Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Don't Give Me Diamonds ❯ Chapter 1

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

The story of a romance between a good girl with a strong sense of justice and a gang leader aspiring to be a mafia lord. Will such a past ever be revealed to the one who came as a result? GiovannixDelia, AshxMisty, JamesxJessie

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 01: Give me Memories

Ash never thought that when he stopped at Pallet Town, taking a break from his journey, he would be caught up in his mother's spring cleaning. The young man pictured a calm visit in the company of his mother, Delia, his girlfriend, Misty and his dear friend, Brock, albeit a short visit since he had another pokemon tournament to attend soon. It was a small tournament in Viridian City, a tourist attraction more so than an official competition, but it had a nice cash price and Ash was saving up for something important.

He went up the stairs that led to the attic where Misty had disappeared to a few minutes earlier. He snuck up behind the redhead, though he made no effort to hide the sound of his footsteps, he didn't want to startle Misty into dropping the vase she was cleaning. Ash wrapped his arms around Misty's waist and rested his head on her shoulder.

"What do you think?" Misty held up the now clean vase, "your mom mentioned wanting a vase to put flowers in, she thought she had one up here. Could this be the one she was thinking of?"

"It looks right to me," not that Ash saw a huge difference between one vase and another.

"I think it's very pretty," it was not a surprising statement coming from Misty, given that the vase was painted in shades of blue and decorated with ocean waves. "We should show your mom."

"In a few minutes..." Ash kissed her neck.

Misty placed the vase down on top of a pile of boxes, turning around to face Ash, "look who decided to stop ignoring me."

"I wasn't ignoring you, I've just been busy... by the way, I have another tournament coming up," Ash confessed.

"Oh... I haven't heard of any major tournaments, which is it?" Misty inquired.

"It's a small tournament in Viridian City; the shops around the area are sponsoring it, probably to attract tourists. They say the Viridian gym leader will participate in the final match, so the winner of the tournament will have to face him. Do you remember when I got my Earth Badge years ago? It was against Team Rocket, I never saw the Viridian city gym leader," Ash recalled. "Thinking back on it, maybe we should have stayed back there and made sure the real leader was okay, with Team Rocket having taken over the gym like that he might have been hurt. I suppose there's no use in thinking about that now; it looks like everything turned out well in the end after the gym was repaired."

"I see," Misty's face, which had looked a bit tired before, brightened at the explanation. "You want to face the gym leader because you didn't have a chance to battle him before."

"Yeah, plus there's a really good cash price," Ash smiled and Misty frowned. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, Ash," she pouted, tired of Ash's seemingly greedy attitude recently. She also felt excluded, as if he was keeping a secret from her, one that Pikachu and the rest of his pokemon knew, but Ash had not shared with her, denying he was hiding anything when she asked.

"Misty..." as she walked away in the crowded attic and he followed, they tripped and pulled each other down when trying to regain their balance, bumping into more boxes and causing an avalanche, thankfully far enough from the vase not to knock it down.

The loud noise summoned Delia to the scene, who found her son and Misty digging themselves out from under the pile of boxes, "are you both alright?" She rushed to help set them free of the avalanche.

"I'm fine, are you okay, Misty?" Ash who had landed on top, was the first to get on his feet, extending his hand to help Misty up.

"Yeah, I'm alright," she accepted the help and observed the disarray of boxes, some of which had been opened by the impact, the old tape unable to hold together after such a long time, spilling their contents on the dusty attic floor. "I hope nothing was broken."

"Don't worry about it," Delia began to sort through the random items, "these boxes have been here for a long time, I've forgotten what's in them by now."

Misty saw a sparkle and picked it up. It was an earring, which had fallen out of an exquisitely decorated golden box with clear crystals. Misty placed the earring back in the box and picked it up, surprised by its weight. "What beautiful rhinestones!" She wondered why such lovely jewelry was stashed up in an attic and not sitting with dignity on Delia's dresser.

"Rhinestones?" Delia looked up with curiosity; she received the heavy box from Misty, who obviously didn't notice it was made of gold, otherwise she would have mentioned it. She must have assumed it was gold painted iron to explain its weight, an accurate imitation of a golden box, but an imitation none the less. That was not the truth and Delia knew it, the box was made of gold and the decorative crystals were diamonds. The jewelry didn't include a single rhinestone; they were all real diamonds, very expensive and very nostalgic. "Oh my, I had almost forgotten these..."

"Shouldn't you keep them in your room? They're very pretty," Misty observed.

"Yes, I should," Delia smiled, forcing the turmoil of emotion that had surfaced to stay calm for just a little longer.

"Mom, who is this?" Ash held up a brown wooden picture frame, it was very average looking, unlike the elegance contained in the image it held.

Delia stared at the picture. For some time, she had that frame in her room, Professor Oak's guest room where she stayed when she first moved to Pallet Town, then her bedroom in the little house she was finally able to afford after establishing the only restaurant in the small town. No one previously thought was sufficiently large to support a food establishment, but it proved to be enough.

In the distant past, she would look at that picture before falling asleep and wonder what he was doing, if he thought of her, if he missed her or if he had moved on. She questioned her choice to leave him and to keep her pregnancy a secret. Then she fell asleep and dreamt of a happy time forever lost to the past, waking up with renewed determination and also renewed regret.

When Ash was born, the little boy soon occupied her dreams with expectations of a bright future. Her son gave her strength because she new he needed her to be strong for him. She still kept the picture in her room, albeit her other mementos had been stored away.

One day, little Ash who was a little over a year old, toddled over to her nightstand and reached for the picture, stretching his little body until he grabbed hold of the edge of the frame and pulled the picture off the table. The behavior was unusual, Ash was certainly a curious little boy, but his mother had taught him to ask, rather than grab things. He listened most of the time, pointing at the object of his curiosity and letting out a stream of hasty baby babble with a few words mixed in.

"Ash, honey, be careful not to break mommy's picture," Delia extended her hand, but Ash didn't give her the picture right away.

Instead the boy curiously looked at it, recognizing the image of his own mother, "mama..." he paused, examining the image of a man next to her. He had been over to Gary's house before, another boy his age; Gary had a grandfather, a mother and a father. "dada?"

Delia should have seen this coming; kids are smarter than they're given credit for. "Yes, that's your dad." She never mentioned his name, but she saw Ash's face brighten at the confirmation, then look puzzled, as if wanting to ask where his father was and being unable to find the words to do so. "He's on a journey, he's a pokemon trainer." From a certain perspective, it was the truth.

