Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Don't Give Me Diamonds ❯ Chapter 19

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

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 67: Give me Humor

Delia and Professor Oak were walking outside Oak's research lab. "I'm sorry he surprised you like this. I honestly didn't expect Giovanni to come to Pallet Town so soon. I especially didn't expect him to take the initiative to talk to Ash." The surprise was pleasant and Delia's expression gave that away.

"Aren't you worried?" Professor Oak inquired with honest concern. "I have no doubts that Ash will do the right thing, but still."

"If Ash was younger I would worry," Delia admitted. She didn't allow the passing thought to ruin her sudden optimism. "He's at a point where he has already decided who he is. He can't be easily influenced and I'm sure Giovanni knows that. He won't tell Ash the truth out of the blue. I told him that it was his choice to reveal his true self or not. I think he knows that I at least want Ash to know who his father is, but the illegal part doesn't need to be included. If Giovanni decides to reveal that, I'll let him, but I'll prepare Ash first."

"Don't you think Ash has the right to know either way?" Professor Oak didn't like the idea of Ash getting involved with someone from the mafia. He cared about him as another grandson. Yet even hurtful honesty was best at times.

"I think he has the right to know, but I don't want to push things. I don't want to cause a conflict," Delia tried to hold on to her optimism and hope. "If things progress slowly, then maybe the revelation won't be so harsh if it comes, or perhaps I should say when."

Professor Oak nodded. His aged face showed support mixed with some hope of his own. Things really did feel different. "I wish you both the best," It was as if the time for conflict had passed. Albeit Delia was pretty sure Oak's wish only extended to her and Ash. He had suffered the hurt of a father whose daughter was hurt, even if Delia wasn't his biological daughter.

They spotted Ash and Giovanni laying on the grass not too far away. At first they were alarmed. Delia ran to them, first checking over Ash to see that he was sleeping soundly despite the red scribbles on his face. Pikachu peacefully slumbered beside him, similarly decorated. She then rushed to Giovanni who was in the same condition, as was Persian.

Grinning mischievously Delia gave Professor Oak a thumbs up to express that there were no serious problems. Then she placed her index finger over her mouth in a sign of silence. She conveniently used her little black cell phone with the red R to take a picture. She put the little cell phone away and quietly walked off.

Professor Oak observed the scene in confusion. "They all have red doodles all over their faces," Delia whispered, that much was obvious. It was the consequences that she was trying to point out. "I don't think Giovanni will see the funny side of that. I'm going to get something to clean him up. Hopefully he won't wake up."

"Alright..." Professor Oak observed the sleeping men with surprise and relief. They were okay, at least until Giovanni woke up. 'What could have caused this?' He wondered.

Delia quickly ran inside and took a few napkins. She wet some of them hoping that water was enough to get the ink off. She hurried back to the sleeping men and got to work on cleaning Giovanni's face first. She glanced at Professor Oak. "Maybe you should run for cover just in case," Delia wisely suggested.

Professor Oak had bravely walked over to the sleeping Giovanni to have a better look at the doodles. It was a once in a life time opportunity to see something like that. "I think you're right," he admitted and began to quietly retreat towards the lab.

Making sure to be gentle, Delia tried to wipe off the red ink from Giovanni's face. He stirred in his sleep and she drew back her hand. He was still and she tried again. It was evident that water alone wouldn't be enough. It would be next to impossible to wash anyone's face with soap without waking them.

Delia didn't have time to consider the prospect for too long before she found Giovanni staring up at her. He was about to battle Ash and there was a Jigglypuff singing. The next thing he knew he was waking up on the grass. Delia was on her knees next to him apparently cleaning his face. "Delia?" Was all he managed to say at first. The puzzled and questioning tone of his voice spoke volumes.

She smiled and bit her lip so she wouldn't laugh, but she couldn't hold it in. "I'm sorry; it's just that, it's so funny. Don't worry, no one saw you." She still had the picture for her own viewing pleasure.

"No one saw what?" Giovanni demanded to know, "is there something on my face? What's so funny?" Persian woke up listening to the voices near by. He stared at Giovanni in surprise, which didn't give the gym leader any reassurance. "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything," Delia tried to explain between giggles. "You were already like this when I found you."

The catchy song of Ash's cell phone woke him up near by. He yawned and stretched along with Pikachu. He answered the call, still a little confused about what was going on. "Hello?"

"Ash..." Misty's voice came a little uncomfortable at first, as if she was worried about something. She changed the tone of her voice to a cheerful one and continued. Maybe Ash wouldn't notice since he sounded sleepy, "did I wake you from a nap?"

"A nap," Ash recalled the events that made him fall asleep. "Yeah, remember that Jigglypuff that used to follow us around and doodle on our faces?"

"I wonder what ever happened to her," After a while, the Jigglypuff disappeared, seemingly having lost track of their constant travels. "Wait, don't tell me," imagining the situation gave Misty a real smile.

"Yeah, she's back," Ash confirmed. He looked at Pikachu, who was looking back at Ash. "Judging by the red hearts all over Pikachu, it looks like she got a shiny new marker. I just know it's the same little mischief maker. She popped out of nowhere and started singing when I was about to..." Ash's mind finished becoming aware of the situation. He looked over at Giovanni and Persian, finding that his mother was there too. She was spared from the scribbles, but both Giovanni and Persian had fallen victim to Jigglypuff. "I was about to battle Giovanni when Jigglypuff made us both fall asleep." Ash lowered his voice to a whisper, "I think he's mad. Maybe if we have our battle he'll feel better."

"Oh, you're in Viridian City? Or did Giovanni go to Pallet Town?" Misty inquired. She had assumed Ash would take a break in Pallet Town for a while.

"I'm in Pallet, we're at Oak's place," Ash watched as Giovanni scrubbed his face with the napkins Delia provided. It didn't help and Ash was starting to worry that they would all get stuck with doodles on their faces for an indefinite period of time.

Misty needed to talk to Ash, but decided not to keep him for too long if he had a battle. He would be distracted thinking about it anyway. She didn't need to talk to him in a big hurry, that wouldn't change anything. She could wait until they had time to talk calmly. "I'll leave you to your battle. Tell me all about it later."

"Okay, I'll talk to you later!" Ash cheerfully ended the call with no suspicion that Misty was stressed. He assumed that she was only calling to talk to him with no specific topic of conversation in mind, just to say hi. He rushed over to the annoyed gym leader with an apologetic look. He couldn't help it but to smile holding back laughter after a moment.

"Don't laugh, you're probably worse off than me," Giovanni snapped. He had no way of knowing, but he hoped to be right. Anyone else would have coward in fear, but Delia and Ash seemed amused.

"Persian!" the spoiled pokemon gave his indignant complaint. No doubt he must have fallen victim to that infuriating Jigglypuff too. He wasn't sure if he wanted to look at his reflection. He scrubbed his face with his paws insistently, though he had no way of knowing if it was effective. The red stars on his face remained unchanged.

"Pi pi pi ka," the yellow electric pokemon laughed at Persian's predicament, despite being affected too with red hearts.

