Chapter 14

"SKEEEEEEETCH!"

The glass cutter made an unbearably loud noise. Joe had cut a circle of glass out of the back window of the police station. He reached in and unlocked it.

Behind him were two pokémon, a Graveler and a newly invented one named Mr. Roboto. They were trying to break into the station and get back Mark's pokémon. They had no idea of the terror and chaos that was going on inside.......

James was very afraid. He had been zapped by Pikachu countless times, escaped certain death from a Gyrados, and several other things in his career in Team Rocket. But he had never been truly afraid until this moment. He was being stalked in the maze of the police station by a psycho named Edgar. He wanted Mark's pokéballs, and he was going to kill them all unless he got them.

He was a member of a strange "Cult" as he had called it. They wanted the balls to, what was it, "Halt the future that would surly kill us all, and prevent the Dark One from returning." That didn't sound very good. Even James knew that.

Edgar was decked out in a strange cybernetic carapace that was giving him massive strength and speed. Also, on each hand, he had strong laser blasters, that could mame at 30 feet, kill at 20. That wasn't very good either.

Edgar also had five cultists with him. While they didn't have the armor, they were still killing machines. The Rockets had managed to stick together for a while, but recently a barrage of laser blasts had forced them to scatter, like field mice. The great Team Rocket, forced to run, like hogs for slaughter. At least he was still alive.........


On the roof on the police station another mysterious figure was entering. He was a bulky man, huge in fact, with chiseled good looks. He long dark hair flowed behind him. At his waist were six pokéballs. He was indeed a master, just not of the regular kind. He had no badges, he was just a great trainer.

He swooped down, landing right in front of a cultist. "Gah! One of YOU!" The cultist yelped, before the man knocked him out. He had managed to attract more them. "Better to take them all out at once...." the man thought to himself. Three more black garbed assassins rushed to aid their fallen comrade.

"Scyther, Go!" The man hollered. He hurled one of his ball into the crowd of men. The deadly ninja-bug began it's attack. It hacked and slashed at the cultists, making some them bleed openly. The cultists drew their knives. It would at least give them a fighting chance against it.

Actually it gave them about two more minutes then it would have with out the knives.

"Scyther, Return!" The mantis returned to it's ball, nary a scratch on it. It would be a bad day for the cultists. Jerium was in town.......

Joe, Mr. Roboto, and Graveler had managed to sneak into the station. There were no police around. The Rockets had apparently done their job. "It's too quiet." The voice of Mark came out of Mr. Roboto's speakers. He, Professor Oak, and Dr. Jones could watch everything on a portable viewing screen back at Jones place. "Let's just find the balls and get out of this place. It gives me the willies." Joe replied. "Gravel er Gravel!" Graveler put in his two-bits. He wasn't afraid.

Then, suddenly, a black clad cultist came up behind them and grabbed Joe. "Surrender! Or this boy dies now!" He screamed.

Back at the pokémart, Professor Oak saw everything. "Well it's time to see if Mr. Roboto can really fight." He grabbed Roboto's microphone from Mark and started giving orders, "Mr. Roboto, use Stun Gun!"

Back at the station, Roboto shot a powerful beam of light right at the cultists, knocking him in the wall, causing him to go unconscious.

Suddenly, the group of inept thieves, heard a large commotion around the corner. They hurried over, and saw two large men fighting. One had a metallic exoskeleton and pure white eyes. His hands were sharp talons, ready to destroy the other man, and rip his flesh from his bone.

The other man had six pokéballs on his belt. He also had two more stuck in special hostels. "Mark's!" Joe thought to himself. The white-eyed man had the other man on the ropes. "We finish this NOW, Jerium. Tonight you die." He spoke to the fallen man. "Let's just see about that. You know, death REALLY wasn't on the agenda today. Scyther, Pinser, Go!"The man named Jerium answered. He flung two of his balls. The two massive bugs appeared, ready to protect their trainer.

He looked over at Joe and the two pokémon, "Come on, I could use a little help here!" He threw Marks pokémon over to Joe. "You might want to use these." Then he grinned.

"Give them to Mr. Roboto," Mark spoke to Joe, "I'll control them through him." Joe did as Mark said. "Go Onix, Dugtrio! Help that guy out!" The giant rock snake, glad to be freed from it's ball, charged ahead. Dugtrio dug a hole, ready to attack if need be.

"Well, looks like the odds just went in your favor." The white eyed man pushed several buttons on his exoskeleton, "Let's see if we can't even them up." He shot two beams of energy from his arms. They turned into a Hitmonlee and a Hitmonchan. "Now the real battle begins, and I shall not lose. Tonight all of you die" The five cultists, revived, appeared behind him, each holding a pokéball......

