Hello there, everyone! To those who dont know me, hi, I'm Kitsune incarnate, but you can call me Kit. To those of you who already know me, I'm glad you decided to take a peek at my new story!
Journey Through the Darkness is an idea that came to me a few days ago, during a Pokemon RP. I break away from the little kiddie version of Pokemon to look into a different, not so bright and cheerful world, which clearly lies under the surface. This incarnation of the Team Rocket organization is born of my reading into the operations and inner workings of Team Rocket. It is not necessarily true to the organization you find in the series; this version is vastly more powerful, forceful, and technologically advanced than the one you see in the anime. I believe this incarnation is something that Team Rocket could become, something that Giovanni can turn the organization into, since he possesses the needed ruthlessness, drive and cunning required to turn the organization into something more than it is implied that it is. If you dont like it.. well.. remember, this is my vision of what could be, and as such, I cannot be wrong in that regard.
All that seriousness aside, I'd really appreciate feedback, and I hope you enjoy my new fanfic!
Legal stuff: Pokemon and all related characters are copyright Nintendo, Satoshi Tajiri, Pokemon USA, and I believe GameFreaks Inc. This story was not created with the intention to make profit off of the copyrighted works. The plot of the story, however, is mine. All mine. So there. Nyeh.
Summary:
There is a famous hacker nicknamed Crimson Pikachu, whose crowning achievement is the fall of the Hoenn branch of Team Rocket. Unfortunately for him, he cant leave well enough alone, as the result of his hacking attempt on Team Rocket's core computer server leaves him on a.. Journey Through the Darkness
(totally cheesy summary, I know)
Journey through the Darkness
Chapter 1: Capturing the Beast
It is around the Mt. Moon area, a full moon is highest in the sky, illuminating the surrounding area with a magnificent light.. The peak of the mountainous area glitters under this brilliant shine, as the song of Clefairy dancing around the moonstone can be heard from miles around. Everything appears to be at peace, the area almost picturesque in its serene tranquility. The surrounding cities of Pewter and Celadon enjoy a quiet slumber, noise broken only by the occasional cry of a nocturnal pokemon, or perhaps a trainer eager to catch pokemon, despite it being the middle of the night. This scene, however, is only the cover of what truly promises to be an eventful night.
It is in a subterranean cave in Mt Moon, however, where action lies. In one of these caves, the path to it well-hidden by a rock wall, a single person sits. He is in a cave, lit only by a lamp plugged into an electric generator. On the walls of this cave, are pinned various news articles detailing a legendary hacker by the net name 'Crimson Pikachu', who had brought down the Hoenn branch of the infamous Team Rocket. These news clippings are from all parts of the world, from the biggest international newspaper, to even the smallest school newspaper. Along with this room, there is a laptop, sitting on a log. White type flies across the black screen, which to any common observer appears to be a complete mishmash of various letters and numbers, without any clear meaning.
However, the typist is not a common observer. A pair of deep, green eyes stare through the lenses of a pair of black, horn-rimmed glasses. These eyes dart back and forth across the screen, studying and processing every bit of information that appears. A pure red bang, a color contrast to his otherwise stark black hair, moves in front of his face. With a gust of breath, he blows the obstruction away, and continues on with his typing. He glances briefly over his shoulder in a paranoid fashion, before looking back, typing with rapidity again. These actions are of the legendary hacker, known to all as the Crimson Pikachu, but to himself as Nathaniel Williams.
He grew up alone, neglected by his parents, finding comfort in a computer. Because of this, he grew up entirely with computers, most of his time spent picking them and programs apart. At the age of sixteen, he first ventured into the world of hacking, making a name for himself after he cracked into the Pokeball Delivery System, for fun sending Rattatas and Pidgeys to high-profile trainers. At the age of seventeen, he was single-handedly responsible for causing the Stock Market Crash, where he altered the computer systems to show stock prices vastly plummeting, causing chaos to occur. At the end of the day, he returned everything to normal, but left behind what would be his trademark symbol, a Pikachu face in a crimson circle, earning him the title of Crimson Pikachu. After that bit of chaos, he turned his attention to poking at small companies and organizations, testing the creation of his hacking programs, which were able to breach system defenses, where he would then be able to directly interact with computers on data servers, a system which he later developed enough to assist in his greatest achievement, the fall of Team Rocket Hoenn. After this, he disappeared for over a year. Now nineteen, and with a completed hacking program, he figured now would be THE time to enter the history books for good: he would try to bring down the Team Rocket organization at its core.
