A/N: I'll be using their Japanese names but the Pokémon themselves their localized names.
Satoshi = Ash
Takeshi = Brock
Hikari = Dawn
Musashi = Jessie
Kojiro = James
Chapter 1
The sun shone down on the Earth below with a mighty radiance. Today was indeed a scorcher as cliche it is to say. However, for a Pokémon Master in the works, an up and coming coordinator, and an experienced Pokémon breeder on the road to the Sinnoh League. There is nothing that won't stop them…well except for maybe lunch of course.
"Ah man, I could go for a bite to eat right about now."
The raven colored nappy hair teen exclaimed with certainty. They've been on the road since they left Oreburgh City this morning and he was starving . Although breakfast was pretty filling since he'd eaten Oran Berry pancakes with a side of toast.
"Not to worry Satoshi, we still have plenty of time before we're supposed to reach Eterna City so we'll stop here shortly for lunch."
The words had come from the more physically built dark skinned man. Knowing Satoshi since his original journey through the Kanto region, he's never been one to go hours on end without at least eating something whether big or small in portion. Nonetheless, all the more reason to make sure Satoshi and the rest are in fighting shape for what lies ahead of them.
"Takeshi's right, it's not like we aren't in a rush. I mean my next contest is on the way to Eterna City anyways."
The last of the three, a girl whose name was Hikari wearing a white beanie with long navy blue hair stated with no lace of rush in her voice. She just started her journey this year and is surprised that someone four years older and has been on the road longer than she has is this ecstatic wanting to compete in the Sinnoh League. It's pretty admirable.
"Pikachu!" The electrifying yellow mouse on Ash's shoulder agreed.
He was Satoshi's Ol Reliable, his #1, his best buddy. Pikachu. They had a rough start but after an incident with a flock of Spearows when Satoshi started his quest in which he put his life on the line for him. He earned his respect and has been with him ever since. No matter where they went.
About a half hour went by till Takeshi noticed where they were, a wide open space on a little cliffside with a beautiful view of the horizon afar,
"Alright guys, looks like we can call a lunch break. Right here is a good spot."
"Finally, I'm starving!" Satoshi shouted with glee. He took off his backpack and laid it on the ground. Looking at his belt, he threw three Pokeballs up to the sky,
"Ok you three, it's lunch time!" From the capsules revealed a Staravia, an Aipom, and Turtwig happy as a Pokémon can be. Hikari chuckled and followed suite,
"That means you to Buneary and Pachirisu!" And out came a brown colored fluffy bunny and a hyperactive squirrel. Pikachu being aware of how crazy Buneary was for him, crawled into Satoshi's jacket in an effort to hide from her. Satoshi laughed at this gesture,
"Still not used to Buneary yet are you buddy?" Pikachu slowly shook his head,
"Piiikachu…" Satoshi smiled and gave him a small pat on the head,
"It's ok, you can hide here for now till lunch is ready."
Pikachu smiled and nuzzled against Satoshi's shirt. Breaking Satoshi's attention away from Pikachu briefly, Takeshi shouted to him,
"Hey Satoshi, mind getting a few slabs of wood from the forest so I can start the fire for the pot?" He responded quickly,
"No problem Takeshi!" Satoshi whispered to Pikachu so one else would hear,
"Want to come with me Pikachu?" Pikachu's eye glowed up and nodded aggressively in approval. Anything to not get chased or even pounced on by Buneary,
"I'll be back soon!" And with that, the two were off into the forest depths. Unknown to Satoshi and Pikachu, Hikari and Takeshi watched on as he disappeared out of sight and had a faint wind of why probably Pikachu secretly went with him,
"5 Pokedollars on the table if it's because of Buneary when they get back." Takeshi then smugly responded,
"Make it 10 if it isn't." Hikari grinned at the audacity of Brock's power move and played his bluff assuming he was incorrect,
"Deal."
