"Joey, what are you doing?" Jads asked. "I'm trying to sleep!"
"Not anymore," Joey replied, smiling. "You and Ira have recruiting to do, remember?"
Jads groaned, realizing that Joey was right. She kicked off the covers the rest of the way, causing Joey to become buried in a pile of blankets at the foot of the bed. Jads sat on the edge of the bed, then giggled as she watched the pile of blankets move for a few moments. Eventually Joey's head poked out from underneath the blankets.
"Next time, warn me when you're going to do that so that I can get out of the way."
Jads giggled again, then nodded. "Fine. But I can't always guarantee that I'll remember."
Jads stood up and stretched, then stepped over to her dresser and pulled a drawer open. She pulled out a pair of dark blue baggy pants, then got a black shirt from a separate drawer. She tossed the clothes onto her bed, then looked at Joey.
"Out."
Joey nodded, then hovered to the door. She pulled it open and flew out, closing it behind her. Jads then pulled off her shirt and pants, leaving herself in her underwear. She picked up the pants and pulled them on, buttoning them up, then grabbed her shirt.
As she was putting on the shirt, Jads noticed that there was a large rip in the side.
"My shirt!" Jads exclaimed loudly. She pulled it off to examine it, then sighed loudly. Her favorite shirt was torn, and it didn't appear to be repairable.
Jads tossed the shirt into the laundry basket in hope of being able to patch it up, then went to her dresser again. She pulled out a light-blue tank top, then a black button up T-shirt. She put on the tank top, followed by the T-shirt, which she left unbuttoned.
Jads opened her bedroom door and stepped out, then glanced around. She spotted her backpack lying next to the door. She walked over to it, then unzipped it and glanced inside. Everything she needed for the day was already in it.
Jads zipped her backpack up again, then went to the kitchen, where Ira was cooking breakfast as usual. Jads might have considered cooking breakfast once in a while, but lacked the ability that Ira possessed. She sat down at the table, then waited patiently for Ira to finish cooking breakfast.
Joey and Crystal hovered in a few minutes later as Ira was finishing up, smelling the rich aroma. They sat down at the table next to Jads, then Ira brought the food to the table. Once they were finished, they cleaned up the kitchen, then Ira and Jads left the cabin, heading toward Veridian City . . .
Blade sighed as he looked at the Mewtwo inside of the glass tank, wondering when it would gain consciousness. He stood motionless for a few minutes, reflecting on the success of their cloning experiment with Joey.
Everything in the experiment itself had gone perfectly. Joey, however, hadn't conformed to their plans like they had hoped she would. If the Mewtwo cooperated, they wouldn't have to worry about finding Joey. However, it would be extremely beneficial if they did succeed in capturing Joey and convincing her to join Team Rocket.
Blade called over one of the other scientists, then cleared his throat. "Keep track of everything. I'm gonna head back to my office to get some other work done. If anything at all happens that you can't handle yourself, just call me."
The scientist nodded, then Blade turned around to leave. The computer beeped, then Blade motioned to the scientist. "Take care of that."
The scientist hurried over to the computer, then glanced at the monitor. He examined the numbers displayed on the screen, but was baffled as to why the computer was beeping. He pulled up an image of the Mewtwo, then gasped. The image was surrounded in a white halo of psychic energy.
"Blade, you better take a look at this," the scientist said unsteadily.
Blade grunted, then walked over to the computer. He gasped at the image, then glanced at the actual Mewtwo inside of the glass tank. It wasn't glowing, but it was definitely doing something. The computer was monitoring the psychic powers, which were suddenly strengthening.
The halo in the image became brighter, then sudden a cracking noise reached Blade's ears, as well as everybody else's in the lab. Attention was focused on the glass tank, and Blade immediately realized that the glass was the source of the cracking sounds.
The glass was cracking in numerous places, a spider web effect spreading throughout the circular panel of glass. The cracks were crisscrossing over each other, until eventually the entire glass face of the tank was covered in cracks. The fluids within the tank were leaking through the cracks, a puddle spreading at the base of the tank.
