DISCLAIMER: To be perfectly honest, I don't know why I have to keep on putting these stupid disclaimers on my chapters. But I suppose I don't want to get arrested, so with that in mind I should inform you that I do not own Pokemon.
MESSAGE TO READERS: WARNING! This chapter contains spoilers of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl episodes that have not yet been released outside of Japan. If you do not wish to find out what these spoilers are, then it is advised that you discontinue reading, or skip the section regarding Team Rocket, as that is where the spoiler mainly lies.
Apologies for those who have been waiting so long for an update. I've been on holiday (Corfu… very nice place…) and I've been planning future chapters before I get too highly involved in this one. But it is complete now, at least! So, other than that, go grab yourself a lemonade or something, kick back and enjoy!
THE LEAGUE OF CHAMPIONS
CHAPTER 34: REMORSELESS ROCKET GANG! THE IDENTITY OF THE DUO!
The events of the last couple of days were truly beginning to have an effect on me. I had endured some things that no man should in his lifetime in a matter of a week or so. From being in the midst of a battle to save a Legendary Pokemon, then being frozen by another… I could continue building this list, but I knew that I had to focus on the matter in hand. This trio of criminals; Jessie, James and the talking Meowth were just a grain of Team Rocket sugar. Who knows how many other Rockets would be prowling around the Pokemon League Tournament, ready to steal other people's Pokemon as well? From the impression I got from these three, they were actually idiots. But somehow, their plots had turned effective. Misty had privately told me how much of a nuisance they were throughout her journeys through Kanto and Johto. And she told me then that they were bumbling fools. However, they all seemed to have taken a sudden turn. They were acting much more viciously and aggressively than Misty had described. Not to mention that Jessie's Yanmega looked nay-upon impossible to get past. But I would have to if we stood any sort of chance of recovering our stolen Pokemon.
"How do we get past it?" Nurse Joy moaned.
"It's biggest weakness is against Rock Types," Sandra frowned. "And I don't have any Pokemon that know Rock Type moves."
"Tyranitar would have been able to take it down with ease," Tyne also let out a frustrated grunt. "But it can't do much in that net, can it?"
"Well, it's got to be weak against something else," I scowled. "Pelipper doesn't know any damaging Flying Type moves. Even Steel Wing doesn't do as much as it could do."
"So then what do you suggest?" Misty shrugged.
"Pelipper can fend off Yanmega for the moment, but not with that Carnivine attacking at the same time," I pondered.
"I could have Flygon come out and help," Sandra suggested. I took note of the idea, but before I could give a positive response, the Yanmega headed straight for us. Pelipper, who had now finished Roosting quickly took to the air. The Yanmega quickly launched an rock-like orb straight at Pelipper, which did not require instruction to evade.
"We need to take that Yanmega out now!" I cried out. "Use Hydro Pump!" Pelipper seemed to summon from deep inside its body a huge torrent of water, perhaps the biggest I had seen it use so far! The water struck the Yanmega hard, knocking it out of the sky and down to the ground. "Now is your chance!" I nodded to Sandra, who gleamed at the prospect of getting back at the Team Rocket trio.
"Flygon, use Steel Wing on the balloon!" Sandra yelled, throwing the Poke Ball skywards. The Dragon Pokemon shot up like a missile towards the floating balloon, but was met by the Carnivine, which was somehow hovering in mid air. It's gaping mouth snapped shut across the Flygon's torso. I could hear it cry out as the Grass Type's barb-like teeth sank deep into it. "Flygon, use Dragonbreath on it!" Sandra desperately called. Using its long neck to pivot its head, it fired a hot stream of breath at the Carnivine. Despite the fact that it connected, the attack almost dispersed across its dome shaped head deflecting some of the power back at the Flygon, which caused it even more pain. Despite this, the Carnivine did release its Bite attack, moving away before firing a Bullet Seed attack under the instruction of James.
"Full power!" James aggressively called, his blue hair waving in the breeze. The barrage of seeds seemed to fire even faster than before, striking Flygon with more force than one would expect.
"Pelipper, use Aerial Ace!" I called, knowing that a super effective attack could be the perfect way to pick out an opening in our attack strategy. Pelipper darted at the already attacking Carnivine, slamming as hard as it could into the Flycatcher Pokemon causing to cease the Bullet Seed attack. This was Flygon's chance!