Meanwhile
A mysterious trainer shrouded by the tree's shadows was sneaking around the bushes and other assorted plants seemingly looking for something important. As if he had dropped a contact lense or lost a diamond ring,
"Gojo-sensei said the special grade cursed object should be somewhere in this forest…" The teen flung out a Pokeball,
"Mightyena, get out here!" A blue ray of light escaped from the ball revealing a canine-like Pokémon with short gray and black fur. He got on one knee and started to debrief,
"Scavenge the area and howl if you find anything." Mightyena barked in understanding and went off. All the teen can do now is go forward and continue to look on his own,
"I hope no innocent bystander gets their hands on it before I do. If anyone eats it, they'll die. But there is that one in a million chance…"
In The Forest
Satoshi was walking around with Pikachu now out of hiding in his shirt looking for any twigs or sticks they could find. Soon they had a couple, a dozen, then two whole armfull piles of them hand in hand enough to keep the fire going for as long as they needed to,
"Okay, this should be enough. Let's go back to the others buddy!" Satoshi exclaimed,
"Pika!"
On the walk back, everything seemed to be normal until abruptly Pikachu's ears perked straight up and sensed something off,
"Pi?"
"Pikachu, what's wrong?" Satoshi questioned noticing his sudden alertness. Pikachu could feel it. This was nowhere pleasant…but one that was extremely malevolent that it almost was overbearing to feel. He looked around till his mind locked in on the aura it was coming from and ran after it, dropping the stock of wood he collected. Satoshi soon followed behind,
"Pika!"
"Pikachu, where are you going?" He was confused as to why suddenly Pikachu was running to absolutely nowhere seemingly. However, that chase ended as soon as it started as he had realized they had gone into a more outgrown and potentially unexplored part of the forest no one has gone through before. Pikachu then halted and pointed away towards the object,
"Pi-Pikachu!"
Satoshi didn't quite see what he was telling him to look at till he looked a little closer. There he saw it. It was a little box with some sort of seal wrapped all around it,
"Was this what you wanted me to see Pikachu?"
"Pikachu!"
Satoshi walked and crouched down to pick it up to inspect it more closely. It was just a box. But against his better judgement, he opened the box. A finger laid in its wake. He felt it. A sinister aura brewing from it. The appearance was a dark hue of purple with various lengths of curvy points at the end. Even the nail plate could be a makeshift dagger in itself with how sharp it was,
"This can't be a human finger, that's at least something I can confirm."
He slipped it back into its box and put it one of his spare pockets hoping Takeshi had any ideas on what this could be,
"The others might be getting worried about us, let's retrace our steps, get the wood, and go back. We can explain what we found then."
Both the mouse and the trainer agreed and went back the way they came in silence. Not because of the awkward coincidence of finding a box with a finger in the middle of a random forest…but a strong omen of unfortunate circumstances and dark entities approaching. They both felt it. Heavily.
Nearby
Not long after Satoshi and Pikachu left the area, the stranger's Mightyena was sniffing around until it eventually came across the vicinity; the two had just found the box containing the finger a few minutes prior. Mightyena spotted the hole with the imprint only remaining. It took it to put two and two together to realize they had found it too late,
"Awooooo!" The teen taking note of hearing the howl in the distance immediately rushed to its location in a hurry,
"You found something Mightyena?!"
Mightyena motioned him to the hole on where the finger was supposed to be only to find it empty,
"No…"
His eyes widened in horror. The special grade cursed object was gone. They just missed it…but how? Did someone know where to find it? Did they just stumble across it by complete chance? So many questions was roaring through his mind until his Mightyena snapped him back to reality,
"Mightyena, do you know where the cursed object is headed?" Mightyena closed its eyes and sniffed from left to right to see if it could put a pin on where to go next. Then they locked in on its current track,
"Raoooo!"
The boy had a mental sigh of relief their target wasn't lost,
"Good senses Mightyena, let's go!"
The two then ran off after in a desperate pursuit.
Back With Satoshi And Company
Satoshi and Pikachu returned back in one piece with no cuts or bruises on them. Nonetheless, Takeshi and Hikari were concerned,
"There you are, we were starting to get worried about you two." Hikari said. Satoshi started to scratch the back of his head,
"We kinda…got sidetracked." Takeshi now seemingly curious about what he meant,
"Elaborate Satoshi." Satoshi sighed and pulled out the box from his pocket and set it down on the ground. All of their Pokémon surrounded it in amazement unaware of the man made horrors beyond human comprehension that lies inside of it. Both of them looked at each other in bewilderment,
"A box?" A sweat drop appeared across the side of both Hikari and Takeshi's faces. Was that really it? Satoshi
"It's…what's in the box. Although I don't want to open it again because I feel a sort of evil presence coming from it and I'm worried about what would happen if this seal is undone. Pikachu came across it on our way back from an obscure part of the forest we ended up in."
