Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Don't Give Me Diamonds ❯ Chapter 21

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

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 73: Give me Destiny

In an unspecified time at an undisclosed location, a teenage boy entered a dark room followed by two pokemon. The room was shaped as a long rectangle with a tall ceiling. A thick red carpet five feet wide covered the metal floor from the entrance to the other side. Two three feet wide stripes of silver floor were visible on either side of the carpet. Its edges left and right were adorned in golden lines parallel to its length.

The boy walked down the long room. It had no windows as it was underground. A multitude of crystals hung from the ceiling producing dim light. Two waterfalls fell left and right at the end of the room. The water flowed down the walls seemingly disappearing when it hit the floor. In their center there was a throne upon three steps. The throne was surrounded by red curtains. Not a single sound could be heard, not even from the water. The footsteps were lost on the soft carpet.

Upon the throne there sat a woman. The clothes she wore were of a dark color, their details unperceivable in the darkness of the room. The glimmer of a diamond around her neck could be seen, its shape akin to a crescent moon. The woman's hair was long and golden, perhaps too golden to be a real shade of blond. Her eyes were brown, focused and piercing. Her straight hair ended in curls. She twisted one of the curls around her fingers with long crimson nails. She looked young, but she was just old enough to be the boy's mother.

To her left, two shadowy figures stood with green and purple hair. To her right there was another shadowy figure with red hair. They were very much alive, but stood motionless like statues. The boy stopped in front of the lady, his eyes determined, "mother?"

"The experiment was successful," the woman on the throne informed. The throne was plated in gold, with comfy red covers. "We have what is needed, the mission is yours."

The red haired figure extended a hand from the shadows. The lady on the throne received the item given to her. It was a strange machine, shaped as a thick wand of metal. Its handle was a foot long with a glowing green jewel at the end. Lime green ones and zeroes floated endlessly inside the jewel's light. Tiny wires entered the jewel from the metal handle forming a faded web inside it.

The two pokemon with the boy were a female Vulpix and a male Persian. They both had thick black collars. The Vulpix looked worried, "is it alright?" As she spoke a red light appeared on her collar tracing the sound waves. Her voice came out in the human language, sweet and concerned.

The woman in the throne scoffed, "must you keep those collars on them at all times? Tell me again how you found those two oddball fur balls?"

"They found me," there was a defensive edge to the boy's tone. He loved his pokemon, even if Vulpix was too kind for her own good at times. Persian's personality was quite different. He always encouraged his trainer to take all the opportunities that came his way, even if it meant breaking the rules.

"The card," the regal woman spoke. The shadowy figure with green hair handed the boy something. It was what appeared to be a collectible card with a picture of a Pikachu. That particular card was shiny and durable, it was much rarer then a regular Pikachu card. "Everything will be as we discussed."

The boy nodded, "I'm ready," he insisted with determination. His brown eyes matched those of his mother. His hair was mostly brown as well, save for a line of gold in the middle, spiked up. The challenging look on his face was an often used expression for him; others included a cocky grin or dense confusion. He grinned as he spoke his parting words, "make sure not to fall in battle if he returns."

The woman ceremoniously lifted the odd scepter, its green jewel glowing. She ignored the boy's warning with a cocky grin of her own, "away you go!" She lowered the scepter and reminded, "you must blend in. Get ready and then you may leave." The boy knew she was right about that.

xoxox xox xoxox

In the present time, all over Kanto and perhaps soon the world, a dark legacy threatened to consume life little by little. The remnants of the virus introduced to Kanto by Poisona were slowly coming to light. It would be a long and arduous journey in the field of science. Many wondered if they would be able to come up with a solution on time. Even if the problem wasn't obvious yet, it was real.

Iblis' latest report gave the investigators another clue. As a result they discovered that traces of the virus had infected various storages of food shipped for human consumption. The investigation had been previously looking in the wrong place. Poisona didn't try to infect the pokemon directly; she aimed for the humans who would spread it.

It was already too late to stop the infection. The virus was still not something the public was well informed about. Humans suffered from no symptoms. The virus developed slowly within them, becoming stronger until it infected pokemon and began to weaken them progressively. It was happening so slowly that it was not yet a real epidemic, but the problem had already been released into the world.

Unaware of the situation concerning the virus, Ash, Misty and her family had their own reasons to be doubtful of the future. "I wish I could do something," Ash had insisted. He had gotten a look of determination as if he could take on the world.

Misty had to calm him down, "let's give everything more time. Let's not do something we will regret."

A new day had started and breakfast brought a gloomy atmosphere. Lando and Kenobi had both stayed at the Cerulean gym. The previous day, things evolved into a point where the group relaxed and saw the visit as just another family gathering. There were even pokemon battles for fun. Ash came out as the ultimate victor. Misty was the only one able to put up a fight, the others didn't stand a chance. In the end, her Gyarados was knocked out by Pikachu, granting Ash victory.

After a night of sleep, reality resurfaced. Daisy had enough of the gloomy atmosphere, "everyone cheer up!" She spoke of it as if it was the most vital requirement. "My wedding is in a few days. I don't want any long faces there. I expect to see smiles!"

The realization sunk in for Misty, she had been too preoccupied to worry about the wedding. "Oh no, Ash!"

Ash looked at Misty with confusion, "what's wrong? You look like you saw a ghost and I don't mean a pokemon."

"You have nothing to wear!" Misty urgently reminded Ash. "I was going to help you find the right tuxedo for the occasion, but we never got around to it." Her dress had been ready for a long time, but Ash kept procrastinating.

"Is that all?" Ash laughed. "I'll just go get one today. How hard can it be? All tuxedoes are exactly the same."

Ash was nearly melted alive by the glares of the Waterflower sisters. Daisy spoke in all seriousness, "no they're not."

Ash lifted his hands in a sign of surrender, "sorry, sorry, I meant no disrespect. I will choose carefully."

Daisy was not convinced. She looked at Misty pleadingly. "Don't worry," Misty assured, "I'll choose for him."

Daisy was visibly relieved, her worries replaced by a smile, "that's good to know." Ash pouted but didn't say anything. Daisy continued, "we should go shopping today."

Ash felt his blood run cold. Going shopping was in itself an unpleasant experience. Going shopping with Misty could be turned into a date, thus saving the experience from becoming torture. However, going shopping with all the Waterflowers was indeed torture. "Do we have to?" Ash pleaded in a small voice.

"Yes," Daisy cheerfully declared.

Ash summoned all his courage and patience, "alright." Surely Misty would reward him for being good and putting up with her sisters. Everything would be worth it in the end. His cell phone rang and he wondered if it was someone urgently calling him to be somewhere else. "It's Brock," he announced looking at the name displayed on the screen. He answered the call immediately putting Brock on speaker phone. "Hey Brock!"

"By the way, Ash put you on speaker phone," Misty specified. Though well intended, Ash sometimes forgot that it was not nice to put people on speakerphone without warning them.

A chorus of "hi," "hey," and "hello" mixed together as the table took a much more casual and light atmosphere. Introductions were mentioned where needed.

"Are you having a party without me?" Brock joked.

"Not at all. We just happened to be here at the same time so we improvised a little get together," Daisy lied.

"I'm in Cerulean City right now. Misty and her sisters are making me go shopping," Ash dramatized with exaggerated agony. "Want to endure with us?"

Brock laughed nervously, "I'd love to, but you know, you're way over there in Cerulean City and I'm way over here in Pewter City."

"Aw, that's too bad," Ash pouted, he didn't expect Brock to show up on such short notice, but that would have been good.

