The Year of Rocket's Revenge
Story Written by Freedom Fighter

It's been a long ride... but the end is finally here!

You are reading the penultimate story to end all stories!  'The Year of 
Rocket's Revenge' serves as the finale to my hit fanfic, 'The Adventures 
Series.'  The best part is, you don't have to have read that old fic to enjoy 
this one!  There's plenty of goodness for old and new fans alike to partake 
in!

So here I am, now taking part in my biggest project to date!  Wish me luck!

Disclaimer:  The characters and places from the Pokémon anime and other 
Pokémon products all belong to Nintendo and 4Kids Entertainment.  Original 
characters Cassie Banks, Arius McFly, and many others too numerous to list 
here, were created by me, and no other writer may use them without written 
consent from myself.

This fanfic is only posted at two places: my place, which contains the 
full-length chapters in one piece, and Fanfiction.net, which has the same 
story, but split up into smaller pieces.  It should not be posted anywhere 
else without my permission.

******

The Year of Rocket's Revenge
Session: July (05.02.06)

******

The ultimate dream of any Pokémon trainer is to become the best.  Better than 
anyone has ever seen.  Every trainer wonders what it would be like to become 
a Pokémon Master.  Very few ever reach that plateau.

One plucky 12-year old is hoping that one day he will be known as a Master.  
But not just any old Master.  The greatest Pokémon Master ever!

Who is this individual, you ask?  Why, he's Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town, an
enthusiastic young boy who strives to give it his all in battle, as well as
care so lovingly for the Pokémon that live his adventures with him.  
Especially Pikachu, the yellow mouse with a shocking personality.  Ash and 
Pikachu have been together since the very beginning, and there's not one step 
on their journey that one has taken without the other.

But Ash is not alone in his endeavor.  He has two great friends by his side.
There's Misty Waterflower, the 14-year old tomboy who loves water Pokémon.
She's also in training to replace her older sisters as the gym leader of the
Cerulean City Gym.  Rumor has it that she's a lot closer to Ash than she would
like to let on.  And then there's Brock Slate, a 15-year old male who has a
thing for anything in a skirt.  When Brock isn't drooling over the newest
sweetheart to cross his path, he's busy preparing food for his friends and
their Pokémon.  After all, back in Pewter City, he was not only in charge of
the gym, but he also had many, many siblings to take care of.

Normally, that would make up the whole crew.  But on this day, two others are
accompanying them.  One is Duplica Imite, a Ditto trainer who's goal in life
is to become a superstar performer.  The other is Tracey Sketcher, a Pokémon
Watcher who loves to sketch Pokémon.

Together, this group of trainers and their Pokémon are preparing to step into
familiar territory, as just above the next hill lies Pallet Town, Ash's
hometown.

======

Pikachu appeared at the top of the hill and started cheering excitedly as he
spotted Pallet Town just ahead.

"Pika pi!"

Ash joined Pikachu, glad to be back home at last.

"Well guys... we're back in Pallet Town!"

"Pi pikachu!"

Ash's traveling companions Misty, Brock, Duplica, and Tracey walked up behind
him, as they glimpsed down towards the small, peaceful community.

"So this is where you live, Ashy-boy?" Duplica asked.

"It's just as beautiful as it ever was," remarked Misty.

"It's always nice to relax in a place where you can just let your imagination
run wild!" Brock exclaimed.

The trio then heard the sound of chattering teeth behind them.  They all 
turned around and saw Tracey shaking nervously.

"What's wrong?" asked Brock.

Tracey managed to break out of his nervous state long enough to give a 
response.

"We're... we're here!"

Misty raised an eyebrow quizzingly.  "What are you talking about?  Of course
we're here!"

"No... you don't get it.  This... this is where... this is where HE lives!  
The one person that any lover of Pokémon would do anything to meet!  He's the 
most decorated and world-renowned Pokémon researcher anywhere!  And to 
think... I'm just moments away from gazing my eyes upon him for the first 
time in real life!  It's... like a dream, only it's not!  Today I finally get 
to meet the one, the only, Professor Samuel Oak!"

Duplica looked at Misty and said, "I've heard a lot about Professor Oak, but 
is he really, really this idol of the Pokémon world everyone makes him out to 
be?"

Before Misty could answer, Tracey cut in with a response of his own.

"Are you kidding?  He's the most knowledgeable Pokémon researcher ever!  You 
ask him anything about Pokémon and he'll answer it for you, right off the top 
of his head!  He's that good!  He's a legend!  Every Pokémon Watcher dreams 
of one day being just as good as him!  And here I am, just moments away from 
meeting him for the first time and it just gives me goose bumps!"

"Looks like we'd better not delay our entrance any longer then," Brock said.
"Pallet Town, here we come!"

"I'm already way ahead of you!" yelled Ash, who had already started to run 
down the hill and into the town.  Pikachu followed alongside him.

"Hey Ash!" Misty cried, sprinting off after him.  "Wait for us!"

Brock and Duplica followed suit, leaving Tracey at the top of the hill, still 
in his half-dazed stare.

"Wait!" Tracey shouted, finally snapping back to his senses. "Man... do these
guys do nothing but run around all day?"

======

"La la, la de la dee da!"

Delia Ketchum was out in the front yard of her house, singing a tune out loud 
as she watered the flowers in her garden.  She had reason to be happy.  After 
all, her son was returning home after his brief trip to the Orange Islands.

"I can't wait to see him back home and in my arms!" she said to herself aloud.

"Well, wait no longer!" exclaimed a voice from afar.

Delia looked up to see her son Ash running towards her, with Pikachu alongside
him.  She dropped her watering can and ran out to meet him.

"Oh, Ash!"

"Hi mom!"

The two met on the sidewalk in a loving embrace.  After a few seconds, Mrs.
Ketchum let go of her son, just in time to catch Pikachu leaping into her 
arms.

"Hi there, Pikachu!" she greeted.

"Pikachu!"

"Hmmm... I thought your dad said Misty and Brock were with you.  It would be
nice to see them again after so long!"

Ash laughed.  "Of course they're with me.  Here they come now!"

The two of them turned to see Misty and Brock approaching from afar.  There 
were also two others that Delia didn't quite recognize.  Nevertheless, she 
was elated with joy to see Ash's friends again.

"Good morning, Mrs. Ketchum!" greeted Brock.  "Nice to see you again."

"Why, thank you, Brock!  And how are things going with you?"

"Great!  With my dad back, the Pewter gym is up and running like never 
before!"

She then turned to look at Misty.

"And look at you, Misty!  You've certainly grown since I last saw you.  You're
quite the woman now, aren't you?"

Misty blushed.  "Well... I'm not that much of a woman yet."

"Nonsense!  I'm sure you'll grow up to become a beautiful woman one day!"

"I'm still not sure she's beautiful, period," Ash muttered.

Unfortunately for Ash, Misty had caught his snide remark.

"What was that, Ash Ketchum?" she shouted in rage, reaching over and grabbing
Ash by the jacket.

"I was just joking!"

"Now now, you two!" Mrs. Ketchum jumped in.  "There'll be plenty of time for
that later, especially since you have guests here to entertain."

"That's right!" Duplica interjected.  "Besides, you wouldn't want little ol'
me telling the world that Pallet Town isn't as great as everyone thinks it 
is.  That, and if you don't treat me right, I'll never do a show here when my
acting career really takes off!"

"This is Duplica," Ash said, introducing her.  "She wants to be the world's
first Ditto master!  She's also a great actress!"

"That's very flattering, Ashy-boy, but the truth is... I'm not that big of a
star yet..."

Duplica then walked over and began to play with Ash... by rubbing her face up
against his.  Which irritated Misty in the process.

"Maybe if a certain someone would pass on a little inspiration..."

Ash started to sweat.  "Duplica..."

"Hands off!" Misty yelled, pulling Duplica away from Ash.

"Let him have some fun!" Duplica shouted.  "Besides, I'm sure he enjoys it
when he's teased..."

"Ash is not that kind of guy!"

"Then perhaps you'd like to explain what kind of guy Ash is in front of his
mother?"

Misty froze up.  "I... I..."

"What's the matter?  Afraid she'll want you to leave Ash alone if you're
taking the relationship too far too early?"

"If anyone should be worried about taking it too far, it should be you, with
all your mannerisms and endless teasing..."

As Misty and Duplica argued away, Ash looked on in confusion, Mrs. Ketchum
observed with interest, and Brock and Tracey flashed faces full of jealousy.

"Misty sure defends Ash a lot, doesn't she?" asked Tracey.

Brock nodded in response.  "They say women are very protective when they find
a mate.  They have to be, especially when other women continue to claim
possession of that same mate."

"This is just like watching one of those harem shows!  Now if only he had a 
girl that was shy, one that was a genius, and one who could cook, then Ash 
would be set for his teenage years!"

"I know."  Brock then started to wail loudly.  "Why can't I be as lucky as
Ash is in love?"

Mrs. Ketchum then walked over to Tracey, wanting to meet him as well.

"And what's your name?" she asked.

"Me?  Well, ma'am, I'm Tracey.  Tracey Sketchit.  I'm a Pokémon Watcher!"

"A Pokémon Watcher?  Never heard of that profession."

"You haven't?  Well, allow me to show you..."

Tracey opened his backpack and started to dig through it to find one of his
many sketchbooks to show her.  Before he could find one, though, Misty ran
over and pushed him out of the way and onto the ground.

"Forget about him, Mrs. Ketchum.  It's not even that important of a job.  I
mean, isn't everyone a Pokémon Watcher just because they see a Pokémon?"

"It doesn't work that way!" Tracey yelled from the ground.

"Hey, I have an idea!" Brock cut in.  "Maybe we should pay a visit to
Professor Oak!  After all, I'm sure he'll be glad to see us!"

"Now there's an idea I can agree with!" Tracey exclaimed as he got up from
the ground and reached over to shake Ash's mom's hand.  "It was nice meeting
you, but my destiny calls!"

Mrs. Ketchum smiled back.  "Well, nice meeting you two!"

Tracey then bolted down the road, heading for Professor Oak's laboratory.

"Should we really let him go there by himself?" Misty wondered.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," replied Brock.  "After all, remember the first
time we met Professor Oak, and how we reacted?"

"Oh," Mrs. Ketchum spoke up.  "That reminds me... Samuel told me he wanted
to see you the second you got back into town, Ash."

"Samuel?" Duplica scratched her head before figuring out the truth.  "That's
Professor Oak's first name, isn't it?"

"Yep," Ash confirmed, "and it seems he needs my help once again!"

======

After a ten-minute walk from the Ketchum residence, Ash and the others were
standing at the front door to Professor Oak's laboratory.  Ash reached for
the doorknob and turned it, already aware that the professor kept the front
entrance unlocked during the day.  The quintet (including Pikachu) went in
and immediately heard two voices in the nearby living room engaged in a
conversation about Pokémon.

They walked over, and as expected, found Tracey chatting with his idol,
the world-renowned Professor Samuel Oak.  Or rather, at that very moment,
Tracey was drooling with expectation as the professor flipped through one
of Tracey's sketchbooks.

"Good... not bad... very good!  I love the detail on this Butterfree!  I'm
impressed that someone your age is so skilled at drawing Pokémon!"

"Well... I've had plenty of practice.  I've been drawing since I was eight."

"And it shows.  I'm sure that you're only a couple of years away from
becoming one of the best Pokémon Watchers in the entire world, Tracey!"

"You really mean it?  Wow!"

Ash took this moment to interject.

"Hey dad!  I'm home!"

Everyone took a step back in shock.  Especially Tracey, who almost fell flat
on his face.

"Dad?" he screamed out loud.

Duplica glanced at Ash strangely.  "Did you just call the professor your
dad?"

Misty and Brock sweatdropped.  "Here we go again!"

Professor Oak got up from his seat and addressed the group.

"Yes, it's true.  Ash is my son."

Duplica and Tracey both looked back and forth between Ash and the professor,
trying to find any similarities between the two.  But they couldn't.

