Pokemon Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ ZERO City Trilogy ❯ Blastoff for the Blueprint ( Chapter 2 )

Prologue

The maniacal Marion 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…?"

With the seconds ticking down, Jessie tried to ram the door down, but even if it hadn't been barricaded, she was not strong enough on her own to move it any. The Volteons in the room shivered with sick glee, and precious time ran thin as Jessie searched the room for any way out. There was a window, but…

"It'll have to do," she grunted. Jessie picked up Misty and Ash, hoisting their arms across her shoulders. She quickly dragged them to the window, and seeing that there was a safe spot to land on, in theory, she ditched them. As she turned around, the Volteons looked ready to blow them all to pieces, and the poor woman would've had a heart attack if she didn't see James and Brock trying to stand.

"Ughn… did… somebody get the license plate of that tank?"

"No time to talk now!" yelled Jessie as she shoved the others towards the window. James protested until he saw the suicidal Pokemon laughing at him, and scrambled out of the room faster than anything Jessie had seen. Brock didn't need to be prodded any further either, and hastily left with one ex-Rocket ahead of him and the other behind. After a nasty but sufferable fall, the five friends found themselves in a long hallway, injured but alive, and ran as fast as they could towards the closest door in an attempt to escape the blast.

Brock quickly summoned his Onyx as the seconds dwindled, and used its thick hide to absorb the blast. They all just barely made it a few rooms down the hall when the explosion ripped through the building, and a sea of flames followed them fiercely, devouring the hallway. The rock-like snake groaned in misery as the fires torches his backside, but since rock-Pokemon were strong against fire, the Onyx would take the punishment and laugh at it later.

Everyone dove into another room for cover, allowing the explosion to die down and the flames to calm. A thick cloud of smoke followed, but for the moment, the danger was over. Ash, Brock, James, Jessie, and Misty spent a few minutes coughing for breath and healing their wounds. Once the tremors stopped and things grew calm again, sighs of relief escaped their mouths, and they all agreed that before they did anything else, they would need some rest.

ZERO City

By Al Kristopher

Part Two: Blastoff for the Blueprint

Marion Jane Burke was born twenty-nine years earlier, in the deep part of the slums.

Marion's life in the slums was a series of one nightmare after the other. Constant starvation, sickness, and poverty nipped at her elbows every waking hour, and as she slept, the darkness covered her with a blanket of chilling fear. Her family had been so poor that her mother and father were forced to sell young Marion into slavery so that they could eat. She left a home that had no love, and went into one that had no hope, crying and wailing miserably all the way. She was only eight years old.

Marion was shoved into a guild of assassins, thieves, con artists, and many other shady characters of the underworld. As a young child, not even a teenager yet, Marion would have to deal with the cruel stares and crueler desires of the deadly clientele, and was forced to grow out of childhood at a rate that would've made any normal person scream. She faced the threat of being killed, raped, and robbed every day, as a helpless young girl standing in a crowd of butchers and thieves--but she learned to grow strong quickly, and with such horrors assaulting her young mind, she learned to survive at a very hasty rate.

For four years, Marion toned herself into a woman that could defend against the den of snakes she had been thrust into. Her body grew, and grew, until it resembled a woman and not a child. Though barely twelve years old, Marion was slowly being accepted into the deadly society she lived in, and soon grew to the point where she could content with assassins and thieves three times her age. The leaders of this "society" saw that Marion's life in the guild had sharpened her body and skills far beyond any normal person, and decided to initiate her into their ranks.

In order to gain the full approval and respect of the guild, Marion had to end somebody's life. In a strange twist of irony, the unlucky victims chosen for her were her own parents.

Marion did the job without regret or remorse, and was accepted into the society. There, skilled masters trained her ferociously, pushing her abilities even further than even she knew they could go. Her strength and speed were increased, as was her stamina and bodily defense, and a vast knowledge of fighting techniques were imprinted into her brain. There was no love between assassins, so all of Marion's emotions were robbed from her during her bleak life--all, that is, except for those most savage.

