“A Dark Ball?!” Ash recoiled as though physically struck. “You’re kidding!”
“Read my lips, twerp,” Jessie said with a hand on her hip and scowl on her face. “Each and every one of those funny-looking balls Team Fashion Victim was carrying was a Dark Ball.”
“But how?” the young boy asked. “Where would they get them? Weren’t they all destroyed back in Ilex Forest?”
“How should I know where they came from? I thought they were all gone when that Iron-Masked Marauder creep was dragged away to prison. Ask him, maybe he had a secret stockpile in his basement or something.” Jessie shrugged. “But if you’re asking where Team Flare got so many, then-”
“Uh, beg your pardon,” Serena coughed. “But what’s a Dark Ball?”
“I was wondering the same thing,” Clemont nodded. “I’ve read about every type of Poke Ball ever publicly produced or even conceptualized, and I’ve never heard of anything that matches up with what you’re describing.”
“They’re your pals,” Jessie prodded Ash. “You tell them.”
“Right,” he turned around, a deep frown on his face. “Dark Balls are a sick, twisted kind of Poke Ball that take away a Pokémon’s free will and reduce it to a mindless fighting machine. I’ve only seen them being used once, in Ilex Forest in the Johto Region, years ago. There was this man called the Iron-Masked Marauder who used one to capture Celebi. It got really bad, and Celebi almost died breaking free, but in the end he lost and his Pokémon were all set free. When he was taken away, I thought we’d seen the last of them.”
“And so did we,” Jessie said. “Until a few weeks ago, when we spotted one being carried north to Laverre by none other than Lysandre.”
“Lysandre?!”
“Pikachu?!”
“Why would a man like Lysandre be carrying an item like that?” Clemont asked with wide eyes. “He’s well-known as a lover of Pokémon.”
“Because he’s Team Flare’s leader, duh.” Jessie rolled her eyes. “Honestly, you twerps can’t even see through the simplest ruses.”
“And why should we believe you? You lie to us all the time!”
“Cause last time ya didn’t and thanks ta dat we’re up to our armpits in evil Poke Balls,” Meowth walked right into the conversation without a moment’s pause.
“He’s right!” James joined in from where he’d been sitting down. “You lot should be on your hands and knees begging us for forgiveness!”
“Oh yeah?” Ash looked him in the eyes. “And why’s that?”
“Because it’s your fault those Team Flare goons have as many Dark Balls as they feel like carrying,” Jessie told them.
“What?!” Ash reeled back.
“No way!” Serena gasped.
“It couldn’t be!” Clemont insisted.
“Chu!” Pikachu said.
“Well when ya stopped us from breakin’ dose machines at da factory, ya made it all possible for ‘dem. What’d ya think we were doin’, smashin’ stuff for fun?”
“Pretty much, yeah,” Serena said immediately.
“You twerps really think that little of us?!” James snapped.
“You guys have an unhealthy obsession with showboating,” Clemont observed. “If you just stuck to your goals you’d be much more dangerous. I thought you were there to steal Poke Balls and decided to wreck the place so no one else could have any.”
“And the fact that we weren’t hauling giant sacks of Poke Balls around didn’t tip you off that something was wrong with that theory?”
“Well, no,” Serena replied. “When was the last time you guys pulled off a theft more complicated than an eat and run at a buffet?”
“I resent that remark even if it is true!” James halfway shouted.
“Anyway, you idiots lost track of da point. We were in da factory ‘cause we knew Team Flare wanted ta use it ta make more Dark Balls, so we were tryin’ ta make sure dat dey couldn’t,” Meowth explained. “Den Lysandre played you chumps like a two-bit fiddle and interrupted our delicate operation.”
“The boss wants those Dark Balls gone,” Jessie told them. “But now thanks to you who knows how many could be wandering around? Team Flare had hours to run the Laverre factory.”
“Even operating at a quarter of capacity, well over three hundred Poke Balls can be produced in Laverre in a single hour,” Clemont breathed.