"It's going to be like an all day thing. Join in if you change your mind," Violet extended an invitation that made Ash pale. Shopping all day long? Not just until they found the proper tuxedo? Would it take that long to find one that was satisfactory? Kenobi and Lando shared Ash's expression while Misty sighed and summoned her patience.

"I'll think about it," Brock offered. The conversation took a turn towards the previous day's non-secret happenings.

Daisy inquired if Brock had his attire for the wedding ready, he was also invited. Brock was indeed ready. "An example to be followed," Daisy commented, while looking at Ash. Ash could only place his hand behind his head and laugh sheepishly.

They were all secretly thankful to Brock for pushing the conversation towards a more relaxed atmosphere. When they were only among those who knew of certain things, it was tempting to discuss them, even if everything had already been said. That did not help the mood. A mutual silent agreement was reached that they would try to continue living their lives as they normally would, one day at a time.

xoxox xox xoxox

A boy followed by two pokemon approached the Oak research laboratory. He glanced past the bars of the parted gates to the area beyond the brick fence. After a moment's pause he turned to his pokemon. "I know you don't like not being able to talk to me, but I can't let anyone see those collars. He patted his green backpack, "there safe here."

The Vulpix sighed, 'he'll get into more trouble without our advice,' only the Persian next to her could understand her. She considered her words again and changed them, 'then again, he might get into less trouble without your advice.'

The Persian pouted, 'what do you mean by that? I'm trying to help him; he's destined for great things.'

'Yes, I know. He comes from a mafia family but...' the Vulpix trailed into silence. 'Never mind, I feel like we've had this argument for more years than what we've lived. In the end, we always agree to disagree and put our differences aside.'

'You could always agree with me,' the Persian offered with a confident grin.

The Vulpix smiled sugary sweet, 'not happening.'

Their trainer was pouting at them. "Sure, have a conversation now that I can't understand you. I have the distinct feeling that you're talking about me." Choosing to disregard the possibility, he covered his spiky hair style with a red hat, only the brown part was visible. "Do I blend in, or do I blend in?" Without waiting for an answer he stepped on to the steps and waited. "That's odd, this escalator is broken..." He climbed the steps up to the door followed by his two pokemon. Atop the stairs in front of the door nothing happened. "Hello?"

There was still no automatic greeting, no robotic voice saying, 'welcome guest.' No prerecorded message from the owner of the house.

"Of course, I studied for this," the boy reminded himself. "Everything is low tech." He took a deep breath and yelled, "Professor Oak!" At the top of his lungs.

A few seconds later, Gary Oak opened the door. He blinked and stared at the boy before him. He was wearing light blue jeans, an indigo hoody and a red cap. He reminded him of Ash. "Yes?" Gary finally found his voice.

"Are you the renowned Professor Gary Oak?" The boy tried to put up his best act. "I'm here to be your employee."

"I'm not really looking for an employee," Gary calmly replied after having gotten over the familiarity of the unknown boy.

Time for plan B, "my poor pokemon..." he picked up his Vulpix. While the Persian's specialty was looking menacing, the Vulpix's specialty was looking cute. "I'm broke and homeless. My pokemon will starve to death!"

The Vulpix's brown eyes shone in sadness as if she was about to cry, "vulpix," she cooed gloomily.

"Well I guess I can't let that happen," Gary scratched the back of his head and looked away from the Vulpix feeling guilty. "What about your family?"

"I'm an orphan," the boy lied.

"I see," Gary found the entire situation to be suspicious, but it wasn't rare for pokemon trainers to try to become his apprentices. Gary would rather concentrate on his research then train an apprentice, but this boy got points for originality in his roundabout approach. Besides, he never said anything about training him and he could use some help taking care of the pokemon. If the boy asked for an apprenticeship later, he would deal with that at the time. "Come in, I'll hire you if you prove your skill in a pokemon battle. What's your name?"

The boy followed Gary inside, looking around as if he was in a museum. "I'm Va- I mean, um... Skye, my name is Skye." A low growl from the Persian prompted Skye to continue, "these are my best friends, Dia," he petted the Vulpix, "and Givan," he placed his hand on the Persian's back.

Gary attributed the verbal stumble to nervousness and excitement, though it was unexpected from someone with such a cocky look in his face. "Alright Skye," he would have to keep his guard up around that boy until he proved to be trustworthy. "We'll have a pokemon battle, one on one. If you're going to work here, you'll have to win."

Skye looked confident, "I will win," he stated with absolute certainty.

"We'll see about that," Gary had no intentions of making things easy. Gary and Skye stepped outside, sufficiently far from the structure so that it would not be damaged if the battle became intense. Gary took a pokeball out of his white lab coat pocket, "go Blastoise!"

The confident grin on Skye's face never faded, "Givan, I choose you!" Givan stepped forward with eagerness. He showed his sharp claws hissing menacingly. He was larger than an average Persian and definitely more threatening. His toned muscles tensed beneath his smooth fur and his tail was upright as he prepared to attack.

"Your Persian is-" Gary's observation was cut short when Givan lunged for Blastoise with his sharp claws outstretched, aiming for the throat. "Blastoise!" The large water pokemon quickly retreated into his shell.

Givan landed on his shell slashing at the opening where Blastoise's head was hiding. "Vulpix!" Dia stood at the sidelines alongside Skye. She sounded more as if she was scolding Givan rather than cheering for him.

"Rapid spin!" Alerted by Gary's command, Givan jumped off Blastoise as he began to spin. He dodged the spinning shell again as the Blastoise relentlessly attacked.

Blastoise increased his speed as Givan dashed to the other side of the field. Givan jumped, at the same time Blastoise came to a halt. He had to avoid leaving the designated battle area and colliding with Gary, the turn was too sharp to make. Givan was already glowing surrounded by sparks when he landed on Blastoise. The brightness turned blinding as Givan released a powerful thunderbolt. When the light faded, Blastoise was unconscious.

"It can't be!" Gary was shocked. "Blastoise return, thanks for trying." The researcher looked at the Persian with curiosity. "His strength is obvious just by looking at him. But for him to fight so accurately without commands. What kind of training regimen do you have for your pokemon?"

"They do whatever they want," Skye began to reply, but was quick to change it. "What I mean is I trained them very well so it's possible for them to do what they want. They want to win!" Dia was saying something, but Skye couldn't really understand her.

"I would like to study Givan," Gary harmlessly extended his hand to the Persian in a friendly gesture. Givan hissed baring his claws, which caused Gary to pull his hand back. "He's strong, but not very friendly."

"Givan doesn't let anyone pet him," Skye confessed, "I can give him a friendly pat on the back, but that's it." He did so, congratulating his pokemon on winning. "I've always thought that Givan and Dia were special. There's something about them. I didn't even catch them, they came to me and stay of their own free will."

"Now I really want to study them," Gary looked at the pokemon with curiosity. Givan still looked fierce; there was an intimidating aura around him. Dia was all the opposite, she looked sweet, nice and harmless. "Are you friendlier than Givan?" Gary gently petted Dia who smiled in response. Givan's glare intensified and Gary thought it wise not to pet Dia too much. It seemed Givan was protective of her, "his mate?"

"I guess so," Skye replied, "they do get cuddly from time to time when they think I'm not looking." Givan hissed while Dia giggled, "alright, alright, don't get all temperamental."

"As promised, I'll hire you, but working here won't be easy. You'll have a lot of chores to keep up with," Gary warned.

