Chapter 2

Note: Since their abilities are the bodies of Pokemon with human reasoning, our heroes have dreamed up several new attacks, which are portrayed as Chrono-Cross style special techniques. So far, each has one. They are as followed.

Jake: Wrestling tech.- Being an avid pro wrestling fan, this tech. allows him to use most every wrestling move he sees on Smackdown.

Nick: Transparency- In true ghost fashion, Nick can turn as invisible as the air you're breathing.

Ry: Skater- Laying on his stomach, Ry can shoot jets of water from the back of his shell, skittering across the ground at high speed.

Marin: Power kick- Ever been kicked by a horse?

Eddie: Mmmmkupo- Moogle eats a kupo nut, giving him inmoogle strength and speed, and after a victory, says the intensely cute phrase 'I'm Kupo for Kupo nuts, kupo!'

Narrator: Now, as a hill passes between our heroes and the town they've known and loved, they begin to feel homesick, knowing that they will not see it for a long time to come.

"Sigh. This is so major league depressing." Jake muttered.

"Don't worry yourself sick over it." Ry said, projecting a shield of 'cold shoulder' to hide his own sadness.

"Look, guys. We can't mope. Keep your heads up, and your strides long. You can dream of home, but during the day, the road is your home, all right?" Nick ordered, looking to each member of the crew in turn.

"Right." Jake said with a sigh.

"And watch out for Rocketeers, kupo." Eddie added, smiling. Ever since Ash had published his autobiography, Team Rocket had become a joke as much as a curse. Chuckles, laughs, and giggles passed through the group.

Time passed. Eventually they came to a field.

"WOOOOOOOOOO!" shouted Ry. Jake and Eddie simultaneously kicked him in the shins.

"Ry, you moron! You're scaring all the Pokemon away!" Jake scolded.

"Sorry." Ry moaned, sitting down to clutch his aching shins.

"All right. We've rehearsed this a dozen times. Everyone knows how to do this?"

Murmurs of agreement circulated through the group. "Good. Everyone, let's go!"

(Digimon-ish transform sequence begins)

"RAGE! Jake Kingrasti, transform!" Jake (in Primeape form) beats his chest.

"Let's rock and roll! Ry, transform NOW!" Shoots a stream of water into the sky.

"Nick, Begin transformation sequence!" Cruton floods the area with mist.

"Eddie, kupo, transformkupo!" Moogleborg flaps his wings and yawns.

Each one 'melted' to their assorted forms, looking like something from Industrial Light and Magic as their DNA shifted to Pokemon DNA.

"PRIIIIIME! BRRRREAAAA! BREEEAAAAA! BUUUUURAAA! BUUURAAAA!" Jake screamed at the top of his lungs, then charged into the grass. "Gast, ghastly gast." (He always does this)

"Yeskupo, but he's a Primeape, kupo."

"Squirtle squirt squirt squirtle." (What're you gonna' do.) Ry shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, you guys can stay and talk, but I'm going to go fishing, okay?" Marin picked up her pole and a small tackle box, turned and left.

"Coming, kupo?"

Cruton had been watching Marin leave. He turned around and said yes, than floated after his friends.

Jake examined a clearing in the grass. A Rattata was nibbling on some seeds it had found. 'I wonder where?' the human part of his mind had thought to itself. 'Irrelevant.' The Primeape part of him said. 'Rattata evolves to Raticate.' thought the human. 'CHAAAAARGE!' "PRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPE!"

Jake charged into the clearing, grabbed the small mouse, and spiked it on it's head, knocking it unconscious. Killer Primeape shrank away into a small corner of Jake's mind as he became human again.

"POKEBALL, GOOOO!" Jake wound up and threw the Pokeball major league baseball style. It bounced off the unconscious Rattata, opened, and sucked the purple thing inside. Jake snatched the ball up and spun it on his finger basketball style. "YES! I caught a Rattata!" he yelled, holding it out. Then, he shrank it and clipped it to his belt.

Off in another part of the field.

