Hidden Rage

[TTYO]

This pokemon fic should be made into a manga. With Characters so original, I think...
Lovely descriptions keep it up and so give me a bit of tips.

 

[Kayoss]

Kiru bravely tossed her Pok?ball past the shoulders of the lumbering Nidoking-men. The creatures surrounding Kiru gave hardly a notice, and instead reached to grab Kiru by the shoulders. A flash of light could be seen from behind the creatures. Just then, a cloud of mist formed around the three creatures, who froze in thier tracks, and suddenly closed thier eyes and collapsed.

Kiru's heart continued to race as she watched the Nidoking-men fall at her feet. The ragged creatures snored loudly as the mist dissipated itself. Kiru looked toward the direction the mist had come from, her loyal Pok?mon and savior, Parasect. Parasect, grinning, waved its large red claws wildly, which showed that it was proud of itself for a job well done. Kiru ran up to her Parasect, kneeled down before it, and gave it a big hug.

Kiru looked at the chaos around her. More of the Pok?-creatures were seen, incinerating the houses in the residential area. After one house, they would move to other houses to do the same thing. Her grandfather lay unconcious on the sidewalk a few yards away. She then looked toward her house. A shattered window and broken frame stood where there used to be a pristine window. Just then, the door to her house slowly opened, and a bloodied Jason came lumbering out, the white shirt underneath his green jacket slightly tattered, his left arm covering his right shoulder, while his Featherblade dragged along the ground in his right hand. He looked slightly dazed as he looked around the neighborhood.

"Jason!" Kiru shouted as she ran toward him. Jason stopped in his tracks and turned to face Kiru, the dazed look still on his face. Parasect followed, skittering along behind Kiru.

"Ugh..." was all Jason said as Kiru approached. Kiru gasped as she noticed a gash along his right shoulder. Along with blood, Kiru noticed a smudge of a purple substance, which she judged, came from the spines of one a Nidoking-man fist.

"You've been poisoned!" Kiru said. As he heard this, Jason gripped his shoulder even harder, and a look of pain crossed his face.

"Sit down Jason!" Kiru instructed. Jason did as ordered, sitting crosslegged upon the grassy lawn. "Parasect, Aromatherapy." she commanded. The large, red mushroom atop Parasect's back began to vibrate as a purple mist filled the air. Jason then took a deep breath of the mist, and seconds later, the painful and dazed look left his face as he blinked.

"Thanks Parasect!" Kiru said, smiling down at Parasect. Parasect responded in its own raspy voice, "Paras! Parasect!" Kiru then drew forth its Pok?ball, and recalled it.

Jason stood back up, showing a little more strength than before. The rampage of the Pok?-men continued, although they hardly gave notice to the three humans. Jason and Kiru ran toward her lying grandfather, and sat him up. "What are we gonna do, Jason? Grandpa needs help..."

Just then, Jason noticed a commotion at the end of the street. Three more of the Pok?-men were surrounding a large blue figure and a small human. Kiru ran ahead of them, while Jason, carrying Grandpa on his left shoulder, struggled behind. As they got closer, each of the figures were much more visible. Three seperate Pok?-men: a pale-blue skinned levitating female with a chest covered in what looked like a white cloud, a yellow skinned young-looking man with flames blasting forth from its back, and a white furred man with a streak of red coming across his chest, all surrounded a hunched, blue reptile-like Pok?mon with a jaw almost as large as its body. Next to the Pok?mon, a neatly dressed teenage boy stood, wearing a long, blue Trainer's outfit.

"Feraligatr, Ice Beam!" the boy commanded. The blue Pok?mon shot forth a beam of ice toward the blue-skinned female. She dodged the ice beam effortlessly, gliding through the air and proceeding to release a long stream of flame toward the Feraligatr. Her two companions proceeded to do the same thing. Feraligatr struggled to regain its composure, but the three flame attacks slowed it considerably.

Kiru stopped at the sight of the trainer. "Derrick, is that you!?"

The trainer boy turned his attention from the fight toward Kiru. "Kiru! You're alright!"

Kiru drew forth another Pok?ball, "Breloom, I choose you!" she shouted with a toss of the ball. A white light came forth, which took the form of Breloom. "Breloom!" it said, enthusiastically. "Spore!" Kiru commanded. Breloom aimed its mushroom top toward the three Pok?-men and shot forth a cloud of white spores. As the three creatures continued thier fire attacks toward the struggling Feraligatr, they gradually slowed down, and eventually collapsed in the same fashion of the Nidoking-men. "Gai-torrrrr!" the Feraligatr bellowed as they fell, apparently accepting this as a win.

Both Kiru and Derrick gave a sigh of relief. Just as they were through, Jason, carrying Kiru's grandfather, finally caught up with them. Derrick ran toward the struggling pair. "Are you alright!?" he said, concerned.

"Yeah, we're fine..." Jason said. Jason then turned his head toward Derrick, who seemed to ignore Jason's comment, and giving all his attention to the unconcious old man.

"We've got to get him to a hospital." Kiru said. "Derrick, what are you doing here anyway?"

Derrick drew forth a Pok?ball from his Trainer's outfit "Return, Feraligatr!" he said as he recalled the blue Pok?mon. "Well, I just got back from Sootopolis City with my eighth badge! I wanted to come visit you before I set out for the Pok?mon League, but when I got here, there was no one here but these...things!"

"Give me a break..." Jason thought to himself.

"That must mean the hospital here isnt working." Kiru said.

"We should head to Rustboro. There are bound to be people, and a hospital there!" Derrick suggested. "I cant think of how a city like that could be cleared out."

"But...how are we gonna get out of here? Those things are everywhere." Kiru then looked up toward the sky. She saw about five broadly-winged figures circling the city. Jason looked up and noticed them as well.

Derrick thought of a plan. "We'll have to fight our way through. There might not be many of them toward the back entrance, if we can get through, we can go through Petalburg Forest and..."

"No..." Jason interrupted. "I have a better idea, Derrick." he said coldly. "Instead of guessing what 'might' happen, why dont we take the path we do know. Look above you." Jason then mentioned toward the sky. "There are only five of those creatures, we might be able to sneak through the sky, over the forest and land directly on top of the hospital in Rustboro.

"That might work..." Derrick said. Kiru looked around at both Jason and Derrick. Jason gave him a cold, fixed glare, while Derrick seemingly continued to ignore Jason. "You do have a Flying Pok?mon, right? Mr..."

"Jason." he said. "Why would I suggest a plan if I didnt? Hopefully you've got one too..." and then he thought, "Skarmory cant carry that big ego of yours..."

"Right! Of course!" Derrick said as he drew forth a Pok?ball. "Go, Fearow!" he shouted as he tossed it into the air. The brown, feathered Pok?mon, who looked similar to Stacey the night before, squaked into the air. "Feeeeeeerow!"

Kiru began to finalize the plan for the group. "Alright then! Derrick and I will get on Fearow. Jason, you carry my Grandfather on your Skarmory. We will take the lead and battle any of those things that attack us. Both Jason and Grandpa are injured, and Skarmory already flew a long ways, so we have to protect them, got it Derrick?"

"Right!" Derrick said. Jason released Skarmory from its Pok?ball, and the group mounted thier assigned birds.

"We can do this guys. Just stay focused!" Kiru declared. The group took off into the air, Skarmory and Fearow wildly flapping thier wings as they lifted off, whether into danger or toward safety, they did not know.

 

[Kayoss]

The group continued along thier winged mounts, racing against time. Kiru and Derrick rode ahead atop his Fearow, while Jason and Grandpa strode behind atop his Skarmory. In the distance, they could see five of the creatures in the distance, flying in circles above the city, like vultures waiting for spoils.

"Keep low, then maybe they wont spot us!" Derrick shouted. Jason grew even more frustrated, both at Derrick's noise and the dead weight of the old man leaning against him, "You keep shouting, they'll all hear us, you fool!"

"Right...err sorry." Derrick said meekly and turned his focus back to the flight path.

Kiru looked down at the city below them, depressed at the thought of having to flee her hometown. Just as Lilycove had experienced a day before, the city below them had been engulfed in flames, but it was different this time. Instead of the brutal Magma agents they had battled, they were up against something completely new. A strange army of creatures, a fusion of both Human and Pok?mon, continued marching through various parts of the city, using Flamethrower and Fire Blast attacks to incinerate everything that stood. They did this without pause, like ants from a trail, as if they had no wills of thier own.

"Derrick..." Kiru said sheepishly. "Kiru, whats up?" Derrick said as he turned his neck toward his fellow passenger.

"I...I...recognized one of those things back there." Kiru struggled to say. Derrick's face lit up as he heard those words. "What?" he asked inquisitively.

"The blue lady that your Feraligatr attacked..." she said. "That looked sort of like Julie's mom..."

------------------------------------------------

"Commander Straha, come in!" Annashi yelled into the phone as she and Smoke stood atop the small hill overlooking the burning Petalburg City. The sunset in the distance, along with the smoke and flame coming from the city gave the illusion that the entire world had been set aflame.

"Yes, Anna? What is it?!" an angry, tough sounding voice came forth from the black cellphone.

"Well um...the operation is proceeding as planned. Petalburg should be completely destroyed in about an hour. We're ready to receive further instructions!" the brown-haired Aqua agent spoke.

"Finish your assignment first!" spoke the phone once again. "We need to test the power and efficiency of the first batch. You'll not leave until the city is nothing but ash. You'll also report as to how any resistance is met. Got that?"

"Yes...sir" Annashi spoke into the phone, which shut off on its own immediately after. Annashi pocketed the phone and walked back over toward Smoke, who continued to stare over the horizon toward the city. Smoke heard Anna approaching, and pointed toward the sky.

"Hey Anna, look!" he said. He was pointing at what seemed like two black dots in the sky. Annashi picked up the binoculars hanging around her neck and looked through them.

"Are those...actual humans?" he said. Annashi focused the binoculars even more. She could see the faint figures of four humans riding atop a Skarmory and Fearow. "Looks like they are, and they're riding genuine Pok?mon too."

"Hey look!" Smoke said as he pointed slightly toward the left. The five figures that had been circling the city earlier, had now begun to make a beeline toward the humans flying in the distance.

-----------------------------------------------------

"Gah! Looks like the spotted us!" Derrick shouted as the figures drew closer and closer. Jason sighed and slapped himself on the forehead. "If you would have just shut your **** mouth..."

"Jason! He was trying to help me out!" Kiru protested. "In either case, what are we gonna do?"

Jason quickly drew his Featherblade, the gleaming steel shone brightly in the setting sun. "We're gonna fight..." was all he said.

In no time at all, the figures had closed in and attempted to collide with the group. Both Pok?mon narrowly dodged the attacks for thier owners, and the creatures began to split and surround them.

"Split up!" Jason ordered. Kiru, Derrick and Fearow proceeded to fly off to the left, while Jason, Grandpa and Skarmory took the right. Three of the figures then split off toward Fearow's group, while the other two took off after Skarmory.

Jason, hoping that the others would be alright, raised his blade and darted toward one of them. As he closed in to strike, he took a second to study his opponents.

They were appeared slightly tall as they danced in the air. They had broad, round, red wings that flapped seemingly without effort. They appeared to be female, with long, black hair coming from thier mindless, scaled heads. They would have appeared naked, if not for the slick, blue scales that covered thier whole bodies. Long, thick tails came forth from thier lower body, with a streak of red lining them. Thier chest scales were more of a pale grey, and thier eyes were lined with a crimson red. They screeched ceaselessly as they swarmed Jason's group.

Jason's blade connected with the shoulder of one of the petite-framed girls. She screamed as her head waved wildly, streams of flame coming forth from her mouth. Jason moved his chest around and swung his blade in a wide arc, hitting the chest of another of the charging creatures, releasing a stream of hot blood. That one moved back, stunned by the sudden blow.

Jason turned around and dashed toward the first female he had attacked, straighting his blade and intending to finish it off. The Skarmory on which he rode straightened its neck as if imitating Jason's attack, its beak shining like a lance atop a knight's horse.

The creature narrowly dodged the attack. Jason and Skarmory recovered from the missed attack by turning around toward them in a wide circle. As they did that, the two female creatures began to screech at each other in an incoherent tone. Before Jason and Skarmory could close in, they both dashed and fled in opposite directions, dissapearing from his sight in mere seconds.

Jason rubbed his arm against his sweating forehead. The intense battle, as well as the bleeding he endured earlier, made him feel weak. The long, green jacket he wore began to feel heavy, and the Featherblade in his hand struggled and shook. Suddenly, Jason remembered the similar struggle Kiru and Derrick must be facing. Jason immediately gathered his strength and dashed toward their direction.

Kiru, Derrick and Fearow had not been faring as well. They not only faced three of the creatures, but they had no weapons of their own, and had been relying on Fearow's attacks to keep them at bay.

"Skarmory, Swift attack!" Jason commanded. As they flew closer to the battle, Skarmory let loose a stream of bright star-like projectiles at the three creatures, which connected and made small dents in thier thick, scaled bodies. The three turned toward Jason turned back thier heads. Immediately, they released a long stream of flame toward Jason and Skarmory.

Jason pulled back on Skarmory's neck, signaling it to dive sharply downward to dodge the Flamethrower attacks. "I did my part...c'mon guys!" Jason thought to himself.

As Jason braced himself for the steep fall, he heard above him, "Tri Attack!" Jason then smiled to himself: his plan to distract the creatures was successful!. Jason then let go of Skarmory's neck, which indicated to it to fly back into the fray. As he closed in, he could see three seperate beams of energy coming forth from Fearow's beak, as well as both of its long talons. The creatures then began to feel different, as one of them looked charred and burned, another looked frozen in place, and the third one being shocked into paralysis.

"Good work, Jason!" Derrick shouted toward Jason as the three creatures struggled with the effects of thier attack. Jason however, remained focused on the battle. "Steel Wing." he whispered into Skarmory's ear. Just then, Skarmory spread its wings wide, which glowed with immense power. They then charged into the group of creatures, and collided with a direct hit: Skarmory's wings hitting two of them, while Jason's raised Featherblade hit the third.

