Apparently, FF decided to remove all my paragraphs in the last chapter. I have no idea why that happened as I didn't do anything different, but I hope that it'll be normal again for this one.
Here we are for yet another chapter. As usual, lots of dialogue, with Cyrus finally explaining his plan and everyone basically going down their own paths. Enjoy, and don't forget to review! I will say in advance that this chapter is the most verbose yet, and probably the most verbose in the entire story.
Chapter 6: Blastoffs, Schemes and Turnarounds
When the smoke cleared from the Contest Hall, May breathed a sigh of relief. That is, until she saw the chaos. She hadn't noticed in the rush of the moment, but she and Dawn hadn't been the only ones to fight Team Galactic.
As it turned out, May also wasn't the only one who had lost her Pokémon. There were angry faces, sad ones, and faces mixed between anger and sadness.
"Did they take all those Pokémon?" Dawn asked, her voice full of amazement.
"I guess…" May replied. "Come on, let's find Ash and Brock."
Dawn nodded. "Yeah. I wonder how they fared."
May frowned angrily. "I hope better than we did."
The girls walked through the crowd of distraught Coordinators and Trainers, many of whom were Pokémon-less. Suddenly, Dawn gasped.
"May, look!" she said insistently.
May looked up, confused. "What is it?" she asked, trying to see what Dawn saw.
"Over there near the emergency exit, isn't that Team Rocket?"
May looked in the direction Dawn now pointed in, and indeed saw the trio of villains sneakily getting away. She saw a flash of yellow with them and her eyes widened.
"They've got Pikachu!" she exclaimed, a new anger rising within her.
"What?" Dawn looked too, and saw that May was right. "Come on, we have to go after them," she said, her blue eyes filling with anger.
May nodded grimly and started running towards the exit, with Dawn hurrying to catch up with her.
"Team Rocket! Come back here!" May yelled.
She knew that it was probably not a very smart thing to do, but she couldn't care less. She was angry and Team Rocket would feel her wrath, no matter what.
"Ugh, the Hoenn twerpette saw us," Jessie fumed as she opened the door and gestured that James and Meowth should hurry up.
"Yeah, I could hear her yelling from the other side of the Hall," James said, not exactly amused. He had a healthy respect for Blaziken's power.
The Rockets made their way outside and were just about to enter their balloon when May and Dawn caught up with them.
"Team Rocket! Where's Ash? And give back Pikachu!" May demanded.
"Why don't you just give up already?" Dawn said in an annoyed voice.
The Rockets shot each other a glance and sighed.
"Listen, is that a voice I hear?" Jessie asked, turning to face May and Dawn.
"It's speaking to me loud and clear," James said, mimicking Jessie.
"On the wind!" Jessie said.
"Past the stars!" James added.
"In your ear!" Meowth said his inexplicable line.
"Bringing chaos at a breakneck pace!" Jessie exclaimed passionately.
"Dashing hope, putting fear in its place," James said in an equally passionate voice.
"A rose by any other name is just as sweet," Jessie said, softer now.
"When everything's worse, our work is complete," James said solemnly.
"Jessie!"
"And James!"
"And Meowth, now dat's a name!"
"Putting the do-gooders in their place!" Jessie went on.
"We're Team Rocket," James added, grinning.
"In your face!" All of them said in unison.
("In your face!") Wobbuffet repeated, releasing himself from his Poké Ball.
"Look, just forget the stupid motto!" May yelled. "Answer my questions or Blaziken will send you flying."
"And Piplup will help," Dawn added, releasing the Penguin Pokémon.
("Now you're in for it,") Piplup said cockily.
"Ah, but we don't really have time to be playing with you two twerpettes," Jessie said. "Seviper, go!"
"Carnivine, take them down!"
The huge gold black snake and carnivorous plant appeared in flashes of white light, and May called out Blaziken to stand alongside Piplup.
Carnivine immediately latched onto James, who dislodged his carnivorous friend and told her to fight.
"Blaziken, Blaze Kick Seviper!"
"Piplup, use Bubble Beam on Carnivine!"
"Seviper, Poison Tail!"
"Carnivine, Vine Whip!"