And that is what brings us to this particular night. He sits at the computer, and sighs, before nodding, and typing. "Executing hacking program X-257591 Delta." he says, for some reason preferring to say what he's doing, whilst he does it, though nobody is around to listen, and voice activation was not a computer feature. "Objective specified. Search database for racketeering information, illegal business practices, illegal research. Copy all files to hard drive. Watch out for security measures.." he mutters, as he continues typing. "Come on, come onnnnn.." he mumbles. "It shouldn't take this long., especially for me!"
That night, at the Kanto Team Rocket HQ…
As with the rest of this section on the pokemon world at this hour, it is quiet. However, not all activity at the headquarters has ceased. Outside a set of hydraulically-powered, wood-painted double doors indicating Giovanni's office, a certain blonde-haired, black-outfitted receptionist sits, drumming her fingers on her desk in a bored fashion. The female is known as Melissa, a young girl of average build and height. Nothing about her particularly stands out, other than the fact that she's similar in appearance to Agent 009, Domino. In fact, their similarity in appearance is so great, that anyone who doesn't see her on a regular basis could easily confuse her with the top agent, which angers her to a rather large degree. Fortunately, the people who would talk to her are few and far between. She is the secretary, yes, however, she works the nightshift. Too afraid to be in the midst of the danger of a Team Rocket operative, she chose a desk job, figuring she'd at least have some fun. Mistaken she was however, when she realized it involved her staying up all hours of the night, answering phones, the usual boring stuff like that. There was one good thing about her job. She had tons of free time, which she spent doodling on official Team Rocket stationary.
However, something different happens tonight. Something exciting. On her computer screen, sits a list of all of the areas in the Team Rocket base. It is a rather long list, detailing over fifty different divisions and locations. Normally, all of the lights next to the names are green, however this time, a light is flashing red, indicating something is amiss.
The cause of the red light: a room in Team Rocket Headquarters' seventh sublevel. This room houses two massive supercomputers, which contain the TRAINSS system. In addition, it holds at least seven computers, responsible for storing all data having to do with the Team Rocket organization. Due to the privacy required in keeping the operations of most branches of he headquarters unknown to the other, there is one server computer for each division of the organization, not including the computers needed to store data on personnel, security clearances, and the like. There are four basic computers, sitting on four basic desks, with four highly-ranked members of Team Rocket sitting at them. There is a fifth in a clear-walled office, sitting at a substantially higher-end computer in comparison to the four counterparts. Obviously, the person there was either the leader or overseer of the others.
This person is a male, in his late twenties or early thirties. His eyes are a deep blue, a color in sharp contrast to his stark white hair. Surprisingly enough, this color of hair was not set on by premature grayness, or because of an Albino gene, but was the color of hair he'd naturally been born with. He goes by the name Zane, which was amazingly the thing that made him stand out the least in this organization. Years ago, when he was only in his late teens to early twenties, he had been recruited by Team Rocket during their age of less-than-subtle ways of attaining their goals. He had worked for Silph Co. as a minor programmer, tasked with working out the thousands of bugs in early-age biometric scanning systems. Despite him being excellent at his job, truly a genius behind a keyboard of the non-musical variety, he didn't find the pleasure in working long hours to perfect another's work. His numerous requests that he be placed on a project had, however, been denied. On the side, however, he had secretly been working on a security system able to outdo early biometric scans. Using his personal computer and work software, he had secretly gotten the framework down. During Team Rocket's raid on the building, his work had been discovered and Giovanni, recognizing how truly skilled he was, personally convinced him to join the Organization, promising unlimited funds and technology in exchange for his perfection of the security system. Though Team Rocket hadn't fit anywhere into his plans for a job, he was highly receptive of Giovanni's clear eye for talent, and as such, agreed under the condition that he always be in charge of operations involving the system.
