Black
Chapter 2: Shooting Star Begins
After a big meal at the Pokemon Center on the other side of the hill, Ash and his friends continued in their travels towards the next big town. On their way, they met up with a couple of pokemon trainers headed in the opposite direction. Ash, of course, had to battle with them, and Pikachu brought him two more victories.
"Good battle!" Ash and his opponents congratulated one another as they parted ways.
They spent the night in the woods. It had become somewhat cloudy late in the afternoon, and by nightfall, was raining lightly. But our heroes were comfortably dry in the small cave they found in the side of a hill. Brock cooked up an excellent dinner and all three were quite content when they eventually curled up in their sleeping bags to rest for the night.
They woke up early the next day and started their travel to the next town. No one spoke because it was such a beautiful day. They enjoyed the wonderful feeling of walking through the woods, hearing the singing of the bird-types and the whispering of the wind, seeing the rays of the sun filter through the leaves, and catching a glimpse of a few white clouds in the sky. The forest smelt damp after the rain that fell the previous night, and it seemed to be brimming with life. There was something to be said about being traveling pokemon trainers; they certainly got to experience a number of great events, but one of the best things about their way of life was the freedom they had. Such an extraordinary feeling it was to go and do what they wanted to do, to be who they wanted to be, to think what they wanted to think.
They found a clearing around midday and stopped there for lunch. They had a short argument on seating arrangements, ate then left on their way for the next town.
Arriving there at about three o'clock, Ash and his friends were met with emptiness that shouldn't exist in a big town such as this was. But they discovered a huge commotion around the center of town that had brought most people away from their homes and shops on the outskirts. The police and fire departments surrounded a small building.
"Huh?" the three questioned together.
"What's going on here?" asked Ash to an officer hurrying towards the scene.
"There's a robbery in progress," she said as she passed them.
"Oh." The three friends turned to look at each other, then they followed the officer.
In the center of the commotion stood two dark figures with two large bags slung over their shoulders.
"Team Rocket!" the kids exclaimed when they saw the faces of the thieves.
"We should've known!" Ash said.
"What're you up to this time?" asked Brock.
But instead of getting their usual, relatively friendly response, Ash and his friends received cold, empty stares from the criminals.
Not only was this strange, but their outfits were quite different from normal. They were all black, with black leather boots and gloves. The usual "R" was thinner and in a deep blood red. There was a small pin on both uniforms in the upper left corner, which was navy blue and dark purple, but illegible from far away, and Jessie's outfit was a short, sleeveless dress, much like Cassidy's, but with a few alterations. There was also something else… missing…
"Where's Meowth?" Misty asked, with a dark, yet still blank, gaze as a response.
"Stand back, please," ordered an officer from the twerps' left.
"Alright you two! Give it up! We've got you surrounded. Carefully place the bags on the ground, then raise your arms – slowly – in the air, and you won't get hurt," shouted an officer from the twerps' right.
But James simply nodded to Jessie and she took a black ball out from behind her back and tossed it on the ground. It happened so quickly that none of the officers had a chance to react. The ball set off an explosion of fog that covered everything in the area.
"The rise of Team Rocket has started. We will soon conquer the world," came Jessie's voice from a distance and it echoed off the surrounding buildings. When the smoke had cleared the villains were gone without a trace. No one moved for a moment in dumbfounded confusion and defeat. The first who spoke was Nurse Joy.
"You'd better start your search. There's nothing we can do just standing here."
A lot of movement and murmuring followed as people left the scene of the crime. The officers began preparations for their search, or "hunt", as some eager Jenny's put it.
"You need a place to stay? Come with me," said Joy to Ash and his friends. "I think we'll be allowed to use the dormitories. There is no evidence to find there. And it should be safe now that there's nothing valuable left to steal."
She sounded sad and strong at the same time. She must be upset that everything was stolen, but she wouldn't show how upset she was, just like Jessie…
The kids followed her to a side door. She opened it and let them in.
Once they were set up for the night, the three made their way to the cafeteria and found themselves a table. They sat down and began a discussion on the current events.
"That was really weird, guys," Ash expressed to his best friends.
"Pika," agreed his pokemon.
"I can't believe they actually succeeded!" Misty put in her thoughts.
"You know what has me worried?" said Brock. "It was the way they were acting, and the way they looked. Sorta like they were, I dunno, lifeless, or something. Like they were robots. But the strangest part, I think, is that it seemed like Jessie was taking orders from James. That couldn't be, could it?"
"I didn't even notice that!" exclaimed Ash. "I just thought it was really creepy, the way they were all dressed in black and weren't messing up at all. It's like they finally became hard core criminals."
"Yeah, I know what you mean," said Misty. "Do you think that it was really them? That someone didn't just disguise themselves to look like Jessie and James? That might explain why they didn't have Meowth with them. I mean, how many talking Meowths are there?"
