Loyalty

Alternative 01: Loyalty From Beyond

"Where am I?" Rather than a voice, it was a stream of psychic thoughts, a mental voice. He had no physical form, but existed as a collection of energy. "Did I... die?"

"You've passed on," a female psychic voice answered gently.

"Isn't that the same thing?" The male asked with some amount of annoyance. He always had a temper. "Team Rocket was left in ruins, but at least it brought the world down with it."

"Was that your wish?" The silhouette of a Gardevoir started to slowly become clearer.

The soul paused, then replied, "no. Everything fell apart after she died, it was that which made my son and I turn against each other..." 

"Do you wish to change that?" The figure of the Gardevoir was clear now.

"To change history..." the soul mused. "If I wasn't a soul floating endlessly, while talking to some kind of pokemon angel, I wouldn't believe that to be possible. I want to change it... That time when she left, I'll go after her then, if Delia remains in Team Rocket, everything will be different, she'll live and Ash will be on my side." The soul of Giovanni glowed brightly as if wanting to break free of the stream of energy that guided him.

"Stop this! You will get a second chance. The opportunity to guide your descendant into amending history, but not at such an early point. You will recover her." Gardevoir tried to contain the energy coming from the strong soul.

"Recover her? I would rather never lose her in the first place!" A tare of light appeared in the endless stream of energy between worlds. There Giovanni saw himself with Delia's letter in his hands. She had left and he had not chased after her. "Go after her!" 

The Giovanni of the past heard his own voice echoing in his head. He felt what his future self felt and knew he had to find Delia. She must have gone to Pallet Town. If that was true, then it wasn't much of a hiding place. She must want to be found, but what pushed her to leave in the first place? What secret worried her? He would find out.

"Stop this!" Gardevoir closed the tare in time. "Destiny already dictated that you would change history in the company of your descendant, his family would take measures to stop a paradox from occurring. By changing history at such an early point without precautions you have created a paradox. How can you regret not going after Delia if you did go after her? This timeline... I will separate it from the main one to prevent further consequences. When both timelines reach a point where they are at last the same, they will unite again. Yet, I fear that point in time is far away. Not even I know how long it will take for destiny to mend. Now go, go to the place of waiting."

The Gardevoir emitted a bright light, which pushed Giovanni out of the stream of many colors, causing him to loose consciousness in the process. When he woke up, he was in that mysterious place again, a place where he would stay until it was time to be reborn.

To be Continued

Pokemon belongs to Nintendo.

Special thanks to Nafatali and Rocketlord who inspired me with their stories and motivated me to finish mine, and to Destinie, who also helped keep my interest in Pokemon alive with her websites.

Here are some notes about the stories...

When I wrote most of these stories, Unova was the latest region revealed (Black and White) and there were no mega evolutions yet. The only exception is Awakening, which was written around the time X and Y came out.

Loyalty 

Alternative 02: Nostalgia

The sun shone brightly in the afternoon skies projecting nothing but peace and harmony to the little town of Pallet. It had been ten years since the start of his journey, ten years almost constantly on the road with only a few small breaks in between. Ten years of adventure, ten years of optimism, ten years of training to become the champion. While he journeyed on, Ash wondered when the day would come for him to claim the ultimate victory of the Indigo League; when, not if, as he shared his father's confident determination and certainty of victory one way or another. 

When the day finally arrived, it felt as if it was too soon. His journey was over. Despite earning the title of champion and being offered to take the position as such, Ash refused. The victory meant something else, it meant he had another place to take, another role to play, and he didn't feel ready, even if he fought with determination every step of the way.

"What's wrong?" Ash remembered his father had asked as they made their way down the dim hallways of the underground hide out. "You look nervous, you never get like this during battles and you've already won."

Ash looked up from his current fascination with the floor and examined his father's face, not hiding a single trace of his unsure expression. "What now?" He asked with the outmost uncertainty, feeling as if his every step echoed heavily, carrying him towards an unknown point of no return. "I trained, I battled, I won, and that's what you told me I had to do. I defeated Lance and..." he paused, drowning in his own uncertainty.

"And me," Giovanni admitted without the bitterness that would come if the defeat had been at the hands of anyone else. "So now you don't know what comes next? You've proven you're strong and determined enough, but this is only the start of your training. There's still much to learn. From this point on you'll be with me as I run Team Rocket. When you're ready I'll hand over certain operations to you and supervise your progress. You still have a long way to go."

Far from being disappointed, Ash was relieved. He wouldn't know what to do if the future of Team Rocket was simply handed to him, not that his father would be so careless. The champion took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he absentmindedly petted the Pikachu on his shoulders. This was the destiny that lay before him ever since his birth, could he face it? Did he want to? Those questions had oddly enough never surfaced in his mind before. All he had to do was climb up, all he had to think was that he had to do this. Did he have a choice? What would that choice be?

Ash focused on the present as he made his way down the rustic roads of Pallet Town, his orange car leaving tire marks on the dirt path as it went. The brightly colored vehicle stopped in front of the Oak research laboratory where the young man exited it and walked past the parted gates of the front entrance beyond the brick fence. A soft pleasant breeze blew as he made his way up the steps and entered the residence as if it were his own. "Gary, are you here?"

"No, I'm off on a journey to catch one of each pokemon in existence!" Came a sarcastic reply from the backyard, the sound of which led Ash to his long time rival and friend. "So, what brings you here?" Gary inquired without even turning around to look at Ash as he exited from the back door, instead focused on his activity of admiring his grandfather's land.

"Nothing much," Ash reached into the pocket of his jeans pulling out a fat white envelope. "Just the mail." He grinned as if it were nothing. He knew all too well what was in that envelope. Pikachu, his ever present loyal companion, jumped off his shoulders and went to play with the other pokemon in the Oak land.

Gary accepted the envelope with curiosity that shouldn't have been; he knew what was in it. Maybe the source of his perplexity was not the mail, but the mailman. He opened the white envelope casually and whistled at the wad of cash it contained running his finger over the edge and watching the valuable material bounce off the surface of his thumb held together with a rubber band. "Did you get demoted to the rank of delivery boy?" Gary teased.

"I haven't made dad angry yet," Ash joked back, "I just offered to deliver the payment since I wanted to come to Pallet anyway. It's been a while." Looking away from Gary, Ash contemplated the land before them. "It's been a long time since we used to run around here calling each other names... or rather since you used to chase me around here calling me names."

"Getting nostalgic, are you?" Gary chuckled, "I guess this means your father's working you to the bone and you needed release." Pausing for a moment, Gary adopted a serious and somewhat dark expression, "the goods are in the back."

Ash's expression tried to remain serious, but a smile ultimately stretched across his face and he burst out in a fit of laughter. The action earned him a fake punch on the arm from Gary. "Right, right.... I'll make sure the goods are delivered to the boss." 

The goods in question were the fruits of Gary's Team Rocket sponsored research. Gary had known about Ash's situation for some time, having found out about five years ago. It led to enmity and bitterness just when the two had apparently gotten over their rivalry to become true friends. However, they worked out their differences and ended up making a deal. Gary's research would be sponsored by Team Rocket and he would share the results in exchange. Part of the deal was that Gary refused to formulate anything that would be ultimately harmful for pokemon or humans, no poison, no chemicals riddled with side effects. Additionally his research would be free of cruelty, no live experimentation, or at least not on pokemon. As for plants, Gary had killed and mutated a large number of flowers, bushes and even small trees all for the sake of science. Ash didn't understand how he could link that to pokemon, but somehow he could.

Gary stepped forward and sat down on the grass behind the house. He pulled out a cigarette box from his lab coat and lit one. "I'm a big hypocrite," he stated as the smoke danced in the breeze in front of him. "I know that the researchers in Team Rocket are going to confirm my findings with live experimentation, yet I choose to ignore it."

Ash sat down beside him and remained silent for a long moment, "I... I just do what I'm supposed to... I wonder if I'll ever form a will of my own. It's strange, this is what I've been raised to do, this is the goal I pursued for so long thinking it was my own."

"We're both empty shells, huh?" Gary laughed bitterly. He closed his eyes and exhaled, "In the past, I never would have thought-"

The sharp sound of Ash's cellphone cut him off as Ash jumped a little at the noise. "Sorry, I need to take it."

"So jumpy..." Gary commented before fading into silence and focusing on his cigarette and the landscape before him.

"What?" Ash sounded angry, which made Gary snap into attention and stare at him, as if trying to read the other side of the conversation in his eyes. "Just like that, in broad daylight? You think you can tell me that and not expect me to go? Of course I'm going!" Ash's finger went down on the cell phone's button so harshly that he almost broke the thin high tech device in half in his hand.

"What happened?" Gary demanded more so than asked. Ash had bolted to his feet in a split second.

"Pikachu!" Ash called at the top of his lungs in an impatient and commanding voice he never used for his pokemon under normal circumstances. There was obviously something wrong and the yellow electric pokemon wasted no time in rushing back to his trainer. Ash started on his way back through the Oak residence and towards the front door, simultaneously giving Gary his explanation. "They have mom," the statement was filled with anger and frustration.

Ash nearly ran into the elder Oak, who was returning from the local convenience store. "The police?" Gary inquired with urgency as he followed Ash down the stairs, both young men rushing past Samuel, apparently not noticing him in their haste.

"No, some anti-Rocket group called the Azure Alliance. Dad warned me about them," Ash climbed into his car and caused the engine to roar to life. Without any further exchange of words he drove off in a rush.

Gary spat out his cigarette as he coughed in the dust left behind by Ash's car, which now clung to his previously clean white lab coat. He saw from the corner of his eyes that his grandfather had made his way down the steps, abandoning the bag of groceries next to the door. "This is bad," he stepped on the cigarette on the ground and turned completely to look at his grandfather. Ash was already out of sight, the orange dot that was his fancy sports car fading away in the distance. Gary knew his grandfather expected an explanation, which was best given inside, if at all.

The two Oaks headed up the stairs, with the elder in bitter worried silence and the younger filled with a frustrating uncertainty. Gary picked up the grocery bag as he went through the door, rummaging through it for a bottle of pain killers. Finding the item, he strode to the kitchen depositing the bag and the rest of its contents on the counter and pouring him self a glass of water. He knew Samuel was expectantly waiting for an answer, "you can just ask."

"There's a limit to what you can tell me," the elderly professor stated as a matter of fact. "There's also a limit to what they tell you."