Skye nodded, he would probably be doing things that were done by machines where he came from. It was all part of the mission; he would endure it and fulfill his purpose. He had stopped at the Pallet House on the way to see Professor Oak. Delia wasn't there. She was probably in the safety of Team Rocket, where no one could steal her away. When she returned to Pallet Town, she would be more exposed to a kidnap attempt.

xoxox xox xoxox

Daisy, Lando, Violet, Kenobi, Misty, Ash and Pikachu went from one store to another trying to find all the last minute things they supposedly needed for the wedding. Things that were not real necessities, but they decided they wanted. Lily had opted to stay at the gym all day, claiming she was tired. In truth she was feeling lonely in a crowd. The pain of her relatively recent heartbreak had resurfaced.

She flipped through the channels on the living room TV, looking for something to watch. A sitcom about robotic pokemon who ran a pizza parlor and were secretly superheroes was about to end. A news bulletin came on during the space between shows. Lily wasn't really paying attention to it. They were talking about Tempest and Bollux's trial. The news made no mention about Solo, who had escaped due to some carelessness of the police. The police's reputation had been damaged enough. They didn't need any more incompetence coming to light.

To keep quiet about Solo would make it harder to catch him, since no one who wanted to contribute a clue could do so. Yet the price to pay for possible clues contributed by the general public was too high. They would have to remain ignorant, believing the captives of the law to be the only culprits. Solo would remain anonymous. The police would search for him in secret.

Lily changed the channel as her cell phone rang. She put down the remote control next to her on the couch after lowering the TV's volume. Two men with big muscles and spiky hair fought each other on the screen in a flurry of special effects. "Hello?" Lily didn't recognize the number.

"Lily, it's me," the male voice was familiar and she recognized it right away.

"Caedus!" Lily growled in an acid tone. "You called me to say you like couldn't be with me anymore, then you disappear and like never called again. I tried to find you, but it was like the very earth swallowed you. Now you suddenly call like nothing's happened?"

When he broke up with her, he hung up so fast that he didn't even give her time to say anything. Afterwards he blocked her number and disappeared. He had gotten a new phone since then, a lot had happened. "I'm sorry; I was only trying to protect you."

"From what?" Lily had quite a few things to say to Caedus and none of them were nice.

"From Tempest, they had a grudge against me. They were looking for me. I couldn't get you involved," Caedus sounded tragic. "They're behind bars now so I can finally tell you."

"Do you expect me to believe that?" The tale sounded too convenient and exaggerated to be true. Albeit with all the surprises that had been popping up, Lily wondered if it was really true.

"I just wanted you to know," Caedus insisted solemnly. "I don't expect you to forgive me. In fact, you have the right to hate me. I just want you to understand the truth. I didn't want to get you involved, I had no choice. Please, let me explain in person. I'm right in front of the gym."

Lily was feeling angry and hurt, but she decided to at least listen to what Caedus had to say. She hung up on him without a word and paced around uncertain before finally opening the door. Caedus stood there looking apologetic with a dozen roses in one hand and a wrapped gift box in the other. "Come in, I'll hear you out, but that's all." Lily stood aside indicating for him to enter, then closed the door when he did. She headed back to the living room with Caedus following.

They sat down on the couch and Lily clicked the TV off. Caedus insisted that she accepted his gifts, "please, take this as an apology, even if I know it's not enough to say I'm sorry."

Wordlessly Lily took the gifts, setting them in a pile on her lap. Caedus was insisting with his eyes that she opened the box, he kept looking at it. "Start explaining," Lily set the roses aside and fingered the wrapping paper on the box. It had pictures of pink and blue bubbles.

Satisfied that Lily was slowly opening her gift, Caedus spoke, "I suppose the best way to describe it is that I was in the wrong place at the wrong time," his words came out slowly and solemnly.

Lily pulled the shiny wrapping paper off the gift to find a box of chocolates. Admittedly, she really needed some sugar in her system after receiving such an unexpected visit. She opened the box and looked at Caedus with a neutral expression, "go on," she urged, before putting a chocolate in her mouth.

"I was walking down the street minding my own business. Then I heard someone yell in a dark alley near by," Caedus spoke slowly and sadly. "I didn't think about it properly before rushing to see what it was. Someone was being attacked. It was a girl just barely old enough to be a pokemon trainer. I couldn't abandon the poor kid," he paused looking at Lily; his gray eyes were full of sadness. "I managed to save her and took her to the Pokemon Center. The girl said she would stay there and report the incident to the police. Nurse Joy said she would take care of her."

"That's what started it all," Caedus continued. "The girl was the daughter of someone important. They really needed to kidnap her. I messed up their plans and apparently that was more significant to them that I imagined. Lily, they were hunting me down. If they saw us together, they would have gone after you too. I was only trying to protect you because I love you."

Lily listened to Caedus' story. She felt tired, very sleepy. She leaned back on the couch and rested her eyes. His voice was so soothing. She didn't want to fall asleep, that would be so rude. She couldn't help it, she couldn't hold on to her consciousness. Her awareness slipped away.

He ran his fingers through his bright yellow hair. "You're so gullible," he grinned evilly. "Well, we'd best be on our way," Caedus, alias Solo, picked up the unconscious Lily and headed out of the gym.

xoxox xox xoxox

Diamond 74: Give me Eagerness

Brock got off the bus and headed towards the Cerulean gym. His friends were supposed to be out shopping all day, but surely they would be back by then. It was already well into the evening. He thought he should meet them after all, he wouldn't get over his sadness for being unable to get a date if he spent all his time at Rock On. Besides, with the news of Tempest having been apprehended he was feeling better about leaving the breeding center. He had heard the detailed story about how they were captured from Ash.

Brock saw something unusual as he approached the gym. There was a man with yellow hair carrying Lily outside. He put her in the passenger seat of a blue car that had a broken window on the driver's side. He rushed over as he called, "what happened to Lily?" The man looked at Brock for a split second, before rushing to drive away. "Come back here!" Brock couldn't allow the apparent kidnapper to get away. "Go Steelix!" He jumped on the pokemon's back, "follow that car!" With a loud roar, the large pokemon began to chase the car as fast as he could.

Not too far from the Cerulean gym, Ash, Misty, her sisters and their dates, were at a fancy store. The store focused on men's formal attire. Ash came out of the change room wearing a tuxedo. As far as he could tell it was the same as the many others he tried on. Besides, that was the first store they visited early in the day. He had tried on that very same tuxedo before.

A collective gasp followed by fan girlish squeals escaped the Waterflower sisters. Their voices mixed into one with phrases such as, "you look great," "so handsome," "absolutely amazing," and such compliments.

Ash adjusted his tuxedo and grinned. His expression changed when he realized that the Waterflowers were rushing over to Pikachu, who was wearing a tuxedo top. Ash pouted and cleared his throat, "how do I look?"

Several seconds later, after some understanding looks from Lando and Kenobi, the Waterflowers finally stopped fussing over Pikachu. "You look very handsome," Misty complimented.

Daisy nodded, "I think this is the right one,"

"Yes, you should definitely wear that one," Violet agreed.

"I think this was the first one I tried on this morning," Ash reminded.

"We needed a point of comparison," Daisy calmly replied as if the day long ordeal had been nothing. "Oh, your bow-tie isn't on right. Misty, you'll keep an eye on him, won't you?"

Ash fiddled with the bow-tie, he could find nothing wrong with it. "Let me," Misty offered, fixing some unperceivable fault in the bow-tie. Daisy and Violet nodded their approval. Ash, nor Lando, nor Kenobi, noticed anything different about the bow-tie.

At that moment, everyone was facing towards Ash. Ash was facing in the opposite direction towards the glass windows of the shop. He saw a car drive by wildly, avoiding traffic. Brock rushed after it in pursuit riding on Steelix. The noise caught everyone's attention, but by the time they turned around, they were only on time to see a police car zoom by. "That was Brock!" Ash exclaimed. "He was chasing some car riding on Steelix and the police was chasing them."