Delia didn't directly lie, she instead told Ash bits and pieces of the truth, carefully selected to sound interesting yet ambiguous. Giovanni had started out as a pokemon trainer, traveling from one city to another.

After Ash finally let go of the picture, Delia deemed it too dangerous to keep in such a visible place and put it away. She didn't want Ash to become too curious about his father and search for him when he was old enough to do so but still too young not to be easily convinced. She didn't want Ash getting caught up with the mafia.

It was, as expected, not the end of Ash's questions, far from it, it was only the beginning. When Ash seemed to wonder about the missing picture, Delia would tell him an exciting story about his father and his pokemon and that would keep him entertained. Soon the boy no longer searched for the picture, instead asking for stories.

As Ash grew, the picture he saw as a toddler was forgotten and he came to understand that, though his mother was happy to tell him stories, she had no intentions of revealing the identity of his father, and Ash would feel bad pressuring her. Though he was young, he knew that people didn't live forever; maybe his father had passed away tragically and his mother would be sad if she was pressured to talk about it. However, something in the way his mother spoke hinted that his father was still alive somewhere.

Did they divorce? Did he abandon her? The second theory made little sense to Ash. He would expect his mother to be upset if that was the case, but she didn't speak badly of his father, though she might be sugar coating the stories. Maybe they divorced, handling the situation as adults did and somehow agreeing to go their separate ways. Ash didn't really understand it, but he believed he would when he was older, with that theory, he remained patient.

The subject of his father was one of the few, probably the only, topic in which Ash was patient. The boy was very impatient otherwise and he could be quite stubborn too, much like his father. His curiosity knew no boundaries and he asked about everything, especially pokemon. He was fascinated by the creatures and their mysterious powers.

Strong, independent and with an iron will, Ash reminded Delia of Giovanni in many ways, thus she took extra care in guiding him down the right path and teaching him not to give into the temptation of power.

Years later, that little boy stood before her, now a young man and though he was taller than her now, his eyes still looked at her with the same curiosity of that year old boy who wanted to know his father. The boy who had to settle for ambiguous stories, spoken often, casually and cheerfully, while holding so many untold secrets.

Delia forced herself to smile, "he was my boyfriend," she didn't lie, the picture screamed of a formal date. One with live music, dancing, tuxedos, dresses and jewelry, diamonds... "I should put these away," taking the golden diamond filled box and the picture, Delia turned away. "Oh, the vase, I knew it was around here, thank you for cleaning it!" She picked it up as well and left the attic.

Delia placed the vase on the living room table on her way, glanced out the window at Brock who was hard at work cleaning the carpets in the yard and petted Pikachu as she made her way down the hall to her room. Even the pokemon were helping with the cleaning so it should be done soon.

She closed her room's door and locked it, knowing she would only be able to hold back for so long, then collapsed into a disarray of emotions with quiet sobs. She pushed herself to her feet and placed the jewelry box on the dresser and the picture on the nightstand, refusing to hide the items any longer. Then she let herself fall into bed and buried her face in the pillow, her imagination carrying her to a time so long ago.

She tried to compose herself and got up, walked over to the dresser and retrieved a little black box from the jewelry box and from it a ring. Rhinestone on silver, one would assume at first glance. Yet the sparkle was too brilliant to be false, a diamond, a diamond on white gold, a diamond that large? They would still be wrong.

She slid the platinum diamond ring on her finger; it felt heavy and it reminded her of her sorrow during the occasion that should have been happy. This was the first time she ever wore that ring, but the action could have no significance after so many years.

She saw herself as a young girl, dreaming that one day, her prince would come, handsome and strong, to offer her a diamond ring and ask for her hand in marriage. When she grew up she found that she didn't like diamonds after all, she preferred love.

xoxox xox xoxox

Diamond 02: Give me Excitement

"Mom? Are you alright?" Ash's voice accompanied by his knocking on the door woke Delia from her nap.

She stumbled out of bed in a daze and rushed to open the door to her bedroom. "I fell asleep, sorry about that. I put my guests to work then I doze off, how terrible of me. What time is it? I haven't even started dinner." She tried to sound alert, hiding the numbness that had invaded her.

"It's okay, it's just that it's not like you, are you feeling sick?" Ash asked with concern. He had been ignoring his own questions for many years. He wanted to know more about his father, but told himself it wouldn't hurt to wait. Either way, the man was absent and even if his identity was revealed he would remain absent. Yet Ash couldn't help it but to wonder if that past boyfriend was the one.

Ash had the sensation that he had seen that man before, maybe from far away. Or perhaps it was the picture he had seen too long ago to clearly remember it. He wasn't sure, but he let it go. "Let's go out for dinner, Viridian City is a day away on foot, but it's not so far if we take the car. It may not be as great as Pallet Town's main restaurant, but I think the chef there needs a holiday. Besides, I'm participating in a tournament there tomorrow and the sign ups are on the same day. I want to be there early, why don't we spend the night over at the Pokemon Center?"

Delia laughed; her restaurant was the only one in Pallet Town. "That sounds good, by the way," she lowered her voice to a hushed whisper, "when are you planning to ask Misty?"

"As soon as I have a ring," Ash whispered back.

"Did you lose it?" Delia distinctly remembered Ash showing her the ring he intended to give Misty and her bittersweet euphoria at the realization that her little boy was all grown up and would soon be engaged. Delia was very fond of Misty and would happily welcome her as her daughter.

Ash reached into his pocket and took out a ring, the sapphire centerpiece glittering an endless blue. "It's not good enough."

"Misty wouldn't say that," Delia encouraged.

"I know, she would be happy, but I want to give her something better. I want to give her a diamond, a diamond in a gold ring, no, platinum, a really big diamond. That's why I have to win tomorrow, there's a good cash price and if I add that to my savings, it should be enough to give Misty the ring she deserves," Ash's excitement grew as he pictured the perfect moment for the proposal. It would be by the sea, Misty loved the sea, he would give her the ring as the sun set and the light would bounce off the diamond more beautiful than a million stars, she would be impressed.

Delia's expression darkened, "Ash Ketchum, don't you dare..." Ash was shocked at his mother's serious tone. "Don't you dare ignore Misty for the sake of running off to earn money. She's not like that; you of all people should know it better than anyone. Misty doesn't want a diamond; she wants you to be there for her."

