Pokemon Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ ZERO City Trilogy ❯ Future Fear ( Chapter 3 )

Prologue

Marion and Morrison laughed cruelly at the boy, and closed in to surround the five friends. James clutched onto the blueprint for dear life, and would have seen it shredded to pieces before he allowed it to fall into the hands of his enemy.

"Stay back, or else this thing is torn in two!" he shouted. Morrison grinned, showing off his steel teeth as he called James' bluff.

"Oh? Go ahead! A little patience and a lot of tape will fix any problems you may inflict on it!"

"Then we'll just have to burn it! Charmander!" Brock called forth his fire Pokemon, but Marion quickly stopped it by unleashing the dreaded Gyarados, who completely pummeled and soaked the poor little dragon. She laughed maniacally as Morrison brought out a Wigglytuff, and as the bloated creature sang, the two Rockets covered their ears and waited for the five friends to faint. They had all experienced the lulling song of the Jigglypuff before, and could only assume that its evolved form was even stronger, so they protected themselves too.

"Not so fast!" shouted Morrison. He quickly slammed his elbows against their heads, snapping their hands free and knocking more than one unconscious. Marion smiled wickedly and followed his example, and even called back Wigglytuff to make things "more interesting". She easily knocked out the young quintet, and snagged the blueprints for her own.

"Thanks for the present, kid," she grinned as she gave James a gentle kick. "But I don't think we should leave you without a gift. Morrison, I'm going to call Charizard. You take their stuff! This time, there will be no escape." He understood, and began robbing them of their things. He plucked their bags, some of their excess clothes, and even stole away their Pokemon. Pikachu and Togepi tried to fight back, but they were no match against the deadly Rockets. Both Pokemon were captured in a bag, and with a wolfish smile, Marion ordered Charizard to torch the place.

The dragon spewed fire, encompassing the five unconscious people in a circle of powerful fire, and set the remainder of the room ablaze just in case. Marion and Morrison quickly escaped the room before the heat got to them, leaving their only opposition for dead, surrounded by fire. The heat in the room increased and moved closer to the five friends, who were robbed of any items that would have otherwise helped them. Unconscious, unequipped, and completely surrounded by intense flames, it truly looked to be the end for them all…

ZERO City

Part Three: Future Fear

It was a burning inferno of intense heat and flames that surrounded five unconscious young friends. They were trapped on all sides by the wall of fire--trapped, with no way out except through extinction. The flames even mocked them further by moving closer still, edging millimeter by millimeter towards the unmoving ones. The heat was absolutely unbearable, so hot and intense that it would have melted anything it came in contact with--and it was coming in contact with the five friends.

Slowly, Brock wiggled back to life, groaning in misery as he nursed yet another Rocket-inflicted injury. Jessie and James rarely ever hurt him or his two younger friends, and those few injuries were minor wounds, which meant that these two new enemies were in a league all of their own. But Brock had no time to recover; he noticed the flames as soon as his eyes open, and yelled out in horror as they closed in.

"Aaah! The whole room is on fire! We have to get out of here!" He quickly grabbed Ash and shook the poor kid like a rattle, screaming for him to wake up just as Jessie had screamed at them all not too long ago. Ash eventually came to, and when he saw the flames, he completely freaked out as well.

"Oh, no! We're in really big trouble!"

"Out of the frying pan and into the fire, you could say!" shouted Brock. His efforts to lighten the situation were in vain; Ash's efforts to revive his other three friends were not. James woke up on his own and shook Jessie; Misty required a violent shiver before she woke. As the five friends watched helplessly as the wall of flames closed in on them, they all realized that there was something missing from the picture.

"Oh no!" screamed Ash. "Pikachu! He's gone! Pikachu, where are you?"

"Togepi too!" said Misty. She began to shout for her little creature, but it was long gone, far away from the flames and its beloved mistress. Brock growled angrily as he noticed that not only was all the Pokemon gone, but their equipment had been taken as well!