Persian glared and grumbled something about unrefined pokemon. Pikachu only stuck his tongue out and made no other reply. Persian glared in annoyance, then threw his head back and turned around, ignoring Pikachu.

"I was always Jigglypuff's favorite victim." Ash's cheeks were decorated by red circles like a Pikachu. Giovanni's facial art was inspired by Persian, with whiskers and a jewel. One of Ash's bright red circles seemed to have more ink then Giovanni's whiskers and forehead jewel together.

"This has happened before?" Giovanni thought that one time was too much. He didn't know how Ash could allow such annoyances without doing something about it. He was too forgiving. On the positive side, the very microscopic positive side, at least he could ask, "how did you clean your face afterwards? This stuff doesn't look like it'll come off easily."

"To be honest, I'm kind of worried," Ash's confession did not help Giovanni's anger subside in the least. "Jigglypuff had a black marker before that came off with water. I don't know about this new red one. It has to come off with something, right?" Ash looked to his mother for support.

"Of course," Delia assured, "C'mon, let's go inside. I'm sure Professor Oak won't mind if we borrow some soap."

"I would prefer not to be seen like this by anyone else," Giovanni was clearly at the very end of his patience. If he had a Rocket grunt at arm's length, the unfortunate grunt would have become a punching bag.

"I'll see if the coast is clear," Delia's eyes paused on Giovanni's for a moment. She was letting him know that she understood he had all he could deal with and intended to try to end the uncomfortable situation.

Fortunately, Professor Oak wisely decided to stay out of sight in his office at the laboratory. After a good amount of soap and water, the trainers and their pokemon were finally clean. They were all about to head back outside to finally have their battle when Gary returned.

Gary's face was decorated with red suns. Belle was fast asleep in his arms, her yellow head adorned with red swirls. The fact that the crying Bellsprout had been silenced by slumber was Gary's only consolation. He was seen by Ash who gave him an amused and knowing smile.

Instead of getting annoyed, Gary smiled right back, which made Ash stop cold. The young researcher quietly walked over to Ash and handed him the sleeping Bellsprout. "She's all yours. It turns out Mrs. Alderaan remembered you in her will. I heard it from her relatives and they asked me to deliver Belle to you."

Ash's jaw drop and he stuttered a quiet, "what?" Gary grinned victoriously and Ash knew he was serious. The relief was short lived as Ash reminded, "don't forget all my pokemon that are not in my current team will be living here."

Gary glared, "I hate you," he grimaced, while Ash smiled in amusement. He turned his attention to the somewhat familiar looking man he had seen with Ash earlier in front of his house. "Aren't you the Viridian gym leader?"

"Yes, and you must be Gary Oak, the current head researcher of this laboratory," Giovanni was still annoyed with the interruptions and the Jigglypuff incident. It was obvious from Gary's face that he had suffered the creature's mischief.

His encounter with Mewtwo had been forgotten, instead replaced with a story Gary still had trouble believing. It was as if his subconscious tried to fill the blanks with logical sounding conclusions. He battled the gym leader, he was winning, he fainted and thus forfeited. That would explain why he was woken up by Ash. But it didn't explain where the gym leader disappeared to and why Team Rocket was there. Did they knock him out? Were they impersonating the leader? Such conclusions seemed logical enough, thus for lack of more information, Gary believed them.

They were interrupted by the sound of Giovanni's cell phone. He hurried to make it stop but it was too late. The loud mouth Bellsprout in Ash's arms woke up and started to wail again. In no mood to deal with any more craziness that day, Giovanni stepped outside, "this is an important call," he was barely heard beyond Belle's cries.

Away from the noisy Bellsprout, Giovanni answered his little black cell phone with the red R. The device was so small that it looked as if he was holding nothing but his hand to his ear. "What is it?"

"Progress report," Archer's voice came from the little cell phone. "Proton had a psychologist examine Poisona due to her unusual reactions to hypnotism. She has a split personality that has somehow been acting as a natural defense. When she's in that state she becomes violent and holds no recollection of her normal self. It's going to take some time to figure out how to put her in a trance without bringing out her second personality."

"Than we don't know anything new," Giovanni had already used up all of his patience. He couldn't muster any more, not even for Archer.

Archer could almost feel the tension and anger transmitted along with Giovanni's voice. He must be about to snap. "There's more," Archer was quick to add. "Luke returned soon after you left. His trip to Cianwood was fruitful, he brought back a journal. The journal was written in a very general way and spoke of various unrelated cases, but I have high hopes that there are answers hidden there. Laiki and an assistant of her choosing were put to the task of deciphering the events mentioned in the journal. She has a talent for prying. She said they were making progress and will have the full report soon. They might finish it on time for your return." With that last statement, Archer also indirectly asked about when Giovanni would return to Viridian City.

"It better be ready," Giovanni's voice was quite similar to a low growl, "I'm heading back right now." If he didn't, he might just throw his good gym leader reputation out the window and blow his cover with Ash in the process.

Archer didn't expect Giovanni to return right away, but it shouldn't be a problem in terms of the report. He would send a reminder to make sure they finished it at top speed. "There is one more thing, the police asked for the mayor's assistance in capturing any remaining members of Tempest. I can only interpret this as the Viridian police suspecting we're holding the Tempest leaders prisoner. The Viridian police already know a lot, but they won't make a direct move unless they're pushed to it. They have an idea of what they're up against, even if it's not the full idea. I would suggest handing Bollux and Solo over to them. We have no use for them anyway."

Giovanni wasn't in the mood for 'peace offerings' but if they didn't need those two it wouldn't matter. It was best not to push things at that point. If he started a war he would have to finish it. He wanted to be ready to take on the whole world when that happened, not just most of it. He wanted Team Rocket to be in a position in relation to the world similar to that of Kanto, where the world could not function without it. "Fine, give those two up if you're sure we have no use for them. I'll look over the details of the report when I get there."

"Yes," Archer had been meaning to ask something. He might as well satisfy his curiosity even if it was unrelated. He didn't want to push Giovanni's patience further but he needed to know. "What is that infernal noise in the background?"

"A Bellsprout," Giovanni grumbled between his teeth. "When have my trips to Pallet Town ever gone smoothly?" At least this time he hopefully wouldn't return to find his hide out in flames after a trip to Pallet Town. The necessity for a cover up involving Ditto was also not present at the time. He certainly got a headache out of the visit. Maybe it would have been easier to deal with a blazing hide out.

Ending his conversation with Archer, Giovanni took a deep breath and tried to put up a good act. He would be away from the chaos soon, in the safety of his criminal headquarters. When he went back inside, the annoying Bellsprout was still wailing and Ash and Gary were bickering. They couldn't agree to disagree on what was the best way to make Belle cheer up.

"I'm her new trainer, I know what's best," Ash argued.

"I'm a pokemon researcher," Gary countered. "Besides, you're just going to leave her here all the time aren't you?"

"Well, I can't send her out to battle," Ash continued to rock the crying Bellsprout in his arms, but it wasn't helping.

"Is everything alright?" Delia smiled sweetly, her expression as sugary as ever. Her voice was gentle, even if the volume was louder than usual to be heard over the noise.