"But you choose to ignore my little venture in favor of not jailing your own grandson," Gary snapped and paused to swallow the medicine that would hopefully relieve his headache. "The Azure Alliance, those anti-rocket vigilantes... they have Delia."

A look of worried horror overcame Samuel's face, before he forced his expression to become stern. "She made her choice years ago when she married into the mafia. She knew this could have happened; it was only a matter of time, especially with how Team Rocket has been moving in the recent years. She... deserves..." he paused unable to finish his intended harsh statement fueled by frustration. Instead he confessed, "she deserves nothing of the sort. I guess I've been a hypocrite giving you the silent treatment. I know that what you're doing isn't out of evil, but it's not right, still... you're my only grandson, my only family left alive. Delia was like family to me too and the whole town missed her when she closed the cafe and disappeared from our lives, with only a few of us knowing why... It's all because of him, because he called her to return."

"Return?" Gary questioned, "it's not like she was disconnected from Team Rocket to begin with. It was more of a long vacation than anything else. What's all that 'was' stuff anyway? I know you still care about Delia, as a father I'd like to think." The theory was accompanied by a raise of an eyebrow and a suspicious, almost accusing undertone.

"Of course! How else?" Samuel snapped. 

"She was like the mother I never had, or more like never met." Gary admitted, why was that medicine taking so long to ease the tension in his head? "I was jealous of Ash because of her, but I never told him that. Even if I was a rival to her son, she always treated me kindly." After a silent pause, Gary occupied himself in putting away the groceries still remaining in the bag. "Giovanni's going to be pissed off if anything happens to her."

To be Continued

Loyalty 

Alternative 03: Surprise

To any passer-bys the group of women looked like a quartet of best friends out on a picnic seeking to find some time away from life, from the world and its stress. The other dwellers of the park in the outskirts of Fuchsia City knew nothing of the women's conversation, but they assumed it to consist about fashion, celebrities, music, men, and other such topics. They smiled, they laughed, yet they discourage potential flirts that looked their way, making it clear to the single men that were out and about on that sunny afternoon that this was a girl's day out. All of that was written in their eyes, so different from the truth. 

This was an operation of precision that the Azure Alliance, a secret organization of vigilantes, could not mess up. Their contact revealed that the mysterious wife of the Rocket boss was vacationing in a villa not too far from their current location. They could in fact see the structure in question from where they sat on their red and white checkered blanket. 

Surrounded by beautiful flowers of all possible colors, some of the varieties quite rare, the picturesque villa was nothing short of a postcard scene. Its peaceful atmosphere betrayed the nature of the funds that purchased it. "We have like no idea who this woman is or like what she looks like." Daisy, the oldest of the four Waterflowers cautioned, tugging a loose strand of wavy blond hair behind her ear casually.

"Our contact has not been wrong before, there's no reason to doubt our sponsor now." Misty elaborated, picking up a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and taking a bite off it seemingly without a care in the world.

"I like feel uneasy," Lilly admitted, her face betraying her mask of bliss for a split second, before she giggled at random to ease herself back into her acting.

"We've like talked about this," Violet encouraged as she took a sip of her soda. "Our sponsor's anonymity is like an understandable safety precaution." They were anonymous too, though they suspected that their mysterious sponsor knew who they were.

A few people passed by just outside the park's grounds. From the position partially hidden behind a tree with the excuse of partaking of its shade, the sisters saw them clearly. "They came from the villa," Misty discarded her unfinished sandwich and stood, stretching naturally.

It was time for the villa's staff to take a break. According to the rumors, the wife of Team Rocket's leader was kind towards her staff and did not request all the pampering that her husband provided. It was hard to imagine given their opinion of the organization being less than favorable. One by one the sisters stood and tidied up the remains of their picnic, before going off on a little stroll, the covered picnic basket on hand.

The villa had no prominent fences, though a row of well kept bushes and flowers marked the limits of the private property. Occasionally, a few people would wonder into the yard to admire the flowers, but just as quietly and peacefully as they came, they would leave, no harm done. The four young women stopped to smell the flowers as a boy walking his Growlithe passed by minding his own business. By the time the next person passed by, a lady with a large hat who cradled an Oddish in her arms, the Waterflowers were already out of sight behind the main cabin of the small villa.

Retrieving masks from their picnic basket they trusted in the informant's accuracy in reporting a lack of surveillance cameras in this particular property. They tugged their hair into their pokemon shaped masks leaving no hint of their identity, covering their clothing in dark blue coats. The action was done swiftly; Misty wore the face of a Starmie, while Daisy, Violet and Lilly's masks resembled a Dewgong, Seadra and Goldeen respectively. Without further ado the women had Violet's Kingler force the back door open and they rushed inside, with Lilly staying behind to act as the guard.

Startled by the sudden noise, the one inhabiting the villa set the book she was reading down on the elegant polished wood coffee table and made her way towards the back of the structure curiously. She froze upon seeing the four masked figures and they too froze upon seeing her face. She stared at their coats; there was a blue A of a cerulean shade that stood out against the navy of the coats. "The Azure Alliance..."

"You..." Misty's heart was a turmoil of emotion. The informant had to be wrong. This woman was Delia, the mother of her childhood friend, her childhood crush. They had only met a few times casually in the recent years, but he was not someone to be forgotten. He was that busy friend that she kept meaning to catch up with, the friend she could never let go of in spite of distance. "Why are you here?"

Sensing her sister's distress, Daisy stepped forward, taking command of the mission and ordering her sister's Kingler to the front lines. "Who are you really? Why are you like here?" She demanded to know, the confusion slipping into her voice mixed with disbelief.

"We like need to move!" Came Lilly's urgent voice. "Jessie and James are coming." She recognized them instantly despite their civilian clothing; the Azure Alliance had some small amount of information about Team Rocket members, mostly those who operated out in the open. She also saw the reason for their lack of movement in the criminal scene lately; Jessie was very obviously pregnant, making her way to the villa at a luxurious pace with James and Meowth enjoying the scenery and the afternoon breeze beside her.

A moment of uncertainty hung in the air, "should we?" Violet inquired unsure.

"You're coming with us." Misty finally ordered. She couldn't picture Delia being a criminal, but Jessie and James were going to see her. It was true that they were coming as civilians, but the fact that they were acquainted with her enough to visit hinted that Delia might know something useful. That is if Jessie and James were heading that way at all, maybe they were just taking a break and curiously wondered into the villa's land to look at the flowers. Either way, they needed more time to be sure and Misty had the nagging feeling that she shouldn't leave Delia behind.

"Why are you doing this?" Delia's voice became upset. "What do you hope to accomplish? Giovanni will not bend to your will; I won't allow you to use me against him."

Misty's eyes went wide behind her mask. Delia was clearly involved with Team Rocket, with their leader, Giovanni. Was she really his wife? There was no time for further discussion. With clenched teeth and a shattering heart, Misty signaled to Daisy. The oldest Waterflower released her Dewgong from its pokemon and commanded "ice beam!"

The force of the hit came gentler than Delia expected, she wasn't knocked back too hard, but she felt her body go numb with the cold. Misty caught her before she hit the ground, her limbs somewhat unresponsive from the cold. "I'm sorry," she pulled a small spray from her pocket aiming it at Delia's nose and mouth area. Invisible mist was suspended in the atmosphere around her, while the Waterflower's masks did more then just hide their identity. Delia's eyelids felt heavy as they closed, making her fall into the irresistible chemically induced slumber.

Aided by the fact that Jessie, James and Meowth had taken their sweet time examining the lovely garden, the Waterflowers made their escape from the villa, discarding their masks and coats. They carried the unconscious Delia between Daisy and Violet, arm in arm, appearing to be good friends leaning on each other from the distance. They hurried to their car on the opposite path on the other side of the villa. The light blue vehicle with tinted windows carried them away from the scene of the kidnapping swiftly and they were not followed.

xoxox xox xoxox

Some time later... Jessie sighed as she tried to get comfortable on the hard cold bench of the Viridian Rocket base dungeon. Cassidy had come by earlier with a few snide remarks, but the worse was yet to come. Meowth seemed to be taking the whole thing quite harshly, curled into a moping ball of uncertainty and sadness in a corner of the small cell that was just enough to fit the three of them. James sulked at Jessie's side, his arms around her shoulders while her hands rubbed her large belly.

Confident and imposing footsteps sounded off, accompanied by other sets of footsteps that seemed to fade in comparison. The bars were removed from in front of the trio allowing them a clear view of the rocket boss himself. "What trouble have you three caused this time?" He was angry, enraged, almost murderous, but it was not directed at them and they somehow knew it, he just wanted information.

"We were too late," Jessie stated simply, not lifting her eyes from the gray stone floor.

"Everything we said, it's all true," James insisted. "When we got there all we saw were the forced backdoor, the coats and masks," he grimaced. "It must have been the Azure Alliance, the coats had their insignia. We couldn't protect her..."

"Even if she gave her attendants the afternoon off, they shouldn't have gone so far," Giovanni growled. "You two can go; this wasn't your job to mess up anyway. As for those assigned to tend to Delia's needs... they will be severely punished."

xoxox xox xoxox

The light blue car with tinted windows advanced at a steady pace towards a seemingly abandoned warehouse in Fuchsia city. The place was notorious for being the hideout of a small gang that was unrelated to Team Rocket and too small for the criminal titan to bother with them. The gang had frequent fights with the police, but the Rockets didn't care. Those fights faded away and the residents of the outskirts of Fuchsia were thankful, but none were certain of the reason for the improvement. 

In truth the Azure Alliance had taken that hideout away from the band of criminals in relation to their crime of illegally trading water pokemon caught in bulk to the point where the survival of their species in the wild was threatened. That was the group's original purpose, to protect water pokemon in the wild and stopping that gang was their turning point from an environmental society just beginning to be formed, to a secret group of vigilantes. 

With the technicalities and authority they overstepped to take justice into their own hands, the group was legally disintegrated and faded into nothingness in the public eye, remaining alive and slowly growing as a secret society under the care of the Waterflower sisters.

It was ironic that they would take the gang's hideout for themselves and that the police would adopt the same attitude of inaction that they had with the structure's previous inhabitants. It was in that old structure just outside of Fuchsia City with its port visible a relatively short distance away, where Delia began to wake up, though her eyes could not see light. Her senses were slow from the effects of the fast acting sleeping chemicals and her movements were so stiff and accentuated with shivers that it took her a moment to realize her mobility had been impeded by ropes. 

