| Pokemon Conclave
Part 36: Generation TR © 1999-2001 Willow McCall On the way to Viridian City, Aoife hadn’t quite been acting like her usual self. She fought everyone she passed on the road, so long as they had Pokemon with them. She was almost bullying in her challenges. “Hey, kid!” Aoife called, to a young boy who was standing in the grass, training his Pokemon. “Want to battle?” “Uh…I dunno…” the boy, only a year or so younger than Aoife, said. “I mean, my Pokemon aren’t very powerful yet…only Rainbow Level…” “That’s okay,” Aoife said. “I promise I won’t be too tough…yet.” She plucked a Pokeball from her belt and threw it into battle. “Go, Cubone!” The boy looked nervous, but sent his Pokemon in anyway. “Go, Hoothoot!” “Hoothoot, eh?” Aoife said, consulting her Pokedex. “Hoothoot. A nocturnal Pokemon. This owl-like Pokemon sleeps during the day, using its one leg for balance. At night it comes out to catch bugs.” “Where are you from?” Aoife asked the kid. “Oh—Cherrygrove City, ma’am,” the boy said, bowing his head. “That’s in Johto, isn’t it?” Ferio said. “Which explains how you got a Hoothoot. They aren’t exactly common around here.” “Yeah,” the boy said. “Hoothoot, Peck attack!” “Hoo,” his owl Pokemon said, before lunging at Cubone. Its beak rapped on Cubone’s skull helmet, but didn’t make a dent. “Bone club, Cubone!” Aoife said. Cubone raised its bone and bopped Hoothoot on the head. The owl went cross-eyed, then fell. “Cubone!” Aoife’s Pokemon cheered. “Oh! Hoothoot!” the boy from Johto said, rushing over to his Pokemon. “Are you okay?” He returned it, then stood up. “Er, thanks for the match, ma’am. I guess any experience is good experience. Here.” He fished around in his pocket for the appropriate amount of money. “Don’t bother,” Aoife said, waving the boy’s money away. “I’m not in this for the money, I’m just trying to train my Pokemon—they need it, badly.” “Oh, you’re going to challenge the gym leader in Viridian, aren’t you?” the boy said. “How did you know?” Aoife asked. He shrugged. “Just a guess. I heard the leader is really tough to beat, though.” “I can handle it,” Aoife said, continuing confidently up the road to Viridian. “I think…” *** “I remember the last time I was here…” Aoife looked up at the massive doors of the large, palace-like Viridian Gym. “Fawn was here too, and those goons who always follow her around were trying to open the door. But it was locked.” She pushed on the door, but it didn’t budge. “And I guess it still is, even after a year.” “Maybe it’s not…” Sora said. “Maybe if we all push together, it will open! What do you say?” Petra shrugged. “It’s worth a try.” So all five girls leaned on the door with their shoulders, putting all of their weight into it—at least 500 pounds of force. With a creak, the door opened just enough, and they slipped in… Into complete darkness. “Uh, where are the lights?” Ruari said. “Anyone find a lightswitch, or should I use Ampharos?” Petra was about to answer, but a loud, echoing voice interrupted. “Prepare for trouble!” “Oh, no…” Aoife thought, a sense of foreboding growing inside her. “I’ve heard that too many times to not know what it means, and what’s coming…” “And make it septuple!” a strange voice with a New York-ish accent added. “Septuple means seven, right?” Sora whispered. A woman’s voice was the next to speak. “To infect the world with devastation!” Then a man’s voice, “To unite all people within our nation!” “To denounce the greatness of evil and sin!” said a more familiar female voice. “The seven of us are sure to win!” “You know who that is, don’t you?” Petra whispered to her groupmates. “Yeah—Bonnie and Clyde,” Aoife said. “Jessie!” A spotlight switched on, over a woman old enough to be Aoife’s mother. Despite her age, she still wore a short white miniskirt and a crop top under a short jacket with an R on the front. “James!” Another spotlight, this time on a man with bluish purple hair (when they were to reflect on this battle later, the girls couldn’t decide whether his hair was purple or blue), wearing a white Team Rocket uniform. “Butch!” The next spotlight focused on a man with teal blue hair, about the same age as the first two Rockets. “Cassidy!” This was a woman wearing extremely tall boots and an extremely short skirt, as well as a black Team Rocket shirt. She was the same age as the other three, and had long golden hair in two ponytails. “Bonnie!” “Clyde!” “And Sundance!” This was the Team Rocket the group had come to know. The two older pairs were standing