The Year of Rocket's Revenge
Session July, Part 5 (08.08.05/05.02.06)
There's a saying that states that somewhere in this crazy world is a person that can pass as your double. That same saying also says that one of you has to be good and the other one has to be evil. If you believe the philosophies of Yin and Yang, that is.
But imagine if you met someone who looks just like you. But she's not evil... she just lives in a world entirely different from yours. And she's been diagnosed with a disease. A deadly disease that will kill her in one month's time. You start to think... if you think she's good, just like you, wouldn't you want to find a way to help her? To make sure she survives, even if you have no idea how to cure her problem?
That's the situation I'm in. I'm about to meet 'my other half.' And neither me or my friends would've ever predicted how much my 'double' would affect our lives for months to come.
Ash, Misty, Brock, and Pikachu were taken aback by what the stranger before them, whom they thought was Ash's rival, Gary Oak, had just said.
"You're joking... right?" Misty asked again, still not believing what she had just heard.
'Gary' rolled his eyes. "Great, you're delusional... I'd better find your doctor right away!"
"I'm not delusional, you're insane!"
"Hold on a sec," Brock jumped in, stopping Misty from doing something she might regret.
"Yeah... why is Misty sick anyway?" queried a confused Ash. "She doesn't look sick to me."
"I don't know who you fellows are... but this will be better explained once we get young Marina back in bed!"
"Marina! My name's not Marina, it's Misty!"
'Gary' started to freak out, jumping about in a state of panic. "Oh my... it's worse than I thought! You think you're someone else now!"
"You're gonna wish you were someone else when I get through with you, Gary!" Misty exclaimed, marching angrily towards him.
"And I told you, my name isn't Gary... it's Griff!"
"Griff?" Ash scratched his head in thought as, behind him, Brock pulled on Misty's arms as she struggled to break free to give Griff a piece of her mind.
"Yes, my name's Griff. I don't know who this Gary person is, but I'm not him."
"Hmmm... I thought as much."
"You thought as much?" Misty and Brock asked, surprised.
Ash nodded. "I always know when Gary's around. It's the sort of connection two people have when they're competitive amongst each other. And despite how much this guy looks like Gary, I don't get that 'shared feeling' from him."
"Never realized you two were that close," noted Brock.
"IF YOU KNEW THIS GUY WASN'T GARY, THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SOMETHING BEFORE?" Misty screamed at Ash.
"Well," replied a partially frightened Ash, "it took me a minute to figure it out."
"Pika..." sighed Pikachu.
"Oh, I see now!" Griff cut in. "So you just look like Marina, but you aren't really her! Whew... I'm relieved."
"You better be, after mistaking me for someone else!" chided Misty.
"I'm sorry, I really am! It's just... I'm so worried about her! She's so young... and yet her life's about to end so tragically!"
"You said she had a doctor," remembered Brock, "he can't do anything for her?"
"He tried, but the problem is... this disease... it doesn't have a cure."
"It doesn't have a cure?" repeated Ash.
Griff shook his head in dismay.
"That's so sad," sniffled Misty, who was on the verge of tears.
"Now she's forced to bedridden for these last few weeks. She doesn't have much energy to do anything except eat, sleep, and on occasion, talk."
"There must be something we can do..."
"I'm no doctor," Brock spoke up, "but maybe I should take a look at her."
"You really think you can help?"
"I could give it a try. I mean... she can't possibly get any worse, right?"
Griff shrugged his shoulders. "I suppose. But... how are you going to examine her if your eyes aren't open?"
Brock was taken aback by the question. "Wha?"
"That can't be comfortable, being in an extended state of squinting-ness."
"What are you talking about? My eyes are always open!"
Misty intervened, pushing Brock out of the way in the process.
"Eh... I think it's time you led us to Marina. After all, it's the least I can do for going off on you like I did."
"Oh, yes, right!"
A minute or two later, Griff had led the gang to Marina's house. Guiding them over to a nearby window, they huddled around it to glance inside.
