Hello everyone! So, now that I think about it, this chapter is kind of late! It should've been up yesterday. But I got a little busy and forgot. Oh well, better a little late than never, eh?

So, back to the story. Will Ash save Misty? Read and find out...


"How's our little patient doing?" Cassidy strode into the small room of the hidden cabin where she and Butch had taken refuge.

The blue haired man was standing by a bed where Misty laid, still knocked out from the hypnosis attack. They had tied her arms and legs to the posts so she wouldn't try to escape when she woke up, and Starmie had been locked in a small metal cage, which it was currently smashing against to try and break free.

"She's not showing any signs of waking up," Butch folded his arms, "are you sure the hypnosis attack was such a good idea?"

"The boss said to do anything to get her," Cassidy huffed, "and she's a flighty little thing. The only way we were going to get her down was by putting her out. But we can't hurt the little baby, now can we?"

"And you're sure that attack didn't hurt the baby?" Butch raised an eyebrow.

"You're so naïve," Cassidy punched his upper arm. As he tried to rub the pain away, Cassidy walked over to Misty and pressed a hand against her stomach. After a moment, a smile etched its way onto Cassidy's face, and she looked over her shoulder at Butch. "It's kicking. Which means its fine."

"It moves around in there?" Butch shivered at the thought.

"Hmm, men," Cassidy rolled her eyes, "yes, it does."

Burch cautiously moved closer to Misty, eyeing her rounded belly with obvious trepidation. After some hesitation, he reached out and touched the bump. After feeling a kick, Butch quickly withdrew his hand, but it didn't take long for him to put it back. The movements had softened now at his touch, and he blinked in deep thought.

"Cassidy," Butch piped up quietly, "it feels weird."

"That's pregnancy for you," Cassidy uncaringly examined her fingernails, "not like I would know, though."

"That isn't what I mean," Butch shook his head.

"Then what do you mean?"

"It's just…there's a lot going on in there," Butch glanced at Misty's belly once again, "it almost feels like there's more than one kid in there."

"I guess it's possible," Cassidy mused, "but the boss said there was only one."

Butch now pressed both of his hands against Misty's swollen midsection. It was about the size of a small watermelon, Butch noted, and now and then it shifted slightly from side to side.

"Alright Butch, step away from the hostage," Cassidy sighed, "we have work to do."

"What now?" Butch flicked a strand of hair out of his eyes, "we got the target."

"Yes, we did," Cassidy walked into the next room, "but we can't take her to the boss just yet. First we'll need to call him and alert him that we've got her. After that, we can begin to mobilize."

Butch took one last look at Misty before following his female equivalent out of the room. Although he couldn't get rid of the nagging guilt, Butch knew deep in his heart that he and Cassidy were doing the right thing. For the organization, of course.

XXX

"This is where Marill picked up on the scent," Tracey showed Ash the spot on the path. Ash glowered at the dirt and turned to Misty, his eyes dull with anger.

"Pikachu, pick up the scent," Ash ordered.

"Pika," Pikachu nodded. He sniffed the ground intently, his eyes closed as he concentrated as hard as he could on memorizing the scent. After a few moments, Pikachu's head snapped up and his eyes opened.

"Did you find Misty's scent?" Ash asked.

"Pi," Pikachu nodded his head yet again.

"Can you lead us to her buddy?"

"Pika," Pikachu set off down the path, his nose staying close to the ground as he ran. Marill sniffed beside him as Ash and Tracey followed quickly after their Pokémon.

It took a few minutes, but Pikachu and Marill eventually stopped in front of a small wooden cabin, their eyes narrowing at the building.

"Is this where Misty is?" Ash asked the two Pokémon. They both turned around and gave a single nod. Ash tightened his hands into fists and approached the small house, but Tracey grabbed his wrist before he could get any further. "Tracey, let me go! I need to save Misty!"

"You can't just barge in there Ash," Tracey appealed to the Pokémon master, "they'll attack you."

