Special thanks to the folks on pa-atreon for making this possible. Now without further ado let's get into it.
THE ACE TRAINER
Something about the pokemon across from me rubbed me the wrong way. It wasn't just its obvious psychic power. Something else about it rubbed me the wrong way. It wasn't enough for it to clearly be the strongest psychic I've ever seen, it was something more than that. All my instincts were going haywire, and ACE training was clear. Instincts are our subconscious' way to alert us to things not visible to our conscious minds. After all, we took in more information than our brains could ever hope to consciously process.
With my instincts the way they were, I had no choice but to release my starter. "Let's go, Metagross," I said in a whisper. A gift from my father when I came first in the Trainer Qualification Exams. My brothers had been so jealous, especially when they'd never received anything as cool from dad. No one ever got gifts from Dad. It was the moment that told me I was more than everyone else. I was special, from the day I was born. No psychic could cause me to doubt this.
The rest of the team followed my lead in sending out their Team Aces. I smiled. They were following my lead, weren't they? Big for a rookie, eh? Lily's Ninjask was a blur. Covering ground between it and the Psychic at a speed none of us could even dream of following. Absolutely unreal. Only the shield that sprang around it and stopped the bug type in its tracks allowed us to get a look at what had even happened.
"That was quite rude of you, to start without allowing me to introduce myself. Anyway, my name is…." The annoying voice in my head was cut off as Frank's Slaking shattered the protect and punched it into the ceiling. The monster did it so casually that I was forced to reevaluate my feelings in the species. Their tendency for truancy and laziness made them terrible for battles but Frank showed what a motivated Slaking could look like.
"Mewtwo. My name is Mewtwo, and this wasn't supposed to be personal, but I must confess that I'll enjoy ripping your spines from your bodies." The pokemon said in my brain with audible malice and I couldn't resist the urge to flinch at the feeling he was broadcasting. There was rage, so much hatred, and another feeling I couldn't quite name.
It floated out of the hole it had been punched into, and used its telekinesis to force Jack's Blastoise' hydro pump to move around it. Jill's Electabuzz's attack shattered against its shield like it wasn;t one of the most powerful electric type moves known to man.
'Metagross. Look for an opportunity, and wipe that smile off its face' my orders were intentionally vague. That was the secret to training a Metagross that a lot of people never understood. The species were frighteningly intelligent, capable of making connections and idea beyond even the most prolific human geniuses. They were unreal, with IQs unmeasurable by any human standards. Why was I telling you this? I mean everyone knows how smart they are, right? No. They don't. People logically know it, but never actually manage to internalise it. If they did, you'd never see trainers give orders to their Metagross in battles. After all, what strategies could we come up with that the Supercomputer pokemon hasn't already thought about and discarded.
As I thought, a flash cannon sailed through the shattered shield the moment Frank's Slaking was able to rouse itself from its lull. Slaking had blown through the shield with another lazy punch, and this time, Metagross' flash cannon slammed into our opponent at the same time as the follow-up punch. I marvelled at the coordination. This time, it wasn't allowed to fly backwards from the attack as the Slaking grabbed it by its tail and slammed it straight into the ground. Lily's Ninjask slammed into it with a bug bite in the blink of an eye and Jill's Electabuzz charged up another Thunder.
I smiled. This is ACE. Unreal coordination and tactics. Not just powerful pokemon, but powerful pokemon working together in a coordinated unit to bring down an objectively superior target. I all mattered for naught though. The "Mewtwo" teleported from its previous position and hovered above all of us, looking none the worse for wear. The rage bearing down on my head doubled though. Good, we're getting on its nerves. I smiled, a long bloody smile and watched as James' Pidgeot and Lily's Ninjask harried it through the air. It flew, chased by both flying types, with one trying to harry it into colliding with the other. A cookie if you guess which pokemon is doing what.
