Author's Note: Wow, I wrote a lot of filler stuff for this story, didn't I? XD

Chapter Ten: Minor Victories

Pikachu fell asleep tinkering with the intercom. Ash prodded him into wakefulness and, had Pikachu still possessed his electric, Misty might have heard screams. Pikachu gave Ash a very nasty look for his troubles, moved away from the intercom (he'd fallen asleep standing up), and, wordlessly, walked over to Ash's bed to sleep more restfully. Ash watched with bemusement; Aipom had fallen asleep on a chair and hadn't woken at her master's rousing. Habit made Ash's hand fall to his belt, to touch his Pokeballs reassuringly and remind himself he was a champion Pokémon trainer. Then memory set in and he groaned, dropping his hand at his side.

He stretched and went to shower. Someone had left him a change of clothing in the Rocket scarlet and black hues. He had black dress pants and a red silk dress shirt, along with indigo boxers and socks. He left his clothing on the floor, showered, shaved, and changed. Pikachu had sprawled across the bed in his absence and his ears twitched in his sleep. Ash smiled fondly.

He vacated his room and looked at Misty's door. It remained closed and, when he turned the knob, locked too. He hadn't known the doors could lock from the inside. He snorted.

"Wow, Misty," he called at the door. "We've been friends for ten years, but you don't trust me enough not to come into your room when you're sleeping."

Misty opened the door. Her hair was sleep tousled, but she looked alert enough. She grinned at him. "You might steal my virtue."

"I already have," he said and she smacked him in the head. She slammed the door in his face and he heard water running a few minutes later. Rubbing his nose gingerly where the door had collided with it, he headed to the corner where the door to the rest of the house led. The door had a thin little window and Ash heard a mechanism click. He stepped back and James wheeled in a cart. James' long blue hair was still shiny and sleek, and smelled like flowers. Despite his hair's vitality, he moved lethargically and had bags under his eyes. Ash blinked.

"Where's Jessie?" Ash asked. James stared at him.

"I don't know," he said. "Sometimes, we don't see each other until late at night."

"I thought she was in charge of bringing us food," Ash said and James shrugged. He brought the cart into Ash's room and headed back the way he'd came. Ash followed him; James forgot to close the door behind him and Ash squeezed inside the open space. James didn't notice. He set off with a purposeful stride toward what Ash assumed was the kitchen- the first hallway after the corridor. Ash looked around him.

The corridor leading to his and Misty's part of the house continued a short way before opening up into a long, wide hallway with thick scarlet rugs with Pokeballs on them. The walls were painted sapphire blue, and had paintings of previous Team Rocket bosses on them. At least, Ash assumed that was what they were. The paintings were in gilded frames and hung about halfway up the wall. The hallway dead-ended with the first Boss, then continued until it reached another hallway, where the middle Boss was. Ash couldn't determine how far the hallway went from where he was, nor could he tell anything about the hallway at the far end, where Giovanni's picture hung. Ash stepped closer; the painter had captured his father's anguished expression quite well, despite it masquerading behind coldness. They had known the same thing Ash did- there was a human behind the Team Rocket Boss, a human who needed salvation.

Giovanni looked about nineteen years younger, so it had to have been only a year since Delia had left with her son. His father wore a suit and a tie and stroked a Persian's neck. He was sitting in a black cushioned chair with one leg folded over the other and stared straight at the painter. He emanated power and his gaze was captivating. Ash moved his head back and forth to make sure Giovanni's eyes didn't follow him, but, despite how realistic Giovanni looked, he was just a picture.

Beside Giovanni was an austere, cold looking woman simply labeled "Madame Boss". Her hair was tied back in a strict bun and her eyes bore into Ash. Her suit was the deep dark purple of royalty and she squeezed a golden scepter in her right hand. Her left hand rested on a ledger on her desk.

Ash tore his gaze away from the paintings and decided to take the second hallway off this one, rather than the first. James had taken the first fork and Ash didn't want to meet up with him and have his escape discovered. The second hallway had the same carpeting, paintings and portraits of famous Rockets and antique depictions that were probably worth a fortune. Ash didn't have an eye for art, however, and looked at the closed doors. The first door on his left was closed and locked, with no sign indicating what it might be.