on podiums flanking the young Rocket trio, who was standing on a podium in the middle. A fourth podium stood on the opposite side of the room. A Meowth jumped up onto the podium where Jessie and James stood, the charm on its forehead catching the spotlight and glittering. “Meeeowth! That’s right!” “So that’s the voice we heard earlier?” Sora cried. “A talking Meowth!” “Amazing,” Ruari murmured. “So this gym is run by Team Rocket?” Aoife said. “But…that can’t be…gyms are approved by the Pokemon League, and they would never let this happen…right?” Cassidy laughed. “You’re such a naïve little girl. You have no idea how corrupt the system is. Let’s just say a few of the League officials…aren’t on the side they would have you believe they’re on.” “Team Rocket has infiltrated the Pokemon League, then?” Petra said. “Impossible…I don’t believe you.” “You should,” Butch said, his rasping voice grating on the girls’ nerves. “For once in our life, we’re tellin’ the truth.” “So,” the talking Meowth said. “You came here to challenge us, did you?” “Th-that’s right!” Aoife said, trying to sound sure of herself even though the presence of seven Rockets was beginning to intimidate her. “I’m here to compete for my Earth Badge.” “Very well,” Jessie declared. “Step up to the podium, child.” Aoife climbed on to the podium that stood at the far end of the arena, directly across from the podium where Bonnie, Clyde, and Sundance stood. “Oh, I see you have a Pikachu,” James said, noticing that Chu-Chu climbed up onto the podium with her. “Why isn’t it in its Pokeball?” Sundance taunted. “Can’t control it?” “Pika!” Chu-Chu protested. “I certainly can control my Pokemon! Which is more than I can say for you two,” she said, glaring at Bonnie and Clyde. “Hey, I resemble that remark!” Clyde yelled. “Er, it’s ‘resent’, Clyde,” Bonnie corrected. “You know who those two remind me of?” Ruari said. “Who?” “Bush and Cheney.” The other three girls snorted. “And Sundance is Justice Scalia, Clyde’s lapdog,” Ferio laughed. “I heard that!” Sundance said. “You guys be quiet. We’re telling her the rules.” “The rules, basically,” Cassidy said, “are that there are no rules! Aside from this: we, the gym leaders, are allowed to use as many Pokemon as we want, at the same time. You may not.” “Hey! That’s not—“ “Fair?” James interrupted, sounding amused. “We’re Team Rocket. Of course we don’t play fair. What did you expect, for us to give you an advantage like those other pushover leaders do? That’s not our style.” “Pushover?” Petra repeated, sounding dangerous. “You obviously haven’t seen me in battle. I’m no pushover, but I, unlike other people, like to play by the rules.” “Hear, hear,” Sora said, the other girls echoing her agreement. “Well, too bad,” Bonnie said. “These are the rules, and unless you’re willing to follow them, we won’t give you this.” She held up a green gym badge, then placed it in her pocket. “Do you agree?” Aoife looked like she didn’t want to compromise her principles like this, but grudgingly she said, “Yes, I agree.” “I’m not used to battling more than one Pokemon at a time,” Aoife worried. “And if a situation came up where I had to do that, the others would have helped me. But now I’m on my own…” “Very well then,” Cassidy said. “Bonnie, Clyde, you may go first.” Bonnie held up two Pokeballs, while Clyde held one, and they all threw them at once. “Pokeballs, go!” Aoife hadn’t really seen any of their Pokemon except Sundance, not in a long time, anyway. So the lineup they sent out was unfamiliar: a Gloom and a Growlithe from Bonnie, and a Scyther from Clyde. Sundance immediately started transforming, her hands and feet turning into paws and her hair shrinking into the head crest of a Vulpix. Once Sundance was completely morphed into a Vulpix, she leaped gracefully down to join Bonnie and Clyde’s other Pokemon in the arena. “Which Pokemon should I use first…” Aoife said to herself, considering the Pokemon she had with her. “Chu-Chu, Pele, Vaporeon, Weepinbell, Abra, and Cubone...against two fire types, a plant type, and a bug type.” “Hurry up!” Bonnie said. “We’re waiting for you!” “Hey, don’t rush me!” Aoife yelled back. “I think I’ll use…Cubone! Go!” “Scyther, Sundance, attack!” Clyde said, while Bonnie commanded her Pokemon to attack. “Cubone, Bonemerang!” Aoife said. Cubone lifted its bone up high, then threw it in such a way that its path orbited around the arena, bopping all Bonnie and Clyde’s Pokemon on the head before returning to Cubone’s paw. Despite this