"It's not like I'm abandoning her or anything. She's coming too; she'll watch the tournament and cheer for me like she always does. Then we can all go out together after it's over," Ash smiled, trying to lighten the mood.

"You don't understand..." Delia sighed. She caught Ash glancing at the picture of Giovanni and herself. She remembered that she promised herself that she would one day go find him and explain her sudden disappearance. She would tell him they had a son, as soon as that son was old enough not to be tempted by dreams of power. Ash could handle the truth; she knew he could, though it would be a great strain on him and herself. "I'll tell you about him soon, after the tournament."

"Why not now?" This was as far as Ash had ever gotten to a real answer, and the hope of finally receiving it made him impatient.

"Be patient for just a little longer Ash, it will all make sense soon and I promise you a name this time," Delia assured.

Ash smiled brightly, like a child who was promised candy if he behaved for the day. "Alright, I'll wait a little longer," the truth would not rewrite the years without a father, but it would put the mystery to rest and at that point, that was enough for Ash. Taking one last long look at the picture, Ash led the way to where Misty and Brock were in the yard with the pokemon and they all piled up in Ash's indigo car, on their way to Viridian City.

xoxox xox xoxox

Dinner last night was delicious, but Delia was distracted by her own thoughts, as was Ash, though his cheer was genuine. It was a new day and Ash and his friends were standing in the long sign up line for the pokemon tournament, though only Ash had intentions of entering. They kept each other company and talked to make the wait less boring.

"There are some things I have to take care of; I'll be back as soon as possible," Delia announced.

"Okay, see you later," Ash replied naturally at first, then the wheels in his head turned and he wondered if his mother's sudden need to run some errands had anything to do with her promise to reveal his father's name. He stood frozen, until Misty woke him from his daze because the long line was finally moving forward, albeit at a Slowpoke's pace. He pushed the thoughts and theories away for the moment, he would get his answer soon; his patience would finally pay off.

xoxox xox xoxox

Delia made her way through the crowds that had gathered in Viridian City to watch the tournament. She headed towards the gym, walking past the Pokemon Center and remembering a different Pokemon Center from long ago, it was in Cerulean City where they first met.

xoxox xox xoxox

"You've done a wonderful job Delia, thank you for helping so much," the nurse in charge of the Cerulean City Pokemon Center commended. She was a cheerful woman with pink hair, her name was Joy. She had a young daughter who looked a lot like her; the girl's name was Joy as well.

"Thank you!" Delia smiled with equal, if not greater, cheer. She was a young pokemon researcher who had studied under the guidance of Professor Oak at Pallet Town. She was currently doing on internship at the Pokemon Center.

After all the pokemon had gone to sleep, as had Joy and Delia, a gang broke into the center and began to steal pokemon. Delia had coincidentally woken up and went out of her room towards the kitchen to quench her midnight thirst with a glass of cool water. She saw a shadow from the corner of her eyes and thought a pokemon might have gotten out of its pokeball. Maybe the little one was in pain and needed help.

She ventured down the dark halls of the Pokemon Center, searching for the source of the perceived movement. Maybe she had imagined it... Then she saw it, a human figure wearing black clothes stuffing numerous pokeballs into a sack. She wanted to scream in alert, to let Joy know they needed to call the police and to make it clear to the intruder she was not going to allow this.

Before any sounds came from her throat, a hand firmly covered her mouth, while the other held both her hands behind her back. "Idiot, didn't you even see her?" It was a man, judging by his voice and built.

"Sorry boss, I'm done here anyway, these are all of them," the other man, noticeably smaller than her captor, threw the full sack over his shoulder.

"Gather the others, we're leaving, as for you..." before her fate could be decided, Delia bit the man's hand, causing him to let her go.

"Nurse Joy!" Delia screamed as loud as she could. "Call the police, there are thieves stealing the pokemon!"

"Damn it, you'll pay for that!" Ignoring the threat, Delia sprinted after the man with the sack and pushed him to the floor, causing some of the pokeballs to spill out of the sack and roll away.

She slammed his face into the floor hard before the same man from before picked her up, holding her hands behind her again. "Let go of me!" She was noisy, but he wouldn't make the same mistake again. Instead he silenced her by gripping her neck, hard enough to cut the flow of oxygen, but not enough to injure her.

Feeling her consciousness slip away, Delia desperately stomped on the man's foot, he growled in pain, but held her firmly. "Hurry, get out of here, forget the pokeballs just take what's still in the sack," the man ordered. No doubt the nurse had heard the girl yelling and the police must be on their way.

As sirens were heard in the horizon, the gang made a hasty get away, dragging Delia along. When they were far enough from the Pokemon Center, the mysterious man finally let her go; she had been struggling all the way and slowed him down considerably. "I won't let you get away with this!" Delia declared.

"You should be thankful that we're letting you go," the man who had brought her there spoke, he was clearly the leader.

"We're letting her go?" The man with the half empty sack of pokeballs protested, it was his face that had been smashed against the floor after all.

"She'll squeal on us," a woman dressed in the same black attire as the rest of the gang warned.

Delia could see by the moonlight that they all had a red R on their shirts. There were five of them, three men and two women. The leader smirked, almost amused, some might see a handsome man, but Delia only saw a villain. "Maybe you'd like to join us."

"Never!" Delia firmly refused.

"Your loss," the leader walked away, followed by his gang. The man with the sack gave Delia one last bitter look before catching up with his companions.

"I told you I'm not letting you go!" As soon as his back was turned, Delia ripped the sack out of the man's hands and ran away with it.

"Come back here!" He ran after her, only to watch her stop, coming face to face with one of the female gang members, the one who had spoken before.

The woman in black shook her head, "so predictable, I knew you were looking for a chance to steal back those pokemon." She lunged at Delia and started a tug of war with the sack, which was ripped in two, sending the pokeballs to roll all over the ground.

"The pokeballs!" The man who had previously been carrying the sack jumped between the two quarrelling women, intent on solving the problem himself, but quickly retreated after receiving injuries from both sides.

"Dude," the other man, who was witnessing the fight spoke, "you can't like jump between like two fighting girls like that, it's like jumping between like two angry Persians, you know? Like fury swipes, man!"

"Don't just stand there you two, stop her!" The leader commanded, and the pair rushed into action, grabbing Delia's arms one each and holding her firmly back.

The woman who had been fighting with Delia glared angrily, "you'll regret messing with Team Rocket!"

