FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

[11:02 - 12 August - Morphing Genetics Lab, Sovereign Base]

As Seraph drew her paw away from the desk phone, she looked up expectantly at the empty space in the middle of the room. The laboratory lit with a flash of blue light as Pebble materialised in the room. The bright disturbance of his teleport made the sleeping occupants in the tanks around the room fidget and generate bubbles in the dark green goop they were suspended in.

"Really Pebble, I've told you before. Please either walk here or teleport outside," came a human voice from behind the Lucario, as the feline turned around in the air to see Doctor Joyce standing beside his teammate.

Joyce was a fair bit older than many of the other young and fit trainers and military folks on the base. In her early 50's, she had a face that spoke of an instinctive wisdom that the Mew always found reassuring. Her skin was lightly tanned, as despite her many hours down in the dark labs looking after the Pokémon being morphed, she still took the time to get up on the surface and not lose touch with the real world above. Her dark red hair, highlighted with hints of purple, was tied up in a neat and tidy bun, like an explosion of energy contained at the moment of bursting. A set of thin reading spectacles, much like the ones Seraph also preferred, sat on her nose.

"You said it was urgent," Pebble said as he floated over to them both, a smirk under his rounded nose.

"Still," replied Joyce as she took her glasses from her face, "the fact you give off the sort of psychic energy you do can give our patients strange dreams. Teleporting in like that lets off a huge blast of it."

"Doctor?" interrupted the Lucario, trying to stop another rant before it began.

"Right-right, hold on." Returning the glasses to her face, Joyce tapped at her computer until the large monitoring panel on one wall pushed its status screens to one side to display the file she'd sent to it. "What do you make of this, Commander?" she asked.

Pebble floated slowly closer to the screen as his eyes scanned over the corrupted Rocket document. The text was broken in places and photos distorted but there were still enough details to make out.

There was a curious shape in the picture, a green gel like appendage, translucent enough that strange organs and components of the living being could be seen suspended inside it. "Is that... a Reuniclus arm?" he said in surprise.

"We think so," replied Seraph, impressed that the Mew recognised it.

Pebble had been taught a lot about the morphing program, its history, successes, failures. Although it was just the basics - most of his training had been in tactics, after all, not the sciences like Seraph. The limitations of the gene-therapy and nanoscopic machines the scientists had used to create him and the others were in the basic course of knowledge. He looked again at the picture.

"But, it looks almost human shaped. Reuniclus, you told me, can't be morphed. Its structure, even as a Pokémon, is too unstable."

Joyce strode over from her terminal to the monitor. "You're right. Using our normal techniques, even with the most advanced nano-stabilisers used to make you, the cells we've tried in cultures before just don't hold together. They've always been on the 'don't even think about it' list as it were."

"So this was some kind of crazy experiment to try it anyway?" asked Pebble.

"One that succeeded," said Seraph as she tapped to send over another page, showing the data and written reports of the morph not only holding together but alive and flourishing.

"How did they do it?" asked the Mew.

"I'm glad you asked that," said Joyce as she tapped the file and zoomed in on two words that had escaped being corrupted. "If we're reading this correctly, Team Rocket could be sitting on something so dangerous not even they would use it if they knew."

Pebble read the words aloud, "Morphilogical-Pathogen?"

"They didn't start with Pokémon, or even a cell sample of a Pokémon like a certain psychic petri-dish I know," teased Seraph as she walked up to beside her team mate, resting one of her spiked paws on his shoulder.

"Hey, I've told you before, don't call me that," grumbled Pebble. He clicked his fingers and a bubble blooped into existence around the Lucario, scooping her off her feet as she floated into the air, and tumbled onto her back inside the perfectly smooth inner surface. She yelped as she did, making the cat grin.

"If you please, 'Commander'," stressed Joyce, "this is quite serious. They started with humans."

The human suddenly had the mischievous Mew's full attention, the bubble popping and Seraph catching herself to land on her feet.

"What do you mean humans?" asked Pebble as Seraph walked past, sticking her tongue out at the cat surreptitiously and putting on her own glasses on to manipulate the documents further.

The doctor explained, "They effectively used an engineered virus, carrying Reuniclus DNA, to infect and trigger the human subject's body to change. After just a matter of hours the process was irreversible and their subject was at that point, effectively a Pokémorph. They'd even begun to show signs of tapping into new mental powers."

The Lucario turned and pointed to a large corrupted section. "I tried to access more on the subject they picked but it was too heavily encrypted and with the damage to the files, decoding it's impossible."

"Okay, so you said this was dangerous, how?" asked the Mew.

"It's a virus," explained Joyce. "Viruses don't limit themselves to just one subject. The right mutation, the right accident and this thing could spread far beyond just Rocket's selected few. They could inadvertently turn the whole human race into Reuniclus, or whatever other species' DNA that they mix into this pathogen."

"Then what the hell were they thinking?" Pebble said, alarm spiking in his voice as he stared at the screen, "Rocket are way too unstable to not use it."

"End of the world type stuff huh?" came a dour voice from the entrance of the room as Dex floated in, eyes already reading the screens.

"Well, the end of civilisation as we know it," replied Joyce as she looked over the Mewtwo, the bruising on his arms still fading from their last mission. She was about to open her mouth again when he interrupted her.

"And I'm feeling fine doctor, thank you for almost asking."

Pebble looked to his second. "We need to put a stop to this," the Mew said urgently, gesturing at the screen, "We can go in, capture this Pokémorph and destroy the facility. We should be able to wipe out any stock they have of this virus before it gets moved around or used again."

Joyce frowned at the screen. "I don't like sending you out again so soon." She looked back at Dex. "You all need time to rest and recover."

"I fear this is too important to ignore," Seraph said. "We have to take care of it before Rocket moves the virus."

The scientist looked at the screens of garbled data and sighed. "Okay, I'll talk to Nicholas myself about getting this op approved, but you all have to promise..." She was cut off as Dex leaned past her and peered at the screens.

"I think the op needs one small alteration. We have to get him too." Dex tapped at one name on the display with the large round tip of his finger. The Mewtwo then turned and without a further word floated out of the room. Pebble didn't try to stop him, or it seemed, disagree.

Seraph's attention turned to the name. "Doctor... Paramount? What's the deal with him and Dex?"

Joyce laid a hand on her assistant's shoulder, looking even more worried now, "He was on the Mewtwo project, and the only one to survive that didn't have a change of heart over how we should treat engineered lifeforms."

"Oh boy..." replied the Lucario. "Maybe we should give this to Team Dragon instead? I don't think we should let Dex anywhere near them, he's emotional enough at the best of times, and some scientist known for torturing Mewtwo clones... I think it'd be a really bad idea to take him on that op."

"Dragon couldn't handle this sort of mission. You know it has to be us," Pebble said with a sigh, as Seraph's frown deepened. The Mew sighed and squeezed her arm. "I'll keep an eye on him, okay? Joyce and I will go talk to Nick, go tell the others to get ready."

