-The Legal Stuff:-

1) I am not affiliated at all to Game Freak nor to Nintendo, nor any other companies that write/produce Pokémon.

2) I do not own any part of Pokémon.

-A Waiver:-

1) I am not following any storyline already created, not a game, not the television show, my storyline is completely original as far as most characters go and as far as what is going on with the plot.

2) The only thing I borrowed from the game (I just started playing Crystal Version again) is the Gym Leader's names and their Pokémon, the city names, route names, and a couple of Team Rocket situations. I think I also mention well known people like Professor Elm and Professor Oak.

Basically…storyline and main characters are of my creation, the other stuff I borrowed from Crystal Version.

-And finally, the story. (: Enjoy!-

Chapter Twenty-Six:

Busted!

"What, you think I'm an idiot?" Doug asked me as he dragged me towards the Pokémon Center in Mahogany Town.

"No, but I think Team Rocket is," I said as I struggled to gain my balance and walk for myself.

"They aren't, trust me on that," he replied. "I know where they are submitting this radio wave, signal thing from."

"You do? Where? Let's go!" I shouted and turned to bolt for the door of the PokéCenter as Doug had finally let me go.

He quickly grabbed me though and turned me back around, glaring at me. "Cool off there Killer," he said. "I'm not going to be able to get in that easily."

"Why not?"

"Because they now know I'm not on their side," he said as he straightened up and looked around the Pokémon Center. He started to herd me towards the bathroom once he located them. "So, this guy is going to know not to show me the entrance and not to let me in."

"So what do we do?" I asked, glancing over my shoulder up at him.

"You," he said, pointing at my chest, "are going to trick him into opening up the trap door."

"Where is exactly is this?" I turned and asked Doug before he shoved me into the bathroom with a bag from the Goldenrod Department Store.

"The only place in town where there is a small radio transmission," he said.

"I don't know where that is," I hissed.

"The old guy's herb shop," Doug answered.

"Ashley and I went in there, and like you said, there is only a weird guy trying to sell gross herbs," I said.

"Why is he selling them?" Doug arched his eyebrow and asked me.

"So he can raise enough to have his own radio…oh," I felt like an idiot as soon as the words formulated in my mind.

"Precisely," Doug smiled.

"But where is it? It's nowhere in the shop," I shook my head.

"No, it's not above the ground," Doug explained, "but beneath it."

I opened the door to the shop. I felt silly. I had the shortest, black skirt in the world on and a tight, black tee-shirt. I almost felt as though I couldn't breathe, a mix between of the tightness of the clothing and my nervousness. "Hello?" The older man called out to me as I walked in.

I tugged Doug's beret lower down over my eyes as I stepped towards the counter. I really hoped the man didn't recognize me from the day before. "Hey, it's Rocket Grunt Michelle, open it up for me."

"Not so fast little lady," the man replied as his eyes raked up and down the length of my scantily-clad body. I fought the urge to shudder. "Password first."

"Gyarados Guile," I said unconcernedly and I planted my hands on my hips. "Can I get in now, buddy?"

"Of course, of course," he nodded and reached under the counter in front of him. Behind me I heard something drop and I turned. I saw a small hole in the floor with stairs leading down into the darkness. This had actually worked.

"Thanks," I smiled as the pokéball I had been holding the entire time expanded in my hand. "One more thing," I slowly turned around.

"And what's that?" He offered me a flashy smile.

I smiled back, then whipped the pokéball up in front of me. "Espeon, go!"

Espeon quickly materialized, freezing the old man in mid-air with her Psychic attack as he tried to hit something. "Out from behind the counter, if you would Espeon."

The man was thrown into the middle of the floor as Doug stepped into the building, also clad in completely black clothing. "Hey there," he smiled at the old man.

He snatched the man up, grabbing a bundle of rope from floor, and quickly tied the man up. Doug then tossed him in the farthest corner from the counter and pressed a piece of tape across his mouth. "You'll be staying right there," he pointed at the man, then stepped towards me. He snatched his hat off my head and put it on his own. "Let's go."

"Not to be pessimistic Doug," I muttered as I followed Espeon down the stairs, "but isn't your height rather recognizable?"

"I'll stoop over," Doug shrugged as he followed behind me. "All the male members will be more distracted by your legs in that skirt anyways," he added a moment later and color burst across my cheeks as I tried to tug the skirt further down.

"You're really making me self-conscious about this whole thing," I hissed, glaring over my shoulder at him. I was relieved to find that he wasn't staring downward.

He shrugged again. "You really think that I of all people care?"

"You should care," I hissed, "I'm doing all this for you."

