Okay here we go. Hi everyone! It's been over four months since I've published, just like I thought it would be. I finally got through the end of my school and got to rest a little bit. I've been working on getting registered for my next step in my education as well as finishing volunteering for a few days for a summer camp, which was fun.
As you might've seen, I decided I wouldn't publish again until I'd finished two chapters for you guys, which was harder than I'd thought. I will say that I've been able to at least set up a good final outline for the rest of this Arc. I've also started gathering notes on what oneshots will be in the drabble sequel to the Master Challenge. So yeah.
I eventually intend to go over all of the Master Challenge and Edit the entire thing one day, seeing as my writing style has changed a lot from the beginning. I've learned a lot and want to fix some things here and there. It may cause chapters to be longer or even entire Arcs lengthened with the addition of chapters, but I'll have to see what happens when I get to that point. There's a lot of things I want to Edit and fix in my library, so that will happen at some point.
As for the info that most of you probably care most about: Update Schedule. Read below.
I'm not sure what my schedule will be. I know I will not be updating this story and Pondus Omnium at the same time. This time is merely a coincidence because it's the end of my Hiatus. Truth is, it's just easier for me to write for Danny Phantom at present, so you might see it being updated more often than this. Don't worry though. I mean this is the near end of the story for the Master Challenge, it would be silly for me to give it up. I'll get them cranked out eventually. I'll probably also update Phandom Phables from time to time seeing as they are fun stress relieving oneshots, etc.
I will ask that no one pester me about updates. Use your hearts and brains to know the difference between pestering and asking politely. Those with accounts can always PM me. For Guests, I prefer you don't ask about updates in reviews if you don't have an account. If you ignore my request for this just be aware that they won't appear in the reviews section because I will be deleting them. It's nothing against you, honest, it's just that I don't want a bunch of reviews asking about updates. It ups the review numbers without giving true feedback about the story itself. Also, Guests, I can never answer questions in your reviews directly. This site doesn't allow that(I don't know if other sites do and that's why people get confused). The only way I can answer you is through text in the chapters I publish.
Okay so short story: Don't know what my schedule will be. It's hard to get back into the swing of things. Don't pester me (luckily no one has yet). I thank you all for being amazing fans and people. I'm officially out of Hiatus.
Sorry for the massive AN.
Normal Talk
Thoughts
Lucario talking unless stated otherwise
Zoroark talking unless stated otherwise
Mienshao talking unless stated otherwise
Let the journey continue...
zzz-Rota / Two days later-zzz
"Can you not reconsider waiting for just a little longer?"
Riley ignored the request as he continued walking down the hallway. "You will have to put in a request to the queen. I'm busy following orders."
"Come on Riley. Work with me here."
"It's not within my authority, Lance." Riley stopped at that moment and stared at the Champion. "And as a bit of advice, I would try to not talk about that around Ash's friends and mother. They might not understand where you're coming from."
Lance sighed as Riley continued walking and two soldiers saluted him. Lance hummed and turned to walk back towards the throne room. In a few moments Lance found himself before Lady Ilene and two of her guards. "Your majesty-"
"Yes, Sir Lance?"
Lance's mouth twitched. "I implore you, no the P.A.C asks that you reconsider your actions. We're not prepared for an onslaught from Team Rocket. We also need to confirm for certain where their main base is. We're already thinking we might've located two in two other regions as well-"
"I'm afraid I can't do that, Sir Lance. While Rota has worked cooperatively with the Pokemon Activities Committee for a long time, there are some traditions and old mandates that we will not abandon. My people are already outraged that Sir Ketchum was captured within our borders and are practically seeking blood for the disgrace. More importantly though, we stand by the idea that we will never leave a man or woman behind."
"We have Silver looking for the main base as we speak. Please, just another day or two, so we can evaluate our approach."
Ilene rose and gave Lance a hard look. "We can't be certain that Ashton has a day or two to spare."
"As much as I want to see him come out of this okay, we have to consider the best outcome for everyone. The world is in danger."
Ilene's face grew distant and sad. "If we should make that trade… I'm not sure I'd want to live in a dying world without a proper guardian. Riley is strong, but he is not Ash, even he knows that."
Lance was silent for a moment.
"What do you mean, 'you have Silver looking for their main base?'."
Lance looked over his shoulder and Ilene looked up to see Paul and Dawn standing at the entrance to the throne room. Dawn watched as her boyfriend started to tremble slightly, with rage or some other emotion, she wasn't sure. Most everyone was resting or trying to keep Mrs. Ketchum busy; some were trying to keep themselves busy the best they could in order to not think of Ash. Mairin and Astrid had followed Alain so that they could talk with Touko while N and Alain did their exercises that Riley had left them with. They had been waiting to talk to Riley and most of the trainers were going to go with Riley and the Rotisian Army to the place Riley suspected Team Rocket was. He had told them that he was pretty sure they had been tricked into drawing Ash to Rota and then the tree by the evidence on Yvetal. From what they knew about the aura cloaking technology Team Rocket had been developing, it was good but not completely perfected. The cloaking technology couldn't be advanced enough to work as effectively on larger bodies, like ships, seeing as the cloaking spread over a larger surface than a human body only made the ships seemingly invisible, but couldn't produce a good enough illusion that air wasn't being diverged around aircraft. This made large enough waves that Ash or even Riley could've detected. In short, Riley believed they had traveled to the Tree on foot; their base with Ash in it, possibly couldn't be too far from Rota.