"I'll save those pokemon, what you're doing is wrong, you'll never get away with it!" Delia insisted.

"How ignorant," the leader called out a pokemon, Ivysaur. "Just because something is wrong, doesn't mean you or anyone can make it right. This world is controlled by power, that's all that matters. Vine whip, tie her up!" The pokemon obeyed and Delia was tied up. The leader took out a knife and cut the vines, causing the Ivysaur to cry out in pain, much to Delia's horror, but she was soon silenced when she was called back into its pokeball. He made sure the vines were securely tied around the girl's torso and legs, binding her arms, and preventing her from running. "Let's go."

"We're leaving her like that?" The man who received the most damage that night protested, though it was hard to tell if he wanted revenge or felt pity.

"I said we're leaving, pick up the pokeballs and leave the girl, that's an order." No one dared to question him after that. The four gang members piled the pokeballs uncomfortably in their arms and followed their leader, then the five of them disappeared into the night.

xoxox xox xoxox

"Wait! Wait for me!" The leader stopped and looked back.

"You have got to be kidding me!" One of the women hissed.

"Dude, she's like totally like stubborn, man!" A man commented.

Delia was jumping towards them, still tied up by the vines. She tripped, falling at the leader's feet, but pushed herself back on her feet with difficulty "Let me join your gang."

Before the others could protest, the leader raised his hand in a sign of silence. "What's your goal?"

"The pokemon you stole are ill, there's been an epidemic going around. The purpose of my internship at the Pokemon Center was to study the symptoms and help find a cure for them, that's what most researchers' efforts are going towards right now. You'll need someone to treat them if you're going to sell them or whatever you're planning to do." She gritted her teeth in bitter defeat, "if I can't save them from you, I at least want to care for them. I won't try anything, I won't get myself kicked out of the gang, because if I do, there will be no one there to treat the sick and injured pokemon you steal. Stopping you is beyond my power right now, but I'll keep the pokemon safe until someone does."

"In other words it's a mutually beneficial deal in a sense. You'll help the pokemon and we'll have better merchandise, but it's clear we can't trust you as one of the gang," the leader concluded.

"Take me as a prisoner then," Delia desperately offered.

"You would give away your freedom for the sake of these pokemon? Fine, I'll take you up on your offer," the leader decided.

The leader took out his knife again, making Delia shudder from the memories, and used it to cut her free of the vines. "I want to treat your Ivysaur as well."

"Fine... I'm Giovanni Roketto," he introduced himself, "the leader of Team Rocket, I'll expect you to follow my orders."

"Delia Ketchum," she replied sharply.

"Dudette, my name's like Luke," this man had red hair, ocean blue eyes and suntanned skin. He seemed to emanate a friendly aura, which reassured Delia a little.

"I'm Leah," the woman standing next to him spoke for the first time; she had a gentle voice despite being part of Team Rocket. She had soft brown hair, kind honey colored eyes and fair skin. She seemed quiet and shy.

"Aayla," the other female on the team glared at Delia. She had dark skin, deep violet hair and stunning green eyes. She carried herself in a way that reminded Delia of a Ninetails, elegant, strong and dangerous.

The last man remained silent until Aayla elbowed him, "Binks, my name is Binks," he was a thin and pale man with brown eyes and blond hair.

Delia tried to reassure herself thinking she was on the side of justice, so somehow, she would be alright. Giovanni was wrong, karma was strong and justice would prevail.

"Welcome to Team Rocket," Giovanni's voice carried a hint of sarcasm since she wasn't an official member, but for a split second she felt cool, as if she was joining a secret club. She pushed the silly thoughts away and focused on reality, they were criminals and she had a mission.

xoxox xox xoxox

Diamond 03: Give me Hope

Did anyone see that? No? Good. However, even if no one saw him fall on his face, the fact still stood that Giovanni had indeed face-planted the cold hard floor of the Rocket warehouse. The one who caused him to trip crawled out from under his legs and hurriedly pulled his arm attempting to help him stand up, albeit she almost succeeded in making him lose his balance again.

"I'm so sorry!" Delia tried to wipe away the non-existent dirt from his clothes; the floor was like a mirror since she started taking care of the warehouse. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"I'm fine, but why were you on the floor?" Giovanni inquired, his anger being replaced by puzzlement.

Delia was a diligent worker, resourceful and energetic. She had significantly improved the health of the pokemon since she got there, not that it mattered much. The pokemon were still ill and they would remain ill until a cure was discovered, that was why certain key research laboratories were buying them.

An epidemic had broken out and an antidote was yet to be developed. Under the guise of a friendly caring company, several pokemon research laboratories were racing to find a cure and cash in. As for the origin of the illness, it remained unknown. It was for that reason that Team Rocket was taking the opportunity to steal sick pokemon and gain easy money to fund their various illegal activities, during a time when pokemon battles were becoming rare between gangs due to the shortage of healthy pokemon.

Even if she had no way of curing the pokemon, Delia continued to carefully take care of them day and night, without leaving the warehouse. Giovanni had tested her, leaving the doors unlocked and posting hidden guards out, but she made no attempts to escape.

On one occasion, Binks bitterly reported that Luke had left the door wide open, though Leah was quick to witness that Delia had simply closed it, muttering something about the breeze being too cold. Clearly, she wasn't going anywhere. It was as if the pokemon were more important to her than whatever life she led before.

"I was tired, so I sat down. I guess I must have fallen asleep," Delia explained.

"Don't you have a place to sleep there?" Giovanni pointed to the corner of the warehouse, but found the sleeping bag was occupied by a Persian and she was not moving.

"Persian!" Delia rushed to the pokemon's side and checked her vital signs, it was too late. "If I hadn't fallen asleep, if I had stayed by her side..." Delia began to cry. "She was doing better, I thought it was best to keep her out of the pokeball, I thought it would help her fever if she had more breathing room. She woke up and looked at me, not with that lost look they have when they're sick, she looked right at me, I put the egg she laid yesterday next to her because eggs can't get the virus, it has been proven. I thought that being near her child would give her strength. I tended to her then went to check the pokemon in the pokeballs. I put the last one back and had to sit down, then..."

"If you keep this up you'll end up sick yourself," Giovanni warned.

Delia shook her head, "humans can't catch this," the fact had been proven for certain.