"They took everything!!" he shouted angrily. "This is terrible! How are we gonna get out of here?"

"There's no way that we could run through!" shouted Jessie, raising her arms to shield herself from some stray flames. "Without any Pokemon, we're toast!"

"Burnt toast!" wailed James. He latched onto Jessie tightly, screaming something about how he was too young and good-looking to die. His redheaded counterpart fared no better, and squealed out helplessly as the flames inched closer. Ash wiped the sweat off his forehead and glared into the blaze as he raced for any ideas.

Okay, Ash--think! You don't have any Pokemon, and the only thing you have with you is your clothes! Team Rocket took everything! How are you going to escape this death trap?? You can't break through; you'll turn into a crisp! The sprinkler system probably doesn't work, and even if it did, those flames are probably too hot! What else do you have? …No! This can't be right! I don't have anything!

"I… don't know what I'm going to do…" he mumbled in defeat. Ash backed up, bumping into his other four friends as they tried to stay as far away from the flames as possible. It truly looked like it would be the end for everybody, and with no equipment, no Pokemon, and nobody that knew they were there, a fiery finale seemed inevitable. Swallowing down his nervousness, Ash looked at Misty, whose eyes were filled with sadness and defeat.

"…Misty," he began firmly, "we may not make it out of this one. I don't know what else to do. It's… impossible…"

"No, Ash…" He gently took her hand, looked her directly in the eye, and murmured the one thing he thought he would never have to say.

"…It looks like this is the end, Misty. I… I just want to say that--"

"Don't," she whispered, placing her fingers on his mouth. Misty mournfully drew him in for a hug, and the two friends shared a tearful embrace as the flames closed in. Meanwhile, Jessie and James were bawling on each other's shoulders.

"James… this is it! You… you always said that you wanted to go down in a blaze of glory!" He smiled, sniffled, and held her close.

"It looks like… the old members of Team Rocket won't be blasting off again anymore. It… was good… while it lasted, Jessie…" They both squeaked in pain and held each other tightly. Brock, who was all by himself, let out a single wail.

"This can't be happening! I'm gonna die and I never even got to have a girlfriend! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!"

----------

Marion and Morrison smiled in complete victory, again, as they walked away from the building and out of the city. With two awesome treasures in their possession and a storehouse full of information on disks--not to mention the loot they had stolen from their young foes--they would be returning to the Team Rocket base as heroes. They had certainly accomplished more in one single mission than most every other Team Rocket member had done in their whole careers, and definitely redeemed themselves from the Legendary Pokemon Master debacle. Then again, they were the best.

"I guess we'd better call the old man," said Marion. "He'll give birth to a whale when he hears this." Morrison agreed and held her stuff while she made the call (their device was battery-operated and used special radio waves that would be unaffected by the influence of the city). Giovanni did not usually like to be disturbed, but for his newest and deadliest employees, no time was a bad time to call.

"Yes, what have you to report?" he grumbled as the image came to life.

"We have something special planned for you, old man," smiled Marion slyly. Giovanni did not like her attitude but let her talk anyway.

"Like what?"

"You'll never guess," she chuckled.

"Just tell me," he said with a grumble. Marion pouted (a rare action indeed) and did as he asked.

"Oh… all right. Well, we downloaded a lot of good information in this new future world, and we're giving it to the tecchies to digest through. Oh, and remember those little twerps that were always running into our forerunners? We sacked and looted them blind, and stole a few Pokemon that we think you were after."

"Hm, not bad," he admitted. "But is that all?" Marion let out a sharp laugh and threw her blonde hair back wildly.

"HA, that's only an appetizer! We also managed to find a special radar that can find any Pokemon in the world!"

"Ah, now that is something!" exclaimed Giovanni. "Now Team Rocket will be able to search the world over for the rarest Pokemon in a matter of hours instead of weeks! Good, good! Is there anything else?"

