Chapter 21: Aftermath

Tired though he was, the busy hospital did not allow a restful sleep for Kiai. He woke up to a fair amount of commotion and to-do, and in his semi-dreaming state, his active mind began formatting his surroundings. He took the shouting, and occasional crying, of many young voices, as well as the irritated but commanding issuances of Officer Jenny, plus a few others he couldn't immediately place, to deduce (accurately, he would later be surprised to learn) that sorting out what pokemon belonged to whom had taken the better part of the day, and was still going on. He looked across the bed to see that Emily was still sleeping, and that he was still grasping her hand. Without any conscious decision, his mind immediately wondered if Emily would get more rest inside of a pokeball. He closed his eyes and shook off the strange image, then stared up at the ceiling, blinking a few times in an attempt to relieve himself of his tired stupor. When he finally did, he sat up and brushed Emily's hair out of her face.

After seeing her only stir a little, Kiai stretched in the hospital bed, somewhat relieved that his muscles did not ache as much as they did earlier in the day. He let go of Emily and twisted around in his bed, slowly swinging his feet over the side and standing up. He stood up straight, wincing slightly as the muscles in his back argued against this sudden turn of events. He noticed a shadow standing by the hospital curtain that had enclosed them. Walking over to a break in the curtain, he pulled it aside and stuck his head out, to see a tired and somewhat disheveled Amy standing guard, her weary but sharp eyes observing the goings-on. Kiai twisted his face into something he hoped appeared cheerful and spoke, "Hi there."

Amy turned to look at Kiai. "Hey," she spoke with a sigh. She looked down at her pokegear which she had in her hand. She seemed as if she was anticipating it was going to ring at any second.

Kiai's eyes traveled around the Pokemon center. There was, as he guessed, a great crowd of young pokemon trainers, nearly all the ones that accompanied them the previous night, huddled around a large pile of pokeballs. Many were digging through to find their own stylized balls, though many had no style, and pokemon were being released randomly in hopes that one trainer might recognize their pokemon, or vice-versa. Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny, along with Ash and Misty, were all helping the trainers to sort everything out. There were a few trainers who were hugging their most beloved pokemon, and a few that were crying, as they discovered that a rare few had indeed been subjected to the Pokerus. As emotional as it was, Kiai knew that this had been going on all day, so he casually spoke to Amy, "So, what's up?"

"Exhausted..." Amy spoke and gave another sigh as she looked up from her pokegear. "I've been here helping with returning the stolen pokeballs. On top of that, the Pokemon Association has been calling me nonstop...I answered the first couple times...but I can only take so much yelling..." She sat her head back and closed her eyes. "Sometimes I wish I could just give up being the Champion...There's so many rules and regulations you have to follow...and they don't care what causes you to break them...makes it almost impossible to have an ordinary life..."

Kiai stepped out of the curtains and joined Amy standing next to them. "Why can't you give up being Champion? I mean, you're good at what you do, so naturally you'd want to do it.. but in the end, no one hired you.. you could quit any time you'd like. Can't you?"

"I wish it were that simple..." Amy turned to actually look Kiai in the eyes now. "Tell me, exactly how much do you know about the Pokemon Association and the Shittenou?"

Kiai thought about it for a moment. "Well, I know you have to register when you become a trainer, but everyone does that, even people who don't want to be a trainer.. I mean, Professor Oak even has a registration card, it's almost the same as mine.. I mean, it's like a driver's license. As for the Shittenou... well, I never thought of them as anything other than really good trainers… I figured scientists and the PA called upon them because they knew a lot..." Kiai returned Amy's look, realizing now just how little he truly knew of the Pokemon Association, and trying to hide his embarrassment.

"I see..." She turned to look forward. "The Pokemon Association is the name of the company that more or less regulates everything to do with Pokemon. They determine who can be trainers and who can't be. They regulate the rules of catch, battle, and train. If someone goes against those rules, the Pokemon Association will sometimes step in, though usually they leave it up to the Officers, as most rule breaking also involves regular law breaking, such as stealing Pokemon and so on. However, there are the few cases where the Association themselves steps in."

"In the aspect of the Shittenou...the Shittenou are four trainers considered to be the strongest of that region. Several years back, they decided to expand upon the Pokemon League. They took all of the winners of previous tournaments and pitted them against each other. From those who entered the tournament, the five who did the best became known as the top trainers. Based upon their places in the tournament, they were given the positions of the Shittenou and the Champion. When the Champion is defeated, he steps down and becomes one of the Shittenou, in turn, when this happens, the lowest rank Shittenou steps down. Last year, I fought against the Shittenou and their Champion was Lance. When I defeated Lance, he stepped down and became a Shittenou. Equally, Shittenou Agatha, who was the head of the Shittenou stepped down to the second rank. Shittenou Bruno stepped down to the third rank, while Shittenou Lorelei stepped down to the fourth rank. The original fourth rank Shittenou, a woman by the name of Janine, then stepped down from the Shittenou. She, in turn, took over her father's gym in Fuschia City."

"If, for any reason, the Champion should be unable to complete his or her duties, the Shittenou once again climb up the ranks. Meaning that, if I was found unfit to be the Champion, Lance would return to being the Champion. Quitting, however, is not an option. Once you are the Champion, you are stuck in that position until you are defeated or found unfit to continue. This is to prevent any of the Shittenou or the Champion from quitting suddenly and forcing them to have to change the ranks. Changing the ranks takes several months to complete due to the paperwork that is involved, during that time, the Shittenou Challenge shuts down." She sighed and shook her head. "So, quitting isn't optional...however, the Association is beginning to have second thoughts about me..."