Hikari got mad at this. You got to be the most dense person on the planet to mess with anything that you don't know about,
"And you brought it back?!"
Satoshi panicked and explained with Takeshi attempting to calm her down,
"It was left in some hole in the middle of the forest. How could you not expect me to be curious?" Hikari responded with a good counter argument,
"Have you heard the saying curiosity killed the cat Mr. Ketchum?" To say Hikari was mad wasn't really a understatement. It was more on the level Kasumi was when her bike was barbecued. He can't say he agreed with that but this was different,
"Satoshi, let me see that finger."
Satoshi hesitantly unsealed the finger fearing the worst but surprisingly nothing happened…yet. Takeshi took a quick gander and tried to find anything in his journal related to whatever this was but to no avail,
"That's so bizzare, nothing in my journal has any record on what it is and its usage. Satoshi, this might be a new discovery for man and Pokékind!"
Everyone was getting excited at the idea of a new breakthrough in Pokémon history until they heard a loud shouting voice that gradually grew in volume the closer it got to them. They could hear bits of sentences like,
"Stop!"
"Don't do it!"
They turned around to see a teenage boy close to Ash in age running at them as if it was a life or death scenario. His hair was spiked up and was wearing a dark blue jacket with pants and low-top brown shoes. As he approached them, he panted hard as he was out of breath. Amidst the exhaustion making sure to give some time to catch it, he restored his stoic demeanor and bowed,
"Apologies for approaching you three like that." He said,
"N-No don't worry about it, we were just shocked is all."
Hikari waved her hands assuring it was not a big deal. He then redirected his attention to Satoshi,
"You didn't eat that finger did you?"
Satoshi nodded,
"No, I didn't?" He held out his hand towards him,
"Please hand it over, it's not safe for it to be in your hands." Satoshi was really suspicious about this new guy,
"Why should we give it to you? Do you secretly work for Team Rocket?"
"Team Rocket, I've never heard of them."
That's all the gang needed to hear as they handed over the finger to him. He began to speak with a very thankful tone in his voice,
"Thank you, you have no idea how important it is to have this back in my possession."
Satoshi bowed in response,
"Sorry, we just wanted to make sure you weren't since Team Rocket is a no good group of criminals who steal other people's Pokémon. Unfortunately they've been a thorn on my side since day one. But that aside, Mind telling us your name?"
He agreed to do so as there wasn't any reason not to do so,
"My name is Megumi Fushiguro. I'm currently on a mission to retrieve that finger you just gave me.This right here is one of my partners, Mightyena."
Mightyena barked happily as it wagged its tail. Satoshi started off the introductions on their side,
"I'm Satoshi from Pallet Town, and here is my partner Pikachu!"
"Pikachu!"
"I'm Takeshi."
"And I'm Hikari, pleasure to meet you!"
Satoshi seeing a Mightyena in Sinnoh sent a nostalgic smile to their face as a flashback to his time in the Hoenn region with Haruka and Masato when Masato had helped a Poochyena evolve into Mightyena as all of its siblings had already evolved at that point. Unbeknownst to Satoshi, Hikari had noticed a small tear leaked out from his left eye,
"Satoshi…you okay?" He rubbed it away using his spare arm,
"It's nothing Hikari, just being reminded of a good friend in Hoenn me and Takeshi met a while ago."
Hikari, although wanting to comfort him, figured it would be best for something to talk about later,
"So Megumi, what's so important about that finger?" Damn it. He knew that question was gonna be asked,
"That finger…is cursed."
"CURSED?!" Taken aback they listened onward to Megumi's explaination,
"In a single year, there are ten to almost a hundred thousand mysterious deaths or missing persons cases reported across the region of Sinnoh. All are linked back to Curses if you believe me or not. It's real."
…
"Oooooookkkk-" Megumi stopped Satoshi mid sentence,
"I said I don't expect you to believe me."
Megumi shut his eyes and turned back around away from the trio,
"Leaving just as we met?" Satoshi asked,
"Sorry to cut our chat short, but I need to go. Someone's waiting for me."
Ignoring the confusion the befalls on the three for a fast meeting, they waved Megumi goodbye as he silently walked away. However, without any warning, a metallic claw from behind grasped itself around Pikachu and yanked him high into the sky. The four looks back to see a Pikachu mecha emerge from the ground as three different voices began a motto,
"Listen closely, is that a voice I hear?"
