Don't Give Me Diamonds

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 103: Give me Righteousness

In a fateful encounter in the past, Delia met Naberrie for the first time while at a restaurant with her father. Davin Ketchum, who was at the time the newly appointed police superintendent for Kanto, was acting as the police chief for the Viridian station until the force's understaffing problem was resolved. That problem had come as a result of the authorities being finally cleaned of corruption to start anew after Team Rocket took out the gangs associated with them. There was an unspoken agreement of mutual indifference and ignorant pretense between Team Rocket and the police, which would only grow with the coming years, more so as one generation ended and new younger officers took over on a clean slate, knowing little of the expanding control of Team rocket until it was too late.

For what was it worth doing anything when inaction seemed to be the only safe path? That was a way of thinking that was not shared by the superintendent, which led to a conflict with Naberrie. Davin was being held at a secret room in the restaurant by armed guards so that he may not interfere with Delia and Naberrie's conversation at a table on the roof. The Viridian mayor, Rune Antilles, then at the beginning of his political career, was downstairs with his young son, Kenobi.

Naberrie observed Delia sitting across the table from her and began her tale. "Years ago, the Coruscant clan ruled the underworld in equal terms with their rivals, the Roketto. My father was the head of Coruscant, being the oldest son. However, his power hungry younger sister was determined to come out on top. By a series of events that I cannot begin to imagine, she ended up married to the head of the Roketto. Peculiarly, the Roketto leader passed away when their first born was still a toddler. Some say she had him killed after she had seduced him to obtain his power. Far from having any intentions of uniting the Coruscant with the Roketto, the widow who let go of her name to simply be known as Madame, the new leader of the Roketto, waged a war which Coruscant lost and established her firm rule. Years passed and her son left determined to build his gang on his own. From there on out, you know the story well."

Realization hit Delia like a Golem. "Your father and Giovanni's mother are siblings!" She began to worry, but tried not to show it.

Before Delia could inquire about Naberrie's intention, theorizing that revenge was part of her agenda, Naberrie interrupted with, "were." Seeing Delia's puzzlement she elaborated, "my father and Giovanni's mother were siblings, since he is no longer among the living."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Delia's voice was sincere, her mask falling off to reveal compassion. She inevitably wondered if the death of Naberrie's father could have been a direct consequence of Madame's actions. "Even if it was because of what Madame did, you shouldn't blame Giovanni for it. He has no control over his mother's actions, they don't even get along. Besides, this happened a long time ago, right? Giovanni was still a child, as were we."

"I do not blame Madame for the fate of my father; his own stupidity led him to his downfall," Naberrie ascertained with a hint of anger in her eyes and a predatory curve upon her lips. "His talents as a leader were null, yet he was given the right of the firstborn. He exhausted our resources to the point where the once proud Coruscant family was indebted to many of the smaller gangs of Kanto. He had nothing left so I put him out of his misery."

Delia gasped at the revelation, "you... your own father!"

"This world is not for one as innocent as you, Delia." Naberrie looked almost mocking. "I honestly don't understand what Giovanni is thinking, but it is obvious he's not with you for your heritage. Even if your father is the police superintendent, that is something that only became true recently and I agree with my aunt's policy to not negotiate with the police. To do so would be to give them the advantage as they play both sides of the law, while we are perpetually in the side that stands against it."

Naberrie continued her explanation and criticism, ignoring Delia's look of utter shock. She could tell that the other woman's indignation was not due to being casted as a bad choice for Giovanni, but more so because of the surprise of what happened in the mafia all for the sake of power. "When those small gangs were wiped out by Team Rocket, the Coruscant, which had been reduced to virtually nothing by the time I became the new boss, was finally free. However, there was nothing more to do than to break even and thus the clan was in essence disbanded. At some point before that, I had met and married Rune, a cargo merchant commanding a modest market share well behind its competitors, especially the titan of cargo transport, Calrissian Cargo. After becoming free of my clan and its debts, I decided to start anew. Even if Madame was brilliant in the past, she too has fallen from power. It seems the commanding power right now is Giovanni, thus I will offer my alliance to him, I already have through city hall."

"You want to be Giovanni's ally?" To say Delia had doubts about Naberrie's sincerity was an understatement. "If that is true, then why are you doing this? Why did you cause such a commotion at the restaurant, people were watching and you should know that's not good for Giovanni."

"You didn't notice and neither did he," Naberrie leaned back on her chair and closed her eyes in indifferent superiority. Being raised as a lady of the mafia, albeit her family was already spiraling down when she was born, the way she carried herself was similar to Madame. However, Madame seemed to be one step ahead of everything and everyone, irradiating power without trying, in an atmosphere that was both calmer and deadlier than Naberrie's. "Davin Ketchum is being used. He is not the real police superintendent, he's bait. After Team Rocket took out most of the gangs, the police obtained a one in a lifetime opportunity to finish the clean up. They did not waste that chance and put a plan into action. Unfortunately, I do not know the specifics, but I can assure you that your father is being used. The police is trying to take out Giovanni now, before he firmly establishes his rule. This is a plan that doesn't include the whole or even the majority of the force, but an elite group of officers and government officials acting along side an unknown third party. Team Rocket is just starting to expand, most of the police and government gave up the war after loosing the battle, but there are those who are willing to risk it all."

Delia remained silent for a long moment until she swallowed air and pushed her voice to function. "I will have to confirm if what you say is true."

"Naturally," Naberrie expected the doubts. "You will also come to understand that my actions here tonight have spared you a lot of trouble. Your father will be released, minus his weapon, which my men will keep as a souvenir, though I'm sure he'll receive a replacement at the police station. However, a stop must be put to tonight's plot. You will not meet Davin again until you have confirmed my warning; I will personally escort you to the Viridian Gym."

"I want to see my father," Delia protested. "How do I know you won't hurt him?"

"You will find out later when there is no news of the supposed superintendent being killed," Naberrie offered. "He will most likely try to contact you, but you must not speak to him. He knows about Giovanni and when he finds out you're with him, he'll try to get information from you to separate you from him and arrest him. If that happens, he'll be playing right into the trap of the real superintendent. You will find, as will Giovanni, upon further investigation, that my intentions are sincere and that I was of vital help tonight," Naberrie emphasized.

From there on the following events proceeded as per Naberrie's orders. Davin was released into the forest minus his police gun and left there. Delia was taken to the Viridian Gym in front of which she exited the mayor's limousine with its other passengers, Naberrie, Rune and Kenobi, remaining unseen.

xoxox xox xoxox

After the mayor's limousine dropped her off at the Viridian Gym, Delia had too very important things to do. One was to ensure the safety of her father and the other was to tell Giovanni about what happened, so that he may take the proper contingency measures if Naberrie's warning turned out to be true and perhaps more so if she turned out to be lying. Team Rocket was only just beginning to truly establish its rule despite its fast growth in the economy and number of members. Its descent into a darker path was only looming in the approaching future yet to come and the feeling of being a righteous, albeit illegal, vigilante was still in Delia's heart. No matter what, Kanto needed Team Rocket, she and Giovanni would not let it fall apart.

With such thoughts in mind, Delia hurried upstairs to the gym's living area. She opened the door to her and Giovanni's room surprised that for once, Giovanni had no extra work to keep him up late. Instead he was sleeping peacefully with his young Meowth curled up by his side. "Wake up, Giovanni!" Delia turned on the overhead lights disturbing her lover's slumber. "This is urgent!"

In a split second, Giovanni was fully awake and out of bed, while the Meowth was still in the process of stretching and yawning, with no idea what was making his mother fuss so much. "What happened?" Giovanni urged Delia to reveal.

"A lot, my father may be in danger, no, he is in danger!" Delia exclaimed, her voice sinking into panic. "First of all I need to locate him and make sure he's safe, can you have agents help search the city? I don't think they could have gone far yet. We need to investigate who the police superintendent is, the real one I mean. Naberrie needs to be investigated and even Rune, to be safe." The mayor didn't look like he would hurt a Caterpie, but Delia didn't want to take any chances.

"Delia, slow down, where are you going with all of this?" Giovanni was confused and did not like what little he could theorize about from the information he managed to grasp out of Delia's rushed statement.

"The agents, the search, now!" Delia insisted adamantly, unable to focus on anything else until she knew actions were being taken about her father's safety. "His name is Davin Ketchum, graying brown hair, about five inches taller than me and... The only pictures I have of him are old and in a box of random things I left at Professor Oak's laboratory back when I left for my Cerulean City internship." She suddenly regretted procrastinating to go pick it up, as the box in question was usually forgotten seconds after being remembered when it came to mind.

"It's okay, that's enough, he'll be found and brought here," Giovanni offered, trying to calm Delia.

"No, don't," Delia exclaimed, "If he's fine just let him be. Have him call me, I'll tell him I'm alright and that's it. Don't interfere. We still don't know if the police is really using him, or Naberrie, or both."

"Right, we'll do that," Giovanni delegated orders to his top agents through his cell phone. "The search has started, they'll keep us informed," Giovanni pressed a button on his cell phone, ending the communication. "Now from the beginning, what's happening with the police?" He inquired, adding with a grumble, "I knew this would be trouble," while at the same time being silently thankful that Delia at least made it back unharmed.

Delia began her explanation as fast and clearly as she could. "I was at a restaurant with my father when-"

The name of Naberrie, which Delia had mentioned, tugged at Giovanni's memory until he realized why it sounded familiar. He suddenly interrupted Delia by asking, "Naberrie Coruscant?"

"Yes, your cousin," Delia confirmed.

Giovanni's face was immediately invaded by distrust. He didn't know Naberrie well, other than the fact that she was his cousin. He had seen her maybe twice in his life and had not spoken to her on either occasion. He could come up with a number of reasons why she would want to stand against him, but certainly didn't expect her to actually take action, now of all times, let alone to involve Delia. "What did she do?"

"That's just it, I don't know for sure," the hopeful side of Delia wished with all her might that Naberrie kept her word about her father being safe. That would place the police as their main enemy if she truly wanted to be their ally, but that could be dealt with later.

Delia's explanation was interrupted again, this time by the ringing of Giovanni's cell phone, piercing the urgency in the atmosphere to fill it with a few eternal seconds of excruciating uncertainty waiting for the news that could be a relief or a catastrophe. "Did you find him?" Giovanni spoke into the device.

Accentuating his reply with a yawn, followed by a grunt, Proton answered, "yeah, I found him, he was pretty close by. The stubborn old man had a few nasty things to say about me the second he saw me, but we have him under control."

"Good, put him on," Giovanni passed the cell phone to Delia.

She took it with shaking hands and almost desperately called, "dad, are you alright?"

"As alright as a prisoner of the mafia can be, or worse yet, the father of a prisoner of the mafia. Delia, what in the world is this about?" Davin's out of breath outrage was heard over the cell phone.

"You're not a prisoner and neither am I, but you might be being used by the police," Delia revealed with a tired breath. "Listen, just go back home and act natural. The police needs you so they won't hurt you, the less you know, the safer you'll be. I'll be watching over you, so don't worry. I'll get to the bottom of this and get you out. For now, just go home and pretend this call never happened, don't worry about me. I'm safe and I'll keep you safe, please, just do what I say, I'll see you as soon as I can."

Davin was horrified that his daughter, sounded very much like she was well connected with the mafia. There was no doubt in his mind that it was indeed Delia's voice so similar to her mother's, speaking words he would never have guessed she would speak. At least she was safe, if the term safe was used loosely. Davin didn't know what was going on, but he knew he had to comply, if not for his well being, for hers. "I'll do what you say, please, stay safe, Delia."

After reassuring her father some more, Delia ended the conversation and Davin was released. She gave the cell phone back to Giovanni just in time for him to hear Proton's complaints. "For crying out loud, Giovanni! I get woken up in the middle of the night, on the one night I actually decide to stay at base and get some much needed sleep. Then I'm sent on a wild Farfetch'd hunt for some old man through the forest and when I do find him, you don't even keep him around. What in the world is going on?"

"That's what I would like to know," came Giovanni's voice, followed by the tone that indicated the communication had been disconnected.

Once again left in silence, Delia took a deep breath and tried to fully explain what she knew. "While at the restaurant with my father, mayor Antilles approached to say hello. I didn't know what was going on, but his wife, Naberrie," Delia observed Giovanni's expression turn to angry surprise upon realizing that Rune being married to Naberrie was a fact that had remained hidden from him. Ending her pause, Delia continued, "she took us to the roof and she had armed guards. They took my father away and she told me many things. She said that dad's recent promotion to police superintendent was false and the real superintendent along with a small group of officers and government officials were using him allied with an unknown third party. They want to take out Team Rocket and Naberrie interrupted their plot to gain information through my father, who seems to know nothing of this, by interfering tonight. She said she wanted to be your ally and that this was the proof of it. I don't know if she's telling the truth, but I think both possibilities need to be investigated."

"I don't trust her," Giovanni stated strongly. "I don't trust Rune either." A man such as Rune Antilles, so carefree, distracted and easy to manipulate had to be someone else's puppet. Giovanni just discovered that he was not the one controlling Rune after all; someone else had set things up to make it look that way. "We're going to need more information; Team Rocket will be at full alert. I'm especially curious about that third party you mentioned. We can investigate the police and Naberrie, but unless we know who our third enemy is, finding more information will be difficult."

xoxox xox xoxox

For the next few days a detailed investigation was conducted by Team Rocket. In the mean time, at a loss for what to do and fearing for his daughter's safety, Davin was determined to conduct an investigation of his own. He did not report the happenings of the restaurant to the police. The group of officers and government officials who set him up were aware of what had happened, up until the time when Naberrie interfered and took them out of range of their spies. However, since Davin didn't bring it up, neither did the higher ups, so as to not let him know he was being closely watched, assuming he was unaware of it.

As for the conversation between Naberrie and Delia, that remained a mystery to the police, but they had guesses as to what could have gone on. That made them especially careful around Davin, doubting how much he knew and how far he would go. With the worry in the back of his mind that the police was using him, Davin decided that he had a good enough excuse to justify his silence in the worries about his daughter's safety. He would, as Delia instructed, proceed as if her call never occurred. He did not need to act his desperation, as it felt quite real when he headed to Pallet Town to speak to Professor Oak, wondering how much he knew about Delia's current life. He felt reproachful towards the man to whom he had entrusted his daughter. Simultaneously, he also felt that he had no right to blame Samuel, since raising and guiding Delia was his duty as a father and not the duty of his friend.

The morning was gloomy with gray clouds covering the sky when Davin arrived at the Oak laboratory. Light rain fell barely noticeable every now and then, threatening to bring forth a strong downpour which had thus far not come. Parking his car in front of the brick fence of the property, Davin exited the vehicle and noted that the gates leading to the stairs in front of the main building were parted; Samuel probably forgot to close them the night before. He made his way up the stairs with a rushed yet uncertain pace, stopping mid way as the front door coincidentally opened.

Samuel Oak bent over to pick up the newspaper that was at the foot of his door. As he straightened, he saw the man standing mid way up his stairs and recognized him almost instantly, "Davin!" His first reaction was the happiness anyone would feel laying eyes upon an old friend that one has not seen in a long time. It mixed with the excitement of an upcoming pleasant conversation and finally sank into a well hidden worry. Delia's path in life was something that Samuel had accepted, but Davin may not. The professor wondered how much Davin knew, though he theorized that not much. He guessed that the man was there to visit his daughter at long last, assuming she was still his student.

"Samuel, I need to speak to you," Davin finished going up the stairs adding, "inside," with a serious tone. It was as if he debated if he should apologize to Samuel for making him carry the duty of raising someone else's child or to punch him for allowing Delia to take the path Davin himself should have been there to protect her from. Overall the benefit of the doubt won over and Davin restrained himself from any sort of physical or verbal outburst.

