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

Now we're making progress!  We're 25 percent, roughly, of the way home!

In October, we tackle the organizations!  Team Rocket and the Pokémon 
Trainers' Association!  Yeah, I know I promised the latter one last 
month, but I assure you, it will be in this session!  We haven't seen 
much of Team Rocket since July... isn't that weird since this fanfic is 
supposed to be about this grandiose evil plot they concocting?  Anyway, 
lots of Rockety-goodness, including from Jessie, James, and Persian!  
Also, aren't you the least bit curious about how Cassie and Arius met, 
much less how they started dating?

Hope you don't mind the twerps missing-in-action, because you will be 
seeing very little of them over the next month!

Disclaimer:  The characters and places from the Pokémon anime and other 
Pokémon products all belong to Nintendo and 4Kids Enter... bonk... I mean 
Pokémon USA!  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: October (01.26.07)

******

The ultimate goal of every Pokémon trainer in the world is to become a 
Pokémon Master!  The simplest way of accomplishing that is to be the 
first to catch 'em all... all the Pokémon in the world!  Easier said then 
done, considering some Pokémon are rare, some are thought to be extinct, 
some to be legendary and unique, and yet others that haven't even been 
discovered yet!

So somebody figured... well, there must be some other way to determine 
who should be a Pokémon Master, right?  Well, the Pokémon League states 
that Masters are people who not only train themselves to be the very best, 
but their Pokémon are held to the exact same standard.  All while not 
only respecting each other, but utilizing that the key to success is for 
human and Pokémon to work hand-in-hand in order to achieve a common goal.

But with number of individual trainers growing exponentially every year, 
the Pokémon League decided that for the benefit of trainers of all ages 
and skill levels that the League be split up into two groups.  One group 
working towards the already-established Pokémon Master goal, while the 
younger adolescents compete for a similar-valued position themselves... 
the title of Pokémon Junior Master!

Previously on "The Year of Rocket's Revenge," the world's most talented 
trainers under the age of 18 competed to become the first-ever Pokémon 
Junior Master, a title established just prior to the tournament they 
were brought to.  In the famed Evergrande City, normally home to the 
annual Hoenn League Championship Tournament, the field had already been 
whittled down to 16 after a grueling, free-for-all preliminary round.  
Among that group of 16 was our hero, Ash Ketchum, who had been declared 
one the world's most promising young trainers.

But Ash wasn't alone, as he had to contend with his rival and old friend, 
Gary Oak.  There was also ex-Pokémon Trainers' Association member Cassie 
Banks.  And last but not least, there was Marco Pereira, a guy who seemed 
to have a grudge against our hero.  The four talented trainers made their 
way through the next two rounds, leaving only them to compete for the 
title.

The League decided to make it interesting by having the four finalists 
go at each other all at once.  And thus... after a long battle filled 
with twists, turns, and plenty of broken promises, Marco came out as the 
winner, much to Ash's chagrin.  As Marco claimed the title of Pokémon 
Junior Master, Ash was given a penny for his thoughts, as Cassie invited 
him to her house, in hopes of convincing him that she was trustworthy 
again.

Ash took her up on her offer... but all he got to do was meet her 
parents.  And learn that Cassie was in the Hoenn Region with her 
boyfriend, Arius.  So as Ash goes off to find her, we go and check in 
on another batch of characters whom some fans think are the actual 
'heroes' of our show...

******

The sound of a film projector could be heard starting up in the 
background.  Shortly thereafter, some fanfare music was heard as pictures 
started to appear on the screen.  Soon after came a booming male's voice...

"The following is a production of Team Rocket, Inc," 'the voice' started, 
before descending into a more grouchy tone.  "Anyone attempting to 
reproduce this tape for any reason will be subject to torture, will have 
their Pokémon taken from them, will be subject to injury by those employed 
by Team Rocket and their families, and anything else we can think of, no
matter how dirty it is."

Then, in the sweetest, high-pitched tone the voice could muster...

"Have a nice day!"

Following that, the film flickered for a few seconds before getting into 
the main feature.  Footage from a security camera then begins playing.  
In it were five scientists.  Three men, two women, all of varying ages.  
They were giving their own slide show in a conference room, each of them 
taking turns describing what was being shown.  The film appeared to have 
no audio from the room, however, as nothing could actually be heard from 
the scientists.

Only part of the lone table in the conference room was visible, so only 
the audience members closest to the projector could be seen at all.  It 
was unknown how many people were actually in the room total at the time.

Though the lack of audio and lack of focus for the video made it hard to 
discern what was going on, the voice of the eldest man, the leader of 
the group, began to describe the events in narrative style.

"Day One.  Me and my four fellow scientists presented our theory for an 
experiment that would combine two Pokémon into one to Team Rocket.  For 
our own protection, I will not identify myself, any of my fellow 
colleagues, or anyone else that was present at this presentation.

"It took a little convincing on my part to have Team Rocket provide the 
funds needed for the experimentation.  After all, this had never been 
attempted before.  But they agreed, having been intrigued by our theories, 
so they gave us the workspace, as well as two years to develop a 
breakthrough.  We couldn’t wait to begin.  Our experiment had the 
potential to bring about the next generation of Pokémon evolution."

The film flickered again, as if to signal that was the end of the 
recording.  Then, the film started up again, this time peering in on a 
laboratory, where the previously shown scientists were in the midst of 
working.  The two youngest scientists, one male, one female, were shown 
in particular, as they mixed some chemicals together.

At this point, the eldest scientist resumed his narration.

"Day Sixty-Three.  Two months after we had received funding for our 
project, we finally got the laboratory that we wanted.  It took awhile 
for Team Rocket to find an adequate facility for our experiment, but it 
was well worth the wait.  Today we are officially beginning our 
experimentation."

The camera panned around to other scientists, one at a time, for a few 
seconds each.  Narration continues as the camera ended eventually coming 
back to the two youngsters from the film's start.

"We had calculated the possible methods for carrying out our 
experimentation.  We have worked out all of the possible combinations, 
and then narrowed them down to a list of those which could be feasible at 
this point in time.  We are looking for the perfect combination of 
chemicals that would allow two Pokémon to combine their DNA."

After the male added a drop of a liquid to the beaker, it blew up in 
their faces.  The two now had black soot all over their faces and their 
upper body.

"Of course, that part wasn’t as easy.  Then again, science never is."

The screen went blurry again before the screen returned to the laboratory.  
The scientists were now further along in their experiment.  The group was 
standing by a weird looking machine that resembled the one used by 
trainers to trade Pokémon.  This one, though, was a bit bigger, and it 
held a test tube filled with red liquid.  The tube was connected to the 
machine, which in turn was connected to a computer that was recording the 
experiment.

"Day Ninety-Nine," continued the head scientist.  "With the help of some 
of Team Rocket’s best, we finally have created the machine that will carry 
out the task of merging the DNA of two Pokémon into one.  The red liquid 
in the test tube is hydrodextrosesulfate, a new compound we discovered 
earlier this week.  In simulated tests, we deemed its interaction in the 
process sufficient enough to test on live subjects.  Today, we will 
perform our first live subject test!"

The tape skipped over a few minutes.  When it resumed, the young male 
scientist was shown holding two small cages in his hands.  One contained 
a wild Rattata, and the other a wild Pidgey.  He was on his way over to 
where the machine was.

"Rattata and Pidgey were readily available, we decided that we should use 
them for our early tests, knowing that we could easily obtain another if 
one was injured during our experiments."

The two cages were placed in the device, one under each tube.  The two 
wild Pokémon struggled to escape their cages, looking for freedom, but 
unaware about the tragic fate they were about to share.

"This is Test Number Zero-Zero-One.  We are attempting to merge the DNA of 
a Rattata and a Pidgey.  It is now 15:54, and we are starting the 
experiment.  

The other scientists began to run all over the lab, checking data as they 
monitored the readings from the machines.

"All is well.  The machine has started up successfully, and the two 
Pokémon have begun to show signs of struggling.  It looks like they will 
merge."

Suddenly, both wild Pokémon fell into unconsciousness.  Then, just as 
quickly, both began to convulse very rapidly.  The five scientists were 
running all over the room in a panic, attempting to stop the test after 
realizing that something was wrong.  The young female had run over a 
defibrillator from the other side of the room, in case it was needed.  The 
two Pokémon stopped moving, and she, obviously noticing that something had 
gone wrong, began to attempt to save the Pokémon.  She went to the Pidgey 
first, which was the closest to her, and sent several thousand volts of 
electricity into his heart.  Several times.  After which, seeing that 
their Pidgey was already gone, attempted to revive the Rattata.  She 
repeated the process, but the Rattata by that time had also lost the will 
to live.

"Test Number Zero-Zero-One... has failed," the elder said with a heavy 
sigh.  "We have lost both test subjects.  Cause of death was the exhaustion 
of both Pokémon’s hearts.  Test was stopped at 15:57.  Reason why the 
experiment was unsuccessful is unknown.  Will try to compile data to 
attempt to discover the reason for failure."

He then sighed again before finishing the report.

"Looks like we have a long way to go."

The film then went down again, this time for a whole minute.  When a 
clear picture had finally been restored, an unknown amount of time had 
passed since that first experiment.  The machine was set up to run its 
test for the day.  Two new Pokémon were already in position to use as 
the day's test subjects: a Dugtrio and a Spearow.

As the four other scientists were engaging in final test preparations, 
the eldest was guiding in an observer.  Dressed in his trademark orange 
suit, it was Giovanni, the gym leader of Viridian City.  As well as the 
great leader of Team Rocket.

This time, audio of the scene was available, and the voices of the lead 
scientist and of Giovanni could be heard clearly on it.

"You better not be wasting my time, Dr. Kabaru!" Giovanni said aloud.  
"If you are... this'll be the last time for all of you!"

"I assure you... this time, we have it!" affirmed the head scientist.

Dr. Kabaru then turned his associates and signaled for them to begin 
the boot process for the machine.

"Test Number Two-Five-Two.  Our objective: to merge the DNA of a Dugtrio 
and a Spearow together in order to produce an offspring that has not 
only the best physical characteristics of each subject, but also has 
a sampling of their best powers!  It is currently 13:09, and we starting 
now!"

The machine roared to life as the others ran to and from, keeping an 
observation on all of the readings coming out in order to ensure a 
smooth, successful test.  The two subjects began to glow a bright yellow, 
which slowly started to engulf them, and then the room.  Some of the 
scientists looked as if they were going to suggest something was wrong, 
but Dr. Kabaru hastily eased their fears.

"Whatever happens, we will see this test through the end!  This either 
works... or we're out of work!"

With the light to bright to bear, all of the scientists, as well as 
Giovanni were forced to raise their arms in order to shield their eyes 
from the blinding light.  It proved to be useless, though, as a few 
sparks of electricity emanated from the machine before, after one last 
huge burst of light energy, the room became completely encapsulated.  As 
a result, everyone in the room became temporarily blinded, even after 
the light had disappeared and the machine had automatically shut down.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" screamed Giovanni.  "I'LL HAVE ALL OF 
YOUR HEADS!"

All of the sudden, Dr. Kabaru's vision began slowly returning to him.  
The same with Giovanni and the rest of the scientists.  As it did, they 
noticed an unfamiliar Pokémon standing before them.

"What the..."

"Could it be?" wondered Dr. Kabaru, before grinning with glee.  "Yes, yes, 
it is, IT IS!"

The other scientists elicited similar reactions when they spotted the 
creature.  Giovanni gasped, as before him stood a Pokémon that was 
half-Dugtrio, half-Spearow!  Well, not exactly, as it had the body, feet, 
and beak of a Spearow, but it had the head of a Dugtrio!

"This... this is the yield of all of your experiments?"

The newly created Pokémon looked at its 'parents,' who didn't respond 
since they had fallen unconscious thanks to that exhausting experiment.  
It then glanced at all of the humans around the room curiously.

"You're telling me this little thing is the first step towards world 
domination?  You can't be serious!"

"I know it doesn't look all that impressive, sir, but give us time!  
Eventually, we'll be able to crossbreed some of the rarest and most 
powerful Pokémon in the world!"

Giovanni looked unimpressed by Dr. Kabaru's claim, but he didn't exactly 
express his verbal distaste for it.  Not yet anyway, but that was enough 
to convince the head scientist that he had been given a chance to be a 
man of his words.

"Okay, prep this... Speartrio for a physical exam!  Once we figure out 
how this things ticks, we'll be able to create even more of them!"

The four scientists moved in to contain the new Pokémon.  But Speartrio 
realized what was going on, and immediately tried to escape.  First, 
using its bird-like claws, it tried to dig a hole into the tiled floor 
below.  Small pieces of tile and dirt started flying out from the area, 
as the scientists struggled to get close enough to reach it.

Giovanni and Dr. Kabaru were both amazed and angry at this development, 
but neither said anything as Speartrio continued his escape attempt.
Through all of the flying debris, one of the young scientists noticed 
that Speartrio had only broken a couple of inches of flooring so far.  
Realizing that they still had a chance to stop it from escaping, he made 
a leap forward, bursting through in an attempt to knock it off its feet.  
The other scientists watched the act of their fellow colleague, then 
quickly followed without hesitation.  The combined strength and weight 
of the four wasn't enough to knock Speartrio off its feet.  It was 
enough, though, to stop it from digging.

Speartrio turned its attention to the scientists clinging on him and 
started trying to peck away at them, trying to get them off.  As painful 
as it was for the researches to be stabbed by one of the beaks every few 
seconds, their grip on the Pokémon held fast.  Seeing that wasn't working, 
Speartrio then did something unexpected.

It tried to fly.

Wrestling its wings from the grip of the scientists, it started flapping 
them as hard as it could.  The sheer gust of wind being produced proved 
to be enough to blow the foursome off, freeing Speartrio from its 
captivity.  Speartrio then slowly began to lift itself off from the 
ground.  Dr. Kabaru and Giovanni were still amazed by the powers of this 
new Pokémon, but were still just as upset because it was trying to escape.

"Capture that thing!" the Team Rocket leader yelled.

"No need... it's not going anywhere," reassured Dr. Kabaru, pointing at 
Speartrio.

Sure enough, Speartrio had only lifted itself about a foot off the ground.  
It was panting heavily as it tried to force itself higher, but the pained 
look on his face showed that it was already exhausted.  Seconds later, 
Speartrio stopped flapping its wings, and belly flopped onto the floor, 
causing itself a great injury in the progress.  The scientists quickly 
ran over.  First to restrain it, then to check on its condition.

