Part 7
"Will you stop saying sorry, you idiot!"
"Okay, I'm sor—er—"
"Idiot!"
As the black haired child seated to them but a few seats away had his head knocked into his knees after the fiery youth sitting beside him rammed her knuckles against the back of his head, Jessie and James could not help but stare. Sure, they had seen plenty of idiotic squabbles over the years, many of which occurred between them and the Rocket Elites seated a few chairs away, but nevertheless, never had they seen two Rocket Elites seated next to one another argue so damn much!
"You ever get the feeling that destiny just happens to put us together with the weirdest guys on the planet?" Meowth asked, bored.
"Yes, I think it all the time. I guess it's why I'm with you two," Jessie replied, equally as flat.
"Yeah, ag—HEY!" James stammered, staring back at Jessie with a look of horror across his face.
"It's not like it's a huge secret you're strange. You dress up in women's clothing all the time," Jessie replied, sighing, "I mean, seriously, why don't you ever offer to wear the male costume, anyway?"
"Because more often than not the stores you drag me to t' buy those stupid costumes only sell women's clothing!" James bellowed, an accusatory finger pointed Jessie.
"Yeah, well, I—" Jessie began, but was interrupted when an aluminum can flew through the air, slamming into the back of her skull. Jessie tettered forward, falling onto James's torso, the two of them colliding against the floor of the plane in a heap on the ground. The fiery Team Rocket member rose to her feet, only to see the scarlet haired girl seated a few seats away reach for another empty can of soda at the side of her arm, a smug little grin on her lips.
"What in the name of Arceus did you do that for!" James snapped, jumping to his feet.
"Well, you guys just wouldn't shut up," the girl replied, shrugging, only to chug a full can of soda, gulping loudly as the fluid flowed down her throat. As her head was tilted back to swallow the remaining drops in the bottom of the can, Jessie and James could see the dark haired boy, rather small and not very masculine looking at all, urgently gesturing towards them with a shaky grin, as though to warn them not to argue with her unless they wanted to be beaten up like he was.
The girl lowered the can, glancing over at Jessie, cocking her head slightly, shifting her eyes in an amused fashion. Jessie hated that look. It was as though that little brat thought she was so much better than her, so overwhelmingly superior! It was starting to piss her off more than usual! "Look, you little brat, didn't your parents ever tell you not to throw junk at people older and wiser than you?"
For a second, a look crossed the girl's eyes, only for her to smile yet again. "Nope. Sorry."
"Little brat!" Jessie lunged for the girl, only for James to restrain her, holding her back. James felt Jessie's firm rear end rub against his upper thigh, sending a rather sudden rush through his body. What an odd sensation. It was as though he were tipping over the edge of a cliff, the fear of falling down and down and never stopping (a sensation he was by now awfully familiar with thanks to them regularly being knocked into orbit before falling back down to Earth), integrated with a sensation of want, of joy.
Of course, after Jessie elbowed him in the solar plexus, this moment of joy died fast.
"Don't mess with those two, Jessie," chuckled Cassidy, who was looking out the window of their private little plane, "Those two happen to be some of Team Rocket's greatest soldiers: Shi and Ka."
"Shi and Ka? Soldiers? They aren't even ten yet!" Jessie snapped, in shock.
"Hey, I'm fourteen!" snapped the scarlet haired girl, "A lot younger than you, old hag!"
"What did you call me?" Jessie snapped, eyes narrowed.
"You heard me! Old hag!"
"Is she usually this confrontational?" James asked the boy as the two males slowly backed away from their vehement partners.
"Yes, but usually it's directed to me," the boy replied, sighing.
"By the way, out of curiosity, just so I don't call you 'that boy' or anything, are you Shi or Ka?" James asked, confused.
"I'm Shi, and she's Ka," the boy replied in his now familiar soft, high voice.
"Are you from Kanto too?" James asked, curiously.
"No, actually, we're from another place. Really far away," Shi replied, glancing off, his lips set in a frown.
"Oh, I see. Runaways?" James asked, the cacophony of insults growing louder as Jessie dragged the previously uninvolved Cassidy into the argument, the three women breaking out into an all-out insult brawl.
"Not exactly. Well, sort of," Shi replied, "We're sort of—well, it's kinda—it's sorta like—yeah."
"I don't follow," Meowth said, joining the conversation.
"It's hard to talk about, especially to someone like you," Shi replied, his voice soft and downcast.
"Well, we've heard stranger things before," James replied, shrugging.
