DISCLAIMER: i don't own Pokemon but if I did...well, let's just say Misty would hit Paul with her invisible mallet and Buizel would evolve into Floatzel...NOW!!!


Imitation Creation

When Misty Waterflower woke up that morning of September 8th she had no idea what she was going be doing for that day other than her usual duties as the Cerulean City Gym Leader. She stretched and turned over in her bed a bit, snuggling against her pillow before she realized she had turned the wrong way as the sun hit her eyes full force, springing them open and causing her to shield them from those blighting rays now entering in through her bubble patterned curtain. She slipped out from under covers and strode over to the window, jerking the curtains across angrily, blotting out the sun.

"Stupid sun, ruining every day…" Misty grumbled angrily under her breath as she turned to her bed. But as she looked at it, she realized that she was no longer tired, all thanks to that big flaming orb of fire in the sky. She sighed to herself and resigned herself to the fact that she was now awake. She quickly slipped her feet into her Spheal designed slippers and walked over to where Azurill was sleeping peacefully, nudging the small blue Pokemon. "Come on Azurill, time to wake up, sweetie." Misty poked it lightly and Azurill stirred slightly. Misty waited until at last Azurill opened its eyes and saw Misty.

"Azu azurill!!!" It cried out and hopped into Misty's waiting arms. Misty smiled as the Pokemon nuzzled itself against Misty's bosom affectionately. Misty laughed lightly and allowed Azurill to jump on her shoulder before she proceeded downstairs, yawning slightly. When she finally made her way to the kitchen area of the gym she saw that it was empty save for last nights dinner dishes that Lily had promised to do the night previous. Misty found her infamous temper rising but pushed past in lieu of getting breakfast for herself and making some food for the Pokemon. She had just made Azurill some food and made herself some pancakes while sitting down to drink coffee when all three of her sisters stepped in.

"Oh, like Misty is that coffee for us?" Violet asked as she walked in and Misty gave all three of them a death glare, quickly raising her own mug away from the grabbing sisters. Daisy quickly grabbed a hold of Lily and Violet and pulled them back. If there was one thing she knew not to mess with then it was most certainly an angry Misty in the morning.

"You three aren't getting any breakfast until you finish those dishes." Misty said scathingly and all three cowered. "Then I'll allow you to make breakfast for yourselves while I feed the Pokemon."

"But Misty…like, we totally got our nails done yesterday and by doing dishes today it would, like, totally ruin our trip we were planning to go shopping." Violet complained but yet another evil glare from Misty silenced her utterly. "Never mind, we'll like do the dishes." Misty leaned back in her chair, smug with herself as her three sisters started arguing about which one of them would do the dishes. Azurill chirped happily next to her. It only took them twenty minutes and three "broken" nails later for the dishes to be cleaned, dried and put away. With that, Misty felt satisfied and left to go and feed the Pokemon. This was her routine every morning. She would wake up, eat breakfast, yell at her sisters, feed the Pokemon, battle trainers, eat lunch, battle more trainers and then relax at gym closing. It was no sooner than she had finished feeding Gyrados than a trainer stepped in to challenge her.

"I challenge this gym to a battle!" the trainer said and Misty thought, for a moment that she recognized him from something Ash had described about his travels a year ago…though she couldn't exactly place it. He had big, bushy blonde hair and wore a white and orange striped t-shirt completing the combo with a green tie. Misty dusted off her hands of the Pokemon food residue.

"All right. If you'll just hold on, we can start in half an hour." Misty said, looking at him strangely. Everyone knew most gyms weren't open to challenges this early. So what was this guy's deal? He looked a little miffed at this prospect but agreed to wait in the waiting room. Misty shook her head as he ran off quickly. Misty quickly made her way back to her room and changed clothing into her yellow shorts and red shirt with yellow vest over it. She made sure her hair was tied into its usual side ponytail so as to avoid distraction in battle. Then she made her way back downstairs and into the kitchen where her sisters were chatting. "We have a challenger and I need one of you to referee."

"Aw, but like, Misty, we already had to do the dishes this morning…" Lily complained and a vein started pulsating in Misty's head.