They all watched as the three fell lifelessly back down toward the city ground. Derrick and Jason breathed a sigh of relief, while Kiru looked sadly down at the falling creatures. Moments later, they were out of sight, and with them being so high into the air, she could not tell what had happened to them.

"I knew all of them too..." she said sadly. Jason, Derrick, Fearow and Skarmory looked inquisitively toward a sad looking Kiru. She then said, "How did it happen...?"

"Regardless..." Jason interrupted. "We had no choice, they woulda killed us if we had'nt defended ourselves."

"The sky should be safe now. Come, to Rustboro!" Derrick shouted into the air. Kiru nodded, while Jason rolled back his eyes. Grandpa still leaned on Jason's back, seemingly lifeless. The group then continued thier course, in the direction of the bright and orange setting sun.

 

[Kayoss]

Night had come too quickly for the small group. Jason, Kiru and Derrick had left the decimation of Petalburg City, and crossed over the nearby Petalburg Forest. They had reached a small clearing with a road leading to Rustboro City, when Jason ordered an immediate halt to their flying.

They landed in front of what was known as the Pretty Petal Flower Shop, a quaint little store facing the Petalburg Forest exit that, from the looks of it, had been empty for days. "Why'd we stop? We're almost there." Derrick asked.

Jason lifted the old man down from atop his Skarmory, his unconciousness still bearing dead weight upon Jason. "Because, Derrick, its not fair to our Pok?mon." Jason explained. Derrick's Fearow had made a flawless landing upon the well-worn road, and its passengers, Kiru and Derrick, proceeded to dismount. "We needed them only earlier, when we were fleeing for our lives. But now, we're perfectly safe, and Skarmory does not need to carry us when we're able to walk just fine. Same ought to go for your Fearow as well." Jason said.

Derrick sighed. He obviously did not like Jason's way of thinking. He then pulled out a Pok?ball, "Thanks for the help, Fearow." he said as he recalled the proud-looking Fearow. Jason, after lifting the old man onto his shoulders, called back his Skarmory in the same fashion, "Dont worry Skarm, I promise to make it up to ya later."

The three looked around their general area. The Flower shop stood to their left, while the forest entrance lay to the right, with the night giving it an eerie, almost haunting look. "C'mon guys, this way." Jason said as he mentioned his companions down the path leading to Rustboro. Derrick and Kiru took the front, side by side, while Jason, carrying the old man on his shoulders, trudged behind.

"Hey guys, you dont think there could be more of those things around here, do you?" Kiru asked as they reached a small river bridge, with the forest still behind them. Derrick brightened up and said with confidence, "Dont worry Kiru! Even if they are, my Grovyle just evolved into a Sceptile last week, and along with the rest of my Pok?mon, we can defend ourselves pretty well..."

Jason's tolerance had reached its end after hearing that. "Tell me Derrick, do you always rely on your Pok?mon to do everything for you?" he said with a cold tone. Derrick turned toward Jason, looking shocked. Kiru backed away from both of them, nervous at what might happen next.

"Well no!" Derrick said back. "Just so you know, I competed in the Johto League last year, and I had just qualified for the Hoenn league!" Derrick then pulled out a small case and opened it in front of Jason. Sure enough, eight shining badges sat upon its purple, velvet lining. Derrick then continued, "I can tell that you dont like me very much, but its all in your head. You've got a powerful trainer on your side, I think you should treat me with some respect!"

"Tell me Derrick, what would you do if one of those creatures caught you by surprise, just now? How would you defend yourself?"

"Well it depends, if it looks like a water-type, i'd send out Sceptile to battle it. If it was a grass-type, i'd send out-"

"I've heard enough." Jason interrupted Derrick coldly. "I was once like you, prancing around the world like it was my own little toy, and then..." Jason set Kiru's Grandfather down onto the ground gently, and with one quick spin, Jason had drawn his Featherblade, and in the same moment, the blade had been staring down Derrick's neck. Derrick gulped and looked nervously down the dried, bloody edge.

"What Pok?mon would you have sent out just now, hmm? What Pok?mon in your happy little 'arsenal' would be able to reattach a severed head?"

"Jason! Please, stop it!" Kiru intervened, running in between Derrick and Jason. "Derrick is my best friend! Stop talking to him like that, he really is a great trainer!"

Jason sheathed his Featherblade, not entirely convinced that his point had been made. "Have fun with your 'minions' then. See where it gets ya, when you're facing death in the eye, see if your Pok?mon will save you..."

Jason lifted the old man onto his shoulders weakly, and kept on continuing. Derrick and Kiru stood, speechless. As Jason had walked a few feet away from them, Derrick summoned the courage within himself and declared, "Jason, I challenge you to a Pok?mon Battle, right here and now!"

Jason stopped in his tracks, and paused for a few seconds. Afterwards, they could hear nothing but a slight chuckle coming from in front of him. "Derrick, you just dont get it, do you?"

"Get what? That you're all bark and no bite?!" he yelled back.

Jason turned around and stared Derrick in the eye from his standing point. "Listen kid, I have no doubts that your Pok?mon are strong. And I see no reason to involve our Pok?mon in our conflict. Once again, you're letting your Pok?mon speak for you."

Jason then turned around, still carrying the old man on his shoulders, but turned his head to speak one last time, "This world is about survival, and that goes for both of you. The rules have all changed, there is no Happy-Go-Lucky Pok?mon questing anymore, this is a freakish war where only the strong survive. You'll do well to remember that, or you'll end up like those creatures back there." Having said that, Jason turned his head back toward the road and continued on, Kiru and Derrick following behind.

They were silent the rest of the way. They had crossed the river bridge shortly after, and were now close to the Rustboro gates. They could see the city on the horizon, with its bright lights and tall buildings. It seemed to be a normal city, something that Kiru and Derrick were glad to see. Jason on the other hand, simply trudged on with the old man in tow, wondering how he was going to deal with the city life.

They were close now, but suddenly, the group had been assulted by a squad of fierce men. Jason was tackled to the ground by a fierce Growlithe which leaped from the shadows. The old man fell lifelessly from Jason's shoulders as that happened. Kiru and Derrick on the other hand, surrounded by three of the men, thier assault rifles pointed straight in thier faces. Kiru and Derrick stood nervously, when suddenly, a beam of light flashed upon thier faces. They could hear the men breathe a sigh of relief as they lowered thier guns. Another of the men then immediately helped Jason to his feet.

"Fellow humans, thank god!" one of the soldiers spoke. They had all been wearing what appeared to be black leather combat-suits, with night-vision masks brimming with a green light. Various Pok?mon stood alongside them as well, including the Growlithe which had returned to the side of its master, and along with the group stood a tense Hitmonlee, a calm and serene Alakazam, and a brave-looking Golem.

"What's going on here?" Kiru asked sheepishly. "We're terribly sorry for that." said one of the soldiers, thier lifeless faces seemingly unmoving from behind their masks. "You see, Rustboro City is under intense military security in times of this crisis, and we were unsure of whether you guys were Morphs or not."

"Morphs?" Derrick asked. "Yes, surely you've seen them by now. Humans that sorta look like Pok?mon, that kind of thing." another of the soldiers replied.

"Yes." Kiru said. "We just escaped them back in Petalburg."

"I see. So you survived the Petalburg attack" one of the soldiers nodded to another. "Get them to the survivors center."

That same soldier pulled out a phone, and after a few nonsensical words from his mouth and into the phone, they could see a large van driving toward them.

"Morphs..." Jason thought to himself. "So that's what they're calling them..."

------------------------------------------------------------

Kiru, Jason, Derrick and the old man were placed inside the armored van, which then drove its way through the gates of Rustboro City. They had to stop for a second, as the large, metal gates opened themselves. Although the window inside the van was small, he could see two very fierce Machamp's standing guard. "These guys mean business." Jason thought.

As they sat in the brightly lit van, Kiru raised a point, "So what do we do now?" she asked.

"You guys should stay at the rescue center." Jason said. "I will proceed and bring your grandfather to the hospital."

Kiru nodded. "And please get yourself checked too." she said.

"I will..." Jason said. "From the looks of it, we should be safe for a while." And he was right. Guards stood around at almost every corner of the city, as the civilians tried to ignore them, moving around as if nothing was happening.

"I'll go talk to Erik tomarrow morning." Jason said. Derrick then intervened, "Erik, who's that?"

"The Gym Leader of this city, of course. Surely you know of him, Derrick. After all, I noticed the Stone Badge among your collection. Nice guy, sort of a gentle giant, I battled him seven years ago, maybe he'll know something about this whole mess."

Derrick interrupted, "Um, Jason..."

Kiru stopped Derrick by grabbing hold of his hand, "Just leave it, he'll find out tomarrow." she whispered to him.

 

[Kayoss]

An hour later, Kiru and Derrick had arrived at a large and rather plain-looking building. Jason had left them just moments before, intending to deliver himself and Kiru's grandfather to the nearby hospital. The armored van which had carried them stopped and dissapeared just as quickly. As they looked around, people were living the typical night-life as the stars and moon shone brightly above Rustboro City.

"This must be the rescue center." Derrick said. Kiru nodded and both of them stepped inside through its large doors.

The building itself seemed larger inside than it did outside. Inside, many rows of crude settlements for the various people stood side by side. Worried and greiving families were also in abundance. Mixed in, were also wandering trainers and various other Pok?mon authorities, all of whom were pondering at the recent events.

"So, what do we do now?" Kiru asked. They looked around the building floor, hoping to find a patch of open ground for them to spend the night on. "We should just go get some sleep, then we can head out first thing in the morning and meet up with Jason." Derrick said. Kiru nodded and both walked over toward the other side of the building wall, where they found an empty spot, and their bed for the night.

They moved, carefully avoiding the feet and belongings of the other residents lying on the floor. A depressing aura filled the air, as if urging Kiru and Derrick to become needlessly saddened as well. Finally, they reached the open bed lying against the wall, and both sat down grudgingly. To their left side, a family lay sleeping on a crude setup of sheets and pillows. To their right, a young, dark-skinned man wearing a brown jacket over a green shirt sat next to a sobbing little boy, who wore glasses along with a green shirt and brown shorts.

"I cant believe she's gone!" the little boy said as he continued to cry. The tall man next to him put his arms around the little boy's shoulders. "Dont worry Max, we'll find them. We'll leave first thing tomarrow morning and go off searching for them. And besides, i've seen Ash get out of tougher spots than that. A few Magma members shouldnt be too much trouble for him."

"Are you kidding?" Max said to his partner. "Did you see how fast they got taken away? After they were done, the military had to show up in Verdanturf. Doesnt that tell you how bad this whole thing is?!"

"Please, just calm down..." the man said. "But Brock..."

Kiru sat, listening to the whole thing. To her left, Derrick had already fallen asleep, his arms crossed over his chest. Finally, Kiru, feeling drowsy, curled herself into a ball and dozed off atop the crude, stretched-out bed.

-----------------------------------------------------------

That morning, Kiru and Derrick took off atop thier Fearow mount, and raced along the city sky. A new day had arisin for the residents of Rustboro, and they went along their business, as if nothing of the outside world had concerned them. The cool, crisp morning air blew along the faces of Kiru, Derrick and Fearow as they continued to soar.

"Lets see, Jason said he'd meet us on the roof of the hospital, right?" Kiru shouted, due to the fact that they were racing fast enough for their normal voices to go unheard.

"Right!" Derrick shouted.

They had soon reached the dirty roof of the hospital, where Jason had stood in wait for them. Various machinery lied among the corners of the roof, and a small door stood behind him, which led back down into the hospital.

Kiru and Derrick landed in front of Jason. "Thanks Fearow!" Derrick said as he recalled it back with his Pok?ball. Fearow gave a screech as the red beam engulfed it.

"Jason, how're ya feeling?" Kiru said calmly. She looked toward Jason's right shoulder, where the jacket itself was tattered, and where there once was a poison-infected wound caused by a Nidoking-morph, was now a set of clean, white bandages. "I'll be fine." Jason said as he smiled back toward Kiru.

"How bout her grandfather? Will he be alright?" Derrick said as he approached Jason.

"They've got him downstairs." Jason explained, surprisingly indifferent toward the question. "He was quite lucky as a matter of fact. His left leg and a couple of ribs ended up broken, along with a nasty concussion. If we waited longer, he might not have made it. Those things beat him up pretty badly."

"Whew, thank you!" Kiru said happily.

"Anyways, why dont you guys go have fun for the day? After what happened yesterday, you all deserve it." Jason said.

"But what about you?" Derrick asked.

"Myself on the other hand...I need to get some questions answered." Jason said. He then walked toward the door which led into the hospital. "I'll catch up with you guys later tonight."

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Jason walked along the sidewalks of Rustboro City, his destination: the Rustboro Gym. He appeared to be walking in what looked like the commercial part of town, as people busily walked up and down the streets alongside of him. Jason however, had bigger things on his mind.

He thought back at the chaos that reigned yesterday. The frightening sight of the Nidoking-men, the power they wielded against Jason. He thought himself pretty lucky, after all, a Focus Punch attack from any Pok?mon can be enough to end a fight. He felt his newly-bandaged wound. The pain still rushed along his arm, but it did not hurt nearly as much as it did before. His arm reached the hilt of his Featherblade, which hung alongside his left side. "If it had not been for this, we might not have survived."

His thoughts then drifted toward the battle in the sky which happened moments later. He remembered fighting for the lives of not only himself, but for Kiru and Derrick as well. He thought back at the screeching Salamence-women that had attacked them. Lastly, he remembered Kiru's sad face as he heard her talk of how she recogized all of them, as neighbors and friends.

"It's not hard to put two and two together..." Jason thought. "Those things...those 'Morphs' we fought back there, they were the captured residents of Petalburg. They were indeed all of Kiru's friends and neighbors, and yet they attacked us without hesitation...without pity."

Images of his old foe, Hakon appeared in his mind. Jason now understood what had happened with him: Hakon was the first of the Morphs that Jason had encountered. He never expected all of this to happen though. "What the hell are they up to?" Jason asked himself.

He had nearly reached the Rustboro Gym as he gathered the raging questions in his mind. "Why are the mass-producing Morphs like this? What did they want with my sister? How are they doing it in the first place? How did Teams Magma and Aqua gather the strength to clean out entire cities of innocent people? How do they control them?" Jason hoped to answer at least a few of the questions by speaking with the Rustboro Gym Leader.