"Paul…" Lance froze, not knowing what to say.
"You tell me now. I don't care if your the damned Champion or not. He's my father and I deserve to know."
Dawn tried to place a hand on Paul's shoulder. He glanced at her briefly, but didn't respond.
Lance looked at the young man and schooled his face. "Your father was being forced by Giovanni to work for him the last few months. When he was arrested, we couldn't do much for him, even if his intent was to keep you and Reggie safe. Currently, he escaped from his cell and has been searching for the main base's location. At least, that's what he's said from his radio reports to us. It's not like I know something the counsel doesn't."
Paul listened to the meaning poorly hidden meaning in Lance's words. Without a word, Paul turned and marched out. Dawn looked a bit flustered before rushing after him, Piplup hot on her tail.
"If you'll excuse me, Sir Lance. I have to prepare to speak to my people. The army will be deploying in a few hours." Ilene walked off after that with her two guards and her attendant. Mime Jr. mimicked her slight bow before following the humans out.
Lance stood and stared at the throne alone for a while.
"Did you really expect to stop them?"
The Champion looked over and saw Wes and Michael in the entrance to another door to the throne room.
"Where's Rui?"
"She was also curious about this aura stuff. She's with those other two in that sacred grove or something. All I know is that the guards wouldn't let me in," Wes answered. "Your turn. Did you really-"
"No… not really. I'm just worried they're going to stir the Beedrill nest and then we won't be prepared to fight back."
"Will we ever be ready for war?" Michael asked calmly. "I'm pretty sure it's something no one is ever really prepared for, at least in heart."
Lance clenched his fists.
Wes lifted a brow slightly. "I'm starting to wonder if the League just isn't prepared to get their hands dirty."
Lance gave Wes a glare. "I belong to all people as the Champion. I have to do what's best for everyone not a few. No matter how much I wish otherwise. I need to have some leeway; Rald and Yellow were right. I need to act more like an ally, but I still have my limits."
Lance walked out of the room and Michael looked at Wes. "What now?"
"I guess we wait for shit to hit the fan."
"Ya mean more than it already has?"
"Yes, smart one."
zzz-Deep in the Rotisian Mountain Range-zzz
Damian was sure he wasn't the only one in his group that had started to realize they were in deep shit. For some reason, only Arceus knows, they had all kinda thought that the group plus Domino would be marching on foot to wherever the base was.
This worriedly enough didn't happen. Damian and his little group found themselves in a truck, relieved of their pokenavs and other devices with GPS, because as Domino had so eloquently stated, 'you won't need those anymore,' and staring awkwardly at a smug looking Domino as two other male grunts from Team Rocket drove the van in the front.
Ursula kept giving him a mix of angry and fearful looks, almost making him feel a bit of remorse for dragging her into this.
"Where exactly is the base?" Greg asked finally, breaking the silence.
Domino smiled slowly. "Sorry, you won't know that until after training at the very least. Viper is going to have so much fun with all of you."
Dingo let out a low keening noise of what had to be fear.
Domino hummed and played a bit with her finger near the corner of her lips. "So much fun."
It was then that everyone felt the change in terrain as the road became rocky and the van bounced. Greg noticed the change and saved the info for future need.
"Uggh! You live under a rock or something!?" Ursula blurted out, aggravated that the bouncing was throwing her hair into her face.
"Team Rocket has very nice accommodations… if you're not a prisoner." Domino face changed from teasing to dark quickly, startling everyone in the back of the van but her. Was she somewhat on to them? She couldn't be, could she?
Tap Tap.
Domino smiled and knocked on the wall separating them from the drivers up front, in response.
Tap.
"It appears we're almost home."
zzz-Rotisian Mountain Range-zzz
Silver stood quietly behind some brush, waiting for them to return. He tensed when he heard bushes rustling, only to relax when his Ursaring lumbered through. Gengar floated up from the pokemon's shadow, with its perpetual grin on its face.
"Anything?" Silver asked.
Ursaring nodded and then pointed. "Ur ur ursaring."
"Gen garrrr…"
Silver nodded. "Okay. Thank you both. I'll let you rest for now. I'm going to check it out first." The veteran returned the two pokemon before moving out of the brush and dropping down into a rocky crevasse. He had been lingering on the outskirts of the forest that covered the lower two thirds of the Rotisian mountains since it provided cover for him to search for Team Rocket's main base. It appeared though, that they had chosen an even rougher terrain to set up in than the League had ever thought. Then again, several years ago had been when they'd moved their main base, after a legendary pokemon had supposedly escaped from it and blown the place to smithereens. The incident had revealed that Giovanni had returned and had somehow again taken over the Gym in Viridian. Silver still wondered how that could've possibly slipped under the radar, then again some people had thought Giovanni had been dead after so long. Even Lance had presumed that Team Rocket was being lead by a new and its third leader since its inception by Madame Boss. Whether it had stayed under the control of the Rocketto family had been a mystery, but of course now they knew the gang hadn't changed hands like they'd thought.
He was making his way through another pathway along the rock and stone when he heard a rumbling of a vehicle. He darted to the side and hid within a dark hole in the canyon wall. The van passed, but not without Silver seeing the telltale uniforms that the driver and passenger were wearing. Silver whipped out a piece of paper and used a hiker's map to figure out exactly where he was in the mountains. It had been hard-going without being able to use more modern means of navigation, but he couldn't simply let anyone track him, else the League Council would throw him back into the slammer before he could complete his task. He also didn't want to miss the war that might come, that was, unless they could find and stop them before the enemy got moving.