---

[21:45 - 12 August - On route to Rocket Base 27D, Cleyera region]

It didn't take much once Joyce had explained things to Nicholas and the others of the implicit threat that the virus pertained. The day was spent planning and preparing, and by nightfall they were underway.

The one thing they had in their favour with these strange out-of-the-way bases that Rocket held was they tended to rely more on their covert location rather than a significant security force to protect them, and the Team would still be scrambling to deploy more staff after their data leak.

In this case, the target facility was a mostly underground laboratory, located under the ruse of a weather station high in the mountains of the Cleyera region, about two hours away at full speed flight.

At a kilometre out, Pebble sent the instruction to mask their suits' running lights, as they drew to a stop in the air. J pulled a set of binoculars from his pack and tapped them on, the feed from the lenses going to all of the team's HUDs, as the Rattata searched the ground for a landing spot.

"There, west of the main building, some kind of equipment garage. Should give us optical cover," he reported.

Zooming straight down wasn't really an option - even if their equipment was dark, the ethereal glow of psychic energy that kept them all aloft would give them away. They had to teleport the last hop, but with never having been there before, the cats would need to see where it was they were teleporting to.

"Everybody ready? Going in five, four..." timed Pebble, counting down as the team steeled themselves. At 'go!', he and Dex shut their eyes - for them it was nothing, a simple thought that they should be over there and there they were. For the others pulled along for the ride, it always felt like being tugged backwards through a cold sharp ice shower and thrown out the other side. They'd all done it a few times but it still never felt great, as they all landed with thumps and rolls to their feet.

Once on the ground they didn't waste any more time. They raced forwards into the shadows of the equipment garage. With their suits still masked and Seraph watching for living auras approaching they had time to be subtle. Pebble and Dex would have preferred to go in kicking the doors down, but cooler heads had prevailed at the mission briefing, so Seraph was hacking the perimeter security whilst J made sure they stayed hidden.

It didn't take long for the Lucario to have the door open and the group moved through the garage, deploying their buddies as they went. The Pokémon fanned out, watching, scouting, observing, expanding the perimeter and number of eyes 151 had watching their ingress into the hostile location. In the end it was not really necessary; Seraph had the elevator into the complex open and the meagre security of the weather station bypassed. As their lift car approached the sub-level which allowed entry into the actual base, however, the girl's security taps started to encounter more resistance.

"As soon as these doors open, Pebble, we're going to trigger something. I can't shut down their eyes and ears remotely." The Lucario sighed and tapped at the panel on her wrist. "As expected, their main security grid isn't operating anything wireless and it's not connected to the upstairs or elevator systems."

Pebble stretched and held up his hands whilst Dex settled into a crouch by his side, "Then we go in and tear it up. No point even trying to sneak then." The Mew glanced at the schematics Seraph had pulled out of the system. Just outside the lobby, the corridor split three ways. "Dex you take right, I'll go left. Seraph, Flint, straight ahead, and J into the vents, find a physical way into their security. Give us what cover you can."

J sighed and nodded, clicking his visor down, "Always the vents. I never get to go climb into the boudoir or the sauna, air vents... every time."

"Oh hush," Flint rumbled, giving the rat a nudge. "You love it squeaks."

Seraph suddenly perked up, a blue glow around the back of her helmet as she slipped past the others to the door. "Hold on, let me take point."

All of them stood ready as the elevator drew to a stop. With a chime the doors slid open and Seraph leapt out like a pouncing wolf, tackling one of the two guards she'd sensed outside, both human. One slumped as she knocked him to the ground with a glowing fist while the other screamed in shock.

His shout for help was cut short as Dex lifted his arm and the guard's body was picked up and thrown against a wall, collapsing in a slump as he was cleanly knocked out.

Despite their perfect intrusion, their ears and snouts turned upwards as an alarm sounded and red lights began to pulse in the walls. "Ah, our theme song," quipped Flint as he strode forward, grabbing Seraph by the paw and helping her up before the two set off at a sprint.

Before they got far though, the sound of clicking machinery overheard drew their attention, and they split, diving into the cover of an alcove on either side of the hall as two auto targeting canons dropped from the ceiling and locked on to their heat signatures. A few bullets grazed their armour but they made it to the cover as back at the elevator the two psi-cats floated out, shield bubbles holding around them both as J took cover behind them.

The Mew and Mewtwo formed their hands in mirrored motions as they charged energy balls between their paws and then lobbed them at the guns. There was a crash of light but no explosion, and the shimmer of some kind of shield protecting the weapons made both the cats pause in surprise.

"J, get in the wall, shut these down!" yelled Pebble, as the volley of fire continued, each one making the Mew and Mewtwo's bubbles fluctuate and decrease in size.

Klep, J's Klefki, unhooked itself and went for the air vent, using one of its thinner keys to spin each screw till the cover fell with a clatter and the Rattata scrambled inside.

"Gimme a minute!" came J's voice over the radio as Pebble and Dex pressed themselves back to back, both with an arm raised towards the guns as they combined forces to maintain a single shield for them both but even that was starting to glow and shrink under the force.

"J, in a minute there are going to be two angry cats out here hunting a rat to know why their tails are full of holes! Get a move on!" yelled back Dex as their shield started to crackle.

As the two started to retreat back, they glanced about but there was no cover to retreat into. The shield was starting to fail before, with a fizzle and pop, the glowing protective field around the guns dispersed and Seraph and Flint leapt from their hiding places. Aura spheres fired from Seraph's paws, and Flint's helmet's jaw plate snapped open as he shot out a flame burst, both of them smashing and slagging the guns.

As things fell silent in the kill box of a lobby, the two cats dropped down to their feet, taking a moment to recover. A tile in the roof dropped down with a crash and J carefully stuck his head out and peered down. "Everyone okay?"

"Less dramatic timing please," panted Pebble as he clipped up his visor and stared at the cannons before they looked down the corridors. "Looks like those are the only two out here, but everyone keep an eye out for point defence deeper in. Call for back up if you need it.

"Okay, everyone, as before. Let's get going before their own back up arrives."

The corridor's lights strobed on and off with pulsating red light as the alarm continued its plaintive wail for attention. Its cry for help was quietened however as Flint's armoured fist plunged through the speaker grill built into the wall. The Charmeleon reached past the shattered plastic and fabric and jerked out a handful of wires and hurled them onto the floor with a disgruntled "chaaa," and a puff of smoke from his nostrils.

"Was that really necessary?" Seraph asked from where she was crouched fiddling with a set of door controls. "Everyone knows we are here now."

"Yes, the alarm is really annoying," the black lizard hissed as he kept watch along the corridor for anyone approaching. "I don't even have ears, surely its worse for you?"

"It is mildly unpleasant yes," Seraph replied, standing up as the doors hissed open. "But I have enough restraint to not smash everything just because I can."

