Recuperation
“You idiots!” Giovanni’s image roared. “You brain-dead ignoramuses!”
Jessie, James, and Meowth cowered in the dirt before the holographic projection of their wrathful boss.
“Do you blundering incompetents have the slightest idea just what you’ve allowed to happen?! You sat around and abused your authority instead of doing the job quickly! You allowed yourselves to be delayed and thwarted by mere children! Because of you there are undoubtedly now anywhere from dozens of hundreds of Dark Balls floating around in enemy hands!” Giovanni folded his hands together and closed his eyes. “The situation has suddenly become much direr. I continue to receive reports suggesting a Flare project to revive the legendary ultimate weapon. Combining the two…” he fell silent, seeming thoughtful.
Eventually, Meowth worked up the courage to poke his head up and speak. “So, uh, boss? What do ya want-”
“Silence!” Giovanni barked.
Meowth promptly pressed his face back into the ground.
“Now then,” he said, a little while later. “Here is what is going to happen. I am going to be sending new agents to the Kalos region. Competent agents. They will take charge of our operations in the region. They will deal with Team Flare in a quick and efficient fashion. You will do everything they tell you to do. Without question or hesitation. Do I make myself clear?”
“Sir, yes sir!” the trio’s jumpy shouts were somewhat muffled by the ground in their faces.
“Consider yourselves very fortunate that you happen to be one of the few teams operating in Kalos and that time is a pressing factor,” Giovanni looked balefully over the trio. “Replacing you would not yet be worth the time and expenditure necessary. And you did bring me actionable intelligence on our enemies,” his tone was hard. “So consider this your chance to partially redeem yourselves in my eyes. Fail me in such a manner again and the consequences will be… most dire.”
The hologram vanished.
“So,” said Celestia, several hours later. “How did it go?”
James replaced the princess’ Poke Ball on his belt and held up another bottle of Super Potion.
“Now hold still and close your eyes,” he said. “This will sting a bit.”
Celestia did as she was bid, squeezing her eyes shut and folding her ears back. She quickly received another dose of the stinging fluid, particularly concentrated on her neck, chest, and right wing. Her body stiffened up and shook just a little beneath the pain, but soon thereafter it faded away into the familiar cool, soothing sensation of her body healing itself. For that was what it was – she now knew that Potions and the like drew on innate energy within Pokemon themselves to induce rapid healing. Infinity Energy, it was called, and it was speculated to be the source of Pokemon attacks as well. For whatever reason, humans did not possess it.
Around a minute later, when James had finished spraying her down and applying bandages to her wings, Celestia opened her eyes again. It was midmorning, the sun shining down on Team Rocket’s improvised camp. Lacking access to their supplies, the trio had been forced to hunker down and spend the night on the dirty forest floor. Looking at Jessie, James, and Meowth, seeing their dilapidated state and the haggard looks in their eyes, Celestia found herself feeling guilty for spending the remainder of the night in her warm, snug Poke Ball.
“Feeling better?” asked James.
“I am,” Celestia nodded.
“Good to hear,” he smiled wearily, giving her a slight scratch behind the ears before walking over to sit down next to his teammates. Whereupon he promptly joined them in staring mutely at the ground, faces downcast.
“This must be so hard for them,” Celestia thought, her own eyes drifting downwards. “To try to stop something so heinous, only to fail… because of… because of…”
Gently, in a manner that could almost be described as tiptoeing, Celestia made her way over to where Team Rocket sat. She lowered herself to the ground next to James and allowed her own eyes to drift to the patch of ground they were all staring at. For some time they all simply brooded in silence, Pumpkaboo and Inkay orbiting lazily overhead.
Eventually, Celestia cast a worried eye back towards her trainer. They’d been sitting there for almost an hour and not one of them had said a word or done anything. It was such a change from how they had been…
She nuzzled James gently on the shoulder. “Is there anything I can do? Would you like to talk about it?”
James was unresponsive.
“I doubt dat’ll help much,” Meowth said mournfully, a few seconds later. “Da boss is really steamed at us dis time.”