The system Zane had developed, is named TRAINSS, an acronym for Team Rocket Advanced Intelligent Network Security System. It is a highly intelligent system, with full AI, yet is not self-aware. It had been built from the ground up to be completely integrated with Team Rocket's computer networks, providing an unprecedented level of security. In fact, it was predicted that the only reason the Crimson Pikachu had been able to bring down the Hoenn branch of Team Rocket, was because the servers had only been up and running for a few months. Because of this coincidentally being around the same time TRAINSS had been in the process of an upgrade to , integration with the system could not be achieved.
The system is capable of storing knowledge of all normal activities observed through security cameras, biometric scans, and records taken of all past computer actions. It is also capable of recognizing inconsistencies, and gauging whether or not they're the result of security risk, with over a ninety-nine percent rate of success. However, though it gauges the risk, it does not take direct action. Depending on the calculated risk to security, either the four to six workers (depending on the branch) or Zane will be alerted, which Zane would then pass the information onto Giovanni himself, who would take action from there. Only the largest and most threatening levels of system security would go directly to Giovanni himself, and as such, Giovanni had to me informed of how to properly interact with TRAINSS' AI. Any changes that would need to be made to the system, such as the addition or removal, or changing of duties or clearances of personnel, had to be directly approved by Giovanni, before being input by Zane. Giovanni found this process annoying, yet was fully understanding of the necessity of it.
Though the reasons behind the security risks were only known to the security personnel, Zane, and of course Giovanni himself, members of Team Rocket who worked inside the building where the risk is apparent, were always alerted to the risk, via a list of the various sections of Team Rocket displayed on a screen of some kind. Next to the every name on the list, is a light, which changes from green to red in the presence of a risk. It seemed rather simple, but was very effective in keeping the members on their toes. It is now that one of those green lights turns to red. A look of surprise clearly comes over Zane's face, as a message flashes on the screen, accompanied by a computerized voice.
Meanwhile, behind the grand double doors, the leader of the organization, ironically named Giovanni Boss, sits on a rather lush and expensive, yet ergonomic chair, which shape serves to only accentuate his intimidating look. He leans forward, elbows resting on a fine oak desk. Tonight, was the anniversary of the disappearance of Jessie's mother, Miyamoto. Through his mother's actions, Miyamoto had vanished while on a search for Mew in the mountains and because of that, he found himself sleepless on this night.. Despite his general tough exterior and uncaring attitude, he found himself somewhat sympathizing with Jessie. Not only was his mother responsible for Jessie's mother's disappearance, but he knew what it was like to basically grow up without a mother. Because of this, he found himself unable to fire her, no matter how badly they messed up. He also knew that she would likely not work with anyone but James, given their history, and as such had to keep the other two as well.
His thoughts of the past, however, are interrupted, as the unmistakable noise of a phone ringing fills the air. The source: his videophone, another technology adapted and improved upon from existing technology. Videophones developed by his organization worked similar to cellular phones. No wires were needed to connect a caller and a receiver, eliminating the ability to wire tap. Different levels of encryption were able to be put on a video call, arranged by TRAINSS, so calls could be monitored yet protected by the same time. The different encryptions also enabled the system to categorize the various calls made by their position in the organization, another security measure. Though his calls were usually patched through by his secretary, he found this one to be coming directly from the Security Room, from TRAINSS itself. He was surprised at this, but more that there was a large enough security risk that he required direct contact. His anger at the interruption of his quiet time is quickly removed, as he pushes the green button near the screen.
A red line over a black screen appears, similar to one you see on an ECG monitor, or some sort of audio level measuring device. Though this would confuse most, Giovanni instantly realized it as TRAINSS' 'face'. There are sharp peaks and valleys that appear on the line, as it begins to speak to him, in a voice eerily human-like, yet rather androgynous. "Emergency alert! Emergency alert!" it exclaims, the line glowing slightly to convey that it really is an emergency. "A hacking attempt on the Team Rocket's main computer server is currently in the process. Data about the hacking of the Hoenn servers indicate that there is a ninety-eight point seven three four one eight two five percent chance this is a result of the actions of the Crimson Pikachu. I currently have him hacking a simulated dummy server, however his hacking skills are of an unprecedented level of expertise. I can only keep him fooled for so long before he quits. Further instructions are required.
