PokeWing Z, Episode 2: A Misty-fying Abduction

A crossover fanfiction by Dustin M. Dixon/ThatGuyWithStuff/Kuwabara Shizuru

At the courthouse over in Viridian City, a long black stretch limo sat parked next to the sidewalk at the bottom of the tall staircase. Midway up stood the newly-released Butch, gazing up at the sky. He sighed, taking a drag from a cigarette and exhaling sharply.

"Well." he spoke up in a voice barely above a whisper. "Never thought I'd see her again…"

"Hey! Get a move on, Butch! The Boss wants us to report back immediately!" Cassidy called out as she ran down the stairs, happy to be out of jail so fast. Behind her, walking at a more steady pace and clad in a tuxedo, was a man with a lighter shade of green hair than Butch sported. The man walked down the steps, hands in his pockets.

"Boss is going to love hearing how fifty of you blew taking down a trio of kids." the man shrugged his shoulders.

"None of your business, Archer!" Cassidy started defiantly.

"Yeah, you're right. How DARE I come down to the courthouse, bail you screw-ups out, and ask WHY you screwed up. Next time I'll just leave you here to rot. We can avoid the 'Archer asking questions' bit altogether." the man flicked his head back, smirking confidently as Cassidy grumbled and looked away.

"Little help here…? she whispered as she reached the same step Butch was on. "…Butch?" her voice raised as she looked over at her partner. "What's up?"

"…Nothing." Butch lied. "We'll talk about it later." He let his eyes meet hers, noting the look of uncertainty on her face. He prayed she wouldn't press the matter any further for the moment… and his prayer was rewarded, as she shrugged gently and settled into the limo across from Archer. Butch took one more look at the overcast sky before joining his partner.

(Title) A Misty-fying Abduction

(Silhouette) Misty

*TWELVE HOURS AGO*

As Lance's Dragonite touched down in front of the Viridian City Pokémon Center, Ash, Misty, and Tracey hopped off, waving to the dragon master as they proceeded into the center proper. Though it had suffered from a massive explosion the first time Ash visited on the day he started his Pokémon journey… the day he both met Pikachu and Misty, and the day he first encountered Team Rocket… it had been fixed up more or less completely. As they neared the desk, the resident Nurse Joy turned from another trainer and waved excitedly.

"Oh! Hi! It's been a long time!"

"Wait… you REMEMBER us?" Ash looked perplexed.

"It's kind of hard to forget someone whose fight with Team Rocket blew the entire front wall off of our center!" Nurse Joy said, the cheerfulness not diminishing – not even for a second. "But more importantly, you're responsible for our most popular attraction!"

"Most popular attraction…?" Ash pondered, as he felt a sharp tug on his arm. He turned to see Misty, her eyes narrowed in comical anger as she used her right index finger to point to what Nurse Joy had hinted at: over on a newly-erected pedestal, turned upside down and held there with various rods and wires, were the charred remains of her bicycle. "OH…" he trailed off nervously, tapping his index fingers together. "It, uh… looks good?"

"Wrong answer." Misty deadpanned at him, smacking him on the back.

"What IS that thing?!" Tracey stared at it with comically-wide eyes.

"THAT… is my old bike, which THIS guy destroyed... and I've been following him ever since." Misty explained.

"Wait… THAT'S why she's been following you?" Tracey turned to Ash.

"Uh, well… there's a bit more to it than that." Ash said, sweating nervously as he felt his longtime companion staring him down. "There was a flock of Spearows, and a thunderstorm, and… and Pikachu…" he recalled the moment in his head like it was just yesterday, though it had been about two and a half years since he began his Pokémon journey. Had it not been for his own noble gesture, Pikachu may not have intervened, and both of them would likely have been torn apart by the flock of Spearows that had been summoned by the lone Spearow he has beaned with a rock in an attempt to capture it. That day, he earned his first Pokémon's undying trust. "And her bike was there, and I was trying to stay alive…" he stammered.

"That WAS a lot of Spearows." Misty put her right index finger to her lip in thought. "But you did still wreck it. And you could have asked."

"Yeah… yeah, I could have." Ash admitted, looking away. He turned back to Nurse Joy, clearing his throat. "Uh, anyway… could you heal our Pokémon? We got sidetracked by another group of Team Rocket agents a couple of hours ago and they took out a good deal of our respective teams." He alternated between pointing at himself and at Misty. She nodded. The nurse flashed them both a smile as they handed over their Pokémon individually. Ash, feeling like showing a more gentlemanly side, allowed Misty to hand over her Pokémon first, setting Togepi in a separate tray brought over by Nurse Joy's Chansey assistant. He followed suit as she returned, handing over his five Pokeballs as Pikachu happily hopped up next to his Pokémon friends. As they were carted off, Pikachu waved cutely.

"As for the three of you… it's awfully late! Do you have somewhere to stay?" Nurse Joy

gestured to the three trainers as she collected Tracey's Pokémon.

