Step Two

In a dark room, without anyone there sat the boss of Team Rocket. He was sitting inside of his personal quarters stationed within the Team Rocket HQ. He was patiently waiting for something or someone to report to him as his fingers ran across his Persian. He was petting it softly as it sat there, quietly purring on his lap. Finally, a few minutes later, three members of his criminal organization entered his room, bowing to him. The three members that had arrived were Kris Darchart, Raion Susamajii, and Lt. Surge. Rai and Surge were there to report of their previous mission in Vermillion City and Kris was there to tend to his other needs...

Kris looked away from their boss saying, “I'm here for... for the usual, sir.” She blushed embarrassingly, as she started to walk towards him. He stopped her by putting his hand up. “Sir?”

“Wait a minute, Kris. I want to hear what happened on today's mission with these two. When I hear what has been accomplished or not, I will decide on what I want you to do for me today.” The boss responded, urging Rai and Surge to speak. “Surge, explain to me what happened today.”

“Very well, sir.” Lt. Surge said. “Unfortunately, we were not successful in our mission today. Rai and I were not strong to defeat them nor capture them and bring them to you. They are getting stronger, according to the events that took place today.”

“Really? Tell me, how strong have they become?” The boss asked, genuinely intrigued.

“It seems, according to what Rai told me, the new legacy of the Red Star is growing inside of the strongest of the heroes, Machine. He was able to evolve all of his Pokemon at once, prematurely.” Lt. Surge stated. “There also seems to be another problem, sir... The Reddosuta Shikaku have been spotted. It seems Pulse is trying to restore the group to its former glory.”

“Do you think Machine knows of his abilities and the danger he has presented himself and his friends within?” The boss asked.

“I believe so. Before traveling to Kanto, apparently, by what we have in our records, Ruby Emerald had Lance, a prominent member of the Dragons, watch over Machine and his little sister, Sapphire. He then allowed Machine to travel to Kanto to start a new life not expecting the Assassins to return.” Lt. Surge responded.

“Are you saying that the Assassins and the Dragons have resurfaced to form their groups once more?” The boss asked, a bit of fright in his voice.

“I do not know for sure... If it is true, Pulse may once again try to overwhelm us. I have heard rumors of this group growing much stronger. Sir, if we allow this to continue, their spark could become greater than ours.” Lt. Surge said, as the boss sighed, thinking of the danger the Reddosuta Shikaku could pose to the world. After deciding what to do for a few moments, he finally came up with a way to say it.

“...It doesn't matter. Things will proceed as planned. Situations may be getting hotter than we wanted but that doesn't mean we'll burn ourselves if we get too close. The Reddosuta Shikaku nor the Dragons have little to do with us and our plan. Those bastards will never deter us from our master plan! The world will be ours! We're in too deep now anyway to try and dig our way back out!” The boss exclaimed, slamming his fist onto his desk in front of him.

“What do you suggest we do then, boss?” Rai asked, finally speaking up.

“You three will form the Triad of Elites. The new one... because of Koga's recent death and Sabrina's defection.” The boss commanded.

“Elites? What do you mean, sir? I'm not an Elite so I couldn't form it as the third member.” Rai stated, said that he was still a grunt.

“As far as I'm concerned, you've earned your place here, Raion. You battled against Machine and from what I hear, or rather, understand, almost won. That's place enough for me to let become an Elite.” The boss explained as Rai's eyes widened.

“Really?!” Rai asked, pumping his fists into the air.

“Of course. Kris Darchart, Lt. Surge, and Raion Susamajii, today, you have formed the new Triad of Elites!” The boss said, implying that he released Kris from his control. “Now, time to get serious with them... We will have to hit them now, while they're most vulnerable.”

Everyone in the Pokemon Center's room sat quietly, absorbing the words that Machine had just told them. Machine sat in the middle of everyone, watching their minds try and conceive what he had just told them. Red had called Blue there as well so he had heard the entire story as well.

“This is... not what I expected.” Hakel said, finally speaking up. He had finally let it all sink. It was a lot to take in but he was glad that Machine was finally being honest with him for once. “But I'm not happy about any of it.”

“Neither am I.” Machine said, looking at his metal arm once more. “If I was such a screwed up person with an even worse past, I wouldn't had to of get you guys involved. But now that I know that they're tracking me every other step of the way, I need help to take them and Team Rocket down. This is more serious than I wanted it to be.”

