Pikatwig: Oh boy! Big time build up for Neo Yellow! Right aibou?
KKD: Yea… and again, you beat me to the punch.
Pikatwig: Anyway, now for a great chapter, with excitement, adventure, possibly betrayal, with the idea that you still gotta catch em all!
KKD: This'll get very VERY hectic.
Pikatwig: And possibly dark!
KKD: Man, this story sure has gotten darker than I would've expected… anyway, DISCLAIMERS!
DISCLAIMERS: We only own Takeshi, Hana, Daisuke, Ino, Koyomi, and Kaito. The rest are owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, the Pokemon Company, and their respective owners.
Hana: Quite a lot happened last time, we arrived in yet another new city, and my brother managed to get his hands on the next badge, with Lt. Surge promising to teach Shocker Volt Tackle, ugh. Anyway, now I've been given a chance of a lifetime to join Team Rocket…
Misty: And I'm still waiting for your answer, too!
Hana: You'll get it, soon! (laughs evilly.)
Chapter 11: The Choice, Team Rocket on the SS Anne
"Come on, why won't this dumb door budge!" Takeshi yelled annoyed.
"The power to the gym connects to everything, including the doors. If the power goes out, we're locked in," Lt. Surge answered.
"Not a very bright idea…" Daisuke responded.
"Wait, you have an Abra, we can just teleport ourselves out," Takeshi said.
"Um… I left it at the PC just before we got into the city to test the Pokedex's PC connecting capabilities… sorry about that," Daisuke apologized.
"Oh, well that's just great!" Takeshi groaned.
"Isn't your sister still outside?" Lt. Surge asked.
"Yeah… why?" Takeshi responded.
"Right, she can try and get us out of here!" Daisuke added.
"Oh! Why didn't I think of that?" Takeshi groaned, face-palming himself. "We just need to wait for her."
"Um… we'd still need to bring power back to the gym, because without it, the whole city is without power, and the sun's going down, that's never a good sign." Lt. Surge told them.
"Crud! Now that's even worse than we thought," Daisuke groaned as Takeshi and Daisuke looked at the tired and injured Shocker while Raichu was still being held by Lt. Surge.
"...I think I have an idea," Daisuke responded, pulling out a spray bottle of sorts.
"This is no time to get cleaning, dude," Takeshi responded.
"This isn't cleanser; it's a Super Potion," Daisuke answered, spraying Shocker, restoring his health. "I was able to stop by the PokeMart before we challenged Misty and stocked up on items to help us on our journey."
Outside, Misty and Hana were still talking to each other, Misty answering questions Hana had.
"So… what kind of attire would I have if I joined up?" Hana asked.
Misty had to think for a moment, and she looked at Hana for a moment.
"Well, since you've respected me so far, I can pull a few strings and get you a custom-made outfit. So, are those all your questions?" Misty told Hana.
"Yep, and yes! I will join Team Rocket!" Hana replied with a smirk, and Misty smiled at this.
"Excellent," Misty smirked as the two girls shook hands. "Welcome to Team Rocket. Now if you'll follow me, I'll take you to the closest base we have here."
"Hai, Misty-sama," Hana replied.
And so, the two walked off, approaching a large ship at the docks.
"Um…. we're out in the open, aren't we?" Hana asked, as Misty gave her a smirk.
"Don't worry, all the power in the city was cut, and it's night, nobody will notice us," Misty began. "The S.S. Anne here is a Team Rocket base hidden in plain sight. No one ever expected a luxury liner like this to be the base of a criminal organization like ours. Plus, this boat in plain sight idea was actually mine."
"Really clever Misty-sama. I look forward to working with such a clever and evil mind," Hana replied.
"Thank you, Hana. Now, follow me," Misty replied as they walked up the gangplank to the deck of the vessel.
Meanwhile, Cinnamon was trying to find her way into the gym where she knew the boys were. She noticed all the power was out, and likely the gym door wouldn't open, she then found something, a small electrical light from near the back, and it caused the back door to open up, Cinnamon ran inside, and saw Shocker and Raichu powering a generator.
"This emergency generator should give us enough power to get out of here," Lt. Surge told the boys.
"That's good. I-" Takeshi started before seeing Cinnamon. "Cinnamon!" he said surprised, as the small Pokemon walked over to him.
