The Year of Rocket's Revenge
Halftime Recap Special, Part 2 (01.02.06/07.05.07)
Even more catching up! Yippee! And don't go away... 'Session: January' is just around the river bend!
Disclaimer: All characters and places featured in the Pokémon anime series and other productions belong to Nintendo and Pokémon USA! As for those original characters like Cassie Banks, Arius McFly, and many, many others, they are my creations. You can't use them without my written consent!
This fanfic is only posted at two places: my place, which contains the full-length chapters in one piece, and which has the same story, but split up into smaller pieces. It should not be posted anywhere else without my permission.
All flashback scenes are in italics. Any other scenes are shown in normal type, and represent present time, with Ash, Misty, and Brock commenting on the flashbacked events.
"It's time for da real stars to recap dis story properly!" Persian shouted with glee.
"You wanna see stars? I'LL SHOW YOU STARS!"
Persian turned around and saw Misty attempting to break out of the rope she, Ash, and Brock were bound by.
"Knock it off, Misty!" Ash whined.
"Yeah... rope... chafing... skin..." gasped Brock.
"Dis is a story about the triumphs of Team Rocket... so let us show da best of da best! Starring yours truly, of course!"
Jessie and James jumped in, kicking Persian down and stomping on him to show him who's boss.
"Stop hogging the spotlight!" James cried.
"Yeah!" exclaimed Jessie. "I'm the only one who's allowed to do that!"
After beating Persian to a near pulp, Team Rocket recovered with a maniacal laugh as they looked upon the tied up heroes, and then upon Pikachu, who was attempting to escape from the capsule he was in. But Pikachu wasn't having any luck, as all his electric attacks were being absorbed by the capsule itself.
"Hey, chill out already!" Jessie yelled at Pikachu.
"Yeah!" added James. "We'll run off with you when we're good and ready!"
"In da meantime..." Persian said, pulling out a movie projector and turning it on. "Let's get to da true stars... and see Team Rocket at its vewy finest!"
Jessie and James each pulled out a folding chair out of nowhere and took a seat, waiting anxiously in anticipation for the movie to start. James also produced a freshly popped bowl of popcorn, which he started grabbing fistfuls from.
"Hey, where I am supposed to sit?" Persian asked.
"On the floor where you belong, you mangy cat!" Jessie and James exclaimed simultaneously.
"Humph... no respect."
Persian laid down on the floor in front of his teammates as the film began to roll and a male voice boomed over the speakers.
"The following is a production of Team Rocket, Inc," 'the voice' started, before descending into a more grouchy tone. "Anyone attempting to reproduce this tape for any reason will be subject to torture, will have their Pokémon taken from them, will be subject to injury by those employed by Team Rocket and their families, and anything else we can think of, no matter how dirty it is."
Then, in the sweetest, high-pitched tone the voice could muster...
"Have a nice day!"
"BOOOO!" Ash booed at the top of his lungs.
"NOBODY ASKED FOR YOUR OPINION, TWERP!" Jessie and James screamed.
The Year of Rocket's Revenge: Halftime Recap Special, Part 2
"Arbok, glare attack!" ordered Jessie.
"Weezing, sludge attack!" commanded James.
The two Pokémon attacked simultaneously and knock Dodrio to the ground. Ash then turned to Pikachu, while pulling out Charizard's Pokéball to recall him.
"Charizard, return! Pikachu, thundershock!"
"Pika-chuuuuuu!"
The area suddenly became full of electricity, and it shocked everyone. They all fell to the ground. Pikachu runs over to Ash, who was the first to get up.
"Nice work, Pikachu!"
"Pika chu!"
"We're not done yet!" shouted Meowth.
"What?"
Jessie, James, and Meowth were up, and were pointing 3 giant water guns at Ash and Gary.
"What are you going to do?" Gary asked. "Soak us?"
He began to laugh, not believing they'd do something so stupid. Jessie, fed up with anger over being mocked, fired at Gary, soaking him to the bone. Ash managed to dodge the initial blast, but James connected the second time around.
"Ooh!" squealed James. "This is so fun!"
Meanwhile, a mile up the road, Jessie, James, and Meowth had stopped on the side of the road to break for lunch. The trio gobbled down sandwiches, chicken wings, sodas, and an apple pie. After eating and cleaning up, they took out the eight badges that they just stole.
