“Well,” James said after a moment had passed. “Since you’re going to be part of Team Rocket, Celestia, you’ll need to remember some of your moves.”
“You’re darn right it will,” Jessie mumbled.
James glanced at her, then back at the princess. “So I guess that means I had better start training you.”
“That seems reasonable,” Celestia agreed.
“Starting right now,” James began walking towards her.
“Oh no you don’t!” Jessie grabbed him by the back of his shirt, pulling him back toward her. “I am not going to sit here and sew this old thing back together while you run off and play with-” she paused and looked at Celestia appraisingly. Then she returned her gaze to James, a malicious-looking smirk on her face. “James,” she asked. “That is your Pokemon, correct?”
“Yes, I suppose so,” he answered, a large bead of sweat rolling down the back of his head.
“And it’s being excused from helping on grounds of disability, right?”
“I don’t think I’ll like where this seems to be going, will I?”
“So wouldn’t it be fair if you covered, say…” Jessie grinned. “All its share of the work?”
“What?! That’s not fair at all!”
“Life isn’t fair!”
“But you were just making an argument from fairn-”
“DO IT!”
“You know,” said Celestia, several hours later, as the sun was setting. “It probably isn’t a good idea to let her push you around like that.”
James sat beside her on the grass, nursing his hands. The two were huddled with the remainder of Team Rocket around a campfire, cooking something or the other in a rather small pot. After many hours of work, the Meowth balloon had at last been re-stitched into tiptop shape, ready to fly again in the morning. Celestia was still a little unclear as to how it had gotten so bad, beyond a vague memory of that horrible yellow rodent flash-frying the lot of them with electricity. She assumed that that had done the deed.
The princess put a gentle hoof on James’ leg. “If I had a healing spell, I would use it on you right now,” she bowed her head slightly. “I do apologize for your being made to do extra work on my behalf.”
“Yeah yeah, spare us all da act,” Meowth grumbled, taking a quick peek into the slightly-steaming pot. “You ain’t got me fooled, lady.”
Celestia ignored him.
James looked down at her leg. “Oh my, where are my manners? Here I’ve been so busy wallowing in self-pity that I’ve completely neglected to begin your training!” He stood up, hands on hips. “Well, let’s remedy that right away!”
“No, it’s perfectly alright, I can waaaaa-”
Celestia’s remark was cut off by a surprisingly powerful tug on her mane. Out of half-surprise, half-instinct, she rose to her hooves and began to follow him. The man seemed so enthusiastic as he pulled her along that she didn’t have the heart to tell him that yanking her flowing mane in that manner was rather painful.
“That’s the boss,” Inkay chirped as she was dragged off. “Always looking out for his team!”
Jessie and Meowth looked at each other. “More for me!” they cheered simultaneously.
James seemed not to hear as he led Celestia by the mane to a hill a short distance from the campfire. Once he found a spot that he deemed satisfactory, he released his grip, allowing the princess to resume her full height. The two stood eye-to-eye.
“Now then,” James said, tapping his chin. “Where to begin? Well…” he looked her over. “I’m not exactly familiar with your species, and I haven’t been able to find any data on it so far.”
“That’s because I’m the only Celestia there is,” she felt compelled to reply, despite knowing the futility of the gesture.
“So I don’t really know what kind of moves you naturally can learn.”
“That makes two of us.”
“So I think we’ll start with the move you used earlier today: Hyper Voice. Do you think you’re up for it?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s the spirit!” he clenched his fist. “Always stay positive! Never give up!”
“I really wish you could understand me.”
“This move should be easy enough. Just try making the loudest noise you can and focusing your energy into it!”
“Are you sure this is a good idea?”
James bent over and whispered into her ear. “And if you can help it, aim for Jessie.”
Celestia put a hoof up to her mouth and sniggered. “Your wish is my command.”
“Now,” he straightened out, putting one hand on his hip and pointing dramatically into the distance with the other. “Let’s do this together! I know deep inside my heart and soul that you can!”
