Chapter Twelve, part one: Time's Up
Near Mahogany Town, ca. 2509
Night had fallen, tiny specks of stars glistening across the black expanse. No moon could be seen, just empty space where it should be. Most people were asleep, but not Teresa. She had only moved back to this town last year. Her ex-husband had died in some sort of laboratory accident, but no one could seem to remember what happened or who was involved. Only his absence from this world was a reminder that fate was indeed fickle. Teresa watched television tonight, instead of preparing for her interview for the daily news, and caught sight of widespread devastation. The cameras displayed countless scenes of land that seemed to rot right there as you watched, people dropping like swatted Yanmas, their pale mouths gaping for breath as a tremendous black ball hovered over each area, leaving nothing but death or near-death in its wake.
It was difficult for her to move back. Many of her former neighbors were still here, and they kept asking her about her daughter and her ex. Both had left this world. In fact, it was because of their daughter's premature demise that made her husband go off and try to bring her back. That's why, no matter where she lived, all of her personal belongings from the past stayed in boxes in a storage facility. She only had enough items to get through the barest of lives, leaving a house so empty there was always an echo. Only a small kitchen, a couch, a television/radio, and a bed furnished her spacious home. Her therapist had tried to help her, but she only felt despair. With the news that her husband, her ex-husband, had died, she felt she could move on a little, but she would always feel a gap in her heart where her family should be.
As she clicked off the TV, she felt a strange presence behind her. She got up and looked through her front bay window toward the street outside. Strange, she could have sworn she felt someone out there, watching her. All she could sense now was a tremendous feeling of loneliness. She turned off the lights in her house and went to sleep, wishing whoever had been out there good luck.
A small cemetery lay just outside of town. It was cold, a dense mist shrouding the gray stone markers. Had anybody been out, a tall figure would have been seen, staring at a small marker, neglected for years, with moss covering the last name.
Yet, somehow, even though he couldn't quite remember, he felt more of a connection with the young girl buried here, a girl this marker called Amber. All he could remember was the ghostly image of a girl fading into specks of light as the moon shone above a nearby neighborhood.
Wondering, as he hovered there, if the time had come to join her at last.
Lavaridge, ca. 2509
Pokemon of all kinds swarmed the volcanic town, staring in disbelief at the sight of all the dead and dying. Most were crying by this point tonight. A long time ago, such tears may have been enough to bring these lives back, but they all felt that now, well, only the Sacred Fire could restart the world again.
Only it wouldn't wake up.
Hoenn, ca. 2509
Jennifer, Team Rocket, Mew, and Celebii floated up towards Sky Pillar, and Jennifer stared open-mouthed at such a tremendous structure - at least until a gnat zipped into her mouth. When they landed, the humans of the team screamed as a giant green dragon loomed over them, snarling. Mew floated up to it, mewing softly, and listening carefully as the fearful creature replied.
"Dis pokemon's called Rayquaza," Meowth explained, "and Mew's askin' it if he can help us defeat Dark Mew." Meowth listened to the continuing conversation carefully. "(sigh) Rayquaza said he can't. He invited all the legendaries here, but dey never showed, and a friend o' his got up and left without sayin' good-bye." Meowth whimpered. "He doesn't tink we're gonna make it."
"Tell him that's not good enough, Mew," Jennifer ordered. “Tell him we demand he help us!”
"What are you doing?" Jesse half-shouted, half-whispered in horror. "No one orders a Legendary pokemon around!"
Jennifer snorted in irritation. "Look, let's all face reality here. Dark Mew's killing everyone and as I understand it no one can take it down because there’s some kind of disadvantage." She stomped up to Rayquaza, frowning. "I'm not going to just sit here and wait to die," she announced. "There has to be a solution and I'm not going to be happy until we get one."
"But no other Legendary has the right type to fight a powerful dark-type pokemon," James countered, losing the fear in his normally terrified voice. "There aren't any fighting pokemon powerful enough to take her."
Jennifer shot a look of disgust to Team Rocket. "So, you're saying no pokemon except ones with the combined might of all the characters on Dragonball Z can stop the end of the world?"
"What?" Team Rocket asked, utterly confused.
Jennifer smiled. "Never mind. Don't worry about it. We need a solution you guys can handle. What about military?"
"Have none," Team Rocket announced in unison.
"You're kidding me," Jennifer said, exasperated.
"Only private organizations have any kind of firepower," Jesse explained. "There really isn't any kind of government control."
That explains a lot, Jennifer thought to herself.
"So, we'll have to lure it into a trap," she announced. "Mew, why do we need Celebii if it's psychic like you?"
Mew mewed rapidly, flying around the platform that made Rayquaza's lair.
