Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Don't Give Me Diamonds ❯ Chapter 13

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

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 48: Give me Allies

Lily, Misty, Ash and Pikachu sat at the Cerulean City gym's living room, with the last three still lost in confusion. Lily took a deep breath and tried to organize her thoughts. "You like know about Vermilion, right?"

"Wrong," Misty was as puzzled as ever. If anything happened in Vermilion City she was completely unaware of it. "Wait," she paused, her expression thoughtful. Misty remembered Violet mentioning Viridian City and it was the Viridian mayor who was on TV, "Vermilion or Viridian?" She inquired wondering if her sister had gotten the names mixed up. Either way, Misty still didn't know what could be happening in Viridian or Vermilion that was alarming, other than the destroyed stadium.

"Vermilion, the attack was in Vermilion, but they like got Viridian involved too," Lily dramatized with worry.

Misty frowned, her alarm growing, "what attack? Where is Daisy? What's going on?"

Though he was usually the most impatient of the two, Ash placed his hand on Misty's shoulder to calm her. The announcement of their engagement was far from their minds at the time. "Start from the beginning," he encouraged Lily to tell them the full story.

Lily nodded and began her explanation, her expression grave, "you know Daisy's fiance, Lando Ackbar, is the son of Bane Ackbar of Ackbar Inc."

Misty nodded; Daisy's wedding date was near. Misty's dress was already prepared for her to step into her role as a bridesmaid. She still had to drag Ash shopping for an appropriate tuxedo, he kept procrastinating. She knew Daisy intended to go all out in her wedding.

Lily continued with her face unchanged, "earlier today, Lando's father was like being honored for a donation his company was making to an orphanage in Vermilion City. Lando was there watching and so was Daisy. She called and said she wasn't injured but Lando and Bane were; she said she would call again later. I like tried to call her again but she has her phone off. At least no other attacks were reported on the news," realizing her audience was still confused, Lily elaborated, "Team Rocket attacked during the donation ceremony and like a lot of people were injured, some were even like... killed."

"Killed?" Misty gasped, "that's what the news said? That people were killed?" She paled in absolute shock. Team Rocket had never done anything so extreme before, at least not publicly.

"That's impossible!" It was quite possible and Ash knew it, but he refused to believe it. "Team Rocket are thieves, not murderers. I would believe it if you said they took prisoners. Injuring people and kidnapping for ransom is something I can picture them doing, but killing?"

"Daisy told me about it," Lily snapped, "and it was on the news!"

Misty sat in silent shock while Ash let the revelation sink in with frustration. "What about Viridian City? What about the gym leader?" Ash remembered that Violet mentioned him. His mother was still at Viridian with Giovanni as far as Ash knew.

"They say that Giovanni, the Viridian gym leader and Rune Antilles, mayor of Viridian City, secretly support Team Rocket. Rune is Kenobi's father so Violet was worried about them. The press is like all over them all of a sudden, it makes no sense!" Lily scowled in frustration.

Outside of the public eye, it was known that Giovanni was with Team Rocket and it was also known that a direct confrontation was a bad idea. The pressure of the press was retaliation for the Vermilion attack. They hoped that Team Rocket would go back to keeping a low profile and larger casualties could be avoided.

"Of course it doesn't!" Ash got defensive, while Misty was lost in thought. Usually a son would be a little more hesitant to accept his mother dating someone who was not his father. However, in Ash's case he didn't feel that Giovanni was replacing anyone because his father had never been around. He went straight to the phase of acceptance and even welcomed the gym leader's presence.

"Ash," Misty's voice was barely above a whisper, "do you remember what Brock said? The gym leader did look a lot like-"

"No way!" Ash interrupted, "that's just a coincidence, they're accusing him falsely. There's no way he's evil, my mother knew him, she's known him since before I was born. Besides, he's the gym leader. You heard him at the tournament; you saw how much people admired him. He tried to be so generous to me when he offered to battle at the gym and.... and Persian! Persian is to Giovanni as Pikachu is to me. I can't doubt him any more than I can doubt myself."

Misty took a deep breath and let it out slowly, she knew there was no arguing with Ash when he got defensive like that. "His resemblance to that man might have gotten him into trouble... or maybe it's something else entirely. It could be political pressure. Maybe Antilles' opposing candidate is trying to use the Vermilion City crisis to his advantage. The gym leader is caught in the middle because he's the mayor's friend."

Ash's frown deepened, "that's a dirty trick!" He couldn't believe it, using a tragic event that happened clear across the region to stain the reputation of the Viridian City mayor and his friends. He was upset beyond words and he could imagine his mother was upset as well. "I'm calling mom," Ash announced, taking his cell phone from his pocket, but he was unable to reach Delia. "It says the unit is deactivated, maybe the battery ran out."

Lily got up suddenly, "I'm going to find Daisy."

"You can't just rush into Vermilion City," Misty stopped her, jumping to her feet and blocking her sister's path.

"I can't leave her!" Lily insisted, her voice rising.

"I'll go find her, you should wait here," Misty marched out with a steady pace, followed by Ash.

"I'm going too, Team Rocket has really crossed the line this time," Ash insisted.

"I'm going alone if you like don't want me with you," Lily was determined to find her older sister. Daisy had taken care of her more than her parents. Seeing her determination, Ash and Misty had to agree to take Lily with them.

xoxox xox xoxox

At Giovanni's mansion, Delia grew tired of flipping through the channels. The TV returned to its normal programming and the few scattered news bulletins that came on were only repetitions of what she already knew. She reminded herself that the recent catastrophe was not truly the work of Team Rocket. What happened was not ordered by Giovanni, but the thought of his retaliation worried her.

"How long will it take to stop this false Rocket group?" Delia didn't expect to receive an informative answer as she turned off the TV.

"I don't know," the Rocket girl who was trapped with her in the room replied. If she had not been distracted by her curiosity looking out the window at the lady that was with the boss, she would have left before she ended up trapped with said lady. She would have been on break and gone straight to Cerulean City to a video game convention. She wouldn't have been caught in the following series of events.

"What's your name?" Delia asked, feeling odd that she had been trapped with that girl for so long without knowing as much as her name.

"Huh?" The girl was taken by surprise. She paused, as if replaying the question in her mind since it was so unexpected. "Millennia, but my friends call me Pixel," it was a nickname she received due to her love of video games and technology.

"My name is Delia, let's be friends, so I'll call you Pixel," Delia was trapped and there was nothing she could do about it, that reality had sunk in.

"I can't let you out," Pixel reminded as she took a seat next to Delia on the large bed.

"I know," Delia paused and a heavy silence hung in the air for a few seconds, she didn't like it. Maybe if she talked to someone, the only person available, the seconds wouldn't drag on so slowly.

Ash was probably at Cerulean City celebrating his engagement to Misty with her sisters. Delia knew Misty would want to tell them about it in person right away. The visit to Cerulean City would probably be similar to past visits. Ash would have a story to tell about how Daisy, Violet and Lily dragged him and Misty on a shopping spree and drove him insane making him try on clothes he would never wear. They would get a lot of clothes for themselves and make Ash carry the bags. At the end of the day Misty would apologize for her family's antics and give Ash a kiss for having survived so bravely.

"Why did you join Team Rocket?" Delia finally broke the silence once more.

Pixel was quiet, blending into the background like Leah used to do. Her eyes held a stubbornness that had not been present on Leah's submissive gaze. "I like it, it's the best job I could have."

"Team Rocket is a criminal organization," Delia pointed out.

"Team Rocket is strong; the police won't come after us. Besides, I haven't gotten myself into trouble, unless you count this," Pixel tried to stay as positive as she could in the situation.

