Team Redline

Episode 003

"Trail of Bones."

By Philip Andrew Wesley
1999

Rating: PG-13

Background Information: There are those who seek to preserve and those that
seek to destroy. There is a method to the madness and a ryhme for the reason.


Chapter One.

"So.. you're telling me that the mewtwo got away?" "Well, yes. This mew they
gave me at the Kennel pounded it down to almost unconcious; but it still got
away. It teleported out of the area." "Did you check the factory and the area
around the factory?" "Yes. I'm not a rookie." "Lately, Matt. You've been
screwing up a lot. First you lose one of our best oddishes and a partner in
that compound and now you fail to capture a simple mewtwo!" "But, sir. The
Compound incident was not my fault. And this is not a simple mewtwo." "What
makes this mewtwo so different then?" "Well, it calls itsself 'Nine' and
seems to be more intelligent than a normal mewtwo." "I do not want to hear
your excuses. You are dismissed for now." Matthew stormed out of the office,
and accidently tripped over the edge of the rug. WHAM. He landed on the
ground. "Aww. Dammit. This day keeps getting worse." "Mew?" The mew that the
Kennel had lent him hopped off the the chair outside the office and then
hopped up onto Matt's shoulder. "Yeah. My boss is losing faith in my ability
to be in Team Redline. He has a low tolerance for failure." "Mew? Mew." The
mew replied. "Aww. why the Hell am I telling you this; you're just a mew."
"Mew...." The mew hopped off of Matt's shoulder and floated in the air for a
little while before landing lightly on the floor.

Matt opened the door to the Kennel area and sat down in front of the large TV
in the break room. "Hmm. Maybe there's some news worth watching on." He
flipped through the channels with the remote and found "PNN", the Pokémon
News Network. "Today on PNN; I am pleased to present a rare interview with
Richter Belagandi of the A.S.P.C.P." Matt went to the fridge in the break
room and took out a beer. "The A.S.P.C.P., or American Society for Prevention
of Cruelity toward Pokémon, is a long standing, non-profit organization that
has aided in the passage of several pro-pokémon legislation. They recently
aided in the passing of the controversial Proposition B that allows trainers
the right to carry concealed pokéballs and they aided in the swift passing of
the Start 7 Bill that prohibited the abortion of unborn pokémon and made the
act of 'willing genocide' or 'euthenasia' of older pokémon illegal. Joining
us today is Richter Belagandi, the president of the A.S.P.C.P. and a very
prominent billionaire that runs Silph Co. as well. Silph Co. is the creator
of such amazing pokémon products as the popular Silph Scope and several
military products." "Yeah, and Silph also makes good beer." Matt remarked.
"Maybe there's something better on." Matt flipped through the pages of the TV
Guide that was sitting on the coffee table next to the chair where he was
sitting. "Hmm. 'I love Lapras', 'My favorite Marowak', 'South Park', hmm..
I haven't seen that show in ages. I loved that 'A Rhydon makes love to a
weedle' episode; that was funny." "Mew?" The mew looked up at Matt. "Oh, I'm
talking to myself aren't I. Sorry. Hey, mew. Wanna watch MST4000? It's a
rerun.. they canceled the show after they added those two other robots. Who
would have thought that 'Neovideo' and 'e X ! 1 e D' wouldn't help the shows
ratings. Oh, well."

"Hmm. I must get stronger.." The shadowed figure remarked to itsself. "These
sewers are a good hiding place for now. I must wait to extract my revenge on
Team Redline." The figure whispered faintly through labored breath. "Ratata"
A small voice echoed through the sewer tunnel. The figure stepped out of the
shadows to face the ratata. "Ratata? Ratata!" The ratata cried. "Hmm." The
figured raised its paw toward the ratata. "Ratata...." The ratata started to
convulse wildly on the ground as if being crushed by an invisible hand. The
ratata started yipping franticly as its body slowly seemed to be shrinking in
to itself. The ratatas eyes closed and blood started to seep out of the
ratatas mouth as it slowly stopped twitching. "Hmm. I feel better. I gained
some experience on that one." The figure bent down to look at the dead corpse
of the ratata. "Hmm. It's young. That means that there is a raticate or some
more ratatas around here. I gotta kill them all..."

Chapter 2

"The A.S.P.C.P. is dedicated to allowing pokémon the chance to be free in our
various parks and preserves. Our latest park is devoted entirely to the
lovable cubone and marowak creatures. These creatures have been hunted the
world over and killed for their skulls. Overhunting and senseless slaughter
has almost led to a virtual extinction of the species. The A.S.P.C.P. played
a huge part in the preservation of the lapras species. We stopped hunters and
set about creating parks and preserves where the creatures would be safe from
harm." Matt had fallen asleep in front of the TV and mew was busy happily
finishing off some left over casserole in the fridge of the break room.
"Mew?" The mew exclaimed as it tipped over a bottle marked "Absolut" in the
fridge. "MEW!!" The mew exclaimed happily as it drank the spilled substance.
"Mew... mew... mew?"

