Kanto Sentai Pokéranger
(a.k.a. Power Rangers: Pocket Monsters)
Usual
disclaimers apply. These characters do
no belong to me.
Morning
came over
For
the two burned out members of Team Rocket who had hiked through the Viridian
Forest the entire night after being blasted into oblivion and landing in a
metal and glass crash site, it did very little to comfort them. In fact, the sight of the dawn seemed to tire
them out, given they had no idea how long they had been walking.
“Wait,”
James groaned, “it’s morning?” The sight
of the sunrise added to his disbelief.
“We’ve
been walking through the woods for hours,” Jessie added. “I’m tired and hungry.”
“And
it looks like a fog is rollin’ in,” Meowth said. He was walking slumped over, his arms hanging
like dead weight. Something in the air,
however, snapped him out of his zombie-like state. “Wait—that ain’t fog!”
“What?”
Jessie asked. “What are you talking
about, Meowth? How is it not?”
“Well,
for one, fog isn’t purple…”
“Huh?”
Jessie and James said at once. Indeed,
this fog wasn’t the shade of gray they were used to seeing, but it was still
too thick to see through. It began to
swirl around in a circle, like smoke.
And when it cleared, there was a strange figure standing before Team
Rocket. It suddenly rose up and took
shape, but not unlike a human shape. It
stood like a human, and it wore a dark cloak with a hood that obscured its
face.
All
three screamed. James jumped into
Jessie’s arms, while Meowth leapt in James’s lap simultaneously. The being lowered the hood on his its cloak,
revealing his face. The face was shadow,
similar to that of a Gengar, with blood red eyes. It had a moustache like that of an Alakazam,
and carried a long staff that resembled a twisted spoon.
“Who
are you?!” the three members of Team Rocket shouted as one.
The
mysterious stranger raised his want, a circle of energy engulfing the four of
them. “You will find out soon enough,”
he said. He slammed the staff on the
ground, and the energy flared and everyone disappeared.
* * * * *
In
an instant, the demon and Team Rocket were in the throne room of Pandion. James and Meowth were on their feet, and they
and Jessie were huddled together in fear.
Pandion sat on his raised throne, Melkid to the left and Shadowench to
the right. The strange sorcerer stood
between the captured and the only known exit
“Where…where
are we?” Jessie asked, her voice trembling.
“You
are in the throne room of the great Pandion,” Pandion said, “future conqueror
of planet Earth.”
“But
why are we here?” James asked, his voice a whine. “What do you want with us?”
“We
are very much alike, you and I, Team Rocket.
We both have enemies in the Power Rangers. I propose…an alliance.”
“An
alliance?” Jessie squeaked.
“You
want the Power Rangers humiliated and destroyed just as much as we do!” Melkid
said through his red face.
“Well…yeah,”
Meowth said. “We got orders from our
boss to return with their heads or don’t return at all.”
“Pity,”
Pandion said. “I can’t imagine anyone
who would throw away perfectly good warriors like you two. I, on the other hand, reward loyalty and
obedience.”
“My
lord,” the strange sorcerer interrupted, “not only do these two have a common
enemy, but I felt they would be perfect for the Poképolymerization project I
told you about.”
“Poké-ploy-whatty?”
Jessie and James asked simultaneously.
The
sorcerer waved his staff, and all of Team Rocket’s Pokémon sprang forth from
their Pokéballs—Jessie’s Seviper, Dustox and Wobbuffet and James’ Cacnea and
Victreebel joined Meowth by their masters’ sides. “It’s a little program that will make you and
your Pokémon more powerful than either one of you could imagine,” he
explained. “I offer you this chance to
join us, and together, the Power Rangers will be brought to their knees. What say you?”
“But…but
our loyalties are to Team Rocket first and foremost…” James began to say.
Pandion
and his minions looked disappointed.
“How disappointing.” He stood
up. Pandion stretched out his hand, and
Jessie and Seviper started to glow red, floating a few feet off the
ground. “I should have said something
earlier—the Pokémon polymerization project is going to continue no matter what
happens. Had you accepted our offer, you
would be permitted to keep your precious minds intact.” The dark lord looked at the unfamiliar
wizard. “Zinjax! I leave them in your hands.”
