On the southern coast of Artina, eight figures waited with anxious impatience. They knew their time was severely limited now and, standing gazing out into the ocean, their breathing quickened and their muscles tensed at the thought of every second that was slipping away from them. Caley had since regained consciousness and was now sat cross-legged, eyes partially shut as he attempted to get a lock on his Pokémon companion’s whereabouts.
“The time has come to apply ourselves, Julian,” Alistair announced sternly. “We are no longer blind to the situation. Being enlightened has given us the opportunity to reach out and help.”
“But how?” Professor Amber exclaimed. “There’s no way we can return to my laboratory, and everywhere we go, Team Rocket will track down our whereabouts and…”
He trailed off, shaking. It was more than apparent that this whole ordeal had taken its toll on a usually calm, level-headed man. But Alistair was unperturbed.
“Not everywhere, Julian,” he remarked. “There is one hope left. And it lies within the hands of Kabili Sinclaire”
“Kabili…” Julian took a moment to gather his thoughts over this as the others exchanged puzzled expressions as to the identity of this mysterious saviour. “But I thought he was dead!”
“Far from it” Alistair replied with a shake of the head. “He simply retreated into the shadows after that terrible accident that destroyed his physical lab.”
“’Physical lab’?” Adam repeated, curling his lip slightly.
“Kabili was a master of technology, manipulating things before his time” Julian explained, a note of excitement creeping into his voice. “He created the first virtual Pokémon and tutored William Ethersford, the man that went on to create the Beta version of the Pokémon Transfer And Storage Network!”
“Wow…” Denise breathed in awe, as James and Errol struggled to dredge up some long-buried memories that they seemed intent to rediscover.
“Indeed” Julian smiled, swelling with pride at his knowledge and the young girl’s fervent interest in it.
“Kabili had an intense love for the workings of what we now know as Cyberspace. His dream was to enable humans to travel using Cyberspace channels in much the same way as Pokémon do but the destruction of his laboratory erased all of his life’s work and much of the existing Cyberspace research. Being a key figure in the program meant ventures into Cyberspace had been set back more than just a few years, and I guess it really threw him into doubts over the whole thing ever becoming possible.”
“He shouldn’t have worried!” Denise exclaimed. “Why just a few weeks ago I met a woman called Alison…Sinclaire…” She stood there for a moment as Rose raised her eyebrows and Alistair gave a nod of acknowledgement. "Yes! I remember now...Alison said she was related to the guy that created Porygon!"
“That is correct. Alison is Kabili's niece, in fact. Alison was one of his only relations to take Kabili’s theories seriously and pick up the shattered pieces of his research. Of course when the massive corporations received their proof that the system worked, they were all too pleased to snatch the formulae for their own. It’s what drives intelligent people like us under.”
Denise gritted her teeth yet again at the thought of plagiarism, but tried to push the matter aside for now.
“How are you so sure Kabili is alive, Professor Gordon?” she asked.
“I received a message from him, shortly before we left to go and stay with Professor Birch” the man replied with a tilt of the head. “He couldn’t tell me exactly where he was for fear of being sought out, but he explained of a rising disturbance he had detected within Netspace. One spreading across every region of the world.
“Team Rocket’s got into Netspace?” Denise spluttered.
“Not at all,” Alistair responded calmly. “At least not yet. This disturbance is by no means caused by humans. The readings Kabili gathered are far too erratic, as opposed to the regimental structures of technological interference”
“So it’s Pokémon?” Adam piped up.
“It was extremely hard to tell” Alistair remarked. “The readings bore slight similarities to that of Pokémon but the remainder was… incalculable. Constrained. It was as if Kabili had tapped into the very backbone of Cyberspace itself!”
“Tajiri….”
Everyone swung round to face the lone figure still cross-legged upon the sand. His eyes were open now, with more than a slight tinge of blue present in the pupils.
“What did you say, Caley?” Rose blinked.
“He waits for me” the adolescent figure continued, staring blankly out to sea. “The darkness shall be stopped”
“Oh great” Adam groaned. “There he goes again”
“Ssh!” James snapped. “Can’t you see Caley’s visaging something?”
“That’s envisioning, you blue-haired twit” Adam retorted. “Has the dye you used on your hair sunk through your scalp into your brain?”
“For your information…” the man growled. “This is my natural colour!”
“Stop that, you two” Rose frowned, as Caley shook himself out of his stupor. “Now is not the time for bickering.”
“When is dere a time for bickerin’?” Errol mumbled under his breath, with a sideward glance at Adam.
“We have more important things to be concerned about” the woman concluded. “Such as how we’re going to get off Artina and back to the mainland.”
“I sure hope Cory is ok…” Denise murmured softly.
“He’s setting us back, making us wait like this” Adam grunted, tossing a pebble into the ferociously choppy waters nearby. “While we’re still, we’re easy targets for that trio of peons.”
“Those three are no longer a threat to us,” came a familiar voice from a ridge above the group. Everyone looked upward to see Cory leap the crest and land neatly beside them, pausing to brush a few specks of dust from his jacket. “From the looks on their faces and the responses in their minds I could tell they’d seen all they needed to, and more.”
“Where’s Max?” Julian exclaimed.
“I’m right here!” came the perfectly timed reply as Max took to leaping over the ridge. His timing was slightly misjudged though, and as a result the boy found himself sliding down the side of it upon his bottom. “You would not believe what I saw in there…”
“Oh, we would,” Denise replied, biting her lip. “But as Rose said, this is neither the time nor the place to tell us. We got to leave. Now.”