"Is it always like this?" Giovanni had to ask. He doubted any human being could survive such chaos with a shred of sanity left.

"Of course not, Ash and Gary haven't argued like that in years. Not that they're really arguing now, not like they use to," Delia recalled. "They were rivals when they were little. You should have seen them running around and bickering." Giovanni didn't look amused at all. "It was nothing too bad, just a couple of hours a day of 'I'm better than you' arguments. They both settled down as soon as a pokemon battle came on TV. Then they would cheer for the trainers and pretend they were there. It was adorable."

"Sounds noisy," Giovanni recalled just why he didn't like children. He was never really around Archer and Ariana's son during his younger years. He did try to train the boy when he was a teenager, but that didn't go well. He concluded he didn't like teenagers either. Perhaps Delia was braver than he thought facing all that. "I need to go take care of business. Ash can't focus on battling like this," the disappointment was evident in more ways than one. Ash was too easily distracted by insignificant things.

"So soon?" Delia couldn't say she was surprised that he was leaving. She was surprised that he lasted that long. "I understand, thanks for today."

"Why are you thanking me?" They had moved away from the crying Bellsprout and the two arguing young men.

"For coming over and spending some time with Ash," Delia gave Giovanni a knowing look, maintaining a grip on reality. "What was your real reason to come here? Was it only to have a battle with Ash and test his skill?"

"That idea came up while I was already here," Giovanni admitted. They had reached the front door and gone out to the steps in front of the lab. "It was actually Ash who suggested it. Things got in the way," those things were mostly troublesome pokemon. "I came here to find you. I said I would take you to visit Binks. Luke is in Viridian too, you can catch up with both of them," Giovanni would have to prepare Delia before seeing Binks, but for the time being he would move step by step.

"How nice of you to remember, I don't mind going right now. Give me a moment," Delia went back to Oak's front door and opened it to call, "Ash, Giovanni is leaving, come say goodbye."

"Coming!" It seemed that Ash and Gary had resolved their argument and were working together to make Bell shut up. Their plan was to get her back to sleep. Delia called Ash, as a mother would call her small child to bid farewell to a visiting relative. That interrupted Ash and Gary's out of sync lullaby. Ash went out the front door, leaving Gary to continue the lullaby on his own. "You're leaving so soon? What about our battle?"

Giovanni had to wonder just what Delia considered a good environment. In his opinion a criminal organization might have been better for a child then all that insanity. Pallet Town had definitely become stranger over the years. "I have a lot of things to do. Besides, it's obvious you have a lot on your mind," the annoyance slipped out at that part. Ash assumed that Giovanni was simply annoyed at Belle's loud crying and not at him. "I want to battle you when you can concentrate," never mind that a real trainer should be able to focus on the battle in any situation.

Ash nodded, "I understand. It's too bad that you caught Pallet Town in one of its rare busy days. We'll battle soon, right?" Ash didn't wait for a reply, assuming the answer would be affirmative, "by the way, has the detective said anything about my hat? He might want to try Saffron City. I took a look around before returning to Pallet Town, but I couldn't find any clues. That's where I last saw the thieving Meowth."

Giovanni could feel Delia's insistently reassuring sweet look almost burning a hole through him with her intense sweetness. It was clear to him she was encouraging him to be patient with Ash. She had offered to tag along and she seemed to understand that he would ask for her assistance with something. "I'll make sure to mention that."

"Thanks!" Ash cheerfully exclaimed.

"I'll be leaving too," Delia spoke in a perfectly casual tone with nothing out of the ordinary. "Giovanni is having some friends over and we have a lot of catching up to do. If you get hungry, just ask Mimey to make you something, I told him to listen to you." Ash couldn't operate a microwave if his life depended on it. He was more likely to blow it up, than to get it to work. Thankfully, he had always had someone to cook for him during his travels, most of the time it was Brock.

"Okay, don't worry mom. I need to have a talk with Mimey anyway. I really need to get him to stop waking me up with a vacuum cleaner to the face," it was definitely not what Ash, or anyone, would call a pleasant awakening.

Giovanni decided he really had heard enough. He felt relief wash over him as he made his swift get away from the little town with Delia. His cell phone rang as they drove further from Pallet Town. A sense of deja vu invaded the atmosphere as Giovanni answered it, "what?"

"Dude, Giovanni," Luke was immediately cut off.

"Is there an emergency?" If Luke was calling would bad news, Giovanni was sure he would snap and launch all the big missiles at once.

"Dude, like chill, man!" Luke could tell that Giovanni was angry. Since he had already called, he might as well state his request. "I like totally got back from Cianwood like earlier and I'm like totally still in Viridian, you know? I was like wondering if I could like maybe like talk to Delia, like soon, you know?" Luke's voice reduced its volume and increased its doubt with each word.

"Stay in Viridian, Delia and I are heading there now," Giovanni agreed. At least it wasn't bad news. He could give Delia a moment to catch up with Luke while he read the report about Mirta's journal. Then he could talk to her about Binks.

"Dude, that's like awesome, you know? Thanks, man!" Luke happily exclaimed with his characteristic cheer. It made Giovanni wonder what would happen if Luke was placed in a situation where he had to deal with a loud mouth Bellsprout and a suicidal Jigglypuff. One would have to be suicidal to doodle on Giovanni's face.

xoxox xox xoxox

Diamond 68: Give me Companions

Giovanni's orange sports car moved away from Pallet Town. "What's my mission?" Delia interrupted the silence. She had been expecting Giovanni to mention it on the way, but he had been quiet and plotting so far.

"Your mission?" Giovanni knew that Delia was aware that he would ask her to do something. He didn't expect her to address the matter so directly and business-like.

"What is it that you want me to do? You were patient today and I know Ash enjoyed your visit," Delia voiced sincerely. "I know he's looking forward to your return. Since you were nice to him today, I'll do something for you. I don't mind if it's for Ash's sake. Go ahead, say it directly."

"Since you asked," she was still the same Delia. She was still thinking of others before herself. Yet there was something different in the way she spoke to him, so bluntly. She appeared to have become less idealistic in his presence. Giovanni wasn't sure he liked it. Her new direct attitude would at least make things flow easier and faster. "Binks has not been himself lately. He's quite a genius; his true ability began to show after he was able to work with other scientists. I could tell his skill had increased after his antidote project with Professor Oak. Then he had a chance to work with other knowledgeable scientists on New Island and learn from them. The New Island Laboratory was ultimately destroyed in an accident."

The headquarters Mewtwo built for himself were later destroyed by the clone himself. He didn't want to leave any clues about his existence. The records of the experiment were kept on New Island, thus they were destroyed when Mewtwo initially broke out of the lab.

Giovanni went over Binks' story. They had briefly spoken about it when they were in the ruins of the old Team Rocket hideout. "By then Binks had gathered a lot of knowledge from his experiences working with various well known scientists. The problem is that for all those years he had been suffering from periodic attacks of schizophrenia. He was usually not violent, but he couldn't be trusted to stay in control of delicate experiments. Most of the time he just rambled and didn't react when someone tried to talk to him. Sometimes he would cry, others he would yell. He never quite got over Aayla's disappearance and presumed death." It was a lot of information to take in. Giovanni needed to know if Delia could truly handle it.