"Cinnamon?" Lt. Surge asked.
"My sister's Eevee," Takeshi explained as the evolution Pokemon approached them. "What's wrong, girl?"
Cinnamon then tried to explain, but the boys only assumed it had to do with the power outage.
"...If only Hana were here, she could help," Takeshi sighed.
"It has nothing to do with the outage," Mew's voice spoke in Takeshi's head.
'What?' he thought, holding his head in pain.
"Just relax, Takeshi. I have seen everything. Some girl is being taken to the ship at the docks; that foul gym leader who harmed your Squirtle is the one bringing her there," Mew explained via telepathy while Daisuke thought Takeshi was having a splitting headache.
"You okay?" he asked, as Takeshi fell to the ground, and soon Shocker ran over to his trainer, while Raichu had to take a breather, locking the boys back in, as Cinnamon ran to where Mew said that Hana was.
"Pika?" Shocker asked in worry.
"She'll be fine, but you must go to the ship right now. I'll see you when you're done there," Mew finished as Takeshi relaxed, the pain going away.
Shocker then saw that the emergency generator blew a fuse, meaning they couldn't supply any more power to the gym and get out!
"We gotta move, NOW!" Lt. Surge responded as everyone tried to dash out of the back door before it closed tight, but failed.
"Blast! Now we're stuck in here again," Takeshi groaned, as Lt. Surge picked him up.
"Listen to me, I've been in worse before, and I never gave up, I was in another situation like this! It was how my Raichu learned Volt Tackle! I will now pass the knowledge of this mighty move to you and your Pikachu!" Lt. Surge informed Takeshi.
"...HAI!" Takeshi responded.
The only character that made it out, Cinnamon, had ran out to the docks, and up the gangplank, quickly catching up with Hana on the SS Anne's main door.
"There you are," Hana responded.
"You ready to move on?" Misty asked.
Hana then looked at Cinnamon, who gave a nod, and then Hana turned around and said "Hai Misty-sama."
Back over in the gym, Raichu was showing Shocker how to do the Volt Tackle. After a few tries, Shocker tried to use the move, but he kept falling flat on his face each time.
"Shocker you have to listen to me! Hana could be in danger, and I would never be able to forgive myself if something terrible happened to her! So are you gonna quit?!" Takeshi announced.
"...PIKACHU!" Shocker responded, saying that he'd never give up, running to the back of the gym to prepare for his last shot at the move, and then Takeshi announced "SHOCKER USE VOLT TACKLE!"
"PIKA PIKA PIKA PIKA PIKA PIKA PIKA PIKA~!" Shocker roared as he raced for the front door, his body sparking up with a HUGE amount of electricity, and then… "CHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"
With that, Shocker impacted with the door, bursting right through the door and breaking it open!
"Hmph… I gotta admit… even my Raichu couldn't use it with THAT much power. Your Pikachu is something special, Takeshi," Lt. Surge admitted.
"Let's get moving," Takeshi said as they looked around and saw that the power was starting to come back on.
"... I have to make sure these people are okay!" Lt. Surge said. "I'm the gym leader, it's my job, you two go… wherever Hana is!"
Daisuke then walked over to him, and added "I'm gonna help him, Takeshi, this fight's up to you and your team now!"
"You got it Daisuke, Lieutenant!" Takeshi nodded. "I'll be back with Hana. C'mon, Shocker! Let's go!"
"PIKACHU!" Shocker nodded as Lt. Surge and Daisuke started their end to help citizens while Takeshi and Shocker rushed off to the SS Anne, with one problem, the power had yet to return to the street lights, so they couldn't see where it was…
"This just ain't our day, is it Shocker?" Takeshi sighed.
However, Shocker just looked in the general direction of the ocean and ushered Takeshi to follow him.
Meanwhile, Misty was continuing the tour of the vessel to Hana as they arrived in a cafeteria-like room, the Mess Hall.
"Koyomi, Kaito, Electabuzz! There you are," Misty responded, surprising the trio that Hana recognized, while Hana herself was a tiny bit surprised that they were there, too.
"What's she doing here?!" Koyomi yelled.
"They must've snuck in!" Kaito added.
"Shut it you fools, we have to do the motto!" Electabuzz yelled.
"Don't bother right now you three," Misty groaned. "This girl is our newest recruit."