The next on the right was ajar and he heard an aggravated sigh. Curious, Ash crept closer and discovered his father sitting at a desk nursing a cup of coffee. His back was to the rear wall and he sat at a large desk. Papers were piled in neat stacks and his Persian yawned. The room appeared to be a study, from what little Ash could see. He'd wanted a chance to speak with his father, hadn't he? This was his chance.

"This coffee tastes like Jessie made it with Muk instead of coffee beans," Giovanni groused. He headed to throw it out and stopped. Ash opened the door and father and son stared at each other.

Giovanni smirked. "Hello, Satoshi. Growing bored with your accommodations?"

"I wanted to speak to you," he said.

"Someone left the door open and you snuck in," Giovanni supplied. Ash flushed, but looked him in the eye.

"Yes," he said. "And Pikachu spent all last night trying to get the intercom to work from my room to yours, but it didn't work."

"That's because I shut it off," he answered. "Come in. I have a better chance getting something done than reading these...'intelligence' reports." He scoffed. "Intelligence is a misnomer."

Ash hesitated and Giovanni repeated his offer. "Sit, sit."

Ash selected the seat in front of Giovanni's desk and Giovanni straightened the papers on his desk.

"I see you went for a nighttime stroll last night," he said.

"You gave me back Aipom," he replied. "Why?"

"I overheard part of your conversation with your mother," Giovanni replied. "I found your loyalty to someone you barely know touching."

"You planned all of this," he accused.

"No, not all. I had no intention of letting you see this part of the house for a while," Giovanni said. "However, now that you have, in essence, a way out and a way to flee, how do you feel about your freedom?"

"It's not true freedom," Ash countered. "You still have my Pokémon, most of them, and Pikachu's still powerless."

"Ah," Giovanni said, smiling. "You didn't think I'd let you escape fully armed, did you?"

"You couldn't have met me another way, instead of kidnapping me?" Ash said.

"I could have," he admitted. "However, you are remarkably thick headed. I could not take the chance your mother would try to influence you against me and give you a reason to side with her."

"Misty said you used to be more open and less cruel," he said.

"I used to be many things, Satoshi," Giovanni said. He raised his eyebrows at him. "You cannot possibly think of reforming and 'saving' someone like me."

"I helped Mewtwo," Ash said stubbornly.

Giovanni's eyes widened. "Now that is a name I have not heard in years. You were involved with Mewtwo?"

"I thought you knew all about me," Ash countered.

"I've been watching you sporadically since your mother took you from me," Giovanni said. "But you can't imagine I have all the time in the world to whittle away watching one ten year old boy."

"You used to be happy."

"Who's to say I'm not now?" he replied. "I have millions of dollars, I run a criminal syndicate and, right now, people are killing others in the name of Team Rocket."

"Those things don't make you happy," Ash shot back.

"My definition of 'happiness' varies from yours," Giovanni replied. He dumped the coffee in the trashcan and it fell out in one turgid lump. He pulled a face. "Dreadful. Jessie must be reprimanded."

"Don't you want to walk around Vermilion City with your Pokémon at your side and the sun on your face?" Ash asked.

Giovanni smiled sadly. "Those are children's dreams, Satoshi, and I've never been a child. Since the day I was born, I was molded into a mini adult."

"Wouldn't you rather be on the dock than reading those things?" Ash said, inclining his head toward the documents under Giovanni's hands.

"I don't have that luxury."

"Yes, you do," he insisted. "You're the head of Team Rocket. You can take a day off once in a while. You don't answer to anyone."

"Who manages Team Rocket when I'm gone? Who am I to abdicate my position to? You are technically my heir, but I haven't named you officially and I have no other children," Giovanni said. "I can't afford to take a day off."

"Let everything go for one day," he said. "What could go wrong in one day?"

Giovanni gave him a sardonic look. "Jessie, James, and Meowth hounded you for years and you ask me this?"

"Maybe not a whole day," Ash relented. "Maybe a few hours."

Giovanni groaned and looked at his papers. "Two hours, Satoshi. Then I have to finish these. You'd better let Misty know where you went, before she tries to attack something again. I put safeguards on the Pokémon Center because I've seen her temper in action before."