"Mew says Celebii's gonna help trick Dark Mew back in time," Meowth translated. "Dey don't like each other, and Celebii's gonna be our bait." Celebii protested. "He don' like it, but it is kinda his fault anyway, so DAT'S WHAT IT'S GONNA BE!"
Meowth shouted, glaring at the quivering pokemon.
"And the point of time travel would be ..."
"Mew says you just gotta trust her and find out," Meowth announced. "Besides, remember that this Mew has ta live for our Mew to live because it's da same Mew. If the past one dies, this one will too."
Chapter Twelve, part two: The End
Everybody dies.
The end.
Just kidding.
The United States, ca. 2010
GASP!
A young woman instinctively drew the first breath she had had in hours. Her head swam in a numbed pain, her muscles audibly ripping with every slight movement, her blood dripping down the rocky outcropping where she found herself lying. Time had been a dark, lonely eternity as her mind floated in nothingness. She tried to open her eyes, but they had long ago been swollen shut from her injuries.
How?
How did she get there?
The young woman tried to remember, but clear memories were growing rarer.
Oh yeah...
The world was ending.
Forgot about that.
Jesse helped the aching Jennifer to her feet. She and Jennifer had been hit the hardest, and they still didn't know where James was. It was a miracle that they were still alive, but Jesse's Wobbufett, a teardrop-shaped pokemon with a weird tail and a strange, almost creepy expression, had used up the last of its strength to protect them, shielding them with what Jesse called Mirror Coat - but the blast had still been too powerful, and now the pokemon that had spent its time irritating the members of Team Rocket was gone.
Jesse, James, Meowth, and Celebii had followed Mew and Jennifer to the "ancient" past, the time of Mew's birth, but they had to be careful about not upsetting the space-time continuum, so they arrived shortly after Tracey had caught Mew. They were trying to defeat Dark Mew, the first pokemon - the one that had acquired the reality-changing powers of the Unown and manipulated them into changing its type from psychic to dark. This meant that only a few types were really good at beating it, but fortunately for Dark Mew, she was as strong as she wished with the help of the Unown and had near-infinite power.
It had been Mew's (our good Mew, who challenged Mewtwo at New Island) idea to trick Dark Mew. The current pokemon world just wasn't capable at that time to face that challenge, so, ironically, it was Jennifer's time period that stood the best chance.
Jennifer and Jesse, despite their pain, climbed back up the cliff to the battle, but no one was there - only charred earth, drained of its life energy, just like everything Dark Mew touched.
Kanto, ca. 2507
Back in the future, Team Rocket and Mew had lured Dark Mew to a dark forest in Kanto. There were no humans and no pokemon, but plenty of power hidden in a temple ruin carved from the side of a cliff.
James remembered the place - Pokemopolis. It was an ancient city that worshipped pokemon. It was notable that the pokemon from that era were gigantic and strangely marked and super-powerful. Fortunately for our world-saving team, Team Rocket remembered which artifacts released what pokemon. They thought the best chance they had was to release the pokemon from a huge bell.
As Dark Mew struck at the party again and again, forcing them to flee inside the temple, a boulder came loose and struck the bell. Soon, an enormous Jigglypuff emerged, and "good" Mew quickly disabled its ability to sing. Well, that just made the pink ball REALLY mad...
As Dark Mew flew in to headbutt it into the face of the cliff, Jigglypuff frowned, unable to even growl, and spun around with amazing speed, punching Dark Mew into the rock, bashing her once in the head, once in the tail, and finally in the dead center of Dark Mew's chest.
"Dat Jigglypuff knew Brick Break?" Meowth had said in wonder.
As Dark Mew slowly peeled off the rock, Jigglypuff returned to its bell-shaped container, and our team grabbed Dark Mew, while Celebii gathered energy to bring them into the past.
The United States, ca. 2010
"JAMES!" Jesse screamed. For the love of all that was ever good in her life, please Lord, let James still be alive. She had always wondered if he liked her. Her heart had skipped beats when he chose her over his inheritance. Her mind reeled in joy (although she didn’t dare show it) when he found herbs to heal her when she had been stunned. Yet, she pushed him away. He would never understand – he grew up among riches and opportunity. She wanted desperately to have the same thing, but it seemed as though James’ loyalty to Team Rocket was waning ever so slightly. He may be able to afford to quit, she muttered to herself, but her past left her no choice. If it came down to a choice, she had to put her future first.
Meanwhile, Jennifer stared at the surrounding area. When she had climbed out of that mess in Peru, she had found herself facing a similar sight - complete and total devastation. Now, this same Mew, who was only less than a year old really, was the one causing it, instead of bombs and strange space-time continuum explosions.