“I'm just surprised that you didn't tell us about this earlier, Machine.” Kusa said. “I mean, we're your friends Machine. Why didn't you think you could trust us with your past?”

“I don't know... I guess, I was just trying to protect you guys from the danger that comes with this territory.” Machine said, as Blue patted him on his back.

“Machine, we're all on the same journey, to claim the same prize. If we were anyone else, I would have agreed with your choice but each and every one of us, are in much too deep with Team Rocket. We've been there countless times before and I just don't think that response is a good enough excuse for you to go by.” Blue said, as Machine chuckled.

“The only bad thing is... we don't know how or where they will strike. They could have a plan to take us all out at once when we're traveling on our own.” Green commented. “Blue, I hate to say this but I think... you should travel with us from now on.”

“I agree with Green on this one, Blue. The situation, at this point, with two organizations after our ass, it seems much too dangerous for you travel on your own anymore.” Red nodded, as Blue thought about what Red had said.

“True, you're right, Red. They could wipe me out if I'm on my own.” Blue said, contemplating the situation. “What about the Dragons group you spoke about, Machine?”

“I... have no idea about their status yet. Like I told you all, I have no information on Ruby, Sapphire, my father, or Lance. I don't even know if their leader, Orion, is still in command. Anything connected to Hoenn is out of my reach.” Machine answered truthfully.

“The only thing we can do is grow stronger.” Yellow said, smiling at Machine. “That way we can help out Machine anyway we can.”

“That's true. We barely got out of the situation with Lt. Surge.” Kusa stated. “The only reason we got out this was because Red, Green, and Yellow saved us. We would have been dead without these guys.”

“So, what are we now... a team or some shit?” Hakel asked, as they all looked at one another. Up until now, they all had been rivals or even just acquaintances. They had never considered even working together but now, the option was obviously urgently up in the air. Machine made the first move to bring them all together.

Machine put out his hand and said, “I don't care what we were before. We're no longer that anymore. If we rivals, we're now teammates. We have to constantly watch our backs and continue to preserve onwards to the final goal. But, heed my words, the Reddosuta Shikaku will NEVER give up until we're all dead. If you're not scared of that option of death, put your hand in.”

Yellow, almost immediately afterward, put her hand in and said, “Machine, this is much my problem as it is yours. After all, you told me first out everyone.”

“Man,” Hakel said as he and Kusa moved forward. They were second groups of people that put their hands in saying, “Machine, whatever you're about to face, you know we have to be in. I can't let someone kill you. We're your best friends, after all.”

“I agree with Hakel on this one, Machine. It doesn't if they'll try to hit us harder than we hit them. We just have to get stronger and let that possible fear of death fuel us.” Kusa said, reaffirming what Hakel had said. Red and Green put their hands, shortly afterward, believing that if they worked together, they could beat both of these organizations. Blue was the final to decide and when he did, it was official. They were a team, until the Pokemon League Conference.

“Oh right, I stole something from Lt. Surge for all of us. This is perfect time to give it to you all, considering we're a team now.” Hakel unzippered a pocket on the side of his Poke Ball Strap and pulled out something that they didn't expect. Hakel held out seven yellow colored badges out for everyone. “These are the Thunder Badges that I stole from Lt. Surge. This guy this many on him, for a reason I don't really know. Every time I hit that old shit, I stole one from him. After I had enough, I also stole a Thunder Stone for myself. When the time is right, I plan to evolve my Pikachu into a Raichu.” Hakel gave one to everyone in the room, as they obtained their third badge. There was only five badges to go and the next one was in Celadon City.

As Machine accepted his, he sighed, letting one last thing slide with them. “Guys, I have one last thing to tell you. It's really important so you all have to listen to me.”

“Okay, go ahead, Machine.” Red said, accepting his third badge.

“I have a certain power within my body called... Red Star.” Machine said, touching his heart. “It's a special ability that is dormant within my heart and only activates when I'm in dire straights. It gives my Pokemon amazing properties... I think it's finally completely active inside of my body.”

“Red... Star?” Blue asked. “Like the Academy?”

