Don't Give Me Diamonds

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 021: Give me Mischief

"Giovanni, get down from there!" Delia scolded, though Giovanni did not listen, instead going over the brick fence and coming into view on the other side behind the row of metal bars of the gates. Delia sighed hopelessly and effortlessly parted the gates, letting herself in.

"That was open? But you said it was closed!" Giovanni stared in disbelief, feeling ridiculous for climbing over the fence.

"The gates were closed; I didn't say they were locked. Generally, people around here know that when something is closed it should not be opened without permission. Now let's go ask the neighbors when Professor Oak will be back." Though Delia tried to stop him, Giovanni was already going up the stairs and to the front door. "Giovanni Roketto, get back here!" She rushed after him, despite knowing he wouldn't listen and followed him inside the house.

"What kind of a fool doesn't lock the door when leaving the house?" Giovanni couldn't believe Professor Oak hadn't already been robbed of all his pokemon, research and even his furniture if this was how he did things, though it was understandable that no one would want to steal his couch. If Giovanni had not declared Pallet Town as Rocket territory, the smaller gangs might have fled there, ending the peace of the town, but they dared not venture into the land of Team Rocket.

"You'll regret this," Delia warned with a tone that hinted she held a vital piece of information that Giovanni did not know. But as expected, he didn't listen and ventured deeper into the house.

Delia had communicated with Professor Oak by video phone a few times after the Viridian Gym take over so she knew of a certain pokemon that had fully recovered from the past epidemic. Regardless of that, she had to pause and take note of a specific detail that inevitably caught her eyes, "there's a new couch." Albeit the old rock hard one was still there as well, matching the new one perfectly, at least in color, even if their texture was quite different as Delia found out when she sat down, "it's so soft!"

Meowth agreed and curled up on the edge of the backrest of the comfy couch, the little pokemon liked napping in the highest part of any piece of furniture. Giovanni sat down next to Delia, she hadn't sounded like she was bluffing when she said he would regret breaking into Professor Oak's house, though he didn't need to actually break anything to get in. Either way, nothing had gone wrong so far, "where's the ultimate doom that was supposed to jump out at me?"

"It's here alright, I'm sure; you just haven't crossed the line yet. Professor Oak won't mind too much if we wait for him in the living room, even if I still think it's rude to come in uninvited. He's going to think you're giving me bad habits," she paused, going over her own words in her mind, "you are giving me bad habits. Honestly Giovanni, you're a terrible example to follow."

"But you follow me anyway," he kissed her, taking her by surprise.

"Not now Charmander, what if Professor Oak comes in?" Delia consciously looked towards the window, but found the path in front of the house to be deserted.

"Shall we go to the guest room from before? I'm sure it has a lock," Giovanni suggested, he knew Delia would never agree, though he would oppose no arguments against it in the unlikely event that she did.

"Very funny," Delia pouted, then paused, observing his expression with a hint of surprise in her face, "you weren't kidding?"

"I owe you some attention," he admitted, "didn't you say you missed me?"

"I understand you've been busy restructuring Team Rocket and keeping it stable and I've been wanting to have a real date with you for a while, but that doesn't mean you have to be such a Charmander," Delia laughed, at least he listened when she expressed that she missed him and remembered it.

"Scolding me isn't effective if you look so happy," Giovanni pointed out.

"I'm happy because we get to spend the day together and I can show you around the research lab, this place will look very beautiful with healthy pokemon all around," Delia tried to explain, while in the back of her mind something told her this was no time to relax, but unconsciously she pushed it away.

The scene was interrupted by a low, rough growl. The Charizard was clearly old, his scaly red-orange skin was lightly wrinkled and his voice was lower than that of an average Charizard, but his claws and teeth still looked sharp.

"So this is what you were trying to warn me about, I don't see the danger, this Charizard is ancient, I bet it can't even breathe fire anymore," Giovanni was relaxed, indifferent to the Charizard's presence until Delia pushed him down all of a sudden. "Why did you-" he didn't finish the question before it became obvious why she did this, the couch was on fire and it would have been his head otherwise.

"Cloyster, water gun!" Delia sent out her pokemon, who assumed this was a battle against Charizard and attacked. "No! Not on Charizard, on the couch!"

Charizard, despite recognizing Delia as a past student of his trainer, Samuel Oak, was angered by her companion's disrespect and her sudden attack. He began to use flame thrower, trying to hit Cloyster. Meowth, who had jumped off the couch immediately after it caught on fire, was upset that his parents were apparently being attacked and jumped on Charizard from behind, sinking his tiny claws into the larger pokemon's left wing.

Charizard roared loudly and tried to get the little Meowth off his wing, ignoring Delia's attempts to apologize and calm him. At the same time she tried to put out the fire that had invaded Professor Oak's living room.

Giovanni joined the battle too, sending out one of his pokemon to fight, "Golem, earthquake!" The house shook harshly, pictures on the walls fell, lamps and vases were knocked over and the fire remained unaffected, though Charizard lost his balance and fell forward.

"You're not helping!" Delia yelled, now the living room was an even bigger mess.

"We can't fix this mess until we knock out that Charizard!" Giovanni argued.

The little Meowth, dizzy from being shaken around, took the opportunity to run to his daddy. The tiny feline pokemon attached himself to Giovanni's right leg hugging it with his paws and wrapping his tail around the man's ankle. Meowth stayed perfectly still that way, with his eyes closed, firmly holding on for dear life, that big fire pokemon was scary.

"You made it so we have no choice!" Delia retorted, "go Kingler, let's finish this quick, attack together, Kingler water pulse, Cloyster water gun!" The simultaneous attacks were enough to knock out the old Charizard and from there, putting out the flames was easy since they weren't constantly relit.

"That takes care of that," Giovanni seemed fairly satisfied with the outcome despite the mess.

"Look at this place!" Delia was furious, "how am I going to face Professor Oak ever again? The new couch is charred! The only thing that survived unharmed is that old couch that's as hard as an Onix!"

"If you had told me about the Charizard from the start-" Giovanni began to defend himself, but was interrupted.

"You're so stubborn; you shouldn't have insulted Professor Oak's Charizard!" Delia took a deep breath, "alright, calm down, we can solve this. Team Rocket has done cover ups for more serious things, right?"

Giovanni decided that it was best not to reply to that.

"Okay, a plan, we need a plan, we need time. Right, time, I'll go out in case Professor Oak comes back and distract him, meanwhile, you can fix this," Delia insisted, her voice urgent and her expression stressed.

"Is this really necessary?" Giovanni didn't think so; it was Oak's own fault for leaving the door unlocked.

"I'm sure Professor Oak didn't write everything he knows about Mew in his files and there's really no way for us to determine exactly how much he knows. Taking that into consideration, it will serve you well to stay on his good side so that he feels encouraged to tell you everything. You can't force it out of him because there's no way to know if he's telling the truth anyway. The only thing you'll have to confirm that he's being honest is trust and this disaster zone does not inspire trust," Delia reasoned, stopping to catch her breath at the end of her long and hasty explanation.

"Neither does Team Rocket," Giovanni pointed out.

"Professor Oak helped Team Rocket in the past, who is to say he won't do it again? Unless you trash his living room for no reason, that would certainly be a good motivation not to help," Delia countered.

"It was his own pokemon that-"

"Stop being stubborn, please, just fix it!" Delia pleaded. "This isn't what I had in mind for today."

Giovanni looked confident despite everything that had happened. "Do you think I can't do it? Give me twenty minutes."

"I'm counting on you," focused, hopeful, but a little disbelieving, Delia rushed out of the house, down the stairs and out the front gates.

xoxox xox xoxox

Outside, Delia found Professor Oak just in time, walking up the street towards his residence. She smiled casually and greeted him, "good morning!" He must have seen her emerge from beyond the gates to his house, though from this angle he couldn't have seen that she had been inside the house. "I came to visit, since it's been such long time, I knocked on the door but no one answered."

"It's good to see you again in person! I went to make a little house call, there are no pokemon doctors in this town so sometimes I have to step in," Professor Oak's expression had been tired, but he was once again his usual cheerful self after seeing Delia. "We can go back to the lab now and catch up."

Delia stalled, trying to sound natural, "where was your house call, is everything alright?"

"Oh yes, everything is fine, Mrs. Alderaan's Bellsprout had the hiccups and she was worried, you know how she can get, always worrying about every little thing. Then she goes on and on about the latest thing Bellsprout did that she thought was cute. It took me a while to reassure her that Bellsprout was fine and convince her I was busy and couldn't stay to listen to her stories all day." Professor Oak had stopped in the middle of the road, he had attempted to resume his walk to his house, but when Delia didn't move, he paused as well.

"Poor Mrs. Alderaan, maybe we should go back and reassure her some more," Delia suggested with well acted concern and a look of innocence in her eyes.

Professor Oak laughed, assuming she was kidding; Delia should know very well how Mrs. Alderaan was with her long stories and abundant worries.

"Also, it's been such a long time since I've seen her," Delia continued, indicating that she was not joking, "let's go say hi, then we can catch up and talk about pokemon," she started down the street towards Mrs. Alderaan's house, hoping that Professor Oak would follow.

"Wait, Delia, you're serious about visiting her? She's a nice lady and all, but... well, you know how she gets," the entire town knew to avoid getting her started on one of her stories.

"Come on, it's been ages, I don't want her to think I've forgotten about her," Delia smiled sweetly.

"Well, good luck, I'll be at the lab as usual, come by whenever you can," Professor Oak once again continued his walk up the street, thinking to himself that Delia would most likely regret her visit to Mrs. Alderaan, until once more she stopped him.

"Wait! You have to come with me because... Because Mrs. Alderaan might have forgotten about me and I don't want her to think I'm just some crazy stranger pretending to be her friend," Delia insisted.

Professor Oak had been her teacher and occasionally her father figure for a long time and wouldn't fall for her act so easily. "You're hiding something, aren't you?"

"Who, me?" Delia shook her head vigorously, "of course not!" She knew she was messing things up, but even with their best act neither she nor her friends from their days as Professor Oak's students could get away with any kind of mischief undiscovered for too long. Professor Oak wasn't harsh when he caught his students getting into mischief, as he viewed it as only innocent curiosity, but the fact that he would always eventually figure out there was something going on ended up making them doubt their acting abilities, thus affecting them to be discovered even sooner.

"Hmm..." Oak scratched his chin, his expression focused, "I really have no idea what it could possibly be." It couldn't be childish mischief; Delia hasn't gotten into anything like that in years. It couldn't be a surprise celebration; there was no occasion, no birthday, anniversary or holiday. "Alright, I give up, but are you sure about visiting Mrs. Alderaan?"

"Well..." as Delia continued to stall, a motorcycle zoomed by next to them, disappearing at the end of the road after turning behind the hill and presumably going around it further down the road.

"I wonder who that was," Professor Oak observed, "earlier I saw a limousine from Mrs. Alderaan's living room window. It's so unusual for Pallet Town to have visitors and so many on the same day."

"I saw the limousine too, why do you think it was here?" Delia tried to continue the conversation as long as possible.

"I really don't know," the attempt was unsuccessful.

Taking a deep breath, Delia knew she had no choice but to bring up a topic she hoped she didn't need to use. Professor Oak might end up talking for far longer than the time needed to cover up the incident in his living room. "Remember that little Meowth that hatched out of the egg I was taking care of?"

"Ah yes, you mentioned Giovanni was taking care of him," Oak recalled, his curiosity became evident.

"I was worried he wouldn't have the patience to deal with a baby pokemon, but he took such good care of Meowth. He can eat regular pokemon food now, though Giovanni would always feed him, until recently at least. I guess Meowth thought he was being nice when he tried to share his food with Giovanni and shoved a pokemon treat in his mouth. Giovanni was completely taken by surprise and swallowed it!" Delia knew Giovanni wouldn't be happy about his secret being revealed, but she had to keep Professor Oak distracted.

Oak laughed whole heartedly, "that reminds me of when my son used to feed his vegetables to the pokemon and eat their food instead; then he would say it was sharing so it was good. I once tasted pokemon food too; it was a specially prepared kind of food with a high content of vitamins. I was taking care of a Mankey who really needed the vitamins, but the stubborn Mankey wouldn't eat until I tried the food first!"

Delia joined Professor Oak in laughter at the story, encouraging him to continue sharing more tales. The conversation continued until Giovanni arrived, making his way down the street with Meowth still attached to his leg. "Did you have a nice walk?" Delia greeted him.

"Yes, very nice," Giovanni played along, though he was annoyed because he couldn't get Meowth off.

"It's been a while," Professor Oak commented sounding a little uncertain, his expression becoming neutral. He knew who Giovanni was and often worried for Delia, but she was an adult free to make her own choices, plus she appeared to be alright. "That Meowth is certainly attached to you," his previous smile returned to Oak's face with the amusing scene.

"Too attached sometimes," Giovanni tried once again to remove Meowth, but again it did not work and he didn't want to pull the little pokemon away too hard. He didn't want to risk making Meowth sink his tiny claws beyond the fabric and into his skin.

"Shall we go to my place?" Professor Oak finally asked, "I'm a little behind in feeding the pokemon this morning; I hope you don't mind that I take some time to do that."

Delia glanced at Giovanni who discreetly nodded, then smiled in relief, trusting whatever solution he might have come up with. "Yes, let's go."

To be Continued

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 022: Give me Knowledge

As Professor Oak reached for the door knob of his house's main entrance, Delia held her breath until he led his guests inside, to the perfectly clean and orderly living room. Delia felt Giovanni glance at her as if wanting credit for the cover up, but she refused to look back at him, remembering the mess was his fault to begin with, though that did not change the fact that the cover up was amazing.

"Guess what?" Professor Oak cheerfully asked, as one does when having full intentions of giving the news before anyone actually has the chance to guess. "I got a new couch!" He patted the piece of furniture, "but I didn't have the heart to throw out the old one, so I made sure they matched."

"It's very nice," Delia observed with true amazement.

"Didn't you need to do something with the pokemon," Giovanni suddenly asked, he was clearly improvising and Delia got the feeling he wanted to get Oak away from the living room for some reason.

"Oh yes, I need to feed them, I'm running late this morning," Oak recalled.

Delia wasn't sure what this was about, but she was quick to play along with Giovanni, "we'll help, let's go let them all out of their pokeballs outside."

xoxox xox xoxox

It was a beautiful day and though it was a little later than usual, the pokemon were happy to be fed and allowed to run and play. Delia and Giovanni had let their pokemon out as well and Meowth finally let go of Giovanni's leg in favor of food and a game of tag.

Though the task of helping with the pokemon's meal felt annoying to Giovanni, he knew better than to mess up the opportunity to make Professor Oak relax in his presence. He had many questions he wanted to ask, but knew not to ask directly right away, at least not until the general atmosphere was more relaxed.

After the chores were done, the three humans sat outside talking about pokemon and exchanging stories, carefully selected stories in the case of Delia and Giovanni.

"You must study a lot of rare pokemon here," Giovanni finally brought up the topic that really interested him when he thought the atmosphere was right.

"Sometimes," Oak admitted, having all but forgotten about Giovanni's connection to the mafia, right now he was a gym leader, a pokemon trainer, Delia's boyfriend and a curious mind to share information with. "I think there are things to learn about every pokemon even if they're not considered rare. Their behavior is fascinating."