Kiai narrowed his eyes as he took her response in. "That.. seems awfully unfair. I certainly can't pretend to know much about the Association, but I've never heard of injunctions against trainers... and the representative that gave me my license was very friendly. It sounds like they're actually very cruel."

"They can be to some people...The Shittenou are sometimes considered to be the biggest representation of the Pokemon Association. Naturally, if one of them acts up, they would take greater force to correct the problem with them then with anyone else." Amy sighed. "But that's not all...you know how there are gyms everywhere?" Kiai nodded in response. "Well, the Gym Leaders are also assigned by the Pokemon Association. The Association determines what cities can have gyms and what cities cannot. When a person wants to become a Gym Leader, they have to enter a test. Based on the results of the test, the Pokemon Association will determine if they are fit to run a Gym or not. If they are, then they will send them through a second test. This test will determine what kind of Gym they will run, and where in the runnings the Gym will be. Gyms are allowed to decline challenges if the challenger does not reach a certain skill level, which is determined by their badges. Most of the time, people just go for Pewter City first, but the truth is, most of the previous Gym Leaders of Viridian City wouldn't accept a challenge unless the trainer already had seven badges. The usual path is Pewter, Cerulean, Vermillion, Celadon, Saffron, Fuschia, Cinnabar, then finally Viridian. Professor Oak himself is part of the Pokemon Association, and is on the board that votes for Gym Leaders. While most wouldn't admit it, he is considered to be very wise and they usually vote based upon what he votes. If he votes someone as a Gym Leader, a good percentage of the board will vote accordingly. Ash and Gary were both voted in as Gym Leaders because of Professor Oak. I think nobody would have voted for either had Oak not voted form them first."

Kiai stroked his chin as he listened to her. A child ran past clutching two pokeballs as if they were her first meal in a month. "Strange.." he spoke, not really to Amy or anyone in particular, but more simply voicing his thoughts at the time, "that something so warm could be so cold."

Amy nodded. "Each region of our world contains its own Pokemon Association with its own set of rules. However, they all follow a standard of sorts, like the fact you can only carry six Pokemon at a time, the fact you need eight badges to get into the League, and that you have to win the League to take the Shittenou Challenge. As such, though, each region also has their own Shittenou and Champion of that League. The only exception to this is Johto. Both Kanto and Johto are separate regions, but they share the same Association, and as such, the same League and the same Shittenou. Technically speaking, I'm the Champion of both Kanto and Johto because of that, though as I'm a Kanto competitor and I defeated the Shittenou after beating the Kanto League, I was labeled as the Kanto Champion."

"Seems like a hell of a thing. So then, what are you waiting on?" He motioned toward the pokegear she was still gripping. "Are they going to call you to gripe about this latest atrocity, or what?"

"Something like that...I've just kind of been hitting the ignore on my pokegear the last few times they've called..." Amy sighed. "See...it's not so bad that I rushed here to see Emily when I heard the news...the thing they're mad about is...I had a battle scheduled today...I was getting ready for it, and I had about five minutes before I had to go on...Then I got the call about Emily and you, so I rushed off. My manager yelled at me about it as I was leaving, but I didn't pay any mind to it at all. My family was more important to me then their match. The Association has been calling me to yell at me about it since...It takes a lot of paperwork just to schedule the match, because, in the event of my lose in the match, the challenger would become the Champion, so they basically have to do the paperwork required to make the person the Champion as well, they just don't sign and seal it until the match ends with my loss...So now they have to do the paperwork again in order to reschedule the match...and they're not too happy about that..."

"Family is more important than paperwork." Kiai remained silent for a moment, then he spoke up again. "I think I'll beat the Champion, then forfeit before winning. I don't need the title to know that I've won..." He trailed off as another child ran past, not clutching a pokeball, but a squirming Rattata. "So..." He paused again to find the right words. "Where's the bastard that kidnapped, mutilated and used Sabrina, and who hijacked the city and stole all of these pokemon?"

"We don't know..." Amy looked back out to the Pokemon Center. "Ash and I spent a good part of the day searching around Saffron for any remnants of Team Rocket, including the Team Rocket Five...we didn't find any of them...However, with the grunts we've captured, and what we did manage to get from Saffron's systems, most of Team Rocket was based here. We got the locations of some of their other bases, too, and we've already sent officers out to those places. Most of them had skeleton crews who had no idea what was going on...we can only assume the Team Rocket Five did not return to the other bases to explain what happened...probably thought it too risky...We're looking in to see how far the Team Rocket presence has spread, but it seems most of them were based here in Kanto."

Kiai's eyes lit up slightly. "Well, doesn't that mean the Team Rocket threat is all but abolished? I mean, you've basically hit their headquarters.. you've cut off the head. Once you find him, it's all over.. and you already have all the information you need on all their other bases. Isn't this the beginning of the end for Team Rocket, at least in Kanto?"

"That's the hope...but we just don't know...Yes we know where some of the other bases are, and it's possible that all of the bases may have been listed...but there is one problem...Team Rocket didn't do what they did by keeping in hiding. They did it by achieving places of power that allowed them access to things they otherwise wouldn't have had. We've taken out the expanse of Team Rocket, but that doesn't tell us how deeply Team Rocket has infiltrated the system...Team Rocket probably has grunts in all kinds of places. I'll even bet that some of the scientists on Cinnabar are Team Rocket Grunts...but we have no proof..."

Kiai nodded. "Still a damaging blow, then. First Giovanni, now this. They're as tenacious as cockroaches, but they'll be hard put to recover from this assault." He lowered his voice and leaned a bit toward Amy, so that only she would hear. "I take it there are a few people interested in hearing our story of the events..?"

