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

Onward to the penultimate session! Lots to get to, and plenty to set up for the big finale! So let's get this show on the road!

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 other characters were imagined up by me and can't be used by anyone else without my expressed written permission. Really, it doesn't pay to steal other people's characters, believe me.

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: June, Part 1 (05.23.06/06.21.10)


Previously, on "The Year of Rocket's Revenge," Team Rocket had declared all-out war on the Kanto and Johto regions, and were starting to take control of several major cities. As high-ranking officials and gym leaders such as Koga and Brock began to get apprehended by Team Rocket, Pallet Town found itself under siege.

Gary Oak and Tracey Sketchit led the small contingent determined to protect the town at all costs, but the squadron led by Cassidy and Butch proved too much for them to handle. That's when Ash and Misty showed up, fresh from learning how to control their supernatural powers at Mt. Pyre thanks to Wallace. With their newfound strength, Ash and Misty, along with their Pokémon, Pikachu and Vaporeon, neutralized Cassidy, Butch, and their all-powerful cross-bred Pokémon, Blastizaur.

But as one threat was taken care of, two more emerged elsewhere in the region. Marco had gathered an army and descended upon Vermilion City, where Lieutenant Surge fought valiantly to save his hometown. Meanwhile, Domino was in Saffron City to locate and kidnap the comatose Giselle, as Cassie fought to make sure her mission didn't succeed. But things got more complicated when not only her ex, Arius, showed up with his partner, AJ, on behalf of the Pokémon Trainers' Association, to take Giselle for themselves, but also her ex's evil older brother, Pauly, out for revenge!

Misty, in the meantime, raced home to Cerulean City with Ash, in attempt to help protect her gym with her sisters, should Team Rocket send an invasion force their way. And sure enough, it came. Again, Ash and Misty gained the upper hand on Team Rocket, but that all changed when they saw that one of Misty's sisters, Lily, was in their clutches.

To make matters worse, she was in the clutches of Calamity and Jane, Team Rocket's most ruthless pair of operatives. In order to save the Cerulean gym and Lily's life, Ash and Misty gave into their enemy's demands, and surrendered.

With Ash and Misty in their custody, Calamity and Jane turned their attention to the rest of the Pokémon League, demanding that all of the remaining high-ranking officials and gym leaders turn themselves in. After several refusals to comply, the duo made one final threat. They revealed that they had possession of the Dissolution Chamber, the same device that had nearly killed Giselle and had put her into a coma, and were threatening to use it on Ash and Misty.

And this time, they were going to make sure it did what it was designed to do... regardless of the cost of Ash and Misty's lives...


Sunday, June 1st, Team Rocket Maximum Security Prison

Inside one of the facility's three operating laboratories, several scientists were scrambling around, attempting to get ready for the big event that was only a couple hours away from transpiring. A pair of Team Rocket grunts were also in the room, keeping guard to make sure no unauthorized personnel could get in.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. One of the grunts turned to answer it, and was greeted by a third grunt.

"Boss wants a progress report," the third said to the first.

"Everything's proceeding on schedule," reported the first.

The third nodded, then left the room.


A few minutes later, the warden of the prison was communicating via videophone with the head honcho of Team Rocket himself, Giovanni.

"I'm pleased to report that the Dissolution Chamber will be up and running within the hour," declared the warden.

"Excellent," Giovanni said with a smile.

"I'm assuming the League still has not responded to your demands, sir?"

"Not even a frivolous rebuttal. But I can't blame them... we're already in control of a majority of the Kanto region, and the few areas that aren't under our control are just one big incident away from descending into complete anarchy. Today's little stunt should take care of that. But even if that doesn't happen, I've already set in motion plans to make a grand assault on the Indigo Plateau. Either way... the League will soon be no more."

"Very good, sir."

"I'm sending one of my best agents in to serve as my personal representative..."


Somewhere in the air, just west of Celadon City

A helicopter was flying in the direction of the prison. Along with the two pilots, the only other person on-board was Marco. He seemed a bit unhappy, but he was keeping his mouth shut as the chopper continued to make its way to its destination.


"Pray that everything goes well," Giovanni threatened, "because I've told him that if just one thing goes awry, he is to make sure heads will roll! And I've given him explicit orders to start with you. Understood?"

The warden gulped.

"Yes, sir."


Deep underground, exact location unknown

About thirty feet or so under the surface, a group of chain gangs were hard at work constructing an underground tunnel for a future southern branch of the magnet train tracks exclusively for Team Rocket's use. The prisoners employed there were either digging or stabilizing the tunnel, or installing electric rail tracks, all under the watchful eye of Team Rocket operatives.

