Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 059: Give me Devotion

After Comet left the Saffron city hall, Akira arrived. She had fallen asleep on the way and taken some time to rest. She didn't mean to, but no one wanted to disturb her. She was a fast healer and her leg had recovered enough for her to walk easily. Running would still hurt, but she didn't expect to need to run. She sent her fans away to get her a few things she claimed to want. A strawberry sundae, purple nail polish, a bottle of perfume of a certain brand, some new clothes from specific stores. It was all just to get rid of them. She needed to investigate on her own.

When the Vermilion attack occurred, the mysterious Saffron City mayor contacted her to assure her it was done by false Rockets. Akira didn't know if this unknown woman was trying to stop her from taking revenge on Team Rocket or aiding her in taking revenge on the real culprits. 

Akira had not gone to meet her initially, even if the mayor had requested it. Instead she tried to go on with her plans to get revenge. She wondered if she should have gone to Saffron City from the start. She wondered if this woman had known Mirta and if she knew the secret Akira so badly craved to know. What was she? Why was she different? 

As a child, Akira, then called Secura, had once heard Mirta talking to someone else. She closed her eyes and picture herself as a little girl walking through the cold empty halls of the orphanage one rainy night when she couldn't sleep. She saw light coming from Mirta's small office where she kept records and paper work for the orphanage. The door was mostly closed, parted from the frame a mere few inches. "Secura is the grim reaper; we can't let her curse run free," Mirta voiced.

"I know, I haven't told anyone about her," a second female voice replied. "I know I can entrust her to you. History can't repeat itself. I have big plans; I'll obtain what he couldn't. I have someone to help me get it. This will most likely be my last visit in a long time."

"You don't come often as it is," Mirta reminded. "I know I can't talk you out of doing what you want, just be careful."

Secura was frozen in the hallway as she listened. The grim reaper? That was only a myth, she was young, but she didn't believe in such things. What could be so terrible that could be compared to death? Was she dying? Did she have a horrible illness? She didn't feel sick. She didn't dare look into the office; she never knew who Mirta spoke to that night. The little girl retreated silently into her room. She told herself she had misheard. She never dared to ask for the truth. She wanted to know, but at the same time she feared to know. The memories of that night haunted her until eventually the need to know overcame the fear, but it was too late.

Taking a deep breath, Akira made her way to the Saffron mayor's office. No one tried to stop her, as if she was expected. She opened the door and saw a world of red and shadows. 

"Sit, child," there was a lady sitting behind a desk with a Ninetales at her side. The woman was covered in shadows, her face hidden. Her hands were folded on the desk, fingers entwined, nails crimson.

Akira sat down across the desk. She couldn't hold her questions in any longer. "Who are you?" Her voice was desperate. "Who am I?"

"Who you are is up to you to decide," the lady spoke calmly. "As for what you are..." She paused observing Akira's intense gaze. "You are a traitor."

"What?" Akira gasped. "Is that why you called me, to stop me from causing trouble to Team Rocket?" 

"You were in the news, you're quite a troublesome one indeed," the lady chuckled. "I'm afraid I'll have to imprison you indefinitely."

"No, I won't let you!" Akira stood up and reached for the two pokeballs on her belt. "You don't know; you don't know anything! You didn't know Mirta! You can't give me any answers!" She released the two pokemon from their pokeballs. Jigglypuff and Loudred appeared from the balls' red beams.

"Two against one? That's fine by me," The lady chuckled darkly. "Nien, flame thrower!"

Jigglypuff dove out of the way and hid under the desk. Loudred was left to fight on his own. "Hyper voice!" Akira commanded.

The lady glared, but refused to acknowledge her discomfort beyond that. Ninetales howled in annoyance. "Shut him up Nien, fire blast!"

The blast of fire made the difference in power between the two pokemon obvious. Loudred was knocked out and thrown back at Akira. She fell on the carpet and called back her unconscious pokemon off her. "Don't just hide there Jigglypuff, do something!"

Jigglypuff crawled out from under the desk and hopped on top of it, "Jiggly!" She picked up a red marker from the desk and held it like a microphone, "Jigglypuff-"

"No! Don't sing, fight!" Akira screamed in frustration. She wasn't a real pokemon trainer and didn't know how to use the song to her advantage.

Angered by the interruption, Jigglypuff pouted. Her body was filled with air and she grew slightly larger. She let out the air in a huff, with an annoyed, "puff!"

"The show's over, little girl," the mysterious lady grinned victoriously, "Nien, tackle!" She pointed towards Akira. The Ninetales jumped on her and pinned her to the floor. 

Akira didn't stop struggling, "let me go!" Nien growled threateningly and bit her shoulder. Akira screamed in pain, with tears rolling down her cheeks. She was crying more so out of frustration than physical pain.

The lady pressed a button on a small intercom device on her desk, "I have a prisoner that needs to be escorted to her cell." 

In a matter of seconds, two men in dark red tuxedoes entered the office to take Akira away. They made sure to take away her pokeballs as well. "Her pokemon, Madame," one of the men held out the pokeballs. One contained Loudred and the other was empty.

"Not interested, you two can battle to see who will keep that Loudred later," she dismissed the Loudred she viewed as weak.

"Thank you, Madame," the two men chorused while they held Akira tightly. She kicked and screamed but could not break free from their iron grip.

Nien sat proudly beside her trainer. She watched as they took the human away. She shared the mocking pride that her trainer displayed. 

The two men dragged the complaining girl out and closed the office door. Madame Boss was aware that Akira didn't recognize her as Giovanni's mother. It didn't matter if she did or didn't. Madame looked back at the Jigglypuff on the desk. "It didn't look like you wanted to fight."

"Puff, puff!" Jigglypuff waived the marker around then held it like a microphone. "Jiggly!"

"You want to sing?" Madame laughed. "So that's why you became that girl's pokemon, because she was a singer. I have no use for a pokemon that isn't good at fighting. My business is in battle, not musical performances. Let yourself out little one." On a whim, she decided to spare the Jigglypuff as a reward for being amusing.

"Puff!" Angered that her song wasn't appreciated, Jigglypuff stomped away. She left the office and city hall without looking back. Such an ungrateful audience wasn't worth singing for anyway. She kept the red marker; it may come in handy later.

xoxox xox xoxox

The tension was heavy at the Cerulean gym. Misty was very worried about her sisters. "Let's call the Viridian mayor and let him know that Violet is on her way. She might need help," Delia suggested.

"Alright, the number is on the contact list," Misty scrolled through the numbers recorded in the video phone until she found it. "It's ringing..."

A picture of the Viridian mayor with a bright green leafy background appeared on the screen. "You have reached Rune Antilles, the mayor of Viridian City. I hope to count with your vote for the next elections! I am hard at work making Viridian City a better place and cannot reach the phone right now. Please leave a short message after the beep and I'll get back to you as soon as possible."

"Hi, this is Misty, Violet's sister. I'm not sure if you already know, Violet is on her way to Viridian City. She might be having some trouble on the road," Misty didn't know how to explain things without making her sister sound bad. It could be, and probably would be, interpreted in a negative way if she said Violet was being chased by the police.

Delia placed her hand on Misty's shoulder in a silent offering to take care of the message. Her instinct told her that Rune had to be keeping track of any incoming communications given the situation. "Rune, this is Delia. I was with you and Giovanni watching the tournament at the Viridian Stadium, remember?" Delia's sweet voice shifted to a very commanding, dangerous tone, "pick up the phone right now!"

Ash and Misty jumped at the sudden change in her voice. They attributed it to stress. Their attention focused on the screen again when the picture changed to a live video. Rune was in his office where shades of green were everywhere. The wallpaper was adorned with leaves. The wooden furniture was of a peculiar design with little branches and plastic leaves decorating it. Each piece simulated a very odd kind of fictional tree that happened to be shaped like furniture. "Yes, ma'am!" The Viridian mayor squeaked in the same tone he used for Giovanni when he was told to shut up.

"How did you know he would pick up?" Ash wondered in amazement.

"Intuition," Delia replied with an innocent smile. "Besides, if he didn't pick up, he would call us back immediately after hearing that message. We had to let him know it was very urgent."

"My apologies," Rune sighed, "it's just that Violet said she didn't want to get her sisters involved. When I saw the call came from the Cerulean gym..." Mayor Antilles trailed into silence in his usual submissive nature. He wasn't supposed to say that.

"Violet is there? She made it safely?" Misty was quick to inquire urgently.

"Oh yes," the mayor looked very stressed. "I'm afraid I cannot converse for long. There is much to be done in preparation to find my son. A friend has already sent someone to help." He looked meaningfully at Delia. Giovanni must already be aware that Kenobi was missing and sent someone to find him. "I deeply apologize, I must go. I have managed to talk Violet into waiting here. She had a bit of a run in with the police over her speed- Oh no, I'm sorry, please forget I ever mentioned it. I assure you her record is perfectly clean. I saw to it myself, I am the mayor after all," he sounded a little proud that he could at least do something. The legality of it was very questionable, but no one would dare to question it.

Misty breathed in relief, "thank you. Please keep Violet safe." The use and abuse of political pressure was a topic she chose not to address.

"Of course!" Rune exclaimed, "you don't need to worry about anything. I will protect her as my own daughter. After all, perhaps someday she will be."

After their talk with the mayor, Ash and Misty could at least be reassured about Violet's safety. Delia still had her worries, Violet was very close to the heart of Team Rocket. She didn't think Violet knew about the involvement of the Viridian mayor with Team Rocket. It made her wondered for how long it could be kept a secret. Violet was dating the mayor's son, so the truth might be revealed to her eventually.

"At least Violet is alright, but there's still no word from Lily and Daisy. Things are so complicated right now," Misty would have never guessed her family would get mixed up in such complex and dangerous situations.

"Maybe we should check the news, they might be saying something," Ash suggested. He the TV and changed the channels looking for a news program. He didn't find anything playing at the time though.

Growing impatient, Misty thought of something, "we should try the Kanto News website. Let me go get my laptop." Misty went to get the device and returned, sitting on the couch. Delia and Ash were sitting left and right of Misty, watching the screen. The wallpaper showed a picture of Ash and Misty on a picnic. Ignoring the posted comments and advertisements, Misty clicked on the latest video featured on the site's main page.

The news anchor, Ameda, narrated while different images were shown on the screen. "To everyone's shock this morning, all of the facilities owned by Ackbar Inc. were closed. Neither employees nor clients are being allowed in." A video of confused and worried people gathered in front of closed gates was shown. "The young Mr. Ackbar recorded a short message and sent it to our station. Let's watch..."

The image on the screen changed to Lando. The background showed an aquarium he had at his mansion. He sat on a wooden chair, carved in detail as if the material could be melted and shaped. It had sand colored cushions to sit on and on the backrest. "As I'm sure many of you know, my father was tragically murdered recently. I will not allow this injustice to go unpunished. Until these matters are resolved, Ackbar Inc. will cease all operations. Until then, I must ask for my employees and clients' patience."

When Lando's message ended, the image returned to the news studio. Ameda continued, "Mr. Ackbar has not replied to our continued requests for an interview. Ackbar Inc. is the number one producer for human and pokemon medical supplies in Kanto. The future of the hospitals and Pokemon Centers in Kanto remains uncertain. Ackbar Inc. possesses exclusive right to distribute several vital human and pokemon medical products in Kanto. Our neighboring region of Johto has decided to respect the condition and refused to sell supplies in Kanto. The other regions have had similar reactions."

"This is bad," Misty's worry grew, "what's going to happen when the hospitals and Pokemon Centers run out of supplies?" She couldn't believe her sister's fiance would go so far to pressure for revenge. "The lives of many will be put in danger if something isn't done soon! What do Tempest or Team Rocket care if Kanto collapses? How could Daisy be okay with this?"

Delia sighed sadly, "she loves him," she voiced softly. "She sees what he's doing, but from his point of view. Sometimes, when something is done for the sake of your loved one, it's easy to forget the effect it may have on the world."

Misty grew silent and tried to put herself in her sister's shoes. If someone hurt Delia and Ash wanted justice, would she let him pursue it by any means? Would she stand by him if he hurt others to uncover the culprit? Perhaps she too would be blinded by sorrow anger and frustration. "I think I understand."

"How could you understand?" Ash didn't quite comprehend how Lando and Daisy could ignore the consequences of paralyzing the medical supply industry.

"Ash, if someone," Misty paused as she felt a cold chill run down her spine, "if someone hurt me or your mom. You would want to bring them to justice, right?"

"Of course I would! That's what I've been thinking all along. Tempest needs to be taught a lesson!" Ash jumped to his feet from the living room couch. "We should be out there hunting down Tempest. They attacked mom and Giovanni. They tried to steal from the Pokemon Center. They're the ones that started all of this when they attacked Vermilion!"

"Ash, that's not what I-" Misty tried to stop him, but Ash was determined. She didn't mean for him to react like that.

"You can't just barge in!" Delia insisted. "Tempest is dangerous, you could be killed! What matters right now is that we talk Lando into resuming Ackbar Inc.'s normal operations and not picking a fight with Team Rocket."

"Alright, I understand," Ash clenched his fists in frustration. It was clear that he was not okay with accepting the inaction. He wanted to take control of the situation.

"Let's call Lily again," Misty could feel the tension around Ash building up. She hoped that her sister had at least made some progress. She hoped that Lando was getting ready to give a new message at that very moment. She hoped for the safety of all those she cared for. The video phone showed a message indicating the unit was deactivated. "Lily has her phone off. I'll try calling Daisy." Misty gave it some time, but the ringing was endless and unanswered. "Daisy must have left her phone somewhere. Let's try Lando's number," the tension and uncertainty build up every time the phone rang.

"Ackbar residence," a woman with a marked accent answered the phone. She sounded as if that was not her first language. The device was set to voice only.

"Hi, it's Misty, Daisy and Lily's sister. I really need to speak to them right away," Misty waited in suspense. She had to talk to her sisters. If Daisy wanted to, she could convince Lando to rethink his actions.

"Ah no, apologies miss," the maid replied, "the master and the ladies are not here. I take a message, yes?"

"Where did they go?" The urgency was evident in Misty's voice.

"I do not know," the maid nervously replied. The entire Ackbar mansion staff was on edge with the current situation.

"This is important!" Ash insisted loudly. "We need to talk to them right now!" He demanded.

The maid let out a little frightened yelp, "apologies, apologies, I do not know."

Misty sighed in exasperation, "it's okay, it's not your fault. If they return or contact you, tell them to call my cell phone immediately."

"Yes, yes," the maid hurriedly agreed, "call Misty, yes? I will give the message."

"Thank you," Misty ended the call and got up. "I'm going to find them." She had made her choice; she couldn't sit still any longer.

"I'm with you!" Ash announced. He was tired of waiting around for things to improve.

"Wait you two, this is dangerous. I know you have to go since Misty's sisters are in the middle of everything, but please don't lose sight of the dangers," Delia reminded, her tone was worried, almost desperate.

"Don't worry mom, we'll be careful," Ash assured. "I'll call you later. Maybe you should stay here for now. We've been in difficult situations before, not like this but don't worry, everything will work out."

"That's what I thought," for a long time, but not anymore, "it's not always like that. Don't lower your guard." Delia was reminded of the day when Ash started his pokemon journey. 

Ash had called her from the Viridian City Pokemon Center after his first day on the road. She mentioned that it had taken his father three days to get there. It was true, three days of speedy get aways with Saffron City as the starting point. She tried to offer him some encouragement, but Ash didn't seem to respond too well. Her comfort wasn't enough for once. Plus the ambiguous image of a man who didn't exist beyond stories of adventures didn't have much to offer.

She had encouraged him a little more and smiled sweetly. She seemed distracted, too cheery. Then she ended the call before he could see her mask fall. She stared at the blank monitor for a long time. "Please," she wished with all her heart as a tear rolled down her face, "be safe."

The stories about the many different people Ash met soon reached Delia when he called her. His encounters with Team Rocket held a prominent place in Ash's narrations. Even so, he sounded happy. He was truly enjoying his journey and he had made good friends. He knew nothing of her past connections with Team Rocket. Jessie and James, the Rockets trying to steal Pikachu, were also unaware of who Ash truly was. Delia thought that maybe her connection with Team Rocket had finally dissolved in time. It had been over a decade, yet the connection could never truly disappear.

Delia walked with Ash and Misty to the door and watched them take a taxi. She followed the yellow car with her eyes until it was out of sight. She didn't know what to do, she couldn't simply sit and wait.

"Delia?" A sudden voice caught her attention after Ash and Misty were gone. 

A red haired woman Delia had not seen in a long time approached the Cerulean gym's front entrance, "Ariana?"

"It's good to see you again; do you have time to chat?" It was obvious that Ariana wasn't referring to a simple friendly chat. 

"Yes, come in," Delia had many things to ask. They went to the gym's living room and sat down with suspense in the air. "What happened? Is Team Rocket planning to do anything about Ackbar? If only Lando can understand that the Vermilion attack was Tempest's fault everything can be solved. Then Ackbar Inc. can keep functioning normally. Kanto needs their medical supplies! Where's Giovanni? What is he planning?"

Ariana raised her hands for Delia to slow down, "calm down. Don't throw so many questions at me at once."

Delia took a deep breath, "I'm sorry, this is no way to greet you after such a long time. So many things are happening; I need to understand what's going on right now."

"Archer is taking care of things with Ackbar. He might still be video conferencing with Bane's son right now," Ariana explained. "Since Giovanni is away, Arch is running things while this mess is sorted out. Giovanni said he would end the Tempest problem himself. I wouldn't worry too much, he can be reckless when pushed, but not stupid. Besides, Proton is with him."

Delia nodded, she felt relieved knowing that negotiations were taking place. "Then there will be a peaceful resolution to the Ackbar situation?"

"It depends on how you define peaceful," Ariana chuckled knowingly, "no heads will roll if that's what you're asking. They will be punished for their doubts and disloyalty, but it will be more about business control and economical resources. Team Rocket will have more control over the company now, but things should run smoothly from the public's perspective. If it makes you feel any better, we can't afford to execute anyone right now. The enemies will be blamed for the disasters and sent to jail. It brings back memories, doesn't it?"

"Yes, if all goes well, history will repeat itself in a way," Delia paused, realizing what she was saying. "That might not be such a good thing, let's say things might work out better than before."

"You're still full of hope I see," Ariana smiled as if reminiscing of the past. They had not been as close as Delia became to Leah, Aayla, Luke and Binks, but Delia was friends with Ariana, Archer, Proton and Petrel years ago. "You really put him on edge you know."

"Giovanni?" Delia looked puzzled, "he sent you here, didn't he? He told you it was alright to talk to me."

"Yes, I guess he still trusts you in his own way, maybe without realizing it." Ariana mused. "Giovanni hasn't taken matters into his own hands so directly in years. Arch thinks something happened to overload him, so to speak. He wants to get this over with and it's not simply because of Kanto."

