“So, what you’re saying. Is that you and your group of rebels know of a way to destroy TR for good?”

“Yes, that is correct.”

“Well, why haven’t you done that?”

“We do not have enough people. Also, we need someone with credentials that can get in with little trouble.”

“Well, all I can say is that it is hard to strike a deal with a man if his face is covered,” Gary said. The man seemed to sigh, slowly his hands reached for his hood and tossed it back. A man in his forties, with a dark gray beard and rough, calloused skin sat in front of them.

“My name is Dragaun Merzkinkoff. I lead a group of rebels and outcasts named the New Bloods. Every one of our members has had some experience with the rockets. Either they were attacked by them, or just plain abused by them. We want to take down TR once and for all. We just need your help.”

“I don’t know about Gary or Ash, Mr. Merzkinkoff. But, I would be glad to help you in any way I can,” Hawk sighed. He stood up and extended his hand to Dragaun. Dragaun smiled and shook it. Hawk saluted Dragaun and said, “Hawk Shijouana, weapons expert reporting for duty.” Dragaun chuckled at the youth. Gary and Misty soon joined Hawk. Ash didn’t move. He still wasn’t sure about this man.

“Dragaun. I will consider your offer. Just give me proof that I am fighting for the right side.” Dragaun nodded.

“Well, then come with me and we will go to the Nest. Follow me.” Dragaun stood up and walked out of the door. Misty scribbled a quick note to Elm saying that they would be back soon. The group followed Dragaun down the streets of Newbark.

Dragaun walked up to a metal door in the alleyways of Newbark. He knocked three times. A small window opened and a man’s eye looked in. “My dear friends, as you walk through the valley of death all you will have is your sanity,” the voice said clear and firm.

“Yet even then you still feel it slowly leaving from you,” Dragaun replied. The man behind the door nodded and closed the window. The door swung open and the group walked in. The man at the door took one glance at Dragaun’s group and complained.

“Dammit Dragaun. Why the hell you always bringin’ so many unblemished?”

“These aren’t just any unblemished my friend Jagger. They are Gary Oak, Misty Waterflower, Hawk Shijouana, and Ash Ketchum,” Dragaun stated as-a-matter-of-factly. “Oh, and Jagger. Remember I am your superior here. I run the New Bloods. If I want to bring in Giovanni, I will. I’m warning you.”

“Ok, ok. Who you lookin’ for?”

“Well, I believe we should show them the crew eh?”

“Yeah. One sec.” Jagger walked a bit through a hallway and opened another door. Inside it was a whole house. Although it was grungy and looked like a refurnished night club, several people lived there. Jagger motioned for them to follow. He stood in the center of the room where some people were watching TV. He blocked the view of the tevelvision, against some of the people’s protests. Jagger turned off the TV and shouted. “Ok, come one people! Emergency meeting, Dragaun’s orders! C‘mon move it!” The people in the house began to come alive and all of them hurried to the same room as Jagger. Soon, there were about eleven people in the room. Jagger raised his hands to silence them. Slowly, Dragaun stepped in front of the group of people. He motioned to the trainers with him.

“These are the people I have been telling you about. Gary, Hawk, Ash, and Misty. We are going to need their help in order to issue the final phase in our plan. Soon, very soon, the Rockets will be gone for good. We will annihilate them from the Kanto region and send word to the other regions.” Several of the members nodded in agreement. Some were not so happy with the new arrivals. “Any objections?”

“Yes!” A tall man dressed in black stood up. “Why do we need their help? I mean, we’ve already done a lot of damage to the Rockets by ourselves!” Uromeshi said, frustrated.

“Uro, you always have an objection,” A girl with short brown stacked hair said.

“Shut up Senna, I never asked your opinion.”

“Hey! You do not tell a lady to shut up!” Hawk yelled. He stormed up to Uromeshi. Hawk placed a firm hand on Uromeshi’s shoulder. “Apologize to her,” Hawk stated.

“What?! I don‘t apologize to no one,” Uromeshi said in disgust. Senna blushed and tried to find something else to look at.

“I’m telling you one more time. Apologize to her.”

“No.” Hawk glared at Uromeshi and kneed him in the gut. Uromeshi bent over in pain. Several of the New Bloods stepped forward to defend Uromeshi. Dragaun raised a hand stopping them.