Grumbling quietly Flint followed the Lucario into the room, looking around warily as the lights started to come on. It was a massive space, with a raised circular wall in the centre above which something was suspended in a blue-white light. The Charmeleon didn't stop to really examine it, as the two figures in white coats scrambling into a small elevator on the far side of the room were his primary focus.

"Halt! You're under arrest in the name of the Pokémon league!" The black Charmeleon put on a burst of agility, Cogs deploying from the back of his armour, the Klang whirling across the room in pursuit, only to bounce off the doors as they snapped closed. Flint slid to a stop, clawed feet gouging divots out of the metal floor. Quickly he forced his claws between the doors and heaved, starting to pull them apart only to reveal empty space on the other side.

"Leave them Flint!" Seraph shouted from behind him. "You need to see this." The Charmeleon huffed and glared at the offending lift shaft then reached out to gently pet Cogs' form.

"You did good buddy. Next time," he murmured, as he stalked back to join Seraph at the main console, eyes scanning the laboratory in case any more Rocket scientists were hiding out. All he could see were machines he didn't recognize, but the big sea-shell shaped cloning rig he knew. But its output seemed to be connected to the large circular platform/pool in the middle of the room, which was odd.

Sidling up next to Seraph he peered at the screens, then looked up at the Pokémon hanging suspended in the centre of the chamber. It was weird looking, with a red-bug like carapace and abdomen but a flat head and a weird hump for back and shoulders. It wasn't a Scyther or Scizor, it seemed to have metallic points for paws instead of claws or fingers, and it was all tucked up, flat, streamlined and like no species he'd seen before.

"So what is it, some sort of bug Pokémon?"

"Yes... but a prehistoric one," Seraph answered, her eyes glued to the screens of the console in front of her. Several cables had deployed from her armour and plugged directly into several ports on the consoles, and as her fingers moved over the controls the screens changed. "It is called Genesect, a supposedly extinct Pokémon. According to these notes its DNA was extracted by Team Plasma in Unova and stolen by Rocket, which confirms our earlier intel."

"Great, so Rocket has made a replacement for Mewtwo? What is it with those guys and fucking about with ancient Pokémon DNA?" Frowning at the creature, he pointed at it. "What's that thing on its back, it looks like a cannon. You can't tell me that is natural?"

"No," Seraph frowned. "It has been adapted and modified by Team Rocket, that's something called a ... Techno Blaster." She looked up at the creature and sighed, "The poor thing has been violated in ways I cannot even beginto imagine."

Opening one of the pockets on his back, Flint pulled out a block of C4 and moved around the console to stick it to the side of the containment wall. "Well this isn't what we came here for, but come on. Download their data and we'll scoot. I'll blow this thing with the rest of the base."

"Flint," Seraph snapped, her head coming up to glare at him. "We can't just murder this Pokémon, it is an innocent in all this."

"Seraph it's a weapon, you said it yourself it's been genetically manipulated to have a cannon growing out of its back!" Flint walked back to the console and stuck another explosive packet to it. "We can't let it live. Come on, do the download and let's go find the others."

"No, we have to try and help it. If I can break through this encryption I can wake it up and set it free from Rocket." She glared at her partner. "It deserves a chance at life."

Groaning, Flint shook his head. "Come on Seraph, you seriously think Rocket hasn't learnt its lesson about free will and genetic experiments? It's even more technologically focused then Mewtwo; it's probably been programmed with their stupid motto and nothing else right from the start."

"We have to try!" the Lucario growled. "We can't just leave it here to die just as it is starting out in life. I just need some time to break through their security, then I can set it free."

Flint groaned and threw his hands up. "Fine, do what you like. You've got until I've mined this lab, then we're leaving."

---

Having only run into a single terrified lab technician in the corridor who he'd easily put to sleep, Pebble drifted to the end of the hallway.

The doors barring his way sparked as the Mew utilised the power of his mind to push them apart. Drifting slowly into the lab Pebble's mind's eye skipped around, but he couldn't sense anyone. This didn't stop him from being cautious however. Rocket loved to sneak dark-type morphs and Pokémon into places, to try and get the drop on the Pokémon league's psychic troops, but he hadn't fallen for that in a long time now. Still, the room was well lit and after his quick visual search found nothing lurking, the Mew started to inspect the laboratory in further detail.

It looked like the sort of place medical research might be carried out. There were workbenches covered in vials, and powerful microscopes, and petri dishes all racked up and waiting to be used. There was even a centrifuge, identical to the ones Professor Joyce used in her laboratory back at HQ. Sighing, the Mew pressed his armoured paw against the chrome surface. It was sad to think that in essence they were all the same people. It was only Rocket's twisted ideology that had started this war, otherwise they were similar in so many ways... same tech, same Pokémon, just different ways of seeing the world and their purpose within it.

Shaking his head, Pebble started to try loading up the computers. They powered up but he was immediately confronted with the data security system.

"I'll begin an intrusion attempt, Commander However, might I recommend a dead tree search?" chirped Zero as it highlighted an object in his HUD.

Pebble smiled, and the filing cabinet wasn't locked for very long. He began to leaf through the files inside, occasionally glancing at the door, but so far no back up had materialised. Whatever security forces were here, he could safely assume the rest of the team had found, dealt with and dispatched. They'd clearly been lucky in choosing a time with the lowest number of personnel on site.

The paper files, what relevant records he did find, were not that interesting however; most of them were stamped with a great big "Failure" in red ink and very thin. The detailed records for the failures had been discarded - there was space in the files for more paperwork, and evidence that some of these folders had been quite thick from the way the card was bent, but now they all seemed to contain single sheets of paper.

Pebble went through the drawers in quick succession, the fifth one finally yielding something more significant. There were only two files but both of them were quite thick, he quickly opened the first folder and froze as he read the text on the cover sheet.

RNA Transcription Codex - V-G-006

Morphological Pathogen

Human to Pokémorph RNA transcription infection

Current DNA Model - Reuniclus

Batch 006 - Stable

Test Subject: H-543

Daisy Waterflower

Transformation - Success

Subject Terminated after final tests

Pebble just stood there for a moment, staring at the picture of a golden blonde woman clipped to the file. Underneath it was a Reuniclus, with human characteristics and a terrified, broken expression on its soft green face. Pebble knew the name Daisy Waterflower; from Cerulean Gym, she and a number of other top trainers had been captured about six months ago when Team Rocket assaulted the supply convoy she had been helping to protect. Flicking through the file Pebble saw that it was mostly medical data, statistics, test results, but there was a whole appendix full of pictures detailing the daily then hourly changes of Daisy as she was transformed from a young, twenty-something human into a gelatinous morph with barely any human features. It was gruesome, the virus was clearly designed to infect human DNA and force duplication and regeneration... it looked like a painful process without the protective isolation of a morphing tank, but it had been successful.

Picking up the second folder, Pebble frowned, then went back through the other drawers, pulling out the folders marked with failure and looking at them all. Every name was familiar; he'd seen them all on the missing persons lists circulated by the Pokémon League brass. They were using humans to test their virus, League humans; people he'd known, fought with, prisoners of war! It was obvious when Pebble thought about it; who else would they use in these foul experiments? certainly not their own people!

