The Year of Rocket's Revenge
Story Written by Freedom Fighter
Wow. I told you the end of the last session was going to be a shock, but things build even more towards the climax. It's time to start showing why this fanfic is named "The Year of Rocket's Revenge."
But first things first... the disclaimer!
Disclaimer: All characters and places featured in the Pokémon anime series and other productions belong to Nintendo and Pokémon USA! Cassie Banks, Arius McFly, and several others of various degrees of importance were created by me and can't be used by anyone else without my expressed written permission! If you thought there were some gruesome deaths already, the next goner will be really killer! And you don't want to be the one on the wrong end of that deal!
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: April, Part 1 (03.28.06/03.06.08)
Previously, on "The Year of Rocket's Revenge," Misty had traveled to Mt. Pyre in the Hoenn Region, following a cryptic clue from an old man communicating through his Alakazam about the whereabouts of her boyfriend, Ash Ketchum. Not only did she finally reunite with him, she noticed that Ash had done a little bit of growing in the month he had been gone. She also learned that the circumstances behind his kidnapping were a bit odd...
Misty also learned a few new things about Celebi-rus Syndrome, the extremely rare condition that she, Ash, Brock, Marco, and one other teenager shared. All from the current Hoenn League Champion, Wallace! More importantly, he was offering an experimental training regimen that might help cure the potentially deadly condition. Seeing Ash having already bought into, the curious Cerulean gym leader also agreed to be subjected to the training.
But while Wallace's 'experiment' was being done with the blessings of the Pokémon League, Lt. Surge was being endorsed on an endeavor of his own! Along with Ash's replacement as Pokémon Junior Master, Cassie, and Professor Werner Geissler, a German scientist with a good base of knowledge of Celebi-rus Syndrome, were on a search for the fifth and final carrier! Utilizing the research of the late Erika, they had narrowed it down to three candidates. Shingo Macintosh, Giselle Gravelpot, and Cassie herself.
After an exhaustive search, Giselle turned out to be the fifth carrier. Willingly cooperating with Professor Geissler, she and her Marowak underwent an electrical shock procedure in hopes in separating whatever was causing the condition from their bodies. Unfortunately, it didn't go as planned. Though Giselle was able to achieve the 'merged state' for the third time, the Dissolution Chamber had automatically shut down due to a voltage overload in the system!
The fate of Giselle, one of the most decorated valedictorians in the history of the Pokémon Technical Institute, hangs in the balance! But how did she come about contracting Celebi-rus Syndrome? In fact, how did she already get to her third time?
It might help if we go back to the 'beginning'...
"It was the day that will forever be etched in my mind..."
21 months ago - Friday, July 8th, 2000, Viridian City Gym
Ash, Pikachu, Brock, Giselle, Mikey, and Todd all stood back and watched in horror as Golduck gasped with exhaustion. A tear-filled Misty seemed to believe that it was all over. On the other side of the field, the leader of the gym and of Team Rocket, Giovanni, was smirking snidely, as in front of him stood a Speartrio. A strange cross-bred monstrosity with the three heads of a Dugtrio and the beak and body of a Spearow.
All of a sudden, Vulpix hopped out of its Pokéball, materializing right in front of Brock. She perked up and started glaring oddly into his eyes. Pikachu and Golduck did the same to Ash and Misty. Then, without warning, Ash, Misty, and Brock all fainted on the spot, to everyone's surprise. Concerned for their health, Giselle, as well as Todd and Mikey ran over to check on them. But then they started hearing noises from the Pokémon.
But they were no longer standing in front of their trainers. They were, in actuality, engaged in a three-on-one battle with Speartrio!
Giselle gasped in amazement as she watched the trio put a pounding on the anomaly of a Pokémon. She also noticed the different colored auras they had. Vulpix was glowing brown, Golduck a cerulean blue, and Pikachu an imposing black!
"What's going on?" the then-recent Tech graduate thought out aloud.