"Lily, that was your own fault for not doing the dishes! Now somebody REFEREE!!!" Misty yelled, her voice reaching new heights as her anger spiked towards her sisters. Daisy was the one to stand up, walking over to Misty and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Like, all right, baby sister, I'll referee for you." Daisy stated comfortingly and Misty threw up her hands exasperatedly as she strode from the kitchen towards the waiting room. As soon as Daisy checked she was out of earshot she turned to her other sisters. "You two owe me." Daisy then stalked out, coming up behind Misty who was greeting the challenger.

"Well, if you're ready we can begin our battle. What's your name?" Misty asked kindly, and though it seemed that her anger towards her sisters had abated, Daisy knew that it had not. The orange eyed challenger suddenly stood up and thumped his chest proudly.

"I'm Barry from Twinleaf Town!" the trainer announced and once more, Misty thought she had heard that name before but it didn't register into place. She merely smiled at him and said a "Nice to meet you" before she led him back into the arena where Daisy took her place near the stand at the side of the massive pool. Misty and Barry then took opposite sides. "So, what are the rules?" Misty looked to Daisy.

"Oh, right, this is an official battle between the challenger Barry of Twinleaf Town and the Gym Leader Misty Waterflower of the Cerulean Gym." Daisy announced in a voice that sounded rather bored at the proceedings. But when Misty cast her a warning glance she suddenly acted much more interested. "The battle will be a three on three match with only the challenger being allowed substitutions. The battle will be over when all of either sides Pokemon are knocked out. Begin!"

"All right! Let's go Staraptor!" Barry announced loudly and out of its pokeball emerged the bird-like Pokemon with a cry of its own name. Misty was surprised at this move as most challengers waited to see what Pokemon she would choose before picking out their own. Maybe he was truly confident he would win. Misty smirked a bit and pulled her own pokeball from her belt. Out of it emerged the white form of Dewgong.

"You're allowed the first move Barry." Misty said and Barry put one foot forward in a near seeming victory dance.

"I'll be happy to!" Barry announced loudly. "All right Staraptor, Aerial Ace!" Staraptor immediately obeyed its trainer's order and dived with a cry. Misty quickly analyzed the attack situation.

"Dewgong, under the water!" Misty ordered and the Pokemon quickly dove in. The Staraptor skimmed the surface of the water and pulled back up, completely missing its mark. Barry grimaced a bit but somehow formulated a solution in his mind.

"Flap your wings toward the water and get Dewgong out of it!" Barry ordered and Staraptor started flapping its wings in very quick succession. Misty gave a cry as Dewgong suddenly was forced out of the water with its own shout. But Dewgong acted on instinct and shifted its body around, facing towards Staraptor. "All right, let's use Aerial Ace!"

"It's coming straight for you, Dewgong. Now use Aurora Beam!" Misty ordered and its execution was flawless as a brightly colored beam flew from Dewgong's horn and struck Staraptor. Staraptor writhed in pain as its body glowed with different colors before it fell down and hit the water with a splash. It stayed under for a few seconds but soon surfaced, knocked out. Daisy's hand quickly splayed out towards Misty.

"Staraptor is, like, totally unable to battle so Dewgong wins." Daisy announced and Barry growled slightly as he called his Staraptor back. Misty waited to see what Barry would call out as his second Pokemon. He tossed his next ball into the air and out onto the floating platform emerged a Roserade. Misty smiled to herself. She didn't make a move, thus indicating to her opponent that he was allowed the first move.

"All right Roserade, let's use Magical Leaf!" Roserade lifted its arms into the air and a number of leaves appeared surrounding it. Roserade then thrust forward and the leaves flew at Dewgong. Misty quickly ordered for Dewgong to dive under the water. But it was a futile gesture. The leaves quickly soared through the air and into the water, quickly cutting through it and striking Dewgong beneath the surface. Dewgong gave a cry and Misty ordered it to surface, avoiding the possibility of that attack again. "All right, let's keep it in place Roserade and use Stun Spore." Roserade obeyed and Misty saw Dewgong beginning to freeze in place from the paralysis that was now affecting it. She had to take a chance, there was nothing else for it. She ordered Dewgong to dive, but be quick about. Once again, Barry ordered Roserade to use Magical Leaf.

"Out of the water Dewgong, and use Aurora Beam!" Misty ordered and as the Magical Leaf flew straight on, Dewgong unleashed its rainbow beam from the horn on its head. At the same time, the two attacks collided with their opposing Pokemon and both trainers watched with anticipation to see who had won. As it turned out, Roserade had been hit hard by the Aurora Beam but had managed to survive the attack. Meanwhile, Dewgong's heavy damage from the Magical Leaf rendered it unconscious. This time, Daisy raised her hand toward Barry.