"Well… my hometown's not far from here, but…" Ash trailed off.

"Yeah, I'd rather not walk in total darkness back to Pallet Town." Misty looked down. "…As much as I'd want to spend the night there having girl talk with someone who's not about to call me 'runt'.

"It's not girl talk…" Ash raised a finger. "But my ear's open."

Misty turned to her friend, smiling wearily at him.

"…Sure." she nodded, grabbing his right arm and leading him off to a nearby sofa, as Tracey proceeded to flirt awkwardly with the nurse.

"So… penny for your thoughts, Mist?" he turned to her.

"The last twelve hours have been… well…weird." Misty looked down. "Between being assaulted by that other Team Rocket plus fifty grunts and, well…" she glanced up at the space atop Ash's head previously occupied by his Pokémon League Expo Hat.

"Hey… about that hat. I'm sorry if it felt like I was blaming you. I'm not. I'd rather have you around than the hat. If anyone should be apologizing… it's me over your bike-slash-Viridian City's newest attraction." Ash looked over at the charred remains again. "If there's one thing I could've changed about that day… well, I'd change a LOT about that day."

"Like throwing a rock at a Spearow?" Misty questioned slyly.

"Nah… I got several really good friends out of that." Ash took note of the genuine smile on Misty's face. "I'd have tried to catch one after all that, though… and MAYBE avoided taking your bike without permission."

"…That's sweet, but in a way… I'm kind of glad that happened… like you, I met some really good friends. You're one of them." she shifted a bit closer to him.

"Aah… hey, I've been wondering…" Ash shifted his position, crossing his left leg at a ninety degree angle atop his right.

"Yes…?" Misty was all ears.

"What are the odds Lance of the Elite Four would show up there at that cruise ship when we needed him?"

"…Oh." Misty deadpanned, shifting back away from Ash a few inches. "Uh…" she trailed off in thought. "That IS kind of weird, now that you mention it." she sighed.

"Hey guys!" Tracey popped up between them. "What's up?"

"Oh, hey Tracey." Ash greeted, missing the memo on the mood change. "How'd Lance know we were there on the cruise ship? Any thoughts?"

"Uh, heh…" Tracey trailed off. "I guess he was nearby when the Coast Guard picked up?"

"I guess that would make sense, wouldn't it M—" Ash turned to face Misty, only to realize she'd gotten up since Tracey's sudden appearance and walked away. "…Misty?"

"Huh. Did… I interrupt something?" Tracey pondered.

"We were just talking and…" Ash trailed off, looking around.

"Well, it IS close to midnight… maybe she went on to bed." the older boy shrugged.

"Yeah, maybe…" Ash put a finger to his lip in thought. "Maybe we should do the same."

In a separate room of the Pokémon Center set aside for female trainers, Misty tossed her backpack down next to the empty bottom bunk in a huff.

"Aah… BOYS." she pouted.

"Right?" came a voice from the top bunk, startling her. She glanced up at the owner of the voice, who shifted into an upright position, her long legs barely covered by the short nightgown she was currently wearing. Her brown hair cascaded past her shoulders, stopping at a level just under her shoulder blades. Her green eyes were narrowed as she smirked coyly at the younger girl. "They're impossible to figure out."

"Well, good to know I'm not the only one having trouble." Misty laughed, offering a hand. "I'm Misty."

"Janine." the older girl returned the gesture and shook hands. "You from around here, Misty?"

"Er, sort of? I'm from Cerulean City." Misty admitted. "You?"

"No, I'm from… far away." Nina shrugged.

"You mean from somewhere like Johto or Hoenn?!" Misty's eyes sparkled excitedly. "Wow!"

"Yeah…" she chuckled.

"So what do you think of Kanto?" Misty asked. "Are you taking the Pokémon League challenge? What kind of Pokémon do you use? Wh…" she paused, blushing as she realized she was bombarding her new acquaintance with question after question.

"Um… in this order: Kanto's beautiful, I'm here to work, and I favor Psychic types." Janine closed her eyes. "And yourself?"
"Er, I mainly use Water Pokémon. I'm aiming to be the greatest Water Pokémon trainer in the world!"

"Lofty goal!" Janine laughed. "Hope you reach it someday…"

"Thanks! Whatever your goals are, I hope you reach yours too!" Misty flashed a wink and a thumbs up, before letting out a yawn. "Sorry to cut this short, but I'm beat." she lifted up her blanket and sat on the bed. "It was good talking to you."

"Likewise. And hey, whatever guy trouble you're having… you'll get it sorted out, I'm sure." Janine extended her arm past the obscurity of the top bunk in a thumbs up.

"Thanks." Misty smiled, drifting off to sleep soon after draping the blanket over herself, her thoughts on a certain clueless boy who, for all she knew, was still out there with their mutual oblivious friend.