"EH?!" the three went.
"You're kidding right?" both Koyomi and Kaito asked.
"Nope. It was rather easy to convince her to join us," Misty smirked. "Isn't that right, Hana?"
"Hai. Misty-sama here showed me the darkness, and now, I'm ready to be evil!" Hana announced.
"...Why am I not convinced?" Electabuzz muttered.
"You fools had better accept this! She just might be higher up than the three of you, and you'll have to take orders from her!" Misty snapped, walking over and slapping the three across the face!
"ITAI!" the three gasped.
"Get it?!" Misty yelled, and to the three it looked like her hair was on fire.
"Got it!" They saluted in fear.
"Good," Misty smirked, as she walked back over to Hana, calming down a bit.
"Forgive those idiots. So, how about I show you where the fitting rooms are, and then I'll inform Geo-sama of the good news about you joining up?" Misty asked Hana.
"That sounds good," Hana answered, with an evil smirk on her face.
Outside, Takeshi & Shocker arrived at the docks, but when they found the boat, the gangplank was gone!
"Just great, Bubbles can't carry us both over," Takeshi groaned until he got an idea.
"But maybe you two can get up the and provide another way in," Takeshi figured, as a security system spotted them, forcing them to fall back.
"Again, this ain't our day!" Takeshi groaned.
Shocker nodded in agreement as they had to think up a new plan already.
"I really hope Hana's okay if she's in there." Takeshi muttered to himself.
Meanwhile back inside Hana was finally showed over to the fitting room for her Team Rocket uniform.
"Oh boy, I can't wait." Hana said happily.
"You have a nice variety of uniform colors and designs, so take your pick," Misty smiled, as she opened it up for Hana. "I'm gonna go and tell Geo-sama that you're now one of us."
"Okay then," Hana nodded, as she walked into the room with Cinnamon.
Meanwhile, Misty arrived at the bridge and activated the monitor that gave her contact to Assassin, Doctor, and Geo.
"Good news, minna. I've managed to convince the girl with the Fairy type to join us," Misty informed when she got into contact with the three. "And soon, Erika will see things my way as well and join up."
"Excellent work Waterlily," Geo smirked.
"..." Assassin then began to think and then said "This is kinda suspicious…"
"What do you mean Assassin?" Misty asked.
"... she just joined you like that? I had to persuade Ninja for a month to get her on our side," Assassin answered.
"...In that case, keep a close eye on her Waterlily," Geo ordered.
"Hai, Geo-sama," Misty replied, as she noticed Takeshi and Pikachu on a security camera for the second time.
"Oh look, Hana's brother has come to play the hero," she said.
"Maybe you can test her loyalty by having her take him captive," Doctor suggested.
"Good idea…" she replied.
Back in the fitting room, Hana came out in a black and violet outfit, consisted of black high heels, black stockings, a black skirt, and a purple shirt-jacket that had poofy shoulders and the Team Rocket red R. Cinnamon looked at Hana and was still unsure about why Hana was doing this.
"Wow… a girl could get used to this…" Hana said looking at her attire.
Cinnamon growled at her.
"Relax, this is only an act. Play along," Hana whispered to Cinnamon, much to the little Pokemon's shock, but they soon winked at each other before Hana straightened out her outfit just as Misty came in.
"Well, you look good," Misty noted.
"Thank you Misty-sama." Hana replied, as Misty held something in her hand.
"Here, I have two things for you. First is a Rocket Pass, it'll let you get into any Rocket HQ anywhere in Kanto. Second, is an earing like mine, since you've been so good and loyal so far, I think you should have this…" Misty said.
Misty then placed the items in Hana's hands as the "new recruit" just bowed to her "superior" before placing the earring in her ear and pocketed the pass, thinking these could help her in the future…
"Alright, now, you have your first mission, your brother's here to play the hero, I want you to go and defeat him in battle!" Misty told Hana, who could only smile an evil smile in genuine joy.
Outside, Takeshi and Shocker were simply hiding nearby to avoid security, wondering what to do next, as they were soon drenched in water.
"Vee, ee, vee vee," Cinnamon whispered to Luna, explaining it was all an act, and they had to keep it up for a little while, Luna could only sigh and nod in agreement.
"Okay, who drenched us?!" Takeshi snapped, accidentally blowing his cover as he and Shocker saw…
"HANA?!" he gasped in shock and horror.
