The Coup

Episode 98

  Last time on Pokémon: Icy’s Quest… Icy and Sara try to find their way to a village not far from the rift. On the way there, Neiteio attacks them and seriously injures Icy. They manage to get him to a pokécenter where Nurse Joy heals him. Just as they are leaving for Viridian City, a stranger named Gamma sends his metal bird pokémon, Eamudo, to destroy the group. Now, they are flying high in the sky, on route to Viridian City…

  “Icy’s powers as a Pikachu are too much. He has more speed and stronger attacks than a regular human would.”
  “Agreed.”
  “Then allow me to do something about it.”
  “Not yet.”
  “Why?”
  “Because I would like to test those skills. I will determine just how strong he is in this form.”
  “Yes my grace.”
  “Don’t you have a destiny to fulfill?”
  “Of course my grace. Consider the job done.”
  “Excellent…”

  Back at Giovanni’s Viridian HQ, he sat patiently at his desk while dozens of protestors gathered outside. “What is it with people today?”
  “I’m standing here live outside the Viridian City Gym, owned by Giovanni, President of Team Rocket. Protestors have gathered here in connection with yesterday’s bombing of a small town outside the desert regions. Witnesses said an agent was there with an iron bird. The death toll was nearly 30 people out of a village of no more than perhaps 50. There is still no evidence linking Giovanni to the crime, but nevertheless, people here sure seem to believe it was him.” Ashly went on speaking into the camera. She started interviewing local bystanders.
  Out of the alley, a tall, brown-eyed man crept into the crowd. The reporter found her way to him.
  “Mister, mister. Please, a quote on the recent events. Do you think Giovanni is responsible for yesterday’s bombing?”
  “Yes…” the man said coldly. “Giovanni is a very bad person and it’s time someone took a stand against him. If I were you, I’d keep that camera rolling and don’t miss anything.”
  “Oooooooook.” She made a cut motion to the cameraman. “Can I have your name please?”
  “You will know it soon enough…”
  “Hmm. Well, try not to get hurt in this mob scene.” She turned to her crew. “Get the cameras over there. Go!” She and the crew moved over to another set of people.
  “Whatever… Now, where is he?” A blue streak went across the sky pass Giovanni’s office window. “Ah, there he is. Time to start…” The strange man made his way to the front of the mob.
  “Sir,” an agent said to Giovanni.
  “I know.”
  “I really think now’s a good time to evacuate.”
  “Then leave. These people don’t scare me.”
  (“They might not, but I sure will”)
  The blue streak flew by Giovanni’s office window again. The stranger looked up again. “Right on schedule.”
  While some Rocket agents began to mobilize at the doors, Giovanni made a call to have his helicopter pick him up. They would be there in less than ten minutes.
  The stranger felt a slight buzz against his leg. He pulled out a small pager. “Warning. Target called escape. Mission time decreased to ten minutes. Start immediately.”
  Giovanni sat back in his chair while he waited. Two stronger guards were stationed at the locked office doors. He folded his hands and waited to see what would unfold.
  “I need to get inside,” the stranger said to the guards outside.
  “No one is allowed inside today. Giovanni has closed the gym for the day. Please come back tomorrow.”
  “I do not think you understood me. I want to go inside and you are not going to stop me.” The stranger’s eyes began glowing.
  “Look mister. I don’t know what’s wrong with your hearing, but I’m not going to let you in.”
  “I’m sorry to hear that…” The man turned around and began to walk away. Then, he drew from his side a short blade which he quickly positioned just inches from the guard’s neck. “We have an appointment. I do not enjoy being late to appointments. You understand don’t you?”
  “Alright alright. I’ll let you in. Please, don’t kill me, I’m just doing my job.”
  “You pathetic whiner.” The strange man made his way inside where he was met by a few dozen Rocket agents.
  From the skies, a stranger pokémon watched. “He’s in…”
  “Excellent. But he better hurry. Giovanni has called his helicopter. You could do us a favor and eliminate the risk. But, make sure you choose the right time. I want it to look like an accident.”
  “Anything to take revenge on him.”
  “I hoped you would feel that way.”