*2:00 AM*

Several hours passed, and all overhead lights had been shut off, with only smaller, weaker lights illuminating the hallways and main corridor for trainers who needed to use the bathroom or anyone in need of getting their Pokémon taken care of at late hours. Within the main lobby, Ash sat once again, looking over at the mangled remains of his best friend's bicycle. Though he tried to downplay it over the course of the two years he'd known Misty, he found himself thinking about it a lot. There was something about her, something different than anyone else he'd come across in his two years on the road. Sometimes she was great fun to be around. Other times, she would seem distant. She was more than willing to be his ear to cry on when he'd sacrificed his hat to save her life from the Gyarados he imagined was now resting comfortably around Professor Samuel Oak's Pokémon laboratory. His Gyarados… he momentarily distracted himself from his previous line of thought by wondering what his new Pokémon would be like temperamentally. Would it be like Charizard was: perceiving him as too weak to be an effective trainer? Or would it be as loyal as his other Pokémon, who have stuck with him through thick and thin?

'Please be the second one.' he thought to himself, worried about what a rampaging Gyarados would do to Professor Oak's laboratory, let alone Professor Oak himself. What would it do to them if he changed one of his current team out for it? To him, to Tracey, or to Mis… to Misty?

'Aah…' Ash quickly ruffled his hair with both hands. Why was Misty such an issue to him right now? He looked back toward the bike once more, as though it held some great spiritual answer or answers for him. After a few seconds of staring, he looked down into his right gold-trimmed pocket at the case he had carried throughout the Indigo League. The badges it formerly housed had been thrown away, as they were now useless with the new League season approaching. Instead, it now served as a home for the OTHER prize Ash had secured in his Orange League victory along with his new trophy: roughly eight hundred thousand Pokecredits. He was still two hundred thousand short for a new bicycle…

'That bike… I wonder if she'll stick around after I get that bike?' Ash thought. Ordinarily, he wouldn't have cared and let her go her merry way, but he had sincerely meant that she was his best friend… the one person in his life as close to him as he was to Pikachu. Now… he couldn't think of not having her around to poke fun at or laugh with. There was probably some lower-tier tournament going on around Kanto or a region close enough to it to where he could earn the remaining money for Misty's bicycle… but was it worth it? There was a chance she could leave, but then… he did promise her… Ash wished for a distraction so he didn't have to think about it anymore. It was then, like manna from heaven, that he noticed someone out of the corner of his eye. Standing there in the hallway, standing at about five feet and seven inches, dressed in a short black t-shirt, trimmed in white, pulled over a red shirt of indeterminate shape –Ash guessed it was either a t-shirt like the one covering it, or even sleeveless- , and with black long pants stopping just short of her exposed ankles, was a young brunette woman, appearing to be in her late teens. Ash noticed her face, in contrast to the pale skin on her exposed arms, was beet red as she looked over at him.

"Uh, hey… sorry. Were you needing some privacy, miss…?" Ash asked.

"…Janine… Uh… uh huh…" she muttered. "P… phone…"

"Oh, right… uh, sorry about that." Ash nodded, walking away, figuring it was time to try and get some more sleep. He failed to take notice, as he left, of Nina's gaze following his retreating form.

"…What a hunk..." She sighed dreamily. She walked over to the phone and looked around, taking great care to make sure absolutely no one was within earshot. As she dialed the seven digits, she opted for no video. A few seconds later, an obviously disguised voice picked up.

"Uh, yeah? Hello?"

"Hey. It's me." she spoke up after regaining her composure.

"Oh. What do you want?"

" Would 'Thanks for getting back to me in a timely manner' KILL you?" she sighed.

"That depends. What's the report on the Pokémon there at the center?"

"Aah… they're all garbage. Mainly Pidgey and Rattata. OCCASIONALLY a Pikachu or Caterpie." she shrugged.

"Great… so why'd Giovanni have us scope this place?" the voice on the other end complained.

"I have no idea… but I'll stick around until the boss gives us new orders. Janine out." she hung up the phone, slyly smirking. She had been, in her own mind, flawless entering the backroom Pokémon storage, not that she would have had much trouble if she were a rookie thief. Viridian City wasn't exactly known for its wealth, so unfortunately for the Pokémon Center, they had to skimp on security, allowing the agent known as Janine to infiltrate it with little more than a bobby pin. As she'd reported to her unnamed contact, though, she'd found nothing of any real value. Sure, the Pokémon she found all had further evolutionary stages, but they were all really commonplace. She didn't see the point in wasting her talents stealing them. There was something much better in this Center that she could use her other talents for…

'God, what a hunk!' she thought again as her mind wandered to the raven-haired boy who had just a few minutes ago went on to the boys' dormitories. 'I wonder if he's single…?' She had hoped he would notice her in that way, but that was a question the morning light would bring, as she walked back to the girls' dorm. With a quick, but quiet discarding of the clothing she had put on to go outside of the dorm, she was once again down to the nightgown she had worn while conversing with Misty earlier. Taking care not to disturb her bottom bunk mate, Janine climbed into her bunk quickly and pulled the covers over her, drifting off to sleep, not daring to guess that the boy she found herself extremely attracted to might also be the one boy that Misty was previously venting about.