A glimpse across the field confirmed Giselle's thoughts... that Giovanni himself was just as baffled as she was. His confounded look became more distraught as the trio of glowing Pokémon combined their strength to make one super tri-elemental beam, knocking out Speartrio and then subsequently knocking out the gym's support structures.
As the gym started to fall apart around them, the three Pokémon fainted on the spot. Just as quickly, Ash, Misty, and Brock woke up and all got to their feet. They recalled their Pokémon, with Ash scooping Pikachu in his arms, and all six trainers bolted for the exit, avoiding falling debris.
They managed to escape into the arms of an astonished and curious crowd outside, just as the last of the building's supports gave way and the gym collapsed within itself. Curious as to what just transpired, Giselle turned to the gang and started asking questions.
"What really happened in there, you guys?"
"I don't know how to describe it..." Brock replied. "It's like a spirit possessed me and transferred me over to Vulpix's body, doubling her power!"
"Strange... I felt the same thing happen to me and Golduck," Misty remarked.
"And me and Pikachu here," dittoed Ash.
"Gee, do you think it has something to do with that legend you guys spoke about earlier?" Todd wondered out loud.
"Who knows... but if it's true, I'd like to know one thing."
"What's that, Giselle?" Ash asked.
"Why am I not included?" she whined. "Don't I deserve a little credit?"
"Now I'm wishing I could take that statement back. I'd give up anything, including my award for graduating Tech as valedictorian of my class! But someone as beautiful and talented as myself would never, ever settle for second place. Or third, or fourth! So that's why I decided to spend some time with Ash, since I was heading that way anyway to meet with the great Professor Oak.
"All I originally wanted to do was to ask the professor for some advice about how to properly prepare for the Novice Tournament. But seeing the Professor became nothing but an excuse to stay in Pallet for as long as I needed to get what I wanted. From Ash.
"On the side, I kinda figured it would great to get Misty riled up by pretending to have thrown myself all over Ash. You know how it goes... put someone at a psychological disadvantage by playing with their minds. I mean, with her angry at me flirting with her boyfriend, she wouldn't be focused on battling! And she'd run herself right out of the tournament!
"I wasn't worried about actually falling in love. Sure, him being smart enough to outwit my strategy despite me having the type advantage was amazing, to say the least. But when it came to anything other than Pokémon, he was as dumb as a brick.
"But with no one else really my age around and me, given my need for constant attention, I had no choice but to hang around with the guy!"
Saturday, July 16th, 2000 - Ketchum Residence, Pallet Town
"Can you blame a girl for wanting to be loved?"
It was a beautiful, sunny, and hot morning as Giselle knocked at the front door of Ash's house. She got a little surprise when the door was answered by not a human, but rather a Pokémon... Mr. Mime.
"Mime?" he asked, wandering who she was.
Giselle blinked. "What the? Figures... a clown Pokémon for a clown trainer..."
"Mimie, who's at the door?" Mrs. Ketchum rang out.
"Mime mime, mime!"
Suddenly, Mrs. Ketchum appeared, opening the door a little wider so Giselle could see the both of them as well inside the house.
"Hello there, uh..."
Ash's mom was a little speechless, as at her door was this beautiful girl who was sweating from head to toe and dressed in only a brown sports bra, a pair of black biker shorts, and a pair of running shoes. A Cubone was next to her, a sweatband around his forehead, trying to catch his breath.
"I'm sorry, dear, but I think you have the wrong house."
"Nonsense! This is the house of Ash Ketchum, right? And you must be his sweet and caring mother that he's told me lots about," Giselle stated, apparently trying to charm her way into her heart.
"Are you one of his friends?"
"Well... you could... say that," Giselle lied. After all, she and Ash knew each other, but they weren't exactly that close.
"Um..."
Mrs. Ketchum was getting a little nervous, as she noticed this girl had a much better figure than Misty, but she looked about the same age.
"Oh, where are my manners? I'm Giselle! A pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Ketchum!"
Giselle bowed before Ash's mom, and Cubone did the same.
"I know it's kinda early, but Ash promised me he'd do some training with me. He's helping get prepared for the Novice Tournament in a few weeks!"
