Pokemon Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ ZERO City Trilogy ❯ Radar Race ( Chapter 1 )

Author's note: This picks up shortly after "A Midsummer Night's Scheme" ends, so it's actually a sequel. I might add this story onto it later, but for now, it's going to be on its own. Reading AMSNS is a prerequisite before going into here; however, don't feel sore, as the previous story is of reasonable length and actually quite enjoyable.

ZERO City

By Al Kristopher

Part One: Radar Race

"We're here, old man."

Two figures walked through a door and into a very clean and very dark room. They could smell the pungent aroma of cigar smoke in the air, and the small rays of light that seeped in from the shut blinds. A large desk crowned the room, and behind this desk sat a middle-aged man, gently stroking a large cat. He raised his eyes up at those he had summoned and pointed them to a seat.

"Ah, come in and sit down. This meeting will take awhile. And shut the door, if you will." They shut it, and they sat, and they listened as their employer took in a deep breath, and exhaled it in the form of fire and smoke. "I did not get the time to speak with you at length during your latest report, but I have been hearing some very disappointing things. Tell me, was it really so hard for the two of you to accomplish your mission?"

"Yes and no, sir," grumbled a deep voice. "Up until we arrived, we had no troubles. The old man, however, has… very advanced skills with his Pokemon. Only one attacked, but this one seemed enough to beat us both. We both decided that it would be wisest to abort the mission, since it would probably take an army to capture those creatures."

"Besides, the fool had completely lost his mind," sighed a more husky voice. "He didn't look like he was playing dumb either. It would have been a waste to drag him back over here."

"And did he have any documents?" asked their employer.

"Yes sir, but we were unable to get to them because of his Pokemon. As I said, we aborted the mission. We may be the best in the business, sir, but even we have our limits." A short lull broke the conversation.

"I see. Well, I am disappointed, but I won't let this deter me. I have another mission for you two, one that might prove to bear even more fruit than your first. I will admit that from the report you gave me, you had no troubles up until the point where you met the old man, so I will excuse this failure due to circumstances beyond your control. However, Mr. Glidden, Ms. Burke, I do not expect for you to abort or fail something so important again, am I understood?"

"Perfectly," said the husky-voiced female. Their employer smiled, shuffled a few papers, and wheeled his chair around. A remote found its way to his hand, and with one press, a monitor descended down from the ceiling. A second push gave the screen life, and on the other side were two of Giovanni's most reliable Team Rocket Scientists, William and Bonney. As the screen lit up the room, the two that had been summoned into the boss' room became visible, and Marion and Morrison were brought into the light.

"Marion, Morrison, meet William and Bonney, two of Team Rocket's best scientists and researchers," pointed the boss. "William, Bonney, this is Marion and Morrison, Team Rocket's best field agents. Now, in the days following the Legendary Pokemon Master incident, my temper has cooled and my researchers have been working hard for the next Team Rocket advancement. As we all know, it is the goal of Team Rocket to subjugate the world under our strict but fair control, and to have complete access and authority over all Pokemon, wild or tame. With that said, we are always looking for new ways to further our cause.

"Marion, Morrison, while you were searching for the Legendary Master, William and Bonney were exploring a desolate island, in hopes of finding some rare minerals that can force Pokemon to evolve to their next level, such as when a Meowth evolves to a Persian." (His own Persian, around that moment, yawned heavily) "Will you care to tell your fellow agents what you have found?"

"Jawhol, Mein Fuehrer," replied Bonney in a thick German accent. "On ze unidentified island, Wilhelm und I vere collecting samples of minerals dat could not be found anyvere else in ze vorld, as Giovanni has told you. However, vhile ve vere looking around, ve came across an abnormality in ze environment--or, should I say, an abnormality in all reason und logic."

"What?" grumbled Morrison. William adjusted his glasses and tried to explain better.

"It was a huge massive conglomeration of structures that weren't listed anywhere else in the world!" he exclaimed in his Scottish accent. "Ah canno' describe it as annythin' else except a large city! A city, right there in tha desert, where there didn'a use to be a city before!"

"A city?" parroted Marion. Both scientists nodded their heads.

"Da, a city dat has never been recorded or even recognized in any guidebook or atlas before. It vas like it came out of novhere, so neither von of us vanted to examine it at first. Vhen ve did gazzer our courage up, ve explored ze city und began to theorize vhy it vas dere!"

"Get to the point, Bonney," grumbled an impatient Giovanni. He did not like scientists, because they always seemed to give away too much information, especially in a hasty situation. William tried to abbreviate their discovery in a few words.

"We came to the conclusion that th' city was from the future!" he exclaimed. "Ah found some evidence that can back this claim up. First of all, there were all these grand spires o' buildin's, huge as towers and looking black as coal! The technology was beyond anythin' ah ever saw!"