“Well now you know how miss blue, tacky, and murderous got hers.” Jessie folded her arms across her chest.
“If what you’re saying is true, and I think it is,” Ash nodded at Bonnie, “then we have to do something.”
“But what can we do?” Clemont asked. “Assuming we believe all of this, how are we supposed to stop Team Flare? We don’t know how many Dark Balls they might have, what their plan is, or even where their primary headquarters is.”
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” James said.
“We stole all dat data from Team Flare’s big Lumiose base for a reason, ya know. We needed more info on were dey live and what dey were up to so we can stop ‘em real good.”
“And what did you find out?” Serena asked.
“Nothing yet, the files are too heavily encrypted.” James shook his head.
“But no file is safe from Team Rocket’s hackers!” Jessie said. “We’ll break through them eventually and when we do, look out!”
“I see,” Serena put a hand to her chin, considering as her friends did likewise.
“You know,” Ash said after a moment had passed. “There might be an easier way.”
“And what’s that supposed to be?”
In answer, Clemont pointed behind Team Rocket, to a tree where Mable and four other members of Team Flare were securely bound. Houndoom, jaws and legs all tied together, was bunched up at their feet. Weavile dangled from a tree branch, encased in so much rope it looked like nothing so much as a cocoon.
“Ask them.”
“I still don’t trust them,” Twilight half-whispered, a conspiratorial hoof over her mouth. “Team Rocket, I mean.”
“And why would that be?” Celestia said from where she lay, not even opening an eye.
“Even if Team Flare is out to get them, it doesn’t make them the good guys,” Twilight said, watching the humans out of the corner of her eyes. “Evil can fight amongst themselves. Remember what happened with Tirek and Discord?”
Wearily, the elder alicorn cracked open a single eye. “And what makes you so certain that they are, in fact, evil?”
“Preponderance of evidence,” Twilight argued. “While I admit that I may have… overestimated their skills just a teensy tiny bit…”
Celestia couldn’t quite hide the tiniest of smiles.
“The fact remains,” her former student continued, “that Team Rocket is well-known in the Kanto Region as a gang of thieves and criminals with tendrils extending throughout the region’s underworld. Theft, sabotage, racketeering, black marketeering, vandalism, the kidnap and sale of trained Pokémon, failure to pay library fines…” she shook her head. “You name it, and Team Rocket has likely dabbled in it. And the fact that one Jessie, James, and Meowth have all been seen in close pursuit of Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town for years is a matter of public record. Ever since an incident in Viridian City at a Pokémon Center, they’ve cropped up in news accounts and police reports across the region and beyond!”
“How do you know all that?” Celestia asked.
“Oh, I did some light reading on the history of the trainer who captured me while I was at Professor Oak’s lab. In between the research on the state of interdimensional travel and the nature of Pokémon, it made for an interesting side project. Also, I did some extra research on Team Rocket in particular after I'd heard they had you back in Laverre.”
“I see.” Celestia supposed that some things never changed. “But I think you fail to account for a few factors, Princess Twilight.”
“Oh really?” the purple alicorn cocked her head. “Like what?”
“Granting for the sake of it that all that you say is true, have they ever actually succeeded in robbing a child? In all of the reports and stories that you glanced over, did they ever steal your friend’s Pokémon and get away with them?”
“Well…” Twilight tapped her chin. “Not really. Most of the stories I read ended with them flying over the horizon only to survive and come back in the next week or so… somehow. When I heard they had you, I thought that had to be a ploy.”
“And do you now?”
“Given that they were on the verge of dying to Team Flare back there?” Twilight frowned a bit. “I’m… reconsidering that particular hypothesis.”
“I thought you would be. So, my first point would be that even if they are evil as you say, they are incredibly incompetent at it and hence a much lesser threat than the likes of Lysandre and Team Flare,” Celestia closed her eye again and laid her head back down. “This supports what I’ve seen during my time traveling with them. As I believe I have mentioned, I had to plan their heist against Team Flare’s data storage.”
“I guess I can see how you might draw that conclusion.”