Moments later the glass blew out, sending a loud shattering noise throughout the lab, and throwing shards of glass through the air, as well as a tidal wave of water and other fluids. The wires attached to the Mewtwo were severed, leaving the Mewtwo lying at the base of the tank in the same fetal position it had been in ever since the cloning process was complete.
"Stand back," Blade ordered to the other scientists.
Blade approached the Mewtwo slowly, then looked at the others. They remained motionless, curious as to what Blade was going to do. The Mewtwo appeared dead. Blade squatted down next to the motionless body, then pulled out a stethoscope and pressed it against the Mewtwo's chest. He could hear a faint heartbeat, so it was obviously alive still.
Blade placed the stethoscope around his neck, then sighed, a bit confused. What had just happened was no accident. The question is, why did it happen? As Blade was contemplating, he didn't see the Mewtwo's fingers beginning to twitch slightly and move.
Blade glanced at the Mewtwo's face, still thinking. What are you thinking, my powerful friend? Moments later, the eyes opened, and Blade found himself kneeling inches away from an alert Mewtwo, staring it in the face. Blade fell backwards, rather startled.
The Mewtwo stood up slowly, rising to its full six-and-a-half feet. Blade backed up slowly, then stood up. The overall appearance of the Mewtwo was quite intimidating. It looked around, observing the scientists in the room, all standing in shock. Who are these people?
Sensing the fear in the room, then Mewtwo hissed quietly. Something wasn't right. These people were afraid of something, and the Mewtwo was going to find out what . . .
Jads and Ira arrived in Veridian City, then looked around for a good place to start the recruiting process. They would have to be cautious. Though TR47 hadn't committed any crimes, the police probably didn't appreciate loitering very much. Not only that, but Team Rocket wouldn't be too happy to know that it had opposition.
Jads and Ira sat down next to a tree in front of the Pokemon Center, then looked around. Jads smiled as she saw all the people walking around, knowing that chances are they would recruit at least one person.
Jads turned to Ira, then whispered, "So, she we get to work?"
Ira nodded, then Jads pulled a stack of fliers out of her backpack. She stood up, then began making her way into the crowd of people and Pokemon Trainers. Ira did the same, heading in a different direction.
Approaching the closest person, Jads began explaining their "anonymous organization." After a few minutes, the person simply shook their head and continued walking. Jads stuck her tongue out at him and resumed working, stopping another person to talk to them. Ira was doing the same, and he wasn't having much luck either.
After two hours of unsuccessful attempts, Jads and Ira were both beginning to get discouraged. Jads glanced down at the small stack of papers remaining, then sighed. Most of them had ended up in various garbage cans across the city.
Jads began heading back to the tree, wondering how long it would be before Ira returned to the preplanned spot. Jads glanced at the papers again, then up at the crowd of people. She glanced to her right, then to her left. In that moment, Jads spotted a young girl, about the same age as herself, sitting on a nearby bench.
The girl was wearing a dark T-shirt and shorts, which matched her short black hair perfectly. Jads smiled and stood up, then began walking in her direction. Perhaps the day wouldn't be entirely wasted after all.
The girl looked up as Jads stopped next to the bench, somewhat puzzled. "Can I help you?" she asked.
"I was wondering the same thing," Jads responded. She got a questioning look from the girl. "Mind if I sit down?"
The girl shook her head. Jads sat down on the bench, then handed the girl one of the sheets of paper, then began reciting the exact same thing to her that she had told all the other people. She listened intently, occasionally reading over small sections on the paper.
Jads paused for a moment, then asked, "Are you following me all right?"
"Yeah. Keep going."
Jads smiled, the continued. At this point, the girl was looking rather interested. Jads stopped herself again, a rather embarrassed look on her face.
"I should've asked you this sooner. What's your name?"
The girl smiled, then replied, "Well, the people I know call me Ai. But I don't exactly have friends."
Jads nodded, then replied, "I'm Jads. Nice to meet you."
Jads was beginning to feel fairly confident now. When she was finished, she looked at Ai and smiled. "So, what do you think?"
Ai shrugged her shoulder a bit, then hesitated. "I don't know. I mean, it sounds interesting and all, but I don't think it's for me."
Without even thinking, Jads blurted out, "We also oppose Team Rocket!" She immediately realized her slipup and slapped her hand over her mouth, glancing around to make sure nobody else had heard her.
