Chapter 19

The End of Team Rocket

*James' POV*

I still remember that day…

It was shortly after Garchomp's rampage across the city of Lumiose. The team had received direct orders from our boss to collect strong and rare Pokémon from across Kalos. We had begun our journey to seek them out.

As we were riding our balloon to survey the land, there was a loud and deep gurgling noise coming from the area. And then it hit me… I skipped breakfast that morning.

"It may be early," said Meowth as he pulled out a couple croissants out of a basket, "but let's have lunch."

"I second the notion," I replied as I accepted one of them from him. Just as I was gonna take a bite, a gust of wind shook the balloon and made me drop it. I reached out to catch it, but something with a touch of white snatched it. "Did anyone else see that?"

"Maybe a Flying-type?" asked Jessie.

We soon got our answer. A small Pokémon shaped vaguely like a Tentacool was floating next to us, munching down on my croissant. I pulled a device out of my pocket and looked for an answer. "Hmmm… Inkay. A Dark and Psychic-type. It lures its prey in with the bright spots on its head and secures them with its tentacles."

"Well then, this little cutie will be our first catch in Kalos," Jessie looked at the Patient Pokémon. "You're on, Wobbuffet."

Wobbuffet jumped in front of Inkay, only to get sprayed in the face with ink from Inkay's mouth. "I guess that's why it's called Inkay," Meowth remarked as Wobbuffet tried to wipe his face clean.

Then I had an idea. I reached into the basket and pulled out another croissant. "Okay, Wiseguy. Feast your eyes on this!"

Inkay gladly took the croissant and started eating it like a kid with candy. "Hey! I thought you were hungry!" Jessie yelled.

"And he takes the bait!" At that instant, I tossed a Pokéball at the hungry one and caught it. He has been traveling with us on our mission ever since.

Today, my little buddy, Inkay, was chomping down on a croissant as the rest of us were taking a well-deserved break. Jessie smiled a little as we watched. "Nobody's gonna take it from you. Slow down," she teased.

"You sure love croissants, don't you, buddy?" And Inkay nodded in affirmative. Then, I looked down to my right. There was a group of trainers walking along the trail. "Twerp troupe at ten o'clock."

"Time to put in a dishonest day's work," Meowth added.

*Brianna's POV*

The lot of us were en route to Lumiose City, sight of our next Gym battles, and hopefully my next Pure Heart. As we continued down the pathway, a large rock formation appeared in the distance.

Brock looked at his map. "According to this, that's Grace Tower up ahead," he said. "The location's rumored to be a landing site for a UFO."

"UFO?" Cocoa asked. "You mean alien spacecrafts?! That sounds cool!"

"I wouldn't get too worked up about it," Misty stated. "Those UFO sightings could be anything. Balloons, airplanes, shooting stars… There's no real evidence for aliens."

"Sure, there isn't..." Ash mired in sarcasm. And then he coughed something that sounded like, "Clefairy."

Misty giggled. "Okay, you got me there."

As we were talking, there was rustling in the bushes. We paused and waited to see a large eerie Pokémon appear on the path.

A Malamar.

Ash, Serena, Cocoa, and I got in front of the others, shielding their eyes. "Hey, what're you going?!" asked Diancie.

"Don't look at it!" I shouted. "If that's who we think it is, we're in trouble!"

For a moment, we stared at one another, us unsure of what was to happen. After a brief, paranoia-filled moment, the Malamar floated away into the forest, as though it didn't care for us.

"Okay..." Cocoa muttered. "Why didn't it…? You know…"

We followed it for a little bit and got our answer. It was not the Pokémon from the radio observatory after all. It floated into an area filled with more Malamar, along with Inkay, Flabébé, Bidoof, Ledyba, and other small Pokémon. The Malamar were picking Oran Berries off the nearby trees to feed to the smaller Pokémon.

"Looks like they're all good friends," said Diancie joyfully.

"That's a big one-eighty from the radio observatory," Ash stated, and Pikachu chirped in agreement.