“Oh,” Celestia’s ears folded back, her eyes downcast. She’d expected that, but hearing the news made her feel even worse.
“He said he’s gonna replace us,” Meowth continued. “Some new bigshots are comin’ over and we’re gonna be at da bottom of da heap.”
“I’m sorry to-”
“And if we screw up again,” Jessie interrupted. “Then we’re finished.”
“And after how we botched that last job,” James’ tone was miserable. “Who do you think will get blamed if anything goes wrong from now on?”
Celestia looked back and forth between the three, and then hung her head.
“I’m sorry,” she said in a low voice. “I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. If I had been stronger… If I hadn’t been so easily brushed aside…” her teeth clenched, her eyes squeezed shut. “I’ve failed…” small tears trickled down her soft white cheeks. “Again.”
Celestia thought of her dear sister. She thought of her niece’s wedding. She thought of the Crystal Empire. She thought of Discord and of Tirek. It seemed that everything she had done lately was a massive failure, wasn’t it? Her plans never worked as intended, always needing to be bailed out by Twilight Sparkle or somepony else just to avert disaster. And when she tried to fight directly, she was bested. Last night, she had been bested again. What good was an outdated princess who could neither think nor fight half as well as-
“Stop that!”
Celestia was yanked from her head by the sound of her trainer’s voice. When she reluctantly opened one eye, she could see from the angle of his chest that he was sitting up much straighter than before. James’ gloved hand gripped her chin firmly, forcing her upward into eye contact with him.
“Now you stop that, do you hear me?!” he said, expression serious.
“But I-”
“Listen to me,” James continued. “I don’t even need Meowth to tell me that you’re blaming yourself for this. As your trainer, I’m telling you to cut that attitude right now! Last night’s failure rests on all of us, not just one of us!”
“But if I had been strong enough to defeat that Gyarados we-”
“No backtalk! I won’t hear of it!” James frowned. “Besides, we can’t just sit around moping about it! We may have failed that one time, but we’ve been through worse! The important thing is that we’re all here, ready to come back better than ever! To just give up and blame ourselves and cry…” he got to his feet, fist clenched. “Why that’s the opposite of what Team Rocket stands for!”
“I never thought I’d say this, but James is right,” Jessie stood up herself. “Look at us! We’ve been moping around like a bunch of sad sacks while Team Flare gets a head start on us! This isn’t the first time we’ve screwed up! This isn’t the first time we’ve blasted off! This isn’t the first time the boss was mad at us! And have we ever given up before?”
“No!” Meowth joined in. “So why should we dis time?!”
“So we’ll work together…” James began.
“Track down Team Flare…” Jessie continued.
“And make ‘dem all pay for insultin’ da dignity of Team Rocket!” Meowth jumped to his feet.
“YEAH!” the three cheered, fists pumping. Inkay and Pumpkaboo raised their own voices in support.
“So no tears!” James whipped back around to Celestia, eyes alight with determination. “No more moping! Now is the time for action! So are you just going to sit there and blame yourself like some kind of weepy little baby Togepi? Or are you going to show true Team Rocket spirit!”
“I…” Celestia hesitated. “I don’t know if I’ll be of any-”
“Come on!” James extended one gloved hand. “Get up! And together we’ll show those Team Flare freaks just what a big mistake they made when they tangled with us!”
“I don’t-” Celestia looked into her trainer’s eyes. For a precious few seconds, they stared at one another Then her own brow creased. “Yes,” she rose gracefully onto all four hooves. “That’s what we’ll do. For the sake of all. And for Team Rocket.”
“That’s the way!” James smiled.
“All for one,” Jessie said, reaching a hand out.
James and Meowth put their hands atop hers. “And one for all!” they echoed.
“Team Rocket’s rockin’!”
“Wobbuffet!”
Shortly thereafter, Celestia was flying high above the dense, swampy forest that seemed to stretch on forever. As the best flier, it naturally fell to her to find a path out of this place and back to Laverre, where Team Rocket’s balloon and supplies still waited. It should have been easy to find one from so high up. Unfortunately, there were a few… complications.
