//------------------------------// // A Message // Story: Celestia's Rocket Adventures // by Snake Staff //------------------------------// A young man, no older than twenty, walked down a forest path. Dressed in an inconspicuous black shirt, blue vest, jeans, and a red hat, he hoisted a grey backpack with all his most precious belongings in the world. He’d been working undercover as an editor in Kalos media for over a year now, forced to keep his true allegiances a secret to help filter out any potentially damaging or alarming news stories from ever seeing the light of day. It was tedious and difficult labor, and so he hadn’t hesitated a moment when the long-awaited signal had finally come. He’d called in sick, packed his favorite things, and left without a word to his neighbors. The journey northwest from Lumiose had gone smoothly, an oblivious taxi driver getting him as far as Cyllage City. From there it was just a few hours walk to the worthless backwoods town his colleagues had so easily commandeered. He was excited, a little nervous too, but mostly excited. After all, he’d been promised a heaven on earth. Who wouldn’t be? “Trike!” a short yap cut into his thoughts. “Hmmm?” he frowned, looking ahead. A small green Pokémon stood on the path ahead, sharp teeth bared and crouched as if ready to pounce. “Trike!” it barked again. “Electrike!” “Yeah, what do you want?” he asked it. “I’m really busy today, so I don’t have time to battle-” A bolt of yellow electricity flew from Electrike, just above the young man’s shoulder. He could feel his hair standing on end – it had just missed his face. He took several hasty, reflexive steps backwards, eyes wide as the small hound pawed the ground aggressively. But when it didn’t advance, his shock swiftly turned to anger. “Alright, if that’s the way you wanna play it,” he gritted his teeth and fished around in his pack. “Tyrunt and I can-” “Spearow! Row row row!” He was interrupted, again, by the sound of a Pokemon’s voice. He looked up to see a small bird perched on a tree branch, glaring down at him with baleful eyes. A rustle in the bushes to the side of the path alerted him to the coming of a third, this one a furry purple Stunky with a white stripe along its back. Then, from the other side of the road, a Snubbull. Then a Houndour from amongst the dark woods. It was around this time he began having second thoughts. “Nice Pokémon…” he said softly, taking several steps back with empty hands in front of his chest. “Good Pokémon… I-I didn’t mean anything bad, okay?” “Dour!” the Houndour barked in reply, breathing a small trail of flame. It struck the dirt at the human’s feet, searing a crude black line into the tail. “Houndour!” “Electrike!” the other Pokémon added. “What?” He looked down, blinked, and looked back up. “Oh… you’re saying don’t go any further, right?” “Hound,” the dark canine nodded once. “Okay…” He said, briefly considering his odds of making a dash past them all. “I’ll just turn around and go back then, is that good?” The Pokémon didn’t say anything, but on the other hand they didn’t do anything when he turned back around and began walking back the way he had come. The young man walked a good few yards before nervously checking over his shoulder. Finding them still staring unwaveringly at his back, he picked up the pace and within a few minutes had lost sight of them altogether. He cast newly-wary eyes about the dark forest several times as he walked, and only when he was absolutely sure that he was alone did he reach into his backpack and extract a Holo Caster. “Agent XY to base,” he said almost as soon as it booted up, “we’ve got a problem.” “It’s happening everywhere?” Lysandre frowned. “Yes sir,” Bryony said in a neutral tone, “We’ve received reports from multiple agents on several different paths through Routes 10 and 11. When they begin to approach Geosenge Town, multiple Pokémon come emerge from the woods and threaten them until they turn around and leave. We have instances of different species of Pokémon working together to turn our people back. There seem to be too many to handle in a standard battle. One our people tried, and she subsequently reported having to flee with unconscious Pokémon and her hair on fire.” “Intolerable,” Team Flare’s leader clenched his fist. “We can’t allow our people to be harmed and humiliated like that. We’ve suffered far too many losses already.” “What are your orders, sir?” the green-haired