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The final Part of the tedious Nimbasa Arc. There were parts which I rushed because I didn't feel them worthy enough to write, but over all I did an "okay" job with the arc. The next chapters deals with consequences resulted due to actions in this arc, which leads to more actions and more consequences and so on until everything ends with a big bang.
Warning: Some amount of swearing in this chapter, mostly from Giovanni and Ghetsis.
The moment has finally come. He has brought Ghetsis to the weakest, with a defense composed of merely five grunts. Although the fact that there was nothing much on his defense either wasn't comforting, if Darkrai moved like he expected the five grunts will fall pretty soon. Then Ghetsis would be at his feet.
'How I would love that.' Giovanni thought. Still, would it happen so easily? Giovanni wondered. Ghetsis was the leader of Team Plasma, a team that moved on a sole conviction: To liberate Pokémon. While he was just the leader of a group of people who work purely for money, and wouldn't even think twice about betraying their team, most of them at least. This was why he had a sneaking suspicion that everything might not go as he expects them to. Losing to Team Plasma repeatedly made the Rocket Boss skeptic of his chances.
The atmosphere at the temporary base of Plasma in Nimbasa was filled with tension. Two of the most influential people in the entire world stood before each other. As if to acknowledge their meeting, the cold wind swept past them making the already cold surroundings, colder. The tall, dark buildings became the silent spectators, and so were the men around the two. The strong winds blew a tin can of some sort, somewhere at a distance, creating an annoying sound in the otherwise quiet environment. The entire city seemed to be hushed down to silence, just so that nothing would dare to disturb tem.
The Predator Pokémon, Staraptor watched on the scene from afar, as per its orders. From where it watched, the men looked no different from the sturdy electric pole or the streetlights, as they were all still and motionless.
Giovanni's left hand which held the unconscious Plasma's shirt became moist. His Persian maintained a vigilant eye on all those who surrounded Giovanni. It was perhaps Giovanni's only defense, if one wouldn't count the distant Staraptor or Darkrai.
Giovanni was tempted to turn back, to see if the phantom Pokémon was really behind him. But doing so was an act of cowardice, and not expected of him.
Ghetsis himself was an intimidating beast. He was about half a foot taller than the six-foot Giovanni. His eye, the one not covered by the red visor, was a dull grey. He had a vicious smile on his face, that of a beast which cornered its prey.
However things were different, Giovanni thought. There was something he hid in his arsenal, a secret bomb in the form of the legendary Darkrai. Once it explodes, the entirety of Plasma will be in his hands. And so, Giovanni returned his own trademark smile.
"I have always wanted to meet you, Giovanni." Ghetsis said, his lips spread even more.
"The feeling is mutual," Giovanni said, his confidence unwavering.
Ghetsis's eyes moved down to Giovanni's hand, which held the Plasma grunt. "You have a present for me? How nice of you, I have prepared a gift for you too." he showed to a grunt holding the blonde woman. Her mouth was tied with a white cloth, and her hands, legs with a nylon rope. The woman wide opened her eyes, which according to Giovanni could either be an expression of pain or perhaps an expression of fury. Knowing her personality, Giovanni assumed it was the latter.
"But I know, let's talk about something important." Ghetsis stroked his chin thoughtfully for a second and exclaimed, "How is your venture in the Resort Desert holding up?"
"Thanks for asking," the lifeless eyes of Giovanni pretended to show compassion, "But I think you should be more worried about your own venture."
"Oh, now really you are such a gentleman," Ghetsis nodded, his face turned somewhat serious. "We have sent five Plasma jeeps behind your excavation team, if you remember."
Back then, when Giovanni turned right and entered Nimbasa, the Rocket truck headed by Laura moved left. The Truck was chased by the Plasma jeeps in an attempt to destroy the Rocket Operation.
Giovanni raised an eyebrow, "Of course, how would I forget that? In fact I did expect a cordial welcome from your side."
"Oh god." Officer Jenny gasped.
The newly constructed highway was a now a big mess. The traffic was restricted, the horns blared, and people shouted names at each other. A fire truck appeared, with a loud siren, forcing the other vehicles to make way.
Many sorts of water Pokémon like Jellicent, Alommola used their respective attacks to put off the large fire in the middle of the road. Five vehicles, which seemed identical, lay in disarray; their once bright features were now singed into a tar black. Two of the vehicles were turned upside down, and a trail of blood flowed through the last jeep which seemed be the least affected by the blasts. Half of a man's body appeared from the front window, the rest trapped underneath. Another body was thrown far away, bent in an unusual and impossible L-shape.
The officer was forced to cover her nose with a kerchief as the overpowering stench of burnt bodies swept into her nostrils and twisted her stomach. Although she has been in service for three years, it was her first time that she witnessed something this horrible.
"What happened?" She asked the other officer, who was first on the scene.
"Multiple Bomb blasts, they were planned." The officer said. "There were twenty-three of them, all belong to Team Plasma."
"What!" Jenny exclaimed.
"I have anticipated it, and prepared company for them." Giovanni slowly placed his hands inside his pockets, and stood casually.
"Excellent!" Ghetsis clapped. A reaction that startled men on both sides. "As expected from an able leader like yourself."
'Is he hiding something or is he simply butt hurt?' Giovanni could only wonder. He said, "Once my Team escapes into the resort desert, stopping the vehicle would be impossible. There are three separate routes. Even I don't know which route they might have taken. I assume this is a lost battle for you, Ghetsis."
Ghetsis chortled, taking a step back. He adjusted his robe, and said, "Apologies for my behavior. But Giovanni," the vicious smile returned, "Now let's assume a scenario. I have many little birds in my humble cage. Now, suppose if I have sent one little bird to your nest," his eyes were to Giovanni's face which started to change expression. "And let's suppose that this little bird sang your song in my ears."
The Rocket Truck was zooming its way towards the Resort Desert. The members on the truck were in anticipation, as they were about to take part in what was one of the most historic event to be unfolded.
Or so did they expect to happen until another truck appeared out of nowhere and rammed the Ice-truck on the left. The vehicle spun around, losing its balance. It crashed against the railings and then entered into the open desert waste; the truck's tires sank deep into the sand, stopping the vehicle abruptly. The driver desperately pressed on the accelerator, which could only raise some dust.
Laura barged the door open with a single kick, followed by a couple of grunts who were eager to get out. They froze in their tracks, when they spotted something they didn't expect.
About three vehicles full of Plasma grunts jumped down their respective trucks and jeeps, and positioned themselves before the truck's door.
Giovanni looked like he was stung by a Beedrill. He grit his teeth and stomped his foot against the ground, "I knew there were rats among my grunts."
Ghetsis looked at the Rocket boss with pity, "Knowing is one thing, Giovanni." He shook his head in sorrow, "Acting on that knowledge is altogether a different issue."
"Indeed." Giovanni lifted his head, with a savage smile on his face. The sage Giallo who watched him shivered, as he resembled a beast that would tear them apart with its bloody fangs and claws, if it were to be trifled with. He pressed his left arm tightly, scared by the looks on the Rocket boss's face. Of course, none of it was seen outside as he did so under the shade of his long gown.
Ghetsis frowned. The glint on Giovanni's eyes worried the Plasma boss. A pregnant silence followed.
Giovanni said, "Countless number of hours, countless number of HOURS! I have spent all that time, wondering how the **** my plans kept on being thwarted. I thought there was this stinky little rat in my house. And I tried many times to catch him. But of course, I failed."
Ghetsis remained silent. Letting the furious Giovanni continue his monologue.