Marion's rage was intense and unstoppable, and made her more ferocious than a pride of lions in a fight, so she kept it. She also kept her pride, always her pride, so that she could spite those who were weak. She did not know fear at all, only surprise and amazement, but despite her training and her ferocity, Marion also kept her thoughtfulness, and her calmness, even in the darkest of storms.

When she left the guild to work as a freelancer… after slaughtering everyone there in the process… Marion was a tall woman of imposing power and an icy stare. Her body was lean and svelte, very supple and flexible, yet hard and not easy to break. She was a beautiful woman, but the beauty was deadly, like a few gorgeous fish in the sea that were poison, or colorful flowers that could kill unaware creatures. She had shining light-blonde hair that trailed down past her shoulders like a rich waterfall, and eyes that were made out of razor-sharp glaciers: cold, deliberate, patient, and deadly.

She wore dark pants and a solid blue button-down jacket-shirt to conceal herself better in dark places, and over her shoulders she wore a snowy-white mantle that never seemed to stain or soil. Her hands were surprisingly smooth and delicate, but in battle, they were covered by steel gauntlets that had claws at the tip of each finger, enabling Marion to rip through any opposition, organic or otherwise. A nasty scar ran across her otherwise flawless face, from one cheekbone to the other, just beneath her eyes and across her nose.

Marion had been employed by a few major underworld powers in her life, and was always loyal as long as the money came in. She seldom loved her employers, though, and was rumored to be the cause of one of their deaths. In battle, she fought like a force of nature and not like a human, and would not stop her insane assault even if her body was being destroyed. Pain and injury were of no consequence to her at all, and perhaps even Death itself would have been unable to stop her.

This was just one of the new members of Team Rocket.

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

Brock decided to take his rage out on the floor, and slammed his fist against it. He growled and bared his teeth, and slammed against the floor again, but only succeeded in scattering dust and injuring his hand. With a grunt, he sighed and hung his head, detesting the bitter taste of defeat in his mouth. It was the same all around, but only he expressed his anger outwardly. Ash was staring at the floor, completely motionless save for the movement of his chest as he breathed, and Misty was more or less the same. James and Jessie both kept to themselves, basking in their first taste of loss outside of Team Rocket.

"I can't believe they took it!" exclaimed Brock angrily. "They took that Pokemon Radar right from under our nose! We couldn't do anything about it!"

"That's right; we couldn't," pointed Jessie. She gave him a calm, reasoning look, and emphasized. "Those two were stronger than all of us. They not only had the upper hand in sheer brute force, but they came here well before us. Remember, Officer Jenny told us that those Rockets were here while we were still in the city, so they had a big head start on us. Frankly, I'm surprised that we were even able to catch up to them."

"What Jessie is trying to say is that you shouldn't beat yourself up for something you didn't have any control over," pointed James gently. "Sure, we're all a little mad, but it's to be expected. Our old boss didn't hire a pair of spring chickens when he got rid of Jess and me; he got two of the best. That was evident long before we even knew of Old Man Mel. There was no way that we could have beaten them, at least not in a battle."

"So what are we supposed to do?!" he demanded, turning around fiercely. Ash and Misty slowly broke out of their trance and joined him in an effort to comfort him, but they were just as shaken as he. Brock shivered, clenching his fist tightly in anger. "I… we… we never lost anything like this to Team Rocket…"

"I don't think you lost anything to Team Rocket, unless it was time," noted Jessie.

"That doesn't help," he sighed. She frowned and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Sorry."

"Well we can't just give up now," stated Misty gently, cradling Togepi in her arms. "Just because we lost one item doesn't mean that it's the end of the world. There's still that blueprint they're after, right? Maybe if we can get that before they do, we'll have the advantage again."

"They have a head start…" muttered Brock apprehensively. He paused, and added something a little more encouraging. "But… if we have a chance… then I'll take it. I apologize; I'm just not used to losing to Team Rocket."

"Let's hope you don't get used to it," remarked James with a smile. He gave his friend a gentle shove, and stood up out of the ruined rubble of the room they had all landed in. They were tired, bruised, and a little burnt from the recent fire, but they were far from out of the game. With the encouragement of each other, the five friends stood up and began their search anew. Misty and Brock had learned where the blueprint for mass-producing Master Pokeballs was located, and they could only hope that their deadly rivals did not. It was going to be an interesting race either way.

