"Do not adultery commit,
Advantage rarely comes of it;
Thou shalt not steal, an empty feat,
When it's so lucrative to cheat;
Bear not false witness, let the lie
Have time on its own wings to fly;
Thou shalt not covet, but tradition
Approves all forms of compensation." - Arthur Hugh Clough
Poke-Captor Sakura
An annoying anime fusion/crossover series by Tuxedo Jack
DISCLAIMER: This fanfic, while the actual writing and concept is mine, contains elements, namely
characters and their descriptions, that belong to their original creators. They are used without
permission and for nonprofit entertainment purposes. CardCaptors/CardCaptor Sakura and Pokemon
are the properties of their original creators, who are unknown to me. I make no claim on them. This
fanfic is mine, and I ask that it not be distributed beyond Fanfiction.net without my express written
permission. MSTings are welcome, as long as the MSTer notifies me first and then sends me a copy
of the completed MSTing once it is completed. This work has not been spell-checked, grammar-checked,
or insanity-checked. This has been a service of the Emergency Disclaimer System.
And now, we begin...
****************************************************
Poke-Captor Sakura
Episode 1: You're Finally Awake...
****************************************************
It was an icy winter's morn in Tokyo, and Sakura Kinomoto lay peacefully in bed, snoring
slightly as the snow fell outside her house. She shifted slightly as the small yellow mass of the
Guardian Beast, Keroberos, grunted and stretched beside her.
Keroberos, or Kero as he liked to be called, groaned and reached his annoyingly short (in his
opinion) arms behind him to scratch his back, for it itched from a night on scratchy flannel sheets. "Oh,
man... Sakura! Wake up!" he yelled, catching a glance at the alarm clock by her bed... the one that she'd
set the night before, the one that had been supposed to go off at eight in the morning... the one that
she'd forgot to activate.
"SAKURA!!!"
She started, shifted... and ignored him.
"SAKURA! IT'S NINE IN THE MORNING!!"
With that, her eyes shot open, and she sat straight up. "Nine? But I set the alarm for..."
"Yeah, and you never wound the alarm!"
In a matter of seconds, Sakura shot out of bed, knocking Kero straight for a wall and ripping open
the closet doors. "SorryKeroIgottagetreadyforameeting!I'mlateI'mlateI'mlateforaveryimportantdate!"
Poor Kero wasn't able to gain control over his momentum. He slammed straight into the freshly
purchased (last night) poster of the League champion Ash Ketchum that Sakura had posted on her wall near
her desk. With a grunt and a moan of pain, he slid to the floor. At that exact moment, Sakura exited her closet
dressed in her usual fuku, but with a small sapphire belt that had a gold buckle in the shape of a Clefairy
on her hips.
She flew out of the room like she had used the Dash Card, grabbing her backpack on the way out,
and slamming the door.
"Sakura! Wa - AAACK!!!" Kero, still unsteady on his wings, slammed into the freshly closed door.
"Man, I gotta get used to that..."
* * *
Meanwhile, over at a certain laboratory...
"It's incredible! I never knew about that!"
"Yes. That beast has abilities that none other possesses. We need him to power our operations."
"What team shall I assign to capture him?"
A shadowy figure sat back in his chair and thought. "Certainly not the two failures that I spoke of
earlier. The two who ran the breeding center are... occupied... with other... missions... at this time, and I can't
afford to have them distracted." The figure snapped his fingers, and a bright grin broke out on its face as
a deep purr sounded from a Persian on its lap. "Of course. I can send that teacher who was of such use to
me in that recent affair with the Gym Leader from Odaiba."
He turned, and a face came into sharp focus. "I want that Keroberos!" He gazed at the laboratory
assistant. "Fetch me the woman. This shall begin immediately."
* * *
Back to Sakura...
As Sakura dashed down the stairs, her family members held various objects out to her - she grabbed
them all as she shot out the door. Her father spoke.
"I don't know why we even bother to fix her a hot breakfast. She's always running off somewhere."
* * *
Sakura was running down the street, nearly hyperventilating,, when Kero caught up with her.
"Sakura! Washu Labs is the OTHER way!"
Sakura quickly grabbed Kero and reversed her direction. "Kero, why'd she call me to come to the
lab on a Saturday?"
Momentarily distracted, Kero didn't answer... and then Sakura saw something most odd: smoke
coming out of a building in the distance... a building she knew well...
The building she was supposed to be at already...
Washu's Lab.
"OhMyGodWashu'sLabIsOnFire! We gotta get there and find out what happened!" The pair
ran off, not stopping for anything save a red light, which they waited a few seconds for and then leapt over
the cars waiting there.
