//------------------------------// // Rumble in the Woods (I) // Story: Celestia's Rocket Adventures // by Snake Staff //------------------------------// “Big brother!” Bonnie cried, kneeling down beside him. “Say something!” “Future is… Tuesday…” Clemont mumbled vaguely, eyes closed as sparks continued to dance across his body. “Ash!” Pikachu said as he wormed out from between the boy’s smoking arms. “Are you alright?” His little arms tugged at his trainer’s vest. “Speak to me!” “Uuuurgh…” Ash simply moaned, not even able to look at the little yellow Pokémon trying desperately to rouse him. “Well well well, how the tables have turned!” Jessie said smugly, arms crossed. “Nice one, Wobbuffet!” “Wobbuffet!” her blue Pokémon saluted cheerfully. Twilight almost rushed back to try and check on the humans herself, but stopped after only one step when she realized that she was now literally the only thing standing between these fiends and her new friends. So instead she turned, faced Team Rocket, and flared her wings as wide as she could, trying to make herself seem larger. Next to Celestia as she was, it seemed rather inadequate. “So as ya can see, Twilight,” Meowth said. “Team Rocket’s da wave a’ the future, and once we complete our big mission for da boss our stock is only goin’ up!” “That’s right,” Jessie nodded. “So why don’t you ditch the twerps and come work with us instead? We’re always looking for new talent, and the health plan is top-tier!” “And you’ll be right alongside your friend Celestia, and all the rest of the gang,” James added. “We’ll go camping together and tell stories and watch movies and-” “AND complete our mission ta save da world from Team Flare!” Meowth cut him off. “Ya like savin’ da world stuff, doncha?” “I don’t believe a word you people say,” Twilight declared. “Even if you have somehow managed to brainwash even Princess Celestia, I won’t be so easily manipulated!” “My little pony, I assure you that I am furthest thing from brainwashed,” Celestia said. “I’m on their side because they’re trying very hard to do the right thing and prevent great evil.” “Even you can be fooled, especially by the likes of such dangerous criminals,” Twilight insisted. “Remember my brother’s wedding? You’ve got to believe me, Team Rocket is as evil and dangerous now as fake Cadence was then! No, even more dangerous!” “Having actually battled alongside them, I would disagree.” Celestia shook her head. “But I don’t insist you join, if my new friends are not to your liking. All I want is for you to free yourself from these pawns of Lysandre, before he decides to use you against us far more directly. I will not see you sucked into a Dark Ball.” “And I won’t see you made a pawn of evil! Don’t you see? I can’t leave you here because Team Rocket will only deepen your conditioning and make you do more and more evil for them? You’ve already taken part in assault and robbery. Will it be kidnapping next, or something even worse? Equestria needs you back home safely!” There were more tears in Twilight’s eyes. “I need you back home safely! I could never forgive myself if my mirror left you forever lost to darkness!” “And I would not forgive myself were I to abandon this world and my friends in it when they need me,” Celestia countered. “And again, my student, I am not under some sort of mind control. I act of my own volition. Team Rocket does not hold me prisoner. Team Rocket is not capable of holding me prisoner. Why is that so hard for you to understand?” “Because the Princess Celestia I know wouldn’t be serving-” Twilight’s voice was cut off by a jet of red-orange flames flying overhead. Both alicorns flinched and ducked, but the attack wasn’t aimed for them. Jessie, James, and Meowth all dived in different directions as the fire burnt a scorched ditch into the dirt path, sweeping right through the middle of where they had just been. “Hey, watch it!” Jessie shouted. “Dat ting almost barbequed us!” “Who do you think you are just shooting flames at passers-by?” “Better question,” came a voice from the trees, “did you really think you could get away with stealing from Team Flare?” Twilight finally turned around properly, and immediately flinched at the sight of a snarling Houndoom. Memories of that first, horrible chase bubbled up immediately and she shuddered. Behind the Pokemon, the princess spied five humans also emerging from the trees. Four were men and women wearing nigh-identical red-orange suits, sunglasses, and dyed red hair. The fifth was a blue-haired woman in some kind of dress outfit with a prominently flared skirt leaving her thighs bare, knee-high boots, and a visor clamped over her face. Twin blue lights shone from it where her eyes would be. “Twilight, get behind me,” Celestia insisted in a hard tone. The elder alicorn didn’t wait for a response, storming right past her former apprentice to place herself directly between her and the humans. Celestia held her wings up and turned to the side, maximizing her own profile to shield Twilight as much as possible. The younger alicorn just looked confused. “Honestly,” the blue-haired woman continued, “if this was your idea of staying hidden, you’re terrible at it. It only took Houndoom here a day to pick up your scent.” She patted it on the head, then her voice became more affectionate. “Isn’t