Letting out a snarl of anger, Pebble lashed out with a sharp flick of his tail. His psychic energy shattering the rows of clean, tidy test tubes, petri dishes and other glassware. He picked up a microscope from the desk he'd been using and physically threw it across the lab but at the sound of an unusual clang, he focused to look at what it had struck.

The broken device had bounced off the sturdy door of the large, secure safe built into the wall. Panting slightly from having let out his anger, the cat dug his claws into the safe door and channelling his energy into his arms and muscles, he tore it off its hinges and hurled it through one of the glass tubes standing in the middle of the room. It made a very satisfying crashing sound.

The cat would have continued on his angry rampage but the label on the vials within the refrigerated safe caught his attention:

RNA Transcription Codex - V-G-006, Prototype Batch

There were ten spaces in the rack, two were empty but the other eight were full.

He'd found it, and if they were really lucky this was the only batch they had, and this lab's systems would contain the research notes. If they could destroy that and track down the second test subject, they could put an end to this horrific program before it went into mass production.

Calming himself down, he moved back to the desk and opened the second folder. The Mew-morph froze as he stared at the name.

"Oh no, no, this is bad," he breathed, and with a thought activated his radio - and then yowled as static assaulted his ears. Something was jamming their comms hard; he had to find the others before the second Reuniclus found them. Starting for the door he jerked back as a ceiling panel dropped and Jay stuck his head out, the Rattata's armoured helmet tracking around to stare at Pebble and the ball of energy levelled at him.

"I thought I recognized the girly screaming," he quipped as his helmet pulled back and Pebble collapsed the energy ball. "Comms are out boss, but I take it from the cat chorus you noticed? I've shut off what security I can but this place is pretty compartmentalised. Most systems are hard-wired and individual and they have some top grade gear scattering all radio bands if you try to talk to anyone beyond ten feet away."

Reaching up the Mew pulled the rat out of the ceiling and helped him to the ground. "I've found it, what we're after, go find Seraph, bring her here now! We have to destroy this." He glanced back at the lab. "I'll stay here and secure the lab." The Rattata paused, waiting if there was more to follow. "Go J! Now!"

J nodded and scampered out into the corridor at speed, glancing back. He'd never seen Pebble so agitated.

---

As the sounds of his companions' footsteps faded away, the only sound that remained as Dex floated down the corridor was the electrical hum of lighting and the occasional hiss of pumps and other plant machines in the structure of the base.

The further down the corridor he went, the darker it seemed to become, lights installed but only every-other one activated. Eventually only one in every four lit up. The pulse of the red alarm lights became more prominent as it seemed like this part of the building might not even be in use.

The Mewtwo waved his hand at the panel for a side door, activating the button, and it slid open... but the small room inside was left empty and spare.

"WTF, should we even bother with this way?"

<Yes.>

<Plans show...>

<... a large lab ahead,> the Magneton replied.

"Fine, but I'm starting to think the others just want us out of the way."

<That would be...>

<...an inefficient use of us.>

"Yes, wouldn't it just."

The 'two continued down the corridor, and after a bend, it suddenly was showing more promise. The pathway stopped before a large double set of doors and a keypad, locked.

Dex flicked his tail and just stared at it, his eyes turning a solid red, as with sparking and crunching the doors ripped themselves from their grooves and bent inwards, as though bowing to the psychic cat. He drifted through the doorway to the room beyond.

Inside, the surroundings were familiar. Large empty tanks, green tinted glass, low lights set close to the floor giving the chamber and eerie glow. His mind reached out as he cast his vision across the room. He could sense himself, Weber, Farad, Tesla and... one other.

There was a flash of light and the sound of a gunshot from the darkness as he turned in the direction of the fourth mind. The ripple and ping of the bullet striking a lightning fast Protect field from his buddy gave the Mewtwo all the thinking time he needed to not be there anymore and by the time the second, third and fourth shots were exiting the gun he was viewing them from behind the shooter, hand raising as he enveloped the human in a psychic hold, and forced him out of the shadows and to drop his gun.

"So when your science fails you, you turn to the crudest weapons of man?" asked Dex as the scientist kicked his legs uselessly in the air, sounding like he could barely breath.

"I was.. trying to save you from a far worse fate than a bullet through the brain, Mewtwo," gasped Paramount defiantly, the scientist slowly turned in the air, forced to face Dex as the cat regarded him like caught prey.

"Really? Save me? I suppose that would be a first for you wouldn't it? I can't even beginto understand your tiny mind doctor, any more than you could even start to comprehend what you created in us."

The human stared at him, his face was grim, barely shaven, hair unkempt and from his appearance and odour it seemed like he'd not left this room in weeks. "Oh I've had a long time to contemplate the mistake your kind was..." he began.

The Mewtwo stared at him, eyes thin, "Mistake? Your greatest creations a mistake?" His hold tightened, the human's eyes starting to redden as he reached inside him, pinching the nerves and veins of his throat.

"Yes, when we... when we made your predecessor we started with a Pokémon. Weak, uncontrolled, undisciplined of mind. Humans should always have been our focus. Even my former colleagues worked this out when they made you. But even they still started with a Pokémon. Still making the same errors."

Dex felt like his blood was boiling, the hubris of this human, in his grasp, his life in the Mewtwo's hands and yet still he did not respect him. "Do you feel nothing after what you have done to our kind?" he gasped.

"I feel.. I feel.." Paramount twitched, a wretched laugh coming from his throat, his face flush almost as red as his captor's tail. "I feel the final data shall be glorious Mewtwo."

The cat stared at him, a cold icy stare in his eyes as the glow around the scientist shifted to a darker and darker red till it seemed to draw the light in around it.

"My name, is Dex. ... Let me make sure you don't forget it."

There was a sickening crush and gurgle from the human as the Mewtwo began to slowly press his fingers together in his hand, the scientist getting somehow, smaller. Liquid began to gush and bleed, dripping to the floor as Paramount stared at the Mewtwo in shock as he just kept pressing his fingers closer together, and the human's limbs compacted into themselves, crushing and squeezing and snapping and forced tighter together.

Behind him, the Magneton's eyes were shut as it couldn't watch, and simply heard the gargles as Dex crushed the human tighter and tighter. The Mewtwo took his time and only with one final crunch did it cease, and finish with the sound of a heavy thunk as something no bigger than a football landed with a wet splat in the puddle of spilled blood on the floor.

Dex floated for a moment, a sensation like the calm at the end of a storm settling in his mind as he turned to leave.

A voice stopped him.

All that and you still didn't notice me. That is promising.