"Dewgong is unable to battle so, like, Roserade is the winner." Misty called back Dewgong and thanked it for a great battle against Barry's Staraptor. Misty reached for the next pokeball on her belt. She had to be smart against this Roserade because it was on a much higher level than the previous Staraptor. She tossed her next pokeball into the air and out came a Politoed. Misty once more looked at Barry indicating that he had the move.

"All right, Roserade, move in for a Mega Drain!" Roserade quickly started leaping across the various platforms to where Politoed was standing. Misty smirked. It was time for Politoed to debut its move. She had gotten the idea from Ash when he had mentioned the stories about his battle in the Pastoria Gym about a particular Quagsire and Floatzel. Roserade was now moving ever closer to her Politoed and Misty figured there was only one chance.

"Politoed! Ice Punch!" Misty ordered and Barry's orange eyes seemed to widen from across the field. Politoeds fist seemed to brim with the energy of ice as it came at Roserade, just as the Mega Drain came at Politoed. The two fists containing the respective attacks collided in midair and a large distraction of smoke veiled the two battling Pokemon. Misty leaned in to see how Politoed had done. Politoed was breathing heavily and so was Roserade, but Roserade looked no worse off than before and Misty quickly figured out the reason why. Roserade's Mega Drain had contacted at the same time the Ice Punch had hit and so it had absorbed energy while taking damage.

"Come on Roserade, don't give up and use Solarbeam!" Barry ordered and Misty noticed her one moment opportunity to end this fight here and now.

"Come on Politoed, use a Mega Punch!" Politoed ran at the water and dived in, it's fist cutting a swathe through the water as it made its way towards Barry's Roserade and Barry saw it coming. He took a step forward quickly, almost plunging into the water below but righted himself.

"Leap back and keep charging Roserade!" Roserade quickly obeyed and leapt back, granting distance between itself and Politoed. Misty gritted her teeth, hoping that Politoed would be able to bridge the gap in time. Politoed leapt out of the water and dove at Roserade but it was too late.

"Roseeeeeeeeeeee-rade!!!" Roserade cried out and a bright beam of light manage to shoot from Roserade's petals, striking Politoed as it emerged from the water and came at Roserade. Politoed flew back from the hit of the Solarbeam and landed on the platform where it had emerged, fainted from exhaustion of the battle. Daisy looked at the battle with awe. It looked like her little baby sister might actually lose this fight…but then again, there was always the last Pokemon that she had up her sleeve.

"Politoed is unable to battle so Roserade is totally the winner." Daisy said and Misty gritted her teeth at this new development. Barry leapt up and down into the air.

"All right, Roserade, we're going good. But you look tired, so….return." Barry held out his pokeball and with a beam of red light, put Roserade back inside the pokeball. Misty nodded her head. He was being smart about this…but it wasn't going to help him quite yet. "All right Empoleon, let's go!" Barry threw his last pokeball into the air and from it emerged an Empoleon. Misty smirked and threw her final pokeball into the air and watched Barry's eyes widen slightly as from it emerged the roaring Gyarados.

"Not scared of my Gyarados are you, Barry?" Misty asked sweetly and Barry took a confident and triumphant stance.

"Not a chance, let's go Empoleon, Hydro Cannon!" Barry ordered and Empoleon immediately began summoning a large orb of water by its mouth. Misty gave no order to Gyarados and she didn't need to as when Empoleon let off its Hydro Cannon at last, Gyarados dived under the water and completely avoided the attack. Barry and Empoleon whipped their heads around in synch, looking for what just happened.

"Come on Gyarados, show them your Twister!" Misty yelled out and Empoleon felt the floating pad beneath it begin to rumble. Barry quickly shouted out an order for Empoleon to get into the water. It obeyed but as Gyarados emerged it got nicked by the Twister attack and tumbled a little less gracefully into the water. Gyarados turned around to face Empoleon and Misty smiled. "Use Dragon Breath!" Gyarados instantly acted on it but Empoleon dove under the surface to avoid the attack as the green flames lit the entire pool area in a dazzling display of near pyrotechnics.