Jennifer and Jesse walked cautiously and nervously across the scorched earth, feeling their stamina drain just from touching the sucked-dry land. Soon, Jesse stopped.
"There!" she yelled, pointing to the tops of some pine trees across the clearing.
It was cold, although there was no snow today on this particular mountain in the western United States. At least, that's where Jennifer thought they might be, since they passed a totaled SUV with western California plates.
Jennifer saw it: Dark Mew, panting, holding up James and Meowth telekinetically. Even though her elemental type had changed, she still kept her psychic powers, although she was beginning to realize that the type change reduced the strength of her psychic blasts. Dark Mew looked like it had been run over by a tank, its fur stripped in many places and what was left was caked in blood.
She was holding hostages.
Jennifer found that strange, although she was maybe as scared as Jesse about the victims' safety. Why would Dark Mew, who had declared war on Earth (or humanity, rather, as it saved its biggest devastation for urban targets), spare the lives of others, even temporarily - instead of just offing them and carrying on?
Jennifer glanced at Jesse. Jesse returned the glance and nodded.
Dark Mew was hurt.
Celebii and Mew had been playing defense mostly. Celebii summoned multiple plant creatures to shield the humans, and Mew, since she carried the genetic archetypes of all pokemon, blasted Dark Mew with blasts of fire, ice, lightning, water, and even grass.
"We give up!" Jesse screamed.
"WHAT?" yelled Jennifer. Has this woman finally flipped her lid?
Jesse looked at Jennifer, tears welling up in her eyes. "I - I - I can't watch them get hurt anymore, Jennifer. Whatever Dark Mew wants, let's just give it to her."
Jennifer stood there, dumbstruck, her mouth opened wide in disbelief. However, she noticed Dark Mew slowly lowering her hostages. She glanced back at Jesse, who seemed to be trying to communicate to her something important, through just her stare, a meaning that was lost on Jennifer as she nervously glanced back to see if Dark Mew was really going to let them live.
Dark Mew, however, was no fool. She kept a tight rein on her victims, just in case these humans had more tricks than she thought.
Suddenly, it got EXTREMELY hot.
Dark Mew glanced up as she finally sensed the change in temperature. The sun seemed to grow a thousand times brighter, bathing everyone in light, burning their injured skins.
A screech tore through the sky as flames shot past the trees, finally taking on the form of Moltres, its orange, red, and white flames/feathers burning strong. Just as Dark Mew dropped her hostages to attack this pokemon, a roar made the trees shake violently. Dark Mew, caught off guard, slipped off the branch on which she had been perching, falling some ten feet before she finally regained herself and hovered just above the ground under the trees where she thought she could avoid Moltres' gaze.
A fire blast the size of Epcot center ripped through the forest, the crackling of burnt wood almost completely masking the pounding footsteps of a large, red dog/lion-looking thing, with trails of faint smoke plumes rising from its back, its mane rustling in the wind generated by the fires. Entei stomped his foot into the ground, snorting, challenging Dark Mew to a battle.
Dark Mew stared at Entei, unable to block the flamethower attack by Moltres, who zoomed down through the sky at mach 2 speed, drowning everything around it in flames. Dark Mew lay sprawled out on the ground, smoking, barely able to breathe.
Jennifer realized she hadn't seen Celebii or Mew. In fact, she didn't remember seeing them at all since she and Jesse got knocked off the cliff.
While Entei stood his ground, Moltres flew off, screeching in triumph. Dark Mew tried to recover her energy, but she felt ... cold. The coldness of death, Dark Mew thought gloomily to herself. Soon, however, that gloom gave way to anger. How dare they? She had created them all, she had given them purpose in life, she had awakened the Titans to cleanse this dark and terrible world of hate and greed. They believed in this mission as much as she, she just could feel it - why would they abandon their mission to stop her?
Johto, ca. 2509
Back in the future, Mewtwo sat on a rock near Purity Lake, a body of crystal-clear water he had teleported into the heart of Mt. Kayna, meditating on the nature of death. He had come close to it once before, when Giovanni held him in a powerful dark-energy device that nearly destroyed him.
He wasn't afraid of death, but he thought of all the people and pokemon he had met, creatures who had taught him that he belonged in this world, despite his past. He didn't want to leave them, he found himself thinking. That child, Ash - he was someone who gave his life for his pokemon - yet he did it because he cherished life so.
Does acceptance of death make one weak? Mewtwo wondered. Does fighting it go against nature?
Deep down, he knew something that he couldn't tell anyone. He knew how Dark Mew felt as it ripped through the countryside. He, too, had known the hatred of humanity and mistrust of anything from this world. Yet, somehow, he felt that he had more in common with this dark Mew than the Mew that had been his friend ever since their battle.