"Do you really think so?" Delia felt a little better hearing that, but at the same time worried. "He seemed relatively calm, too calm. I tried to be patient, but a bottled up reaction is still a reaction. If my news threw him over the edge and made him all reckless, I'm glad!" Ariana laughed and Delia corrected herself, "that didn't come out right. What I mean is that maybe giving him something to think about caused him to want to rush things along. I noticed that he was curious about Ash, but I wasn't sure if he would just let everything go after a while. Maybe everything did overwhelm him, I'm glad to know he's still human enough to be overwhelmed and do something rash." Delia shook her head, "that doesn't sound right either. I'm glad he can still trust me a little. I'm glad he's not indifferent towards us, you know what I'm trying to say."

"I think so," Ariana was both puzzled and curious. She leaned back on the couch and got comfortable for a long talk. Her mission was simple, 'stop Delia from doing something crazy' that was how Giovanni phrased it. "There is something I don't understand. Who is Ash? First I hear he's suspected to be with the enemy and then we're supposed to leave him out of this. Other than a past Indigo League champion, who is he?"

"Giovanni didn't tell you?" Delia paused, unsure of what to say. 

"He didn't have time for a long talk," Ariana replied, "he just told us that Ash was not the enemy and that he was to be kept out of this."

Delia resolved that it would be alright to explain things, "he's our son."

To be Continued

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 060: Give me Insight

A dark blue limousine quickly made its way through the roads traveling from Vermilion to Viridian. Inside the vehicle, the wireless video conference system was communicating with the Viridian Team Rocket base. The screen showed Archer's image with a serious expression. "Is this offer appropriate, Mr. Ackbar?"

Daisy scooted closer to her fiance and Lily moved closer to her sister. Lando shifted uncomfortably as he tried to bravely speak. If the second in command was this intimidating on a screen, he certainly wished he never had to meet the boss in person. How did his father deal with this? "Sir, those terms are worse than the previous terms you offered."

"You seemed displeased with my previous offer and refused it," Archer reminded, his gaze was sharp and strong. "I offered new terms, are you rejecting them as well?"

"I would be powerless to have any control over the company by those terms," Lando stated, he wanted to refuse, but a worse offer might be made instead.

"Indeed, however, you would still be an ally of Team Rocket as far as the underworld goes," Archer emphasized the importance of that point with his tone. "This means that you would be able to live comfortably and safely. The dreadful happenings of Vermilion City will not be repeated without reason." You can't knock down someone who is already on the floor. Team Rocket would need to allow Ackbar to still have something, rather than nothing to lose.

Lando looked at Daisy. Her eyes were fixed on the screen, she couldn't look away. Lando didn't like that Daisy and Lily had insisted on being present during his conference with Archer. The Rocket executive had demanded that Lando went to Viridian City for the signing of a few documents immediately, with negotiations being conducted along the way. Such documents were not fully legal, but served as a way to keep clear records of agreements. Lando knew he had no choice and the Waterflowers refused to let him do this alone. "Very well, I will accept your terms," so much for war. In the end, he had to put safety first. If anything happened to Daisy and her family, he wouldn't be able to live with it.

"I knew you would see things my way," Archer looked confident, as if he had no doubts of how the situation would turn out. "I will await your arrival, use discretion." The screen went blank.

Lando, Daisy and Lily let out a collective breath. "Well, that like wasn't so bad," Daisy sighed.

"Not so bad? Daisy, dearest, I'm on my way to an unofficial early retirement," Lando frowned.

"I'm just glad they didn't like put a price on your head. Lily was right, we like got caught in the rush of the moment and acted in a dangerous way," Daisy admitted, the reality of what Lando had done finally sunk in.

"I'm so sorry to put you through all this, I'm not worthy," Lando dramatized tragically.

Daisy shook her head, "it's alright. It's over now. Don't look at it as forced retirement. You'll still be like the president in the eyes of the public. You'll still need to like take care of public relations and you'll still get a salary. The difference is that you'll have more free time!" The worse had passed and the situation was starting to stabilize as far as they knew. Daisy smiled, trying to encourage her fiance.

"Then I'll have more time to spend with you!" Lando cheered. "Maybe this really isn't so bad after all." The couple looked at each other lovingly, lost in their own little world.

Lily sighed bitterly. "It must be nice," she mused aloud. Her last break up had been very difficult, just when she thought she found the one. Daisy had found her prince charming and so had Violet and Misty. Upon thinking of Violet, Lily wondered how she was doing. "Do you think Violet is alright?"

Daisy gasped and returned to reality, "oh no, Violet. We need to like apologize; we both said some things we didn't mean." Daisy searched for her cell phone but couldn't find it. "I must have left my phone in Lando's house."

"I'm on it," Lily held up her little pink cell phone. She had it off before. She hit the speed dial for Violet and waited, but her phone was off. "She has her phone turned off. But we know she's in Viridian, she like should be there by now."

"You should find your sister while I take care of business. I don't think they'll allow you into the Rocket base anyway. It's already bad enough that you know they have an important base at Viridian," Lando looked at the Waterflowers seriously, especially at Daisy. "I don't want you to get involved more than needed.

"I don't want to like make anyone mad by being there, but I can't let you face this alone either," Daisy was full of determination. "Besides, we are like engaged to be married! Sooner or later I'll have to learn about the mafia, I'll be a part of it too." 

"Daisy!" Lando gasped full of emotion. "How could I accept such a thing?" He looked into her eyes. 

It was clear that she was full of determination, "don't you trust me?" Daisy's look intensified.

"I trust you," Lando firmly stated, with his face becoming serious. "I will not stop you from learning about the family business if that is your wish. I greatly appreciate your support." His serious expression shifted to moved, "oh Daisy, my darling, how I love you!"

"I love you too!" Daisy exclaimed. The couple shared a loving embrace.

Lily pouted and scooted away from her sister. "When is it going to be my turn?" She wondered.

"However," Lando continued, "this once I will handle things alone. When we get to Viridian City you must find your sister. Later, after all this chaos passes, we can think about your role in all of this. Eventually I will be able to meet with Lord Roketto in person for the first time. My father always handled such meetings in the past. I believe it is best to ask for formal permission before I tell you more. I am very sorry for keeping you waiting, but it is for your protection."

"It's alright," Daisy smiled in understanding. "Lily and I will leave as soon as we enter Viridian City. Then after the formalities are done, we can like talk about everything else. All of this will be kept in like total secrecy, so don't worry. We won't tell anyone, right?"

"Of course not!" Lily assured. "We're like great at keeping secrets."

xoxox xox xoxox

The Saffron mayor's office was just as dark and red as always. The leaders of Tempest entered the office and found Madame at her desk, shrouded in shadows as they had seen her before. Her Ninetales, was out of her pokeball. Instead of sitting regal and ferocious at her side, Nien sat with her head on Madame's lap. Madame petted the pokemon gently, as if soothing her. "What brings you here?" Her voice was authoritative, yet relaxed.

"I've heard that a certain person has been here," Bollux paused, observing Madame's unchanged face. "I am referring to the one known as Akira."

"Ah yes, quite the little troublemaker," Madame chuckled. "You need not worry about her."

Bollux cut to the chase, "we want her as our prisoner." Bollux was often seen as the Tempest leader. He was part of the original Tempest Gang. He had light green hair and matching eyes. The woman known as Poisona secretly acted as the leader, retreating into a position of second in command when she felt she was too obvious. Some said that Poisona was the true Tempest leader, but for some reason didn't want to appear as such. Perhaps it was to avoid being directly targeted by enemies. 

Poisona was constantly at Bollux side, as if needing to supervise and approve his actions. It made her stand out, even if she didn't want to. There were rumors that she was the sister of the past leader, Venom. Her hair was a light tone of lavender and her complexion similar to that of Venom. Only a few still remembered the past leader, the few that still had energy to seek revenge after getting out of jail. The most notable similarity between Poisona and Venom were their stunning red eyes.

"For what purpose?" Madame inquired with perfectly faked curiosity. She assumed that their plans involved using Akira's fame against Team Rocket, since she was known to be an agent. They could be planning to keep pushing the police to take action.

"As a hostage and to use her reputation against Team Rocket," Bollux explained, while Poisona remained silent at his side. "The police seemed to back off when the entire Ackbar hiatus situation was announced. No other message has been issued from Ackbar since then. As far as we know, the medical supply industry will remain paralyzed indefinitely," Ackbar Inc. would soon resume its normal functions, but only a few directly involved people knew that at the time.

"I don't know," Madame sighed in disappointment. "All this time I sheltered you," she watched them and hindered their operations while pretending to help. "I tried to help you at the risk of my noble reputation as the mayor," she used them for her own benefit, while remaining as the secret mayor no one dared to challenge. "I even introduced you to some powerful allies who wished to betray Team Rocket." She turned the two groups into one so that it would be easier for Team Rocket to take them out at once. She knew they would be overpowered even together. 

Madame didn't interfere too much; she still allowed some trouble to slip by. It would be no fun if she did everything. When things got out of hand, she sent a list to her hidden ace, Miyamoto's daughter. The list was collected by her spies inside Team Rocket. Far from causing trouble, they were loyal agents in every other aspect. Miyamoto had been a magnificent agent as well, one without equal in Madame's opinion. She shifted in her chair and continued petting Nien. "I'm starting to feel as if my efforts are wasted on you. Will you ever get revenge on that terrible man who stole so many things from me?" It was all a lie and Tempest believed it.

"We will give you Kenobi Antilles in exchange," Poisona finally spoke. Bollux looked at her in surprise and disapproval. A discrete glance from Poisona put him in his place and he tried to emulate her confidence.

Madame smiled, though her suspicions were strong. The deal was far too convenient and nothing in life came that easy. Even so, the opportunity was too good to pass up. "Very well," thus it was decided.

Poisona had come prepared; she looked at Bollux who took action. He contacted someone on a cell phone, "bring him in."

Madame pressed a button on the intercom, "bring Akira."

A silver haired man in a dark red tuxedo entered the office a couple of minutes later. He was carrying Akira who was unconscious.

Soon after, two other men arrived at the office. One had short dark green hair and bronze eyes. He was wearing a large trench coat with his hands suspiciously in his pockets a hidden gun. The other looked much more like a man of high society; he was the son of Rune Antilles. Kenobi had dark hair and bright green eyes. He didn't know how important it may be to keep him alive, so he didn't take any chances disobeying his captors.

The hostages were exchanged without casualties. The Tempest members left with their new hostage. Even after they were gone, Kenobi shifted uncomfortably, not knowing were he stood in the situation.

"It's alright now, you are safe," Madame spoke.

Kenobi breathed in relief, "thank you! I will be sure to reward you for your kindness mayor..."

"You may call me Madame," she smiled in amusement watching as the young man tried to allow the notion of safety to sink in. "Now sit, I will call for some tea and cookies. Someone should be here to you home soon."

xoxox xox xoxox

At the Cerulean gym, Ariana couldn't hide her surprise, "your son, as in yours and Giovanni's?" She was overcome with a fit of shock induced laughter. "Let me guess? He took it relatively calm and collected, right? You know he's always like that. You used to get so annoyed because of it," when arguing about pokemon experimentation and stealing from good trainers.

"You heard us back then? Well I guess everyone did, but no one mentioned it." Delia couldn't help it but to laugh too as she remembered old times. The memories were bittersweet, but she held them dear. "That's why I said I was glad. Maybe Giovanni really does have too much to think about right now. I know I should be glad he took it calmly; it's just that it makes him so hard to read. Ash doesn't know who his father is. Things are too complicated right now, so we agreed to deal with that later," Delia revealed. "I don't know how that will be done though," her momentary cheer evaporated.

"If Ash was raised by a goody-goody outside of Team Rocket, I suppose finding out his father is the boss would be a shock," Ariana mused aloud. She honestly couldn't imagine it. "I have a son too," she revealed, he looks more like me than his father, but that was some time ago."

Delia's interest was instantly captured by curiosity, "Archer?" She gave a small smile, trying to stay somewhat hopeful despite the uncertainty in the air.

"Yeah, we're still together," Ariana smiled sincerely, but her expression soon turned sour, "our son is not around anymore."

Delia's face was invaded by sadness, "you mean he's," she dared not finish.

"Oh no," Ariana shook her head and chuckled, "I'm sure he's very much alive. He's just not in the team anymore. For some time Giovanni tried to train him to help him run Team Rocket. That boy didn't know what was good for him. He was too much of a rebel and ended up running off. He picked fights with random trainers and even with Rocket agents. He stole pokemon and other things. He was always getting into trouble. After some time passed he started to tone things down a little. I'm not sure what he's doing right now, but at least he's not picking a fight with Team Rocket anymore. I guess he eventually learned that he can't take on the world with just his pokemon. Giovanni was relatively lenient with the situation. I guess it's because Archer and I were doing good jobs."

Delia closed her eyes for a moment, taking in all the information and picturing it. Maybe Archer and Ariana's son didn't belong in Team Rocket. Perhaps it took all that conflict to make him realize what he wanted. Delia opened her eyes and breathed deeply. She had never met him, so she shouldn't be theorizing so much. "Do you miss him?"

"Sometimes," Ariana admitted, "but never mind that. It's been a long time, there's a lot of things we need to talk about," she tried to change the subject into something comfortable and casual.

"Is there something else you can tell me about where Giovanni went?" Delia brought up the question again. As much as she wanted to have a nice relaxing chat with Ariana, the time was not right.

"Something about a duel in the world's edge, but nothing to worry about," Ariana voiced calmly and Delia's eyes shone with interest. "I can't let you go anywhere," Ariana reminded.

"Shall we decide it in a battle?" Delia unexpectedly suggested. She was full of both determination and doubt. "If I can't win, then I doubt I would be able to do anything anyway."

xoxox xox xoxox

At the Tempest hideout in Saffron City, Comet was hard at work cleaning. He let out a breath and observed his work. 'Rockets are super clean compared to these slobs.' He was not well received after his apparent failed mission at the Cerulean City Pokemon Center and was punished for it. As for the mission, the mysterious Saffron City mayor gave him, it was quite simple: 'make sure they don't kill Giovanni.' She had sent him away after that, refusing to discuss the matter further. Comet had already reported everything to headquarters.

"Are you done cleaning the hide out, rookie?" The manager of the illegal pokemon battles roughly asked. "If not because the mayor recommended you, I would-"

"Yes sir, I apologize again for the failure at the Cerulean City Pokemon Center. Give me another chance, I won't disappoint you." Comet managed to look truly apologetic and resist the need to punch that guy in the face.

"You've got some nerve thinking you're off the hook already," his bright yellow hair fell over his gray eyes as he glared. The man scolding Comet was the same one who managed the illegal battles at Saffron City. He was the same who had been at city hall when Comet was first there. He was known as Solo, though no one knew anything about him beyond that. "I bet you were the one whose clumsiness caused the others to get arrested!" Solo was one of the favorite agents of the Tempest leader. 

"I'm going to give you an easy mission that not even you can mess up," Solo growled, "watch the prisoner."

"Yes, sir!" Comet followed Solo down a dark corridor with many doors. Some were partially open and others were closed. The sounds of pokemon came from inside, those were storage rooms. It made Comet feel sorry for them. He liked battles, he even like the brutal battles of the secret illegal arena, granted that the pokemon fought willingly, like Purry. Hearing their cries outside of the rush of a fight didn't feel right.

"Here we are," Solo opened the last wooden door at the end of the hall with a key. The door was old and beaten, but it still held strong. A girl with cyan hair was tied to an old folding chair inside the dim room. There was only one flickering lamp directly above her. Her body was limp as if she would fall to the side if she wasn't tied to the rusted chair.

"Akira?" Comet recognized her right away. Her eyes were closed and she was motionless. She had to be alive; they wouldn't have her tied up like that if she wasn't. Ropes bounded her wrists behind her. Another rope around her waist kept her torso tied to the back of the chair. Her ankles were tied to the chair's legs.

"Yeah, the famous singer," Solo chuckled. "Surprising isn't it? I was shocked too." His expression changed back to a serious one. "Don't mess up, rookie. The boss seems to have plans for the girl. I think it was a stupid trade. I mean, she's famous, but that Antilles guy was rich too. Plus his father, the Viridian mayor, has more political power. This girl's just famous. At least she's good to look at, that's for sure."

"A trade? The Tempest boss traded the mayor's son for Akira?" Comet didn't understand the trade either. He would think having Kenobi would prove to be more beneficial. Akira was more famous, but Kenobi was a more prominent figure in terms of politics. With Kenobi they had mayor Antilles to threaten, but Akira didn't really have anyone in a high position that they could pressure. She was connected to Team Rocket, but so was Kenobi, surely they realized that. His exposure as part of Team Rocket would have been worse than her publicity if they played their cards right. "With who was the trade made?"

"With the Saffron City mayor," Solo revealed, "I don't know what she wants with Kenobi, or with us. She's one mysterious person. I'm pretty sure only the leader and his lady know more about her. They don't talk about it, but they must know something. Even they might not know too much though."

"I will guard the prisoner well, sir." For the time being, Comet would take Akira back into Team Rocket's custody. Then he would come up with a plan to find Kenobi. He was still unaware of the events that happened between Pewter and Cerulean, which resulted with Akira's injury and temporary arrest.

Solo laughed mockingly, "yeah this is about as much as you can handle, guarding an unconscious tied up girl." Solo left the dim room and disappeared when he turned at the end of the hallway.

'You keep thinking that,' Comet mused. He checked Akira's pulse. Her heart was beating regularly and her temperature seemed to be normal. She must have been given something to put her to sleep. They were in a basement so there were no windows. Tempest agents were all around so sneaking out was next to impossible. He would just have to come up with a distraction... that might be fun.

To be Continued

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 061: Give me Help

At the Saffron city hall a man wearing a dark red tuxedo made his way into the mayor's office. The secretary paid him no mind as he went in. He had silver hair and blue eyes. The scene he found at the office was most unexpected. His investigation led him to believe there was something going on with the Saffron City mayor. He had also seen suspicious people going in and out of city hall. Perhaps he could gain some information about Kenobi's location there. He didn't expect to find a dark haired young man sitting at the mayor's very red office drinking tea and eating cookies. That man was Kenobi. Most of all, he didn't expect the mysterious mayor to be Madame Boss.

Madame smiled victoriously, "hello there Petrel. Care to join us? Oh and by the way, next time, you don't need to knock out one of my men and disguise yourself as him. You can just come right in, dear," she mocked.

"I got caught by a security camera didn't I?" Petrel took off his wig and contact lenses in frustration. "I can't believe this! I need to ask for more field missions, I don't want to get out of practice with my disguises." 

"The disguise was fine, except for the part about being caught putting it on," Madame laughed.

Petrel looked at Kenobi, who seemed to be at a loss for words. "Madame saved me," he finally spoke. "She said someone would come for me soon."

"Do you know who she is?" Petrel inquired raising an eyebrow.

"The mayor of Saffron City," Kenobi initially replied, "but that's not all." He thought about it, "you know each other, but you were sneaking in. Is she our ally?" By 'our' Kenobi was secretly referring to Team Rocket.

"Let's just say the boss and his mother are not on speaking terms," Petrel left it at that.

Confusion was reflected in Kenobi's green eyes. "How is the boss' mother related to any of this?" Then the realization hit him as he caught sight of Madame's amused grin, "you are? She is?" He looked from Madame to Petrel and back again. They both nodded.