It leaned out of the way of the Ninjask's charge before sending two psybeams crashing against the Pidgeout's protect. The first one shattered it, the second got through and was barely dodged. Lily's Ninjask interfered again with another charge that Mewtwo teleported away from. At least, it tried. It teleported, but appeared right back where it was to take an attack straight to its centre mass, sending it back to the ground. I smiled at Metagross, and sent feelings of pride at him through our bond. As the Mewtwo stabilised its crash, it was grabbed by the jumping Slaking and tossed down with even more force than before. Electrified water crashed into it with the force of a tsunami as Jack and Jill's pokemon executed another smooth combo. My thoughts of victory died a swift, silent death, as it twisted in mid air, flew through the electrified water and grabbed the Blastoise's head. 'Too fast' was the only thought that went through my head as a harsh cracking sound rang across the room.
Jack's face was ice-cold as he sent out his next pokemon. The Golem appeared and caused a rumble on the ground. Mewtwo had already moved on from the Blastoise's still form and was approaching Jill's Electabuzz. Lily's Ninjask appeared in its way and let loose the signal beam it had been charging. Mewtwo dodged with contemptuous ease, but it was forced to change direction as Slaking landed right where its body would have been with a powerful crash. I smiled as the Anger was joined with annoyance and irritation. It tried to progress further but was forced to reroute as the ground opened in front of it and Golem came out with a scream and a mega punch ready on each fist. It weaved through Golem's punches and tossed it aside with impressive telekinetic power, continuing its way to the charging Electabuzz. The thunderbolt crashed into its body to no effect as it kept going, not even registering the attack. No one was in position to obstruct its attack on Electabuzz but Jill quickly returned it to its ball before releasing it on the other end of the cavern. Smart move.
The irritation doubled as it tried to teleport again but found itself returned back to its previous position.
It scowled and ran across the ground, seeking a new target to harass. Ninjask peppered it with signal beams, but it paid them no heed, dodging without even looking. Slaking was in another lull, ignoring Frank's coaxing for it to return to the battle. My estimation of the species proved correct once again. Powerful as fuck, but practically useless in battle. I wonder how Frank had risen so high with such an unreliable pokemon. The Golem used Earthquake to great effect, forcing Mewtwo to float off the ground, perfectly timed with Pidgeot's aerial ace. It somehow managed to dodge the surprise attack, and grabbed the flying type in its psychic grip. I swallowed down a wince as it ripped off the Pidgeot's wings in a display of brutal savagery. Blood, flesh flying everywhere. James screamed, and even if it was contrary to all we wwe taught in ACE, I couldn't blame him. The Pidgeot was far from his strongest, but it had been his starter. His first pokemon on the journey that took him from an orphan on the streets of Viridian to an ACE trainer, in the most competitive ACE squad. He took a few seconds to release his next pokemon, but it mattered little. Slaking was more than willing to keep Mewtwo engaged in the meantime. Slaking cared for very few others beyond Frank, but Pidgeot had been one of those rare cases. They were friends, and no truant nature survived watching a friend be maimed in such a manner.
He was relentless as he pursued the psychic type. Throughout the battle, I'd gotten the sense that Mewtwo had been holding back, toying with us, but now, it was barely even keeping up. Slaking moved with a speed that could almost be called hasteful. It punched and clawed at the Mewtwo, using his bulk to practically bully the pokemon into following his pace. It couldn't retreat, Slaking was relentless, and even as it tried to teleport away, Metagross continually strained his brain power to block off the powerful psychic's ability to twist space. Slowly but surely, the Mewto was being hemmed in, and cut off. It had no chance of surviving this. The powerful Slaking would not be denied.
He finally made contact with a punch that barely brushed across the psychic's cheek. It mattered little though, the punch was powerful enough to slow Mewtwo down, and move it in position so it couldn't dodge the follow up. Every hair on my skin stood on end as the punch landed ripped through the pokemon with a sonic boom. It was gone, vapourised by the powerful attack. I felt the presence in my mind disappear instantly and smiled in relief. We did it! My smile could have blinded the sun itself.
