“I’m telling you nothing!” a slightly-charred, visor-less Mable half screamed.
Bereft of her Pokémon and visor, hair wild, clothing torn, skin visibly burnt, and tied very thoroughly to a tree, Team Flare’s Scientist looked far more pitiable than intimidating. Still, the snarl on her face and unwavering gleam in her eyes said that while she might be beaten, she certainly wasn’t broken. She stared up at her captors and the children alike with naked hate in her eyes.
“Do your worst!” she went on. “Bash me, roast me, drown me, it doesn’t matter one bit! I won’t betray Team Flare to the enemy!”
“Oh yeah?” Jessie crossed her arms. “And why not?”
“Scum like you don’t deserve any answers, and you won’t get any here!” Mable declared. “You may as well just kill us all right now, you’re wasting your time.”
A visibly paler grunt spoke up. “Now let’s not be-”
“If any one of you so much breathes a word of actionable intelligence to them,” Mable cut him off. “I swear I’ll strangle the snitch with my bare hands if I have to! Team Flare’s mission is vastly more important than any of our lives! If we have to leave this world so the boss can succeed, I’ll walk into the hereafter with my head held high.”
The other men and women tied next to Mable looked visibly unnerved by her tirade, seeming to shrink back as they fell into silence. Even bound and helpless, the blue-haired woman seemed to effortlessly dominate them.
“What’s da matta with you?” Meowth looked at them. “What kinda crooks are tellin’ people ta bump ‘em off?”
“Crooks?” Mable sneered at him. “You think we’re bottom-feeding scum like you?”
“No!” Serena cut in. “I think you’re worse! Even Team Rocket’s never done something so horrible to Pokémon! You took away their minds and made them try to kill people! Even after so many hours they still haven’t woken up, who knows how much damage you might have done to them?”
“I wouldn’t expect a child to understand the concept of a necessary sacrifice,” she retorted. “Team Flare acts for the ultimate good of people and the planet. We alone hold the key to this world’s future, there is no one else with the vision required. Without us, this world and everything and everyone in it are utterly, finally, irreversibly doomed to a long, slow spiral into oblivion. There is no higher calling, no higher morality. By any just definition of the word, everything we must do along the way to utopia is righteous.”
“What a load of bunk!” James glared down at her. “How can you possibly look at what you’re doing and tell yourself you’re the good guys?”
“You can’t seriously be crazy enough to believe enslaving Pokémon to kill children is the right thing to do,” Ash added.
“I believe it with every fiber of my being,” Mable declared. “Your deaths were an inconvenient but ultimately meaningless necessity. You were in the wrong place at the wrong time, but your ultimate fate didn’t change one iota.”
“The fact that humans are mortal doesn’t give you the right to kill whoever you please!” Clemont shouted down at her. “You told your Pokémon to attack my little sister before she’s even turned seven years old! How can you possibly justify that?!”
“Team Flare is the only force standing up for the planet’s future,” she replied. “And the only organization capable of halting the inevitable and ushering in a permanent golden age for humanity. That gives us the right to do as we please in our pursuit of it. Team Rocket has proven a consistent thorn in our sides, an evil that has to be expunged before it risks the world’s future to satisfy its own petty greed. And you children were simply in the way. After all,” Mable gave a slight smirk, “why should we care about saving people who aren’t on our side?”
“Are you even listening to yourself?!” Jessie was shouting herself. “You sound more like some insane apocalypse cult when you’re just a petty pack of criminals dressed up in ridiculous clothing!” She glared at all five bound members, all but one shrinking from her gaze. “Are all of you so out of it you’re going to give us babble when you’re totally at our mercy and we’ve got every reason to hate you?”
“You don’t get it at all,” Mable said in a surprisingly low tone. “Heh heh heh… ha ha ha…” She threw back her head. “Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Aha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!”
“And just what is it you find so hilarious?!” James demanded, hand curled into a fist.
“Ha ha ha ha ha ha! You’re just so oblivious!” she cackled, blinking a tear out of the corner of her eye. “Don’t you idiots get it?”
“Get what?” Ash shot back.
“Ha, this is too rich!” Mable chuckled again. “We aren’t some garden variety thugs, petty criminals, or disgusting lowlife parasites like Team Rocket! Team Flare is going to remake this world in our image very soon, and there’s nothing you can do about it. My personal fate and those of these fools with me changes nothing.”
