"So like now what?"

"What do you mean?"

Homika sighed as she stroked her fingers along the strings of the guitar. "Team Rocket! I thought they were supposed to crash the party and yet they never showed up!"

Ethan laughed. "Oh well you can blame me for that."

"You? What in the hell are you talking about? How did you stop them from attacking?"

He folded his arms. I caught a careless Team Rocket member and warned him that I knew all about their plans and even showed him a paper with the Pokemon's appearance, its abilities and what not."

She slashed her fingers across the strings. "Are you telling me that threat caused them to quake in their boots, fretting that the big bad Ethan knows what their up to?"

He shrugged. "Well not totally."

"What are you getting at?" Jasmine asked. He smiled at both of them.

"What if when he got this news, it caused him to pause and in the process, he thought of a better place to attack."

She shrugged. "Yea but now you're just over thinking things. Bad things happen when you think too much."

"I really think he got a better idea of a place to attack."

"Like?"

He smiled. "Well think about it. Where could Team Rocket strike that would really strike a chord with people. Something that would cause everyone to be struck with fear."

Homika and Jasmine shared a look. "Somewhere that would cause a wave of fear in the public. I'm drawing a blank! Could you stop being cryptic?"

"I'm sure crushing the Elite Four and the Champion—"

He was interrupted by a loud crack as Homika slammed her fist on the guitar. Why were rich people so reckless with stuff? "The Elite Four?"

Jasmine's mouth fell open. "I can see it. That would strike a wave of fear in people. If they can easily defeat the strongest trainers in the region, then people would get really scared. They might not even try to fight back."

"Well soooo what? We go to the Pokemon League and see if they show up?"

"I think we should split up," Jasmine said. "Just in case Ethan's theory isn't correct, the others can still be looking out for Team Rocket."

"I guess but who would go to the Pokemon League?"

"I can."

Homika and him looked at her. "Uh, why you?"

"Poor Ethan doesn't even have all the badges in Unova so it's not like he can enter Victory Road."

"You'd think an emergency would get them to waive that little rule…"

"No, Victory Road isn't just some annoying barrier between you and the Pokemon League. It's a test, a test to make sure you and your Pokemon are strong enough to take on the challenge that is the Elite Four and the Champion. Do you truly think that if you entered Victory Road, you could get through?"

"Wow, you can really be a harda** when you want to be! I'm impressed."

Ethan rubbed his chin and looked over at Pitch. "No, she's right."

"What? You're just going to agree, just like that? Not even a little protest?" Homika asked.

"Hey while me and my team have been in some battles, we haven't been in many. They're all still pretty green except for Rai. And if they tried to take on Victory Road so soon and lost, it might do a number on their confidence. Yes, even you Pitch."

Pitch didn't like the sound of it but he rubbed him on the head of his head and laughed. "So Jasmine goes to the Pokemon League and we go look for Team Rocket elsewhere. I guess that works for me!"

"Doesn't seem fair Jasmine has to go alone—"

"What's with this doesn't seem fair junk? She's a gym leader, right? You're selling her pretty short you know."

Homika defending Jasmine…this would take a little getting used to. Jasmine laughed. "It's okay. We seem to take turns worrying about the other, even though we don't need to."

"Still…I've got an idea," he said. He took out the Pokeball holding Rai and handed it to her. "I know you don't have a full party and since I got too many Pokemon, I think you can take care of him."

"Huh but—"

"I know you said how I have the heart to take care of all of these Pokemon but I know it'd be really tough but since you don't have a full party, you can take care of him. I know he isn't a Steel Pokemon but—"

"Ahhh…well if it's from you, I think it's fine. Thank you Ethan," she said, both of them blushing a bit. He heard Homika let out an annoyed sigh.

"You two…ugh. Why don't you give her a goodbye kiss while you're at it?"

They looked at her and said in unison, "No!"

Jasmine put the Pokeball away. "I'll take good care of him."

"Just think of it like you have Amphy with you, except Rai is a bit smaller and is prone to—"

"Amphy? Who the hell is Amphy?"

Ethan looked over at Homika. "It's the Ampharos that provides light for the lighthouse in Olivine City. Jasmine takes real good care of her."

"I've taken care of her since she was a lone Mareep."

Homika rolled her eyes and smirked. "Touching."

Jasmine ignored her and looked at him. "I guess I better get going. I'll let you two know if anything happens."

"Goodbye and good luck."