The five friends gradually made their way out of the now-ruined building that once held the Pokemon Radar. It had been halfway destroyed by the exploding Voltorbs, resulting in a large portion of the building being twisted and torn completely out of shape. A pillar of thick smoke was still rising up out of the flaming remains, with a few large fires burning brightly, and ashes and sparks being spewed out everywhere made the scene a little more gruesome. The fire was burning bright, bringing temporary light to that part of the city, but the smoke rising upwards sent more darkness to the sky. It was actually a bit depressing.

"We'd better start searching for those blueprints now," suggested Jessie as everyone stepped clear of the building. "Did anybody print out a map of this place while we were in that Pokecenter?"

"I got one from that robot from behind the counter," said Ash. He waved a map in the air, and tacked it up against the wall of the building so they all could see it. They easily figured out where they were on the large drawing, because the Pokecenter was plainly indicated, and their current position was very close to it. Everyone scanned through the map carefully, and found that the place they were going to was on the opposite side of the city, the far northeastern block. The path there was twisting and treacherous, with plenty of ways to get lost, so Ash drew a very careful line towards the destination so they'd know where to go.

"I guess that's really the best we can do," said Misty. "It's going to be a hard trip no matter what route we take, but at least we know where to go. I don't think we should draw any suspicion to ourselves when we're traveling, though. We wouldn't want those other two people to find out that we know where to go." James nodded his head in agreement and pointed to himself.

"Sneaking around is our specialty. Those two may be Team Rocket's most dangerous agents, but when it comes to stealth operations, nobody is as good as we are!"

"It's true," sighed Jessie proudly. "I've lost count over how many times we were able to fool you three with our disguises--and with a small change of clothes, we'll be able to disappear entirely!" Ash, Brock, and Misty then observed that their one-time enemies were indeed dressed to hide well. They didn't have their Team Rocket shirts or jackets, but instead, they both had the short-sleeved black shirts that went underneath. James had on his usual white business pants, and Jessie her white mini-skirt, but if either one of them switched their white to black, then they would indeed vanish easily.

"Right! And I think we should do the same!" exclaimed Ash. Everyone agreed, and split into two groups so they could change into something a little more suitable for the environment. ZERO City was a place covered in darkness, where even the brightest lights flickered dimly, so it would be child's play to sneak around wearing black.

With their new gear on, the five friends set about their journey, and followed Ash's directions as closely as they could as they made their way into the thick of the city. It had not been that long ago when Jessie and James were unworthy of trust, and were viewed as annoyances and backstabbers. They had been enemies for ages, it seemed, and even during those rare times of cooperation, the two ex-Rockets had always been unreliable. Being expelled from the Team was probably the best thing that ever happened to either one of them--Rocket had been secretly suffocating them ever since they joined on.

Now that they had true friends and a true purpose, Jessie and James looked back at their past "life" with contempt. Nobody had ever appreciated them in Team Rocket, or commended them for their work. They were hardly even recognized as agents, and with the exception of their original mission (capture a particularly rare Pikachu, that of which now belonged to Ash), they had been trusted with little else. It had been through the influence of their parents that Jessie and James entered into the ranks of Rocket at all, and it had been this influence that kept them in even when they failed. Giovanni had known and respected the seniors well, and owed them a great debt for assisting him in "the old days". The debt, however, was finally cancelled after many disappointments, and the son and daughter of four very good friends were released into the world and away from Rocket.

But that was a good thing. Jessie and James were never appreciated in Rocket, and except for a few circles of supporters (and maybe Meowth), they didn't have any friends. Few people liked them, and even when they did succeed, Giovanni and their other superiors looked down on them with contempt. They hardly did anything worth his praise, and were seen as nuisances, or worse, examples of what not to do while working for Rocket. As strange as it seemed, being fired had probably saved them in the long run. Both Jessie and James found everything that they had been lacking in the most unlikely place, and in the matter of a month, fit into their new crowd as if it was meant to be that way all along.