Jason finally reached the Gym, and approached its large, shining metal doors. A tall, well-built guard stood at its entrance. He wore a long, black suit, complete with white shirt and black tie, and shiny black shoes. On the right side of his chest, sat a pin bearing the Stone Badge symbol.

"State your purpose." the guard said sternly.

"Hello there, i'm here to speak with the gym leader, Erik." Jason said confidently

"Erik?! Is that a joke, little fat-man?" the guard bellowed, a slight chuckle in his tone.

"Well no, I mean, he's the gym leader isnt he?"

As they spoke, the doors opened themselves, the loud metal scraping along the concrete floor of the Gym courtyard. Seconds later, a young lady stepped out from the gym. She had long, dark-brown hair, with two braids along the sides of her head. A pink bow sat behind her hair. She wore a well-kept, dark dress with a tie, along with sandals and long, pink knee-high socks reaching all the way up to her skirt. A dignified and serene air seemed to surround her.

"What is the meaning of this?" she spoke calmly to the guard.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Jason and the young lady sat at a small table in the clean and well kept Gym lounge. The sounds of trainers battling, as well as their Pok?mon, could be heard from outside onto the Gym floor, even in that small room. They both sat at the table, and spoke as they sipped a cup of tea which had been brought to them by one of the resident trainers.

"Yes, Erik retired about five years ago." she explained. "I am Roxanne, the preceding leader of this gym."

Jason nodded as he listened. "No wonder the guard was acting like such a moron..." he said.

Roxanne smiled and let out a small chuckle. "Im terribly sorry about that. Due to everything that's been happening lately, we've had to take some measures to ensure the security of this gym."

"Speaking of recent events, can you tell me anything you know?" Jason asked.

"Well as you know, it happened a few days ago. People from all over the Hoenn Region have been migrating to Rustboro, as soon as the attacks from Team Magma and Aqua began occuring. As it stands now, Rustboro, Mauville and Sootopolis are the only inhabitable cities at this moment." Roxanne explained in her calm tone to Jason.

"I see..." Jason said as he sipped his tea. "The Morphs, do you know anything of them?" he asked.

"Not too much." Roxanne said. "All I know is that they started to attack Rustboro about two days ago, but a military organization from the Kanto region appeared and pledged to protect our city and the others from which the people had fled to. They are honorable, yet ruthless, but even with the technology at their back, they've been unable to push further than protecting the city."

Jason nodded and stood up from his chair, slowly. "I thank you, Roxanne, for everything. But I must be going. It looks like i've got my work cut out for me."

"Wait, Jason." Roxanne said. "Is there anything else I can do to help? I knew that when I laid eyes upon you, you have the looks of someone on a mission..."

"Well..." Jason said, although slowly. "I've been distant from my fellow humans for far too long. I've lived alone in the forest for seven years, then one thing led to another and I wound up in this mess. But just the other day, i've finally regained my touch with my little sister, only to lose her again..."

"Cassie. Yes, I see the resemblance. You are her older brother?" she asked hurriedly. Jason only nodded.

"She was the only gym leader to have been captured by the criminal teams so far. I would like to help you, if only a little."

Jason turned and smiled toward Roxanne. "I guess you guys have to stick together, eh?" Jason asked, impressed. Roxanne smiled and nodded. "In that case, i'd like to do a little research in the Trainer's academy library if possible. You look like a teacher there, which is why I ask."

"I see you are very inqusitive as well." Roxanne said as she giggled slightly. "I'll be happy to grant your request..."

As they spoke, a dark figure sat, listening as it hid in a small air-vent inside the lounge. Its eyes then began to glow a dark, crimson red as it hissed, "Must...inform...Masssssster..."

 

[Kayoss]

The hot, afternoon air had settled over the rocky, barren mountains that concealed the Mauville Prison. Behind the large stone walls reinforced with barbed wire, a great commotion had arose. The prison guards, consisting of both Human and Pok?mon (the majority of them consisting of Machoke's) forces, were racing around the prison courtyard, battling a sudden invasion of Morphs, all of whom had emerged through a nearby sewer vent. Yet the guards continued to fall by the dozens, for they had been taken by surprise by the Morph's surprising strength and agility.

As the Morphs continued to battle anyone who emerged from the prison gates, Hakon stood guard near a large hole on the side of the prison complex, which had been blasted open just moments before. Two gruff looking human guards sat nearby, their bodies and hands bound by some unknown white substance.

"Pretty good I must say, eh?" Hakon said toward the two guards, obviously bored enough to be speaking with these insolent humans.

"W-What the hell do you want from us?!" asked a quivering guard.

"Nothing much." Hakon said, grinning as he rubbed his Scyther-like blades together. "Just something that doesnt belong to you, that you all took unfairly from me."

"Gah, why aint we gettin' any reinforcements? Shouldnt there be alarms going off and sh-" The second guard tried to say to his comrade, but was interrupted by a quick slash to the neck from Hakon. The first guard, shocked at seeing his friend killed in a quick instant, turned toward his murdered companion. A moment passed as tears began to run down his cheek. Hakon stood over them and continued to smile.

"Well, I suppose you deserve to know. You see, I found your old power generator deep beneath New Mauville, and with a couple of minor adjustments, had shorted out all the power in this prison. And that's why you have no alarms, no communications, nothing left but my slaves as they overrun your pathetic forces. Bet ya didnt see that coming, eh?"

The first guard screamed in a panic, "Why dont you just finish me then, freak?!"

Hakon turned back toward the hole he was guarding. "Aww, but what fun would that be? Standing here, alone, waiting for my friends, who else is there to talk to? Ahh nevermind, here she comes now!" Hakon said. He then raised his arm, and with one quick stroke, severed the head of the remaining guard.

Stacey had then emerged from the hole as she carried a withered old man on her shoulder, accompanied by two strange, pink-skinned young boys. The children were crawling along on not only both of their arms and legs, but also what seemed like two extra legs coming out from the sides of thier chest. Behind them, they dragged a large black striped organ coming out from their, complete with a yellow stinger: These children had become Ariados-morphs.

"Stacey, welcome back!" Hakon said as he opened his arms toward her.

Stacey then lay the old man on his back and started to catch her breath. The two children began to sniff at the old man's face. "Next time, you do your own dirty work, Hakon." she said angrily.

"Ah, im sorry." Hakon said. "But after all, someone has to stay out here and guide our servants." Just then, a nearby sewer vent had opened up from the ground as its top flew off. Another of the Ariados-children began to skitter out from it as it approached Hakon.

"M-Ma-Ma-sss-te-te-te" it struggled to speak. Stacey, looking down at the wretched creature. "Well speak up!" she yelled with frustration.

"Peace, Stacey." Hakon said calmly as he put his blade arm between her and the newly arrived creature. "The Mindless ones cannot speak very well, though you wouldnt either if you just had your mind taken away." he grinned as he said this. "Now then my friend, slowly say what you need to say." he said as he knelt down at the Ariados-morph.

"Ja-Jassssson...Russssst....Russstboro!" it said as its sinister eyes began to stare into the face of Hakon.

A furious look formed on Hakon's face as he stood back up. His clear wings spread themselves wide open and began to flap themselves wildly. "Stacey, I need you to take my father back to our safe spot. I'll meet up with you later." he said as he took off. As he soared the sky toward his new destination, he thought to himself, "You're mine now, you fool! This time, I wont lose..."

"Gah! Always wanting the last word!" Stacey said to herself as she pulled out a small phone from her vest pocket. "Yes, its me. Get everyone together. Thats right. They're in Rustboro..."

---------------------------------------------------------------------

The Trainer's school library had been emptied out for the night. Endless rows of neatly-arranged books lined the walls, along with a set of tables on one end, a service desk near the entrance, and a set of twelve computers, lined up in sets of six, on the other end. The library itself was dark but clean, except for one computer on the first row, which had remained on.

Jason sat in front of that computer, which seemed to glow amidst the darkness of the library. Kirlia stood by his side, its inqusitive gaze toward the computer.

"Alright then..." Jason said to himself. Although he has not used a computer for so long, he appeared to have no problems operating this one, as his hands lay firmly on the keyboard.

"Well, I doubt it'll be simple. Its not like I can do a Google search on these morphs." he said sarcastically to himself. "Kirl..." Kirlia responded.

"Lets get started then. Hmm...Wait! Caninus mentioned that it all began with Team Rocket, right? Lets try that out first." Jason then typed in his words 'Team Rocket' which appeared on the computer screen. The computer screen then went blank as a spinning hourglass appeared where there was a cursor.

"Okay, we've got...'Mossdeep Rocket Launching Program'...nope. 'Bad kids Team Rocket Fanclub'...still no. 'Prepare For Trouble Make It Double Website?! gah! This is hopeless." Jason continued to say to himself as he ended up frustrated.

Kirlia, sensing Jason's anguish, pointed toward the computer screen. "Kir Kirlia." it said as she looked toward Jason.

"Hmm...Well I guess that could work." Jason said as he clicked the last page of his search findings.

There was only one link remaining on that last page, entitled "Journal of John Ruval". Jason , intrigued, clicked the link with the mouse, only to get a large "Enter Password" sign. "Aww great." Jason said to himself. Just as he was about to leave that window, a strange aura began to surround Kirlia as it's psychic power was focused toward the computer. In moments, the window was replaced with, "Access Granted. Welcome back, Giovanni."

Jason looked toward Kirlia, awestruck at what it had done. "Wow thanks Kirlia!" he said. "I never knew you could be such a hacker." Kirlia blushed and smiled back at Jason.

Jason began to read what appeared to be the latest entry of the journal. It had been dated exactly five years from his current date. It read:

"We're finished. The project has gone horribly awry. They're breaking out of our camps, and most have turned against us. They've ended up to be too strong, and too intelligent. Many of them have fled toward what is now known as Pok?morph Island, while others are bent on destroying the rest of our agents. Giovanni, my trusted friend, if you happen to read this, I would get out while you can. I dont have a lot of time left, I will camp myself on the island, to see if I can make good of our current situation. I pray that I will see you again someday."

-John Ruval, lead scientist of the Pok?morph project."

Jason continued to read. Toward the bottom of the page, sat a small map. Jason clicked on that map, which enlarged itself on the computer screen. It was a small chain of three islands, sitting in a straight line. Toward the right edge of the map, he could see a small bit of coastal area, with a large dot labeled 'Rustboro City'.

Jason continued to study the map as Kirlia hefted a large book onto the side of the desk where Jason had been sitting. He had not been aware that Kirlia left his side in the first place. He then picked up the book, entitled "World Atlas". "But Kirlia, this thing is fifty years old. What good can come from it?"

Kirlia then took the book, and flipped it to a page which looked similar to the map on the computer screen. Kirlia then pointed at the same chain of islands, and looked intently at Jason's face.

"Hey...wait a minute!" Jason yelled in surprise as he looked back and forth toward the book and the computer. The book showed a same chain of islands, but with one difference: the book contained a fourth island, adjacent to the third one on the right.

"Then that must be..." Jason said. "Wow Kirlia, you're a genius! But why would they just hide an island like that?"

Just then, the computer had shut itself off automatically. "Hmm..." Jason said to himself as he looked around. Everything in the library had been completely shut off as well. Suddenly, he could hear loud banging noises coming from behind one of the library walls. Jason stood up, frightened by those sudden noises. Kirlia began to shift around as well. Soon, an air duct had blown itself open as silhouettes of creatures began to swarm out of it. Jason then drew his Featherblade, as Kirlia prepared itself as well. Soon they had surrounded both Jason and Kirlia.

"Jason...you honestly didnt think you could hide from me, did you?" a figure in the darkness spoke.

"Hakon..." Jason said angrily as he gripped his Featherblade.

"I've thought about this for a while. I do believe I want you to suffer before you die. Now then..." Hakon spoke from the shadows. "My father's factory took the lives of two of your precious Pok?mon, now why dont I take a third?" he declared as his blade-arm pointed toward Kirlia. The rest of the crouching figures then pointed their abdomens at Kirlia.

"Boys and girls..." Hakon yelled. "Signal Beam!"

The library then erupted in a blaze of light as the surrounding Ariados-morphs shot beams of light directly at Kirlia. It screamed in pain as each of the attacks hit head on. Jason immediately shot up and began attacking them furiously, striking each with a blade and kicking them to the side, and repeating the process with another. When he realized that he could not take them out fast enough, Jason drew out his Pok?ball, "Kirlia, return!" he yelled.

It was no good, the Signal Beam attacks were preventing Kirlia from being called back. Jason continued his furious attacks at the Ariados-children. Hakon stood amidst the sea of skittering creatures, grinning at Jason's plight. "Thats it, just wear yourself out..." he thought.

Jason then stepped in front if Kirlia and took the beam attacks himself. Kirlia stood behind him, its body pulsing with pain, as it kneeled on one knee, trying to catch its breath. "Kirlia...you gotta run!" Jason said as he painfully took the attacks. Blasts of light bounced off Jason's chest as he grunted from the force of the attacks. Jason held his Featherblade in a defensive position in an attempt to deflect some, but it helped little.

Kirlia, now relatively safe from harm, grew very angry. It stood up wearily, its slender body now charred and bleeding in some areas. "Kir...." it said as it stared at the Ariados-children.

"That'll do." Hakon said as he raised his blade-arm. The other morphs stopped their attacks toward the pair. Jason kneeled, struggling to even speak, brought to his knees by the multiple Signal Beam attacks. "Now then, to finish this. It's been a good hunt, Jason!" he said as he walked toward Jason. "Hmm...whats this?"

Kirlia had stepped in between Jason and the advancing Hakon. "Kir, Kir, Kir..." it declared at Hakon. "Kirlia?" Jason said, gasping for breath.

"Kir..kir...KIRLIAAAAAAA!" it shouted toward Hakon. Just then, the entire library was filled with a bright light as Kirlia's entire form turned to a pure, flowing white light. "Whoa..." Jason said in awe, still kneeling behind it.

Kirlia's form suddenly grew taller, the light still engulfing its form. Many of its features reshaped themselves as it went through its transformation.

