Pokemon

REVELATION OF THE MASTER

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon, never have and never will. I writing this because I love pokemon and I’m making no money off it whatsoever so don’t sue me!

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Part 3: Discoveries and imprisonment

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Espeon raised her head just in time to see the three fall through the clouds. She began to cry out frantically as she suddenly realized they were too far away for her to slow their descent with her psychic abilities. Brock and Tracey quickly noticed their friend’s plight too but were powerless to do anything. "Even if Crobat could get there in time it would only be able to carry one of them," Brock said through clenched teeth as he watched helplessly.

"Pika-pi!" Pikachu yelled as it ran towards them not knowing or not caring that it would not be able to help.

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"Charizard, wake up!" Ash yelled as he, Misty and the dragon continued to plummet from the sky. It didn’t respond however and Ash became more and more desperate as they neared the ground. "Come on Charizard, we need your help. You have to wake up!"

Charizard’s eyes finally opened and he scanned the area around him. Quickly assessing the situation he veered to the side enabling Ash to cling to his back again. "Thanks Charizard, now lets pick up Misty," Ash said, giving the creature a reassuring pat. It roared in reply and dove towards the Water Trainer folding its wings to help pick up speed it got closer and closer to the girl but so did the ground.

"Ash help me!" Misty screamed and reached out her hand, Ash reached for it and managed to pull her aboard a few seconds before she would of hit the ground.

"Pull up, pull up!" they both yelled as Charizard managed to slow their descent and level off with huge flaps of its wings. However it had so much forward momentum that it made a rather rough landing, still aside from a few bruises everyone was okay including Charizard who had only had the wind knocked out of it by the "object" that collided with them. Tracey, Brock, Pikachu and the other pokemon all arrived within minutes and as soon as Misty and Ash had assured them they were fine proceeded to ask them what happened. The two quickly explained.

Brock took on a thoughtful pose and uttered one of his characteristic "hmms" when they were done. Tracey simply looked confused. "What do you think they were?" he asked.

"I’m not sure but there was something familiar about them," Ash muttered as he tried to remember what he had seen. The objects had gone by so fast that he couldn’t get a clear look at them, they were light colored however, that was for sure and Ash could of sworn he saw some purple on the larger object.

Espeon ran up to him chattering excitedly. "Hey slow down! I’m having trouble understanding you," Ash exclaimed and then closed his eyes and placed his right hand on Espeons forehead. "Here, talk to me this way" he said as Espeon closed its eyes and its body glowed as it sent the telepathic message into Ashes mind. Ash repeated the words it sent him so that the others could hear. "Espeon says that while we were up there it sensed the presence of two Psychic pokemon, extremely powerful ones."

"Mewtwo," Brock stated gravely. "And Mew," Misty finished.

"What were they doing here and why did they attack you?" Tracey asked.

"They weren’t attacking us" Ash corrected. "Espeon says that their minds were blank, like they were in some kind of trance, the only thought that surfaced in them was that they had to get to the Indigo Plateau."

"What could possibly control them?" Misty asked in a worried tone.

"I don’t know but I’m going to find out" Ash proclaimed and moved towards Charizard to follow them. Pikachu hopped on his shoulder proclaiming it would be going with him, his other pokemon were just as interested in solving the mystery.

"Are you crazy!" Misty yelled and grabbed his arm, pulling him back, "you have no idea what you’re rushing into."

"That’s never stopped him before" Brock said sarcastically and folded his arms.

Misty ignored his comment and looked at Ash with pleading eyes. "Please don’t go. What if you get hurt? At least let me come so I can help." Ash didn’t know quite what to say to this for a moment. Misty didn’t usually display these kinds of emotions.

"She’s right," Tracey said, "you could be in way over your head."

Ash gave him a serious stare. "I have to go alone, the fewer of us there are there the less chance that we’ll be spotted by whoever’s causing this. I don’t know what you think but I bet they’re up to no good." Tracey nodded but Misty still looked unsure.

Before anything else could be said though a huge shadow appeared above them. They looked up in speechless awe as a gigantic golden bird with rainbow colored feathers passed a few hundred feet over them. It was heading in the same direction as Mew and Mewtwo and had soon flown higher, disappearing into the clouds.