Sensing Professor Oak was getting off topic, Giovanni tried to discretely guide the conversation down the path he wanted, while at the same time keeping the mood light. "You mean like Meowth being such a baby at times?" Perhaps he could get Oak to comment on a specific pokemon that caught his attention, instead of referring to general studies.

Professor Oak laughed, "I commend your patience with him, letting him hang on to you for so long until he felt ready to let go."

"I don't think I've ever met a pokemon as clingy as that one," Giovanni admitted.

Sensing Giovanni's strategy to get Oak to casually mention the legendary by linking it to the conversation as another peculiar pokemon, Delia contributed, "Professor Oak gets the energetic playful ones more often than the clingy ones. Remember Nidorino?"

"Ah yes, I once took care of a Nidorino for a traveling trainer. That Nidorino would hardly sleep and hardly let me sleep, always wanting to stay out of his pokeball and run around playing. My students would help me try to tire him out playing and battling, but that Nidorino had a nearly infinite supply of energy. It was a strong one, very strong, but still one of the most playful pokemon I've ever seen." The story reminded Oak of other strong and playful pokemon, which was what Delia wanted to do. Caught up in the moment, the researcher voiced, "did you know it is said that there are some legendaries with a very playful nature as well, despite their vast power?"

"Like Mew?" Giovanni innocently inquired, with Delia having made Oak lower his guard and bring up the topic himself, Giovanni knew it would be alright to be a little more direct now, but he would still take care not to sound too eager. "Even if Mew is extinct I've always been interested in learning about it." He made it clear he did not believe Mew could be found, thus hiding his true dream of someday acquiring it by any means necessary, though the means were unclear at the time, if it was even possible at all.

Professor Oak seemed to recall a fond memory, but he focused on the current topic of Mew, the legendary he studied later, after his interest for those rare pokemon was sparked by Celebi many years ago. "It's true that Mew is officially thought to be extinct, but I had always hoped to meet one. I never did, but I believed Mew is out there. Since then I've instead dedicated myself to the general study of pokemon, but all that research about the legendaries wasn't in vain, all pokemon are connected somehow, by studying one, it is possible to learn about the others."

This was it, the moment of truth, "that sounds very interesting, do you think I could read your research on Mew some time?" Giovanni made sure to sound curious, but not too insistent, carrying out his act perfectly.

"Of course," even in retrospect, Professor Oak would see it as harmless; if Mew was out there he doubted such a powerful pokemon could be caught. Either way, he was glad someone was interested in his older research, which held a special value for him, even if his theories about the little known legendaries were not as widely recognized as his more famous studies about pokemon that trainers often caught.

The topic made Professor Oak go on a lecture, adding in a few seemingly random stories of his youth about various events that had inspired him. Though some of the things he said were not directly related to Mew, Giovanni paid attention, making sure to remember details he thought might be important and complementary to the research he was yet to read.

After the long conversation, which casually shifted back to a non-legendary topic near the end, but was still on the subject of pokemon, Giovanni obtained a full copy of Professor Oak's research concerning Mew. "I had tried to submit it for official review," Oak recounted as he gave Giovanni a small but spacious data disk, "but they weren't interested since a lot of this is based on theories rather than concrete evidence, though I do link the theories to reality, it just seems that the link was too long or fragile for them."

Professor Oak also gave Giovanni a folder full of notes and sketches, it was draft-like not as organized as a final product would be, but Giovanni accepted it, treating it as valuable information just as precious as the polished version tweaked to meet the standards of official scientific research. Surely the two data sources would compliment each other becoming much more informative than either of them could be by itself.

Soon after that, the visit ended, and Delia and Giovanni were on their way, with Giovanni finishing his act, much like his previous visit to Oak's research lab, which assured Oak that despite it all, maybe Team Rocket wasn't so bad after all, though he still didn't fully approve of them.

xoxox xox xoxox

After Delia and Giovanni were gone, Professor Oak sat down on his new soft couch, sinking into it and observing that, though it was certainly softer than the old one, he didn't remember it being this soft. Charizard made his appearance, looking very sleepy with smoky yawns. "have you been napping this whole time?" Albeit old, Charizard was usually an early riser and did not often take naps during the day. "I put your food out in the same place as always, I had guests this morning; I had assumed you already ate. Go on now; maybe you'll wake up completely after you eat."

Charizard growled uncertain, as if wanting to communicate something. The pokemon looked around the living room, nothing was out of place and it perplexed him. Furthermore, although his trainer did mention the presence of others this morning, he was perfectly calm about it. With one last smoke releasing yawn, Charizard went out to eat in the fresh air as he usually did on sunny days; maybe that would help him fully awaken and push the vivid dream out of his head.

"Wait a second," Oak got up from the strangely squishy couch and examined his Charizard's left wing, it was scratched. He looked into the pokemon's blue eyes, Charizard didn't seem too aware of the scratches, as if the leftover sleep was too heavy. It was unnatural, almost as if he was given a sleeping pill or something, yet it didn't make any sense, who would do that?

It was true that Pallet Town had received more visitors than usual today, but Professor Oak had no reason to suspect anyone was in his house, nothing was missing. Maybe Charizard had scratched his wing by accident somehow and perhaps the remnant sleep in his eyes was a sign of old age. "Go on, your food is waiting," Oak sent the confused pokemon on his way again.

The researcher sat on the soft couch again, sinking into it once more. He had an odd feeling, but he couldn't quite place it. Delia had been acting strange at first, but he couldn't figure out why. Giovanni had apparently left to go for a walk by himself, which was odd, but it could just be city boy curiosity or an attempt to make Meowth get tired of clinging to him while he walked. Maybe Delia had told him about Mrs. Alderaan and the way she was, hinting that she might want to visit and Giovanni attempted to escape by going for a walk, in which case Oak couldn't blame him, but it was still unusual.

The mysterious white limousine was the most out of place element of the day, but Professor Oak could think of no connection between it and the inexplicable happenings. He went over the facts again, Delia was hiding something, Giovanni went for a walk alone with his pokemon, Charizard's wing was scratched and he was unusually sleepy. Then there was the person on the motorcycle who zoomed by so fast. Perhaps that unidentified visitor would be the prime suspect if anything was missing, but nothing was.

Professor Oak shook his head, finally giving up on over-thinking things; he was only going in circles. He was about to get up from the squishy couch to continue his day normally, when the aforementioned couch became a group of pink blobs. He watched in amazement as several items in the living room, including a vase and a lamp, became pink blobs as well.

"Ditto?" Professor Oak finally found his voice after staring in surprise for a full minute. He got up from the floor and picked up one of the pink blobs, examining it curiously, "what in the world? Is this a joke?" Were they a bunch of unusually mischievous Ditto? If so, he would love to study them and try to figure out the cause for their strange behavior.

Did someone make the Ditto pretend to be his furniture? Was Delia in on this, was it Giovanni's doing? Professor Oak certainly didn't picture Giovanni as a prankster; his expression seemed to be perpetually serious even when he appeared to be relaxed.

Again Professor Oak told himself it was best not to over-analyze the origin of the Ditto or the fate of his missing soft couch and various items, though at least the old Onix-hard couch was still there. He decided to be thankful that he had some Ditto to research, he had been hoping to find some anyway.

xoxox xox xoxox

"Back to HQ?" Delia inquired as the black car advanced through the rural roads on its way out of Pallet Town. The scene brought memories of their visit to Professor Oak long ago and the subsequent race through Viridian City after receiving an emergency call. She realized she had asked that very same question that time, albeit this time the sound of the radio was all that was heard and there was no cell phone ringing urgently.

"Hmm," another difference between that time in the past and today was that this time Delia was driving. After giving Professor Oak their thanks and goodbyes, then heading back to the car, she had offered to drive since she knew Giovanni wanted to start going through the documents and sketches in the folder from Professor Oak right away. Giovanni had no inconveniences in handing her the silver keys with the red R ruby encrusted keychain. He now sat in the passenger seat occasionally petting Meowth who was on his lap, engrossed in reading Professor Oak's research notes and examining the sketches in the folder.

Delia sighed, feeling disappointed to be ignored, even if she had wished so strongly for Giovanni to be interested in the research. "Alright; let's go home."

To be Continued

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 023: Give me Compassion

Giovanni seemed to finally wake up from his focused trance when he finished reading and re-reading Professor Oak's notes about Mew, with his interest growing immensely. By reading between the lines he could theorize that Professor Oak was hinting at having seen a legendary, though he never once actually wrote about seeing Mew, Giovanni could interpret it as nothing else.

He found that the car was approaching the Viridian Gym; good, he could have the scientists from the local lab look at the data and determine how good it truly was from a scientific stand point, beyond how good he believed it was and wanted it to be. If it all went well, then he could start a major investigation project and perhaps involve New Island after all.

The notes mentioned theories about Mew's genetic structure and brought up similarities found in the genetic structure of other pokemon, using that information to reconstruct Mew as a missing link. Unless some actual DNA was ever found, it was all a matter of theories; however, they were very interesting theories, too solid and detailed to be myths.

On a more optimistic perspective, perhaps some Mew DNA did exist somewhere, or an actual Mew. It may be a bit of a stretch, but Giovanni was one to dream big and though he managed to keep his feet on the ground for the most part, he certainly did have vast ambitions.

The car came to a stop in the Viridian Gym's driveway and Giovanni and Delia made their way inside the gym and to the elevator that led to the underground laboratory. The local lab was no where near as big as the one on New Island, but it was convenient to have it so close. "Your keys," Delia returned the silvery keys on the ruby R keychain, her tone sharp and her gaze on the elevator wall.

She was upset and it didn't take a genius to figure out why. She must be feeling ignored with him paying so much attention to the research once he got his hands on it and returning to the gym instead of going on the date Delia wanted. She had helped him a lot today in obtaining Oak's research.

Despite Giovanni's ability to talk Oak into falling into a casual conversation and relaxing, he knew that the professor would have been on his guard if Delia wasn't there and she had sped up the process greatly. If she had not been there, Professor Oak would have asked about her and find it odd she didn't visit, which would affect his willingness to easily share information.

Having Delia visit Oak alone might make him wonder about just on whose hands the research would end up. Other than rumors, Oak had no recent information about Giovanni, despite knowing enough to understand he was involved in a lot of illegal activities, but he new little in the personal level. If Giovanni had not been there to put up a nice act and reassure the researcher that Team Rocket really wasn't so bad, he wouldn't have said all the things he spoke of.

Though she still didn't seem to be fully used to Team Rocket, despite having been with him for so long, Giovanni knew Delia was trying and she had been helpful and loyal, showing her true potential more every day. She just had to continue opening up to the possibilities and then one day, she would be ready to closely help him manage the ever growing organization.

She leaned on his shoulder, almost unconsciously, as if trying to tell herself that this was enough. He kissed her unexpectedly, but she pulled back, though she had a smile on her face at the sudden action, "later Charmander, let's not get caught again."

The elevator doors opened and they were in the lab, while Giovanni handed the data to the scientists and discussed it, Delia found herself remembering a similar scene in that very elevator back when the new underground level was still being prepared. Giovanni had kissed her then too, except she didn't pull back and they did not part on time before the doors opened, being seen like that by several Team Rocket members.

Delia blushed bright red and later privately scolded Giovanni for being such a Charmander, though he assured her the team's assumptions most likely went well beyond the images they witnessed. This Delia knew to be true, having been regarded as Giovanni's lover long before she was.

The memories made Delia wonder if someday, with the proper amount of convincing and temptation, she would even come to accept the true Team Rocket and forget her ideal image of it as a righteous group of vigilantes. She pushed the thoughts away, albeit her line had been blurred and moved over time, she still had to draw the line somewhere, and while she could tolerate some level of troublemaking, there were some things she could not accept.

Delia's thoughts led her back to her original mission to stop Aayla and Binks from making a terrible mistake. She silently reproached Giovanni with her eyes for being such a master of distractions and mentally kicked herself for allowing herself to be distracted. That was it, she would force herself to focus, once Giovanni was done talking to his local scientists, as she was certain that he was too concentrated in the conversation to even notice any interruptions, she would claim the attention he owed her and demand to go to New Island. She would personally make sure everything was alright and he would be there to back her up, like it or not.

Delia watched impatiently as the scientist inserted the disk into a computer, both he and Giovanni reading, with the scientist occasionally muttering "hmm, yes, that makes sense," with a tone of fascination.

Determined to at least do something, Delia decided to call New Island again, finding a quiet corner in the lab to do so. Unfortunately, the line was dead, though it should come as no surprise; Aayla had to destroy the phone eventually after subjecting it to such abuse.

Delia frustratingly clicked her little black cell phone shut, glaring at the red R on top of it. Team Rocket had its own communications network now, but that was no good if there was nothing to receive the signal. She would have to find another number to call, thus she set out to find the information she needed.

xoxox xox xoxox

After speaking to the secretary, Delia wasted no time before she called New Island. "Hello?" Binks sounded exhausted and alarmed when he answered the phone.

"It's Delia, how is Aayla?" Delia cut to the chase, her tone warning Binks he better not lie.

"Fine, fine," Binks nervously replied, "She's resting, recovering, sleeping, deeply, soundly, yes," he rambled, "I accidentally made her go to sleep... I... um... I..."

"Put her in a coma!?" Delia loudly exclaimed, making several heads turn in her direction as she made her way down the halls.

"Unconscious doesn't always mean coma, but she's well, she's been sleeping for a while and... I'm sorry!" Binks broke out in hysterics. "She told me to, I wanted to give her what she wanted; I wanted to be useful to her!"

"You idiot!" Delia scolded; she clenched her fists, not noticing the curious and frightened looks around her. They assumed she was ordering for someone to be beaten to a coma and yelling at the unfortunate person that got on her bad side. "I'm coming, prepare yourself." When Delia glanced at her surroundings, her fiery glare furious, everyone who had paused to listen to the conversation quickly went away, but she didn't pay too much attention to them as she hurried down to the lab.

xoxox xox xoxox

Delia wasn't sure about what she missed being spoken between Giovanni and the leader of the local science team, but upon her return, she heard them mention research and New Island. She didn't hear the part about taking DNA apart and putting it back together to try to reconstruct Professor Oak's theories in living pokemon.

Giovanni approached her after telling the scientist to carry on with the plan, though she didn't really catch what the plan was. Before he could speak, she demanded, "I want to go to New Island."

Giovanni found the request unexpected at first, thinking Delia was upset because she wanted to go on a date and never got it, then he remembered her original request concerning Binks and Aayla, something that he had tried to make her forget. "Alright, let's go," he needed to take care of business there anyway to start getting things ready for the new project.

A small clue could lead to a big discovery, so even if that tiny clue was a puzzle in itself, it was worth it. New Island would study the structure of all known pokemon and work to establish Mew's structure based on their connection. They would also serve to determine Mew's habitat as specifically as possible and agents would be sent to investigate and gather samples for further study.

"Delia, why are you upset? Is it because we didn't have a date? We can go now," Giovanni knew very well she would refuse, but pretended to be unaware of the cause of her anger.

"Aayla is unconscious, she's in a coma," the elevator doors opened on the first floor, they exited and went outside the gym.

"What happened?" Giovanni inquired calmly.

"Binks tried to experiment on her, she told him to and the fool did it," Delia practically growled in anger, perhaps Giovanni's calmness bothered her more than anything. "Aayla's life may be in danger and it's... it's..." Delia's words of uncertain blame were interrupted by the loud noise and strong wind of a landing helicopter, its shiny black surface reflecting the sun.

