PEWTER POKEMON CENTRE.
Ash held the smiling Riolu aloft in his arms as his trainer just continued to hug him slightly. Silver trotted besides Ash, still revelling in his recent evolution and thoroughly satisfied with the bag of treats that his trainer had just deposited upon him that morning. Besides, he wasn't one for all the hugging and he'd gotten far too heavy for Ash to pick him up like he used to around Oak's laboratory.
"Well, I still owe you both for doing so well in battle, and I hear that there's a Pokemon Parlour in Cerulean City. If you're both patient, I'll get you a couple of slots after the battle at the gym there." Ash spoke.
Silver perked up at that as he looked up to Ash, Blue in his arms definitely looking interested. Pokemon Parlours were notorious among trainer Pokemon, being a place that basically pampered any Pokemon a trainer booked in. If their trainer so chose, a Pokemon could attend the equivalent of a spa, a boutique and other facilities to make them feel and look good. Of course, there was also the renowned shops each parlour contained that trainers could spend further money at.
"Sounds lovely." Blue commented, getting a yip of agreement from Silver.
"Of course, I'd have to get Peeper in on the spa if we do so." Ash notified them. "But I'll let you two choose one thing each from the shop. A special treat."
Paul got Ash's attention then as he grunted. "Has anyone ever told you how freaky it looks when you appear to be talking to yourself, Ash?" The Sinnoh trainer questioned.
Ash just chuckled at that. "Why yes, a couple of people have."
Paul just shook his head as the two trainers approached the front desk of the Pokemon Centre, getting a smile from the Nurse Joy manning it as she saw the two approach. "Hello, and welcome back! I trust you had a pleasant night?"
"Yeah, it was good thanks Nurse Joy." Ash answered, before holding up his case of Pokeballs with one hand. "Would you mind checking on our Pokemon please?"
"Of course!" Nurse Joy responded, before placing a tray onto the desk. "If you could please return your Pokemon to their Pokeballs and put them in this try, that'd be good."
Ash did so as he said goodbye to Blue and Silver, placing their Pokeballs as well as the other two normal ones into the tray as Paul deposited all of his Pokemon into it.
"Thanks." Paul said, getting a smile from the nurse.
"No problem. If you'd like to take a seat in the lobby, they'll be five minutes or so." She informed them as she gave the tray to a nearby Chansey who then took it through a 'staff only' door.
Turning around and taking a couple of seats, Ash just adjusted his cap back over his head to let him see better indoors, before pulling out his Pokegear to fiddle with.
"Hey Ash." Paul spoke then, getting his friend to look over. "The next gym after Pewter is the one in Cerulean City, right?"
"Yeah, that's the one." Ash confirmed. "It's a water-type gym."
Paul's eyes glinted at that. "Excellent." He stated. "Grotle has a second consecutive type advantage."
Ash just shook his head, amused, as he went back to the phone device in his hand. It was just seemingly moments later that the time had passed, as they heard their names called out over the speakers, and made their way over.
"Here's your Pokemon, boys." Nurse Joy stated with a smile as she placed a tray of six Pokeballs onto the counter of the front desk she was stationed at. The two trainer's Pokemon was set on the two sides of the tray, three on each side as Paul picked up his with a grunt.
"Thanks, Nurse Joy." Ash responded as he scooped up his own Pokemon and put the capture devices in the case, next to Synergy's own ultra ball. The three then walked out of the Pokemon Centre and into the street, where Paul began to set out what he wanted to do.
"Come on, Ash, we've already got everything we need and I'd quite like to get back on the road." Paul stated then, making Synergy look over to the normally patient Sinnoh trainer.
"You don't even want to see what the rest of the city has to offer?" She questioned to the trainer then, making Paul look to her with a bored expression.
"And what is there to do in a city all about mining that we already haven't done in Viridian?" Paul questioned back.
"The museum of science, for one." Synergy replied, her facial plates twitching in amusement as she saw Paul's face turn a bit bored-like.
"That's a good idea." Ash agreed with his Pokemon then, making Paul raise an eyebrow at them both. "C'mon Paul, it'll be good to do something recreational before we spend the next couple of days scrabbling about the rocky terrains of route three. It'll take ages to go through Mount Moon itself if we go that way."
"...Fine, whatever." Paul gave in. "I am not spending all day looking at fossils, though."
"It's a small museum from the sounds of it, Paul." Ash assured him with a small chuckle. "We'll probably be in and out within, at most, an hour."
MOUNT SILVER.
Red stood still observing the machinations of the bustling faction he ran. Whilst he was a very busy man, between running a faction, the security department of the League and taking on the challenges of being a Pokemon master, he still made time for what he wanted to do. And right now, as perhaps something that related intensely to the man's disposition and personality, he was just silently watching the bustling about of people below him within the heart of the faction. They may not be living to their true purpose yet, but there was still plenty to do in preparation for that day. It was just a matter of being prepared before Team Rocket was.
Red stood on the metal catwalks above the main cavern that had been carved out and widened from the natural cave systems within the top of the mountain, the Pokemon that had been inhabiting said systems having long been driven into the deeper sub-systems of the mountain by the faction. He didn't turn around, but Red knew that he was currently in front of the lit-up main logo of the faction, the Charizard symbol that he himself had commissioned.
Stamped below that was the main saying that had quickly become the faction's unofficial motto.
Night will fall. It is our job to bring the light back.
"Ah, boss." A voice rang out then to the left of Red, some footsteps sounding out on the metal surface as they walked up to him. "I thought I might find you here, you weren't in your office."
Red didn't even turn around to greet the man, having already sensed him before he even stepped foot on the catwalks. Instead, all he did was make a motioning gesture to his left to give them permission to join him as he continued watching the activities beneath the two men.
"I have the latest intel that we have on Team Rocket's activities in and around Pewter City as you requested, boss." Charon spoke then, as he held out a file to his leader. Red finally broke from his musings as his head tilted to look at the file, leaving the cigarette in his mouth as he accepted the folder. "Though I don't know quite why you wanted that specific set, it's one of the quieter regions of Kanto. As usual, we haven't found any of their main bases, just glimpses of their activities and such." Charon frowned at what he considered to be a confusing request, before an inkling dawned on him. "Could this be to do with your son, sir?"
