Fanfiction of the Month (January): ~The Legendarian Chronicles~

[Chibi Pika]

The Rocket opened a drawer in his desk and went through its contents. He pulled out three small blue devices that looked like some sort of cell phones and plugged our ID cards into the bottom. After several seconds, there was a beep and he removed the cards.

"Rocket Communicators," he said, handing one to each of us along with our cards. "All members are issued one. They work a lot like cell phones except that they can only call other Communicators." I suddenly remembered that Tyson had mentioned that when he called for reinforcements on one. "Ever since a few months ago, new members can't carry guns. Too many gang retards were shootin' each other. You get one once you get to a certain position. And that's everything."

"Okay, thanks," I said as we stood and walked out the door. I glanced at the paper the Rocket had given Rudy. "So…we go down some stairs in a hallway and—oh, that's right there."

We had turned a corner and were in a short hallway that ended in a flight of stairs that descended to the main floor. Sounds of numerous conversations reached us from the below level. We stepped down the staircase and I was surprised at the incredible contrast between the two floors.

The main level was huge, for one. We were in the commons, where many of the less professional and most likely lower-ranking members gathered. It was an immense area with a high ceiling and overall loose appearance, like that of some high school hangout. Wide hallways led to the other areas, and there was a section that looked almost like the inside of a fast-food restaurant.

"Whoa, not what I was expecting, but way cool," said Rudy grinning.

"Think we should go find Karen?" I asked.

"Yeah, why not?" Rudy replied.

After looking around for a bit, we quickly found the stadium, which was right in the first hall. It looked almost identical to the one in Midnight Stadium, except that there weren't any audience seats. Several Rockets were training their Pokémon and I noticed almost right away what Stalker had said about Rockets stressing physical strength in their training.

"Hey, is anyone here an Executive named Karen?" Rudy shouted all of a sudden.

A young woman in who looked to be in her early twenties turned from her training and said, "That'd be me." She recalled her Pokémon and walked over. She was fairly tall and had long black hair and a stern expression that seemed to advertise that she was an experienced Rocket. "What do you need?" she asked.

Rudy handed her the paper the Rocket had given him and she read it quickly.

"New kids, huh?" she said. "Guess I'll be in charge of you for a while. Can I see all of your Pokémon?"

We each pulled out all of our Poké balls and released Swift, Firestorm, Ebony, Wartortle, Pikachu, and Ivysaur. I looked at Rudy's Pikachu for the first time; it was weird seeing a normal Pikachu that didn't have long spiky fur. As for Darren's Ivysaur, it was about three feet tall and looked primarily like a small bluish-green, tailless dinosaur with darker blue spots and rough scales. Halfway down its back was a bulb that had opened to reveal a large closed flower bud. Karen looked over our Pokémon for a few seconds noting certain features that indicated their strength.

"Pretty good for being new," she said. "Pokémon Training Rockets are judged mainly on their training skills. Since this says you only joined two weeks ago, right now, your ranking is near the bottom, but once you're evaluated, it'll probably rise quite a bit."

"How's the ranking work?" Darren asked.

"He didn't explain it did he? Well basically there are five levels to the ranking. You start out on level five and with a certain number, based on how many others are in that level. With each promotion, the number is lowered until you're on number one, then you'd move to the end of level four. When you get moved to level one, you're an Executive, and if you're on number one, level one, then you're a Commander, but only Johto currently has a Commander. Here, let me see one of your ID's"

Darren had his out first. He handed it to her and she inserted it into a device she pulled out of her pocket. "Your current ranking is K5:572. The K stands for Kanto Rocket. Often you'll find that your ranking is lowered seemingly for no reason, and it simply means that someone else moved in front of you. Every now and then, those who join only for the hell of it and don't do anything are fired, and if they reveal anything about us to anyone else, we hunt 'em down. Anyways, I'll evaluate you guys later today or tomorrow. For now, get used to the way things work around here."

I grinned at Rudy and Darren. So far, everything had gone perfectly. Once we were evaluated, we could begin training as Rockets. Now all that mattered was getting on the Raikou mission.



I glanced at the scenery from the back of a pickup truck, the forests slowly blending into chaparral as we continued through the wilderness. The past two days had been packed but it was all well worth it. We had been evaluated the next day and all three of us had risen in rank by over two hundred points. After a hard training session the second day, I had asked Karen about the Raikou mission since neither Rudy nor Darren had wanted to. She had explained that it was part of Team Rocket's legendary project and, after some persuasion, had agreed to let us come on it as our first mission.

I looked back at the long line of similar trucks behind us, some carrying Rockets, others, machinery. "How come there are so many of us on this mission?" I asked.

"November's Entei mission was a fiasco and we had to call for help from the Johto force, which was embarrassing enough seeing as they're stronger than us Kantoans, but on top of it all, some Johto Force kid caught Entei, which didn't make us look good in front of the boss. We've been tracking Raikou for a while now ever since it crossed over into Kanto and have set aside a spot up ahead. We're gonna lure it there and then hit it with everything we've got."

I was silent for the next few minutes, staring off at nothing and lost in my thoughts. In a way, I felt sorry for Raikou and only hoped that we'd be able to save it.

The trucks emerged into a clearing that had obviously been stripped of trees recently. Each vehicle stopped around the clearing, making a large half-circle. Rockets began climbing out the trucks, and I did the same. I walked over to where Rudy and Darren were and continued to watch the Rockets' operation in wonder.

Every other truck in the arrangement carried a large piece of silver machinery. Large panels opened on the back of each, revealing tall antennas that shot up into the air. Strings of electricity sparked and crackled from the tops before a web of lightning formed itself between all of the mechanisms.

"What's all that for?" I asked Karen, who was standing right next to us.

"Raikou'll be tougher than Entei was. It's able to create force fields with its energy, but if it tries that stunt here, it'll be sorry," she replied coolly.

I leaned over and whispered to Rudy, "I have no idea what we're gonna do about this, we need to find others on The Rebellion." He nodded, and I proceeded to glance at each of the numerous Rockets. I noticed one guy whom I had seen before on Midnight Island, but whose name I didn't know. I strolled over, trying not to attract any attention and whispered, "Do you have any plans as to how we're gonna stop 'em?"

"I've got some ideas, but I don't know which ones of us are on The Rebellion besides a few of my friends," he replied quietly. "If you can find some more of us, then slip back into the trees and I'll explain."

I sighed in my mind, knowing it would be no easy task. I was terrible with remembering people and out of the whole Rebellion, knew only Rudy, Darren, and Stalker's names. I walked quickly back to Rudy and Darren and asked, "Do you two know any others on The Rebellion?" They both shook their heads.

"Crap," I muttered before saying, "come on, at least help me recognize some of the others."

We walked around the ring of Rockets occasionally spotting some kids we had seen before and telling them to come with us. By the end, we had only found about ten people, but we walked back to the other guy anyway, making sure not to be seen by the real Rockets. When he saw us coming, he motioned to us to follow him back toward the trees.

"Alright, everyone, it definitely seems like we're gonna have a heck of a time keeping them from catching Raikou," he started.

"What I don't get is why Stalker didn't come with us!" a younger boy yelled.

"He's well known with Team Rocket, people would recognize him," a girl replied.

All at once, everyone began yelling random things involving us failing and being caught by Team Rocket until finally, an older boy standing by the one who had called us there spoke up.

"Shut up, everyone!" he yelled. "We need to be quiet." He shot a glance at the Rockets and continued. "Ryan here was put in charge, he knows what he's doing, so just listen!"

"Thanks, Aaron," Ryan said. He then addressed us, "The only chance we've got is messing up those machines. I've got some good inside info, and I know that all the Rockets are gonna be focusing on using their Pokémon to trap Raikou here. If we can just sabotage the electric force field, Raikou can escape, but we can't be seen," he explained. "Alright, let's go back."

We walked back toward the Rockets and merged into the crowd. A little over a minute later, a man shouted through a megaphone, "Get ready, trainers, at your posts, others, tranquilizers and stun rays ready, technicians, make sure the Thunder Field's in working order. Let's do this!"

I stared off into the distance and saw a small, yellow, glowing, spiky blur racing towards us. When it stopped, I saw that it was a Jolteon, one of the fastest Pokémon ever discovered. "*Look out, he's coming! The others are back behind him!*" the Jolteon yelled, its fox-like body shaking with exhaustion and its yellow fur standing on end. It turned its head and held its long, rabbit-like ears straight up, listening for something only it could hear. It then fired a burst of electricity into its legs and streaked back in a flash.

I felt a drop of icy cold water on my hand and shivered. It had been so sunny that day, I had almost forgotten it was the middle of winter. I looked up into the sky and saw a thick layer of gray storm clouds covering the sky. Right before my eyes, the clouds thickened and stretched closer to the ground, enveloping the surrounding in an eerie blanket of fog. With a sudden realization, I remembered reading that Raikou had the ability to create thunderclouds. An immense flash of light to the west caught my attention and I looked out at the horizon. Bolts of electricity flew above the trees and were surging closer to us unbelievably quickly. It was right then that the Legendary Johto Beast of Thunder broke through the trees.

A massive saber-toothed tiger seemingly flew over the ground before stopping suddenly in front of us and glaring back at its pursuers. Its gigantic, muscular frame tensed up beneath a thick coat of vibrant golden and black striped fur. It let loose a mighty roar that shook the ground, and all of the Rockets' Pokémon that had chased it here recoiled in terror. Raikou swiveled its neck and stared at the Rockets and us with flaming red-brown eyes that seemed to bore right through one's soul. Everything about its head, from its steely blue whiskers to its midnight black ears and face gave off an impression of pure power.

After a few seconds of menacing silence, it twitched its stiff, blue, lightning bolt shaped tail and lunged back the way it came, its thick white claws kicking up chunks of mud.

"Now! Don't let it escape!" the lead Rocket yelled.

Right that second, the hundreds of Rockets ran toward the opening and released all of their Pokémon in a flash that lit up the whole area. The army of Pokémon stood guarding the only escape from the trap. Raikou shot a look back at the machines and the radiant lightning web strung between them. In an instant, it fired its back legs and lunged between two of the antennas. There was a sickening crack as Raikou's body collided with the force field and fell to the ground with a thud.

It quickly regained itself and stared at the mechanism with a look of pure venom before unleashing a wave of neon yellow lightning from the curled purple mane along its back. The Thunder attack was absorbed by the force field and a wave of white energy surged though Raikou's own lightning back at it. The tiger sprung back, howling in pain and once again turned to the Rockets' Pokémon. It then uttered a low voice in Pokéspeech that was so much like a growl that I couldn't tell whether it was male or female.

"*Stand aside,*" Raikou said. "*The humans are to blame for this, but you are not the ones responsible. Do not attempt to defy me.*"

The Pokémon at the front of the blockade, a large, powerful bear Pokémon, stepped forward. The Ursaring stood onto two legs, held out its claws in an attacking position, and said, "*It may be their plan, but we are a part of Team Rocket as well and do not object to it. I for one feel as much dedication to taking you down as they do.*"

Raikou widened its eyes slightly and then said finally and menacingly, "*Then you all shall fall in pieces!*"

It streaked forward in a flash of lightning right into the heart of the defense. The Ursaring opened its mouth wide and unleashed a pulsing beam of energy right at Raikou, who lunged aside in one swift motion and bolted forward. It knocked the bear forward and sank its seven-inch-long fangs into its side. The Ursaring made one last feeble attempt to slash at Raikou, but then shuddered and lay still, blood pouring out from the wound and spilling onto the mud. Raikou lifted its head, its saber-teeth covered in crimson ooze, and stared at the rest of its opposition. The other Pokémon flinched slightly, but at the command of their trainers, rushed forward at the tiger.

All this time I had been watching such fascination that I had completely forgotten about our mission. I glanced over at the nearest truck, saw a girl on The Rebellion messing with some stuff on the machine, and walked over.

"'Bout time," she said. "I can't figure out what to do with this. There should be a control panel or something, but I can't find it."

I felt along the sides of the machine, looking for anything out of the ordinary, but couldn't find a cover, switch, or other possible way to turn it off.

"Hey, maybe it's inside the truck," I said all of a sudden.

"You're right, I didn't think of that," she said. She walked over to the front and opened the passenger side door. I looked inside and saw a small keyboard with hundreds of other buttons and switches on it. The girl looked over each of the buttons, groaned in frustration, and said, "Couldn't there just be an off switch?"

"Do you think we could just push them all randomly?" I asked.

"Nah, too risky. It could end up making things worse," she replied.

An earsplitting roar filled the air and I looked back at the battle only to gape in horror the second I did. Raikou had just attempted to protect itself from a blazing fire assault, but the antennas had absorbed its force field, and Raikou was drained of power. It jumped out of the fray and struggled to regain itself, but was exhausted. Numerous gashes and slices covered its body, and its previously yellow fur was now almost completely red from both its own and its enemies' blood. Several tranquilizer darts stuck out of its skin all over its body and it sank to its knees slowly as the pulsing yellow stun rays from the two trucks on the end completely immobilized it.

I saw a flash of light from the corner of my eye and turned to see Ryan, who had just released his Fearow. The immense bird of prey stood nearly as tall as he did with shaggy brown feathers, a long, pointed beak, and a crown of red horns atop its head. He turned to us and said, "I'm sick of this. If we're ever gonna keep them from capturing any Legendaries, it's gonna be by opposing them outright." He mounted the bird, and it took flight, spreading its immense wings to soar low above us, the wind ruffling both its feathers and Ryan's thick brown hair.

"Wait! If the Rockets see you, then you'll never be able to pose as one of them again!" the girl yelled to him.

"What, you don't think I already thought of that?" he said, pulling a black ski mask out of his pocket and slipping it over his head.

I stepped forward and away from the truck and stared upward to see Ryan and Fearow flying high above the antenna in the vehicle to the right of us. Fearow began gathering energy from within itself in the form of a huge glowing orb in its beak. Finally, drained of energy due to using such a powerful attack, it fired the energy as a beam down towards the machine.

It struck the mechanism, igniting the fuel and exploding the entire pickup truck on contact, creating a massive fireball that consumed the antenna and heated up the air tremendously. I shielded my eyes from the bright light and when I looked again, the two antennas on the side were sparking uselessly, unable to channel their electricity over the gap. Flaming debris littered the ground around a huge hole within the Thunder Field.

I turned quickly to see what was happening in the battle and saw Raikou still barely struggling to fend off its attackers. It turned toward the Rockets and I could have sworn I saw unmistakable terror in its face. Several of the Rockets hurled oddly colored Poké balls at it, but with one final burst of electricity, it drained its last ounce of electricity into blasting away the purple spheres.

"Raikou!" Ryan yelled, pointing down at the opening in the electrical web.

Raikou paused and leaned forward, concentrating hard. At once, it fired a burst of energy into its legs, breaking free of the stun rays with an Extremespeed technique. Although it wasn't nearly as fast as it would have been normally, it was able to clear the range of the stun rays and limped toward the opening.

And then, with a sickening realization, I noticed that I was standing in the gap. It was a very large passage, but rather than simply go around, Raikou came to a halt just ten feet from me. I didn't dare make any move toward or away from it; rather, I just stood, transfixed with fear and fascination. Finally, in a low, clear, masculine voice, Raikou uttered, "Stand aside."

English. He had spoken regular, normal, not-Pokéspeech, English. I was so surprised that it took me several seconds to obey. I backed slowly towards the truck where the other girl was standing, her eyes fixed on Raikou. He nodded slowly to me, drops of blood trickling off his defeated face, before rushing off to the west, back towards Johto from whence he came.




End Chapter 6
Well, there ya go, please point out any errors or comments!
NOTE: Thus far, Team Rocket (the whole team in itself as well as the individual supporting characters) may seem a bit flat, but don't worry, it gets way better later. My biggest pet peeve is the teams being portrayed as "RAR! EVIL!!!!!!!"


~Chibi~

 

[SilverBlaze09]

Y'know, I think my reviewing ability dropped when I started writing, I can't concentrate...

Anyways...

He nodded slowly at me, drops of blood slowly trickling off his defeated face, before rushing off to the west, back towards Johto from whence he came.

I suppose it's not that bad, but it's the best I could do in the few minutes I have. How many people use 'whence' in their conversations?

Anyways...

It gets better and better. Of course, *strokes chin* the next chapter is worse, and the one after...

You know, I still need to file that lawsuit against inexplicable plot bits.

It's interesting to note that Raikou can speak Human(or in this case, English). Why did the Author allow this? Besides wanting to start my imagin-wheels turning...

Gah, this review is worse than normal, I'd better leave. SB (whoops, almost typed ;254; afterwards! Wait, I just did...)

 

[Chibi Pika]

*Hands SB a cookie for reviewing a lot.*


Chapter 7: The Jewel of Darkness

Shaking, I stood, completely unable to move as though my feet had been glued to the terrain. I glanced back at my fellow Rebellion member—she too was staring open-mouthed at where the Beast of Thunder had been.

"Whoa…dude, you are so freakin' lucky he didn't blast you…and did he seriously just speak English?" she asked.

"I...I don't…" was all I managed to get out before I realized that nearly every Rocket on the mission was stampeding towards this point. My mind raced as I quickly came up with an alibi and released Firestorm to go with it. The red lizard emerged in a flash of white light and looked around immediately.

"*So…guess I missed the party, huh?*" he said with a slight laugh.

"If that's what you want to call it," the girl mumbled under her breath.

"What happened here, why aren't you two in ranks?!" an Executive barked.

I turned quickly to the sound of the voice and saw that most of the Rockets were converging on this spot where Raikou had escaped.

My mind racing, I quickly came up with an excuse and said, "Um, when I saw that this part of the Thunder Field had been destroyed, I ran here to see if I could stop Raikou. She tried to find some way to expand the field to cover the part where the other antenna had been," I added, motioning to the girl still standing by one of the trucks. "Unfortunately Raikou was too fast and there wasn't any way my Charmeleon and I could stop him," I lied. I hadn't hesitated or spoken too fast and the story didn't seem to have any flaws. Though I didn't particularly use it often, I really had a knack for quickly coming up with logical lies. It seemed to work; the Executive swore profusely under his breath, but didn't appear to be angry with us. I would have breathed a sigh of relief were it not the fact that I was still surrounded by Rockets.

"Very well," the Executive finally said. "You, send a report to the boss immediately," he ordered to a subordinate. "Technicians, take down the equipment…everyone else, load into the trucks. We're heading back."



"Listen up people!" Ryan called out to us. It wasn't particularly hard to get our attention seeing as nobody was talking. We all were somewhat depressed even though, in a way, we had been successful—we had kept Raikou from being captured, or rather, Ryan had. Even still, it was as though we had failed. For our first mission it had been a bit of a disaster, what with most of us having had no clue what to do and the rest not even getting put on the mission by an Executive. After arriving back at the Rockets' headquarters, those of us who had met up with Ryan had gathered and tried to find the rest of our fellow members. Stalker's Mission Groups had helped in that most people were able to recognize the members in their group, but it was still a pain getting everyone together.

We all now stood outside and to the right of a Pokémon Center—where the nearest bus stop was. All this time, my Team Rocket uniform was in the backpack I had brought with me. I glanced at my watch and saw that it was now past midnight. I then sighed and proceeded to listen to Ryan's announcement.

"In case you didn't already know, Stalker did put me in charge of the active force and while most of you are clueless as to what we should do now, I've got it covered. I doubt the bus will be able to fit all of us, so when it gets here, however many of us can fit will go first and the rest just wait for the next bus. We need to get to Lavender Town because, well…I must admit, Stalker didn't really give me instructions about how to get back, so I just figured we could take a ferry or something," Ryan explained.

Most everyone seemed to think it was a good plan as well. I didn't say anything, but I did remember that the whole reason Stalker had had us take the S.S. Anne was so that we wouldn't attract too much attention. I ignored the thought, however; I didn't feel like objecting.

I heard the sound of a loud engine growing closer and turned to the west to see the bus driving toward us. It was one of those long ones with the flexible middle, and the second I saw it, I knew that we'd all be able to fit on it if we crammed in. It slowed to a stop and we all backed away from it and made a line along the sidewalk. The moment the driver opened the door, everyone began pushing forward, which made it a nightmare to get onto the bus seeing as everyone had to stop and pay. When I finally got onto the bus, most of the back seats were taken, so I sat near the front and attempted to save the two seats next to me.

"No saving seats," a girl said, walking up to me.

"Yeah, well, I am," I retorted.

"Whatever," she said, rolling her eyes and finding another seat.

I had to go through several accusations of seat saving and even had one of the seats taken anyway before Rudy and Darren boarded the bus. Rudy sat down first and said, "Thanks."

"Erm, sorry," I said awkwardly when Darren got there.

"That's okay," he said, standing and holding the bar near us now that all of the seats had been taken.

Once everyone was on board, the driver closed the door and set off. I stared out the window, watching the buildings slowly blend into suburbs, and finally into wilderness. I then lay back and pretended to sleep.



Two hours later, despite the fact that I didn't get bored easily, I was sick and tired of the journey. We had boarded two buses that night; the first was from Celadon to Saffron, an immense metropolis situated at the heart of Kanto. The second was from Saffron to the tiny town of Lavender on the coast of the mainland nearest Midnight Island. I could see the peak of a massive tower in the distance and knew we were getting close. I pointed it out to Rudy and he said, "Oh yeah…that's Pokémon Tower, isn't it? Only reason why anyone's even heard of such a nowhere place like Lavender."

I couldn't say I disagreed with him. I, too, was very biased against small towns, which was mainly why I had hated the concept of moving to New Bark. And while cities with zillions of people in them were a bit overkill, I couldn't deny that Celadon and Saffron had fascinated me.

We were now nearing the outskirts of the town, where the fields and sparse trees along the highway slowly blended into the few and far-between houses. The main downtown area could at most be considered suburbs, but the overall appearance of Lavender was that of a relaxed and slow town of which no one knew or cared about. Then, from the edge of the city right along the ocean, Pokémon Tower rose like a citadel above the landscape. It had a ragged and worn appearance and was easily over a hundred feet tall and at least fifty years old.

I noticed that the bus was slowing and the rest of the passengers were standing to their feet, which made it even more crowded than it had been previously because there had already been tons of people packed into the center standing area of the bus. Since we had been near the front, Rudy, Darren, and I were among the first ones off the bus. Right after stepping off the bus, Rudy laughed and said, "Geez, did someone steal the sidewalks?"

I looked around and noticed that he was right—there weren't any sidewalks anywhere. In addition to that, however, I also couldn't see any streetlights or even stoplights. There were just small buildings, fields, and along the sea, a small harbor. I rubbed my hands along my arms and shivered. Short sleeves, the end of December, and a seaside town didn't mix.

The bus's engine revved behind us and I turned to watch the bus pull away slowly. I suddenly remembered Swift and Firestorm, pulled their Poké balls out of my pocket, and released them. The flash lit up the surrounding as they materialized and caused some people to stare.

"*Dang, what time is it?*" Firestorm asked, looking up at the overcast sky.

"I dunno, two in the morning or something. I then felt guilty and said instantly, "Did I wake you guys up?"

"*Nah, even though when you're in a Poké ball, it seems like you're awake, you're really kind of in a sort of hibernation although your mind is in a virtual reality thing,*" Firestorm explained.

"Oh, duh," I said stupidly to myself. I knew that. Everyone knew that. "Meh, it's too early, I'm not thinking."

"*That's no excuse for not telling what happened with the Raikou mission,*" Firestorm said, grinning.

"Okay, long story short: most of us were clueless until Ryan broke the force field that was trapping Raikou and freed him," I said.

"*Okay…*" Firestorm said, not entirely satisfied, but willing to overlook it.

A distant rumble of thunder made me glance up at the sky, which was completely covered with dark clouds. Fortunately, it didn't seem as though there was going to be a storm of any sort.

"****," Ryan muttered under his breath, gazing out at the sea to the south. The churning of the water and the peaks of waves could be seen even from where we were. "The storm's already passed by here, but there's no way the ferry can take us to the island."

"So we can't go back tonight?" someone asked.

"Thank God, I'm frickin' tired," another muttered.

"Well whether everyone's happy about it or not, no, there is no way we can get there. Just deal with it, we're staying the night at the nearest Center." He then added under his breath, "If they've even got one in this place."

Most of the group of trainers groaned but followed Ryan. He spoke with his friend for a bit at the front of the group before releasing his Fearow and flying off, most likely to find a Center. I couldn't help wondering how one was supposed to accommodate all of us, but just seconds after he had left, Ryan returned atop his bird.

"It's right up here by the big tower…or at least it was, I mean…ah, never mind, you'll see," he said to us while landing.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rudy asked. I gave only a shrug in response, although I, too, was wondering.

We soon found out that the Pokémon Center wasn't too far from where we had been dropped off downtown. Or at least, as Ryan had said, it had been. Nearly every building within a hundred feet from Pokémon Tower was destroyed, as though some force had simply knocked them over. A large, angry crowd of people stood at the base of the immense tower, all of them shouting various things. A few kids at the front of the group were the first to run forward, followed soon after by all of us rushing over to find out what had happened.

"People, people, calm down, we will have everything sorted out in the morning!" a police officer shouted, raising her voice enough to be heard over the crowd. "Right now, Mr. Fuji, the Tower's caretaker, has an announcement to make." She stepped down from a large stool she had been standing upon in order to be seen. A rather old man stepped forward, appearing to be in his sixties or seventies and lacking any hair on his head or even a beard. Although physical appearance is no way to judge character, his face just seemed to give off an air of kindness.

"I apologize wholeheartedly that such a thing has happened, and I assure you that it will never happen again. Due to the fact that homes have been knocked over and there is no longer a Center, all residents and travelers are invited to stay in Pokémon Tower until this whole mess is under control," he said.

This seemed to only cause more protest. Many people shouted, nearly all of them exclaiming variations of, "I'm not going in there, those things came from there!"

"I assure you, they normally are very mild mannered and I shall have a talk with them shortly. In the meantime, however, there are no hotels within the city limits and the doors of the tower are always open." He gave a slight bow and walked off.

My first thought was, "Who's 'they' and what the heck happened?" but I was spared the trouble of asking when a young boy on The Rebellion walked forward and asked Mr. Fuji, "Sir, what happened here?"

"I'm afraid I'm not sure what the cause was, but several Gengar from the tower are the ones responsible for this destruction," he explained. "I just wish I knew why…."

That seemed to be all that the boy wanted to know because he then retreated into the crowd once more. We waited in silence for what would happen, but the residents of Lavender were yelling about ghosts, unruly Pokémon, and a load of other things that made no sense.

The police officer groaned and pulled out a cell phone, speaking quickly with someone for a minute before pulling out a megaphone and saying, "Look, I've called for several buses, and anyone who wants to will be taken to the Center in the nearest town until we can sort everything out."

Many people were relieved to hear this and calmed down, while many others had run to their demolished houses to retrieve blankets and such. They were lucky that the houses weren't completely destroyed—most of their belongings most likely had been spared.

Ryan spoke for a bit with his friend before stating, "If we go to some other city, that'll just take longer. We can stay in the Tower tonight and send someone to get Stalker in the morning."

Most of the kids didn't have a problem with that, and I stepped inside the Tower with my fellow members and found that the inside of the structure was considerably warmer than the outside. Pokémon Tower was named for being a resting-place for Pokémon, but there were no graves on the first floor, and no one ventured toward the stairs that led to the home of the Ghost-type Pokémon. Of course, they weren't really ghosts of dead Pokémon, but although they simply bore the supposed characteristics of ghosts and were no different than normal Pokémon, the people of the town seemed to be rather prejudiced against them.

Lights hung from the ceilings, yet the place was still dim and bore a foreboding appearance. There were several columns in the middle of the single room that were apparently added recently to help bear the weight of the upper floors. I sat down with Swift and Firestorm by the wall in an area to the back where no one had yet settled down. Swift huddled in his feathers while Firestorm curled up with his flame facing the wall so nothing could be burned by it. Rudy and Darren were most likely somewhere else on the Tower's floor, because I didn't see them.

It was long after everyone else had lain down before I began to feel the slightest bit drowsy. I sighed, checked my watch, and saw by the light of its glow that it was now three in the morning. My mind filled to the brim with thoughts, I finally lay back against the wall and closed my eyes.

*****


Firestorm jolted awake out of what had been a light sleep. He lifted his reptilian head slightly off the cold floor and looked around, drenched in cold sweat. "Return brethren, for the legends have been disturbed." That was what the voice had said. He was almost certain he had heard what he thought he had, but if it were real and not just a dream, then wouldn't others have heard it?

Almost as if in response to his thoughts, several other Pokémon sat up and looked around. Firestorm was not familiar with these Pokémon, but he figured that since The Rebellion's members had been the only traveling trainers in town, that they probably belonged to them.

"Did you hear that?" he asked the nearest, a female Furret. She turned her tawny, fur-covered, ferret-like head and replied, "Sure did." She turned to several of the others and said, "Think we should wake our trainers?"

Firestorm thought fast. He didn't want everyone getting upset over some random voice in the dark. One that, he added to himself, had apparently not even been heard by any of the humans. Thoughts rushed about in his head; he was still uncertain. Finally he said, "I've got an idea. Just…go back to sleep."

The others just shrugged and lay back down, not tired after spending most of the day in their Poké balls, but not feeling like investigating. Firestorm sat there for several seconds, for some reason wanting to make sure the others were asleep. He turned, still confused about what to do, before finally nudging his trainer to wake her up.

*****

After what felt like about two minutes, I felt a small nudge on my right side. I awoke instantly, being a light sleeper, and turned to see Firestorm by the light of his tail flame. I checked my watch, saw that it was 4:30, and asked, "What is it?"