"Do you know anything about a list of traitors? Two agents that had been fired showed up with it. Doesn't that sound convenient?" Petrel gave Madame a suspicious look.

"Long ago I gave brat boy my resources because he no longer needed them," Madame recalled. "If my help was necessary and I gave it, I would just be getting in the way of brat boy reaching his potential. This time, I'm just helping speed things along towards a result that would have been the same anyway. That is all," Madame smiled. "As for the agents you speak of, they are unaware of who I am in relation to brat boy."

"I see," Petrel thought about it, Giovanni would be angry hearing Madame call him brat boy still. "Well, I guess I'll let things be for now, but I'll have to tell the boss. He won't be happy about this... interference."

"She was helpful!" Kenobi protested.

"That's really not the point," Petrel's tone of voice made it clear it was best to drop the subject. "Kenobi, we should return now."

"Ah, yes, it would be best to be on our way," Kenobi agreed. "Madame, thank you very much for your assistance."

"Too bad not everyone is as polite as you," Madame chuckled in amusement. "You're quite welcome my dear."

xoxox xox xoxox

After swiftly leaving Madame's office, Petrel reported the recent happenings to Archer. "Mission accomplished, I have Kenobi and I'm taking him back to Viridian City as we speak." The car they were in was purple to match Petrel's hair. It had a red R bumper sticker, though it wasn't too big so it didn't stand out. Petrel kept an eye out for pursuers as he drove, but there weren't any.

Kenobi was still unaware of the Waterflowers' involvement in the recent events. He hardly knew anything of what had been happening in Kanto during his captivity. He assumed Violet was safe in Cerulean City; he had no reason to think otherwise. He wondered if his kidnapping had been made public. He hoped not, he didn't want to worry Violet. It was inevitable to worry his father; he had to know he had been missing. Kenobi would think of something to tell Violet later and apologize for his lack of communication recently. He had not called her in a long time. It was best to sort things out and call when he had the time to properly talk to her.

"Good, that's one less think to worry about, I'll let Rune know," Archer's voice came from Petrel's little black cell phone, with a shiny red R. "It seems things are running smoothly so far. All that's left to do is capture the enemy, hand them to the police to take the blame and conduct some public relations here and there. Soon we will make it as if nothing happened," if Giovanni's plan worked. He intended to take care of Tempest directly. 

"There's more," Petrel got ready to report the most interesting piece of information he had found. "The suspicions about the Saffron mayor being involved with the enemies were true, but it seems she was using them. She was just messing with them and possibly with us. She was the origin of the traitor list Jessie and James brought, but they don't know that. The mysterious Saffron mayor is Madame Boss."

"Giovanni's mother?" Suddenly Comet's report made a lot more sense to Archer. "Let's allow Giovanni to focus on his mission for now, we'll give him the report afterwards. We don't want to anger him and throw him out of focus. I guess dealing with this detail will be part of the aftermath clean up. Do you think she'll be troublesome for now?"

"I don't think so," Petrel replied with a hint of doubt. "She handed Kenobi over easily enough. It doesn't look like I'm being followed or anything. I never did understand Madame. Maybe Giovanni's the only one who can figure her out."

Archer disagreed, "I don't think anyone can. There's a lot to do, but for now let's focus on one thing at a time. Return to headquarters and we'll decide what to do from there."

xoxox xox xoxox

Delia and Ariana stood on opposite sides of the Cerulean gym's battle arena. The large pool was filled with crystalline water. The water was still, yet not truly calm, as if it had no room to move with all the tension in the atmosphere. "Two on two," Delia requested.

Ariana nodded from the other side of the water themed arena. She looked confident, "fine by me."

"We don't have much time," win or lose, Delia wanted to get things done as fast as possible. If she couldn't win, she would think of what to do then. If she won, she would need to be on her way. With a look of determination, Delia released her two pokemon, "Cloyster, Kingler!" Both pokemon emerged from the red beams of their respective pokeballs simultaneously. They landed comfortably in the welcoming water of the pool. The liquid shifted when the two pokemon splashed in, but soon became still again as they floated. "We'll battle with both pokemon at the same time," Delia had battled like that especially often immediately after the Viridian Gym take over, when Kanto was cleaned of other gangs. 

Ariana released two of her pokemon from their pokeballs, Weavile and Honchkrow appeared. Honchkrow flew above the water out of reach with Weavile on his back. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Absolutely!" Delia had no time to doubt, she needed to believe she could win. "Cloyster, Kingler, water gun together!" The two water pokemon were unsure. Giovanni wasn't there to scare them into listening and they still had their doubts about Delia. Would she leave them again? "Cloyster, Kingler, please!"

"It looks like they won't listen to you," Ariana shook her head in disapproval. "You've been gone too long and it seems you didn't leave enough of an impression to make them listen. This battle is mine," Ariana sent her pokemon on the attack. "Honchkrow use trickery!" 

Cloyster and Kingler sunk under the water to protect themselves against Honchkrow's attacks. "Cloyster, Kingler, you have to fight back!" Delia called out to them, but they still wouldn't listen. They just sunk deeper until they were safe at the bottom of the pool. Bubbles rose up from their location as they discussed something in their language. They were probably debating what they should do, if they should truly give Delia another chance or not.

"Perfect," Ariana looked victorious. As she expected, the battle would be over soon. "Keep them underwater Honchkrow, Weavile use ice beam, full power!"

"You can't freeze them in there!" Delia realized what was going on.

"I can and I will!" Ariana laughed. "It seems you've lost, but don't take it too badly. Maybe with some training you might reach the potential you used to have."

"What I need is to regain the trust I used to have," Delia argued back. "Cloyster, Kingler, I'm sorry I left you like that. I honestly thought you would be better off if you stayed at the gym. Even if it wasn't my place, I thought it could still be yours. I didn't know that you would end up so neglected. Please forgive my misjudgment, I'm here now and I'm willing to earn your trust again from the beginning."

Cloyster and Kingler were heading to the surface of the pool trying to break the sheet of ice that formed. Ariana could not allow them that chance, "Honchkrow, confuse ray, Weavile, hurry up with that ice beam!" Her two pokemon obeyed.

The beam of perplexing dark light could be seen past the sheet of ice that didn't shield the water pokemon's minds. They were already doubtful, which made them vulnerable to the confusion. Cloyster and Kingler swam around under the sheet of ice. They occasionally bumped into it and each other, pushing each other away. Weavile was starting to look tired, but the beam of ice didn't cease. Ariana's pokemon kept freezing the pool, the sheet of ice becoming thicker and deeper.

"Cloyster! Kingler!" Delia desperately called out to them. "This is hopeless," she realized. "Ariana, I give up, you won the battle."

With a cunning look Ariana refused to accept the end of the battle, "I'm not going to stop."

"I already gave up, that's enough!" Delia insisted.

"I said I'm not stopping," Ariana stood firm by her choice.

"Cloyster, Kingler, return!" The red beams from the two pokeballs reached towards the ice, but didn't go past it. "Return!" Delia jumped off the trainer platform and on to the frozen pool. She tried to use the pokeballs again at close range, but it still didn't work. "Cloyster, Kingler, I'll get you out of there!"

Honchkrow and Weavile screeched at Delia as if telling her to go away. They were trained not to stop attacking until their trainer said so. No one could get in their way. "I think you should get out of the battle field," Ariana advised.

"No way, this battle is over, Cloyster and Kingler shouldn't still need to fight. Bending the rules a little is one thing, but this is cheating," Delia argued. "If that's how you want it, I'll cheat too." She took off her shoe and threw it. The shoe hit Honchkrow on the beak. "You two back off or you'll have to deal with me!"

"You don't stand a chance!" Ariana warned, she sounded serious, yet with an undertone of amusement. 

"I don't care, I have to try!" Delia pounded on the ice with all her might, trying to break it.

"So that's how it is," a real smile formed on Ariana's face. She recalled Weavile and Honchkrow back into their pokeballs before they could seriously attack Delia.

"I'm sure this ice has to break, it's not cold enough in here to maintain it," Delia kept hitting the ice. "I won't ask you to battle for me if you don't want to. If you do, I'll trust you with my very life and I'll take good care of you." 

The two pokemon under the ice finally lost their confusion and struggled together to get out. The ice began to break until they made a hole in it and climbed out. 

"Cloyster, Kingler, will you give me another chance?" They were willing to; Delia didn't need to speak their language to know that. "Thank you, I know this is too much to ask for, but the Giovanni we used to know still exists. Will you help me find him again?"

The two water pokemon could see that Delia's intentions and determination were true. They nodded in unison, voicing their agreement together. Delia hugged them both.

"So you're still going?" Ariana inquired, though she didn't wait for an answer. "I thought as much. You're not one to give up easily. You still have a strong determination and you're willing to break the rules if needed. Alright, let's go, Giovanni might need some help after all. You two somehow have a way of bringing out each other's wild side, no doubt about it."

"Ariana..." Delia was surprised by the turn of events. She expected Ariana to put up more of an argument. In the end, the executive couldn't stand by without directly helping Team Rocket. Delia immediately agreed, "yes, we should hurry to the world's edge."

Ariana grinned, "on one condition..."

xoxox xox xoxox

Later at Saffron City, Ash and Misty were wandering through the streets. A stream of suspicious rumors that they couldn't ignore took them there. "Do you really think we'll find out anything useful here?" Misty asked impatiently. She felt she should be trying to locate her sisters.

"There has to be a cause for all those rumors," Ash reasoned. After taking buses and taxis, it was the evening and they still haven't found much beyond rumors. "I know we're going to find something, I can feel it!"

Misty sighed. She found herself remembering the odd looks Ash got due to his messy hair. "Ash, this is a wild Farfechd chase." She finally had enough.

"No it's not, I told you I can feel that something will happen, trust me." Ash was in the middle of persuading Misty to trust his instinct when he spotted a familiar pokemon. "Is that...?"

Misty looked in the direction Ash was pointing and saw the Meowth. She was easily recognizable due to her war zone appearance. It was obvious she had been in many tough battles. "No way," Misty couldn't believe it, but she knew it to be true. "I think you're right. Somehow I feel like I shouldn't be surprised. Trouble has a knack for finding you, or is it the other way around?"

"I don't know, but I'm not letting her get away!" Ash declared full of determination. "I have to catch that Meowth and ask her where she hid my hat!" He dashed towards Purry. 

Purry had gone into an alley between two buildings and headed towards a door on one of them. She was sure she saw Comet go in there earlier. 

"Stop right there!" Ash yelled at the top of his lungs. If his approaching footsteps haven't already given away his presence, his voice would have.

"So much for the element of surprise," Misty sarcastically commented.

"Give me back my hat!" Ash firmly demanded, ready to battle the Meowth for it. "Did that guy from Team Rocket take it? Are you his pokemon? I don't care, I'm catching you anyway. I'm getting my hat back no matter what!"

Purry hissed ready for battle. Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulders and stood defensively between the ferocious Meowth and Ash. The door that led to the Tempest hideout was suddenly opened. Solo stood there glaring at the noisy intruders in the alley, "what's all this commotion about?" He was wearing his Tempest uniform, with a green T clearly visible on his black shirt.

"Tempest!" Ash exclaimed, recognizing the uniform. "You see, Misty? I told you we would find something. Now we can take down Tempest." Ash was excited about it.

"Take us down?" Solo let a mocking laugh echo. He didn't want to make a big scene while Bollux and Poisona were out. To avoid attracting too much attention, he invited the suspicious trainers in. He had no intentions of letting them leave alive. "Feel free to step inside and we'll decide everything in a battle."

The invitation was obviously a trap; that was something that not even Ash could miss. Even so, he wasn't one to turn down a challenge. "I accept your challenge!" He agreed without a second thought.

"Ash," Misty paused, she wanted to get rid of Tempest as much as Ash did, if not more. She knew this was reckless, she knew it was a trap. Even with that knowledge she couldn't back down. They would take on the challenge together. She looked determined, "let's win this."

Ash and Misty were led inside, where they were surrounded by Tempest grunts. Purry followed them in. She decided to look for Comet first and battle that young man and his Pikachu later. 

xoxox xox xoxox

Comet was trying to devise an escape plan. He knew he would only get one chance. If he didn't succeed he would blow his cover and would make things difficult. He paced around the small underground room were Akira was held hostage. He had untied her from the chair, but she was still unconscious. After thinking about it, that was probably for the best.

"Meowth!" A familiar voice called out from the door. Comet opened it to see Purry. 

Comet heard voices not too far away. Commands were being shouted and a battle was taking place. "What in the world is going on?" He went to take a look. At the end of the hall, in the large room beyond, there was chaos. Too many pokemon had been released at once. A storm of fire, water and electricity was raging dominantly above the other attacks. Battling in such a relatively small space was dangerous. "Those two were in the Cerulean Pokemon Center before," Comet recognized Ash and his friend. "Did the boss send them?" He wondered, "there's no time to give it too much thought. Purry, give them a hand, you can fight without me. I want to stay and battle, but I have to take the opportunity to get Akira out of here."

"Meowth!" Purry understood. She ran towards the intense battle, slashing away at all who got in her way. It didn't take her long to identify which pokemon were allied to Tempest and attack them.

Comet carried Akira out of the room where she was kept. He paused at the hallway and remembered the story from when Team Rocket took over the Viridian gym. Why not help out a little? It wouldn't take too long. He set the unconscious Akira down and went to release the pokemon from their cages. The pokemon ran with no specific target in mind, they just escaped through the chaos.

Dodging stray fire balls, beams of water and bolts of electricity, Comet snuck out of the hideout. Leaving the chaos behind, he dashed out of the alley. He hurried to his car with the unconscious Akira. Once safely inside the 'chocolate bar', he reported back to Team Rocket. He made sure to keep Akira's arms and legs tied up so she didn't cause any trouble if she woke up. "This is agent Comet, reporting from Saffron City, I have Akira."

"Well done," the one who replied from the Viridian Headquarters was Archer. His face appeared in the video cell phone's tiny screen. "Bring her to Viridian right away. Make sure she doesn't escape and don't let anyone follow you."

"Yes, sir!" Comet replied a little too cheerful, but it came as no surprise to Archer. Comet was a good agent despite having the same carefree attitude Luke had been known for. "Did the boss send Ash and his friend to battle Tempest?" He had to ask.

"What?" Archer was intrigued by this new development.

"They were with him when Giovanni stopped Tempest from stealing at the Cerulean City Pokemon Center. Because of that, I thought he must have sent them," Comet explained.

'Giovanni, what are you doing?' Archer silently mused. His expression was thoughtful and analytical as he remembered the report he saw on TV about Ash defending Giovanni. "It's fine, let them proceed, just bring Akira here."

xoxox xox xoxox

Back at the Tempest hideout, the glimmer of a gun was caught in the dim light of the basement. Charizard roared and blasted it away with fire, melting it. All the attacks and commands blended into one. Ash's Charizard and Pikachu and Misty's Gyarados worked well together despite the limited space. The mysterious Meowth was helping too. She was very strong despite not having evolved yet. 

Pokemon ran by, as if they were wild, ignoring the humans. Some would get caught up in the attacks and others would rush by. Solo stepped away from the battle, leaving the rest of Tempest to fight without him. He was the one who invited the trainers in, but he didn't expect them to be so strong. He rushed to get the hostage and escape. Unfortunately for him, Akira was not where he left her and the one who was supposed to be guarding her had disappeared. He gave the rookie Tempest agent a useless job to mock him, but it all backfired.

xoxox xox xoxox

Jenny was patrolling the streets of Saffron City on her motorcycle. She saw a large group of seemingly wild pokemon heading in her direction. The pokemon spread out as they ran, but they seemed to be coming from the same place. It was an alley next to an apartment building. That was a troublesome area. 

The citizens who lived in that building were rumored to be involved in all sorts of illegal activities. The police had tried to investigate, but the people complained that their homes and privacy were being invaded without a reason. The result was a scolding letter sent to the police station from the mysterious Saffron mayor. After that, the police had to back off.

This was Jenny's chance to get some solid proof that there was something illegal going on. The pokemon running out were very suspicious to say the least. She hurried towards the alley and parked her motorcycle in front of it. She walked down the dark alley and found that the door at the end was falling off its hinges. Many loud noises were heard from inside. She carefully peeked in and found a massive battle, this would require backup.

Jenny stepped away from the door and called for backup. The police cars arrived swiftly but noisily. They had their sirens as they rushed towards her location. They were eager to prove that they were right about that building. 

xoxox xox xoxox

Just when Solo thought things couldn't get any worse, he heard sirens outside. He rushed towards one of the storage rooms and found that the cages were open. All the pokemon had escaped. Cursing under his breath, he searched for a secret passage on the wall and revealed a thin tunnel with a hidden ladder. He quickly began to climb it, until he arrived at a secret room on the first floor.

The place was supposed to be an apartment building, but it was in truth the hideout of many criminals. Their illegal fields were varied and they all coexisted in secrecy since their businesses didn't often overlap. Solo hurried to the elevator and pressed the button to go to the top floor. The buildings on that street were close to each other. If he got to the roof, he could jump to another building and escape.

In the basement, Purry heard the police too. They must have been alerted by the noise and by all those pokemon rushing out. She loved battles and was enjoying the fight, but she knew it was time to leave. The strong Meowth rushed out and climbed up the wall in the alley. She escaped from the officers that were starting to gather there. With all the chaos, the Tempest grunts couldn't get away.

Jenny let her Arcanine out of his pokeball and charged in, "nobody move!" Nobody listened and the chaos continued.

A stray gun shot echoed, missing its target. "Who was that?" Ash searched for the armed enemy in the wild disarray. "Over there!" He spotted one of the Tempest grunts trying to take aim.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu let out another massive thunderbolt against the armed grunt. The electric attack also caught the pokemon and trainers next to him.

He dropped the gun and another enemy tried to pick it up. "No you don't," Misty noticed what was going on. She thought they had already gotten rid of all the weapons, "Gyarados, water gun!" Gyarados' water pushed away all the trainers and pokemon around the weapon, throwing them against a wall.

"Melt it, Charizard!" Ash pointed at the gun that was left on the floor. With a blast of fire it was rendered useless as the other weapons had been.

Jenny was feeling ignored and disrespected. She couldn't take this any longer, "we're going to need more reinforcements," she growled through clenched teeth.

To be Continued

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 062: Give me Reunions

The dark blue limousine moved through blackness of the forest, away from the line of lamp posts provided by Pewter City. It felt as if the evening had become the middle of the night. That was the illusion caused by the sky being completely blocked by the lush trees.

The video conference system received an incoming connection. It was encrypted, as the previous one had been. It took a moment for the hardware to interpret the signal. Several seconds passed and the screen lit up. A Rocket grunt covered in shadows appeared on the screen with instructions. The directions were passed on to the driver as the screen went blank again. 

"Stop here," Lando nervously instructed. "It's so dark, maybe we should move closer to the city," he debated on what to do. His violet eyes looked clouded with doubt and worry.

"That's alright," Daisy decided. "Let's not make them angrier," she looked concerned as she opened the door and got off along with Lily.

"My darling, I can't abandon you in this wilderness!" Lando protested, even if the Waterflowers had been ordered to get off there. He knew he had to go to the Rocket base alone. Yet the forest was too dark, as if it hid a wicked secret.