"Well, Nii-chan, I see you're trying to be hero and save me. It's too late for that now," Hana smirked, convincing Takeshi of her betraying him.
"I've been shown that being a goodie-two-shoes is nowhere near as fun as being evil! I've joined Team Rocket, and I will be a Top Coordinator none the less! And if you try to stop me, I will defeat you!" Hana added in.
Meanwhile, Misty was watching in joy as Hana was showing her loyal colors to them.
"You had no need for doubt in her Assassin. She's 100% loyal to us!" Misty told him.
"I will reserve my judgment on that until further notice," Assassin spoke simply.
"She's proven herself in my eyes," Doctor said.
"Geo-sama?" Misty asked, waiting to hear their leader's answer on the matter.
"She'll make a good member of Team Rocket." Geo replied.
Down below, Takeshi had Shocker ready to attack with Hana having Luna at the ready.
"Luna, use Draining Kiss!" she announced, as Luna moved in to use it, and drained away the last bit of Shocker's health, not having been healed from the earlier his Volt Tackle training.
"Drat… looks like I'll have to try someone else. C'mon out, Mega!" Takeshi shouted calling forth his Charmander as he got Shocker to a safe spot.
"Oh give me a break! Spiral I need you now!" Hana shouted calling out her Poliwhirl.
"C'mon Mega, I'm counting on you for this!" Takeshi shouted. "Use Fire Punch!"
With that, Mega charged forward, his fist lighting on fire, and then he punched Spiral right between the eyes, but it didn't do all that much.
"Use Water Gun and Water Pulse!" Hana ordered as Spiral launched a stream of water at Mega as well as a water pulse.
The attack was super effective, but he didn't faint. In fact, Mega started glowing, the glow of evolution! When the glow faded, Mega was a bit larger, had grown sharper claws on his hands and feet, a larger jaw more suited for chomping, and had one horn protruding from the back of his skull.
"CHARMELEON!" Mega roared.
"Hmph! He may have evolved, but your Charmeleon's still pathetic against Spiral," Hana scoffed.
"Grr… MEGA, USE FLAMETHROWER!" Takeshi yelled, making his Pokemon fire a huge blast of fire at Spiral, but it did little.
"I've had it with this fire loser," Hana exclaimed as something fell into her hands, she noticed it was some sort of stone. "Eh?"
It was a water stone.
"Consider it a welcome gift!" Misty's voice said.
"Arigato, Misty-sama," Hana said, Takeshi was in shock, now seeing that his worst fear was now true: Hana had truly turned evil, he lost one of his best friends… his own sister no less!
"I think I'll extinguish your pet's flames," Hana smirked evilly, hovering her water stone over Spiral's head, then she used it!
Spiral evolved in that instant, growing larger, his gloves (previously boxing glove-like), now having gained three fingers, and his eyes had a hint of anger to them.
"You have gotta be kidding me!" Takeshi groaned.
"USE MUDDY WATER!" Hana yelled, as her new Poliwrath fired a burst of muddy water at Mega, knocking him out.
"Gr… Mega return!" Takeshi responded, sending his Charmeleon back to it's ball. "Bubbles… you'll have to forgive me for doing this… but come out!"
With that, Takeshi called out his Squirtle, who was the most stunned at this scenario, especially that Spiral was willing to go with Hana's twisted wishes. She could hear her heart shatter into tiny pieces, but then the sadness was replaced with anger, she grew more angry by the second, and then began to glow as well!
"Well well… two evolutions in one night," Takeshi noted as Bubbles came out, her skin a much darker blue than before, having a more visible tail that looked like flowing waves of the ocean, and similar ears; Bubbles evolved into a Wartortle!
Deep down, Spiral was regretting going along with Hana's little ploy.
"Use Close Combat now Spiral!" Hana announced.
"Use Ice Punch now Bubbles!" Spiral was about to charge, but Bubbles rushed in first out of anger, her fist glowing with freezing ice before… Spiral's hand glowed with electricity and he punched Bubbles at the same time she punched him!
This left the Pokemon at what looked like a standstill, almost evenly matched. but then Bubbles gasped for air, and then fainted next. Spiral then closed his eyes in guilt for a moment.
"Grr… Bubbles, return!" Takeshi shouted, calling back the turtle.