While Blaziken instantly knocked out Seviper with her Blaze Kick, Piplup had some more trouble with his adversary, who not only had a size advantage, but also a type advantage.
Piplup's Bubble Beam was shattered by Carnivine's Vine Whip and the small Pokémon was knocked back.
"Blaziken, help Piplup! Sky Uppercut!" May ordered.
Blaziken gave an evil grin when she stared down Carnivine. The Grass-type raised her vines to block the incoming punch, but it was to no avail. She was sent crashing into Seviper, and the leftover momentum sent them flying into the Rockets before the whole group finally crashed into the balloon and came to a standstill.
("Hey, take it easy, will you?") Pikachu's muffled voice said from beneath the pile of Rockets.
("Sorry, couldn't resist,") Blaziken replied, grinning widely.
"Now, return Pikachu or we'll give you another beating," May said, placing her hands on her hips.
"And this time we won't be so kind, right, Piplup?" Dawn added.
("This time they'll suffer,") Piplup said, causing Dawn to give him a slightly amused look.
Piplup was very sensitive about his size sometimes, and being beaten by a larger opponent hurt his ego. Jessie was the first of the Rockets to get back to her feet, but before she could say anything to May and Dawn, James pulled her sleeve.
"Jessie…I think we have a problem," he said, anxiously eyeing something in the balloon.
"Yes, I can see that," Jessie replied. "Two of them, right in front of us," she continued.
James shook his head. "I mean the sparking of the throttle," he said shakily.
"The sparking of the…" Jessie paled as she realized what this meant. "Oh great…" she muttered.
A huge explosion ripped apart the balloon and sent the Rockets, their Pokémon and Pikachu flying.
"We're blasting off again!" they yelled as they disappeared over the horizon.
"May, they still have Pikachu!" Dawn said, her eyes widening.
May nodded grimly. "I know. Come one, we'll follow them."
May recalled Blaziken and Dawn scooped up Piplup, and the girls set off after Team Rocket.
A normal day in a clearing in a forest was disturbed by a group of people and Pokémon literally falling from the sky. A group of Stantler scattered to avoid being crushed and Bug Pokémon watched from the undergrowth to see what had landed in their peaceful habitat.
"Oh man, that hurt…" James groaned as he sat up unto his knees and shook his head.
"James, you have exactly three seconds to get off me, or you'll be hurt a lot worse," Jessie said from underneath him.
James' eyes widened and he immediately jumped aside, fearful of Jessie's wrath.
"Dat was not funny…" Meowth muttered as he too crawled back to his feet.
("That's the understatement of the year…") Seviper groaned.
("Seconded…") was all that Carnivine said.
The Rockets recalled their tired and beaten Pokémon and looked around.
"Aren't we missing something?" James asked, scratching his head as he tried to recall what it was.
"Hmm, you're right…" Jessie muttered, also trying to figure out what it was they were missing.
("Let me give you a clue,") Pikachu said from a distance. The Rockets gasped and stiffened upon hearing him. ("It's yellow, small, and very, very annoyed.")
"Meowth, why isn't the rodent in his shockproof cage?" Jessie demanded angrily.
"How I supposed ta know dat we would be blasted off?" Meowth replied desperately.
"It's called planning! Learn to do it!" Jessie said as she smacked Meowth with a fan.
"Um…could we maybe fight after this is taken care of?" James asked rather desperately.
Pikachu was eyeing them with a large grin on his face, his cheeks already sparking.
"Wait! You can't blast us off again!" James yelled at him.
("Give me one reason why I shouldn't,") Pikachu replied, fixing his dark eyes on James.
James looked puzzled, and then turned to Meowth, who translated what Pikachu had said. Ash and his friends might be able to understand Pikachu; that didn't go for the Rockets.
"Well…because…because you don't know where you are, or where the city is," James said.
"That's right!" Jessie chimed in. "Without us, you'll never find your twerp friends."
Pikachu still wanted to blast them, but he knew they were right. On his own he'd never be able to find Ash and the others.
("So I'm stuck with you guys?") he said with obvious distaste.