A visible dark grin spreads across Giovanni's face, as he slams his fist against the table. He lets out a laugh so chilling, Articuno itself would find its self shivering if it were in earshot. This was the moment he was waiting for. He knew in his very soul that this 'Crimson Pikachu' would be foolish enough to try again, not be smart and be happy with what he'd done, as dumb luck as it had been. His eyebrow less brows twitch, as he leans back in his chair, putting his hands behind his head. "If you can trace him to his source, do it!" he says, as he stands. "Keep him fooled for as long as you can. If he starts to figure it out, purposefully leak information so it looks like he's breaking through your defenses. Once you have, alert the field operates I gather to the exact location and coordinates, and make sure I'm notified immediately upon their return. I have something.. special.. in mind for the fool." says and, without a word, ends communication. He sits down again, and presses a button on his desk. The lighting of his room changes so his face and most of his upper body become a silhouette. A small device appears over the mouthpiece of the videophone: the voice scrambler. He places a call to the section of Team Rocket responsible for housing his field operatives..
A few hours later, back at the base of Mt. Moon..
It is still very silent at the ground floor of Mt. Moon. However, this silence, doesn't last for long. There is a low rustle, as a team of about five black-dressed Team Rocket individuals shuffle through the floor. They are dressed in so much high-tech gear, they have an appearance similar to some form of high-tech super soldier, each carrying six pokeballs, visors capable of night vision, thermal scan, and magnification, and police-grade, semi-automatic rifles reminiscent of the classic M1 Garanbull. Weapons were highly rare in the world of pokemon, because everyone from little kids to grand organizations had the power of pokemon on their side, rendering firearms worthless and unneeded. Even Giovanni was hesitant to use firearms, because he thought they were an unnecessary load on his operatives. However, these circumstances were special. Because of the fact that the Crimson Pikachu was an expert hacker, they reaction time they needed to capture him would have to be very high. The time estimated for even the quickest release of a pokemon from dormant state is two to four seconds before they could be a good threat, due to the need for the pokemon to form from a beam of energy. The time needed to go from holding a rifle in carrying mode, to ready fire mode, was between half a second to a second for people skilled with the firearm and, because of this, needed that faster reaction time. They group move in highly tactical formation, towards the hidden door. The leader of the room, shown by the golden, yet small patch of R on his shirt, gives hand signals, as he moves forward. He puts his hand on his head to switch to thermal scanning, as he nears the doorway.
He quickly moves over to the doorway and, in a swift motion, kicks it in. He rushes down the dark passageway, switching from thermal imaging to night vision, and goes on until he reaches the room, where he then switches back to thermal imaging. He aims his rifle at the head of the human-shaped heat source, as an small, yet audible click is heard in the silence, the sound of the safety being turned off. Four more like clicks are heard, as his subordinates all aim their rifles at various, yet not-lethal targets on the body. The leader closes on e eye to steady his name, and gently tilts his head. "Stand and put your hands in the air, slowly. Refusal to do so will result in live fire being used to disable your ability to function.
A few minutes ago…
The green alphanumeric characters continue to fly across the screen, as Nathaniel continues to type with a sense of urgency. He had been in the Team Rocket's server for a while and, despite the complete success of his hacking program, feared his poking around might soon be discovered. He had managed to get some data, but it was mostly financial statements of no real value. He sensed something was wrong with this, for various reasons: The data transfer rate was too slow for being Team Rocket's main computer, all his poking had yielded few results, and it appears that, despite spending upwards of ten minutes in the system, nobody had tried to interfere with his hacking as they'd done in Hoenn. However, he didn't appear to concerned about these things. Far be it from him to look a gift horse in the mouth, he figured, preferring to spend the time worrying on getting more lucrative information. He continues typing, completely unaware of an approaching threat to his safety. Suddenly, an unfamiliar click breaks the otherwise unnoticeable, to him at least, rhythmic typing. Casting his suspicions aside had only proven to be to his detriment, as he averts his gaze to a mirror attached to the corner of the laptop. This gaze confirmed what he figured to be his worst fear, put onto him by the presence of the click and command.. Team Rocket, as it turns out, had outsmarted him, this time. He had been caught..