Don't Give Me Diamonds

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 031: Give me Optimism

The storm had begun to subside and the waves in the ocean became gentler, but the sea refused to be completely still, as if conveying the restlessness of those who inhabited New Island. Captain Adoy's ship had sunk to the bottom of the sea, but the captain did not go down with his ship. He was effortlessly taken prisoner when members of Team Rocket boarded the sinking ship to make sure not a single enemy slipped away in the cover of the storm.

It would be very unlikely that they would survive the storm out at sea without a vessel, though with the help of strong water pokemon it was not completely impossible and that was a chance to escape Giovanni would not give them. It was that decision, which did not concern their safety at all, which in the end saved Captain Adoy from drowning. The captain, who did not like confrontations, had his ship taken by force and was being held prisoner aboard the vessel, Han had been desperate.

Captain Adoy knew too much, so he, along with Han's crew, would suffer a similar fate as those in the Tempest Gang in the past, given up to the police for them to employ their resources in keeping them in jail. With his growing political influence, Giovanni could make sure that they, and those who were previously imprisoned from Tempest before, did not get out for many years. It was a simple, effective and not too messy way to get rid of the problematic group, at the same time giving the authorities someone to blame.

The New Island research facilities were not constructed to hold prisoners, with only a few cages available large enough to contain humans. They were made to keep human sized pokemon, albeit those were rare in the laboratory, since the smaller ones were easier to experiment on. However, one of the three Team Rocket ships that had been in the assault was equipped with cages below deck to transport human sized pokemon or larger. Cages were harder to break out of than pokeballs and made it possible to monitor the pokemon constantly. It was in that ship that the prisoners were kept temporarily, in the shores of New Island.

It was still night, but it would not be long before the sun rose in the horizon, signaling the beginning of a new day that was already off to a bad start. Delia had left the ship she was on when they reached New Island and gone to the laboratory to see how her friends were doing. It was hard to tell if Binks was better or worse, he was sleeping when Delia found him, curled up in what had been Aayla's room, hugging a bloody ragged pillow with stains that matched the shades of red and maroon on the walls of the once immaculate white room. Rattata sat at the foot of the bed looking up, waiting patiently and worried for her trainer to wake up.

Shaking her head solemnly, Delia headed back to the door but stopped. She had decided that things had to change and they would. "Binks, wake up!"

He woke up startled at the sudden voice, jerking up suddenly and looking around the room in a panicked daze. "Where am I?" His hair was as messy as before and his clothes were just as dirty, his eyes were far more bloodshot, but also more focused despite the heavy scent of alcohol in his breath.

Delia wished he was only drunk and not insane; it was hard to perceive the smell of liquor above the scent of fresh blood before. Maybe he had been in shock and his mental capabilities gave out temporarily, she certainly hoped it was only temporary. "Binks, are you sane?" It was not a gentle approach, it was indeed a terrible one, but Delia was simply too tired to sugar coat her question.

"I sure hope so," Binks rubbed his temples, feeling his head pounding harshly. "I have a hangover," he admitted, "I'm sorry, did I say something strange? I can't seem to remember anything." He examined his surroundings and asked again even more perplexed than before, with added fear when he woke up enough to realize the bloody walls were not leftover illusions from a nightmare, "where am I?"

"You're in the New Island laboratory," Delia's voice and expression reflected her lack of sleep and exhaustion from pushing herself so much that night. "I'm not sure where to start, but things are going to change, the purpose of this laboratory and many other things," she was simply too tired to think about the specifics at the time. "Why don't you start by getting out of this awful room and cleaning yourself up?"

Binks nodded, examining his own filthy appearance. "Yes, you're right, I badly need a shower." Rattata hopped on the bed wagging her tail, glad to see her trainer was awake and seemingly in a better state than when he fell asleep. "What a bad trainer I am, I'll get you cleaned up too Rattata, I don't want you to get sick." Then he seemed to remember something all of a sudden when the daze of the hangover finally allowed his memories to resurface, which filled his face with alarm, "where's Aayla, she turned into a..." he dared not say monster.

"She's alive," Delia assured, at least that's what she was told, of course, it would be too much to say she was okay. "She's still human despite her appearance and I trust you will do anything you can to get her back to normal."

"Yes, of course," Binks was aware that Delia must have realized his call when she was at Cinnabar Island was a lie. Aayla couldn't speak, not because of having her tonsils removed, but because she had lost the ability due to the mutations and could only growl. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have lied, I was in denial," he was clearly repentant.

"Look to the future, all we want in the end is to rebuild our world and hope has not failed me yet," not completely at least, or maybe hope had died long ago and Delia was only holding on to its ghost in a deeper denial than that which plagued Binks. "Be strong for Aayla," those were Delia's parting words to Binks before she went to see Luke and Leah.

xoxox xox xoxox

The situation reminded Delia of the past, only gloomier. There was a time when Team Rocket had no place to go, they were homeless with their biggest asset being their abundant courage and unbreakable determination, it was the only thing they had to their names back then. Delia remembered the time right before the Viridian Gym was freed from the Tempest Gang to become the new home of Team Rocket. The team had changed infinitely, but there was still hope, as they say, when you hit rock bottom all that is left to do is climb up, they had done so before so why not accomplish it again? Team Rocket would stay on top, never again to fall so low; Delia wanted to make that happen.

She was on the first floor of the laboratory, about to head towards the basement where the cells containing Luke and Leah were, when she saw Giovanni coming in after checking on the prisoners on the ship. He only glanced at her, but that was enough, she hurried to him concerned with how stressed and tired he looked. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, everything has finally settled down," they were both clearly exhausted as he led her out of the laboratory and towards the leader ship where they could rest.

"Where's Aayla?" Delia immediately inquired, "you said she was with the team." Delia had asked about her friend as soon as she saw Giovanni again when they arrived back at New Island and he had told her that Aayla was alright, that she was with the other members of Team Rocket.

Giovanni wasn't fully aware of how much Aayla's appearance had changed, he assumed she might have a few scars maybe, but never guessed she had been mutated that much. He assumed that Aayla had to be somewhere in the sea of black uniforms with red Rs, he never got to see the video Binks took, but if Aayla had accompanied Delia in her reckless mission, then she had to be well enough. None the less, Aayla's whereabouts were a mystery; it was another thing that had to be dealt with later. "I don't know," Giovanni finally admitted.

Disappointment and frustration quickly returned to Delia full force, "you said she was with the team, were you just guessing? You really don't understand; I knew it was a lie, but I wanted so badly to believe you!"

"Delia," he interrupted raising his voice above her upset accusations, then paused as they went onboard the ship anchored at shore and down to the cabin below deck, "I have a lot on my mind right now," he finished in a softer tone, weary rather than annoyed.

Delia nodded, filled with guilt; it was her foolish choice that could have cost Aayla her life for all she knew, but she couldn't throw her anxiety at Giovanni, he had never looked this stressed and tired for as long as she had known him. Everyone was at breaking point if not beyond it, perhaps even the seemingly invincible leader. "I'm sorry, just forget about what I said," the words tasted bitter, she couldn't believe what she was saying. "Right now all that matters is that the crisis has passed and soon everything will be running smoothly again."

"There's a lot to be done," just going over the long list of plans he wasn't sure how he would accomplish threatened to give Giovanni a headache.

"Yes there is, and it will be done, I'm sure it can be accomplished," they were in their cabin at the leader ship, safely behind locked doors, away from the tension of the aftermath of the chaos, "there will be no more traitors in Team Rocket."

No more traitors, if only everyone was that loyal. Outside, the sun shone in the early morning, but instead of waking up as the people of Kanto must have been doing in their homes; Giovanni and Delia were finally going to sleep after being awake for nearly twenty-four hours.

The cabin was slightly more elegant than the rest of the ship, but it was still simple with plain floors, lacking the plush carpets of a truly luxurious cabin. There were no glass chandeliers, fancy entertainment systems or expensive furniture, but there was a soft comfortable bed, with fluffy pillows clothed in the same dark red of the sheets. It was not a color Delia felt like looking at, but it didn't matter, she was thankful she could finally rest.

Delia's slumber was fueled by exhaustion alone, as her thoughts refused to be silent, the grim possibilities of Aayla's fate were still in her mind along with similar pessimism related to Luke, Leah, Binks and Team Rocket in general. She kept subconsciously pushing those thoughts away as they haunted her nightmares.

xoxox xox xoxox

It was mid day when Giovanni woke up; he had a lot of work to do, a lot of trust to test and even more to take away. He would not leave any openings for betrayal; somehow, he would accomplish it, even if it felt as if it was impossible. Perhaps Delia's optimism was what kept everything together after all, along with her uncanny ability to do what needed to be done in the most critical moment.

Delia woke up soon after Giovanni. Her slumber was not restful at all and the images of nightmares were still fresh in her mind. She still felt tired, but she didn't want to go to sleep, even if it seemed impossible, her dreams really were worse than reality. She was clinging to Giovanni so strongly in her unconscious state that he could not get up without waking her.

"You can rest a little more," he finally escaped her tight embrace, which was so much more welcoming than the situation that awaited him, but he knew he had to face, the sooner the better.

"No, I'll get up too, I'm not that tired," her rapid heartbeats and quick words were not due to being energetic, but to the unconscious rush of adrenaline from nightmare induced fear. "There has to be something I can do, I'll help out with anything, I want you to count on me." It was true that they disagreed on many things before, but they were making progress and it all started with Mew. Delia just had to keep finding ways to make the right things appear as the most beneficial path to Giovanni.

Her apparent burst of energy was another of Delia's surprises, "you're energetic for someone who hasn't had any caffeine in over twenty-four hours." Giovanni could use some coffee, the last time he had any was in Cinnabar Island before the volcano attack. He had been a little distracted when the explosion suddenly came, he was thinking, analyzing, while at the same time listening to Delia, wondering how ready she was to play a bigger role in Team Rocket.

His thoughts from that morning were set aside after the crisis began and now was certainly not the time to think of such things. But even he had to admit that this time he would need someone to help him more directly, someone he could rely on, someone that reminded him that nothing was truly impossible, someone he could trust completely.

Delia wondered why Giovanni looked so lost in thought all of a sudden, so analytical and plotting, yet at the same time so human. "Giovanni, did you hear a single word of what I said? Are you sure you don't want to get some more sleep? You never get a lot, but maybe you should this time. I can go take a look around and bring you the full report; I don't want you getting sick from exhaustion." She made herself smile, for a moment forgetting all that she had lost, all that she thought she lost, all that was uncertain, all that was left behind and all that was destroyed. Instead she focused only on what she was thankful to still have. For a moment despite it all, she looked radiant, too good to be true.

Now was really not the time, but for once, he didn't care. He retrieved a small black box from his pocket, he wasn't sure if the time was right back at Cinnabar Island before the attack, the atmosphere had been, but that was not the part that truly mattered. Beyond the walls of the cabin, uncertainty awaited, all the more reason to have at least one certain thing in life, he placed the little box in her hands.

Delia looked at the box curiously. Was it a jewel he meant to give her and forgot about after the volcano was attacked? She knew to expect something fancy and expensive, rare and valuable, she was right, but the contents of the box still surprised her. It was a ring, a beautiful platinum ring with a big diamond on its center.

"Marry me..."

Delia could hear her own heart pounding as time stood still and for a fleeting blissful moment all the bad memories went away, all the negative events were erased and she felt as if they were the only two people in a perfect world. She was about to answer, she was about to accept, but before she could speak, the ship rocked violently.

The noise that came with the sudden movement was loud enough to go through the thick walls of the cabin. Delia gripped the box, closing it in her hand as she struggled to stay on her feet. Before she could even think, she was running out of the cabin after Giovanni, rushing out to see what was happening. Everything descended into chaos from there, it was a massacre.

One of the ships was on fire, sinking slowly into the relatively shallow waters of New Island's coast, the flames near the bottom turned to smoke as they reached the water, but the top of the deck was still ablaze, it was impossible to get in. The explosions had come out of no where and all Team Rocket could do was try to put the fire out. It couldn't have been Han or his allies; they were imprisoned on that very ship.

A chain reaction with the machinery, cannons and fuel supply had been started on the ship carrying the prisoners where Leah, who looked less sane than Binks, was standing at the bow of the ship, motionless with a wicked expression. She was quiet, sweet and polite, but she carried a lot of pressure she did not let out until she finally snapped, she could no longer run away from her problems or keep them bottled up.

Leah had learned a lot from Aayla when they were still friends, becoming a skilled thief with her ability to remain unnoticed. She knew how to pick locks, not that the lock of her cell was particularly hard to pick, since no one would expect pokemon to even try. Leah's suffering began when Han supposedly died, and it only became worse when she found out he was alive. She cursed the man who stained Han's memory and killed him along with all his followers.

To be Continued

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 032: Give Me Freedom

It was daytime, but the room was dark and depressing, all the windows were closed. It didn't matter, the day was dark outside anyway, with heavy rain and gray skies. There was no harsh wind, the world wasn't angry, it was sad. That was all Delia felt; she had no room left for more. She was back at the Viridian Gym, the place she might have once called home, but the word didn't fit it anymore.

Giovanni was busy, his proposal, which she didn't get a chance to answer, had been forgotten for the time being. After Leah's sudden attack everything dissolved into chaos and many lives were lost. The aftermath was finally settling in.

Delia stood from her bed and dug out an envelope from a drawer filled with copies of her favorite pictures. She kept meaning to make an album and never got around to it, she probably never would. The plain white envelope contained pictures of happier times; the first she took out was a picture of Giovanni and herself on the day of the victory party when Madame Boss had visited. She had given Giovanni her resources that time, only because she knew he didn't really need them at that point, then she went away.

The next day a box had been delivered to the gym in the mail, it had no sender address, but it got safely through security and was given to Giovanni. The box contained a glass ornament with a small yellow sticky note that read 'to brat boy from mommy', Delia wondered where it was; Giovanni probably got rid of it. Madame must have sent it to annoy him. The ornament was a glass orb with a strange color changing glow inside it, mounted on a polished but aged metal base. The inscription on the base read 'anima: verus mysterium' which translated to 'soul: true mystery.'

That was a different time filled with wonderful hopes and dreams nothing like Delia's current worries and nightmares. Giovanni was stressed, arranging a cover up and making up for the lost resources, while getting rid of incriminating evidence. All of that affected Delia greatly.

She turned the TV on and changed the channels to display the morning news, where they were talking about the weather. She left the TV on and continued thinking about the disaster, unable to push it out of her mind. The ship carrying the prisoners had been destroyed, the bodies drowned or charred depending on what level of the deck they were kept in. Han and his followers were bad people, Delia had concluded, but they didn't deserve that, they didn't deserve to helplessly die a painful death. Leah died along with them, despite it all, she was still a dear friend to Delia and she would never return.

For all Delia knew, Aayla could be dead as well, drowned probably. She was strong, inhumanly so, but Delia had grown tired of hoping for a miracle, her hope was dead and she no longer held on to its ghost. The deaths of Leah, Han, his allies and captain Adoy were confirmed. Aayla's mutated body had not been found, but that was not enough to make Delia believe she survived. Luke spent the entire ordeal in his cell, curled up into a ball in a corner. He didn't look up at the chaos, noise and alarm, he remained motionless, he was breathing, but inside, he was lifeless.

The weather woman finished her report and the image on the TV changed to the main anchorman of the morning news. He was giving an update about a supposed terrible accident. Delia watched the TV as the man reported, "it has been confirmed that the S.S. Lapras, a cargo ship captained by Windu Adoy, sunk two days ago. The vessel, that normally followed a trade route between Fuchsia City and Cinnabar Island, sunk several miles south of its normal route. It is unknown why the ship was in that location, but a terrorist take over by the same organization that attacked the volcano known as Princess at Cinnabar Island is suspected. It has been determined that the S.S. Lapras sunk due to the harsh storm that assaulted the area on the night when the ship went missing two days ago. The coast guard is making an effort to further investigate and recover the bodies of the crew. Tune in to our evening news for a further update on the situation."

The anchorman made a small pause then continued on with the next report, "in other news, a series of petty robberies have been reported in a small stores and households all over at Cinnabar Island. Peculiarly, only food was stolen, though there has been some minor property damage. Ameda is at Cinnabar Island to bring us more information."

The image changed from the anchorman in the gray suit and blue tie sitting behind an immaculate white desk, to a field reporter. The reporter was a woman in a maroon suit, who shared the same shade of light brown hair and green eyes as the anchorman. She was his younger sister, who was rumored to have been hired by the news channel simply because of her brother's position.

She smiled at the camera, a little too cheerfully to fit the topic of her report. The background showed the main street of Cinnabar Island with stores lining it. Several people stood next to the reporter, waiting to express their worries and lack of trust in the Cinnabar Island police. "Thank you Jango, I am here with-" Delia turned off the TV cutting Ameda off at mid sentence.

The cover up seemed to be going alright. Regardless of how strange it was for a ship belonging to an experienced sailor to sink, it could be attributed to a lack of sailing knowledge on the part of the terrorists. The police wouldn't dig too deeply into that logic and Delia knew it. They wouldn't try to make sense of the state of the sunken ship, if they even bothered to further study how the hull could have been perforated and the deck damaged. Even if the signs of a battle were obvious, it could all be attributed to the situation of the hijacked ship.

The fact that some of the bodies were burned when they were dumped at the site where the S.S. Lapras sank would not be questioned either, it was just an unnecessary complication to add to the restlessness of the already stressed population of Cinnabar Island. It would only make their anxiety spread to Kanto and that was bad publicity. The authorities would come up with an explanation saying there was a fire on deck or something like that. New Island wasn't mentioned at all and Delia didn't expect it to be. That was the real Team Rocket and to them what had happened was only a set back. It was a catastrophe of resources and a strain of influences, but not a true loss as deep as it was for some.

Delia didn't know what kind of fate would befall Luke, he was probably still being held prisoner somewhere. Unless it was decided that due to his proximity to the massacre and his connection with the deceased, he knew too much and the risk of having him talk was too great. Perhaps he was already dead. Yet all Delia could do was try to help Giovanni keep things running smoothly to prevent another betrayal that would lead to tragedy. She had lost too much already and didn't want to lose him too.

"What have I become?" Delia looked in the mirror, she was exhausted despite having slept; her slumber was as restless as ever. Her eyes were red from crying in her sleep and she felt lost in the middle of everything. What could she do? Continue trying to persuade Giovanni to be good while he continued to turn her into someone she disapproved of? He had changed, but no where near as much as she had and she could no longer deny it.

That was how the days passed; Delia was quiet, but effective in her job. She was playing her part, gathering information, reporting suspicious activities and supervising that everything at the Viridian Gym headquarters ran smoothly when Giovanni was busy. She also trained his pokemon so that he may step into the role of gym leader effortlessly whenever he needed to keep up appearances.

Delia felt sick with herself and the situation around her, but she didn't protest. If Giovanni noticed her discomfort at all, he was too occupied to say anything. He had no complaints at least; she was doing her job well. Perhaps he was pleased with her performance, but to her it was only that, a forced act.

It was on one of those mornings after Giovanni had gone off to work, that Delia stayed behind a little longer, fighting with her morning sickness. It was a product of stress, she was sure. She always managed to hide it from him; she didn't want to bother Giovanni when he was so busy. She wanted to be as strong as he expected her to be.

Delia dug through the medicine cabinet in the bathroom, searching for some over-the-counter remedy and came across a little box. It was a pregnancy test she kept on hand just in case. She had never suffered any false alarms before, it's not like she was careless. Except for maybe their Cinnabar Island holiday when she was unprepared. She tossed it back in the bottom of the cabinet and grabbed a bottle of pills she knew were at least good against the flu. She read the label on the back wondering if they would be of any help against her symptoms. She stopped reading, as if something clicked in the back of her mind and counted the days in her head. She set the bottle aside and picked up the box with the pregnancy test again; it couldn't be, not now.

xoxox xox xoxox

Five more days passed and Delia had confirmed her suspicions. The atmosphere at the Viridian Gym was not as tense as in the past week, but still a little heavy. People were getting used to being evaluated more harshly and watched more closely. Soon Team Rocket's new structure would be completely stabilized, then it would be time to leave.