"Wow...unreal..." Jason gasped as the event was taken place, his eyes filling with solemn joy. "Hakon, I think you're screwed..."

 

[Kayoss]

The aura of light died down after a few moments, bringing the library back into its state of perpetual darkness. In place of where Kirlia had stood, was a completely different Pok?mon. It stood tall above Jason by at least a foot, its previously braided-head now covered its entire head. The two red head-horns became one red horn which came out of its chest. The body itself was long, slender and pure white. Although its legs could not be seen, it gave the illusion of levitation, as it appeared to wear a long, flowing white gown. The new Pok?mon stared down at Hakon with a piercing gaze of its dark, red eyes.

Jason struggled to his feet, grunting as he did. He stood confidently behind his just-evolved Kirlia. "Gardevoir..." he whispered to himself.

"Well, this is unexpected." Hakon said, grinning as he stopped in his tracks. "My plans for execution turned to evolution. Bravo, Jason. Bravo. Not that this changes anything. You both are still going to die..." Hakon then pointed his blade-arm toward Gardevoir and Jason. "Signal Beam attack!" he commanded his morphs.

The Ariados-children-morphs began their brightly-colored Signal Beam attacks again. "Gardevoir, Reflect!" Jason shouted. Gardevoir raised its arms, and its eyes began to glow a bright blue. At that moment, a translucent blue shield formed around them. Jason watched as the attacks bounced effortlessly off the shield. Hakon, frustrated, raised his left arm, signaling the morphs to cease attacking. Just as quickly, Gardevoir's barrier dissipated.

Hakon began to rush at the pair, his arms flailing wildly. "Its up to me then!" he shouted.

"Gardevoir..." Jason said. "Show them your true Psychic power!" he yelled as he pointed his Featherblade at the surrounding Morphs.

Gardevoir raised its arms again. This time, its eyes began to glow a bright, crimson red. Books and various papers began to levitate themselves as the room seemed to cause an earthquake. Twisted, grey auras began to surround Hakon and his Ariados morphs, as they all seemed to wretch in pain. They then began to lift off the ground, still struggling. Even Jason himself seemed to feel a slight tingle in his body as the psychic power raged within the room.

Hakon, who was among the victims of Gardevoir's attack, threw himself into a furious rage. He could not move, still bound into the air by the Psychic attack. Finally, with great effort, his wings opened themselves and began to flap wildly at Gardevoir. Moments later, bright beams of white light shot themselves and made contact with Gardevoir. Although the attack itself was weak, Gardevoir flinched as the room began to calm down. Hakon and the Ariados morphs were released.

Hakon kneeled, severely weakened from the ordeal. The Ariados morphs had already begun to escape through the air duct from which they had entered. His body had taken its toll from the attack, and he was not able to continue to fight. He then dashed toward the air duct and crawled inside, but not without a few words. "Mark my words Jason, i'll never stop hunting you!" he yelled.

Jason, also weakened from the Signal Beam attacks from earlier, said nothing. Gardevoir kept its solemn gaze upon the escaping morphs. They could both hear the loud banging sounds from behind the walls as they escaped. Moments later, the noises ceased.

"Gardevoir...thank you...for everything." Jason said weakly. He knew that they would not have survived if not for Kirlia's anger causing it to evolve. Though he also knew that Kirlia's were very protective of their trainers, so he was not too surprised. Gardevoir simply looked down, smiling at Jason. His new Pok?mon looked very imposing, even though the very sight of Gardevoir seemed to put Jason at ease. "I feel sorry for any Morphs that get in our way from now on." he said. Gardevoir then put its arms around Jason and gave him a hug, moments before Jason pulled out the black Luxury ball and recalled Gardevoir. He seemed to feel rather good, despite his injuries. "So, thats why they call you the Embrace Pok?mon."

Jason ran up a set of nearby stairs, but not before grabbing a set of papers from a nearby printer, which contained all of Jason's previous research. The stairs led up to another floor of the Library, and then a small lounge. Finally, Jason reached the top, which contained nothing but a single door. He could hear loud chopping sounds and a megaphone speaking in a muffled tone from the other side. He then slowly opened and stepped out of the door.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Jason ended up atop the roof of the Rustboro Trainer's School. Despite the bright lights of the city, the stars and moon shone above the night sky. He could see helicopters dashing around the city, as lights coming forth from them beamed down at the streets. He could hear the loud speaker-phones clearly now.

"Return to your homes now! This is not a test!" they blared across the city. Jason then ran to the edge of the roof and looked down at the ground below, only to see a large squad of black-uniformed soldiers marching across the street in rows of three. They were the same soldiers they had encountered before the entered the city. He could see a bright green light coming from the eyes of their black metal masks as they held large assault rifles.

"That was the military organization that Roxanne spoke of..." Jason said to himself. He noticed a ladder coming down from the building he was standing on, and proceeded to climb down. He then landed in a small, dusty alley in between the school and another large building. He ran back into the street, where the soldiers were already marching ahead of him. He then ran toward the opposite direction down the street. Jason looked around as the city was completely cleared of everyone else besides Jason and the soldiers.

"What the hell..." he said to himself. "Its too **** quiet..."

Jason continued to run along the city streets. "Where are you guys?" he whispered to himself, gasping under his breath. Throughout the whole run, there was no one to be found. Normally this wouldnt bother Jason, except for the fact that this was Downtown Rustboro he was in, the busiest sector of one of the busiest cities in Hoenn, especially on a Saturday Night like this.

Jason found himself running across a string of stores. The buildings themselves were well lit, as were the lights above him. He saw a large, bright Pok?mon Center on the other end of the long street, which he assumed was the main street of the city. He began to run toward it, until...

*CRASH*

A teenage boy had emerged from a nearby alley so suddenly, that Jason and himself had crashed into each other, and both were thrown back, landing on their rear ends. Jason rubbed his head with his left hand, his Featherblade still held in his right. Jason then looked up at the boy he had crashed into...

"Derrick!" Jason yelled. Derrick sat on the hard concrete sidewalk, rubbing his head as well. "Jason!? I've been looking for you!" he said back. "Likewise..." Jason said.

Jason and Derrick and stood up and faced each other. "Jason, we've got problems!" Derrick said in a panic. "They...They've got Kiru!"

"What?!" Jason shouted. "How the hell did-"

"The Morphs!" he said. "They managed to sneak into the city, and avoid the military! We better hurry, I heard they were near the gates!"

Jason nodded, and both began to run toward the direction where Jason had seen the military march moments before. Derrick began to explain the situation to Jason. "We were doing a little searching around earlier. A bounty hunter told us, that there are actually two kinds of Morphs to worry about. The ones that attacked us in Petalburg, those are the 'mindless' morphs. Those were the people that got taken from their homes and transformed by Teams Magma and Aqua..."

Jason nodded. "But then, there are another kind." Derrick continued. "The ones that took Kiru...they're the so called 'Elite' Morphs. They can talk, think, and do everything they want." Jason then thought to himself. "Hakon...Stacey...". Derrick then said. "Those morphs are Team Magma and Aqua volunteers, not only very strong and intelligent, but they got their own choice of Pok?mon to get morphed into, making them all that much stronger. The bounty hunter said that we have no hope of winning against them."

"That's where you're wrong, Derrick. We have no choice! I've been doing some research of my own. We'll beat them, for Kiru..." Jason said as they continued their course down the streets.

----------------------------------------------------

"You've got the bait then?" Stacey said as she looked up at a gargantuan blue and white morph who sat across a large booth inside a local diner. His belly seemed to stretch across the whole seat, although it was questionable whether the seat beneath him was still standing. Standing up, he would most likely be about nine feet tall, and weighed nearly a ton. In his right hand, he gripped Kiru, who was bound in tight rope, but continued to struggle. In his left, he held a large, turkey drumstick.

"Yup..." the morph belched. "I'm counting on you, Yabba the Gutt." Stacey said as she walked past the service counter of the diner. It was brightly lit, and across the counter, stood a few scared cooks and waitresses, who stared at Stacey as she walked out and flew away.

"Alright folks..." the morph grunted again as he continued to eat. To his sides, sat a slender, blue-skinned and long-eared man with broad, bat-like wings wearing a white tank-top and green shorts, as well as a tall and broad-shouldered pink skinned woman, with two small horns protruding from her head. "Stacey says dat he smart, dat he beat Hakon two times. Dis little girl'll bring him to us, den we smash him gud!" Yabba bellowed as he grabbed a nearby hot-fudge sundae and swallowed it whole. Kiru continued to struggle as she heard his plan, but his broad, fat arms kept her bound tightly close...

 

[Kayoss]

Jason and Derrick continued their run though the now-empty streets of Rustboro. While the neon-lights of the various buildings still illuminated the city streets, there was no one else to be found. "Perhaps everyone else got taken from here as well?" Jason thought to himself as he continued running. "Nah...most likely frightened into hiding by this 'Military'. Nothing but a bunch of hi-tech bullies they are, considering they cant stop a couple of morphs from entering the city..."

The two had finally reached a large, open intersection within the city. All around them, large, tall buildings surrounded them on every corner. The neon signs which hung upon the buildings gave this area a sense of fun and excitement. Normally, this place was the center for partying couples and other such fun-lovers. A gigantic screen hung upon the tallest building, which stood straight across from Jason and Derrick.

"This is where he grabbed Kiru..." Derrick said as they stood in the middle of the intersection. "He came out of the alley and took her away while I was speaking with that hunter. Gotta watch out for him, he looked pretty crafty."

From the shadows behind the two, a voice spoke, "Come now, flattery will get you nowhere!". Just then, a blue figure flew at them from behind. Jason spun around to meet the attacker, drawing his Featherblade in the process, but the figure was too quick, and dove in between Jason and Derrick's standing positions. Both of them were knocked on their sides by the figure's sleek, blue wings.

"Jason! Derrick!" another voice from afar had shouted. As they both recovered from the attack, Jason and Derrick turned to the direction of the voice. On the side of the intersection, underneath a set of tall, brightly-lit buildings, was Kiru. She was bound to a lightpost, her arms tied beneath her, and her legs bound on the front by chains as well.

"Get out of here guys! Its a trap!" she shouted again. Jason and Derrick stood back up, and dashed toward her. "No way we're leaving you here!" Derrick yelled as they both ran toward her.

The blue figure that had attacked them had now suddenly appeared before them. His skin was a dark blue, with large, bat-like wings. He wore a white tanktop shirt and green shorts, and appeared quite skinny. "None of you are going anywhere!" he said with a sinister, toothed grin.

Just as Jason readied his Featherblade to strike down the Zubat-morph, the ground began to shake at small intervals. Jason and Derrick looked around, and found a gigantic figure lumbering toward them from another alley. Its large, stubby feet seemed to crush the ground beneath it, and gave out a bellowed laughter as it moved toward them. It finally stood and faced Jason and Derrick about ten feet away.

Jason looked upon the monstrosity before him. He appeared to be nine-feet tall, and completely hairless. His large gut almost overshadowed any semblence of a face. While his large belly was a yellow color, the rest of his body was a dark blue. Spots of food particles covered his entire mouth. Just the very sight of him inspired dread within Jason and Derrick.

"What...the...hell..." Jason struggled to speak. Words could not describe this thing. Even for a morph, he looked terrifying.

"That's right, you cant win." the Zubat-morph said as he flew above them and perched on top of the shoulder of this large creature. "Yabba'll crush you all, right here and now!" he yelled. At that very moment, another figure came outside, from the tall hotel-building closest to where Kiru was bound. It appeared to be a female, with broad, thick shoulders and bright pink skin. She wore a large, black jacket as well as dirty blue pants. Sunglasses adorned her small, horned head. Jason turned around to glance at the new figure, and noticed a large, black ball adorned on a thin tail behind her as well. This Miltank-morph proceeded to stand guard in front of Kiru.

"What should we do, Jason?" Derrick said weakly as he too, faced the huge Snorlax-morph. Jason finally summoned the strength within him. "We fight."

Derrick nodded and picked out one of the Pok?balls attached to his belt. "If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you all get!" he shouted as he tossed the Pok?ball into the air, "Primeape, I choose you!"

A white light burst forth from the Pok?ball, and in between Jason and Derrick, the brown, puffy-figure of Primeape appeared. It hopped around angrily, eagerly anticipating the upcoming battle. "Jason, send out your Pok?mon too." Derrick said.

Jason, still raising his Featherblade, turned his head toward Derrick. Normally, Jason would abhor such a request, as he hated using his own Pok?mon for his own personal purposes. Jason then surveyed the ferocious battle to come, with Kiru's life at stake. "Fine..." Jason said quietly as he reluctantly drew forth a Pok?ball. Jason then tossed it into the air, but not before shouting, "C'mon out, Larvitar!"

The light from the Pok?ball then quickly formed the figure of the small but gutsy Larvitar, which stood at Jason's feet. The Zubat-morph continued to perch upon the back of the large Snorlax-morph, examining the Pok?mon choices of the two, tiny humans. "Just like ol' times, eh Yabba?" he said. The Snorlax-morph merely nodded. "Except dis time, we only got two puny humans to crush! Blarharhahar!"

"Courtney!" the Zubat-morph shouted as he pointed toward the Miltank-morph. "You, guard the little girl while we finish these guys off."

"Roger that, Channo!" she nodded and shouted in a deep, professional-yet-feminine voice. "Good luck!"

The battle had officially started. With its great and mighty strength, Yabba lept into the air and toward Jason, hoping to finish him off with one stomp. Jason raised his Featherblade high into the air, hoping to counter the attack as he looked angrily toward the falling Yabba. "Jason!? What are you doing!" Derrick yelled. "Primeape! Cross Chop attack!" he commanded.

Primeape moved itself behind Jason, and propelled itself toward Yabba, who had been falling in their direction. It's long, black-braced hands began to glow as they crossed themselves, and with one mighty strike, connected with Yabba's chest, causing him to fly backwards and finally, crash onto the entirety of the open city floor.

Derrick turned to face Jason. "You werent seriously planning to try and fight it like that?!" Jason's angry face moved toward Derrick. "Dont lecture me on swordfighting..." Jason said. In the midst of their argument, a large, black projectile flew at them, thrown at them by Channo, who was levitating in front of them. Jason then pushed Derrick out of the way of its path, while Primeape and Larvitar moved quickly to the other side. The Shadow Ball then exploded in between them, leaving nothing but a cloud of dust.