Ash, Brock, and Misty didn't trust them at first, but after demonstrating their reliability in the Legendary Pokemon Master incident, they became instant friends. The three younger ones now looked at their former enemies with trust, respect, admiration, and perhaps even love. James and Jessie were honestly reliable, and reliably honest, and more competent as Pokemon battlers than they first appeared to be. They were both good people, and after being cleansed of the poison that was Team Rocket, they really did become two wonderful characters, who were worthy of trust and love and camaraderie. They were changed, outwardly and inwardly, and would stay with their new friends until their deaths.

They both smiled at their friends--not for any particular reason--and brightened up the darkness that was ZERO City, just by a little.

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

Somewhere deep in the mountainous area of the world, nestled in a small burg of quiet people who led simple lives, a nightmare among nightmares was born. Morrison Hickok Glidden was unlike any child that ever lived in that little village: he had been born with an abnormal growth hormone, giving him gigantism that stood him apart from all the others. Morrison, or "Big Moe" as people called him, had been a very ungentle giant for most of his life. He became the main muscle of a gang when he was just twelve, and used his imposing size and unusual strength to threaten those who stood against his fellows.

Morrison was no bully, though. He was exceptionally polite, and usually very quiet, no matter how deep his voice was. He never fought unless necessary, and respected the elderly with a passion. But in the end, he was the most powerful, imposing, and dominating force in the whole town, and struck fear into his enemies. One day, Morrison got too big for the town, and moved out into the world. He began to work for the underworld and the Mafia, and ended up being a terrific contract killer. Morrison was like a mountain, huge and unstoppable, with the power of an avalanche and the defensive capabilities of a chunk of granite. He could crush a man's ribs with just one hand, and for show, could rip through telephone books like he was ripping through paper.

Morrison's talents did not go unnoticed, and soon he was working for the very high rollers. His loyalty was strong but not absolute, and he was more shrewd than people thought. He was not a hulking mass of brainless muscle; Morrison was amazingly clever, and exercised his guile as much as he exercised his body. He would support one Mafia family until things turned grim, and would silently side for those who were in favor of winning. Sometimes, he would even execute members of "his" own family, all the while making sure that no future employer knew of his two-faced natures.

A brutal fight during one vicious war caused Morrison to lose all the teeth in his mouth. His insurance paid for dentures, but the Don he was working for at that moment decided on a better idea. He hired a special dentist to weld in indestructible steel teeth into Morrison's mouth, objects of powerful strength that would never break or go dull. The teeth turned out to be his trademark move, as Morrison had a habit of biting off any bodily appendage that protruded out, like ears or fingers or a nose.

Morrison was an inch or two over seven feet, towering over most people with his size and muscle mass. He had a shuck of dark black hair on his head that never seemed to be combed, and usually wore a jumpsuit of color that matched the environment he would be working in (in the case of ZERO City, he wore black). He had dull brown eyes and a face that was neither in a rage nor in a stupor, but passive and thoughtful and sometimes even friendly. He was a complex person, lethal and cunning, and had experience and power on his side. He never lost or failed, with one recent exception, and was worth every gold piece that Giovanni laid down for his service.

It was this man that had joined Team Rocket, and he was just half of the dreaded team.

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

There was only one advantage that the five friends had that Marion and Morrison did not, and it was because they knew the general location of the Master Ball blueprint, whereas the duo did not. Marion and Morrison had downloaded a lot of information, but only looked at a few scant details. They knew where the Pokemon Radar was, but read only a cursory amount concerning the blueprint. They knew it existed and what it did, but to the fortunate luck of Ash and his friends, they didn't know where to look.

But that never stopped a Rocket.

The ultimate destination of the duo was a place called Ierojeraxa, or simply IJA. It was an old factory that had gone out of business a few months ago in ZERO City's timeline, and the only place that preserved the Master Ball blueprint. Personally, the people of ZERO saw the blueprint as an antique, something used for an obsolete system and nothing of any real interest to them. It seemed that Pokemon did not wander the streets of the black city--neither the Rockets or the five friends saw any species wandering around, except for their own--and so, a radar to find them and a Master Ball to catch them would be useless.

But that was okay, considered the deadly duo. If the things were so useless, then they would not be missed if some clever thief stole them. It didn't matter that they didn't know where to look--the city was not that big, and there were plenty of people around to interrogate. In fact, Marion decided to ask around herself, and convinced Morrison to do the same. They were both very exceptional when it came to pumping people for information. Since it was her idea, Marion walked up to a person and inquired first, using civility and peace just like Morrison did.