"I thought you were gonna let us see her!" Misty exclaimed.
"Well... this is the time of day when she takes a nap, and... she gets cranky when she doesn't get her quiet time every afternoon."
"Are you sure?" questioned Ash, pointing into the house.
The foursome (and Pikachu) peered inside and found that Marina was not asleep, but rather alert and sitting up in her bed, watching TV. Instantly the gang picked up on the similarities between her and Misty. Same hair color and style. Similar scrawny limbs. Even similar body types... from what they could tell with a blanket covering her from the waist down.
"You're right, Griff... she looks exactly like me!"
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say she'd pass for your twin sister!" deduced Brock.
"I don't get it!" Griff shouted. "I know at this time she always takes her nap! So why is she awake?"
"Something smells fishy here..." Misty thought to herself.
Suddenly, Marina turned towards the window and spotted Griff and the others staring at her. Instantly, she reached for the remote, turned the TV off, and covered her head with her blanket, pretending as if she had been asleep the whole time.
"She's faking it!" Brock pointed out matter-of-factly.
"I thought you said she was very weak, Griff!" Misty yelled. "That didn't look weak to me!"
"I'm stumped too," Griff scratched his head before reaching for the window. "I've got to find out what's up."
Griff slid the window up and open, which to Ash and the gang's surprise was unlocked, and then climbed inside.
"What are you doing? You can't just walk into a girl's room just like that"
Misty yelled at Griff.
"Why not?" Ash asked, climbing in after him. "She's awake, after all."
"Does the word 'privacy' not mean anything to you, Ash Ketchum!"
As Ash made his way in, Griff was already by Marina's bedside.
"Come on, Marina, I know you're awake!" he said, grabbing the blanket and preparing to pull it off.
Marina popped up, unhappy that she had been caught already. "Why'd you have to go and stare at me like that, Griff? And... who are your new friends?"
"I'm wondering why you're not sleeping, like the doctor prescribed for you. You know you're not going to get better if you don't get your rest!"
"You don't have to sugarcoat it! I'm old enough to figure out that I don't have long to live."
"Look, Marina... we'll find you a cure somehow. I promise!"
"Yeah, don't worry about it," reassured Ash, who was now standing beside Griff. "We'll help you."
"And you are..."
"I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!" the trainer announced proudly.
"Pallet Town?" Marina scratched her head. "Never heard of the place."
"Me neither," added Griff. "No wonder I've never seen you guys before... you're not from around here, are you?"
"We're still trying to figure out how we actually got here to begin with," Brock answered, carrying Pikachu in his arms.
"This is Brock, and that's Pikachu, my best friend!"
"Pika pika!" Pikachu chirped, leaping from Brock's arms and into Ash's.
"Is that a Pikachu?" cried Marina. "I haven't seen one of those in ages!"
Griff nodded in agreement. "She's telling the truth. Pokémon are rare around these parts. About the only folks who have them around here are... 'them.'"
"'Them?'" Ash and Brock repeated in unison.
"Yeah... but don't worry about them. We haven't seen them drop by here in months. I heard they all came down with some horrible disease themselves. Don't know if they're alright or not, but at least they're not bothering us anymore."
"I'll say..." Marina sighed with relief.
"Say, where's your female friend? Misty, right? Marina... you've got to see this."
"See what?" Marina asked, glancing at the window and seeing no one there.
"Hey... where'd Misty go, Brock?"
"Don't know... I thought she was following me into the room."
Misty had walked away from the house and was proceeding down the street, not completely sure of what was going on at all. Her mind wandered off as she drew the attention of some of the locals... some for her resemblance to Marina, who they all knew... others for Misty's unorthodox, by their standards, outfit.
"I don't like this," she thought aloud. "Not at all. How can there be someone that looks just like me? None of this makes any sense."
Suddenly, Misty felt the ground beneath her begin to tremble. Glancing down at her feet, she saw some nearby pebbles dancing around as if they had a life of their own. She then heard a strange noise approaching. Several, in fact. And not all that strange... but rather familiar.