"*I…well…this'll probably sound kinda stupid, but several of the other Pokémon and I heard this voice. I know it wasn't a dream, but I don't really know what it was,*" he said sheepishly.

"Was it in Pokéspeech or—" I whispered.

"*Yeah, it was,*" he said before I could finish.

I thought about it for several seconds, which was difficult seeing as my brain was still asleep, and finally said, "If you don't know where it came from, then I'm not really sure what I can do. What I don't get is why you heard it and not me, but—" I paused mid-sentence. I strained my ears, almost certain I had heard the faintest bits of conversation.

"Wake Swift up," I said suddenly and firmly.

Firestorm turned and poked Swift lightly on the back. He stirred slightly and ruffled his feathers before looking up at us.

"*What?*" he asked.

"Listen," I said, "you have the best hearing of the three of us."

Bewildered, he stood completely still. I scarcely breathed as I waited for his response. Concentrating hard, he finally said, "*Two humans are talking. One of them's an old man; the other's a boy, teenaged, I'd say, I think there are others with them. Over there.*" He motioned toward the right of the building.

"Come on," I said, motioning to Swift to perch on my arm as I stood to my feet. Firestorm made efforts to block the light of his tail so it wouldn't awaken anyone as we made our way through the mass of people. Miraculously, I managed to make it through the crowd without stepping on anyone. I glanced along the side of the building, completely lost as to how the voices could have been coming from that direction.

"*Footsteps,*" Swift said suddenly, "*they're leading away from here. There's an echo, too, so I'm sure they're not outside.*"

Yet again bewildered, I began feeling along the side of the wall, not exactly sure what I was searching for but certain I was searching for something. It then occurred to me that while the noises had been behind the wall at this point, the "entrance" to inside the walls could have been anywhere. I glanced throughout the room and my eyes fell on the main counter near the front doors. I slowly walked over to it and looked along the wall feeling it at the same time. This time, my fingers caught a small groove along the surface. I pushed against the surface and found that it slid back an inch or two before stopping. Excited, I pushed against it again, so determined to get inside that I didn't realize that only a small part of the wall had moved. When I observed it further, I found that it slid back behind the main wall, revealing an entrance barely big enough for a medium sized person. I ducked as I stepped inside and walked through the tunnel.

"*Whoa, creepy,*" Firestorm said, apparently enjoying the suspense. The light from his tail lit the way, wavering upon the stony walls as we continued.

"What the…Mr. Fuji!" I yelled, racing ahead. He was lying, bound by ropes and his mouth gagged. I quickly untied the ropes and was about to remove the cloth tied tightly around his mouth when I discovered he was unconscious. I looked past his body, where footprints lay, blatantly disrupting the dusty, otherwise undisturbed floor.

"*Wha—what happened here?*" Firestorm asked, catching up.

"I don't know, but I think it's time we found out. The Gengar, the voice you heard, the conversation Swift and I heard. Something's going on, and I want to know what," I said resolutely. "You guys with me?"

"*You bet!*" Firestorm said excitedly. Swift grinned and nodded.

I got to my feet again and walked forward through the tunnel. The firelight flickered and danced across the walls, illuminating a growing number of mysterious symbols as we walked. I felt my heartbeat increase slightly as I spotted the end of the hallway. A small square was etched into the side; I blew off the dust and read aloud, "Ahead lies the sacred chamber of darkness where the jeweled source of all Dark power lies. Do not enter." Twinges of fear pricked at the back of my mind when I read it, but my curiosity and determination overwhelmed them as I reached for the "handle" to the chamber.

It was obvious that it had been used recently because the stone door slid rather easily. I stepped inside, followed by Firestorm before I closed it. Instantly, a surge of black energy exploded a chunk of rock from the wall to the left of me! I jumped and spun around at the same time: an awkward move that almost made me fall over as I regained myself from the shock.

"Next time he won't miss. Why are you here?" someone demanded.

A small black fox stood lightly on its paws in front of three guys behind him. The first two were about in their late teens and were dressed head to toe in black. The one who has issued the threat however, was a teenaged guy shorter than me, but looking to be about my age. His skin was a light brown tone and his hair was black and extremely short. He held two or three more Poké balls in his hands and was apparently waiting for an answer.

"I…er…" What was I supposed to say? It was obvious that I was following them, but it seemed stupid to say that, so I simply remained silent.

"Well?" he asked again. "If you don't answer then I guess matters can always be settled by Pokémon."

I had a sudden thought, but wasn't sure whether to say it or not. Finally, I just blurted out, "You're on Team Rocket, aren't you?"

"So you know about us then," he said. "Not surprising, you're on that rebel team, aren't you?"

I gasped slightly and then found myself shouting, "How did you know about it!"

"Jeez, chill," he said. "Actually it's the talk of the Johto Force. Kids being led against the Kanto Rockets. You still haven't told me why you're here, though."

"Why don't you tell me why you're here first," I said, my voice full of fake confidence.

"Come on, Max, we don't have time for this. Why don't you just release all of 'em and—" one of the other Rockets said.

"I'm the Executive, I'll handle this," he muttered before saying to me, "Fine. We've known about this chamber and have been planning on entering it for some time. We planned on doing it yesterday for safety reasons, seeing as the Kanto Force was busy with Raikou. The Gengar caused us some problems, though, and they drove us out. The disruption we caused with the crystal drove them on an insane rampage and we would have gotten in if everyone hadn't showed up again. So, we waited until night."

"Fine, my Pokémon, Firestorm, heard a voice in the night, and then we heard you talking with Mr. Fuji," I said.

"The Haunter," he mumbled. "I knew the Ghost Pokémon would call out for their evolved forms to return. We don't have much time…let's see how you face against Umbreon."

I hesitated slightly. He had to be extremely skilled to end up an Executive at such a young age. There also were a few more questions I wanted to ask, mainly regarding the crystal he had mentioned. I turned slowly to Swift and Firestorm and said, "Would you guys—"

"*Don't worry about it,*" Firestorm said, assuming a fighting pose. Swift nodded and flapped to the ground next to Firestorm.

"Alright, then, Firestorm, Flamethrower, Swift, Wing Attack!" I yelled.

Max didn't summon any more Pokémon. Rather, he motioned to his single Umbreon and commanded, "Faint Attack!"

The dark fox leaped forward, the yellow rings on his side glowing, before he completely disappeared from view. Firestorm and Swift hadn't yet charged up their attacks, but they paused when Umbreon vanished and looked back wondering what to do. I thought fast and said, "Swift, get in the air so you can't be hit and then attack Umbreon when he reappears to attack Firestorm!" It was an okay plan except for the fact that it hadn't occurred to me that Umbreon had attacks that didn't require physical contact with the opponent.

In a flash, Umbreon lunged out of the air right at Firestorm. The second he spotted him, Swift swooped forward, his wings glowing with energy. I held my breath, anticipating Umbreon's defeat.

In a split second before hitting Firestorm, the fox pulled out of his jump, landed right in front of him, and turned his head to fire a beam of energy at Swift. It was a planned move—the beam, which had already been charged up, hit Swift squarely on the chest. He cried out and faltered in his flight before struggling to regain himself. Hoping that Umbreon was preoccupied, Firestorm leaped and slashed at the Pokémon, only to find that he wasn't nearly fast enough. The Dark type turned again and fired the same beam at Firestorm, sending him flying back several feet along the ground.

"Crap, I can't think of anything, I could really use some outside ideas right about now," I said to the two.

"*Would if I could,*" Firestorm said flatly. "*I know my attacks, and I know how to use them to outwit the opponent. All that tricky stuff involving cumulative effects and strategy is supposed to be up to you,*" he said, wincing as he stood to his feet.

"What are you talking about?!" I yelled. "You can think just as well as I can, and I'm new to this. Just, uh, I don't know…er, Fire Punch! If you can do it…"

"*Not the real one, but, yeah,*" he said and I soon saw what he meant. Rather than focusing his fire abilities into a flame around his fist, he breathed out a fireball onto his claws and lunged forward at Umbreon. The fox dodged the assault right at the last second, but then was smacked back toward the red lizard. Swift pulled hard out of a dive, his wings glowing after just hitting Umbreon with a Wing Attack. Unable to quickly regain himself, Umbreon was then struck by Firestorm's flaming fist.

"Umbreon, return," Max said, holding out a Poké ball and recalling the injured Pokémon in a red beam.

"Awesome, you two!" I said in congratulation, although I knew the battle was far from over.

Max thought for a few seconds and then finally, after some urging from the other two Rockets, held out three red and white spheres. And I swear my heart just plain jumped the second I saw the contents of the balls.

 

[Chibi Pika]

In Johto, one of three Pokémon was available for new trainers to receive, but he had all three. All three…the words just seemed to be the most awe-inspiring and terrifying phrase around. Before me stood the three evolutions of the Johto starting Pokémon: Meganium, Typhlosion, and Feraligatr. The first creature was an immense, green, long-necked dinosaur with flower petals around its neck. The second was the tan and black fire beast that I already had seen much of during the plane incident. And then there was the third, a tall, bipedal crocodile with massive toothy jaws, leathery blue scales, and large red spikes along its back.

"Team Rocket has its advantages—it was altogether too easy to snag the other two starters. Still want to battle?"

"That's not for me to decide," I said defiantly. I turned to my two Pokémon with a bizarre mixture of panic and concern on my face.

"*We can't give up,*" Swift finally said.

"*We're not going to,*" Firestorm said, clenching his teeth, but looking to be in total dread.

"True, but…well," I stuttered. I wasn't sure what I intended to say, but whatever it was, it didn't come out right. The three opposing Pokémon stood, waiting for mine to make a move. I glanced at Firestorm again, but at that moment, he stood as though frozen. I followed his gaze and noticed something that I hadn't before. Behind the Rockets was a small pedestal, inscribed with more symbols and supporting a stone, black as midnight and shining with an ebony aura. Without warning, Firestorm let loose a Flamethrower straight at it. Thinking he was attacking them, the Rockets and the three Pokémon stepped easily out of the way; the flame enveloped the pedestal, torching the crystal.

"No, what have you done?!" Max yelled, realization hitting him instantly. The second he said that, the three Pokémon roared and fired a pulsing yellow beam of solar energy, a rush of incinerating flame, and an intense torrent of water, respectively. I panicked, pulled the two Poké Balls from my pocket, and recalled my Pokémon. The three attacks struck the wall and exploded on contact, the sheer force easily bursting through the stone chamber.

"Enough!" he yelled and recalled his Pokémon. I glanced back, still confused at what was going on with the crystal. The black stone was now shaking violently, emitting pulses of light and energy that rebounded off the walls and caused dust and small rocks to continuously fall from the ceiling. Max stared at it, apparently tempted to pick it up, but then decided against it. He then ordered to his subordinates, "Retreat, we couldn't even touch the jewel anyway."

The three Rockets raced away from the crystal and through the opening. I glanced back at the disruption before running after them. I had just gotten through into the passage when the taller of the other two Rockets grabbed me. "No way, you caused all of this and you're gonna pay," he said, throwing me back to the ground into the room and racing after Max and the other Rocket. I winced slightly in pain, but easily overlooked it and jumped to my feet again. One last look at the crystal told me I was too late, however.

Without warning, the stone seemed to explode with black energy. I sprinted toward the opening, fear driving me on, but the rush knocked me off my feet again. The light blocked my vision in total darkness; I cried out at a sudden jolt of pain, still struggling to escape. The black light dimmed and the energy subsided; yet even as I stood, everything went dark.



Complete darkness prevailed, even after I had regained consciousness. I slowly opened my eyes and waited for my eyes to adjust to the darkness when I realized that they wouldn't; the room was completely lacking of light. I stood to my feet and turned to where I remembered the pedestal had been. I blinked several times—the pedestal was illuminated with an eerie black light: one that didn't light up the entire room and led only to my wondering how on earth light could be black. I took slow, shaking steps toward it and then, without really knowing why, poked the stone. There was no response. I poked it again before noticing tiny inscriptions below it. Squinting at the tiny writing, I read.


Woe to the one who removes the Dark Crystal from its sacred realm, for one must be marked to wield the power that it possesses. From the pact of thirty-three, eight Legendarians, the descendants of the ones that ended the great war, are empowered to protect the legends. They are to search the land without cease, for from the multitude, they must choose eight humans to side with them. But after the eight have accomplished their purpose, a greater legend shall arise with the legacy of the three crystals. The Dark Crystal shall go to the first to see the Dark. The Light Crystal shall go to the first to see the Light. And the Psychic Crystal shall go the first to see the forgotten past. Though light may be shed upon the keepers beforehand, the true role of the crystals shall only be realized within the rise of the Second Revolution.


I stared at the message, poked the crystal again to make sure soothing would happen, and placed it in my pocket. The message had been a warning, there was no doubt about that, but I didn't care if I wasn't supposed to have the stone. I didn't have any intentions for it and it would sure be safer with me than just sitting there. I still kept rereading the warning, though, trying to make sense of it. The "pact of thirty-three" was obviously referring to Legendary Pokémon, so eight Legendaries had apparently ended some war and now their descendants were part of a legend. The part about the humans was easy: the eight Legendaries were each supposed to join with a human, but then there also was another legend involving the three crystals. The word "Legendarians" puzzled me, however, and the only thing I could think of was that it could be another name for the Legendary Pokémon. And the Second Revolution? What was so significant about it and why didn't it say anything about a first one? Maybe the first one was actually the war that it mentioned—that was all I could think of.

I walked back towards the hole in the wall, holding the crystal out in front of me to see my way with its bizarre light. I noticed it fading as I got farther away from the chamber, and I also realized that Mr. Fuji had apparently regained consciousness and left, for he was no longer in the passage. By the time I had reached the end of the tunnel and reemerged in Pokémon Tower, the Dark Crystal appeared to be nothing more than a piece of the purest obsidian…obsidian with a world of legend and mystery revolving around it.

"Stupid thing…just looking at it makes me wonder more about what it is," I muttered to myself, staring at it. I climbed back through the narrow entryway leading back to the entrance lobby and was just about to head back over to where I had been sleeping, when I suddenly felt like I was being watched. I spun around only to see Mr. Fuji standing by the main counter.

"Mr. Fuji? You're okay?" I blurted out, but then remembered that I was still holding the Dark Crystal. "Right…about this…I didn't mean to take it, you can have it back if you want," I said stupidly.

Rather than scold me like I thought he would, he only looked amused. "It's not mine. I had already accepted that it had been taken by that shady group, but I'm glad to see that isn't the case. Keep it if you wish."

I stared dumbfounded. "What?"

"The crystal was what caused the Ghost Pokémon of the tower to destroy much of the town. I may know now that its earlier disturbance was caused by that group who broke into the tower, but what good will it do to keep it here?" he explained.

"But—" I started, unsure of how to respond. "If that's the case, then what difference does it make if I have it or if they'd gotten it?"

He smiled. "The crystal fought so hard to keep itself from being taken before. Obviously it doesn't mind if you take it, now does it? In any case, the Ghost Pokémon seem calmer now, so all is well."

I felt a wave of guilt come over me. Mr. Fuji clearly didn't know that Firestorm had pretty much fried the crystal, which was the only reason Team Rocket had gone. Not only that, but it was probably also the only reason I had been able to touch the pedestal in the first place.

"Had you not been able to touch the crystal either?" I asked.

"I was not," he replied simply. "I have read the words inscribed in the chamber many times, however."

"So you must have some idea of what that legend meant, right?"

Shaking his head, he answered, "Sadly, no. However, I do know that it has been there since long before I came to be the tower's caretaker. And even longer before that, the crystal supposedly resided on Midnight Island."

"Midnight Island?" I repeated in surprise. Was he serious?

"Yes, although there is no remaining sign of the crystal's presence anywhere on the island. It is still an intriguing place, nonetheless."

To be honest, I really couldn't think of anything "intriguing" about Midnight Island other than the fact that it was The Rebellion's headquarters. Only just then did it occur to me that we had actually gotten lucky that the crystal had caused the ghosts to rampage. If not for the large amount of people spending the night in the tower with the rebels, it would have looked very suspicious to Team Rocket.

I glanced at the crystal again, remembering the words of the legend. "So there are two other crystals out there, right?"

Mr. Fuji nodded. "I would assume so, based on what the legend said, although I don't know where they are."

I didn't mind, seeing as it didn't matter to me whether or not I found out the locations of the other two. What concerned me was if Team Rocket knew where they were. But then again…did it really matter? What difference did it make if the Rockets got them, anyway?

"Now then…" Mr. Fuji said, walking towards the tower's exit. "If you'll excuse me, there are a number of things that I must attend to. I wish you good luck on your travels."

I waved absentmindedly as he left, my mind still stuck on what I had read in the chamber. Was it really the sort of thing that I should take seriously? Obviously the crystal was more than just an ordinary rock, but was everything else about it true? It had said something about a revolution…

I didn't want to think about that matter anymore, though…not tonight.




End Chapter 7
Well, there ya go, please review.

~Chibi~

 

[SilverBlaze09]

*stalks in* Destroy all those who ignore this fic!!11!

Come out, my young apprentice, and show these nuts who's REALLY in charge, and what he says.

*Gollum in black cape comes out* We are, Master, and we says 'review the Legend Chronicles'...

Correct, young one.

Wahl, other than that...

Oooh, another CHIBI COOOOOOKKKIIIIEEEE!!!!!!!<-multiple exclamation marks

And now we start the insane guessing game of who gets what orb!

Stalker gets dark orb, Jade gets Light and I get Psy!!

*gets beaten to pulp by angry CP*

Whee...

Okay, so, since all these plot things need to be guessed, but I'm too lazy to guess 'em, I'll wait for the other PC reviewers to get their rears down this way. *goes off to hijack some reviewers*

AAANNNDDD!

The one thing that keeps my reviews from being totally SPAMmish!

Shaking, I stood, completely unable to move as though my feet had been glued to the terrain. I glanced back at my fellow Rebellion member?she too was staring open-mouthed at where the Beast of Thunder had been.

There should be two commas here. One on either side of 'too'.

Though I didn?t particularly use it often, I really had a knack for quickly coming up with logical lies.

I think I spot a future plot thing. ;D

?You, send a report to the boss immediately,?

Is it 'The Boss', Giovanni, or is it 'the boss', the next exec up?

Aw, gotta go.

?SilverBlaze09?

 

[Chibi Pika]

Silverwing: Chibi, you're an idiot. You let your fic die. Heck, if it hadn't been archive-ified, it would have been deleted.
--; Meh, what can I say, posting chappies here is tedious and it's too inactive for my tastes. Ah well.

Chapter 8: The Dragon Project

Although Swift and Firestorm had stayed awake and wandered around after I released them after returning to the tower, I was thoroughly exhausted. It was about 5:15, and, though it usually took me hours to fall asleep, I was out within ten minutes. Then, when I finally woke up for real, it was around ten and most of the residents of Lavender had left, most likely to talk with the police or their insurance companies.

I stood slowly and stretched after I awakened, then picked up the bag with my Team Rocket uniform in it and walked toward the entrance. I couldn't help wondering where Mr. Fuji was and whether he had noticed that the stone was missing. No doubt he had run to the police, although they probably hadn't found much.

I had taken no less than one step outside when I was hit with burst of cold air that sent a chill racing down my spine.

"Holy crap, it's cold," I muttered, glancing up at the sky. It was overcast, but this time the clouds were the purest of white and hovering low above the ground. Though I was usually stubborn about wearing long sleeves or jackets, I reached into my backpack, pulled out the Team Rocket shirt, and put it on inside-out. I groaned, as I probably looked very stupid, but I didn't want to be accused of being a Rocket.

"Jade! Jeez, where have you been?! Rudy yelled, running toward me. "Stalker showed up like an hour ago and—"

"He did?" I interrupted. "How'd he know we were here?"

"Ryan must have flown out early this morning and brought him here. Anyway, he left his Dragonite, Verdegon, and Wallarooby here and flew back to the island," he explained. "Charizard flew back to help after that."

"Where's Swift and Firestorm?" I asked.

"I saw them earlier, I think they're over there," he said, motioning toward the line of members standing and waiting to mount a Pokémon.

"There still are some people in the Tower," I commented. "What if they get left behind?"

"Don't worry about it. Ryan's gonna go last so he can make sure that everyone's gone already," Rudy answered.

"Okay," I said. I walked over to the line and glanced around it, searching for Swift and Firestorm. I found the latter sitting on some rocks near where the kids would board Stalker's winged Pokémon.

"Hey, where's Swift?" I asked, walking over to him.

"*Up there,*" he said, pointing up at the top of the tower. I turned to see that the peak of Pokémon Tower was enveloped in the foggy clouds, but couldn't really see much more than that until a small brown speck dove down from the clouds. It gained speed rapidly as it neared the ground before finally pulling out of the dive and soaring off.

"Hey, Swift!" I called out to him. The speck changed the direction of its flight and sped toward me, appearing less like a speck and more like a hawk as he neared.

"*Oh, you're awake,*" he said. "*I was just—*"

"That was pretty good," I commented, glancing back at the trainers standing and waiting. "We better get in line."

We strolled over to the line, which was very short seeing as almost everyone had already flown to the island. Rudy and I stood in line for little more than five minutes before we were able to mount a Pokémon. I recalled Firestorm and Swift and climbed up onto the Verdegon's back, noticing that its emerald green scales were rough and coarse as compared to the sleek skin of the Dragonite we had ridden last time. I gripped its shoulders tightly as Rudy climbed on behind me, and the Verdegon glanced back to make sure we were well seated before spreading the wings on its arms and taking to the skies.

Though it wasn't as fast as Dragonite, the wind still rushed past us as we soared over the murky gray sea below. After little more than two minutes, the shores Midnight Island greeted us from the horizon. Verdegon folded back its wings and descended in a tight spiral, quickly losing speed before throwing its wings out and touching down with its hind legs. Rudy slid off its back first, and I followed while saying, "Thanks," to the Verdegon. It nodded slightly and took off towards Lavender.

I ran, almost instinctively, to the entrance of Midnight Stadium, desperate to get out of the cold. I threw open the main doors, relieved at the contrast in temperature, and took off the inside-out Team Rocket shirt. Rudy walked in soon after and said, "Dang, I didn't expect it to be so cold."


"Yeah," I agreed. I then said, "What're you gonna do now?"

"Probably go to my room, what about you?" he asked.

"Same here. Later," I said, giving a slight wave and strolling toward the east flight of stairs. I ascended the stairs and walked down the hall toward my room, pulling my card key from the cargo pocket it had been riding in. I scanned the card to open the door, set down the bag, and flopped onto the bad, just glad to be home. Home? I stopped and dwelt upon the word. Viridian was home, and yet I was here, with my friends, and doing what I had always wanted to. Yes, it was home.

After eating some snacks, I decided to shower, seeing as I hadn't since the night before the mission. Then, after showering and getting dressed in one of the outfits I had bought in Vermilion, I stuck my Poké balls, wallet, and card key in my pocket and walked out of the room. At first, I wanted to head to the stadium where Rudy and possibly Darren were, but then I was struck by another thought. My mind wandered back to the Dark Crystal and where it lay in the pocket of the pants I had previously worn. I remembered how Stalker had many books on legends and Legendary Pokémon and figured he would probably know something about it. I jumped two or three steps at time down the stairs and walked quickly toward the west hallway, where his office was. I opened the door and peeked inside.

The first thing I noticed was that he wasn't there and it occurred to me that he was most likely helping out more trainers in the stadium. I was about to leave, but was gripped by an overwhelming curiosity and walked inside. The office was the same as before: two chairs, a small desk with a laptop and various other computerized devices, and a mini bookshelf with books on Pokémon Training, legends, and one containing an archive on Pokémon League tournaments. I sat down at the chair facing the computer and quickly skimmed the screen.

Though there wasn't any kind of title, I determined that it was a Team Rocket database of some sort. Along the side was a directory with the different branches of Team Rocket listed. I had a sudden thought and clicked the Genetics Division. Again, there was another directory, and this time I clicked Experimental Series. My eyes widened—I had found what I was looking for. I clicked E.P.009 and read.

Experimental Pokémon #009
Originally deemed to be unsuccessful, 009 has proven to possess several unique abilities and its unstable makeup is easily overcome by our modified Poké balls. Although several previous attempts to control it have failed, its Zapdos heritage may prove useful for testing recent Legendary control mechanisms.

So now they were testing him for how to control Legendaries…. I stared at the screen almost absentmindedly, focusing on two things: that he was just a piece of lab equipment to them and that they would soon be able to control Legendaries. I shook these thoughts from my mind and browsed the list of experiments, many of whom I was unfamiliar with. The first twenty were hybrids like Chibi and Razors, most of which had either died or were unsuccessful. The next five were clones, many of them dragons, and the last eleven were bio-engineered clones, again several of them dragons. My eyes fell on the last experiment, however, number thirty-six. I clicked it and read.

Experimental Pokémon #036 (codenamed Mewtwo)
Perhaps the most successful experiment ever created, 036's mutations have proven to be completely controlled and it is the first of the experiments to have been engineered at such a level as to make it far beyond that of its original, Mew. Its current status is stable, and it is thought to be fully developed, however, there has been some controversy.

Mew? They had cloned Mew? How'd they get its DNA? Brimming with curiosity, I clicked on Mewtwo's database and browsed the files, finally finding one entitled, Operation Mew-7/5/2018. I was drawn to the documentary like a magnet and was more than a bit disappointed to see that it was only a few pages long. I browsed the pages quickly, mentally noting whatever I found important.

At a glance, it seemed that the Legendary Pokémon Mew was incredibly difficult to track. The second it had been sighted in a dense forest to the north of Viridian, specialty members had been dispatched to capture it. It had escaped, leaving only a few hairs and blood on the claw of one of the Rocket's Pokémon. Efforts to clone it had been made immediately, and it had been engineered specifically to be greater and stronger than Mew, although they had been forced to add human DNA to the mix because the little Mew genetic material they had was lacking.

Fascinated, I continued to read the other sections, although I had to admit I found the ones with endless scientific blather more than a bit boring. I clicked back to the main experiment page and looked into a different file specifically about the clones before I found what I was looking for. There was a link entitled 'The Dragon Project,' and I selected it and read. 'The Dragon Project' was a name that had been given to the creation and training of a large number of dragon experiments. Since most of the draconic experiments from the early hybrid series had died because of thin eggshells, when Team Rocket delved into cloning, they made many of the clones dragons so that they would have Dragon-type Experimental Pokémon without having to deal with problems at birth.

"Reading up on stuff?" a voice asked. I looked up quickly to see Stalker standing in the doorway after just walking in. His tall frame was nearly as high as the door, and the tips of his wavy, light brown hair almost touched the wood.

"Err, yeah," I said, feeling rather stupid because it had just occurred to me that I had sneaked onto his computer without asking.

He walked forward and glanced at the computer screen before saying, "Interested in the experiments, I see."

"Yeah, kinda," I replied. I remembered why I had come there originally: to ask about the Dark Crystal, but that seemed trivial after what I had read about the experiments. I finally said, "Do you know where they're keeping number 009?"

"The Zapdos Pika?" he said questioningly. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's at a holding facility for the 'failed experiments' in the main Team Rocket base in northeastern Viridian. Why?"

I considered how much I wanted to tell him and said, "I guess I was just interested in the experiments."

"You know," he said, sensing what I was about to ask, "I could always transfer you to the infiltration branch. Quite a few members of the active force don't really seem suited to it, so I could always use more spies."

I thought quickly back to the Raikou mission, and how clueless I had been during that, yet when on the S.S. Anne, I had at least managed to keep my head even though it wasn't planned. But then another thought, stronger than the first two, arose: that Chibi was undergoing the Rockets' torment because he had saved me. There was no need for any time to consider. I said with resolution, "Yeah, that's what I wanna do."

I stood and let him sit in his chair before looking back at the screen. He exited the Internet and opened his main program for The Rebellion.

"How can Team Rocket risk making a site?" I asked curiously.

"It's got ridiculously high security," he said. "You have to get around the firewalls and then enter in around ten passwords that constantly change, then enter in your ID number and finally state your name, so of course someone trying to get in wouldn't know which name corresponded to the numbers. It's pretty hard for anyone low-ranking to get in since no one really cares if they get the hacking codes and password updates or not. Not to mention the fact that it doesn't show up on any search engine."

He clicked through several pages and finally opened the main member page. Stalker browsed the name page quickly, found my name, and brought it up. He scrolled down to the bottom and brought up an edit option. After typing some new commands, he clicked and turned to me. "Okay, everything's set. And really, not many members deal with the experiments. Those that have gone on missions in the past few days have mostly dealt with getting me information on new missions and stuff…things that don't go on the database until after they're carried out," he explained.

I remembered that he said the infiltration force would go on missions whenever it was needed and asked, "So, when would I be able to go?"

"As I said, the infiltration force can go on missions pretty much at anytime," he said.

I had only just gotten back, and never was much of a 'do it now' type person, and yet at that moment I wanted nothing more than to get Chibi back. The thought hit me, however, that there probably were other experiments that were unused and unwanted as well. I didn't care if I had only just gotten back, as the only thing to do on the island was train, and my plan was short and simple.

"I want to go to Viridian now," I said firmly.

"Already?" he asked. "Well, I guess you could, if you really want to. Meet me outside when you're ready and I'll have Charizard out."

"Okay," I said. Seeing that as the end of the conversation, I walked to the door, and exited the office. I ran quickly down the hall and turned left toward the arena, racing through the battlefield until I found Rudy and Darren training with their Ivysaur and Pikachu.

"Hey, you guys," I said, gasping slightly from being out of breath.

"Hey Jade, where've you been?" Rudy asked.

"I was—" I started, but was interrupted by a loud voice issuing from the speakers overhead. I glanced up at the numerous speakers lining the ceiling and listened to Stalker's announcement.