“Thank
you, lord Pandion,” Zinjax said. He
turned his attention to the frightened Jessie and the confused Seviper. He started chanting a spell, each word
chilling Jessie to the bone. She and
Seviper slowly drifted towards one another, and as he shouted the last
syllables of the spell, they met, a blinding flash of light filling the lair. James and the other Pokémon watched in shock
as Jessie and Seviper were mutated right before their eyes. The shock of his partner’s ordeal was too
much for James to take, and with a light whimper, he fainted.
* * * * *
Ash
sat up in his bed and stretched, not completely awake. He yawned loudly, squinting at the morning
light. He looked at his alarm clock,
seeing it read just past 8:00. It looked
to be a beautiful day, the likes of which that couldn’t be wasted indoors.
He
pushed the covers aside and stood up wearing his now usual sleepwear—an old
tie-dye shirt with the sleeves ripped off and a pair of old mesh gym
shorts. His mother was probably already
up, making breakfast. Already he could
smell what he believed were pancakes and sausage. The smell seemed to invigorate the White Ranger. Feeling the need to use some of this energy,
Ash decided to stretch a little. He
stood with his feet firmly planted on the floor, and twisted his upper body
from side to side. The bones in his back
cracking on the first twist made a harsh sound, but it made him feel
better. He twisted to the other side,
not producing the same crack that the first rep did, but it still started to
feel good. Ash gave this a few more reps
before moving on. He spread his feet
wider, and stretched down to his feet, grabbing his right foot with his left
hand, then his left hand to his right foot…
…and
snapped straight up with a yelp as he felt something grab at his backside. Ash looked over his shoulder at Misty, who
was now awake, leaning over the side of the bed, her arm dangling beneath
her. She was clad in an old undershirt
(of Ash’s) and panties, but one couldn’t tell since the shirt hung down almost
to her thighs.
“Good
morning,” she said. The red-headed girl
smiled at him.
“G’morning,
Misty,” Ash answered. Ash looked up at
the bunk that was supposed to be Misty’s.
It obviously was used, but sometime during the night she moved down into
his bed. Ash usually slept like he was
comatose, so her moving didn’t wake him in the middle of the night.
Scratching
under his shirt, Ash walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, Misty right
behind him. In the kitchen, Ash’s mom
was indeed cooking pancakes and sausage, just as Ash predicted. Brock was nowhere to be found, but then
again, on his journey, Brock was usually the first one up. He was probably off doing something else.
“Well,
good morning you two,” Mrs. Ketchum said as her son and his girlfriend
entered. “How are you doing this
morning?”
“I’m
alright,” Ash answered. “Have you seen
Brock?”
Mrs.
Ketchum poured a dollop of pancake batter onto the skillet. It sizzled loudly. “Brock’s out back,” she stated. “I think he’s been up before anyone.”
Ash
glanced at Misty, then at the back door.
“I’m gonna see what he’s up to,” he said. Ash pulled open the door and pushed aside the
screen door. Brock was sitting on the
oaken picnic table, meditating. “Hey,
Brock,” Ash said, trying to get the Green Pocket Monster Ranger’s attention. It didn’t come. “…Brock?”
Ash
moved so that he was facing Brock. He
couldn’t tell if his eyes were opened or closed (but this was typical; after
all, it was Brock). He waved his hand a
few times. Brock didn’t flinch. He tried snapping his fingers. Again, nothing. Ash shrugged.
He belched, inadvertently, which suddenly made Brock flinch and reel
back, nearly falling off the table.
“Damn!”
Ash shouted, helping his friend straighten up.
“You alright, man?”
“Yeah,
I’m fine,” Brock answered. “Though…I
felt something…really weird.”
“Weird? Weird how?”
Brock
stared up at the morning sky. “I don’t
know...it suddenly felt like the balance in nature was upset.” He looked at Ash. “It’s really worrying me.”
“You
think we should tell the others?” Ash said.
“I
think we should. I wonder if anyone else
has felt what I felt…” Brock got up from
the table. “Come on; let’s get to the
lab and…”
“Hold
on, Brock,” Ash protested, “two things: one, my mom’s got a clear view of the
back yard from the kitchen, and two, I can’t get anything done without
breakfast, man.” He walked back toward
the house. “Come on, my mom’s waiting
for us.”
Brock
shrugged, and followed Ash back inside.