"Will you tell me the story?" Delia desperately needed to keep her mind busy or she would continuously think of the worse.

"If you really want to hear it... I used to live at Cinnabar Island, but I never fit in. I was the indoor geek in a town of beach loving people. Things improved when I started to attend college in Fuchsia City. I started working with Team Rocket a couple of days after I graduated. I didn't like living at home, dad was overprotective and mother was... totally crazy. She was panicky all the time because of an experience she had back when I was a year old. My parents both worked at a local hotel and I stayed at the hotel's childcare."

Pixel continued, "There was an act of terrorism on a nearby volcano, which caused a fire at the hotel. Dad went to make sure all the guests knew they had to leave immediately while mother went to get me. The babysitter had already taken the children to safety, but mother was apparently too panicked to realize that. She inhaled too much smoke and passed out. Dad got her out of there and she recovered, physically at least. She got on my nerves badly and I didn't want to go back to Cinnabar Island. They were looking for..." hackers, "office personnel to work for Team Rocket. Since I was in the computer field, I was offered a job. I wasn't at the top of my class, but I had pretty good grades and was at least in the top ten."

A rush of memories returned to Delia, "was that volcano called Princess by any chance?"

"Yeah," Pixel confirmed, "I guess it must have been all over the news back then."

"Was there no other way?" Delia asked softly. It was all too ironic. Han's act of terrorism against Team Rocket affected Pixel's parents. They overwhelmed her with exaggerated concerns, which caused her to become fed up with their dramatic emotions, thus growing a little detached from her own. Finally, she escaped from the suffocating household by joining Team Rocket. They offered her a place to live and she wanted to be independent as soon as possible. She signed up and had been living at the Viridian headquarters since then.

"How did you end up working at the mansion?" Delia encouraged the conversation to continue despite her own mixed emotions about the situation.

"I... failed at my old job," Pixel decided to leave it at that. As a student she was good, she took advanced tests and summer classes so she graduated early. When she got to Team Rocket, she was at the bottom. There were many people who were more skilled than her. It made her realize how little she could learn from the outside world. She did a lot of training, both physical and academic. She wasn't used to exercising so it wasn't easy. She got to class exhausted from the exercise and her brain was hardly functional in that state.

She managed to hold her own for a while thanks to Prism, her Porygon. Team Rocket gave Porygon to all the members of the software department. She wanted to finish the classes quickly so she tried to take the final exams early. She was good at tests as a student, so she thought she would somehow pass. The tests were actually hacking exercises in a controlled environment. They weren't really hacking, just practicing within the training Rocket server. She had to pass the test without Prism, whom she relied on so far, and lacked the skills to do so.

"Then you ended up here?" Delia guessed.

"Not right away," She had lost her confidence. In her current state Pixel was a super geek in comparison to a normal person, but even with all her knowledge she was at the bottom in comparison to the experienced tech Rockets. "I was drained from the busy schedule." She left her old life to have more freedom, but didn't have any time to herself. "I requested to be transferred..." to the hardware department, thinking that would be easier. The transfer was denied and she instead ended up as a supplier. The Porygon she had borrowed was taken away as soon as she left the software department. Basically, she was a delivery girl who took supplies to the field agents. Another Rocket supplier, Mondo, gave her some training.

"How did that job go?" Delia was aware that Pixel was only scratching the surface of the story, not wanting to reveal too much.

"I thought it was alright, but I guess it wasn't." She was late too many times due to being unused to traveling. Because of that, she was demoted to agent by commission. She didn't have a stable salary; she was paid depending on what pokemon she brought in. "I never had any pokemon of my own, so capturing pokemon was not possible, or rather, too difficult."

"You mean stealing?" There was a distinct difference between catching pokemon and stealing them. It was something Delia couldn't help it but to point out.

"I didn't even try that, I was worried I would get caught. Capturing wild pokemon is allowed, Team Rocket isn't just about stealing." Pixel left it at that, not wanting to mention too much about the business side of Team Rocket.

"I know," the thought brought bitter memories to Delia, "there are also scientists conducting experiments." Pixel didn't know the true meaning behind Delia's words.

After her demotion, Pixel had hit rock bottom. One night she was broke and didn't want to go back to headquarters. She knew they would ask her to pay for her room. They couldn't take it out of her paycheck because she hadn't earned anything that month. The room was cheap, but Pixel's account was at zero. She wandered around the streets of Pewter City and someone tried to rob her.

The only things she had were her cell phone and computer, which she was allowed to keep after leaving the software department. The laptop was a glossy black with a red R on top. It was about four inches tall, six inches wide and only an inch thick. It was a lucky seven model. It had a seven gigahertz central processing unit, seven gigabytes of random access memory, a hard drive with seven terabytes of space, seven USB ports and a rocket port.

Pixel knew she couldn't allow some strange man to steal her equipment. She prepared for a fight she knew she couldn't win. Out of nowhere, a Meowth came and gave that masked man quite a beating. Pixel wanted to thank her, but the Meowth was unfriendly and Pixel ended up running away. Looking back on it, it was stupid to walk into an alley in Pewter City. She was used to the safety of Viridian City. Despite being surrounded by a thick forest and having plenty of dark alleys, only Rockets were allowed to challenge the law. There were severe punishments for non-Rockets that broke the law within the city's borders or in the forest. It was ironically a relatively safe place to live as long as Team Rocket remained unprovoked.

Pixel made it to the Viridian park late into the night. She didn't want to go to the Pokemon Center since she was wearing her Rocket uniform, but she couldn't get any clothes from her room at headquarters. She sat under a tree and thought about sleeping there, then she saw that Meowth again. She followed Pixel and she wanted to pick a fight, which Pixel talked her out of.

"I met a strong Meowth one night and tried to talk to her. Of course she only answered with 'meowth' and I didn't understand her, but I think she understood me. I wasn't experienced with pokemon, so I wasn't sure what to expect," Pixel admitted. "We somehow reached an understanding and she ended up as my pokemon, even if she preferred to stay out of her pokeball most of the time. She would battle for me for our mutual benefit. I would give her food shelter and find opponents for her to fight and I caught pokemon with her help."

Pixel had returned to HQ that night after all. She borrowed some money from her friend Laiki to get by while she put her plan into action. She set out for Saffron City the next day. After getting to Saffron City everything fell into place. There was a group there that hosted secret pokemon battles where people made bets. They were not affiliated with Team Rocket, but they were not enemies. The battles were harsh, not something the official league would approve of. Purry, the Meowth, was eager to participate.

"There's this wild Rattata that keeps getting away from me. I named him Speedy because he's so quick to run away. That was how I first ended up working at the mansion. A friend," Laiki, "told me that the mansion staff needed a trainer for something and I came. When I got to the mansion I was told that my mission was to defeat a Rattata that snuck in and they couldn't get rid of. Peachy ended up scaring him off. After that I ended up coming here to do different jobs now and then," Pixel explained.

"I didn't come here just to change a lightbulb," the blue haired girl continued, "that was something I was randomly asked to do. I was here for something else," to go over the security system and make sure the electronic locks and alarms were in working order, just in case. "So, who exactly are you and what is your position with the boss?" Pixel asked curiously.

"I'm no one famous, I have a little restaurant in Pallet Town, I'm usually always there." Delia paused unsure of how to phrase the next part, "I've known Giovanni for a long time... we used to date years ago."

"Really? So you're his ex who is or was getting back together with him?" Pixel knew Laiki would love to hear about something like that, but the Rocket gossip expert probably already knew.

xoxox xox xoxox

Ash, Misty and Lily arrived at Vermilion City. The streets were flooded with police officers keeping a close eye on the people coming and going through the streets, even if not many people were out at the time. Lily had been trying over and over to call Daisy during the entire drive, but her cell phone remained off. She decided to check on Violet, whom she thought had gone to Viridian City.