"Listen up, because I made a huge mistake in letting you guys go on missions without first figuring out a way for us to stick together. By now, all of you should have a Rocket Communicator and if you don't have it with you, then remember this number: 4103. That's my number, so you should add it to the call number list on your communicator along with the numbers of your mission partners. The numbers are the same as your ID."

Rudy and Darren both reached into their pockets and pulled out the small blue cell phone-like devices, pushing several buttons.

"Mine's 4368, what's yours?" Rudy asked.

"4349," Darren replied, referring to his Rocket ID.

"I left mine in my room, but my number should be one higher than Rudy's since I joined right after him," I said. "But anyways, I wanted to tell you that I transferred to the infiltration force, and I'm going on a mission."

"Already?" Rudy asked. "Jeez, didn't we just get back from a mission we all sucked at?"

"I know, but I don't wanna spend all my time training, and it sounds way easier," I explained.

"Okay, I guess," Rudy said, still entering in things.

I turned and ran back to my room, quickly scanning the key and throwing open the door. My other pants were on the bed, and I dug through the pockets and retrieved my Communicator and the Dark Crystal. I stared at the jet-black stone before slowly placing it in a dresser drawer, somewhere where it would be safe until I figured out what to do with it. It then occurred to me that since the hideout was near Viridian, I would be able to return home for a little while. Though I didn't want my parents to force me to stay home, I grabbed a pencil and notepad from the table so I could at least leave a more detailed note than what Rudy had explained to them.

I took one last glance around the room, picked up the bag with my Rocket uniform, and left. I sprinted back down the stairs while entering in the numbers Stalker, Rudy, and Darren had given me into its call list. With a push of a button, the Communicator turned on and displayed a menu, where other options like call or quick dial could be selected. I rushed out the door and into the cold once more, where Stalker stood, his Charizard ready to go.

"Charizard knows where to go, so he'll fly you right to it. The main entrance is at the back of the Viridian Gym, similar to the one in Celadon. You should be able to find your way through it fairly easily cause there should be a directory. Just make sure no one sees you or you'll be branded a traitor. And if you're going to openly stand against Team Rocket, then make sure you're in your regular clothes rather than uniform so they think Jade is against them, not 'Aly.'"

And for the third time, I climbed up onto one of Stalker's dragons' backs. With great relief, I felt a continuous waft of warmth emanating from the fire dragon's rough orange scales. I sat down right in front of the wing joint, and as Charizard flapped his immense wings and churned the air with his force, I heard Stalker say, "Contact me when you're done. That's what I had all the others do."

But that was all I could hear, because at that moment, we were off, streaking through the sky to the southeast. Though his wings beat uncomfortably on both sides, I was able to steady the notepad I had brought and wrote. I wrote for most of the flight, trying to make sure that I would reassure my parents and not reveal where I was at the same time. I wasn't entirely sure how much Rudy had told them, so I just hoped he hadn't explained the Team Rocket mess, seeing as I wrote that I had run away to train Pokémon in the letter.

With a slight grin, I looked out suddenly and saw the outskirts of Viridian in the distance, greeting me like some long-lost friend. As Charizard folded back his wings for a descent into an area northeast of it, I leaned forward and said, "Um, can I really quickly drop something off at my house…it's really close, to the north and I can lead you to it."

"*I suppose,*" said the Charizard gruffly.

After me muttering several directions in his ear, Charizard finally touched down onto the cool, green grass of my front yard. I dismounted him and raced forward to the front door to the left of the garage. I placed the note on the cement, with a side of it under the doormat and rang the doorbell. With one slight glance back at the house that I had known and loved since I was four, I rushed to the dragon and leaped up onto his back with a single bound. As we ascended again and continued on, I looked back down to see one of my sisters opening the door and bending forward to pick up the note. I grinned as Charizard and I took off for the hideout, me feeling much more satisfied.

We landed in front of a large building on the northeast side of town. I had never been to the Viridian Gym, but I knew the area we were in. After disembarking, I called out, "Thanks for the ride," as Charizard flapped into the air to return to Midnight Island.

I stepped into the alley to the side of the gym and walked to the back where, just as there had been in Celadon, a heavy door and keypad greeted me. I extracted my ID card from my wallet and scanned it. The door, which seemed to be harder to get into without a card than the one in Celadon, opened with a low mechanized groan as it slid along a track. I stepped inside the building and it closed behind me with a thud.

There was no one around, and I took that opportunity to pull my Rocket uniform on top of my normal clothes and stuff the plastic bag in my pocket. I glanced around the dingy back room, which looked on the outside to be nothing more than a storage closet at the back of the gym. Making my way around several crates, I walked toward a staircase on the far wall, but couldn't help having my attention grabbed by some of the contents.

Badges. A box on the top was filled to the brim with hundreds of shiny green Earth Badges, the award presented to whoever could defeat Giovanni in a gym battle. I picked one up and fingered it, feeling an odd sense of temptation I never had felt before. Finally, I couldn't stand it. I pocketed the badge and strolled to the door.

Sprinting quickly down the stairs, I was required to card scan one more time before emerging into the main Team Rocket base. It was immense, yet at the same time not much different than the Celadon one, with the main commons being the primary gathering and the other hallways leading on to other areas. I tried not to attract attention, but the realized, of course, that I was practically invisible. I was in uniform; there was nothing conspicuous about me. Feeling slightly stupid at my own thoughts, I strode over to the directory.

Unlike the other base, this one had the offices as well as everything else on the same floor. The divisions and hallways all branched off in different directions from the area I was in and it took me a while to find the experimental division. I turned to see where the hallway would that led to it would be and saw that it was the third one on the left. Pulling my attention away from the board, I headed for the hallway.

It was painted a pale and gloomy color, like the walls of some dreary hospital only with wires and glowing panels lining the corridor. As compared to the bustle of people in the commons, the scientific branch seemed to be an unappealing place to hang around in. I glanced in through the doors, seeing only the occasional scientist working in either a lab or office. I was nearing the end of the corridor. There were stairs.

Stepping lightly to not create echoing off the concrete walls, I continued past the short staircase and down a long, unpainted hallway with a single doorway at the end. Almost unintentionally, I quickened my pace, feeling a slight burst of anxiety as I neared the room I was looking for. Upon my nearing, the door slid open.

In stark contrast to the blank, pale walls of the hall, the room was dark and lined with computerized devices and machinery. I glanced around at the equipment, noticing several large test tubes that looked as though they hadn't been used in a very long time, and I figured that it was an old lab for creating experiments. In the middle was a large central computer panel in the wall that was hooked up to all the machinery with hundreds of wires, like the brain of the room. I wondered whether there was any information on the experiments that hadn't been recorded on the main online database. Unsure of what to do now that I was here, I pushed the main button to turn on the computer.

At once, hundreds of tiny lights illuminated to signify the stirring of the forgotten technology, and the screen burst into dazzling light that brightened the surrounding. I sat down at the desk and, after waiting mere seconds for it to completely load onto the main desktop screen, I surveyed the icons in confusion, having no idea what to click on. Everything was listed and named according to coding, so I moved my finger along the sensor pad on the desk and selected one. A window opened to reveal a seemingly endless list of symbols and characters that made no sense whatsoever. I muttered, "Computer language," under my breath, closed the file, and proceeded to examine the others.

The fourth one was the first to be in normal English, but it wasn't what I was looking for and it wasn't until the seventh that I found one on the experiments. I scrolled through the list immediately to see the file on 009 so I tapped to select it it, selected 'current status,' and read. Within just a few paragraphs, I could tell that I wasn't in the right area where Chibi was. I had checked the map carefully, wasn't this the right place…? I then figured it out. This was the old lab and Experiment Containment Facility, but Chibi was held in the Legendary Control Testing Branch. Even still, I wanted to see what other experiments were held here.

I got out of the chair and surveyed the room again, noticing, for the first time, a heavy metal door covering most of the main wall. I approached it slowly, seeing that it had only a keypad, but no card scanner. As for the codes, I figured that Stalker would have them. Pulling my Communicator from my pocket, I intended to call him, but then stopped. A text message? I selected the message that I had apparently received sometime earlier and read.

"Hey, Jade, I was gonna tell you these earlier, but I thought you might forget them. It's standard procedure with being on the infiltration force, and you'll probably find the following codes useful." I grinned. Again, Stalker proved to be one step ahead of his teammates. I perused the long at the bottom of his message and found the code for the Experiment Containment Facility. I entered in the ten-character combination and the door opened.

Dull concrete made up the walls, floor, and ceiling of the room I entered, save for a small area of the floor that was tinted a sickening red. There was a computerized control panel to the left, and looking up ahead of me, I saw a row of cells along the wall with thick, force field-lined metal bars. The two in front of me were inhabited by a single Pokémon each.

The first was a large green dragon, streamlined and lanky with small, clawed forelegs, and padded hind legs. Its diamond shaped wings were thin, and red lenses covered its eyes in a way that made its face look vaguely like an insect's.

The second was snowy white and rather wolfish except for a dark face that was distinctly feline in appearance. Its chest was covered in a sleek mane, and the top of its face was hard and curved like the yin yang symbol with a black blade thrusting upward from the left.

Both stirred and looked up at me, faint acceptance and failure streaking their expressions. "*Already?*" mumbled the dragon hopelessly.

Feeling as though they knew something I didn't, I asked the Flygon, "Already what?"

"*So you know Pokéspeech…*" he said, his voice clearly young and male. He turned his long neck to look at me, the two dark green spikes on his head swaying slightly. "*You're not the one from The Room, all of them are scientists or handlers…what do you want?*"

"What room?" I asked curiously.

"*Okay…now you're definitely not an experiment handler. My question first…what's some other Rocket like you doing here?*" the Flygon asked forcefully.

"Let's just say I'm not exactly supposed to be here, I'm not even really on Team Rocket," wondering how much to tell him, but then figuring that he wouldn't be likely to repeat what I told him.

"*You'd have to be to be able to get in the base,*" he said flatly.

"Okay, fine, I'm on another team, but I'm undercover as a Rocket. Happy?" I said, annoyed.

"*Figured you were an outsider in some way. The other scientists will be coming soon, and if you value your life, you won't let them know you're in a restricted area,*" the verdant dragon advised.

"Please, I have a few questions first…what room were you talking about?"

It was the other Pokémon who answered. It turned its dark blue, cat-like face to me and said, "*The Room. The cursed room of which all of us must face at one time or another. The pit of despair in which all experiments must endure.*"

Adding on to her response, the Flygon said, "*We live out our young lives in training and regulation until finally, when they feel we have learned all skill knowledge that is possible, they seal off our minds and command our every move. They leave us trapped within our own mind as our bodies are led by instinct and control. They do it to perfect battling strength and performance to not let emotion interfere, but mostly, they do it for ultimate dominion over us.*"

I had only wanted to know what the room was, not have them pour out their thoughts to leave me feeling pity toward them. I asked, "Why…why are you telling me all this?"

"*It doesn't matter if we do, as you're against them as well and we'll be going soon…*" the Flygon explained. "*They did it with all the others and now it's our turn.*"

"You mean they did it to Chibi?" I asked frantically, wanting answers now more than ever.

The Absol cocked an eyebrow. "*How do you know about him?*"

"I met him once, he stayed with me for awhile…what can you tell me about him?" I inquired.

"*Why don't you ask the one who'd know better than any of us…*" the Absol said coldly, nodding her head toward a cell to the far right. I looked over and saw that there was an experiment in that one as well, and it wasn't one I was unfamiliar with….

It was tall and green, looking primarily like a praying mantis with thick plates of armor and scythes where arms would be. The enhanced Scyther turned to look at me, and I noticed something extremely different about Razors's expression.

He had one. His eyes were no longer blank and pupil-less with the look of some deranged animal, but rather like that of some soldier who had fought many battles and lost every one. He hesitated very slightly in surprise, the recognition hitting him within seconds.

"*Well, if it isn't Chibi's rescuer and abandoner,*" he said spitefully. And then, with as much cruel sarcasm as he could muster, he muttered, "*Come to deem the rest of us worthy of your noble services?*"


End Chapter 8
Not much to say. At least Razors's true character shows through next chapter, seeing as he was brainwashed in the earlier ones.

~Chibi~

 

[SilverBlaze09]

Silverwing: Chibi, you're an idiot. You let your fic die. Heck, if it hadn't been archive-ified, it would have been deleted.
--; Meh, what can I say, posting chappies here is tedious and it's too inactive for my tastes. Ah well.

An old fic returns, so teh old reviewer will actually attempt to give a reasonably useful review... XD

Please be aware that I have grown more crazy, so I will undoubtedly make more sense than not. Rest assured that that just means I plan on broiling marshmallows for supper.

It was about 5:15, and though it usually took hours for me to fall asleep, I was out within ten minutes.

There should be a comma between those two words, but it is not necessary. Either that or that comma after 'asleep' should be eliminated.

I stood slowly and stretched after I awakened, picked up the bag with my Team Rocket uniform in it, and walked toward the entrance.

It should be 'then picked up the bag with my Team Rocket uniform in it and walked toward the entrance'.

No doubt, he had run to the police, although they probably hadn't found much.

Drop the first comma, or else switch the phrase around to 'He had, no doubt, run to the police'.

It was overcast, but this time the clouds were the purest of white and hovered low above the ground.

It may just be me, but that just... Looks wrong. Reads wrong. 'purest of white'. Eh, it's iffy, but I can't get the feeling out of my mind that it's off.

Maybe 'the clouds were pure (purely?) white and hovered...'

Though I was always stubborn about wearing long sleeves or jackets, I reached into my backpack, pulled out the Team Rocket shirt, and put it on inside-out.

The italics indicate a possible literal problem. If she was always stubborn about it, why did she make an exception? Perhaps 'Generally' or 'Usually' in place of 'stubborn'.

For the emboldened part, just ditch the comma.

I groaned, as I probably looked very stupid, but at least it was warmer, and I didn't want to be accused of being a Rocket.

I can't quite place it, so it might just be me, but that sentence reads wrong. XP

"Jade! Jeez, where have you been?! Stalker showed up like an hour ago and—" Rudy yelled, running toward me.

Order of words is the problem here. It flows better if you put it:
Jade! Jeez, where have you been?!" Rudy yelled, running toward me. "Stalker showed up like an hour ago and-"

Also, depending on how you want it read, the 'like' portion should be 'showed up, like, and hour'. Unless you want him to be talking rapidly, as in shouting while running. Just a thought.

"He did?" I asked suddenly. "How'd he know we were here?"

'Asked suddenly' is usually inserted when the person asking has been silent for a longish period of time during a conversation between the speaker and at least two other people, who have continued speaking, or when there has been a lull in conversation. You could probably replace the phrase above with either 'broke into his stream of words' or 'interrupted'.

"Ryan must have flown out early this morning and brought him here. Anyway, he left his Dragonite, Verdegon, and Wallarooby here, and flew back to the island," he explained. He then added, "Charizard flew back to help after that."

The two emboldened parts need to lose the commas, and the italics are not neccessary and interrupt the flow. DITCH IT!!1!! *begins chanting*

"I saw them earlier, I think they're over by there," he said, motioning to the line of members standing and waiting to mount a Pokémon.

Emboldened: Drop the comma and replace it with a period.
Italicized: Over by there? You probably meant either 'over there' or 'over by the others'. Probably the first.
Underlined: Probably unneccessary, but it probably should be 'motioning toward the line'.

"There still are some people in the Tower," I said in realization. "What if they get left behind?"

In realization of what? I'm pretty sure I know what you meant, but it still threw me a loop. XD

"Don't worry aboutit, Ryan's gonna go last, so he can check that everyone's gone already," Rudy answered.

Two definite fixes and a possible.
Definite: Ditch the comma.
Definite: You probably meant either 'make sure everybody's gone' or 'check for stragglers'.
Possible: The comma probably isn't neccessary. You could easily replace it with a period. No biggy if it's intended, no biggy if it wasn't.

"Hey, Swift!" I called out to him. The speck changed the direction of its flight, and sped toward me, appearing less like a speck and more like a hawk as he neared.

Ditch da comma. XD

Okay, I'll try to get back to this later.

SilverBlaze09

 

[SilverBlaze09]

'Nuther reply

"*Oh, you're awake,*" he said. "*I was just—*"

"That was pretty good," I commented, glancing back at the trainers standing and waiting. "We better get in line."

Now, is it just me, or does Jade seem rude? I have no idea whether Swift was making an excuse and she just wanted to cut him off while leaving him some pride, or else it was just a mistake that I get another cookie for. *puppy eyes*

We strolled over to the line, which was very short seeing as almost everyone had already flown to the island. I stood next to Rudy for little more than five minutes before we were able to mount a Pokémon. I recalled Firestorm and Swift and climbed up this time onto the Verdegon's back, noticing that its emerald green scales were rough and coarse as compared to the sleek skin of the Dragonite we had ridden last time. I gripped its shoulders tightly as Rudy climbed on behind me, and the Verdegon glanced back to make sure we were seated well before spreading the wings on its arms and taking to the skies.

Emboldened: Little thing: Rudy and I stood in line...
Italics: Climbed up this time? It's not really neccessary to mention the previous flight when all you need to do is: ...climbed up onto the Verdegon's back...
Underlined: Just reverse the order of the words and all's good.

Though it wasn't as fast as Dragonite, the wind still rushed against us as we soared over the murky gray sea below. After little more than two minutes, Midnight Island greeted us from the horizon. Verdegon folded back its wings and descended in a tight spiral, quickly losing speed before throwing its wings out and touching down with its hind legs. Rudy slid off its back first, and I followed while saying, "Thanks," to the Verdegon. It nodded slightly and took off towards Lavender.

I'm wondering if the beginning of the paragraph shouldn't be 'although', but whatever.
Emboldened: Still rushed against us is, I think, incorrect. 'Pushed against us' or 'rushed past us' is probably a better phrase.
Italics: It's probably nothing, so changing this sentence is optional. If you do, it would probably be better worded as 'Midnight Island greeted us from the horizon after little more than two minutes'. Also, Midnight Island itself is incapable of greeting anybody by itself. Perhaps a descriptive term such as 'Midnight Island's bleak shores greeted us'. (can't remember what the description for Midnight Island is)
Underlined: Just a little thing. I noticed Jade's courtesy to a relatively strange Pokémon. Something I'll just stuff in my head for awhile as a possible plot whatever because of my unintelligible-plot-bits-induced paranoia.

I ran, almost instinctively, to the entrance of Midnight Stadium, desperate to get out of the cold. I threw open the main doors, relieved at the contrast in temperature, and took off the inside-out, Team Rocket shirt. Rudy walked in soon after and said, "Dang, I didn't expect it to be so cold."

Only problem in this paragraph is the comma, which needs to leave.

"Yeah," I agreed. I then said, "What're you gonna do now?"

"Probably go to my room, what about you?" he asked.

This whole thing could use a little reconstruction, for flow purposes.
"Yeah," I agreed, (some sort of action such as shaking ice particles from hair inserted here). "What're you gonna do now?"

"Probably go to my room." He shrugged (action). "What about you?"

"Same here. Later," I said, giving a slight wave and strolling toward the east flight of stairs. I had kept the card key in one of my cargo pockets throughout the mission and pulled it out after ascending the stairs and nearing my room. I opened the door, set down the bag, and flopped onto the bad, just glad to be home. Home? I stopped and dwelt upon the word. Viridian was home, and yet I was here, with my friends, and doing what I had always wanted to. Yes, it was home.

Emboldened: Nothing wrong with the grammar and stuff, but what did Rudy do? Just disappear into the woodwork?
Italics: drop the second comma, the one right before 'and flopped'.
Underlined: Repetition of 'and' here. Perhaps something more smooth would be: I ascended the stairs and walked down the hall, pulling my card key from the cargo pocket it had been riding in when I neared my room.

After eating some snacks, I decided to shower, seeing as I hadn't ever since the night before the mission. Then, after showering and getting dressed in one of the outfits I had bought in Vermilion, I stuck my Poké balls, wallet, and card key in my pocket and walked out of the room. At first, I wanted to head to the stadium where Rudy and possibly Darren were, but then I was struck by another thought. My mind wandered back to the Dark Crystal and where it lay in the pocket of the pants I had previously worn. I remembered how Stalker had many books on legends and Legendary Pokémon and figured he would probably know something about it. I jumped two or three steps at time down the stairs and walked quickly toward the west hallway, where his office was. I opened the door and peeked inside.

Emboldened: Just drop the word 'ever'.
Italics: So she's walking toward the west hallway one second and the next she's opening his door? Time phase-out here. XP XD

A million and one apologies, but I have run out of time for reviewing and will hafta continue some other time, hopefully tomorrow. My stories require their minimum word count, and I have to get ready for church tomorrow and another dozen apologies for the fun of it. XD

SilverBlaze09

 

[Chibi Pika]

Holy froot! ^^ Mind throwing the earlier chapters through teh new and improved 00ber fic hacker? XP J/k

Alrighty then, most of those I'll just fix, while others get comments/excuses, whee.

I'll start by saying that the reason behind many instances where I used commas where a period was needed was because of the longer pause that a period indicates, in which I didn't want there to be much pause.

Now, is it just me, or does Jade seem rude? I have no idea whether Swift was making an excuse and she just wanted to cut him off while leaving him some pride, or else it was just a mistake that I get another cookie for. *puppy eyes*

Actually, I don't even know why I put that part in there anyway. >< So I'm not sure whether it's a mistake or whether she wanted to cut him off. *thinks* I think it's that he was making an excuse, but Jade didn't want him to feel like he needed to make an excuse for having left. Or something... mleh... ><

Just a little thing. I noticed Jade's courtesy to a relatively strange Pokémon. Something I'll just stuff in my head for awhile as a possible plot whatever because of my unintelligible-plot-bits-induced paranoia.

Sort of more character-development-ish. See, my mom makes me say thank you for everthing, even stuff that you wouldn't normally say it for and I'm sure sometimes people around me are like "WTF is she saying thanks for?" so I put that characteristic for Jade as well.

Italics: So she's walking toward the west hallway one second and the next she's opening his door? Time phase-out here. XP XD

Errr oO I kinda thought it wouldn't be needed to actually add another sentence with her walking the hundred or so feet down the hallway. I dunno ><

This whole thing could use a little reconstruction, for flow purposes.
"Yeah," I agreed, (some sort of action such as shaking ice particles from hair inserted here). "What're you gonna do now?"

"Probably go to my room." He shrugged (action). "What about you?"

The flow there has been bugging me for ages XP Thanks.

No cookie for the Swfit/Jade error (?) but you definatly get one for the new fic hacker XD *cookie* I'm too lazy to give it an unnecessarily long name XP

*Runs off in an attempt to fix as many errors as possible before the end of writing lab at school.*

~Chibi~

 

[Charon]

This was a really enjoyable fan fiction to read. I'm not in the mood to critisize, as I currently have Electrolysis on the brain, so I'm just going to say... Uh, thanks for writing this. It was a great break from my Science revision, so I guess I'm now a fan. xD

 

[SilverBlaze09]

Buzz-saw Louie?

Holy froot! ^^ Mind throwing the earlier chapters through teh new and improved 00ber fic hacker? XP J/k

*gapes* B-B-But I haven't even finished the latest chapter! And the chapter before has no review, and and and *notices the J/K* never mind.

I'll start by saying that the reason behind many instances where I used commas where a period was needed was because of the longer pause that a period indicates, in which I didn't want there to be much pause.

You dare defy my totally radical knowledge and groovy intellect? That squeaks, man. XD

*bows* Very well. If that is indeed the way it must be...

Actually, I don't even know why I put that part in there anyway. >< So I'm not sure whether it's a mistake or whether she wanted to cut him off. *thinks* I think it's that he was making an excuse, but Jade didn't want him to feel like he needed to make an excuse for having left. Or something... mleh... ><

Perhaps a sentence to that effect would be helpful. XD 'I cut him off as I dislike listening to excuses to something that really wasn't all that wrong anyway' or something along that line.

Sort of more character-development-ish. See, my mom makes me say thank you for everthing, even stuff that you wouldn't normally say it for and I'm sure sometimes people around me are like "WTF is she saying thanks for?" so I put that characteristic for Jade as well.

Ebil.

Errr oO I kinda thought it wouldn't be needed to actually add another sentence with her walking the hundred or so feet down the hallway. I dunno ><

Well, that isn't my problem at all. I'm thinking more along the line of she was walking TOWARD the hallway that Stalker's room was in one second, and then the next second had her peeking in his door. Perhaps something along the line of 'walked through the halls until I reached Stalker's room.' See? If not, I'll send you a microscope. XD

The flow there has been bugging me for ages XP Thanks.

Thank you, thank you, Mister Solutions Man is always here to help. Except when he isn't, or you actually DO need help. XD

You're welcome.

No cookie for the Swfit/Jade error (?) but you definatly get one for the new fic hacker XD *cookie* I'm too lazy to give it an unnecessarily long name XP

*Runs off in an attempt to fix as many errors as possible before the end of writing lab at school.*

~Chibi~

*cradles cookie like Gollum cradled The One Ring* Beautiful... I shall dunk it in silver and place it on my desk... XD

New fic hacker? Just the old one that I actually used. XP XD Sorry, you can't have the cookie back. It's now a beautiful paperweight. XD

Fix... Fix... FFFIIIXXXXX... now. XD

And I? I shall find some more troubles for you...

SilverBlaze09

 

[Chibi Pika]

I, like, gotta quit forgetting about PC. Or at least, everything except PC's Art Forum. :P Either way, I need to go back and add the new edits for several chapters that fixed all the plot holes and other errors that Frost pointed out. I'm too lazy to, though. =P


Chapter 9: Double Agents

"What the crap are you talking about?! I didn't abandon him, and what do you mean, 'deem the rest of you worthy'?" I shouted.

"*I'm going by the fact that he was with you, and now he's back being tested on,*" Razors shot back. "*And I mean, did you ever consider, when you took Chibi with you, that there were others of us here…others that would give anything to have five minutes of freedom? Being here does things to you…why do you think Chibi was so suicidal that day? I bet his personality took a complete turnaround after he had been away for a while, right?*"

I had to admit that I really hadn't considered much about the other experiments and, until now, hadn't really thought of Razors as a person. I said slowly, "No…I didn't…" I then had a sudden thought, though. "But what about you? How come you're not like you were back then?"

"*Because the controlling technology only works temporarily. It completely overwhelms all free will and even our thoughts, but since it would be too impractical to have a machine keeping a constant hold over our mind, it's made so that they just run it once and everything's set for a while. When we're being used, they update it often, but I'm pretty much unneeded at this point,*" he explained.

"Oh…" I said, awkwardly, not really sure if he meant that that was bad or good. "But you still haven't answered my question…did they do it to Chibi or not?"

"*Somewhat…the regular process doesn't work for him…even Tyson commented to you that he couldn't control Chibi. That's why they've been running all sorts of procedures on him, using him to test all of their prototype Legendary control devices on. As far as I know, none of them have proven completely able to suppress the will of such mighty beasts…but they have taken a hell of a toll on his sanity,*" he said, almost accusingly in his voice.

"Look, it's not my fault, he told me to get out of there and—" I stopped, seeing as my excuse made no sense without the background story of what happened on the S.S. Anne. With a sigh, I continued, "I'm on a mission to mess up Team Rocket's plans with the experiments. But most of all, they can't be allowed to learn how to control Legendaries."

Razors paused, as though heavily considering his words before saying, "*Well…I know where Chibi is, as well as where all of the research is done on Legendaries…*"

"Where?" I asked frantically.

"*In a complicated maze of hallways so far from here that it would be pointless to try to give directions,*" Razors said flatly. He paused again. "*However…the three of us could show you…*"

I stared. He expected me to let the three of them loose? My eyes almost unintentionally ran along Razors's scythe lined arms and then it occurred to me that the other two were just as dangerous, if not more. If they really wanted to, they could have me dead within seconds if I opened their cells. But did they want to? No longer controlled by Team Rocket, did they have any reason to? Did they need a reason?

Thoroughly boggled, I reached slowly for the Poké Balls in my pocket, but then realized that Swift and Firestorm would be able to little against the experiments if they did decide to attack. Even still… I pulled the two spheres from my pocket and opened them. The beams of white light took the form of the red lizard and brown hawk, both of which quickly surveyed the surrounding in surprise.

"*So, uh…what'd we miss?*" Firestorm asked with a nervous grin.

I lowered my voice slightly and said, "Basically, they know where Chibi's being held and where Team Rocket is testing to control Legendaries. But they 'can't' tell me where; they want me to let them lead me there."

"*You've got to be kidding…*" Firestorm said flatly.

"Wait…Razors was under Tyson's control on the plane, and the Absol and Flygon have never given any reason not to be trusted," I explained.

Swift shrugged. "*She has a point.*"

"*Yeah, but…*" Firestorm said desperately, with a look as though the two of us were total idiots. "*How do we know he's not secretly under their control now?*"

"Being under the Rockets' control doesn't exactly leave one sane enough to hold a conversation," I retorted.

Swift then finally commented, "*How do we know he was even under control on the plane?*"

I turned to him, and he looked as though he'd rather have not voiced his thoughts. I had to admit to myself, that I really didn't know. What if Razors's actions during that incident had been of his own will? No…they couldn't have been. I racked my brain for memories of that day and said, "We know he was because Tyson said so…Tyson specifically said that Chibi was the only one not under his control."

Swift nodded in agreement and seemed to be satisfied. Firestorm slowly said, "*But who's to say that the three of them can be trusted?*"

"No one," I admitted awkwardly.

"*I rest my case,*" Firestorm said with a tone of finality.