"To the point, professor!" snapped Giovanni impatiently. Both scientists apologized; Marion and Morrison, however, were aghast.

"Ve vill send you our research via Pokemail," said Bonney before expanding on their find. "In ze meantime, ve haff come to a conclusion that since dis city vas from ze future, zere must be a treasure trove of items und technology dat Team Rocket could use for its advances--items dat are beyond our limitations in zis age."

"Of course, since we didn'a know what kind o' dangers would be in that place, we only had a cursory look before we left," concluded William. "We're scientists, Giovanni, and not field agents!"

"I'm glad you did the wise thing," replied the boss. "Now make a shelter and stay there. I'm sending these two over to rendezvous with you, understood?"

"Da."

"Aye."

"Good. Giovanni out." The monitor lost its life, and ascended back into the ceiling, where it would remain hidden until summoned again. Slowly, Giovanni wheeled around until he was facing his agents again, his cigar slowly being sucked away. Marion and Morrison both gave him silent and skeptical looks for quite some time before either one spoke up.

"…Uh, sir?"

"All your questions will be answered in the briefing," stated Giovanni calmly. "In the meantime, all I can say is that you should trust those two. They aren't two of Team Rocket's best scientists for nothing; they know what they're doing. Now, once I get the report from those two, I'll let you pore over it as long as you want. You'll be taking an airship to their location, and you'll probably be there by the end of the day. Any questions?"

"Other than the obvious, I really don't have any," admitted Marion softly. "This sounds like a very bizarre mission, but I'm assuming that all you really want us to do is go in there and take as many useful things as we can, right?" Giovanni nodded his head, and the scarred blonde sighed.

"Advanced technologies from a future civilization will be ten times more helpful than the alliance of some old Pokemon expert," he pointed, jabbing the air with his fiery cigar. "Any records from that era would make even his research look obsolete, and there would even be things recorded that we would have no knowledge of in this age. Oh, and I don't have to tell you that there might even be a few species of Pokemon around that area that have never been conceived yet. The place will be dangerous, and as far as I know, we're the only ones who know about it, so I'm sending you in."

"It's a flattering honor, sir, but why?" asked Morrison. Giovanni shrugged and smiled at his new favorite duo.

"Well, for one, I want you to redeem yourselves for what happened in the last mission. Whether or not it was your fault is irrelevant; the point is that you did not succeed. Secondly, I believed those two when they said that this city would be dangerous. The future is uncertain, so I want to send in my absolute best. Therefore, you two shall be my selection." Both Marion and Morrison smiled, but before they stood up and went out on their way, they had to ask their "boss" one last question.

"Sounds great. What's the pay?"

"That depends on what you bring back," he muttered calmly, his fingers intertwined. Both hired assassins frowned and looked at each other, but they were smart enough to know when they were facing somebody too shrewd for their own good. They quietly agreed, and then, they set out to the Team Rocket airport. The report written up by William and Bonney was in their hands before they set a single foot onto the flying machine.

"Although we were unable to explore as much of the city as we wanted, we have still gathered a sufficient amount of information. The residents there call it ZERO City, and henceforth, it shall be known as thus.

"It is obvious it comes from the future--even the newspapers there foretold of a date distant of our own. At first, we did not believe that an entire city could materialize out of nowhere, let alone the future, but after extensive study and theorization, we have both reached a sound conclusion. ZERO City must have been caught in a very severe electromagnetic storm that might have erupted from a particularly powerful burst of energy created by sun flares. Coupled with the city's own advanced technology, which was ahead of its time even in its own era, the space-time continuum might have been damaged, and thus a 'tear' in time was opened.

"The city then traveled through the continuum until the electric damage had weakened, which was how it arrived in this particular time. Its destination was completely random--for all we know, it could have arrived in medieval times or the Industrial Revolution. In any case, the city does not seem to be damaged because of the journey, and the people there seem aware that they have been thrust into the past. They did not speak with us or even approach us, so we could not affirm any of our estimations. There is no question that there will be great technology available to anyone with the will to take it.

"It is only a matter of time before Team Rocket becomes unstoppable."

--------------------

A single police siren woke Ash Ketchum up from his sleep, and as he sat out of his bed and rubbed his eyes, the morning light crept in slowly through the curtain and blinded him. He yawned, and then another siren jolted Pikachu up. The little yellow mouse-creature yawned cutely, and looked up at his master and friend.

"Hey, Pikachu, you sleep well?" asked Ash. Pikachu nodded his head, then turned around to face the window as yet another siren wailed by. Ash crossed his eyebrows in confusion, and slowly stood out of bed. He made his way to the window, and parted it just a crack to see what was going on.

"Mhhn, close that thing, will you?" asked a female voice. A male voice followed hers.