attack, the Pokemon still advanced. Cubone threw its Bonemerang again, but Clyde’s Scyther managed to dodge it this time and advance on Cubone. “Scyther, use Pursuit!” Clyde said. “Pursuit!” Aoife said. “That’s a Dark Pokemon attack. Leave it to Team Rocket to use evil attacks.” Scyther chased Cubone for a while, but not too long, before Cubone turned around and Headbutted the bug. “Scytheeeer!” Clyde’s bug Pokemon cried, as Cubone’s powerful Headbutt sent it flying across the arena. “Scyther, return!” Clyde said. “Growl?” Bonnie’s Growlithe said, watching its compatriot’s defeat. “Grrrrrr…” it growled, advancing menacingly on Cubone. “C-cu-cubone…” Cubone trembled, shrinking away. “Don’t be afraid, Cubone!” Aoife said. “Use Bone Club! You have a type advantage, so you’ll beat it easily!” Encouraged by its master’s words, Cubone straightened up and bonked Growlithe repeatedly on the head with its Bone Club. “Cu! Bone! Cu! Bone!” It kept this up until Growlithe’s eyes started to spin and it slumped to the floor. “Now use Bonemerang on Sundance!” Aoife said, noticing that Sundance was starting to sneak up behind Cubone. “Cu-bone!” Cubone flung its bone, hitting Sundance in the head. “I’ve had enough of this!” Jessie said. “I’m not going to take you beating up on my daughter and her Pokemon like this anymore!” “Daughter?” Sora repeated. “You mean Bonnie…oh, man, I really feel sorry for her now.” “Yeah,” Ruari said, “’specially since her mom goes around looking like Katherine Harris.” “Worse than that,” Ferio said. “Katherine Harris at least has the decency not to wear slutty dresses like that.” “Go, Arbok!” Jessie cried, throwing out a Pokeball with each hand. “And Likitung!” Now Aoife had these two new Pokemon to contend with, as well as Gloom, so she decided to give Cubone a rest. “Now I think I’ll use…Pele!” “Ooh, a Magby!” James said, watching Aoife’s fire Pokemon enter the battle. “After we beat this little twerp, we can steal it.” “Sounds like a plan,” Cassidy said. “She does have some pretty good Pokemon…but not good enough to beat us.” “Yeah, sure, you’ll steal my Pokemon…when hell freezes over!” Aoife said. “Go, Pele! Use Fire Spin on those guys!” Pele exhaled a breath of fire, which quickly spun into a tornado of flame. The tornado circled around the arena, scorching anything that got in its path—including Gloom, Likitung, and Arbok. “Noooo!” Jessie cried, as she returned her Pokemon. “Okay, James, you get that brat!” “Right,” James nodded. “Victreebell! Weezing! I choose you!” Weezing, an ugly many-headed Pokemon, emerged from its Pokeball. So did Victreebell, but it wasn’t as cooperative. It hopped onto the podium and latched onto James’s head, then hopped off and hid in the corner. “Victreebell, cut it out!” James’s muffled voice said. “Too bad,” Aoife said. “Looks like Victreebell and James have left the arena. That means they’re disqualified.” “It does?” James, who had finally managed to pull his head out of his Victreebell’s mouth, said. “That’s not true, is it, Jessie?” “Unfortunately,” Jessie said, “the little brat is right. Sorry, James. Guess you can’t battle.” “Th-that’s not faaaaaaair!” James whined, starting to cry. “Well, tough,” Aoife said. “Now you know how I felt.” “But wait!” Meowth said. “I’m a Pokemon! Why don’t you let Meowth battle?” “Meowth?” Jessie said. “Are you really sure you want to fight?” “Sure!” Meowth said. “I could use the exercise.” “Oh…okay then! Go, Meowth!” Jessie said, pointing Meowth into battle, but Meowth didn’t need to be told. It jumped in to the arena and started challenging Pele. “You wanna fight, ducky?” Meowth said, circling Pele with its paws up, balled into fists. “Come on, hit me with yer best shot!” “Okay then, Pele, you heard the cat,” Aoife said. “Flamethrower attack!” “Beeeee!” Pele cried, more than happy to comply as it spit a great flame at the taunting cat Pokemon, burning it to a crisp. “Meeeeowth,” Meowth said, exhaling a puff of smoke. “That hurt.” It scampered back up to the podium, but refused when Jessie offered it a Pokeball to rest in. “Okay, now it’s our turn!” Butch said. “Drowzee, go!” “Ouch,” Aoife winced at Butch’s voice. “Now I see why they don’t give him many lines.” “Raticate, Onix, I choose you!” Cassidy said, throwing out two Pokeballs. “Whoa…an Onix,” Aoife said, sizing up the huge rock snake. “Even bigger than Petra’s one.” She recalled Pele, getting another Pokeball ready to throw. “And fire isn’t too good against rock, so I think I’ll use Vaporeon!” “Va-poooooooooreon!” Aoife’s