One of the chain gangs charged with digging the tunnel was made up entirely of the contingent that, just a month ago, had fought to keep Fuchsia City from falling under Team Rocket's control. As 'reward' for the failure, they were all sentenced to toil in the tunnel together, including the city's former gym leader and current Elite Four member, Koga.

But one of them wasn't happy with the sudden change of venue.

"I can't believe they're making us do this!" a male in his 20s, complained. "And all of a sudden, too! They seemed perfectly content to let us rot in our cells until today!"

"It's... complicated..." Koga could only say.

"How complicated could it be?"

"Remember we heard that they were holding the Junior Master and the Cerulean gym leader?"

"Well, yeah..."

"Team Rocket plans to eliminate them today, live for the whole world to see!"

"That's... that's insane!"

"Of course, if things don't work out, they have insurance..."

Koga motioned towards the extraordinary number of guards keeping an eye on them... and all of them had firearms on them.


Back at the prison, in a dimly-lit and window-less section, a solitary guard made the rounds in the narrow hallway that passed by the single-occupancy prison cells, to whose entrances were limited to one side of the hall.

Inside one of the small and extremely cramped cells sat a very quiet Ash Ketchum. It was hard to tell what condition he was in, given there was no light at all in the room. Still, he could be heard breathing normally as he sat with his back against one of the side walls. The only noise he could hear, other than his breathing, was that of the footsteps of the aforementioned guard.

But once those faded away, Ash found another noise to fill the void.

His own voice.

"Misty... Misty!"

No response. And then suddenly...

"Ash?"

"Yeah."

In the next cell over, Misty was sitting with her own back against the same adjacent wall. Again, it was hard to tell her present condition, but she also seemed to be breathing normally.

"How are you holding up?" she asked her boyfriend.

"Could be better. I mean, they're treating me fine, but I can't survive on one meal a day! I am still a growing boy, you know!"

Misty couldn't help but let out a little chuckle.

"C'mon, Mist, I'm serious!"

"I know. Still... what are they planning to do with us? I'm not quite sure how long we've been in here... but they're treating us better than I expected."

"That honestly makes me more worried."

"Uh huh. Whatever they're planning, it's gotta be big. And that's bad for us."

"To be frank, though, I'm more worried about Pikachu and the others."

"They better have not done anything to hurt them..."


The warden was heading towards the exit closest to the helipad with a Team Rocket grunt on either side of him. But just as he was about to reach for the door handle, he heard someone call out to him.

"Warden, sir!"

The warden stopped and turned around to see an operative run up to him. One of the grunts grimaced at this operative's presence, but he did it in a way that the other grunt couldn't see it.

"It's those Pokémon, sir."

"The ones of those teens?"

"Yes, sir. They've refused to cooperate with us!"

"You've had a week to get them under control and ready for distribution to other agents! Is there no one in this facility that can do that one simple task?"

"It's just..."

"Enough! I guess we have no choice. Eliminate them all! Except for the Pikachu and the Vaporeon... we need those two for today's little broadcast to the world!"

The operative saluted, understanding his orders. "As you wish, sir."

As he ran off, the warden and his two bodyguard grunts did another about face and headed out the door. Once outside, they glanced out to the pad, where a black helicopter with Team Rocket's logo on it was touching down. Once safely planted on the pad, the co-pilot opened his door and went to the rear door. Once slid completely open, Marco stepped out.

He was scowling as he walked over towards the warden. He was muttering obscenities under his breath, too, which could be heard as the copter's engines were shut down in the background.

"So," the warden smiled, recognizing Marco. "You're the new prodigy the boss has said so much about. Marco Pereira!"

"I keep telling people that I don't go by that name anymore! The only name I respond to now is 'Mark.'"

"Very well then, Mark..."

"Stop wasting my time! I'm only here because the boss ordered me to be here! If I had my way, I'd still be on the battlefront in Vermilion, plotting our next attack on Surge and his League cronies!"

"Of... of course..."

"So, when does this go down?"

"Soon. The machine should be ready any minute, and then we'll go retrieve the test subjects."

"Good. Notify me when you're ready to begin."

One of the guards then held the entrance into the facility open, as he was to lead Mark to a room to wait in.


Back in the laboratory, the scientists had just finished setting up the Dissolution Chamber. All that was left was to go through the safety checks to make sure everything was working like it was supposed to.

"Alert the warden and the professor!" exclaimed one of the scientists. "We're ready."