As we observed them though, Cocoa's highly sensitive ears picked up something. She looked to the left and then… "LOOK OUT!" She tackled the lot of us out of the way, just in time to watch three large trucks drive by. If not for her, they would have rammed into us.

"That's a good way to kill somebody!" Brock shouted angrily.

I brushed the dust from my skirt. "Well, at least nobody got hurt… thank Arceus…" After briskly cleaning ourselves up, we decided to keep going toward Grace Tower.

*James' POV*

We saw the whole thing as well. A part of me was pleased to know that was not the Malamar from the radio observatory, and also that the runts were not reduced to roadkill.

But as the last truck passed, my Inkay suddenly went berserk. "INKAY!" Without hesitation, it took off after the trucks.

It took some time, and a lot of climbing, but we finally caught up with Inkay near the top of Grace Tower. We were all exhausted as we ducked behind some rocks. It would seem as though we beat the trucks to the top, albeit miraculously.

But there was already a car at the top. As the trucks parked around the crater, a man appeared from the car. It was a man we immediately recognised… Edmund Giovanni, the big boss of Team Rocket. Shortly after he emerged, the truck drivers emerged from their cockpits. One of them was an unwanted sight. It had tentacles at the top of its head, and a transparent mantle for a body. We were stunned to see them. "Do you think that's the Malamar from the radio observatory?" I am afraid it was, along with two more.

The boss approached the Malamar, unwavered by their sight. "I trust the weapon is complete?" he asked.

The Malamar we remembered nodded in reply. Using its psychic powers, it opened the side walls of the trucks to reveal six strange devices that looked like giant diamonds. The six devices rose into the air to form a circle that surrounded them.

"Excellent," smiled the boss. "Our ultimate triumph is at hand."

Inkay started shouting their way furiously, and I quickly covered his beak. "Keep quiet, or you could kill us all!" I whispered.

But it was too late. The boss heard the shouting and glanced in our direction. Then he glanced at two of the Malamar. "Seize them!" he demanded. The two then made their way toward us.

"Uh-oh!" muttered Meowth. "I think it's time to beat this pop stand!" And we all ran down the mountain.

*Brianna's POV*

While the jury was still out for any alien life actually being atop the mountain, we decided to scale it anyway to admire the view. About halfway up, we stopped to rest.

Bonnie smiled. "Good thing my brother's not here this time," she told us. "This would've been torture for him."

I looked at my Rock-type friend. "I think you'll like this view, Diancie. I heard it is one of the best in Kalos."

'That sounds wonderful,' she replied with a smile. 'I am getting excited just thinking about it!'

But that excitement was quickly diminished. Another group was running down the mountain furiously. So much so that one of them tripped and crashed into the others. Since they had stopped, we got a clear view of them.

"Team Rocket!" I snarled.

"By now, you'd think you'd learned your lesson!" Misty added.

"You're not stealing Pikachu this time!" Ash held his partner close.

But surprisingly, they looked more scared than ever before. "Now's not the time to steal nothing!" Jessie stated.

"We gotta run now as far away as we can!" James added.

"Psst!" a voice called out. It came from a small cave nearby. "Get in quick!" Team Rocket grabbed us and pushed us in.

We were just in time not to be noticed… we watched as two Malamar hovered down the path, as though they were searching for something. Thankfully, they did not see us.

"I know you all are enemies…" said the man who called us. A lantern revealed his face. "...but for now, we need a truce."

It was Detective Looker!

For the next few minutes, Jessie, James, and Meowth explained what they saw at the summit. "Your boss is here? On this mountain?" Serena asked.

"Yes, along with the Malamar from the radio observatory." Looker answered. He showed us footage of the Malamar taking control of some scientists to work for them. "During a follow-up investigation, I was surprised to discover that Giovanni is the Trainer to that Malamar, as well as the two you saw earlier. They've manipulated the Kalos region's top scientists to construct their ultimate weapon, which now stands at the summit."

"What're they going to do with this device?" Bonnie asked in fear.

"I'm not certain what their objective is… but I think it has something to do with what we saw before Malamar destroyed the observatory."