Amy nodded. "You and Emily are the only two other then Rocket Grunts who have seen the Team Rocket Five themselves. They're waiting for you to recover enough to explain about the events, and to tell us what they looked like. If we could find out what they looked like, what their names were, and so on, we could probably find them and end this once and for all." The moment Amy finished speaking, her pokegear began to ring and she gave a grown. She looked down and moved to push the ignore when she noticed the number that appeared. "Professor Oak?" she asked and pushed the receive button. "Hello?"

"Amy, is that you?" Oak's voice asked.

"Yeah, what's up? You're not calling because I'm ignoring the Association calls, are you?"

"No, actually, I agree with your leaving the battle to be with your family. My call is actually for something else."

"What is it?"

"It's about that Ultra Ball of yours. I've been running some tests on the creature inside."

"You didn't let it out, did you?" Amy almost shouted.

"No! No, of course not. I have a machine that can run tests on Pokemon without opening the balls."

Amy gave a sigh of relief. "That's good...so, what did you find then?"

"The creature inside of the Ultra Ball is definitely a Pokemon. I know you had your doubts, but it has all of the traits of any other Pokemon."

"Then...what is it? Why is it so powerful?"

"I still don't know that...but here's the thing I do know...It has no weaknesses...in fact...I almost want to say that this Pokemon is every single type...all at once..." Kiai looked carefully at Amy and Oak, listening intently to the conversation and drowning out the clamor around him. He immediately began to consider the ramifications of something so powerful, and wondered how this would change things in the world of pokemon.

"But...how is something like that even possible?"

"I don't know...there's still a lot we don't know about Pokemon, Amy...we've encountered Pokemon with multiple types before...or even that can change types..."

"But it's not just normal multiple types or changing types, Professor...you just said this thing is every type at once...even Pokemon that can change type can't be every type at once, and the most types found in a single Pokemon is two."

"I know...that's what worries me..." Oak sighed. "In either case, until we figure out what it is and how it works, we'll need to keep it in the Ultra Ball...It shows signs of great rage, and the Ultra Ball seems incapable of combating that. I also ran a check on its signature, and it doesn't have one..."

"Doesn't have one? What does that mean?"

"When a Pokemon is captured in a Pokeball, the Pokeball implants a signature into that Pokemon. That signature is what is used to return the Pokemon to the ball, as well as keep it under your command. It's how you can fight a Pokemon, defeat it, then turn around and use it right away without having to teach it to obey you. Your Ultra Ball shows it ran the Signature Implantation Process, but the Pokemon inside still has no signature. If it was released, it couldn't be returned, and it surely wouldn't obey you."

Kiai didn't understand the mechanics of what he just heard, but he knew that it meant that the pokemon inside wasn't an average beast. He whispered to Amy, "That must mean it has some sort of above average intelligence… it must be in a completely different class, and I doubt pokeball technology would be fooled by Team Rocket technology…"

Amy nodded to Kiai. "Yeah...there's no way this is a Team Rocket thing...but if this thing is natural...then how does it even exist? There have been studies done into whether Pokemon could be more then two types, and all have proven negative...and yet this one is everything? I just don't understand it...and it fought with such passion and rage...I wasn't joking when I said it literally tore my Pokemon apart...Once my Pokemon were knocked out, it would grow these claws that it then used to dig into my Pokemon and rip them apart..." Amy's face turned green at the thought of it, and she even pulled her hand to her mouth to prevent herself from throwing up.

"I've ran tests on that as well," Oak's voice spoke and Amy looked down at her pokegear. "When I say this, understand that I believe everything you told me...but according to my research...there's absolutely no way this thing could have done that...I have a theory on that one, though...it's possible it may be a passive skill of this creature that I can't detect...I may need to move this Ultra Ball to a bigger lab..."

Kiai immediately put two and two together. "Professor," he spoke, hastily, and completely ignoring decent manners when someone is on the phone, "whatever you do, don't move that pokeball to a bigger lab. Keep it in yours. Whatever it is, it should be trusted with no one but you. If nothing else, find a way to have it transferred to a Master Ball, if the Ultra Ball can't hold it." He caught himself after his outburst, and continued, sheepishly glancing up at Amy, "Sorry.. I just think this would be best left to the most able-bodied pokemon researcher.. something like this should be taken with the utmost caution, and the less publicity this gets, the better.. for everyone.."

"I agree, Kiai," Oak spoke. "I have no interest in giving it to anyone else. I gave my word I'd protect it, and I will. However, if we are going to figure out what this thing is, or at least learn of a way to combat it again if it gets released, we'll need to learn more about it. I will need better equipment. In this case, I might have to take it with me to another lab and run tests on it there, but I would be sure I run the tests myself. I would not trust anyone else with it." Oak sighed. "As for the Master Ball idea...they were produced to order from Silph Co...With Silph Co currently disposed of, I will not be able to get another for some time. However, once Silph Co gets back up and running, it shouldn't be a problem."

"What about Devon Corp?" Amy asked.

"That's a good idea, actually. I didn't think about that. Devon Corp might be able to manufacture one for me...though I'll have to pay the import fees...Still, a small price to pay to make sure this Pokemon is kept more secure. Let's just hope there aren't more of these..."

"If there's one, there might be more," spoke Kiai, again relieving himself of politeness, "so we should figure out what's going on with it. I sure hope this isn't some sort of elite, advanced pokemon that's going to harbor ill will against humans for this sort of thing… if it is, there may be no stopping it other than giving it a taste of it's own medicine… assuming that's even possible."