“Maybe…” James said, about three hours later. “This wasn’t the best way to go about learning Hyper Voice.”
“You think?” Celestia retorted. Or, rather, would have retorted had she not succeeded in screaming herself hoarse some time ago. What came out instead was more of a “horrible hacking cough” -type sound.
“Perhaps we should move onto something else for now.”
Celestia’s ears folded back.
James got up from where he was sitting in the grass and circled around Celestia, hand again on his chin. After a few laps, he paused by her sides, staring. Then he gently pulled her right wing from its folded resting position.
“Hmmm…” he ran two gloved fingers through her swan-white feathers, tickling slightly. “These aren’t just vestigial, are they?”
Celestia shook her head.
“Great!” he smiled. “That means you should be able to learn Fly!”
“That’s distinct from normal flight how?” she tried to ask, only to wheeze rather pathetically instead.
“That will let you soar through the sky at far greater speeds than normal, as well as unleashing a powerful physical strike against opponents, whether on the ground or in the air!”
“So I just fly into people?” Celestia wondered. "How is that something special?"
“So are you up for it?”
The princess hesitated.
James clasped his hands together and looked her in the eye. “Pretty please with a cherry on top?”
Celestia stared back boldly, mustering all her willpower to deny his request.
…
Her wings twitched, then drooped, and she nodded.
“He looks like a colt asking his mother for a cookie,” she thought with a sigh. “And I really need to stop falling for such things.”
“Wonderful!” he smiled. “Now, let’s start this show by-”
“Hey!” came Meowth’s voice. “Birdbrains!”
“Hmmm?” Both James and Celestia looked in his direction.
“Not dat I don’t enjoy watchin’ little miss princess dere make a fool outta herself, but we got a call comin’ in!”
“A call?” James asked.
“From da boss! So get over here, on da double!”
“Coming! Coming!” he rushed back towards the campfire. “Sorry Celestia, we’ll have to continue this a little while later!”
The princess breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
At a slow, sedate pace Celestia followed James back down the hill. As she did, she spied Jessie, James, and Meowth placing a small, flat device along the ground. It lit up, projecting what looked to be a thin, glowing screen around two feet off the ground. At the moment, it was blank. The trio knelt around it, having a hurried whispered conversation. Celestia’s keen ears could nonetheless make it out easily.
“Do you think we should tell the boss about Celestia?”
“Tell him we got a crazy Pokemon what don’t know any moves?” Meowth scoffed. “He’d tink we was insultin’ him!”
“Meowth’s right,” Jessie said. “Remember that Togepi. The boss doesn’t want just rare Pokemon for the team; he wants rare and powerful Pokemon. And your little horse friend there isn’t that.”
“Okay! Okay!” James waved his hands. “Just asking,” he looked up towards Celestia. “If you wouldn’t mind, please stay of the view of this, alright?”
She nodded. Apparently their boss was a rather picky man, and she had no wish to anger someone who might be able to help her.
“There’s a good girl,” he smiled, then turned his attention back to the moniter.
Celestia sat down in the grass and watched as the projected screen soon flickered to life. The image of a brown-haired, hard faced man in what looked to be an expensive black suit and red tie appeared, seated behind a desk. A white catlike Pokemon heavily resembling Meowth sat in his lap. Jessie, James, and Meowth immediately snapped to full attention, giving off crisp salutes.
“Giovanni, sir!” they said as one.
“At ease,” he said in a deep, rough, and yet calm voice. The trio sank back to their knees in order to be better level with the screen.
Jessie began. “Sir, our travels throughout the Kalos region have been very productive, including-”
“I haven’t called to ask for a status report,” Giovanni cut her off. “I’ve contacted you to assign you three a new mission.”
“Anything you say, boss!” Meowth said.
“Quite right,” he replied.
Giovanni paused for a moment to stroke the Pokemon in his lap, which stretched leisurely and yawned. Celestia could have sworn that she heard the faintest of growls from Meowth.
