Chapter 49

Giovanni drums his fingers impatiently as he waits in his office. He recently ordered Matori to gather every Team Rocket member in the area to the courtyard outside for a presentation. Dr. Zager and Agent Basker told him their machine is ready, so he decided to have every member available witness what it could do. The leader of the organization can barely keep his cool out of eagerness to get things underway, even with Persian sitting next to him to keep him company.

Finally, a knock is heard from the door, and Matori lets herself in.

"Sir, all personnel is outside and awaiting your presence," she says.

"Good," Giovanni says. "Let's take a look."

Without another word, the man and his pet stand up and follow Matori out of the office. Giovanni keeps a stone-cold, focused face as they enter an elevator and ride it down to the bottom level. When they exit the building, the courtyard is filled with two sets of Team Rocket members formed in lines like battalions of soldiers. Giovanni walks past them to the end of the courtyard, where the large machine is completely built. Standing in front of the large machine is Dr. Zager, holding a portable device, and Agent Basker.

Beside the machine is a large cage full of wild fire-type Pokemon. From Charmander to Vulpix, to Ninetails, to Magmar, to Cyndaquil, to Houndoom, many fire Pokemon that can be found from the Kanto and Johto region that aren't the legendary Entei or Moltres have been beaten and locked inside the cage. Many of them are crying or howling out loud, wishing to be set free so that they can return to their homes in the wild. Some try to free themselves by scratching, biting, or using their various fire attacks. Try as they might, however, the cage is built to withstand any Pokemon move they can use. No one so much as glances at them to show any hint of remorse or wonder if they will be okay.

Giovanni stops walking before Dr. Zager and Agent Basker, with Persian and Matori standing behind him. The two men salute their leader before Giovanni speaks.

"Gentleman, are you prepared for your test?" He asks.

"We are," Zager and Basker reply professionally.

Giovanni turns to Agent Basker directly and asks, "Are you recording this moment with your eye?"

Agent Basker lifts up his mechanical arm, presses a button, and his red mechanical eye lights up.

"I am now," he answers.

"Very well," Giovanni says before turning to Matori.

Matori gives her boss a simple nod before clearing her throat and turning to the hundreds of Team Rocket members.

"Members of Team Rocket, you have been ordered to come here to witness the testing of this machine," she shouts with a loud and firm voice. "The very completion of this device that we have built marks the beginning of Team Rocket completing its ultimate goal."

Many spectators turn to each other in confusion, clueless about what the machine they are looking at will do. Butch and Cassidy, who are standing in one of the front rows among the crowd, look at each other with devious smirks, excited to learn what is going to happen. Giovanni ignores the reactions, however, and simply turns to Dr. Zager and gives him a nod that the old man returns before turning to Agent Basker.

"Proceed," he says bluntly.

Agent Basker nods and turns to a cube-shaped object on the ground next to him covered by a cloth. He pulls the cloth away to reveal a frightened Vulpix trapped in a small, cramped cage. The tiny fox whimpers in fear as Agent Basker picks up the cage by the handle on top of it and walks to the center of the machine. Everyone watches him place the cage in the center of the large platform and walks back to join Dr. Zager, Giovanni, and Matori, leaving the Vulpix alone in the middle of the machine. The poor Pokemon's cries are sadly ignored as Dr. Zagar turns to the crowd.

"For the sake of the test, the distance of how far the electronic waves will only go as far as the headquarters grounds," he explains. "If any of you have fire-type Pokemon l expect you to have kept them inside the building in their Pokeballs as ordered, so they are not affected by the machine."

Butch, Cassidy, and the other Team Rocket members give the doctor sharp nods to show that they understand. Dr. Zagar nods back and holds up the device in his hand.

"Initializing in 5...4...3...2...1… engage," he says.

The doctor presses a button on his device, and the large machine lets out a soft humming sound. The Vulpix grows more afraid as electric orbs appear on the tip of the tall pillars surrounding the platform. The humming of the machine grows louder as the orbs get bigger. Finally, the orbs turn into large beams of electricity that shoot down at the caged Vulpix. The fox Pokemon can do nothing but scream in agony as the beams hit it all at once. The Pokemon inside the large cage turn to see the Vulpix getting tortured by the machine and start to grow angry. They all scream, call, and try desperately to break free from their prison to save the helpless Vulpix, but the cage is too durable for any Pokemon attack.