James had managed to escaped. Someone had opened the back door. Jesse and Meowth had already left. He had only hoped they had waited for him. He looked around. Two figures were standing by a group of trees. There they were. He ran over to them, and Team Rocket Blasted Off Again........

Cries of "Hitmo!" "Gravel!" "Trio!" and several other sounds were echoing throughout the police station. Mr. Roboto had even joined in the battle, shooting various beams of power at the evil pokémon. The Hitmos were vary well trained, landing blow after blow on Onix, Graveler, and Mr. Roboto. Dugtrio, Scyther, and Pinser were helping Jerium defend against Edgar. The other cultists still had not thrown their balls, opting just to stand behind Edgar and watch.........


Chapter 15


"SCYTHER" The great bug roared at it's opponent, a Hitmonchan. Their trainers were also battling. It was a vicious battle with neither side really having an advantage over the other. Scyther slashed it's claw over Hitmonchan's face, creating a great gash in it. It would diffently feel that in the morning.

"Hit mo hit Chan!" It growled. It landed a flurry of Comet Punches in Scyther face. A little bruised, but not much worse or the where. Good thing Scyther had resistance. Scyther then pulled a Double Team on Hitmonchan, making it see double. It tried a Fire Punch on Scyther, that would surely KO it. It missed, hitting the double. Scyther then brought it's claw down on Hitmonchan, knocking it out. Edgar didn't even have the decently to recall it, just leaving it to suffer.

Meanwhile, Mr. Roboto and Onix were battling Hitmonlee. Onix kept leering away from it. It had weakness to fighting, and all of Hitmonlee's attacks were that type. fortunately, metal types, like Roboto, had resistance to fighting. It kept using Stun Gun and Magnetic Beam to keep it at bay, and then using Robot Punch to beat on it. Hitmonlee, who never saw a metal type, literally didn't know what hit it. After a while, it started to get the upper-hand on Roboto. Onix came up behind it, smashing it into the wall, KOing it instantly.

Edgar stated to realize that he was losing his pokémon. "My friends, release the power that lies inside!" The cultists, suddenly became alive, hurling their balls. Several pokémon appeared, among them, a Hypno, Charmeleon, Machokes, Fearows, and several others. Joe could tell right off this was going to be one HECK of a battle.

Mr. Roboto was facing Hypno, Machoke, and a Magenton. He gave the Choke a Robot Punch right to the face, knocking it back, but not out. Suddenly, a cultist called to Hypno, "Use Poison Gas!" The Hypno inhaled and

*This part was censored by ChriS, just for decency. See I do have a heart*

Roboto used just blew a wall of air back the foul anal gas, causing it to blow back on Hypno, poisoning it. The cultist called it back. Joe, who was helping control Onix and Dugtrio, said to himself, "Huh, I always wondered how Hypno used the Gas......"

*OK, enough of the anal-pokémon jokes. *

Magenton then used a Sonic Boom, sending Mr. Roboto flying. The remaining two pokémon then descended on Roboto, preparing to pummel it. Just then, Graveler leaped down, doing a Rock Throw on Machoke on the way down, KOing it. He used a Tackle on the Ton, throwing it to the ground. Graveler then proceeded to stomp on it, turning it to wreckage, completely destroyed.

The fight between Jerium and Edgar was getting heated. Jerium was helped by Pinser and Dugtrio, but Edgar was three times as strong as a regular man, and twice as fast. A more finely tuned killing machine there never was. He stabbed his arm down, trying to claw at Jerium's head with his fingers. Jerium rolled away, just barely missing getting his head permanently removed.

He scrambled to get out of Edgar's grip, and succeeded. "Everyone, get out of here! We have what we came for." Mark's voice, coming from Mr. Roboto, called back his pokémon. "Pinser, smash that wall!" Jerium recalled Scyther, and sent Pinser on it's mission.

Suddenly, three cultists appeared in front of Pinser, blocking it's way. "Go Magmar!" All three of them commanded. Three spit-fire pokémon appeared in front of them. Pinser ran in for a Tackle, but missed." Magmars, use Flamethrower!" The three fire types blew a steady stream of fire towards the bug. Pinser rolled out of the way, just barely missing getting burned.

It tried to Seismic Toss one of the Magmars, but just got burned. The spit-fires used Smog on Pinser, doing lots of damage, after a little while, Pinser was KO'd. Jerium recalled it. "OK, looks like we're going to have to take the long way out."

The group of people and pokémon ran down a long hall, having to fight many cultists on the way. Mr. Roboto stunned several of them, but they just kept on coming. "Guess Edgar called for reinforcements." Jerium remarked at one point. Joe finally asked Jerium a question, "Just why are we trying to get out of here so fast?" "Easy. Because I set up explosives all around this building, and there set to go off in about, oh, three minutes."