“And the boat is not an option,” Caley said. “No doubt Team Rocket will target it as our first means of escape.”
“So how else can we possibly get back to the mainland?” Adam exclaimed. “It’s not like we can fly”
“No” Caley agreed.
“But we can swim.”
“You gotta be joking!” came the adolescent’s panicked cry.
“I’m afraid I have to agree, Caley” Rose uttered. “The distance, not to mention the temperature, would put that idea straight into the realms of impossibility.”
“We wouldn’t be the ones doing the swimming, Rose” Caley explained.
“Well we sure can’t ride on the backs of our Pokémon” Denise sighed.
“Of course,” the trainer nodded. “They’re not strong enough for that kind of task and forcing it upon them would be unfair. We need to make a platform of some sort.”
“From what?” Max asked. “There are no trees so making a raft is out of the question”
“Who says we need trees?” Errol grinned. He had been staring at a large chunk of ice that had broken away from the land and was now bobbing up and down amongst the waves.
“Perfect!” Denise cried. “That looks wide enough to take us all on board. Now we just need a few Pokémon to act as the propeller and we’ll be back in no time.”
“Well I think I can remember that Blastoise form I picked up…” Cory murmured, looking focused. A moment later he was towering over the human figures below, clad in a thick brown shell with stocky blue clawed arms and legs to match.
With a subconscious elegance Denise tossed her Rocket ball and D-Ball into the air.
“Come on out, Rilly and Li!”
Max’s eyes widened immensely upon sight of the blue long-finned creature and silvery feline mecha which emerged in a burst of light. He took a step forward and was about to open his mouth to utter his amazement and curiosity when Errol pulled him back sharply.
“Save da twerpisms fer lata, kid” he remarked.
“We’s got some navigatin’ ta do”
The group assembled atop the ice floe as Rilly, Blastoise, and Li positioned themselves behind it, ready to propel it out into deeper waters. James stood silently in audience, barely moving except for the slight tilt of the head that indicated he was reorienting his gaze elsewhere. Every time he did so, a faint glimmer of a hopeful smile would light up his face before vanishing altogether in an aura of disappointment as he shifted his sights back toward his fleeting companions.
“Come on, James!” Rose called from her position on the ice. “We’ve gotta go!”
“Okay…” the man sighed heavily, after a lengthy pause. Errol grabbed hold of James’ arm and pulled him across the gap between the land and the makeshift platform as the Pokémon set it in motion. Caley looked up, catching a glimpse of the figure’s face before he slumped it upon his knees. James was an utter picture of loneliness - drowning in a pool of confused misery wider than the liquid expanse he was floating unsteadily upon. His shattered thoughts all too loud for the trainer to ignore.
Why…. he moaned internally. Why didn’t she come back?
Why…
Twenty minutes had passed. No one seemed in much of a mood to discuss things further - Caley solemnly kept his view directed behind while the Pokémon continued their determined propulsion of the frozen platform over the waves. The majority of the others’ attentions had been focused anxiously on James, particularly that of a certain black-haired youth perched upon the opposite corner who looked as if he had finally figured something out.
“Hey…” Max began, as Cory applied another layer of ice underneath the floe to reinforce it. “You’re one of those people who was always chasing after me and my sister back when we were travelling! I’m guessing from what you were up to in that HQ that you ditched that lifestyle a while back, mind.”
Errol raised his eyebrows in genuine surprise at the youngster’s deduction while his lavender-haired companion lifted his head wearily. Max craned his neck toward Errol before pressing a small button on the side of his glasses.
“Just what I’d suspected” he grinned after a moment or so. “I’d been thinking about how much you sounded like that talking Meowth, and the garbled reading I got from my Pokédex glasses confirmed what I had expected.”
“I can see why youse were considered da smart one,” Errol remarked, impressed.
“You have Pokédex glasses?” Denise exclaimed, suddenly regaining that childish air of excitement.
“Oh yes,” Max replied casually, taking them off and handing them toward the girl. “The best in G4 technology with a base design taken from Professor Amber’s schematics, so concealed that those Rocket thugs never even thought of confiscating them from me along with the rest of my diagnosis equipment.”
“Caley used to have something similar,” Denise nodded, turning the item over and over in her hands as if studying every crevice.
“Then he sat on them,” Adam smirked. Rose frowned at him, but Max had already averted interest and returned to his previous target of interrogation.
“So if you’re here, and Meowth’s here, what happened to the lady?” he inquired. Rose and Denise winced a little as they saw James’ grip tighten around his knees.
“’The lady’ seems to be having trouble recalling who her friends are” he muttered with more than a hint of irritation in his voice. Max gave a tiny shrug.
“Ah well… in the end it’s most likely a good thing, right? I mean she was always being bossy and big-mouthed and trying to rule over every decision”
“Maybe dat kid ain’t as smart as I foist thought..” Errol commented softly to himself.
“Jessie was my closest companion, my partner!” James snapped. “Losing her is as far from ‘good’ as I could possibly get!”
Max folded his arms moodily at this.
“Some partner she is, if she went and deserted you”
“It’s not like your twerpy friends never made any mistakes!” came the raised retort. “I can remember countless times that moron Ash Ketchum did something stupid!”
It was at that point that James hit a nerve. Max dived at him across the ice floe.
“Don’t you dare speak about Ash like that!” he yelled, causing Adam’s mouth to drop open in the process.
“I know there’s still some good in him! I know there’s still a chance to break through to him!”
Max’s fractious exclamations were sharply cut off as James’ arm came into contact with his torso, sending the figure toppling into the water. Julian let out a yelp.