"You're the one who's like going into the really dangerous place," Daisy quietly voiced. "If you're not back in an hour, I'll go save you!"

"My love, you mustn't!" Lando gasped dramatically. "Fear not my sweet. I will surely return one way or another, because I know you'll be waiting."

The couple was all sweetness and love, even in the face of danger. Lily didn't know if she should sigh happily or get jealous. She was truly happy for her sisters, but it was finally starting to sink in that she felt left out. Besides, she still wasn't fully over her ex. Daisy and Lando shared a kiss before they finally parted ways. 

The two Waterflower sisters started walking through the forest. They stayed on the side of the road to avoid getting lost. After a few minutes, the lights of an approaching limousine were seen. The vehicle was green; it was the Viridian mayor's official transport. The forest green limousine stopped next to Daisy and Lily. They were not worried since they recognized it. They expected mayor Antilles to have identified them as Violet's sisters and offer to give them a ride. He would probably ask why they were walking through the dark forest in the first place. They would have to come up with an excuse to avoid suspicion.

The door to the back of the limousine was opened by the one riding in it. It was not Rune Antilles. "Violet?" Lily was happily surprised to see her.

"Get in," Violet invited softly, not directly looking at Daisy. Seeing her sisters' doubt she elaborated, "Team Rocket knows I'm coming to pick you up." 

Daisy and Lily got in with shocked expressions and the driver turned back towards the city. "I'm so sorry," Daisy voiced.

"I'm sorry too, we shouldn't have argued like that. I was worried about Kenobi and you were worried about Lando," Violet acknowledged sadly. She looked at Daisy's regretful eyes.

"I should have put your feelings first. I should have told, no, I should have like demanded that Lando didn't go through with his plans. He's in trouble for it now. It was up to me to stop him, but I like couldn't, I foolishly encouraged him instead," a few tears escaped Daisy.

"It's okay," Violet hugged her older sister, "it's going to be okay. Everything will work out, I'm sure."

"What about Kenobi? How do you know about Team Rocket?" Daisy asked with real concern. Lily listened with attention, hoping that he had been found safely.

Violet looked calmer upon hearing the name, "he's fine. He's on his way here right now. I'll wait for him at his house and welcome him. That's where we're going now, the mayor is there too. We'll explain everything there."

xoxox xox xoxox

The Antilles' house was more so a mansion, but still much smaller than Giovanni's. Green was everywhere, since Rune loved the color so much. He would always say it was forest pride. Entering the residence was similar to entering an enchanted forest. Fake trees were on each corner with their branches extending over the ceiling. Shiny glass leaves hung from them reflecting the overhead lights. As a result, the leafy green carpet on the floor was filled with pale green dots of light. 

The first time Violet visited, she almost expected a miniature glowing Clefairy to pop out like in the story books. The green got old quickly, it was an overload, yet that first impression was memorable. 

The butler led the sisters to a large room with a 3D TV. Mayor Antilles was waiting there, watching the news. They shared a quiet greeting; their attention was mostly on the TV. The image projected Lando, giving a message about Ackbar Inc. He apologized for his behavior and assured that the company would continue functioning normally the next day. Daisy felt relief wash over her seeing the image. She took it as a sign that his meeting with the mafia was going as well as it could. 

After the message ended, the image changed back to the news station. Commentaries about the message were made, but that didn't hold the spectators' attention. "I'm glad you're all in good health," Rune smiled calmly. His son was safe and on his way. As far as he was concerned, the storm had passed. Giovanni would take care of the rest; he always found a way to make things work.

"You too," Daisy replied, returning the expression. "We like heard about Kenobi."

Lily nodded, "it must have been so hard, but he's like safe now, so the worse is over." She tried to look encouraging.

"Yes," Rune sighed in relieved exhaustion. "I've had a long last few days. I think it's finally alright to breathe calmly. Kenobi should be here soon. Then we can talk for a while and finish getting all the stress out of our system. I have already prepared rooms for everyone. I can't allow you to go on your way so late. You must spend the night over. Violet has already agreed."

Daisy didn't know how long Lando would take to negotiate. She had no intentions of leaving Viridian City until he was finished with his meeting. "Thank you for your hospitality. To be honest, I don't think I like have the energy to travel anymore tonight."

"Me either," Lily agreed.

"With all the recent happenings it's been quite stressful," Rune was glad that he at least had the Waterflowers' willing presence in Viridian until the next day. They were to remain until someone from the Rocket headquarters came to speak to them. Until then, Rune would try his best to clarify things. They could be on their way only after Archer said it was alright. Giovanni still had not returned and Archer was running things in his absence.

Daisy frowned, almost ashamed, "about that..." She wasn't sure how to phrase it.

"There's no need to worry," Rune assured. "I was afraid I would lose my son. My stress and fear nearly killed me, but I had to keep a calm face for the city. That made it even more stressful, it's a miracle I'm still here now. What I'm trying to say is that a bond between a father and son can be a very strong thing. I don't know what I would have done if I had lost Kenobi. I don't blame the young Mr. Ackbar for any of the things he did in his time of pain."

Daisy nodded with her eyes watery, "I hope everyone is that understanding."

"I'm sure they will be," Rune encouraged, though he had no way to ascertain his words.

"Dad, I'm back!" A familiar voice called out. Kenobi entered the large room as Violet stood up and ran to him. "Violet, you're here too and your sisters. I'm so happy to see you. I worried you, didn't I? I'm sorry; I wanted to take the time to talk to you. I wasn't sure if this was public."

"The fact that you were missing?" She hugged Kenobi who returned the embrace. "Of course I knew. It wasn't made public right away, but I was worried because you didn't call me." She was happy that he had returned in good health. "Don't disappear on me like that again."

"I won't," Kenobi smiled. Being kidnapped and held captive was a hard experience to forget. On top of everything, the details about Madame's intentions were still uncertain. He didn't know what would happen next; apparently he had missed a lot. For the time being that didn't matter, he was home and everything was alright. He pushed the worries and uncertainty away to focus on the bittersweet present. He was hiding so much from Violet.

"Kenobi," Rune smiled seeing his son in good health.

"Dad, sorry to have worried you. Are you alright? How's your health?" Kenobi shared a hug with his father.

"You're the one who was in danger and you're asking me?" Rune laughed to lighten the mood. He recognized the danger that being stressed presented to him and he didn't want to cause additional grief. "I'm fine now that you're back. Let's all take some time to talk; we have a lot to discuss."

xoxox xox xoxox

Comet arrived at the Viridian Rocket Headquarters. He drove in through a secret entrance where he was expected. Akira was still out like a light. Comet had a bad feeling and checked her vital signs several times along the way. She was breathing, her heart was beating at a normal rhythm and there was nothing unusual about her temperature. The only problem was that she wasn't waking up. 

Akira was immediately taken to the medical facilities. Laiki treated humans on occasion, despite her lack of formal training for it, so she had some experience. Comet went along and saw Laiki apparently hard at work reading from her computer along with Pixel, who had her own laptop open too. They were researching all kinds of things about Ash. He was the son of Delia Ketchum, the boss' ex. Curiously, after they checked out the birth registry with some hacking help from Prism, they found that his father was a mystery. Everything pointed towards the same conclusion, all the more reason to continue feeding their curiosity.

"Duty calls," Laiki got up from her desk after Akira was set down on a bed. Her legs were still tied, but Comet untied her hands from behind her to set her down on her back. The entire time he kept his guard up. He expected Akira to jump to life any second. Yet she was so still that if he had not checked her vital signs himself, Comet would think she was dead.

There were no surprised greetings, because somehow they knew Comet would be back alright, they believe that. "Guess what? I got Prism back!" Pixel proudly declared. "Archer, you know, the executive, offered to put me back on the tech team. I said I liked my current job better, but that I would keep it in mind for the future. I want to train more to become more skilled with technology and go on missions instead of staying here all the time. He said that as long as I was useful and loyal it was okay. Then he offered me a Porygon for my training, to become a better hacker. Imagine my surprise when the Porygon I got was Prism. I missed her."

"That's awesome!" Comet congratulated. He caught sight of the image on Laiki's computer and his expression changed to discomfort. "I didn't need to see that," The computer displayed a rather revealing picture of Ash.

"It's a fake," Pixel pointed out. "I've seen that body with at least three different heads. If you look closely, you can tell they didn't completely blend in the neck properly. The actor's head is perfectly handsome. I don't know why they had to decapitate him for fake fan service. Ever since some paparazzi ambushed Ash at the beach, there have been plenty of real shirtless pictures floating around the net anyway."

Comet walked over to Laiki's computer and clicked to close the image. "Hey!" Laiki looked up from her work of examining Akira's condition. "I wanted to save that. When the word gets out that the boss has a son, everyone will come to me to ask me about him. What will I show them?"

"It was a fake anyway," Comet reminded, pouting in annoyance. "Besides, wouldn't that get you into trouble? What do you mean he has a son? It's been officially confirmed?"

"Who cares if it's fake, it's hot," Laiki argued, while she listened to Akira's heartbeats. "As for official confirmation, close enough. It's basically a sure thing with all the connecting dots that have been found. Back on the topic of fake pictures, the other day I found a picture of the boss-"

"I don't want to know," Comet insisted.

"Well, I heard he works out a lot but that's not what I was going to say." Laiki argued with a pout.

"Really Laiki, you're starting to remind me of Purry," as far as Pixel knew, the Meowth was in love with the Rocket boss. In truth the one she liked was his Persian.

"I'm not sure what that's about, but let's get back on topic," Laiki continued, "it was a picture of the boss in his orange suit. Remember that suit? It was colored pink and had little red hearts all over it. That would get me into trouble, but it was hilarious!"

"Don't tell anyone," Pixel warned Comet, "if the boss gets mad and blows up the internet I'll die of boredom without it. Then my ghost will haunt you for the rest of eternity." She paused and turned her laptop around. "Look, I found the original picture with its original head."

"I didn't need to see that again." Comet decided not to try to continue the argument. 

"I also found some of those beach pictures of Ash," Pixel's finger were on the tiny analog stub, moving the little red R cursor on the screen. 

"You should see if that fan service picture of the boss," Laiki suggested, "the one from when some paparazzi snuck into his private gym and caught him boxing."

"I haven't seen that. You're kidding, right? Honestly, this is the boss you're talking about!" Pixel protested.

"I know," Laiki laughed, "the picture was probably disintegrated from the face of the internet. I have a copy on a password protected USB, I'll show you later," Laiki offered with a giggle. "Oh man, if the boss finds out, he'll have my head. I trust you guys to keep this all a secret. I don't want to end up like that paparazzi, rest in pieces."

Comet was about to ask if she meant rest in peace but instead requested. "I would appreciate it if you'd stop corrupting Pixel," Comet pouted, he happened to like Pixel. "I prefer the innocent Pixel who is only attracted to computers."

"I still find computers to be attractive," Pixel chimed.

"If she's only attracted to computers then she wouldn't be attracted to you," Laiki pointed out. She watched for Comet's reaction from the corner of her eyes. He didn't make a reply. Laiki didn't understand them. She certainly wasn't shy with any of her multiple boyfriends. She supposed that having Pixel deny her interest in Comet would discourage him to pursue her, at least until she got over her denial.

Instead of continuing the previous conversation, Comet warned, "you should be careful with Akira."

"I know," Laiki responded quietly, "but she can't escape when she's on the verge of death." She had gotten to work with a needle taking a small drop of black blood from Akira. She had analyzed it with her high tech equipment. She usually used it for pokemon samples, but it worked for humans too.

Laiki's statement caught the attention of both Comet and Pixel. "What do you mean? She's unconscious but she's still breathing."

The advanced medical technology had worked quickly on the small blood sample bringing the results of the test to light. "The test results are as I feared," Laiki announced. The previous momentary cheerful atmosphere had dissolved into a gloomy cloud more befitting of the situation.

"Her blood is black?" Comet was puzzled by that detail. "Is that the problem?"

"That's not the biggest problem," Laiki informed, "this substance is black, but it is indeed blood. It has all its components and who knows what else. I can't analyze it beyond that without taking a bigger sample," Laiki spoke solemnly.

"Why don't you?" Pixel inquired. "It's needed for a cure, right? I don't care what she might have done to others; she was nice to me because we're both Rockets."

"I understand and I suppose I have no choice," Laiki spoke sadly, "she has so little blood to give, her heartbeats are empty... There's mostly air in her veins, that's the only explanation. She can't move because only her brain is being fed oxygen, being kept alive. I don't know how it's possible for her to be alive with so little blood and for her heart to still beat regularly. Her body is dying, if that happens, her brain will not receive what it needs to function, then she'll be really gone."

"Can't we give her some blood?" Comet urged, "what's her blood type? She should have enough left to figure out that much." Akira was his friend too.

"That's not the problem; I got that information from my analysis just now. The truth is she never got an initial medical examination when she joined Team Rocket," Laiki recalled. "I found it odd, but thought little of it. I let it pass since she looked healthy enough. Maybe she was hiding this back then. That doesn't explain why she's so lacking in blood right now. According to the news she was injured when she was arrested. Then she escaped, she was well enough to run away. Then there's this," Laiki pointed to Akira's arms. There was a series of swollen dots, as if many needles had been there. "It doesn't look like her loss of blood was accidental. This may sound crazy, but it looks like someone stole her blood. If that's the case, then there had to be something different about it. I don't know what kind of blood to give her. I don't know what normal blood will do to her."

"If she doesn't get it, then..." Pixel didn't need to finish. What she was hinting at was obvious.

"She can't last long. I just hope that giving her blood won't kill her faster," Laiki was at a loss for what to do. "I'm calling a few people from the labs; maybe they'll have some ideas. In the mean time there's no choice but to take the risk, she needs blood. First, I'll take another sample before adding in the normal blood." 

Comet and Pixel looked at the comatose Akira while Laiki got things ready for the blood transfer process. Akira was so white. That was her normal color, she had always been pale. If she had some color in her skin to begin with, then the change would have been more noticeable.

"Okay, she's ready, now I just need to get some human blood," Laiki voiced with concern. "There's only pokemon blood in the reserves. According to the machine she's supposed to be AB positive, or an approximate of that, I can't be sure."

"Take mine," Comet offered, "I'm O negative, its supposed to be good for almost everyone."

"That's..." Laiki paused as if looking for the right words, or the right excuse. "It's not a good idea, you're tired, you look pale and exhausted," it was a lie. Pixel didn't agree with Laiki's perception, but she knew nothing about medicine, so she didn't voice any disagreements. "You need your rest and your blood. Finding some extra for you will be difficult if you run low. I'm AB positive and I take my vitamins every day, I can spare some blood." Laiki hoped it was alright, but she couldn't be sure.

xoxox xox xoxox

At the Saffron City police station, Ash and Misty were having a hard time making Jenny listen. "We were trying to stop Tempest, we're not with them. It should be obvious that we were fighting against them!" Ash had been taken into police custody along with Misty and the members of Tempest. Solo had escaped and his location remained unknown. Poisona and Bollux never returned to the hide out. 

"That's enough out of you, be quiet!" Jenny ordered in frustration. She had all she could take with the way things were working in Saffron City. When the police tried to make justice, someone would complain that they were abusing their power. The mayor would interfere and criminals would run free. 

The city was calm on the surface. Robberies and street fights were rather rare. For the most part, the citizens were relatively safe. None the less, Saffron City had become a safe haven for illegal traders, loan sharks and others such criminals. As long as they took their murders and attacks out of the city, the mayor didn't care. Jenny had her hands tied with the limits of her jurisdiction and she was just about ready to snap.

To be Continued

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 063: Give me Redemption

"Don't you know who I am?" Ash demanded from the cell he was imprisoned in at the Saffron City police station. All of his and Misty's pokemon were taken away, including Pikachu. The pokemon put up a fight, which didn't help Ash's image. In the end, Ash managed to calm them down and called everyone back into their pokeballs except Pikachu. Pikachu was kept in a small cage placed across the cells. He could at least see his trainer from there, so he stopped fussing and waited to be let out.

"I know who you are," Jenny answered, clearly in a bad mood. "You won the Indigo League championship in the past. You're a great trainer with fans and admirers in many regions. That doesn't mean you're above the law." This was not the kind of world Jenny wanted her young daughter to grow up in. "I don't believe you're a bad person, but you can't just barge in and play vigilante."

Ash had never been reproached in such a way for doing a good deed. He didn't understand the level of frustration Jenny had accumulated over the years. The feeling of helplessness had been too much to put up with for so long. "I didn't do anything wrong. If you know that, why are you keeping me here? Besides, I had to defend myself. Self defense isn't illegal, they started it!"

"I believe you," Jenny raised her voice with authority. "This is our only chance to bring in those criminals. I do thank you. Without your interference we might have found ourselves without a 'good enough,' reason to apprehend these guys." There was bitterness at the phrase 'good enough.'

Misty glared at the grunts that had been stuffed in the cells at the police station with her and Ash. Her eyes screamed, 'touch me and I'll rip your head off,' no one took the risk. "That's not fair. What do you mean a good enough reason? If you were after these guys, why not just investigate, track them down and do something?"

"The higher ups tend to protect them. Don't worry, you'll get off easy. I have no intentions of pressing charges against you two. None the less, there are some very inconvenient procedures to follow and you got caught in them," Jenny tried to explain it as well as she could. Her head felt tense, she could sense a migraine starting. Her job was quite a headache lately. "I need you two as truthful witnesses that all the procedures of the law were followed and no unnecessary abuse was committed. I also need to treat you the same as all the others so no one says I bought you off."

"This is abuse!" Ash had more than he could take. "Treating innocent people as criminals is wrong!" He was pushed around in the name of the law and his precious pokemon were taken away. He finally lost his temper. "You're making up excuses because the police can't take out the gangs. Why don't you just admit you need help, there are people willing to give it. Besides, you don't need a police badge to do a good deed." Ash was frustrated by how helpless the authorities were. They appeared too proud to accept help and too concerned with technicalities, regardless of what the 'higher ups' said. "You let Tempest get out of hand. They were the ones that caused the incident in Vermilion City, not Team Rocket. If I haven't done something, nothing would have been done. Were you just going to sit and wait for Team Rocket to put Tempest in its place? It's no wonder they do whatever they want! Where's the police when they're needed? At this rate, it might even be better to leave Kanto to Team Rocket. They might take better care of it than you." He spoke in bitterness and anger, not really thinking about his words.

"Silence!" Jenny snapped in rage and frustration. "I told you before; you have the right to remain silent. Should you refuse that right, anything you say can be used against you." Her eyes reflected both fury and emptiness at the same time. The other officers at the station watched her not daring to speak.

"Or you," Ash retorted. The fire in his eyes was burning brightly.

"Ash," Misty cautioned him quietly. Her expression shifted from fierce to worried, finally settling into an angry frustration. She wasn't angry at Ash. He had the right to protest about being treated so unfairly. Still, picking a fight with the police was not a good idea. 

Ash's words hit a sore spot for Jenny. That was exactly what the criminals did. They twisted things around. They claimed that a little detail in the procedure wasn't followed, be it protocol or jurisdiction. They got away with many crimes that way. Did the citizens of the rest of Kanto believe that as well? Had the police become the villains in their eyes? The officer did not reply, but her frustration and distrust were evident in her glare. She had lost hope after years of fighting a losing battle.