"Larvitar, Rock Slide!" Jason shouted. Larvitar then proceeded to jump into the air toward the flying Channo, as large, rough stones materialized around its small body. Larvitar then attempted to crash into the frail body of the Zubat-morph, but he quickly dashed to the side and avoided the attack, who then countered by tackling the recovering Larvitar to the ground, despite his rather thin frame.

At that very moment, Yabba had stood back up from his fall. In a maddening rage, he tried his attack at Jason again, by leaping toward him with all of his might. Jason and Derrick both jumped to their feet and dashed off toward opposite directions as Yabba attempted to crush them. The ground shook as Yabba landed, his stubby feet shattering the concrete floor beneath him. Jason, although evading the attack, struggled to regain his balance. Wasting no time at all, he lept toward Jason again. Jason looked up at the huge shadow of Yabba about to crush him, and quickly rolled to the side again, barely evading the attack. Yabba continued his attacks with Jason narrowly escaping. In between dodgings, Jason desperately sought an opportunity to counter-attack, but Yabba was surprisingly fast with his attempts to crush Jason.

Meanwhile, Larvitar, as well as Derrick and his Primeape continued the battle with Channo. Channo, seemingly ignoring Derrick completely, focused his attacks toward the two Pok?mon, while quickly darting from side to side, using his stiff and powerful wings. With his trainer completely occupied, Larvitar adjusted himself to follow Derrick's orders. "Larvitar, Screech attack!" Derrick shouted. Larvitar braced himself to unleash a loud, blaring noise toward Channo. At that same moment, Channo stopped its flying and faced Larvitar, and unleashed his own noisy screech: a Supersonic attack. As the two dueled each other using powerful noise, Primeape positioned himself behind the levitating Channo. "Primeape, Mega Kick!" Derrick shouted as he attempted to overpower the two other loud noises going on. Primeape then lept at Channo, and with a clear shot at his back, Primeape's strong legs made contact with Channo's frail back, causing him to fly face-forward into the concrete road.

"Yeah! Way to go Primeape!" Kiru shouted toward the battlers, still chained up to the pole. Courtney, still standing guard, appeared to be quite bored, as she stood in front of Kiru impatiently, smoking a cigarette. The Miltank-morph then turned around at Kiru, "Pipe down, kid!" she yelled. Courtney then turned back toward the battlers as she took another puff of her cigarette.

Meanwhile, Jason continued to dash around the open intersection, as Yabba continued to jump at him, in an attempt to flatten him with his huge weight. Every time Yabba had landed, his feet smashed the concrete beneath him, leaving a pile of debris. Pretty soon, the entire field had been smothered in rubble. Soon however, the ground had felt still. Jason turned toward Yabba, who had just then stopped in his attempts to leap at Jason. Instead, Jason could see a large ball of yellow energy building up in Yabba's mouth. "Oh crap!" Jason said to himself. Jason knew what was coming next: Yabba was charging up for a Hyper Beam attack.

Channo, recovering from Primeape's attack, quickly took to the air, with Larvitar and Primeape giving chase. While both Pok?mon continued their attacks: Larvitar throwing rocks, with Primeape trying to hit him in the air with its fists, Channo used his incredible aerial agility to dodge effortlessly. At that moment, a large explosion had erupted from across the field where they were battling. Derrick, Channo, Primeape and Larvitar both stopped faced the huge explosion, only to see Yabba standing mightily ahead of a large cloud of smoke.

Derrick and Kiru both grew alarmed. "Jason!" they both shouted in a worried tone. Channo and Courtney both stood, grinning, "Yeah, that's the ticket, Yabba!" As the time passed, the thick smoke still stood, blocking the sight of anyone trying to see what had happened. Just then, a small blade flew out of the cloud and bounced off of Yabba's face, causing a small, bleeding cut despite his thick skin. Yabba's proud, triumphant look turned to anger as Yabba stomped his way toward the smoke, intending to finish his target off. All of the onlookers stood in awe to see what would happen next, all except Channo. Instead, Channo took the opportunity and flew toward Kiru...

Just then, a Yabba was thrown out of the smoke with a tremendous amount of force, landing back-first onto the pile of sharp debris. As the smoke cleared, Jason became visible as he stood behind a large, smoking crater. Derrick then ran toward Jason, who was covered in bruises as well as dark, grey soot. "Jason, how did you-" he yelled. Jason merely pointed down toward the crater. Derrick ran to its edge and sure enough, found a large, wrecked electrical generator, which was giving off large sparks from its shattered wires. Derrick understood what happened: After the Hyper Beam attack was unleashed, Jason protected himself behind a pile of upturned rubble, while the attack itself formed an open hole, revealing the underground generator. Jason had then taunted Yabba into the hole with a toss from his Featherblade, knowing that he could not see what was beneath the thick smoke. Yabba was then blasted with an extreme amount of voltage from underneath.

Everyone involved with the battle: Jason, Derrick, Kiru, Channo, Courtney, Primeape and Larvitar turned their heads toward the fallen Yabba. His large, round body, as well as his thuggish face, continued to give off smoke as it continued to twitch, despite the clear fact that he had been dead.

The gruesome sight had been interrupted by a scream from Kiru, who still stood chained to a pole from behind. Channo had been standing above her, her braided hair being pulled upright with his blue-haired hands. Jason, Derrick, Primeape and Larvitar ran toward them, while Courtney stood defiantly, blocking their path. As they moved toward the two remaining Morphs, Jason snatched up his Featherblade and prepared to strike down the Miltank-morph barring their way.

Channo's fangs began to extract themselves from his mouth, as his other hand moved and cleared Kiru's neck of her dress strap. "Dont worry, girlie, this wont hurt...much!" Channo said as he cackled gleefully. Derrick then looked up at what was about to happen: Channo had intended to replenish his strength by feeding on Kiru. This threw Derrick into a mindless rage as he ran even harder toward the pole. Jason, Larvitar and Primeape then launched themselves toward Courtney: Jason raising his Featherblade, Larvitar with its jaws for a Bite attack, and Primeape with its fists. Courtney, occupied with three opponents, allowed Derrick to run past her.

As Channo began to sink his fangs into Kiru's neck, he was quickly met with a flying fist straight into his furry, blue face. Channo, shocked by the blow, stumbled back to the ground. Derrick's foot immediately flew itself into Channo's chest, followed by two punches to his face again. Derrick, completely enraged at the thought of Channo touching Kiru like that, followed through with a ferocious uppercut toward Channo's neck, which made a loud cracking noise, immediately knocking Channo out cold.

Jason continued to parry Courtney's fists with his Featherblade, but as this was happening, he glanced toward Derrick's fight, and was immediately filled with a bit of pride, watching as Derrick had, for the first time, fought his own battle. Just as Jason prepared to lunge toward Courtney, she had lept back, and with a small, electrical charge from her horns, had engulfed Primeape, Larvitar and Jason in a Thunder Wave attack, stopping them cold. Courtney then moved her hands together in unison as a black ball of energy began to form. The three battlers could only watch helplessly as Courtney built up her Shadow Ball attack.

Kiru tried desperately to struggle her way out of the chains, something she could not have done with the Miltank-morph standing guard. Just then, one of her hands slipped free from the bondings, which she used to deftly grab one of the Pok?balls from her dress pocket. Kiru then tossed it into the air toward the fighters, "Breloom, go!" she shouted. The Pok?ball then opened, and with a burst of light, formed the hopping mushroom-fighter known as Breloom. "Spore!" Kiru shouted. Breloom then aimed his dome-shaped head toward the entire battlefield, and unleashed a cloud of mist-like spores. Courtney's Shadow Ball then immediately dissipated as she lost concentration, and Courtney collapsed into a peaceful slumber. At the same time, Jason, Larvitar, and Primeape had no choice but to breathe in the spores, and both Jason and Larvitar collapsed to the ground. Primeape, somehow still stood, completely unaffected by the spores.

Derrick, breathing heavily from the adrenaline of the fight, ran up to Kiru and helped her to undo the chains which bound her to the metal pole. She then hopped down and fixed herself. As they surveyed the aftermath of the fight, they could see an unconcious Channo lying near them, a dead Yabba straight across the shattered, concrete intersection of Rustboro City, as well as a sleeping Courtney, Jason and Larvitar. "Oops..." Kiru said to herself. "Thanks Breloom, return!" she shouted as Breloom was recalled to her Pok?ball.

"Thanks for a great fight, Primeape!" Derrick said afterwards. Primeape, proud of its work, continued to gleefully hop, just as Derrick's Pok?ball recalled it.

Just then, from all corners of the great intersection, large, black-metal vans had begun to gather around, parking themselves at the ends of the streets, as the piles of debris made it impossible for them to continue further inside. Kiru and Derrick stood by as black-suited, armed soldiers swarmed out of the same vans. A few of them gathered around Yabba's bloated, dead body, while others moved toward the sleeping battlers, as well as a couple of them moving toward Kiru and Derrick...

----------------------------------------------------

"You kids alright?" one of the soldiers asked Kiru and Derrick, his stern voice coming forth from a green-glowing, black mask. "Yeah..." Kiru said. "We got attacked by those morphs, but we managed to win!" she said happily as she pointed toward the fallen battlers. "Yeah, sure." the soldier said with a hint of humor. "Alright men, take custody of everyone lying on the ground, and..." he then glanced toward Yabba's body. "Ugh...Leave the fat-***..."

The soldiers began to lift Channo and Courtney off the ground, and grudgingly moved their unconcious bodies toward the vans. A few more of the soldiers began to lift Jason and Larvitar and moved them toward the other vans.

"You kids ought to be safe now..." another of the soldiers said as the both walked away. "Hey, wait!" Derrick shouted. "You're not taking them, too?!" he yelled as he pointed toward Jason and Larvitar.

"We're taking everyone responsible for this destruction, now go home!" the soldier said, still walking away from Derrick. "But...but they're heroes!" Kiru intervened. "They saved our lives!"

"We're taking everyone for investigation..." the other soldier said. "Who knows, your 'hero' just might be a Morph in disguise..." he said as he continued to move toward the lead van.

"Thats ridiculous! Let them go!" Derrick demanded. The first soldier then raised his assault-rifle toward Derrick. "I wont say it again, get the hell out of here!" he yelled.

Derrick and Kiru stood, awestruck and saddened as the soldiers took the two Morphs, as well as Jason and Larvitar, away. Moments later, the vans had begun to disperse. Kiru and Derrick stood, alone around the smoking battlefield. "What now..." Kiru asked, tears running down her cheeks.

Derrick then took two more Pok?balls from his belt. "We go get our friend back! That military, they wont bully me like that!"

Kiru's face then perked up with a small hint of happiness. "Yeah!" she said. "Hang on Jason, we're coming to get ya!" she said as the both dashed toward the leading van as it prepared to drive off...

 

[Kayoss]

"Diglett! Persian! C'mon out!" Derrick said with a confident shout as he tossed his two Pok?balls into the air. Two Pok?mon then formed on the ground. One was Diglett, a tiny, brown mole-like Pok?mon, already imbedded into the ground, and the other was Persian, a sly-looking, lithe beige cat. Both Pok?mon faced their trainer as they awaited orders.

The aftermath of their battle still surrounded them, as piles of rubble and upturned metal lay across the whole of the intersection within Downtown Rustboro. Despite it all, the bright, neon signs and building lights still gave this part of the city a Tokyo-esque feeling.

"Alright you two, i'm gonna need you both to work together." Derrick explained to his Pok?mon, who then nodded intentively. "See that van over there?" he said as he pointed to the other side of the field, where one of the military vans had started up and began to leave the scene. It was the same van where Jason and his Larvitar had been taken prisoner. "That should be heading back to their base. I need you both to follow it. Diglett, you'll try and find a safe entrance that'll get us in that base, and if there is not one, then you'll have to make one for us." Derrick said. Diglett nodded as it buried itself into the ground. They could see the Diglett as it sped toward the van, leaving a small trail of upturned earth behind it.

"Persian, you gotta race after that van as well. Once they park, try and swipe whatever keys we'll need to move into the base from the guards, and follow up with a Hypnosis attack, so we wont have to deal with them."

Persian, hearing its orders, gave a mischevious smirk toward Derrick. "Perrrrrrrr." it said slyly as it dashed toward the van, which had already taken off down the dark road.

Derrick and Kiru had then raced toward another van, which sat behind them. This one was driven by the two Military officers which had confronted them before. They could hear it shake a little bit as it began to start up and drive off. "C'mon!" Derrick shouted. Moments later, they had approached the van, and Derrick quickly lifted the door in the back of the van. They then quickly crawled inside, and Derrick shut it down halfway.

"We should be safe in here, Kiru." Derrick said. "This van'll take us right to Jason."

--------------------------------------------------------------

Jason sat, alone, on the small, wooden patio of his treehouse home. The afternoon sky had turned a sickly green, and all around him, the forest seemed unusually depressing and dismal. Jason continued to watch over the tiny, grassy clearing which faced his home: it was something of a backyard to him. His eyes remained motionless, as he continued to stare, while drinking another of his Bleiz-iken beers. Two more of the red-canned beverages lay to his side, crushed and empty. Behind him sat the door to his home, where a small dresser could be seen, with two Pok?balls, as well as a black Luxury ball, were lined up neatly atop it.

Jason stood up, and tossed his final beer can onto the floor of the patio. He then proceeded to move back inside his home. Just as he moved past the doorway, a green flash burst forth from below him, shattering the wooden planks which made up the inside floor of his home.

Before Jason could react, he took a wide slash to the chest, which made him stagger backwards. Immediately, some force threw him backwards as he tumbled back outside, and over the patio. Jason then began to fall to the forest ground, and eventually landed on his back.

Jason couldnt easily get up from the pain. He looked back up toward his house, only to see a grinning Scyther-morph staring down at him. "Hakon!" Jason shouted as he tried to get back to his feet, only to have the foot of another hold him down by his chest. Jason turned toward the new distraction: the leg holding him down was long and slender, and covered with a rust-colored down. "Stacey!" he then shouted.