"Ho-oh," Ash whispered as he beheld the Legendary Pokemon that he of all people had seen on his first day as a trainer. Everyone else remained speechless for some time. Ash finally turned to them, his face much more serious then usual. "I have to go," he said in a tone that clearly meant nothing was going to stop him. Misty gave an understanding nod and hugged him. "Just be careful" she whispered in his ear, "and if you hurt yourself I’ll kill you!" she added less seriously. Just the same Ash backed away, hand behind his head, laughing nervously. He then gave her reassuring smile as he returned his pokemon and got on Charizard, Pikachu taking his usual spot on Ash’s hat. "I’ll be fine, we’ll all be, you just wait and see Mist," he said as they prepared to take off. Misty blushed slightly; she loved it when Ash called her that.

"All right" Brock replied, "we’ll head to Pallet and see if Professor Oak knows anything about this." Ash nodded and took off. He was soon out of sight.

"Okay, if anyone has answers to this Professor Oak does so lets get going," Tracey said as he recalled his pokemon. Brock did the same, leaving Onix out to ride on. He sat on his head, Tracey getting on the Rock Snakes back. Misty recalled all hers except for Starmie who she got on and rode a few feet above the ground like a surfboard. "Last one there’s a rotten Exeggcute," she cried as she sped ahead of them.

"Come on Onix lets catch her," Brock said to his pokemon. "Garoooar!" It yelled and slithered forward at high speed.

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Charizard flew quickly towards the Plateau, keeping itself low to the ground to help avoid detection. Charizard could fly quite well even only a few feet above the ground and they were soon within sight of the Indigo Stadium. Ash had Charizard land some distance from the stadium behind a hill and he, Charizard and Pikachu continued on foot. It was around three a clock by now and Ash had given up any hope of returning home that day. Despite the brave front he had put on Ash was quite worried. The prospects of going up against a Legendary Pokemon was something even the greatest trainers would have trouble with and the thought of fighting several made him shudder. He hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

"Keep quiet guys," Ash whispered just in time to trip on a stone and land flat on his face. Charizard and Pikachu sweat dropped as Ash got back up laughing in embarrassment. Before they could go any further Pikachu’s ears perked up at a slight sound.

"Pika-pi-chu-pika [Ash someone’s coming.]"

Looking around a corner the hills trail made Ash could see three men in Team Rocket uniforms approaching. They were probably looking for intruders but what mattered most to Ash was that they had guns in their hands and seemed quite ready to use them.

"You two had better go in your Poke Balls" Ash said as he raised Charizards and Pikachus almost never used Poke Ball. Charizard was clearly upset at this but Ash returned him anyway. "This is for your own good," he said as he fired the balls capture beam at Pikachu who dodged aside. "Pikachu! I have no time for this, you and the others lives could be at stake. I have to do everything I can to protect you."

"Pi-pikachu-pi-chu. Chu-pika-chu-pi! [You could get hurt; I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you. You’re my master and my best friend I have to protect you too!]" Pikachu said as he shook his head and arms wildly in response.

"I’m sorry Pikachu, but not this time," Ash replied sadly as he fired the beam again, this time sucking Pikachu inside. He knew it; Charizard and the others would try to get out so he placed their balls in a crevice in a rock. This way they could shake themselves free but it would take a little while. Hopefully by then some help would of come.

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Travelling swiftly along the path the three trainers and their pokemon had arrived at Pallet within an hour. They immediately proceeded to Oaks lab and knocked on the door (after returning their pokemon.)

Ash’s Tauros grazed nearby and Misty could see several more of his pokemon in the distance. Meganium was sunning herself in the open while Heracross sucked on some sap in a nearby tree. Primeape was on a rock, sparring with another trainers Hitmonchan and Misty was pretty sure she could see Ash’s Noctowl and Pigeot having some sort of race with a Fearow and Skarmory high above them. She smiled, they were all so happy; this was a great place for them.

"Professor Oak, you there?" Brock called. Soon the door opened and an elderly but quite healthy and vigorous man with a kind smile greeted them.

"Ah Brock, Misty, Tracey, I’m so glad you got here in time. I was just having a meeting with some very distinguished guests I know you’ll want to meet." The professor then looked about for a second with a confused face. "Where’s Ash" he asked in his scratchy voice. He noticed that upon mentioning his name everyone looked a bit worried, especially Misty.

Brock finally spoke up. "He left to check out something strange that’s going on in Indigo Plateau. We came here to see if you knew anything." The professors face instantly turned stone serious. "Come in quickly, there are many things we must tell you about," he said motioning for them to enter.

"We?" Tracey asked.