Red finally graced his head scientist with eye contact at the mention of that, before looking back to the file. "How astute, Charon." Red answered with mock praise, as he removed the cigarette from his mouth after taking a drag. "Though I would consider sending you to the interrogators for learning of that had it not been for the fact that my son's gym battle was on the news yesterday."
"Ah, c'mon boss." Charon replied, not that put off by something Red said more often than actual praise. "We all know that you've got people keeping an eye on your son."
"Of which very few people are allowed to see the reports of, Charon." Red answered back without even looking at the man. "Not including you."
Charon fell silent at that as he saw his leader skip straight to the map after skimming through a couple of sheets of paper, where a few red circles graced the map. Raking his eye over them, Red spotted one that particularly took his interest as he tapped over that location on the map.
"What's going on in Mount Moon, Charon?" Red questioned with a firm tone.
Looking over himself, Charon recognised that. "Oh, that. That was a report by one of our informants that passed through the caves who described an increase in robberies of passing trainers by Rocket grunts." The scientist described, before frowning. "They described it as a temporary thing, though. Primarily because what they saw and heard detailed that they were looking for something in those caves, in strength I might add. Quite a few squads of grunts were apparently in those caves. They'll likely be there for another couple of days."
"During which the League will likely do nothing as it's not bothering the main route." Red mused aloud then, getting a nod from Charon as that sounded feasible to the man. Tapping the map again, Red issued an order to the scientist. "Have Squad 2 ready to leave in an hour. I want to see what Team Rocket is looking for."
Charon's frown became deeper at that. "Is using one of the heavy assault teams not overkill, sir?"
"Not at all, Charon." Red replied as he took a final drag on his cigarette before flicking away the expended drug stick. "I will be going with them."
PEWTER CITY.
Paul just grunted as the two trainers and robotic Pokemon exited the Pokemon Centre, and after a brief debate upon the map outside, they started traversing the city. It took much longer to reach their destination this time, just over thirty minutes unlike the previous shorter walk to the gym which the Pokemon Centre had been situated close to for convenience.
The design of the museum itself certainly stood out as the two trainers approached it, a triangular prism shaped section at the front with a much larger rectangular section behind. The entrance section was decorated with orange mosaic tiles as Ash and Paul walked in, Synergy finding the architecture of the place disappointing for something hyped up to be one of the best places in the city to visit.
"Hello, and welcome to the Pewter museum of science!" The staff member manning the front desk of the reception greeted them as they walked in. "Would you like to buy tickets to view the museum, or is there another inquiry you'd like to peruse?"
Ash just shook his head as Paul stuck his hands in his pocket and let his friend do the talking. "We'd like to buy two tickets." Ash replied.
"Great." The receptionist spoke, typing in a few commands into the computer before motioning towards a machine on their right. "Would you happen to be Pokemon trainers? If so, please slot your Pokedex into the machine to validate a discount for trainers, and it would also cost $50 per trainer."
Ash looked to Paul, who just nodded - it was a better price than the purple-haired trainer had anticipated, and so they each slotted in their Pokedex, allowing the machine to validate and deduct money from their accounts.
"Thank you." The receptionist responded. "Enjoy your day at the museum. Please be reminded that you will need a Pokemon to enter the prehistoric Pokemon enclosure - though it looks like you've already got that covered." They stated as they looked towards Synergy, who just stared back.
That caught Paul's attention. "Sorry, we'd need a Pokemon out to visit an exhibit?" He questioned then.
"Oh, you mustn't have heard." The receptionist replied with an amused tone. "The museum here has a machine that can revive ancient Pokemon by extrapolating their DNA from fossils. We've got a few such species in an enclosure at the back of the ground floor - you'll see it when you go through the door, it's directly ahead. You can find out more there."
"Thanks." Paul responded, before starting off towards the door to the left of the front desk that led into the museum. Ash and Synergy quickly followed after him, emerging through the door into a large, rectangular room that was being used to display several paintings. The three looked about and were about to see where to go, especially trying to locate where the enclosure was, when they were stopped.
"Well, I'll be damned." A voice sounded out from behind Ash, making him prick his ears up and look round. "Ashy-boy, here just when I stroll through the door."
"Gary?" Ash responded then as he turned to see who had called his name, and saw that it was indeed the smirking brunette stood behind them. Gary held both his arms aloft in a dramatic gesture as he moved forwards to greet Ash, before Ash then seized his right hand and shook it. "Gary, you son-of-a-bitch! Fancy meeting you here."
"Language, Ash, what would gramps think if he heard you now?" Gary playfully scolded, making Ash chuckle at the insinuation. "Ah, but I heard you were in town after you defeated a gym leader's main Pokemon yesterday. I didn't expect you to still be here, but it's good catching up to you, man."
"Yeah, Brock offered the choice and I took it. I got my gym badge out of it, and it all went well." Ash replied as he took out his boulder badge, watching it glint in the ceiling light before tucking it back away.
Gary just grunted. "I saw the video of the battle myself, Ashy-boy, and you are seriously underselling how good it was." He stated, before waving his hand. "But whatever. I got my own badge from a battle yesterday morning, see? I just managed to beat you to the punch." Oak's grandson held up his own version of the black badge, allowing Ash to see it.
"Cool." Ash responded, not begrudging Gary at all given how he had been this way since the start of their friendship years ago. "But what are you still doing here? It's not like you to stay in one place when you can move on, you said so yourself that you wanted to beat me to everything."
"Yeah, well, I'll admit I took yesterday afternoon off to see the museum here." Gary answered as he put his hands in his pockets and looked to one of the paintings which depicted two flocks of Spearow and Pidgeotto frozen in battle within Viridian Forest. "Gramps was right, you know. The science and history in this place is amazing, especially the prehistoric Pokemon. I can see why he switched careers." A thought struck him then as he looked back, questioning Ash. "Speaking of which, have you seen the enclosure with the prehistoric Pokemon yet?"
"I'm afraid not." Ash spoke.
"Really?" Gary inquired with a raised brow. "You're all over the Pokemon and learning more about them, Ashy-boy. That isn't like you to dally from doing something that seems right up your street."
Ash's expression became unimpressed then. "We're standing in the museum entrance bit, Gary. We just got here." He replied dryly.
"Oh." Gary let out with an awkward chuckle, before more hastily moving on. "Well, you should really see it, you won't see any modern Pokemon like them. But first of all, who's your friend here?"