'If it is, maybe, just maybe, I can win this new competition…' she thought cheerfully as she drifted off to sleep.

*PRESENT TIME: 10:00 AM*

Giovanni's office with no new Pokémon was the last place Butch and Cassidy wanted to be currently, and yet… here they were, as an angry Giovanni, dressed, as he always was, in his snazzy orange suit with a green vest beneath the button shirt and a red tie to complete the package, paced back and forth, running his left hand through his short brown hair as he spoke up.

"So even with fifty of my men, you two failed on a level only thought possible by those other nitwits?" he spoke slowly, as if he were still processing what he had been told.

"Uh… y… yes sir." Cassidy swallowed hard.

"Wait a second… the child who beat you…"

"It was the same one who was with the girl who foiled our breeding center scam." Cassidy explained. "Ash Ketchum, I think his name was."

"…Ketchum, you say?" Giovanni turned, his expression indiscernible to the two agents he had been scolding. "One second." he held up a finger as he pulled a remote out of his shirt pocket, hitting a button on it and turning to face the screen that had just lit up. "Wendy?" he addressed the woman on the other end of the call: a black-uniformed woman in her mid-twenties with short green hair brushed into two points on each side of her face and parted slightly on the left side of her head.

"Yes Master Giovanni?" she greeted with a polite smile.

"Would you be a dear and patch me through to those three idiots?" he returned her smile.

"Ugh… yes, Master. Though I don't see why you keep them on." Wendy rolled her eyes.

"Join the club." Cassidy commented dryly.

"I don't pay the three of you to THINK… just to DO." Giovanni's tone took a bitterly angry turn.

"Er… yes sir." Wendy nodded, and soon her face vanished from the screen.

A couple of miles away from the outskirts of Viridian City, a familiar trio of criminals from Team Rocket sat in the bushes, with both of the humans sleeping. Only the bipedal cream-colored catlike creature was awake, gazing through a pair of binoculars, looking for any sign of the trio of Pokemon trainers he and his two human partners swore to chase until they successfully captured Pikachu: Ash, the... redheaded girl... and whoever the third guy was. Meowth didn't bother to remember the trainers who weren't Ash Ketchum. He put down the binoculars long enough to glance down at his teammates. Sprawled on the ground, snoring loudly, her long, snakelike red hair remaining firmly in place and making Meowth wonder exactly how she kept it as such, was Jessie, de facto leader of the team. Next to her, sleeping a little more soundly, his periwinkle hair with the center fringe much less of a stylish marvel to the feline, was James, the calmer of the two. He wondered, occasionally, why he stuck around with them despite all their failures. However, he answered his own thought every time with words from his human partners: they were friends, more than just stuck together by obligation. The three had grown particularly fond of each other. He was snapped out of this line of thought with an annoying ringtone sounding up from their portable phone.

"Ring-ring-ring! Ring-ring-ring! Phone call, phone call!" the ringtone startled the two humans awake as Meowth yelped.

"AAH! SURRENDER NOW!" Jessie shouted shrilly.

"GAH, OR PREPARE TO FIGHT!" James matched his female partner's intensity as he was forcefully awoken.

"...Me-owth, that's right?" Meowth chimed in, confused. "Da phone's ringin'." he pointed out casually after a second of silence between them -at least, as much silence as could exist with that ringtone currently sounding-.

"Then pick it UP." Jessie huffed. Meowth pulled the phone out of the trio's shared knapsack, hitting the talk button. "Hello?" he stood there for a second. "Oh! Hey guys, it's da Boss!" he hit the speaker button as Jessie and James assumed a salutory position.

"Jessie, James, Meowth." Giovanni greeted them curtly from the other end of the line.

"Sir!" they addressed in unison.

"That boy you've been following and blowing thousands of credits on defeating... what did you say his name was?" Giovanni wasted no time.

"Ash. Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, boss." James answered quickly.

"Is that so...? That's why you two failed, then..." Giovanni spoke up again, though Jessie noted he didn't appear to be referring to them.

"Uh, the two of-" Jessie noted, a hint of annoyance in her tone, as if she had already known who Giovanni was talking to.

"Hi Messie!" greeted Cassidy, proving Jessie right.

"Ugh... hi, you snobby little brat." Jessie rolled her eyes.

"Ooh, is that Cassidy and Botch?" James asked naively.

"IT'S BUTCH, YOU-" they heard Cassidy's male counterpart yelling from the other end until he suddenly cut himself off. Either Giovanni was fast enough to reach a point where Butch couldn't be heard, or he'd wordlessly demanded the young man's silence. Probably the latter, the trio noticed, as when Giovanni wanted quiet, Giovanni got quiet.