"Yea, laters," Homika said, too busy fiddling with another guitar to bother looking up. Jasmine didn't seem to mind as she smiled at him one last time and walked off. He waited until she was gone before he looked over at her.

"Still not a fan, are you?"

Homika tapped the guitar. "If you expect me to become all buddy buddy with her, sorry to burst your bubble but—"

He laughed. "I don't expect you to become like that. Just be friendly."

"I'm working on it. On another note, where are we going to look for Team Rocket? We don't have any leads like before."

He smiled. "That's simple, just get in contact with the gym leaders again. I'm sure someone has heard something or another. Got to use your connections. If we were in Johto—"

"Yea, I see your point," she said. She grabbed her phone and dialed a number. While she was doing that, he sat down in a nearby chair. Pitch flew down to the ground and began eating some of the popcorn that lay on the ground. He watched him eat and let out a sigh. Pitch looked at him, a bit confused but he waved him off.

"What's with you?"

He looked up at her and noticed she was off the phone. "Huh? Oh just thinking about Wiggler, I keep wondering if he's okay."

"That bunny will be fine and…well I guess I can't tell you to stop worrying, can I? You probably won't listen."

He laughed. "I'll try but he was around for awhile. Don't you still have the very first Pokemon you ever had?"

She looked away and set the guitar down. "N-no. Some jerks stole my Grimer from me! He was the very first Pokemon I caught, by myself and with no help from a Pokemon too! I took very good care of him, even though a lot of people hated him because he smelled bad but I liked him for who he was. That hurt when they stole him from me. I cried like a baby for days! Just thinking about it…"

She got up and kicked a nearby trashcan, causing trash to fly out of it. Pitch noticed some of the food that had fallen out and began to go after it but Ethan cleared his throat, causing him to stop in his tracks. "Don't even think about it Pitch. You might get sick from eating some of that garbage."

"Ugh, sorry. I just get so angry sometimes. I guess I should work on that."

"Whatever. I'm sorry to hear about your Grimer. You're right, I would have avoided it because they do stink but I guess there are people who like them."

"Everyone hates poison because they often stink. I though so at first and then…well I kind have identified with them. I was unloved and unwanted by people and so were they. So many of those Pokemon are abandoned by their f***ing trainers because they don't want them or realize they hate the smell and it just…Ethan you better stop me before I kick something else!"

"H-huh but—" He didn't get to finish before she sprinted over to the trash can she had kicked before and kicked it even farther, knocking it into the air a bit. She watched it take flight and crash to the ground before stomping back over. Pitch looked at him with an amused look. She sat back down and put her head in her hands.

"Well good, we need more people like you. Who can appreciate the less loved Pokemon? They all could use our love and attention."

She looked up at him. "Do you really believe that?"

He smiled. "Of course I do—"

"Please stop. I know that's how you operate but it rubs me the wrong way at times how half the words out your mouth are about love, friendship, peace and all that…stuff."

"I'll tone it down a tad."

She nodded. "Thanks. Well I did get in contact with Skyla. She said she had heard something about a potential operation near her city. She said it's cool if we come and check it out with her."

"Great, well I guess we better get going. We don't want to keep her waiting."

"Just don't stare at her when we get into town."

Pitch let out a chirp but he waved her off. "You little green eyed rock star."

In a few hours, they landed in Mistralton City, home to several large airfields. In fact he seemed like the airport took up more than half of the city itself. As they walked into town, a large cargo plane took off from a nearby runway. Pitch let out a terrified chirp and she laughed. "It's just a plane."

"Birds can get caught in the engines of planes. Maybe he saw some friends get caught in one and he gets freaked out thinking about it," he said. He pet the quaking bird on the head. "Wow, I think this is the first time I've seen him scared. It's okay Pitch, don't worry."

He noticed her staring at him. "You're…such a sap."

"Hey!"

"And I mean that in a good way! Even if Pitch could probably be taken down a notch or two."

He fired off a few angry chirps at her but she laughed. "Well—"

"Hey if you can cuddle your arrogant little parrot, you better cuddle me as well!"

"Parrot?"

"Well he can't talk but he's pretty darn talkative, you have to admit."

He couldn't argue that Pitch loved to talk. He loved to talk a lot. "I guess so but cuddle you? You'll smell like poisonous gas—"

"I have been learning to treat you better but if you say stuff like this, I'm going to wrap my hands around your neck and…never mind. I'll just jab you in the side and be done with it."