He couldn’t fight that logic.
* * * * *
After
eating breakfast and getting dressed for the day, Ash, Brock and Misty said they
would be at Professor Oak’s lab that morning.
Once they were out of earshot from the Ketchum house, they teleported
the rest of the way. When they got into
the hidden command center underneath the Lab, Brock began to tell his
story. But Degenhart interrupted him,
wanting the others to arrive first. The
sound of the floor in the main lab sliding open preceded the arrival of Max,
May and Tracey. Once settled in, Brock
told his story.
“…and
that’s what I felt,” he finished.
“I
understand what you have felt, Brock,” Degenhart said. “I indeed felt the same disturbance you
did. And it is magical in origin.” He led the young adults to the main
console. Max brought up a playback of
events that happened at dawn on the outskirts of town. “A strange magic was responsible for
spiriting away these two criminals.”
“Team
Rocket,” Ash scowled.
“But…what
was the strange magic you felt?” Misty asked.
“It couldn’t be just from the teleport.”
“Indeed,
it wasn’t. The disturbance I felt was
when the soul of a Pokémon and the soul of its trainer were forcefully joined
together.”
Tracey
glanced at the screen, then at Brock, then at the Degenhart. “But how was Brock able to sense that?” he
asked. “I mean, no offense, but…he’s
just an ordinary human, really.”
“Brock’s
heightened awareness of the world around him is probably a sign of his powers
beginning to develop,” Degenhart explained.
“While the Pokécrystals are the sources of your powers, they are each
based on one of the forces that bind this world. Brock’s happens to be based on nature, on the
earth.” He rubbed his chin. “The song of nature is a very delicate
thing. When even as much as a single
note is out of place, it takes a great deal of effort from all of its surroundings
to restore harmony.”
“What
does Pandion want with Team Rocket?” May asked.
“And why them, of all people?”
“That
I do not know,” Pandion answered. “It is
possible that they wanted to test this new magical application as soon as
possible. And Team Rocket just happened
to be at the right place and time. Also,
we do not know the outcome of this experiment.”
“Wait…what
are you saying?” Ash asked. “You’re
saying that one of Team Rocket might be…dead?”
“Trial
and error is a messy process, White Ranger.
It is a possibility. However, it
is not the only one. If they did
survive, then the product would be a being more powerful than either the human
or the Pokémon could ever hope to become.”
Ash
sighed. He didn’t like Team Rocket, but
he didn’t hate them to the point where he would wish misfortune or death on them. “I don’t know which result I’d rather have…” Ash wondered if he was even capable of truly
hating someone.
“So
what should we do?” Brock asked.
“We
should prepare ourselves the best we can for this new threat,” Degenhart
suggested.
“The
scanners will be running full force and will alert us when and if something
turns up,” Max stated.
“And
I will continue to meditate on this matter,” their mentor continued. “Brock, I would like for you to join me. I can help you develop your attunement with
the world around you.”
“Alright,”
Brock agreed.
“Come
with me.” With a wave of his hand, both
Brock and Degenhart disappeared.
After
a few moments, Ash and the others exited the lab. They headed for the Pokémon pasture, which
encompassed most of the Oak estate grounds.
When they got to the clearing, a small, grass- and poison-type Pokémon saw
them out of the corner of its eye.
“Bul?”
{“Ash?”} it said. It looked at the group. Indeed, in front… “Bulba!” {“It’s Ash!”} Bulbasaur
shouted. It ran as fast as it could,
skidding to a halt right in front of its master.
Ash
smiled and knelt down as Bulbasaur jumped towards him. He caught the little green Pokémon in his
arms. “Hey, Bulbasaur,” Ash said, “long
time no see.”
“Bulba,
Bulbasaur?” {“How was Hoenn?”} it asked.
“Hoenn
was great. Oh, that reminds me.” Ash grabbed the Pokéballs on his belt, and
threw them into the sky. “I want to
introduce you to my friends!” They all
snapped open, revealing Ash’s Grovyle, Swellow, Torkoal, Corpish and Snorunt. “Why don’t you round up the rest of the gang
and introduce them, Bulbasaur?”
“Bulbasaur!”
{“Good idea!”} Bulbasaur answered.
“They
should meet mine, too!” May said. “Skitty! Bulbasaur!
Beautifly! Combusken! Come on out!”