Delia's hands were tied behind her back with ropes, her feet immobilized in a similar fashion as she lay in a makeshift futon on the floor of a place unknown to her. A black cloth was tied around her head over her eyes, preventing her from visually examining her surroundings. However, the quiet sounds near by hinted that she was not alone, which gave her an odd sense of relief mixed with fear. Though her eyes were covered, was not, which made Delia reason that they expected her to talk and screaming would be either useless, or swiftly dealt with. 

Though she had upon awakening moved on instinct, Delia fell back into an absolute stillness; she didn't want to be interrogated. "I know that you're awake." A female voice spoke near her. The voice was no longer muffled by a mask, but Delia knew it must be one of the women from before. "I need to know what your involvement is in this... I don't want to keep you like this." There was a certain pain in the woman's voice that Delia perceived to be real. Did she know this woman?  Had they met before under different circumstances?

Sighing in exasperation at the silence that eradiated from Delia Misty reached forward to remove her blindfold. "Don't!" Violet cautioned, making her red haired sister pause.

"Leave us," seeing her own face would be enough to suspect her family, but this was something that Misty felt she had to do. Despite how Delia talked about Team Rocket and Giovanni before, Misty still held on to the hope that this had all been one big misunderstanding. After a long uncertain pause, Daisy, Violet and Lilly retreated to the basement secretly nestled beneath the old warehouse, giving Misty some time alone with their unexpected prisoner. 

To be Continued

Loyalty 

Alternative 04: Secrets

It had been completely unexpected, out of the blue and yet deep down she felt she had it coming. For many years, Delia pretended to be a normal person, she was seen as cheerful and sweet, which she truly was, but the wife of a mafia lord could hardly be called normal by society and its standards. The residents of Pallet Town had taken a liking to her little cafe and were sad to see it close when she felt the need to retire despite her eyes still holding the sparkle of youth just as strongly as ten years ago. 

Ash's journey was over and so was her place in the outside world, her role of assisting him in his rise to power. After Ash's victory at the Indigo League she stayed in Pallet only for a few months until Giovanni urged her to return, emphasizing that there was no reason for her to come and go between her two roles and could put that secondary role that had become so primary to rest. She could return to his side completely. It was over.

Delia expected to see anger when the person who kidnapped her from the peaceful little villa lifted off her blindfold. She expected to see the enraged face of a criminal out for vengeance. A part of her also expected the hurt eyes of one of Team Rocket's unjust victims, but she kept telling herself that she could do nothing about it, while the more sincere and less mercifully hypocritical part of her brain told her that she simply didn't want to do anything. Her family was everything and they would just have to be enough.

Instead of all her expectations, which were not too cheerful to begin with, but were at least logical, Delia found a familiar face. Her eyes widened as she stared into the confused expression of a young woman she had met long ago. Delia had only seen Misty a few times during the past decade, on less than half as many occasions as Ash had seen her, not that the two had spent too much time together. 

Ash and Misty were always happy to see each other, and always conscious of their respective secrets while remaining unaware of the other's. From Misty's perspective, though still his optimistic self, Ash had become more focused, just a little more serious and that gave him an air of distance. He was training, he was busy, he had no time to travel slowly from one location to another, instead rushing from one public challenge to the next in a select few formal events, then disappearing into a secret training routine that the next generation of young trainers could only theorize about dreamily, or at least that's what it looked like.

Misty felt that he wasn't out for adventuring anymore as much as he was out for improvement. Ash was well known, he had a reputation to maintain and Misty had a well camouflaged criminal record with her name on it that would surely be brought to light if she was seen with Ash. A  gym leader charged with the crime of being a vigilante taking justice into her own hands and overstepping the authorities along with several other offenses, some being true and others false, was one thing. 

Yet to have the same gym leader associated with the new champion who shocked the world by defeating Lance only to be apparently, too humble to take the title of champion formally was too much. His record had to remain without blemish, or else the kids wouldn't want to collect all those little Pokemon League cards, figurines and what not, which Ash was pushed to advertise, even the classic poke-Os cereals would suffer if its spokesperson was seen with a criminal, righteous or not. He was a little avoidant; she noticed it, accepted it and added to it, not truly bothered by it as she thought it was his natural response to her own avoidance which in reality flew over his head.

"Misty?" The name weighed heavily in Delia's voice as if the very sound waves that carried it would shatter. A million questions ran through her mind, but she could hardly voice them incoherent and incomplete. "Why are you? Where? Is this?"

"Who are you?" Misty cut in; her expression absolutely sour and almost fearful of the truth. "Please tell me the truth, who are you, please!" She was near the point of tears. The danger of being a vigilante didn't faze her like this, even the thought of crossing the line and performing an abduction, though it bothered her at first, was reconciled with her conscience when she excused it convincing herself that it was for the greater good. Yet this memory of times gone by, the precious memory of the traveling boy and his kind mother, Misty didn't want it to be tainted.

"I am who you think," Delia admitted, thinking that she had no right to deny it; she simply couldn't bring herself to do so. "The Azure Alliance... It started out as a group that protected water pokemon and you were openly involved in it. After a conflict with a small gang in this area, the alliance apparently dissolved. Later, a group of vigilantes emerged by the same name, but the Waterflower sisters denied any involvement with them. The leader was supposedly caught and arrested, but he wasn't the real leader, either that or a new leader was elected and the group became more hidden. I really thought that you had broken free of it, or that it was true that you never participated in the lawless version of the group."

"Even so, you're rather informed," Misty frowned, still busy with the task of taking in the shock she received with the revelation. "Then you really are his wife, you married Giovanni." Misty shook her head, trying to force the fact to sink in. It makes sense I suppose. Ash seemed stressed when I saw him a few days after his victory. I thought the press was getting to him, I only saw him for a short time, a very short time every few months, that's as often as I've seen him for the last ten years. Could the source of his stress been his new family situation?" 

Delia remained silent and allowed Misty to continue with her theories. The redhead shook her head in disapproval. Of course, Ash is the champion, a position of power, if Giovanni got close to the mother, he could get close to the son. That's why Ash refused the title and instead asked Lance to continue serving as Kanto and Johto's champion, isn't it? He didn't want to be used even if you've been tricked, even if..." Misty was silenced by the fierce look Delia was giving her. Her heart felt like it stopped cold.

"Giovanni and I were married before you existed in the world," Delia snapped sharply. She immediately regretted it, being someone to feel the pain of guilt quite vividly upon gazing into someone's hurt expression. Besides, she was saying too much, what the Azure Alliance didn't know, they didn't need to find out.

Misty slowly processed what she heard; she had received too many shocks for a single day. "His father..." she let out a breath. It made sense, it was only logical, they were married from beyond the beginning of her lifetime, and therefore Ash's lifetime and they were still together, thus making it the only logical conclusion. Ash was Giovanni's son. Following Ash's victory, Misty wondered why he didn't take the title of champion, she didn't understand given how strongly Ash wanted to be the best. Then it suddenly made sense. "No... Is he being forced to quit? Is Ash leaving his career for Team Rocket?"

Delia sighed in exasperation, "you insist on making them the bad guys. Team Rocket is no more pure evil than a band of average fugitives is pure good." Her tone was even, the sugary sweetness that characterized her flowing back into her voice as she had the chance to calm down a little.

Misty opened to speak and promptly closed it again, it was clear that the fugitives Delia was referring to were the Azure Alliance, though lawless, Misty preferred to think of the organization as vigilantes. She took a deep breath, counted to ten and decided that throwing out accusations wouldn't do anyone any good. "I suppose I don't know the whole picture," she admitted, "but I know as much as the general public knows and a little more."

"That is not enough to judge each individual," Delia argued without any edge in her voice. "I don't mean to be a hypocrite," she voiced sincerely, "I know I'm not a model citizen with what I've seen and permitted, thinking I could do nothing. I know I'm selfish to seek the happiness of my family at all costs, even at the cost of other people. I'm not going to tell you I'm right, but I can at least assure you that I know where my loyalties lie. I can also say that I really, honestly, never want to see you as an enemy of Team Rocket. If you must chase a righteous purpose as I once thought of doing years ago, then I can't stop you, but know it's not an easy path and temptations are all around."

"Loyalty," Misty repeated the word that had such an odd ring to it. When one thought of loyalty, a virtuous characteristic in itself, one thought of someone good, someone just, not the mafia, not kidnappers. Yet everyone, criminal or innocent, had their own loyalties and priorities. "I have loyalties too," Misty admitted, finding strength in that mutual understanding. 

"About Ash..." Delia brought up the subject worriedly. "It could harm him if this was made public, not that it's a complete secret, but the general public doesn't need to know. Please don't try to interfere with that." Delia's tone of voice made it clear that this was not a threat, but a protective warning. "Please, Misty, don't."

"I have no intentions of negatively affecting Ash... or taking any actions at all, not until I sort things out." Hasty actions could lead to terrible mistakes. The thought of such a situation reminded her that it was time to move if she was going to avoid the progression of the Azure Alliance's plans for a while longer until she could clear her head. She knew that though hidden, her sisters were listening. She wasn't going to hand over Delia as a bargaining chip to the unknown person that their anonymous informant promised to send along.

There was a quiet moment followed by the shattering of silence as the unmistakable sound of sirens filled the air. The other Waterflowers, paying no mind to their lack of masks any longer, rushed to join their younger sister on the top level as the police shouted from outside. "You're surrounded, come out with your hands on your head!"

The threat from the megaphone was ignored in favor of some running in circles from the three oldest Waterflowers and a hasty untying of their prisoner in Misty's part. The situation felt crazy, but then again, so is the life of a vigilante. "It won't do either of us any good if the police has you. Please don't try to flee from us," just as Delia had warned before, foretelling of dire consequences should the warning be ignored, Misty did so this time. 

"I understand," Delia stretched, rubbing her wrists.

"The basement is like a dead end," Lilly pointed out what all her sisters already knew, to emphasize the intensity of their predicament. 

"We'll have to fight our way through; it looks like we were betrayed." Misty concluded too late, her expression was filled with frustration.

"The police couldn't like kidnap her," Daisy put the rest of the plot together; her and her sisters' fright and frustration clear in their faces.