"We probably won't get to spend another night in a bed like this for a long time, so let's take advantage of it, whaddya say?" Ash frowned, and opened the window anyway.

"There are sirens… lots of them… and they're heading away from the police station! I wonder what's up?"

"Could be just another early morning crime," offered the woman that had spoken. "Banks would be opening right around this time."

"No, I don't think it's a bank," muttered Ash as he kept his vigil. He could see people running down the streets, some of them with mechanical objects in their arms, other with electric-type Pokemon. They all seemed upset, and they were all going to the police station.

"…Huh? What the…"

"HUAAAAAAAAAAA!!" A great lioness' roar preceded the appearance of young Misty, who had gotten up early for first shower privileges. She slowly walked over to the window and peeked over Ash's shoulder. "Hey, what's up? What're you looking at?"

"All those people are running towards the police station!" he told her. "And a lot of squad cars are going away! Do you think something might've happened?" Misty peered through the window, biting her lip as she watched the unusual scene of chaos. It was peculiar to see such a thing that early in the morning, and it piqued her curiosity just as it piqued Ash's. Suddenly, as the youngsters were staring out the window, they were shoved aside by two older companions, the male and the female that had wanted to take advantage of the hotel beds.

"Now what's going on?! I won't be able to sleep until I find out!" he exclaimed.

"Darn! I hate being so curious!" she snapped. They shared a view, and sure enough, it was as Ash and Misty had told them. As the four friends stared out the window, their fifth companion stumbled into the room, looking more excited than if he had been on a beach full of women.

"You guys, wake up and come outside! You're never gonna believe it!" Ash, James, Jessie, and Misty all looked over at Brock, who was only slightly amazed to find that they were already up. He smiled sheepishly, and pointed to the outer world.

"Well, come on!" he exclaimed. "Hurry up and get dressed! It's crazy out there! Officer Jenny and her friends are up to their ears in trouble! Come on!" Brock raced back outside, leaving his four friends to stare at each other quizzically.

"Uh, sure…" shrugged Jessie.

When the four of them dashed outside, they saw that things were as bad as they thought, and worse. Police cars poured out of the nearby stations by the dozen, and a large crowd had gathered around Officer Jenny and several of her comrades. As always, the woman in blue kept a calm face and a strong voice, and tried to assure everyone that everything would return to normal in a matter of moments. Not even Brock knew what was going on, and he had just told his friends about the news. Together, the five of them squeezed their way to the crowd and met the poor policewoman.

"Officer Jenny, what's going on?!" demanded Ash. "Why are all these people here? Why are they carrying their Pokemon and their electric things with them!?"

"Sorry, I can't talk to you right now!" she shouted, trying to make herself heard over the noisy crowd. "You'll have to ask Officer Lee instead! I'm sorry; I'm just too busy here!" The young ones understood and went over to a man they assumed to be Officer Lee, who was currently taking a breakfast break.

"Officer Lee?" He looked up at them, his face weary from the morning anarchy, and tried to wave. "Can you tell us what's going on, Officer Lee?"

"I can try," he sighed wearily. "You see, kids, sometime late last night, a terrible electric storm shorted out the power in this city. They had repair teams try and fix the problem, but they soon found that it was not just the power that had failed. All electric-type Pokemon, from Voltorb to Magnemite and probably even the Zapdos itself have all been shorted out. It's like their powers have all been rendered useless! The Pokemon themselves are fine, as I see your Pikachu is fine, but they won't be able to use their powers! Something's scrambling their circuits… something that appeared out of nowhere last night!"

"Something appeared? What do you mean?" asked Jessie. Lee chewed his donut down before answering her.

"An airplane that was flying over an uninhabited island suddenly began to receive unusual power frequencies that had not been present before. Something came from out of nowhere out in the sea, and from what the pilot could discover, he thinks that it's a city!"

"A city??" balked Jessie.

"From out of nowhere??" balked James.

"But that's not possible!" they exclaimed together. Officer Lee nodded his head wearily.

"I would have said the same thing just yesterday, but it seems like it's true. I think the city's appearance is what's caused all the electricity in this area to fail--I dunno, maybe it has something built inside of it that negates electric waves--and people have been screaming all day. The cops and the power plant people are the only ones they turn to! It's been madness all morning long!"

"Ah, so that's it!" exclaimed Misty. "Then those police cars must have been going down to where that city was and investigating!" Officer Lee nodded his head, and another mystery and adventure opened up for the five friends. Before any of them could declare anything, however, Officer Jenny interrupted with a breaking report.

"Officer Lee, this just in from HQ!" she exclaimed. "It seems that two pairs of identified persons are trying to gain access into the city! They've been tagged as members of Team Rocket, all four of them!"