"Yes, my guests. I trust you know of them," the professor replied as they entered the living room. Misty, Brock and Tracey stood spellbound in disbelief when they sighted Oaks "guest." Ash’s mom was there too but she wasn’t what caught their attention. There in front of them sat some of the greatest trainers that had ever existed. The Elite Four. Agatha looked the teenagers over with her ancient wise eyes and then nodded as though they had passed some sort of test she ran on everyone she met. Bruno sat across from her on the couch his arms folded over his massive, heavily muscled frame. The light brown vest he wore over his otherwise shirtless form accentuated this all the more. He otherwise looked the same as when the group had first met him. Prima sat in a separate chair; she too looked the same although the normally serene look in her eyes now seemed troubled and worried. Lance sat in-between Agatha and Bruno; his expression seemingly set in stone, the group couldn’t tell if he was angry or worried, maybe both.

Lance stood up. He was taller then anyone else in the room (Bruno was just a little shorter) and his long Masters Cloak made him all the more impressive. His presence commanded attention from everyone. He looked at Misty, Brock and Tracey with his dark serious eyes. "I’m afraid your friend has stumbled right into an event which will forever determine the future of our world," he said gravely.

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Ash was surprised to see Team Rocket members, he had rarely seen any members besides Jessie and James and whenever he did it was always really bad news. Come to think of it Jessie and James hadn’t been around much lately. He wondered if they had finally given up. It was hard to believe but he actually missed them slightly. The last time they had attacked was at the opening ceremony of the Indigo League. However instead of using a giant Metapod robot to steal the Moltres flame they had dropped a bomb of Sleep Powder from their balloon, intending to take the pokemon from every sleeping trainer. Ash however had released Pigeot by then (their speech gave him plenty of time) and it knocked the bomb back into the Meowth Balloons basket with its Wing Attack. Jessie had gotten very mad at this and sent out Arbok who launched itself straight at Pigeot with a Bite attack. Before it could hit though Gary had released two of his pokemon. Alakazam used Confusion, knocking Arbok back into the balloon and then had his Dodrio use Drill Peck, cutting through the balloon and sending them blasting off again. Ash was happy to see them go, knowing that when they crashed the bomb would go off, putting them all to sleep for a good while.

Ash snapped back to reality as he noticed the Rockets were only about ten feet away. There was nowhere to hide and he needed to keep them away from his pokemon so he decided to run for it. They saw him and one released an Ekans just as he started to run. The snake wrapped around his legs causing him to trip and fall. He rolled over to confront them and was greeted with a fist in his face, and then everything went black.

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Lance had just finished explaining the legend and everything that had happened and the group sat in front of him trying to take it all in.

"So if this guy, Giovanni, beats you and the other masters with the legendary pokemon then the world will plunge into darkness?" Tracey asked.

"It’s a bit more complicated then that." Lance replied. "The fight itself will not cause this. It will be the possible results of the fight. Legendary pokemon like Zapdos who help maintain the weather dying for example. Evil triumphing over good will also upset the balance."

"Lance called us here because Professor Oaks library has some of the best information on the legend and being so close to Indigo it is a good place to plan our attack," Bruno explained.

"We don’t have a lot of time so we had better get moving," Agatha stated in a scratchy but wise voice as she stood up. "If we’re lucky we can get there before Giovanni has completed whatever plan he has to permanently control the Legendaries."

"Well are we going or not?" came a snobbish voice from across the room. Misty, Brock and Tracey once again gasped in shock as Gary entered.

"Gary what are you doing here?" Misty asked.

"I was visiting gramps when the Elite Four came and he convinced them that I could be of some assistance. You guys are coming too right?"

"Of course," Misty replied.

"I don’t know if that is such a good idea," Lance said. "Giovanni is a dangerous man and we will be facing extremely powerful forces."

"Ash is out there, I… I mean WE have to save him. Besides if this battle’s going to be as big as you say then you’ll need all the help you can get. We’ve met and even battled against many of the legendary pokemon in the past so I think we can help," Misty said in a manner that told everyone she wasn’t going to change her mind.

"They are much more then they seem," Professor Oak said, taking on a thoughtful pose. "I believe they can help and I think Bruno and Prima would agree with me," the two nodded.

Lance smiled. "Well to tell you the truth I suspect any one of you or your friend Ash may be the great master that is prophesied as unleashing the full power of the Master Ball, though if we’re lucky it won’t come to that."

"Well there is no way I’m going to just sit at home and worry while my Ash is in danger, I’m coming too," Ash’s mom said sternly. Everyone knew better then to argue with Delia Ketchum when she got like this.

"Well now that that’s settled could someone help me collect my scanning equipment?" Prima said in her almost musical voice and gestured to some small computers and various other gadgets on a desk, "It will help us determine what we’re facing once we get there." Brock volunteered and started to help her pack, Misty noticed that Brock was acting unusually civil towards her. She couldn’t resist and walked up to him.