Paul saw that he was finally mentioned by the chattering friends, and looked over apathetically towards Gary. "Paul." He answered simply, before resuming his stance behind Ash as he just waited for them to finish up.
Gary observed the purple-haired trainer, seeing that the trainer Ash had obviously made friends with wasn't interested in talking. "Right. I'm Gary." He reciprocated, getting a nod from Paul - confirming to Gary that he was indeed not talking. "Well, I can show you the best Pokemon if you want, Ashy-"
"You forgot someone, Gary." Ash interrupted then, before elaborating as he saw his friend's curious expression. "Meet Plasteel." He spoke as he motioned behind Gary.
A heavy tap on Gary's shoulder made the teen look round, only to look gobsmacked at the robotic Pokemon that was looking back down at him. He continued looking at the Pokemon for a second before turning back to Ash and sticking a thumb at the armoured entity behind him. "...And who is that?" He asked.
Ash just smirked as he he held up an ultra ball in his hand and rattled it. "She's my strongest Pokemon." He replied. "Plasteel."
Gary stepped over beside Ash and just observed the robotic Pokemon once more. "So she's the Pokemon you've kept hidden from me all this time, huh?" Gary questioned his friend.
"Yeah." Ash nodded. "I'm not going to tell you anything about her, either." Ash stated with a smirk as he eyed Gary, who only smirked back.
"That would be heart-breaking to me, Ashy-boy, if it wasn't for the fact that Pokedexs were invented for this specific reason." He answered back cheerfully. Picking out his own red Pokedex, he pointed it straight at the robotic Pokemon, who only eye-smiled back as Gary's own expression faltered at the denial he got from his device. "...Bastard." Gary muttered out as he tucked away his Pokedex and looked up to see Ash chuckling. "You knew that would happen, didn't you?"
"Yep." Ash replied just as gleefully as Gary had, getting the boy to roll his eyes.
"...Whatever." Gary just sighed then. "Shall I show you the ancient Pokemon or not, then?"
Paul jut snorted then and urged them on before Ash could bog them down any more. "By all means." He replied gruffly, with a motioning gesture towards the enclosure entrance at the end of the rectangular room they were in. Gary just eyed for a second before waving the group on down the path towards it.
The security guard posted at the entrance to the enclosure held up their hand as they saw the three trainers coming towards them. "Tickets please, and you will need a Pokemon out with you at all times whilst in the enclosure. This is for your own safety, and rules apply within the enclosure such as please do not provoke the revived Pokemon. You agree to enter the enclosure at your own liability."
Paul grunted as he handed over the tickets, as Ash only jerked a thumb back towards Synergy who folded her arms together. "Already ahead of you." Ash replied as Synergy merely dipped her head at that.
The security guard spent a second looking at the robotic Pokemon, completely failing to recognise the species before just shrugging. "Fair enough." They stated, and looked down to the tickets in their hand before scanning them at the computer, which spat back a positive reply. "That's all in order. Enjoy your time amongst the pre-historic Pokemon."
The three trainers and robotic Pokemon walked right on through a short tunnel to emerge into a large, open space. It was a small rainforest ecosystem put within a large, glass dome, several exotic trees like palm trees with quite a few varieties of bushes and colourful flowers dotting the grassy floor. The environment was obviously regulated, as the air was slightly humid and the temperature was noticeably warmer than even Kanto's own warm weather.
"There's only a few Pokemon in here." Gary informed them as they started to walk. "Three species, I believe. Those with a less aggressive disposition, plus some are still being studied by scientists according to gramps - they wouldn't let the public yet. Just see if you can spot anything."
A minute of looking about occurred, before unsurprisingly Synergy's sensors picked up the first sign of movement. Gazing towards a bush, the robotic Pokemon saw a sky blue, shelled Pokemon emerge from underneath it, as she then pointed towards it to alert the others. "Over here." Synergy spoke out then.
The three trainers quickly gathered round to see the Pokemon that had appeared, which had two wide bulging eyes which it used to glance curiously back with. It had ten small tentacles beneath its shell that it obviously used as appendages and to move with, the pale shell on its back having a helix mark in it. Overall, it was a very small Pokemon that very likely used its shell for defence and shelter.
Ash pointed his Pokedex at the shell Pokemon and hit the scan button. "Omanyte, the spiral Pokemon." The Pokedex informed them. "Omanyte is a prehistoric Pokemon that lived mainly in the primordial sea. It is theorised that it used its shell as a floatation and sink device to help it move. Though considered long extinct, it can rarely be revived using fossils. Note - this Omanyte is male, and has the ability Shell Armour."
"Cool." Ash said in response to that as he tucked away his Pokedex and continued to observe the creature.
Gary gave a laugh as he stepped forth with a small leaf in his hand and gently offered it forwards towards the shelled animal. Omanyte initially shrank back slightly into its shell as Gary's hand moved towards it, but stopped as the limb halted before it and did nothing more than hold out the leaf towards it. After a minute, the Pokemon tentatively took hold of the leaf with a short tentacle, before it then began feeding on it. "They also are ravenous herbivores." He factually stated.
Paul crouched down closer to it, the Omanyte now more accepting of them since the humans gave it food. Peering at its shell and features, Paul then consulted the stats of the Pokemon using his own Pokedex. "That is a great defence stat." He mused with obvious interest.
"Well, they are-" Gary was cut short in his explanation as he spotted another prehistoric Pokemon emerge from elsewhere, his eyes glinting as he saw it. "Hey look, a Kabuto! I never saw that yesterday."
The group quickly swung its attention away from the Omanyte, not that it cared as it was still happily munching on its leaf.
MUSEUM CAFETERIA.
The group had spent a total of forty minutes in the enclosure, even Paul having a good amount of interest in seeing the Pokemon that was considered extinct everywhere else. After that, there had been a brief perusal of the other sections of the museum. The paintings section had been skipped to Gary's chagrin, but he had managed to get them to spend ten minutes in the fossils section - saying how the interests of his grandfather must be rubbing off on him.
Synergy had even gotten her wish to see the technological displays in the museum. Apart from the rocket, she had been disappointed really by the outdated hardware up for show.
Having finished with the museum, they had all decided to grab a bite to eat in the cafeteria. Ash just sighed gratefully as he sat down at the rectangular table, Synergy sitting beside him and just folding her arms as she saw the three others place their trays of food before them. Sometimes she felt jealousy at notion of enjoying the taste of food, but her logic processors always reminded her of the advantage of not needing to constantly seek nourishment and energy sources for consumption.