Jason looked up at Stacey, only to see her right wingspan point toward a large crowd moving toward them. The people in that crowd all seemed to bear large, burning torches. Except they were not people at all, but rather an angry mob made up entirely of more Morphs. Their numbers seemed to be countless as Jason turned his head toward the other direction, only to see another large group heading toward them. Morphs of all colors, postures, Jason could probably count all three hundred and eighty-six species of Pok?mon morphed among them, given the chance. Behind each mob, the forest was ablaze, with fire and smoke shooting up into the sickly green sky.

Hakon continued to look down, while Stacey continued to hold Jason down with her one foot. The mobs grew ever closer, until they stood a few feet from Jason's position. Then, they stopped.

The morphs stood, motionless as they stared into Jason's face. Directly in front of him, he could make out a couple of the morphs. One was a tall, well-built man wearing nothing but a pair of brown shorts. His skin seemed to shine a yellow tone, and Jason could see large bursts of flame coming from his back: a Typhlosion morph. Another appeared to be a small boy with purple skin with large ears coming from the sides of his head. He had two long, pointed teeth, as well as a small, curled tail behind him: a Rattata morph.

A few moments passed, as the morphs directly in front of Jason began to disperse. Jason, still pinned to the ground by Stacey, continued to look toward the crowd with only his head turned in their direction. By clearing the way for Jason's view, what Jason saw, completely shocked him...

He could see a small group of humans, bunched together like a group of bananas, completely surrounded by other morphs. The humans stared blankly into Jason's eyes, as if they had been completely hypnotized. Jason recognized them all. Kiru and her Grandfather, Derrick, Maxine, Caninus and Cassie, all stood together in a small bunch. Jason was then filled with an almost uncontrollable rage as he pushed himself up from Stacey's grip. Jason quickly got to his feet, throwing Stacey to the ground in the process. He then ran toward his blank-eyed friends. Jason then approached them, but they all seemed to evaporate at his very touch. Soon his friends had dissapeared entirely, leaving only a large, infinite circle of mindless, bloodthirsty morphs.

They all began to swarm Jason. In an effort of futility, Jason drew his Featherblade, but it was no use. Jason was immediately torn apart by waves of fire, electricity, water, ice and grass attacks from all sides, while those in closer contact to him were biting, slashing and kicking him all over his body. Jason could not move, nor retaliate, as he was brutally torn apart by the hordes of ravenous morphs, once innocent humans, but had completely lost themselves.

Amongst the frenzy, a calm, feminine voice seemed to overpower the noises of killing. Jason could see a small beam of light coming down from the dark, green sky. "The Seer awaits you on the island..." the voice said. The light quickly died down, as Jason continued to die.

Jason's world then fell into darkness...

Jason then awoke, to find himself strapped to the floor of a moving vehicle. Next to him lay Larvitar, still sound asleep from the spores caused from the earlier battle. With the shaking of the vehicle, and the spores he had breathed in from before, Jason had a huge headache, which felt as if the beating in his heart took place inside his brain.

"Kiru, train those Pok?mon...will ya?" he said groggily.

 

[Kayoss]

Kiru and Derrick sat quietly in the dark van, for what seemed like hours. They could feel the van itself moving along at a high speed, which likely meant they were on a freeway of some sorts. With that, they decided against lifting up the back door of the van to see where they were.

"You really think we can do this?" Kiru asked meekly. "I mean, we're two trainers trying to break into a military compound. And even if we do find Jason, how're we gonna get out, and if we get out, how can we esc-"

"Relax, Kiru. I'm sure everything will be fine. I mean, we do have our Pok?mon, right?" Derrick said with confidence.

"You're right..." Kiru said slowly. "All we can do is try, anyway. For Jason's sake."

----------------------------------------------------

After what seemed like hours, the van finally came to a halt, which lasted for a few seconds, then drove off again. Kiru and Derrick assumed they had stopped at a gate, and are now heading to the inside of the base. "If my Pok?mon did their part, im sure we wont have a lot of problems getting inside." Derrick said. A few moments then passed, and the van came to a complete stop. Kiru and Derrick stood up, preparing to leap out of the van. They waited a few minutes to be safe, and finally lifted the back door.

They both stepped out and looked around. A small distance away, they could see a gate, closed off by a barbed wire fence. All around them, were rusted, black metal walls, with old crates lying around. They could not see however, what those crates contained. "C'mon!" Derrick whispered. They could see no one else around, and they moved toward the wall behind them, where they could see a tiny, brown figure sifting in the dirt.

Derrick's Diglett had been sitting there, waiting. It peered curiously above ground toward Derrick and Kiru as they ran toward it. Derrick approached and kneeled before it, with Kiru standing patiently by his side. "So, did you find a way in?" Derrick asked.

"Diglett! Diglett!" the Mole Pok?mon yelped as it hopped up and down in its dirt perch. Diglett then quickly retreated back into the earth. A few moments passed, when the hole it had been sitting in somehow grew larger and wider. Pretty soon it had grown enough to fit the two kids through.

Derrick and Kiru retreated through that same hole, crawling and clawing their way through with small effort. The hole itself seemed to dip sharply into the earth, just enough to pass under the black wall separating that part of the military complex. The hole then dipped sharply upward, where Derrick and Kiru had emerged, now covered in the soft, dark earth.

The kids brushed themselves off, emerged to find another similar area to the one they had moved from. It was another closed off area with a single large van, except this one was parked in front of a huge, blackened steel gate. The back door of the van had been opened, and Derrick and Kiru saw two guards sleeping soundly underneath the door, obviously as a result of Persian's Hypnosis. Jason and Larvitar, however, could not be found.

Persian then appeared atop the roof of the van, grinning. Derrick looked up at his Pok?mon and smiled. "Persian! C'mon down!" he shouted. Persian gracefully lept off the van and landed at Derrick's feet, who kneeled before his Pok?mon as he had with Diglett. Inside Persian's toothy mouth, was a white keycard. Derrick removed it from Persian's face and placed his hand atop its head, and stroked it gently. "Thanks a lot Persian, and you too Diglett. Thanks to all of you, we have a chance!"

Persian purred with contentment, as Diglett once again hopped up and down with joy. Derrick handed the keycard to Kiru, who ran toward the gate. Derrick then pulled his two Pok?balls from his belt, and recalled his Pok?mon. Kiru, with the white keycard in hand, searched for an opening, and quickly found it on the middle of the gate. Kiru faced Derrick as he ran toward her, and both nodded to each other.

Kiru then placed the card in the thin slot. The gate itself began to rumble, as the screeching of the steel gate scraping the concrete floor nearly drove them insane. Moments later, the gate had finally been open, revealing a silvery, well-lit hallway.

The complex felt more like an office building than an actual military base, which somewhat relaxed Derrick and Kiru. The floors were soft, carpeted with a crimson-red flooring. Portraits of various people lined the halls. Derrick and Kiru walked along, cautiously observing the paintings. Although none of the people could be recognized by them, all the paintings had one thing in common: they seemed to wear clothing bearing a large "R".

"What...is this place exactly?" Kiru asked as they moved along. "You cant hear anyone, no guards, nothing. Its almost...scary." she said meekly.

"I dont know, but we gotta keep going. Jason should be here somewhere, since I know he came from that van outside." Derrick said confidently, feigning a sense of courage in front of Kiru. In truth, Derrick knew it was a military base, likely swarming with armed guards that could pop out at them at any moment.

Finally, they came across an intersection. In front of them, stood a huge painting, bearing a tall, stern-faced man wearing a fine, red suit, complete with a tie. Atop his lap, sat another Persian, similar to Derrick's. Kiru and Derrick however, could not recognize this him either, although the size of this portrait signified something important in that man.

They stood at a crossroads, one direction moving sharply to their left, another to their right. "Oh no, now what do we do?" Kiru said. "Jason could be anywhere now!"

Derrick sighed, knowing that picking the wrong direction cost them valuable time. Derrick then picked out two of his Pok?balls attached to his belt, and tossed them into the air. In an instant, the forms of Feraligatr, as well as a tall, green, muscled lizard-like creature known as Sceptile, appeared. Derrick sighed again as he faced toward Kiru.

"Kiru, I know this will be hard, and I hate to say this...but-" Derrick sighed again as he continued to talk. "You're gonna have to go it alone."

Kiru gasped upon hearing this. "I know, and im sorry." Derrick said again. "If we split up, then sure enough, one of us will find Jason. Your Pok?mon should be able to help out too. Be brave Kiru, we can do this."

Kiru's eyes nearly began to water, as she was paralyzed with fear at the thought of having to take on this military on her own. "Kiru...please. We can do this!" Derrick said as he placed his hands on Kiru's shoulders.

Kiru's face straightened up as she drew forth her two Pok?balls. "You're right!" she yelped with confidence. "Go, Breloom and Parasect!" she yelled as she tossed the Pok?balls into the air. Breloom's and Parasect's forms then appeared before them.

Kiru, Breloom and Parasect began to run off in the left direction, while Derrick, Feraligatr and Sceptile took the right.

(Quick comment: I froze here for about 20 minutes, deciding whether to follow Kiru or Derrick's group first, haha)

Kiru's group dashed along the halls, making a few sharp turns along the way. Kiru ran along, with Breloom hopping right behind, and Parasect skittering to the sides. Soon they had come across a small room, where they faced a large wooden door. On its side, sat a pedestal with a Military guard, obviously very bored.

The guard then perked himself up. "Hey, you lost or something, little girl!?" he shouted as he drew an assault rifle.

"Breloom! Mach Punch!" Kiru shouted. Breloom then propelled itself to the guard, and with one swipe of its fists, knocked the gun out of the guard's arms. "Now Parasect, Spore!" she commanded. White mist began to shoot forth from Parasect's mushroom top toward the guard, who immediately was knocked out and sleeping soundly upon the carpeted floor.

The mist then stopped moments later, with the guard completely covered in a white, puffy substance. Oddly enough, Kiru then drew forth a set of plastic gloves, as well as a large, glass bottle. She then moved toward the guard, and with the gloves, scooped up the spores and placed them within the bottle.

"Trust me, the guys'll thank me later." she grinned.

After finishing her strange ritual, Kiru and her Pok?mon quickly moved through the large door sitting in front of them. She emerged into what appeared to be a large, prison chamber. Each side of the room had three iron-barred cells each. "Wow, this room doesnt look as nice as the others." Kiru said to herself. Just then, Kiru noticed two more of the black suited and masked guards lying dead straight across the room. Kiru and her Pok?mon ran up to the fallen guards, failing to notice that one of the cells had been opened...

Kiru began to kneel toward the guards, who were laying on the cold, concrete floor. Next to them lay a desk of switches, possibly meant to work as the prison controls. As Kiru was observing, a flash of blue darted toward Breloom, unbeknowest to the Pok?mon. The flash then swiped at Breloom's mushroom top, causing Breloom to fly toward the wall in front of it, and with a soft yelp, "Bre...loom..." Breloom had then fainted.

At that same moment, a large, pink object had fallen from the ceiling, directly above Parasect, completely smothering the Pok?mon. The pink figure quickly got to its feet, leaving a fainted Parasect in its wake.

In almost no time at all, Kiru's Pok?mon had been quickly knocked out. Kiru looked up and gasped at the sudden event. Quickly, she drew forth her Pok?balls and recalled then both, as to avoid any further damage to them.

Kiru then gazed toward the ones responsible, and a look of fear glazed over her eyes as she backed away into another large, wooden door. She attempted to turn the knob, but it was no use: the door was locked. Kiru then came close to breaking into tears as she fearfully looked up at the figures of...

Channo and Courtney. The Zubat and Miltank morphs, carried to this place by the Military, had apparently escaped their confined cells somehow. They both began to advance on Kiru, Channo bearing his fangs and wiggling his fingers wildly in an attempt to subdue the quivering Kiru with more fear. "Yesssssss, now I can finally eat!" he cackled gleefully.

Kiru, now completely paralyzed with fear, attempted to find a way out of her situation. Suddenly, a loud, masculine voice boomed forth from another of the jail-cells. "Pull the lever! Pull the lever!"....

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Derrick and his team raced through their chosen path. Their run, at first seemed calm enough, as they passed through more of the paintings and pots of plants from the previous halls. As he turned a left corner, he could see two figures staring at them from afar. Derrick, Feraligatr and Sceptile then dashed toward them.

As they closed in, Derrick could not believe what he saw. The taller, rounder figure wore a green jacket with a white shirt underneath, black pants with white shoes, as well as short, breezy hair with sharp glasses. Next to him, stood a small, mean-looking, grey Pok?mon...

"Jason! Is it really you!?" Derrick shouted. Behind Jason, the hallway seemed to turn sharply to the left. Feraligatr and Sceptile had stopped in their tracks as Derrick halted in front of Jason and Larvitar.

Jason and Larvitar, however, did nothing but stare back at them, completely unmoving. They both stood at uniform, and glared angrily into the eyes of Derrick and his Pok?mon.

"Jason, are you alright? C'mon, we gotta go. Kiru's somewhere in this building. Lets go get her and we can-" Derrick was interrupted by a loud, metallic scratching sound. Derrick then looked up toward Jason, and was completely stunned by the sight...Jason had just drawn his Featherblade!

Larvitar then began to growl at them all, while Jason continued to stand motionless, staring into Derrick's face with soulless eyes, Featherblade in hand. "Um...Jason?" Derrick said.

With that, Jason rushed headlong into Derrick, Featherblade raised. Larvitar began to follow suit, charging along at Jason's feet. Sceptile and Feraligatr, sensing a battle approaching, stepped in front of Derrick, in an attempt to protect their trainer. "Jason, what's wrong with you?!" he yelled desperately...

 

[Kayoss]

Is there anyone reading this by chance?

 

[Kayoss]

(Quick warning: This next chapter is a bit graphic and has a bad word or two, so if you're that sensitive, turn away now)

Channo and Courtney continued to advance on Kiru as she desperately sought a way out. They had backed her into a corner behind the desk, which held the prison controls. "That lever, on the desk!" the voice shouted again. Kiru was completely trapped, and Channo seized the opportunity by grabbing Kiru's right arm with his blue furred hands.

