Mike: Before I begin this chapter, I would like to point out something. This is just a crossover of Pokémon and The Matrix and it takes place between “The Matrix” and “The Matrix: Reloaded”. I have had many people think I’m actually doing a parody of The Matrix itself, but in reality my story takes place between the first two movies like “Shadows of the Empire”, a story in between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

So those of you who thought this is a parody of the Matrix, better think twice because I’m only doing the same training programs they gave Neo after they unplugged him, and Neo will make an appearance in my story along with Morpheus and Trinity. Like I said, this story is just a crossover and nothing more.

Also, Pokémon do not, repeat, do not exist in my story.

Disclaimer: The Matrix is the property of the Wachowsky Brothers and Warner Bros. Inc. Pokémon is the property of Nintendo, Game Freak, and 4 Kids entertainment.

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“We don’t know who struck first, us or them, but we do know that it was us who scorched he sky. - Morpheus.

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Chapter 3: Introducing the Crew and the Truth Exposed.

Satoshi slowly woke up feeling as if he had been in a marathon. When he looked at the bed he was sleeping on, he realized it was a cot. His clothes were different too; they were all ripped up and old. When he looked on his body, he noticed he had holes all over his body. He felt one on the back of his head as well. He also noticed the room he was in was made of metal. Just then, he heard the sound of a metal door opening, he looked and saw Slifer in the same kind of clothes he was in, and his appearance was different too.

He didn’t have his hair all spiky like he did in the Matrix…in fact; he hardly had any hair at all! All he had was a, what seemed to be, buzz cut on top of his head. He was the same person as he was in the Matrix, just his appearance was different.

“Good morning Satoshi.” Slifer said greeting the new unplugged man.

“Slifer!” Satoshi exclaimed as he got up.

“Take it easy Satoshi; you’ve had a long day.” Slifer said calmly.

“How long was I asleep?” Satoshi asked.

“Just a couple of hours.” Slifer replied with a grin.

“Seemed like forever.” Satoshi said earning a snicker from Slifer.

“Well you’ve been in the matrix for the past 21 years of your life.” Slifer said with a smile on his face.

“I have?” Satoshi asked looking at Slifer with a confused look.

“Now Satoshi, you may think it’s the year 2003, but it’s actually close to the year 2143. (A/N: I don’t really remember the year Morpheus said, but I’ll go with this.) Slifer said again before helping Satoshi up. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to the rest of the crew.”

After that, the two walked out of the metal room and into a metal corridor. Satoshi felt like he was in some sort of factory because that’s what it looked like from the inside. He looked and saw a few chairs near a console with 3 computer screens with a green code running down the screens like running water on a glass window on a rainy day. The person sitting at the console had spiky brown hair and squinted eyes. Satoshi looked him over and noticed he had no holes. He then saw the same two people he met in the Matrix along with Kasumi. He also noticed one other person he didn’t recognize, he had raven black hair just like his in the matrix except he also had a headband around his head military style. He too didn’t have any holes.

“The two people you met in the Matrix along with Kasumi, you know.” Slifer began as he pointed to the black-American first, “Record,” he introduced him and pointed to the girl. “…and Noble.” Slifer then pointed to the two who didn’t have holes. “And that’s Takeshi at the console, and his friend Sketch.”

“They don’t have any…” Satoshi began but Takeshi beat him to it.

“Holes?” He finished before answering. “Nah, Sketch and I are flesh-born human beings born outside of the Matrix.”

“Oh…” Was all Satoshi could say.

“Since you’re already acquainted with Kasumi, there’s no need to introduce her to you.” Slifer said as he had Satoshi sit down on a chair. Satoshi did so hesitantly. “Now this is gonna feel a little ‘weird’.” Slifer said as he put the jack into his input/output hole on the back of his head.

A very cold sensation came over Satoshi so he closed his eyes. After a flash of green code appeared before his eyes, he saw he was in a room that was all white except a pair of leather chairs and an old TV set from the 1960’s. He looked at himself and he was wearing a pair of green fingerless gloves, a blue and white vest, a black t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and a pair of tennis shoes and a baseball cap. (A/N: Well I needed an image for him besides Neo’s outfit. After all, he isn’t Neo.)

Slifer also appeared in the same outfit he met Satoshi in the Matrix. Slifer began to explain almost the same things Morpheus told Neo when Neo was unplugged from the Matrix. From the fact that the machines have been at war with humans for a while, the fields of human pods that are being used as batteries, that Neo is The One, Zion is probably the last Human city close to the Earth’s core where it’s warm, right up to information about the Matrix.

“Wow…humans being used as batteries for Machines. It’s hard to believe.” Satoshi said looking down.

“It was hard for me to believe when I was jacked out of the Matrix. But when I was told the truth and saw it for myself, my disbelief turned into determination. I was determined to help end this war.” Slifer said as he walked up to Satoshi.

Satoshi looked at Slifer and frowned. “But why me? Why was I unplugged from the Matrix?”

“We believe you have great potential, Satoshi. Much like Neo, but not exactly like him.” Slifer explained. “We’ll begin your training about the Matrix tomorrow starting with close-combat fighting.”

Satoshi nodded just as he felt that cold sensation again and waking up on the ship again. He saw Kasumi removing the jack from his I/O port and smile at him. He couldn’t help but to look at her figure. Even out of the Matrix, she was a major hottie in his opinion. She noticed his stare and gave a small smile when he got up. After he did he heard a loud grumble from his stomach. He blushed and rubbed the back of his head.