Ten minutes later, Ash and Misty could hear footsteps in the hallway. A whole lot of them. They both moved away from the wall and towards the center of their cells. Once the footsteps stopped, an assortment of locks being undone could be heard.

"Hands up where we can see them!" someone yelled.

The door opened and two flashlights shone into the cell. Their guiding light focused towards the lone body in the room, Ash's. The teen was sitting on the ground, his arms chained together; the same with his legs. His clothes were slightly tattered, the hair on his head was a little messy, not to mention dirty, and he smelt bad.

Ash looked out the door and saw, in addition to the two grunts holding the flashlights were two more with rifles pointed at his head, and a trio of Nidoking, ready to strike at a moment's notice.

"This is why I hate coming down here," noted one of the rifle carriers.
"It smells worse than an unkempt farm!"

"Alright, you," the other said to Ash, ignoring his comrade. "Step out here... slowly!"

Ash did as he was told and made his way into the hallway. Once there, he saw that another group was in front of Misty's cell and was making her come out as well. Misty was pretty much in the same state of cleanliness, or rather, lack of, as Ash was.

"Let's get you two suckers cleaned up. Team Rocket wants you to shine in your finest moment! Your last one in front of the world, that is!"


The warm water descended from the shower-head and onto Ash's dirty body. He stood there, eyes closed for a minute or two, as he let the cleansing liquid run all over him, getting rid of all of the stench and filth that had accumulated over the past week.

Outside the open shower area of the men's locker room, one lone guard stood watch, waiting for the young male to make himself presentable.

"Whatever's going on," Ash thought to himself. "Misty and I have to get out of here. We've played possum long enough. Still... can we even escape from here all on our own?"


Twenty minutes later, the squadron was leading Ash and Misty towards the laboratory. Both were now wearing white short-sleeve shirts and white pants, similar to one of the uniforms the Rockets wore, minus the accompanying logo anywhere on the clothing. They were each chained at the wrists again, just like in the cells, but they were no longer wearing the ankle chains, for ease of transport.

"Where do you think they're taking us?" Misty asked.

"Shut up and keep walkin'!" one of the Rockets yelled at her.

Misty promptly kept her mouth shut, but it didn't matter as they were ushered in through the double doors into their destination. They were a little surprised to be brought into the laboratory, where the many parts and panels of a complicated machine sat all around them. Ash counted no less than eight scientists in the room, all working on whatever the machine that lied in front of them did. Meanwhile, Misty noticed two huge cameras, like those used for filming in TV studios, were in the room, and were being hooked up for broadcast.

"Ash..." Misty said to her boyfriend, with a hint of fear in her tone, "I really don't like where this is going..."

Ash could only respond by growling. This was going to end badly for them if they couldn't find a way to escape.

"So... I finally get to meet you two in person..."

Ash and Misty turned their attention to the doorway, where the lead scientist in the laboratory walked in.

"Ash Ketchum and Misty Waterflower. You two are pretty popular, apparently."

"Who are you?" Ash asked.

"My name is Werner Geissler. Perhaps you've heard of me?"

Misty gasped. "I thought you looked familiar! You're that professor from Germany that's under the employ of the Pok mon League! The one that was helping Erika out with her research!"

"But if you're working for the League," Ash thought out loud, "then what are you doing here? Is Team Rocket forcing you to work for them?"

"Quite the contrary, young man. I am here of my own free will!"

"What?" the two teens yelled simultaneously.

"You see, after a certain incident, the League decided that the quest to find the five 'chosen' teenagers and help them escape from the curse of their powers was no longer a viable option financially. Needless to say, the services of me and my team were no longer needed. But we were determined to see this through, no matter how long it took or how much it costs..."

"And that's why you're with Team Rocket now," deduced Misty unhappily.

"You're in this for the money?" growled Ash. "Do you know what's going on out there? In cities across the region?"

"Don't really care," replied Professor Geissler. "It's not my city... or country even, for that matter."

"How dare you!"

"Really? You two are mad at me? Especially since the machine before you has the power to finally separate you from your accursed powers? To be able to go back to the life of normal trainers? I assure you that all of the bugs are worked out this time. Unlike with her..."

"Her?" Misty racked her brain. "But the only other girl with powers besides me is..."

"Giselle!" Ash finished his girlfriend's thought.

"Ah, so you know her! Good... that'll make telling this easier..."


Meanwhile, in one of the other laboratories on the grounds, a group of about eight Team Rocket operatives were gathered. One of them was holding a glass case that had Pikachu in it... and he wasn't too happy about being caged up.