"Those idiots can't beat me," Ash shook his head, "they're a bunch of weak cowards who hide behind their dumb criminal acts. It'd be stupid for them to try and take on the master of all people, especially after they kidnapped my wife!"

"Maybe so," Tracey continued, "but if they see you, then they might cause harm to Misty. And we don't want that."

"You're right," Ash finally relented as he pulled back his arm.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu suddenly called out. Ash and Tracey looked at the electric type, who was now perched on one of the cabin's window sills.

"What is it Pikachu?" Ash blinked.

"Pikachupi," Pikachu replied quietly, pointing at the window.

"Misty?" Ash breathed. He hurried over to the window and peered into the glass. The room he was looking at was small and rather bare. In the corner, however, Ash caught sight of a bed, where Misty was seemingly asleep and tied up. "There she is!" Ash gasped, turning to glance at Tracey.

"She's in there?" Tracey moved closer to Ash.

"Yeah," Ash bit his lip, "they tied her up. And I don't think she's awake."

"Is she unconscious or just asleep?" Tracey sounded rather worried.

"I'm not sure," Ash sighed deeply. Looking down for a moment, he moved his eyes back to Tracey and stated boldly, "I have to go in there."

"But how?" Tracey scratched his head, "Team Rocket can't know you're in there."

"I know," Ash folded his arms. Thinking over it for a minute, he concluded, "The best thing for me to do is to sneak into that room somehow, grab Misty, and get out as quickly as possible."

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Tracey tried.

"Through the window," Ash answered slowly as he turned his attention back to the windowpane.

"But how?" Tracey repeated.

"I've got an idea," Ash smiled as he reached for his belt. Removing a poke ball, he pressed the center button on the sphere in order to release Quilava. "Quilava," Ash addressed the fire type, "you have to use flamethrower on that window. Try to be as discreet as possible, okay?"

"Quil," Quilava nodded as he blew out a heavy stream of flames, melting a massive hole into the window so that very little glass remained in the frame.

"Great job Quilava!" Ash complimented. After returning Quilava to his poke ball, Ash approached the opening and glanced over his shoulder. "Tracey, you keep an eye out for any members of Team Rocket, okay?"

"Uh…sure," Tracey breathed out heavily, "just be careful, alright?"

"Okay," Ash nodded, although he couldn't make any promises to the Pokémon watcher. Pikachu jumped in through the glassless window, and Ash followed after him, slowly and carefully worming his way into the small room of the cabin. After landing feet first on the wooden floor, Ash slowly rose to his full height and laid his eyes on Misty.

She didn't look to be on the verge of waking up anytime soon, and despite her unconscious state, Misty still looked like a beautiful porcelain doll. Ash drew nearer to Misty, kneeling by her side to softly stroke her cheek. She still didn't budge, and Ash figured he should get to work on untying the poor red head.

As he moved over to the left back post of the bed and began to tug on the rope, Ash noticed Misty's fingers beginning to move. It was slowly at first, and before long, they stretched out as though that would break her free. Her eyes opened and, in seeing she was in an entirely different place, Misty nearly let out an ear splitting scream. Having noticed her stirring, however, Ash was able to cover her mouth with his hand before Misty could make a single noise.

She whined behind his palm and began to struggle, trying desperately to get her arms and legs out of their bound state.

"Hush angel!"

Misty grew wide eyed and looked up slowly, eventually locking eyes with her worried husband. Realizing she had calmed down, Ash removed his hand from Misty's face and continued staring at her with matchless adoration.

"A…Ash?" Misty whispered, her voice still weak from just having woken up.

"You had me so worried," Ash replied softly, his eyes filling with tears, "why did you run off like that?"

"Because I thought you hated me," Misty replied miserably, "that was stupid, I know. I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry," Ash shook his head, "this whole thing is my fault. If I hadn't kept you under lock and key, or yelled at you for trying to get the freedom I so wrongly denied you of, then you wouldn't be in this awful mess."