He sat in the dark of the nook he'd found and worked to write out a detailed guide to the base. Just a little further and he'd have his guide.
He pulled himself from the hole and moved down the road, listening for any other unexpected guests.
zzz-Team Rocket Base Enterance-zzz
Damain and the others numbly got out of the van and got their first look of the Team Rocket base and all its glory. It was just a a short walk now before they were within sight of the main entrance, around a jagged corner of rock.
Shamus flinched as the parked vehicle started to lower into the ground, metal doors opening and a elevator platform moving it down. The two other grunts with them, eyed the trainers quietly.
"You're destiny awaits." Domino turned and started to walk.
Damian and the other gave each other a look before moving forward. Damian kept playing with the poke ball nearest his hand on his waist.
Shamus looked at the grunts and snorted. "We don't have to wear those ridiculous outfits, do we?"
Domino stopped dead and the grunts glanced at each other before eyeing Domino. One whispered something and the other gave a quiet chuckle, before they both looked at the trainers with mock pity. The young admin turned slowly and gave a disarming smile.
"Ridiculous outfits?"
Shamus tensed grasping for his belt as a reflex.
Domino laughed a bit and then guffawed loudly. "I'm starting to wonder if you greenhorns even understand what it means to be apart of Team Rocket." She turned, growling at that point. She whipped out a black tulip, sharp at the end of the stem and pointed it right at Shamus. "You aren't you anymore. You and your pokemon belong to Team Rocket. You serve Team Rocket without question. When you choose Team Rocket, you sacrifice everything for power and I mean everything."
Ursula let out a screech and hid her face in Damian's shirt when Domino and the two grunts suddenly went blank in the face and fell to the ground.
"Were you all willing to sacrifice freedom so easily?"
"Who's there!?" Greg growled out, looking around for whomever had attacked the Team Rocket members. The young man gasped and Dingo let out a squeal when Silver and his Alakazam suddenly appeared in front of them.
"You're Silver. Aren't you with them? You were attacking New Tork with some other operatives," Damian asked in suspicion.
"I was but I wasn't. What we need to discuss is the here and now. We have to go. They will wake up soon and wonder what happened to you all. I also have to get word to someone about where the base is."
"Hey! We were trying to get that info!" Dingo yelped in annoyance.
Silver narrowed his eyes. "What, by pretending to join them? How stupid."
Damian growled under his breath a bit.
"We have to leave." Silver let out his Crobat and placed a rolled up piece of paper in his feet. "Crobat, get this to Lance. I believe Yellow radioed me and told me he'd gone to Rota, so it's close."
"Cro! chabakt!" The flying and poison type darted into the sky and was gone within moments.
Silver looked at the teens and young adults before him. "We move now if you want to get out of here alive. I'm certain you'll be murdered if your caught. Giovanni is no longer playing his gentleman's game." He pointed towards a path a little ways above. Damian's group looked at each other before making their way in that direction. While they were prideful in various ways, they certainly weren't going to risk their lives for their pride. As they left, Silver took one look back at the base and grimaced.
Sorry, Red. I can't bring him out of there without help. If aura guardians really watch over us, if your ancestors are really up there… Help give him stamina to last a bit longer.
Silver turned away and made his way back up the path he'd come, returning Alakazam as he went. He never saw the phantom figure of a familiar trainer in red. His ghostly face looked worn and tired before he faded out of sight.
zzz-Sub-level 7 / A Day later-zzz
He didn't even remember getting onto the table. He was fading in and out of consciousness. Ash could feel his own body failing him. He was outright exhausted and ached everywhere. Not long after he'd finished his 'tests' with Dr. Yung, Giovanni had simply started a combination of starvation, dehydration and torture on him. At first they'd asked about the Orbs and when Ash had made it obvious he wasn't spilling the beans, they'd stopped asking and continued the torture even if he hadn't figured out why. Perhaps it was just for the fun of it.
They'd beaten him, taunted him by not allowing him to sleep, making him fear every moment when they would decide to off him. Even though it had only been a few days now, it had felt like an eternity.
Then he'd learned the other reason why they were softening him up so much. None other than Xerosic had come to his cell and started asking him to join Team Rocket. Of course, the first time they had asked, he'd spit in the doctor's face.
Xerosic had explained that even though they had ways to force mega evolution, they still knew that it was difficult to bring out a pokemon's true power through force. They also knew that it would take a lot of energy to break his pokemon's spirits. It would take time and energy they didn't have at present. They wanted to use him to make his pokemon obey, lest they cause the death of their own trainer. They wanted to use him as blackmail in general and it made him livid. When Xerosic had first explained all of the details of this plan, Ash had gotten so angry that his shackles had immediately sent him into a writhing mess on the floor, reacting to his aura.
But Ash was afraid as someone finished restraining him to the metal table he found himself on. Though he'd always been known to have an unbreakable spirit, he'd nearly been broken before and sometimes over much lesser things. Ash didn't honestly know his breaking point. What if he broke?
He noted that something was near his head and he heard a voice that he had come to loathe more than most anything he knew. Giovanni spoke into Ash's ear, clearly and calmly, "You are making this turn out horribly for yourself."