"Well, that's a relief," Jack said with a lighthearted smile. I thought we were goners. I turned to look at him and my smile froze. A blade appeared where his head had been, and separated it from his body. "You children have cost me a lot, today. That Mewtwo was a failure, but it still had its uses. Forgive me for this, but I mustn't allow you to escape after what you've seen here today." A voice came from one end of the cavern that my eyes had slid over. The Gengar next to the Woman that came from the shadows told me exactly why that was. The pokemon that killed Jack also came into visibility. Kabutops? What the fuck? Resurrecting fossils was supposed to be purely experimental tech. A pipedream in even the most advanced league research centres. And now, a random Rocket had an actual prehistoric pokemon. This shit just isn't fair. Jack's head landed on the floor with a dull thud, and I could see Jill shivering out of the corner of my eyes. They were twins, so closely linked that some speculated about the nature of her relationship. I calmly counted her out for the coming battle and prepared to deal with the pokemon in front of me. Kabutops- water and rock type pokemon, known for being physical attackers. Strategy? Blitz with quick attacks and watch out for the blade. Gengar- ghost and poison type. Strategy? Surround and overcome.
The Kabutops was the true threat here, and I knew exactly how to deal with it. No longer having to focus on blocking Mewtwo from teleporting, Metagross had all the space and energy to focus on the adversary across from him. For the Gengar, I took hold of one of the pokeballs on my belt and released Arcanine. I smiled at my giant legendary pokemon. Originally a Growlithe with the giant gene, Dad had helped me evolve him after I passed ACE training. He'd gone from one of the weaker members of my team, to the cornerstone. He even beat Metagross more often than not. No supercomputer could think its way out of the sheer firepower Arcanine could casually toss around. Frank gave me a look as Arcanine appeared on the field, and I tossed a significant one to Jill's still form, and Jack's dead body. He nodded. I was breaking protocol by having more than one member of my team out, but it was clear that this was necessary right now. We were two members down, and facing an unidentified number of assailants.
Arcanine was briefed by Metagross at the speed of thought, and he covered the ground in a speed not far below that, attacking the Gengar in less than a second. No one could follow his path across the field, as he appeared above the ghost in less than a second, and latched on to it, with teeth glowing from the dark type energy of a crunch. I smiled in pride as the Gengar started to struggle to get away, and my partner kept hold of it with no difficulty. Our opponent looked unfazed at one of his pokemon being taken out of the fight, and I didn't understand why until the ground beneath us all began to rumble. Of course he had more pokemon.
Metagross levitated himself off the ground, and Arcanine followed his example, in moving across the field to make himself less of a target, less likely to be felt by the pokemon underneath us. It was all for naught though, as a massive Steelix came out from the ground beneath us, directly underneath Arcanine.
My legendary fire type wasn't able to do anything as the air was driven out of his lungs and he was sent flying. The Gengar managed to secure its release in the confusion. Arcanine managed to land on his feet, but he was quickly faced with additional opponents. The woman in the shadows had released two more pokemon. A duo of Gyrados, I felt something in me give at that. This was ridiculous.
I was so afraid that fear itself had become meaningless. The Mewtwo, Kabutops, a fucking Steelix, and now Two Gyrados. It was all ridiculous, and something about that realisation calmed me down enough to focus on the situation.
Arcanine was outnumbered, and surrounded by giant pokemon, much larger than he was,but that didn't matter. We still had the advantage. Frank was convincing Slaking to get involved again, James and Lily looked to be consoling Jill and helping get her mind back on track. All I had to do was hold on till the rest of the team was ready. I had no need to win this battle. ACE wasn't about that. Jack might be gone, but we still remained strong as a unit. More than strong enough for whatever Team Rocket could throw at us.