"Is that even possible?" Duplica asked.  "You two look nothing alike!"

"That's because I'm Ash's father only by my marriage to his mom, Delia.  He
was born long before the marriage."

======

Flashback about sixteen months ago, as many bear witness to the marriage of
Professor Samuel Oak and Delia Ketchum at the Cerulean City Amphitheater.
Ash and Misty were serving as the best man and the flower girl, respectively,
as they stood to either side of the couple.

Standing off to the side, Misty's eldest sister, the blonde-haired Daisy,
made a remark about the couple as she watched from the front pew.

"Don't they look so cute?"

The priest then began the 'exchanging vows' part of the ceremony.

"Do you, Samuel Oak, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to
have and to hold, to caress and to cherish, for richer and for poorer, in
sickness and in health, 'til death do you part?"

"I do," the Professor responded.

"And do you, Delia Ketchum, take this man to be your lawfully wedded
husband for the same reasons?"

"I do," replied Delia.

"The rings, please."

Pikachu hands Ash a small black box.  Ash took the ring out and gave it to
Professor Oak.  Misty did the same for Mrs. Ketchum.

"With this ring, I be wed," both halves stated, with the professor slipping
the ring onto Delia first, and then vice versa.

"Okay then, if no one objects to these two being wed, then I now pronounce
you two husband and wife.  Professor, you may now kiss the bride."

Professor Oak lifted the veil and gave Mrs. Ketchum a short, passionate kiss,
resulting in a giant happy uproar from the congregation.  The newlyweds led 
the way to the press box for the after-wedding banquet.

======

"I remember hearing about that wedding!" Tracey exclaimed.  "It was talked
about on television, on radio, and in the paper for weeks!  Wow... to think
I know the son of THE Professor Oak!"

"It's not that big of a idea," Ash told him modestly.

"I'm surprised not many people know of your relation," said Duplica.

"We wanted to keep it a secret," the professor said.  "I'm sure Ash has
enough to think about on his Pokémon journeys and work for the Pokémon 
League.  Delia and I didn't want Ash to be stressed out about having 
reporters following him every day."

"That," Misty added, "and the fact that Ash didn't want to be given special
treatment by any of his opponents or rivals just because he was related to
the professor."

"There's nothing wrong with that," Ash glared at her, having taken offense to
that statement.

"Anyway," the professor told Tracey and Duplica.  "Now that you know the
secret, I ask that you not divulge it to anyone!"

"You'll never hear it from my lips!" Duplica quickly agreed.

"Me too!" Tracey added.  "Your secret's safe with us, professor!"

"Good.  Now that that little problem is taken care of, I need you to take care
of something for me, Ash."

"Sure dad... I mean, Professor Oak!"

"There's a scientist named Professor Schtickly who lives in the Seafoam
Islands area.  He wanted me to send him a young, talented trainer to help
him complete his research on a project he says will revolutionize the
Pokémon transfer system.  With Gary away and you coming home, it was easy
for me to decide who to send."

Ash was elated over being chosen.  "Don't worry, Professor Oak!  I'll be glad
to help in anyway I can!"

"Good.  You'll have to catch a ferry to the main isle, then search for his
laboratory on the south side of the island.  He can't wait to see you!"

Brock began seeing hearts in his eyes.  "And I can't wait to see all of
those gorgeous babes in bikinis!"

"And I can't wait to lie on the beach and soak up the sun!" Misty added.

"And wherever Misty goes, I go!" Duplica exclaimed.

"It's settled then," Ash pumped his fist in anticipation.  "We're making a
trip to the Seafoam Islands!"

"What about you, Tracey?" the professor asked, turning to the watcher.

"No thanks," he replied.  "I'd rather stay here and observe you at work."

"My my, that's very flattering.  Okay then... why not?  I could use a fresh
hand or two to help out in the Pokémon Preserve."

Tracey became starry-eyed.  "You mean it?  Wow... I'm going to work
side-by-side with my idol, the one and only Professor Oak!  It's like a
dream come true!  Unbelievable!  Fantastic!  Stupendous!"

"ENOUGH WITH THE PRAISING ALREADY!" Misty yelled at the top of her lungs.

======

A minute later, Ash, Misty, Brock, and Duplica were waving goodbye to
Professor Oak and Tracey as they headed south towards the docks.

"Bye!" the quartet yelled.  "See you later tonight!"

"Don't be late!" Professor Oak shouted.  "We're having roast beef tonight!"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world!" Ash exclaimed.

======

Many miles away, within the deep darkness of the Trovita Island Maximum 
Security Prison lied three of Team Rocket's most dangerous operatives.  As 
was the case with all of the organization's special squadrons, the trio 
consisted of a man, a woman, and a Pokémon mascot.  As part of the same team, 
they also shared their own unique uniform.  This particular trio was known as 
Team Orange, by account of the color of the uniforms.

But as jailbirds, the only colors this trio were wearing were black and
white.

"I can't believe we've been left to rot in this cesspool!" the female
said to her teammate.

"We're the best of the best!" the male responded.  "The boss would
never leave us behind!"

"And if he does?"

"Well, we're more than capable of breaking out of here on our own."

The two sneered evilly as their resident mascot, a Pidgeotto named
Pidgeo, stepped out of the shadows and added a smirk of his own.  The
duo followed him into the light, revealing themselves.

"Prepare for trouble!" exclaimed the woman, who stood six feet tall and
had her pink hair rolled up in a ball in the back.

"And make it double!" added the man, who was six-foot five and wore
glasses, which were partially covered by his long green hair that
flowed over the sides of his face and down the back of his neck.

"To introduce the world to devastation!"

"To love our team and unite our nation!"

"To denounce the values known as truth and love!"

"To extend our knowledge to the stars above!"

"Jane!"

"Calamity!"

"Team Rocket, the best when stealing Pokémon is right!"

"Surrender now, or prepare for a fight!"

"Pidgeo!"

Suddenly, the trio heard something banging against the steel bars of their
cell door.  They turned to see one of the guards banging his baton on them
to get their attention.

"Keep it down, you!"

"How dare you tell us elite Team Rocket members to keep it down!" Jane
shouted.

"Perhaps you don't want this special delivery then..." the guard continued
on, as he produced a small package from the breast pocket of his uniform.

Upon seeing the package, the Rockets' eyes instantly brightened up.

"See?" Calamity said, turning to his partner.  "I knew the boss wouldn't
leave us cooped up forever!"

The guard slipped his hands through the bars and handed the package to
Calamity.  He then quickly pulled them back out.

"You know the drill," the guard told them as he reached up to lower his
cap.

"Right," Jane nodded.  "You don't know us, we don't know you."

As Jane watched the guard walk away, Calamity ripped the package open.
It only contained two items... a small putty-like epoxy, and about three
feet of string.  He quickly attached the string to the putty substance,
then slipped the epoxy into the keyhole of their jail cell.

"Now all we need is a..."

"Match?" Jane finished, as she reached into her hair and pulled out the
item in question.  "I swiped it off the goon that was giving you trouble
in the mess hall at lunch.  I figured it would come in handy."

She handed the match to her partner, who instantly went to lighting it
and then using the match to set the string on fire.

Seconds later, the cell door blew wide open, knocking it off of its
hinges.  Without hesitation, they sprinted into the hallway and headed
straight for the guard station to pick up their belongings.

"If protocol holds true," Jane recalled, "all of the interior guards
should already be disposed of."

"That means all we have to worry about are the guards outside," Calamity
added.

"Right.  And once we get our stuff, they'll be a cinch to get past."

======

Jane, Calamity, and Pidgeo arrive at the guard station a minute later,
and, as they expected, saw that the gatekeeper had been knocked out cold
thanks to a blow to the head.  Calamity kicked the door down easily and
headed in to retrieve his belongings.  Jane did likewise.

"Let's start by changing into something a bit more comfortable!"
Calamity said, pulling out his orange Rocket uniform.

"I'm with you on that!" Jane agreed, finding hers as well.

In an instant, Jane and Calamity changed out of their prison outfits and
into the familiar orange and red that they were used to wearing.

"Next is our Pokémon... aha!"

Calamity came across a small bag filled with five Pokéballs.  He reached
for one, shook it, and then threw it at Jane.

"Comin' at ya!"

Jane smiled as she caught the Pokéball, gave it a kiss, and then threw
as hard as she could.  The Pokéball then opened, and out came her
Pokémon of choice, Pinsir.

"It feels good to reunite with old friends!"

"Tell me about it," Calamity said as he pulled out a second Pokéball.
He took this one and rolled it hard towards the wall.

Upon contact with the wall, the Pokéball opened and released Calamity's
Pokémon partner, the rare Kabuto.

"Time to have us a little fun!"

======

"Sir... Recon Team 1 has reached the infiltration point and is ready to
begin the mission as per your instructions."

"Good... tell them to proceed."

"Yes, sir."

======

Two large, black helicopters with a big, red letter 'R' plastered on the
side, landed about 200 yards away from the east wall of the detention
facility.  Out of each of the copters hopped out five operatives, all
dressed in Team Rocket's signature long sleeve black shirts and slacks.

"This is Recon Team 1 Leader," one of the operatives said into his
headset.  "Now proceeding with Mission Alpha Six-Two-Niner."

He then motioned to his team to follow him in a hurry, straight towards the
gate.

"Hit 'em hard and fast, team!  They're gonna see us coming!"

They started to run for the wall, but just as they reached for their belts
to grab their Pokéballs, a portion of the wall crumbled in front of them.
The immediate vicinity was covered by a cloud of soot and dust, and the
Rockets stopped right in front of it.  All of the agents picked one of
their Pokéballs and held them in hand, ready to release them to face
whatever was about to come out.

Thankfully, it proved unnecessary, as Jane and Calamity stepped out of
the cloud, with their Pokémon behind them.

"Looks like we guessed the right wall to break down," Jane said.

"You'd think we were pros at breaking out!" chuckled Calamity.

The operatives looked somewhat stunned, but the leader quickly came out
of it and saluted the higher-ranked specialists.

"I'm Andrew, leader of Recon Team 1, here to escort you back to HQ!"

"Lead the way!" Calamity told him with enthusiasm.

The Recon Team, as well as Jane and Calamity, headed to the helicopters to
begin the trip back to the headquarters of Team Rocket, located somewhere
in the Kanto region.

======

Meanwhile, at said Team Rocket Headquarters, preparations were already
underway for the Orange Division's return.  The patrol teams were put on
high alert while the medical and research teams stood by at the helipad to
brief the operatives of what had happened while they were gone.

As all the busybodies scrambled into position below him, the leader of Team
Rocket watched with satisfaction, as he also looked forward to welcoming
back two of his best agents.

"Look at all of them," he said, speaking to one of his secretaries, who
was hiding herself in the darkness of the unlit corner of the hangar.  "I
command them all.  They do whatever I want, whenever I tell them to!"

"Very good, sir," the shy young woman responded.

"So... what news do you have to report?"

"Well... Recon Team 1 has just left Trovita Island airspace, and the mission
went better than expected.  There was very little resistance... our insiders
managed to keep the annoyances from rearing their ugly heads."

"Very good.  What's Team Orange's condition?"

"Cranky from horrible mess hall food, but otherwise ready to return to the
field immediately upon arrival.  Pending a medical check-up and a mission
briefing... standard procedure."

The boss rubbed the bottom of his chin, then responded.  "Skip the check-up...
they won't need it.  Have them reassigned as planned."

"Yes, sir."

"How about Recon Team 2?  Was their mission successful?"

"Yes, sir.  Everything went according to plan."

"So the disk containing all of the information on 'Project CB' was destroyed?"

"Yes."

"Good.  Thankfully, despite having lost the hard drive data that those rebels
stole from us a year ago, our scientific team has worked meticulously to
redo all of the research from scratch.  We're almost caught back up to where
we were.  In a matter of weeks, we'll be conducting field tests again."

He then clenched his fist in anger, as he recalled how this all started in 
the first place...

======

Eleven months ago...

"Calamity!  Jane!  Come here at once!"