With effort, Ash was able to croak out an answer, "It's not about me." He wasn't even sure where that answer had come from. Then again, he knew it really wasn't about him. It was about the balance of the world being at stake.
Giovanni straightened up and nodded to Xeroisc, "It appears as though we'll have to use our final trick."
A few grunts walked forward and held Ash's upper arms even though he was already restrained and clearly out of it. The others held his legs; the last held his hair tightly so he couldn't move his head. Xeroisc smiled as he approached with a single syringe, "I promise. This will hurt a lot."
Ash growled and tried his best to brace himself, knowing he couldn't struggle out of this. He feared it was some type of poison to torture him, much like Colress had done before. The grunt holding his hair lifted Ash's head up before slamming it against the table for good measure. Ash groaned in pain and saw stars. While he was temporarily stunned, Xerosic plunged the syringe into the side of his neck. After that, Ash only felt fire racing through his veins.
"AHHHHHHHH!" Ash screamed in agony and his body started to thrash. Xeroisc and the grunts backed away. Everyone present looked on in pleasure or stoic indifference as Ash strained against the metal clamps. Aura flared out from his body and crackled like lightning through the air. Ash's screams only amplified.
"It appears that his very body is having a reaction to the serum. This must be a defense mechanism of sorts." Xerosic hummed. "Then again, it makes sense if this really is energy from the dark souls in that bottle.
Giovanni nodded quietly but kept looking over at Robles, who seemed to be looking at this whole process with irritation. Zurak, the man's ever faithful servant watched Ash trash about at his master's feet.
Slowly, Ash's body stopped seizing and his head lolled to the side. His aura continued to flicker around his body, small flares of red though, danced in their midst. The aura then disappeared from normal vision.
"Well?" Giovanni asked, looking at Xerosic.
"Hmm…" The scientist walked forward, "Ashton… from now on your name is Agent Phoenix, understand? You serve only the purposes of Team Rocket and Giovanni's wishes. I ask you, where are the Orbs?"
Ash's head turned to look Xeroisc in the eyes, only a fog was there in his brown orbs.
"Phoenix? Orbs.. Rota... Giovanni? No… Mother? Pika… chu… Mist? Ash… Da..d.." Ash's eyes suddenly flashed bright blue, "Arceus, Original one." His irises and pupils seemed to have gone bright blue while he spoke. Suddenly Ash obviously passed out, his head rolling to the side again.
"He still has the will to fight? Did your serum even work?" A random grunt asked.
"Do not fear, that reaction was both without the suit nor the remote. The remote will place him under enough control to get him into the suit. Once he is in the suit… He's ours." Xeroisc smiled, "Original one or not. Besides he gave us his answer. Rota even makes sense, seeing as it was one of the last places he visited before going into our ambush. They have the means to protect them too."
"..." Giovanni mumbled as he rolled a dark stone the size of a quarter around in his hand. A crystal roughly shaped like a poke ball, was connected to it by a string. Glanced over at Robles and nodded, watching as the man walked out of the room, Zurak at his heals.
zzz-Sub-level 5-zzz
Jessie, James, and Meowth had just sst down to eat lunch with Cassidy and Butch. Though the two teams didn't personally see eye to eye, they did tend to sit together even if it was to just mock each other or brag about their most recent accomplishments.
"I got to say, Jessie... Your team going and finally getting that kid... I suppose even I have to congratulate you on that even if Vane was leading the mission... He even said you guys pretended to be his friends or something," Cassidy grinned, "That's really despicable... Maybe we aren't so different after all."
Jessie had stopped eating and looked up in surprise and suspicion along with Meowth.
"You? Complementing me?" Jessie eyed her rival for a moment, "Thanks I guess."
Cassidy continued to grin, when suddenly the group heard a distant scream echo through the base.
"Ha! Looks like they're experimenting on that kid again," A grunt bellowed as he strode by.
James, up until that point, had been somewhat lifeless. He hadn't really touched his food and he had been staring out the observation window nearby, which had a view of one of the main gym area. At the grunts's remark and the scream his half-lidded eyes opened fully and he glanced in the direction of the sound. After a moment he resumed his original position.
"Hmph. Serves the kid right. After all he's put us through, I hope he learns his lesson." Butch chuckled.
"Jimmy, you okay?" Meowth finally asked after he noticed James' overall absence.
James turned and gave Meowth a half-smile, "I'm... fine. Just not that hungry I guess. I didn't sleep well last night. I think I'm going to go and take a nap, since we're nearly prepared and have some time off."
James got up with his tray and walked away.
"Huh, what's with your teammate?" Cassidy asked.
Jessie glared at Cassidy for a moment before huffing, "James is just a big baby. He's probably not that tired." Jessie then got up with her empty tray and walked away and Meowth followed behind her.
Cassidy turned to Butch, "Bitch..."
"Hmf? Isf Buftch." Butch mumbled with his mouth full, before swallowing.
"I think we need to keep an eye on Jessie and James. They're acting funny. I think dear Jessie might be going soft. James seems to have completely lost his drive too. Something's up. Remember Eindoak? I don't think even James is dumb enough to hit your Tangrowth like that."
Butch seemed to be in thought before he looked at his partner. "Are you sure you aren't just jealous or something, Cass?"
Cassidy gave Butch a glare. "No, Hutch." She huffed and stomped away.