“Stop this thing!” he spluttered. “We have a child overboard!”
Cory, Li and Rilly took note and ceased propulsion of the ice floe, while Julian and Rose attempted to hoist a thoroughly soaked, shivering figure out of the ocean.
“Oh well done,” Adam remarked dryly in James’ direction as the man looked on, somewhat ashamed. “He’s probably going to catch Pneumonia now, thanks to you.”
“I’m really sorry…I…I don’t know what came over me…” James sighed, while Errol offered his jacket to wrap around the boy. “What with the upset over losing one of my best friends and the stress of trying to maintain my freedom, I guess things were already too much before that kid started opening up old wounds”
A few minutes of silence descended, broken only by the occasional slap of the waves against the platform and the chattering of Max’s teeth. Caley placed a hand to his forehead and squinted in an attempt to block out the invading sunlight. There was a black dot on the horizon and it was very steadily getting bigger.
“Onward,” he stated simply to the trio of Pokémon, who all nodded and began the movement of the ice floe once more. Max raised his head toward the clouds before squinting also, more due to the lack of his glasses than anything else.
“What’s that up there?” he murmured.
“It looks to be some sort of flying craft” Alistair surmised. Julian’s eyes widened hopefully.
“Do you think it’s come to rescue us?”
“Oh it’s come for us, alright” Denise remarked icily. “But this is by no means a rescue. That’s a modified model TR-H7”
“Not just any modified TR-H7” Errol stammered, catching sight of a purple and pink emblem decorating the side of the craft.
“Dat t’ing is being piloted by Annie an’ Oakley!”
“Who?” Max blinked.
“The most experienced practitioners of espionage amongst Team Rocket” Denise relayed. "Seems kinda strange they'd be coming after us though - taking precious items is more their thing."
“And right now, we're the most 'precious' commodity in the Boss' eyes,” Rose shuddered. “I knew this would happen. With Butch, Cassidy and Jessie no longer pursuing us, he's resorted to pulling out the big guns. I doubt Annie and Oakley are the only Elite Rockets after us.”
“We’re sitting, no, floating Psyducks out here!” James stammered. “What are we gonna do? I don’t wanna die at sea!”
“No one’s going to die, James” Caley said firmly, looking at his Psybab. “Kota, do you think you could conceal us from the sight of that craft?”
“Baab…” the Pokémon shook its head sadly. Caley stroked the tip of its head with a slight smile.
“It’s ok, buddy” he said reassuringly. “Guess that’s not something you’ve learned yet.”
“I believe I can help you out on keeping us all hidden,” Cory spoke up, reverting to his original form and scrambling onto the ice floe.
“In that case, can you help move the platform while he concentrates on shielding us from view, Kota?” Caley inquired. The Psybab nodded with a wide smile which Caley returned just as enthusiastically.
“Excellent! Ok, Cory… do your thing.”
***~~***~~***~~***~~***
“Ooh look, Oakley…” the golden-haired female figure smirked from within the cockpit of the approaching aircraft as the figures below them vanished beneath a digitised veil. “Seems our prey wants to involve us in a little game of Hide and Seek. Do you think we should tell them how good we are at it?”
“Why should we?” her violet-haired companion chuckled. “If the enemy wishes to play dirty, then we shall do the same. Activate the Infraegis scanner and close in for the attack.
We shall retrieve their Pokémon first, to prevent any unwanted ‘interruption’.”
***~~***~~***~~***~~***
“That boy never ceases to amaze me with his quick-thinking” Alistair commented wisely in reference to Caley, watching the machine hovering a few hundred metres away.
“Did it work?” Julian asked him. “Are we really invisible to that craft?”
“Well they certainly seem hesitant” Max pointed out. “No doubt if they were that near and could see us they would be firing by now”
“The kid’s right….” James grinned, standing up. “We must be invisible! Hahah!
Take that, you pompous fashion-disaster spy wannabes!”
At this point, the underside of the craft opened to reveal a set of carefully polished armaments, all of them aimed with pinpoint precision at the ice floe and its unsteady passengers.
“Uh… I forgot to mention…” Denise remarked shakily as the machine veered round them. “Annie and Oakley always equip the latest in disguise and concealment penetration technology, to prevent their targets from using this kind of escape method on them.”
Caley started in alarm, then hurriedly motioned to Cory.
“In that case, you better get back to helping the others move this thing. The sooner we get back to shore, the better chance we have of evasion. Li, see if you can deter our pursuers somehow.”
“Trrisk!” the Tisker saluted and flew upwards, away from the platform and her companions.
***~~***~~***~~***~~***
“It seems we have ourselves some enthusiastic opposition,” Oakley remarked in the direction of the craft’s scanner, nonplussed. Annie looked round as a silver streak shot beside the semi-transparent cockpit window toward the rear of the aircraft.
“Should I attempt capture?” she inquired.
“Not now” Oakley replied with a shake of the head. “Our priority lies upon that ice floe. If that creature is at this altitude then it is too far away to protect its human companions and thus of less importance to us”
“But that doesn’t make any sense!” Annie spluttered. “Surely if that mecha Pokemon is closer to us it is far more of a threat.”
“You seem to be forgetting something, Annie,” Oakley smiled darkly. “Tiskers are steel and electric Pokémon.”
Annie blinked in confusion at this.
“And?”
“Just… don’t concern yourself over it,” Oakley groaned. “I have everything under control. Trust me. Now…
…fire the capture rings!”
***~~***~~***~~***~~***
“They haven’t been deterred by Li one bit!” Max spluttered. “Are they nuts? Surely that Pokémon could blast the tail of that plane off with one shot!”