Both Delia and Giovanni boarded the helicopter, with Meowth still perched on his shoulder. "To New Island," Giovanni instructed and the pilot took off again.

Meowth stood with his hind legs on Giovanni's shoulder and his front paws on the glass window next to him, curiously looking out, his tail, wagging in front of Giovanni's nose. Giovanni tried to remove Meowth from his shoulder to get the little pokemon's tail out of the way, but Meowth complained, wanting to be able to reach the window and look out. Meowth finally settled down when Giovanni held him up to the window at a more comfortable angle.

Delia let out a deep breath and leaned back on her seat, closing her eyes for a moment. Why did Meowth have to be so cute when she was so angry at Giovanni? He was always surprisingly patient with the little pokemon. She hated how she couldn't stay angry at him anymore, since when had her determination become so weak? Since when did she start to center her world around him and look away from all else?

"You don't like flying?" Giovanni finally broke the silence that had formed.

"Flying is fine, you know that's not why I'm upset," Delia replied as sharply as she could manage. "I'm worried about Aayla. Binks sounded very stressed," she emphasized, as if wanting to contrast how she was also stressed and Giovanni didn't appear to be.

"Binks is overly dramatic, he gets frightened easily, I'm sure everything is perfectly fine," Giovanni's voice was calm, but with a tiny hint of concern for effect.

Delia wasn't sure if Giovanni was trying to comfort her, or disregarding the situation, or perhaps both, but she decided to have hope. None the less, a part of her was starting to think that hope was a traitor, because she had gone far in the opposite direction of where she should go by continuing to hope, yet that part was silenced by her desire to continue holding on to that hope regardless of what it would bring. The happy ending had to come, it simply had to, and if she gave up, she wouldn't see it.

"I'll reserve judgment until we get there," Delia didn't say anything else during the rest of the flight to New Island and neither did Giovanni.

xoxox xox xoxox

Time passed very slowly for Delia, normally for Giovanni and too fast for Meowth, who was enjoying the view out the window. New Island finally appeared in the horizon at noon, the helicopter landed smoothly and the passengers got out. They were greeted by a scientist with a white coat, thick glasses and graying hair, who spoke excitedly about having received the communication from his colleague at Viridian City.

Delia decided to ignore them; they seemed to be able to ignore her rather easily. Giovanni and the scientist turned right inside the lab and Delia decided to disappear in the opposite direction. She approached a random researcher and inquired about Binks and Aayla, being directed to the upper floor.

xoxox xox xoxox

When the door suddenly opened, Binks jumped startled, his fear increasing when he saw who was at the door and how angry she looked. However, the panic seemed to fade away in seconds, being replaced by a solemn look. "I'm sorry," he appeared to be willing to accept any punishment that came his way, even his Rattata stood sadly beside him as if drained of hope.

Aayla was unconscious in a bed in that white room, the walls, the ceiling, the floor, the sheets; it was all an endless brilliant white, unlike the dark grays and metallic silver shades that dominated the other floors. Delia approached, gently placing her hand on Aayla's cold forehead. She retreated immediately and stared at the machine next to the bed, which beeped at a steady rhythm, measuring Aayla's heartbeats. "She's so cold," but she was alive.

"I'm a foolish man," Binks lamented; "I wanted to be strong, to be admired, to make a discovery. Most of all I wanted to give Aayla what she wanted. The ultimate power was her dream originally, she confessed it to me. She put those ideas into Venom's head back when they were a couple; she told me all about it. Then one day he abandoned her." Binks retrieved a small pink book from the pocket of his white lab coat. "This was Amethyst's diary; Aayla found it that time when Team Rocket took the Viridian Gym. Venom abandoned her for Amethyst and her riches, then left her to be captured by the police to soothe Amethyst's jealousy. Confirming this from her rival's point of view made Aayla thirstier for power and vengeance. I wanted to make her dream come true; I wanted to make her happy. I didn't care if she always thought I was a useless weakling, I just wanted to please her, to grant her wish... I love her."

"Rattata..." the small pokemon stood at Binks' feet, looking up at her trainer, the salty water of his tears falling on her sad little face.

"Sometimes dreams can turn into nightmares," Delia had arrived furious at Giovanni and Binks, but in the end each person was the master of their own destiny and perhaps Aayla would have pursued her dream even without Giovanni's resources and Binks' help.

Delia found that she couldn't be angry at Binks for something he did out of love, but who was to blame then? She couldn't blame Giovanni for accepting he couldn't control their lives and letting them be. Maybe it would have been worse if they attempted this in a place lacking his vast resources, a place where there were no contingency measures for the failure of the process. Perhaps it was because Giovanni lent them his resources that Aayla was still alive.

Whose fault was it then? Aayla's for having such a power hungry goal, for wanting the power of pokemon to herself? Delia couldn't possibly blame a woman who was fighting for her life unconscious in a bed. She hoped that at least her dreams were pleasant.

"This isn't anyone's fault," Delia cried, she didn't want to toss the blame, because she knew that if she did, she would throw it at herself. She would blame herself for losing contact with Aayla and the others, for not acting fast enough, for not being insistent and doing something instead choosing to be patient. She didn't want a culprit; she wanted a miracle.

To be Continued

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 024: Give me Confidence

Delia dried her eyes and attempted to compose herself in the face of tragedy. She felt helpless and lost, but she still hoped and told herself that things would miraculously improve as they had before. "Binks, you won't make the same mistake again, right?"

The small white room was filled with a heavy atmosphere. "Of course not, if I could do it over I would take any beating Aayla gives me instead of following her dangerous orders."

"Take care of her and when she wakes up stay by her side to make sure she's alright, call me immediately. I'm afraid there's not much I can do here, I don't have the kind of scientific knowledge and experience this situation needs, but somehow, I'll try to be of help to everyone," Delia wasn't sure how she would accomplish that. In the past when she felt lost Giovanni had been there, but in truth he didn't know the way either, not the right way.

"I will," Binks promised solemnly.

Delia looked at Aayla's peaceful face; she showed no signs of pain what so ever. She placed her warm hand on the other woman's freezing one, "be strong Aayla, you're a truly amazing person and I know you can make it through this," after those words, Delia left the room.

As Delia walked down the hall, her expression was neutral; she didn't want to darken the atmosphere all over the lab to how it was in that room. Binks would take care of Aayla and she would wake up, everything would be alright.

"Delia, what are you doing over here?" She found Giovanni walking up the hall in the opposite direction.

"I went to see Aayla and Binks, she's sleeping and he's taking care of her," she made an inhuman effort to keep her voice even.

"New Island will be dedicated to researching Mew," Giovanni informed, "you wanted that," he reminded her, trying to lighten her mood.

Delia shook her head, "it's not because I wanted it that it's happening, but I am glad about the laboratory's new purpose." She didn't know of the specifics and deemed them harmless by lack of opposing evidence. Archeology, rocks, dirt, theories, maybe even fossils, but no live experimentation, she at least found comfort in those thoughts, not knowing how wrong she was. "Is your business here done?"

"I was going to talk to Binks," about the new project, to access how well he could participate in it, if he could handle it and to address a few curiosities about his last project, but Giovanni made sure not to hint at his true purpose, instead trying to look concerned.

Delia nodded, "go on, I'll wait here," if she saw the unconscious Aayla, the distraught Binks and the sad Rattata once more, Delia was sure she would cry again and this time she wouldn't be able to stop.

Delia wasn't sure how much time passed, she spent it all staring at her shoes with her back against the cool gray wall out in the hall. Giovanni returned and she walked beside him in silence, only half aware of his presence. They went to the helicopter again and took off, this time Giovanni's requested destination was Cinnabar Island.

xoxox xox xoxox

The buildings near by as the helicopter landed looked unfamiliar to Delia, she had not been in Cinnabar Island before, but she had a good guess about why they were there, or so she thought. There was a construction in progress as Leah had mentioned before, Giovanni probably wanted to take some time to personally visit it.

Delia frowned, telling herself not to complain, she had wanted to be included in his business. Aayla would be fine, Binks would take care of her; life had to continue for their sake. When Aayla returned, she would do so to a Team Rocket that was at least a little better than before, Delia would not let go of her dream, one day Team Rocket would be a force of good.

She still felt conflicted and lost, she wasn't sure what was a fact and what was an excuse anymore. It was not until they arrived at their room that Delia realized it was indeed a hotel room and not a meeting room filled with the people supervising the Cinnabar Island project. "What are we doing here?"

"Taking a break from everything," Giovanni crossed the room opening a door that led to a spacious interior garden, and let his pokemon out. "We can relax here and our pokemon can rest as well," he knew she cared deeply about pokemon and would be glad they were somehow included in their mini vacation.

Delia let out her pokemon, her expression softening only slightly at the sight of the beautiful scenery. The garden was covered in soft green grass with tall bushes lining the walls so that was all that was seen surrounding it. There was a little stone path that rounded two small ponds, one of them steamy and the other cool. Flowers were all around, varying in shades of red, yellow, orange, pink and white. Soft sunlight shone over the scene, highlighting the pokemon's expressions as they paused to watch her curiously.

"What is it? Go play," Delia took care of them for Giovanni often, so his pokemon were just as familiar with her as her own.

"They're worried about you; it seems you absorb all the stress of the world into you. I told you before you can't carry the weight of the world all by yourself. Try to relax for the pokemon's sake; they have a strong connection to us, especially to you," Giovanni tried to make Delia forget about the recent events and focused on the present, trying to make her as calm and optimistic as he was at the time.

"A strong connection..." Delia mused, "that's what I've been trying to tell you."

"You were right," Giovanni credited, if only to get his point across that she needed to relax.

Delia's expression softened a little bit more, "you only say I'm right when it's convenient."

"You were still right," Giovanni gave her Meowth, who had remained perched on his shoulder thus far.

"Meowth?" The little pokemon looked at Delia with curiosity and concern.

"Mama is alright," Delia smiled at Meowth. "I was just worried about aunty Aayla, she's a little sick but it's nothing serious, she's going to be okay, uncle Binks is with her." She petted the small pokemon and set him down, "go play with your siblings."

There was a knock on the door with the announcement of, "room service!"

"That is the pokemon food," it was well into the afternoon by then, "we can leave them here, they'll be fine," Giovanni hinted that they would be going elsewhere.

Delia nodded and tried to make herself relax. Maybe it wasn't that he didn't care about Aayla's situation, but rather he knew he had to be a reliable figure of calm and composure. She would try to be that way too, so that she could muster the strength to share with others and give them hope.

xoxox xox xoxox

"Don't lean out so far," Giovanni urged as he held Delia back.

"You have me, don't you?" Delia didn't listen and continued leaning into the volcano, fascinated by the glowing lava below. The lava was calm and smooth, its vapors being drained by vents connected to pipes on the bottom of the balcony around the volcano's opening.

It was true that Giovanni did have his arms wrapped securely around Delia's waist, but he still found it reckless that she would lean in over the railing like some, "curious country girl."

"Hey, I've been living in the city long enough!" Delia argued sounding amused rather than offended and finally stood upright. "This place is beautiful; I wonder why we're the only ones here?"

"Because I don't want interruptions," he had that look of confidence and victory, the look he always had when he gave her an expensive gift.

"Did you rent out this place for the entire day?" Delia still felt uneasy about the expensive gifts and the excesses, but they had been working hard and they hardly had time to relax, plus she really needed a get away. For once, she wouldn't tell him it was too much, instead allowing him to bask in the pride of being able to give her something fancy, she was especially thankful that this time the gift included spending time with her.

xoxox xox xoxox

It was nice, eating on a volcano, it was very warm of course, but neither seemed to mind, after having some island specialties; Delia had an experiment she wanted to try. The waiter, who Delia thought must be very tired of going up and down the volcano, brought the requested supplies with a smile, probably thinking the tip he knew he would be getting was well worth the exercise.

With a childish spark in her eyes, Delia inserted the marshmallows into the stick, tied it to a long string and lowered it close to the lava below, but just far enough so it wouldn't catch on fire.

She brought the roasted marshmallows up again, blowing at the one on the end before taking a bite into it, her expression joyful as she devoured the rest of the large fluffy treat. These marshmallows were about twice the size of regular ones, but she had no complaints about it. "Delicious!" She offered Giovanni the stick with the other marshmallow, "you have to try this!"

"Volcanic marshmallows..." he had not considered the idea, it was creative, plus she was right, it did taste great, more importantly, she was finally relaxing which meant that he could leave the strategizing behind for now and relax for real.

Delia remembered the marshmallows they had at the beach long ago; she hoped they could do that again as she tried to stay focus on a positive line of thinking. That time she had felt invincible, a vigilante who could take on the world. Giovanni had reassured her then. There was also another time when he reassured her that stood out in her mind.

Team Rocket had just started its speedy growth, she took care of the pokemon and he tried to keep everything running smoothly, their paths crossed in the halls in what Delia would refer to as Charmander mini-moments, but they weren't working side by side, even if they were together in the evening until the next morning when they again parted ways.

They had gone up to the roof of the Viridian Gym one night with the lights off and he had told her to look up. It felt like being in outer space. She could see nothing but darkness around her due to the abundant trees, but when she looked up she felt as if she really was surrounded by stars, with no other light to dim their shine.

She had told him then about how she wanted to be more involved with Team Rocket, more helpful. "You're already helpful," he replied, "you take good care of the pokemon, they're strong because of you, I trust you." That had been all the assurance she needed that time.

She felt appreciated, trusted and capable; she could be left on her own because she knew what she was doing. She did later hear about certain angles she didn't like in the progress of the various negotiations surrounding the new Team Rocket, but she tried to look at the situation from a different angle where Team Rocket was somehow justified.

The evening was arriving now, the glow of the lava below becoming the closest light, with the lights of the hotel at the volcano's base. They had been kissing when the sound of Delia's cell phone was heard, she looked at it immediately, with Giovanni giving her a slightly annoyed expression, "don't give me that look Charmander, this is important," the call was from Binks, Delia immediately answered and asked, "how is she?"

"Aayla is awake, she's awake!" Binks cheered, "she's going to be alright, she gave me a black eye!" No one had ever sounded so happy about getting a black eye before.

"That's wonderful!" Delia cheered, her radiant joy shining through without having to be forced, "I mean about Aayla waking up, not about your black eye; can I talk to her?"

"I'm afraid she can't really talk to anyone right now, but I have you on speaker, oh sorry, I forgot to tell you that!" Binks apologized, though he still sounded joyous, albeit exhausted.

"Never mind, it's okay, but why can't she talk? Did she lose her voice?" Delia inquired, her previous worry returning slightly, though the relief that Aayla was awake was still greater.

"Oh no, she just had a bit of a throat infection and had to have her tonsils removed. Don't worry, her condition is stable, her voice will return in a few days," Binks assured. "Aayla, do you want to try saying something to Delia?"

A raspy growl was heard and Delia's smile grew at the further confirmation of Aayla's consciousness, it might have been a growl, but it was Aayla's voice. "Don't try to talk now, it's okay, I know you're there. Just focus on recovering and enjoy having lots of ice-cream!" She paused, looking at Giovanni who listened to one side of the conversation with curiosity, she knew he must have already realized what this was about, "I'm putting you on speaker now, Giovanni is here."

"Boss?" Binks continued, "I sent you an email with the detailed medical report as requested and testing is being prepared, I'll send the data as soon as we have it."

"Good, continue as planned," upon hearing this, Delia realized Giovanni must have told Binks to send that data back at the lab.

