And now for the boring disclaimer: I do not, repeat not, own Pokemon, Samurai Jack, or Dexter's Laboratory.

Giovanni walked out of the throne room, looking ashen and angry. Since the bungle of Sammi, Wayne and John, he suffered constant verbal abuse under Aku. He knew himself, of course, that he was lucky enough to get away with it without being annihilated. He slumped back to his office and sat down in his swivel chair, sighing heavily. Before long, John and company busted through the door.

Giovanni grimaced. "I hope you idiots know why I called you here today." The three nodded silently.

"I don't wish to reprimand you, because we're all in the same boat, and you're better than those other bungling fools that failed mission after mission." He was, obviously, referring to Jessie, James, Meowth, Cassidy and Butch. "And I don't want you to follow their footsteps, either." The trio nodded again.

"Right, now," Giovanni said while pulling down a chart. "This is what you have to do..."

Later, at the Grand Pokemon Convention Building...

"Quiet, you fools," Sammi hissed, "they'll notice us!" The three Rockets were directly behind the stage where the Johto Gym Leader Convention was being held. "Wayne, stop staring at Whitney!" She landed a punch into the face of starstruck Wayne.

"OW! Hey, you didn't have to do that!"

"Sh, shut your traps!" John angrily said. "Now let's check our equipment again..."

"Right."

"Hypno Grenades?" "Check."

"Gas Masks?" "Check."

"Dark Swastikas?" "Check."

"Attachable Homing Devices?" "Check."

"Emergency snacks?" "Check."

"All right." John confirmed. "YAAAH!" He hurled the Hypno Grenade into the room. A hissing sound was heard, then followed by thudding sounds as the bodies of the eight Gym Leaders slumped to the floor. The trio, who had put on their Gas Masks in time, were unaffected. "Got the Devices ready?" "Yeah, yeah, quit blabbing," came the exasperated voices of Sammi and Wayne. On one device was typed F-A-L-K-N-E-R; on the other one was typed B-U-G-S-Y. "FIRE!"

Through the sleeping gas the two swastikas, powered by the Homing Devices, flew towards their targets.

Behind the screen, the trio smiled evilly.

"Say WHAT?!" Ash yelled.

"Yes, Ash," Professor Oak said grimly. "Our research tests have proven that the Darker versions of Pokemon (called Darkemon) are created by these little gadgets called Dark Swastikas, and we also have proven that they can be used on humans as well."

"But that's terrible!"

"Yes, Misty. Recently a raid at the Grand Pokemon Convention Building two Gym Leaders were unfortunate subjects of such a test: Falkner and Bugsy. Through Aku's dark network they now stand guard in the Horror Forest, a few miles away from here, taking innocent trainers by surprise and stealing their Pokemon. Your mission is to stop them. We have enlisted the help of The Justice Friends and they have agreed to send their most skilled hero there. But before that you must try and neutralise the effects of the Dark Swastikas. Good luck."

"Thanks Prof. Bye." Ash put down the receiver and looked back at the rest of the gang.

"Well, you know what this means. With Charizard and Pidgeot on our side, this journey shouldn't take more than an hour." He flung his Pokeballs on the floor.

"CHARRRRRR!"

"PID-GEOT!"

"Hop on!" shouted Ash, getting on Charizard. Jack joined him, while Brock and Misty mounted Pidgeot.

"Horror Forest, here we come!"

"It seems like you shall be nothing but a mere monkey!" The orange haired boy threw down his pencil, and walked away, exasperated. The brown primate in the cage looked dejected. Suddenly...

"Monkey, this is Agent Honeycube. Help us."

Monkey lifted up his arms and morphed into his bionic form. Unfortunately, Dexter heard the noise.

"Monkey?" He gasped.

The primate in the black suit, golden gloves and boots heard nothing. With a bionic zoom he busted through the cage. Dexter ran to his computer.

"Computer!" He commanded. "Activate the Dextron 9000. It seems that we have some tracking to do." Suddenly, the laboratory door opened. A blonde-haired girl clothed in pink stood in the bookcase doorway.

"Yes, you can come too," muttered Dexter.

"WHOOPEE!" cheered DeeDee.