"That's what worries me, too..." Amy spoke.

"Amy...I have a question...where was it you found this thing?" Oak asked.

"Where?" Amy looked up, putting her hand to her chin a moment. "Let me think...it was..." she thought for a moment before the memory returned to her. "It was at Mt. Silver..."

"Mt. Silver? Strange...It's true Mt. Silver is known for having strong Pokemon due to the harsh environment...but for something like this to exist there?" Oak went silent for a moment. "Amy...I may have to ask you to go back there...There may be a clue to what this thing is at Mt. Silver...but I know it will be dangerous, especially if this creature is a normal inhabitant of that place."

"I understand, Professor. Don't worry, I can handle it."

"All right, thank you, Amy. Just...don't leave yet. Stay with Emily until she's ready to get up and moving again. I'll talk to the Association and see what I can do to calm them down."

"Thank you, Professor."

"I've got to go now, take care, Amy, and you, too, Kiai."

"Bye, Professor."

"Bye Professor!" Kiai managed to sneak in before hearing the familiar click, and the pokegear flashing that the call had ended. Kiai looked up at Amy. He could see in her eyes that she had absolutely no desire to return to that place, so he spoke softly, "Emily and I will go with you, if that's what it takes.. but I'm sure you could get Ash or Misty to help… either way, don't go alone this time, ok?"

Amy sighed and nodded. "You two aren't strong enough, but yeah, I'll definitely see what I can do about taking someone else with me. I'm certain either Ash or Misty would be willing to help." With those words, the door opened and Ash stepped inside. Next to him was a beautiful woman with orangish-red hair that ended at the end of her neck. She was dressed in a darker pink spaghetti strap shirt along with a pair of short yellow shorts. A short-sleeved, white jacket was overtop of her shirt, and a red bag was around her waist while her feet were covered with a pair of sandals. "Speak of the devil, here's Ash and Misty now."

Ash and Misty both waved at Amy. "Hey there."

Kiai smiled at both of them. "Your faces have a persistent habit of being good to see."

Ash smiled, and Misty spoke up, "We heard about what happened. I never expected to meet someone as hard-headed as Ash. I can't believe you led an army into Team Rocket headquarters! Every trainer in Saffron is talking about you as if you were some sort of divine legend. I'm just glad you and Sabrina are alive."

Kiai interrupted her, "How is Sabrina? Is she ok?"

Misty, Ash and Amy all exchanged glances. Ash replied, "Nurse Joy has done what she can, and Sabrina seems to be ok, but she's still showing signs of alterations. This is a curveball. We never knew Team Rocket was conducting these sorts of experiments, nor that they had progressed so far. Last I heard, Nurse Joy was going to contact other regions to see if they had heard anything, and she has submitted a request for a formal scientific inquiry to the Pokemon Association." Kiai nodded, knowing that if Professor Oak was on the case, Sabrina and maybe even Emily would be cured some day.

"I've got tons of other questions," Kiai spoke, "especially about what happened after the fight. I know you all will have a lot of questions to ask Emily and myself as well."

Ash nodded solomnly at him, and spoke, "Yes, not just us, but Officer Jenny as well. I don't know how much you know, but we questioned some of their operatives and found out what they were doing. We will need to know everything you do. This was a very, very serious event. We're still not even sure what prompted them to go this far."

Misty nodded to Ash's statement, but Kiai hung his head and lowered his eyes. "I do.." he spoke, "Giovanni attacked Emily and I when we were passing through Mt Moon.. there was a cave-in… he died."

"Giovanni died and that caused all of this?" Ash asked and Misty and him exchanged glances. "Then my suspicions were partly correct...Tell me, Kiai, have you ever heard of a Pokemon called Mewtwo?"

Kiai furrowed his brow as he attempted to recall, but he ultimately shook his head. "No, I don't know of any pokemon by that name, or anything like it. Why do you ask?"

"A few years back, in my journey in Johto, we came upon a mountain. I forget the name of it now, but we were passing through the area when Team Rocket grabbed Pikachu and tried to escape. They were blown into the mountain by a harsh wind that is normal in that area. We made a journey up the mountain to save Pikachu and there we met a Pokemon called Mewtwo. It was a Pokemon that was created by one of Team Rocket's scientists. He had obtained a Mew fossil and used it to create Mewtwo, a more powerful version of Mew. However, it escaped and hid in the Johto region. Giovanni discovered Mewtwo was there and tried to come after it. With the help of me, Misty, Brock, and a couple others on our journey, we rescued Mewtwo. Giovanni led the attack, though, and at first I assumed he was one of the Team Rocket Five, but without proof, there was nothing I could do. However, if what you're saying is true, then he was actually the head of Team Rocket itself...If he really is dead, then it makes sense that Team Rocket would try a final ditch effort to complete their leader's work..."

Kiai nodded. "That makes sense. I could tell that this was out of the ordinary, especially for Team Rocket. They're usually like cockroaches, scurrying away at the first sign of light, but always manipulating and growing in the darkness. To come out on such public terms means they must have had some incredible motivation to do so. I guess it was a typical ending for something so hasty and ill-planned. It was it's own undoing."

Amy spoke up, "Yes, Giovanni was a brilliant leader, even if the Pokemon Association would have my badges if I said that publicly. He's the reason Team Rocket was successful. He was really the brains behind everything."

