Title: To Protect the World From Devestation
Author: Shadowcat
Notes on this story and my work in general: I have discovered, via a
critique of my work through e-mail and visiting Nintendo's Official
Pokemon Site, that Jessie's name is spelled "Jessie" and not "Jesse"
therefore, from now on I'm spelling her name "Jessie". Personally, I don't nit-pick about such matters; an author can spell her name "Timbuktoo" for all I care, just give me a good story to read! This story, I warn, is not really fitting with the cartoon (for those who like their "Pokemon" fanfic to really adhere to the cartoon series). Think of it as taking place in an alternate "Pokemon" world.
I have gathered inspiration for this slightly dark tale from a variety
of sources including one of the first episodes of "Sliders" and Stephen
King's "The Stand" (though I missed the third part of the TV miniseries
and have only read into the first 5 or 6 chapters of the novel epic).
I had some of the ideas in my head for a plain ol' short story that
never worked itself out-therefore I used my ideas to make a fanfic.
Notice to fans of the blue-haired dude: You may find some of the events
in this story upsetting. I'm a big James aficionado myself, but I put
some stuff in here that other James fans may not like. I thought it
fair to give my readers ample warning before I get flamed! I WARNED
YOU!!!!
Chapter 1 - The Deserted Drive
Jessie drove the lonely stretch of highway, looking out at the
emptiness around her. All the city's buildings were desolate, devoid
even of Pidgeys to sit upon the rooftops. There were no other vehicles
on that deserted drive. If it had been under different circumstances,
Jessie would have been happy. She despised traffic, all the having to
stop for lights, congestion, putting up with slow vehicles she was
unable to pass, and having to watch her speed for fear of being pulled
over by a cop, who would undoubtedly recognize her from some wanted
poster and arrest her for her other crimes.
She was one of the few people to use an automobile, beat-up and old
though it was, the little Nissan served her well. She used it out of
necessity, and also because she had discovered several containers of
gasoline left from the "Old Days", stockpiled by a group of
survivalists that did not quite...survive.
Jessie felt the weight of her bloodguilt. She had been a part of
this, a bit of an unwitting part, but a part none the less.
Her mind drifted back...
Chapter 2 - "The R"
"I don't have it!" Jessie screamed at the young Team Rocket physician
who was examining her in the makeshift infirmary at the Rochester
Estate; "I can't have it! You tested that blood sample wrong! I can't
have 'The R'!"
Jessie collapsed into a fit of convulsive sobbing. James was there,
sitting on the examining table with her; he put his arm around her
shoulder.
"It's just a cold;" Jessie sobbed; "It has to be just a cold."
"The R" was a most terrible virus. The Head Scientists under Giovanni,
The Head of Team Rocket, had engineered it. It was to be a viral
weapon for use in his Grand Plan of World Domination. No one knew how,
when, or why he wanted the viral weapon, or whom exactly he planned to
use it on. The motives behind the creation of the virus, as well as
many other secrets, died with the enigmatic man.
There had been an accident in the laboratory at the Main TR
Headquarters; the virus escaped the control of its careful creators.
Soon they all perished, but not before some of them fled, escaping
Quarantine in a foolish panic. They carried their creation to the
populace.
Soon, people around the world had begun deteriorating and dying
quickly, and painfully, of a strange, new, flu-like disease.
It was discovered that Team Rocket had been behind the virus, thus it
was dubbed "The R". Most of Team Rocket had no knowledge of the
experiments and engineering, least of all Jessie and her then partner,
James, who where just a couple of the organization's field lackeys.
The world's population was decimated to a fraction of a fraction of
what it once was in a matter of a year and a half, and people were
still getting sick. A lucky few appeared to be immune to the virus.
Survivors sought refuge from "The R" and from each other wherever they
could. People took to anarchy and chaos after "The R" had wiped out
most of the Earth's population, so looting and killing abounded. Surviving members of Team Rocket became a special target, even those
who didn't directly take a part in the virus' creation.
A small faction from Team Rocket built a compound out of James'
childhood home, the Rochester Estate. His parents had both succumbed
to "The R" as well as fiance Jessibelle, and pet growlithe, Growlie.
(The virus had also killed most of the world's pokemon).
