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[COLOR=blue] Chapter 1: Dark Future

Attack of the Clones


Cells are the bricks of a multi-cellular organism, even humans. These membrane-protected fortresses hid genetic blueprints that make up an organism. Man has learnt to put these blueprints to use. However when the dark side of Man rears its ugly head, the results are fatal. Even “copies” of harmless creatures could get harmful. Creatures like Pokémon….

Many things have changed the last time we saw our hero, Ash Ketchum. James and Jessie had fallen in love but when Ash informed the authorities, thwarting their Pokémon-stealing plans, a gunfight ensued, killing Jessie in the process. As a result, James has become vengeful freak and has sworn to kill Ash. Above all, Ash enrolled into the Psy Academy where psychic people and normal people learn how to use 100% of their brains using Pokémon!. Gary Oak, Ash’s old rival, however was not able to get to the second year due to some reasons that he did not understand. Feeling that he had been treated unfairly, he left the Psy Academy…

In giant glass chambers, cells divided rapidly according to the genetic blueprints designed for them. In this case, it was Team Rocket, not Nature, who designed the blueprints. Pokémon one by one became fully formed including all their organs and external features.

“Boss, welcome to our lab.” Prof. Namba, the head scientist, greeted Giovanni, the notorious leader of Team Rocket. “So what have we here?” he spoke. Suddenly, when he spoke, two of the Pokémon in the chambers awoke. A common feature of these Pokémon was their green eyes and coal-black spots.

The two newly emerged Pokémon burst their way through the thick glass. They were in their infancy but they were able to move at great speed. Prof. Namba reacted quickly by pressing a button, which activated an electrified titanium gate. One of the Pokémon was a Rattata so it got an electric shock. The other was an Onix, which had a resistance to electricity, battered the gate down.

Before it could get to Giovanni and Prof. Namba. The scientist subdued them with Pokéballs at it. “ I have never seen Pokémon so violent.” Said Giovanni. “They are Super Clone Pokémon, Boss.” Explained Prof. Namba “ A Super Clone Pokémon has green eyes and black spots. They are much more powerful than the average Pokémon and they evolve much faster.” “Interesting, soon the world will be ours. Ha Ha…!!!” Giovanni laughed gleefully. Prof. Namba replied, “ Our scientists will work on the Pokémon breeding program immediately.” Evil schemes now became more villainous, as that night marked the beginning of the Rocket Empire….

Meanwhile, 16 yr old Ash Ketchum had returned after his training with the Psy Academy. His dark blue cloak danced in the wind as the teenager walked. His Pikachu followed him. Suddenly, Ash heard someone calling him.

“Ash Ketchum, you must hurry to Indigo Plateau!” “Huh!” Ash exclaimed puzzlingly and asked, “Who are you?” “I am Mewtwo! My Future Sight has shown me that Team Rocket is about to siege Indigo Plateau. You must hurry.” The voice rang again. Ash removed his hood that was covering his head. “Team Rocket has caused enough trouble for the last time!”

Meanwhile the competitors on the arena in the Pokemon League fought with their Pokémon, oblivious to the danger in stall for them. All of a sudden, two Pokéballs with the Team Rocket emblem made its way into the arena. With a flash of bright light, a Donphan and a Kabutops emerged from the Clone Balls.

The referee thought that the two trainers were playing foul until the Donphan’s tusks swept the trainers off their feet. Then he realized that these Pokémon belong to neither of the two trainers. The referee and the two trainers made a quick exit. The two “intruders” had green eyes and black spots, the instinctive features of Super clone Pokémon! Simultaneously, a dark figure appeared.

“Well well…” it was none other than James, a Team Rocket member who had been fighting with Ash for a long time. “Put your hands over your head!” ordered a policeman. “I beg to differ..!” James suddenly turned around and kicked him. The kick was so strong that the policeman was flung onto a wall 11 feet away, killing him instantly. Simultaneously, the wall with the policeman crumbled down. “I have a bone to pick with the police so I will not surrender.” James roared with a vengeance. “If I pick a bone, I would use it to hit you instead,” yelled Ash as he stormed into the arena on his Tauros.

When James saw Ash, the scenes of the poignant past overcame him, with anger and insanity. “ Ash Ketchum!!? Raorrrrr! Jessie!!!” James howled in sorrow and hatred. After recovering from a relapse of insanity, James sent out a Super Clone Rattata to battle it out with Ash. The spectators cheered for Ash, only to be silenced by the abrupt arrival of other Team Rocket members and their Super Clone Pokémon. Ash sent out Tauros to battle the rodent. The bull charged at Rattata at great speed. Then the Rattata was flung aside from the direct impact from Tauros’s heavily built skull. “Hyper Beam attack!” Ash commanded.

Rattata was unable to battle after the Hyper Beam. “Don’t rejoice too early, twerp.” James reminded with a sinister grin. Suddenly Rattata’s purple fur turned brown and its nails and front teeth grew longer. It had evolved into a Raticate!

Ash was taken aback and commanded Tauros to fire its Hyper Beam again. The Raticate also used its Hyper Beam. The energy beams clashed with an explosion. When the fog lifted, Raticate was there, laughing at Ash’s fallen Tauros. “My Pokémon have been genetically manipulated. They are much stronger and evolve much earlier than normal Pokémon.” James sniggered. Ash wasn’t about to give in to Team Rocket anyway. “ I don’t care! Your gene-modifications can never win over the friendship between a Pokémon and its trainer. Croconaw! I choose you!” Ash sent out his Croconaw, a crocodile Pokémon.