"So..." Jessie trailed off with a smirk. "The twerps got you too?"

"On the contrary, WE would have beaten him and the twerpette if Lance Wataru hadn't shown up." A pause of a couple of minutes followed. Jessie assumed what Cassidy had said angered Giovanni. She was proven right a second later when Giovanni spoke up again.

"So when I told you to tell me EVERYTHING that happened, you didn't tell me EVERYTHING, did you?" Giovanni sounded like a beast about to pounce.

"To be fair, Boss, you kind of called Wendy up and had her get in touch with Jessie and James BEFORE we finished giving you our report." Butch chimed in.

"Right!" Cassidy joined her partner in defending themselves.

"Ugh..." another pause. Jessie, James, and Meowth shared bewildered looks amongst themselves as Giovanni remained silent. As he spoke again, they stood back at attention.

"Right, well I'm willing to admit a bit of unprofessionalism there." he muttered something the Trio couldn't pick up on before speaking up again. They could hear Butch and Cassidy mutter something back, deducing from this that their boss had covered the actual speaker portion of the phone. Suddenly, he spoke up once more. "Where are you now?"

"Uh, we're about two and a half miles from Viridian City on Route 22." Jessie answered.

"Good. Wait there. Ash Ketchum and his friends are IN Viridian City right now."

"How...? We've been here for nearly a whole day!" James whined. "How'd he make it past us without us noticing?"

"According to a text from one of my executives, they flew on the back of a Dragonite."

"An e... executive?" Jessie swallowed hard.

"Yes... I'm sending her partner your way shortly." Giovanni answered, a tone present in his voice Jessie, James, and Meowth couldn't place. "Give him whatever assistance he asks for. Do NOT leave your position." and with that, Giovanni hung up, leaving the three to wonder why a Rocket Executive needed to get involved.

Within a darkly lit room of a nearby cabin, a man sat, adjusting the last-assembled piece of his outfit:a black-and-white-striped party mask with horns curving up and down, into place perfectly. He glanced at himself in the mirror, admiring his purple tuxedo with frilly white undershirt, and matching purple pants and top hat.

"You DO have a flair for the theatrical, Wayne." he commented slyly, or as slyly as his disguised voice would allow him to sound. He was snapped out of his narcissistic moment by the sound of his video phone's ringtone.

"Ring-ring-ring! Ring-ring-ring! Phone call, phone call!"

"Ugh." he sighed, walking over and pressing the talk button as his screen flared to life, revealing Giovanni on the other side. "Gio-dude! What's up?!" he chuckled.

"...That's Boss. Regardless of your position." the older man sighed. "Are you ready to deploy for your next assignment, Wayne?"

"Yeah, I'm ready, and I'll bet Janine's ready too. She just called me about eight and a half hours ago." Wayne talked as though he and Giovanni were equals.

"She let me know about your current target." Giovanni shrugged. "There's a boy staying at the Viridian City Pokémon Center right now."

"'Course there is. If it's got a pe-"

"Yes, yes, she chases it. I know." Giovanni interrupted, unwilling to listen to the younger man's saying. "But YOU... this is right up your alley. The boy's name is Ash Ketchum. Janine sent me a picture that I'm sending you now."

"Ketchum, eh...?" Wayne pondered. "And why do you need MY efforts for this?"

"Think about it." Giovanni answered, irritated.

"Wait..." Wayne trailed off as he looked at the picture Giovanni had sent. "You want this kid DEAD?" he finished with a grin. "I mean... you know I'm good for it, but-"

"He's cost this organization untold amounts of money and set our plans back quite a bit..."

"Dead it is!" Wayne's grin widened.

"Good." a pause as Wayne watched Giovanni wave to someone or someoneS off-camera. He watched as Butch and Cassidy exited the room. "So... clearly you want something el-"

"Else, yes." Giovanni finished in a rush. "There are a couple more targets I want you to take out. Three of OURS, actually."

"Ooh, scandalous!" Wayne laughed. "Is it them?" he held up a wanted poster with Jessie, James, and Meowth on it.

"You're smarter than you dress." Giovanni smirked. "And as a personal favor to me-"

"Make it painful?" Wayne hazarded a guess.

"Indeed. You have your orders." Giovanni hung up, and the messy room, peppered with various costumes and looking as though a natural disaster had stricken it, darkened once more.

"Ketchum..." Wayne trailed off once more. "This isn't your lucky day..." he muttered as he walked over to a door adjoined to a garage, glancing over at his mode of transport: a pink moped. "Perfect!" he thrust his right index finger into the air, grabbing a nearby remote and hitting the button to open the large mechanized sliding door. As he did, cheerful and bubbly music blared from the speaker located on the garage ceiling. "Ugh... darn it, Janine. Stop using my dramatic music boom box for your Pokémon grooming sessions..." he muttered, walking over to the CD player and switching out for a CD that said "Team Rocket motto theme". Just then a different, more sinister theme began to blare. "Perfect." he repeated with a grin. "Now, Ketchum... PREPARE FOR TROUBLE." he hopped onto the moped and sped off.