that right?” Twilight peeked out from behind her mentor to witness the incongruous sight of the fierce-looking devil hound wagging its tail and licking the woman. “So you managed to find us,” James crossed his arms, “now you have to beat us, and I’m afraid your little puppy there just won’t cut it.” “Oh, there’s plenty more where she came from,” the woman smirked. “Isn’t that right, Weavile?” “Yeah!’ a black Pokémon with a prominent red crest leapt down from the trees. Jessie and James looked at one another, then both grabbed a Poke Ball from their waists. Twilight watched as a black and orange pumpkin-like Pokémon and blue-pink floating cephalopod took shape above her mentor’s head. “Looks like you’re outnumbered,” Jessie grinned right back. “That’s the way it is,” Wobbuffet agreed. “And we have Celestia on our side,” James said. “So you might as well just turn around and slink back to your boss right now.” “He’s right,” Celestia addressed Houndoom and Weavile. “Surrender now or prepare to lose the fight.” “Oh, don’t you worry,” the woman’s grin never faded. “We came well-prepared to deal with her majesty.” She mock-curtsied. “I’m Mable, by the way. Thought you should know the name of the woman who finally eliminated you pests.” “I don’t care what your name is, whatever you’re planning won’t succeed!” Celestia insisted. “Wait!” Twilight leapt out from behind her teacher. “She’s not with Team Rocket, not really! She’s been brainwashed or tricked or something, she didn’t mean to steal from you or attack your friends!” “I very much did,” Celestia insisted right back. Ignoring the two alicorns, Mable opened a pouch on her belt and extracted a small, dark sphere. The moment Twilight laid eyes on it, she doubled over and cried out as her mind was hit with a psychic scream of pain and fear. She scrunched up her eyes against the sudden mental assault, while with elder alicorn reimpose herself protectively. “But don’t take my word for it!” Mable continued. “Come on out, Rhyperior!” Celestia’s horn immediately unleashed a golden blast of energy at the woman, but Weavile leapt to intercept. Crossing its arms across its chest, it was enveloped by turquoise energy and caught the alicorn’s attack directly. The energy pattered against that barrier harmlessly, and behind that Mable tossed the ball high into the air. In an explosion of black energy, a hulking grey Pokémon materialized onto the scene. It stood on two legs, with two massive arms bulging with muscle and a tail tipped with a rocklike wrecking ball. Heavily-armored orange scales protected its chest, shoulders, and head, while a massive drill-like horn emerged from its face where its nose should have been. But by the far the worst part was the eyes. Rhyperior’s eyes were empty and lifeless, and as it stared unblinkingly down at her Twilight saw nothing in them but the chill of the grave. “W-What’s that?” she managed. The Rhyperior she’d met at Oak’s lab didn’t look like this at all. He had been perfectly amiable. “That,” Celestia said grimly, “is a Dark Ball.” “Impressed yet?” Mable grinned again from behind her hulking servant. “Well, save some for what happens next.” The blue-haired woman snapped her fingers, and all four of the other humans pulled identical balls from their suits. As one, they tossed them high into the air. “Go Nidoking!” one man called. “Barbaracle, you’re on!” yelled a woman. “Swampert, get them!” “Toxicroak… go!” the last one managed. Four more Pokémon appeared on either side of Rhyperior in the same dark energy. Though their appearances varied dramatically, to Twilight’s mounting horror she realized that each and every one of them had the exact same unblinking, dead eyes. Of the seven Pokémon now arrayed before them, Houndoom and Weavile alone had a gleam of intelligence and awareness to them. The rest… nothing. “As you can see, it’s you who’s outnumbered.” Mable had a hand on her hip. “And I did my research on your little friend, so she won’t be saving you this time. But if you surrender right now, I promise I’ll make it quick. Otherwise, no guarantees.” “If you think Team Rocket’s giving up to some blue-haired freak in a tacky outfit you’ve got another thing coming!” Jessie shouted up at her. “You’ve got that right!” James raised a fist. “Celestia, Solar Beam on Rhyperior right now!” The white alicorn drew freely from the warm sunlight, feeling the star’s power coursing through her veins. A golden aura coalesced around her horn, the unleashed itself as a coherent beam of destruction aimed straight for the massive grey Pokémon. “A princess of the sun knows Solar Beam. Oh, shock and surprise.” Mable said drily, then snapped her fingers again. “Protect.” Rhyperior crossed its arms before its chest, familiar turquoise energy enveloping it in a protective bubble. Solar Beam slammed into it, but the energy dissipated uselessly into the barrier, fury expended to no purpose. “As you can see, I’m well-prepared for any scenario. I’ve studied your Pokémon and I know all their potential moves,” she continued. “And your princess is a known factor. Face it, the outcome of this equation is inevitable.” She shrugged. “You should have joined Team Flare instead. Now,” Mable pointed. “You five, get the white one. Houndoom, Weavile, finish off the kids.” “Wait… WHAT?”