“Maybe they haven’t seen it…” Julian murmured.
“All the better for us, then” Caley smiled to himself, then prepared his mind for message transmission. Li, he instructed. Aim for those launchers on the-
“AiEEEEEE!” This high-pitched yell had been uttered from James upon sight of the very same launchers Caley had been referring to sputtering into life in a sizeable cloud of smoke. Two spherical-shaped hoops with glowing purple rims shot from the cloud and toward the helpless group.
“It’s those flying hula hoops again!” the man exclaimed, waving his arms.
“Sharp left!” Errol cried hurriedly, as Caley struggled to regain his orientation after having his psychic transmission interrupted so suddenly. Cory, Rilly and Kota swung themselves in the opposite direction and rapidly shoved the platform to the side, causing the objects flying toward them to miss by inches and land in the water.
“Slippery bunch, aren’t they?” Oakley snickered. “Capture rings can’t be evaded that easily. Bring them round, Annie”
“But the sensors indicate that Tisker is charging energy for an attack!” the woman gibbered.
“Forget the pathetic flying cat!” Oakley snapped. “The CrySys will take care of it”
Annie looked at her partner curiously.
“CrySys?”
“Yes…” Oakley replied exasperatedly. “It’s the secondary device built into the ship’s shield generator. Any attacks against it will be absorbed and either used to charge our own armaments, or reflected straight back at the target. Do you get it now? The Pokémon’s efforts at downing us will be futile!”
“Futile…”
Caley stood frozen in utter dismay as Oakley’s agitated words reached the inner depths of his mind. He looked frantically back at Li, poised just behind the tail of the craft, sparking.
“NO!” he yelled out in a panic. “Don’t hit the-“
But it was too late. The yellow streak of energy made contact with the side of the shield and vanished into nothingness.
“What the…?” Adam spluttered. “What happened? Why didn’t Li’s Thunderbolt have any effect?”
“They must have access to the Crystal System’s secondary prototype” Denise responded. “Unlike its predecessor, the CrySys has the ability to absorb and reflect more than just electric energy”
“Uh, g-guys?” James stammered as the two capture rings rose ominously out of the water either side of them. “I really don’t think this is the best time to be talking about this!”
“Forward thrust!” Errol ordered, before Julian grabbed him by the front of the sweater.
“WAIT!”
“Have ya lost ya mind?" Errol exclaimed. "If we stay still a moment longer, we’ll be taken prisoner inside dose overgrown bangles.”
“I know, I know…” Julian bit his lip
“But we’ve lost-“
There was a sudden snap as the rings interlocked, creating a bubble of energy around the humans and their Pokémon propellants and sending them into the air. With a shriek, Li barrelled toward the escaping cargo, only to be shot back by a blast of her own electricity.
“Now look what you’ve done!” Errol growled in Julian’s direction. But the professor was too absorbed with staring through the translucent membrane at the liquid expanse beyond.
“MAAAAAAAAX!”
“Max?” Errol reiterated? Denise gasped.
“He must have got knocked off the floe when Cory and Rilly shoved it out of the way of the capture rings!”
“Didn’t I tell you? Twerps always get all the luck.” James muttered sulkily.
“He sure doesn’t look very lucky to me,” Adam remarked, watching the youth floundering about in the chilled water. Caley swung round to see Li hovering beside them like a dazed Venomoth around a porch light.
“Listen” he hissed. “I know were in a bit of mess right now…”
“A bit?” Adam almost laughed. Rose hushed him as Caley continued in the Tisker's direction.
“Don’t worry about us - I’ve got an idea to get us all out of this.”
“Tkkri?” Li tilted her head to one side.
“Just get Max out of that water and wait for my signal” Caley instructed quickly, before the ringed bubble was retracted into the back of the craft.
***~~***~~***~~***~~***
“We don’t seem to have captured everyone, Oakley,” Annie informed somewhat nervously. “There’s one kid still out in the water, and that Tisker looks to be attempting rescue.”
Oakley leant forward as she took in the scene, a cruel grin spreading across her face as she did so.
“Well… since our intended prey is now in our grasp” she began.
“I can’t see the harm in having a little fun with the leftovers.”
***~~***~~***~~***~~***
“Cory, can you tell what this device is powered by?” Caley asked quietly.
“It certainly isn’t organic material,” the young man replied. “I’m guessing its imitation Taragirite, just like the stuff used to power the mutation chambers back in the TRHQ.”
“And imitations are created through man-made technology…” Caley smiled. “Any chance you can intercept that energy and slip through the shield?”
“Not entirely,” Cory spoke solemnly. “Passing my entire body through such an opposing force of that intensity would cause it to fragment.”
“We’re all doomed!” James whined pitifully, clasping at the sides of his face.
“Not quite” Caley shook his head. “There is one last hope, though it’s potentially risky, dangerous and could possibly end up backfiring and getting us all hurt.”
“Sounds like our poifect everyday sorta plan” Errol chuckled to himself, despite the situation. Denise looked worriedly back at Caley as he reached into his rucksack.
“What’s that last hope, Caley?” she asked softly. The trainer brought out a D-Ball which he carefully kept out of sight of the aircraft’s cockpit.
“This,” he stated with utmost simplicity. Adam’s eyes widened.
“Buh-but that’s got a genetic Pokémon in, right?” he hissed. “Releasing one of those would be like asking to be exterminated!”
