The Year of Rocket's Revenge
Story Written by Freedom Fighter

Okay, after a good, long break, it's time to pick up where we left off! Time to start the second half of "The Year of Rocket's Revenge," and this is where things really get going. I don't want to spoil anything, but trust me... a lot happens in this 7th session!

So, without further ado... we pick up where we tragically left off...

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. My characters cannot be used by anyone else without my prior permission... by penalty of clogging! Bwa ha ha ha!

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.


The Year of Rocket's Revenge
Session: January, Part 1 (01.02.06/07.12.07)


Last time, the gears revolving around the mystery of the five legendary Pokémon trainers began to spin even faster. Two of the factions involved in it, the Pokémon Trainers' Association and Team Rocket, have claimed many lives in the quest to find the fivesome. Amongst them was a dear friend of Cassie Banks', a young researcher named Franklin Mosley. But it didn't take long for Cassie's boyfriend, Arius McFly, to find out that Cassie and Franklin might have been more, thanks to one of the PTA's newest recruits, AJ Kamensky, who holds ties to the Pokémon League. Could the PTA purposefully be planting seeds of betrayal and mistrust between the two ex-operatives?

Meanwhile, Erika, with the help of her assistant, Maria, and a fellow gym leader, Brock, got a breakthrough when they discovered some weird passages in a book detailing the history of Olivine City. It included details of a finite limit to how many times one could tap into their powers before it would prove fatal. But they didn't have time to test the validity of the book, for they were jumped by Team Rocket! Luckily for them, a group of Pokémon Trainers' Association agents, led by Joel... who, even more surprisingly, was the brother of the leader of the Team Rocket Squadron, Jude! Though Erika and Maria were grateful for the rescue, Brock wasn't so sure of their intentions.

It didn't take long for Erika to be thrown into the line of fire once again, when an explosion rocked downtown Celadon City just mere moments after the ball dropped to celebrate the start of a brand new year! Chaos reigned, and the fates of Erika and many other partygoers were unknown, presumably lost in the smoke and flames left behind by the explosion.

But Cerulean City had some fireworks of its own, as Misty walked in on her boyfriend, Ash Ketchum, sharing a kiss with her friend, Duplica Imite, who's never been shy about her attraction to Ash! What will be the fallout from this? Is this a sign that Ash and Misty's love was never meant to be? And does Ash even know what it means to be stuck in the midst of a definitive love triangle?

We hope you'll stick around to find out the answers, for as we begin a new year, one character's fate seems to have been sealed...


Tuesday, January 1st, Celadon City Business District

"Ladies and gentlemen, in all my years of broadcasting I have never seen such a horrific act of terrorism in our country! But tonight, with most of the world still waiting to celebrate the arrival of the new year, ours has started out in the worst imaginable way."

DJ Mary, who had been broadcasting live from a window studio six floors above the ground from a skyscraper located southwest of where the stage had been set up, had made her way outside with her crew. Once getting into a safe spot as the last of the fearful revelers scattered from the scene, Mary and the crew had just resumed filming.

"In the world's first new year's celebration since the deadliest day in the United States less than four months ago on September 11th, security was expected to be at an all-time high at New Year's Eve parties across the globe! While all of us are stunned that our local authorities could not prevent this from happening tonight, we must worry about placing blame later, and now worry about who caused this, why, and how many lives have been claimed by this tragedy."

"Hey!" Officer Jenny yelled, reaching in and attempting to take Mary's microphone from her. "You need to clear the area immediately! There could still be secondary explosive devices! Please step back towards the police barricades..."

"Oh my gosh!" one of DJ Mary's crew members yelled.

The camera turned to the left and saw, about fifty feet away, a blue-haired woman in a tattered kimono limping... limping... and then collapsing on the ground. DJ Mary appeared on camera once again, running towards the fallen woman. The cameraman tried to follow, but he was stopped by Officer Jenny.

"I said you need to clear the area! And where are those ambulances already? We've got a priority-one, stat!"