She drew a few odd stares and the occaisional crude gesture, but she made it there quickly. The
sliding doors that normally admitted visitors to the incredibly advanced labs had been jammed open,
and smoke was billowing out of them. Various people stood outside, all in states of shock or dismay, and
none of them were doing anything except screaming.
Sakura walked up to one of them and tried to ask a question. "Excuse me, sir, but where..." She was
cut off as the man began to scream.
"Washu's inside! She's still inside the lab!"
Sakura looked at Kero and nodded, and then the pair darted for the entrance. They were restrained,
however, by an unusually large and burly fireman, whose compatriots were spraying water on the outside of the
building. "Sorry, kid, no one goes inside now. Not until the fire's out, and maybe even not for a long time after
that."
"What do you mean?"
The man waved a hand at the building. "You don't see? This here's no electrical short, and it sure as hell -
pardon my language - ain't no lab accident. This here's a deliberate fire."
Sakura and Kero backed away from the fireman and the door slowly, and then made a dash for the back
side. Sure enough, the glass door was unguarded, but shut...
"Kero... can't you unlock it or something?"
"Sorry, Sakura, this is one of those times when you've gotta do it the hard way."
Sakura sighed. "Key of Clow, release and dispel!" In a flash, the small key she wore as a necklace grew
to immense proportions, and she drew back her arm. "Batter up!" She swung it as if it were a baseball bat, and the
glass of the door shattered before it. "We gotta hurry, Kero, before Washu's burned up!"
The pair leapt through the broken glass of the door and went inside. They didn't notice, however, the
glass door repairing itself after them.
They were trapped inside the rapidly burning lab.
* * *
Sakura and Kero immediately noticed the roasting heat and dropped to their hands and knees. As they
crawled past various doors and open labs, something caught her eye...
"Kero! Can you hit that lever?" Kero nodded, and darted upward into the haze of smoke. A few seconds
later, he came down, coughing and slightly singed.
"Sorry, Sakura, it's too hot. I couldn't take it."
"It's okay, Kero. Let me try..." She pulled the Key up and smashed the glass cover over the lever, then
used the latches on the key to pull the lever down in one swift motion. "Here!" With a slight whoomphing
noise, the fire-suppression system activated. Forcefields appeared around each cluster of flames, and they
slowly began to extinguish them. The super A/C system that Washu had installed for her cryogenics
experiments activated, and it spewed frigid air throughout the whole of the building, quickly sucking up the
smoke and releasing purified air.
They were able to stand up, and they did so.
"Why wasn't the system working earlier?" Sakura asked Kero as they walked down the hall.
"Like the guy said, this was a set fire. Someone wanted to get rid of Washu, and it nearly worked."
* * *
Upstairs, in her personal lab, Washu stood behind a forcefield. Two people, a man and a woman,
stood in front of it, and they were none too happy.
"For the last time, Washu, where's the damned kid?"
Washu actually smiled at this. "You won't find her. She's not here, and even if she was, she'd stay
well away from you two louts."
The man started towards her, but the woman grabbed on to his wrist. "Don't. We're not supposed
to hurt her unless we have to."
"I'd say that this justifies it!"
He reached a hand towards Washu... and it actually slipped through her forcefield!
For the first time in ages, Washu was afraid of something.
* * *
Sakura stood before the computer terminal, keying in instructions. "Okay, Kero, you'd better get out of
here. If the people who set the fire are still here, it could get ugly."
"And let me skip it? Not a chance!" Kero grinned at her. "Besides, I'm your guardian beast, since you
opened the book of Clow and set the cards free."
"Which reminds me, we need to go find some more," she replied as the computer beeped an answer to
the question she'd typed in. A simple question, one that none but the authorized personnel of the lab could get
an honest answer to.
"Where is Washu?"
The computer beeped a simple response. "Washu is in the cryogenic lab. Two unauthorized users are
with her."
Kero and Sakura glanced at each other. "Two people?"
* * *
Sakura slipped around the corner, Key held high, prepared to bash whoever was in the lab with her mentor
over the head. She rounded another corner, and the door of the cryogenics lab loomed before her. "Here goes
nothing..." She opened the door, quietly, and threw in a small rock that she'd found in her shoe.
The man started. "You hear that? Someone's here."
"Nonsense," the woman replied.
"Still, I'm checking it out. Keep an eye on her," he said as he walked to the door...
He stepped through, looked around... and promptly felt a crushing blow to the head. Sakura had brained
him with the Key of Clow, and together, she and Kero dragged his unconscious body to the nearest supply closet.
The woman walked out into the hallway, cautiously, and she too fell victim to the Key... but she was
tougher than he was, and Kero had to smack her with the heavy frying pan he'd picked up in the lounge. She was
locked in the same supply closet in a matter of minutes.