“Now then,” the Team Rocket boss continued. “I have recently been receiving a number of disturbing reports from sources within the Kalos region concerning the rise of group known as Team Flare.”
“You mean dose red-suited weirdos that like ta hang out at cafes in Lumoise City?”
Giovanni nodded. “The same.”
“No offense to your sources, sir,” said James. “But how could they possibly represent any kind-”
“Do not be fooled by appearances!” Giovanni snapped, sounding genuinely irritated this time. “No matter how ridiculous they may be!” His cat growled at the screen, as if in empathy.
Suitably chastened, the trio fell silent and lowered their heads.
“That’s better,” their boss nodded. “Now then, according to my sources – very reliable sources, I will add – this Team Flare is far more dangerous than it may first appear. If some of the more outrageous pieces of information are true, it poses a serious threat to the Team Rocket presence not just in the Kalos region, but in every region,” he paused. “And perhaps even to the world itself.”
In the distance, Celestia’s eyes went wide. Her ears twitched, straining to pick up every last little detail.
“It goes without saying that such a group cannot be ignored,” Giovanni went on. “After your recent performance during Operation Tempest, and then in the conflict with Team Plasma, I have decided to send you three in first.”
“It’s our honor, sir!” chanted all three at the exact same moment.
Their boss smiled and nodded. “Very good,” he stroked the cat again. “Now, I want you to obtain as much information on Team Flare’s plans as you can and report back to me. If you are able to determine the location of their headquarters or the identity of their mysterious central commander, that will be a mark in your favor going forward. And of course, if you should happen to find yourselves in a position to counter any of their plans,” he glanced at each of the three. “I give you permission to deal with them as appropriate.”
“Sir, yes sir!” they snapped off a unified salute.
There was a momentary silence.
“Uh, Giovanni, sir?” James spoke up. “Is there anything in particular that we should be looking for? What exactly is it that makes this group such a threat to Team Rocket?”
“Yes, I was just getting to that,” Giovanni replied. “Unfortunately, on this subject I have only whispered thirdhand information, at best. Nonetheless, the risk to us all is serious enough to warrant further action, even on such sketchy intelligence.” Yet again, he stroked his cat. “The reports I have read suggest that Team Flare seeks, or perhaps has already found, a legendary item from three thousand years in the Kalos region’s past.” Giovanni’s face was grim, and serious. “An ultimate weapon, said to be capable of unimaginable feats of destruction…”
In the darkness, Celestia shivered.
Well, good for you, Tia! Team Rocket gets to pretend to be the "Good Guys" for once... until they realize they will have to steal the item for themselves.
It is... Fluttershy!
Poor Celly. But if she had to pick "bad guy" humans, James is definitely the best.
6095681 I may not have seen any of the recent series, but from my own viewings back in the day, the Jessie James Meowth team rocket was never particularly bad guys. They might regularly attempt to steal pokemon, but if anyone ever came along and did anything really nasty they would step up to help stop them. Heck I even recall several times that they teamed up with ash to help him stop various badies/disasters.
Imagine if Celestia ever runs into AZ. Well, if he's in the anime, that is.
It's Celestia, isn't it?
They found Omachow!!!
6094469 i believe he has it on him, as there were some, all be it few, episodes where pikachu was so severely injured by battle, or other means, that ash was forced to put him in the pokeball.
My head-cannon for Giovanni has always been this.
He's evil and he knows it, his goals are making a profit and nothing more, but he's really a good man at heart, willing to use his resources to protect the world from devastation. He's smart enough to utilize Jessie and James' antics to take down rival organizations. He's willing to admit his mistakes, and tries to correct them whenever possible.
So instead of Celestia realizing that Team Rocket are "bad guys", she gets roped into helping them "save" the world.
Dude, your story is awesome beyond compare! 5/5!
Wow. Alright then, I can dig it.
