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Alex's POV

So after that...Little diddy, I continually stared at the two adults and talking cat and quickly realized how the world works. The adults are insane. Which is why they gladly let their kids wander around monster infested woods.

Max on the other hand, was taking this surprisingly with a lot of seriousness. "What are you three doing here?!"

"Why, doing what we always do! Taking Pokémon from unsuspecting twerps!" The woman I met earlier announced. Her purple hair looking more like a banana now instead of before.

"Exhibit A!" The Meowth, now with no costume anymore, held up what looked like a small plexiglass case above his head. "A captured Kirlia!"

"Kirl! Kirlia!" Kirlia's normal Pokémon call rang out. Looking very concerned.

"How's come we can't understand her anymore?" I asked Max, hoping he'd have some answers about these guys.

"This case is made special fo' Psychic Types! Meanin' that no Psychic moves, teleportin' or otherwise can sneak past it!" The Meowth gloated. Apparently having impeccable hearing seeing as how he's next to a loud balloon engine and a good distance between me on the ground and him in the air.

"Kirlia, don't worry! We'll get you out of here!" Max yelled out in hopes to reassure her.

I quickly looked around, but it looked like no one was around us. It was past five now, so I guess about now people were already starting to head home. Not only that, but I didn't see any houses, shops, or restaurants anywhere near here.

All there was around us was some business offices. Some were closed either for the day or down for good and whatever ones were open probably couldn't see us in time to do anything. Besides, what are they gonna do, the bad guys are in a balloon suspended in mid-air.

Not only were they pointless, but the officer wasn't at her station. If I remember right, she had to help the Professor keep from letting the Pokémon in the Bio Dome from escaping again until it was at least temporarily sealed off. By now, she would've probably finished and would be on her way back now. Especially with how crazy she drove on her motorcycle.

"Now that'd be a sight ta see! You two twerps can't even reach us!" Meowth gloated happily.

"He's right." I murmured to myself.

"Alex…" Max said in small surprise as he looked to me.

"Max, unless one of us can suddenly float or grow wings, we won't reach them." I said quietly enough so even the Meowth's cat ears could hear me. "We need to be smart about this…" I said between the two of us as I thought it all over again.

Maybe if we had a bird Pokémon to get them from the sky, but since that's not anywhere even close to an option, it was pointless to try and reach them. We needed something else.

"Kirlia!" Kirlia cried out again, making me only frown even more. We needed some way to get to them, but until they were down, it wasn't going to work.

"Sorry, but it don't look like you're goin' anywhere but wit us!" Meowth told Kirlia. Probably able to understand her perfectly fine.

"Ta-ta~" The three of them called out cheerfully, laughing all the way as they floated away from the city and-

Wait a second! "This is perfect!" I yelled out, instantly having an idea.

"What is?! The fact that they just took Kirlia?!" Max asked me, accusing me of liking that bit of news.

"No! Not that they took her! Where they're taking her! Up ahead, that's the forest we were heading to right?!" I asked him, pointed towards where the Rockets were going.

"Yeah, why?" Max asked me, looking from where they were going and back to me.

"Because like I said: This. Is. Perfect." I said, wasting no time as I turned to my partner. "You up for a little jog buddy?" I asked him, smiling with a plan in mind.

"Maku?...Ma!" He yelled out suddenly, instantly getting it. "Maku maku!"

"Good! Follow them as fast as you can! We'll be right behind you. Punch down some branches or leave some rocks for us to follow, got it?!" I instructed him.

"Maku hita!" He nodded and looked back where Team Rocket was floating away. He jumped from side to side and reaching forward towards the ground, his own version of stretching seeing as how he wasn't really built to be limber.

"Uh, Alex? I don't know if you know this, but Makuhitas are usually strong Pokémon, not fa-"

"Shh…" I told him with a smile. "Prepare to be amazed." Seeing Makuhita about to kick off running, I started picking up our stuff as I raised my voice.

"On your mark, get set, GO!" I said out loud, Makuhita taking off not a second later. He ran off the cobblestone bricks that made up the pavement for the edge of the city as he followed the dirt road after them. His eyes completely focused on his target as he jetted forwards with speeds faster than me or Max could ever accomplish. So well that he was only slightly slower than the balloon itself.

The thieves apparently didn't notice just as I hoped since they were gloating too much about their surprise attack. Not to mention Kirlia was probably saying some choice words to them at the moment and distracting them even more.

So by the time they would start actually looking around, they would already be near the forest and my partner would be hidden from them. Besides, they probably weren't going far. My guess is that they would find opening at the edge of the forest and land.