"Yea, and you're the one providing the distraction from me," Doug muttered as he dropped his head as we passed by two grunts guarding the stairs. They waved to us and I gave a quick, half-wave back. "So fine, be self-conscious about it all, just not outwardly."

"What does that even mean?" I hissed.

'Don't be awkward just because you're wearing a skirt,' Espeon translated for me with a laugh.

"I can't help it," I whined, clapping my hands over my face.

Doug's hand suddenly met my shoulder with a gentle nudge. I dropped my hands and glanced up at him. "I know it's hard for you, but try to look normal," he murmured.

"Why, you-" I started to scream when two other grunts rounded a corner and headed towards us.

"Hey now," one laughed, "don't argue with your partner," he said to me as Doug stooped over and pulled the hat low over his eyes.

"Yea," the other grunt said, then lightly slugged the first grunt. "You're stuck with that partner until something happens."

They both laughed and disappeared behind us. I stared after them a moment, then up at Doug. "What does that mean?"

"A lot of Rocket members get arrested," Doug muttered.

"I can't imagine why," I sighed sarcastically.

"That's why they go everywhere in partners now, so they understand why they're numbers are dwindling," Doug continued to explain, ignoring me.

"How many of your partners were arrested?" I asked.

"Quite a few," he shrugged as he continued down the dimly lit hallway. That's all this underground secret base was so far, a single, long hallway.

"And how many times have you been arrested?" I inquired of him.

Doug looked down at me and flashed me a bright smile. "Not once," he answered. "I'm too underhanded for that."

"Well that makes me feel comfortable," I sighed.

"You want to go after the missing piece of the Radio Tower, or do you want me to?" Doug asked.

"We aren't going at it together?" I asked a question of my own in response.

He shook his head. "The other one has to go get your idiotic friend," he said.

"We're splitting up?" I shrieked.

Doug's hand immediately clapped over my mouth and he leaned down towards me. His face was inches from mine. "Quiet," he hissed before slowly removing his hand. "Yes, we have to do both at the same time. Once we get one, Team Rocket will immediately know we're here and we won't have time to get the other."

"Unless we split up," I sighed.

"So, which do you want?" Doug asked again.

"Since you already don't like her fawning over you, I'll get Ashley," I muttered.

"Good, I was hoping you'd say that," he clapped his hand on my back. I tripped forward from the power behind the impact. "She's probably still with Mark, just follow this hall to the end. He's in the big office," Doug explained before darting away from me.

"Wait!" I quietly called after him, but he was already out of earshot. I let my breath out then looked down at Espeon. "Oh joy, vague directions."

She smiled up at me. 'Let's go.'

"How bad is the sound in here? The one you heard up at the lake?" I asked Espeon as we crept along the wall towards the end of the seemingly never-ending hallway.

'They've got it pretty well insulated,' Espeon replied. 'I don't hear a thing.'

"I have no idea where I'm going," I sighed. I had passed several grunts, and they all had waved to me, or saluted me, or spoken to me. I had no choice but to react as though I were one of them. It was an incredibly odd feeling.

"Morning," another grunt hurried out of one of the rooms lining the hallway and spoke to me.

"Morning," I replied, then whispered down to Espeon. "Is it even still morning?"

'No clue,' Espeon shrugged. 'I can't tell from all the way down here.'

"Me neither," I said as I threw a glance over my shoulder. The Rocket member had already disappeared into another room.

Espeon froze in the middle of the hallway, the two tips of her tail were vibrating. 'Oh,' she muttered.

"What?" I stooped down next to her and asked softly.

She glanced over at me and smiled. 'I can sense Ashley's Flareon. We're close, come on!'

I took off in run after Espeon as she graceful loped down the hallway. She suddenly skidded to a halt, sliding slightly as she turned and faced a door. I looked ahead of us, it looked like the hallway kept going. "Doug said the last room."

'Reach your hand out,' Espeon nodded towards the hallway that kept going.

I stepped around Espeon and walked down the hallway with my hand out in front of me. Suddenly my hand hit something hard and I stopped. I held my other hand out and ran them over the solid structure in front of me.

'It's an optical illusion,' Espeon explained.

"They painted the hall so it looks like it keeps going," I muttered.

Espeon giggled and I looked down at her. 'I wonder how many people have walked headlong into that.'

I had to laugh quietly at the thought too. I knew I would have if Espeon hadn't been here to stop me. "So," I said, turning towards the door Espeon was still facing, "Ashley is in there?"

Espeon's tail shook again and a slight humming emanated from her throat. She smiled up at me after a moment. 'Most definitely.'