During the past few days, Delia had become mentally prepared. She nodded silently and paused. She would have to speak steadily if Giovanni was going to continue trusting her to handle such revelations. "Go on, this happened long ago, I... understand." That was not the proper word at all. Delia simply wanted to communicate that she could handle it. There were questions that would probably remain unanswered forever. The most logical answers she could guess were not pleasant. Her voice came out very formal and serious. She held her emotions back so strongly she almost sounded cold. She didn't mean for it to come out that way.

Giovanni noticed that Delia was trying hard to stay in control of her emotions. The passing of time must have made that possible. "What I want you to do is talk to Binks. He's been helpful over the years," Giovanni admitted. He had no use in denying the reason for his interest in Binks' condition. Delia would guess the truth anyway. "Lately, his condition has been worse than ever. He has trouble recognizing people. When too many people are with him at once he hyperventilates. He can't work with a team of scientists anymore, but he's been making some interesting discoveries on his own."

Delia felt sorry for Binks, but she didn't voice it. "What can I do for him? Will he even know who I am?"

"He might," Giovanni considered, "the one who's easiest for him to remember is his sister Laiki. From what I was told, Binks' mother had passed away when he was very young. His father later remarried and Laiki was born. Then both her parents passed away in an accident when she was young. Binks was the primary candidate to assume her custody. That's how she ended up in Team Rocket. She became a pokemon nurse mostly learning on the job. Most of the time, his sister is the only one Binks can remember. Even so, there are times when he can recognize other people. During those times he makes his best discoveries. The peculiar thing about those times is that he speaks as if it was the past. He talks about the epidemic as if it only recently ended. He talks about Aayla and Leah as if they were alive. He thinks Luke and I are the same as in that time. He has asked about you too. He's wondering why you won't visit."

The realization overcame Delia. She was prepared to do something illegal, but not something that went against her human values. "He's not going to get any better if we lie to him!"

"Delia, don't you think I've tried to make him better?" Giovanni sounded truthful. It was a real truthfulness rather than an acted one and Delia could tell the difference. "I've had several doctors try to help him, but it's not working. He's one step away from permanently losing his mind. The only time he's conscious is when he's living in the past. I know it's a lie, but he has nothing more left. I can show you his medical papers. You can even speak to the psychologist who treats him. You don't have to take my word for it."

"I believe you," Delia stated. Her mind was racing. Her voice didn't come out neutral that time. She was truly pained for Binks. "It's merciful cruelty."

"I won't deny that," Giovanni admitted. "It's better than having him go crazy. He can at least be a little happy this way. Laiki is aware of the situation and agrees." His expression was serious, "Delia, this is a very delicate situation. If you're not absolutely certain you can handle it, don't try. If you break down in front of Binks he could be lost forever. He has lost consciousness in the past after looking at the truth too directly. If he doesn't go insane, he might end up in a coma."

The weight of the responsibility felt very heavy on Delia's shoulders. "If I can't put up a good enough act, I could basically kill him?" Not kill but close enough. Binks could be doomed to never again be himself or to sleep without waking up.

"That's a possibility," Giovanni was completely serious about it. "It's vital to play along with what he says."

Delia had to take a moment to let it all sink in. She didn't expect the situation to be that serious. She thought she was prepared but it was all too intense. "It's been so many years. Can he really believe the past is now?" Delia feared that Binks would take one look at her and just drop unconscious. She couldn't forgive herself if that happened.

"Don't worry, you haven't changed," it could be seen as a compliment, but in the current situation, neither cared to notice. "Laiki used to be a little girl in the time period Binks relives. She's a little older than Ash now and Binks doesn't have any problems with that."

Delia sighed deeply, "I admit I wasn't prepared for this, but I will help. I'll be careful and I'll need to be well informed. I'm doing this for Binks, not so you can use him." She made sure to specify.

"I know," Giovanni expected as much. "There's something else you should know. Remember how you used to phrase things in a certain way to get me to agree?"

Delia didn't like the sound of that. Was her position worse than she thought? Was it about Binks? "Blackmail?" She questioned suddenly, with a more aggressive tone than Giovanni could ever expect from her. "It's not going to work, if worse comes to worse I'll tell Ash the truth myself. I don't fear Team Rocket."

Giovanni was taken aback; he would never imagine Delia would speak to him like that. "That's not what I meant," he quickly amended. "I only intended to explain why this is in your best interest and in Kanto's." He couldn't give her a full explanation because he didn't know it himself. He reanalyzed his decision to trust her. It was foolish to still believe in Delia like that. He held all the cards, he had Team Rocket, he had power and influence. Yet somehow, Delia had always managed to come out on top of seemingly impossible situations. Despite her normally forgiving nature, sweet demeanor and gentle attitude, she was not someone to be taken lightly.

Delia stopped the motions of her hands petting Persian. Her eyes were focused on Giovanni while he looked at the road ahead. "Yes I know; Kanto is your hostage. Actually, not just Kanto, I'm aware of that. It still won't work, Ash is more important to me." She paused in silent reflection before continuing. "It's ironic; in the past I could never understand how you were willing to sacrifice everything for your goals. I thought it was selfish, I wondered where your conscious had gone. Yet here I am, saying that I'll let Kanto fall if it's to keep Ash safe. I guess I can understand extreme priorities after all. Of course, I would rather not allow that to happen." Since the night of the battle against the Tempest leaders Delia had been preparing herself to deal with Giovanni. If he wanted something from her, he would have to earn it.

Giovanni let a moment of silence pass before speaking again. He decided not to go back to the subject at hand just yet. Instead he admitted, "you took me by surprise. I have no intentions of blackmailing you, but I see you've become more cautious." She made no comment and he continued, "can I at least trust your secrecy given that I keep my word about Ash?"

"Of course!" Delia energetically assured. "I'm not going to ask for the impossible." Many thoughts were conjured on her last sentence. There were things that Giovanni would do and things he wasn't willing to give up. She understood that far better than ever.

Giovanni decided to continue with what he was going to say, though he spoke in secrecy. "We believe Poisona's true plan was put in motion before our battle. Bollux and Solo will be handed over to the police; Poisona is being kept for interrogation. I can't tell you much else, because I don't know." There were several details that he skipped over. "Let's just say that we have acquired a strange substance that we think is related to Poisona's true plans. Our clues are few right now, but if the substance is analyzed, maybe we can find a lead. For all we know Kanto could be sinking further into danger as we speak. We need a clue as to what exactly has been set in motion."

"Binks is good at that sort of thing," Delia finished, catching on to where Giovanni was going with his explanation. "I remember Professor Oak mentioning what an amazing researcher Binks had been when they worked on the antidote. It seems he has the ability to absorb the knowledge used by others very quickly."

"Exactly," Giovanni confirmed. "Even if his mind frame is in the past, his later knowledge somehow remains. I can't really explain it, that's just the way he is. If it's for the sake of both Binks and Kanto, will you help?"