"THE NAME IS BUTCH FOR ARCEUS SAKE!"
Everyone in the room turned to look at Butch and all chatter stopped.
"Whoa, wait. You're name is actually Butt-ch? I've thought it was Bill, this whole time!"
Butch only groaned and smacked his head against the table he was sitting at, not even caring that part of his hair fell into the gravy.
zzz-Jessie, James, Meowth-zzz
James sat on his cot staring out the window at the rocky range below. This side of the base was bordered by this view. James had always liked it. It made him think of freedom; really that's what Team Rocket had always meant for him, freedom. He had never really had freedom with his mother and father. James then heard the door open, he knew who was there before they spoke.
"James?" Jessie asked as the rest of the trio joined him in the room. Meowth shut the door.
"Yeah, Jess?" James replied.
"You are actually hungry, aren't you?" Jessie asked.
"Yeah I guess. Well, honestly I'm not really that hungry. It wasn't a complete lie," James answered.
"Here's an apple I swiped for ya, Jimmy." Meowth walked up and handed the fruit to his friend. James smiled and took it before staring at it.
After a moment of him staring at the food and not speaking or eating, Jessie spoke, "James... You okay?"
Though Jessie wasn't typically someone who showed much patience or compassion, she was a bit worried for her friend.
James was silent a little longer before he asked a question, "What do you think we would be like if we had never joined Team Rocket?"
Jessie and Meowth were quiet for a moment. Meowth finally spoke, "Well for starters we wouldn't have met, period, if not for Team Rocket."
James nodded, "We used to always fight over food. We have fought a lot with each other."
"Yeah but we've stayed together through thick and thin." Meowth nodded.
"Yeah. What do you think it would feel like if we tried being good more often?" James asked before continuing, "I can remember how great I felt when we let go of Lugia that time. I was certain I was going to die, but I was okay with it because I was going to die doing something worth while." James paused for a moment before frowning deeply, "If I died now... right this moment, I don't think I would be okay with it."
"James..." Jessie mumbled, "You... I..." Jessie tried to refute but she couldn't seem to force anything out.
"Guys, as important as this conversation is, maybe... We should probably finish it somewhere else. You know how wired the base is. We don't want no body hearing things we'd regret." Meowth whispered.
James smiled and nodded, "I agree. Thanks for at least listening to me, guys."
"Well somebody's got to listen to you." Jessie sat next to him and rolled her eyes. James blushed slightly and looked away, laughing lightly.
"Yeah, everybody's gotta have somebody to listen to um. Utterwise they'd go all wacky in the head." Meowth grinned and leapt up to sit next to Jessie.
"Let's go to the gym later tonight. We can sneak out the back into the fields a ways behind the base. That's where we can have our talk." Jessie nodded.
"Wait the gym has a back door?" James asked.
"Yep, I used to wander around this place all the time as a kid, especially when mom was away. She was stationed here a lot, but that was before this was the main base of operations…" Jessie trailed off. She had told the two about her mother some but never went too far into detail. She had left Team Rocket after her mother had 'died' but after her other efforts in the world had failed she had inevitably come crawling back.
"Wow Jessie, That's neat dat you know this place so well." Meowth nodded.
"Well duh, how else do you think I knew how to find Yv-" Jessie froze, stopping herself. "Probably shouldn't say that out loud."
The trio then took a deep breath and sighed all at the same time.
zzz-Later that night-zzz
Jessie, James, and Meowth came and clocked in to show they were going to be using the gym. The trio reached the room and was pleased to see that nobody else seemed to be using it. That probably had something to do with the time of night it was. Jessie led them to the far end and moved a box out of the way. An air vent was revealed.
"Uh... Jess... I thought you said it was a backdoor." James muttered.
A tick mark appeared over Jessie's head, "What's the matter, rich boy? When you're poor and bored this is a magical passageway!"
"Right, right... Sorry." James surrendered quickly.
"Hush, you guys. Let's go." Meowth muttered. He had already opened the vent and was waiting to the other two.
The trio nodded and started crawling through the length of the vent until they reached the outside. They walked a bit until they were sitting on a grassy bluff over looking the ravine that connected the mountain they were on to the next row of pointy rock formations. The Rotisian Mountain Range was known to be one of the most beautiful in the world, right up there with Mt. Coronet's Range. At first they just sat in silence until finally James spoke first.
"Do you think we did the right thing? I mean helping to ambush the twerp like that?" James muttered.
"I hate to break it to ya Jimmy, but we're criminals, bad-guys, villains... Of course we didn't do the 'right' thing." Meowth grunted.
"Well yeah. I mean I knew that but, even the right thing... for us." James murmured. He spoke again, "Maybe if we hadn't betrayed him, maybe if we had actually become good like he seemed to want us to, we would be even better off. I mean think about it, really think about it. Those twerps have always had each other's backs. I'm sure if they've figured it out that he got kidnapped, they're looking for him right now. Can you imagine not being afraid anymore? Feeling worth something for once? We've finally gotten our promotion. We've gotten just about everything we ever wanted and I can't help but feel hollow. They're torturing him in there... Trying to use that aura stuff to power machines and take away his and his pokemons' free will. We finally 'caught' Pikachu and all his other pokemon to boot... but... but... I hate this! It isn't right!" James stood up hurriedly, letting out his emotional burden in a frenzy. "The twerp was right from the beginning! We can do better than this!" James said finally, "There I said it... I'm not sure I can keep going through with this… I'm quitting Team Rocket now. I can't take another second of this!"