"Check its vital signs!" the doctor ordered.  "We must make sure, above 
anything else, that this Pokémon does not die!"

He then ran over to help his crew out with the physical examination.  
Giovanni walked over, now apparently pleased with what little he had 
seen.

"I must admit, you did better than expected."

"So, you're pleased with our work?" Dr. Kabaru inquired.

"Not exactly... but you've got my attention.  Provided that you can train 
this new Pokémon to be worthy of Team Rocket's top field agents... I'll 
be sure to get all the funding you need to consider your experimentation!"

"Thank you, sir!"

"I'll leave you all to take care of the details.  Keep me informed!"

Giovanni then walked out, rubbing his hands together greedily as the 
scientists continued their examination of Speartrio.

At the point, the film skipped forward once again.  Upon coming out of 
it, a bunch of familiar faces are seen running out of the same conference 
room as before.  Those faces happen to belong to Jessie, James, Persian, 
Cassidy, Butch, Raticate, Jane, Calamity, and Pidgeo.  The nine had been 
dispatched to take care of a certain twerp that was about to arrive at the 
gym in order to earn an Earth Badge.

Once the nine were gone, Giovanni, who was sitting at the head of the 
table, greeted Dr. Kabaru, who entered the room with a golden Pokéball in 
hand.

"I assume it's ready?"

Dr. Kabaru nodded.  "Yes, sir.  But are you sure you want to field test 
it now?  You're sending three teams down there, and of course, there was 
the whole Mewtwo debacle a few months ago..."

"I'm sure," Giovanni growled, grabbing the Pokéball and walking out.

For one last time, the tape broke into static.  The intermission was 
brief, though, as it was quickly restored.  It's about an hour later, as 
Giovanni was standing inside the gym's main chamber.  On the opposite 
side of the room was Misty and Golduck, along with Ash and the gang 
cheering her on in the background.

"Well, Misty Waterflower," Giovanni stated aloud, "it seems that you've 
gotten me down to my last Pokémon."

He took out the golden Pokéball from his suit pocket.  The twerps tried 
to catch a glimpse of what Giovanni had dubbed as his special Pokémon.

"Somehow, I knew that it would come down to this.  But now, you'll get
to feel the ultimate wrath of Team Rocket!  Pokéball, go!"

Speartrio emerged from the Pokéball, to the surprise of Ash and the gang, 
who had no idea what to make of it.

"Allow me to introduce the first in my line of crossbred Pokémon," he 
laughed manically.  "Meet Speartrio!  Now... allow me to show you his 
awesome power!"

Speartrio then began engaging in a myriad of tactics, catching Misty's 
Golduck off-guard by using Seismic Toss and sending him hurtling towards 
the ground.  Speartrio tried to follow that up with Drill Peck, but 
Golduck dodged.  Instead of running splat into the arena floor, though, 
Speartrio instead just dug through it!

Golduck tried to judge where Speartrio would come back up, but it was no 
use, as the water Pokémon was hit from directly below.  Misty, having 
caught onto the fact that Speartrio had the type disadvantages of the 
two Pokémon she believed it was created from, tried casting Hydro Pump 
and Confusion on it.  But even though those attacks hit the mark...

"What?" Misty gasped in shock.  "Golduck put everything into that shot!"

"It must be some kind of super Pokémon!" Brock exclaimed.

Giovanni smiled as Speartrio gained control of the match and started 
pounding Golduck heavily.  Though it seemed hopeless, it was time for Ash 
and the gang to pull out an unexpected surprise of their own.  And by 
unexpected, that meant a surprise not even they were aware of.

"What is this?" Giovanni asked, distraught.  "Call back your Pokémon!"

Pikachu and Golduck suddenly perked up and began to glare at their 
trainers.  Vulpix, meanwhile, somehow escaped from her Pokéball and did 
the same thing for Brock.

"Pikachu, what are you doing?"

"Vulpix, why are you out here?"

"Golduck, why are you staring at me?"

Ash, Misty, and Brock suddenly fainted on the spot.  Then, out of the 
blue, Pikachu, Golduck, and Vulpix run towards Speartrio and proceed to 
give the crossbred Pokémon a beat down.

"How can this be?" the Team Rocket head wondered out loud.

The superpowered trio began to glow different colors: Pikachu black, 
Golduck a cerulean blue, and Vulpix brown.  They then performed a 
combination triple threat attack.

"Hydro-thunder flame blast attack!" the trio shouted in unison.

A beam made out of electricity, water, and fire launched from the three 
Pokémon, and as a result, they easily knock Speartrio out.  The beam 
doesn't stop there, though, as it hit the far wall and started to tear 
the building apart.  Pikachu, Golduck, and Vulpix then promptly fainted, 
while simultaneously their trainers awoke from their slumber.

"What happened?" Ash said, rubbing his aching head.

"I feel like I've just came out of a coma!" Misty cried.

"Me too," agreed Brock.

Noticing their fainted Pokémon beside them, the twerps picked them up 
and then ran out of the building with their compatriots.  Giovanni had 
already left the room, heading for the roof, which had a heliport that 
he safely made an escape from.

======

The movie had come to an end, but the house lights had yet to come up.  
Suddenly, smoke began to fill the area in front of the projection screen, 
and a round of coughs emanated from those who happened to be sitting in 
that area.  Then, the Team Rocket theme song began to play as two 
voices... one male, one female... boomed across the room.

"Prepare for trouble!" shouted the female.

"And make it double!" exclaimed the male.

"To infect the world with devastation!"

"To blight all people in every nation!"

"To denounce the goodness of truth and love!"

"To extend our wrath to the stars above!"

At that moment, the duo was heard running towards the front of the room, 
under the cover of the smoke that had now made it impossible to see 
anything.  Yet they managed to make it to their spots in front of the 
projector screen right on time, posing for their introductions.

"Cassidy!"

"And Butch!"

"We're Team Rocket circling Earth all day and night!"

"Surrender to us now or you will surely lose the fight!"

"That's right!"

By the end of the motto, a fan had been turned out to help dissipate 
the smoke while an odd person had managed to find the light switch and 
flick it on.

The setting was revealed, as a classroom full of young and eager Team 
Rocket grunts applauded with glee, impressed by the entrance of the 
experienced Rockets.

"My, my, don't we have a lively bunch," Cassidy remarked.

"We'll see how lively you are when I say this..." Butch threatened.  
"Out of the fifty of you in this classroom, only one male and one female 
will pass this class!"

That sentence killed the classroom's enthusiasm in a hurry, as it 
instantly became so quiet in the room that you could hear a pin drop.

"As my partner here stated, only two of you will leave this class at the 
end of the week as full-fledged Team Rocket secret operatives like me 
and Butch here."

"Luckily, most of you will just go back to being Grunts if you don't 
get the position.  However, if you really screw up... well, being kicked 
out of Team Rocket is the best you can hope for."

Cassidy quickly gazed upon the students and then smirked evilly.

"Okay... everyone in the room who is NOT wearing pants, please stand up!"

"Butch says... everyone in the room who believes they have what it takes 
to be a Team Rocket secret operative, please stand up!"

After some hesitation, a good majority of the room rose to their feet.  
Cassidy and Butch nodded interestingly as they made a count of the room.

"That worked better than I thought it would," smiled Cassidy.

"I agree," concurred Butch.  "Okay... those of you who are standing right 
now?  Congratulations... you've just flunked out of this class!"

Cassidy then produced a rocket launcher out of nowhere and pointed it at 
the students.

"But why?" one of the students asked.

"Because the first test was a game called 'Butch says.'  You were only 
supposed to follow whatever he said, not me."

"But he told us everyone who believes he's an operative..." a second 
started to cry.

"I know what I said!" Butch exclaimed.  "But in our opinion, absolutely 
NO ONE in this room has what it takes to be a secret operative!"

"Wha?"

"Regardless of how much success you've had as a Grunt prior to this class, 
that only got you in."

"The records are stricken clean!  As far as we're concerned, no one is 
worthy until they prove it so before our eyes!"

"Therefore," Cassidy said as she released the safety lock on the rocket 
launcher.  "Those of you who are standing have ten seconds to exit the 
room... if you value your jobs or your lives!"

In a panic, all of the flunkies scrambled to the room's one exit, rushing 
to get out the door.  Miraculously, all of them somehow made it through 
just as the ten seconds expired... leaving Cassidy without anyone to 
shoot at.

"Like I said, very lively."

"I'll say, Cass.  The last time we ran this class, you ended up shooting 
about three or four of those rockets."

"Still..."

Out of the fifty that had started, only eight were left.  Five men and 
three women, all of them either in their teens or 20s.

"There's a gender imbalance in here that needs correcting."

Cassidy randomly pointed the launcher at one of the males remaining in the 
room.  The guy started to shiver furiously in fear.

"Fear isn't listed in the Team Rocket dictionary!  So why are you shaking 
in your boots, you?"

"I only joined this class to get a pay raise," he squealed as he ran for 
the door.

"You want a raise?  I'll give you a raise!"

Cassidy fired one rocket, which hit the ground only a few feet behind the 
guy.  The resulting explosion sent him and pieces of doorway and desks 
flying all over and out of the room.  The other students ran for cover to 
avoid getting hit by any debris.

"Rule number one of a Team Rocket operative!" Cassidy shouted as the 
smoke started to clear.  "You must not be afraid of anything!  You'll take 
many risks on your missions across the globe, and you must be willing to 
accept all of the consequences, good or bad!  Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, ma'am!" the seven remaining students yelled from various parts of 
the now disheveled room.

"Good," Butch snickered.  "You're finally starting to get it.  Now, if 
you're still interested in being an operative... Butch says meet Cassidy 
and I at the Green Course in fifteen minutes!"

"Anyone who doesn't show up on time... well, you don't want to know what 
will happen to anyone who doesn't show up on time."

"Isn't the Green Course a mile and a quarter away, in the woods?" somebody 
remarked.

"Then I suggest you better get moving!" the two operatives shouted in 
tandem.

Sounds of furniture being moved, dust kicked up, and feet having shuffled 
over all of the excess debris, were heard as the remaining students made 
their way out.

======

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Team Rocket compound, Giovanni was sitting as 
his desk in his office, rubbing his aching head with his thumb and pinky 
fingers.

"That's it," he mumbled.  "Effective with the next training class, all 
operative orientations will be held outside!"

Suddenly, Giovanni heard a buzzing on the intercom system.  A red light 
flashed on it, indicating someone outside was asking for access into the 
room.

"Yes?" he growled, pressing a button on the speaker.

"Team Rocket's Orange Division, reporting for assignment!" came two 
voices.

"Very well.  Enter!"

Giovanni folded his hands over his lap as the two of his best operatives 
opened the doors to his chamber and walked in.  It was Jane and Calamity, 
whom Giovanni saw to personally that they were broken out of jail after 
the Orange Island incident.

"Ah, good to see you all again.  I take it you're up for another mission 
even after all of that field testing with the new Pokémon?"

"We're always ready for action!" Jane stated.

"We'll take on any mission for you!" added Calamity.

"Good.  There's one outstanding job that many of our other top agents 
have had trouble completing."

Calamity snickered.  "Those bumbling oafs... you should've left the job 
to two real operatives.  Namely, Jane and I!"

"Funny you mention bumbling oafs... because two of them are standing 
right in front of ME!"

"What?" Jane objected.  "We've never failed a mission!  Ever!"

"Don't patronize me!  Even as my top operatives, any failure is one too 
many!  Especially this failure!"

Giovanni opened a desk drawer, pulled out a manila folder, and threw it 
at Jane.  It promptly struck her in the face, something she would've had 
enough sense to avoid if the boss hadn't just corrected and flustered her.

Jane opened the folder and gasped in shock.  Calamity peered over to see 
what was in it... and he too elicited a similar reaction.

"It's Jessie!" began Jane.

"And James!" finished Calamity.

"Do you two remember the original reason why you were sent to the Orange 
Islands?"

Jane gasped as she recalled.  "It was... an order of execution!"

"We were supposed to take them out!"

"Which you should've done while behind bars!  You two had the best 
opportunity to eliminate those worthless nitwits!"

"But, sir... if it was so important to see them get the axe, why didn't 
you wait until we had completed the job in prison before you broke us 
out?"

"To put it bluntly, it had fallen on my list of priorities.  Still, I 
was hoping that it would be a job some of our lower-ranked operatives 
could handle easily."

"Really?"

======

In the mess hall, a black-haired woman sneered as she walked by a 
tray full of food and swapped the carton of orange juice on it for 
another, with the new one having been tainted with poison.  Seconds 
later, Jessie sat down in front of the tray, having been away to talk 
to someone.  James and Persian sat on either side of her, with James 
carrying both of their trays.

"Gimme that!" said a bulky blonde-haired woman, who reached in and 
swiped the carton without warning.

"Give me that back!" Jessie yelled, jumping out of her seat.

"Sit down, you connies!" shouted one of the guards.

"It's in my hands, sweetie," she gawked as she opened it and prepared 
to drink it.  "By law, it's now my property... and now in my gut!"

She downed the whole carton in about five seconds, to Jessie's 
amazement.  Five seconds later, the woman had fainted and the guards 
were rushing over to attend to her condition.

"Dat's it," Persian sighed as he took his cartoon of juice off his 
tray and tossed it under the table.  "I'm off da juice."

======

Jessie was busy brushing her hair, Persian licked at his lower paws, 
each going about their own business while sitting in their cell.  James 
was just outside, sighing with despair as he glanced around the cell 
block's four levels.  While most were staying in their cells, there 
were some using the advantage of the 'open time' to stretch and mingle.  
Not carefreely, of course, with guards in and out of the room watching 
every square inch of the place.

Suddenly, one of the guards walking on James' floor made his way over 
towards him.  Then, without warning, he tried to push James over the 
railing from behind, with two stories from where they were to the 
concrete floor below.

"I swear the rumors aren't true!  I don't swing that way!" wailed 
James, misinterpreting the situation.

Jessie and Persian looked up and were about to jump in to help their 
teammate.  But some of their 'neighbors' beat them to it.

"You'd better have a good reason for jumping on my man here!" one 
shouted at the officer.

"Yeah!" complained another.  "No punishment without provocation!"

"Hey hey, what's going on here?" asked one of the guards as he and 
two others had come over to see what the hubbub was all about.

The officer's cap came off to reveal his face... and by the look on 
the questioning guard's face, he didn't look familiar.

"Who are you?"

"First day here, I swear!"