Without thinking, Kiru's eyes squeezed shut out of fear, and with her left hand, grabbed the biggest lever sitting on the desk, and pulled it toward her. She could then hear all the cell bars within the room lift themselves open, the rusted metal screeching along the hinges as it did. Moments later, they stopped, leaving many empty jail cells. Channo and Courtney had stopped their rampage as this happened, nothing had happened seconds later. The morphs, believing that it was a futile gesture, continued to have their way with Kiru.

Channo spun his arm and threw Kiru facedown upon the desk. Holding her arm crossed behind her back, Channo's fangs extracted themselves as he prepared for his feast. Kiru attempted to struggle, her eyes tightly shut, and face sweating heavily from the fear, but Channo's morphed strength made it impossible. Courtney stood above them, watching from the other side of the desk, getting ready to enjoy the spectacle to come.

Channo dove into Kiru's tender neck, fangs bared. Suddenly, Channo's face exploded in a violent show of blood, as the rest of his headless body stood still, seemingly shocked into submission. Courtney, horrified, let out a loud scream, and quickly turned her head behind her, only to face the cause of the sudden violence. At that moment, Courtney felt the same fate, as she stared down a smoking shotgun barrel for a split second before she too, took a shell to the neck.

Kiru's body began to go into spasms of fear, and although Channo's body had fallen to the floor, she still appeared to be pinned to the desk. The splattering of blood, as well as the shocking loudness of the shotgun going off, kept her completely frozen.

A voice spoke up, "Filthy bastards, nobody touches my little girl!"

Upon hearing that, Kiru's spell of fear was broken. She slowly looked up at the man who had just blown the brains out of the two morphs. He was tall and fierce looking, and wore a rugged, crimson jacket, along with brown pants and black boots. His hair was kept short and straight, and was colored a bright green, and the smoking shotgun lying in his hand made him look all the more dangerous. Rico was his name, but to Kiru he was...

"Daddy! Is that...really you!?" Kiru shouted as she ran around the desk to hug her father.

Rico's expression lightened as he kneeled toward Kiru in order to return the hug. "My brave little princess..." he said. "What on earth are you doing in a place like this?"

"Trying to find a friend." she said. "He saved my life back in Lilycove, and i'm trying to help him out now."

"Lilycove? Does that mean..." Rico asked.

"Yep! I've been accepted as Master Yokou's apprentice!" Kiru said with enthusiasm. "I was going to begin training as an herbalist like him, but then Team Magma attacked the town, and I almost got captured, but then Jason saved me, and now the military took him here."

Rico stood up and glanced at his watch. "Alright then, i'll help you out." he said.

"But Dad, what are you doing here anyway?"

"Well Kiru..." Rico explained. "Right after I failed to fulfill my contract, the one in poaching Poison Pok?mon, I had to hide for a while, and eventually got a second chance from a private organization..." he said calmly. "I've been employed as a Morph Hunter."

"A Morph Hunter?" Kiru said.

"Yep, get paid for each death. Soon we'll be able to move away from this place, you, your mother, and I. There'll be no more problems after this..."

"Hold on, Dad!" Kiru began to cry. "We never wanted you to do this! All this time, i've been wondering where you were, and you're poaching and killing?!"

"Kiru...i'm sorry..." Rico said as he closed his eyes tightly.

"I just wanted you home, dad!" Kiru said as she hugged Rico's chest tightly.

"Really, I am. I've only wanted the best for the family, and..."

"Dad, there's something else you have to know. Its about the Morphs...they're not all bad people..."

------------------------------------------------------------

Derrick and his Pok?mon prepared for the sudden onslaught of Jason and Larvitar. Jason began to rush at Derrick with his Featherblade raised, and jumped in to attack from overhead. Derrick's Feraligatr stepped in front of Jason's charge, and with one mighty fist, slammed Jason hard into his chest, stopping the attack. Jason's souless eyes blinked, but he let out neither a grunt or a scream of pain as he crashed back-first into the nearby wall.

Sceptile braced itself as Larvitar had charged in unison with Jason's attack. The coiled claws of Sceptile began to glow a bright green as Larvitar dove in for a Bite attack. With amazing speed and dexterity, Sceptile had returned Larvitar's charge with a swipe of its glowing claws. Larvitar growled as it took the Leaf Blade attack head-on, and was also thrown backwards as Jason had been.

"Jason! I dont wanna fight you!" Derrick pleaded, still protected by his Pok?mon bodyguards.

Jason said nothing as he stood up, and wiped the blood from his mouth. He stared angrily into the eyes of the Feraligatr that stopped him cold.

"Jason, please!" Derrick shouted again. "Stop this!". Jason said nothing, and continued to glare at Feraligatr.

"Jason...im sorry..." Derrick said, slowly and regretfully. "Sceptile, Protect! Feraligatr, Earthquake!"

As it continued to stare at the sniveling Larvitar, Sceptile crossed its scaly arms as a translucent green barrier formed around it. Feraligatr then hefted its broad, thick leg, and stomped hard onto the carpet floor, causing the whole hallway to shake. Jason, sensing this, jumped quickly into the air toward Feraligatr, and swung his foot against its huge jaws. "Gay-tooooorrrrr!" it bellowed as it spun toward the ground.

"Oh no!" Derrick yelled as he drew forth a Pok?ball. "Feraligatr, return!" he said as Feraligatr was drawn back into the ball.

Jason began to focus on Derrick now. He continued to glare, the dark look still hanging in his eyes, as he raised his Featherblade and advanced toward Derrick.

"Sceptile, Leech seed!" Derrick commanded as he backed away from Jason. Sceptile then withdrew from its defensive stance and prepared two brown particles in its hands, which were then pointed straight at Jason. As Sceptile prepared to launch them, he was attacked from behind by Larvitar, who had attached itself to Sceptile's head, covering its eyes with its small, grey claws, and using its stubby legs, wrapped itself around Sceptile's neck and tried to strangle it. Sceptile staggered around as it tried to swipe at Larvitar...

Meanwhile, Jason continued to advance on Derrick. His Trainer's instincts kicked in as Derrick drew forth another Pok?ball. As Jason continued to move toward Derrick, he hefted his Featherblade at Derrick, and threw it toward Derrick's hand. Derrick screamed as he dropped the Pok?ball, now kneeling from the pain, clenching his bloody hand.

Jason froze as he looked down at his kneeling foe. Derrick was too focused on his pain to look back. Jason grabbed Derrick by the neck, and with a great strength, lifted Derrick off his feet. Derrick's bloody hand squeezed tightly on Jason's arm as he struggled.

Angry and humbled, Derrick's sweating face grew red as Jason continued to lift him by the neck. "Jason...you..." Derrick said as his choking face grew angrier. Jason's cold face said nothing back.

"You...son of a *****!" Derrick yelled as his raised foot swung hard against that sensitive area between Jason's legs. Jason's face finally showed emotion as it twisted in pain, and at that moment, dropped Derrick, who landed on his two feet. Jason began to kneel before Derrick now, the pain had forced him to the ground. Wasting no time, Derrick swung his foot around, and smashed Jason in his face, similar to the attack Jason had done to his Feraligatr. Jason hit the ground hard as he continued to grip his crotch, still writhing in agony.

Derrick stopped a moment and gazed at himself. The hateful look which had crossed Derrick's face earlier was gone, as he realized what he had done. "Jason, i'm sorry. Please...can we stop this?!" he said softly at Jason.

At that moment, Jason's body was engulfed in a bright white light. Sceptile and Larvitar, who had been struggling with each other moments before, stood and stared at Jason's body. Larvitar gasped as it saw this. Jason's body then began to shrink and shrink. As the light dissipated, it left behind a small, pink blob, which lay on the carpeted floor, its tiny eyes glazed from the defeat it had suffered.

Larvitar watched as its comrade reverted to its true form. Sensing its own inevitable defeat, Larvitar's body went through the same process as Jason's did, shrinking itself back into a pink, squishy blob creature. It then jumped off of Sceptile's back and ran over to the area where Jason's body had been.

Derrick and Sceptile stared at the two creatures. "Ditto! Ditto ditto ditto!" the former Larvitar said to the former Jason. "Dit...to..." it responded back.

"I cant believe this..." Derrick said. As he talked, red beams shot forth toward the two Ditto, and engulfed them. Derrick and Sceptile turned toward the source of the red beams, and saw a lone Military agent grasping two Pok?balls. She was clearly female, standing about as tall as Derrick was, covered in the black full-body suit and metallic mask as all the other Military personel.

"A Ditto trainer? Hey wait a sec...I know you!" Derrick shouted. The agent quickly pocketed her Pok?balls and dashed off down the halls. Derrick and Sceptile then gave pursuit toward the agent, down the strangely-portraited halls of the Military base...

 

[Kayoss]

Jason sat alone in the cold, pitch-black room. There was darkness all around him, save for a tall lampost standing above his head. In the distance, he could see a faint sight of a table. Atop it, sat his Featherblade as well as the green jacket that contained his Pok?balls, leaving Jason wearing his loose pants and white-sleeved shirt, and revealing a bandaged arm, due to the injury he recieved from the Petalburg battle. Jason struggled a bit, but it was a useless gesture. His arms had been chained to the armrests of the chair, and his feet had been chained together, preventing any chance of escape on foot.

Jason had woke in this same position. He remembered waking up from the nightmare earlier while in the Military van, but quickly fell back asleep due to the exaustion he had suffered before. From the looks around him, Jason felt as if he'd be interrogated soon, but to what purpose, he had no idea.

Suddenly, a bit of light had shone in front of him. The door had opened from across the room, and Jason could see two tall Military figures step inside and move toward him, still suited in their black body-suits, and wearing the same metallic masks with the green glow emitting from it.

The door closed behind them, and seconds later, the two figures had stood above Jason, their arms crossed as they looked down at him.

"We've been watching you..." one of them spoke in a raspy voice. "Your battle with those morphs proved to be quite a show."

Jason looked angrily up toward the military agent. "So you were watching me, and you didnt come out to help? Some Military you are-" Jason's words were quickly cut off by the other agent, this one a female, by a quick backhand across the face.

The male agent spoke again, "The way you handled yourself out there was impressive. That Snorlax-morph proved to be one of their greatest creations, and yet you brought it down."

The female agent then spoke, "We're here to offer you a formal invitation, to join our organization. We need men like you, and with your extensive knowledge of the morphs, I can see you rise through our ranks very quickly."

Jason then spat a shot of blood in between their standing positions. "Save it. If I wanted to look like a joke, i'd ask to become a Mr. Mime morph..." he said defiantly.

Deftly, the male agent drew forth a pistol from his belt-pouch. He then pointed it directly at Jason's head, his hand now shaking in hopes that Jason would give him a reason to pull the trigger...

"Butch, no!" the female agent shouted as she urged her comrade to lower the gun.

"And besides, I dont know what you think I know. I only figure things out on a morph-by-morph basis..."

The female agent then drew forth a set of rolled papers: the same papers that contained Jason's previous research. "Care to explain this then, Giovanni, if that is your real name...Jason?" she said. "I'd sure like to know how you hacked into our computer system..."

"Oh, that?" Jason said. "Well actually, my Kirlia did that. She's such a good hacker and-" Jason's face grew angry as he stopped. "Hey wait a second! Did you just say your computer system?"

"It doesnt matter." Butch said. "You'll never make it to Pok?morph Island. Not alive! C'mon Cassidy, lets see how our soldiers are dealing with the intruders."

After another backhand to Jason's open face, both military agents proceeded to leave the room, leaving Jason to ponder the new developments. "Military and Team Rocket...?"

------------------------------------------------

Derrick and Sceptile continued to give chase to the female agent whom they had just battled. They both followed her out of the white hallways and into a gigantic, dingy warehouse. Boxes of supplies were littered everywhere, forming something of a maze in which Derrick had to follow her in.

After she had gained considerable distance from Derrick and Sceptile, she drew forth a pistol, and proceeded to open fire on Derrick. Both Derrick and Sceptile took cover beneath one of the boxes, and tried to devise a strategy in which to fight back.

"Alright Sceptile, distract her with a Protect attack and i'll sneak up on her." Derrick explained to Sceptile. Sceptile then jumped onto one of the boxes, revealing itself in plain sight. But no shots were fired. "Sceptile!" the Pok?mon shouted. Derrick quickly got up from his crouching position, only to see the agent fleeing again. "Oh no!" Derrick shouted. The agent had already gained considerable distance ahead of them. "Sceptile, try a Quick Attack!"

Gracefully, Sceptile lept from box to box in pursuit of the wayward agent. Derrick attempted to follow, although the box-maze made him clumsier than his agile companion. Sceptile, now closing in on the agent, continued its pace and prepared itself for Derrick's command. "Leaf Blade!" Derrick shouted, still trying to move through the boxes. The agent, realizing that she was no match for a speedy Sceptile, drew her pistol again, but it was quickly knocked out of her hand by Sceptile's glowing claws. She then fell to the ground, hoping to grab it from the floor, but was stopped cold by Sceptile's Leech Seeds, as they wrapped around her ankles and arms, immobilizing her.

Derrick had finally caught up with them. He knelt before the agent as she struggled out of the Leech Seed attacks. Derrick then placed his hand behind the agent's head, and undid the mask which was bound to her head. As it came off, Derrick's suspicions were confirmed as the agent's true identity was revealed...

"Duplica!" Derrick said with enthusiasm. "I knew it was you! What're you doing?!"

"D-Derrick...is that you?" Duplica said as she rolled over and faced Derrick. "I...I'm so...sorry!" she said as she burst into tears.

Sceptile snapped his clawed hands, which caused the Leech Seeds to unattach themselves from Duplica. Duplica sat herself upright, and threw herself into Derrick's arms, still in tears. Derrick wrapped his arms around her in an attempt to comfort her. Many minutes later, the tears stopped as she regained her composure. Both Derrick and Duplica stood up to face each other, as they both brushed themselves off.

"What were you doing attacking us like that?" Derrick said as they both sat atop a pile of crates and faced each other. "And what are you doing with a group like this in the first place?"

"It's a long story." Duplica explained. "My Ditto's and I were invited to perform in Fortree City, when Team Aqua attacked the town and started kidnapping people. We tried to fight them off..." Duplica sighed "...but they were too powerful. If not for the Military, I mighta been captured along with many others."