"I don't mean because of the epidemic," Giovanni knew that Delia could be a valuable addition to the team, being such a hard worker. It was clear she intended to stay, so he might as well keep her around. Maybe one day she would get used to this new life and really be a part of Team Rocket. "You'll be living in our hideout now. You're no longer on trial and your skills in treating pokemon and researching their abilities will be useful."

Delia shook her head, though she followed Giovanni out, taking the Persian's egg with her and watched as he locked the warehouse. "I'm going to clean this egg and get supplies. I didn't join to help your organization; I'm here for the pokemon. But lately I've been thinking you're not so bad. Your methods are questionable, but the truth is the Pokemon Center didn't have the resources to treat those pokemon. You're just thinking of profits, but giving those pokemon to the laboratories is their only hope. People often hold on to those they care for selfishly, but letting them go is sometimes for the best, though their trainers will be sad, it was best to send them to the laboratories."

"You're so naive," Giovanni observed.

"Why do you say that? Because I have hope?" Delia herself didn't know how or why she started to change her mind. Perhaps it was all a mental defense to protect herself amidst the crisis. They both got in the car, with Giovanni in the driver's seat, "seatbelt..."

He rolled his eyes but humored her. "The laboratories are not making much progress, that's why they keep asking for more pokemon." That and their methods of research were rather painful for the subjects.

"Even so, they're trying, even if they just want to get rich from an antidote, they're still trying. It's just like Team Rocket, you're lawless vigilantes."

He couldn't help it; Giovanni had to laugh, "vigilantes? Delia, we're criminals aspiring to control the mafia."

"Once you learn of the satisfaction of helping others you'll change your ways and use your power for good. I'll join you for real then, I'll help guide you, I'll be your conscience," Delia offered.

"You'll wake up soon enough," those words from Giovanni were the last spoken during the car ride to the Team Rocket hideout deep in the mountains, west of Cerulean and east of Pewter City.

xoxox xox xoxox

After Delia moved into their hideout, she saw Luke, Leah, Aayla and Binks on a daily basis, along with many other people. Luke and Leah were the easiest to talk to, they weren't really bad, Luke simply craved adventure and Leah followed him. Binks had an undying admiration for Giovanni and Aayla wanted power, though her true motivation was unknown. Most of the others were after power and riches. Most of the time Delia just kept to herself.

"Dudette, it's like broken," Luke held up the pokeball for Delia to examine, she had just walked into the common area of their crowded hideout, only Giovanni had his own room; the others had roommates and she was roomed with Leah and Aayla.

Delia took the pokeball and looked at it from different angles, searching for cracks, "where is it broken?"

"Not the ball, the Shellder, I caught it like yesterday, but its shell is totally cracked. I still caught it because it was alive, I mean like really alive and jumping around, you know?" Luke explained.

"It doesn't have the virus?" Delia was surprised; the epidemic had been spreading fast. "I think I can help with the shell, I'll examine the damage and do my best, then return Shellder as soon as possible."

"You keep it, I have healthy pokemon and they're not broken. If you come with us on missions, you need pokemon." Luke encouraged, his blue eyes shining with hope. Maybe Delia could replace Binks as the third member of their team.

"I'm needed here," Delia declined, "sorry, but I can't join your team right now."

"I'm the leader but it's more like Leah's team, you know?" Luke commented, "she's like the real leader, I just get Binks to listen to her, you know? She's like really smart, you know?"

It was hard to imagine the quiet Leah leading their trio of thieves, which would explain why Luke had to relay the orders. Binks was always muttering about how he should be the leader, he was not the most respected Team Rocket member, and sometimes got picked on, though he tried to keep up a tough guy act. At the time the teams consisted of three people, though Giovanni considered lowering it to two.

Sending members out on solo missions would be risky, save for certain occasions when being found meant a failed mission, even if there was someone there to help. For now they were fine in trios, until their training was improved and two could do what three were needed to accomplish now.

Aayla was the leader of her team, not surprisingly, with two adoring fans constantly arguing among themselves for her attention. She knew how to set them straight and make them work together when it was needed.

Leah had joined Luke and Delia, politely greeting them in a barely audible voice. Luke went on to tell a story about a past mission and commended Delia on her work at their little base.

The three were still talking when the common area suddenly felt silent. The lack of voices in the background made them pause their conversation and look towards the one that called their attention without even having to say a word; it was the boss of Team Rocket, Giovanni.

Giovanni waved his hand nonchalantly, signaling for everyone to go about their business and the multiple conversations were resumed. He walked over to Delia, "I'm going out on an investigation mission, I'm assigning you as my partner; I think you'll find it to be interesting."

Delia was surprised but nodded anyway, "yes..." Giovanni couldn't be taking her to steal pokemon; he knew she would just get in the way. Maybe she was supposed to conduct some kind of research.

"We're leaving right away; pack some clothes, enough for a week. Don't worry about food and supplies, that's been taken care of," Giovanni knew everyone was curious about his mission and wondered if he would have a story to tell them when they returned. "I'll be waiting."

"Yes!" Delia hastily exchanged her goodbyes with Luke and Leah, "see you guys in a week!" then turned towards Giovanni, who was walking back to his room. "Giovanni! My duties at the base and the warehouse, someone will take over while I'm gone, right?"

"Everything is taken care of," Giovanni assured, though Delia wasn't too convinced.

None the less she packed her clothes, consisting of identical Team Rocket uniforms, a few normal clothes just in case, and a water pokemon first aid kit for her new Shellder. She might as well take Shellder along, she felt safer personally making sure he wasn't exposed to catching the virus. She took the egg obtained from Persian as well and hoped Giovanni didn't mind her side projects, more so she hoped she had time to take care of them and complete her research.

Once Delia was ready, she informed Giovanni and they both left in his car. She was yet to know where they were going or about the specifics of their mission, but assumed that Giovanni would explain everything in detail soon. Though the situation was grim, Delia held on to the hope that this mission would hold some kind of key information that would lead to a cure for the virus.

xoxox xox xoxox

Diamond 04: Give me Courage

Giovanni and Delia had been traveling for quite some time. Delia was anxious to treat Shellder, but couldn't do it in the car. The sandy colored egg she had obtained from the Persian sat on her lap.

"I wondered what you did with that egg; I should have known you were taking care of it yourself," Giovanni broke the long silence that had bored him.

"The others are busy, besides, I don't think they want a pokemon egg," Delia explained.

"I'm sure they don't..." the leader agreed.

Delia got the impression Giovanni found the egg to be useless and reminded him, "it will hatch one day."

