Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Don't Give Me Diamonds ❯ Chapter 20

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

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 70: Give me Safety

Ash waited impatiently for Misty to speak. He got out of bed and paced around his room with his cell phone to his ear. "Misty?"

"Secrets about the mafia," Misty confessed. "My sisters are involved with, I don't even know what." She finally broke down in tears. All the pressure and the seriousness of her sisters' insistence on her silence got to her. They didn't want to share too much new information for her protection. "Ash, Ackbar is with them, they have a lot of power. The Roketto clan, Team Rocket, they're already too involved, they can't leave now. They keep saying that everything is fine and life will continue normally. What if it doesn't? It can't be that simple!"

Ash couldn't believe what he was hearing. Misty made him see things in a whole new perspective. They were so desperate to relax, so eager to think things were okay. "Everything will be alright, because I'll make sure of it!" He didn't know what he was talking about, yet some how hearing Ash say those words made Misty feel a little better. "Are you in Cerulean City right now?"

"Yes," Misty tried to stop crying, she didn't want to worry Ash or her sisters. She had been locked in her room for a while and they might go check on her soon.

"I'll be there soon," Ash left no room for argument, as if making an unbreakable promise. "I'll be there really soon then you can tell me about it in person."

"Alright," Misty took a deep breath to calm herself, "thank you."

"I'm your fiance, you can count on me for anything," Ash assured, he couldn't help it but to smile despite the situation. "I'll see you soon."

"I love you," Misty whispered.

"I love you too," Ash replied and ended the call. He didn't have a car anymore, but he knew of a faster way to get around.

"Pikapi?" Pikachu had woken up and was looking at him with questions in his eyes.

"I'm not entirely sure what's going on, but Misty could use some cheering up," Ash explained. "Let's make sure she's alright."

Pikachu nodded, "Pikapipi!" He jumped on Ash's shoulder as Ash opened his bedroom window.

"Charizard, I choose you!" Ash threw the pokeball out the window.

The red beam from it shaped into the powerful fire/flying pokemon, who let out a mighty roar. The ball bounced back towards Ash with the force of Charizard taking shape.

Ash caught the empty pokeball and reattached it to his belt. He jumped out the window on Charizard's back with Pikachu on his shoulder. "Full speed to Cerulean City!"

xoxox xox xoxox

Approaching footsteps alerted Delia and Luke that someone was coming. Queen, Prince and Pretty were relaxed. The forest not only had hidden cameras, but also pokemon guardians. Luke knew right away that it meant the bug pokemon of the forest had not detected anyone unfamiliar. Giovanni approached them with Persian following him as usual. Delia and Luke were sitting on the grass sharing stories and laughing. Their little reunion would have to be cut short; there was an emergency to take care of.

"Giovanni," Delia looked at him as he approached, "come to join us?" She didn't expect him to agree.

"Actually, I was going to take you to visit Binks, you can both come," Giovanni was going to need every scientific resource he had available working towards a new antidote. It was a great danger and a great opportunity.

Delia's expression was full of questions. Giovanni had told her about the complications of Binks' condition, she didn't expect him to take her to him so soon. "Is something the matter?" He was rushing things and there had to be a reason for that.

"Not yet," Giovanni hinted.

Delia got to her feet, giving Giovanni a critical look, "what do you mean?"

"I'll explain in the way," Giovanni began to walk back towards the secret passage in the forest. He made it clear that there was no time to waste. He opened the hidden tunnel and made his way down.

Delia looked at Luke searching for answers, but he shrugged and shook his head. She sighed, feeling as if she was being dragged around. Giovanni better keep his word and explain things on the way. She didn't even know where they were heading. "We have to go now," she addressed the pokemon, "it was very nice meeting you." The two Beedrill and Butterfree responded cheerfully. They had another human ally. Plus they got to see the leader of Team Rocket, whom they had not seen in a while.

After returning to the underground Viridian Rocket base, a grunt hurried to them with a sealed envelope. The Rocket grunt handed the black envelope to Giovanni and quickly went away. The envelope was labeled only with a red R. It gave no hint about its contents, but at the same time spoke volumes about the possible documents that could be in it.

Giovanni opened the sealed envelope, tearing off the edge. He looked at the papers inside as he walked down the long underground tunnel with Delia, Luke and Persian. Once he confirmed the documents were what he requested, he handed them to Delia. "This is information about Binks."

"First tell me why we're going to see him all of a sudden," Delia inquired with mounting concern.

Luke looked back and forth between Giovanni and Delia. He felt as if he had been caught in the middle of a soap opera lovers' spat. His gaze finally settled on Persian, he was the easiest to look at, since he was the least tense. Luke slowed his pace to walk a few steps behind them. The metallic tunnels seemed more endless than ever.

"Don't you want to see him?" Giovanni knew his fake tone of innocence wouldn't work on Delia. He didn't bother waiting for her to demand an answer before he gave it. "Nothing is certain yet," the introduction to the issue at hand was not very encouraging. Delia's gaze was focused and inquiring. Giovanni had liked those rare moments when she got that look in the past. He never thought a time would come when those looks made him feel he should be cautious. "There have been a few cases of sick pokemon. I don't know exactly what's going on, but it's best to take precautions now." It wouldn't be long before Delia or someone she knew decided to watch the news and heard about it. The illness that was going around was no secret, though it was not yet too bad. "I want Binks to research what's going on so he can come up with a cure before things get worse."

"That makes sense," Delia granted, yet she didn't lose her intense look. "Why do I feel like there's more to it than this?"

"Because there probably is," Giovanni openly admitted, "not even I know what." He met her eyes for a moment before once again looking forward. "This situation will probably reach common knowledge soon if it gets worse. It's no secret; you just haven't been keeping up with the news, have you?"

"I wasn't in the mood to watch the news," Delia felt that she needed to rest and make herself focus in the future. She didn't want to spend all her time theorizing about how anything reported on the news could possibly be linked to Team Rocket. Delia began to read the papers in silence while they boarded an elevator. Giovanni inputted a numerical code, rather than using the buttons to select the level where he wanted to go. The controls also served as an access panel, though few knew of that function.

Binks' condition had been getting worse since Delia last saw him years ago. He seemed to have suffered a severe trauma. Some of the notes mentioned he used to escape from the lab, but that stopped happening after he was assigned to work with Dr. Fuji. It seemed his work kept him busy then and he was very interested in it. After the accident which ended Dr. Fuji's life, Binks took a long time to recover from his injuries. Later, he remained in his private laboratory. The documents mentioned that Binks often lost the notion of time.

The elevator ride seemed to take an eternity. The temperature rose with the warmth of being so far underground. Finally, when the elevator doors opened, the air conditioner felt sudden and cold. That deep underground level wasn't there before Delia left. There was a long corridor up ahead. Delia's eyes went from the last sentence of the paper, to the long metallic corridor, to Giovanni. "I finished reading," she placed the papers neatly back inside the opened envelope and handed it back to Giovanni.

The Rocket leader opened the first door on the left. There were several laboratory supplies neatly stashed inside, with a paper shredder in the corner. The documents were turned into confetti after being tossed in the shredder. "Are you ready?"

Delia doubted she could ever be ready. At the same time she couldn't wait to see Binks. "Yes," her eyes spoke much more than her voice.

"I don't need to tell you again what will happen to Binks," Giovanni reminded just in case. Delia nodded, her expression going from doubtful to determined, "act natural."