"Brock why are you not getting all goofy like you usually do around pretty girls?"

Brock looked hurt. "Misty come on give me some credit. This is a serious situation and besides I respect the Elite Four way too much to act that way towards her." She smiled; Brock sometimes surprised her.

Tracey walked over to Lance. "Uh sir, I was wondering if you could explain how it is you know that Giovanni is summoning all the legendary pokemon? What if he’s just summoning some to fight for him?" Lance turned to him and answered.

"I’m afraid I don’t know for certain that he is, but in order to make the prophecy come true he’ll need to gather them all together although I still have no idea how he plans to control them permanently. And if you’d been able to watch the news recently then you’d have seen that legendary pokemon have been spotted all over the world. They all seem to have been heading in the same direction as well. Just before you got here there was a report of a rancher seeing the Legendary Beast racing across the plains toward Indigo."

At that moment the videophone rang. "I’ll get it!" Ash’s mom said as she ran to answer it, her voice cheery despite the situation. When she turned it on the face of a young woman in tribal clothing appeared. She looked troubled and confused.

When Misty saw her friend’s face on the screen she ran to it immediately, Mrs. Ketchum stepping aside. "Melody, is that really you?"

"Misty? What are you doing there? It’s great to see you but I didn’t expect it."

"Well, it’s sort of an emergency," Misty began but was interrupted by Melody.

"Well so is this. Just a few hours ago I saw all the Titans including Lugia fly the coop and I have no idea why. I thought your professor might like to know about it so I called."

"Hmm. Yet more evidence that Giovanni is gathering all the Legendary Pokemon," Agatha stated. Misty noticed Melody step back in surprise at seeing the Elite Four member.

"This is more serious then I thought isn’t it?" She asked.

"You can say that again," Misty replied.

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Ash’s Poke Balls shook furiously in the rock crevice as their occupants tried to break free. At last one shook itself out of the crevice and rolled to the ground where it broke open, revealing a small yellow mouse-like creature.

"Pika-pi? [Ash?]" Pikachu surveyed the area with its keen eyes but didn’t see his beloved trainer anywhere. It quickly turned and pulled the other balls out where they all opened almost instantly.

*Note. For the next few paragraphs I’m not going to bother to translate poke speech into human talk. You will simply hear what they’re saying in English. Thank you. *

"What’s going on here?" Blastoise asked.

"Where are we?" Venusaur added.

"Where’s the food?" Snorlax finished. The other pokemon sweat dropped.

Charizard looked about, a panicked expression on his face. "Where’s Ash?" He asked with a pleading look.

"I think Team Rocket captured him," Pikachu answered in a worried tone.

"I would concur," Espeon said as she looked around, her eyes glowing hauntingly. "I sense that his presence was recently here along with three dark minds."

"Then lets go rescue him," Charizard declared and moved to fly. Blastoise held him back however, as did Venusaur with his vines. "Let me go!" Charizard yelled as he struggled to break free. Pikachu turned to the mighty dragon and tried to reason with him.

"I don’t think that Ash would want us to do that. There are legendary pokemon down there. We aren’t strong enough on our own."

Pikachu’s eyes widened in surprise as tears began to fall from Charizard’s eyes. "You don’t understand!" He cried, "You have always been with him. I became so full of myself after I evolved that I forgot all the things we’d been through. I hurt him more times then I can remember I acted like I hated him! But no matter what I did he never gave up on me. He always loved me no matter how much I acted like I didn’t want him. He was even willing to leave me in the Charicific Valley so I could became stronger, even though it meant he would become weaker. I’m glad for my time there but now that I’m back I’m not going to lose him again. NOW LET ME GO!!!!"

Pikachu, his own eyes beginning to moisten, cried back with just as much passion. "Do you think I don’t know what it means to care about him!? Ash is the best friend I could ever ask for and I’d do anything for him! I want to rescue him too, but it won’t do him any good if we all get killed trying to save him."

For several seconds the two stared each other then Charizard let out a heavy sigh and conceded. He knew Pikachu was right. Snorlax decided to relieve the tension and walked up to Espeon. "Say do you think that you could get our friends back home to come here?" He asked her. "Maybe they can help."

"Snorlax that’s a great idea!" Pikachu said happily and then turned to Espeon. "Do you think you could do it?"

"I’ll try. My psychic powers are getting stronger all the time but I’ve never tried to contact someone across that great a distance before." She then closed her eyes, a psychic aura forming around her, her gem glowing brightly. After several seconds she opened them. "There, it worked," she said as she heard Lapras boom a telepathic reply. "They’ll be here as soon as they can."