"Arcanine. Formation 21" I said with a broad smile on my face. We could do this. No pressure. He listened and bathed the area around him in a swarm of flames. One of the Gyrados wasted no time in drowning the flames in a hydro pump. The steam covered that section of the cavern almost instantly. I waited for a few seconds, and heard the roar of pain from one of the Gyrados just as I expected. Formation 21- use fire to bait a liquid response, and take advantage of the resulting steam to move in with a thunderfang. A basic tactic, but Dad had been right when he said the most effective tactics were often the most basic ones.
It proved its effectiveness today. The Gyrados' thrashing helped clear out some of the steam, and I could see exactly what happened next. THe other Gyrados tried to rush at Arcanine with a headbutt to free its partner. Arcanine waited until the last second to dodge and allow it to crash into the pokemon it sought to save. I smiled at the chaos, and Arcnaine did not hesitate to take advantage.
The Steelix was left unprotected, and my Legendary took no time in covering the steel-type pokemon with a bright blue flamethrower. So much fire at such a high heat that I felt like I was being baked even over here. I watched as the fire started to get hotter and more focused, Arcanine being intent on roasting the steel type where it laid.
It was all for not though. A claw of darkness rose out of the ground beside my legendary and took a long swipe at his side before either of us could react. The Gengar rose out of the ground with a wicked smile on its face. My smile became stiff as it followed up by attempting to lick the injuries it caused my loyal partner. Luckily, Arcanine was able to drum up the focus to dodge out of the way of the attack, but by that time, the Gyrados had settled themselves and my Arcanine was even more outnumbered. At least, he was, until Metagross cared to show his effects on the battle.
He turned from harrying the Kabutops with telekinesis and fired a bright bolt of electricity at one of the Gyrados. Thunderbolt. He'd waited for the precise moment when they were making contact to unleash his attack, and he got both of them for the price of one. Only one of them ended up being knocked out, but the other looked to be on its last legs. I smiled at my starter, and prepared my next orders for Arcanine. They proved unnecessary though, Slaking landed right on top of the Gengar. Punching through it half a dozen times with a mega punch. It dispelled instantly, unable to gather the energy to reform after such a decisive attack. The second Gyrados was knocked out by another thunderbolt, and I turned to see Jill's Electabuzz with a grim smile on its face. The Steelix wasn't left conscious for longer, as James' Typhlosion landed right on top of it in a manoeuvre similar to Slaking and roasted it in one of the species' trademark explosions.
By contrast, the Kabutops suffered a more violent, slow end. Jack's Golem, with its trainer gone, held nothing back in its attack of the pokemon that had done the deed. Both rock types wrestled across the cavern, with Metagross using their telekinesis and other means to subtly shift the battle away from the Kabutops' favour. When the Golem caught the prehistoric pokemon in a bear hug, I knew it was over. It crushed the fossil in those strong arms, and though I felt the loss of such an interesting species, as well as the information we could have gained of the Rocket's process from the pokemon, I couldn't deny the joy I felt at watching it die. Jack and I hadn't been the best of friends, but he was my teammate. We'd bled, fought and worked together to achieve common goals. There was no way I could say I hadn't grown to care for him.
The woman's attempt to retreat back into the shadows were halted, and she was levitated towards us, completely restrained by Metagross' telekinesis. "Hello Rocket, I have no idea what you expected with that little stunt, but we'll enjoy ripping your secrets from your mind".
"Unfortunately, I can't allow that to happen" Another voice rang out. Was every member of team rocket obsessed with dramatic entrances? The voice didn't remain in the shadows for long, and walked out to all our surprise. The man was wearing his trademark black suit, and had his hair slicked back. The smile on his face sent ice through my blood. Giovanni? Team Rocket? 'This is insane', my mind told me, but I couldn't ignore what was obvious to me. The bright red R on his suit left no doubts as to his allegiance. After all, if he wasn't a rocket, what would he be doing here?