The United States, ca. 2010
Present-day. Or past, depending on your point of view. Dark Mew still couldn't move much, it had been thoroughly paralyzed by the latest string of attacks. She could see where her arrogance had gotten her now: she was focused so much on one group of enemies that it never occurred to her that they would work independently to reach the same goal. You see, if they worked as a team, of the same mind, she could have sensed every participant's plan. But, nooooo, the humans and pokemon weren't communicating a plan at all - they were independent agents.
The coldness was numbing her pain. She soon felt she might be able to get back up. Just as Dark Mew sat up, a shower of ice enveloped her, freezing her to the ground. A twirling, warbling Articuno dived into the clearing, its wings blowing back the freezing humans and the Meowth. Entei walked up to them, gathering them into one group, and radiated a gentle heat to keep them warm as Articuno unleashed wave after wave of ice until he had formed a pyramid of ice two stories high, encasing Dark Mew completely.
Dark Mew struggled to get out. She called upon the hidden power of the Unown, but she couldn't sense their presence.
Dark Mew felt her energy dip.
Uh-oh.
The Unown, tiny black and white pokemon who lived in another dimension, the dimension of imagination, took the form of letters, although sometimes the resemblance was tenuous at best. As Dark Mew's concentration focused more on attacking than summoning their power, some of them had been able to return to that dimension. The rest were solidly held in thick vines that sapped their energy every few minutes.
Celebii watched them intently as it tightened its grip on the wayward pokemon. It wasn't their fault for what happened, and they were trying to do the right thing by helping their friend, but they had to be stopped to stop Dark Mew. She wouldn't be able to summon their powers at all if they had no energy left.
Now, it was up to Mew to find the Sacred Fire, as destiny proclaimed.
Dark Mew felt weak, her skin beginning to pale. She thought it was because of the tremendous cold, but she noticed her fur begin to pale as well. Dark Mew sighed. Well, that's it. The Unown are no longer under her control. The pokemon she had created would abandon their destiny and destroy her when she returned to normal.
Death was certain.
There was no hope.
Evil would triumph.
Her mission would fail.
The ice finally melted, inundating everyone with a cold bath that numbed the pain of their injuries. Entei gathered them up and leapt high into the sky, away from the blood-stopping cold. As he carried them away, the ice revealed a white-pink feline pokemon, shivering, her mind reeling from the intense temperature changes.
As young Mew began to lose conciousness, she looked up and saw Celebii, smiling compassionately at the resigned Legend.
Why? Mew asked, her thoughts barely able to be projected. I created them. I created you - I think. Why did you turn against me?
Nature must be reborn, it's true, Celebii replied. However, when a forest fire burns everything, plants can grow anew because the energy of the previous generation lies beneath the surface. The destruction you wrought took away even that latent energy, preventing the world's rebirth. Celebii looked up, but young Mew could not follow his gaze. Finally, Celebii glanced at the dying pokemon and frowned, even with his compassionate eyes. Try not to take this personally.
Mew felt a strong wave of energy ripping her apart, felt flames hotter than anything she had ever experienced vaporize her body, felt nature itself rip open space and time to destroy her.
With a single tear, Mew smiled, relinquishing what little hold she still had of life.
Celebii and Ho-oh stared at the scarred remains of Mew, watching as pieces of fur twirled in the breeze. The current Mew lay sleeping on the ground, exhausted, its mind wiped of all its previous experiences through multiple jumps in time. Ho-oh resurrected Mew as it died, but Celebii kept her jumping through time so she would ultimately forget the murderous rampage of the past. Celebii took a piece of fur - all that remained of a pokemon who hated humanity and controlled unknown amounts of true power, and flew off, carrying it to an ancient temple ruins where it would stay until discovered many decades later by Team Rocket scientists.
Epilogue:
Rustboro City, a swarming bustle of activity, even this late at night, noisily went about its business. Jesse, James, and Meowth were camping beside the pokemon center where Ash and company slept, having decided to take things easy after waking up in makeshift hospitals, remembering only the vaguest details about being attacked by legendary pokemon.
High atop a spire of the tallest building in the city, Mewtwo stood, watching, aware that he had been granted life, despite all his feelings to the contrary.
Just behind him floated Mew, cheerfully flying loop-de-loops, enjoying even the simplest pleasures in life, like poking Mewtwo's tail just to see if he'd twitch.
And so ends the Team Rocket Trilogy part one. The "ships" in this story begin here and develop over time, in case you thought there wasn't a lot of shippiness to it. This story begins with "gods" (aka: pokemon & legendaries) being born to save the world from destruction, and will end with a man's lack of faith that nearly destroys the world. The next story is The Last Embers of a Rocket. Oh, and I guess this is rated PG.