Ai immediately froze and began staring at Jads. "Did you just say what I think you said?"
Jads hesitated, then sighed and nodded her head slightly. "Yeah, you heard me right."
Ai stood up, then smiled cunningly. "You have no idea how long I've waited for a group like this to surface. Believe me, living under Team Rocket here in Veridian sucks."
"You mean you'll join?" Jads asked rather enthusiastically, jumping onto her feet.
Ai nodded and smiled again. "Of course I'll join."
Without thinking, Jads threw her arms around Ai and gave her a hug. "Thank you! You have no idea how boring it gets at the cabin!"
"No hugs!" Ai shrieked, pushing Jads away from herself. "If there's one thing I hate, it's when people hug me!"
Jads blushed and mumbled, "Sorry." She then perked up and smiled again when she saw Ira standing underneath the tree. "Come on, Ira's waiting for us."
"Ira?" Ai asked quizzically.
"Yeah," Jads replied. "He's another one of the members."
Ai smiled, then began following Jads. For once in her life, she actually had someone whom she could call a friend . . .
Crystal stirred uneasily in the living room chair, sensing that something wasn't right. She sat up and looked around. Then hopped off the chair and went to go look for Joey.
Crystal found Joey in Jads's bedroom a few minutes later, lying on the bed and looking rather contemplative. Crystal flew up and landed on the bed next to Joey, then poked her to get her attention.
"Are you sensing something?" Crystal asked.
"Yeah," Joey replied. "Something's not right. Something is triggering my psychic powers."
"Same here," Crystal replied. She thought for a moment, then added, "What do you think we should do about it?"
Joey pondered for a few moments, then looked back at Crystal. "I think we should investigate and figure out what's setting off our senses like this."
"Sounds like a good idea to me," Crystal responded. Then she remembered something else. The last time I checked out something that was triggering my psychic senses, I found myself mysteriously asleep on the ground, when I'd landed in a tree seconds earlier.
I heard that, Joey said telepathically to Crystal. Crystal blanched slightly, realizing that she and Joey could read each other's thoughts. She eyed the purple Mew, then sighed.
"So, shall we investigate?"
"Ira and Jads probably won't be back for a while, so yeah."
Crystal and Joey agreed to hurry as much as possible, because Ira and Jads would be worried if they weren't there when they returned to the cabin.
The two Mews flew out one of the open windows, then began flying through the air at an incredible pace, following their senses. Crystal wasn't entirely surprised when they found themselves hovering over the Team Rocket Headquarters. Joey fumed slightly, remembering all that had happened to her at this place.
"Well," Crystal started, "let's go find out what's happening this time."
Joey nodded in agreement, then the two of them flew into the building completely invisible. They found themselves standing outside of a large door. They looked through a window near the middle of the door, and found themselves looking at a familiar portion of the HQ. It was the laboratory . . .
Blade stood up unsteadily, petrified by the Mewtwo's awesome presence. Its size alone was enough to put fear into him. He hesitate for a few moments, his brain buzzing with things that he could say. However, he was too afraid to say anything.
After a few more moments, the Mewtwo cleared its throat. "Who are you people?" it asked in a distinctly feminine voice.
Blade grimaced at the sound of the Mewtwo. Not another Pokemon that knows human speech. He took a deep breath, then said, "We are all scientists of an organization known as Team Rocket. We are the people who gave you life."
The Mewtwo gave him a puzzled look, sensing that he wasn't telling the whole truth. She concentrated her psychic powers, probing Blade's mind for what she wanted to know. It didn't take long, as Blade's mind gave little, if any resistence. At that point, the Mewtwo growled quietly.
"You're not telling me everything, are you?" the Mewtwo asked.
"Of course we're telling you everything," Blade replied, feeling a bit more daring.
The Mewtwo growled again, louder this time. "You lie. I can read each of your thoughts. Everything that goes through your mind can be read by me."
Blade turned ghostly pale, realizing what was happening. It was a repeat of Joey. The Mewtwo was doing the exact same thing. The question was, how would it react?
"Don't worry, weak man. I'm not going to harm you or anyone else in this room. I have no reason to. However, I don't plan on staying either."