"Well..." Jessie trailed off, as they stood over what was left of their food. "Who wants to fight me and my Arbok for the pasta primavera?" she raised a fist.

"But there's more than enough for the three of us." James whined. "Friends share!"

"At least let Me-owth have a taste if ya's ain't gonna share a full portion!" Meowth crossed his small arms. Before the three could continue this discussion-slash-argument, they were alerted to an approaching pink moped via its horn, sounding out the opening three notes to their motto. Before they knew it, the gaudily dressed person, standing at roughly six feet, stood before them as his moped continued down the road before toppling over.

"Uh..." Jessie and James spoke in unison before the young man raised a gloved hand to silence them.

"Shh-shh-shh!" he spoke up. A pause followed as they waited for him to speak again. "...I was done. I just wanted to see if you all would be quiet if I held up a hand and shushed you. What's up?" The three looked at him with comically narrow eyes and small drops of sweat forming on the sides of their faces.

'THIS is a Rocket Executive?' James thought. 'He might be younger than US.'

"Uh..." Jessie repeated. "Mister..."

"Just Wayne. Mister doesn't suit a fifteen year old." Wayne frowned.

'He IS younger than us.' James thought, dejected. 'Wait.. an Executive... at FIFTEEN?!'

"...Wayne." Jessie continued. "The Boss asked us to do whatever you wanted."

"Then I'm sure you'll appreciate what's going to happen." Wayne explained. "You catch a rat, and I catch a rat of a different variety!"

"Boss sent you after the twoip, did he?" Meowth asked.

"...It talks." Wayne expressed slight surprise. After a few seconds of shared silence, he spoke up again. "Ahem… yes, I'm going after this Ketchum kid."

"Are you going to dig a hole for him to fall into?" James asked excitedly.

"Um…"

"Give him a wedgie?" Jessie chimed in.

"Well…"

"T'reten to dye da redhead poiple?" A pause. "What? Dat sorta got his attention with da Squoitle Squad."

"Uh… I'm gonna KILL him." Wayne shook his head as all three looked on in genuine open-mouthed shock. "Boss's orders…" he pointed at Jessie. "I LIKE your idea though. Humiliate him before putting him six feet under."

"…Glad I could… help." Jessie stumbled for words, before glancing back and forth between James, Meowth, and Wayne. "Group meeting, you two?" she asked her companions. They huddled a good twenty feet from the young executive. "Hey. I don't know about you two, but I didn't sign up for helping the twerp get murdered."

"I agree, this kid's kind of… what's the word I'm looking for?" James fumbled.

"Dangerously unhinged?" Meowth suggested.

"Yeah! That's the word! Er… words!"

"Do you think this is a problem?" came Wayne's voice from right behind them in a deadpan tone, causing them all to jump in fright.

"Uh, Wayne, sir, no… sir!" Jessie saluted. "Uh… why are you over here? This was meant to be a private…"

"Meeting? Absolutely, but I remembered something he said." Wayne pointed to Meowth. "You said he had a redhead with him?"

"Yeah, some girl from Cerulean City." Meowth shrugged. "Why?"

"…I like your idea as well. You said threatening her got him to pay attention?"

"A little. Again… why?" Meowth was confused. What was this absolute nut job thinking?

"I can use that. One second." he pulled out a cellphone and fidgeted with it for a few seconds, then hit the speaker button.

"Yeah?" Came Janine's voice on the other end.

"Janine, you meet any redheads at that center?" Wayne put his left hand, balled up into a fist, on his hip.

"As a matter of fact… yeah, I did. Why?"

"Picture, please!"

"Jeez, she's MAX thirteen, you creep."

"Well, that's a shame because THAT'S NOT WHY I NEED THE PICTURE, MORON." Wayne scowled.

"Yeah, lemme go get a picture of her real quick. She's still asleep." Janine explained.

"It's like 10:45. Why's a thirteen year old girl sleeping in?" Wayne paused. "Er, save the answer for later. Text that photo as soon as you take it. Wayne out." He ended the call. An awkward pause followed. "So… you guys… ever…" he fumbled around. Suddenly, his cell phone vibrated. "Oh thank GOD." he opened the file and showed the picture of the sleeping Misty to the Trio. "Is this the redhead that follows Ketchum?"

"…Yeah, that's her." James admitted after a moment of hesitation.

"James!" Jessie and Meowth were aghast at his confession.

"Good." Wayne answered, fiddling with his phone again and hitting the speaker button.

"Hello?" Janine answered again.

"Nab her. We're going to bait Ketchum." he laughed.