"Woah! How can he run that fast?!" Max asked me as he watched the dust cloud trail that my Makuhita was leaving behind. "And -What are you doing?" He asked as I put everything down beside the police booth.

"We'll have Officer Jenny's booth warding off anyone who might want to take our stuff. It'll be fine right here until we come back for it. Besides, it'd slow us down anyway. Now come on, let's try and hurry!" I told him before taking off after the balloon myself.

Max snapped out of his confusion and nodded determinedly. Running right behind me. "Don't worry Kirlia. We're coming." He said, more for his own nerves than hers.

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Makuhita's POV

"Dang it…Where'd they land?!"

As I skidded to a stop, taking in a small breath, I looked around. I had a pretty good idea which way they had gone, but I didn't know how far they were from here. When they started landing, they went a little faster than I was going.

"Max was right. A Flying Type would be able to get to them way easier." I sighed before punching a small tree beside me. Knocking it to the ground so Alex and Max could find me. I was punching low branches and kicking up rocks so they could track me down like Alex told me to, but it would still take them some time to catch up to me.

Your current wish is a Flying Type? To do your job so you won't gripe?

"What the?…" I said out loud, looking around the small clearing I was around. Nothing had changed and no Pokémon was anywhere near me. It was just some trees and some bushes around me.

Looking for that which does not exist? You won't find me there, so look away from the mist.

"But, there isn't any mist here." I said confusedly as I checked the area again. It was starting to get a little darker since the sun was starting to set. If there were any other Pokémon around me, they were probably heading off to their homes right now.

I looked towards the treetops above me to see if there was a bird Pokémon somewhere, but not one leaf was moving for any reason other than the small breeze that was going by. And the bushes were even more still than that. So no Pokémon was hiding from me as far as I could tell.

No, not real mist! I meant, you know, the, uh...The, the mist of nothing, err...Dang it!

Ahead of where I was standing was a dark bulb of something that started to fade in from nothing.

Okay fine, you got me! I just couldn't think of a rhyme at that time! Up! Wait! There it was! ShiShiShiShiShiShi!

As the dark bulb faded further and further into reality, some purple smoke started appearing around it as well as a face on the front of the black bulb! Its face was made up of two angry looking eyes with pupils the size of crumbs and an open mouth that covered up the bottom half of its face with two fangs that went along with it.

"A Gastly!" I announced. "Wait a second, haven't I heard of you before?"

Probably. After all, I've been floating around the Professor's Mansion-Lab for a few days now. And let me tell you, that town is Way more fun than this forest! The humans don't try and battle me whenever I scare them!

His voice was kind of weird. His mouth open and closed as he kept that same smile, but his voice came a few seconds later. Not only that, but his voice was wispy and faint even though he was right in front of me.

"Wait a second...Now I remember! You're that Pokémon that scared my trainer!" I realized before jumping back and holding up my fists. Ready to take him down.

Oh please kid. You can't even touch me.

"Watch me, you floating...Uh, you floating, gas, thing!" I insulted, trying to think of an insult like Alex's, but I couldn't think of any.

Wow, that was horrible.

"Arm Thrust!" I called out before I jumped up to his level and attacked him. Aiming for the center of his face and- passing right through him?!

"Woah!" I tried to recover as quickly as I could to land on my feet, but it was impossible. I jumped upwards towards the Gastly to hit him, so I was landing flat on the ground with a thud. "Ow…" I said weakly, the air being knocked out of me in the worst of ways.

No really, I mean you literally can't touch me kid. I'm a ghost. Normal and Fighting Type moves go right through me. Just like my food! ShiShiShiShiShiShi!

"Right. I should've known that part…" I sighed, knowing that fighting him was stupid of me. "What do you want anyway?"

Actually, I don't really want anything. I'm just bored! But seeing how your group is going after those flying humans up there, my fun radars went nuts! So, here I am! Tada!~

His purple smoke 'poof'ed as he floated there. His eyes focused on me as if he was expected me to react in some way. But since I didn't know how, I just ignored it for now. Instead, I was thinking more about something else he was talking about.

"Wait, you said 'flying humans'? So you know where those three took Kirlia to?!" I asked him, hoping I was right about that.

Wow, you're no fun kid.

"Really?! That's all you have to say?! Am I really that young compared to you?!" I asked, getting real annoyed at him. Seriously, did he take anything seriously?!

Well seeing as how I'm old enough to know your own grandpa, I'd say that you are! ShiShiShiShiShiShi!

Wow this guy has a weird laugh.

But still, I get why you're worried so much. Your friend's in trouble right? And your trainer and his friend's counting on you to track them down! Be the hero! Save the day! Am I on the right track, right kid?

"Uh, yeah I guess you are." The hero part wasn't really that important, but he had a point. The others were counting on me to find the others!