"Just one small thing, sir," said Morrison. "We found a blueprint that gives instructions on how to easily mass-produce Master Balls. We have that with us too." A healthy pause separated their conversation, in which Giovanni could be seen comically hanging his mouth wide open in pure astonishment. Both Marion and Morrison smiled pleasantly as visions of rich rewards danced in their heads.

"…Can you two imagine what we could do with all of that in our possession?" he said at last. Marion shrugged.

"You could pretty much rule the world."

"Exactly! Team Rocket will become the foremost authority in the known world! We will have extended our reach across the entire earth and into the heavens, using our influence and power to completely dominate forevermore! These finds are worth more treasures than I could possibly dare count! Marion Burke, Morrison Glidden, this act alone merits you positions right at the top, with only myself as your authority!"

"I thought it was like that to begin with," grumbled Morrison. Giovanni completely ignored his comment and gave them both a flashy smile.

"Yes yes. Anyway, I'm going to send my fastest helicopter over to your coordinates. Be waiting outside of the city, and I will see you shortly. Giovanni out!"

"Roger." The transmission ended curtly, with their "boss" nearly singing for joy and the two Rockets smiling with glee. They casually took up their stuff and left the city as if it had all been a mere walk in the park.

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"AH!!"

"What is it? Are you hurt?" asked James. He examined Jessie but found no burns on her just yet. The fires were uncomfortably close, so of course he had reason for concern.

"No, I'm fine. I just remembered that Officer Jenny gave us a Pokemon to use instead of Ash's Pikachu!"

"But I thought that those two Rockets stole all our stuff!" said Ash. Jessie smiled and nodded her head.

"True, but they neglected to look in my 'secret compartment'!" James' eyes suddenly lit up with hope anew as his partner and friend mentioned her "secret compartment", and he was tempted to kiss Jessie right then and there. She dodged his affectionate tackle (sending him falling to the floor in a heap), and reached into her hair. After fishing around the vermilion jungle, Jessie plucked out a single Pokeball that Marion and Morrison had neglected to confiscate!

"All right Jessie!" squealed Misty. She and Ash both jumped up and down in glee as Jessie summoned the Pokemon within.

"Kadabra, I choose you! Use your psychic beam attack to make a path for us to get out of here!" A Kadabra came out and did as she asked, flattening the fires with its psychic beam. The wall temporarily parted, allowing the five friends and their single Pokemon passage through the flames. Everyone ran as hard as they could, until they were well out of the building and back into the city. Moments later, the entire place became consumed with fire, and exploded into a dull inferno as the flames washed up against fuel and oil.

Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief before falling on the floor in exhaustion.

"Wait! This is no time to be resting!" insisted James. He bolted up and demanded that everyone do the same. "We have to go stop Team Rocket! They made off with our stuff, and don't forget that they still have that radar and those blueprints!"

"Right! We can't let them get away with that!" shouted Misty, balling her fist up angrily. Ash, Brock, and Jessie joined the cause, and together they all chased after their enemy, using Kadabra's psychic abilities to track them down. The mysterious Pokemon was unaffected by the unusual influence of the city, so it was amazingly helpful in chasing down a pair of dastardly thieves.

The gang ran as fast as they could, letting Kadabra ride on top of Brock's shoulders since it was a little slow. They passed through most of the city at full speed, sometimes having to leap aside a few staring citizens as they ran. Marion and Morrison had gained an impressive lead, so it would take everything the friends had and more to catch up. Unfortunately, Kadabra could only be useful for so long before it tired out, and as fate saw to it, Kadabra finally wore itself out as the five friends came to a dreadful crossroads.

They were in the middle of a vast network of streets, alleys, and passageways, each one leading into a completely different direction. Ash, Brock, James, Jessie, and Misty hastily looked around them for any clues, but the city was dark and the roads were complex, every one looking like it could lead them to their destination--or just another dead end.

"This is… not really that good…" murmured James as he looked through all the possible paths. There were almost too many to count, let alone decide which was best. "Guys, I don't know how to tell you this, but… I think we're lost again." Misty rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Brilliant deduction, Sherlock."