"Alright," Delia agreed. "I will not risk Binks' health," she firmly assured. "You'll have to hear me out; I'll have questions and opinions for everything. You'll have to at least listen. Don't assume I'll help with something without first discussing it with me in detail. You can't count on me that much anymore." This wasn't like her and Delia felt a little guilty being so harsh. She told herself that she was entitled to it and stayed firm.

"Fair enough," it was all that Giovanni could realistically expect. He noticed then that his trust and expectations for Delia had not been truly logical. Maybe she wised up and stopped being an idealist, or perhaps a small part of him could be a little idealistic about certain things at times.

The rest of the drive to Viridian City went by in silence. Tension seemed to once more build up between Giovanni and Delia. It was a different tension than before. This time the atmosphere was more than resentment and wariness, it carried guarded thoughts and defensive looks.

When they arrived at Viridian City, a multitude of panicked voices greeted them. Bollux and Solo had been handed to the police as soon as a rookie came by. He had been instructed to wait for Jenny and the others before proceeding. His only real mission was to assure the mayor that the police was on their way. Rune was serving as a sort of mediator between the mafia and the police, it was best not to question the arrangement.

Jenny had another situation to take care of due to a catastrophic car accident. The event was completely coincidental and unrelated to Team Rocket. Archer wanted to get rid of them as soon as possible so as to not raise the suspicions of the citizens.

Bollux and Solo had been pushed into the back of the police car. The windows were dark enough so that they couldn't be seen. The nervous rookie didn't know how good they were at emergency escapes. It wasn't long before he realized that he failed to properly lock one of the doors in the back. It was a grave mistake.

Bollux and Solo jumped out of the moving car with their hand still cuffed behind their backs. Jenny's motorcycle zoomed past Giovanni's car. The orange sports car had just reentered the main street from one of the smaller streets he took to avoid the traffic jam on the main street. The officer's rush and the people's yelling made it obvious there was something going on.

Seconds after Jenny hurried past them, three police cars followed, zooming by in the lane next to Giovanni. With the way his luck was going that day, Giovanni could only assume that it would get worse. He hurried after the police cars that parked ahead blocking the road. With no way to get past them, Giovanni parked his car on the side of the street and got off.

Delia was quick to follow him, observing their location. The store where the car of her kidnappers crashed was almost fully repaired very quickly. She didn't bother asking Giovanni about what was going on, he didn't seem to know. She followed him towards the panic where people couldn't decide if they wanted to run for cover or stay and watch. The two handcuffed men made their get away while the rookie chased after them on foot. It was impossible to move in the police car with all those curious people in the way.

The chase was joined by Jenny and the other officers as they tried to hurry after the two men. Giovanni and Delia made their way through the crowds hastily. Solo got lost in the multitude; he was quite a speedy runner. Bollux was a tad slower and took off in a different direction, desperate to get away. Bollux was confused and panicked in his rush to escape. People jumped aside, afraid to get too close to the criminal. They opened a path for him then stood watching him run, while gossiping about the event. They were inadvertently helping him get away.

Jenny and her Arcanine were in pursuit of Solo, while Bollux had the unfortunate luck to find Giovanni in his path. That was all he could take, Giovanni could not hold down his anger any longer. Before Bollux had time to panic and change course, Giovanni delivered a solid punch to his face. Bollux fell several feet back with the momentum he carried. He lay motionless but alive on the street with a broken nose.

The officers were quick to reach Bollux. They pulled him to his feet and took him away to a police car. They didn't dare to question the fierce looking gym leader. The curious people who had stopped to watch began to clap. In their eyes, their good gym leader was a hero.

Delia wasn't sure what to say about the entire event. It all happened very quickly. "Let's go," Giovanni placed his arm around her shoulders, leading her away from the multitude. She decided not to make a scene and allowed him to walk with her like that until they returned to his car. Persian closely followed them back.

xoxox xox xoxox

At the Viridian Rocket Headquarters, Laiki and Pixel were putting the finishing touches on their report about Mirta's journal. They had received a call from Archer telling them to have it ready immediately. Laiki read over it one last time. "It looks like it's ready. Figuring this out was like a riddle, you have a good eye for logic and word games," Laiki commended.

"So do you," Pixel smiled, "at first I thought it would be lame, but it was actually kind of fun," she admitted. "Shall we send it in?"

"Yeah, this is good to go," Laiki emailed the report to Archer. She stretched and leaned back in her chair. "It feels like the calm before the storm all over again," she commented.

"Maybe," Pixel would rather not go through the exhausting chaos of a traitor hunt again any time soon. She wanted to continue her technological studies and hacking training in peace until she was ready to take on important missions. "Whatever's going on, it shouldn't affect Team Rocket like before," she hoped not.

"I don't think so. The executives seem concerned. The boss has a lot on his mind, I imagine. Anyway, whatever this is, I'm pretty sure we can handle it." Laiki let out a relaxed breath and watched what Pixel's pokemon were doing around the medical facility.

Peachy, the Pikachu, was taking a nap on one of the beds after having devoured a large meal. Her table matters were surprisingly good, except for the part about her disregard for portions. She could eat more than one would expect a Pikachu to consume. She slumbered peacefully, her right ear twitching slightly in her sleep. She had a blue bow on her left ear.

Pyro, the Charmander, was sitting on Laiki's lap, his head resting on her chest. He loved being held, petted and cuddled by girls. Be it pokemon or human, Pyro had a very Brock-like personality. He was a happy pokemon since he had a female trainer to battle with him and a female nurse to take care of him. Plus he was currently the only male pokemon on Pixel's team. His only complaint was that Pixel never let him sleep on her bed because she feared his tail would set the sheets on fire. Every night he was put in his pokeball, even if Peachy and Purry were allowed to sleep on Pixel's bed. Peachy, similar to her trainer, slept like a rock. Even if she was tossed around and unconsciously used as a pillow, she wouldn't wake up. Purry preferred to sleep on a pillow on the floor or with Comet, since Pixel moved around too much and kept waking her up. Both Pixel and Purry had grown used to Peachy's soft, "chu" snores.

While Peachy napped and Pyro cuddled Laiki, Purry occupied herself with a book. She didn't know how to read the human language. It didn't matter; she was only looking at the pictures anyway. She had tried to tell herself that the boss' Persian was out of her reach. She had not even exchanged a single word with him. She wanted to evolve into a beautiful Persian. She was strong enough, but her fear that the evolution wouldn't make her pretty enough, stopped it from happening. If evolution didn't turn her into a refined creature that could fit into his world, all her hopes would be lost. It was a lot to face. She didn't want to stress about it so she distracted herself looking at one of Laiki's pokemon medical books.

"I just thought of something," Laiki mischievously voiced. "What is to you and me just a normal pokemon anatomy medical book, must be something else to Purry. She's a pokemon; there are pictures of male pokemon in that book. It must all be a lot of high rated eye candy from her point of view," she laughed.