"But they can like take her from us and like keep her in custody!" Violet finished voicing the conclusion. It was all a trap, the Azure Alliance had been played into pulling off the move the police couldn't manage. 

"Calm down, we need to stay on top of things..." Misty desperately insisted. It felt like a lose-lose situation, if they fought the police they really would be the bad guys. Their so called minor crimes would escalate into a level where they couldn't use influence and a good lawyer to avoid being detained. 

"I'm sure by now Team Rocket knows I'm with the Azure Alliance," Delia stated, her sweet voice not matching the level of urgency that the situation demanded. She knew how to take hold of her feelings and keep calm when she had to, a skill that she picked up perhaps out of necessity. "We need to flee, I won't try to run off, I'll help in any way I can." Being rescued from vigilantes would be easier on her and less troublesome for Team Rocket than being rescued from the police. "I can talk to Giovanni, we can arrange something."

The three oldest Waterflowers remained in shocked silence while Misty processed the offer. Yes, sweet kind Delia was a lady of the mafia, even in captivity; she knew how to throw out an irrefutable offer with many implications. "In other words we're in over our necks and the police is the least of our worries. Furthermore, if the authorities get you because of us, Team Rocket's wrath will be merciless and our best bet right now is to follow your lead?"

Delia smiled, again with too much sweetness for the situation, "yes, exactly, I need your help to get safely home and you need my help to avoid a life time in prison. It's good to have you working with me, let's try our best."

Daisy's jaw dropped, "when did she become like the boss?"

Misty groaned, "it's our fault for taking stupid risks and thinking we can get away with it all for the sake of our desperate vengeance. The tables have turned and since we're otherwise sunk anyway, we'll have to listen to her." She looked at Delia, clearly displeased with the fact that they were surrounded, the door to the warehouse would soon be forced off its hinges, catching them all in a pretty bad situation.

Delia nodded, her sweetness turning to determination. "Very well, I will leave the strategizing in battle to you. Let's make an escape route as best we can."

To be Continued

Loyalty

Alternative 05: Revelations

The gusts of wind in that particular altitude were harsh, especially given the traveling speed, but Ash didn't care. Faster Charizard!" He urged almost desperately as he clung to his pokemon and Pikachu clung to him, both trying to avoid falling to the ground far below.

Naturally, Team Rocket had information gatherers scattered about. Hacking into the radio frequencies of the police was not hard with their technology. It was that which revealed the location of the Azure Alliance's hiding place. The question still remained as to why the police knew where they were and fueled the theory that the police might have been manipulating the Azure Alliance from the shadows. Either way, they had gone too far, this was personal and those vigilantes would be stopped permanently.

At top speed, Ash finally arrived at the hideout in the outskirts of Fuchsia City, near the coast. The old warehouse was easily identifiable as the place he was looking for, due to it being surrounded by a multitude of police officers, cars, motorcycles and police trained pokemon. "All they're missing is the tanks," Ash muttered bitterly, though he knew his father could provide plenty of those if his mother wasn't safely returned to him soon.

"Let's go down to the main door, I'll need to have a word with the officer in charge." Following Ash's instructions, Charizard swiftly landed in front of a shocked officer Jenny. "Are you leading this operation?" Far from leaving any open room to be questioned, Ash's tone demanded to speak with the one in charge.

"Yes," Jenny almost stuttered, before she remembered who she was and in what position she stood. Sure, Ash was the Indigo League champion, everyone recognized him these days, but he too was under the law. "You can't be here."

"I heard my mother was taken hostage for ransom," Ash stated, cutting into Jenny's speech with a tone that made her and all the other officer's present feel forced to listen. The identity of Ash's mother was known to the general population, who thought his father had passed away many years ago, before he became a public figure. "I don't want her to be harmed, that's why I'm here."

Jenny tried to gain her authority once more. This wasn't the way she usually was, no one made her feel so small like this young man's atmosphere of authority did. It was unnerving. "The police will handle the situation." She had to follow the protocol even if she knew who he was, the son of Giovanni, though revealing that fact would only bring repercussions if they had nothing to bargain with against the criminal mastermind himself.

"I won't risk it," it was obvious that Ash would not permit anyone to kick him off the scene, regardless of how many laws he might be breaking by disregarding the police's orders to leave.

Without a hint of a warning, the silence that emanated from the inside of the old warehouse was shattered along with the door itself. A current of water swept forth, knocking most of the officers off their feet and even pushing some of the lighter vehicles back. A Kingler, Dewgong, Poliwrath and Seadra stood together ready to generate another devastating team water gun.

Ash was one of the few who escaped the attack. Charizard had reacted with amazing speed, picking up his trainer and gaining considerable altitude with just one sweep of his wings. Pikachu, who had been perched on Ash's shoulders was also spared from the water offensive. "Smokescreen, thunderbolt!" Ash didn't even take notice of his mother's attackers as he had been focused on her. By the time his eyes thought to wander elsewhere, the area was already obstructed by Charizard's smoke and the atmosphere carried Pikachu's heavy voltage. 

Charizard, accustomed to his own smoke, held Ash and Pikachu on one arm, grabbing Delia with the other and swiftly gained altitude above the cloud in which the officers tried to find their way out of. Once at a safe vertical distance, their lungs enjoying the fresh air beyond the smoke, Ash climbed on Charizard's back, helping his mother do the same. "Are you alright?" He gave her a quick visual examination, searching for any obvious injuries.

"I'm fine," it was clear that Delia's answer referred to the physical sense and that she was emotionally disturbed.

"We can cover this," Ash tried to console her, assuming that she was worried about the repercussions the stunt might have for Team Rocket or perhaps more so for his own image.

Delia shook her head, "the Azure Alliance... they are..." Just as Delia spoke, the smoke below cleared out with the help of a young officer's Pidgey generating a whirlwind to blow it all away. His fellow officers wouldn't criticize his choice in pokemon after this, it's not like their Growlithe did much to help. "Gone..." Delia finished. She didn't see Misty or her sisters anywhere below and it looked like the officers were also consumed by confusion.

"Over there," Ash pointed discreetly. He wanted to catch the culprits but he didn't want to hand them over to the police. He was giving them to Team Rocket. He couldn't clearly see the culprits as they swam away mostly under water, aided in speed by their pokemon. They only peeked out to the surface for short moments to take in quick breaths of air, once again disappearing beneath the soft waves of the sea. "The police probably can't see them from the ground, we can follow them."

"Ash Ketchum!" Jenny called from the ground below, clearly angered at the fact that the Azure Alliance slipped through her fingers and using them in the future would be very difficult. "Order your pokemon to come down immediately!"

Ash glared down at the officer, "my mother has been through a lot. Her health is my priority. If you want to ask questions, you'll have to wait. Or can you really be so cruel?" He was using his reputation as the beloved noble champion against them. If the press caught wind of the situation, the authorities would be severely criticized. 

Besides if she went any further, given her fruitless stunt, Jenny might be uncovered as the Azure Alliance informant and manipulator, helping them with both secrets and police funds, all for the sake of taking justice into her own hands beyond what her uniform permitted. It was ironic, a vigilante that betrayed vigilantes. Jenny knew she had to let things go. "Very well..." her voice was almost inaudible under the confused and shocked expressions of the other officers.

The police had not seen in which direction the Azure Alliance escaped, they couldn't perceive the gentle movements of their trails in the water from the ground, but Ash followed the kidnappers with his eyes from the air. Flying off in the direction of Cinnabar Island, which appeared to be the enemy's intended runaway destination, wouldn't be odd. Giovanni had luxurious residences everywhere, the tourist trap island included. "Charizard, let's head over to Cinnabar Island or wherever they're heading. Stay hidden above the clouds, but don't lose them."

Charizard let out a low growl of acceptance and loyalty, proud to help the trainer that had earned his respect through hard work. The large fire pokemon followed Ash's instructions, staying hidden above and keeping his well trained eyes on the ones he was following.

"About the kidnappers," Delia breathed, it was best to warn Ash of who he was dealing with before he found out for himself.

"Don't worry, I won't let them hurt you," Ash assured with a certain threatening tone directed at anyone who might try to lay a harmful hand on her. He reminded her of Giovanni. "I wish I could stop to drop you off, but that might mean losing them and I can't let them run free after they took you hostage. I can't let this happen again."

"Ash, listen to me," Delia raised her tone momentarily in a voice she used when communicating something vital. Ash turned to look back to where his mother sat behind him, arms around her son's torso in a motherly hug both to prevent falling and to give and receive comfort. "Those people are the Waterflower sisters. Misty never left the Azure Alliance nor was the name stolen from her past organization, it's the same group with a new purpose and I would imagine new members. I don't know how many there are, but at least the Waterflowers are directly involved."

Delia could feel Ash's heart beat faster, his face full of perplexity and betrayal. "Misty..." Denial was to follow, then anger, Delia expected it. "It can't be! You were confused, dazed, you must have made a mistake."

"There's no mistake," Delia insisted gently. "I wanted to warn you before you saw for yourself. Those people swimming down there are Misty and her sisters. They're the ones who kidnapped me. Apparently, the Azure Alliance has been getting input from the police, though they were actually being used by them. At least that's what I could gather from what I heard."

The revelation left Ash in shock. Before he could fully absorb the fact that Misty was now an enemy of Team Rocket, something else stood out to Ash. He wondered about her motivations. Would Misty go this far for the sake of justice in general or some other equally impersonal ideal? It felt like too much to do if something didn't hit close to home. "What's her motivation? Did the police push her into this? Maybe they're playing dirty, she didn't want to do this, maybe she meant to keep you safe from them."

"Are you theorizing or thinking about how to excuse her with Giovanni?" Delia was sincerely unsure which of the two it was. 

Ash remained silent because he didn't have an answer to that question. He really didn't want to have Misty as his enemy; he had many fond memories of their friendship and his childhood crush. They've grown a little distant in the past ten years, but she was never forgotten and when her memory would surface from time to time she was truly missed.

Misty and her sisters finally reached what could be considered the 'backside' of Cinnabar Island, if there was such a thing. It was a desolate area lacking the constant coming and going of tourist filled ferries. The cliff was stiff and hard to climb. It was part of a volcano, though it looked more like a giant wall from that perspective. Four human heads surfaced above the waves moving back and forth gently against the wall. They made their way around the natural structure until they reached a cavern that eradiated warmth due to the lava that lay a few feet away with layers of thick stone in between.