"Hey! Hey you two!" He looked up to see Skyla running toward them. She stopped a few feet short and took off the helmet she was wearing. "Awesome, you two were able to make it. Stellar!"

"Uh yea, cool. So what rumors did you find out?"

"Well from what I gathered, there might be something of an illegal operation going down in the woods, smuggling in stolen equipment, Pokemon and other stuff. I was just about to go look into it myself but since you two are here, we all can go check it out!"

"So how far into the forest are we talking about?" Ethan asked.

She was about to speak when another plane zipped by, causing Pitch to let out another scared chirp. Skyla laughed. "That poor bird. I guess he isn't a big fan of airplanes. It's okay," she said as she leaned forward and pet him on the head. He heard Homika grumble.

"Yea yea, poor bird."

Skyla looked over at her. "What do you mean? You don't like him?"

"That little bird has the biggest mouth around, always insulting people and Pokemon alike but when he shows just a tiny amount of fear, everyone is so quick to console him."

She laughed. "But that's kind of how Rufflet are. They are reckless but that's how they become tough—"

"I think he's more all bark and no bite," she said, folding her arms.

"Yea but perhaps he'll mellow out. You were a pretty prickly person, in fact you still are but you've been mellowing out quite a bit," Ethan said. She opened her mouth to respond but shut it again.

"Yea well I guess you got me there."

"Well, shall we be going?" Skyla asked.

She led them north of town and into the forests that surrounded much of the area. There was no real set path for them so he summoned Litwick, who burned away some of the limbs and plants in their way so they could get through with ease, while Dodger put out the flames to prevent them from spreading any further. Skyla remarked at his team while they moved through the woods. "You look like you've got quite the team already. Of course you got two flying Pokemon so of course it'll be a stellar team!"

"How stellar can it be without a Poison?"

Ethan laughed. "Isn't that your job to find me one?"

"Don't worry, I have a few in mind. Just try not to befriend anymore Pokemon along the way. If you do that, you'll end up with a team of over fifty Pokemon."

Pitch let out a chirp. "I'm not that good."

"Huh, what is she talking about?"

Homika sighed. "While we were exploring an old mansion, a lone Deino and this Litwick here felt compelled to join his group and he didn't even have to capture them. The Deino joined because he thought Ethan was a strong trainer and Ethan had pity on a lonely Litwick, even though he and Jasmine were almost killed by a whole slew of them!"

Skyla looked back at him. "Really?"

He shook his head. "We weren't almost killed. We were outnumbered but Jasmine's Steelix protected us while Dodger and Sam chased them off."

"Oh wow."

Homika grumbled. "Just having that Litwick around creeps me out, especially considering what they're known for."

"Yea but I think if they have the right trainer, they can be well behaved—"

"Not you too, ugh."

"But I won't dispute they're a bit dangerous. That is how they feed, by draining the life out of others. I think Lampent are even a bit worse as they like to hang out near hospitals or nursing homes and feed off the dying."

"Thanks Skyla, I really needed to hear that."

"I'm not trying to scare you but—"

"Could you two lower your voices just a tad? Pitch was trying to tell me something," he said. He looked over at the bird. "Could you repeat what you said?"

Pitch repeated his chirp and he nodded. "What is it?"

He looked over at them. "He saw something up ahead, trucks from the sound of it. Hey go fly into the air and check for us."

Pitch took to the skies, disappearing beyond the treetops. Dodger immediately took Pitch's spot on his shoulder and Skyla laughed. "They all seem to fight for your attention so much. No wonder you have wild Pokemon wanting to join you."

"He pays more attention to his Pokemon than he does his girlfriend."

"Didn't he just say you're kind of prickly? Tough to be so close to someone when they're like that."

"I'm getting better! If you think I'll suddenly become like a cuddly teddy bear, don't waste your breath."

Pitch returned to him a few minutes later. He took one look at Dodger and then took his perch on his other shoulder. "So what did you see?"

From what Pitch said, there was a large warehouse just a bit north of them but that it was covered in leaves and branches to blend it in with the rest of the woods. And that there were quite a few trucks driving in. "Well looks like that rumor is correct but we have to see if it's Team Rocket or someone else."

"Awesome! If it is Team Rocket, we can just chase them out!"

Homika laughed. "You're kidding right? There are just three of us and who knows how many of them."