Good, because so are you! Those thieves and their balloon are just up ahead! I'd help, but... so am I! ShiShiShiShiShiShi!

"...I don't get it." I said as his laughter finally died down.

WHAT?! H-How do you NOT get it! It's so funny! You see, they're just up ahead. And I'm nothing BUT a head! So I'm 'Just up. A. Head!' See?! It's funny! Right?...

"...Nope." I answered, still not getting it. Seriously, what was with this Pokémon?

Ugh! Killjoy...ShiShiShi...Either way, I'm serious about going up against them. I don't have a chance. That Inkay's a Dark Type and he'd end me even more than I am now. So unless I was to catch them by surprise, I'm not much help.

"Okay…" I said, thinking this over a little bit. I wasn't much for thinking things through. If anyone else had any ideas, I'll gladly hear them. But for now, it was just me and this Gastly until my trainer catches up. So...

"Wait a minute, I have an idea! Gastly, are you able to do anything while you're invisible?"

Well, I can't fight if that's what you're thinking. I can only make some noises or move a few things if it's close enough to me. You know, do average ghost stuff. Why?

"Oh, no reason. We're just gonna catch em...By surprise." I said with a big smile on my face. A good enough plan coming together until Alex and Max got here.

ShiShiShiShiShiShi

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Kirlia's POV

"We got a Kirlia! We got a Kirlia! We got a Kirlia!" The three main members of Team Rocket cheered over and over as they stopped in this clearing. Seemingly unaware that we weren't really that far from where they abducted me.

"Correction, you stole a Kirlia!" I corrected them. Not that they could understand me anyway. Well, the Inkay, Meowth, and Wobbuffet could at least, but that wasn't much really. The Inkay had done nothing much the whole time and Wobbuffet was only standing guard beside me.

"Oh, YEAH!~" Wobbuffet cheered out before saluting towards...Nothing really. In fact, he wasn't even facing towards any of the others.

"Seems...fair since...heart…" Inkay was muttering something to himself, but I could only make out half of what he had said.

"And I hope all of you know that I won't be trapped in here long!" I said just loud enough for the Meowth to hear. The two fellow Psychic Types next to me were pointless to try and say anything to.

"Do ya really think them two twerps can find us?" Meowth stopped cheering along and looked at me with a smug look.

"Well considering how many stories Max has told me about all of you stealing Pikachu and losing, I'd think so." I nodded and sat back in my small prison against the glass wall and folded my arms.

"What's it saying Meowth?" The man stopped cheering as he and the woman turned towards him for a translation.

"She's sayin' dat we ain't gettin' away wit' dis." Meowth summarized.

"Is she really?" The woman asked with a smile before coming over and looking at me with that still smile on her face. "You must be new. Sorry to break it to you, but Team Rocket always gets their Pokémon."

"That's where you're wrong. I know you three already." I glared at her, wishing so much that I wasn't in this block right now just so I could teleport her into the sky.

"Huh? She says that she already knows us." Meowth said in surprise. His smile going away.

"Well she should. Better that Team Rocket be known throughout Kalos now rather than later." Jessie's smile only grew bigger.

I rolled my eyes and focused solely on the Meowth. "You probably don't remember do you? After all, you're not that good at impersonating a Kirlia."

"Huh?" Meowth took a step back. "Wait a second, what was that?" He didn't seem to remember all that well, but I could tell that he was starting to.

"What's wrong?" The man asked one more time.

"She's sayin' that I don't make a good Kirlia impression." Meowth answered confusedly.

"Wait a moment, I think I remember." The man scratched his chin in thought. "Didn't you and Jessie dress as Kirlia before?"

"Oh, I remember that. I was elegant incarnate while Meowth botched it up." Jessie said, apparently holding a grudge.

"You weren't that believable." I waved her off with a shake of my head. I knew that those two weren't even close to my family. I didn't even need to read their emotions to figure that.

"What did you say?!" Jessie turned around and quickly and glared at me. Looking like she was about to take my horns off. I wish she would just try. Because the second she got me out of this box was the second I'd levitate her by her weird looking hair.

So to help egg her on, I stuck my tongue out at her.

"Why you little…" Now she was even more ticked as she reached for my cage. Only for the man and her Wobbuffet to hold her back worriedly.

"Jessie, stop! If you let her out, she'll get away!" The man said pathetically. Sounding more like he was begging than asking or demanding her to stop being so angry. Just how threatening was she to these people?

"Oh, Yeah!~ She's just trying to egg you on!" Wobbuffet explained to her. Sounding terrified himself even though he could probably take whatever attack Jessie would use against him.