"Team Rocket?!" blurted Jessie and James. "But what could they want with that strange place?"

"Whatever it is, it can't be good!" exclaimed Ash. "Officer Jenny, can you give us a transport to that place?"

"You're kidding, I hope!" she replied. "That's out of the question! Team Rocket is dangerous, and there's no telling what sort of terrible things could be in that city! It alone might have been the cause of all this electric disturbance!"

"But we have to try and stop them before they do something terrible!" he argued. "If Team Rocket makes it into that city, then they might have control over the electricity of this town, or even the whole world, at their beck and call!"

"It's true," agreed James. "That's just the sort of thing they'd do."

"We should know; we used to be in that terrible place," snorted Jessie. Jenny looked at them both, and deep inside her mind, she knew she had seen them somewhere before, but could not guess where at first. She quietly nodded her head, and reasoned that with two ex-Rockets, their chances would turn out to be good.

"Well, if they're with you, then I guess I can let you go," she murmured. "You'll be leaving with Squad 16, first by car and then by boat. It'll take you awhile, but it's the quickest way there. Squad 16 leaves in two hours, so be ready!"

"Right!" Ash and his friends nodded their heads, and prepared themselves for another adventure in the disguise of a crucial mission. Of course, they were unaware that the city in question had really come from the future, or that its technology was far more advanced than the mere usage of disrupting electric waves…

---------------

Marion and Morrison were both tough nuts to crack, but even they had to stare in muted awe as they approached the large structure that had appeared so suddenly. Their teammates in the science department had labeled it as a city from the future, but their description sorely lacked any real substance. What towered before them was not a work of man--not in that time, not in any time. It was a black, cold, mechanical monster, radiating with an eternal dark light and the eerie fire of hundreds of electric lamps glowing in the dull darkness. Both Rockets stared at it with mouths gaped open for quite a long time.

The city was bathed in an eerie dark light, almost as if the sun refused to shine on it at all. No explanation could be made for this, since it was in the middle of the day, so finding a city covered with black light was frightening even for the Rockets. They honestly had never seen anything like it. Enormous buildings, some making skyscrapers seem dwarfish, rose high up into the sky as they slowly walked towards the suburb. Unlike the grassy knolls or occasional cobblestone streets one would find in a normal town, a metallic sort of rock-ground was beneath their feet. It was fairly rough to the feel, and looked like it had been made out of steel and not concrete or stone.

The buildings themselves stretched out to the heavens, gazing back down at any intruders as if they were giants condemning them for trespassing. Unnatural glowing lights could be seen in the windows, though no activity was going on inside. The streets were covered with these buildings, and not a blade of grass nor a leafy tree could be found. In fact, it seemed as if the city abhorred nature.

Needless to say, Marion and Morrison drew many stares as they walked through the city. For the most part, the streets were void of life, although on occasion they would find a local walking down the pavement. The citizens would always look at the Rockets with mysterious awe, and would sometimes stand still and stare, or else run and tell others. Their clothes were beyond imagination--they looked very flashy and definitely futuristic, and were probably made out of fibers unknown to our lands.

"Weird," whispered Marion softly. Even her partner could disagree as they carefully stepped down the black streets. The air had a scent of pollution in it, and as they entered the heart of the city, they couldn't help but notice that the sky was black. Team Rocket was not usually in tune to divine power, but they knew bad omens when they saw one. It was as if some foreboding power hated to see them there, and wished to express this.

"I wonder where our colleagues are," muttered Morrison to himself. Marion shrugged, and took a quick glance around the city. William and Bonney had been nowhere in sight, and in fact, not even a trace of their presence could be found, not even a piece of clothing or a footprint. It was like they had disappeared entirely--but the two Rockets had more important matters to worry about.

"They can take care of themselves," said Marion in her usual cold voice. "Right now, let's have a look around this place. Keep your guard up, though; I sense there are things crawling around this city that are best left to mystery." Morrison quietly agreed, and stood on his guard as he followed his partner into the dark streets. Not knowing where to go or what to look for, the dangerous duo merely waited for opportunity to present itself to them as they searched the city.

----------

Ash, Brock, James, Jessie, and Misty stood frozen as they stared at the large metropolis before them. Although it was in the middle of the day and there were no storms forecasted, the sky hovering around ZERO City was completely cloaked in black. The city had been blanketed in darkness, from the outer limits to the very heart, and the only possible way that anybody could see was by the light of lamps scattered around the inside. Officer Jenny had seen the city before, but even she got shivers as she made more observations.

"The power reading from that place is disrupting our sensors," stated a technical crewmember that had gone with them. "I guess we know why the power just went out--that city's responsible! Its mere presence is making everything go haywire!"