Soon after, there was a quake that shook the area. We all ran out of the cave for our own safety… only to see that the sky had turned a blood red. At the summit, we saw the six devices, forming one massive sphere of energy.

"We've no time to waste!" Ash stated. "We've got to stop them now!"

But before anything else could happen, we were all lifted into the air and held straight by some form of power. We were forcibly turned around to see the source of the power… all three Malamar were holding us tight.

There stood Giovanni under their feet. "Ahhh, welcome. So glad you could stop by."

"Giovanni!" growled Looker. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"We stand at the precipice of my ultimate triumph. After today, the world will belong to me."

"W-What about us?" asked Meowth.

Giovanni stared at us for a cold moment. "Ah, yes… Jessie, James and Meowth. My three most loyal Grunts… you've helped me grow strong, you've helped me find the means of conquering this world, and now you are no longer of any use to me." He snapped his fingers. The Malamar holding them used its psychic powers to fling them into the horizon.

"WE'RE BLASTING OFF AGAIN…!"

As they disappeared, Giovanni turned around to the rest of us. His eyes widened as he saw… "You!"

"Me?" I asked.

"Her?" Looker added.

"You and I have unfinished business…" And he began to take us up the mountain.

*James' POV*

Thankfully, a lake in the woods broke our fall. We all swam to the edge to recover and dry off… Well, three out of four of us, anyway.

I looked back to see that Jessie had not emerged from the water. Fearing the worst, I dove back in to search for her. Right to my fear, she was sinking to the bottom, so I pulled her to shore. Meowth and Inkay helped when we reemerged. "Jessie? Jessie, can you hear me?" No response.

It was a good thing I took that Emergency First Aid session at Team Rocket Training Camp. I placed my hands over the bottom of her ribs and started pressing down hard. After about twenty presses, she started coughing up water.

"Thank the maker!" Meowth breathed.

As she was recovering, Inkay was going crazy once again. He tried to fly toward the mountain once again, but I caught him. "Inkay! What's gotten into you?! You're usually much more level-headed than this!"

"INK!" he began. "Inkay Inkay! INNNKAYY!"

Meowth's eyes widened. "Inkay can't forgive the boss or Malamar for the way they treated Team Rocket…no! For the way they treated us! Enough joking around! Inkay's gonna knock their blocks off!"

I looked at the rest of my team. "He's right!" I began. "Everything we've done for Giovanni, and this is how he repays us? By casting us aside and leaving us to die?! Well, I say it's time for a truckload of payback, before it's too late!"

Jessie stood up. "The Ecruteak Two-Step?"

"Mmm… One step too many. How about the Fallarbor Flash?"

"Ah, we don't have the Substitute dolls…"

Suddenly, we heard a Pokémon cry from a distance. From behind Meowth, we saw a few of the wild Malamar from before. They were leading some panicked Pokémon to what they believed to be a safe distance.

Jessie looked back to me. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

I certainly was… "The Roggenrola Riot!"

*Brianna's POV*

As Malamar dragged us into the crater, our attention was on the crystal-like devices that hung over our heads. The orb of energy they produced was even larger than ever before, and still it grew.

"Seeing as though this shall be your last moments alive, allow me to explain the situation," Giovanni began. A hologram projection revealed the plan in detail as he spoke. "This is Team Rocket's ultimate weapon, dubbed the Terraformer. Once this masterpiece is fully charged, I can reshape every last square inch of the environment in my own image. I will have the power of a god, and this entire world will be under my control.

"That's what the world's gonna look like?!" Bonnie whined in fear. "No! No! I don't want that!"

"Deny it all you want, young lady, but what you see is what shall be after today. And while this vantage point is optimal for terraforming the earth, my true hope was to exact revenge on you…" he pointed to me.

"What does she have to do with anything?" Looker asked.

"Let me answer your question with a question for her…" From his coat, he pulled out his wallet, and then he pulled out a card from there, which he showed us. "Is this yours?"

I gasped quietly. It was my Trainer's License!