"Well, ya see, the truth is—" There was a loud crack of thunder right outside the plane as Shi explained everything, making it impossible for James or Meowth to hear. "And I'm not lying."
"Uh, I didn't think you were, but could you perhaps repeat that? I didn't—"
A female voice interrupted both the conversation with Shi and the massive torrent of screams behind them. "We have arrived in Fuchsia City Base. Thank you for your patience. We will be unloading shortly." Resigned to never knowing the truth, James and Meowth joined Jessie and the others as the three teams entered the hidden Team Rocket base that was located in the mountains just beyond Fuchsia City's borders. Hidden in the mountains and cliffs, it was regarded by most as merely a research facility, and nothing more. The trio had heard of this place before, but doubted the boss would ever hold them in high enough regard to let them in.
Nor did he ever.
They just happened to be in the right place at the right time.
After the New Island Base was completely obliterated due to the fires raging out of control, the massive cave-ins that caused the building to fall upon itself, and all the scientific data demolished due to water damage, a Team Rocket plane came to salvage the survivors. How they knew the base was destroyed at that instant was still a mystery to Jessie, James, and Meowth. Did they have sensors telling them the moment the base went down? There were rumors of a psychic amongst the Team Rocket elite known as Frollo, so maybe he knew the base had fallen? Regardless, the how's and why's were truly irrelevant when one realized the grand picture.
They were in on an important Team Rocket mission!
"So that's the only reason you're here? Amateurs," sighed Ka as Cassidy rationalized why the "three bozos" were joining them.
"Amateur! I don't have to take that from a girl going through puberty!" Jessie snapped, only for James to hold her back once more, "Oh sure! You think you're so tough! How the hell did you get here, anyway?"
"Well, we were tracking an Entei," Ka replied, "Of course, as with any Rocket Elite, such a difficult job was really easy."
"So you caught an Entei?" Meowth asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise.
"Well, uh, it narrowly escaped," Ka replied.
"You mean you startled it when you jumped out to catch it," Shi mumbled under his breath.
"Idiot! Don't lie about it! It was all your fault for being too damn slow to keep it from running! I had a great plan, and you screwed up! You're such an idiot!"
"I'm sor—"
"Stop saying that!" Ka snapped.
Eventually, they reached the austere research facility, that truly looked no different than your ordinary scientific building: plain white walls with the occasional window to let sunlight in, but beyond that, nothing truly visually appealing. Jessie and James both wondered whether or not they could add some spice to the place, make it look less like a boring office building and more like a modern evil lair!
However, upon walking into the building, they saw that outside appearances could be awfully deceiving. After passing through the rather attractive yet simplistic lobby, reached the elevator, and, and inserted a specific key Cassidy had in her pocket into a special slot by the call button, they reached an area that bore no resemblance to anything that had floated through any of the Rocket Trio's minds. The elevator had descended to the bottom-most basement, where test tubes covered the tables, where great cylinders filled with liquid lined the walls, each with what appeared to be partially formed fetuses floating around in the center of the juices. They were so primitive it was hard to determine just what they were, but it was clear they weren't human.
"This place looks a little creepy," Ka mumbled under her breath.
"So you haven't been here either?" Jessie mumbled, a smug grin on her lips, "So much for the big shot Rocket Elite crap."
"Hey! I just never needed to sink low enough to actually look at what the lower level members had to do," mumbled Ka, glancing snobbishly at the other workers as they toiled away on concepts that probably were more complicated than anything she had ever thought of. Then again, the complexity of their procedures probably were too complicated for any of them to understand, but Jessie didn't say that for obvious reasons.
"Ah, so you've finally arrived."
Jessie and James, along with Meowth, glanced up at the sound of that voice. There, standing before them, was a slender figure dressed in black leather that trailed behind him, drifting in the wind as he walked. His blue hair fell over part of his face, trailing down to his shoulders as he neared them. Something about the man sent a chill through the air, an uncomfortable vibe throughout the entire room. There was something rotten, cold, perhaps meticulous even.
"Commander Frollo, we've come to report the status of New Island Base with Commander Claude," Cassidy said, lowering her head courteously toward the superior Rocket officer.
"I know. I can see that much," Frollo chuckled.
James glanced at him, cocking his head in confusion before realization dawned upon him. Pointing a finger at the man, his jaw opened, he stammered, "Are you that—"
"Am I the psychic everyone keeps talking about? Yes, I am," Frollo replied, turning around, "Come this way, children. We have little time."
"Little time for what?" Shi asked, his brow sweaty in Frollo's presence.