Seeing the seriousness in the other man's face, Samuel stepped aside to allow him passage inside his residence. He closed the door, locking it behind them and tossed the all but forgotten newspaper on the living room coffee table. Both men sat down on the couch, which was as hard as an Onix, though neither seemed to care about the discomfort, their minds too filled with more imperative thoughts. "This is about Delia, isn't it?" Samuel guessed, coming up with a theory different from his thoughts of a mere few seconds ago. Davin knew something and if he didn't know, he must suspect. Never had Samuel seen such a mixed look on Davin's face, he was serious, worried, unsure, afraid, regretful, disappointed, angry and... reproachful?

"Yes," Davin confirmed and not wanting to dance around the subject he revealed. "I know she's in trouble with the mafia," because any kind of involvement with them was trouble by his definition. "I don't know in how much trouble she is, enlighten me." Davin's voice came out as a sharp order that Samuel knew he couldn't refuse.

Shifting uncomfortably, Samuel tried to voice some difficult revelations. "Delia is..." the pokemon Professor paused and looked at his friend in the eyes. "I'm not going to run away from this discussion, but I think you should talk to Delia first. After you've spoken to her, you can come to me and we'll talk."

"I already talked to her. She said the police was using me, she said she would keep an eye on me. She sounded as if she was really with them, with the mafia. I knew it was odd to promote me at my age, when the murmurs I've heard from the office are that they thought it was about time for me to retire," Davin realized he should have been suspicious before. "It was too good to be true to think that after all those corrupt officers were taken out of the force they suddenly decided to appreciate my experience. It turns out I was apparently part of the clean up. Delia doesn't want me to go looking for her and I'm worried something might happen to her if I do. Samuel, you know something and I need to know exactly what it is, I have the right!" Davin exploded, his voice louder and more enraged than Samuel had ever heard it.

Samuel stared at Davin in shock for a moment. "I am not well informed in such internal affairs," he admitted. "If Delia wants you to lay low and watch your back with the police, it's best to listen to her." He let out a stressful breath, "I apologize if I've inevitably broken your trust, believe me when I say that I care for Delia as if she were my own daughter. It all began with her internship at the Cerulean City Pokemon Center. She was missing for a while and when I saw her again she was... she was the same as ever, except she had a boyfriend. He's the head of Team Rocket, the Viridian Gym leader, Giovanni."

"He'll pay for this!" Davin exclaimed in absolute fury. "Taking away my little girl and getting her involved in all this trouble!" He stood up and paced, as if he wanted to run back to his car and rush to Viridian City to strangle Giovanni.

"Davin, please calm down!" Samuel stood to block the doorway. "It's not great, but it's not terrible." That was before Delia showed up back at Pallet Town pregnant and heartbroken; it was before Samuel felt true anger towards Giovanni. "It might actually be more good than bad in a certain light. I think they truly care about each other and it was Team Rocket that ended the epidemic, everyone owes them for that. I suppose you could think of them as vigilantes in a way."

"Nonsense!" Davin shouted, "listen to yourself, this is the mafia we're talking about, the mafia!"

The outburst was interrupted by a somewhat odd sounding feminine voice just outside the front door, "open the door this instant, this is the police!"

The two men froze for what felt like an eternity, until finally Samuel reacted, "just act natural," a million excuses ran through his mind, though he doubted any smart officer would believe him if he said he and Davin were only rehearsing a play and their argument was not real. None the less, he knew they would gain nothing by hiding inside the house, thus he opened the door.

There stood officer Jenny in her usual police uniform, miniskirt included, "Davin Ketchum, Samuel Oak, you are both hereby under arrest!"

"You can't!" Davin protested, too stressed and worried to form any real excuse.

"Officer, please, let's talk, I'm sure there's been a misunderstanding!" Samuel pleaded.

"I'd like to hear what you have to say," Jenny agreed, stepping forward, which caused the two men to step out of the way to let her in. The officer then closed the door and locked it. "What's your excuse?" Samuel and Davin remained silent, trying to calculate their words carefully until their visitor grew impatient and scolded them in a voice that was not female. "You were so loud the entire town could probably hear you. What would you have done if the real Jenny came to arrest you? It's my job to keep an eye on you, so don't make it more difficult than it is." He then removed his wig to reveal purple hair. "My name is Petrel, one of the elite agents of Team Rocket, I'm here for your protection."

Samuel and Davin wore matching shocked expressions. Davin fell into a sitting position on the rock hard couch and held his head in agony. His daughter was not only hanging out with the mafia, but with cross-dressing weirdos too.

To be Continued

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 104: Give me Security

At the Viridian City gym, Rune arrived most unexpectedly around mid day. He was unaware that Naberrie and Giovanni were related and only knew of her intentions of becoming his ally. The detail of them being cousins didn't truly matter to either, though if Rune knew, he would surely have something to comment about it, as he often had something to comment on everything. The topic of conversation that day was lunch, the business lunch that Giovanni had apparently arranged to have with Rune with the purpose of discussing various things related to the city and their duties as mayor and gym leader respectively. In truth, Giovanni had not arranged that lunch meeting, but he did receive a call from Naberrie asking for an update and to let him know that Rune was on his way.

By then Team Rocket had noticed that Davin was indeed being watched and sent Petrel to investigate. His mission was also to make sure nothing happened to Delia's father which could cause trouble for her, in turn for Giovanni and thus for Team Rocket. As for Naberrie sending the clueless Rune over to the Viridian Gym, it was Naberrie's way to provide some insurance of her intentions, though Giovanni had a feeling that if it came to that, she would be willing to do little for the sake of her husband's release.

The situation slowly became clearer and it looked like Naberrie's intentions for the time being were true. Yet Giovanni still didn't trust her. Even if her wish was to be his ally, her plans later down the road could be something very different, something traitorous. For the time being at least, while exercising caution, her influence could be allowed to serve as a benefit to Team Rocket. Following Giovanni's strategy, which would expose Naberrie's personnel albeit she did not protest in their name, through threats and bribery, the real police superintendent was discovered and a general assessment of his plans were made.

In truth the elite little group of officers and government officials were only opportunists that were trying to appear as heroes. Their plans were not all that complex, use Davin as a spy through Delia, then seek to discover a weakness in Team Rocket to take advantage of. If worse came to worse, come up with some accusations for Delia and use her to negotiate in a way that would hopefully lead to Giovanni's arrest, despite any use he might make of technicalities and contacts. Of course, Giovanni would not let it get to that.

There was also that third party to think about. The impression Giovanni got from the investigation was that they were in charge and the officers and government agents were only along for the ride in search of easy fame, recognition and rewards. By spying on the communications of the police and government, clues were found as to the identity of that third party.

"It's almost certain that the third party involved is Silph," Archer informed on a gloomy afternoon with gray clouds and so little light that one would think it was evening. The atmosphere seemed fitting to Delia's mood as she listened. "Either way, this strategy of theirs is weak. I think Silph Co. may be using the police and government agents involved to cover their true plans, which probably include playing heroes."

"Then all we have to do is stop them," Giovanni concluded. The meeting, which consisted of Giovanni, Delia, Archer, Ariana and Proton, then took a more defined direction in relation to the plans to stop Silph Co.

xoxox xox xoxox

That evening, Giovanni and Delia had an argument about her going to the Silph Co. building in Saffron City with a few other Rockets. "This is my father we're talking about; I want to personally make sure that any actions that could be taken against him are stopped." It was the dilemma of the vigilantes and the reason why they so often chose to keep their identities a secret, so that those linked to them would not have to suffer for their actions.

"That's exactly what they want, to catch you in the middle of an illegal act and take you away. Even if we have our reasons to do this, even if it is to defend Team Rocket, we're still trespassing by breaking into Silph Co. with this investigation. Besides, even if it turns out that the leader of this whole conspiracy is staying at the building as our sources indicate, who's to say our discovery of his plans will be enough to put a stop to them? We don't know what will have to be done once we're there, as things stand now we'll decide when the time comes and I don't want you in the middle of that uncertainty. Then there's also Naberrie, what if she's planning something?" Giovanni tried to reason with Delia to make her stay back at the Viridian base, but she wouldn't have it.

"Giovanni," she looked into his eyes with determination and reassurance. "We've been in more dangerous situations before and have come out on top. What we're doing is illegal, but it's done for the right reasons. We're the protectors of Kanto and we can't let anyone stop us from accomplishing our duties to the world."

If that could be translated to taking over the world, then it was indeed their duty from Giovanni's perspective. He realized that he was not going to win this argument. Though usually flexible and understanding, when Delia set her mind on something, there was simply no stopping her. "If you insist on going to Silph Co., then I will go too."

xoxox xox xoxox

The gloomy weather that dominated Kanto that day with gray skies and light rain, had taken a turn for the worse in the shape of an all out downpour in Saffron City that night. Delia and Giovanni were there to infiltrate the Silph Co. building with a small elite team consisting of Proton, Luke, Ben and themselves.

Archer, Ariana, Aayla, Leah and a few others would be secretly keeping an eye on Naberrie's movements as well as entertaining Rune, who wisely decided not to listen to his curiosity and suspicions, instead playing along as he was told. Petrel was still in Pallet Town, at the Oak laboratory where Davin was instructed to stay. Thankfully, he was no longer in disguise and instead wore his customized version of the Team Rocket uniform, with shiny golden details to accentuate the black fabric.

Binks was immersed in his scientific research. The New Island facilities were not yet built and he instead was beginning to work with Ackbar Inc. It was Delia who convinced Giovanni to do business with Bane Ackbar, subsequent to hearing of his son's delicate health condition. After humoring Delia's compassion, Giovanni saw that the deal was indeed a good opportunity and a long term secret business relation began between Ackbar Inc. and Team Rocket. While the future was full of possibilities, it still needed to be protected and ensured.

"This is like, not like cool, you know?" Luke whispered in the darkness of the night. He was cold and wet, as was almost everyone else, as they stood in the darkness outside of the Silph Co. building.

"No, it's freezing; this is a fine night you picked to sneak around, Giovanni." Proton was hard at work picking the back door's lock with only his black hat to protect him from the rain. Big umbrellas didn't exactly scream sneaky.

Delia was the only one with enough sense to bring a raincoat. It had been difficult to find a black one, but when she did, she purchased it immediately, earning an amused chuckle from Giovanni, who was sure she would never need it. She proved that it was best to be prepared when she dug it out of the closet and took it along for the mission.

Ben finished cutting some wires from a previously sealed box on the wall and joined the group as the back door was opened, leading into a small storage room. Their footsteps were accentuated with dripping sounds and the 'splash, squish' sound of their boots. "I can almost hear Petrel saying I told you so," Ben quietly voiced.

"Okay, so maybe buying discount boots wasn't such a good idea. Things were just getting started, the newbies needed uniforms and I had more important investments to make. It was before the budget was adjusted with the antidote revenues." Giovanni removed his boots, as did everyone else to prevent being noisy. The floor was very cold beneath their bare feet. "Remind me to put Petrel in charge of buying the uniforms from now on, he's picky, but maybe that's not so bad after all."

"I should tell him about the ninja gear shop where I bought this rain coat." Delia removed it to reveal her dry and cozy Team Rocket uniform which was not freezing cold with rain water nor sticking to her skin uncomfortably as everyone else's clothes were.

"Requesting permission to strip, sir." Proton did a mock salute and began to pull his shirt over his head, only to have Giovanni stop him.

"We're Team Rocket; we need to wear our uniforms with our symbol," the leader argued. "Besides, no one will take you seriously if you go around in your underwear." Pouting, Proton left his clothes on.

Remembering a past event, Ben commented, "I seriously thought Aayla was going to cough out a lung that time." He had removed the covers over some wires on the wall and proceeded to cut several of them. Studying the stolen blueprints of the structure of Silph Co.'s building was of great benefit.

"What happened?" Delia curiously and quietly inquired. "Was Proton running around the hideout drunk in his underwear?"

"Once, I did that only once," Proton grumbled, remembering vaguely how he tried to flirt with Leah and got slapped for it. She was petite, but she could be strong when she tried, his face hurt for hours.

"Nah, I was like going out to like surf in a storm, you know? I like talked Giovanni and Ben into like coming with me, you know?" Luke explained, with a fond smile as if the entire ordeal had been amusing to him. "The beach was like closed and like off limits, you know? But the waves were like totally awesome, man! Dudette, I like knew I like had to try them, you know? Then the police like totally like ruined our fun, you know? They like chased us out and were like trying to arrest us, you know? We were all like in swimming shorts and like didn't have time to like grab the bag with our clothes when we like ran away, you know? It was like hilarious, dudette."

"The police confiscated the bag with the clothes and we ended up running all the way back to the hideout in shorts, in the middle of a storm," Giovanni glared at Luke upon remembering the event. "I promised myself never to let Luke convince me to go to the beach in a storm ever again no matter how many 'dude, you're like our like awesome like fearless leader, you know?' speeches he gave me."

"Dude, you like never like got around to like try the stormy waves, man!" Luke complained, "you would like totally like know that they're like totally worth the risk if you did, you know? At least we like saved my surf board, you know?"

"Yeah, Luke wouldn't leave his surf board behind and we ended up using it to shield ourselves from the rain," Ben added as he made a pause in his wire work, then started to plug in a small device. "If anything we looked more ridiculous. We had to return on foot because we had taken a bus and later they cancelled the busses because of the storm."

"It was like our only choice, because the chocolate bar was like not feeling like well, you know?" Luke recalled. "The poor car like died like tragically like a week later, you know?"

"I think it might be better to stay indoors during a storm," Delia giggled at the imaginary image of three young men in beach shorts, running to shelter while carrying a surf board, all three trying to use it to protect themselves from the harsh weather.

"I ordered Aayla to clean the entire hideout for laughing at us, but I always suspected she made Binks do it for her," Giovanni mused. "Remind me to send her on some annoying mission some time."

"I'm glad I stayed at the hideout that time," Proton voiced, "even if Archer, Petrel and I lost miserably playing strip poker with Ariana. All three of us ganged up against her and ended up losing anyway. Either she's incredibly lucky, or far better than us at cheating."

"That's karma," Delia stated with an amused grin. It was nice being with her fellow vigilantes, she once again felt invincible. The atmosphere was emphasized by the fact that they all wore masks to hide their identities. Far from thinking that they looked like burglars, Delia was certain that they looked like a band of noble super heroes.

"Is everyone ready?" Ben asked. "When I cause the main power to short circuit, we'll only have a few minutes to get to the stairs before the auxiliary power comes on. Then a few more minutes before the main power resets." The young man with light brown hair and hazel eyes tapped the small device attached to the fuse box on the wall.

The inquiry brought everyone back to the present; they were ready to continue with their mission after having occupied themselves in talking quietly and squeezing the water out of their uniforms. Everyone nodded in agreement and voiced their eagerness to continue with the infiltration mission.

Ben released his Magnemite from its pokeball, "alright Magnemite, give it a charge." The device attached to the fuse box directed the electricity from Magnemite to certain key points that would cause the main power to shut down interpreting a short circuit that was not truly there. Quickly recalling the pokemon back into his pokeball, Ben joined the others in a race through dark corridors.

Giovanni had a flashlight and led the way to the stairs. The auxiliary power went on with a few faint lights, but the security cameras wouldn't reboot for a few more seconds when the auxiliary power adjusted in full. They hurried into the shaft containing the emergency stairs and closed the door behind them. The auxiliary power came on completely and bright light once again illuminated the corridors and stairs. Light had been seen from the building almost twenty four hours a day, even when the employees were supposed to have long since finished their shift. Most people assumed there were employees staying late to work on special projects or that Silph Co. had added another shift. They were all perfectly logical explanations, but most likely just a cover up.