"Let's go," I reached for the door.

'Wait.' A blue aura surrounded my outstretched hand. 'Put me back in my pokéball, we don't want them to be suspicious.'

"Good idea," I nodded. "Espeon, return," I said as I grabbed her pokéball and recalled her into the sphere. I clipped it back onto my belt, took a deep breath and opened the door to the room. A Team Rocket member straightened up away from a chair. I held my head down, my bangs falling in front of my eyes, and I could see through them. Ashley was sitting in the chair, she appeared in no way restrained.

"Can I help you?" The Rocket member asked.

"Susanne requires your assistance," I muttered, using the only name I was sure about was an actual Team Rocket member.

"What does she need my help?" The man stalked towards me, a scowl on his face. "She's in the transmission room! She knows what to do!"

I was worried he was going to stop in front of me and demand more information, but the Rocket brushed past me and out of the room. I stared over my shoulder until the door slammed shut and then I turned back to Ashley. I turned with such momentum that my hair whirled out of my face. "Rowan!" Ashley shrieked and she stood up. "You're Team Rocket!"

"No," I hurried across the room towards her. My original thought was confirmed as I looked down at her hands and legs, she wasn't tied up. "Come on, let's go."

"This completely confirms my plan," Ashley was smiling as she stood. "I was thinking of joining, and now that I know both you and Douglas are members, I'm definitely going to!"

"Ashley," I hissed. "We're not members, we're doing this to get you out and get back the piece of the Radio Tower Team Rocket stole!"

"Oh," Ashley murmured. "Well, I don't want to leave."

"What?" I snapped. "Come on Ash, this is not the time to be stupid."

"I'm not being stupid," she shook her head. "I like it here, with these people. I want to stay here with them."

"You have got to be kidding me," I sighed with a roll of my eyes. "Okay Ashley, here's your two choices. A, you come with me on your own freewill," I said and she shook her head. "Or B, I call out Espeon and she will use her Psychic attack on you and drag you out of this underground fortress."

Ashley stared at me a moment to decide how serious I was, so in an effort to get her to believe me, I snatched Espeon's pokéball from my waist. "Okay, okay," Ashley held out her hands. "We can go."

She turned away from me to grab something from the floor. When she whirled back around, she had a pokéball in her hand. "Bayleef, go!"

"What the heck?" I asked myself.

"Bayleef, Razor Leaf!" She commanded, pointing directly at me.

"Holy Murkrow," I hissed as I ducked and tumbled out of the way from the sharp leaves hurrying in my direction. "Again with this Ashley?" I hissed as I replaced Espeon's pokéball and snatched up another. "Go, Typhlosion!"

"Bayleef, Vine Whip!" Ashley shouted as Typhlosion appeared in front of me.

"Grab the vines," I said as Bayleef's vines that sprouted from around her neck shot towards Typhlosion. He grabbed both vines, wincing slightly from the pain they inflicted upon him. "Now, pull Bayleef towards you!" I shouted.

Typhlosion, with a loud roar, pulled on Bayleef's extensions, dragging the grass Pokémon closer to him. "Use Flamethrower!" I told him and Typhlosion released a stream of flames into Bayleef's face. The grass Pokémon let out a loud shriek before falling to the ground.

"Oh no!" Ashley muttered as she recalled her Pokémon.

"Espeon," I threw out Espeon's pokéball and my Pokémon materialized in front of me. "Psychic!"

The blue aura of Espeon's Psychic attack surrounded Ashley as she was reaching for another pokéball.

"Hey!" A voice shouted from the door. "What are you doing?"

"Typhlosion, Flamethrower," I pointed towards the door where several grunts were peering in. Typhlosion, without missing a beat, turned and generated a powerful onslaught of fire in the direction of the door. The grunts shouted as they ducked out of the way. "Let's go," I waved towards Espeon and Typhlosion as I darted out the door.

One of the grunts immediately grabbed me, but before I had the chance to retaliate, he was hurled off of me. I turned and found Typhlosion towering over the grunt on the floor, a fireball already built up in my Pokémon's mouth. His flame collar was burning intensely.

I patted his arm. "Good boy," I smiled and he flashed me a quick smile. "Come on guys," I said and turned to head down the hallway. Espeon was jogging next to me, and when I glanced over my shoulder, Ashley was hovering just above the ground in the same position she had been in. Espeon's blue aura still surrounded her.

"Release her Espeon," I said as I stopped in the hallway and walked towards Ashley. She dropped to the ground and immediately glared up at me.

"How dare you do this to me! A Pokémon Trainer!" Ashley screeched.