"Wow!" James said excitedly. "Have you ever seen anything so beautiful in your life?
"Never!" objected Jessie. "Unless you're talking about me, of course."
"Meowth!" cried their feline teammate. "With dese eight badges, Team Rocket will take over da Pokémon League!"
"Then we'll be at the top of our game!" declared Jessie.
"And no one will be able to stop us!" uttered James.
"Puh-lease," Misty gagged, rolling her eyes.
"That's not so special," grumbled Ash.
"I THOUGHT WE TOLD YOU TWERPS TO ZIP IT!" Team Rocket yelled.
In the Safari Zone...
Zapdos appeared high in the sky, and swooped towards the group. It pulled up before it got close to the ground, but the winds left behind from its presence really increased the hot air flying near our heroes and villains.
"This is our chance, Jessie!"
"Right, James! Prepare the Master Ball for launch!"
"Master Ball ready!" announced Persian.
Persian pulled a switch, and the Master Ball went flying into the air, careening towards Zapdos.
"Oh no!" Misty gasped, with Duplica next to her. "They're going to capture Zapdos, and there's nothing we can do about it!"
Everyone shielded his or her eyes from the blinding light. After a while, the light finally faded, and only one object was left in the sky... the Master Ball!
"Could it be?"
"We actually did it!"
"We've captured all three legendary birds!"
The Master Ball fell from the sky and hit the ground. James walked over and picked it up. The Rockets began to dance around in glee.
While Team Rocket was focused on the movie, they were unaware that Ash had called out Bulbasaur, and the grass-type was freeing Ash and the gang from their bonds.
"I think I remember dat," Persian thought aloud.
"I don't remember it turning out so well," sighed James.
"What are you talking about?" Jessie said, recalling it differently. "We brought those three birds to the boss and he gave us a healthy promotion!"
"What world of grand delusion are you livin' in?" asked Persian, flabbergasted.
As James and Persian argued with Jessie about how that adventure turned out, Ash and company were up and quietly sneaking away, tiptoeing their way towards Pikachu's cage.
And the next clip of the film started up...
Hitmonchan managed to land the fire punch on Parasect, but not before Parasect's leech life began to slowly drain away Hitmonchan's power. Meanwhile, Vaporeon's aurora beam managed to freeze not only Weezing but all the sludge it was spewing as well. Gloom's poison powder reached Meowth, weakening him significantly and preventing him from performing pay day. Meowth tried to shake it off, but then he started to get a weird feeling coursing through his fur.
"Jessie," James called out to his female associate, "something's wrong with Meowth!"
"So?" Jessie responded, uncaring to Meowth's plight. "We've got a Gloom to steal!"
Meowth then began to glow a bright white, grabbing everyone's attention.
"What's happening?" Meowth asked, though he very well knew the truth.
"Meowth's evolving!" Misty stated, answering Meowth's question anyway.
"Meowth, evolving?" Jessie repeated, actually now interested.
"Stop dis evolution!"
Everyone watched in awe as Meowth tried to fight off the urge to evolve. But he couldn't stop the inevitable, as he body changed from the shape of a Meowth and into one of the Pokémon he so dearly hated with a passion.
Meowth had evolved into Persian.
"Wait a cotton pickin' minute!" shouted Persian as he glared at Jessie and James. "Who's idea was it to show my evolution? Dis is supposed ta be a recap of Team Rocket's greatest moments, not of my greatest humiliation!"
"It's not my fault!" defended James. "Blame Jessie... she set the reel up!"
"That's just like you!" retorted Jessie. "Be a man for once and admit you're guilty!"
"I'm tired of people telling me to be a man!" James exclaimed, flailing his arms about. "I don't wanna, I don't wanna!"
While this was all going on, Ash, with Bulbasaur's help, had picked the lock on Pikachu's cage...
"Pika pi!" Pikachu said with elation.
"Shhh!" Ash quickly shushed, trying to keep quiet so Team Rocket wouldn't hear them.
And Misty and Brock had sneaked over to the movie projector and were in the process of replacing Team Rocket's reel with a different one. One that showed a... different side of Team Rocket.
"If Persian liked that last one," Misty snickered, "then all three of them are sure to love this one!"
With the new reel in place, Brock turned the projector back on and then he and Misty bolted to a safe distance. Persian was still berating Jessie and James for showing the 'evolution' clip when two distinct voices filled the air, thanks to the new on-screen footage.