The walk down the long hallway felt as if it took much more time than it did. The metal doors were closed and sound proof. Small glass windows on each one gave a brief view of the experiments being conducted inside. Delia would have lost her temper if she saw any pokemon being experimented on. Fortunately, there was nothing but unidentifiable colorful substances in vials and beakers.

The suspense piled up as Giovanni slid a keycard through the lock on the door at the very end of the hallway. He entered a numerical password on the little pad next to it and the door was unlocked. Giovanni, Delia and Luke entered and the leader locked the door behind them.

Delia was taken by surprised by the warm atmosphere she saw. Unlike Luke, she had not been there before. The cold metal walls were covered by wood. A gray stone fireplace was oddly burning in the wall to the right. Upon closer inspection, it wasn't burning at all, the fire was fake.

On the wall opposite to the fireplace there hung a painting of a pokemon. It was not expertly made. It could have been a big fuzzy Rattata or a purple Raticate. The pokemon portrayed seemed to be a combination of both. The shelves below the painting were lined with different awards and recognitions of the scientific world. With Pallet Town being the home of Samuel and Gary Oak, such awards were not alien to Delia. Some of them she had to doubt were real, despite being aware that Binks had enough knowledge to win them. She wondered if they were all part of the atmosphere created in that area.

The wooden floor made Delia's light steps sound off differently than the metal surface of the corridor. The furniture was a dark mauve color. It seemed lived in, but still in good conditions so that it was comfortable. The couch faced the fireplace, while two matching seats faced the couch. There was a little wooden coffee table with a clear glass top in the middle of the sitting area. A lighter wine colored oval shaped rug was under the coffee table, extending to the foot of the couch and seats.

The door that they came through blended in with the brown wood covered walls. On the wall opposite to that door there was another door. The inner door was made of only wood, as opposed to being metal covered in wood. Its shade of brown was noticeably lighter than the walls, closer to a shade of caramel. Somehow, the scent of hot chocolate was constantly in the air, even if Delia didn't see any. There was another caramel colored door next to the fireplace, which was open a few inches.

The atmosphere was overall relaxing until Delia realized that Binks was not allowed to leave. No matter how comfortable a cage was made, it was still a cage. She felt sorry for him being forced to live underground. She had to remember that he was in no condition to live anywhere else safely. Two voices could be heard from beyond the closed caramel colored door, one was male and the other female.

Giovanni looked at Delia, silently asking if she was ready. She nodded reassuringly and looked as natural as she could. Luke exchange another glance with Giovanni before calling, "Dude Binks, we're like here, man!"

It was at that moment that Delia further wondered why Luke was aware that Binks lived and Comet was kept in the dark. She had assumed it was because seeing Luke's son would make the passing of time too obvious for Binks. She wondered if that was the only reason, but that was not the time to ask.

The caramel colored door opened revealing a very different atmosphere beyond it. The room was completely white, the walls, the ceiling and the floor. Long counters lined the walls filled with laboratory equipment, a laptop computer and scattered papers with messy handwriting. The area was cluttered, but nothing was broken or on the floor.

Binks stepped through the door followed by Laiki. His brown eyes were mostly dull but shone with the faintest sparkle of life when he saw Delia. His blond hair was much paler than Delia remembered, almost white. Binks looked much older than he was. He was thinner than before, like a skeleton with his clothes and lab coat hanging off him. "You came to visit!"

Delia wanted to cry but showed no hints of it as she smiled. "Hi," was all she could muster to say. She didn't know how to talk to Binks in a natural way when things were anything but natural.

Delia froze on the inside when Binks' face turned sad for a moment, "I thought you didn't want to be my friend anymore." His expression changed drastically to carefree and curious. "Have you been busy taking care of Giovanni's pokemon so he can be a good gym leader?"

Delia forced herself to keep a cheerful expression and a steady voice. "That's right, I've been really busy. Of course I still want to be your friend."

Binks clapped his hands together in happiness, "how wonderful. I knew you would be my friend forever. Tell Aayla and Leah to stop by sometime too. I haven't spoken to them in a long time. I guess everyone got busy after Tempest was defeated."

So far so good, Binks looked more cheerful, coherent and focused than usual. Delia wouldn't know of the comparison, but the others noticed.

"I haven't introduced you, have I?" Binks looked back at Laiki. "I'm sure you've already heard from Giovanni and Luke. This is my sister Laiki. She's still very young but she's an aspiring Rocket. It won't be long before she can run around training pokemon." The time in which Laiki was taken in by Team Rocket was after Delia left. In that sense, Binks had the eras a little mixed up. "I'm telling you, she's growing up so fast. Pretty soon she won't be my baby sister anymore. Just look at how tall she's gotten, last week she was this small." Binks held out his hand, palm down, indicating a height that could only belong to a child.

"It's nice to meet you, Laiki," Delia played along. She felt as if she was being torn apart on the inside. On the outside she smiled sweetly, while the sour acid of a lie ate away at her heart.

"Nice to meet you too!" Laiki chirped cheerfully. She was good at lying. Her acting skills were commendable, a fact that she took advantage of.

Binks went on his knees to look at Persian and petted him gently. "Too big to ride on daddy's shoulder anymore, Meowth?" He laughed in good humor as he stood again. He looked at the partially open door next to the fireplace. "Rattata, have you woken up from your nap?" A shy Raticate watched from the slightly opened space of the door. "Come greet our guests. Laiki, Luke, Giovanni and Persian are here, plus a surprise visitor. Delia has come to visit; it's such a happy day!"

Raticate pushed the door open and entered the little living room. Behind the door there was a bedroom. The walls were covered in wood in a similar way to the living room. The floor was covered by a blue carpet. It contrasted with the wood that covered the living room floor and the white tiles of the laboratory. The carpet had soft lines and swirls in different shades of blue as if to simulate water.

The bed frame was made of wood with the bed posts shaped as palm trees. The big green plastic leaves formed a partial umbrella over the bed. The mattress was thick and soft. A purple pokemon comforter was extended on the bed with pictures of a Gengar, Haunter and Gastly. Two pillows were in matching pillowcases. Shoes, lab coats and articles of clothing were scattered in the room. There was a rather large collection of ties hanging from the palm tree leaves. The assorted ties varied in colors and patterns.

Raticate was always fragile as a Rattata. She never lasted long in a battle before fainting. How she managed to evolved under such circumstances was nothing short of a mystery. Perhaps the inner battle of her constant worries for her trainer pushed her to become stronger that way. If she had become physically stronger was yet to be seen, but not likely. She had not battled in many years.

"Come now, don't be shy," Binks picked up the small Raticate. "You remember Delia, don't you?"

Raticate looked at Binks with curiosity. For once her trainer looked truly happy. She nodded and looked at Delia with pleading eyes. She didn't speak; the humans wouldn't be able to understand her anyway. Even without words the message reached Delia. It was as if Raticate was begging for her trainer's well being, pleading 'help him.'

Binks sat down on the couch with Raticate on his lap. "Sit, sit everyone, and have some candy." He motioned towards a Blastoise shaped bowl on the coffee table in the center of the living room. "Luke, you're quiet today," he observed.

"Me? Like quiet? No way, man! I'm like as full of energy like as ever, you know?" Luke had been quietly watching everything unfold. So far Binks had not yelled, cried or laughed insanely. That was big progress. He hopped on one of the chairs, leaning forward to the coffee table. He lifted the Blastoise jar's shell off to reveal the overflow of candy. There were yellow candies in clear wrappers and chocolates in silver wrappers. "Like yum!" He took a handful of candy and began to slowly unwrap them.