---

Pebble was slouched over the desk with a stack of failed files, opening each one and recording the names of the fallen. It was a horrible job but their families, the league deserved to know what Rocket had been doing to their prisoners. It also wasn't the best practice to be doing it in the middle of a live fire op but he was pretty sure he was secure where he was, at least for now. As he opened each file Pebble ran his wrist across the page, scanning the text and images with his wrist-computer, it took a second or two for each one and soon enough he was out of folders. Sighing he turned to look at the computer terminal were Zero was still interfacing with Rocket's digital research materials.

"Zero haven't you finished that yet?"

"Sorry Commander," the porygon-z responded over Pebble's helmet speakers, "Rocket's security architecture is very robust. I have isolated this system from all external access ports. I felt it prudent to ensure remote access by Rocket security cannot interrupt my research."

"Oh, well ok, anything I can do to help?"

"Yes Commander," the mew's HUD lit up highlighting a junction box built into the wall, "Open that and rip out all the grey and yellow cables. This will sever the connections of the medical research servers from the base network, their security protocols are already attempting to over-ride my electronic lock outs."

Pebble smiled inside his helmet and drifted over to the box, he pulled the door off and started to pluck wires out of their ports. Keeping busy was important, he couldn't sit in here and brood about what had been done to everyone, he had to get even!

"Excellent Commander, remote access to the Medical Research Database in this laboratory has now been severed. I am beginning a decryption run please... Warning sir! Watch..."

Pebble didn't even get the chance to turn, his HUD dissolved into a haze of white as something slammed into the back of his head and pushed him face first into the junction box. Sparks flew, power arched and Pebble screamed as he was hit again. It felt like something had reached past all his mental defences, grabbed hold of his psychic power and was using it to burn his body from the inside out.

His arms flailing, he kicked his legs as he fell backwards, spitting as he couldn't swallow, the mew collapsed backwards and fitted against the tiled floor. His body jerked uncontrollably, the plating on his shoulders smashed into the tiles as his ankles drummed against the floor. His head came up and smashed down again and again until the pressure of psychic power building inside his brain pulsed outwards. His helmet shattered, pieces of plexi-glass, plastic and ceramic composite flying in every direction as all his muscles locked up, then went limp and unresponsive.

Chest heaving as he gulped down breaths, Pebble struggled to rise, to stand, to defend himself but he could do nothing to stop the pair of massive arms that reached out and plucked him off the ground. Pebble had a momentary glimpse of a feral tyranitar, a hulking green dinosaur of dark rock, staring down at him before the creature spun him around and suspended him like a limp rag doll to face the door.

He felt drained, it was all he could do to keep breathing and move his eyes, his body wouldn't respond and without his helmet he had no way of checking the status of his armour. There was no sign of Zero however, which could have been a good thing, or a bad thing he didn't know... whatever the dark type had used on him had been foul, the foulest thing he had ever felt and now he was probably about to die.

He coughed, spat and finally spoke in his native feline hiss. <What... do you want?> he demanded of the tyranitar, <You might as well... finish me off, I will never talk.>

<My master wishes you alive mutant,> the pokémon replied, increasing its grip and squeezing Pebble, <Silence now, he approaches.>

Footsteps in the corridor signalled someone was approaching; whatever had been done to him made Pebble's head ring, it sounded like there were four feet approaching. An odd echo that wouldn't dissipate even as he shook his head, it quickly became clear however that it was no echo as another pokémon stepped into the room. They had a cream body on four blue hooves, a long fluffy blue tail and mane that transformed into a shock of fluffy red hair surrounding a wickedly sharp horn.

"Keldeo..." Pebble gaped in shock as the legendary horse stood regarding him for a long moment, he shook his head and struggled to find strength to use his powers but he was so drained. He'd expected some Rocket lieutenant, not as mythic as his own ancestry.

Yes, it is I, the legendary horse finally spoke into Pebble's mind.

Thank you for opening the way into this place for us, Mew of mankind. And my thanks to you Tyranitar for demonstrating your power to this fraud. Dark moves are such delightful things, aren't they Mew of man?

"My... name... is Pebble," the morph panted defiantly, shaking his head and struggling weakly. "What, what is going on here, what are you doing?"

I am ending the war, just like you and your human friends dream of, no? The horse lowered its head and looked into the fridge containing the virus, then turned to regard the Mew. Humanity have killed hundreds of people and Pokémon in this war... their own science has given us the means to end it.

"You... you mustn't take that, it has to be destroyed, we have to destroy it! You cannot let it leave here, it'll ruin humanity, turn them all into Reuniclus-morphs."

The vials of virus glowed with a faint blue light, lifting out of the rack in the fridge, settling into a slow spin around Kaldeo's head as he regarded Pebble with dark eyes. Of course, that would be unforgivable. Such an unbalancing of species, it could ruin the world. But that is where you come in.

Pebble opened his mouth to respond but never got the chance. The Pokémon leapt at him, its horn suddenly glowing and transforming into a shining serrated blue blade.

He felt the Tyranitar let go as the horse shifted his head and, with a sickening sound of slicing flesh and fabric, impaled the Mew on his secret sword. The blade cut right through his under armour as though it wasn't there and emerged from the far side, leaving the Mew.

He gasped, feeble hands clutching at the blade as his blood flowed down the serrated edges of the legendary horse's horn. The legendary lifted Pebble up, letting his blood flow down his horn and gather in a glowing sphere in the air before his eyes, ignoring the choking, gurgling Mew feebly struggling above him.

After what seemed like forever, Kaldeo tossed Pebble away, discarding the Mew into a heap against one wall as the sphere of blood began to glow. The legendary beast's power then split the sphere of blood, mingling it with the virus stored in each vial, as he turned toward the door.

It is with your existence, that our plan is possible. Humanity shall cease and Pokémon will rule the world, once again with balance and justice, and this war shall end.

As the two Pokémon left the room, Pebble could feel the darkness rushing in, that taunting voice whispering one last time. Goodbye, Pebble. He could hear the venom in his voice as the legendary thought his name. I shall see to it you are remembered. The DNA of Mew and the science of man will be their downfall.

---

Dex spun around as he tried to lock on to the source of that voice. He could still only sense himself and his Magneton, and the voice seemed to come from everywhere. Almost the same way when he and Pebble spoke to each other's minds. There was no movement on his radar HUD.

"WTF, is anyone else here?"

<Nothing...>

<...on sensors...>

<...Dex.>

I really don't know what my father saw in your kind. Such untampered creatures. Too complex for your own good.

The voice again. It was soft, feminine. Dex shouted in his own mind, unsure where to point his inner voice.

Okay, so you can hide from me. Real spooky.

His tail flicked in an irritated fashion as he heard a strange splut of something liquid hitting the floor from a high fall. Tipping his head slowly upward he stared into the darkness of the ceiling, reaching up and tapping on the lights on his helmet to illuminate the laboratory rafters.

The entire surface of the ceiling was coated in a thick green slime, moving, undulating. Alive. He froze as it began to move, collecting towards one point before it fell and landed with a sick wet splatter on the ground like a ball of mud. From there it began to push up, forming into a humanoid shape as thicker pieces and chunks solidified within the creature... until the form of the Reuniclus-morph completed, standing before the Mewtwo. It was about as tall as a human and had the figure of a woman. Its face stared out through a layer of the green gel that formed its outer body. The Mewtwo stared at her, and despite her terrifying appearance, something seemed familiar.