Meanwhile…
  Icy and Sara had been flying on Porygon the whole day. After that attack by Eamudo and Gamma, they were pretty worn out. Finally, they could see the coast come into view.
  “Wow look!” Icy pointed towards the land. Sara rubbed her eyes a little.
  “Huh? Are we home yet?”
  “We will be soon.”
  “Please tell my you got air conditioning in your house Icy. It’s a pretty hot day,” complained Frosterpie.
  Icy giggled a second. “Don’t worry Frosterpie, when we get back, I’ll turn up the AC for ya. You just better not turn the entire place into an ice cube alright.”
  “I won’t.”
  “Cyber, how long till we land in Viridian Forest?”
  Cyber made a few computer hums. Icy somehow knew exactly what they all meant. “Cyber says we are about 15 minutes from home!” The group was overjoyed knowing that any moment they would see the beautiful Viridian Forest and their gym.

=====

  The strange man found himself in a tight situation. Meanwhile, the other pokémon hovered outside the building, carefully staying out of sight of the crowds below. He waited for his target to arrive.
  “End of the line for you. Ok, attack!”
  “Nooo…,” the stranger said coldly. His eyes became bright blue. “Fire magic…”
  “What the h*** is he mumbling?”
  His hands became red with fire in them. He uncapped them to reveal a red sphere of energy. “FLAME BLAST!!!” His voice echoed as the sphere erupted into a ball of fire and flew towards the group of Rockets.
  “AGHHH!!!” Some of them managed to jump out of the way, but many of the agents were severely burned. The remaining agents regrouped. “Stop him!”
  “D***… My magic isn’t as strong here.”
  “Alright magic man, you’re about to see why people don’t mess with Team Rocket,” said the lead agent. The other agents readied their pokéballs. “Everyone, attack!” The agents threw out their pokéballs revealing various poisonous pokémon.
  “I didn’t think I’d have to call you out now, but these inferior humans give me no choice. In the words of any regular pokémon trainer, I choose you, Scizor.” The stranger opened a pokéball containing a reddish colored bug type pokémon. It was the evolved steel form of Scyther, and was ready to take care of the closing agents’ pokémon.
  “What the h*** is that pokémon?”
  “Kill him and take it!”
  “Scizor, iron claw attack.” Scizor ran into the group of pokémon and took a few slashes. It landed back at the side of its master. For a moment, nothing moved. Then, all of the agents’ pokémon fainted.
  “That’s impossible.”
  “Move.”
  “You don’t get past me.”
  “I have no time for you.” The stranger cupped his hands again. “Spectral magic… SPECTRAL BEAM!!!” His voice echoes as the sphere in his hand dissolved into multiple laser beams which then fired straight into the agents stand in front.
  “UGHhh…” the agent moaned as the beam cut right through him. He fell to the ground dead along with the other agents hit. The rest of the agents run away from the stranger. They didn’t want to be next.
  “Scizor, stay close. I will still need your assistance.” His pokémon nodded its head. He ascended the stairs towards Giovanni’s office.