Sakura and Kero entered the lab at a run. Washu was sitting there on top of a cryostorage unit, calm
and composed, as if nothing had happened. "Nice job, Sakura!"
"What happened, Washu-san? When I saw the fire, I was worried!"
Washu grinned. "Nothing I couldn't handle. Those two came here looking for something that they
said that you had... something called a 'Keroberos'. Obviously, they meant Kero-chan there. I was able to distract
them for a while, but they set a fire in the explosives lab, and then they ordered the building evacuated. Quite a
neat job, and they might have succeeded if you hadn't come in. How'd you take them out, anyway?"
Sakura grinned. "Kero and I hit them with a pair of large, heavy objects."
Washu smiled. "Not exactly what I expected, but effective nonetheless. Thanks again, Sakura. Why'd
you come here this morning, anyway?"
"You don't remember?" Sakura was about to continue, but Kero butted in.
"You were gonna give her something!"
Washu snapped her fingers. "Of course. The council sent this in yesterday, and I'd meant to give it to
you, but it slipped my mind, and I decided to give it to you today instead. Here you go!" From somewhere
within her jacket, Washu produced a small red device. "It's a customized Pokedex. It'll recognize all known
Pokemon species and gather data on them for the lab's purposes." She handed it to Sakura, who took it eagerly.
"And since you beat off those two, I'll give you a little something from me. Come on!"
* * *
Sakura, Washu, and Kero entered a small room just off the main corridor that quite obviously was
important, but that Washu hadn't entered in a while.
"Sakura, pick one." Washu gestured at the racks of red-and-white Pokeballs that lined the walls. "This
room has nearly a hundred species of Pokemon in it! You can take any one you want."
Sakura and Kero browsed the racks intensely, every now and again finding an interesting one, which
they brought to Washu, who'd do a demonstration of the Pokemon's powers. Most were run-of-the-mill, but Sakura
noticed one tag... one that she'd thought was a mere legend...
"Can I have that one?" Sakura brought the Pokeball up to Washu, who nodded and took it from her.
"Okay, Sakura, check it out!" She drew back her arm with the ball in it, and threw it... "Eevee, go!"
The red light spat out a small Pokemon, one the size of a small dog, but one that was far more powerful
than any human, and both Sakura and Washu knew and respected that. Kero, however, ignored it.
"You'd better go," Washu said, looking at a clock on the wall. "Your parents must be worried."
They left the room, and Eevee followed, making its little "Eevee" noises the whole way.
* * *
On Monday morning, Sakura woke, ate a heavy breakfast of eggs and bacon, and then packed.
"Kero, you ready to go?" she said as she slipped three pairs of underwear into her backpack. "We're
off to our first destination today."
Kero's eyes widened. "What? Sakura, you got school!"
"Not anymore!" She grinned. "Washu gave me a knowledge device, one that'll transfer her knowledge
of most anything into my mind if I want to. And besides, she was able to wangle me a Pokemon trainer's license!"
"Great." Kero sighed. "Another trainer."
"What's wrong with that?!?"
"Nothing, nothing!"
Sakura slung her pack over her back and headed for the door. "You coming or not?"
Kero flew straight for the door...
"Guess not." She slammed the door shut, and poor Kero flew right into it... again. Sakura heard the thud,
and opened the door, crushing Keroberos into the wall. "Kero?" She shrugged and shut the door.
Kero slid to the floor, moaning in pain.
* * *
Sakura flipped open the lid of the Pokedex. "Wonder just how it works?" She randomly pressed a few
buttons, and the thing began to speak.
"I am Dexter, a customized Pokedex made expressly for Sakura Kinomoto by Washu. Please use vocal
commands for optimum effect."
"Cool!" Sakura began to speak to it, trying to figure out what her first destination was. "Dexter,
what should I do first?"
"A recommended course of action would be to train your Pokemon," Dexter coolly replied. "If
you'll be so kind as to inform me which one you have, I shall select the optimum training regimen for it."
"Let's see... an Eevee?"
The equivalent of a smile spread on Dexter's display. "Excellent! Let me see... I would suggest
battles against other Normal-type Pokemon, and also general exercise - running, jumping, and the like. Who's
your friend?"
Sakura spun - and Kero was hovering behind her, glancing at the Pokedex with unbridled comtempt.
"Please, Sakura, like any piece of electronics could even come close to the knowledge and power of the Clow
Cards!"
"Stuff it, Keroberos," Dexter primly replied.
"How'd you know my name?"
Dexter's smug grin reappeared. "Simple. I scanned you with my Pokemon-identifying circuitry. Then I
ran your image through my database and voila! A Keroberos appeared! By the way, Sakura," Dexter
conversationally said, "he's one of a kind. The only known sighting of him was about a thousand years ago
in the presence of the magician Clow Ree. Hold on to him."