"Show yourselves, Falkner and Bugsy!" shouted Ash. "Unless you're not worth your badges!"

"You looking for us?" Suddenly from the surrounding foliage appeared the apparitions of the two Gym Leaders, who soon materialised into solid form. They looked exactly like their original forms, except that they looked like they came from a black and white television set.

"We're here to get back what you stole!"

Falkner laughed. "Oh yeah? Just try and stop us." He brandished two Rockeballs, and Bugsy followed suit.

"GO!" The four Rockeballs were thrown into the air. The black forms materialised into the Darkemon.

"SPEEDRILL!" A huge bee with three metal drills and flashing red eyes emerged, complete with skull insignia.

"SCYCALIBUR!" A monster that looked somewhat like Scyther (but much more muscular) brandished its two swords ferociously. The two "blades" were replaced by swords it held in its claws.

"DARKROW!" A large black crow-like Pokemon came out, with a beak like an eagle and skull symbol on its chest.

"DRILLDRIO!" The triple-headed bird Pokemon that came out had grim red eyes, three feathers on each of its head and drills for beaks, complete with wings as well.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Misty screamed. "BUGS!!!"

"Hm... let's see..." Ash flashed out his Pokedex.

"Speedrill. The Toxic Bee Pokemon. This dark version of Beedrill uses its deft speed to swiftly nail down its opponents, making it fatal. Its internal body toxins make it even more dangerous."

"Scycalibur. The Ninja Bug Pokemon. The two swords it holds in its claws can be utilised effectively to unleash its anger upon enemies, earning the notoriety this dark version of Scyther deserves."

"Darkrow. The Doombird Pokemon. Unlike its non-dark version, Murkrow, this Pokemon is a hermit, travelling on its own in mountains and stealing whatever it needs from innocent trainers."

"Drilldrio. The Triplebot Pokemon. Its three heads, unlike in the case of Dodrio, can effectively focus on its objectives in combat, making it very deadly. It may also have psychic properties."

"This isn't going to be easy," Ash said grimly. "We're facing four of these monsters this time, and what's more, they all can fly. It's going to be a desperate fight, but I reckon we'll pull it off."

"Are you ready yet?" Bugsy taunted. "Or are you gonna lose to us by forfeit?"

"We're not gonna lose to anybody!" Ash shouted. "Charizard! Pidgeot! Noctowl! Heracross! GO!"

"I choose you Staryu!" Misty yelled.

"Golbat, time for action!" Brock shouted. An assembly of 6 Pokemon were formed in front of the four heroes, who glared at their four adversaries with grim anger.

"Charizard, Flamethrower! Noctowl, Confusion! Heracross, Fury Attack! Pidgeot, Razor Wind!"

"Take Down, Staryu!" "Golbat, Wing Attack!" The 6 Pokemon reared up and prepared to use their attacks. The two dark figures smiled. "Agility," they commanded. The four Darkemon began to run around and around in circles, confusing the six Pokemon in the middle. The Darkemon were moving much too fast for the Pokemon to concentrate and use their attacks.

"Noctowl! Just fire a huge Confusion like you did with Morty's Gengar!" Noctowl quickly responded, firing a huge wave of energy through the area. Sure enough, the four Darkemon were stunned by the sudden attack. The 6 Pokemon immediately moved in for the kill.

"Rapid Clone." The four Dark monsters suddenly created multiple clones of themselves, confusing the poor Pokemon. This was exactly like the infamous Double Team technique, except that this attack was much swifter. The 6 Pokemon simply lunged themselves at the mutants, but to their great dismay, they hit nothing, for as soon as they tried to hit a clone, it just disappeared into thin air, and more were created by the second. Also, they were kept busy as they tried to avoid being hit by the Darkemon's attacks.

"Sword Shield!" The Scycalibur clones began to spin like crazy, deflecting Charizard's Flamethrower attack, and at the same time making them dangerous to get close by.

"Doom Shade!" The Darkrow fired darkness blast after darkness blast, and Pidgeot and Noctowl could only use Agility to dodge the attacks.