“You guys wouldn’t have anything to eat would ya?” He asked nervously.

Slifer just chuckled. “Kasumi, show Satoshi where the mess hall is.”

“Yes sir.” She said with a nod before gesturing Satoshi to follow her; which he did.

After she gave Satoshi a small tour of the ship, they found the mess hall where almost everyone else was at. They were eating some sort of porridge stuff in bowls. He thought it looked nasty but if it was food, he would at least try it. After getting his own dish, he sat down next to Kasumi and began eating. It wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be.

As he sat and ate, Kasumi stared at him for what seemed like a few hours when it was actually a couple of minutes. Even with nothing but fuzz on top of his head, he was still handsome, even outside of the Matrix. She just kept staring at him while she ate too. After Satoshi finished his fill of the porridge, she checked the mess hall and knew that it was her time to watch for sentinels, with Satoshi.

“Come on Satoshi.” She said as she got up.

“Where’re we going?” He asked.

“To the bridge and watch for sentinels.” She replied with a giggle.

“Sentinels?” Satoshi asked while quirking an eyebrow.

“Machines, their only mission is to search and destroy.” She explained while they walked up to the bridge to find Takeshi sleeping at the pilot’s chair. She giggled and shook him. He woke up groggily and looked at her. “It’s me and Satoshi’s turn to watch.”

“Ok.” Takeshi yawned before stepping out and heading towards his room.

Satoshi sat down in the other chair next to Kasumi while he looked out and saw they were in a tunnel of some kind. Some of the things around them looked like pipes while others looked like tentacles attached to…machines!? Then it hit him; those squid-like machines were sentinels. He was stunned, they were bigger than a regular human being was and he can see why they can be dangerous.

After a few moments of silence between the two, Kasumi decided to end it by asking Satoshi a question. “So how did you get a name like, Satoshi?”

“Well, in the Matrix I used to travel a lot. I visited Japan one time and while there, some people started calling me by my Japanese name so I used it for hacking.” Satoshi explained while looking out the glass before turning to Kasumi. “Where did you get a name like Kasumi?”

“Same reason as you. I traveled to Japan and they gave me my Japanese name.” Kasumi giggled before watching for sentinels again.

The two talked about their lives in the matrix for the past hour. Kasumi told him that she was 13 when she visited Japan and got her name. She was also on her school’s swimming team and one of the top swimmers. She explained that she loved to swim until she was unplugged from the Matrix when she was 17. She told him about her life in Cerulean City, her sisters and how they would make fun of her, and so on. When she finished, she listened to his life story.

He told her about his life in Pallet town, living with his mother, his father dying when he was young, his friends and how they would try to get him away from his home, etc. He told her on when he started hacking and that he was the same age as her when he went to Japan and got his name. He even told her about when he moved to Saffron City and became a worker for Silph Company. He just knew that life in the real world would be much different and much more difficult than it was in the Matrix.

“Sounds like we’ve both have had our similar days huh?” Kasumi said as she looked at him.

“Yeah, but I’m not sure if I can go through with living in the real world.” Satoshi said while looking downward.

“You’ll get used to it after a while. I know I did.” Kasumi said resting her hand on his shoulder.

Satoshi looked at her and smiled while she smiled back. Then the alarms started beeping. Kasumi started pressing random numbers and then a holographic image appeared. On the holographic image, Satoshi could clearly see a squid-like object moving around in the hologram. It looked like it had 7 to 10 eyes on the front of it. But it was just one, or so he thought.

“That, Satoshi, is a sentinel.” Kasumi said as she started shutting down the ship just as Slifer came in.

“Have they spotted us yet Kasumi?” He asked as he went to look out there to see a machine squid-like creature come out from another tunnel, followed by two more.

“Not yet.” She whispered as she and everyone else in the cockpit looked at the three sentinels.

“What do we have to fight against them?” Satoshi asked in a whisper while looking at the two.

“An EMP, it’s our ship’s main defense against them.” Slifer said while contacting Takeshi through his communicator. “Takeshi, is the EMP charged up?”

“All set and ready to go sir.” Came Takeshi’s voice over the communicator.

That’s when Slifer lifted a yellow box and within it was a red switch. He put his hand over it and readied to turn it and activate the EMP. But he was waiting for something, but what? Kasumi and Slifer watched as the sentinels turned some of their tentacles into communication dishes and move them around, obviously looking for them.

After a couple of minutes, the sentinels turned and left the area without noticing the Hercules at all. Everyone sighed in relief and the ship started to turn on again. Satoshi was the first to sigh before anyone else because he thought his life in the real world would be cut short. After a few moments of silence, Slifer patted Satoshi on the back and he looked up at him.

“You and Kasumi better get some sleep Satoshi, you’ve got a long day of training ahead of you.” Slifer said before gesturing him and Kasumi to be dismissed.

Kasumi got up out of her chair at the same time Satoshi did. As they walked to their rooms, Kasumi couldn’t help but to look at Satoshi from time to time and smile. He would smile back if he ever saw her smile at him. But he knew smiling wouldn’t be what he would do tomorrow as he began his training about…

The Matrix.

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Mike: Now, I hope you all understand that I’m using some of the lines and such from the first movie to help Satoshi understand more about the Matrix. I say again though, this is not a parody of the Matrix. I intended it to be a crossover and nothing more.

Ash: So don’t start saying that he is, because he isn’t.

Mike: Thanks Ash. Anyway, now do what you guys usually do and review and no comments that I’m copying lines from the Matrix or flames please. Thank you.