scientist asked. “Hmmm…” Lysandre unclenched his hand and considered a moment, stroking his beard. “This is obviously the work of that ‘Luna’ creature. She must feel emboldened by Celosia’s downfall and be moving to trap us here. Or perhaps she wishes for us to come and meet her on her home ground again, to waste more good people trying to flush her out. Either way, this poses too much risk to our people and cannot be ignored.” “As you say,” Bryony nodded. “Send out a message to all our incoming agents. Order them to meet up along their respective routes. Gather together for safety, then await my signal.” Lysandre folded his arms behind his back. “As for you, collect Malva and Aliana and inform them I want a distraction. The alien is sure to have spies watching over our base. When I give the order take whatever you need and use your visors to locate them. I don’t require them to be eliminated or captured, simply attacked and driven off or otherwise occupied. Keep all attention on yourselves. Accomplish that task, and don’t stray far. Return to base immediately if resistance becomes stiff.” He looked her right in the eye, even through her visor. “I don’t want any further losses, do you understand?” “Yes sir.” Jessie, James, and Meowth were started from the relative complacency of running a systems check on their mecha by the sound of chiming on the control dashboard. Meowth hastily pressed a button to accept communication, and the viewscreen in front of them was replaced by a black background with a bright red “R” emblazoned on it. A moment later, Giovanni’s stern-looking face appeared on screen, several times larger than life. “Boss!” all three of the trio, plus Wobbuffet, saluted at once. “Me,” he said in a low tone couched with anger. “Listen up you three and listen well. We’ve finally broken the encryption on the data that you stole. And the situation is worse than we believed. Far worse.” “Sir?” Jessie asked. “We’ve confirmed that Team Flare has indeed obtained the ultimate weapon used in Kalos’ mythic war 3,000 years ago,” Giovanni said. “And they appear frighteningly close to being able to use it. Based on the data from their system, they only need one key component to activate it. And what they intend to do with it…” for the first time any of the trio could remember, their boss looked genuinely discomfited. “I might use it as a means of extortion. They intend to use it to utterly annihilate all life, barring themselves.” Jessie, James, and Meowth looked nervously at one another. Mable had been telling the truth after all. “And when the world has been reduced to ashes, they intend to use it to create a verdant paradise, eternal and unchangeable, for themselves alone. It’s a fit of utopian delusion at its finest, but whatever happens to their ‘perfect world’ will be of no concern if we are one and all burned away to nothing.” Giovanni closed his eyes, for once not stroking his Persian. “It goes without saying that this is extremely serious. I’m sending the architectural plans for their base around the ultimate weapon – near Geosenge Town – along with their membership roster. Proceed to the attached coordinates immediately and prepare for an attack. We must put an end to this before it begins.” “Just prepare, sir?” James said. “Do you honestly think I would be so foolish as to leave the fate of the world in your hands?” Giovanni kept his eyes closed, hands folded together. “I’m on my way there as we speak. Kanto and Kalos are a considerable distance from one another, but I will be there as soon as I can. We will destroy Team Flare all together and dash the madman’s dreams on the hard rocks of reality.” He opened his eyes again. “And after that, who knows?” He smirked. “Perhaps we shall even claim the ultimate weapon for ourselves. I can think of few other tools that can extort entire nations.” “Y-Yeah, dat’s right!” Meowth nodded hastily. “Team Rocket could really rule the world with that thing!” Jessie added. “We’ll do our best, boss!” James assured him. “I should hope so. All our lives may depend on what happens during these next few hours.” Team Rocket’s leader nodded once. “Are there any questions?” “J-Just one, boss,” James raised a slightly-trembling hand. “Do we have idea now where Team Flare got the Dark Ball data from? That was a Team Rocket project, wasn’t it?” “It was, briefly, until I ordered it aborted and all data destroyed. It never advanced past the prototype