"So, Gary." Ash began as he stabbed a bit of potato onto his fork. "You ran off in Pallet Town before I got your Pokegear number that I heard you received from Mr Oak."
"Ah shit, sorry Ash." Gary apologised then as remembrance dawned on his face. "I would've stayed back to wish you well, but I was so excited, you know? Let's trade numbers now then."
Ash just smiled as he flipped out his Pokegear and recited his number to Gary, getting the same back - and in under a minute the two had tucked away the communication devices, having done their business. With that, Ash just ate a bit more of his lunch before continuing the conversation. "Well, let's hear it then, Gary. What starter Pokemon did you choose?"
Gary smirked then as he held up a normal Pokeball with a prominent water droplet sticker on it. "Just like my father, I chose Squirtle."
"The water turtle Pokemon?" Paul inquired with interest then.
"The one and only." Gary confirmed back as he tucked away the Pokeball.
Ash gave a chuckle at that. "I bet they served you well in the Pewter Gym."
"Ah, he sure did." Gary nodded at that. "It was tougher than I thought, though. Squirtle managed to defeat the Geodude that Brock first used, but then his Rhyhorn managed to defeat both my Pokemon after that. It was close though, you should've seen the thing - bruised and heavily breathing. The gym leader gave me the badge in the end for a good battle and use of tactics, he said."
"That's good." Ash spoke. "But not as good as defeating a main team Pokemon, I bet."
Gary's face first displayed some jealousy as Ash teasingly rubbed the fact in his face, before his face just morphed into one of good nature as he chuckled. "Hey, I heard about that. Seriously, congrats on that win, Ash. You did extremely well."
"Cheers man." Ash replied with a smile. "I'm sure you did very good too."
Paul just continued listening in as he ate, the two friends consistently chatting to one another. It was a bit strange to see Ash like that to the purple-haired trainer, having thought of Ash as someone who was perhaps of a quieter disposition over the week and a bit they'd been travelling together. That worked extremely well with his own personality as they travelled on the roads and helped one another train and what-not, so to see Ash engaging in an energetic conversation was a bit of a different side to him. But then again, from the sounds of it, him and the other Pallet Town trainer had some catching up to do.
Synergy just looked to Paul and nodded at him. That confirmed to him they'd be there for a little while.
OUTSIDE THE MUSEUM.
Gary just smirked at that before giving farewell salute to his best friend. "Well Ash, I gotta be on my way now if I want to beat you to Cerulean City." He stated. "Cya around." Ash just waved back, as Gary then saw the robotic Pokemon wave at him too. "Bye."
"Bye." Synergy mimicked back.
Gary's face alarmingly swerved back to look at the armoured Pokemon. "The fuck?" He let out confusedly, as he stared with a troubled yet thoughtful expression at Synergy who just stared blankly back.
"Language, Gary." Ash chastised then with a grin. "What would Mr Oak say?"
"Don't pull this shit with me, Ketchum." Gary swore at him then, as he pointed to Synergy who just adopted an affronted look as she was pointed at. "Your Pokemon just talked - how the fuck did it just talk?!"
"What are you talking about, Gary?" Ash questioned then with a curious tone, skilfully hiding his smirk as he instead put on a very confused face. "A Pokemon talking? Are you sure you're not talking nonsense?"
"What- no, you listen here, Ash." Gary started. "I know what I heard-"
"Plain nonsense." Ash seemingly dismissed with a gesture, as the robotic Pokemon silently crossed her arms and looked to the brunette like he was crazy. Ash looked over to Paul then, raising an eyebrow as he did so. "You didn't hear anything, did you Paul?"
Paul just chuckled then, passing it off as laughing at Gary. "Absolutely not. Are you sure your friend doesn't take to imagining things, Ash?"
Gary scowled in the face of all the ridicule, before then just huffing and pointing at Ash. "Fine. Maybe I heard something or I didn't, whatever, I can't be bothered to drag this on." He stated. "Goodbye, Ash."
Gary turned on his heel and marched off then, as Ash waved at his back and called out after him in a tone still amused from the previous interaction. "Cya around, Gary!"
Ash lowered his hand as he saw his friend round a corner and disappear from sight, before looking round to the other two of their group. Synergy still stood there with her arms folded, facial plates twitching in amusement still as Paul stood there waiting for Ash, readjusting his backpack. Looking towards Ash, he spoke up. "Well, Ash, you dragged us round the museum for long enough now. Let's get out of the city before we burn anymore daylight."
"Ah, c'mon Paul, you enjoyed some parts of the museum." Ash spoke back. "You liked the prehistoric enclosure at least."
"That I did." Paul admitted shamelessly, before beginning to move off down the stairs that led to the museum. "Now, the route we want starts at the East of the city, which is left. Let's get going."
Ash looked slightly disbelieving towards Synergy, who only eye-smiled back before they began to move off too.
MOUNT MOON.
"Two minutes to the destination, sir." The pilot spoke through the intercom then, Red not bothering to reply as he continued to twirl about the combat knife in his hand. He was sitting closest to the door of the helicopter they were in, a metallic black vehicle which was designed for the purpose of moving cargo - but had been utilised by the faction for transporting troops instead.
"Sir, my squad have completed their final checks. We are ready and awaiting your commands, leader." The heavily armoured squad leader spoke then, causing Red to simply turn his eyes in his sockets without moving his head. Unlike the normal soldiers of the faction who wore metal armoured vests, helmets and synthetic armour on the joints, the heavy assault squads were fully kitted out in armour. Full metal armour covered the squad leader's torso, with metal plates covering both parts of each limb like the back and forearms. The helmets they wore were extended right to the neck, leaving only the space for the front of the face and neck to be visible. Even then, there was hardened plastic goggles strapped to the eyes of the squad leader, a microphone extended down to the radio attachment on the helmet to their mouth.
"Right." Red spoke quietly then as his eyes drifted back to his combat knife. "Thank you, Emmanuel."
The squad leader only nodded before turning back to the other soldiers, as Red then looked out the window as the engines noticeably changed in tempo, getting louder as the airborne vehicle began to descend. Sitting up and reaching underneath his chair, the man grabbed a tactical vest which he quickly slung on and secured properly. It was the only thing he needed - spare equipment like magazines, food and cigarettes, as well as a place to secure his knife as he slotted it into its holster just under his left shoulder. Red didn't need any armour.