"Triple Drill!" The Speedrill and Drilldrio launched their furious pneumatic drills at Golbat, who was desperately trying to avoid the vicious attacks.

"Wait a minute," Bugsy paused. "Aren't we forgetting someone?"

"Yes," Falkner agreed. "Where's that--OOMPH!" He answered his own question as the Starshape Pokemon plowed through the crowd of clones and smacked him in the face. "Bullseye!" yelled Misty.

"Noctowl! Fly above the Darkrow and use your Foresight!" Noctowl, managing to avoid being hit by the Doom Shades fired by the Darkrow flock, fired infra-red beams from its eyes. Suddenly, the clones disappeared, one by one, as if by magic.

"What the-?" Falkner gasped.

"I get it!" Brock said. "Ash's strategy was to use Foresight to identify the clones and prevent the Darkemon from cloning themselves!"

"Now that the real foes have been revealed, we should be able to polish off those evil monsters with no trouble at all!" Misty added.

"Drilldrio! Use Tri Attack!" Falkner commanded through gritted teeth. "Scycalibur, Fury Cutter!" Drilldrio fired beams of fire, ice, and lightning, nearly hitting Charizard, Pidgeot and Noctowl head-on. Heracross wasn't so lucky, Scycalibur fired slash after slash at it, and Heracross was losing fast.

"This looks bad. If Scycalibur keeps up like this, Heracross isn't gonna last much longer!" Brock shouted.

"Heracross! Use Reversal!" Heracross suddenly grabbed the mutant bug by the feet, and threw it into a nearby tree, using its low health to its own advantage. "Charizard! Flamethrower!" Charizard began to scorch Scycalibur, but the Ninja Bug Pokemon just deflected the flame with its blades.

"Tut tut tut." Bugsy said. "Some people just don't learn. I thought you'd have learnt from our last battle together, Ash Ketchum."

"Enough talk!" Falkner shouted. "Darkrow! Use Haze!" Darkrow belched out a cloud of smoke that clouded the entire area.

"Hack, hack, cough, cough! Brilliant work, Falkner, now I can't see a thing!" Bugsy muttered angrily. "Oops. Sorry." Falkner sheepishly replied.

"Pidgeot!" Ash shouted through the smoke. "Use Whirlwind to clear the smoke!" With its powerful wings Pidgeot cleared the area of the Haze.

"Staryu! Use Double-Edge!" Misty yelled. "Darkrow! Tackle!" shouted Falkner. The two began tackling each other ferociously.

"Noctowl! Confusion! Heracross, Horn Attack!" "Drilldrio, Psywave!" "Speedrill, Twinneedle!" Noctowl and Drilldrio fired energy blast after energy blast, while Heracross and Speedrill attempted to jab each other with horns and drills.

"Golbat, Wing Attack!" "Scyalibur, Swift!" Golbat tried to smash Scycalibur with its wings, at the same time dodging the swarming stars Scycalibur was firing.

Meanwhile, Samurai Jack was planning his attack, and was currently creeping up behind Scycalibur, preparing to launch his attack. Suddenly...

"Scycalibur! Look out!" The Ninja Bug looked behind its head. Discovered, Samurai Jack leapt up, hollering. "YAAAAAAAAAAH!!" Angry, Scycalibur fired a storm of furious stars. Jack swiftly spun his sword like the blades of a fan, deflecting the attack. WHACK! Golbat had taken the chance while Scycalibur was still occupied with Jack, and smacked it to the ground.

"DARKROW!" Darkrow crooned, and flew towards Jack like an eagle targeting its prey. Suddenly, a flash from the sky hit Darkrow like a torpedo.

"Wha-?"

"It's Monkey!" exclaimed the 3 trainers. The primate hero was internationally recognised; he even helped in defeating the Axe Monster in Japan. "Monkey!" a voice sounded.

KER-RUMP! Several trees collapsed under the weight of a huge robotic leg. That huge robotic leg belonged to the Dextron 9000, one of Dexter's greatest inventions. "Be amazed by my fighting machine!" Dexter's voice echoed. The 6 people and their Pokemon (well, except for Jack) were awed. But...

"NO DEEDEE NOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Dexter wailed as DeeDee pressed a little button with the ominous words -- "Activate Self-Destruct Sequence".