The Mewtwo raised up on the front of her feet, about to kick off the ground and fly into the air. However, she paused, then stood flat on her feet again.
"Something else is here," the Mewtwo whispered. "I sense a strong psychic presence. Two, in fact."
Joey and Crystal had warped into the room, just inside of the door, moments earlier, when the Mewtwo was about to fly into the air. They looked at each other nervously, not sure what to do.
The Mewtwo looked around, concentrating her psychic powers to find the two sources of energy. She looked right where Joey and Crystal were hovering, then smiled slightly. She floated off the ground, then hovered over to where Crystal and Joey were hovering.
"There's no need to hide," the Mewtwo said. "These weak people can't do anything to hurt us."
Crystal and Joey looked at each other and shrugged, then lowered their defenses. There was a loud gasp from the group of scientists as their invisibility wore off. Not only was there a Mewtwo standing in the room, but two Mews as well.
Blade recognized both of the Mews. One he recognized as Joey, and the other as the Mew they had attained the DNA sample from. The only problem was that there was no way for them to capture all three Mews. The entire science and research staff wouldn't even be able to stop three powerful psychic Pokemon.
In that moment, the lock clicked on the lab door, and it swung open. Giovanni stepped in, then his mouth dropped wide open when he saw the trio of rare psychic Pokemon. He turned to Blade, a bemused look on his face.
"Blade, is there something you should be telling me?" Giovanni asked.
Blade sighed, then said, "Sir, I'd like you to meet our successful experiments. The pink Mew is the original, and the other two were created through our cloning experiments. The purple Mew is Joey, and the pink Mewtwo is, uh . . ."
"You'll refer to me as Shrieker," the Mewtwo responded.
"Shrieker?" Joey whispered. "Where did you get that idea?"
"I think it sounds nice," the Mewtwo responded.
Joey shrugged at her, then said, "So, how are we gonna get out of here?"
"The same way we always get out," Crystal replied, winking.
Joey smiled, then nodded. "That sounds good to me."
Shrieker gave the two a puzzled look. "What are you talking about?"
"Just follow our lead."
The trio then turned to face the group of people in the lab. Joey stepped forward, then said, "You create me, only to have me escape, and yet you still decide to try again. Unfortunately, it's not going to work this time, either."
Joey nodded to Crystal and Shrieker, then began powering up her psychic energies, holding her paws out in front of her. Crystal and Shrieker followed, doing the same. The three psychic Pokemon then fired powerful blasts of energy straight up. The three balls converged into one massive ball of psychic energy, then crashed into the ceiling.
The ceiling immediately caved in from the force of the attack, dropping large amounts debris onto the floor. A few of the pieces crashed into the cloning machine, sending showers of sparks into the air.
"My machine!" Blade yelled. "It's ruined!"
"Good riddance," Joey hissed.
The three psychic Pokemon then flew through the gaping hole in the roof, heading immediately toward the cabin in the forest. Ira and Jads would be happy to learn that there was another addition to TR47 . . .
Jads, Ira, and Ai all walked around Veridian City, looking for any more potential members. Unfortunately, Ai was the only new recruit for that day. They gathered up their belongings, then headed to an apartment where Ai lived. She wanted to gather up some of her stuff to take to the cabin. She would come back for all of it later.
As they were leaving Ai's apartment and heading into to forest, an explosion echoed through the air. The three turned to the source of the blast, and could see a plume of smoke and dust in the distance.
"Hey, I think that's where the Team Rocket HQ is," Ai said.
"Good," Jads replied. "They deserved it."
They continued to look at the building, then saw three tiny figures fly into the air through the cloud of dust. The trio of unidentified figures were flying quickly through the air, and heading straight for Ira, Jads, and Ai.
As the trio of figures got closer, Jads recognized Joey and Crystal. But who was the third Pokemon flying with them? The three flew overhead and waved as they flew past, the continued toward the cabin.
"Is it just me, or was that a Mewtwo?" Jads asked.
"That wasn't just you," Ai replied.
Ira smiled, then said, "I get the feeling that Crystal and Joey are gonna have a new friend waiting for us when we get back to the cabin . . ."