  “Where is that d*** helicopter?” Giovanni was pacing at the window. The phone rang. His Persian growled as he picked it up. “Yes, who is this?”
  “Don’t hang up.”
  “What the h*** is this, some sort of joke? Who are you?”
  “You are about to find out everything you want to know about me.”
  Giovanni’s eyes narrowed. They shift towards the window. In the distance, he could see the helicopter. “Really? Is that so? I think I already have an idea who you are.”
  “Do you think so? I’d hate to have been underestimated. Your agents made that mistake. There weren’t too many survivors.”
  “What kind of creep are you? No one breaks into my gym and goes on a killing spree. I’ll give you 10 seconds to get out of my gym before I call the police.”
  “Do you really think they’d listen to you? Time’s up Giovanni. Prepare to meet destiny. My destiny.” The doors to the office exploded. When the smoke cleared, a tall man holding a cane with a monocle on his right eye was standing in the clearing. Beside his was Scizor. “I am Janus, Champion of the people.”
  “You are a freak. While I’d love to stay and chat with you, I have an important meeting to attend.” Giovanni looked back at the approaching helicopter. He and Persian made a run for the office window leading to the helipad. Janus stood there and watched.
  Giovanni climbed out the window and made his way to the helipad where the helicopter was making its approach. “Goodbye Janus. I hope you didn’t go to too much trouble to say hello to me.”
  “It was nothing Giovanni. By the way… Tell me something.” Giovanni’s eyes widened. “What good is a helipad, if you have no helicopter to land on it?” Giovanni turned back towards the helicopter.
  “S***.” Right before his eyes, he saw the chopper explode in a massive fireball. “Oh s***!” He ran back into the office as the flaming chopper began to crash on the roof. “You piece of crap. What the h*** do you want with me?”
  Janus snapped his finger and Scizor began to approach Giovanni.
  “All this for a lousy battle? Persian go! Slash attack.” Persian ran up to its foe and took a few slashes but it was completely useless against Scizor’s steel armor.
  “Was that it? Scizor, iron claw.” Scizor took a single slash at Persian cutting it badly. “You should give up now. This battle is mine, as are you.”
  “You are insane. What makes you think you can just walk out of here. You’ve committed murder. Do you really think the police out there are going to let you walk away?”
  “I think we will have to find out.” Just then, Mewtwo flew in through the window. “Ahh, excellent work with the helicopter.”
  “I told you I could accomplish your mission. Well Giovanni, we meet again.”
  “Two freaks in one day…”
  “Take him away Janus. My revenge will be complete once the officers have him arrested.”
  “What?”
  “You agents seemed to be easily persuaded into revealing your hidden records. They didn’t take much convincing. Look at this place one last time Giovanni. This is the last you’ll be seeing it.”
  Janus took Giovanni and led him down the stairs where officers were waiting.

Meanwhile…
  Icy and Sara were landing in the forest on Cyber. “HOME!!!” They all rushed inside. Icy turned on the AC for Frosterpie and let his pokémon come out to enjoy themselves after such a long trip.
  Sara flipped on the TV to see the evening news. She shrieked when she saw what was happening. “ICY COME QUICK!!!”
  He ran out into the main gym to see what was wrong. “What’s going on?”
  “They’ve arrested Giovanni. There’s some stranger there who supposedly single-handedly infiltrated TR HQ to capture Giovanni.”
  “Wow, that’s awesome. It’s about time he got what he deserved.” Sara turned off the TV.
  “C’mon… It’s been too long since we had a break. All the other pokémon are playing nicely… Seeing that we too are pokémon, well…”
  “Ok.” Icy quickly tackled Sara who retaliated with a thundershock. As they played around, other pokémon, mainly the Caterpie, jumped into the pile up. They played games long into the night and basically fell asleep all over the gym floor.

Back to Viridian City…
  Officer Jenny led Giovanni away. Mewtwo had already teleported out so not to arouse suspicion. The news reporters quickly ran up to Janus with questions.
  “Please. I came here to put an end to the evil wrong-doings of Giovanni’s organization. I have some important matters I must attend to and cannot answer any further questions.” Photographers took billions of pictures as Janus walked away. He entered a waiting car and drove off.
  “Well, there you have it folks. You just witnessed a historical event here. This mysterious man named, Janus, has single handedly brought Giovanni, former President of Team Rocket to justice as well as reveal startling new evidence about Team Rocket’s devious plots. Will this man take over Giovanni’s Gym now or was he just some good-doer trying to make a better world? Whichever the case, this reporter is sure glad she was here today. And now here’s Vinny with a look at the weather.”

  “Yes young one. Sleep well tonight. I will personally see if you are strong enough to be any threat… Bwahahahaha!!!”

Is this truly the end of Team Rocket? And does this mean Janus is really a good guy? This is just the beginning chapter of what will become one of the biggest adventures ever. Don’t miss the next exciting episode of Pokémon: Icy’s Quest…