No longer in need of the flashlight, Giovanni, Delia, Luke, Proton and Ben headed up to the eleventh floor where they theorized the Silph Co. president could still be. During the past days' investigations he seldom left the building and often stayed over night. "You know the plan," Giovanni faced the door leading out of the stairs and to the hallway of the eleventh floor. "Delia, Luke and I will go ahead; Proton and Ben will stay here and provide backup if needed and assistance in our escape if it comes to that." He checked the radios that the two smaller teams would carry. "Maintain radio silence unless there's an emergency."

Everyone accented their readiness and the next part of the mission was put into action. Luke released his Seadra from her pokeball and held her as they prepared to run to their final destination of the mission. "Just like I like told you, dudette, smoke screen, you know? Like nice and thick, but like not too long lasting, you know?" The door to the hallway was opened simultaneously with Seadra's attack and the three agents assigned to that part of the mission ran through the smoke. The other two remained behind as backup. They would be ready to create a distraction if it was needed.

The main power was reset and the failure was attributed to a need for maintenance and possible damage to the outside cables because of the bad weather. The assumption was proven false when one of the monitors in the security camera room was obscured by a black fog. The guards were unsure if it was a malfunction or not, but decided not to take any chances. Either way it was too late, Giovanni, Delia and Luke were already at the president's office by the time he got a call from security telling him about what they had seen in the monitor and asking if he was alright. Seeing the three threatening figures trapping him in his office, it was obvious for the president what he was expected to say. "I'm fine, nothing is wrong, what you saw must have been a malfunction."

"The hallway is clear," one of the guards' voice replied. By the time he arrived at the scene, the smoke screen had already dissipated.

"The faulty camera is working now too," the guard stationed at the monitor room added via their internal communications system.

"Continue at your normal posts," president Silph instructed, not taking his eyes off the three intruders. After the voice-only communication ended he stated, "I know why you're here. It's for the masterball isn't it? Well you're out of luck because the masterball is nothing but a failed prototype." For confidentiality reasons the eleventh floor was devoid of cameras, the president had always thought that having them in the halls was enough.

"What is a failure is your act," Giovanni made a mental note of that masterball just in case he might need to investigate it later. For the time being, he had something else to focus on. "I want the whole truth. I know you're working with the police and government against Team Rocket."

"I see..." the president let out a breath and leaned back on his chair. He kept his hands motionless on top of the desk where they were easily visible, so as to not provoke any violence from the masked Team Rocket invaders. Barefoot and dripping wet as they were, though at least one was dry, they all still managed to look quite threatening. "The government as well as the police have given up. Due to the discovery of the antidote and the benefits in both health, economy and other areas that it brought, the government seems to be aiming for a peaceful coexistence with Team Rocket. Perhaps they even see it as positive economical stimulation. The police was corrupted and those that were left after the clean-up seemed pleased to start anew. Despite some of them, many of them, knowing about Team Rocket, they seem all too willing to forget. They want to let this go as an act by a band of vigilantes and look at it in a positive light. If this goes on, in la few years Team Rocket's leader will be officially forgotten, his criminal record conveniently misplaced along with several others. From then on, it would be a new start."

"You seem to understand," Delia spoke for the first time since their arrival at the office. "Then why are you doing this? Everyone else is okay with Team Rocket, why do you stand against us?"

"Because too much power leads to corruption," President Silph replied in a tired voice that made him sound even older than his gray hair made him look. "I fear for the future, if a being is given power, if an organization is made different, then they will become corrupted. It's all the same principle, such power, such abilities; humans can create wonderful and terrible things that must not be left to run rampant. I'm afraid there's been a miscalculation, my allies from the government and police seemed to have slipped up and attracted unwanted attention. They were rash in wishing for glory, in wanting to take the gym leader's place as a hero. Does it matter? The way things are going, he is destined to be forgotten as a hero to become a secret villain until the day his true plans are revealed."

"Enough!" Delia's exclamation startled president Silph into silence. "Don't speak as if you knew him, you don't know anything!" She felt as if Giovanni was being terribly insulted by the accusations. "You understand that your plans will fail, don't you? Then you should stop this."

"It's already out of my hands," president Silph admitted. "The others are too rash, as I said. I was supposed to lead them, but they don't listen to me. In the end, my plan failed before it began because I was not wise in choosing my allies. I admit defeat." The president's eyes were downcast in fear and disappointment.

"I hope you like don't like really think we'll like fall for that, you know?" It was a good thing that Mr. Silph and Luke had never met before, otherwise mask or not, he would be easily identifiable by his speech alone. It was one of the internal jokes of Team Rocket that Luke would never be allowed to write a secret threat or ransom note because he wrote as he spoke.

xoxox xox xoxox

That night, the Silph president played his cards carefully in hopes of being given another chance to prepare. Yet the hasty actions of the real police superintendent did indeed throw all their chances of success out the window when Naberrie discovered them while fishing for blackmail and similar useful information. Silph Co. was allowed and even encouraged to continue the development of the masterball. The project was monitored by Team Rocket, which led to a confrontation upon its later completion several years after that night, when Silph Co. refused to turn over the finished product to Team Rocket.

The president's office was searched and several things, mostly confidential data, were confiscated. Among the data that was taken, there was the core coding for Porygon, which came as no surprise given that this was Silph Co. They were developing a device called an Upgrade, which would cause the human created pokemon, Porygon, to evolve into Porygon2. The development was also continued with Team Rocket overseeing the process. Ben had always liked tinkering with machines, but despite having a talent with electronics, circuitry was more so his field and not so much software. As he watched over the development of the Upgrade he realized he needed help from experts in the field, which led to the creation of a technological department in Team Rocket and the addition of software experts and hackers to the members.

Overall, the Silph Co. operation was a success. The president was secretly detained for several hours until the Rockets left the building. Their exit was rushed, yet it was not due to anything troublesome happening at Silph Co., but rather something that occurred at the Saffron City police station where the real superintendent was having a secret meeting with some police officers and government agents. Wishing to obtain a position of power in Team Rocket, Naberrie set out to solve the problem by removing its roots, the superintendent, the police officers and the government agents involved in the conspiracy against Team Rocket. The actions she took to make Giovanni believe she was his ally would inevitably lead to a confrontation.

xoxox xox xoxox

Meanwhile, at the Viridian City gym, "this is Leah, reporting," Leah's soft voice was transmitted to Ariana's cell phone as she made her scheduled call. She had snuck away for a moment while Rune admired the gym's arena, going on and on about what pokemon was the proudest in the forest. She had been playing tour guide and public relations agent for him for quite some time and was bored with the task, but made no complaints.

"How are things with the mayor?" Ariana inquired. While Leah and Rune were at the Viridian Gym, Ariana, Archer and Aayla were stationed at Saffron City with a few Rocket agents, watching over Naberrie's actions. She had returned to her home city after leaving her husband in Team Rocket's custody, while her young son presumably remained at their Viridian residence under the protection of several bodyguards. Given the fact that Silph Co. was located in Saffron City, Naberrie's movement was seen as suspicious.

"Everything is fine, there is nothing to report," Leah informed. "From what I can perceive, the mayor is a carefree person who sincerely wishes to improve Viridian City. He also seems to be eager to follow instructions. I believe it would be beneficial for Giovanni to guide him." It was a nicer way to say that Rune would make a good pawn.

"That's good news, I can't say the same about the puppet master over here," Ariana referred to Naberrie, who had clearly been controlling Rune. "She hasn't made a move yet, but we'll keep watching her. Let us know if you find out anything."

"Understood," Leah's reply was as sweet and quiet as usual, "I wish you luck." After the call had ended, Leah returned to stand beside the rambling mayor.

"Wouldn't you agree?" Rune finished his cheerful speech and looked at Leah for approval.

Realizing that he was so absorbed in his speech that he didn't even notice she had slipped away, Leah nodded. Her reaction caused Rune's smile to grow and he continued rambling something about forest pride.

xoxox xox xoxox

At Saffron City, Ariana finished her conversation with Leah and turned to look at her beloved Archer, who sat at the driver's seat of their tinted window black car. The car was parked in a shaded spot away from the street lights in front of Naberrie's residence. Archer glanced at Ariana, both bored from sitting there waiting for something to happen. Their faces became closer until their lips met, then Aayla spoke from the back seat, "I feel like a third wheel!"

The sudden statement in its tone and timing, cause Ariana to laugh unexpectedly and accidentally bite Archer's lower lip. He made a sound of protest as she had bitten him rather hard and he felt a cut starting to bleed. "Sorry about that," Ariana apologized with a wink and turned in the passenger seat to look at Aayla. "Are you wishing you had dragged Binks along so that we could make this a double date?"

"There's nothing going on with me and the stickfigure geek," Aayla defended, "he only wishes." It was something she often took advantage of, making him do her chores in the past, before they had rookies to take care of cleaning up the base and so on.

"They're on the move," Archer announced, interrupting the conversation between the two women before Ariana could further tease Aayla about her supposedly nonexistent relationship with Binks. Two cars left the long driveway of Naberrie's luxurious Saffron City home and judging by the shadows inside them, both were full with as many passengers as they could carry, though they were at the moment unidentifiable. Ordering a few Rocket agents in the premises to stay behind and guard the house, Archer drove off silently into the darkness, in secret pursuit of the cars that went out of Naberrie's property.

To be Continued

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 105: Give me Vigor

Two cars stopped near the Saffron City police station in the middle of the night. The downpour had finally relented and only a few barely noticeable raindrops fell from the sky, easily ignored. Eight shadowy figures exited the cars and surrounded the structure, with intentions of breaking in. A third car stopped a little further away from the station and three people got out from it. Archer, Ariana and Aayla stopped a few feet away, hidden behind a near by billboard on the side of the road near the station. It was advertising some pokemon vitamins that supposedly served as preventive methods to complement the effects of the recently discovered antidote to the epidemic; if it was true or not, was questionable, but they were at least not harmful.

"It looks like she hasn't seen us yet, or pretended not to," Archer quietly stated, observing as the eight people managed to make their way inside the police station.

"If we go in too soon, she might change her plans and betray the other side to keep up her image with us," Ariana pointed out. "We won't expose her true colors like that."

"Then we'll wait and catch her in the act," Aayla had the expression of a wild Luxray waiting to pounce. Thus the three Rockets waited for a few more minutes, until the sound of a gunshot pierced the quiet stillness of the air.

With alarmed expressions, the three hurried towards the station to see what was going on. They stayed low and close to the walls as they made their way in. Naberrie was there along with seven other armed people. They noticed the arrival of someone new when the previously illuminated interior of the police station was shrouded in darkness due to Aayla's Haunter using night shade. "Don't stop Haunter, keep them all lost in the darkness."

A few stray shots were fired and some of Naberrie's men fell. The gunshots kept being exchanged by a few police officers and some of Naberrie's guards, while several government officials cowered in fear, seeking shelter behind the desks and holding on to them for dear life, lost in the frightening illusion of the night shade. Screams of agony were heard as the injured clung to life by a thread.

With goggles that allowed him to see past the foggy black mist and beyond the illusions, Archer made his way to the one leading the troublesome operation, Naberrie. "Don't try to do anything else that's troublesome," he commanded as he led her away.

"Team Rocket," Naberrie concluded, she had caught small glimpses of some suspicious movement near her house and was expecting someone from Team Rocket to show up sooner or later. "I'm ending this, it's better for you this way."

"This action was not authorized by the boss." Archer took away Naberrie's gun, which she surprisingly relinquished without protest.

"Stop shooting!" Ariana commanded as she sent out her Vileplume and ordered her to use, "sleep powder," as soon as Archer was close enough to the door so he would not get caught in it. The three Rockets along with Naberrie prepared to retreat and let the sleep powder do its job. After the danger of being caught by a bullet passed, they would take prisoners and sort things out. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. With the last of his strength, the real superintendent, a man in his late forties with a stern face, black eyes and thick dark gray hair, shot one last bullet, which caught Naberrie.

In a swift motion, her blue eyes full of fury, Naberrie snatched away the gun Archer had confiscated from her and returned fire. She couldn't see clearly where she was shooting though the night shade had begun to disperse and the sleep powder wasn't as thick. With a few shots in fast succession, she killed her target and a few others before collapsing.

xoxox xox xoxox

Only a few of Naberrie's men and several government agents survived that night's massacre. Most of those involved with the government believed that the killings were an act of Team Rocket and backed off from that point on. With the conspiracy against Team Rocket stopped before it could truly begin, the police headed to a new era where Team Rocket's secrets were forgotten in favor of a peaceful coexistence. The death of the real superintendent caused Davin, who had been acting as the public superintendent, to take his place and gain the position of police superintendent for real.

However, that night was not without serious consequences and the casualties of the police, government and Naberrie's personnel were not the only ones. Albeit Naberrie was quickly given first aid and taken to the Saffron City Hospital, where fueled by fear the doctors surrounded her immediately, she did not make it past that night. Giovanni's team was informed about the occurrences and they swiftly finished up their business at the Silph Co. building and headed to the hospital.

The atmosphere in the hospital was extremely tense with the presence of Team Rocket, but no one dared to ask them to leave. The staff hoped that after the unwelcomed invaders received the medical services they requested they would just go away without harming anyone. Naberrie's confession as heard by Archer, Ariana and Aayla as she ignored the doctor's instructions not to speak, was, "I did plan to betray him, I only wanted to earn his trust then take it all away." She gasped in pain, feeling her life slipping away from her. "I was too rash, too eager to force my cousin to trust me. Now that I must pay the ultimate price I have but one wish. Kenobi, please don't hurt Kenobi." Those were her final words.

From that point on things did calm down and life continued. Rune and Kenobi were devastated by the loss of Naberrie and blamed the police and government for her demise. Rune vowed to help Giovanni in any way, for he believed the gym leader had the power to take over the world, thus avenging Naberrie in a way, it was a power that Rune knew he did not possess. Troublesome as he could be at times with his overly eager attitude and loose tongue, Giovanni continued to work with Rune for many years, until eventually it was Kenobi's turn to take his father's place as the new and more competent Viridian City mayor.

xoxox xox xoxox

After the whole ordeal at Saffron City had ended, Davin received an official and secret communication asking him to continue his duties as the police superintendent as he saw fit and stating the government and police's intention to not provoke the mafia. Still at Pallet Town, Davin debated if he should head back to Viridian City or maybe to the main Kanto police department at Celadon City.

"You need a vacation." When Davin looked up from his pitiful position sitting on Samuel's Onix-hard couch holding his head in stress, he saw the image of himself staring back at him.

That strange young man, Petrel, never ceased to amaze him or creep him out. "Don't you dare impersonate me!" During his stay at the Oak Laboratory under Petrel's surveillance, Davin had to endure watching him impersonate several people including Samuel and even Delia. Needless to say, he was furious about the latter.

At that point in time Delia arrived at the Oak Laboratory in the company of Leah, while Giovanni, Archer and several others busied themselves at headquarters with damage control and making sure the police and government kept their offer of a peaceful coexistence. "Hide, I'll get the door," leaving no room for argument, Petrel pushed Davin away towards the kitchen.

In the kitchen, Samuel was having a battle with a malfunctioning coffee maker. With all the stress in the air, he really needed his caffeine. As for Davin, he was an avid coffee drinker and had been swiftly consuming cup after cup ever since his arrival. Samuel thought it was difficult to deal with a coffee high Davin, but he knew from experience that his caffeine withdrawals were worse, so he didn't deny him the warm drinks.

Still in his disguise, Petrel opened the door to find Delia. "I was so worried about you, come in, come in." Once Delia and Leah were inside, Petrel, still disguised as Davin, locked the door and exclaimed in agony, "why must you be involved with those terrible people?" Then he hugged his supposed daughter protectively.