“Which is exactly what we’ll be getting if we don’t get out of here” Caley reminded him. “At least with this option we have a bigger chance of escaping with our minds in tact! Now Cory, you said passing your whole body through the forcefield wasn’t possible, but would it be possible to slip one limb through?”
“I’ll see what I can do,” came the studied reply.
“Whew!” Max gasped as the feline Pokémon lifted him carefully from the ocean. “I thought I was a goner there. Thanks, Li!”
“Triiisk,” Li grinned toothily, before uttering a yelp as a blast of energy shot over her, barely missing her ears and almost causing her to drop her human passenger into the water once more.
“We’re under attack!” Max cried out, as another blast skimmed the soles of his shoes. “We’re the only ones left out here and those Team Rocket creeps are using us as target practise! What’re we gonna do?”
Get closer to the aircraft…
“WHAT?” the boy spluttered. “Are you nuts? Have you-
…wait. That wasn’t you talking just there, was it Li?”
“Tkkr” the Tisker shook her head as she swiftly avoided the gunfire and approached the vehicle’s underbelly.
“It sounded much more like Caley” Max continued. “Which must mean…
…he’s got some kind of psychic ability!”
***~~***~~***~~***~~***
“They’re getting closer, Oakley…”
“I can see that!” the violet-haired woman snapped, aiming the guns for the umpteenth time. “The blasted cat can won’t stay still long enough for me to get a lock on it. But it’s not going to get the better of me!”
Annie gave a deflated sigh at witnessing her partner’s possessive spirit flaring up yet again.
“How’s about we just return to HQ with the exiles?” she suggested, rolling her eyes.
“No!” Oakley gritted her teeth furiously. “I refuse to let this creature make a mockery of my skill, I-
…where’d it go?”
“If it had any brains it probably flew away” Annie groaned. “Now can we get moving? I want to get back in time for the march.”
“Wait!” Oakley sat up sharply, almost banging her head on the roof of the cockpit. “There it is! Now’s my chance to show it who’s boss around here”
“Hold on a second,” Annie protested. “The kid looks like he’s yelling something”
“Who cares about that!” Oakley snorted, re-aiming the guns. “I got a perfect shot here.”
Annie squinted as she began to lip-read.
“’Have…a…nice…swim’? Huh? But we’re not in any water.”
“You will be,” Cory grinned, right arm thrust through the surface of the shield and finger hovering over the release button of the D-Ball in his hand. Annie screamed. Oakley turned round in confusion just in time to be blinded by a bright flash of light that almost seemed to tear the inner frame of the aircraft apart as the blue scaled head of Larydos thrust itself through the shell and screeched loudly.
“Whoa…” Max gawped from his vantage point draped over Li as torn fragments of steel and falling bodies tumbled into the water. Larydos was quick to react, immediately recognizing the bright red Team Rocket insignia upon the floundering women’s shirts and consequently propelling the wearers into the air with its tail fin, back toward Artina.
“If you’d only listened to me!” Annie wailed miserably as they tumbled through the sky. “Instead of chasing around after that distraction of a Tisker! You need therapy for those crazy power trips of yours.”
“And you need a zip for that mouth” Oakley muttered, looking over her shoulder. “Now what are we going to tell the boss?”
“I know one thing I’m going to tell him,” Annie whimpered, clutching onto her ridiculously impractical hair. “This is a really lousy way to travel!”
And with that, they were gone.
“Woooohooo!” Max cheered, as Larydos continued screeching in the direction Annie and Oakley disappeared to. “That was totally awesome! I-
..oh no! The guys, they must be still trapped inside that shield!”
“Triiskkiii!” Li yelped. Larydos turned around upon sight of the Pokémon’s utterance, somewhat alarmed and Max gulped as the creature’s eyes met his own.
“We’re not here to hurt you” he stammered. “My friends are drowning inside Team Rocket’s capture device and we need help to pull them out of the sea.”
No sooner had Max mentioned Team Rocket, the genetic Pokémon had dived under the thrashing waves, retrieving the sodden figures one by one and laying them over its back.
“They must have managed to break open the rings somehow” Max said to himself. “Hopefully not too late. Professor Amber and Gordon are safe… but where are the others?”
Larydos looked down at the waves dispiritedly. Those were the only bodies it had managed to find. Max bit his lip as Li lowered her ears with a slight whine.
“Surely they’re not…” he began, a note of tension in his voice. “…gone, are they?”
Of course, no human ears heard his words and no human voices were able to reply, so the boy’s fractious question was left unanswered. Li carefully placed Max near Larydos’ neck and sat upon one of the creature’s fins staring miserably into the water. Max did the same.
“It’s not fair” he muttered. “They were only trying to set things right, and this is the reward they get?”
Larydos turned its head, a lighter expression in its eyes. It looked as if it had picked up on a movement in the water beyond that Max had not seen. The young boy shut his eyes tight - now struggling with an onset of sorrow for the new friends he had discovered and lost so suddenly. He was quick to open them again upon hearing a loud splash, accompanied by an enthusiastic cry of,
“Wheeeeehaaaaaah!”
James rose out of the ocean, arms raised high and a massive grin spread across his face despite the wetness of his clothing. It was an utterly impossible sight and Max’s jaw continued to dangle wide open at it until he saw the mint greenish form James was perched upon. Errol was quick to follow, emerging from the waves with a relieved if not rather disgusted expression at becoming so drenched.