I heard the crackle of electricity and looked up from Firestorm to see the experiments' cells deactivating. The force fields lining the cells sparked and died. My eyes widened and I couldn't help feeling a sudden twinge of fear as the Absol and Flygon stood calmly, pushed open the doors to their cells, and walked out the open door to the containment room. I shot a glance back at Firestorm and…Swift, where was Swift?

As Razors lightly tapped his cell's door forward with his left scythe, he glanced wordlessly at Firestorm and me before following the other two. Then, with a flutter of wings, Swift flew down from the control panel and after him. I exchanged surprised looks with Firestorm before finally walking out with him.

A light was flashing in the control room, the source being the computer. The four Pokémon were all gathered around it, the three experiments looking concerned.

"*We have to get out of here now or there's gonna be a hell of a lot of trouble,*" Flygon said.

I quickly skimmed the screen, the flashing words at the bottom grabbing my attention: "Unauthorized data access and experimental containment deactivation."

"They know we're here?!" I exclaimed frantically.

"*Yes. You should have foreseen the consequences before you came here,*" Absol said curtly.

"*Come on,*" Razors said. And with that, he raced off through the doorway and into the blank hallway, followed quickly by the other two experiments. With a confused shrug, I ran after them with Swift and Firestorm.

Sprinting down the eerie, white hallway, I noticed flashing red lights along the ceiling that I hadn't before. The sudden thought hit me that if any Rockets saw me, then I never would be able to pretend to be one of them again. While running, I pulled my Team Rocket shirt off over my regular one and then, struggling to keep from tripping, slipped the black pants off my jeans. When I finally pulled the ends over my shoes, I stumbled once, got my balance back, and raced up the stairs and after the Pokémon far ahead of me.

"There they are, kill them now, but don't hit our experiments or Tyson'll have your heads!" a Rocket shouted.

I looked up and saw a team of Rockets far ahead, but racing toward us. I knew they couldn't shoot because Razors, Absol, and Flygon were in front of us, but as they neared, I saw that they had tranquilizer guns and stun rays. And if the three experiments fell, Swift, Firestorm, and I were done for.

"*Detour!*" Razors shouted suddenly, coming to a halt and redirecting us into a room to the left. As I was the last to follow, I could hear the whizzing of bullets even after I was safely out of the line of fire. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest with a combination of a growing lack of breath, adrenaline rush, and a burst of terror. I glanced back over my shoulder, afraid that I would see the Rockets ready to shoot again, but they hadn't gotten to the doorway yet, and I was seriously thankful for that.

Now falling far behind the Pokémon in front of me, I compelled my legs to run faster and simultaneously ducked around tables and large tubes in an attempt to keep up.

"*Aros, we need a Hyper beam here!*" Razors announced, and when I looked past him, I could see that we were nearing a wall that he apparently didn't intend on going around.

The Flygon, who apparently was named Aros, slowed his flight for a few seconds, concentrating hard on powering up a small glowing ball forming in his mouth. Finally, the emerald dragon fired it forward in a pulsing orange beam at the wall. It collided and instantly exploded the obstacle into chunks of concrete and plaster.

"Where in the heck are we now?!" I yelled while jumping through the hole and into another, darker hallway. Still far behind the others, I kept running past many confused Rockets who jumped out of the way in surprise.

"*Passage 4-C, section a, Operation Division,*" Razors announced. I didn't bother asking, but I really had no idea whatsoever what that was supposed to mean.

Sensing my bewildered silence, the Absol rolled her eyes and said, "*As in one hallway away from 5-Db, in the Technology Division.*" Apparently they all assumed I had been here before, although I had enough sense to at least guess that the five d whatever was where we were trying to get to.

The three Pokémon turned into a doorway to the right, soon followed by Swift, Firestorm, and then me. We dashed past counters and offices, oblivious to the yelling and pandemonium we were causing. Now nearing the far wall, Razors said, "*Okay, no way to go around, so we'll need a Razor Wind, Stygian!*"

Stygian—the Absol—jumped ahead of Razors and swung her head sharply to the left. The obsidian blade along the side of the cat's head glowed and released a crescent-shaped disk of destructive wind that collided with the wall, shattering it into miniscule shards. They bolted through and—

"Hold it right there!" a Rocket officer yelled, running forward and pointing a gun at us. Several others rushed up behind him, each of them armed.

Razors let out a cry and streaked forward, nearly invisible. In less than a second, the Scyther had swung his right arm forward and smacked the guard with the flat of his blade before rushing in a blur to knock out the others. The Rockets slumped to the tile floor, unconscious.

"*We're close, come on,*" he said, panting hard and glancing along the wall.

Firestorm, Swift, and I followed in silence, until finally, Razors turned to a doorway on the right. "*Here,*" he said.

"Why'd we have to bust though all those walls back there?" I asked, walking forward toward the gleaming metal door.

"*Would you rather we have gone through the commons to get here?*" Stygian muttered rhetorically.

I was beginning to think that they found me very dense.

The door was locked and refused to open with the push of a button. I retrieved the Communicator from my pocket and turned it on, referring to Stalker's message again. About two-thirds down was the code I needed, and after replacing the device in my pocket, I pushed the buttons on the keypad and unlocked the door.

The room was dark, but seeing as the ceiling was lined with fluorescent light panels, that probably was only because no one was supposed to be in it at the moment. There was yet another main computer that I didn't dare touch and hundreds of bizarre machines that filled the space.

I flipped the light switch on and, after the five Pokémon had entered, closed the door behind us. I slowly glanced around at the numerous mechanisms and all their parts, wires, and cords everywhere, not having a clue what they did, but having a feeling that they all had a common purpose: to control Legendaries.

"*We've never been here before, we just knew where it was,*" Aros explained. He turned his green, draconic head back to the door and said, "*They'll be coming soon. Find Chibi and get out of here, quick. We've got more things to take care of.*"

But exactly where was he supposed to be? I looked around through the maze of wires, but could seem to figure out where he would be.

"*Uhh…that's the old equipment…don't you know what you're doing?*" Stygian asked.

No, I really had no idea, but I wasn't about to admit something like that. I glanced over into the left corner to see another machine, this one less dilapidated looking and having its cords all attached to the wall and various power sources. To the side, in the middle of a small chamber, a black Poké Ball was hooked up to the mechanism. I reached inside, detached it from the wires, and grabbed it.

"Where are we going now?" I asked.

"*We are going to find the officials in possession of the other experiments and free them. I doubt we will be in need of either your or their services any longer,*" Razors explained, nodding toward Swift and Firestorm, the latter looking offended by his words. He glanced at the sphere I was holding before saying, "*You might want to let him out now. We're running out of time.*"

I didn't quite get what he meant. "But…I was hoping I could take him with me."

All three experiments eyed me suspiciously, mainly Razors. Finally, he said slowly, "*After what happened last time…*"—he paused—"*…do you think we would allow his fate to rest with you when he would only wind up back here?*"

"For the last time, it wasn't my fault!" I shouted, thoroughly annoyed.

"*Watch that tone, human,*" Aros muttered threateningly. "*Continue.*"

"He told me to go. He knew that if the Rockets caught me, they'd kill me, that's why he stayed behind and let himself be caught," I explained.

Being stared at by all of them was beginning to feel very unnerving, and I was relieved when Razors broke the menacing silence to say, "*I must admit…even I noticed how being away from here restored his sanity. And though that was nothing special of your doing, but rather simply having a break from this hell of a life here…at this point I know only of the humans in the Genetic Division. I know there are many others who have higher opinions of us, but as you are the first I have been able to meet, and as you seem to value his life, then…*"—he turned and walked away slowly with the others—"*tell him that a forgotten friend says farewell.*"

At once, the three experiments raced off down the hallway.

I watched them until they had disappeared from view, and couldn't help feeling relieved that now the Rockets would be concentrating their attention on them, therefore leaving Firestorm, Swift, and I free to escape unnoticed. I turned slowly to the black Poké Ball and, slightly afraid of what I would find, pushed the white button on the front.

A burst of black light surged from the opened ball and slowly took the shape of a small, yet larger than average yellow mouse Pokémon. As the light quickly formed into muscle and spiky golden fur, I looked on at Chibi's very delayed reaction.

"Chibi?" I asked, seeing as the creature hadn't moved yet. He turned slowly, his eyes dull and distant, not like the blank soulless look that Razors once bore, but rather looking like he was severely drunk.

"Hello, say something," I said, growing slowly more concerned.

Finally, as though only just noticing us, he said, "*Yeah…Chibi…that's me.*"

I groaned. What was up? He even was acting like he was drunk. I kneeled and said, "Snap out of it, you're not on the machine anymore."

Dismayed, I looked up at Firestorm and Swift. Swift looked as though he was heavily considering something, but Firestorm, on the other hand, walked forward and simply poked Chibi with his red, flame-colored lizard tail.

"Pika!" Chibi yelled, jumping away from the flame and wincing as he stroked his scorched fur. Looking as though he had just been jolted out a trance, he said suddenly, "*You…it's you, that Charmander that evolved on the boat and…*" He turned quickly to me and collapsed against my knee, mumbling, "*It's all three of you…you came back…how did you get here…what happened…?*" He looked up, tears of anger streaming down his face and cried, "*I didn't want to, but they made me…I couldn't fight it and they did it and now everything's over…*" He buried his face against my pants and continuously muttered, "*It's all over…*"

I looked up at Firestorm and Swift with a sort of confused and "help" look on my face before turning back to Chibi and attempting to comfort him despite that I had no idea what the heck he was talking about.

"Err…it's okay…what happened, what did they do?" I asked.

"*They figured it out…and it's all my fault, I could have fought harder, but they figured it out and now nothing can stop it. Those machines…the last one…it didn't work, but they figured it out…*"

"Figured what out?!" I couldn't help yelling.

"*The Legendaries!*" he hissed. "*They're all done for and if they fall, nothing can stop them…*"

"You mean…" I said, attempting to piece together his frantic ranting, "they can do it…they can control Legendaries now?"

He stood shaking, his fur quivering as he clenched his fists in sheer rage toward himself and said, "*Yes. And at the worst time imaginable. Mewtwo will awaken soon and—*"

After hearing that, I couldn't help but bombard him with questions. "Wait, you know about Mewtwo, where is it, it's asleep?"

"Hey, you!" I heard a voice yell.

I looked up quickly from him to see a girl running down the hallway toward me. I stood quickly to my feet and frantically wondered if she was armed, before turning behind me and remembering that the hallway was a dead end.

"You're that kid that everyone saw take the experiments," she said, stopping in front of me.

Despite my panic, I couldn't help but find it odd that she was calling me a kid, as she was clearly about a year younger than me and shorter as well. She had fairly long blonde hair, blue eyes, and her Rocket uniform was different than the others, with dark jeans and the Rocket shirt short-sleeved and un-tucked.

Oh, that was it; she had to be an Executive. I remembered Stalker once mentioning that they had more freedom with their uniform than the regular Grunts. But if she was an Executive, then I was pretty much done for.

Sensing my silent panic, she said, "I'm not armed, I'm not into that sort of thing, but let's see you stand a chance against this!" She quickly pulled out a red and white sphere and opened it to release a large, bipedal green lizard with darker verdant spikes along its head and tail. It glared at my Pokémon and hissed, "Vohhhh," menacingly.

"Uh, er, Firestorm, Flamethrower!" I yelled suddenly, taking that as the start of the battle.

I strained my mind for memories of any information on the green lizard Pokémon, but came up with nothing, not even its name. Firestorm rushed forward regardless of my clueless-ness and breathed out a lick of white-hot flame. The green lizard lunged out of the way and smacked him with its tail, the spikes leaving spots of blood on his arm.

"Vogra, use Razor Leaf!" she commanded.

So its name was Vogra… It jumped up and swung its tail around, unleashing a flurry of razor-sharp leaves. Instinctively, Firestorm attempted to flame them but was slashed in several places before he was able to. He glared at the other lizard, small drips of blood leaking from the slices on his face.

"Firestorm, erm, yeah, use Slash or something; Swift, Gust and—" I started.

To my surprise, before I could finish giving instructions, Vogra lunged on all fours past Firestorm and smacked Swift into the wall just as he had took flight.

"If you wanna use all three Pokémon, then I'll use all five." When I didn't respond, she yelled, "Leaf Blade!"

Vogra jumped back at Firestorm and was just about to slash him with its tail, but Firestorm managed to leap to the side and sliced Vogra's tail with his claws. Vogra glared venomously at Firestorm while clutching its bleeding tail. It then swung its head and let loose another rush of leaves. Firestorm turned back toward Vogra right at the wrong time and was sliced along the face numerous times yet again.

"*That's it,*" Firestorm yelled, breathing in deeply and blasting out a burst of star shaped flame at Vogra.

"No, wait!" I yelled. We hadn't practiced at all with Fire Blast and random power attacks wasn't gonna win it. Didn't he realize that?

Vogra jumped aside in one swift motion, easily dodging the weak, uncontrolled inferno, which blasted into the wall. It turned back and was about to dart forward for another attack when it was suddenly swept back by a gale of wind that lifted it off the ground and swirled the reptile around in its force before slamming it into the ground. Seizing the opportunity, I yelled, "Firestorm, Slash!"

Firestorm lunged at his opponent and brandished his claws, slashing the lizard along the back.

"Vogra, return," the Rocket Executive said, recalling her Pokémon into its ball in a beam of red light. I grinned at our victory, but right then, Firestorm dropped suddenly to all fours, shaking and struggling just to keep from collapsing.

"Vogra's tail spikes are venomous," she explained, smirking. I recalled Firestorm and watched as Swift slowly limped toward me, still tired from his last-minute Gust attack and injured from his impact with the wall.

I clenched my fists. Was Chibi in any condition to battle? Even still, she had four more Pokémon and Chibi wasn't exactly himself enough yet to be able to strategically beat her. That, and my so-called strategy of random attacks was a joke.

"Ready to listen?" she asked.

I stared. Hadn't she been to one to start the battle? Regardless, I answered, "Whatever…"

"The name's Stracion, and while it's obvious you're not on Team Rocket, I know you're one of the ones against us from the inside."

I tried not to show my surprise, but really, I couldn't help but notice how well known our team was beginning to get.

"I figured it's supposed to be secret," she continued, "but honestly…rumors of a rebel team turn up and them after its 'destruction', we wind up with non-members in headquarters and perfectly planned missions screwed up. I don't know what happened on the S.S. Anne, but obviously those idiots didn't do it right."

She looked at me as though wanting to see my reaction, and though I tried desperately, I could help but let a sliver of surprised concern leak out.

As if that wasn't enough, she added, "But by now, everyone here knows that much. I, on the other hand, know that the ship wasn't going to Cinnabar. Everyone may have thought that, but I know it was going to Midnight."

That was too much. She knew. She knew! The Rebellion was done for. Our base would be attacked, Stalker would be found out, and there was nothing I could do about it.

"But…only I know, and that's how it's going to stay unless the others find out as well," she concluded.

I gaped at her in bizarre confusion. First she freaked me out by figuring out everything and then she didn't plan on doing anything about it? What kind of Executive was she? "Explain. You've lost me."

Stracion grinned and said, "Let's just say we've got a few common intentions. I'm not exactly satisfied with the way things are run here, and I don't care if you guys mess with the higher Executives' and the boss's heads. I guess you could say we're both double agents."

"Wait, wait, wait…" I said. "You're saying you're somewhat against Team Rocket too? Then why are you on it and how are you an Executive?"

She sighed. "I joined it after catching a lot of powerful Pokémon and found myself rising in rank fast with each mission. I liked the power, but the whole ultimate conquest thing was a bit overboard for me."

An Executive who was against Team Rocket's main goal? I couldn't help feeling that she could be a big help to us in the future. To confirm my thoughts, I asked, "So you'd be willing to help me and the others on our team?"

"To a certain extent, yes. Not anything that would destroy a base or something like that. I know a lot of others here who are also against Giovanni's main dream, but yeah. I'm guessing you were sent to do something with the experiments. It was you who freed them, right?" she asked. I nodded. "Figured. I don't know much about the Technology Division, but I think they already made serious progress using 009 on all their machines."

"Yeah, Chibi told me," I said, glancing back at him standing at my side.

"Is that his name? You took Pokéspeech, huh?" she asked.

"Yeah," I replied.

"Me too, but anyways, we have to get out of here. A big search has been ordered and even though everyone's chasing after the other three, sooner or later they'll come back to hunt you down."

"Wait," I said, suddenly struck by a thought. "Mewtwo…where is it, do they have complete control over—"

"It hasn't even gained consciousness yet, they're still running all sorts of tests on it to make sure it's ready, but yeah… it'll also be under their control."

"But it's as strong as a Legendary!" I exclaimed. "Where is it?"

A small beep sounded from Stracion's pocket and she pulled out her Rocket Communicator. "I gotta go. It's back in the Genetics Division, if you can somehow find your way back, it should be just one subsection up from where the experiments were," she said, racing back down the hallway.

I turned cluelessly back to Chibi. He smirked and said, "*I'll lead you there, follow me and put your uniform back on.*"

After pulling the black Rocket clothes back on and recalling Swift, who was still hurt from battle, I followed after Chibi as he led me through the depths of the hideout. Several times I had to point out a certain room that we had detoured through, but each time we went through an area like that, I had to recall him so as to not arouse attention. Finally, we arrived back in the original hallway and Chibi pointed out the steel door that contained the mysterious thirty-sixth experiment. After quickly referring to my Communicator, I found the needed code and entered it in on the keypad.

The door opened and I looked around. I stepped forward, still not completely inside, and looked around at the complicated equipment, letting my eyes adjust to the darkness because there wasn't a light switch as far as I could see. Humongous test tubes lined the walls, and wall-high computers with other devices covered the left wall. Most of the tubes were empty and lined with an odd residue, but the one to the far left was filled with a creepy orange fluid, and inside it, hooked up to several tubes and wires, was a Pokémon.

It was large, probably at least six feet tall, and bearing a striking resemblance to a white cat with its ears, paws, and facial features, but what left me taken aback the most was that it had an eerie likeness of a human. It clearly was bipedal, and had nearly the exact proportion and anatomy of a human, save for the bony plate on its chest, an odd tube-like organ on the back of its neck, and a sleek, flexible purple tail.

"Is that Mewtwo?" I asked Chibi slowly. He nodded solemnly and seemed to show a large respect for the creature.

"*Hard to tell he's Mew's clone, isn't it? They added human DNA to the mix, and since Mew has shreds of the genetic makeup of all Pokémon, they used that in order to further enhance Mewtwo's power,*" Chibi explained.

I continued to stare in awe at Mewtwo, and couldn't help but feel a weird sort of appreciation for Team Rocket's work, as something like Mewtwo had to be some sort of breakthrough. Even still, I knew nothing of that sort of science, and their intentions for him almost canceled out the work involved, in my opinion.

"Hey you, we're running a search and no ordinary members are allowed in this area right now!" I heard a voice snap.

I turned and glanced back out through the door to see another, older girl striding toward me, apparently another Executive from the way she was giving out orders. She looked to be about two, maybe three years older than me and was nearly the same height with short brown hair. Her uniform was also a short-sleeved shirt, but she had capri pants on and a black cap with the Rocket symbol. Upon seeing her, I immediately recalled Chibi and stuffed his Poké Ball in my pocket, but I couldn't help feeling an odd sense of seeing her somewhere before.

It hit me suddenly like a hammer. She was the Executive from Mt. Moon; I just knew it—her voice, and her overall appearance…even if I hadn't seen much of her that day. I struggled with all my might to suppress any sign of shock, but I wasn't exactly sure how to make a submissive sort of face. "Uh, yeah, sorry, I'll leave."

But as she neared, a slow look of surprise spread across her features. She paused about ten feet from me and heavily considered her words before saying, "Don't try to make up anything, because I know who you are. You're the girl who stole 009 and helped those other three destroy our transport jet. And you've got two seconds to explain what on earth you're doing here."



End Chapter 9
One new character and the return of an old one!! Yay for Rockets. ^^ *Glances at SPPf LC readers.* I expect you to keep quiet about Chapter 15.

~Chibi~

 

[Hahahabvc87]

Oh...My...God!!! This fanfic is AWESOME! One of the best I've ever read! Too bad the later chapters aren't still being posted here though a google search will reveal where the latest chapters are. Seriously, EVERYONE should read this at least once! 5 stars!

 

[Chibi Pika]

Lol, thanks! ^^ I've just been lazy with the updates, here's chapter 10 (although I'm sure you've found all the way up to 16 on SPPf or FF.net. xP


Chapter 10: Mewtwo's Awakening

I stared, completely at a loss for words, my fears being confirmed. Even before Stracion explained she was on our side, she hadn't known exactly who I was. Now that this Executive had made the connection that the Rocket me was the same person from the jet incident, I'd never be good for another mission again.

She smirked, enjoying my sudden aghast look, and brushed a strand of auburn hair from her face before continuing, "Thought you'd be able to pose as one of us to get within our ranks, did you? Everyone knows about your stupid team, but there still are a few more things I'd like to know and you're gonna tell me."

I had a sudden sinking feeling that I really was going to end up telling her, but I figured that my only hope was to pose as though I was sure of myself. "What makes you say that?" I asked, my tone not sounding at all like I intended.

"Because I am the highest ranking Executive in all of Kanto and you'd do well to know that I'm above every other Rocket you have faced," she stated, once again smirking with total confidence.

Seeing as I wasn't really a Rocket, that fact didn't really impress me as much as she thought it would. I was hit with a sudden curiosity as to why she wasn't a Commander if she was the highest Executive and the Kanto Commander position wasn't taken. Ignoring that thought, however, I contemplated whether to reply to her or not. I also didn't feel like considering the fact that she was better than every other Rocket I had faced, and I had gotten my butt kicked by almost every other Rocket I had faced.

Instead, I pulled out a black Poké ball, released the genetic Pikachu hybrid and said, "Oh yeah? Well I've got Chibi and he beat you last time, so ha!"

Okay, so maybe the immaturity act didn't work as well as I thought it would.

Chibi looked up at me, raised an eyebrow, and said, "*You do realize that I beat her last time as a fluke, right?*"

I stared at him dumbfounded. "What?"

The Executive smirked slightly and said, "Who said I wanted to battle? What if I said you're going to tell me what I want to know and then you're going to follow me to the boss, or else?"

My eyes fell on the black gun holster hanging from her Poké ball belt, and I remained silent. I flickered my eyes slightly toward Chibi and had a sudden idea, but it would only work provided his reflexes were faster than hers.

"I, well…" I said, trying to stall and divert her attention while I very slightly nudged Chibi with my leg. He looked up at me and I tilted my head very slightly as though motioning toward the Rocket.

Chibi gave me an "are you sure?" look, and I slowly winked to confirm. Chibi nodded subtly.

"Well, what?" she demanded.

"Nothing," I said simply, and at that moment, Chibi instantly let loose a string of lightning that flew at her. She screamed and fell to her knees, and I took off running past her with Chibi. Now we'd done it; attacking someone and breaking the League Code like that, but the police wasn't here, and this sure as heck wasn't a time to think about morals.

I shot a glance over my shoulder as we sprinted down the blank hallway and saw the Executive slowly struggling to her feet.

"What the heck, you didn't even knock her out?!" I asked frantically.

Chibi scowled and answered, "*More energy would require time to charge, so unless you wanted your guts full of lead, that's the best I could do.*"

"Damn it, you're dead now, you little twerp!" I heard her voice call out after us. It was soon followed by the distinctive sound of a Poké ball being opened.

Chibi glanced back and spat, "*Crap, it's that damn Raichu.*"

I heard a sudden crackle in the distance and turned around to see a flash of neon yellow filling my entire field of vision. I squinted but then suddenly felt a burst of gut-wrenching pain that gripped my senses and flooded every inch of my body. I screamed, and suddenly felt unable to move as I stumbled over my own legs and collapsed, my very thoughts obscured by a torrent of electricity.

As suddenly as it had come, it vanished, and I slowly struggled to bring my elbows to bend. Sluggishly, I managed to move my arms to support myself and turn around.

I flinched the second I saw that neon glow again, but then noticed it was an immense, shielding Light Screen forming a dome around us and obstructing the constant barrage of the Raichu's assault. I clapped my hands to my ears the second another crash of electricity struck the shield.

"*If…if I can just…absorb…enough power, maybe…I can beat him,*" Chibi muttered through gritted teeth, glaring at the Raichu.

"I still don't get it, what do you mean your last battle with it was a fluke?" I demanded.

"Raichu, maximum power!" the Executive commanded. The orange mouse called out his name and unleashed yet another wave of immense lightning, which collided with Chibi's shield with a burst of thunder.

Chibi's body soon started to shake, and he nearly stumbled once as he attempted to explain it to me and maintain the force field simultaneously.

"*I was…full of Pichu's power…I could tell…she was way stronger than both me and the Raichu…that's why I won—aaauuuugh!!!*" He screamed and collapsed as his body was suddenly engulfed in lightning despite his Light Screen. The shield vanished, and the Raichu paused before walking forward along with his trainer.

"What was that about 009 being able to beat me?" she said, smirking. "Cause since it has an undersized power capacity, once it's fully charged up, its little absorbing trick won't work anymore and it'll only hurt itself."

Shakily, I struggled to my feet and drew Chibi back into the Poké ball in a beam of black light. I scowled at her, my right hand unintentionally moving toward the other Poké balls in my pocket, but I knew better; Firestorm and Swift would be mutilated by her Pokémon.

"So, Jade…ready to give up?" she asked tauntingly.

"My eyes widened and I couldn't help but shout, "How'd you know my name?!"

She hesitated at the sudden outburst before saying, "Tyson told me, and he overheard one of your friends call you Jade." With a smirk, she added, "For the record, my name's Astra, but it's not like we'll be meeting up again after you get put in a detention cell. But first…who are you working for?" she questioned.

I struggled to keep a straight face, but my eyes kept flickering toward her Raichu. If I didn't answer, would she have him attack me again? My mind reeling, I struggled to come up with any possible solution, because I knew I would end up snapping if she had Raichu zap me until I told her.

Her statement about Chibi being fully charged kept nagging at me, though, and bringing up something in my mind—how Poké balls worked, yeah, that was it. Suddenly remembering something I had learned long ago, I realized that we had a chance. I clutched Chibi's black Poké ball. It was a gamble, and I knew it.

"Like I'd tell you!" I suddenly yelled, hurling his Poké ball forward. It opened; Chibi appeared, weak and aching, but awake. I was right! Being released from a Poké ball's hibernation left a Pokémon conscious regardless of whether it was knocked out when it was recalled. In most cases, this didn't matter, because by the time a Pokémon was knocked out in battle, it was injured and out of power, but Chibi had been fully charged and was only knocked out due to sheer shock, and that was Astra's one mistake.

I grinned and then gave what felt like my first confident battle command ever: "Chibi, Discharge!"

He didn't question, nor did he look back at me, for he had proven himself to understand what was needed to win in battles far better than I had. Chibi clenched his fists and let every spike of his golden fur stand on end before completely surrounding himself in an immense orb of power.

"Raichu, before it can attack, hit it with a Thunder!" Astra yelled.

The second she said that, Raichu began charging a bolt of lighting from the yellow pouches on its cheeks, but Chibi then unleashed his wave of electricity at the larger, orange mouse, and before it could finish powering up, it cried out and collapsed.

I then noticed a considerable decrease in the intensity of the attack as Chibi redirected his Discharge at Astra. She widened her eyes and reached quickly for another Poké ball, but was too late as Chibi's orb of pulsing lightning struck her. She didn't even have time to scream; the sheer force of the attack knocked her unconscious in a second, and she slumped to the floor along with her Raichu.

Chibi stood weakly, sparking, gasping for breath, and now very nearly drained of power in addition to having already been weakened from the Raichu's first attack. "Can you run okay?" I asked suddenly.

"*Yeah, I'm fine,*" he muttered, though I knew he wasn't. He dropped to all fours and ran past me. I sprinted after him.

"Where do we go now?!" I asked frantically.

"*The whole entire base is on high alert, and the only way to get out of here would be to go through the—get in here!*"

He instantly ducked into the nearest doorway and I did the same, peeking around the corner soon afterwards to see a couple of regular Grunt members on patrol further down the corridor.

"*Seeing as only Astra and Stracion know who you are, you should be able to make it back to the entrance okay, but I'd be noticed in a second,*" Chibi explained quietly.

"But I can't find my way back without you!" I shouted as loud as possible while whispering.

He groaned. "*Come on, can't you use the directory?!*" He turned back to the hallway and glanced around the corner, muttering, "*We'd better get away from the door, they're coming this way.*"

We walked toward the back of the room, which was, for the most part, blank and empty, save for a bizarre machine in the back that was such an insane mess of wires and tubes that I could never attempt to figure out what it was for. From our vantagepoint, I could see the two Rockets as they walked past the doorway, but then heard them break into a run down the hallway. After a minute or so of muffled dialogue, I heard a voice shout, "Of course I'm okay! Did you see a teenage girl with Experiment Number Nine go by here?!"

I could barely make out them talking some more before the two Rockets raced past the door, soon followed by Astra.

"Hey…" I said all of a sudden. "Once they're gone, we could go back to the Mewtwo room and—"

"*Why go back?*" Chibi muttered. "*You already got to see him.*"

"By now I'll defiantly not be able to just walk outta here with Astra out there telling everyone to look for me, and what better place to hide? We can go in there, lock the door, and just wait all of the insanity to be over."

Chibi simply shrugged and said, "*True, I guess.*"

We strode quickly back down the hallway and once again reached the door that led into the Mewtwo room, which was still unlocked from when I had originally opened it. I walked in alongside Chibi before it shut and reset the lock with a beep.