Violet answered her cell phone after just a few seconds, "Lily?"

"I'm like so glad you answered, I haven't been able to talk to Daisy yet," Lily spoke with worry. "How are things in Viridian City?"

"I don't know," Violet quietly admitted, "I like wanted to call sooner, don't be mad at me. I'm not in Viridian City; I'm in the Vermilion City hospital with Daisy. Mr. Ackbar passed away from his injuries; he was like shot during the donation ceremony. He was alive when he got to the hospital but he didn't make it..." Violet started crying again, Bane Ackbar's son, Lando, who was Daisy's fiance, had taken his father's death hard. He was thirsty for justice. He was upset, Daisy was upset and when Violet arrived, she cried with them more than she could comfort them.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Lily screamed into her little pink cell phone with tears forming in her eyes, which alarmed Misty.

"What is it? What happened? What's wrong?" Misty urged, tempted to snatch away the cell phone if her sister didn't answer quickly.

"Violet is in the Vermilion City hospital, she like came to find Daisy instead of going to Viridian City!" Lily informed, with a mix of anger at being excluded, relief to know Daisy and Violet were alright and sadness for the loss. Every hint of color was drained from Misty's face, imagining that Violet was injured and Daisy was missing or hurt as well. "Violet is alright," Lily clarified, seeing Misty's face, "Daisy is like okay too, but Mr. Ackbar, Lando's father, passed away."

As Misty and Ash took everything in, Lily listened to Violet on the phone, "Lando got hurt, but he's not in danger. He like took a bullet on the shoulder protecting Daisy, but the doctors say he should be able to fully recover in time." Violet's explanation was hurried and mixed with sobs.

"We're here," Ash hastily announced as he found a parking space at the Vermilion City hospital. The building stood tall, painted plain white, with many glass windows on each floor. Ash was on edge with everything that was going on, the recent update which revealed a death, only made him feel worse.

"Violet, we're like going into the hospital right now," Lily told her sister on the phone, "yes, we're here, what room are you in?" There was a short pause, "okay," then Lily hung up. "Violet says she'll come get us, they're like not allowing anyone in Lando's room without his permission, he doesn't want to deal with the press right now."

They quietly hurried across the hospital's large waiting room. The tiles and walls were white, matching the rows of chairs. "Excuse me, you can't bring pokemon in here, this is a human hospital, put it in a pokeball."

Pikachu protested and glared at the nurse. Before Ash could say anything, Violet called out to them, "Lily, Misty, Ash!"

"Violet!" Lily dashed towards her sister and hugged her, as if they haven't seen each other in years. Violet returned the emotion.

"You are friends of the Ackbar family?" The nurse inquired, not really needing an answer. "I'm sorry, please go on."

The group hurried to the elevator and Violet led Lily, Misty and Ash to Lando's room. In his room, Lando was going on endlessly about how much he hated Team Rocket. He was light headed from the pain killers and his speech was blurry.

"Daisy!" Lily shared a similar emotional reunion with her oldest sister as she had with Violet, hugging her. The three women stood together hugging each other until Misty joined in as well.

"What happened?" Misty took note of the white band around Daisy's head. There was a little white pillow attached to it on the back.

Daisy touched the little pillow that made contact with the back of her head, "it's like an ice-pack." Her eyes were red from crying and her voice was still shaky. "When Lando jumped in front of me and pushed me down I like hit my head on the floor, but if he hadn't done that..." Daisy became silent; she had never been so close in her life to having a bullet go through her head.

Misty watched as Lando lay in bed rambling about what he would do to get back at Team Rocket. "Thank you for protecting Daisy," Misty felt her own tears start to come out and felt Ash put his arm around her shoulders and pull her close. Pikachu, who was on his back, patted Misty's head gently.

Lando's half-conscious speech continued until he finally declared, "I can't get vengeance on an empty stomach, but I'm supposed to stay here for a while longer. Oh father, rest in peace I will avenge you! Where's my cell phone, I'm calling that restaurant we like and ordering something." His violet eyes remained unfocused and his pale platinum hair was a bit messy.

"They deliver?" Daisy finally let go of Violet and Lily, she kept her arms around her sisters' shoulders even after their group hug had ended.

"They do not, but I'll have someone pick up the food," Lando resolved. "That," he pointed at the clear bag beside the bed, feeding nutrients into his veins, "is not food," his speech was slurred due to the leftover anesthesia from when the bullet was removed from his shoulder and the pain killers in his system. He was still surprisingly talkative, even if most of his speech consisted of repetition and gibberish. His drunken tone was a big contrast to his normally polite and educated clear speech.

"Maybe you should ask the doctors first," Misty suggested.

"What are you saying? If we leave it up to the doctors they'll like starve my poor darling!" Daisy cried, still in a highly emotional state. "This man saved my life today and he will get to eat whatever he wants," she looked at Ash, "and you will bring it."

"Me?" Ash paused and decided not to protest, "alright, just tell me where to go."

Misty sighed hopelessly, it's not like food could do much harm anyway. Lando was already on the phone with his favorite restaurant, telling them to have his order ready. "I thank you for volunteering," he had overheard that Ash would be the delivery boy, "the restaurant is called Squisito, it's on the east of the city, near the coast, you can't miss it. When Team Rocket is destroyed, I'm taking everyone out to dinner there. Let's all eat together here for now, what should I order for you?" He made several suggestions in a different language, none of which Ash understood.

"Whichever tastes the best," Ash replied unsure.

"Great choice, I am having that as well!" Lando laughed for no reason other than his pain killer high and spoke on the phone again in that foreign language. He paused to tell Ash, "you should be on your way; they will have things ready when you get there."

"Right," Ash nodded awkwardly and glanced at Misty before exiting the immaculate white room, heading for the elevator.

xoxox xox xoxox

After going down ten floors and across the large waiting room, Ash exited the Vermilion hospital. He was followed by a reporter and her cameraman. They were in the waiting room hoping to have a word with Lando as soon as the heir to Ackbar Inc. tried to leave. Though they insisted, the hospital staff wouldn't let them visit his room.

"Wait! You're Ash aren't you? The young reporter, Allana, had platinum hair and golden eyes like her father, though her facial features were identical to her mother, Ameda. "A good news reporter has to stay informed. Since it looks like Mr. Ackbar isn't coming out, the Viridian mayor and gym leader's alleged support of Team Rocket is just as much news as anything. Will you comment? I mean, you did win the tournament, but you didn't battle the gym leader, is there a reason for that?"

Normally, Allana wasn't so well informed, but the Viridian tournament had been set to be recorded and the rights to broadcast it had been purchased by the station where she and her parents worked. The arrangements were made before the tournament even took place. Allana was participating in the final edit of the program, narrating the events of the tournament and providing comments to go with the images. She still hadn't done that, but she received a basic summary of how things went and saw a few video clips.

Ash looked at the reporter suspiciously, "what do you mean by that?" He pouted and snatched away the microphone. Allana excitedly signaled for the man with the camera to start filming. Ash looked at the camera and took a deep breath, "everyone, I Ash Ketchum, Indigo League Champion, hereby assure that the Viridian City gym leader, Giovanni, is not with Team Rocket. Stop throwing false accusations! Oh and don't pick on the mayor either." Ash handed the microphone back to the reporter and went on his way, "I have food to deliver, so I have to go now."

Allana didn't follow Ash, his declaration was plenty of material to work with, "thanks!" Grinning from ear to ear, she took her little golden cell phone from the pocket of her loud magenta suit. "Daddy, I have news!" She squealed into the phone.