---------------

Pikachu could squirm all he wanted, but there was no escaping the clutches of the two dreaded members of Team Rocket. They had him encased in a burlap bag that itched terribly, and even if he could have blasted his way out, Togepi was in the bag with him as well, so he wouldn't be able to risk harming the poor critter anyway. Besides, whoever was holding the bag bounced it around too many times for him to get any solid foothold. Marion and Morrison weren't stupid; they knew how to handle Pokemon such as Pikachu, and took full advantage of the city's negating influence.

"Not a bad haul," she sighed as she hefted the bags along. Most everything they had was the information they had downloaded on disk, with some exception being the radar, blueprint, and items they had stolen from their unworthy foes. It wasn't a lot to carry, and they were both in exemplary shape, particularly the gigan Morrison. The city's environment was as harsh and cruel as ever, giving off an eternal aura of darkness and confusion, but it was nothing the two Rockets could not overcome on their own.

"Let's get out of here quickly and quietly," grumbled Morrison as he moved some large debris out of the way. "That helicopter will be arriving any minute now, so we'll need to make ourselves stand out. Besides, I don't like this city. Not enough of those freakish monsters to fight."

"Agreed," she said with a hissy grin. They continued through the forest, down the path they felt would take them out the fastest. They were in no hurry, because to their knowledge, they were no longer being pursued. Besides, Giovanni's helicopter could wait a little while if need be. The Rockets had just sent his organization to the top of the dominating ladder, so they could all certainly afford to have some patience.

"You know what, Morrie?" asked Marion as she ducked under a destroyed girder. "This job was almost too easy. That behemoth gave us the most problems, and I had too much fun fighting it. What about you?"

"I've had tougher jobs," he snorted. The two of them squeezed through a small opening in what seemed to be the city wall, and found that the dark sky that covered the whole place gradually abated back into the sunny atmosphere of a warm day. The exit of the city was within their sight, and so with the polluted air and the rough ground already being forgotten, Marion and Morrison entered back into the world of purity and innocence, away from the futuristic city, and waited for the helicopter to come.

----------

"Well, now what?" asked Ash, staring at the dozens of destinations set before him. "Which way do we go? We'll have to hurry, cuz' Team Rocket's bound to be way ahead of us at this point!"

"Let's just split up and see where fate takes us all!" suggested James. Jessie nearly clobbered him for such a stupid proposal.

"That won't do us any good, Jim! There are too many places to look, and who knows how many of them lead on into the city! We could be traveling for hours, maybe even days! And even if we catch up with those other two, it'll be just one of us against all of them! They beat us twice already when we had the ability to defend ourselves, so don't think we could ever win with just Kadabra." She glared at him coolly, and he responded with a teary face full of guilt.

"D'ohh, I'm sorry Jessica! I must not be thinking straight! But what else can we do? Kadabra's too tired to tell us where to go and there's too many places and only five of us and they're probably way ahead of us by now and they can still beat us and I think we're lost and… and…… I DON'T LIKE IT HERE IN THIS CITY!"

"Snap out of it, James!" shouted Ash, shaking the other man fiercely. "We're all upset! But panicking about it won't solve anything! We'll have to think!" James took a deep breath, calmed his nerves, and quietly apologized for his outburst. Ash was right--this was no time to start screaming and losing their minds. They had to approach the problem logically.

"…You're right," he stated. "Let's use our heads. I suggest we look for their footprints. I noticed that the woman, Marion, was wearing a very peculiar type of boot--and that other guy wasn't exactly wearing a normal shoe size. We'll be able to track them down easily!"

"Good thinking!" cheered Jessie. The group split up and began to look for the peculiar prints, and as chance would have it, most of the entire area had been drowned in some kind of soot and ash from a long-ago fire. The area had not been walked upon recently, and after tracing the steps of where they had once been, the group of five friends eventually found two pairs of prints that closely matched the ones of their nemeses.