The room lay in a jumble as though people had been in the middle of something and had rushed off without a thought. It still remained the same as it was the last time we entered it, though, with the main computer, the immense tubes, and the one filled with the orange fluid that contained the humanoid cat-like clone. I stood there transfixed for a few seconds; it was the second time I had seen him and the second time I had been in awe of the creature. His sleek purple tail wafted in the liquid, and his eyes were screwed shut as though he was concentrating hard on something.

All of a sudden, Chibi jumped up onto the cushioned desk chair by the computer and concentrated on three words blinking on the top left of its massive screen: MTC Program Ready.

"Why's the computer on?" I asked. "We're the only ones here and this room was all locked up before."

"*There usually were tons of scientists in here every hour of every day. I guess they left when the alarms went off, but left the computer on.*" he explained and then tapped the enter key, causing the screen to clear and a small box to appear on the otherwise blank monitor. Chibi stared at it, focusing hard, before finally seeming to remember something. He leaned forward over the keypad and carefully pushed one letter at a time with small yellow claws to type "hello" before pushing enter again.

All this time I had been watching with fascination before finally saying, "You can read?"

He nodded slowly, still not taking his eyes off of the screen.

I gave him an odd look before asking skeptically, "Don't tell me it's another weirdo Zapdos thing."

"*No,*" Chibi said, rolling his eyes. "*I taught myself how, and it wasn't easy, either. Every time a Rocket read something aloud off of a sign or something, I would desperately try to remember what he said and what symbols were on what he read. It took over a year for me to learn the twenty-six letters and what they sounded like. Then I drove myself crazy trying to figure out how many millions of sounds each letter could make especially when combined with other letters. My spelling is really, really sucky, and I have trouble pronouncing things, but yeah, I can read and write.*"

I glanced back at the screen where the word "hello" remained on the screen. "I still don't see the point of typing that," I said flatly.

He rolled his eyes again and said, "Just wait…."

I stared at the screen, unsure of what to be waiting for when, at the bottom, the words "Detecting Projected Brain Wave Frequencies" appeared. Soon after that, however, I heard a distant-sounding voice, deep and powerful as it resounded in my mind: <Human...why do you come here?>

"Whaa—?" I asked, clueless as to what the heck was going on. "Did you hear that?" I frantically asked Chibi.

"*Yes," he stated simply. "*This was an old attempt to send messages to Mewtwo before he was fully developed. I never knew it actually worked, though.*" He stopped and turned back to the screen before typing, "i am a experement to and i am heer with a frend."

"Do you want me to type?" I asked flatly.

"*No. Besides, I think he'll get the basic idea…*" Chibi muttered, sounding slightly insulted. I didn't press the subject, but rather waited in silence for the voice.

<Another experiment? I was unaware that there were others…. In recent times, the humans have been here very often, but they only work with the machines. They used to make many attempts to speak to me, but I wouldn't answer. I have only once talked with anyone, but that was so long ago…and he has not returned. Now there is no one…> Mewtwo explained.

"How's he do that?" I suddenly asked Chibi.

"*I don't really know,*" he admitted, turning to face me. "*I remember the scientists talking about him being able to broadcast his thoughts in waves or something, but that's all.*" He spun back around in the chair and began to very slowly type another, rather badly spelled message.

"Can't you just let me type? It'll go faster," I advised.

Finally, he groaned and muttered, "Fine, whatever." He slid out of the chair, and I sat down and typed, "Can't you come out of there? Do you have to be in the tube, because it looks like you would be able to survive outside."

I noticed that Chibi was sitting on the top of the back to the chair, peering over my shoulder. "*You don't type much faster than me,*" he pointed out.

"Shut up," I muttered, not wanting to continue our pointless argument.

Right then, Mewtwo answered mentally, <I do not know. I know only of the things I was told of, and of the things I have known for much longer.>

I wasn't entirely sure how to respond. I hated it when that happened in IM conversations, but this felt even more awkward until finally, Chibi spoke up.

"*I think I remember them saying some kind of way, some kind of serum or something. It's how they awakened the clones in the past, but…*" he paused, trying desperately to remember something. "*I think it's a file command or something. Minimize the communication window and let me see.*"

I only just then noticed the miniscule 'x', square, and line that normally resided in the upper right corner of most programs. I moved the arrow up to minimize, tapped the sensor pad, and was surprised to see the screen burst into color with a wavering 3-D graph with constantly moving waves of blue and green.

"*Yeah, that's it, let me see for a second, *" Chibi said, and I moved out of the chair to allow him to slide down into it and move his hand along the sensor pad. He clicked through the files along the left side, glancing slowly through the text and closing each one. Finally, he got to one he seemed to be looking for, and read it slowly before coming to the bottom. I skimmed it quickly, noticing mainly that it was a set of records far more detailed than the normal archives I had accessed on Stalker's computer. At the bottom, there was a small square of bold text, and below that, a link entitled, "Commence Procedure."

"*This is it…I know they were going to run more tests, but…*" Chibi trailed off, but then without any hesitation, he clicked on the link.

The screen switched suddenly back to the graph with a symbol on the bottom blinking furiously. I immediately whirled around to see Mewtwo, but didn't see any difference. Chibi however, had gone back to the communication program and was typing as quickly as possible, instructing Mewtwo to focus on his energy.

"What good will that do…?" I said aloud, letting myself trail off, but I widened my eyes in surprise as I turned back to the glass container.

The tubing that was hooked up to Mewtwo was filled with an eerie purple fluid, and a veil of transparent blue energy suddenly enveloped the cylinder. I stared in paralyzed awe as what was happening as Mewtwo's tail twitched in the orange water and the tubes quickly snapped. A small crack appeared in the glass and widened rapidly as it spread around the entire container.

"If it breaks will he die?!" I demanded all of a sudden.

Chibi didn't say anything, but rather frantically motioned for me to get behind the chair. I obeyed and he whirled the back of it so that it was between Mewtwo and us. Suddenly, there was a burst of shattering glass, and I saw several shards fly over the chair and smash into the wall. When I looked down, I noticed the orange water streaming across the floor, lapping at my sneakers.

A shrill blare of sound issued from the computers and the screen switched suddenly to bold letting blinking, "Error. Containment Malfunction."

"Oh crap, not again!" I shouted over that alarm, but my curiosity reminded me of what had just happened, and I swiveled the chair around.

The metal part of the containers was now lined with shards of glass, and within the jagged circle, Mewtwo sat cross-legged, his paws in his lap. The water dripped continuously down his sleek, pale lavender features, and very slowly, he opened his eyes, revealing his brilliant violet irises.

"*Come on, we gotta get outta here!*" Chibi urged, racing to the door, but I ignored him and the sirens in the background as I walked slowly toward the humanoid feline experiment.

"Mewtwo…?" I asked hesitantly.

He raised his large head slowly, blinking once and staring at the room with widened eyes. <I…see…> he spoke shakily, raising his paws in front of his face and slowly clenching them in wonder.

"*Jade!*" Chibi yelled angrily, attempting to be heard over the alarm. "*We have to go, NOW!!!*"

I turned quickly toward the door, not because of Chibi, but because of several shouts and yelling outside. Almost as if out of reaction, I reached for the black Poké ball in my pocket and recalled him anxiously right before the heavy metal door burst open and a crowd of scientists and regular Rockets poured into the room. The second they entered, rather than converge on me as I had figured, they circled around Mewtwo in a frenzy.

"What did you do?!" a scientist demanded as another man rushed to the computer keypad on the desk and hurriedly typed something, shutting down the alarm.

I was relieved at the absence of the piercing siren, but then nervously replied, "I, err, all I did was click something and then it broke, but I didn't mess up anything, I swear!"

"It's true!" one of the other scientists yelled from across the room after quickly examining Mewtwo. "Number Thirty-six is conscious!"

At that, there was more shouting as the scientist who had yelled at me rushed over to Mewtwo. I groaned, as I obviously wasn't going anywhere soon. Mewtwo recoiled back slightly, apprehensive at all of the commotion around him.

"Enough!" a commanding voice barked, and at once, the confusion and insanity vanished as though a switch had been flipped. I turned to the doorway and saw a man standing there, tall and glaring in an overbearing way toward the Rockets. He was tall and broad shouldered, dressed in a dark suit and dress shoes with his sleek, brown hair slicked back against his head. He stepped slowly forward, and the other Rockets drew back in fearful respect.

"Are you the one responsible for this?" he asked leisurely, his overall expression looking to be rather amused at the whole situation.

Seeing no other options, I uneasily replied, "Uhh…yeah."

"Well, then, I'm surprised that this operation was carried out by a child, but these here fools have been pestering me with all their facts rather than just getting the job done for quite some time now." He gave a slight laugh and said, "Grunts, resume the search for the traitor; scientists, set to work on cleaning up this place and preparing Mewtwo for testing; you, come with me."

I stared. His reaction wasn't anything near what I expected, but what was even more shocking was that this was Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket. Stunned, I stood and walked after him out of the room, soon followed by over half of the crowd of Rockets. I glanced back over my shoulder at Mewtwo, who remained curiously observant of everything happening around him.

"So…you, what's your name," Giovanni asked.

"Er, Aly. Aly Arenesa." I paused as it suddenly dawned on me that my fake Rocket name didn't exactly go well with my real last name, but then Giovanni spoke again.

"Well, although I won't doubt your assistance in The Mewtwo Project…"—here he paused, and slowly considered his words as he slightly narrowed his eyes—"you were in a restricted area, in a room that is strictly off limits at any time, and the issue of high alert is still in effect."

I gulped, feeling the tables turn suddenly as I contemplated how to respond to that. "I, see…I knew this place wasn't allowed right now, but…well, I kinda was hoping to find the rebel all by myself, and the door there actually was unlocked, so I figured maybe she was hiding in there, but the computer was on and it all sort of just…happened."

I groaned mentally, angry at how stupid my explanation had been. Giovanni, however, muttered, "Those fools, leaving it on and unlocked. Well, I normally am much harsher on such actions, but as I haven't seen you before and you must be new, a docking of rank will be all in the way of apprehension…this time." The last part was said in a more threatening manner, but he added, "Your resourcefulness is to be commended, however," before striding off down the hallway.

I followed, along with all of the other members until finally, we were back at the commons. I had mixed feelings about being back in the central area, as what Giovanni had said about preparing Mewtwo for testing was nagging at me. Nonethless, I stood silently as the agents dispersed and Giovanni, now speaking with several Executives, none of which were Astra, thankfully, strolled down a different hallway

As if everything that had just happened wasn't enough for one day, right then, a small beeping noise came from my left pocket. I rapidly retrieved my Communicator and stared at it. It was obvious someone was calling me, but who, and how exactly did I work it? I was part of the minority that had never owned a cell phone, but I flipped up the screen and pushed the largest button.

"Err, hello?" I said as more of a question than a greeting.

"Hey, Jade, it's me, Stracion," the caller said as her picture appeared on the screen.

"Stracion? But, how…? I never told you my name or my number," I said, confused.

"Stalker told me, now you—" she started.

Why did everyone always seem to know everything I didn't? "How do you know about Stalker? Is he how you learned all that stuff about The Rebellion? How did—?"

"Jeez, hold on, I don't have much time, and Stalker knows everyone with the same motives as him. But anyway, my division just got done searching wing number six, and I only have a minute or so. I don't know if you've tried getting out yet, but there are guards stationed at all possible exits and no members are allowed out or in until, well, you're captured."

"Sheesh, why are they all after me?!" I exclaimed in frustration.

"This is the first time a rebel's been discovered inside a base. All the other Rebellion members haven't been discovered at all," she explained, her expression mixed between pity and somewhat like she was trying not to laugh.

As if I needed yet another reason to feel stupid.

"So…if there's no way out, what do I do?" I asked.

There was a brief silence as she turned away from her Communicator and spoke with another Rocket. "Crap, I gotta go, about half an hour or so ago, I called a guy who can probably help. He had a run in with Team Rocket over a month ago and escaped, but then later tried to cause trouble by sneaking in and causing some havoc with his Pokémon and was caught. I helped him escape and he knows about the Rebellion and stuff, too. In the next few minutes by the main entrance in the gym, if you hear any explosions or anything, run toward them," she hastily explained before hanging up.

Even after several seconds had gone by, I still gaped at the now blank screen in complete and utter confusion. Explosions? And who exactly was I supposed to be looking for to get help? I sighed, reflecting on how unpredictable my life had gotten. I walked slowly forward through the commons, oblivious to the crowd of Rockets around me. The tables and chairs in both the main open area and the snack bar were all taken, so I trudged on through the mob and sat down on a metal bench nearest the door that led to the stairs, and therefore, the main entrance.

I didn't have to wait long.

A sudden boom echoed throughout the main area, sending the regular members into a mild panic. Numerous Rockets stood to their feet and there was even more of a roar of loud conversation than there had been before, but I glanced back at the entrance door, seeing the guards instantly opening the metal entry. My heart gave a leap; maybe Stracion's plan, confusing as if may have been, would work.

I wasn't expecting what happened next, though.

The wall instantly shattered into pieces as a pulsing beam of energy burst through it, instantly causing panic to ensue. Executives rushed forward, Grunts scrambled; everything was in pandemonium as I fan forward, wondering what to do next.

At once, the door flew off its massive hinges as an immense orange dog burst through, surrounded by brilliantly glowing flames and roaring menacingly to keep the Rockets at bay before racing back up through the stairway.

"After it, now!!!" an Executive near to me shouted, and at his command, the rest of the Executives as well as any members who dared to interfere raced after the Arcanine. I struggled to make my way through the crowd, but then tripped and banged my left knee against the stair. I jumped to my feet to avoid being trampled and shoved through the crowd, not caring about anything else, but what Stracion had told me.

A huge hole had been blown through the main doorway in the side of the gym, and we poured out into the alleyway where the dog stood cornered, its back to the brick wall behind it. The Executives released a myriad of powerful Pokémon, but at once, the fiery dog lunged upward and bounded over us and into the street. There were no cars, so it quickly pivoted around and raced off into the trees.

Though I expected them to race after it once more, an Executive commanded for everyone to stop and there was a murmur of conversation as they no doubt discussed whether to pursue the dog.

"Hey, up here!" a voice shouted.

Everyone, including me, immediately looked up to see the sun shadowed by a pair of broad wings. Red and yellow feathers blew in the breeze as the impossibly large tan eagle soared over us. I knew that Pidgeot were able to learn the move Hyper Beam, and I concluded that it was what had blown the hole in the base.

The bird Pokémon wasn't what attracted the Rockets' attention, however. Riding on its back was a teenaged Pokémon Trainer who was the one who had yelled to us. His short, dirty-blonde hair was mostly covered by a black bandana, and the wind ruffled his gray shirt and baggy, dark blue jeans.

It took a second, but I suddenly realized he was the guy from the plane incident, he was…he was…he was the guy whose name I apparently had forgotten, but I knew it was him, the Typhlosion trainer. The Executives recalled their Pokémon to immediately release them on the other side of the crowd before charging after where the Arcanine had run off. The guy on the Pidgeot, however, made the bird fly lower and released a burst of white light, which quickly formed into a tall, upright beast with tan and black fur and a blazing ring of fire ignited along its neck.

"Typhlosion, Flame Barrier!" he commanded, but right after yelling that, he glanced back down at us and nodded his head toward the forest, where the orange and black dog had dashed into before. It took me a second, but I understood. From what Stracion had told both of us, he knew I had to be in the mob of Grunts somewhere and would know that he supposed to help me. I made my way slowly to the edge, hoping I was right in assuming that I was supposed to follow his Arcanine.

Preoccupied with Typhlosion, no one noticed as I walked out into the street, glancing back at the battle. A cream-colored horse had just unleashed a wave of flame at Typhlosion, easily overpowering the lone beast. The pony smirked, and the flames along its mane and ankles intensified as it readied for another attack. With a quick glance at the Executives along the front line, I saw that it was Astra's Ponyta.

The Typhlosion attempted to surround itself in flame to protect itself, but the Ponyta breathed out a tongue of white-hot flame that burst through the defense and scorched the beast's fur. It glared back at the horse and roared, but I suddenly remember what I was supposed to do and turned from the battle as though I was being jarred from a trance. Skillful battling always seemed to do that to me.

I raced out of the street and into the trees, not really sure what I was looking for, but not slowing down. I continued through the leafless bushes and around the spindly trunks of trees until, after little more than a minute, there was a crackle of bushes snapping as a six-foot-tall dog jumped out and stood next to me. The fluffy, off-white fur on its legs brushed against my side, and it nodded to me once before then proceeding to howl at the top of its lungs.

"Hey, wait, what are you doing?!" I demanded, but it glared at me, gave me a meaningful look, and howled again.

In seconds, the branches shook, and the wind rushed as the Pidgeot suddenly swooped down into the forest. The trainer on its back held out a Poké ball and recalled his Arcanine into it in a beam of red light as the eagle touched down onto the ground.

"Hey, long time, no see, Jade," he said, grinning. But with a nervous glance over his shoulder, he added, "Yeah, I already recalled Typhlosion, but for now, let's talk later, we'd better get outta here."

 

[Chibi Pika]

This chapter has both the best and the worst of LC. On one hand, it's a jumbled mess of scenes spanning several different times and characters, but on the other, it's absolutely plot-ridden and offeres a ton of insight into certain characters.


Revision 10 Edit: There is a legend in this chapter that names off all the Legendaries. I have not yet come up with titles for all of the Sinnoh Legends, however. Nonetheless, the Legendary total is still stated to be 33. This is because firstly: Arceus is mostly unknown, and secondly: I do not count Phione as a Legendary.


Chapter 11: The Shrine of Midnight Island

I frantically scrambled onto the back of the immense bird, struggling not to pull out any of its feathers as I mounted it and sat right behind its wing joint. The trainer held onto its neck and said, "Alright, let's go, Pidgeot," as the bird spread its immense, twenty-five-foot wingspan and took to the air, its wings glowing very faintly. I hid my face as we soared over the Rockets, and Pidgeot put on a burst of speed right as the Rockets began firing. I could hear the whizzing of bullets far behind us, but Pidgeot was moving much too fast for us to be hit.

I gripped the eagle's side as we streaked through the air and over the dormant trees of the forest below at incredible speeds. The dusty-colored bird of prey adjusted its wings and rose gradually until vast expanses of forest and city could be seen below.

"So…I dunno if Stracion told you, but after that whole incident with the plane, I got caught by Team Rocket again after trying to break into one of their bases," the trainer said with a slight laugh. "How'd you get mixed in all this?"

"I ran into Stalker before I got caught, and after Ajia flew me to Vermilion, I waited there so I could meet up with Stalker and join The Rebellion. Erm…yeah, what was your name again?" I said stupidly.

"Spencer," he laughed.

We talked on for a bit about what had happened with both of us after the jet incident. Spencer actually was rather laid back and comical when not in battle. It didn't take long for the mainland beneath Pidgeot's wide wings to turn into the waters of the Lavender Strait and finally the forests of northern Midnight Island. The immense eagle upon which we rode threw back its wings and descended toward the clearing where Midnight Stadium stood. Finally, Pidgeot flared its tail and spread out its wings for drag before touching down with its talons onto the cold, hard pavement surrounding the structure. I slid down the bird's glossy feathers and strode a few paces toward the door before turning back and saying, "Hey, thanks."

"No problem, see ya," Spencer said, nudging his Pidgeot slightly as a command to take to the sky once more. I watched as, with a flap of its immense wings, the eagle rose from the ground and ascended swiftly into the skies.

I turned and walked toward the main entrance to the stadium. With a push of the main doors, I entered the main lobby and paused for a moment. I figured I'd probably need to talk to Stalker about it, so I turned down the hallway to the right and entered the battlefield.

Few trainers were battling, and after quickly surveying the kids that were there, I found that Stalker must have been back at the main office. I walked briskly across the tile back down the left hallway and knocked on the door. A voice inside replied, "Yeah?"

"Um, hey, it's Jade," I said.

Right after that, I could hear the sound of a desk chair moving, followed by footsteps, and finally, Stalker opening the door. "So you're back," he said with a slight laugh, beckoning for me to enter the office.

"Well, I must admit," he said, once again leaning back against his chair, "that whole situation was a mess to sort out, but it did create a stir with the Rockets, and I bet they're gonna be awfully defensive for a while, which is good. Of course, the whole reason you went on that mission was to deal with the experiments…" He paused expectantly.

"Oh," I said, realizing I should brief him of the mission. "I managed to steal 009 and also freed three other experiments: the Scyther hybrid, and an Absol and Flygon that I think must have been clones. I also broke into the Mewtwo lab, awakened Mewtwo, and I believe they're going to use him to capture more Legendary Pokémon, because they now can control Legendaries, and Mewtwo would be a match for them."

"Pretty impressive," Stalker commented. "Really, despite all the mess with you being discovered, you did pretty good for your first mission. But did anyone see you acting against Team Rocket as your Rocket self?"

"Nope, they were all after 'the rebel,'" I said. But then it dawned on me. "Oh crap…Astra…an Executive, she saw me as my Rocket self, but then recognized me from the plane incident."

"Astra?" he said questioningly. "Oh, yeah…her," he spoke with a faint smile, as though remembering something amusing. "Hmm, I think you'd better avoid her if you're ever gonna go on any more missions." He thought for a second and then continued, "You're sure no one else made the connection that your Rocket self is really you?"

"Yep, sure," I replied.

"Good, now we just need to hope that she doesn't inform the boss, because then they'd soon be able to search the member list to find out who you are. I don't think she will, though."

I couldn't help but ask. "Why?"

"Long story, but let's just leave it that despite being head Executive, Astra's got a record for going easy on rebels. But anyways, I doubt it'll be safe to go on another mission for a while, but I'll need to find out more about Mewtwo. I guess I can ask some infiltration members already at the base to check it out."

I hadn't particularly been listening; I had been more focused on remembering the battles that had taken place at the Rockets' base, and I finally said, "Stalker, I need to learn how to battle, I mean really battle. All those Rockets I've faced…I haven't stood a chance against any of them. You told me how to strategize, but I need to learn everything."

With a slight laugh, Stalker replied, "It's been a while since I've heard that. I've been tutoring a few trainers specifically so I guess I could train you. First lesson whenever you want tomorrow. And before I forget, all members have been paid for their missions already, and you've gone on two, so here."

I had been about to leave before he added that, but when I turned, he handed me a small wad of cash. My eyes widened as I flipped through the bills. Small wad, big amount.

"Whoa…thanks!" I said, turning and exiting the room.

I walked, almost unintentionally, up the stairs on the right and to my room. I threw open the door and practically fell on the bed, overwhelmed with everything that had gone on. I sat up and slowly, for the umpteenth time that day, pulled the Team Rocket uniform off my normal clothes, and threw them in a heap by my bed.

I glanced at my watch, utterly amazed to see that it was only three in the afternoon. I groaned at all the events of the past days: the Raikou mission the day before, the battle in the middle of the night at Pokémon Tower, and finally, all of the insanity of the past few hours. A haunting feeling resounded in the back of my mind when I compared my misadventure with the experiments to the Raikou mission, however. With the latter, had any of us even been in any real danger? There was the omnipresent threat of getting caught, but still…

There was no way I wanted to train right then. And it would be impossible to sleep. I sighed as I sat up and stared at the wall in deep thought.



"Swift, Wing Attack!!!"

"Wallarooby, mirror its movements and get in a few of your own hits!!!"

A large, chestnut hawk skydived at his opponent with wings glowing furiously with energy. The kangaroo lunged to the side along the battlefield with its immense hind legs, unfolding a massive pair of snowy, feathered wings. It leaped upward in a graceful motion and held its wings back to streak through the air at maximum speed. When it finally neared the ceiling, it turned right before hitting one of the light panels and dove back toward the bird in a similar skydive.

Stalker observed the move, nodding slightly and then turning to me as though waiting for my response. With Wallarooby's current path, Swift would be hit no matter what, and yet there had to be some way out of any situation. That was the very topic of the day's lesson: figuring a way to get around the opponent's current move. I glanced quickly from Swift, to Stalker, to Wallarooby, and then finally around the battlefield, my mind racing constantly.

"Swift, stay low to the ground!" I instructed, trying to ignore the shouts of the kids watching the battle.

The hawk had pulled out of his dive after seeing his opponent take to the air and now was zipping along the concrete floor, straining his wings to keep airborne with the little amount of lift.

"Wallarooby, pull out and smack Swift with your tail!" Stalker called out.

"Swift, don't give it the chance!" I shouted immediately afterward.

The kangaroo Pokémon stayed exactly on target at the Pidgeotto beneath it, increasing in speed constantly. Would it be able to hit Swift even though he was so close to the ground? Swift was now flying in a tight circle, ready to dodge anything that came at him. I held my breath, and the battle seemed to progress in slow motion with neither side making a move.

"Now!!!" Stalker and I shouted at nearly exactly the same time.

Swift dodged sharply to the left; Wallarooby pulled out of its dive and lunged forward. Wings flapped; feathers flew. Swift dove in for the attack!

Smack!

Swift reeled backwards, recoiling from a hard blow he had received from the kangaroo. Wallarooby. He struggled to regain his flight, but was knocked back again by a blow from his opponent's tail. He crumpled to the ground in a bundle of feathers. Quickly, I recalled him into his Poké ball.

"Not too bad, at least you've managed to keep your head in all of the recent battles. You need to always stay confident." Stalker recalled his Pokémon in a beam of red.

It was our tenth battle like that. He would explain a certain detail to battling and then test me in a practice battle. In between lessons, I would practice the moves with Rudy and Darren. It had been over a month since my second mission, and I hoped I would be ready by the time I went on my third.

"*You know what, Jade, I think maybe in a while you'll actually be able to win a battle and have it be mostly your doing,*" Firestorm said jokingly.

I rolled my eyes. "Ha ha," I replied flatly, snickering right afterward. We both knew I had been getting much better at giving out commands, but the overall atmosphere was laid back, and I found myself laughing at his comment anyway.

Stalker had spoken with another trainer, and now the two of them stood on opposite sides of the stadium. I strode away from the trainer's box with Firestorm and Chibi, through the crowd of other trainers, and met up with Rudy, Darren, and their Pokémon.

"That was sweet back there, Jade," Rudy said, grinning.

"Thanks, man," I replied.

"Hey, why don't we have a one-on-one-on-one battle? Everyone for themselves?" Darren suggested.

"You know I'm down with that!" Rudy exclaimed, immediately pulling out a Poké Ball to release his Wartortle in a flash. Darren whipped out his own to release his Ivysaur, and I nodded to Firestorm to step forward.

"How come you hardly ever use your Pikachu?" Darren asked curiously.

"Reasons," I countered simply, winking at Chibi. We both knew he not only was way stronger than my other Pokémon and my friends', but he seemed to be able to strategize completely on his own, and I needed all the practice I could get.

"Alright then, Cannon, start it off with a Water Gun!" Rudy commanded, using his recently invented nickname for his Wartortle.

"Ivysaur, dodge with Vine Whip!" Darren said soon after.

"Firestorm, keep an eye on Cannon and use Flamethrower!" I instructed.

The battle erupted with Wartortle spitting out twin torrents of water at Ivysaur and Firestorm. The teal flower reptile lunged to the side using his leafy vines for support while Firestorm ducked out of the way of the frigid water and exhaled a lick of white-hot flame. Again using vines for mobility, Ivysaur let loose a flurry of razor-edged leaves at Cannon.

"Chaaaaagh!" Firestorm cried, yet again breathing out a tongue of flaming embers at Ivysaur, this time because it was preoccupied. The leaf dinosaur threw himself out of the line of fire, yet was caught on the vine with—

Firestorm leaped back, sputtering suddenly and almost choking on his own flame. I turned suddenly to see the scarlet reptile snorting and trying to get the water out of his nostrils after being hit point blank with a Water Gun to the face. It was insane—there was no way I could pay attention to all three battlers and their attacks at the same time!

"Heh heh, sorry, Jade," Rudy said, grinning smugly and motioning once more to his Wartortle. "Cannon, use another Water Gun!"

"Ivysaur, use Stun Spore!" came Darren's voice.

The Wartortle stood its ground and spat out a stream of water, initially aiming for Firestorm, but soon changing direction to attempt to douse the orange cloud of spores Ivysaur had released into the air. The flower-backed reptile shot out twin vines from the leaves on his back and seized hold of Wartortle in an attempt to keep the tortoise from ruining the paralyzing spores. He got a face full of Water Gun in the process, but shook off the liquid, hardly looking fazed.

Seeing the imminent danger, Firestorm, after dodging Cannon's first jet of water, covered his nose to keep from inhaling the powder and breathed out numerous glowing embers, which sizzled and crackled as they obliterated the immobilizing pollen.

"Shoot, Ivysaur, Razor Leaf on both of them!!" Darren yelled suddenly.

Flurries of verdant, razor-edged leaves flew through the air, slicing both Cannon and Firestorm before they could do anything about it. The former was vulnerable to plant-based attacks such as that, while the latter was barely effected and simply wiped the blood off his brow with ivory claws.

"That's it, Cannon, use Withdraw and Water Gun!"

At the command, the pale blue-violet tortoise sprung up and pulled its head, limbs, and billowy tail into its hard mahogany shell, therefore freeing itself form Ivysaur's grasp. Jets of water shot out onto the concrete in all directions, and the Wartortle used the propelling force to zoom in its shell along the slick trail and ram right into Ivysaur, spraying a misty stream of liquid constantly.

"We've got some tricks too, Firestorm, dodge and use 'Fire Punch' and keep it so that it can't get around!" I yelled, smirking at Rudy. It was our secret move: something I had actually managed to take advantage of from a failed Rocket battle.