"Some team you got here." I told Meowth seeing as how he was the only capable of them all right now.

He simply sighed. "Yeah, I know. It's just that...They don't know how...Ta take it...Easy…" He slurred as smoke started swirling around his head slowly. "Nighty-night…" He slurred his words some more before finally collapsing to the ground face first.

"Huh?" The three stooges directly in front of me instantly stopped arguing and turned towards the now sleeping Meowth. "Meowth?" Jessie asked.

"I guess he was really that tired." The man mused as they all turned completely towards his figure.

At that moment, a small purple figure rose out of Meowth's back, floating over Meowth's body without moving. Slowly, it started to morph its own shape. Growing its own appendages and making its own face that much wider.

The more detailed looks of Meowth's body started to form. At the end of each of the arm formed two three-fingered paws, the coin on the head formed into reality, whiskers slowly grew out from the face, and the tail curled up.

"I-I'm not the only one that sees that, right?" James asked, getting paler and paler by the second.

"You mean the purple Meowth?" Jessie asked, shaking in place.

"Oh, yeah…" Wobbuffet said wearily.

...You's four's…

"..Me-Meowth?" Jessie managed to mutter out towards the floating tiny Meowth.

...You's four's better get away from me…

"Get away? Why partner, what's become of you? Did you die?" Inkay asked bluntly. Making me, Wobbuffet, and even the purple Meowth look at him confusedly.

...Uh...YES!

In that moment, he focused his small, glowing, bright-red eyes at them. His body freezing in place instead of the gentle rise and fall like before. For what seemed like minute after minute, he didn't once break eye contact with them.

As the day turned more to dusk, the Meowth began to glow with a brighter purple tint. And as he slowly lifted his arms towards the sky above him, he broke out into a wide grin. Two odd fangs prominent as his eyes grew bigger to be a bit ill-proportionate to the rest of its body.

For years you's have been neglectin' me's! And now, you will ALL. PAY!

His voice grew deeper as the figure grew to be just a little smaller than the original Meowth. He then quickly threw his arms to face towards the four remaining Rocket members as a gust of wind blew through the opening. All the leaves of the trees and bushes rustling wildly and the balloon began to catch some of the wind. Inflating just enough so the eyes were looking directly at the group.

PAY...DAY!

Small aura-like ovals began to fade into reality before quickly flying at Team Rocket's feet. And as they impacted the ground below, it cause explosions to burst the small patches of ground. Burning the grass below them like bullets being fired from a pistol.

"AAAHHHH!" The man, Jessie, and Wobbuffet yelled out in fear as they kept jumping in place to avoid the pieces of 'Pay Day' being thrown at their feet. Inkay wasn't anywhere close to the blasts, but he was just as scared as them.

"Wobbuffet, use Mirror Coat!" Jessie shrieked out in pure fear.

"Oh, YEAH!~" Wobbuffet cheered as he jumped in front of them and used Mirror Coat, bouncing the attack off of him. But since he was more scared of the Ghost Meowth, he wasn't focused enough to direct the attack back at him.

SHISHISHI! GET IT? YOU'LL PAY...DAY! SHISHISHI!

"Wait a second, that voice doesn't sound the same…" I said softly as I focused my attention back on Meowth's body below. Since Meowth's face was on the ground, I couldn't tell if he was really dead or just unconscious.

I leaned forward as close as I could towards him, moving the hair out of my second eye to focus as well as I could. His limbs, nor his tail, were moving but as I looked closely, I noticed something. His back was gently going up and down as if someone was resting peacefully.

"He's not dead at all." I said to myself, still fully aware that the thieves would catch on and know the ghost was a fake. "So if that's not Meowth, then just what is it?"

SHISHISHI! SHISHISHI! SHI-SHISHISHISHI! You don't have a 'Ghost' of a chance! SHI-SHISHI-GAH!

Before he could keep laughing in his deep ghostly voice, one of the stray Pay Day coins that were deflecting off of Wobbuffet finally struck the ghost. Making it stop firing attacks and fly backwards and through a tree.

...ow…

Slowly, the ghost peeked its head, which was pretty much its entire body now, it looked out towards the group that was no longer scared of him. More so, they were infuriated.

"Yeah! Meowth is not deceased after all!" Inkay cheered out happily before floating over and slapping the back of Meowth's head. "Wake up! You're not dead!" Meowth wasn't waking up, but the multiple slaps were leaving a red mark on the back of Meowth's head.

"Inkay, worry about him later! Right now, use Foul Play!" James commanded as Inkay regained its focus and rushed towards Gastly, able to grab Gastly's ghostly body and flipping it upside down. Slamming it into the ground face-first.

Ugh...Dirty Dark Type.