“Secondly, whether or not their leader, Giovanni, wishes Team Flare and the Dark Balls eliminated for altruistic purposes or not it seems indisputable to me that he does sincerely want that. I have seen him giving these three and other agents orders with my own eyes. Every evidence suggests he feels roughly the same as I do, even if it is not for what I would consider the correct reasons. It would be far from the first time I have had to deal with somepony wishing to do the right thing for all the wrong reasons. I would not allow whatever these humans are scheming to come to fruition, and if Giovanni wishes to help I will take what I can get.” The white alicorn sighed. “Not everypony is as selfless and you and your friends, Twilight. That does not mean they cannot do the right thing.”
“I see,” the other princess frowned again.
“Thirdly and perhaps most crucially,” Celestia opened one eye wearily, “I believe in redemption. Can you honestly say that even if I grant you that all the crimes you accuse them of are true that they are responsible for even a thousandth of the suffering Discord once caused? Keeping in mind all of the surviving archives of his reign you have been given access to.”
“Well…” Twilight shook her head. “No, I really can’t. Ineffectually stalking a child and drowning entire nations in insanity for an unknowable number of years really aren’t even close to the same level.”
“And yet I still chose to try and reform him.” Celestia said. “With Jessie, James, and Meowth, granting for the sake of it that they are criminals every bit as bad as you say, I would still put them as 90% of the way towards good.”
“That far?”
“It is clear to me that they already understand friendship, at least towards one another and their Pokémon,” Celestia told her. “They demonstrated a capacity for kindness towards a complete stranger the day we first met, and since then I have seen a great deal of how they treat each other. While far from frictionless, there is no question in my mind they care for each other and their Pokémon a great deal and find the concept of a Dark Ball as repulsive and terrifying as I do. Instead of teaching them what friendship is, reforming Team Rocket would simply require them learning to extend their empathy to others on a more consistent basis.”
Celestia paused for a moment. Twilight stared quietly at the trio, an uneasy expression on her face.
“If Team Rocket is evil,” Celestia closed her eye and settled back down to rest, “then I shall simply have to teach them to be good.”
Team Rocket, or at least those three of it, aren't even evil in my opinion. They're pretty much just assholes. Glad to see Celestia wasn't exactly rocked by Twilight's revelation about them, though I sincerely doubt she'll be able to reform them, either. Excellent chapter.
But Celly I like the fact they have an F in Evil...it makes it amusing to watch them try so hard to be bad and well be BAD at doing it
Nah what ya should do is try to find out a way to do a few things...A. stop whatever profane ritual Ash is doing to keep himself young, and B. find out if you can smash a few books on how to be a pokemon trainer into his skull.
Such as, YOU DON'T CONSTANTLY RELEASE YOUR STRONGEST POKEMON NEARLY AS SOON AS YOU GET THEM!!!
Funnily enough, team rocket has generally proven themselves to be quite competent. As long as Ash is nowhere nearby. That kid is their own personal jinx, nothing ever goes right for them in his presence.
Arson, murder, jaywalking... Always the egghead, eh, Twilight?
HNNGH! My heart!
BTW, typo:
I know that depending on one's headcanon on alicorns, one can say that Twilight is a goddess. However, I doubt that she's a cardinal!
The word you're looking for is conspiratorial.
(PS: If you prefer that I send you corrections by PM--or not interrupt you with these types of posts at all--please tell me.)
Hmmm, Team Rocket has been chasing Ash for years? How many years? At what age did Ash run off to be a pokemon master? What age is he now? Go on Twilight, ask those questions. FIND OUT HOW HE STOPPED AGING FOR US ALL!
Another great chapter. It's good to see they are on the path of teaming up against the real threat.
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Unless they work together, like in the 2nd pokemon movie, where they help Ash and co to travel between the islands, and choose to drop themselves off Lugia not to hinder it. Ash or Pikachu should tell Twilight about moments like that.
Continuing to enjoy this story, and as far as I can tell, I see no reason for me to stop. >^_^< Keep up the good work.
