Flinky: Hello world! I am back from my slightly-longer-then-expected hiatus.

Red: It's been 4 weeks-

Flinky: Hush

Red: But-

Flinky: Shhh.

Flinky: Anyways, The story will get a bit darker from here on out. Expect more frequent cursing, occasional suicide, and other forms of death. Of course, I will still try to make it funny.

Red: Wow...

Flinky: Yea. Again, sorry for not putting in a notice or anything. I have 50 reasons why but most people are here to read the story so I'll let you get to that.


Red's Pokémon on hand:

Ignite (Charmeleon)
Moves: Flamethrower, Metal Claw, Dig, Smokescreen

Blacklight (Umbreon)
Moves: Shadow Ball, Quick Attack, Bite, Assurance

Omni (Mew)
Moves: Every one except Judgement

Blade (Scyther)
Moves: X-Scizor, Wing Attack, Bug Buzz (egg move), Slash

Driver (Sandslash)
Moves: Dig, Magnitude, Swift, Furry Cutter

Shadow (Zoroark)
Moves: Night Daze, Foul Play, Night Slash, Furry Swipes


The walk to Cerulean wasn't that interesting. The biggest highlight was Blue going for an astonishing 7 hours without complaining about something, and 8 hours without complaining about me.

By the time we reached the city, it was late. We got two rooms and crashed.

"It's too late…"

It's been a long time since I had these vague dreams.

"I'm sorry for."

"Just say your name already. This is getting to be annoying."

"My name is M…"

And I woke up. I was so close that time too, but I already knew that it's name starts with an M, so there wasn't much progress. I was sorta surprised though, given that the last time I had these dreams was around the time that Leaf, Blue, Michael, and I went to take on the Kanto towers.

After swapping out Driver for Storm, we set out for Lavander Town, the wonderful place with dead Pokémon, blood-thirsty old women, and something that can reduce Blue to tears. On top of that, we have to take down another Blue. One Blue is bad enough. I do not need two.

While we were walking, I came across someone.

"Hey you!"

I turned my head to the person. He looked like he was from a kung-fu movie, with the white robe-thingys (never bothered to learn their name) and a black belt.

"What?" I asked.

"I challenge you to a battle!"

"We don't have time right now. We have to get going…"

"It's league rules that if I want to challenge you, and you have at least one non-fainted Pokémon, you have to battle me."

"Fine," I grunted.

He wasn't that strong. Storm swept his team of three Fighting-types by spamming Wing Attack. I didn't even have to come up with some strange strategy to win. It was incredibly easy.

"How...How did you beat me so easy? Who are you?"

"I'm Fire Red," I said. Normally, I don't introduce myself like that, but since there's a chance I could be mixed up with other Red, I don't want to risk it (Fire Red also has a nice ring to it, almost like the name of a video game).

"Wait, you're him… that makes a lot of sense."

"Well, nice battle. We gotta go."

The four of us left quickly.

"That guy was weird…" Michael said.

"Yea, he stood no chance against you Red," Leaf said, with a different tone. I don't get why she did that, but it's not that important.

Even Blue said "That, hopefully, wasn't that difficult for you."

"Well, thanks?" I asked.

We continued on until we came across a tree that's a meter tall.

"Guys, what are we going to do?" Michael asked. "We need to get past this tree or else we can't continue."

"Oof, this is a tough call," said Blue.

Leaf and I just kept walking over it, earning shocked stares from the others.

"You just...stepped over it? It doesn't work like that," Blue said.

"Says who?" asked Leaf.

"The Pokédex," Blue responded. He fiddled around with it until it came up to an article about small trees.

"On many travels, it is common to come across these trees. With their thin trunk, it is easy to have a Pokémon cut it down. However, this is the ONLY way you are permitted to go past these obstacles. NEVER step over them."

"That…" I began, "Was the dumbest thing I ever heard. It should have been way more obvious that the professors hated us."

"Yea. I mean, they put things into our Pokédex just to stop us," said Leaf. Then, something dawned on me. If the professors are with Team Rocket, and they made the Pokédex, then can't they- oh no.

"Guys, destroy your Pokédex's," I said.

"Why?" asked Michael.

"It was the professors who made these, right? And if so, can't they look at them and the information on them?"

The realization hit everyone else. Team Rocket knows our entire Pokémon teams, including Omni, the Mew.

I volunteered Ignite to destroy them, but not before working with Michael to have everyone's Pokédex register an Arceus. Each. I wonder how Team Rocket will take this…

-Team Rocket Terrorism Defence Organization-

A report was placed on a shady man's desk.

"What do you mean they caught 4 Arceus'!" he yelled, to no one in particular. "How is that possible? Then again, those kids have a Mew and Manaphy, so It's not completely ridiculous… No, there's only one Arceus; they probably just hacked into the system or some shit. But if they sabotaged themselves, then they know… Oh Arceus, I'm going to lose my job…"

-Red's POV-

Yep. Definitely going to be worth it.