Lenny, a Pokemon Protector, was where he felt at home, laying beneath a tree full of Metapods and chewing on a piece of grass, looking up at their shells glistening in the sunlight. He'd found his purpose in life, keeping every bug in the field safe and free. He'd been shown the light years ago by some acquaintances. He didn't bother to remember their names now. He remembered them laughing when they were called terrorists casually, almost jokingly, by a third man, tall, with his hair slicked back and wielding a cane. The trio had taken him aside and talked to him, preached to him, and made him what he was today, a protector of the planet, a member of the glorious Team Rose! "Ghastly, ghastly gast!"

"Squirtle Squirt Squirtle!"

"Rock Paper Scissors, Kupo!"

*BONK, BONK*

"Kuuupo.."

"What the hay." Lenny muttered, pushing his hat up and raising an eyebrow. The conversation continued between the three voices. Lenny grabbed his Pokeballs and ran toward the source.

The conversation our good friend Lenny heard was in fact three of our heroes arguing over who gets the first Pokemon.

"Ghastly, ghastly gast!" (I'm the leader, so I get the first catch!)

"Squirtle Squirt Squirtle!" (Who made you boss?)

"Rock Paper Scissors, kupo!"

*BONK BONK*

"Kuuupo."

"Squirtle Squirtle squirt squirt SQUIRTLE!" (C'mon, I'll arm wrestle ya' for it!)

"Gastly gast." (I have no arms.)

"Squirtle." (Uuuuh. oh yeah.)

"THAT'S FAR ENOUGH!"

All three of the group jumped in surprise.

Marin yawned. It was a beautiful day. She was laying back; looking up as the clouds went by. There was nothing on the line so far, but who cared? This was a long lazy day, where you could sit...

*Tug*

Back and stare at.

*Tug tug*

"Huh?

*YANK*

Marin grabbed the pole before it could be dragged in the water and set the hook in, well, whatever it was. She pulled, it pulled. Yank. Tug. Bend. Etc., Etc., Etc., time passes. Finally, she gave one last extra hard pull, and out of the water flew a staryu. She grabbed a Pokeball, reached back, and threw it underhanded. A flash of red light, and all that was left was the Pokeball. It shook, rattled, and finally, the light dimmed. She grabbed it, and held it over her head.

"WOOO! I got a Staryu!" Marin yelled, leaping into the air and holding the Pokeball over her head.

Jake, wise enough not to turn back into Killer Primeape, lest he go into a battle-hungry war rage, was sneaking through the tall grass hunting for more Pokemon.

"THAT'S FAR ENOUGH!"

He twisted toward the sound and ran. Whatever it was meant trouble.

'Good.' KP said from the corner of his mind.

"Gastly gastly gast gastly?!" (Who the flying blue heck are you?!)

Some kid, apparently a country hick, judging by the plaid shirt, rolled up overalls, and straw hat, was standing in front of the group with a Pokeball in hand.

"Don't waste that mubo-jumbo on me! This ain't your natural habitat, and you three shouldn't naturally be associating together. Which means," the boy said, than furrowed his brow, "You ain't natural. Now you've got 'til the count of three to explain yourselves in good and proper English 'fore I tell Slicer here." he emphasized the Pokeball on the word 'Slicer', ".To beat it out of you."

"Squirtle squirtle squirt squirt?" (Who does this country bumpkin think he is?)

"What'd you say?"

"He asked, kupo, and I quote, 'Who does this country bumpkin think he is, kupo?', except for the kupo, kupo!"

"You want to know who I am? I'm a protector of the planet! I'm a member of the.

"Ghastly." (Oh no.)

"Glorious brotherhood of."

"Ghastly?" (Why me?)

"Team Rose! Now, where was I?"

Seconds pass.

"Oh yeah! One."

Ry twiddled his thumbs.

"Two."

Eddie bounced the little doodad on his head.

"Three! SLICER, GO!"

A flash of blinding white light, and almost immediately, Cruton, Ry, and Eddie were staring at.

"Scyther."

"Slicer, get them!"

"Not if I have a say!"

*Begin anime transformation sequence*

"Killer Primeape, I summon thee!"

"PRIIIIIME!"