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I have to admit, I've always wondered that myself. Best I can figure is that the tears of the Pokemon back in the first movie halted his aging in addition to reviving him (because... well, yeah, I've got nothing).
I like to claim that my suspension of disbelief is set rather high, but the fact that they say that Ash is still 10 after all this time breaks it entirely. I outright refuse to believe that.
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Ditto that. Far as I can tell, aside from their rise in competence in Unova, they've almost always been more successful at the occasional side businesses they open up from time to time.
Still, I like 'em anyway.
So at least Ash and friends are up to speed mostly.
I'm guessing and hoping for a Luna chapter next time to see how the Poke'army recruitment is going on.
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Twilight still doesn't quite understand that Evil and Criminal are not one and the same. An Evil person may perform acts perfectly legally, a criminal may not necessarily have evil as their main motivation.
I'm honestly surprised she still hasn't learnt this despite dealing with Starlight Glimmer
You never change Twilight.
Celestia is right about Jessie, James and Meowth being not evil. If you have seen their backstories, you'll learn that they are three unlucky souls with more or less hard upbringing and Team Rocket happens to be the best thing that happen to them.
Sad thing is during all the years they stalked Ash, they've shown skills and abilities in a lot of domains and make quite some honest money, but they are so loyal to Team Rocket and want to prove themselves to Giovanni despite many abuse, they keep on on their criminal ways.
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The true mark of villainy is not motivation, it's methodology. Lysander is a villain cause he wants to save the world by killing everyone, a paradoxical solution.
derpicdn.net/img/view/2018/7/5/1773609__safe_artist-colon-bharb_artist-colon-light262_princess+celestia_twilight+sparkle_comic-colon-timey+wimey_alicorn_duo_female_hoof+shoes_mare_po.jpeg
TWILIGHT ETERNALLY BTFO BY SUN HOARS
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That's assuming he even knows or is aware of that fact. XD We know HO-OH has to have something to do with it given it's Pokedex entries and the fact Ash literally saw the Legendary day 1 when it wasn't even in it's personal region. If it gave enteral happiness then Ash could be immortal now might not age as fast as others and all. Physically looking 10 as he started for awhile but being older due to the facts that not only has Matpat from Game & Film Theory have pointed out that even I haven't taken into account cause I didn't think about it on that scale but the fact it was stated in season 1 that the Pokemon League is an annual event and he's been to all of them. calculate how many regions there are with a pokemon league that Ash has been to and we can figure out how much he aged from that viewpoint without taking into account all the seasons which would actually increase the number as Matpat pointed out.
Theft, sabotage, racketeering, black marketeering, vandalism, the kidnap and sale of trained Pokémon, failure to pay library fines…”
Ah, yes.
(Then again, given that this was Twilight, perhaps it's averted...)
Little does Celestia know that Team Rocket (That is, the trio in this story) is capable of being good.
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9028462 To be fair, Jessie, James, and Meowth became more dangerous in the Black and White arc (Which wasn't the best, honestly), but they are still great in their own way. They're like Robbie Rotten, in that they're villains, but still lovable.
Forget what I said earlier. It took longer than I thought it should, and had some cringey moments along the way, but now that you have actually brought them together at last, it feels completely natural. The longer and more painful the wait, the more satisfying it is when the wait is over, and this chapter was very satisfying indeed.
Please accept my apologies for telling you your business, and please keep doing what you're doing, because it's getting really good.
That's so James, haha
Silly Twilight, Team Rocket failed that course.
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Must've missed it, thanks!
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Team Rocket in my book is just a gang of people who want to profit in other means, just like the good old days of the mob of the 1920s to the 1950s where being part of a mob is not as bad as it is today with street gangs.
Hell there boss is more of that of an classic mob boss giving money to shut people up of selling illegal drugs and what not as they do what they always done to make a profit
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Don't let the romanicism fool you. Life in the mob was nasty, brutish, and often short.
Aww yeah, that's a sick burn from Celestia to Twilight