"Show 'em your Metal Claw Empoleon!" Barry ordered and Empoleon quickly jumped up from the water as it's wings shone with a brilliant white hue, aiming for Gyarados' long body but Misty once again, didn't give Empoleon a chance to blink, quickly ordering a Hyper Beam. Empoleon had no time to dodge and the Hyper Beam struck it dead on and it crashed into the water, soon emerging with no energy left.

"Empoleon is unable to battle, the monster Gyarados is the winner." Daisy announced and Barry called back his Empoleon, knowing he had one last chance to win the Cascade Badge. He tossed Roserade's pokeball into the air and the Pokemon emerged. Barry quickly ordered a Mega Drain, knowing full well that Gyarados couldn't move after its Hyper Beam. Roserade struck it dead on and started siphoning energy off and Misty silently willed Gyarados to start moving again. Then she saw its tail twitch and knew she'd have to move before Barry noticed. She ordered Gyrados to use Flamethrower. And that was the end of the battle as the flames licked Roserade's form and caused it to faint. "Roserade is unable to battle so Gyarados wins and like, the victor is the Cerulean Gym leader Misty"

"Aw man! We worked so hard!" Barry yelled out as he returned the exhausted Roserade to its pokeball. Misty stepped down and walked over to the hasty trainer.

"Well, feel free to come back and challenge the gym again any time. We'll be waiting. I'll walk you out." Misty said kindly and started walking with Barry. She realized that the battle had actually had a positive effect on her and her previous anger towards her sisters had now all but disappeared. The two finally reached outside and looked up to see the sun much higher in the sky than Misty thought it would be. Clearly, the battle had taken much longer than she had thought. "I have to say, I really enjoyed our battle. Your Empoleon looked very well taken care of and I look forward to our next battle."

"And I'll win the next one!" Barry announced with gusto and Misty shook her head and giggled.

"We'll see." was all she stated and she extended her hand, about to say her farewell to Barry when she noticed the form of someone approaching the gym. From a distance, Misty couldn't discern who it was but she could tell he looked familiar to her. Barry quickly took her hand and Misty barely noticed that he was shaking it as she eyed the figure approaching the gym. She felt Barry let go of her hand and he himself seemed to turn the figure that now had more discernable features.

"Hey, it's Ash!" Barry announced and Misty snapped a look to him with questions arising in all parts of her brain.

"You know Ash?" Misty asked before any part of her could shut down the different parts of her brain that were shouting to her. Barry turned to her with a grin plastered across his face.

"Yeah, he's my rival! But everyone knows that I'm better than him!" Barry announced as Ash approached the two of them. He was still sporting his Sinnoh outfit with blue jeans as usual but a white t-shirt with a black vest over it, blue and yellow stripes expanding across it. "Hey Ash! Over here Ash!" Misty was freezing up. I had only been a few months since she'd last seen him but there were still butterflies burgeoning in her stomach. Ash waved to the two of them.

"Hey, Barry, how are you?" Ash asked as he came over and for some strange reason, Misty felt the butterflies disappear and her insides grow cold. It was almost as if there was something very off about this Ash. But when she looked at Barry, he didn't seem fazed by whatever was holding Misty at all.

"I'm fine. I just took on this gym and lost. But I took out two of her Pokemon so I'll win next time." Barry said rather hurriedly. Ash just laughed loudly and somehow it sent chills down Misty's spine and she couldn't figure out why. What was wrong with her?

"Yeah, well, Misty's a pretty hard battler, especially with that monster Gyarados." Ash said humorously. Barry nodded quickly.

"Yeah, well, I gotta go now and train so I'll catch ya later. Bye Ash!" Barry said and he suddenly raced off, leaving almost no time for either of them to say goodbye to him. Misty turned to Ash who looked slightly nervous, almost unsure about something. Misty looked curiously at him.

"What's wrong with you Ash?" Misty asked, though the first thing she had wanted to give him was congratulations on winning the Silver Conference. Normally he was never nervous. Ash was always the type to rush into things without thinking. He and Brock had even shared a story with her about a time in Hearthome City where Ash had put on a blue wig and dressed up in nothing but a striped black and yellow ape-man like thing and he wasn't even nervous then.

"Oh, I'm just worried you're going to burst out in anger towards me cause I didn't tell you I was coming so you might not want to really see me right now and…well…you know." Misty looked at him for a moment before her eyes narrowed and anger started pulsating in her veins. Something off or not, the notion that she would not want to see Ash made her boil.