First and foremost was the fact that Team Rocket seemed to have landed in a truly abysmal location. There weren’t any paved roads, buildings, or other such signs of civilization in any direction that Celestia had been able to pick out in the last few minutes. What she could see were a few dirt paths that went hither and yon. Some were obvious dead ends, but others stretched out a good ways away from where Team Rocket now stood. Celestia would have preferred to figure out a route more quickly, but it looked as though she’d just have to follow a trail a good ways until-
Alternatively, she could just ask that man walking along a trail down there.
Why not? She had a decent enough grasp of the local alphabet now. Enough to etch a simple question into the dirt, at any rate. And as a captured Pokemon, she needn’t fear any Poke Ball. It would save a bit of time, and with Dark Balls and perhaps an ultimate weapon about, time was now precious.
“Excuse me, sir?” she called out as she descended towards the trail. “Would you mind-”
Celestia paused as she got a better look at the man. He was, for lack of a better term, enormous. The largest human she had seen in this world, by far. Nine feet or more, easily. His clothing was ragged and battered, as was the red hat atop his head. Long white hair hung down to below his chest, while a green scarf concealed much of his lower face.
But when the man took notice and looked up at the princess, the primary sense that she got from him was one of age. Age and a supreme, all-consuming sense of melancholy. Though what she could see of his expression was neutral and entirely disinterested, Celestia still could almost feel her mood dropping at his mere presence. Not wanting to be rude, she suppressed it and landed in front of him.
“Excuse me,” she said to the towering man. “My friends and I are looking for Laverre City. I was wondering if you could point us in the direction…” she blinked, then chuckled half-heartedly. “What am I saying? Of course you can’t understand me! I need to-”
“The Pokemon…” the man said.
Celestia jumped slightly,
“The flower Pokemon…” he continued, his voice deep but sounding raspy as if from disuse. “The Pokemon that was given eternal life…”
The way he said the last bit made it sound to Celestia’s ears rather like a question.
“I’m sorry,” she shook her head. “I don’t know of any such Pokemon, but I’m-”
The giant simply walked around her, saying nothing more. Despite his slow pace, he seemed to cover ground unnaturally fast.
“Wait!” Celestia called out, despite feeling a little foolish. “Sir! I need to ask you one question! Which way is Laverre from here?”
One of the man’s massive arms pointed, though he did not turn.
“Um…” Celestia glanced in that direction. “Thank you!”
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Hah, it's the big immortal guy. He always seemed like an unfinished character to me, like he should have either had more screen time and dialogue, or he shouldn't have existed beyond a past tense in the story. Though that never bothered me as much as the chief Team Flare scientist, particularly in the post game story. That was just fucking bizzare. Anyway, glad to see an update!
Who is this guy?
Celestia... somehow Team Rocket always seem like the good guys when you're around.
But then again, they aren't so bad, especially James.
didn't Rocket team them WHICH KIDS beat them? Ash at this point is a leauge champion, and his current companions are gym leaders right? So it isn't just run of the mill kids these are skilled trainers with skilled Pokemon.
6236690 the big guy? he is known as...AZ, and he seeks the Eternal Pokemon. he has been seeking her for...a very long time...
I wonder what role AZ will have in all of this.
6236725
You are forgetting Ash (And his companions) bad habit of changing to use weaker Pokemon instead of staying using the same Pokemon who are already strong.
6236725
One is a Gym Leader. Serena and Bonnie, however, are not. The latter is too young to even legally own a Pokemon yet.
And Giovanni has met Ash before. He doesn't think he's so tough:
6236768 that's bull considering the whole Mewtwo thing. and again if Giovanni is into such intel Ash again has several leagues under his belt at this point. That should make him have some respect for Ash. Heck Ash had to beat him to get his badge after all.
6236768 well that was an easy fight
*flails arms and giggles like a schoolgirl*
AZ!