"But I had an idea," he said. "I divided this single mission into multiple missions, giving each of my teams, equal roles in it." The wrinkles on his forehead disappeared, a victorious smile took its place on his face, "And hence equal chance to ruin the plan, a decoy plan to be exact."
It was Ghetsis's turn to look pale and surprised.
"Have you ever seen an air balloon?" Giovanni asked the astonished Ghetsis.
That night when Giovanni had a long conversation with the Dark Prince, only half the talk was about his freedom and Domino. The other half was something even Giovanni didn't think of. They were reviewing about the plan they sketched out earlier. It was a new experience to the Prince, planning something of this level and to Giovanni, to discuss such things with his son. It was during this review, the Dark Prince suddenly dropped in his idea.
"Dad, I have wondered." The Prince asked, "Why don't your team member use those air balloons anymore?"
"My team members used Air balloons?" He asked, unaware of any such thing.
"Jessie, James and Meowth used to follow me on that. We could use it to transport our equipment, plus they won't catch much attention like helicopters."
The boy unknowingly suggested something that sparked an idea in his father's mind. The spark then grew and developed into a perfect plan. The next moment he called James, "Where's Meowth?" He was the only one not assigned any jobs, as he wasn't available for the meeting. Back then it didn't occur to Giovannithat he was missing.
The blue-haired man looked down nervously, "Um, sir. He isn't here."
"Then where is he?" He asked, on the verge of shouting.
The executive was caught off-guard by the sudden temper of his boss. "He…" He said, stretching the word like a bubble gum.
"James, we don't have all day," Giovanni snapped.
"Sir, he's on a secret mission, by Professor Zager," he blurted out. "He's in the Dragonspiral tower, which according to the Professor is the most probable location of Zekrom."
Giovanni curled his fingers into a fist, "I have told him, to forget it and concentrate on the current location. Does he like not following my orders?"
"Sir," James raised his head. He opened his mouth to defend his partner.
But Giovanni cut him off, "Call him, and tell him to come back A.S.A.P"
"Of course you might wonder what happened to those grunts you sent after that Ice truck," Giovanni chuckled, as if enjoying some private joke. "If you check tomorrow's headlines, you'll find out that an anonymous person sent a video to the television channel. A couple of Plasma grunts were seen carrying lethal weapons." He nodded. "Ah, that would be some news."
"You!" Ghetsis roared. His face looked like that of a mad beast, "How dare you?" He snarled. If Giovanni was a mad beast till then, Ghetsis was only madder.
Giovanni returned a haughty smile, enjoying his adversary's plight, "Now your team will be blacklisted too, I suppose." He expected Ghetsis's face to turn redder, with anger.
Like a magic, Ghetsis's face turned calm, a smile spread on his lips. "I am surprised, Giovanni. You have really outwitted me." He held the silence for an instant, "Yes, you have won." Ghetsis bowed and saluted Giovanni.
The sage and grunts were astonished by Ghetsis's reaction. The man who took pride in his intelligence, in his ideals, and kept his head high no matter what the situation was—now bowed to a mere mortal. If Ghetsis were to bow to anyone, Giallo thought, it would be the legendary Zekrom himself.
Giovanni smirked, accepting Ghetsis's acknowledgement. This was what he wanted for the past one year. He has finally clinched victory from Plasma's hands. This could easily be the best day of his life, Giovanni remarked to himself.
"But," Ghetsis jerked his hand, pushing his robe, exposing the grey pants he wore underneath. Ah, how fortunate the word 'but' existed, Giallo thought. He waited for Ghetsis's next words. "All of it shall be in vain, if you die here."
Understanding their lord's signal the five grunts placed their guns in position at once, prepared to pull the trigger at the man whom he bowed to. In contrast Giovanni's smile remained the same, despite the fact that death was at his door step. It was as if he thought the guns were toys. His firm smile confused the grunts, but both Ghetsis and Giovanni knew, the former wouldn't kill the latter so easily.
And it was because of this that Giovanni was confident, that Ghetsis and his men would soon fall prey to Darkrai.
Ghetsis lifted an arm, asking them to hold the fire. Giovanni remained smiling for a long time, waiting for the Dark Void to pull the Plasma boss into a nightmare, and pay for the anguish he faced till then. But it didn't happen. The Dark Void never came. Giovanni's smile slowly started to disappear. In turn, proportionately, Ghetsis's beaming face only grew brighter.
Ghetsis then laughed hard, as hard as hundred people put together, hard enough to echo throughout Nimbasa. "You didn't expect your backup betraying didn't you?"
Sweat formed on Giovanni's face, as he showed the first signs of panic.
"Did it not occur to you that the same Pokémon that approached you might have also approached me?"
He said after a brief silence, "When I saw the rain consuming my men and Pokémon, I knew 'he' was here. I always had preparations ready for him, ever since I betrayed 'him'."
"Y-You—what?"
Ghetsis chortled once more, "There is more to Darkrai than you have ever imagined, Giovanni. Blindly trusting him is foolishness. You will pay with death for trusting someone like him."
Giallo shared a smile with the Plasma leader, he too knew of the outcome. Giovanni had an unexpected power with him, but the knowledge Ghetsis and he possessed was more than unexpected. The grunts placed their fingers on the trigger, ready to click it anytime the boss ordered. They were humble followers of Ghetsis, who went to great lengths to serve him.
'N-No.' Giovanni thought. 'I am Giovanni, of Team Rocket. I know better than to die like this.'
The Rocket Boss said, "That's true. But I have never trusted 'him' in the first place, let alone rely on 'him' to save me."
Ghetsis shot a glare, 'What the heck does he mean?'
The Staraptor, which understood that Giovanni was in danger then prepared to send a message to its distant trainer.
The two young men and their Pokémon stood facing each other. Unlike their elderly counterparts, they hardly knew each other.
One of them was our beloved Dark Prince, in his early teens. The other boy was also of the same age, and was green haired. His gaze was sharp, but his eyes indicated that he must have seen and suffered many painful things in his short life.
The Prince was annoyed. Who is this guy that seemed to pop out of nowhere in a curfew struck city, while everyone else were hiding in their houses or other shelters.
Whoever he is, he must have quite a nerve to stop the Dark Prince. I will freak him out,he thought.
He turned to the Zoroark standing beside him. 'Hey Zoroark. Get back into your Pokéball if you want your trainer safe and sound. You won't stand a chance against my Charizard. '
The Zoroark held its breath for a moment then frowned for a second, and then exchanged a glance with its trainer. It was followed by a smile on the boy's face. The frown on the Pokémon's face was then replaced by a grin. It was as if they had a conversation with just a glance.
The Charizard beside the Prince opened its mouth in surprise. It growled something at the Dark Prince for a second.
It was his turn to gasp in surprise, 'He spoke with you?' The Pokémon nodded, equally surprised.
Who the heck is he?
"I am saddened," the expression on the green-haired boy's showed he really was. "I didn't expect a fellow chosen being of Zekrom to be a kidnapper."
'Chosen by Zekrom?' He wanted to ask, but his pride didn't let him to do so.
He said, "It's none of your business. This girl's mine."
"I am not talking about Misty, seventeenth Gym Leader of Cerulean City."
The Dark Prince stared at him blankly, his mouth opened in surprise.
"I am talking about the thirty-one Pokémon in your bag, along with the Charizard and the other two Pokémon completing some errands for you. In fact every Pokémon trainer is a kidnapper in my eyes."