"I thought Brock was in Pewter City," Misty mused. The possibility of Brock rushing through the street chasing a car sounded very unusual.

"You don't have to like make up such silly stories," Daisy laughed, "we're like finished shopping anyway."

"Yeah," Violet agreed, "someone like ran a red light or something, I'm sure that's all."

"I'm serious!" Ash insisted. The approaching noise was heard again. "Listen, they're coming back around!" The same blue car from before drove up the street again with a police car after it. Brock and Steelix were no where to be found. Ash rubbed his eyes in confusion. "I saw them!" He insisted.

Misty gently patted his back, "it's okay, you're just tired."

Ash thought about it for a moment. What he claimed to see was indeed unlikely. "I guess you're right. My imagination must have played a trick on me."

Ash changed back into his normal clothes and purchased his and Pikachu's tuxedos. The group exited the store to the sound of Ash's stomach growling in hunger. They got in Lando's limousine and were on their way to get something to eat.

xoxox xox xoxox

Caedus, known in the illegal world as Solo, drove up the street trying to lose the police. He cursed his luck; he had almost made a clean get away if not for that guy with the Steelix. Misty didn't know who he was, but Caedus had seen Misty in pictures Lily had shown him of her family. He knew she was one of the trainers that ruined things for Tempest and wanted revenge. He remembered just why it was best to work alone, getting involved with Tempest brought him nothing but trouble.

Suddenly, Steelix dashed out of another smaller road into the main one. They had taken a shortcut to head off the kidnapper. Caedus tried to go around Steelix, yanking the steering wheel to the right. It was too late so he stomped on the breaks. The tires screeched and pealed, leaving black lines imprinted on the road. A loud crash echoed as the car collided with the large pokemon. The car was a mess, but Steelix stood strong with nothing but minor scratches.

The airbag on the driver's seat didn't activate and Caedus was thrown forward against the windshield. Lily was trapped between the passenger seat and the airbag. The police car came to a screeching halt, with another track of burnt tires edged into the road. Brock jumped off Steelix and rushed to Lily's side. He threw the door open and pushed the airbag aside to get her out before she suffocated. "Lily! Lily! Answer me!"

xoxox xox xoxox

Meanwhile, Lando's limousine was moving quite slowly. The driver's voice came from the intercom, "it seems there's been an accident up ahead. We might be stuck in traffic for a while. I apologize for the inconvenience. I can't see exactly what happened from here, but it looks like it involved a Steelix."

Ash jumped in his seat, "I knew it! I knew it! I told you I saw Brock riding on Steelix! I have to go see what happened." Ash was quick to hop out of the limo and dash to the side of the road. He hurried up the street on the sidewalk.

"Wait for me!" Misty followed suit, rushing after Ash.

"Shall we?" Kenobi inquired.

Violet decided to go with the flow, "we might as well go too."

"That's right, let's be adventurous," Daisy followed as well.

"We'll be back later," Lando said to the driver, before rushing out after the group.

xoxox xox xoxox

Ash was the first to arrive at the site of the accident with Pikachu on his shoulders. He was followed by Misty. They found Brock with Lily in his arms, crying like a baby. "Lily, you have to hold on! This is all my fault," he blamed the accident for her unconscious state and thus he blamed himself. The fact that she was already unconscious when Caedus put her in the car eluded him in the rush of the moment.

"Lily!" Misty called out, her voice drowned out by the sound of the two approaching ambulances. The rest of the group arrived soon after.

Caedus was taken to an ambulance; he was badly injured but alive. The police network was informed about him, though only the Viridian public knew about his escape. The Jenny of Cerulean City immediately recognized the wanted man.

Lily was placed in the other ambulance. She wasn't injured beyond a few scratches and bruises. Because Caedus was trying to make a turn when he crashed, the driver's side received most of the damage. Lily was unconscious and that was what worried the paramedics. Even if the airbag had apparently worked, they didn't discard the possibility that she might have hit her head.

It was decided that only her sisters would ride in the ambulance with her, it would be too crowded if everyone did. The rest of the group returned to Lando's limousine and followed the ambulance to the Cerulean hospital. The entire way, Brock was a wreck. It took the combined efforts of Ash, Lando and Kenobi to calm him down.

While the group waited for the doctor's examinations and testing to finalize at the Cerulean Hospital, Jenny came by. Caedus had been safely locked up and she needed to file some reports. Brock received the most questions. He finished his replies just on time for when a nurse informed them that they could see Lily. Jenny followed after the crowd to hear Lily's side of the story.

"Don't worry, she's going to be fine," a doctor confirmed in Lily's room as the group of worried expressions entered. "She was just given a fast working sleeping chemical, it's nothing particularly harmful. Lily will be free to leave as soon as all the test results are in, it's just a precaution." Among looks of relief, the doctor left the crowded room.

Jenny wasted no time in stepping forward, "I know this is too soon," she apologized. "Could you tell me what happened?"

Lily was sitting up on the hospital bed. She was still light headed, but felt a little more awake when she wasn't laying down. "Caedus came back when I was at the gym," she began; the name was familiar to Daisy and Violet. Misty had heard it before, though she was away traveling with Ash often and wasn't well informed about who he was. She had never met him as Lily's boyfriend. Ash and Misty only recognized the man taken away in the ambulance from their battle with Tempest.

"Your ex?" Violet had arrived a few minutes after Ash and Misty, along with the others. Caedus was already in the ambulance and out of sight by then.

"Yes," Lily nodded sadly, "he said he broke up with me because Tempest was like after him and he didn't want to get me into trouble. He apologized and like told me about that, since Tempest has been arrested. He said he got on their bad side because he like saved a girl they were trying to kidnap. I think he was lying. He gave me roses and chocolates. When I ate some of the chocolate I felt really tired. I was like falling asleep and I couldn't help it. That's all I remember."

"I see," Jenny took in the information. She would fill up the report herself. There was no need to burden these people any longer. "Caedus Calrissian is a wanted man, though many people are unaware of that. He'll be going to jail as soon as he's out of the hospital. I'd like to speak to you again tomorrow when you're feeling more awake. If you don't mind, I'll drop by the Cerulean gym."

Lily nodded slowly, "yes," she could barely find her voice after learning the truth about Caedus.

"Well then, I'll be on my way, may you recover soon," Jenny referred more so to the shock then to any physical injuries. The officer left the room where everyone offered their words of encouragement to Lily.

Caedus Calrissian, alias Solo, turned to a life of crime after his father's cargo company was taken over by the Antilles family, under the guidance of Team Rocket. It all began when Caedus was a small child. His father was forced to sign an unfavorable contract. From that point on, the takeover slowly commenced until Calrissian Cargo became Antilles Oceanus. The Calrissian family was left in ruin.

xoxox xox xoxox

At the Viridian City gym, Delia was flipping through a catalogue looking at dresses. "Explain to me again why I'm doing this?" She sighed.

"Because all the gym leaders are socially required to go to Daisy's wedding," Giovanni explained as he typed something into his computer. They were in his secondary office above ground. He made himself available for gym battles. He had defeated a few trainers that day. "Since everyone thinks we're dating and you're going to be there too, then it's reasonable we go together."

"Yes, I already said I would go," Delia replied, "what I don't understand is why I can't wear what I intended to wear. I already have a dress. How do you know it's not proper if you haven't even seen it?"

"You told me," Giovanni reminded.

Delia raised an eyebrow, "when did I say that?"