Her father, the producer for the station's news programs encouraged her to continue, "what is it sweetie? Did you interview the young Mr. Ackbar?"

"No, he's still up in his hospital room and won't come out. I spoke to Ash Ketchum, he won the Indigo League championship two years ago and won against last year's champion at the Viridian City tournament," Allana's voice continued rising in pitch as she went on, "he says people should stop accusing the gym leader and the mayor!"

The news wasn't particularly shocking or controversial; a lot of people still had faith in the gym leader. Nonetheless, Giovanni's alleged involvement with Team Rocket was becoming big news and if it was proven to be true, the drama would extend to Ash thanks to his statement. If that happened, that report could be gold. "Let's prepare the report for the airwaves immediately!" The producer decided.

xoxox xox xoxox

Diamond 49: Give me Intelligence

Ash drove through the nearly empty streets of Vermilion City, bordering the coast. "Pika!" Pikachu pointed at an elegant structure that looked like a miniature palace painted in shades of blue. It had an ocean theme to it with seashells embedded into the walls, the paint created the illusion of an underwater castle. A large sign held by a mermaid statue read 'Squisito' in golden letters.

The mermaid had a blue-green fish tail with a yellow star on the hip. She was wearing a pink seashell bra and a pearl necklace, earrings and hair clips. Her face was partially covered by her red hair. She reminded Ash of Misty.

"Good job Pikachu, it looks like this is the place, I should have guessed it would be fancy," Ash's little indigo car looked out of place among the few luxurious cars in the nearly empty parking lot. He exited the car with Pikachu on his shoulders and entered the restaurant through the front door.

There was a large tank on the right with a few small water pokemon swimming inside, mostly Goldeen, Seaking and Magikarp. The left side was lined with several smaller tanks holding Krabby, Kingler, Shellder and Cloyster. On the wall facing towards the street there were various paintings depicting water pokemon. The opposite wall was made of glass, showing a clear view of the beach.

"Sir," a man dressed in a formal suit with his royal blue hair impeccably brushed back, addressed Ash. The man stood behind a polished brown wood podium at the entrance of the restaurant. On the podium there was a list on white paper lined with gold, a gold plated pen and a little golden bell. "This is a formal restaurant; you can't come in dressed like that. As for your Pikachu, please make sure he at least wears a bow tie."

"Um... I'm here to pick up a delivery?" Ash finally noticed the critical look directed at him. "It's for Lando Ackbar."

Upon mentioning the name, the man's face changed from disapproving to forcefully cheerful, "ah yes, you must be Mr. Ash Ketchum, correct?" The man picked up the little bell and rung it. A lavender haired waitress, dressed formally, rushed over, "Mr. Ash Ketchum is here to pick up the delivery Mr. Lando Ackbar ordered. Please inform the chef."

"Yes, right away!" The slightly nervous waitress hurried off to the kitchen, entering a small door between two tanks containing a Shellder and a Krabby.

Before the waitress with long lavender hair returned, several people in similar attires recalled the pokemon in the tanks into pokeballs and let other pokemon into the tanks. They were also water types, but some were from different regions. They headed out to the beach and let the pokemon that had previously been in the tanks out to play there, as if to keep the atmosphere interesting by occasionally switching the pokemon in the tanks.

The waitress finally returned, carrying four bags. The bags were made of heat enclosing fabric in four different shades of blue with golden lining. The name Squisito was written in golden letters on each of them. "Here is the food, please let Mr. Ackbar know that we hope he enjoys it!"

"I will, thanks," Ash took the bags and soon after, the waitress returned to her job. It looked like Lando had told them to put it on his tab. The waitress seemed a little less nervous when Ash finally started to leave.

Ash noticed the waitress whispering something to the man at the podium, but didn't hear them clearly. He thought he heard the phrases "the other business" and "even the champion," spoken with disapproval and a hint of fear. Ash didn't know what that was about, but assumed it was unimportant and disregarded it as if he had not heard.

Ash returned to his car with the bags, placing them on the passenger seat next to Pikachu, "hold on to them."

Pikachu nodded, "pika." He hoped that Lando remembered to order something for him.

Ash tried to start his car but it didn't work. "Gotta change that battery," he remembered, "Pikachu, it looks like the battery needs another charge." Pikachu followed Ash out of the car. Ash opened it exposing the engine and hoped his battery wouldn't be fried completely after another of Pikachu's charges, "be gentle."

"Pikachu!" Pikachu aimed a relatively small amount of electricity at the battery, and kept it going for a few seconds.

"Alright, let's try again," Ash closed the lid on top of the engine and went back inside the car. Thankfully, the car started immediately after the battery was charged, "good, it worked!" He knew he couldn't keep on doing that forever, eventually, the battery would give out. He still kept procrastinating to change it though. The battery was in a more or less sufficiently working condition for the time being.

xoxox xox xoxox

Ash made it back to the Vermilion City hospital uneventfully and took the food up to Lando's room. A nurse had tried to stop him, but her sentence was cut off by another, who pointed out he was with Mr. Ackbar's friends. As soon as she heard, the first nurse quickly excused herself.

Ash moved the bag's handles from his hand to forearm and reached for the door, opening it without knocking, he didn't think too much of the action. The room had changed since Ash was last there and for a moment he thought he was in the wrong place. Yet the Waterflower sisters were all there crowded around Lando, so that had to be the right room. They were listening to his endless speech, which sounded a little more coherent with each passing minute.

Ash set the bags quietly on the white table in a corner of the room, next to a glass vase holding a dozen red roses. The room was filled with various gifts, flowers, pokemon plush toys, fruit baskets, cards, letters and wrapped boxes. They must have been held back by security and just recently brought up to the room after passing inspection. "I'm back," Ash announced.

"Ash!" Daisy squealed at the top of her lungs, with similar reactions following from Violet and Lily, "Ash!" "Ash!"

The three women crowded around Ash, pulling him into a suffocating group hug that threatened to choke him to death. Fortunately, Misty interfered, "give him some breathing room!"

When Daisy, Violet and Lily finally let him go, Ash took a deep breath. He began to recover the normal color of his face, instead of being slightly blue from the lack of oxygen. "Wow, you must really be hungry."

"Oh you silly baby brother," Daisy pinched his cheek, catching Ash off guard.

"It's not about the food," Violet took Ash's hat off and ruffled his already messy hair. She passed the hat to Lily.

"It's about Misty and you," Lily put Ash's hat back on his head, pulling it down over his face.

Ash adjusted his hat and blinked in confusion, "Misty and me? But you already knew about us."

While her sisters giggled, Misty clarified, "Lily noticed the ring and brought it to everyone's attention. They wouldn't stop asking about it so I had to tell them. Sorry I couldn't get them to wait until you came back."

"It's okay," Ash smiled, "Does this mean you'll tease me as your little brother from now on?" The three oldest Waterflower sisters nodded in unison. "I guess I can live with that," Ash laughed.

"Splendid!" Lando suddenly cheered, "then we shall raise our swords to combat the evil Team Rocket as brothers in arms!"

Daisy sighed, her previous gloomy mood surfacing, "just when I thought the pain killers were like clearing out."

"Yeah!" Ash couldn't forgive Team Rocket this time.

"Don't encourage crazy things!" Daisy elbowed Ash. Hopefully, when the pain killers dissolved from his system, Lando would be a little more rational and let the police handle things.

xoxox xox xoxox

The tension was heavy in the Viridian Rocket base. Laiki was feeling terribly frustrated, more so than ever before. She was not only a nurse, but also an information gatherer and Team Rocket's enemies had been hiding under her nose for far too long. She let out an exasperated breath as she sat on her desk at the Viridian gym's secret underground structure. The pokemon in the medical facility watched her. They were unable to turn their eyes away from the human that irradiated tension and stress.