"It's speaking to me loud and clear!"
"On the wind!"
"Past the stars
"In your ear!"
"Bringing chaos at neckbreak's pace!"
"Dashing hope, putting fear in its place!"
"A rose by any other name is just as sweet."
"When everything's worse, our work is complete."
"Musashi!"
"Kojiro!"
"And Meowth, now that's a name!"
"Putting do-gooders in their place…" As all together they screamed in unison,
"Team Rocket in your face!"
"Woooooooooobuffet!"
"This thing looks like one of those gundam robots I've seen Gojo-sensei watch on TV…at least I think. But why the hell do they have R's on their uniform. Wait a second…"
FLASHBACK
"Please hand it over, it's not safe for it to be in your hands."
"Why should we give it to you? Do you secretly work for Team Rocket?"
"Team Rocket, I've never heard of them."
"Sorry, we just wanted to make sure you weren't since Team Rocket is a no good group of criminals who steal other people's Pokémon!"
FLASHBACK END
"So that's the group Satoshi was assuming I was associated with. Was hoping I wouldn't have to battle today but it looks like I got no choice…"
"TEAM RO-"
Megumi in quick thinking cut Satoshi's dialogue and looked at him a brief smile,
"You said they were a thorn in your side right?"
Satoshi replied,
"Well ye-" Megumi interrupted with another interruption,
"Mind I help you in removing it?"
Satoshi really liked how this guy got straight to the point,
"Be my guest." All were stanced up and got ready for the battle in front of them,
"Turtwig, use Razor Leaf on the legs!"
"Croagunk, use Poison Jab on the head!"
"Buneary, use Ice Beam on the left arm!"
"Mightyena, aim a Shadow Ball at its core!"
They all fired the attack in coordination making sure it both hit at the same time to ensure optimal damage. It worked and the mech was destroyed. Pikachu ran back to Satoshi's side safe and sound before the explosion was set off. But this time there was no blastoff or explosion. Though Team Rocket wasn't really focused on that specifically as they were more frustrated at the abrupt skip over,
"Hey, we didn't get a chance to explain our evil plan yet!" Musashi raged
"Do you twerps know how much a mecha costs these days?!" Kojiro added on,
Meowth got himself up and out of the rubble ready to counterattack retracting his claws,
"Ignoring the monologue huh? Let's see if you can handle Meowth's Fury Swipes attack!"
Satoshi saw Meowth was aiming for Pikachu but he didn't even bother attacking considering how weak it was in comparison to Pikachu's durability. To Pikachu, it would probably feel like a tickle,
"Hey Pikachu, just move to the right."
Pikachu, confused at such a simple command, obeyed and took one step to the right. Not before tripping Meowth with its tail just to rub salt in the wound. The trip was hard enough for him to be knocked unconscious. All four of them hovered over Meowth,
"Well that was anticlimactic." Hikari stated. She's seen some battles last for a while but never one that was a short like this,
"Excuse me Twerps and Twerpettes!"
They all turned around to see Musashi fuming that they have the nerve to ignore their presence,
"We'll show you a thing or two about ignoring your superiors. Go Carnivine!" Kojiro called out
"You to, Yanma!" Musashi said tagging behind.
FAST FORWARD
The battle lasted for a while till it rained. But in something that people would call defying fate, Team Rocket was on top this time. They have almost won. But it only was possible because they resorted to doing some REAL dirty plays that would never be allowed in official league matches. But then again, it's Team Rocket. They are the villains. Why would they play fair anyway? With only Satoshi remaining in the game and Pikachu tired and exhausted.. It all depends on what move they pull off right here…right now,
"Ready to give up Twerps?" Musashi questioned.
"Both of you are quivering like ants." Kojiro noted in the condition they were in. Satoshi's and Megumi's breath was rugged. Inhaling and exhaling in fast repetition as the adrenaline coursed through his blood. He was not going down like this. They had just enough energy to give out one more command,
"Pika…chu. Use Thu-"
"WITH THIS SACRED TREASURE I SUM-"
Then it hit them like a Tauros. Their limit has been reached. Both of them collapsed to the floor with a sickening thud that echoed silently among the raindrops and greenlands that surrounded them. Pikachu and Mightyena hearing the noise turned back to see their trainers, their partners, and their best friends. Unconscious.
"Pikapi!"
"Rao!"