"You dropped this at the scene of what was supposed to be our greatest triumph fifteen years ago," he explained. "On that day, you and your little Rotom friend held us back long enough for the royal guard to arrest the Team Rocket Elite, and the one who preceded me… my mother. After hearing of her history, the king... well, let's just say, I lost everything that day… because of you."

"I didn't know what would happen to her," I replied. "I'm sorry…"

Giovanni sniffed heartlessly. "It's far too late for apologies. The time has come to do something. Something… permanent." He snapped his fingers, and I was brought into the center of the circle. At that instant, one of the six devices turned red. "This is it… the final countdown. Once they all change color, you will be roasted alive."

For once, I was terrified. At least Team Flare had the decency to smite me when I did not see it coming. I tried to break free, but Malamar's grip was too strong, and I could not Mega Evolve without reaching my Keystone.

As the second one turned red, something I was not expecting happened. From all around, we saw Malamar, Inkay and other Pokémon rising above the rock… the same ones we saw before. "What's happening?" Serena asked.

"Look!" Brock gestured with his head.

From the east, we saw a man and a woman standing triumphantly… two we knew all too well. "Team Rocket…?" Ash muttered in shock. "You're here to rescue us?"

"Sorry we took so long," Jessie commented.

"It took a little doing to procure some assistance," James declared.

"Better late than never!" Meowth waved his hand, and a few of the good Malamar fired some Psywaves and a Flamethrower at two of the evil ones. Everyone under their psychic powers were released and fell to the floor… That was everyone except for myself.

The third device turned red. Time was running out fast.

"We'll deal with Giovanni! Go, Pumpkaboo!" Jessie shouted.

"Inkay, go!" James added as they released their respective Pokemon.

Giovanni's glare was as cold as the arctic. "Team Rocket's ultimate triumph stymied by three traitors… amusing… "

"Pumpkaboo! Use Frustration!"

"Inkay! Foul Play!"

They both charged at Giovanni, who grinned menacingly. "Wrap," he stated. The last of the Malamar coiled its tentacles around Inkay, while evading Pumpkaboo. The little warrior tried to break free, but Giovanni's Malamar was too strong. "Hypnosis." Malamar held Inkay in front of its own spots as they glowed bright. Inkay being able to look away was impossible.

"Inkay, no!" James cried out.

"Inkay, yes! Use Psybeam," Giovanni commanded, and the mind-controlled Pokémon open-fired, barely missing them.

The fourth device changed its color.

James coughed up some of the dust before addressing his Inkay once more. "Please stop it, old chum! Are you really gonna let that cretin sever our bond?" Then James remembered something. He reached into his pocket and yanked out… a croissant? "Look at this! It's your favorite! Our friendship began with this! You've got to remember and come back to me!"

Giovannit chuckled. "You heard him, Inkay. Use Tackle." Inkay charged at James without a second thought. It rammed itself into James' chest, and James held him close by force.

Inkay was held upside down as James held the croissant to his beak. "Let this remind you we're partners!" he pleaded. Inkay nibbled at the pastry as his Trainer continued. "Remember our days spent together! All of our victories and defeats, and how we kept pressing forward!" The more James spoke, and the more Inkay ate the croissant, the Inkay seemed to return to his senses. At last, Inkay pulled the croissant from James' hand and chowed down willingly. "You remember!" He cheered.

That was not all. As Inkay finished off the Inkay, his body began to glow brightly. Before their very eyes, the little one grew to match the other Malamar in the area… because James' Inkay had evolved into a Malamar, which Dexter analyzed.

Malamar
The Overturning Pokémon
A Dark and Psychic-type
It has the most powerful hypnotic powers of any Pokémon, and it uses that power to control its enemies in battle. It evolves from Inkay while held upside-down.

James smiled with confidence. "Okay, Malamar, it's payback time! So seal the deal with Tackle!" The newly evolved partner charged at Giovanni's Malamar like a football player. Then the other two jumped back in to support their comrade. They were us in time to save it before it could let go of me.

The fifth device changed its color. I called out to the others. "Guys! It's now or never!"