She threw her own Pokéballs, and her own Pokémon emerged. Ash’s Bulbasaur blushed as it saw May’s
Bulbasaur, but it tried to hide it the best it could. Misty followed suit, releasing her Luvdisc,
Corsola, Psyduck, Starmie, Staryu, and Politoed. They all chorused happily at the site of
their trainer, her friend, and her friend’s Pokémon.
“I
think they like each other,” Misty observed.
Bulbasaur
called to the group of Pokémon, and it ran off, the other Pokémon following
close behind. Pikachu was in the rear.
The
four humans watched the Pokémon run off.
“They’ll get along fine,” Ash said.
“Hey
Tracey, don’t you have any Pokémon?” May asked.
“Sure,”
he answered, “a Venonat, a Scyther and a Marril. I’m sure they’re around here somewhere. They’ll turn up eventually. After all, this plantation is huge.
Literally thousands of Pokémon are studied here for one reason or
another.”
The
Red Ranger looked astonished. “Wow. How does he keep track of them all?”
“Heh,
it’s a hell of a task. I’m just an
intern and I’m exhausted at the end
of a lot of days.” Tracey was about to
go off on a tangent about how Ash’s personal Tauros herd got loose and
stampeded all through town, nearly trampling him in the process. But the familiar beep, beep, bee-beep beep, beep! of their communicators cut him
off.
They turned their back from where the Pokémon wandered off and huddled around
Ash, who drew his communicator. Ash
flicked it open, and was greeted with Brock’s panicked image. “What’s going on, Brock?” Ash asked.
* * * * *
“It’s
Pandion’s forces,” Brock shouted into the communicator. “And it’s even worse than usual. Yow!”
Brock dived out of the way of the monster’s attack, its long, snakelike tail
glowing a dark purple and ripe with poison.
It instead hit a tree, slashing at its bark. Within seconds, the venom spread throughout
the tree and began to rot. “I need
backup—now!” Brock closed the link between
himself and Ash, pocketed his communicator, and reached for his Morpher. “Pokéranger!
GO!” In a flash of green light,
Brock was wearing the uniform of the Green Pocket Monster Ranger.
The
demon groaned loudly, and shot a stream of acid out of its mouth. Brock back flipped to avoid the corrosive
substance, but some got on his boot anyway.
The article sizzled and smoked as the acid ate away at the material.
Shouting
from behind him drew his attention. Ash,
Misty, Tracey and May ran towards him, and they instinctively fell into
formation on the White Ranger. They were
ready to fight, when they saw just what they
were fighting…
“Holy
shit,” Ash gasped.
The
demon looked like the bottom half of a Seviper…and the top half of Jessie of
Team Rocket.
“Oh,
my god,” Misty said.
The
Jessie/Seviper groaned, sounding like it was talking. “What’s it saying?” Tracey asked. It said something again, sounding similar to
what it just said.
“Max,”
Ash said into his communicator, “did you get that?” Again, it repeated its alien phrase. “Max, translate that, stat!”
“Got
it!” Max answered, signing off.
The
snake thing leaned back with a loud moan, then lurched forward, shooting a
cloud of glowing needles from its mouth.
Each one made a small explosion as it hit, be it the ground, a tree, or
a Ranger. The five Rangers were knocked
to their back.
“We
have to destroy it!” Brock shouted, summoning his CroHammer.
“No,
wait!” Ash protested. The White Ranger
was on his feet again, trying to calm his Green ally. “I got a feeling Jessie’s stuck in there
somewhere. We have to find a way to
separate her and that Seviper.”
“But
that thing will destroy us before—wait!”
Suddenly, Brock spun around and drew his Ranger Blaster, firing it into
the woods. It exploded in midair, it
seemed, as though it hit solid air. The
loud, pained groan, however, said otherwise.
A cloaked form suddenly appeared, and collapsed on the ground.
“What
the—?” Ash blurted out. “Who are you?”
The
strange creature floated above the ground for a few seconds before
disappearing. It suddenly reappeared in
front of the horrible thing that had Jessie’s upper body. “You…you found me!” it shouted. “How were you Power Rangers able to spot me? I was invisible!”
“I
could feel your evil presence polluting this place,” Pokéranger Green shouted.