"I suppose so; it doesn't require too much care, does it?"

"Not really..." After being trusted not to run away and moving to the hideout, Delia was given more freedom. She once went to the Pokemon Center in Cerulean City and reassured nurse Joy that the mysterious gang were vigilantes looking out for the pokemon's well being, so she didn't need to worry. She told Joy she would return to continue her studies in Pallet Town with Professor Oak.

Then she called Professor Oak and told him she had become fascinated with the world outside of her small town home and wanted to journey to do some research in other areas. The professor agreed and encouraged Delia, thinking that she might find something while traveling that could be missed in the Pokemon Centers and laboratories. She felt bad about hiding her true intentions, but told herself it was for a good cause.

"Where are we going?" Delia finally asked, they had been driving for some time and had gone past Cerulean City. They would soon reach the coast.

"To my secret get away," he waited for her reaction.

"Your secret get away?" Delia was puzzled, completely missing the hint. "A research laboratory?"

"No, a beach house," Giovanni revealed.

Delia laughed; she didn't even know Giovanni could make silly sarcastic jokes like that. The problem was he wasn't laughing. "You're not really serious, are you?"

"Why wouldn't I be? Even future mafia lords need vacations every now and then. I've been working hard and so have you. We're going on a little one week holiday, I'm sure you'll-" Delia slammed her fist hard on the dashboard and Giovanni instinctively stomped on the breaks. "What are you doing?!"

To say Delia was furious would be an understatement, "Giovanni Roketto, pokemon are dying."

He decided it was time for a change of tactics, least the mood be ruined further. "I was kidding, we are going to my beach house, but it's for research purposes." The next part was not really a lie, "Luke told me he found healthy pokemon at the beach. Researchers have been looking at the ill pokemon, trying to find a cause and a cure. Maybe looking at healthy pokemon and their environment will reveal new information. I thought you could make comparisons and see what's present in one situation and not in the other."

Delia took a deep breath and calmed down, "I'm sorry for losing my temper; I've just been so stressed about the pokemon and the virus. The thought of taking a vacation when the pokemon need me the most is impossible. I apologize."

"It's alright; just try to relax, you'll do better in your research with a clear mind and don't forget to stay open to the possibilities." Albeit the possibilities he had in mind didn't involve researching pokemon.

"Yes, you're right, I'll try my best." The rest of the way to the beach was calm and quiet.

xoxox xox xoxox

Giovanni and Delia arrived at the secluded little beach house, which stood modest but cozy. "What's first on the schedule?" Delia inquired.

"There is no schedule, just do what you feel you need to do," Giovanni replied with an inviting smile.

"Right, then I'll get started right away. I want to check on Shellder, I'll treat him at the beach, I don't think his condition is really serious and this area should be safe." Said and done, Delia got to work right away.

xoxox xox xoxox

Delia was focused on sealing the cracks on Shellder's shell when a shadow indicated that someone was behind her. "Delia..."

"Yes?" She continued focusing on her work without looking up. She recognized the voice as being Giovanni's.

"This..." He extended his hand over her shoulder, holding out a bottle of sun-block where she could see it.

"Oh yes, thank you," she took the bottle and poured some lotion into her hands then proceeded to cover every inch of exposed skin she had. She was still wearing her Team Rocket uniform so that wasn't a lot.

"You know, there's a shop near here that sells beach supplies. You could get a bikini..." Giovanni suggested.

"To go for a swim and take samples of the water for further study? Good idea..." Delia played along, ignoring his real meaning.

"I need sun block too..." he continued.

"I'm done, you can take the bottle back." Delia held the bottle over her shoulder and still refused to look at him. She knew what to expect.

"Aren't you going to help me put it on?" That was the last drop.

Delia stood, seeing that Giovanni was in fact wearing only swim trunks and he had set up a large umbrella, a couple of beach chairs and a cooler near by. She glared at him then pitched the sun-block bottle into the ocean as hard as she could. She then sat next to Shellder and resumed her work.

Instead of getting angry, Giovanni laughed and welcomed the challenge. Delia liked to play hard to get, but she was cute, resourceful and brave, certainly worth the challenge and Giovanni was proud and arrogant enough to believe he could get whatever he wanted. Soon enough, she would come to him.

xoxox xox xoxox

After Shellder was taken care of, Delia started taking samples of the sand. She didn't have the proper equipment to analyze them at the Team Rocket hideout and she still had a lot to learn about the process, but maybe she could send some samples to Professor Oak. She did say she would be researching so it fit her story, as for Team Rocket, this wouldn't put them in any danger of being discovered so she wouldn't get into any big trouble, thus would be allowed to continue caring for their pokemon.

Giovanni was swimming around near by, occasionally glancing at Delia to see if she was looking. She was, but only slightly and with annoyance. Then her expression suddenly changed to alarm when she spotted something big heading towards him. "Get out of the water! There's something behind you, get out quick!"

Knowing that she wouldn't give him a false alert of danger, Giovanni tried to get to shore as fast as he could, but felt something pull him underwater. The creature surfaced along with him, revealing itself to be a Gyarados. The Gyarados roared angrily and looked at Delia who was at the beach, furious at her as well.

Delia couldn't move; she just stood there looking at the Gyarados' mixture of rage and agony. Did she seek shelter in this beach running away from an area that was contaminated by the virus? Were pokemon truly that aware of the epidemic, perhaps more aware than researchers? It was as if the Gyarados was blaming her and Giovanni, blaming all humans for this disaster and assuming they were at the beach to spread it.

"Shellder, shellder!" The smaller pokemon argued with the Gyarados, defending the human who had helped him. The Gyarados roared angrily in return, pained and unforgiving.

"Let him go," Delia pleaded with the Gyarados. "Please let him go! We didn't do anything wrong! We're not the cause of the virus; we're trying to find a cure for it! Please believe me, I'm taking sand and water samples to study them, I'm trying to figure out what's going on."

"Shellder!" The pokemon offered his support, but the Gyarados was too angry to listen to reason.

The Gyarados held Giovanni tightly, her long body wrapped around the uselessly struggling human. For a moment it looked like she would devour him, but Shellder jumped towards the Gyarados trying to tackle her and was caught in the massive pokemon's mouth.

"Shellder, Giovanni!" Delia panicked; she didn't know what to do. What could she do? She had no other pokemon save for the egg inside the house, and she couldn't fight the Gyarados herself, she was far too big and strong. Now the angry sea pokemon had them both. It looked like Shellder was about to be crushed to peaces. "Stay strong Shellder, I'll be right back!"