Cerulean City Gym

All around the world, people were watching the horrific events unfold before them, and needless to say, they were a lot viewing the incident with complete and utter shock. Among them were the partygoers at the Sensational Sisters Bash at the Cerulean City gym, watching on TV.


"Misty! Misty, where are you?"

Daisy was wandering around the second floor of the gym when she came across a corridor that was completely dark. In addition, she could hear the sound of someone wailing from somewhere down there. Daisy reached for a Pokéball instinctively before realizing that she had no place to hold one on her person, given her form-fitting dress.

"Curse my right to be fashionable," she muttered under her breath.

"Who... who's there?"

Daisy gasped, noticing that the wailing had stopped and whomever had been doing it had probably noticed her standing at the edge of the darkness.

"I've got a good pair of lungs on me!" Daisy quickly countered. "I assure you, make one wrong move and I'll scream like... like... something really loud!"

"D-D-D-Daisy?" the voice muttered.

Daisy stopped, recognizing the voice instantly. "Mist? Is that, like, you in there?"

Misty slowly walked out into the light, with the makeup on her face visibly ruined by all the crying she had been doing.

"What happened to you? Did someone do something to you? Are you hurt?"

"Do... something?"


As the countdown rang out from downstairs, Misty was climbing the last of the stairs leading to the balcony. She reached the top just as loud screams came out from below.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

Fireworks popped in the sky above, but all Misty could pay attention to as she stood in the doorway was Ash and Duplica kissing in the moonlight. Stunned beyond belief, a myriad of emotions ran through her. What could she do? What would she do?


"No," Misty shook her head. "Nobody did anything. I just saw... saw something I just couldn't believe with my own eyes."

"So you know about what happened in Celadon City?"

Misty perked up at that question. "Wait... what?"

"There was an explosion... just a few seconds after midnight! You didn't, like, hear the screams from downstairs?"

"Erika..." Misty muttered, remembering that she was there. "How's Erika?"

"She's... fine," Daisy lied. "Fine. But there's no time to worry about that! Violet just told me that everyone is moving towards the Panic Room. In case Celadon City wasn't the only target..."

"You think..."

"We're sorry for overstepping your authority as gym leader, Misty, but we, like, have to take extra precautions just in case you're a target, too!"

"No, I understand. Let's go."

Misty walked past Daisy, heading for the nearest stairwell.

"Wait! Where's Ash?"

Misty stopped dead in her tracks.

"Did I say something wrong? Oh my... did something..."

"Ash is fine," Misty quickly interjected. "We had a talk, then I left him out on the balcony just before the fireworks began to go off."

"Okay then... well, Brock's probably found him by now anyway. They're probably, like, already waiting for us."

"Yeah... waiting..."

"Come on," Daisy said, grabbing Misty's hand. "We have to make sure all the Pokémon are corralled into the safety tanks as well."


Ten minutes later, Daisy and Misty had finished with the aforementioned task and had made their way to the second underground level, where Ash, Pikachu, Brock, and Violet were waiting. A large metal sliding door stood firmly closed behind them.

"Daisy!" Violet and Brock shouted enthusiastically.

"Misty!" added Ash, glad to see his girlfriend alive and well. "Are you okay?"

Misty grumbled before starting to yell at the top of her lungs at him.

"WHAT KIND OF STUPID QUESTION IS THAT?"

"Gee, like, calm down!" Daisy said, restraining her youngest sister.

"I... I didn't mean any harm," Ash stated, a bit confused.

"She must be confused," Violet admitted, pointing it on Misty. "After all, considering what happened, Erika's..."

"Shhh!" Daisy shushed, but to no avail, as Misty stopped flailing around. "Erika..."

"We didn't want to tell you..." Brock began.

"But... Erika," Violet said aloud. "She was on the stage when the explosion happened."

"You... you mean..."

"We can't say for sure. But... it's not looking good..."

"No... it... it can't..."

Misty broke down in tears again, this time running away from Daisy and towards Brock for support. She cried into his tuxedo, and Brock did his best to comfort her. All the while, Daisy and Violet looked at Ash, who just stood there, dumbfounded.