"Cassidy!"
"And Butch!"
Those two names quickly got their attention, as they turned towards the screen and saw their rivals there, reciting their motto.
"It's that bitch, Cassidy!" Jessie cried.
"And that botch of hers... now, what was his name again?" James asked, racking his brain despite the fact 'he' just said it.
Ash, Brock, Cassie, and a few other trainers gasped in surprise, as Cassidy and Butch had just announced that they were the 'hosts' of the so-called tournament they had just been invited to. Some of them glanced around for exits, but their plans were soon dashed when Butch pulled out a remote control, and pressed a button, shutting them all tight and cutting all of the escape routes.
"Rule number one," Butch explained. "No one leaves the stadium until the tournament is over. Any attempt to escape will activate the self-destruct mechanism, which will blow up the stadium, and kill anyone in it."
"But that means you'll kill yourselves too!" cried Brock.
"Well, nobody said our plan was perfect," Cassidy replied.
"How dare YOU show footage of her and her flunkies!" Jessie yelled.
"Give it a rest," James sighed, defeated.
"Yeah..." Persian said in a similar tone. "We've been booted from ours duties as host!"
Sure enough, Team Rocket were now the ones tied up with rope, thanks to Ash and his friends.
"Why not stick around?" Brock said with a smirk. "We've got more great footage from Team Rocket coming right up!"
"Really?" the trio shouted in unison.
The scene changed to Cinnabar Island, where Jessie, James, and Persian were trying to find a way back to the mainland.
"Be careful, you two!" Jessie warned them. "The rocks here are very sharp!"
James tripped over one, and suddenly the two Master Balls started rolling down the hill. The locking mechanism unexpectedly breaks, and suddenly the Master Balls opened up, releasing Articuno and Moltres!
"The legendary birds are loose!" Persian shouted, stating the obvious.
"James, you idiot!" added Jessie condescendingly.
Articuno and Moltres quickly took flight, disappearing high into the skies before Jessie could grab the Master Balls and recall them.
Jessie, James, and Persian had been searching Professor Ivy's lab on Valencia Island for a green floppy disk. But, to their surprise, they weren't the only ones after it, as a brown-haired girl in a black dress was standing in front of them with a smile on her face.
And the disk they were looking for in her hands.
Her name? Francine Maple, better known by her self-appointed nickname, Green.
"From what you three said, this disk must have some pretty valuable information on it," she quickly deduced.
"The disk!" James shouted.
"She's got the disk!" Jessie pointed out.
"If you think you're getting away," Persian smirked, "youse got another thing coming!"
"We're the thieves on this show!"
"Yeah! So give us the disk so we can do our job!"
"You gotta catch me first!" Green said as she bolted for the nearest window.
As Jessie and James reached for Pokéballs, Green quickly leaped out the window and started running towards the front of laboratory. Once there, she pulled out a small case from the top of her dress. Dumping the disk into it and then putting it back where she had grabbed it from, she then pulled out for one of her PokИballs and threw it into the air.
"Jigglypuff, you know what to do!"
"Jiggly!" cried the pink puffy Pokémon.
Jigglypuff breathed in a lot of air and then closed her mouth, causing her to pump up like a mini-balloon. As the wind picked up and the round Pokémon began to float away, Green grabbed a hold of Jigglypuff's tiny feet, carrying the two of them high into the air and towards the Pokémon Center. Jessie, James, and Persian arrived at the front of the building just as Green blew them a kiss goodbye.
"Sorry I can't stay, but I've got things to do!" she said sweetly.
Back at the Trovita Island Maximum Security Prison...
"Is this all we get in terms of screentime for the entire first act?" Jessie asked, screaming loudly. "Did the writers even remember we're here too?"
"Better here than out there... we'd be killed if the boss decides to come after us," sighed James.
"I will NOT let it end this way! I'm too beautiful to go out like this!"
"Look at it this way, Jess... one small scene, one small chance at being killed... the odds are in our favor!"
"I DON'T WANT FAVORS, I WANT RESULTS! AND MORE SCREENTIME!"
"Maybe if we take a little nap, we can dream of better times..."
"How did you guys escape from there anyway?" Misty wondered, giving James a suspicious look.