"Probably a result of its trip through time and space," said Jenny thoughtfully. She sensed that the younger ones were clueless, so she filled them in on the theories that she had heard. "A few scientists guessed that this city came from the future. A temporal distortion in that era might have caused it to be hurtled back into the past, into this very time period--most likely at random. The energies it's giving off supports this claim, and I guess that's why all the power went off."

"But why are there lights on in the city?" asked Brock. Jenny paused and shook her head slowly.

"I don't know… We have people running tests even as we speak, but for now, the city's off-limits. I didn't want to send you kids in, but since Team Rocket's involved, I guess I don't have a choice. How strong are your Pokemon?"

"Our Pokemon are second to none!" boasted James proudly. "There is no way that we can be defeated!"

"Maybe, but that Pikachu will be a liability," noted the officer. Pikachu sadly whined out, but Ash had to agree with the woman.

"Sorry, Pikachu. As long as that city's giving off those weird waves, electric Pokemon will be no use. Don't worry, you can still come along!"

"If you plan on defending yourselves, you're going to need a Pokemon that won't be affected by the city's time-space influence," suggested Jenny. She reached into her pocket, and pulled out a Pokeball for Ash to borrow. "Here, this might help. It's a Kadabra, a psychic Pokemon. Its powers might be increased with all those weird waves radiating everywhere." Ash understood and took the ball into his possession. He then turned around and gazed at the dark city before him, the one classified as ZERO City, and swallowed down a huge gulp of nervousness. It seemed to grow more foreboding by the minute.

"Well, let's not waste time," said Jessie. "Come on. Those two have had plenty of time to run amok by now. Remember, they did come here before us." The others agreed and slowly followed Jessie inside, vanishing behind a thick cloud of pollution. Officer Jenny whispered out a good luck prayer, and was just about to turn around and work on some tests when she heard two sharp cries.

"Ha… HAAALLP!!! The City…! The… the city!!"

"Terrible powers! Terrible creatures! Vat a nightmare!" Jenny gasped aloud as two people around her age crawled out of hiding, their clothes ripped and shredded to pieces. Though she saw the torn emblems of Team Rocket on their jackets, Officer Jenny rushed to give them aide. The two scientists were nearly exhausted by the time she came to them, and their wounds would have kept any hospital busy.

"What happened? Tell me what happened!" she demanded. The two scientists, William and Bonney, each let out a cough and wearily looked up at the officer.

"It… is… too terrible…" murmured the female. "Dere… vas… nossing… ve could… do…"

"Aye… A great… monster… lies within…" croaked the male. They passed out, and Jenny barked for a medical team to come help. As the two scientists were rushed to an ambulance, she couldn't help the terrible feeling inside of her, like she had just written a death sentence to each of the five young ones--and with permanent red ink, to boot.

The five friends explored ZERO City carefully. Not only was the sky blotted with layers of dark smog (and other forms of eerie blackness), but the city itself was no place for the casual traveler. It was dark and mechanical, and as cold and hard as steel. The buildings that loomed overhead were like great giants dominating the land, void of souls and life; the people that wandered the streets were dressed in flashy garbs, but not a one of them looked bright enough to exude any cheer. There was an emptiness in their eyes, like their spirits had been taken by living all their lives in that bleak metropolis.

The friends all stuck together, any semblance of mistrust or dissent long since past. Jessie and James had only recently earned the friendship of their younger companions, but even if they had still been employed by Team Rocket, they would have kept closer still in the foreboding city. There was an aura of fear and uncertainty in the area: there were no plants, nor even a blade of grass or a stray leaf, and the sun did not shine at all, even though it was a cheery day "outside". The streets seemed made out of metal, and not concrete or stone, and in the dark shadows of the corners and alleys, the whisper of otherworldly creatures drifted across the suburb.

Ash wanted to hail a ride so his friends wouldn't have to walk through the desolate land of metal and smoke, but he did not even trust the transports that sometimes flew across the streets. They resembled hovercrafts, but smaller, and only touched the ground to release their passengers. Neon signs above their heads gave off a sick light; the lamps on the streets and the eerie glowing light from the windows of the buildings were the only source of illumination. It was a terrifying place, with the feeling of evil and cruelty in it, and if the threat of Team Rocket had not been hanging over their heads, they would not have taken a single step inside.

"What do you think they could be looking for?" asked Misty in a hushed voice. Jessie and James, who knew Team Rocket best, could easily answer her.

"This place is beyond the technology of our age," he said. "Everything is years ahead of our time. If we know Team Rocket, they'd send their best agents to look around and take as much of the technology and information that they could. I don't think we have to tell you what would happen if our old boss got a hold of devices from the future."

Ash, Brock, and Misty only dared to consider the possibilities.