She looked over the list of the people who had been identified as traitors. The boss was very displeased with the situation and its unpredictability. The list held several names that Laiki would have never guessed would be traitors. They were effective and hard working, they were not recruited after the disbandment of rival gangs and they had lost nothing to Team Rocket. Every aspect of their past life was free of any reason to hold a grudge. It didn't make any sense, why would seemingly loyal Rockets suddenly turn into traitors?

The clues were leading Laiki in circles. She thought that it was an outside job with a few infiltrators involved, but it was looking more like an inside job by the second. The involvement of an outside group in the situation was very likely, but they were not the only ones. If that was the case, who would want to rebel and why?

Those were not the only worries in Laiki's mind. Akira had disappeared shortly after the attack at Vermilion City went public. Laiki feared that she would do something crazy on her own. She hoped that Akira was aware that those who attacked were not real Rockets, but rather traitors acting without Giovanni's consent.

Laiki hoped that Akira didn't try to get vengeance on her own and make things worse. Being a famous singer, Akira was well known, as was her link to Team Rocket. It served to enhance her rebellious image and help her sell more songs. If she took action, then the link between the attack and the real Team Rocket, albeit a lie, would be undeniable. Akira was known to be a Rocket and labeling someone so famous as a traitor wouldn't be enough to convince the police or the underworld.

They might assume Team Rocket really was senselessly causing trouble. They would theorize that a violent direct take over was on its way, instead of the slow and steady take over that was the truth. With Akira's added attention from the media, Team Rocket's business associates would surely be driven to the edge. They would start seriously doubting the Rockets' trust, putting a strain on business.

Worse yet, they might assume Giovanni simply couldn't control Team Rocket. Laiki wondered if that would make the boss throw the slow and steady take over plan out the window and blow up all of Kanto in a fit of rage. "Arg!" She felt like banging her head on her desk. She knew about a portion of Akira's secret past, though some details were lost in time.

She knew that Akira had grown up in that orphanage at Vermilion City until the age of fourteen. For reasons unknown to Laiki, she was not adopted, despite being a healthy, cute little girl, with a melodious voice. Maybe someone prevented her adoption for some reason. Akira was later adopted by a man who became her agent. Evidently, he only wanted to make money off her talent. She ultimately ran away and joined Team Rocket, though she still continued her music career.

Mirta, the woman who was in charge of the orphanage, was killed during the attack. Naturally, Akira would be thirsty for revenge. Mirta had taken care of her since she was a baby. At least the reason why the attack took place in that specific event made sense. They must have gathered information about Akira and decided to use her fame against Team Rocket to get more media coverage. Plus Ackbar Inc. was an important business partner. It was like catching two Pidgey, with one pokeball, though that was only a saying. The enemy must be expecting Akira to do something. They might keep pushing her if she didn't; she had to be found.

Laiki eyed her little cell phone warily, she didn't know how safe it was, but this was urgent. She couldn't contact the boss and assumed he must have gone out to face the restless media once again. She instead called Comet and left a short message, "bring back Akira," and hung up quickly. There was a possibility that Comet might not receive the message at all, but Laiki had no other way to contact him.

Many questions still remained. Laiki theorized that maybe someone within Team Rocket wanted to overthrow the boss, but she didn't know who. It tortured her that she couldn't figure it out. She felt wrong not knowing what was going on around her. She was used to knowing even what was not her business.

She refreshed the screen of her laptop computer and looked at the Kanto News' official website. There was something new there. It was a report concerning comments made by Ash Ketchum, the Indigo League champion of two years ago. Wait, Ketchum? That was Delia's lastname. Someone as nosy as Laiki would care to learn such a detail. In contrast, Comet would settle for hearing exciting stories were everyone only had a first name and no history beyond what was contained in the tale.

She took note of the many comments posted on the page before she even viewed the video. She had many theories swimming in her head. There was something odd about the comments on the page that Laiki's critical eyes noticed right away. Too many people were demanding a press conference to be given by the gym leader. The commenter names were different, but they came from the same place. Thanks to Team Rocket's custom browser, codenamed Ninetails, she could easily track the IP address of each comment. Even if she wasn't a computer expert, it only took a few clicks. The IP address of each comment was the same and Laiki knew she was on to something. She quickly played the video.

Ash was defending Giovanni. He was not from Team Rocket, but the traitors did have allies outside. Plus this matched the strategy Laiki had theorized about, using famous people to give the situation more attention. Many people were looking forward to seeing Ash and Ritchie battle and that was exactly what happened recently. Their fame had increased lately. "A trap," Laiki concluded. Someone was trying to take out the boss and establish control over Team Rocket. It was someone ruthless enough to cause a big commotion. By that line of thought they would want to get rid of Giovanni in public and a press conference would be the perfect chance. Ash's comments should motivate people to ease up on the accusations against the Viridian gym leader, but only a few comments were in Giovanni's favor. Their IP was different.

Laiki knew that the boss suspected Ash. He told her about it while giving her a quick disapproving scolding for being unable to locate the traitors before the chaos exploded. This proved that the boss was correct; Ash was with the enemy. Delia, a relative of Ash, though Laiki didn't know what their relation was, had to be a spy. She had to tell the boss right away, or at least, as soon as the press released him. She had a feeling that he would be able to see something else in those clues that eluded her.

xoxox xox xoxox

At Giovanni's mansion, Pixel sat in the guest room with Delia. The Rocket was researching the recent events on her little computer with Delia watching the screen. She came across the video of Ash defending Giovanni and noticed that Delia paled. "You know him? I mean other than as a famous pokemon trainer."

Delia remained silent for a moment before replying, "I don't know him personally."

Pixel didn't believe her and her doubts increased when she further researched Ash Ketchum. She found that he was from Pallet Town. There was a world of information online, but people wouldn't find anything among the spam unless they knew how to search. "You do know him; he's from Pallet Town too." Pixel had never been to Pallet Town, she only knew where it was located on a map. She didn't know it was the kind of little town where everyone knew everyone, yet she still found Delia's denial suspicious.

Delia shook her head and remained silent. Pixel took on a thoughtful expression. She felt as if she stumbled upon something important. Before she could say anything else, the door to the guest room was opened. A woman with a tray of food entered, "Pixel? I thought you left." She placed the tray of food on the desk.

"I didn't want to open the door without permission," Pixel admitted, she did have a keycard hidden. Delia looked towards the door, but found two men guarding it. She knew she wouldn't be able to get past them so she didn't even try.

"Well," the cook continued, she was short and had pale orange hair, with a few white strands. She looked very similar to her sister, who worked as a Rocket scout. "You can leave now, unless you want to stay and keep our guest company." Delia frowned; she wasn't a guest, she was being held there against her will.

"I think I'll give her some space," Pixel headed for the door with her little computer on hand. She slipped out past the two men. Delia knew the girl's curiosity was awakened and that she would research Ash.

xoxox xox xoxox

Pixel sat in one of the large luxurious living rooms of Giovanni's mansion. The theme of this particular room was gold. Several paintings hung on the walls in golden frames, filled with similar shades. A Sandshrew looked towards the sky, with glowing skin. The sunlight was too strong and golden to be realistic. Yet the painting had a certain charm to it. Somehow it didn't look blindingly bright. Despite the background consisting of golden sand, the pokemon still stood out.

Another painting showed a group of Pikachu surrounded by an autumn scenery. They were playing in a pile of golden leaves, their golden fur perfectly glossy. In a similar autumn environment, another painting depicted a group of Kakuna and Beedrill. The most stunning painting in the room was definitely Zapdos. It was much larger than the others, taking up practically an entire wall. The legendary pokemon of lightning had his wings spread far left and right. Electricity surrounded him as if it would fly out of the painting.