Ash looked up and saw the last machine changing its color. "Pikachu and Cocoa, get in close and use Thunderbolt!"

Giovanni snarled. "It's over! Use Dark Pulse!"

"Everyone! Counter with Psybeam!" James commanded. All the good Malamar launched their attacks to counter the evil ones. Meanwhile, the wild Inkay attacked with Flamethrower.

Pikachu hopped into Cocoa's arms, and she bounced over my head. Then the two of them launched their Double Thunderbolt, electrocuting and overloading the six devices. They were disarmed, and the orb they were maintaining imploded into a shower of sparkle. James' Malamar caught me as we watched the sky turn blue once again and the devices fall to the ground.

"It can't be…" Giovanni muttered.

"It can, and it is," Ash stated.

"It's over Giovanni!" Looker declared. "Come quietly if you know what's good for you!"

It actually looked like end for Team Rocket. There did not seem to be any chance of escape for the Team Lead, and who knows? Perhaps the rest would follow?

A smile grew on his face as he returned his Malamar collection into their Poké Balls. "All your petty talk… it will never extinguish my ambitions…"

He pressed a button on his watch (?) and something unexpected happened. The six devices began to move again. They clustered together to form… well, I was not sure what it was.

Giovanni reversed into it, giving us his getaway speech. "Team Rocket will never fall. All Pokémon exist solely for the use of Team Rocket."

That was the last thing we heard from him as he seemed to phase into the machine. In the process, he pressed another button on his wrist. As the machine started to elevate, the vehicles they were using for transport began to emit clouds of black smoke.

"What're they doing?!" asked Bonnie in worry.

"He's destroying the evidence!" Looker answered. "Run for it!"

We got away just in time as the trucks blew apart. Grace Tower began to look like a volcano from the explosion. All we could do now was watch Giovanni escape.

Later that night, we were all settled down by a river. Brock set up a large meal for all of us, as a celebration of perhaps our final victory against Giovanni. Ash in particular seemed most pleased with the day's events. He felt as though a great burden was lifted from his shoulders.

As we ate, we suddenly heard some rustling from the bushes. Therefrom came a certain trio, dressed in more casual clothes. We all stood up, ready to defend ourselves from Jessie, James, and Meowth. They calmly raised their arms up to their heads to show surrender. One of them was even waving a white flag before us.

"What do you want now?" Misty asked, in a somewhat calmer tone.

James was the first to speak. "We owe you a sincere apology for what happened today. I swear none of us knew any of that was gonna happen. In fact, it opened our eyes to how little the Boss-!" He quickly caught himself. "…how little Giovanni cares about anyone, even those serving under him."

"I know we lied to you plenty of times in the past, and you have absolutely no reason to believe us," Jessie added, "but what I'm saying now is the absolute truth. We've decided we're quitting Team Rocket once and for all, and we come before you as changed people, humbly asking for forgiveness, compassion, and friendship."

The area was silent. Nobody spoke, nobody moved. We waited and glared at the three standing before us.

Meowth gulped. "...or we could just go turn ourselves in, and you'll never have to see us again."

Ash slowly approached the three, his face unchanged. Jessie started to sweat. "Ash…?"

The one from Pallet Town continued to look hard at them, and then held out a hand toward her. Jessie released her breath in relief and was about to accept it, but then Ash quickly pulled his hand back. "Don't shake… unless you mean it," he instructed with a still cold face.

Jessie was a little hesitant then, but shook his hand, then the rest of us joined in. We were proud to see that Team Rocket… er, pardon me… that Jessie, James, and Meowth were showing a change of heart.
"Alright," Ash patted Jessie on the back. "Come on over; get something to eat." The trio gladly accepted his offer.

And so, not only was Giovanni's plot foiled, he lost three of his hardest workers in the process. Jessie, James and Meowth, formerly our enemies, were now our friends. And so, with our encounter with Giovanni behind us, it was off to Lumiose City once again…

"But I got my eye on you!" Ash stated. "This wouldn't be the first time you stabbed us in the backs."

James laughed awkwardly. "Fair enough…"

…as the journey continues…