"It's a big place, so they'd probably only take something very important," noted Jessie. "If this city has a Pokecenter, they'd probably go there first and download information about all kinds of Pokemon. Since this place is from the future, I'm sure that there'd be a lot of juicy tidbits about Pokemon that even Old Man Mel wouldn't know about."

"And they'd probably use that for their advantage!" exclaimed Brock. He balled up his fist and held it high for all to see. "We can't let that happen! We have to find the Pokecenter!"

"If I know my Pokecenters, it's probably around the center of the city!" exclaimed Ash. He looked around, first at where they had been, and pointed to a very bleak area before them. "Look, we've already been there…… so the center must be there!" James and Jessie both got a good look at the area he was pointing at, and to say that they couldn't wait to dive in there was a big lie.

"Ahhh, no WAY am I going in that spooky place!" he exclaimed, grabbing onto his partner. "It's so dark and creepy! Who knows what's in there!"

"I agree!" stated Jessie, who had grabbed onto her partner. "Kid, there's no way that you'll lead us in that horrible place! It's not worth it!"

"You cowards!" shouted Ash boldly. "This is coming from two of the most notorious members of Team Rocket? You never let anything get in your way before; why are you so afraid now!?" James and Jessie quivered, and turned to face Ash with big whiny faces.

"But… it's so dark…"

"Oh, brother…" Ash moaned out in annoyance, and stepped towards the dark center of town. He was not always renowned for his fear, and though he agreed with his older friends, he knew that it was the only way to go. Brock and Misty gave their friends sympathetic stares, and slowly followed Ash.

"Don't worry, we're scared too--but if we don't go in there, then Team Rocket will end up ruling the world! This technology and information could turn anything or anybody into a big power, so just think of what it could do to Rocket!"

"He's right," said Misty. "Come on, we'll walk with you. I'm not about to abandon my friends. Here, take my hand." She offered her hand, and Jessie tentatively took it. Poor James nearly snapped her bones apart as he clutched onto her hand, and with Brock holding his, the four tamely followed Ash into the one place in the city where none of them should have went into…

---------------

Together, Marion and Morrison slowly processed information inside of the disks they had brought with them. The Pokecenter located somewhere deep inside the city held a vast bank of knowledge for them to digest, perhaps too much for their disks to contain. They had already filled a whole package of disks with Pokemon knowledge, but barely scratched the surface in terms of what was left over. Marion hissed out impatiently as the scores of data was processed, and chewed on her lip while more and more disks filled up. Individually, each disk, whether floppy, hard, or compact, could hold somewhere between half a megabyte and two, so to have them all fill up so quickly was a little unnerving.

"The boss will definitely be pleased with this," grumbled Morrison emptily. He packed in more disks, downloaded information, and stored them away as soon as they filled up to the brim. It was a tedious cycle, and he grew concerned as he was running out of space to copy information on. Marion completed her last download, packing in all the disks she had with her in a large bag. With a heave, she lifted it up and whistled.

"That's a lot of junk we just copied," she whispered in awe. "And to think, this bag only has about 40% of the data. What about you?"

"I've got the same," grunted Morrison as he lifted his bag up. "Eighty percent… that's unbelievable! And there's still so much to learn! This place really is unlike anything else I've ever seen…" Marion silently nodded her head, and gave her bag to the much-stronger Morrison to carry. Just before she left, she decided to upload one more thing from the database, just for fun. She typed in several keys and began to do some research, and found something that piqued her interest immediately.

"Hello," she sang in a wily voice, "what do we have here??"

----------

Ash, Brock, James, Jessie, and Misty arrived in the darkest part of the city, and aimed their feet towards the Pokecenter, one that was bathed in a frightening black fog. The door was rusted shut, and only opened when the combined might of the five yanked on it. They found themselves coming into a single-room facility that looked like it had been used recently. A counter greeted them first, with a mechanical creature standing behind it. To each side of the counter were two terminals with flashing buttons, jacks, levers, and switches--probably where the information was kept. Misty and Brock walked towards one of the terminals and looked at it; Jessie and James examined the other, while Ash talked to the robot.

"Look, Togepi!" pointed Misty. "Most everything in this place is covered with dust, but these terminals look like they've just been used!" Her Pokemon squealed out a timid response; Brock rubbed his chin and squinted at the mechanical object. He touched the buttons, bringing up several status screens.

"I'm going to try and see if anything's been downloaded recently," he announced. Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, James and Jessie were looking into the houses of knowledge that the future had stored. Naturally, there was lots of information about the Pokemon they already knew of, and lots more had been added to that old data. New species were categorized and documented as well, but it was not just the Pokemon who were featured. Jessie and James also discovered several technological devices that were related to the Pokemon; two stood out to them more than any other.