mermaid-like Pokemon said, leaping into the arena. “Vaporeon, water gun attack!” Aoife cried. Vaporeon’s attack quickly soaked Cassidy’s Onix, who sunk to the floor in defeat. “Better recall that Pokemon quick, Cassidy!” Petra said. “Otherwise it might turn into mud!” “Shut up, you!” Cassidy yelled back. “This is between me, Butch, and the little redheaded twerp. So stay out of it!” “Drowzee, use your Hypnosis attack!” Butch said. His Drowzee started to move its hands around, intoning, “Drowzee…drowzee…” in its resonant voice. “Va…vaporeon…” Aoife’s Pokemon yawned, lying down and dozing off. “Vaporeon, return,” Aoife said, calling her water Pokemon back. She turned to Chu-Chu, who had been sitting beside her the whole time, watching the battle. “Do you think you’re ready to fight, Chu-Chu?” “Chu,” Chu-Chu said, nodding its head. “Okay, then,” Aoife said, patting Chu-Chu on the back before it went into battle. “It’s up to you now, Chu-Chu. Beat these two Pokemon, and I’ll win my last badge! You can do it, Chu-Chu!” “Pika!” Chu-Chu said, jumping into the arena. “Ready, Chu-Chu?” Aoife said. “Thundershock, now!” “Piiika…” Chu-Chu said, sparks flying from its cheeks as it got ready to attack. “PikaCHUUUUUUU!” The attack worked. Drowzee and Raticate were hit with a very high-voltage jolt, and when Chu-Chu’s attack was finished, they were both on the floor. “Drow…zee…” Drowzee gasped, its health points drained from it. “Hey, she beat us!” Cassidy sputtered. “Did you see that, Butch? She just beat all of us! That’s impossible!” “But…but we were all working together against her!” James said. “How did she do that?” “Stop talking and just give me the badge,” Aoife said impatiently. “I won’t,” Cassidy said. “You must have cheated somehow. I won’t give you the badge.” “You’re saying _I_ cheated?” Aoife said. “You were the ones who ganged up on me and used three Pokemon at a time, and now you say that I cheated? That’s so…so…” “Despicable,” Ferio supplied. “Detestable,” Sora said. “Discriminatory,” Ruari said. “Disgusting,” Petra said. “That’s so MEAN!” Aoife spit out. Her four companions facefaulted. “We’re Team Rocket!” Bonnie said. “We’re supposed to be mean. That’s what we do. Being mean is our livelihood.” “Fine, then,” Aoife said. “If you won’t give me the badge, I’ll have to take it from you myself!” She threw out a Pokeball into the arena. “Go, Cubone! You and Chu-Chu can help each other get that badge!” “Pi,” Chu-Chu agreed. She jumped up onto the platform where Bonnie and Clyde were standing. “Pika-cha!” she growled, clamping her surprisingly sharp teeth into Bonnie’s ankle. “Oww!” Bonnie squealed, shaking her foot to get Chu-Chu loose, but Chu-Chu was holding on with all its might. “You little rodent, get offa me!” “Now, Cubone!” Aoife said. Cubone took its cue and jumped up, grabbing onto the seam of Bonnie’s shirt. It reached into her pocket (somehow managing to stay on even though Bonnie was jumping around in a fit to get Chu-Chu off of her) and pulled out the badge, then ran back across the arena and delivered it to Aoife. Chu-Chu let go soon after and ran back to its master as well. “Clever plan,” Ferio observed. “You know, I guess Aif isn’t as dumb as I thought.” “See ya, Team Rocket!” Aoife said, jumping down from the platform and bolting for the door. “Come back here, you little thief!” James cried, as the Rockets raced to block Aoife’s path to the door. “I don’t think so,” Aoife said. “Chu-Chu, Thundershock those Rockets!” “Pika!” Chu-Chu said, releasing a wave of thunder on the six remaining Team Rocket members. The Rockets were blasted into the sky with a cry of, “Team Rocket’s blasting off agaaaaaaaain!” until they were no more than a tiny dot in the sky. “All right,” Petra said, high-fiving Aoife as the girls walked away from the gym. “Good show back there.” “Yeah, Aoife!” Ruari said. “You go, girl.” “Now I have all my badges,” Aoife said, “and I’m going to compete in the Pallet Gym competition and it’ll be no problem!” Author's Notes Haha, Bonnie and Clyde as Bush and Cheney...hey! They even have the same initials! Hee hee...so if this story takes place in the 2100s, why are they talking about 20th century American politics? Dunno. So we learn that Jessie is Bonnie's mother, but who is the father? Or is there one (that we know of)? And Clyde, who are his parents? We know they're in TR (episode 2: Bonnie said "great criminals like OUR parents", meaning her and Clyde), but who are they? Hehe...it's not who you'd expect. back |