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What Now?

(Unknown location, Hybrid facility)

Shadow Moon smiled as she padded down the corridors of some complex. Five seconds. I am getting more used to the shadow land. She smiled at this thought as she passed three other morphs working in a room off to the left of the hallway she was in. The morphs of a Syther, Farfetch'd, and Murkrow were installing some equipment into a computer bank. The Murkrow snapped a feathered-covered arm in a salute. The other two finished the work and exited via another doorway.

"Ma'am, we are close to finishing the last of the items. I think it is time to implement the next phase," The Murkrow cawed out in a raspy voice.

"Excellent, excellent, are the charges placed in the old complex?" All she got was a nod of the Murkrow's head, his red eyes glaring above his small beak, which he clicked in a way that birds do, as if he was laughing.

"Very well, give the message. Let's get underway. Giovanni had his chance to use the new tools that he had created, and he let it go. We will now show just what we can do." Shadow Moon then left and reentered the hallway she had exited to check up on the three other morphs. She passed a mixture of many hybrids, along with regular humans that had joined this little organization for whatever reason.

Soon, Matthew, Shadow Moon thought, soon you will see the power I hold, and you and I will rule the pitiful humans instead of how they rule us now. She smiled as she headed deeper into the complex to begin carrying out the plan, barking orders to those here and there.

Matthew and Becky both had no idea of what was going on besides what they could see at that moment. They needed to get to a Pokemon Center before anyone else decided to show up and give them grief. Besides, they were going to have enough problems trying to explain things to the Nurse that would be on duty. As they ran to the Center, Matt looked back at Becky. He now realized that her hair had since he could truly remember things been the same golden yellow of a Ninetales' fur. This made him think about how he now had shoulder-length hair; he only shook it and picked up a little speed. Soon they got to the Pokemon Center, and to their bewilderment they found every light on in the Center, and the main lobby when they entered was filled with Pokemon Trainers that were up, even though it was around nine in the evening and it was when people were turning in for the night.

(Celadon City battle zone)

Matthew and Becky both reached the desk, and the Nurse took all the Pokemon with a shocked look on her face, something that seemed very un-Nurse Joy like. Suddenly the hushed and whispered conversations stopped with someone crying out, "It's back, we got a signal." This caused everyone to crowd around the T.V. that had been hastily placed on a table in the lounge area; Matthew and Becky filtered over to see what was going on.

"We are coming to you live from Vermilion City, on the dock where the Cruise Ship S.S. Libya Two is usually docked. It is, as we all know, the second ship to carry the name, and it was en route from the Orre Region with not only passengers but also Pokemon and supplies as well, when it was hijacked by members of Team Rocket. They have stated that…." Suddenly the T.V. went on fritz again, but Becky and Matthew both looked at each other. Something didn't seem right; this felt very un-Team Rocket.

Suddenly, a hand fell on Matthew's shoulder and he jumped as he turned around on to relax at who he saw. The Nurse smiling a ghost of a smile, and she was holding one tray while a Chansey was holding another. "Sorry about the wait, but your Umbreon are going to take a little longer to heal. They should be feeling much better tomorrow." She then turned to go with two empty trays in her hands. Matthew and Becky jumped again as the T.V. worked again.

"Sorry about the transmission, folks, it seems that our satellite transmitter is being ravaged by some Electric Pokemon here at the docks. Anyway, to recap the last twenty minutes, Team Rocket has issued demands that Dragon Master Lance step down from his seat as Pokemon Champion by tonight's end. If this demand is not met, then they will unleash a Pokmon virus upon those that are on the ship. They have already used the virus on one person who had tried to escape and have shown us the results."

With that, a picture was shown on the screen. A female trainer was shown, but right away they could tell something was wrong with her. For one thing, she had Pikachu ears and the tip of a tail could be seen poking from her damp clothing. Her skin had also turned a yellowish tint and her checks had turned a little red. Small bolts of electricity could be seen sparking from her checks. However, something that Team Rocket had not counted on was the expression on her face: one with a determined and defiant look to it, one that said to all that she was not going to be bullied around.

"Apparently, Team Rocket forgot to look at the picture before sending it off," the Reporter said as her face reappeared, "but it seems that Team Rocket is having a hard time holding the Trainers still. Already they have threatened to…" Suddenly shouts could be heard off camera, shouts from the guards that were keeping the dock free of bystanders and that were full of fear and confusion.