"Why did..." Violet wondered, pointing at Misty being with Brock and then at Ash, who... didn't have Misty.

"What did you do to Misty?" Daisy asked, glaring at Ash.

"Nothing, I swear!" he pleaded in defense.

Ash glanced down at Pikachu, who was giving him the same odd look.

"Ohhh... not you too, Pikachu! I swear, I did nothing to her!"

"Violet," Daisy told her purple-haired sister. "Open the door. Get Misty inside. Make sure you and Lily stay beside her at all times!"

Violet nodded, then banged on the door once.

"Tuna of the wavering ocean!"

The door suddenly began to rise, opening the entrance to the Panic Room. Lily was standing by the controls as Violet motioned for Brock to bring Misty inside. Brock did so, continuing to comfort Misty as they headed in. Ash reached out, as if only now he wanted to do something, but Daisy quickly slapped his hand down.

"Ow! What was THAT for?"

"You're staying out here with me, young man!"

Once Violet, Brock, and Misty were inside, Lily immediately pressed the button to close the gate. Ash watched with Daisy and Pikachu on either side of him as some of the other guests made way at a nearby table for them. A few seconds later, the door was closed and locked from the inside.

"Misty's in there!" Ash yelled defiantly at Daisy. "I should be in there with her!"

Daisy responded, to Ash's surprise, by pressing the button on the Pokéball he just noticed that she was holding in her left hand. She then threw the Pokéball out, and Dewgong emerged from it.

"Dewgong, gong gong!"

"Our job is to stand guard until the local police arrive!" Daisy said to her Pokémon.

"Dew!" Dewgong nodded, understanding the order.

Dewgong then turned about and faced the stairs. Pikachu, instantly noticing his role, walked up and took a ready position beside Dewgong.

"Pika!"

"Let's just call it your first 'official' duty as the new Pokémon Junior Master!" Daisy said to Ash.

"You think I care about that right now? Misty's in there, and..."

"And what, mister? You think I'm gonna let you near her when you did something vile and despicable to her?"

"What? Now hold on..."

"Do you know where I found her, Ash? Bawling her eyes out in the darkness!"

"She was... crying?"

"And she said she had talked to you on the balcony just prior to that! That makes me think you said something to upset her!"

"But I never saw her up there, honest!"

Daisy grabbed Ash by the ear and pulled them away from the door, so prying ears couldn't hear them from inside.

"I swear to God, like, if we weren't out here protecting everyone in that room there, I'd have Dewgong rip you limb from limb right now!"

"Daisy..."

"YOU DID SOMETHING TO MY SISTER, AND I WANNA KNOW RIGHT NOW WHAT!"

"Nothing! I did nothing! I swear on my life, as the Junior Pokémon Master of the World... I did nothing to harm Misty in any way, shape, or form! She was never up there!"

Daisy stared into Ash's eyes deeply, as to see if he was telling the truth.


Ash found himself a little stunned as Duplica finished up, pulling away after her tongue had danced inside his mouth for about ten seconds or so. In fact, they just stood there silently, looking at each other and wondering what had just transpired as fireworks continued to go off in the distance.

"Ummm..." Ash stuttered.

Suddenly, the tense moment was broken up by the screams from some of the partygoers below.

"Something's wrong!" Ash shouted, quickly regaining his composure and bolting for the stairwell, which was empty.

As Ash ran off to see what the commotion was about, Duplica was left alone on the balcony.


"Well..." Daisy said, pulling back. "Surprisingly, I think you're telling the truth."

Ash sighed with relief. "That's what I've been trying to tell you!"

"But why would Misty lie? Hmmm... maybe whatever she saw wasn't what she thought she saw..."

Suddenly, the two heard howling coming from the stairs. Ash and Daisy turned their attention in that direction, as did Pikachu and Dewgong. They waited as the howling got closer and closer, and began to be accompanied with several pairs of footsteps.

"This is it! Down here!"

Ash and Daisy shared a collective gulp, knowing that the intruders were about to appear in the stairs. Pikachu's cheeks began to spark in anticipation of an attack.