Unknown to them, the Waterflower sisters were being watched by a perplexed young man upon his Charizard. "It really is them... Until the last second I was hoping it was all a mistake," Ash let out a breath of disappointment. "It could still be; they could have an explanation.

"I honestly don't understand the nature of their apparent vendetta against Team Rocket," Delia paused and rephrased her statement. "Of course there's the entire enemy of society and major criminal organization angle, but Misty said something about a desperate vengeance that caught me off guard. I honestly can't understand what that's about, it did sound personal, but I can't remember Team Rocket affecting Misty or her family in a direct way."

"Well, we're about to find out, let's go down Charizard." With confusion still present and the tension rising, Ash kept his eyes on the cavern as Charizard approached it. The fire pokemon landed with relative silence, though if the inhabitants of the cavern were alert enough, they would pick up on the soft thud of his landing. "Get some rest," Ash whispered as he recalled the large pokemon into his pokeball in a red beam that faded back into the cavern's darkness.

The darkness was once again pierced by light when misty stepped forward holding a flashlight. The voice of one of her sisters called out her name, but she insisted, "just go!" Then turned to face those who stood before her, guarding the escape route her sisters took. "I'll take sole responsibility," she offered bitterly.

Ash shook his head, feeling quite out of place in such an unexpected situation. "I'm not here to hunt you down; I'm here to get some answers." He took a deep breath, not that it helped to calm him as the atmosphere was contaminated with heavy tension. "You know who mom is, you know who I am. It's only fair that I should know something too. I want to know why. I know you wouldn't do something like this without a good reason. It's not like you to be so rash, that's more like me," he admitted.

"I can't forgive him..." Misty's eyes were downcast carrying a great sadness. "I can't forgive the man who killed my parents."

A gasp escaped Delia as all the pieces fell into place in her head. What had happened took place so long ago that she unconsciously disregarded it as being unrelated to the current situation, it had been over twenty years. The event wasn't recent enough to surface in her memories until it was directly referenced.

Misty slowly looked up, her eyes traveling from the shocked Ash to his mother. Sadness, frustration, shame, realization, all those emotions and others overtook her face in varying proportions. "You just realized something, didn't you? You remembered something... You do know what I'm talking about."

With incredulity still holding on to some of his features, Ash slowly rotated his head towards his mother and waited expectantly. He didn't say anything, but pleaded for honesty with his eyes. 

To be Continued

Loyalty

Alternative 06: Anger

The unexpected predicament had begun when the Azure Alliance, secretly being manipulated by the police, kidnapped Delia. As he rushed to his mother's rescue, Ash never would have guessed that those to blame for the abduction would turn out to be Misty and her sisters. Her reasons to take such harsh actions were unclear, until the red haired Cerulean gym leader revealed that Team Rocket, hinting specifically at Giovanni, had been responsible for her parents' death.

It was obvious that the accusation struck a chord with Delia. She knew something, she remembered a vital event. Being pushed to talk by her own son's eyes, Delia spoke softly. "It was a long time ago, there was a..." how could she properly say it? "A fight..."

"You don't need to sugarcoat it!" Misty yelled in angry frustration. "My father was a part of Team Rocket, after meeting my mother he wanted to clean up his act. He wanted to start anew and live an honest life with his family. Giovanni wouldn't let him go, he knew too much." At this point, misty could no longer hold back her tears and allowed them to flow freely down her face. "Giovanni murdered my father and that's all there is to it. He murdered my mother as well soon after. I was still a baby; I can't even remember their faces! I was given to my grandmother as a baby, with my sisters remaining in the Cerulean gym, tended to by relatives. They got every material thing they wanted, but that's it. Then when I was considered old enough, I was returned to the gym with my sisters so that grandma could rest without the work of raising a child in her old age."

Misty sobbed, gasping for air. "We lived alone receiving help from relatives, but they only thought about giving us money." More so to the three oldest, Misty had always been left out, though she never understood why. She concluded that perhaps there simply wasn't enough room in the budget to spoil four girls, but there was room for three. It didn't matter too much though, they still lacked love. "Our uncle, father's cousin whom we thought of as our uncle, was the only one who ever showed true compassion for us, but Team Rocket took him away too when I was very young. They killed my parents, they killed my uncle, they took everything away and left us without an explanation thinking we would never know!"

Delia shook her head, her eyes downcast in compassion and guilt. "That's not quite how it happened. The truth is-"

"I don't want your twisted version of the truth!" Misty screamed desperately, her hand resting on one of the pokeballs on her belt.

"Stop!" Ash ordered and the atmosphere appeared to turn into an unbearable stillness as he spoke. "If what happened was so long ago, if it took you this long to find out, then the information can be false." He tried to reason with Misty.

Trying to tame her wild emotions Misty took a deep breath, leaving the pokeball to rest on her belt untouched. "I will listen," she finally decided.

Delia let out a deep breath having an internal debate with herself. Should she tell the truth? She couldn't bare to lie to her son who clearly wanted to hear the full truth. "Your father didn't simply want to leave Team Rocket in peace; that might have been negotiable with a little compromise. He tried to sell out the organization to the police at a critical point. Many Rockets were put in harm's way because of his betrayal and it was one of the biggest police raids Team Rocket underwent. Because of that, choosing to protect his organization and avenge his followers, Giovanni killed your father. One shot through the heart, it was quick."

"That's supposed to be a consolation?" misty growled through gritted teeth. 

"Please try to understand what he did," Delia pleaded. "Giovanni's action was harsh and extreme, wrong, but it could have been worse for many others if things were left as they were. Tidus had become an enemy to Team Rocket, he-"

"Don't even say my father's name," Misty's voice was low and bitter. "Not if you're going to make up excuses. My father did what he thought was right, he didn't run away. I can't accuse him for that. Even if it was to defend his organization, I can't let Giovanni's actions pass either. This wasn't just limited to my father, it was about my mother and father's cousin too. Why did they have to die? Are you going to tell me they became enemies of Team Rocket too? What do you claim they did?"

"She tried to kill me," there was a bitter edge to Delia's voice as she revealed the truth. "Worse yet, she tried to kill Ash. Of course you wouldn't know, you were a baby. I don't blame you if you don't believe me, I'm just tainting your sweet memories built on theories. The one who chouse your mother's sentence was me." Delia's confession brought forth gasps of surprise from both Misty and Ash, their eyes locked on her. "Coral tried to avenge Tidus by killing me. Given that I was pregnant and very close to giving birth I was unable to put up much of a fight. I nearly drowned and Ash along with me. The reason why she was able to go that far in the first place was because I foolishly ran off in anger leaving my guards behind. I had a bad argument with Giovanni about Tidus' sentence, but following Coral's actions, I admit I lost all pity for them."

"You're lying..." Misty's voice was barely above a whisper while her faced betrayed the words. She knew Delia was telling the truth, somehow she simply knew. "Giovanni killed my father and you killed my mother?"

"Indirectly," Delia admitted, "I suppose that doesn't make it better, if anything it makes it worse. I barely made it out of that experience alive. Labor was induced to save Ash and all the while I gave birth and the doctors ran around doing what they could, I wondered if my baby would survive, I wondered if it was too late or if he would suffer the terrible effects of my near death experience with his own death or with some irreparable damage. I was grateful when my son was miraculously born healthy. For the unforgivable crime of putting Ash in danger, I sentenced Coral to life in the dungeons. There she struggled to survive for several years until she finally died."

A thick silence hung in the air for several minutes. "I still want vengeance," Misty whispered. "I guess there's nothing more left for me but to live and fight or die. I'm an enemy of Team rocket, aren't I? If I am to be hunted, I might as well go on a hunt of my own."

"It's not too late for you. I'll talk to Giovanni this once. Lay low and move back into your normal life. Your unlawful record will be frozen, if you prove yourself to be trusted to stay out of trouble, you'll be left alone." Delia offered. "This will take a great deal of convincing on my part, don't waste your chance."

"I don't think I want your so called mercy," Misty whispered bitterly, the fight was gone from her eyes, at least for the time being. She didn't even bother to continue her interrogation asking about her father's cousin, who had played the role of an uncle for her and her sisters. She didn't want to hear some story about him being some terrible traitor that had to be punished. She didn't want to hear anything more from anyone related to Team Rocket.

"Too bad because you desperately need it!" Ash suddenly snapped harshly. He was past the point of denial and into the territory of anger with his temper having become more noticeable in the recent years. 

The flare of anger in Misty's eyes was immediate as her gaze met Ash's. "you're in no position to talk, you're-"

"The son of a murderer?" Ash snapped in anger, not willing to listen to anything anyone said. His choice of wording brought an upset gasp from Delia which he ignored. "You should talk, you're the daughter of a murderer yourself, or at least a would be murderer." All his tensions were coming undone and he couldn't help it but to unleash his anger. He stepped forward glaring fiercely. "If you're given a chance take it and use it well. You're in no position to protest!"

"You can't abuse your father's power with me!" Misty yelled back, raising her hand in a moment of aggressive instinct to slap Ash's face. Her palm made contact harshly, the echo of the hit being followed by a scream of pain coming from Misty as Pikachu gave her a harsh shock which knocked her back several feet. This was different from Pikachu's power from her younger days traveling with Ash. The static clung to her every cell and Misty found herself trapped in a paralysis that left her limp on the cave floor.

"Please stop!" Delia shouted, but refrained from any further arguments as the atmosphere became still again.

Misty twitched as she tried to force her aching body to respond. This was the same Pikachu who refused to battle her in as much as a friendly match even if Ash had asked him to do so in the past. The same pokemon now attacked her without his trainer's command in defense of that same trainer. That was what he had been taught it seemed, pokemon too had their own loyalties.

Ash was frozen in shock for some time. His hand slowly traveling to the affected area of his face adorned in a stinging shade of red. "Don't count on me," his voice was barely above a whisper at first, then turned harsh. "We're not friends anymore Misty, don't count on me to defend you if Team Rocket hunts you down, I'll just look the other way!" He turned away and once more released his Charizard from his pokeball. "Mother, let's go."

With a look of shock and fright, Delia was unable to move for a few seconds. "Ash..."