"Do we really have to do this? He's REALLY attract—"

"I don't want to hear about your… attractions to this kid. Just bring the girl. Use force if necessary." he then hung up, turning to Jessie, James, and Meowth. "And now… we wait."

Janine hung up her cell phone, turning toward Misty, who was finally waking up. She nodded in greeting as Misty opened her eyes, getting a look at Janine's casual wear for the first time.

"Mornin'!" Janine greeted cheerfully.

"Good mor…" Misty yawned. "…ning. What time is it?"

"It's about ten till eleven." Janine shrugged. "You must've been exhausted."

"Yeah… long day yesterday." Misty stood up out of bed. "I could go for a cup of tea right about now." Perfect. Janine could use this.

"I'm not much of a tea drinker. I'm more a Cerulean Coffee gal, but…" she trailed off. "There's a new café that opened outside of Viridian City on Route 22. They do both coffee and a variety of herbal teas." she took note of the gleam in Misty's eye.

"Well, it's been a while since I've had a good herbal tea… but I'm afraid I'm broke." Misty sighed.

"Don't worry, I'll cover you." Janine smiled. And VICTORY, thought Janine, as Misty returned the smile and nodded enthusiastically.

"You know…" Tracey muttered, watching Ash, who had been pacing back and forth for the past hour, one short bathroom break aside. "You could go talk to Misty instead of wearing a hole in the dorm floor."

"She's still asleep. I imagine she'd come back here and knock on the door to wake us up if she'd already woken up." Ash frowned.

"In situations like this, the best thing to do is talk to an adult… like Professor Oak!" Tracey brought up, causing Ash to trip and fall over, dumbfounded.

"Subtle, Trace." Ash's eyes narrowed comically. "But I know an adult I COULD talk to… one I should have called last night." he turned toward the door. As he opened it, he walked out… and right into another person. "Gah!" he yelped, frowning at first. "Watch where you're g—" he cut himself off as he noticed that person was the very girl he'd been unable to get his mind off of the entire night. "Oh, hey Misty."

"Good morning. Are you just now waking up?" Misty asked, an awkward pause following them, made even more awkward by the blushing brunette standing behind Misty.

"Oh, hey, I remember you." Ash turned to acknowledge her. "Uh… Janine, right?"

"Uh huh…" Janine swallowed hard.

"Ash, how do you know her?" Misty tilted her head slightly.

"Aah, I was doing some thinking in the lobby late last night and she was watching me." Ash explained.

"Thinking?" Misty's eyes widened slightly. "What's on your mind?"

"About last night. We were talking and then…"

'He was thinking about our talk? But… oh. Oh my god.' Misty's eyes widened even further as she began to hope for some sort of realization.

"Well…" Ash trailed off, trying to find the words…

"I was wondering if you… could help out with my Gyarados." …and utterly failing.

"Wait, what?! That's got nothing to do with last night's talk!" Misty huffed. "I can't believe you're such a stubborn, clueless idiot!" she stormed off. "Coming, Janine?"

"Uh… yeah…" Janine muttered, walking forward and hugging the wall, as if Ash were a rampaging, highly dangerous Pokémon and that wall was her only safe zone, then as soon as she was clear from Ash's reach, she trotted off at a normal pace.

"…Nice going, Ketchum." he scowled. Just then, Tracey exited behind him.

"Sounds like things didn't go so smoothly…"

"That's putting it mildly. Gah… why are girls so complicated?!" Ash frowned.

"Here are your Pokémon!" Nurse Joy greeted Misty at the front desk, handing over Misty's Pokéballs and, on a separate tray, her Togepi.

"Hey there, Togepi!" Misty greeted cheerfully. "Did you miss Mama? Sorry, I had a bad day yesterday." she prodded at the eggshell-covered stomach of her Pokémon.

"Pppppriiii!" Togepi chirped at its mother.

"Oh, what a cute little Pokémon!" Janine cooed, reaching a finger in. The baby trilled loudly, as Misty turned.

"You ready to go?" she smirked.

"Sure. Let's go." Janine nodded her head, then came to a halt, face beet red once more, as Ash and Tracey stepped out into the lobby. Misty sighed and pushed Janine out the door, ignoring Ash's calling for her. She put on an angry face to him, but in reality, she kind of wanted to cry. Unlike Ash, she had no confusion as to the nature of her thoughts: she had been in love with her friend for quite a long time… perhaps even as early on into their adventure as when they had journeyed to Lavender Town and she thought he had been killed by a falling chandelier. Back then, she had been as confused as Ash had been last night. Her confusion cleared up very quickly, however. She'd danced with him, and she'd dropped various hints to the clueless boy. She had assumed, at times, maybe he WASN'T as clueless as she thought, as he was perfectly capable of expressing jealousy every time she showed interest in a boy, and she definitely noticed. Between Danny and Rudy, two of the Orange Archipelago Gym Leaders, she figured if she acted interested enough in them, Ash might actually get a clue about his own feelings… or rather, what she wanted his feelings to be. What if… what if Ash DIDN'T feel the same way? What if that's what he was implying with that idiotic question about his Gyarados? Of course, maybe Ash was just confused… which was confusing her. Stupid, insensitive Ash Ketchum! She concentrated so much on her thoughts that she had actually stopped walking, prompting Janine to pull her by the hand. At some point into her being pulled, she just started subconsciously walking. She slowly came to her senses as Togepi acted up again.