The Dark Prince opened his mouth to say something. "How did you—" He stopped suddenly and looked into the distant sky, struck in terror. He then turned to Charizard, "Dad's in danger, we gotta go!"
The Prince hopped onto the Pokémon, and then they dashed into the sky at full speed.
"I was starting to enjoy our conversation," N's face was that of an innocent child who just missed an important episode of his favorite cartoon. "Never mind. We will meet him again someday."
"So, what shall it be?" Giovanni smirked. Although he was ready to be shot by about five people around him, he coolly placed his hands inside his pocket. "My Persian is well trained and can move fast enough to hit that button before anyone tries to shoot it. One wrong move, from any one of you and he will activate that bomb."
Persian inched its claws close to the red-button on the device strapped to the unconscious Plasma grunt's belt.
"I am glad you sent suicide bombers after me," he said, nonchalantly.
Ghetsis cursed himself, for not anticipating something like this from a resourceful man such as Giovanni. Thanks to him, his own life was in the hands—no, the paws of a Persian!
Ghetsis exchanged a glance with the old sage, who lowered his head in defeat. "Now, tell them to drop the guns and Pokéball," Giovanni commanded. "And be quick about it."
The grunts looked at each other, wondering what to do. Ghetsis spoke up, "Do it." He said with difficulty, as if he were forced to leave a grand treasure in some abandoned island.
"Sir," they agreed, hesitatingly but almost immediately. They slowly dropped their guns one after the other.
"Now, release my girl," Giovanni demanded.
Ghetsis nodded to the sage, who then nodded at a grunt closest to her. The grunt bent to untie the blonde's legs. She wriggled her leg away from him as soon as the rope loosened. She pulled herself together and struggled to get up. The grunt proceeded to untie her hands before Giovanni stopped her.
"Don't untie her hands," he said. 'She is better off with her mouth shut like that.'
The woman's eyebrows closed in, she paced towards Giovanni, half stumbling in the process. She craned her neck up to meet up with his eyes. The Rocket boss simply ignored her, and pushed her away like a pesky little child, to not interrupt his battle of stares against the Plasma Boss. The woman insulted by Giovanni's actions tried to send another deathly stare at him from the right, but couldn't as she barely reached his shoulders.
"Very well, Ghetsis," Giovanni smiled. "With that we take our leave."
Ghetsis thought, Leave? If the Persian moves a single step away from that button, he's dead meat.'
"Flamethrower!" A voice commanded out of nowhere.
"What?" Ghetsis jerked his head up. A wall of fire was crashing onto them, spreading wide like the lava from a volcano, preparing to annihilate them into bio mass. Blinded by the sudden light from the attack, Ghetsis covered his face with his hands and took a step to sprint away from the attack. The hot flames landed on the asphalt at the same time, the physical obstruction caused it to dissipate in all directions. Alarmed by the approaching flames he leapt as far as he could and landed on the rough surface.
His palms were sore with multiple cuts resulting from a rough landing. A sharp sting of pain hit him, which was more annoying than painful. "Dammit," he cursed. The flames from the Pokémon has already died out, leaving nothing but few fumes that seemed to emanate from the black-turned greyish road.
A large Pokémon with two powerful limbs, and relatively smaller hands, which carried a red-haired girl slowly landed where it once launched the attack. It flapped its large red-blue wings once before letting out a roar that rivaled a lions.
Atop the Pokémon was a boy, his face covered by the darkness under his hood.
At that moment Ghetsis realized that holding fire because of Giovanni's threat was no longer meaningful. "Fire!" He shouted as hard as he ever could. The grunts behind immediately zeroed their guns onto the Pokémon and its trainer. But the Pokémon immediately let out its own fire, sending a flood of flames down the road to throw them into disarray. Then, with a powerful gust lifting away anyone who was still on their feet, the Pokémon shot into the sky, like a rocket.
Meanwhile, Giovanni and Domino fled away while their attention was on the Prince and his Charizard.
The next second, the Pokémon and its trainer were only a distant dot in the endless sky. Ghetsis gritted his teeth so hard that one might think he could crush them in the process. His knuckles turned white, the men around him also had to face the discomfort that he was grumbling like a mad dog. He swiveled his head towards a grunt, "What are you watching? Go and get Giovanni," he barked. The grunt that stood close to the Plasma boss flinched at the sudden outburst.
"Y-Yes sir," he immediately took to his heels.
"Ghetsis, my lord." Giallo said, "I think catching Giovanni might be difficult now," the wise sage said. Ghetsis remained silent, but the look of anger hadn't faded from his face. The sage then said again, "We were attacked by a powerful Pokémon trainer. He must have put a couple of Pokémon to guard Giovanni, guns don't beat Pokémon."
As if to agree with the sage, a blood curdling scream was heard from somewhere distant. It was the grunt who was sent to follow Giovanni.
A deadly silence followed the sage's words, like the silence before a storm. The grunts trembled in fear, as if they were directly under an active volcano. And then—
"GIOVANNI!"
The loud scream reverberated through the streets of Nimbasa for five minutes. Houses all around flickered with lights, but none of course dared to step out, because of the terrorist threat. After the five minutes, the lights all turned off, as they all assumed that it was a wild Pokémon gone berserk. The police ignored it casually as if nothing happened. For the unfortunate people, which were the Plasma grunts and the sage who were unlucky enough to stand close to him, the sound lingered for five more minutes in their ears, and for some, the rest of their lives.
"Mission accomplished," the Pokémon whispered into the Rocket transmitters. "The necessary stone for awakening Zekrom isn't here." In the grand world of Pokémon there is but one of them who could speak English fluently, without the aid of any telekinetic powers. He was Meowth, the last and one of the most cunning executive of Team Rocket. As an executive his admins and grunts revered him as a genius planner. Members of Team Rocket go to great lengths just to work under him. Yet all of this respect didn't just come to him. He had to work hours and days, taking insults from people below and above him, while still striving to set an example as a leader. After six months of spending his time as an executive, he finally received the respect he deserved. But today, was an altogether different level of success for him.
Giovanni gave him the heavy responsibility of handling the team's equipment to Relic Castle. Although the original plan involved all twenty-three units of Team Rocket to transport the equipment via the ice-truck, they were only a decoy for Plasma. Who else would make such a detailed and elaborate plans for a decoy, other than the genius Giovanni!
They completely vanquished Team Plasma before they even reached their destination. But the leader of the attack, a sage named Rood managed to escape from their clutches in the last-minute.
Even so, this was Team Rocket's first victory against Team Plasma, and he was proud to be the one in charge.
"Fall back to the base, contact the boss and inform the news."
He turned off the transmitters and let out a heavy sigh. 'But Plasma will receive a bigger blow than this.' He smiled, looking at the mobile phone in his hands. He threw the phone into the air and slashed it into pieces with his sharp claws. "Can't leave clues to the police, can we?"
"That son of a harlot!" Ghetsis banged against the table made of teak wood. The steel supports cringed with his banging. "How dare he mocks me like this!" He banged once again, a bolt sprang out, and the table's legs stretched apart.
Once the mishap with Giovanni ended, Ghetsis secluded himself to his chambers, screaming about revenge and what not. The grunts waited outside, terrified of his wrath and worrying about the results from today's disaster at the same time.
A gentle knock on the door interrupted Ghetsis's sexual-related abuses at Giovanni. He kicked the table away from his chair and snapped the door open, almost lifting off its hinges. His gaze softened when his eyes met with Giallo, the sage.
"What is it?" He asked, making a half-baked attempt to hide his anger.
"Lord," his face carried an amount of sorrow, "We have experienced some difficulties, sir."