The two aforementioned Rockets made their way to their boss' side.  They 
addressed him promptly.

"Yes, boss?" Jane asked.

"What’s up?" responded Calamity.

"What’s up?  How about telling me what all of this noise is about?  And why 
half of the guards are running around in the rain?"

Calamity responded nervously.  "Well sir, you see..."

"There were some intruders in the complex.  You see, they managed to download 
a data file from the mainframe computer.

"Which file?"

"Project CB," gulped Calamity.

"CB?  That’s the cross-evolution research project!  How could you let them 
get away?"

"We’re sorry, sir!" apologized Jane, bowing for forgiveness.

"They caught us by surprise!"

"Well, it will be no surprise what I’m going to do to you two if you don’t 
find those two spies immediately!"

"Yes sir!"

======

"It looks like we finally found the rebels' headquarters!" reported Calamity, 
as he tossed a stack of surveillance photos onto the boss' desk.

"We have confirmed that they indeed still have portions of classified 
information on Project CB!" Jane added.

"Very good..." the boss stated as he looked over things.  "Then we strike 
tonight!"

The two Rocket underlings blinked in shock at their leader's hasty decision, 
but then they nodded in agreement, becoming serious while doing so.

"You two will lead the strike force.  Your mission is to destroy anyone 
there who may have had access to Project CB.  Destroy their mainframe, their 
servers... anything that has any trace of our research on it.  Except for 
the disk... if you find it retrievable, then bring it back here.  Use any 
means necessary to accomplish your goal!"

"As you wish, sir!" the two saluted.

Jane and Calamity then ran out of the room, passing by a calendar that stated 
the day as being July 3rd.

======

A group of ten operatives were in the 'preparation' room, equipping 
themselves with several Pokéballs each and assortment of assault weaponry.  
Many could also be seen slipping on some Kevlar body armor as an extra 
precaution.  As they finished up, Jane and Calamity entered the room, already 
suited up and ready to go.

"Time to strap ourselves in, boys!" Jane exclaimed.  "Lock and load!"

Shortly thereafter, the team leaves aboard three helicopters, heading for the 
target point.

======

Explosions rocked the foundation of the building as the Team Rocket 
operatives proceeded to blow up all of the computer hardware in one of the 
research sectors.  Fires began to spread across numerous rooms, causing 
millions of dollars in damage and more.

Scientists run about, either getting out of the way or trying to find fire 
extinguishers to gain control of the blaze.  Operatives of the opposition 
tried to fight off Team Rocket, but they were quickly being shot to death.  
The same with their Pokémon.  Bodies of humans and Pokémon alike began to 
pile up all over the place.

With every passing second, the fires grew, the explosions grew more numerous, 
scientists were fleeing for the lives, and spies raced in to defend their 
home base, only to lose their lives for it in the process.

Suddenly, through all the chaos and mayhem, one voice sounded above all else.

"I've got the disk!" Calamity shouted, holding up a green floppy high in the 
air.  "Troops, move out!"

Calamity watched as his partner Jane led some of their operatives over 
towards one of the building's emergency exits.  He turned to join them, but 
stopped when he felt a tug at his pants.

A bespectacled teenager, one of the scientists, was trying to keep Calamity 
from taking the disk.  The green-haired male didn't have any intention of 
letting go, either.

"You can't take that!" he yelled.  "That belongs to us!"

Calamity smiled, then drew his handgun and stuck it into the young man's 
mouth.

"Not anymore."

One shot was all that was needed, as the scientist fell to the ground, dead.  
Calamity holstered his weapon, pocketed the floppy disk, and then ran off to 
join his comrades.  In the process, he stepped on a glass picture frame, 
smashing it into pieces.

In the picture, taken at a local photo booth, was the scientist and his main 
squeeze, a blonde-haired girl who bear a strange resemblance to a certain 
red-shoed girl from Kansas.

======

A few minutes later, the three TR helicopters were seen leaving the scene, as 
the rest of the base's personnel went to work putting out the fires and 
taking a count of their casualties.

Onboard the lead 'copter, Jane, Calamity, and two other operatives were 
sitting on the floor and relaxing peacefully.  Calamity pulled the disk out 
of his pocket to examine it.

"Finally," he said, waving it in front of him, "we can move on with our 
lives."

"Still upset about how those kids made fools of us?" Jane asked.

Calamity laughed.  "Not anymore.  And the next time I see those two, I'll 
send them to their maker.  That much I'm sure of!"

"Hey, can I see it?" asked one of operatives.

Calamity shrugged his shoulders, then handed it over to him.  "I don't see 
why not."

Once the floppy disk was firmly in the operative's hands, he started to 
laugh.  The others started shooting him odd and confused looks.

"What's so funny?" Jane asked.

The operative ceased his laughter, then reached for the door on his side, 
pulling it wide open and causing air to fly into the cabin.  The rush of air 
at their altitude caught the pilot off-guard, causing him to temporarily lose 
control of the helicopter.

Just as the air pressure in the cabin equalized enough for the pilot to 
regain control, the operative now holding the disk leaped from the 
helicopter, plummeting head-first towards the ground below.

"Is he crazy?" Jane exclaimed out loud.

"Maybe, but his impulsiveness just cost him his life!" Calamity yelled, 
grabbing hold of a sniper rifle that was at his feet and loading it to be 
fired.

"Wait a minute..." Jane stopped him, as she climbed over him and peered out 
the open doorway.

Down below, the duo watched as a Pidgeot came out of nowhere, flew right up 
to the falling operative, and then past him.  The operative then moved around 
so that his body was parallel with the approaching ground, looking up at the 
sky.

"What?!" Jane had just realized the truth as Calamity began to aim at the man 
falling to his doom.

"Say goodnight..." Calamity said, aiming through the crosshairs of his scope.

"Forget him!  Target that Pidgeot!"

Calamity thought Jane had lost her mind, but he still didn't hesitate in 
listening to her as he quickly changed his angle in order to try and shoot 
down the escaping bird Pokémon.

But it was too late.  The Pidgeot was flying way too fast, as it was out of 
firing range before Calamity could get off a shot.

"Blast!" cursed the green-haired Rocket.

Jane turned to the pilot and barked orders at him.

"Tell one of the copters to go down and check on our jumper.  I have a 
feeling he's working for them."

"Not that it matters much now..." Calamity muttered.

"Tell the other one to follow us... we're going after that Pidgeot!"

"I'm afraid that even at top speed, we wouldn't be able to keep up with it," 
the pilot remarked.

"He's right," noted Calamity, causing Jane to scream in frustrated anger.

"Fine... let's just all check Mr. Traitor down there.  Not that he'll be able 
to tell us anything..."

======

The three helicopters landed in the grassy field below.  It didn't take them 
long to find the jumper's body... or what was left of it.

"This isn't the guy that left HQ with us," Calamity noted, not recognizing 
the body features, which had been hidden by the fallen guy's uniform.

"Something must have happened to Cletus," Jane stated.  "He must've been 
killed during the attack, and one of their spies must have taken his place."

"But how I wonder... they don't have anyone that has facial features similar 
to Cletus."

"We don't know that for sure.  Besides... this guy was just a messenger.  His 
job was just to get the disk to that Pidgeot, who was expecting to pick it 
from him and take it to a predetermined delivery point."

"That means that this guy... is a sacrificial lamb?"

"Exactly.  He knew he was going to die no matter if we had caught him and 
killed him ourselves... or this, because he knew he was jumping without a 
parachute."

Calamity grimaced.  "Then they had this planned along!  Man... they're even 
worse than we are."

"You have to remember... some of their members used to be part of Team 
Rocket.  It seems no matter how much they try, they can't forget their 
programming."

"So... what now?"

"We'll leave this guy here.  Can't do anything with a stiff.  Meanwhile, 
we'll go back to HQ, hope the boss won't have our heads for our failure... 
and wait to see if one of our ground operatives is lucky enough to stumble 
upon that Pidgeot... or who it's delivering the disk to."

======

"Hmmm..." the leader of Team Rocket muttered.  "They never did get that disk, 
did they?"

"Um..." the secretary replied, "No, sir, they didn't."

"Well... at least that mistake has been corrected.  Or will be... once Recon 
Team 2 returns from Valencia Island."

He then turned towards her and flashed an evil smirk in her direction.

"Prepare Briefing Room 1 for me.  I'll inform Jane and Calamity of their new 
operation myself."

She quickly saluted and responded.  "Right away, Giovanni."

The secretary ran off into the darkness, leaving Giovanni alone to await the 
return of his two newly freed operatives.

======

Back at the Trovita Island Maximum Security Prison...

"Is this all we get in terms of screentime for the entire first act?" Jessie 
asked, screaming loudly.  "Did the writers even remember we're here too?"

"Better here than out there... we'd be killed if the boss decides to come 
after us," sighed James.

"I will NOT let it end this way!  I'm too beautiful to go out like this!"

"Look at it this way, Jess... one small scene, one small chance at being 
killed... the odds are in our favor!"

"I DON'T WANT FAVORS, I WANT RESULTS!  AND MORE SCREENTIME!"

"Maybe if we take a little nap, we can dream of better times..."

======

The bright rays of sunlight filtered through the trees above, and all was 
joyous as children were frolicking about and their parents were sharing fond 
memories of the past.  A blue banner hung from above, and it read' Happy 10th 
Birthday!'

In the center of it all was a young brown-haired girl, who was clapping 
enthusiastically as she glimpsed at the table of presents standing right 
before her.  She knew it was time to start unwrapping them, as she heard her 
parents calling all of the other party-goers to gather around her.

"Okay everyone," her father shouted aloud.  "The birthday girl wants to open 
her birthday presents!"

"Everybody gather around!" her mother added.

The girl's happiness seemed to rise even more as she quickly became 
surrounded by her friends and family.  Which was about half of town's small 
population of several dozen.  She spotted her father pulling a disposable 
camera out of his pocket, ready to take pictures of the event.

"Ready, dear?" her mother asked.

The girl responded with a nod, giggling with joy.

"Now remember your manners..." chided her dad.

"Of course!  Always thank and hug the gift givers' after opening their 
present to me!"

"Good girl!" both of her parents said in unison.

And with that, she began tearing through the wrapping paper.  One by one, 
she shouted with glee.  Beautiful blouses, skirts, and dresses for her to 
wear.  New store-bought dolls and accessory kits to play with.  Even some 
spending money to use as she saw fit.

She continued to work through the pile of gift boxes, until after several 
minutes, she had opened them all.  She glanced around for her parents, who 
had suddenly disappeared from sight.  Wondering where they ran off to, she 
prepared to hop out of her seat and start searching for them.

And wonder why they didn't get her anything for her birthday.

Luckily, both problems were solved in an instant, as her parents reappeared, 
each holding a box in hand.  She cheered in joy once again, as the 
party-goers applauded for her.

"Honey, this is for you," her dad said, handing over the smaller of the two 
boxes.

"Happy birthday, sweetie," her mom added.

"What is it?  What is it?"

Her parents laughed at her.  "Open it and see."

She quickly ripped the wrapping off and opened the box.  She was shocked to 
find none other than an official Pokémon trainer's license, laminated and 
with her name on it.

"No way!  This is... this is a real trainer's license?"

"Yes," her mother nodded.  "We've known for months now that you wanted to 
become a Pokémon trainer."

"But..." began her father, putting the second box down on the table in front 
of her, "there's something else that every Pokémon trainer needs."

Immediately getting the hint, she hastily opened the second box.  Inside, she 
found a note that read 'Special Delivery: To Poli Town, from Professor Oak of 
Pallet Town.'

"The famous Professor Oak mailed this from Pallet Town.  It contains three 
Pokéballs, each with a starter Pokémon inside.  They're supposed to go to 
three different trainers in the area, you being one of them.  But since it's 
your birthday today, he was kind enough to let you have first choice."

"Really?" she asked, making sure she was hearing her mother right.

After she saw her parents nod in confirmation, she let out another squeal of 
joy.  She looked into the box and examined the three Pokéballs, each with the 
name of the Pokémon inside taped to it.