"It's okay, everything will be fine now," Delia paused as she realized that something was off and snatched away Petrel's wig. "Petrel, that's not funny!"

"Aw, I almost had you!" Petrel pouted. "What gave it away?"

"The scent of coffee or rather, the lack of it, dad always smells like coffee," Delia revealed. "He's okay, isn't he?"

Before Petrel could reply, Davin peeked out from the kitchen and saw Delia. He hurried to her, "Delia, do you know what kind of call I received. They think I'm with them, with the mafia! I get the impression that they want me to be a sort of mediator between the police and the mafia. You need to get out of this, get to safety!"

"Dad, it's okay!" Delia raised her voice to be heard over Davin's panic and tried to comfort him as best she could. "Petrel, it's actually a good thing you're dressed like that. Report back to base so that you can get the update on the recent happenings, Leah and I will stay here."

"Wait," Davin protested, "you actually want him to take my place?" He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"You're stressed; you can't handle this right now. You need a vacation; it's for your own good," Delia tried to convince him.

"I told you so," Petrel commented in reference to Davin needing a vacation, then left to return to Viridian City.

"Things are delicate right now so it's best if you allow Petrel to handle the situation in your place until everything has calmed down. Don't worry, it will all work out," Delia insisted, trying to keep her voice from becoming unsteady.

Observing his daughter's face, Davin frowned, with Samuel mimicking the worried expression while looking at Delia, now standing beside her father. "You've been crying," Davin's fury began to rise again, "that man, that terrible man from the mafia made you cry!"

"No, that's not it!" Delia shot back, angered that Giovanni was falsely accused. "Someone was hurt and I felt sad for her. I didn't know her well, I couldn't even honestly call her my friend, but I was sad for her, for her husband and for their son. Giovanni consoled me, he would never hurt me, he always protects me. Please understand, I love him and he loves me, nothing can change that."

Both Samuel and Davin could relate to Delia's words. Both men had been married at a point in time and both had lost their loves to death. "Love is precious; it is something to be cherished for all the days that one is given," Samuel voiced; he had already accepted Delia's choice.

"There's no changing your mind, is there?" Davin realized. "I don't approve of this and I probably never will, yet I have no choice but to accept it. Just please, be safe, don't take unnecessary risks. Try to remember your values, don't cause uncalled for pain and don't allow it to be caused to you."

Delia smiled to reassure the two men who were both in a way fathers to her. "Everything will be alright. We will make sure it is."

Petrel took Davin's place for some time as the police superintendent, following Giovanni's instructions to guide Kanto to an era of relative peace, in which Team Rocket could grow without interference. After he returned to work, Davin soon grew tired of it and retired off to a quiet life in which he carried his regrets alongside his inaction. Surprisingly it was the Jenny of Viridian City who took his place as the new police superintendent. She had understood that the time wasn't right to try to fight and that perhaps forgetting past struggles and starting anew was the best course of action for both sides after all. For the time being there would be peace, the choices of the future would belong only to those of the future.

xoxox xox xoxox

Those events that took place many years ago were seemingly unrelated to the current mysteries of the present day, but they did indeed have a secret connection. It was a thin thread barely visible, but it was there. In the present day, Aayla's interference with the fate of the modified Luke clone known as number ten, led Giovanni, Ash and Comet to travel to a mysterious world were souls waited to be reborn for as long as their journey in the world of the living was unfinished and their final destination unclear. It was Giovanni's second trip there, which unlocked the previously sealed memories of his first visit. Along with those memories being unleashed, the seal that Mewtwo had placed upon Giovanni's memories of him started to significantly weaken.

After researching past data and discussing the situation with the Rocket executives, Giovanni found that the past was full of contradictions, specifically the time in which the Mewtwo project was supposedly declared a failure. With a nagging feeling of having forgotten something important, Giovanni set out to explore the ruins of New Island in hopes of solving the unknown mystery of what truly happened at the end of the Mewtwo experiments. Unknown to Giovanni, Ash not only knew what happened during the battle to recapture Mewtwo, but had also recovered his memories of the first time he met the clone pokemon at New Island.

After discovering some files containing images of Ash and other trainers that had journeyed to New Island by Mewtwo's invitation in the past, it became obvious that Ash had a vital piece of information concerning Mewtwo. With Giovanni's memories becoming clearer, Mewtwo would not be held in mystery anymore. Unexpectedly, the computer equipment where the files recovered from the New Island ruins were being viewed short circuited. While Giovanni focused on Mewtwo, the incident attributed to an unknown hacker and the possible consequences it hinted of, was left in the hands of the executives, Archer, Ariana, Proton and Petrel. At the same time, Aayla seemed to know more than she was telling and Binks' health, albeit improved, still showed signs of fragility.

Amidst the commotion, Ash received communication from Gary, urging him to go to Pallet Town. It was clear that Gary knew something about Team Rocket and wanted to clarify his information with Ash, no longer able to ignore what was in front of him. Hoping that Gary could wait in silence for a little longer, Ash made a deal with Giovanni. They would battle and the outcome of their battle would decide if Ash revealed the truth about Mewtwo or not. While Delia watched from the window of Giovanni's mansion near Victory Road, Ash and Giovanni ventured into the wilderness behind it for a suitable space to battle.

Standing apart the approximate distance of an average pokemon battle arena, Ash and Giovanni faced each other. The looks in their eyes seemed to say it all, as they spoke no more words before the battle began. Glalie and Golem each materialized from the red beams of their respective pokeballs in front of their trainers. Ever the trickster, Glalie considered freezing Ash with his ice beam, but stopped when he saw the look in his trainer's eyes. That serious look was something Glalie had never seen in his trainer before, even when an important battle was approaching. "Be careful Glalie, this won't be easy, ice beam!"

As the opening move went into effect, Giovanni reacted with a counter attack and ordered Golem to use "double edge!" The rock pokemon barreled forward hastily, with beams of ice narrowly missing him until he was reached by the cold attack. Several of the stone shapes that enclosed Golem's body were covered in ice as if the pokemon was encased in glass. The attack slowed Golem, but didn't stop him from approaching Glalie.

Glalie floated backwards in an attempt to dodge the rampaging Golem, quickly heeding Ash's command of "ice fang!" Aiming for the Golem's exposed limbs, Glalie bit into the rock pokemon's arm as hard as he could.

Golem growled in pain, unable to dodge the attack on time due to being slowed down by the chunks of ice that uncomfortably clung to his stone body. The solution to his predicament came in his trainer's next order, "earthquake!"

With Glalie still attached to his right arm, Golem focused to make the ground shake. Since Glalie was floating, the attack wouldn't hit him directly, but the shaking transmitted through Golem was enough to accomplish the move's purpose of making Glalie's ice fang lose its grip on Golem's arm.

From the mansion's window, Delia felt the earthquake, though the seismic proof structure remained solid and undamaged. As the terrain shifted, a few trees became inclined to the sides and some smaller ones fell. This allowed a slightly clearer view of the battle, albeit Delia's sight was still considerably obstructed by the vegetation. Most of all, it showed how intense the fight was right from the start.

The battle continued with a rapid succession of attacks, "use rock slide!" As soon as Golem was free from Glalie's ice fang, the pokemon was given new instructions, which would make use of the terrain to his advantage. The ground became filled with uneven creases as the land responded to the pokemon's power.

"Glalie, use blizzard, make it as strong as you can!" Ash tried to stop Golem from using the land in his attacks by covering it in snow and ice.

The move caused Giovanni to shift his strategy lightly and continue with "rock climb!" Chasing Glalie towards the rockier area at the edge of the cluster of trees, Golem once again went on the offensive. He had used a lot of energy, giving each attack everything he had and taking some damage along the way, but refused to give up, throwing frozen stones and trying to get Glalie down for a direct hit.

Seeing his pokemon in peril, Ash countered by calling for another attack and trying to encourage Glalie. "Don't give up Glalie, freeze Golem with hail!" A multitude of ice pebbles collided with Golem causing visible pain and discomfort. Golem was additionally having trouble moving on the ice field that had invaded their battle arena. However, the massive amount of energy Glalie put into freezing the land took its toll as the pokemon began to loose altitude while continuously using hail. At last Glalie's energy reached its limit as Golem slammed into him taking the opportunity to knock him out. Ash recalled the ice pokemon back into his pokeball, "it's okay Glalie, you fought well." Golem was very strong, but Ash had a good idea about what pokemon to send out against him. More focused on the battle, Ash was no longer as silent as in the beginning, albeit he was still on edge. "Serperior, I choose you!" The long and elegant grass pokemon emerged from the red beam of her pokeball with a proud look on her face.

Seeing that the ice on the ground was impairing Golem's movement, Giovanni tried to break it apart before it could be used against him. "Another earthquake, Golem!"

The state in which the terrain was left in from the previous battle gave Ash an idea, which he quickly put into play. "Serperior, get away from Golem and use solar beam!" It sounded as if Ash was guiding his pokemon to keep herself as safe as possible from the damage of the opposing attack, though in truth the defense's purpose was more so to improve offense. As Serperior charged her solar beam, her eyes met Ash's and with a discreet glance down, she understood and released her solar beam low close to the ground in the path of several chunks of ice left over from the previous round.

Realizing what was happening, Giovanni tried to warn his pokemon, "Golem, get out of the way!" Yet it was too late. Serperior's solar beam melted the ice creating a miniature river that driven by the aftershock of the rapid melting, collided with Golem in an odd water gun simulation.

Golem growled in pain at the unexpected blast of water and before he could recover, Ash chose the move that would end the round, "grass knot!" Acting swiftly, Serperior trapped Golem in a sort of grassy net, which caused him to trip and flail helplessly taking heavy damage.

Sure of her victory, Serperior grinned proudly, while Golem was left unconscious. Giovanni recalled Golem into his pokeball, but did not look surprised or angry. It was more as if he expected the battle to be close and knew that sooner or later Ash would catch up. Eyeing the proud Serperior, Giovanni provided her with a challenging opponent, "Machamp, fight with all your strength!" The fighting pokemon flexed his large muscles eager to battle. By then the left over ice from Glalie had melted into the disturbed terrain. "Giga impact!"

As Machamp went on the attack, Ash was quick to counter with, "leaf storm!" Serperior let out a massive tempest of leaves that swirled around her opponent, creating abundant cuts as they went and slowing his approach. Though Machamp continued forward despite the attack, his own attack had little effect after losing momentum. Taking the opportunity, Ash tried to finish the round, "energy ball!"

Urging his pokemon to act quickly, Giovanni countered the move, "focus blast, don't stop!" Machamp let out a rapid succession of blasts, the first colliding with Serperior's energy ball, causing an explosion that damaged both pokemon. The spheres of energy kept being exchanged between the two pokemon until they closed the distance between each other and the attacks resulted impractical.

"Use grass knot again!" Seeing the close proximity that Machamp had to Serperior, Ash hoped that the previous strategy would once again prove fruitful.

However, Machamp was too strong to be contained, which allowed Giovanni to take advantage of the situation, "finish her with cross chop!"

The repeated harsh hits collided with Serperior with such a speed and force that she could not dodge or block them. As a result, the impacts rendered her unable to battle. "Serperior!" Beaten, the grass pokemon twitched a little, but was ultimately not capable of getting into a battle stance before her head fell as she lost her grip on reality and fainted. "Good job Serperior, come rest." After recalling Serperior into her pokeball, Ash looked at Machamp and thought of a suitable opponent for him. It was a pokemon that had been training for a long time, though not always with Ash. When he did return to Ash, they found a connection again and were able to train together once more with matching unbreakable spirits. "Primeape, I choose you!"

Machamp was injured from the previous round, but could still battle and was quick to follow Giovanni's order, "another cross chop!" Before Ash could even issue the first command for Primeape, the rowdy pokemon used thrash, something that he often did when he was excited for a fight. The two colliding attacks resulted in damage to both fighting pokemon, who stumbled backwards from the force of the impact.

Seeing the determination in Primeape, Ash called forth a move that would push both pokemon to show their true power and skill in fighting. Surprisingly, his voice rang out at the same time as Giovanni's in a simultaneous decision to determine the battle with "close combat!"

While Primeape and Machamp exchanged blows in a massive display of strength, the two opposing trainers looked beyond the pair of fighters at each other. Perhaps it was their coincidental commands that made them react in such a way, unconsciously looking for similarities one in the other. Both had racing thoughts and for a moment there was nothing in the world but each other and that determined look into each other's eyes that spoke of an unbreakable thirst for victory, yet also something more, to comprehend the other.

Once again focused on the fight, they watched as the close combat continued with punches and kicks. Though Machamp had four arms, Primeape didn't let that fact bother him and exchanged blows on equal ground with Machamp, making good use of angles, momentum and speed to make up for having only a pair of arms to work with. The cuts left behind by Serperior had not sealed and they could not, given the solid hits Primeape was landing. With a final colossal kick Primeape knocked out his opponent, sending the heavily muscled pokemon to crash into a tree. With the ground weakened from the previous attacks, the tree's roots were loose, causing it to fall with the force of Machamp's impact.

As the tree fell, Delia caught a better look at the battle from the mansion's window. She saw as a red beam consumed Machamp as he was returned to his pokeball, while Primeape stood triumphant. The battle was very close so far, Ash and Giovanni were both on their third pokemon and it looked like it would be an all out six on six fight. At that point in time, it could go either way.

To be Continued

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 106: Give me Might

The six on six pokemon battle between Ash and Giovanni continued with both in command of their third pokemon. To battle against Ash's Primeape, Giovanni sent out Rhyperior. Seeing Primeape eager to charge forward, Giovanni called forth another earthquake to slow him down, followed by an attack of "mega horn!" Rhyperior dashed forward trying to stab Primeape with her horn.

The collision between the two pokemon was inevitable and thus dodging alone would be ineffective. "Quick Primeape, use focus punch!" Primeape reacted rapidly and his fist collided with the side of Rhyperior's face, but his opponent was no where near defeated.

Without pausing, Rhyperior retaliated with her horn. Primeape tried to protect himself, which resulted in the horn being stabbed painfully into his right paw. Freeing herself from the perforated appendage, Rhyperior continued the relentless mega horn attack, while Primeape used thrash, his reaction to most intense emotions, be it excitement or pain.

"Primeape, you have to concentrate, don't lose your cool, use brick break!" Ash watched his pokemon intensely, wondering if he should be recalled, he didn't want any permanent damage to come to him. Yet Primeape didn't look like he would go back into his pokeball even if Ash tried to call him back. The fighting pokemon was still immersed in the heat of battle, with no intensions of stopping the fight. Using his left hand instead, Primeape unleashed a powerful brick break attack, succeeding it with two more brick break attacks with the use of kicks.

Rhyperior shielded herself, the impact being mostly absorbed by her armored body, though she still felt the aftershock in significant discomfort. "Rhyperior, use hammer arm!" Following her trainer's order, Rhyperior performed a series of rapid hits hammering away at Primeape with her heavy arms. Primeape made a valiant effort, pushing Rhyperior to the limit with his own flurry of hits. With one last solid hammer arm attack, Primeape stumbled backwards unsteadily and fell to the ground knocked out.

"That was a great fight, return Primeape!" Ash finally called Primeape back into his pokeball. Rhyperior tried not to show it, but Ash could tell the fight did tire her out, though she would still be a dangerous opponent for which a different strategy would be required. "Staraptor, I choose you!" While Rhyperior had a tough armor, it might not be so easy to fight against a speedy flying opponent. "Use aerial ace!"

Staraptor began his attack, flying towards Rhyperior and trying to get a solid hit that would affect her despite her armored body. "Rhyperior, hit him with hammer arm!" Though the attack was powerful, the move turned out to be ineffective, as Staraptor quickly dodged all the hits.