He looked over at her as Dodger hopped off his shoulder. "It's not like you to be unsure of yourself. Usually you're brimming with—"

"Recklessness?"

Skyla walked on ahead and she grumbled. "Something wrong?"

She put a hand on her hips. "Sometimes I wonder how we're together. I'm a rock star but sometimes I began to think I'm not such hot stuff."

He smiled. "You're a talented guitar player, you have talent."

"And a sour attitude to match. Besides, you know what happens to musicians after a few years? They're forgotten, dropped for the next big thing! Then what will I have? Will I have to become crazy and outlandish, becoming a more bizarre person so the novelty doesn't fade?"

Pitch let out a chirp. "Pitch said you should just concentrate on your gym and I have to—"

"You don't understand. How am I going to deal with it when people don't care about me anymore? Who cares about gym leaders? They're just there for you to beat down with your Pokemon and then take their badge. Do I really have to become like you?"

"Become like me? I can't imagine you like that—but why would you try to become someone you aren't?"

"I don't want to become irrelevant. I don't want people to not care about me. Look at you, people flock to you, Pokemon love you. They even fight amongst each other for your attention!"

"Just be yourself. You don't have to be exactly like me but if you just learn to be a friend, you'll do fine."

She looked at him for a bit and shrugged. "You make it sound sooo simple."

Pitch let out another chirp and she glared at him. "Stop it Pitch."

"Ugh…I'll give this learning to be a friend thing a try," she said as she walked by him, brushing by his arm as she did. She grasped his hand just as Skyla hurried back over. She pulled away as Skyla walked over and looked away.

"Hey, what's taking you two so long? I checked it out and it is Team Rocket! Let's go chase them out!"

He smiled. "So it is them? Perfect, I've been itching to take them on again after our last fight. And I'm sure my Pokemon would like to show off a bit too."

"Stella! Come on Homika! No need to mope around. Unleash that pent up energy on them!"

"Yea, whoo," she said. Pitch chirped something at her and she suddenly snapped.

"Wait, what did you just say? You stupid f***ing bird, I'm gonna kill you!"

She grabbed at him but he flew out of her grasp and flew off toward the north with her close behind. Skyla looked over at him. "Why is she so mopey though?"

"Various reasons. Being a rock star is tough business."

They joined her at the edge of the woods, ducking behind a bush as they watched several trucks enter the warehouse, guarded by quite a few Team Rocket members. One of the trucks sat a few feet away from them, parked while the driver went over his paperwork with the guards. "So like how do we start? Do we just walk in and cause some chaos or?"

"I think we should try to cause some chaos but by being sneaky about it. Umm…Litwick, can you cloak me while I walk in?"

"You don't have a nickname for it?"

"I'll think of one later," he said. The little ghost candle nodded and he looked at Dodger. "Sorry Dodger but I'm gonna have to summon you back. I promise to let you out soon again."

He summoned the duck let back to its ball and looked at them. "So I suppose while I walk in and cause some fun, you two can come in from behind and cause some more fun."

"Hopefully this goes better than our last little trip in a Team Rocket base."

He laughed as he followed the ghost candle. They walked right by several people, who would have seen him if it wasn't for Litwick. One of the guards looked over the paperwork of a driver and handed it back to him. "Good, everything checks out."

"Glad to hear it. So do they know when they will strike next? We haven't heard anything since Giovanni cancelled the attack on the concert."

"Oh there's something supposed to be going down soon. Something big, something that will have everyone talking."

"Really?"

"Yea, at the Pokemon League."

"What?" Ethan said before he covered his mouth. The two of them looked in his direction.

"Huh, did you hear something? It sounded like it came from right over there but I don't see anything."

Ethan backed away from where he was standing and moved closer to the entrance to the warehouse. He looked at Pitch and winked at him. Pitch took off his shoulder and flew straight at the two men. They noticed him and ducked out of the way as he zipped past them. "Hey, where did that Rufflet come from? He wasn't there before and then all of a sudden, he just appeared out of nowhere!" The driver said.

"A Rufflet? Didn't the top executives say that you know who had a Rufflet?"

Ethan smiled as he summoned Sam. He moved away from his spot as Sam charged forward, letting out a roar as he did. He charged right on by the two of them and smashed headfirst into the tire of one of the trucks. One of the guards walked over to him and laughed. "A Deino? Ha, how pathetic! He can't even see where he's going."