The helicopter juddered as it touched down onto the ground, the rotors adopting a more consistent and slower noise as they were put into idle. Red was the first to move as he opened the door and stepped out, putting a cigarette in his mouth and lighting it once he was suitable distance from the helicopter - leaving his squad leader to order the other soldiers about. He frowned slightly at the large amounts of noise they made, even if they had been trained to move about as quietly as possible in it - but that couldn't be helped given all of their amour. The heavy assault squad was of much more invaluable use to him now than squad four - whilst silence was a virtue to a mission like this, Red found himself favouring this choice.
Seeing the last man of the twenty-strong squad jump from the helicopter, one of the soldiers then slammed the sliding door shut on the helicopter and banged twice on it. At that signal, the helicopter's engines began to scream again as it ascended, going to park somewhere more disguised and await the end of the mission.
As the soldiers scrambled to get away from the deluging backwash of roaring winds from the rotors, Red only flipped out a Pokeball which he turned in his hand so the front of it faced him - before thumbing the release button set on it. It instantly snapped open in his hand, expunging a mass of red energy which coalesced around his shoulder to form the stature of a small Pokemon that quickly settled itself into clinging onto the shoulder. It was a small, yellow rodent creature - just bigger than a foot tall, and looked to him with experienced, black orbs. A zig-zag tail swayed about then as sparks of electricity emanated from the red pouches on its cheeks - before being quietened as Red reached over and scratched behind the Pokemon's ears. He would utilise the help of his Pikachu within the caves.
Red then just made a motioning gesture to the squad leader with a flick of his wrist, grateful to their ingrained discipline as Emmanuel immediately broke off from talking with his second-in-command and made his way over. Before the man could even voice his inquiry, Red snapped out a question. "Are you certain this is where Team Rocket was sighted, Emmanuel?"
"Yes sir." The squad leader answered instantly. "Our informant confirmed this just two hours ago. We don't know about civilians, however."
"Usual protocol, squad leader." Red replied as he removed the cigarette from his mouth and exhaled. "Knock em' out and drug them."
"Of course." Emmanuel responded, before his leader merely made a pointing gesture towards the cave entrance they had landed by and moving towards it himself. "Move out!" The squad leader ordered of squad two.
"Use torches." Red snapped out then as he disappeared into the blackness of the cave, activating his aura sight which made it much easier to see in the dark. From his perspective, the dull darkness quickly was washed away by a hue of a cyan-tint layer that overtook his vision; brightening up his surroundings to a dull level of blue-tinted colours that enabled him to see. The rest of the faction group had no such aura vision to rely on, instead removing a hand from the assault rifles they carried to flick on the torches attached to their helmets to help them see.
Streams of light lit up most of the cave space they had entered into, a wide, low-hanging tunnel space. The way forward was clear, right in front of them - before one of the streams of light caught a hanging Zubat on the ceiling that promptly awoke due to the disruption in its surroundings. It let out an angry hiss as it began to fly across the ceiling furiously, preparing to rain down a hail of poison sting at the intruders below - but that's as far as it got as a thrown aura rod penetrated right through its body and hit its heart. Falling from the top of the dark space and toppling to the floor, its strewn carcass was lit up by the directional head turns of a couple of curious soldiers. Red put his hand back to his side as he had dealt with the enraged Pokemon, before just turning around and moving on. The squad would follow after him.
A few more minutes of marching through the cave, Red caught sight of something up ahead - the aura sight granting him a much wider field of view than a torch did. The tunnel widened out further to form a cavern space, and with the warning from his aura senses, he was able to identify eight figures within the cavern. Tugging out the deadlock pistol from his vest and screwing on a silencer onto the barrel, Red merely summoned Emmanuel back to his side.
"Whilst I could deal with all these by myself." He spoke softly to the squad leader. "It'll be quicker if I have help."
Emmanuel just nodded back as he signalled to four of the soldiers who accompanied them, the four quickly coming forth and withdrawing silencers from their own equipment pouches. Red merely held up a flashbang, before directing two gestures to the sides of the tunnels that blocked vision of the opening to the cavern. The group quickly got the idea as they lined up along the walls, before Red got closer to the entrance space since he didn't have any armour on to slow him down or make noise. As he peeked his head round, he saw the group of eight were still gathered close by to one another, a torch light highlighting something between them all - likely a map. Red's eyes narrowed as he saw that they did indeed wear the standard uniforms of Team Rocket - as he primed the flashbang and sent it hurtling into the cavern.
The discussing criminals in the cavern, all huddled around a flashlight as they held a debate about where to go, halted their talk as the rattling of an object sounded at their feet. A few of them spotted it straight away, eyes widening as they saw the grenade-like object rolling to a stop at their feet.
They were not fortunate to still be alive when it went off. It was just extra time.
The eruption of light was just like a grenade - only worse. It was as if it truly had gone bang to the rockets, as the overload to their senses made them stagger about, quite a few collapsing as their worlds heaved and contorted before them, making them find more relief in closing their eyes. The ears experienced nothing more than shill screaming when in reality the cavern just experienced the groans of dazed criminals - and Red emerging into their mist.
Five rockets were still standing, stumbling about, as Red dispatched of two with silenced gunshots to the skulls. The Pikachu on his shoulder re-enacted the flashbang as it streaked away in a flash of light - knocking the remaining three to the ground in a judicious use of quick attack. Red didn't even have to move as he took the cigarette from his mouth and exhaled, Pikachu returning to his shoulder as the criminals on the floor, reaching for their pistols as their addled minds began to unscramble and focus - were dispatched with just as ruthlessly.
Squad two stormed the cavern then, the four leading the way opening fire upon all those that moved under the arches of torchlight that now filled the cavern as it filled with soldiers. In just fourteen seconds, the last weapon was lowered as Red satisfactorily nodded at the quick and clean timing and results of it all. There was little noise as instead, just the thuds of metal shells hitting twitching bodies had been all he heard.
Certainly, the soldiers could have started it just as cleanly. But that would've added a few seconds onto the time, and Red was a man of action.