"Is that what I think it is?" Misty asked herself aloud. "And there sounds like there's more than one of them!"
Seeing what appeared to be a dust cloud being kicked up at the top of a nearby hill, Misty began running towards it. As she did, she noticed the locals around here start freaking out and fleeing into their houses.
"They're back!" she heard one woman scream.
"I knew the calm was too good to be true!" shouted a man as he shuffled his two sons inside the nearest building.
"We're all doomed now," yelled a second man.
Misty came to a stop, amazed at the populace around her disappearing from sight. Looking around, her eyes finally rested themselves on the top of the hill, where the dust cloud was getting bigger and bigger. The noises she had been hearing from there were becoming louder by the second. But by this point, she was finally able to identify what it was coming from.
"It's gotta be a Rapidash! And there must be a group of them!"
Sure enough, Misty spotted the head of a Rapidash barreling through the dirt cloud. Then two, four, and finally six. But that wasn't all, as she spotted each of the half-dozen Pokémon being ridden by a human.
"They're Pokémon trainers?"
Instinctively, Misty pulled a Pokéball from her belt and snapped into a defensive stance. She watched as the six Rapidash came to a stop at the top of the hill and the trainers glanced down on their prey from above.
The one in front smirked. "Looks like we found our old stomping grounds, boys! Let's go, Rapidash, giddy up!"
Pulling back on the reins, Rapidash responded by abruptly bolting down the hill, his fellow teammates following suit. Misty stood her ground as the pack bared down towards her position. As they did, she got a good look at the leader of the pack... and he a good look at her.
"Whoa there!" he yelled, pulling back on the reins just enough that his Rapidash came to a stop just a few feet in front of Misty. As she raised her arms to shield herself from the dust being kicked up, she heard the other Rapidash's hoofs clattering around her. When she looked up, the Rapidash had her boxed in, and all of their riders were peering down at her.
"Welly welly well..." one of them croaked.
"What's a babe like you doing in a place like this?" a second asked.
"We can take you to a place where you'd be appreciated," smiled a third.
Misty raised her Pokéball high for all of them to see. The leader reached into his pocket and pulled out one of his own.
"No need to got hostile, young lady," he said. "I didn't realize you were so financially endowed."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" questioned Misty apprehensively.
"Don't you know where you are? You're in the mining town of Chiva! All these lowlifes are dirt poor! They can't afford to have a Pokémon Center here, much less can anyone spend money to adequately take care of a Pokémon! The fact that you actually are carrying one of those little creatures immediately screams out that you're prime for plucking!"
"So hand over all of your money and jewels," stated the first henchman, "and we'll leave you alone in peace."
"If not... well, we'd have to get all grabby and stuff," said the second.
"You wouldn't want that, now would you?" the fourth butted in.
"I swear, I don't have anything of value on me!" Misty admitted truthfully.
"I guess we'll have to snatch something off ya worth selling, huh?" the leader smirked.
"Hold it right there!" cried a voice from afar.
"Ash!" Misty shouted, instantly recognizing the voice.
The group turned down the street, where Ash and Pikachu were standing.
"You leave Misty alone right this instant!"
"Pikachu!" growled Ash's favorite Pokémon, with cheeks sparking in anger.
"Whoa... he's got himself a Pikachu!" stated the first. "Those are extremely rare around here! Most people in this part of the country can go fifty or sixty years without laying eyes upon one!"
"Forget the girl," the leader exclaimed, licking his lips. "We just found ourselves a much more appetizing target."
They advanced on Ash, who looked ready for a fight.
"Get ready, Pikachu!"
"Pika!"
"Let's mow 'em down, boys!" the leader yelled.
All six Rapidash, with their trainers still along for the ride, charge at Ash and Pikachu. But the duo didn't look intimidated in the least.
"Pikachu! Use Thunderbolt!"
"CHUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"
The lightning attack didn't injure the Rapidash all that much, but it spooked them enough that they lost their focus on where they were going. Some of the riders fell off after their Rapidash tripped over their own hoofs, while others hung on as their Rapidash became temporarily uncontrollable, veering off-course from the intended target.
"What kind of Pikachu is that powerful?" queried one of the scared riders.
"Who cares?" the leader shot back. "The fact that it's so strong it can confuse Rapidash this easily means it'll be worth a bundle when we sell it!"
The band of rogues and their Rapidash gathered themselves on the other side of Ash and Pikachu in preparation for another pass.
"I bet you can't do that twice, you brat!"
Once again, the Rapidash came charging at Ash and Pikachu. The duo was ready to provide a hefty defense once again, but...
"Starmie, use Water Gun!"
"Ha!"
A steady stream of water blasted itself past Ash, over Pikachu's head, and right into the oncoming Rapidash charge. The super speedy Pokémon were stopped dead in their tracks... in fact, the water was actually pushing them backwards, much to the rogues' chagrin! Not that they could voice their disgust, as they were getting soaked as well.
"Just because I'm not worthy of being stolen by you guys anymore doesn't mean you can forget I'm here!" Misty exclaimed with an exuberant smile.
The team's leader opened his mouth, but that was unwise as Starmie was still pelting them with Water Gun.
"Darn blast these rich kids!" he managed to mutter.
"I guess they're all washed up," Misty joked as she moved alongside Ash.
"Time to send them on their merry way!" shouted Ash.
Behind the group, Brock, Griff, and Marina were running up to the scene. As they did, the Rapidash trainers turned around and caught their approach. But upon lying their eyes on Marina, they all gasped in shock and horror.
"It's her," they all cried, "she's the one!"
"Huh?" Ash and Misty asked simultaneously.
Marina gasped as well as she too gazed upon the faces of the town's intruders. Noticing this, Griff immediately grabbed her arm and started pulling her away.
"They're after you, Marina! They've come back for you!"
"Wha?" Brock wondered, confused.
"Get her!" the leader cried. "We'll make her pay for what she's done!"
Two of the Rapidash sped past Brock with blinding speed, gaining hastily on the fleeing Griff and Marina.
"Not so fast... let's go Onix!" Brock yelled, throwing out a Pokéball. "Use Bind!"
Onix popped out, and in before the Rapidash could react to the giant roadblock in their way, they and the riders were being squeezed by the rock snake.
"Now... use Rock Throw!"
Following his trainer's orders, Onix launched the two Rapidash and their trainers back towards the hills from which they came. Seeing that they were outmatched by Ash and his friends, the gang leader called for a hasty retreat.
"We know when we're beat... let's high-tail it out of here!"
The remaining members of the gang boarded their Rapidash and sped out of town, leaving nothing but a dust trail behind.
"And don't come back now, ya hear!" Misty shouted with a Western twang.
"What are you now, American or somethin'?" deadpanned Ash as Brock came running up to the couple.
"We'd better find Griff and Marina and find out what's going on," he suggested.
Ash and Misty nodded in agreement.
"We don't know what's going on here, or how we got here in the first place, or how we'll get back home to begin with... but something tells me there's more to this than meets the eye."
Griff and Marina were panting heavily, hiding behind a nearby house as they caught their breath. But they definitely were not happy with the situation that had developed.
"I recognized their leader," Marina said in a panic. "That... that was him, wasn't it?"
Griff nodded. "Yes, that was Anthony alright. He must be back for revenge."
Marina raised her palms up in front of her face, and began to sob into them.
"It's all my fault... if they hadn't..."
"They couldn't have known about your condition at the time! It's just a matter of circumstances beyond our control!"
"But because of me... because of me..."
"No... don't say that!"
"Because of me, I KILLED THEM! THEY DIED BECAUSE OF ME!"
Griff gazed at Marina in stunned silence. Even after all of this time, he was still refusing to believe the truth though he knew it was exactly that.
Flashback eight months ago, in a cave somewhere a few miles away from Chiva...