Jessie had been experiencing symptoms of the flu a few days ago. She
insisted that it was nothing, but her partner, James, had insisted that
she see the resident chief doctor. So, here she was, sitting on the
examination table in what used to be the Rochester Mansion's Grand
Banquet Hall, grieving at having learned the terrible truth, her very
likely death sentence.
Chapter 3 - Brave New World
Jessie floored the gas pedal, realizing how late she was going to be.
She had to get to The Meeting Place before sundown and the sun was
already beginning to sink in the western horizon. She, being one of
the leaders of the Rocket Survivors, was integral to the plans. The
Survivalistas could find out about their next move if they did not
strike quickly.
The survivors of "The R" divided themselves into three major Factions:
The Rocket Survivors, The Liberantes, and The Survivalistas. There
were also people known as Barbarians - they did not fit into any category
and were roving bands and individuals who often raided each other and
the Factions for their necessities. There was also another band,
rather mysterious, that called itself The Remnant of the Saved. The
Remnant was mainly a religious order, and unlike the Rocket Survivors,
The Liberantes, or The Survivalistas, were not a part of the Pokemon
Wars.
The Factions fought the Wars mainly by the members using their pokemon.
They fought each other for resources and for clues to the cure for
"The R". People's children succumbed easily to the disease, and few of
the New Births were surviving. If a cure could be found, Humanity
would be saved. People of the three main Factions had begun
discovering treatments that seemed to be effective in fighting "The R",
but jealously guarded their secrets, for each Faction wished to create
a New World after their own agendas. Every new discovery in treatment
led the Factions closer to the cure, so they sought to steal each
other's secrets.
The Liberantes were people who believed that the time for mankind's
extinction had come. They believed in the Liberation of all Pokemon
and only battled with pokemon who followed them willingly. The
Liberantes wanted to keep everyone from finding a cure, and the secrets
that they knew, they would use only on pokemon and not on humans (even
their own ill members), for their objective was the extinction of
Humanity and the rise of the world's surviving pokemon.
The Survivalistas were mainly made up of people who had been Pokemon
Trainers in the "Old Days". They used their pokemon regardless whether
or not the pokemon volunteered. They strove to capture the world's
remaining pokemon for their own usage. If they discovered a cure
first, they would give it to the all people, except for The Rocket
Survivors, whom they despised-blaming them for the death that "The R"
had wrought.
The Rocket Survivors were made up of former members of Team Rocket who
had survived the plague. They wished to further Rocket ideals and
re-create the world under their rule. Giovanni's Grand Dream before
his plague was to create a great society not unlike the one depicted in
the novel, "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley.
In that world, Truth was nonexistent and what was accepted as true by
society was what the populace had been conditioned to believe. Also,
there was no Love in this world. The rulers of the society devised
ways to keep people from loving each other too much, for love brings
pain, and, at times, can lead to social disruption. Ah yes... the
society of "Brave New World" had a wondrous order, everyone had their
place, and The People were kept happy and productive in an efficient
and orderly world.
Giovanni believed that the world as it was causing devastation to
itself, and that if he ruled, a "Brave New World" type of planet would
emerge, with him as its Head, possessing unlimited power, and that the
world would be happy under him. He dedicated himself and his Team to
this Grand End, whatever the Means...
The Rocket Survivors, even with Giovanni dead from his own disease,
sought to continue the fight for his Grand Dream, and would create a
world somewhat similar to the "Brave New World" after they had
discovered the cure before the other Factions did.
This society of which Giovanni had dreamed became the source for the
Original Team Rocket Motto; which Jessie had remembered reciting with
James what seemed such a long time ago though it had only been seven
months since they were last together. Other pairings within Team
Rocket had made variations to the Motto, but she and James stuck to the
original;
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all peoples within our nation!"
"To denounce the evils of Truth and Love!"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
...
Jessie drove on down the deserted drive with her memories, wishing that
James was still with her.
Chapter 4 - James
Jessie lay groaning in her bed. She had tossed and turned throughout
the night, unable to sleep from her terrible fever. Her entire
physical being was wracked with an aching and oppressive pain. Her
skin was nearly blood red from the "The R's" fever and Jessie felt as
though she was in the center of a great bonfire, burning to death!
James became her main caretaker, along with Meowth, who was still with
them. He had been one of the rare pokemon that had contracted "The R"
but had survived its terrible course, becoming immune to the virus in
the process.
Jessie saw a flash of blue above her.
"Ja-ames, is that you?"
"I'm right here Jessie."