Firestorm darted out of the path of a water spray and sprinted forward, blowing out a ball of flame onto his claws as he had done in Pokémon Tower. Evading the turtle's path, he brought back his arms and hurled the flaming projectiles. Seeing the imminent danger, Cannon spun out of the way, but it really wasn't the target. White-hot flares landed in the slippery trail, instantly heating it up and sending clouds of steam billowing up from it. The bipedal land tortoise immediately sprung up, crashing awkwardly to the floor and rubbing its burned shell painfully.

"Alright, same move, finish it off!" I exclaimed.

"No! Strike back with Water Gun!" Rudy shouted desperately.

Firestorm dashed towards his opponent, fists flaming all the more intense with anticipation and the adrenaline rush. He caught the turtle in a flaming uppercut to the chin, leaving a nasty burn of blistered scales, and was about to catch it off guard with another punch when—

Vines shot out from the left, the right, all around! Preoccupied, Firestorm was caught by the leg and thrown into Wartortle, who had just managed to regain itself weakly and spewed water upon being nailed in the belly by Firestorm's skull. The Charmeleon cried out in pain as the liquid left rashes on his crimson scales. Turning quickly, I saw Ivysaur standing victoriously off to the right, retracting his vines, and looking very complacent. Darren was standing right next to him after probably whispering instructions into his Pokémon's ear and said, "You're right, it is hard to focus on all the battlers at once."

I laughed slightly at our mistake as I recalled Firestorm into his red and white ball with the push of a button. "Heh, I guess me and Rudy got a bit carried away there." The two of them each recalled their Pokémon.

"Well that sure was a battle," Rudy said, walking over.

"Heh, you said, it…those were some pretty sweet move combos—both of you," I praised.

"Thanks," Darren said. "They've started another battle, wanna go check it out?"

I shook my head. "Nah, that's enough for now. I'm gonna head back up to my room, I'll see you guys later," I said.

"Later," Rudy replied, turning back to watch the new battle tutorial.

Chibi followed me as I ducked behind the main lobby counter and retrieved two first-aid potions Stalker had provided for the end of the trainers' battles. It was almost without thinking that I sprinted up the familiar steps and through the hallway I had taken so many times before, coming to my room and unlocking it with the swipe of the card key.

I flopped onto the bed feeling very energetic and in high spirits after the events of the day. I glanced at my watch to see that it was six in the afternoon before releasing Firestorm and Swift and pulling out the potions. With just a quick spray all over, Firestorm's rashes healed and Swift's sore muscles were soothed. Both were probably still out of energy, but it's not like they were going to be battling any time soon.

"Feelin' better?" I asked.

"*Kinda stiff, but yeah,*" Firestorm replied. Swift nodded in agreement and flapped over to perch by the window.

Chibi, who really hadn't said anything for most of the day, said, "*You think you're gonna be ready to go on a mission soon?*"

"Maybe, I'm not really sure. I'm still worried about Mewtwo, but…well, I dunno if I'd be able to do anything."

"*It's not like you did anything last time,*" Chibi said with a snicker.

"Oh, oh so that's how it is, is it?" I asked in silly tone of voice, surprised to see Chibi laughing about something. He did have a point in that he was the one who had awakened Mewtwo. "Yeah, well…" I searched for what to say, found nothing, and rather shoved a fluffy white pillow into the mutant rodent's face. He threw it back at me with disdain.

"*Yaah!*" Firestorm yelled, whacking me upside the head with the other pillow.

"Pillow fight!!!" I yelled suddenly, swinging the first pillow to collide with Firestorm's pale yellow belly. Chibi muttered something about pillows being a ridiculous form of artillery before fetching the smaller pillow from the chair and chucking it at my head.

Already halfway hanging off the bed trying to fend off Firestorm, I was knocked off entirely by Chibi's projectile and fell to the carpet with a thud.

"C'mon Swift, join us," I suggested while being bombarded by the other two. He raised the long, red feather over one eye in a motion not unlike the cocking of an eyebrow and turned back to the window in deep thought. After several moments, he took off flying out the window.

"*What's his problem?*" Firestorm asked, standing up while still grasping the end of a pillow.

"I dunno, he's always been shy like that. I never even really talked much with him before I started training," I replied, now feeling a bit guilty.

"*Did you capture him like a regular trainer?*" Firestorm asked.

"Like a regular trainer?" I said incredulously, laughing. "What, you don't think the way I met you and Chibi was regular? In any case…no, my parents found him injured in our backyard, so we took care of him."

"*You haven't talked much about your life before you met us,*" Chibi observed in a low tone of voice.

"Yeah?" I said. "There wasn't much to it, really. That, and…I suppose I've been avoiding even thinking about it. You guys might know that I didn't actually run away from home, but I can't say the same about my parents…"

"*So tell them, if you're so worried,*" Chibi said, smirking.

"Right, so I'm supposed to tell them I got kidnapped and roped into joining a secret group facing off again a criminal organization, while training illegally in the meantime. Why didn't I ever think of that?" I threw my arms in the air. "I have been e-mailing home a bit, but I don't think that's helped too much."

A fluttering of wings told me that Swift had returned and was now perched at the window.

"Where were you?" I asked.

He paused. "*The structure in the forest. I was wondering why it's there.*"

I turned to him in surprise, wondering what on earth he was talking about. Sensing my sudden change in demeanor upon hearing that led Firestorm and Chibi to continue the pillow fight without me. I got up off the floor and walked over.

"*I assumed you knew about it,*" he said, shrugging his wings and beginning to preen his feathers.

Glancing out the window, I noticed a tiny group of buildings alongside a large stone to the far left, but most of it was blocked by the circular curve of Midnight Stadium.

"I can't see any more, what else is there?" I asked.

"*I may have stronger vision, but I can only see the same amount of it over the tree line as you.*"

I shot a look back at Firestorm and Chibi, the former looking unimpressed and the latter concentrating very hard.

"*Just sounds like a big boulder to me. It's the forest, who's to say there's not gonna be a ridge of rock or something?*" Firestorm asked.

"*It's deliberately placed. I don't know, I was only wondering,*" Swift mumbled.

I quickly looked from all three Pokémon to one another and then out at the "thing" that had caused so much controversy.

"Look, if anyone wants, we can go down there now and figure this out," I said, but Firestorm obviously objected and Swift didn't seem to want to know any more. I found, however, that the more I looked at it, the more the stone looked like it had been placed there. It was far too smooth, and I could almost swear I saw another slab beneath it, propping it up. What made me more curious, however, was that I remembered Mr. Fuji telling me that the Dark Crystal had once been kept on Midnight Island. He'd said something about it not being the only thing intriguing about this place. Could this have been what he was talking about?

"*I'll go with you,*" Chibi said at last. I wasn't sure why he wanted to go, but I didn't question him.

"Okay, you two stay here then, we should be back in an hour," I said, feeling bit stupid in that I sounded like my mom whenever she left me at home alone. I walked across the carpet to the door, let Chibi out first, and walked after him.

We stepped silently through the hallway, stairs, and lobby, for Chibi had shown he wasn't much of a talker on numerous occasions, and I liked the silence anyway. Outside, the sun was half hidden by the hills of the mainland to the western horizon and had already begun to paint the clouds with the scarlet, orange, and the golden glow of the sunset in its wake.

There wasn't much of a path to the stone in the clearing, but I knew it was somewhere to the east and kept walking constantly through the dense pines and occasional leafless deciduous trees of the island. My sneakers constantly crunched the dead fallen leaves, and after about half an hour, I was beginning to wonder if we were going the right direction when the shrubbery began to lessen. All of a sudden, we emerged into a large circle of dirt that had been stripped clean of trees.

Old, decrepit buildings were scattered across the land, looking as though they had, at one time, been placed neatly in order, but enough of them had been demolished and blown away that those that remained looked awkward and out of place. The structures were ancient and forlorn, the wood petrified and mold-eaten in some areas. As we strode further on into the midst of the forgotten town, the ground lay covered with ashes and strewn with slabs of rubble with great slash marks along the planks.

A sign had been posted in the south end of the area, most likely within the past few years because it was sturdy and painted brightly. The top of it, in vivid red letters read "No Trespassing. Violators risk a fine of up to 5,000 dollars and up to five years jail." And below it, the explanation was "The ruins are strictly off limits to anyone and everyone due to a number of reported Pokémon-induced deaths in the area. All tours have been cancelled." At the bottom was more technical stuff that I didn't bother reading.

I was rather unimpressed, and I had even seen signs like that before in an empty area where Rudy and I used to play in Viridian. Just as we had done then, I ignored the sign and continued on into the area where the fire had been.

Along the east side, there were fewer houses and structures. Rather, I looked up in awe at the structure Swift had barely managed to make out earlier.

It wasn't a rock we had seen; it was a shrine.

Great slabs of pale stone were thrust up from the deep floor, forming walls and leaving the top open to the dusky skies. Twin pillars rose not far from me, and atop them was balanced a flat plate of marble with a number of symbols carved into it and below, the words "Enamu mo a Unidae na Legendaria."

No leaves littered the floors of the forgotten landmark, not as though it repelled them, but more like they had been blown away by some wind that had managed to clean the entire structure of dust and impurities. I stepped lightly along the raised steps to the main area and gazed up at the back wall in wonder.

Hundreds of carvings dominated its surface, most of them in strange symbols, some of them in various languages like Greek, Latin, or Japanese. And then, along the bottom right side of the wall, I found a section that was carved in English.


Even as the darkness fell, and the shadow lifted from the land at the end of the great war, the legends had already begun to die. The Four of Destiny were the origin of the continuing myth, which shall only be truly revealed when the land is once again plunged into darkness. For centuries, the land was protected by the Order of Legends: the three Titans of the Elements, the three Incarnations of Nature, the three Golems of the Land and their King, the three Keepers of the Heart, the Rulers of Land, Sea, and Air, the Twin Eon Dragons, the three Unbound by Worlds, the Guardians of the Sky and the Waters, the Controllers of Time, Space and the Other Realm, the Embodiments of Dreams and Nightmares, and the Spirits of Origin and Creation. Together, the thirty-three of them were to make the ultimate power that was to ignite the Revolution. The legend was corrupted, though, and only eight were of true power. The eight were banished to eight crystals, awakened by the Four of Destiny, and set to the land so that their descendants would awaken the legends. For though one of the eight abandoned the world, in due time, another, a final thirty-fourth legend would arise into being from the very heart of the darkness in order to take that one's place in the legacy of Legendaria. The eight would join with the interlopers to determine the balance of power in the coming age. For though none may prevail, what is set into motion shall be much greater indeed.


I stared. Memories from Pokémon Tower were bubbling up in my mind and rising like a flame to provide answers. I strained my mind to remember what the legend of the Dark Crystal was and found that when combined, the two ancient writings seemed to explain each other's mysteries. The great war had been mentioned in the previous legend, although I wished there had been more details. The thirty-three keepers of the legends made sense in that they were the Legendary Pokémon, just like the "pact of thirty-three" from the other one.

And then, for whatever reason, it hit me. What Chibi had said way back at the plane incident…it was something about that Team Rocket was defying the legends—Team Rocket was the "heart of the darkness." And the thirty-fourth legend most definitely had to be Mewtwo.

Thirty-fourth…that kept nagging at me. How many Legendaries were there? I was pretty sure that Kanto had five including Mewtwo, Johto had six, Hoenn had ten, and Sinnoh had twelve although I didn't know all of their names. That made thirty-three…what was the last one? It certainly seemed like there were a lot more Legendary Pokémon than most people had ever heard of, although I had heard that most of the Hoenn and Sinnoh Legends had been sealed away somehow, which would explain it.

The word "Legendaria" still puzzled me as well, but not nearly as much as "the Four of Destiny." They didn't seem to fit in to any other part of the legend, and although they probably dealt with the war, I wondered why it said nothing more about them.

Chibi was still silent, reading the legend slowly and showing no recognizable emotion on his face. I turned from the English section of the stone panel and to the carvings on the side walls, most of which were destroyed. Although at a glance, the other rock walls seemed to have been weathered away, when I looked closer, I could see otherwise. I stepped nearer and ran my fingers across the rough surface, noticing that it was far too uneven and jagged for the destruction to have occurred over time. Some inscriptions, however, showed through, and I could just make out the words, "the writings do not lie—eight were banished, many others sealed for eternity—only the," near the bottom.

"Explain your presence here, human."

A chill ran up my back. The voice was like that of some eerie howl blended with the speech of a domineering female. It gripped my senses and resounded in my ears even after the words had been spoken, as though they were communicated with more than just mere sound. Very slowly, I looked up to gaze at the flat stone on top of the entrance pillars, where she stood.

Her cerulean frame was poised upon the stone, the surreal glow that emanated from her body a stark contrast to the drab gray of the surrounding. She was like some immense beast mixed with the features of a feline and a canine, for despite her wolfish face and structure, she had a smooth, sleek, and almost liquid steel look to her muscles, like some immense cheetah or leopard with ivory diamonds spotting her azure coat. An immense sea-green crystal thrust itself upward from the creature's skull, and from it billowed a mane of the deepest violet, drifting as though the beast was surrounded by her own gale that stirred the mane and wafted her ribbon-like tails constantly.

I had seen this creature before, yet only in books. She was Suicune, the Legendary Johto Beast of the North Wind.

Chibi turned suddenly, widening his eyes slightly, but only showing slight traces of fear. I, on the other hand, felt as though my knees had turned to Jell-O, like the time Raikou had run up to me. Something about the Legendaries' appearances, I wasn't sure what, but something just seems to deteriorate all resolve and make you feel like your insides are melting. Shakily, I replied, "Nothing, I was just—"

"If you were doing nothing, then why were you here?"

"I'm sorry, if I wasn't supposed to be here, then I'll leave now," I quickly responded.

She studied me carefully with her piercing scarlet eyes, considering her words before saying, "Very well, leave. This ground is sacred, and this shrine made to honor the fallen of ages past. The humans of the town do not dare tread here. Go. Return, and I shall have to kill you."

I let my breath out, feeling slightly relieved although the fear still felt like ice in my veins. I backed slowly away, keeping my eyes glued to the creature before finally turning and walking swiftly back into the forest. The trees shaded me from the moonlight, and I didn't dare look back until I had put a hundred yards between the clearing and me.

"*Those carvings back there,*" Chibi said finally, speaking his first words to me since the room.

"Yeah, what about them, you saw them," I replied.

"*No, the other ones, the symbols. I assumed most of them were other human languages, but…" He paused slightly and sighed. "*Never mind, just…forget it."

I didn't press him for what he was originally going to say, but soon afterward, he kept glancing up at the sky and twitching his ears, as though something was up there that he couldn't quite identify…

*****

Suicune watched the girl and the small yellow Pokémon leave while pondering several things in her head. The human had read the legend. Humans were not supposed to lay eyes upon it. Thoughts raced through her mind; she knew every word of the writings by heart, and knew exactly what it foretold. Only one and a half years remained…

"Suicune!"

She turned at the voice to see a bird soaring effortlessly through the clouds, the moonlight reflecting off his immense goldenrod wings. Spiky plumes were thrust upward from his down, adorning his head, wings, and tail with their jagged appearance, and similar jet-black feathers alternated with the yellow in his wings and tail. The humongous bird of prey spiraled down upon the shrine before finally landing nimbly next to the cheetah with his orange-scaled talons.

After folding his wings comfortably and turning to face her, he opened his long, narrow beak and spoke. "So…you are drawn to the island as well."

She knew what he meant. It was the duty of the Legendaries to protect the secrets of their kin, but the real reason she had visited was because of the gathering of humans in the structure to the west of the memorial.

"They are facing against the ones who seek to destroy us," the bird said, his voice powerful and echoing like the crashing of thunder. "I have contemplated the fact that one or more of them may be worthy of—"

"Worthy," the cobalt beast spat, turning her wolf-like head to face her cousin. "No human is worthy. Why should we have to ally with one of them?"

"Suicune…"

"Zapdos, I can't stand it anymore!" she yelled. They've imprisoned both of my brothers, and—"

"Damn it, Suicune, don't you think I worry about the same thing for me and my sisters?!" Zapdos shouted. "And are Raikou and Entei not my cousins? They have already gone after me once before, even if it was long ago. This should only show that if we cannot win against simple humans, how on earth are we supposed to survive with what is coming?"

He sighed sympathetically. He had to admit, he did not know what it was like to lose the two that were closest to him. Yet he was still their cousin, and Raikou and Entei were not the only of their kin to have been captured. The very legends seemed be in danger those days.

"Look. We should know by now not to judge all humans by what happened in some stupid war. It's the past, it's behind us, and while I, too, once felt the same way you did, cousin Mew finally knocked some sense into me. We need to focus on what's going to happen now."

Suicune sighed. His words had penetrated her, and she mulled about his speech and what had been said to her in the past. Finally, the catlike beast said, "Fine. But we must be wary of their growing threat."

"Understood," Zapdos replied. He turned back to the stadium in the distance. His mahogany, hawk-like eyes easily took in every detail of its surface, and his keen hearing picked up sounds of a battle.

Pokémon battling. It had once been an obscene term in his world. Not so much anymore, though. With a nod back at his cousin, he spread his wide wings once more and took to the sky, effortlessly sailing off with the majesty of a Legendary Pokémon.

*****

It was late. Midnight, to be exact. Most of the activity in the stadium had quieted down, and those few trainers that were still awake were probably in their rooms.

Stalker leaned back in his desk chair, leisurely reading through a file on his laptop. He had never been much of a computer person, and yet he had found himself relying on them so often nowadays.

He closed several windows on the screen, nearly all of them Team Rocket related. It was amusing, almost, how so much of his life dealt with that damn team, but he didn't plan on focusing on those affairs. Not tonight.

He closed everything and opened a program a friend of his had sent him. He had been meaning to try it out for some time now, however all the training had been getting in the way. He glanced through all of the legend-based material he had gathered over the years. Memories of his home in Ecruteak sprung up, for it was the most legend-oriented town in all of both Johto and Kanto. It was what had started his obsession, and fueled a burning ambition.

He copied all of his files, every single one of them into the program. With a slight refer back to the e-mail his friend had sent him, Stalker clicked on the button labeled "Analyze."

A bar appeared on the bottom of the screen, projecting the computer's progress. He waited silently, watching as the computer looked through everything he had recorded, dissected every aspect of every legend. Even though it was an immensely complicated job, with his laptop's incredible speed, the search took a mere five minutes. Finally the computer beeped and brought up a box of text alongside one large window containing the legend recorded in the shrine of Midnight Island.

Stalker gazed at the wall, his eyes resting on a portrait of the structure. It was one of the main reasons why he had chosen Midnight Island for his team's base: to learn more about the legend. He turned back to his computer and read silently.

Legend data confirmed; thirty-three keepers of the legends identified as the thirty-three Legendary Pokémon. The Legendary that abandoned the world identified as the Spirit of Creation, Arceus. The thirty-fourth Legendary to arise from the heart of the darkness identified as Mewtwo. The eight Legendaries of true power are named as the Guardian Pokémon and are destined to join in an alliance with a single human each.

Stalker was already aware of most of that information and hit enter once to come to what he was really searching for. His eyes widened almost involuntarily with anticipation as he clicked once and then began to read the program's findings.

Eight Guardians identified as the Titan of Lightning, Zapdos; the Incarnation of Thunder, Raikou; the Incarnation of Wind, Suicune; the younger Eon Dragon Twin, Latias; the Guardian of the Sky, Ho-oh; the Guardian of the Waters, Lugia; the Spirit of Origin, Mew; and the Creation from the Darkness, Mewtwo.

"Perfect."

*****




End Chapter 11
I DARE you to guess why he said 'perfect." Go on, amuse me.[/Chibi'sego=sizeofTexas]

So yeah anyway--perfect time to knock me down a knotch with crit of doom. ;)

~Chibi~

 

[Chibi Pika]

Zomg, I'm posting LC again. =P
Silverwing: Great, now why don't you stop being lazy and write Chapter 19 while you're on a roll? >>

Ugh...I think the chappies in this thread are like, Revision 8. Ridden with plot holes and the crappiest Prologue ever and not yet brought up to the 4th generation. Ah well...I might post Revision 9...eventually...

Long chappie ahead!!!



Chapter 12: The Titans of the Elements

Mewtwo: Codename given to the highly successful Experiment Thirty-six, now contained in a special holding facility in the primary headquarters underneath North Viridian. Testing has come up positive: the creature has indeed inherited many characteristics from its original, the legendary Mew. Therefore, the term Legendary may well apply to it as well, as its unique energy structure is similar to that of the original Mew DNA, as well as test results from Raikou, Entei, and the damaged Zapdos DNA used to create Experiment Number Nine.

I didn't like the sound of that at all. I remembered when Giovanni had mentioned that they were going to be running tests, but now it sounded like they were making sure Legendary control would work on him, and that only meant that more Legendaries were done for.

I clicked back one page and browsed again. I was on one of the main computer panels in the lobby that were normally used for registering trainers during competitions, but that we had mainly used for the Internet. Stalker had set it up so that anyone could access the Team Rocket web page. To my dismay, however, the site wasn't nearly as in depth as the databases in the actual bases. The risk was too great, I suppose, and the only information I could find was vague archives, rather than current mission plans and things of that sort.

Stalker had told that me he hadn't been able to get any more information on Mewtwo from any other members. I wanted to go to a Team Rocket base to see what I could figure out, but if no one else could get any info, then what would I be able to do? There had to be something, there had to be, because I was getting thoroughly bored with just training every day with the occasional trip to Midnight City when I had to buy food or go to the Laundromat. Recently, I had done almost nothing but watch TV and draw in my room.

Looking through various pages, I searched for anything, any secret page, any projects, anything. I selected the mission page as I had nearly a hundred times before and perused the descriptions and tables of past projects, yet still, nothing. Heck, it didn't even say anything whatsoever about the Raikou and Entei missions that had taken place in the past few months.

That's when it hit me. There was no mention of the Legendary Project. None. It had covered the experiments, but not the Legendaries. I scrolled quickly to the top and searched for the word "Raikou." A few seconds…the page reloaded…nothing. I tried Entei and Legendary next, but still nothing. Finally, I typed in Mew…and got a few partial matches with mentioning of it in Mewtwo's file. The match at the bottom had no description, so I clicked it.

It was dated February 3, 2024, which was a surprise to me, as I was hoping to find some good new stuff. I clicked on it and analyzed the text until I found the match on the word Mew, which was bolded. I read the paragraph it was in.


After the situation prior to Mew's escape on 7/5/2018, there has been some speculation as to whether the Legendary Pokémon are capable of specified long-range communication, particularly in times of crisis. Research in the matter has been used to aid the current project, however all findings have been under Level Ten security.


The current project…what current project? Really, why did they have to go overboard with security of doom? And the word Legendary was obviously blocked from all searches because that page hadn't shown up before I entered in Mew. Maybe I could talk Stalker into letting me delve into the matter a bit more thoroughly….

I clicked back until I got to the home page and then ran off to the stadium. After quickly surveying the battlers training, I saw that he wasn't there, but all of his Pokémon except Charizard were.

"Hey, do you know where Stalker is?" I asked the first trainer I saw.
"Um, yeah, he flew off somewhere to do something and said he'd be back later today, but he let us train with his other Pokémon," the boy replied.

"Okay, thanks," I said before walking off.

So I couldn't go on a mission just yet…. I suppose I could wait until tomorrow, but then…I'd never really been much of a patient person. Then again, I could feel an idea rising in the back of mind—a somewhat stupid one, but one that would get me to the Viridian base, nonetheless.

I briskly walked over to Stalker's Verdegon, who stood off to the side, not currently engaged in a practice battle with any trainers. I looked up at it and said, "Hey, I know Stalker's not here, but can I ask you a favor?"

The emerald green dragon nodded.

"I want to go on a really quick mission at the Viridian base, but I'd need to fly there obviously, so could you give me a lift?"

Verdegon considered this for a few seconds before finally saying, "*I guess so, c'mon, let's go now,*" in a rather powerful, growl-like, yet female voice.

"Just a sec, let me get something," I said, sprinting back up the stairs to my room so I could fetch my Communicator and the bag with my Team Rocket uniform. I met up with her back downstairs.

Her claws clicked on the tile as we walked back through the lobby and out into the parking lot area. The verdant reptile leaned forward onto all fours to let me mount, and once I got situated right behind her shoulders, she spread her wide, cerulean wings and flapped her arms furiously, stirring the dust into the air.

We soon gained enough altitude and were speeding across the same route Charizard had taken me when I had gone on my second mission. We landed in the deserted alley by the gym, and I dismounted before she quickly took to the sky once more. I sauntered over to the inconspicuous, yet infinitely important doorway, retrieved my Rocket ID from my wallet, and swiped it along the familiar scanner.

I heard a small click and looked up to see a tiny camera lens at the top of the doorframe. At first I thought that it was a security camera, and that someone was watching and would know who I was, but then, in a computerized voice, the scanner said, "Facial match confirmed, Aly Arenesa," and then the door slid to the side.

Oh, so it was automated, which made sense so that no one could get in by just stealing a card. I stepped inside, and it thudded shut behind me. Just as before, I used that opportunity to pull my Rocket clothes on over top of mine, only this time, I had something more. The last time I had come here, I had forgotten the black skullcap I had picked out on my first day on Midnight Island, and even now, I scarcely felt like myself as I pulled it over my dirty-blond hair and tied it in the back. Though I didn't have a mirror, I grinned at how I probably looked as I stepped down the stairs, passed the other scanners, and entered the base.

I felt a lot more confident this time around, and I didn't intend on letting the whole base know I was here like before. I found the directory a lot easier to figure out as well, for all the hallways were ordered starting with the one to the left of the entry, and from there, the doors and divisions were coded. I doubted Mewtwo would still be in the same room, and I figured they had probably been training him for battle during the past month and a half. After quickly perusing the map, however, I concluded that my best bet was 5-Ab, the Experiment Regulation Center.

I set off immediately for the fifth hallway, treading across the hard floor of the commons and around the gathered Rockets. Casually, I walked the short distance to the first door in the hallway and glanced quickly through the window, trying not to arouse suspicion.

There were scientists crowded into the brightly lit room, some of them at computers, others crowded around something at the far wall. I couldn't see it, but I could guess that it was none other than Mewtwo. I needed some way to talk to him, just to get an idea of what Team Rocket was planning and maybe access the database, but there was no way in the universe I'd be allowed in there.

Of course, I could always sneak in, but for that, I'd need to get all the scientists out of there. And for that, I'd need…

Chibi.

I had to find somewhere to talk privately for it to work. Unlike last time, in which areas were deserted with everyone searching for me, this time there would be no place to converse secretly. I really could only think of one option, so I set off across the commons. I entered the girls' bathroom and was relieved to see no one else was there. There would be no chance of eavesdropping, so I locked myself in one of the stalls and reached into my pocket to pull out a black Poké ball, enlarging it and opening it.

As always, the flash of energy immediately took the form of the small, spiky, yellow Pikachu hybrid.

"*What the—where the hell are we?!*" Chibi demanded instantly upon looking around.

"The girls' bathroom, just ignore it, you're a Pokémon, and we need to talk privately," I explained flatly. "We're in the Team Rocket base, same one as last time, and I'm hoping to talk to Mewtwo and get more information on what the heck Team Rocket's been doing lately, only there are tons of people all around, so I'd need a diversion."

"*I'm guessing that's where I come in,*" he said, grinning slyly.

"Of course," I confirmed. "You know this base, so I need you to tell me a good place to release you where you can wreak a bit of havoc for, say…at least five minutes, preferably ten so I can look at the database. Then, in the confusion, I can recall you, slip out, and then get back to Stalker with a ton of new information."

He nodded and thought for bit before saying all of a sudden, "*The seventh hallway, the Office Division, would be best. Most everyone there's in individual rooms and doesn't have Pokémon. So just release me there, and when things get too rough, I'll run back to the where you are, and we can figure out how you can recall me without being found out.*"

"Alright, that's perfect, thanks," I said, recalling him, replacing his Poké ball, unlocking the stall, and setting off for the Office Division.

It was the second one on the right, easily recognizable for its professional atmosphere and overall look of some sort of business office. Everyone was working, and none were even looking at us. Yet again, I pulled out the ebony ball and released the mutant.
"*Yeah, this is good, now get out of here, now,*" he hissed urgently.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I left the area immediately and ran back toward the fifth hallway. I was about halfway there when the crackle of electricity filled my ears and there was a bout of frantic yelling and, soon enough, pandemonium ensued.

Office Rockets ran into the commons shouting, Executives rushed over while barking out orders, uninvolved Rockets started panicking… Just before I got to the Experiment Regulation Center, the door nearly flew off its hinges as the scientists and workers burst out yelling various things, and I caught the words "Number nine back?!" before they dashed off.

Attempting to keep from being trampled while stifling a laugh, I wondered if this was what it had been like in the commons when I had first been discovered. Working as quickly as possible, I flipped open my Rocket Communicator, quickly scanned the message Stalker had sent me so long ago, found the code, and hurriedly typed it before slipping unnoticed into the chamber.

It was much larger than I had guessed, and was literally lined in computerized machines and the like. The main computer, and therefore the database, lay on the left wall, shut off, unfortunately, and I didn't dare risk the same scenario as last time. Instead, I focused my attention on the devices organized mainly along the back wall, and most importantly, what sat in one of them.

"Mewtwo!" I exclaimed.

The pale violet, humanoid experiment sat cross-legged in a circle of some sort, various wires attached to him. His long, almost rubbery tail draped limply off the side, and his paws hung stationary in his lap. The cat-like head rose slightly when I called his name, and his brilliantly dark purple eyes opened with faint recognition.

<You, it's you from before…why have you come…?> he asked weakly, his mental voice resounding within my mind.

"I wanted to know what was going on, and what they were doing with you, and I don't have much time," I rapidly explained.