"Don't worry, electrode breath," Kero shot back. "Until she captures all the Clow Cards, I'm stuck
with her."
"HEY!" Sakura yelled. "Kero, Dexter, stop it!" She then turned back to the Pokedex. "Dexter, after I
train Eevee and Kero, what's my next objective?"
"I would say to head to the Odaiba City Pokemon Gym," Dexter said as he ran the information
through his multiple processors. "They're famous for their digital-type Pokemon. Of course, you'd have to
be pretty good to win, and there's not much of a type advantage there..."
"Whadda ya mean, type advantage?" Kero said.
"I mean that certain types of Pokemon are good against other types, such as water against fire and
electric against water. What did you think I meant, you winged teddy bear?"
Kero started growling, and Sakura quickly shut the lid on Dexter.
* * *
Back at the odd laboratory...
"And just what went wrong this time?" the shadowy figure said to the man and the woman
kneeling in front of him. "Don't tell me that that Ash Ketchum stopped you, or that that new trainer who
shut down the Mahogany Town and Slowpoke Well operations was there!"
"N-no, sir," the woman trembled. "It was something else... something weird..."
"What was it, then?" The voice seemed silky, but underneath its smooth exterior was a river of
sharpened steel.
"Something clobbered us over the heads and locked us in a supply closet," the man volunteered.
"A little girl and something yellow that was flying..."
"Flying..." The figure whispered. "You idiots, that was the Keroberos you were supposed to fetch!
How could you have failed!"
"We were..." The woman started, but the figure cut her off.
"SILENCE!" With that, a trapdoor opened under the two and they fell head over heels, wailing
all the way, into a spiked pit. As the bodies impaled themselves on the spikes, the figure smiled. "Would
anyone like to volunteer before I have to pick the next two?"
Just then, the door opened and two more figures walked in, one with long red hair who was quite
obviously female, and a blue-haired rail-thin man. A small cat walked beside them, mumbling all the way.
"Boss, we've succeeded for once, and we think you'll like what we've got," the woman said, handing
the figure a small Pokeball. "I give you a Tyranitar, a combination Rock/Dark Pokemon that we found
on our trip to Mt. Silver."
"And my contribution to the whole mess is a Houndoom," the man said, passing over another
Pokeball. "Enjoy. Use it well, cause it took us a while to catch."
The figure's eyebrows lifted in astonishment. "Well done, you two! You've actually done what
I asked for a change, and as a reward, I'll give you an assignment that should be pretty relaxing. You're to
fetch me this Keroberos, a legendary Pokemon that once belonged to Clow Ree, one of my ancestors.
It's in the possession of a Sakura Kinomoto, a ten year old girl. If you get it, you'll be office execs, away
from the actual dirty work that the rest of the members have to do. Got it?"
The three (the man, the woman, and the cat) nodded and left.
"It's so hard to find good help these days," The figure said as he stroked the Persian lying in his
lap.
"Persian," it agreed.
* * *
THE END OF EPISODE 1
Episode 2, "Basic Training a.k.a. Boot Camp", will be released by February 28, 2001
Episode 2 Preview:
"Eevee, Tackle attack now!"
Eevee slammed its small body into the Ratatta's even smaller one, and the battle was over.
Sakura recalled Eevee, and the opposing trainer called back his Ratatta. "Nicely done, girl! What's your
name?"
"Sakura, sir, Sakura Kinomoto." She bowed respectfully. "If I may say so, sir, you battled well
too."
"Heck, honey, I've been fighting for years, but I've never been beaten that bad before. When'd
you start training?"
"Just yesterday," she replied, and the look of surprise on the man's face was as plain as
Mt. Fuji on a clear winter's morning.
* * *
AUTHOR'S NOTES
Welcome to my new series, people! I was bored, and I had just seen an episode of CardCaptors on
Kids' WB, and I thought to myself, "What if Sakura was going after Pokemon istead of Clow Cards?"
Needless to say, the idea nagged at me all day and I decided to write about it and see where it went.
You got any plots, let me know by e-mailing me.
Well, my MSTings are getting back on track. I'm half done with episode 15, and episode 9 should be done
in about a month if all goes well. I've still gotta get with Tuxedo Alex and finish riffing it, but it'll be out soon. I'm riffing these on my laptop, and since I got Ricochet, I can upload whenever I'm done with them!
People, read and enjoy. What more needs to be said?
Ja ne!