"I-I want some water;" Jessie squeaked.
James complied. He brought her a glass of water and held it to her
lips.
"Take these as well;" he said, handing her a mixture of wild berries
and dried leaves from some plant that he was unable to identify; "the
doctor said that these worked on Meowth."
Over the next few days, Jessie fell into a delirium. The Rocket
Survivors' chief doctor at the Rochester Estate did not expect her to
survive for long, but then, miraculously, she began to recover.
"Hack! Hack! Huuck!" James coughed as he entered Jessie's room.
"James, are you okay?" the recuperating, but still bedridden young
woman asked her friend.
"Just a little cough, it's ugh, it's nothing, I've brought your medicine. Looks
like we've beaten the others to a new discovery on the cure. But you
and Meowth are the only ones this stuff has worked on so far."
"I thought what I had was just nothing, James, get yourself checked
out!"
"Really, Jessie, it's nothing!"
Many who began displaying early symptoms of "The R" practiced denial,
they did not wish to admit to themselves that they had contracted the
killer.
Jessie's fears were soon confirmed. James had contracted the dreaded
virus, and was being cared for by Rocket partners Bonnie and Clyde, as
Jessie was slow in recovering completely. At night, she could hear him
screaming in agony from the next bedroom.
"Jessie, James wishes to see you," said Bonnie as she and Clyde helped
her out of her bed one afternoon.
"Why? Is he alright?" Jessie asked pleadingly.
The partners' faces looked grim. Jessie was brought to the bedside of
the blue-haired young man.
"Why is he in uniform;" Jessie asked, noting that he was not in pajamas
or a nightgown like the sick of the Mansion were required to wear, for
facilitation of their care.
"Last request;" replied Clyde; "He wanted to die in uniform."
Jessie got a look of pained shock upon her face, which had just gone
two shades paler than it normally was. Meowth was sitting atop James'
chest, and the dying youth was slowly stroking the cat-pokemon and
talking to him calling him Growlie.
"Jessie?" he whispered as a familiar female face appeared above him.
"Yes, it's me;" Jessie held his gloved left hand.
"Good, I have my friends now. Jessie and Growlie."
"James, that's Meowth."
"Is it?" he was obviously a little delirious.
"I'm dying, Jessie; stay with me, please?" Some wisdom had come into
his voice, breaking through the delirium.
"You're not dying, James, you're not going to die. You'll pull
through, just like Meowth and I."
"The medicine hasn't been working. Besides, I can feel myself slipping
away. I'm dying, Jessie, I've accepted it, you must too."
"I can't, James! I just can't! We've been friends since we were at
Pokemon Tech! Since we were kids! I can't loose you!"
"Just stay with me, Jessie, don't worry, I'll be okay..."
James slowly closed his eyes and squeezed Jessie's hand. With a raspy
breath, he breathed his last.
"NO! NO! NO!" Jessie screamed; pounding her fists on his chest; "NO
JAMES! DON'T LEAVE ME! WAKE UP! DON'T LEAVE ME!"
"He's gone, Jessie;" whispered a somber Meowth, who placed a paw on her
arm to try to give her comfort. The cat was promptly thrown across the
room! Bonnie, Clyde and the chief doctor entered the room, alerted by
Jessie's anguished cries.
"What are you doing?" she demanded as the doctor began lifting James'
body out of the bed.
"We have to take him now;" he replied, signaling that they were going
to take him to the back yard of the Estate to incinerate him, for
incineration caused less risk of the spread of "The R" than treating
corpses to any other sort of burial. There were many Rocket Survivors
at the Estate Compound whose immunity to the virus was still in
question.
"You can't!" Jessie yelped as she clung to James' white jacket.
"You have to let go now, Jessie, he's gone;" said Bonnie as she
restrained the grieving Jessie, who was trying to writhe out her strong
grip. Clyde helped the doctor with James.
For weeks, Jessie barricaded herself in her designated bedroom and
cried. She had meals and other necessities brought to her, as she
refused to leave for anything. Even Meowth could provide her with no
comfort.
Chapter 5 - Plans
Jessie pulled the Nissan into a dusty, deserted lot. Enormous, empty
city skyscrapers loomed on all sides of the empty lot, left un-built
upon for some unknown reason. It was strange for the Strike Team of
the Rocket Survivors to meet like this, in an open lot, but then again,
this was their own city, Rocket City. Formerly the now largely
desolate metropolis had been Alizarin City. It had been taken over by
the Rockets and made into their base of operations.