"CHUUUUUUUUUU! CHUUUUUUUUU!"

Pikachu was trying to use Thunderbolt to break out, but it was no use. The specially-designed case was resistant to electric attacks.

"Does this thing ever give up?" the operative holding the case asked. "He's been going at it for almost ten minutes now!"

"He's either really stupid or really determined," one of the others remarked. "Regardless, he'll calm down when he sees where we're taking him and Vaporeon."

A third operative held up Vaporeon's Pokéball, while one of the others was holding a small box filled with the rest of Ash and Misty's Pokéballs.

"What about the others?" asked the third.

"Why do you think we're in here?" the first said in response.

The third then placed the box on the floor. As the others headed for the exit, he took out one of the Pok balls and tossed it towards the opposite end of the room. Once he did that, he bolted for the door. The Pok ball, meanwhile, had hit the ground and opened on contact. Misty's Horsea emerged from it.

"Pika pika!" Pikachu called out, having stopped his attacks to call out to Horsea for help.

"Horsea?"

But by that point, the operatives had already escaped the room and had closed and locked the door behind them. Horsea looked around and saw nothing but a box.

But then a large gate started to open upwards behind her. Horsea bounced to turn around... and she didn't like what she was seeing. Standing on the other side of the gate were several of Team Rocket's cross-bred Pokémon! One was a Nidorino with the wings and stinger of a Beedrill. Another was an Ampharos that had the head and horns of a Stantler as well as the tail of a Gligar. But the biggest and most threatening of them all was a Dragonite with the skin color and wings of an Aerodactyl!

Horsea feared for her life as the three charged at her.


"That's what happened to Giselle?" Misty asked, partially in disbelief.

"Yes, sadly. When she tapped into her powers subconsciously as a defense mechanism, she overloaded the Dissolution Chamber. Though the experiment wasn't a success, I'd say her actions probably saved her life."

"Saved her life? She's a vegetable now!"

"How can you justify that?" Ash asked.

"Good question. One that I'll never get to answer because, like I told Team Rocket, I don't know what became of her."

"What do you mean?"

"The current Junior Master was put in charge of keeping an eye on her."

Ash and Misty looked at each other and knew instantly whom he was talking about.

"Cassie!"

"Yes. And, for their own protection, their location was made top secret. That's all I know... less than a handful of people know her current whereabouts, and I am not one of them. Not that it matters anymore... as, after weeks of tinkering, the Dissolution Chamber is fixed!"

"Wait a minute... you're still not serious about using it on us, even after telling us what happened to Giselle!"

"Of course! There's no way to know for sure without actually using it, but the machine should work as intended this time."

"Are you nuts?" Ash screamed. "What if you didn't fix it? What if does the same thing to us that it did to Giselle?"

"And let's say you did fix it and it works as intended," added Misty. "What makes you think Team Rocket will let us walk out of here alive?"

"Nonsense!" objected another male in the room.

Everyone turned to see the warden applauding Ash and Misty's deductive reasoning skills. But the frown on his face didn't seem to match his actions...

"If the Dissolution Chamber works, you two will be allowed to walk out of here on your own power."

"You're bluffing!" called out Ash. "You're already keeping tabs on Misty's sisters, and I'm sure you're doing the same with my family and friends back in Pallet Town! If we walk out of here, they're as good as dead!"

"Plus," picked up Misty. "We'll notify the police and the League about this place! They'll free everyone you have here! And I'm sure your boss doesn't want that to happen!"

"Professor," Ash turned towards the scientist. "It's not too late! You haven't done anything against the law yet. You can't trust Team Rocket! You can stop this all right now, before you do something that might cost you your life!"

"As heartwarming as your offer sounds, I'm determined to see this experiment through to its end. It's an acceptable risk to me, regardless of the outcome. I'm here to a job, and that's it!"

"Unbelievable!" yelled Misty. "You're putting the advancement of science and money before anything else?"

"Mwa ha ha!" laughed the warden. "That's what I like about Professor Geissler. He's just doing his job. As I'm about to do mine. Now... which one of you brats wants to be first? Don't be shy... the world's gonna be watching."

He motioned to the two cameras, which were being turned on at that very moment, but were not yet broadcasting. Ash and Misty looked at each other and then at the numerous Team Rocket operatives and grunts in the room. There didn't seem to be any way for them to escape. It looked like it was going to be their last day alive.

And it was going to be broadcast all across Kanto for everyone to see.

To be continued in Part 2!