Jessie was silent with Meowth, before Jessie finally frowned, "You don't mean that... It's crazy talk. We're a part of Team Rocket! We always have been and we always will be; we are nothing without it!" Jessie yelled and pushed herself off the ground and closer to James' face.
She was surprised when he didn't flinch or even cringe in fear of her like he normally did. He looked her right in the eyes, "You're right we are nothing without Team Rocket... But at this rate I'd rather be nothing than be the something they want me to be."
Jessie stuttered and Meowth kept looking between the two.
"It's kinda hard to fix things now," Jessie stated.
"We've been through more difficult things," James replied.
"We might get found out and tortured ourselves," Jessie shot back.
"Better than not try," James muttered.
"The twerp knew the risks. He brought this on himself," Jessie growled.
"Yet he still tried to pull us out of our hole at the cost to himself. He had to have known we could've done this… He doesn't have anything to regret." James nodded.
"What... what do we do? Where can we go? The twerp-" Jessie muttered.
"I don't know what we can do, where we should go. We have to somehow help the twerp though even if he doesn't forgive us." James interrupted.
"We're really going to do this?"
Jessie and James turned to face Meowth
"Well... I know I can't do it anymore. I suppose I just assumed you guys felt the same," James mumbled.
"...Jimmy." Meowth spoke and James and Jessie looked up at him, "You know, I had a bit of experience with the twerps traveling when we were supposed to be doing operation ghost train, you know? In Unova? Anyways afterwards, I couldn't help but kinda miss it. They were really nice to me. I felt... happy. Of course I was missing you guys, but never da less... I... I've had long talks with Pikachu before, like in the Orange Islands and we was shackled together. You might be right about this. Maybe it's time to accomplish something more. We 'caught' Pikachu like we wanted, we never said what we would do afterwards. Besides, it wouldn't be da same without each udder."
"If the twerp doesn't forgive us or even if he does, what will we do with ourselves?" Jessie asked. James noticed a look in her eyes he hadn't really been allowed to witness too often. Jessie had known the Team Rocket life for longer an any of the trio. For her to leave it behind so suddenly was a very brave decision. James smiled,
"Well..." James smiled slightly and moved to hold both of Jessie's hands. Both Jessie and Meowth were confused at first. "That's true, but at least we'll be together, right?"
Jessie's face flushed red. Meowth looked on confused before a sinister grin came to his face.
"Jess? You okay? Your face looks so flushed." James stated as a gust of mountain wind blew through the valley, ruffling their hair, fur, and clothing. "You getting wind burn?"
Meowth started to snicker and Jessie huffed before pulling her hands from his and turning away slightly.
"Yeah... We will." Jessie nodded.
"So what's the plan? We can't just ditch the twerp or we could go right now," James spoke out.
"We stay. We continue doing what we're told. We are outnumbered and out witted here. The only way we can save da twerp and get out of here is tah wait until the perfect moment," Meowth explained.
"Better yet..." Jessie started. James and Meowth turned to look at her, "If we can save the twerp and get him outta here without anyone knowing it was us, then we could stay and help bring down Team Rocket on the inside. Maybe that could help us get off the cops' list too." Jessie offered.
"Yeah! Sounds like a great idea!" James nodded.
"Alright then, we're in agreement?" Meowth asked.
James and Jessie turned to him and the trio placed their hands in the circle. Arbok and Weezing suddenly released themselves followed by Seviper, Wobbuffet, Gourgeist, Swoobat, Frillish, Yanmega, Yamask, Amoonguss, Mime Jr., Carnivine, and Inkay.
"Huh? What are all you doing out here?" Jessie asked.
Arbok smiled and hissed something. "Char bok char char bok."
"Meowth?" James asked.
Meowth smiled and nodded, "They agree too. Especially Arbok and Weezing. They've experienced what being the good guys is like. They were just waiting for us to make our choice."
"Really, Weezing?" James asked.
"Weezing weez..." Weezing nodded.
"Well then... I guess this is it then..." Jessie frowned and then slowly a smile crept onto her face, "We're going try to fix things."
The whole group agreed in the somewhat overenthusiastic way that only the trio could. James and Meowth then turned with Jessie to head back towards the base after returning their pokemon. James and Meowth started talking a bit about their choice, but Jessie trailed behind a bit.
She stopped briefly and looked up at the sky. The stars were twinkling.
Momma... If you can hear me, I hope this is what you wanted for me. I feel... I feel like James and Meowth are the closest thing to family I've had in the long time and maybe what we were talking about is right. Maybe it's time to do the right thing and not just temporarily. What do you think mom? Didn't you always just want more for me?
Jessie sighed after a moment and looked down and held her hands together. She remembered how James had held her hands and talked so passionately about them being together. Of course he was probably just referring to the trio, not to he and her as a couple. A curious look appeared on her face and disappeared as quickly. She wasn't sure what she thought about James in that way. Sometimes he was over sensitive, a weeny, and quite clueless, but he'd shown a kind of loyally that few men in her life had ever shown her before. Even in Kalos when she had met Doctor White, it hadn't felt right. Her partner had even been willing to leave her to her found happiness. Before she'd found James and Meowth again, it had, for a moment, almost felt like… she'd cheated on him, but that was just silly.