Delia had asked Giovanni about the possibility of Team Rocket ever changing. He told her it would only change to become stronger and she knew what that meant, "I truly wish you the best," was all she could offer as a reply. She didn't argue, she didn't insist, she was facing reality. No more justifying Team Rocket, no more clinging to impossible wishes, it was over.

Delia left after deciding that she couldn't take Team Rocket's criminal ways anymore and she would not even attempt to raise a child in that environment. She took very few things with her. She left her pokemon to Giovanni, he was the gym leader and she had no reason to battle anymore. She took some pictures, precious memories and she took her jewelry box. She didn't take the jewels because of their monetary value, but because of the significance of each diamond and gem within the golden box. Whenever she looked at them she would remember the happy occasion in which she received them. The memory accompanying what would have been her engagement ring was bittersweet, it was a time full of sorrow, but at least he asked, even if it was seemingly forgotten soon after.

She waited until things were stable at Team Rocket, making sure to keep her pregnancy a secret. She couldn't leave until she knew everything would be alright. Or at least, if not alright, things would be how Giovanni intended them to be. Then one night she wrote a letter with a sincere apology for leaving. She assured him she had a good reason to leave, one that she wished he would understand one day, but she didn't elaborate on her reason for leaving. She wrote that she still loved him and wished him the best. In her mind the best would be for him to change the path he chouse to walk and if that did not happen, she at least wished that he would be safe and happy regardless of what he decided to do.

xoxox xox xoxox

Without a real plan, Delia went back to the only place she could think of going: Pallet Town. The following morning Professor Oak found her when he went to check the mail. She was sitting in front of his house having dozed off after a full night of walking to get from Viridian City to Pallet Town. "Delia!"

She woke up at the worried voice, sad that she must have disappointed the professor. "Professor Oak, can I...? Is it okay if...? Can I stay here for a while?" Delia finally pushed the question out in a shaky voice.

"Of course, let's go inside," Professor Oak immediately agreed with gentle concern, "we can have some breakfast and you can tell me what happened."

It was the start of a whole new era in Delia's life. She stayed at Professor Oak's house for some time, until she was able to establish the Pallet House, the only restaurant in Pallet Town. She had decided not to be a pokemon researcher or trainer anymore. She still loved pokemon, but she needed a break from anything that reminded her of the past and cooking had always helped her relax.

Delia was certain that Giovanni must have known where to find her. He had been to Pallet Town before and he knew Professor Oak was like a father to her. It was easy to guess where she would go. He made no effort to find her. Maybe he never forgave her for leaving, maybe he felt betrayed by the only one he thought he could trust, maybe he thought it would be too troublesome to try to keep her around, maybe his trust had been irreparably broken, maybe he just stopped caring, maybe they were better off apart. Delia honestly had no idea what Giovanni could have thought and felt when he read her letter, but in the end he let her go.

xoxox xox xoxox

Even before she gave birth, Delia would refer to her baby as Ash. She wasn't sure where the name came from; perhaps it was because the baby would be born from the ashes of her past life. Or maybe it was because of her wish to be reborn from the ashes and rise above adversity, like in one of the legends about Moltres. She had a feeling it would be a boy, though if it had been a girl, she would have named her Ashley.

Months passed and Delia's little boy was finally born, he came a bit early, at 10:10am on May 22, but he was healthy. When she first saw him after birth, she thought about giving him a more cheerful name than Ash, but she had already grown used to calling him Ash. If anyone asked her where the name came from, Delia simply said she liked the name and thought it sounded cool. She never gave anyone any further explanations and everyone knew not to ask too many questions.

xoxox xox xoxox

Time went on and Delia got used to her new way of life with Ash. It wasn't easy, but she managed to get through life one day at a time and her son always made her smile. When Ash was four years old, Delia received a mysterious letter, which had been sent to Professor Oak. She was at his house when he told her about the letter after taking Ash to play with Gary.

"I didn't know what to think of it at first," Professor Oak admitted. "That envelope with your name on it came inside another envelope addressed to me. Well, it only said Professor Oak, Pallet Town, Kanto. But when it comes to Pallet Town, not much else other than the name of the town and the recipient are needed for the letter to get to the right place," it was a benefit of living in a small town where everyone knew everyone, including the mailman. "There was also a note," Professor Oak showed Delia the note, clearly puzzled by it, wondering if she would be able to make sense of the peculiar correspondence.

Delia held the sealed envelope with her name on one hand and the note for Professor Oak in the other, reading curiously. "Hi, Oak dude, could you like please give this to Delia? I'm like not sure if she's like in Pallet, but I like thought you would like know how to find her, you know? Thanks, man! -Luke." Her eyes went wide in surprise; leave it to Luke to write the same way he spoke. "It's from Luke; it has to be real, who else would write like this?"

"I guess this means you know him?" Professor Oak only knew Binks and Giovanni from Team Rocket, but the team was far from his mind at the time. If Team Rocket wanted anything with Delia, they would have stormed into Pallet Town a long time ago, she wasn't really hiding.

Delia hastily tore the envelope open to see what Luke had written to her. "Luke is a friend from... a long time ago."

Professor Oak didn't inquire about it anymore. He didn't ask about anything beyond what Delia was willing to tell, but he knew the words 'a long time ago' meant Team Rocket. When she first arrived, she would get defensive if he did as much as mention Giovanni's name in a disapproving tone and would go over all his redeeming qualities in response. Though they went they're separate ways, Delia didn't want anyone to criticize Giovanni. Thus Professor Oak concluded that maybe it was best not to bring up the subject unless absolutely necessary. Either way, Delia had done well in handling things despite all that she had gone through, most of which would forever remain unknown to Professor Oak.

Delia silently read the letter and she couldn't help it but to smile at Luke's style of writing. "Hey Delia, I like hope you're well dudette. It's been like forever, but I hope you like get this letter, you know? I guess that if you're like reading this, you like got it. I'm okay, I like apologized to," there was a smudge of messily erased pencil, the outline of the letter G still somewhat visible, "you-know-who, and he like later let me go on missions. The missions are like really hard, but I'm okay, you know? I want to like be like before, you know? Like trusted, you know? Between missions I'm like training this totally awesome Beedrill that I'm like going to give you-you-who as a present. Sorry I can't like visit, you-know-who might get like angry if I do, you know?' There was a big smear following that sentence, as if Luke had started writing something more, changed his mind and erased it all. He ended the letter with, "I like hope you're okay, good luck dudette," and signed his name.

Luke was kept prisoner and later sent on dangerous, possibly suicidal, missions, but he was alive. That was the only letter Delia ever got from her past, and she could not reply to it. Luke had left her no address to reply to, but she was still thankful she had received his letter.

Ever since that fateful night when Delia and Giovanni met in the Cerulean City Pokemon Center, many things happened and many things changed. Delia knew she would never be completely free of her past, but she knew she would treasure it. Perhaps true freedom was not in the ability to forget, but in choosing to remember.

To be Continued

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 033: Give me Mystery

It was October thirty-one and Saffron City was filled with lights, Jack-o-lanterns, pumpkins and various Halloween decorations. Ghastly, Haunter and Gengar predominated as the pokemon featured in the decorations. The sun had set less than an hour ago and the streets were already flooded with people in costumes. Parents took their small children out to collect candy and older kids went together in groups.

Delia wasn't sure how she got herself into that situation, but Gary's mother could be very insistent when she wanted to be. Gary's parents had been invited to a Halloween costume party at a friend's house in Saffron City. They insisted that Delia went as well and took Ash along so that he and Gary may go trick-o-treating together. That was how Delia ended up volunteering to take the boys out to collect candy so that Mr. and Mrs. Oak could stay at the party.

She took in the sweet scent of the cheerful night, made sure her tail was where it should be, adjusted her ears and confirmed that the red jewel on her forehead was still there. Then she took the hands of the two five year old boys to lead them across the street and towards the near by park. Delia had heard there was some kind of city sponsored Halloween event there. "It looks like most of the trick-o-treating is going on at the other side of the park."

"I'll get the most candy!" Gary confidently declared. He was dressed as a Squirtle, matching his parents' costumes. His mother was a Warturtle and his father a Blastoise.

"No, I'll get the most candy!" Ash, who was dressed as a Charmander, immediately responded to the challenge. Ash and Gary had been rivals for as long as they could remember.

The two boys pouted at each other as invisible sparks of determination flew. They looked forward, towards the other side of the park where the lights were the brightest, laughter echoed and music was heard. They tried to shove each other aside, shoulder with shoulder as they glared. Then they started marching more hastily with each step, until they started running.

"Wait up you two!" Delia ran after the boys, she should have known they would run off the second she let them go. She dashed after them, her long curly tail wagging as she ran. Unlike the boys' full costumes, Delia's costume was a relatively simple accessory costume with a cream colored knee length fuzzy dress complete with a tail sewn in place. She had paw shaped boots, a bell collar, a pair of Persian ears, a red ruby on her forehead and feline makeup with a painted nose and whiskers. Her brown hair had grown longer, flowing down her back and framing her face, covering her human ears.

Before they reached the other side of the park, Ash and Gary spotted an older lady sitting by herself in a lonely bench next to a lamppost. She had a closed book on her lap, using it as a solid surface to write a letter with red ink on a floral stationary. The woman didn't appear to be carrying candy, but the boys had nothing to lose by asking her for some. Maybe they could get ahead in the race if it turned out she had some candy hidden somewhere. "Trick or treat!" Ash and Gary called out in unison, holding out their smiley faced pokeball shaped baskets towards the lady on the bench.

As Delia caught up to the boys, she took a quick glance at the letter in red ink. She saw the words 'Miyamoto' and 'Mew' within the context of the letter, but despite her curiosity, she made herself look away. It was rude to read someone's private letter and she didn't want to set a bad example.

The older woman reached into her purse and took out a couple of chocolate bars. She gave one to each of the boys, who smiled and chorused, "thank you!" The night was only starting and they had already obtained one of the better treats on their first attempt.

"Here's one for you young lady," the woman handed Delia a chocolate bar, grinning widely, "I know someone who would really like your costume." The scene brought memories to the woman's mind, though she had not been in costume herself when she put her three year old brat boy in a Charmander costume. It was done mostly for her own amusement many years ago.

Delia froze as she accepted the chocolate. Giovanni had once told her he was born in Saffron City, Madame Boss previously conducted her business in the eastern side of Kanto with a base in Saffron City. Delia didn't think of that when she agreed to attend the party but all the pieces were falling into place. The older lady in front of her happened to look a lot like Madame Boss, Delia finally noticed. She never expected to run into her. Having seen Madame only once before for a few minutes, Delia didn't recognize her immediately. "Thank you," Delia managed to say, pushing out the words to sound as natural as possible, "have a happy Halloween!" Then she rushed away with the two boys who were eager to get to the Halloween party on the other side of the park.

Relatively far from Madame Boss, Delia stood in line with Ash and Gary so the boys could receive their share of candy from the Saffron City mayor. She finally dared to look back across the park and saw the faint silhouette of the enigmatic Madame Boss. It looked like Madame had gone back to her writing.

Delia evened her breaths and willed the rhythm of her heart to settle down. Even if Madame knew who Delia was, she was not going to call Giovanni and he would not go to Saffron looking for her even if Madame called him. A small part of Delia couldn't help it but to wonder if he would like the costume, but she told that part to be quiet and kicked it to the back of her mind.

"Mom, how come you're squishing the chocolate that lady gave you?" Ash brought his mother's attention back to reality with his curious and concerned question. It was a terrible waste of perfectly good chocolate.

"Oops, I was distracted," she examined the chocolate she had squeezed in her hand, at least the wrapping didn't break, "it's still good, here, you can have it," she added the chocolate to Ash's smiling pokeball basket, which clearly made the little boy very happy. Ash gave Gary a victorious look and Gary pouted, but remained determined to win in the end. There was no way Ash would beat him, even with his mother's help. A Squirtle should be able to beat a Charmander in a pokemon battle, so the same should apply to Halloween.

The encounter with Madame Boss on that Halloween night in Saffron City, reminded Delia of the air of mystery the older woman carried. Then the thought of mystery along with the mystifying atmosphere of Halloween and all the legends that the holiday carried, reminded her of a vivid dream she had years ago. Delia wondered if it was more of an out of body experience than an illusion. Even if apparently no more than a few minutes truly passed during the experience, it felt like hours went by. She had disregarded it as her imagination becoming over active due to too much wine and Giovanni didn't remember the events at all.

It happened soon after the first time Delia met Madame Boss at Team Rocket's victory party after things settled down at the Viridian Gym. Back then, Delia and Giovanni were still happily together. Madame had sent her son an unusual gift; it was a glass orb with an odd glowing color changing light within it. It was mounted on a polished but aged metal base and the inscription on the base read 'anima: verus mysterium' which was an ancient language for 'soul: true mystery.'

It was a very old relic that could open the door for the image of a person's soul to visit a world of mystery, but the door would not open for anyone and the image may vary in time. The second Delia read the inscription there had been a bright light and when the glow faded, everything had changed.

xoxox xox xoxox

The surrounding area was full of grass, flowers, plants and trees. It didn't have enough trees to call it a forest, but a forest could be seen in the distance, along with mountains, lakes, rivers and very diverse sceneries. There was a little hut near by with a path full of puddles leading to it. It appeared to had rained recently, though it had already stopped and the sun was shining. The hut was made of wood, branches and twigs tied together with vines, giving it a simple rustic yet cute look. It was akin to a picture in a children's story book.

Delia and Giovanni were very confused, a mere few seconds ago they were in their room at the Viridian Gym. "What is that?" Giovanni pointed at the pokemon in surprise. She was pink with big light blue eyes. He had never seen a creature like that before; he wanted to catch that pokemon.

"Charmander?" Delia curiously looked at the Charmander standing before her, "Giovanni?"

His jaw dropped and his eyes went wide in surprise. "Delia? You're a, a... what are you?"

"You're a Charmander!" Delia exclaimed, then added, "I mean for real this time!" She examined her pink paws and touched her little triangular ears. "I'm not sure what I am," she looked at her reflection in a puddle of water on the path. The image reminded her of one of Professor Oak's sketches from his theories about Mew. "I'm a Mew!"

"The legendary?!" Giovanni didn't know what in the world was going on, but it couldn't be so bad if the legendary Mew was involved. He had never seen a pokemon like that before.

"Daddy, mommy, what's going on?" The little voice belonged to Meowth, who appeared to be puzzled as well. Both of the humans turned pokemon looked at the little Meowth. Despite their changed appearances, he recognized them, probably by scent or instinct. "How come you turned into pokemon? Did you get tired of being humans? I think it's really cool," the small Meowth smiled, he was not alarmed by the situation as the other two were.

"We're pokemon and we're in an unknown place," it all began to sink in for Delia, this had to be related to that light from the glass orb. "Anima: verus mysterium, must be some kind of magic words to turn us into pokemon and teleport us away!"

"I knew you had a big imagination, but that's going too far. Clearly this is some kind of prank from my annoying mother," though he could not explain how she would accomplish such an elaborate trick. "That's not the point," Giovanni paused, his expression was in deep thought, then finally he asked the question that puzzled him so much, "why are you legendary and I'm just a Charmander?"

"Um..." Delia shrugged, she didn't have a real answer so she took a guess, "maybe it's because I call you Charmander all the time?" She thought about the magic words and what they meant. She wasn't too fluent in translating, but she had learned the basics from Professor Oak and those were pretty common words. "Soul: true mystery, maybe Charmander is the pokemon of your soul. I think it fits all things considered. You're stubborn and have a fiery temper, but you can be cunning and strong."

"And you're a legend?" Giovanni didn't remember ever calling Delia Mew. Maybe she was just a rare kind of person; he knew she was unique.

"Maybe?" Delia gave up on overanalyzing things, perhaps pokemon were carefree by nature and it was getting to her.

"I can't take care of things around Team Rocket like this. I can't believe I'm a Charmander, not even a Charmeleon, but a Charmander. I should have been a Charizard or another Mew or something," Giovanni pouted, though his worries seemed to mysteriously fade little by little. "This place is doing something to us, or being in this form is affecting us," he noticed.

"I thought so too, I guess we're adapting to the nature of pokemon. You shouldn't complain about being a Charmander, you look really cute like this. Besides, you don't like pink and if you were a Mew, you would probably be pink," Delia pointed out as she embraced her carefree nature. Professor Oak only had some black and white sketches of what Mew possibly looked like based on ancient stone carvings. He might be surprised if he found out the legendary was pink.

"Alright you have a point, but we still need to do something," Giovanni had no clue of where to start. Everything was strange, but he knew they had to do something fast or they might start thinking too much like pokemon.

"I know what we could do!" Meowth suddenly exclaimed cheerfully and got their hopes up for a fleeting moment, "let's play!"

Giovanni couldn't believe that for a second he actually expected Meowth to miraculously come up with a solution to their odd dilemma. "I really don't think playing will turn us back into humans." He looked at Delia, the legendary Mew, and got an idea. "Delia you're a Mew, use your legendary power to change me back!"

"I'll try," Delia was puzzled as to how her legendary power, if she had any, could possibly be used. "Turn human!" She pointed at Giovanni, picturing his human image in her head. She willed him to change back with her mind, but nothing happened. "I think my move-set is empty."

"I can use the fury swipes!" Little Meowth chirped contently.

"That's very good sweetie," Delia petted Meowth on the head encouragingly, while Giovanni wondered if they would ever be human again.

"Maybe if you train you'll unlock whatever legendary power you have," Giovanni theorized, then the question surfaced of what he could do. He looked away at the empty space down the path, took a deep breath and blew, but nothing except air came out of his mouth. "I can't breathe fire?" He tried again to no avail then looked over his shoulder at the flame burning on his tail. If he hit something with it, that should work as an attack. But he wasn't used to having a tail so he wasn't sure how to make it work. He reached for his tail moving a little to grab it until he was spinning in oddly amusing motions that culminated when he grabbed his tail. He paused from his task of examining the flame curiously as the terrible realization hit him, "did I just chase my tail?"

Delia was rolling with laughter, though Meowth found the action to be normal and soon started spinning in circles chasing his cute curly tail. "Yes you did!" Delia's tail was longer and did not require a lot of chasing to be caught, "it's a little too easy for me."

"Never mind, let's not stay here chasing our tails. Maybe there's someone in that hut over there," Giovanni started walking towards the hut with Delia following after him. Meowth spun in a couple more circles and caught his tail, before following his parents towards the little hut.

They curiously knocked on the door and a Pikachu with light yellow fur and pink cheeks opened it. "Hello, I've never seen you around here before, are you new?"

A pokemon, they should have expected that; maybe there were no humans in that place. "Yes, new," to say the least, Giovanni felt very odd talking to a Pokemon, though perhaps she had been a human too, "are you a human?"

Pikachu tilted her head in puzzlement at the odd and obvious question. "I'm a Pikachu; there are no humans around here."

"We're humans!" Giovanni wasn't sure if anyone would believe him.

"Or we were," Delia corrected.

"Really?" The Pikachu paused, then decided she would believe them. "I once heard a story about a boy who turned into a Squirtle. He's not here anymore; he went back to his world before I moved to this area. Maybe someone in town knows more about it; I'll show you around." The Pikachu looked back inside the hut and called out, "Charmeleon, Eevee, wake up, there are pokemon here who say they used to be human like in the story we heard!" She exited the little hut, then looked back once more with small sparks flying from her pink cheeks as she yelled, "hurry up, this is no time for a nap!" She had a temper, but she soon smiled again and casually adjusted the pink bandanna with yellow stars she had around her neck.

A sleepy looking Charmeleon and Eevee exited the hut and lined up in front of it next to Pikachu. "All present and accounted for ma'am," the Charmeleon announced, though he sounded more teasing than serious as he saluted.

Giovanni had to stop himself from glaring, why did he have to run into a higher evolved pokemon of his same species? The Charmeleon looked strong and it bothered him, especially because he couldn't even breathe fire. Albeit it seemed the Pikachu was the leader of their little group, so perhaps she was the strongest.