After convincing half my team that it's okay to go over an un-cut bush, we were back on our way.

The next stop was a Pokémon Center, then we had to go through dark cave. One thought was going through my mind about the cave. FUCKING ZUBATS. And we weren't even there yet.

The center had a Nurse Joy there, so we healed our Pokémon and entered the cave.

It was very dark, hence the name Dark Cave, so I had to have Omni use Flash so we could see.

"Hey guys, do you hear something?" asked Michael.

"No, why?" I responded.

"I think I hear some people."

"Want to check it out?" asked Leaf.

"Sure," I said. "But keep in mind, it's probably Team Rocket."

"How do you know?" asked Blue.

"Who else would want to go through here?"

"It's Team Rocket for sure. I read their minds and they're thinking something about keeping world order," Omni telepathed to everyone.

"This will be fun," I said.

The group in question was, in fact, a portion of Team Rocket. We couldn't see an obvious leader, so we just ambushed them.

"Go, Ignite!" I yelled.

"Wartortle, time to get the rockets!"

"Ivysaur, let's get them!"

"Espeon, let's do it!"

Although we were outnumbered two to one, our Pokémon were much stronger than theirs, and they were defeated quickly. Leaf's Ivysaur knocked them out and Omni read one of their minds to see what they were doing. Her reaction wasn't welcoming.

"This is serious," she began. "They're looking for Zapdos. If they get their hands on him, things won't be so good for us."

We sprinted out to see a much larger mass of grunts near a run-down power plant. The door was open and guarded.

"Last I heard, he's in there."

"Red, any ideas?" asked Leaf.

"Already on it. We get to the top of Dark Cave, jump on the roof, make a hole, and jump down."

"How did you come up with that so fast?" Michael asked.

"I was thinking of random scenarios in my head, and one of them was 'what if we had to enter a heavily guarded Team Rocket building near a cliff?'"

Blue said "I swear your ADD is a blessing."

"That will be more true than you think later in the story," Omni said.

"Huh?" asked Michael.

"Nothing," Omni replied.

My plan worked flawlessly... until we started it. We had to have Omni use Psychic to lift up four brightly colored teens in the middle of the day. By some twisted miracle, no one saw us.

Next, I miscalculated the distance from the top of the cave to the plant. It was slightly more than jumping distance, by about ten feet. This time though, there were grunts under us, and floating over them without being detected was going to be an issue. So instead, I politely decided to fuck stealth.

"Leaf, think Ivysaur can knock out the grunts?" I asked.

"Let's see. Ivysaur, use Sleep Powder on the grunts!"

Anyone who wasn't knocked out by the attack was hit with a Psychic from Michael's Espeon or Omni. While we were easily taking them down, I thought about something. It used to be that grunt battles took up around a quarter to a fifth of the chapter.

"We already had one fourth wall break Red."

Now, we barely even have to battle them. I think it's because while we're training, whether it be by ourselves or against others, they're just lounging around. Not to mention how their job is all about standing around or walking somewhere. They never battle (that is, until we come).

Back to the present, we had around five minutes before someone inside found 30 unconscious bodies. Using Ignite, we melted a hole inside the plant.

The inside was just as beaten up as the outside. I didn't see any grunts, but there was a worrying noise.

"ZAPDOOOOS!"

Blue said the thing on everyone's mind: "Well, shit."

We sprinted through the passageways moving toward the increasingly bright light until we reached a set of doors that were "locked". I say that in quotation marks because it took less than five seconds for Leaf's Ditto to turn into a key. I wonder where she learned to do that…

Inside, we saw a creepy old man wearing a labcoat with the Team Rocket logo, with a couple other grunts, a Zapdos pinned to a metal sheet… and Lyra. Her too.

"Well, okay then," I said. "How do you want to do this?"

"Get them," the labcoat guy said.

"Nah, I don't feel like that today. Omni, would you please?" I asked as I sent out her Pokéball.

Lyra was the first to react by sending out her Honchcrow. It blocked Omni's psychic attack but only for Lyra and Labcoat. The grunts were taken down. Zapdos also looked a little more relieved at the sight of Omni.

"Four on two. Do you just wanna give up?" Leaf asked.

Lyra spoké with venom in her voice "That would be a disrespect to Lord Giovanni, and I would never do such a low action."

"Alright. Your loss," I said, as I readied Blade's Pokéball.

"Actually,I want to fight her," Michael declared. He then spoké similar to how Lyra did about giving up. "Making a Pokémon become a shadow is a sin. And to do it to your own starter is unthinkable."

"So what? Making Meganium into a shadow was the best idea I ever made. Until you four showed up."