Ash's glare didn't relent. He looked right at Jenny, as if gazing into her very soul and burning it to ashes. The officer finally had to look away. She could feel the intensity in the young man's eyes following her movements. It made her very uneasy. She had faced fierce criminals with courage and they had never made her feel so shaken. He was behind bars, helplessly trapped without his pokemon, yet he irradiated power.

"She's here!" A younger officer ran into the detainment area. "She's in the front, she's really here," he stuttered in fright. 

"Who is here?" Jenny demanded to know. This young man was a rookie. He was barely old enough to be an officer. Jenny got the impression that it wasn't his best vocation. None the less, he had never been that nervous before.

The rookie tried to compose himself. He took in a short breath, exhaling quickly, "the mayor," he gasped, "the mysterious mayor of Saffron City."

A scolding yet weak voice was heard from beyond the door leading to the detainment area, "you can't go in there... please."

The warning was ignored and two men in dark red tuxedoes entered the area. They were followed by an older lady with long hair that was dyed the same color as Ash's hair. Her hair was brushed to the side, long bangs covering nearly half her face and casting shadows on the other half. Her eyes seemed to shine behind the darkness of her hair. She wore a bright red business suit. Two more men in dark red tuxedoes followed behind her as if escorting royalty.

The entire area went silent as all eyes were inevitably drawn to look at Madame. "What an interesting atmosphere," she commented calmly. She walked over to the cell where Ash, Misty and a few others were. "What a distinct presence."

Ash's gaze had gone from challenging to puzzled. "You're the mayor?" He stated to fill in the silence.

"Where has the fire gone?" Madame reached inside the cell between the bars. She extended her index finger and placed it under Ash's chin. "It came and went so quickly. Your eyes were just like his, but this look you have now is hers. What a dangerous combination. It's a sweet deception that will trap all those who dare to underestimate you."

"Huh?" Ash didn't move an inch, he merely blinked in confusion. The mayor's words sounded like some kind of riddle he couldn't solve. 

Madame didn't answer the question and instead turned to look at Jenny. "Officer, I cannot forgive the imprisonment of such noble trainers. Those who are with Tempest will be kept here until the higher authorities come for them. They will stand trial for the dreadful occurrences of Vermilion City and other crimes. The truth will be known to all. You are suspended from your duties."

Jenny wanted to protest but didn't. As long as the criminals were imprisoned she didn't care. Besides, she knew that if she spoke, she might even lose her job. She was at her limit, but she forced herself to endure.

Madame's eyes shifted from looking at Jenny, to gazing at no one in particular. Yet she was focused, as if taking in all of her surroundings at once. "The rest of you will make sure none of the prisoners escape. You will guard them with your very life." The tone made it clear that their lives truly depended on this. "Release those two noble trainers and return what is theirs." 

No one dared to question Madame's orders. The members of Tempest looked at each other in confusion. Seconds passed and murmurs began to emerge. They were perplexed, how could the mayor abandon them?

The officers quickly returned Ash and Misty's pokeballs. Pikachu jumped in Ash's arms when he was released from his cage, happy to be back with his trainer. "Thank you," Ash smiled at Madame, with no clue about who she really was.

"Yes, thank you very much," Misty added gratefully.

"You did not truly need my help," Madame acknowledged. "This is a situation that you could have faced on your own. I am confident you would have been fine without me, that is why I chose to help you."

Ash and Misty were confused by Madame's reply. "What?" Ash asked in puzzlement. 

"I do not believe I am robbing you of any valuable lessons," Madame clarified. She smiled as if proudly admiring a secret that only she knew. "You can continue on your own from here." She turned and left with her guards. She didn't look back, not even once.

Under the uneasy gazes of all those present, Ash and Misty swiftly left the Saffron police station. "That was..." confusing, peculiar, disconcerting, "interesting," Ash finished.

"The mysterious mayor of Saffron City, they called her, she was indeed very mysterious," Misty remarked. "I couldn't make any sense about what she was saying, but it looked like she knew you." 

Ash had no vivid recollections of ever seeing that person before. Their short chance meeting years ago had been long forgotten. There was no reason for it to stand out in his memories. "I don't know about that. I don't remember her from anywhere. Maybe those riddles are all part of her mysterious image. Anyway, she seemed like a good person, just a bit..."

"Intimidating?" Misty offered, unsure if that was quite the word.

"Something like that, but not in a bad way," something about the lady felt familiar, yet Ash couldn't explain it. He shrugged; maybe it was just her atmosphere that was familiar. Her presence was strong and powerful, impervious. It was a strange feeling. It was akin to being surrounded by danger, but at the same time perfectly safe. Ash knew he had felt that before, but he couldn't clearly place it. He wasn't one to remember such details.

Ash and Misty made their way through the calm streets of Saffron City. Very few people were still out. They had no destination in mind at first; they just walked away from the tension of the police station. Both soon realized the bus stop and the area where taxis usually gathered was at the other side of the park. They took a short cut through it. They were feeling tired and not in the mood to travel, but they might be needed elsewhere. Their confiscated possessions had also been returned along with their pokemon. Misty was anxious to check her cell phone after she finally got it back. Unfortunately, the battery was drained after such a long time without being charged. 

Misty stopped, standing under the light of a lamp post near a bench. "I need to try calling my sisters again. Ash, does your cell still work?"

Ash was a little slow in replying. It was as if an odd feeling in the back of his mind was trying to communicate with him. He checked his cell phone, but it wouldn't turn on, "no battery."

"I can't wait," Misty handed her cell phone to Pikachu, "I'll take the risk, Pikachu, give it a little charge."

"Chu!" Pikachu nodded and focused. He tried to be as gentle as possible. Ash jumped a little when Pikachu's electricity manifested. The little yellow pokemon was still on his shoulders. The charge was small and gentle, so it wasn't too uncomfortable. Ash was used to being the target of pokemon power every now and then. 

The small cell phone beeped to life and Pikachu returned it to Misty, "thanks Pikachu!" She petted his head gently and sat on the bench under the lamp post.

The scene felt familiar to Ash, but he couldn't understand why. He stood on that very spot before. It was dark, who was with him? Why was he in Saffron City? He closed his eyes and tried to remember. It was a holiday, Halloween. He was young; he was with his mother and Gary. They were collecting candy, they went to the park. There was someone sitting there, that person gave them candy. Who was that person? Ash couldn't remember; it was probably a stranger. Then they went to the other side of the park and the mayor was giving out candy there. It wasn't the mysterious lady; there was a different mayor at the time. 

"You're all in Viridian City?" Ash snapped out of his daze upon hearing Misty's voice. "Ash, they're okay; Daisy, Violet and Lily are alright!" She turned her attention back to the conversation. "What happened?"

Ash let go of the memories he was looking into as nothing more than random thoughts. Instead he sat down on the bench next to Misty. He listened to her side of the conversation and watched her face light up with relief. 

After a while, Misty said goodbye to her sisters. She let out a deep breath, as if she had been holding it for a long time. "They're alright," she assured herself of it. She put away her little cell phone and stretched on the bench, reaching out with her arms and legs. "They've been trying to call me for a while. They're all in Viridian City, at Kenobi's house."

"Then he's okay too?" Ash inquired with interest and relief. "What about Ackbar?"

"Kenobi returned to Viridian City safely. The problem with Ackbar was solved too. Daisy said that Lando just finished an important meeting. She didn't give me the details, but I guess that means he was talking to the board of executives on a video conference or something," Misty had no reasons to assume anything else. "He gave a message on TV officially letting everyone know that Ackbar Inc. was back in business. Everything's finally going back to normal."

"That's great, but I have a feeling I've forgotten something," Ash tried to figure out what it was. The couple sat close to each other, taking a moment to rest. Ash had one arm around Misty and petted Pikachu on his lap with his other hand.

"We should stay in the Pokemon Center tonight," Misty quietly voiced. There was no rush to go anywhere anymore.

"Yeah, I'm tired too," Ash agreed, "I don't feel like trying to make it back to... Cerulean," he suddenly realized what he had forgotten, "I just remembered, I promised to call mom."

"That's right," Misty recalled, "you shouldn't make her worry." She handed him her cell phone, "here, use mine; let's not push our luck with this method of recharging batteries."

Ash chuckled; he couldn't help it but to remember his dear deceased car. The phrase 'laugh so you won't cry,' came to mind. Except Ash had too much in his mind to worry about the details of his future means of transportation for the time being. He needed to unwind. He would just have to take a walk down memory lane and walk, like he did for years before. 

The cell phone was left to ring many times, before Delia answered it, "hello." She was on her way to the world's edge with Ariana. She debated on answering or not, but realized it was best she did.

"Hi mom!" Ash was tired but overall in good spirits, despite needing to rest. "I just wanted to let you know that everything's okay. Ackbar Inc. is working again. Daisy, Lando, Violet, Kenobi and Lily are all alright. They're at Kenobi's house in Viridian City."

"That's wonderful," Delia was truly relieved. "I'm happy that everything worked out in the end. Where are you right now? Did you go all the way to Viridian too?" She wasn't sure if that would be good or bad.

"No, we're in Saffron City. We're staying at the Pokemon Center tonight. We helped in the capture of Tempest," Ash proudly declared. "They're all locked up in the Saffron police station right now." He decided to skip the part about being arrested, even if that was later cleared up. "We met the Saffron City mayor, she seemed... nice." Ash didn't know how else to word things in a way that didn't inspire confusion he couldn't explain. Nice was not the right word, but he felt it could be interpreted as fitting with the situation. The mysterious mayor did help them after all. Strangely, she claimed to do so only because they didn't need it.

"That's great," Delia smiled fondly; she really enjoyed Ash's stories about his adventures. At first her heart would pound and she couldn't help it but to worry, but she always smiled. She wanted to encourage Ash to continue telling her about his journey. She knew she couldn't rob him of his right to see the world for her own reassurance. As time passed, she felt better listening to the stories. Ash had grown up to be strong and reliable; he could take care of himself. Plus he had his friends to keep him out of trouble. "You'll have to tell me all about it in person."

"I will," Ash smiled, picturing a quiet afternoon in Pallet Town. He would relax and tell his mother the full story. He would even tell her about the mistaken arrest. He would be there in person to laugh it off and assure her it was nothing but a misunderstanding. "Are you still in Cerulean?"

She wasn't, but she didn't go back to Pallet Town either. She didn't want to lie, so instead she masked the truth and left it up to interpretation. She did that a lot. "Actually, I met up with a friend and we went to Lavender Town," Delia kept her voice casual and carefree. "Don't worry about the Cerulean gym; I made sure to lock up before leaving."

"That's good," at least his mother had a friend to keep her company while things were being resolved. "What friend was it, anyone I know?"

"Ariana," there was not much to be found out from just a name, there could be a number of Arianas in Kanto. "I don't think you've met her before," Delia left it at that.

"Oh, is she there now?" Ash didn't wait for a reply before assuming she was. "I'll leave you to talk to her then."

"Yes, we have a lot to catch up on," Delia laughed as if there was nothing out of the ordinary going on. "Thanks for calling. It must have been a long day. I want to hear the full story about your adventure later. Say hi to Misty for me." Things were far from over, no doubt about it. Ash must have battled the grunts of Tempest. The leaders were about to face Giovanni and Delia was on her way to the dueling grounds without a solid plan. She was wearing a Team Rocket uniform, it was Ariana's condition and Delia had no time to argue.

"I will, bye mom," Ash was calm, yet uneasy. He pushed the paradox of feelings away and smiled. "Mom said hi."

Misty returned the gesture, leaning closer to Ash. Neither felt like walking to the Pokemon Center just yet. The park was quiet and peaceful. "Your mom's a really good person. She doesn't deserve any worries."

"It's okay," Ash hugged Misty, "she trusts me to stay out of trouble. She still worries sometimes, but I guess it can't be helped. I know that she feels in her heart everything will be alright."

"I think you're right," Misty cuddled close to Ash. Pikachu had fallen asleep on his lap. 

Ash's uneasy feelings refused to be completely quiet, "I don't think that was all of Tempest." He let his concerns be known. "The ones that attacked Vermilion were never really identified. Plus I didn't see that blond guy we saw at first in the police station."

Misty followed Ash's train of thought; she knew where he was going with the concern. "You think that guy is still out there and that we haven't even met the real leader?"

"Yeah," Ash admitted.

"Now that you mention it, you might be right." Misty wasn't sure if she should worry or not. "He's just one person. As for the leader, who knows, maybe Team Rocket took care of that." She wasn't sure how she felt about that. She only knew that she wanted the chaos to end.

"Tempest was staining their name," Ash agreed. "I think that even Team Rocket has pride. Even they have things they don't do."

"Or they keep things quiet," Misty didn't want to be pessimistic, "you're probably right, they must have some rules. I mean, they're a big organization; they have to be kept in order somehow. They don't set limits because they care; it's to keep trouble at bay, but none the less..."

With such thoughts in mind, Ash and Misty finally let their worries go. If another problem emerged, they would face it when it came.

xoxox xox xoxox

A short way south-east of Lavender Town, there was a tall cliff that overlooked the sea. It was an area far from the ports and beaches. It was also just far enough from Lavender for the town to be out of sight. Giovanni and Delia stood on that cliff many years ago, shortly after they got rid of the other gangs in Kanto. It was the true start of Team Rocket's rule. The place had no formal name, it was only a cliff. To the two who stood there ready to face the future together, that place was the edge of the world and the world was theirs for the taking. It was something that they both interpreted quite differently in the end.

Years passed and again Giovanni stood at the edge of the cliff, with the ocean far below. Persian stood next to Giovanni looking alert. Proton stood a few feet away; they were both waiting for the same thing. The night was quiet and cool, the atmosphere tense. 

The sound of a car broke the silence. The gray vehicle had nothing that made it stand out, but they knew who it was. No one else would have a reason to visit such a place that night. Bollux got out of the car and it became apparent that he was alone. The full moon and the stars provided enough light for the green T on his black shirt to be clearly seen.

Both Giovanni and Proton were wearing Team Rocket uniforms. Their red Rs stood out against the black fabric. Such clothing was something that Giovanni had not used in years. Tonight he was reclaiming the true meaning of that red R, it was fitting to carry the symbol proudly.

Bollux glared angrily, "this was supposed to be a battle between the leaders," he reproached. "Why did you send your agents to our hideout?" He growled, "you coward!"

"Silence!" Bollux couldn't help it but to involuntarily take a step back at Giovanni's harsh voice. "I am no coward, that's why I'm here. It will be known to all that I cannot be defeated. I don't know what you're rambling about. I didn't send anyone to your hideout."

"What?" Bollux and Poisona had received the report from Solo. The pokemon trainers that stormed the hideout didn't identify themselves as being from Team Rocket. They were not wearing Rocket uniforms or anything that alluded to them being a part of Team Rocket. None the less, Bollux couldn't help it but to jump to conclusions and share Solo's theory. Poisona thought the same thing, that the two trainers were undercover Rockets. "I don't believe you, but I guess that doesn't matter. Your life ends now." Bollux's mission was to kill Giovanni, that was Poisona's order.

To be Continued

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 064: Give me Radiance

The gentle breeze of the night blew at the world's edge. From the cliff, the ocean could be seen. On its side it had a deep indentation. The area looked to some like a giant mouth with stalagmites and stalactite teeth. It was as if those who fell from the world's back would be swallowed up by it.

In one swift motion, Bollux reached for his gun, its smooth surface reflecting the moon. At the same time, Giovanni and Proton made the same movements. All three weapons were revealed, two pointed at Bollux and one at Giovanni. 

Bollux's right index finger slipped from the trigger to the base of his gun before he hesitated to lower it. "Give it up," Proton taunted, "even if you shoot one of us, the other will kill you. The boss doesn't fear risking his life. Do you fear losing yours?" Proton's expression was dark and fearless, as if he was above death itself.

Giovanni saw the doubt and fear in Bollux's pale green eyes. The so called leader of Tempest trembled; he was not a true leader. The scene made him think about the other person that he expected would show up, Poisona. Proton's investigation revealed that she was supposedly Tempest's second in command, but sometimes acted as the leader. Where was she? What was she planning? "I'm still interested in having a battle," Giovanni reminded, his face was full of confidence even beyond that of Proton. The full moon shone brightly in the skies, large and unreachable, as if shining upon him alone.

"You leave me no choice," Bollux tossed the gun a few feet away, where Proton picked it up. He reached for one of the pokeballs on his belt. Though trainers often preferred pokemon native to their homes, interregional trading had become more frequent in the recent years. In Bollux's case, he thought an 'unknown' pokemon would be a shortcut to power. What was from his perspective new and rare, seemed powerful in his eyes. "Gliscor!" Watching the pokemon emerge from the red beam of his pokeball, Bollux regained a little of his confidence. He still remained slightly doubtful, though that changed when he saw Giovanni's pokemon.

"Golem!" The red beam from Giovanni's pokeball revealed his long time pokemon. Even Proton seemed surprised. Giovanni had been switching his pokemon more often. He had not used his original team in a long time. He always seemed to be dissatisfied with his pokemon, searching for something they didn't have. Giovanni himself wasn't sure what he was looking for. All his pokemon were powerful, but something was missing. 

Giovanni wanted to feel the guarantee of a victory. He didn't want to simply know the outcome of a battle because he knew of the difference in power. He wanted to sense that he would win; he wanted to believe it beyond logic. It was a sensation he had not had in a long time as he became more disconnected from his pokemon. Persian was an exception, but Giovanni never sent Persian out to battle, instead treating him as a spoiled pet. After watching his original pokemon battle at Cerulean, he began to rediscover that feeling of certain victory.

"A Golem? That's such a common pokemon!" Bollux made the mistake of underestimating Golem. His expression was flooded with undue relief. He almost threw his head back in laughter.

Golem observed the situation. He was angry at the opposing trainer who underestimated him. He didn't want to be seen as weak, though in the past he had times when he lost the will to fight. Delia returned; she was the one who truly took care of him and his companions. Plus the situation felt different. There was one other ally besides his trainer, wearing the uniform of Team Rocket. Golem didn't perceive the presence of other agents hiding anywhere. Giovanni didn't look like he had been pushed to a corner, he stood confident. It felt like the past had returned. It was as if once more Giovanni was willing to rely on him. The feeling was bittersweet to Golem. It reminded him of the day he evolved.

"Boss?" Proton couldn't help it but to give Giovanni a curious and somewhat puzzled look. Why Golem? He paid no mind to Bollux's foolish assumption that pokemon from other regions were strong simply because they were rare in Kanto. Even so, this was not the pokemon Proton expected Giovanni to choose.

"These pokemon fought strongly last time," Giovanni referred not only to Golem, but also Rhydon and Machamp, whom he also brought for the battle. 'I guess they just needed a break from battle,' the thought made little sense to Giovanni. From his perspective, training pokemon hard was the only way to make them stronger. 'All that matters is that they're strong again,' he told himself not to look too deeply into it. They were pokemon, they had power; there was little else to know.