"When I gave you some jewelry to wear," Giovanni recalled, "you said it was too much to go with your dress."

"So instead of just wearing less jewelry I'm supposed to get a new dress?" Delia found the approach to be rather inconvenient. "Forgive me your majesty. This peasant has forgotten that she needs to look like a queen if she's going to be the king's date in a formal event."

Giovanni's reply to Delia's sarcasm was a simple and slightly amused, "you're forgiven."

Throwing the fancy designer's catalogue at him was quite tempting for Delia, but she refrained from doing so. She continued looking at the dresses.

Giovanni interrupted with an annoyed, "what is the meaning of this?"

At first Delia assumed he was annoyed at some report or something he was reading on the computer. She couldn't see the screen from her angle sitting across from his desk.

"Delia!" Giovanni insisted, turning the screen around so she could see it.

Delia found herself looking at a picture of a sleeping Giovanni with red ink all over his face. The design was reminiscent of a Persian. "So you were spying on my cell phone." Thankfully she had a backup copy of that picture in her computer at home, and several printed copies hidden in the bottom of some drawers.

Giovanni had been too busy to keep up with such details. Delia couldn't be making suspicious calls if she was with him most of the time and they had an agreement. It took him too long to realize that she had taken such a picture. He quickly sent the wireless signal to delete it from Delia's Rocket cell phone. "If you have any more copies of that," he looked threatening.

Delia was amused, she smiled sweetly, "just the one on my cell phone," she grinned mischievously, purposely hinting that she was lying.

Giovanni leaned back in his chair, and massaged his temples, "you're such a handful to deal with sometimes."

"So are you," she kept the same sweet smile. Giovanni returned to his work and for a moment only the sound of his typing was heard in the office. Then Delia suddenly asked, "do you want to hear a story?"

"A story?" He questioned. "Is this completely random?"

"Not at all," she paused. She was looking at elegant dresses to go to a wedding. The thought of a wedding reminded her that she never had one, though she almost became officially engaged. Those memories made her think of when she left Team Rocket to raise Ash peacefully. That reminded her of when Ash was born. Maybe the links were too long and many to be easily followed, "actually yes, let's say it is random. I realized I never told you about when Ash was born."

"Was there something unusual about it?" Giovanni wondered with curiosity. Why else would Delia offer to tell the story? If it was just a normal childbirth, he didn't think there was much to tell. Go to the hospital, give birth, wait a few days, go home, end of story.

"Not really," Delia mused, "well it was a little early, but it turned out fine. I just thought you might want to hear the story," she clearly wanted to tell it.

Giovanni didn't understand Delia's sudden eagerness to share that tale. He decided to listen. She would tell the story anyway, he was sure. "Alright, tell me the story."

He was discreetly reading something from the screen, but Delia decided not to mention it. Instead she began her story.

xoxox xox xoxox

Ash had been born just a few days after Gary. He came early, thus Delia was a little unprepared. Mrs. Oak had given birth in the Viridian City hospital. Pallet Town didn't have its own big hospital; the closest one was at Viridian. There was a small clinic in town to take care of check ups and minor injuries. Gary's mother and Delia had been going there for check ups.

Mrs. Oak was very talkative. She would go on for hours about how glad she was they would give birth at close dates. She was convinced that the children would become best friends. She even hoped that they would end up dating when they were older if they were a boy and a girl. If the children were of the same gender then they would become sibling-like best friends. Mrs. Oak never would have guessed that the boys would develop such a rivalry, though they did become friends later on.

When Mrs. Oak went to give birth at Viridian City, she took the local Pallet Town doctor with her. The doctor had been keeping up with her check ups all that time and she wanted a familiar doctor with her. She also wanted to have the resources of a large hospital available. Professor Oak had gone to Viridian City with his son and daughter-in-law. For the next few days, Delia would be without her closest people in Pallet Town.

She assured them she would be fine. They would return before her due date. Then later she would journey to Cerulean City with Professor Oak. She didn't want to give birth in Viridian, it felt too close to Team Rocket. She wasn't really hidden in Pallet Town, but she wouldn't purposely do anything that might make her presence stand out. She knew Giovanni had many connections in Viridian City. Pewter City was also too close.

It was a sunny morning in Pallet Town. Delia was beginning the preparations to serve breakfast at the Pallet House. People sometimes told her that she should take a break since she was so close to her due date, but she refused. She didn't want anyone thinking they had to feel sorry for her. After a wave of unusually strong morning sickness, Delia went to the kitchen and started to get things ready. She was running a little late that morning.

She dropped the bag of coffee beans she was holding, when the baby made an unusually strong movement, "what's gotten into you today, Ash?" She patted her large belly as is trying to soothe her child. The pain ceased and she carefully picked up the bag of beans from the floor, keeping her back straight. She lifted herself upright with her legs, thankful that the coffee beans had not spilled out of the bag.

She left the bag on the counter and reached for the little radio she kept in the kitchen. She was in the mood for some soothing music. As she tried to find a good station, the sudden sharp ache came again. Her face contracted in pain and her hands went to her stomach. "Ow, Ash, no..."

Her breathing turned labored as she carefully reached for a chair and sat down. She took long deep breaths. It had to be a false alarm, she couldn't be giving birth. It was not her due date yet. She looked at the calendar in the kitchen wall. It was May twenty-two. Her baby was supposed to be born at the start of June. The Oak family was still in Viridian City. Little Gary was only a few days old. More nausea came and she pushed herself to her feet, rushing to the bathroom. Minutes later her water broke. Another sharp pain came; there was no denying the truth.

"Delia!" A voice called from outside. It was Mrs. Alderaan, she often went to drink coffee at the Pallet House in the mornings. "Are you there?"

Delia took a deep breath and willed her child to stay still. She reached for the bathroom sink and splashed cold water in her face. She composed herself and went over to the kitchen door that led to the area with tables and chairs outside. "Good morning Mrs. Alderaan, I'm running a little late this morning."

"Oh, don't worry dear; I just came to say hi, you really should take a break." Mrs. Alderaan began her endless story about her Bellsprout, which she carried in her arms. "When Belle is exhausted, she gets asthma."

Did pokemon even get asthma? Delia smiled sweetly and interrupted, "I heard that the local doctor left the keys to the clinic with someone in case anyone needed some first aid supplies. Just out of curiosity, who was it?"

"It was me. At least I can count on having first aid supplies on hand if Belle ever got hurt. Oh but I will make sure she doesn't," Mrs. Alderaan continued. "Sometimes I call Professor Oak to look at Belle when she gets sick. My poor sweet Belle often chokes on air and gets the most violent hiccup attacks. Sometimes I call Dr. Quigon too. A human doctor should at least know the basics of pokemon medicine. It's just so unfortunate that they're both away at the same time. What if something happened to Belle? Don't you think it's just nerve wrecking to be without the doctor and the professor in town at the same time?"

Delia felt another wave of pain wash over her. She kept her legs firm and straight. If she bent her knees even a little, she was sure she would crumble to the floor. She clenched her teeth in a forced smile. "Yes, terribly nerve wrecking. Can I borrow the keys?"

"Of course, let me get them for you," Mrs. Alderaan didn't move, "speaking of keys, Belle was playing with the keys earlier, it was so cute!"

"Thank you so much, I'll come get the keys, just as soon as I get back from running a little errand," Delia walked past Mrs. Alderaan. Walking very stiff and pained, she headed up the street. If she let people take pity on her, they might treat Ash differently. She would prove she didn't need any pity.

"Such impatience!" Mrs. Alderaan raised one arm dramatically, palm up. In her other arm the Bellsprout seemed to be more aware of the situation than her trainer.