Tuxedo Jack
TuxedoJack@juno.com
http://www.angelfire.com/gundam/SatelliteSenshi
C&C can be mailed to TuxedoJack@juno.com
Advantage rarely comes of it;
Thou shalt not steal, an empty feat,
When it's so lucrative to cheat;
Bear not false witness, let the lie
Have time on its own wings to fly;
Thou shalt not covet, but tradition
Approves all forms of compensation." - Arthur Hugh Clough
Poke-Captor Sakura
An annoying anime fusion/crossover series by Tuxedo Jack
DISCLAIMER: This fanfic, while the actual writing and concept is mine, contains elements, namely
characters and their descriptions, that belong to their original creators. They are used without
permission and for nonprofit entertainment purposes. CardCaptors/CardCaptor Sakura and Pokemon
are the properties of their original creators, who are unknown to me. I make no claim on them. This
fanfic is mine, and I ask that it not be distributed beyond Fanfiction.net without my express written
permission. MSTings are welcome, as long as the MSTer notifies me first and then sends me a copy
of the completed MSTing once it is completed. This work has not been spell-checked, grammar-checked,
or insanity-checked. This has been a service of the Emergency Disclaimer System.
And now, we begin...
****************************************************
Poke-Captor Sakura
Episode 1: You're Finally Awake...
****************************************************
It was an icy winter's morn in Tokyo, and Sakura Kinomoto lay peacefully in bed, snoring
slightly as the snow fell outside her house. She shifted slightly as the small yellow mass of the
Guardian Beast, Keroberos, grunted and stretched beside her.
Keroberos, or Kero as he liked to be called, groaned and reached his annoyingly short (in his
opinion) arms behind him to scratch his back, for it itched from a night on scratchy flannel sheets. "Oh,
man... Sakura! Wake up!" he yelled, catching a glance at the alarm clock by her bed... the one that she'd
set the night before, the one that had been supposed to go off at eight in the morning... the one that
she'd forgot to activate.
"SAKURA!!!"
She started, shifted... and ignored him.
"SAKURA! IT'S NINE IN THE MORNING!!"
With that, her eyes shot open, and she sat straight up. "Nine? But I set the alarm for..."
"Yeah, and you never wound the alarm!"
In a matter of seconds, Sakura shot out of bed, knocking Kero straight for a wall and ripping open
the closet doors. "SorryKeroIgottagetreadyforameeting!I'mlateI'mlateI'mlateforaveryimportantdate!"
Poor Kero wasn't able to gain control over his momentum. He slammed straight into the freshly
purchased (last night) poster of the League champion Ash Ketchum that Sakura had posted on her wall near
her desk. With a grunt and a moan of pain, he slid to the floor. At that exact moment, Sakura exited her closet
dressed in her usual fuku, but with a small sapphire belt that had a gold buckle in the shape of a Clefairy
on her hips.
She flew out of the room like she had used the Dash Card, grabbing her backpack on the way out,
and slamming the door.
"Sakura! Wa - AAACK!!!" Kero, still unsteady on his wings, slammed into the freshly closed door.
"Man, I gotta get used to that..."
* * *
Meanwhile, over at a certain laboratory...
"It's incredible! I never knew about that!"
"Yes. That beast has abilities that none other possesses. We need him to power our operations."
"What team shall I assign to capture him?"
A shadowy figure sat back in his chair and thought. "Certainly not the two failures that I spoke of
earlier. The two who ran the breeding center are... occupied... with other... missions... at this time, and I can't
afford to have them distracted." The figure snapped his fingers, and a bright grin broke out on its face as
a deep purr sounded from a Persian on its lap. "Of course. I can send that teacher who was of such use to
me in that recent affair with the Gym Leader from Odaiba."
He turned, and a face came into sharp focus. "I want that Keroberos!" He gazed at the laboratory
assistant. "Fetch me the woman. This shall begin immediately."
* * *
Back to Sakura...
As Sakura dashed down the stairs, her family members held various objects out to her - she grabbed
them all as she shot out the door. Her father spoke.
"I don't know why we even bother to fix her a hot breakfast. She's always running off somewhere."
* * *
Sakura was running down the street, nearly hyperventilating,, when Kero caught up with her.
"Sakura! Washu Labs is the OTHER way!"
Sakura quickly grabbed Kero and reversed her direction. "Kero, why'd she call me to come to the
lab on a Saturday?"
Momentarily distracted, Kero didn't answer... and then Sakura saw something most odd: smoke
coming out of a building in the distance... a building she knew well...
The building she was supposed to be at already...
Washu's Lab.
"OhMyGodWashu'sLabIsOnFire! We gotta get there and find out what happened!" The pair
ran off, not stopping for anything save a red light, which they waited a few seconds for and then leapt over
the cars waiting there.