"Really?  Well, I'm the head guardsman, and I don't remember ever 
interviewing you for a position, bub."

"Uh... gotta go..." the officer uttered before turning tail.

"Hey!  Come back here!" he said, running after the guy, the other 
two guards following.  "Impersonating an officer is against the 
law!"

Jessie, Persian, and their 'neighbors' joined James' side and watched 
as the fake officer ran through the block before other guards got into 
the action and tackled the guy.

"Man, what a dolt!" commented Persian.

======

Two Rocket Grunts snickered as they put a batch of lit dynamite beside 
a jail side window.  Upon explosion, the wall crumbled around it, and 
the prison's alarm system began to sound off.

"Okay, let's kill these two before..."

The grunt didn't even get to finish his sentence before he was run 
over by a heavy muscled man and a really short man.

"We're free, Mugsy!" exclaimed the muscled on.

"Shaddup and runs for youse life!" shouted the short one.

"That wasn't their cell..." moaned one Grunt as he got up.

"And we're all out of dynamite," noted the other.

Suddenly, a spotlight from a nearby guard's tower shined upon them in 
the open courtyard.

"They're over there!" the duo heard a guard yell.

"We'd better book before we're booked!" the first Grunt shouted as 
the two started running for their lives.

"Shut up out there!" Persian was seen yelling from his window, two 
floors up and several cells down.  "I'm catnappin', here!"

======

"Unfortunately, that proved not to be the case.  Things got even more 
complicated a few weeks ago when they somehow managed to break out!"

"Break out?" Jane gasped.

"But that was a Maximum Security Prison!" Calamity said aloud.  "No way 
those bumbling fools..."

"How they got out is not our concern!" Giovanni cut in.  "What IS our 
concern is that they are captured before they start blabbing about Team 
Rocket to the media!"

"You mean they haven't yet?"

"What's taking them so long?"

"My guess is that they're in hiding.  They're probably afraid to go to 
the police... they expect us to be waiting for them there.  Or be sent 
back to prison."

"So... where are they hiding?"

"And are they still on the Orange Islands?"

"We really don't know.  About five days ago, one of our Grunts reported 
seeing them near the Trovitopolis ferry docks.  He was, unfortunately, 
unable to keep up with them.  But since then, I've sent a few teams down 
there to observe any and all modes of transport out of the city."

"What do you need us for then?  To flush them out?"

"Pretty beneath our standards, you know?"

"I wouldn't be jabbering on about standards when it was your job to get 
rid of them in the first place!" scolded Giovanni.  "And it's going to be 
your job to finish it!"

"Very well then, sir!"

"Sorry for questioning you, sir!"

"Good.  Now, you'll be in disguise, since you two are also wanted for 
jailbreak like Jessie and James!  Take care not to get caught by Officer 
Jenny... because I swear, if you do... you won't be the ones carrying out 
the order of execution!  You'll be the ones it'll be carried out on!"

"Yes, sir!" the two saluted, knowing their jobs and their lives were now 
riding on this mission.

======

The next afternoon, Jane and Calamity arrived in Trovitopolis by plane.  
To protect their identities, the two were in disguise.  Jane was wearing 
a straw hat, which was covering her noticeably shorter pink hair, and an 
orange sundress.  Calamity had opted for dying his hair a bleachy yellow 
and for contact lenses instead of glasses, while he sported a matching 
T-shirt and shorts decorated with a pine tree print.

"I can't believe you're wearing that," Jane commented.  "And that you 
guys convinced me to get my beautiful hair cut!"

"Well, you didn't want to dye it!" Calamity exclaimed.  "It was our only 
other option!"

======

After successfully traversing through the airport, Jane and Calamity made 
their way to the local Team Rocket headquarters.  Which, of course, was 
hidden underground, out of sight from the local law enforcement.  Once 
there, they got a quick briefing from the man in charge.

"Once again, it is an honor to have Team Rocket's best to assist us in 
eliminating some rogue operatives," the leader told them.

"The one thing I wanna know is..." Calamity began, holding up two 'Wanted' 
posters: one of him and Jane, the other of Jessie and James.  "How come 
the reward for their capture is so much more than ours?"

Jane gazed at the posters and nodded in agreement.  The reward for their 
capture was 300,000P.  The one for Jessie and James was 5,000,000P.

"What the heck did those losers do that made them a more desirable catch?"

"Let's just say... they've been busy since they broke out."

"Probably a lot of the basics," Jane said, counting off the possibilities.  
"Stealing money, food, and clothes.  Walking out on restaurant and hotel 
bills.  Trespassing on private property.  Stuff like that."

The Orange Island leader nodded in agreement.  "They're doing everything 
they need to just to survive."

"And you guys still haven't caught them despite how they're haphazardly 
keeping themselves in the open?" Calamity asked in dismay.  "Pathetic!"

"I don't think any one of us expected them to be such great escape 
artists!  I mean, every time we think we had them cornered, they somehow 
got away from us!"

"Ha!" Jane laughed.  "Well, that stops here and now!  We're going to 
follow their trail and put an end to these slackers once and for all!"

"Then we really will be worthy of the praise the boss showers upon us!" 
added Calamity haughtily.

======

And so, the search began with a bit of investigating and interrogating.  
Jane and Calamity's first stop, as directed to them by the Orange Islands 
operations leader... the Shore Spot, a restaurant inside the Starmie Inn, 
one of the swankiest hotels in the archipelago.

"So, they were here three nights ago?" Jane inquired with the waitress, 
as she took a bite out of the filet mignon before her.

"Yes," she nodded, then sighing with disappointment.  "I got reprimanded 
for that.  I'm even lucky I still have a job here."

"What exactly did they do?" wondered Calamity, who was nibbling at a 
fish stick.

"Well..." she stuttered, as she forced herself to remember the horrible 
incident...

======

Flashback to three nights ago, where Jessie, James, and Persian were 
stuffing their faces with plate after plate of oysters, fried fish, and 
other seafood delicacies.  The dishes piled up on their table as all of 
the other customers, as well as the staff, just gaped in awe at how much 
food the trio was downing.  But most surprised of all was the waitress, 
who seemed to be running in and out of the kitchen with a new tray full 
of hot food every few minutes.

"They were like vacuum cleaners!" she exclaimed in narration.  "I didn't 
dare fathom where all of it was going to... the three of them seemed to 
be bottomless pits!"

"I've never... had so... much delicious... food!" Jessie exclaimed 
between bites.

"Simply irresistible!" James cried with tears as he gulped down the 
leftover juice from the shell pile of consumed oysters.

"We're eating like kings and queens!" Persian said with a smile as he 
scarfed down half a dozen butterfly shrimp in one gulp.

"When my supervisor learned what was going on, she demanded that I make 
sure they had enough money to pay for the meal.  Which, apparently, I 
was supposed to inquire about when I first took their order.  For some 
reason, that never occurred to me when their first order was the entire 
left side of the menu."

"Bright, aren't we?" quipped Jane and Calamity sarcastically.

"It just slipped my mind, okay?"

The waitress approached the table, empty-handed for the first time since 
she had first welcomed them, and gulped as she noticed all of the plates 
were completely empty.  Again.  For the seventh time in an hour.

"Our favorite cute little waitress is back!" Jessie said with a smile.

"But she's empty-handed!" Persian shouted, a bit upset with nothing in 
front of him to stuff his mouth with.

"That's okay," James said in a forgiving tone.  "After all, we shouldn't 
be making pigs of ourselves.  And we have a budget to keep.  That, and 
I'm sure Aoi here's a little tired after everything we've put on her."

"Heh heh," Aoi giggled nervously.  "I guess... that will finally be it 
then?"

"I guess so," Jessie sighed.  "James is right... after all, I'll never 
keep my gorgeous figure if I gorge anymore tonight."

"Easy for you to say!" Persian exclaimed.  "I'm still famished!"

"Quiet, you!" Jessie and James stated angrily, covering his mouth.

"Well then," Aoi said, sighing with relief herself.  "I'll just go total 
up your bill and bring it right back so you can all get outta here."

"Thank you, dearie!" winked James.  "You've been a sweetheart!"

"Th-th-thank you," Aoi replied in response, blushing as she bowed once, 
then ran to the register.

As soon as she had turned her back, she heard the sound of chairs 
screeching and being dropped on the floor.  Turning around, she found 
her jaw had fallen all the way to the ground as the trio had jumped 
through the glass window facing the street and ran off.  Shouts and 
screams over what had happened rang through the restaurant as the 
supervisor came out to see what all the hubbub was about.

After seeing that the table Jessie, James, and Persian had been eating 
at was devoid of anyone to pay the bill, she then angrily turned her 
attention to the shocked and frightened Aoi, who was still in disbelief 
over what happened.

======

Aoi was wailing as she remembered the punishment she got for it.  "I had 
to clean their table and wash all their dishes myself, plus their meal 
and the broken window came out of my weekly paycheck!  I'll have to work 
every night for a month to make back all the money I lost!"

"You poor thing," consoled Jane, giving Aoi a reassuring pat on the back.

"We'll make sure they're caught and made to pay for all of the damages," 
Calamity said.

"I'd really appreciate that, Detectives Frank and Joe!" complimented Aoi, 
blissfully ignoring any suspicion she had of them, including their names, 
despite the fact that one of the two at the table was clearly female.

"So, could we have our bill now?"

"Yes... we'd really like to continue our investigation at our next 
location."

Aoi smiled and told them chirpily, "I'll be right back!"

She headed off to retrieve it when she heard an eerily familiar sound.  
The same sounds she had heard when Jessie, James, and Persian had ran out 
on their bill.  Chairs being dropped hard onto the floor, followed by 
glass being shattered, and then murmuring from the other patrons and staff 
in the area.  Regrettably, Aoi turned around and once again was greeted 
with the aftermath of another bill runner.  All of the color drained out of 
her skin, and her clothes as well as she stared in disbelief over being 
duped again.

Meanwhile, out on the street, which had a few gawking individuals of their 
own, Jane and Calamity ran for the nearest alley.  Without any scratches 
or visible bleeding after having jumped through that glass window, 
apparently.

"I told you we should've gone with Bert and Nan!" Jane exclaimed.

"And I told you there's no way we could've passed for twins!" retorted 
Calamity.

"I knew we shouldn't have gone with this plan... we're going to have to 
change disguises again!"

"So?  You said you hated this look!"

"It's still better than the other disguise you brought for me!"

"I thought one of your dreams was to be a lifeguard on the beach..."

======

And so, days upon days of searching commenced.  Jane and Calamity 
followed the trail of their 'doomed' counterparts, dropping by hotels, 
clothing stores, a supermarket, a hair salon, and, naturally, more and 
more eating establishments.  Though the duo was successful in gathering 
intel and following the footsteps of Jessie and James... probably too 
closely, since they were swiping almost as much as the two ex-Rockets 
were... they had yet to actually locate them.

That didn't mean they weren't having fun...

"It's like I've been born again," Calamity exclaimed.  "It's been ages 
since we resorted to petty thievery."

"Maybe it's time to stop kidding around and move onto grand larceny," 
suggested Jane.  "We've already got the basics of life... let's stop 
stealing from the poor and starting swiping from those who can afford 
to lose it!"

"Ha!  You know, this has been so exhilarating, reliving my days as a 
youngin', that I've forgotten the whole reason we're here!"

"Don't be so naive," deadpanned Jane.  "It's so not you."

"Okay, so maybe I haven't.  But I'd like to think so."

"Are you crazy?  If you-know-who finds out we haven't found and taken 
out you-know-who and you-know-who, and especially that rascally 
one you-know-who the you-know-who hates, you-know-who will have 
you-know-who's heads!"

Calamity scratched his head.  "You... lost me there."

"If we don't find Jessie, James, and Persian, then the boss'll find you 
and me... and do away with us!  Doesn't that frighten you in the least?"

"No.  Because Team Rocket operative rule number one is, and I quote... 
'You must not be afraid of anything!'"

"You think you're a real smart-alec, don't you?  Sigh... let's just get 
this mission done and over with so we can jump on this grand larceny idea."

"Because there's this 50-inch hi-definition TV that you want to buy for 
the break room at HQ?"

"You read my mind as if it were an open book.  With the cover glued to 
my face.  And words with such large print a blind person can read it from 
TEAM ROCKET'S MOON BASE!"

"Your sarcasm's as good as my low-brow jokes, Jane-y."

"Hardy har har."

As the two walked off to resume their search, they were unaware that two 
pairs of eyes peered at them from a window from a few levels above.

"Why won't those two give it up?" Jessie growled angrily.  "Especially 
that Jane... she's almost as irritating as that darn Cassidy!"

"Wow," James gasped.  "That's quite irritating."

"At least we can take solace in the fact that they're doing just as well 
at finding us as those other Rockets.  And the police."

"I'm surprised the force is so lacking, especially after all of that 
hoopla with the disk and the twerps and those guns."

"Probably a bunch of incompetents that were replacing the idiots that 
got fired after they let not only us, but Jane and Calamity down there 
break out of the city's so-claimed Maximum Security Prison!"

"And yet that Officer Jenny remains on the force," James pointed out... 
literally, as she was on the opposite end of the alley Jane and Calamity 
were in... giving a lollipop to a little girl who had skinned her knee 
after falling on the sidewalk pavement.

"Seems more like a Joy than a Jenny," commented Jessie as she looked on.

"Very Joy-ful."

"Hey, Persian!" Jessie yelled, turning around and glaring at the feline 
moping in the far corner of a room barren except for a sheetless bed.  
"Why aren't you adding any color commentary to this discussion?"

"Act like you're in the same doomed predicament as Jessie and I!"

Persian sighed heavily.  "Doomed.  Doom Ed.  It's a funny word."

"That's not what we meant!" the two Rockets screamed in unison.

Persian sighed again.  "I'm sorry, youse two.  But I still can't gets 
over da fact that I'm not my compact, wise-cracking Meowth self anymore."

"You're still moping over that?"

"Yeah.  I know I've been used to it for months now."

"WELL, I'M NOT!"

"Still?"

"Talk about holding a grudge."

Persian nearly broke out in tears.  "I can remember it as if dat day 
of my life were yesterday..."

"Hold on a minute!" Jessie objected.

"Yeah!  You know we damn can't afford a flashback!  We're living in an 
abandoned apartment building with no running anything!"

"'Cept for dem cockroaches," observed Persian, as one such bug crawled 
by him, mere inches away from his whiskers.  "BUT I'M DOING IT ANYWAY!"