Purry could feel her cheeks turning almost as red as Peachy's. The supposedly sleeping pokemon giggled with an amused, "pi pi pi." It was then that Purry realized her sleeping "chu" sounds had ceased a short while ago. Peachy was awake and listening.

Pyro pouted with a whiny, "char." He did not need to hear about his teammate's reasons to look at that book. It further offended him that Purry had never taken an interest in him and would rather look at a book than him. Peachy insisted on treating him like a sibling and ignoring all his advances. As for the humans, he knew his chances of romance were null, humans only like other humans. Laiki had two humans whom she liked. Pixel didn't have a boyfriend, but it was clear her tastes gravitated towards human males only. Regardless of that, if it was up to Pyro, no one would ever lay a finger on her.

"I think Comet might be right, sometimes it's best not to know what goes on in your head," Pixel teased. "Speaking of Comet, where did he disappear to? I thought he had some overdue time off to reclaim. Did he go on another mission?"

"He's still here," she referred to the Viridian Rocket base. Laiki's eyes flashed with a hint of worry. She quickly hid the negative emotion and smiled. "With all the work he's been doing he's been short on sleep. He's in his room getting some rest. I bet you could hack the keycard lock. I'm sure he wouldn't mind your company," Laiki winked. "If you don't, I might go keep him company myself."

"I thought he was like a brother to you," Pixel reminded.

Laiki laughed, "he is, I just wanted to see you get jealous."

"I'm not jealous," Pixel pouted stubbornly. "There's nothing going on, he's like a brother to me too," she insisted.

"Yeah right," Laiki didn't believe it for a second. "Only if the word brother means secret crush in another language. That would be a weird translation so let's stick to our language, okay?"

Pixel rolled her eyes, "you're delusional. Besides, I only like older men. Comet is too young."

"I happen to know you're a big fan of sci-fi," Laiki stated with a grin, the mischievous look in her eyes never left. "There are less years between you and Comet than between Padme and Anakin."

"It's my favorite movie series, but that's not enough to convince me," Pixel stood her ground. If she admitted to occasionally having a liking for Comet, Laiki would stretch the truth and assume they were secret lovers.

The nurse laughed and teased her friend. Through all of it she couldn't help it but to worry about Comet. She really did care about him like a brother. He had always been energetic and cheerful. Laiki wondered if what she feared was truly happening. She hoped the time never came. Still, she couldn't discard the possibility. When it happened, no real warning was expected, she knew it could all be very sudden. She hoped Comet's exhaustion was all the result of his lack of rest and nothing more.

xoxox xox xoxox

Diamond 69: Give me Connections

Giovanni and Delia entered the Viridian gym and headed towards the back, past the arena. Giovanni slid a keycard into the electronic lock of a door and pressed a numeric combination on the small pad next to it. The door was unlocked and they were allowed into a small room. The room was occupied by nothing but a little sitting area and an elevator. They took the elevator down to the Rocket headquarters where Giovanni unlocked another door. Both doors were locked behind them.

The long underground corridors brought a heavy sense of deja vu to Delia. It had been many years since she had walked down those tunnels, but she remembered them clearly. "Dudes, you're here!" A familiar voice made Delia's face brighten. Luke rushed down the long hall lined with doors to greet them.

"Luke!" Delia hurried to close the distance between them, greeting Luke with a friendly hug. "It's been so long, I'm really glad you seem to be doing well."

"Yeah, everything's like totally fine, you know?" Luke truly believed that Comet needed rest simply because he had been working too hard. Comet was used to working at night and sleeping during the day, so being awake during the daytime must have also affected him. Luke was completely unaware of the possibility that worried Laiki. He was well aware of Comet's condition, but didn't know of the true dangers associated with it.

Giovanni approached them at a normal pace, "I have some business to take care of, so I'll be busy for a while. Luke, you can take some time off."

Luke's already cheerful face became happier. "Thanks man! I like totally appreciate it, you know?" With only a tired nod, Giovanni went on his way.

"We have so much to talk about," Delia pushed her thoughts about Binks to the back of her mind for the time being. She wanted to have a happy reunion with Luke.

"Like totally!" Luke cheered, "let's like go into like one of the conference rooms, you know? We can like sit there and like no one will interrupt, you know?"

The two friends found an empty conference room to occupy. The floor matched the metal of the halls and the walls were bare. The table was moist as if it had been recently cleaned. The standard black chairs with wheels were nothing particularly elegant. They resembled what could be found in any office, but they were comfortable enough. "Where to start?" There was simply too much to be said. "I met your son, he told you, right?"

"Yeah," Luke's face was filled with pride at the mention of his son. "Comet's like a good boy, you know?" The phrase would contradict what other people would think. "I like mean he's like totally a good Rocket, you know? He's like a good son, you know?"

"I know what you mean," Delia smiled, "he reminds me a lot of you. You two look almost identical." Their faces were especially similar. Their eye and hair color was also exactly the same. Comet's haircut was slightly longer than Luke's, but still relatively short. Their skin tone was their only real difference, aside from their age.

"I like hear that a lot, you know?" Luke laughed. "Comet like grew up here, like in Team Rocket, you know?"

A flicker of sadness passed through Delia's eyes at the thought of Ash. He, unlike Comet, had grown up without his father. "Was it difficult?" That was not the question Delia meant to ask. "I mean... not to pry." It was too late to take it back.

"It's like okay. You can like ask me like anything, you know?" Luke assured. He thought back at Comet's younger years. "I like didn't see him much when he was like little," Luke confessed. "I like had my missions, you know?" He might as well be honest about it, or as honest as he could be. Delia must have been waiting to know what had happened since the last time they saw each other.

"I remember your letter," Delia recalled. "I was so glad that you wrote to me that time. I wish I could have written back, but I know it was impossible," the memory was bittersweet.

Luke maintained a cheerful expression, "it's like okay now. Do you like remember the Beedrill I like wrote about?" Delia nodded and Luke continued. "She's like still around. She like guards the forest with her bug pokemon friends, you know? If Giovanni like calls her, she like totally comes right away, man!" Luke smiled proudly speaking of the pokemon he had trained.

"That's amazing," Delia was glad they had falling into a relaxed conversation. "Maybe I can meet her some day."

"How about like right now?" Luke offered getting up. "Giovanni like knows where I am. He like won't mind. We're just like going to the forest like near by, you know?"

The fresh air of the forest sounded like a very welcoming prospect. Plus Delia was really glad the atmosphere between her and Luke felt so similar to old times. "Let's go," she happily agreed.

The way out of the Rocket headquarters was different since Luke was in his Team Rocket uniform. They went out through a secret passage in the forest. The umbrella of trees shielded them from the bright sun, allowing the breeze to pass through the leaves.

"Queen! Like come here dudette!" Luke waited a moment and listened to the buzzing of the bug pokemon near by. It seemed that they were relaying the summoning. A few minutes later, a Beedrill arrived, majestically flying in front of Luke. She had a certain deadly elegance to her. "It's like good to see you again, Queen," Luke petted the pokemon gently. "I like want to like introduce you to Delia."

"Nice to meet you, Queen." She greeted with a friendly smile.