"It must be these!" exclaimed Brock. He shouted and waved for his friends, calling them over to see. "Look! Those boots look rare to me, and those are awfully big feet for a person! It must be them!"

"Good work!" said Misty with a smile. "All right, let's go down this path and hope we're right!" The gang resumed their journey with earnest, and began to go down the one single path that had been narrowed out of so many. It led up to the northeastern section of the city, where a large steel security wall had been erected to keep unwanted visitors out. There was now obviously a defect in the wall, or else monsters like the behemoth that Marion and Morrison had faced would not exist.

The team raced along the path, finding a destroyed remains of the city their only obstacle. It then became very clear that they were on the right path, because "somebody" had already cleared their way for them, tossing aside the debris and junk on their way out. Ash, Brock, James, Jessie, and Misty easily squeezed themselves through the wreckage, which would have otherwise slowed them down significantly. They hardly had any problems shoving aside the metal gates, or diving beneath crumbled bridges, or hopping over large potholes in the street.

When they came out of the wreckage, they found themselves once again in the city, or at least a less-populated part of it. They all looked around them briefly for any sign of their enemies, but were interrupted by a loud shout.

"Heeeeeey! Hey, you kids! You kids, over there!" A middle-aged man wearing a laboratory coat rushed towards them, his hand raised in the air. He came to a slow stop and caught his breath before addressing them.

"Is something wrong, sir?" asked Misty. The older man leaned on his knees, panting from so much running, and gradually answered her.

"Yes… You're outsiders, aren't you? I can tell because of the way you dress. It's not like our clothes."

"That's right," she replied carefully. "But what do you want?" The man caught his breath and stood up again, looking at all five of them in the eye.

"I've been looking all over for you people!" he exclaimed. "I got a report saying that nine outsiders had breached inside the city. Two of them already left a long time ago, and we just got word that two others were making their way to the exit of the city. Since nine minus four is five, I just assumed that--"

"Wait a minute!" exclaimed Brock, interrupting him. "Did you say that there were two others making their way to the exit?"

"Yes, why?"

"It must be Team Rocket!" he exclaimed. "Sir, which way did they go?!"

"That's why I'm here, I guess you could say," pointed the older man. "I'm one of the supervisors who is helping this city get back to its original time period. Ever since that disaster a few weeks ago, we've been hurtled back through time somehow and are now stuck in this period! But a few of my fellow scientists have been doing some work, and we've just now found out a way to get this entire city back to where we once belonged!"

"That's amazing!" sang an impressed James. "Can you really send an entire city through time on your own?" The man shrugged.

"It's been done by nature; it can be done by us. But that's not important. I was sent out here to find any outsiders that might have wandered in here on purpose or by mistake, and my reports say that you're the only ones left. You have to get out of the city immediately!"

"Why, are you preparing to go back to your world?"

"Not preparing!" corrected the man in an excited voice. "We're initiating the countdown right now! It started about five minutes ago, and I've had to break every record to get here to you! Please, you don't have much time! You have to get out of the city!" The five friends gawked in surprise as the man spat out the critical situation. Time was crucial, so there was no room even for thought to process.

"But we don't know where to go!"

"I'll show you the way!" he said, and without waiting for them, the man began to run off in a direction. The five friends followed him without hesitation, and caught up to him so that they could throw a few quick questions.

"How much time do we have?"

"We'll just be able to make it!" shouted the man as they ran. "The countdown was set for ten minutes, so we have… four right now, I think."

"Just four minutes??!!"

"Like I said, we'll just barely make it!" he shouted. "Come on!" With that, the unnamed middle-aged man went into a sprint, leading the younger ones through the rest of the city and towards the wall. Seconds mercilessly fell down the hourglass, and minute after minute mocked them, as each step forward was precious. Suddenly, Misty tripped over a steel beam that had been protruding out of the ground, scattering dust as she fell.

"Misty!" Ash instantly turned around to help her, and shouted for his friends to continue on without him. Of course, not a one of them did, and everyone helped poor Misty stand back up. As she put her weight on one foot, she moaned out in pain.