======

Flashback many months ago, inset to the Celadon City Gym.  The gym 
leader, Erika, was in the midst of a battle with Misty, who at the time 
was on her badge journey.

"Da twerpette and dat perfume girl was in da midst of battle when we 
broke in, making a side trip from capturing dem three legendary boids," 
Persian said, narrating the scene.

"We captured the legendary birds before?" asked Jessie.

"See?  We accomplished plenty as Rockets!" remembered James.

"Hey!  Who's narrating dis thing anyway?"

"Sorry," the two apologized.

"Anyways..."

The focus turned to the battle, which had just gotten underway minutes 
ago.  Erika's Tangela had just picked Misty's Poliwhirl up with her 
vines and slammed her to the ground.  Misty was looking for retaliation.

"Poliwhirl!" Misty shouted.  "Now, use Body Slam!"

As Poliwhirl motioned to perform the attack, smoke suddenly began to 
fill the room.  Erika and Misty both coughed as it eventually cleared... 
only now, Jessie, James, and Meowth were in the room with them.

"It's the ones who almost burnt my gym down the last time!" exclaimed 
Erika.

"Team Rocket!" growled Misty.  "I was wondering when you'd show up!"

Jessie growled right back.  "Be quiet, brat!"

"We’re here for the Pokémon, so hand them over," declared James.

"And you won’t get any trouble from us," Meowth said with a smile.

"We’ll never surrender out Pokémon, you gym wreckers!" Erika shot back 
defiantly.

"Yeah!" Misty added enthusiastically.  "Go bother someone else!"

"Well, we’ll see who’s laughing when this battle’s over!" chuckled 
Jessie as she tossed out a Pokéball.

Misty was surprised when a Hitmonchan popped out.  But she had no time 
to express it, for it was time for the motto!

"WHY DIDN'T YOU DO IT WHEN YOU CAME IN?" Misty yelled at the top of her 
lungs.

"Because we forgot," admitted Jessie, "so now, without further ado, 
prepare for trouble!"

"Ready to roll, so let’s make it double!" added James in time... uh, 
rhyme.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

But, for a surprising change...

"Misty!"

"Erika!"

"Hey!" Jessie said, now the one upset.

"Don't cut in on our motto!" reprimanded James, though the girls thought 
it fun to finish what they started.

"We’re Pokémon trainers who look beautiful in the night!" proclaimed 
Misty, adorned in a one-piece blue swimsuit as she showed off her pearl 
white skin, which glistened like the pure-water river streaming through 
the forest beside her.

"But when the going gets rough, we always put up a good fight!" Erika 
punched in, kimono-clad as she held a glass bottle full of perfume and 
sprayed it all around.

"Gloom gloom!" chimed Erika's Gloom, as she popped out of her Pokéball 
to join in the fun.

"Meowth meowth..." Meowth added, on his regular cue.  "Hey, that actually 
sounded pretty good!"

Jessie then smacked Meowth with her fan, obviously not pleased with the 
compliment the feline had just given out.

"Just whose side are you on anyway, Meowth?"

"Wait a minute!" present-day James cut in.

======

"What's the matter, James?" wondered Jessie.

"What's with all of that extra stuff those two did with that crappy 
parody of our motto?" James asked Persian.  "They never did all that 
stuff!"

"Come to think of it, they didn't!  Persian, are you embellishing the 
truth?  Just whose side are you on anyway?"

"Dat happened back in '99!  Back 'den, people were worried about Porygon 
and da Y2K shtick, we was da only show the company that adapted us for 
American audiences was dubbin', and da writer of this story couldn't 
describe a pencil if his life depended on it!"

"Sad yet true," James said despondently.  "But I hear he's moved on to 
being unable to describe a pen."

"Never mind that!" Jessie screamed.  "Get back to the story!  We only 
get ten blasted pages for this act!"

======

Following the whole motto debacle, the scuffle developed into a 
three-on-three Pokémon battle.  Along with the Hitmonchan Jessie had 
called out, James brought out Weezing and Meowth made three for the 
Rockets.  Erika had called out her Parasect to join the Gloom that had 
popped out during the motto, and Misty unleashed her Vaporeon to 
complete their team.

"Parasect and Gloom," Erika called out, "use Stun Spore!"

"Vaporeon, Tackle!"

"Hitmonchan, go with Comet Punch!"

"Weezing, Smokescreen!"

"Meowth," Meowth ordered himself, "Fury Swipes!"

Team Rocket grabbed the early advantage, as both Hitmonchan and Meowth 
connected with Erika's Pokémon before they could spore the duo, and 
Vaporeon's tackle was off the mark and easily dodged by Weezing.

"Parasect, Leech Life!  Gloom, Poison Powder!"

"Vaporeon, Aurora Beam!"

"Hitmonchan, Fire Punch!"

"Weezing, Sludge Attack!"

"Meowth, Pay Day!"

On this exchange, Hitmonchan gets Parasect again, though the latter got 
his attack off this time, leeching some of Hitmonchan's HP and recovering 
a bit of the damage from the Fire Punch.  Vaporeon froze Weezing and his 
sludge rock solid.  And Meowth's attack was nullified after getting a 
face full of Poison Powder.  He didn't fall prey to its effects, but it 
had temporarily blinded him, leaving him open to attack.

But Meowth seemed to take it in stride.

"It'll take more than that to stop me!"

Suddenly, Meowth began to glow.  Everyone gasped as he began to be 
enveloped in a golden light.

"Wha?  What's happenin'?  Wait... oh no, wait!  Not dat!"

"Meowth's evolving!" Misty stated.

"Meowth?  Evolving?" was all a stunned Jessie could muster.

"Stop this evolution!" Meowth cried, frantically flailing around.

At this point, the insert song "Everything Changes" began to play...

======

"Wait, wait, we can't play dat song no mo'!" Persian cried, interrupting 
his own flashback.

"Oh yeah, that's right," James added.  "We're already pushing our 
budget with having a flashback.  We couldn't afford buying rights for the 
usage of a silly insert song."

"If so, then why the embellishing of twerpette's horrid parody of our 
motto?" Jessie exclaimed.

======

Or not.

At that point, it was too late to stop the evolution process, as Meowth 
was completely enclosed by the light.  Jessie, James, and the others 
watched with stunned silence as Meowth emerged, evolved into the one 
Pokémon he hated the most of all.

Persian.

"I can’t believe I evolved into a Persian!" he wailed.  "The one Pokémon 
I hate the most!  I bet I can’t even speak in the human language anymore!"

"I hate to break it to you, Persian..." Jessie butted in.

"But you ARE talking like us!" James exclaimed happily.

"I am?" Persian gasped, ceasing his wailing as he looked himself over 
and put this revelation to the test.  "Wow, I can still talk despite 
evolving!  I can remember everything that’s happened in my life as a 
Meowth!"

"Well, I just remembered something too," admitted Misty.

"And what’s that?" questioned Jessie.

"I forgot that Erika and I were in the middle of a gym match... which you 
three aren’t going to mess up this time!"

======

"I guess we can stop dere," Persian said, ending the flashback.

"But I wanna know how the battle ends!" James cried.

"You know how it ends, numbskull!" grumbled Jessie, slapping James 
upside the head.

"Ow!  But don't the readers at home wanna know?"

"It's easy ta guess," Persian replied.  "Besides, our budget..."

"And I reiterate again," Jessie argued, "WHY DID WE GO ALL OUT 
DESCRIBING THE TWERPETTE'S DESECRATION OF OUR SACRED MOTTO?"

"Shhh!" Persian said, covering Jessie's mouth.  "You tryin' to screw 
up da enjoyment of da story by nitpickin'?"

"I CAN NITPICK BECAUSE AS PART OF THIS CAST, I DESERVE TO KNOW WHAT 
SCRIPT CHANGES ARE BEING DONE BY THAT SCREWBALL WRITER!"

James sighed.  "I bet we've broken the fourth wall down by now.  
Anyone willing to see us start on the fifth?"

======

Meanwhile, down at the docks, a hefty amount of Trovitopolis' police 
force was standing by as a coal-powered steamboat weighed anchor.  
Officer Jenny had, since the earlier incident, relocated herself there 
to supervise a delivery of supplies for the local Poké-Mart.

"Listen up, men!" Officer Jenny shouted, bringing the squads to 
attention.  "As you all should know, there have been numerous reports 
of Team Rocket agents wandering around the city!  We've finally 
figured out that they've been awaiting this very delivery!"

"May I ask what's so special about this delivery?" one of the 
lower-ranked officers asked.

"Well, it's full of rare-to-the-island items, including stat boosters 
and hold items, which are a new product from the Silph Company.  Given 
that they're very expensive and in short supply, anyone selling them 
could make a hefty profit off of it.  Therefore, I've come to the 
conclusion that Team Rocket has known about this delivery for some time, 
and they want to steal everything on that ship!"

Though unclear if that was the case, there were Rocket Grunts hiding 
amongst the boxes, barrels, and other storage units along the docks.  
And they were listening in.  If they didn't know about the rare item 
shipment before... well, they did now!  And they were smiling happily.

"The crew will be unloading their cargo shortly.  Make sure to keep a 
watchful eye, and guard this stuff until it reaches the Poké-Mart!  Is 
that understood?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

Then Officer Jenny, to the surprise of some of the officers, walked 
towards her motorcycle, as if she was leaving the area.

"Uh... Officer Jenny?" one of them uttered meekly.  "Where are you 
going?"

"The steamer is also picking up a very valuable piece of cargo, being 
sent by Nurse Joy at the Pokémon Center," she told them.  "I'm going to 
escort it here personally."

Jenny hopped onto her motorcycle, started it up, and sped off towards 
the Center.  The other officers seemed a bit dazed and confused by it, 
but they prepared to complete their mission anyway, unaware that they 
would soon be surrounded by Rocket Grunts...

"You know... I've never noticed how close the docks are from here," 
pondered James, glancing to the shoreline... which was a block and a 
half away from the abandoned apartment building he and his teammates 
were shacked up in.

"Is that a ship?" wondered Jessie, pointing it out in the water.

"A ship means salvation and freedom!"

"We can finally get out of this water-locked capital!"

"And dodge capture by Jane and Calamity!"

"What's da use?" Persian said.  "It's only a matter of time.  I don't 
like being a Persian anyway... so I'm glad de're ending my misery."

"Don't say that!" Jessie shouted.

"Don't you remember what Team Rocket operative rule number two is?" 
questioned James.

"Eh... 'You must never, ever give up,'" Persian recited from memory.

"Exactly!  There are only two clear options!  We escape or they get us!"

"And we've been doing well to escape capture so far!  Who's to say our 
luck will change for the worst?"

"James and I aren't going to give up as long as we can still fight!"

"So be a Pokémon and stand up for yourself!"

"You... you guys really think we's got a chance?"

"Never say never!"

"Nothing's gonna stop us now!"

Persian got up, sniffling as he tried to hold back tears of happiness 
and hope.  "You guys are da best!"

"You mean the best opening theme song lyric stealers of all time?" 
Jessie and James wished profoundly.

"Y-yeah," Persian sweatdropped nervously as he got up on his hind legs 
and ran to gave his partners a hug.  "Let's go with dat.  Makes us seem 
like we're still da bad guys."

======

About twenty minutes later, outside of the Pokémon Center...

Two Machamp were being directed by Nurse Joy to the back of a green 
pickup truck that was parked by the front entrance.  The two Pokémon 
were carrying a large wooden crate, of which the contents were known 
only to Joy, Jenny, and the truck driver, a husky, bearded man who 
seemed delighted to help drive the item down to the docks.

"Be careful with it now," Joy calmly reminded the Machamp as they 
prepared to slide it onto the flatbed trunk.  "It's very fragile!"

"You heard the lady!" shouted the truck driver.  "We don't get paid 
if we deliver damaged goods, ya hear?"

"Machamp!" reassured the duo as they proceeded.

"Are you sure this is necessary?" Nurse Joy asked Officer Jenny.

Jenny nodded.  "We can't let a piece of hi-tech equipment like this 
fall into the wrong hands."

With the crate now on the truck, the Machamp went to work using rope to 
secure it for the trip to the docks.  As they toiled away, two pairs of 
eyes peered at them from binoculars on the rooftop of a nearby building.

"What do you think is in there?" Calamity asked his partner.

"If there's an Officer Jenny escorting it," deduced Jane, "then it 
must be something of the highest value!"

"I guess we'll be able to get that Grand Larceny charge after all!"

"There's nothing like getting a bonus for a job well done!  Let's do it!"

======

Meanwhile, Jessie, James, and Persian had managed to sneak their way 
to the docks.  Unfortunately for them, they found it full of activity.  
It seemed that a confrontation was inevitable, as a large faction of 
Rocket Grunts had emerged from the shadows.  And they had their eyes on 
the workers bringing their cargo ashore... and the police officers that 
had sworn to make sure said cargo got to its destination.

"Goooooo!" shouted the Grunts, who tossed out their Pokéballs for 
battle.

"We won't let you take any of it!" the officers shouted back, tossing 
their Pokéballs out as well.

A giant melee broke out, with the shipmates running for cover with 
their cargo as some officers raced to escort them out of harm's way, 
while others tried to hold off the enemy.  Seeing all of the action, 
Jessie, James, and Persian ran for a better vantage point.

Behind a large stack of unused wooden barrels.

"What's this?" Jessie thought out loud, peering through a crack 
between two barrels.

"Looks like a donnybrook," James replied.

"I don't know no Donny or Brook, but that's one big scuffle dey's havin' 
over dere!" Persian exclaimed.

"So... any ideas as to how to get on that ship without getting seen?"

"Wait a minute!  Do you guys hear what I hear?"

Jessie and Persian both quieted down so they could catch a hint of 
what James was referring to.  There seemed to be something coming 
towards them.  Something engine-powered.

"A pick-up truck?" James said out loud as said truck came to a stop 
right in front of their hiding place.

James was about to emerge from the barrels to check it out, but was 
pulled back by his teammates as they heard a second engine-powered 
vehicle approach... this one accompanied by the sound of a siren.

It was Officer Jenny, and she gawked in disbelief over what was 
unfolding on the docks.

"What's all this then?" she yelled as she hopped off her bike.

Seeing Pokémon battles all over the place and her squadrons stretched 
thin to the point where the Rocket Grunts were gaining an advantage, 
Jenny had decided that she had seen enough.  She reached for her belt 
and threw out the six Pokéballs that had been attached to it.

"Pokémon Riot Squadron, go!"