A shot of a wide-eyed and spooked Marina, who was paralyzed with fear, with blood trickling out of the left side of her mouth. Around her were eight grown men, all dead and lying in pools of their own blood. A lone ninth, with his back against the opposite wall, was also frozen with fright himself as he looked seemingly okay otherwise, was covering his mouth and nose with his two hands.
That ninth man... was the aforementioned Anthony.
Ash, Misty, Brock, and Pikachu search for Griff and Marina, meanwhile, was being slowed as the populace had poured out of their houses to thank them for saving the town from the Rapidash-riding hoodlums.
"Just who were those guys?" Brock thought to himself.
"Why were they so frightened of Marina?" wondered Misty.
"And most importantly... how the heck do we get back home?" Ash screamed... well, in his mind, at least...
Back on the Seafoam Islands, Duplica was brandishing a giant hammer that Ditto had transformed into, and was watching over Professor Schtickly as he worked to fix the transporter that had made Ash and the gang disappear...
End Session July
Storyline to be continued in Session August, Chapter 1!
Author's Notes for 'Session: July':
Whew... that took way, WAY too long to finish. The lag time between the start and finish of the sessions needs to come way down.
Before I begin, I'd like to welcome any new fans to my fanfics. Or to those of you who have never read the 53-episode "Adventures Series." Over the first few Sessions of this fic, there will be plenty of backtracking to events from the story that inspired this one, in order to fill in the holes as to what's happening and how our characters got there.
As many of you noticed, this series divulges from the anime. In terms of where I'd fit this into the anime chronology (even though we're probably too far out now for it to make sense), we'd be somewhere early in the Johto Journeys or thereabouts. There will be some trekking in the Johto region on and off, but it will have very little in common with the adventures that happened there... with a few exceptions.
For those who have followed "Adventures Series" from the beginning, if that series was stillgoing on, then here you are seeing parts of what-would-be-future episodes sprinkled here and there. The main 'Ash and company' storyline focuses on Episodes 54 and the first half of 55, the back story on Cassie and Arius (with more to come later) of what would've been the third 'special,' "The Country Girl and the City Boy," and the rest would deal with Episode 65, which would've started the 10-part series finale. That last portion is what a majority of this entire fanfic will be focused on.
Naturally, due to how many years it's been since these were all planned out and numerous developments in the anime series, it has led me to make several changes and diversions from the original storylines. I won't be spending much time going over what was changed unless I think it's important bringing up... but the huge gap in time between the end of "Adventures Series" and now has forced me to update the plots slightly.
For those wondering the reason why the sessions will be named after months of the year... well, it's because all of the events in that 'session' take place during that month. At this point, I'm not sure if each 'session' will last five chapters. Some may go less, others may go more. I may even lengthen certain chapters to keep the overall chapter count down. I already have the entire fic, well, at least its main points, fleshed out in my mind. So we'll just wing it from here and see what happens...
Speaking of months, this takes place the day after Episode 53 of "Adventures Series" (i.e. the last chapter of that fanfic).
Anyway, here's some individual notes on this first 'session' itself...
For those of you who didn't read "Adventures Series, Season 3," here's where I point out that most of the characters are just coming back from the Orange Islands, where the last story arc took place. The arc consisted of a chase around the archipelago for a floppy desk that contained information about a top-secret Team Rocket experiment... codenamed Project CB. The idea behind it is to gain the ability to cross-breed Pokémon traits. That's especially designed to cross-breed even two different Pokémon species that normally do not breed. (Just to note, my idea of this came before Gold and Silver came out, which introduced breeding to the game. Even so, the storyline will not be adapting to those philosophies.)
Anyway, the disk ended up in the hands of a thief who was trying to sell it, even though she didn't know how to access the information on it or the danger said information posed to her and everyone's life. A struggle commenced between Ash and the gang, Team Rocket, and the Pokémon Trainers' Association (more on them specifically in a moment) that ended in a stalemate thanks to someone calling the cops. The disk was last seen in a laboratory on Valencia Island... until now, as noted back in 'July Chapter 2.'