Sam turned toward the guard and spat a fireball at him. The guy fell on his butt to avoid the fireball, cursing the dragon as he did. Sam ignored him and turned his attention back to the truck. With one good bite, he punctured the tire, causing the air to leak out. "Hey, stop him or else he's gonna ruin everything!"

Ethan covered his ears as alarms went off around him. Several more Team Rocket members ran out of the warehouse, running right by him. He took out the Pokeball for Dodger and let him out as well. Dodger took to the skies and began spraying them with water. It didn't do much as he figured but it did cause everyone to freak out a bit more. From the looks of it, this warehouse didn't have as many Team Rocket members as he thought. Perhaps everyone was at the Pokemon League, preparing for their attack there?

"Hey Team Rocket, so you b******* tried to crash my concert? How about I crash your little operation?" Homika yelled. Suddenly a Koffing floated over the top of one of the trucks. Dodger, Pitch and Sam ran for cover as it began to assault everyone with clouds of poisonous gas. He backed away as the drivers and Team Rocket members gasped for air. While they were busy with that, he entered the warehouse. It was full of large wooden crates and he could see a few had a bunch of Pokeballs in them. At least the buttons weren't lit up so he could see they were empty but why did they need so many? Were they really going to use them to capture people's Pokemon? Litwick looked back at him and he smiled. "No, keep me cloaked still. I want to take a look around."

A side door opened and Ariana strode out. She stood in the middle of the warehouse, looking out at the open door, as he stood only a foot away. She frowned and took out a phone. "Giovanni, I apologize but I'm going to be late. We're dealing with a couple of gym leaders here."

She listened in on his response and sighed. "It looks like it's Skyla and that stupid rocker b****. If that's the case, I bet Ethan's lurking around. I saw on the camera and several of the Pokemon rampaging about are his," she said. She paused for a bit and nodded. "Yea, I'm not sure if he suspects of our intentions at the Pokemon League but he's pretty smart, he probably figured it out or will eventually. Too bad it won't even matter for him."

He smiled. He almost felt like having Litwick uncloak him but with didn't feel confident about it since he wasn't sure how Litwick or Escavalier would do in a fight. Besides, what would it accomplish? Just a waste of time, they would be better off destroying all of their stuff. "Yea, that's fine. I'll just stay here and take care of this."

Then again, having one less Team Rocket exec running around, the better. She hung up and he summoned Bolt. She noticed him, just as the little mite fired off a little both of lightning. Not much compared to Rai's impressive attacks but it caused her to jump back. "A Joltik?"

"Hey Ariana, long time no see," he said. He walked to a different spot as she looked around for him.

"Huh…Ethan, where are you? I heard you but I can't see you at all. Another one of your cheap tricks?"

"Cheap tricks? C'mon Ariana, you know me better than that! Actually I was curious what are you guys' plans? I already figured you would attack the Pokemon League but it seems pretty silly to have a super Pokemon and use it to just conquer the Pokemon League."

She laughed. "Come on Ethan, you really think I'm going to tell you that?"

"Not even I ask nicely?"

She sighed. "Such a waste of talent though."

"Huh?"

She folded her arms and laughed. "Look at you, what have you really accomplished? You stopped us and then what?"

"Stopping Team Rocket seems like a pretty big accomplishment all by itself."

"And yet hardly anyone remembers you for it."

He frowned. "Why does that matter? I still stopped you guys, didn't I? Who cares if I didn't get much recognition for it?"

She tapped her chin. "Doesn't it bother you how little people seem to recognize your accomplishments? Helped defeat Team Rocket, one of a handful of people who owns all the badges of Kanto and Johto and could be considered the second best trainer behind the Champion. And what do you get for it? Nothing."

He shook his head. "Nothing? What about all the friends I made—"

"That's all you got? Friends? Did you really set out on your journey to become a friend to every living thing? Or to become the Pokemon Champion, to became famous throughout the land, commanding respect from everyone? Instead, hardly anyone remembers what you did, random trainers treat you like your normal everyday trainer and you're known as the guy who always finishes in second or third. Good enough but just not that good."

"Are you getting somewhere with this?"

She smiled and he had a feeling he knew what was coming. "Would you be surprised to know that we have bigger and better aspirations that conquering the Pokemon League?"

"Yea! Like taking over the world!"

She sighed and looked to the side. "Typical response."

"What, isn't that what you guys are going to do?"