I predict Celestia power-ups in the near future.
6236690 The Rocket Trio, perhaps, but I'm glad that Celestia's still shown some misgivings as to the nature of Team Rocket. The new Team Rocket leaders (Butch and Cassidy from the anime? Domino from Mewtwo Returns? Proton & Petral from FR/LG? Ariana and Archer from HG/SS?) are probably going to show the true colors of the organization soon enough (if she doesn't overhear a particularly incriminating message from Giovanni before then). I doubt she'll abandon James at this point, but learning about Team Rocket as a whole is something I hope comes up soon enough.
Ah yes! AZ. I wonder if he was the one who caught Luna...
It's nice to see the first human in the Pokemon world who became nigh immortal.
6236787 Actually... Ash beat Jessie for the badge
Yay, more updates!
...I continue to really hope Luna doesn't end up in a dark ball. It's too easy to see coming to have any kind of impact beyond "Well that's out of the way."
What we need is... A TRAINING MONTAGE! To inappropriate music. Heh. No but seriously, Tia's really going to have to ramp up her game, so it's time to grind up some levels before Team Rocket's new superiors find out about her and attempt to 'comandeer' her pokeball.
Just wait until Tia finds Luna's corpse...
6237250 Luna would make an excellent ghost pokemon.
6237153
They should have stayed more in line with the game then.
6236787
Then there's the fact that in Unova Ash and Pikachu straight up fried Giovanni himself and he gave Jessie and James a direct order that capturing Pikachu was a major priority.
6237456 so my original point stands. He knows that in at least pokemon battles Ash is a force not to be reckoned with. So can be too hard on Jessie and james. They were dealing with i figure at this point a multi league champion.
Mostly because they wouldn't need Pokemon then, and that would ruin everything.
I assume Tia's empathy is fueling this guilt, because she did nothing wrong. In fact, she was the only person doing what she was supposed to be doing and she very nearly saved the situation they messed up. She went above and beyond and took one for the team; she has nothing to regret.
Oh. Him. Being immortal isn't good for the human brain, evidently.
Another enjoyable chapter. Good job.
6237411 Well, there's a reason why Ash lost the indigo league. He didn't even beat half the gym leaders to receive their badge
Brock: I don't remember all of the details but something set off the sprinklers and somehow let an ELECTRIC type pokemon beat a ROCK type with an ELECTRIC attack, Pikachu itself should have been wiped out easily every time due to the lack of intelligent strategy on his trainer's behalf.
Misty: Not a single electric type pokemon was used, Misty's sisters simply gave him the badge saying that IF he had used pikachu then it would have been a speedy trip to victory despite Pikachu adamantly not wanting to battle Misty.
Lt. Surge: Pikachu vs. Raichu, sure pikachu was able to outspeed Raichu, but Raichu itself was a much stronger evolution that could still learn electric type [and some non-electric type] moves from TMs, there shouldn't have even been a chance Pikachu would win because it was an electric type versus an electric type
Erika: Don't even get me started with this one... First he simply didn't apologize for being a douche to the owner of the perfume shop that happened to be owned by the same person that ran the pokemon gym, but there's also the fact that they refused him entrance to the gym even though Erika said herself that it was her duty as the leader to accept all challengers. Then she proceeds to kick his ass and simply gives him the badge because he helped save her gloom from a fire even though the gloom should have been in it's pokeball before they left the building.
Sabrina: He didn't even catch the haunter, and in 1st gen the weaknesses were actually the other way around, psychic was immune to ghost. Then he received the badge because a haunter that WASN'T HIS caused Sabrina to laugh and subsequently her kadabra through a mental link.
Koga: I actually sort of remember the Koga battle, but I do remember that Ash hadn't beat Koga due to Koga's venonat evolving. He was simply given the badge because he stopped team rocket again.
Blaine: I don't actually remember the deal with blane too much, but from what I do remember the 'Gym Battle' had Pikachu defeat a Rock/Ground type with a move that it was supposed to be immune to. It doesn't matter how cool the victory was, it was still shenanigans.