Seconds later, an Arcanine appeared, running down the steps. He stopped as he reached the bottom, seeing Pikachu and Dewgong waiting for him, and Ash and Daisy a few paces behind, guarding a metal door. But instead of attacking, Arcanine turned his head back up the stairs and barked at the ones that were tailing him.

"Good work, Arcanine!" thanked Officer Jenny, as she appeared next to him.

"Officer Jenny?" Ash asked, recognizing the uniform from afar.

"Good! You're right where your security told us you were gonna be."

"Are we, like, gonna be alright?" Daisy asked, stepping forward and past Pikachu and Dewgong. "There's no bomb threat, right?"

Jenny smiled. "We have a team searching the premises now. But right now, it's just a precautionary measure. We have no reason to believe that what happened in Celadon will happen here too."

Daisy breathed a little easier. "That's good to hear."

"We'll be here as long as you need us," Jenny reassured Daisy as two fellow policemen stepped forward and to her side.

As things calmed down amongst the heroes, Ash glanced back at the metal door. He wondered how Misty was doing, but he couldn't check on her just yet. Not until the all clear was given.


Inside the chamber, Brock and Violet were doing their best to comfort Misty over the supposed loss of Erika.

"I don't understand..." Misty wailed. "Why did she have to..."

"Let's not give up hope," Brock said, on the verge of tears himself. "Someone as beautiful as Erika can't die so young!"

"Brock's right," Violet added. "We have to hope that she can pull through this!"

"No!" Misty responded, shaking her head. "I should've seen this coming. Team Rocket's going to be coming after us again..."

"Huh? What do you..."

"Violet," Brock said to her. "A couple weeks ago, Erika and I were attacked in Olivine City by Team Rocket. They were trying to stop her research project."

"You mean... the one trying to figure out where those strange powers that you and Mist have came from?"

Brock nodded in affirmation. "Exactly."

"I should've convinced her not to do that New Year's Eve celebration," Misty said. "If I had..."

"There's nothing you could've done," Violet tried to reassure Misty. "You can't blame yourself for something you have no control over!"

"Yes," Brock added. "Right now, we have to think about the future. Team Rocket may come after you or me... or Ash next. We'll have to be on guard, in case they decide to strike again."

As this was going on, Duplica was watching from afar. She seemed to be trying to read lips, attempting to figure out what Misty was crying about. But her staring didn't go unnoticed, as Tracey was sitting on the ground next to her.

And was making a sketch of her pose in his notebook.

"Did anyone tell you that you look cute when you think?" Tracey muttered without looking up from his work.

"Yeahhhhh..." Duplica nodded, having not heard what he said.

She suddenly got to her feet, resulting in Tracey audibly moaning in disappointment.

"Awww... I only needed a few more seconds!"

"Tracey..." Duplica asked him.

"Yes?"

Duplica pointed in Misty's direction... which, of course, got Tracey's attention instantly.

"She looks so sad... as a gentleman, maybe I should go over and ask her what's wrong."

"But... can't you tell from here what she's crying about?"

Tracey glanced over and began doing what he did best... watching.

"Not really. But I bet it's something really bad."

"Something... bad?" stuttered Duplica.


Having just broken their kiss, Ash and Duplica were just staring silently at each other as fireworks continued to go off in the distance.

"Ummm..." Ash finally managed to utter.

Suddenly, the tense moment was broken up by the screams from some of the partygoers below.

"Something's wrong!" Ash shouted, quickly regaining his composure and bolting for the stairwell, which was empty.

Duplica stood and watched as Ash disappeared back into the building. Once he was gone, she raised her right hand up and pressed her middle and index fingers against her lips. She held them there for about 20 seconds, quietly reflecting on what had just happened. She then smiled and sighed with happiness and delight.


"How can something that felt SOOOOO good be so bad?" Duplica thought to herself.

She raised her hand again and pressed her fingers against her lips, unaware that Tracey was staring at her and making his own conclusions in his head.

"Ohhhhh..." Tracey smirked slyly. "So THAT'S it."