The six of them made their way into the neighboring pokemon town among further introductions, curious questions and conversation. It was revealed that only the Charmander and Mew, who were called Giovanni and Delia, had once been human, while Meowth had always been a Meowth. The two younger pokemon of their group, Meowth and Eevee became instant friends.

It was not common to have a name unless there were more than one of the same kind living in the same neighborhood. But for the most part, descriptions characteristics and context were usually enough to identify who one was speaking of. Although from a human's perspective it would be much easier to have a name; humans liked naming things. Even if Pikachu, Charmeleon and Eevee had no names of their own, they had named their group Team Chiray, which meant 'ray of energy'.

The little town, located a short walk away from the hut, was buzzing with activity. Pokemon walked around the central plaza, going from one stall to another, exchanging berries and other things. Visiting such a place where pokemon had formed their own civilization without the interference of humans would be a researcher's dream. It was a nice little town that made the two humans turned pokemon relax a little more and begin to feel less hasty to return to their own world.

To be Continued

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 034: Give me Perseverance

There was a lovely little valley next to the tiny pokemon town, with soft green grass and a few sunflowers scattered here and there. Eevee and Meowth were running around playing in that cute little valley and Giovanni, a Charmander, was running around for a different reason. He had his arms outstretched, as he positioned himself under the moving shadow of the Mew above. "Are you sure you need me to do this?"

Delia paused her chant of "don't let me go, don't let me go," directed at her flight instructor, a Butterfree, and looked down against the teacher's earlier advice. "Yes, I'll feel a lot better if I know you'll be there to catch me when I fall." When, not if, because Delia had a sinking feeling that Butterfree would let her go the second she lowered her guard. Then she would plummet to the ground as if she were a heavy rock pokemon, unlike the soft pink psychic type she was. Soft and breakable, she couldn't help it but to think about that, she didn't feel legendary and powerful at all.

Giovanni continued following the shadow of the Mew above. Shortly after they had entered the town, the Pikachu and the Charmeleon led them to a little pond, off to meet with a strange water pokemon. The town was filled with many kinds of pokemon, some familiar and others rare. What Giovanni wouldn't give to have some pokeballs, though he certainly wouldn't want to accidentally capture himself while handling them. Plus it would feel odd for a pokemon to catch another pokemon.

The pokemon living in the little pond was called Wishcash and he told Delia and Giovanni an interesting tale. The story was about a boy who became a Squirtle and prevented a terrible disaster from befalling their world. According to Wishcash, if they were summoned there for a special purpose, they would return to their world when that purpose had been fulfilled. If not, they should just relax and enjoy their visit. Neither Giovanni nor Delia could think of a reason why they should be in that mysterious world of pokemon and they didn't know where to start searching for it.

"Why don't you train?" Pikachu had suggested. Charmeleon gave the guests a weary smile, as if he had guessed what she would say. "When in doubt, have a battle and you'll feel better," Pikachu elaborated.

"A battle..." that was when Giovanni began to form a theory. Pokemon were power, they existed for the sake of battling, though Delia would differ and say they were friends. That aside, the fact remained that neither he nor Delia knew how to use any kind of pokemon powers, if they even had any. Perhaps that was their purpose, to master the power of pokemon by experiencing it.

Giovanni had thought the only way to wield such a power was by capturing strong pokemon. He unlike others in the past, had no intentions of becoming the sword when he could more effectively be the wielder. But this was different, he had already become a pokemon, not some mutant being product of bad science, he was a seemingly normal Charmander.

"Is that really such a good idea?" Delia noticed that Giovanni had the same analytical look he had when he was plotting something. She hadn't seen him that focused in a while, as if trying to find a way to stretch his limited resources to achieve the impossible. She didn't think it was such a good idea to jump into a fight, though a part of her also wanted to know what it felt like to battle from a pokemon's perspective. It was too bad their other pokemon were left behind inside their pokeballs when whatever mysterious power took them to that world.

"It's a friendly battle, what do you have to lose?" Pikachu encouraged.

"Training first," Giovanni decided, he really didn't want to make a fool of himself because he couldn't even breathe fire. He had a feeling that must be the most mortifying dilemma for a fire pokemon.

"We could go to the dojo!" Pikachu's excitement grew.

"Um... I..." Delia shyly looked at her feet, embarrassed to ask, a Mew should already know how to do this if Professor Oak's theories were correct. Her voice was quiet, but it was enough to cause everyone to look at her, waiting for her to finish, "can I learn to fly?"

Pikachu opened her mouth then closed it again, took on a thoughtful expression and finally replied, "you don't have wings." She too had dreamt of soaring and was happy when a larger pokemon gave her a ride. Charmeleon had thought of evolving into Charizard for her, but Pikachu was opposed to the idea. It would just make the two of them more different, as if they already weren't a very odd couple. In the end, Charmeleon decided he would try to stay as he was.

Wishcash was confined to his little pond and the memory of how he got there became more distant by the day. But he still remembered being helped over by other pokemon so that he could be closer to the town. It was a mission he requested of one of the local rescue teams. Even if he couldn't go around the town with the same ease as those who had paws, he always got all the information about everything that was going on. Pokemon often visited Wishcash to share the latest news and listen to what others had shared before. He floated at the edge of the crystalline pond for a moment, contemplating what words he should say. Finally, Wishcash leapt out, surprising everyone.

Even Meowth and Eevee who had been playing at the pond's edge, oblivious to the conversation, stopped to stare. Wishcash crawled forward, hopping a little, with water sprinkling the grass and dripping off his scales. He smiled, sometimes actions could say in a few seconds what a thousand words could not. If a water pokemon that was primarily a swimmer could manage to get around on land; why not a psychic in the sky?

Pikachu understood and nodded, "I have a friend who can teach you."

That was how Delia ended up getting flying lessons from a Butterfree. It was difficult, but she kept focusing on flying until her psychic powers began to respond a little. She was able to unsteadily float, while Giovanni followed her shadow in the valley below.

Delia was beginning to get the hang of flying, feeling the soft breeze and the warm sun. When she allowed her guard to lower against her better judgment, Butterfree took the opportunity to slip out of Delia's grasp and fly away. "No, don't let me go!" Delia flailed in mid air, waiving her arms, legs and tail wildly as she unwillingly turned upside-down.

"You're doing great!" Butterfree encouraged as she rubbed the soreness off her short paws, Delia had a strong grip.

"I don't want to fall!" Delia continued flailing, her fear growing as she spun around randomly. "Happy thoughts, happy thoughts!" She closed her eyes tightly as she chanted in a shaky voice, hoping she could turn herself right side up and stay in the air. However, happy thoughts alone were not enough to stop her from falling. There was no shiny Clefairy to throw magical dust at her and make her fly like in the fairy tale from when she was a little girl. Delia stopped her midair spins and plummeted to the ground below.

"No!" With a high pitched alarmed shriek, Butterfree dived to rescue her student, but she had gone too far away to give Delia room to spin and get used to her flying abilities. She was not going to reach her on time.

"I got you!" Giovanni tried to position himself to catch Delia, but the sun was in his eyes. Plus from an angle, Delia wasn't falling exactly where her shadow was casted.

Pikachu and Charmeleon, had been watching from the sidelines, while Meowth and Eevee, played. They all joined the mad dash to catch the falling Mew. In their urgent panic, they bumped into each other, tripping on each other's tails and paws, ending up in a pile. Giovanni struggled to break free, rushing out to catch Delia. She fell towards him and he reached out to her. But the second their paws touched, they were both gone.

The ground was far below, much further than it had been during the flight lessons. The pile of multicolored dots on the green valley broke apart and scattered confused. Delia had accidentally teleported Giovanni and herself to the skies above.

"Delia you have to fly!" Giovanni wasn't sure how they got up there, but they were falling fast.

"I can't!" Delia hugged him in midair, closing her eyes and wishing for a miracle.

"Yes, you can!" Giovanni tried to encourage her, "you're a Mew, you're a legend. I know you can do it; you've always surprised me before and come out on top of hard situations. You can do it now too!"

The feeling of invincibility she had experienced before returned to Delia and she was weightless surrounded by a glowing bubble with Giovanni inside it as well. The bubble slowly faded away as they got closer to the ground, landing gently. Pikachu, Charmeleon, Butterfree, Eevee and Meowth gathered around them clapping and cheering.

xoxox xox xoxox

After Delia's flying feat, she rested, while Charmeleon gave Giovanni a few pointers about battle. Giovanni was a great strategist and kept up with Charmeleon in the theory, even proving to be more resourceful than the higher evolved pokemon. "You may be a Charmander, but you're as cunning as a Charizard!" Charmeleon complimented, assuming that Giovanni had plenty of battle experience despite his level of evolution.

Charmeleon was about to ask for a spar when the group was interrupted by a pokemon that looked quite odd to Delia and Giovanni. They had seen that pokemon in town before; he looked like a cross between an angry Growlithe and a Clefairy. The pokemon's body was pink with blue spots. His face carried a constant scowl, albeit he sounded cheerful, his voice not matching his expression at all. The pokemon, Snubbull, looked feminine, but was a male, though males were rare among his kind. "Everyone!" He called out cheerfully, "we heard you were training so we organized a little tournament. You'll come, right?"

"You bet!" Pikachu cheered, jumping with excitement.

"I think this is supposed to be for our guests," Charmeleon pointed out, albeit Pikachu was too happy to hear him.

"We'll take the challenge!" Giovanni proudly announced as if it was a battle between gangs, never mind that he had not even been able to breathe fire yet. Despite his disadvantages, he was sure he could make up for it with skill and experience. It wouldn't be the first time he played the part of a pokemon; he had battled Graveler that way in the past.

xoxox xox xoxox

The grassy fields just outside of the little town were soon filled with pokemon of all kinds. The tournament's participants were instructed to take a leaf or petal from a little handmade basket; there were two of each kind. Snubbull called everyone's attention to the center of the valley around which the pokemon had formed a circle, "the tournament is ready to begin! Everyone who is going to participate should have a leaf or petal. I will randomly select someone from the participants and the pokemon with a matching leaf or petal will be the opponent. The one who loses the battle will be eliminated until only half of the participants are left. We'll choose opponents for the next part of the tournament the same way. The first one to battle will be... one of our guests!"

"Me?" Delia looked left and right automatically, though it was pretty clear Snubbull was pointing at her. She would have to battle eventually and this would be good training, but what were her chances of winning?

She looked at Giovanni, who appeared to be confident, "you can win!"

A few words of encouragement was all it took to make Delia become full of determination, "I'll do my best!"

The pokemon, spectators and competitors watched as Delia handed Snubbull the yellow petal she had taken from the basket. Her opponent would be Bulbasaur. The two combatants stood at the center of the field, with Snubbull standing in the sidelines as the referee. "Ready? Battle!"

Bulbasaur wasted no time, starting things off with a ranged attack: razor leaf. Delia tried to dodge the leaves, but they were too fast and she didn't know what to do to summon that bubble of energy around her she had formed before. Most of the leaves reached her, creating shallow cuts that made her rethink everything about pokemon battles. Yet somehow, she felt herself healing, as if her new small body was far stronger than her human form could ever be.

Delia focused on flying, floating slowly several feet above the ground. She could hear some of the audience chanting "vine whip, vine whip!" She didn't know if they were trying to give Bulbasaur advice or warn her, but she knew what was coming. She wasn't fast at flying yet; she still needed more practice and couldn't avoid the vine whip.

Bulbasaur's vines wrapped around Delia, making it impossible to move her arms. She struggled to break free, but it didn't work so she focused on flying and began to lift the surprised Bulbasaur off the ground. Her tail was free so she lifted it and brought it down in a powerful iron tail. The end of her tail collided harshly with Bulbasaur's head, making the vine whips go limp as the grass pokemon was knocked out.

The crowd cheered and clapped as Snubbull announced Delia to be the first round's winner. For a few minutes she was surrounded by a sea of pokemon congratulating her. Then the beginning of the second round was announced and everyone returned to the sidelines. There was a total of sixteen participants in the tournament, so there were eight rounds in the first part.

There would be a small break between the rounds and Snubbull knew everyone was curious to see the newcomers' battle. His strategy to keep the audience interested was to have their guests' matches at the beginning and end of each part of the tournament. Delia had come out victorious in the first round, moving on to the next part of the tournament along with Charmeleon, Pikachu and Butterfree, the same she had been training with before. They were joined in the victorious circle by Tentacruel, Golem and Blastoise.

It was the eight round and Giovanni's turn to battle against a grass pokemon which was not common in Kanto. The referee had called him Shiftry. It was lucky that he randomly picked the same leaf as a grass type; this match was as good as won. At least that was what Giovanni thought until Snubbull announced the start of the match. Shiftry blew a strong whirlwind with his leaf fans, followed by a storm of razor leaf. Battling as a Charmander was harder than it looked, Giovanni was so small and light he was almost blown away. The razor leaf attack collided with him continuously alternating with whirlwind as he sunk his small claws on the ground and approached his opponent with difficulty.

He could hear Delia telling him to use flame thrower, but nothing came out when he tried to summon the flames. "Hit him with your tail, you can do it!" Delia cheered.

If Giovanni could use the flame on his tail to attack, then his type advantage would help him win. The problem was that Shiftry's wind was so strong, his flame was almost out. Even so, there was no way he would let himself lose, especially not against a grass type. He couldn't breathe fire, but his little claws would just have to be enough. Full of unbreakable determination he moved forward against the wind. Shiftry attempted to back away, throwing a multitude of razor leaves at Giovanni, who dashed forward in spite of that and attacked. He scratched Shiftry until the grass pokemon fell unconscious.

The crowd cheered, once again invading the designated battle arena to congratulate the winner. Minutes later, the excitement calmed down and the spectators dissipated, going off to buy some berries from the Kecleon brothers. By then Shiftry had woken up, though he was still a little light headed. "I lost... You are a fire type, but I thought I had more experience, you didn't need to go easy on me."

"Easy?" Giovanni had slashed away with his little claws as hard as he could. He won the match, but if it came out as going easy he didn't feel so victorious. He wondered if all Charmander felt like that when they started battling and couldn't breathe fire.

Shiftry laughed, "relax, I'm not angry about it, just make sure you keep winning."

xoxox xox xoxox

After the break, the second part of the tournament began and Charmeleon was about to face Golem. The participants were not allowed to see what leaf or petal everyone else drew until they picked one out of the basket themselves. But after that was done, there was no need for secrecy anymore. Thus Delia knew she was set to go against Tentacruel while Giovanni's unfortunate fate was to battle Blastoise.

While Charmeleon and Golem were battling, the tournament was interrupted when the ground began to shake. It was as if a stampede was heading their way, though in truth the ones running in their direction were only four pokemon. One of them was large enough to make the earth tremble in her mad dash.

"Coming through!" Gengar called out as he rushed past Charmeleon and Golem, interrupting their match, followed by Medicham and Ekans.

The cause for all the shaking hurried after them, the pokemon looked like an Onix but she was made of crystal instead of stone. Giovanni stared in disbelief, the surprises never ceased in that world of rare pokemon. Onix was furious, her long body shining in the sunlight like giant diamonds as she attacked random pokemon all around.

"Onix must be stopped!" Blastoise declared and shot a powerful hydro pomp at Onix, which surprisingly had no effect. Tentacruel joined in with more water attacks, but the result was the same.

Onix wildly thrashed about, several pokemon from the tournament audience had been knocked out and would get hurt if they stayed there. "Don't hurt them!" Delia wasn't sure how it happened, but the next thing she knew the world was a whirl of colors for a split second before rearranging itself into a new image. She had teleported again, she was flying and all the other pokemon were flying with her. She wasn't physically touching any of them, but she felt as if she was protecting them in a tight embrace as they floated inside her giant protective bubble.

Only Giovanni and Onix were left on the ground below. Onix was still in a rampage and Giovanni was confused over the sudden disappearance of everyone besides Onix and himself. "Delia?"

'We're up here!' Giovanni heard Delia's voice in his mind. 'I don't know what's going on, but I think I'm getting the hang of my psychic powers. I had to protect all those defenseless pokemon and when I focused on that, this is what happened.'

Giovanni narrowly avoided being crushed by the crystal Onix, 'why did you leave me down here?' He focused on the thoughts, hoping Delia's telepathy would get the message.

It worked as Delia replied, 'because you're not a defenseless pokemon. Sorry, I guess my subconscious can't classify you as helpless even if you kind of are right now. But don't worry, I'll help, I think my powers have awakened now.' Delia focused on Onix, she was heavy and angry. The fact that she wouldn't stay still made it difficult to hold her in place, but Delia managed to do it. 'I got her, try to talk some sense into her. Give her an inspirational speech or something. You're Team Rocket's leader; you're good at stuff like this.'

'This isn't as easy as aggressive negotiations,' Giovanni mused, and Delia probably heard it. It occurred to him that if she mastered her ability to read minds enough to easily summon it at will, taking over the world would be simple. Then he remembered that returning to Team Rocket should mean being human again. He had almost forgotten he was human, he felt as if he had always been a pokemon. The thought of forgetting what he really was unnerved him, While Delia's psychic powers continued holding Onix in place, Giovanni had to allow himself a moment to picture Delia and himself as humans.

He made the blurry image in his mind clear little by little, adding in details from his memories. The picture wasn't quite finished when Delia interrupted, 'what are you doing thinking of something like that at a time like this? Please stop picturing me as a human with Mew ears and a tail and focus on calming Onix! I promise I'll wear them for you when we go home, just don't get distracted.' Her pink face was blushing bright red. It made her wonder how she was going to deal with being able to read Giovanni's thoughts if she kept the ability after the rush of adrenaline wore off.

'That's not it!' Giovanni mentally replied, putting as much of a defensive tone as one could put into an unspoken thought. He focused on the problem at hand, not that there was much he could say to calm Onix when he didn't even know what her problem was. "Why are you attacking us?"

"Shut up you weak little pokemon, you would never understand!" Onix yelled angrily, but there was also pain in her voice.

"I'm not weak!" Weak, what else could a Charmander that didn't breathe fire be called? Determined to prove to everyone that he was strong, Giovanni took a deep breath and concentrated. Finally, he let out a massive explosion of fire in a powerful blast burn attack.

Onix cried in pain. The strong blast of fire, combined with the fatigue of fighting against Delia's psychic hold were enough to knock her out.

Delia landed gently and set down all the other pokemon, who cheered. Amidst the happiness and relief, it was decided that there would be a party to honor their heroes. Most of the pokemon went off to make preparations.

"What about the tournament?" Delia whispered to Giovanni, it would feel odd to communicate telepathically too much.

"It was cancelled, I think," Giovanni whispered back. He should have been relived not to have to face Blastoise in battle, but he was disappointed. Regardless of the odds, he wanted to try; he didn't run away from a challenge.

Blastoise approached looking quite impressed. "Well done! It seems the tournament was cancelled in favor of a celebration. I wasn't sure about battling a Charmander, but your attack was super effective where mine failed, so I know you would have been a worthy opponent. Giovanni was it? It's unusual to have a name unless it's a team name, but I see why you would be remembered. And you are called Delia, right? What you did with your psychic powers was amazing!" Perhaps the reason why everyone let the tournament go so easily in favor of a celebration was because they had a good guess of who would win, so they might as well skip to the party.

To be Continued

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 035: Give me Holidays

After Blastoise and the others left, Giovanni, Delia, Meowth, Pikachu, Charmeleon and Eevee were the only ones left in the valley with the unconscious crystal Onix. Meowth and Eevee were playing tag, chasing each other around Onix, while Charmeleon tried to get them away from her in case she suddenly woke up in a bad mood.

"Is she going to be okay?" Delia asked with genuine concern.

Giovanni curiously approached, if only he had a pokeball, "I wish I could catch her."

The crystal Onix suddenly opened her eyes causing Giovanni to jump back in surprise. Charmeleon picked up Eevee and Meowth, rushing back to the group. Pikachu looked ready to stubbornly hold her ground and Delia hoped for a peaceful resolution.

Onix stared right at Giovanni, her eyes shining with joy, "do you really mean that? Oh how sweet, no pokemon has ever declared his love for me before. I was really upset about the mean things Gengar and his friends said, but I feel much better now. You're not my type, but thanks for the compliment. Sorry about being such a drama queen before. I should be going home now, good bye," Onix left with a big smile on her face.