Have we met? he asked, as he used a thought to tap the control on his suit to feed what he was seeing to the others. A warning light in his HUD indicated it was recording but couldn't transmit due to interference. Typical.

"No. But I have met your kind before," she replied, vocally this time. Her mouth moved and she did speak, but looking at her semi-transparent body, it wasn't clear how. "They were responsible for the death of my father."

"I would say I'm sorry," replied Dex, "but if he was Rocket scum like you, then I'm glad."

What happened next confused the 'two. One moment he was floating there, dressing down this monstrosity, the next, it had him. Her body had remained where it was but one arm had been thrown up and reached out, expanding four times its original size and wrapping around him like a giant's fist. It threw him against one of the metallic walls of the lab, his suit absorbing some but not all of the impact, and Tesla on his back let out a buzzing chirp of pain as one of its magnets cracked.

Dex could feel the hate in her as she held him. Rather than talking it was like she was channelling raw thoughts and emotions into him. He'd obviously struck a blunt nerve. With it something more came too, a demand for him to respect, to submit to her.

He pressed out with his arms, his suit supporting him, and his fists glowing as he began to build his power. With a shove, break free of her grasp. "Who the fuck are you to demand that of me?" he snarled, energy balling between his hands as he flew up high.

_I am Valentina Giovanni,_she replied in his mind as she simply turned to stare at him, and her eyes glowed, the Mewtwo ceasing his charge as he felt pain course through his body in a psychic attack from her.

"Im.. possible.." gasped the cat as he broke free of her stare and zipped away, hiding behind a computer stack as he turned his hands towards himself. He shut his eyes, trying to focus on Recovery as he thought to her. You said your father is dead, but we know he is still the boss.

"Sorry to disappoint you," she replied, raising her hand, levelling it in his direction. "But I've been in charge for months. Orders are naturally still signed 'Giovanni', as my father and his mother before him did." With a purple black glow forming around her hand, she flicked the beam through the equipment towards the Mewtwo, it passing straight through his cover to hit him and flow over his body. "It was a Mewtwo from your side, another one of the Mew's protégés no doubt, that took down his helicopter. But I can see he hasn't trained you as well yet."

Dex had started to feel better from his Recovery, soreness fading and body mending, but when that wave passed through him it all stopped. A heal block. Trying to hide from her was clearly impossible, and there was only one option for him now.

He turned and rose out from behind his hiding place, casting his arm wide in a simple Swift star attack, as bright pellets of energy formed and targeted the Rocket. She began to move but the swift stars had locked on and chased her down. As they struck they definitely seemed to hurt her, but once the initial blast passed, there appeared to be no damage to her body at all; the green gel just flowed back into place.

As she lifted her arms he noticed something, though: one of the nodules within her hand was red and sore. He had to go after them. She didn't let up though, and indigo orbs of energy began to swirl around the arm, and then flew towards the cat one after another.

There was no point trying to avoid the psy-shocks, and Dex instead charged straight for them as they flew towards him. His hand formed into a fist as a red sword spread from his hand and he sliced the first ball, splitting it in two and deflecting it. He ducked the second and cut through the third, Valentina suddenly realising how close he was getting.

Tugging back her arms she covered her body, a shimmering shield of light screen coating her form. Dex just smirked as he pushed forward and brought his sword down, the red blade of slicing straight through the shield, Val only realising her mistake as the psychic cutting-edge scythed into her ear. It pushed and cleaved off the top of the nodule as the girl screamed.

Her voice gurgled as she suddenly collapsed her form down to a puddle, oozing across the floor as the Mewtwo landed back upon the ground. Head turning to track her with his helmet lights, her profile too thin to show up on radar.

So be it Mewtwo, you shall be the first to meet your kind's ultimate destruction.

With a fist forming from the puddle it splattered against one of the computer systems, pressing over the controls and a dull voice chirped from the system's speakers.

[Instruction Q-5T acknowledged, deploying...]

---

Sighing, Flint rolled his shoulders and looked over the empty laboratory. Yup, dark creepy, empty except for the sleeping Genesect, more explosives than a fireworks factory thanks to him, and Seraph working furiously at the console trying to crack the security protocols protecting the research data.

"Okay, that's enough," the Charmeleon growled, grabbing the Lucario-morph's arm. "We're wasting time. I'm sorry but our mission is to blow this place and that includes this bio-weapon. Come on Seraph, Pokémon or not, that's what it is."

"Flint!" Seraph growled back at the lizard, glaring at him, "We have too..."

She stopped as a suited figure jumped out of an air vent and rolled over to them both. Their sudden defensive posture relaxed as the green shade of J's armour came out of the gloom.

"There you are, stop arguing!" J snapped as his helmet hinged open, "Pebble's found the virus, he needs you Seraph to help with the computers and Flint he wants you to rig the place to blow."

"See," Flint snorted, blowing out a ring of steam, "We don't have time to fuck around with..."

The console flashed green as various lights flickered on, and all of the screens cleared to show a simple line of text that flashed on and off.

[System Online - Preparing Deployment...]

"What did you do?" Flint demanded as the rocket logo appeared on all the screens except one and started to spin. The remaining screen showed a whole bunch of text, computer instructions scrolling past rapidly as the lights covering Genesect suddenly turned amber.

"I didn't do anything," Seraph hissed in alarm, leaning forward to stare at the screen. She tried several keys then shook her head. "It's running an automated program of some kind, I can't... oh no... Flint..." the Lucario-morph pointed at the screen, the rapidly scrolling text had gone. Instructions were being displayed now.

[Genesect - RX01 - Now Online]

[Giovanni Standing Order 001: Seek and destroy all targets matching DNA sequence 001]

[DNA Sequence 001: 1-5-0/1 - MewStrain]

[Drives Loaded: F/I/W/E/X]

[Orders Locked]

[Initiate]

"Oh hell..." Flint hissed then jumped as the lights snapped off and the bug-like metal creature opened its eyes. They scanned the room with a pale beam of light, passing it back and forth across Seraph, Flint and J before turning away from them both, "We need to stop it."

Flint opened his mouth, preparing to blast the thing with a scorching flame burst, but the creature suddenly accelerated out of the laboratory. It went from floating to a blur in the blink of an eye and the trio stared at one another, then started out the door.

"Guys you have to get to Pebble," J shouted as he started down the corridor at a run. "Here is his location!" He tapped his wrist comp, transmitting the route to Pebble to his team-mates. "He's all alone! Warn him, that thing is hunting Mew!"

"What about you?" Seraph demanded, pausing at the first junction as J started off the other way, "What are you doing!"