"Hey, this is off limits, you can't come through unless with proper…. WHAT THE? Call in for backup. Attack, we must hold our ground. Don't let them to the generator. Someone get a camera over here now! Attack! We can't..." That was when the screen died, but this time they knew that it was not caused by technical difficulties. Murmurs began to rise in volume in the Center when suddenly a boy about eleven hopped up onto the table next to the T.V.

"Well, what are we standing here for? I say we go down there and take them down," the boy shouted, his fist clenched, and he was doing a poor time holding in his anger. "I want to get on that dock and take them down." This made a few others around him look at him, and soon others were shouting and calling out what they had in their teams.

"I have some ground types, so I can handle Electric Pokemon," a teen said as he walked up to the kid that had shouted to first cry for attack. He looked to be about fourteen and a little eager for a battle.

"I got Electric for the Water-types they may use," a girl said, giggling as she stepped forward. She was around twelve and she seemed to act like this was something not totally serious.

"But what levels are they all?" a sour-looking young adult asked. He had his feet, which had heavy-duty boots on them, propped up on a side table that he had dragged to be in front of the seat he was sitting in, the end of one of the many blue couches. "I think they would easily use in the fifties, so you may not get hurt by an Electric attack but you will surly lose if they used any other attacks." He then got up and smiled. "In fact, let me show you just what I mean." With that, he let out a Totodile, who smiled evilly before shooting the Trainer that was beginning to mount a rescue mission with an attack that looked to be a heavy-duty Water Gun, throwing the boy back and off the table. He landed pretty hard and tumbled a few times to finally come to a stop in front of the full-length window. He didn't move after that.

Everyone just froze at seeing this move. "Now see what I mean?" the man said with a laugh as he slowly stepped over to the boy. "I had a feeling she was your sister by the look of rage on your face." He was talking to the boy who was lying unmoving on the ground, the Totodile waddling next to the young adult. "I think a Water-type will suit you very nicely." He was about to put his hand into a pocket when the Totodile let out a cry of pain. The man turned around to see the Totodile fainted and out like a light, a Furret standing nearby, breathing normally as if it hadn't run or done anything fast at all.

"What in Mew's name?" The man shouted with disgust at seeing the Totodile finally faint. He only recalled the Pokemon and shook his head. "Well then, it seems we have some highly skilled trainers here, so care to prove yourself?" With that he sent out another Pokemon, a Gengar. "Well now, use Shadow Ball." The Gengar only smiled as he sent out a ball of black energy it hits the Furret, throwing him back against a blue chair, depleting his health to a bare minimum. The Furret then looked at the Pokemon with a strange look, one of complete and utter anger, and… recognition? He then let off one of his strongest Thunder Punches at the Gengar. "You will pay for your abuse." He yelled, hitting the Gengar before fainting from the last bit of adrenaline and strength that it took to attack the Ghost Pokemon. Before the Gengar could react in any way a red beam shot out and enveloped the Furret.

"Good job, Strips, good job indeed. You deserve a nice long rest," a male voice called out from the crowd of people before the owner of the voice showed itself. It was a male with light brown hair that reached his shoulders. He had on an orange T-Shirt, tucked in with an old-looking belt around the waist of his blue jeans. Semi new-looking trainers were on his feet. Over the shirt was a blue vest with one pocket on each side of the zipper. On his head was the official Kanto League Hat. "You have terrorized enough people. Please stand down, or I will have to show you some more force." The Gengar laughed at this, only to stop at seeing not one, but two Vulpix trot out and stand in front of the trainer.

The man only grinned, "Well now, Admin Matthew, I thought you were tied up at the gym, but now you are here. We can start our next phase of the operation." Just like he had expected, the trainers around the teen took a few big steps back, giving the teen more room than he had before and revealing a female standing in the wings. Her face was hard as stone, but her light golden hair was being teased by an A.C. duct above her. The kids and young teens all gasped as well as looked at the teen like they would attack him right then and there. After all, an Admin was rare to be in an attack and would be much better to take down then a low lackey.

"Now, now, don't try and weasel your way out of this one. You broke your cover, and now you will pay," the teen said with an edge to it, one that showed by voice that he meant business. He slowly moved his hand to his Pokeball belt. "After all, we can't let the boss think that I am the failure. You revealed me for who I am." He then snapped his head over to the female. "The Meowth's out of the bag. I guess we need to teach those of other divisions to respect us." At this the female only smiled as well and stepped forward. This time the crowd seemed ready to burst upon the two. After all, two leaders of Team Rocket would be too good of a catch to let it go.

"I think it is time we tell him the truth as well," the female said, ice also in her voice. Something that chilling from her made the male teen shiver a little, but it was no time to stop now.

