Chapter 4: The Quiet Shadow
There are two kinds of evil in this world. One of them is the petty kind, where someone tries desperately to be the villain to someone else's hero only to laughably fail every time. The other kind is much more sinister and ambitious, determined to accomplish its goals no matter what atrocities must be committed. Our heroes have had their fair share of encounters with both kinds of evil in their adventures, though their encounters with the former have largely overshadowed their encounters with the latter.
The reason for this could be summed up in two words: Jessie, James, and Meowth.
The infamous, bumbling Team Rocket trio was in Sinnoh taking a vacation during the fiasco at Prism Tower. The beaches of Sunyshore City were a marvelous point of interest in Sinnoh, attracting tourists and vacationeers alike. Presently, the trio laid themselves out on the beaches, tanning in the sun.
"Now this is the life," the fiery-haired Jessie said with a smug look on her face. "Soaking in the sun and tanning like it's nobody's business."
"I don't see why we don't do this more often," the lavender-haired James agreed. "It certainly beats tracking down the twerps everywhere they go."
"Maybe it makes sense to the two of you," the talking Meowth said, "but I don't have skin to tan. Just fur all over. Besides, shouldn't we be out looking for rare Pokemon right now? I hear it's open season at the Safari Zone."
"All in good time, Meowth," Jessie replied. "Right now, let's just relax and enjoy the sun." No sooner had she said this, however, than the sun suddenly vanished from their sight, a shadow eclipsing it. "Huh?" She removed her shades.
"What's that?" James wondered as the shadow grew ever larger.
Meowth leapt up in a panic. "It's a meteor! And it's coming our way!"
"GAHHHHHHHH!" they all leapt up and started running around. Then, with a deafening crash, a large, one-man ship crashed into them.
Ash and Sonic stared at each other for several seconds of utter silence. Then, coming to his senses, Ash turned his attention towards his girlfriend, whose body lay on the ground.
"May!" he cried, rolling her over and cradling her in his arms. Her eyes were shut tight, obviously in reaction to the impact. "May?" he whispered. "Please say something. Anything!"
There was no response. Believing the worst, Ash held her close and started to cry quietly. Clemont, on seeing this, somberly walked over and picked up her ankle. He felt it over, then hung his head, depressed. "Oh no," he whispered. "I can't feel a heartbeat."
"You don't mean –?" Sonic started.
"No, wait!" Bonnie exclaimed. "Look! She's breathing!"
"Huh?" Ash started, pulling her away from him a moment. Sure enough, her chest was steadily moving up and down. "You-You're right! She's alive!" He turned to Clemont. "Quickly! Call the Pokemon Center! We need to get her help right away!"
"You got it!" Clemont nodded, already on his way before Ash finished speaking.
"Stupid Clemont," Hoopa grumbled. "Since when did the human ankle have a heartbeat?"
"Maybe we should've let that machine fall on his head after all," Sonic muttered. "He seems a little wacko."
"Urrrrrrrrrggggghhhhh," four loused-up villains groaned as they laid in the wreckage of a one-man pod.
"That stupid Ketchum brat," Eggman grumbled as he got up. "I swear, the next time we meet, he's gonna regret pulling off that Overheat!"
"Nyeeeeh–hah? ACK! Guys, get up!" Meowth suddenly cried.
"Huh? AHHHHH!" Jessie and James also jumped up.
"It's the Eggman!" James exclaimed.
"Well that's not going to stop us," Jessie retorted.
"What are you trying to do now?" Eggman growled.
"Prepare for trouble, you will give me an egg."
"Make it double, I think you broke my leg."
"To protect the world from devastation."
"To unite all peoples within our nation."
"To denounce the evils of truth and love."
"To extend our reach to the stars above."
"Jessie!"
"James!"
"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now or prepare to fight, fight, fight!"
"Meowth, that's right!"
"Wooooooobbuffet!"
"Why you rotten theatrical badniks!" Eggman grumbled. "Of all the places to land after getting blasted away by that Ketchum kid, I had to land on top of you?! GR! I don't have time for your antics! I have to fix the Egg Mobile so I can get that stupid Clemont's machine back!"
"The Egg Mobile?" James raised an eyebrow.
"Do ya think putting 'Egg' in front of everything makes it better or something?" Meowth asked.
"Quiet!" Eggman snapped back as he continued to tinker with the Egg Mobile. "Once I have the Egg Mobile up and running again, I'll –"
"All talk and no play, as usual," Jessie said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "At least we can get stuff done with our Rocket mechs."
"Even if it's only for five minutes," James agreed.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Meowth asked.
"Listen up, you chumps!" Eggman shouted, commanding their attention. "Like I said before, I don't have time to listen to your worthless chatter. I've got big plans that are coming to fruition even as we speak, and I –"
"That's what you say every time," Jessie sneered at him.
"What are you trying to get at?" Eggman growled.
"If your plans were so well-designed, why do they always get foiled by that pesky blue twerp of a hedgehog?" James said with a smirk.
"Hedgehog? Heeheehee...I'd say he's more like a Werehog now."
"Huh?" the Team Rocket trio looked at him with curiosity.
"I used a special cannon of my own making to harness the power of the Chaos Emeralds," Eggman explained. "When I fired the energy at the planet, I split it apart and separated the various regions of the world from each other. I was electrocuting Sonic while that happened, and the energy that tortured him ended up changing his form, at least temporarily. I'm still not sure how that all works."
"You split the planet apart?" James repeated.
"That's right, I did," Eggman sneered.
"Well that explains the earthquake from the other day," Jessie muttered.
"Sounds like the Eclipse Cannon 2 to me!" Meowth grinned as he remembered the iconic weapon from the Space Colony ARK.
"Woooooobbuffet!"
"Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do," was Eggman's reply as he continued to repair his one-man aircraft.
Both Eggman and Team Rocket were petty villains, trying to be evil while their nemeses were good. Eggman had much more success at this than Team Rocket, though they still always came up short to other villains who often stole their spotlight. As if that wasn't bad enough, they always found themselves teaming up with their sworn enemies to stop these bigger threats. Sometimes this was to their chagrin. Other times, not so much. Either way, however, the evil forces they joined the heroes in stopping were always of the second variety, whether it was an enraged leviathan made of water and Chaos energy, an evil overlord hell-bent on genocide, or Ho-Oh himself. The odds didn't matter, because they always won.
But despite all their past experience, nothing could prepare them for the evil that they were about to face.
Who are these four humans? They seem to be very hostile to one another. And yet they have much in common. Perhaps if I draw them together...