"Besides..." Brock remembered, "are you guys part of Team Rocket anymore? After all, doesn't your boss want you guys offed?"
"You'd be better off at that prison," Ash concluded, nodding his head.
"Pika!" Pikachu agreed.
"If you think we're going back to that dark prison cell..." Jessie told them.
"Or we're going to let you leave us here so that the boss can finish us off once and for all..." James continued.
"Youse gots another thing comin'!" finished Persian.
"Though we could call Officer Jenny and let her sort it out," Misty said to Ash and Brock, "I'd feel upset if something happened to them. Especially at the hands of Jane and Calamity."
"Who now?" Ash asked, scratching his head, dumbfounded.
Misty growled, but rather than bash Ash over the head with something, she reached over to the projector and fast forwarded to the next clip.
Misty was already in a big battle as she was up against Cassidy and Butch, but when the surrounding area quickly became filled with smoke, the Cerulean redhead knew she was in for even more trouble.
"Hey, who threw the smoke bomb?" Misty asked aloud.
Calamity and Jane appeared before Misty, decked out in their orange-colored uniforms.
"Prepare for trouble!" Jane announced.
"And make it double!" stated Calamity, likewise.
"To introduce the world to devastation!"
"To love our team and unite our nation!"
"To denounce the values known as truth and love!"
"To extend our knowledge to the stars above!"
"Jane!"
"Calamity!"
"Team Rocket, the best when stealing Pokémon is right!"
"Surrender now, or prepare for a fight!"
Suddenly, a Pidgeotto appeared out of nowhere, and joined the duo in completing their version of the motto.
"Pidgeo! This time, it's personal!"
The smoke cleared, and the threesome stood there, ready as ever. But Cassidy and Butch, who were there first, attempted to shoo them away.
"Get out of here, you three!" Cassidy yelled. "We can handle this!"
"We've dealt with her before," added Butch.
"Yeah, and lost!" Jane told them.
"We'll show you who's the best," Calamity remarked snidely.
The two of them each took out a Pokéball and threw them out in their own introductory fashion - Jane by kissing it before tossing it out, while Calamity by rolling it at a nearby rock, letting it open when it made contact. Out of the two Pokéballs came Pinsir and Kabuto, which materialized alongside Cassidy's Arcanine and Butch's Machamp.
Misty quickly found herself overwhelmed, despite using two of her Pokémon - Vaporeon and Scyther - simultaneously against the four Rockets and their Pokémon. But suddenly, a pink blob came out of nowhere and blinded Team Rocket's Pokémon. As the two Team Rocket factions tried to get the blob off and sort through the confusion, Misty recalled her Pokémon, grabbed her things from her recently refurbished but now destroyed bicycled, and bolted for the nearest town.
Explosions rocked the foundation of the building as the Team Rocket operatives proceeded to blow up all of the computer hardware in one of the research sectors. Fires began to spread across numerous rooms, causing millions of dollars in damage and more.
Scientists run about, either getting out of the way or trying to find fire extinguishers to gain control of the blaze. Operatives of the opposition tried to fight off Team Rocket, but they were quickly being shot to death. The same with their Pokémon. Bodies of humans and Pokémon alike began to pile up all over the place.
With every passing second, the fires grew, the explosions grew more numerous, scientists were fleeing for the lives, and spies raced in to defend their home base, only to lose their lives for it in the process.
Suddenly, through all the chaos and mayhem, one voice sounded above all else.
"I've got the disk!" Calamity shouted, holding up a green floppy high in the air. "Troops, move out!"
Calamity watched as his partner Jane led some of their operatives over towards one of the building's emergency exits. He turned to join them, but stopped when he felt a tug at his pants.
A bespectacled teenager, one of the scientists, was trying to keep Calamity from taking the disk. The green-haired male didn't have any intention of letting go, either.
"You can't take that!" he yelled. "That belongs to us!"
Calamity smiled, then drew his handgun and stuck it into the young man's mouth.
"Not anymore."
One shot was all that was needed, as the scientist fell to the ground, dead. Calamity holstered his weapon, pocketed the floppy disk, and then ran off to join his comrades. In the process, he stepped on a glass picture frame, smashing it into pieces.
In the picture, taken at a local photo booth, was the scientist and his main squeeze, a blonde-haired girl who beared a strange resemblance to a certain red-shoed girl from Kansas.
Brock gasped. "Isn't that the disk the one?"