6095734 True, but... you know. They are working for an evil organisation and they're actively attempting to steal Pikachu, which would be equivalent to enslavement (even more so than usual).
My god...they're after the orbital friendship cannon aren't they?
6095867 Taste the Rainbow!
Hey...just as a thought, is Celestia maybe using Boomburst instead of Hyper Voice?
Also I don't remember Meowth being this much of a dick but then again I never watched the show beyond Johto so I can't remember
Anyway though this is good, I'm used to crossovers featuring one/all of the mane 6 so this is a nice change of pace for me
I have to wonder what would happen if they hit Celestia with a TM.
Celestia is a F*****G HORSE GODDESS!
She have to be a legendary or something!
6095829 It would certainly explain why he hasn't fired them for sheer incompetence.
I have to wonder whether or not Tia can use more than four move as per canon or are her abilities more like an emotionaly based metronome?
Holy Crap! Team Rocket doing something that could be considered good for once? Even if it IS only to further their own position in the scheme of things.
Please bring in Luna and make her get captured by Ash and have her meet Celestia....That is a request but I reeeeeeeaaaaaally hope it happens!!!!! Anyways, great job! A Derpy for you!!
Celestia is clearly overtrained.
She remarked that pokemon attacks have a magic component but she herself is used to control heavily how much magic she uses. She practically need to forgo her selfrestrain. Maybe watching other Pokemon performing attacks (not against her) could give her insight into how it works.
6096196 They've done this before. During Pokemon 2000, The Power of One, and Best Wishes Season 2 Episode N
I love it when I come across these types of books, they are my favorite because the contain comedy, laughter and a sense of mystery and magic.
P.S: I have never seen a story with Celestia being taken, it's always twilight or some pony else
Can't wait to read this in bed, lol
6095913
6096370 True
6096456 I will wait for solar beam. Normally it need to be channeled so I wonder how long Cellestia needs or if the beam will come directly down from the sun.
. . . even though i know it is not the death star... I need to add this
I think Celestia should be able to fly naturally without need for training, sure she sits around most of the time, but she still knows how to use her wings. Also, even if it isn't her sun, shouldn't she still get some kind of boost when she's in its light? As for the language barrier, I think she just needs to work on her psychic skills some more until she figures out telepathy.
Who here wants luna to show up on Ash's side?
I like that Jessie, James and Meowth are their sometime successful and competent Team Rocket agents selves in this instead of the guys Giovanni wishes he could forget. No doubt we will see Celestia shine on the up coming mission against Team Flare.
Training wise if The Team Rocket Trio want Celestia to remember her skills they got to get her to make the connection with what she tries to do when she triggers a move and the move name. Pay attention Rockets.
6093271 True, but that just means that they'd need to keep the ball under constant supervision until they got it back to Giovanni. Whenever Pikachu broke out, the one holding the ball would just call it back. It would be tedious, yes, but it theoretically could be done. If they had to take Pikachu out of the ball, they could put him in one of those shock-proof containers temporarily, and hold onto the ball, or even better, secure it with their other pokeballs so that they didn't drop it, in case something went wrong and Pikachu escaped and/or they were sent flying again.
Jessie's Wobbaffet also tends to break free, so they should be aware of the possibility.
6092495 As MyLittleTimeLord and Pinklestia said, he does have one, and also like Pinklestia said, he utterly despises being in it. If I remember correctly, it's marked on the top with a little lightning bolt. Also, I'm pretty-sure that Ash tried to get Pikachu to go back into his ball during the spearow attack. I want to say Ash was pretty beat-up and laying on the ground, with the flock coming around for another pass at the time, but it's been a while since I last watched the episode.
6097181 Wouldn't it make more sense for Chrysalis to be with him? She could feed on the love that he gives her because he's Ash and he loves all his pokemon.