stage, and its sole field tester was the man you know as the Iron-Masked Marauder.” Giovanni’s tone was even. “The benefits it conferred came with unacceptable costs. I’ve double-checked our computer networks and cross-examined the scientists involved in the experiment, and I’ve yet to establish any clear means the data could have leaked.” “Maybe the Marauder had some backups stashed somewhere?” Jessie volunteered. “He’s in prison, isn’t he? Couldn’t we ask him?” “Oh, I assure you, no one will be asking him anything ever again.” A vicious gleam appeared in Giovanni’s eyes. “It seems that prison food didn’t quite agree with his delicate constitution.” He smirked again, finally giving his Persian a pat on the head. “How very unfortunate for him.” Jessie, James, and Meowth looked at each other again, and this time couldn’t quite hide their shuddering. “I’ll tolerate a great deal of failure in my agents but plotting to overthrow me is a step too far,” he continued, now stroking his cat. “Are there any further questions?” This time, all three members of Team Rocket emphatically shook their heads as hard as they possibly could. “Excellent. Prepare yourselves for battle and await my arrival. Giovanni out.” The boss’s face disappeared from the great viewscreen. Once again, the trio were staring out at an incongruously bright and pleasant sunny day, with many species of Pokémon scurrying around through the greenery at the mecha’s feet. They didn’t even have to look at once another before simultaneously reaching straight for their microphones. “Princesses!” their voices boomed out. “Your courage is commendable,” Lysandre said, arms folded behind his back. “And your determination is also praiseworthy. You allowed my men the chance to turn around and walk away unharmed, which is why I’m extending the same offer to you now.” All around Team Flare’s leader, wild Pokémon were gathered. Almost a score of them altogether, with species from Gulpin to Houndour to Poliwag to Electrike all represented amongst their ranks. All were staring at him with the same angry expression regardless of species, fanning out to surround him on all sides. Many of those who had them were showing fangs. “Perhaps you don’t understand quite who you’re dealing with. I am Lysandre, the leader of Team Flare.” That brought a chorus of angry barks and growls, though he remained unmoved. “While my associates back at base keep your leader’s spies occupied, I’ve come here to retrieve my errant subordinates. I far beyond your battling skills – you cannot hope to win against me. But because you allowed my people to flee, I’m giving all of you the chance to do the same. Turn and run right now, and I won’t raise a hand against you. Attempt to stop me, and I can’t guarantee your safety.” In answer, a Houndour growled and lunged at Lysandre with jaws wide. But it never even got close, because the white and purple Pokémon accompanying him leapt immediately into action. Its long paws glowed with orange energy as it slammed them together, the clap unleashing a shockwave that hurled the dark canine back before it could touch the trainer. “Thank you, Mienshao,” Lysandre patted his Pokémon on the head briefly. “Now, is that your final answer? All I desire here is to collect my subordinates and return to base.” Electrike struck him in the back with a bolt of lightning. Lysandre dropped to one knee with a pained grimace on his face and sparks dancing across his dark suit. Behind him, Mienshao sent Electrike soaring into the distance with a single blow, but more forest Pokémon were already surging forward to attack. Lysandre’s Pokemon was by far the most individually powerful of them, but it was also getting all but buried in a dogpile of its wild brethren. “Fine,” Lysandre fished into a suit pocket while Mienshao struggled to throw off its enemies. “Xerneas, come out!” He tossed a black and grey orb into the air, and the blue and black Legendary Pokémon appeared in a burst of dark energy. Its horns flared to life showing all colors of the rainbow in a beautiful display of the raw energies of life itself. It pawed the ground aggressively, empty eyes looking from one stunned forest Pokémon to the next with no trace of empathy or compassion. “Every Pokémon here except Mienshao is an enemy of Team Flare,” Lysandre announced. “Get rid of them with your Dazzling Gleam!” Xerneas’ antlers shone like a second sun, and the forest exploded into rainbow light.