Giovanni was not a happy camper. He had hoped that his agents would have acquired Omegamoah during the battle in Omega Stadium, but all they had succeeded in doing was losing more men. With most of their assets and resources taken by the G-Men they needed Omegamoah more than ever. Whatever agents he had left were trying to secure funds, but they dared not do anything too bold. According to Domino the G-Men had practically an entire battalion of men stationed in Pallet in case they tried to take Omegamoah by force, and they didn't have enough expendables to risk a direct assault.

"If I ever get my hands on the ones who ratted us out…"

Though Giovanni didn't know it, the ones who sold out the location of their base were Jessie, James, and Meowth. Not long before he unleashed Omegamoah on Kanto he sent them on fake mission to an island and left them to die because he was sick of their incompetence. Since then they had found a much more rewarding profession on the right side of the law.

"We must either acquire more men to take Omegamoah by force, or find another way acquire it. But how?"

Suddenly the room went dark. When the emergency generators didn't kick in he knew something was wrong.

"The power will come back on when I tell it too…"

"Who the fuck are you?! What do you want?!" exclaimed Giovanni.

"Who I am is not important, and what I want is even more confidential. Just know that I can help you. You hate a lot of people, but I know you hate Ash Ketchum most because he humiliated you in a Pokémon battle and because he possesses Omegamoah and you do not. I know that you want him back, and that you also lack the manpower to take him by force, but there is more than one way to skin a cat. I know a way you can reacquire Omegamoah without wasting any more of your assets, and ruin what's left of Ash Ketchum's reputation at the same time. Adding insult to injury you may say.

"I'm listening…"

When morning came Ash and the others discussed their plans for Misty's safety over breakfast.

"How much time do we have before Team Rocket makes their move?"

"Three days." replied Adena "All we need to is take Mo… Misty somewhere safe until the battle is over."

"But where?"

"Most of Giovanni's men will be sent here for the assault on Pallet, so I'm pretty sure anywhere but here will do."

"Why don't you just use Celebi to take her somewhere else in time?" asked Max.

"I've already told you, time travel is dangerous. I don't want to use Celebi unless it's absolutely necessary. But with Suicune's speed I can take Misty across the region easily enough. All Giovanni cares about is Omegamoah, so as long as he's in one place and Misty's in another we shouldn't have any problems."

Instead of going into the mountains to train like he normally did, Ash didn't leave Misty's side. Though Adena assured him the attack wasn't going to come for a few days he felt an urge to stay and protect her. It was a very quiet day until they received a letter in the mail with no return address. Even more disturbing was the message inside

Ketchum

I imagine it must be tough knowing that your father is a wanted criminal, even worse that the whole world knows about it. I think your public would like you even less if they found out you knocked up a Gym Leader.

If you wish to keep that information private, then surrender Omegamoah to us.

Please signal your compliance by placing an Ultra Ball on the tree in west woods with red graffiti on it by 6pm tomorrow. We will then organize a time and place for the exchange.

"Giovanni!" exclaimed May.

"Well… now we have a firm grasp of the obvious." said Max.

"This is impossible!" exclaimed Adena "I was never told that Team Rocket knew Misty was pregnant!"

"What do you mean?"

"In the future I come from Team Rocket launched an all-out assault to get their hands on Omegamoah; Misty was caught in the crossfire and suffered a miscarriage. I wasn't told they knew she was pregnant and threatened to make that information public!"

"So you're saying that somehow history has already changed?"

"How did they find out that Misty was pregnant in the first place?" asked Ash.

"The only people that should know are everyone in this room, Misty's sisters, Cynthia, and the doctor who we paid to keep quiet."

"I think we can rule out Cynthia."

"Knowing Misty's sisters it's probably on the internet."

"No, my sisters know the gravity of the situation."

"Maybe those doctors sided with the highest bidder."

"It doesn't matter how Team Rocket found out about Misty's condition." said Brock "The question is what we do about it."

"I'm not giving them Omegamoah." said Ash "Last time Giovanni destroyed Professor Oak's lab, Cerulean City, and tried to destroy all of Pallet as well. And knowing him he'll probably tell the world about Misty anyway."

"So you can either not give them Omegamoah and Giovanni will spill the beans for sure, or you can give Omegamoah to him in which case he'll most likely do it regardless." said Dawn.

"I know… either way not only am I the son of the Man with the Black Charizard, but I'm a filthy pervert as well."

"But that's not fair, it was all my idea! If anyone takes the fall for this it should be me!" said Misty.

"You clearly don't know how the media works. All the families affected by the Man with the Black Charizard are going to point their torches at Ash and say that you're his victim. And even if they don't feel that way, those vultures on TV and in the papers are going to convince them."

"There is another option." said Brock.

"There is?"

"Blackmail depends on secrecy. All Ash has to do is tell the world himself."

"And how would that help?"

"Would you rather have Giovanni dig up your secret, or would you prefer to be the one to tell everybody?"

"If you come clean, the worst they can do is suspend you from the league for a year." said Max.

"We'll do it together!" said Misty "It's just as much my fault, if not more, than it is yours. That way no one can say anything about you alone, and besides… that's what couples do."

Ash thought about it, his life's goal was to be the world's greatest Pokémon master. What was one year out of the league in the long run? Besides, they were short on options.

"Okay… what do we do?"

The only person Ash and Misty knew that could understand their situation was DJ Mary. It was arranged that they would give her an exclusive interview over the phone. After that Adena would take Misty somewhere safe incase Team Rocket decided to launch an immediate retaliation. It was nearly time and Ash was hesitant to pick up the phone.

"Let's get this over with."