"Ace Squad Alpha. What a shame to see you here. Sadly, I can not allow any of you to leave here alive. Don't get me wrong, to kill such bright lights of the human race saddens me, but I must do what I must. Rest easy knowing your demise is for the greater good, though."
"What insanity is this?" James asked with a scowl on his face. He looked apoplectic. "Team Rocket? You? You're a gym leader. A pillar of Kanto, one of the few things keeping the region stable, and you're in Team Rocket at the same time? You're a traitor?" James' voice rose as he asked question after question.
I could see why he was annoyed though. He'd grown up as an orphan in Viridian city, only being able to complete his journey because of the funding he'd received from Viridian's gym. He'd only been able to become who he was because of Giovanni's help, and he'd looked up to the man with an ungodly level of hero worship. It had been pathetic when I saw the Giovanni collection cards and the action figures he had of Giovanni's known team, but now, I felt nothing but sadness for him. To have someone you looked up to turn out to be a traitor must be devastating. It mattered little though, we were ACE. A traitor in front of us was just a body that didn't know it was dead.
"Ahh James, my boy. You must not remember who you are" We all looked at the man in confusion. The only reason we were tolerating this little back and forth was because of Slaking. Frank was allowing this to run its course so Slaking would be more likely to have gotten out of his lull by the time the battle started. We'd need him if we were to have any hope of succeeding in this. After all, Giovanni was an elite level trainer, who had declined being on my father's elite four to remain Viridian's gym leader.
"Longing, rusted, furnace, daybreak, seventeen, benign, nine, homecoming, one, freight car" Giovanni said in a smooth voice, and I could have sworn the man had gone insane until I looked at James and found him staring at the Gym leader with a glassy look in his eyes.
"This one is ready to serve, Master" The man I'd called my friend said in a stiff, robotic voice.
He walked away from us, towards Giovanni, and I watched in shock as he knelt before the traitor. Pure insanity, I wasn't the only one confused and furious at this turn of events.
"James. What are you doing?" Lily shouted after him and he didn't even bother turning. Giovanni's smug smile sent a rush of emotions through my body, none of them were positive.
"The man you knew as James never existed. Nothing but a spy for Team Rocket. Of course, we had to add some elements to his personality and take out a few of his memories to allow him pass through ACE training. He was my agent without even consciously knowing it. Now, I don't need an agent in the League anymore. It is time for the League to fall. It is time for the rise of Rocket. You won't get to see this, of course. You will be the first casualties of a new age. Rejoice in the honour."
Slaking appeared in front of the man at the end of his monologue with a punch that displaced the air around all of us. I watched in shock as the man was unharmed, a psychic shield having sprung up around him at the very last second. I felt my heart fall to my stomach as a familiar mental pressure made itself known. Mewtwo. Another one? This one's presence was somehow even more suffocating than the last.
"Perfect Mewtwo" Giovanni announced with a bright smile on his face. "Behold the greatest scientific marvel the world has ever and might ever see. A legendary pokemon made from human hands. A perfect pokemon." I scowled at the statement as even more fear shot through my body.
Man-made pokemon? What kind of abominable research were these rockets dabbling in. This was just getting ridiculous. I felt the necklace I carried around my neck heat up.
A/N; Thanks for reading. We just finished up with chapter 43 on the pa-atreon page. Feel free to join me there if you feel like reading the next six chapters ahead of time. Same username as up here. The link's on my profile.
Things heat up on the Rocket front. The entire chapter gets told from the POV of our mysterious ACE trainer (I'm sure the mystery has been solved by those that have been paying attention). Yes, I planned this chapter almost a dozen chapters ago. The next chapter is from the POV of our dear pokemon hunter. Things will heat up massively in the next few chapters as we approach the central conflict of this story. You didn't think it was the conference, did you?
Kudos to anyone who noticed the significance of the words Giovanni used to activate James' brainwashing. Let's talk in the comments. Something tells me this chapter is one that comes with a lot to talk about.