"Staraptor, use steel wing!" Staraptor levitated in mid air flapping his wings strongly. His feathers turned metallic as they were launched like razors from his wings.

Rhyperior defended against the attack, but she could seemingly do little else than that, since Staraptor remained out of reach. Giovanni had a different strategy to try. If Staraptor didn't come down, Rhyperior would just have to knock him out of the sky. "Attack with rock wrecker!" The landscape at the edge of the forest-like area near the mountain was full of loose boulders that would make excellent projectiles to be thrown. Rhyperior hurried to pick one up and threw it at Staraptor like a cannon ball.

"Be careful Staraptor!" Ash urged his pokemon to watch out. Staraptor was dodging, but it didn't seem like Rhyperior would get tired of throwing boulders any time soon. Besides, a pokemon battle could not be won by dodging alone. "Use brave bird!"

Staraptor dove past the most recently thrown boulder, narrowly dodging it. He courageously collided with Rhyperior, just as Giovanni called out for a last minute, "mega horn attack!" Staraptor was able to get back in the air, only losing a few feathers in the encounter.

It looked like Rhyperior could no longer hide her fatigue. She was irritated, which might make her lose her concentration. The observation gave Ash an idea, "Staraptor, use uproar!"

The loud attack was most uncomfortable even for the trainers. Wanting to make Staraptor shut up just as badly as Rhyperior did, Giovanni called forth his only option to reach Staraptor in the air, "Rhyperior, keep using rock wrecker!"

Rhyperior gladly obeyed with her temper flaring. She tossed one boulder after another at Staraptor until she had to stop to catch her breath, nearly collapsing from exhaustion. "Now Staraptor, use steel wing and brave bird!"

Staraptor's metallic feathers collided with Rhyperior once more, their effect improved due to her defenses being lowered by exhaustion. "Rhyperior, use hammer arm!" Just as Staraptor dove in for the finishing blow, Rhyperior swung her heavy arm at the flying pokemon, but she missed and the momentum worked against her as Staraptor's attack collided with her directly. Due to the strong momentum and aftershock, Rhyperior spun around as she was pushed into unconsciousness. Her tail collided with Staraptor as she collapsed, though the hit was not particularly hard since it was driven by momentum without the contribution of willing muscle, it was just enough to make Staraptor stagger in his ascent.

Rhyperior's tail went down on Staraptor's tail feathers as the unconscious foe pulled her opponent into an uncomfortable sitting position on the ground with his tail feathers trapped under her heavy tail. Staraptor complained and pecked at Rhyperior's tail, trying to pull his tail feathers loose from their entrapment. Ash stared at the scene, his face twitching slightly to withhold the upcoming laughter. At last he could no longer hold it in and burst out in a fit of laughter, which Staraptor loudly protested to. "I'm sorry Staraptor," Ash managed to cease control of his expression, albeit still laughing a little. "You did great, don't worry, you'll be free in a moment." He glanced at Giovanni, waiting for him to recall Rhyperior into her pokeball.

Giovanni didn't move, "maybe I should leave that loud mouth pokemon trapped like that." His ears were still ringing from the uproar attack.

Ash pouted, further becoming caught up in the enjoyment of the pokemon battle and momentarily forgetting the reason for which it started. "That's not fair; you should call Rhyperior back to rest." Annoyed at his entrapment, Staraptor accentuated Ash's request with his own loud complaints in the shape of another uproar.

"Alright, fine, I'll call Rhyperior back if it'll make Staraptor shut up," Giovanni finally recalled Rhyperior into her pokeball, thus freeing Staraptor's tail feathers. The bird pokemon seemed to let out an undignified huff before returning to flying a few feet above the ground waiting for his next opponent. Giovanni released his next pokemon into battle, it was one of his newer ones, "Flygon, knock out that annoying bird, sand storm!" With the rapid flapping of his wings Flygon brought forth a massive sand storm from the land.

In a matter of seconds the visibility of the battle was lost. Ash coughed and covered his mouth and nose as best he could, his eyes now closed. "And you thought uproar was annoying? Staraptor, try using steel wing!" Staraptor obeyed, but the metallic feathers were lost in the storm becoming as normal feathers once more and being carried harmlessly by the wind.

"Hyper beam!" At Giovanni's order, Flygon let out a powerful beam of energy at his target.

"Be careful Staraptor, don't stop moving, use aerial ace!" The attack might, and probably would, miss Flygon, but it's purpose was to provide some defense for Staraptor by the constant movement that would hopefully allow him to dodge Flygon's attack despite the lack of visibility in the midst of the sand storm that Flygon continuously maintained between hyper beam attacks. With the sand storm making movement difficult, it was only a matter of time until Flygon's attack was effective in knocking out the target.

Staraptor's pained voice was heard and Flygon's sand storm relented to reveal the fainted opponent covered in sand on the ground. It was going to take some time and effort to get all that sand out of his feathers. "Staraptor return, that was a brave effort, well done." Both Ash and Giovanni had sand sticking to them, adding much more to the bits of dirt that had reached them before. Flygon was clearly very strong and Ash knew he needed one of his strongest pokemon to take him out. Saving Pikachu for the final round, Ash sent out another of his closest friends, "Charizard, I choose you!" With a mighty roar, the powerful fire pokemon emerged from the red beam of his pokeball.

"Flygon, use sand storm again!" The new round started off with a repetition of the previously effective strategy.

"Charizard, break through the storm with fire blast and charge in with air slash!" Ash was counting on his pokemon's skill and power to be able to overcome the obstacle that was before him. The strategy resulted effective as Charizard's powerful fire blast dissipated the sand leaving sparks to rain with some vegetation catching on fire, though it was ignored by the combatants. Charizard rapidly charged through the falling sparks slashing at Flygon in mid air.

Seeing as the battle would inevitably turn into a close combat, Giovanni countered the new turn of events. "Flygon, use dragon claw!" The two mighty pokemon continued slashing at each other with their claws in a massive display of power. They growled and batted their wings as they relentlessly searched for an opening to attack, one's claws often colliding with the other's.

Despite the close distance of the two pokemon, both trainers took a chance and called out for their next attack, "fire blast!" It once again turned out to be coincidentally the same, their voices echoing as one to be silenced by the loud roars of the two warring pokemon. The opposing blasts of fire collided between the two beasts, pushing them back with the force of the scorching energy. They pushed forward as they continued to breathe fire, with flames falling in every direction, spreading a growing fire among the vegetation.

Unwilling to wait for the two pokemon to exhaust themselves, Ash tried to think of a strategy that could work. At times a strong and fast offense was what was needed to tilt the battle in his favor and this was perhaps no exception, he had to bravely charge in. "Charizard, use flare blitz!" Allowing the fire to surround him, Charizard went on an unstoppable rampage landing one hit after another.

"Get out of the way Flygon, use dragon claw, then hyper beam!" Flygon tried to defend himself with dragon claw, but it was not sufficient to buy him enough time to back away and fire a hyper beam. Charizard didn't relent for a second until Flygon had been knocked out. "This battle is slowly coming to a close." Giovanni recalled his unconscious pokemon into his pokeball and eagerly sent out the next opponent, Garchomp.

"Intermission! Take a break while I fix the battle field." Delia arrived at the scene by surprise, having left her position watching from the window. Persian and Purry, who had been at the Viridian Rocket base, had been brought over to the mansion minutes before and curiously joined Delia at the window. They did not stay there for long, as she noticed the flames were growing dangerously. The mansion staff feared Giovanni's disapproval if they activated the security system to take action, rather than just to protect the structure. The Rocket boss would not be pleased if he ended up drenched in abundant water and more so if the process of putting out the fire that consumed the trees behind the mansion interfered with his battle.

Thus Delia resolved to take matters into her own hands and was followed by the two Persian. "Cloyster, Kingler, put out the flames with water gun!" The pair of water pokemon hastily jumped into action, giving it their all to drown out the fire that consumed the trees in the area behind the mansion. At least they didn't need to worry too much about it spreading in all directions since there was little to burn on the side which led to the rocky terrain at the edge of the forest area. "Honestly, if I leave you two unsupervised you'll burn the world into nothingness and not even realize it until after the battle is over."

Giovanni took a moment to examine his surroundings while Ash voiced an automatic and rather carefree sounding, "sorry about that," which clearly disregarded the danger as if it were not at all present.

The mansion wasn't very hidden anymore, but it didn't really matter to Giovanni. "It's alright, the fire hasn't spread too far and this area is better off without so many obstacles in the way, it can be a place to train and battle."

Ash took the opportunity to further reassure his mother, "yes, exactly, now it's better than before!" He looked at the battered land and smiled sheepishly, "if seen from a certain perspective." A lone frail tree was the only one in the immediate area that survived.

Delia let out a breath as Cloyster and Kingler finished getting the flames under control. "Thank you, you two have really saved the day." She gently caressed both pokemon in appreciation for their efforts before recalling them into their respective pokeballs. "Now that it's safe again, you can continue your battle. Don't even try to tell me to go back to the mansion because I'm not going back inside. I'll watch from a safe distance." Knowing that Ash and Giovanni understood that she would not change her mind, Delia ran off to give the battle some space. From her new distance, she could not only perceive the battle itself, but also get a better image of the atmosphere between the two trainers and their expressions. As the fight entered its last few rounds, the tension had lessened considerably, even if an urgent uncertainty hung in the air in relation to what the battle's outcome may bring.

Once Delia was at a safe distance, the battle continued with Giovanni commanding the opening move of the round, "Garchomp, dragon rush!" Making good use of his speed, Garchomp hurried to tackle Charizard, clearly eager for a fight.

Charizard was knocked back, fighting to keep his balance and withstand the powerful attack. "Use fire fang!" Ash quickly reacted, taking advantage of the close proximity of Garchomp to have Charizard take hold of him between his flaming fangs.

"Poison jab!" Garchomp defended himself fiercely against the pokemon whose scorching fangs pressed against his throat. He jabbed at Charizard repeatedly until he was released from the fiery bite.

Badly poisoned, Charizard was pushed back in anger. Ash knew that he couldn't wait before making another move and quickly directed Charizard, "fire blast!" Pushing himself to react quickly, Charizard unleashed a powerful flame.

Garchomp backed away and to the side trying to dodge, but despite his speed, the fire blast had been sent out at too much of a close range to be avoided. "Garchomp, use stone edge!" Despite his burns, Garchomp struggled to fight back, digging into the ground with his sharp fin-like appendages and throwing a rain of stones at his opponent.

The heated battle left no room for a pause, Ash responded rapidly, calling out for "fire blitz!" Against the avalanche of sharp rocks, Charizard allow the fire to cover him once more in a multitude of agile hits, making his way through the curtain of stones and towards his rival. "Don't stop, Charizard!"

"Garchomp, use dragon rush!" This was the second to last round and Giovanni knew the advantage could be obtained at any moment. The close combat continued with both pokemon fighting on the same level for the most part. However, Charizard's poisoned state kept worsening and it was taking its toll. In the midst of an intense exchange of fire blitz and dragon rush, Charizard finally fainted, leaving a dizzy Garchomp struggling to stay on his feet.

"Good job Charizard, come back and rest," Ash recalled his fallen pokemon and wasted no time in sending out his final ally. "Go Pikachu, let's finish this!"

Despite not being evolved, Giovanni knew that Ash's Pikachu was very powerful as he witnessed at the Viridian Stadium. "Garchomp, body slam!" The larger pokemon dashed forward threatening to flatten the smaller one.

"Pikachu, use thunder!" Before Garchomp could reach him, Pikachu unleashed his massive attack putting extra energy into it. This caused the already dizzy Garchomp to stumble in place and fall backwards with a loud thud.

This was the moment of truth; each combatant was down to his final pokemon. Before Giovanni could even say anything more, Persian rushed forward intent on fighting despite Purry's protests, or perhaps to annoy her. "Persian?" He had been acting oddly as of late, perhaps that female Persian's wild behavior was rubbing off on him. In spite of the fine ruby upon her forehead, she would be a bit difficult to properly train.

"I knew it," Ash exclaimed with excitement in his eyes. "I knew it would come down to this, my main pokemon versus your main pokemon." Caught up in the excitement of the battle, Ash was all too eager to begin the final round. "Pikachu, use volt tackle!"

'Are you just going to stand there? Go tear him apart! Fight like I would!' Purry paced around Giovanni in the sidelines, tempted to jump into the battle even if it was not her fight.

'Shut up!' Persian growled back in pokemon language, he found that he often bickered with Purry, but also couldn't simply ignore her when she ignited his competitive spirit.

The fight had already begun before Giovanni could even begin to voice that Persian was more so a show pokemon than anything else. None the less, he had witnessed many battles and knew how to fight, despite mostly sitting in the sidelines the majority of the time. Furthermore, there was simply no stopping the action that had started, plus Giovanni too was caught up in the battle and Persian's determination to fight was clear. "Use iron tail!"

Persian spun to bat Pikachu away with his tail, but was unable to get out of the way before the volt tackle reached him. The electric pokemon tripped over Persian's glowing tail, which caused both to roll several feet back in a tangled heap. That of course, didn't stop or even slow down the battle as Ash followed up with "thunder!" an attack that hit Persian hard.

"Use night slash, Persian!" Shaking away the dizziness, while his fur was still full of static, Persian went on the offensive with a series of repetitions of his night slash attack.

Ash knew he had to counter immediately, but Persian wouldn't let Pikachu get away from the rapidly succeeding slashes. "Fight back with wild charge!" Tackling right away under such a relentless attack would be close to impossible, but being covered in electricity would solve that problem. Attacking became more difficult for Persian as Pikachu was shielded by his own electricity; it was painful to further slash at him. Taking the opportunity to fight back, Pikachu tackled Persian.

"Get up Persian, retaliate!" Twitching from the electric shock, Persian stubbornly pushed himself to fight back, finding that perhaps battling wasn't so bad after all. He didn't like getting all messy, but he did like the rush of excitement that came with battle and thought that maybe he should do this more often. With such thoughts in mind, he fought back with everything he had.

"Be careful Pikachu!" Pikachu backed away trying to avoid Persian's attack. To fight close range with him would be risky, even if it might speed up the progress of the battle. "Use electro ball!" Gathering his electricity, Pikachu formed it into a sphere, which he threw at Persian. Ash correctly guessed that Persian would dodge the first one, but that could be changed if there were too many attacks to be dodged. "Keep going Pikachu, use electro ball again!" Following Ash's strategy, Pikachu continued throwing electro balls at Persian one after another as fast as he could.

At their current distance, Persian seemed to be at a disadvantage, "charge in and use night slash!" Giovanni knew he had to get close to effectively attack. Through the multitude of electro balls that filled the battle ground, Persian used his agility to dodge them and approach Pikachu. Close to the electric pokemon, an electro ball hit him and knocked him to the ground. He painfully pushed himself to get up and slash at Pikachu whose automatic response was to shock Persian without having to wait for Ash's instruction to do so. "Use last resort!" Giovanni urged Persian to react, which he did, standing on the power of stubbornness alone as most of his energy had been surrendered to the intense battle.

With Persian lashing out at him without rest, Pikachu resorted to releasing all his electricity as Ash called out "thunder!" The massive electric wave filled the area, shocking the opposing pokemon as well as the trainers. Bright light invaded the atmosphere and a line of yellow lightning took to the skies as if being drawn to the clouds above. When the light finally cleared, Persian was no longer moving, his consciousness lost to exhaustion. Pikachu followed a split second later, his energy having been drained away as it was released into the atmosphere. "Pikachu!" Ash called out to his favorite pokemon, but he did not respond. "It's... over..."

Recovering from the sparks of electricity that reached her, Delia took a deep breath and approached the battle ground where each trainer was walking towards the center of it where their respective pokemon lay. They each checked over their pokemon along with a concerned Delia who expressed, "both your teams will need a good rest to recover, but I'm sure they'll be fine."