"Hmm. It seems that the last count of the cubones is lower than the previous
count. Did any of them get moved to the other preserve or the zoo?" "No." The
two men got into the ATV and drove to the far end of the preserve. "Hmm. I
don't see any sign of the missing three.." "Wait a second!" The first man got
out of the car and pointed to a small trail of red leading into one of the
small caves in the preserve. He switched on a flashlight and the other man
took a small tranq rifle out of the ATV's trunk. They walked into the cave.
"Holy crap." The first man exclaimed. He moved the flashlight over the rotten
bodies of three cubones in a pile with their skulls removed. "We have a few
poachers in the preserve..."

"MATT! Report to the main office at once!" Matt awoke with a start and got up
out of the chair. "Mew? Dammit mew." The mew was staggering around a bit on
the floor, covered with vodka. "Man, no one wants a drunken mew." "Could be
worse. No one wants a drunken mankey either." "Oh, hey, Dan." Dan is the guy
in charge of the Kennel. He designs pokémon technical machines and runs the
pokémon storage boxes. "Well, I got to go see what my boss wants.. sorry
about the vodka." "It's s'okay."

"I can sense them." The silent figure floated slightly off the ground as to
avoid causing ripples in the water that might alert the ratatas to his
presence. "Hmm. They are close... ungh aaaahhh!" The figure droppped out of
his flight and landed with a thud in the sewer water. "I can't.. move. What
is happening to me? I am Nine... I'm superior.. I'm in pain." Nine struggled
to lift himself off the ground. "It's so difficult.. to move.. to concentrate
on floating.. I feel deadened." Nine slumped over onto his back and used his
tail to lift himself on to his feet again. His vision blurred in and out of
focus before becoming completely dark. "What is happening to me? I can't see!
I can't fly...." Then the world started to fade back into contrast again. His
vision sharpened once more. "Hmm. I'm experiencing some type of side effect
to the drugs I was given... I'm sure of it. Or it could be the faulty genes
that tore me up a second ago... I must know.." Nine felt his concentration
return to him and started to float above the ground again. "Hmm. I need to
gain access to a clinic.." Nine floated up to the manhole cover on the top of
the sewer tunnel. He lifted it slightly to check for vehicles and then flew
out of the sewer at break-neck speed. "I'm in the residential side of the
town.. there should be a pokémon clinic or center near by..." Nine then began
to float above the area to look for a clinic.

"Well, Matt. It seems you have a chance to redeem your worth." "Thank you,
Sir." "It seems that the new 'Cubone preserve' has been set upon by poachers
and I want you to stake the place out and make some arrests. And don't screw
this up. I told the A.S.P.C.P. that we are sending our best agent. After all,
your track record is much greater than your recent failures. And I feel that
this case requires your knowledge of Team Rocket." "Team Rocket? Didn't they
become disbanded about three years ago?" "Yes, the main branches of the group
were literally destroyed by scandals and trials; but I feel that the smaller
strains of the organization are still thriving." "Sir.. do you think that.."
"No. Matt. I doubt that Giovanni is the leader of these new branches. I made
sure of that myself. There's no way he could be operating Team Rocket from
inside the Fort Leavenedworth Level 6 prison." "Why do you think that Team
Rocket is involved in this case?" "Because of the messy brutality of the
crime... the cubones were beaten to death with bayonets." "That's a very
pleasent thought. When do I start?" "Just visit the Kennel first and teach
your mew a new move before you leave."

"So, which new move do you want to teach your mew? The Kennel has a VERY
advanced new device called 'The Dragonshark' that teaches moves to pokemon
even if they normally can't use that move. Our greatest test subject was 'The
Biohazard'... an Articuno with umm... interesting moves." Dan stated in a
almost monotone voice. "Hmm. Well, I'm not sure." Dan didn't look happy about
Matt's comment. "What does your mew know right now?" "Umm. I think it knows
Fly, Psybeam, Dig, and Toxic." "Hmm. Well, it's tricky to erase over an 'HM'
type move; but the 'Dragonshark' can do it. I'll just type in the access
code for you. '01--73D1'." "What are the spaces for?" "Once you select the
move; I type in it's access number. For example. Type in 018673D1 to have
your pokémon replace one of it's moves with 'Kinesis'." "Oh. Can you teach it
Ice Beam instead of Toxic?" "Okay." The mew hopped up onto the table in the
Kennel lab. Dan typed in the code and put a small device in front of the mew.
"Okay, this device is going to be placed in front of your mew. It will flash
for a couple seconds and then stop. Your mew will then forget Toxic and learn
Ice Beam." "Okay."

Chapter 4.