"And when they get here," Blastoise said while cracking his knuckles, "we’ll kick some Team Rocket butt!"

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In a dark underground chamber only about half a mile from where the pokemon were holding their conversation Giovanni, his Persian at his side, looked fondly at his masterpiece. It resembled the suit Mewtwo had once worn to help control and focus his powers but some of the parts were wider to help hold a human body and this suit would have an even more useful purpose. He had just been told by his team of scientist that the suit was fully operational but one key component, Mewtwo, was not yet ready.

"Soon," he whispered while stroking Persian, "very soon."

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Misty had quickly explained to Melody everything that had happened. "So you don’t know if Ash is okay?" She asked.

"No," Misty replied sadly.

"Hey, don’t worry. You know Ash, he always manages to get himself out of trouble," Melody said in an attempt to cheer her friend up.

"I know," Misty replied still worried, "but I’m afraid even his luck won’t be enough this time."

All of the sudden there was a crashing noise outside and what sounded like a stampede. Tracey quickly took out his binoculars and looked out the window. "It’s amazing guys. Ash’s Tauros just broke down the fence and all of Ash’s pokemon are following it out. They’re moving fast too."

"They must have somehow found out Ash is in danger," Professor Oak surmised.

"We had best get moving too, we don’t have much time left," Bruno said as he stood up.

"And as there seems to be no convincing you otherwise, it seems everyone is coming" Lance said, moving towards the door.

"You too Professor?" Brock asked.

"Well of course. This is a major historical event and I don’t want to miss it. Besides I’m worried about the boy."

"What about Ash’s pokemon?"

"There’s no way we can stop them and in any event I think their added power will come in handy," the professor answered.

Melody, putting all silliness aside for the moment, looked Misty in the eyes. "Make sure you all get back in one piece. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you guys.

"Oh don’t worry we will," Misty replied with a wink. "Besides there’s no way I’m going to let you weasel out of teaching me how to play that flute of yours this summer." Melody smiled and turned off the videophone.

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Across the wide plains and forest that separated Pallet from the Indigo Plateau a large group of pokemon ran or flew as fast as they could. Anyone seeing the herd would think it an odd assemblage of different types and species but they all had one common goal, to find their master and their fellow pokemon and help them. They were ready and willing to do whatever it took to accomplish that.

Pigeot led the pack, its aerodynamic body cutting through the air easily. He could have flown faster if needed to but he didn’t want to leave the others behind. The large Owl-like pokemon Noctowl flew right behind it, its talons clasp tightly on Kinglers shell. He could fly quite well, despite being weighed down by the huge crab.

Heracross flew a short distance behind the others, Butterfree some distance to its right. His strong arms and claws struggled to hold onto the spiky protrusions on Lapras’ shell. Although both Kingler and Lapras could move pretty well on land they weren’t fast enough to make this trip without help,

"Pras-lapras! [Please don’t drop me!]" She cried.

"Hera-cross-cross-heracross! [It’s not my fault that you need to cut down on the seaweed!]"

Down below meanwhile Meganium galloped along at a fair speed, Muk at her side. The slimy blob could slide quite quickly over most any terrain. Tauros galloped ahead of them, his sharp hooves picking up dust. To their right Primeapes strong legs carried him almost as fast. Typhlosion ran on all fours a bit behind Meganium. Feraligatr completed the pack as it ran near Typhlosion.

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It was late evening by now and outside of Oaks lab the quite varied group of people had gathered. Three of the Elite Four raised their hands to call out some of their pokemon (except for Prima who had none that could move fast enough on land.) What appeared were some of the largest, healthiest, most impressive looking specimens of the various species that Misty, Brock, or Tracey had ever seen.

"Onix go!" Bruno yelled as a huge Onix with a scar on his face appeared and roared loudly. Brock and Misty recognized it as the same one they had seen Bruno capture several years ago. Bruno climbed onto its head.

"Gengar come forth!" Agatha shrieked as the shadow-like pokemon appeared and let out an ominous "gen-gar."

"Dragonair, Dragonite, Aerodactyl come out!" Lance roared. A long elegant serpent-like creature materialized first and produced a high pitched mournful cry. It reared up, at least fourteen feet high and almost twice as long. Not as long but even bigger was its evolution that appeared next. It let out a similar high-pitched howl and rose to its full height. The teenagers gasps in astonishment, this Dragonite was at least a quarter size larger then the one Drake had used against Ash back in the Orange League.