"Very well." The teen then turned to face the Rocket. "I am not Admin Matthew. I am not even a part of Team Rocket. I don't know how many times I have said this, but you have given enough away that you cannot backpedal. You are part of the Team Rocket branch that attacked that ship, so either hand yourself in or I will battle your team." There were gasps of confusion and mutterings in the crowd as those around them tried to figure this all out. "Also, I must say that if you know who I truly am, you would know I would do this. I only said yes and played along, just long enough to get the truth from you." With those words the two Vulpix sent out well tuned and on-the-mark Flamethrowers, fainting the Gengar in a combined first attack.

"You fool, why are you fighting? This will only make us both weak to capture." He sounded mad but scared as well. He had now lost two of his Pokemon to this rogue. He then let out all the rest of his team. A Kecleon appeared, and next to it was a Vaporeon.

"I take it you like Vaporeons, don't you?" the young adult growled in annoyance. "I assure you that I have been training my team against your water attacks. You are doomed," the teen commented. Unfortunately for the Rocket's plan, the kid in front of him had caused a pause and the group of children were only watching them, not getting involved.

"Boss," a second voice called from the back of the Center, and everyone looked over to see a group of three coming out from the back, two of them taking up spots on either side of the doors. The third stayed in the shadows and was the one speaking. The other two had caps that cast shadows on their faces.

"We have secured the outer wings, and we found out that the experiments are…" Suddenly the speaker went to attention. "Admin Matthew, you are here? But you aren't meant to be here, you're meant to be at the Gym, taking care of Erika." The female teen smiled as she stepped up and forward to the Rocket that had spoken.

"Sorry, but we are not an Admin of your organization. We are part of our own life, not yours." Becky then snapped her fingers and a Pikachu ran out from the crowd and looked at the person, and without even waiting for an order let out a Thundershock, only to have it absorbed into the person. Everyone in the area only gasped and a few shouts of "What the--?" "How is that even possible?" could be heard.

"Well, looks like I, too, am revealed, so let's settle this Pokemon to Pokemon." The person who had been hiding in the shadows until this moment stepped forward, first with one yellow paw, followed by another. These two yellow paws supported a humanoid person, then the light revealed the rest of him. His hair was a spiky mess of yellow fur and his eyes had a yellow glint to them, his hands were a little more like paws but he could still use them as hands, and his face had a yellow tint to it. A Jolteon morph stood before her. The reaction he saw made him only to laugh with a more bark like voice then normal.

"You are so delusional, thinking that I am something like you. How many times do we have to tell you and your underling that we are not part of your group?" She then let out Drake; the Arcanine only snorted loudly and pawed to ground, looking a little more than angry at the Rocket morph in front of him.

"Now, now, Becky, I am disappointed at you, trying to run and hide from your heritage. You are from a nice long line of Ninetales, chosen because of their great brain power," the Jolteon Morph cackled with laughter.

The young adult grunt only grinned as Matthew turned back to face him, "You are not going to finish me off, my wonderful Ninetales. I have to tell you that these Pokemon are level eighty, so Matthew, as you want to be called, you will not beat me." He then laughed as he ordered the Kecleon to stay there and wait for an attack to hit him and the Vaporeon to use a Water Gun.

"Matt, Firestorm, you know what to do," Matthew commented to the two Vulpix. They only nodded their heads, and one rolled to one side and the other to the other side, leaving a hole in the middle as the teen stepped aside as well and the Water gun hit the other wall, leaving a water spot behind. The wallpaper where the water had hit became very sodden and wet.

"Missed us, you insane fool, and now…. Matt, Firestorm, Flamethrower the Kecleon," Matthew shouted, pointing to the Kecleon. The two Vulpix only nodded their heads and shot off the fire attack. Amazingly, the Kecleon, when the fire dissipated, was still standing, but now it has a red tint to the green on its body. Matt and Firestorm both looked on with disbelief, for the Kecleon had stayed standing from the fire attack, and even though it had taken damage from two high-powered attacks, was still functioning.

Meanwhile, Becky was having a hard time herself to try and keep from being hit, for the Jolteon morph was of all things directing small balls of electricity at her. He would form them in each paw and then throw them at her. Drake had taken a few hits for her, but he couldn't bring himself to fire an attack at the morph.

"Drake, don't keep taking hits, faint this monster. He is trying to hurt us and probably capture us," Becky called out, her voice sounding more like a plea than her original tone with the Rocket, that of being an ice lady.

