I honestly didn't know. They've been chasing me and Pikachu from the start. I've been in more traps and trouble than I can think of, mostly due to them. But…they have saved my life before. Then again, they openly admitted that it was because they didn't want to lose the chance to capture Pikachu. I've seen them sensitive before, not that I'd spread that. James did team up with us to protect his grandparents.
"I don't think I can trust you just like that." I said.
James looked put down.
"But, I'm willing to give you a chance." I added. "If the League and the Police Force are giving you a chance, then I will."
"Thank you." James said.
"But, like Misty said, we'll be watching you carefully."
"Would it make you believe me if I showed you Meowth?"
"It could help, but you don't have to if you don't want to." Dawn said.
"By the way, how did you avoid the rest of our group?" Cilan asked.
"Barely, I hid from them when they were entering Saffron." James said. "I want to be your ally. I don't agree with the direction Team Rocket is going in and I want out. I also want Jessie out of there."
"I don't know if we can personally do anything about Jessie, but we'll work with you if you work with us." Misty said. "No tricks, no schemes, just being an ally."
James nodded.
"Should we head to Saffron tonight?" Cilan asked. "It's getting late."
Nurse Joy heard us and came over. "Do you need a place to stay for the night? If you're going to Saffron City, I'd recommend that you stay here for tonight."
We agreed. James called his grandparents to let them know he was still in Lavender Town.
Cilan said that it was starting to look like he was telling the truth. Dawn called Gardenia to tell her we were going to meet her in Saffron tomorrow. Gardenia was also able to confirm that, Jasmine of Olivine City had mysteriously vanished along with her Pokemon.
It was an uneasy sleep for us after hearing the news. I wondered what was going on in Johto now.
…
"JESSIE!"
The shout startled me out of my skin. I bolted upright and looked around the dark room, Pikachu yawned. I looked down at the bottom bunk to see Cilan rubbing his eyes tiredly. In the bunk bed across from us, Dawn and Misty were waking up too.
"NO, I DIDN'T LEAVE YOU!"
"What's going on?" Dawn asked.
"It sounded like James." Cilan said.
The four of us went into the next room to see James thrashing around.
"Pika?"
"Hold on." I said. "James! Wake up, you're dreaming!"
"WHY CAN'T I SWIM?! HELP!"
"JAMES, WAKE UP!" We shouted.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu said. "Pikapi, pi pika?"
"I think so, but make it light." I said.
"Pikaaa!"
A bolt of electricity shot out and hit James. He jumped out of bed and toppled over, tangled in the sheet.
Nurse Joy ran in, wondering what all the commotion was.
James kept mumbling that it was just a dream and nothing to worry about.
…
Cilan, Dawn, Misty, and I called the rest of our group to explain everything. Iris, Brock, May, and Max were suspicious, but said they'd keep an eye on James along with the rest of us. Brock was still concerned that something could happen. I told him that we all were and that we just had to stick it out and see where it was going.
I had half a mind to walk right to the Pokemon League and demand to know what was going on right now, but Misty said that would be reckless.
When did I start listening to Misty?
Hearing my own name snapped me out of my thoughts, the others were already way ahead of me. I ran to catch up.
We found the rest of our group in Saffron Gym. They were chatting with Sabrina, Gardenia, and Erika when we entered. I was surprised that the latter two were there; I thought they were in Celadon where we originally intended to meet up.
"I foresaw your arrival." Sabrina said calmly.
"We told you they were coming." Iris said.
"You should know that there's a huge argument happening right now." Gardenia said. "The Pokemon League wasn't supposed to declare those rules yet and now the other regions are retaliating."
"It's such a mess." Erika sighed. "Would you like a calming perfume?" She pulled some bottles out of her pockets.
Dawn accepted some. She, May, and Misty were looking through the bottles of perfume. Cilan squirted some in his face and sneezed.
"I have to say this is-ACHOO! - The most invigorating-ACHOO!-smell I have ever-" He dissolved into coughing fits. Max handed Cilan a bottle of water, removing the perfume from the latter's hand.
"How can we change their minds?" Misty asked, her hand pausing over a bottle labeled 'Essence of Grimer'.
"I sense great struggle. Come out of the shadow, James." Sabrina said.
James nearly fell over. "You saw me? I'm sorry, I'm not welcome here, I'll-"
"You may stay." The Psychic leader said.
We continued to discuss the situation, learning that we could possibly enter because we had three gym leaders in our group plus the kids of a Hoenn gym leader.