As Inkay floated back towards the group, Gastly slowly made his way back to floating above the ground like before.

Foul Play was a Dark Type move that used the target's attack power against it. But since Gastly wasn't a physical attacker, it didn't do much damage to him. But it was still painful considering that he was weak to Dark Type.

"James, I thought you said the twerps only had two Pokémon!" Jessie yelled out at James with a glare.

"That's what they said. This Gastly must be flying solo." James guessed, taking out some machine. After pointing it at Gastly, a red hologram of a Gastly appeared. AS well as some stats that I couldn't read from here. "And according to this, Gastly knows Lick, Hypnosis, and Shadow Ball."

"Well it certainly is strong. I say we catch it for the boss!" Jessie said, a grin on her face growing.

Oh boy, that isn't good! Where's that Fighting Type kid and his friends?!

He cast a glance behind him, looking pretty worried. He after getting hit by those two attacks, he was already weak enough to have a problem with being captured. Just one or two more hits and he'd be caught.

"Wait, Fighting Type?" I muttered. "Was that Fighting Type a Makuhita with a fist painted on his chest?!" I asked him, hoping that it was. Meowth was still asleep, so the rest of Team Rocket couldn't understand me or him.

Yeah. He and both of your trainers are on their way. But they better get here soon. I didn't come here to get myself captured by some...Ghouls! ShiShiShi!

Remembering that Ghost Types always had something to them, I shook away the thought of questioning his joke and got an idea. "Can you try to use shadow ball on this box?!"

You sure? What if it hits you?

"Would you prefer being an underling for one of those two?"

...Good Point.

Having a new idea, he turned towards me and opened his mouth. Charging up a stronger Shadow Ball than those smaller Pay Day ones and aimed it for my prison.

Shadow...Ball!

"Oh no you don't! Wobbuffet! Use Mirror Coat and send it back!" Jessie commanded before Wobbuffet jumped in between the both of us.

"NO!" Both me and Gastly yelled out as the Shadow Ball that was about to set me free reflected right off of Wobbuffet like a tennis ball and right back at Gastly. And like a Stantler in front of headlights, he floated in place in shock at just what was going on.

"Use Bullet Punch to knock it away!" A voice called out from behind Gastly. Surprising everyone.

Then, just before the Shadow Ball could hit Gastly, a figure emerged from the forest and ran under him, punching the Shadow Ball and cancelling it out entirely.

"Alright, guess that works too!" As Makuhita got into a fighting stance, Alex and Max came into the clearing, looking exhausted since they had probably been running nonstop.

Took you long enough, kid. I nearly died!...Again! ShiShiShiShi!

"What the- Hey! It's that Gastly! Aw great, we have to worry about him too?!" Alex asked with a frown as he kept breathing.

Geez, I pranked you ONE time! Take a joke kid!

"He's not on our side!" Jessie yelled out with a glare.

"Wait, he isn't? Then whose side is he on?" Max asked, hoping to get some confirmation on that.

Why can't I be on my own side?

"We'll worry about that later! Right now, Makuhita! Free Kirlia!" Alex commanded.

"Got it!" Makuhita nodded before charging straight for my prison. Pulling back an arm to use Arm Thrust.

"Okay Inkay, this time use Psybeam!" James commanded as Makuhita made it halfway over to where I was.

"Affirmative!" Inkay floated in his path, turning upside down as he charged up his Psybeam.

"I was hoping you'd do that." Alex smirked, having an idea.

"Um, come again?" James asked, clearly confused.

"Keep charging and jump when I say!" Alex said, bracing himself for something. Makuhita didn't question it and simply nodded. Running headfirst for Inkay now, who was getting a little worried but still kept charging up his attack.

"Get ready…" Makuhita said slowly as he started closing in, Inkay now slowly floating back to try and get some last minute space before he was tackled out of the way.

"Hurry and fire!" James cried out on impulse, physically flinching a little himself since he had no idea what would happen.

"Now!" Alex commanded, making Makuhita jump to just barely avoid the multi-colored beam. And knowing that the beam had nowhere left to go but towards him, Alex easily jumped out of the way of the beam as it sailed into the tree behind him. Safely fading away without hurting anyone.

Makuhita, not able to jump so high with how fast he was going, landed on top of Inkay and jumped off of him as if he was a stepping stone. Getting even higher up with tons of forward momentum aimed towards me.

"Okay! Arm Thrust!" Makuhita cried out as he got in range of me and my box. And since the box wasn't built for physical attacks, one hit shattered the top of it into pieces. Instantly shutting down the Psychic Type proof force field that was surrounding the box.

Before Makuhita or the glass could land on me, I quickly used teleport and appeared outside of the box. Free and ready to fight myself.