Delia hurried up the street to Professor Oak's place. She didn't bother with the stairs, instead calling at the top of her lungs, "Marty!"

She waited a few seconds and the young man came out, breathing heavily from all the running. He spotted Delia at the base of the stairs and hurried to her. "Is there an emergency?" Professor Oak had left one of his Pallet Town neighbors taking care of things while he was away. He only really needed to feed the pokemon.

Delia smiled sweetly; it felt relieving to be able to scream as loud as she could at least once. "There's no emergency, I just want to borrow Chansey. I feel like having the company of a Chansey, that's all."

"Oh..." Marty assumed it was all due to some kind of odd mood swing. "Okay, I'll go find Chansey for you, I'll be right back." The seconds ticked away painfully until Marty returned and gave Delia a pokeball, "here you go, is there something else you need? Is everything okay?"

Delia forced herself to keep smiling, "everything is fine, thanks for asking. See you later," she went on her way, pained and stiff down the street.

After making it to Mrs. Alderaan's house, Delia found the old lady in the front yard playing with Belle. Thankfully she had remembered to get the keys and promptly handed them over. "Isn't it a lovely day?" Mrs. Alderaan continued with her usual chatter. "That's why I brought Belle out to play in the yard, I'm sure she enjoys nice days like this."

"Oh yes, lovely day, thanks for the keys, see you later!" Delia rushed away as quickly as she could.

Mrs. Alderaan watched her leave. "Such impatience!" She threw her hands in the air. "I bet that patience will not be that baby's strong point." Standing on the ground beside her, Belle continued being more aware of the situation than her trainer.

Delia let herself into the clinic and hurried with difficulty to lay in bed. "Go Chansey!" She released the pokemon from her pokeball. The Chansey immediately realized what was going on. Her caring nature made her want to help the human. "Chansey, I'll be counting on you!"

Delia wasn't sure how much time passed, but it wasn't more than a few hours. The birth happened relatively quickly. Chansey was at a loss of what to do with something that wasn't an egg. "Chansey!"

"It's okay," Delia gasped for air, "I' know what to do." She did her best to guide the pokemon through the process of human birth. Delia had read up on it to feel more prepared. Chansey was nervous, but did as she was told and everything worked out in the end.

xoxox xox xoxox

By the time Delia finished her story Giovanni had stopped reading from the computer screen and was staring at her. "You were always good at blurring the line between brave and crazy," he finally spoke, impressed that Delia was able to handle the birth practically on her own.

"That's funny," Delia smiled as she remembered, "Professor Oak said something like that when he came back to town the next day and found out what happened. You should have seen his face. The Chansey that helped me was his pokemon. He allowed Dr. Quigon to keep her in the clinic. She's a Blissey now. She's still helping out at the Pallet Town clinic."

xoxox xox xoxox

Diamond 75: Give me Parties

"Relax; I'm not going to do anything crazy. You don't need to keep an eye on me twenty-four seven." Delia reassured Giovanni before he even had the chance to protest on her decision. She had just informed him that she was going back to Pallet Town. She missed her home and Mimey must be getting lonely without her. "I already tried on the new dress and it fits, I'm all set to go to the wedding. I just want to be in Pallet Town for a while before going to Cerulean City."

"I wasn't going to stop you," Giovanni half complained, though in truth he was going to remind her about a few things.

Delia had, as promised, been visiting Binks. The visits went more or less the same way as the first. On the bright side, the dark circles under Binks' eyes were less prominent and she had talked him into eating a decent amount of food. She didn't expect him to be anything but thin; he had always been that way. At least he could return to being relatively normally thin, rather than in the bones.

"Be mindful of Binks' health," Delia recited. It was not how Giovanni would have phrased it, but it encompassed the basic idea. "Secrets should remain secret," she continued, "no big family revelations will be made until after the wedding," she paused in thought, "am I forgetting something?"

"That just about covers it," Giovanni voiced, at least she was aware of those points, even if she seemed much more relaxed about it than in the past. He knew she wouldn't keep up trying to avoid him as she did for a short time.

"Why do I get the feeling that you're assuming whatever you want?" Delia mused; she knew that confident look all too well.

"You're imagining things. Besides, aren't I always plotting something?" There was no use in denying it.

"That is very true," Delia admitted. "Anyway, I'm concerned about the illness that's spreading. It still hasn't been declared an epidemic but it's worrisome. I trust you're not withholding any information?"

"No cure has been found, but the researchers claim they're making progress," Giovanni truthfully replied, 'they better be,' he mentally added.

"Binks said that too. Let's hope they have a breakthrough soon," Delia felt she had nothing more to do but to hope. Yet she wished she could do more. She had been reacting to things rather than taking action beforehand for the most part in her life. She wanted to change that.

"Now that I think about it, there is one thing you're forgetting." Giovanni stopped Delia as she was about to exit his gym office.

"Not that I know of," Delia couldn't think of anything that was pending for her to do.

"Transportation," Giovanni reminded. "You need a reliable form of transportation in case I need to call you here for some reason. He gave her a key with a leaf shaped keychain that looked like the Earth badge. "It's for the orange car, in front of the gym."

"I don't really need-" Delia was interrupted.

"Just take it," Giovanni insisted, "if you don't want it, you can give it to Ash or something."

Didn't he just say it was in case she needed to be there quickly? Delia decided not to read too deeply into it. Instead she pocketed the keys and went on her way, "thank you."

xoxox xox xoxox

The trip from Viridian City to Pallet Town went by quickly in the car. It was late when Delia decided to return, but that didn't stop her. She parked the orange car in front of her little house. The evening had already given away to the night. She entered the house quietly.

Mimey had heard the car in the stillness of the atmosphere. He looked out the window and saw Delia get out of the car. "Mime!" Mimey ran to hug her.

"Aw, did you miss me, Mimey?" Delia gently petted his blue hair. "Next time, you can come with me."

"Mime?" Mimey glanced at the living room, "mime?" He gazed towards the kitchen, "mime?" He looked towards the stairs.

"Don't worry about the house chores. The house will be fine by itself for a few days," she let Cloyster and Kingler out of their pokeballs. "How about we all have a snack then go to bed early? A good night's rest is important," she smiled. All the pokemon agreed.

xoxox xox xoxox

Down the street, Gary was ready to turn in for the night. His new employee was helpful but odd. It seemed he sometimes forgot how the most basic items worked and expected everything to be automatic. Then some kind of hidden realization overtook Skye and he knew what should have been obvious from the start. Other than being an oddball there didn't seem to be anything wrong with him so far. Maybe he was just a really big fan of science fiction. Gary yawned and went to bed.

Meanwhile, in one of the guest rooms, the boy who claimed to be called Skye was still awake. "Maybe I should check the house one last time just to make sure Delia is still with Team Rocket."

Dia and Givan had their collars on, which allowed them to speak the human language. "Do you think she'll come back this late?" Dia's black collar traced the sound waves in red lines.

"We never know," Skye decided it was best to be on the safe side. If anything happened, he would at least have the proper information for a second attempt at his mission. However, he might not get that chance. One try was already a lot to ask for. "I'll take a quick look." Skye headed out of the guest room. His two pokemon followed him towards the front door. They exited silently and made their way down the stairs. From behind the locked gates, they looked towards the Pallet House. "There's a car, she must be back!"

It would look suspicious to ask Gary to unlock the gate, so Skye and his pokemon jumped over it. They hurried towards Delia's house stopping in front of the orange car. "It's pretty cool even if it's an antique. It must be new for everyone here," Skye observed. He looked towards the calm and quiet house. "I don't think anything has happened. We'll have to keep an eye on her just in case. At least until the danger passes. I wonder how long it will be? We don't even know what to expect. It was all so long ago."