Ash gave Amy a serious look, and spoke, "If the Association can have your badges, they can have mine as well; Giovanni was more knowledgeable and clever than Professor Oak, or anyone else I've ever met. He was a brilliant scientist and trainer. It's a shame he made the choices he did." Ash looked around at Kiai and Misty before continuing, "You won't read about this in the news, but the truth of the matter is, the technology acquired from Team Rocket today is going to greatly further our understanding of pokemon. I've only seen bits and pieces of it, but everything that I recognized in the Silph Co. laboratory was either top of the line or advanced for this day and age."

"And maybe we can even cure the Pokerus now," Amy spoke. "I mean, now that we've gotten Team Rocket's technology, and if anything, I know all of us saw the machine they were using to spread the Pokerus. Silph Co are those who mass produce pretty much all of our everyday Pokemon needs, it's not a wonder they would use Silph Co machines to mass produce the Pokerus, then use their own machines to spread it."

Ash nodded. "Actually, I managed to get a sample of the Pokerus, so I'll be taking it to Professor Oak when we head out."

Amy nodded, then blinked as something caught her eye. "Misty..." she spoke after a second, "...did Ash...propose to you?" Misty immediately turned a deep shade of crimson. Kiai turned to notice a rather impressive ring on Misty's finger with an even more impressive diamond on it.

Kiai glanced at Ash and grinned, "Well, it's about time! I'm surprised you didn't buy her a bike instead!" He waited until the laughter died down before he offered both Ash and Misty his sincere congratulations, which they both accepted, though Misty's cheeks were still accentuating her hair.

"Well, the sorting of Pokemon is still going on, but we've done about as much as we can do here," Ash spoke as he looked around. "Before we go, though," he turned to Kiai. "Hey, Kiai, you and Emily think you'll be up and ready in a week?"

Kiai tilted his head. "Up and ready? I don't think we were ever planning on staying here even a few days, let alone a week... though I wouldn't be surprised if we have to, given the state of things. Why do you ask? What's happening in a week?"

"Well, I know Amy told you about Sinnoh Con in Celadon. I was just curious if you two thought you'd be able to get there. A friend of mine is hosting it this year, and Misty and I were planning to attend. If you're still here in a week, and Nurse Joy says you're good to go, want me to stop by and pick you up so you can get there on time?"

Kiai's eyes lit up. "Oh! Well… hm. I can't say how long the red tape will last, given that this event was essentially an attempt to conquer the world, and Emily and I pretty much had first-hand experience in preventing it… but I think we'll make Celadon our next location to visit regardless. We'll need a vacation after all of this anyway, before we start again on the gyms. We may not need a ride there, but we'll certainly meet up with you. We'll keep in touch, and contact you on Emily's pokegear when we get there. Also, that reminds me; you can fly around on your Pidgeot.. is that a move it learned naturally, or is that something you had to teach it? I heard of trainers riding on their Flying-types often, and I wanted a Flying-type for myself specifically for that, but I'm at a loss as to how to teach it." Ash nodded. "Funny you should ask that. The move can be learned from a Hidden Machine, which Silph Co. has been known to manufacture. They're rare, and with Silph Co. being put out of business for the moment they'll be even rarer..." Ash glanced at Amy as if to say something, and he spoke out loud, ".. but I'll see what I can do for you. Just leave it to me."

"Speaking of Hidden Machines..." Amy began, "it's probably a bit early to give you this, but you'll need it for getting to Cinnabar Island anyway." She pulled out a small CD case from her pack and opened it up. "This is what a Hidden Machine looks like." She held out a small CD. "I'll give you this, it's the move Surf. Also, you'll need this." She produced a small cylinder-like object from her pack. She pushed a button, which opened a small door in which she stuck the CD into. It closed, causing two small cords with suction cups on the ends to extend out of it. "This is needed to actually teach the moves to your Pokemon. You stick these cords on their forehead, then press the button and it'll read the data off the Hidden Machine and then send it to your Pokemon. After that, you'll have to practice the move a little, but your Pokemon will get the hang of using it properly, which will then allow you to use it." She handed the object to Kiai. "Consider it a gift."

Kiai looked it over as he held it. "Thank you.." he spoke. "I think I'll give this to Emily. She has a Lapras, and I'm sure that she'll be more than eager to teach it Surf."

"Lapras, huh?" said Ash, "That takes me back." He exchanged a smile with Misty.

"Well, we should get going," Misty spoke then turned to Kiai. "You and Emily take care. I hope everything works out so you can go to Sinnoh Con. We'll see you there if you manage to make it." Misty and Ash waved before turning and heading out.

Amy waved as they left, then sat back. "This week is going to be quite eventful for you two it seems. Hopefully you'll be out of here in a couple of days. Neither of you got too severely injured. Of course, the media will be all over you...might be hard to get anywhere without them on top of you every second for the next week or so..."

Kiai grinned at Amy. "We got in here under Team Rocket's nose. I'm pretty sure we can avoid a few nosy cameramen."

Amy forced a half-hearted chuckle. "Take it from me, kid… I've been down both of those roads, and the media is far, far more tenacious than Team Rocket." Kiai raised a wary eyebrow at her, and when he realized she was telling the truth, he gulped and twitched nervously.

Emily groaned a little and Amy looked over to the curtain. "Sounds like Emi's waking up, you should head back over to her. She'll probably be hoping the first thing her eyes see when she wakes up is you." She turned away from him for a moment and sighed. "Kiai...I'm sorry...for what I've said...I know you've just been looking out for Emily, and I'm sure you've done all you can to dissuade her from going into the really dangerous parts of your adventure. She's a stubborn one, so I'm sure she just isn't willing to let you go alone...She's a beautiful and wonderful woman...I really hope she understands that, and understands that you're the best thing that has ever happened to her." She wrapped her arms around Kiai and pulled him close. "Thank you for being there for her."