Nine floated to the front of the center. "Hmm. Here goes..." Nine rushed into
the door of the clinic, or to be more precise, right through the door of the
clinic. The nurse at the front desk screamed. Nine glared at her and started
to reach out his hand toward her. "Stupid human." Nine started to concentrate
and slowly crush her brain. "This is the move psychic; another example of why
I am the superior species." Suddenly, Nine felt dizzy again and his
concentration broke. "Not again..." Nine fell to the floor. The nurse gasped
for air and fainted. Nine felt his power return to him. "That was longer than
the first time... I'm poisoned.. damned dirty mew." Nine floated over the
counter of the front desk and activated the "rest" machine. "It'll be just a
few seconds..." A small bell signaled that Nine was healed. "Hmm. Now, to
begin my search again.." Nine burst through the roof of the building and
floated back into the sewers to look for the ratatas.

The rotors of the helicopter made a horrible loud noise as the air craft
landed. "So, mew, do you wanna find some poachers?" "Mew!" Matt unstrapped
his seat belt after the plane landed and stepped out of the helicopter. "Good
day, sir." One of the preserve attendents said. "I'm here to inspect your
facility and write up a full report of the condition of this preserve." Matt
said. "Actually, I'm lying out my teeth and feeding you some enviromental
crap to get you the Hell out of my way so I can catch the poachers." Matt
thought to himself. "I hope you enjoy your stay at our fine cubone preserve,
sir." Matt cracked a slight, almost malicious, smile and went to his quarters
in the main building of the preserve.

That night, Matt and his mew lay hidden in the tall grass of the preserve.
They silently watched a small herd of cubones grazing in the grass. Suddenly,
two figures snuck out of a nearby cave and moved towards the cubones. Matt
spotted the two figures and threw a rock at the cubones. The cubones were
startled and ran away. The figures stopped in their tracks and started to
move back toward the cave. Matt and his mew followed them. "See what you did!
You probably frightened the cubones away! The boss is not going to be too
happy if we don't meet the quota." "I didn't scare the cubones away, jerk.
They just ran away. You probably were up wind of them." Matt had activated a
small microphone recorder and was taping their conversation. "Mew?" Matt
whispered. "Use your dig move and burrow directly under them. When I say go..
dig out of the ground and use your Ice Beam move."

Matt opened his jacket and took a small low-caliber gun out of the strap he
had in the inner pocket of the coat. "Freeze!" Matt yelled as he stepped
into the cave. The poachers glared at him and one of them said. "To denounce
the evils of truth and.." "Shut the Hell up and raise your hands to the sky."
Matt interupted. "Aren't you cocky." The other one said as he took out a
pokéball. "Mew, GO!" Matt yelled and the mew quickly dug out of the ground
and used it's Ice Beam to freeze the two Rocket members feet to the floor.
"Hah. We'll get out of this yet!" Said one of the poachers as he threw his
pokéball toward the ground. Out popped a raticate. Normally, a raticate is
only about two feet high. This thing was closer to three feet high.
"Raticate! HYPER FANG!" The raticate dove at Matt. "Mew, Psybeam, now!" Mew
was still floating in the air and sent out a Psybeam that knocked the
raticate out of its leap. The raticate banged in to the side of the cave and
bounced back onto the ground. It was hurt; but it still got back onto its
feet again. "Hmm." Matt thought. The raticate shot out a beam of light and
hit the mew to the ground. "Uh oh.. it knows Hyper Beam.. it'll take it a few
minutes to recharge for another one.." Matt punched out one of the Rocket
members and took a small hunters knife from the unconcious poachers vest.
Matt picked up a stone and threw it at the raticate. The raticate got angry
and ran towards Matt. Matt leaped at the raticate and sliced off one of its
whiskers. The raticate landed on the ground with a thud. "They lose their
balance when their whiskers are cut." Matt said as he quickly cut off the
raticates five other whiskers. The raticate struggled to get back on its
feet; but couldn't. "Well, it looks like your rat is down for the count."
Matt said in a condenscending tone to the other, still concious, poacher. The
poacher just glared at him. "Too bad you didn't bring any more pokémon.. this
arrest would have been more interesting." Matt went over to the mew which had
just gotten back on its feet again. "Hearty little critter aren't you."

"I know they are here somewhere... I can sense them. No.. that isn't a lousy
ratata that I'm sensing.." Nine stopped and looked around. A bolt of
lightning flew past his head. "A pikachu?" Nine said as he turned to face his
attacker. The Pikachu shot Swift at Nine. "So, you want to play rough?" Nine
teleported behind the pikachu and used Swift to knock it into the water. Nine
pointed to where the pikachu was and started to concentrate. The pikachu
started to convulse in a spasmodic seizure. Nine smiled devilishly as the
pikachu started yelping. "Aww. The cute little pikachu is going to die. It
almost breaks my heart. Ha Ha Ha - aauuckk." Something slashed Nine from
behind. Nine turned around to see a scyther.. or was it two scythers? The
pikachu stopped shaking and ran away. "Hmm... this should be an interesting
fight.." Nine remarked.


The End.

COPYRIGHT DMG ICE 1999