"It's okay," Misty tried to convince her distressed husband, "really, it's alright. We can share the blame."

"I can't believe anyone would do this to you," Ash clenched his teeth, "please tell me the babies are okay."

"They're fine," Misty comforted him, "they're moving around a lot; getting some exercise I suppose."

Ash chuckled quietly, but quickly stopped when he saw Misty's face contort with pain. "Are you okay Mist?"

"Don't worry, it has nothing to do with my stomach," Misty winced, "my ankles and wrists just hurt from being tied up. I don't know how long I've been like this."

"I'm gonna' untie you," Ash went back to work on the tight twine, "we'll be out of here in no time."

"You have to get Starmie too," Misty cringed as Ash messed with the rope, "they locked the poor thing in a cage." She had just looked in the corner of the room and realized that her star shaped Pokémon was sitting dejectedly in a metal pen.

"Pikachu," Ash beckoned to his electric type without looking away from his work, "try and get Starmie out while I free Misty."

"Pika," Pikachu scurried over to the cage and began attacking it.

XXX

At the same time, Butch and Cassidy were engaged in a conversation with Giovanni over a small laptop that the two used for communication.

"Sir, you'll be pleased to know that we've got our hands on the target," Cassidy smiled deviously.

"Excellent," Giovanni smirked, "and how's the child?"

"Very active," Cassidy's grin increased, "you're going to have a very talented operative on your hands."

"As I should," Giovanni's narrowed eyes glinted with evil.

"We'll be transporting her to headquarters as soon as possible," Butch continued, "then you may carry out whatever you intend to do with the young woman."

"Very good," Giovanni stroked his Persian's head, "you two have done well. Take caution when you're traveling with the girl. I don't want anything happening to the child."

"Yes sir!" Cassidy and Butch exclaimed simultaneously as the connection went dead.

"The boss sounds pleased," Butch gave his partner a bright look.

"Of course he does," Cassidy twirled a lock of hair around her finger, "we're two of the best operatives around."

"Should we begin to prepare our little mother for mobilization?" Butch asked as he stood up.

"Yes," Cassidy replied as she smoothed out her skirt, "that's a good idea."

As the duo walked towards the small room, Misty could hear their footsteps, and she began to panic.

"Hurry Ash!" Misty cried, "They're coming!"

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Ash panted as he tugged at the intricate mess of cord. He had freed both of Misty's hands, and was nearly done with her left ankle. After another second or so, the rope fell to the floor, and Misty was able to freely move her leg. "Just one more," Ash hurried over to her right ankle and began to tug at the twine. Pikachu, meanwhile, had severely dented the cage, and the thick metal bars were very close to giving way.

"Ash, please," Misty whimpered, "you don't have much time left!"

"I'm trying Mist," Ash dug his fingers underneath the rope. His skin was raw and cut from all the work he'd been doing, and the pain was getting bad. But Ash wasn't about to let that stop him. He needed to get Misty out.

"HEY!"

Misty gasped fearfully. At the same time, Ash gave the knot another good tug and the twine unraveled, falling quickly to the floor. He jumped up in order to glare at whoever the captors were. Upon seeing who it was, he growled lowly and clenched his fists.

"I should've known," Ash bit, "Cassidy and Bot!"

"The name is Butch!" Butch stormed, "and I don't appreciate you messing around with our prize!"

"My wife is not your prize," Ash snarled.

"You're right, she's not," Cassidy smirked, "we want nothing to do with that scrawny red head."

"I'm not scrawny!" Misty barked as she rubbed at her sore ankles. In addition to being scraped by the rope, they were badly swollen as a result of the pregnancy.

"If you don't want Misty, then why did you take her?" Ash took a threatening step forward.

"Because she's carrying the real prize," Cassidy huffed, "and we can't do much until she pops it out, now can we?"

"Excuse me?" Ash's eyes were burning like russet fire.