Ash smiled. It hadn't been a major victory, but it was a little one. He had hope.

"You can't walk around like that," Giovanni objected. He and Ash stood in Ash's room, with Ash balancing his hat on his head for the best style. Pikachu glared at the Rocket head from his vantage point on Ash's bed.

"Like what?" Ash said. "I look normal."

"There are two problems," Giovanni said. "For one thing, you don't look like my son."

"How is that a problem?" Ash said, puffing up. "I didn't think you wanted to announce you're Team Rocket."

"That's the other problem," Giovanni said. "I'm the head of Team Rocket, and you're the Pokémon Champion I kidnapped. Think with your head, boy. What would a normal person, having seen the press coverage, assume seeing you in public with me?"

"I'm not wearing a Rocket grunt outfit," Ash said.

"I didn't suggest that," Giovanni said. He rolled back a closet door Ash hadn't noticed before and Ash's mouth dropped. The closet extended as far as the spacious bathroom and held hundreds of outfits. Giovanni plucked off Ash's hat and Ash whirled, gawking at his father and the clothing.

"Change first," Giovanni said. "And forget the hat."

"What about you?" Ash replied. "You're going to make me change and you're going to go like that?'

"Of course not," he said. "I'm going to shower first, change, and then I'll collect you."

Ash scowled and Giovanni laid a hand on his shoulder. Ash stared at it and then his father. Quickly, like he was disused to affection, he removed his hand and his expression softened, though he didn't smile.

"I promise to return," he said and frowned, looking at Pikachu. "We may be able to make better arrangements for your partner."

He shut the door and Ash looked at the clothing arrayed before him. A switch moved the top level down within reach and he was stunned by the selection of colors and styles. The saffron shirt in front of him felt like real silk and it flowed like water between his hands. He pulled it off the rack and Pikachu jumped to join his trainer. He pointed out a matching pair of dress pants and expensive leather dress shoes that pinched but would probably stretch.

"You're going out?" Misty asked, leaning against the doorframe. Her eyes sparkled and Ash's heart skipped a beat. He remembered the moment he'd fallen for her and how much of an idiot girls could make him.

"For a couple hours," Ash said. "I can't believe I got him to agree to it."

"Have a good time," she said softly. "Be safe, Ash."

"Why wouldn't I be?" he said. She rolled her eyes.

"So naive, even now," she said and kissed him on the cheek. She smirked and ruffled his hair. "He took your hat."

"I feel naked without it," he complained and she laughed.

"I can tell you a few other things you'd be naked without," she said, grinning.

"My Pokeballs and belt," he said. Her eyes still twinkled, but her expression sobered.

"That's not what I meant, but maybe you'll get them back. You never know," she said. She stroked his cheek with the back of her hand. "Enjoy your time with your father. Bring back something for me, okay?"

"You didn't want to go too, did you?" he asked, tossing his shirt off and buttoning the new one on.

"This is supposed to be quality time between you and your father," she replied. "I wouldn't want to interrupt that. You can tell me all about it when you get back."

He kicked off his pants and she sighed, kissing him on the cheek again and waving him so long for now. Ash grinned at Pikachu. He was nervous and excited, the same combination he usually felt before a big battle. He kicked off his shoes too, changed them, and darted into the bathroom to apply some cologne. He didn't know why, but he wanted to be presentable for his father. This also entailed running his fingers through his hair, running a brush through it, and fixing his collar. He could have asked Misty to do it, but she seemed quietly detached at the moment.

"How do I look, Pikachu?" Ash asked.

Pikachu gave him the thumbs up and frowned, looking away. "I wish I were going with you. It doesn't feel the same if we're not together."

"I know, but maybe Giovanni will change you back soon," Ash said. "And it's only one event. It's not like we haven't been separated before."

Pikachu frowned for a few seconds longer, blew Ash a raspberry, and said, "Have fun, Satoshi. I'll go bug Misty and Rattata while you're gone. And I'll get further with her than you have."

"Hey!" Ash said. Pikachu grinned devilishly.

"Have fun," he said in a singsong voice.