Once again the two trainer's eyes met, their battle having ended, but before any words could be spoken, a loud noise made their heads turn to where a lone surviving tree stood. In excitement, anger or perhaps just battle-lust, Purry abused the poor tree into falling to the ground with a horn attack. She then made her way to where the group was and hissed as if wanting to pick a fight. "This one will really take a long time to train." Giovanni finally voiced. "The battle is over; I'll call you out to fight next time."

At hearing that, Persian's ears twitched in semi-alertness as he unsteadily got on his feet. Pikachu had since been picked up by Ash and awoke in his arms. Persian spoke something in pokemon language, to which Purry replied and an argument ensued which other than them, only Pikachu could understand.

Delia laughed, feeling as if the atmosphere had been significantly lightened by the battle. "Aw, those two make such a cute bickering couple." At her comment, both the male and female Persian turned red and hissed, which only cause Delia to laugh more.

For a blissful moment all seemed to be alright, but as the excitement of the battle faded into memories, the inevitable moment arrived. "About Mewtwo..." Giovanni began, pausing after bringing up the subject that was the cause of the battle in the first place.

Ash nodded, as if the uncertainty in the air, albeit still once more perceptible, no longer afflicted him. "I'll tell you about him."

"You don't have to," time seemed to stand still for a moment as Giovanni himself could hardly believe what he was saying. "Pikachu stayed awake for a second longer then Persian." None the less, despite the close loss, Giovanni somehow found that he did appreciate Persian's effort. "This battle is your victory; we'll battle again some time later. For now, you can go do what you wish, I won't give up on my goals, but I won't expect you to give me any information or stand aside."

Ash paused, taking in all that was said, "I still want to tell you, if not about Mewtwo, then more so about my adventure with him." It was something that would not reveal anything particularly useful towards the quest to find Mewtwo, but Ash felt that he wanted to tell the tale of those happenings either way. "Will you listen to my story?"

Giovanni couldn't hide his interest, though without realizing it, this was something more than just about Mewtwo. He wanted to know what Ash had done, "I will."

To be Continued

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 107: Give me Potential

Ash's story about his adventures with Mewtwo, detailed the feelings and conclusions he reached during that time. He told his father about all he could remember from New Island and even about the battle to recapture Mewtwo where they had both been present. Brock's Onix emerging from his pokeball just as Giovanni approached, had served as a coincidental obstacle for Giovanni and Ash not to see each other. It was a narration that Delia had heard before, but left her in deep thought every time she focused on it.

By then, both Ash and Giovanni had cleaned off the sand that once covered them and they, accompanied by Delia, talked in one of the mansion's many sitting rooms. The two Persian were also still at the mansion, with the male soaking in a bubble bath with some fancy shampoo that was perfect for his fur, while the female paced around red faced, looking for a way to spy on him in which she wouldn't get caught.

"What I'm trying to say is that Mewtwo is a living being, he thinks and feels, he's not just an experiment or a tool," Ash finished his revelations, emphasizing the vital conclusion.

Giovanni paused and closed his eyes for a moment, embracing his son's words with an open mind. "Even if I accept that, it doesn't change anything. Team Rocket has used many over time and for the sake of the ultimate goal it will continue to be done."

"That's... wrong..." Ash wasn't sure how to explain it, he was empathic, connecting with others easily as his mother did. Giovanni didn't seem to be like that at all, yet the memories of the feelings and images from that mysterious Persian filled Ash's mind once more. The world wasn't black and white; it was a mix of shades of gray, he recalled. One could care about many or few, yet that did not mean that the appreciation was any less true. There were no true heroes or villains, but people who had their own choices to make, which may not always fit together in perfect harmony with the expectations of those around them.

"Ash, I'm the leader of Team Rocket, a criminal organization with the goal of controlling the world," Giovanni spoke sincerely, his eyes locked on Ash's. "We're not a band of vigilantes or simple trouble makers. What you've seen so far is only the surface. Even if we have stopped other threats from invading Kanto and other regions, it is in protection of our own territory, our own power, not to serve as heroes. You need to understand that reality isn't always how you wish it were." After a short pause he added quietly, "sorry to disappoint you," sounding as if he really meant it.

"I see," Ash took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. "What will you do if you take over the world? Will it not be your world to protect? Be it for territory or power, won't you protect it?"

"Don't try to twist things around to sound better, I'm not asking you to justify me," Giovanni voiced in all seriousness.

Ash nodded, "I understand," he stood and prepared to leave. Delia, who had been quiet the entire time, stood as well and stopped as if trying to say something. Ash smiled reassuringly, "everyone has to follow their own path and reach out for what they believe in, you taught me that, it's good advice. Stay here, please keep father company, I'll see you later."

"Be safe," Delia finally voiced, holding back tears. She allowed herself to fall back into a sitting position as Ash approached one of the balconies situated on the back side of the mansion, facing towards the recently rearranged terrain as a result of the battle. He released his Charizard, who had since received healing items along with his other pokemon. "I know you must still want to rest, but can you make it to Pallet Town?" Charizard nodded and allowed Ash to climb on his back.

A few seconds passed in silence and Giovanni approached the balcony, standing there for a second looking into the distance until the feeling of being watched caused him to look up. There was Ash on his Charizard, perched on the edge of the roof, as if taking a moment to organize his thoughts before heading to Pallet Town. The fire pokemon jumped off the roof, gliding next to the balcony, "just one more thing... do you... really..." Ash stopped himself and shook his head, "never mind." He knew the answer, he had sense that answer, he accomplished nothing by doubting it.

"You're welcome to join me if you change your mind," Giovanni finally offered, his offer serving as an answer to Ash's unfinished question.

"No, but thank you for offering," with those final words of an indefinite farewell, Ash flew off on Charizard into the distance in direction towards Pallet Town.

xoxox xox xoxox

Sometime later, Ash made it to Pallet Town and landed at the Oak research lab. At the time, Gary was outside examining some pokemon and taking notes. He set his electronic clipboard aside and approached Ash, searching his face for any signs of something unknown.

"Hey, how are you doing?" Ash greeted Gary in a completely casual way, though Gary could still tell there was something on his mind.

The young researcher crossed his arms and donned a serious expression. "I'm not letting you go without an explanation," he warned. I know there's something secret going on, those visitors from Team Rocket, your mother being kidnapped, you calling to say she was alright and hanging up soon after. You've been busy and I know Team Rocket is involved. I think grandpa knows something too but he won't tell me. I don't want to think you're actually with Team Rocket and your mother is suffering the consequences of that, because I know it's not like you. Ash, I've known you for my whole life and I always thought you were predictable outside of battle, for once you proved me wrong."

Sighing in exhaustion, realizing just how tired he really was, Ash could do little more than apologize, "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Gary shouted in exasperation.

Samuel had overheard the argument and emerged from the laboratory to meet the two young men outside. "Ash, you seem tired, come inside, have something to eat and rest. I'm sure you'll be able to talk with us better once you've had a moment to collect your thoughts."

Frowning in disapproval, as he was tired of waiting, Gary said nothing and just followed the other two inside the house listening as Ash inquired about his pokemon and went to switch his current team.

A few refreshments later, Ash seemed to be just as quiet and distracted as before. Gary was done waiting and instead chose to resolve the matter in a way they were both familiar with, a pokemon battle.

Ash and Gary once again headed outside, with Samuel standing at a safe distance to watch the fight. The two young men were at the same place where Ash and Giovanni had fallen asleep because of Jigglypuff, thus causing them to postpone their battle. Though they did eventually battle, the circumstances were quite different. Forcing himself to focus on the present, Ash vaguely caught Gary declaring this a two on two double battle, which meant both pokemon would be sent out simultaneously.

Both trainers released their pokemon, who materialized from the red beams of their pokeballs. The battle would be Ash's Infernape and Crawdaunt versus Gary's Scizor and Electivire. Eager to get some answers, Gary made the opening move of the battle, "Scizor metal claw, Electivire thunder punch!"

With the two opposing pokemon rushing towards his on the attack, Ash quickly reacted with evasive maneuvers, "Infernape dig, Crawdaunt use bubble beam!" While Infernape disappeared below ground, Crawdaunt unleashed a powerful stream of bubbles that obstructed the path of the two opponents, slowing them down. Electivire wasn't held up for long, recovering first and continuing the attack on Crawdaunt. Just as the thunder punch was about to reach him, Infernape emerged from the ground on a surprise attack to Electivire. Scizor had followed his ally to attack Crawdaunt, while Infernape remained out of reach and was taken by surprise, thus creating an opening for Crawdaunt, which Ash took advantage of, "Crawdaunt, vice-grip on Scizor!"

Gary reacted quickly, calling out to Scizor, "Scizor, use metal claw again!" This caused the two clawed pokemon to become locked in a sort of arm wrestling match, so focused on each other that they were open for attacks from the opponent's team. However, Electivire and Infernape were also busy fighting each other, "Electivire, rolling kick!"

"Infernape, blaze kick!" As the two powerful kicks collided, ash glanced at the other part of the battle simultaneously taking place, in search of an opportunity. "Crawdaunt, use crunch!" Crawdaunt's grip on Scizor's claws tightened and he momentarily gained the advantage in their competition.

"Scizor, use iron head!" With his claws still wrestling Crawdaunt's, Scizor used his head to defend himself against the other pokemon, banging it against Crawdaunt's claw, which dissipated his recently acquired advantage. It looked like Crawdaunt and Scizor would take a while longer to show a clear advantage, but Gary knew he couldn't lower his guard in the other half of the battle either. "Electivire, use charge beam!"

As the beam of electric energy flew towards Infernape, Ash countered it, "flame thrower!" The beams of electricity and fire collided with each other, causing sparks and embers to fly in every direction.

With a look in his eyes that foretold of a strategy, Gary commanded, "Scizor, flash cannon!"

The distance was not ideal for the attack, thus Ash knew that Gary must be planning something and went on the attack to hopefully stop the strategy. "Crawdaunt use crab hammer, Infernape, flame wheel!" Infernape was covered in fire, rushing forward in a cartwheel of flames, while Crawdaunt tried to smash Scizor with his large pincers.

Gary put his plan into action, "Electivire use volt switch and thunder punch!" Surrounded by electricity, Electivire switched places with Scizor. Scizor then released his flash cannon into Infernape before the fire pokemon was close enough for the flame wheel to be truly effective. Infernape was pushed back harshly by the blast. Taken by surprise with the switch of opponents, Crawdaunt's crab hammer missed and he took the thunder punch head on. "Quickly Scizor, use X-Scissor!" Gary continued the relentless attack, determined to win. Unable to recover on time, Infernape took the hit.

Ash watched his pokemon for a moment drawing a blank, his mind focused on the possible consequences if he lost. He pushed himself to think only on the present once more and imagined it was just another occasional battle with Gary. 'I can still win,' he thought. "Crawdaunt, Infernape, don't give up!" Ash encouraged his pokemon. "Infernape, flame wheel on Scizor," before the attack was performed, Scizor was already getting ready to dodge by gaining altitude. "Crawdaunt, give him a boost and be ready!" Unexpectedly, Infernape jumped on Crawdaunt's strong pincer and was thrown into the air spinning while on fire like a boomerang of flames. He smashed right into Scizor, knocking him to the ground, where Crawdaunt received him with a continuous attack. "Crawdaunt crab hammer, Infernape, dig!"

Gary knew he couldn't use another volt switch in this situation, the attack was too relentless. "Electivire, go help Scizor, use thunder punch on Crawdaunt!" Gary knew that Infernape was waiting to attack, but if Scizor was knocked out, the battle would take a turn in Ash's favor, becoming two on one.

"Now Infernape!" The fire pokemon emerged from below ground to attack his electric adversary.

"Be careful Electivire, fight back with rolling kick!" Gary's command was effective in that Electivire could defend himself against Infernape, but it was too late for Scizor. The steel pokemon lay unconscious on the ground. Once Crawdaunt had confirmed that Scizor was knocked out, he joined his comrade to battle Electivire. "Scizor return, rest up, we'll take care of the battle."

"Infernape, Crawdaunt, let's finish this battle, attack together with crab hammer and blaze kick!" Ash commanded, almost tasting his victory.

Gary was not one to go down without a fight. "Don't give up Electivire, use a double thunder punch!" Electrivire attacked both opponents that were rushing towards him. His attack was effective on Crawdaunt, finally knocking him out. However, it was not enough to withstand the combined force of both opposing pokemon. Electrivire lost consciousness to the force of Infernape's attack, leaving the fire pokemon as the representative of the victor. "Electivire return, you put up a good fight." Gary recalled his fainted pokemon to rest in his pokeball.

"Infernape, Crawdaunt, well done, that was some great team work, you can rest now." Ash recalled his pokemon as well, further emphasizing the end of the battle.

"You won," Gary acknowledged, "does this mean that you're not going to explain things?" He inquired urgently, almost sounding reproachful. Interpreting Ash's silence, he added, "fine, don't tell me. I'll find out what's going on by myself."

"Don't!" Ash warned, "please, just let things be, it won't do any good if you get involved!"

"I think this secrecy has lasted long enough," Samuel, who had been quietly watching from the sidelines, intervened. "Ash, if it would make you feel as a traitor to speak, then don't, I won't hold it against you, but I will speak, with Gary and Gary only."

"I would feel like a traitor for speaking," Ash admitted. "I also feel like a traitor if I don't. I'm not used to having secrets to keep."

"Team Rocket is close to taking over the world," Samuel announced, "I have been conducting a quiet investigation of my own, ever since I found out about Delia's... rekindled relationship. Apparently they're in the process of setting the stage and soon all the business groups that are seemingly unrelated will reveal themselves. This doesn't mean that it will happen suddenly, I think each industry will be revealed slowly to promote a sort of inevitable acceptance of Team Rocket as the new rule. By the time the majority truly notices the change; to take down Team Rocket would be nearly impossible."

"Then what are we waiting for? We should take them out now, while we can!" Gary insisted strongly.

"The consequences are already too great," Samuel sighed in resignation. "All we can do is hope that this new rule brings innovation and prosperity."

"I can't accept that!" Gary shouted.

"Gary," Ash quietly voiced, though he was certainly heard and all eyes were on him in an instant. "When I think of what would happen if Team Rocket is defeated, I feel a terrible darkness. The way things are set up, the world is placed to fall apart in their struggle. When I think of the future, I see light and darkness mixed into one, then finally there is light." He was reminded of that boy for some unknown reason, the unusual boy who traveled to Pallet Town with a mysterious Persian and Vulpix.

"Do you expect me to trust in some vague hunch you have about the future?" Gary was not satisfied.

"If he returned, would you not want to stand by his side no matter what?" Ash whispered in a barely audible voice. "If your father returned after you thought of him as dead for so long, would you not welcome him even if you had your differences?" Both Gary and Samuel remained silent for a moment, eyes downcast. "I'm sorry," Ash apologized, "I shouldn't have said that."

"He's your father?" Gary finally spoke after a moment of silence.

Ash nodded, "the leader of Team Rocket is my father, mom and I are both involved in this, Misty and her family too."

What Samuel had mentioned about Delia's relationship along with Ash's confirmation of a close involvement with Team Rocket, made Gary's expression show realization. "The Viridian City gym leader," Ash nodded quietly while many thoughts ran through Gary's head, "the antidote..."

"All thanks to Team Rocket," Ash quietly replied, "they're not all good and they do want to take over the world, by force if needed. They're not all bad either; I think that, in time, the world will be... alright. It's not worth all the pain; if people don't wish to fight..."

"It will all be in vain," Gary let out a hopeless breath. "Well, you know what they say," Gary looked unsure, yet determined, "if you can't beat them, join them."

