Team Redline

Epsiode 001

"Stand-Off."

By Philip Andrew Wesley

Background information: Team Redline is a group of Pokémon Trainers and
Special Operations Military Personel organized by a branch of the government
that specialises in "Black-List", "Sabotage", and "Anti-terrorist" missions.
Team Redline is a large Team consisting of literally hundreds of members.
These stories hone in on a specific few. This is a short "pilot" episode for
the main series. Characters from this story probably won't be used in the
normal stories. The stories place the idea of pokémon existing in a modern
world, not unlike our own. There are trainers and tournaments; but those may
not be featured in the stories; unless the stories theme dictates their
inclusion. Characters from the television show and video game; like Jessie,
James, Ash, Misty, etc. Are not in these stories. Team Rocket as a whole may
be represented in future stories; but not in a "light" mood. The basic mood
of the series is meant to be gritty and "real". There are many branches of
Team Redline, these branches deal in different issues regarding general
public safety, nuclear disarmanent, animal protection, border patrol, etc.


Chapter 1

"Aww, damn." I whispered under my breath. The sleeve of my uniform had gotten
ripped by the barbwire on the roof of the compund. My partner and I were
attempting to access the compound. Inside the compound a group of religious
fanatics had stockpiled a large amount of a explosives and small munitions.
The area police had already circled the compound and the members of the cult
had been in a state of stand-off for the past few days; our mission was to
apprehend their leader. "Friendly folks, aren't they?" said Jeremy. Jeremy
Stricken is my partner. We've been partners for a month. Ever since my last
partner met an unfortunate end in a brutal encounter with a wild rabid
Kangaskhan that we had been trying to subdue. Yeah, I suppose we should have
carried some pokémon for protection; but that wasn't a normal mission, so we
had dart rifles and small handguns instead. BUt that's not important right
now.

"What do we have with us?" Jeremy asked. "Well, we have two pokéballs each. I
have a Kabuto and a Vaporeon. What do you have." "I have an Oddish and a
Sandslash, Matt." "That'll probably help, does your Oddish know Cut?" "Yeah."
My name is Matthew Ridgerd. I've been in this Team for 4 years. You see a
Hell of lot of things that you wish you didn't. I placed a small audio
enchancement device on the roof and put the units headphones on. "Hmm. This
room below us seems to be deserted. Take out your Oddish and be quiet about
it." I took out my Vaporeon as well. "Oddish, Cut." Jeremy said. "Vaporeon,
Mist." The Oddish cut a small hole in the roof. Vaporeon generated a nice bit
of mist to hide our entry. Vaporeon kept creating the mist as we stepped into
the room. "Shh." I whispered.

We heard two people coming toward the door of the room we had just stepped
into. Jeremy and I waited next to the door. The door opened a crack. "That
there heater must be smoking again. I'll check it out." The person entered
the room and I grabbed him before he could respond. A quick blow to the left
side of his cranium knocked him out cold. The other person stepped into the
room. "Umm. Hal? You there? I thought I heard something. Did you trip over
something in this cursed fog?" Jeremy must have hit the guy with something
metal; because all I heard was a clang and a thump. I took out the Kabuto.
"Kabuto, Absorb." The Kabuto started to absorb all the mist. I locked the
door and turned on a small green light lantern. Jeremy and I returned our
Pokémon to their pokeballs and took the cloaks that the two cult members were
wearing. "A bit snug. But it'll do." I said as I put the cloak on over my
field uniform. Jeremy tied up the two cult members and gagged them. After he
slipped on the other cloak. We went outside the door and locked it shut.

As we walked down the halls we noticed that the walls had been smeared with
some type of red substance. I remembered hearing that the compound had
hostages inside; and I had a sickening hunch that I knew what that substance
was. Jeremy seemed to know as well. The red substance was smeared in various
triangles and words. Things like: "Repentance before the ends." and "Prepare
the way of the Lord." We soon came to the end of the hall where a large
groups of people in cloaks had gathered to hear their leader.