"You mean the one that has information on those cross-bred Pokémon?" Misty asked.
"And the one that Arius and Cassie tried to steal that resulted in the loss of hundreds of innocent people?" Ash remembered, clenching his fist in anger.
Brock nodded in confirmation. "Yeah. And remember, we've seen one of them..."
Giovanni took out a golden Pokéball from his suit pocket. Our heroes tried to catch a glimpse of what Giovanni dubbed as his special Pokémon.
"Somehow, I knew that it would come down to this," the Viridian gym leader and head of Team Rocket said aloud. "But now, you'll get to feel the ultimate wrath of Team Rocket! Pokéball, go!"
He threw it to the ground, and out of it came a Pokémon that had the three heads of a Dugtrio, as well as the beak and body of a Spearow. Ash, Misty, Brock, Giselle, Mikey, and Todd all gasped with shock.
"What's that?" the young Mikey asked.
"It's definitely no Pokémon I've ever studied," stated Giselle.
Giovanni laughed. "Allow me to introduce the first in my line of cross-bred Pokémon. Meet Speartrio!"
"Spear... trio?" Ash said, slowly repeating the name.
"Weird name," Brock admitted, scratching his head confusedly.
Later in the battle, Misty and Golduck watched as Speartrio dug into the ground, using his beak as a drill.
"It's drilling a hole... as if it was a ground type!" Brock explained.
"Of course," said Giselle. "It looks like he cross-bred that Pokémon from a Spearow and a Dugtrio. It possesses abilities of both Pokémon!"
Speartrio resurfaced and hit Golduck from underneath.
"If it's a part ground type, then it should be weak against water attacks!" deduced Misty.
Giselle confirmed that. "Right."
"Okay, Golduck, hydro pump attack!"
Golduck hit the mark, soaking Speartrio with the hydro pump. But the strange Pokémon refused to go down because of it.
"What? Golduck put everything into that shot!"
"It must be some kind of super Pokémon!"
"And then we countered with super Pokémon of a different kind..." Brock thought aloud, with Ash and Misty nodding in agreement.
Pikachu, Vulpix, and Golduck were all standing there in front of the group, staring right at their trainers. All of a sudden, Ash, Misty, and Brock fainted on the spot! Giselle, Todd, and Mikey ran over to see what was up, but their concerns for their friends went away when they noticed an even weirder occurrence.
Pikachu, Golduck, and Vulpix were triple-teaming Speartrio, and pinning Giovanni's super Pokémon down.
"How can this be?" Giovanni asked aloud, stumped.
Different colored auras appeared around each of the Pokémon - Pikachu in black, Golduck in cerulean blue, and Vulpix in brown - as the three Pokémon powered up to perform one huge combination attack.
"Hydro-thunder flame blast attack!" they yelled, in English, in perfect unison.
A beam made out of electricity, water, and fire launched from the three Pokémon, hitting Speartrio head on and knocking him out! The beam didn't stop there, though, and it began to tear the building apart. Pikachu, Golduck, and Vulpix fainted, while simultaneously their trainers awakened from their slumber.
Once outside, the group tried to figure out what exactly happened.
"But what really happened in there you guys?" Giselle asked, curiously.
"I don't know how to describe it..." Brock began. "It's like a spirit possessed me and transferred me over to Vulpix's body, doubling her power."
"Strange..." thought Misty out loud. "I felt the same thing happen to me and Golduck."
"And me and Pikachu too," Ash confirmed.
"Gee," Todd remarked, scratching his head. "Do you think it has something to do with that legend you guys spoke about earlier?"
At a restaurant in Celadon City, gym leader Erika was explaining to Misty what she knew of 'the legend.'
"They're after a group of kids... kids who may possess the power of being the greatest in their particular field of Pokémon."
"So who are these kids? Do I know any of them?"
"Believe it or not, one of them is sitting right here at this table."
"You mean you, Erika?"
"No, silly, you!"
Misty's mouth hung wide open in stunned silence. "Me?"
"Obviously, you are one of the five."
"But why me?"
"I don't know. All I know is that I received this anonymous letter which mentioned five kids, and it mentioned that the first kid has a good head on her shoulders. I thought that meant that the person was one who was headstrong and able to think through tough situations, and you are the only person I know that fits that description."
"You mean... you think that I have some sort of strange power?"