"How long are you going to keep this up?" Hana scoffed.
"As long as it takes. Come out, Kiva!" Takeshi yelled, bringing out his shiny Doduo.
"Really? How do you expect a bird-brain like that to beat my Spiral?" Hana scoffed.
"Use Aerial Ace!" Takeshi shouted.
"No you don't use Thunder Punch and Ice Punch at the same time!" Hana ordered as the two Pokemon charged, Spiral having one fist covered in ice while the other being covered in electricity.
This caused Kiva to fall backwards, but then it looked up.
"Okay, use Double Hit!" Takeshi announced.
With that, Doduo jumped up and hit Spiral twice in the head, but it managed to grab the two headed Pokemon, and it growled at him, and then began to glow as well, but used a move to kick Spiral down, as the light of evolution occurred for the fourth time overall.
"How many times will your stupid Pokemon evolve only to still get beaten by me?" Hana growled as Doduo grew larger, a third head, and each head having two large black feathers on the front, along with red tail plumage.
"Okay, Kiva, use Tri-Attack!" Takeshi shouted, as the bird bashed Spiral three times, knocking it out.
"Now we've got something!" Takeshi smirked as Hana called back Spiral.
"Okay Luna, you're up!" Hana shouted, summoning her Clefairy.
"Now, DISARMING VOICE AND THUNDER PUNCH!" Hana ordered as she covered her ears, as did Misty who knew what the move does!
"You all might wanna cover your ears." Misty advised.
Assassin and Geo did so, but Doctor didn't as Luna sent out an ear-piercing scream, forcing Takeshi to cover his ears, and as the soundwaves continued to travel, Luna then ran forward and used Thunder Punch, knocking out Kiva.
"Grr… Gaim, you're my last hope!" Takeshi shouted as he called back Kiva and sent out his Scyther.
"SCYTHER!" Gaim shouted.
"Okay Gaim, use Swords Dance and Fury Cutter!" Takeshi shouted as Gaim sharpened his claws and quickly charged, knocking out Luna with one hit, forcing Hana to recall her Fairy type.
"Tch, that's about it, sis. I'm sure Gaim's more than a match for Cinnamon!" Takeshi smirked.
"Oh, I'm not gonna use her," Hana replied with an evil grin, revealing a new PokeBall with a purple Team Rocket R on the red half.
"NANI?!" Takeshi gasped.
"Alright, Soldier you're up!" Hana announced, summoning a Pokemon that looked like it was made by a computer program that was still working with 3D animation as it was a very blocky Pokemon that was mostly Pink with a blue snout, blue chest, blue legs, and a blue tail along with two white eyes.
"What in the world is that Pokemon?" Takeshi asked in confusion.
"A little thing called Porygon, but I'm calling him Soldier!" Hana answered.
"I've never heard of it, where'd you get it from?" Takeshi asked.
(Cue Flashback)
As Hana was walking out, a male Team Rocket grunt smiled at her as if having fallen in love.
"What is it?" Hana asked, surprising the grunt.
"Oh… uh… here, Hana-sama," the grunt responded, handing her Porygon's PokeBall. "Inside is a rare Pokemon known as Porygon, I hope you're willing to accept this gift."
"Thanks, I needed a fourth Pokemon." Hana replied waving.
(End Flashback)
"You don't need to know," Hana replied.
"Grrr…. C'mon Gaim, let's show that freak what we're made of! Use Seismic Toss!" Takeshi ordered as Scyther grabbed the slow Porygon, lifted it into the air, and came tumbling back down to the ground with the new Pokemon still ready to fight.
"Use Blizzard," Hana said, as Soldier did as commanded, and froze Gaim in a block of ice, and caused him to faint!
"NO!" Takeshi gasped.
"I win!" Hana told him, as Soldier froze his legs, preventing him from escaping.
Hana then had one look at her brother with a grin, and began to laugh evilly! Takeshi on the other hand just growled in annoyance that he lost, and that his sister turned evil, cursing to himself in the process, a small tear falling from his eye, he then lost consciousness.
"So, what'd you think of Hana now?" Misty asked.
"...Her actions are indeed commendable for Team Rocket," Assassin admitted.
"What's that? I can barely hear you!" Doctor shouted, having gone a bit deaf from the fairy-type move earlier.