"But why would you join them?" Derrick asked.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time. I hated seeing innocent people get taken like that, and...I just wanted to help out. They invited me to join after the battle, talking about how my skills were impressive enough. It seems like they've done that with a number of other trainers, trying to recruit the best. But I didnt know that they were..."

"They were what?" Derrick said, trying to get Duplica to finish.

"They were Team Rocket. Or at least, they used to be."

"What do you mean?"

"Didnt you know? They disbanded about a month ago. Something about the morph project going wrong. Their leader dissapeared, as did a number of his closest advisors. And now, with Team Aqua and Magma recreating the Morphs, they formed again, under the guise of this Military, with one purpose: to undo what they started in the first place."

"You know...that really makes a lot of sense." Derrick said. "Finally, its all coming together."

Duplica then stood up. "Derrick, i'm sorry for what I put you through. All this time, they've been putting pressure on all of us, and this is the first time i've ever been able to think straight since I joined. Ever since I met you in Goldenrod City, you've been nothing but kind to me." Duplica then wrapped her arms around Derrick again. "Thank you, so much!"

"Hey, dont sweat it!" Derrick said. "We Trainers gotta stick together!"

"So, what are you going to do now?" Duplica asked.

"Well, the man that your Ditto's transformed into, we're here to get him out."

"Alright." Duplica said as she drew forth a key-card. "This'll get you to the basement floor. That's where they're keeping him."

"Hey, thanks!" Derrick said as he accepted the gift. "But...what about you?"

"I'm getting out of this while I can. What they're doing is completely wrong. The trainers they do recruit, they starve us, they wake us up at night to yell at us, and they beat us constantly. I need to leave before I lose my mind." she explained. "Goodbye, Derrick! Please, be careful!" Duplica said as she headed toward the door from which they emerged from.

Derrick watched as she began her escape from the compound. "She'll be alright..." Derrick said to himself. He and Sceptile made their way to the closest door, and charged through. They both ran down a narrow hall, and finally came to an elevator. On it side, was a small slot. Derrick drew forth the keycard and placed it inside, which caused the elevator to rumble. Moments later, it opened for them, and both Derrick and Sceptile moved in. They could then feel as the elevator carried them to a lower floor.

"Hold on, Jason!" Derrick thought to himself. "We're almost there..."

---------------------------------------------------------------

"Kiru...Derrick..." Jason whispered to himself, still alone in that dark room. "This has gone on long enough. Time to get out of here"

Thoughts of how Team Rocket, Team Magma, Team Aqua and the Morphs were connected raced through his mind, as well as why these guys would be trying so hard to prevent him from reaching Pok?morph Island. Even bigger thoughts came to him, as he could not shake the feeling that there was an even greater power behind all of this...

But most importantly, escape was on his mind, and only one possible idea for doing so reached him.

"This madness must stop. I'll do everything in my power to find my sister and end this!" Jason's solemn oath rang through the room.

Jason then began to calm and focus his mind. "I've never tried this before, but after so long, its time to test the true bond I have with my Pok?mon..."

Jason closed his eyes and faced the table in which his jacket sat. Jason felt his very conciousness slip from him as he focused toward the jacket in which his Pok?balls were pocketed. "Gardevoir, Skarmory, and Larvitar...I call to you...please, hear me!"

 

[Kayoss]

Derrick and Sceptile emerged from the elevator, to find themselves in what looked like an office hall. The walls were painted a plain white, and the corridors were well lit, with large lights adorning the ceiling. The carpet beneath his feet was firm, and colored with a plain maroon. There were pots of various green plants littering the walls, as to give this place a professional-looking feeling.

Derrick and Sceptile tread on cautiously. Although to them, this did not seem like a floor in which they would encounter Military agents, but rather, where the officals and other nerdly-types would hang out, filing their busy paperwork and such. Still, Derrick did not want to draw attention to himself. Not until he found Jason, anyway.

Derrick and Sceptile moved along, passing by a number of intersections which seemed to lead to more boring office rooms. However, they continued their course straight. Derrick could hear sounds of phones ringing, papers shuffling, and people talking from behind the thin walls. "Good..." thought Derrick. "Most everyone here seems too busy to notice us."

Eventually, Derrick and Sceptile passed by a large, plastic window which allowed them to peer into what looked like a classroom. Derrick and Sceptile ducked, as to avoid being seen by what looked like the instructor, a bald-headed stubby man in a white lab-coat, who was facing straight in their position. Rows and rows of desks were lined neatly inside the room, each occupied by a black-suited soldier. Because they were not wearing their masks at the time, Derrick could see the backs of their heads, which were of all different shapes, sizes and colors, and the class seemed to consist of a good mix of males and females as well. "These must be the trainers Duplica told us about..." Derrick whispered. "Ssssceptile..." his loyal Pok?mon hissed in response.

The plastic window was thick and opaque, so Derrick could not hear what the instructor was talking about. Derrick glanced at the whiteboard in which the instructor was pointing. He could what looked like symbols of various weapons: guns, knives, Pok?balls and other strange weapons Derrick could not identify. Next to the symbols and scribbled text, stood a crude sketch of what looked like a female Azumarill-morph, which stood spread out, its long, slender ears reaching the top of the whiteboard, and a large ball for a tail springing out of its side.

"They're teaching them how to kill the morphs..." Derrick said, still leaning against the window railing. "Duplica was right, these guys mean business."

Just then, Derrick heard a commotion from behind a door at the end of the hall. Leaving the vicinity of the classroom window, Derrick and Sceptile raced toward the door, and hurriedly rushed through it. The scenery changed drastically as came from a quiet office building to a huge, grey area. They had entered the main barracks of the Military Complex.

Derrick turned toward the source of the commotion. A large number of Military soldiers were firing at a big pile of sealed crates. A green-haired man had taken cover behind them, returning the fire at every given opportunity. Derrick also noticed a small, brown-haired little girl taking cover at the feet of the man.

"Kiru?!" Derrick shouted. He quickly regretted that action as a few of the soldiers turned their fire in Derrick's position. He quickly ducked behind the closest crates for cover, and gave his command to Sceptile. "Bullet Seed!" he shouted. Sceptile, completely untarged by the Military assault rifles, fired a barrage of glowing seeds at the large, black-suited group. Each shot struck true as half the group dropped their guns with a loud grunt. The green-haired man took the opportunity as well, and felled three more of the soldiers in quick succession with his own rifle. The remaining soldiers, numbering around six, retreated into a couple of open, grey vehicles and sped off down the wide hall.

Derrick, Sceptile, Rico and Kiru came from under their protective coverings and met toward the center of the previous action. "Kiru, are you guys alright?!" Derrick said with a concerned tone in his voice.

"Yeah, we're fine. Thanks for helping us back there!" Kiru said, happily. Rico however, stood there, glaring into Derrick's eyes.

"So kid...you're the one who sent Kiru off on her own, right?" Rico said, coldly.

"Um yeah, I guess that's me." Derrick's expression turned to a nervous one.

"Yeah, I ought to just shoot you right now for that!" Rico said in a cold and methodical tone. "But if you had not done it, I wouldnt be here, so consider yourself off the hook."

"Anyways...um, I know where Jason is." Derrick said. "He should be in this floor somewhere."

"Cool! We can take this!" Kiru said, pointing to another of the small vehicles. It was empty, considering that three of the soldiers were dead, and would no longer need it.

Derrick recalled his Sceptile, but not without a big thanks. Kiru, Derrick and Rico hurriedly jumped into the vehicle and sped off down the barrack halls.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

A hapless military soldier crashed through the door and into the wide, open spaces of the main barracks further down. Jason stepped outside, grasping his machete-like Featherblade and breathed the air of the wide, open space. He felt free now. Just moments before, he was trapped like a chained dog, a prisoner of the Military. He had tapped into the spiritual bond he had with his Pok?mon, a bond formed over seven years of solitude amongst nature. From there, his Pok?mon came from their balls, and set him free.

From his spot, Jason saw as two small vehicles rushed past him in a hurry. Where they were going and what they were up to, he did not care. The only thing on Jason's mind was escape.

He looked to his sides. Nothing but large, grey-metallic hallway at every side. "Hmm..." Jason thought. "I can try and blend in..." he said to himself, looking down at the soldier he had just knocked out. He bent down toward the soldier and proceeded to undress him, until...

"Jason!" Kiru shouted from another of the vehicles. This one however, slowed down in order to greet him. "Kiru! Derrick! What the hell are you guys doing here?!"

"Oh gee, we come down here and risk our lives for you, and that's how you greet us?!" Kiru said sarcastically. Jason scratched his head, still staring into Kiru's face. "Err, sorry bout that. I'm just surprised to see you guys down here..."

"Jason, correct?" Rico said from the back of the vehicle, still holding his gun. "Yeah, that's me." Jason said. Rico nodded and grinned. "I'm Rico, a Pok?mon Hunter. Now lets get the hell out of here!"

Jason nodded and proceeded to jump into the car. Derrick however, barred his way. "Not so fast!" he said, remembering the recent battle he had with Duplica and her Ditto, whom had taken the forms of Jason and Larvitar. "I wanna make sure this is the real one!"

"Derrick, what the hell are you talking about?" Jason said with an annoyed face.

"Jason..." Derrick said with a big grin on his face. "Sceptile did all the work in getting down here. I forced Feraligatr to beat up a bunch of soldiers, and i'm getting someone's Alakazam to do my homework and chores for me when I get home!" he said, smiling wildly.

Jason sighed, and looked even more annoyed. "Derrick...you're a ****."

Derrick jumped up and smiled. "Yep, that's Jason! C'mon guys, lets get out of here!"

--------------------------------------------------------

The party raced down the remainder of the barrack halls on their stolen vehicle. Derrick took the wheel, with Kiru sitting in the passenger seat next to him. Jason and Rico stood up in the back, with Rico shooting down the attacking Military agents, and Jason using his blade to swipe at any enemy Pok?mon and soldiers stupid enough to lunge toward them.

They had eventually reached the end of the halls, through a gigantic, open gate. It was a large harbor, overlooking the ocean that lined the western part of Rustboro City. The harbor contained multiple docks, all with various military seafaring vehicles parked at their ends. The roof above them was still a metallic grey, telling them that this was still part of the Military base. As they raced toward the harbor in their car, they could see a great number of soldiers and Pok?mon still chasing them from the distance.

"Alright, what now?!" Derrick said nervously, parking the vehicle at the edge of the ocean.

"Hmm..." Jason thought. His jacket contained valuable papers which he had acquired back in the library in Rustboro. His thoughts then drifted toward the boats moored at the docks. If only they could steal one and make their escape...

"Lets escape on one of those boats!" Kiru shouted. She had been thinking the same thing. Rico, still concentrating on the foe before them, fired his gun at a group of oil drums lining the edge of the gate. A great explosion erupted in front of them as the gate itself suddenly crashed down and closed off the path of the enemy soldiers.

"That'll buy you guys some time..." Rico said. "You guys, get on one of those boats and get out of here!"

"But what about you, Daddy?" Kiru said, a look of sadness in her eyes.

"I'll be fine! I'm used to this kind of thing..." Rico said. He then looked toward Jason and Derrick. "You two...can I trust you to take care of my little girl?" Jason and Derrick both nodded in agreement toward Rico. "Good, now get outta here!" Rico said as he pointed his rifle at a group of sparks coming forth from the wall, which meant the soldiers were trying to break through.

Jason, Derrick and Kiru jumped out of the vehicle and raced toward the nearest boat. They ran to the edge of the dock and hopped in a small, modest looking boat with a compartment. A hapless Machoke had been doing some sort of work on it. What it was however, they did not care, as Jason launched a surprise attack at its legs with his blade, causing it to lose its balance, allowing Jason to shove it over the edge of the boat. Meanwhile, Derrick and Kiru were fiddling with its controls. Eventually, the cranky engine of the boat started up. Derrick grabbed a stick coming forth from the control panel, and the boat began racing toward the horizon.

Jason, Kiru and Derrick looked back as the Military Complex grew smaller and smaller from their position. They could hear the loud, cackling laugh of Rico as his rifle continued to go off on more of the soldiers. "He'll be fine, Kiru. I'm sure of it..." Derrick said as he stood above Kiru, comforting her.

"I know, Derrick." Kiru said, smiling. "Nothing like them can beat my daddy..."

-----------------------------------------------------------------

The sun had risin to a beautiful afternoon over the ocean. The military base, as well as any signs of land, had dissapeared from their view. The engine of the boat hummed slightly as it raced through the rather calm currents. The breezy, crisp air was a welcome change of pace for the group, the white, misty foam from the ocean surface rushing against them gave Jason, Kiru and Derrick a sense of peace.

Jason stood at the helm of the boat, steering and fiddling with more of the controls. Their course looked steady, and the three had begun to feel safe now.

"We're safe now, right Jason?" Kiru asked.

"Should be. I doubt any of them are following us, thanks to your dad." Jason said.

"Good!" Kiru said, angrily. She then stood up on a small chair, facing Derrick. She moved her hand around her in a wide arc, and without warning...

*Snap!* Kiru had given Derrick a hard-hitting backhand to his face, causing him to fall to the ground. "Oww! What was that for!?" Derrick had asked, his face marred with Kiru's merciless blow.

"That's for sending me off alone like that! I coulda been killed!" Kiru ranted. Jason stood there, still at the wheel, giggling slightly. "Jason, do something!" Derrick whined.

"Nah...I think i'll allow this..." Jason said, smiling to himself.

Derrick stood up, grunting, and grabbed a map booklet which sat underneath the control panel, and began to go through it. "Now if we turn here, we can probably make it to Dewford Island in a day or so." Derrick said.

"Uh-huh." Jason said, barely acknowledging his statement, continuing the present course.

"Jason, you're supposed to turn to the left in order to get to Dewford..." Derrick said persistantly.

"We're not going to Dewford..." Jason said, handing Derrick a group of papers from within his jacket pocket.

"Huh..." Derrick said as he skimmed through the papers containing Jason's previous research. Eventually, he muttered, "Pok?morph Island?"

"That's the one..." Jason said, still facing the ocean front.