"Wow!  Which one should I pick?"

The party-goers watched as she took her time trying to decide which one to 
take.  After a few minutes, she grabbed one of the Pokéballs and threw it 
into the air.

"Come out Bulbasaur!"

The plant bulb Pokémon emerged from its containment unit, bringing a loud 
cheer from both Cassie and everyone else at the party.

"Thanks mom and dad... this is the best present ever!" she exclaimed, as she 
ran over to give her parents a hug.

"We only want what's best for you, Cassie... Cassie..."

======

"Cassie... Cassie... Cassie!"

Cassie awakened from her dream, and was greeted by the face of a 
brown-reddish haired boy, most likely only a year older than herself.  She 
looked around and noticed that the two of them were sitting in some sort of 
lobby, outside of an office door that read 'Patti Masters, Junior Agent 
Supervisor.'

"You know, you're the one that's going to do this thing," he said.  "You 
better have a speech prepared for something as monumental as this."

Cassie stared up into space briefly, stating as she did, "I was dreaming 
about the first day again.  My tenth birthday.  The day I became a Pokémon 
trainer..."

Her partner scratched the back of his head.  "That again?  You sure like to 
dream a lot."

"It's what I do when I'm tired."

"Maybe we should wait 'til later on... you know, after you've slept a few 
more hours."

That last statement suddenly shot Cassie wide awake.

"No way!  You know this has to end now, Arius!"

Cassie shot a menacing glare at her partner and boyfriend, Arius, who 
motioned as if he was about to shoot back a rebuttal.  He thinks better of it 
and decides to keep his mouth shut.

"Arius?  Cassie?" the voice of a young woman rang out.

The two jumped out of their seats to see Patti waving hello as she walked 
towards them.  Wearing a white blouse and a navy blue skirt, she swung the 
small suitcase in her left hand back and forth.

"What brings you two to my office this morning?"

"Well... you see..." started Cassie.

======

"You're quitting?  Did I hear you right?"

"Yes, that's right," Cassie said aloud.  "We wish to resign our positions."

"Why?  Is something wrong?"

"Ever since I took this job, I envisioned a future where this organization 
would train us to be the best Pokémon trainers in the world."

"Haven't we always done that?"

"Yes, but at the sacrifice of all of the new friends I've met on the road.  
There are many things that I've done while I've been here that I haven't been 
too proud of.  Things that have cost other people their lives.  Things that 
have nearly cost me my life.  I'm only thirteen!  I didn't become a Pokémon 
trainer to save the world!  I became a Pokémon trainer because I wanted to be 
a Pokémon Master!"

"It's a part of the job I hate too, but sometimes we can't avoid it."

"That's why we want out.  It's the only way I feel is right."

"What about you, Arius?"  Patti turned to face him.  "Do you share the same
views as your partner?"

"To an extent," Arius began, "but I wouldn't be the great trainer I am today 
if it wasn't for her.  So I'd like to stay by her side.  I respect her 
decision... though I do not know if it is the right one."

Patti bowed her head.  "I'm sorry that you two feel that way.  But, we can't
stop you from leaving under your own power.  I just wish things didn't work
out this way."

"We do too," Cassie nodded.

======

A few minutes later, Arius and Cassie were in their cubicles, clearing out 
what little they were allowed to keep in their desks.

Arius' cubicle was pretty much empty, as he didn't have as much stuff as his 
fiancé to pack.  Curious to see how far along she was, he walked off to her 
workstation.

======

Cassie was hard at work trying to stuff her extra clothes and keepsakes into 
the one medium-sized box she had been given to carry it all out.  But among 
all of her belongings was the remnants of a small, partially burned 
photograph.  A photo of herself and a good friend, a green-haired, 
bespectacled young man.  She tried to hold herself back from crying, as she 
was still getting over losing him just days ago.

"Poor Chuck... he had such a great life in front of him.  And he had to give 
it up... all to protect a bunch of hypocrites and liars!  To people who only 
care about their own selfish goals... not for the people who help achieve 
them!"

"Now, now..." she heard Arius' soothing voice sneak up behind her.  "You know 
that's not true."

Cassie turned to face her sweetheart, no longer able to fight off the tears 
now coming out of her eyes.

"Yes, it is!  Don't you remember what those Team Rocket members said to us 
back when we infiltrated their headquarters a year ago?"

======

Calamity placed a gun against Cassie's forehead.  Arius could only watch 
helplessly, as a multitude of Rockets had surrounded them, making any sort of 
escape impossible.

"You know, it’s too bad I have to shoot you," Calamity told the duo.  "You 
two would have made great additions to our team.  Then again, members of a 
traitorous organization such as yours don’t deserve to live."

"What do you mean traitorous?" Cassie asked, hoping to buy her partner some 
time to think of a way out.

"Anyway, I thought you would have known about this by now.  I haven’t been in 
Team Rocket that long, but any Rocket member knows that the founders of the 
Pokémon Trainers’ Association were former Rockets themselves!"

Arius and Cassie's eyes opened wide with shock and disdain.  "What?"

"You mean you didn’t know?" Jane asked between fits of laughter.

"Of course they didn’t know," assured Calamity.  "Do you think these two 
innocent trainers would have joined it if they knew that in advance?

======

"You still believe that rubbish?" Arius asked.

"Tell me this, Arius," Cassie said, regaining her composure.  "How many times 
have you seen me ask about that?  How many?"

"But don't you remember the first time we asked?  It was both of us 
confronting Patti, and she firmly denied it."

"But how many times did I ask her after that?  How about the higher-ups?  Did 
any of them ever give me a straight answer?  There's no one here that can 
tell me that both of those Rockets weren't telling the truth!"

"They're members of an evil and elite organization named Team Rocket!  
They're trained not to tell the truth!"

"What makes you think this organization, the Pokémon Trainers' Association, 
isn't as evil in their own special way?  We are secret agents, after all, and 
we're only told anything on a need-to-know basis.  There could be plenty of 
secrets they could be keeping from us!  Stuff that could put them in the same 
league as Team Rocket!"

Arius sighed.  "Cassie, I don't mind leaving the PTA with you if it's because 
you're tired of seeing your friends get hurt.  But please tell me it's not 
because of this conspiracy theory that you're hung up on."

"No... and I'm telling you, it's just not some wild theory.  There's gotta be 
some truth to it.  I just know it!"

"And where will you find this truth?  It's not going to pop up out of 
nowhere!  Look... in a few minutes, we'll be out of here, so we won't have to 
worry about any of this other stuff.  Let the organization figure out their 
past, present, and future for themselves.  It's just you and me, now, and no 
one else!"

Cassie glanced back down at the picture of her and Chuck, which was still 
in her hand, and Arius reached over to put both of his hands on her shoulders.

"There have been things on this job that we liked and others we didn't.  I 
have things about the PTA I didn't like either.  But we're leaving now, and 
it should be appropriate that we keep all of those problems here and start 
over with our lives.  Isn't that why we're leaving in the first place?"

Cassie nodded in agreement.

"Then let's let bygones be bygones, and leave all of these thoughts of the 
PTA's intentions to the guys that replace us.  Alright?"

"Okay... I guess you're right."

"Good.  Now, let's finish packing so we can hit the road.  I already called 
my parents, so we'll be dropping by my house first."

Cassie nodded as Arius left her cubicle.  She sighed as she pocketed the 
picture and finished packing.

"Maybe he's right," she told herself aloud.  "After all, if they were really 
doing something illegal, the police would've done something about it, right?"

The young trainer contemplated that thought as she took one last look at her 
cubicle.  She then picked up her box of stuff and headed off to find her 
boyfriend.

======

The duo was somewhat surprised to see about twenty or thirty of their fellow 
agents waiting to give them a send-off at the front door.  They heard cheers 
and cries aplenty as Arius and Cassie, now with giant backpacks strapped 
to their persons, walked towards the crowd.

"Whoa!" Cassie exclaimed.  "I didn't think this many people would wish us 
goodbye, especially considering the fact we only told Patti half an hour ago."

"News spreads fast around here," Arius remarked.  "That, or we're a whole lot 
more popular than we thought we were."

Arius and Cassie slowly made their way through the crowd, taking time to 
either give or receive hugs from the people they had worked with for the past 
two years.  Some gave them helpful advice, others just let their emotions do 
the talking.  Eventually, they found their way to the door and waved one 
final goodbye to the organization.

"Goodbye and good luck!" Arius and Cassie stated in tandem.

======

A couple hours later, somewhere along Route 3...

"I feel so alive!" Cassie exclaimed, spinning circles around Arius.

"You know that gets annoying after the first few miles..." Arius snidely 
remarked.

"I'm sorry, but it just feel so great to be out on the road again, and now, 
we don't have to follow anyone else's agenda other than our own!"

"Great.  Just don't wear yourself out... we've got about six hours of walking 
to go if we're going to make it to Viridian City.  And unless you want to 
sleep out with the stars tonight..."

"Fine, fine," Cassie said in defeat as she stopped spinning.  "Spoilsport."

The two walked silently for a minute or two, taking in the fresh air around 
them.  Arius glanced over at his significant other, and was amazed to see her 
so happy and carefree.  A side of her that had been lost in their hectic 
adventures in the Orange Islands over the past week.  And one that he was 
glad to see again.

"You know," Arius said, bringing Cassie out of her dream-like state.  "It 
would be a shame if we didn't share our freedom with a few close friends."

Cassie blinked, not quite sure what he was hinting at.  "Huh?"

Arius reached into his pocket and pulled out two of his Pokéballs.  Seeing 
this, Cassie realized what he had meant, and she started reaching for hers.

"Golbat, Butterfree, come out and play!" Arius shouted, throwing the 
Pokéballs into the air.

The two came out of their Pokéballs, screeching as they made their entrance.

"Alright... Bulbasaur!  And Meowth, too!" Cassie yelled, tossing her 
Pokéballs out.

Cassie's two favorite Pokémon, and the ones closest to her, came out, 
cheering for the chance to get some fresh air.

"Take a good look at the Great Outdoors, guys!" Cassie told her Pokémon.

"Bulba!"

"Meowth!"

"Out there is a world filled with surprises!  And in our new lives that start 
here and now, we'll take whatever fate throws at us with sunlight in our 
hearts and smiles on our faces.  For we have a new lease on life, and no one 
can take it away from us!"

"And we'll face that world..." Arius said, giving Cassie a peck on the 
cheek.  "Together."

Arius, Cassie, and Pokémon gazed up towards the sky, basking in the gorgeous 
warmth of the sun, as they returned to the ways of the average Pokémon 
trainer.

Traveling the road of life and experiencing the bumps along the way.

======

Meanwhile, on a ferry headed towards the Seafoam Islands, Ash, Misty, Brock, 
Duplica, Pikachu, and Ditto were heading out on their own path of adventure.

"I can't wait to see this new project Professor Schtickly invented to help 
all Pokémon!" Ash exclaimed.

"Yeah," Brock agreed.  "I wonder what it is."

"It must be something if Professor Oak wants us to check it out," Misty said.

"Pika!" Pikachu chirped.

"Ditto!" agreed Ditto.

"I don't care about that!" Duplica exclaimed, who had changed into an outfit 
that was an exact copy of Misty's.  "All I want is to spend some time alone 
on the beach with my Ashy-boy!"

"I am NOT thinking that!" Misty said angrily, not noticing Ash blushing 
behind her.

"So you don't want to spend time alone with him?  Well... I can think of one 
person here who wouldn't mind taking your place..."

"Don't you dare, Duplica Imite!"

Misty started chasing Duplica around the ferry deck, the latter shedding her 
Misty costume in hopes of slowing her pursuer down.

"Sometimes I'll never understand women," Ash commented, sweatdropping.

"Sometimes I'll never understand how women flock to you," Brock added, his 
face becoming blue in despondent jealousy.

"Pika pika," Pikachu said in dismay, shaking his head as he wondered how his 
human friends could be so goofy sometimes.