KP charged at the Scyther, and the two squared off, circling and sizing the opponent up.

"Well, now, that was unexpected. But I still have some friends stashed away for a rainy day! Static, Voltron, Apache, GO!"

Three Pokeballs flew. Three flashes and three Pokemon appeared.

"Pika!"

"Voltorb!"

"Pidgey!"

"Gastly." (Voltorb.)

"Squirt." (Pidgey.)

"So, I'll take the Pikachu, kupo!"

Both KP and the Scyther had used focus energy and assorted other power-up moves, and were entering fighting stances. "Scyther." "Prime."

Then, they charged.

Have you ever seen on Dragonball Z where the two guys fighting are throwing and blocking all those 'faster than the eye can see' punches and kicks? That's what the fight looked like. The two stood toe to toe, trying to kill each other painfully.

For the rest of the fighters, the battle slid in their favor from the start. Moogleborg was beating the heck out of the Pikachu, nailing it with body-slams, head buts, and a few weak psychic blasts to keep it off its feet. Cruton had gone transparent, than immediately returned to view, used confusion to lift the Voltorb, and threw it in Lenny's general direction.

"Ah, crap."

"VOLTORB."

Boom.

Slicer turned his head at the distraction, allowing KP to grab its shoulders.

"Scy?"

.And execute the Twist of Fate, making stars play "You're a Grand Old Flag" in Slicer's skull for a few seconds, which was long enough for KP to grab him, throw him in the air, leap after him, and execute a seismic toss. Aimed directly at Lenny's dirty, dazed body.

Thud!

"OUCH!"

Ry was simply staring at the Pidgey.

"Squirtle." (Pathetic.)

Ry simply hit it with a water gun, sending it into the dog-pile on Lenny's head.

As for Static and Moogle.

After beating it thoroughly, Moogle lifted the Pikachu, and set it gently on Lenny's gut. Then he karate-chopped it.

"Pika."

"Nawt this."

"CHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

Static sent itself and Lenny-tachi flying off into the sky.

"And that's that, kupo."

All of them returned to human.

"Oh, man! The sun is setting and we don't even have a single Pokemon!" Ry complained.

"There's always tomorrow." Cruton said.

"What about tonight? Plenty of nocturnal Pokemon are around here." Ry argued.

"That could rip you limb from limb." Jake added.

Ry digested this for a moment.

"So, who cooks?" He asked

"I am not doing KP again, no matter what you say about it being my job. No way." Jake said.

And so, the crew left to make camp.

Again, deep beneath the Team Rocket Underground HQ

"So, let me get this straight. You want direct control over the top third of my science division, plus a NINE HUNDRED THOUSAND-DOLLAR grant? Are you out of your mind?"

"Listen." That man in a coat, with his ski mask and baggy black pants sticking out from where the coat fell away, replied in his blank, mechanical tone. Giovanni was getting sick of it. This man was outrageous. "What do I get out of this?"

"The perfect soldier, completely loyal, with advanced psychic abilities and the ability to become a Pokemon, increasing his combat strength and ability a hundred times!"

"And what will you be working off of?"

"My memories, some documents, and this." He threw an unmarked manila file on the table.

"This is your big secret, eh?" Giovanni said, opening it. There were five papers inside the file; attached to each was a photo. He read each paper, than studied the photos.

"Will you excuse me for a moment?"

"If you lose that, I will kill you."

"Of course, friend."

Giovanni was gone only a moment, and had the file in one hand when he returned, and a bottle of something alcoholic in the other. He handed the file back to the man, who placed them inside his coat again, and pulled two glasses out from somewhere. He filled them from the bottle, and handed one to the man. Giovanni raised his glass. "To our continued partnership, Mr."

"Deus, Mr. Deus."

They clinked their glasses and Giovanni tilted his head to down his drink.

Deus raised the bottom of his ski mask, revealing pale, almost not there, lips, without a trace of a circuit or anything to scramble his voice.

"This is a very fine, fine scotch." Deus said with a smile. In that same, grating, mechanical voice.

Giovanni merely stared in shock and surprise, then dumped his drink into a nearby garbage basket.