"Well, okay then..." Mrs. Ketchum said, reluctantly buying into it. "But I don't think..."
Giselle stepped past Mrs. Ketchum and Mr. Mime and immediately headed for the stairs. As she started climbing up, Mrs. Ketchum was about to object to Giselle going up there without permission, yet... something about Giselle told her not to.
"Uh, make a left, first door on the right," Mrs. Ketchum stated, giving up the information before she could stop herself... or even before Giselle could ask.
Seconds later...
"WAKE UP! WE'VE GOT TRAINING TO DO!"
Several crashing sounds could be heard, of which Mrs. Ketchum could deduce were of Ash somehow getting out of bed in the messiest of ways.
"WHAT? HEY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY ROOM!"
"YOU PROMISED TO HELP ME TRAIN AND I'M GONNA MAKE SURE YOU KEEP THAT PROMISE!"
"What are you, a Slowpoke? Move it!"
Cubone kept pace with Giselle as she was simultaneously jogging and shouting back at Ash and Pikachu, who were desperately trying not to collapse in anguish and pain as they fell further and further behind.
"You're the guy, you're supposed to be outrunning me!"
"Not even Misty tortured me this much," Ash commented, gasping for air.
"Pi..." mustered Pikachu, with even less air for him to use to talk.
"And now, a Pokémon battle! Huh?"
Giselle and Cubone turned around and saw Ash and Pikachu lying on the ground, with their backs on the grass and them looking up into the sky.
"Can I... rest first?" Ash asked.
Giselle responded by winking at Cubone, who responded by throwing his bone like a boomerang right at Pikachu. It hit the electric mouse square in the noggin before he even saw it coming.
"Cha!" Pikachu cried, sitting up and rubbing his head.
"What did you do that for?" Ash asked as he saw the Bonemerang return to Cubone's paw.
"Once a battle starts, you have to be ready for anything!" Giselle explained. "You... weren't. How can you not know something as simple as that?"
"Fine, Giselle! If you want a battle, then I'll give you one! Pikachu, are ready?"
"Pika!" Pikachu nodded, getting on all fours and into a battle stance.
"Pikachu, use Quick Attack!"
Pikachu started charging towards Cubone with lightning speed. But Giselle shook her head in dismay.
"Charging in head-on. You call THAT a strategy?"
Ash growled in response. As for Pikachu, he was a little stunned when he reached Cubone and looked as if he was going to connect, when suddenly Cubone dodged without any orders from his trainer.
"Wha?"
"Cubone, execute plan zero-one-four!"
"Cu... BONE!" Cubone exclaimed, throwing his Bonemerang at the back of Pikachu's head.
Pikachu somehow managed the look back and tilt his head just enough to have the Bonemerang miss bonking him. Unfortunately, he didn't see what was coming next, as he unexpectedly found himself on the receiving end of a headbutt! Pikachu tumbled unceremoniously backwards, stopping just a few feet away from Ash.
"Oh no! Pikachu!" Ash cried.
Ash took a step forward, then found he could go no further! Giselle had gotten behind Ash, unnoticed, and had slipped both of her hands under his armpits, making it so her fingers were interlocked behind Ash's head.
"What the... Giselle, what are you doing?"
"You never know what an opponent might do!" Giselle smirked. "Especially if you're battling some lowlife from Team Rocket! Those weaklings would probably resort to dirty tricks just to get an advantage."
"Knock it off!" Ash whined. "That hurts!"
Ash struggled to break free from Giselle's grip. In the process, his left leg somehow got behind Giselle's and swept itself forward. This caused Giselle to lose her concentration and balance, as she fell backwards. Before her arms were completely free of Ash, her right hand managed to grab just enough of his shirt to twist him around and pull him down with her.
Though Giselle landed flat on her back, albeit a little painfully, Ash had managed to extend his arms just in time to brace his impact. Only his hands and his knees actually touched the grass. But he had been left in an awkwardly precarious position, hovering over Giselle, whose face seemed to flush a bright red as her eyes tried to avoid looking directly into Ash's.
