To the Reviewers:
Cdfe88-I didn't even think about the Matrix when I came up with the mark thing. It actually was partially inspired by another fic I have read called "Celedon Flight" As for your question about Dawn. Eventually yes she will.
Ri2-I will tell you what the mark looks like when I get back to focusing on Ash again. These next few chapters deal with the other characters. Croconaw bit through the thin part of Rayquaza's tail so it wasn't that hard to bite it off :). I only remember May's Munchlax ever eating anyones apendages in your story, did I miss something?
Welcome to Team Rocket
Professor Oak was ushered into a large office by two Rocket Grunts. He had no idea what they could possibly want with him. What did he have that they didn't? They had already destroyed his lab and taken all of his research, including several prototype TM's and other such equipment.
He was made to sit in front of a large desk where he looked at the back of a large black plush chair. "Hello Professor." Said a voice from the other side of the chair. "I'm glad to see you made it here in one piece."
"You say that like I had a choice." Grumbled Oak
"You did have a choice." Said the voice "You were told to either come quietly or loose your precious granddaughter. You chose to come quietly and that was the right choice."
"Where is May?" Demanded the professor "And what did that woman mean when she said you were 'taking care' of Gary? I swear if you've hurt either of them I'll-"
"Do absolutely nothing." Finished the man behind the chair. "Now that the pleasantries have been exchanged, let's get down to business." He pressed a button on the arm of his chair and a hole opened on the desk. Through the hole came an all too familiar looking pokeball. It was gold on the top and silver on the bottom. Engraved across the front of the ball were the letters "G-S"
"How did you get that?" Demanded Oak "I thought I told Kurt to destroy that thing!"
"He tried." Said the man "But he was unable to complete that little task. This ball is comprised of the toughest alloy in the word. Even a master pokeball maker like Kurt couldn't destroy it, and neither could a leading pokemon researcher like yourself."
"How do you know all this?" Asked Oak
"I have my ways." Said the man "Now professor there is something I need from you. You are the only one who knows how to activate what you yourself called 'Genocide Syndrome' and that's what I need you to show me how to do."
"No, never!" Cried Oak "I won't do it!"
"I was hoping you'd say that." Said the man "Perhaps a little persuasion is in order." He pressed a few more buttons on his chair and a screen came up. On the screen was an image of a cage filled with various baby pokemon. "I know you care deeply for pokemon, don't you Oak?"
The professor just stood there watching the screen. He didn't like the look of the situation but there was no way he could give away something as dangerous as the secret to Genocide Syndrome. Oak watched as the cage which held several Pichu, Igglybuff and Clefa was lowered into a pool filled with Carvahna. Oak tried to turn his head away from the gruesome scene before him but the grunts held his head and forced him to look at the grizzly scene. The anguished cries of the small pokemon rang through his ears as they were ripped to shreds by the ravenous fish.
"You see professor you could have prevented that." Said the man "I'd hate to see what those fish would do to a human." He chuckled when he heard the professor gasp.
"You wouldn't…" Started Oak
"I would and you know it." Said the man matter-of-factly.
Oak shuddered at the thought of seeing anything else go through such a heinous demise. He knew that giving this man what he wanted would most likely cause even more of the same, if not worse, acts of horror to be caused. However, he couldn't take anymore of this. He had to protect his family, they were all he had. "Alright, you win."
…
Brock was starting to get used to being in Team Rocket. He and the other Gym Leaders were slowly being turned into ruthless agents. Slowly very slowly their morals and values were falling by the wayside. Every time they would go on a mission they would be forced to commit harsh crimes, most being violent. The people of Kanto were putting pressure on Giovoni to make good on his promise to rid the land of Team Rocket. Therefore the 'boss' had sent most of the members to missions in Johto. Mostly trying to track down Gary. A few were dispatched in the Whirl Islands to try and find traces of Misty, but they hadn't found anything. Brock didn't know weather to feel relieved or disappointed. On the one hand this meant that his friend might be alright while on the other it meant that she could have been eaten alive by wild pokemon or some other gruesome fate.
Brock couldn't think about his friends much though. It always led him back to the night of the raid in Pallet Town. He had caused the deaths of many people, not just Delia. Although that one stood strongest in his mind he still thought about the other innocent lives he had ordered his pokemon to take. He constantly asked himself if it was worth it. Was his family so important? Were they the only reason why he was doing these things or was there something deep inside him that liked doing this?
The only outlet Brock had to take his mind off of his confusion was to totally turn off his feelings and carry out whatever orders he was given. This was why he was now in the dungeon level and had been the one to lower a cage of baby pokemon into a pool filled with flesh-eating fish. He had watched the spectacle without even blinking. He was both disgusted and proud of himself at the same time. He had never thought he would be able to do something so sinister or so vile and yet at the same time so captivating.
"Slate" Said a voice in his ear. "Get up to the briefing room, there's a mission for you."
"Affirmative." Answered Brock
He mad his way out of the gruesome chamber and headed upstairs toward the briefing room. As he was walking he saw two guards dragging an older man in a ruined lab coat down to the dungeons. Brock knew the man to be Prof. Oak and turned his gaze away from the man. He may have been accepting his new life, but he still couldn't face someone who had known him before.
…
Had he really done it? Had he really given away the secret to such a deadly weapon to such an evil man? The answer was yes. He had done it and now he regretted ever being part of the vile project in the first place.