"Ppppriiii!" it cried. That cry sounded less happy than before. It was almost like Togepi was… scared? She came to her senses fully at this point.

"Togepi, what's wrong?" she looked forward, noticing that they were outside of Viridian City now, and that Janine had let go of her and was now holding a Pokéball in her right hand. "Janine?" The older woman had a smirk on her face as she stared down Misty.

"Hon… you should REALLY watch who you agree to go out for coffee with." her tone sounded more sinister. "You never know what he or she might be plotting."

"Plotting…?" Misty's eyes widened enormously. "What do you mean plotting?! Who are you?!"

"Let me put it to you this way… PREPARE FOR TROUBLE." Misty gasped in shock, doubly so when a voice spoke up from behind her.

"And make it double!" she turned to see a purple suit-clad man, his facial features entirely obscured by a large party mask with two horns curving upward, and two horns curving downward. His hair was covered with opaque mesh, its color completely indiscernible to the younger female. To complete the look, he wore a purple tophat.

"No…!" Misty realized what was going on: she had run afoul of a THIRD group of Rocket Agents. But… why were they after her? Did they want her Togepi? Before she could answer, Janine spoke up again, kicking off their own variation of the Team Rocket motto.

"To incite fear in all creation!" Janine grinned.

"To wreak havoc on every nation!" Wayne joined his partner back to back after setting off a smoke pellet.

"To pass judgment from high above!" Janine leapt forward from her position, using her left arm as kind of a shield, as her right arm extended behind her.

"On all of those you know and love!"

"Janine!"

"Wayne!"

Janine threw her shirts and pants off in one set of motions, revealing a skin-tight black bunny suit underneath, complete with fishnet stockings. "We're Team Rocket…" she trailed off, placing her own party mask on, as well as a set of bunny ears. "…aiming our sights beyond the sky!"

"Give up now…" Wayne tiptoed backward rapidly until he and his partner were perfectly back to back. "…Or you're gonna die!" Suddenly, without prompting, one of the Pokeballs on Wayne's belt opened up, and out popped a Magneton, stunning Misty as it spoke.

"That's not inappropriate!"

"AAH! IT'S 'THAT'S NO LIE'! AMP, WE REHEARSED THIS!" Wayne shouted, clenching his fists in anger.

"Wait…" Janine trailed off, a large sweat drop forming on the side of her face. "We rehearsed this? You just said 'Hey, listen to this!' and blasted that damn boom box of yours!" A pause, as Misty's initial shock turned to exasperation. "And another thing… what is THIS awful thing?" she pointed at her costume.

"It's… a bunny suit… cause I'm dressed like a magician."

"I feel like something's going to pop out!" Janine griped.

"Hey, it tested well with our male audiences ages 18 to 25!" Wayne threw his arms in the air. "What more do you want?! I thought you LIKED attention from boys!"

"NOT LIKE THIS!" what little of Janine's face could be seen was now beet red once more, turning to Misty, who was quietly stepping backwards. "I mean, look!" Misty froze in place. "She's not intimidated by this! She thinks we're fools, Wayne!"

"Well, we'll just have to show her we're not fooling around!" Wayne pointed at Misty, who rushed to grab a Pokéball with her right hand while cradling a crying Togepi in her left arm. Wayne horrified her, however, as he casually drew a small 9 millimeter pistol, tucked neatly under his pants, and shot the Pokéball, the force of the bullet causing it to fly backward out of her hand. "Like that. See that, Janine? THAT is pure TERROR." he seemed to stare directly at Misty, who swallowed hard, her eyes wide. "She's afraid she's next… and if I didn't need her, she'd be RIGHT." he then smirked. "Janine, get that… thing." he pointed his free hand at Togepi, who Janine walked over and collected. It started to rhythmically wave its hands as it was picked up… only to be shocked into unconsciousness by Amp. Misty reached out for her baby Pokémon.

"Ugh…! TOGEPI!" she yelled, starting forward, before Wayne trained his pistol on her once more.

"Look, just cause I need you alive doesn't mean I WON'T shoot you." Wayne frowned. "So stay put, like a good girl, and get those hands in the air!" Misty, scowling, reluctantly obeyed the ridiculously-dressed man. "Good…" he turned to Janine. "Tie her up." As Janine forcefully lowered Misty's arms so that she could carry out her partner's order, Misty wondered fearfully what was in store for her…