He looked slightly taken aback at my question, but nodded solemnly and answered, <I don't know what they did, but I feel I can scarcely move. It's almost as if I'm completely at their mercy. Yet from what I feel…I had such incredible strength before. I feel as though I should be superior to them, but I don't know why.>

"You're right," I replied. "Pokémon and humans each have their strengths and weaknesses, but the Legendaries are pretty much the strongest things on earth. Since you were cloned from Mew, you gained those ancient powers."

<Legendaries…there is much talk of that. If the Legendaries are so superior, then why do the humans speak of them as though they are nothing but pawns…pieces of a plan that must be obtained? These so-called Legendary Pokémon are in danger, that much is certain.>

I nodded. "I suppose that's just the way it is…humans have controlled animals since forever, then Pokémon came next a thousand years ago or so, and now the Legendaries, but…" My voice faltered, and I added to myself, "They're crazy if they honestly think they can control all of the Legendaries." But then…they already had gained control over Mewtwo and—

"Holy crap, this is it, isn't it?!" I said suddenly, interrupting my own thoughts. "This is 'the room' they were all so scared about…this is where all the others lost every shred of reality…. But that didn't happen to you, right? I mean, you can still think and talk, so—"

<They spoke of that; they said that the will of such powerful creatures could never truly be broken, yet my body, indeed, is almost completely under their control. And in battle, the power they wield…>—he trailed off, and despite his little strength, I could see his paws clenched into fists—<I am nothing but a slave to them…they think they can use my power?>

"Look, if there's one thing I know, it's don't give up your hope, cause from what I've heard…when in a situation like this, hope is all you really have. But there won't be any left for any of us if the Rockets end up controlling the Legendaries. I need you to tell me which one is next, who are they targeting now, when is it planned?"

He lowered his head slightly and closed his eyes, concentrating hard. <Next week, maybe sooner, although everything has already been prepared. I don't know what they are trying to do, though, but I think it involves me.>

"Great, thanks…and don't worry, somehow, either I or one of my teammates will get you out of this," I promised.

Mewtwo let his mouth form a slight grin, and though it looked slightly forced, it was fitting just the same in a way. I turned and exited the room before sprinting through the scrambled Rockets in the commons toward where most of the commotion was. By now, it seemed like every Pokémon training Rocket in the whole base had a slew of monsters out trying to capture the lone experiment on the run.

There had to be some section where there wouldn't be that many people, some area that no one worked in… I sprinted to the directory and frantically looked over the entire thing. The storage area—that would work! I charged back into the crowd and though the Office Division, where several of the walls were already charred black and sizzling from the heat of Chibi's attack. Pushing to get around several people, I saw the main line where various Pokémon were charging through hallways trying to capture Chibi without completely demolishing the building.

Using the first idea that came to mind, I said loudly, "Just make sure it doesn't get into the storage area, cause we'd never find it there!" and then retreated back into the mass.

He most definitely had to have heard me because several seconds later, a small, yellow form jumped over the heads of several Rockets, landed right in the middle of everyone, and set off running around legs and feet to get to the storage area, wherever it was. I hadn't paid attention to its location on the directory, but I ran as fast as I could after Chibi, who headed speedily to the second hallway, followed by all the other Rockets and me.

In contrast to the white and brightly lit office area we had just come from, the second hallway was drab, gray, and mostly concrete and rusted metal with passages branching off into areas filled with boxes, crates, machinery, and various other things. I saw Chibi dart down the left corridor, and I followed, glancing into the storage chambers as I went, but figuring he wouldn't be out in the open like that.

"*Jade,*" I heard him whisper.

I spun around, trying to find the location of the voice.

"Did you hear that?" someone questioned. I turned around to see that a guy in his late teens was the one who had said it.

"Do you know Pokéspeech?" I asked.

"Yeah, it sounded like a Pokémon saying 'Jade.'" he said.

"Hey, isn't that the name of that girl who stole the experiments and helped crash that plane?" I asked with mock curiosity, hoping to throw him off.

"Hey, hey yeah, that's her, holy shit, there must be rebels here trying to screw with our mission!" he exclaimed before running off to most likely report his theory to the first Executive he could find.

No one else was there, but there was a Rocket coming down this way, so I ducked inside the area and around the boxes, where I saw Chibi hiding in a space between two crates. I frantically recalled him into his Poké ball and hoped to get out of that area and out of the base as soon as possible, but then something occurred to me. Now that the Rockets knew "I" was here, they'd be on the lookout for rebels, and just like before, the exits would be closed and the base on high alert. Man, what was I thinking?! My stupid idea to throw suspicion off myself had only made things worse.

Upon arriving in the commons, I ran into what ultimately was a mixed blessing. Mainly, I saw Astra standing on top of several chairs talking through a megaphone. I turned away so she wouldn't see me and listened to what she was saying.

"Listen up and don't panic! We believe the base has come under attack by several rebels, and if we give them time to figure out what we're doing and counter it, then we're done for. Operation L:005 starts now, Main Operation members taking part, to your places. Everything should be in order regardless of everyone being early, and guards, don't let anyone out of this base without special permission. Let's do this!"

She jumped down and immediately, the Rockets started stirring and heading for the…eighth hallway. I had no idea what that was, and couldn't go check, seeing as I was being led there anyway by the crowd and I knew that I had to find a way to sneak into Operation: L005. My face fell when I saw that right at the entrance to the last hallway, guards were checking the ID of everyone. They would know I wasn't supposed to be on the mission.

Now panicking, I knew that my only option was to find some other way into the eighth hallway. I searched frantically until I found a chair and then stood on it to see where the other Rockets were going. It looked to be a rather dark and wide area, and I sprinted back to the directory to see what it was.

The Transportation Division…seeing as there were only eight hallways, I knew what it had to be—the hangar that Tyson had taken me into when I was captured way back when. I racked my brain for any possible way to get into it other than the main hallway entrance and the vehicle runway of course, which was outside and most definitely closed up. I knew I had to be running out of time, but it was right then that I remembered. There had been an office in the hangar. Tyson had gone into it to brief his overseer of the mission.

Running as fast as I possibly could, I dashed back toward the Office Division, where Chibi had certainly caused a lot of damage. Already Rockets were working on knocking down the twisted and blackened walls, and I walked casually past them. I managed to find a list of all the offices and rapidly scanned it, looking for some hint. Main Operation Regulations and Documenting—that had to be it because nothing else seemed even close. It was number 024, so I rounded a corner and looked over the room numbers until I found it. Knowing I wouldn't have much time until I would be seen, I grabbed my Communicator and searched over the long list of codes until I found the right one, opened the door, strode through the office without even looking at it, and opened the back door, which locked from the inside.

I stared as I felt waves of déjà vu rise in the back of my head; it was the first glimpse I had ever gotten of the main Team Rocket base, and now I was here again. This time, however, instead of the transport jet, there were trucks, lots of them: pickups, semis, vans…and almost all of them were equipped with all sorts of machinery. It seemed as though everything was already loaded, and as Mewtwo had said, although the mission was to take place in a week, the whole thing was prepared.

With a glance at the hallway opening, I saw that they still weren't done checking over all the Rockets, mainly because they had to do it one at a time to make sure no rebels got through. Trying to avoid being spotted, I walked slowly along the wall toward a semi truck that still had the back open and no Rockets by it. Figuring that it would be one of my only chances to sneak onto one of the Rockets' vehicles, I quickly sauntered over inconspicuously and climbed into the spacious back area.

An enormous machine, mainly a twisted hunk of wires and parts, filled most of the space, however at a closer look, the entire structure looked very solid, and more like it was meant to be together. The main base part connected to a series of joints where it probably could move, and the entire top part jutted out in a pointed and rather streamlined fashion. Overall, it was obvious that it was a weapon.

Still, there was enough room in the back for me to kneel down out of sight. As soon as I got situated, I pulled out my Rocket Communicator and called Stalker immediately. The screen glowed as it waited for him to answer, and then finally, his face appeared on the screen.

"Jade?" he asked. He leaned over slightly as though trying to see what was behind me through his own screen. "Where are you?"

"The Rocket base, yeah, I'm on an unauthorized mission, but it's important, and Team Rocket's going after another Legendary!" I explained without pausing at all.

"They are? Which one?" he said, concerned.

"I don't know, but because I caused a bit of a stir with them so I could talk to Mewtwo, they're going through with it now, and it's big, it's bigger than the Raikou one because only certain Rockets have been chosen, and it's been way secret."

"Damn, I should've known about this…I'll call any other infiltration members in that base and see if they haven't already heard about it and snuck on. We'll need everyone we can get working from the inside. As soon as I can, I'll have any members of the active force that can fly over get there first, and then the others who seem most capable with follow on my Pokémon. And is that a machine behind you?"

"Huh, oh, yeah," I said, moving out of the way of the screen so he could see.

He nodded. "Sabotage it. It's one of the new prototype stun machines. Paralyzes, saps energy, and induces incredible pain to the target. We can't let them use that on a Legendary, and depending on which one it is, they'll have a specific strategy to counter it, like they did with Raikou and the Thunder Field." The screen returned to the main menu as he turned off his Communicator.

I replaced it in my pocket and looked up to see a Rocket glancing along the stun ray, giving it a quick inspection before pulling the back hatch shut and locking it.

A pitch-black veil of darkness enveloped the inside of the truck, and while I wasn't exactly afraid of the dark, who isn't uneasy being completely unable to see? I soon arrived at a solution, however, and pulled out all three of my Poke balls to release Firestorm, Swift, and Chibi. The light bursts temporarily lit up the surrounding, but as soon as the ruby flame lizard formed, the ember tipping his tail illuminated the inside of the truck, flickering and dancing across the metal in a constantly wavering orange glow.

"*What the—where are we?*" Firestorm asked instantly.

Not really looking up, Swift replied, "*Somewhere Team Rocket related,*"

"How'd you know?" I asked.

"*Deduction,*" the beige hawk muttered cryptically, raising his wings in a sort of shrug to let the matter drop.

"Okay…anyways, we're in the back of a Team Rocket truck. I originally intended to just go on a mission to find out some things and talk to Mewtwo, but now we're caught in the middle of having to prevent Legendary capture as well. This machine sounds like serious bad news, so we need to screw with it as much as we can. Let's get to work."

Much easier said than done. That thing was like solid rock—no more because we probably would have been able to deal with just rock. Firestorm tried breathing flames at it, but there was no effect whatsoever, not even any glowing to show that the metal was hot. Chibi unleashed his most powerful lightning assault at it, but had to stop within seconds or he wouldn't have enough power left for the likely battles when we got there. And Swift, who actually came up with the most practical plan of all, tried striking the wires with a Wing Attack. Firestorm nearly broke his claws on simply the thin power cables running between its sections, and I concluded that it had to be coated in something extremely hard, perhaps diamond, although I had a sickening feeling that it was Rapidash hoof. Those fire horses' hooves were pretty much the hardest substance known to man.

We had been in there for about an hour before I felt the vehicle slow down, and we had only succeeded in melting/slicing through one wire. One. What on earth was that thing designed to withstand, cause whatever it was, it had to know nearly every element of attack there was.

I heard the lock to the hatch click, and I recalled the three Pokémon and ducked behind the mechanism before the back swung open.

"C'mon, we don't have much time, I need the team assigned to this L.A.R. to move it," a Rocket said, walking off. Knowing I only had one shot or I'd get caught, I climbed around the ray, jumped down from the back of the semi truck, and rushed off to blend in with several other Rockets who actually belonged on this mission. Unlike last time, we weren't in a clearing, and when I looked around, all of the Rockets' cars formed a circle and were hidden alongside trees. Why would they need to do that?

Antennas shot up from most of the pickups. Vans unloaded more members and revealed rays and other weapons along their top. The semis unloaded the heavy artillery, the L.A.R.s as they apparently were called, and now seeing them from a distance, they were very similar to what they had used to stun Raikou with. Seeing as the Legendary control technology had been invented way back when I rescued Chibi, the whole entire Technology division had to have been working on the L.A.R.s for the past month and a half.

The last two semis, however, held equally dangerous things….

From the first, Mewtwo walked out, his eyes glowing with a dull, dangerous blue. I knew the Rockets were currently controlling him, but it was only then that it suddenly hit me. Mewtwo was how they were going to capture the target Legendary; the L.A.R.s would be for immobilization, but the heavy damage would be from Mewtwo.

I gazed past the tall, gray-white, cat-like creature and laid eyes upon the second, which was what truly surprised me. An immense, shaggy auburn beast stepped heavily out from the second truck, its eyes glowing with a similar mindlessness, hiding the frantic mind trapped, unable to do a thing. Its fearsome face was covered from above its eyes with a pointed yellow crest, the sides dominated by a crimson star shape, and its short snout thrusted downward in two cobalt, almost fang-like shapes. But from its head flowed a thick, unruly mane, covering the chest of its noble, leonine body. Immense, padded blue paws struck the dirt, and its almost cloud-like tail billowed majestically despite the lack of wind.

Entei. Here? Wasn't Entei owned by the Johto Force? The Kanto Force must have borrowed it to use for this mission, and it soon was apparent to me that there was no way we could keep them from catching…whatever Legendary they were going for.

But why all this overkill for just one Legendary?

I scanned each Rocket's face, but saw no one from The Rebellion that I knew, mainly because the only members I was acquainted with were on the active force. Then again, more members would be showing up soon, and that was a good thing.

At that thought, I immediately remembered that I was supposed to call Stalker and retrieved my Communicator like lightning, entering his number like before.

"Hey, we're here, but I don't really know where here is," I said as soon as he picked up.

"If you can see anything above the trees, look if there are any mountains," he instructed.

I glanced quickly around, but seeing as there was no clearing, it made no difference. "I dunno, I can't see anything, the trees are too dense."

"How long was the drive?"

"Around an hour I guess," I said, shrugging.

"Hmm, then you're probably somewhere northeast of Viridian, maybe northwest of Celadon. I'll have everyone fly over that can, along with my Pokémon, and they'll probably be able to find the Rockets from the air, so all four of my flying Pokémon can fly back and bring more of the trainers I'm sending."

It sounded like a good plan, so I said, "Alright, bye," hung up, and watched the Rockets' actions, intrigued. I couldn't do anything, really, until the Rockets started focusing their attention on the Legendary. Then I'd be able to either sabotage something or meet up with the arriving Rebellion members and openly fight.

Entei was led out somewhere in the middle of the circle, while Mewtwo remained back by one of the L.A.R.s. The handlers had one last small discussion before running back to their positions, leaving Entei in the middle.

"Everyone to their places, guards and regulators on Mewtwo and all the weapons, we start now!" an Executive shouted.

I felt my heart thundering in my chest in anticipation, but there was hardly any reaction to the loud cry of commencement. The Rockets crouched back in their hiding places, and I stayed near off to the side again and behind a tree so that no one would know I wasn't supposed to be there. The main Legendary handler then pushed several buttons upon a large device he was holding and grinned malevolently.

Entei's eyes radiated once more with the indifferent glow before it let out a roar, a roar so high-pitched and eerie that it resounded throughout the atmosphere, yet seemed to be barely audible at the same time. The call echoed in my ears, and it was strange in that it wasn't true Pokéspeech, and yet I felt the meaning grasp my mind in a deeper sense…like the deeper sense that makes true learning of Pokéspeech possible.

"*Cousins! I call out to you, the three Titans of the Elements, I have escaped from the humans, but they seek to imprison me once more. I am in need of your aid!*"

So, that was it…they were using Entei because Legendaries could specifically contact each other so that only the targets, and any others in the area, obviously, would hear the message.

They were going after all three Legendary Birds.

That was why they had two super Pokémon and a slew of L.A.R.s with them.

But if all three attacked together, there could be some hope…perhaps the Rockets were in over their head?

An eerie calm swept over the surrounding. Distant sounds pricked at my ears…a small crackling, the whooshing of wind, and a strange popping…steadily growing louder…

They were here.

Three impossibly immense birds soared into view, their overbearing impression of raw power unnerving even some of the Rockets. All three of them were just so incredible, so majestic, it seemed near ridiculous that if we didn't do something soon, they would be nothing but slaves.

The first bird, an extraordinary phoenix spiraled down in a tight circle, turning the very air into a swirling inferno of scorching heat with its presence. Flaming orange colored plumage covered its lean, streamlined body, and crimson flame erupted from the feathers upon its head, wings, and tail. Each flap of its mighty wings made the sky scarily bright with a scarlet glow and scattered hundreds of trailing embers in the creature's wake.

…Moltres, the Legendary Kanto Bird of Fire…

In stark contrast, the second was more graceful and less aggressive-looking, however I knew that was merely its appearance, and it seemed that just a simple stirring of its long, narrow wings stirred an arctic storm and sent the thermometer plunging. The falcon's azure down was fluffier, turning into a sort of snowy mane around its chest. Its beak and talons were an icy shade of gray, and three pointed cobalt crests curved back from the top of its head. Most striking, however, was its tail, a wonderful swirling of three extremely flexible feathers, flapping about in a frenzy.

…Articuno, the Legendary Kanto Bird of Ice…

And finally, the last, soaring high on short, broad wings and huge pointed feathers that looked as sharp as blades. Its head and neck were almost heron-like with its long, orange, pointed beak, however the feathers upon its head were thrusted back in stiff spikes, similar to the ones dominating its wings and tail. Midnight black plumes alternated with the yellow on its wings and tail, and its entire body sounded of the cracking of static electricity.

…Zapdos, the Legendary Kanto Bird of Lightning…

All three of the awe-inspiring, winged legends soared around the volcano beast on the ground like vultures before spiraling down to touch their talons onto the dirt. They gazed at Entei, intrigued.

Entei's eyes stopped glowing and returned to the normal roan shade. And yet still, there was something about them…somehow, I could sense the pain and sorrow behind them

"Cousin Entei, it is good to see you again," the lightning bird said, sending a commanding and echoing, yet young-sounding male voice reverberating through the trees. "But how have you escaped? My sisters and I feared for the worst after the legends came under repeated capture in both Johto and Hoenn. …And why have you not called for your sister, Suicune?"

I noticed the blazing phoenix glancing back and forth, not seeing the Rockets, but letting her bright sapphire eyes scan the surrounding cautiously, as though expecting something.

But over by another L.A.R., I could see Mewtwo, tail twitching ever so slightly. His eyes closed slowly and scrunched up, as though he was trying to concentrate the hardest he ever had.

The trap was set. I could see the three birds eyeing Entei when it didn't respond. All the Rockets had commanded it to do was simply to say what it had earlier. L.A.R.s charged noiselessly. Moltres grew more unnerved.

<Get out of here, now, it's a trap!!!> Mewtwo commanded suddenly, breaking free from the control just enough to shout. His body sparked in pain as the Rockets slammed a button that waves of power surging through him. Moltres shot into the air immediately. L.A.R.s fired!

Beams of yellow shot out from all around, encircling the birds in an impenetrable web of energy. The other two Legendaries took to the air immediately just as Entei let loose a massive fireball from all over its body. Flame surged through the trees, incinerating everything, yet stopping before coming to the Rockets and the L.A.R.s. The battle was now in full view, and the vehicles and the Rockets operating them were in plain sight.

Moltres let out a high roar of a screech and surrounded her entire body with a living flame before crashing headlong into the barrier that encircled the four Pokémon. There were too many L.A.R.s; the machines could easily absorb the power, however immense.

Mewtwo stiffened up, eyes blazing with energy suddenly before surging forward in the air, his body enveloped with a raging blue flame.

"That's right, show them no mercy. You do as we command," the Rocket controlling Mewtwo muttered. My eyes widened involuntarily. I knew that voice, and I knew that the lead experiment handler was none other than Tyson.

More explosions—Zapdos attempted to aim for the Rockets and the nearest mechanism and struck it with his ridiculously high voltage. The ray sparked, absorbing the energy and channeling some of it to the others until finally, it sent back a beam that struck the bright yellow bird of prey right in the lower stomach. He recoiled back, wincing in pain at the same time as Articuno was struck by Mewtwo's energy flame.

I felt horrible…all three of these fantastic legends would be captured, and here I was completely unable to do anything whatsoever. There was no way…the birds were doomed.

A stream of white radiation surged towards the L.A.R. barrier! The beam was weak, but it caught the attention of the Rockets, who glanced up immediately to see twenty or so large Pokémon soaring closer constantly. The source of the assault was a tall, shaggy bird with long feathers blowing in the wind and a crown of red spikes atop both its head and the base of its long, pointed beak. It was none other than Ryan's Fearow.

The Rebellion was here!

Several of the Rockets swore profoundly at the new threat, but many remained cool and confident in that if even the Legendaries couldn't handle the L.A.R.s, that there wasn't much a bunch of kids could do.

But then suddenly, Stalker's Charizard bolted forward in a flash and unleashed an inferno upon the closest Rockets, who had pulled out their guns and already had begun to take aim. The blast hit and entirely enveloped them, burning them alive. I turned away almost instinctively and tried to block out the Rockets' final frantic screams and the panicked shouting of the other onlookers. Charizard showed little remorse as he soared lower above what were now only piles of smoldering ash and gave a look of pure challenge to the rest of the Rockets standing nearby. The sickening stench of charred flesh filled the air, and I could see that the young trainers riding the fiery dragon had their eyes wide in horror.

All of Stalker's Pokémon landed and allowed their passengers to dismount before taking off for Midnight Island to bring more members. I ran over to the crowd of trainers, releasing my three Pokémon from their Poke balls as I went.

"Ryan!" I shouted, figuring he had to have some sort of plan since he was the leader of the active branch. "We all need to find a way to overload those machines, they're called L.A.R.s. They can absorb energy, which is why the three birds can't break out."

"Stronger than the Thunder Field, huh…" he muttered, running a hand through his dark brown hair. He turned toward everyone and spoke louder. "If they absorb energy and all hook together, then to overload them, we'd just need to lead separate attacks on all of them at the same time as the Legendary birds. That's our best bet. Just, if you honestly don't think you can help, then at least try not to get shot."

Everyone nodded.

"*I can keep us shielded from bullets with a force field for a little while, but it looks like we have to act now,*" Chibi stated, glancing back that the raging battle in the midst of the L.A.R.s. With a glance up at the sky, however, he added, "*Hey, look.*"

A chocolate brown and dusty bellied eagle streaked forward with the long scarlet and golden plumes upon its head streaming in the wind. Unsurprisingly, the rider mounted atop it was the tall, teenaged, light-brown haired trainer, Spencer. The air ruffled his jeans and his gray t-shirt as the bird Pokémon descended quickly and allowed its rider to disembark.

"Stalker called and said you guys would probably need help," Spencer explained upon arriving. "It's major, he's getting everyone down here, so I've brought even more reinforcements…."

Just a few seconds afterward, three Pokémon darted through the trees—two sprinting along the ground, and the third hovering above them.

It couldn't be…they were back?

Sure enough, the first and fastest was a tall, erect, emerald green-armored praying mantis, running unbelievably fast on thick, clawed legs, his blade-lined arms slicing the air continuously. Keen, focused rust-colored eyes peered out from under the ridges of bone that thrust out from his sleek head, vaguely reptilian in appearance.

Without even looking, I knew the second. It was a large, snowy-white, wolfish creature with the facial features of a cat and an almost helmet-like white shape on the right of her head that curved with the ebony blade along the left to make the yin yang symbol. Dense obsidian claws struck the ground repeatedly as she ran, and the mane upon her chest streamed with the breeze.

And of course, the third was a dragon, a long, verdant, streamlined dragon with small, clawed forelegs, large, rounded hind legs, and red-lined diamond shaped wings that were very similar to the fins at the end of his tail.

"*Long time, no see, eh Jade?*" Razors remarked, letting a slight grin form on his short snout.

"Razors? Stygian, Aros, what are you three doing here?" I asked.

"Let's just leave it at…Stalker told me how to get in touch with them," Spencer said with a slight grin. "Even after escaping, Stalker figured they'd be useful to The Rebellion."
Chibi stepped forward, staring. "*Razors…?*" he said slowly in disbelief.

"*Hey...*" the Scyther said with a solemn nod, raising a scythe barely.

Eyes still widened, Chibi finally gave a small smile. It was odd, slightly like Mewtwo's—as though it was forced, but still fitting. And I still found Razors's personality surprising almost, after all that had happened in the plane incident. But, that was outside of his control…and as fellow experiments, Razors and Chibi were obviously as close as brothers were.

"*No time for reunions, we need to focus,*" Stygian said bluntly.

"*Yeah…she's right. We can each lead an attack on separate groups of Rockets,*" Chibi suggested, quickly coming out of his stupor. "*Firestorm and Swift can come with me, Stygian and Razors, you deal with the Rockets attacking the rebels, Jade, you ride with Aros for an aerial approach along with Spencer on his Pidgeot. Plus, some of his other Pokémon can help us out as well,*" Chibi directed.

"*Wait, wait, what?*" a disgruntled Aros said. "*For one, who put you in charge, pipsqueak, and another, no human is riding on my back.*"

"*Pipsqueak?*" Chibi's eyes slowly narrowed as his expression rapidly changed. "*You want to challenge me, dragon butt?*" he asked, making a "bring-it-on" motion with his hands.

"*EVERYONE SHUT UP!!!!!*" Razors shouted, waving his scythes in the air. "*And you…*" he said, turning toward Aros, "*Chibi'd know better than any of us what to do in a situation like this, and in any case, you'd do well to have some human intuition with you in a time like this.*"

Aros nodded reluctantly, spread his thin, pointed wings, and leaned forward for me to mount. I felt kind of awkward because he obviously had a rather negative view of humans, but nonetheless, we needed to do whatever we could. But first…we were now openly fighting Team Rocket, and pretending to be one of them was unnecessary. I slipped the uniform off of my clothes, stuck it in a plastic bag, and tied the bag to my right belt loop.

"*Alright, The Rebellion members have already started. Just make sure no one gets shot, and let's do this. Those Rockets are goin' down,*" Chibi said. I opened my two Poké balls to release a very confused Firestorm and Swift, who followed Chibi while he explained the situation to them. Razors and Stygian darted off in another direction. Spencer released his other four Pokémon: the icy white seal, Dewgong; the powerful, striped firedog, Arcanine; the black, fur-caped wolf, Mightyena; and the tall, cream-colored, flame-necked beast, Typhlosion.

"Alright, you guys, go with the other Rebellion members and make sure they don't get hurt, and be ready to make a lot of ice shields, Dewgong," Spencer instructed before taking to the sky on his Pidgeot, soon followed by Aros and me.




...Guess what? Scroll to the next post!

 

[Chibi Pika]

The aerial view of the Legendary battle was even more horrific. Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres were reluctant to harm their fellow Legendaries, which left them in a sort of game of cat and mouse—or rather, cats and birds—with nowhere to fly. Zapdos let sparks cover his body and dove downward to ram into Entei in an attempt to paralyze it. Lightning bolts surged as he immobilized the volcano beast, but suddenly Mewtwo knocked him flying into the L.A.R. barrier.

Articuno let out a cry and flapped her wings furiously, stirring up a flurry of snow and ice in the air. Crystals formed on Mewtwo's bony arms, but he silenced the storm and shattered the ice into shards with a wave of power from a single hand. In that instant, Entei fired its back legs and leaped up onto Articuno, breathing out white-hot flames and slashing her wildly. But then, Moltres streaked forward like a bullet and knocked the leonine creature off of the now bloodied cobalt falcon. Azure feathers soaked with scarlet, the bird of ice retreated to the side while firing frigid beams of blue energy at her opposition.

"Hellooo, earth to Jade, we've gotta think of a plan," Spencer said, shaking me from my thoughts.

"Er, I don't know, I never expected things to end up so one-sided," I replied, glancing down at the progress of the Rebellion members. Dewgong had surrounded the circle of Rockets and L.A.R.s with a ring of ice so it could move around and was acting as the main protector alongside Chibi. The both of them had created force fields, yellow and blue, respectively, and had encircled the young trainers to keep them from getting shot. Bullets pinged off of shields, and Rockets dropped unconscious from stray lightning bolts and blows from Spencer's Pokémon and the other two experiments. The L.A.R.s, unfortunately, didn't require constant handling to remain running.

I also noticed that Stalker's Pokémon had returned with another group of trainers. We needed all the help we could get.

"*With them attacking the Rockets and the L.A.R.s, the only good we can do is attack the energy field itself,*" Aros commented, focusing his red-lensed eyes at the ground.

It sounded good, but it also seemed like the obvious answer. If the L.A.R.s were built to absorb energy, then when they were overloaded, they had to send it flying back at the source. No one else was attacking from the air because it wouldn't make any progress. There had to be another way….

"No…no, I don't think that'll work," I said.

Spencer nodded and added, "Prob'ly would just fry us like it did Zapdos when I first flew in."

"*But—*" Aros was about to protest.

"Hey, like Razors said, we're human, you're a Pokémon. We may suck, but we've got our strengths, now let's dive down," I said, nudging him lightly with my legs. The dragon and the eagle soared around the force field and down through the trees into the midst of the conflict between the Rockets and the rebels. We flew far to fast for the remaining Rockets to react and finally landed alongside an unmanned L.A.R.

"Oh, no you don't!" I heard a voice yell. I pivoted around and saw Astra atop her mighty Arcanine. The fluffy orange canine sprinted forward on huge, padded paws, ready to strike.

A blur of green to the left! Impossibly fast, an emerald streak flew up and smacked her on the side of the face. She jerked hard after being hit with the flat of Razors's blade and was knocked off the back of the firedog. Astra fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Typhlosion, c'mere!" Spencer yelled to the beige fire beast, which was nearby.

After seeing the three Pokémon lined up against it, the Arcanine snarled in surrender. It then nudged its nose under its trainer and rolled her limp body onto its back before racing off through the trees.

Razors leaned against his right scythe, wings limp and panting hard after flying at what was probably the fastest he had ever flown.