A horn rang in the air as the ferry continued onward towards the Seafoam 
Islands, where, unbeknownst to our heroes, a new adventure is about to 
begin...

======

Celadon City Public Library

A familiar-faced bluenette in a kimono walked into the library and 
immediately headed for the receptionist's desk.  There, she was happily 
greeted by the bespectacled green-haired young girl there.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, it's you!  The gym leader, Erika!" she cried.

Erika blushed as she tried to quiet the girl down.  "Come on, now... I'm not 
that great!"

"I'm at your call... I can help you with anything you need!"

"In that case... I'll need to borrow one of your private reading rooms and 
get a list of all of the books you have on 'Ancient Pokémon Legends.'"

"But... that's over a few thousand books, and that's just counting the 
fiction half of the library!  Are you sure you dont just want to take a 
couple back to the gym at a time?"

The gym leader shook her head in disagreement.  "No... I need peace and quiet 
and loads of time.  I'm trying to figure out this puzzling query of a mystery 
that's stumbled into my lap."

The receptionist started freaking out.  "But... but... what about the gym?"

"I contacted the Pokémon League and they granted me a two-week work-study 
vacation.  Then again, I don't know if two weeks will be enough to figure 
this thing out..."

"Just... just what could be so important..."

"Start me off with a few dozen books, and make sure no one disturbs me.  I'll 
call you if I need anything else."

"Right away!" the librarian shouted, bowing in respect before beginning to 
gather the required materials.

"If what I've learned it's true," Erika thought, with a serious look on her 
face, "then the world could be in a whole lot of danger!"

======

A ferry pulls into port at the Seafoam Islands, and its passengers begin the 
process of disembarking.  Among the arrivals to this group of island east of 
Cinnabar are Ash Ketchum and his merry band of followers.

"We're finally here!" Misty shouted gleefully.  "Island vacation, here we 
come!"

"Misty..." Ash interrupted.  "We've got a job to do!  We don't have time to 
relax!"

"Aw..."

"This better not turn out like our trip to the Orange Islands last week," 
Duplica said, reminded of the turn of events there.

"Knowing our luck, it wouldn't surprise me," Brock said despondently.

The group made their way out of the port and onto the main street leading 
into town.

"Okay..." Ash wondered as he looked around.  "Which way is south?"

"Hmmm... I'm no navigator," Duplica stated, "but I think that there is a 
pretty good indicator."

Duplica was pointing at a brown building on top of a cliff about a mile 
away.  Next to it was a lighthouse, which strangely was shining its beam out 
into the ocean despite there not being a cloud in the sky.

"A laboratory overlooking the ocean," observed Brock.  "How ironic."

"Why do I even act surprised anymore?" Misty waved nonchalantly.

"Okay!" Ash said, raising his fist into the air.  "Let's get to that 
laboratory!"

"Nice to see someone doesn't mind the strange coincidences."

======

After a long walk of about ten or fifteen minutes, the group took their final 
steps up to the laboratory's front door.  But to their surprise, they saw 
that it was unlocked and open.

"Talk about convenient," Ash remarked.

"Hmmm..." Brock thought.  "Maybe too convenient."

"Be ready for anything," Ash told his Pikachu.

"Pika!" the little rodent Pokémon nodded.

"You too, Ditto!" Duplica said to the Pokémon resting on her right shoulder.

The group calmly stepped inside, on guard for anything that might jump out at 
them.  None of the lights were on in the building, though the morning 
daylight helped brighten the main hallway enough for Ash and the others to 
see down it.  And at the end was a closed wooden door.  With light streaming 
out from underneath.

"Ah!" Misty said.  "There must be someone in there!"

"Well, let's see who!" Ash said, leading the way.

The group crept up to the door slowly, on their guard for any surprise that 
may be waiting for them on the other side.  Ash reached for the doorknob, but 
hesitated in turning it.  Looking back at his comrades for any signs of 
objections, he saw Pikachu, Misty, Brock, Duplica, and Ditto all nodding for 
him to proceed.  Taking a deep breath, Ash began to turn the knob...

"Here goes nothing!"

...and opened the door, causing the lights to filter out into the hallway and 
onto them.  Ash stuck his head inside, followed by the rest of the gang, as 
they checked the surroundings.

They had found the main laboratory, which was lined with scores of machines 
along both walls.  Most of them seemed to be the standard computational 
units, though there were a couple of exceptions.  Such as a Pokémon healing 
unit, a Pokémon transportation module, a Pokéball repair apparatus, and a 
Lotad-themed coffeemaker.  But the biggest anomaly was standing just twenty 
feet in front of them.  A tall machine that reached more than halfway to the 
ceiling.  It was decorated with an assortment of flashing colored lights, and 
a plethora of varying gauges, each measuring a different quality than the 
others.  In fact, it looked so futuristic and high-tech that the machine's 
most primitive feature, a maple-colored wooden door leading inside of it, 
looked horrendously out of place.

"I wonder what that thing is," Brock asked out of curiosity.

"Looks like some sort of machine," Ash said, stating the obvious.  "But just 
what does it do?"

"I'm glad you asked, my boy!"

The foursome (well, sixsome if you count Pikachu and Ditto) jumped back in 
fright as short, bespectacled man in a white lab coat had suddenly appeared 
before them.

"This is the machine that will revolutionize the Pokémon transfer system!
Ha ha... no one dares match my genius, for I am the great Professor 
Schtickly, master of solving the world's most unsolvable Pokémon world 
mysteries!"

Duplica sweatdropped.  "Is he serious?"  She then quick-changed into an exact 
copy of the professor, glasses, gray hair, and all, and openly mocked him.  
"I'm solving the world's most unsolvable Pokémon world mysteries!"

"Figures he'd be a quack," Misty stated out loud.

Professor Schtickly shook his head in disdain.  "Tsk tsk... it seems that 
young women these days still lack the genius to recognize genius when they 
see it."

"Are you calling me stupid?" Misty yelled angrily, head about to explode.

Duplica held her friend back.  "Easy, Mist... no need to get riled up over 
this old coot."

Ash looked confused.  As usual.  "I'm sorry... but you didn't answer my 
question.  Just what does this thing do?"

"Well," Professor Schtickly began, "it's supposed to be able to automatically 
transfer any Pokémon from one place to another.  Anywhere 'round this big ol' 
world!  There doesn't even have to be anyone waiting on the other side!"

"Sounds amazing!" noted the easily-impressed Pallet Town trainer.

"So," Brock asked with careful intrigue, "why 'supposed to?'  What's wrong?"

"Well," the professor uttered, bonking himself on the head with his bare 
fist, "I can't figure out how to turn the darn thing on."

The group stood still for a minute, the shock of the problem so sudden that 
they had to take some time to process it.  They then group facefaulted to the 
floor, and then quickly bounced up, pretty much 'absorbing' the blow.

Except for a certain ill-tempered redhead...

"YOU'RE CALLING ME STUPID AND YOU CAN'T EVEN FIGURE OUT HOW TO TURN THAT DARN 
THING ON!  WHAT KIND OF LOGIC IS THAT, YOU PEABRAIN?"

"Somebody needs a timeout," Duplica sang as she dragged Misty off to a safe 
distance away... for the professor's sake.

"Pi Pikachu!" Pikachu suddenly sounded off, prompting the men to gaze in his 
direction.  He was standing by a panel that was loosely screwed into one side 
of the device.

"That's where the power source is located!" the Professor cried, oblivious as 
to why the panel covering it was left unscrewed in the first place.

Pikachu skipped back to Ash as the professor knelt down to examine the 
panel.  It was then that he noticed... or didn't notice... that the power 
source wasn't on.  Or to be more exact...

"I put the darn thing in upside down," Schtickly chuckled as he pulled away 
the panel to show an unlit green cylinder.  "Silly me... guess I'd better fix 
it!"

In seconds, Professor Schtickly did just that.  Upon doing so, the cylinder 
began glowing green, and the machine powered up.

"Success!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Wait a minute..." Brock said, realizing why the source glowed green, "that's 
not safe... aaahhh!"

Brock quickly ran to other side of the room, with Pikachu quickly following.  
Ash and the professor scratched their heads,  dumbfounded.

"What's the big deal about this glowing green cylinder?" Ash wondered out 
loud.

"Nothing, my boy," the professor replied as he began screwing the latch back 
on.  "My machine is nuclear powered, is all."

"Really?  Wow, that's amazing, Professor Schtickly!"

Brock and Pikachu shook their heads in dismay.

"Well, Misty won't be happy the professor just shortened Ash's life by a 
year."

"Pika pika."

"But maybe she'll be pleased that he took a year off his life too!"

"Pika pika."

======

Outside, where Misty was enjoying a cup of water from Duplica's thermos 
bottle...

"Did you feel that?" Misty asked.

"Feel what?" Duplica shot back.

"Like something just happened to Ash?"

Duplica chuckled.  "Knowing Ashy-boy, I'd be more shocked if stuff didn't 
happen to him."

======

Meanwhile, in Trovitopolis in the Orange Islands...

A brown haired woman in an orange tank top and matching colored skirt and 
sandals grunted as she lifted her last bag of luggage and placed it into an 
already overstuffed taxicab trunk.  The taxi driver with tanned skin, who was 
wearing a pineapple-motif short sleeve shirt and blue swimming trunks, looked 
peeved.

"Just how many more bags does your family have, lady?"

"That's all, I believe.  And we're not your typical family, either."

The driver shook his head.  "Whatever... just tell your 'family' to hurry up!"

He slammed the trunk door closed and then walked off to wait in the car.  The 
woman glanced into the hotel the cab was parked at, and saw one of her 
'family' members waiting by the front desk.  Checking his watch.  As if he 
was waiting for someone.

"Darn that Amber, making us wait!" she scowled.  "If I had my way, Gary and I 
would just leave her butt behind and make her find her own way to Kumquat 
Island!"

Inside the hotel, the person she had been watching was the Gary Oak of Pallet 
Town.  Best known for being the grandson of Professor Oak, but he was one of 
the best trainers at his age.  He blew through the Kanto League gyms as if 
they were nothing.  Some called him the most successful trainer ever to come 
out of Pallet.

But he didn't do it alone.  For as famous as he was for his impressive skills 
as a Pokémon trainer, he was also famous for having his own personal 
cheerleading squad.  The squad, made up of six beautiful young women roughly 
twice his age, followed him everywhere and cheered him on as if their lives 
depended on it.

But the girls got tired of the everyday duties of being cheerleaders, and 
they all eventually quit on him.  Gary realized that he used them as nothing 
more than mindless followers, and made an attempt to try and get them to 
travel with him again.  Not as cheerleaders, but as travel companions and 
friends.

Only two of them agreed to rejoin him.  Amber Gyro, one of the youngest 
members of the squad, who was hoping traveling with Gary would give her an 
opportunity to discover what her true purpose in life was.  And the lady 
outside, Stephanie Applegate, who was considered the squad leader, was the 
only one that ever had true intimate feelings for Gary.  Though he's never 
reciprocated those back.

"Gary, let's just leave her!" Stephanie yelled into the hotel.  "Besides, you 
know the trip would be much more fun if it were just the two of us!"

"I can't abandon her!" Gary shouted back.  "I'll go and find her."

Stephanie scowled even more as she watched Gary walk off towards the elevator.

"She is so gonna make us miss our flight!"

======

After wandering around the first floor for a minute or so, Gary spotted a 
brown-haired girl, a few years younger than Stephanie, gazing at a TV playing 
a video of something in the window of the hotel's gift shop.  He also noticed 
a few local teenage boys ogling what little clothing she had on... a light 
blue bikini top and a pair of tan shorts... the real short ones that left 
little to the imagination.

"Amber!" Gary yelled, calling out her name and getting the boys' attention.

"Aw man," one of them complained as he led the others away.  "She's taken."

"Yeah!  I don't want anything that isn't fresh off the market!"

"That's some fine piece he's tapping there!"