She smiled, assuming he really was more concerned about Aayla's safety than she had thought, even if he was discrete in showing it. She felt bad for ever doubting him, a good leader would take care of his team while remaining collected and Giovanni was a great leader as far as Delia knew. She wasn't sure what the tests were about, but she assumed they were related to Aayla's health.

"Yes!" Binks showed signs of excitement in his voice, besides his joy and relief. "I'll work on that right away; I guess that's all the news I have for now, so um... goodbye."

"Bye!" Delia gave her cheerful goodbye as the distant sound of music began, catching their attention, though it was far. "A party?" Delia wondered as she clicked her cell phone shut, it was relatively loud, considering the distance, she didn't think it was a small private party.

"It's the flame festival, do you want to go?" Giovanni inquired, he looked more truly relaxed than he had in a while, he was calm and strong all the time, but now he was more peaceful, as if the constant guard he always had disappeared in light of everything progressing well and being able to take some time off.

"Yes!" Delia was finally feeling truly good; focusing on the present as she knew Giovanni wanted her to, with no worries in the back of her mind anymore. She had looked forward to spending time with him, she had obtained it and she would enjoy it.

To be Continued

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 025: Give me Happiness

The streets of Cinnabar Island were filled with both tourists and locals, enjoying the flame festival, a celebration that honored fire pokemon, thought to be the source of energy for the island's volcanoes.

"Giovanni," Delia spoke quietly, "I'm sorry for being so grumpy before." It was simply the way she was, feeling guilty whenever she wasn't miss sunshine, even if she had a good reason.

"It's alright, let's enjoy the festival," to Giovanni, in his current optimistic mood it looked like Delia was evolving after all, beginning to handle things a little better, to realize what she had to do for Team Rocket and for his goals, which maybe she was finally starting to make her own. She was slowly reaching towards the potential he saw in her. She was unique indeed, she could charm just about any pokemon into loyally following her, she was skilled in training them and very loyal, the perfect queen.

The main street was lined with stalls selling various things, food, souvenirs and all kinds of items. Music was heard from all around and performers entertained the crowd up on a stage at the end of the main street. Two Flareon let out a line of fire up, as they stood on their hind legs, their front paws joined, the fire curved above them in the shape of a heart. The crowd continued to grow in front of the stage as two men dressed as Magmar joined the pair of Flareon. Their faces covered by masks, identities unknown, they began their act, juggling wooden torch sticks.

The costumes were not full costumes as a sports mascot would wear. Instead they looked as if they came from an ancient tribe modeled after the pokemon. They wore red capes attached to their masks that had a pair of yellow tipped horns on top. The end of their capes was cut in zigzags lined with yellow. They wore red pants to match their capes, with the same yellow zigzag finish on the bottom. Their toned tanned chests were exposed, with a long pair of thin golden ribbons tied to their upper arms, flowing in the breeze as they juggled.

The pair of Flareon threw flames up, the trainers catching them on the torches. They tossed the lit torches to each other, increasing the speed of their team juggling act as the wooden sticks continued to burn out. With the torches nearly burnt out, all eight were tossed up simultaneously. The two Flareon shot fireballs at them, causing the material to burn out completely and the flames to fade away in mid air, like miniature fireworks, before they hit the stage. The crowd clapped and cheered enjoying the show.

A woman dressed as a Vulpix walked among the crowd, her costume making her stand out. She wore a red Vulpix mask with curly red hair on top and triangular ears. Her long light brown hair flowed down her back from under the mask. Her costume consisted of a red strapless one-piece swimsuit, with six red tails, paw shaped gloves and matching boots.

"Now the lovely Vulpix will choose a volunteer to participate in our next act!" One of the men on stage announced.

The crowd was filled with a chorus of "Pick me!" "Over here!" "Vulpix!" "Choose me!" "I want to go on stage!" and similar calls.

The Vulpix woman seemed to know exactly who she was searching for, making her way through the crowd until she reached Delia, "Vulpix!" The woman in the costume spoke as a pokemon would, her true identity a mystery behind her mask.

"Me?" Delia was surprised to have been chosen, but it did sound fun to join the show, "okay," she smiled glancing back at Giovanni, who was enjoying the show as well.

With the volunteer chosen, the crowd opened a path for the Vulpix woman and Delia to get up on the stage. Delia was left to continue the act with the two Magmar while Vulpix disappeared behind the stage.

"Magmar!" One of the men, not the one who had spoken before, directed Delia to a box, large enough so she could stand inside it. "Magmar!" He tapped it asking Delia to do the same on each side to confirm it was solid. "Magmar," he directed her to go inside the box.

The set up reminded Delia of a classic magic trick involving a box being cut up by a Scyther, then the one inside, be it human or pokemon would emerge unharmed after the trick ended. She smiled and waved at the crowd until the Magmar man closed the box leaving her momentarily in darkness.

She heard the other Magmar man address the crowd, "the beautiful Volcano Princess shall now become one with the flames from which she came and reveal herself as our guardian!"

It was an old myth among the many that existed in Cinnabar Island. The man began to tell the legend, while the floor beneath Delia sunk under the stage.

"Long ago, there was a peaceful village at the foot of a large volcano in the center of this island," the talking Magmar man narrated. "Many years ago, that village, the village of our ancestors, was in danger of being destroyed. The volcano had grown upset after its lonely spirit became tired of sensing the fear people had for it. The volcano's spirit was sad and with that sadness came the wish to make it all go away, to make the village disappear, for everything to be consumed by lava... However, when the volcano roared, the villages did not abandon their home; instead they gathered around the volcano and prayed to appease its spirit. They offered their friendship and hoped for their home to be saved."

"Suddenly, the volcano erupted," the same man continued, "shooting a beam of fire straight up into the skies as lava flowed down its sides. The villagers did not run away, they instead began to sing in hopes of making peace with the volcano. Then, when the beam of fire cleared out, there was a woman covered in flames floating above the volcano, she commanded the lava to return from whence it came. The lava climbed up the volcano before it could reach the villagers and resided inside it peacefully. The woman, the spirit of the volcano, had wished to join the villagers and was sad because she knew they would fear her, but that fateful night she had become their friend and they no longer feared her."

"From that time on, when people approached the volcano they could hear her soothing voice and if they showed trust, she would appear to them floating above the volcano. The mysterious woman came to be known as the Volcano Princess. There was a man among the villagers who had fallen in love with her and would visit her every day, watching her flaming form dance above the lava, singing a beautiful song. The Volcano Princess was happy to spend time with him, but also sad because she could not join him. She was unable to leave the volcano, plus her flaming touch would surely burn him to ashes. Even so, their love was strong and true and they wished with all their hearts to be together."

"One evening, when the man return to the village after going to visit his love in the volcano, he was not alone, he walked hand in hand with a beautiful woman wrapped in a cape that resembled flames. Their love had been so strong that the Volcano Princess became human and was finally able to live in the village with her beloved. The couple was destined to reincarnate over and over throughout the years and find each other, falling in love again until eternity. It is said that the Volcano Princess lives hidden among us and that when flames consume her body, her true identity will be revealed. A fire pokemon should be able to find her and Vulpix believes she has. Let us reveal the Volcano Princess' true form!"

xoxox xox xoxox

Under the stage there was light again and while the legend was being told above, Delia found someone familiar, whom she was not expecting to find there. The Vulpix woman had removed her mask, "Leah? You're helping with the flame festival?"

"Yes!" Leah was radiant, far happier than Delia had ever seen her, "I found him, I really found him! Han was alive after all, he's up there, the Magmar telling the story of the Volcano Princess, that's him and the other one is Luke, I told him about Han and he came right away. Then I saw you in the crowd and had to choose you for the act so I could tell you right away, it's so good that you're here too."

"What a surprise, Han is really alive and you've been reunited!" Delia's happiness continued to increase and she was glad she didn't lose hope. Everything was finally fixing itself as if by a miracle.

"There was a reason why we didn't find each other sooner," Leah confessed with a hint of guilt reflected in her voice and honey colored eyes, "Luke and I blame ourselves for this, though I told them the fault was all mine. Han said we shouldn't blame anyone and that only the future matters. We didn't have a lot of time to talk, instead we decided to celebrate first and catch up after the flame festival. Luke and Han used to do this act years ago so it was fitting for their reunion. The festival committee was surprised to see Han alive and immediately let him and Luke perform their act. Most of the people he used to know are not even aware of his return yet, only a few know so far; but that's okay, there will be time for that later."

"Han is right, this is a time to be happy, not to feel guilty," Delia encouraged, her curiosity to know more shining in her eyes.

Leah read her expression and offered, "I'll tell you the story, but while I do, I need to help you get ready to go back on stage and be the Volcano Princess." Leah began to work on Delia's makeup. "After investigating around Cinnabar Island and not finding anything new, I took on an assignment for Team Rocket at Fuchsia City. I was asking around with a picture of Han until someone mentioned having seen a man resembling the picture at the port. I didn't get my hopes up too much, but went to investigate right away."

"There were several ships at port, cruises and cargo ships, as well as smaller boats. I asked around until I was directed to a small cargo ship and there he was, with the crew. I called out to him but he didn't answer, so I went over to him and asked him if he was really Han. He was surprised that someone would ask him that and said we needed to talk."

"That day in the past when the earthquake happened, the floor of the cave fell in, but the opening was too small for the boulders above to follow Han down and that was what saved him. However, many small rocks fell through; Han hit his head and was injured. When he woke up, he was trapped, in pain and confused, he had amnesia. He completely forgot who he was or where he was, it must have been terrifying. A group of Diglett and Dugtrio helped him get to the surface, but three days had already passed and Han had been assumed to be dead."

"I couldn't deal with his death so I returned to Fuchsia City and locked myself away. I heard that Luke wandered around town in denial and if anyone approached him, he became violent and resented that everyone had accepted Han's death so easily. Han told me he wandered around Cinnabar Island for an entire day hoping that someone who knew him would see him, approach him and clear things up. He noticed that people were avoiding him and keeping their distance so he decided to leave the island and got a job on a cargo ship, off to start a new life."

"If I had stayed in Cinnabar Island I would have been able to tell the difference between them right away, everyone who saw Han assumed he was Luke and avoided him remembering what a terrible mood he was in. If they had just spoken to him they would have recognized him. Unfortunately, Luke didn't run into Han. Luke and Han were never exactly held to high esteem, they had no big family business or anything and they grew up as the mischievous troublemakers of the town. No one truly cared, they just did what they thought was proper for the sake of appearing polite and that hasn't changed. Han was there and no one knew, for such a long time he lived without a past. After I found him, I told him about our time together and about his brother. I contacted Luke and the three of us were reunited in time for the flame festival."

"We had not even finished catching up when a few people saw Han and Luke together, realizing that the other must be Han. That's when we decided to help out at the festival. It doesn't matter if the town's people aren't really interested in what happened; the most important thing is that we're all together. Luke and Han practiced their old juggling act and were surprised at how well they did. It was amazing, as if they found their special connection as twins again. Even if Han didn't remember how the act went, Luke only had to explain it once and Han could keep up with him."

"We haven't told Han about Team Rocket yet; we wanted to tell him everything and started from the beginning, so we talked mostly about the past in Cinnabar Island. It's a very long story, but we'll get to the present soon, we'll fill him in on everything and even if he doesn't remember, he'll know every detail. Maybe he'll join too, then we can all be a part of Team Rocket, I know Luke likes adventure and Han liked adventure too," though Leah had doubted staying with Team Rocket in the past, if Han was there, she would be there too, then Han would have both her and his brother near.

Delia was amazed by the story, the fact that Luke and Han were identical twins played a key role in the way things turned out. It was almost as if Han had been regarded as a ghost, though he was very much alive. The physical resemblance between the two brothers was amazing, albeit the way they spoke was certainly a sharp contrast. Delia could picture Luke picking up his peculiar style of speech if only to be different and feel unique and original. "I'm so happy for you, Han and Luke. I'm sure it will be great when he joins!"

The Volcano Princess costume was now complete, the cloak over Delia flowed down to the floor, but despite the layers it didn't feel hot since the fabric was so thin. It shimmered in beautiful shades of red, orange and gold, the translucent fabric flowing as if it were on fire; that was the illusion it created with multiple shades. The light reflected off the flowing fabric, making it appear to be a different color from each angle as if she was truly burning. Delia's face was highlighted in the same fiery colors, red lipstick, golden glitters and orange eye shadow.

The final piece of the costume was a golden colored crown, with ruby rhinestones. Leah examined the costume, "looks like you're ready."

xoxox xox xoxox

"The box has been burned to ashes and the Volcano Princess has disappeared!" Han, who was on stage dressed as Magmar, announced. "The truth is that her spirit is still here, we must summon her with fire and offer her our friendship. Let's show her we want her to reappear, Volcano Princess!"

xoxox xox xoxox

Delia and Leah could hear people calling out to the Volcano Princess. "It's time, you're going to be surrounded by fire when you go up there, but don't worry; Han caught and trained those Flareon himself since they were Eevee, you'll be fine."

"Everything is going so well, nothing can scare me now, I'm ready!" Delia assured. Leah activated the mechanism to lower the platform, now the trick was not hidden by a box, but by a curtain of fire. Delia stood on the platform as it rose up to the stage.

She was encircled in flames; they surrounded her, but did not touch her. She felt as if she truly was being reborn as the legendary Volcano Princess. The fire stopped, revealing Delia on the stage and the crowd cheered.

To be Continued

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 026: Give me Dreams

Was it morning? No, it was still dark. Delia found it odd; she never woke up in the middle of the night. Her dream had been amusing though, but it was more a memory than a dream. Her good mood must have been reminding her of happy times even in her sleep.

It was a long time ago, when Team Rocket had only recently taken over the Viridian Gym. Giovanni was looking over some documents. Delia quietly snuck up behind him, but he turned his head slightly, noticing her presence and she turned away.

Meowth was comfortable on top of the TV; the little pokemon had insisted to climb up there and would not be moved, meowing loudly in protest if anyone tried to get him down. Neither Giovanni nor Delia could understand the pokemon's sudden desire to nap on the TV, but they let him be, it seemed he wanted to try out every surface he saw for a nap, appliances included.

Giovanni focused on the documents once more, he was done reading, but wanted to see what Delia would do. She snuck up behind him again, like a feline stalking her pray, ready to pounce any second. Giovanni made sure not to look, curious to know what childish yet somewhat amusing thing Delia came up with. Surely she didn't mean to cover his eyes and have him guess who she was, that was too silly, even for a curious naive country girl.

Then he regretted his choice, she was on the attack, mercilessly messing up his hair, "Delia, stop that!" She did not, "stop it!"

Finally satisfied, Delia grinned at Giovanni, her smile growing into a fit of laughter. Meowth woke up, curiously looking at his mother, wondering what was so funny, while seeing that his father's hair looked different, but humans seemed to have a slightly different appearance every day anyway. Laughing uncontrollably, Delia sat down on the bed, finally letting herself fall back, her amusement still ringing out.

Giovanni reached for a mirror, the first mirror he spotted, Delia's pink hand mirror. This was Delia's room too and she kept everything neat for both of them. Even so, sometimes he wished she would hide her pink items as he did not like the color.

None the less, the mirror served its purpose, revealing that his hair partly fell down in front of his face and flew out to the sides left and right. She made a fine mess and she dared to laugh. He stopped her amused rolling around, catching her wrists and holding her in place, lying on top of her.