"Your move." Alex told them, standing back up and facing towards them along with the rest of us. Now with Gastly helping us and the Meowth knocked out, it was five versus four. And they didn't look too ready to ready to go up against us.

"Err...You two are just as big a twerps as the other ones!" Jessie yelled out angrily. "Wobbuffet, wake Meowth up already!"

"Oh, Yeah!~" Wobbuffet cried out as he jumped over and picked up Meowth. Placing him on top of his head so he could still try to fight along with the others.

"Inkay, use Tackle on that Makuhita!" James commanded, turning around and pointing towards my partner, who was over on the opposite side of the Rocket members.

Inkay turned around as if he was swimming in the air around him and began to charge forward towards him. Going faster and faster like a small bullet directly towards Makuhita.

Makuhita jumped to hit feet and got in a fighting pose, ready to try and take on Inkay. But instead of attacking, he awaited Alex to give him a command.

"Knock it back with Bullet Punch!" Alex told him, tensing up as Inkay started closing in on Makuhita. Worried that he had either made the wrong decision or instructed Makuhita too late.

But even while Inkay closed in the very small distance, Makuhita reacted quickly enough to counterattack. He pulled his right arm back as what look like metal formed around him and moved with untraceable speeds. Rushing towards Inkay with what little space he had left and landing a solid hit on the front fin of Inkay.

Inkay cried out in pain as he was crushed between Makuhita's attack and his own forward momentum. But in no time at all, Makuhita's momentum proved to outclass Inkay's and he was sent spiraling backwards.

He sailed into Jessie and James. Knocking all of them into the basket of their balloon which lay behind them. Incapacitating them from giving any more orders.

...Shadow...

Gastly came forward and looked towards the lone Wobbuffet, who was too concerned with the rest of his group to notice us.

"Makuhita, come back over here." Alex said calmly. Not taking his eyes off of Wobbuffet for even a second while Makuhita nodded and hurried back. Knowing not to stand on the opposite side of Team Rocket.

...Ball!

"Wha- AH!" As Wobbuffet turned back towards us, he saw Gastly firing his attack and flinched backwards. Clearly having no time at all to react.

But as he did, Meowth slipped off the top of his head and fell forward. Accidentally taking the Shadow Ball for Wobbuffet. Except since Meowth was a Normal Type, the Shadow Ball simply evaporated after it made contact with him. Not even waking up the Pokémon.

Not acting fast enough to catch him however, Wobbuffet watched along with the rest of us as Meowth landed headfirst on the ground below. Making him wake up in pain.

As he yelped and held his head for comfort, the other three Team Rocket members looked up from inside their basket. James held out a Pokéball and let Inkay rest seeing as how he had fainted after that most likely critical hit.

"Huh? We haven't blasted off yet?" James asked, somehow unaware of whether he was or not until he looked ahead and saw the rest of us.

They got lucky...But I'm not missing this time! Shadow…

Gastly started charging up another Shadow Ball, determined to do something now that he had been wrapped up in all this.

"Ow, me achin' head…" Meowth moaned in pain as he sat up, seeing us all gathered up. "Alright, which one a you twerps woke me up from my cat nap?!"

"Worry about sleeping later! They got Kirlia back!" James cried out as he could only help.

"They what?!" Meowth focused on me and saw that I was indeed free. And ready to take him out more than ever. "That's it! That Kirlia belongs ta tha boss, not you twerps!"

"Excuse me?!" I asked, glaring right at him with half a mind to blow him off to the moon.

"Yipe!" Meowth said, putting his paws over his mouth in hopes to take him back.

"Kirlia's not going anywhere!" Max said, glaring right at all of them. "Kirlia, use Hidden Power!"

"With pleasure!" I told him before charging up the attack.

Ball!

Before I launched my attack, Gastly launched his straight for the Wobbuffet. Hoping to knock it in the basket with the rest of Team Rocket.

"Wobbuffet, use Mirror Coat!" Jessie ordered.

"Oh, yeah!~" Wobbuffet saluted as his body shinned. Causing the Shadow Ball to go right over Meowth's head and off Wobbuffet once again. Sending it flying directly for-

"No!" I closed my eyes and looked away. Bracing for the impact to hit me since I couldn't do anything to defend myself with while I was about to fire Hidden Power.

"Kirli-Gah!" But not feeling the attack strike me, I opened my eyes to see Max lying in front of me. Small sparks of purple electricity emitting from him.

He wasn't a Pokémon, meaning that the attack wouldn't just evaporate after hitting him like Meowth. It wouldn't do any lasting effects since it probably felt more like a basketball nailed him directly in the chest, but he was still down.