"I think I sprained my ankle…" she wailed softly. Ash stared at her for a period, his mind racing and his face covered with nervous sweat. Jessie and James snapped him out of it, and since they were a little stronger, they acted as crutches for their redheaded friend. Their middle-aged benefactor shouted for them to hurry, and sprinted ahead to meet them at the city wall. Ash and Brock stayed with their three friends, refusing to go on ahead.

"There's no way that we're leaving any of you!" exclaimed the older boy. "I would never be able to live with myself if I left you behind! That's just not who I am!!" Misty, Jessie, and James gave Brock a fond smile as he declared his loyalty, and with that little boost, the trio limped towards the city wall with less than a minute to spare.

"Through here!" shouted their "friend", guiding them all through the hole in the wall. Ash and Brock helped Misty through, giving a brief thanks to their unknown friend as they left the city. The two former members of Team Rocket, however, stayed behind just briefly.

"Just who are you, anyway?" asked Jessie.

"And why does it feel like we know you?" wondered James. The man smiled and tipped an imaginary hat.

"Let's just say that I'm a friend. There's no time to waste now! Get through that hole and give Team Rocket some trouble for me!"

"Wait a minute! How do you know--"

"There's no time," said the man with a soft smile. "You'd better get going. You only have half a minute to spare! Go!!" Jessie and James obeyed, and gave the man one last smile before they squeezed through the hole in the city wall. He watched the five friends scurry away as quickly as they could, and as the seconds ticked down, the city began to pulsate and shiver. Snakes of electricity ran across the wall and the floor, the ground rumbled, thunder clapped, and laws of physics and nature were bent as ZERO City slowly shifted into the temporal distortion of time that would take them home.

"So long, Jessie and James," said the man with a smile as he and everything around him faded away. "I'm glad I finally got to meet you in person."

A large sphere of energy encompassed the city, sending electrical waves and blasts of smog tearing out of it as it prepared to blast off into the future. A massive whirlwind of power and wind surrounded the whole place, spinning around faster and faster until everything was a blur. A flash of light blinded everyone in the area, and slowly, the sphere of energy grew smaller and smaller, until there was almost nothing left of it at all. The whirlwind calmed down, and spun slower and slower, until the entire city was completely gone, and the radical effects of the time-travel had ceased.

Nothing remained except a very large husk of earth on an otherwise-empty island.

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Ash and his friends stared at the empty space for only a few seconds before realizing that there was still Team Rocket to worry about. Putting Misty in the care of Brock, Ash and his one-time enemies raced to catch up to the Rockets, who were now clearly visible thanks to the lack of black fog in the air. Ash cried out for Pikachu, and the little yellow mouse squealed back desperately. Marion and Morrison, however, snarled in a rage.

"It's those meddling kids again!" snarled Morrison, growling worse than any lion. "What does it take to get rid of them?!" Marion's snarl turned into a smile, as if her partner had given her some kind of cue, and uncoiled the claws on her gauntlets like a fierce cat ready to spring.

"Well, you know what they always say, Morrie," she said huskily. "If you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself!" He nodded his head and agreed entirely, flexing his muscles in a defensive position. Jessie and James stood back carefully, not wanting to get clobbered by the Rockets a third time, and left Ash to pull out his trump card.

"Pikachu! You can use your thunderbolt attack now!" The little mouse stirred to live, and with the Rockets distracted, leaped out of the bag and smiled at them menacingly. Morrison swallowed down a dark gulp of nervousness, and cursed lightly as the mouse screamed out at them. A large bolt of lightning snapped at them both, shocking Marion's steel hands and Morrison's steel mouth. The two Rockets were stunned from the blast, but once the smoke cleared, they revealed themselves to be shaken but not stirred.

"That wasn't too bad," coughed Marion. "Looks like you have more tricks than I anticipated. Oh well; we only need a few things anyway. Morrison!"