No. I can't let myself get sucked in again. Even if I don't think James would be that way, besides he may be afraid after his experience with Jessebelle.
Jessie looked back up into the sky to see a shooting star. She took it as a sign. Okay then, it's time to blaze a new trail, like a shooting star. Wish me luck, momma.
With that she caught up to the other two and they returned to base and slipped back inside and then into their rooms after checking out of the gym, without being seen.
zzz-Tree of Beginning-zzz
The crystals in the center of the ceiling of the main lake cavern glowed a fierce pink. Shortly after, a shining pink shape slipped out from the clear stone and slowly solidified into the shape of Mew.
"Mew." The mother of all pokemon looked around in sadness at the practically empty tree. There were a few pokemon left, but most of those were small and could easily hide from the attackers that had come.
Mew's blue eyes rolled up to the heavens and her tail flicked back and forth before she suddenly teleported.
zzz-Fire Island-zzz
Mew could feel the heat of the lava the moment she appeared in her desired location, as well as the beating of the rain and wind from the storm system that had settled over the ocean. She locked her large eyes on the massive pit of hot liquid rock below her. Titan of Fire? Please are you there? Awaken!
A red glow from below illuminated from underneath the lava. Slowly it died away and silence, besides the pops from lava bubbles and the pattering of wind and rain, pervaded the caldera. Suddenly an explosion of lava and hot air erupted from the pit and Moltres burst from from depths of the molten rock.
Arceus calls for you!
The bird let out a echoing cry in response before Mew vanished.
zzz-Lightning Island-zzz
A glowing ball of electric energy surged through the bluish rocks after Mew had made her declaration. Zapdos burst out from a giant bolt of lightning which came from the glowing stones. The lightning bird let out a thunderous screech.
Mew teleported.
zzz-Ice Island-zzz
Ice started to drift off of the tall icy rocks and form into a mist. The mist began to spin until a whirlwind of cold air and snow whipped itself into a frenzy. It burst apart revealing Articuno, whom let out a high pitched trill.
Mew faded from sight.
zzz-Mountains north of Cerulean-zzz
Noland was busy feeding his pokemon while he thought about the most recent news. Everyone in the League, including all gym leaders and frontier brains that were old enough to be involved with the efforts, were at the ready. They could be called up any moment now to raid Team Rocket's bases.
Hopefully he could keep his own pokemon fed and prepared. Noland flinched when he heard a cry. He then looked up and saw his friend, Articuno, flying over his head. A tinier pink form floated in the air before it vanished with a pink glow.
zzz-Whirl Islands-zzz
Little Silver sat and watched with Oliver as his mother and his uncle flew off after a small pink cat had called out to them about Arceus needing them. He hoped that they would be okay. Silver whined and Oliver patted his head.
"It'll be okay, buddy." Oliver looked out towards the sea where the storms were still raging. "I hope."
zzz-Bell tower-zzz
Morty had stumbled back and nearly fallen from the top of Bell Tower when a pink creature, that he thought could possibly be the legendary Mew, appeared right in front of him and had head butted the bells. Ho-oh had appeared soon after and flown into the sky, leaving a rainbow in its wake.
zzz-Samiya-zzz
It had been a long time since she had been completely submerged in water. She called out to the princes of the sea and they began to swim out from Samiya and swim through the water with her. Her tail waved like a snake as she moved through the waters. She teleported out from amongst them once her message had been received.
zzz-Sky tower-zzz
It is time…Rayquaza looked at Mew and nodded. After the pink feline had left, Rayquaza let out a chilling roar that all of Hoenn could hear. The clouds around the tower that had been thick and opaque, dissipated and the dragon took off towards Sinnoh.
zzz-Forina-zzz
Mew nearly fell into a game of hide and seek with Jirachi as they darted around the colorful cave of crystals. Eventually their playfulness faded and with her decree given, she left.
zzz-Snowpoint-zzz
She watched as the snow fluttered down from the giants form and the ice, that had gathered around his joints and feet, crack and break apart as he stood. The lights from his orbs blinked in a specific order.
He had to gather any of the other Regis he could find.
zzz-Battle Pyramid-zzz
Brandon watched in surprise as his Regis twitched and shifted nervously as his other pokemon ate.
"Hmm…"
zzz-Eindoak-zzz
Victini only needed to see Mew appear before he was flying into the sky and figuring out what was the quickest way to get to Sinnoh.
zzz-Diamond Domain-zzz
Mew had just left as Diancie bowed her head. Dace hummed. Shall I ready the troops, princess?
Diancie nodded. Yes. Have them gather by the western lava tube.
zzz-Terminus Cave-zzz
Mew vanished in a flash of pink light. Zygarde hummed.
We must go
Yes, this beautiful world needs us.
Zygarde then glanced at the two whom had taken refuge with them. Volcanion, in response, looked over at Magearna. What do you think?
The Dark One wishes to crush all life. We can not let that happen. Life is precious.The artificial pokemon urged earnestly.
zzz-Hall of Origin-zzz
ZZZ-Pokemon Translator Activated-ZZZ
Arceus rested calmly on his throne with his eyes closed, as multitudes of pokemon appeared in his hall so that he may carry them to battle when the time came. He could feel the nervousness and anger coming from the Guardians, knowing they were concerned for their last ember whom was in the grasp of the enemy.
"Father?"