"Ash Ketchum, you have to be the biggest idiot in all of Kanto to think I wouldn't want to see you after half a year! Honestly, I'm surprised you can even win any Pokemon battles with a brain the size of a pea." Misty yelled angrily, her infamous temper flaring up at the fact that Ash was stuttering out an excuse that he didn't call ahead of time because he wasn't sure Misty wanted to see him. After everything the two had been through, that seemed like pure blasphemy. Ash rubbed the back of his head.

"Sorry, Misty." Ash stated and Misty deflated. That was unlike Ash, he never apologized. And he never stopped an argument between them. Then she noticed something more off than when he had apologized to her. A certain something was missing and then her senses finally started clicking in place.

"Ash, where's Pikachu?" Misty asked and Ash froze, his face hardening. It was enough to note that both Brock and Pikachu were gone but now, Ash was freezing up at the mention of his beloved Pokemon's name. Her hand inched ever slowly towards her pokeball as Ash's now cold features turned into a sneer.

"I'm afraid, he had to miss our bittersweet reunion Miss Waterflower!" With those words, he tossed a pokeball to the sky and Misty reacted on instinct, also throwing her own out onto the field. A bright light filled the immediate area and when it receded there were two Pokemon now outside the Cerulean Gym. One was the form of Misty's Gyarados in its roaring glory and the other was of the form of a Honchkrow, rearing and ugly. "Honchkrow, use Sky Attack now!"

"Gyarados, counter with flamethrower!" Misty cried and Gyarados reared back and flames spat from its mouth but Honchkrow took the heat and then charged forward, striking hard against Gyarados. Gyarados flew backward and slammed into the wall of the gym. Misty was seething now. "Who are you?!"

"If I were to tell you that, it's ruin the surprise wouldn't it, Miss Waterflower!" There was a sinister vibe coming off the person but Misty couldn't sense anything else. Gyarados stirred next to her and got up, ready for battle. "Still not finished are we? Then let's end it!"

"Sparky, use Thunderbolt!" came a voice that Misty recognized and a large thunderbolt come out and seared towards the Honchkrow which just managed to avoid it. Misty looked over and saw her rescuer trotting towards her. Richie had a set look on his face and his Pikachu beside him was set to match it. "Hey Misty, I saw you come out of the gym. Then I saw Ash come over and came to say hi. But you're not Ash are you? Cause Ash wouldn't attack his friends."

"Am I supposed to feel sympathetic?" the fake Ash said. He then sighed loudly. "Not exactly being fair now are we. Let's even it up. Come on out, Ditto!" Out of the pokeball emerged a Ditto which quickly transformed into a Pikachu that looked exactly like Sparky. "Now that's better. Attack!"

-RRRR-

"What do you mean, 'I've been sighted in Cerulean City'? And what's going on with Misty?" Ash yelled heatedly in the police station back in Viridian City as the entire station was thrown into an uproar. "I'm right here."

"We have reason to believe it was an impostor. As soon as the officer saw him he reported it back to the police station and sent out for backup to help protect Miss Waterflower. We have a strange feeling this Ash Ketchum was out to capture her." the reporting officer stated. Ash started pacing around nervously, Pikachu bobbing on his shoulder.

"How soon will the reinforcements get there?" Jenny asked but the officer could not give her any details. She glanced down at her shoes as she thought about what should be done before Brock at last spoke up.

"Then how about me and Ash go." Brock said and Jenny looked at him with wild eyes. "Think about it. If it's a member of Team Rocket, or this Rocket Four, then we have more experience with them than anyone else. And besides, Misty's our friend; we want to make sure that she's safe." Jenny sighed and thought about it for a moment. Was there really any choice in the matter?

"Fine, we'll take a helicopter over to Cerulean City right away, but I'm coming with you. Officer Stanton, you're in charge." Another officer, this one male with a sturdy body and thick black hair saluted to her. "Make sure you field any calls about this situation toward the police station in Cerulean City and fax any new letters as well. Let's go." Ash and Brock quickly followed Jenny out of the station to a waiting chopper, the same one that had brought them both here. All three of them got in, Jenny taking the pilot's seat while Ash sat next to her and Brock sat in the back. Pikachu sat on Ash's lap, both of them exuding feelings of worry over the state of their friend.