Delia rushed to the house as fast as she could. She dug through her luggage, searching for that water stone she packed just in case. She found it, ran back and threw the water stone at Shellder. Unfortunately, Gyarados was moving too much in her attempt to find the strength to crush Shellder and the water stone fell to the sea.

Full of determination, Delia dived after it, retrieving the water stone while Shellder still kept Gyarados busy. She surfaced and climbed on to Gyarados' body where the pokemon held Giovanni.

Angered, Gyarados prepared to use a hyper beam, trying to take out the traitorous Shellder that sided with humans and the troublesome humans all at once. When Gyarados aimed, Delia took the opportunity to throw the water stone at Shellder, causing him to evolve into Cloyster. "Aurora beam!"

Cloyster broke free of Gyarados' grip and attacked, defeating the larger pokemon. As Gyarados fell, seemingly unconscious, Delia and Giovanni struggled not to be trapped under her heavy body while Cloyster helped them get to shore.

"Thank you Cloyster, you saved our lives," Delia gave the pokemon her sincere gratitude as she hugged him. "What do you say?" She paused and waited for Giovanni to speak, but he only looked puzzled, "say thank you to Cloyster, he saved our lives!"

"I'm not in the mood to argue, thank you Cloyster." Giovanni couldn't believe what he was saying, though he didn't care too much, it was just to keep Delia calm because he really wasn't in the mood to argue right now.

"Well, it seems Gyarados will need a long rest, we'll be fine for a while. You've done very well; come rest in your pokeball," Delia searched around for the pokeball on the beach and spotted it half buried in the sand. "Cloyster, return!"

"That was close; I didn't think there would be wild Gyarados in this beach."

"She was looking for shelter, or vengeance. She's gone now," Delia felt herself start to cry again, how many had passed away like this.

She noticed Giovanni's confused look, "why are you crying? We're safe now, and you were very brave."

"She's dead; the Gyarados is dead, not just fainted. I didn't want Cloyster to feel bad, so I pretended she just passed out and called him to his pokeball so he wouldn't know. She was fighting the virus, she was weak from it. Cloyster is very strong I'm sure, but to take out a Gyarados capable of using hyper beam in one hit right after evolving? Maybe what really makes Cloyster so strong is that he was able to stay healthy."

Giovanni looked at the still Gyarados. She really was dead, that virus was more powerful than anyone thought. He wondered if it would end up wiping out the existence of pokemon completely. He didn't say that to Delia, she was upset enough as it was. He hugged her and allowed her to get her frustration and sadness out of her system; she had been very helpful after all.

They stayed like that for some time, until Delia calmed down. "I want to take sand and water samples; I also want to sample Gyarados scales and a blood sample. I want to send these samples to Professor Oak; I assure you I won't mention Team Rocket. He thinks I'm traveling around doing research, so this won't seem odd, all the opposite, he might find it odd if I don't share anything from my research with him."

"Alright, I'll trust you to keep Team Rocket a secret." He could trust her, he somehow knew it. "I'll help you get the samples; we better leave after we're done." Delia's connections might prove useful as well.

They quietly got to work collecting the needed samples. While they worked, a Krabby approached them and they noted it looked healthy. The pokemon opposed no resistance to being caught by Delia, as if he had witnessed Cloyster's strength and wished to be trained too.

After the samples were collected, they were packed up, ready to be delivered to Professor Oak. They changed into normal clothes that didn't identify them as being part of Team Rocket and went on their way to Pallet Town.

xoxox xox xoxox

Diamond 05: Give me Passion

"You're not going to try anything, are you?" Delia shot Giovanni a warning glare as the car steadily advanced towards Pallet Town. She recognized she was too honest at times and shouldn't have spoken of Professor Oak so carelessly.

"That depends on what you mean," Giovanni replied coolly.

"I want you to spare Professor Oak's research center. Don't steal from him, don't sabotage, vandalize or do any other bad thing," Delia warned with all seriousness. A part of her, the part that always spoke too late in her mind, went over her possible action if he refused to comply and it was up to her to stop him; there was little she could do.

Giovanni paused, weighing the pros and cons of his possible reply. Delia saw his silence as a good sign; he was considering her words instead of simply refusing to listen to her. Finally he grinned, concluding that maybe there was something he wanted more than pokemon at the moment and his pride wouldn't allow him to rest until he obtained it. "Go out with me."

"Excuse me?" Delia could feel her anger rising at the blackmail.

"I think you heard," Giovanni was looking confident, he had Delia right where he wanted her.

"Is threatening people the only way you can get a date?" Delia pouted indignantly and waited for her words to have their effect. She knew Giovanni was prideful and would not take them well.

"One week," he no longer sounded as calm as before, but his frustration was only a well hidden hint. "I'll stay away from Oak and his pokemon forever and you only need to give me one week, after that you're off the hook. Of course that doesn't mean we have to break up after the week is over."

Delia considered the offer, one week wasn't a long time, but Giovanni was... well, he was a young man like any other and that presented certain difficulties to deal with. Still, if certain lines were not crossed, Delia thought she could deal with it. She played the possible scenarios in her head and thought of what she would do on each one. "No crossing the line," she finally consented.

"What line?" Giovanni knew exactly what she meant, but he asked anyway.

Delia didn't dignify him with a direct answer and instead opted to give him some information. "We can talk as much as you want, granted that it doesn't get in the way of my duties taking care of the pokemon." That was why she followed him after all, she had to right the wrong, turn Team Rocket into a good organization and support the pokemon until that was possible. She knew it would take time, but she was patient.

"Go on..." Giovanni pressed.

"I don't think this is the proper time to take too many breaks so I'm afraid I'll have to decline movie dates and the like. However, we can eat our meals together," She paused, trying to think of a way to make up for the lack of dates. "I'll cook for you whenever you want, I'll make anything you like as long as the ingredients are available."

"I would like to try your cooking," Giovanni agreed thus far, though it wasn't quite enough. "What else?"

"We could..." Delia tried to think of something to say, something that couples did that was still acceptable to a pretend couple. "We can hold hands!"

"What are we, seven years old?" Giovanni wasn't sure if he should be frustrated or amused, but slow and small progress was still progress, he decided to try to be patient. "You could be a little more..." he searched for a word that wouldn't sound too forward to her, "affectionate."