Out of the Pokéballs came three Arcanine and three Gastly.  Together, 
these six formed the world's only official Pokémon Riot Squadron!

"Let's move out, team!" Jenny ordered.

The six of them complied, running to different parts of the 'battle 
zone' in an attempt to bring control of the situation back over to 
Jenny's forces.  Officer Jenny herself ran over to help, leaving the 
truck driver and his two Machamp alone with the 'important package.'

Not that Jessie, James, and Persian knew about them.

"I bet whatever they're delivering is pretty valuable if it requires 
police protection," reasoned Jessie.

"Then what do you say we hitch a ride?" suggested James.

"We make some dough while we enjoy an ocean cruise!" Persian said with 
a smile.  "Sounds like a plan to me!"

"Yeah!" the trio cheered in unison as they slithered out of their 
hiding spot.

"Hold it right there!" yelled a familiar voice.

"Gack!" Jessie blurted out, stopping in her tracks, with her two partners 
doing likewise.

"We'll be taking it from here," added a second familiar.

Jessie, James, and Persian glanced up the street, just beyond the rear 
of the pickup truck.  They gasped in shock as they saw Jane and Calamity 
walking up, with eyes focused on the same crate Jessie and James had 
been eyeballing.

"Did they spot us?"

"That's it!  It's all over!"

"Prepare for trouble!" Jane exclaimed.

"And make it double!" Calamity stated, likewise.

"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!"

"Machamp?" uttered the two guards, who hopped off of the truck in order 
to block the Rockets' path.

"You have some real nerve, trying to steal this thing," the truck 
driver said, emerging from his seat inside.

"That's what Team Rocket is full of," Jane smiled, sinister-like.

"We've got real nerve and we're not afraid to use it!"

"You aren't getting this!  Not if I have anything to say about it!  
Okay, Machamp, use Karate Chop and Low Kick!"

"Champ!" the two Machamp shouted as they charged at Jane and Calamity.

"Pinsir, go with Vicegrip!" Jane shouted, tossing out a Pokéball.

Calamity followed suit.  "Kabuto, protect yourself with Harden!"

As the four Pokémon waged war against each other, Jessie, James, and 
Persian stealthily climbed into the truck's flatbed and tried to 
forcibly open the crate.

"What's wrong with this thing?" Jessie asked, pulling with all her might.

"It's nailed on there tight!" exclaimed James.

"Dey super glue dis thing or what?" gasped Persian.

"Forget this!" Jessie said, giving up.  "We've got more important things 
to worry about!"

"Like getting out of here with our lives?"

"Precisely."

The trio jumped off the other side of the truck and started to make their 
way towards the water.  But, out of the corner of his eye, Calamity 
spotted Jessie's extravagant hair... or the backside of it, anyway.

"Eleven o'clock," Calamity told Jane, who was focused solely on the 
battle.

"Really?  Who would've thought?"

"Machamp, Seismic Toss!"

"Kabuto, dodge it!"

"You too, Pinsir!"

The two Pokémon followed orders, dodging the reach of the two Machamp.

"These stupid Machamp are in our way!"

"We'll have to rely on the others to get those losers."

What Jane didn't know, though, was that the others were in the midst of 
a massive battle of their own, as Rocket Grunts and police officers 
and their Pokémon were still trading blows with each other.  So much so 
that they were all too distracted to see Jessie, James, and Persian 
making their way towards the cargo steamer.  But they changed their 
minds when they realized there was no way to get to it without being 
spotted.  So, they started looking for another escape route.

Lucky for them, the escape route decided to find them.

"Last call for the ferry to Olivine City!" a man on the docks yelled at 
the top of his lungs.

"That's it!" Jessie said excitedly.  "That's our ticket outta here!"

"But we don't have tickets, Jess!" objected James.

"When has dat ever stopped us?" corrected Persian.

"Somebody stop those losers!" Jane barked, trying to gain one of the 
other Grunt's attention.

"What are you blabberin' about, you salty wench?" questioned the truck 
driver as his Machamp continued to hold up Pinsir and Kabuto.

"I have no idea what that means, but I hate the way you said it, 
you crazy islander!"

"They're going to get away!" Calamity spotted matter-of-factly.

The trio were indeed going to escape... if not for one problem.

"No tickets?" the bellower on the docks told them, "No ride!"

"Please!" pleaded Jessie, dropping down on her knees.  "We'll do 
anything!"

"We'll work for peanuts!" begged James, following suit.

"Screw peanuts!" Persian stated, also on his knees.  "We'll work for 
nothing if you want us to!"

The attendant smiled at Persian's plea.  "Well, we are in need of some 
temp help with most of the at-sea cleaning crew on vacation.  Alright... 
get aboard so we can get the heck out of here!"

"Aye aye, sir!" the three of them saluted before they bolted towards 
the ship's boarding plank.

A short minute later, the ship's foghorn blew as the plank was pulled 
aboard, the anchor was drawn out of the water, and the ship itself 
slowly started to pull away from the docks.  Jessie, James, and Persian 
took it upon themselves, albeit a bit foolishly, to run to the stern and 
take a glance back at the ongoing battle.

"Who do ya think is winning?" Persian asked curiously.

"I don't care," Jessie replied, "as long as they keep fighting amongst 
themselves, they're giving us time to get away!"

"We're going to live to fight another day!" James cried.

Back on shore, the two Machamp had just been knocked out by Pinsir and 
Kabuto.  Instinctively, the truck driver ran to protect the contents of 
the crate.  But instead of going after him, Jane and Calamity immediately 
headed for the sea.

"Where the hell did they go?" Jane angrily growled as she focused her 
search on the ships docked in port.

"They're probably on that ferry!" deduced Calamity, as he pointed 
towards the lone vessel leaving Trovitopolis at the time.

"We need a flying Pokémon to follow them!"

"Or a water Pokémon to swim after!"

"Hey!" the two turned towards their fellow Grunts.  "Somebody lend us 
a Pokémon or two!"

Unfortunately, the Grunts were in no condition to help, as most had 
either been tied up, knocked out, or were struggling to hold off the 
plethora of officers circling them.  Not occupied, though, were Officer 
Jenny and the Pokémon Riot Squadron.

"Wait a..." Jenny gasped, recognizing Jane and Calamity instantly, 
"you're those two Team Rocket members that escaped from the Maximum 
Security Prison!"

"Crap!" cursed Jane.  "You think we can handle her six?"

"In a moment, it'll be sixty," answered Calamity, referring to the 
other officers, who were almost done corralling the Grunts.

"WE'RE BLASTING OFF AGAIN!" the two yelled, bolting in the other 
direction as fast as their legs could carry them, Pinsir and Kabuto 
tailing close behind.

"Halt!  You're under arrest!" Jenny shouted, chasing after them with 
the Pokémon Riot Squadron in tow.

At that point, the ship was so far from the shoreline that Jessie, 
James, and Persian could not make anybody out clearly anymore.

"I guess they're not sending anyone after us," Jessie thought aloud.

"Which means it's smooth sailing from here to Olivine!" James shouted 
joyfully.

"Looks like this faction of Team Rocket..." Persian began.

"Is blasting off to safety!" the trio finished together.

Jessie, James, and Persian had once again escaped the clutches of their 
former employer, assuring themselves of another day in the world of 
the living.

But are their days really numbered?  You'll have to stay tuned to find 
out!

"Hey, wait a minute!" Persian cut in.  "What about the bit about me 
hating myself as a Persian?"

"GET OVER IT ALREADY!" Jessie and James shouted at him.

======

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Hoenn region, a certain duo was celebrating 
their accomplishments...

"After some heavy battling..." Arius began.

Arius cheered as he watched his Snorlax attempt a belly flop on 
Nosepass, as a shocked gym leader Roxanne looked on.

"...and rising with the tides..." continued Cassie.

Espeon was dodging Hariyama's Arm Thrusts as Cassie applauded with glee 
and gym leader Brawly tried to get his Pokémon to notice the wave that 
was towering over Hariyama from behind.

"...we each now have two Hoenn League badges!" they shouted in unison.

======

Many miles away, in the metropolis known as Petalburg City...

"Must... resist... urge... to... go to... Pokémon gym!" Ash griped as 
he took one agonizing slow step after another past the gym.

"Pika pika," Pikachu shook his head as he pulled on Ash's pant leg in 
an attempt to get him to keep going towards the Pokémon Center.

"But... first... must find... Cassie... on Dewford... Island!  How... 
I'm fighting... this urge... I don't know!"

"Pikachu ka pika pika, Pika-pi! [Because you should know better than 
to keep a girl waiting, Ash!]"

======

Dewford Island Docks, October 20th

"Somebody please stop that ferry boat!" yelled two teenagers from afar.

Arius and Cassie were running for the docks as fast as their legs could 
carry them.  But the ferry boat was already pulling out of port, and it 
didn't look as if there were any way to stop it from leaving.

"Please stop!" Cassie exclaimed.

"I told you the last ferry left at five!" shouted Arius.

The foghorn on the ferry rang loudly through the air as the two of them 
finally made it to the ticket booth.  Unfortunately for them, the ferry 
was more than fifty feet away, and distancing itself further from the 
shore.

"I can't believe we missed it AGAIN!" Cassie cried, collapsing on the 
ticket counter.

"That's four days in a row now!" Arius yelled angrily at her.  "I can't 
believe this!"

"Well... at least it's another day we can spend waiting to see if Ash 
will show..."

"Ash?  That guy?  We've been waiting for him for FOUR DAYS!  He ain't 
coming!  So stop worrying about him!"

"I can't!  I made a promise to him."

"He's the one breaking the promise, not you, so it's not your fault!  
Look... we're camping out nearby tonight.  There's no way we're gonna 
miss catching the first boat out of here come sunrise."

"You know I trust that he'll get here.  I know he will," Cassie said 
with a deep sigh.

"When?  Three months from now?  We don't have three months, Cassie!  
You have to get ready for that Novice Class First Level exam next 
month!  You know... the one you..."

"Uncharacteristically failed with flying colors the first time," finished 
Cassie.  "Yeah yeah, I know.  You don't have to rub THAT in."

"We've got to get to Slateport City so you can earn your third Hoenn 
badge.  Then passing the exam will be a snap!"

"Yeah... sure..." Cassie said, slowly getting up and walking away.

Arius gasped.  "Don't tell me you don't care about becoming a Pokémon 
Master anymore!"

"Of course I do!  I just... I don't want to do it at the expense of a 
friend.  Like our last job DID!"

"How dare you badmouth the PTA?  Sure, not everything they did was on 
the up and up... but they always had the best interests of the world 
at heart!"

"Arius... you promised you'd quit the whole 'defend them' crap.  For me!"

Arius grumbled loudly.  "It's because I believe in the truth!"

"Their truth or the real truth?  Arius... you've got a lot to learn 
about the truth."

"I haven't heard anybody say that my version of the truth is wrong.  
Other than you, everyone has agreed with me instead of you."

"Yeah... everyone who worked in the PTA!  Besides, it only takes one 
dissenter to make a truthful statement false!"

"Yeah?  Well, whatever!"

Arius stomped away, taking his things with him.

"Where are you heading off to now?"

"I'm going to go look for a place to sleep!  Go find your own part of the 
beach to set up camp on!"

"Well, fine then!  I don't need you at all!"

"FINE!"

"FINE!"

Cassie watched Arius trudge off before turning about and walking away 
from the docks in the opposite direction.

======

"What's her damage?" Arius asked himself as he found a large tree 
perfect for shelter about a quarter mile east of the docks, near the 
edge of the beach.  "She knows I'm right, yet she's not willing to 
admit it."

"Havin' one of them lover's quarrels, are we?"

"Huh?" Arius started glancing around the area, trying to find the 
person that was talking to him.

"Up here, sonny!"

Arius glanced up into the tree... and wouldn't you know, lying in a 
hammock a few branches up, was an old man dressed in nothing but plain 
blue overalls.

"I was asking ye if you were havin' one of them lover's quarrels.  You 
know, with that fine-looking filly of yours that just went that other 
way."

"Hey!  Don't be examining her with your eyes, you old pervert!"

"How dare youuuuuu..."

The old man suddenly fell out of his hammock and plummeted down towards 
the ground.  Arius randomly reached for a Pokéball from his backpack 
and threw it to the ground.  Out of it came his latest Pokémon capture, 
Makuhita, who instantly extended his arms out and caught the old man 
before he could hit the ground.  Arius blew a sigh of relief.

"Whoa ho ho!" the old man laughed.  "And it looks like you're a fine 
mighty Pokémon trainer, too!  And for the record... I may be a little 
dirty, certainly old but not that old, and definitely not a pervert!"

"I never said dirty," recalled Arius.  "And you ARE a pervert!"

"Just because she's a girl and I'm a man doesn't mean I want to get with 
her!  She's way too young, I say, way too young for me!"

"Oh, noooooooow I get it!"

"You do?"

"This tree is your private property, right?  Okay... I'll go find another 
place to crash for the night..."

"Wait, boy!  That's not what I meant!"

"Makuhita, return!" Arius pulled out Makuhita's Pokéball, which sucked 
him back inside.  "And for the record, my name's not 'boy.'  It's Arius."

"And I'm Old Man Bridges!"

"Old Man Bridges?" Arius asked, trying to stifle a laugh.

"Well, I wanted to be called Old Man Briney, but darn it, there's three 
of them here on this island alone!  But enough about me!"

"Enough about you?  All you told me was your name!"

"And that's all you're gonna get if you keep bein' snappy," Bridges told 
Arius, whacking him on the head with his bare fist.

"So, what do you want, Old Man Bridges?"

"It's simple... Arius, was it?  I overheard your plight during that tiff 
of yours between you and your gal pal that just walked out on you."

"She didn't walk out on..."

"Hey, boy, don't interrupt a person when he's talkin'.  You kids these 
days.  So, anyway, as I was saying previously, I heard that you two 
were in a hurry to get to Slateport City.  It just so happens that I, 
Old Man Bridges, happen to own a boat myself that I can take you there 
with."

"You mean... one that can take us to Slateport City?"

"I just said that, didn't I?  Tsk tsk... no wonder she broke up with 
you, with your hearing problems and all..."

"I do NOT having hearing problems!" Arius shouted.  "Look, the fact 
that you're telling me this means you're willing to give us a ride?"

"Darn' tootin... unless you're afraid of this old man hitting on your 
girl?  Oh wait... I guess she ain't your girl anymore after she..."

"We're still together, and I'm going to prove it!  I'll be back in 
five minutes!  Have that boat of yours in the water and running!"