Luke had introduced this human to her so she must be an ally of Team Rocket. To Queen, Team Rocket was a band of humans who protected the forest. They expanded it to make sure their home wasn't lost to the city. "Beedrill!" She greeted energetically. "Beedrill, beedrill!"

More buzzing sounds followed as the bug pokemon's message relay system was put into effect. When a pokemon heard someone calling out, they repeated the message passing it forward. The message would echo through the forest in that way. Eventually, it would reach its target as long as the receiver was in the forest. An answer would then be transmitted in the same way.

"She's like calling someone, you know?" Luke had a good guess about who would come, "I like think she wants to like introduce you to her family, you know?"

A younger male Beedrill and a Butterfree around his age arrived. They exchanged a few words in their language with Queen and flew near Delia.

"It's very nice to meet you all," she gently petted the pokemon. They seemed to get a trust worthy impression from her.

"This is like Queen's son, Prince," Luke introduced, "and this Butterfree is like his lady love, Pretty. She was like caught by Pixel, one of Comet's friends, when she was like a Caterpie. Then Pixel like let her go after she like evolved into Butterfree, so she could like be with Prince, you know?"

The story reminded Delia of when Ash freed his own Butterfree. "I've met Pixel before," Delia smiled. "She's seemed like a good girl... a good Rocket I mean."

"She like is, even if she's still like a rookie in like some ways, you know?" They all sat in the nice atmosphere of the forest to have a long talk. "Like where have you been like all this time? Did you like stay in Pallet Town?" Luke got things started.

Delia saved her questions about Luke and his family for later and first old her story. "Yes, I never left Pallet Town," Delia remembered her first few weeks there. It had been difficult, but she persevered. "Maybe you've heard by now, Giovanni and I have a son."

Luke nodded, with a small flicker of sadness barely perceptible in his blue eyes. "Ash, I like wanted to ask about him, you know?"

"He's a pokemon trainer aiming to be a master," Delia always smiled when she thought of Ash. "He can be pretty stubborn and always wants to be the best at everything, just like you-know-who. He grew up in Pallet Town and went on a journey when he was a few months away from his eleventh birthday. It wasn't easy letting him go, but I'm glad he was able to see the world. He got engaged recently to Misty from the Cerulean gym. He really has grown up so fast in my eyes."

Luke felt identified with that, "that's like how it is, kids like grow up fast, you know? Then like the next thing you like know, they're not kids anymore, you know? I like guess I shouldn't like really say that. I like only saw Comet a little when he was young," there was no real bitterness in his voice; albeit a hint of regret was present.

"You had some dangerous missions, that's understandable," Delia decided to be accepting. She knew Luke was a good person and she could never judge him harshly for staying in Team Rocket. Besides, if Comet's mother was a Rocket as well, then where else would Comet go? "So Comet stayed with his mom most of the time?" Delia couldn't deny the fact that she was curious.

Doubt overtook Luke for a fleeting moment and he looked away. He looked back at Delia instantly, hoping she didn't notice the change, but she did. "She like passed away."

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Delia felt bad for having asked. She didn't want to bring painful memories to Luke.

"It's like okay; it was like a long time ago," Luke tried to lighten the conversation again. "She was like..." he paused in deep thought, "I'd like to say she was like a lot like you..."

The hidden meaning of the words was completely lost on Delia as she tried to steer the conversation towards a more cheerful topic.

xoxox xox xoxox

Inside the Viridian Rocket headquarters, Giovanni was studying the report about Mirta's journal with the four Rocket executives. They were all reading from black laptops with red Rs.

"Interesting, they were able to identify what entries referred to Akira, or rather Secura, even if no names were mentioned on the journal," Ariana observed. It was probably done as a measure of privacy. That way only the one who wrote the journal would be able to easily interpret it.

Mirta's journal spoke of many of the children she took care of in the orphanage at Vermilion City. Without any names being mentioned, it was difficult to find the proper entries. The report referred to various excerpts and the pages where they were found. It seemed that Mirta had stopped writing years ago, but she didn't write too often to begin with, thus there were big gaps between the dates. The journal must have been forgotten, to be rediscovered and used again at a later date, soon to be stored away once more.

The first excerpt in the report referred to page fifty, the journal pages had been numbered for convenience. "I failed to keep her here, the girl entrusted to me in a stormy night. She has gone with a man who offered her fame." All the entries were written in a similar ambiguous fashion. Taking Akira's history with her agent into account, it could be concluded that she was the girl entrusted to Mirta in a stormy night. That was the main clue.

The journals pages were filled with references to children in such ways. The girl entrusted to me in a stormy night, the boy with bright eyes, the girl with long hair, the child of cold December and other such pseudonyms. The next excerpt was from page ten. There was more written in-between about Secura's childhood, but such mundane stories were irrelevant to the investigation. "I'll never forget that stormy night. She came to me and entrusted me with her child. I begged her to stay with the girl, but she refused. Leaving her with me was the best she could do for her daughter, she insisted. How I wish for you to see the light, you who are of the same family as I am."

Among a sea of words, those few sentences held the key to unlocking Akira's past as Secura and her origin. Secura's mother entrusted her to Mirta. That woman happened to be related to Mirta. From that point on an investigation was conducted on Mirta. Hacking the citizen databases was easy with some help from Prism. Pixel's Porygon generally preferred to reside in her computer and rarely came out.

The discovery from the journal was quite interesting. Mirta Stass had a relative who stood out, her name was Aayla Stass. The name was familiar to Laiki and she knew the executives and boss would be able to reach conclusions with that information. The last part of the report included a peculiar file hacked from the Vermilion City hospital. Aayla Stass had checked in to give birth, but her child was supposedly stillborn. The baby would have been the same age as Secura. Reading through the journal was very time consuming to find those little clues. Archer had announced that he needed the report right away, thus Laiki declared that it was enough.

At first Giovanni was disappointed by the short length of the report. However, that short report spoke volumes to those who knew of the past. The four executives remained silent as realization washed over them. The journal was a collection of sporadic thoughts, yet it all fell into place.

Everything made perfect sense. When her daughter was born, Aayla was still with Tempest. Rumors had run through the streets in the past that someone was expecting a child from the leader of Tempest, Venom. They apparently turned out to be nothing but rumors, but that wasn't true. With all the information that had been gathered, it could be concluded that Aayla did give birth to Venom's child. The baby turned out to be Secura, who was later known as Akira. She grew up with Mirta in the Vermilion orphanage, without knowing they were related. Maybe Venom had experimented with his unborn child. Perhaps Aayla felt guilty and faked her daughter's death, secretly leaving her in Mirta's care.

"What were you talking about when I came in here?" Giovanni's mind was racing.

Petrel thought back to the specific point in time in which Giovanni entered the conference room. "I was complaining about my water bottle being warm."

That detail was enough to set Proton's mind in motion. "Then I said, at least you can still drink it, unlike the water from the stream that killed a bunch of pokemon. Petrel asked which stream, and I said the one between Pewter and Cerulean. It was something I saw on the news."

Archer followed their train of thought as if they were all connected, "let's not jump to conclusions."