"That could be, Misty, but we heard Jessie speak, and that definitely sounded like her, however eerie her voice was," reasoned Brock.
"Maybe they were cloned," suggested Ash. "We know that Team Rocket has cloning capabilities."
"But on humans?" Misty questioned.
"Maybe they do now," responded Ash.
"I don't know. I got the feeling it was really them, but that they were… different," declared Brock.
"What do you think, Brock? There's something about this you're not telling us," pursued Misty.
"I guess that I think this is bigger than just Jessie and James. They were wearing new uniforms; uniforms that looked like most of the other Rocket member uniforms that we've encountered. Actually, Jessie's reminded me of another pair we've dealt with in the past – Cassidy and Butch. But, I don't know how this change occurred in them and to what extent and purpose. It seems that Jessie and James have suddenly become more serious about pokemon thievery, and what scares me the most is how many other Rocket members might have the same revelation. Maybe they've started a new training program that turns them into real thieves. I just hope that Officer Jenny catches them before they ruin more pokemon lives and Pokemon Centers like this one."
The friends remained quiet after this last statement. A little while later, Nurse Joy came in and broke them from their contemplative silence.
"Are you children hungry? It's so late, I'm sorry I haven't been around. Looking with the Officer Jenny's for evidence other than the broken window to the side room and the blasted door to the pokeball room, I lost track of time. I can have Chancey get you a dinner made in 10 minutes if you'll wait here. Then, I suggest we turn in for the night. What a stressful day!"
The children smiled appreciatively and became eager to get some food into their empty stomachs.
Despite the turmoil of the day, all three kids slept soundly that night.
"Jenny! Jenny!"
"What is it, Michael?"
"There have been two more attacks."
"Similar to the first one that occurred here?"
"Yes, except that they were different criminals, but it happened in the same way. And they said the same thing – 'Team Rocket domination started'."
Officer Jenny sighed. She looked to her colleague, Officer Michael, and confirmed, "That makes a total of four, then. Any new evidence?"
Michael shook his head, "No."
"I'm sorry to interrupt you," came Nurse Joy's hushed voice. "But I have three guests staying here, and you might wake them up if you don't lower your voices a tad."
Ash and his friends decided to reveal themselves. They had woken up when Officer Michael had come and overheard everything.
"It's alright, Nurse Joy," said Ash as he opened the door to their room. "We're up. Oh and sorry, Officer Jenny, but we sorta overheard what you were talking about."
Ash, Misty and Brock stepped out into the hall. They could see that a temporary 'search headquarters' had been set up in the Pokemon Center lounge.
"Yah, and we want you to know that we want to help you out in any way we can," added Brock advancing towards the female police officer and clasping her hands in his.
"Uh, thanks," said Jenny, momentarily puzzled by Brock's actions.
Misty just grabbed onto his ear and dragged him away, saying, "We know the first pair of thieves personally. They've been bothering us for the past few years. If there's anything you want to know that can help… although, I don't know how much we know about them anymore. They were acting different."
"Oh that's quite alright," said Jenny, regaining her composure of authority. "We have many officers on the case, don't you worry, kids."
The trio knew best then to argue, though they believed, based on past experience, that they could somehow help solve this case and catch the bad guys; however different the bad guys had become.
Meanwhile…
Somewhere, deep underground, in the lowest basement of a large building, many people were moving about, working hard. What was going on here was neither legal nor imaginable by the rest of the world. But concealed with many layers of secrets, the heart of this operation was growing stronger.
Among the busied people were two familiar faces. Still dressed in their new black uniforms, they moved cages with pokemon inside from one place to another. They moved quickly and quietly without messing up a thing, and they repeated this pattern over and over. No one paid much attention to them, nor did they notice that their eyes were blank, their faces expressionless (except for a slight downwards motion of the eyebrows), and even the form of their movement unnatural, almost robotic. The others in this place knew about this and didn't bother to look, for they were the ones who made it so. Still, there were a few, just as expressionless, just as emotionless, just as unnatural as Jessie and James. And all of them wore a pin, just like Jessie's and James's, that was a dark purple and navy blue. Written upon this pin were the words "shooting star" and a thin, black "R" decorated the center.
In another part of the complex, several floors up, in a room with test tubes and monitors and scientific equipment sat Meowth. He was in a cage similar to the ones Jessie and James were moving about below. He had just woken up and was trying to focus his eyes. He felt pretty groggy, but soon observed the room around him.
It was dark. The only sources of light were little lit buttons next to the computers, a line of light under the door to the hall, and the heart rate monitor on the far wall. But with Meowth's cat-like eyes, he was able to see a lot more than any human would in this room. And what he saw when he turned his head to view the tank on the counter next to his cage made him gasp.
"It ain't possible…!"