It had been about ten years ago. Professors Oak, Ivy and Elm had been invited to Silph Co. along with the world renowned pokeball maker Kurt Benson. They had all been asked to combine their knowledge and experience to create a pokeball capable of capturing any pokemon. The balls were to be called Master Balls and would sell for a high price. At the time most of them had been against such a device. Kurt was the only one who seemed willing to do it. The company was offering him a lot of money and he needed it to pay for an operation his daughter needed. She had been sick and needed a very costly surgery to insure her survival. The scientists were swayed by the possibility of having a ball capable of capturing legendary pokemon. At the time Oak had been obsessed with studying a super-rare pokemon. He had somehow convinced Elm and Ivy to go along with the project and soon all involved were obsessed with creating a super powerful pokeball. Their first success came in the form of a ball made of a new alloy which combined titanium and diamond. The new alloy was called adamantium and was combined with all the mechanics of an Ultra Ball. After that they added the components for the special type-balls and created a pokeball that would capture any pokemon without fail. It was tested on Level 100 Dragonites, Charizards and even a reincarnated Kobutops. The problem with these balls wasn't discovered until the pokemon were tested in battle. They were totally obedient except for one major flaw. The pokemon would not stop battling until their opponent was completely destroyed. The longer each pokemon stayed in the ball the more they got the desire to kill. These first balls were destroyed and a new ball was created using all the same processes except for one. Instead of using regular adamantium they used an even more powerful alloy which put special nanomachines into the adamantium. These were meant to keep the pokemon contained unless it was released and to ensure that nothing went wrong with the captured pokemon's psyche. This ball turned out to be even worse than its predecessors.
At first the pokemon would be made to obey their new master. Whoever held the ball was considered as the pokemons trainer. It didn't matter if the person had been the one to capture the creature or not. After several tests in battle it showed that the pokemon's level grew exponentially. The usual cap of Level 100 seemed to be ignored as pokemon reached unheard of levels of strength. Once the pokemon reached Level 200 however its demeanor would change. The pokemon would only accept orders to battle and then it would not stop battling until all of its opponents were dead. It would then seek out a new opponent and if it couldn't find one the pokemon would turn on its master. The scientists dubbed this condition Genocide Syndrome. The pokemon which was housed in the ball was eventually put down. They attempted to destroy the ball, but due to its extremely durable nature, even the most powerful machines couldn't dismantle it.
After this ball was created Kurt quit the project. He said that he could no longer be a part of such atrocities. The other scientists soon quit as well. However before Oak left Silph he managed to install a safety on the ball. It would not activate unless a specific command was given. Without the command the ball was useless, it wouldn't capture anything and it wouldn't even be minimized. Ivy had volunteered to take the ball with her to Valencia Island and try to find a way to destroy it. Oak had agreed and hoped that he would never see the ball again.
He had heard nothing about the ball for another five years. This was until Ash found his way to Valencia that is. Oak had sent him on an errand to get some materials from Professor Ivy for an experiment he was going to carry out. Once Ash made it to the island and reported that Ivy had a weird pokeball she wanted the professor to "have a look at".
Oak had been hoping that the ball was not what he had been working on. However, when Ash returned from the Orange Islands and showed him the ball. He was sure it was what he'd hoped it wasn't. Oak immediately contacted Kurt and informed him of the situation. The pokeball maker had assured Oak that he could find a way to destroy the ball or at least make it useless. Oak sent the ball with Ash to the Johto region and hoped that it would be the last time he ever saw it. Now he knew he was wrong. The leader of Team Rocket had the ball in his possession and was going to use it for some malicious purpose of that much Oak was sure.
…
Brock entered the Briefing room and found that he was not alone. In the room with him were Surge, Lilly, Violet, Daisy and Erika. He also saw Butch, Cassidy, Fiona and Creig.
"I'm sure you all know why you are here." Said Fiona "The boss has been pleased with all of your progress. Especially you Mr. Slate." All remained silent so she continued. "I'm sure you're aware that there is a lot of static coming from the Johto region. One of the main points is Claire Dracone. You all probably know her best as the Dragon-type Gym Leader of Blackthorn City."
"What we need you six for." Said Cassidy "Is for a mission involving the seizure of the Dragon Holy Land."
The expressions on the assembled Gym Leaders faces didn't falter at the mention of such a daunting task. It was common knowledge that the Dragonite who guarded the Holy Land was one of the strongest pokemon around. It would be no easy task to take him down. This knowledge still didn't seem to make a difference to the Rockets.
"Since we're going to be fighting a lot of Dragon-types." Said Creig "With been given a little equalizer." He smirked as he pulled out a Master Ball. "I very own Ice Titan."
"So what are we going to do?" Asked Brock "Burry it under a massive snow storm?"
"That's exactly what we're going to do." Said Butch "Right after we capture all those Dratini that just hatched a few weeks ago."
With their plan now all laid out the Rockets left the room and awaited the call for their departure.
…
Gary had finally made it out of the cold mountain forest and he could now see Blackthorn in the distance. He pulled his cloak over his head and made his way down the mountains heading toward the Gym at the eastern corner of the city. He was going to speak to Claire and hope that she would at least believe his story about what had happened to Pallet. If she did it was possible he could receive some help in his efforts to overthrow Giovoni. He walked down the path with his head lowered and hoped for a miracle.
…
Well that's it for this chapter, Review, Review, Review that's all I have to say . Hope that the short chapter didn't bother too many people. The next one will be up…eventually.
Until Next Time…