"Roger that," saluted Bridges as Arius ran off.  "Oh, and have this 
whole mess patched up before ya'll get back!  I despise giving rides to 
chatterin' chipmunks, you got me?"

======

Cassie had wandered onto a deserted part of the beach, where she had 
already begun to set up camp.  In fact, she and Ivysaur were walking 
back to the site after collecting firewood and a coconut or two.  As 
they did, Arius appeared over the horizon, sprinting towards them.

"Ivy?" Ivysaur stopped as she looked towards Arius.

"Ignore him," Cassie told her.  "That stubborn idiot doesn't deserve 
to say another word to me after what he did!"

"Cassie!  Cassie!  Pack up your stuff... we're heading out!"

"Stop talking nonsense!  Didn't you say that the last ferry left at 
five?"

Arius came to a halt right in front of Cassie, then bent over to 
catch his breath.

"Hmph!" Cassie huffed.  "And you're the one calling me a liar back 
there!"

"Saur!" Ivysaur nodded in agreement before dropping the firewood she 
was holding to the ground.

"I did say that, but I found another way!"

"If you're gonna ask me to use my psychic powers to float us there, 
you're crazy!  I'm far from strong enough to do that just to get 
myself across, much less both of us!"

"It's not that!  Look, I found this guy who's willing to give us a 
ride!"

"What do you mean by 'ride?'  And 'willing?'  I haven't seen anyone 
around here willing to do anything for you."

"Will you cut it out already?  Someone wants to help us get off this 
stupid rock and all you do is stand there as if you're ready to yell 
my head off!"

"Because I AM STANDING HERE, READY TO YELL YOUR HEAD OFF!"

"Will you stop?" Arius said as he grabbed Cassie by the shoulders.  
"This guy wants to help us, but he won't if we're going to bicker 
and fight all the way!"

Cassie blinked, a bit confused.  "Wha?"

"He saw us arguing and I told him about what happened.  He agreed to 
help us get to Slateport City.  Provided... provided that we could 
keep our tempers in check."

"Oh, really?  How much about us DID you tell him?"

"Just that we loved each other.  That's all."

"It better be," Cassie muttered under her breath.

"So..." Arius said as he walked over to Cassie's tent and started 
to disassemble it.  "Let's go!  He's waiting for us!"

"Saur, saur!" Ivysaur said as she poked Arius in the back with one 
of her vines, a bit miffed over all her work having been quickly 
undone.

"Alright," Cassie gave in as she walked over to help.  "But this 
better be worth it!"

======

Arius led Cassie back to the docks, where Old Man Bridges indeed had a 
boat for them to use.  A motorboat that was white as a Wingull's 
tailfeathers.  He guided it to a stop at the end of one of the piers, 
where the two teenagers ran over to meet him, all of their stuff in hand.

"So you really can be truthful about something, huh?" Cassie quipped.

"My witty girl here is Cassie," Arius said, introducing her.

"She was the love of your love?  Or... is it IS the love again?"

"There never was a WAS," Cassie admitted.  "We just agree to disagree 
sometimes.  That's the nature of a relationship."

"Yeah, give and take," Arius added, before lowering his voice to keep 
Cassie from hearing him.  "She takes more than she gives, FYI."

"Ahem," Cassie coughed, pointing to her head.  "Psychic-in-training here!"

"If you're psychic, then how come you couldn't reach the ferry captain's 
mind and 'convince' him to come back?  Or heck, to grab control of the 
ferry itself with your mind and drive it back?"

"Like I said, psychic-in-training!  Do I look like Sabrina to you?"

"Hmmm," Arius smiled as he rubbed his chin, "you'd actually look pretty 
flattering with green hair and combat boots."

"And she talks with her mind, not with her mouth, as in yadda yadda, I 
yap like a Poochyena," Cassie said, finishing his thoughts for him.

"Stop doing that!  The reading everything I think thing!  See, Old Man 
Bridges, this is what I have to put up with every single day!"

"Ho ho!" Old Man Bridges laughed out loud, to both their surprises.  
"Seeing as you two are still together with all of that considered... 
there must really be something between you two.  The perfect couple."

"We're not all perfect," Cassie said, blushing.

"Says the girl who's captured 59 Pokémon in three years," Arius told 
Bridges.  "Like seriously... who has time to catch, much less train 59 
Pokémon?"

"It was 60!  But you insisted on me giving you that Hitmontop I captured 
over the summer to you as a birthday present!"

"I thought you wouldn't mind, being a 'psychic' and all!" defended 
Arius, emphasizing the word psychic with his fingers.

"Don't use 'air quotes' with me!" Cassie exclaimed, repeating the 
gesture.  "Valley girl and country gal are NOT the same thing!"

"Hey hey, now!" Old Man Bridges interrupted, tapping his foot impatiently 
as he glared at Arius.  "Now young man, I promised to give you and your 
girlfriend here a ride to Slateport City provided, as I repeat myself, 
that you wouldn't be chatterin' chipmunks!"

"Speaking of providing, I've got a question.  How much are you charging 
us?  I'm afraid we don't have much money..."

Cassie reached for her coin purse, but Old Man Bridges raised his arm 
up, gesturing her to stop... which she promptly did.

"No need, little lady.  I'm doin' this, I say, I'm doin' this out of the 
kindness of my old, little heart."

"Isn't that generous!" Cassie said, all chipper.

"I told you he was a good old coot," Arius smirked.

"I do ask for one thing in return, though, youngins'."

Arius and Cassie freaked out... what could he possibly want from them?

"You want us to give you a sponge bath!" Arius thought out loud, much 
to Cassie's chagrin... even though she knew he was going to say that.  
"Okay, I volunteer Cassie to do it.  No, wait, actually, maybe I should 
do it.  Don't want her to see his little..."

"Okay," Cassie grumbled, grabbing Arius and pushing him off the pier and 
into the sea.  "Ewww... and TOO MUCH INFORMATION!"

After falling it, Arius quickly resurfaced, spitting out some saltwater 
that had gotten into his mouth as he did.  He then turned to see 
Bridges shaking his head in disgust.  Arius glared at Cassie, who 
suddenly realized that they were in danger of losing their ride, so she 
quickly bowed in Bridges' direction and apologized.

"I'm very sorry," she cried.  "I shouldn't have reacted like that.  I 
was wrong to push Arius into the water."

"Will you promise not to do anything to him without just provocation on 
this boat ride?" Old Man Bridges asked of her.  "Because if you pull a 
stunt like that in the water, I'll toss your pretty tail in after him 
and leave ya'll stranded in the darkness!  Understand?"

"Yes," Cassie nodded repeatedly.  "Because I'm reading your mind right 
now, and I know for sure you'll do it."

Arius swam over to the side of the boat, and Old Man Bridges helped him 
climb aboard.  He then reached out to Cassie, and kindly pulled her on 
as well.

"And that means don't do anything that would put her in such a state, 
okay?" Bridges said, turning his attention to Arius.

"Yes, sir!"

"You two have to learn that love is a two-way street.  You have to give 
and you have to take the same exact amount.  Fifty-fifty."

"Does that mean that you've been in love before, Mr. Bridges?"

"Please, Cassie... call me Old Man Bridges," he smiled as he headed over 
to the motor.  "Now... fasten your seatbelts as we leave our departure 
city of Dewford, and set sail for Slateport!"

Cassie and a wet Arius sat down next to each other as Old Man Bridges 
started steering them away from the port.  Cassie opened her backpack 
to search for a towel.  Finding one, she started to run it all over him, 
in an attempt to dry him off.

"Hello, old enough to dry himself off here!" Arius said, grabbing her 
arms to stop her.

"Look, I just wanna help..." Cassie confessed.  "After all, I did knock 
you into the water."

Hearing Cassie admit her wrongdoing, Arius smiled and nodded for her to 
continue.  As she did, he caught Bridges smiling at them.

"Now see?  That's how love's supposed to work!"

Old Man Bridges then turned his attention towards steering as Cassie 
finished drying her boyfriend off.  Once that was done, Cassie prompted 
their driver for an answer again.

"So... you've been in love before, Old Man Bridges?"

"Ha ha!  Of course I have!  At my age, I'm expected to go through my 
share of girls here and there.  But not too many... that's a chronic case 
of not-being-able-to-settle-down-itis.  But you don't need to hear about 
my love stories.  You could probably pick the one that you'd like to 
hear from me just by searching my mind like it was one of them card 
catalogs at the library!"

"I'm sorry," Cassie apologized again, twiddling her fingers.  "I don't 
mean to intrude..."

"I do!" Arius exclaimed.  "Unlike Cassie, I can't read minds!"

"As fun as it might be," Old Man Bridges admitted, chuckling again, "I'd 
rather hear the story of how you two got together."

"Us?" the two asked in unison, pointing at each other.

"Of course!  The way I see it, you've been together for quite awhile.  
And trust me, people at your age aren't in love for this long just for 
kicks.  There's something special that you two have.  Has to be at your 
young ages."

"I don't know..." hesitated Arius.

"Yeah," Cassie added.  "There's some parts of it that we're trying to 
forget."

"As long as you're accurate on the parts about your relationship, I 
could care less about any middling details you'd like to omit.  Oh, and 
it'll be a few hours until we get to Slateport.  So unless you plan to 
stare aimlessly at the water the entire trip... get to jabberin'!"

"What do you think?" Arius whispered to Cassie.

"Let's humor him," Cassie whispered back.  "Besides, he said we can 
leave out THOSE details."

"Yeah.  We may not be agents of the PTA anymore, but we're still bound 
to protect their secrets."

"I'd rather forget some of them, thank you very much."

Breaking out of their conference, they agreed to tell Old Man Bridges 
the story of how they met.

"I guess I'll start," Arius suggested, glancing over to his girl and 
seeing no sign of resistance from her whatsoever.  "It all started the 
day I got my first Pokémon..."

======

A shorter, 10-year old Arius was skipping north along Route 14, trotting 
along with his first Pokémon, a Zubat, trailing close behind.

"I'm from Cobalt Town, a mining community northeast of Fuchsia City," 
Arius told them as he narrated.  "Cave-dwelling Pokémon were plentiful 
over there, especially Zubat, so it was easy to decide on what to pick 
as my first partner."

As they walked along the trail, assorted young trainers were watching 
him from afar, all eyeing him and his Zubat with interest.

"Unfortunately, living near Fuchsia meant that most of the trainers 
on their way there had the experience of going through several gyms 
already, and their best Pokémon were at least 15-20 levels stronger 
than my starter in Zubat.  Naturally, that made me an easy target..."

Arius and Zubat were seen competing in battle after battle, handily 
losing each one and having to return to Fuchsia battered and beaten.

"My parents wanted me to give up, that it wasn't worth going out there 
and getting nowhere fast.  But I was determined to succeed as a 
Pokémon trainer, no matter how long it took."

In spite of their determination, Arius and Zubat continued to lose 
every battle they had managed to stumble into.  After awhile, even 
they started to think that leaving Fuchsia was no longer worth it...

"But it all suddenly changed one day..."

======

Arius and Zubat were wandering around Route 14 when a wild Venonat 
suddenly crossed their path.  Desperate for any kind of help, Arius 
tried to capture it.

"Our only chance is to weaken it first," Arius told Zubat.  "Okay, 
Zubat, use Supersonic!"

Zubat followed Arius' command, using the attack to disorient Venonat and 
making her confused.  Venonat responded by running towards Zubat and 
then leaping up into the air in an attempt to tackle him.  But Venonat's 
aim was way off, jumping up after she had already ran past Zubat.

"Leech Life!" called out Arius.

Zubat lunged for Venonat's head and bit down hard on it, sucking most of 
her hit points away in the process.  Before he could take all of it, 
though, Venonat managed to break free.

"That should be enough," Arius said with a smile as he pulled a Pokéball 
out from his pocket.  "Okay, Pokéball, go!"

The Pokéball hit Venonat squarely between her eyes, and then sucked her 
in.  It closed, then began to rattle back and forth.  Arius and Zubat 
watched the Pokéball shake, holding out hope that this battle was over 
and they could avoid dragging it out.  After about a minute, it stopped 
moving and the light on it went out.

"Did... we... do it?" Arius asked cautiously as he looked at Zubat.

Zubat nodded, then flapped his wings happily.

"Yatta!" Arius cried excitedly.

======

"From that point on, for some reason things went a lot smoother for 
Zubat and I," Arius said with a sigh of relief.

"It's only because you guys gained experience from winning a battle for 
once," Cassie commented nonchalantly.  "Capturing Venonat was an added 
bonus."

"You're just jealous that it took me ten weeks to win my first battle!"

"Stop gloating before you get us into an argument and then thrown off 
the boat."

"Yes," Old Man Bridges reminded them, with an evil glare.  "Do continue."

======

"Anyway, things had gotten better.  Sure, we still lost the occasional 
battle here and there, but for the most part, we were finally on the 
right track and making progress.  Finally, we could leave the Fuchsia 
City area and start traveling to the Pokémon gyms all over the region!"

Arius and Zubat were smiling with glee after toppling a rider near the 
Cycling Road northwest of the city.  Having procured a bicycle, they 
made their way towards the nearest gym... in the metropolis known as 
Celadon City.

"We made our way to Celadon City, where we challenged Erika, the gym 
leader there.  She was tougher to beat than she looked, as she cleaned 
house with my Zubat and Venonat.  We didn't stand a chance."

Zubat and Venonat were shown both struggling to stay in the match, as 
both ended up falling to Erika's Tangela rather easily.

"Regardless of the outcome of the battle, she was pretty nice in 
giving me some pointers before directing me towards Scissors Street.  It 
was a district full of Pokémon breeders... and a Pokémon trainers' house 
or two.  I decided to enroll in a class in Pokémon battling, hoping to 
hone my skills and become a better trainer."

Arius was seen talking to one of the instructors, then convincing Zubat 
and Venonat that this experience would be worth it if it would help 
them in the journey.

"And so the three of us trained with the other students and the rest of 
their Pokémon.  For months upon months, we studied all the ins and outs 
of being a trainer, how to employ strategies in order to win battles, 
and the proper way to keep your Pokémon healthy and in good shape."

Arius slowly made his way through each of the lessons, making sure to 
not move on until he and his Pokémon had mastered them.  They were 
intent on gaining every single advantage these classes could give them.  

"And so, it went on for months and months and months...  And then... 
the greatest day of my life happened..."