But he paid good money for others to do the other aspects of work for him, so he just stood there and put the cigarette back to his mouth, reaching over and petting Pikachu with the same hand and drawing noises of contentment from the rodent. He watched as the squad fell back onto their training and protocols, five standing guard as the remainder began to clean up the area. The bodies were heaped together and dragged out by four of their number, ready to be taken further away and burnt down to a cinder by the incendiary devices a few carried. The cave was scoured over by the torches, bullet casings and other evidence being picked up and bagged to remove all signs that any of them were there. They had to keep the game going for a while yet.
Red crouched down and picked up the pistol at his feet with a silencer on it, observing the make of it as the squad leader joined him. "Zecharai pistols, the cheap and nasty crap the black market loves." Red muttered out then to the man beside him, before looking to him. "These are scout squads sent here by Team Rocket, likely looking for something. Your team especially should have little trouble dealing with these sorts of terrorists, given that the calibre of their weapons shouldn't even dent your armour." He then pointed towards the eastern wall, where the torch that followed the squad leader's gaze lit up three large tunnels that showed the way forward. "Split the squad in two and secure the left and right tunnels once you've done clearing up."
"Of course, sir." Emmanuel complied, before asking a question. "But what about the central tunnel?"
Red tossed the pistol towards one of the soldiers picking up the evidence in the area, receiving no complaint from the soldiers who only turned, picked up the thrown gun and bagging it. Taking a drag of his cigarette, Red answered. "That's my job." He spoke as he then began walking down the central tunnel, soon only being identifiable by the noise of his footsteps as he left the lines of light produced by the torches of the squad.
The man continued walking down the path before him, completely confident in his soldier's abilities to improvise and go about their orders without the expected leadership he offered when he had come along. Thus, he just traversed the ins and outs of this winding tunnel with his Pikachu, occasionally meeting a couple of Pokemon that were sent back and scared off with a burst of aura.
The Pokemon Master had been walking for ten minutes thus far. It was quite a long path, and he'd only been been privy to two Rockets paired up and walking along the tunnel. They had been swiftly cut down by the man teleporting right between them and accurately ramming two aura rods straight through their hearts in a low stance. Standing up and dissipating the constructs, Red observed the bodies as he mused on what to do - cleaning up wasn't exactly his forte. So, he just shrugged before tossing an aura sphere at the corpses - and making them completely unrecognisable. Pokemon would be blamed as he continued on his way.
Red grunted as he slowed after a while more, sensing quite a few signatures up ahead - he reloaded his pistol in preparation. Sure, he'd only fired two bullets from the magazine, but every shot counted in battle. A battle which he started by locking eyes with his Pikachu and then tilting his head towards the upcoming figures, giving a low whistle.
"What was that?!" One of the scouting Rockets questioned as the group of scouts froze up, shining their torches fully down the tunnel instead of on the ground - only to see nothing. The lead person squinted their eyes to try and see if there was anything - before suddenly letting out a surprised yelp as something forcefully careered into their head. A trail of white descended over their vision as their head was forcibly accelerated into the wall in one fluid motion, slamming it against the harsh stone and knocking them out cleanly.
The remaining members of the criminal party were dealt with pretty much the same way - as scouts, they had shoddy training at best and could never hope to keep their pistols trained on a small Pokemon utilising the extreme speed move. Instead, all they achieved was random, silenced bullets pinging out with flashes of light erupting from the muzzles of the panic-fired guns - as they completely failed to hit the white streaking Pokemon knocking them out one-by one. This was completed in just ten seconds.
Red only gave Pikachu a treat as he then removed the half-done cigarette and exhaled, now just awaiting the arriving signatures of one of the parties of his soldiers. Sure enough, just twenty two seconds later, ten faction figures marched into view, before the second-in-command of the squad hurried over as they saw their leader standing there from the adjacent tunnel joining theirs.
"Sir-." They began, but was halted by Red holding up a hand.
"You two." Red instead pointed out two of the soldiers, who stiffened up as their leader addressed them. "Hand over one of your canteens, then pick up one of the rockets you like the look of and restrain them after putting them on their knees."
A canteen of water was promptly deposited in his outstretched hand by the soldier on the left, before the two of them then grabbed hold of the closest rocket. They then manhandled the unconscious body so it was slumped on its knees, only kept up by the soldiers who kept tight grips on the arms. With a sneer, Red tossed the entire contents of the canteen into the face of the sleeping criminal.
The woman woke with a gasp, spluttering slightly on the water that poured down her face as her breathing had been impacted momentarily, before blinking her eyes to clear her vision. What she saw when she did was something horrifying to a Team Rocket criminal like her - the most notorious person who chased their organisation, the Pokemon Master Red Ketchum.
The man just coldly stared into the face of a member of something he so despised, before just taking a drag on his cigarette and exhaling the smoke right into the woman's face, making her cough. Red just sneered slightly at that, before it morphed into a scowl. "Now, I've got just a couple of questions for scum like you." Red spoke softly then, in a frosty tone, before just jabbing the cigarette in front of her face. "And you will answer them correctly, whether you like it or not. Or my subordinates might just start breaking bones instead."
Red asked for no understanding as he instead paused for a moment before inquiring about what started the mission in the first place. "I know full well that the criminals we've run into so far are scouting squads. So my first question is, what are you looking for?"
The woman opened her mouth, before closing it wordlessly as her mind became overcome with fear - of Red, and the organisation she was a part of. Seeing that, and scowling, Red just waved to the soldier on the right - who fluidly cracked the bone in the forearm they were gripping, drawing a scream of pain from the criminal.
"Answer me." Red still spoke softly, but in a firmer tone.
Trembling slightly now, the woman complied. "A-a Pokemon. There's supposed to be a powerful Pokemon in these caves somewhere. The only way we can i-identify it by is that we were told there wasn't an official entry for it, I swear."
Red just inhaled on his cigarette for a second as his mind churned over that information - understanding the concept of it perhaps better than the woman did.
"Where." He asked his second and final question. "Do you have any idea where?"
With a small, shaky nod, the woman only spoke again. "B-behind us. We've scoured all of the front areas of the caves, so it has to be deeper."
Red just glared at the woman for a second more, scanning her body language - but detected no lies, only fear in her eyes. Standing up and exhaling, he felt Pikachu readjust its grip on his shoulder as his stance changed, before he barked out orders. "Six of you, begin clearing up. The rest of you, on me."