The Aerodactyl, even bigger then the one the group had encountered in Grandpa Canyon screeched in excitement and spread its wide, leathery wings.

"I shall ride Dragonite," Lance said as he climbed onto the creature’s back. "Mrs. Ketchum, Professor Oak, you take Dragonair. Prima, you will go on Aerodactyl." She nodded and obeyed.

"We can handle our transportation," Misty said as she threw a Poke Ball. "Starmie, I choose you!" she yelled and then got on its back, hovering slightly off the ground. Brock called out his Onix and he and Tracey climbed on.

"Lets go! Dodrio!" Gary yelled as he released the strange but fast and powerful three headed bird and then got on its back.

Agatha looked at Gengar and nodded. Its eyes shined with light blue psychic energy, Agatha was then surrounded by the same energy and both she and Agatha levitated off the ground.

"Okay now how exactly do we do this?" Mrs. Ketchum said in her usual bubble headed way, as she looked Dragonair over, trying to figure out where to get on.

Dragonair knew they had no time for this and quickly scooped her and Oak up with its tail then placed them on its back. The feathery, ear-like structures behind its head stretched out and unfolded until they were more then twice as long and with only a few slight flaps it seemed to float into the air. By this time everyone else had taken off, speeding as fast as they could toward the plateau.

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Pikachu couldn’t remember the last time he had been so worried. Ash was out there all-alone with no one to protect him; he wondered what Team Rocket would do to him then immediately tried to get the disturbing thoughts out of his head. He knew that most of Team Rocket were far more cruel and dangerous then Jessie, James and Meowth ever were. "Pika-pi… [Ash…]" he whispered softly.

Venusaur had spread himself out on the ground, absorbing what was left of the sunlight so that it would have enough energy for several Solar Beams during the battle. He knew Meganium would be doing the same thing, or at least hoped she would.

Snorlax had eaten every bit of vegetation in a fifty-foot radius using the excuse that it would need plenty of energy for the upcoming fight. The rest of the pokemon sat on the top of the hill, waiting for their friends to arrive. They knew where to go after that because Espeon had used her psychic abilities to scan the surrounding area and thus found where Ash was in the underground lab was and a way to get in.

"Blast-blastoise! [There they are!]" Blastoise yelled as he saw the first of the group of Ash’s pokemon race over the crest of the hill. Lapras, no longer being carried by Heracross, led the pack sliding on her belly down the smooth hill and gaining enough momentum to go most of the way up the hill the rest of the pokemon were on. She proceeded to push herself up the rest of the way on her flippers.

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Miles away, Jessie, James and Meowth had arrived in Viridian and entered a large complex office building that served to disguise the illegal operations Team Rocket performed there. They were surprised to find no other Team Rocket members there beside themselves.

"Where do ya think everyone went to?" Meowth asked to no one in particular.

"I’ll bet they’re working with whatever it is the Boss wants us to stay out of," Jessie replied.

"Oh it’s just not fair!" James moaned dramatically. "The Boss gives everyone else real assignments while we’re stuck here like a bunch of worthless failures… but then I guess we are a bunch of worthless failures," James sighed and dropped to the floor of the hallway for effect.

"Speak for ya self. If it weren’t for you two nut jobs always messing things up I’d be Top Cat again by now."

"Oh get real Meowth!" Jessie yelled back.

"Yeah! You mess up just as much as the rest of us," James added angrily.

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not times infinity!"

"Why you little fleabag!"

"Ya know, that’s really insulting coming from a guy who thinks dressing up as a girl is a productive use of ones time."

"I’ll show you just how girly I am!" At this James jumped on Meowth and the two were enveloped in a cloud of dust of they fought, shouting insults the whole time.

"Girly man!"

"Two bit street Meowth!"

"Mommas boy!"

"Uncultured Swinub!"

"Crybaby!"

"Will you both be quiet!" Jessie yelled as she forcibly separated the two, kicking James in the stomach and into one wall and slamming Meowth into another wall with her left hand. "This discussion isn’t doing any of us any good so why don’t we go see if there’s anything to do or eat around here?!"

"I’m all for that," Meowth said as he got up.

"Me too!" James added, now back to his perky self.

They walked along a dark corridor with many doors that led to small office’s where various Rocket members did their work, be it forging papers to smuggle stolen pokemon or sending a bribe to the local police so they wouldn’t interfere with a current operation. As they continued down they found larger, nicer offices where high-ranking members did their work. Jessie’s curiosity was immediately perked and she headed toward the second largest room and tried to open the door. The largest one belonged to Giovanni and even she didn’t dare sneak in there.