"Right!" The burly giant took a bag that he had stolen from the five friends during their latest skirmish, and hurled it around in the air like an Olympic hammer. He flung it with disastrous power at the three friends, bowling them over with their own stuff.

"You can keep that junk!" he shouted. "All we need are these things we found in the city!" Ash, James, and Jessie struggled to stand, but they had been hit too hard to make an immediate retaliation. As they struggled to get their possessions off, a helicopter hovered over the island, extending a ladder for the two Rockets to climb. With the treasure trove of futuristic information in their grasp, as well as the Pokemon Radar and the Master Ball blueprint, Marion and Morrison grabbed hold of the ladder and laughed wickedly as the chopper took them away into the distance.

"Looks like Team Rocket's having the last laugh again!!"

--------------------

A feeling of dread, dark and foreboding like the clouds of smog that once covered the futuristic city skies, filled the souls of the five friends. Their day had been bittersweet, the victory almost completely hollow, and the dread of what was to come gnawed at their minds. It was true that they all got their possessions back, from Pokemon to clothes and equipment, but the losses outweighed the gains by a substantial margin. Team Rocket now had a large storage full of information from the future, which they would no doubt use to further their campaign to dominate the entire world. With knowledge like that at their hands, there would be little that they could not do.

On top of that loss, they also had the means to completely monopolize the Pokemon business. They had the power to find any creature in the world, from the common to the one-of-a-kind, and they also had the means to capture them without any trouble whatsoever. Such powers at the hands of any person would make them a force to be reckoned with, but in the hands of Team Rocket…

The five friends could only shudder to think.

Eventually, Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy came running to check up on the friends, expressing their infinite relief that they were all reasonably okay. Nurse Joy had a field day with recovering their minor injuries, and had to concentrate a bit more of her time and skill on Misty, but there was little cause to worry when it came to physical energies. Officer Jenny was also busy writing up a detailed report on the city, given to her by the five friends as they rested up from their adventure.

"Team Rocket having all that power at their fingertips… It's just not natural," she sighed. "I don't know what we're going to do now. The police officers will try their best to keep things from going out of control, but even if we had a warrant for their leader's arrest, we don't know where he is or even who he is. I guess we'll just have to worry about one thing at a time."

"………Yeah…" Ash let out a defeated sigh as Nurse Joy mended his little wounds, and reflected on what had transpired ever since they entered the city. The law of averages stated that even Team Rocket had to win a few battles here and there…… but because of the magnitude of that win, the very world would soon lose its freedom, and Pokemon all over the globe would be constantly hunted by the Rockets. It was going to be a dark era for people and Pokemon everywhere, and with such powers running against them, it was going to be nearly impossible for Ash, Brock, James, Jessie, and Misty to stop them.

---------------

Giovanni smiled with unrestrained pride as his best agents presented him with their three treasures. Any and all inconveniences the two might have caused could be overlooked, and the problems they had encountered while finding the Legendary Pokemon Master were now insignificant. They had redeemed themselves and more, and would be heavily compensated in every way possible. Slowly, as if to grasp his own destiny, Giovanni took the Pokemon Radar in his hands.

"This has been a very good day for Team Rocket," he purred. "A very good day indeed. Miss Jones?"

"Yes?" answered his secretary.

"Call Minister of Aviation Dr. Holliday. I want every available Team Rocket agent we have to be given a helicopter as quickly as possible. I am going to send a very large shipment of special Pokeballs to his area as well, so tell him to expect a delivery."

"Yes, sir. May I ask the purpose of all this, sir?"

"Nothing special, Miss Jones," he answered, sucking on his cigar. "I've just decided that now might be a good time to take over the world, that's all."

The End

Closing comments: Watch for the finale to this legacy of darkness, coming soon! It shall be a tale of betrayal, desperation, horror, oppression, and fear--but it shall also be a tale of the human spirit, of friendship and strength of will, of sacrifices, and the lengths that people will go to in order to achieve sanity and order in the world. Stay tuned as I conclude it all with the final movement in this three-part saga, "Twilight of the Gods"!