She drew a few odd stares and the occaisional crude gesture, but she made it there quickly. The
sliding doors that normally admitted visitors to the incredibly advanced labs had been jammed open,
and smoke was billowing out of them. Various people stood outside, all in states of shock or dismay, and
none of them were doing anything except screaming.
Sakura walked up to one of them and tried to ask a question. "Excuse me, sir, but where..." She was
cut off as the man began to scream.
"Washu's inside! She's still inside the lab!"
Sakura looked at Kero and nodded, and then the pair darted for the entrance. They were restrained,
however, by an unusually large and burly fireman, whose compatriots were spraying water on the outside of the
building. "Sorry, kid, no one goes inside now. Not until the fire's out, and maybe even not for a long time after
that."
"What do you mean?"
The man waved a hand at the building. "You don't see? This here's no electrical short, and it sure as hell -
pardon my language - ain't no lab accident. This here's a deliberate fire."
Sakura and Kero backed away from the fireman and the door slowly, and then made a dash for the back
side. Sure enough, the glass door was unguarded, but shut...
"Kero... can't you unlock it or something?"
"Sorry, Sakura, this is one of those times when you've gotta do it the hard way."
Sakura sighed. "Key of Clow, release and dispel!" In a flash, the small key she wore as a necklace grew
to immense proportions, and she drew back her arm. "Batter up!" She swung it as if it were a baseball bat, and the
glass of the door shattered before it. "We gotta hurry, Kero, before Washu's burned up!"
The pair leapt through the broken glass of the door and went inside. They didn't notice, however, the
glass door repairing itself after them.
They were trapped inside the rapidly burning lab.
* * *
Sakura and Kero immediately noticed the roasting heat and dropped to their hands and knees. As they
crawled past various doors and open labs, something caught her eye...
"Kero! Can you hit that lever?" Kero nodded, and darted upward into the haze of smoke. A few seconds
later, he came down, coughing and slightly singed.
"Sorry, Sakura, it's too hot. I couldn't take it."
"It's okay, Kero. Let me try..." She pulled the Key up and smashed the glass cover over the lever, then
used the latches on the key to pull the lever down in one swift motion. "Here!" With a slight whoomphing
noise, the fire-suppression system activated. Forcefields appeared around each cluster of flames, and they
slowly began to extinguish them. The super A/C system that Washu had installed for her cryogenics
experiments activated, and it spewed frigid air throughout the whole of the building, quickly sucking up the
smoke and releasing purified air.
They were able to stand up, and they did so.
"Why wasn't the system working earlier?" Sakura asked Kero as they walked down the hall.
"Like the guy said, this was a set fire. Someone wanted to get rid of Washu, and it nearly worked."
* * *
Upstairs, in her personal lab, Washu stood behind a forcefield. Two people, a man and a woman,
stood in front of it, and they were none too happy.
"For the last time, Washu, where's the damned kid?"
Washu actually smiled at this. "You won't find her. She's not here, and even if she was, she'd stay
well away from you two louts."
The man started towards her, but the woman grabbed on to his wrist. "Don't. We're not supposed
to hurt her unless we have to."
"I'd say that this justifies it!"
He reached a hand towards Washu... and it actually slipped through her forcefield!
For the first time in ages, Washu was afraid of something.
* * *
Sakura stood before the computer terminal, keying in instructions. "Okay, Kero, you'd better get out of
here. If the people who set the fire are still here, it could get ugly."
"And let me skip it? Not a chance!" Kero grinned at her. "Besides, I'm your guardian beast, since you
opened the book of Clow and set the cards free."
"Which reminds me, we need to go find some more," she replied as the computer beeped an answer to
the question she'd typed in. A simple question, one that none but the authorized personnel of the lab could get
an honest answer to.
"Where is Washu?"
The computer beeped a simple response. "Washu is in the cryogenic lab. Two unauthorized users are
with her."
Kero and Sakura glanced at each other. "Two people?"
* * *
Sakura slipped around the corner, Key held high, prepared to bash whoever was in the lab with her mentor
over the head. She rounded another corner, and the door of the cryogenics lab loomed before her. "Here goes
nothing..." She opened the door, quietly, and threw in a small rock that she'd found in her shoe.
The man started. "You hear that? Someone's here."
"Nonsense," the woman replied.
"Still, I'm checking it out. Keep an eye on her," he said as he walked to the door...
He stepped through, looked around... and promptly felt a crushing blow to the head. Sakura had brained
him with the Key of Clow, and together, she and Kero dragged his unconscious body to the nearest supply closet.
The woman walked out into the hallway, cautiously, and she too fell victim to the Key... but she was
tougher than he was, and Kero had to smack her with the heavy frying pan he'd picked up in the lounge. She was
locked in the same supply closet in a matter of minutes.