“And just what da ya think is gonna happen dat’ll make everything all hunky-dory for you guys?” Meowth showed his claws. “We got all your super-secret stuff back ta base, and soon Team Rocket is gonna come down on ya like a Golem avalanche! Your days are already numbered!”
“Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! You really believe that?!” Mable grinned up at him. “Then allow me to spell it out for you! In the coming days Team Flare – and only Team Flare – will survive! That’s right, your victory over me here was completely meaningless!” She gazed up at all of them with the unflinching confidence of a true believer and smiled. “You’re all going to die!”
Another round of hysterical laughter erupted from the Flare Scientist, who threw back her head to the tree and gave voice to a wild, seemingly-unhinged sense of irrational triumph. Even her own grunts seemed to shrink away from her as best they could, to say nothing of the visibly-disturbed twerps and Team Rocket. No one had expected anything like this, and from the uneasy looks on everyone’s faces it was clear no one had any real idea of how to respond.
Save one.
Pikachu, thus far quiet, hopped down from where he had sat on Ash’s shoulder onto the forest floor. A determined glare in his little black eyes, he marched right up to the still-giggling scientist until he was just outside the kicking range of her foot. The look that he gave her looked like little less than utter hatred.
“Pffft… ha ha ha ha…” Mable giggled when she saw him. “What’s the matter? Baby’s first Pokémon can’t handle the-”
Her remarkably unwise taunt was cut short by the sound of her own screaming. Without warning, Pikachu’s body almost exploded into electricity. Point-blank, bound and helpless, there was nothing Mable could do but cry out as the little yellow Pokémon gave her a Thunderbolt worthy of ten Pikachu. Electricity surged through her as she writhed and screamed, all nearby who could taking several steps back when her skeleton flashed in and out of visibility. The only mercy was that it was short-lived – her body could take no more after only a few seconds. The blue-haired woman slumped forward against the rope when it finally ceased, eyes closed and breathing shallow and erratic. Lingering yellow bolts danced across her limp form.
There was silence in the forest for just a moment. Just as no one had known quite how to deal with the Flare Scientist, no one was entirely sure how to respond to this.
“Pikachu…” Ash stepped forwards first, concern writ large across his face. “Are you okay, buddy?”
“Chu…” Pikachu growled in an uncharacteristically low tone. “Pika pika chu…”
Meowth couldn’t help but flinch.
“How are they doing?” Celestia peered up from where she lay wearily. “Are they alright?”
“Team Rocket’s Pokémon seem to be well within the expected parameters of such beings in the aftermath of a particularly intense engagement,” Twilight replied, as she slowly walked back to her own space. Of the two, she was by far the least injured, so it only made sense that she should be the one taking a look. “That is to say, they’ll need rest and medicine, but I see no clear reason that they shouldn’t make a full recovery in due course.”
“That’s good,” the white alicorn nodded slowly. “What about the others?”
“The Pokémon that came from the Dark Balls…” Twilight hesitated a moment as she sat back down, “they’re not looking so good. I saw no particularly serious-looking injuries, but none of them have roused. It could be a result of excessive strain caused by the Dark Balls and the sudden termination of their connection or… possibly some form of internal damage. I don’t have the tools or spells to do a proper diagnosis.”
“A recovery is possible,” Celestia said, “Team Rocket has dealt with these before, the Pokémon in question did ultimately survive… but I admit that is no guarantee.”
“There’s too much we don’t know,” Twilight said sadly. “What are the effects of a Dark Ball on a Pokémon’s body, and how does it differ by species, age, and evolutionary level? What kind of physiological changes does a sudden severing of the machine’s power actually trigger inside of them? How long were they trapped, and what damage did they take over the course of that? Without more information, it’s impossible to tell what kind of recovery time we’re looking at… if any.”
The white alicorn was, for the moment, silent.
“Oh yeah,” the purple princess continued. “There’s something else you should know. Some of them are murmuring in their sleep.”
“Hmmm?”
“Most of it is gibberish, but a few recognizable words come out here and there. I’m not sure if it’s a coincidence, but…”
“What did they say?”
“Fearow,” Twilight filled her in. “It said ‘Luna’.”