"Such a common pokemon can never be strong!" Bollux argued. He glared at Giovanni's confident look. Bollux wasn't as brave as Poisona, but he wouldn't be underestimated. "Gliscor, poison jab!" Bollux felt as if he was standing face to face with his worse nightmare, then suddenly he found hope. 

Gliscor went on the attack, but Golem didn't move. He was in no danger and he knew it. Giovanni was aware of that as well. The power difference between the two pokemon was very noticeable, especially to an experienced trainer. Bollux had spent too much time locked up and bitter. He was out of practice, not that he was too skilled to begin with. During his time with Venom in the past, he relied on the illegal power ups the Tempest Gang was known to use. Gliscor's tail collided against Golem's hard rock body with no effect what so ever. Gliscor barely brushed the surface of the solid stone, not being able to inject any poison.

Bollux stared in disbelief, disturbed by what he witnessed. A mere Kanto pokemon was standing up to his 'super rare' pokemon very easily. Without Poisona to guide him, Bollux was foolish. It was apparent why she never left his side despite her wish for her leadership of Tempest to be kept relatively quiet. Bollux was a leader in name only. "What is this, some kind of trick? I see, you've done something to power up your pokemon." Bollux glared bitterly, "how ironic, it was Tempest who used to do that in the past. We've lost our interest in such things lately. How ironic indeed. You saw that our way was the best and are using it against me now," Bollux's words were full of frustration. Poisona didn't want to bring too much attention to their group too soon. She decided that using power ups like Venom used to do would make them stand out too much, thus she forbade it. 

Bollux had obeyed Poisona, believing Venom's sister to be the rightful new leader of Tempest and the best guide to follow. He had helped her organize Tempest with the few previous members who were willing to participate, plus new ones. He thought of nothing more than vengeance while he was in jail. He and his comrades had taken the blame for the crimes of both the Tempest Gang and Team Rocket.

"You fool!" Giovanni snapped, "your pokemon isn't as rare as you think. Besides, even if it was, you can't just get a rare pokemon and expect it to fight at its best. You have to train it." Giovanni's definition of training was different from what many would consider proper. None the less, the Rocket leader felt that there was a hidden irony in his words. Perhaps he should be taking his own advice. He disregarded the thought. Pokemon needed training, that was true, but they had to be strong to begin with, that was what he believed. 

xoxox xox xoxox

While Giovanni and Bollux battled atop the cliff, Ariana and Delia approached their location on the road. The people and pokemon on the cliff were still little dots in the distance. None the less, they could tell that there was a battle going on judging by the rapid movement of those remote dots. The occasional flash of red light came and went when a defeated pokemon was called back and another was sent out to replace it.

Looking out the car's window, Delia noticed someone flying high above, riding on a pokemon. The pokemon lost altitude as it approached the cliff, as if wanting to sneak up on the people there. The flying pokemon aimed to land on the large cavern on the cliff's side. "What's that?" Delia searched through the equipment Ariana had in her car for a pair of binoculars.

"Friend, foe or a random passerby?" Ariana inquired, "my guess is on the second." She had not been informed of any reinforcements.

The electronic binoculars zoomed in on the target. It was a person with long lavender hair. The pokemon was something Delia was not familiar with. It was from a far away region that she had not visited in years, "is that a Mandibuzz? They can't be found in the wild in Kanto."

"Let's investigate," Ariana took a sharp turn and sped down a connecting road. It was narrow and not in great conditions in comparison to the main road. She stopped where they road ended, the trench ahead could not be crossed in a car, "go Honchkrow!" The flying pokemon stood with his wings slightly spread, searching for a battle target. He looked at Delia with distrust, "she's on our side," Ariana assured. "Let's go," she climbed on the pokemon followed by Delia.

The two women headed for the bottom of the cliff where the flying pokemon landed within the large indentation. They were hidden from being seen from the cliff above. The person riding the pokemon noticed the two others and stood ready to face them. 

Ariana and Delia got off Honchkrow after landing in the cliff cavern. Giovanni, Proton and Bollux didn't realize they were there. It would be beneficial to take out Team Rocket, though that was not Poisona's true plan. The new Tempest was needed because she needed minions to do her bidding. The alliance with Neo Rocket also proved to be useful in Poisona's real plan. 

Madame Boss and who she was in the past had been all but forgotten by most. She was a nameless shadow that commanded a modest portion of power in the underworld, but was not too involved. She was a shadow with no true alliances, a strategist who used those around her. Poisona was aware of that. She knew that Tempest and Neo Rocket were being used. It made no difference. 

Poisona had made Tempest's situation look better than it was. Her plans were not to take over Team Rocket, Kanto or the world. It was something else entirely. She really wanted to kill Giovanni, but it didn't matter. When her plan was realized everything would end.

"I've seen you before," it was a long time ago, but Delia still had the recollection of that time among the chaos. 

On that day, Delia had been rushing back to the original Team Rocket hideout with Giovanni. They had recently visited Pallet Town and received an urgent call on their way back. Their haste led to a chase through the Viridian Forest. Finally, they made it to the mountains between Pewter and Cerulean. A column of smoke could be seen, the hideout and the warehouse were on fire. The Tempest Gang was still fighting Team Rocket. Delia only looked at the flames for a short moment before she watched the battle. Tempest's pokemon were furious, yet lost. Everything happened rapidly from that point on, but Delia remembered it all. 

"You were there when Tempest burned down Team Rocket's hideout and warehouse all those years ago," Delia realized. "You were there during the battles; you were there at the Viridian gym." Delia could almost feel the strength of Poisona's grudge.

"That's right, I'm Poisona, I'm sure you must remember my brother, Venom, since you and Giovanni murdered him," Poisona glared with unparallel anger. 

"That's not true!" Delia desperately argued. "Venom experimented on himself. He mutated into a strange creature. The pokemon he tortured in his experiments attacked him," the memories were very unpleasant for Delia. Even if sad events came to mind when she thought about Team Rocket, she tried to stay optimistic when she remembered the past. She had many precious memories, even if she had long since awakened from her dream.

"Those creatures," Poisona looked at her own pokemon with disgust. "Humans should be the only living beings in the world. These creatures have no use for power. It's only natural a human would desire such power; it is only humans who can use it." Her red eyes seemed lost and empty, "That day, burning everything was my idea. Venom wanted to take the loot; he wanted to take every pokeball in the warehouse. I burned them all along with the pokemon in them. They all burned to ashes!" She screamed with a pained and psychotic expression. The breeze blew her lavender hair, it flew in front of her face, but she didn't seem to notice. Her eerie red eyes glared from behind the waves of lavender.

"How terrible!" Delia felt that she was reliving all the sorrow of that day. That time she had been caught in the moment and driven by the adrenaline of battle. Afterwards she tried not to think about it too much. There was a lot on her mind at the time; she had other things to focus on.

Ariana searched for a hint of purpose in Poisona's words. She felt as if there was a lot that remained hidden. "Is that your reason for causing trouble for Team Rocket again? You blame us for your brother's foolishness?"

"If pokemon didn't exist to tempt us with their power..." Poisona's mind went back to a time long ago. 

xoxox xox xoxox

In Poisona's memories, she was at her house with her parents and brother. It was a cozy little house on the outskirts of Lavender Town.  The white picket fence had been freshly painted and the garden was taken good care of. The area was a little lonely and some would call it solemn. The charming little house stood out in the unfitting atmosphere. From its light yellow walls to its pale brown triangular roof, everything about it was soothing. 

The white front door was opened and two children stepped outside. The boy was the oldest; he had cyan hair and red eyes. His younger sister had identical eyes and lavender hair. The front yard was filled with flowers that some would think were impossible to grow in that area. The boy threw a pokeball and from its red beam emerged a little Charmander. The children played together with the small pokemon until the sun started to set and they were called inside for dinner.

Those were happy times from long ago. It was on that fateful night that everything changed. There was a fire in the house, flames consumed it all. Only the two children made it out alive. The girl's faded memories contained images of standing in front of a burning house, watching the flames consume it. She felt helpless and weak. She couldn't save her brother or parents. 

Help arrived and in the end the boy made it out alive. He was hospitalized for a long time having inhaled too much smoke. After the boy was released from the hospital, his sister was all he had in the world. His Charmander had died on the night of the fire. 

The girl would always blame her brother's Charmander for the catastrophe, though no proof of the accusation was ever found. The official police records remained a mystery to most. She hated pokemon. She considered them to be dangerous and stronger than they deserved. She followed her brother in his quest for power. If he obtained the power of those creatures, he would keep her and their new friends safe. 

She took on the name Poisona. She always found pleasure in watching her brother's experiments. Her purpose was different from Venom's. What she wanted was something far more sinister.

xoxox xox xoxox

"Confuse ray!" Poisona snapped into reality at Ariana's voice. Honchkrow attacked Mandibuzz with a powerful confuse ray. Mandibuzz tried to resist it but could not.

The bits and pieces of faded memories were thrown into the back of Poisona's mind and buried there. She fell silent for a moment before her expression turned psychotic, "goodbye," she took what at first glance looked like a pokeball from the belt over her Tempest uniform. She pressed the button on the red and white circular item. Instead of opening it and releasing a pokemon, she quickly threw it. The pokeball shaped grenade collided with the cave wall near Ariana and Delia. It exploded on impact with a bright light and a loud noise.

The explosion caused the entire cliff to shake. The noise and vibrations alerted those atop the cliff of the danger, but they couldn't see what was happening in the cavern below. The avalanche of falling rocks rained on Delia and Ariana. Surprisingly, Mandibuzz protected them along with Honchkrow in her confusion. The impact left Mandibuzz terribly injured after taking the worse part of the avalanche. Honchkrow made it out with only minor bruises and scratches. "You useless creature!" Poisona yelled in fury at Mandibuzz's actions. "It doesn't matter, I have no time for this," she released an Ariados from a pokeball. "Get me up that cliff," she climbed on the Ariados back. Ariados began to climb the cavern walls. He carefully made it to the side of the cliff and prepared to pull himself up with his web.

Delia and Ariana struggled to get out from under Mandibuzz, Honchkrow and the rocks. "Why did you protect us?" Delia reached to try to comfort her, but quickly retreated when Mandibuzz tried to peck her. 

"Be careful, we can't trust her," Ariana cautioned. "She only helped us because she didn't know the difference between her own trainer and the enemy."

"She's hurt, we have to help her and stop Poisona," Delia didn't want any more sacrifices to be made. 

Ariana was about to reply but stopped, something in the distance caught her attention. It was a man riding on a Braviary, "there's no time for that. Hurry up and stop Poisona. Giovanni must know something's going on after all this noise, but you could still help out. I'm going to stop that guy." Ariana jumped on Honchkrow's back and took off in pursuit of the Braviary.

"We can't just leave Mandibuzz!" Delia called after Ariana, who didn't stop. A loud bang pierced the air. It came from somewhere beyond her view. "Go Kingler!" Delia quickly released one of her pokemon. "I'll be back for you," she assured the injured Mandibuzz. She then looked at Kingler intensely, "this is going to be a challenge, but I know you can do it. Help me climb up the cliff, if you can grab on with your pincers, I know we can make it up."

Kingler started to climb up the cliff as Delia instructed. She held on to him and they progressed up the cavern towards the cliff side. Kingler buried his pincers into the rocks with a strong grip and climbed.

Poisona and her Ariados came into view on the cliff. "You should have stayed under those rocks!" She tried to shoot Ariana and Honchkrow, but missed. She wasn't paying attention to Delia and Kingler, who made their way up, hiding behind the protuberant rocks on the cliff side.

"Be careful Kingler," Delia whispered, "now aim carefully at Poisona's weapon and use bubble!" Kingler released a multitude of bubbles that effectively knocked the gun out of the enraged Poisona's hand.

In the night sky above, Honchkrow and Braviary performed all sorts of aerial maneuvers to try to gain the advantage. The man riding on the Braviary was Solo, who came armed with a bag full of grenades. He threw one of the explosives at Ariana and Honchkrow, but they quickly dodged it. 

"Weavile!" Ariana released another of her pokemon. Weavile emerged from her pokeball, riding on Honchkrow along with her trainer. "Get ready Weavile. Honchkrow, get as close as you can. Weavile, jump on Braviary as soon as you get the chance."

The two flying pokemon circled each other in the air. Unfortunately, Braviary was faster than Honchkrow. Because of that, Weavile was having trouble following Ariana's plan. To make matters worse, Solo kept throwing grenades at them.

Delia and Poisona were still hidden from view from the top of the cliff. Giovanni and Proton saw Ariana fly up to battle the man with the grenades on the Braviary. "That Braviary is too fast," Proton realized, "go Crobat, flight right into that Braviary's face!" Crobat hurried to do what his trainer commanded. He skillfully avoided the incoming grenades and lashed on to the larger pokemon's face. Braviary flew wildly, in discomfort.

Solo fought to get rid of the pokemon that prevented Braviary from seeing were he was going, while trying not to fall off. By the time he managed to pull Crobat off, he saw a Weavile standing right behind him on Braviary's back. Braviary continued flying wildly, trying to throw Weavile off his back. "Weavile, night slash!" Ariana called out.

Weavile didn't hesitate to attack Solo. She slashed with her sharp claws ripping the green T on his shirt in half. The attack knocked him off Braviary and he fell to the ocean below. Before he could hit the water, Braviary dove after him. The flying pokemon caught the back of Solo's belt with his claws and held him in mid air. 

Weavile threw the sack of remaining grenades over her shoulder and jumped off Braviary onto Honchkrow, who flew near by. Ariana received the sack of grenades with a mischievous grin. Solo was still dangling from Braviary's paw by his belt. He looked at Ariana fearfully. 

Ariana threw a grenade at Solo. Simultaneously, Braviary's claws cut through the leather of his belt as the pokemon gripped it too tightly. As a result, Solo was sent falling into the ocean again. Braviary gained altitude to dodge the grenade, which passed between the flying pokemon and his falling trainer.

Below, the cliff was shaken by a violent earthquake courtesy of Golem. Giovanni knew there was someone hidden behind the curve of the cliff but he didn't know who. "Hold on Kingler!" Kingler's strong grip proved to be effective. 

Up on the cliff Giovanni heard Delia and recognized her voice. If Ariana was there, he should have guessed Delia wouldn't be too far away. Ariana's mission was to keep her out of trouble, though the executive gave it her own interpretation. The Rocket leader looked at Bollux. He was down to his last pokemon, Linoone. "This battle has already been decided," Giovanni declared, "I'm going to get Delia, keep an eye on him, Proton." Giovanni released Machamp from his pokeball, "let's climb down, don't fall." Machamp looked surprised, but nodded slowly, shocked but happy to be trusted. He used his multiple arms and strong grip to climb down the cliff with Giovanni on his back. It was too slippery for a human to make it down without the proper equipment.

Bollux felt defeated and afraid, "don't talk about me as if I'm not listening," he choked out the words as he fell to his knees. "Linoone do... something!"

"You really are pathetic, you know that?" Proton laughed. He couldn't help it but to think they were completely missing something. Then again, maybe without Ariana and Delia things would have been a little different. Then the grenade throwing little cheat and whoever else was hidden in the cliff might have taken them by surprise. "It seems the boss left me in charge of your fate. What should I do with you?" Needless to say, restraining Bollux and taking away all his pokemon was easy.

Machamp and Giovanni made it to the side of the cliff on time to witness the end of Delia and Poisona's fight. Kingler had one pincer wrapped up in string. He had blocked the attack to protect Delia. He held on to the cliff with his other pincer. 

"It's over!" Poisona prepared to throw the last grenade she carried.

"You've caused enough damage with those!" Delia jumped from Kingler to Ariados, fighting Poisona for the grenade. 

The explosive slipped out of Poisona's hand and fell into the ocean below. It was time to retreat. Poisona let go of Ariados and fell to the ocean where Solo was struggling to stay afloat against the waves. Ariana had not allowed Braviary to get him out of the water.

"Delia!" Giovanni extended his hand to Delia, pulling her onto Machamp. Ariados screeched and looked as if he would attack. But Machamp was faster, "mega kick!" Ariados was kicked right off the cliff. As he fell, Ariados shot a string to attach himself to the lower portion of the cliff below where he stayed unsure of what to do.

The weakened Braviary was having trouble staying in the air. He flapped his wings tiredly and made an emergency landing on the cliff side cavern. The injured Mandibuzz was still there and Ariados heading towards them. It seemed that was the only relatively safe area from their point of view.

Delia recalled Kingler into his pokeball. Machamp returned to the top of the cliff with Delia and Giovanni. Proton had Bollux tied up, while Persian sat regally, supervising everything. Solo and Poisona made it to the cliff, they held on to the rocks there to avoid being pushed underwater by the waves. The cliff was too slippery to climb. Ariana flew above them on Honchkrow with Weavile at her side. Proton's Crobat flew near by.

Delia breathed in relief that the battle was over. "Now we just need to get them out of the water. We also need to tend to the injured pokemon in the cavern."

"You need to tell me why you're here," Giovanni added. He didn't expect Delia to show up and join the fight, especially not in a Team Rocket uniform.

"Don't blame Ariana, it was my idea," Delia wasn't sure how to begin to explain things. "I wanted to make sure everything turned out alright. Ariana wanted to help too." Delia's version of alright' might be different from Giovanni's and they were both aware of that detail, but didn't bring it up. "Anyway, like it or not, I ended up involved with Team Rocket again." She walked to the edge of the cliff remembering the first time she stood there long ago. "With all that's happening and all that we need to talk about, I think I'll be around for a while." She looked at the glowing moon and endless horizon. She looked back at Giovanni and made herself smile, trying to remain positive amidst the complicated situation. 

Giovanni watched Delia standing at the edge of the world. The breeze blew her long brown hair and the moonlight shone on her. She smiled and he saw something he had not seen in a long time. She was radiant.

To be Continued

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 065: Give me Life

Poisona, Bollux and Solo were captured by Team Rocket and kept in the Viridian Headquarters for interrogation. Slowly, the truth came to light. It had been three days since the battle at the world's edge. Giovanni and his four main executives were discussing the recent happenings. The meeting room located at the Viridian gym was large and comfortable. Its walls were a basic white, with a few paintings. 

The paintings were simpler and smaller than the ones in other parts of the gym and in Giovanni's mansion. They mostly featured ground type pokemon in their natural environment. The picture frames were made of exquisitely carved wood, coated in glossy clear paint, but it was nothing too extravagant. Giovanni sometimes had legal meetings in that room, so there was no need to make it stand out excessively.

The polished surface of the light brown wood table shone reflecting the overhead lights. The chairs were made of a darker brown leather. They were comfortable and of good quality. The round table was large enough to fit a dozen people, though it was never occupied by that many at a time. On the wall opposite to the door there was a large screen that was currently off.

"I think we can all agree that this was too easy," Proton voiced. "It's true that the damage could have been far greater and we also need to take into consideration that Team Rocket is very powerful. Even so, their operation was doomed to fail and they should have known that. What puzzles me the most is how they agreed to a duel between the leaders. I know that's what they wanted because they thought they had a chance if the rest of the team wasn't involved. I know they tried some tricks out there and were defeated, but something's not right."