Assassin then yelled the same thing.
"So Geo-sama, what'd you think?" Misty asked.
"...Unlike our colleagues, I can still hear, and I saw she's earned her position here in Team Rocket," Geo confirmed.
"I want you to bring her up here, so we may introduce ourselves to her." he added.
"Yes, Geo-sama," Misty bowed, going down to get the "new recruit."
Hana saw her brother the way he was, and simply gave him smirk. She had to admit to herself… she liked this, and now she had a power-packed Pokemon on her team.
"Soldier, great job for your first battle." Hana told the Pokemon, as she pulled out her Pokedex to look Porygon up.
-Porygon, the Virtual Pokemon. The only Pokémon people anticipate can fly into space. None has managed the feat yet, however.-
"Cool…" Hana said, putting her Pokedex away, as Porygon then gave her a bow, or at least the best version it could give.
"Good work, Soldier. Return," Hana responded, sending the Porygon back to it's PokeBall.
"You did really well Hana." Misty said walking over.
"I aim to please, Misty-sama," Hana bowed to her superior while Takeshi growled upon seeing the Admin.
"So, what do we do with the Baka?" Hana asked.
"...Bring him aboard. We can watch him suffer as his own Pokemon turn against him," Misty smirked, as some grunts picked Takeshi up, and brought him in. "So you got something really big Hana. The boss wants to see you, he's proud of what you did."
Hana nodded, and then she noticed something, Takeshi never brought out Deku.
'Must have some sort of plan in mind...' Hana thought.
"Alright, let's go and see Geo-sama, okay Hana?" Misty replied.
"As you command, Misty-sama," Hana bowed.
Soon the two reached the bridge, and Hana saw three people on the monitor.
"Who are they?" Hana asked.
"My superiors," Misty answered. "They are known as Assassin the Poison Ninja, Doctor the Fire Professor, and our leader, Geo-sama, the Ground Trembler."
"Cool codenames, do you have one?" Hana asked.
"Waterlily, the Water Mistress" Misty answered simply. "But only call use by Waterlily, Assassin, Doctor, and Geo-sama, in public okay?"
"As you wish, Misty-sama," Hana bowed.
"Alright, Geo-sama here she is. Hana," Misty said showing Hana.
"Greetings young one, I am proud to say this to you after what Waterlily has informed me: Welcome to Team Rocket," Geo bid.
Hana then began to laugh evilly, while Cinnamon had a worried look and one thought going on in her mind: is this really just an act, or is this for real?
Hana: Hey everyone, Hana here, and I gotta say, being evil is kinda fun. I actually beat my brother in battle! But Cinnamon and the rest of my team got me thinking, do I really want this, because I'm actually considering joining for real!
Cinnamon: Vee….
Hana: Well… if not, I just hope my Nii-san has an escape plan… Jikai, Pokemon Neo Yellow Version: Hana the Team Rocket Admin!
KKD: … *Faints and collapses on the floor.*
Pikatwig: … what? Oh… Hana actually thinking of joining for real, am I right?
KKD: *weakly nods yes.*
Pikatwig: Well, she is getting a greater amount of respect then ever before, has a great look, a new powerful Pokemon, she is getting really tempted to join for real…
KKD: ...She… better… not…
Pikatwig: Well, I'm leaving it to the fans to wonder, and us to type! We'll see if Hana does this for real or not. But if she does, she won't be part of Team Rocket in Arc 2. Feel any better aibou?
KKD: *Stands up.* A little. But let's… well you know.
Pikatwig: But first, for those of you wondering how Porygon got it's nickname, it's a reference to it's only appearance in the anime, an episode called "Electric Soldier Porygon".
KKD: For those of you who have been living under a rock for ages, this episode was never brought overseas because of the fact that when it was aired, it sent 600 Japanese kids to the hospital, forcing it to be banned, and despite what America was going to do to mild this down, it couldn't work due to the Japanese banning..
Pikatwig: Made WORSE by the fact it was PIKACHU who caused this mess, not Porygon!
KKD: Regardless, Poor Porygon and his evolutionary line never got to be seen in the anime in such major roles ever since.
Pikatwig: Well the Pokemon Adventure Mangas are righting this wrong, because the rival of Red/Blue/Green has one.
KKD: I see.
Pikatwig: Well jaa ne readers.