Giovanni sat down on the other seat, leaving Delia and Laiki to seat left and right of Binks. "Do you think you could start working on some research soon?" Giovanni left out any sense of urgency in his voice.

"Of course, of course!" Binks exclaimed. "I've found the motivation, I'll do it, I'll definitely do it!" He paused and looked thoughtful for a moment, almost nostalgic, "on one condition." His voiced changed from cheerful yet disconnected, to completely serious. "I want Delia to come visit now and then, because I don't want to stop being her friend. In fact, you should all keep coming to see me regularly," Binks seemed to have a quiet acceptance of his captivity.

"I'm sure we can find the time," Giovanni looked at Delia, "right?"

"Yes!" Delia was quick to reply. She didn't know how she would endure any future visits.

A soft beeping sound came from Binks' watch. He pressed a tiny button on it and ignored it once the sound stopped. "Dear brother, don't forget your medicine," Laiki reminded with gentle insistence.

Binks frowned and hugged Raticate, resting his chin on her head. "It makes me so sleepy."

"It's for your own good," Laiki got up from the couch and walked to the small refrigerator in the corner next to the award shelves. She opened it and retrieved a glass of water, which she handed to Binks. She went into the bedroom and out of sight, entering the door leading to an adjacent bathroom. The medicine cabinet was locked for safety reasons. Binks had never tried to break it open. Laiki returned to the living room with a pill which she deposited in Binks' open hand.

Binks looked at the pill as if it were something unappetizing. The refrigerator was full of appetizing dishes and snacks, but Binks ate little. "I had insomnia before, I wanted to sleep. I don't want to anymore." He rolled the little white pill from side to side in the palm of his hand.

"Dude, you should like take your medicine, man!" Luke encouraged, his mouth half full of candy and chocolate. "It's like just a pill, it like can't taste like that bad, you know? Besides, you can like totally eat something yummy like right after, you know?"

"If I go to sleep, will it all be a dream?" Binks whispered solemnly. "Delia, are you really here, or is this a dream? Has light returned? Laiki was too small, she wasn't here. Giovanni, he needed the light, but the light went away. I was without my light too. I can't be strong like Luke. I can't be strong like Giovanni. What if I'm dreaming? If I go to sleep in a dream, will I wake up in reality? Will you be gone forever? Will you be gone like her? Will you hate us of the darkness?"

A thick and tense silence invaded the room. Delia couldn't stop looking at Binks' eyes, so pained and pleading. She gently placed her arms around his thin shoulders, he looked so fragile. "It's okay, I'm really here. Take your medicine and get some rest, you really need it. When you wake up, you can call me. I'll come visit you again. I'm not going to abandon you."

Binks nodded weakly, "alright," he swallowed the little white pill with the water. He set Raticate gently down on the floor and placed the near empty glass on the coffee table. "I'll get some sleep and this time I won't have any nightmares." He walked to his bed as if in a trance muttering to himself about light and darkness.

"We should let him rest for now," Laiki voiced softly, to break the unbearable silence.

Raticate went to the bedroom and stood watching her trainer in bed under the purple covers. He was still murmuring to himself, but it was quieter and slower. He was falling asleep. As usual, Raticate would stand watching him with worry. Differently from other times, there was also a hint of hope in her eyes.

Giovanni, Persian, Delia, Luke and Laiki exited Binks' living area. The door was locked behind them leaving Binks in his own little world. Since Binks could no longer hear them in his sound proof little apartment, Luke apologized. "I'm like sorry, man!" I was like too quiet at first, you know? He like surprised me, you know?"

Laiki nodded in agreement with a real smile on her face, "I was surprised too. It's been such a long time since Binks recognized people so easily and had something that could be called a conversation. Plus he didn't have any problems with all of us being there at the same time. This is a big improvement."

Delia listened, feeling her heart becoming more pained for Binks. It seemed that everyone was impressed with Binks' apparent improvement. Delia had no real point of comparison, but if that was a big improvement, how was it before?

"I have some work to look into down here, so I'll stick around," Laiki gave Luke a meaningful look.

Luke interpreted it as a suggestion to give Delia a moment alone with Giovanni. There was only one elevator that went that far down underground. It was monitored by hidden cameras. It would have been stopped if unauthorized personal had somehow figured out the code to make it go down to the deep secret basement. "I will like go up in like a little while too, you know? So you should like totally go on ahead if you're like using the elevator, you know?"

Giovanni guessed they were leaving him alone with Delia. "Alright," he agreed and started walking towards the end of the hall. "Delia?"

Delia was lost in deep thought. Her eyes were a little watery but she hid it well. She woke up from her trance when Giovanni called her and was quick to follow him to the elevator.

xoxox xox xoxox

Diamond 71: Give me Surprises

The elevator doors closed blocking out the cold air conditioner of the hallway. The elevator began to go up towards the higher underground levels of the Viridian Rocket headquarters. The tension in the air floated heavily. "Delia," Giovanni tried to look at her face but she looked away, "look at me."

She lowered her face and shook her head. "I'm fine, I can do this," her voice was shaking. "I can visit Binks again, I can control myself," she insisted almost pleading.

"I know, you did very well," Giovanni saw many possibilities in the future if things progressed as they had so far. "You don't know how much you've helped him."

"I'll make sure he finds himself," Delia didn't care about Giovanni's plans for Binks. She just wanted to help him recover. She couldn't stand the thought of him living as a prisoner used for his scientific knowledge. He was not a thing, not a resource, he was a person.

"You don't have to keep everything bottled up all the time," Giovanni tried to hug her.

For a moment, Delia leaned into him and allowed the overflow of emotions to show. Then she pulled back quickly and dried her eyes with a determined look. "I told you, I'm fine," she glared.

"You've been on edge," Giovanni observed. She wasn't so distant before. Now she was looking at him almost as if he was poisonous to her. The pained yet welcoming look in her eyes was gone.

"Can you blame me? I'm not just going to play your game. I'm not here to give you everything you want. Not anymore," her voice was lowered to a fierce whisper. She was tired of being forgiving.

"This isn't like you," Giovanni spoke calmly. The elevator reached its destination and opened. A few Rockets made their way through the long hallway ahead.

Delia waited until the Rockets passed by before continuing, "I don't like being this way," she admitted. "It's just that, I'm not supposed to care about you, so I won't. It should be my choice to make." She made it clear the conversation was over. She would speak of the matter no more.

It was an unusual event for Giovanni. Delia had never really confronted him in such a way. She just left, ran away. This time she wanted to face him without the burden of past feelings, but it wasn't easy. She couldn't simply erase the past and she couldn't make herself hate the present. She wanted Ash to know what was his right to know. She couldn't find the balance between being too involved and not involved enough.

xoxox xox xoxox

Meanwhile, down in the secret underground laboratory, Laiki was getting ready to share her suspicions with Luke. "About Comet," she began in a grave tone.

Luke didn't like the way the topic was brought up, "he's like going to be like okay, right?"

"I don't know," Laiki admitted. "There is something that Binks didn't tell you about him, back when he used to take care of him when he was little. He told me, but I didn't think it was of any use to make you worry."

Luke's expression turned concerned, "like what do you mean?"