Kiai flushed as he melted into Amy's embrace. He was too stunned to even hug her back. When she released him, he managed to utter a very quiet "Happy to be of service.." before he heard the shuffling of sheets behind him. He walked toward the curtain and slipped behind it, then stood by Emily's bed as she came out of her slumber. He looked down at her and smiled as he waited for her eyes to open. When they did, she smiled up at him, and he leaned down to lay a soft kiss on her lips.

"Feeling better, are you?" Emily asked with a smile.

Kiai grinned his usual playfully sarcastic grin. "No, not in the slightest." He couldn't stop himself from laughing at his own joke, doubling over as he tried to stifle his humor, all the while his own joke was striking back at him, as his sore muscles made his stomach and shoulders ache.

Emily laughed as well, making her body ache as well from the laughter. It took a few moments for them to stop and relax, but when they did, Emily looked back at Kiai with a smile. "So, what are we doing after we get out of here?"

"Ash invited us to the Sinnoh Con. It's going to be in one week. After we rest up a bit here, we're going to head over there. Ash offered to give us a lift, but, I miss sleeping out under the stars with you, so we're going to hoof it and meet him there. And that reminds me.." Kiai fished into his pockets and retrieved a small disk. "Amy gave me this to give to you. It's the HM to teach a pokemon Surf." He held out the small disk to Emily.

"The HM Surf, huh? That'll probably come in handy." Emily took the disk, then grabbed her pack from the ground and placed it inside. She then rolled onto her back with a bit of a strain and looked up at the ceiling. "So, Sinnoh Con is a week, huh? That should be fun. I've heard there's a lot of new Pokemon in Sinnoh. I wonder how many of them they'll be showing off there." She pulled out her pokedex and flipped it open. "I wonder if the Pokedex has anything on Sinnoh Pokemon." She began pushing buttons to see what would happen.

Kiai glanced at her pokedex where, as if to answer her question, an image flashed on the screen: "Update Available." Eagerly, Emily accepted the update, and a progress bar appeared. Kiai pulled his out and updated it as well. Emily's finished first, they both huddled around the tiny screen in her palm as it displayed a directory for over one hundred newly discovered pokemon.

"Wow..." Emily spoke as she looked over the names of some of the new Pokemon in her Pokedex. She pushed a button, allowing one of the names to load into the normal image of the Pokemon.

"Leafeon, the Verdant Pokemon and one of the many evolutions of Eevee," the Pokedex spoke. "It rarely likes to fight, and just like a plant, it uses photosynthesis to produce clear air all around it."

Emily blinked. "Another Eeveelution?" She pushed another button.

"Glaceon, the Fresh Snow Pokemon and one of the many evolutions of Eevee, as a protective technique, it can completely freeze its fur to make its hairs stand like needles."

"Wow.. that sure is a flexible pokemon." spoke Kiai. When silence followed his statement, he turned his gaze from Emily's pokedex to Emily. She was staring intently at the screen. He cocked an eyebrow and grinned. "I haven't seen that face since we first saw that Staryu in the river. Something tells me you're becoming very interested in these Eeveelutions."

Emily quickly turned red and looked up at Kiai. "A...a little...I mean...Eevee's an amazing Pokemon...so far, it looks like it has seven evolutions..." She pushed a button on her pokedex. "Look at this. Eevee is a Normal-type, but it can evolve into either a Fire, Water, Grass, Ice, Electric, Psychic, or Dark-type depending on the different circumstances of it's evolution...Eevee itself can make a fairly well rounded team." She blushed even deeper. "And they're all so cute, too."

Kiai smiled, wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kissed her cheek. "You're cute too." he spoke. He turned back to her pokedex and studied the information a bit more. "Maybe you can pick up an Eevee at this Sinnoh Con? There are lots of buying and trading of pokemon at these conventions."

Emily blushed an even deeper red from Kiai's words. "M-maybe, though...if it's a Sinnoh Con...maybe I can get either Leafeon or Glaceon, as their Sinnoh evolutions." She brought up Leafeon's page once more. "Leafeon can only be obtained by evolving Eevee around Moss Rock in Sinnoh," she pushed a button, switching to Glaceon's page, "and Glaceon can only be obtained by evolving Eevee around Route 217, also in Sinnoh."

"Hmm.. that does limit your options, unless you get either a Leafeon or Glaceon straight out.." He paused for a moment as he thought, then he turned to her. "Hey! What if you just get an Eevee? We can head to Sinnoh later and you can evolve it into whatever you want. Until then, you can just train the Eevee and get familiar with it."

Emily looked up at Kiai and smiled. "Maybe, but I doubt you'll want to leave for Sinnoh until we get done with the Kanto league anyway. So it'll be a while." She turned back to her pokedex and loaded up Espeon's page. "I remember fighting this when Mana used it back on Route 12. I think...when Eevee evolved into Umbreon...that's when I started getting fascinated with Eevee. Then after battling Espeon...it just kind of grew..." The page switched to Jolteon now. "All of Eevee's evolutions are amazing...I wonder if anyone has all eight of Eevee's forms."

"I'm sure someone does. They seem like a popular collectors item, especially if they're cute." He idly stroked Emily's hair as she continued to read up on all of Eevee's forms. After a while, he spoke, "It makes me wonder.. if a Normal type can obtain all these characteristics.. what if an Eevee was exposed to all of them at once..? Would it evolve into a type which encompasses every characteristic..? That almost sounds like what Professor Oak was-" He stopped himself, wondering if he should tell Emily what he heard between Oak and Amy, but he decided it was ok. "-talking about..."