No!

Gastly looked to Max, feeling horrible for what he had accidentally caused.

"Makuhita, use Arm Thrust on Meowth and knock him into that Wobbuffet!" Alex ordered, having an idea.

"Right." Makuhita agreed, deciding to worry about Max once we were safe. He then ran past the rest of us and pulled back his arm again. Closing in on the very scared Meowth.

"Woah! Hold on, what I do?!" Meowth took a step back, still between Makuhita and Wobbuffet. And not being fast enough, Makuhita closed in on him and knocked him forward with a square hit to the chest. Sending both him and Wobbuffet flying to the basket where Jessie and James were still standing.

Having no way to avoid them, Meowth and Wobbuffet collided with James and Jessie respectively. Knocking them all down inside the basket.

"This is for Max! Hidden Power!" I called out, throwing the orbs of energy forward past Makuhita and towards the basket.

What resulted was a small explosion. Destroying the basket and sending Team Rocket soaring high into the air helplessly.

"LOOKS LIKE TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAIIIIIIIIIIIIiiiiiiiiiinnnnn…!"

As they disappeared into the night sky with only what looked like a twinkle of a star, we all turned our attention back to Max. Who was now unconscious in front of me.

Alex stepped forward and carefully turned Max onto his back. Glancing over him real quick as if to check on him. "I think he'll be fine. He just passed out. But let's get him back to Lumiose City. Officer Jenny's probably come back to her post by now."

"Good idea." I told him telepathically.

"Hey, can you give me a hand?" Alex asked Makuhita, who only nodded as he carefully picked up Max's feet while Alex tried to hold up the upper part of his body.

Knowing that they'll need all the help they could get, I helped keep Max straight by levitating him just a little bit. As did Gastly, albeit only a little bit considering that his kind could barely manipulate a berry let alone a human.

/\

\/

Max's POV

"Oh, my stomach…" I held my stomach in pain as I tried to sit up, only to fall onto my back out of drowsiness. "Man why did I jump in front of that Shadow...Kirlia!" This time, I jumped in place. Instantly remembering just what happened.

"I'm right here Max."

I looked over towards my right and saw Kirlia, who had projected her voice for me to hear. She smiled after she saw me wake up. "How are you feeling?"

"Better now that I know we're all okay. What happened?" I asked.

"After you passed out, we took you to Jenny's guard post where Team Rocket left us. We explained what happened and she let you rest on the couch while we waited outside. We didn't want to crowd around you whenever you woke up, so we stayed outside. Do you want them to see you?"

"Sure. Thanks Kirlia." I said after sitting up a bit more. It still hurt, but the pain had faded quickly after I talked to Kirlia. But it was worth it to know that Kirlia was okay after all of this. After all, a Ghost Type move like that would've been way more harmful to Kirlia than me.

"Max, you're up!" Alex said as he and the others came in. And after I saw them all do so, I understood just why they waited outside. The room could barely fit all of us! Add the fact that the room had the couch I was on and the desk on the other side of the room, and there was only a few feet of space left.

"Maku maku!" His Makuhita cried out, smiling happily.

...Gastly…

"Huh?" I looked up towards the sound of that voice and saw that peeking through the wall was the Gastly from earlier. And his mouth had turned around to a frown instead of a usual Gastly smile. "Gastly, you stayed to see if I was okay too?"

Gast…

"He wants to say sorry for what happened to you." Kirlia explained to me.

"Say sorry? Sorry for what?" I asked, looking back towards it with a confused look.

"I think he's sorry for...How the fight ended." Alex said, trying not to make Gastly feel any worse. "Right Jet?"

"Makuhita." Makuhita nodded.

"Oh, that." I said, trying to stand up. It hurt, but I bared through it. But when Gastly saw it, he looked towards the ground below him in grief. "Gastly, you don't have to apologize."

Gastly gast…

He shook his head, still not looking at me. "No, I'm serious. That wasn't your fault at all. If anything, I should be thanking you! If it wasn't for you, we might not've saved Kirlia." I told him as I took a step forward. Now able to bare the pain since I had managed to stand up.

He looked up at me with a surprised look. Amazed that I forgave him so easily.

Gast?

"I mean it. Thank you for helping us out Gastly. We owe you." I said, formally thanking him with a nod.

Gastly? Gast gastly gast! GasGasGasGasGasGas!

He started smiling again as he floated over to try and give me, I guess, a hug or something like that. But all that did was make me laugh since the gas around him was kind of ticklish.

"Hey-Hahaha!-stop that! It-Hehehehehehe-tickles! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" I ended up laughing even more, the pain going away long enough for me not to notice.