"No. But there's something about the quality of your soul that makes you one of the five chosen ones. Personally, I think it's a bunch of baloney."
"I agree with you there, Erika. But would Team Rocket kill innocent trainers to get to these 'select five?'"
"In my opinion, they might even kill one of the 'select' if push comes to shove."
"We've gotta find a way to stop Team Rocket! If these special kids do exist, we need to find them before Team Rocket does."
"But there's no way of knowing if someone is one of the five. We're just in the dark about the subject as Team Rocket is."
"Maybe some research will help!"
"Since when did you twerps get such super powers?" Jessie asked.
"Are you deaf?" Persian shouted. "Da film just explained dat!"
"It doesn't explain why, though," noted James.
"To tell you the truth," Ash tried to explain, "we really don't know."
"But Erika was definitely looking into it..." Brock told them.
"And whilst she was, we had a fourth one show up in Marco..." Misty interrupted.
Pokémon Junior Master Tournament Championship Battle Royale
The energy beam of concentrated sunlight fired at Absol. Cassie could already tell that it was moving too fast for Absol to dodge. With no other protective measures in place, Cassie knew this was going to be it.
"Oh no, not again..." Marco sputtered before fainting.
"Wha?" Ash, Gary, and Cassie screamed in surprise.
On the field, Absol began to glow a strange color of red. The solar beam looked as if it was going to hit its market, and then... it suddenly was stopped by a shield of some sort that was blocking its way.
"That's Light Screen!" Cassie gasped. "But can an Absol use that?"
Charizard and Arcanine ceased fighting and noticed the fight Absol was putting up. As well as the strange color Absol was glowing.
"I've never seen an Absol glow red before..." Gary noted.
Absol suddenly went into attack mode, heading right for Ivysaur.
"Wait... is he allowed to do that?" Cassie asked as she glanced at the official that's examining Marco. "His trainer's not even awake!"
The official reached for one Marco's eyelids and lifted it up. He then saw that, somehow, his eyeball was moving as if he were awake.
"Whoa! Creepy!"
"This some kind of new meditation technique that I don't know about?"
But by drawing all of her attention towards Marco, Cassie was no longer paying any to Absol, who vaulted himself up and onto Ivysaur's back. Before she knew what hit her, Ivysaur was grabbed by the bulb by Absol's fangs and was being shaken as if she were a rag doll.
"SAAAAUUURRR!" she cried out in pain.
"Ivysaur!" shouted Cassie, powerless to do anything.
Absol then spun around twice before, using all of his strength, tossed her in Charizard's direction. Charizard caught Ivysaur, but the force from the original throw pushed him all the way to the edge of the field. Charizard then glanced down at Ivysaur's face, only to see her passed out. He shrugged, then placed her down on the ground.
Charizard then turned his attention towards Absol, ready to give a response to his overwhelming display of power. But the red glow around Absol began to fade. As it did, Cassie looked as if she was in disbelief. Not only did Absol take out her Ivysaur, but the Absol's trainer had done it all without seeing it at all.
Cassie was now out of the tournament, but she wasn't going down alone.
"The Pokémon attacked without an order from his trainer!" she claimed to the official who was watching Marco. "It should be disqualified, as per the rule that all Pokémon must be under the complete control of his or her trainer! And there's no way he had any control over that Absol!"
As Cassie debated a case for Marco and Absol being eliminated, the other official ran out to check on Ivysaur, who was clearly unconscious. Ash and Gary looked dumbfounded at the display, and apparently, Charizard and Arcanine felt the same way.
"Ivysaur is unable to continue!" the examining official interrupted. "Cassie Banks has therefore been eliminated from the match!"
Marco slowly rose to his feet and was being questioned by the other official. Cassie stewed in the background as she recalled Ivysaur and waited for her chance to get a few choice words in.
That wait lasted barely two seconds...
"Hey! How did you control that Absol without even being conscious?"
"Excuse me, miss, but that's none of your concern!" shouted the official.
At that moment, Marco raised a hand to signal the official to step aside. He did, then Marco gave Cassie a reply to her question.
"I'm... psychic."
"But Erika knew that wasn't the case," Brock cut in.
On the wall, pictures and one-page biographies of about twenty trainers, all aged between ten and nineteen, were pinned to the wall. The first two were of Misty Waterflower and Marco Pereira, and both had happy Bellsprout stickers stuck on their lower right corners.