The trio were suddenly shut up when an Arcanine materialized right in front 
of them and roared loudly in their faces, practically scaring their clothes 
off.  Frightened for their lives, the three of them ran off as fast as their 
legs could carry them.  Arcanine disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, 
back into its Pokéball... the one Gary had taken out of his pocket.

"Jerks," he muttered under his breath as he pocketed the Pokéball and walked 
over to Amber, who was still fixated on the TV.

Gary looked to see what Amber was watching.  It seemed to be a video of some 
sort of Pokémon competition.  But it wasn't like any competition he'd ever 
seen before.  Though battles were part of the competition, he also noticed a 
heavy emphasis on showing off attack moves and dazzling displays.

"What's this you're watching, Ambs?"

"It's a Pokémon Contest!" Amber responded without turning away from the TV.

"And just what does that entail?"

That question grabbed her attention enough to shift her gaze away from the 
spectacle she was witnessing.

"Oh, it's the bestest and most beautiful display of Pokémon bonding and 
showmanship I've ever seen!  I want to be in one ever so badly!"

"Since when?"

"Five minutes ago.  Oh Gary... we have to find a place that holds these 
Pokémon Contests!  I want to become... a Pokémon Coordinator!"

Gary sighed.  "Oh, so that's your 'calling' for this week, huh?  Well, let's 
get this over with..."

"No!" Amber exclaimed, grabbing Gary by the shoulders.  "This isn't just any 
'calling.'  It's THE 'calling!'  This is what I want to do with my life!"

"You're really into this stuff?"

"It's the stuff legends are made of!" Amber quoted, starry-eyed.  "After you 
earn your fourth and final Orange League badge, we have to find one of these 
places that hold Pokémon Contests!  We must!"

"Well, anything to make you happy," Gary agreed, sounding sort of fatherly.  
Even though he had no idea where these contests were being held.

The two headed back to the lobby, unaware a boiling angry Stephanie was 
waiting for them.

"Say... you didn't notice those guys..."

"There were guys looking at me?  I was too busy watching that program to 
notice."

At that, Gary ran back to the shop, pulling Amber along with him.

"That's it... I'm buying you some new clothes to cover up some of that skin 
of yours!"

Amber freaked as she was dragged inside.  "What are you now, my mother or 
something?"

======

Back on the Seafoam Islands, inside Professor Schtickly's laboratory again...

Duplica, Ditto, and a now mellow Misty joined Ash, Pikachu, and Brock back 
inside as the professor was hard at work punching buttons on his newest 
machine's console, prepping it for a test run.

"So I guess it works fine now?" questioned Misty.

"Yep," Ash nodded.  "We're about to get a trial run."

"It didn't take long to fix once we figured out the problem," Brock reassured 
the girls.

"Ha ha, it is ready!" the professor exclaimed.  "Now I must get my Pokémon 
that I will be making the test with!"

He reached into his lab coat and pulled out a Pokéball.  He then opened the 
door leading inside and tossed the Pokéball into it.  Running back to the 
controls, he immediately started the test sequence!

"This is it!  I am about to become the pioneer of instantaneous Pokémon 
transport!"

The gang shielded their eyes as the machine roared to life, enveloping the 
room in an overbearing flash of assorted lights and loud noises.  Nothing 
could be seen or heard in the room other than the machine for quite a few 
seconds, until it suddenly powered down without rhyme or reason.  Regaining 
their senses about them, the group watched hopefully as Professor Schtickly 
went to open the door to the machine's transfer chamber, thinking it would be 
empty.

But staring them right in the face was that Pokéball, not having moved an 
inch.

"That wasn't much of a disappearing act, you know," Duplica commented blandly.

Professor Schtickly glared at Misty, expecting her to make some sort of 'I 
told you so' comment.  But she didn't even so much as chuckle.

"You can stop hiding it, young lady... I know you think I'm an idiot."

"I wouldn't dream of saying such a thing!" Misty said innocently.

Ash glanced at Misty, then at Duplica, then back at Misty.

"Hey... did you two switch places?"

Before Duplica could clarify, Ash reached for one of Misty's pigtails and 
pulled on it.  She screamed in pain and... you can guess what happened next.

"DON'T YOU EVEN KNOW YOUR OWN GIRLFRIEND WHEN SHE'S STANDING RIGHT IN FRONT 
OF YOU?" she screamed as she chased a hapless Ash around the room.

"Poor Ash," Brock said, shaking his head (and Pikachu doing likewise).

"Don't you know running around a lab is dangerous!" the professor yelled at 
Ash and Misty.

"I thought the thing was that running around with scissors is dangerous!" 
Duplica stated, back in her 'professor' costume.

"That too!  And... stop copying me!"

Truer words were never spoken... about the dangerous part, as Misty, within 
mere inches of grabbing Ash by the hair and exacting some revenge, tripped on 
a wire running across the floor.  She stumbled right into Ash's back, pushed 
him into Brock and Pikachu, and sending them all tumbling into the machine.  
They all piled up into the back of the chamber, smashing into hard enough to 
shake the door closed.

Professor Schtickly, Duplica, and Ditto gasped as the machine came to life, 
once again filling the room with obnoxious noises and flashing lights.

"What's going on?" Duplica asked.

Of course, the professor couldn't hear her question over all of the noise.  
So she didn't even get an answer until the machine had ceased to a stop a 
minute later.

"Oh my..." the Professor gasped, running over to check the transfer chamber.

"Are they alright?"

The professor opened the door, temporarily blocking Duplica and Ditto's view 
of the chamber's interior.  She was then surprised to hear Professor 
Schtickly laughing maniacally.  As if he were an evil genius.

"It works!  It really, really works!  Ha ha!"

Duplica peered inside and gasped in horror.

Ash, Misty, Brock, and Pikachu were gone.

======

"Wha... where are we?" Ash asked aloud, picking his face up from the ground.

He had woken up at the bottom of a pile with Misty, Brock, and Pikachu on top 
of him, face-first in the dirt.  As he tried to push them off of his aching 
back, they began to stir.  The trio rubbed their eyes as they too awoke to 
sights and sounds they had never seen before.

"We're not in that kooky professor's lab anymore!" Misty observed.

"Looks like some remote village," noted Brock as he took in the surroundings.

The quartet was surrounded on either side by small adobe houses made out of 
stucco, obviously designed to withstand the extreme heat common with the 
lower mountain regions of the area.  The weather felt particularly cool 
there, though.

But the weather and the housing structures were far from their minds, as they 
were more concerned as to where they had been teleported to.

"I thought he said his machine was designed only to transport Pokémon?" Brock 
said, scratching his head.

"I told you this guy was a nutcase!" Misty exclaimed.  "Some genius he turned 
out to be!"

"Pika pi!" chirped Pikachu, tugging at Ash's pant leg.

"What is it, Pikachu?"

"Pika!"

Pikachu was pointing at a teenage boy walking towards them.  He was dressed 
in a sandy-colored poncho that pretty much ran the length of his entire 
body.  The barefoot young lad was dusty all over, but still, he seemed 
friendly enough.

But the gang couldn't get past the red, spiky hair and his all-too familiar 
face.

"That's Gary!" the group gasped in unison.

"Huh?" the stranger began, before freaking out at seeing Misty in front of 
him.  "Wha... you know better than to be out here in your condition!"

"My condition?" Misty growled, offended by his comment.  "You know better 
than to insult me, Gary Oak!"

He blinked strangely at the name.  "Who is this Gary Oak you speak of?  And 
how dare you raise your voice to me!  I'm surprised you have that much energy 
considering you should be fighting for your life!"

"Fighting for her life?" Ash and Brock asked in unison.

"Why is that?" Misty added, albeit a bit calmer.

'Gary' gasped in disbelief.  "The doctors told us all last night!  You only 
have a month to live!"

======

Seafoam Island, Professor Schtickly's Laboratory

"What happened to them?" Duplica cried.  "Where are Ashy-boy and the others?"

The professor picked up a wrench and began banging at the side of the 
Pokémon transporter.

"Come on out, you little buggers... I know you're hiding in there somewhere!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Duplica asked, beginning to freak out.  
"Didn't you say this was a transporter?"

"A Pokémon transporter, my dear, a Pokémon transporter!  It's never been 
tested on humans before!  Well, of course, this thing's never worked until 
now..."

"So... where are they?"

Professor Schtickly scratched his head.  "How should I know?  Like I said, 
this is the first time this thing's actually worked!"

"What?  Gee, for a mad genius, you're not that much of a genius.  Or mad, 
for that matter?"

"I'm not MAD!" he shot back loudly, scaring Duplica off her feet.

"Okay, okay... just get Ashy-boy back, alright?"

======

Ash, Misty, Brock, and Pikachu were taken aback by what the stranger before 
them, whom they thought was Ash's rival, Gary Oak, had just said.

"You're joking... right?" Misty asked again, still not believing what she had 
just heard.

'Gary' rolled his eyes.  "Great, you're delusional... I'd better find your 
doctor right away!"

"I'm not delusional, you're insane!"

"Hold on a sec," Brock jumped in, stopping Misty from doing something she 
might regret.

"Yeah... why is Misty sick anyway?" queried a confused Ash.  "She doesn't 
look sick to me."

"I don't know who you fellows are... but this will be better explained once 
we get young Marina back in bed!"

"Marina!  My name's not Marina, it's Misty!"

'Gary' started to freak out, jumping about in a state of panic.  "Oh my... 
it's worse than I thought!  You think you're someone else now!"

"You're gonna wish you were someone else when I get through with you, Gary!" 
Misty exclaimed, marching angrily towards him.

"And I told you, my name isn't Gary... it's Griff!"

"Griff?" Ash scratched his head in thought as, behind him, Brock pulled on 
Misty's arms as she struggled to break free to give Griff a piece of her mind.

"Yes, my name's Griff.  I don't know who this Gary person is, but I'm not 
him."

"Hmmm... I thought as much."

"You thought as much?" Misty and Brock asked, surprised.

Ash nodded.  "I always know when Gary's around.  It's the sort of connection 
two people have when they're competitive amongst each other.  And despite how 
much this guy looks like Gary, I don't get that 'shared feeling' from him."

"Never realized you two were that close," noted Brock.

"IF YOU KNEW THIS GUY WASN'T GARY, THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SOMETHING BEFORE?" 
Misty screamed at Ash.

"Well," replied a partially frightened Ash, "it took me a minute to figure it 
out."

"Pika..." sighed Pikachu.

"Oh, I see now!" Griff cut in.  "So you just look like Marina, but you aren't 
really her!  Whew... I'm relieved."

"You better be, after mistaking me for someone else!" chided Misty.

"I'm sorry, I really am!  It's just... I'm so worried about her!  She's so 
young... and yet her life's about to end so tragically!"

"You said she had a doctor," remembered Brock, "he can't do anything for her?"

"He tried, but the problem is... this disease... it doesn't have a cure."

"It doesn't have a cure?" repeated Ash.

Griff shook his head in dismay.

"That's so sad," sniffled Misty, who was on the verge of tears.

"Now she's forced to bedridden for these last few weeks.  She doesn't have 
much energy to do anything except eat, sleep, and on occasion, talk."

"There must be something we can do..."

"I'm no doctor," Brock spoke up, "but maybe I should take a look at her."

"You really think you can help?"

"I could give it a try.  I mean... she can't possibly get any worse, right?"

Griff shrugged his shoulders.  "I suppose.  But... how are you going to 
examine her if your eyes aren't open?"

Brock was taken aback by the question.  "Wha?"

"That can't be comfortable, being in an extended state of squinting-ness."

"What are you talking about?  My eyes are always open!"

Misty intervened, pushing Brock out of the way in the process.

"Eh... I think it's time you led us to Marina.  After all, it's the least I 
can do for going off on you like I did."

"Oh, yes, right!"

======

A minute or two later, Griff had led the gang to Marina's house.  Guiding 
them over to a nearby window, they huddled around it to glance inside.

"I thought you were gonna let us see her!" Misty exclaimed.

"Well... this is the time of day when she takes a nap, and... she gets cranky 
when she doesn't get her quiet time every afternoon."

"Are you sure?" questioned Ash, pointing into the house.