"No fair, I wasn't ready, you snuck up on me!" Delia pouted, after the last few giggles passed.

"Didn't you sneak up on me?" Giovanni reminded, leaning close.

"You knew I was there," she justified, still making a pouty face.

"How would you like it if I messed up your hair?" He was so close, she could feel him breathing.

"I'll just brush it again, no big deal, now let me go!"

"Don't do that again," predictably, reaching for his hair was the first thing she did when he released her hands. "Really Delia, you're so childish sometimes," at least he found some amusement in her childish and naive ways sometimes and this was one of those times despite the messy state his hair was left in.

"Relax, I'm not going to mess up your perfect image in front of your minions, oh supreme ruler of the world," Delia was only being sarcastic, but Giovanni would have liked to make it come true, taking over the world was a good long term goal to have. "You looked stressed so I had to do something, I know it's because Team Rocket is growing so fast and is constantly being restructured, but you need to take a break sometimes and clear your head." She continued playing with his hair, "it looks shorter than it actually is, when it's-"

"Not a mess?" He supplied.

"Oh come on, it's not that bad."

"No one will take me seriously like this..."

"Fine then, fix it tomorrow, right now, you need a break, besides, no one will see you, and by the way, get off Charmander." She paused and waited, but he didn't move, "why are you grinning at me like that? What's so funny?"

"I know you're perfectly comfortable as you are," he continued to grin victoriously, he knew he was right.

xoxox xox xoxox

The images of the dream, of the memory, faded into the back of her mind as Delia cuddled close to the sleeping Giovanni and fell asleep again. She felt more energized than she had in a long time because things had taken such a great turn for the better.

Again her mind refused to remain inactive, replaying another memory in the shape of a vivid dream. It was from the time when Team Rocket faced the smaller gangs in the east of Kanto. There was one that had retreated to Lavender Town, into a strange abandoned tower rumored to be haunted.

"Dude Giovanni, these guys like totally gave up and want to join us," Luke had met up with Delia and Giovanni at the foot of the tower, Leah following quietly.

"Joining Team Rocket is not that simple, you'll have to prove yourselves," Giovanni addressed the small gang, there were only seven of them in total and they always acted together. They called themselves the Ghost Group, though ironically none of them actually had any ghost pokemon and they weren't quite sneaky enough to be compared to ghosts.

Each gang member wore a badge, brooch or pendant shaped like a purple ball with a wavy tail that became thinner at the end and angry red eyes. It was their symbol, though not all gangs had symbols. The Tempest Gang claimed not to need such a thing, but perhaps they would have adopted a symbol if they had known that it would be the only thing left behind as their memory after Team Rocket took over everything, marking Tempest's past territory with their red R.

"I understand," the leader replied, "we'll be sure to fulfill your expectations." It was clear they weren't too thrilled about joining Team Rocket, but they knew that if they did not, their gang would be forced to be disbanded and their pokemon would be taken away. Eventually, like so many others, they would get used to being part of a larger organization and enjoy its benefits.

"You better," Giovanni warned them seriously, then addressed Luke, "give them the standard test and let me know how it goes."

"You got it boss dude, I'm like totally on it!" Luke cheered excitedly, "follow me new dudes and dudettes!" Luke and Leah left with the seven new applicants.

Giovanni and Delia looked at the tower; it was their last stop for the night. The location was rumored to have become the Phantom Patrol's hiding place, however, most of the Phantom Patrol had disbanded and only two members stubbornly refused to give in, having retreated to the tower in hopes of hiding from Team Rocket until they were ready to gather more allies and strike back. Everything pointed to those two still being there. Giovanni and Delia entered the tower in search of the pair that had slipped away.

The tower was dark and surprisingly cold, despite there being no logical explanation to the change in temperature. They were aided by flashlights to light their way, but it seemed that the darkness consumed most of the light, though the flashlights had been working just fine outside a few seconds ago.

"Giovanni, do you think this tower is really haunted?" Delia asked softly, careful not to raise her voice too much.

"That's just a rumor," Giovanni didn't believe in ghosts, other than ghost pokemon, but that was different.

"Aw, that's too bad," Delia sounded sincerely disappointed, "I thought it would be cool to see a spirit or something."

"You want it to be haunted? You really are full of surprises." The long ragged curtains were abruptly blown violently, as if reaching out to them. The sudden gust disappeared as quickly as it came and the flashlight's dim light pointed towards the window revealed that the dusty glass was closed. Upon inspection it was clear that the window had been closed for a long time, the surrounding area was covered with more dust then it could have if it was open a moment ago.

"Maybe this place really is haunted," Delia became more excited.

"A normal person would worry about that," Giovanni reminded, he still didn't believe the tower was haunted, but he too was enjoying the excitement of uncertainty.

"You should talk, I can tell you want to see something supernatural as much as I do, if not more," Delia teased.

"Okay, I'll admit it," behind most legends there was some truth and seemingly supernatural events were sometimes in reality super powerful pokemon.

Eerie wails were heard, as if lamenting something terrible, as they made their way up the tower. Turning the corner of the spiraling stairs, a red light was seen as the wails became louder. Delia curiously approached, turning the round corner until a lava lamp came into view, "it's pretty; who would leave this laying around in a place like this?"

"Someone who would make a really bad horror movie director," Giovanni laughed more at horror movies then at comedies, though he still liked spy and gangster movies best, especially with a lot of action and explosions.

In the second to last floor, they were received by a black cloaked being with a seemingly bloody knife, suspiciously carrying the scent of tomatoes. "ohh.... wooo, boooo, hoooo!"

"Is this yours?" Delia tossed the lava lamp at him.

The mysterious boy caught it with his free hand, stopping his poor acting. "Are you people insane? Why aren't you running for your lives?"

"From what?" Giovanni nonchalantly inquired.

"From me!" The boy in the cloak threw the lava lamp at Giovanni, who effortlessly dodged it, then went on the attack with the knife. However, Giovanni easily caught his wrist making him drop the knife in pain. "Ah, let go!"

Annoyed with the pathetic boy, Giovanni let him go and pushed him away, to see what he would do. He began to cry in pain, muttering something along the lines of "big sis will avenge me."

"That's quite enough, brother," a woman came from the shadows. "Let the nightmare begin! Ninetails, fill this tower with fire, flame thrower!" The majestic fire pokemon came out of its pokeball, throwing fire balls all around.

In a matter of seconds, Giovanni and Delia were surrounded by the flames but didn't look worried just yet. "Cloyster!" The pokeball Delia threw did not open, "what?" Delia examined it in puzzlement, trying to pry the two halves apart. "It's stuck!" She handed it to Giovanni who tried to pull it open to no avail. Seeing as Cloyster wasn't coming out, Delia tried to call out Krabby instead, this time it worked, but Krabby was so exhausted he fainted immediately. "Krabby, what's wrong? I don't understand; he was fine before, return!"

Giovanni handed Delia back the sealed pokeball containing Cloyster, "try to open it to put the fire out, I'll take care of the battle," he sent out Golem. "Don't think you have the advantage, you have less of a chance to get out of here than we do if this fire continues."

"You cannot defeat me, Ninetails, fire blast!" The blast went straight for Golem, knocking him out in one hit.

"This is impossible!" Giovanni recalled Golem in disbelief.

"It really is a nightmare," Delia couldn't believe it, how could so many things go wrong? It didn't make any sense, then something clicked, "the Phantom Patrol, unlike the Ghost Group actually has ghost pokemon, don't they?"

"Yes, but what are you getting at?" Giovanni wondered why she suddenly sounded so calm.

Delia remembered Haunter hypnotizing Leah in the past, "this really is a nightmare, an illusion, their pokemon put us in a trance, we just need to wake up. We're the vigilantes, the heroes and they're the bad gangs so we will win!" Her realization and strong belief caused Delia to wake up from the trance. Gastly and Gengar were floating in front of them, the boy's antics had only been a distraction while his sister's pokemon casted their hypnotic spells.

Delia and Giovanni had been standing perfectly still, they could still speak, but all movements were nothing but a dream. The Phantom Patrol duo knew that if they got too close to try to take their pokeballs so soon, they would wake up. They had to be put into a deep sleep, but for that their minds had to fall victim to the nightmare.

Giovanni woke up as well, finding that there was no fire, or Ninetails, but there were the two ghost pokemon. He wondered how Delia saw through the illusions with such certainty. Was it because she truly believed so strongly that they were a force of good destined to win? He would have to ask her about it later, for the time being, he focused on finishing the battle. "You'll regret challenging Team Rocket!"

"So this is it," the woman, who was also in a black cloak spoke with her face shrouded in shadows, "I know we can't defeat you."

"Big sis, you're not giving up, are you?" The boy complained.

"It's pointless, I've seen them battle before and I've seen all those who resisted the rule of Team Rocket fall. However," she dropped two empty pokeballs on the floor and stomped hard on each one, smashing them to pieces under her black boot. "You will not take my pokemon, Gastly, Gengar, as my last command I order you to flee from this place, and after that I set you free!" The pair of ghost pokemon flew away and disappeared into the night.

The last two members of the Phantom Patrol were captured that night, taken prisoner by Team Rocket and abandoned unconscious with sleep powder, tied up in front of the police station. By the time they woke up, they were already surrounded by officers. That was how Team Rocket cleaned their territory of other gangs, one after another.

xoxox xox xoxox

Delia woke again, though she found that this time it was morning. She had quite a night full of dreams, remembering good times. She couldn't believe that she had worried that those good times would end. It was a peaceful morning and though she knew that day she and Giovanni would return to Viridian City and get back to work, her holiday in Cinnabar Island was something Delia would forever treasure.

She got ready for a day that promised to be good, finding that the room's closet was well equipped despite the fact that she didn't have time to pack anything, as the Cinnabar Island holiday came as a surprise. The day started well, the weather was ideal, breakfast was delicious and Delia was happily enjoying her last few moments in Cinnabar Island, they would depart for Viridian City in an hour.

Delia had been telling Giovanni about how much she enjoyed their holiday, cheerfully describing the feeling of excitement being surrounded by fire on the stage. They had been caught up in the celebrations the previous night and didn't really have time to talk. Then suddenly, the peace of the early day was interrupted by a loud explosion.

To be Continued

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 027: Give me Protection

The loud noise of an explosion that shattered the peaceful Cinnabar Island morning was followed by the sound of falling rocks, several small ones being thrown hard enough to fall on the hotel's ceiling. "What was that?"

"I don't know, but it sounds like a panic out there," Giovanni quickly recalled his pokemon into their pokeballs and picked up Meowth.

Delia called back her pokemon as well and followed Giovanni to investigate outside. People were running out in alarm, "you have to leave!" One of the hotel employees urged, "there are explosives up there, at this rate, the volcano will-"

Another loud explosion shook the land, more rocks avalanched down the volcano's side as sparks flew. If the explosions dug a hole on the volcano's side, lava would start spilling out, endangering the entire area.

"Giovanni, Delia! I'm like so glad I found you dudes, but I was like totally too late to stop the explosions, you know?" Luke rushed over, his expression frightened beyond what anyone who knew him would expect, even in that situation.

"What's going on?" Giovanni demanded to know, not bothering to question his presence there, maybe he took a mission involving the supervision of the construction project, no one person could keep up with every mission every member took.

"Some dude who like doesn't like Team Rocket like totally planted explosives in the volcano, you know? I like heard a rumor, but couldn't like get here on time, man! There's like no time, leave the island, but don't like take the chopper, it might be like sabotaged, you know?" Luke urged.

"This is too much of a direct challenge, I'm not going anywhere," Giovanni didn't expect anyone to so openly challenge Team Rocket, not now that they were so powerful and he was angry that someone dared.

"I'm staying too; we can't let whoever did this get away with putting so many people in danger!" Delia was filled with the same fire and determination she showed when facing the Tempest Gang in the past, her thirst for justice and her instinct to protect the innocent surfacing again.

Another explosion resounded and the volcano's wall gave in as more sparks flew, causing several of the buildings at the foot of the volcano to catch on fire. Lava started flowing down the volcano's side at a slow but steady pace.

"Dude, like what do we do, man?" Luke appeared more nervous and out of place than ever. Giovanni took note of it, but attributed it to how unexpected the attack was; perhaps Luke had grown accustomed to things working out more easily for Team Rocket lately. Delia noticed Luke's reaction as well; he had been braver than this in the past, but she determined that he was not afraid for himself; he must have been worried about his recently found brother.

"We'll find the one who's challenging Team Rocket," Giovanni started to make his way to the coast, away from the lava, with Delia and Luke following at a hasty pace.

"How do we stop the lava?" Delia inquired, holding on to the hope that it would be stopped. There had to be a way, for those on the side of good, there always was.

"There's nothing that can be done about that, all we can do is set up an investigation to find out who's responsible, we can head for Viridian City after that, until we get a lead." Giovanni concluded, giving the volcano one last bitter glance.

Delia looked back as well, though she kept following Giovanni, "yes, there is something," she stopped, "there's always something that can be done. Think about it!" Delia tried to find the right words, the way to phrase the situation that would convince Giovanni to do something about it, a way to make him see it was necessary. "If we let this happen, the attacker will think that Team Rocket is powerless to stop him and he'll keep doing things like this. Wasn't there a construction on this island that's part of the new business Team Rocket has been expanding into? It will be destroyed over and over again, because even if we catch the one who did this, more will join knowing they can do some damage."

Delia's argument caught Giovanni's attention and he saw the truth in her logic. He looked back at the lava advancing slowly and at the burning buildings at the foot of the volcano, "water, ground, flying and anything big and strong, fire would be resistant to the heat, all of them could make a difference."

"Like what?" Luke was confused and so was Delia for a moment.

Giovanni then spoke into his cell phone, setting it to target all Team Rocket individual communication devices within a reasonable range to make it in time. He sent a signal with his exact location while explaining the plan, "this is Giovanni; everyone is ordered to report to the location in this tracking signal immediately. The explosion at the volcano was a challenge against Team Rocket, but we'll turn this attack into a useless effort. The water pokemon will put the fire out and after that's done they'll help cool the lava that escaped. The ground pokemon will use the terrain to contain the lava and stop it from advancing. Any pokemon that are strong enough to climb up the volcano carrying rocks will cover the flow of lava at the opening on the volcano's side; flying pokemon will cover the opening with rocks thrown from above."

"Cloyster, Kingler, let's put the fire out, water gun!" Delia sent out her pokemon urgently.

Luke released his pokemon as well, "Poliwrath, Tentacruel, like totally water gun that fire out, dudes!"

"Golem, stop the lava from going any further," Golem focused his power in making the earth lift in a small wall, little by little in front of the lava, causing it's flow to be temporarily contained. The lava was certainly dangerous, though not too liquid so it was very slow. "Machamp, Rhydon, go up the volcano and fill up the opening with rocks."

Machamp and Rhydon ran up the volcano's side carrying rocks from those that had fallen after the explosions. The opening was big, but they got to work immediately trying to cover it up. Unfortunately, the rocks were carried away by the lava and at the foot of the volcano Golem was having trouble keeping up with the increasing amount of lava.

A team of local Blastoise arrived, the presence of the firefighters and the police made Giovanni consider abandoning the scene, but he reminded himself that he was not on the run, Team Rocket was too strong for that and he was too proud to hide. If he left after answering to the challenge, it would be the same as losing.

