Pokemon Virus Version Chapter 94: Jesters of Commedia dell' Arte
Early in the evening…
Location: Mahogany Town Pokemon Center
Yumi's POV
"So, have you caught any Pokemon since we last met?"
"Well, I hatched an Espurr, but you know…"
After catching up with the gang from Olivine City, we all kind of just did our own thing. Prince called it a day, while Pheobe told us she would go out for dinner tonight, and offered us to join her. To be honest, I was very comfortable here at the Pokémon Center, so I declined, as did Mary.
The only ones left at the table were Mary-Elizabeth and I. She was asking about how I've been since we last met in Bloomingvale. I won't even hesitate to let the readers know that Espurr's death depresses me. I couldn't finish my sentence, but a 'mature lady' like Mary was able to understand just by looking at my face.
"How about you?" I asked, thee smile returning to my face serving as a 'thank you' to a Mary who understands, "Got any new Pokemon?"
"I've gotten quite a few, but there's one particular Pokemon that I've captured," Mary replied as she took out a Pokeball, "Just a few minutes ago, you told me about you Gligar and the dark aura that surrounds it. Well that reminded me: I also have a Pokemon with a dark aura!"
"You do?"
"It was actually one of my earliest captures. I've just never really used it until recently. Ah, Whimsicott…When I DID use her, I made a few observations. This Whimsicott is what the organization calls: A Shadow Pokemon. Shadow Pokemon aren't as emotional as normal Pokemon; they LIVE to fight, or at least, that's just a dragged out first impression…As weeks and months passed, I began to notice a 'change' in Whimsicott. With all the traveling we did together, this Whimsicott was eventually able to find her own heart and break free of the dark aura!"
….
Hearing Mary's story felt like such a big break to me. I just needed to give a little time to Gligar, then maybe I'd finally be able to use him. Having caught him all the way back in Violet City, I just knew we were almost there.
I just had to tell Seth, Rose and Chapel. Excited, I jogged around the inside of the Pokemon Center, but Chapel and Rose were nowhere to be found. That left Seth, who was probably in our room.
"Hey Seth!" I came bursting through the room door, which startled a Chikorita lying on one of the beds with Seth. Seth was still very wide awake, he was just staring blankly at the ceiling.
"Chico?"
"What is it?" Seth asked as he sat up and looked at me.
"Come on!" I ran up to Seth and grabbed his arm, pulling him out of bed as Chikorita instinctively hopped to the floor, "Let's go outside! I've got something I wanna show you, and I'm sure you won't regret seeing it!"
Let's be unrealistic here! With all the Shadow Pokemon Seth has, maybe sharing this 'something' will finally get Seth to like me back…
…
Location:…
POV:…
With The string of Neo Snagem victories leading to the takeover of basically all of Midwestern Johto, there was finally enough 'breathing room' for me to take a vacation.
"This place sure brings back memories…" I said to myself as I continued down the long hall. You could hear the sound of my high heels echoing as they touched the large tiled floor.
Where exactly was I, you ask? Let's just say this place is all that remains after yesterday, or yesteryear. I miss those days, but perhaps I was just blinded by nostalgia.
Here, in Mahogany Town, I was in an abandoned building. Nothing's changed in five years, except now it was empty in here, and I was merely a visitor.
Back then, I never understood the emotion others had for this place because I was the new woman. Everyone wanted to reunite with their former leader. It was because of their envy that I wanted to meet this 'Giovanni' one day. That never happened.
Even though Team Rocket is nothing but a memory now, and that I'm much more suited for the more-successful Team Neo Snagem, I can't help but remember when times were simple, a time when I was but a lowly, nameless grunt.
"But now…" I said to myself out loud, "Now I have a name. My name, is Beatrice."
Location: Lake Of Rage
Rose's POV
"Beatrice…" That was the first name to come to mind once the masked Volbeat and Illumise appeared in front of me, "You are, with Beatrice?" I asked.
"Hmhnhm." Because I could not understand Pokemon talk, all I could do was consider the giggle of Illumise a reply to my question.
…I never liked these two…
"Vol Volbeat Volbeat!" Vobeat said to Illumise, who nodded in agreement.