"You heard her," Butch narrowed his eyes, "now step out of the way and let us continue our work."

"Like hell I will!" Ash bellowed. A loud clang pierced the air, causing Pikachu to jump back as he panted tiredly. The cage had finally been broken up, and Starmie jumped out next to the electric type, menacingly facing the two members of Team Rocket.

"You're quite the bothersome little thing," Cassidy planted her hands on her hips as she glared at Ash.

"Run," Ash ordered gruffly, "or you're going to be very sorry."

"Oh no, I think it's you who's going to be very sorry," Cassidy reached for a poke ball and tossed it carelessly. The sphere popped open and a bright blue light materialized into Raticate, Cassidy's long time partner.

"I'm not afraid of that thing," Ash had venom in his voice. "Get it Pikachu!"

"Pika!" Pikachu bent down on all fours, preparing to attack the normal type.

"Starmie, you get in there too!" Misty commanded.

"Hiya!" The purple star Pokémon's ruby jewel shined brightly as it stood firmly by Pikachu, geared up to do whatever it took to take down Raticate.

"Raticate, use super fang," Cassidy waved a haphazard hand. The rat Pokémon's front teeth began to glow a fierce white as they increased in size. It ran towards Pikachu and Starmie, ready to attack both Pokémon at once.

"Pikachu, use thunderbolt!" Ash held his hand out.

"Starmie, confuse ray!" Misty cried.

Pikachu unleashed a jolt of bright yellow electricity, while Starmie shot off a series of bright pink circles from its center gem. Raticate was first struck by the confuse ray, causing it to stumble around. Pikachu's thunderbolt hit it directly afterwards, causing the normal type to cry out in obvious pain.

"Raticate!" Cassidy actually showed concern over her injured Pokémon. Glaring at Ash and Misty, she bellowed, "You're going to pay for this!"

"Ah, Starmie quick, use surf!" Misty called.

"Surf?" Ash glanced at Misty. The water type became covered in a rush of water, which soon eased underneath the Pokémon's spikes. Starmie aimed the attack for the wall of the cabin, knocking down the wooden partition with total ease.

"Hurry Ash!" Misty jumped off the bed, nearly falling in the process. Ash gasped and grabbed at her arm, pulling her back upright.

"You're not going anywhere!" Butch barked as he grabbed one of his own poke balls.

"Pikachu, try thunderbolt one more time!" Ash yelled.

"Pika…CHU!" Pikachu used his attack again, this time sending it towards both Butch and Cassidy. The duo was struck by the strong electric type move. They both fell to the ground, temporarily paralyzed by the powerful attack.

"Let's go!" Ash pulled Misty out of the cabin, with Pikachu and Starmie following closely behind. As he ran, Ash pulled out Staraptor's poke ball and released the flying type.

"Thank you Starmie, return," Misty complimented her Pokémon breathlessly as she sent it back to its sanctuary.

"Misty!" Tracey called out in obvious relief. "Are you alright?"

"I'm okay Tracey," Misty smiled, "thank you for helping Ash."

"We have to hurry," Ash looked at Tracey, "Pikachu paralyzed those two, but it's only going to last for so long. Use Scyther to get out of here."

"Got it," Tracey nodded as he tossed a poke ball, releasing his bug type.

Ash helped Misty get onto Staraptor's back, and once she was on, Misty looked down worriedly at the flying type.

"I'm not too heavy for you, am I Staraptor?" Misty asked worriedly. In turn, Staraptor shook his head, proudly puffing out his chest.

"Staraptor, get out of here and fast!" Ash ordered as he jumped in front of Misty. Staraptor flapped his large wings and was soon floating in the air. Looking over his shoulder, Ash smiled softly at Misty and informed her to, "hold on tight." Misty nodded and wrapped her arms around Ash's strong chest. It didn't take long for Scyther to end up next to Staraptor, carrying Tracey on his back.

"Was that a close one?" Tracey asked Ash over the roar of the wind.