The huge bipedal crocodile charged at Raticate who took a bite of Croconaw’s dorsal sail. Then the rodent was whacked by the crocodile’s tail. “Croconaw Dynamicpunch !” The reptile aimed its fist at Raticate. Then, the rodent was flung 3 feet into the air and landed on the floor with a loud crash. “Raticate return!” James got Raticate back into its Pokéball. “Seviper, come out to avenge your mistress!” James released a Seviper from its Pokéball.

This Seviper belonged to Jessie, James’s dead fiancée. The rattlesnake now had the features of Super clone Pokémon. The rattlesnake opened up its infrared sensor pits on its snout, and hissed with a vengeance. It fired out a rain of toxic needles like a machine gun on Ash who evaded it. “Typhlosion I choose you!!” Ash called out his Typhlosion, a fire-breathing monotreme. Flames jutted out from its neck. Seviper opened its mouth and flashed out its 20cm long venomous fangs.

Seviper was about sink these fangs into Typhlosion. But then the monotreme’s breath turned into a ball of flames. “Fire Spin attack” Ash called out. Seviper was hit head on like a car accident victim; its head was scorched with third degree burns. “Let’s see how strong is your friendship!” Thinking that James was taking out another Pokémon, Ash commanded Pikachu to get into the battlefield.

He was wrong. James seized the opportunity to throw a black ring at the mustelid. “Pikachu!!” Ash cried out. “Ha ha…!! Let’s see if your friend still obeys you. Go Pikachu and destroy Ash Ketchum!!” James laughed gleefully.

Pikachu turned around to face his master, purged of emotions. There was a scent of evil around him too. The black ring was a mind-controlling device! “Now allow me to give you a taste of your own medicine. Pikachu, Thunderbolt!” Ash yelled in pain as his body was engulfed by electricity and slumped down on his knees.

Suddenly, there was a disturbance not in the “Force” but in the air. The Super Clone Pokémon and their Team Rocket trainers were lifted up in the air. Mewtwo was nearby, using his Psychic powers from afar, allowing the innocent spectators to evacuate the stadium. Ash was weakened by the electrical attacks from Pikachu. “ Do it again! ” James commanded Pikachu. Pikachu blasted another jolt of lightning but it was reflected off a barrier that appeared in front of Ash. It was Ash’s Xatu, a Psychic bird Pokémon. After recovering from the shocks, Ash went forward to battle with James, personally with fists while a mind controlled Pikachu fought against Xatu.

Other than just using his brains effectively, Ash also learnt martial arts at the Psy Academy. Thus, Ash fought with James. James however was able to dodge off any attack from Ash by leaping at astronomical heights and executing moves at astronomical speed and power. The forces of good and evil clashed continuously. “You will pay for Jessie’s life!!” James roared. “As long as you are evil, you can’t win. The forces of good will destroy your evil sooner or later.” Ash scolded back. Unexpectedly, James kicked Ash, sending him crashing towards a wall with a loud bang. Ash tried to stand up properly with a bleeding mouth “Now lets see if the power of good is helping you.”

James charged at Ash at a speed no man had ever reached and was about to tackle him with a powerful blow. Suddenly, a thunderbolt stopped him in his tracks. It was Pikachu! Xatu had smashed the mustelid’s mind-control ring to pieces.

“Put your hands over your head!” the policemen chorused. More policemen had arrived. “ Get this in your head, twerp! This is only the beginning” As James “soared” into the air while the policemen and their Growlithes fired bullets and balls of flames continuously but none of them hit the flying man. Meanwhile a mysterious man hid in a dark corner calling a number. “James, meet me at the decimated Viridian City Gym.” An evil, malicious smile appeared on his face.
















Fall of James


Ash had broken his left arm from the fight. His mother as usual, was at his side in the hospital. “Ash, why didn’t you inform me that you are coming back? You should at least give me a call!” Ash’s mother screamed at his son. “Sorry mom, I..”, suddenly Prof. Oak came into the ward. His clothes were charred. “Delia, Pallet Town has been bombed. ” “What! Oh…” the middle age woman fainted.

Next morning, the news on TV was frightening. Pallet Town, Ash’s home, had turned from a peaceful town to a war-torn land. Meanwhile Ash sadly rested in the ward, unable to save his Town. “Pikachu, I am sorry, I was unable to save our home.”

Meanwhile, James came out from the shadows of a dark room and into the sunlight shining from a window. “Sir, I have bombed…” James was about to report to his supervisor when the mysterious man threw fistful of ice at James who evaded the attack. It was no hailstone. It was a Pokémon attack called Ice Punch! “James, you idiot! How could you bomb Pallet Town! You could have killed my grandfather in the process!” The mysterious “man” turned around, it was Gary Oak, Ash’s childhood rival and the dropout from the Psy Academy!

“James, I knew that Ash Ketchum got your fiancée killed but you shouldn’t be too impatient by bombing his home!” Gary scolded James. “Jessie won’t rest in peace unless the twerp is destroyed!!” James argued back, plucking his cyan hair, his condition had relapsed again. James’s necklace medallion opened up as he fell on his knees. Gary’s anger dissipated and he comforted James. “ Alright, alright stop it! ” Gary coaxed him. James immediately took out his medicine for his insanity and swallowed it. Calmness came back to him once again.