Leaving the second-in-command to head the clearing up, Red only took four of the group of ten with him deeper into the cave system. Brushing aside all Pokemon and even four more rockets that they came across, the Pokemon Master eventually ordered for the group to slow as he felt three human aura signatures ahead - and a very powerful, singular one.
It could certainly be heard too, as a loud roar reverberated off of the cave walls, followed by shouts of pain from the persons within the next cave. Stopping within the tunnel, Red eventually felt the life be snuffed out from the three humans in one simultaneous use of power he could sense was psychic. That alone gave an idea as to who was now alone in the next cave - as Red then waved the group on to enter the cave.
Four torch beams immediately lit up the area, revealing three slumped over corpses on the floor, blood spilling out from their eyes, noses, mouths and ears as they had died with only blank expressions of etched pain on their faces. Blood had been splattered up the dark grey, stone walls as the enclosed space seemed to still carry the reverberations of the screams. And of course, the perpetrator such actions was levitating in the middle of the cave, a tall, bipedal figure with a long tail on their lanky frame - as they seemed to glint purple in the torch light.
The purple tinted Pokemon finally turned around to see who had stumbled upon him as he took care of his past oppressors. Looking around as he levitated his body 180 degrees, the Pokemon's purple eyes first widened before narrowing as a scowl overtook his face. The rage from before didn't return to the figure, but they certainly weren't about to thank the party before them. "You." The figure growled out then.
Red himself only chuckled then as he put the lit cigarette to his mouth and inhaled on it, the Pikachu on his shoulder letting out a growl of its own with sparking cheeks as the four faction soldiers beside him stopped level with him. They raised their rifles upwards to point the barrels directly at the Pokemon, who didn't even flinch at the sight of the rare, deadly instruments of death in the world as the flashlights attached to their helmets lit up the Pokemon in all its splendour. "Hello, Mewtwo."
The purple eyes glaring at him only turned cyan as Red knew the Pokemon was preparing his power. "What are you doing here, Ketchum?" Mewtwo snarled out to the Pokemon Master.
Red only acted innocent as he just waved his cigarette as he exhaled. "Don't snarl at me, you're the one who must've stirred up Team Rocket. We wouldn't be here investigating otherwise."
Mewtwo didn't seem impressed - at all if the further narrowing of the cyan orbs and glowing hands seemed to be any indication. "Don't play coy with me, Ketchum." Mewtwo spat at him.
Red just gave a guffaw, seeming to find amusement in that. "I'm not, though. Your the one whose sounding threatening here."
Mewtwo's eyes just glared at Red's, the tail twitching angrily behind the levitating Pokemon. "You know I could kill your little party of soldiers behind you easily, Ketchum." The powerful feline Pokemon hissed out.
Red just dipped his head at that then, making a cooperative, considering expression on his face with closed eyes. "Yes, why yes, you could. I have no doubt." Red replied to that, the soldiers beside him making no reaction to the Pokemon's threats or their leader's comments over than to keep their rifles held aloft. "But you couldn't kill me though, could you Mewtwo?" Red questioned back then with an amused smirk appearing on his face, his cigarette coming back to his mouth to inhale upon as his eyes glinted with a smug expression. He repeated his earlier question with a satisfied air. "Could you?"
The feline Pokemon just let out an angry hiss at that, twitching in fury as the faction soldier's fingers twitched on their weapon triggers. However, no denial came as Mewtwo's eyes held an intense anger as they glared fully at Red's own amused eyes. "You're lucky my eyes were opened to the other sides your species has, Ketchum." Mewtwo stated then with a low, furious hiss in his voice. "Or I may have just considered destroying this world to cleanse the planet of people like you."
A bright flashing instant of light enveloped the area then, making the faction soldiers react as their fingers pulled back on the triggers. Secondary flashes and loud, ringing blasts erupted out in the cave then as the soldiers fired ahead of themselves.
"CEASEFIRE!" Red barked out then, making the gunfire immediately stopped as the soldiers saw then that there was no more Pokemon ahead of them, only an empty space that they had fired into when they had been blinded. The Pokemon Master himself just exhaled on the cigarette then, before just chuckling lowly as his mind replayed the conversation. It was not everyday a legendary Pokemon teleported away from humans after being angered so.
Looking around and sensing nothing with his aura, Red just waved his hand at his soldiers. "Let us leave. The Pokemon will be long gone by now, and there is nothing else here." He spoke. "On the bright side, we can chalk this up as a win. Stopping Team Rocket from tracking down an unconfirmed legendary is always good."
TWENTY MILES FROM PEWTER CITY.
Mewtwo appeared within the landscape with a small pulse of light, hovering for a bit over the soil before touching down gently. Exhaling softly, the legendary Pokemon just stood there for a bit contemplating before opening up his senses and making sure the area was safe. It was just a second later that a curious blip, familiar to the Pokemon, appeared to Mewtwo then. After a few moments of consideration, Mewtwo disappeared in another teleportation.
It was Synergy's turn to cook the dinner that night. Not that the Pokemon needed it, but she did like to get involved with the chores and tasks to keep herself busy as well as to help her own trainer and his friend. So, Ash and Paul were sitting down on top of their sleeping bags as she had dragged a particularly big and wide rock into the forest clearing to sit on top of.
Now the three sat twenty miles outside of Pewter City, having made good time in the six hours they had travelled that afternoon. And now, it was late - already dark as Paul and Ash quietly conversed as the robotic Pokemon dealt with the meat over the fire.
Ash sensed something then, the aura in his system fluctuating slightly as it felt a foreign presence that was actively trying to hide from them. Looking to Synergy, he knew she felt it too as she gazed to him knowingly, before her crimson optical sensors shifted slightly in complexion.
Ash activated his own aura sight in turn to also spot the intruder amongst their camp. Paul looked very mystified at what the pause in conversation about, with the only thing he sensed being the change in atmosphere between the other two - before raising an eyebrow as Ash's very irises diluted in colour. The entire world lit up then to see better in the dark, a tint of light blue covering his perspective as he looked at Synergy who quickly became an outlined figure with a visible aura system - the energy swirling about the pathways and organs of the robotic Pokemon as it moved to and from the core.
As it turned out, the intruder was sat right next to Synergy as he looked to her left.
It was the Pokemon that had visited them when he'd been shot. Just as tall as Synergy was, the Pokemon was evidently of a different stature however - the humanoid creature was more lanky, its limbs more slender than that of even an average proportion of a human. It was undoubtedly taller than any human, however.