Throughout this whole chapter I could only think of a quote I learned from Civilization V;
"As soon as men decide that all means are permitted to fight an evil, then their good becomes indistinguishable from the evil that they set out to destroy."
-Christopher Dawson
Demons run when a good Pikachu goes to war.
Friendship dies and true love lies. Night will fall and the dark will rise when a good Pikachu goes to war.
Word to the wise, kids: never make an electric rodent angry.
MewTwo might dispute that, but he's clearly biased.
Looking back over the generations, Team Rocket feels fresh for being the only evil faction that isn't a weird apocalypse cult. They just wanted wealth and power, and to some degree, they were able to get it. They didn't conquer the whole world, but they are pretty big. The others had to make their plans all or nothing, so they get nothing.
Never have I ever seen Pikachu so angry...
9036617
Serena has never met Mewtwo.
"You're all going to die! Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!"
Flash fry.
I think Celestia and Pikachu can be friends now.
Curse you Fearow, thou ruined my most wondrous surprise!
9036617
9036626
Mewtwo wasnt so much evil as misguided, essentially, it was a child with the mind of a child being directed by a really lousy father figure. all it knew about humans came from its interactions through Team Rocket, not exactly the best first impression, thus, when it left Team Rocket, it had no reason to think that other humans wernt just as bad as them.
9036593
Demons run, but counte the cost.
Battle is won, but the child is lost.
When a good Pikachu gos to war.
9036617
Giovanni used Mewtwo to catch other Pokémon and crush random Gym trainers, not kill anyone. Granted, he didn't really seem to mind what he did to those scientists, but eh lemons and lemonade. And while he did try to break his mind subsequently, the TRio weren't involved and Serena has no reason to know any of that.
Goddamn, that is one psycho bitch. I'm pretty curious about what Pikachu said to her, if it was enough to make Meowth flinch. At a guess though, I'm thinking maybe the rotten little bastard was considering keeping the juice flowing. Can't say I blame him, if that was the case. Excellent chapter.
Y'know, I never saw much of the anime past Kanto, but was team Flare really this bugf*ck insane? The leading members anyway?
Also, I'm curious as to what, precisely, Pikachu said that caused Meowth to flinch. Something unpleasant to do with Mable, I'm assuming?
Grievous, get out of this body!
They finally have an idea of how bad Team Flare is.
Buf now they will work together, to stop this threat. And maybe they will link with Luna soon.
Hopefully there is a mean to take care of the pokemons nearby.
9036664
Their plan in both games and anime amounts to "blow up everyone in the world but us", with the differences lying in the specific methods of doing so. And the way I figure it, when your two qualifiers are:
A) Be willing to genocide 99.99% of humanity and 100% of Pokémon
B) Pay a 5 million Pokedollar entry fee
You're going to wind up with some pretty screwed up personalities. Granted, the fee ensures they aren't so crazy they can't take care of themselves, but still everybody's gonna have some issues or just be too terrified to back out.
9036691
I'd... like to know how on earth anyone paid those fees. Heck, why need the fees when all they have are themselves and no real way to reproduce the currency without salvaging current technology? There's also the question of how they're going to essentially eliminate all living beings on the planet which I would include plantlife which also survives and spreads by Pokemon since they're essentially the worlds ecosystem.
Granted it's for the plot but hey, people ask. Even if it's a boneheaded accusation like mine but we ask.
9036708
Well a million pokebucks is like $5,000, so they can join Team Flare for the price of a used car. Still, some sort of entry fee is required, since Lysander can't pay for all these evil bases out of his own pocket or his taxes would get really suspicious-looking.
Ash looked to Meowth "What did Pikachu say?" he asked.
Meowth looked to ash and replied "Twerp you really do not wanna know, but let's just say she really, REALLY pissed Pikachu off" he replied. There was no way in hell he was going to tell Ash his Pikachu had said that he (Pikachu) should kill Mable.
Some men don't want anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.
It's a Batman quote, but it applies here.
Don't you just hate it when you meet the occasional human that sees themself as a higher authority/god? I honestly expected Pikachu to use Iron Tail, but I keep forgetting he can shock people into unconsciousness. And now Twilight and Celestia have a lead.
9036593 Nice Doctor Who reference.
And likely Pikaxhu just swore and planned something evil with those words.