Giallo noticed the anger on Ghetsis's face returning back to its original state. He quickly spoke out, "Rood's team was wiped out near the vicinity of Relic Castle."
"What?" He exclaimed. "Who did it? The ****ing Team Rocket?"
"Yes and—" he thought for a second before saying the next statement, "The police from Castelia." He said it in a low voice.
'The Police?' Ghetsis involuntarily took a step back, unable to digest what Giallo said.
"They received an anonymous tip said that members of Team Plasma attacked a lone Ice truck. The evidence given to the media was also given to the police, sir."
Ghetsis's head spun around like the Ferris wheel. He took a seat on the couch in the living room, brushing his fingers through his hair. "What did the police do?" Ghetsis's voice was almost a whisper.
"They caught Rood and few grunts back from the Relic Castle. They found some equipment in the Relic Castle and took them in as evidence."
"The Rockets?" He sprang up, "Did they get them?"
"According to Rood, they all magically disappeared by the time the police hit the castle."
"Magically?" Ghetsis asked, incredulous.
"The hot air balloons, I presume," the old sage said brushing his long white beard for once.
"Right. The balloons," the humiliation was too much for him. "What are our men in the police department doing?" He asked, once again resuming his sulking form.
"The tips were sent to seven different stations at once, sir. We couldn't stop them, and there was also this media intervention. They have saved Rood from the trouble of entering the station, at least."
Ghetsis closed his eyes for a second and then said, "Kill the grunts in the custody, and tell the media that we don't have any relation with them!"
"A wise decision, my lord." He agreed with the course of plan Ghetsis took. 'But after this, we will make it to the wanted charts for sure.' "We should be careful from now, Ghetsis. I will begin with our grunts scattered around Nimbasa. We may have to go undercover by morning."
Giallo noticed he was busy thinking something.
In Ghetsis's mind: 'I swear to god, Giovanni. I won't kill you. You will live a long life, a life full of agony and pain. I will crush everything you love. Your dreams, the woman you love, the son you crave for, and the organization you built. Everything, I will crush everything that you are attached to. The day will come when you'll beg me to leave you alone, beg me to kill you instead and beg and beg and beg and beg and beg until I crush your last hopes like the Venipede you are!'
"I will not kill you, Giovanni." Those were the only words he said aloud, and instantly Giallo knew what was going in Ghetsis's mind.
While the Dark Prince and the others experienced a really long, adventurous and tense filled night full of twists Paul, Casey and Brandon slept in the mysterious cave which they found in the terrible winter night. It was when the sunlight graced them; they woke up and realized they were in what seemed to be a rather strange situation.
"Ruins of Alps?" There was a genuine surprise on Paul's face.
He took the Pokégear and checked if they were doing something wrong while handling it. But it didn't change, the location kept saying Ruins of Alps no matter what they did.
"Are we in Johto?" Casey asked, she seemed like she would break down anytime.
"Of course not." Paul said, "If anything we should be worried that our Pokégear isn't working."
"Paul, I wouldn't be so sure." Brandon's voice shook, as he watched something behind them.
"What's with you?" Shouldn't Brandon be a lot braver than they were? After all he must have been lost in wilderness a lot many times in search of exotic treasures. He turned behind to see what it was. All he could see was two stone pillars—wait stone pillars? He remembered getting into a cave which was nothing but a small opening amidst the rocks that led to a den where they slept. Not two stone pillars and there definitely wasn't a sign board which had letters that hardly resembled any language he knew, which were English…..okay, only English.
"What's going on, Brandon?"
"Did you never visit Ruins of Alps when you journeyed through Johto?" He asked.
"No." It doesn't have useful Pokémon, he wanted to say but the situation wasn't so favorable.
"History says the ruins have nine entrances, like this one. But the actual ruins of Alps only have seven. These ruins exactly resemble them, the Unown letter are proof."
'So those are Unown?' There were very few things he didn't know about Pokémon. His pride prevented him from telling Brandon that he didn't know those letters was Unown.
"The ruins of Alps exist in only one place, Johto." Brandon revealed it with a hint of tension in his voice, as if it was something hideous.
"Brandon, did something hit you on your head?" Paul asked. "It is geographically impossible. It takes a flight, two trains and a motor vehicle to go to Ruins of Alps, if I remember the place correctly. We can't just walk into Johto."
Brandon had to agree with it, what was he thinking? He was the pyramid king, how could he be so foolish.
"I'll go and check what's inside." Casey walked inside.
Meanwhile Brandon took liberty to check the surroundings. The blizzard last night was too much which was why they couldn't check the surroundings. Although either of them swore that they walked a great deal of time among the forest trees and the snow, they didn't want to admit it, because it contradicted reality and they would have to believe that they have been magically transported to Johto. Everything around them was rubble, broken pillars, crumbled statues and the remains of houses that once proudly stood in a well-arranged manner. One of the interesting parts was that, the entire structure seemed to be built of white marble stones.
The only thing that kept them from going insane was the snow, it was the only instance in common with what they have 'thought' they saw in the blizzard ridden journey and what lay before them.
"It seems as if a whole civilization has been brought down by something or someone," Brandon figured it out as he saw a rather large amount of stone and dust in a particular area. Then he slowly tried to shape things, "This," he pointed to the rubble on the right, "Is a line of houses," he pointed in the direction where their 'cave' was. "And this is a road, I must say, a well laid one, considering they seem to maintain the outlines after so many hundreds…" He paused, "Or perhaps thousands of years."
Paul remained silent, because he wasn't an expert about studying remains of ancient civilization, so he decided sinking in the information was a better thing to do.
"Brandon," he interrupted Brandon's study, "Casey hasn't come back yet, should I check on her?"
Brandon contemplated for a second, "I'll come too," he said.
"I hope there isn't a secret passage in the cave that led her to some dangerous trap," Brandon said worriedly. Paul looked at him, wondering if something like that would even exist.
Just as they approached the entrance Casey came in a semi-walking and running pace. "Guys, where were you?"
"We were here all the time." Brandon asked, to which Casey shook her head in disbelief.
"Can you come in once?" She didn't wait for the answer and pulled him into the den, Paul silently followed.
They entered the den, it was the same as it was few minutes ago, and there weren't any new holes that popped out to take them into mysterious dimensions.
"What is wrong Case—" Before he could finish his question, she pulled him outside again. And Paul reluctantly followed.
Once again they were outside the cave—except that what lay before them was something they didn't expect at all. Instead of the ancient civilization they were examining earlier, what lay before them was a forest, ridden with snow.
Words didn't come out of Brandon's mouth. This was where they have actually been yesterday. He eyes didn't allow him to accept that, but it was the truth. He turned around. It wasn't an entrance with two stone pillars but a simple cave entrance.
"What does the Pokégear say?" He asked her.
"That is the weird part." She showed her Pokégear to him which said:
LOCATION: LOST-LONG FOREST, UNOVA.
Kinda weird isn't it? Well I love to screw with Paul and it adds up to something important in the main plot too. (Why don't you try guessing?) The idea of this crazy cave came to me while playing Pokemon Snakewood, where the same entrance led to two different places every time I tried entering inside. There is a reason of some kind for everything, the reason for this will also be explained shortly.
Minor Trivia: I am not going to make a regular extra section. But when I do have a fact to explain in my brain and I don't want to write it in the story, I'll introduce them in this section.
1) Darkrai's Dark Void can put any creature to sleep for about six hours.
2) N has a higher IQ than normal humans, and has an eidetic memory.