"Misty I kinda learned of after receiving a mysterious letter detailing it with no return address. I even told her. I wasn't sure if she believed me, or I believed her. After all, I've never seen proof of her having that ability.
"Then again, I wouldn't have guessed a nobody like Marco would present the first sign of concrete evidence of its existence. And I'm not even sure it was intentional. He looked just as surprised as everyone else who saw that tournament battle royale that day.
"The question is... the letter said there were five in total. Assuming Misty has shown signs of being able to do a soul transfer, even without her own knowledge of the event, that leaves three to find..."
Among the other photos and biographies were the other three finalists of the Junior Master Tournament: Ash Ketchum, Gary Oak, and Cassie Banks. Also up were some well-known and talented up and comers like AJ Kamensky, Jeanette Fisher, and Richie Sparky, as well as two teen gym leaders in Brock Slate and Bugsy Tourou, and a couple of relative unknowns in Shingo Macintosh and Kelly Kiki.
"But it wasn't 'til I saw her in Olivine City that she realized how close she was..." Brock stated.
"Maybe a little... too close," said a skeptical Misty.
"Hmmm? Brock, is there something you know that we don't?"
"Well... uh... I thought Misty would tell you since you two are so close, but..."
"But? But what?"
"We, as in myself, Ash, and Misty, know of two others who also possess that ability."
Erika squealed with delight. "That's great! You don't know how much that means to me! So, could you, pretty please... tell me who they are?"
"Anything for a pretty lady," Brock swooned.
"Tell us already!" demanded Maria. "The suspense is killing me!"
"Alright, alright! Okay... how should I put this? The other two 'legendaries' are... Ash and I!"
Erika and Maria gasped in shock. "You and Ash?"
"That's remarkable!" Erika added. "Three of the five, traveling together across the world! How convenient!"
Out of the blue, a Magmar and a Magcargo appeared and used Flamethrower to box Erika and her Pokémon in between the doorway and a nearby table. Before she knew it, a new Grunt had gotten behind her and tied up her arms with some rope he had on hand.
"Stick to making perfumes and looking like a goddess," the Leader said to Erika. "You're not exactly the type to make intimidating demands."
A second agent came up and took Erika's Pokéballs away from her. He then proceeded to call back Vileplume and Weepinbell, who had no choice but to obey the order. Once Erika had been secured, she was led over to Brock and Maria, who were being tied up at that moment by two other agents that had just appeared. Maria gasped at this and began to cry as her life began to flash before her eyes.
"No... please..."
"Don't worry, Maria," Erika said calmingly. "We're going to be just fine."
"For the time being, yes," stated the Grunt Leader. "For how long depends on how the boss man feels."
He then looked at Bravo Team and cocked his head towards the stairs.
"Get 'em outta here. And be quick about it! With all of those other gym leaders in town, there's a swarm of police about!"
As they approached the stairs, they noticed a large cloud of smoke rising up towards them. In seconds, the second floor quickly filled up with smoke, blinding everyone almost instantly.
"What the..."
"USE SLUDGE, WEEZING!" somebody yelled from the stairwell.
"Weezing weeze!"
Weezing fired Sludge at one of the Grunts, getting him right in the eyes.
"Aaahhh! I can't see!"
"GLIGAR!" shouted a second man. "SAND ATTACK!"
Shortly thereafter, another Grunt was complaining of losing his sight.
"Yaaah! It burns!"
"Does somebody have a hold of the hostages?" the Grunt Leader yelled.
Somebody did... but it wasn't one of the Team Rocket operatives. Maria felt a hand grab her... a different one than the one that had just been holding her, and she was about to let out a scream. But then she felt a second hand cover her mouth... and someone whisper into her ear.
"We're here to save you."
As Erika and Maria gushed over their savior, Brock, on the other hand, didn't seem all that happy.
"I'm curious..." Brock said to Joel. "How DID you know we were in there?"
"Brock," Erika cut in, putting a hand on Brock's arm. "Why are you questioning him? He helped saved our lives? I'd appreciate it if you stopped being so apprehensive towards him!"
Brock sighed. He just couldn't ignore a request from a beautiful woman.
"Sorry," he apologized to Joel. "I'm just..."
"Curious," finished Joel. "And I'm just doing my job."