Sakura and Kero entered the lab at a run. Washu was sitting there on top of a cryostorage unit, calm
and composed, as if nothing had happened. "Nice job, Sakura!"
"What happened, Washu-san? When I saw the fire, I was worried!"
Washu grinned. "Nothing I couldn't handle. Those two came here looking for something that they
said that you had... something called a 'Keroberos'. Obviously, they meant Kero-chan there. I was able to distract
them for a while, but they set a fire in the explosives lab, and then they ordered the building evacuated. Quite a
neat job, and they might have succeeded if you hadn't come in. How'd you take them out, anyway?"
Sakura grinned. "Kero and I hit them with a pair of large, heavy objects."
Washu smiled. "Not exactly what I expected, but effective nonetheless. Thanks again, Sakura. Why'd
you come here this morning, anyway?"
"You don't remember?" Sakura was about to continue, but Kero butted in.
"You were gonna give her something!"
Washu snapped her fingers. "Of course. The council sent this in yesterday, and I'd meant to give it to
you, but it slipped my mind, and I decided to give it to you today instead. Here you go!" From somewhere
within her jacket, Washu produced a small red device. "It's a customized Pokedex. It'll recognize all known
Pokemon species and gather data on them for the lab's purposes." She handed it to Sakura, who took it eagerly.
"And since you beat off those two, I'll give you a little something from me. Come on!"
* * *
Sakura, Washu, and Kero entered a small room just off the main corridor that quite obviously was
important, but that Washu hadn't entered in a while.
"Sakura, pick one." Washu gestured at the racks of red-and-white Pokeballs that lined the walls. "This
room has nearly a hundred species of Pokemon in it! You can take any one you want."
Sakura and Kero browsed the racks intensely, every now and again finding an interesting one, which
they brought to Washu, who'd do a demonstration of the Pokemon's powers. Most were run-of-the-mill, but Sakura
noticed one tag... one that she'd thought was a mere legend...
"Can I have that one?" Sakura brought the Pokeball up to Washu, who nodded and took it from her.
"Okay, Sakura, check it out!" She drew back her arm with the ball in it, and threw it... "Eevee, go!"
The red light spat out a small Pokemon, one the size of a small dog, but one that was far more powerful
than any human, and both Sakura and Washu knew and respected that. Kero, however, ignored it.
"You'd better go," Washu said, looking at a clock on the wall. "Your parents must be worried."
They left the room, and Eevee followed, making its little "Eevee" noises the whole way.
* * *
On Monday morning, Sakura woke, ate a heavy breakfast of eggs and bacon, and then packed.
"Kero, you ready to go?" she said as she slipped three pairs of underwear into her backpack. "We're
off to our first destination today."
Kero's eyes widened. "What? Sakura, you got school!"
"Not anymore!" She grinned. "Washu gave me a knowledge device, one that'll transfer her knowledge
of most anything into my mind if I want to. And besides, she was able to wangle me a Pokemon trainer's license!"
"Great." Kero sighed. "Another trainer."
"What's wrong with that?!?"
"Nothing, nothing!"
Sakura slung her pack over her back and headed for the door. "You coming or not?"
Kero flew straight for the door...
"Guess not." She slammed the door shut, and poor Kero flew right into it... again. Sakura heard the thud,
and opened the door, crushing Keroberos into the wall. "Kero?" She shrugged and shut the door.
Kero slid to the floor, moaning in pain.
* * *
Sakura flipped open the lid of the Pokedex. "Wonder just how it works?" She randomly pressed a few
buttons, and the thing began to speak.
"I am Dexter, a customized Pokedex made expressly for Sakura Kinomoto by Washu. Please use vocal
commands for optimum effect."
"Cool!" Sakura began to speak to it, trying to figure out what her first destination was. "Dexter,
what should I do first?"
"A recommended course of action would be to train your Pokemon," Dexter coolly replied. "If
you'll be so kind as to inform me which one you have, I shall select the optimum training regimen for it."
"Let's see... an Eevee?"
The equivalent of a smile spread on Dexter's display. "Excellent! Let me see... I would suggest
battles against other Normal-type Pokemon, and also general exercise - running, jumping, and the like. Who's
your friend?"
Sakura spun - and Kero was hovering behind her, glancing at the Pokedex with unbridled comtempt.
"Please, Sakura, like any piece of electronics could even come close to the knowledge and power of the Clow
Cards!"
"Stuff it, Keroberos," Dexter primly replied.
"How'd you know my name?"
Dexter's smug grin reappeared. "Simple. I scanned you with my Pokemon-identifying circuitry. Then I
ran your image through my database and voila! A Keroberos appeared! By the way, Sakura," Dexter
conversationally said, "he's one of a kind. The only known sighting of him was about a thousand years ago
in the presence of the magician Clow Ree. Hold on to him."