Joe gave Jerium a blank look. "Are you insane, or is it just a ruse?" Jerium just grinned, giving Joe a very uneasy feeling.

Finally, they reached the way out. "How mush time we got?" Joe asked Jerium. "Around thirty seconds. Don't worry, I have a ride." Jerium picked a small gray-ish box of his pocket. He pressed a button on it. A nice looking car zoomed around the corner. It was red, with a convertible top.

The two humans hopped in, leaving to two pokémon stranded. "What about them?" Jerium asked Joe. "I have no idea what so ever." Joe replied.

Back at Dr. Jones place, Professor Oak told Mr. Roboto to use a move called "Adapt to flying type".

Back at the police station, with little more than ten seconds to spare, Roboto wheels turned up inside of it, and turned into jets. It picked up Graveler, and took off, with Joe and Jerium in hot pursuit.

"You know something?" Joe asked Jerium, "You look awful familiar." "We've met before." Jerium answered. "You traded me a Scyther for an Ivysaur. That later evolved into Venusaur. That later blew up the Pewter City Gym."

Joe looked very depressed. "I thought I recognized you. That was after I killed."

"It was just a Pidgeot. It didn't matter." Jerium said, trying to comfort Joe, but not succeeding. "By the way, my name's Jerium King." Joe replied "I would tell you mine but I have a feeling you already know it. Anyway, wasn't the police station supposed to blow up?" "Yeah. Right.....about......NOW!"

KABOOM!!!! The police station blew up in a great fiery explosion.

"Wow." Was all Joe had to say.

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

And so, I conclude Book One of Looking For Legends. I hope you will join me in Book Two, as I answer these questions and more. Like:

What happened to Edgar? If you believe he blew up, obviously you don't know me vary well.

What happened to Mark's mom? She wasn't supposed to live out the week. Is she alive?

Where's Mark's dad?

What are The Thirty and The Great War?

Who is Jerium really?

Who is the mysterious man named Gyran?

More questions and answers in:

LFL BOOK TWO: QUEST OF THE THIRTY!!

Yrs.

~ChriS

LFL: Book One, Epilogue

One step. One shaky step. And so, it began.

Mark was finally getting his casts off. He still couldn't move the fingers of his left hand, or see out of his left eye. It was a start though. At last he could walk!!!

The mission had been successful. Joe, Graveler, and Mr. Roboto had gotten Mark's pokémon back. It was a very happy reunion between Mark and Onix, as well as Dugtrio. Now was the difficult task of proving himself to the league. Proving that he could be a trainer.

Joe had gotten some help from a stranger name Jerium King, who intercepted the mysterious, yet evil man named Edgar. Edgar had been encased in a mechanical exoskeleton, that gave him immense power and strength. He had shown up with many strange black clad men, all of whom had tried to steal Mark's pokémon. Good thing the Rockets had gotten there first. Dr. Jones said the last thing he saw of the Rockets was them flying off in the Meowth balloon. They didn't even come to collect their pay!

Dr. Jones and Professor Oak seamed to know something about Jerium, Edgar, and the black-clad men, but wouldn't come clean. Mark had secretly vowed to squeeze it out of them somehow. But, the was a task for later. Now there were preparations to make.

Mark would soon be leaving on his journey. The same journey he had refused to make when Brock had offered him the Boulder Badge. Now he was embracing his destiny, instead of rejecting it. He would become a master, with or without a license!

But there was one loose string in all this. Mark's mom. Her health was deteriorating, and she would not live long. Could he really leave her in a time like this? No, not his right mind he couldn't.

Mr. Roboto was staying with her right now, monitoring her condition, and things like that. Even that could not make him feel any better though. Maybe he would wait a bit, see if she got better? But what if she didn't? What indeed? There seamed to be no answer to this riddle.

But at least now he could walk. Just one step, that one shaky step. That was how all things began. All things in time, at the right time. And soon, you would be on your way.

Mark had made it across the room. His step was improving.

There was yet another piece in this great puzzle. The man called Jerium King. Dr. Jones seamed to wince at the very mention of the name, as if it brought up bad memories of the past. Professor Oak just muttered something about a Blastoise. Joe had remarked on the fact that he and his pokémon fought together, like one being, even though they were in different battles.

Edgar had sent out a Hitmonchan and a Hitmonlee. Jerium's Scyther had scarred the Hitmonchan across the face, leaving it marked forever. Forever to be reminded about it's failure. The Pinser hit down a great amount of damage before being ganged up on by three Magmars. It was burnt pretty bad, but would heal.

Jerium had set up explosives in the police station. A fail safe, he told Joe, just incase they failed, Edgar would go down too. Edgar had apparently not escaped.