"A place that has a blueprint for Pokemon Master Balls?" repeated the person. "You must mean the Ierojeraxa building! Well, it's on the northeast side of the city, but I don't know why you'd want to go there! There's nothing there, unless you mean the blueprint."

"And how would we get there?" she asked calmly, keeping her hands (and her clawed gauntlets) in her robe. The man shrugged.

"Darned if I know. I've never been down there myself. If it's a map of the city you're wanting, they have a few over there in that information building, waaaaaaaay over yonder." Marion looked in the direction he was pointing, and could faintly see a building hidden in the misty-black air. She smiled wolfishly.

"Thanks, mister. You just put yourself on my favorites list." She patted his head like a child and walked towards the building, calling Morrison to join her. He didn't move anywhere, so she turned around to see what the problem was.

"Don't bother," he told her. "I found a person who was generous enough to give us two. Here." He tossed her his extra one, and she caught it easily. A brief glimpse at the map told them both that they had a ways to go before they got to their destination. Quietly, Marion walked into the darkness with her hair and cloak billowing, leaving Morrison behind to thank the generous people. It was rare to see either one of them leave a crowd behind without causing some disturbance, though it did happen in some instances.

The two traveled quickly and quietly, the way of the true hunter. They had wanted to pull a transport over to the side and hitch a ride over to the IJA, but they were sure that they didn't have the money needed to hail one. Their Team Rocket badge would most likely be useless as well, but they didn't mind walking, even though the city was polluted and difficult to see in. They were two of the best assassins in the world, and a little environmental danger never stopped them before.

Soon, the streets became abandoned. The buildings began to resemble hollow shells instead of places of residence, and the air stank of emptiness and great ruin. It was like looking at a post-apocalyptic world, with twisted pieces of construction lying around, destroyed bridges sprawled across the highways, blasted roads, and halfway destroyed buildings everywhere. It was a place where demons and ghosts haunted, a more foreboding part of the city, and one that contained a dangerous secret.

From out of nowhere, a terrifying roar preceded the appearance of a humongous creature, large as a whale and so powerful that its footsteps sent the ground shaking. It was a huge beast with big bulging muscles, a mane of wild black hair, and a face of demonic animalism. Two horns, like that of a steer, stuck out and split the sky as the beast shook its head, and Marion and Morrison prepared to face a creature that was nothing less than a behemoth.

"What a gruesome sight," she spat bitterly. "How in the world did this creature get into this city? Did those people know about it?"

"I think we should concern ourselves with eliminating this obstacle first," suggested Morrison. "But let's be careful. I've never seen anything so intimidating and powerful in all my life. It will take us both to defeat this thing." Marion quietly agreed, and sped towards the behemoth like a bullet. With her cloak wide open like the wings of the angel of death, she slashed at the creature with her claws, scarring it but not destroying it. The monster screamed at the sudden attack, and quickly pawed at her with its large arms. Marion hastily leaped away, but had been caught off guard by the surprising speed, and was knocked away.

As she was being tossed aside, Morrison lumbered over to the rear of the monster, intent on attacking it while its attention was diverted. He landed a solid punch in its thigh, but did little other than to draw the beast's eye. It grunted in pain, and slapped at its gigantic attacker with a huge yet speedy tail. Morrison was knocked with a deadly power as the immense tail smacked into him, and withdrew to think of a new strategy. Meanwhile, Marion had leaped back into the battle, and was running circles around the monster while cutting at it with her deadly weapons. She was fast, and evaded the beast's attacks for a little while, but the behemoth caught her with a sudden kick from its rear-left heel. Marion flew backwards, straight into the waiting arms of her partner. He softened her blow and gave her a stony gaze, indicating that their approach needed a new direction.

"I think we need to eliminate that tail first," he said. "After that, disable the front two arms. He should go down easily after that. Show no mercy."