"Look, James!" pointed the redhead. "It says here that in this city, there's a radar that can track down any Pokemon anywhere in the world! It uses the energy of the creatures and hones in on their individual signals! …Or, at least, that's what I think it does…"

"That's amazing!" he exclaimed. "Do you know what would happen if somebody from 'our time' got a hold of this thing? They'd be able to find any Pokemon, anywhere, without any effort at all! What a convenience! The old boss would have gone nuts if he got one of those!"

"Let me see that!" shouted Ash. He squeezed in between his two friends, and read up on the aforementioned Radar. The data stated that it was locked away in the city, inside a small building that kept the radar on display. The people of ZERO City apparently had little use for it, or else they once did but now considered the object unimportant, but that definitely would not stop the deadly new members of Team Rocket from finding it.

"There's something else over here," pointed Misty as Brock scanned the endless supply of data. "It says here that there had been a very recent discovery in terms of Pokeball creation. Scientists and engineers had been studying the physics of the famed 'Master Ball', in which only one of its kind exists. They devoted much time, income, and energy to cracking the code of the Master Ball, for the sole purpose of mass-producing them for the general public!"

"No way!" exclaimed Ash. He rushed over to the other terminal, and read up on the Master Ball Production Project along with Brock and Misty.

"Yes way!" she insisted. "Look! It says here, 'In the year something-something, the secret of the Master Ball was finally unlocked. Scientists now have the means to mass-produce the ball, so that its powers can be distributed to the general public. Pokemon trainers and users everywhere will now enjoy the luxuries of the Master Ball without the strain of battling powerful Pokemon. The blueprint for construction of the Pokeball is in……' Uhh… I can't read that word."

"I-E-R-O-J-E-R-A-X-A. Ierojeraxa?" guessed Brock, first spelling the name out then pronouncing it slowly. He shrugged, and Misty continued reading.

"'Mass-produced Master Balls will be available to the public sometime between September and January of this year. They are expected to come in at 5,000 gold pieces each'. Wow, that's expensive!"

"Having a Master Ball in your possession certainly would make Pokemon hunting a lot easier," mentioned James. "And if somebody had this radar with them, then…" He froze suddenly, and dared to think of the horrifying possibilities. He quickly leaped to his feet and ran out of the building as fast as he could, the terror of the city no longer an issue for him. Everyone else watched him leave in confusion, but then it hit them as well that if Team Rocket got hold of the Radar and the Blueprint, then…

"Huh? Oh no! We've got to stop them!" The other four ran out, and desperately followed the trail of their adversaries as the race for the Radar began.

James and Jessie had read that the radar was locked inside a nearby building, far away from the grasp of most civilians. Marion and Morrison, however, had memorized the position, and were racing towards the building with all speed. They could afford to ignore the other technological advances that ZERO City had; they already had a treasure trove of information, and even with that, Giovanni would have been pleased. If they found the Radar or even the Blueprint, however, then Team Rocket would literally become unstoppable. It was now no longer a mere hunt for Pokemon or knowledge; it was a race for the dominance of the world, with the most deadly enemies anyone could make currently in the lead.

The five friends summoned their two-fastest Pokemon, a Rapidash and a Fearow, and climbed on their backs as they sped across the city. The people of ZERO stared at the creatures and their owners in awe as they made their way through the dark streets and corridors, and wondered why any person would ever be in that kind of hurry. They did not realize that the deadly Marion and the lethal Morrison were about to take the first step in conquering the world of Pokemon, nor did they know just how close the duo was to actually fulfilling that goal.

In a building not too far from the Pokecenter, both assassins had already made it to the floor where the Radar was (they recognized it from the data pictures they had seen). Morrison smashed the glass with his elbow, and flicked away the sharp edges before pulling out the Radar. It was about the size of a large handheld radio, or perhaps a portable television, and had a large screen that would be able to detect any Pokemon in the known world. Neither member of Team Rocket knew how to work the thing, but that was where William and Bonney would come in handy. For the moment, Marion held onto the thing, and smiled in victory.

"Well, that was easy," she sighed. "Let's go get the blueprint for those Master Balls, and we'll be done." Morrison nodded his head in agreement.

"Not so fast there!!" shouted a voice from across the room. The gigantic killer grunted as he spotted three juvenile delinquents and two washed-up Rockets, with several Pokemon surrounding them. He grinned, showing off his steel teeth, and crossed his arms.

"Well well, if it isn't our little friends from before. I must say, it's quite a surprise to see such little children wandering around a frightening place like this. What are you all doing here, might I ask?"

"We're here to stop you from taking that radar!" shouted Ash. Morrison chuckled, something that sounded more like a lion's growl than a laugh, and towered over the five of them like a pillar of unstoppable power.

"I see. Well, if you can take it from us, then it is yours." He and Marion smiled wickedly, and growled out their powerful Team Rocket motto with pride.