Ash hurriedly got to his feet and quickly offered a hand to help her up. Giselle came back to her senses and slapped it away.
"I can take care of myself, thank you!" she exclaimed.
"Well, fine then!" Ash yelled back, then sticking his tongue at her.
Ash stomped away, passed Pikachu and Cubone, who had just calmly watch the whole scene unfold.
"Cu-bone?"
Pikachu shook his head in disbelief. "Pika, pika pika..."
Pikachu then followed Ash, who was heading back towards his house. Cubone trotted over to Giselle, who was wincing in pain as she sat up.
"Cubone, bone?"
"I'm alright," Giselle replied. "But... what was that strange feeling I just had?"
"Bone?"
"I've never felt this way... except for..."
Cubone looked up at his master, curious as to what she was getting at.
"Except for when I was with Joe..."
Giselle turned in the direction in which Ash was departing and noted that he was still in sight, even if his back was towards her.
"Could it be?"
"I had to find out for sure..."
Two days later...
Giselle snuck around Professor Oak's Pokémon Preserve, ducking behind trees and large rocks and the like. All so she could observe Ash in secret. On this particular day, Ash had offered to help make sure all of the Pokémon were fed for breakfast.
"Breakfast time!" Ash yelled, standing in front of four bowls full of Pokémon food.
"Pika pika!" translated Pikachu.
In mere seconds, a few dozen grass-type Pokémon emerged from the nearby trees. It didn't take long for the area to get overcrowded, and for there to run out of places for some to reach the bowls. Ash noticed as some of the bigger ones, like Nuzleaf, Weepinbell, and Ivysaur, tried to take more than their fair share, leaving nothing for the smaller ones like Oddish, Hoppip, and Sunkern.
"Come on, you guys! No second helpings! Everyone's gotta eat!"
Giselle watched with interest, trying to see how Ash would resolve this. At this point, the smaller grass-types were already yelling in anger at the larger ones, who yelled back. Arguing degenerated into growling, which turned into battling as Razor Leaf, Sleep Powder, and other attacks started being exchanged.
"Break it up!" Ash shouted at them, running into the middle.
The middle was the wrong place to be, though, as Ash found himself on the receiving end of one Pokémon's Stun Spore! Unable to move, Ash fell to the ground, lying right in the line of fire! Pikachu ran over to try and help Ash, and Giselle was thinking about doing the same.
"He could get seriously hurt!" she exclaimed as she started stepping through the bushes before coming to a stop. "Wait! Why should I help that idiot? It serves him right for stepping right into a Stun Spore! I can't believe he doesn't know the paralyzing effects it causes if you inhale it!"
She then heard a Pokéball open up, and she turned her attention back to Ash. Bulbasaur had come out, and the grass starter was already taking stock of the situation.
"He's got a Bulbasaur?"
She watched as Bulbasaur immediately took the role of peacekeeper, talking to all of the Pokémon and getting them to settle down. It only took a minute, but soon enough all of the grass-types were calmly eating breakfast again. Even more importantly, the larger Pokémon were sharing and offering food to the smaller ones! Bulbasaur nodded in approval of his work as Ash picked him up, having recovered from the Stun Spore, and gave him a big old hug.
"Great job, Bulbasaur! I knew you could do it!"
"Bulbasaur!"
"Wow..." Giselle commented to herself. "Who would've thought he would've trained a Bulbasaur so well that it could resolve a large dispute without even batting a vine! That's amazing!"
Giselle continued to observe Ash and saw similar outstanding results at the water-, fire-, and electric-type areas of the preserve. In each case, there would be some disagreement and pushing and shoving, and then the fighting being resolved by Ash's Squirtle, Charizard, and Pikachu, respectively.
"I never realized how loyal Ash's Pokémon were! Or how strong!"
"Hey!"
Giselle suddenly realized that Ash could see her, as she was doing a very poor job, for once, of keeping herself hidden. Of course, that's hard to do when you're hiding behind a wooden fence post.