After Meowth had translated, Jessie said, "That's right, you little pest! So you'd better listen to every word I say, or else I'll…" she couldn't finish her sentence, because Pikachu had given her a light Thundershock.
("Don't try to boss me around. I'll tag along with you, but I'll be watching you,") Pikachu threatened.
He knew he didn't have any other options, but he still didn't like the prospect of being stuck with Team Rocket.
"Anyway, let's find a road," James said. Just like Pikachu, he didn't look forward to the shaky truce between them and Pikachu, especially because they were likely to be blasted off again once they'd found Ash and the others.
In silence, the Rockets and Pikachu headed off.
Ash was being dragged through a long corridor in the airship. His Pokémon had been taken from him, and he had given up trying to break the solid grip of the Galactic Grunts. The corridor was very plain, with several stainless steel doors in the walls, and mesh grating overhead.
At the end of the corridor was a door with a Security Lock. One of the Grunts produced a key card, moved it through the lock and opened the door. Ash was thrown in forcefully, and the door closed behind him.
"Hey! Come back here!" Ash shouted as he banged the door.
"Welcome, Ash Ketchum," a voice behind him said.
Ash whirled around and only now discovered that he was standing inside the control room of the airship. There were monitors and lights all over the place, and a single chair facing the monitors. The chair had the Team Galactic G on the back.
Ash recognized the voice who had greeted him as the one who had orchestrated the entire attack.
"Cyrus…" he growled.
The chair turned around. On it sat a man with blue, spiky hair and narrow, piercing eyes. He wore a custom Galactic uniform.
"Yes, I am Cyrus. I'll be your host as long as you're here," he said with his cold voice.
"What do you want from me?" Ash asked, his voice laden with hostility.
Cyrus smirked. "Until recently, nothing whatsoever. Now that you've been brought before me, however, my plans have changed somewhat," he said.
Ash frowned. What was he talking about?
"What do you mean?"
Cyrus stood up and approached Ash. Ash was nervous, but he didn't back away.
"I want you to help me gain control over the creators of Sinnoh," Cyrus said, an evil gleam in his eye.
"Help you? Have you lost your mind? I'll never help someone like you," Ash said, turning his head away. How could Cyrus even think that he would ever do something like that?
"I was afraid you would say that. Fortunately, I have my own means of convincing people," Cyrus said, still smirking.
Ash scoffed. "And what might that be? Have some Pokémon use Hypnosis on me?"
Cyrus shook his head. "As easy as that would be, no. I have no use for merely your body and mind. I need more than that."
Ash finally dropped his frown as his curiosity got the better of him. "Then what do you need? And why do you need me?" he asked.
Cyrus turned back to face the monitors and slowly walked over. "You have…a gift. You have the ability to communicate with Pokémon. Not just through normal ways, but by some other connection as well. A connection of your hearts."
He turned around again, facing Ash once more. "Pokémon trust you, Ash. I have monitored the movements of Palkia and Dialga, and even Giratina, and with all of their recent appearances, you were present. The creators of this world trust you. As such, I need to you to capture them and harness their power."
Ash felt his anger return and he lashed out at Cyrus. "Never! Do you think I'd betray them for you? I'd never do something like that!" he shouted.
Cyrus chuckled. "Didn't I tell you I have my ways of convincing people? You see, your friends are also aboard this airship. They are utterly at my mercy, and if you fail to help me, I cannot guarantee their safety."
Ash growled angrily. That Cyrus would go this low…
"It bothers you, does it not?" Cyrus asked coldly.
Ash gave him a furious glare. "Of course it bothers me! You want me to choose between my friends and the Pokémon!"
"Emotions are wasteful. That is why I shall recreate the world in a perfect state. A world that has no emotion, no spirit," Cyrus said, balling his hand into a fist. "Your resolve was unwavering, yet your petty attachment to your friends makes you hesitate. It is this weakness I seek to eradicate from this world," he continued, boring his cold eyes into Ash's.
"And you think that destroying spirit solves everything? That destroying that which gives us our humanity in the first place will make this world perfect?" Ash demanded.
"I need not defend my motives against you, Ash. You have twenty-four hours to decide the fate of your friends," Cyrus said.