"All of this could bring consequences," Dia's doubts plagued her again. "At the same time given what came as a result of that event, it can also bring improvements. It all feels so..."

"Confusing?" Skye offered.

"Convenient?" Givan suggested.

"Familiar," Dia finished unexpectedly. "Why don't I guard her for tonight?" She looked at Givan, "I'm trusting you not to be a bad influence on Van while I'm gone."

Givan grinned mischievously, "I always give him the best ideas, don't I, Vandel?"

Vandel, alias Skye, grinned in agreement, "most of the time."

"Stay out of trouble you too," Dia insisted. After Vandel took her collar off, she climbed into the house through the window.

"We should go back before anyone gets suspicious," Givan reminded. Vandel agreed and they hurried back to their assigned guest room at the Oak lab.

Dia quietly made her way to the source of light in the kitchen. The other pokemon, Mr. Mime, Cloyster and Kingler, noticed her, alerting Delia. "Hello there," Delia petted the Vulpix, "how did you get in?" She was too friendly to be wild. Maybe she belonged to someone in town. Most likely, she lived with the Oaks. Delia would take her there tomorrow and ask. For the time being, the Vulpix could stay in the house. "Do you want to join us?"

"Vulpix," Dia nodded. Delia gave her some food. Dia sniffed the cookies then began to eat them. She and Givan preferred human food for the most part. The chocolate chip cookies were welcomed.

xoxox xox xoxox

Morning came in the peaceful town of Pallet. Ash was still away, he had been talked into helping Lando with his bachelor party. As a result, he and Brock journeyed to Vermillion City with Lando and Kenobi, while the Waterflowers stayed at Cerulean City. Jenny did visit the gym, but her questions were quick and to the point. Lily was unaware of Caedus' illegal activities as Solo. Either way, they had enough accusations waiting for him, including kidnapping and car theft.

Delia woke up, got ready for the day and began the breakfast preparations. It had been a few days since the Pallet House was open. A quick group email to the town the previous night brought back her customers. The town woke up to the pleasant news in their inboxes that the Pallet House was open for business. Those who didn't see the message that morning, heard from their neighbors. It was a small town where anything resembling news was a rarity that traveled quickly when it came.

Among the chatter in the tables at the Pallet House, Delia filled her customers' cups with coffee. Gary was at one of the tables reading the news paper. "Good morning Gary. I think one of the pokemon from the research lab snuck into my house last night." She looked at the Vulpix by her feet. "She's a real sweetie."

"Good morning," Gary was able to take his time with breakfast that day. He started preparing the pokemon's food and setting it out for them with his new employee, then left Skye to finish the job. "Dia?" Gary recognized the Vulpix. "She belongs to Skye; I just hired him to work at the lab. I have to admit it feels good having more time to do research with some extra help taking care of the pokemon. It's been pretty busy ever since Tracey returned to the Orange Islands a couple of years ago. I told Skye to come have some breakfast over here when he finished getting the pokemon's breakfast ready." Gary looked towards the road, "there he comes."

A few minutes later, Skye arrived looking exhausted. He could run, jump and fight all day long, but chores tired him out quickly. He had plenty of physical endurance for some things and almost none for others. Perhaps it was the tediousness of a task that should been automatic that got to him. "All the pokemon have been fed," he collapsed into a chair at Gary's table, glancing at Delia with curiosity.

"Good," Gary commended, "this is Delia," he introduced, unaware of the fact that Skye, whose real name was Vandel, already knew who she was. "She's the best cook in town."

Skye woke up from his tired daze, "nice to meet you, I'm Skye," he gave her a grin that reminded her of both Giovanni and Ash. The boy's face seemed to be a blend of both their faces.

"It's nice to meet you too," Delia smiled sweetly, not letting her surprise at the resemblance show. Additionally Skye dressed in a similar way to Ash. "This Vulpix is yours?"

"Yes," Skye petted Dia, "Dia likes to explore sometimes. She must have gotten curious about the town. She didn't bother you, right?"

"Of course not, she's such a sweetie, it was nice to have her visit," Delia petted Dia as well. "You're welcome to come visit me whenever you like. Who's this handsome gentleman here?" She reached out to pet Givan.

"Be careful with that one," Gary warned, "he's not very... friendly?" He watched in awe as Givan allowed Delia to pet him, even purring in response.

"He seems friendly enough to me." The Persian reminded Delia of Giovanni.

"Is Givan one of those pokemon who are only nice to women?" Gary had come across a few pokemon who only allowed humans of the opposite gender to pet them.

Even Skye was surprised, "I don't understand, he usually doesn't let anyone touch him like that, even if it is a woman. I guess he likes you." Skye observed Givan; he didn't seem to be pretending to be nice for the sake of their mission involving Delia. It looked as if he honestly didn't mind if she petted him.

Gary got an idea, "maybe you can help me study him," he suggested. Givan gave a low threatening growl, "or maybe not." His cell phone rang, making Gary wonder who was calling him so early. He took a look at the little screen and saw Ash's name. "It's Ash," he announced before answering, "good morning Ash, you're actually up early today."

Ash yawned, still sleepy, "morning, I've been really busy," he stated what his yawn had made obvious. "Do you feel like coming to a party in Vermilion City? Say yes!" Ash insisted quickly explaining, "we need to invite one hundred guests, because Lando decided that it wouldn't be a real bachelor party without that many guests. Lando, Kenobi and I don't know that many people put together," or rather not that many that could be invited and expected to make it on time. "Say yes! There will be lots of food, drinks and pokemon battles, say yes!"

Gary laughed, "yes, but you'll have to give me the specific directions and time."

"No problem, I'll write everything in a text message so you can look at it if you forget," Ash cheerfully offered. "Sorry to hang up so quickly, I need to keep searching for guests, see you at the party!"

Gary looked amused, "he didn't even give me time to say goodbye." He closed and pocketed his cell phone. "There will be a bachelor party in Vermilion City with food and pokemon battles."

Skye looked up from the menu he was examining, "are we going?"

"I am going, you are staying here and taking care of the pokemon," Gary replied, much to Skye's annoyance. "Grandpa can't take care of all the pokemon by himself anymore. Besides, you're too young to drink."

Skye scowled, then remembered his mission, "fine." He couldn't leave Delia out of his sight unless she was with Team Rocket. No one ever said that the tragedy had to occur when she was in Pallet Town, but it was only logical. She was safe with Team Rocket, he assumed.

xoxox xox xoxox

The day went by uneventfully, giving way to a night of parties. Charla was at Cerulean City, she had stayed there since she was a girl, thus she would attend Daisy's party. She looked at the glass bubble on her tail. It would protect her flame from the water that would be abundant in the pool party. The large gym pool had just been cleaned and needed to be refilled with water. Misty left the pool automatically filling itself with water, the mechanism would shut down the flow of water automatically when the level was proper.

Next to the pool there was a large supply of paint. It was temporary body paint that they would play with later. Daisy thought it would be original. She had definitely ordered far too much paint. Misty shut the doors to the gym arena so that the guests wouldn't wander in before the area was ready. She went to the aquarium area to talk to the guests.

A little later, music was playing and Daisy's party was going well. Other than playing Rattata maze with the pizza delivery boy, nothing too out of the ordinary had happened. The game consisted of blindfolding a person and having them make their way out of a maze of people without bumping into them. Their voices would be the guide. It was a childish playground game that was much more amusing than usual when the person declared to be the Rattata was a terrified handsome young man who was never actually asked if he wanted to play. Aside from being blindfolded, his hands were tied behind his back. It was hilarious watching him stumble around. It got better when his also handsome co-worker came asking about why his friend never returned to the pizza parlor. He became another victim of their game.