Emily blinked and looked up at Kiai. "What do you mean? Did you talk to Professor Oak recently?"

Kiai nodded, his jaunty demeanor had suddenly become solemn. "Amy got a call from Oak just a moment ago. It turns out the pokemon she had caught.. the vicious one.. was some brand new type that has never before been seen.. and what made it so powerful was that it could become any type.. it was like it had all the powers of all the elements at its disposal."

Emily's jaw dropped as she stared at Kiai. "You're...joking, right?" Kiai shook his head and she turned back down to her Pokedex, giving it a confused stare. "That's...crazy...I've never heard of a Pokemon like that before...Did Professor Oak explain anything else about it?" She looked back up at Kiai with a curious look.

"Nothing, but he said he couldn't research it further with his laboratories resources. He'll need help. He may even need to transfer it to a Master Ball.. and that will be a difficult process. He asked Amy to go back to where she caught it, to see if she can't find out any more information. Not only that.. it seems as though Team Rocket had nothing to do with it.. it was natural."

"It was natural? That's just crazy...what could cause something like that?" She put her pokedex away, and just as she did, Nurse Joy opened the curtain, causing her and Kiai to look up. Nurse Joy smiled.

"I'm just checking up on you two," Nurse Joy spoke, "Kiai, if you could lay back in your bed, I can run some tests, though you seem to be doing pretty well to be up and about like you are."

Emily smiled. "Yeah, we're both feeling much better now."

"Regardless, I'd like to check up on you. It's possible we could have you out of here by tomorrow at this rate. Of course, you'll still be stuck in Saffron until the media is done with you...which I apologize for, but Officer Jenny refuses to let you leave until she gets some kind of information from you, and I'm sure the media will be all over you. They're huddled around the door to the hospital already..." She shook her head and sighed. "They're like dogs waiting for their prey..."

Kiai nodded and walked back to his bed, hopping up into it and laying down on it. His mind was trying to cope with the idea of becoming literally an overnight celebrity. Joy busied herself around them, taking numerous scans and inspecting their bodies. A few of the tests seemed somewhat out of the ordinary, and when Kiai questioned Joy about them, she forced a somewhat pained response. "We have… a separate sequence when dealing with Team Rocket… they do lots of experiments that are outside of the norm, you see… so we check for things that are outside of the norm…" Her sad voice sparked curiosity in Kiai, but he only thought for a moment before he realized why.

"And how is Sabrina?" Kiai asked softly.

Joy did not look at him, and after a while, said simply, "Alive." Kiai stopped asking her questions.

A few more minutes passed before Nurse Joy finished her exams and set her glasses on her desk. "Looks like you two are in good health. Some pulled muscles, a couple bruised bones, but otherwise, you're in healthy condition. I do want to keep you overnight, but I see no reason why you won't be free to go tomorrow."

Kiai nodded. "I think we may stay for another day or two after that, out of necessity... this to-do is not going to go away quickly, unfortunately." All of a sudden, an thought popped into Kiai's head. "Speaking of time, what time is it?"

Kiai looked around for a clock before Joy spoke, "It's five-thirty in the afternoon, and it's the day after the night that you arrived. You've slept nearly all day, but I can understand why." Kiai heaved a relieved sigh.

Emily looked over at Kiai. "Why did you need to know? You have something planned other then Sinnoh Con in a week?"

Kiai shook his head. "No, I would just feel really icky if I was asleep for too long of a time… it's something that sort of gives me the gibblies." Just as he finished speaking, the commanding sound of high heels clicking against the marble floor tiles was heard approaching the door.

"Speaking of the gibblies.." murmured Joy, just a moment before there was an equally commanding knock. Joy got up and smoothed out her dress, walked to the door and opened it a crack.

Before Nurse Joy could say anything, the yet equally commanding voice of Officer Jenny spoke, "I must reiterate that I must speak with your patients as soon as possible." Nurse Joy looked over her shoulder at Kiai and Emily, then sighed softly to herself.

"Very well, but please, don't tax them too much." She opened the door, and in walked a very tired-looking and harassed Officer Jenny.

"Hello, Officer Jenny," Emily spoke, giving a salute.

"You are Kiai and Emily?" Jenny asked and they nodded. "I have some questions for you about the occurrences here in Saffron."

"We understand."

"First thing's first, what all happened while you were here in Saffron? I need to know everything with as much detail as possible." Emily nodded and looked to Kiai. The two then spent some time explaining what had occurred in the city, what they had done, and how the battle against the Team Rocket Five occurred. "I see...so, you say their leader was this...Alfonzo Elenoi guy and that he was running experiments to convert humans into Pokemon as well as enhance the powers of Pokemon using micro chips and the Pokerus? And the four you fought beforehand really were part of the Team Rocket Five?"

Kiai nodded. "That's what they said, at least."

"And what prompted you to break into the city in the first place?"

Kiai blushed, and replied, "Curiosity, really..."

Jenny gave him a disapproving stare, but continued, "What else did you see in Silph Company? What sort of devices were there? What did Team Rocket say about their business?"

Emily spoke, "We didn't see anything. Kiai decided to attack Alfonzo directly, and everyone else went down into the lab." Kiai nodded, adding, "I knew they would attack the kids, and I wanted to head them off. We didn't go near the lab at all. Alls we know about their experiments were what we saw firsthand with Sabrina."

Jenny wrote all of this down in a small notebook she was carrying, occasionally brushing her disheveled hair out of her eyes. She was quite for a moment as she looked over her notes. "Now.." she spoke, looking up at both of them, "if the Team Rocket Five were in command, what happened to Giovanni?"