Warning: Some amount of swearing in this chapter, mostly from Giovanni and Ghetsis.
Nimbasa Tour Part IV: The Wrath of Ghetsis Harmonia
Giovanni
Giovanni
The moment has finally come. He has brought Ghetsis to the weakest, with a defense composed of merely five grunts. Although the fact that there was nothing much on his defense either wasn't comforting, if Darkrai moved like he expected the five grunts will fall pretty soon. Then Ghetsis would be at his feet.
'How I would love that.' Giovanni thought. Still, would it happen so easily? Giovanni wondered. Ghetsis was the leader of Team Plasma, a team that moved on a sole conviction: To liberate Pokémon. While he was just the leader of a group of people who work purely for money, and wouldn't even think twice about betraying their team, most of them at least. This was why he had a sneaking suspicion that everything might not go as he expects them to. Losing to Team Plasma repeatedly made the Rocket Boss skeptic of his chances.
The atmosphere at the temporary base of Plasma in Nimbasa was filled with tension. Two of the most influential people in the entire world stood before each other. As if to acknowledge their meeting, the cold wind swept past them making the already cold surroundings, colder. The tall, dark buildings became the silent spectators, and so were the men around the two. The strong winds blew a tin can of some sort, somewhere at a distance, creating an annoying sound in the otherwise quiet environment. The entire city seemed to be hushed down to silence, just so that nothing would dare to disturb tem.
The Predator Pokémon, Staraptor watched on the scene from afar, as per its orders. From where it watched, the men looked no different from the sturdy electric pole or the streetlights, as they were all still and motionless.
Giovanni's left hand which held the unconscious Plasma's shirt became moist. His Persian maintained a vigilant eye on all those who surrounded Giovanni. It was perhaps Giovanni's only defense, if one wouldn't count the distant Staraptor or Darkrai.
Giovanni was tempted to turn back, to see if the phantom Pokémon was really behind him. But doing so was an act of cowardice, and not expected of him.
Ghetsis himself was an intimidating beast. He was about half a foot taller than the six-foot Giovanni. His eye, the one not covered by the red visor, was a dull grey. He had a vicious smile on his face, that of a beast which cornered its prey.
However things were different, Giovanni thought. There was something he hid in his arsenal, a secret bomb in the form of the legendary Darkrai. Once it explodes, the entirety of Plasma will be in his hands. And so, Giovanni returned his own trademark smile.
"I have always wanted to meet you, Giovanni." Ghetsis said, his lips spread even more.
"The feeling is mutual," Giovanni said, his confidence unwavering.
Ghetsis's eyes moved down to Giovanni's hand, which held the Plasma grunt. "You have a present for me? How nice of you, I have prepared a gift for you too." he showed to a grunt holding the blonde woman. Her mouth was tied with a white cloth, and her hands, legs with a nylon rope. The woman wide opened her eyes, which according to Giovanni could either be an expression of pain or perhaps an expression of fury. Knowing her personality, Giovanni assumed it was the latter.
"But I know, let's talk about something important." Ghetsis stroked his chin thoughtfully for a second and exclaimed, "How is your venture in the Resort Desert holding up?"
"Thanks for asking," the lifeless eyes of Giovanni pretended to show compassion, "But I think you should be more worried about your own venture."
"Oh, now really you are such a gentleman," Ghetsis nodded, his face turned somewhat serious. "We have sent five Plasma jeeps behind your excavation team, if you remember."
Back then, when Giovanni turned right and entered Nimbasa, the Rocket truck headed by Laura moved left. The Truck was chased by the Plasma jeeps in an attempt to destroy the Rocket Operation.
Giovanni raised an eyebrow, "Of course, how would I forget that? In fact I did expect a cordial welcome from your side."
The Desert Highway, Route 4
"Oh god." Officer Jenny gasped.
The newly constructed highway was a now a big mess. The traffic was restricted, the horns blared, and people shouted names at each other. A fire truck appeared, with a loud siren, forcing the other vehicles to make way.
Many sorts of water Pokémon like Jellicent, Alommola used their respective attacks to put off the large fire in the middle of the road. Five vehicles, which seemed identical, lay in disarray; their once bright features were now singed into a tar black. Two of the vehicles were turned upside down, and a trail of blood flowed through the last jeep which seemed be the least affected by the blasts. Half of a man's body appeared from the front window, the rest trapped underneath. Another body was thrown far away, bent in an unusual and impossible L-shape.
The officer was forced to cover her nose with a kerchief as the overpowering stench of burnt bodies swept into her nostrils and twisted her stomach. Although she has been in service for three years, it was her first time that she witnessed something this horrible.
"What happened?" She asked the other officer, who was first on the scene.
"Multiple Bomb blasts, they were planned." The officer said. "There were twenty-three of them, all belong to Team Plasma."
"What!" Jenny exclaimed.
Giovanni
"I have anticipated it, and prepared company for them." Giovanni slowly placed his hands inside his pockets, and stood casually.
"Excellent!" Ghetsis clapped. A reaction that startled men on both sides. "As expected from an able leader like yourself."
'Is he hiding something or is he simply butt hurt?' Giovanni could only wonder. He said, "Once my Team escapes into the resort desert, stopping the vehicle would be impossible. There are three separate routes. Even I don't know which route they might have taken. I assume this is a lost battle for you, Ghetsis."
Ghetsis chortled, taking a step back. He adjusted his robe, and said, "Apologies for my behavior. But Giovanni," the vicious smile returned, "Now let's assume a scenario. I have many little birds in my humble cage. Now, suppose if I have sent one little bird to your nest," his eyes were to Giovanni's face which started to change expression. "And let's suppose that this little bird sang your song in my ears."
The Desert Highway, Lane 2
The Rocket Truck was zooming its way towards the Resort Desert. The members on the truck were in anticipation, as they were about to take part in what was one of the most historic event to be unfolded.
Or so did they expect to happen until another truck appeared out of nowhere and rammed the Ice-truck on the left. The vehicle spun around, losing its balance. It crashed against the railings and then entered into the open desert waste; the truck's tires sank deep into the sand, stopping the vehicle abruptly. The driver desperately pressed on the accelerator, which could only raise some dust.
Laura barged the door open with a single kick, followed by a couple of grunts who were eager to get out. They froze in their tracks, when they spotted something they didn't expect.
About three vehicles full of Plasma grunts jumped down their respective trucks and jeeps, and positioned themselves before the truck's door.
Giovanni
Giovanni looked like he was stung by a Beedrill. He grit his teeth and stomped his foot against the ground, "I knew there were rats among my grunts."
Ghetsis looked at the Rocket boss with pity, "Knowing is one thing, Giovanni." He shook his head in sorrow, "Acting on that knowledge is altogether a different issue."
"Indeed." Giovanni lifted his head, with a savage smile on his face. The sage Giallo who watched him shivered, as he resembled a beast that would tear them apart with its bloody fangs and claws, if it were to be trifled with. He pressed his left arm tightly, scared by the looks on the Rocket boss's face. Of course, none of it was seen outside as he did so under the shade of his long gown.
Ghetsis frowned. The glint on Giovanni's eyes worried the Plasma boss. A pregnant silence followed.
Giovanni said, "Countless number of hours, countless number of HOURS! I have spent all that time, wondering how the **** my plans kept on being thwarted. I thought there was this stinky little rat in my house. And I tried many times to catch him. But of course, I failed."
Ghetsis remained silent. Letting the furious Giovanni continue his monologue.
