"Too bad we couldn't have gotten a lift back to Cerulean." Misty said.
"Yeah." Brock agreed. "Looker and 009 teleported away with an Alazakam and Lance flew off to who-knows-where without even asking if we wanted a lift."
"You know," Carmine pointed out, "we don't have to go straight back to Cerulean. We could take Diglett's Cave to Vermilion instead." Carmine looked down to Ash and then interrupted right when Ash was about to speak. "Let me guess, you're going to wait until morning to make a decision."
"I was not!" Ash said indignantly. "We'll go to Vermillion. Although I do want to stay here for the night, it's starting to get dark."
"Do we have to go to a cave?" Misty sighed. "I don't want to be underground again. Besides, I need to get home soon."
"Actually, if we go through Diglett's Cave to Vermillion, then take the Underground Path to Cerulean, it should take about the same amount of time as going through Pewter and Mt. Moon." Brock pointed out.
"Fine."
"Are you going to make us sleep in the Pokémon Center again, or can we actually stay in the Pallet House this time?" Carmine asked Ash.
"Well… this is just kind of an unexpected detour, rather than a real part of my journey, so I guess we can go to the Pallet House this once."
"The Pallet House?" Misty asked. "You struck me as more of the kind to stay at cheap motels or something."
Ash and Carmine both glared at Misty.
"You do know who you're talking to, right?" Carmine asked.
Misty looked at them a bit confused.
"My mom owns the whole chain. It's the family business." Ash explained.
Misty's jaw dropped and Brock looked rather surprised as well.
"I thought I'd heard the name 'Ketchum' before." Brock said. "I guess that was it. I'm not really into business stuff, though. Actually, I feel like it was somewhere else. I think it was on the news or something."
"That does sound familiar, actually." Misty added.
"You're probably thinking of when Graham disappeared." Carmine said. Both he and Ash looked down at the ground mournfully.
"I miss Dad." Ash said.
"What happened?" Misty asked, genuinely concerned.
"We don't know for sure." Explained Carmine. "He went missing around four years ago. There were some strange reportings near the Cerulean Cave. Graham went to check them out, but never returned. No one's seen or heard from him since then."
"I think I remember that. They said there were sightings of a strange, powerful Pokémon in the area." Said Misty. "It apparently left after a while, though."
"Can we please talk about something else?" Ash looked about ready to cry from the memories of his missing father.
"Sure kid." Carmine tried to comfort him, a bit awkwardly. "Let's go check in at the Pallet House. It's been a long day.
Red and Yellow found their seats for the Water Show. They were in the front row of the bleachers on the western side of the Gym. As they sat down, Red heard a familiar voice call out to him.
"Hey, Red! Red, is that you?" Daisy walked up to where they were sitting. "How have you been?"
Red stood up to greet his old friend.
"Hey, Daisy. What were the odds of meeting up here? How have you been?"
"I've been having a little trouble traveling on my own, but I have managed to get two badges already. How about you?"
"I have two badges, too. If you're having trouble alone, you're welcome to come with us."
"Us?" Daisy was caught off-guard by that.
Yellow got up and shook Daisy's hand.
"Hello! My name's Yellow! Probably, maybe, who really knows?"
"It's a long story." Red said in response to the confused look on Daisy's face.
Before they could continue their conversation, the lights dimmed, marking that the show was about to begin, so they sat back down in silence. The show was called "The Mermaid and the Pirate" an odd mix-up of Romeo and Juliet with The Little Mermaid. Lily played Romeo as a member of a band of pirates that wanted more from life, while Violet played Juliet as a young mermaid who wants to explore the human world and Daisy cycled through the other major characters while their Pokémon served as the extras. Despite this odd premise, they were able to put on quite a show that left the audience in awe.
Jessie, James and Meowth stood in a room with the other squads that had been assigned under Executive Administrator Archer. The other squads were Attila and Hun, Thunder Squad, who the trio had worked with at Mt. Moon; Thief Squad, a pair of sisters named Annie and Oakley; and Outlaw Squad, Butch and Cassidy, who have been J Squad's rivals ever since they joined Team Rocket.
"Well look what the cat dragged in…" Cassidy said when she saw the trio. "I thought you three would have been kicked out by now, but I guess they'll just let anyone here."
"Oh, yeah?" Jessie responded. "I guess they do if you two are here."
The two women walked up to each other and looked like they were about to attack each other, but were stopped by a pair of hands resting on their shoulders.
"Enough." Attila said. "As much as I like a good fight, we're all working together. And we can't work together if we're at each other's throats."
"Well put," came the cool voice of the man who just walked into the room, "you appear to be smarter than you look. Good"
Executive Archer was one of the highest ranking members of Team Rocket, second only to Giovanni himself, and he looked the part. Archer was a suave man, impeccably dressed with short, teal hair and he had an heir about him that allowed him to take charge of any situation he was in without any fuss. Even Attila, who would normally object to a backhanded compliment like the one Archer just gave, stood speechless in the man's presence.
"I'm going to assume you all at least know each other's names, you all know who I am of course, and I really don't care who you are. So, we're going to skip the introductions and pleasantries and go straight to why we're here. You may be some of the best Team Rocket has to offer in your respective skillsets, whatever they may be, but those are not the only skills that will be necessary as we reach our goals and our enemies try to stop us. Thus, it is my job to make sure that you have the power to stop anyone who dares get in our way. Now, let's get down to business, shall we?"
The Iron-Masked Marauder sat in a chair, fiddling with the latest prototype for his Dark Ball. He was so caught up in his work that he almost didn't notice someone walk in to his lab.
"I thought I recognized you." Said Hunter J. "You used to work for Team Cipher didn't you?"
The Marauder didn't bother looking up. "So did you. So what?"
"This Project Dark I keep hearing about; it's the Shadow Pokémon project isn't it. And those special Pokéballs, they're modified from Team Snagem's snag machines."
"You're close." He admitted. "I left Team Cipher shortly before they were defeated and rounded up by the IP. I ended up here and Giovanni offered me a position here in Team Rocket. We have resources here that Cipher never even imagined. Project Dark is a modified version of the Shadow Pokémon Project, but they're not quite the same."
The Iron-Masked Marauder stood up and smiled at Hunter J, gesturing for her to follow him further into the lab. She did so and he led her to a strange, glowing orange crystal with wires coming out of it, connected to the various machines and computers in the room.
"This is the Dark Synergy Crystal." Marauder explained. "We found it in the far-off Ferrum region. I t has properties similar to Shadow Pokémon, and allows us to make even better versions of them. This new kind of Shadow Pokémon, or Dark Pokémon as we call them here, Are just as powerful as the old ones, but they remain much more under control. We don't have to worry about them attacking their own trainers anymore. In addition, this method seems to be more potent. We even have a successful human prototype."
"That would by the girl with the mask." Hunter J's comment was more a statement than a question.
"Yes. How did you figure that out so quickly?"
"This thing's more than just for show." Hunter J pointed to the visor she was wearing. "It allows me to see aura. I stole it from a lab back in Orre that's working on fighting another potential Shadow Pokémon outbreak. I also managed to get this Snag Machine from them." She motioned to the silver gauntlet on her left arm.
"I was wondering about that."
"It looks like Team Cipher's legacy has served us both well, huh John?"
"I'm the Iron-Masked Marauder now."
"That's kind of a mouthful. I'm just going to keep calling you John."
"Only if I can call you Jael."