The crystal Onix disappeared in the distance, leaving the group in open mouthed perplexity with her reaction. Pikachu finally snapped out of it and shot a deadly glare at Giovanni with sparks flying from her pink cheeks. "What was that all about? Isn't Delia your mate?"

Giovanni was shocked with the situation, he wasn't expecting the Onix to wake up and think he was flirting. "That's not it! I didn't mean it like that. I was talking as a human, as a pokemon trainer!"

Both Giovanni and Pikachu demanded in unison, "Delia, say something!"

The sheer strangeness of the situation finally got to Delia and with a big grin she voiced, "something," and burst into a fit of laughter.

"I can't believe you're so calm!" Pikachu pouted, glared and stomped her feet as the electricity around her continued building up.

"Now Pikachu, I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding," Charmeleon tried to talk some sense into his mate, who as a result turned her anger towards him.

"If it were me I would GGRRR!" Pikachu grabbed Charmeleon's neck and shook him, giving him an electric shock on contact.

"It's okay, I know everything is a misunderstanding. Let's just forget about it!" Delia urged, hoping that Pikachu would release Charmeleon before he fainted, though it seemed he was used to her temper.

"Alright, if you say so," Pikachu let Charmeleon go and took a deep breath to calm herself. "We should see what we can do to help get things ready for the party."

That night, there was a celebration in the little pokemon town with music, games and food. It went on late into the night until everyone was exhausted and they fell asleep under the stars.

xoxox xox xoxox

Delia's memories were faint; she didn't remember what happened during the party beyond small glimpses. She didn't remember if that was the last day she spent in that world while time stood still in her own. When she came to, Delia immediately recognized her surroundings; she was in the Viridian City gym with Giovanni. She remembered floating in endless swirls of colors; it had to be a dream.

Among the colors she saw a strange pokemon that looked like a green haired lady in a white ball gown. The feminine pokemon did something and Delia felt as if she was being carried away. "Do not resist, I will guide you home," the pokemon's voice was soothing. Delia closed her eyes and when she opened them again, she was at the Viridian Gym as a human.

She looked at Giovanni and at the strange glass orb, "did something happen just now?"

"You spaced out, are you okay?" Giovanni found it odd; he had never seen Delia with such a blank look before.

"I'm fine, it's nothing, I was just thinking," was it all a dream, or a hallucination? Giovanni didn't seem to remember anything and even for Delia that world inhabited only by pokemon felt like a distant dream.

Gardevoir sealed away Giovanni's memories, sensing that it was best if he did not remember that secret world. The graceful pokemon didn't feel any alarm sensing Delia's aura, so she allowed her to keep a few faint dream-like memories.

xoxox xox xoxox

That time on October thirty-one when Delia saw Madame Boss went without incident. Delia kept expecting something to happen as a consequence of their coincidental meeting. Then November ended and nothing happened, so she decided to forget about it.

The cold of December had settled into Pallet Town with Christmas a mere three days away. Everyone expected the winter to be long that year. It had snowed on the previous night and the streets and yards were covered by the cold white carpet of winter. A chilly breeze blew and Delia wondered if she should pack up the outside tables on her little restaurant for the winter. Surely no one would want to sit outside in the cold and they would be exposed to the elements if she left them out. Maybe she could borrow some pokemon from Professor Oak to help move them the next day.

There was hardly any light left outside as the evening began to give way to the night, but the sun wasn't completely gone yet. The Pallet House, the only restaurant in Pallet Town, was closed for business; no one ever came that late anyway. Rush hour was in the morning when almost everyone in town gathered at the restaurant to have some of Delia's coffee, pancakes, muffins or toast. They talked about what they had done the previous day and what they planned to do that day. It was a small town and the little restaurant had become its unofficial social center. Midday was also busy, but most people had dinner in their own homes, though sometimes they complimented their meals with one of Delia's dishes to go.

Ash was in the living room, standing in front of the TV occasionally mimicking the posture and movements of the trainers on the screen. They were broadcasting a rerun of the latest Indigo League championship. Ash never got tired of watching it, cheering for his favorite pokemon and pretending he was the trainer. He called out to the pokemon on TV as if they could hear him.

In a corner of the living room a medium sized Christmas tree with lush green leaves stood beautifully. It was decorated with a variety of pokemon shaped ornaments, many of which were Electrode and Voltorb. It had a Staryu on top with the jewel on its center blinking on and off at a steady rhythm, along with the multicolored lights all over the tree.

Ash cheered as the speedy Jolteon on TV defeated an Arcanine. One day he would be a pokemon trainer and his pokemon would be even more amazing. Delia smiled watching her five year old son so excited about the pokemon battle, despite having watched it so many times. He probably had each move of every round memorized.

Delia heard the sound of an approaching car, a rarity in Pallet Town. Looking out the window, she saw a black limousine parked next to the leafless tree in front of her house. For a split second her heart skipped a beat and she pictured a happy Christmas reunion. She thought she had stopped imagining such things but she couldn't help it but to wish for a miracle. Even if deep down she knew Giovanni wasn't coming and perhaps it was best that way.

The driver got out of the limousine, his black suit devoid of a red R. He hurried to open the door, extending his hand and bowing as if escorting a queen. A woman's hand came out of the limousine; her nails were long and crimson. She elegantly exited the vehicle, her long hair cascading in dark waves down her back, contrasting with her red coat. Her makeup was perfect and not a single hair was out of place or even gray. Madame Boss looked somehow younger than the last time Delia saw her, probably an effect of aesthetic science.

Madame walked with the elegance of a queen. She left the driver behind to wait as she made her way towards one of the outdoor tables of the little restaurant attached to a tiny house. She sat down, not bothered by the chilly breeze and waited regal and silent. Madame was certain that her presence was known and could not be ignored for long.

Delia didn't know what to do; she couldn't leave Madame Boss outside waiting. Plus she really wanted to know why Madame was there. What if she asked about Ash? Delia glanced at the TV, it was showing the award ceremony of the Indigo League. What if Ash curiously wondered out to see who the late customer was after the show was over? What if Madame said too much?

Delia took a deep breath, threw on her cream colored coat and turned the outdoor lights on before heading outside. The illumination of the light bulb in the wall-less roof over the outdoor tables was dim. But combined with the scarce snow flakes that had began to fall in the background, the scene looked like it came from a postcard. It didn't match the tense atmosphere. At least it was tense for Delia; Madame on the other hand looked rather amused.

Delia approached the table were Madame sat, calm and majestic. She sat down opposite to the older woman and waited for her to speak. "Aren't you going to say anything?" Madame's amusement didn't waver.

"Does Giovanni know you're here?" Delia finally gave in and asked. She immediately mentally scolded herself for asking about him so soon and so directly. Her puzzlement and curiosity had been obvious, accompanied by a hint of hope.

Madame shook her head, "brat boy is busy. I haven't spoken to him in years, but I hear he's doing alright. I must say, I was surprised to see you last October. Were those boys your children?"

"No, they were a friend's children. I was just taking them to get candy," Delia's reply was only half true, but she tried to sound natural. Anyone else might have believed her, but Madame was better informed.

"Are you sure? My sources tell me you have a son. Let me guess, the Charmander, right?" Madame reached into her coat pocket and pulled out an old picture.

At first glance Delia almost thought the picture was of Ash, but it couldn't have been him. The little boy in the image was dressed as a Charmander, but he was holding a classic pumpkin shaped basket. He smiled happily at the camera with a glow of mischief in his eyes. "Is this Giovanni?"

"At the age of three," Madame confirmed, entertained by Delia's expression of amazement. "He was cute, wasn't he? You can keep that picture if you want."

Delia was tempted to refuse, but she could not. Even if Madame tried to take the picture from her hand, Delia knew she wouldn't be able to let it go. "Thank you, but I'm sure this isn't the reason why you came here." The tension had subsided considerably, but Delia still felt uncertain.

Madame went to the point; there was no use in continuing with the small talk, "since I haven't been communicating with brat boy, I didn't know what was happening in his life. When I saw you in Saffron City last October with those boys, I knew something interesting must have happened. To be honest I didn't expect your relationship to last, so seeing you so far away from Viridian City on your own was not surprising. It was that boy dressed as a Charmander that caught my attention. He reminded me too much of my little brat boy, that look in his eyes. I bet he'll be quite temperamental and cunning, unless you manage to keep his Roketto genes under control. Good luck with that," Madame laughed.

Delia remained silent and listened as Madame continued, "to put it simply I became curious and did some research. My sources told me that brat boy had no heir. No one knew anything about him having any children at all. It made everything even more interesting and I continued doing research. I heard you came to Pallet Town around six years ago, which means that if you were pregnant then, the child would be about five and a half by now." She caught the flicker of uncertainty in Delia's face. Madame's expression became similar to Giovanni's cocky grin when he knew he would inevitably win a battle, though her eyes were carefree and relaxed instead of focused and plotting. "That is, assuming he counts halves," she laughed again, her voice ringing clear with amusement and no perceivable malice. "Brat boy would always correct me if I said he was five, grumbling that he was five and a half."

"Was it just curiosity?" Delia inquired, it might seem strange to investigate and not really use the information. Yet Madame appeared to be the type of person to go out of her way just to satisfy a whim.

"You're not confirming or denying anything anymore?" Madame leaned back on the chair and folded her hands on the table, long fingers intertwined. "I suppose there's no use in denying the truth, is there?" Her breath was visible past her crimson lipstick. The temperature had continued to drop as the sun disappeared. "I have no intentions of interfering. Maybe if brat boy would listen to me I would tell him, but if he wants to pretend I don't exist, all I can do is return the favor."

Delia let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding until she saw it. She finally noticed just how cold it had become. "Do you want to come inside?"

"That won't be necessary, I'm leaving soon. I simply wanted to satisfy my curiosity that's all," Delia wasn't sure if she should be relieved or disappointed at Madame's words. All she knew was that the older woman had read her face like a book.

Delia didn't want Ash to be involved with the Roketto family and their dangerous activities. However, Madame was supposedly retired, even if Delia doubted she had retired completely. Besides, regardless of what they had done, what they were doing and what they were planning to do, Giovanni was still Ash's father and Madame was still his grandmother. Delia would not take the first step to go back to Giovanni, but if he returned to her, she knew she wouldn't be able to turn him down.

"I almost forgot," Madame's voice woke Delia from her thoughts before she could resolve her inner conflict. "My spy, I mean, my friend who happens to be a high ranked member of Team Rocket, is out on an important mission overseas. She doesn't know when she will return. Since she won't be there to make snowgasboard for her daughter, she called and asked me to send something in her stead for Christmas."

Delia wasn't even sure what kind of mission it could be, but listened to Madame. She paid close attention to the part about a spy, noticing the contradiction from when Madame mentioned ignoring Giovanni. Nevertheless, Delia was determined not to interfere. She wouldn't run to call Giovanni and reveal the situation immediately as she would have done when she still lived with him. If Madame wanted to annoy Giovanni, she would have to leave her and Ash out of it.

"I never did like the taste of those supermarket gingerbread cookies," Madame continued, casual and relaxed. "I heard you're a good cook, are you a good baker too?"

Delia wanted to ask about the spy, but she remained silent, she wasn't getting involved so she didn't need to know. She wondered if it was the same person mentioned on the suspicious letter Madame had been writing in the park last October, Miyamoto. "I baked some cookies earlier this afternoon, you can have them." Delia got up and started walking towards the door. She stopped and looked back at Madame. It didn't look like she had any intentions of following Delia inside even if she was invited.

The rebroadcast of the Indigo League award ceremony had ended and Ash went to see what his mother was doing in the kitchen. "Can I have a cookie?" Ash gave her his sweetest smile, "please?"

"Just one, these are for a customer," Delia managed to sound natural as she handed Ash a gingerbread Jinx. She finished filling the shiny golden cardboard box adorned with pictures of red and green pokeballs with cookies. She had baked plenty of cookies, so she packed two identical boxes full of gingerbread pokemon. Leaving Ash standing in the kitchen with a now headless Jinx cookie, Delia headed out to give Madame the boxes.

Madame sat unfazed by the cold, perfectly still like a painting. Delia gave her both boxes full of cookies, "for your friend's daughter and for you."

"Very nice, and how much do these lovely boxes of cookies sell for?" Madame inquired with the same calm and amusement she had throughout the entire conversation.

"They're gifts, you don't need to pay me, please take them," Delia insisted. She had began to calm down a little, though the overall situation still made her thoughts race.

"How generous," Madame took a small Rapidash Christmas tree decoration from her red coat's pocket and handed it to Delia. "It's a little old, but brat boy used to like it when he was small. He wanted to catch a pokemon like that and no one could convince him it didn't exist." The Rapidash ornament, unlike the real pokemon, had feathery wings. "I should really be on my way now," Madame picked up the boxes and walked a few steps. Her driver rushed over to meet her, carrying the boxes for her.

Delia held the little Rapidash as a precious treasure. She also had the Charmander picture hidden in her pocket. She would save it and maybe one day show it to Ash, when he was ready. "Thank you," Madame looked back for a moment, sensing the sincerity in Delia's voice. The younger woman smiled, "merry Christmas."

xoxox xox xoxox

After Madame was gone, Delia went back inside and found Ash sitting at the foot of the Christmas tree in the living room. He was enchanted by the blinking lights. "Where should we put this one?" She gave him the winged Rapidash and Ash's face brightened.

"Let's put it up there," he pointed to a branch at the very top of the tree near the Staryu at the peak. Delia picked up her son so he could reach the branch and put the little Rapidash on it. He was small for a five year old and he wouldn't catch up to Gary in height until they were nine. "I'm going to catch a Rapidash with wings, just like that one," Ash proudly declared and Delia couldn't help it but to smile.

Outside, the light snowflakes had turned to big portions of snow falling from the skies. The temperature had continued to drop, but somehow, the small house felt a little warmer.

To be Continued

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 036: Give me Innocence

Standing in front of the Viridian Gym, Delia made herself focus on the present. She had no more time to get lost in her memories. Her son was all grown up and he was expecting her to watch him participate in the Viridian City pokemon battle tournament, she wanted to be there. She wondered if she was unconsciously setting up an escape route for herself. If she had somewhere to be, she wouldn't be able to talk to Giovanni for long, she wouldn't be able to explain things as she should. That was, if he even spoke to her. She thought about putting it off for another day, but if she did that, a day might turn into a year and a year into a decade. Maybe deep down she didn't want real closure.

Delia made her way inside the Viridian Gym; it was not the same building she had lived in before. The underground facilities survived, but the structure above the surface was destroyed a long time ago. The glass doors opened for her automatically, leading her into a little lobby reminiscent of the generic design of Pokemon Center lobbies. The furniture was better than in Pokemon Centers, yet the room didn't seem special in the least, as if the building hid no secrets. Her footsteps echoed on the white tiles as she made her way to another set of glass doors on the opposite side of the lobby; those doors did not open. She could see the gym's spacious battle arena on the other side with two opposing platforms, it was dark and deserted.

"The gym leader isn't battling today, because of the tournament," a young man came through the automatic double doors at the entrance. He made his way towards a single wooden door in a corner of the lobby, between two fake potted plants with forest green plastic leaves. He took a set of keys from his pocket, a mix of silver and copper with a leaf shaped keychain similar to the Earth Badge that could be won at the gym.

The young man was wearing blue jeans and a gray tshirt, he had a few pokeballs attached to his belt. He had no red R anywhere, but Delia guessed right away he must be from Team Rocket. Why else would he be going into the gym with a large set of keys so casually? She could clearly picture him in the black uniform with a red R. The image seemed to fit him perfectly, with that look in his eyes as if he knew more than he let on. He was more focused on finding a specific key among the dozen in the ring than on the unknown lady until she spoke a familiar name, "Luke?" He immediately looked up as if searching for something in her face that looked familiar, "no, you can't be, you're too young to be him," Delia realized.

The young man had the same red hair and blue eyes Luke had, though his haircut was slightly different. His face was an almost exact copy, but unlike Luke, he wasn't tanned. Although Luke's tan was not something he was born with, but rather a color he acquired due to his love for the beach, otherwise he would have looked just like this man. "You're that lady from the picture," he paused, searching for a name in his memories, "Delia?"

"You know me?" This came as a big surprise to Delia, even if the man was too similar to Luke not to be a relative.

"You really are Delia?" He was visibly shocked, "wow, talk about unexpected surprises. My name's Comet, my father, Luke, told me about you and all the things that happened in Team Rocket a long time ago. He used to tell me the story of how Team Rocket defeated the Tempest Gang all the time when I was little. He has a picture of the original Team Rocket together; he told me all about his adventures with them!"

The tension of Delia's mission melted away and she allowed herself this little deviation. She couldn't help it but to smile upon hearing the young man's name, leave it to Luke to name his son something like that. "How is Luke, is he alright? I heard from him many years ago and he was going on some dangerous missions."

"Dad's fine," Comet confirmed, "he's in Johto now, his missions aren't quite as dangerous anymore. He's well known in Team Rocket for his skill in training pokemon. He trains pokemon that belong to other members too, to help the team improve." It seemed that after several years of risking his life, Luke finally managed to earn a true second chance. Delia couldn't help it but to wonder how much Luke really had to do for that.

She thought she understood the choice of keeping Luke around. Perhaps it was more than the benefits of a diligent worker, Luke was a remnant of a distant past. Yet there had to be more to it. "I'm really happy that he's alright." Almost unconsciously they had both sat down on the black leather chairs of the lobby, more elegant and comfortable than what they usually had in Pokemon Centers. "Do you know Binks?"

"Yes, I used to see him often when I was little, but I hardly remember him or anything about my early childhood," Comet replied sadly. "Binks passed away a long time ago. He was a scientist working on New Island, I heard he occasionally had some health problems," schizophrenia, Comet didn't specify. "For the most part he did alright as long as he was busy. He was working with some big shot scientist last thing I heard, Fuji or something like that. There was an accident and something exploded in the lab," Comet left it at that, but it was clear that explosion must have been the end of Binks as far as he knew. "Oh man, I have a really big mouth, I shouldn't be saying so much. Dad used to talk about the old Team Rocket all the time so it's almost like I know you. You'll keep this all a secret, right?"

"Of course," Delia assured, "I don't want you to get into trouble or anything." She held back her curiosity, feeling that it wasn't her place to ask, she didn't want to make Comet feel sad or uncomfortable. She had left long ago, to pick up the pieces of her existence and form a new life.

"Good, I don't want the Boss to get mad at me. I heard it really sucks when he gets mad at someone," Comet laughed with the same carefree attitude that Luke had in the old days. He had probably never gotten in Giovanni's bad side if he could still act so relaxed when speaking of the possibility. Comet had grown up in Team Rocket and gotten used to how things worked at a young age. Yet he had the same good heart as Luke, despite being a loyal Rocket. He could never pass for a real villain; he was just a carefree adventurer like his father.

Comet and Luke were really a lot alike, so much that Delia had no guess about who Comet's mother was. She wanted to ask, but wondered if she should. His mother was probably in Team Rocket; Luke wouldn't have a chance to meet anyone outside of the team if Giovanni had kept him under watch during the time of his dangerous missions. Maybe she was no longer among the living. Out of the five people Delia had met that night many years ago in Cerulean City, only Giovanni and Luke still lived as far as she knew. She wondered how many of the other people she used to know were still there. Archer, Ariana, Proton, Petrel, Ben... what had become of them?

"Do you think I could talk to Giovanni?" So many years had passed that the voice of reason in Delia's head told her it was useless to talk to him. They lived their own lives away from each other. The past was apparently long since left behind, but Delia never truly buried it. She only pushed it to the back of her mind where it waited to resurface at a later date.

Comet looked puzzled; he didn't know what business Delia could have with the boss after so many years. He never thought he would actually meet her. "I could ask if he has a few minutes. The boss has to battle the winner of the tournament today, but that won't be for a while. He might have to give a speech when the tournament starts though."