The helicopter lifted up into the sky and began soaring over the plains of Kanto and brushing close to Mount Moon as it did so. Everyone in the helicopter was preoccupied with their own thoughts on the matter and it seemed almost as if Ash had won the Silver Conference months ago now. So it was, in essence, that the entire helicopter ride was silent. It was about noon when the helicopter touched down on the pad atop the Cerulean City police station. The three of them quickly rushed into the station which also seemed to be in just as much of a frenzy.

"Sir!" the officers saluted as they entered and Officer Jenny saluted. "Our Officer Jenny is in pursuit of the target right now. They're currently outside of the Cerulean City gym battling the gym leader and another boy with a Pikachu." Ash gave a glance to Brock and he nodded at him. Clearly somebody was helping Misty out already. Jenny thanked them and threw a pokeball into the air, her Growlithe emerging from it Brock followed, calling out Croagunk. The three then hurriedly dashed from the station and started navigating their way towards the Cerulean Gym. It wasn't that hard to find it due to the intense sounds of battle coming from the area. As they drew closer everything became much clearer.

"Sparky, no!" came the voice of Richie and Ash was relieved that at least they knew who was saving Misty. Ash quickly doubled his pace and dashed toward the gym, which had now emerged in plain view.

"PIkachu, use Volt Tackle!" Ash ordered and Pikachu started blazing towards the clearing, lightning surrounding its entire figure. As soon as Pikachu reached the area and dived upward toward Honchkrow, Richie and Misty turned their heads.

"Whose Pikachu is that?" Richie asked, although he was pretty sure that he had a good idea. Misty smiled and gave the simple response of "Ash." Sure enough, as they turned their heads Ash ran into the clearing and saw the fake him standing there with a shocked yet smug look on his face.

"What's with the fake me?" Ash growled out, slightly angry at the fact that this man decided to impersonate him. He gave a very unlike-Ash chuckle as Brock came up next to Ash, Croagunk standing there languidly.

"Oh, it looks like the real thing is here." the fake Ash said with a shrug of his shoulders. "Guess its time to finish this charade." With a quick flick of his cloak he quickly changed his clothes. He was wearing quite exuberant black and red clothing with black hair and an ugly sneer written across his face. One thing for certain though, was that he looked nothing like Ash. Brock did a double take when he saw him, also noticing for the first time that both Sparky and Gyarados were on the ground. But he knew for a fact that he noticed the man in front of them.

"Brody!" Brock said loudly and the man laughed. Misty and Richie gave him a look, asking who exactly Brody was. "He was a member of Team Magma."

"Note the word was. In other words, I was a member of the former Team Magma." Brody announced with gusto. "You see, now I work for Team Rocket, or rather the Rocket Four. In fact, I am one of the Rocket Four."

"What are the Rocket Four?" Misty asked loudly but Ash's much louder voice cut across her own.

"You're one of the Rocket Four?!!" Ash asked and he smirked. Brody quickly took out his pokeball and returned Honchkrow to its ball as he knew that Ash's Pikachu was preparing to strike it again. Brody didn't respond for a moment but glanced past the group of four as he saw Officer Jenny arriving.

"I'd love to stick around and chat but I've got places to go." Brody said with a shrug as he wrapped his cape around himself and leapt up onto the top branch of a nearby tree. "The whole idea of this ruse was to get you arrested Ash…and capture Miss Waterflower but I guess you can't win them all. Now…Ditto, transform into Seviper and use Haze." Brody's Ditto immediately obeyed and transformed into a Seviper. Ash and Pikachu began running at Brody as a thick black smoke surrounded the group, causing them to cough wildly. In the ensuing chaos Ash tossed out his pokeball that contained his Noctowl and ordered it to blow the smoke away. When the smoke at last cleared, Brody and his Ditto were gone.

"They got away…" Brock sighed out. Misty turned to face Ash.

"Took you long enough to get here, Ash!" Misty snapped at him and Ash quickly turned to face her heatedly.

"Hey, sorry I was in another town. You're just lucky that they noticed there was a fake me before you were attacked." Ash said smugly and Misty turned a purplish hue before she exploded.

"Are you saying that I'm not capable of holding my own in battle?!!" Misty screeched out and Ash stood there and took.

"No, I'm just saying you can't do anything without my help." Ash said with a glare at her and the two seemed to have their eyes lit on fire before Brock intervened.