"Saying we're just taking over the world is so simple minded. While we do have aspirations of world rule, it's for more than just power. Haven't you noticed all these gangs that keep popping up in regions throughout the world, like Team Galactic in Sinnoh, Team Magma and Aqua in Hoehn? And how the authorities are so useless in dealing with them?"

"Well—"

"Exactly. Everyone pretty much depends on a hotshot young trainer to deal with them. Even the gym leaders are pretty useless in this regard. I wasn't with them at the time but Team Rocket was largely thwarted in Kanto by one young trainer. No one else really bothered to help. Don't you find that a bit strange?"

"Well I guess it's a bit weird—"

"It's terrible. Why do we have to depend on some kid to restore order? That's why we must take over, we can restore some order to this world, snuff out all those troublemakers so everyone can live in peace."

Was she serious? Or was this just some stupid trick? Had to be a stupid trick. Team Rocket had never had any aspirations but to exploit Pokemon to gain wealth and power. If they had some other motives, he would've known about it. "You really expect me to believe that?"

"Of course not because you've been obsessed with defeating us first and asking questions later, if at all. Perhaps if you stopped to think about it, you might see the light."

"Errr…what?"

She flicked a card in his direction. "Pay us a visit once we've taken over the Pokemon League and you can see for yourself. You'd be a great asset to our team."

"Are you going to saying that to all the prisoners when we throw you in jail?"

She laughed. "Arrest me, I won't be in there for long. It's not like they'll find anything of use or value here."

He raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

She smiled and motioned to the crates. "Check out that crate of Pokeballs."

He walked over, while keeping an eye on her but she didn't seem interested in leaving. He glanced at Litwick and set him down, causing himself to become visible. He opened the crate and grabbed one of the Pokeballs and his eyes grew wide as he realized it was a felt toy. "Hey! So what was the point of this warehouse? Was it just a distraction?"

She smiled and shrugged. He tossed the ball back in and looked over at her. "I can't say."

He took out his phone. "Yea well tell it to the authorities."

Before he could get very far, someone snatched the phone away from him and he looked over to see Homika standing next to him. She glared at him and he smiled. "Follow me!"

"What but what about—"

"Skyla will deal with her. We already dealt with those clowns outside but we need to talk!"

She dragged him out of the warehouse, with Litwick and Bolt close behind. Outside, Pitch and friends were watching over the captured drivers and guards, along with Skyla. "Oh hey Skyla—"

"Skyla, go inside and keep an eye on that Team Rocket b****! I got to yell at Ethan."

She dragged him past the trucks and into the woods a bit before she flung him forward. Again she was much stronger than she let on. He stumbled forward a few before turning around. "Hey, you could have asked me to come—"

"No!" She yelled, stomping her foot and sending a flock of birds flying off. "You two didn't notice me but I was hanging out in the warehouse, listening in on your conversation."

"W-what, you were? But why?"

She smirked. "Between your little sneak attack and our great skill, they folded like cheap paper so I had time to kill. I went inside and heard you two talking."

"Oh—"

"Are you an idiot? Why are you listening to her? All she's doing is feeding you lies! Lies, lies lies! And you were just taking it hook line and sinker!"

"I wasn't taking it hook line and sinker! I didn't really believe her—"

"I couldn't see you but in the tone of your voice, you were beginning to doubt yourself. You were beginning to think that maybe, maybe she wasn't saying bull****. How can you believe it?"

He looked at the ground and laughed. "Well I was just thinking about what she said and—"

"How, how can you believe what she said? She's a criminal! You're going to sympathize with people who tried to take over a radio tower so they could use the signal to control Pokemon? Don't you remember how their signals were forcing Pokemon to evolve before they usually would? How they—argh!" She said. She walked forward and punched him in the shoulder.

"Oww…okay but—"

"No buts about it! How could you think of believing that after all they've done?"

As the pain in his shoulder subsided, he remembered everything she had said and what they had done. If they had such noble means, why were they so willing to do such terrible things to get there? Even though, why was he still interested in hearing their pitch? Was he really that naïve? "Ahhh, I see your point."

"Do you?"

He looked up at her and smiled. "Yea, I guess I just wasn't thinking. Thanks for getting my head straight."

She took a deep breath and let it out. "Good, I'm glad to hear it. I can't imagine you being part of Team Rocket anyway. It's a horrible look for you!"

"A horrible look?"