"I said let's go!" Ash snapped harshly, taking Delia's wrist and pushing her to hurry climbing on Charizard's back. He climbed on himself, "hold on," he made only the shadow of a pause to allow his mother to do so before he commanded, "take us home as fast as you can." By that he meant the Viridian City gym, Charizard already understood that 'home' was no longer Pallet Town. The powerful fire pokemon took off, disappearing in the skies above.

In the cavern, left behind to drown in her thoughts, Misty got to her feet and stretched. Her every muscle ached, Pikachu had certainly gotten stronger while her pokemon got little training aside from choreographies designed to amuse a crowd and battling amateur trainers with impossible dreams to become pokemon masters. This was thinking of Ash alone, never mind the armies that stood behind him uniformed with red Rs.

She leaned against the cavern wall and sat there for a moment contemplating her next move until the arrival of cautious footsteps snapped her out of her deep thoughts. She was relived when the source of the footsteps came into view. Daisy, Violet and Lily were back, Misty knew it was only a matter of time before their will to escape for the sake of the greater good gave in and they came rushing back into what could be inevitable captivity for her sake.

Misty stood wordlessly and gave her sisters a bitter forced smile. "I need to have a long talk with you." A part of her knew that what Delia said was true, but a part of her didn't want to believe it. First things first, she needed to know exactly what happened. Either way, she would never justify her parents' death, but if she at least understood the full extent of the circumstances surrounding it she could better decide what to do without the foolishness of following anonymous leads that could be traps from the police. It made sense; they must have dug out some old records and put them into use for their benefit.

The four sisters retreated into their little hideout in Cinnabar Island to recover some of their energy and decide their next move. Misty knew the revelations she had to share would be shocking and harsh, but her sisters deserved to know the truth.

To be Continued

Loyalty

Alternative 07: Hope

To say Giovanni was displeased was quite an understatement. He was angry and when the leader of Team Rocket was angry, the dangers that could break loose at any given moment were unpredictable at best. Delia and Ash had just finished explaining the recent happenings involving Misty and her sisters, with Delia elaborating on most of the narrative, given that she was far better informed about the past. Her speech also seemed more objective than the way Ash would add in his surprise or disbelief about Misty's actions and his optimistic theories about her intentions. 

Needless to say, when someone else's speech seemed optimistic making Delia's appear slightly pessimistic by comparison; one could conclude that the other person was being way too optimistic. Delia was a hopeful by nature, though she had her moments of coming to terms with reality, she tended to look on the bright side more often than not. "After all that, they're still out there plotting to cause more trouble. Delia, I don't want you wandering off outside the guarded properties. If you insist on vacationing away from the busy atmosphere of the city, which I would prefer you wouldn't do, but you're stubborn enough to try, it will be done with a team of competent guards to tend to your security." A few years ago he might have simply told her to stay where he left her, but he knew that would just make her run off faster if only to prove that her kind disposition didn't mean she could be bossed around.

"Was it true?" Ash blurted out pacing a little across the Viridian gym office. Giovanni still sat behind his desk where he had been found yelling into the phone something along the lines of mobilizing the troops when Ash and Delia entered via the large window. Naturally, he would have preferred to be informed immediately upon Delia's rescue, rather than waiting for his son and wife to make the trip back before knowing that Delia was indeed alive and Ash was not doing something stupidly reckless and counterproductive in an attempt to save her.

Giovanni glared and got up from his desk, making his way at a luxurious pace to the liquor cabinet that sat forgotten in a corner of the office. He barely had time to breathe lately, let alone have a nice refreshing drink. He proceeded to serve himself a beverage, completely ignoring the other two inhabitants of the office, certainly not in the mood to deal with another bout of denial from Ash. Wasn't he past that stage already? Shouldn't he be combusting with anger and challenging every living creature he laid eyes upon to a battle in an attempt to solve everything with power, a concept for which Giovanni blamed himself with little regret?

"Ash, honey," Delia patted the empty space on the fancy little couch in the corner of the office, elegant and formal. "Sit down, sweetheart."

Huffing in annoyance, Ash did as he was told, crossing his arms in vexation. When his mother took that sweet tone with him as if speaking to a child, it was her sugar coated way to say, 'these are the facts, like it or not, you have to deal with them.' Perhaps he would have preferred the dry and direct version of the statement if only because he was old enough to understand that it would all lead to the exact same conclusion, only faster.

"Tidus did betray Team Rocket, he did some bad things, selling out his comrades to the police and interfering with important business deals." Delia patiently explained, trying to put on a mask of reassurance past her own disturbing worries about things that happened so long ago she had, feeling guilty upon the realization, forgotten about. "That's why your father did what he did, although I was certainly not happy about it, I accepted it. As for Coral, perhaps she is the key to making peace with Misty."

"I doubt it," Ash mumbled bitterly. "Even if her actions against you," he paused and corrected himself, "against us, were terrible and deserved a punishment, telling someone that they're mother's a killer who deserved to die doesn't seem like a way to make peace with them." 

"I lied," Delia admitted and for a moment Ash couldn't figure out to what specifically she referred to. "I did indeed have Coral locked in the dungeons, but as far as I know she didn't die." Delia paused and looked at Giovanni. "Did she?" Her husband ignored her in favor of his drink and she continued. "I just didn't want Misty to get any crazy ideas about rescuing her. That would certainly put her in a bad position and we are trying to give her another chance, aren't we?" Delia once again looked at Giovanni, this time her eyes much more insistent and demanding of an answer than before. 

"No, we're not, these annoyances need to be dealt with," Giovanni finally spoke. His anger was still very much present, not even diminished by a single drink no matter how much alcohol it contained. He slammed his glass down on top of the cabinet. He turned to face his wife and son, his gaze staring a hole through Ash, who promptly closed his mouth after he had opened it to protest. Anyone would think it was a sign of obedient resignation, but Giovanni knew better than that. "Don't you even think about running off to do the rescuing yourself," he warned Ash. "I don't even know if," he paused remembering the name that he had disregarded long ago and just recently recalled when Delia mentioned it, "Coral is still alive."

"Don't you keep tabs on your prisoners?" Ash accused, his angry tone half controlled by this point. 

Giovanni took a seat on the couch leaving Delia in the middle between Ash and himself, as a barrier of calm that would hopefully prevent his sometimes rebellious son from giving him a headache. His precious Persian strode over to be petted because regardless of the situation and its implications, he thought that there was no excuse for neglecting giving him constant attention. "It was a long time ago; I had no use for her. I was only humoring your mother in keeping her alive. I'll have someone check and in the mean time you're going downstairs and training. I'll be expecting a full result of whatever training exercise you choose, I'll leave the training program up to you."

"In other words I should keep myself busy and out of trouble," Ash pouted, his tone slowly losing its edge. He would have to wait to find out more about Coral and if she was indeed still alive. Until he knew, there was no use in moving without a proper plan. Besides, if he stopped to think about it logically for a split second, he could deduce that the dungeon in question wasn't even in the Viridian underground base or else he would know about it as he had made it a point recently to visit every area of the vast facility. Given how little he knew, it was best to wait impatiently, because waiting patiently was an impossibility for him. "Alright, I'll stay out of trouble." With that assurance in the air, Ash exited his father's office and headed off to find someone that could cover for him while he did exactly what he knew he shouldn't be doing. 

Sure, he said he would stay out of trouble, yes, it would be stupid to go on a wild Farfetched chase for Coral without even the smallest truly significant clue concerning her whereabouts, if she was even still alive, but he wasn't going to do that anyway. Ash was going out to find Misty and he was indeed going to keep his word and stay out of trouble, because you're not in trouble unless you get caught.

xoxox xox xoxox

Taking an elevator down to the lower more accessibility controlled levels of the Viridian Rocket base, Ash stopped at the unofficial information center, also known as the infirmary. If the person he was looking for wasn't there, he could most likely at least learn of his location. "Have you seen Comet?" He inquired peeking into the white room that was simply too white for comfort, especially with how the red stains stood out in a trail from the door to a bed behind white curtains with red droplets, the hallways having already been cleaned. Morbid curiosity reared its ugly head and Ash had to add another question. "What's all this blood about?"

"Hey princey!" A blond woman, who served as Team Rocket's resident pokemon doctor at Viridian City, ignored the question momentarily instead supplying a greeting for an answer. She twirled a strand of green dyed hair, the two matching locks framing her face in the same color of her eyes. "It's an infirmary; it's supposed to be bloody." She finally replied, though the explanation was less than satisfactory. She paused as if asking silently if Ash was sure he wanted to know.

"I don't think I-" he was about to say he didn't really want to know, his curiosity giving way to the self defense of one who doesn't wish to hear an unpleasant fact that they can go on living without knowing.

It was too late as with an obnoxious smile Laiki elaborated. "It was a Slowpoke, or I should say is, as he still lives. Some rookie wanted Slowpoke tail and instead of just requesting it at the cafeteria she went and tried to play chef, which turned out badly. She then dumped the bloody creature in my care, because everyone always brings their bloody junk to the doctor, and ran off. I told her the Slowpoke died, which is a lie. I still need to have someone come over to mop up this mess because I'm not doing it myself, I just finished getting cleaned up after taking care of the pathetic patient." Needless to say she was nothing like Nurse Joy. 

Ash's nose twisted in disgust before he inevitably tried to look on the bright side. "At least the Slowpoke was confiscated alive."

"Yeah, the cafeteria staff will make good use of him eventually, just keeping the meat fresh," Laiki joked with another annoyingly morbid smile.

Ash shuddered before he could stop himself, he enjoyed a good old Slowpoke burger as much as a Taurus one, but he didn't need to witness the messy side of it all. "I asked where Comet is?"

"I don't know, maybe having some fun with Pixel?" She winked, leave it to Laiki to find a way to twist every conversation into something morbid, or suggestive, or both. "I should be asking you something too, princey, where are the goods from your hot Pallet pal?"

Ash took a moment to realize who Laiki was talking about. Of course, she meant Gary, whom she shamelessly flirted with any chance she got, much to Gary's annoyance as he was used to being admired with awe, not... cornered by an experienced hunter, for lack of better term. "I forgot to bring the goods..." Ash realized, he took off in a hurry leaving Gary with the payment and taking nothing in exchange. Not that it mattered too much, Gary would have the results of his research ready and safe until someone officially picked them up. 