Archer nodded his agreement," we've already concluded that Venom's sister, Poisona, was the true leader of Tempest. The way Poisona managed things before Neo Rocket and Tempest made their presence known was different. Why was she so secretive up to that point? Why did she attack? At first glance it looked like she wanted to take the chance, but when I think about it she must have suspected Madame's interference." Archer knew that particular topic was not to Giovanni's liking, but it had to be discussed.

"Basically," Ariana reviewed, "she gave us a little, non-vital but rather helpful push. Perhaps more helpful than she realized," she admitted.

"She was just meddling," Giovanni disagreed with a stern expression. His mother had kept an eye on the new Tempest and watched their moves carefully. She pretended to protect them so she could keep them close. She had spies in Team Rocket; that was an old and likely suspicion that was confirmed. Those spies informed her of the inner happenings of the team. She involved herself with Neo Rocket so that she could keep an eye on them too. She knew all about Jessie and James, though they were unaware of who she was in relation to Giovanni.

"Tempest traded Kenobi for Akira, that's strange," Petrel pointed out the main mystery they were discussing. The shift in the conversation was welcomed by all, though Madame was still a part of it. Comet had reported what he learned while infiltrating Tempest. That, combined with Laiki's report about Akira, created more questions then answers.

"We assumed that they wanted Akira to get the press' attention so that the police was forced to act against Team Rocket," Giovanni mused. "What if that wasn't it?" He theorized, his expression analytical. "There were other ways to make a scene without Akira. She would have sped things along, but she wasn't vital to such a plan. Kenobi could have been used in the same way, plus he would be more valuable as a hostage. Furthermore, after the hostage trade occurred, everything was resolved. Tempest became less active, they took bigger risks, they apparently gave up."

Archer caught on to the meaning of Giovanni's statement, "apparently being the key word. I see where you're going with this; they might have wanted us to think it's over. Tempest and Neo Rocket might not mean anything to Poisona after all. It was Akira's blood she was after."

"About that, have the results from the lab arrived yet?" Proton inquired.

"I haven't received any word," Petrel commented.

"Thankfully, Laiki had enough sense to take an additional bigger blood sample before the transfusion so that Akira's blood can be analyzed pure," Ariana recalled. The executives and leader had already read through all the reports. "Everything makes sense if we think that Akira was Poisona's goal. Laiki's rather detailed report mentioned that Akira was originally known as Secura. She grew up in an orphanage in Vermilion, thus why that specific event was targeted makes sense. With Bane Ackbar there, he was the perfect distraction to cover Poisona's real goal."

"We were tricked..." Petrel frowned.

"To top it all up we didn't act fast enough and our investigation was delayed," Proton sounded frustrated. "The labs haven't been able to make heads or tails of the blood sample. Akira is in a barely alive coma. Our answers are slipping away. I just hope Luke brings us something." 

After Akira's closeness to Mirta came to light, Giovanni called for an investigation. It was already too late. Mirta's few belongings had been reclaimed by her relatives. Any clues that she might have left behind in her possessions were in the hands of her relatives in Cianwood, Johto. At least until Luke found them and investigated if there was anything worth confiscating. That is confiscating without their knowledge.

"Mirta had to know something," Petrel reminded, trying to look at the positive side. All of the involved agents were interrogated beyond what they wrote in their initial reports in case they missed any important details that needed to be added. "That's why Akira was so angry; she missed out on the answers Mirta had."

"Which is another reason why the donation ceremony was targeted," Ariana concluded. "Poisona was not only getting Akira out in the open, she was also erasing valuable information. We don't know if Mirta left any records about Akira. The information search on her original name of Secura came up empty beyond what we already knew."

"Whatever is happening, Poisona knows it all too well," Archer emphasized. "We have another clue," his face was deep in thought as he brought the piece of information to their attention.

"About her mother being a rocket?" Proton caught on, "that's leading us nowhere. We have no clue who she was. It looks like we'll have to wait for Luke and connect the dots later."

"We don't have that much time," Giovanni finally spoke after a long silence, listening to the four executives. "Poisona took a big risk by going to battle. She could have just left Bollux to serve as a distraction while she went about her business." Giovanni was the leader of Team Rocket. He had his pride and he would leave no doubts that he did not fear them. He was more than just a leader who hid behind Team Rocket. He could face things on his own. It might have been reckless, but he simply decided he wanted to do it. Poisona was another story; she should have known she didn't stand a chance. Her plan seemed flawed because it wasn't her true plan. "Whatever Poisona wanted to do, she had already done it."

The four executives looked at their leader. Archer was the first to speak, "I agree, the reason she's so quiet in captivity isn't because she has accepted defeat. It's because she thinks she already won and is basking in it. The key is Akira's blood. That's what she was after. What did she do with it? She must have set things in motion before going to battle."

"We're just going in circles," Proton let out a frustrated breath. "At least things with Ackbar have settled down."

"Yes, about that," Archer elaborated, "most of the Waterflower sisters are aware of Ackbar's position with Team Rocket. As requested, I made sure it was clear to them that this was to remain a secret. Since the Waterflowers are associated with the Cerulean City gym, they would make a nice addition to our connections. Only the three oldest Waterflowers were present at our meeting. They were also made aware of Kenobi's position. I believe they took it well. They seem to be prepared to keep secrets, especially since they are already so involved."

"What about the youngest Waterflower, Misty?" Giovanni inquired. Whenever gym leaders had any kind of reunion or participated in special activities, the oldest Waterflowers represented Cerulean. Giovanni knew they had a younger sister, but paid the detail no mind. Though the youngest Waterflower was said to be the best gym leader of the four, she was rarely at the gym in the recent years and was never too involved in the league's social events. Things were complicated because of who the youngest Waterflower was, Misty, Ash's fiance.

"She already knew about Ackbar's involvement with Team Rocket due to Lando's big mouth," Archer looked annoyed. "It is fortunate you only ever met in person with Bane, or else your identity might have been in danger. Her sisters were instructed to pass on the message that her silence about the situation is required. I don't think Misty will talk, her sisters are too involved. She also doesn't know about Kenobi, though I think it's just a matter of time before she finds out."

There was a long pause until Ariana brought up the subject they were all walking circles around. Misty came into the conversation because of Ash. A few Rocket agents, including Luke, Laiki, Comet and Pixel, knew who Ash was. For the most part his identity was kept from spreading through Team Rocket. Jessie and James had no idea. All four executives were fully informed about who Ash was and wanted to know what Giovanni would do about it. "About Ash..."

Another long silence passed. Finally, Giovanni spoke, "that is not something related to Team Rocket. For the time being it will have to stay that way. It will complicate things unnecessarily to give him too much information. For this same reason we need to be extra careful with the Waterflowers and all those connected to them."

"You ask for a lot," Archer admitted. "The truth of the matter is that the Waterflowers are connected to too many important resources. Daisy will marry Lando soon and Violet is still dating Kenobi. From what Rune said, the only thing keeping Kenobi from proposing is that he wants to wait a while after Daisy's wedding has passed, so Violet can fully focus on her own."

"At least Violet will have a more solid connection to Team Rocket and information shouldn't spread too far beyond what it already has," Ariana offered.

"Speaking of weddings, didn't you need to go?" Petrel glanced at Giovanni.

"Yes, all the gym leaders of Kanto must attend Daisy's wedding," Giovanni confirmed. "It's customary to attend such celebrations related to other gym leaders. It's nothing official, but it would look bad if I'm not there." That meant that all of Daisy's sisters and friends would be present. That included Misty, which would mean Ash must be going too. No doubt Delia must have been invited as well. "It's alright; they don't know who I am. I don't want to make a scene, so it's imperative that Ash doesn't find out about Team Rocket until all these occasions have passed. My image was slightly damaged. There are those who dared to think that the good gym leader is actually allied to the evil Team Rocket. Going to events like that will be helpful and even necessary."

"Yeah, the tension's under control, but it's not good to push our luck," Petrel rocked back and forth in his chair.

"So," Proton began to ask the question that was on all the executives' minds. "After the weddings and stuff are over, are you going to tell Ash everything?"

The four executives watched Giovanni, waiting for his answer. He took a moment to reply, thinking it through. "I don't know," he admitted. "Delia said she would leave the choice to me, so I know she won't tell him. She said she wanted to prepare him first if I decided to tell him the truth. I know she wants to tell him at least a portion of it. I can't include him in Team Rocket," Giovanni knew that was the executives' true question. "Not unless you want this place to turn into the hideout of a band of vigilantes."

A knowing look was shared by the four executives. They remembered how Delia used to be. "Speaking of vigilantes," Ariana spoke in a light tone, trying to soothe the tension in the air. "What about Delia?"

"She'll be around," Giovanni wasn't too specific, which left the executives requesting more information with their eyes. "She won't be too involved. I was thinking about taking her to Binks, maybe she can help him. It might not work, but there's not much to lose. Other than that, she might help give me a good image."

"The press will be all over you two if you're seen together," Petrel laughed, "I bet the rumors will fly."

"It would be a good diversion tactic," Proton admitted. "It might also complicate things," he warned.

"Things are already complicated," Giovanni emphasized, "it's best to keep Delia around. She won't be too involved, but she can be of assistance."

"Not to be pessimistic, but what if she speaks. It's true that she has kept her silence for a long time, but her reasons..." Archer didn't finish the sentence. "Her testimony would be much more believable if you are known to have been involved with her recently."

Giovanni understood what Archer was trying to communicate. The reason Delia left was Ash. Even if it wasn't directly revealed to the executives, it was rather obvious when everything else was taken into consideration, the timing, the secrecy... It was for her son that Delia left. Ash was Delia's first priority and Giovanni knew it. "Let's take this one step at a time." The way things were set up, Ash might eventually find out the truth. "There's no need to rush. For now, we'll make sure those who shouldn't be in delicate situations are kept out of them."

The executives glanced at each other before giving a collective nod. They decided that it was best to drop the subject for the time being and trust Giovanni's decision. Ariana brought up the next topic of conversation for the meeting, "about Jessie and James..."

Giovanni's face changed from hidden stress to hidden frustration. The change was so subtle in his forced neutrality that only those who knew him well would notice it. All four of his main executives knew him very well. "They'll be troublesome if we keep them and troublesome if we let them go. I was informed that they are running a pokemon day care center in Saffron City. Are there any connections I should know of?" Giovanni was asking about Madame, a sour topic for him.

"I investigated and it looks like the Saffron City mayor helped them a lot when they were trying to establish the day care center," Petrel informed. "The strange thing is that she didn't get rid of them like the others she used. I guess that could be because unlike the others, those two were not really Team Rocket's enemies."

Giovanni gained a look of disapproval; he had been dealing with a lot in the past few days. "Let them keep running their day care center. We'll take them back as part time agents in the information gathering department. They will give us information but receive none. They will remain in a need to know basis. That way it will be easier to keep an eye on them without putting up with their antics. They won't have to go out of their way for this, so they shouldn't cause any trouble. I heard that pokemon day care centers tend to attract rumors like a magnet, since so many people visit them. They can probably gain a decent amount of information just by listening to their customers. Plus we can monitor her activities through them if necessary," again Giovanni was referring to Madame Boss.

Another silent agreement passed through the meeting room. "The legal process against Tempest is going according to plan," Archer paused as if going through a mental check list. "That's all we have for now," he concluded.

"Keep trying to get information from Poisona and the others. Especially Poisona, it looks like Bollux and Solo really don't know anything. We'll have to keep trying to use pokemon to hypnotize her into talking. She must have a limit," Giovanni decided it was time to check on Delia. After the battle, she returned to Pallet Town. Giovanni had not spoken to her since that night. 

The executives had taken care of the prisoners while Giovanni took Delia to Pallet Town. He had intended to talk to her on the way, but they were simply too tired and in need of time to organize their thoughts. The journey was long and silent. Giovanni thought it was best if Delia didn't stay in Viridian, given the situation. He returned to Viridian City after dropping her off in Pallet Town.

"If that's everything, then the meeting is over," Giovanni officially declared. The executives went their separate ways, off to take care of various tasks. Giovanni had caught up with things for the most part, thanks to the administration work the executives did while he was gone.

xoxox xox xoxox

In Saffron City, Jessie and James were at their pokemon day care center. It had reopened and customers came and went on occasion to drop off or pick up their pokemon. Flareon and Growlie where cuddled up with their egg. The blue cushion where they were resting on had yellow stars. It was large enough to fit them both, three counting the egg. Meowth sat comfortably, resting on a purple and yellow checkered cushion near by. All their other pokemon were there as well, resting contently.

The day care center's walls were painted with colorful sceneries. They were adorned with green grass, blue skies, blooming flowers and fluffy happy-faced clouds. Big comfy pillows and pokemon toys were scattered around. The day care center gave off a cheerful atmosphere that the pokemon really liked.

The center was off limits for stealing, since it was considered Team Rocket territory as of Jessie and James' return. In the past, there was always the danger of Butch and Cassidy trying to steal the pokemon. The backyard was fenced in. Some of Jessie and James' pokemon were always guarding the day care center pokemon when they went out to play. Many trainers became regular customers because their pokemon had such a good time playing with Jessie and James' pokemon. The day care center's services also included training. The place was rather pricey, but well worth it according to the customer reviews.

"I wonder why aunty was so insistent about giving the egg such a detailed medical examination," Jessie thought aloud. The egg had turned out to be perfectly healthy. The visit to the Saffron City Pokemon Center after picking up the egg had gone without incident.

"I don't know; I've never heard about an egg being sick," James shrugged, "your aunt is nice though, she took us to dinner." Both Jessie and James were exhausted when they returned to Saffron City. Who knew interrogations could be so long and tedious? They understood why they would appear suspicious to Team Rocket, given the circumstances, but it was still an unpleasant experience. The food was very welcomed after a long drive; they had not even stopped to eat on the way. "How come you never mentioned her before?"

"Aunty is a very busy woman; I didn't want to bother her," Jessie admitted. "She's not my biological aunt. She was good friends with my mother. It's funny; she always says that she's helping me because I don't need it. She said that otherwise she would be robbing me of the chance to become stronger." Jessie adopted a thoughtful expression. "Remember when she went on about opportunities and second chances during dinner? I almost thought she knew about Team Rocket and was encouraging us to stay in it. The mysterious traitor list still confuses me. Who sent it? During my interrogation, I got the impression that the executives knew all about it."

"I know what that feels like," James recalled his own interrogation experience. Both of them were asked a multitude of questions separately. "Maybe it's just because they're so high ranked. The executives make me feel like they can see right through me. It's almost as if they know more than I do about myself," James shuddered at the thought.

"Yes, that's exactly how it feels!" Jessie agreed. "This may sound odd, but I felt as if aunty knew a lot more than she was telling us too." Her face turned thoughtful for a while, before she disregarded the possibility. "There's no sense in worrying about crazy theories. Let's just make sure to keep Team Rocket a secret from aunty. It's not going to look good if anyone hears the Saffron City mayor is somehow involved with criminals." Jessie laughed it off.

James smiled, "I can keep a secret!" He went over Jessie's words in his head again. "It feels strange to say criminals. I know Team Rocket is illegal and all, but we're not really stealing anymore. We just need to report information and we can still run the day care center as usual."

Jessie considered the point, "to say we're secret agents fits better. We're spies or maybe even vigilantes," they both laughed at the last option. Jessie looked at Flareon and Growlie peacefully napping with their egg. Meowth had already picked out the story books that he would read to the baby when it hatched. Reading was something he learned to do while practicing his speech. A smiled formed on Jessie's lips, "Remember how you used to get kidnapped?"

"I knew you would never let me live it down," James recalled his last kidnapping. 

xoxox xox xoxox

That time, James was tied up on the roof of Jessiebelle's mansion. Jessie had been held back by a group of hired pokemon trainers working for Jessiebelle. Those unfortunate trainers found out the hard way that they were not paid nearly enough to deal with Jessie when she was enraged. She had enough of the constant kidnappings. She was always rushing off to rescue James. If he didn't do something to lose the stalker soon, Jessie would lose her mind.

She went up the floors of the mansion one by one, fighting alongside her pokemon and Meowth. James' own pokemon had been left behind at the day care center and they aided Jessie in the rescue mission. Even the pokemon from the day care center battled alongside Jessie as she forced her way up to the roof of the mansion.

The duel of Jessie versus Jessiebelle ended with Jessiebelle being sent blasting off again for the last time. "Why did you go out on your own? You didn't even take your pokemon!" Jessie had reproached as she untied James.

"They looked like they were having fun playing with the other pokemon at the day care center. I was going to come back soon. I just needed to go buy something," James tried to excuse his mistake. It was difficult to live thinking that he could be kidnapped any time. Jessiebelle had grown more impatient and forceful over the years.

"I'm tired of having to rescue you," Jessie crossed her arms with an angry expression. "Next time I might leave you with Jessiebelle." She would never admit that she was jealous. James was her boyfriend, but Jessiebelle refused to understand that. Jessie walked over to the edge of the roof, looking at the horizon, her back to James.

"Don't do that!" James felt a cold chill run down his spine at the thought of being left in Jessiebelle's captivity. "I really do appreciate you and everyone coming to my rescue."

"What was so important that you had to go out to get anyway?" Jessie still sounded annoyed. She turned around and gasped in surprise when she realized that James was holding a ring. That was what he had gone out to buy.

James smiled, "will you marry me?" 

They got married soon after that day. It was a small and simple, but elegant wedding. Ash, Misty, Brock, Delia, Professor Oak and their friends from Pallet Town were all there. Jessie smiled at the memory. James had caught her by surprise with his proposal, but she didn't doubt it for a second before accepting it.

xoxox xox xoxox

Jessie looked at the resting Flareon and Growlie once more. Flareon opened one eye, then closed it again. It was as if the pokemon were waiting for something. "Flareon, you told them, didn't you?" Jessie's tone was somewhat amused. She knew what they were all waiting for, to see James' reaction. James gave Jessie a puzzled look. Jessie's mysteriously long trip to the grocery store the previous day had secretly included a detour to the doctor's office, "I'm pregnant."

James' expression was priceless. His face had frozen as he was about to ask Jessie what she was talking about. A red tint invaded his cheeks. "You're going to lay an egg? I'm going to be a mother? You're having a father! I'm going to be a baby!"

The amused sounds of the pokemon proved that they had not been sleeping at all. Jessie laughed along with them, "something like that."

To be Continued

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 066: Give me Links

The underground dungeon below the Viridian Rocket Headquarters had a heavy atmosphere. It was as if the air was almost too thick to breathe. The structure was composed mostly of dark gray stones. The only lights were on the corridors, with none inside the cells.

"Hypno, hypno, hypno..." The steady and soft chanting was soothing. The silver pendulum swung left and right in front of the prisoner's eyes. 

At first, Poisona struggled against the chains that strapped her to the dungeon wall. Then she lost her strength and felt sleepy. Her red eyes closed and her head slumped.

"Keep the hypnotic power steady," Proton instructed his pokemon in a whisper. The yellow pokemon nodded and continued chanting gently. Taking a deep breath, Proton tried the interrogation again, "what is your name?" He started with a simple question to test the trance.

In a lost and emotionless voice Poisona replied, "Patricia Citox," that was her real name.