"Comet wasn't expected to," Laiki tried to think of a gentle way to phrase it but found none. "He's not expected to live a long life." She stopped there. That was what Binks had told her without explaining it further, but she had reached her own conclusions.

Luke looked absolutely heartbroken. "Are you like saying he's not just like tired? Is this like a sign of like the end?" Luke couldn't accept that. Comet was his son; he wouldn't give up on him so easily. "No! That like can't be, there like has to be a way to like save him, you know?"

Laiki sighed sadly, "I couldn't say."

Luke was determined not to lose hope, "I'm like staying positive, you know?"

Laiki smiled weakly. She feared the worse, having already faced reality, "yeah, I guess there's nothing more to do. I'll believe in him too."

xoxox xox xoxox

Several levels above the secret laboratory, but still underground, Comet was sleeping in his room. Someone calling at the door woke him from his restless slumber. "Comet, are you in there?"

Comet waited for the blurry voice to become clearer as the person at the door called again. He got up and immediately felt dizzy. He fell sitting on his bed again, holding his head. His forehead felt warm, but he was cold. He didn't get sick easily. He had never felt this ill before.

"Comet!" The person at the door was growing impatient. There was a silent pause, then footsteps.

"Wait, don't go," Comet forced himself to get up and tried to steady himself. He quickly opened the door.

Pixel had started walking down the hall, assuming Comet wasn't in his room after all. She stopped and looked back. "So you were in there. Were you sleeping? What a waste of free time. C'mon, let's run around the galaxy for a while. Remember those two big mutant monsters? I mean the ones in the second area, in the buildings beyond the caves. You said you would help me slay them. I'm a strong mercenary but this isn't a one person job."

Comet took a moment to absorb the information, "oh yes, the game." His brain seemed to finally restart and connect to his surroundings.

Pixel looked impatient, "Have you been training your character at all? I'm ready for the S rank missions! You're not going to get over your cold if you just lay in bed bored out of your mind. Video games are the best way to get over a cold!"

Comet nodded weakly, not quite all there, "I agree. Let me grab my game. Should we go play in your room? Your router is faster than mine and we're going to need a wireless that doesn't lag."

"Yup," Pixel nodded, "hurry up, we have mutant monsters to slay and rare treasures to collect!" She cheered.

Comet got his handheld game from his cluttered room. "Let's go," he made himself smile, as the world became less blurry. "By the way, you look different."

"Custom made uniform," Pixel replied. Instead of the standard boy style uniform she usually wore, and still did if it was cold, she was wearing a slight variation of the Team Rocket uniform. The tshirt had short sleeves; it was black with a red R. She had black jean shorts that went to her knees with a belt carrying several pokeballs. Her black boots had silver metal at the soles. They were heavy, but felt cool, so the extra effort was worth it. Her gloves were short and black. Her dark blue hair was in it's usual ponytail and she wore small silver earrings. The red R on the uniform stood out as always.

"It looks cool," Comet sleepily complimented as he closed his door and followed Pixel. He never used to get sick like that. He wasn't sneezing or coughing as he should be if he had a cold. It was just a fever and exhaustion.

xoxox xox xoxox

Later, Misty was resting in her room at the Cerulean City gym. Her eyes were closed though she was still awake. "Misty!" Ash's voice sounded as if it was nearby.

She quickly got up and looked towards the window. There he was, riding on Charizard. She opened the window and let him in, "I'm glad you came," they hugged tightly.

"It's okay, I'm sure we can work something out," as usual, Ash tried to stay optimistic. Charizard complained from out the window. He didn't fit through it. "Thanks for the ride Charizard, I knew I could count on you to bring me here really fast." Ash walked over to the window, petting Charizard with one hand, his other arm still around Misty's waist. "Take some time to rest," he called the fire pokemon back into his pokeball.

Misty's Marill began to talk to Pikachu, answering his curious questions. Marill had been listening to the Waterflower sisters' conversation and was well informed. The two pokemon nodded to each other and headed towards the door, "Pikapi, Pikapipi."

"You're going to spend some time with Misty's pokemon? Okay, see you later Pikachu. Actually, I'll let everyone out," Blastoise, Charizard, Charmander, Charla and Bulbasaur, were released from their pokeballs as well. Charla had been given to Ash's so she could be with her mate and son. Misty's room was suddenly very crowded. "Take a break everyone, go play with Misty's pokemon."

Ash's pokemon expressed their eagerness and made their way out of Misty's room after Marill and Pikachu. Misty's other pokemon were at the gym's pool. There was a bit of a traffic jam at the door as the larger pokemon made their way out. Eventually they all left the room, making their way down the hall to go downstairs.

"Having everyone here makes me feel better," Misty voiced. Being around Ash and his pokemon had become very natural to her.

"I'm glad," Ash smiled. They both sat down on Misty's bed. The mattress felt odd to Ash. "Are you sure this thing isn't going to pop?" He poked at the mattress.

"You always ask that whenever we sit here," Misty laughed, relaxing a little more. "It's a water bed; it was built to be used. It won't pop; it's not a water balloon."

"If you say so," Ash poked at it some more.

Shades of blue were predominant in the room; representative of the water type pokemon Misty loved so much. Soft yellow was another present color. There was a doll collection in the corner of her room. She had won it many years ago. They remained well preserved. A collection of fishing rods lined one wall with various boxes full of different lures. There was a picture on the nightstand of Ash and Misty together.

"What am I going to do with them?" Misty let out a deep breath. "Maybe there's no use in worrying, but I don't know what to do. The worse part is that they won't give me all the details because it's for my own good, so they say. That just makes me wonder how bad things are."

"Maybe it's not so bad," Ash tried to make Misty feel better, though he didn't know what they were up against. "I know!" He suddenly got an idea. "We should go to Saffron City!"

Misty blinked, not quite following Ash's train of thought. "Saffron City? Why there?"

"Because Jessie and James live there," Ash replied, "they used to be in Team Rocket," he reasoned. "They should know something. Okay, so they must have been kind of low ranked, but maybe they have some information after all."

"It's worth a try," Misty decided, though it was getting late. "We should go tomorrow, first thing in the morning."

xoxox xox xoxox

When the next day came, Ash slept in. He was woken up by Misty who urged him on his way. During dinner the previous day, Misty got the feeling that her sisters were conspiring to take her and Ash shopping as if nothing was out of the ordinary. No direct invitation was made, thus Misty decided it was best to leave before it happened.

They ate a quick breakfast with their pokemon. The pokemon were all put into pokeballs except Charizard and Charla, who would carry them to Saffron City. As usual, Pikachu stayed out as well, riding on Ash's shoulders.

The trip to Saffron City was relatively short. Ash and Misty soon landed in front of the pokemon day care center as passers stared. Ash had called his mother the previous night, in case she was back in Pallet Town wondering where he had run off to. She was still in Viridian City and would probably stay there for a while. Ash's mind was occupied in helping Misty obtain more information about her sisters' situation with the Roketto clan, better known as Team Rocket. As a result he left his questions for later, but was determined to hear the truth about his father at some point in the near future.

"Thanks for the ride you two!" Ash expressed his gratitude to the two Charizard.

"Yeah, that was fun," Misty thought it would be more difficult than it was to ride on a Charizard. Charla made sure to fly steadily, carrying Misty, while keeping up the pace.

With the two Charizard back in their pokeballs, Ash and Misty entered the pokemon day care center. The little bells on the door rung as they opened it and went in. The cheery atmosphere inside, seemed to be more festive than ever. "Twerps!" James jumped towards them from behind the front counter. "Guess what? Guess what?" He jumped up and down excitedly.