The couch was covered in a detailed golden fabric. It was shiny, but somehow not too bright. It all contrasted perfectly with the dark neutral colors of the walls and carpet. Pixel focused on her research and came across a picture of Ash. He was in some kind of formal event sponsored by Ackbar Inc. He held a Pikachu wearing a tuxedo top. Next to Ash there was a red haired woman in a dress, her arm linked with his. Pixel looked further into it. Many connections lay hidden just below the surface. They were waiting to be discovered if only someone would search for them.

She found out that the red haired woman was Misty Waterflower, of the Cerulean City gym. That information didn't hold any leads to uncovering whatever mystery was out there. She researched Delia, but found little about her. Delia had been careful, claiming to be camera shy after Ash became better known. She wasn't the only Ketchum in Kanto, so the champion didn't need to automatically be linked to her unless there were other elements that led to that connection.

She paused and looked at the picture one more time. There was a certain familiarity about the photo. Pixel felt as if she had seen Ash before, but not in the Indigo League or the recent tournament. Maybe he reminded her of someone, but she didn't know who. She knew she wasn't supposed to be calling anyone, but this could be important so she took the risk and called Laiki.

"Pixel? What is it? Did something happen?" Laiki asked hurriedly.

"No, sorry to call like this, is the line safe?" Pixel inquired unsure.

"I don't know; you know a lot more about these things than me!" Laiki was still missing vital pieces to the ever growing puzzle. She wanted to find them as soon as possible. She needed to tell Giovanni what she came up with, but he was still busy with the press.

"Just do an image search for Ash Ackbar," Pixel left it at that, Laiki would surely find that same picture.

"Got it, I have to go," Laiki was unaware that Delia was at Giovanni's mansion with Pixel. If she knew, she would have urgently asked her friend to get information from her.

Regardless, getting information from Delia was exactly what Pixel intended to do. If she just asked a few key questions, Delia might tell her something. She got the feeling Delia was not a bad person. Maybe if Pixel could talk her into believing it was for the best, she would reveal the truth.

xoxox xox xoxox

At the Viridian Rocket base, Laiki did an image search for Ash Ackbar. That was not the lastname of the champion, so Laiki wondered what this was about. When the picture of Ackbar Inc.'s formal party appeared on the screen, Laiki knew she found what Pixel wanted her to find. She remembered the picture Binks had shown her long ago, the copy of the same picture Luke had shown Comet.

She imagined the two images overlapping, the first semi-transparent over the second. When Ash didn't have his hat and had his hair so perfectly brushed back, he looked like a younger Giovanni. Was it a coincidence or something more? Even if the line might not be safe, Laiki had to discuss this further.

xoxox xox xoxox

Delia didn't waste any time as soon as she was left alone in the guest room. She threw the pillows on the floor and pulled the sheets off the large bed, immediately getting to work on tying them together. She tugged strongly on the ends to make sure they would support her and tied them to the handle of the window. She threw her improvised rope down, after checking to make sure there was no one watching. Thankfully, the people who were outside earlier had finished their tasks and were gone.

Reminding herself not to look down, Delia exited the room through the window. She held on to the sheets with one hand and to the windowsill with the other. The glass opened towards the inside and the sheets tied to the window's handle would close it with the weight. It was inevitable, Delia couldn't think of another place to safely tie the sheets. Of course, she wanted to escape as noiselessly as possible. Holding on to the windowsill she pulled the glass closed with the sheet. After giving it one final tug for reassurance, she started to climb down.

She went as fast as she could, hoping no one went out or looked out one of the windows near her path. Finally, Delia reached the end of the sheets and hopped down safely to the ground. She didn't even take a moment to catch her breath before she started to run as fast as she could towards the tall gates. With some difficulty, she managed to climb over them, though she ripped her dress a little and had a painful fall. Fortunately, nothing was sprained or broken. She made it to the other side of the fence without any major injuries. It was ironic and she mentally scolded herself for it: her destination was the Viridian Gym.

xoxox xox xoxox

Pixel returned to the guest room where Delia was being held captive. She had asked the butler to stand guard at the door just in case. She opened the door and immediately noticed something was very wrong. The pillows were on the floor and the sheets were missing. "Oh no!" She rushed to the window, the only possible escape route. She pulled it open and found the sheets tied together, leading down from the window, "she's gone!"

"What?" The butler rushed into the room, "I can't believe this, the boss is going to be so angry at us!"

"You mean at you!" Pixel argued, "it was the mansion's staff's job to keep her here, not mine!"

"Weren't you the one checking to make sure the alarms were working properly?" The butler countered.

"And they are," Pixel retorted, "the alarms go off when someone breaks in, not when someone breaks out!" She pushed past him out of the room, "I have no time for this. Even if it's not my fault, I'm going to find her."

Pixel ran out of the mansion and spotted something shiny on the ground below the escape route. She picked it up and realized it was a diamond earring. "Delia must have dropped this." She threw out a pokeball with a lightning bolt sticker on it.

"Pikachu," a female Pikachu emerged from the red beam of the pokeball. She had a blue bow on her left ear and long fur atop her head.

"Peachy, track down the owner of this earring!" Pixel held out the earring for Peachy to get its scent. She wasn't really a pokemon expert since she didn't grow up among them.

"Pika!" After sniffing the earring, Peachy took a deep breath, examining the scents in the air. She dashed around the mansion towards a window on its side.

"Why would Delia go this way?" Pixel wondered as she followed her pokemon.

Peachy went inside through the open window leading to the kitchen. The cook saw her come in. "Hello there Peachy, have you come for a snack?"

"Peachy!" Pixel called after her Pikachu, "this is no time to be a glutton, the boss' guest slash prisoner has escaped!"

The cook gasped, "she's gone?" As the cook stared at Pixel in shock, Peachy dashed towards a pie that was set to cool on the counter. She picked up a near by fork and began to devour it. She ate a lot and did it fast, but somehow she was neat.

"Yes and we're going to find her, Peachy return!" Pixel called back her Pikachu, leaving a half eaten pie where she was. Perhaps not all pokemon were experts on tracking scents, though Peachy was certainly good at finding food.

Pixel ran towards the front gates of the mansion, which were still closed. A shred of fabric was caught on one of the points that the fence's bars culminated in. It was the same color as Delia's dress. She hurried to unlock the gates and ran out. Maybe Delia had gone back to Pallet Town. Pixel's cell phone rang and she answered it while running, briefly glancing at the caller ID. "Sorry Laiki, I can't talk now, I'm chasing someone!"

"Oh, sorry, sorry, focus on that!" Laiki quickly hung up. Sometimes the truth is staring at you, but you don't see it until it shouts at your face.

xoxox xox xoxox

Diamond 50: Give me Bravery

Laiki heard voices from the tunnels just outside of the medical area. She rushed out to see that Giovanni was walking down the long underground hallway of the Viridian headquarters, talking to another Rocket. It took the press long enough to let him go, "boss!" She hurried to tell him what she had found so far.

"Has Akira been found yet?" Giovanni immediately inquired, it was part of Laiki's job to be informed. She had a natural talent for it, so it might as well be put to use.

"Not yet," Laiki replied, surprised at the question. 'How does he know about that? I haven't explained my theory yet,' she thought.

"We don't need anymore publicity so she better keep a low profile. Track down Ash's location. He has something to do with this; the reporters mentioned what he said. He must be trying to play innocent. It has to be a trap, someone is pushing for a press conference and it's too suspicious," Giovanni theorized.