“It was lucky these Eeko came to our aid, eh Errol?” James cried as Rose appeared, giggling with almost childish delight while the Pokémon clicked and chattered beneath her. “I wonder how they knew we needed rescuing”
“Eeko are very sensitive to trouble in da waters around ‘em, Jimmy” the man replied knowledgably. “Caley may have also sent out some sort of distress signal, even subconsciously, and dey woulda picked up on it in an instant”
“I’m so glad to see you guys!” Max exclaimed with a wide smile, almost falling from his perch as he looked toward James and Errol. “And I never honestly thought I’d be saying that in your case.”
“Hey!” James protested, but Errol simply chuckled at this.
“Da feelin’s mutual, kid” he smirked. “On both counts.”
Cory, back in feline form, clambered shakily upon Max’s knee where he shot the boy a small but definite smile of triumph. Caley was quick to thank both Li and Larydos before Denise returned the former to her Pokéball and hugged Rilly close.
“Do you think they will help us get back to shore?” she inquired as the Eeko they were riding upon swam alongside Larydos. “I seriously doubt Larydos would be able to ferry us all”
The Eeko under Caley gave out a loud squeak in reply, and the rest of the pod acknowledged this with their own whistles and excited utterances.
“Dey’d be happy to” Errol relayed.
“That’s fantastic” Caley exclaimed happily. “At this speed we should be able to get to the mainland by nightfall. Thank you so much!”
The Eeko under James spoke up at this point.
“’Hey what sorta Pokémon would we be if we didn’t escort da liberators as far as we were able?’” Errol translated. “She’s got a point, ya know.”
“Wha?” the trainer spluttered. “Huh…how do they know about our task?”
“News travels fast in da Pokémon Woild, Cal’” Errol replied with a wink. “Now keep ya eye on da sea ahead, we ain’t in da safe zone yet!”
***~~***~~***~~***~~***
She wasn’t sure how she had managed to get back to the mainland. And at this moment, after all the horrific things she had witnessed, Jessie didn’t care how either. As she lay draped over the rocks by the shore thoughts continued to bombard her head. Why hadn’t she turned away earlier? Where was she to go now? And, most worryingly, what had happened to Butch and Cassidy? Despite them having been a major hindrance in the past they had now been thrust into the same situation as she was, and Jessie was finding herself slightly concerned over how badly they would be taking it. After all, their whole lives had revolved around Team Rocket.
Jessie sat up, gazed back across the starlit sky and thought deeply about this. In a way, her life had revolved around Team Rocket too. If it hadn’t she would have been able to leave long ago. But she had been adamant to prove herself; prove herself to the mother that she had been so angered by and yet so desperate to show her worth to. Jessie had long felt the bitterness burning for mother’s near obsession with tracking and capturing Mew, and loss at what seemed to be an abandonment for the pursuit of material treasures.
And the woman had simply continued the chain without even realising it; pushing even her closest friends into second position because of a promotion, not even paying proper attention to their wishes and even violently retaliating when one of them sought another path. She had been afraid that she was losing them, and as a result she ended up doing just that.
Triply emerged cautiously from behind Jessie’s back and looked up at its owner with a confused and deeply upset expression as the woman’s head slowly lowered toward her hands.
“I-it got so out of control…” she sobbed. “I drove them away because I didn’t face up to and deal with the emotion inside!
I’m alone… and for all the good I’ve done I deserve to be alone.”
“Triii…” the Pokémon remarked. It didn’t seem at all convinced. Jessie looked back at it longingly.
“Do you think I’ll ever find them again?” she asked softly. “And even if I do, will they ever forgive me for the way I’ve acted?”
“Tri-plee!” came the enthusiastic reply as Triply gave a wide grin. Jessie picked it up and hugged the Pokémon close, shutting her eyes as she did so.
“I sure wish I was as positive as you,” she murmured, unaware of the furry form shifting steadily in her grasp. “But if I want any chance of getting my friends back I’m going to have to swallow my pride and trust that they’ll accept my apology. I have to do this - I can’t stand being alone, and I miss them so much…
…I miss him most of all.”
Jessie gave out a distant sigh as she nuzzled her face into the softness of Triply’s fur. Then she paused - something didn’t seem quite right. For a start, Triply’s purring seemed deeper and louder than usual. Opening her eyes Jessie found herself staring at the striped torso of a much lengthier figure upon her lap. Raising her head the woman soon found her eyes meeting with those of a pointy-eared humanoid face covered in creamy coloured fur and topped with a shock of chin-length bluish-lavender hair. There ensued a long, troubling silence while the woman and the transformed Pokémon stared long and hard at each other, the latter bearing an expression that seemed to convey that it was rather pleased with itself. But the feeling was definitely not mutual; Jessie stood up suddenly, causing Triply to fall to the ground at her feet with a nasty thud.
“Are you trying to mock my feelings?” she yelled brokenly at the creature, who scrabbled back in horror and upset. “How could you do this to me? I thought you understood!”
“Triiiiiplyyy!” the Pokémon wailed, staggering to its feet as its wide greenish eyes began to fill with tears. Jessie uttered a slight gasp upon realising how she had reacted.
“I…” she stuttered. “I’m so sorry, Triply… I didn’t mean to explode at you like that, I-
Wait! Don’t go! Come baaack!”
***~~***~~***~~***~~***
The night sky’s beauty was prevalent as Errol stood humbly beneath the stars and gazed fondly at the moon looming over the horizon. After the Professors and Max had bid farewell and left in search of Kabili Sinclare’s hidden laboratory, he had volunteered for watch duty and had taken himself away into the solemnity and solitude of the darkness to think.