“James, this time I let you off. But next time you do anything, make sure you discuss it with me.” Gary warned. “By the way, Sir, I want to know why Prof. Oak is so important?” James asked. “The old man’s brain cells are packed with Pokémon data. We could use a scientist like him.”

“ What if he doesn’t cooperate?” James asked curiously. “ That’s alright. Our scientists have invented a Brain Hacker machine. It alters a person’s or Pokémon’s mind so he/she will become loyal to Team Rocket. Simultaneously, his knowledge is undamaged. It is very similar to brain washing.” Gary then had an idea, “It would take a few weeks for Ash to recover fully. So I need you, James, to create panic in Pewter City. ”

“ Yes Sir..! I won’t fail you again!” James replied obediently.

A few weeks later, Ash and his Pokémon helped to restore their home. The town folks, Prof. Oak and the Government helped one another. Soon they got their town back in one piece. At home, “Mom, I want to go to…” Ash was about to ask his mother when she interrupted him. “Young man, you may go anywhere on one condition: MAKE SURE YOU DON’T GET HURT AGAIN!! I DON’T HAVE SO MUCH MONEY TO FOOT THE MEDICAL BILLS!” Gentle reminders turned into blaring screams.

“Ashy Boy” a crooning voice was heard at the window. Ash shivered because it was none other than Casey, a girl whom he met during his adventures in the Johto region. She used to be a baseball fan but now, the fourteen-year-old girl had developed a huge crush on the handsome teenager!

Mrs. Ketchum was about to open the door when Ash stopped her. “Mom!! Please don’t open the door to her! I promise I will take care of myself from now on!! Please!!” “Oh come on she is not a Growlithe. She won’t bite.” Mrs Ketchum assured. Casey made a “flying kiss ” to a petrified Ash who sprinted for his bedroom as his mother opened the door to Casey.
“Young Man, Please be polite to our guest here.” Mrs Ketchum knocked the door of Ash’s room. Ash thought, “How I wished I knew the Withdraw Attack.” Pikachu sensed his master’s thoughts; Casey was here. Then a brainwave struck Ash. Then a few minutes later when Mrs Ketchum unlocked Ash’s room but the boy had disappeared!! He had jumped out of his bedroom window to escape. “Owww!! That’s was quite a plan…a painful one too. ” Ash had some spikes of his mother’s cactus in his buttocks.

Ash called up his mother on his cell phone. She raved at his insolence to Casey earlier on. Ash explained himself about all her harassing from until…. two hands covered Ash’s eyes. “Casey!? Please behave yourself!” Ash moaned. “Let's see red hair and a bike debt, who does it remind you of?” the girl spoke. It was Misty, the Cerulean City Gym Leader, who followed Ash Ketchum in his adventures from Pallet Town to the Johto regions. She certainly had matured and grown prettier than before.

The two teenagers sat down at a nearby café for a drink. “Are you ok, Ash!! You look sick.” She asked. “Thanks to Casey, she’s got a crush on me!!” Ash whined. “Oh Ash, you are such a nerd.” Misty remarked as she sipped her soda from her cup. “What do you mean?!” Ash blurted out after choking on his soft drink. “It means that you know nothing about love!” Misty replied. “Please, the only love I know is motherly love from my mom, ok” Ash argued. “Excuse me!! I need to get home.” Ash left abruptly as he did not want to talk about it. A few minutes after he left, “Casey!!” Misty called out to the fourteen-year-old girl. The girls chatted with laughter. A few seats away, Gary wearing a hood over his head, smiled maliciously.

Ash was on the way back home when “Pika!!” Pikachu jumped out of its Pokéball. “Pikachu!!?” Ash exclaimed Pikachu. Pikachu’s ears were twitching; a sign that something was wrong. When Ash looked up he saw smoke billowing over Pewter City nearby. It was a sign that evil schemes have been put to action! Ash quickly contacted Prof. Oak to withdraw and deposit some of his Pokémon.

Meanwhile outside Pewter City Gym, “Steelix!! No!!” shouted the Pewter City Gym leader, Brock. His Steelix just lost a battle to Meowth, a Pokémon partner of James and Jessie. He was the only known Pokémon that could speak human language. “Do think that Team Rocket will always be beaten so easily. Team Rocket is blasting off no more!” Meowth spoke. The feline had also been genetically spliced with the Super Clone Gene too. As a result, his power, defense and speed had increased tremendously. “Forretress, Rollout attack!” Brock sent out his Forretress, a clam shaped insect, to fight Meowth. “I think not!!” Meowth sent it flying with a Headbutt attack. “Well done, old friend.” James walked in with triumph. “I think I have won more than just a badge.” James snickered.

“Bye!” James leaped into the air and was about to execute his kick of death on Brock. Suddenly a barrier appeared in front of Brock blocking James’s attack. Ash and Xatu had arrived just in time to stop him. “Brave but foolish!!” James remarked. “We’ll see!” Ash replied. He unleashed all of his Pokémon, Pikachu, Croconaw, Xatu, Swellow, Sceptile, and ordered them to attack Meowth. Brock, on the other hand, went to call for help. Meowth used all of his attacks he knew: Headbutt, Crunch, Fury Swipes and the deadly Hyper Beam. Ash’s Pokémon were defeated and injured.