Suddenly, one of the cars that had left earlier pulled into the parking lot. The driver beeped the horn, signifying that it was time to go.
"Maybe I'll see you all again someday..."
And no one could feel the building excitement more than Erika, who was overlooking the area where the festivities were being held from her penthouse suite on the 20th Floor of the Zisty Hotel.
"Look at all of them down there," Erika said aloud. "There's probably thousands of them here to celebrate the New Year! And to think... there's still five hours until the ball drops!"
"Miss Erika?" Zuniga, one of her assistants, tapped her on the shoulder.
Erika drew her attention away from the window and to Zuniga, who sighed with worry as Maria and Lisa appeared behind her, holding up a brand new kimono, decorated with a firework-style print.
"We have to start getting you ready. Remember, you're supposed to be down there when the TV network goes live at ten o'clock!"
Celadon City Business District
Meanwhile, the ball had just completed its drop, signifying the start of the new year, as confetti was released from above down into the square and thousands of noisemakers and hollers of 'Happy New Year' rang throughout the block. Erika had just been joined on stage by her assistants Maria, Lisa, and Zuniga.
"This is the best New Year's..."
Maria never got to finish her statement, as a series of explosions rocked the square, including several around the stage. Cheers of joy turned to screams of fear as stage debris and bodies were blown every which way, some not even completely intact. As the revelers ran for cover, large fires quickly sprung up around where the stage had been, and panic and chaos spread amongst those still able to move.
All the while, there was somebody smiling from atop one of the nearby skyscrapers as he watched the madness unfold below. It was a blue-haired young man sporting a black Team Rocket uniform. But more surprising was the Pokémon standing next to him. Unlike any Pokémon in existence, it was hard to tell what it looked like with the limited amount of light up there. From what could be seen, though, it seemed to have two sets of wings... one from a Charizard and the other from a Skarmory.
Suddenly, a police helicopter, which had been hovering over the square, aimed its search beacon towards that spot. But when it lit up the building's roof, there was nothing there at all. The helicopter moved on, continuing its search for suspicious characters. Those inside were unaware, though, that they had just missed the perpetrators, as police officers and fire and rescue crew down on the ground moved towards Ground Zero...
"WAIT A MINUTE!" Brock yelled. "SHE ISN'T... SHE ISN'T..."
"I hope not," wished Misty. "I hope she pulls through."
"Hold on!" Ash butted in. "We didn't even know that happened yet! How can we be sure that what we just saw actually happened? You guys don't care about continuity?"
"You're one to talk, Ash!" chided Misty. "After all, who's the one traveling through the Hoenn region all alone when, according to the anime, the three of us should be together in the Johto region!"
"That continuity's different from the kind of continuity I'm talking about!"
"The lead twerp knows what continuity means?" James blinked. "That's news to me."
"Forget that!" Jessie growled. "There's still the issue of WE'RE STILL TIED UP HERE!"
"And I'm getting hungry!" Persian groaned.
"Will everyone just chill out?" Brock shouted, trying to calm them all down. "Why are you all stressing about this when we're about to find the answer?"
"What do you mean, Brock?" Ash asked.
"Well, 'The Year of Rocket's Revenge' officially resumes next week with 13 straight weeks of new chapters!"
"That's enough for an entire season!" Misty remarked.
"So, I guess we'll wait 'til next week, huh?" Ash repeated, trying to make sure he got it.
"Pika pi!" Pikachu shook his head in embarrassment.
"Wait... does that mean the recap special's over?" cried Jessie.
"I don't want it to end like this!" James whined again. "I don't wanna, I don't wanna!"
"But I'm still hungry!" Persian complained. "Somebody feed us!"
"And somebody let us go!" Jessie and James cried.
"Sorry," the twerpy trio apologized. "It's not in our contract."
"Pika, pikachu (That, and we're over budget!)" Pikachu told them.
With that, Ash, Pikachu, Misty, and Brock left the room, turning off the lights as they departed. And leaving Team Rocket by themselves.
"Over budget?" scolded Persian in disbelief. "DIS IS A RECAP SPECIAL!"
"That's not fair!" yelled Jessie. "I wanna renegotiate my contract!"
"No fair!" James and Persian retorted. "We wanna too, we wanna too!"
"And most importantly," the three shouted together, "we wanna survive to the end of this fanfic!"
End Recap Special!