"You don't mean to try to take them out from the inside?!" Ash's worried inquiry was further emphasized by Samuel's distressed expression.

"No, I'll just make sure that good things like the antidote and other scientific advancements outnumber the bad," Gary assured. "I won't take Team Rocket down, but I... everyone, can do their part in a process of change. You too Ash, don't slack off."

Ash smiled, feeling as if part of the weight he carried had been lifted off his shoulders. "Thank you."

The moment of trust, friendship and hope for the future was interrupted by a loud "bel!" Ash's unwillingly inherited Bellsprout rushed to him and wrapped her leaves around his leg in a tight hug, refusing to let go.

"Ouch, Belle, you're cutting my circulation!" Try as he did, Belle just wouldn't let him go until Gary and Samuel helped him pry her off between much needed laughs.

After a few more words of secrecy, hope and reassurance were spoken, Ash left towards Cerulean City riding on Unfezant.

xoxox xox xoxox

Late that night at Cerulean City, Ash and Misty had gone out, leaving the family to assume what they pleased about their possible reasons to stay out so late. Though she was teased in good humor by her sisters about going on a romantic midnight stroll along the beach, Misty knew that there would be no opportunity for that for some time.

At the roof of a tall apartment building in Cerulean City, its inhabitants unaware, Ash projected his aura ability, surrounded by a soft pale blue glow. He reasoned that if Mewtwo was in Kanto, being such a powerful psychic, he would sense the aura and investigate. Then perhaps, seeing Ash, he would understand he was being purposely called, then Ash could warn him of the dangers that were searching for him. Ash's plan was to repeat the action in different places, both in cities and the wilderness, until Mewtwo was found, hopefully before Team Rocket got to him.

xoxox xox xoxox

At Pallet Town, Samuel was fighting with his insomnia, a product of his worries. As he finally drifted off to sleep, he saw a somewhat familiar silhouette at the window next to his bed, but he was too close to slumber land to know if it was real or a dream. A small green being with big blue eyes and thin wings looked at him curiously before smiling and disappearing once more.

xoxox xox xoxox

Meanwhile, the Team Rocket executives, Archer, Ariana, Proton and Petrel, had been discussing the recent happenings in a private conference room at the Viridian Rocket base. "Ruby and Quartz have both reported errors upon examination that should be well below the performance of a PorygonZ. PorygonZ from other regions, specifically those connected to the larger servers have been having trouble as well and so far we can't point out the culprit," Archer reviewed.

"It's clear that whoever is behind this knows the vitality of a stable communication system to monitor all of Team Rocket's transactions throughout the world," Ariana added. "Furthermore, the report from the diagnosis of Pixel's PorygonZ is troubling. We can now confirm that she is another victim rather than the culprit, but that is still not a lot of progress to be made."

"Let me see if I understand this," Proton went over the details once more. "That girl's PorygonZ wasn't involved in any hacking and she wasn't used as a cover-up after all, that was all a misinterpretation. What really happened was that, due to her open communication link with Sapphire for sensor support to scan New Island, when Sapphire was suddenly attacked, the girl's PorygonZ used the communication channel as a portal to serve as Sapphire's shield, taking the hit."

"That's right," Archer confirmed. "The fact that the attack would have reached Sapphire is worrisome as it is, but to think that those consequences could have befallen Sapphire, or worse yet, Diamond."

"It's not going to be good if the big guns go off for no reason, especially if they're aimed at us," Petrel nodded. "It was a good thing that the PorygonZ, Prism was it? Was loyal enough to sacrifice herself."

"Does Pixel know of Prism's fate?" Ariana inquired.

"No," Petrel replied. "Prism was acting weird so Pixel took her to the nurse. Not sure of what to do, Laiki recommended sending Prism into a maintenance server and running a few scan programs. That's when the abnormalities were found. I sent her and Comet to train; I told them they would probably have a mission soon so they had to be ready. She looked like she didn't want to leave Prism in the server, but didn't refuse since it's a high ranked order and all. I don't think she knows anything anyway."

"I agree, if she knew, she would have spoken by now. Either way, I don't think there's a reason to hide this from her," Ariana expressed, then moved on to a general theory in relation to the situation. "I still keep thinking that this is internal."

Archer nodded, half closing his eyes in thought and determination. "The clean up was not completely effective after all. Perhaps Madame's list was incomplete. Who was the leader of Neo Rocket before they started working with Tempest? Was it really Madame or is that person still among us?"

"Maybe we should go ask her," Proton suggested.

xoxox xox xoxox

Later, Pixel finished her training session with Comet, which had led to the evolution of Pyro from a Charmeleon into a Charizard. Pleased with the progress of her training, she went off to check on Prism and see if her condition had improved. The laboratory was dim in the corners with a bright holographic display lighting its center. The server at the base of the hologram had a few blinking lights, while on one side, a large screen displayed codes, which a few Rockets were examining.

Pixel walked around the hologram after looking at the pained Prism with concern. Comet stood in front of the hologram watching the pokemon, while Pixel examined the screen. "What's wrong with her?" Pixel demanded to know.

The tech Rockets were ordered by the executives to study that PorygonZ and to allow her trainer to take part in the investigation, thus they felt the obligation to answer. "Her code is coming undone with untraceable errors. Something vital has changed in her and it's causing a massive chain reaction. We don't even know how she hasn't disintegrated into packets of random data yet."

Pixel was no longer listening to the tech Rockets, instead staring intensely at the hologram of Prism. The PorygonZ emerged from the server uncalled and floated towards her trainer. This wasn't just a small error generated by strain; this was an unknown life threatening situation. If a PorygonZ or any of their previous evolutions could be called alive was questioned by some, but to Pixel, Prism was a precious friend. She extended her arms to the pokemon as if hugging her, but her fingers got lost in the translucent light touching nothing but static.

"Prism!" The PorygonZ fought with all her might and once again became semi-stable. Her transparent frame became more solidly visible and she let out a stream of electronic sounds. "There's nothing you can do for her here," Pixel realized. "I'll take Prism with me and take care of her myself."

"You can't do that!" One of the tech Rockets protested. "The executives ordered the sample to be kept here for further study!"

"That's enough," Archer, who had been quietly standing at the door unnoticed for a few seconds, finally revealed his presence, addressing the Rocket techs. "When this PorygonZ was restored to her trainer, she gained stability, we all witnessed it. I cannot explain it, but if we are to discover what the problem with the PorygonZ is on time to take effective action, this one cannot be lost." He then looked at Pixel, "keep her stable and report anything you learn."

xoxox xox xoxox

Meanwhile, At Cerulean City, the sun was beginning to rise as Ash and Misty made their way back to the Cerulean Gym. It would be more precise to say that a tired Misty was dragging an exhausted Ash along, while he leaned on her and muttered, "have to... find him..."

"We're almost there," Misty stopped in front of the main door to the Cerulean Gym. Even the avid partiers of the city were sleeping at the time. All alone in the deserted street, Misty shifted Ash's weight leaning on her and readjusted his arm around her shoulders. Their pokemon had stayed up all night and were sleeping in their pokeballs, except Pikachu who was slumbering on Ash's head.

Before Misty could make the motion to get her keys from her bag, a shadow was casted on the wall from behind them. The next thing they knew, they were gone.

To be Continued

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 108: Give Me Motivation

At Cerulean City, an unknown presence surprised Ash and Misty. They were in front of the Cerulean gym one minute and the next they were gone. Their surroundings changed in a swirl of colors that left Misty, the most aware of the group, somewhat dizzy. "What was that, where are we?"

The atmosphere was completely dark and disconcerting "Pika?" Pikachu was once again awake and alert.

The sudden release of energy had partially woken Ash, who yawned and tried to focus his vision in the dark surroundings. He held up his cell phone using its light to see the dim image of the legendary pokemon before them. "You were calling me," Mewtwo spoke. "We are now in a cave near Cerulean City, I teleported you here. We may talk freely in this place."

Surprised to have found Mewtwo so quickly, Ash and Misty didn't even know where to start. Misty was the only one of the Waterflowers aware of the Mewtwo situation. "Yes, I was calling you," Ash stated the obvious as he fought to organize his thoughts. As it often happened, he ended up blurting out the dilemma without sugar coating it, "you're in danger, Team Rocket is hunting you down!"

When Mewtwo noticed Ash's energy as if calling out to him, he assumed the boy from long ago, now a young man, might be in need of assistance, he didn't expect to be the one in peril. "Team Rocket should have forgotten me."

Ash bit his lip and tried to explain, "Giovanni remembers you, he recovered his memories after having a sort of out of body experience. It's hard to explain, I was there too and I remember everything from New Island." Upon mentioning the Rocket leader's name, many thoughts invaded Ash, reflected on his debating expression.

"I see..." Mewtwo contemplated for a moment before finally reaching a conclusion, "I will have to face him."

"You don't have to!" Ash insisted, not really giving his words much thought. He didn't want his father and Mewtwo to fight. From Ash's point of view, it was a lose-lose situation.

"Is there a way that a confrontation can be avoided?" Misty rephrased the request, though she didn't expect a positive answer.

"No," Mewtwo's tone left no room for doubt. "If I do not face him, he will not stop searching for me. Innocents may suffer the consequences if I hide. I have been thinking about where my place is. A friend told me that if I was unsure of where I wanted to be, I should go on a journey. That same friend taught me how to open the door so that my journey knows no limits. Perhaps if I show the Rocket leader he can never reach me..." Mewtwo closed his eyes in contemplation for a moment before changing the subject to address his curiosity. "When you called me, I thought you needed my help. Earlier I sensed the cries of pokemon in space, up there, where there are few, their cries ring out clearly. I thought you knew what afflicted them and wanted assistance in a sort of plan to help them. I cannot free them from their armor, yet that is not what pains them."

Ash and Misty were both confused by Mewtwo's words. "I'm not sure what you're talking about. Pokemon in space need help?"

"They reside in human-made satellites baring the symbol of Team Rocket," Mewtwo revealed with bitterness. "They were crying out in pain, yet Team Rocket was not the root of their complaints. It was something else, they were somehow ill. I tried to free them, but they resisted and even tried to attack me albeit I was disguised as their own kind, PorygonZ. They are of Team Rocket and with Team Rocket, yet their troubles are something deeper. They would have no recollection of our meeting as I erased their memories before they could alert anyone of my presence. I don't understand their situation."

"I'm not sure what that's about either," Ash admitted, but if a pokemon was in pain he couldn't just ignore it. "I'll find out what's wrong with them and help them!" A pause followed as all those present contemplated their options. Ash considered asking his mother to find information, but realized that he simply couldn't ask her to do that. Perhaps he should inquire about the situation directly from his father, though he might, and most likely would, refuse to reveal anything.

"There may be a way," Mewtwo finally voiced. "I will use my psychic powers to amplify your aura. You should be able to see beyond what can be seen and gain a clue. However, this will be a straining process and you are already exhausted."

"It's okay, I'll do it," Ash immediately insisted, "there's no time to waste!"

"I guess I should be ready to carry you back. Don't strain yourself too much," Misty advised.

"I'll be alright, I'm more worried about those pokemon," Ash was determined to understand and help.

"Very well, close your eyes and focus on the enigma that you wish to solve," Mewtwo placed his right paw on Ash's forehead, emitting a soft glow. The glow surrounded Ash as several minutes passed in silence.

"I almost see it..." Ash whispered, he was seeing a vision, an image of something blurry. "A city... a building..." Ash focused on the building that stood out in his vision. "This place... it's..." he didn't know how, but the identity of the building was slowly surfacing in his mind. "Silph..." With that final word, Ash fainted.

Misty caught him before he fell down, "Ash?" He didn't respond in any way save for his breathing.

"He will need rest," Mewtwo also seemed to have been left tired by what had happened.

"Right, you should stay out of sight, Ash and I will investigate Silph tomorrow." Misty didn't know what to expect, but Silph had been the clue Ash and Mewtwo found.

"Very well, I will delay my plans to face the Rocket leader for as long as innocents are not involved. Hopefully, we will solve this mystery before then," Mewtwo agreed. "Allow me to teleport you home, focus on where you wish to be." Misty thought of her room at the Cerulean gym and in a flash, Mewtwo had teleported them there. "Rest well," the legendary pokemon disappeared again, teleporting away.

Misty placed Ash on her bed, listening to his sleepy mutterings of "Silph... Porygon..." as he tried to regain full consciousness against his exhaustion. Pikachu yawned and gave into sleep.

"We'll investigate soon, for now you need to rest," Misty spoke gently, kissing Ash and caressing his hair after removing his precious hat and placing it on her nightstand. His lips slightly moved as if to say something more, but no sounds came as he fell into a deep slumber. Misty lay down next to her fiance, listening to his even breaths, "I love you too."

xoxox xox xoxox

On the afternoon of the next day, Giovanni observed the blinking light on the map displayed on the screen. It was a map of Saffron City and that light was Ash. The Rocket leader had placed a tracking device on Ash's hat before returning it and had confirmed that he was indeed still wearing it. Ash had gone to visit Silph Co. reaching only the visitor permitted areas. However, he had also flown around the premises as if getting a better view of the building. Giovanni suspected that Ash didn't know of Team Rocket's control over Silph Co., but his sudden interest in the location was intriguing.

Furthermore, Silph Co. was the origin of Porygon, which made Giovanni wonder if Ash had found out anything about the situation the executives were investigating. If Ash wanted to go in, Giovanni could arrange it. Let him go take a look around and reveal what he knew.

xoxox xox xoxox

At Silph Co., the current president approached Ash. "Excuse me young man, aren't you Ash Ketchum, the Indigo League champion?"

For a moment, Ash was worried someone might be getting suspicious of him and Misty hanging around Silph Co. so much the entire afternoon. Yet his worries were soon pushed to the back of his mind as he was recognized. He smiled and cheerfully replied, "that's right," unintentionally sounding like Jessie and James' Meowth without realizing it.

"I'd like to talk to you, if you don't mind," the president offered, motioning towards the elevator so they could speak in private.

Misty found the situation suspicious, but went along with Ash as the Silph president led them away from the shopping area of the building.

They arrived at a small conference room with simple furniture, including a table and chairs, were they sat. "I'm sure you must be wondering why I called you here," the president spoke. "This may seem sudden, but when I saw you the idea came to me. The truth is that I want to hire you," he told Ash.

"Hire me?" Ash was taken by surprise, his career consisted of pokemon training and going from one competition to another. It was in a sense a life like that of a professional athlete.

"As a pokemon trainer I mean," the president began to clarify. "Or maybe it would be more accurate to say as a guard. The truth is that I have reasons to believe that Team Rocket intends to invade this building tonight. I don't know what they're planning to do, but I cannot allow it. Please protect Silph Co., you will be rewarded for your services."

Ash was left in thought. He wanted to know more about what was going on, he wanted to interpret his blurry vision which seemed to reveal so little, yet it was the key to setting things in motion. There was no running away. "I'll do it."

xoxox xox xoxox

That night at the Silph Co. building... The Charizard flapped his wings and gained altitude. "Give us some cover Pyro," Pixel instructed. Pyro let out a stream of smoke and kept himself steady in the dark night sky. On his back he carried not only his trainer, but also Peachy, a laptop computer and a small satellite dish. The dish communicated with the Rocket satellite in the atmosphere amplifying the signal from the computer. Prism was contained in the laptop.

Pixel remembered when Giovanni assigned them this mission at the Viridian Headquarters. "You will be breaking into the Silph Co. building. Since both Pixel and Comet knew that Team Rocket secretly controlled Silph, the mission appeared unusual to them. "That is only an act," Giovanni elaborated, "but it will be real at the same time. The guards will try to stop you and you'll have to fight your way through if you get caught. Don't take it as a simulation or you will fail and I won't tolerate failure. As for your true mission..."