"Dragonbreath!" Sandra shouted, as the Dragon spat another stream of dragonesque flame at the balloon. Rather than spread across the surface, the attack seemed to head straight for the Rockets themselves! They quickly ducked out of the way, their hair inches away from being singed. Amazingly, the balloon seemed to rise even higher. We all seemed completely stunned by this, until we could hear the Meowth laugh mockingly.
"That Flygon really is full of hot air!" it joked menacingly. "Would you two hurry up and finish them off?" it added, now sounding more serious.
"With pleasure," Jessie smirked. "Yanmega, Sonicboom!" The Bug took off once more and with several huge flaps of its thin wings, blades of air cut through the sky and rained down at us. I could see Aggron and Salamence up above desperately trying to free themselves. But the electrified net held them back. I could hardly believe that these trio of menaces were going to get away with this…
"What do you think?" Sabheen almost whispered to Tyne. I looked back to see his reaction, which seemed to be one of disgust.
"They were the ones who allowed Darkhan to escape," he sneered. "There's no reason why we should help them."
"If you won't, then I will," Sabheen sneered. "There's only one group of bad guys in this show and it certainly isn't them!" With that, Sabheen launched a Poke Ball forward. What emerged from it was a dark purple Pokemon. It was a stocky creature, with a large circular body, but its legs and arms were proportionally a lot shorter. It had a wide, sinister grin on its face beneath a pair of evil red eyes. "Shadow Sneak!" Sabheen darkly murmered. With that, the Ghost Pokemon slowly began to rise into the air without moving a muscle, before flattening itself into a disc of some sort, before floating up to the balloon. The Rockets inside let out a scream as the Gengar materialised in front of it. "Now Shadow Ball!" the Ghost Type Trainer murmered once again. How her Gengar heard her I didn't know. But nonetheless, it formed a sphere of dark energy in its hands and threw it at the basket, exploding on impact. The Rockets were sent flying from the basket and down to the ground. The fall seemed to be fatal, but to my amazement the trio got back up to their feet without so much as a scratch on them!
"How did they survive that!?" I gasped. But what concerned me more was that the captured Pokemon had not yet landed. It wasn't until I looked up and saw that the Gengar had the net grasped it in its hands, the electric barrier disabled from the explosion. It's strength was incredible to support the weight of a Salamence, an Aggron, a Tyranitar and a Chansey! With surprising delicacy, the Gengar rested the net on the ground, opening the net to allow the Pokemon to escape. Salamence quickly returned to Sandra's side, its trainer wrapping its arms happily around its neck. Aggron charged over towards me, as Pelipper landed next to me. Nurse Joy was equally delighted as her Chansey made its way over to the Pokemon Nurse. We then all focused our attention on the criminals known as Team Rocket. The Yanmega and Carnivine seemed battle ready, yet their trainers seemed petrified to be facing such a wide array of powerful Pokemon.
"Let's get outta here!" Meowth shrieked.
"Mean Look!" Sabheen slyly grinned. Her Gengar's eyes began to glow a deep crimson colour, literally stopping the foes dead. "Now you'll face the punishment that awaits you!" she grinned.
"I doubt that!" James smirked.
"What is that meant to mean?" Tyne glared at the blue haired Rocket.
"You'll see soon enough, but seeing as we're stuck here we might as well wait it out a little," Jessie shrugged, taking a seat on the floor. They even called back Yanmega and Carnivine for some unknown reason. I gave them a curious look. They were most certainly up to something, but I didn't know what.
"You three have been nothing but trouble ever since we got here!" Misty growled. "Why don't you just leave us alone?"
"Now, now," Jessie smiled far from sweetly. "Don't you worry that pretty red head of yours. All will be revealed."
"Talk!" I snapped. "If you don't, I'm sure Aggron will have something to say about it!" Aggron took a threatening pace forward, growling even more than I was. The Rockets simply remained still and closed their eyes. They seemed to be chuckling to themselves.
"Mind Games won't work against us, Team Rocket!" Sandra frowned. "Just tell us what you are doing!"
"Temper temper," James taunted. I could hear something faint in the distance. It sounded like twigs snapping. It wasn't until the noise began to get louder that I noticed the ground was beginning to shake. I could see tall trees in the distance falling with ease. I quickly grabbed Aggron's Poke Ball along with Pelipper's.