"You found a really rare bottle cap?" Misty knew how much James loved those. It was expected for him to become that excited over it.

"It's even better than that!" James cheered.

"Did you find a super rare bottle cap?" Ash guessed. Misty had stolen his guess and he didn't have time to think of a new one.

"Even better!" James loudly cheered. "I do commend you on knowing the difference between rare and super rare though," he smiled.

Ash blinked, "you mean there's a difference?" He paused and laughed, "of course there is! I knew that," he grinned proudly.

Misty pushed him gently and teased, "no you didn't."

"I did too!" Ash insisted.

"Fine," Misty rolled her eyes with a smile, "have it your way, maybe this is about an ultra rare bottle cap."

"That would be even better than a super rare," James agreed, "but that's not it either." He waited energetically for the right guess to come. "It's something even better!"

Jessie emerged from the door in the back, having heard the conversation. "Why don't you just tell them?" She suggested, "you've been telling everyone. I bet more than half of Saffron City already knows."

"That's because it's something to celebrate," James was smiling from ear to ear. "Wouldn't it be amazing to find an ultra rare bottle cap to commemorate this moment? It's okay though, I'll still celebrate with or without the bottle cap."

"Okay, I give up, what's this amazing thing that happened, that's even better than a bottle cap, better than a super rare bottle cap and better than an ultra rare bottle cap?" Ash inquired curiously.

James nodded, "it's even better than all three put together," he grinned proudly, "Bottle cap is having a baby. I mean I'm having a Jessie. Jessie's having a bottle cap." James got tongue tied again. "What I'm trying to say is I'm pregnant." He paused and thought about it, "I mean we are," he tried to correct it.

Jessie placed her hand on his shoulder, "don't hyperventilate," she joked, "I think they already got the message."

A wave of "congratulations" and best wishes was sure to follow. Meowth soon entered the front room followed by the other pokemon that had been playing in the yard. From there on, the atmosphere turned increasingly cheerful and the purpose of Ash and Misty's visit was forgotten for a while. They also took some time to look at Flareon and Growlie's egg making guesses about if it would be a boy or a girl.

It wasn't until a couple of hours later that the topic came up as to what brought them to Saffron City. Misty was reluctant to mention it since she didn't want to ruin the cheerful mood. Ash was, as usual, rather direct. "We want to ask about Team Rocket."

Silence invaded the cheerfully decorated room where they all sat in fluffy cushions around a table eating cookies. "Ash, don't be so direct," Misty whispered under her breath.

"How did you know?" James was the first to truly break the following silence in puzzled curiosity.

"No one should know, how did you figure it out?" Jessie insisted upon the question. They both assumed that Ash and Misty knew they were working for Team Rocket gathering information.

"What do you mean?" Misty carefully asked. "Just how much do you know about... things?"

"What things?" Jessie inquired. She was no longer so sure about Ash and Misty knowing about her and James returning to Team Rocket. Their new job was quite different and it defied the law a lot less, but the information they gained would still be useful. They were still allied to Team Rocket in the end.

Misty was reluctant to talk about it. Her sisters had told her to keep things a secret. Maybe if they had given her sufficient information she wouldn't have to go looking for it. A cold chill ran down her spine. "Nothing," she quickly tried to amend what she had said.

Jessie and James exchanged glances. Meowth stared at Ash and Misty curiously. He looked at Pikachu searching for answers. The yellow electric pokemon didn't breathe a single word. The silence piled up until Jessie spoke again, "if you know something we already know, there's no use in hiding it." She ambiguously hinted at the possibility of Ash and Misty knowing about her and James' new positions in Team Rocket.

Taking a deep breath, Ash decided to get things started in the most neutral way possible. "We were just curious because of all the things that happened recently. A lot of rumors were going around. Since you used to be in Team Rocket, we thought you might know."

The atmosphere turned less tense. "You wanted to ask about the past?" Meowth inquired, to which Ash and Misty nodded. "We're supposed to keep it all a secret," he reminded. He didn't want to ruin his second chance at being recognized. He couldn't picture himself living with the boss anymore. He wanted to stay with Jessie and James.

Meowth wanted to make friends with the pokemon that stayed at the day care center. He wanted to be there to read stories to his little nephew or niece, when the egg hatched. Even so, some recognition would still be nice and he didn't want to negatively affect Jessie and James' careers either. All in all, being allied to Team Rocket was rather convenient, especially with the current arrangement.

Misty couldn't take it anymore, "we know about Team Rocket and the Roketto. We know who Team Rocket is for the mafia," she said a lot but at the same time not much. "In general terms, can you at least tell us how bad the situation is? Even if you only say things that are common knowledge for those that are, or were more involved, that's enough. It doesn't have to be something secret."

"If that's all you want to know," Jessie mused about it for a moment before deciding it was safe enough. "The Roketto clan and Team Rocket are indeed the same. I guess you could say the Roketto clan is like an elite group within Team Rocket, but the grunts are under their command so there's no line to draw. They all answer to the same boss. The identity of that boss is top secret and I can't reveal it."

Misty nodded in acceptance, "I understand," maybe if she found a piece of information that her sisters had not shared and confronted them with it, they would reveal the whole story.

"Is there anything else you can tell us?" Ash searched for more information.

James was lost in thought trying to think of something that wasn't too revealing. Meowth spoke up first, "I happen to know the boss has a big swimming pool. He's also good at boxing and has his own private workout gym." That information was nothing too relevant to the investigation at hand. Knowing random personal details about the Rocket boss would lead them nowhere if they didn't know who he was.

James opened his mouth to contribute some other random detail about Giovanni, but Jessie cut him off. "Okay, that's enough information from our side. Now it's my turn to ask something. Have you heard of any secrets lately?" She looked at Misty questioningly.

Misty looked away, feeling as if her sisters' secret was already too exposed. "No, not really."

"Well," Jessie grinned confidently. "I just happened to know that Team Rocket decided that the Cerulean City gym was off limits. Generally, they don't pick fights with gym leaders, but there are no rules against it." James and Meowth observed Jessie. She was revealing a little too much, but Misty should be aware of the details already. The Waterflower sisters served as the gym leaders, taking turns to fill the role.

"I didn't know about that," there wasn't a single hint of doubt in Misty's eyes as she denied everything.

"Can we stop?" James snapped. "All of this going around in circles is making me nervous. Are you two planning to make a deal with the mafia or something?"

Misty paled and Ash adamantly denied it, "no way! We have nothing to do with the mafia. Misty doesn't, I don't, no one does!"

Jessie blinked in realization, "sounds like James hit the nail on the head, didn't he?" She grinned victoriously again, then the possibilities sunk in. This was the perfect opportunity to gain information for Team Rocket. Regardless, she couldn't do it and she knew neither could James. She didn't want to get the twerps into trouble after they became friends. Besides, Delia would never invite them over to eat again. "Alright, come clean, we won't get you into trouble."

Misty paused, she felt that she was in as deep as she could get. She sighed exasperated and tired. "What are the consequences of breaking an oath of secrecy?"

"Scary," Meowth shuddered at the possibilities swimming in his wild imagination.

"I think it's at least okay to say you have an oath of secrecy," James elaborated.

Meowth nodded in agreement, "yeah, that much should be fine."