Ash’s mind was sandwiched between the battle with James and his injured Pokémon. In a moment’s folly, James pushed Ash to the ground and was about to use that super kick on him. Suddenly, a young girl tried to defend Ash and got kicked instead. It was Casey! Her limp body was sent flying to the wall of the gym. “No!!” Ash cried out as Casey fell to the ground unconscious. “Now you understand how it feels to lose the one you loved. ” James spoke “What’s the use of joining Team Rocket, James? ” Ash asked. “Has it given you anything throughout your life.”

James answered proudly, “We were once people who were being despised and bullied upon just because we were not as good as the normal people. We flunked our exams, lost every Pokémon battle, born mentally and physically deformed. The world is bent on wiping us out by depriving us of opportunities to prove ourselves. Team Rocket is here to show that we are winners too! We are going to change this terrible world into the perfect world where no one will be left behind just because they are weak or different.”

James continued, “Take me for example, Twerp! I was a failure in my studies despite going into the best Pokémon School. I was so stressed out that I ran away from home. Jessie too was spitted out by society too. We had no friends except each other and old Meowth. YOU, Ash Ketchum… caused my fiancée’s death.”

Two years ago, before Ash graduated from the Psy Academy. James proposed to Jessie and she agreed. So James decided to steal a rare Pokémon to their boss in exchange for a salary raise to buy a wedding gift to her. Ash however discovered James’s plan and thwarted it by calling the cops. James and Jessie fought with the cops with all their artillery, which was normally used for stealing Pokémon.

Jessie was killed during the gunfire between themselves and the police. James on the other hand went insane and was sent to an asylum but Team Rocket rescued him out and helped him regain most of his sanity.

Suddenly, Ash and all his Pokémon were energized by a wave of energy from within. “The world doesn’t need to change but you do!!” Ash roared. Miraculously, his body was glowing white. With renewed strength and vigor, Ash Ketchum fought with James again. This time he was a lot faster and stronger.

With that new power, Ash’s Pokémon concentrated their attacks on Meowth. Unable to take their blow of the attacks, Meowth was blown away by the force of the combined attacks.

Ash was now as powerful as James Ash punched James’s abdomen repeatedly until he was sent flying towards the ceiling and crashing down again. James had broken every bone in his body as a result. With his final breath, James warned Ash “Twerp!! Just….. you wait! Team…… Rocket will take…….. over the world……..!!” Meowth struggled to stand up. “You have killed my friend, I shall destroy you all when I…raooorrrr!!!” Meowth was filled with rage when suddenly Meowth's twin canines became one and a half times as long as before. His purr turned into a snarl of a puma. Meowth evolved into a shorthaired Persian, a short-haired species of the longhaired Persian cat.

However, Meowth had been injured before evolution so he could not fight. “I shall return. ” Winds became stronger than ever as a beam of red light sucked up Meowth into a Pokéball held by a Team Rocket minion on a helicopter. When the winds stop, one of James’s Pokémon popped out from the Pokéball his belt. It was a Kadabra and it’s brain-dead!




















Murder


In amidst the darkness of the night, Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket, walked over to James’s coffin in a deserted field. His underlings were silent as all the Team Rocket members paused for James, who was misunderstood for being incompetent but he had shown what true loyalty really was…

The mourning was brief yet solemn as James’s coffin descended into the heart of the earth where he shall rest for eternity, beside his fiancée’s grave. Giovanni for the first time admired James for his courage and the way he stood up against his oppressors. “To think that he was the most incompetent Team Rocket member! Yet he held on firmly to Team Rocket beliefs. James, I have misjudged you.” Giovanni thought. “He was a good apprentice. ” said another voice. It was Gary. “Now only I can stop Ash.” Gary continued. “I believed that you knew Ash Ketchum well, right? ” Giovanni asked. “Far from just knowing, sir!! We were enemies right from the start!! ” Gary replied.

Before Gary could leave, Giovanni stopped him. “ Hold your horses there, Gary. I can’t afford to lose you in a time like this. I would like you to stand down for the moment and impart those skills to a group of Team Rocket rookies. ” Gary took the list of trainees from his boss.

“Those skills, unleashing your brain’s full potential and literally borrowing Pokémon attacks are a vital asset to the Team, Gary. We need more people with that knowledge around so just in case if… you were to fall like James. We can still make use of it. Do you understand?” Gary pondered for a while and answered, “ I get you, sir…. So in that case, I’ll make a move now.”

As Gary walked out of Giovanni’s office, his footsteps echoed across a marbled hallway leading to the exit. Simultaneously, a teenage girl about fifteen years old was trotting on the same hallway. In a moment’s folly, Gary stepped on her toes. “ Ouch! Watch where you’re steppin’!”

Gary was somehow made to pause and stare blankly at the girl whose spaghetti trap blouse has one string falling off, revealing her smooth, silky right shoulder but he awoke immediately. A slap was about to come at Gary but the teenage boy leaped into the air saving him from getting half a red face. “ If you’re a man, don’t dodge my slap!” She yelled. Gary was floating in the air and answered “Ha! If I am a man, why should I listen to you? By the way, you should have worn more clothes, you are lucky that I am no pervert.”

“ You…you are not a pervert but you are a molester!” the girl scolded in her high-pitched voice. “ Hey! I am wearing gloves here. It doesn’t count!” Gary taunted “ Grrrrr… !” the girl took out a stick the length of a ruler and it extended to a length of 1.5 metres. It had a harpoon on one end. She leaped at Gary and tried to slash him.