"Right, Rebecca, I will do my best. But I don't want to hurt any bystanders" Drake suddenly stopped and turned, knocking over a table and a lamp, which smashed against the ground, the light going out because the cord got pulled from the wall, and the bulb shattered against the ground. Drake ignoring this small bit of destruction, for above them, lights were flickering from the overload of voltage that the Jolteon was sending into the power system. He opened his mouth and launched a powerful stream of fire. Amazingly enough, the clothing didn't catch fire, but the rest of the morph became charred and he toppled, fainted on the spot. She then turned to go help Matthew when she was hit by a stray Water Gun from the Vaporeon that tried once again. She felt pain, pain that she had not felt before, and in fact she could barely support her own weight. Drake, seeing this, rushed forward and used his own body to support Becky. Everyone else had gotten out of the Arcanine's way before he blasted the Morph, but now they were beginning to look around and at certain people.

"Easy, my mistress, take it easy. You aren't use to being hit by water attacks." Drake then slowly lowered his own body so she could slip to the floor more softly and safely.

"Oh, and what makes you say that? Have you been hit by water attacks?" She asked, her mind a little woozy and the sides of her eyesight blurring.

"In fact, yes, The Flood's Totodile loves to spray water guns at anyone that visits, including, myself when I was a young Growlithe." Drake said this with humor and an undertone of joking.

"That's good, Drake, that's good," Becky whispered before fainting into the black void that defeated Pokemon go into until healed.

Matthew had twirled around to miss another Water Gun. For some reason his mind kept yelling at him to not be hit with the Water Gun, and after seeing this he knew why; they seemed to have lost their immunity against water attacks. Turning around to face the Executive, he only looked at him, and then ordered his two Pokemon to attack. "Matt, Firestorm, Flamethrower full force NOW!" Matthew shouted the last part as the two Pokemon, after playing a charade of being at a lower level, finally let their fire sac heat up to the temperature that they had gotten them to. The Kecleon got hit by the double blast and fainted from the attack, burns on the outer skin of its body. The color was a deeper red than before. The Vaporeon only looked at the two with a glare of anger. He then charged forward with a Body Slam. Matt and Firestorm easily dodged, but he wasn't aiming at Firestorm or Matt, he was charging at Matthew. By the time Matthew registered who was the target, he was looking up at the ceiling with the Vaporeon over him, mouth closed. However, he knew that it would open and a stream of water would issue, and at this close range…. Matthew only looked defiantly into the Vaporeon's eyes, not flinching in his fate, when suddenly the Vaporeon was knocked to the side, launching his attack at the wall behind the desk that the Nurses stood behind and making another water mark upon the wallpaper. This battle had probably destroyed more things in a center than any attack before it, excluding the explosion of the Viridian Pokemon Center four to five years ago.

As Matthew tried to sit up, the young boy that was the same one who tried to start a movement to reach the docks grabbed his left hand and helped him to his feet. The other two grunts that had stood by the door were now tied up by an escape rope that some trainer or another had in their pack, and the Jolteon morph was surrounded by ground Pokemon. "What? What happened?" Matthew asked in shock as Matt and Firestorm came trotting to Matthew's side.

"We decided to attack the grunts. After the Water Gun took out the lady we knew that she and you were not part of them. After all, would they truly knock out one of their own?" Matthew, upon hearing this, went white with fear and rushed forward to Becky's side. Right away he could tell that she was not doing too well. "Quick, get warm blankets. She needs to be warmed up now," Matthew ordered, trying to get people into action as fast as they could. Amazingly, the group of people hurried away, looking for the said items, all except for the young boy who was barely on his Pokmeon journey.

"Is she going to be all right?" he asked, fear in his tone of voice. However, he was holding an arm a little tenderly.

"Are you all right?" Matthew asked the kid. He could tell that the boy didn't sound all right, as if he was fighting some internal battle. Matthew smiled warmly as he began to put warm blankets that were beginning to come in upon Becky in hopes of warming her up.

The eleven-year-old smiled faintly and just gave off a small chuckle before talking again, "My sis was in that picture. I can't believe that they would do something like that, I mean, where can she go? She can't walk around the land…. And I was going to show her Kanto." He laughed again. "I escaped Orre so we could settle back away from Team Cipher and their insane Shadow Pokemon plots, but now…. Well, we seem to always lose something to the current team."

Matthew gave a sad look and gave off a weak smile. "Well, I know a town that loves dressing up as hybrids for a festival; I think you can move there," Matthew said, his tone of voice one of sincerity and kindness. "And before you even ask how I know, well, it's my hometown. So, when do we leave to get to the cruise ship?" Matthew's voice showed that he was not humoring him, but in fact showed he was willing to follow him and help him out.