The other Factions had done similar with other cities. The Liberantes
held Turquoise Town and The Survivalistas held Chartreuse City. The
Remnant roamed from place to place and the Barbarians did likewise.
Jessie lived outside the city, on what used to be a tauros farm,
somewhat far from Alizarin City. This was because she was one of the
Rocket Survivors' leaders and they thought it wise to keep their power
de-centralized. The three other leaders, Oakley, William, and Annie,
also lived outside the city. This way, none of the other Factions
could make a successful strike in one area to kill off all the leaders.
"Greetings, Oakley;" Jessie said to a young man with light brown hair
as she approached a group of five people, all in the old traditional
Rocket regalia. Oakley wore a white uniform while the rest were clad
in black. Oakley was the only leader besides Jessie to be going on
this mission. Many even thought it foolish to have half the leadership
go upon any strike. Jessie had planned and had been an active part of
most of the strikes upon the other Factions, for she had received
extensive field experience as a Team Rocket member in the "Old Days".
"Okay, people;" Jessie addressed the Strike Team; "We all know now of
The Survivalistas' 'secret' lab. They thought that they were so
clever, setting it up in an abandoned gas station, didn't they? Our
spies have informed Oakley and me of a possible vaccine they have been
developing. Tonight's the night we have chosen to strike, due to the
recent skirmimish over rights to The Chartreuse River that they have been
having with a small band of Barbarians. We shall go in, disable the
guards, and take their documents. We must also take what we can of
samples, then destroy the lab. We shall have to use special caution,
for The Survavalistas keep many Electric Pokemon and, no doubt, the
guards will use them. Does everyone have on those special rubber-lined
uniforms?"
"Yes Ma'am" the group replied.
"Good!"
"But what about you, Miss Jessie?" asked a young teenager in the
Strike Team; "That short skirt and top you're wearing can't provide
you with much protection."
"Don't worry about me. Just do your job;" Jessie barked; "Everyone
ready?"
"Meowth's ready!" shouted a small cat-pokemon who was standing in the
center of the group of six; he was bearing his claws and acting like a
tiger ready to pounce.
"Let's go!"
The entire Strike Team poueam poured into Jessie's car and Oakley's pickup
truck and they began the drive to Chartreuse.
Chapter 6 - The Siege
It was just after 1:00 am when Jessie, leading Dirk, Charley, and
Meowth crept toward the small former gas station at the corner of Olive
and Lime Streets in Chartreuse city. Oakley was at the opposite end of
the building, with Rosa and Timothy. The two groups signaled each
other with the calls of night-flying bird pokemon and zubats.
"Why?" whispered Jessie under her breath. Meowth was next to her; "Why
bother. What good is our cause anyway? Why I am here, risking my life
when all of Humanity is probably doomed anyway? The Survivalistas
probably aren't any closer to a vaccine or cure than we are. Face it,
Team Rocket never wins."
"It'll be different this time;" said Meowth; "We's ain't after pokemon
nos mores, we's after a greater cause, ta git da cure for 'Da R'. Team
Rocket's gonna survive an' create a New World, you'll see, and I'll be
da Top Cat!"
"I suppose that's right, Meowth;" Jessie muttered; "Must remember the
cause. To protect the world from devastation."
The words rang an echo in her head. Team Rocket, at least the higher
echelons of it, had caused the DEVASTATION that "The R" had brought
upon the entire Earth. So many species of pokemon had become extinct,
so many others were dwindling, and so many people had died, including
her Best Friend.
"We's do it for James;" Meowth spoke up, breaking Jessie out of her
reverie; "Hes woulda wanted to continue da cause, Is think."
"Yes, for James;" Jessie answered; "We must not let any of more of our
members or their children die the way he did."
Oakley gave the "All-Clear" signal. Everyone readied their pokeballs
as they rushed to the doors of the gas station. Survivalista guards
met them with their own pokemon. Jessie spread a smoke screen with
Wheezing, between her and James' pokemon, Wheezing and Meowth were the
only ones to have survived "The R". Jessie had taken Wheezing as her
own after James' death.
Dirk and Charley called out their Sandslash and Geodude, respectively.