The small wooden door on the corner of the lobby suddenly opened and there stood a blond woman, a few years older than Comet. She was wearing an outfit similar to nurse Joy, save for the dress being mint green instead of pale pink. "Comet, what are you doing sitting there? I told you to hurry up with the keys when I called. Too many people showed up for the tournament, so they're battling as soon as they sign up to narrow them down. That means that the Pokemon Center is getting plenty of customers and the facilities we set up to treat pokemon at city hall might need to open soon. I need to get some supplies in there, the mayor won't get any votes out of this if his medical staff is lacking resources," she scolded impatiently.

"Oops, sorry Laiki, I just got a bit distracted," Comet smiled sheepishly, exactly like Luke. The mayor of Viridian City had been continuously reelected for years. He had a few important deals with Giovanni, thus it was in Team Rocket's best interest to make sure he stayed in city hall.

"Sorry to have caused a delay," Delia apologized. She noticed that the blond nurse, probably also a member of Team Rocket, was looking at her curiously.

"Hey, isn't this the boss' ex from way long ago?" Laiki asked Comet. Her tone was as if Delia wasn't even there to hear. She pointed at Delia, as if pointing at a picture.

"Is that how everyone here knows me?" Delia didn't expect anyone to recognize her at all.

"Not really," Comet explained, "I know you because of my father and Laiki knows you because she's the resident gossip expert. She must know every detail of everyone's life," he grinned at the pouting nurse.

"You're his ex, for real? I was just kidding about that! And what did you say about a gossip expert? You better shut it, Comet. I know her because my brother, Binks, told me all about the beginnings of Team Rocket," the way they interacted hinted that they had known each other for a long time. Laiki grinned curiously at Delia. "There are only a handful of people in Team Rocket who would know who you are. You're just lucky some of them work here at the gym. Given that, I take it you haven't been around here or else we would have ran into each other sooner. Anyway, my name is Laiki and I'm in charge of keeping the pokemon alive around here. The boss is busy today because of the tournament. I would feel bad if you came all this way to be ignored, so why don't we go to a nice little cafe and talk?"

"Laiki!" Now it was Comet's turn to scold her, "she's not here to share all the secrets of her life with you. Besides, don't you need to set things up at city hall?" He tossed her the keys which she caught. "Just get some grunts to help carry the boxes; I'm taking Delia to see the boss."

Laiki pouted, clearly upset at being excluded, but she knew she had her duties to perform. "Alright, fine, but you better give me the details later. I can't believe I'll miss this. It's like a cheesy soap opera coming true and I won't be there to watch it unfold. I hope the boss doesn't get mad at you for this. If he kicks both of you out without having a chance to talk it's going to be too anti-climatic." Complaining about missing out on the fun, Laiki disappeared through the same door she arrived from, leaving it unlocked.

"Is it really alright for you to take me to Giovanni?" Delia didn't want to get Luke's son into trouble. She was beginning to think more and more about what Giovanni would say if he saw her. Maybe he would just tell her to leave.

"I don't think it'll be like a soap opera," Comet assured. "That's just what Laiki hopes because she really likes them. She always keeps saying that it's never too late to be involved in a juicy scandal. She's always been like that and I don't think she'll ever change."

"Laiki is very different from Binks..." they were practically polar opposites, Delia mused. Laiki was straight forward and confident, while Binks had been shy. They had the same shade of pale blond hair, though Laiki's eyes were a deep green different from Binks' warm brown.

"That's what everyone who ever met them both would say," Comet agreed as he led the way through the little door on the side of the lobby. He made sure to lock it behind them. There was a maze of halls beyond the door, one of them leading to an elevator. The elevator took them to the third and final floor of the redesigned gym.

The atmosphere in the third floor was fancier than in the floors below, with smooth marble flooring and polished black wood doors. Comet stopped in front of one of the doors. It was further apart from the others as the rest, hinting that the room was larger. Delia didn't know if the air-conditioner was colder or if she was feeling colder.

There was something very unfamiliar about that place. It was true that the Viridian Gym was different, having been rebuilt a little over a decade after she left. Delia had never set foot inside the new gym, but that wasn't what felt so unfamiliar about it. It wasn't about the building; it was being in the same place as Giovanni. She remembered their past, but she had forgotten what his presence felt like. She knew he would change in time. The added unfamiliarity of suppressed yet eternally present feelings added to the uncertainty in the atmosphere.

Comet retrieved a small device from his pocket; it was a shiny black cell phone with a red R on top. It was smaller than the cell phone Delia used to have when she was in Team Rocket, and much more flat, about half an inch thick when it was folded. The device held a tiny keyboard instead of just digits, which she would imagine must be a little uncomfortable to use due to its miniature size. Comet didn't type anything though, instead he pressed a button then spoke to the little cell phone, "Boss, if you have a minute, Delia is here to see you."

There was a short silence and Delia assumed Comet had sent a voice message, "should you really say it so directly? I would be shocked if someone suddenly told me Giovanni came to see me." It was something she imagined many times after she went to Pallet Town. Then as Ash grew, she stopped thinking about it and focused on her son. Later, when Ash started his pokemon journey and her life fell into a predictable routine, thoughts of the past surfaced again.

"I guess that would explain the silence," Comet examined the tiny screen; the call had gone through and was active, he was sure of it.

"You mean that wasn't just a message?" Delia tried to picture Giovanni's face upon hearing the news followed by her voice in the background. Would he look surprised, or would he be able to keep a neutral expression as he used to do in most situations? Would he look indifferent or disbelieving? Delia found that she couldn't get a clear image.

"Let her in," after the pause, Giovanni's voice finally came from the little cell phone revealing that it had been set to speaker phone.

Comet quietly opened the door, closing it after Delia was inside and remaining outside. He felt as if Laiki was rubbing off on him, standing there outside the office as if it was of any use. The office was sound proof and sound locked. Even if Laiki was there to put her ear to the door, she wouldn't hear anything. Giving the closed door one last glance, Comet walked away. He was supposed to be on break after completing a successful mission, but he ended up helping set things up for the tournament, moving boxes of supplies here and there.

The random chores reminded Comet of the past. He had been an errand boy for Team Rocket since he was around seven, though he didn't remember much before that. Occasionally, his father would report to the Kanto headquarters in Viridian City and take him along. That was how he met Laiki when she was a rookie pokemon nurse, he had heard about her from Binks before. She treated Team Rocket's pokemon, as well as stolen pokemon that were left in bad shape as a result.

"Good luck," Comet whispered, though there was no one there to hear him. He would tell his father about the chance meeting. He was sure Delia wanted to ask more about him and their friends from the past, but she must have felt she shouldn't. Depending on how things went in the office, maybe Giovanni wouldn't mind too much if Delia took some time to catch up with Luke and the other long time members of Team Rocket she used to know.

Giovanni could always know where Luke went. The tracking chip he carried was never removed even after his long sequence of suicidal missions was successfully completed and his debt was paid. Those missions were not his only payment though. Luke had a small chip attached to his ribcage over his heart; it was a detail that Comet was unaware of. If Luke died during a mission it would be risky to abandon the body and the sooner it was recovered the better. The chip would not only serve as a beacon for Team Rocket's tracking system, but it would detect his heartbeats, thus confirming that he still lived. It also made it impossible to remove it without suspicion, since it had to be close to the heart in order to continuously detect his heartbeats.

A Meowth with several scars and a charm that was cut to a sharp point ran up to Comet and jumped on his shoulder. Her appearance was not his doing, the Meowth was already like that when he got her and it was not due to her previous trainer either. It was because of her life as a wild street pokemon. He received the pokemon from a friend, though he still considered the Meowth to be hers, or perhaps more so a wild pokemon, despite having a pokeball. Comet's first pokemon was a Magikarp his father let him keep as a pet despite being too young to be a legal pokemon trainer. That Magikarp eventually evolved into a strong Gyarados.

Comet petted the Meowth, "where did you run off to? C'mon, we better help keep Laiki's improvised infirmary at city hall well supplied or she'll bite my head off about it later."

xoxox xox xoxox

After so many years had passed, when Giovanni and Delia saw each other again, it almost felt as if they were meeting for the first time. Delia thought she might change her mind about all the things she wanted to say when she finally came face to face with Giovanni, but it was all the opposite. She had to stop herself from shouting the truth too fast and directly without any form of preparation for him.

She had promised Ash she would finally give him the answers he deserved, the things that happened in the past were not his fault and he shouldn't live without knowing of his origin because of it. As for Giovanni, she felt no anger or resentment towards him. Even so she expected to be at least a little upset when she saw him again, but she wasn't.

"Why did you come here?" Giovanni finally broke the silence. At that point he had no more anger or reproach left for her sudden departure so many years ago, though he still kept a strong hidden bitterness. He was puzzled as to why she would suddenly show up.

"I came to talk to you," Delia replied softly, she noticed Persian looking at her curiously. Persian approached and she petted him gently, kneeling beside the pokemon. "Look at how much you've grown and you're fully evolved too!" Delia somehow knew he was the same pokemon from long ago; the little Meowth Giovanni had helped out of the egg she took care of.

Giovanni wouldn't put it past Delia to suddenly show up just to talk. It was something she would do and she didn't seem like the kind of person to change too much over the years. Although he too had forgotten what it was like to be around her, he noticed there was a look of purpose in her eyes. That was his first clue that this wasn't simply a casual visit out of nowhere. "You have something to say, don't you?" He had gone around his large desk, now standing right in front of her, not bothering to hide his curiosity and puzzlement.

Delia took a deep breath, "yes, a lot," she still felt the irresistible need to tell him the whole truth, but tried to find a way to properly phrase it. They sat down on a small couch that was in the corner of the office where Persian often napped while Giovanni was working.

Delia looked conflicted, which puzzled Giovanni further. What could she possibly have to say after so many years that was so important? She thought about starting out slowly, but she was starting to feel his impatience. She was becoming used to his presence again. She would have to cut to the chase, but she would do it step by step. "Do you remember that letter I wrote when I left?"

To be Continued

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 037: Give me Enjoyment

Ash tapped his foot impatiently, the line of people was endless and it was barely moving. How long did it take to fill up an entry form and go inside the arena? Brock had gone off to chase girls a while ago and he still had not returned, not that he was missing anything. The sun was bright and the summer heat could really be felt, the crowds only made it worse.

Eventually the line moved until it was Ash's turn to fill up an entry form. The form was quite simple, it only asked for his name, postal address and a phone number or email address.

"You're not from Viridian City?" The green haired woman at the desk took Ash's entry form and added it to a pile. She kept the forms on two separate groups consisting of those from Viridian City and those from any other place. She didn't bother asking him for ID. Participants could call themselves whatever they wanted, some even entered with the funniest nicknames. If that young man wanted to call himself Ash Ketchum, he could.

"I'm not from this city, but the tournament is supposed to be open to everyone, right?" Ash had not really read the rules. He just saw the prize money, location, date and time; that was all he needed to know. It was after years of attending pokemon tournaments that he learned to take care of making sure he got those details right, instead of simply rushing over to the nearest gathering of trainers as soon as he heard rumors of a tournament. He learned his lesson after being late to an important competition and not being allowed to battle.

It was obvious that not everyone who was entering the tournament was from Viridian City. The crowd was simply too large for a tournament that only included the locals, even if the city had a high population.

Viridian City had expanded greatly in the past few years, though there was still plenty of empty space between it and Pallet Town. It was easier to see the Viridian forest from the window in Ash's room at Delia's house. In most cases, expansions like those came with deforestation, but the mayor took care of making sure the forest surrounding the city expanded along with it. It was a project that was started years ago by the mayor, in anticipation of the expected growth of the population.

As part of the project, many trees were planted along the forest borders extending it. Not only young trees were planted, those were few in comparison to the large trees that were transported there and replanted. Most of the trees originated from the unpopulated area north-east of Viridian City, before reaching Cerulean City. It was as if the city wanted to stay hidden behind the barrier of the forest and the pokemon that lived in it.

"Of course you can enter," the green haired woman confirmed, her brown eyes neutral. She was wearing a lime green business suit. The mayor picked out the color green to be used by those working with the public at the tournament, saying something about 'forest pride.' The bright color of her clothes was nothing like the dark, neutral green of her hair and she didn't like it. She also thought the oversized circular pin with the mayor's face on it was rather unpleasant. It was almost as ridiculous as the leaf shaped label displaying her name, Wendy.

Wendy looked at the young man's companion, a red haired woman, "do you need a form too?" She held one out, but the redhead didn't take it.

"No thanks," Misty replied with a polite smile, "I'm just here to watch."

"Aw, c'mon Misty, you should enter. We'll have double the chances of winning if you do," Ash encouraged her without thinking too much of his words. He had forgotten Misty's earlier reaction to when they talked. She was upset that he seemed to be after the cash prize instead of after the challenge as he usually was. Furthermore, if Misty won, that would also throw Ash's plans out the window. He needed to get his hands on that prize money himself if he was going to use it to get Misty a nicer engagement ring.

Misty's earlier feelings of disappointment resurfaced. She saw in Ash's eyes that he was still hiding something, but she had no clue what. "No, thanks," she voiced more firmly and without a smile.

Ash was not very good at telling when people were upset and more so why they were upset. He was creative, skilled and full of stubborn determination, yet being observant was a characteristic that rarely surfaced outside of battle. He assumed the long wait and the annoying summer heat, along with the noisy crowds were getting to Misty. He knew of no reason why she would be upset. He concluded that she was just cranky and that it wasn't his fault.

"We're having a preliminary elimination round because so many people showed up. Only the best fifty will move on to the tournament. You can think of this as the very beginning of the tournament if you wish. This area is just for the trainers, members of the audience should go through the front entrance. I'm sure the stadium is full by now, good luck finding a seat." Wendy's voice was neutral, bored and with a well hidden hint of annoyance. In contrast, she smiled radiantly; it made the difference between her tone and expression stand out more.

"I guess I'll see you later Misty," Ash was as carefree as ever and excited that he would battle right away.

Misty pouted as she used to do back when Ash was eleven and too young and naive to realize he had upset her. She concluded that some things never changed, then walked away.

"Make sure to cheer for me!" Ash called out as Misty stomped her way past the crowd, "crowds and hot weather really get Misty all temperamental, don't they?" Ash commented to Pikachu, who was more aware of the situation than his trainer.

Ash went inside the battle area in the little stadium. It wasn't as grand as the Indigo Plateau and no where near as large, but it served its purpose. The Viridian stadium was used as a pokemon battle arena, a concert stage, a basketball court or whatever the citizens felt like doing with it. The walls below the climbing rows of crowded benches were filled with windows and posters. The posters reminded everyone thanks to who the new local stadium was constructed, the mayor.

Similar events were held at the Viridian Gym in the past, before the stadium was built. But even after its renovations that included a larger battle arena, it was not constructed to hold too many spectators comfortably. As a result, most people used to gather at the park, where a big screen was set up showing the events taking place at the gym. It was fun, but it wasn't as exciting as when the crowd's cheers could actually be heard by the trainers.

The referee was a man wearing dark green pants and a white and lime green shirt with vertical stripes. He had light brown hair and green eyes in a different shade, intermediary between the shades of green in his pants and shirt. His name was Jango and he used to be an anchorman on the morning news years ago.

He had a younger sister named Ameda, who was a field reporter back when he was still an anchor. Rumors said that she got close to the producer and ultimately stole her brother's position. Thus she replaced him as the main anchor of the morning news. Other rumors theorized that Jango was fired due to his less than flattering remarks about Rune Antilles, the Viridian City mayor. Those remarks addressed Antilles' alleged involvement with the mafia.

To make it worse, Jango's comments were ill-timed as it was dangerously close to elections. Not long after his televised offense, Jango left the news and appeared in many events sponsored by the Viridian City mayor as part of his re-election campaign. Some said it was because the mafia threatened him into retracting from his comments and helping the mayor to prove his trust to the public.

After the mayor's reputation was saved, Jango knew he wouldn't be well received at the news station again. He had departed with a sudden resignation, in no liberty to give further explanations. He decided to make a career out of the job he did while repaying his 'debt'. There were many rumors in Viridian City but no one knew for sure if any of them were true, except maybe Laiki. She made everyone's business her own.

The preliminary battles were one on one. Ash chouse Pikachu and his opponent sent out a Goldeen. As Jango announced the start of the battle, Ash expected the Goldeen to be extraordinary beyond appearances. It reminded him of a surprisingly strong Bellsprout he faced long ago in the Indigo League championship. However, the water pokemon merely flopped around. Her trainer was a rather inexperienced looking teenage boy with dirty blond hair and yellow-green eyes. He had already commanded the Goldeen to use horn attack, but she ignored him.

"Be careful Pikachu," Ash whispered as he scrutinized the Goldeen. He couldn't see what was so special about her.

"Pika," Pikachu nodded, sharing Ash's focus.

Over his years as a pokemon trainer, Ash developed accurate senses to predict his opponents' moves. He could usually assert how powerful a pokemon really was, but with that Goldeen he drew a blank. His old self resurfaced and his patience was tested. His first move would be head on and if it brought consequences, he would make up for it afterwards. At least he would know what he was up against. Even if Goldeen let out a monstrosity of a counter attack, Ash trusted Pikachu to be strong and fast enough to deal with it. Then he could use that information to think of a good strategy, "Pikachu, thundershock!"

Sparks flew from Pikachu's red cheeks as the yellow electric pokemon released a powerful attack, "pikachu!" The attack hit Goldeen easily, instantly knocking her out. Even then, Pikachu stayed on his guard, as did Ash.

"Goldeen is unable to battle, Pikachu is the winner!" Jango announced.

"Return," the boy called Goldeen back into her pokeball and walked away grumbling about weak pokemon. After only a few steps he turned back and addressed Ash, "hey Ash-fan! You want this?"

"Huh?" Ash was astonished, not only by his beyond easy win, but by the boy's question and his way to refer to him as Ash-fan.

"This pokemon, do you want it?" The boy asked again, "I don't have time for a pet. I should have known a pokemon that gets caught so easily with a fishing rod wouldn't be strong. I only caught it for the tournament. I guess I was hoping to get my hands on the cash by a lucky twist of fate. I should have known it was impossible." He tossed the pokeball at Ash, "you keep it, set it free if you don't want it, I'm out of here. There are some pretty good food stalls out there I want to check out."

The boy started walking away so quickly that Ash barely had time to call out, "thanks for the Goldeen," before he disappeared into the crowd outside. Ash was still confused by the situation, but then thought he should have guessed not all those who entered the tournament would be pokemon trainers. With a cash prize on the line, just about anyone would feel motivated to enter; even if they had to catch a pokemon last minute. People were allowed to enter as long as they had at least one pokemon. The rules were tolerant since it wasn't an official Pokemon League tournament.

"That's all for now, you can go to the waiting room. If the place keeps filling up, we might have to extend the preliminary round. You can rest for now," Jango pointed towards a door connected to the arena. It was open and Ash could see a lobby inside with predominant shades of green. The trainers who had gone past the preliminary rounds were inside.

"Can I battle more?" Ash inquired hopefully, he didn't even get a warm up out of his last battle. Maybe next time he would battle a real trainer.

"Suit yourself, but are you sure you want to tire out your pokemon? Unless you have enough to switch your entire team, it's not against the rules to do that between battles." Jango looked at the Pikachu, who appeared to be as energetic as he could get. "Wait a minute I know who you are. You won the Indigo League championship the year before last. I saw it on TV; you're the real Ash! Where were you last year?"

"Yeah, it's me, last year I... um... overslept," Ash sheepishly replied, "I was late and they didn't let me enter," he had been very upset about it. They insisted that they would not bend the rules, not even for the past champion.

Misty had tried to wake Ash, but he had stayed up all night catching up with Ritchie whom he had not seen in years. Ritchie had been absent from the previous tournament in which Ash won. During their reunion he mentioned that seeing Ash on TV made him want to enter the Indigo League again. Ash ended up missing the competition, which Ritchie won, despite looking tired during his first battle. After his victory, Ritchie expressed that he really would have liked to battle Ash in the championship.

"I made a promise!" Ash loudly declared, "I promised Ritchie that I would battle him in this year's Indigo League championship. No matter what, I will not oversleep!" Laughter and amazement surged through the crowd.

"I'm looking forward to that battle!" Jango decided that it would be interesting to see a real champion battle more. "You can battle as long as you want. You can stop any time since you already passed the preliminary round. Show us what you can do!"