After a few seconds, he floated away and I was able to recover well enough. "Hey Gastly? How would you like to come with me on my Pokémon Journey?" I asked, holding out a Pokéball to show him just what I meant.

Gastly!

He nodded happily, letting me use the Pokéball to capture him. And after I did, the Pokéball immediately dinged. Signaling that he didn't raise any objections.

"Alright, I caught a Gastly!" I cheered out, holding my Pokéball high in the air with a giant smile plastered on my face.

"Why do you always do that?" Kirlia asked, not as excited as I was, but still happy nonetheless that Gastly was part of our team. But like always, I mentally shook my head and just enjoyed my moment.

"So that's how that works…" Alex muttered, looking at the pocket he had been keeping all of his Pokéballs in.

"What was that Alex?" I turned towards him, not sure if I had heard him right.

"Huh? Oh, just thinking to myself, sorry." He waved away. "So, what should we do now? It's getting kinda late. Should we all just rest here or what?"

"Well, I'm actually feeling pretty good right now. Besides, with all the excitement that's happened, I don't think I'll be able to sleep for a few hours." I told him, checking to see just how much I was in pain.

The pain was still there, but I could still walk around. Which was probably exactly what I needed right now to get rid of how sore I was.

"Good, then we're in the same boat. I can't sleep right now either." Alex agreed. "What about you Jet? You ready to head out?"

"Makuhita!" He said, raising his arms out joyfully as he was wide awake.

"Jet?" I repeated. "Oh! You found a name for Makuhita!" I said, realizing what happened.

Alex smirked as he turned back towards us. "Yep! I figured with how fast Jet could travel, that name worked perfectly. Not only that, but he likes the name too! Right buddy?"

"Maku!" Jet nodded happily. "Hita, Makuhita." He said towards me with a smile.

"Jet says that he'll carry your bag for the night for you. That way you can recover." Kirlia translated.

"Thanks Maku-err-Jet!" I corrected myself, thankful that he was willing to help. I wouldn't normally want to make Pokémon have to carry my things, but since I knew a Fighting Type like him wouldn't have any trouble, and he was doing it without me having to ask, I guess it wouldn't be too bad if he did it for the night.

"Well then, good luck to all of you." Officer Jenny said as she looked in from outside the room. "With my updated report on Team Rocket, I'll be sure to alert the other officers. Be careful out there!"

"We will." Both me and Alex said, knowing that Officer Jenny meant it. "Thank you for letting me rest here." I thanked her as we all started to make our way out.

"Always glad to help." She said with a smile. Watching as we all collected our stuff and headed through the gateway that led to Santalune Forest. "Goodbye everyone." She told us with a smile.

"Goodbye!" "Maku!" "Kirlia!" We all yelled out at once, waving back to her as we kept walking forward. Big smiles on our faces as we kept heading off.

With Team Rocket off, Gastly joining Max's team, and me pretending to be that narrator like at the end of every Pokémon episode, the group continues onwards towards Santalune Forest! What awaits them on that four day adventure? Only time will tell.

Also as you all saw, Ghost Types became the winner in the QotC! And now that we have three Pokémon, I think it'll be best if I do something new for now. I'm gonna keep a record of each Pokémon. One with their gender, species, moves, and such. But no levels involved. Also, I know certain Natures boost some stats, so I've taken that in account as well.

Alex's Team:

Pokémon: Makuhita

Nature: Jolly

Name: Jet

Gender: Male

Ability: Guts

Hidden Ability: Sheer Force

Moves:

Arm Thrust

Bullet Punch

Focus Energy

Tackle

Sand Attack

Max's Team:

Pokémon: Kirlia

Nature: Adamant

Gender:Female

Ability: Trace

Hidden Ability: Telepathy

Moves:

Confusion

Psychic

Safeguard

Protect

Attract

Double Team

Teleport

/\

\/

Pokémon: Gastly

Nature: Impish

Gender:Male

Ability: Levitate

Moves:

Lick

Hypnosis

Shadow Ball

QotC

Well, the forest has come into view! All we need to figure out now is what awaits our heroes inside! But just what should be inside? Let's play around with some ideas eh? The first thing we need is some internal conflict between the group. So what should happen? Remember that external doesn't mean that Pokémon attack them, Team Rocket coming back (yet), or nature trying to kill them. We need a problem that comes from the group that they can solve.

If you're idea doesn't get picked, don't worry. There will be plenty of these and if I start to notice that I'm picking ideas from only a small set of people than I'll branch out and try to pick other people's ideas to give everyone a chance!

And if you don't want people to see what you picked, then feel free to send a PM about what the idea is! All I ask is that you don't do both. That'll just be confusing to sort out.

Until then, goodbye everyone!