Part of the reason they had been chosen for this particular mission was
for their personal pokemon and their skill in handling them. The
Survivalistas seemed to work mainly with Electric-Type Pokemon, which
were not strong against their kinds.
Rosa called out her Jolteon, matching Electric for Electric and Oakley
called out the Onix he had recently captured. Timothy had no pokemon,
but was a good thief.
"I choose Raichu!" shouted a guard.
"I choose Jolteon!" shouted another.
The few other guardians of the lab called out their pokemon for battle,
a Pikachu, an additional Jolteon, and, strangely enough, a Squirtle.
The Rocket Survivors battled with The Survivalista guards, Wheezing's
smoke screen hanging thickly in the air. Under its cover, Timothy,
Jessie and Meowth got inside the building and began riffling through
papers.
"Here it is!" Jessie exclaimed, holding up a thick file taken from a
large cabinet.
"And here are some vials!" shouted Timothy; "These might be completed
vaccine!"
Just then, two guards burst into the room and their two Jolteons rushed
at Jessie, Tim, and Meowth, with hairs bristling and teeth bared.
"Seize them!" a guard shouted.
One grabbed Timothy by the arm, causing him to drop the vials he held.
The glass shattered upon the floor. The electric-fox began delivering
powerful volts of energy to the young man, but to no avail, as his suit
had been carefully lined with rubber. Blood trickled as Tim struggled
with the Jolteon, trying to wrest its jaws from his right arm.
Jessie was rendered twitching on the floor from the attack of the other
Jolteon, not having her uniform rubberized and having not much to
rubberize to begin with. (Why was looking good so darn important! She
mentally reprimanded herself for not getting a male uniform and lining
it. Rosa had.)
"Meowth!" she squeaked; "Take this file and run!" She handed the cat
the thick file just as the Jolteon let out a powerful bolt of lighting!
Some of the electricity incinerated a portion of the file, but Meowth
made off with most of the papers intact.
Suddenly, Oakley's Onix rushed in and knocked the Jolteons loose from
their prey.
"Run!" shouted Rosa, whose own Jolteon joined the fray.
Tim helped Jessie to her feet. The two ran out the back of the gas
station/laboratory, following Meowth. Just as they got outside, the
gas station exploded!
"Oakley! Rosa! Dirk! Charley!" Jessie and Timothy called. There was
no answer for a long fifteen minutes.
Four familiar figures stepped out from the burning wreckage, they had
survived!
"Here's your Wheezing back, Jessie;" Oakley said, tossing Jessie a
pokeball; "I called him back just before the explosion.
"My Jolteon didn't do so well;" lamented Rosa with tears in her eyes.
"What happened?" asked Tim.
"The electricity generated by all those pokemon seems to have hit a
critical mass;" replied Oakley; "The guards are dead and whatever was
left in the lab was destroyed; did you guys get what we need?"
"I believe so;" replied Jessie, holding out the file, thank you for
saving my Wheezing."
The young man did not know half of how grateful she was, for that
Wheezing was the only link to James she had left, it having been his
personal pokemon. The strange creature had become very precious to
her. She couldn't believe that she had forgotten to call it back
herself, even in all the confusion.
"Let us go home."
Chapter 7 - Home
Many hours passed before the Strike Team arrrived back in Rocket
(Alizarin) City. They had stopped along a stretch of the highway to
sleep and to review the documents they had just successfully stolen.
What they found upon their return, they were totally unprepared for.
Alizarin City was completely laid to waste! It had been devastated
before by the plague of "The R", but this was even more! The buildings
lay in absolute ruins, the apparent work of several strong Charizards!
The Liberantes were known to keep a few Charizards!
"I reminds me of when the Survivalistas took the Estate;" Jessie
moaned, remembering the terrible siege just prior to the Rocket
Survivors taking up residence in Alizarin City. An Army of Faction
members had set fire to the Rochester Estate after defeating all the
Rockets with their pokemon and looting their supplies. They had been
lucky to escape with their lives.
"I hope that everybody fled!" said Charley.
"We must go down to look for survivors!" said Jessie.
The group got back into their vehicles and drove on down into the
smoldering metropolis.
"Sccccreeeeeeeeeeeechhhh!" The wheels of Jessie's car screamed as it
plunged headlong into a light pole! They had been knocked sideways by
a massive water jet generated by a Blastoise! Some Liberantes were
still here! As the Nissan crashed with the horrible noises of twisting
metal and shattering glass, Jessie was thrown from her seat! The other
occupants (Dirk and Meowth) experienced likewise, except for Timothy,
whose bloody form was slumped over the dashboard!