"That's the code I live by," she shrugged casually. The two picked themselves up, and charged at the monster again. It slashed at them with its huge paws, but two master killers were difficult to hit with just one hand. Marion kept the monster busy by attacking its face while Morrison ran around it and found the tail. Using the entirety of his bulk, the large assassin tackled the tip of it to the ground, holding it down until his partner could join him.

"Got it!" he shouted. Marion quickly jumped onto the creature's head, and ran down its back before leaping into the air and using her flying momentum to slam her claws against the beast's tail. It was completely cleaved off, leaving nothing but a stump and a screaming monster. It wheeled around with fierce speed and rammed them both in revenge, sending them flying away. Undaunted and hardly even bruised, the two killers stood and decided to take out the arms next. Marion rushed in on its left and quickly raked her claws across its upper limb, digging in massive scars with two fast blows. She ducked as the beast turned to impale her with its horns, and trusted Morrison to eliminate the other arm.

The large assassin was currently holding the powerful paw in his arms, slowly squeezing the life out of it until the bones began to bend. Morrison was a powerful man, but even he had trouble breaking the bones of a behemoth. Still, with a loud scream, he gathered all his strength into one twist, and snapped the monster's arm at the shoulder, rendering it completely useless. The behemoth roared painfully again, limping on its sliced arm and trying desperately to escape. Marion would not have it, and continued to shred up its other arm, until the appendage was so severed that it too was useless.

Without the support of its front arms, the monster fell forward. Marion smiled wickedly and held its horns tight while Morrison climbed up onto its neck. Summoning all his power, he raised his fist high in the air and crashed it down on the behemoth's neck, instantly breaking it and shattering its spinal cord. The monster let out a final groan before it ceased to move, and a victory was now on the hands of the two members of Team Rocket.

"Not too bad of a fight," sighed Marion as she swiped her long blonde hair out of her face. "It's not often that I have to try."

"I feel this may be our most difficult fight in this city," mumbled Morrison, leaping off of the beast. He pointed into the distance, where IJA was, indicating that they should leave. "Let's go. Our last obstacle just expired, I think."

"After you."

----------

It was only by their knowledge of the city and their next destination that Ash, Brock, James, Jessie, and Misty had any sort of advantage at all. They had been picking through the ruined city for a little more than half an hour, going from the bleak suburbs to the unpopulated area of ruin. It was a place where only the bravest kept their courage, or only the brightest of lights kept burning; everything else was consumed in the horrible vortex. The place reeked of demonic activity, far worse than anything that had ever been faced before by anyone. It did not come as a surprise to the group when they discovered themselves to be holding hands.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again," muttered Brock. "I've got a baaaaaad feeling about this."

"We all do," stated Misty softly. "But the only thing we can do now is walk on. We can't let Team Rocket beat us this time, or else the whole world will be under their control! Can you imagine it? That entire organization would have so much knowledge about the future with them!"

"And let's not forget that radar they found!" pointed James. "That thing could find any Pokemon in any location! Old man Giovanni would have no problem amassing a huge collection of rare and powerful Pokemon!"

"And then there's that Master Ball blueprint to worry about!" added Ash. "If Team Rocket is able to make a whole lot of those, then they'll have all the world's Pokemon at their command! I don't wanna even think of what our world would be like in that situation!" He growled, and with such threats looming over their heads, the team of friends walked all the faster. The ruined part of the city was large and dark and desolate, but in the end they all made it through, meeting up with no such obstacles as their archenemies had.

Ierojeraxa was just a factory like any other, with lifeless chimneys reaching for the very skies they had polluted, and broken windows dotting the construction. It was charred and in severe ruin--part of the wall and roof had been completely blown away--but thankfully, the door swung open with little effort. Inside, the team could see a long line of conveyor belts that had been inactive for years, with some kind of furnace-like object at the end of them all and a machine that produced regular Pokeballs at the beginning.

There were no working lights, so everyone used a flashlight to see. They didn't want to search the whole building (after all, they were still being pursued), so the best they could do was split up and search. Thankfully, it didn't take much investigation to find the blueprints. Logical Misty and James thought that it would be in one of the filing cabinets that had been lying around, and they were right.

"Look, here it is, and they even laminated it!" he exclaimed, waving the papers in the air. Jessie smiled at her friend and walked over to get a look at the prints. She could understand little, but only because the method for mass-producing Master Balls was so complicated (and thus, expensive).