"You know, if you wanted to help feed the Pokémon, all you had to do was ask!"
"Me?" Giselle gasped, pointing at herself.
Ash started walking towards her. Giselle was a little frightened of this friendly approach, and she wanted to turn around and get out of there as fast as she could. Yet, for some reason, she couldn't get her legs to move. When they finally did, Ash had already grabbed her by the hand and was beginning to guide her along the fence, to where a bunch of Tauros were waiting.
"You're just in time to help me feed Tauros!" Ash exclaimed.
"Feed... a wild Pokémon?"
Ash laughed. "They're not wild. They're mine."
"Which one?"
"All of them!"
"ALL OF THEM?"
Ash nodded as he stopped at a certain point at the fence, where all of Ash's Tauros were lined up side-by-side, waiting to be fed. As Giselle stood face-to-face with one, with only the fence separating at them, she felt Ash pull both of her hands together, palms up. Giselle could feel her face flush a little red - but the feeling quickly went away when Ash produced a bag of Pokémon food and dumped some of it in her clasped hands.
"Wait a minute!" Giselle shouted. "What happened to those containers you were using?"
"Oh, Tauros likes it when I feed them straight from my hands!" Ash stated, scooping out a handful of it himself. "You mean you've never done that?"
"Only with Cubone! And Tauros are, on average, three-and-a-half times bigger!"
"It's simple, watch!"
Ash demonstrated by extending his hands out to one of the Tauros. It slowly lapped at the food, its tongue tickling Ash as it licked up the food. Once Tauros had finished, Ash gave it a good pat on the head.
"See? Now you try!"
"Try?" Giselle retorted, a little offended. "I'll do more than try!"
Giselle leaned forward, slowly extending her arms around the horizontal fence posts and ever closer towards Tauros. But her eyes were closed, probably in an attempt to avoid eye contact with it. In fact, she was scared that Tauros might accidentally bite her, or worse.
"You're scaring Tauros because you're scared!" Ash told her. "Calm down, Giselle."
She suddenly felt a warm feeling, both on her wrists and near her face. Opening her eyes, she saw that Ash was holding her wrists steady and extending them straight in the pen. All the while, he was standing right next to her, shoulder-to-shoulder.
"Pika pika!" Giselle could hear Pikachu cheer.
"That's it... just like that..." Ash said.
But Giselle hadn't even noticed Tauros had starting eating out of her hands. She was too focused on Ash, who had a confident know-it-all smile on his face. Strangely enough, that seemed to be a turn-on for Giselle, who found herself in a state where she was imagining that Ash was there, and only him alone.
The feeling quickly dissipated, though, when she felt Ash let go of her. Snapping back to reality, she saw that Ash had already gotten another handful of Pokémon food and was feeding another one of his Tauros. She saw that the Tauros she had been feeding had already walked away, and had left nothing but a few small crumbs and some drool.
Which really got Giselle back to her old state.
"Eeeewwwww!" she cried, quickly running her hands up and down on the white T-shirt she was wearing.
"Is something wrong?" Ash asked, stopping his feeding to see what was up.
"Unbelievable! Now I have to go and wash up!"
Giselle walked off, lost in thought in regards to the germs that were now all over her hands. At least, that's what Ash thought.
"You'd think she'd never fed a Pokémon before," Ash commented to Pikachu.
"Pikachu?" shrugged the electric mouse.
"As the days turned into weeks, my feelings seemed to grow stronger and stronger... almost to the point where I didn't care who saw me flirting with him. Yet, just as odd as my out-of-character behavior was Ash's non-response. Does he even realize that I like him? Like him like him?
"At the same time, though, I couldn't let anyone else know I liked him like that. No one. Yeah, I dropped the 'flirt with Ash to tick Misty off' plot. Especially now that I actually loved him, I didn't wanna fake it for everyone else. They'd probably think I really was in love, and then I'd be in real trouble.