Mightyena wasn't too shocked to see Megumi be down for the count as there were many times he's cut it too close for comfort on big missions they've been on but it seems like it wasn't the same for Pikachu. If anything, Pikachu couldn't stand to see Satoshi in a battered state like this. Mightyena looked around to see if there was any solution to their predicament but it seemed all hope was lost…until it hit Mightyena of the one possibility that might save them. The one in a million chance Megumi talked of…it was a risk but they had to take that chance. Mightyena in a flash rushed over to Megumi, rummaging through his pocket pulling out the box that contained the finger and threw it over to Pikachu.
"Pika?"
"Rao Raooooo Rao!" It pointed its paw to the finger then to its maw and made a chomping motion. Pikachu understood what he had to do.
On the opposing side, Musashi wondered what the twerp's Pokémon were doing. A vain attempt to wake their friends? It could be anything but she wasn't in the mood to stay and find out,
"What is Pikachu and Mightyena doing? They seem to be giving something to the main twerp."
"Kojiro, go see what they are doing before we take them away." Kojiro didn't like the idea of being put on the spot with a task like that but they won anyway so what's the harm in doing so? Kojiro began marching towards their way fast. Wasting no extra time, Pikachu forcefed the finger to Satoshi unaware of the consequences that may happen if it fails. Each approaching step felt like minutes…then to seconds as the distance between them grew shorter and shorter till eventually it was mere feet apart,
"PIKA!"
"Come with us Pikachu, you'll be working for Team Rocket now." As if all hope was lost, Pikachu cried out for Satoshi in a plea for help…
…and it arrived with a deafening presence.
Right as Kojiro was about to grasp Pikachu and toss him in an Anti-Electric type proof bag. A hand at a speed that makes it look like a single frame grips onto Kojiro's collar. Hard. Kojiro, thrown off by this, dropped everything and attempted to free himself from the inhumane strength as the entity arose from where Satoshi once laid motionless, now on his knees, to fully on his two feet again not letting his grip on Kojiro go.
The rain came to stop with only the sun's rays slowly peeking out through the dissipating clouds. Pikachu gazed up to see who the hero was. The sun's illumination at a snail's pace revealed it to be Satoshi but…something was very, VERY off about him. He flung Kojiro back like a ragdoll with such a velocity that it knocked the wind out of him. Almost breaking his spine. Musashi perplexed at this sudden development asked him,
"Kojiro what did that twerp do to you? How is he still conscious?" Now it was her turn to be asking twenty questions,
"Th-Tha-T-That thing…isn't…him. W-we need to retreat." Retreat?,
"Kojiro, what do you mean…Kojiro!"
MEANWHILE
What is seemingly Satoshi or what's in control of his body turned back around with both hands in his pocket and stared down at the sweating mouse. Black facial markings were sprawled all over his face, his pupils have gone from a friendly hazel to a genocidal red, and his eyes…he now has another set of them under his cheeks. Pikachu wasn't standing…he was kneeling before him…a move Pikachu never thought he'd do with such an outgoing and caring trainer like Satoshi. Now with all eyes on him, it began to speak,
"I take it you must be the brat's Pokémon…you have my thanks for the finger."
Not a single sound escaped from Pikachu's mouth except nonstop shudders and tears built on the foundation of fear coming from him. This was definitely not Satoshi. He sighed since he really didn't prefer acting this way in front of Pokémon so he lightened up crouching down to its level. Albeit to the best of his ability,
"Raise your head up now." Pikachu reluctantly did so as ordered. Even though whatever it was wasn't Satoshi, it's authority felt on the same level of not higher than his. Expecting to die right then and there at the hands of his own trainer…preparing for the cold embrace of death. Pikachu was welcomed with a gentle stroke on his head. He…didn't know how to respond. Should he be happy? Should he be scared? His mind was dashing back and forth between the two,
"I am far from considering those below me worth keeping around. I've killed countless Pokemon Sorcerers during my era who dare try to oppose me. But for some reason…you've piqued my interest."
"It must be this brat's will to protect tapping in, what audacity to suppress me. No matter…" The thing in possession of his body threw off his cap to Pikachu and slicked his hair back walking towards the Rocket crew in a devious fashion,
"Whatever era it is…insects are always insects."
"Hey rodent!" Pikachu heard the shout from the distance,
"Sit back and enjoy the scenery, things are about to get interesting…"
To be continued…?