“He can handle himself,” Dragaun said.

“Now, will you apologize?”

“F*** you.”

“Oh, quite a mouth eh?” Hawk drop elbowed Uromeshi in the back. Uromeshi stood up in pain. He unsheathed a wooden sword he had in his coat. He struck out at Hawk with the wooden sword. Hawk dodged to the side, the sword hitting the concrete floor. Uromeshi swung around and hit Hawk in the chest with the sword. Hawk yelled in surprise and pain. Uromeshi kicked Hawk behind the knees and Hawk went down to the floor.

“Why aren’t you helping him!?” Senna yelled at Gary and Ash. Gary and Ash just nodded at Senna and motioned to Hawk. Hawk winked at Senna and, through clenched teeth Hawk tackled Uromeshi into a wall. Uromeshi grunted and hit Hawk in the back. Hawk stood up and jumped back. Uromeshi lashed out at Hawk using a downward slice. Hawk caught the sword with both hands and threw it out of Uromeshi’s hands. Uromeshi stood still.

“Apologize to her,” Hawk said again. Uromeshi, seeing he was defeated grunted and walked over to Senna.

“Sorry,” Uromeshi said through clenched teeth. Senna nodded and looked away.

“Ok, well. Now that that is over. I believe we need our new members to meet the core of New Blood, right?” Dragaun said. Everyone nodded. Dragaun turned to the trainers and said, “Now, what you will see here, must never leave here. Understood?” The group of trainers nodded. “Good. This is the reason why we fight against the Rockets. You can come out guys!” Dragaun yelled. A creature floated out of one of the rooms. It was about 6’ tall and had a long purple tail. It resembled a Mew, but it was vastly different from one.

“Mewtwo....” Ash said, surprised. When Ash said that, the Mewtwo glared at him.

“I am Madael. Do not call me by my species,” it said in a deep voice. “I am the original creation of the project which caused Team Rocket to be the first to create life. I was originally called Mewtwo, but a dream came to me and called me Madael.” The trainers nodded hesitantly. Another creature floated out of a different room.

“This is Raf. He cannot speak. He was a reject from the project,” Madael said. Raf resembled Madael although, he was a deep blue color with no mouth. One of his eyes seemed to be covered in cataracts. A long scar ran down its side. Misty gasped at the next creature that appeared. The creature resembled a Mewtwo from the head down to the waist. Its legs were bent backwards. They reminded Misty of a grasshopper’s legs. The creatures skin was a deep red, like blood. Grey stripes covered its back. There was a scar running down its face and a long stitched up gash covered its chest.

“Don’t be afraid. I am Astaroth. You can see what the Rockets did to me. They took me out of the tube early and experimented on me. You can see what they did to try to make me more powerful, in the process they disfigured me.” Astaroth walked over next to Dragaun.

“The other, Galaf has been missing. Last we heard he went to go see what was happening in Besker Island,” Madael said.

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

Amy Autria and Dyran Furr yawned. The two were new transfers from Palto. They just arrived in Cinnabar and were trying to find the person that would meet them at the airport. A tall man dressed in a red shirt and khakis walked up to the two. “Amy and Dyran?” the tall man asked.

“Yes,” they both said shakily. The man removed his sunglasses. The two gasped. “Lance!?” they both yelled at the same time.

“Shh! I’m trying to blend in,” Lance said, looking around to make sure no one heard them.

“Well, why are you here?”

“You two are the transfers from Palto, right? Well, I decided to come in person to escort you to the KMU quarters.”

“Why? I think we could have gotten there easy.”

“I have no doubt that you could have, however I couldn't take the chance. We already sent a squad to infiltrate TR at Besker Island. Currently, their status is unknown. The Rockets have been doing more crime today. We do not know if that is in response to the infiltration, or some other reason.”

“Oh...”

“Follow me,” Lance said. Dyran and Amy followed him out of the Cinnabar tram station. Lance led the two down some alleyways and into a large building. He went in and swiped his key card in the device which locked the door. The door unlocked and opened automatically. “Welcome to KMU base #2. The main one is located in the Plateau, but only top personnel are allowed in. Your mission will be to infiltrate an organization known as the New Bloods...”