"Oh goody! I get to go pick them up myself," she her lips and Ash instinctively backed away. Laiki was his friend, but she could be a little disturbing at times. She was beautiful with a figure that caught the attention of many men, but she was so forward and confident she could somehow manage to intimidate even the most womanizing Don Juan with the loosest morals, which he wasn't to begin with. "Hey, don't give me that look princey, I'm not going to pounce, after all, your daddy did say, and I quote, 'if you lay a finger on Ash, I'll kill you' and I'm not feeling particularly suicidal, nor am I expecting such a mood to strike."

"Right... Well, Comet's not here, so I'll be on my way. Try not to drive Gary up a wall," Ash requested knowing full well that his appeal would fall on deaf ears.

"No problem," Laiki grinned indicating that she was about to throw out another mischievous remark." If he doesn't like it against the wall, I'm perfectly alright with using the be-"

"Goodbye Laiki!" Ash left the infirmary, not in the mood for any more of Laiki's peculiar remarks. He wanted to go search for Misty but he needed someone to cover for him just in case, hence why he couldn't take off without finding someone to excuse him should anyone inquire of his whereabouts. He felt like a child asking a friend to call his parents and say he was sleeping over when he was in truth going somewhere else entirely. 

He couldn't simply call, not with his cell phone being part of the Rocket network as much as the receiving cell phone was. Ash shrugged and continued on his way down to the living quarters, a row of small rooms where Rockets inhabited under the unsuspecting streets of Viridian City. He was pretty sure he would have his cover up ready soon and would be on his way to perform the much more difficult task of finding someone else, because he really had no clue of where to look for Misty; she couldn't still be in Cinnabar Island, could she?

To be Continued

Loyalty

Alternative 08: Clues

Only the sound of constant typing was heard in the room of many screens. The images were holographic, floating in mid air above the projectors as if glass rectangles were levitating, showing pictures moving in them, except these weren't pictures. They were codes, codes that made Ash's head spin if he looked at them for a second too long, and two seconds felt like long enough. The many technologically oriented Rockets in the room remained focused in their respective tasks, the nature of which remained imperceptible to Ash. Finally, he spotted a blue haired girl in front of one of the floating images, typing into a keyboard that looked like it had a few extra keys in comparison to a regular one. "Pixel," instantly, Ash felt glares on him as the eerie quietude, aside from the sound of typing, was broken.

They were so used to the sound of the keys being rapidly pressed that those present in the large room could easily ignore it. They had gotten used to the constant clicks of nails on keys too, and this girl was one of those who made such sounds with blue painted long nails. As soon as it sunk in who the so called intruder was, the Rockets returned to their tasks not daring to glare further. "Be right there," with a rapid succession of key , Pixel saved what she was doing, logged off and walked out of the room.

Out in the hallway, Ash shook his head to clear it. "I'll never get used to those codes; honestly I don't know how you can understand them."

Dark eyes showed amusement as she grinned, "it takes practice."

Going to the business at hand, Ash inquired, "do you know where Comet is? Laiki said he was with you."

"He's out on a mission," Pixel replied as a matter of fact, not hinting at the fact that she had information that Ash might want to know... yet. She couldn't tell him, she was under orders not to. Even so, it was only a matter of time before Ash realized it.

"Oh," the timing was inconvenient yet at the same time too convenient. Ash always asked Comet to cover for him, twisting the situation around not to actually get him into trouble. The young man, whose red-orange hair ironically reminded Ash of Misty's color had been a Rocket all his life. His father was one of the first few members of Team Rocket to join under Giovanni's leadership. "Do you think you could do me a favor then? Could you cover for me?"

"Right," Pixel chuckled, "I should tell your father if he asks that we're off training our pokemon... can do, except that might be painful."

"How so?" Ash inquired unsure.

"Because I'll have to hurt you as proof, you know I do have a liking for collateral damage during a fight and I tend to break the rules and aim for the trainer. It wouldn't be believable if you're uninjured," Pixel grinned happily, like a child in a candy shop.

Ash opened his mouth to comment and closed it again. He really didn't want to deal with a sadistic computer geek right now. "Right, then just say I'm hanging out with Gary." Ash retrieved his cell phone from his pocket. "As for the location tracking issue, I suppose I could drop this off and-"

Ash was interrupted when Pixel snatched away the phone. "I can hack up a fake signal. Happy mystery hunting." With a bright smile, that made Ash wonder just how much she knew, Pixel returned to the high tech room where she was before. He considered inquiring further, but let it go.

xoxox xox xoxox

As he left the Viridian Gym, Ash spotted Jessie and James heading out and ran over to them. "I heard you two took a detour to the dungeon," he asked with concern. Dealing with Jessie and James was part of his training in his younger days and later they became his true friends. He looked at Jessie's belly, "are you okay? Are they okay?"

"We're fine," Jessie spoke with a regal calm tone to her voice. This was, despite the recent happenings, ironically one of her good days. Her massive mood swings knew no boundaries and rarely followed any semblance of logic, sending her in a random chaotic turmoil of emotion for no apparent reason in some days. In other days, like today, she was cool, calm and collected with a sea of patience and tranquility that nothing short of the apocalypse could disturb. "And how are you, twerp?" She smiled.

"Relieved to see you in good spirits," Ash admitted, chuckling slightly at the silly nickname that Jessie still used even after he grew taller than her. Last time he caught Jessie in a bad mood he ended up with a black eye, James already had two of those on that day. His father had laughed and commented on his poor reflexes having been unable to dodge. Ash had pouted profusely, but was relieve that Giovanni wasn't angry about the occurrence, but rather amused, offering to give Ash what he called a much needed boxing lesson, which the Indigo champion politely declined.

"We just recently talked to Delia," James revealed. "She sent this," James handed Ash a sealed envelope. "I'm glad we ran into you, this mission as pretty easy." If only all missions were as easy as delivering an envelope. "But I still have the feeling that we're forgetting something..."

Ash the envelope with anticipation and began to tare it open full of curiosity. "Where's Meowth?" It was odd not seeing the talking Pokemon with the pair. It would be just as odd for them not to see Pikachu on Ash's shoulders as he always was. The small yellow electric pokemon leaned to look at the letter his trainer pulled out of the envelope.

"Meowth!" James suddenly exclaimed with a look of realization. "I knew I was forgetting something, I forgot to let him out of the pokeball where we had to keep him during the... detour." Taking the pokeball from his belt, James activated it with Meowth emerging from its red beam. Before anything could be said, another red beam came from a different pokeball James was carrying and the shape of a Victreebel formed. The pokemon, promptly attempted to swallow James whole, leaving him to kick around upside down, half his body trapped inside the creature.

Ash had to look up from the process of reading the letter. "Some things never change. See you later!" Waving goodbye, Ash headed to his orange sports car with Jessie smiling as she saw him off and rubbing her belly, she was expecting twins. Ash could barely hear James bidding his farewells from inside his confinement while Meowth tried to get over his disorientation as he was not used to being put inside a pokeball. His mouth was running away with him, it looked like he certainly missed having someone to talk to. Ash paused and decided against using his car, instead taking to the skies on Charizard. His mother's letter wasn't only a letter, it included a map.

xoxox xox xoxox

Some time later, Charizard landed on Cinnabar Island and Ash dismounted, thanking the pokemon and returning him to his pokeball. He looked ahead to the busy tourist filled streets. A few people recognized him and came over to ask for an autograph. Landing in the middle of the busy area was a bad idea. He didn't want to disappoint anyone or cause unnecessary suspicion, so he played along as he searched the area with his eyes. To his surprise, he found misty very easily. She was sitting at an outdoor table at a cafe with a milkshake she had barely touched on the table in front of her. She was alone, having probably come up with some excuse to make her sisters leave her.

Ash understood, she wasn't hiding because she wanted to be found, she was willing to face him. She was probably motivated by the prospect of her sisters' safety more so than anything else and perhaps a little  by their past too... or a lot. He slowly made his way through the crowd, shaking hands and signing his name, or rather the name that he was famous with. Eventually he reached Misty's table and sat down, with people coming and going from his side. 

For several moments they didn't speak, not with their voices and not even with their expressions. They kept up an act of being inconspicuous and pretending they were just another pair of ordinary friends, except one was a champion and the other a gym leader, yet as such, their association would not be anything unusual to those who knew nothing of the hidden truths. Ash ordered something to eat and spent most of the time when he wasn't consuming his food, tending to the requests of curious tourists.

Finally, the pair left as if they had planned this meeting all along. Misty led the way with Ash walking in silence next to her. They reached a crowded hotel and headed for the elevator. As soon as they were inside and moving up, their expressions turned serious.  Yet they waited before speaking any words. The elevator doors opened after what felt like an eternity and they stepped out to a long hallway adorned with a painting of Magmar with a volcanic background. The fiery colors were all over as they made their way to a door which Misty unlocked with a keycard.

They entered the room and the door was closed behind them. Their silence was replaced with the unbearable need to say something. "All this secrecy, all these years..." Misty accused.

"Listen Misty," Ash wasn't even sure what he could say. Her glare was piercing and fierce and his face was set in seriousness, as if carved from stone. "I don't know what happened exactly and I'm not going to pretend that everything is all good and nice, but..." His argument fell apart because he didn't know what his argument was.

"But what?" Misty snapped. "Why are you even here?"

"Why are you here?" Ash snapped back, throwing the question back at her face. "You knew I would come, didn't you? You wanted me to find you so you stayed there in plain sight. What if it backfired? What if I wasn't the one to find you?" He reproached. "Don't give me that look of distrust!" Pikachu jumped off his shoulders as the tension in his body increased. "I never told you for your own good, to keep you safe from this. This is my destiny and that I have always known. As for the past... you can't say your side is completely without blame, not that I'm justifying mine."

Misty's hands balled into fists and for a moment it looked like she would punch Ash, but she didn't. "I know; dad was careless about choosing his battles, apparently. As for mom, she was understandably upset and vengeful. She was enraged, as am I, but she shouldn't have tried to kill Delia... and you. Regardless, Team Rocket is still my enemy. If you are Team Rocket then..." she paused as if this was harder to say than she expected, "so are you."

"I am Team Rocket," Ash accepted without a hint of doubt or denial. "But I'm not your enemy. I'll do this for you; I'll help you find your mother. She could still be alive."

Misty gasped, her face becoming hopeful, then distrusting, "but Delia said..." she fell silent.

"She wasn't sure," Ash explained. "She assumed the worse so as to not get your hopes up, but there's still a possibility. Can you set your bitterness aside and work with me to investigate this?" His serious expression changed into a hopeful one.