"Kind of," Ash breathed out heavily, "but I got my Misty back, didn't I?" Misty smiled sheepishly and rested her cheek on Ash's shoulder. He was truly the greatest husband in the whole world.

XXX

Back in the cabin, Cassidy and Butch were finally beginning to regain feeling in their limbs. Butch was taking his time to stretch, but Cassidy on the other hand was not so serene.

"Those two brats!" Cassidy screeched as she jumped up. Her legs were still a little numb, however, and she toppled back over onto the hard wood floor. "How could they have gotten away, just like that?"

"They're powerful," Butch winced as he pulled his arms up, "now I see why the boss really wants that kid of theirs."

"The boss," Cassidy gasped quietly. Her face reddening again, she glared at Butch and barked, "how are we supposed to explain this to the boss?"

XXX

"Oh my Misty, my angel…"

Misty giggled as Ash covered her neck and face with sweet, adoring kisses. He was hugging her as tightly as he could without hurting her or the babies, and Misty could tell he wasn't about to let go anytime soon. Ash rubbed her back and nuzzled the top of her head. Eventually, he kneeled down to attack Misty's ever growing belly with a brigade of kisses and sugary, reassuring murmurs.

"I'm okay Ash," Misty blushed slightly, "really, I am."

"I know," Ash stood up to press his palms against her face, "but I'm just so glad you are."

All Misty could do in response was smile and wrap her arms around Ash. He mimicked the action and slowly rocked her back and forth for awhile, taking in the warmth and familiar scent of her skin.

"We should go and show Daisy that I'm alright," Misty finally mumbled against Ash's chest, "she was probably so worried."

"She was," Ash confirmed, pressing a kiss against her temple, "and we'll go in a minute. Just give me a little more time alone with you."

"Okay," Misty sighed, closing her eyes. This whole ordeal had been more than enough for the water type gym leader. She was exhausted and quite sore, and all Misty wanted to do at this point was to take a nice, long nap.

"I'm still so sorry for yelling at you," Ash hugged Misty a little more tightly.

"And I told you not to be," Misty shook her head, "it was a completely stupid argument. Let's just agree to forget about it and try to be more understanding of one another from now on."

"I like that idea," Ash whispered against her lips as he raised her head up.

XXX

"YOU FOOLS!"

Cassidy and Butch both flinched as Giovanni slammed his fists against his desk. Persian meowed in displeasure and slinked away from his master, instead choosing to settle at the side of the desk on the floor.

"We didn't mean for this to happen sir," Butch was visibly shaking, "the Pokémon master was just too strong for us!"

"Because you two are both weaklings!" Giovanni roared. "I should've never trusted you for such an important mission!"

"We'll do better next time sir!" Cassidy frowned.

"No, you will not," Giovanni seethed, "because there won't be a next time!" Cassidy and Butch gasped collectively at this.

"You can't be serious sir!" Cassidy cried, her eyes full of disbelief.

"Oh, I am," Giovanni growled, "you two are clearly too incompetent for a task as crucial as this. Therefore, I am removing you from the job."

"Sir…" Butch stammered.

"My mind has been made up!" Giovanni smashed his hand against the hard wood surface yet again. "Now out of my sight! Both of you!"

Cassidy and Butch ran out of Giovanni's office as fast as a pair of Rapidash. Still glowering, Giovanni lowered himself back into his chair and rested his head against his hands. He needed to do something to get his hands on the baby that the master's wife was carrying. Anything.

What he needed was someone who wouldn't falter under the pressure. Someone he knew could get the mission done.

What Giovanni needed was the most powerful, the most ruthless member of Team Rocket.

He needed an elite agent.


Yay, she's safe! Err, for now.

This story is about to break my personal record for reviews I've gotten on my stories, which is amazing! It makes me really happy to know that you guys actually enjoy reading my writing, so thank you so much! Keep on reading and reviewing and I'll see you all next time!