"Thanks!" Ash was as excited as he would get as a little boy.

The crowd of spectators began to cheer his name, "Ash! Ash! Ash!" At first people assumed he was just a look-alike fan of Ash. They doubted a champion would participate in a relatively small, non-official tournament.

"Did you hear that?" One of the trainers in the lobby next to the arena looked out the window. Ash was battling trainer after trainer as the crowd cheered his name. "That guy's the real Ash."

"There's no way I could beat him," a different trainer commented.

"Man, this sucks, here I thought I had a shot at the cash," another participant grumbled.

Misty had miraculously found a spot near the front to squeeze into. The man next to her scooted over to make room for the pretty redhead. Misty had thanked him with neutral politeness and sat down. He might have sent her away saying there was no room, if he knew that her boyfriend was the show off in the arena.

xoxox xox xoxox

A while later, Comet arrived at the lobby; he changed and was wearing a lime green waiter uniform. He carried a large tray of cheese and ham appetizers on decorated toothpicks with tiny green ribbons at the end. He set the tray down on the table in the center of the lobby which served as the waiting room. Curious about the commotion, he went out to see what had captured everyone's attention.

Jango was too excited watching a champion in action to notice that many of the participants were leaving. Taking notice of that, Comet quietly snuck over to Jango. The referee announced the end of another match, just before Comet discretely whispered to him, "we're going to run out of trainers for the tournament if this keeps up. Don't you see that a lot of them are leaving because they know they can't win?" The real trainers would stay for the challenge, but those interested only in the prize had no business there anymore.

If the tournament started with less participants than it was planned, it would bring more criticism to the improvised elimination round. To prevent that, Jango stopped Ash's sequential battles. The remaining participants were called into the arena's lobby to wait for the official tournament to begin. Before going to the lobby, Ash looked through the crowd until he spotted a pouting Misty. He waved at her, but she didn't wave back. 'What's her problem?' Ash thought. 'Is the heat, crowd and noise really bothering her this much?'

xoxox xox xoxox

At the lobby, Ash petted Pikachu, "you did really well out there." His main pokemon was only in the first few battles. Ash had learned not to push his luck too much over the years. He had his other pokemon take turns battling. He was still seen as being cocky, but in his way, he was cautious.

Switching pokemon was allowed at any point of the tournament outside of battle. A trainer could change the six pokemon he or she initially started with to prepare for the next round. The committee that organized the event thought that more people would be encouraged to participate if they thought they could create the perfect team to win. Of course, all the other contestants would be trying to do the same.

"Take this time to rest Pikachu. I know those battles were easy, but that wasn't the real tournament. We have to stay on our guard, save your strength for the end." Ash looked at the line of PCs at the lobby and sat down in front of one as soon as it became unoccupied. A lot of people were making last minute changes to their team. Some were even borrowing pokemon from friends, which was not against the rules.

The real trainers were few and most of the people there were only after the prize. Many only kept pokemon as pets and didn't have enough in their collection to keep switching them for each round. Nor did they have truly significant battle experience. However, Ash would have to face those few real trainers eventually and he might get some surprises.

The tournament was advertised mostly in Viridian City, as it was the people of that city who could keep the mayor in office. Nonetheless, it was open to the general public as part of the strategy of showing how great Viridian City's pokemon trainers were. The strategy was to create the illusion that they were being openly compared to the rest of Kanto through the tournament, while making sure Viridian had the best odds to win.

In reality, the advertisement didn't reach too far from Viridian City. Ash heard of the tournament because he was looking for competitions to enter. The crowd, other than the locals, mostly came from Pewter City. Yet the multitude on the street and the new faces, gave the tournament the impression of including all of Kanto.

To be Continued

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 038: Give me Determination

Laiki tightened a bandage around the Nidorina's paw, "there now, you're okay." She didn't understand how the city hall's improvised medical facilities became so full so fast. The Viridian Pokemon Center couldn't be full yet, or even occupied enough to be considered crowded. Those trainers probably thought it was cooler to go to city hall to have their pokemon treated for a change. Or perhaps they were directed there as part of the mayor's campaign. It was all the more work for Laiki, albeit she was supposed to be backing up the Pokemon Center, not turning city hall into its replacement.

Comet entered with his Meowth, Purry, following him a few feet away. She seemed to be embarrassed to be seen with such a ridiculously dressed trainer, in his lime green waiter suit. One thing was for sure, she would not ride on his shoulder like she usually did. "How's it going?" Comet greeted.

Purry considered running off again, but she wanted to stay close enough to her trainer to have easy access to all the areas in the arena. She loved watching battles; it helped her improve by observing the way other pokemon fought. She was a very tough and feisty pokemon. Besides, she would never forgive herself if she missed the ending of the tournament when the Viridian gym leader was scheduled to battle. That would be her chance to see his handsome Persian. Even if Persian wasn't sent out to battle, Purry knew he would be there next to his trainer as always. She would watch him hidden in the shadows as she always did.

The city hall looked as elegant as ever, with its mirror-like perfectly polished floors. The walls were adorned with forest themed wallpaper, which would have looked terribly tacky despite its expense, if not for the lovely glass chandelier overhead. The chandelier saved city hall from being a total eye sore by taking away all the attention that would have otherwise been directed at the leafy wallpaper. 'Forest pride,' that was what the mayor called his decor. It was an effort to win the votes of those who were fans of the Viridian forest. The forest was taken very good care of. Far from doing it as a favor to nature, the reason was mostly because it was a wonderful cover for run away thieves to sneak into their base.

"Busy," Laiki had a nice welcoming expression, but it was obvious she wasn't happy to be kept too busy to have time to snoop around. "How are things out there?"

"Not too great. A lot of the trainers that gathered here did it for the prize money. Most of the real professionals wouldn't be interested in an unofficial tournament not backed by the league, even if it is legal," Comet stood in a corner leaning against the wall near the examination table.

Laiki's next patient was a Voltorb. "There's nothing wrong with this one, he just fainted," she muttered as she tried to resuscitate the pokemon without causing him to explode. "So what's the problem? Is the crowd getting out of hand?" She wished she could see it, it certainly sounded more interesting than what she was currently doing. The injuries coming from battles seen by the public were not a real medical challenge, unlike the critical conditions she was used to treating.

"Not quite," Comet grinned, clearly amused. "You know how they were making the trainers battle to eliminate each other because there were too many? You're not going to believe what this guy did. He certainly made things go faster. It makes me wish I could battle him, too bad I can't enter the competition because I'm stuck delivering snacks."

"Voltorb! Voltorb!" The patient was finally awake and not in a good mood.

"Return!" Laiki called the Voltorb, back into his pokeball. It was her way to deal with stubborn pokemon when she would rather occupy herself with something else. "Well, are you going to tell me what this mysterious trainer you speak of did?"

Comet petted his Meowth, who hissed in response. She rarely allowed anyone to pet her, scratching at whoever tried. Comet was an exception, but not while he was wearing lime green. She ran off to the other side of the room and sat proudly in a corner. Comet looked down at his clothes, "only the boss can wear such bright colors without being hated."

"Even if we forgive orange, I doubt anyone would overlook lime green for too long. Besides, he's been dressing better lately," Laiki commented. "You're doing it on purpose, aren't you?" She pouted indignantly, "keeping me in suspense like this. C'mon, tell me, who is the trainer you spoke of? What did he do?"

Comet grinned, "Ash," he announced, "the Indigo League champion of the year before last." The man who Comet did not know was Delia's son. He only knew her by her first name from his father's stories. "The same one everyone is expecting to see facing off against last year's winner in this year's championship."

"No way, now that's news!" Laiki cheered excitedly, "tell me more, I must know!" Theories about the boss secretly having a descendant somewhere in the world were not unheard of. But every time the theories surfaced the stories eventually faded into nothing. This time, not even Laiki was expecting it.

xoxox xox xoxox

At Giovanni's office at the Viridian Gym, Delia had fallen into a monologue. After bringing up the topic of the letter she left before her departure from Team Rocket, she recounted various events from the past. She added in all the thoughts she didn't voice and perhaps didn't fully realize at those times. She had set her mind to revealing everything, but she couldn't find the balance between being too direct and going in circles.

The phone rang, putting an end to Giovanni's already drying patience, "I have to take that call."

"I understand," Delia did not complain and instead grew silent. She remained frozen in place, save for the motions of petting Persian on her lap. She reasoned that if Giovanni wanted her to leave, he would have said so. Besides, back when her abundant knowledge about Team Rocket had been recent, he never made the effort to find her, not even for the sake of ensuring her silence. He knew she would never speak against him.

Giovanni recognized the caller's number as coming directly from the mayor's office. He answered, knowing full well that even if mayor Rune Antilles was quite useful, he could be too much of a worrier at times.

"Giovanni, we have a problem!" The mayor's voice came from the receiver as soon as he heard the ringing stop, even before Giovanni could speak. "There's this young man who scared off some of the trainers. They say he has really strong pokemon and walks around with a ferocious Pikachu on his back!" As he listened to Rune, Giovanni tried to imagine the ferocious Pikachu. The gym leader found he could not; some pokemon were too cute to look ferocious, despite their power.

"He's not from Viridian City," the mayor continued with great concern, "he's from Pallet Town or something like that. Do you happen to know where that is?" Mayor Antilles was a man of high society and politics, though he was far from being a rich extremist. He did not think of an excursion to a 'peasant town' as a novelty. He simply did not know where on the map the little town was located because he had no business with it.

"Pallet Town is south from Viridian City, but why does it matter? A few decent competitors had to show up, that doesn't sound like a problem at all," Giovanni had taken a quick look out the window at the crowded streets below before Delia arrived. The city was infested with amateurs that called themselves trainers, he could tell just by looking.

"You'll take care of him won't you?" Rune insisted in a worried voice, "don't forget our plan. If someone from Viridian City wins the tournament, that trainer will win all the way in the extra battle against you. If someone from out of the city wins, even if they get the prize money, they will not get the glory. It will be up to you as the gym leader to avenge our proud city!"

"I'll win no matter what, just like I told you," regardless of if the trainer was from Viridian City or not, Giovanni would not allow himself to be defeated.

"But what about-" before Rune could finish, Giovanni ended the call and silence once again invaded his office.

"Is everything okay?" Delia felt the need to say something, before the atmosphere became too heavy with accumulating silence. In reality not more than a few seconds of quiet had passed.

"Yes, it's just Rune worrying about someone from Pallet Town with a ferocious Pikachu," clearly, Giovanni thought the mayor's worries were ridiculous and exaggerated. The mention of the little town brought up a question, "do you live in Pallet Town?"

Delia took a moment to reply, she had been a little distracted thinking that the trainer from Pallet Town who had the ferocious Pikachu had to be Ash. However, his Pikachu was absolutely adorable. The only ferocious thing about him was his appetite for her pancakes. "Yes, I do, I've lived in Pallet Town for many years," so far Delia had discussed the past, but had not spoken of the present. "In fact, I have a little restaurant there, you can't miss it; it's the only restaurant in town. What I mean is, maybe you should drop by sometime."

"Is that why you came here?" Giovanni sat beside Delia again, he was finished waiting. "You looked like you had something important to say. Your voice reminded me of when you were about to tell me a vital piece of information I never would have guessed you could obtain."

That wasn't the case; this was information that was impossible for her to not know. After all, no woman can give birth and not notice. "Do you like to watch the Indigo League championships on TV?" She finally found a strategy. Before telling him about Ash's identity, she would tell him just how great Ash was.

"Delia, just say what you were going to say," Giovanni insisted. As curious and surprised as he was due to her sudden visit, his patience had run dry listening to her stories of the past. He thought he would have figured out what this visit was about by then, even if she didn't say anything directly.

"This is what I was going to say, it's important, the truth is-" the phone rang again, cutting off Delia's sentence. She remained quiet as Giovanni went to answer the phone. She wanted his full attention when she explained everything. She would wait until he was done talking, rather than rush her explanation or share him with the phone. He could follow both voices, she knew that. But with news such as the kind she brought, his train of thought might come to a full halt when he heard, or perhaps speedily derail. As long as he had some sort of reaction that was not indifference, Delia would be satisfied. Anger, regret, happiness, disbelief, any emotion would do, it was uncaring indifference that she feared.

The conversation on the phone went in a similar way to last time. Mayor Antilles' speedy worried rambles came from the receiver as soon as Giovanni picked it up, before he could even speak. "We have less than fifty participants. A few of them have been identified as being very good, but mostly they are beginners. The good ones keep their battles quick because of the power difference in comparison to their opponents. Add to that the fact that so many trainers dropped out and the tournament will be cut short. We are ahead of schedule, but in a bad way! Even if we had too many participants before that troublesome man with the ferocious Pikachu showed up, now we don't have enough. We're taking late entries, but if worse comes to worse, I'll need your personnel out there to fill in the spots."

"Which is what I said should be done from the beginning," Giovanni reminded, he didn't share the abundant concern the mayor had about his 'personnel' being discovered.

"Yes, yes, but who would have thought he would show up, do you know who he is?" Mayor Antilles didn't give Giovanni the chance to answer before he revealed the young man's identity, though not by name, "he's the Indigo League champion from two years ago!"

Giovanni looked pleased with the news; he was looking forward to a challenge. He had no real battles in a long time. Badges were still given away now and then simply because that was his duty as a gym leader. He had to fulfill it to keep his position, but those were not real battles to him. "Good, I'm looking forward to that battle," Giovanni hung up in a slightly better mood than before.

"I take it you received news of a worthy opponent?" Delia voiced as naturally as she could. She had been very close to revealing everything before the interruption and she intended to pick up where she left off as soon as she recovered his attention.

"Yes, the Indigo League champion from two years ago is here, according to the mayor," Giovanni observed Delia's expression, she was a little surprised for a split second, then took on a knowing look. It was as if she had heard exactly what she wanted to hear. He remembered how Delia always found ways to surprise him and somehow ended up knowing far more than he expected. "You asked me if I watched the Indigo League championships on TV and it turns out the champion from two years ago is here. I take it this is not a coincidence."

"Do you know who he is?" Finally the conversation seemed to be advancing, which pleased Delia.

"No, I didn't watch the championship, I was busy. But if he's from Pallet Town then you must know him. Everyone still knows everyone there, right?" Whatever puzzle was awaiting; it had to be solved soon.

"Yes, I do know him," Delia smiled filled with thoughts of her son, their son. "It was many years ago when he was ten, nearly eleven really. That was when Ash started his pokemon journey from Pallet Town. He traveled to many places, met many people and had many adventures. He's come very far since then. You wouldn't remember him; you never battled him for a badge and I doubt you ever met."

During the time of Ash's first journey there were several small gyms that gave out badges aside from the main eight gyms of Kanto. Because of that, Giovanni wasn't surprised to hear someone had made it to the Indigo League without ever battling him.

"He does have an Earth badge though," Delia added, observing Giovanni's expression. She still had his attention and interest, he was puzzled and curious. "You weren't here during that time, he battled someone else to obtain the Earth badge," Jessie and James to be specific, but there was no need to associate their names with Team Rocket anymore. They had retired from the team a few years ago, or rather they were fired. Both of them were good people after getting to know them as friends rather than criminals. Delia certainly knew how to make them behave with the promise of food. Jessie, James and their talking Meowth were big fans of her cooking.

"So his name is Ash and he has an Earth badge, which he obtained while I was away," it wasn't rare that Giovanni had to delegate his gym leader duties, thus he didn't look too deeply into that detail. He didn't realize the mysterious Ash was involved in the incident that ended up leaving the gym in ruins. He didn't know anything about Ash's involvement in the Mewtwo case and he didn't remember Mewtwo. Giovanni's memories about the legendary pokemon were locked away and he was convinced the cloning experiment had been a complete failure. "He's from Pallet Town and he has a Pikachu," Giovanni finished listing the facts he knew so far, "all of this is somehow linked to something you came to say?"

"Yes, it concerns both of us-" again Delia's voice was interrupted by the phone, but that time her expression was annoyed. Her face lacked the patience she practiced the last two times.

She sighed as Giovanni went to pick up the phone. He spoke before Rune's worrisome rambles came, "what is it now, Antilles?"

"Goodness, are you angry? I suppose the seriousness of the situation finally sunk in. I'll be shooting myself in the foot if this tournament puts Viridian City below the level of some small town in the middle of nowhere," the mayor dramatized, "if it comes to that, you must win and avenge Viridian City!"

"You said that already and I told you that no matter what, I'll win the battle. If you don't have anything else to say, stop calling, I'm busy." Whatever mystery Delia held, it had build up to the point where it would endlessly bother Giovanni if he didn't solve it. It couldn't be anything urgent, if it was, Delia would have said it already without worrying about the phrasing, unless she was unsure if she should say it. Either way, he wanted to know what was important enough to make her show up at the gym after a very long absence. He told himself he shouldn't care, but the mystery kept nagging at him to be uncovered.

"What about the speech? We're starting the tournament and you're supposed to give a speech too. I'll start with my speech. It won't last more than ten minutes, so please get ready. We need to start the tournament before more people leave!" Mayor Antilles was clearly stressed.

"I'm on my way," Giovanni didn't wait for a reply before ending the call. He looked at Delia, who was giving him the very same look she gave him many years ago. It was the expression she had when she used to say she missed him, even if they lived together.

"I know, you have to go, but it's alright, because I want you to see for yourself what I was trying to tell you. I want you to know what I mean," her words didn't make too much sense to him. The only clue was the young man who had won the Indigo League championship in the past. "If you face him in battle, you'll learn more than what I could tell you, that's just how it is for two great trainers." She got up and started walking towards the office door, "I hope there's enough room for one more in the crowd."

"Wait, why don't you just tell me now? What were you going to say after you came all this way?" The mystery was really annoying Giovanni.

Delia smiled, "it's nice that you're interested in knowing, even if you don't know why you should be."

He didn't inquire further, if that was how she wanted it to be, then he would figure things out on his own. Nonetheless, he would make sure she stayed long enough to clarify his theories, whenever he came up with them. "You won't be able to find a seat now, unless you have a VIP pass."

xoxox xox xoxox

At the main entrance of the Viridian Stadium, Brock grimaced about his horrible luck. The girl from the ice-cream cart down the street was very nice to him and flirted with him for a while. He helped her take care of business, selling snow cones and popsicles of an assortment of flavors and various frozen treats. Eventually, she sold everything in her cart and left.

Brock asked for her number, email, or any means to contact her. She replied that her boyfriend might not like it if another man called her. Heartbroken, Brock rushed to the stadium realizing at last just how much time had passed. He was out of luck in more ways than one, as the stadium was full and Wendy wasn't allowing anyone else in.

He decided that at least he would keep her company guarding the front gates. Then a tall man with dark hair and a mean glare, wearing a similar lime green suit arrived. The man growled, "is this guy bothering you?"

"Not at all," Wendy grinned, "Brock, was it? This is my husband."

Brock's jaw dropped, he was having really bad luck that day, "um... nice to meet you." Before the dangerous looking man could reply, Brock ran away in depressed embarrassment.

From a safe distance, Brock looked back at the Viridian Stadium and sighed. If he didn't get married soon, he feared he never would. Everyone was either dating, engaged or already married. Soon Ash would be married too whenever he got around to propose.

He wondered the streets passing in front of the city hall on his way to the Pokemon Center. He wanted to find a quiet spot to sit and wait. He had come to terms with the reality that he would miss the tournament. He couldn't even flirt with Jenny or Joy because they were both married. Each of them had a baby girl identical to the mother.

He noticed people going in and out of city hall quite freely and wondered in. The large lobby at the entrance had been transformed into a medical facility and there was a pretty blond nurse. She was talking to a red haired young man.

The man began to leave, saying something about getting back to work. As he passed by, he stopped and looked at the depressed Brock, "are you okay?"

Brock looked absolutely agonized, "is she your girlfriend?"

Comet gave him an odd look, "of course not!"

Laiki threw her head back in laughter, "he's more like a brother to me," though they were not biologically related.

Brock's face brightened so much that Comet backed away, startled by the sudden change of expression. "Do you need help with anything?" Brock dashed over to Laiki, "by the way, my name's Brock, I'm a pokemon breeder. What's your name?"