"Okay you two, break it up." Brock said and Ash pulled away before he glanced down and saw Pikachu greeting Sparky, then he really noticed Richie and how different he was.

"Whoa! Hey Richie, what're you doing here?" Ash asked and Richie smiled. The two quickly shook hands and then Richie decided to answer his question.

"I'm traveling through Kanto and taking on the Battle Frontier and I was stopping by in Cerulean City when I noticed that you were here. I thought it was kind of strange since I had just heard you had won the Silver Conference. Congratulations by the way, so I came to investigate." Richie stated simply and Ash had an eager look on his face.

"How many symbols from the Battle Frontier do you have?" Ash asked but Misty quickly stepped in with her angry tirade.

"Hold on a moment! I think we have more pressing matters here, Ash!" Misty said and Ash turned to her with a confused look.

"What's more important than Pokemon battles?" Ash said and once again the two started glaring at each other before they heard a loud "Chuuuuuuuuu!" and the two fell to the ground, feeling quite electrified. Richie and Brock helped the two of them up.

"Well, I guess you always hurt the ones you love." Richie said and Ash and Misty turned on Richie with a loud "We do not love each other!" Richie chuckled nervously and pointed to Pikachu indicating who he had technically been referring to…although he could plainly see that Ash and Misty did have a thing for each other. Soon, they heard footsteps and saw both Officer Jennies approaching. Brock immediately went into his girl-crazed mode.

"Two Jennies!!!" Brock yelled out and leapt towards them. Misty sighed out and reached out with her hand, only to find that Croagunk had already felled Brock. When the officers asked them what had happened they instantly told them everything that had taken place, and especially the identity of one of the Rocket Four: Brody. In that time-space they also explained who the Rocket Four were to Misty. Very soon after this explanation, all four of the younger ones were heading to the Cerulean City police station.

"Now that we know Brody is one of the Rocket Four," Jenny of Viridian City announced when they had arrived in the station, "I think its time we take a look at the new envelope package." They quickly put the next letter on the screen and the four looked at the letter. But before they had a chance to speak or think, she added something new to her sentence. "I'm sorry for dragging you into this…but…"

"It's okay, Jenny, me, Ash and Misty were mentioned in the last letter and Richie…well, he was just there." Brock stated and Richie nodded with a small laugh and Ash and Misty both rubbed the back of their heads in tandem. Jenny nodded thankfully and turned to the letter and read it aloud.

Are you ready to party, are you ready to play?

Cause the Rocket Four's plan begins today

We've scoured down gym, it's taken us Months

Don't understand this? You must be a dunce

We'll kidnap them all, we've taken your Light

We won't surrender, even with a fight

If you want it back, search the whole earth

Or they'll never make it back to their hearth

-The Rocket Four

Ash was even more clueless on this poem than he was the last, but nobody else could blame him as this was rather difficult to understand for them as well. Why had they capitalized both Month and Light? What was their plan? Brody had mentioned kidnapping Misty and getting Ash arrested but what was their true intention behind everything? The four looked at each other as though together they would have been able to figure it out but still came up with nothing. Even Jenny was stumped as to what this whole poem meant. All she knew was that the Rocket Four were dangerous. Then the other Jenny of Cerulean City stepped in the room.

"Ash Ketchum, Brock Slate, you have a phone call." she said and they looked at each other, before following her into the room where the videophone sat. On the screen was a very disheveled looking Max who seemed to be calling from inside a Pokemon center.

"Max, what's up?" Ash asked and Max began sobbing.

"Th-they're gone…" Max sobbed out and both Ash and Brock gave him a concerned look. "I-I came back home after I took on the Rustboro Gym and…mom and dad are gone."

"Norman and Caroline are gone…where?" Ash asked hurriedly and Max reached into the backpack slung on his back.

"All I got was this note. It said…'Your sis is next'." he said and then he held up the note. Their stomachs flipped over as they saw it, but not because of the note, ore even of the family picture of May, Max, Norman, and Caroline but because of the little red R that was printed above it.


Author's Note: What is the Rocket Four's plan? Well, if I told you right now, I'd ruin the story wouldn't I. I think things are heating up and next chapter will be exciting. I hope you liked my battles and yes, for this particular installment, Richie will play a rather important part. Hmmm…now what does that poem mean? Well, that's another mystery for next time. Sorry, no preview this time so I'll leave you to speculate. Please review, and until next time, Dare to Be Silly.