"It's not such a big jump," Giovanni thought about the worse possibility. "Akira's blood was in that stream, I saw her bleed into it. She's Venom's daughter, this could mean-" The sound of Giovanni's and all four executive's laptops interrupted in perfect unison. The devices were letting them know that an urgent report had reached their inboxes.

They quickly opened the encrypted message from the laboratories, entering IDs and passwords. The conference room fell silent as they all read. Their expressions were mirrors of surprise and worry.

"As I thought, Akira's blood contains a virus that kills pokemon," Giovanni voiced. "This could be worse than last time. The only reason the epidemic ended was because we found the data for the antidote. We know nothing about this. Back then, we searched for more data that could be useful. If we didn't find any, it might not exist. Figuring out how to control this will be much more difficult if a full breakout occurs."

"It makes sense," Proton recalled what Poisona said, "Poisona hates pokemon. Getting rid of them is most likely her goal."

Archer was in deep thought, "I suggest concentrating Team Rocket's resources on this before it gets out of hand."

"I second that," Ariana voiced. Proton and Petrel nodded, the action was unquestionable.

"Yes, we have to do something about this immediately," Giovanni agreed. "I want a team investigating the area right away. Find out how the virus spreads. No one from Team Rocket will enter that area with Pokemon; I don't want the infection reaching any of the bases." Giovanni paused as he came to a realization. "Get Akira out of here immediately and isolate her. I want this place clean of any traces of that virus!"

Persian was born at the end of the crisis and didn't fully understand what was going on. He knew it was serious and it was bad, that much was certain.

xoxox xox xoxox

In Pallet Town, Ash had finally escaped from Belle for a while. After Giovanni and his mother left, Ash returned to his previous task of helping Gary put Belle to sleep. Their off key lullaby succeeded in making Belle shut up, though she was wide awake and twitching. Fearing that the duet would continue, the Bellsprout wisely decided to remain quiet. She was staying at the Oak research lab, while Ash went home to talk to Misty on the phone.

Tango music played while Mimey danced with the vacuum cleaner as he cleaned the house. That pokemon could be quite a neat freak at times, and sometimes just a freak. Ash passed by quietly, deciding not to disturb Mimey, and went up the stairs to his room. The room was the same as ever. It still had the same pale green walls, the same blue carpet and matching blue curtains.

The small TV in the corner was rather outdated, but still worked. Unlike the one downstairs in the living room, it had not been replaced for a newer model. A big Snorlax shaped pillow was on the floor in front of it. The bunk bed was neatly made, courtesy of Mimey. The shelves were packed with various things. Books, figurines and pokemon shaped things lined the wooden furniture. The collection included a winged Rapidash Christmas ornament. A faded poster on the wall showed the three starter pokemon from Kanto.

Ash lay down on his bed with his cell phone to his ear after pressing the speed dial. Misty answered on the first ring. "Ash, can we talk now?"

"Sure," he didn't realize how urgent she sounded. Ash didn't pause before getting started on his narration of the day's happenings. "Remember what I told you about Belle yesterday? She was still crying non-stop today. I had Gary babysit for a while, but then he told me that Belle was mine because Mrs. Alderaan's will said so. It's probably because she liked mom's cooking and I used to be the delivery boy before I left on my journey. At least we got Belle to keep quiet by singing to her. Honestly, I'm not sure if she cheered up or if she stop crying so we would stop singing. If that's the reason then it was Gary's fault for being off key," all in all Ash was more off key than Gary.

Misty listened to Ash's narration without getting a word in, she didn't even try. She allowed him to vent for a while.

"When you called me today, I was going to tell you about Jigglypuff," Ash continued. "To start the story from the beginning, I was at home with Belle and went out for some fresh air. Then I found Giovanni right in front of the house. He has the coolest orange car I've ever seen. That reminded me that I should start saving for a new car. What do you think about orange? The color never really caught my attention until just now. I guess there's time to decide. Red, indigo, orange, any of those would be nice."

Ash made a small pause before he went on with his previous narration, "I challenged Giovanni to a pokemon battle and he agreed. We went to Professor Oak's place for the battle because there's lots of room there. Maybe I should say Gary's place, since he's the one running the lab now and he does live there."

Setting the tiny details aside, Ash continued, "we talked for a while and I told him about what happened in Saffron City. He seemed interested. I started to feel weird because it is kind of odd to think that mom's dating someone. At the same time it's not, I mean we all get along just fine. I started feeling comfortable again later."

After again deviating from the story Ash returned to it, "about our battle, we didn't even get started! I just stood there ready to call out my first pokemon when Jigglypuff had to ruin it all. It was going to be a six on six battle! It was going to be epic! Giovanni was pretty angry at having his face painted, but I bet he's laughing about it now." Ash would have lost that bet. "The part that I didn't find amusing in the least was missing my battle. After that, we got cleaned up and Gary returned with Belle. He was babysitting while I battled, except I never got around to battle," Ash emphasized with a pout.

"Than finally, Giovanni had to leave and mom went with him. Gary and I sang to Belle and she's staying at his place right now. I decided to go home and take a break. I remembered to call you so we could continue our conversation from earlier today," Ash smiled, proud of himself for having remembered. He knew Misty liked those little details, albeit he often missed his chances to seize the moment. "Do you think they're on a date right now?" He referred to Giovanni and his mother. "It doesn't bother me, but should it? I don't even know anything about my father. Mom said she would tell me. Then one thing led to another and I forgot. Is it okay to think Giovanni's cool when I don't even know my own father? At the same time, it feels natural, almost as if he was my father," but he wasn't, as far as Ash knew.

Misty sighed, she had called to seek Ash's support, but it looked like he needed her support. "I think you should talk to her. I don't know about your mom's past. Maybe it's difficult for her to talk about your father. Even so, you have the right to know. I'm sure she understands that. Just try to talk to her when you have a moment alone. It's okay that you enjoy being with Giovanni. It's good that you two are getting along and I'm sure Delia appreciates that."

"You're right," Ash agreed with new found determination. "Belle kind of got in the way last time, but not anymore. When mom comes back, I'll ask her directly. I'm sure she'll tell me the whole story if I insist." Ash left his cell phone on his pillow, allowing his eyes to close. Pikachu was comfortably resting on the big Snorlax shaped pillow. He relaxed and let sleep overtake him.

"Ash?" Misty heard the rhythm of Ash's breathing. She was familiar with it after years of camping out together. "Don't fall asleep now," she whispered. "I haven't told you what I'm worried about." She took a deep breath, she had worries to share too, and they were serious, "Ash Ketchum, wake up!" Misty yelled into her cell phone.

Ash jumped awake and sat up on his bed. His nap lasted only a few seconds. He picked up his cell phone from his pillow and yawned. "Misty? Are you still there?"

"Yes, I'm still here," Misty was getting a little annoyed, but maintained a calm tone of voice. "My sisters had a talk with me about keeping secrets. I don't even know the full details and I already have secrets to keep."

Ash's curiosity was captured, "secrets? What kind of secrets?"

To be Continued

Disclaimer, I don't own Pokemon.