Giovanni: Nope! Team rocket in his place because Mewtwo escaped after kicking Gary's ass. And they set up some sort of rig that shocked the trainer, on both sides due to their own clumsiness, whenever their pokemon took damage. So it was a routine 'beat up Jessie and James again' battle
6237346 That would be nightmare moon.
... Dark/Ghost... *Shudder*
6237660 more of a reason I stopped watching the show. especially Pikachu. I was a charazard fan
6237696 Eh... I just mostly stopped watching it after they took misty off the show, I didn't mind Tracey, but I was upset when they took Misty away.
Who is the guy Celestia was talking to at the end?
6237660
Actually, in my first playthrough of pokemon yellow I replicated that battle almost exactly. Double Team FTW.
6237802 AZ, the giant man from x and y
6237866 I havent seen either, nor played either.
6237851 I could give a bit of leeway there since both pokemon don't solely learn electric type attacks, but still, it's the principle of the thing. It's the only battle that I feel ash actually earned
Another good chapter! I'd like to see more of Luna though.
6236887 it would be cool to see arianna (?) and proton having some sort of relations to jessie and james. they look alike and they were a genuine threat in the game. at least in my opinion. would be nice if they were portrayed as their more competent relatives or something.
6236768 , I reason like a criminal. Before I watched this episode, I thought "team rocket should threaten to kidnap someone if Meloetta won't come with them. Cilan is just some stupid childish aldult, so no kidnapping him. Ash and Iris..... Children! Most people would hold children hostage if they had a choice. So just steal the first one you knock over. Poof, problem solved." Then I watched my prediction come true.
6236761
That is the thing with the Pokemon anime. Were the main characters to keep their strongest pokemons at all times, the number and level of challenges would be greatly diminished. The show needed to keep going. Example : Charizard happened to stay in that valley just before Ash went to face Johto's second gym leader and his Bug pokemons.
6236725 What's this about Ash being a league champion, or having "several leagues under his belt?" Ash has never advanced past the semi-finals of any Pokemon League conference. He did defeat Drake of the Orange Crew and Brandon of the Kanto Battle Frontier, but neither of these is quite the same thing.
6238250 then why is he in a new region? uuuuugggghhhh the show really screws up if they can't make him a regional league champion
6238250 Orange Crew was just a nickname for the leaders of the Orange League. Satoshi IS the Orange League Champion, or at least he was until a challenger showed up and he wasn't there to duel them thus losing by default. (Never shown so may or may not have ever happened)
6238557 Not quite. Ash beat Drake, and for that he was honored accordingly, but those honors did not include making him the Champion of the Orange League. They were limited to being awarded a trophy and a place in the Orange League Hall of Fame. Drake retained his title as chief of the Orange Crew and his role in testing challengers who, if they were to win, would be awarded the same prizes as Ash. If no one ever defeats Drake again, and he eventually retires, maybe he'll ask Ash to be his successor, but that's surely a while off.
But that's beside the point, which is that Ash never advanced beyond the semifinals of a League conference. The Orange League did not feature a conference. Neither did the Battle Frontier, which Ash cleared as comprehensively as he did the Orange League. These accomplishments are impressive in their own way, but neither is the same as claiming victory in a League conference, defeating a League Champion, and being awarded a Champion title on that basis.
6238250
6238557
6238278
6237660
6236787
Ya'll are confusing Ash with Red.
Ash: Show protagonist and representative everyman. A semi lovable semi dunce with a special destiny. Fated to become a Pokemon Master through the power of friendship, acting as a representative of humanity's capacity of willingness to coexist in harmony. Largely incompetent. Unemployable skillset. Not a team player. Tactical skills nonexistent, but supplemented by nigh clairvoyant combat insticts in high pressure scenarios.