Jessie found herself rolling and tumbling over herself, her body
speeding down a grass-covered hill, leaving streaks of red upon the
green. She still clutched the file tightly in her left hand.
"She's mine!" someone shouted!
"No! This one's mine!" yelled another voice from the opposite
direction.
Jessie picked herself up to find two men staring at her, and her file.
One stood on her south side, the other on her north.
"So the Great Jessie was the one behind the raid on our lab last
night! Hand over the file, dear, and you'll die with mercy!"
The voice was familiar. Jessie looked at the young man to her north
side; it was one of The Survivalitas' chief soldiers, Brock!
The other man was a Liberante.
"That file should rightly belong to the Liberantes! We do not oppress
pokemon as you Survivalistas do! The Pokemon Shall Rise!" the man on
Jessie's south shouted to Brock.
"That is our file! The cure belongs to The Survivalistas! It belongs
to the world! Except, of course to these Rocket Scum! We do not
oppress our pokemon! Now witness the power of my HAPPY and LOYAL
Vulpix! Gooooo Vulpix!"
Brock released a six-tailed firefox from a pokeball.
"Incinerate that woman!" he ordered; "But don't harm the file she
holds!"
"Charmander! Goooo!" shouted the Liberante.
Jessie was trapped between two fire-pokemon that were coming right at
her! Then an idea sparked in her mind.
"Wheezing! Go!" she yelled, releasing James' former pet; "Use your
gas!"
Wheezing did as ordered, causing a huge explosion! Both Jessie and
Wheezing were sent soaring through the air, escaping the would-be
assassins! This reminded Jessie of something....
Chapter 8 - Xavier
Jessie awoke the next day in a beautiful, wildflower filled meadow.
"Augghh! My head!" she groaned, clutching her right hand to her
temple.
"Wheezing! Return!" she said, holding up a pokeball, finding the
purple pokemon floating above her.
"The file!" she screamed, finding pages of the precious documentation
strewn about the meadow. She quickly gathered up what was left of the
papers, many of them burned in places from the explosion and some
completely unreadable. Jessie went over what she had left.
She remembered reading much of the file the night when the Strike Team
had stolen it. The vaccine that The Survivalistas had been developing
seemed to be by a similar process that the Rocket Survivors' scientific
minds had been devising for their own vaccine and cure. There was
something vital missing in the Rocket Survivors' method, something that
The Survivalistas were on the naked edge of discovering.
Much of the documentation had been destroyed by the Jolteon's
electricity and by the explosion, but there was much valuable
information in the file, new discoveries that the Rocket Survivors now
had, that they previously did not. Now all Jessie had to do was find
survivors of the Rocket Survivors!
As she sat upon the grass, looking over the papers that she had risked
her life for, Jessie realized how hurt she was. She began to grow
dizzy and slip into unconsciousness.
Jessie awoke in a small bed, covered by a Crazy Quilt. She saw a wall
made of logs next to her ar and a small fireplace in front of her.
"Wha-where am I?" she asked the air.
"You are at my cabin;" replied a middle-aged man with grey eyes and
blond-brown hair streaked with grey. He wore a mustache and short
beard.
"Who are you?" Jessie asked.
"I am Xavier, one of The Remnant of the Saved. I found you out in my
meadow and brought you here."
"My file! Where is the file that I carried!"
"Do not worry, I have it. You seemed to have been through a lot!"
"I have. Why are you helping me? Did you not see my uniform?"
"Yes, I know that you are a Rocket Survivor. I do not judge. The
Remnant does not judge. We are to love our enemies and help them as we
would a friend. Besides, young woman, I do not know you, and you have
done nothing so far to harm me. What name should I know you by?"
"I'm Jessie."
"Jessie? Is that the same Jessie I used to know?" came a juvenile
voice from somewhere in the cabin. A teenager stepped out in front of
the fireplace from a hallway. He had spiky black hair, a thin build,
and dark eyes. Jessie recognized him immediately, it was Ash!
"Hello, Jessie;" the boy said.
"The brat James and I used to try to steal that Pikachu from?!" she
exclaimed; "How are you here?! Weren't you a Survivalista?"