Laiki stood with her mouth open, unable to find something to say that the boss didn't already know. "Ketchum," she finally came up with something. She was feeling frustrated that it had taken her hours of analyzing information and going around in mental circles before she could come up with a solid theory. It wasn't fair that the boss had figured out that much while dealing with a million other things at the same time. At least she could point out one new detail and hope it was enough until she could make up for her past shortcomings.

"Delia? Yes, I need to interrogate her; I'm going to do that now. Inform me immediately if you find something, and you better find new information soon," Giovanni warned with a stern tone and continued on his way.

"No, I mean yes," Laiki rushed after him, "what I'm trying to say is that Ketchum is Ash's last name, the same as Delia." Laiki didn't know how much meaning that piece of information could have. She wasn't going to risk making Giovanni angrier by revealing that she had seen a picture were Ash looked like him. She left out that detail, even if she couldn't look at Giovanni anymore without thinking of the similarities.

Giovanni paused as if the fact put things in a whole new perspective. Delia wasn't the only Ketchum in Kanto thus in any other situation the detail could be ignored. Yet the timing suggested that this wasn't a coincidence. If Ash was Delia's relative and was anything like Delia, he wouldn't approve of the Vermilion attack. On the other hand, if he was the culprit, the fact that they were related might make Delia less likely to stand against him and more likely to believe in his act of innocence.

Giovanni didn't know how they were related, but it didn't matter. That wasn't the point, though the detail bothered him. It was as if he had subconsciously realized something that he was still consciously unaware of. He decided not to waste time trying to guess what was going on. He intended to go straight to his only available source of information, Delia. "Continue researching Ash and the traitors, find out everything."

"Yes, boss!" Laiki hurried back into the medical facilities and to her desk. She would continue examining the data and trying to find new information.

xoxox xox xoxox

On the road near Giovanni's mansion, a seemingly normal dark green car drove by next to Delia. The car accelerated and made a sharp turn in front of her. It came to a screeching halt blocking her path. A tall man stepped out of the car. He had short dark wine colored hair and cold gray eyes. He was wearing a Team Rocket uniform. Inside the car at the driver's seat, there was a woman with shoulder length pink hair and lavender eyes. She was also wearing a Team Rocket uniform, both in the classic black style with red lined white gloves and boots and black hats.

"Have you come to take me to Giovanni?" Delia glared at the man standing before her, showing no fear.

The man grinned maliciously, "yes, so please don't oppose any resistance. The boss is waiting for you."

"Fine," Delia didn't resist, "I was going to see him anyway," she got into the back of the car and the man went in sitting next to her.

The pink haired woman began to drive again. The atmosphere felt odd, as if it was distinctly wicked. Delia looked out the window of the car and wondered if she had made a grave mistake.

xoxox xox xoxox

Giovanni made his way through the streets of Viridian City, heading back to the mansion. The dark green car that took Delia away had already left the area when Giovanni drove by. Pixel stayed away from the roads, assuming Delia had taken the most hidden path. As a result Giovanni didn't see the Rocket girl searching for Delia.

He arrived at the mansion and spotted a suspicious shred of fabric still stuck to the top of the fence's bars. He knew right away that something was amiss, especially when he caught sight of the open window to the room where Delia had been. There were no tell-tale sheets anywhere to be seen, but the scene was suspicious enough. Giovanni hurried to get out of the car and rushed into the mansion where someone was about to get an earful.

xoxox xox xoxox

Meanwhile, Delia watched as the scenery outside the car changed, they passed the Viridian Gym and left Viridian City. The Rockets, which Delia suspected to be false, kept going towards Pewter City. She still hoped that they were real Rockets and that Giovanni was simply not at Viridian.

Seeing her discomfort, the tall man on the seat next to her spoke, "the boss has left Viridian, for safety reasons," he assured, though he didn't sound sincere.

"I see," Delia tried to hide her discomfort, getting into the car had been a bad idea, but what could she had done? If she didn't willingly go with them, they would have taken her by force. At least this way she still had the element of surprise in her favor. They might not expect her to try to escape. She would wait until she saw an opportunity to make a run for it.

The dark green car stopped at a traffic light. Its windows were tinted and the cars next to it didn't see the black uniforms with red Rs of two of its three occupants. The streets were not particularly crowded, but there were enough people around. Delia observed the tall man from the corner of her eyes. He was watching her, his arms tense as if waiting to grab her if she tried to run away.

The red traffic light would only last a few seconds so Delia had to act fast. She unlocked the door and pushed it open, but the man grabbed her arm, "you're not going anywhere!"

Delia screamed at the top of her lungs, which caught the attention of the passer-bys. The woman driving the car stomped on the gas pedal and made a hasty get away. The force of the sudden motion threw Delia and the man back. She took the opportunity to slip away just enough to reach out and grab a handful of the woman's pink hair. She pulled it with all her might.

The woman screamed and lost control of the car. It slid into the sidewalk as panicked people jumped out of the way. The car crashed into a store front, Delia recognized the store. It was the same one that did business with Team Rocket in the past. It was the store where she had gone to find Leah before they went to a cafe, where Leah told Delia about her hopes of finding Han alive.

The impact of the car crash made Delia fall to the floor on the back of the car. She was at a perfect angle to kick the man's face and scramble out. She hoped that the store was still in good terms with the real Team Rocket.

The echo of a gunshot was heard and Delia realized her kidnappers were armed. She had been lucky to have the opportunity to trick them into lowering their guard by pretending she believed they were taking her to Giovanni.

Instead of stopping to get help from the people in the store, Delia ran away across the street. Cars screeched as they stopped in her path. The angry man's bullets missed her by a hair. "Idiot, stop shooting, we need her alive!" The pink haired woman yelled, chasing after Delia along with the wine haired man. The furious man didn't stop shooting until his gun ran out of bullets. Catching Delia wasn't made any easier by the fact that she ran across the street from one side to another. The cars kept getting in the way of her pursuers as they came to narrow stops before hitting them.

"Stop right there!" Jenny's voice resonated above the panicked screams of the people of Pewter City. She chased after the group, speeding in her motorcycle. When she was close enough, she sent out her loyal Arcanine. That man had opened fire on a street full of innocent people in broad daylight, so she felt she had the right to be a little rougher than she usually would be. "Arcanine, flame thrower on the man in the Team Rocket uniform!"

The pokemon obeyed, sending a well aimed blast of fire to collide with the tall man. He yelled in pain and dropped rolling on the street, trying to put out the flames. Jenny caught up to him and handcuffed him before he could recover from his pained daze. Back up soon arrived as well.

"Captain Jenny!" A younger office ran towards her. He and his partner had just arrived on the scene in a police car.

"Take this man to the station," she addressed the rookies. "As for the rest of you," there were two other police cars and another motorcycle, "don't let the others get away! Arrest the woman in the Team Rocket uniform and bring the other woman to the station for questioning." The officers, led by Jenny continued the pursuit.

Delia looked back to see that she was no longer being chased. After the man was caught by Jenny and her Arcanine, the pink haired woman gave up on chasing her. The false Rocket instead focused on trying to escape from the police. Delia saw Brock's pokemon breeding center ahead and dashed towards it.

xoxox xox xoxox

While the chase was occurring in Pewter City, Pixel arrived at Pallet Town. She was exhausted from all the running. "I have to find her," she paused after every step to take in big breaths. She walked slowly into the town, wondering how to go about her search.

Not too far from where Pixel stood, there was a little grocery store. It was the only one in Pallet Town. A young man with brown hair and a white lab coat exited the shop carrying two white plastic grocery bags. The generic bags had the words 'thank you' written in blue. He saw the girl in the black uniform with the red R and recognized her as a member of Team Rocket. "Are you here to steal the pokemon from the research lab?" He accused.