"We have an oath of secrecy to Team Rocket," Jessie stated. "It's okay for you to say to whom you have an oath of secrecy."

"The same," Misty revealed.

"I knew it," Jessie exclaimed, "then the Waterflowers really were involved with Team Rocket. I can understand why you would worry. It would tarnish your reputation as gym leaders." She remembered how careful the boss was with his reputation.

James agreed and further added, "it'll be bad for Team Rocket too. If they said you should keep it a secret, it's because they don't want anyone knowing of it. I guess that applies to us in that we are forbidden from committing any acts that have a negative effect on Team Rocket. Either way, we'll keep your secret anyway, right?"

Jessie nodded, "of course, even Meowth can keep his big mouth shut under the right circumstances." The wheels in her head began to turn. Maybe it would be alright to inquire about the Waterflowers at Team Rocket. "James, why don't you take the pokemon to play at the park? Ash and Misty can go with you," she suggested it casually, but it still sounded sudden.

"What are you going to do?" Misty immediately wanted to know.

"Nothing that will affect you. I might actually be able to help you. There are some things I need to know first. Don't worry, I promise on Delia's delicious cooking that I won't get you two into any trouble," Jessie seriously assured, her expression sincere.

Ash and Misty exchanged glances before simultaneously nodding. Their eyes reminded Jessie that they were counting on her to keep her promise. Ash and Misty soon left with James and the pokemon towards the park. Jessie was left alone to make a few calls and find out what was the real limit of the information that could be exchanged. She would speak with caution.

xoxox xox xoxox

Diamond 72: Give me Discoveries

In the Viridian Rocket headquarters dungeon, Poisona was finally revealing new information. After many tries, it was finally possible to put her in a hypnotic trance without triggering her secondary personality to surface. It took a lot of mental tricks and high level psychic and ghost pokemon, but it was done. "Humans are poison, they shall cleanse the world," Poisona's voice was soft and quiet, barely above a whisper in the dim cell. "They'll all die!" She suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs.

Iblis Raymus stood perfectly still and unfazed. She was a tall woman in her mid thirties. Her attire consisted of a black business suit with a small red R on the top right of the blazer. Her hair was long straight and black, parted at the side and tugged behind her ears. She wore glasses with a black frame, behind which cold blue eyes stared. She held an overflowing clip board with many white papers full of illegible yet elegant black ink cursive. The back of the black clipboard had a big red R on it.

Iblis observed Poisona become wilder. She pulled at her chains so harshly, the cold metal bruised and nearly cut her wrists. To the display before her, Iblis only reacted with a quiet, "I see..." Her loyal Gengar and Alakazam stood left and right of Poisona.

Iblis flipped through the papers in her clipboard. She ignored the growls Poisona was making as if she couldn't hear them. "Well Patricia, I've researched your past." More so other Rockets had done the database hacking and investigating, then handed in the report. "I've found that your family was a group of outcasts in Lavender Town to the bitter end. Your parents died in a fire that the police found no public culprit for. They did have a suspect, but that suspect was never prosecuted. They expected the case to fall due to its particularities."

"Charmander!" Poisona wailed so loud that her throat gave out and her voice turned fragmented. "He did it, it was Charmander!"

"That has been investigated," Iblis informed with a tone of superiority. "It turned out Charmander died in its pokeball. A pity isn't it? Who could the culprit be?" She looked from the clipboard to Poisona, eyes cold and piercing.

"Fire, burn, they all burn, fire!" Poisona screeched. The psychic and ghost pokemon exchanged glances with their trainer. The human they were forcing into a trance with their combined powers was nearing her limit.

Iblis did not give the order for the pokemon to stop, so they did not. Instead she continued calm and indifferent, almost mocking. "Let us look at the source of the problem. Why was your family rejected? The parents were nice people, they got along with everyone. The boy was a little mischievous, but nothing out of the ordinary. Then there was the girl. The girl had a split personality and was prone to acts of violence. Oh yes Patricia, I dug out your old files."

Poisona's throat was scratched from all the screaming. She could say nothing more, so instead she let out a raspy growl.

"The parents were reluctant to abandon their little girl in treatment. That is to say, they wouldn't just give her up to an insane asylum," Iblis' glance back at her clipboard and took a moment to read from it. She gave the distinct impression that Poisona simply wasn't important enough to remember. The indifference somehow amplified her image of mocking cruelty.

Poisona had stopped growling. The pokemon's hypnotic powers had put her in a hyper sensitive state. All her deepest memories were hers to reach out for. She would not bring out a memory she hated, she had to be forced to do so. Rubbing the truth in her face should work well to that end.

"That's the reason why they were outcasts; they had a dangerous little girl. Guess what she did next?" Iblis grinned in amusement, "she burned them. Well, her other personality did. I wonder which one is the real you, Patricia?"

Poisona growled loudly, her voice fractured. During the trance she unconsciously tried to confirm that Iblis was lying. She tried to call upon her false memories. However, with all her mental defenses rendered to near extinction, she saw the truth. The memories returned to her mind and tears flowed from her eyes.

Iblis took a few more notes on her clipboard. "You turned your pain to hatred and blamed Charmander. The arsonist was really you, but you couldn't live with that. You wanted revenge because it would convince you of your lie. The more you chased after your lie, the more truthful it felt, but it was still a lie." A breakthrough was near, Iblis could almost feel it. "Humans are poison you say?"

"Virus, pokemon, kill, humans will kill them..." Poisona gasped and sobbed before finally losing consciousness.

"It is the end of the session," Iblis acknowledged, letting out an apathetic breath. "Alakazam, Gengar, return," she called her two pokemon companions back into their pokeballs and turned away from Poisona. "None the less, this information may be useful." The scientists might want to look into the possibilities about how the virus affected humans.

xoxox xox xoxox

In Saffron City, James, Ash, Misty and the pokemon didn't stay in the park for long. There was a feeling of unrest in the air and they all wanted to know what Jessie's private calls were about. "Don't worry, she won't tell on you," James reassured on the way.

When they returned to the pokemon day care center, Jessie was waiting. She put on a grave expression and spoke in all seriousness, "The truth of the matter is..." The others held their breath, "you were worried over nothing!" Jessie laughed.

Misty pouted, "don't scare me like that!" Then Jessie's words truly sank in and she immediately asked, "what do you mean by that? Who did you call? What did they say?"

Ash and James were very curious as well. They once again sat around the same table from before. "Tell us the whole story, I want to know too," Meowth tended to be curious by nature.

"I called headquarters and talked to some higher ups. Actually, since this is an important issue, they put me through much higher than I thought," Jessie wondered just what was so important about that particular situation. "Anyway, the point is you're considered Team Rocket's allies. I was asked to pass along the warning that you shouldn't search for more information."

"I thought you wouldn't tell on me!" Misty reproached.

"I didn't!" Jessie defended. "I simply asked why we couldn't steal from the Cerulean gym. Apparently they were already aware that I knew you, almost as if they expected me to ask about that at some point. I didn't mention you were here. I was simply told that the Waterflower sisters were considered Team Rocket's allies due to some connections. He didn't specify what connections. He said that I should not bring up the topic, but if you did, I should warn you to keep quiet. You haven't signed for your secrecy, have you?"

Calmer after hearing the explanation Misty replied, "no, I haven't."

"You can expect that to happen at some point, probably sooner than later," Jessie guessed, the other Waterflowers have already done so. "What I still don't know is what business is so important with the Waterflowers that the higher ups are so highly aware of it."