======

Outside the Pokémon Trainers' House was a banner that read '9th Annual 
Celadon City Trainers Open House,' and below it, people of all ages 
were walking through the gates.  They had all come to see the best and 
brightest of the kids who might one day become Pokémon Master.  It was 
also a chance for family and friends to root their little prodigies on.

While several young promising trainers were inside the house showing 
off their Pokémon's looks and appealing nature, others were outside, 
competing in random one-on-one battles in order to show off their 
skills.  The makeshift stands set up in the backyard were filled to 
the brim, with most of those there squealing with excitement as 
another match was about to get started.

"The following is a one-on-one Pokémon battle between students from 
our B-Level Class!" shouted a teacher who was refereeing the match.  
"The battle is over when one of the Pokémon faints or the five-minute 
time limit expires!"

On the west end of the battlefield, Arius reached for a Pokéball from 
his belt and threw it out.  His opponent, a blue-haired boy dressed in 
a blue and white horizontally-striped shirt and khaki shorts, did the 
same from his side.

"Let's go, Zubat!" Arius exclaimed.

"You're on, Mankey!" shouted the other boy.

As Zubat and Mankey materialized before the crowd's very eyes, some of 
the kids from the two duelists' class were chatting amongst themselves.

"I feel sorry for Arius," a girl commented.  "He's going up against Jin, 
the best student in the class!"

"Yeah," added a second, sighing in admiration.  "He's so dreamy..."

"Nobody in the class has beaten him in almost two months!" recalled 
one of the boys up there.

"That's not surprising," added a second.  "I'm ranked number two, and 
I've only come close to beating him once!"

"And you've battled him at least half a dozen times in that period," 
reminded a third.

Although he couldn't hear the inane chatter from his classmates over 
the excitable noise of the entire crowd, Arius could tell just by 
glancing at them that he knew they were all betting against him.

"I know Jin's good and all, but it's like they're not giving me a 
chance.  Man... but I'm going to prove them all wrong today!"

"And... BEGIN!" yelled the instructor.

"Okay, Zubat, use Bite!"

"Mankey, dodge and use Fury Swipes!"

Mankey hopped to his left, but Zubat quickly compensated for the 
adjustment, turned, and sank his teeth into Mankey's left hand.  The 
primate Pokémon danced around wildly, doing everything he could to 
shake Zubat off.  But Zubat continued to hang on for dear life.

"You can do better than that!" Jin shouted at Mankey.  "Use Fury 
Swipes to teach that Zubat a lesson!"

Mankey concentrated all of his energy into his free arm, swinging it 
with claws drawn at Zubat, pounding away until the bat Pokémon was 
forced to let go after several direct blows to the head.

"Zubat, Supersonic!"

Zubat recovered from the blows and blasted sound waves at Mankey.  
Mankey howled out in pain as he covered his ears to block it.

"Now, while Mankey's defense is down... go for Leech Life!"

Zubat swooped in once again, baring his fangs.  But at the second, 
Mankey instinctively jumped up and over the charging Pokémon.

"That a way!"

"Rats... Zubat, try again!"

"Mankey, use Karate Chop to knock it down!"

Zubat turned about and made another diving attempt.  This time, Mankey 
leaped in the air early, reared his right arm back, and then stiffly 
brought it forward, towards Zubat's head.

"Zubat... use Razor Wind!"

Jin gasped in shock.  "Razor Wind?"

Zubat suddenly stopped his dive and faced upward at the descending 
Mankey.  Zubat brought his wings back and then snapped them forward 
in a snap, generating two solid razor-sharp blades of wind that hit 
Mankey square in the arms.  The attack also made Mankey spin backwards, 
as he lost control of his descent and ended facing the sky as he hit 
the ground back-first.  Mankey cried out in pain, gritting in pain as he 
tried to get up, using his arms to brace him.  But Mankey was screaming 
loudly as it did so, as his willpower to continue fighting was the only 
thing fueling him at that point.

Arius looked on with mild surprise as his Zubat assumed a stationary 
hovering position a few feet away.  Jin, as well as most of the audience, 
was stunned as well, as Mankey did manage to get to his feet.  Though he 
was breathing heavily with exhaustion, barely able to keep his focus.

"Is it... over?" Arius asked out loud, loosening his focus on the 
battle.  "Did I... win?"

Zubat glanced back at his trainer, thinking the same thing.  Suddenly, 
Mankey leaped into the air at his opponent, grimacing in pain as he 
attempted to use Karate Chop again.

"Grrr... okay then.  Zubat, finish it off..."

"Mankey, stop!" Jin suddenly ordered.

Hearing his master's call, Mankey did, calming down and landing on the 
ground a few feet in front of Zubat.  Once it did, though, Mankey's right 
knee buckled, forcing him down to one knee as he gritted his teeth again.  
He was trying to keep his focus, even though he was in obvious pain.  Jin 
turned towards the referee and conceded the match.

"A good Pokémon trainer knows when he's beat.  Therefore, I concede the 
match to my opponent."

The instructor nodded in agreement, then proclaimed it official.  "And 
with that, the winners of the match are Arius and Zubat!"

A mix of emotions rang through the bleachers... some of joy, others of 
worried concern, and even some of resentment and anger.  Arius wanted 
to rejoice with glee over beating the best student in his class, but 
seeing the pained look on Mankey's face made him think otherwise.  Zubat 
flew towards him and landed on the ground before him.  Arius kneeled 
down and patted him on the head.

"Good job, Zubat.  I knew you'd come through today."

After Zubat acknowledged the compliment, Arius recalled Zubat to his 
Pokéball.  Arius then walked over towards Jin, who was comforting his 
Mankey as two Chansey ran out with a stretcher to carry it off the 
field.  As he did, he started to hear cries of foul play from some of 
his classmates.

"Cheater!" one of the boys yelled.

"So the only way for you to win is to cripple the opponent?" shouted 
an irate fangirl.

"Lo-ser!  Lo-ser!" shouted another.

Arius stopped in his tracks as the cries pierced through him.

"I didn't mean to hurt his Mankey," Arius thought to himself.  "I just 
wanted to win."

Jin lifted Mankey up and placed him on the stretcher, then watched as 
the two Chansey carried him off the field.  Jin was about to follow, 
but he too heard the jeers coming from the class.  Certainly Jin felt 
the same way, as he turned to look as his opponent.  Arius suddenly 
became even more nervous as Jin walked towards him.

"Oh great," Arius said under his breath.  "He's going to rip into me 
now.  And I bet the teacher's not going to do anything about it.  I 
so should've known my place... I'm going to get slaughtered for this."

Arius closed his eyes like the coward he was, not willing to see the 
pain that was about to be inflicted upon him.

"Hey..."

No response from Arius, who was visibly shaking... and the class began 
to insult him even more because of it.

"Hey, open your eyes!  Look at me!"

"I can't!"

"Open your eyes, DAMN YOU!"

Arius did.  He didn't want to, but it was as if Jin's booming voice had 
compelled him to.  Arius saw Jin standing a few feet in front of him.  
But Jin didn't look as if he wanted to beat the snot out of Arius.  Or 
as if he was going to give out a verbal thrashing.  But it sounded as if 
everyone in the class was doing it for him.  Suddenly, many of the 
other audience members and onlookers began to do the same.

But with one motion, Jin silenced them all.

No, he didn't raise his hands to them.  He didn't slap or punch Arius, 
either.  He did something that no one expected.  Not even Arius.

Jin reached out with his right hand, grabbed Arius' right hand and pulled 
it towards him...

And he then began to shake it.

Jin was giving Arius a handshake.  A friendly handshake.  A congratulatory 
handshake.

"Wha?"

"Very well played."

Some of the classmates chattered amongst themselves over the gesture, 
but not one of them resumed their jeering.

"I'm surprised myself," Jin said aloud.  "Sure, it can be argued by some 
that maybe you went too far.  But I don't think you did."

"You... don't?" Arius muttered slowly.

Jin shook his head.  "No.  You fought to win.  To be fair, Mankey 
shouldn't have been hurt that easily.  But I never saw that move of 
yours coming."

Jin then turned to the audience, particular his classmates, and addressed 
them.

"For once, I, Jin, the best B-Level student here, was outwitted and 
outplayed by one of my own.  My loss today isn't because of a stroke of 
bad luck.  Rather, today, I was beaten by a classmate who just plain 
outthought me."

Jin smiled as he faced Arius once again.

"I thought you had me beat.  Everyone here probably thought so as well.  
But you pulled that Razor Wind out by surprise.  You've been waiting 
for the right opportunity to unveil that attack, haven't you?  Let me 
guess... you bought it from the Department Store, didn't you?"

Arius blushed with embarrassment.  "Well..."

"Ha ha!" Jin laughed.  "No need to be embarrassed... it's perfectly 
legal to buy a TM there.  And I bet you and Zubat have been training 
secretly to know how to perfectly use it."

"That's true," the professor said, finally stepping in.  "Though some 
do frown upon the usage of Technical Machines since it forces a 
Pokémon to learn a move it wouldn't naturally, the fact that it's still 
a new attack to use means that it has to be mastered just like the 
others.  Plus, keeping the move a secret from the opposition is a 
great move.  Sometimes the key to winning a battle is to use a move 
that the opposing trainer doesn't expect."

"Looks like I finally have someone in this class to keep an eye out 
for," Jin said.  "After all, I'm pretty sure you don't want to make 
this your one and only win against me?  Not that I'm going to let you 
beat me once more... not without a fight, at least."

"I'm really looking forward to battling you again, Jin!"

"Me too... Arius!"

The crowd broke out in applause.  Even everyone in the class eventually 
gave Arius a round of congratulations.  Arius basked in his win, 
though humbly, as Jin graciously bowed and shook his opponent's hand 
one more time before running off to check on his Mankey's condition.

======

Arius laughed out loud, to Old Man Bridges' surprise.

"Funny thing about that story," Arius said as he scratched the side of 
his face.  "That was the only time I beat him.  Or anyone else in the 
class did, for that matter.  Then again, I never lost to anyone else 
in the class, either."

Cassie also shared in the chuckling.  "The best number-two student in 
the class!  I've always loved that story."

"Anyway, I kinda meandered around.  Not in the general sense... but 
after finishing that year out, I decided to hit the road again.  Hit 
a few gyms, did pick up a couple of badges."

"Sadly," Cassie interrupted, "given the age difference, Arius didn't 
meet me for another year or so."

"Really?" Old Man Bridges asked as he reached into his pocket and pulled 
out a Pokéball.

"What's wrong?" Arius asked.

Bridges smiled, then aimed the Pokéball at the water in front of the 
boat.

"Come on out, Lanturn!"

Out of the Pokéball materialized Bridges' Lanturn, who immediately lit 
up the area, which was darkening as the sun had began to disappear 
over the eastern horizon.

"Heh... I guess I got so caught up in the storytelling that I didn't 
notice that it was getting dark."

"Well, we can't get to Slateport if we can't see where we're going!" 
Old Man Bridges admitted matter-of-factly.

"I guess so."

"Anyone, Miss Cassie, I believe it's your turn."

"Oh, yes.  Now... where was I?"

======

Cassie narrated as her 10-year-old self, well, two days younger than 
that, skipped around town with a few wild Rattata and Oddish as some 
neighbors watched happily from their porches.

"My journey was considerably easier than Arius'.  Not to flaunt or 
anything, but I was known for being a Pokémon prodigy in my hometown 
of Poli."

"Actually, you are flaunting, Cassie dear."

Flash a few days forward to Cassie receiving her trainers' license and 
her first Pokémon, a Bulbasaur.  One more day later, Cassie was 
waving farewell to her family, friends, and fellow townsfolk as she 
left on her journey.

"Despite their worries about sending anyway out as a beginner trainer, 
everyone at home thought that I had what it took to make it.  So, off 
I went into the great big world.  It didn't take me long to make a 
name for myself... well, at least to one certain person..."

Cassie and Bulbasaur ended up facing down Gary and his male Nidoran for 
her very first battle.  One, thanks to sheer determination and great 
planning, Cassie ended up winning... to the dismay of Gary's cheer 
squad.

"'The next time we meet, you won't be so lucky,'" Cassie remembered, 
imitating Gary's voice.  "That's what he said after I beat him."

"And he stalks you like every rival should," Arius commented.

"Because he knows greatness when he sees it."

"Embellishing again, honey."

"Anyway..."

Fast forward over the course of a few months, as Cassie quickly 
amassed a powerful team and made her way through the Kanto League gyms 
with little resistance.  With eight badges in hand, she seemed ready 
to head to the Indigo Plateau and compete in the Pokémon League.

"Not to say beating eight gym leaders was a piece of cake, but on my 
way to Indigo, I was presented with something more challenging..."

======

"I am Randy Vicardi!"

"And I am Jones McCray!"

Two twenty-something men had approached Cassie on the way to the Indigo 
Plateau, and they had challenged her to a Pokémon battle.

"I don't know why you two are eager for a match," Cassie said aloud, 
"but even with a handicap, this should be a cinch.  Let's go... Abra!"

Cassie threw a Pokéball out, and Abra emerged from inside of it.

"I choose you, Clefairy!" Randy yelled, tossing a Pokéball out.

"Let's go, Farfetch'd!" shouted Jones.

"Clefairy, Double Slap!"

"Farfetch'd, Sand Attack!"

Clefairy and Farfetch'd charged at Abra from either side.

"Abra... Teleport!"

Abra teleported to Cassie's side, leaving Clefairy and Farfetch'd on a 
collision course that, upon contact, knocked both Pokémon out.

"Very impressive," Randy admitted as he and his friend recalled their 
Pokémon.

"How would you like some special training?" Jones asked, reaching into 
his pocket and handing Cassie a business card.

"Um... okay..."

======

"You know what I just realized?" Arius interrupted.  "That battle 
sucked!  How did that prove anything?"

"I'll side with your boy here," Old Man Bridges added.  "These guys 
must have been crazy to call that battle anything close to impressive."

"And for some reason, I bought it," Cassie chuckled, lightly bonking 
herself on the head with her fist.  "I guess I wasn't thinking that 
day."

"Wouldn't be the only time," Arius muttered under his breath.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that!" Cassie growled as she resumed her 
story.

======

"After thinking about it for all of about five seconds, I decided to check 
it out.  So, off I went on the opportunity of a lifetime."

Cassie gasped as she got her first glimpse of the headquarters of the 
Pokémon Trainers' Association.  As far as she could tell, they had 
everything.  From a trainers' school to a breeding center, a research 
facility to a four-star restaurant, and everything in-between.  Or just 
about, anyway.