Goading the target into a motive rant is actually a decent tactic, I'd say. What you get is always beyond egotistical, but some people drop important information at multiple points when they make them. A bit of a gamble, but definitely worth a shot.
9036691
Stuff like this just confirms that Lysandre is a HARDCORE elitest. Who else other than the elite of the world would be able to afford prices like that?
Seriously, Lysandre may be just one of the most, if not THE most, dispicable villains in the Pokémon franchise, and I’m including Ghetsis in that list! There is a REASON that in every medium, he gets outright KILLED OFF, or at least heavily implied to be!
I knew interrogating them would yield no results. Grunts are canon fodder anyway and know the least, so even if they talked they don't have valuable information to give.
And as for higher ups, they're completely indoctrinated and, in the case of Mable, completely insane. Their's nothing to gain from them, they'll just waste their time. They better go straight take care of the head of organisation now before he escapes in some unknown hideout to execute his plan.
Consequences be damn about public opinion if they must be perceive as attacking a good man.
Poor Fearow must regret not listening to Luna. On the bright side, he was probably not in captivity very long, relatively, and may be the first to recover. Then they can go meet Luna's Legion of Justice.
9036992
No results except that she spilled the beans on their final plans. Not how to *stop* them unfortunately.
9036708
I mean, it's only the cost of five bikes.
"You see, you say that what we do to you doesn't matter. You say you have information we need that you won't surrender. I think your wrong, I think what we are willing to do to get that information from you to save the world is going to be things you don't like. Bad news for you and your friends, there are no convenient police officers on pedal bikes around here. The people you do see around here you tried to murder. Please consider this your last chance before we take turns being... creative."
Luna army Luna army Luna army!!!!!!!!!
Finding out about Luna took longer than expected.
I really want to know what Pikachu said...
And there's the Luna reveal! It looks like everything is rushing to a head - we've got a truce between all teams here. And now there's no question at all about what Team Flare is up to - I thought we were going to have to wait for Luna to convey 'cleanse the world' to Ash and TR. I'm loving every word of this.
9036936
Don't forget Pokedollars are basically yen, so the fee isn't quite as absurd as it sounds. Food truck fair costs hundreds of Poke. Still well beyond the reach of the poorer segments of society.
As to who is more evil, Lysandre's plans are far more apocalyptic, but on a personal level I would rate Ghetsis as far more malevolent. Lysandre sincerely believes he's doing what's right and necessary to halt entropy, and has deep and genuine bonds with his Pokémon. Gyarados can Mega Evolve and (in this story) use Return, which requires high friendship to be effective. By contrast, Ghetsis never cared for anyone but himself and his Hydreigon knows Frustration, which works better the more a Pokémon hates its trainer. Lysandre is a madman. Ghetsis is a narcissistic sociopath.
9037321
Honestly I thought the plot would drag on for a few more chapers as fearow only telks them after he wakes up and perhaps after some cajoling, then the gang follows Fearow to the nest but Luna has moved them and they spend a day or two tracking before finally reuniting.
9037744
Oh, I doubt Snake Staff would waste everyone's time like that. Hiatuses aside, their stories are reliably brisk.
9037813
but to the new gangs of today is a hell lot better, how I know this I live in Fresno.
Today gangs will just kill anyone wearing the wrong colors in there hood, back then if you was to kill a woman every gang member would come after your ass. just take a good look at the guy that did a hit and run miss his target and kill a babe in its baby carriage, let just say what he got the next day as he was in a payphone 6 SMG with 45 cal with drum mag would leave nothing behind
9036664
To put things in perspective, they're essentially SEELE from Evangelion.
Unmake the world, then remake it in their own image.
So...yeah, they really are that bad.
9037880
Yeah, that's romanticism talking.
Organized crime is organized crime is organized crime. Things aren't actually worse today than they were previously; they've just always been bad, as far back as recorded history goes.
9038072
the real answer is there both bad but what would be one that play in the shadow or one that is out in the open
9038146
Honestly, I don’t think there’s any way to actually compare these things. They’re both bad. It’s like saying that having a broken leg is worse than getting the flu.
It’s impossible to actually tell which is worse.
Team Flare is looking like a ultra insane environmentalist group that also has a sprinkling of Scientology mixed into it.
Kill it with fire
10259429
Agreed
What did he say?
9036609
It's good advice