But before the kid could answer, the T.V. that was just going on the fritz with snow and static suddenly came back on, this time showing a studio with two people sitting behind an oval desk. Behind them were a wall, and a T.V. monitor behind them read "Celadon 5".

"Hello, I am Randle Gomez," the male announcer said. The look on his face is grave and serious.

"And I am Heather Heart. We are coming to you live with a serious announcement. Just moments ago, an explosion ripped through Viridian Forest as well as the Viridian Gym, leveling the Gym completely. Right now officials have no clue as to what happened, but we do have a man on the Viridian Forest crisis. Bob, are you there?"

"Yes, Heather, I am," a man dressed in a raincoat and an umbrella called out. Behind him could be seen a red glow, dying down due to the rain that was falling at that moment. "Just minutes ago, the residents of Pewter City were awakened to the sound of about five explosions that ripped through the heart of the forest. As of yet, officials have not arrived on the scene of the epicenter, but there are speculations from the locals that Team Rocket may be involved." The shot then went back to the two anchors that were sitting behind the desk. "Thank you, Bob," Randle said with a grim look. "We will get you covered as we gain more information. Now, about twenty minutes ago there was reported from the Gym district an unconfirmed battle of some type..." At that moment the T.V. was turned off by a burly looking police officer, who had entered just at that moment and went straight to the T.V. to turn it off. He then turned around.

"Okay, first off, no one, and I mean no one," he began, his voice showing that he was a no-nonsense kind of person, "saw anything unusually besides a botched heist at a Pokemon Center." The officer then walked forward to the desk of the Nurse.

"But who was that, just a phantom?" someone shouted, pointing to the spot that was now empty except for a physic Pokemon, who was standing silently, the hybrid having been moved already. "That was some type of creature that could control electricity. It looked…. Human." The speaker said human with emphasis on the word, as if to get across the notion.

"Please, it was just a rocket using a costume to hide some machine or another that controlled the electricity." It seemed that the officer didn't want to even continue, but others began to take up the cause.

"No, he stood funny, it was not some costume, and the picture on the T.V., what about that?" Another voice, female, cried out. Of course, with all the trainers milling around, it was pretty hard to pick out who had spoken.

"I assure you that the picture is just an edited and altered photograph." He then pulled up from what he was doing behind the desk and smiled. "Now, I hope you all have a good night, and we will be sending a replacement Nurse, seeing how the regular Nurse is being given the night off to cope with the situation. Also, I thank you for apprehending all the grunts in the center." He smiled, about to leave, when the eleven-year-old next to Matthew spoke up, his fists once again clenched in rage.

"That is my sister as the Pikachu, and she is no part of Team Rocket, or any other organization. She is relocating here to live. Orre is no place for her or me." The next thing that happened was the Psychic pokemon didn't move a muscle, but the boy disappeared in a teleport grasp.

"Yes, but she was out of your sight for a month or so, right? How do you know she didn't join while you were gone?" Matthew then realized why they never spoke up after the officer spoke, but then he couldn't remember why that thought came to being. After all, no one spoke up to oppose the officer, and in fact Matthew smiled, realizing…. Suddenly, Matthew's mind seemed to burn a little, and soon the events of the evening came back to him full force with a smile felt behind all the restoring memories, as if…. Yep, Light Tail was helping.

Matthew looked around with sadness; no wonder the people didn't seem concerned about hybrids or even think them possible. They were covered up. But by whom? And why even cover them up? Matthew, however, didn't realize it, but his thoughts were now hiding behind a façade that his Ninetales side put up, keeping him hidden from the probing of the Psychic Pokemon, but Becky, well, she was still there, so the Psychic probably left her alone, but who else had been affected?

"Well, I hope you enjoy your stay in the Pokemon Center and remember, Team Rocket is still out there. So be careful." With that, the man disappeared in a psychic teleport. The Xatu left as well, being the one that used Teleport. The people soon began to walk to their rooms and ignored Becky, who was now leaning against the wall, having been put in that position. Soon only Matthew and Becky, along with Matt and Firestorm were out in the open. Drake had been returned to his Pokeball so that he didn't take up so much room and get in the way of all the trainers trying to piece together what happened. Soon the evening replacement Nurse came on duty and looked straight ahead, smiling, not knowing that moments earlier Matthew had released Drake and with his help taken Becky to a room as near to the recovery wing as possible. Matthew knew that Becky would be better in the morning; she just needed a good, long night's sleep.