So far so good, but Proton wouldn't get his hopes up. "What do you hate most?"

"Pokemon," Poisona's emotionless voice answered without hesitation.

"Why do you hate pokemon?" Proton tried a slightly different approach. He wouldn't ask about Akira right away.

"Fire, burn, they all burn, it was Charmander, it had to be," the volume of her voice increased as it went from empty to psychotic. Her red eyes opened, "I'll kill you all!" She let out an ear splitting wail before passing out. The constant hypnotism and the strain of going in and out of a trance wore her out. It didn't help that she refused to eat. She wouldn't last long that way. She would have to be sedated and fed through a needle.

Proton shook his head. His underlings weren't kidding about how difficult it was to get information out of that woman. Bollux and Solo answered all the questions they were asked without hesitation after they were hypnotized. The executive addressed one of his henchmen, "run a detailed investigation on Patricia Citox's past. Don't leave anything out. Also, get the resident shrink to look at her. We need to get information fast."

xoxox xox xoxox

Giovanni's orange sports car stood out as he drove through the streets of Pallet Town. He stopped in front of a little house with tables and chairs next to it. Delia mentioned that she ran the only restaurant in Pallet. It was very easy to find in the small town. He thought about inviting her to see Binks, he could be useful if he recovered his senses enough to help analyze Akira's blood sample. 

Giovanni got off his car, parked in front of Delia's house. A peculiar sound reached his ears. "Bell!" It was loud and high pitched, similar to the horrified cries of a small child, but it was a pokemon. "Bell, bell, bell!"

Ash exited the little house with a pink bundle in his arms, rocking it gently. "It's okay, its okay, don't cry anymore. Let's go get some fresh air. Look Belle, isn't it a lovely day?" Misty was in Cerulean City with her sisters. The sisters insisted on having her return for some sibling bonding. In truth they had to have a talk about secrecy. While Misty agreed to her sisters' request of sibling time, Ash took some time off at Pallet Town.

Ash tried to smile soothingly at the Bellsprout in his arms, but was rewarded with a leafy slap. "Bell, bell, bell!" She cried.

"Shh, there, there, don't cry," Ash continued his fruitless effort to comfort the wailing pokemon. A new cap covered his messy hair, which reminded Giovanni of the old cap that was still in his office.

"Persian," Giovanni's loyal companion was there with him as usual. Persian frowned impatiently, hearing the annoying cries of the Bellsprout in the pink blanket. The Bellsprout was by no means a newborn, she was older than Ash.

"Pika!" Pikachu was on the ground next to Ash. He couldn't stand to be perched on his shoulders with the loud Bellsprout in his arms. He pulled his ears down with his front paws and held them down tightly.

"C'mon Bell, you're going to scare off all the customers!" Ash pleaded. He felt his ears ringing from the constant noise. He took notice of just who it was that exited the car parked in front of the house. "Giovanni!" Ash rushed over to greet him. "What a surprise, did you take care of business already? I bet you must have been busy. At least Tempest was apprehended," Ash grinned proudly at that. He couldn't wait to tell Giovanni about how he and Misty stormed the enemy hideout. "Wow, awesome car!"

Before Giovanni could get a word in, Belle became upset that the one who was supposed to console her wasn't paying attention to her. "Bell!" She wailed so loudly that even Giovanni cringed.

"Put her in a pokeball!" Giovanni snapped in annoyance. Why Ash was putting up with that noisy creature was beyond him. The Bellsprout was rather small, light creases had formed under her beady eyes due to her age. Her pink makeup was running all over her yellow head. The pink bow she had tied around her neck was askew. She was a mess.

"I can't," Ash continued trying to calm Belle. He had to raise his voice to be heard over her cries. "Mrs. Alderaan, her old trainer, passed away recently. It's not just a temper tantrum, she's really sad." Ash gave the Bellsprout an understanding look. "Belle tried to wake Mrs. Alderaan yesterday morning and couldn't. She ran out of the house and got mom to follow her. Mom had to get in through the window. She found Mrs. Alderaan still in her room. She looked like she was sleeping, but she was never going to wake up. Mrs. Alderaan took really good care of Belle, so poor Belle is heartbroken. We tried to talk to her, but she wouldn't stop crying. Mrs. Alderaan lived a long and peaceful life, but it's still hard for Belle to accept she's gone."

Giovanni wasn't sure what to say to all that. Leave it to Delia to worry about a crying pokemon and teach Ash to do the same. The Viridian gym leader wanted nothing more but to shove that loud mouth Bellsprout in a pokeball and bury it.

Salvation came in the form of Gary Oak. Ash spotted him heading towards Mrs. Alderaan's house where a few people had gathered. "Wait just a second, I'll be right back." Ash bolted after the other young man, "Gary! Please take care of Bell for a while, alright?" He shoved the pink blanket with the wailing pokemon into Gary's arms.

Gary's expression became pained and annoyed at the noise, "Ash, wait! You can't leave me like this!"

"I have a guest to take care of," Ash excused himself. "Besides, you're the researcher; you should research ways to cure pokemon depression." He dashed across the street back to where Giovanni was.

"You'll pay for this Ash Ketchum!" Gary threatened.

"Thanks!" Ash smiled, not really taking Gary's threat seriously. He watched guiltily as his ex-rival continued towards Mrs. Alderaan's house with the crying Bellsprout in his arms.

"Pikachu..." 'Finally...' The electric pokemon sighed in relief.

"Persian, persian, per per?" Persian inquired, 'is it always like this?'

Pikachu shook his head, "ka chu!" 'No way!' "Pika pi ka chu pi," 'today is a sad day.'

The two pokemon continued their conversation while their respective trainers talked. "It looks like I came in a bad time," Giovanni observed, "maybe I should come back later." Delia would probably want to stay in Pallet Town. It might take a lot to convince her to go with him and help. Plus they still needed to clarify certain things.

"It's okay, mom is at Mrs. Alderaan's house talking to her relatives, but she'll be back soon. You came to see her, didn't you?" At that moment the general situation felt a little odd to Ash. It had not fully sunk in yet that his mother was in a relationship with Giovanni. He suspected it, he even assumed it to be true, yet it didn't fully hit him until then. He was comfortable enough before, caught in the rush of things that were happening. When it all slowed down, an awkward cloud began to form, though one without any hint of resistance or hostility. Ash dissipated it in the only way he knew. "Do you want to have a battle while we wait?"

Giovanni had been waiting to battle Ash; his face showed that he was truly looking forward to it. "Don't hold back," the confident grin the Viridian gym leader was known for overtook his face.

Ash smiled with anticipation, "I won't." He glanced a little way off across the street. "Let's go somewhere else so we don't disturb anyone, or break anything. The Oak research center is big enough to have an all out battle safely. We should go there."

Giovanni opposed no argument as he followed Ash down the street. "Is Samuel Oak still running things? I thought he retired." Giovanni had heard something about the recent discoveries by Professor Oak of Pallet Town. He wondered if that was the same Oak or maybe his son.

"You know Professor Oak?" The awkwardness that had formed disappeared after the battle challenge was accepted. The conversation flowed rather naturally afterwards. "I should have guessed you would know him, since you're the Viridian gym leader and all. The elder Professor Oak retired a few years ago. His grandson, Gary, is taking care of the research now. He's the one I just gave Belle to. Professor Oak still lives there at the lab. Has it been long since you've seen him?"

"Yes, a very long time," Giovanni truthfully replied. "It was probably before you were born."

The comment brought curiosity to Ash. As far as he knew, his mother dated Giovanni and they broke up for reasons unknown to him. Then his mother met his father. They married, Ash assumed they did, then he was born. His father passed away when he was still a baby. His mother was left in a deep sadness and got rid of all traces of his existence. Then Ash grew up not knowing his father beyond vague stories without specifics. He also knew that his mother had been Professor Oak's student in the past. Had Giovanni studied with him too? Was that how they met?

They stopped in front of the stairs within the brick fence, the gates were left open. Giovanni noticed Ash's thoughtful expression. He wondered just how much this young man knew and how much he suspected. Even if Delia had kept certain things hidden, maybe Ash figured things out on his own. "There's something you wanted to say?"

"Um... well," Ash shook his head. "It's nothing, never mind. Let's go see Professor Oak before our battle." Ash felt that he was being a little too invasive. He should be asking his mother the questions about how she and Giovanni met. It might be awkward for Giovanni, who didn't know Ash too well yet, to tell him. Ash hurried up the stairs to the front door, breaking eye contact with Giovanni. Ash felt as if Giovanni was looking right into the depths of his mind. "Professor Oak!" The young man called out from the door before opening it. After so many years of stopping by to see how Gary's research was going, it no longer felt odd to go in without being let in.

Professor Oak made his way out of the laboratory were he was reading over his grandson's latest article. The article was just about ready for publication; Gary just wanted his grandfather to take one last look at it. "Hello Ash," the greeting was cut short when Professor Oak realized just who was with Ash. "Giovanni?" He asked unsure. He never expected Ash to show up one day with Giovanni.

"It's been a long time, Professor Oak," Giovanni's tone was calm and polite. 

It brought back memories for Samuel. He remembered when Giovanni came by with Delia long ago. "Ah, yes, a long time indeed," there was an edge to the elderly professor's voice, but it was hard to identify unless it was expected.

"We're going to have a battle," Ash proudly declared. "You don't mind if we battle out in the back, right? It might bother people if we're too noisy on the street. Plus we'll need the space."

"A battle," Professor Oak searched for any signs of real tension or anger on Ash's face. He looked and sounded perfectly cheerful. The stress of the previous day's discovery had since left him. He was still visibly tired from the ordeal of dealing with Belle, but otherwise alright. Professor Oak correctly assumed that Ash had no idea about who Giovanni was to him. "Yes, of course, go on, have fun." He forced himself to smile as casually as possible. As soon as Giovanni and Ash were outside, he would call Delia.

Giovanni and Ash made their way through the peaceful atmosphere behind the laboratory. The large portion of land was covered in lush green grass with trees, bushes and flowers scattered about. Giovanni's attention had already been caught earlier. He needed to know of how much Ash was aware of. "Just say it," he tried to keep his voice calm so as to not discourage the truth. "What you were going to tell me before."

Ash was caught with a thoughtful expression. Again he felt as if Giovanni could read him like a book. He quickly came up with something else to say, "I was going to tell you about Tempest. I saw the news and it said the Saffron City police caught them." Ash pouted, he felt a little cheated at the official version. "I guess the police needs the credibility and all, but Misty and I were the ones that did most of the battling." He paused; he didn't want to sound like a show off. Both his mother and Misty always reminded him not to get too confident whenever he slipped up.

The revelation quickly caught Giovanni's interest and he let his expression show it. "Tell me all about it. I want to hear the details." He already knew about this from the reports, but he wanted to know why Ash felt the need to bring it up.

The request pleased Ash, who smiled cheerfully. He began his narration, "Misty and I heard some suspicious rumors about Tempest being in Saffron City. We went to investigate and saw the Meowth that stole my hat. I'm sure it was the same one from Cerulean City. We chased her down an alley and she led us to the Tempest hideout. From there on it was a great battle!" Ash merrily went over every detail of the battle.

The story took a very interesting turn when Ash explained that he had mistakenly been taken to the police station along with the Tempest members. "Thankfully, the Saffron City mayor showed up and cleared everything up."

"The mayor?" Giovanni wasn't happy to hear about his mother again. "Did you talk to her?" That part was not included in Comet's report since he left with Akira while the battle was still raging.

"Not really, she just came and ordered the officers to let us go," Ash thought back to the mysterious meeting. "Jenny didn't really think we were guilty, she kept saying something about protocols and needing to keep us there. She looked frustrated, but I was too. It was so unfair to be detained for a good deed. Jenny also criticized the higher-ups, I think she meant the mayor, but I think the mayor is a good person. We left right after she made the police set us free. We didn't get to talk much."

"Did she say anything at all that seemed unusual?" Giovanni asked. A Vileplume passed by, minding her own business. She gave the humans one short curious glance before continuing on her way.

"If riddles count as unusual..." Ash recalled. "When she first saw me she said something about my eyes being like 'his' eyes, but that I had a look like 'her'. She said something about trapping those who underestimated me. Maybe she meant Tempest with that last part. I don't know about the first part, she never mentioned who that 'him' and 'her' I reminded her of were." Ash still couldn't understand what that was about. Perhaps it was some kind of profound metaphor. "After we thanked her, she said we didn't really need her help. That was kind of odd."

It was all just like her. Madame had not changed all that much. It became apparent to Giovanni that she must know who Ash is. She knew far too much. "Is that all she told you?"

"Yeah, that's pretty much everything," Ash nodded, "not that I can make any sense of it. Do you know the Saffron mayor?"

"Not too well," Giovanni lied, while at the same time remaining truthful. "I heard she's a very mysterious person, so I was curious."

"She's mysterious alright," Ash agreed. Three Rattata ran near by playing tag, focused on their game.

Persian sighed, "Persian per persian per per." 'What a strange brother I have.'

"Pika?" 'Brother?' Pikachu curiously inquired.

'I mean Ash,' Persian replied in his pokemon language. 'Giovanni and Delia are my parents, adoptive since they're humans and all. That makes Ash my brother I suppose, since they are both his parents.'

"Pi ka chu!" Every syllable came out with surprise. 

Pikachu was so loud that Ash had to wonder if there was something wrong. He smiled widely as he came up with an interpretation for Pikachu's outburst. "You're anxious to battle, aren't you Pikachu?"

"Pika pika!" Pikachu flailed his arms around as he shook his head and tried to communicate his discovery. "Pikapi, pika pika!"

'He can't understand a word you're saying,' Persian reminded, of course only Pikachu understood his statement.

'I know but this is big!' Pikachu argued. 'Who is Giovanni really? Just the gym leader? Or is he really with Team Rocket. I suspect he is!' Pikachu continued.

'Yes, but it's not like you can tell anyone,' Persian taunted. He grinned mischievously which made even Giovanni wonder what kind of message he communicated to Pikachu. 

Giovanni disregarded his previous thoughts about pokemon being nothing but creatures of battle, he viewed Persian differently anyway. "Meowth would be really helpful right about now," Ash mused aloud, as if he read Giovanni's thoughts.

"Jessie and James' Meowth?" The question came out before Giovanni could think of any consequences it may bring. He didn't know of any other talking Meowth. If he didn't disregard pokemon thoughts and feelings as gibberish or nonexistent so often, Giovanni might have seen the benefits of keeping Meowth around at headquarters.

"Yes, exactly!" Ash exclaimed before realizing what he was saying. "How do you know Jessie and James?" Before Giovanni could reply, Ash remembered his battle at the Viridian gym. He got an earth badge after battling Jessie and James. "Is it because they took over the gym that time years ago while you were away?" Logically Giovanni had to be away, otherwise Team Rocket wouldn't have been able to take over, Ash reasoned. Whoever was left in charge of the gym and kicked out by Jessie and James, must have told Giovanni all about it when he returned, Ash assumed.

Giovanni didn't want his connection to Team Rocket to be discovered by Ash, so he went along with that. "Yes, everything was a mess when I came back. I later heard that Team Rocket had taken over. Apparently, someone defeated them." Giovanni made the connection, "that was you?"

"Yes, Jessie and James were always trying to steal Pikachu. They kept at it for years," Ash revealed. "I'm sorry the gym was left in such bad conditions after the battle." Two Pidgey flew overhead paying the humans no mind.

The fact that Jessie and James had spent so much time and effort trying to capture Ash's Pikachu, made Giovanni realize that Ash was the one causing all their miserable failures over the years. A big part of him was annoyed, but another part was almost amused. Of course those two wouldn't be able to stand up to Ash, he was... his son. It was only starting to finally truly sink in.

"Please don't be mad at them," at that moment Giovanni understood what Ash mentioned about his mother's words. When Ash spoke of the battle with Tempest, Giovanni could see his own eyes reflected in Ash. Now his look reminded him of Delia, forgiving and merciful. "Jessie and James were really troublesome in the past, but they're not bad people anymore. We're friends now."

It was a good thing that Jessie and James, along with most of Team Rocket, still remained unaware of Ash's relation to their leader. "I understand." The simple words were enough to reassured Ash, but Giovanni's thoughts were anything but silent in his head.

"Pikapi pika pi chu!" 'Ash, figure it out!' Pikachu exclaimed as he listened to the conversation between the two humans who were actually father and son. He pouted when Ash failed to interpret the message correctly. 'I'm getting Meowth to help me tell him. He talks like a human.' An Exeggcute group stopped near by, listening curiously.

'That's freaky,' Persian huffed, 'besides, if Ash needed to know anything, mom or dad would have told him already,' he hissed. The Exeggcute hurried away, with one of them lagging behind.

Pikachu had to admit Persian had a point; maybe this was another of those complicated human things. 'Alright, I'll keep quiet.'

"We better start the battle before they start without us," Ash assumed that Giovanni would be sending Persian out to battle, since he appeared to be his main pokemon.

"Show me what an Indigo League champion can do. I expect a real battle, six on six," Giovanni decided. He had brought his original pokemon as well as some new ones he wanted to try out. He was especially looking forward to facing Ash's Charizard and Pikachu in battle.

As Ash prepared to take his position a few feet away from Giovanni, Jigglypuff peeked out from behind a tree near by. She smiled at the audience that was gathered there and looked up at the tree. If she sang from there, they would all be sure to see her. The tree was very hard to climb. Maybe that Persian could help her up, he looked like a good climber. 'Excuse me,' she persistently poked Persian's shoulder with the end of her red marker, which still had the cap on. 'Can you help me get up on that tree branch?' She asked in pokemon language. 'I want to give everyone a good show. Help me get up there, you won't regret it.' She kept poking the annoyed Persian. 'C'mon, help me up, please!'

"Persian!" Persian swung his tail in annoyance, yelling at the pink pokemon to 'go away'. His tail batted her away towards the tree.

Jigglypuff held on to the tree branch, "puff!" Her body grew in size as she pouted with an indignant 'ouch!' She let out the extra air returning to her normal size, 'you could have been a little more gentle.' Then she began to sing, "Jigglypuff, jiggly puff, jigglypuff jiggly!"

Ash had frozen in his movement of throwing out his first pokeball. "Jigglypuff!" He pointed at the pink pokemon on the tree branch. 

Giovanni had been ignoring the Jigglypuff. He expected to see random pokemon running around the research area. They had been passed by a Vileplume, three Rattata, a pair of Pidgey and an Exeggcute during their conversation. "What about it? It's not... unusual..." Suddenly, Giovanni felt very sleepy. He looked at Ash. The young man had laid down on the soft grass and was slumbering peacefully. That loud mouth Bellsprout probably kept him up all night. Pikachu had fallen asleep next to Ash. Persian was sleeping too. If only that Jigglypuff would shut up. Giovanni tried to reach Jigglypuff, but he was too tired and fell asleep.

Jigglypuff finished her song to see that her audience had fallen asleep. With an angry, "puff!" She took the cap off her shiny red marker and scribbled all over their faces. Satisfied with her vengeance, Jigglypuff ran off to find a new audience that would listen to her song.

To be Continued

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 067: Give me Humor

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Thanks!" Ash cheerfully exclaimed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

To be Continued

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