Suddenly, as the machine continues to hurt the Vulpix, the other fire Pokemon slowly stops trying to escape. Butch, Cassidy, and the other Team Rocket grunts turn to the large cage in confusion to find all the Pokemon inside standing in place like statues. It takes a moment before they realize that all the Pokemon's eyes are glowing red, and they are looking directly at Giovanni. The leader of Team Rocket grins evilly as he walks over to the cage with no signs of fear.

"Open the cage," he commands.

Agent Basker takes out a remote from his pocket and presses a button. The cage opens, but the Pokemon inside stay still with their eyes still glued to Giovanni.

"Pokemon, I command you to step forward!" Giovanni shouts.

Butch, Cassidy, and the other members of the crowd watch in shock as the fire Pokemon immediately walk, crawl, or slither forward obediently. Dr. Zager smirks, and Agent Basker tries to contain his giddiness while Matori and Persian remain unmoved. Giovanni, however, is grinning evilly, knowing exactly what command to say next.

"Bow to me," he orders.

Without hesitation, the Pokemon get down on their knees and bow their heads toward the leader of Team Rocket. A couple of Slugma and Magcargo bow their heads. The area is completely silent, apart from the machine still electrocuting the little Vulpix as everyone else watches the display in shock. Giovanni's grin grows at seeing so many Pokemon bowing to him.

"You all serve Team Rocket," he states. "If you wish to obey me for the rest of your days, fight each other until you're the last one standing right now."

Within a blink of an eye, all the fire-type Pokemon start fighting each other like mindless, rabid beasts. They scratch, bite, kick, or use various fire moves on each other. Some of the spectators are visibly disturbed by the way the Pokemon are attacking each other but hide their feelings out of fear of being seen as weak to their peers. Others even got down on their knees in a panic when a Chameleon's Flamethrower missed a Ponyta and nearly hit the Team Rocket members. All the while, Giovanni keeps standing tall, enjoying every moment of what is happening in front of him.

Finally, after five minutes of fighting, the fighting begins to die down, with Pokemon fainting left and right. Slowly but surely, they all fall until the only one standing is a Charizard barely standing on its two feet. The lizard Pokemon roars triumphantly until the extent of its injuries takes its toll, and it collapses on its back. The area is once again silent, except for the machine still torturing the poor Vulpix.

Giovanni keeps his cruel grin as he turns to the doctors, who hand him a bag full of Pokeballs that are black on the top with a red 'R' in the middle. The leader of Team Rocket takes out a Pokeball and stares at the red 'R' on it before he presses the button and throws it at a Rapidash. One by one, he throws a Pokeball at the fainted Pokemon, and they all get sucked into a Pokeball. After jiggling a few times, the Pokeballs let out loud dings to show that the Pokemon have been captured. Butch, Cassidy, and the other members of Team Rocket's stare at the ground full of Pokeballs intently while Giovanni turns back to Dr. Zager.

"Turn off the machine," Giovanni says.

Zager nods and presses a button on the device, turning the large machine off. The Vulpix still whimpers weakly in pain while Giovanni turns to his followers and clears his throat before speaking in a loud, commanding voice.

"Members of Team Rocket," he begins. "You have just witnessed the very first step in the most important and final operation our organization will ever have to carry out."

His minions look at each other, confused, before he continues.

"As some of you older members may recall, Team Rocket was created many years ago by my mother, whom you know better as Madame Boss," he continues. "For those of you who don't know, Madame Boss was a woman who loathed Pokemon but loved money. In her eyes, Pokemon were only good for selling to the highest bidder if Team Rocket found any that were very rare. The only Pokemon she would show any interest to was the legendary Mew because she believed that she could use it to control the entire world. As a leader, I held her in high regard, but as a son, we had our...heh, heh, differences."

Some of the older Team Rocket members, including Dr. Zager, chuckle quietly before Giovanni continues.

"She was an effective leader who brought great wealth to our organization. There can be no denying that," Giovanni says. "But she was also a fool just to sell away such rare Pokemon, making Team Rocket look like nothing more than a characterized band of poachers. She may have called me a 'brat boy' till the end, but I knew the truth: Pokemon are not items to sell away like jewels or ancient artifacts. They are not partners or our friends, and they are most certainly not our equals. No, Pokemon are tools. Tools put on this earth to serve us. That has always been the goal for Team Rocket under my leadership: to capture Pokemon that will be used to ultimately take over the world. And throughout the years, we have seen both success and failure. Many Pokemon have been stolen, but some operations have failed due to pathetic and foolish circumstances. There's even one point that we became very close with my mission on Unova with controlling the Forces of Nature. Nothing else has ever come as close as that to obtain absolute dominance over every person and Pokemon in the world until now."