Gary however evaded her relentless attacks by moving his body in bizarre ways that no human acrobat has ever tried or achieved. As a final blow, she threw her weapon at Gary. However he dodged at the fast weapon by bending his legs at an angle of 90 with his body lying down flat in mid-air! As the harpoon flew over, Gary borrowed his Pokémon’s attack and disappeared on the spot.

Like a child, she stamped her feet in frustration.

Meanwhile at the hospital, Casey was lying unconscious on the bed. Ash meanwhile sat near her feeling sorry for her, his fists were clenched with guilt. The girl suddenly came to. “Oww..” She groaned. “Careful.. I just want to say I am sorry.” Casey actually defended Ash on her own accord and spoke “Ash, I forgive…” Suddenly a rock hard fist interrupted their conversation. It was Casey’s father. Ash blocked the man’s punch with his palm. Then a second one went for his belly. The pain from the punch was far beyond what Ash could tolerate; he slumped down on the floor. “How dare you get my daughter into this state!” the enraged man roared. Ash quickly ran out before the man could bash him to death.

Casey’s father followed Ash, grabbed him and tried to punch him again. Ash countered his fist with the same palm he used just now. Ash explained, “Mr. Ding, please calm down, I didn’t do it. ” “Dad! It wasn’t Ash who wounded me.” Casey explained. Mr. Ding’s grip on Ash loosened slowly. “Among all the people I have met, you are the first person to be able to block my punches.” Mr. Ding commended. Suddenly Ash heard Sabrina, his teacher, calling him telepathically.

“Excuse me, I got something to attend to.” Ash walked away.

Outside the hospital, Ash followed his feelings and soon saw his lecturer, Mr. Psy on a rock. “ Ash just who is that man whom you just fought earlier?” Mr. Psy asked. “Who? James?! Well as far as my memory goes, he is the lowest ranking member of Team Rocket. He and his accomplice, Jessie, have been harassing Pikachu and me for nearly 4 years now. ” Ash replied. “ I see, you do know him.” said Mr. Psy. “ And he was the very same guy who stole a rare and valuable Pokémon in Saffron City a year ago, remember, Mr. Psy.” Ash continued.

“ Then what’s the problem, sir?” Ash asked. “ I have noticed the way how James fought with you, Ash, and I surprised by the fact that he was able to defeat you so easily in the first attempt.” “ Well, I underestimated his power at first so I lost to him. But what’s up with him?” Ash asked. Mr. Psy answered “ As a Psychokinetic person, I was able to see that he was using nearly 100% of his brain using a Kadabra.” Ash was taken aback. The Kadabra on James’s belt was the reason why his strength had increased so suddenly. “But who would teach James how to do that? Could there be a traitor in the Psy Academy?” “ The academy is not a country that you pledge loyalty to, Ash. So whether there are traitors or loyal subjects in the school, it does not really matter.” Mr. Psy suggested

“It doesn’t?” Ash exclaimed, “ But what if the traitor is so evil that he or she is using their brain’s full potential to do evil?” “ You have a point there. Using 100% of your brains can help a person to remember better, calculate better and blah, blah, blah! But whether that person is using it for good or evil, will depend very much on him. We are powerless.”

“ So we have contact our seniors, the fresh graduates as well and perhaps the dropouts and question them.” Suggested Ash. “ No, that’s not a good idea, if we question them openly like that, even if the traitor is there. He or she will not admit their misdeeds. It will only make matters worse.” Mr. Psy added.

Meanwhile in the depth of the night, Mrs Ketchum was waiting impatiently for her son. “That boy is going to be the death of me.” She grumbled and waited impatiently. A mysterious figure smiled maliciously as he focused his night vision binoculars on Ash’s house. Cicadas chirped and click beetles clicked in the rhythm. “Shirrrpp! ” a strange chirp was heard. Mrs Ketchum got the creeps and started to tremble. All of a sudden, a shadow shattered the windows and knocked Mrs Ketchum off her feet. A cloaked figure emerged from her behind. It was a cicada Pokémon, Ninjask. Simultaneously another Pokémon, a Shedinja, appeared from the fog. Shedinjas were discarded exoskeletons of Ninjasks during their molting stage.

The insects flashed out their sharp proboscises, preparing to suck out Mrs Ketchum’s blood. The woman took her broom and hit the cicadas. It hit Ninjask’s head, causing the cicada to squeal in pain. Shedinja on the other hand, was a ghost type so the spade just when right through its body. The ghost Pokémon pierced its proboscis into the woman’s neck. Mrs Ketchum struggled frantically and finally she was too weak to move. Then the Ninjask finished her off with a Fury Cutter attack.

Misfortunes never come singly. First was the devastating news of Mrs. Ketchum’s death. Next, Ash was now a murder suspect as several witnesses had claimed that they had seen Ash that night. Ash was pent up with anger and sorrow, the questioning from the authorities made it worse. “Every time you asked the same question and I will forever give you the same answer. I didn’t kill my mother!” Ash shouted and banged the table with his fist. The policemen however seemed certain that Ash was the murderer and persistently asked him, depriving him of food and water for hours.