"Soon the enemy will come to attack. I have raised the security of both this base and the base in Victory Road, for it's all but inevitable that Sabrina will attack both in the near future. I can sense she will."
"Sabrina?" Cassidy asked, "As in the Saffron City gym leader?"
"Yes," Frollo replied, "I can sense it."
"Why would she want to attack bases she shouldn't even know about?" Butch asked, his eyebrows raised in confusion.
"She plans on resisting an appeal made by one of our men inside the Indigo League Officials, a man who wants to destroy a couple of the gyms in order to raise attendance in the League. He argued that some gyms were too hard for trainers, and thus figured that, by eliminating them, he'd raise league attendance rates."
"Why'd he want to do that? Aren't there a lot of other gyms people could go to?" Meowth replied, frowning.
"Of course there are. However, by eliminating other gyms, his paycheck grows in size, and he's using that money to fund our research on cloning. We require his money to advance, you see."
"But you still didn't answer why Sabrina wants to destroy our labs," Ka asked, agitatedly, "What's she gonna get out of this?"
"We have data linking our man to Team Rocket, along with the money trail and plans," Frollo replied.
"Why don't you just delete that so she can't steal it?" James asked, "Wouldn't that be a whole lot easier than having to fight off angry gym leaders? Sabrina would sense you deleted them, and realize there's no reason to fight, right?"
"You don't understand! Those records are to be used to ensure that our man follows through with the promise. If he steps out of line, we'll simply go public with the records, and ruin his reputation. He's going to need to follow us if he wants to even hope to survive in the real world, and reach his own goals."
"Which are?"
"Never you mind, Shi. It is not your business to know why our mole is aiding us when he could just continue living his cushy job at the league. After all, we all have hidden agendas, don't we?" Frollo asked, smirking down at the boy, whose brow grew sweatier still.
#
"What does Sabrina want with this, anyway?" Elle asked, staring at the hard drives in her hands.
"Who knows?" Lt. Surge replied, leaning tensely against the mouth to Cerulean Cave, his fists clenched tensely as the seconds passed, staring up at the moon high above them. "I didn't look at the data. She just said copy everything down, and don't look at it. I don't know shit."
"You know what I think?" Watson asked, glancing up at the others.
"Do I care?" Lt. Surge asked, tensely.
"I think this is some sort of black mail we can use against that bastard Nathanael, ya know?" Watson said, smirking, "Maybe he has ties with the Rockets. Think of that one?"
"Of course I did. Only thing is what sort of mud did we just dig up?" Lt. Surge mumbled, frowning, "Did we just happen to find something really juicy, or is this just another piece to a larger puzzle? And, more than that, why did Sabrina say leave no survivors?"
"Because I'd hate to have too many of those Rockets survive."
Lt. Surge jumped into the air as Sabrina appeared from the air itself, staring at the others with that same stoic expression on her face, those eyes that pierce through flesh and blood and see straight into the recesses of a man's soul. They were cold eyes, eyes dark and cruel. If any woman was capable of destroying Nathanael Butler, it was this cold broad, no contest. Lt. Surge grinned in spite of his shock. "I knew you'd have some reason. So what sort of data is this, anyway?"
Watson handed the data over to Sabrina, who smiled. She opened up the keyboard to the laptop hooked up to the hard drive, and rapidly punched keys. Her fingers danced across each of the buttons, a slight smile forming on her lips as the seconds passed. Finally, after a dozen or so minutes, she rose up, handed the laptop to Watson, and smirked. "This is useful, but the puzzle is not yet complete."
"What else do you want us to do?" Lt. Surge asked, eyes wide.
"I need you to come with me to Fuchsia. To my knowledge, the three we sent to New Island should be coming shortly there as well."
"What makes you so sure of that?" Lt. Surge asked.
"I'm guiding their Gyarados."
#
"I'm so bored," Ash groaned, leaning against the scale of the Gyarados's head, stretching his arms out lazily as the seconds passed. How long had they been on Gyarados's head? The moon was high above their heads, gazing down upon them as the seconds drawled on. His eyelids were heavy and he struggled to keep them awake. However, every time he did, the great beast's head would bob up, rousing him hastily from his slumber, knocking the back of his skull against the top of the creature's hard head.
"Really? I don't' think I can sleep like this," Misty replied, glancing up at the moon, "I mean, wasn't that exciting?"
"It was, but now I wanna sleep," sighed Ash, laying his head back down. Molly had no trouble sleeping, nor did Pikachu. The Gyarados was moving slower than it had before, and was moving at just the right pace: fast enough to keep moving forward, but slow enough for the girl and little Pikachu to snuggle up together against the Gyarados's fins. They were comfortable, but Ash was not.