"Wait guys, can you hold on a sec?" I asked. Shortly after that, I tackled labcoat who was about to leave with a half-filled canister of yellow fluid.

"Carry on," I said.

"Lyra, you wanted to have a strong Pokémon, so I'll make her stronger," Michael began. He then sent out the above mentioned Meganium.

"Omni, would you please?" Michael asked. Omni understood and worked her magic on Meganium. When she was done, Meganium lost her shadow aura.

"Okay, I give up. What did you do to her?"

"Meganium is no longer a shadow Pokémon," Michael said, proudly.

"Why you little-"

While they were monologuing, I was actually doing productive work, like going through Labcoat's stuff. Apart from the yellow thingy, there was a communication device, an empty syringe, and a purple and white Pokéball with an "M" on it. I put all the objects in my bag.

While I was doing that Michael returned Meganium.

"I will get you!" I heard Lyra yell. Looks like their battle is starting.

"Houndoom, Let's do it!" Michael yelled.

"Azumarill, destroy him!"

When she sent Azumarill out, I noticed it was also a shadow. Michael noticed it too.

"Why you little… No, I'm going to beat you for real this time. Houndoom, Shadow Ball!" Michael ordered

"Azumarill, use Hydro Pump!"

The two attacks met, but with Hydro Pump's inherent strength, it won out and hit Houndoom, who was barely standing.

"Okay Houndoom, close in the distance! You're stronger in melee combat!"

"Don't let that thing try! Keep using Hydro Pump!"

Michael smirked. "Figured you would try that. Houndoom, D-Dig!"

That's a bit weird. I've heard Michael stammer before, but never in a battle. Especially when he seemed so confident and into it.

Houndoom went under just as a Hydro Pump passed. What he did next surprised me. He shot a Flamethrower at it, causing steam to cover the area. This may have been good for the battle, but now Zapdos is freaking out. Great.

"ZAPDOOOS!"

I felt a spark near me. I looked and saw the remnants of an extremely powerful Thunderbolt. After some thinking, I realized that the water in the air is making a good conductor. Whatever get up Labcoat used is failing. On the upside, it looks like Michael's starting to turn the battle around.

When everything cleared, Houndoom was nowhere in sight, but there was a large hole.

"Send a waterfall in the hole! Maybe we can drown the fucker…" Lyra said. She's trying to KILL her opponent's Pokémon! Even the grunts aren't that twisted (at least the ones that I've come across).

Michael was still smiling though.

"What's going on?" Lyra asked.

"Look up," Michael said.

Up on the rafters was Houndoom. Before anyone could react, He jumped on Azumarill and repeatedly bit her.

"Azumarill, get up or you'll be sorry!"

Despite Lyra's yells, Azumarill was out cold.

"Fine." Lyra returned Azumarill and readied her next Pokéball.

"You see?" Michael began. "A shadow can't pick up on subtle hints like that. My stammering was no mistake. It told Houndoom to do an entirely different maneuver."

"Whatever," Lyra said.

"Houndoom, return! Nuzleaf, let's do it!" Michael yelled out.

Both sides returned their Pokémon. After readjusting my grip on Labcoat, I continued to watch the battle.

"Noctowl, you better do it!" Lyra called, sending out a Noctowl.

"Nuzleaf, use Feint Attack!"

"Dodge it Noctowl!"

Michael just facepalmed.

"Feint Attack always hits." He turned to me. "Red, comes back to our side, do we still keep her?"

"Yes. Now focus on the battle."

"Fine."

True to what Michael said, Faint Attack hit.

Lyra was starting to get frustrated. "Don't take it! Air Slash it into oblivion!"

"While you're trying that, I'm just over here, making the calm, rational decision of having Nuzleaf use Razor Wind."

Nuzleaf's attack made direct contact with Noctowl, knocking him out.

"Why you little-"

"Hold on again…" I interupted.

"Bue, could you take Labcoat for a second? Leaf, I want you to help me free Zapdos.

"Wait, I'm not going to sit around!" Lyra yelled. "I'll deal with you later," she said to Michael.

"So you forfeit, which means I win?" Michael said. I think I may know where he was going with this.

"Fine you winnnn..."

That's what he was going for. Lyra lost. She's free.

"Oh Arceus, please forgive me," Lyra prayed.

"Lyra, heads!" Micheal called. She looked up and was thrown a Pokéball.

"Is it…"

She sent it out. Her former Meganium was in the ball.

"You really trust me… after this…"

"Honestly, to my best knowledge, all you did was get some Moon Stones for Giovanni."

Before she could respond, Labcoat said "Interesting."

"What is?" asked Blue.

"Well, we couldn't figure out how you shook our brainwashing techniques. Up until now."

"And what do you think it is?" Blue asked threateningly.