"No," Pixel tried to sound natural, "I'm just visiting a friend. Do you happen to know where Delia lives?"

"I don't think she would ever be friends with anyone from Team Rocket," Gary Oak, former pokemon trainer turned pokemon researcher glared suspiciously. He really wished he hadn't left all his pokemon back at the lab while he went to get some groceries.

Pixel didn't like where this was going, she was supposed to be keeping a low profile. "Oh well, I'll just come back another day," she began to run away.

"Come back here, I'm turning you in to the police!" Gary dropped his grocery bags and chased after her.

Pixel was not a very fast runner, plus she was tired. She knew she would be caught easily. Instead of uselessly continuing her efforts to run away, she turned to face her opponent and sent out her Charmander, "go Pyro, ember!" She wanted to make the man stop chasing her, not seriously hurt him.

Pyro obeyed, having no complaints about attacking another male, be it human or pokemon. He would have his doubts if it were a pretty girl.

Gary's lab coat caught on fire, but he was quick to take it off and stomp out the flames. The distraction was enough for the girl to run away along with her Charmander.

"If you chase me I'll have to hurt you, just leave me alone!" Pixel yelled as she breathlessly dashed away.

Gary knew he wouldn't be able to take on her pokemon, without pokemon of his own. Instead of uselessly chasing after the Rocket girl, he ran back to the lab to get his pokeballs. He would track her down from the air on one of his flying pokemon and capture her for the police. He wouldn't allow anything like what happened in Vermilion City to be repeated in Pallet Town.

xoxox xox xoxox

At Pewter City, Brock sat in front of the TV watching Akira sing and dance. He had been busy taking care of the pokemon at first and later went inside to watch the music channel. He occasionally changed the channel to a random sitcom when a video came on that didn't interest him. He would check back after a couple of minutes to see if the next music video featured a pretty girl. He was blissfully unaware of the events that took place on the other side of Kanto. Suddenly, he heard a panicked voice calling his name at the door that led to his living area.

Brock rushed to open the door and found Ash's mother. Her breathing was heavy and fast, her face was red from all the running and her dress was torn. She had shallow cuts and darkening bruises all over her body and she looked like she was ready to collapse. Shocked into silence, Brock led her inside. He made sure to lock the door.

The appearance of the living room was simple with white walls and gray furniture. It contrasted with the bright colors of the posters and framed pictures of Brock's various crushes. A poster of Akira was prominently featured. By the time Delia managed to catch her breath, Brock had brought her a cool glass of water, which she accepted, drinking it slowly, "thank you."

"What happened to you?" Brock was seriously worried. Delia was not only his best friend's mother, but also a mother figure to him. His own mother had often been absent and Delia had always been supportive. Seeing her like that was very difficult for him. He remembered his worries about the Viridian gym leader's resemblance to the man who had tried to capture Mewtwo. If Delia had lost contact with Giovanni many years ago, there was no telling how much he could have changed during that time. "Did he hurt you?" Brock asked softly but seriously, "was it Giovanni?"

"Of course not!" Delia slammed the glass hard on the coffee table, causing it to crack. She continued in a defensive tone, "he wouldn't hurt me." 'Other people maybe, pokemon yes, but not me, not physically at least,' she thought.

"Sorry!" Brock jumped back, "I meant no offense."

Delia calmed down, examining the cracked glass on the stone coffee table, "I'm sorry I snapped at you. Giovanni might be in danger, I'm worried about him." The traitors must have seen her with Giovanni and tried to use her as a hostage.

Delia's cell phone rang all of a sudden, it had been deactivated before, but it was working again. Giovanni had to be calling her, she was sure it must be him, "Giovanni?"

"You shouldn't have run away," Giovanni was driving towards Pewter City, following the tracking device on Delia's cell phone.

Delia froze and tears started running down her face. A lot was going on and on top of everything Giovanni said the same thing she heard him saying in dreams long ago. When Ash was still small, she would dream that Giovanni went to find her at Pallet Town. "I'm sorry," she sobbed, "I had to," she wasn't only talking about leaving the mansion.

"Delia?" Was she with the enemy? Did she know what happened in Vermilion City? Giovanni was full of questions. "What's happening?"

"Nothing, I'm alright now," Delia didn't want to say too much; she didn't want to get Brock involved. From the corner of her eyes, she watched Brock leave the living room, as if to respect her privacy. He was a nice man and she truly hoped that he would one day achieve his dream of finding someone to share his life with. If only he could learn to control his flirty tendencies maybe it wouldn't be so difficult. "I'm at Rock On, the pokemon breeding center at Pewter City. It's right next to the gym. The owner is a friend, he doesn't know any secrets, so please don't get him involved," she whispered quietly.

"Stay there, I'm on my way. Turn your cell phone off; don't use it unless it's an emergency." Communication was necessary even at a risk, but Giovanni would no longer need to track Delia if she waited for him. He had many things to ask, but he had to do that in person. He would make sure not to leave her alone to run off again, he had to get to the bottom of everything. Giovanni turned and took an alternate route on his way to Rock On. He moved away from the main streets to avoid a traffic jam ahead. The police had closed a road and was redirecting traffic due to an accident. Giovanni didn't suspect Delia's involvement in it. He did notice that the affected store was one of the places that did business with Team Rocket.

"Okay, I'll see you soon," after turning off her cell phone, Delia sat in silence until Brock returned.

Brock had noticed the red R on Delia's little black cell phone. He wanted to ask about it, but he didn't want her to get defensive again. "These clothes are from my sister, I asked her to bring some," he voiced quietly, not sure how to handle the situation. "The bathroom is down the hall and to the right, if you want to get cleaned up and changed."

Delia stood up and took the clothes, "thank you." She made herself look calm, though she still felt guilty at Brock's worried expression.

After Delia disappeared down the hall, Brock decided to call Ash. He had thought about tagging along with him and Misty so he could see Misty's sisters, but decided against it in the end. His excuse was that he had to return to the breeding center. His siblings took turns taking care of it when Brock was away. In truth, he just didn't want to be reminded that Misty's sisters were not single. Lily had recently come out of a painful break up, but Brock was unaware of that. Had he known, he would have immediately gone to Cerulean City and offered to comfort her.

Before he made the call, Brock paused seeing his best friend's image on the TV screen. Ash's picture floated on the upper right corner of the screen, next to a woman who sat behind a desk giving a report. Brock had lowered the volume when he went to get the door, but the images and quiet murmurs still remained in the background. He quickly turned the volume up as the news anchor, Ameda, finished speaking. The screen changed to a video of Ash defending the Viridian City gym leader. He knew Delia might take some time to compose herself, but he had to call Ash before she returned. He didn't want to hear any objections about it, so he quickly made the call, focusing on that rather than the TV.

"Hi Brock," Ash greeted, having seen his name on the caller ID of his cell phone. "You're not going to believe all the things that are going on. Did you hear about Vermilion City?"

Brock wasn't sure what Ash was talking about, but he had an important message to communicate. "Ash," Brock sounded worried. Ash knew right away this wasn't simply one of his random calls to vent about his latest rejection. "Stay calm, don't panic," such serious words were sure to have the opposite effect. "I think there's something bad going on with your mom. I think Team Rocket is involved." He wouldn't throw another accusation at Giovanni, not after seeing that news bulletin about Ash. If both Ash and his mother defended him so much, Brock would just have to believe them.

To be Continued

Disclaimer, I don't own Pokemon. Pixel's father had a brief appearance in the beginning of Diamond 27. Mondo is from the Team Rocket radio drama.