“May I cut in?” said a familiar voice. “Mr. Psy!” Ash exclaimed. “Edward, if you misbehave again just like you did ten years ago, I will arrest you. ” the sergeant warned sternly. Suddenly, an invisible tight grip held the sergeant’s neck firmly. “If you can pressurize my apprentice to desperation, I can drive you bonkers, Raye.” The sergeant gasped after being released from the wrath of the Psychokinetic man “ I can testify for my apprentice’s innocence. I was with him outside the Pewter City Hospital, teaching him something new when his mother was murdered. ”

The sergeant purposely wanted to make things difficult. Suddenly, a telephone rang. Sergeant Raye went to answer it. “What? I see.” After hanging up the phone, Sergeant Raye spoke, “The analysis is finished. You have been proven innocent!” Ash stood up and asked Sergeant Raye “How did my mother die?”

Sergeant Raye answered “Sigh! There were specks of hair and pieces of insect exoskeletons on your mother’s body. The DNA analysis revealed that these belong to the cicada Pokémon, Ninjask and Shedinja. These Pokemon probably attacked and killed her.”

Ash’s house was now cloaked in loneliness even with Pikachu and Xatu by his side. “Ash, are you alright?” Casey asked Ash from the window still. “Get out, parasite!” Ash uttered. “ What did you said?” Casey asked between the sobs. “I said get out you parasite!” Casey was fuming mad and said “Fine!! If you don’t care anymore then neither do I, hmp!!!” Ash wanted to apologize but his anger and sorrow held him down. Suddenly, Professor Oak knocked at the door. Ash sensed his mentor’s presence and opened the door to him. The two men, young and old, talked for hours. It was never easy for anyone to lose a loved one; especially the only relative in the world. Like a spring of water running down a parched throat, Prof. Oak’s words slowly enlightened Ash.

Meanwhile at Saffron City Gym, home of the Psy Academy, a junior disciple, John Stag, was leaving the clan for good. “Staggy, we’ll miss you after your departure. Why can’t you stay?” asked Sandra, a junior disciple of the Psy Academy. “I have my reasons, SanDra but I don’t wish to tell.” “In that case, let’s respect his decisions. John, may the Future Sight guide your way..” Sabrina and her clan bid their fellow friend farewell.

Meanwhile Casey was crying and running into the wilderness because of Ash’s harsh words. “How could he said that?!” Casey cried, hugging her knees. Casey suddenly heard something… Someone was comforting her with assuring words. Casey asked the mysterious voice “Who are you?” Out of the blue, a strong hand grabbed her and took her away. Evil laughter echoed across the field muffling Casey’s cries for help.

Later, Ash who had just snapped out his self-pity and went to look for Casey. “Casey!! Please come out! I, pant! , am really sorry! Please come out, Casey. ” At first the field was silent. Ash felt that something was amiss. “Ash Ketchum, you are such a lady-killer!” said a mysterious voice. “Who are you?” asked Ash. “ One must pay for one’s actions. I want you to meet me at 6:00 pm at the haunted tower in Lavender Town. Bring only yourself, Ash Ketchum! Make sure no one’s with you! Fwa ha ha!”

As quickly as possible, Ash took the train set for Lavender Town. Ash looked the setting sun with guilt. He regretted that he had told off Casey like that earlier. His watch ticked silently inducing more nervousness to set in. “Next Stop: Saffron City!” an announcement interrupted his thoughts. As Ash was thinking, someone was reading his thoughts.







The Stag Beetle of Darkness


Ash arrived at the Haunted Tower at 5:50 pm sharp. The sun had hardly set and a paranormal air had already shrouded the tower. Ash got his Typhlosion to light up the place.

This was the second time Ash visited the tower but some things had changed: he was no longer afraid of ghost Pokémon unlike his first time. The room was lit with a yellow/orange hue from his Pokémon. There were cobwebs and a queer rotting smell permeating the rooms. The traces of his last visit were still there, including the hole in the first floor made by James and Jessie 4 years ago. Despite the spine-tingling environment, he walked on as normal, looking for his friend. He stormed into every room, looking for Casey. Finally he got into a dark dining room. Ash found Casey tied up in ropes. “Ash!? Ash! Don’t come here it’s a trap!” Casey warned when she saw Ash. “A what?” Ash asked. Suddenly a boy holding a couple of blades in his right hand flew down from the ceiling.

The red menacing metal blades were shaped like a stag beetle’s antlers. “I have been waiting for you, Ash Ketchum. We meet at last as mortal enemies!” Ash recognized his opponent as his junior, John Stag. “John, why are you doing this?” Ash asked. “Correction, my real name is Kuwagarr Megahorn and why am I doing this? Because you killed my uncle!” John answered back. His cyan-colored hair danced with his rage. Ash was surprised by the fact that John was a blood relative of James. Kuwagarr purposely tried to make his opponent angry so he revealed, “My uncle’s ghost is a vengeful one. To put him to rest, I gave him your mother’s soul. ”

Ash’s mood swung from astonishment to rage and he fell for Kuwagarr’s ploy. Ash punched Kuwagarr.

The duel between Ash and Kuwagarr intensified with time, destroying the table in the dining room. Suddenly Ash was caught between the two blades of Kuwagarr’s sword. “Looks like this contest cannot be judged by our skills of the sword, but by the power of our Pokémon.” Kuwagarr sent out his Pokémon, Ninjask and Shedinja. Ash sent out Pikachu and Xatu. A 2 VS 2 Pokémon battle ensued. Pikachu used his Thundershock attack on the Ninjask who evaded it. Simultaneously, Xatu tried to peck Shedinja who also dodged the bird’s beak. Xatu and Shedinja then battled each other using their speed, with the ghost as the loser in the end. Ninjask used its Fury Cutter on Pikachu but it missed and slashed up the table to smithereens. “Leech Life!” Kuwagarr ordered Ninjask. The cicada extended its proboscis and pierced it into Pikachu’s body. “Screeeeeeech….!” Ninjask fainted into electrical paralysis.