Pixel adjusted the earpiece she wore as her blue ponytail blew in the wind. "Motion sensors deactivated; first level electronic locks open. You might run into some locks you'll have to pick the old way. Don't touch the fences, they are constantly electrified and they have no mechanism to deactivate them wirelessly."

"No problem; I'm going in," several feet below outside the tall fences, Comet stayed in the back of the Silph Co. building where the lights didn't reach him. "Go Rykros," he released the strong bug pokemon from his pokeball and hopped on his back. "Let's go over the fence quickly." The Scyther flew over the fence, being able to carry his trainer easily after exercising with weights regularly. Comet hopped off on the other side and recalled his pokemon, "so far, so good."

"I'm in the camera system," Pixel's triumphant voice came from Comet's earpiece. She could see him, though anyone else accessing the system saw nothing but a still empty image. "From your position, move twenty feet to the right; that will lead you to the least guarded hallway via a back door, if you can pick the lock."

"Watch me," Comet grinned as he dashed towards the aforementioned back door, dodging the circles of rotating lights. He stayed close to the wall as he moved in, "looks like a double lock, there's the lock on the doorknob and an electronic one."

"I'm not detecting it," Pixel replied, "it must be a highly isolated electronic lock. Plug me in," she grinned, even if her wireless didn't reach that lock at first, she would get to it anyway.

Comet took a small card from his utility belt. It was a plain black card with nothing but a red R to identify it. It looked like a regular card without a use beyond decoration, but it was in fact a wireless transmitter. He inserted the card into the keycard space and got to work on the door knob's lock with a few other tools.

Pixel watched as her computer screen changed when the lock became accessible. The card Comet inserted into it could unlock just about anything given the proper use. "Let's do this, Prism," the PorygonZ on the screen looked eager, once again working with her trainer to unlock something else.

Comet heard the small number pad next to the keycard slot beep as numbers appeared on its tiny screen. "All done," he heard the click that indicated the door's physical lock was no longer an obstacle.

The final beep for the last digit was heard and the electronic lock was undone, "same here," Pixel voiced.

Comet proceeded inside, his footsteps speedy but inaudible. "You said the least guarded hallway," he whispered quietly.

"Yup," Pixel confirmed, "there is no unguarded route, but you don't sound disappointed. Whatever it is you're thinking, you'll get your chance now, because there's a guard going your way. I bet you can't avoid him."

Comet grinned, "I'm up for a fight, but I'll take that bet." He jumped and stretched out in the hallway. His hands and feet could barely reach the opposing walls left and right. He pushed on the walls, staying close to the ceiling and slipped away right above the guard.

Pixel followed Comet's signal on the screen. "The elevator is coming up, occupied," she opened the door.

Comet hurried towards it and hopped down to the floor. He looked into the elevator shaft as the elevator box went up. He stepped onto it rather than jump, so that he could get on as quietly as possible.

"Your floor's coming up," Pixel watched the images on the building's security cameras, "it's too heavily guarded, a confrontation is inevitable."

The elevator shaft door opened. Though the elevator was destined for the last floor, Comet's target was in the second to last floor. He jumped out catching the first guard by surprise, his fist harshly colliding with the other man's face. The guard was knocked out on impact. The room in the middle of the floor was surrounded by a hallway that went all around it, constantly packed with guards.

"We have an intruder! Send backup!" Another guard desperately called. Only one intruder had been spotted so far, but the red R on his chest warned that even one could be plenty of trouble. Plus for all they knew, others may be waiting to attack. A swift kick relived the guard of his gun a split second after it was taken from its holster, before he could even aim.

"Ten of them; take them out. Back up won't be coming," as an extra gift, aside from blocking the enemy's radio contact, Pixel sent out a loud screeching noise to the guards' earpieces.

Comet noticed right away what it was when he saw his next opponents cringe suddenly losing their focus. "Hey Pix, don't forget I won our bet back there," Comet skillfully fought, taking out one opponent after another.

"It was just dumb luck," Pixel scoffed, though she knew it was a lie. After a pause she added, "maybe I'll give you a reward later."

xoxox xox xoxox

Ash waited in the darkness of a room at the Silph Co. building. Misty wanted to be there as well, but the president had insisted that he couldn't have too many outsiders in such confidential areas and that only the champion would suffice as security. Ash convinced her to wait for him at the Saffron City Pokemon Center; she was probably pacing around impatiently.

The door was suddenly thrown open, followed by a flash of red light emerging from a pokeball. "Thunderbolt!" Pikachu attacked the figure that began to materialize, but the trainer rushed forward and was caught in the electricity instead, being thrown back. The red beam took shape and rushed towards Ash with the glimmer of sharp blades. The trainer that had been pushed back by Pikachu's shock dropped a pokeball, which caused another red beam to light the dark room. The second pokemon to emerge went on the attack immediately.

Finally, Comet stood up and turned on the lights. Rykros was holding his blades near the attacker's neck, who turned out to be Ash. Meteor, who had been released from his pokeball after Pikachu's attack, was trying to fight the electric pokemon. Pikachu didn't seem too eager to fight back, baby pokemon were his weakness. "It's okay Meteor, Rykros, return." Comet recalled Rykros into his pokeball and Meteor ran back to him, jumping into his arms. He decided to leave the young pokemon outside of his pokeball for a while, since the mission was at a calm point.

Pikachu returned to Ash's side and hopped on his shoulders. "So it was true, Team Rocket really was planning to break into Silph Co."

"How did you know?" Comet played along, pretending to be surprised to have run into Ash.

"The president asked me to protect Silph," Ash replied, still unsure about how Silph connected with the whole situation. That clue that he had gain through combining his aura with Mewtwo's power was vague at best. The vision had been cut short due to his exhaustion; maybe he could find Mewtwo and try again to gain a better understanding. "It's surprising to find you here, but I guess I should remember you're a Rocket. If it were someone else, would you have...?" Ash made a motion with his fingers over his neck, his eyes speaking of disappointment louder than words could.

The signal only caused Comet to laugh, "I'm a spy, not a hitman. There's no need to make a mess, knocking out the opposition is just as effective to get them out of the way, I'll be done and gone by the time they wake up anyway. Do I look like an assassin?"

Ash's imagination acted on its own. He saw Comet, his red hair brushed back neatly, making the predatory look in his blue eyes stand out as he silently made his way through the darkness. There were no red beams from pokeballs, only a loud noise and three fast small flashes as the trio of bullets left the three long barrels of the silver gun, with spikes at the end and a red R charm hanging from its handle. The expression didn't quite fit the look of deceiving innocence that Comet always seemed to have. "Not really." After a short pause where some of the tension in the air was lifted, Ash asked, "why are you here? What do you want with Silph?"

"I'm here probably for the same reason as you, the real reason," Comet hinted at something that was unknown even to him. "I know your reason for being at Silph Co. isn't just because you were asked to protect it."

Ash remembered his conversation with Mewtwo, the PorygonZ that were in trouble were not truly suffering because of Team Rocket. "I'm not sure about why I'm here. All I know is that Silph Co. is the key to solving the mystery of what's hurting the PorygonZ that were in satellites."

"Then you're looking for a way to help them?" Comet inquired, though he already knew the answer.

"Yes, is that why you're here too? Those PorygonZ are Team Rocket's pokemon. The satellites... I don't fully understand, but this sounds important. Team Rocket must have plans for them that won't work unless what's weakening them is solved," Ash theorized. "I don't know what those plans may be and the consequences they may have, but those pokemon, their pain must have been... different."

It looked like Ash knew more than he should, but didn't know the answers Team Rocket was looking for. "Would it help if you saw one of the PorygonZ?" Comet inquired.

"Maybe, it certainly wouldn't hurt to have a look," Ash wasn't sure what to expect, the clues were too vague, but that was all the more reason to keep looking.

Only Comet heard Pixel through his earpiece, "I can arrange that right now." Pixel agreed to let Ash take a look at Prism in hopes that he may reveal what he knew if he really was holding anything back.

xoxox xox xoxox

Meanwhile, at the Saffron City Pokemon Center, Misty was feeling impatient. The entire situation seemed all too suspicious and she feared it was all somehow a trap. She thought about casually passing by Silph Co., no one said she couldn't walk down the street. She could take a look around and see if there was anything suspicious in the area yet. As she set out to do so, she saw three figures in trench coats leaving the Pokemon Center. She discreetly followed them, pretending to coincidentally walk their way down the street. She noticed that the smallest of the three had a tail, "Meowth?" That caused her to guess who the others were, "Jessie? James?"

"Misty? Why are you here?" Jessie inquired automatically, before realizing she probably should have just minded her own business and pretended not to notice her.

"Are prince twerp and the royal Pikachu here too?" James curiously asked, glancing back in the direction of the Pokemon Center, but no one else seemed to be coming.

"Ash is... busy, so I'm by myself right now. Why are you dressed like that?" Misty inquired curiously and suspiciously.

"No reason, it was just a bit chilly tonight so we decided to wear coats." Jessie made up an excuse, "it's getting late so we really should be going. Maybe you should go back to the Pokemon Center and get some rest."

"Sleep is important, it's as important as bottle caps!" James added with an insistent nod that only made everything more suspicious.

"That's right!" Meowth voiced eagerly, hopefully Misty would go away and not end up somehow involved in their special mission for tonight. It was their biggest mission since the traitor clean up that marked their return to Team Rocket and they wanted it to go perfectly.

Misty had no intentions of letting the trio leave without an explanation, "what are you three plotting?" She thought that maybe the Silph president was right about the building being attacked by Team Rocket. "Are you here to invade Silph Co.?"

Jessie and James exchanged confused looks and James finally replied, "I can honestly tell you we're not." It seemed that Misty was unaware that Silph was controlled by Team Rocket. They had their struggles in the past, but resistance was history.

"Must you be so suspicious?" Jessie made a sad face, "you hurt our feelings."

James panicked, unsure if Jessie was acting or having a mood swing. He tried to calm down and console her, either for real or to add to her act, he wasn't sure.

"Alright, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt." Misty decided to play along, seeing that she wasn't going to get any direct information. "Do you mind if I hang out with you three?"

A moment of silence passed, "forget it, we're just going in circles like this." Jessie discarded her trench coat revealing her Team Rocket uniform, it was the black version. "Prepare for trouble!"

James automatically followed her lead taking off his coat to reveal his matching uniform. "Make it double!"

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all people within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth, that's right!" The talking pokemon finished the motto unable to resist as the trio stood without disguises.

A moment full of uncertainty passed as Jessie reached for something on her belt, but it wasn't a pokeball, "Team Rocket's blasting off again!" She announced as she dropped a smoke bomb and ran away, followed by James and Meowth.

Misty coughed in the smoke; she couldn't see where the Rocket trio went, "come back here!" She wanted to know what in the world was going on and if it was related to Ash's situation, or maybe even the search for Mewtwo. Though Misty tried to chase them, Jessie, James and Meowth got away.

xoxox xox xoxox

Outside of the Silph Co. building, Ash, Comet and Pixel stayed out of sight in a dark corner. Prism, who was showing signs of exhaustion despite having rested before the mission, came out of the computer. "What can you tell us about her?" Pixel asked.

Ash looked at the PorygonZ, he didn't perceive anything out of the ordinary just by looking at her, but she did seem to be weak. "Try to show me what's wrong, I'll listen." Ash gently placed his right hand on the PorygonZ's head and focused his aura. A few moments passed in silence until he suddenly let go with a heavy breath, face pale. He took a moment to calm down before speaking again. "Something keeps telling her she's already dead, but she's fighting to live. Something is stopping her from being alive, but even with all that, she's here."

"PorygonZ are made of data," Pixel reminded, "they're not supposed to die in that sense, but..." She paused looking for a possible explanation that would make sense of Ash's words. "This is a good clue, I'll make sure to look into it right away, I'm going back."

"Sounds like you're on to something," Comet saw that Pixel had a look in her eyes, as if she was close to figuring out a puzzle thanks to Ash's clue.

"Maybe, I just need to run a simulation on something." Pixel replied, hoping that this really did constitute a step forward.

Sensing Prism's energy seemed to clarify Ash's memories about his vision of Silph Co. It was as if he had obtained something that was thrown to the back of his mind by exhaustion and he didn't even realize he had seen it. It was now surfacing. "Silph Co., they were there, mother, father and other people too, one looked like you," he referred to Comet. Ash closed his eyes tightly wanting to draw more of the hidden image he had obtained from combining his abilities with Mewtwo's power, but nothing more came. "That's all, I couldn't see anything else."

"Couldn't see?" Comet asked, "what do you mean by that? Some kind of vision?"

"Something like that," Ash tried not to talk about it too much, least he accidentally hint about Mewtwo.

Just as they went closer to solving the mystery, Prism's condition once again took a turn for the worse. She glowed and made electronic sounds of complaint. Her data seemed to be torn apart in the air appearing as something seen through a kaleidoscope. "Prism, hold on!" Pixel watched in worry, as the data shifted. Then suddenly, Prism seemed to become solid again. "This mission was too much of a strain after all. You'll have to rest until you're healed."

xoxox xox xoxox

Jessie, James and Meowth came to a stop in front of the Saffron cityhall. Misty was no longer following them, so they could continue with their plans, though after getting rid of their disguises, the element of surprise would no longer be in their favor. None the less, they were feeling motivated to have a successful mission. "The executives entrusted us with this mission for a reason." Jessie dramatically declared.

"Because they didn't have anyone else to send?" James asked, earning a glare from Jessie.

"No!" She growled.

"Because they drew our names out of a hat?" Meowth guessed.

"No!" Jessie reprimanded again. "It's because we're the best!" She was so happy to have been entrusted with an important mission that she felt completely invincible.

There was indeed a good reason as to why Jessie and James' team was sent on this mission, but they were as of yet unaware of it. It was something that they would soon discover. They remembered the instructions they received from Ariana. "Madame Boss, a mysterious lady of the mafia, is believed to have acquired a prominent position at cityhall. Your mission is to infiltrate cityhall and interrogate her in regards to the possible remnants of Neo Rocket."

"Let's not forget, aunty works here," Jessie reminded, "I don't want to cause her trouble, so we need to be in and out quickly before she hears about this and comes over. If anything, we're doing her a favor by uncovering this Madame Boss that has snuck into her staff." Without another minute to waste, Jessie rushed inside cityhall, followed by James and Meowth.

Despite being in their Team Rocket uniforms, no one tried to stop them as they made their way to the mayor's office. Though the executives' orders had been vague, they had their own theories and thought the mysterious Madame Boss could be acting as the mayor's secretary, not realizing that Madame and the mayor were the same person.

Upon finally arriving at the office covered in shades of crimson, they found a shadowy figure hidden in the darkness of the room behind the desk, unrecognizable without light. They could only tell the person was a woman because of her voice, "I've been expecting you."

"You let us come this far, you didn't even try to stop us." Jessie stated, reaching the office had been too easy. 'Who knows what kind of trouble she's setting up for aunty right now,' she thought.

"You would have come this far either way. There is no need to give you a test which I know you will pass. Let us move on to the real trial," the mysterious woman spoke in a commanding yet calm voice. She released two pokemon from pokeballs and before the red beams had even finished completely taking shape, she commanded, "smog," and the room was filled with dark gasses so thick that it was hard to breathe and impossible to see, even in the light that could be generated by an attack and the light emitted by certain pokemon. "Let the battle begin."

"Did you see what pokemon she called out?" James whispered to Jessie and Meowth.

"I can't even see my own whiskers." Meowth whispered back.

"Never mind, whatever she called out, we'll beat them." Jessie called out one of her own pokemon "go Swoobat!"

"Alright, we're going all the way to the top," once again James began to dream about advancing in Team Rocket. "Let's win this, Cacturne!"

To be Continued

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