Team Rocket, Sacred Grounds, and Ansem The Wise: A Trio of Mischief, Mystery, and Mindfulness Hard Rock Type Beat

The air in the Ilex Forest did not stir. It was a heavy, suffocating stillness that pressed against the chests of the elite Team Rocket squad. They had hunted him for months across regions, through mountain ranges and across oceans, finally cornering him here, at the moss-covered shrine in the heart of the woods.

​Vance, the squad captain, stepped forward. His Arbok hissed, coiled and ready. Behind him, six other agents released their Pokémon—Weezing, Golbat, Houndoom. A wall of malice facing one man.

​The man stood with his back to them, facing the wooden shrine. He wore a tattered cloak that danced in a wind that didn't exist.

​"It’s over, Kaelen!" Vance shouted, his voice cracking slightly under the pressure of the aura radiating from the shrine. "We have you surrounded. No more running."

​Kaelen turned slowly. His eyes were not fearful; they were tired, ancient, and burning with a cold green light. He looked over the snarling Pokémon and the weapons drawn against him with an expression of utter boredom.

​"Running?" Kaelen’s voice was soft, yet it echoed inside their heads. "I haven't been running from you. I’ve been leading you."

​"Seize him!" Vance ordered.

​The Houndoom lunged, a blast of flamethrower building in its throat. But the moment the fire left its maw, it vanished. The Houndoom slammed into an invisible wall three feet from Kaelen, whimpering as it was repelled by a force of pure nature.

​Kaelen stepped forward, the dry leaves crunching beneath his boots. He spread his arms wide.

​"Everyone of you despise me," Kaelen said, his gaze piercing through Vance. "And now that you've found me, you realize the truth: You can't touch me here in the sacred grounds."

​The forest floor began to glow. Roots erupted from the earth, not to attack, but to form a cage around the Rocket squad, locking them in place. The agents struggled, but their Pokémon were paralyzed, cowed by a presence far greater than a trainer.

​Kaelen looked up toward the canopy, where the sunlight filtered through in dappled spears.

​"Celebi," Kaelen whispered. "The time has come."

​A shimmer in the air. A bell-like chime resonated, shattering the silence. From the light, the small, onion-headed sprite descended. But this was not the playful guardian recorded in the Pokédex. This Celebi’s eyes glowed with a fierce, temporal energy. It floated above Kaelen’s shoulder, the very air around it warping and aging, leaves turning brown and then green again in seconds.

​Vance trembled. He had heard rumors of Kaelen’s power, but this was a myth made manifest.

​"Why?" Vance stammered. "If you have this power... why let us hunt you?"

​"Because I needed a courier," Kaelen said, walking until he was inches from the barrier separating him from the captain. "I need a witness to report back to Giovanni. I need the head of Team Rocket to know just how powerful I am."

​Kaelen waved his hand. The roots binding Vance—and only Vance—receded. The other agents remained trapped, frozen in a stasis field created by the Time Travel Pokémon.

​"You think Team Rocket is the threat?" Kaelen scoffed, turning his gaze to the north, where the sky was darkening with unnatural storm clouds. "You are petty thieves playing with matches while the world sits on a powder keg."

​Kaelen’s expression darkened, a flash of pain crossing his face.

​"The leader of our enemies is Naraku, my former apprentice."

​The name seemed to drop the temperature in the forest by ten degrees.

​"He has twisted the teachings I gave him," Kaelen continued, his voice heavy with regret. "He seeks to unmake the timeline itself, to erase the bonds between humans and Pokémon. The burden of the battle is mine to bear. I failed him once. I will not fail to stop him."

​Celebi chimed again, an urgent, high-pitched sound. The distortion in the air grew violent. Kaelen began to fade, his body turning into particles of green light, being pulled into the time stream.

​"Go to Giovanni!" Kaelen’s voice roared, sounding like it was coming from everywhere at once. "Tell him that while he plays gangster, I go to war for existence itself. Tell him that if Naraku wins, there will be no Team Rocket. There will be nothing."

​With a flash of blinding light, Kaelen and Celebi vanished.

​The invisible barriers shattered. The remaining Rocket grunts collapsed, gasping for air, their Pokémon returning to their balls in fear.

​Vance stood alone in the clearing, the silence of the forest returning, heavier than before. He looked at the empty space where a god-like power had just stood, and then he looked at his trembling hands. He had his orders. He had to get to Viridian City.

​Giovanni had to know.

 Soundbites from Inuyasha, Kingdom Hearts, Pokémon, Rave Masters , Yu Yu Hakusho, Over The Garden Wall              With Samples from Pokémon,  3 Doors Doon, Zeppelin, Kiss, Dominoes,

https://audiomack.com/dj-new-new-dre/song/693d6d332f3d6