He pressed a button and two Grunts came in to take Ash away.
"You will never get away with this, Cyrus," Ash growled as the Grunts grabbed his arms.
"We shall see, Ash Ketchum, we shall see," Cyrus replied, turning to his monitors once again.
With Ash removed from the room, Cyrus clicked the intercom. "You heard me, right?" he asked coldly. "I want those other kids here within a day. Contact Harley and tell him to search for them; he'll know where to find us."
"Yes sir," Mars' voice said over the intercom, "And Team Rocket?"
Cyrus pondered for a moment what to do with those inept fools. Despite their grievous incompetence, they had at least managed to install the smoke machines.
"Give them orders to look for the kids as well. I need not remind you it's imperative at this point that we get our hands on those children," Cyrus said.
"Yes sir, understood. Mars out."
Cyrus sat down in his chair and surveyed the monitors. He went through all the security cameras and guard stations to ensure there were no anomalies. Useful as it was to have a legion of Grunts at his disposal, they were very inept and imperfect, and could therefore not be trusted with even the most menial of tasks without supervision.
The Commanders had proven themselves capable enough to send on assignments, but even they were not flawless.
'Not even I am perfect…' Cyrus thought, 'But soon, all that will change. I will make this world perfect, and rid it of all that is imperfect.'
His original plan had been to use the power of a great number of Pokémon to harness the power of one of the legendary Dragons, and then use the power of that one to subdue the other.
With a resource as valuable as Ash delivered right into his grasp, however, his plan could be brought to fruition sooner than he could have envisioned. He held all the keys, now all that was left was to use them.
May and Dawn were trekking through the small forest bordering Hearthome in pursuit of Team Rocket. They didn't know where their eternal enemies had landed after being blasted off, so they would just continue going until they found a usable trace of them.
"Why is it that Team Rocket always knows where to find us, but when we want to find them for once they're nowhere to found?" May groaned.
She was getting more annoyed with each passing second, even though she knew that Team Rocket had likely been blasted off over a way bigger distance than what she and Dawn had crossed so far.
"Maybe we should have thought this through a bit better before just setting off after them," Dawn said, sounding about as tired as May felt.
("Maybe you could've thought of that before we went off without any preparation at all,") Piplup said acidly.
Dawn gave him an angry look. "I haven't seen you doing any walking yet, Piplup, so you don't have any right to complain at all!" she said angrily.
"Let's quit the bickering and save our anger for Team Rocket," May sighed, without even looking back at Dawn.
For some reason, even now she felt uneasy around her friend. Despite their current situation she still had the whole matter with Ash and Drew in the back of her mind. That feeling was about to get worse, as suddenly…
"Hey! Is anyone there?"
May stiffened when she heard the voice. Could it really be… and indeed, a few seconds later a green-haired Coordinator stepped through some bushes and stood in front of May and Dawn.
("Outta the friggin frying pan…") Piplup muttered darkly.
The little Pokémon was tired and he didn't want Drew to be with them at all, especially now.
"May! Are you alright?" Drew asked, his green eyes filled with worry.
("Gag, give me a bucket…") Piplup said, turning his head away.
Dawn smacked him on the back of his head and furiously whispered, "Alright, you don't like Drew; opinion duly noted, okay? Now keep your witty comments to yourself."
Piplup scoffed, but remained silent.
"We're fine, how about you?" May asked, ignoring Piplup and Dawn.
Drew shrugged. "I got away just fine, but I saw Team Rocket flying overhead so I figured I'd follow them. I thought I 'd found them but it turned out to be you," he said, looking May up and down to check for injuries.
"I'm fine too, thanks," Dawn said, a bit stung that Drew seemed to ignore her so pointedly.
("And I have to shut up…") Piplup muttered, once again earning him a smack to the head.
"I'm sorry, I was just surprised to see you here and I've known May for a long time, so…" Drew said, sort of apologizing.
Dawn shrugged, accepting the 'apology'. "It's okay, I'm just a little tired myself," she replied.
"We're chasing the Rockets as well," May said. "They have Pikachu and we're not letting them get away."
Drew nodded. "I see. I'll help you find them, then."
May smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Drew."
Drew flicked his hair and answered, "Anytime, May."
Dawn almost apologized to Piplup for smacking him, because she really wanted to make a gagging motion at Drew's 'smooth' gesture. How could Ash even be afraid that May would like this guy?
When her thoughts went to Ash, however, she remembered that now was not the time for fooling around. "Well, we'd better get a move on," she said. "The Rockets might have a really big lead, and we need to find at least a trace before it gets too dark to continue; if we don't, we might never find them."
May and Drew nodded. "You're right. Let's go."
"Jessie, where are we going?" James asked, sounding as if he'd ran a marathon.
Jessie turned around and gave him a death glare, before replying, "I don't know; do I look like a Town Map?"
James sighed. "We really need to stop being blasted off all the time…"
("Maybe if you were any good as criminals you might succeed,") Pikachu commented smugly.
Meowth translated what he said to the Rockets and Jessie said, "If we're no good as criminals, what does that make you for being captured by us every other day?"
("Captured, then subsequently freed about five minutes later,") Pikachu said with a steel face.
"Ya know, ya really shouldn't be makin' Jessie so angry," Meowth said, not bothering to translate Pikachu's words.
("Oh? And why not? Does she care about angering me?") Pikachu replied rhetorically.
He was enjoying pissing off Team Rocket, absolutely certain that they couldn't harm him in any way.
"Ya never know what she might do ta ya," Meowth warned again.
Pikachu shrugged. ("I really don't care. You're the ones always out to get me; do you really expect me to be all friendly?") he asked.
"Meowth, what are you guys talking about?" Jessie demanded. Meowth translated and Jessie started to say something, but James cut her off.
"Just leave it. Whether we like it or not, we're in this together. We might as well help each other out, at least form a truce until we've found our way back to civilization."
Pikachu and Jessie stared each other down, each putting on the most vicious look they could manage, before turning away from each other and saying, ("Fine.")
As they walked on, Pikachu began to wonder why Team Rocket was so eager to get him in the first place. He knew they were convinced that he was something special, but that didn't quite explain their utter devotion to this particular task.
("So, what exactly is so special about me that you've chased me down halfway around the world?")
"When we hand you over to our boss we'll be richly rewarded," Jessie said as soon as Meowth had translated.
("Do you really believe that, or is that just some last hope?") Pikachu asked.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jessie asked hotly.
"Oh come on," James said. "You know he's right. Yeah, we tell ourselves we'll be richly rewarded, but the fact remains that even before we started chasing the twerps we weren't exactly his favorites."
Jessie scoffed and turned away.
("You don't have to be criminals, you know. I know you aren't heartless, because you've helped us out before,") Pikachu said. He realized that with his offhand comment he actually struck a chord with the Rockets, and he decided to act on it.
("It doesn't suit you to be the way you are. Your Pokémon are very loyal to you, and I know they love you because I've seen that time and time again. So why is it you treat other Pokémon like crap even though you love them as much as other Trainers do?")
Jessie and James gave each other uneasy glances. They knew Pikachu was right, but what could they answer?
("You may not be able to understand your Pokémon like Ash and his friends do, that doesn't mean you don't love them. Team Rocket, no, Giovanni is forcing you to do things to other people's Pokémon, and wild ones, that you'd never do to your own.")
Pikachu noticed, with each sentence, that his anger towards the Rockets was vanishing and that every word he spoke was the truth.
More awkward stares. "He's right…" James whispered. "Just look at how Carnivine treats me, and Cacnea and Victreebel before her. And the same goes for Seviper and Wobbuffet and Yanmega."
Jessie looked troubled. Of course she knew that Pikachu and James were right, and of course she knew that her Pokémon loved her as much as she loved them. But what use was admitting that?
("Turn your back on Team Rocket. Just try to become normal people, with normal lives.") Pikachu paused, then rephrased himself. ("Or anyway, as normal as anyone's life is in this crazy world of ours.")
"We can't," Meowth said. "Da boss would never let us get out of da organization."
Jessie and James nodded in agreement.
"Giovanni is ruthless, even more so than Cyrus," James said.