“Exactly.” Machine said. “That's why they named the Academy after it as well as the town within it. The Red Star used to be a great beast in the past that ravaged the regions long ago. The beast, however, was sealed by a Pokemon Trainer who controlled a Pokemon that was able to seal it into the very vacuum of space and time itself. However, it was able to escape 18 years ago when I was before... This metal arm was caused... by that beast ripping off my arm when it came after me five years after that. Because of what happened, my brother used a similar Pokemon to seal its abilities into my heart, however, it wasn't stable in my body and it took...” Machine ripped off a part of his pant leg and showed them all that, on his left side, his leg was also metal as well. “... my left leg as well. So, by adding these prosthetic appendages, the beast was able to fully seal inside my body, gone forever. However, the beast someone fuels my power at the most random times to other Pokemon that I control. This is why my Pokemon evolved. However, all them were evolved so urgently that all of their strength is premature and weaker than most Pokemon of their evolution would be. In other words, my Pokemon had a Premature Evolution.”

“What does that all mean? You have some special powers or something that make your Pokemon grow in strength, however, since the power is at random intervals it's very premature and doesn't let your progress much?” Green asked, as Machine nodded.

“Yes, that's a pretty damn good explanation of my situation. But I learned to live with all of this annoying piece of shit I've got. My Pokemon are just going to have to live with that.” Machine said as Yellow gave him a big hug.

“Machine, you act like we didn't expect that. Like we said, we're your friends. Yellow may be something more.” Red said, as Yellow kissed him on the cheek again. Machine grew bright red as everyone in the room started to laugh.

“You know what really creeps me the hell out, though?” Machine asked. “What the hell was that thing about those zombies attacking me in the S.S. Anne?”

“I can answer that.” Mr. Chairman said as he walked into the room, smiling at everyone there.

“Mr. Chairman?” Kusa asked. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to see how you all are doing and give you a few things.” Mr. Chairman said, walking into the room. “And I know about EVERYTHING that's been going on. I'm glad that your new Pokemon evolved Machine. That is definitely an awesome strength you have there.”

“Thanks, Mr. Chairman.” Machine nodded as Mr. Chairman smiled.

“As for what I have to give you, it's quite simple really. First of all, to all of you here, I have a few Bike Vouchers to give you.” Mr. Chairman handed them out quickly, giving one everyone there. “If you go back to Cerulean City and trade those in, you will be able to obtain a free bike. I advise it considering it would be faster transportation and they charge a HUGE amount of money for them.”

“Okay, thanks, Mr. Chairman.” Hakel said. “Anything else?”

“Yes, I have also come to give you some information on the fake S.S. Anne that you fought Lt. Surge.” Mr. Chairman said, as they all raised their eyebrows at him.

“Fake? What do you mean?” Machine asked.

“I mean that the S.S. Anne that you fought Lt. Surge on was a complete illusion manifested by the psychic powers of a Kadabra and the ghost powers of a Gengar.” Mr. Chairman explained. “By manifesting what the S.S. Anne would have looked like, Gengar was able to create a fake ship. However, if memory serves, Ghost Pokemon are transparent so one step onto that boat would have caused you fall into the sea. But by using the powers of a Psychic Pokemon like Kadabra, one could focus that power of a Gengar and create a ship that one could physically walk on. That is why, according to what we have heard, you were knocked through the floor into the water. It was so well crafted that the Kadabra controlling it was able to focus its power without hurting the Gengar that had manifested the ship.”

“So, what happened to the original S.S. Anne?” Kusa asked.

“Apparently, while it was on cruise, Team Rocket killed EVERY single passenger on the ship and then blew the ship to smithereens. However, the zombies that Machine had encountered, were created through faint memories of what each passenger looked like through the mind of Lt. Surge to which the Gengar controlled.” Mr. Chairman explained as he turned around, done with his explanation. “Watch out for Team Rocket, all of you. They seem to be more powerful than ever. Stay on your toes.”

Mr. Chairman was right. Team Rocket was getting stronger. And they weren't going to get anywhere by sitting here and trying to let information like that soak in. They had to take action. They were now a team and needed to start acting like it. So, after Mr. Chairman had left, Red, Blue, Yellow, and Green all left Vermillion and headed for Celadon City. There was a rumor that the Team Rocket HQ may have been there so someone had to check it out. Machine was too wounded to go anywhere at the moment so Red and company traveled there to check it out.