely generous and forgiving--but we certainly won't be!"
"Accurate as ever, Cass," sneered Butch. "These fools have no idea what's in store for them!" Together, the two Rockets nodded at each other and leaped off the plateau, landing in front of everybody with their trademark jackal's smiles. Everybody braced themselves for a battle, but only brave Captain Thatcher took a step towards them.
"Now listen here, you two scoundrels! If you're really from Team Rocket, we won't show you any mercy either! You can go back and tell your bosses that we've been the ones who've been destroying their bases! You have no idea who yer dealin' with here!"
"Ah, so our guess was right," sang Cassidy wickedly. "And more so than we thought. James, Jessie, we're almost glad to see you two alive. We didn't think you'd perish in a mere blaze as the reports said."
"Ha! You've gravely underestimated us!" shouted Jessie angrily, her fists balling up and her teeth bared. "Not only did we escape, but we escaped without even breaking a sweat!"
"Well, that's not exactly--"
"(Quiet, Misty!)" she hissed. "Anyway, what are you two doing here? Are you here to fight or something?" She expected her archrivals to answer with a quick affirmative, but instead, Butch and Cassidy remained silent. They kept staring at the group, keeping their eyes on everybody for a long time, especially their former coworkers. They exchanged looks every now and then that suggested there was much more to their visit than a fight, and seemed unable to say anything without inflicting some kind of pain on themselves.
"Well? Answer me!"
"…No, we're not," muttered Butch at long last. Jessie lurched back in confusion.
"Huh? Then… why?"
"Please don't make us say it," snarled Cassidy quietly. Her face was grimacing in anger, her eyes shivering and her clenched fist trembling with rage. "Please, don't. It's so humiliating…"
"What? What is it?" asked Ash. "If you're not here to fight, then what?"
Another silence.
"…We came… to join forces with you."
"WHAAAAT???"
"We came to join forces with you, okay!" Both Butch and Cassidy snapped back at the larger group, their faces red with anger and their teeth snarling. It wasn't as if nobody had heard them, it was just a puzzling concept to think of. James and Jessie had crossed the thin line between good and wicked several times in the past, but Butch and Cassidy were different stories. Their loyalty to Rocket was absolute, and they were far from the incompetent level their coworkers were, so it was difficult to believe that they would ever think of crossing over to join the fight against their own employers. Ash figured that there had to be a good reason for it, though he couldn't think of one.
"But… why?" he asked. "I thought you two were with Team Rocket!"
"We were," muttered Butch softly. "But… no, we're not. Not anymore."
"Oh? Why the sudden change of heart?" Again, the two Rockets--or former Rockets, as it seemed to be--kept silent as they stood there, clenching their teeth at some unknown injustice.
"The boss… we saw him die… we saw who killed him!"
"Augh! You did?!" squealed James. "Ah… who? Who was it? Were you caught?"
"No, we weren't caught or seen. It's just that… well… we saw who betrayed him, and who ended the dynasty of the Team Rocket we loved and served. Once the boss was betrayed and killed, there was no longer any point in staying behind. We knew that we had to avenge his death, and the only way to do that…"
"Was to do battle against Team Rocket." Butch and Cassidy sighed, shaking their heads sadly as if they had learned their houses had burned to the ground. James interrogated them further.
"But who did it? You said that the boss was betrayed. Did somebody in Team Rocket betray him?"
"Yes," sighed Cassidy quietly. "It was those two new agents, Marion and Morrison. They were the ones who killed him."
"Those two?!?!" Everyone was stricken with shock as a new revelation was revealed to them, and the unthinkable act of any Team Rocket member, especially those most powerful and respected by the boss, dared to toy at their minds. James and Jessie were frozen with astonishment and disbelief, and could only gape like a couple of stuffed fish as the news absorbed into their minds.
"I can't believe it!" exclaimed Brock, who had returned to his senses first. "Them again! First it's the Legendary Pokemon Master, then it's the city from the future, and now Team Rocket! It's as if they truly want to take over the world!"
"There's definitely a pattern," agreed Gary. "I don't know these two people, but it's safe to say that they're the ones who we'll be fighting. They've most likely orchestrated this entire thing from the very start. Once their old boss outlived his usefulness, they would get rid of him! But still… that's a cruel thing to do!"