Heck yeah! Celestia and Team Rocket are going to save the world! Or at least help do it. I haven't watched the anime in years, but I have played X, and if this story stays as true as can be to that material, then I see a shitstorm on the horizon. I mean, those assholes were basically gonna nuke the region, were they not? That's some hardcore shit, especially for a pokemon game. I really enjoy what you're doing with Team Rocket here. They're still bad guys, but even their boss doesn't want a doomsday device going off. I wish the chapters were a bit longer, but at least you update frequently! Keep up the good work.
Well, this is a lot of fun and I am really liking the developing dynamic between Celestia and James. They are playing off each other well so far and it looks like that relationship is going to be producing a lot of cute moments in the future as Celestia finds ways to return the kindness he has shown her and their relationship grows.
6097181 Honestly, I think Twilight might be more fun. After all, if Ash throws a confused Twilight at Celestia, old sunbut is going to go mama bear on his ass and there is not a damn thing that is going to be able to stop her. She will beat his ass into submission without worrying about how many bones she breaks and take Twilight's ball and the reactions from the rest of the cast will be hilarious. It will also set up an interesting future dynamic with Twilight and Celestia actually being brought down to the same level of confusion and should result in an interesting dynamic between the two.
That said, it would be entertaining to watch Luna maul Ash for trying to make her fight her sister.
Hehehe, that's James to a tee.
People have commented that they'd like to see Luna and/or Twilight pop in to be caught by Ash and used against Celestia for the ensuing rage/confusion fit. Me, I'm of a different opinion.
Rather than somepony obvious, like the above two, why not go for somepony a bit less connected to Celestia? Like, say... Rainbow Dash? While she may be a bearer of Harmony, she's not intrinsically connected to Celestia like Luna and Twilight are. Nonetheless, I'd like to see how she'd react to getting stuffed into a Pokeball.
Good job, James! Your such a great pokemon trainer! Now, just train Celestia until she evolves! (Cause we all know that's gonna happen)
6098298
Well, everyone has a preferred pony.
6097507 She would benefit from being with Ash, but she wouldn't add a lot to the story I think. Luna or Twilight would be better.
Now this sounds bad. I am curious about Team Flare and I like James training with Celestia. It is rather funny.
This is awesome!
I hope that James will eventually be reunited with both his Cacnea and Carnivine and that when they meet Celestia. They take an immediate liking to her and express their affection the same way they do with their master.
Also, on an unrelated note. Are you taking a break from Empire and Rebellion to focus on this story or is a new chapter for that one just around the corner?
6098595 I guess it would depend on weather the author wanted Celestia to get into a lot of battles or not.
Haven't played X or Y, so I don't really know much about Flare, but I do like how even Giovanni can see that the bumbling trio has bumbled into a lot of world changing events and helped in some way to stop them. Plus, I like and agree with Sailing101's interpretation of the Team Rocket Boss: He's in it for the money, and if there is no one around, that means no money for him. So, might as well save the world.
Also, since she already knows Hyper Voice, here are some ideas for moves Celestia might know/learn:
Fly
Arial Ace
Steel Wing
Razor Wind
Baby Doll Eyes (not sure if correct name, but it sharply lowers attack and special attack and is a Fairy Move)
Telekinesis
Literally any Fire-type move
Body Slam
Slam
Horn Attack
Horn Drill
Mega Kick
Tickle
Encore
Helping Hand/Hoof
Sing
Disable
Teleport
Recover
Healing Pulse
Barrier
Light Screen
Sunny Days
Solar Beam (She does not need to charge it, as she is the Sun Princess!)
Hyper Beam
Judgement (Arceus signature move from gen 4)
And to top it all off, just to add to the shame, Splash. So when she does learn all her moves, she can take Gyrados' example and waste everyone who mocked her. Starting with the cat...
6099021 ...seriously? It's called autocorrect. It screws you over.
6098949
Then Rainbow Dash would be best for the job.
6099039 See my previous comment you troll.
6099030
6099042
I rewrote it, and I know about autocorrect, I just thought this could be a funny joke.