"Who are they?" Banette asked as she stood next to me, "And who is this 'Beatrice'?"
I sighed. These two 'Pranksters' always found ways to make me look like a fool back when I was in Neo Snagem. Even though I can hold my own in a fight, these Innamorati would always play my skill down with their obnoxious attitudes.
"Mya mya!" The smile that was on the partially-masked face of Illumise irritated me. "Mya!" Illumise came slightly closer to me, and as she did, I immediately took a step back. Illumise giggled again.
"What's wrong?" A concerned Banette asked, "They don't look so tough." And without declaration, Banette stepped in front of me, glaring at the two Innamorati in my defense, "Out of our way!"
The smiles on Volbeat and Illumise disappeared as they curiously stared at a Banette who started to emit the aura of that dreaded Night Shade that I've experienced before.
POV: There is no POV
"Oh my, what might we have here?" The blue masked Illumise asked.
"Here we have…Oh my, I don't know!" Volbeat answered.
The two Innamorati were curious…but not taken aback by Banette. Smiles returned on both of their faces as they flew at the evil doll.
"Oh look!" Illumise giggled.
"Ah!" Banette winced, and her Night Shade was called off following what Illumise did to him next, "Mm! Mmm!" She made Banette look completely idiotic when she zipped her zipper mouth, causing Banette's word to become muffled. "Mm!"
"Aha!" And of course, Volbeat wasn't going to let Illumise have all the fun. "I don't mean to break the fourth wall, but to be honest, you look like nothing more than a deformed chao from the adventures of a blue hedgehog!"
"Mm!"
Now Volbeat was just having fun at Banette's expense. The masked Volbeat grabbed the doll's tail without warning, and lifted the doll off the ground to where she was being held upside down.
"And this!" Volbeat chuckled as he looked at Banette's tail, "This thing is supposed to be floating on top of your head like a lightbulb or something!"
"Perhaps she was just a glitch in the programming." Illumise guessed.
"Oh well," Volbeat dropped Banette to the snowy ground.
The intentional ignorance of the two fireflies was just their normal behavior. Normal, but insufferable.
"Such trolls, these two are." Rose said, she then got herself into a battle stance as she narrowed her eyes.
Rose would probably be seeing the eyes of Volbeat narrowing right now if it weren't for the Innamorati mask he was wearing. Rhetorically, the Volbeat asked, "Hm, so that's how it's gonna be?"
"I'm sure Lady Beatrice will treat us like royalty once we capture and deliver 26." Illuumise added.
Now it was Volbeat and Illumise's turn to enter their battle stances.
On the horizon, will be the introduction of a new enemy…
…But that would have to wait because…
"Rose!"
"Hm?" Rose answered to the familiar voice calling out to her.
"Er!" Volbeat gritted his teeth, while Illumise groaned as they became irritated upon hearing the distant voice.
"Of course," Illumise said sarcastically, "Just when the real fun was about to get under way!"
"That girl will spoil everything!" Volbeat added.
But as usual, smiles returned to the faces of the fireflies, and Illumise said this, "Oh well, let us tell Lady Beatrice our breaking news!"
"A whole year in the making!"
"A year in the making, it is!"
"The return of Noe Snagem's Commander 26, whether she likes it or not!" Volbeat finished.
And so, the two fireflies turned their backs on Rose and the Banette, flying in the direction of Mahogany Town when they passed a certain female Pokemon Ranger. Chapel simply looked at the two flying Pokemon for a split second before returning her attention to a Rose she was approaching.
Chapel's POV
I thought of the masked Volbeat and Illumise as nothing more that local wild Pokemon just finding their way. Though I couldn't help but think I should've paid them more attention as I saw Rose and Banette glaring at them.
"Hey!" I stopped in front of Rose, and out of concern, I asked, "What's wrong?"
Rose sighed, and then blinked as she adopted a face of worry, "Well-" But I didn't let her finish her sentence. I interrupted the little girl as I was anxious for us to catch up to Piplup.
"Nevermind! I know where Piplup is right now, and I left Skarmory to battle it." Without giving her much of a choice, I grabbed Rose by the hand and started to lead both her and Banette back into Mahogany Town.
…..