The foursome (and Pikachu) peered inside and found that Marina was not 
asleep, but rather alert and sitting up in her bed, watching TV.  Instantly 
the gang picked up on the similarities between her and Misty.  Same hair 
color and style.  Similar scrawny limbs.  Even similar body types... from 
what they could tell with a blanket covering her from the waist down.

"You're right, Griff... she looks exactly like me!"

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say she'd pass for your twin sister!" 
deduced Brock.

"I don't get it!" Griff shouted.  "I know at this time she always takes her 
nap!  So why is she awake?"

"Something smells fishy here..." Misty thought to herself.

Suddenly, Marina turned towards the window and spotted Griff and the others 
staring at her.  Instantly, she reached for the remote, turned the TV off, 
and covered her head with her blanket, pretending as if she had been asleep 
the whole time.

"She's faking it!" Brock pointed out matter-of-factly.

"I thought you said she was very weak, Griff!" Misty yelled.  "That didn't 
look weak to me!"

"I'm stumped too," Griff scratched his head before reaching for the window.  
"I've got to find out what's up."

Griff slid the window up and open, which to Ash and the gang's surprise was 
unlocked, and then climbed inside.

"What are you doing?  You can't just walk into a girl's room just like that!"
Misty yelled at Griff.

"Why not?" Ash asked, climbing in after him.  "She's awake, after all."

"Does the word 'privacy' not mean anything to you, Ash Ketchum?!"

As Ash made his way in, Griff was already by Marina's bedside.

"Come on, Marina, I know you're awake!" he said, grabbing the blanket and 
preparing to pull it off.

Marina popped up, unhappy that she had been caught already.  "Why'd you have 
to go and stare at me like that, Griff?  And... who are your new friends?"

"I'm wondering why you're not sleeping, like the doctor prescribed for you.  
You know you're not going to get better if you don't get your rest!"

"You don't have to sugarcoat it!  I'm old enough to figure out that I don't 
have long to live."

"Look, Marina... we'll find you a cure somehow.  I promise!"

"Yeah, don't worry about it," reassured Ash, who was now standing beside 
Griff.  "We'll help you."

"And you are..."

"I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!" the trainer announced proudly.

"Pallet Town?" Marina scratched her head.  "Never heard of the place."

"Me neither," added Griff.  "No wonder I've never seen you guys before... 
you're not from around here, are you?"

"We're still trying to figure out how we actually got here to begin with," 
Brock answered, carrying Pikachu in his arms.

"This is Brock, and that's Pikachu, my best friend!"

"Pika pika!" Pikachu chirped, leaping from Brock's arms and into Ash's.

"Is that a Pikachu?" cried Marina.  "I haven't seen one of those in ages!"

Griff nodded in agreement.  "She's telling the truth.  Pokémon are rare 
around these parts.  About the only folks who have them around here are... 
'them.'"

"'Them?'" Ash and Brock repeated in unison.

"Yeah... but don't worry about them.  We haven't seen them drop by here in 
months.  I heard they all came down with some horrible disease themselves.  
Don't know if they're alright or not, but at least they're not bothering us 
anymore."

"I'll say..." Marina sighed with relief.

"Say, where's your female friend?  Misty, right?  Marina... you've got to see 
this."

"See what?" Marina asked, glancing at the window and seeing no one there.

"Hey... where'd Misty go, Brock?"

"Don't know... I thought she was following me into the room."

Ash walked back to the window and peered out of it.  When he didn't see 
Misty at all, he started to climb out.

"Ash?"

"I'd better go find her."

======

Misty had walked away from the house and was proceeding down the street, not 
completely sure of what was going on at all.  Her mind wandered off as she 
drew the attention of some of the locals... some for her resemblance to 
Marina, who they all knew... others for Misty's unorthodox, by their 
standards, outfit.

"I don't like this," she thought aloud.  "Not at all.  How can there be 
someone that looks just like me?  None of this makes any sense."

Suddenly, Misty felt the ground beneath her begin to tremble.  Glancing down 
at her feet, she saw some nearby pebbles dancing around as if they had a life 
of their own.  She then heard a strange noise approaching.  Several, in 
fact.  And not all that strange... but rather familiar.

"Is that what I think it is?" Misty asked herself aloud.  "And there sounds 
like there's more than one of them!"

Seeing what appeared to be a dust cloud being kicked up at the top of a 
nearby hill, Misty began running towards it.  As she did, she noticed the 
locals around here start freaking out and fleeing into their houses.

"They're back!" she heard one woman scream.

"I knew the calm was too good to be true!" shouted a man as he shuffled his 
two sons inside the nearest building.

"We're all doomed now," yelled a second man.

Misty came to a stop, amazed at the populace around her disappearing from 
sight.  Looking around, her eyes finally rested themselves on the top of the 
hill, where the dust cloud was getting bigger and bigger.  The noises she had 
been hearing from there were becoming louder by the second.  But by this 
point, she was finally able to identify what it was coming from.

"It's gotta be a Rapidash!  And there must be a group of them!"

Sure enough, Misty spotted the head of a Rapidash barreling through the dirt 
cloud.  Then two, four, and finally six.  But that wasn't all, as she spotted 
each of the half-dozen Pokémon being ridden by a human.

"They're Pokémon trainers?"

Instinctively, Misty pulled a Pokéball from her belt and snapped into a 
defensive stance.  She watched as the six Rapidash came to a stop at the top 
of the hill and the trainers glanced down on their prey from above.

The one in front smirked.  "Looks like we found our old stomping grounds, 
boys!  Let's go, Rapidash, giddy up!"

Pulling back on the reins, Rapidash responded by abruptly bolting down the 
hill, his fellow teammates following suit.  Misty stood her ground as the 
pack bared down towards her position.  As they did, she got a good look at 
the leader of the pack... and he a good look at her.

"Whoa there!" he yelled, pulling back on the reins just enough that his 
Rapidash came to a stop just a few feet in front of Misty.  As she raised her 
arms to shield herself from the dust being kicked up, she heard the other 
Rapidash's hoofs clattering around her.  When she looked up, the Rapidash had 
her boxed in, and all of their riders were peering down at her.

======

Speaking of being peered down upon...

"When am I going to get my friends back?" an annoyed Duplica asked.

"Ditto!" cried the amoeba on her shoulder.

Professor Schtickly replied as he went to work checking the circuits on the 
machine.  "Well, first we have to find out where they were transported.  
Then, I have to figure out how to get them back here.  It could take hours, 
days... weeks even!"

"I don't have weeks!  Misty's my ticket back to Cerulean City!  You'd better
get that thing fixed, and quick... or else!"

======

"Welly welly well..." one of them croaked.

"What's a babe like you doing in a place like this?" a second asked.

"We can take you to a place where you'd be appreciated," smiled a third.

Misty raised her Pokéball high for all of them to see.  The leader reached 
into his pocket and pulled out one of his own.

"No need to got hostile, young lady," he said.  "I didn't realize you were so 
financially endowed."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" questioned Misty apprehensively.

"Don't you know where you are?  You're in the mining town of Chiva!  All 
these lowlifes are dirt poor!  They can't afford to have a Pokémon Center 
here, much less can anyone spend money to adequately take care of a Pokémon!  
The fact that you actually are carrying one of those little creatures 
immediately screams out that you're prime for plucking!"

"So hand over all of your money and jewels," stated the first henchman, "and 
we'll leave you alone in peace."

"If not... well, we'd have to get all grabby and stuff," said the second.

"You wouldn't want that, now would you?" the fourth butted in.

"I swear, I don't have anything of value on me!" Misty admitted truthfully.

"I guess we'll have to snatch something off ya worth selling, huh?" the 
leader smirked.

"Hold it right there!" cried a voice from afar.

"Ash!" Misty shouted, instantly recognizing the voice.

The group turned down the street, where Ash and Pikachu were standing.

"You leave Misty alone right this instant!"

"Pikachu!" growled Ash's favorite Pokémon, with cheeks sparking in anger.

"Whoa... he's got himself a Pikachu!" stated the first.  "Those are extremely 
rare around here!  Most people in this part of the country can go fifty or 
sixty years without laying eyes upon one!"

"Forget the girl," the leader exclaimed, licking his lips.  "We just found 
ourselves a much more appetizing target."

They advanced on Ash, who looked ready for a fight.

"Get ready, Pikachu!"

"Pika!"

"Let's mow 'em down, boys!" the leader yelled.

All six Rapidash, with their trainers still along for the ride, charge at Ash 
and Pikachu.  But the duo didn't look intimidated in the least.

"Pikachu!  Use Thunderbolt!"

"CHUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

The lightning attack didn't injure the Rapidash all that much, but it spooked 
them enough that they lost their focus on where they were going.  Some of the 
riders fell off after their Rapidash tripped over their own hoofs, while 
others hung on as their Rapidash became temporarily uncontrollable, veering 
off-course from the intended target.

"What kind of Pikachu is that powerful?" queried one of the scared riders.

"Who cares?" the leader shot back.  "The fact that it's so strong it can 
confuse Rapidash this easily means it'll be worth a bundle when we sell it!"

The band of rogues and their Rapidash gathered themselves on the other side 
of Ash and Pikachu in preparation for another pass.

"I bet you can't do that twice, you brat!"

Once again, the Rapidash came charging at Ash and Pikachu.  The duo was ready 
to provide a hefty defense once again, but...

"Starmie, use Water Gun!"

"Ha!"

A steady stream of water blasted itself past Ash, over Pikachu's head, and 
right into the oncoming Rapidash charge.  The super speedy Pokémon were 
stopped dead in their tracks... in fact, the water was actually pushing them 
backwards, much to the rogues' chagrin!  Not that they could voice their 
disgust, as they were getting soaked as well.

"Just because I'm not worthy of being stolen by you guys anymore doesn't mean 
you can forget I'm here!" Misty exclaimed with an exuberant smile.

The team's leader opened his mouth, but that was unwise as Starmie was still 
pelting them with Water Gun.

"Darn blast these rich kids!" he managed to mutter.

"I guess they're all washed up," Misty joked as she moved alongside Ash.

======

Back at Marina's house...

"I'm getting worried about Ash," said a worried Brock.  "He should've found 
Misty by now... in such a foreign place to us, they shouldn't be out 
wandering aimlessly.  I'd better go find them."

Marina threw the covers off of her bed and hopped up.

"You can't go outside in your condition!" Griff exclaimed.

"Huh?" Marina looked down at her clothes, which consisted of a baby blue 
T-shirt and a pair of tan-colored, knee-length slacks.  "I'm decent!"

Brock twitched as if he was going to say something, but he held back.

"You don't want THAT to happen again, do you?"

"That's impossible!" objected the Misty look-alike.  "I'm past that stage 
already... no one else can be hurt by me!"

Griff sighed.  "Well... seeing as I can't convince you otherwise..."  He 
clenched his fist in determination.  "Let's go, with me as your escort!"

Marina smiled and nodded with joy.

"Alright then..." Brock said, feeling somewhat out of place in the scene 
as he led the trio out.

======

"Not so fast!  This ain't over yet!"

Now in a fit of rage, the riders' leader reached into his pocket and pulled 
out two Pokéballs.  He quickly tossed them to the ground.  Out of them came 
two Golem.

Misty blinked.  "You're not too bright, are you?"

"Don't act so smug!  You won't be so cheery when they bowl you over with 
their Rollout attack!  Let's go, go, Golem!"

"Golem!" the two rock-types cried as they curled up into balls and rolled at 
a high speed towards our heroes.

"Come on out, Squirtle!" Ash yelled, tossing a Pokéball out.

"Squirtle!"

"Ah..." Misty gasped in amazement.  "You've got the same idea I've got, huh?"

Ash smirked.  "Let's do it... Squirtle!"

"Starmie!"

The two then ordered an attack in unison.  "Water Gun, straight at the ground 
below!"

"Ha!"

"Squirtle!"

The two water-types followed their trainers' instructions, as their combined 
attacks managed to rapidly dig out a trench in front of them.  They then 
jumped back and watched as the two Golem rolled into the ditch and got stuck 
in it.