“Well…here we are again. Jus’ me…and da moon…
…da way it used ta be…”
A chill wind ruffled the tufts of his hair, drowning out the sounds of obvious sorrow that followed. As Errol turned his scarred face to the dim light, there were the unmistakable marks of wetness across his cheeks, where tears had fallen. Pulling up the collar of his jacket to keep out the cold blast of the night air Errol turned around, taking in the scene of the others seated round the carefully constructed campfire below. Even from his distance he could clearly make out the expressions upon the faces of his companions; James’ bore the most miserable visage of them all as he stared into the dancing flames without moving an inch.
“I bet I knows what’s on his mind” Errol remarked sadly. “Jessie, dat’s what. An’ I can’t blame him, really - how could she neglect him like dis? I’m da one she got mad ova. I-
…I’m da source of his pain…”
Errol’s legs slowly gave way as he collapsed to his knees upon the ground.
“It’s all my fault,” he repeated shakily, his body heaving with the sudden rush of emotion.
“I broke dem apart, all because I listened to my inner feelin!”
Standing back up and clenching his fist Errol violently ripped something from around his neck and tossed it, without a second thought, to the ground. The moonlight caught the edge of the rectangular object invitingly as it lay between the blades of waving grass. But the owner of the shiny possession no longer wanted it, or the memories it held.
“You said it would be da right decision!” he yelled to the air, voice twisted in a confusion of rage and misery.
“Look what it got fer me! A broken friendship…
…and a crushed heart.”
Cory watched, engaged, as Errol loped onward into the bleak night away from camp and the figures that waited there. He had been contemplating upon telling Errol what he had discovered about himself, but had held back once he picked up the man’s dispirited exclamations while he threw them to the unforgiving wind. Scampering to the very spot where Errol had once stood, the Pokémon scooped up the charm, still attached to its string, and examined it carefully between his pink paws. The moon’s glow lit upon the engraved piece of advice from a lost love that Caley never had a chance to see.
If you follow your heart, every decision you make will be the right one.
It seemed that, as inspiring as the advice appeared, it had not assisted Errol much in his rocky travels through humanity. Cory uttered a sad sigh, then stood bolt upright as the echoes of a woman’s fractious voice reached his ears from behind.
“Wait up, Triply! Where are you?”
Cory turned around, frowning darkly. He had already recognized who the voice belonged to and his expression indicated he certainly wasn’t in the mood for forgiveness. As Jessie emerged from the foliage, panting slightly, he folded his arms and glowered at her accusingly.
“Lost something?”
For a moment Jessie looked somewhat shocked upon hearing the human language being uttered from the Pokémon’s lips, but the surprise didn’t last long. Over the years she had become used to seeing and hearing Pokémon talking in understandable tones.
“I’ve lost a lot of things” she replied dejectedly. “My Pokémon, my friends…my hope.”
The woman noticed a flicker from Cory’s arms, and her eyes grew even more saddened by the sight she perceived.
“Where did you find that?” she asked.
“A certain ‘friend’ of yours threw it away” Cory replied shortly. “He’s blaming himself for your rash reactions, the ones that drove you three apart, and for all I know could be about to desert us entirely.”
“Then why aren’t you following him?” Jessie exclaimed, a noticeable note of panic in her voice.
“You think he’d listen to me?” Cory snapped. “It’s you he needs to hear from! You’re the only one who can set things straight here!”
With that, the Pokémon handed Jessie the charm. She fondled it for a minute or two, first glancing at one side, then the other. Holding the charm out in front of her in both hands, the woman’s azure eyes scanned the tiny engraved letters on the back of the object for a split second. Then she let her emotion go.
“I was so…cruel to him!” she exclaimed brokenly. “All he wanted was some sort of normality and I wouldn’t let him have it! Why was I so thoughtless?”
Cory looked back at Jessie sceptically, as if expecting an answer.
“I was…scared of the change,” the woman murmured, with some considerable shock. “It was so unusual to hear Meowth’s voice, see his mannerisms being projected from this…person! I was overcome with anger at his actions - we liked him for the Pokémon he had been. We didn’t want him to be any different.
And when he disappeared once more, I couldn’t face telling James what I had done. He wouldn’t have understood. I got so wrapped up in trying to keep the secret from him that I practically folded in on myself. I started to blame him for the state of how our team had become. A dislike, then a passionate hatred grew. It took me by surprise, overthrew me like some sort of virus. It was something I had never experienced before, we had always been close.
I guess it was the end. All my fury and resentment broke free when Meowth deserted us. I became blind with my rage - how could someone I had known for so long just abandon his friends like that?
Just like my mother abandoned me…”
It all finally seemed to be making sense inside Jessie’s mind. She placed a hand to her waist before bringing out a tatty looking photograph. It featured two adolescent youths dressed in red, and a small creamy coloured feline Pokémon. All three figures were cheerful and enthusiastic, their faces overcome with smiles, and the positive aura of the image shone through the scratches and dull sheen that the photo now possessed. Jessie blinked back a few tears of remembrance.
“Initiation day at Team Rocket” she sighed happily. “James and I were outcasts from the start, but we found friendship and support with each other. Meowth was eager to keep us company - he must have seen some good in our team…
…and I shattered that image of friendship for him…and James, just because of my thoughtless, irrational anger! It shouldn’t matter if your friends change on the outside. It’s the way they are on the inside that counts. I was the one that was different that day, not Meowth. Now there’s only one thing left to do.”
She put the photograph away and gazed back at the charm, then toward Cory with hopeful sadness.
“Could you take me to him? Please?”