"Razors, I'm sorry, but we need you to go tell all of the other Pokémon that we all need to attack the all of the L.A.R.s themselves directly at the same time," I said.

Understanding the urgency of the situation, he nodded wordlessly and raced off.

"Typhlosion, get over to that one over there!" Spencer commanded, pointing at the very last L.A.R. not surrounded by Rockets or trainers. "Let's do this, Pidgeot, Hyper Beam, Typhlosion, Fire Blast!"

At once, the two opened their mouths wide and fired out their most powerful attacks, striking the midnight-black machines with the rush of energy while Aros breathed out a lick of powerful, cerulean dragon flames. In the distance, I could hear the commands of all the Rebels and the cries of their Pokémon.

"*Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, unleash all of your energy at the barrier from all over!*" Chibi cried, his voice weak from having had to sustain his lightning force field of protection for so long.

The immense, yellow, heron-like bird turned his spiky head to gaze curiously upon his genetic heir, which may have been vastly different, as well as weaker than he, but still bore the soul of a Legendary. Zapdos let out a cry and discharged every ounce of lightning within him and let it fly wild into the barrier. Articuno and Moltres did the same, letting loose humongous waves of fire and arctic energy from within themselves. Mewtwo and Entei were knocked back from the force, and the L.A.R.s sparked as they neared the power limit and had nowhere to discharge the excess power. Strands of elemental energy leaped off of the barrier as it intensified, but then rapidly sent shimmering waves into the atmosphere.

Right at that second, Moltres discontinued her assault and flew up into the barrier, crashing into it awkwardly, but letting flames dance across her feathers as she continued to push against it. Finally, the phoenix's streamlined head slipped through the transparent wall.
An impossibly high screech escaped her, and as her call filled the air, the vague meaning behind the words took hold in my mind, just like with Entei.

"*I call out to the Legendaries, if any of you hears this, come now, for Articuno, Zapdos, and I have fallen prey to the same ones who have imprisoned the legends before, please, come—*"

At once, she cried out and was knocked backward, spiraling limply downward and colliding with the hard ground.

"Moltres!" Zapdos cried, diving toward the ground to fend off the Rockets' opposing Legendaries.

"It didn't work, I can't believe it, it didn't work, they're still trapped," I muttered, staring in disbelief.

But right at that instant, a tiny, yet unbelievably fast figure surged at lightning speed straight into the heart of the L.A.R. barrier. The small, cat-like creature let out a high-pitched cry as its entire body seethed with unbelievable energy. Finally, with a whip of its long, thin tail, the light rose-colored feline slipped through the weakened energy wall and into the battle zone.

Spreading its short arms out to the side, its eyes glowed with a fierce blue radiation as it unleashed a wave of power flying wildly throughout the air. All five Legendaries turned suddenly in surprise.

Mew was here!




I liked this chapter, but Chapter 13 is actually my favorite. Please review!

 

[Chibi Pika]

Oh hey, it's been over a year since I last posted a chappie here. Lulz. I'll post one just for the hell of it. In any case, chapter 13 is my favorite chapter, so meh.

Crappy chapter title from revision 3 says hi.

Chapter 13: Extreme Electric Excitement

Mew, I couldn't believe it, it was really Mew. Sightings of the other Legendaries happened occasionally, but Mew…it was like the rarest thing on earth… Mewtwo and Entei stood to their feet, looking hardly fazed by the attack, but when Mew hovered alongside the three Legendary birds, I knew the tables had suddenly turned immensely in our favor.

"That's it, open fire!"

"*Jade, look out!*"

Chibi leaped in front of us and sparked insanely to produce a lighting barrier right at the second as a camouflaged jeep sped out into the clearing, its passengers all firing at us. I cringed instinctively, but then saw that all of the bullets were blocked by the force field.

"*I can't keep this up, you guys, I'm literally at the end of my power supply. Get out of here, now!*" Chibi shouted, dropping to his knees in pain. The back end of the electric bubble opened slightly for us to leave.

"Come on, Jade!" Spencer yelled, quickly mounting his Pidgeot. I frantically leaped back onto Aros's back, and we took off zooming along the ground at high speed. I could see Spencer's Dewgong in the distance as we sped around the L.A.R. circle, and it was tiring out just like Chibi was.

"What are we gonna do? Our Pokémon are all worn out and the Rockets brought reinforcements," I said worriedly as a crowd of the Rockets' newly released Pokémon charged at the rebels' Pokémon.

"We've got more Rebellion members coming, but then again, that only means more targets for the Rockets," Spencer added grimly.

"We'll have to leave it up to Mew then, cause there's nothing else—" I froze. An icy gale suddenly broke over the area, and a distant, unearthly howl reverberated throughout the trees. "Holy crap…that's—that's Suicune!" I exclaimed.

"Suicune, what in the—how do you know?!" Spencer yelled over the roar of the wind in both our ears.

"I saw her on Midnight Island once, and she sounded like that. She must have heard Moltres's call!" I explained, wondering to myself why Suicune seemed to always be in Kanto if she was a Johto Beast.

"What is this, a Legendary party?!" Spencer asked.

I snickered slightly, but tried to remain serious. I glanced back at the battle in the midst of the L.A.R.s and saw that while Mew had initially been surprised to see Mewtwo, it now had formed energy bubbles around the three birds. It let loose a wave of intense power, knocking Mewtwo and Entei into the overloaded force fields around them.

<I knew something was wrong when Entei called only for the Three Titans, and from Kanto, no less, but I knew not whether to interfere until Moltres cried out,> Mew said, speaking mentally for all to hear in a soft, yet powerful feminine voice, like most of the female Legendaries. She turned to the Rockets, who had regrouped in an attempt to counter the mountain of resistance they were facing. <So…you wish to challenge the power of the Legends? Then you shall face what comes with it,> she said solemnly.

Right that second, an immense, wolfish, cobalt cheetah burst through the trees, snarling as she raced through the crowd of Rockets, scattering gunmen and knocking several trucks over with a loud crash. One of the Rockets turned his gun on her, fired, and hit her on the shoulder. Suicune howled with pain as scarlet blood began to soak her azure coat, but then she knocked the rest of the Rockets back with a wave of blue energy. She stopped suddenly, and I could see a trickle of water running from the sea-green crystal on her head, healing the wound with a faint glow.

With a loud call like the howling of the wind, Suicune fired her back legs and lunged at the L.A.R. barrier, shooting out a beam of blue, radiating bubbles. Finally, she crashed through and landed in the fray on the other side.

But the effects of our combined attack were taking their toll. Glowing tendrils of energy flailed about within the yellow force field, and despite the fact that Mewtwo and Entei were hopelessly outnumbered, the opposing Legendaries were wearing out, and the three birds could hardly fly.

"It's weak, we might be able to shut it off if we attack together again," Spencer commented as we watched the transpiring events from our aerial Pokémon.

I nodded absentmindedly, but was really concentrating on something else entirely. With all of ours and the rebels' Pokémon concentrating their efforts on the newly arrived backup Rockets, the Rockets handling the Legendary control were free to continue running the battle. The L.A.R.s didn't require constant maintenance, but the control over the two Legendaries did.

"Spencer, I've got an idea, but I need you and everyone else to make sure Team Rocket stays where they are now, I think I can free Mewtwo and Entei," I said.

"Sure thing, but what if you get caught?" he asked.

Thinking quickly, I reached into my pockets and pulled out all three of my Poké Balls along with my Communicator. "I can't afford to let them take my Pokémon or figure out who I am, so just in case, hold onto these for now, okay?" I tossed them to him and nudged Aros back in the other direction. He folded his wings back and we streaked back toward the main van.

"Alright Aros, you know your moves better than me, got any good ones for stunning?" I asked.

"*Yep, you just leave the Rockets to me,*" he said with the faint edge of a grin.

The wind whipped my hair back as we flew, and as we neared the Legendary control center, a curious aura began to surround us. I could feel an odd prickling on the back of my neck as a glowing black fog encircled us. Then, in less than a second, we were right in front of the two Rockets, and Aros surged forward to ram them into the metal wall of the back of the van. The aura subsided, and Aros touched down with his rounded hind legs.

"What was that?" I asked, impressed.

"*Faint Attack,*" he said smugly. "*One of my personal favorites.*"

I dismounted the green dragon and checked to make sure the two Rockets, one of which was Tyson, were really knocked out. I then turned to look at the control panel with a frustrated groan. Buttons—endless rows of glowing buttons mixed with various switches. Honestly, why did everything in Team Rocket have to be so complicated?

"Like it couldn't have been simpler…" I muttered under my breath, starting to look over the labels for some sign of what to do. "You have any idea what these do?" I asked Aros.

"*Are you kidding?*" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Then with an odd laugh, he added, "*Isn't this supposed to be the thing you humans are better at?*"

"What's that supposed to mean?" I retorted.

"*Nothing, just saying you think like a Pokémon, and that isn't necessarily a good thing.*"

Trying to ignore the Flygon's comments, I turned and continued to analyze the ridiculously complex controls. "Maybe…there's an off switch or something…?" I mumbled to myself.

"*Yeah, and while we're at, let's look for an off switch on the L.A.R.s,*" Aros replied.

I rolled my eyes. "Not helping."

"*Alright then,* he said simply, turning toward a thick bundle of cords and wires. I had ignored them since there was obviously no way to unplug them, but Aros drew back his right forearm and slashed with faintly glowing claws. The cables sparked as they were severed, and the entire back of the van went dark as the lights and controls died.

"*You think too much,*" he stated with a quiet snicker.

"Hey, who was the one who just said—" I stopped as I heard the spinning of tires getting closer. I jumped out of the back of the vehicle to see two of the jeeps zooming toward us at high speed. "Crap, we gotta get outta here, now!"

Aros shot out of the back area in a flash, slowing just enough to let me jump onto his back. We both flew off around the ring of L.A.R.s with the sounds of shouting and scattered gunfire in the distance.

"Mewtwo and Entei!" I said suddenly to myself, turning to look at the two Legendary Pokémon. Both of them stood stiffly, enveloped by raging flames of blue and red energy. As I watched, the twin blazes slowly died down, and the two creatures fell limply to the ground.

The three Legendary birds and lone Legendary beast looked up with intrigue as Mew cautiously floated near the Rockets' two fallen battlers. The pale rose cat-beast gazed upon her genetic heir with an odd expression of faint pity before turning to Suicune.

<Our work here is done…come, Suicune,> Mew instructed. And the two of them, still surrounded by their protective energy shields, rammed into the L.A.R. force field with an immensely bright glow.

"There, they're escaping!" a Rocket yelled.

I turned toward the other end of the barrier to see the Rocket forces regrouping after having to counter all of the Rebellion members along with Stygian, Razors, and my Pokémon. Overpowered, the rebel forces backed off slightly, giving the Rockets the chance they needed. In an instant, the entire L.A.R. barrier deactivated, Mewtwo and Entei were recalled into twin beams of red light, and the other five Legendaries inside were left unrestrained.

"What? Why did they do that?" I muttered incredulously.

"Now! We only have one shot!" someone ordered.

Purple Poké Balls flew through the air, and the reaction was instantaneous.

Moltres, Zapdos, and Articuno shot into the air in terror, weakened to the point that they had to strain their wings just to stay airborne. Flecks of scarlet blood were scattered throughout the air with each frantic flap.

Of course…the L.A.R.s had served their purpose—the three birds were as weakened as they could get, and now they would be unable to dodge the Rocket's last resort. Master Balls—the same that Raikou had looked on in such fear at when they were thrown at him. If they make contact with any Pokémon, it's caught.

Suicune sprinted out of the way at high speed while letting loose a massive zephyr that swept back around the three birds and knocked back several of the balls. Mew darted forward like a bullet in an attempt to put up a shield around the birds, but—

A sudden beam of red; a Pokémon was being captured! There was a horrifying screech right as the energy was sucked into the ball, which fell to the ground, shuddered, and then lay still.

I frantically looked over the Legendaries: Mew, Suicune, Zapdos, Articuno…Moltres, there was no Moltres…Moltres was caught?!

"No, I don't believe it, they did it!" I shouted in disbelief.

Zapdos folded his wings back and dove forward in an attempt to grab the Master Ball that Moltres had been captured in, but then recoiled back when a second group of Rockets hurled more violet spheres at him.

"No!" Articuno yelled.

In a lightning-fast dive, the cobalt falcon crashed headlong into the goldenrod heron, blocking him from the capture devices and sending the two of them spiraling into the ground with a thud. Surging walls of energy encircled the two of them as Mew flew down to defend. But then, a single L.A.R. charged and fired a pulsing yellow beam at the barrier, shattering it with a crash and then striking the three Legendary Pokémon.

"Now, hurry!" the Rocket manning the L.A.R. yelled.

A third and final group of Rockets ran forward with more Master Balls, and this time Articuno was hit—struck on the back by the infallible capture device. Her entire body was transformed into ruby-colored energy, which was then drawn into the ball.

With a loud cry of pain and rage, Zapdos slowly stood to his feet, but when I looked closer, his entire body seethed with energy. Immense lightning bolts collided with the ray, giving Mew a chance to strike back at the Rockets with a wave of pink energy. The Rocket's Pokémon went flying backward into the trees, allowing the Rebellion members, led by Stalker's Pokémon, to press the attack.

Of course—when the L.A.R.s were a barrier, they sapped the Legendaries' energy and trapped them, but now that it was a beam, Zapdos could absorb the electricity just like Chibi had done so many times.

Strings of electricity surged everywhere as Zapdos took to the sky, letting his Thundershocks rain down upon the Rocket forces. He threw his pointed wings back and dove forward, striking the Master Balls on the ground with apparent hopes of breaking them and freeing Moltres and Articuno. Just as the lightning shattered some of them, the rest suddenly zoomed out of the range of the attack. They were pulled toward a machine on the back of one of the Rockets' trucks through some sort of attraction.

Enraged, the goldenrod bird flew up and let Thunderbolts descend upon the Rockets, enveloping them with incalculable voltage and overloading the power cells in any of the jeeps that didn't have protective force fields. Ball of fire erupted from the vehicles, incinerating anyone nearby and covering the rest with large burns.

<Zapdos, what are you doing?!!!> Mew hissed.

Suicune did not object. The wolfish creature simply stared apathetically at the writhing forms of the Rockets. Her indifference surprised me, as even I had trouble blocking out their screams.

"*The fury of the Legendaries is inescapable…*" Aros commented under his breath while watching the transpiring events with intrigue. "*Any who dare to challenge them must suffer the consequences…*"

"What?" I asked curiously. But before he could answer, the air was filled with the loud crashing of lightning against L.A.R.

"Turn all the other Legendary Assault Rays to offense mode!" a Rocket ordered. All of the remaining Rockets sprinted over to the jet-black machines, and in mere seconds, more yellow beams flew through the air. Mew surround herself with a protective bubble of energy while Zapdos attempted to recharge himself once more.

"We gotta do something, come on, let's dive down and take out one of the Rockets, I've got an idea to stop the L.A.R.s!" I exclaimed as the Rockets ran forward to collect the fallen capture devices.

"*We already tried that, but it's not a barrier anymore, so it won't work!*" Aros protested.

"Exactly—just trust me," I said, and at that, we dove straight down, enveloped once more by the aura of Faint Attack before disappearing completely and ramming into the Rocket guarding the ray.

"Alright," I said, dismounting the dragon and running forward toward the ray gun. "The only reason they used the barrier before was to trap the birds, but now that two are caught and the defense mode is sabotaged, they're trying to distract the other three so that they can get ready to throw more Master Balls."

"*So what can we do?*" he asked.

"As a beam, the L.A.R.s can't absorb or channel energy, so they're not protected against really big attacks. We might be able to override the controls and turn them off."

The second I had said that, Aros opened his mouth and fired out a pulsing orange and yellow beam, aiming for the wires connecting the top and bottom parts. At first, it had no effect, but slowly, the incredibly powerful rush of energy penetrated it, making the ray falter slightly and give off sparks around the bottom before shutting down completely.

"Ha," I said, "whatever they coated it with sure couldn't withstand energy based-attacks. I knew these things had to have a flaw."

Turning back to battle, however, I could see that one less L.A.R. didn't exactly make much of a difference. While the Legendaries were preoccupied by the Assault Rays, the many empty Master Balls were being re-thrown at them. Because Zapdos now had an infinite power supply, he created a thunder barrier around all three of them, blocking both ball and ray.

"Get out of here, now! They've made it impossible to rescue my sisters, so the least I can do is get you two out of here!" Zapdos cried, his voice faltering in the pain of taking in all of the rays' energy. Mew and Suicune hesitated, but now that the spheres containing Moltres and Articuno were hidden just like the original ones used to hold Mewtwo and Entei, there was no reason for them to stay there, and with the L.A.R.s on offense mode, there was nothing preventing them from leaving.

Zapdos opened his force field slightly, allowing the cerulean beast and light pink cat to streak off into the trees before encountering the transportation semis the Rockets had hidden. While the two of them proceeded to destroy the vehicles, Zapdos turned his attention to the L.A.R.s and the remaining Rockets.

The legendary bird of lightning spread his pointed wings out and, with a cry, doubled his force field in size, causing it to collide with one side of the circle of L.A.R.s, knocking them on their side. With that as his final move, he finally managed to gain altitude.

"Jade!" I head Spencer yell.

I turned suddenly to see him flying high on his Pidgeot with two extra trainers behind him. I could see Pidgeot's wings straining and even glowing slightly with the added strength of the Fly technique. "Jade, I don't know what you've been doing over here, but there's nothing more any of us can do here, and we're evacuating all the trainers, so we're gonna need Aros to fly trainers back to Midnight," he said.

"Okay!" I called back from the ground, and he nodded and took off toward Midnight. But right after I said that, I could hear a Rocket shout, "There, the rebels are escaping!" and I immediately ran to the other side of the L.A.R. to see.

Chibi had obviously pulled the same absorbing trick Zapdos had, because he had an enormous force field between the Rockets and the rebels. Verdegon, Ryan's Fearow, and Razors were currently being boarded to fly back to the base.

Wait a minute…Razors? Sure, Scyther could fly, but their wings weren't exactly strong enough to carry passengers.

Gunshots suddenly filled the air for the millionth time that day, and I spun around to find the source. Instinctively, Aros shot into the air, but then realized that I was still on the ground and swooped low and fast toward me. I ran up to him and tried to jump on behind his wings, but ended up mounting right at the base of his tail. At the sound of whizzing bullets, he darted upwards suddenly—a move that would have thrown me off if I hadn't managed to grab the fan at the end of his tail at the last minute.

"Hey Aros, wait, I'm not all the way on!" I yelled.

"*I can't slow down, they'll get us. Just ride it out till I get to the rest of the rebels,*" he replied, diving forward to soar low along the ground. I clenched my teeth and looked on in horror as bullets rushed past us.

A sudden sharp pain in my arm! I lost my grip and fell to the ground, skidding on my back while grunting in pain and gripping my left arm tightly with my right hand. Scarlet blood seeped through my fingers, and when I moved my hand, I could see a deep gash going across the width of my arm.

Where the bullet had cut through the top of it.

Now panicking again, I grasped it even tighter to hinder the blood flow and block out the pain as I struggled to stand despite the ache that filled every inch of me.

No…it was too late; the Rockets were closing in now. Their Pokémon were fending off the remaining forces of the rebels that hadn't already fled, leaving the rest of the force free to close in. Aros swooped low again, attempting to grab me and get us out of here, but after repeated fire, he retreated slightly with lines of blood along his tail and scattered holes in his wings.

"No! That thing's Experiment Twenty-four, don't kill it!" Tyson shouted at the gunmen. Almost immediately after he said that, beams from stun rays filled the air around the Flygon. Seeing that all opportunity was lost, the streamlined emerald dragon soared off to join in the effort to evacuate the remaining Rebellion members.

"He almost risked his life for me," I mumbled, hearing Tyson shout randomly about Experiments Nine, Ten, and Twenty-five. And then, ignoring the pain, but only attempting to fill my mind with what would happen if I didn't escape, I struggled to my feet, still clutching my bloodied arm.

A sudden bolt flew out of nowhere! With no time even to flinch, the electricity struck and surged through me. Struggling to keep from crying out in agony, I stumbled and fell the ground, feeling as though the lightning were tearing me apart.

"Alright, I'm down!!! You don't need to do anything more to keep me from going anywhere, damn it!!!" I ranted. I was now surrounded by the worn remnants of the Rocket force for Operation L:005, and I could see Astra riding up atop her Arcanine with the Raichu perched upon her shoulder.

Another jolt of pain went through my arm, but it felt more distant this time. I glanced up and the Rockets, now deep in a discussion, but even as I watched, everything seemed to blur. And still, the one thought that kept recurring in my mind was what would have happened if the Rockets had aimed a little lower and to the right…

More sparks—that Raichu just wouldn't stop. But now everything was fading, and the last thing I could see was Astra walking up with a mixed expression of satisfaction and pity on her face.

"Sorry," she said. "We just couldn't have you conscious when we brought you back, now could we?"



I opened my eyes slowly, noticing immediately how badly my back hurt. I sat up and stretched, and only then did I notice that I wasn't in the same place I had been before I was knocked unconscious. It was a completely empty room with nothing but two doors—one with a window that I assumed was the entrance and one over to the right—and a small control room of some sort connected to the chamber I was in with a thick pane of glass.

The bag that had been tied to my belt loop was gone, so they obviously had taken my uniform. I widened my eyes suddenly and stuck my hands in my pockets, but found that they hadn't taken my wallet, which held my Rocket ID. I wondered why, but then realized that since Astra knew my Rocket identity anyway, there was no point.

With a glance at my watch, I saw that it was ten, meaning that I had been out for around five hours. I suspected that the Rockets had me sedated, and when I looked at my left arm, I could see blood caked onto a very crude bandage that had probably only been applied to keep their trucks and detention cell clean. It didn't really do much, and while my arm didn't hurt much anymore, my back still ached from falling off Aros.

I could hear several Rockets talking outside the door, and the last thing I caught was, "Just let me talk to her," before Astra opened the door to the cell.

"So…you're awake," she said, walking toward me. "Normally I don't like working this late, but I figured it best if I deal with you."

I glared coldly at her, but after glancing once more around the area, I asked, "What am I here for?"

"Interrogation," she stated simply with a snide grin.

I narrowed my eyes. "And if I don't answer your questions…?"

"Use your imagination," she said, jerking a thumb at the large, orange-furred mouse that had walked in behind her. The Raichu twitched his long, inky-black tail with anxiety, sparks leaping out of his fur.

I struggled to keep a straight face, but in reality, I was in total dread. I knew she would ask things I couldn't possibly answer, and then… I shook my head to get that image out of my mind—the past few times I had encountered her Raichu…

"First things first…where's the rebel base?" she asked.

I groaned mentally—of all the questions. There was no way I could give that away; I needed to think of some way around it. But what, and would she know if I was lying? Maybe I could say it was in some city, no, or maybe a—

"Time's up."

She snapped her fingers, and Raichu instantly let a string of neon electricity fly from his yellow energy sacs. I clenched my teeth hard and twitched wildly from the burst of gut-wrenching pain. It only lasted for a few seconds, but it seemed like forever, and when it finally ended, I gasped for breath and coughed hard, my arms and legs shaking uncontrollably. I looked up to see that the smirk had vanished slightly from her face, but with a vague look of pity, she said matter-of-factly, "Told you so. Ready to try again?"

"Well…" I swallowed hard, thinking fast. "The base, it's…well, it's in Kanto."

"Don't get smart with me," she threatened.

I scowled and spat, "Look. We both know I can't answer it, so can we just move on and get this over with?"

I wasn't sure who was surprised more by the rashness of that comment. Astra raised an eyebrow, but said, "Alright then. Who's your leader?"

Saying the first thing that came to mind, I answered, "Dunno. He never told anyone his name for security reasons. Heck, he stays in his office most of the time and usually gives orders over the intercom. Um, he's pretty tall, but that's about all I know." I smiled in my mind. It seemed like a pretty good lie.

She gave me an odd look like she was trying to figure something out. At first, I thought that my ridiculous story had somehow led her to some conclusion, but then she said, "Is he, or was he ever on Team Rocket?"

"No," I said in a casual tone of voice, but then added, "but he knows people on Team Rocket, and that's how he gets all his inside info."

"Which people on Team Rocket?"

"How should I know?" I replied with a confused shrug. "He didn't just go right out and tell us."

"Well…he obviously teaches his members how to train Pokémon," she said thoughtfully.

Truly curious, I asked, "Yeah, but why is it obvious?"

She laughed. "There's no way your little team could be as formidable as it is now if he hadn't, not to mention the fact that our first battle was a joke with the experiment doing its moves all by itself. So what Pokémon does he use?"

Saying the first random ones that came to mind, I responded, "Um, Blastoise, Ninetales, Muk, Jolteon, and well, those are the only ones I've ever seen him leave with us to battle with."

"Wrong," she said icily, and an even worse flood of electricity followed. I screamed as the unbelievable pain filled every inch of me, and then finally sunk to my knees in agony. Even when it subsided, I sat there stiffly, panting hard.

"You expect me to believe that the Charizard who killed our members wasn't your leader's? Everyone on your team is too young and inexperienced to have one that strong."

"Yeah, well what about Spencer?" I countered. "He's a strong trainer, how do you know it wasn't his?"

"You mean the rebel with the Typhlosion and Pidgeot?" she asked. "If it was his, he would have used it that day when you guys crashed our plane. Although I admit a lot of people think he's really the rebel leader."

"Spencer?" I said incredulously. "He isn't even technically an official member."

"So you're admitting the Charizard really is your leader's?"

Faking a look of defeat, I mumbled, "Alright, so he doesn't have a Blastoise, but all the others are true, I swear." Fortunately, the fact that Stalker had a Charizard really wasn't anything that would give him away. Half of all Kanto trainers chose to start with Charmander, which meant that nearly an eighth of all trainers had one.

She closed her eyes in frustration and then said, "A Muk and a Jolteon. We've never been attacked by those Pokémon."

I held my breath and kept glancing nervously at her Raichu. "He doesn't get real involved in the missions and stuff," I said quickly, despite the fact that it didn't really make much sense that he wouldn't.

Astra sighed, but then, in a quiet and dangerous tone of voice, said, "Look. I don't really like torturing people."

"Well you've sure showed it," I muttered sarcastically.

Ignoring my comment, she continued, "If you just tell me where the base is, then your team will be finished, but we'll let you go."

"And…and if I don't?" I asked.

She gave me a meaningful look and didn't respond.

I glared angrily, but then sighed and looked away. I was trapped, and she knew it. "Okay, but…but what'll happen to anyone who's at the base when…" I trailed off, dreading the answer.

Heavily considering her words, she replied, "The same fate that awaits any enemy of Team Rocket."

I stared blankly at the floor, completely at a loss for words. So it had come to this… I would either be killed, or cause my friends to be killed… But then…even if Team Rocket knew where the base was, Stalker could protect everyone, right? Training-wise, he ranked second in the world aside from the League, but I doubted he really would risk capture for the kids he worked with.

I narrowed my eyes and clenched my teeth, feeling more rage toward Astra than I ever had for any other Rocket. She folded her arms and said, "We'll leave it at that for now." She then turned and strode out of the detention cell.

Two Rockets met her outside the second she opened the door.

"What have you found out?" one asked.

"The rebel leader supposedly doesn't show his face much, but he does own the Charizard, and he's not Spencer," Astra replied.

The Rocket lowered his voice to such a whisper that I couldn't possibly hear what he was saying, but then Astra said, "You're right, I probably should have asked if it was him. Then again, she said the leader wasn't ever on Team Rocket, but that easily could have been a lie."

"And the base?" the second asked.

"It'll take more time," she answered, annoyed. "I gave her the options, she seemed to have trouble deciding."

The first Rocket snorted and said, "You sure ya shocked her hard enough? That usually gets 'em."

She shot a nasty glare at him. "What, and death threats won't?" she asked dangerously. "I don't think you're in any position to tell me how to run things. I'm the head Executive here, and I'm doing this my way."

"I know, I know," he replied in defense. "I'm just saying that the boss is getting impatient. He wants those rebels dead now, and he isn't exactly thrilled with the whole prisoner-taking deal. The way he sees it, such a wanted enemy of Team Rocket should just be killed outright."

"I think I'd know better than anyone what Giovanni wants," Astra said coolly, walking off. The first Rocket soon left as well, followed by the second, who stopped to close and lock the cell door.

I soon discovered that the discrete door to the right of the entrance was a bathroom, but other than that, there was absolutely nothing in the detention cell—unlike my last capture by Team Rocket, this time I had no means of escape. Seeing as I had been unconscious for five hours, I couldn't exactly fall asleep, especially with how much was on my mind, so I just sat cross-legged in the middle of the room, mulling over my interrogation and the conversation that Astra had with the Rockets afterward. No matter how hard I tried to ignore it, it really seemed like my life was hanging by a thread. And what would happen if Astra decided that there was nothing left to keep me alive for?

Thoughts like that filled my head all night, and I found myself checking my watch every five minutes. It was past midnight when I finally heard some noise shattering the maddening silence that enveloped the detention cell. Footsteps—coming toward me. I looked up at the main door and the shadow of a Rocket approaching. My first thought was that it was Astra, but she had even said that she didn't like working late, so it probably was some other random Rocket, which wasn't a good sign.

I stood to my feet and watched as the coded door was unlocked, and the Rocket stepped in.

But it wasn't Astra…or a random Rocket that I didn't know.

It was Stracion.




So like, if someone were to review, (on the off chance that anyone reading LC hasn't gone off and found the whole thing 7 chapters ahead at SPPf), a review would be nice. =P

~Chibi~