"It's going after Dex, I can smell it!" He pointed, "It went this way, get Pebble, hurry!" The rat took off at a sprint, careening around a corner in pursuit of the Genesect, leaving Flint and Seraph to exchange a startled look before closing their helmets and racing for Pebble's location.

---

Pebble lay there, the iron scent of his own blood filling his nose as his suit felt wet, warm and wrong. As the sound of Keldeo's hooves clopped away, accompanied by the thump of the Tyranitar, he was left alone, the lights on his suit fizzling and its first aid systems seemingly disrupted as well, by a short circuit somewhere in his backpack when he'd been stabbed.

There was a hum from behind him and a concerned chirp as Zero came into view, hovering over him, surveying the damage.

"Sorry Commander! I felt best to hide and wait till they had passed on, those two were no match for either of us! What is your status Commander?"

Pebbled simply coughed, blood in his mouth and pressed a paw weakly to the wound on his stomach, eyes just staring at his friend. It hurt even to speak or think.

"Stand by Commander..." replied the Porygon as it flickered and disappeared into the hardware of the Extension suit, the equipment buzzing, flickering and then restarting as the Porygon routed around damaged systems. There was a sudden cooling gasp and tightening sensation as its First Aid systems kicked in, applying medical potion salve to the wound and trying to help seal the deep cut.

There was another flicker of light and then a hologram flickered before him, highlighting the damaged areas of the Extension. More parts kept lighting up and eventually it was just replaced with a sad looking Porygon-z face. "Sorry Commander, first aid systems restored, partial heads-up display available using the external projector. The suit's feeling about bad as you look sir."

"Don't.. try and make me laugh, Zero..." whined Pebble, body tingling and feeling dangerously numb around the edges. He'd lost a lot of blood.

There was a blip sound and Zero disappeared, replaced with the radar that normally would have been displayed in Pebble's helmet.

"Two moving targets approaching... confirmed, its Flint and Seraph."

The two Pokémorphs appeared at the door way and snapped open their own helms when they saw Pebble lying on the floor. Seraph rushed to kneel and roll the Mew onto his side and examine him. Flint took up a defensive posture beside them, scanning the room.

"Pebble! Arceus above, what happened to you?!" gasped the Lucario as she looked over him.

"A legendary appeared, Keldeo. It had a Tyranitar in its thrall. It took a sample of Pebble's blood," explained Zero rather clinically.

"What size needle did it use? A fucking javelin?" snorted Flint as he glanced over his shoulder.

"No," coughed Pebble. "Its horn smart ass."

"Settle down Pebs. Now hold still, this wound is serious, I need to fix it. Is the room secure?" asked Seraph.

"Yes, there's no one else here. What did you find? Where's J?" grunted Pebble before being muffled as Seraph pressed her paw to his snout.

"Shh, hold still. Flint, you get on with what we came here to do," instructed Seraph, as she brought her hands down and held them over the wound in the Mew's abdomen. The dog's eyes shut as a blue energy collected around her dreadlocks. A sphere of pink light danced between her hands and then began to trickle down in sparkles on to the Mew's body as she performed a healing pulse.

"Finally!" hissed the lizard as he broke formation and moved to the corners of the room. Cogs deployed an explosive block from the storage unit on his back and the Charmeleon put it into place. He quickly began working around the room, placing the blocks of explosive under each of the sturdiest looking fridges and sample banks.

"Seraph, please, what's going on?" grunted Pebble. There was a strange itching sensation through the numbing of the suit's painkillers as he felt his body starting to knit together, healing rapidly from the infusion of energy from his friend.

Seraph partly opened her eyes, her irises aglow with wisps of aura as she held her focus. "We discovered a second bioweapon here. A Pokémorph, sort of. A Genesect, part organic, part robotic. It was built specifically to fight us or, well, specifically fight you and those you've trained. Mew and Mewtwo."

"Wh-what?!" The exclamation made Pebble cough again, his tail twitching in agitation.

"J's gone to help Dex. You need to rest," said Seraph, as she pressed him down, trying to keep the Mew calm.

The Rattata was no match for something designed to fight an armoured Mew or Mewtwo. Hell, the fact Rocket had something they thought was capable of doing so was worrying enough. That damn unicorn could wait - he had to help his team.

There was a flicker and snap as, before Seraph's eyes, Pebble disappeared. The cat reappeared by the door, bracing against it as he looked down at himself. Fresh pink fur and tender flesh was visible in the rip of his under-suit. The wounds had healed, the damage inside too, but his body felt weak. Running on adrenalin, he stared back at the others. "Set the charges, then... find us..." he ordered, eyes shutting, as with another flash he jumped again, focusing on Dex. He had to help.

---

Dex heard the computer's voice as clearly; it was doing something. The cat glancing all about, paws in a defensive stance, but no weapons appeared or new foes attacked. He stared across the room as the shape of the woman began to reform. He didn't need the enhanced optic feed of his suit to see that the clear slice taken through one ear piece hadn't formed back together... and the hate filled scowl across her face.

What new toys do you have for me now Valentina? he sneered at her, tail lashing in a show of bravado, even as indicators in his HUD warned him of his low energy levels after that last attack.

"You, your commander's team, they have long been an immovable object that has derailed and blocked our plans again and again. "It is therefore maybe appropriate that for you, we created the unstoppable force."

There was another sudden buzz in his ear as Weber brought up an urgent alarm. Dex dived through the air as a single sharp claw cut through the air, with a sharpness he was sure would have cleaved him two had it not been for his buddy's warning. Spinning back around he stared at a Pokémon that was nothing but sharp angles, the form of an insect but with metal plating where chitin should have been.

Its compound eyes scanned him with a beam of light, a strange hissing voice that didn't sound that real speaking. "Target confirmed, designated #001. Ready to engage."

From back across the room, there was a 'click-boop' noise as, looking back, Dex saw the daughter of Giovanni grasping a black Pokéball in her hand. "I would love to watch your end Mewtwo, but with you and your glorious leader about to be reduced to dust, it is time for Rocket to rise and finally put the league and all those fools that follow them down. Genesect, begin!"

With a click, she pressed her own finger to the button of the ball, a red light enveloping her body as she was drawn inside and then, with a white flash, a transportation system in the wall took hold of it... and with that, she was gone, dematerialised.

The Mewtwo had no time to even curse as the bug screeched, sending him staggering backwards. In its back, a red module clicked into view. Its maw opened, fire building within it, when from behind, a blur smashed into it, sucker punching the Genesect's jaw. It misfired the flame blast up into the rafters and roof supports, which creaked and groaned angrily.

The blur came to a stop, the form of J rubbing his hand as he stood side-by-side with the Mewtwo. "Wow, that thing's tougher than Seraph's cooking! How you doing big guy? Medical systems acting up?" he asked, his Extension relaying Dex's weakened state to him.

"Won't help. I'm Heal Blocked," muttered the cat as he began to charge a fresh dark red ball of energy, and lobbed it at the bug that was circling back around in the air. The energy ball grazed it as it dived out the way like a fly avoiding the swatter. "Go after it!"