***~~***~~***~~***~~***
Errol cried disparagingly. He didn’t care whether anyone could hear his sorrow anymore, he felt empty all the same. Nevertheless, a rustle from behind still caused him to swing round in one sudden movement, his face lit up with an expression that almost dictated his hopes to see Jessie standing there. But no such luck.
The man sighed, looking down at Cory as he stood by his ankle, holding the charm in both paws.
“Dat ting mus’ be cursed, jus’ like my memories. Neither of dem will leave me alone”
Cory chose not to reply to this, instead he held up the object for Errol to take back. He did so, and as he hung it around his neck the distant gaze in his eyes began to fade.
“I guess if I can’t leave da memories behind, I jus’ gotta face em. Face da facts; James accepted me, da others accepted me…I gotta accept myself fer who I am now… … … at least I can try.” Errol slipped the charm out of sight under his sweater and wiped the wetness from his under his eyes as Cory gazed upward wistfully. “If I’m willin’ ta give it a go, why isn’t Jessie?”
“I am willing”
The shrouded figure looked up at Errol slowly; her eyes sparkled with fresh tears that had streaked her mascara. He returned the look with astonishment and some cautiousness.
“Jessie…? Is dat you?”
“Yes…” the woman replied slowly. “It really is me now. The person who spoke to you before, back at Coyna HQ, that was a woman deluded by her past, shaken by her present and nervous about her future. I was so worried that with your new humanity you’d go on to pursue other things…and leave us behind…it got in the way of me seeing that the only thing had changed about you was your physical appearance.”
“An den ya left me instead.”
Each word that escaped Errol’s lips was more icy and condemning than the last. Jessie pulled back the arm she had been reaching out toward the man, a frightened look suddenly present in her eyes. There was something amiss about her companion’s expression. It had grown cold.
“Ya pushed me back jus’ because I no longer fitted da mold you’d created for me,” he continued in angered tones.
“I had finally found dat missing piece of da puzzle an’ ya scorned me for it”
What happened next was something neither Errol nor Cory could have foreseen. Crumpling to the ground at the man’s feet Jessie began to cry bitterly, no longer able to contain the true felt feeling she had hardly ever revealed before. Errol’s stern glare faltered somewhat as Cory bit his lip guiltily, before quickly scampering down the hillside toward the camp.
“You know how it feels to be lost, don’t you?” Jessie sobbed. “Without knowing where your true meaning lies?” Errol nodded silently as the woman continued her miserable outpouring. “I have felt that way ever since I can remember… … … that emptiness, that lack of direction…
I made my own vision, it wasn’t given to me. The motivation was all mine too, no one was there to tell me whether my aims were the best ones, but there were plenty of people to mock my dreams…”
Jessie stood up again and gazed sadly out at the flickering lights beyond. Errol saw the intense longing reflected in the blue of her eyes.
“It was the anger and fury at my childhood rejection that burned deep in my soul all this time… … … I have let it govern so many of my improper actions in the past; I ruined lives…and friendships…
I should never have let my vision of you on the outside mar my vision of who you are as a being…you are…very special, you know that?”
“Oh stop wit da flattery already…” Errol’s voice was beginning to wobble with the onset of thankful tears. Jessie had finally managed to break through his unforgiving countenance. The woman turned back towards the horizon as she removed the white elbow-length gloves from her person.
“I am deeply sorry for how I reacted that day… can you possibly find it in your heart to forgive me?”
There was silence. Jessie’s hopeful expression fell - maybe her appeal to Errol’s conscience had not worked. But the woman needn’t have worried; it wasn’t long before Errol threw his arms around her neck from behind, causing her to yelp.
“I couldn’t stay angry at you fer much longa, Jess…” he grinned widely. Jessie uttered a slight cough at the sudden restriction of oxygen.
“I’m so glad to hear that” she gasped. “But could you…let go a little? You’re strangling me…”
The man released his hold with an embarrassed chuckle as Jessie stumbled forward, rubbing at her shoulders.
“Sorry, Jessie. Guess I still ferget my strength from time ta time”
“That’s ok, Meowth” she replied. Then she paused upon seeing the slightly studied look upon her friend’s face.
“I got a name now,” he spoke, after a tentative silence. “It’s Errol. An’ I would prefer if ya used it, Jess. Ya wouldn’t like it if I called ya ‘human’ all da time.”
Jessie looked down, somewhat ashamed.
“I never really thought of it that way,” she murmured. “All this… it’s really going to take some getting used to.”
“Try not ta fret about it, Jessie,” Errol replied with a shake of the head. “I undastand.”
“But…” the woman looked up anxiously. “What if James doesn’t?”
“And why wouldn’t I?” a calm voice remarked from a few yards away. Both Jessie and Errol looked up to see James leaning upon a nearby tree, eyebrows raised expectantly.
“Huh-how long have you been standing there?” Jessie spluttered, almost angry.
“Long enough,” James replied with a smile as he approached. Jessie gazed over at her partner, and a sad look passed across her face.
“Why are you forgiving me so easily?” she murmured. “After all that I’ve done and said to you…after what I put you through.”
James turned his face towards Jessie. There was a warm, content expression upon it.
“What sort of a person would I have been if I had borne a grudge?” he remarked wisely.
“You’d have been more like Errol” Jessie replied.
“Hey!” the aforementioned figure protested as James snickered.
“That reminds me…remember the time you refused to speak to us after we used your tail as a makeshift fishing line in an attempt to catch a Feebas?”
“Dose t’ings had a real bite on ‘em” Errol chuckled, recalling the moment. “Not ta mention really big mouths. I couldn’t sit down fer a week!”
At last the atmosphere was beginning to lighten. Jessie started to smile as she lis