Location:…
Where I led Rose was bizarre. Together, we entered an abandoned building. Inside the building, everything seemed aged. Dust covered the counters and shelves, the floor was loitered and dirty, particularly with empty Potion bottles and other medicines. There was a broken window in the back of the building, which would explain why it was so cold in here.
Probably trying to warm up, Rose held my hand tight as she asked, "So Piplup is here. Why? This setting is quite unpleasant."
"Beats me. I just saw Piplup enter through the broken window." I answered.
I knew exactly where Piplup and Skarmory were. At the corner of the building's back room, there was an obscure flight of stairs that led down to somewhere…Rose and I walked the path, and as we descended, it got much darker, gloomy even, with an abundance of grey and black colors.
"What is this place?" Rose asked.
Now, this place was nothing but fragments of other people's memories-memories that I know I don't understand, but I at least had an idea. The first thing I laid my eyes on in this gloomy hallway was a dusty portrait on the wall. The portrait was of a man with dark brown hair, and on the bottom of the picture, the words 'Hail Giovanni' were written.
"Giovanni…" I said to myself as I stared into space. My eyes widened as I remembered that familiar, yet distant name.
Giovanni was the former leader of Team Rocket. When I was little, my late mother Chiyo once told me their story. She told me about how Team Rocket once attempted a revival. It was right there in Goldenrod, they attempted to take the 'next step', but were ultimately defeated by the Champion of Johto himself. Of course, being only a child, I scoffed at the story, but now, Mother Chiyo's story became very clear to me, and on my own, I figured out where Rose, Banette & I were…
"We're in Team Rocket's Hideout," I said out loud.
"I am not familiar with this 'Team Rocket'," Rose responded. Being only five years old, Rose wasn't even born when Team Rocket was around.
Team Rocket HQ; the place where we will capture Piplup, and the place where I will get closer to my new goal of surpassing Seth. I need to show Seth that his method of defeating Neo Snagem is flawed. He needs a sense of compassion for those around him so he won't make the same mistakes he made in Ecruteak. It all starts here…
….
Deeper and deeper into the former headquarters of Team Rocket, we were finally able to hear some sounds of combat.
"That must be Piplup and Skarmory," I said to myself. I then let go of Rose's hand as I rushed to the scene, Rose and Banette following close behind, "Aw!"
Pipe and Skarmory were battling out at some sort of huge power generator. Why they chose such a bizarre setting is beyond me.
"Skarrr!" Skarmory roared at Piplup with a battle cry as he charged straight in.
"Lup!" Instincively, Piplup knew to jump out of the way.
"Skarm!" Though Piplup was able to move out of the way, Skarmory was swift enough to fly up to avoid crashing into the generator.
Meanwhile, Piplup was able to land at the top of the generator. By now, I was plenty sure that Piplup didn't want to fight, but I wasn't giving her a choice. As an act of self-defense, Piplup FINALLY launched an attack at the flying Skarmory. It was an Ice Beam, and Skarmory knew it could be trouble if he was hit.
"Skar skar!" Up and down, over, under a through, Skarmory was displaying its aerial mobility by maneuvering around the many pipes, wire, and small towers of the power generator at a very high speed, trying to avoid Ice Beam.
One thing I noticed was that Piplup's Ice Beam was freezing A LOT of things on contact, more so than a typical Ice Beam, "This Piplup's good…" I said to myself.
"Come on, Skarmory!" Rose cheered.
"Skarmory, use Whirlwind!" I called.
Quickly, Skarmory came to a halt and started flapping his wings.
"Lup?" Piplup's eyes widened slightly as Skarmory's Whirlwind actually started to alter the direction of Ice Beam. That didn't stop Piplup, however. In a matter of seconds, "L-lup?" The Whirlwind began to blow Piplup off its feet. It was a borderline long fall from the top of the power generator to the floor, but being the dancer I saw before, Piplup was able to land on her feet softly and with style, "Lup…" Piplup took a quick bow.
"Skarr!" Pipllup go up from her bow, and saw Skarmory charging at it one more time, only this time it appeared Skarmory was closer than Piplup anticipated.