Arceus glanced up and saw Mew floating there. "You've been doing a wonderful job. Have you come to make a count of who's missing?" Mew nodded and looked around a bit. She made to disappear and Arceus spoke again. "Be careful my daughter."
Mew vanished, heading off to find other pokemon to recruit in the world, and Arceus continued to sit and was about to close his eyes again when Palkia hummed.
"They really are gone aren't they? I can feel it. The connection is broken."
"Yes. Hopefully we can save them."
"And what of Time and Anti-matter, who will guard them?"
"I have severed their connection to those things for now… if things get really bad…" Arceus grew quiet. "Then I suppose I'll have to replace them." Palkia grew silent after that as Arceus wondered over the lie he'd told his child. He wasn't sure he could make new guardians of Time or Anti-matter. He was nothing like he used to be. Not at all.
zzz-Rota / Earlier that day-zzz
Lance froze and glanced over at the balcony of his room in the palace. He'd been working on some various paperwork and going over some last minute things before he was going to try catch up to Riley and the others and try one last time to stop them, when he'd heard a small cry.
A Crobat was sitting on the railing, holding a white roll of paper in his claws.
Lance opened the door and was offered the note. After he had gotten the chance to read it, the Champion looked out towards the mountains.
So there you have it. Everyone's in motion and dominoes are about to start falling. It's a lot to juggle and I'm trying my hardest! Hope you enjoyed!
Answers to Reviews:
LEGAL-EAGLE53:So wait, is Red's body buried in Yveltal's cave? Yveltal has two ls in it and you only put in one. Just thought I'd let you know. Are Blue and Green (Oak) buried in Pallet Town? I think I might have asked this, but has every dexholder/supporting characters' Pokemon evolved? Are Coronia and Maeve OCs? What arc did Chili and Coronia become a couple in? Same question, but with Cress and Burgundy. Is Ursula the only girl in her group? Any ideas on who you'll put Anabel with?
NoSignal: Yes, Red and his team are incased in crystal there. Thanks! I've got a lot of pokemon name spelling errors I've got to go back and fix eventually. Yes. Mostly, I don't know every last one off the top of my head, but Most of them. Yes. I think Unova for both. Ursula isn't the only girl in her Master Challenge group, but she is the only girl in "Damian's" group. When you say with, do you mean as a couple or on her team? I might have answered these a long time ago, but I thought I'd just answer them again here.
Kasumi96: Also how come the tree didnt defend itself against team rocket like in the movie with those orange thingys?
NoSignal: Partly because of their aura cloaking technology and partly because Mew had put the Tree to sleep to defend herself and the Tree. She new she couldn't be caught no matter how sad that made her and if the Tree had stayed awake during the assault, it would've died and the world needs that Tree now more than ever.
RSBCS: Now, I know it was said N may become a potential guardian in the future, but how come he went to Cameron Palace to be trained in it? So far, he hasn't exhibited any potential to actually use it yet, from last observation, besides communicating with Pokemon. Also, why didn't Ellie just return to the palace herself? Riley and Lucario would have picked up on what happened and done something, wouldn't they? However you are doing you're story, great work. It's really awesome thus far. Also, if you are ever on deviantART (it's how I find your story here), Can I ask for some feedback on a Pokemon story of my own? Anyways, Merry Christmas!
NoSignal: He wants to learn as much as he can about what his future may hold. Also though Riley isn't a pure lineage guardian, he can use aura. There are things he can learn in preparation for the future, that's all. :) She was a bit lost and didn't know how to get back to the Palace. Pokemon don't always pay attention to where they're trainers are heading. When I was learning to drive to the first time, I noticed I hardly knew how to get anywhere seeing as I didn't pay attention to where my parents were taking me when I was younger. You'd be surprised what you miss if your are purposefully focused on it. :) Thanks so much for your praise. It means a lot. I'm not on Deviantart anymore as you might have noticed, but I'd still read it as a guest if you like and tell you in a future chapter or PM(if you ever get an account on here) what I think.
sparkydragon98: My question about Ritchie and Assunta: How come they're not on either of the lists in the first chapter? Do they not count as a couple?
NoSignal: They're getting there, but they've only met a few times so far. They don't have much previous history with each other either. Give them a bit of time. They might not be mentioned as a couple until the drabble sequel to the Master Challenge. As for your suggestions, I'll take them into account and try my hardest to make good choices for the actual tournament.
NoSignal to Alina 122: Thank you so much! I'm glad you're enjoying the story so much. I'm honored by your praise.
Master of Aura sir Ash Ketchum: wait that pendant with queen Ilene have is it pendant from Sir Aaron Santos hi?
NoSignal: Queen Ilene owns her ancestor's pendant, who wore it during Sir Aaron's time.
sparkydragon98: Could you give Anabel a Sigilyph?
NoSignal: I'll think about it! It does seem like a good pokemon for her to have. I'll see what I can do.
NoSignal to All: I just wanted to thank you all so much for your kind words, support, and understanding for my Hiatus. I was able to get through the semester with greater ease because of your kindness. Thank you all so so much.
I've decided to give you guys a list of the new pokemon caught after each chapter so that new pokemon aren't spoiled but you also can remember which pokemon are new and aren't on the list at the start of the Arc.
Pokemon: N/A
So there you are I hope this helps some :) If you ever need the full list, minus the newest additions, it's at the beginning of the Arc.
Follow, Fav, Review, but most importantly, Enjoy! :D
~NoSignal