"We're lucky to be here in Sinnoh, where Team Rocket is spread thin," Jessie added.
("Then stay in Sinnoh; no one is telling you to go back to Kanto or Johto,") Pikachu said.
The Rockets still didn't appear convinced. "You think too much of us," James said. "We're criminals, we avoid the law and we don't like being responsible civilians."
("So become vigilantes,") Pikachu replied, shrugging. ("Hell, you already have a motto suited for vigilante life. Or in any case, you had.")
"What do you mean, we had?" Jessie asked suspiciously.
("You know, the 'to protect the world from devastation' one.")
"Ya know, ya may be right," Meowth said, thinking.
"Our new motto is indeed a lot less catchy," James mused.
Pikachu sweatdropped. It seemed that the Rockets were more concerned about their motto than their lifestyles. Ah well, it was start.
"Maybe we should go back to the old one," James said, contemplating.
("So…are you going to stop being criminals?") Pikachu asked.
"We can't! Giovanni would never let us quit," Jessie said, sounding desperate.
"Besides, where would we get money? Vigilantes don't exactly have regular jobs either," James said, sighing. He liked the idea of actually doing illegal stuff, but helping people at the same time.
("There's always some way to get money. Besides, if you're vigilantes the people will love you; they'll be happy to give you a meal if you ask them nicely,") Pikachu said.
He was surprised Team Rocket was so willing to listen to him, even though he'd known they weren't really evil. But if it meant they would become allies rather than enemies it was definitely worth it.
The Rockets gave each other contemplative stares, seeming to be engaged in a silent debate. For a full five minutes, the silence was only broken by the rustling of the trees and the cries of nearby Bird Pokémon.
Pikachu wondered what they would decide. The thought of Team Rocket as vigilantes was admittedly a bit laughable, but no more than the thought of them as nefarious criminals.
"Let's do it!" Jessie said. "If we become vigilantes my perfect visage will inspire many little girls to follow my example, and they will worship me as a symbol of justice!"
James sweatdropped, but he said, "I like the idea. We'd be our own boss and we wouldn't have to spend fortunes on mechs to capture Pokémon for anyone."
"And I would be a mascot again! My kind would gain fame as a vigilante Pokémon!" Meowth said, his eyes gleaming like the jewel on his forehead.
Pikachu didn't want to break the news to them that while vigilantes were mostly loved by the general public, they didn't exactly have easy lives. But Team Rocket was used to a hard life, and they wouldn't have to be blasted off every other day. They'd probably feel like they were on vacation.
"But…" James muttered, suddenly glum again, "What do we do about Giovanni? And Cyrus? I mean, we worked with him as well so he might come looking for us again."
("Deal with that when the time comes,") Pikachu said. ("For now, it's more important that you do what you want to do. I'm sure your Pokémon will like their new roles as crime fighters rather than criminals as well.")
Pikachu felt elated that he had managed to turn his old enemies into allies at last, but then he remembered their situation.
("We'd better try to find a city. We need to contact Ash and the others before they come over to blast you guys off again,") he said.
The Rockets nodded in agreement.
"We're not exactly in the mood for that," Jessie affirmed.
"Alright den, let's go!" Meowth said, raising his paw into the air.
With the Rocket trio eagerly discussing their new 'occupations' and Pikachu smiling sheepishly, the group set off.
So, did I lie about the verbose thing? The next chapter will be more restrained in the dialogue department, as I'll try to be more descriptive, emphasizing more on people's reactions to situations and their feelings, as well as events. I hope you don't hate me too much for turning the Rockets into good guys, or to have them revert to their old motto. (Yes, they reverted, but they just haven't used it again yet.) I just don't think they're really criminals at heart, and I hate the new motto. And, before I forget, sorry for making the transition from good to evil so weak. I was planning on editing it, but I'm lazy and it has absolutely no bearing on the rest of the story as it doesn't alter any events, so I figured I might as well write more chapters, rather than trying to smooth out something that isn't that horrible here. Oh, and I haven't forgotten about Brock, if you were wondering. In the next chapter he'll make his reappearance. Please review, and tell me what you think of my decision to make Jessie, James and Meowth into good guys.