Zinjax
scowled, and pointed his twisted-spoon-shaped staff at the Rangers. A wave of dark purple energy crashed into
them, leveling the Rangers.
“My
name is Zinjax,” he told them. “I serve
the future ruler of Earth, Pandion. And
this…” he hoisted Jessie/Seviper up by “Jessie’s” hair, “…is a girl who serves
Team Rocket and her Seviper fused into one being. It is part of my Pokémon polymerization
program. But as you can see, the process
is not complete. This one still has some
traces of free will. She refuses to obey
me. So this experiment will have to be…scrapped.”
Pokéranger
White’s fist trembled with anger. His
teeth gnashed together. “What did Jessie
do to deserve this?!” he demanded with more venom than that creature could
produce. “What did she ever do to you?!”
“Simple…she
refused to obey lord Pandion. She and
her partner.”
“That’s
insane!” The White Ranger clenched his fist so hard it began to glow.
“Pity
I can’t stay around to destroy you, Power Rangers. I have more pressing matters to attend to.” He grabbed the invalid Jessie. “Trial and error is such a mess, messy
process.” He laughed as the two
disappeared into a crack in the ground.
Ash
was still shaking with anger as Zinjax’s laugh echoed through his mind. “Wow, that’s just wrong,” Tracey said. “Now they’re using regular people to serve
them?”
“Team
Rocket isn’t exactly ‘ordinary’,” Misty argued.
“Still,”
Ash argued, “can anyone give me a reason why they deserved to be used like
that?”
An
ill wind picked up, and the Rangers shielded themselves. Twelve Fossiloids materialized and surrounded
them, ready for a fight.
Ash
held his sword out in front of him.
Though no one could see his face, they could tell by voice alone he had
a predatory glare in his eyes. “Wrong
time, wrong place, wrong Ranger,” he told the terra cotta grunts.
* * * * *
After
their easy disposal of the Fossiloids, Ash and the others retreated to the
lab. They materialized in the command
center, helmets in hand, to the similarly surprised faces of Degenhart and
Max. “Man, did you guys see that out
there?” Ash barked.
“Yeah,
I saw,” Max answered.
“You
had him run a translation on what the demon was trying to say, were you not?”
Degenhart asked.
“Oh,
right.”
“Just
what was that thing?” Misty asked.
“It
was exactly what you feared, Rangers,” Degenhart answered. “The one you call Jessie of Team Rocket was
fused with her Seviper, the end result of Zinjax and his twisted magic.”
“So
that disturbance you were telling us about earlier…” Tracey started.
“…was
because these two were forced together,” Degenhart finished. “Two living souls were not meant to share a
body in such a disgusting manner. This…thing
is an abomination of nature and of your god and mine.”
As
they talked, the translator program in the computer finished. “Guys!
Check this out!” Max shouted.
“What
is it?” May asked. “Did you figure out
what Jessie was saying?”
“Yeah. She said…” Max read the audio translation
slowly, for even though it was translated into English, it still sounded
garbled. “She said, ‘I…want…to…die…’”.
That
did it for Ash. He was angry before, but
after hearing that, he clutched his helmet so hard in his hands the black visor
shattered. “We can’t let this stand!” he
shouted. “I don’t care if it is Team Rocket; this is our battle, not
theirs!” He noticed the looks his
teammates were giving him. “And I don’t
care if we just blasted them into Johto a few days ago – which I know one of
you was about to point out – Pandion can’t be allowed to get away with this!” Ash looked at Degenhart. “Degenhart, is there any way to separate
them?”
“Not
with the technology you have available, no.”
The
White Ranger’s trembling fist spoke volumes of his frustration.
* * * * *
“It
refuses to obey you?” Pandion asked of Zinjax.
“Sorry
to say, but yes,” answered Zinjax. He
shrugged. “Oh, well.” He waved his staff, and the Jessie/Seviper
combo was painfully ripped apart. Jessie
and her Seviper had blank stares on their face as they lay helpless on the
ground, unable to move. James, Meowth,
ant the rest of the Pokémon cringed.
“J-Jessie?”
James stuttered. Tears were forming in
his eyes. “What have they done to you?”
“Whatever
it was, I think it’s about to be done to us next!” Meowth shouted, noticing
they were both awash in a red glow. Meowth
and James screamed loudly.
TO
BE CONTINUED……………