Feeling ignored, Comet decided to continue on his way with Purry, following him. The Meowth still refused to be carried down the busy streets while her trainer was dressed in a lime green waiter suit. Comet decided not to meddle. Surely Laiki wouldn't lead on that poor desperate guy too much. She already had two boyfriends, one in Johto and another in the Orange Islands. Then again, she might want to have a Kanto boyfriend. Comet shook his head and kept walking; it was none of his business anyway.

To be Continued

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 039: Give me Peace

There was a balcony in a tower above the climbing rows of benches in the circular white stone structure of the Viridian Stadium. The balcony consisted of a square platform suspended on two tall columns, positioned in the north-west and south-east corners of it. It had a stone railing around it and four thinner columns, one on each corner, supporting a triangular roof over it.

Behind the balcony there was a little bridge that led to another tall structure. The structure was made of four roman style columns and walls covering the little tower completely, that was were the elevator was. If the Viridian Stadium was an ancient coliseum, the royals would sit at the balcony and watch the gladiators battle below. That was the VIP area from where the mayor, the gym leader and the surprise guest would watch the tournament.

As Giovanni gave his speech, playing the part of the noble gym leader admirably, Ash stared up at the balcony with open mouthed, wide eyed shock. Delia bit her lip and forced herself not to look away. She had allowed this to happen. Did Ash recognize Giovanni from the picture?

In truth, as Ash stared up, the gym leader was far from his mind. He was in fact staring at his mother, wondering what in the world she was doing up there.

For a split second during his speech, Giovanni looked directly at Ash. The young man must know Delia, since he was staring right at her. At that same moment, Ash glanced at the gym leader and felt as if the leader was looking right at him, examining his face closely. By then Ash had managed to close his mouth and compose himself, just in time for the end of Giovanni's speech. There was something familiar about the gym leader, but Ash couldn't quite put his finger on it.

It shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that the Viridian gym leader, Giovanni, looked familiar. Ash had never battled him, but he was a gym leader. It was possible his picture had been printed somewhere. A picture, that sounded right, but Ash couldn't remember where he saw Giovanni's picture. He assumed it must have been on TV, a magazine or a Pokemon League brochure. He didn't think too much of it beyond that.

The participants who had gathered in the center of the arena to listen to the speech were ushered back into the lobby to wait their turn to battle. Ash remembered to search for Misty in the crowd. He spotted her near the front looking uncomfortable by the limited space available to her on the full bench. She was looking between him and the balcony. Misty had definitely noticed Ash's mother up there and must also be wondering why she was there.

Brock was nowhere to be found and neither Ash, nor Misty, nor Delia knew where he was. They all assumed he was somewhere in the crowd. It would be impossible to reach him on his cell phone; he wouldn't hear it with the noise of the crowd cheering for the gym leader. In contrast, the mayor's speech seemed to put them to sleep before.

Mayor Rune Antilles had been reelected over and over for years. However, Rune was certain that Giovanni held the real political power and he was a mere subordinate to serve as a figurehead at city hall. Giovanni was far too busy to be gym leader and mayor at the same time. Rune was well aware of where he stood, though he still tried to win the voters' favor for himself. Yet he knew he would never gain the amount of support the gym leader had.

xoxox xox xoxox

Time passed and Ash sat impatiently at the lobby, waiting to be called out to battle. More trainers were eliminated with each round, but Ash had not been called out yet. He had a good view of the action from the lobby's glass windows. The battles were mostly not what he was used to. He attributed it to this being an unofficial tournament.

"Prepare for trouble!" Ash heard a familiar voice right behind him.

"Make it double!" He recognized the second voice as well.

He turned around to see Jessie and James, "are you two going to greet me with your motto every time?" They were not in Team Rocket anymore. Their mysterious boss, Ash had no clue who he was, had fired them a few years ago. Ash remembered the story his mother told him about when Jessie and James went to Pallet Town.

xoxox xox xoxox

With a plentiful criminal record, it became difficult for Jessie and James to get jobs. Without Team Rocket to take them in anymore, it was a challenge to survive. Delia found them one day in her kitchen along with their talking Meowth. They had lost track of Ash, whom they blamed for getting fired, and decided to go to Pallet Town. They planned to find Ash or at least steal Professor Oak's pokemon. In the end, the scent of Delia's food was more tempting than any other robbery. Sneaking into the kitchen was easy, but stealing was unsuccessful as they were attacked by a Mr. Mime.

The pokemon desisted when his trainer appeared, "it's okay Mimey, these people are my guests."

"Mr. Mime!" The pokemon nodded and cheerfully went about his duties of cleaning the house.

"Have a seat, I've made lots of food today, do you like curry?" Delia had asked with a smile.

Jessie, James and Meowth immediately obeyed, sitting down and nodding their heads, "yes, yes!"

"Okay, here you go," Delia served a dish of delicious curry for each of them and set them on the table. "How about some cold lemonade? It's extra sweet," she served the drinks as well, watching as the trio ate.

"Why is it that you're giving us food?" Jessie finally asked between bites.

"Because you looked hungry. Besides, I heard the whole story from Ash," Delia revealed, "he told me that you were fired and were following him around blaming him for it. I think this is your chance to start over. I'm sure there are many things you must want to do that you couldn't achieve in Team Rocket."

Meowth got teary eyed, "all I wanted was to be the boss' top cat! Now he's going to keep that Persian forever."

"Aw, it's okay," Delia tried to console him, gently petting Meowth, "I'm sure your boss has a special reason to care for his Persian so much," she gave no hint of knowing what that reason was. "Wouldn't you rather be with Jessie and James instead? I'm sure you would miss them."

"Yeah, I guess so," Meowth sadly admitted.

"But Team Rocket is all we ever knew and we can't even get jobs now," Jessie frowned. The cheer that the food had brought was melting away as the meal came to an end.

"There's always a way, don't give up!" Delia placed three slices of cake on the table for them. "I'll talk to Professor Oak; maybe he can find jobs for you, but you have to promise to behave."

That was how it all started thanks to Delia and her food. Jessie and James worked for Professor Oak for a while, helping take care of the pokemon. Meowth worked as a translator. Professor Oak was fascinated listening to Meowth's stories and Meowth couldn't be happier to go on and on about anything and everything.

After some time, Jessie and James decided they wanted to be more independent instead of counting on Professor Oak for everything. They eventually set off on a journey. Later, they established a pokemon day care center in Saffron City, which went surprisingly well. They still visited Pallet Town every now and then and Meowth stayed in contact with Professor Oak by phone. They would talk for hours whenever he called.

Jessiebelle found out James was living in Saffron City and went to kidnap him on occasion. Jessie would always joke about how James was such a princess, being constantly kidnapped and in need of rescue. The danger of being kidnapped by Jessiebelle ended when James effectively broke off his engagement in a way no one could ignore, he married Jessie.

xoxox xox xoxox

While battles took place in the arena, the atmosphere in the lobby was calm. "How have you been twerp? I haven't seen you in a while," Jessie voiced as she picked up Pikachu off Ash's shoulder and petted him. The pokemon wasn't worried at all anymore, "if only it had been this easy back then."

"Pikachu is only being nice because he knows you're not trying to steal him away," Ashe reasoned, then firmly added, "and don't call me twerp, I'm taller than you!"

Jessie returned Pikachu and laughed, "once a twerp, always a twerp!"

"You're here for the tournament aren't you?" It was James' brilliant deduction. "You can forget about winning because I'm going to win, right Growlie?" The Growlithe barked happily and wagged his tail.

"No way, Pikachu and I will win!" Ash's declaration was followed by Pikachu's support. Ash had not seen Jessie or James among the participants during the gym leader's speech. He assumed they must have just arrived and were accepted as late entries.

Jessie and James had been there since the beginning, but decided to keep a low profile for the time being. They had signed up for the tournament with fake names and intended to wear disguises for the battles to avoid being recognized by Giovanni. They were not part of Team Rocket anymore and they were under an oath of secrecy that would bring terrible consequences if broken. The oath had not been broken, but there was no need to attract too much attention.

"You're both wrong because I'll win!" Meowth proudly declared. "Then he'll know just what he's missing for not making me top cat."

"I thought you were over that," Jessie argued, clearly annoyed. She remembered how much Meowth complained when they were fired.

"I am over it!" Meowth pouted.

"Either way you're a pokemon," Jessie reminded. "You'll have to go out there and battle if you want a share of the prize. You can be on James' team; I'm all set to go with my lovely Flareon!" Jessie released the pokemon from her pokeball. Flareon's fur was well groomed and shiny, she had a pair of yellow bows on her ears.

"Don't forget she used to be my Flareon, but it looks like you're taking really good care of her." Ash petted the pokemon he took care of as an Eevee.

xoxox xox xoxox

Ash had been at Pallet Town when Eevee evolved. Jessie and James were still part of Team Rocket at the time. They arrived at Professor Oak's research laboratory to steal his pokemon. It was something they had tried on numerous occasions before and failed.

That time had started the same way as always, with Jessie, James and Meowth reciting their motto. They played their cards right for the most part and in the mist of the chaos, Pikachu found himself trapped by a robotic rubber covered claw. While Ash tried to rescue Pikachu, he lost track of Eevee, whom he had let out to play.

Eevee had been very shy at first and Pikachu had always encouraged her. It made her look up to him as a brother. Her big brother needed help, but Eevee knew she wouldn't be strong enough to help him in her current form.

xoxox xox xoxox

Earlier, Professor Oak had been showing Ash some evolution stones an offered to give him one for Eevee.

"Do you want to evolve?" Ash asked encouragingly, "what would you like to evolve into?"

"Eevee..." she shook her head, evolution frightened her.

"Not right now? It's alright, you don't have to evolve if you don't want to," Ash reassured her.

xoxox xox xoxox

Eevee ran inside to the laboratory where the evolution stones were kept. She wasn't afraid of evolving anymore. The stones were on the same table were they had been displayed before; Ash had picked her up so she could see them. Eevee didn't know what she wanted to evolve into; she just knew she wanted to be strong.

She pulled on the table cloth trying to make the stones fall on the floor where she could reach them. Maybe she could evolve into Jolteon and use electric attacks just like Pikachu. Or perhaps she could be Vaporeon; Misty seemed excited about that possibility so it had to be a powerful evolution too. As she pulled on the table cloth, it was the fire stone which fell on her head.

At first Eevee felt the pain of the stone falling on her head, then she was surrounded by warmth and light and the pain was gone. She had not planned on evolving into Flareon, but when her body had changed completely, she found that she liked it.

Flareon dashed outside with new found strength and let out a powerful fire attack that caused Team Rocket's equipment to overheat and malfunction. The rubber claw opened, releasing Pikachu, and with a combination attack of electricity and fire, the Team Rocket trio was sent to blast off again.

xoxox xox xoxox

The story of how Ash's Flareon became Jessie's Flareon took place after Jessie and James were fired from Team Rocket. For many years, James entrusted Growlie with the mission of taking care of his parents. After Jessie and James established their pokemon day care center, James decided to keep Growlie there. Growlie would be very helpful in case Butch and Cassidy showed up to steal the pokemon, as it had become their occasional habit. Jessie even admitted that it was kind of fun to send them blasting off.

One day, Jessie, James and their pokemon, including Meowth and Growlie, went to visit Pallet Town. Gary had previously been away on a research trip when Ash's Eevee evolved into Flareon and Flareon had been traveling with Ash the rest of the time.

It was on that day when Ash, James and Gary were at Professor Oak's house simultaneously, that their respective pokemon Flareon, Growlie and Umbreon met. Fate would have it that both Umbreon and Growlie would fall in love with the beautiful Flareon and fight over her. The pokemon had been let out to play, but the noise of battle alerted the trainers who rushed out to see what was happening. They found Umbreon and Growlie locked in a fierce fight.

Flareon became upset that they were fighting over her, but at the same time ignoring her in favor of focusing on their battle. Frustrated, she let out a powerful flame thrower at the two male pokemon. The attack certainly got their attention; she yelled at them and ran away.

Both Umbreon and Growlie called out after Flareon and followed her. The pokemon were chased by their trainers and friends. Ash, Misty, Brock, Gary, James, Jessie and Meowth rushed after the run away pokemon. They ran out of Professor Oak's property and into the streets of Pallet Town.

Mrs. Alderaan was an old lady who lived in a little house down the main street of Pallet Town. She had a female Bellsprout named Belle, whom she spoiled very much. Belle always had a big pink bow tied around her thin neck, pink lipstick on her round mouth and pink eye-shadow over her beady eyes.

The coquette Bellsprout often suffered from chronic hiccup attacks. Mrs. Alderaan would always worry about her and call Professor Oak, asking him to give Belle first aid before she choked. Belle's condition wasn't serious at all, Mrs. Alderaan just exaggerated. Plus she had a tendency to go on and on about her precious Belle and the cute things she did. Thus Mrs. Alderaan was known as a sweet and grandmotherly, yet annoying old lady.

There was a wild male Weepinbell who liked to hang out around Pallet Town because he had fallen in love with Belle. Mrs. Alderaan was convinced the wild pokemon just wanted to pick a fight with her sweet Belle. "Get away you beast! Get away!" Mrs. Alderaan would always chase the Weepinbell away with a broom. Lucky for the love-struck Weepinbell, Mrs. Alderaan often misplaced her glasses and she couldn't see well enough to actually hit him.

Flareon suddenly ran through Mrs. Alderaan's front yard at full speed. The passing blur of red and yellow startled the old lady and she began to swing her broom around randomly. She was convinced that the wild Weepinbell, who had already made his escape, was trying to attack her.

Umbreon and Growlie dodged the broom and ran past Mrs. Alderaan in Flareon's pursuit. Mrs. Alderaan's broom slipped out of her grasp and went flying as the trainers arrived, chasing after their pokemon. The broom hit Ash on the head, causing him to stumble backwards into Misty. Misty lost her footing and accidentally pushed Jessie, who took James down with her. That caused James to fall on Brock, who in turn collided with Gary. The end of the pile of living dominos was the unfortunate Meowth.

Mrs. Alderaan finally calmed down and looked at the pile of people in her yard. "Oh my, were you attacked by that wild Weepinbell too? He's such a beast! Just the other day he almost snuck into my house. I don't know what would have become of my little Belle if I hadn't stopped him."

The group of trainers and pokemon stumbled to their feet. One became free to get up only after those at the front of the domino row were on their feet. "Sorry, Mrs. Alderaan but we're in a hurry," Ash continued the pursuit, followed by Misty, Jessie, James, Brock, Gary and Meowth.

"Wait, I wanted to tell you about Belle!" Mrs. Alderaan called out, but the group was already gone. She huffed indignantly, "kids today, always in a rush." She didn't realize that Ash and the others were no longer children, but compared to her advanced age, they might as well be.

xoxox xox xoxox

By the time the group finally found Flareon and her admirers outside of Pallet Town, they had already solved their dispute. There was a multitude of fainted Spearow and Fearow all around, with a few Pidgey, Pidgeotto and a pair of Pidgeot near by.

Umbreon was heading back towards town, stomping his paws and pouting every step of the way. He walked up to Gary and expressed his desire to rest in his pokeball, "umbreon!"

"He says he wants to go in his pokeball," Meowth translated.

"Alright, it does look like there was a big battle here," Gary agreed, "get some rest, return!" With Umbreon back inside his pokeball, Gary turned towards Meowth for additional information. "Can you ask them what happened?"

"Sure, would you guys care to explain?" Meowth inquired to all the other pokemon in general. The male Pidgeot stepped forward and spoke in his language, which Meowth translated. "He's saying the Spearow and Fearow were picking a fight. He and his mate were defending the Pidgey and Pidgeotto when Flareon ran right into the war zone. Growlie and Umbreon tried to protect her, but she didn't need to be saved so they just got caught in her attacks. Then they teamed up with the Pidgeot and fought the Spearow and Fearow. Oh and he also says it's good to see you again, twerp."

"Stop calling me twerp!" Ash snapped at Meowth then walked over to his old friend Pidgeot. "I'm happy to see you too. I knew you would be happy here and you even found a pretty girl. I'm glad you're still taking care of the Pidgey and Pidgeotto."

"Oh yes, and thanks for helping knock out all these Fearow and Spearow," Jessie joyfully added as she readied her pokeballs.

"Thank you very much!" James agreed with the same happiness.

"Stop it you two, it's not fair to catch all these pokemon that you didn't even battle yourselves. Besides, it looks like they're getting ready to leave," Ash pointed at the Fearow who was the leader of the flock. He had woken up and was retreating with the Spearow.

"No, come back!" Jessie called after the fleeing pokemon, but of course, they didn't listen. Disappointed, she glared at Ash, "it's your fault they got away for distracting me!"

"Never mind that now, look at them!" James pointed at Flareon and Growlie with an adoring smile.

"Don't interrupt me!" Jessie growled, but stopped herself and gained a dreamy expression along with Misty. Both women chorused high a pitched "how cute!" Flareon and Growlie were cuddling together, looking quite loving.

"I see; Growlie must have proven how heroic he is when he tried to help Flareon, right?" James theorized, with great pride in his pokemon.

Flareon explained something, which made Growlie pause and stop wagging his tail with a soft whine. Albeit Flareon licked his cheek and reassured him, which cheered him up.

Meowth translated Flareon's explanation, "Flareon said that Growlie is so adorably helpless, she couldn't help it but to want to stay with him and protect him."

Gary laughed, realizing Umbreon had not completely lost. He couldn't be adorably helpless because he couldn't be helpless at all, he would tell Umbreon that if he was still upset later.

James looked shocked and stuttered for a moment before he finally let out a loud exclamation of "Growlie is strong!"

Ash smiled proudly of his pokemon, "Flareon is just stronger."

Brock was full of excitement and fascination watching the two pokemon. He was also a little jealous because he couldn't even get a date, let alone find true love. "I think we should let them be together." Everyone agreed.

Ash petted Flareon with a gentle smile, "Growlie needs to help protect the pokemon day care center in Saffron City. You could be a big help too. Do you want to go live with Jessie, James, Growlie and their pokemon?"

"Flareon, flare!" Flareon nodded excitedly. She jumped into Ash's arms and licked his face, thanking him for having taken care of her. She exchanged a few words and a hug with Pikachu, then returned to Growlie's side.

In a split second Jessie was next to the happy couple, "since James has Growlie, I'll be taking care of Flareon," Jessie immediately volunteered. She made it clear she wouldn't take no for an answer. "Besides, she's the perfect pokemon for me. I completely understand what she was saying before about adorably helpless men."

"What do you mean by that?" James pouted, making an upset, yet adorable face.

Jessie tried to look completely innocent, though she still had an amused grin, "nothing, nothing."

xoxox xox xoxox

Jessie and James had come far from the way things used to be when Ash's travels first began. Now they would be participating on the Viridian tournament as friends.

"We can't stay and chat, we need to get into our costumes before our names are called," Jessie reminded.

"Costumes?" Ash blinked in puzzlement, but assumed it was all just for show.

"We have our reasons," James didn't elaborate beyond that and left the lobby along with Jessie.

xoxox xox xoxox

One battle after another passed and trainers came and went from the waiting room. The winner would stay and the loser would be escorted out. Ash had never been too good at seeing past the disguises Jessie and James came up with, but he did recognize their pokemon. Thus he knew they had been called to battle and both had won their respective matches. Time went by and Ash was starting to worry that they had forgotten about him. "Excuse me," he addressed the waiter in the lime green suit, who came and went bringing snacks for the trainers.

"Yes, is there anything you need?" Comet asked politely.

"I was wondering when my turn is coming. I've seen some people go out to battle twice already and I haven't battled at all." This wasn't an official league tournament so maybe things were done differently. He didn't want to be forgotten and thus disqualified. Ash really needed to win and get Misty an amazing ring. Besides, after hearing the gym leader's speech, Ash was really looking forward to their match.

Giovanni seemed cool for some unknown reason. Ash still had a nagging feeling in the back of his head that told him he had seen the gym leader somewhere before. It wasn't something as simple as a brochure, magazine or TV, but he could think of no where else where he could have seen Giovanni.