Yes... in this reality, Professor Oak and Mrs. Ketchum got married. That happened way back in "Adventures Series, Season 1." Call me weird, but I support their shipping... eh, whatever they used to call their ship. Man, I swear, there used to be so many types of romantic shipping back in the day for this show that I think people were making up ships just to make sure certain characters were covered for every single possibility and then some.
Yes, Pidgeo (Jane and Calamity's Pidgeot) can talk English... eh, human, just like Meowth (Jessie and James). Hmmm, don't have an origin story of how he's able to... ooh, side story opportunity later down the road! Gotta make a note of that...
The flashbacks during 'July Chapter 2' (Team Rocket Orange's segment) are of Pokémon Trainers' Association agents Cassie and Arius breaking into Team Rocket HQ to get the aforementioned floppy disk (this was where all of the 'disk chase' madness began), and that happened in August, 11 months prior to this 'Session July.' Team Rocket spent nearly a year searching for PTA's homebase, and finally found in this session (the events actually took place just prior to "Adventures Series, Season 3").
I bet you newbies are asking... what's the Pokémon Trainers' Association? Well, from what we know, they're a secret organization just like Team Rocket, whose mission is to do things that benefit mankind and Pokémon alike. But they'll do anything to accomplish that goal... they don't always play by the rules, either. They recruit both adults and tweens/teens alike, promising them that they'll help nourish their budding careers. Cassie and Arius are two said recruits of recent memory, but thanks to certain events over their 'tour of duty,' they haven't made many friends along the way. It's gotten to the point where Cassie can no longer stand it and begs to quit... and she wants to bring her boyfriend, Arius, with her.
Anymore about the PTA at this point would be spoiling some future plot points, so we'll leave it at that for now.
Gary was also a part of the Orange Islands arc, and here he's traveling with two of his former cheerleaders. Why only two? And why 'former' cheerleaders? Well, the story of how they broke up originally was regaled in an "Adventures Series, Season 2" mini-arc. Unfortunately, the first two chapters of that four-episode mini-arc are no longer in my possession. But the way the story basically goes is that the girls are tired of following Gary around, and thus, they fly the coop. Finding out he's lonely (and that he needs the encouragement the girls' cheering gave him), he reunites the girls and tries to convince them to join him again. Only two of the six accept his offer... Stephanie and Amber. (Yes, they have names. They are human beings, not things!)
Stephanie's seen by most of the other cheerleaders as the other reason why the squad split up... her one-sided affections for Gary. With another chance to see if her love shares the same for her, Stephanie rejoined him. Amber decided to tag along because she wanted to travel around and figure out what her true purpose in life is (don't we all, huh?). Gary had the resources she needed for her journey to commence. So thus, the story of them being with Ash's old rival.
I may try to recreate part of that mini-arc as a side story later on... if I can find my notes.
Oh... and when this was originally planned out, before May or the concept of Pokémon Contests came up in the anime in Hoenn, being a Coordinator was not going to be Amber's 'latest' fling here. Too bad I don't remember what it was supposed to be...
Here's something I do remember about original plots... originally, Ash and the gang were to meet 'doubles' of each of them. In this updated version, only Misty and Gary get the 'double' treatment. Anthony does as well... he's based off the P-1 Tournament father way, way back in Episode 29 of the anime series... the one who Ash leaves Primeape with. Ah, I remember crazy old Primeape...
Keep on the lookout for other 'doubles' in the 'August Session!'
'Session: August' Trailer:
Marina and Misty finally meet face-to-face... will the world implode on itself when that happens? And what's with this so-called deadly disease that Marina has? A better question is... who is it more deadly for, herself or those around her? And later on, if our heroes manage to return to the Seafoam Islands, Ash'll get himself caught in an unbelievable free-for-all of a battle that you'll just have to see to believe!
Catch 'Session: August' and we promise to throw in some fanservice for free!