Chapter 2

"Prepare the creature!" Their leader yelled. Two cloaked men came forward
with a cage. Inside the cage was a frightened Vulpix. They took the creature
out of the cage and strapped it down on the table. "My brothers and sisters."
The leader began to speak. "We are gathered here in a compound of brick and
wood to await the rebirth of our bodies into Celestial Beings that are
untaintable and unperishable. Outside are many who would try to stop us from
becoming immortal! They are the spawn of the devil and they are like the
wheat that will be burned away by the Judgement! We have covered the walls of
our sanctuary with the blood of unpure animals to appease god and he is
thankful. Like the Jews during Passover, the blood of those pokémon protects
us from the evil ones. When the judgement comes, we will be left standing;
but we will not be alone. Evil men may still stalk the earth to steal our
glories! The weapons we have gathered will protect our immortal souls from
those who are unfit; but have somehow evaded the wrath of god!" The group of
people responded with an "Amen." I felt a knot in my stomache. I moved toward
the front of the stage. Jeremy motioned to me and moved closer to the weapon
pile near the door of the room.

The leader then unsheathed a large machete and raised it above the vulpix.
"With this creatures blood. We are saved." I couldn't let this happen. All
life is precious. "Golbat, Kabuto, go." I let the Golbat and the Kabuto out
of their pokéballs. "Golbat, screech!" The Golbat let out an ear-piercing cry
and the group of cult members started running toward the exit of the room.
"Kabuto, Hydro Pump!" Kabuto let out a large wave of water and knocked the
cult leader to the ground. Jeremy had taken out his Vaporeon and Oddish.
"Oddish, Stun Spore!" The stun spores hit the remaining cult members and they
collapsed on the ground, unable to move. I untied the vulpix and it leaped
off the platform and started to spastically dart about the room. The cult
leader had gotten up and didn't look happy.


Chapter 3

"What have you done!" The leader yelled. "You're under arrest for possessing
illegal arms, animal slaughter, illegal drug transportation, and a whole mess
of other things I don't need to mention. You're in more crap than you can say
in one of your sermons." I replied. "Don't underestimate the wrath of god."
The leader remarked as he took out a pokéball. "Golem, go!" He yelled. "A
Golem once killed the enemies of god's people. You are our enemies." The
Golem landed out on the floor with a thud. Jeremy was busy securing the
weapons and avoiding the objects that the other cult members had started
throwing from the doorway. The Golem started to advance toward him. "Jeremy,
make your Vaporeon hydro-pump that thing!" Jeremy turned around and the Golem
smashed it's foot into the ground causing Jeremy to fall on his back. The
leader glanced at me with a glare. "Your friend and your pokémon are no match
for that Golem. It's level is in the 90's." "Kabuto! Hydro Pump!" The Kabuto
shot a wave of water at the Golem; but the Golem dodged it and lifted up a
statue from the corner of the room and threw it at the Kabuto. "Kabuto,
harden!" It was too late. The Kabuto was out cold.

The Golem started to move toward Jeremy and the weapons. "Vaporeon,
Hydro-Pump!" Vaporeon lept into the air and was shot down. The leader had
pulled out a gun! "Golbat, Wing Attack!" My Golbat hit the gun out of the
leader's hand. I punched the leader in the stomache and hit him off the
platform. The Vulpix had gone mental or something and was fire spinning all
over the place. "Oddish, ACID!" Jeremy yelled. The Oddish sprayed it's acid
on the weapons, melting them into a undiscernable mess. The Golem tried to
Mega Punch Jeremy; but he got out of the way. Then the leader looked up from
where he had landed and yelled. "Golem! Explosion." The Golem started to turn
a bright red.

"We gotta run for it!" The cult members had already started to panic and run
for the exits of the compound. Jeremy yelled, "Oddish, ACID!" The Oddish
sprayed acid on the wall and the acid ate through the wood and stone quickly.
Suddenly there was a loud "ka-boom" and I felt my body being flung through
the air.

I landed outside on the ground. Which was a bit muddy; because it had rained
earlier that day. Thankfully. I looked around and there were ambulances and
police everywhere. Apparently, the blast had wiped out 60% of the compound,
the people who escaped the compound in time or were lucky enough to survive
the explosion were being herded to ambulances and police cars. One of the
police men came up to me. "You okay?" "Yeah." I said and I showed him my
badge. "Team Redline, huh. Thanks to you, the stand-off is over.. but a lot
of people got killed." "I didn't do that. Their leader took them down on his
own free will. Did you get the hostages?" "Yes, they were in the area of the
compound farthest away from the blast and a lot of exotic pokémon have been
recovered as well." "That's good." I said as I started to walk away. I
scanned the area for Jeremy; but I couldn't find him. I walked back toward
where the "sanctuary" had been. I found him. He hadn't made it out in time.
"I hate my job." I muttered as I walked back toward the police vehicles and
ambulances.


The End.

Copyright Dmg Ice 1999