"Don't worry, electrode breath," Kero shot back. "Until she captures all the Clow Cards, I'm stuck
with her."
"HEY!" Sakura yelled. "Kero, Dexter, stop it!" She then turned back to the Pokedex. "Dexter, after I
train Eevee and Kero, what's my next objective?"
"I would say to head to the Odaiba City Pokemon Gym," Dexter said as he ran the information
through his multiple processors. "They're famous for their digital-type Pokemon. Of course, you'd have to
be pretty good to win, and there's not much of a type advantage there..."
"Whadda ya mean, type advantage?" Kero said.
"I mean that certain types of Pokemon are good against other types, such as water against fire and
electric against water. What did you think I meant, you winged teddy bear?"
Kero started growling, and Sakura quickly shut the lid on Dexter.
* * *
Back at the odd laboratory...
"And just what went wrong this time?" the shadowy figure said to the man and the woman
kneeling in front of him. "Don't tell me that that Ash Ketchum stopped you, or that that new trainer who
shut down the Mahogany Town and Slowpoke Well operations was there!"
"N-no, sir," the woman trembled. "It was something else... something weird..."
"What was it, then?" The voice seemed silky, but underneath its smooth exterior was a river of
sharpened steel.
"Something clobbered us over the heads and locked us in a supply closet," the man volunteered.
"A little girl and something yellow that was flying..."
"Flying..." The figure whispered. "You idiots, that was the Keroberos you were supposed to fetch!
How could you have failed!"
"We were..." The woman started, but the figure cut her off.
"SILENCE!" With that, a trapdoor opened under the two and they fell head over heels, wailing
all the way, into a spiked pit. As the bodies impaled themselves on the spikes, the figure smiled. "Would
anyone like to volunteer before I have to pick the next two?"
Just then, the door opened and two more figures walked in, one with long red hair who was quite
obviously female, and a blue-haired rail-thin man. A small cat walked beside them, mumbling all the way.
"Boss, we've succeeded for once, and we think you'll like what we've got," the woman said, handing
the figure a small Pokeball. "I give you a Tyranitar, a combination Rock/Dark Pokemon that we found
on our trip to Mt. Silver."
"And my contribution to the whole mess is a Houndoom," the man said, passing over another
Pokeball. "Enjoy. Use it well, cause it took us a while to catch."
The figure's eyebrows lifted in astonishment. "Well done, you two! You've actually done what
I asked for a change, and as a reward, I'll give you an assignment that should be pretty relaxing. You're to
fetch me this Keroberos, a legendary Pokemon that once belonged to Clow Ree, one of my ancestors.
It's in the possession of a Sakura Kinomoto, a ten year old girl. If you get it, you'll be office execs, away
from the actual dirty work that the rest of the members have to do. Got it?"
The three (the man, the woman, and the cat) nodded and left.
"It's so hard to find good help these days," The figure said as he stroked the Persian lying in his
lap.
"Persian," it agreed.
* * *
THE END OF EPISODE 1
Episode 2, "Basic Training a.k.a. Boot Camp", will be released by February 28, 2001
Episode 2 Preview:
"Eevee, Tackle attack now!"
Eevee slammed its small body into the Ratatta's even smaller one, and the battle was over.
Sakura recalled Eevee, and the opposing trainer called back his Ratatta. "Nicely done, girl! What's your
name?"
"Sakura, sir, Sakura Kinomoto." She bowed respectfully. "If I may say so, sir, you battled well
too."
"Heck, honey, I've been fighting for years, but I've never been beaten that bad before. When'd
you start training?"
"Just yesterday," she replied, and the look of surprise on the man's face was as plain as
Mt. Fuji on a clear winter's morning.
* * *
AUTHOR'S NOTES
Welcome to my new series, people! I was bored, and I had just seen an episode of CardCaptors on
Kids' WB, and I thought to myself, "What if Sakura was going after Pokemon istead of Clow Cards?"
Needless to say, the idea nagged at me all day and I decided to write about it and see where it went.
You got any plots, let me know by e-mailing me.
Well, my MSTings are getting back on track. I'm half done with episode 15, and episode 9 should be done
in about a month if all goes well. I've still gotta get with Tuxedo Alex and finish riffing it, but it'll be out soon. I'm riffing these on my laptop, and since I got Ricochet, I can upload whenever I'm done with them!
People, read and enjoy. What more needs to be said?
Ja ne!
Tuxedo Jack
TuxedoJack@juno.com
http://www.angelfire.com/gundam/SatelliteSenshi
C&C can be mailed to TuxedoJack@juno.com