"Return now!" I quickly called, knowing that we were all about to be in serious danger. Team Rocket looked incredibly smug, grinning with content. Everyone else also called back their Pokemon, with the exception of Tyne and Sabheen, whose Tyranitar and Gengar remained in place. We quickly scurried to safety behind some nearby rocks, peering over to where Sabheen and Tyne were still stood. From the forest, a large machine bore through the woodland, stopping just behind Team Rocket. It looked almost like a giant mechanised Meowth of some sort. The Rocket Trio quickly entered their machine, disappearing into the mechanical interior. We could hear them laughing over a set of speakers. Sabheen and Tyne both looked highly unimpressed. But from where I was, I was filled with awe and fear.
"Either you get out of our way or we'll squash you like the insects that you are!" Jessie threatened, her voice echoing from the speakers built into the machine's design. Tyne and Sabheen simply looked at each other and chuckled to themselves a little. I could hear three distinct scowls coming from inside the cockpit of the machine. "Fine, you asked for it," Jessie snarled, as the mecha's foot raised up and slammed down with a mighty thud. A cloud of dust blew across the area, causing myself, Misty, Nurse Joy and Sandra to cover our eyes. When the cloud had finally dispersed, we were in for a shock. Rather than being crushed, the foot of the mecha had been stopped by the Tyranitar, which had a ferociously aggressive look it its eye. With a mighty throw, it sent Team Rocket's machine to the ground with a thunderous crash that caused the ground to shake as shockwaves rippled through it. Slowly, the machine got back up to its feet with a mechanical hiss as the Gengar floated towards it.
"You can't win, Rockets," Tyne chuckled. "Tyranitar and Gengar have you totally outclassed."
"Not for long," Meowth giggled craftily. "James, prepare the Rocket Cannon."
"That doesn't sound good," I murmured, as the mecha held out the palms of its hand to face the two specialist trainers. Two circular discs slid open in the hands, before two cannon like protrusions slowly emerged. I considered running a mile, but it seemed strange how Gengar and Tyranitar did not seem at all intimidated. A strange blue glow began to emanate at the tips of the cannons.
"You've got to get out of there!" Nurse Joy shouted.
"Not a chance," Sabheen grinned. "Gengar, why don't you put an end to this ridiculous charade?" The Gengar made its move, passing through the thick steel shell of the mecha. There was a brief pause, before we could hear all sorts of bangs and explosions coming from inside. There was another glow, this time coming through slits in the shell. We all took cover as the mecha detonated, a huge fireball engulfing the area where the mecha once stood. From nowhere, the Gengar reappeared beside Sabheen. Three small specks could be seen in the sky, where Team Rocket had apparently "blasted off again". Cautiously, we approached the duo who had now suddenly turned to face us.
"Now that that little problem is out of the way," Tyne began, "what business is it of yours to interfere with our own?"
"We were after Darkhan," I explained. "He seems to have some sort of grudge against me and I wanted to settle it."
"And I have history with the bastard as well," Sandra added with an angered scowl. Sabheen raised an eyebrow at her, as if trying to remember something.
"Don't I know you from somewhere?" Sabheen queried. "Yes… a long time ago. Silph Co."
"Silph Co?" she frowned. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Yes, of course! That would be why Gordon wanted Darkhan removed in the first place!" Tyne snapped his fingers in conclusion.
"Tyne!" Sabheen groaned. "We shouldn't be discussing this."
"Now hold on," Sandra took a pace forward to confront the duo. "Gordon was my father's name… and he worked for Silph Co. And you just said that he wanted Darkhan removed. But Darkhan killed my father years ago. What are you hiding from me?" Sandra angrily demanded, arming herself with a Poke Ball.
"That information is classified," Sabheen brushed of the threat idly. "And besides, His Lordship does not want the world to know any of our operations until the time is right."
"Well you've done a great job of keeping it secret so far," I replied sarcastically.
"Tyne… if we let Darkhan get away then he will have our guts for garters. You realise that," Sabheen said sternly to her comrade.
"How about we make you a deal," Sandra smiled a little. "We'll help you get Darkhan if you tell us EXACTLY what is going on."
"We do not listen to the voice of reason," Tyne sneered.
"Darkhan has more than likely already gone through Viridian by now, maybe even Pewter," Sabheen scowled to him. "He knows that we are here, so he's probably ran off."
"Darkhan is crafty," Sandra said. "He may stay here, thinking that you would expect him to flee."
"Reverse psychology?" I tilted my head. "Is he clever enough to do that?"