She walked over to him and jabbed him in the side. "Yes! Besides, I don't want to have to battle my boyfriend in a Pokemon battle! Talk about a conflict of interest, a gym leader with a boyfriend who is a high ranking executive in Team Rocket!"

"Well thanks for talking some sense into me."

She smiled at him. "So now what? Should we head to the Pokemon League?"

"Should we? Between Jasmine, the Elite Four and the Champion, that should be more than enough to deal with his super Pokemon, especially since we know what it is. Still something bugs me."

"What?"

"Some of that stuff in the warehouse is useless. It seems like it was some sort of distraction but for what?"

Homika frowned. "You mean like how that one guy distracted us so they could get away? If so, then what are they—"

"Guys, guys!" Skyla yelled as she ran up to them. She had a phone in her hand and had a look of surprise on her face. "I just got a call from someone in Mistralton, Team Rocket attacked the airport and has taken out several of the planes and even the control tower!"

"Oh…wow. That's what they wanted to do."

"I'm gonna choke that—"

"It's useless Homika. They did what they wanted to do. We can only help out for now."

Skyla sighed. "I have to get back over there!" She said before hurrying off. Ethan folded his arms.

"So what about Ariana and—"

"Let's leave them. Who cares about them? We took their bait and fell for it."

Pitch flew over to his shoulder and took his usual perch. "Huh? You don't want to smack them with your guitar? No violence, just let them go?"

She shrugged. "I would love to smash them with my guitar but…ahh who cares? We fell for their plan again, that ticks me off more. Smashing them with the guitar won't make this sick feeling in my stomach go away."

She began to follow after Skyla and he looked at Pitch. "Wow, she really is going soft, isn't she Pitch?"

"I'm not going soft! Not by a long shot! You'll see how mean and rough I can be!"

Back in Mistralton City, sirens filled the air as fire trucks lined the runway of the airport, putting out fires in several airplanes. Skyla was nowhere to be seen but she was probably just in the airport, getting information or helping out. He and Homika split up, he opted to go to the control tower while she went to the runway. Up in the cab, he found Skyla looking over the computers, half of which had been smashed to bits. It looked like someone had just taken a hammer to it, or had a Machamp go nuts. She looked down at the computers and slammed her fist on it. "How could they do this? Why would they do this?"

"Skyla?"

She looked over at him, trying to force a smile. "Oh hey Ethan. I was just looking over everything. They did such a number on the place. What are we going to do?"

"Do but—"

"We need all these computers for the planes! This airport was like essential to the economy here, it was like our lifeline! It was the thing we had going for us and they just…just ripped the rug out from under our feet!"

He and Pitch looked at each other. Wasn't she a gym leader for flying types? "But Skyla—"

"It's going to kill this city—"

"Skyla!"

"Huh?" She said, looking over at him. He folded his arms.

"Are you or are you not the gym leader of flying types?"

"Yea but—"

"You still have a few planes, right? You can survive, plus there are so many flying Pokemon you could use to help out until the city gets back on their feet. How do you think people transported stuff by air before they had airplanes?"

Her mouth fell open before she turned away and started to laugh. "Oh wow, you are so right. Like how could I forget who I am? You are so right! We can recover, they didn't destroy everything."

"Of course you can. They wanted you to get discouraged by this. It probably wasn't just a strike to hurt the city physically but mentally. If you're already defeated in your mind, you won't bother to fight back against them. And we could use all the help we get, especially if they get far in their plan."

She frowned at him. "You really think their plan will get very far?"

"I don't know. I sent Jasmine over to the Pokemon League to intercept them because that's where they planned to attack next and while they should be able to handle themselves, I'm not sure how they'll fare against this so called Super Pokemon. No one has ever fought against it before. Still, between her, the Elite Four and the Champion, that should be more than enough."

She laughed. "You're right, it should be enough but who knows? Didn't you say it was Water, Dragon and Steel? That pretty much renders three of the Elite Four useless as they use Psychic, Ghost and Dark Pokemon. Then you have the Champion Iris who uses Dragons and Marshall who uses Fighting types."

He frowned. "And Jasmine uses Steel, though she does have a Raichu with her. It'll be tough. I kind of wish I was there to help."

Skyla laughed again and Pitch let out an angry chirp. "Sorry Ethan but I think this is a little out of your league!"

"W-what do you mean?"

"You don't have any evolved Pokemon at all. You've only had them all for a short time. The Elite Four and the Champion have had their Pokemon for much longer than you have and they have been training for a while. Now I don't mean that as an insult! If you had like your stellar first team, then I'm sure you would be able to help but not with the Pokemon you have now."