"But I had an idea," he said. "I divided this single mission into multiple missions, giving each of my teams, equal roles in it." The wrinkles on his forehead disappeared, a victorious smile took its place on his face, "And hence equal chance to ruin the plan, a decoy plan to be exact."
It was Ghetsis's turn to look pale and surprised.
"Have you ever seen an air balloon?" Giovanni asked the astonished Ghetsis.
Giovanni's memory
That night when Giovanni had a long conversation with the Dark Prince, only half the talk was about his freedom and Domino. The other half was something even Giovanni didn't think of. They were reviewing about the plan they sketched out earlier. It was a new experience to the Prince, planning something of this level and to Giovanni, to discuss such things with his son. It was during this review, the Dark Prince suddenly dropped in his idea.
"Dad, I have wondered." The Prince asked, "Why don't your team member use those air balloons anymore?"
"My team members used Air balloons?" He asked, unaware of any such thing.
"Jessie, James and Meowth used to follow me on that. We could use it to transport our equipment, plus they won't catch much attention like helicopters."
The boy unknowingly suggested something that sparked an idea in his father's mind. The spark then grew and developed into a perfect plan. The next moment he called James, "Where's Meowth?" He was the only one not assigned any jobs, as he wasn't available for the meeting. Back then it didn't occur to Giovannithat he was missing.
The blue-haired man looked down nervously, "Um, sir. He isn't here."
"Then where is he?" He asked, on the verge of shouting.
The executive was caught off-guard by the sudden temper of his boss. "He…" He said, stretching the word like a bubble gum.
"James, we don't have all day," Giovanni snapped.
"Sir, he's on a secret mission, by Professor Zager," he blurted out. "He's in the Dragonspiral tower, which according to the Professor is the most probable location of Zekrom."
Giovanni curled his fingers into a fist, "I have told him, to forget it and concentrate on the current location. Does he like not following my orders?"
"Sir," James raised his head. He opened his mouth to defend his partner.
But Giovanni cut him off, "Call him, and tell him to come back A.S.A.P"
Ghetsis Harmonia
"Of course you might wonder what happened to those grunts you sent after that Ice truck," Giovanni chuckled, as if enjoying some private joke. "If you check tomorrow's headlines, you'll find out that an anonymous person sent a video to the television channel. A couple of Plasma grunts were seen carrying lethal weapons." He nodded. "Ah, that would be some news."
"You!" Ghetsis roared. His face looked like that of a mad beast, "How dare you?" He snarled. If Giovanni was a mad beast till then, Ghetsis was only madder.
Giovanni returned a haughty smile, enjoying his adversary's plight, "Now your team will be blacklisted too, I suppose." He expected Ghetsis's face to turn redder, with anger.
Like a magic, Ghetsis's face turned calm, a smile spread on his lips. "I am surprised, Giovanni. You have really outwitted me." He held the silence for an instant, "Yes, you have won." Ghetsis bowed and saluted Giovanni.
The sage and grunts were astonished by Ghetsis's reaction. The man who took pride in his intelligence, in his ideals, and kept his head high no matter what the situation was—now bowed to a mere mortal. If Ghetsis were to bow to anyone, Giallo thought, it would be the legendary Zekrom himself.
Giovanni smirked, accepting Ghetsis's acknowledgement. This was what he wanted for the past one year. He has finally clinched victory from Plasma's hands. This could easily be the best day of his life, Giovanni remarked to himself.
"But," Ghetsis jerked his hand, pushing his robe, exposing the grey pants he wore underneath. Ah, how fortunate the word 'but' existed, Giallo thought. He waited for Ghetsis's next words. "All of it shall be in vain, if you die here."
Understanding their lord's signal the five grunts placed their guns in position at once, prepared to pull the trigger at the man whom he bowed to. In contrast Giovanni's smile remained the same, despite the fact that death was at his door step. It was as if he thought the guns were toys. His firm smile confused the grunts, but both Ghetsis and Giovanni knew, the former wouldn't kill the latter so easily.
And it was because of this that Giovanni was confident, that Ghetsis and his men would soon fall prey to Darkrai.
Ghetsis lifted an arm, asking them to hold the fire. Giovanni remained smiling for a long time, waiting for the Dark Void to pull the Plasma boss into a nightmare, and pay for the anguish he faced till then. But it didn't happen. The Dark Void never came. Giovanni's smile slowly started to disappear. In turn, proportionately, Ghetsis's beaming face only grew brighter.
Ghetsis then laughed hard, as hard as hundred people put together, hard enough to echo throughout Nimbasa. "You didn't expect your backup betraying didn't you?"
Sweat formed on Giovanni's face, as he showed the first signs of panic.
"Did it not occur to you that the same Pokémon that approached you might have also approached me?"
He said after a brief silence, "When I saw the rain consuming my men and Pokémon, I knew 'he' was here. I always had preparations ready for him, ever since I betrayed 'him'."
"Y-You—what?"
Ghetsis chortled once more, "There is more to Darkrai than you have ever imagined, Giovanni. Blindly trusting him is foolishness. You will pay with death for trusting someone like him."
Giallo shared a smile with the Plasma leader, he too knew of the outcome. Giovanni had an unexpected power with him, but the knowledge Ghetsis and he possessed was more than unexpected. The grunts placed their fingers on the trigger, ready to click it anytime the boss ordered. They were humble followers of Ghetsis, who went to great lengths to serve him.
'N-No.' Giovanni thought. 'I am Giovanni, of Team Rocket. I know better than to die like this.'
The Rocket Boss said, "That's true. But I have never trusted 'him' in the first place, let alone rely on 'him' to save me."
Ghetsis shot a glare, 'What the heck does he mean?'
The Staraptor, which understood that Giovanni was in danger then prepared to send a message to its distant trainer.
The Dark Prince
The two young men and their Pokémon stood facing each other. Unlike their elderly counterparts, they hardly knew each other.
One of them was our beloved Dark Prince, in his early teens. The other boy was also of the same age, and was green haired. His gaze was sharp, but his eyes indicated that he must have seen and suffered many painful things in his short life.
The Prince was annoyed. Who is this guy that seemed to pop out of nowhere in a curfew struck city, while everyone else were hiding in their houses or other shelters.
Whoever he is, he must have quite a nerve to stop the Dark Prince. I will freak him out,he thought.
He turned to the Zoroark standing beside him. 'Hey Zoroark. Get back into your Pokéball if you want your trainer safe and sound. You won't stand a chance against my Charizard. '
The Zoroark held its breath for a moment then frowned for a second, and then exchanged a glance with its trainer. It was followed by a smile on the boy's face. The frown on the Pokémon's face was then replaced by a grin. It was as if they had a conversation with just a glance.
The Charizard beside the Prince opened its mouth in surprise. It growled something at the Dark Prince for a second.
It was his turn to gasp in surprise, 'He spoke with you?' The Pokémon nodded, equally surprised.
Who the heck is he?
"I am saddened," the expression on the green-haired boy's showed he really was. "I didn't expect a fellow chosen being of Zekrom to be a kidnapper."
'Chosen by Zekrom?' He wanted to ask, but his pride didn't let him to do so.
He said, "It's none of your business. This girl's mine."
"I am not talking about Misty, seventeenth Gym Leader of Cerulean City."
The Dark Prince stared at him blankly, his mouth opened in surprise.
"I am talking about the thirty-one Pokémon in your bag, along with the Charizard and the other two Pokémon completing some errands for you. In fact every Pokémon trainer is a kidnapper in my eyes."
The Dark Prince opened his mouth to say something. "How did you—" He stopped suddenly and looked into the distant sky, struck in terror. He then turned to Charizard, "Dad's in danger, we gotta go!"