"Even though Unova is not part of this tournament, Cilan could still be a great asset." Sabrina said. "Majority still has the rule, if you can convince them to keep the rules, they'll have to agree or there would be a riot."
"Having me here wouldn't benefit you." James said. "If Team Rocket is involved, we'd definitely have a riot on our hands."
"Then don't tell them." Gardenia said with a wink. "We don't know that they're really involved. Let's go to Indigo Plateau tomorrow."
"Why not today?" I complained.
"Because Max has asked for an official Gym battle. Those rules haven't been changed despite what the trainer in Vermilion told you." Sabrina said.
"Oh yeah, and the other two will battle me as well." Max said.
"How about we have a double battle?" Erika suggested. "We both specialize in grass types. How many badges do you have so far?"
"Three, and if I can get three more then that would be great!" Max said. "I've battled Rustboro, Pewter, and Cerulean gyms. Wait, am I allowed to proceed with badges from the same types of gyms?"
"I don't see why you can't, though I would battle others for experience." Gardenia said. "Perhaps you'll even meet the champions."
"Who are the current champions?" I asked. I was eager to meet them to see what their powers were like. I know Cynthia is the Sinnoh champion and Lance is the champion of Kanto, but I don't recall ever meeting the others.
"Well, someone beat Lance for the Kanto and Johto championships, but declined his position." Erika said. "So technically, Lance isn't the champion anymore even though he continues the duties he did before."
"Cynthia's still the Sinnoh champion." Gardenia said.
"I heard that Steven's the Hoenn champion again, I guess Wallace wanted to be more involved in contests." May said.
"Actually, someone from Littleroot town beat Steven not too long ago." Sabrina said.
"Did your powers tell you that?" Max asked.
"No, I keep up with the many psychic trainers there. They look to me for advice on how to use their powers. You should try communicating with people from other regions; they may be of help to you."
"Thanks, that's a good piece of advice." Max said. "Do you know who the champion is now?"
"A boy who has accidentally created much confusion on the color of his hair." Sabrina said.
May burst out laughing, Max shook his head, a huge grin on his face.
"Who is it?" Iris asked.
"Brendan Birch." May said when she had recovered. "I knew him when we were little and he always wore this white cap with a thick band around the bottom. He had really short brown hair and the hat covered nearly all of his hair. People kept looking at him weirdly. I never thought much about it."
"Is Brendan a good trainer?" Brock asked.
"I don't know, he started out after me and I think he got a Mudkip." May said. "I don't remember what Dad said, it was a really short mention of him."
"He must be good if he got into the championships." Max said, "I wonder if I'll get to face him in battle…"
"I get to battle him first!" I said. "I'm not letting a chance like that go to waste, we're getting into this tournament and that's final."
I looked at all of my friends, daring one of them to try to contradict me.
No one did, they all had similar looks of determination on their faces.
…
Max decided to take Gardenia and Erika on in a double battle. Iris volunteered to battle alongside him for experience. She said she'd let him take the lead and she'd just help out a little.
The battle lasted three long hours. None of us knew that Iris wasn't kidding when she said she'd just help out a little. Max had nothing that was great against grass types and it wouldn't have been fair to bring out Dragonite to sweep them.
I never knew Gardenia and Erika were this tough until now. Brock told us that their matchups were bad. Gardenia now has a Torterra, which is ground and grass type. Max's Squirtle could possibly be effective, but it's still weak to any grass type moves. Victreebel, Roserade, and Vileplume are all Grass/poison, which Ralts and Treecko are weak to. Treecko can resist grass type moves and is fast enough to evade most attacks thrown at it.
The battle was close and nearly ended with Max's defeat. The battle had been narrowed down to Dragonite, Squirtle, and the recently evolved Torterra.
Dragonite and Squirtle combined attacks to take down Torterra. Squirtle fainted two seconds after Torterra did.
"Congratulations, you've won the Rainbow Badge and the Forest Badge." Erika said. "Sabrina told me to bring over a badge from the gym, so here you go!" Erika took the Rainbow Badge from her pocket and handed it to Max.
"I always carry a few spares in case I get challengers outside the gym." Gardenia said, retrieving a box of badges. "Or in this case, outside the region." She pulled out a badge and gave it to Max.
"Thanks, that was a pretty tough battle." Max said.
"Sorry about Torterra, I don't usually use him for gym battles anymore since he's too powerful for the trainers back home." Gardenia said.
"Max, I must express apologies as well." Sabrina said. "I cannot battle you at this time."
"What?! Why not?" Max asked.