He folded his arms. "Yea but—"

She put a hand on his shoulder and winked at him. "I think though with some more training, your party can be just as formidable as your first one!"

His phone rang and he glanced at it, noticing Jasmine was calling him. "Sorry, I need to step out for a bit."

"No problem!"

Once outside, he called Jasmine back. She didn't take very long to answer. "Oh thanks for calling me back Ethan."

"So what happened? Or has anything happened?"

There was a bit of a pause and he could hear defeat in her voice as she spoke up again. "Well Team Rocket showed up, including Giovanni and his monstrous dragon Pokemon. It wasn't just him but a whole army of Team Rocket by the looks of it."

"And I guess you guys didn't do too so hot."

"Well before the others showed up, me and Marshal were doing a decent job at battling Giovanni's Pokemon. It was very powerful but between his fighters and Rai, we were holding our own. And then the rest of Team Rocket showed up and then it was like Giovanni did something or another because the dragon become twice as strong and just blew us away. It pretty much defeated us all with ease when he decided it was time to stop playing around."

"I'm sorry."

"I haven't been defeated that badly since…since you took me on in a gym battle—"

"Now it wasn't that bad! Besides, I was just trying to impress you…but besides that, how are you?"

"Oh I'm fine. We were able to escape though it looks like they really wanted to capture us but Iris created an opening for us so we were able to escape. Everyone seems to agree that if I wasn't there, they would have been captured."

"Good."

"But Ethan—"

"But? Is there more?"

She let out another sigh. "From what we heard, they've also captured many of the gym leaders already—"

"W-w-what?" He said, almost dropping the phone while he was at it. "How many are left?"

"Well, Skyla, Homika and the water gym leader who is away right now. Besides them, everyone else has been captured by Team Rocket."

"Wow, they really stepped up."

"What are we going to do now?"

He didn't answer her at first. He had expected Team Rocket to have a little victory here or there but their little scheme had went a bit beyond what even he expected. If people were afraid of them now, what would they think now that they had crushed the Pokemon League and captured many of the gym leaders? They would really be too scared to fight back. "Well…umm…"

"Ethan?"

"We first need to meet up! They didn't capture all of us so that their plan didn't totally succeed. We'll have to come up with a plan of attack but…ummm I think I may have one."

"You think?"

He sighed. "You don't trust me?"

She laughed. "I do, I do. You were the one who foresaw them attacking the Pokemon League. At the moment, you're about the one person I can trust."

"Thanks for that! Well, can you get over here to Mistralton City?"

"What about Team Rocket? Shouldn't we keep an eye on them?"

"I think that some of the Elite Four should stay behind and just keep an eye on them and report back to us about their actions."

"I agree. I think I know which ones should stay, maybe all of them in fact. Irish and me can meet you guys over in Mistralton City."

"And we'll see if we can get in contact with that one gym leader who is out on business. I guess we were fortunate he chose this time to be away."

"Yes, you're right. I'm just…"

"Yea I know. It's not very fun getting steamrolled when you're used to being able to handle yourself in a fight, it sucks."

"It does. I've never felt so powerless before. I hate that feeling."

"I do too. It is the worst feeling. I'm sorry you had to go through with that, perhaps if I—"

"Ethan, the last thing we need is for you to be captured. That is exactly what Giovanni wants, well apart from conquering the world. If he can get his revenge on you—"

"He won't if I have anything to say about it!"

"That's really good to hear. Well I'll let you go—"

"Thanks and I'll see you later!"

She said her goodbyes and he hung up. He pocketed the phone and sighed. "Well this is gonna be fun, huh Pitch?"

"Ethan!"

He turned to see Homika run up. "Oh hey Homika, I just got done talking with Jasmine."

She frowned. "Oh so then I guess you already know what happened?"

"Yep but it's okay—"

"Okay? Okay? Team Rocket trounced the Pokemon League and kidnapped most of the gym leaders? When are things bad in your mind, when we're all dead?"

He laughed. "They wanted to capture the Elite Four and the Champion but instead they got away thanks to Jasmine. They wanted to capture all the gym leaders yet there are still three running around. We still have a chance to turn things around. What, you don't trust me?"

She looked at him, dumbfounded for a few before she smiled. She grasped him by the arm. "You know what Ethan?"

"Huh?"

"I hate you."