"Great work! Now let's get out of here! Use the back way, though, in case they're closer than we think!" Everyone agreed, and plowed through the messy remains of the factory for its back door. Suddenly, the door they were headed towards got blasted off its hinges, and from the other side came the large frame of Morrison, glowering down at the shorter quintet like a lion against a mouse.

"Well! I'm awfully surprised that you all survived that explosion! Remind me never to underestimate those weaker than myself."

"You…!" Ash glared knives at the tall man, and as he turned around, he saw Marion barricading the other door! The two Rockets laughed sickly, closing in on their prey like a pair of sharks surrounding five guppies.

"Well, you managed to impress us by getting this far," she said in a haughty voice, "but I'm afraid this is where your road ends. See kids, you're not dealing with those pathetic excuses of Team Rocket agents you're so used to fighting. They come and go and make a nuisance of themselves, but what harm have they really done?!"

"You watch your language!" snarled Jessie. "James and I were part of the elite forces!"

"That's a laugh," chuckled Morrison. "You'd have been better janitors in that place than real Team Rocket agents. And unlike you, the two of us are killers. We have no remorse or regret; we do not know pain, we do not know fear, and we both jeer into the face of death!"

"So you'd better prepare for danger!" hissed Marion, slithering towards them like a deadly snake. Morrison crossed his arms, and lumbered in to close the gap.

"And wrath… from a stranger!"

"To ignite the world in devastation!"

"To unite all chaos within all nations!"

"To spread the truths of anarchy and hate!"

"To set the world for a Doomsday date!"

"MARION!"

"MORRISON!"

"Team Rocket--destroying everything in our path!"

"Surrender now or feel our wrath!"

"Doesn't Team Rocket ever get tired of saying their mottos?" wondered Ash. Marion and Morrison laughed cruelly at the boy, and closed in to surround the five friends. James clutched onto the blueprint for dear life, and would have seen it shredded to pieces before he allowed it to fall into the hands of his enemy.

"Stay back, or else this thing is torn in two!" he shouted. Morrison grinned, showing off his steel teeth as he called James' bluff.

"Oh? Go ahead! A little patience and a lot of tape will fix any problems you may inflict on it!"

"Then we'll just have to burn it! Charmander!" Brock called forth his fire Pokemon, but Marion quickly stopped it by unleashing the dreaded Gyarados, who completely pummeled and soaked the poor little dragon. She laughed maniacally as Morrison brought out a Wigglytuff, and as the bloated creature sang, the two Rockets covered their ears and waited for the five friends to faint. They had all experienced the lulling song of the Jigglypuff before, and could only assume that its evolved form was even stronger, so they protected themselves too.

"Not so fast!" shouted Morrison. He quickly slammed his elbows against their heads, snapping their hands free and knocking more than one unconscious. Marion smiled wickedly and followed his example, and even called back Wigglytuff to make things "more interesting". She easily knocked out the young quintet, and snagged the blueprints for her own.

"Thanks for the present, kid," she grinned as she gave James a gentle kick. "But I don't think we should leave you without a gift. Morrison, I'm going to call Charizard. You take their stuff! This time, there will be no escape." He understood, and began robbing them of their things. He plucked their bags, some of their excess clothes, and even stole away their Pokemon. Pikachu and Togepi tried to fight back, but they were no match against the deadly Rockets. Both Pokemon were captured in a bag, and with a wolfish smile, Marion ordered Charizard to torch the place.

The dragon spewed fire, encompassing the five unconscious people in a circle of powerful fire, and set the remainder of the room ablaze just in case. Marion and Morrison quickly escaped the room before the heat got to them, leaving their only opposition for dead, surrounded by fire. The heat in the room increased and moved closer to the five friends, who were robbed of any items that would have otherwise helped them. Unconscious, unequipped, and completely surrounded by intense flames, it truly looked to be the end for them all…

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

"Hello, old man Giovanni?"

"What do you want?" he asked. "Were you successful?" Marion paused just a second for dramatic effect.

"You could say that. Listen, old man. You'll never believe what we just found for you…"

To be concluded…