"Jessie what are you doing?" James asked staring blankly at her, he turned away quickly and blushed. He had caught himself just staring at her again; he was glad that she never seemed to notice.

"What’s it look like? I trying to unlock this door."

"But Jessie, these rooms are off limits. We could get in big trouble," Meowth said.

Jessie knew this but for some reason she didn’t care anymore. She couldn’t explain what it was but something inside her told her she just had to go in that room. Something very important was in there for her.

"Jessie did ya hear me?" Meowth inquired impatiently.

"Meowth, James help me. I have to know what’s in here," she pleaded as she pulled against the locked door unsuccessfully. James looked about for a moment, as if uncertain what to do, then started to pull on the door as well. Jessie smiled at him and he smiled back.

"Fine! You two can do what ya want but I’m not gonna get blamed for this. I’m outa here," Meowth then turned to leave.

"Meowth, please, I’m asking you as a friend. Help me get in there. I don’t know what but something important is in here," she pleaded to the cat, her eyes beginning to moisten.

Meowth had rarely seen Jessie exhibit such emotion and it stopped him in his tracks. He tried to think of every possible reason to not help her but none were good enough. He knew deep inside that despite all insults the two would trade and all the fights they got into she was a true friend.

"I must be touched in the head," he said as he walked back to them.

"Oh Meowth thank you!" Jessie cried sincerely.

"Yeah, you’re Top Cat in my book," James added with a wink.

"Whatever just get out of my way," Meowth said, then baring his claws he leaped at the door. "Fury Swipes!" he yelled and scratched at the door repeatedly. The attack left quite a mark but it wasn’t enough to break open the door.

Meowth growled angrily. Many things had beaten him but he wasn’t about to let this stupid door be one of them. "All right then how bout ya try this on for size. Slash attack!" Claws bared Meowth threw his right arm forward and it seemed to cut right through the air. The attack cut a horizontal swath right through the middle of the door and it broke in half.

"After you," Meowth said with a smile as he motioned for Jessie and James to enter.

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A large flock of Spearow flew high above a forest, led buy an intimidating Fearow. Suddenly with angry screeches they flew in all directions to avoid being hit by Lances huge Dragonite as it sped like a bullet through the sky followed closely by Prima astride Aerodactyl and Agatha floating next to Gengar. Dragonair flew behind them at a fair pace while its passengers looked about in awe at the scenery. Down below in the forest one could hear the sound of breaking branches and shaking trees As Bruno and Brocks Onix crashed through the underbrush. Soon they were in open land again and travelling much faster.

"Ah this is the only way to fly!" Agatha said and then looked to Lance with a gleam in her eye (Gengar and she had floated up to where Lance was flying.) And unlike riding on your pokemon I don’t even get my fingernails dirty!" She proceeded to laugh or rather cackle with her hoarse voice.

"Oh be quiet you old witch! With the battle that is coming you’ll have to worry a lot more about yourself then your nails," Lance replied and then smiled as Agatha stuck out her tongue at him in reply. He was glad for a little levity as there would unlikely be much with what they were going into. Prima just laughed at the two’s friendly bickering.

On the ground, Dodrio, Starmie, the two Onix and their passengers sped across the land in a semi-straight line Gary and Misty in front and Bruno in back.

"Well I’m surprised," Bruno yelled to Brock. "Your Onix is faster then mine," he complimented. Brock gushed at the praise, as did Onix. "Thanks Master Bruno!" he yelled back. Meanwhile Gary, on Dodrio, ran up next to Misty.

"Don’t worry about Ash Misty," he said in a comforting manner. "I’m sure he’ll be able to take care of himself until we get there, he’s tougher then he looks and with his pokemon he’s almost unstoppable.

"I sure hope you’re right," Misty replied smiling a little. It surprised her how nice he could sometimes be.

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Ash woke up a bit dazed and his head felt like he’d been hit by a hundred of Misty’s mallets. Even so he managed to open his eyes and look around. He was sitting in a pretty comfortable chair. The room was fairly dark; most of the light coming from computers and other electronic equipment that was scattered throughout the area. It looked a bit like Professor Oaks Lab but was much larger, he couldn’t tell how large as the roof was obscured by the lack of light. He tried to move but couldn’t. Steel clamps that refused to budge in the least clamped his wrist and ankles to the chair. There was no point in just sitting there so he did the one thing that he could. He yelled.

"Hey! Is anybody out there? What’s going on? Where am I? Why’d you bring me here?"