"Can't you just close your eyes and just relax?" Misty asked, her eyes narrowed.
"This Gyarados keeps waking me up."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah! It's really bugging me!"
"I can always return it to its Pokeball, and just leave you in the water. How does that sound?" Misty asked, smirking slightly.
"I'll take the Gyarados," Ash replied, hastily glancing away.
"There's a good boy," Misty replied, giggling. There was a moment of silence as the two drifted onward, moving farther down the great ocean, the waves lapping up against the sides of the serpent, rising into the air only to sprinkle and spray against the young adult's leg. The seconds passed, a smile on his lips for a moment before Gyarados made a slight turn to avoid a Dewgong, a creature that spun into the air, the sparkling droplets of water following it into the air like a family of faeries emerging from the brightest hole in the ocean. As Misty marveled at each droplet and just how it refracted the light of the moon, Ash tumbled over, damning the majestic creature and all its interruptions to Ash's beauty sleep.
"Isn't it beautiful?" Misty asked, in awe.
"Not really," Ash responded.
"Oh, you're just jealous you're not that great," laughed Misty.
"No, I'm just bugged it keeps making Gyarados turn," mumbled Ash, resting his head against his arms in resignation.
"You're such a little kid," Misty grumbled, holding her head in her hands, looking out at the beautiful sea, the horizon in the far away distance, the moon high in the sky, the stars visible for all to see. Ash followed her gaze, only to see into the great heavens above. "I know you might not like the Dewgong, but you have to admit the sky is pretty, right?" Misty asked, a childish grin spread across her lips.
"Yeah, it's nice, I can't lie about that," Ash replied, finally cracking a grin.
"Yeah." Another awkward silence filled the air for several minutes, the only sound reaching their ears being the churning of the ocean. "So how's May these days?"
"May? I haven't seen her in a while."
"Weren't you going on adventures with her, too?"
"Well, I was, but we had to leave her and Max when we went to Sinnoh."
"Oh, so was it just you and Brock over in Sinnoh?"
"No, there was this girl named Dawn."
#
At once, Misty felt her cheeks burn red at the sound of that name. Ash had traveled with another girl? It was bad enough he had almost replaced her with May, but another one? Did Ash really care about her anymore? Did he have eyes for her? Was she just another girl to him, another replaceable girl? "So, uh, what was Dawn like?"
"Well, she was really young, kinda afraid—"
Misty let out a sigh of relief before interrupting Ash again, "How young?"
"She's ten."
"Oh! That's a relief."
"Why does her age matter, exactly?" Ash asked, confused.
Misty stared at him a good long thirty seconds to confirm with her very eyes that Ash Ketchum had just asked a question with a painfully obvious answer. It seemed that, no matter how old he became, Ash was still a complete idiot when it came to noticing when a girl was in love. Frowning, her cheeks filling with red, Misty mumbled, "You're hopeless, ya know that, Ash?"
"What? I'm serious, why would it matter?" Ash stammered as Misty lowered herself to a squat over her Pokemon's head.
"It doesn't matter. Don't worry about it," Misty sighed, frowning.
"Okay, if you say so." Ash replied, glancing away.
#
Ash glanced away, glancing at Molly and Pikachu for a second. He sighed. Misty was being really weird again. Was this how all girls were at one point or another? Why would it matter how old Dawn was? It wasn't like they were going out or anything, Dawn and him. He had always thought he had a thing for that guy Paul, or maybe someone else, but that was just him. What did he know about dating and love, though? He never even had a girlfriend, after all.
He glanced at Misty, about to make a comment regarding a memory he and Dawn shared, but the comment soon fell to the wayside. Misty was right in front of the moon from his angle. The halo of light bathed the girl in a lovely aura of yellow, soft gentle brilliance enveloping her, swallowing her up before his eyes. Her soft face, the gentle slope of her lower chin into her throat, the smooth, slender cheeks on her face, soft enough to stroke yet not soft enough to truly pinch. Misty had kept her hair up, yet Ash continued to wonder what she'd look like if she took that ponytail out. He was sure it would look nice drapped down that slender neck of hers, the slender softness of it so enticing, almost begging to be touched—
What the hell was he thinking!
Misty was his friend, and it was best that way. As he had learned by watching Brock, acting out on your impulses usually left you battered and bloody. In Brock's case, it also left you with a slap across the face and a pulled ear. He giggled at this, only for Misty to glance over, the sides of her face reflecting both the beautiful light of the heavenly sphere behind her and the water which refracted the said beautiful light of said heavenly sphere.