"Night Slash!" I called out to Skarmory, and as Skarmory closed in with his wing cloaked in a purple aura, in my own excitement, I yelled, "CHAAARRRGGGEEE!"
"Ugh!" Piplup was struck, and not only that, as Piplup was knocked back she crashed into one of the power generator's small towers very hard. Piplup fell to the ground, where it didn't move, and some dust fell on it. It was the perfect opportunity for me to make the capture!
"Let's give this a shot!" I said as I took out a Pokeball. And as I threw the Pokeball, I yelled, "Pokeball, go!"
"Lup…" The Piplup winced slightly as the Pokeball hit its head. A red arc of energy lit up the dark and gloomy room as it sucked Piplup right into the Pokeball. The Pokeball landed on the ground, and as it began to wiggle, I crossed my fingers, hoping for the positive result.
"Mya! Mya mya!" Something I never would've anticipated happened next.
Before I could see my result-before the Pokeball stopped wiggling, I looked to see a masked Volbeat and Illumise floating down from a 'catwalk' that was close to the high ceiling, where a woman with chest length, black cherry hair, and platinum colored eyes stood.
Rose flinched upon seeing the Volbeat and Illumise. I looked at her in concern and asked, "What? What wrong? HUH?!" Paying attention to too many things at once, I was startled by…
"-Lup!" Piplup popped out of the Pokeball, indicating that my attempt at capturing Piplup was no good. The Piplup looked at all of us, Volbeat and Illumise included.
"The Pokeball failed…" I said.
"Pip!"With my attention basically turned away from the penguin as I looked up to the black cherry haired woman, the clever Pipup saw this as a perfect opportunity to start running away from me.
Great idea on the water type's part, and it ALMOST worked.
"Voll!" The masked Volbeat and Illumise smirked as they blocked Piplup's path. "Vol vol volbeat!"
"Mya!" Both Illumise and Volbeat looked at Piplup, and then back at each other as they started giggling.
"Those fools…" Rose whispered.
"What?" I looked at Rose, and a worrisome curiosity struck me as I saw Rose having the same worried expression she had at Lake of Rage. She gave the two fireflies that same look, and I began to wonder, "Rose, do you know those two Pokemon?"
"Yes, I-" Rose began to speak, but was quickly interrupted.
"So you DO know the girl!" said the black cherry haired woman, "And I suppose you must be one of her 'friends'."
"What of it?!" I scowled.
The woman blinked her platinum eyes and smiled, "What of it?" She repeated to herself, "I just find it intriguing that she no longer goes by the name '26'. How long has it been since you left the organization? Probably a year or so. I'm just hoping she hasn't forgotten about me…" Before finishing her sentence, the woman proceeded to jump down from the catwalk and land on top of the power generator's main tower, which was taller, wider, and bigger than the rest. The stare from her platinum eyes were piercing, and they narrowed as she finished her introduction, "Neo Snagem's Commander 06, Beatrice!"
To Be Continued…
Author's Note:
Okay, Beatrice and her two jesters in Volbeat and Illumise...If you know your Final Fantasy games, then you'll realize that these characters are the most obvious example of my inspiration. I mean, the difference between the names 'Beatrice' and 'Beatrix' is nearly obscure! And the Jesters? Well, they're actually called Jesters in Final Fantasy too. The Innamorati are characters, one male and one female, who are staples of EVERY movie that features Commedia dell' Arte stock characters. The Innamorati are typically young lovers, can joke around, and typically act like a spoiled baby, throwing tantrums of sorts when they don't get their way, such as when Volbeat and Illumise got mad when Chapel came back for Rose. Commedia dell' Arte IS a real art of theatre. Look up the Pirates of the Carribean movies(specifically Will Turner and Elizabeth Swan), because I believe they are the most famous example of Commedia dell' Arte, aside from Romeo & Juliet.
Mary Elizabeth's Party
Mienshao(Male)-Regenerate
Lampent(Offscreen)(Male)-Shadow Tag
Whimsicott(Female)-Prankster
Oshawott(Offscreen)(Male)-Torrent
Yumi's Party
Umbreon(Male)-Synchronize
Braixen(Female)-Blaze
Shadow Gligar(Male)-Hyper Cutter
Snivy(Male)-Overgrow