"Wha?" Duplica suddenly freaked, blushing. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, given your flush cheeks, the position of your hands, and that goofy smile on your face, I say that whatever Misty's sad about it involves the two of you and some sort of kiss."

"Ehhhhh?"

"But if it were a kiss between the two of you, I'm pretty sure Misty wouldn't have such an openly sad reaction... such as the one she's having now. Which means..."

Tracey then gasped in shock, finally getting it. Realizing that fact, Duplica quickly reached up and cupped Tracey's mouth with her hand.

"Shhhh!" she shushed. "You want the whole world to know?"

A couple of people nearby, including Professor Oak and Delia, looked over to see what was up. But Duplica quickly shooed them off, signaling it was nothing so that they'd stop paying attention to her and Tracey.

"That's low..." Tracey told Duplica in a low voice. "Even I wouldn't be as brash as to steal a kiss from Misty. But you just went and did that with Ash!"

"You're making it sound as if I planned it that way!"

"Did you?"

Duplica paused for a second, trying to think of the correct way to answer his question.

"So? It was one innocent kiss!"

"Are you sure about that?"

"But how did she find out? I'm pretty sure we were alone up there..."

"I think you two better have a talk before something happens and this gets all blown out of proportion."

Duplica sighed. "I guess so..."

She took two steps forward before the sound of someone knocking on the panic room's door from the outside filled the room, grabbing everyone's attention.

"Chicken of the salty sea!"

Lily, at the door's control panel, squealed with delight.

"That's the all clear signal! One metal door, cominnnnnnnnn' UP!"

Cheers and sounds of relief could be heard from the entire group as Lily had the door raised and they were all greeted by Ash, Daisy, and Officer Jenny.

"You can all come out now!" Jenny said to them all. "All clear!"


It didn't take long for the partygoers to get upstairs and to the gym exit, where most of them headed straight for their homes and hotel rooms. A small group of stragglers stayed behind, apparently believing there was great partying to still be had that night. Unfortunately for them, the sisters were thinking otherwise, as Daisy, Violet, and Lily began the exhausting clean-up process. Professor Oak, Delia, and Tracey also helped pitch in.

Misty, still teary-eyed, walked in to assist as well. But Daisy, as the eldest sister, was having none of that.

"Mist... it's okay," Daisy told her. "We can handle it. Maybe you should go get some rest. The last hour or two's been really hard on you."

"Yeah... I guess you're right."

Daisy smiled, then glanced over at Ash and Brock, who were watching the news on TV, and Duplica, who was spacing out alone at one of the dining tables nearby.

"Oh, Ash! Would you, like, mind if you escort Misty to her room?"

"Huh?" Ash responded, turning around and starting to walk over. "Yeah... sure..."

"No... please..." Misty spouted, with a tinge of fear in her voice. "ANYBODY BUT HIM! ANYONE BUT ASH KETCHUM, THE DUMBEST GUY IN THE WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD!"

Everyone in the room was left speechless by Misty's outburst. Particularly Ash, who still seemed to not know what he did wrong. Violet dropped what she was doing and started pushing Misty out of the room.

"C'mon, Misty... I'll take you to your room."

Satisfied with Violet's help, Misty meekly replied...

"Thank you..."

"Ash?" Delia asked, worried about what had just transpired. "Is there something going on between you and Misty that we should know about?"

"She seemed pretty upset," observed Professor Oak.

Daisy started giving Ash the eye. The 'evil' eye.

"Are you absolutely sure you, like, didn't do anything to her?"

"I swear, I really don't know!" Ash shouted in defense, wailing his arms around in confusion.

Duplica looked on from afar, debating in her mind whether she should stand up and come to Ash's defense by admitting the truth about why Misty was sour. But before she could decide, Pikachu and Brock both interrupted... but for an entirely different reason.

"PIKAAAAAA!"

"No... it can't be! IT CAN'T BE!"

Everyone quickly ran over and joined Brock and Pikachu by the TV. On the screen, to their horror, was the Pewter City Pokémon Gym.

Or, more accurately, what was left of it, as it had been reduced to a large pile of rubble.

To be continued next week in Part 2!