J called back over his radio as he dived under some tables and in to cover. "It's been programmed to go after you! Lure it, then we'll give it the one-two!"

Dex knew the moves his rodent friend sported and knew the strategy he was going for. Smirking inside his helmet, he had to admit the Rattata wasn't stupid. He took off, drawing the bug away from where J now snuck about. He avoided more blasts of flame that soared past him, feeling the heat through his armour and watching the flames splash over the delicate equipment of the laboratory.

Spinning around as the bug got close, he fired a blast of psychic energy into the cyborg creature. It spun, slightly confused for a moment but not heavily damaged. That was all that was needed though, as J leapt from his hiding place. With the protective energy fields of the creature destabilised he brought his paws together and slammed down on its abdomen in an assurance attack. The smack sent it spinning off and crashing into the corner of the room as J landed by Dex and punched the air. "Oh yeah! Cat mouse combo kicked your arse!" he squeaked cheerfully.

The Genesect slumped in the corner, turning its head to stare at J, something whirring in its back.

"Chill Drive loaded. Disabling secondary target."

A blue-white flash shot across the room, and the Rattata wasn't quick enough, squealing out as a cold crystals grew and formed around his legs. He fell down with a crash as he was partly frozen in ice. He whined in pain at the freezing burn as his Extension suit started to heat up and try to free him from the ice block covering his lower half.

Dex growled as he moved himself between his ally and their foe, chest heaving, as without his ability to recover he felt his body and mind aching for rest. He felt a disturbance in the air, and with a snap-pop of blue light, Pebble materialised beside him. At first the Mewtwo was glad to see him, but then his face fell as the wrecked suit coated in blood and missing helm told him all he needed to know.

We have to stop this thing; it's going to go after every other Mewtwo once it's done with us! yelled Pebble in Dex's head.

_You don't need to convince me!_he retorted, charging a fresh aura sphere between his paws.

"Target confirmed, designated #002. Engaging."

The Genesect began to rise as its thrusters pulsed, pushing it into the air as its back whirred again. Something new slotted into place as the two tried to ready themselves. Its eyes went black as night as both the cats turned and stared at it... something was very wrong that they could both sense. With a snap of thunder the cannon on its back fired and one massive blast of energy hit them both. It was like being hit by the void of darkness itself, an energy wanting to turn their minds inside out, and their bodies too.

On the ground, the fairy Klefki threw up its protection shield around her charge, protecting the Rattata from further damage. Above, Pebble managed a barrier bubble around himself to block out some of the force. Dex tried similar, but the skin of the red globe began to flicker as the Mewtwo was in the centre of the stream of incandescent, purple tinged darkness.

Dex heard a buzzing on his back, his Magneton buddy disengaging from the suit.

<Good...>

<...Luck...>

<...Friends,> chirped the Pokémon as Weber, Tesla and Farad substituted themselves for Dex, flying over his shoulder and into the main focus of the beam and absorbing the energy. With a blinding flash the metallic creature exploded, blowing both the cats and the bug out of the air as the whole room then fell silent. Smoke seemed to rise off every surface.

Pebble felt cold. Never before had he lost a member of the battle group. Never in all these years of fighting had anyone ever sacrificed themselves in such a manner. It was all the worse as he could hear the sound, across the room, of the cyborg digging itself out from the debris.

"Secondary target, destroyed." it buzzed emotionlessly.

The Mew could suddenly feel it, a heat in his mind, like sitting too close to a roaring inferno. It was Dex.

Beside him, the rocks from the fallen in roof vaporised with a flash. From under them the Mewtwo rose, his eyes solid and white with anger.

You, abomination... he shouted out, voice reverberating into the heads of the shivering rat, twitching armoured bug and exhausted pink cat equally. I thought, maybe, just maybe, like my kind... you were a creature turned tool. A being manipulated to do what it thinks of as its master's bidding. But I see, oh I see now. You truly are the embodiment of their values; destruction, without mercy, and at any cost. And you must be destroyed!

Pebble gasped as he watched a white crackling sphere of energy build up around the Mewtwo. Any energy the Pokémorph had left to defend himself was being pumped into this all-out attack. Psystrike. The Mewtwo kicked off in the air and flew across the room, the ball of energy around him expanding outwards towards the bug, as a white glow of Hyper Beam formed rapidly in the Genesect's cannon. As both creatures struck one another, their attacks fired, and Pebble dived to cover J. Blinded, they were blown back. Pressed to the walls by the shockwaves that followed.

---

There was the sound of scrabbling claws, furious digging and snarling, before finally light poured into eyes that stung to open. A dark reptilian form lifted and pulled him from the rocks. Pebble hugged Flint; he couldn't help it. The Charmeleon snorted in surprise before patting his commander's back, then reaching into the hole to help tug out J as well, the Rattata squeezing the lizard's paw appreciatively.

Looking around, almost the entire lab had been blown apart. There wasn't a single feature the Mew recognised from before. Above them Seraph's Chandelure, Mortimer, glowed with his eerie purple light, providing some illumination. Pebble heard a bark and a call across the room as the Lucario had found something, and she was digging furiously, her scanners blipping with urgency.

As the Mew scrambled over, he could see what she had found: Dex, half buried in blood covered rocks, his armour lights glowing and flickering. She quickly lifted her paws, pink motes of light flowing down from them, but as they impacted the Mewtwo's body, they bounced right off... the suppressing effects of the block still in place.

"Pe... Pebble, I can't do anything it... it won't..." she started, breaking down as Flint and J both approached, resting their hands on her shoulders, holding tight.

The Mew reached down and pulled off Dex's glove and his own, entwining his fingers with Dex's, as his mind opened and he listened. Slowly one dark red eye opened, gazing up at his. He heard a voice that only he could.

I know, I know. I could have done better; I should have done better.

You, you did great, replied Pebble. He could feel things starting to slow.

No, no, it wasn't enough. It wasn't enough for them; it wasn't enough to stop her. I've failed them, Pebble, I've failed all of us.

Dex, stop it. Rest.

Is that an order, commander?

I know you've never listened to me, really. That's just a request, from a friend. From a Mew. I need you Dex. I can't lose any more, not now. Not when it's so important.

There was a flutter... he could feel Dex in his head, slipping. Pebble clung on.

I, I don't think I can do both. I can't... Pebble...

The Mew felt Dex dropping, voice pulling, but he wouldn't let go. He couldn't. Not when he'd given so much. He held on, pulling Dex's mind back into the glowing centre of his own thoughts, trying to hold on.

You have to let me go, Dex whispered, Pebble please...

I can't.

Pebble groaned and felt Dex breathe out, his lungs stopped. But still Pebble refused to let go, their thoughts meshing together, the Mew holding on with all that he was.

Seraph gasped as Pebble slumped forward suddenly. The three others rushed forward to help roll him to the side as the Lucario checked Dex again, red glows over her scanner telling her what she already knew.

End of Arc One