"Don't worry about that," Comet smiled reassuringly, he knew what was going on. If the champion, who happened to be from outside of Viridian City, went out there and badly beat the multitude of local rookies, it wouldn't make the city look good. That would not work in the mayor's favor. "This is a different kind of tournament, names are chosen at random. The trainers who lose are eliminated from the list so they won't be called out again. I'm sure your name is there, you just haven't been chosen."

Ash had a thoughtful expression, "so do they just pull names out of a hat?"

"Yeah, something like that," Comet decided to play along. Ash, despite being an amazing pokemon trainer and a past Indigo League champion, appeared to be gullible enough. Though he certainly had a lot of energy and an air of absolute determination. The look in Ash's eyes was somewhat familiar, but Comet didn't know where he had seen it before.

"Oh, alright then, I understand. Thanks for explaining it," Ash smiled, relieved that he had not been forgotten. It was just his luck that he wasn't chosen to battle. As less trainers remained, his chances of being called out to battle should improve, so he would be ready.

"Sure, no problem. If you need anything just give me a call, I'll be around," Comet played his part and concluded that the job that had invaded his break wasn't so bad after all. At least he would get to see some interesting battles in the end. He was certain that good trainers were among the participants and it wouldn't be long before only they remained.

To be Continued

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 040: Give me Skill

Time continued to pass and the number of trainers left in the tournament was significantly smaller. Ash was sitting in the lobby, he didn't have the energy to stand by the window and watch the battles. He wanted to shout out advice as if he were part of the crowd, but that red haired waiter in the lime green suit told him he had to be quiet. The excuse was that he shouldn't distract the battling trainers. The truth was that people might complain if they thought the champion's advice decided the match instead of the battling trainers.

Just watching quietly made Ash grow more impatient for his name to be called. He was sitting with his head down in impatient frustration when someone asked, "why the long face, Ash?"

"I haven't been called out to battle, not even once." Ash looked up at the one who had spoken, instantly recognizing the other young man, "Ritchie! What are you doing here?"

"Rumors travel fast. I was at the Pewter City Pokemon Center when I heard you were here. I made a few calls and rushed over. They're letting me participate as a late entry." Ritchie happily announced. Normally, he would only be interested in official Pokemon League competitions, but being able to battle Ash within a tournament was worth the exception. It was more exciting than a private battle, as it felt different with the energetic atmosphere of battling in front of a crowd. It helped both trainers battle at their best.

Ash's mood took a sharp turn for the better, "this is great! We'll finally get to battle; I'm looking forward to it so much!"

Ritchie laughed, "you haven't really changed at all." While the two Indigo League champions talked, the battles continued. The champions were being saved for last.

xoxox xox xoxox

Out in the arena, another match was about to start. Fan girl squeals erupted through the crowd as the mysterious Rose Mask appeared again. He looked dashing in his black tuxedo, cape, mask and top hat. He held a single red rose, posing with it.

From the window of the lobby, Sailor Flame, who was Jessie in disguise, rolled her eyes and vowed to get a louder applause. She was wearing a white and red mini skirt sailor suit with a yellow bow. Her hair was in pigtails and she also had a mask similar to James'.

"For our next match we have Samurai versus Rose Mask, on a two on two battle. You may switch between your two chosen pokemon at any time, fight!" Jango announced the beginning of the match. The earlier rounds had been one on one to accommodate for the fact that some trainers only had one hastily caught or borrowed pokemon. They had already been eliminated so the number was increased to two for the next series of battles. The remaining trainers had no problem with that.

Samurai was from Viridian City, thus Mayor Antilles would be pleased if he won. It seemed most of the women in the crowd were cheering for Rose Mask, except for those who were Samurai's friends or relatives. Living up to his name, Samurai was dressed in classic armor with a helmet included and a katana at his waist. He threw out his first pokeball, which bounced back into his hand after releasing a red beam of light. The beam took the shape of a Butterfree. "My specialty are bug pokemon and they are all strong and noble!"

"They're also weak against fire types!" James reminded as he threw his own pokeball into the arena. His loyal friend Growlie emerged from the pokeball ready for battle. James looked back at Jessie, who was watching from the lobby's window. He wanted to see her reaction to his smart move, but she only glared at him. She was getting fed up with the constant high pitched squealing of the girls in the audience.

"You are very wrong if you think you can win judging only by types. I'll show you the true strength of an honorable warrior!" Samurai ordered the first move, "Butterfree, fly high up and use stun spore!"

"Don't let Butterfree get away, Growlie," James urged, "flame thrower!" Growlie began to shoot fire balls at James' command.

"Dodge it Butterfree!" The bug pokemon didn't even need to be told this, as she moved rapidly in the air out of the way of the flames immediately. At the same time, Butterfree released her stun spores. The potent yellow dust fell on Growlie, who immediately started feeling the effects.

"Don't give up Growlie! You just have to hit that Butterfree with your flame thrower, I'm sure it'll be super effective," James cheered for his pokemon, but Growlie was severely suffering from paralysis due to the effects of stun spore. He couldn't defend himself.

"Butterfree tackle!" The bug pokemon was small, but very strong. She swooped down at Growlie flying as fast as she could and collided with him pushing him back.

"C'mon Growlie, use flame thrower!" James watched as Butterfree tackled Growlie again and again. If that kept up, Growlie would faint. "Growlie, return for now." Since Growlie had not fainted, James still had the option to call him out again, but he was paralyzed and the use of healing items during the matches was prohibited. "Go Weezing!" Long ago, James had freed his Weezing at the same time Jessie freed her Arbok. During their journey years later, Jessie and James had ran into them again and the pokemon rejoined them. They had spent their time apart training their wild pokemon friends to defend themselves.

"Butterfree, tackle!" Samurai wasn't about to end the relentless attack.

"Weezing, smoke screen!" Hidden behind a curtain of smoke, Weezing was able to evade Butterfree's attack. "Good, now use a sludge bomb!" Weezing shot sludge at Butterfree. Some of it fell close to the referee, who jumped back in fright. Though Butterfree was lost in the smoke screen, she didn't stay still and it made her hard to hit.

"Use sleep powder Butterfree!" Samurai called out. He couldn't see what was happening behind the smoke. When it finally started to clear out a very sleepy Weezing was revealed. Butterfree kept flapping her wings with abundant blue dust coming from them.

Weezing flew lower by the second until he was on the ground fast asleep. "Weezing you have to wake up!" James called out to his pokemon as loud as he could, but Weezing wasn't moving.

"Alright Butterfree, finish him off with hyper beam!" Samurai was sure he would win. After Weezing was out of the picture, all that remained to be done was to finish the paralyzed Growlithe.

"Weezing!" James didn't know what to do, he couldn't substitute Weezing with Growlie. He was still paralyzed, so that wouldn't make the situation any better. For a moment he was sure he would lose, but even so, there were people in the audience still loudly cheering for Rose Mask. The cheers of the crowd gave James an idea that might be crazy enough to work. He held up his rose, made a pose, winked and blew kisses at the audience. Simultaneous loud squeals erupted from the crowd in such a massive high pitched volume that Weezing woke up. The poison pokemon was so startled that he used self destruct.

Butterfree and Weezing both lay on the arena unconscious, "Butterfree and Weezing are unable to battle!" Jango announced; "both trainers are down to one pokemon each!"

Samurai considered calling it cheating, but a warrior needs to be aware of his surroundings and how the field of battle can affect the outcome of the fight. He called his pokemon back into her pokeball, "Butterfree return, you fought excellently my friend."

"Time to rest, Weezing, you did great," James recalled Weezing into his pokeball and sent out Growlie again. "Don't give up Growlie, just try to recover and let's win this!" Growlie was struggling, trying to get his body to respond.

"There's no way you can win with a paralyzed pokemon," Samurai called out his second pokemon, "go Pinsir! If you refuse to give up, I have no choice but to end the battle myself."

"I'll never give up and I'll win!" James' supporters in the crowd continued to cheer for him.

"Pinsir, vice grip!" Samurai commanded and Pinsir easily captured Growlie between his horns.

The fire pokemon let out a pained howl and James seriously considered giving up until he heard Flareon calling out to Growlie. "Flareon, flareon flare!" Flareon yelled from the window of the lobby.

"Growlithe, growl!" Growlie looked frightened for a moment, then suddenly determined. He would not give up.

Seeing Growlie try so hard to force himself to move, James knew he couldn't give up either. "Growlie, fire blast!" Growlie continued to struggle against Pinsir's vice grip with Flareon's words ringing in his ears. Finally, Growlie took a deep breath and let out a fire blast at point blank, which knocked out Pinsir.

"Pinsir is unable to battle!" Jango announced, "the winner is Rose Mask!" The crowd cheered with many shouting flirty compliments at the mysterious Rose Mask.

"Return Pinsir, that was a valiant effort," Samurai called him back.

James took a vow for the crowd and made a few poses with his rose. Then he realized that Growlie was really having trouble staying on his feet because of all the damage received from Pinsir. Before the fire pokemon fainted, James called him back into his pokeball, "congratulations Growlie, I'm sure Flareon is very impressed."

"That was a very good battle, you've proven yourself to be a worthy adversary," Samurai congratulated honorably.

"Thank you Mr. Samurai, you're pretty good yourself!" After a few more poses, James returned to the waiting room and Samurai left.

Jessie received her husband with a deadly glare and hit him on the head, "show off!" She then stomped away and began to eat all the cookies the waiter in the green suit had recently brought and set on the table.

"Why are you mad at me?" James pouted, then sighed at Jessie's refusal to reply. "I have to get my pokemon healed, I'll be back soon." He looked at Meowth, "before I go, just out of curiosity, what was it that Flareon said before?"

Meowth made a scary face as he translated, with a menacing tone imitating Flareon, "if you lose this battle, you'll have to face my wrath!"

'Flareon really is the perfect pokemon for Jessie,' James thought as he went off to have his pokemon healed.

xoxox xox xoxox

The activity at the Viridian city hall had slowly decreased. As James entered, he bumped into Brock, who was running away in sadness. They both stumbled backwards, but soon recognized each other. James couldn't help it but to notice Brock's depressed expression, "did you get dumped again?"

"You have no tact!" Brock cried, "she said I made it too easy so it was no fun to be with me. What does that mean? Am I cursed to forever be lonely? The world is a cruel place!" Once again Brock ran away.

James watched him disappear among the people outside, "poor guy..." He went over to the blond nurse who had witnessed the drama and seemed to be amused. She was the cause of the drama herself. "Hi, I have a Growlithe and Weezing in need of healing."

"I'm sure it's nothing serious," at least not compared to the injuries Laiki was used to treating, "I'll make them feel better in no time." She examined Weezing first, giving him some medicine to help him recover, "there now, you're okay," she petted the poison pokemon and returned him to his pokeball. She gave the pokeball back to James and asked, "have I seen you somewhere?"

James froze, the last thing he needed was to be discovered by the resident Rocket gossip expert. Not that there was anything wrong with his participation in the tournament. It's not like he was disclosing any information about Team Rocket, therefore he wasn't breaking his oath of silence. He just felt like avoiding Team Rocket altogether, deep down, he missed it. "I'm the mysterious Rose Mask! Maybe you have seen me or maybe you haven't, you can never be sure." He made a pose and tried to look like some kind of super hero on TV.

Laiki shrugged, "maybe not," she examined Growlie, gently pressing her hands on his mid section. The fire pokemon complained in response. "It seems he got pretty hurt out there," it was still not as bad as many of the injuries Laiki treated, but it was enough to be the highlight of her dull day. "You'll have to keep him out of battle for a while."

"Oh no! Is Growlie hurt badly? My poor Growlie!" James hugged his pokemon, which only caused Growlie to howl in pain from being squeezed in an Ursaring hug.

"Stop it you're just making it worse!" Laiki scolded, "it's not that bad, just make sure you let him rest." The undercover Rocket nurse bandaged the fire pokemon and sent the mysterious trainer on his way.

xoxox xox xoxox

James returned to the waiting room with Growlie in his arms rather then putting him in a pokeball. He got there just on time to hear Jessie being called out to the battle field.

"Our next battle will be an encounter between the mysterious Sailor Flame and the famous AJ!" Jango announced. "This will be a two on two battle. You may switch pokemon at any time, fight!"

"I'll win this just like all the other battles, go Arbok!" Jessie sent out her pokemon, she knew this wouldn't be easy. AJ had been dominating each of his battles so far.

Many people had heard of AJ and his pokemon gym. His training methods were very strict, which earned him the admiration of some and the scorn of others. Some thought he was too harsh with his pokemon. "I won't go easy on you, I choose Beedrill!"

"Don't expect any mercy from me either!" Jessie retorted, "Arbok, poison fang!" Arbok attempted to poison Beedrill, but Beedrill flew and dodged the attack.

"Beedrill, poison jab!" AJ commanded.

"Be careful Arbok, dodge it and use acid!" Despite Arbok being a poison type, being stabbed by Beedrill would still hurt a lot. The bug pokemon's stingers looked very sharp. Arbok struggled to dodge the hits while spitting acid as fast as he could, but Beedrill moved too fast. Beedrill managed to stab Arbok repeatedly, while Arbok's acid only graced the tip of his stingers. Even so, Arbok would not fall so soon, he kept trying to reach Beedrill with his acid.

"Arbok, back away and stay still," Jessie's new command surprised AJ. He wondered what the mysterious Sailor Flame was up to.

"Attack Beedrill, poison jab!" AJ insisted and Beedrill obeyed, flying towards Arbok.

"Now Arbok, iron tail!" With a loud battle cry, Arbok whipped his tail towards Beedrill and came close to hitting him. However, Beedrill dodged at the last second. Seeing as that strategy wouldn't work, Jessie decided to switch pokemon, "Arbok return, rest for a while, I might need to call you out later. Go Flareon, avenge Arbok with flame thrower!"

"Flare, flare!" Flareon was protective of her fellow pokemon. It was something she learned back when she was a shy Eevee and her big brother Pikachu would protect her. She threw out her flames, though Beedrill kept dodging the fire.

"Use hyper beam, Beedrill!" AJ was still feeling confident.

"Dodge it Flareon and use fire blast, fill the arena with fire!" Jessie was determined to win no matter what. Flareon's fire blast cancelled out Beedrill's hyper beam.

"Time to finish this," AJ still had another strategy to try, "evasive maneuvers, get close and use hyper beam!" Beedrill flew in speedy zigzags towards Flareon preparing to shoot a hyper beam. At point blank Flareon couldn't counter it like before.

"Don't let Beedrill escape, fire blast!" When Beedrill was in range, Flareon suddenly bit into his leg, holding Beedrill down. Beedrill desperately stabbed Flareon. Before the bug pokemon could shoot the powerful hyper beam he had been preparing, Flareon let out a massive fire blast right into Beedrill, effectively ending his struggle.

"Beedrill!" AJ couldn't help it but to call out to his pokemon, who was not only unconscious, but also severely injured. "Return! You put up a great fight, don't worry, I'll get you to the Pokemon Center soon." The crowd loved the show. They were getting increasingly excited as the match became more heated.

"Hey Flareon, do you think you over did it?" Jessie watched as Flareon's breathing became labored, she was poisoned. "Take a break in your pokeball, Flareon return. Arbok, you're up again!" Jessie switched pokemon, giving Flareon some time to rest and sending out Arbok once more. Both her pokemon were in bad shape from that Beedrill. Yet she still had two pokemon, while AJ only had one. Jessie knew what to expect, he would surely send out that strong Sandslash he used in previous battles.

"I'll show you my strongest pokemon, go Sandslash!" Sandslash looked fierce and strong, much more intimidating than a Sandslash would normally look.

Jessie had a plan, Arbok would weaken Sandslash as much as possible to give Flareon time to rest. Then she would use their special secret strategy. For it to work, Flareon needed to recover first, she was a little too disheveled from the recent battle. "Arbok don't get too close, use acid!"

"Sandslash, defense curl!" Sandslash curled into a ball and though the acid hit its target, it had no effect. "Earthquake!" The entire Stadium shook with the force of Sandslash's attack.

"Endure it Arbok, you can do it!" Arbok struggled to stop himself from fainting. Years of fighting Pikachu and later training wild pokemon, had made him very resistant.

"Don't stop, keep using Earthquake!" AJ insisted.

Up in the VIP balcony, Mayor Antilles fell out of his chair, "this is terrible, they're going to tare the stadium apart right before the elections! If this place is reduced to rubble, where will I give my next campaign speech?"

"If it falls apart it's your own fault for using cheap materials," Giovanni countered, focused on the match. He didn't recognize Sailor Flame, nor had he recognized Rose Mask.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" The mayor was clearly not enjoying the constant shaking. He was especially worried about how the arena's floor had become cracked and fissures had started to climb up the walls.

"I like strong pokemon, why wouldn't I enjoy it?" Giovanni could have been thinking about sending agents out to steal those pokemon. He could have been thinking of what he would do if he were the one battling either trainer. He could have been thinking a lot of things. Yet the thought that occurred to him was how much he missed watching the Indigo League championships. Giovanni was usually too busy with Team Rocket. Battling amateurs who wanted badges made him forget what a real battle was supposed to feel like.

Suddenly, he found himself looking forward to seeing the Indigo League's past champion in action. He wanted to see how strong Ash was. Giovanni didn't know anything else about him, save for a few details. His name was Ash, his home town was Pallet and one of his pokemon was a Pikachu. He didn't know Ash's lastname, information concerning the rest of his pokemon or any other details. Remembering the conversation with Delia earlier made Giovanni look forward to seeing Ash battle even more.

In the battle arena, Arbok finally had all he could take. He had managed to buy Flareon a good amount of time. He lasted far longer than any other opponent had against Sandslash since he evolved. "Arbok return, you did very well. Don't worry, we'll get revenge for you, go Flareon!"

"I didn't expect your Arbok to last that long," AJ admitted, "but don't forget, Flareon is weak from the previous battle. Not that it would make a difference against Sandslash even if she was fully healed."

Flareon had groomed herself the best she could within the pokeball. She adjusted her ribbons tugging away the turn edges inside the folds of the bows. She licked her fur, much like an average Meowth would, to try to look as good as possible.

"Sandslash, giga impact!" Sandslash went on the attack at AJ's command. He dashed towards Flareon on the other side of the battle field.

"Use your secret weapon Flareon, just like we planned!" Jessie knew everything depended on this strategy. Using all the contest experience she had gained with Jessie to her favor, Flareon used attract. She looked absolutely adorable, cute and irresistible. For a moment Sandslash was captivated by her beauty and hesitated on his attack. "Overheat!" Flareon covered Sandslash with fire, struggling to keep her flaming breath going on for far longer than usual. She could sense that her opponent still had not fallen.

James was watching from the waiting room's window with Growlie in his arms. The pokemon was barking wildly in a fit of jealousy, yelling at Sandslash to keep his distance from Flareon. "Calm down Growlie!" James held on to him tightly.

Sandslash battled through the fire, trying to perform his own attack, heartbroken and angry. Flareon was at her last breath. When the fire ceased, another attack followed, "facade!" With one last brave effort, Flareon glowed as she launched herself at Sandslash like a lethal wild beast and finally defeated him. The crowd cheered loudly, with Jessie feeling very victorious at having obtained the biggest applause so far.

AJ stared at his unconscious pokemon in disbelief. Jango announced Sailor Flame as the winner. "Sandslash return, I guess we still have to train harder. That was an unexpected strategy, but none the less you won the match." AJ never thought his pokemon's lack of social life due to their constant training would create such a weakness towards the opposite gender.

"Nothing can beat the power of cuteness!" Jessie posed for the crowd that continued cheering.

Up in the VIP balcony, Giovanni was a bit disappointed with the trick, "of all the ways it could end..."

"You should never underestimate what a woman can do," Delia smiled.

"I know that already," Giovanni couldn't deny it but he still thought that Flareon used a cheap trick. Still, she was amazingly strong.

Mayor Antilles was shaking even after the earthquake ended. He kept shaking out of fear and worry, "I'm just glad it's over."

"It's not over yet, we still haven't seen the past Indigo League champion in a single battle. The real battles are about to start," Giovanni's reminder caused the mayor to faint.

To be Continued

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