"Prepare for danger!" she snarled, curling her clawed gauntlets up like an animal.

"And wrath from a stranger!" growled Morrison, flexing his massive muscles.

"To ignite the world in devastation!"

"To unite all chaos within all nations!"

"To proclaim all concepts of anarchy and hate!"

"To set the world for a Doomsday date!"

"MARION!"

"MORRISON!"

"Team Rocket! Destroying everything within our path!" The blonde finished off her cry with a flair, snarling like an uncontrollable force of nature.

"Surrender now or feel our wrath!" The large man finished by exposing his steel teeth, like the maw of a shark, and his brown eyes lit up in fire.

It was like the entire room was engulfed in flames, merely from the powerful speech of the dangerous duo. Jessie and James had always entered in with something flowery, while Butch and Cassidy brought forth an iron fist of power and pride. But the motto of Morrison and Marion was soaked with conflagration and war, where the true might of Team Rocket struck complete fear into every heart and ear and mind that heard them. It was a war-cry of apocalyptic proportions, and it succeeded in shirking back the younger ones.

"You… you don't scare us!" managed Misty. She sent her Starmie to tackle the two, but Morrison merely slapped the creature away. Psyduck, ever unreliable, waddled forward and tried to scramble their brains with its mindless stare, but Marion merely kicked it away. Misty spat fire at her "useless" Pokemon, and prepared to unleash the Lapras that Ash had trusted to her. The large creature spat a powerful gush of water, but both assassins dove out of the way easily. Never did they send their own Pokemon to battle; they liked fighting on their own.

Morrison charged in and clobbered the poor Lapras into unconsciousness with a single blow, and then slapped Misty aside with his large paw. Ash, Brock, and Jessie screamed out for their friend; James, meanwhile, called his Wheezing and Victreebell (which, for once, did not try and eat his head). A cloud of smoke filled the entire room, sending thick pollution into the lungs of the powerful assassins, while Victreebell held them tight with its vines.

"Hurry, Rapidash!" shouted James. "Ignite their world in devastation!" The Rapidash obeyed, and sent balls of fire raining down on the duo. They struck both of them hard, but in the darkness, it was difficult to see anything. Suddenly, the smoke cleared, revealing a Venusaur snarling back with a deadly wind attack. The cloud of smoke transferred to James, and the razor leaves shredded apart the Victreebell.

"You are a fool!" cackled Marion wildly. "Did you think your pathetic efforts could really stand up to us? Here, try this on for size!" The maniacal female charged forward and decked James squarely in the jaw, and whirled around to kick Jessie before she even knew what happened. Morrison easily smacked Brock and Ash to the floor, and his Venusaur blew away the cloud of smog so it would no longer obstruct them. He defeated Wheezing and Rapidash in a single punch, and just for good measure, he kicked poor Pikachu and Togepi halfway across the room.

"Without that elderly gentleman helping them, these young ones are nothing more than novices!" he exclaimed. "Marion, let us not waste our time with these children. I would like to ask you to continue our journey. After all, we are on the Boss' payroll."

"Yeah, we wouldn't wanna make him mad," she snickered. With a wicked smile, she bowed out of the room, leaving the five friends battered and bruised. "Oh, on second thought," she added, "I wouldn't want to leave without giving them a parting gift. Here, kids! Catch!" Marion lobbed six large Volteons in the room, and laughed maniacally as she barricaded the door shut. Jessie moaned wearily, and managed to look up to see the deranged orbs cackling madly. Her eyes bulged out in horror as she realized that they were all about to explode!

"Oh, no! They're… self-detonating! …James! Brock! Ash! Misty! WAKE UP! MOVE IT! THIS WHOLE ROOM IS ABOUT TO EXPLODE!!!!" The frantic redhead shook her friends violently, but all she got out of them were moans of painful agony. Beads of sweat soaked her terrified face as she stared back at the kamikaze Pokemon, and her pulse froze just briefly as the seconds counted down.

"What…… what am I going to… do…?"

--------------------

Marion and Morrison smiled victoriously as a distant explosion rocked the city. The flaming columns of fire and the shooting streaks of smoke and flame lit up the dark city for a moment, and people gasped and screamed in surprise as one of their buildings was destroyed by an unknown arsonist. The two members of Team Rocket shared a brief moment of complete success before moving on to their next destination. All they needed to do was find the blueprints for mass-producing Master Balls, and the world would be in their hands.

To be continued…

Closing comments: I haven't played Pokemon in forever and a day, so you'll excuse me if I don't know many of the creatures, or if I get their attributes mixed up. On a side note, just like Jessie & James and Butch & Cassidy, Marion and Morrison are a tribute to (of course) Marion Morrison, better known as John Wayne, and William and Bonney pays homage to William Bonney--alias Billy the Kid.