Right before Jerium had left Joe, he gave him four more pokéballs. One was for Mark, the others were for him. Joe's had welded his pokémon, Slowpoke, Mankey, and Venusaur. Joe didn't think he deserved them, after what he thought he had done to Mark. After a little coaxing, he decided to take them.

Mark still hadn't open his ball. It looked fairly new, like a pokémon that was just caught. Maybe he should open it..... He took the ball, that was laying on his desk, and held it. It really was a simple device. Just a small ball, red and white, with a latch. Now the insides, well, no-one really know how that worked. You pressed the latch, and the pokémon came out. That all there was to it. Just press the latch. So why did it feel so strange, to open this one?

Might as well give it a shot..... He pressed the small white button, unleashing a purple beam of light. It formed into a small shape, with wings, and two wicked looking blades. It was a Scyther, but smaller then usual. It almost looked.....pygmy. Or maybe it was very young. "Scyther!!"" It cried, battle ready. Small as it was, it was a feisty little bug.

It slashed at the air, trying to cut the nothingness. There was noway this was the one Jerium had used in battle. Mark bent down, and almost fell over. "Here, come here." He said softly. The little Scyther crawled over to Mark, sniffing him. Apparently he smelled OK, because it spread it's wings, and glided over to Mark's shoulder, and landed. It touched his face with it's blade, lightly, not causing any harm.

"So I guess you like me." Mark said, while the mantis-pokémon curled up in the hood of his jacket, making it hard to walk. "I think it might be better if you come out here, K?" H grabbed the sleeping bug and carried it out in his arms. He would make a fine addition to Mark's team, this young Scyther......


As Mark became acquainted with his new pokémon, far away from Pewter City, a strange meeting was taking place. The Minor Lord Dark was meeting with Edgar. Edgar had failed. He was being punished.

Edgar screamed as the electrical spasm shot through his body. For days now, this had been his life. The exoskeleton that gave him his strength, was now his enemy, shooting electricity throughout every part of his body. Had he survived the blast, only to die like this? No. He was needed for a greater purpose.

Minor Lord Dark turned off the switch. "You failed me Edgar. You failed the Dark One. He will not stand for it. Nor will I. If you fail again, you will die. Now you may grovel before me, or feel the pain." Within second Edgar was on his knees, begging to be spared the pain. The Minor Lord Dark smiled grimly. "Not fast enough." He flipped on the switch, and turned it up three notches. The story was, (if the cultists told such stories, mind you) that you could hear his screams from all over the cave.

"I-I-I will not fail again, Minor Lord Dark..." Edgar then passed out, for the pain was too great.....


Even farther away from Pewter City, two blind men stared into space, seeing nothing, yet seeing every thing. One of them finally broke the silence, "This new Minor Lord Dark will be a difficult foe. Anyone who can bring Edgar to his knees is worth watching." "Yes. The old Minor Lord was weak. The combat was quick, with this one victorious. If the Dark One is ever unleashed, we will truly be doomed. If we are not already. Our Champion grows stronger each day. He needs the training. Jerium will only interfere. It is time to call Gyran."

"Gyran?!! I think that you maybe jumping too fast, my friend." the second one replied " If we call him away from his guard duties...... all Hell may very well break loose. Jerium can teach. And he will, too. Don't worry. Our Champion will be ready. When the Dark One is unleashed, we will be triumphant."

"Fine then. We try your way. Jerium will teach him first. But still I say, Jerium the Second is weak. Jerium the First was one of the most powerful member of the Thirty. If only he was still alive......" The second finally said, after a long pause.

"The First Jerium lives on in his son. The Second may even be more powerful, and smarter too. The Scyther King will arise again, if only in his son..........."

Far away, on Cinnabar Island, the scientists had returned, and were finishing their project. The wreckage from Mewtwo had been swept under the rug, with no evidence. This new one would be more powerful, and would be the thing Mewtwo wasn't. Totally obedient. In every way.

Below the labs, something awoke, and cried. In a nearby house, a man heard what no-one else could. It was the cry. It was calling him. It wanted him. It [i]needed[/i] him. He needed it. Soon they would be joined. The man went to his window, and touched it. "Soon." he said softy, even though no-one else was in his house, "Soon, we will be together. We will escape this meaningless existence. Together, forever, just you and me. You'll help me, and I'll protect you. And we'll be together............."


And so OFFICIALLY ends Book One of Looking For Legends. This isn't really a chapter, just an Epilogue. If you want to know how the rest of the series ends, all the clues are in this, as well as the other Epilogues. If you know what to look for, you don't even have to read the other Books! Not that you shoulden't anyway. I hope this takes away some of the confusion from the stroy, and maybe adds a little more mystery to it.