"For a time, yes;" Ash replied; "But I could no longer live with their
agenda. I have become one of The Remnant of the Saved."
Ash and Jessie talked long of the situations that had brought them to
Xavier's cabin. Ash had lived with Xavier of The Remnant after having
some spiritual revelations in his life. He, along with Brock, had been
soldiers with The Survivalistas, until Ash had decided to leave the
Faction to join with the mysterious and spiritually oriented group.
The Remnant was a rather loose-knit people; its members were scattered
in various places, a small group inhabiting the forest in which Xavier
had his cabin.
Chapter 9 - The Key
Jessie stayed at the cabin for many weeks, getting to know the strange
Xavier and becoming re-aquatinted with Ash. She, strangely enough,
began to trust them. They had gone over the file that she had. They
talked of how they themselves had possibly found an effective vaccine
for "The R" and even possibly a cure (though it was never heard of
before for a VIRUS) for those already sick, involving certain forest
mushrooms.
Jessie, after living with them, and meeting other local members of The
Remnant at weekly meetings, considered staying with them, though she
did not share in their religious beliefs. The Remnant had been kind to
her and she knew not if there were any Rocket Survivors besides her
left!
Xavier and Ash had experimented on pokemon that Ash captured in the
forest and that they bred from those they captured. Both Ash and
Xavier had already suffered through "The R" and survived. Ash told of
how his Pikachu did not. It was a very long and heartwrenching story.
"Whatever happened to that girl Misty?" Jessie asked Ash one day.
The boy turned his head away from her in sorrow.
"I'm sorry;" she apologized.
"What happened to James?" Ash queried.
"The same;" Jessie said with tears in her eyes.
"She-she died in my arms;" Ash whispered.
"I held his hand;" said Jessie.
They both held each other and cried their mutual grief.
Ash felt a twinge of pain whenever he and Xavier had to purposefully
infect a pokemon that was known not to have previous immunity with
samples of "The R" in order to see if their latest vaccine or treatment
development was effective. He knew it was for the best though, for an
effective vaccine or treatment would save Humanity, and Pokemanity too.
The virus worked the same way in both people and pokemon, so if the
vaccines and treatments worked for pokemon, they'd work on humans too.
The subjects of the most recent experiments had not been getting
sick! Ash and Xavier believed that they had finally discovered The Key
to making the vaccines and treatments effective! But more time and
experimentation was needed to be sure that they were correct.
"You see this here in the file, Jessie?" said Xavier as he was
relating to her the way they had created their latest vaccine; "The
Survivlistas neglected to take this factor into consideration."
"The Rocket Survivors too;" she replied.
"I believe we have found the end to 'The R'! We shall bring it before
the next Meeting of our Remnant Community! The world shall have the
cure!"
Jessie took a long morning walk in the woods outside the cabin at dawn
the next day, as had become her custom. Three figures approached her
from out of the forest.
"Jessie! We've found you!"
"Oakley?"
"Yes, Jessie, it's us!"
Jessie saw Oakley, Dirk and Meowth standing before her.
"But how? How did you survive the attack by The Liberantes?"
"We've been wondering the same about you. We battled them with our
pokemon and escaped Rocket City, Tim didn't make it, the rest of us
did. We discovered other Rocket Survivors in the countryside. We have
set up a new base of operations in Old Magenta City. We've been
searching for you. We want you to come back to us Jessie."
"I've found The Key to curing 'The R'!" Jessie said; "The plans for
it and samples of the vaccine are in a cabin not far from here!"
Jessie led Oakley, Dirk, and Meowth to Xavier's home. They made a
raid of the cabin, taking Ash and Xavier as prisoners. With the
vaccine now in the hands of the Rocket Survivors, they would be on
their way to creating a New Era, under their rule. To Protect The World
From Devastation and form a New World Society without Truth and without
Love.
THE END
Author's Endnotes: I worked a little bit longer on this fanfiction than any of my others.
I hoped you enjoyed it! By the way, the novel, "Brave New World" is a
wonderful read. I read it last year for a college class and loved it!
It caused me to think, as it is a very thought-provoking work, and some
of the things in it are frighteningly similar to a few of the things
that go on in today's world!
When I began writing this tale, I did not know where it was going to
lead. I started out with a few strong ideas and the others fell into
place as I went along. Personally, I'm a bigger fan of James than I am
of Jessie, but it just seemed right in this story to make her my
anti-heroine.
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