"Giovanni...he..." Emily looked away. "We were at Mt. Moon and he attacked us with Team Rocket's forces...we were kidnapped and thrown into a pit...but then, we managed to escape with the help of a Mew..."

"A Mew?" Officer Jenny asked and Emily nodded.

"I know it's hard to believe...but the Mew saved us...it attacked Giovanni, then broke us out of the mountain...but it caused Mt. Moon to collapse...Giovanni was trapped inside...now he's dead and Team Rocket, discovering this, tried one final ditch effort to complete their leader's work..."

A manic gleam grew in Jenny's eyes. Her disheveled appearance added to make her appear as if she was dancing on the fine line which serves as the last bastion before insanity. "I knew it… I knew it! The sudden disappearance from Viridian, the constant visits to Silph Company, and then he just vanishes altogether and Team Rocket does this… it all makes sense now!" Kiai and Emily looked at each other with a worried look, and Nurse Joy looked on at Jenny with great concern.

Before Joy could say anything, Jenny smiled and spoke to them, "I need to go publish this report..." She ran a frantic hand through her hair. "This is going to change everything we ever knew about Team Rocket.. you have no idea what this does..." She fell back against the wall and rubbed her face with her gloved hand. She took a moment to compose herself, then spoke, "You kids are heros. Plain and simple." She smiled warmly and calmly, then stood up straight before them, clicked her heels, and gave them a sharp salute. Both Emily and Kiai blushed, and saluted her back. Lowering her salute, she promptly left the room and briskly walked out of the Pokemon Center.

"Well, that went better then was expected..." Emily spoke, staring in the direction that Officer Jenny had left.

Nurse Joy watched her leave, then spoke in a small voice, "I shall have to check up on her tonight…"

Amy walked over to Joy and put her hand on her shoulder. "Leave that to me, Joy," she spoke. "You should get some rest tonight. When things quiet down, I'll head over and help Jenny with her work so she can rest. I promise." Joy turned toward Amy and smiled thankfully. Suddenly something caught Amy's eye, and she looked out the door. Gasping, she slammed it shut and threw her back against it.

Kiai was immediately filled with concern. "What?! What is it?!"

Emily spoke after him, "Is it Team Rocket?"

"Worse," spoke Amy, "It's the paparazzi."

"Ack! How did the media get in here already?" Emily nearly shouted and covered herself with the sheets. "I don't want to deal with them yet!" she whined.

Amy spoke as several voices began to gather outside the door. "What do you mean 'here already'? They were camped outside of Saffron the moment entry was denied. As soon as they learned that a pokemon trainer took down Team Rocket, they moved their camp to the Pokemon Center. They were here before I was, and Oak contacted me the second Ash contacted him! Listen, there's no stopping them, so the only thing I can tell you is, keep your answers brief, vague, and smile a lot."

Emily pulled the sheets off and nodded. "A-all right..." She grabbed Kiai and pulled him close as she prepared for the onslaught that would be the reporters.

* * *

Looking back, the only thing Kiai could remember was a lot of bright flashes and curious faces. He was very glad that Amy and Nurse Joy never left their side. He shook a lot of hands and even signed an autograph, which took him by so much surprise that he had to pause to remember his name. He was also glad that, no more than five minutes in, the fact that he hadn't eaten all day caught up with him, and he was more focused on his empty stomach than answering questions. A few times, Amy kindly spoke up to make sure they weren't giving away any more information than need be.

The whole ordeal lasted about an hour and a half, by which time the noise and commotion attracted quite an audience, many of whom were the pokemon trainers who assisted in the raid the previous night. By the time the media had gotten their fill of information and pictures, a small crowd of children and trainers pushed their way inside to hear the story for themselves, but Nurse Joy ushered them out, assuring them that they would read all about it in the news. When the door was finally shut, Emily flopped into her bed and Kiai rubbed his eyes. There was silence for a moment, then Kiai and Emily both spoke at the same time, "I'm hungry."

Amy giggled a little at Kiai and Emily before standing herself up straight. "Not bad, for your first time dealing with the media, you did pretty well."

"We wouldn't have if you hadn't helped, Amy," Emily responded and Amy rubbed the back of her neck, blushing a little.

"Well, either way, you did fine." Amy smiled and turned to Nurse Joy. "Well, these two need to be fed, and I actually need to be on my way back to Indigo...I'm sure the Pokemon Association has some choice words for me, and I'd rather not put it off any longer…" She then sighed. "But first I need to check on Officer Jenny... and I should let Ash know..." She sighed again, then cast a knowing look at Kiai. He returned her look with as much sympathy he could muster. Amy then turned toward Emily and hugged her tight. "I love you, little sis. You made me very proud of you today." Emily returned her embrace, then Amy walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

After only a moment, a Chansey entered the room baring food as it was finally able to get through the door since it was now cleared of press, trainers, and anyone else who had entered during the media's time there. Emily and Kiai ate happily as they conversed about their plans and it was decided their next destination would be Celadon for the Sinnoh Con. The night then came and the two rested the night away.

About midday the next day they were discharged from the hospital, and they decided to head out on their adventure, though they were stopped multiple times by the media who pressed them with questions which they did their best to avoid. They finally made their way out of Saffron and onto Route 7 not long after. The two turned for a final glance at Saffron as they headed out, knowing this adventure was now over, and a whole new adventure was about to begin.

End of Book 2

So, what did you think of Book 2? Did you enjoy it? Hate it? Review please before moving on to Book 3! Also, I hope you all enjoy Book 3, a lot is going to change in the World of Pokemon, and a lot more is going to be revealed.