"You can drop the cloaking act now." Synergy spoke aloud then, getting Paul to blink in confusion - before drawing back slightly in surprise as another Pokemon besides Synergy appeared on the rock.
The slender frame of the Pokemon that the two aura users had seen the outline of now appeared in full colour, revealing a grey body that seemed to be tinted a light purple, with the tail of the creature being a full, deep purple. The eyes in particular had a royal purple hue, as the stature of the face curved downwards to reveal only a small mouth with two slit nostrils above it. Two short horns were attached to hiss head, as the three digits on each hand closed to cross the arms of the Pokemon.
The four initially just stared at one another, before Synergy just eye-smiled at the familiar face. "Hello again." She greeted. "We meet once more."
The feline Pokemon only glanced to her with a slight turn of his head, before acquiescing her with a nod of his head. "Indeed." He responded in a somewhat cordial tone.
Silence stretched out from that moment, as the newly arrived Pokemon seemed content to just sit there as Synergy just glanced to him, as Paul and Ash certainly didn't know what to say. After a few moments of shuffling the food about the fire, the robotic Pokemon eventually just looked back to her fellow Pokemon and spoke.
"You know, after all these years, I still haven't got your name." Synergy remarked as the feline Pokemon just looked blankly at her, obviously thinking and judging that statement. The robotic Pokemon only chuckled slightly at that, as she remembered something. "But it would be rude of me to ask your name without telling you mine." She commented, getting Ash to look at her as he recognised the words.
"Synergy." She spoke as she held out her hand. "A pleasure, I'm sure."
The feline Pokemon's blank stare just transitioned to the outstretched hand, some confusion appearing in their eyes - at which Synergy withdrew her hand without offence as she shrugged.
"...Mewtwo." He admitted out then, once more not too sure of his compliance in doing so around them, but doing so anyway.
"Paul." Paul reciprocated then in just as level a tone as Mewtwo, finding the circumstances rather strange, too strange for his tastes and so remained quiet so as to find out more before speaking himself.
"I'm Ash Ketchum." Ash greeted then too with a happier voice as Synergy looked to him, before blinking as he spotted Mewtwo's head snap to him.
Mewtwo just gazed to Ash then, a considering visage overtaking his face as he looked at the teen - with a tint of recognisable anger in his eyes. "Ash Ketchum, son of Red Ketchum?" The feline Pokemon inquired after a moment.
Ash just nodded at that - it was all but proved at this point, ever since he'd first spotted the twitch in the Pokemon's face at the mention of his surname; that this Pokemon was another unhappy customer of his father. "Indeed." He replied simply.
Mewtwo's eyes narrowed slightly at that. "...I see." Mewtwo let out after some deliberation then. "I could blame you and your father for a hundred different things, you know." The Pokemon stated in a firm tone, which only got a shrug from Ash. "But the question that matters to me, is are you anything like your father?"
Ash just gazed to the feline Pokemon at that, wondering of the extent to which his father and Mewtwo had history, but then looked gratefully to Synergy as she leant forward and answered instead. "Statistically speaking, Ash's behaviour matches up to 32.4% of Red Ketchum's from what I have seen. They know one another and his father has taught him how to survive, however there are many key differences. Ash doesn't threaten or go out of his way to piss people off, unlike his father, I'm sure."
Mewtwo looked very much unamused, but the considering gaze was gone as was the anger which was most likely directed at Red. Instead, he just remained silent as he just continued analysing the group and thinking. Mewtwo just turned his head to stare into the crackling campfire to provide some sort of distraction as he just reflected.
"...Plus, I need to say thank you." Ash let out then after a while of silence, making the feline Pokemon's head snap to face his direction again, the Pokemon's eyes widening slightly as he heard that. "You saved my life a few years ago, and I never did manage to thank you then. So, I wish to now convey my gratefulness to you for saving my life."
Synergy nodded in agreement to that, as Mewtwo just remained silent for a moment as he stared at Ash, before speaking. "I remember that." He stated simply, diverting his gaze down to his hand which he flexed. "I still do not fully understand the reasoning that led me to do that."
Paul looked taken aback slightly at the strange response to Ash's thanks, but Ash merely just smiled slightly at that, finding humour in the Pokemon's words. It wasn't like he could judge them as he had certainly come out better for it. It was Synergy, however, that found something to say in response to that.
"Do you always need a reason to help somebody?" She questioned.
Mewtwo seemed uncomfortable at the topic of conversation, silence prevalent in the area before the feline Pokemon just looked to Ash with a more respectful look in his eyes. "So what are you doing out here instead of Pallet Town?" Mewtwo asked as he changed the topic.
"Well, we're planning to go through Mount Moon to get to Cerulean City as a part of our Pokemon journeys." Ash responded as he pulled out his Pokedex and booted up the navigational software on it, tapping the screen as he traced his plotted out route through the mapped out cave systems. "Yeah. It's just another day's walk now."
Mewtwo just looked at Ash, before Synergy saw the purple eyes of the Pokemon flash. "...No." The feline Pokemon eventually spoke then in a resolute tone.
Paul raised an eyebrow at that. "Sorry?" He asked then in confusion. "Would you mind elaborating? It's an extra week of walking to go across the mountain range than through the cave systems, and there'll be a lot more opportunities for Pokemon within there."
Ash nodded in agreement at that as he too awaited an answer, Mewtwo's eyes flicking from Paul to Ash before speaking. "Team Rocket and your father were there." The genetic Pokemon answered in an unyielding tone. "Take the long route. I will remain here for another day before I move on."
Synergy just glanced to Mewtwo then, before nodding as she went back to the food at the fire. "Of course." She replied, knowing that Ash would listen to her, even if they were staring at her now for deciding for them - and if Ash did, then so would Paul. Even better, when her eyes met the feline Pokemon's once more, she could see the tinges of gratefulness in them.
MOUNT SILVER.
Red just smirked as he read the private report in his office, having just pinged into his computer's notifications just seconds before. Clicking through it, the man just chuckled as he finished perusing it.
"Interesting." Red spoke out loud to himself. "So, you know the feline too, son?"
Red just closed the observation report then and locked down the computers, before stepping out of his office - intent on making his way to the base's bar. It wouldn't do to him if the faction saw him as something completely beyond them, after all.