Misty sighed helplessly, "I don't think I know the full extent of it either."

xoxox xox xoxox

Meanwhile, at the Viridian Rocket headquarters, Delia was occupied in taking care of the pokemon. Archer had contacted Giovanni about the call Jessie made. As expected, there was restlessness among the Waterflowers, especially the youngest. Due to her proximity to Ash, she was to be treated with caution.

Delia was about to quietly enter Giovanni's office without knocking. It was not his gym office, but another underground office. The security was heavier, but since she was around him so often, he granted her a keycard that would let her in. She unlocked the door and stopped with the doorknob in her hand. The door was only open a mere inch. It was enough for the sound of voices to filter out of the office.

Giovanni was in the middle of a conversation with Archer, "so what do you suggest? We can't just tell her. She'll tell Ash, he'll complain to Delia and who knows where that will lead."

"Yes, I know, it would ruin your conquest," Archer bravely replied.

"I'm serious," Giovanni reproached him.

"This isn't how you usually deal with the threat of bad publicity," Archer reminded. "You can easily arrange it so that none of them will speak of anything that can affect you, ever," the possibility Archer hinted at was obvious to Giovanni. "You don't seem to have intentions of doing that."

"Because of Binks," Giovanni reminded defensively. "That venture proved to be profitable in the past. It can be again."

Delia clenched her teeth and almost burned a hole through the door with her glare. She gripped the doorknob until her knuckles turned pale white. She didn't make a single sound, instead choosing to listen in silence.

"If that's the truth I'll take your word for it. If it's not then good for you," Archer sounded like he was speaking in riddles.

Giovanni gave the executive a questioning look, "what do you mean? Are you saying Delia is that much of an inconvenience?"

"No," Archer denied with a knowing grin, "I'm saying that she's good for you and that I'm glad you're keeping her around." Before Giovanni could comment on that, Archer continued, "for the sake of getting Binks to work, or simply because you feel like having her around."

Giovanni realized what Archer was getting at, "Delia is... troublesome," it sounded more as if he was convincing himself rather than Archer. The headlines painted him in a good light. The press was all over the incident in which he heroically stopped a run away criminal, then dramatically drove off with his lady. He had been very secretive about his personal life, mostly because it was a life of crime. Allowing the public to see another side of him beyond that of the gym leader did wonders for his image.

All the rumors, tension and suspicions from the Vermillion massacre were left in the past. People had something new and more interesting to gossip about. It was not too comfortable that the new topic happened to be his personal life, but at least the effect was beneficial. The role of the lady of the story didn't necessary had to be played by Delia, she just happened to be there and they had already been seen together. It was only convenient. Besides, she could be unpredictable and keeping her close was the only sure way to keep her under control.

"I really don't know what you're getting at," Giovanni finally spoke. The image of Delia standing at the world's edge in a Team Rocket uniform reemerged in his mind. He pushed it away; he couldn't allow her to become a distraction. If Archer was making any assumptions, he was wrong.

Archer shrugged and decided not to push the matter further, "you've been working really hard," he commented ambiguously, then returned to the topic at hand. "Maybe it's best if I speak to Misty and assure her that her family isn't in any danger as long as they don't mess up. I guess I should also mention that messing up by accident isn't likely unless they're careless."

"Those who are new to working under Team Rocket are always restless at first. They either rebel and are crushed, or they realize that doing their job right is the best strategy and behave. It'll be the second option with this. Their restlessness will pass," Giovanni predicted. "A warning will suffice this time."

Archer shifted as he sat across the desk from Giovanni. It looked as if he was about to get up, "alright."

Archer paused and remained seated as Giovanni added, "why Jessie? Why would they ask her? Is it because she was on Team Rocket before or is it because they know she's back."

Archer shook his head, "I couldn't say. Anyway, I'll make sure Misty gets the warning."

"I'll tell her," Delia suddenly opened the door, taking the two men by surprise. She entered the office, closing the door behind her. "I don't want Misty and Ash to be stressed. I'll reassure them myself, Misty's sisters too."

"How much sneaking around have you been doing?" Giovanni demanded to know with disapproval.

"None," that was her first time intentionally listening in on a conversation like that. "My keycard only lets me into the common areas and your office." The common areas were accessible to all the Rockets; the cafeteria and the workout gym where among such areas.

"I see you've taken the time to test it," Giovanni observed, though he had already been aware of that.

Delia ignored his remark and stepped forward. She placed several pokeballs on his desk. "Your pokemon have been fed, exercised and bathed."

Archer felt that he was where he should not be. "If you'll excuse me, I should get back to work now." He had a feeling the discussion had taken a turn down a more personal alley.

"Yes, go ahead," with Giovanni's confirmation, Archer left the office. He closed the door behind him, once again locking the voices in the office within its walls.

Delia took up the empty seat across from Giovanni's desk. Persian watched them with attention. He could feel that they were tense. "It's the best choice," Delia began, "if I'm the one to tell Ash and Misty that everything is okay, they'll believe it. I'll tell them it's possible to live in peace with the mafia." Peace was not the right word and Delia realized that. She didn't know how to rephrase it to sound truthful yet optimistic.

Delia's thoughts were elsewhere. Archer hinted that he thought Giovanni was keeping her around for a reason other than Binks. She couldn't help it but to wonder. She told herself not to get her hopes up. Practicing that decision was difficult; her sense of hope was very stubborn.

"That would require revealing your position," Giovanni reminded. He felt as if he was fighting a losing battle from the second Delia entered the office.

"Not necessarily," she concocted a possible scenario. She could say that she had a friend or distant relative in the mafia with good connections. That allowed her to take a look around and be assured that everything would work out. No, that wouldn't work. She could admit to having been in Team Rocket in the past. She could say she had a friend in a high place. That seemed closer to the truth, yet it was still partially a lie.

Furthermore, how did she come across such a friend in the first place? How would she explain that? Maybe she could be truthful yet ambiguous. She felt terrible about it, but she had become an expert at that. It wasn't enough; the truth had to be told. "I know I told you that I would leave it up to you to tell Ash the entire truth or not. I take it back; he has the right to know. It might break his heart, but these lies are worse. It'll be better that way; you don't need to be so avoidant of the facts anymore."

Giovanni thought of many things he could say. Abundant arguments and reasoning floated in his mind. Yet the only words he voiced were, "I won't try to stop you. Just don't say more than necessary."

"I promise," Delia assured, "besides, I don't know any real secrets anymore. The things I'll be discussing with Ash and later Ash and Misty are more related to us than Team Rocket."

Giovanni wasn't sure how to take that, "if you deem it necessary," the atmosphere felt heavy, as if the world came to a halt.

Delia got up and petted Persian before looking back at Giovanni, "I'll let you know how it goes." It was clear she intended to take action immediately.

Giovanni remembered something and was quick to stop her from leaving the office, "wait, the wedding."

Delia thought for a moment, remembering Daisy's wedding. She didn't want to cause unnecessary tension right before it.

"All the gym leaders are expected to be there," Giovanni pointed out.

"That would complicate things," there wouldn't be enough time for everything to settle down. Delia really didn't want to ruin the special occasion.

"I'll send Kenobi to talk to them," Giovanni decided. Kenobi was high ranked in the organization. It had been decided this term would be Rune's last. The elections were close, but Kenobi was always involved in the city's activities. As a result he easily stepped into his role as mayor candidate taking his father's place. Overall, the city received him well. They were convinced that Rune retired to take care of his health, which was in many ways close to the truth. "They should trust him and he can reassure them. That will be enough."