"I feel that you need more training with your Pokemon. Your team is very under leveled for this gym. Treecko would be at a complete disadvantage against Psychic Pokemon. You struggled mostly with Erika's Pokemon. She is the fourth of the region's eight gym leaders and I am the sixth. My Pokemon are ten levels ahead of hers and Erika's Pokemon are nearly level thirty while Gardenia's hover around level twenty. Your struggle against Gardenia, whose Pokemon are eight to ten levels above yours tell me that you must train harder." Sabrina explained. "I am not attempting to discourage you, but your goal is to battle in the tournament, correct?"
"Yes." Max said, trying not to sound downcast.
"Your opponents are likely to have level fifties and above of fully evolved Pokemon in a variety of typing. Three of your Pokémon share Grass as a typing. Currently, you could be defeated by me in two minutes. Now, the choice to evolve your Pokémon is entirely up to you, but I must make sure you know the importance of leveling."
"I understand, Sabrina." Max said.
Sabrina smiled. "I will accept your challenge when I believe you are ready."
"Okay, I promise I'll train harder." Max said.
"Also, Erika and Gardenia's Pokémon are not in their usual terrain." Brock added. "In tournaments, they usually like to mix it up. Having a variety would definitely help."
"You can borrow some of my Pokémon from other regions if you want, but you're catching your own Kanto Pokémon." I said. "It's all part of the trainer experience. Er…a bit of advice though, don't throw a rock at a Spearow." I shuddered at the memory.
"Or else you might fall into a lake, steal someone's bike, get it fried and nearly kill yourself and your Pokemon that refuses to get inside the ball." Misty shot me a look and gave Pikachu a look too.
Everyone looked slightly amused. I guess I never told them exactly how I met Misty.
I opened my mouth to protest, but I couldn't find anything to say. She was right…darn it, why does she have to be right? It's so irritating!
"Pika…" Pikachu mumbled, sounding embarrassed.
After a bit of laughing, they eventually let the subject go and we spent time talking about what we were going to do. Sabrina and the other two gym leaders were being picked up in the morning.
Our group decided to go with James to his grandparents' house.
…
"Nanny, Pop-Pop, I'm here!" James said as he opened the door.
"Mime!" Mime Jr. raced across the carpet and jumped at James.
"Hey, how's Meowth doing?" James asked as he caught the pink Pokemon.
"Mime…" Mime Jr. said sadly.
"He's still alive though, right?" I asked.
Mime Jr. was shocked to see us, but nodded anyway.
James led us through the house to the Pokemon infirmary.
"James? Is that you?" Pop-Pop's voice came.
"Yes." James answered. "I brought f-…I brought guests."
He looked confused for a moment, and then changed to a smile as he invited us in. Nanny and Pop-Pop were standing next to a bed that I assumed had Meowth in it.
"Oh, I remember you four." Pop-Pop said, pointing at me, Brock, May, and Max.
"The others have also traveled with Ash." James said. "These four are Misty, Dawn, Iris, and Cilan."
"I'm Misty; it's nice to meet you." Misty said.
"My name's Iris. James explained everything to us last night." Iris said.
"We were hoping to see if Meowth was okay." Dawn said.
Nanny sighed and moved to the other side of the bed.
We let out gasps as soon as the Pokemon was visible. Meowth looked worse than when James told us about the fight.
"All we can do is keep him rested." Nanny said.
Meowth moved a little, his face scrunched up as if he was in pain.
"We've been trying to give him the best conditions possible, but we think he's having nightmares." Pop-Pop explained. "He has to wake up on his own, though. If we try to force him awake, he might attack in panic or revert to whatever state he was in before he met Jessie and James."
"He was living on the streets." James said. "He has a pretty sad past if you think about it."
"James." I said. "You can call us your friends."
It took a bit of debating, but I felt like he was honest. It might sound weird that Meowth was the final proof needed, but I can tell that he's not tricking us. James is completely vulnerable and open right now, and my mom always told me that people need a friend by their side when they're feeling down.
I also don't want him to get hurt anymore. I don't want anyone to get hurt.
I was snapped back by a groan.
Meowth's eyes slowly opened. He rubbed his eyes before blinking several times. His gaze landed on me. I grinned widely, preparing for anything he could say or do.
"Meowth?"
Jaws dropped. The room was completely silent. The voice, hoarse and unused, had come from the Pokemon currently on the bed.
A/N: I know what I want the ending to be, and I know what I want to happen. I'll get there eventually so please be patient with me. I want this story to be done by the end of this year because I would prefer to have one less to worry about.