There was movement down below as a tall man in a lab coat stood up and walked toward him. It was only now that Ash noticed several other scientist and Rocket members in front of some of the computer and scanner screens. As the man approached, Ash noticed he had fairly long thin beard, hair that stood high off his head and small glasses that topped his long nose.

"My, my, so many questions," the man said with a chuckle. He then turned to the Rocket members who had knocked Ash out. "Why did you fools bother to bring this boy to me? He obviously knows nothing about what we’re doing. I’m quite disappointed in your lack of judgement. A spy from the League, really!" He said sarcastically. The men cowered at his words; he obviously had a lot of power here whoever he was. The man chuckled again and shook his head. "Ah it doesn’t matter anyway but perhaps I can educate this boy as to how momentous an occasion he is about to witness, that is if our leader decides to leave him alive long enough to see it. Now Mr. Ketchum what did you want to know?"

"How’d you know my name?" Ash asked with a confused look on his face.

"Now I may not be a trainer but I do recognize your face as the one who won the Indigo League Championships this year. Most exciting matches indeed."

"Who are you?"

"My name dear boy is Dr.Fuji. I am the lead scientist in this little project."

"Project? What are you talking about?"

"Why only tell you when I can also show you," the professor replied with a devious gleam in his eye. He raised his right hand and snapped his fingers. The room proceeded to instantly light up and Ash had to keep his eyes squinted until they adjusted to the light. He looked up and saw that the labs ceiling was very high, at least a hundred feet, and there were two huge doors at the top seeming to have been designed to let large objects in and out. If he could of seen outside then he would of known that the lab had been built inside a large hill, the doors on the top of the hill being covered in dirt and rock to camouflage them. The simulated terrain was cemented to the surface of each door so that when the doors opened the landscape would remain the same once they had been closed again.

What Ash saw in front of him however was far more surprising. In front of the various desks, scanning equipment and other technical machinery that formed a half circle around the room were huge tanks that seemed to be filled with strange green liquid. And inside each tank, a Legendary Pokemon. One tank was forty feet high and housed Lugia, like all the others it floated in the liquid with its eyes shut, seemingly lifeless. Smaller tanks housed Celebi and Mew. The Legendary Beast were also represented, each floating in its own square shaped tank. Even Moltres was in a tank, the fire covering its body somehow not being put out. Clearly this stuff wasn’t water. The tank that housed Mewtwo looked different from the others, having many more wires and assorted machinery attached to it and Mewtwo. Ash had no idea why this was but he knew that what they were doing was wrong and anger soon overwhelmed the sense of awe he was feeling and he fixed the professor with a deadly gaze.

"What are you think you’re doing!? You have no right to cage them!"

"To coin a phrase, ‘might makes right’ and as to what we are doing to put it simply we are taking control," the professor said in a lecturing tone. "My employer used an ancient device to bring these pokemon here but as it could not control them indefinitely he asked me to find a more permanent solution, and I did. You see the liquid being pumped into those tanks? It not only contains a powerful sedative to keep the pokemon asleep but it is also filled with millions of tiny microscopic robots that have been filling the pokemons minds for some time now. Their collective will, which we control will eventually overwhelm the pokemons minds and they will be ours. We will have access to their experiences, skills and abilities but their free wills will have been deactivated. Within a half hour the brainwashing will be complete and through the use of remote devices in another part of this facility we will be able to command the pokemon to a further degree then any trainer could hope for." As if to prove his point a computer voice proceeded to beep "brainwashing of subjects will complete in twenty nine minutes."

Ash could only look on horrified as the professor chuckled and walked off.

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Notes:

Hopefully the story is getting more interesting. If Ash seems a bit OOC just remember that when there’s a serious situation he can be serious too. Through most of MSB for instance Ash didn’t do one silly thing.

I’ve included the original Elite Four because there have been no indications of the new members in the series. Again if this changes then remember it’s an alternate reality. Also I’m using the name Prima instead of Lorelei because that is apparently her true name in the series. If you like Lorelei more then use that; maybe Prima is just an alias like I have Lance say in the first chapter.

Just in case anyone doesn’t know Dr. Fuji is the name of the lead professor at the beginning of MSB (I don’t think he was ever given a dub name.) He is also a main character in a Japanese CD/radio drama that tells the story of Mewtwo’s early life. This will be talked about more in the next chapter. Don’t worry, I know that he was supposed to have died when Mewtwo destroyed the laboratory and I will explain how he is alive and apparently well in the next chapter. Things are really going to start heating up now so I hope I’ve fired your interest.

*Walks off muttering about his stupid fire puns*