Delia nodded; it was the best course of action for the time being. However, she wouldn't let her determination crumble so easily. She wouldn't take the excuse to run away. "After the wedding, I still want to tell Ash the truth."

Giovanni knew that was coming. Things should have settled down sufficiently by then. He would be ready to deal with the possible and likely troublesome reactions. "Alright, just give me a warning first."

xoxox xox xoxox

The next day seemed to drag on forever at the Cerulean gym. The Waterflowers and Lando had been informed that someone would be visiting them to further discuss their adaptation to their new situation in alliance to Team Rocket. Ash was still there. Lando had left his Ackbar duties and hurried to Cerulean City. There was tension in the air as the four Waterflower sisters, Lando and Ash sat in the living room waiting. They didn't know who to expect or when exactly. They only knew someone from the mafia would pay them a visit on that day.

The pokemon were let out of their pokeballs to play and rest in the pool area. They sensed the tension and weren't in the mood to play. Most of them just sat there discussing the complex situation their trainers were in and wondering about it. Pokemon were generally more optimistic than humans.

It was the late morning when the door bell rang and the group got up at once. "I'll go," Daisy insisted. She felt it was her duty as the oldest Waterflower, to let the guest into their home. She walked to the main door, took a deep breath and opened it. She released the accumulated air in her lungs upon seeing who was at the door. "Kenobi, it's you. I like thought it was... you know," he was aware of their connections, "come in." Despite feeling relieved for a moment, the tension was quick to build up stronger. Daisy wanted to get everything over with.

"Sorry I'm a little late," Kenobi apologized as he followed Daisy back to the living room. "There was some heavy traffic on the roads today."

"It's okay, Violet will be happy to see you and I'm like glad you came too," Daisy tried to keep the stress out of her voice.

Kenobi arrived at the living room full of fidgeting people. All their eyes focused on him as he came in, then on the empty space behind him. No one else had arrived. Violet was the first to greet him with a hug. "I'm like really glad you could make it. I wonder when that person who's like supposed to be coming today will arrive."

Misty immediately caught what Violet was referring to openly. "He knows?" The word mafia was scarce in their conversation but to say 'them' and such words, was enough to communicate the message.

"Yes," Violet confessed. "Kenobi is in this too, since you're like about to get more information soon, it's okay to tell you now." She felt a bit guilty hiding that detail from her youngest sister, even if she thought it was for her own good.

"How many more surprises will I get?" Misty sounded too exhausted to be upset. Kenobi was the primary candidate to be Viridian City's mayor. Ash gave Misty's hand a soft squeeze, which she returned.

"There will be at least one more surprise," Kenobi announced, taking a seat in the living room next to Violet. "I hope this helps you relax rather than create more tension. The one who was to come to answer your questions and let you know what can and can't be done is me."

Everyone was visibly surprised. They had assumed Kenobi's involvement in the mafia was not quite high ranked enough for that. "Wait," Misty took a moment to process everything, "you're the Viridian mayor's son and the next candidate for mayor. Does that mean the mayor really supports Team Rocket?" Her eyes widened with a sea of possibilities forming, "the gym leader too?"

"What?" Ash exclaimed suddenly.

"Please don't jump to conclusions," Kenobi tried to keep the situation calm. "The Viridian gym leader is indeed our friend, but he is not aware of our connections," Kenobi felt guilty about lying, but it was necessary for Giovanni's identity to remain a secret until the tensions settled completely. "It's not impossible to have friends even if we are with the mafia. You're not forfeiting your lives. You just need to keep the business and your personal lives separate. This is a lot easier than it looks."

Kenobi continued, "take Ackbar Inc. for example, the business functioned normally for many years. Several things were happening behind the scenes, but it wasn't a real obstacle. You can continue with your lives as if nothing has changed. Just remember not to say too much, remember what side you're on. As long as you don't cause any negative effects, everything is alright. It's not so different from before, from when you didn't even have this information."

"Pretending I don't know isn't so easy, but if it's the only safe way," Misty felt defeated.

"It will get better," Kenobi promised, "you have my word that it will."

A good portion of the day went by discussing business and proper social practices. It was as if the mafia had their own code of ethics where loyalty reigned supreme and justice had a new definition. From a certain point of view and embraced with an open mind, it didn't sound so bad. There were two sides of the coin; they would be fine as long as they remained in the good side. It felt constraining. The temptation to do things they wouldn't have done before, by lack of information or lack of provocation, was great.

Forgetting about the nameless consequences as long as their dearest ones were safe was not an easy task for Ash. He connected with others easily; he was quick to help and quick to make friends. He wondered if he could handle it, he knew he had to. All in all, the tension did decrease after they listened to Kenobi and asked a few questions. Not all the questions came with a full answer, but Kenobi still had something reassuring to say.

xoxox xox xoxox

The Team Rocket laboratories continued with their tests and analysis of the blood sample from Akira. They arrived at several conclusions. The virus was a slow killer, unless the substance containing it, the black blood, was directly ingested. Madame's Ninetales Nien was one of the victims. Even if the poisonous blood was diluted by water, it was still potent enough to work fast. The quick deaths in the area near the stream between Pewter and Cerulean had ceased, the essence of death spilled into the stream was consumed. However, the sickness still spread, slowly being passed from one living being to another.

What was left of the virus was much less severe. It would take time for it to become a serious problem. When passed from one living being to another, rather than being consumed or injected, the virus weakened considerably. Unfortunately it wasn't eliminated and would eventually begin to strengthen and present symptoms.

Poisona's words had been confirmed. The virus had no negative or even noticeable effects on humans. However, they could carry it, passing it to pokemon, becoming as poison to them. The scientists had to find, not only a way to cure the virus from pokemon, but also to remove it from humans. The way they reacted to it was different, thus there were many routes to explore. It was discovered that Akira's blood was black not due to the virus, but due to a strange substance that contained it, preventing it from spreading. That way, the initial infection would develop over time becoming harder to cure. No one would be prepared for it.

When Secura, alias Akira, received the virus through her mother as an unborn child, it was harmless. Aayla's body eliminated the substance, but in the fragile unborn Secura it remained. It developed over the years contained within her, unable to be contagious. Then it was finally released after the virus had developed into something deadly. She was the vessel for death to be born. No records of such experimentations existed as far as Giovanni knew. He theorized that Poisona or even Venom years ago, destroyed any remaining records.

Secura's potential would not be awakened for many years. Venom intended to keep her by his side and train her as a valuable ally. Yet in a moment of guilt Aayla decided to lie. She insisted that she would be fine giving birth alone. A crowd of suspicious people in the hospital would not be good. She left her child in Mirta's care after faking the baby's records. The child was thought to have been stillborn and Aayla returned to her life with the gangs. She believed it was all she could do, she believed it was best that way.

Perhaps that hidden secret was another aspect that influenced Aayla's thirst for vengeance on Venom, alongside being betrayed. Maybe that was why she was fearless with experimentation, if her daughter had to endure it, she could endure it too. Power would make everything alright. It would make her strong enough to avenge everyone she thought was lost and protect those that remained. That was what Aayla had believed.

To be Continued

Disclaimer, I don't own Pokemon. In Diamond 71 Pixel and Comet are playing Phantasy Star Portable 2.