"What're you laughing about?" she asked, confused.
"Just thinking about—" However, before Ash could finish, a Dewgong rose from the water yet again, flipping its tail majestically before Gyarados's eyes. The beast, in shock, coiled back for an instance. Ash watched as Misty lost her balance, tumbling backward, spinning through the air, only to land straight into Ash's chest. The two slumped further down the Gyarados's body only for the beast to stabilize itself, find itself under control, and swim onward, through the torrents of water as it progressed further down the ocean.
Misty was laying against Ash's chest, her hands spread out to cushion her fall. Ash felt the full weight of her body against him. For a scrawny girl, she sure was heavy. Or perhaps that was simply Ash being a physical weakling. The weight of her chest against his own, her soft, sleek torso rubbing against Ash's. Ash had pulled his own hands in front of his own body to block the impact of collision, and now his hand was pinned between his abs and her midsection. His fingers propped, at first absentmindedly, but soon deliberately, across her belly. Her flesh gave under his fingers, but only slightly, only enough. Ash felt his legs entangled with Misty's sleek thighs. They were locked around each other out of complete accident, yet neither party so much as bent their knee. Rather, they simple stared at one another, eye to eye, face to face.
A sensation ran up Ash's body, a sensation of joy. There was a reason they had fallen together like this. There was a purpose for it. They were meant to be in this position, with Misty's moist leg pressed against Ash's inner thigh, with Misty's fingers pressing delicately against his own rib cage, as the Cerulean Gym Leader exhaled, slightly, quickly, rapidly as the seconds passed. Her heart was racing, just like Ash's, and neither seemed to be able to breathe properly. Quick gasps of air, as though they had just run for miles, but their inhalation was so shallow, not deep at all, nor should it have been. Their eyes were locked, and all they saw was the other's face.
"Hey, Misty?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm losing feeling in my legs."
Misty hastily rose to her feet, blushing deep red as Ash slowly moved his now numb legs. "Are you okay? I'm sorry! Lemme help." Misty drew down just as Ash leaned forward to probe his legs. The result was apparent to Ash before it even happened, yet it was still just as unavoidable: they clonked heads. The two staggered backward, holding their respective skulls as Pidgey swirled around their heads. After a few discombobulated seconds, Ash glanced over at Misty, who was rubbing her head, her hands so slender, so beautiful, each little digit so soft and gentle.
The same digits that had touched his chest.
What was he thinking? He couldn't think that way! Misty was his friend! Just friends! Just friends! Just—
"Hey, Ash?"
"What is it, Misty?"
"Would you mind if, maybe, after this is all done, if you could stay with me for a little while?" Misty asked, curiously.
"Oh, yeah, of course I will," Ash replied, smiling, "I came over because I wanted to see you."
Misty flushed deep red at the sound of that statement. "You came to Kanto because you wanted to see me?"
"Well, that's why I went to Cerulean. I came to Kanto to see everyone. Still, I was most excited about seeing you."
Misty could only blush.
#
"So, uh, what are you gonna do next?"
Ash considered this. "I heard there's another league I could try competing in. I might go there."
"Oh, I see," Misty replied, frowning. After all was said and done, her gym would be torn down, or perhaps saved. If it was torn down, then she could travel with Ash. If it wasn't, then she'd be tied down to one city, and Ash would have to one day leave her again. Then again, if the gym was save, then her honor would be restored, she'd continue being a gym leader, she'd always be by the water, her love.
Water was her love.
Ash was also her love.
Which love did she love more?
Misty lowered her head slightly, her bangs falling over her large eyes as the distant sounds of Bird Pokemon cawing through the air filled her ears. She glanced up, noticing the sensation of warmth crawling up her neck. She turned around only to see the sun rising into the air, slowly ascending higher and higher into the sky as the seconds passed by. The sky turned red as though a rose were blooming, its petals being thrown into the sky by the low, strong winds, eternal winds that dragged the paintbrush petals across the sky as the rose ascended, slowly changing from scarlet to yellow, before her eyes. The water reflected the metamorphosis, dying crimson like beautiful blood before converting into crystal blue once more. There on the horizon was a city, though what city Misty could not determine. Its structures stretched into the sky, outlined against the rising sun, beautiful as it always was. Misty's lips curled into a smile, her shinning teeth reflecting the light off the sun, like the moon reflecting the light of the heavenly star.
"Isn't it beautiful?" Misty asked, glancing up.
"I need t' sleep."