"Somehow, I stuck to this new plan. It was tough, though, after that skirt-chaser Brock tried to him on me yet again, this annoying jerk named Gary really got under my skin, and that performer-turned-trainer Duplica teased me when she saw that picture of me and Joe.
"Speaking of which..."
Tuesday, August 16th, 2000 - Indigo Plateau
After surprisingly seeing Joe competing at the Novice Tournament, Giselle confronted him later that day at a nearby Chinese restaurant.
"You're acting like we haven't seen each other in ages," Joe exclaimed.
"We've been apart for nearly two years!" Giselle shot back. "That's long enough for me."
"Gee, Giselle," Joe said, giving Giselle the once over. "You've changed a lot."
Giselle batted her eyes at Joe and answered his observation in her cutest voice.
"In what ways?"
Joe gulped. "Um, for one, you seem to have gotten cuter since I last saw you..."
"Tell me more..."
"And you don't seem as tense or cold-blooded as before..."
"Anything else?" Giselle asked as she leaned over the table and closer to Joe's face, completely missing the context of Joe's last comment in the process.
Joe gestured to all of the males all around them. "Well, you don't seem to care about all of the guys that are staring at you right now."
"All that matters right now is that I have you..."
Giselle leaned in and kissed Joe on the lips. At first, Joe seemed surprised and reluctant at Giselle's advances towards him, but he eventually relaxed and gave in to her desires. After having their lips locked for about twenty seconds, they let go... and spot the waiter impatiently waiting for them to order. They both blush, and begin to look at the menu... but not without each of them stealing another glance at each other.
"I know, I know! You all think I'm two-timing Joe! Well, technically, since we hadn't had physical contact in quite awhile, we weren't officially together! But seeing Joe again, and given Ash's 'no reaction,' well...
"I told you, I need constant attention!
"Maybe that's why I invited Joe to come with me after the tournament. After all, I needed to prepare him for the next Novice Tournament after he failed to get into the League that first time around! Besides, even I wouldn't be as so heartless as to invite myself to go with Ash, especially with Misty along for the ride and given I could see how they felt for each other. I mean, sure, I outscore her in every category, from beauty to brains. But we'd always be fighting, instead of training. It would ruin both of our reputations.
"Oh, who am I kidding... her reputation's bad enough without my help.
"But, somehow I managed to ruin my reputation without hers..."
Monday, September 19th, 2000 - Route 7, just east of Celadon City
"What's that?" one young boy asked.
"It's... it's a monster!" exclaimed a second.
Giselle opened her eyes and saw four teenagers with leather jackets all pointing at her, shaking in their shoes in fear as they each cautiously took one step back, then another.
"How dare you attack me like that!" she exclaimed. "That's against the rules!"
But that's not what the bikers heard.
"Maro maro wak wak wak! Wak marowak maro maro!"
Giselle gawked in surprise. Why was she hearing Marowak's voice, and not others.
"Giselle! Giselle, please wake up! Oh, Giselle!"
She then heard Joe's voice behind her, weeping out for her. She turned around to assure him that she actually was awake and was okay, save for the minor headache. But then she got an even bigger surprise.
Just ten feet away, Joe was kneeling beside her own body! Her eyes were closed, and she could see Joe cradling the back of her head with his hands, crying out for her to wake up. He then pulled out one of his hands, and he nearly bawled out even more when he saw blood on it!
"Oh my God..." Giselle thought. "If that's me over there, then..."
She then noticed, for the first-time, the form-fitting skull surrounding the outside of her head, the paws that made up her hands, and the bone she was holding in one of them. As she moved it up and down, she noticed, out of the corner of her eye, the bikers having had enough and high-tailing it out of the scene.
"I'm... I'm inside Marowak? I'm inside Marowak's body!"
At that moment, the clouds opened up and the area was soaked in a torrential downpour. Joe was still sobbing and pleading for Giselle to wake up as he became completely drenched, while Giselle's physical spirit, inside of Marowak, tried to wrestle with what had just happened.
She could only come up with one response.
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!"
To be continued next week in Part 2!