The Prince hopped onto the Pokémon, and then they dashed into the sky at full speed.
"I was starting to enjoy our conversation," N's face was that of an innocent child who just missed an important episode of his favorite cartoon. "Never mind. We will meet him again someday."
Giovanni
"So, what shall it be?" Giovanni smirked. Although he was ready to be shot by about five people around him, he coolly placed his hands inside his pocket. "My Persian is well trained and can move fast enough to hit that button before anyone tries to shoot it. One wrong move, from any one of you and he will activate that bomb."
Persian inched its claws close to the red-button on the device strapped to the unconscious Plasma grunt's belt.
"I am glad you sent suicide bombers after me," he said, nonchalantly.
Ghetsis cursed himself, for not anticipating something like this from a resourceful man such as Giovanni. Thanks to him, his own life was in the hands—no, the paws of a Persian!
Ghetsis exchanged a glance with the old sage, who lowered his head in defeat. "Now, tell them to drop the guns and Pokéball," Giovanni commanded. "And be quick about it."
The grunts looked at each other, wondering what to do. Ghetsis spoke up, "Do it." He said with difficulty, as if he were forced to leave a grand treasure in some abandoned island.
"Sir," they agreed, hesitatingly but almost immediately. They slowly dropped their guns one after the other.
"Now, release my girl," Giovanni demanded.
Ghetsis nodded to the sage, who then nodded at a grunt closest to her. The grunt bent to untie the blonde's legs. She wriggled her leg away from him as soon as the rope loosened. She pulled herself together and struggled to get up. The grunt proceeded to untie her hands before Giovanni stopped her.
"Don't untie her hands," he said. 'She is better off with her mouth shut like that.'
The woman's eyebrows closed in, she paced towards Giovanni, half stumbling in the process. She craned her neck up to meet up with his eyes. The Rocket boss simply ignored her, and pushed her away like a pesky little child, to not interrupt his battle of stares against the Plasma Boss. The woman insulted by Giovanni's actions tried to send another deathly stare at him from the right, but couldn't as she barely reached his shoulders.
"Very well, Ghetsis," Giovanni smiled. "With that we take our leave."
Ghetsis thought, Leave? If the Persian moves a single step away from that button, he's dead meat.'
"Flamethrower!" A voice commanded out of nowhere.
"What?" Ghetsis jerked his head up. A wall of fire was crashing onto them, spreading wide like the lava from a volcano, preparing to annihilate them into bio mass. Blinded by the sudden light from the attack, Ghetsis covered his face with his hands and took a step to sprint away from the attack. The hot flames landed on the asphalt at the same time, the physical obstruction caused it to dissipate in all directions. Alarmed by the approaching flames he leapt as far as he could and landed on the rough surface.
His palms were sore with multiple cuts resulting from a rough landing. A sharp sting of pain hit him, which was more annoying than painful. "Dammit," he cursed. The flames from the Pokémon has already died out, leaving nothing but few fumes that seemed to emanate from the black-turned greyish road.
A large Pokémon with two powerful limbs, and relatively smaller hands, which carried a red-haired girl slowly landed where it once launched the attack. It flapped its large red-blue wings once before letting out a roar that rivaled a lions.
Atop the Pokémon was a boy, his face covered by the darkness under his hood.
At that moment Ghetsis realized that holding fire because of Giovanni's threat was no longer meaningful. "Fire!" He shouted as hard as he ever could. The grunts behind immediately zeroed their guns onto the Pokémon and its trainer. But the Pokémon immediately let out its own fire, sending a flood of flames down the road to throw them into disarray. Then, with a powerful gust lifting away anyone who was still on their feet, the Pokémon shot into the sky, like a rocket.
Meanwhile, Giovanni and Domino fled away while their attention was on the Prince and his Charizard.
The next second, the Pokémon and its trainer were only a distant dot in the endless sky. Ghetsis gritted his teeth so hard that one might think he could crush them in the process. His knuckles turned white, the men around him also had to face the discomfort that he was grumbling like a mad dog. He swiveled his head towards a grunt, "What are you watching? Go and get Giovanni," he barked. The grunt that stood close to the Plasma boss flinched at the sudden outburst.
"Y-Yes sir," he immediately took to his heels.
"Ghetsis, my lord." Giallo said, "I think catching Giovanni might be difficult now," the wise sage said. Ghetsis remained silent, but the look of anger hadn't faded from his face. The sage then said again, "We were attacked by a powerful Pokémon trainer. He must have put a couple of Pokémon to guard Giovanni, guns don't beat Pokémon."
As if to agree with the sage, a blood curdling scream was heard from somewhere distant. It was the grunt who was sent to follow Giovanni.
A deadly silence followed the sage's words, like the silence before a storm. The grunts trembled in fear, as if they were directly under an active volcano. And then—
"GIOVANNI!"
The loud scream reverberated through the streets of Nimbasa for five minutes. Houses all around flickered with lights, but none of course dared to step out, because of the terrorist threat. After the five minutes, the lights all turned off, as they all assumed that it was a wild Pokémon gone berserk. The police ignored it casually as if nothing happened. For the unfortunate people, which were the Plasma grunts and the sage who were unlucky enough to stand close to him, the sound lingered for five more minutes in their ears, and for some, the rest of their lives.
The Team Rocket
"Mission accomplished," the Pokémon whispered into the Rocket transmitters. "The necessary stone for awakening Zekrom isn't here." In the grand world of Pokémon there is but one of them who could speak English fluently, without the aid of any telekinetic powers. He was Meowth, the last and one of the most cunning executive of Team Rocket. As an executive his admins and grunts revered him as a genius planner. Members of Team Rocket go to great lengths just to work under him. Yet all of this respect didn't just come to him. He had to work hours and days, taking insults from people below and above him, while still striving to set an example as a leader. After six months of spending his time as an executive, he finally received the respect he deserved. But today, was an altogether different level of success for him.
Giovanni gave him the heavy responsibility of handling the team's equipment to Relic Castle. Although the original plan involved all twenty-three units of Team Rocket to transport the equipment via the ice-truck, they were only a decoy for Plasma. Who else would make such a detailed and elaborate plans for a decoy, other than the genius Giovanni!
They completely vanquished Team Plasma before they even reached their destination. But the leader of the attack, a sage named Rood managed to escape from their clutches in the last-minute.
Even so, this was Team Rocket's first victory against Team Plasma, and he was proud to be the one in charge.
"Fall back to the base, contact the boss and inform the news."
He turned off the transmitters and let out a heavy sigh. 'But Plasma will receive a bigger blow than this.' He smiled, looking at the mobile phone in his hands. He threw the phone into the air and slashed it into pieces with his sharp claws. "Can't leave clues to the police, can we?"
Ghetsis
"That son of a harlot!" Ghetsis banged against the table made of teak wood. The steel supports cringed with his banging. "How dare he mocks me like this!" He banged once again, a bolt sprang out, and the table's legs stretched apart.
Once the mishap with Giovanni ended, Ghetsis secluded himself to his chambers, screaming about revenge and what not. The grunts waited outside, terrified of his wrath and worrying about the results from today's disaster at the same time.
A gentle knock on the door interrupted Ghetsis's sexual-related abuses at Giovanni. He kicked the table away from his chair and snapped the door open, almost lifting off its hinges. His gaze softened when his eyes met with Giallo, the sage.
"What is it?" He asked, making a half-baked attempt to hide his anger.
"Lord," his face carried an amount of sorrow, "We have experienced some difficulties, sir."