"If you need a hug, I'll give it to you," Delia offered, knowing full well that the bargain wouldn't work.

"And a kiss?" He inquired.

She blushed, which he caught from the corner of his eyes. She was quite the enigma, strong willed but naive, brave but innocent, yet her mix of fury and shyness had its charm. "Don't rush me."

"Don't be so stressed, relax, you weren't this nervous at the beach," back there, she was a fury, but not a nervous fury.

Delia took a deep breath and released it slowly. "I'll try to stay focused on what's important." She wouldn't let him forget the current crisis; this was no time for romance, especially such an imposed romance.

Giovanni shifted uncomfortably, he wanted to say something more, but his skin had been stinging for some time and it was becoming so painful he couldn't concentrate on the conversation.

Noting his discomfort, Delia apologized, "I'm sorry, I didn't know it would be so bad."

"What would be?" He shifted again, how annoying.

"The sun burn..." Delia cringed, imagining how much more pain Giovanni would have to endure by the end of the day. His skin was still tender, having been burned recently, but the pain would get worse. "It's because I threw away your sun block, I'm really sorry."

Trying to be brave, Giovanni grinned nonchalantly, "this is nothing, don't worry about it."

xoxox xox xoxox

Though they had plenty of time to rest while sitting in the car after their near death experiences at the beach, the long drive only made Giovanni and Delia more tired. It was night by the time they reached Pewter City and they headed towards a hotel.

While they checked in, Delia gave Giovanni a meaningful glance, followed by a sweet smile and a whispered, "two rooms."

To the lady at the front desk it might have sounded something like 'your room' as if they were deliberately rooming separately for appearances only and had no intentions of spending the night apart. However, the lady showed no indication of having noticed Delia's whisper; she merely pushed up her glasses and maintained her neutral smile, while listening to Giovanni's request for two rooms. He didn't want Delia to throw a fit.

At the doors to their respective rooms, which were side by side, Delia and Giovanni stopped and each waited for the other to say something.

They open their mouths simultaneously and were unanimously interrupted by the growling of their stomachs. "Do you feel like going out to dinner?" Giovanni jumped on the opportunity, pushing away any feelings of silly embarrassment; after all, her stomach was just as loud as his.

Though Delia thought that dating during a crisis was wasting valuable time that could be put towards helping alleviate said crisis, food was still a necessity so she agreed to getting some dinner.

xoxox xox xoxox

Dinner was relatively uneventful though delicious, especially to those with empty stomachs. Delia caught herself several times talking to Giovanni as if her situation with him was not unusual at all. However, she quickly reminded herself to keep her guard up, though it was difficult being so sleepy, which made her distracted.

"Maybe we should get ready for bed; we need to get an early start tomorrow." Before Giovanni could make a comment Delia clarified, "I mean you in your room and me in mine."

xoxox xox xoxox

At the hotel, they once again stood in front of their respective doors. "Don't I get a good night," he stopped, he had decided not to be too direct, to let Delia come to him, he could manage that, it would work. Besides, she was glaring daggers, "hug?"

Delia nodded; seemingly pleased not to be pressured for more, though her glare might have been the reason. She cheerfully, though not too energetically due to the day's activities, walked over to Giovanni and tightly wrapped her arms around him. It took him a second to return the embrace and he was very tense. "Oh my!" The realization sunk in for Delia, "your sunburn, that must have hurt, I'm sorry, I should have known to be more gentle."

"I told you, it's nothing!" Giovanni pulled Delia close for another hug as if to prove that he felt no discomfort, though he certainly did.

"You don't have to push yourself. Get some rest, you'll feel better in a few days and thank you for listening to me during dinner. I want to hear about your life next time."

xoxox xox xoxox

It had been over an hour since they each returned to their respective rooms. Giovanni could clearly hear the shower next door for a while, then the water was shut off and there was silence. He thought that Delia must be able to hear his shower as well on the other side of the thin wall and might not want to be kept awake, but the cool water was soothing so he stayed under it for much longer than he normally would.

What made him finally leave the shower was a knock on the door. "Delia?"

"Sorry to interrupt, but you've been in the shower for a long time, I can tell, I heard you get in. Not to be a nagger but it's not nice to waste so much water; besides, I think I can make you feel better."

In a split second Giovanni was at the door dripping wet with only a towel loosely wrapped around his waist. "Come in," he spoke in his most seductive tone.

"Um... ah..." Delia looked left and right, up and down the hall, then went inside, clutching a white plastic bag. "I hope no one saw me," she muttered under her breath, the scene could easily lend itself to the wrong conclusions.

"No one is going to judge you," Giovanni smiled confidently.

Delia glared, her face bright red in both embarrassment and anger. "Listen here Charmander, if you let that towel fall you'll never have descendants."

"But you-"

"That's not what I'm here for. I went out to get you some medicine for your sun burn!" She shoved the bag at him, it contained various supplies from a near by pharmacy.

"How considerate..." it was a pity she didn't show that same consideration for his pride. He mentally counted to ten, made sure the towel was secure around his waist and told himself to be patient or he would further ruin what little progress they made at dinner. "I didn't mean to jump to conclusions, I'm just..."

"A man?" Delia offered.

"Yes..."

Her voice turned even more fierce, "that's no excuse!" she scolded, "show some self control. Now, if you promise to behave I'll rub some anti-burn cream on your back so you don't have to trouble yourself reaching; that is after you've dried yourself of course. You can take care of the rest, okay?"

"I would like that," she couldn't keep her hands off him, Giovanni assured himself. He went back into the bathroom to dry himself off and decided not to take unnecessary risks angering Delia, thus he emerged wearing pants and sat down, closing his eyes and relaxing.

His bliss didn't last long as he found that the anti-burn cream stung terribly and he was sure Delia was scratching him on purpose, but he refused to show any signs of pain. "I know this will sting," Delia saw through his act, "but you have to put it on, it's super effective. I'll know if you did, I'll be able to see the results tomorrow."

"I will..." He would put it on; she knew he would, because he was stubborn.

Delia grinned, feeling sorry for his pain, but at the same time concluding it was karma. Giovanni cursed his luck, this could be quite enjoyable minus the pain, but sadly, he couldn't even feel Delia's soft hands beyond the sting, though he could certainly feel her nails.

To be Continued

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. In "Secret of the Unknown" it is mentioned that Delia was Professor Oak's student.