"Why would I tell rebel scum like yourselves…"

"Star Wars reference. Another 4th wall break," I called. "Oh, and My Pokémon can be a little vicious."

I sent out Shadow. He doesn't like me, but he does like...messing...with people. While I sent him out Leaf and Lyra left the room to talk.

"Tell us now and I won't have Shadow over here fuck you up."

"A...A Zoroark? Please don- No, that would be a disgrace to Giovanni."

"Shadow, do it."

That was the first time he smiled at anything I said.

Shadow's eyes glowed blue, and a black tint, for lack of a better term, surrounded Labcoat.

I don't know what torturous suffering Shadow is putting him through, but it seems to be working.

"Aright! I'll talk! Please, just make it stop!" He started wailing.

"Shadow, that's enough," I ordered.

He looked at me with a begging look on his face, but eventually stopped. I returned him but made a mental note to talk to him later.

"Okay," Labcoat began. "When we brainwash them, we fill their mind with Team Rocket propaganda, shifting their loyalty. When they lose a battle, it contradicts the notion that Team Rocket is perfect. From what I understand, this prompts further examination of the principles we put into their minds. When this happens, and the majority of the propaganda in their minds is false, they break the final layer of brainwashing."

Due to me listening to his explanation I didn't notice he swallowed a pill until it was too late.

"What did you just take?" I asked. But the foam around his mouth gave away the answer.

"I've said too much to you. I cannot disappoint the great Team Rocket…"

This was honestly the most shocking, depressing, and dark thing I've seen all day. And that says something. If Team Rocket thinks we're a big enough threat to warrant killing one of their own, would they hesitate to kill us? How do we know that the grunts outside aren't all armed? Oh shit…

"Alright. We need to get the fuck away from here. Michael, untie Zapdos. Blue, put Lacoat's canister of yellow stuff in your bag. When Zapdos is free we pick up Leaf and Lyra and make a run for it!" No one did anything. "GO!"

Instantly everything spurred into motion. I stole Labcoat's Rocket ID, despite him being dead. The other stuff I could examine later.

The second Michael let loose the last restraint Zapdos went in a furry. Thankfully, he/she-

"He's a he."

Thanks Omni. He knows that we're not his enemies and is currently targeting grunts. The downside is that he won't know that Lyra's with us.

We sprinted away. When we passed by Leaf and Lyra and they saw we were running, they got the idea.

After leaving the facility and making sure Zapdos was safe, we rested.

"Okay, Lyra. Welcome back to Poké Underground!"

"Yea...thanks."

"Do you know anything about what Team Rocket is doing?" Michael asked.

"Yea, the one I was at. Please tell me you took the yellow fluid thing."

"I got it right here," said Blue.

"This is Team Rocket's next new experiment. They are collecting DNA and other biological stuff from as many legendaries as they can get their greedy little hands on. When they have as much as they need, their going to put it into a weapon that can use it. For instance, if they got Zapdos' can, they could bend lighting to their will."

"This...This is an honor," I said. "People are working this hard to kill us. I would like to thank my parents, the grunt that beat me…" I just trailed off.

"So, that's all you know?" Blue asked.

"Sorta. There is something else I only heard of."

"What is it?" I asked.

"They found some of Mew's DNA, and were making a clone of it, but stronger, and with less feelings. It's supposed to be the strongest Pokémon. Ever."

"Well, that's nice," I said.

We waited for a moment.

"But there is nothing we can do now. Unless we happen to stumble upon their secret lab, there is nothing we can do but get stronger."

"I guess you're right, Lyraa said.

"Anyways, Lyra, still interested in going to Jhoto?"

"If you would still let me."

"Sure. We have a new recruit named Ethan and Silver is still there. You'll meet them. Do you have a Pokémon to get there though?"

"Uhh, no."

"It's Okay. Silver's Alakazam can do it."

"Great!"

I dialed up Silver in my Pokégear.

"Hey Red," he said.

"Silver, I have someone that's going to be going with you two in Jhoto."

"Please, not another fanboy of you. One is enough."

"Nope, it's Lyra."

"You finally saved her. Okay, I'll send Alakazam over."

We finished up there. Silver's Alakazam can't teleport as far as Wally's Gardevoir, but far enough to get Lyra. Once everything was squared away, we rested. Or, would have liked too…

-POV Shift-

"It's finally done.."

The scientists stared at their work. A Pokémon with limitless power. Under Giovanni's orders, it was to have no emotion at all. He refused to talk about why, but one person swear he hear him mutter "mistakes of the past". No matter though, as it was all finished. The experiment was in it's test chamber, slowly waking up.

The head scientist called Giovanni.

"Sir, Mewtwo is awake."


Flinky: Yep. Mewtwo is coming. The trump card of any Team Rocket story. The next couple chapters will pick up again. Until then, good day/evening/ 1 in the morning (if you have no life).