"You have no idea," growled Butch angrily. "Giovanni was our light, our rock, our foundation. We devoted our entire lives to his goals and dreams. Even when he began to favor those new people over us, we continued to serve him to the best of our abilities."
"But when he was murdered before our eyes, we could take no more," continued Cassidy. "We ultimately decided that we should avenge his death and stop Team Rocket. It's strayed so far from its original goals that it's no longer recognizable. You two should consider yourselves lucky that you were fired before any of this ever happened," she said, indicating James and Jessie. "I know we've never gotten along in the past, but we're glad you're safe and not slaves like the others."
"You… are?"
"Tough to believe, eh Jess?" Cassidy gave her archrival a smirk, and it was returned with just as much sass. Captain Thatcher, the oldest and the one with the most experience and wisdom on his shoulders, stepped forth and recapped the situation.
"Awright, so lemme get this straight. Basically, you saw your boss gettin' killed by the people we're going up against, and now you wanna avenge his death. The only way you can really do that is to get more power, and you figured that this lil' group here would get you where you needed to go, am I right?"
"Pretty much," they replied. "That's why we didn't want to admit it. Can you imagine how embarrassing it is, getting down on our knees and asking to join you? Ugh…"
"Hey!" screamed James. "If we can do it, you can do it! It wasn't easy for us either, but we were just as desperate as you are now!"
"Look, just… let us work together for a little while," sighed Butch, not wanting to sink any lower than he had already. "Once Team Rocket is cleaned of this menace, we'll part ways again. Just don't think we're your friends or anything. We're only doing this so we can avenge our leader and destroy the two monsters who killed him."
"So is it a deal?" asked his counterpart. James and Jessie gave each other a wary look.
"Should we trust them?" she asked.
"Do we have a choice?" he replied. "Ash, Misty, and Brock let us join them. I don't see why we can't do the same." She nodded her head.
"All right. Well, I guess it's official. We're allies until Team Rocket is no more." Carefully, the four former members of Team Rocket shook hands and agreed to the terms, and one by one, everyone reluctantly accepted Cassidy and Butch into their crew, making their total number one dozen. It would be very difficult trusting them from that point on, but if it meant getting the war finished faster, so be it.
"By the way," said Butch once they had officially joined the team, "did any of you happen to run across an enormous mechanical monster while on your journey?"
"Yeah, we did! Way up at the Team Rocket base in the frozen lands!"
"And you're still alive?" gasped Cassidy, not bothering to hide her surprise. Everyone confirmed it, of course, leaving her even more surprised.
"Why do you ask?" asked Misty. Butch raised his finger and explained everything for those uninformed.
"That machine you met was just one of the six legendary machines built long ago, during the time of the last great Pokemon war! Few people know about them, and not even a member of Team Rocket would have heard of them! We overheard the boss and those other two people talking about it as we eavesdropped on their conversations, and we've spent a lot of time researching them before we arrived."
"The six monsters represent the six elements of the world," continued Cassidy. "Each one is designed after the guardian of the element, and each bears that element's power. For example, the Angel machine is a Light-element and has Psychic powers, and the Dryad is a Wind-element and has Grass powers. These machines are exceptionally powerful and nearly impossible to destroy, unless you use the opposite element against them, like Fire for the Dryad or Water against the Earth-element."
"So the creature we saw must've been a Water-element!" exclaimed Brock. "It looked like a giant sea-serpent! I guess we should've figured it out sooner!"
"Is it still operational?" asked Butch. Brock shook his head.
"No, it can't possibly be. We destroyed it pretty good, and even if it were, it wouldn't be very effective. Hey, that's right! We had Pikachu zap it with electricity! And a lightning-type like Pikachu would be strong against that monster!"
"How very resourceful," purred Cassidy. "Well, then it looks like you're not as hopeless as we thought!"
"AND WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!?!" screamed Misty and Jessie. Cassidy shirked back and gave them a watery reassurance.
"Oh, lighten up!" she smiled. "I was simply saying that we thought you would fare worse!"
"You have to admit that even Jessie and James can't fail every time!" agreed Butch.
"You monster! How dare you say that!!!"
"Whaaaat? I didn't mean anything by it, honest!" Captain Thatcher chuckled wildly as the four archrivals screamed and argued with each other, and since it seemed as if things were getting back on track again, he let the two newest members of the crew join in on the dinner. They would need it, as their next few missions would be tough ones…
To be continued…