KABOOOM!!! What was left of the Dextron 9000 was nothing but a few shattered remains of metal, perspex and other little bits. Falkner and Bugsy laughed. "It looks like you have been Dex-troyed, ha ha ha!"

"Grr...!" Dexter got up, then pressed a button on a little golden belt he wore around his waist. The backpack he hung around his shoulders exploded into a gleaming white robot with titanium armour. "Behold, the Dextransformer!" he shouted.

"What, another claptrap machine? Forget it four-eyes, you can never beat us!" taunted Bugsy.

"No. One. Calls. Me. FOUR-EYES!!!" Dexter growled. With the flick of a button Dexter leaped into the air, ready for combat. Drilldrio leapt up, crowing like a rooster, its pneumatic drills spinning like crazy. Meanwhile, Jack was still trying to defeat Scycalibur.

"Come on Ash!" Misty said, nudging Ash. "We have to help the guys defeat those Darkemon!"

"Right!" shouted Ash. "Charizard, go for Speedrill!" Charizard lunged at the Toxic Bee, which buzzed in surprise and terror. "Give 'im the Seismic Toss!" Charizard grabbed Speedrill by the thorax, flew up high, then threw it downwards with devastating force. The mutant bee buzzed in agony, then reverted back to the original Beedrill.

"Golbat, Leech Life!" The huge Bat Pokemon threw itself at the mad crow, sunk its teeth into it with mad relish, draining away Darkrow's energy. Slowly, the mutant bird lost the will to continue battle. Its lifeless form fluttered down to the ground, changing back into a Murkrow.

Samurai Jack meanwhile was using evasive techniques against the Ninja Bug. Scycalibur was fast, but Samurai Jack was much faster. Slowly, bit by bit, Scycalibur was worn down by the elongating game of hide-and-seek. Suddenly, out of the blue, Samurai Jack flung at Scycalibur like an arrow, hitting Scycalibur in the gut. Defeated, the mutant monster transformed back into a Scyther.

Monkey was having a problem with Drilldrio, which moved faster than it could see. Unperturbed, Monkey activated his laser rings. Out from his eyes emerged energy rings that soon knocked Drilldrio down to the ground. Several primate punches wore down the deadly drill-bird, which reverted back to Dodrio.

"Take that!" Dexter yelled. From the palms of the robot shot out two dodgeballs with embedded sticks of dynamite.

KABOOM! The force of the explosion knocked out the two evil forms, and also destroyed the dark force of the Dark Swastika controlling them.

"What the... where are we?" The two Gym Leaders groggily muttered as they regained consciousness.

Meanwhile, in a nearby bush...

"Damn!" cursed Sammi. "Those twerps foiled us again!"

"Sh, keep your voice down!" hissed John.

"Well, Ash, I suppose its time we went back home." Dexter shook hands with Ash.

"Thanks for all your help, Dex."

"Ah, shucks, it was nothing." Dexter pressed another button. The Dextransformer sprouted wings. Grabbing Monkey and DeeDee with his robotic hands, Dexter waved goodbye and flew off.

Meanwhile, Sammi was cursing in a language too foul to be included.

"Shut up!" Wayne hissed, "Or they'll hear us!"

"Hear what?" A hand shifted through the leaves, revealing the trio's presence. The hand belonged to Brock.

Meanwhile, back in Dexter's Laboratory...

"I still can't believe that Monkey is really my very own laboratory monke--" Dexter was interrupted with Monkey spraying the "Memory-Erasing Spray".

"What the... what just went on?"

Monkey smiled knowingly.

Meanwhile, back to Horror Forest...

"It's them again!" Ash exclaimed.

"What are you three troublemakers doing here this time?" Misty said.

"Trouble?" said a familiar voice from aloft.

"Huh?!"

"Make that double." said another voice...

TO BE CONTINUED...

Oh NO! Does this mean Jessie and James and Company are back in action? Or are they back from the dead? And what are our three stooges, Sammi, Wayne and John going to do now that their rivals are back? Stay tuned... and R&R.

--Arcanine

Email: achioang@hotmail.com