"He might not be clever when it comes to words," Sandra stated, "but his cunningness knows no limit. We will stay here and search for Darkhan. There may be chance that he will come back to face Jonathyn anyway. And even if we don't get to him first then Officer Jenny might do."
"NO!" Tyne boomed, making us jump a little. "We must seize him ourselves. He is no good to us behind prison bars."
"Then what do you want us to do? Keep him on the streets until you get back?" I snarled, getting frustrated more and more.
"Just do what you have to," Tyne sighed. "Shouldn't we authorise this?"
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"I was talking to Sabheen," Tyne snorted, turning to face his colleague. "We should inform His Lordship of our new allegiance."
"Perhaps some things are best left unsaid," Sabheen shrugged.
"You know his eyes are watching," Tyne retaliated. "We need to let him know otherwise he'll definitely have our 'guts for garters' as you affectionately put it." Sabheen let out a small scowl, apparently confused by the predicament that they had now been put in.
"Fine… I'll call him now," Sabheen finally conceded, withdrawing a cell phone from her pocket and placing a small headset into her ear, a small microphone device hung by her mouth. She turned away from us as if trying to hide what she was saying.
"So, what's the deal with you two?" Misty stepped forward, apparently eager to learn about the two strangers.
"We are a part of a group of trainers that each specialises in different Pokemon Types," Tyne explained briefly. "I specialise in Dark Type Pokemon, whereas Sabheen is a master of Ghost Type Pokemon."
"Interesting," Sandra pondered for a moment. "There's seventeen different Pokemon Types… so that must mean there are a total of seventeen trainers."
"Quick thinking," Tyne nodded, almost taken aback at the speed of Sandra's deductions.
"Wait… so how does that affect your relationship with Darkhan?" I asked. "I mean, he uses all sorts of different Pokemon."
"His Lordship hired Darkhan to find him some exclusive Pokemon for him," Tyne continued. "Why am I even telling you this? This information is meant to be classified."
"Do you want our help or not?" I sneered at him. Tyne let out a small chuckle.
"We don't NEED help from anyone," Tyne smirked.
"Well if you're so high and mighty why did 'His Lordship' hire Darkhan to do his bidding?" I questioned. "Why did he not send someone from your group?"
"Do not question the actions of His Lordship!" Tyne scolded. "Whatever he has planned, you can be sure that it will change the world we live in as we know it."
"For better or for worse?" Nurse Joy shuddered a little, contemplating what truth was behind this plan.
"How should I know?" Tyne shrugged his shoulders. "None of us know the reason why his Lordship wishes to capture specific Pokemon. Not even the highest ranked member knows the full story."
"And who might that be?" Sandra asked aggressively.
"I can answer that, my dear," a deep voice whispered from the darkness. We looked around, trying to find the owner of the voice. A silhouette appeared in the moonlight directly opposite the opening created from Team Rocket's mechanical abomination. It was not that of a human. Rather that of a large monster of some sort. Obviously a Pokemon. It took a giant step forward, yet it landed on the floor delicately whereas I was expecting the earth to move. As the moonlight began to shine over the creature, I could see that it was an abnormally huge Pokemon. It must have stood well over twelve feet in height, with a pair of rather small orange wings, which matched the colour of its skin. It's underbelly and muzzle was a creamier colour, however. A smaller figure leapt down from the monster's head, landing on its feet in a crouching position, before returning to a vertical base.
"Master Gordon!" Tyne said in amazement, almost gob smacked at this man's presence. Even Sabheen turned around, her eyes widening in apparent fear.
"Hello Sandra," the man snickered almost diabolically. I took a quick look at the Dragon Trainer, who seemed to be taken the most by surprised. "From the expression on your face, I would say that I am the last person you would expect to see here today," he grinned with an almost evil sincerity. I gave Sandra another strange look, before turning back to the man. I didn't know what it was about the man, but he seemed to bear a striking resemblance to Sandra. Another interesting thing was that the gargantuan Dragonite stood behind would be something I'd have expected Sandra to have in her possession. That's when it struck me…
"Sandra…" I began to ask. "Is that your…"
"It can't be!" Sandra stammered in disbelief. "My eyes must be deceiving me… Father… is it really you!?"
TO BE CONTINUED
NEXT TIME: More is revealed about the mysterious group of trainers. And has Sandra finally crossed paths with her long lost father? Or is he a doppelganger of some kind? And what does he want here?