Then Misty saw it, she saw a clear hint of the boy she once knew. He was still there; he was still very much alive in the young man standing before her. She slowly nodded her head, pushing her voice to function, "yes." Making a small pause, she added a valid question, "where do we even start?"

Ash produced a folded piece of paper from his pocket, revealing it to be a map, "here," he pointed to an X that was on the map. The location was near the Sevii Islands. "Mom gave me this as a clue. She hates taking sides. It really bothers her when dad and I have a disagreement. I think she's just evening the score by giving me this information, making the argument a little more balanced. I don't know what we'll find there, but it's a start."

To be Continued

Loyalty

Alternative 09: Discoveries

The location on the map was in the open sea where there shouldn't be anything, but Ash didn't question it for a second. He and Misty rode upon his Charizard as swiftly as the fire pokemon could carry them. They eventually reached the location marked on the map and found, water... Ash examined the map again, he and Misty had traveled in silence occupied by their own thoughts. The proximity at riding on Charizard's back felt odd as they tried to stay away from each other without risking falling at the high speed.

Charizard flew in circles over the spot until Ash finally spoke, "Maybe this isn't the place."

"Only one way to find out," Misty jumped off Charizard and dove into the ocean below before Ash even had time to react to her comment or interpret her intentions. A few seconds later, Misty's head emerged from the water with crushed hope. Hope because she had found something, crushed hope, because she crushed it herself. She didn't want to set her heart on something only to find that the reality was much harsher. "There's some kind of underwater facility. It's actually pretty tall." She demonstrated what she meant by moving to stand on the top of the tallest chamber, making the ocean water only reach up to her waist. It was a low tide today.

"We just need to figure out how to get in," Ash hopped off Charizard, who growled in annoyance at being splashed with sea water as Ash landed next to Misty. "Thanks for the ride," Ash recalled his pokemon. 

A short and uncomfortable moment of silence passed. They knew who they were and the position they were in, but traveling together, despite this being for a very different reason, reminded them of their adventures of the past. Misty had her reasons to be bitter, she kept reminding herself of that, yet she knew she couldn't really blame Ash for the past. On the other hand, he did stand with his family despite what they did, yet they had been kind to him at least, she mused. 

Misty knew that though Delia was human and as such made mistakes, she was a good mother and a kind hearted person. She simply chose loyalty over justice. Yet the bitterness didn't go away completely with those thoughts. Why couldn't things be changed? If not changed then at least she could... Misty's thoughts were interrupted as the floor beneath her feet disappeared and she sunk deeper into the ocean along with Ash. She was a strong swimmer, but she couldn't resist the current pulling her down like suction.

Ash, Misty and Pikachu were pulled down through a transparent pipe. The ocean water was thankfully drained from it as they went along. They were eventually thrown into the floor, the pipe making a curve at the end, which helped to reduce the impact of the fall like a slide. They tried to get back on their feet, coughing out the sea water that had made it into their lungs as the area around them lit up.

The structure resembled a mix of metal dungeon and experimentation laboratory right out of a mad scientist movie. However, the machines looked poorly maintained, as if the facilities had not been used in a long time. Ash and Misty almost expected guards to come running towards them but no one did. None the less, if the lights were on there might be someone there albeit the mechanism could have been somehow automatic or triggered by their combined weight standing above the pipe; maybe it was simply an old structure that gave in.

Silently they began to explore the structure, heading from the large tall chamber down a narrow corridor. The silence was so deafening and the questions so imperative that Misty simply had to ask. "Have you ever thought to defy him? Your father?"

"Yes," Ash replied with sincerity and smiled as if fondly remembering mischief. "It was fun at times, and very stressful at others." His expression turned serious. Letting out a breath, he looked at misty and voiced. "I think I should explain myself. I'm sure you think I must have changed a lot."

"Your morals especially," Misty commented bitterly.

"That has not changed," Ash firmly insisted. "There are many things that Team Rocket used to do and still does that have been reduced if not changed because of my mother and my insistence and our efforts to find alternatives. It's an odd feeling; it's a contradiction that I can't explain. How can you admire someone and feel resentment at the same time? I asked myself that many times and mom told me the answer she found. I can admire who he is even if I disapprove of what he does, the genius, the idea, the ambition, not the methods, not the sacrifices. But if I walk away from everything then I'll miss the part of my life that I like and won't be able to change what I don't like."

Misty listened silently, trying to grasp everything that Ash was saying. He sounded very sincere.

"We've had our harsh disagreements," Ash admitted. "It was especially hard on mom, she hates seeing us fight. It got pretty hard. For a period of time I was Team Rocket's number one enemy and I thought I hated my father, except I could never really hate him. I suppose we got past that over time and I grew up. I learned why Team Rocket is needed and saw the beneficial side of it. I want to make it different. The law isn't always effective and rules sometimes needs to be bent if not broken. But that doesn't mean it has to be evil. I can prove myself to dad, prove I'm capable, prove I'm not naive or ignorant and show that I can make my ideas work. Team Rocket is his life's work and I can't destroy it, I'll make it better. Does that count for anything?"

Misty found herself feeling reassured, "it does. I guess you're not so different after all, not as much as I thought." She let out a breath in a mix of stress and relief. "This still seriously bothers me though."

"Understandable and it bothers me too," Ash admitted. "I've just had a little more time to deal with it, to be prepared. Not that I ever could be completely, but..."

"I think I get it, you do what you can," Misty understood. "That's what I told myself when I started the Azure Alliance; we need to do what we can. I suppose, I don't have as much bitterness for you specifically as I thought."

The wall of ice between them felt like it was lifting. Ash smiled a hopeful smile. His eyes were full of determination; it was a sentiment that assured that even in the face of adversity, everything would somehow work out. "I'm really glad to hear that."

Footsteps echoed coming from the opposite direction. Ash and Misty became guarded. Surely their presence had been noticed, their own footsteps had been sounding off clearly in the deafening silence. Then the one who was walking towards them came into view, one Rocket, just one, dressed in their classic black uniform with a red R. Ash let out a breath of relief, recognition invading his features. "I take it you're glad I'm not someone else?" The Rocket inquired with a smirk.

"Very," Ash nodded. Comet was another of the Rockets Ash got along with well. He was the one who usually backed him up if his latest attempt to modify Team Rocket before his time needed support. But without getting into trouble, without taking it too far, without any direct disobedience on Comet's part, that was why it worked. "I should have guessed dad would sent someone ahead. Why are you here?"

"Just to keep an eye on you," Comet admitted, then looked in Misty's direction, his blue eyes focused and curious. His hair was the same color as hers. "I didn't think you'd bring your secret lover here though. This place is pretty run down for a date," he joked.

Misty looked like she wanted to protest, but she couldn't find her voice. This young man looked almost identical to her father's cousin who had been supposedly killed, aside of course, from the age difference and another particular detail. Her uncle Luke always had a tan, he loved the beach and being outdoors. This Rocket didn't seem to get enough sunlight to tan, perhaps his missions mostly took place at night. 

Ash huffed and shook his head. "Laiki?" He inquired and Comet nodded in response. Leave it to the local Viridian Gym doctor to spread all sorts of rumors right away. "Gossip... but nothing else is new, she spreads it in hopes of getting some real information in return, in hopes of confirming a theory."

"It's a valid espionage technique, infect the area with lies to force the truth out." Comet commented, well aware of Misty's curious eyes on him. He grinned knowingly at her studying gaze. "Do I remind you of someone?"

"Luke," Misty voiced, wondering if he would even know who she was talking about. With Team Rocket, she bitterly mused, anything was possible.

"I have been told before that I look a lot like my father." Comet revealed and misty gasped, he was expecting such a reaction and only grinned and took a few steps closer, as if giving her the chance to compare his face with the face in her memories. 

While Ash looked back and forth between the two in confusion, misty pulled out a very wet old photo from her pants pocket. When she felt unsure after learning of who Ash was, of his connections, she looked at some family photos and thought. She carefully removed the photo from the other one it was sticking to. One was of her parents from a time before her birth and the other of her uncle and elder sister along with a much younger version of herself. He was actually her father's cousin, not his brother, but he had been kind to the Waterflower sisters. "Uncle Luke... was he just keeping an eye on us?"

"Yes," Comet admitted. "After Tidus' death and Coral's imprisonment, Delia was worried about their children, whom she thought shouldn't be blamed for their parents' actions. Taking them into Team Rocket was an option, but Delia opposed that choice. She asked my father to keep an eye on the four little girls and make sure they were alright. Eventually, his presence in their lives became complicated as relatives started asking too many questions and he had to cut all communications. It was for you too, the redhead was the one that reminded them the most of Tidus, of Luke, of Team Rocket..."

Misty's face was a mix of sadness and realization. "I brought back bad memories... That explains why I never even got a doll set to myself. Luke was in Team Rocket... is he still? He is alive isn't he?" Her resigned sadness and shock evolved into urgency.

"Yes," Comet replied. "You may speak to him if you wish. However," he paused, expression becoming serious. "Out of loyalty to Giovanni, I must prevent you from finding Coral, out of loyalty and friendship to Ash, I give you this information." Comet turned to leave, while Misty looked rightfully shocked.

"Wait..." Ash whispered in deep thought. "Wait!" He called out in realization and surprise. "Wait just a minute, you two are related?" He looked back and forth between Misty and Comet. Taking a better look at them, he could see the family resemblance. They were only distant relatives, but they obviously carried the same blood. "How come I never knew?"

"I didn't know until recently either," Comet confirmed. "Well, I really must be going now. I would advice against staying here. The structure is very unstable and could come apart at any moment. This laboratory and dungeon stopped being functional years ago, Delia can explain why." It was her influence no doubt, her request. He made a mock salute gesture with two fingers on his forehead and a playful smile. He had no malice, only amusement in everything he did. "I do hope we don't meet again, at least not until it's over... because it's already begun." Comet dashed away the same way he came, down the corridor, turning the corner and disappearing from sight.

"Come back here!" Misty finally got her voice to work, her words almost cracking to pieces as if it was difficult just to speak. She needed more information, she had to catch him!

Ash's eyes widened in realization. "Misty, no!" She didn't know what it meant, Comet's warning, but he did. He knew all too well, not just from him but from Pixel, Laiki, Jessie, James and several others.

To be Continued

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