Several undercover members of Team Rocket arrived; releasing their pokemon and having them follow the established plan adding Beedrill, Spearow, Golbat, Golduck, Primeape and Vaporeon to the team. Along with the four Blastoise from the Cinnabar Island fire department. The flames were controlled and kept from spreading until they were put out, but the lava was still flowing slow but steady.

"Get the water pokemon up on the volcano and have them use water gun on the rocks the others put in," Giovanni ordered, changing the strategy to stop the problem at its source.

The new plan worked, with the water helping fuse the rocks to the cooling lava, instead of letting them be carried away. The pokemon continued the same process until the opening on the volcano's side was completely sealed. The rocks were held in place long enough to fuse into a solid wall with the lava's heat on the inside and being cooled from the outside to stay in place.

The final step was to make sure the lava that had escaped was fully contained, which the pokemon did, piling rocks in its path and using the same strategy to make the lava fuse them together. With the situation under control, the water pokemon focused on cooling the lava, to help it become solid faster, but the emergency had passed and the Blastoise could finish the job on their own.

"Call back the pokemon, we're done here. Everyone has the new mission of investigating who caused this," Giovanni ordered. The Team Rocket members quickly obeyed, recalling their pokemon into their pokeballs and hurrying away in separate directions. Giovanni left towards the port, followed by Delia.

The police didn't try to stop the trainers as they left, there were rumors about Team Rocket's influence on Cinnabar Island, but there was not enough proof and business was being carried out carefully, besides, they had been of vital help.

xoxox xox xoxox

As the ship left Cinnabar Island's port, Delia looked back at the helicopter sitting motionless near the coast. She wondered if it had really been sabotaged, she was looking at it, thinking about the recent turn of events, when an explosive went off on the helicopter, causing a chain reaction with its fuel tank that lead to a large blast. The ship was far enough not to be damaged, but a few near by buildings caught on fire from the flaming pieces that were thrown at them.

Delia stared at the fire while it became a small light in the distance as the ship sped towards the sea, the Blastoise from the fire department were exhausted but mercilessly fought against the flames until they were extinguished. "Someone is trying to kill us," Delia whispered in a voice so soft it was inaudible. Who could possibly hate Team Rocket enough to do this? The organization had its faults, but it wasn't that bad, at least she liked to believe it wasn't.

Giovanni was, understandably, in a very bad mood. Someone dared to challenge Team Rocket, to make an attempt on his life and had gotten so close to it. He was glad he had fully answered the challenge instead of going right to the search for the culprit. Now that had become his new priority, to find out who did this and get revenge. It would be known how dangerous it was to pick a fight with Team Rocket.

xoxox xox xoxox

Delia and Giovanni returned to Viridian City, an investigation was already on its way to find out who was behind the attack. Luke had stayed in Cinnabar Island to investigate, Leah should have been there too, but Delia didn't see her during the emergency, she hoped Leah was alright, maybe she was with Han.

Delia's cell phone rang and it was Luke according to the display, she wondered if he had found any important clues and why he wasn't reporting to Giovanni if that was the case. She answered immediately, "hello?"

"Delia, I have to like tell you something, you know?" Luke sounded more afraid than Delia had ever heard him. "Are you like alone?"

A few minutes ago she had gone off to check on the pokemon at the Viridian headquarters while Giovanni continued his duties commanding the team and overseeing the investigation despite the distance. "Other than the pokemon, yes, what is it?" The need for so much secrecy puzzled Delia greatly.

"Don't like get mad, you know? It's just that I like know who attacked," Luke was worried, guilty and terrified, he was at a loss of what to do, how to make things right, what choice to take...

"It's okay, you can tell me," Delia encouraged him, feeling the tension in his voice and trying to hide her own.

"It was like Han, my twin, you know?" Luke confessed.

"Why?" Delia was in disbelief, she expected what Luke had to say to be shocking, but she never expected this, "why did he do that?"

"He said Team Rocket is like evil, but he like wants to talk to you. Leah convinced him, you know? Dudette, you like have to come! You need to like talk some sense into Han, if he like challenges Giovanni it'll be like totally bad. Please Delia, like save him!" Luke begged.

Her eyes were wide; her face froze with open mouthed shock, her hand trembled gripping the small cell phone, "where are you?"

"We're like still in Cinnabar Island; no one like knows who caused the explosions, you know? Please dudette, like totally keep it like a secret!" Luke emphasized the need for secrecy; he knew the consequences would be dire for Han, Leah and himself if Giovanni found out.

"I understand, I'll be there," after the call ended, though she had given her word to keep the secret, Delia thought it would be foolish to throw herself into the hands of a would-be murderer, even if he was Luke's brother.

Perhaps Han was the evil twin like in a movie, or the amnesia he suffered had resulted in him developing an entirely different personality, a terrible one. Delia feared for Luke and Leah's safety. Maybe the reason Leah didn't answer the call to all the Team Rocket members in the area during the emergency was because she was being held hostage. The theories haunted Delia as she ran to inform Giovanni. He would come up with a plan, he would save them all; Delia was sure she could rely on him.

xoxox xox xoxox

The investigation team was working on compiling a list of suspects to blame for the attack, among them people who had initially been against the construction project on Cinnabar Island, people who for various reasons held a grudge against Team Rocket and current members who had originally belonged to other gangs. Of course, the real culprit was not on that list, only a few had learned that Han Eisley, alias Noel, was still alive.

"Giovanni, I need to talk to you, now," Delia was discrete but urgent, her tone sharp and worried.

"Keep working on that list," Giovanni left the investigation team to their task, following Delia down the hall, until they were away from anyone else. "This better be important."

"It is, I just got a call from Luke, he thinks Han was behind the attack, I thought it was suspicious, he might have Leah hostage," Delia revealed, "don't blame Luke; I'm sure he never saw that coming."

Giovanni took a moment to process this new information, "who is Han?"

"Luke's twin brother, who was thought to be dead, but actually had amnesia and left Cinnabar Island to start a new life. He was recently reunited with Luke and Leah. Luke wanted me to go to Cinnabar Island and try to talk Han into backing off, because he knows he doesn't stand a chance against Team Rocket. What are we going to do if he really does have Leah hostage? She was there in Cinnabar Island but she wasn't there during the volcano emergency, it has to be because Han stopped her and you should have heard how nervous and scared Luke was." Terrible theories formed in Delia's mind and her worries showed on her face.

"Stay calm," Giovanni thought about what she had revealed, it was a lot of information to receive so suddenly. He focused; his expression analytical, while the little Meowth perched on his shoulder remained confused with the conversation.

"You're right," Delia took a deep breath, "we can handle this, everything will be fine," she continued trying to convince herself of that, as she always did.

Luke had not given Giovanni the report, instead sneaking behind his back and trying to make Delia walk into a trap. That was unexpected, and unforgivable, "are you sure that was Luke who called you?"

"Positive, it was his number, his voice and who wouldn't recognize his style of speech? That was definitely Luke talking, but I don't think he's a traitor," Delia insisted, convinced that Luke was a victim to the situation.

"He tried to cover for the culprit and lead you to a trap, he is a traitor," Giovanni would not forgive Luke for this betrayal, even if he was a part of Team Rocket since the beginning, perhaps especially because of that.

"Leah might be a hostage and evil or not, Han is Luke's twin brother. He was there during the Volcano Princess act at the flame festival, Han was the Magmar who told the story and the other was Luke," Delia revealed. "Those were Han's Flareon, how could he train pokemon so well and be so evil?" Delia had always believed pokemon to be good, and if they participated in wrongful acts they must be being forced. She thought pokemon wouldn't want to willingly follow a trainer who was truly evil.

From Giovanni's point of view that didn't help make the situation appear to be any better for Luke, who had been playing at the festival instead of being out on a mission. It didn't hit him until then, the possibility of Team Rocket's size making it easy for certain members to become traitors and get away with it unnoticed until it was too late. Giovanni couldn't trust them, not the way he used to; he couldn't trust any of them.

"Giovanni?" Delia observed his bitter expression with worry, but he must be coming up with a plan, he had to.

"We'll draw them out; learn their plans, how many allies they have, as much information as possible, then we'll capture them all." After thinking about it, Giovanni concluded no one would be daring enough to attempt such an attack alone, but he also had no specific idea of who Han's followers could be, aside from the long list of people who held a grudge against Team Rocket, but there was no proof against them yet.

"Infiltration?" Delia summoned all her courage, "I'll do it!" The recent danger had been very real, but Delia was convinced she would be alright. She trusted that Giovanni and Team Rocket would protect her and her friends.

To be Continued

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 028: Give me Kindness

The evening sun sunk into the horizon in Cinnabar Island, marking the end of a very busy day. The city was tense from the recent attack, with people watching their backs and jumping at the smallest sound. The tourists had mostly fled, piling into the ferries until there was no more room and heading to the mainland of Kanto. The locals stayed in their homes, locked in, wondering if this would be a stand alone incident and fearing that it might become the first of many.

"Dudette, I'm like so glad you're here, you know?" Luke greeted Delia as soon as she made her way off the ferry, which was nearly empty of passengers, save for her and a few others. Those others were probably on the island to try to talk friends and family who had stayed into leaving.

To use Team Rocket transportation would be too suspicious, so Delia traveled as a regular visitor would; giving the impression she wanted to remain unnoticed by Team Rocket. "I'm sure we can work things out, everything will be alright."

Luke nodded solemnly, not quite believing her, but wishing he could. "Let's like talk at my house."

Delia followed Luke to his house, which was very close to the beach. It was a small but cozy little house that clearly hadn't been maintained in years, but still kept its charm. It was painted white, with blue ocean waves decorating it. The paint had started to come off over the years of being exposed to the constant ocean breeze, but rather than making it look shabby, it made it looked lived in and welcoming.

Luke opened the door and stepped in, followed by Delia; he closed the door and bolted it as soon as she was inside. "Dudes, I'm like back!" Luke called out, with less energy than he normally would.

A man physically identical to Luke emerged from one of the connecting rooms and came into the living room. His hair was the exact loud red-orange shade as Luke's and he too had a tan and blue eyes. His eyes, despite being the same ocean blue color as Luke's, held a very different look as they scrutinized Delia critically as if she were a vile creature. "So you are that man's-"

"Han," Luke gave him a warning glare, bothered by the amount of spite his brother piled into the words 'that man' and determined not to let him so openly insult Delia.

"You are, Delia, the Rocket boss'... girlfriend," Han rephrased it. "My name is Han Eisley, though I have been going by Noel, and as you know, I'm Luke's brother." He lacked Luke's speech pattern but what stood out the most was the anger in his voice. "Sit down; we need to have a long talk."

Delia wordlessly took a seat on the old but comfortable sand colored couch, with faded seashell pictures. Her gaze never left Han's face, her anger obvious in her expression at the one who had caused so much damage. Luke sat beside her, nervously biting the index finger of his white glove without realizing it, he was still in his Team Rocket uniform.

"My brother insists that I talk to you, but be assured that I have no intentions of accepting Team Rocket and their evil deeds," Han warned.

"Where is Leah?" Delia spoke for the first time since she had entered the house, her voice firm and demanding.

"Why do you want to know?" Han yelled back, suddenly losing his temper.

Delia's glare became deadlier, "if you hurt her-"

"Please like stop, dudes, both of you!" Luke interrupted. "Leah is like safe, she's here, but she's like having a hard time dealing with things, you know?"

"I want to see her," Delia insisted, her expression unchanged.

"You can't," Han denied in anger.

"How do I know you're not holding her hostage?" Delia was not following the plan to get as much information out of them as she could, but she didn't care, Leah's life could be in great danger.

"Don't put me in the same level as you Rocket scum!" Han yelled, clearly enraged.

"Stop!" Leah exited the only other bedroom in the little house. "Please stop..." She sat down next to Han, her gaze downcast, expression tortured, she couldn't look at Delia.

"Leah, I'm glad you're not injured," at least Delia could put one worry out of her mind. Her voice was soft, calm and supportive all of a sudden; it made Leah cry.

"I'm sorry," Leah whispered softly. She might have preferred to be regarded as a traitor, instead of being treated with such understanding that made her feel so guilty. She had never fully felt comfortable in Team Rocket, but followed Luke to it and stayed. Now Han was back, her lost love, but he was so different it broke her heart.

Leah had decided to return to him and though he didn't remember her, seeing the photos of their past and hearing the stories, he took her back. Still, he had changed so much it pained her to think what the old Han would say about his current self if he ever got his memories back. Perhaps it didn't matter, he had become a different person and memories may not be enough to restore him to how carefree and gentle he was before.

"It's not your fault," Delia tried to comfort Leah.

Leah didn't reply, instead crying quietly, Han took her hand, "you don't need to stay here."

"I want to," Leah refused to leave, "I have to hear this again."

Luke's frown deepened, appearing alien on his face which was always adorned by a big smile, but he didn't say anything.

"My brother told me why you originally joined Team Rocket," Han spoke, "he said you wanted to help the pokemon and allowed them to take you prisoner for that purpose. Then you ended up as one of the team and even got close to the boss. You've been so corrupted I don't even know if you can still be reasonable."

"Corrupted?!" It was true that Delia let a few things slip that she wouldn't in the past and even participated in them. It was true that she had become more open minded and accepting of the new Team Rocket, but that did not mean she was corrupted. She was simply no longer quite as naive as she used to be, she was braver and stronger. "I did not plant explosives in a volcano risking the lives of many!"

Luke ripped his glove with his teeth, biting into his finger by accident and yelping in pain. He sucked on his aching finger and noticed that no one was paying attention to his predicament anyway.

"The people of Cinnabar Island are just as bad as Team Rocket for accepting them. Team Rocket uses Cinnabar as a trade point and they're planning to establish a business here to make that easier. Everyone knows how terrible Team Rocket is and yet they let them do as they please out of fear or maybe even economical benefit. They unfairly justify Team Rocket. If they're not willing to fight against Team Rocket, then I'm not willing to protect them," Han argued defiantly.

"No one is asking for your protection!" Delia retorted with the same challenge and resolve, "all you have to do is not hurt them. Do you even realize the risk of what you've done? You seem to know a lot about Team Rocket, do you know where our base of operations is?"

"The Viridian City Gym," Han revealed with a mix of frustration and anger, "the authorities know but they don't do anything, it seems Giovanni is good friends with the mayor."

"If you know that then why, instead of involving innocent people, didn't you go to the Viridian Gym? If you hate Giovanni so much, why didn't you just challenge him to a battle directly? I'm sure he would have been happy to wipe the floor with you!" Delia yelled.

Han stood furious, "you insolent little-!"

"Stop it! Dudes please, we're like not getting anywhere like this!" Luke raised his voice beyond the other two and signaled for Han to sit down again.

With clenched teeth and fists, Han sat down; Leah beside him had her face buried in her hands. "I want to make the people of Cinnabar Island and of all Kanto fight back. They will know that if they don't stand up for themselves, they will never be free of Team Rocket!" Han growled.

"Protesting is one thing, but you need to understand that no matter how strongly you feel about something, hurting others is wrong. Besides, people are not obligated to hate Team Rocket; people are not obligated to agree with you. They can have their own opinions, even if you don't like them!" Delia had a strong dislike for those who used violence to prove a point, hindering the lives of those who were not to blame in hopes of forcing them into joining the cause.

Before Han could argue back, Luke intervened again, "Han bro, just like please tell her the story, man!"