Giallo noticed the anger on Ghetsis's face returning back to its original state. He quickly spoke out, "Rood's team was wiped out near the vicinity of Relic Castle."
"What?" He exclaimed. "Who did it? The ****ing Team Rocket?"
"Yes and—" he thought for a second before saying the next statement, "The police from Castelia." He said it in a low voice.
'The Police?' Ghetsis involuntarily took a step back, unable to digest what Giallo said.
"They received an anonymous tip said that members of Team Plasma attacked a lone Ice truck. The evidence given to the media was also given to the police, sir."
Ghetsis's head spun around like the Ferris wheel. He took a seat on the couch in the living room, brushing his fingers through his hair. "What did the police do?" Ghetsis's voice was almost a whisper.
"They caught Rood and few grunts back from the Relic Castle. They found some equipment in the Relic Castle and took them in as evidence."
"The Rockets?" He sprang up, "Did they get them?"
"According to Rood, they all magically disappeared by the time the police hit the castle."
"Magically?" Ghetsis asked, incredulous.
"The hot air balloons, I presume," the old sage said brushing his long white beard for once.
"Right. The balloons," the humiliation was too much for him. "What are our men in the police department doing?" He asked, once again resuming his sulking form.
"The tips were sent to seven different stations at once, sir. We couldn't stop them, and there was also this media intervention. They have saved Rood from the trouble of entering the station, at least."
Ghetsis closed his eyes for a second and then said, "Kill the grunts in the custody, and tell the media that we don't have any relation with them!"
"A wise decision, my lord." He agreed with the course of plan Ghetsis took. 'But after this, we will make it to the wanted charts for sure.' "We should be careful from now, Ghetsis. I will begin with our grunts scattered around Nimbasa. We may have to go undercover by morning."
Giallo noticed he was busy thinking something.
In Ghetsis's mind: 'I swear to god, Giovanni. I won't kill you. You will live a long life, a life full of agony and pain. I will crush everything you love. Your dreams, the woman you love, the son you crave for, and the organization you built. Everything, I will crush everything that you are attached to. The day will come when you'll beg me to leave you alone, beg me to kill you instead and beg and beg and beg and beg and beg until I crush your last hopes like the Venipede you are!'
"I will not kill you, Giovanni." Those were the only words he said aloud, and instantly Giallo knew what was going in Ghetsis's mind.
Paul
While the Dark Prince and the others experienced a really long, adventurous and tense filled night full of twists Paul, Casey and Brandon slept in the mysterious cave which they found in the terrible winter night. It was when the sunlight graced them; they woke up and realized they were in what seemed to be a rather strange situation.
"Ruins of Alps?" There was a genuine surprise on Paul's face.
He took the Pokégear and checked if they were doing something wrong while handling it. But it didn't change, the location kept saying Ruins of Alps no matter what they did.
"Are we in Johto?" Casey asked, she seemed like she would break down anytime.
"Of course not." Paul said, "If anything we should be worried that our Pokégear isn't working."
"Paul, I wouldn't be so sure." Brandon's voice shook, as he watched something behind them.
"What's with you?" Shouldn't Brandon be a lot braver than they were? After all he must have been lost in wilderness a lot many times in search of exotic treasures. He turned behind to see what it was. All he could see was two stone pillars—wait stone pillars? He remembered getting into a cave which was nothing but a small opening amidst the rocks that led to a den where they slept. Not two stone pillars and there definitely wasn't a sign board which had letters that hardly resembled any language he knew, which were English…..okay, only English.
"What's going on, Brandon?"
"Did you never visit Ruins of Alps when you journeyed through Johto?" He asked.
"No." It doesn't have useful Pokémon, he wanted to say but the situation wasn't so favorable.
"History says the ruins have nine entrances, like this one. But the actual ruins of Alps only have seven. These ruins exactly resemble them, the Unown letter are proof."
'So those are Unown?' There were very few things he didn't know about Pokémon. His pride prevented him from telling Brandon that he didn't know those letters was Unown.
"The ruins of Alps exist in only one place, Johto." Brandon revealed it with a hint of tension in his voice, as if it was something hideous.
"Brandon, did something hit you on your head?" Paul asked. "It is geographically impossible. It takes a flight, two trains and a motor vehicle to go to Ruins of Alps, if I remember the place correctly. We can't just walk into Johto."
Brandon had to agree with it, what was he thinking? He was the pyramid king, how could he be so foolish.
"I'll go and check what's inside." Casey walked inside.
Meanwhile Brandon took liberty to check the surroundings. The blizzard last night was too much which was why they couldn't check the surroundings. Although either of them swore that they walked a great deal of time among the forest trees and the snow, they didn't want to admit it, because it contradicted reality and they would have to believe that they have been magically transported to Johto. Everything around them was rubble, broken pillars, crumbled statues and the remains of houses that once proudly stood in a well-arranged manner. One of the interesting parts was that, the entire structure seemed to be built of white marble stones.
The only thing that kept them from going insane was the snow, it was the only instance in common with what they have 'thought' they saw in the blizzard ridden journey and what lay before them.
"It seems as if a whole civilization has been brought down by something or someone," Brandon figured it out as he saw a rather large amount of stone and dust in a particular area. Then he slowly tried to shape things, "This," he pointed to the rubble on the right, "Is a line of houses," he pointed in the direction where their 'cave' was. "And this is a road, I must say, a well laid one, considering they seem to maintain the outlines after so many hundreds…" He paused, "Or perhaps thousands of years."
Paul remained silent, because he wasn't an expert about studying remains of ancient civilization, so he decided sinking in the information was a better thing to do.
"Brandon," he interrupted Brandon's study, "Casey hasn't come back yet, should I check on her?"
Brandon contemplated for a second, "I'll come too," he said.
"I hope there isn't a secret passage in the cave that led her to some dangerous trap," Brandon said worriedly. Paul looked at him, wondering if something like that would even exist.
Just as they approached the entrance Casey came in a semi-walking and running pace. "Guys, where were you?"
"We were here all the time." Brandon asked, to which Casey shook her head in disbelief.
"Can you come in once?" She didn't wait for the answer and pulled him into the den, Paul silently followed.
They entered the den, it was the same as it was few minutes ago, and there weren't any new holes that popped out to take them into mysterious dimensions.
"What is wrong Case—" Before he could finish his question, she pulled him outside again. And Paul reluctantly followed.
Once again they were outside the cave—except that what lay before them was something they didn't expect at all. Instead of the ancient civilization they were examining earlier, what lay before them was a forest, ridden with snow.
Words didn't come out of Brandon's mouth. This was where they have actually been yesterday. He eyes didn't allow him to accept that, but it was the truth. He turned around. It wasn't an entrance with two stone pillars but a simple cave entrance.
"What does the Pokégear say?" He asked her.
"That is the weird part." She showed her Pokégear to him which said:
LOCATION: LOST-LONG FOREST, UNOVA.
Kinda weird isn't it? Well I love to screw with Paul and it adds up to something important in the main plot too. (Why don't you try guessing?) The idea of this crazy cave came to me while playing Pokemon Snakewood, where the same entrance led to two different places every time I tried entering inside. There is a reason of some kind for everything, the reason for this will also be explained shortly.
Minor Trivia: I am not going to make a regular extra section. But when I do have a fact to explain in my brain and I don't want to write it in the story, I'll introduce them in this section.
1) Darkrai's Dark Void can put any creature to sleep for about six hours.
2) N has a higher IQ than normal humans, and has an eidetic memory.