“Stop this senseless fighting, you two!” a voice rang. It was Xanatos Gammus, a graduate of the Psy Academy! Ash explained, “Xanatos, John‘s uncle was a Team Rocket member and he is speaking up for him?” “Then do you know why my uncle joined Team Rocket? ” Ash interrupted before he could answer, “There’s no reason to be a criminal. Life is a choice! ” “Choices? Ha! My uncle wasn’t given any choices throughout his entire life. His parents didn’t give him any freedom to choose at all. Joining Team Rocket was the right decision for my uncle. He had tasted freedom and from it, learned independence. My uncle even could make his own decisions unless if they were instructions from the Boss. He also found true love in Team Rocket. If not for you!” Kuwagarr explained.

“Your uncle is not you. Kuwagarr! James is James. You are what you are. You live your own life not your uncle’s. James’s philosophy of life cannot be applied to your life.” Xanatos tried to knock some sense into the vengeful kid. The young man’s words were hundreds of times as powerful as a fist thrown at one’s head. It was truly a wake up call for Kuwagarr Megahorn. The evil in his eyes dissipated along with his rolling tears.

Suddenly the floor cracked open and gave way. Kuwagarr fell right through the hole in the floor. Xanatos ran forward to grab his hand but at the same time he sensed a powerful Psychic force holding the frail boy inside the hole. A wave of Psychic energy hit Xanatos in the head, loosening his grip on Kuwagarr’s hand.

Like a frail puppet in the wind, Kuwagarr was swept away by the Psychic winds and fell to his death at the basement of the tower. Ash freed Casey who hugged the teenage boy tightly. “Serves him right!” Ash blared with anger. Ash’s mother has been avenged.

On the top of the Haunted Tower, Stood an angry Gary Oak for his plans had been foiled again. “Ash Ketchum, you have may defeated me at the Silver Tournament but beware, I will defeat you. Just you wait!” Death was only the beginning!

Chapter 2 Sun & Rain

:angry:
Nature and its creation, Man, have been at war with each other since our arrival 3.5 million years ago. The fight for more land and natural resources accounts for the rise to two groups of extremists. One group believes that Mankind’s future lies beneath the torrential waves of the sea, while the other believes that for sake of Man and Pokémon alike, landmass must be expanded.

Respectively, these two groups are the infamous Team Magma and Team Aqua. These “environmentalists” have been at war for many years even before the rise of Team Rocket. But unlike most terrorist groups, Team Rocket did not have insane or bad intentions. What they wanted was to show the world where discrimination of all sorts was rampant that they are not weaklings to be toyed around with. But as the years go by, the Team Rocket unwarily fell to the desires of the heart, money and power, they soon began to lose sight of their original goal: “To unite all peoples of the world by removing discrimination. Do what ever takes to achieve the perfect world.” They became no different from the world they were fighting against. Like most terrorists, they did not bother to preserve the natural environment.

It was only when Gary whom was still a low ranking member gave an uninvited speech that awoke Team Rocket from their greed and laziness, which they caught, from the world, which they were supposed to be fighting against. This speech landed Gary in trouble with Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket.

But the speech slowly ignited the hidden anger in the hearts of every Team Rocket member. This was the very same anger that had brought most of the members into the Team in the first place. Now since the members were motivated by that hidden anger, which stemmed out from the discrimination these people had faced in the world they hated, they started to change… and they now concentrated on achieving their true goal.

Pleased with that change in everyone’s attitude, Giovanni decided to change his attitude too. As a form of gratitude, he promoted Gary as well. Team Rocket learnt to respect Nature as an incredibly powerful ally. They had bought many pieces of land each of different climates and occasional weather extremes as secret breeding grounds for Pokémon. Indeed the Pokémon bred or trained in those breeding grounds were even stronger than the average trainer’s Pokémon. Team Rocket needed not worry about the shortage of Pokémon in their arsenal. With that worry off their minds, Team Rocket had enough time to research on technology. In fact, they made many technological breakthroughs that no outsider had ever imagined.

Given a chance to prove himself, Gary worked hard in teaching the way of harnessing the human brain’s full potential to young Team Rocket members. His methods tap into the Hidden Power of Pokémon so students who participated in Gary’s lesson have Pokémon who know the Hidden power attack. The students ended up performing better at every aspect of their psyche, from memorizing things to controlling one’s evil desires. A few even unlocked their dormant psychic powers! They also know how to literally borrow Pokémon attacks from the Pokémon they have at hand.

As Team Magma, Team Aqua and the world as a whole continued to squabble with each other over small issues, they became the architects of their own graves as their economies weakened and discrimination remained rampant, allowing a third party to destroy them all at one go.









Awakening


It has been 6 months since last time Team Rocket attacked Indigo Plateau. The people were basking in the extremes of two opposites: Peace and War respectively. The period of so-called “peacefulness” after the attack caused the people to become complacent and they mistook the peacefulness for peace. There’s something in stall for them…. something that will jolt them wide-awake and it’s coming soon.

Meanwhile in an office room, “How’s the classes going, Gary?” Giovanni asked Gary. “ Well basically, we are approaching the end of the 7 month course soon. All the students have problems at first but now they are using their brain’s full potential with remarkable changes in their lives.” Gary answered. The middle age man smiled maliciously. “ But there was one student named Leviathan who repeatedly played truant throughout the entire course. ” Gary pointed out. “ What? Leviathan!?” Giovanni’s smile has warped into an anger frown.