"Fine," Han took a deep breath and began to narrate his tale, "some time ago I was in an accident which made me lose my memory. When I woke up I was underground, lost and confused in the darkness. It was a group of Diglett and Dugtrio that led me to the surface. I wandered around Cinnabar Island lost, hungry, exhausted and hurt. People looked at me, many with concern, but when I approached them they turned away and that made me think their concern was for themselves and not for me."

Han continued, "I later found out my brother had not taken the news of my supposed passing calmly. He had tried to dig me out from the cave-in, convinced I was alive and he was injured in the attempt, but would still not accept my apparent death. He wondered through the streets of Cinnabar Island and got angry at those who tried to offer sympathy, those who had given up hope. Because of that, I was not found, even if I was seen; they assumed that I was Luke. For that event I hold no grudge against my brother or the people of Cinnabar Island; it was because of this that I experienced many things. Those things were painful, but they've made me who I am."

"I made it to the main land thanks to the kindness of the captain of a cargo ship that had just made his first trip to Cinnabar Island following his newly assigned trade route, Captain Adoy. On the ship I finally received food and medical attention. Forever grateful, I set out to continue my search for my lost past in Fuchsia City, but no one on the busy streets recognized me. I later learned that Leah had shut herself in her room with her pain, so she didn't see me at Fuchsia City, I don't blame her for that either. The story was repeated all over Kanto, I visited each city, but no one seemed to know me and in the end I gave up."

"It's ironic to think people were hurting for my absence and I was wishing to be found, yet we would not be reunited until such a long time had passed; maybe this was my destiny. I returned to Fuchsia City after journeying all over Kanto and found Captain Adoy again. He asked about my story and after learning of my fruitless search, he offered me a job and I worked at his ship. I never really went far from the ports during that time; I didn't venture into the streets of Cinnabar Island again. I didn't think that was my past home, I thought that maybe I had been visiting when the accident occurred."

"When I had a vacation from my job, I decided to take another look around Kanto in the areas that I had spent the least time before. It was in Viridian City where I had my first run-in with the Tempest Gang and it's because of them that Vaporeon, the pokemon that was given to me by Captain Adoy to keep me company, was killed in battle protecting me. Desperate to make it up to the captain and to at least try to honor Vaporeon's memory, I caught two Eevee, but Captain Adoy refused to take them, instead saying I should raise them. In the end, I couldn't bring myself to evolve them into Vaporeon, the memory was too painful."

"There was a time when I saw her again, the woman who ruthlessly attacked Vaporeon with an Electabuzz. That woman with the violet hair and cold green eyes; she was wearing a Team Rocket uniform. I wondered if she had been a spy infiltrating the Tempest Gang in the past. I avoided a confrontation and ran away; I thought that my pokemon would be killed if I fought even if she didn't seem to have her unnaturally strong Electabuzz anymore, who knows what might have become of it; she had a Ghastly instead. Later I was ashamed of myself for running away and for leaving her free to cause more damage."

"I heard the Tempest Gang was defeated by Team Rocket and later I heard a rumor about New Island, news travels fast at the ports; I had to investigate. I set out on a small boat and made it there, sneaking in past security. There wasn't a whole lot of security there and not the entire place was operational. I guess that was the reason for the lack of security, it wasn't fully established yet and many areas were still heavily under construction. Regardless of that, I saw what they did in the few semi-operational areas, conducting terrible experiments on pokemon and using cruel training methods. I left before I was found, I guess it would be impossible for me to get in there now, no doubt, the security system must have been fully implemented by now."

"Team Rocket has been making a lot of illegal deals with stolen goods and controlling the market to their convenience. To top it all up, the boss even became a gym leader, staining everything the Indigo League stands for. The police are powerless, the politicians are too comfortable and people are cowards. Team Rocket is a terrible organization of nothing but villainous criminals. They steal, they lie, they threaten, they take what's not theirs and leave nothing but destruction in their path," Han finished with vast hatred and bitterness.

"It's not true," Delia whispered, "it's... it's different!" She took a deep breath, trying to organize her thoughts, she recognized Aayla as the woman from the story, the description fit and she had previously been with the Tempest Gang, doing things their way. Delia knew Luke and Leah must have realized Han was talking about Aayla as well, though Han didn't appear to know her name.

"New Island has changed," Delia insisted; she didn't want to think about the terrible things Han spoke of having witnessed there before. "It's a research facility for the study of extinct pokemon. They're only experimenting on rocks now, it's different!"

Han didn't look convinced in the least, while Delia continued, "I know Team Rocket has been dealing with stolen goods, but someone had to step in, the flow of stolen goods can't be left to continue. Someone has to set things right and put the resources to a good use. We rescue pokemon and take care of them. Sometimes you have to bend the rules to do what's truly fair. We may not be a legal organization, but we're not evil."

"The person whom you battled," Delia made sure to keep Aayla's identity a secret and only spoke in general terms. "I'm sure she found a new life with Team Rocket, abandoning the Tempest Gang's terrible ways. The Tempest Gang was truly evil, Team Rocket protected Kanto from them, we saved the pokemon and we helped discover the cure to the epidemic that threatened all pokemon!"

"The way Team Rocket had the cure first, I find it suspicious," Han argued. "What's more, they took advantage of that, abusing people's pain and desperation to be unable to save their pokemon unless they could pay the expensive price of the antidote. The bureaucracy of the official pokemon products regulation isn't much better, but the fact remains that Team Rocket took advantage of the suffering of others!"

"Without Team Rocket there would be no cure at all! You need to realize how much the world owes Team Rocket!" Delia felt hurt and angry that Team Rocket was insulted along with Giovanni, her friends and herself.

"Listen to yourself Delia!" Leah was the one to interrupt this time, surprising all those present with her unusually loud and harsh tone. "You didn't used to be this way, anyone could see it. It's true that Team Rocket's influence brought some good consequences, but Giovanni doesn't care about that, he just wanted the power, riches and the useful connections that came along with everything. Team Rocket has become like the Tempest Gang and worse. They attack the innocent and steal from them; they rule the underworld of Kanto with threats and fear. They do terrible things in New Island and the deals they make, the consequences they cause... You have no idea how many people have been hurt by Team Rocket, you've been kept in the dark, Giovanni's been sheltering you. He's using you for your skills at taking care of pokemon and your connection to Professor Oak."

"That's not true!" Delia couldn't believe this was Leah saying all those terrible things. "At first Giovanni didn't even know that Professor Oak had been my teacher, I was the one who told him that. We helped with his research, don't you remember? Professor Oak agreed to work with Binks, he agreed to give us the antidote's formula first because he knew the official testing would take too long and there was no time left for the pokemon. Professor Oak knew he was doing the right thing."

Delia continued, "my skill with pokemon is not that different from anyone else who cares about them, it's nothing unusual. I'm not being used, Giovanni appreciates me. The one who is being used is you, clinging to the memory of a man who did nothing but ungratefully force you into a dangerous situation as thanks for your devotion!" Leah was shocked to hear Delia throw the truth at her face and Han was enraged.

To be Continued

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 029: Give me Loyalty

The tension had broken into a heated argument and Han decided he would not listen anymore. "Flareon!" He called out two fire pokemon of the same kind in blind rage. "Don't move, you're going to help us like it or not!" He clearly intended to use Delia as a hostage against Team Rocket.

"Cloyster, Kingler!" Delia called out her pokemon as well, "I'm not letting you take me hostage and I won't let you hurt anyone else!"

"You don't have a choice!" Han yelled absolutely enraged, "Leah, Luke, help me!"

"Stop this bro, I like won't help you, man!" Luke refused, pained and sad.

Leah held a pokeball in her hands unsure of what to do, but before the battle could truly start, the doors and windows were broken and a flood of black uniforms with red Rs entered the house.

"Flame thrower!" Han's orders echoed along with the commands issued to various pokemon. Delia didn't have time to battle; she was pulled away by the crowd of black uniforms with faces she was no longer familiar with.

"Cloyster, Kingler!" Delia was pushed out of the house, leaving her pokemon in the middle of the battle.

"Delia," Giovanni was there, she knew all along he was listening to the conversation from the small transmitter microphone she hid. He tried to lead her away from the chaos, but she didn't want to move.

"Cloyster and Kingler are in there, Luke and Leah too and... everyone," Delia watched the small house, there was no room for another person or pokemon in the tiny structure and battling in such close quarters was dangerous.

"There's nothing you can do," he was right and she knew it, but she still didn't want to leave. "Delia, let's go."

"Wait," she ran towards the disarray of people and pokemon, making her way just close enough to recall her pokemon into their pokeballs, then was pushed back out again. "Cloyster, Kingler, I hope you didn't get hurt," she held the two pokeballs tightly.

"Is that all?" Giovanni asked impatient and disappointed.

Delia looked back at the house, listening to the noises of the battle, the mix of commands, growls, battle cries, and cries of pain. "This is not how it's supposed to be," she was in shock as Giovanni led her away from the destruction and from that point on, everything was a blur.

There was the noise of a helicopter, the ground was further away, there were clouds, the ocean below and a little Meowth looking up at her with worry. She heard voices, orders being given, yelling and anger. "What do you mean he escaped? I don't care if he planned it, how could he slip away? A tunnel under the house? Follow it! You incompetent fools better capture him! Take the others to New Island, don't let them escape and cover this up quickly, we can't draw any more attention right now."

Time passed but Delia wasn't sure how long, she only remembered bits and pieces of what happened. "We were lucky that the police was busy focusing on their investigation in the area around the volcano, they could have been troublesome. This happened because he doubted Team Rocket's power, but Han and his allies will know not to challenge us again. From now on there will be more training for all members," Giovanni spoke of his plans, annoyance and anger clearly showing.

xoxox xox xoxox

The scenery had changed; night had already fallen when the helicopter landed on New Island. "Delia? Have you even been listening? You didn't follow the plan, you lost it; I'm disappointed." Giovanni left, while Delia still sat in the helicopter, 'I'm disappointed,' the words rung out in her head.

She was alone in the helicopter for a while; the pilot had left as well when Giovanni got off right after they landed. Meowth had jumped off Delia's lap, calling out to her to follow them, then ran after Giovanni as he walked further away, called out once more, and finally gave up and hurried to catch up with Giovanni.

"This isn't how it's supposed to be," Delia whispered to no one, she had forced herself to be energetic and optimistic, but she was tired of that. Finally taking in her surroundings, Delia tried to organize her thoughts. All the stress she kept bottle up exploded; it was the stress she thought was cured with one day of happiness. Maybe there could be more days like that, but instead of looking at the bigger picture, she knew she was only seeing the portion she liked and ignoring the rest.

She finally exited the helicopter, her expression was serious and her pace firm, but her gaze was lost. She made her way inside the facilities of New Island, blocking out the sounds and images around her. She approached the first person who dared to make eye contact, "where have the prisoners been taken?"

"They are in the basement," the scientist nervously replied. Delia didn't waste a second before going down to the basement.

xoxox xox xoxox

Instead of the shades of gray that dominated the upper floors, the basement was effulged in darkness, all pure black save for the areas directly below the dim lamps that projected a weak beam of light. There were rows of cells, mostly empty, save for three that were occupied. Two of those were in the middle of the row and one at the very end. Growling was heard from the cell at the end of the hall, but Delia couldn't see the source.

In the other two occupied cells were Luke and Leah. Luke heard the approaching footsteps and looked at Delia, immediately apologizing. "I'm like so sorry, you know? I totally shouldn't have like asked you to come and I like shouldn't have tried to stop Han on my own like in secret, you know? I should have just like been loyal to Team Rocket, man! But that's like over now, you know? Han's like not my bro anymore, it's him, but not like him, you know? I wish I could like fix this. I respect Giovanni a lot, you know? That's why I like never..." He stopped; there was no point in saying such things now. He had liked Delia for a long time, but he would never try to openly compete with Giovanni whom he admired so much.

"That's not the way it is," Leah spoke, noticing the one standing there was Delia and not a stranger from the lab. "Han is nice and considerate; he's sweet and kind, but also adventurous and brave. I don't care about Team Rocket anymore, but that man dishonored Han's memory and I want him to pay. I'm sick of being in denial; I hope Team Rocket finds him," her pain, frustration and bitterness were evident in Leah.

"Have you been interrogated?" Delia finally spoke, trying to keep her determination strong and her voice neutral.

"Not yet, dudette," Luke admitted, with a tone that hinted that he had no energy left for secrecy anyway. "It's all like a mess, the team is like too big and hard to manage, you know? It'll have to like totally be retruc... re-struc... like made all neat and stuff, you know? I can like see why things are like slow right now and kind of like chaotic, you know?" Maybe they didn't think he would talk, but Luke was repentant for his betrayal to Team Rocket, all for a man who was nothing like his brother at all.

"Restructured again, yes, I know Giovanni has been trying to keep up, but he'll have to delegate more tasks and make sure there's better communication or he won't be able to keep things running." Delia knew some of the members who had been there from the beginning were starting to play a bigger role, especially Archer, Ariana, Proton and Petrel. The four participated in the management of Team Rocket and the negotiations process. Other original members, such as Luke and Ben, preferred to be out on the field. Delia took a deep breath and looked at the guards, "leave us."

They stood unsure, not wanting to leave, "but we need to stay, because..."

"That's an order," Delia spoke more firmly, her gaze stern.

"Yes, ma'am," one of the guards left, though the other kept looking back and forth between the path his companion took, banishing into the darkness, and Delia who was waiting.

"Just go," a more familiar voice encouraged and the remaining guard nodded and left. The man who had arrived was Binks, but there was something different about him. His strangely cheerful expression, messy hair, blood stained lab coat and the look in his eyes, all held a certain psychotic tone. "It's ironic isn't it, how the world spins around. Here I am about to become a legend of science."

"Binks, what happened to you?" Delia knew there was something wrong, his appearance made it obvious, plus he spoke as if he wasn't speaking to her, as if he carried a monologue no one would listen to.

"How are you today, my beloved curse?" He walked to the cell at the end of the hall. "I kept my promise, you're strong now, but you broke yours, you said you'd be okay, that you would, no matter what, still be yourself. Come now, my rank depends on it, it's not official yet, not until I show proof," his eyes shone with insanity as his smile widened.

Delia curiously approached puzzled and worried; the being inside the cell could hardly be called human. It was a strange creature with bruises and cuts all over its body, covered in dry blood. It had long fangs and claws, choppy violet hair, dirty and rough, but the feature that stood out the most were the bright green eyes, angry and wild.

xoxox xox xoxox

Meanwhile, far away... It had been a while since Haunter started wandering around free and more so lost. His trainer was no longer able to keep a pokemon and her scientist friend had freed him saying "I am not worthy of training you." Haunter felt an immense sadness for his past trainer, but didn't know what to do. He flew away, wishing to get away from the pain.

He had been wandering around aimlessly when he found a tower in Lavender Town, far away from New Island where he was released. The tower felt welcoming so he let himself in, floating inside to the very last floor, which didn't seem to match the others. The final floor of the tower was filled with toys, unlike the lonely darkness of the lower floors. This room did not have the eerie atmosphere that dominated most of the tower, or the multiple layers of dust. It made Haunter wonder if there was someone living there and his silent question was soon answered.

"Ghastly?" Another ghost pokemon arrived, curiously inquiring about the visitor with a surprised and uncertain 'hello?' looking at Haunter shyly.

"Gengar, Gengar?" One more ghost pokemon appeared, this one fully evolved and wanting to know, 'who are you?' asking with a little more confidence than the younger one, though not really challenging.