"What?"

Misty snickered.  "That's only half the fun!"

Desperate to escape from the hole in the ground, the two Golem increased 
their speed.  After a few seconds, their efforts succeeded... but in the 
process, their hind legs trip over the lip of the ditch, stopping their 
spinning and leaving them hanging in the air uncurled and vulnerable to 
attack.

"Starmie, Water Gun... this time at the two Golem!"

"You too, Squirtle!"

Starmie and Squirtle, firing at the Golem and soaking them instantly.  That 
left the door open for Pikachu's finishing move.

"Time to send them on their merry way!" shouted Ash.  "Pikachu, Thunder!"

"Pika...CHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

With the water acting as a conductor, the two Golem were fried very easily.  
They fell to Earth as hard as, well, rocks, being knocked out upon contact.

"No way!" the Rapidash riders howled in pain.

"Looks like you're out of Pokémon," counted Ash.

Behind the group, Brock, Griff, and Marina were running up to the scene.  As 
they did, the Rapidash trainers turned around and caught their approach.  But 
upon lying their eyes on Marina, they all gasped in shock and horror.

"It's her," they all cried, "she's the one!"

"Huh?" Ash and Misty asked simultaneously.

Marina gasped as well as she too gazed upon the faces of the town's 
intruders.  Noticing this, Griff immediately grabbed her arm and started 
pulling her away.

"They're after you, Marina!  They've come back for you!"

"Wha?" Brock wondered, confused.

"Get her!" the leader cried.  "We'll make her pay for what she's done!"

Two of the Rapidash sped past Brock with blinding speed, gaining hastily on 
the fleeing Griff and Marina.

"Not so fast... let's go Onix!" Brock yelled, throwing out a Pokéball.  "Use 
Bind!"

Onix popped out, and in before the Rapidash could react to the giant 
roadblock in their way, they and the riders were being squeezed by the rock 
snake.

"Now... use Rock Throw!"

Following his trainer's orders, Onix launched the two Rapidash and their 
trainers back towards the hills from which they came.  Seeing that they were 
outmatched by Ash and his friends, the gang leader called for a hasty retreat.

"We know when we're beat... let's high-tail it out of here!"

The remaining members of the gang boarded their Rapidash and sped out of 
town, leaving nothing but a dust trail behind.

"And don't come back now, ya hear!" Misty shouted with a Western twang.

"What are you now, American or somethin'?" deadpanned Ash as Brock came 
running up to the couple.

"We'd better find Griff and Marina and find out what's going on," he 
suggested.

Ash and Misty nodded in agreement.

"We don't know what's going on here, or how we got here in the first place, 
or how we'll get back home to begin with... but something tells me there's 
more to this than meets the eye."

======

Griff and Marina were panting heavily, hiding behind a nearby house as they 
caught their breath.  But they definitely were not happy with the situation 
that had developed.

"I recognized their leader," Marina said in a panic.  "That... that was 
him, wasn't it?"

Griff nodded.  "Yes, that was Anthony alright.  He must be back for revenge."

Marina raised her palms up in front of her face, and began to sob into them.

"It's all my fault... if they hadn't..."

"They couldn't have known about your condition at the time!  It's just a 
matter of circumstances beyond our control!"

"But because of me... because of me..."

"No... don't say that!"

"Because of me, I KILLED THEM!  THEY DIED BECAUSE OF ME!"

Griff gazed at Marina in stunned silence.  Even after all of this time, he 
was still refusing to believe the truth though he knew it was exactly that.

======

Flashback eight months ago, in a cave somewhere a few miles away from Chiva...

A shot of a wide-eyed and spooked Marina, who was paralyzed with fear, with 
blood trickling out of the left side of her mouth.  Around her were eight 
grown men, all dead and lying in pools of their own blood.  A lone ninth, 
with his back against the opposite wall, was also frozen with fright himself 
as he looked seemingly okay otherwise, was covering his mouth and nose with 
his two hands.

That ninth man... was the aforementioned Anthony.

======

Ash, Misty, Brock, and Pikachu search for Griff and Marina, meanwhile, was 
being slowed as the populace had poured out of their houses to thank them 
for saving the town from the Rapidash-riding hoodlums.

"Just who were those guys?" Brock thought to himself.

"Why were they so frightened of Marina?" wondered Misty.

"And most importantly... how the heck do we get back home?" Ash screamed... 
well, in his mind, at least...

======

Back on the Seafoam Islands, Duplica was brandishing a giant hammer that 
Ditto had transformed into, and was watching over Professor Schtickly as he 
worked to fix the transporter that had made Ash and the gang disappear...


******


End Session July
Storyline to be continued in Session August!


******


Author's Notes for 'Session: July':
Whew... that took way, WAY too long to finish.  The lag time between the 
start and finish of the sessions needs to come way down.

Before I begin, I'd like to welcome any new fans to my fanfics.  Or to 
those of you who have never read the 53-episode "Adventures Series."  Over 
the first few Sessions of this fic, there will be plenty of backtracking 
to events from the story that inspired this one, in order to fill in the 
holes as to what's happening and how our characters got there.

As many of you noticed, this series divulges from the anime.  In terms 
of where I'd fit this into the anime chronology (even though we're probably 
too far out now for it to make sense), we'd be somewhere early in the Johto 
Journeys or thereabouts.  There will be some trekking in the Johto region 
on and off, but it will have very little in common with the adventures 
that happened there... with a few exceptions.

For those who have followed "Adventures Series" from the beginning, if 
that series was stillgoing on, then here you are seeing parts of 
what-would-be-future episodes sprinkled here and there.  The main 'Ash and 
company' storyline focuses on Episodes 54 and the first half of 55, the 
back story on Cassie and Arius (with more to come later) of what would've 
been the third 'special,' "The Country Girl and the City Boy," and the rest 
would deal with Episode 65, which would've started the 10-part series 
finale.  That last portion is what a majority of this entire fanfic will 
be focused on.

Naturally, due to how many years it's been since these were all planned 
out and numerous developments in the anime series, it has led me to make 
several changes and diversions from the original storylines.  I won't be 
spending much time going over what was changed unless I think it's important 
bringing up... but the huge gap in time between the end of "Adventures 
Series" and now has forced me to update the plots slightly.

For those wondering the reason why the sessions will be named after months of 
the year... well, it's because all of the events in that 'session' take place 
during that month.  At this point, I'm not sure if each 'session' will last 
five chapters.  Some may go less, others may go more.  I may even lengthen 
certain chapters to keep the overall chapter count down.  I already have the 
entire fic, well, at least its main points, fleshed out in my mind.  So 
we'll just wing it from here and see what happens...

Speaking of months, this takes place the day after Episode 53 of "Adventures 
Series" (i.e. the last chapter of that fanfic).

Anyway, here's some individual notes on this first 'session' itself...

For those of you who didn't read "Adventures Series, Season 3," here's where 
I point out that most of the characters are just coming back from the Orange 
Islands, where the last story arc took place.  The arc consisted of a chase 
around the archipelago for a floppy desk that contained information about a 
top-secret Team Rocket experiment... codenamed Project CB.  The idea behind 
it is to gain the ability to cross-breed Pokémon traits.  That's especially 
designed to cross-breed even two different Pokémon species that normally do 
not breed.  (Just to note, my idea of this came before Gold and Silver came 
out, which introduced breeding to the game.  Even so, the storyline will not 
be adapting to those philosophies.)

Anyway, the disk ended up in the hands of a thief who was trying to sell it, 
even though she didn't know how to access the information on it or the danger 
said information posed to her and everyone's life.  A struggle commenced 
between Ash and the gang, Team Rocket, and the Pokémon Trainers' Association 
(more on them specifically in a moment) that ended in a stalemate thanks to 
someone calling the cops.  The disk was last seen in a laboratory on Valencia 
Island... until now, as noted back in 'July Chapter 2.'

Yes... in this reality, Professor Oak and Mrs. Ketchum got married.  That 
happened way back in "Adventures Series, Season 1."  Call me weird, but I 
support their shipping... eh, whatever they used to call their ship.  Man, I 
swear, there used to be so many types of romantic shipping back in the day 
for this show that I think people were making up ships just to make sure 
certain characters were covered for every single possibility and then some.

Yes, Pidgeo (Jane and Calamity's Pidgeot) can talk English... eh, human, just 
like Meowth (Jessie and James).  Hmmm, don't have an origin story of how he's 
able to... ooh, side story opportunity later down the road!  Gotta make a 
note of that...

The flashbacks during 'July Chapter 2' (Team Rocket Orange's segment) are of 
Pokémon Trainers' Association agents Cassie and Arius breaking into Team 
Rocket HQ to get the aforementioned floppy disk (this was where all of the 
'disk chase' madness began), and that happened in August, 11 months prior to 
this 'Session July.'  Team Rocket spent nearly a year searching for PTA's 
homebase, and finally found in this session (the events actually took place 
just prior to "Adventures Series, Season 3").

I bet you newbies are asking... what's the Pokémon Trainers' Association?  
Well, from what we know, they're a secret organization just like Team Rocket, 
whose mission is to do things that benefit mankind and Pokémon alike.  But 
they'll do anything to accomplish that goal... they don't always play by the 
rules, either.  They recruit both adults and tweens/teens alike, promising 
them that they'll help nourish their budding careers.  Cassie and Arius are 
two said recruits of recent memory, but thanks to certain events over their 
'tour of duty,' they haven't made many friends along the way.  It's gotten to 
the point where Cassie can no longer stand it and begs to quit... and she 
wants to bring her boyfriend, Arius, with her.

Anymore about the PTA at this point would be spoiling some future plot 
points, so we'll leave it at that for now.

Gary was also a part of the Orange Islands arc, and here he's traveling with 
two of his former cheerleaders.  Why only two?  And why 'former' 
cheerleaders?  Well, the story of how they broke up originally was regaled 
in an "Adventures Series, Season 2" mini-arc.  Unfortunately, the first two 
chapters of that four-episode mini-arc are no longer in my possession.  But 
the way the story basically goes is that the girls are tired of following 
Gary around, and thus, they fly the coop.  Finding out he's lonely (and that 
he needs the encouragement the girls' cheering gave him), he reunites the 
girls and tries to convince them to join him again.  Only two of the six 
accept his offer... Stephanie and Amber.  (Yes, they have names.  They are 
human beings, not things!)

Stephanie's seen by most of the other cheerleaders as the other reason why 
the squad split up... her one-sided affections for Gary.  With another chance 
to see if her love shares the same for her, Stephanie rejoined him.  Amber 
decided to tag along because she wanted to travel around and figure out what 
her true purpose in life is (don't we all, huh?).  Gary had the resources she 
needed for her journey to commence.  So thus, the story of them being with 
Ash's old rival.

I may try to recreate part of that mini-arc as a side story later on... if I 
can find my notes.

Oh... and when this was originally planned out, before May or the concept of 
Pokémon Contests came up in the anime in Hoenn, being a Coordinator was not 
going to be Amber's 'latest' fling here.  Too bad I don't remember what it 
was supposed to be...

Here's something I do remember about original plots... originally, Ash and 
the gang were to meet 'doubles' of each of them.  In this updated version, 
only Misty and Gary get the 'double' treatment.  Anthony does as well... he's 
based off the P-1 Tournament father way, way back in Episode 29 of the anime 
series... the one who Ash leaves Primeape with.  Ah, I remember crazy old 
Primeape...

Keep on the lookout for other 'doubles' in the 'August Session!'

******

'Session: August' Trailer:
Marina and Misty finally meet face-to-face... will the world implode on 
itself when that happens?  And what's with this so-called deadly disease that 
Marina has?  A better question is... who is it more deadly for, herself or 
those around her?  And later on, if our heroes manage to return to the 
Seafoam Islands, Ash'll get himself caught in an unbelievable free-for-all of 
a battle that you'll just have to see to believe!

Catch 'Session: August' and we promise to throw in some fanservice for free!