"Misty, did you fill up the pool?" Daisy inquired, she wanted to move the party there since all the guests had already arrived.

"Yes, I filled it up a while ago," Misty replied.

The festivities were interrupted by the arrival of officer Jenny. It was Violet who opened the door. "Hi!" She cheerfully greeted. "Have you come to join the party?" The local nurse Joy had attended. They had conveniently forgotten to invite Jenny, but decided to act natural if she showed up.

Jenny looked very displeased, "I'm here because of the complaints from the neighbors," she seriously informed.

"I didn't think the music was that loud," Violet mused, "alright, we'll turn it down."

"It's not the music; it's the massive amount of water coming out of your window. It's flooding the street and painting it!" Jenny dramatized.

"What?" Violet blinked in confusion.

"Come have a look," Jenny urged.

Outside, Violet noticed that there was indeed a very unusual amount of water out in the street and it was indeed unusually colored. A small rainbow stream made its way down the sidewalk, filtering in under people's doors. The water fell to the lower ground of the road, making it difficult for cars to drive by when their tires caught the sticky paint. They went around the gym and found that there was a large amount of water coming out of the windows that led to the arena area. "Oh no," Violet hurried back inside."

Misty and Daisy stood in front of the door leading to the arena area where the big pool was. "Why is there water coming out from under the door?" Daisy asked with worry.

"I don't know, the pool should have stop filling itself with water when it reached the right amount," Misty observed Daisy's worried expression.

"Since you have like been away traveling you didn't know," Daisy realized. "The mechanism is like broken," both sisters shared wide eyed expressions.

Lily walked by, "why are you two like standing there? Everyone is ready to like have fun in the pool."

Violet rushed inside, her voice mixing with Daisy's and Misty's as they yelled, "don't open it!" It was too late, Lily opened the door and a flood of water came rushing out.

xoxox xox xoxox

Meanwhile, in Vermilion City, Lando was quite happy with the amount of guests in his party. Even if many were pokemon, there had to be more than a hundred guests in his mansion. "How wonderful," he cheered, "I am quite pleased to have entrusted the guest list to you, Ash. Now, how do we properly have a bachelor party? Such celebrations are not familiar to me," he admitted. "Shall we play classical music? Oh, but who would we dance with? Maybe we should do something else."

Kenobi paused for a moment in thought, "well, we could threaten some small company somewhere and take over their business. That would be a celebration," he suggested with a carefree smile.

Brock took Kenobi's suggestion as a joke, "Can we even call it a party if there are no girls?"

Ash rolled his eyes, the rich, the mafia and the obsessed didn't know how to have fun. "You have it all wrong. This is a party not a ball or a business meeting. We're supposed to listen to super loud rock music while we eat, drink and have pokemon battles until we pass out from exhaustion!" Lando and Kenobi looked at each other, then back at Ash. They nodded in agreement, admittedly, his suggestion did sound fun. "Since I'm starving, why don't we eat first and then battle?"

"Splendid!" Lando exclaimed, signaling for the butler to come over. The female staff had the day off. "I would like rock music to play, the loudest you can find!"

"Right away sir," the butler hurried to accomplish his unusual mission.

"I shall make sure all the guests are happily eating and drinking to their hearts' content, starting with you two!" Lando blissfully declared.

"Then I'll go eat and drink to my heart's content," Ash agreed with a wide grin.

"I'll gladly join in too," Kenobi added.

"Me three!" Brock cheered.

The music began to play and the party progressed as everyone ate and drank. Many tables with food and drinks were all over the grand room. It looked like a room where a royal ball would take place. It had a high ceiling with detailed paintings of various flying pokemon. The crystals in the glass chandeliers shimmered brightly, vibrating with the strong sound waves of the hidden speakers. The marble floors were perfectly polished like mirrors. The walls were made of glass, save for the columns that supported the structure every few feet.

Charizard was offered a cup with strong liquor, which he curiously drank. The substance had a strong burning taste, it was sour, but he liked the warm feeling it gave him. There seemed to be similar liquids of different colors. He tried each one, finding the warmth within him increasing with each drink. The flame on his tail grew, with sparks of fire jumping from it. The sparks reached the various tables as Charizard went from one to another, trying the contents of all the bottles he saw.

It didn't take long for someone to realize that there was a fire and it was spreading. Many flaming desserts were ordered and Lando had decided to deactivate the fire security system. He had a rather embarrassing mishap with it in the past that ended up with drenched angry guests and smoking desserts that should have been flaming. Before anyone could think to turn the security system back on, Charizard reached his limit.

Charizard felt that something was about to explode in his stomach. He looked up to the ceiling; he couldn't hold it in anymore. He let out a loud roar with a massive breath of fire. The powerful column of fire reached the ceiling burning a hole through it. The fire continued spreading in the ceiling as sparks fell and most of the guests fled. The security system was turned back on and the sprinklers were finally activated. The indoor rain was very unpleasant for Charizard. He was lightheaded, not in his full senses, but still strong, he could not be called back into his pokeball. Displeased, Charizard thrashed about wildly, spreading the flames.

Ash and Gary called for their Blastoise to calm Charizard. The two large water pokemon only gave their trainers sheepish smiles as they leaned on each other like drunken buddies. In the middle of the chaos, Bulbasaur swung happily from the chandelier on his vine whip. He didn't seem to notice the danger around him as he laughed merrily. Brock was holding on to Bulbasaur, enjoying the ride.

"You let the pokemon get drunk!" Ash and Gary pointed accusing fingers at each other.

"Turn the water off, it's making him mad!" Kenobi yelled. A few more seconds passed until the sprinklers were turned off. "Calm the Charizard and get him out, then turn the water back on to put out the rest of the fire." Somehow in the battle of Charizard versus the sprinklers, Charizard had been winning.

Kenobi's advice was followed. Dodging flames, Ash approached Charizard and tried to calm him down. Charizard couldn't help it; he had an overload of fire. "It's okay, just let that fire out in a safe place." Ash climbed on his back as Charizard flew out the hole in the ceiling. He breathed fire into the sky, like fireworks, until he calmed down.

When Ash and Charizard landed back inside the mansion, the fire had already been put out and the water from the sprinklers ceased. Only Lando, Kenobi, Ash, Gary, Brock, the mansion staff and their pokemon remained. The other guests were gone.

"Leave it to Ash and his pokemon to heat up the party," Gary teased. His own pokemon weren't exactly sober, but they were nowhere near as destructive.

"You said it!" Lando cheered as he put his arms around Ash and Gary. "You Pallet Town people really know how to party!" He sounded as if he had enjoyed every second of it.

"Is he drunk?" Ash inquired, referring to Lando.

"I'm not certain," Kenobi admitted.

"Let's hope so," Gary added, at least that way the insanity would be gone by morning.

Brock fell from the chandelier, with Bulbasaur landing on top of him. "They're drunk," Ash stated the obvious as Pikachu attempted to climb on his shoulder and kept falling back clumsily, giving him little electric shocks.

To be Continued

Disclaimer, I don't own Pokemon. In Diamond 73, the robotic pokemon with the pizza parlor are a parody of the Samurai Pizza Cats and the other show was Dragon Ball Z. Disclaimer, I don't own Pokemon. Calrissian Cargo and Antilles Oceanus' story was explained in Diamond 58. The event of Caedus' father signing the contract happened in Diamond 19. The birth story is not exactly realistic, but neither are magical encapsulated monsters.