Haunter replied in pokemon language, which a human would be unable to understand, 'I'm a wild pokemon, I guess...' he wasn't sure what else to call himself. 'My trainer couldn't keep me anymore.' Strange salty water came from his eyes again; he had thought ghosts didn't cry, but he was proven wrong.

The other two ghost pokemon knew Haunter didn't want to go into the details of his past. Ghastly voiced quietly, 'the same thing happened to us.' Their trainers were also unable to keep them, though their fate might not have been as bad as that of Haunter's trainer.

Gengar stepped forward with an offer, feeling that he and his younger brother could identify with this newcomer. 'If you have no place to go, you can stay here with us. We'll play all night and sleep all day until we forget about our worries.'

'Yes, you should stay,' Ghastly encouraged, with a gentle smile different from his kind's usual expression, matching his brother's supportive tone. 'We'll tell each other jokes, if we play and laugh, we won't be sad anymore!'

Haunter agreed and remained in the tower at Lavender Town with his new friends for years, until one day, a boy revived his curiosity for the outside world. Haunter decided to follow the boy at least for a little while. He didn't know why, but even if he was fond of the boy, he wanted a different kind of trainer, a strong young woman. If there really was a reason for this preference and he had forgotten it, there must have also been a good reason to forget about it.

xoxox xox xoxox

At the laboratory in New Island, Delia stared at the creature before her. She was so angry, so frustrated and so very disappointed that she could not say anything, or even show any form of expression. It was as if she had too many emotions and they cancelled each other out leaving Delia with empty despair. "Aayla..."

"Be careful, she bites," Binks took a small camera from his lab coat pocket and filmed Aayla for a few seconds, before turning off the device and returning it to his pocket. "See you later," he walked away, as if he had ceased to live, or perhaps his mind was living elsewhere, in a place where his perception varied greatly from the truth.

Delia finally felt her warm tears run down her face. "It all fell apart," she whispered, then she forced herself to stop and dried her tears. "One last time, if I can't fix this now, it's all over." It would be her last attempt to pick up the pieces. "Luke, Leah, please tell me, where did Han go?"

"The tunnel like leads to the place where the construction is, you know? The people who are like working there, Han like told me about them, but they're not all like traitors to Team Rocket, you know? Some don't like know, what's going on, you know?" Luke sounded exhausted and sad.

"They are planning an attack on New Island, Han said they would do it if they convinced Captain Adoy to cooperate and use his ship," Leah revealed, she didn't care if she was left to die in that cell. She didn't care about anything except stopping that man from staining Han's memory further.

Delia nodded, "thank you," she took her small black cell phone with the red R. Giovanni was somewhere on New Island, in the laboratory, but there was no time to waste looking for him. Besides, Delia had a plan to carry out that he would not approve of. "Giovanni, prepare New Island to defend against a possible attack by sea. Also, you should know that most of the Cinnabar Island construction crew are traitors, but not all of them. I'm going to end this battle now; we'll talk about the future of Team Rocket when I get back." She didn't give him time to reply and she didn't explain herself further before she ended the call and looked at the caged being who was once Aayla. "If it's okay with you, please be my partner for this mission, Aayla. It will be Team Rocket's last mission as a criminal organization or my last mission as a member of Team Rocket."

To be Continued

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 030: Give me Appreciation

No one tried to stop them, though they received odd glances. Delia and Aayla, the latter covered by a big lab coat, too large for her size and a white cloth tugged into it like a hood, made their way out of the laboratory. Aayla was very quiet; the source of her calm being Delia's way of interacting with her, as if nothing was too different in her, as if the situation was the only real issue to deal with and not Aayla's current state. It made her remember who she was and keep a grasp on reality beyond her wild aggressive instincts.

Albeit Delia didn't approve of many of the things Team Rocket was doing lately, she simply could not bring herself to betray them, especially not when they were on the road to improvement with the new purpose of New Island being the study of the legendary Mew through archeology. But many changes still needed to be made for Team Rocket to be acceptable.

Even as she mused over such thoughts, Delia knew her resolve would crumble and she would stay, albeit she firmly opposed Team Rocket's crimes. It would most likely come to Giovanni making her leave if he got tired of her trying to convince him to change Team Rocket, as she intended to do. That was what the future appeared to hold, unless by some twist of fate, destiny dealt in a new card that changed everything and made her reevaluate her position.

Outside, Delia rushed to one of the boats, it would be far too reckless to go for the helicopter, as she had never attempted to pilot any sort of flying vehicle before. However, there was little to crash into out at sea, where sinking was harder than falling. She could manage with one of the little boats and she remembered the general direction of how to get to Cinnabar Island from New Island despite the darkness.

"You don't get sea sick, right?" Delia started up the boat before Aayla could reply; sea sick or not, they had to leave immediately. Besides, the truth was that Delia couldn't picture Aayla getting any kind of motion sickness and was just filling in the silence before it became too eerie.

The little boat sped away from New Island, as someone, Delia didn't have time to see who, was alerted by the noise and loudly called out "stop!" but of course, she didn't stop. She still carried her small glossy black cell phone with the red R, but the device was turned off so that Giovanni wouldn't flood it with calls asking for details about her recent revelation of the impending attack on New Island, her whereabouts and her intentions.

"Lights... lights..." Delia found the switch and the lights of the little white and red motorboat came on, "there, now how do I move faster?" She was mostly guessing at the controls and didn't want to mess up and become stranded, or worse yet, be caught by someone from Team Rocket who would take them back to New Island, preventing her from solving things once and for all in her own way.

Aayla stood from her previous position sitting in the back of the boat and turned a switch on the control panel of the tiny, but high-tech water vessel. The engine roared with more power, carrying them forward much faster than before. Aayla didn't say a word, but Delia knew she wasn't all gone and when people treated her as they normally would have, her old self would surface.

"You know how to drive a boat? If so, by all means be my guest and take us to Cinnabar Island as quickly as possible!" Delia left Aayla to drive; she did very well even in her current condition and was in control of the small vessel, despite the sea having become considerably less gentle than it had been that evening.

The boat rocked back and forth, the engine fighting against the waves, trying its best to move forward and not be overturned. Aayla growled like a wild beast sensing a storm and seconds later, the dark night sky was pierced by the ferocious crash of lightning. The electricity from the sky lit up the area all around them, revealing a larger ship up ahead. The ship had no lights, making good use of the cover of the night.

"Oh no," Delia knew right away that ship was trouble. Regular ships did not follow that route and it felt very unlikely that a cargo or passenger ship would coincidentally get lost and go that much off course precisely at the time when an attack against New Island was expected and with all its lights off no less. It had to be the enemy ship, it was the only explanation. "We're late; they came earlier than I thought. Han must be on that ship, but maybe we can still negotiate peace, tell them Team Rocket will be different... Ah!"

Aayla suddenly picked up Delia wrapping one arm around her waist and throwing her over her shoulder. Aayla jumped off the little boat before a big wave combined with the force of the much larger approaching ship caused the small vessel to overturn. The two women surfaced and Aayla let Delia go, allowing her to instead hold on to her back. Aayla jumped on the hull of the larger ship and climbed up with her claws, with Delia on her back, until they reached the dark deck of the ship. The scratches were superficial and not deep enough to perforate the hull.

Their presence had not gone unnoticed by the crew of the ship that had once been commanded by Captain Adoy and currently followed Han's orders. They were immediately surrounded. Han was indeed there, as the leader of the movement that hoped to take down Team Rocket, he appeared before the two uninvited invaders looking defiant and victorious. "Have you come to surrender yourselves?"

"We came to talk," Delia felt the first few drops of water fall from the heavens as the gray clouds shifted unseen in the endless blackness of the skies. It was as if the world itself feared a terrible outcome was inevitable and had already begun to mourn. "Reconsider what you intend to do, let's not fight. Mistakes were made on both sides and if this goes on there will be a lot of unnecessary sacrifices!"

Han would not listen to reason at this point and it was questionable if he was ever truly willing to listen even when he humored Luke by meeting Delia. All Han wanted now was to annihilate Team Rocket. "Take them prisoner, though I don't think they will be useful as hostages. I have come to understand that Team Rocket would take down one of their own without a second thought."

"This is hopeless..." harsh rain began to pour as Delia felt herself sink back into the despair she had been fighting.

Aayla growled at one of the men that tried to take her prisoner and the man backed away; frightened by her appearance. The look in his face angered Aayla who wildly grabbed his throat, sinking her claws into it and shaking him strongly.

"Aayla, no!" Delia wasn't sure if she should be trying to stop Aayla or those around them. Deciding that she could not deal with everything herself, she let out her pokemon; it was all she could do. She hoped for a miracle like in the past, but this time, there would be none. "Cloyster, Kingler," the heavy rain mixed with her tears, "attack," her voice was barely audible at first, then finally loud and agonized, "blizzard!" The two pokemon made use of the weather, taking advantage of their type. The enemies let out their pokemon as well, but Delia didn't stay long enough to battle beyond a distraction, "Aayla, we're leaving!"

It was hopeless; Aayla was consumed by rage, wildly fighting anyone who approached her, pokemon and human alike. Delia knew she had been foolish to take Aayla along, but she couldn't leave her at the laboratory like a caged beast.

"Aayla!" Delia's pokemon would not be able to battle for much longer being so outnumbered, "I'm sorry, I have to go but I won't abandon you, I'll come back for you. Kingler, Cloyster, follow me!" Delia jumped overboard, followed by her pokemon, who helped her stay afloat in the angry ocean. "Underwater and under the ship, to the other side," Delia took a deep breath and held on to her pokemon. She closed her eyes tightly and focused on holding on to them, until they surfaced on the other side of the ship after what felt like an eternity.

Han ordered his troops to chase Delia, some reluctantly sending their pokemon out to sea despite the raging storm that became stronger by the second. However, they lost track of her when she went underwater. The crew on deck focused on trying to restrain Aayla, who went even madder with rage when anyone attacked her.

With the chaos and thus the crew, focused mostly on the right side of the ship, the left was relatively unprotected. "Cloyster aurora beam, Kingler vice-grip, we're going to sink this ship!" Storm or not, it was better than having them fight a losing battle with Team Rocket, it was for their own good, to stop the fighting, Delia was desperate.

Cloyster shot out his beam towards the hull of the ship and Kingler hit the weakened area hard with his strong claws, the action was continuously repeated until the hull was penetrated and water began to flow inside the ship below deck. This was dangerous, but as things stood, what awaited the crew of the ship in New Island was even more dangerous; Delia had to keep reminding herself of that. Besides, she couldn't leave New Island and those on it exposed to an attack.

"There she is!" One of the enemies called from the deck, right above Delia. The tremor caused by Cloyster and Kingler's attacks did not go unnoticed and they were soon discovered. Unexpectedly a new attack shook the large sinking ship; a strong beam hit it from the front.

In the bright light created by the shining streams of energy and electricity, Delia could clearly see three black ships with red Rs painted on the side approaching to meet the sinking enemy vessel. The ships were slightly smaller then the enemy ship, which served as an additional advantage in speed, though they were still relatively large. The Team Rocket ships were also better armed, with canons powered by pokemon encased in machines that amplified their power for long range attacks, as well as regular weaponry.

"They're here..." Delia had thought Giovanni would prepare New Island to defend against the approaching invasion, but she should have known he would meet the attack head on. "Cloyster, Kingler, let's go towards those ships."

xoxox xox xoxox

"There's someone coming, a person swimming with two pokemon," Petrel, who was in charge of watching the look-out cameras on Team Rocket's leader ship, announced. He had caught sight of two pokemon and a human battling against the rain, wind and waves to get close to the ships.

"What should we do?" Archer asked Giovanni, who was in the control cabin of the ship heading the assault. "Should we attack them?" He held his hands over the controls, ready to target the suspected enemies. Archer was assigned to captain the leader ship, taking orders directly from Giovanni. The other two ships, directed by Proton and Ariana respectively, were to follow the leader ship's strategy.

"No, it's not likely for one of them to approach alone, confirm this person's identity first." Delia was missing, when she was upset she could do crazy things and he knew she was very upset. Giovanni wouldn't put it past her to try to negotiate with the enemy one last time and end up having to make an emergency get away.

"Boss, identity confirmed," Petrel announced, "the person approaching is Delia, with a Cloyster and Kingler."

"Just as I thought, get her on board," Giovanni ordered, not sure if he should be angry at her recklessness or glad that she was alive.

"That's not all," Petrel noticed something unexpected on the monitors; "the enemy ship is sinking! But I don't think it was us."

Archer glanced at the monitor Petrel was pointing out, in a wall filled with many monitors next to the vessel's direction and weaponry controls, behind a large glass window. "The way its tilting is odd, it's as if it has an opening on the lower part of the hull on the left side. I know we didn't hit it in that area, all our attacks have hit the front and deck."

"Delia, it must have been her," Giovanni could think of no other explanation and for a moment his surprise was evident, soon fading into a look of victory. "This battle is as good as won, with their ship sinking, the enemy will try to slip away even in the storm. Don't let them escape this time, capture every last one of them and keep a close watch on their leader."

xoxox xox xoxox

"Cloyster, Kingler, thank you, you can rest now," Delia returned her pokemon to their pokeballs and tried to catch her breath as she was led inside the Rocket leader ship's deck and saw Giovanni. "Their ship is sinking, Aayla is there, she was helping me, we have to get her out, we have to..."

"It's alright," he hugged her tightly, taking her by surprise.

"Giovanni, the ship, the battle," Delia cried, but held on to him, "I'm getting you all wet..."

"It's alright, we won; this battle will end now. You sunk their ship and Team Rocket won." Giovanni led her away from the chaos of the battle to the relative calm of a private cabin below deck. This was the potential he saw in her, he remembered beyond all doubts why it was worth it to be patient with her all that time. She was resourceful and loyal, too emotional sometimes, but none the less he could count on her. "That was... amazing. I don't know how you found out about the attack, the traitors, everything, but it was a big help."

It was a victory for Team Rocket, for the heroes, Delia would like to think, but in truth the present and future were full of uncertainties. Despite it all, a part of her wanted to be proud of the victory and happy to be acknowledged, to be seen as someone amazing and to be appreciated. "You're not disappointed anymore?"

"I should have trusted you more, in the end you were able to do more than I thought any one person could accomplish," Giovanni admitted. "Rest here, I need to keep an eye on things above deck."

"Giovanni, don't forget Aayla, it would be my fault for asking her to go with me if anything happened to her. I promised to go back for her, so please make sure she's safe." Delia insisted, it was for this reason that she had left Luke and Leah in New Island, she didn't want to involve them. Aayla had no relation to Han and she had always been so strong that Delia thought she would be alright. "She looks different, but she's still Aayla, don't show fear or anger, she gets upset when people do."

Giovanni nodded, deciding that the request was easy enough to fulfill, despite the unusual condition. "Alright, I'll tell them to send Aayla to this ship, now dry yourself and get some rest, I'll see you soon." He kissed her quickly and left, he wasn't wrong to think she could go far, he wasn't wrong to expect great potential from the woman who had surprised him so many times.

Delia was turning into who Giovanni pictured her becoming; he thought that victory was proof of it. With the approaching changes to restructure Team Rocket, he needed her to be ready to play a bigger role. When they first landed in New Island earlier that night, he was starting to doubt she would ever be prepared, but perhaps if he believed in her, she would prove to be ready after all.

To be Continued

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