"It seemed like the perfect place for young talents such as myself to 
raise our Pokémon at any pace we felt comfortable.  There were some there 
who would casually come around when they had the time, maybe once or twice 
a month.  Then, there were trainers like me..."

======

A group of twenty fellow trainers, all of varying ages, watched with 
amazement as Cassie and Bulbasaur easily used Leech Seed to down five 
targets at varied distances... the last being fifty feet away from them.

"Wow!"

"Amazing!"

"Are you sure this is only your third time?"

"I guess that smashes the old record of nine attempts for one's first 
perfect score, huh?"

======

The same group watched closely as Cassie directed her Abra through a 
series of obstacles designed to test a psychic Pokémon's teleporting 
abilities.

"Through the tossed ring..."

Cassie through a hula hoop into the air, and Abra teleported into 
the middle of it as it reached its peak, before disappearing again 
shortly before gravity pulled the hoop back down.

"Into the enclosed space..."

Cassie pointed to a rectangular box which had a glass window on the 
front side of it.  Abra teleported inside and into the small space 
within the box, without breaking the glass at all.  He then escaped 
just as easily.

"And nothing but net!"

Abra appeared just above the rim of a nearby basketball court hoop 
and curled himself into a ball.  He fell right through the center of 
the hoop, falling to the ground, where he uncurled and landed, feet 
first, on top of his trainer's head, who had been waiting for him.

"Ta da!"

======

"Please identify this Pokémon silhouette!  Anyone?"

Amongst a class of about a dozen trainers, Cassie was the first to 
enthusiastically shoot her hand up.  The professor quickly pointed her 
out.

"That's a Jigglypuff, seen from above!"

"That is correct!" the professor replied as he revealed it to be so 
on the screen.

"How does she know all of this?" murmured one of the other students to 
another.

Cassie glanced to the seat to her right and saw a young boy, maybe a year 
older than her or so, scratching his head in confusion.

"I don't get it," he muttered.  "I don't see how we're going to need to 
know this in the real world."

"Actually," Cassie cut in, "it's really easy once you get used to seeing 
the figures."

The boy turned to look at Cassie, who was leaning over towards him with a 
pen in hand.

"For example, this Jigglypuff question has been on the Pokémon League 
Testing Center Exam for three years straight!  People must not recognize 
it, since only 12 percent of the test-takers actually got this one correct 
on the most recent exam."

"How did you know that?"

"I've been studying old exams from the past two decades.  They keep putting 
a lot of the same stuff on them because only about 20 percent of test 
takers get a passing score of 70 on the written part.  That percentage 
would be a whole lot higher if people utilized the resources their local 
Pokémon Center can offer them."

"Wow... you're pretty bright."

"Not really," Cassie blushed.  "People scoff when I tell them that I'd 
rather travel around and earn gym badges like everyone else instead of 
using my smarts to get into the League through the Center Exam.  But I 
just like traveling... you know?"

"My name's Arius," introduced the boy.  "Arius McFly."

"And I'm Cassie Banks," she returned with a smile.  "Pleased to meet you!"

"Would anyone like to identify this Pokémon silhouette?" the professor 
asked, putting another on the screen behind him.

"So... any hints to this one?"

"Well, maybe you should pay attention to the spines sticking out of its 
back..."

======

"Arius, being the blockhead that he is..."

"Hey!"

"Kinda latched onto me from that point on.  Apparently, the stuff they 
were offering here was a whole lot more complicated than what they offered 
at the Trainer's House in Celadon, so he needed some coaxing into the 
right direction.  Especially since he had only been there about as long 
as I had... which at the time, hadn't been long."

======

Months had passed, and Arius and Cassie seemed pretty much inseparable, 
as everyone around them noticed that they were doing everything together.  
Save for sleeping in the same room... they were barely teenagers, after 
all.  Nevertheless, from afar Randy and Jones were observing them, and 
they had pulled a third into watch mode.

Their future chaperone and supervisor, Patti Masters.

"Apparently, we worked so well together that it was eventually decided 
that we should become partners."

Patti approached the two outside and they nodded in unison, apparently 
agreeing with the decision.

"Naturally, that wasn't a problem for us.  Well... sort of..."

======

"Somebody stop that Pidgey!"

A Pidgey with a small piece of paper attached to one of his legs flew 
through the sidewalk shop-crowded streets of Asochee Town.  Not too far 
behind him was Cassie, trying to chase the Pidgey down.

"Remind me why I'm chasing again," Cassie spoke into her communicator.

"Because that Pidgey is carrying a secret message," Arius responded.  
"And Patti ordered us to intercept it."

"That's not what I mean!"

"WATCH OUT!" yelled a vendor.

Cassie stutter-stepped a duo who was carrying a rolled-up rug and 
were turning it every which way, without a care for anything or 
anyone they might accidentally bop with it.  Ducking under it, she 
continued on, seeing that the Pidgey was getting away.

"What was that?" Arius asked, not having heard her the first time.

"I meant, why am I the one chasing him and you're the one setting the 
trap?"

Arius was about two blocks away, sitting on a roof overlooking the 
street, which at that point was abandoned save for a few trash cans 
and the odd passerby or two.  In front of him was Cassie's laptop, 
made evident by the Meowths wearing pink dress and ballet shoes on 
the background of her screen.  It had a built-in camera, which was 
peering down in the direction from which the Pidgey and Cassie would 
eventually come from.  Arius also had a pair of binoculars in hand, 
and he was watching the street as well.

"Because you had one of your 'I can SO do your job better than that' 
moments, and I accepted your challenge."

"Well, next time I do that, do anything you can to talk me out of it!"

Suddenly, some Torchic on sale at a nearby stand broke out of their 
cages and flew right into Cassie, blinding her long enough to get her 
change direction and guide right into a grouping of potted plants.  
The ceramic pots, unfortunately, broke as she fell onto them.  The 
Torchic leaped away in time to avoid being squashed between Cassie's 
face and the ground.

But that wasn't necessarily good news for Cassie.

"Oof!"

"Cassie?  Cass... what's up?"

"Ugh... that hurt!" Cassie whined as she rolled over so that she was 
looking up to the sky.  And at a street vendor that was very angry 
at her.

"Cass?" Arius asked again from his perch.

"Um... call you back later.  I kinda made a mess down here..."

With that, the audio channel carrying Cassie's voice closed.

"Oy!" Arius shook his head in disbelief.  "I knew this was going to 
be a bad day."

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Arius spotted the Pidgey 
leaving the market and trying to climb to a higher altitude.  And 
Arius was sitting right in the direct path of the approaching Pokémon.

"Well... maybe this won't be a total loss."

Pidgey lifted his wings up, hoping to change his ascent to a steeper 
angle and avoid Arius.  But the young trainer was having none of 
that.  Arius jumped up and reached for Pidgey's leg.

He grabbed onto the piece of paper and ripped it away from Pidgey's 
leg.  Unaware of it, Pidgey continued to fly higher and higher, more 
concerned with escaping.  Meanwhile, Arius was prematurely celebrating 
his success, not watching his footing as he landed back on the roof.  
Only one foot made it, as the second to come down missed it completely 
and Arius fell off, hurtling to the ground below.  All the while, he 
instinctively continued to clutch onto the message with his left hand.

"Drowzee, Psychic!"

"Drowzee!"

A Drowzee had appeared, using his psychic abilities to slow down Arius' 
fall and reposition him so that he landed feet first.  As he touched 
ground, the blue aura around him disappeared.  Once Arius was safe, 
Drowzee disappeared back to the safety of his own Pokéball.

Which Cassie was holding, about ten feet away.

"Thanks for letting me borrow your Drowzee, by the way.  And now you 
have a reason to thank me for giving you that TM to teach it Psychic 
early, huh?"

"Ca... Cassie?  But how?"

Cassie smiled as she threw a wallet at Arius' feet.

An empty wallet.

HIS wallet.

"Let's just call it even.  Okay?"

"You... you... YOU JUST SPENT ALL MY MONEY ON YOUR MESS?"

"Thanks for the gratitude!  I JUST SAVED YOUR LIFE!"

Arius and Cassie continued to argue for several minutes on end, 
unaware that Arius had released his grip on the piece of paper he 
had taken from Pidgey.  It had unfurled and was lying face up on the 
ground.

It read 'Mission Complete.'

======

"It's been tough at times," Cassie admitted, "but there isn't any other 
guy I'd rather be with."

"I agree," Arius said with a smile.  "She's one in a million... I 
wouldn't want to be with anyone else."

"Now that's what I'm talking about," Old Man Bridges said as he snapped 
his fingers excitedly.  "Unconditional love at its finest!  And just 
in time too..."

Bridges turned around and Arius and Cassie followed his line of eyesight.  
Just ahead was Slateport City, and the lamplights on the pier served 
as an indicator as to where to dock.

======

A few minutes later, Arius was helping pull Cassie off of the boat.  
Once she was safely on the pier, Old Man Bridges handed them their 
backpacks.

"Well, good luck to you," Old Man Bridges told them.  "And no more of 
them silly fights, okay?"

"We promise," they said simultaneously.

"Are you heading back already?" Cassie asked.  "Is it safe traveling 
alone at night?"

"Don't worry about me.  Besides, I'm an island man.  These big cities 
on the mainland don't suit me much."

With that, Old Man Bridges pushed his boat away from the pier and 
started rowing after his Lanturn, who was lighting the way.  The two 
teenagers waved farewell as Bridges disappeared into the darkness.

"Aren't you glad I found such a nice old man to give us a ride here?" 
Arius smirked.

"Nice to see you carrying your weight, if that's what you mean," 
Cassie stated in response.

"You know, if it wasn't for me, we would've been sleeping on the beach 
on Dewford Island, waiting for the morning ferry!  And all because 
you wanted to wait for that guy, Ash."

"Hmmm... I'm still curious as to why he insisted on meeting me in 
person."

"Forget him.  If it was really that important, he would've told you 
upfront.  Who in their right mind chases after people just to tell 
them something?"

Cassie sighed.  "I guess you're right."

"Okay... now that that's settled, let's check-in at the Pokémon Center.  
In the morning, we'll do some research and find out all about the gym 
leader here.  After all, you're the one who always wanted to go into 
a battle prepared for anything."

Arius started walking into the city, as Cassie stood and stared back 
at the sea they had came from.  She glanced as far as she could with 
a worried look on her face.

"Was he... nah.  He couldn't have been."

"Unless you can teleport," Arius called out, grabbing her attention, 
"you'd better move it before we end up sleeping on the floor!"

"Coming!" Cassie cried as she sprinted off after her boyfriend.

======

Out at sea, Old Man Bridges continued to row behind his Lanturn.

"Heh heh," he chuckled, "looks like they passed the test after all!"

He flashed a toothy grin as he paddled off, back towards Dewford 
Island.


******


End Session: October
Storyline to be continued in Session: November!


******


Author's Notes for 'Session: October':
For readers of the "Adventures Series," did you notice something familiar 
about the film shown in the first chapter?  Yes, that's the same film 
Cassie watched in Episode 42 back in the second season!  But if you 
remember, she was too grossed out to actually finish it!  Note that the 
end also corresponds with Misty's Viridian City gym battle in Episode 
32!  How's that for filling in the gaps?

Speaking of gap-plugging, I'd like to note that though it was not 
specifically named back when Gary and his two cheerleaders were in the 
Orange Islands (AS Episode 52), the restaurant that Jessie and James go 
to... and later Jane and Calamity, is one in the same.  It was the Shore 
Spot, located on the grounds of the Starmie Inn in Trovitopolis!

Jane and Calamity's disguise names, of course, are Frank and Joe.  As 
in the detective brothers duo, the Hardy Boys!  Their alternatives, 
Bert and Nan, refer to Bert and Nan Bobbsey... the Bobbsey Twins!  
Fun fact I didn't know... there were actually two sets of twins in the 
Bobbsey family!  Bert and Nan were the older pair, Flossie and Freddie 
were the younger ones.  Anyway, my love for mysteries all stems back 
to the Hardy Boys.  Read a lot of their books, primarily from the 
original book series.

I kinda made a half-hearted homage joke about Officer Jennys being 
useless.  It's one of the theories of the famed Pokémopolis website 
that I subscribe to... certainly some more than others.  My personal 
favorite, if you haven't guessed... Ash's mom and Professor Oak being 
in love!  Go give it a look, but be aware, you may not necessarily agree 
with everything they say.  Oh, and it's a PG-13 site, so no little 
kiddies should look at it.  Unless your parents let you... but for my 
protection, you're on your own getting the actual link.

More funny stuff... if you notice, the flashback of the scene where 
Misty battles Erika and Meowth evolves into Persian, there's some 
fourth-wall breaking there with an intentional screw-up of how Persian 
remembers it.  Most of the good stuff was cut out of the chapter-split 
version.  Go read the uncut edition to see all the goofiness!

By the way... give yourself a cookie if you figured out what anime I 
was referencing song lyrics for towards the end of Team Rocket's 
planning session (in the scene following the end of the aforementioned 
flashback sequence).  Here's a hint... it's an American dub-only theme.

For those of you wanting to spend more time developing Arius' character, 
as he's gotten so little so far... you got your wish.  As you can see... 
he didn't used to be the strong, dependable young man you know him as 
now.

I'm with Arius, when he refers to how Cassie got recruited to become a 
member of the Pokémon Trainers' Association.  Now that I look back on it, 
they really went easy on her.  Or I wrote that scene to be more 
impressive than it actually was.  Go figure.

This episode also has the first instance of a scene differing depending 
on which version you're reading.  If you're looking at the one that's 
split up into chapters, then you read about a small montage of missions 
the couple went through.  If you're browsing through the full-length 
edition, there's a long scene in which they try to chase down a Pidgey.  
Want another reason to read both versions this month... well, there ya 
go!

And don't worry.  There's still plenty to dive into regarding Arius and 
Cassie's adventures in the PTA.  Stay tuned!

Get ready to go back to the heroes in the 'November Session!'

******

'Session: November' Trailer:
Clamoring for more kimono-clad Erika?  Okay, we've got that.  Want to 
see Ash win a Hoenn Gym battle without calling out a single attack?  You 
won't believe that one.  Need a reason for Gary to lash out on one of his 
cheerleaders?  It involves a bat.  Oh, and are you NOT an Ash and Misty 
coupling fan?  One of her sisters will give you a reason to smile!  All 
of that, plus more of those Rockets you love!

Forget 'Three Short Stories'... in 'Session: November,' prepare for four!