Red: Lore protagonist and in-universe mover and shaker. A tactically minded loner who sought out alliances instead of friendship within every human and pokemon he met. Willing to cooperate or trust, willing to lead if demanded, but will choose silence rather than give an uncertain answer. Possesses the superpowers of common sense, critical thinking, and maturity. Red actively optimized his pokemon training and pokemon journey to burn his way through the Leagues during the downtimes between fate crossed scenarios. Possessed several powerful artifacts and blessings that have caused various long lasting mental or spiritual or physical non-negative traumatizing side effects. Has no friends, and he confuses closely personal allies as being the same thing.
6238816 Ash was one of the name choices in Red/Blue thus he should be like that character.
6238836
Are you sure? The original red and blue for Gameboy did not have ash as a default name option iirc, although it is likely that they added it into one of the later production runs.
The original games, and the first few pokemon specials manga series, came before the TV series. When the TV series became a big hit, they then released Yellow version and "re-released" red and blue alongside it as part of the marketing.
6239042 I remember seeing Ash in Red.
Well, that was a very good chapter. I really liked how you deal with the insecurities Celestia's failures would have reasonably left her with and her relationship with James is great.
I am also looking forwards to seeing what happens with Luna because Team Rocket is obviously going to run into her fairly soon and there are a lot of ways it could go. I am personally hoping whoever Luna ran into is extremely kind and loving (and uninvolved in this mess) because she has gotten nailed with a ton of shit and really deserves a lucky break at this point.
6237851 If memory serves, the Pikachu you got in Yellow had massively boosted stats to make it useful. I distinctly remember that while I did usually catch a Pikachu in Red/Blue, it was only to give me an electric type to get past Misty because it was completely useless for anything else (ok, I did technically use it as a Flash mule as well, but that does not involve combat). Pikachu's stats are just too low to do anything meaningful without a type advantage outside the boosted starter in Yellow so what you did there is not particularly indicative of what the Pokemon can actually do.
6239257
Pikachus in Yellow have the same stats as Pikachus in Red/Blue. However, a Pikachu in Yellow uses a different cry voice from its contemporaries in other games (the same voice used for Pikachu in X/Y, the Ruby/Sapphire remakes, and the anime), and if transferred from Yellow to Stadium or Stadium 2 it will continue to use that voice despite other Pikachus using a different one. A Pikachu transferred from Yellow to a game with held items will also be carrying a Light Ball.
Additionally, Pikachus in Yellow have a different set of moves they learn by leveling compared to other G1 Pikachus:
Tail Whip: Level 6 (not learned in RB)
Thunder Wave: 1 level early
Quick Attack: 5 levels early
Double Team: Level 15 (not learned in RB)
Slam: Level 20 (not learned in RB)
Swift: Not learned (level 26 in RB)
Thunderbolt: Level 26 (not learned in RB)
Thunder: 2 levels early
Light Screen: Level 50 (not learned in RB)
The only thing unchanged in Pikachu's level-up learnset between RB and Y is the starting moves (Thunder Shock and Growl), and Agility at level 33. RB Pikachus and Y Pikachus could all learn the same TMs (and HM05 Flash), they could all learn Surf from Stadium or certain special events, and they could all learn Fly from a special event.
Note that if, for example, you transferred your Yellow starter to a Red cartridge at level 25 and fed it a Rare Candy, it would learn Swift, not Thunderbolt, and would keep the move if you transferred it back.
6237867 then you are in for a very interesting character
A: We have Celestia in the Pokerverse
B: We have Luna in the Pokeverse
C: We have Twilight in the Pokeverse.
So... who is raising and lowering the Sun and Moon back in Equestria? I imagine more the a few Ponies back there are panicking.
6240201 Discord?
Unicorns like Pre-Celestia?
6238816 Actually, no... I was talking about the english dub of the anime... with ash... and I remembered those battles because I've recently had a refresher course due to the poke-sins section of the cinemasins channel on youtube
A more competent team? Oh no, it's Butch and Cassidy, isn't it?
6247489
I think you mean :
Celestia : "Celes! Lestia!"
Twilight : "Twitwi!"
Luna : "Nalulu!"
Ash, James and [whoever Luna joined] : "Wut?"