“ No offence asking sir, but do you know him?” Gary asked. “Of course! Leviathan bears my first name and specks of my genetic code! Oh! By the way, it’s her… She’s going to be the death of me! Grrrr… ” Giovanni growled in anger. Then Gary immediately understood his superior. Leviathan was Giovanni’s daughter!

Meanwhile at a roadside cafeteria, two young teenage girls were chatting over the current events. To outsiders, it looked as though there was nothing interesting but the two girls. But in between their conversation was the topic of… worldly chaos and finally Team Rocket’s activities that no outsider would know or care about. The two girls were members of Team Rocket. Their names were Leviathan and Domino respectively.

“ I am so excited! Mondo has been promoted to the weapon design faculty.” Domino told Leviathan. “ Mondo? That mechanical geek? Oh please!” Leviathan asked in a bored tone. “ Levi! He’s not a geek. He’s a genius!” Domino defended. “ Why are you so agitated when I talk about Mondo? Gasps!… Have you fallen in love with him?” Leviathan joked. “Sigh! I wonder if he is thinking like that?” Domino’s eyes sparked with girly innocence.

“ Oh please, Dom… Can you assure that Mondo will take you as his wife.” Leviathan sighed looking at Domino who was hopelessly in love. Domino awoke from her dreams “ Oh please, I didn’t think that far. Besides, it may not come true! Why take it so seriously?!”

“ You won’t understand…” Leviathan became rather sad over the topic of “ true love” which only existed in some birds. In other words, humans’ fail so badly on the aspect of true love so many ended up hurt, divorced or perhaps had to remain single after being “enlightened” from their peers who had failed in that topic.

For Leviathan, she was hurt because of a secret reason known only between her father, Giovanni, and herself. “ This is a hold up!! Hand over your ground-type Pokémon immediately! ” A loud voice rang in the air. “ I knew it!”. Leviathan mumbled. “ Team Magma!” Domino followed.

Team Magma had everyone at the scene having his or her hands in the air. One by one ground-type Pokémon went inside a modified oil tanker led by the Team Magma members and their own Pokémon pulling them by the nose or the tail .etc

“ Grr… Those environmental geeks! I had enough!” Leviathan snarled as she displeased with the way the . “Leviathan!” shouted Domino who tried to stop her but failed. Stopping Leviathan was one thing but stopping her raging temper was another matter.

Seeing that Leviathan was not having her hands over her head, one Team Magma member shouted “ Hey! Put your hands over your hea…. Argggg! ” Leviathan knocked one of the members out using her Walrein, an ice-type walrus Pokémon. “ You’re in for trouble! Diglett Go!” a female Team Magma member who obviously the person in charge of this mission sent a Diglett, a ground-type earthworm. “ Walrein! Show those environmental geeks what we’re made of!” Leviathan ordered Walrein to attack. “ Diglett Dig!” The Team Magma member ordered. Diglett ‘dived’ into the ground, leaving Walrein confused. “ Walrein Hydro Pump at Diglett’s hole.” Walrein blasted out a jet of water, which was many times the force of a fire hose! Soon Diglett was flushed out of the ground and was knocked out. For the first time many people had seen what Diglett really was. Because it was so hard to catch, people could only see the head of Diglett never the body. Now they see it: Diglett was really a giant earthworm. Its body wriggled turned as it struggled to breathe with its skin, which was soaked in Walrein’s water.

“ You’ve got some spunk, kid! Diglett return! Go! Trapinch!” the Team Magma member sent out Trapinch, a larval stage of a Dragon-type insect Pokémon. It snarled, revealing its triple hinged jaws. “ Another ground-type worm! Ha! Walrein used Ice Ball attack!” Leviathan ordered. Walrein spat out balls of ice which got bigger and bigger every time it spat. Trapinch evaded the first ice ball but then it got hit constantly.

“ You’re going down!” Leviathan smirked confidently. “Trapinch use Rock Tomb!” the Team Magma member ordered. Trapinch hit the ground causing rocks to fly onto Walrein, trapping the walrus under heavy rocks. “ Walrein!” Leviathan cried out for her Pokémon.

“ That will teach you to toy around with us!” The Team Magma member smirked. Leviathan was in shock. She had always won every trainer battle with Walrein but now a low-leveled Trapinch actually defeated it!

“ Take her away!” Two other Team Magma members came forward towards her. Suddenly, there was a strong blast of hot air, which knocked down the two men. “ Hurry up, that’s just a gust of wind!” But the two men groaned in numbness, “Mad..Dam, We..can’t…move!” Leviathan awoke from her shock and recognized the smell, “ <Sniff> I know this smell! <Sniff>It’s ” she spoke for while before fainting.

Then came a loud buzzing sound. Certainly it was too loud to be a fly’s, it was something several times bigger. The owner of the buzzing noise landed in front of the Trapinch, sending it shrieking and fleeing into its Pokéball. Talking of respecting your elders, the owner of the buzzing noise was a Flygon, the adult of Trapinch. There was such a sharp constrast between Trapinch and its adult form, Flygon, that at the first look the two Pokémon do not look related.

Trapinch’s lower jaws were triple hinged but Flygon’s triple hinged jaws had fused into a single jaw.