The crowd looks at each other, confused again, unsure of what their leader means. Giovanni turns around, steps on the machine and walks over to the middle of the platform where the caged Vulpix still is and turns around to face his minions again.

"This machine is built based on Team Flare technology," he elaborates. "All it needs is a single Pokemon to be right where I am standing to use as a source to make all Pokemon of its type obey the will of Team Rocket without question. The demonstration that you have witnessed had the machine set so that only fire-type Pokemon within close proximity were able to submit through this pitiful Vulpix, but at full power, this machine would have brainwashed every single fire-type Pokemon in the entire world."

The members of Team Rocket gasp excitedly, understanding the full gravity of what they just witnessed. Dr. Zager and Agent Basker look at each other and smirk proudly over their accomplishment.

"Now, before any of you get any ideas of just placing random Pokemon of various types, I must make clear that it's not that simple," Giovanni clarifies. "If we had left this Vulpix in the machine any longer, it eventually would have died. It does not have the strength to control all the fire-type Pokemon in the world. In fact, only some of the most powerful legendary Pokemon who obtain an immortal life force has the capacity to be in the machine as long as we need it to be, and even then, those said Pokemon would only cover one or two types at best, and so we would have control of only a fraction of all the Pokemon in the world."

Once again, the spectators are confused. Many of them feel discouraged by Giovanni's words, while others secretly hope that he's getting somewhere with this information. Giovanni is unfazed by the way his people are acting and so clears his throat loudly to gain their undivided attention again before he steps off of the machine and continues.

"There is, however, one special Pokemon that not only has an immortal life force but can do exactly what we need it to do to complete our goal," he says. "Most of you have heard of this Pokemon in legends and images from stories. Many call it the Ancient One or the Original One. Some say it's the very first Pokemon to ever have come out of existence. Others think it is a deity. It's a silly superstition, to say the least, but nevertheless, it states what incredible power it has compared to all other Pokemon in the world. I am of course talking about Arceus."

The crowd grows intrigued as Giovanni continues.

"While it's only a normal type Pokemon, it possesses in its body seventeen elemental plates - one for each of the other Pokemon types, to change into whatever type it desires," he says. "You may also have heard of the myth of the Gieldenstone, a white jewel shining in many colors that can force Arceus to obey the will of anyone who holds it. It is my pleasure to announce that, as of this moment, a group of Team Rocket members is heading to the location of an archeologist named Brandon, who appears to have found the Gieldenstone."

The crowd becomes excited with this information as Giovanni finishes making his point with another maniacal grin.

"Therefore, if we take the Gieldenstone and use it to make Arceus, a Pokemon that has lived for so long with so much power, come here to be used on this machine, then through the elemental plates in its body, we will have control over every single Pokemon on the entire world!" He shouts triumphantly. "All Pokemon will obey our will without question, and every person will forever bow to Team Rocket as the ruler of the world!"

All the Team Rocket members scream and cheer proudly and shake their fists in the air. Giovanni keeps his cruel grin as he watches his minions show their excitement before he continues.

"Now, go and prepare to move out!" He commands. "We leave in one hour!"

"Yes, sir!" Butch, Cassidy, and the rest of the people of Team Rocket shout before they all quickly disperse and go back inside the building to pack their things. Giovanni turns to Dr. Zagar, Matori, Agent Basker, and Persian, and the first three quickly salute.

"Dr. Zagar, my gratification in your accomplishment cannot be overstated," he says.

"Thank you, sir," Dr. Zagar says with a nod. "My team will stay here to have the machine ready for you when you return with Arceus."

Giovanni nods in approval.

"What about me?" Agent Basker asks childishly. "I am going there too. You promised me Durbin if I did my part in time."

Giovanni frowns disapprovingly at Agent Basker and says, "And so you will, Basker. I am a man of my word. But I must remind you that you are not to interfere with retrieving the Gieldenstone for the sake of your revenge."

Agent Basker smiles evilly and says, "Don't worry, sir. I plan to hold back until the moment you get your precious stone. The moment Arceus is in your clutches, I will give Durbin what is coming to him."

"Very well," Giovanni says before turning to Matori. "Ready my chopper."

"Yes, sir," Matori says.

Without another word, Matori heads back to the building, followed by Agent Basker. Giovanni turns around and stares at the large machine with the Vulpix still there and grins maniacally again. Persian takes this moment to walk next to him and nudge his leg with a purr, and its master starts to pet the Pokemon without even looking at it, much to its pleasure.

"It's almost time, my pet," he says plainly. "It's almost time."