"Think of it as revenge," I shrugged. "Now, are you going to cooperate? Or do you want Typhlosion to carry you now?" I asked, planting my hands on my hips as Typhlosion stepped up next to me.

"I'll walk by myself, thank you very much," Ashley hissed.

I glared at her a moment, then turned to start running back down the hall. As we neared the corner that would lead us to the stairs, I quickly returned Typhlosion and whipped around the corner. I could see the stairs looming out ahead of me.

Someone was standing in front of them.

I continued running, hoping if I gained enough momentum I could pummel into the person and knock them to the floor. "Finally," the person spat as I got closer. I realized it was Doug. "What took so long?"

I jerked my thumb over my shoulder at Ashley. "She was being difficult."

"Well let's go, it won't be long before they realize this is missing," Doug held up the bag he was holding, there was definitely a bit of weight in the bottom of the bag. "If they haven't noticed already."

"Then let's go," I muttered.

As I darted up the stairs, I looked over the side of the stairs and found the guards tied up and thrown under the staircase. 'Come on Rowan,' Espeon called as she peered down the hole in the floor.

I crawled up through the hole and grabbed Ashley's hand and helped hoisted her out of the hole. "Wow," Ashley suddenly realized what I was wearing. "Where did you get that skirt?"

"Don't ask Ash, it was just to pass as a Rocket," I hissed.

"Can I have it when you're done?" A huge smile spread across her face.

"Here," Doug appeared halfway through the floor and held the bag up to me. I took it from him and was surprised by the actual weight of the package. "Take it to the PokéCenter," he muttered as he pulled himself into the building. "I'll be right behind you."

I nodded and turned away from him to head towards the door. I gave Ashley a good shove and she pulled the door open to go out into the sunlight. There was suddenly a low grunt and a thud. I quickly whipped around and found Doug's crumpled form across the closed trap door. The store owner stood over him with a lamp in his hands, held over his shoulder like a baseball bat.

"Guard this!" I hissed, dropping the bag on the floor in front of Espeon. I darted back across the store and pummeled into the shopkeeper before he could swing at Doug again. We both dropped to the floor and I quickly snatched the light away from him. I threw it across the room, where it shattered against the wall.

'What is your problem Rowan!' Espeon shouted at me, but I ignored her as I tried to pin the man's arms, which were swinging wildly towards my face, down to the floor.

He suddenly gave me a good shove and I fell backwards onto my butt. He hurried to his feet and ran across the room to the door, which Ashley was still holding open. "Grab him!" I shouted as I jumped up and ran to the front of the building. "Ashley, you let him go!"

"He was gross! Why would I have grabbed him?" Ashley hissed at me.

I leaned out the doorway to see the older man running in the direction of Ecruteak City. I let my breath out and glared at Ashley. "What?" She snapped.

I continued to glare at her, then gasped. I whipped around to run back across the building. "Doug!"

As Doug came to, he pressed his hand to his head and slowly sat up. I dropped the damp cloth to the floor as I stood up off my knees. Doug's eyes finally opened as he continued to wince. "Rowan?" He muttered.

I smiled. "You're alive," I whispered.

"What happened?" He looked around. "How did I get here?"

I looked around the Pokémon Center too. "Well you were knocked unconscious by the herb guy," I explained, "and so I had to have Typhlosion drag you here. He wasn't quite tall enough to pick you up."

I had to bite down on my lower lip to keep from laughing at the image that appeared in my mind of Typhlosion struggling to drag Doug's tall unconscious form. It had definitely been a sight to see. "What about Team Rocket?" Doug asked.

"I put a couple of crates on top of the trap door, so they wouldn't be able to get out," I explained to him.

"You know that they had another way out," Doug told me as he brought his hand down out of his hair and looked at it.

"You're not bleeding," I said to him.

He looked over at me, then scowled. "I didn't say I was."

"You didn't have to, you looked concerned," I smiled. Doug stared back at me a moment, the scowl was gone. I tilted my head to the side as I looked at him. His eyebrow arched onto his forehead. "What's wrong?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Where's your stupid friend that caused all these issues to begin with?"

"She's challenging Pryce at the moment," I said. "I'm going to head over there too."

"Why aren't you there already?" Doug asked as he threw his legs off the side of the bench and pressed the palm of his hand against his forehead.

"I wanted to change," I said, gesturing down at the Team Rocket outfit I was wearing. "I'm certainly not challenging Pryce looking like a-well, like this," I smiled as I snatched my backpack off the ground.

I walked away from him, Espeon following after me. I glanced over my shoulder as a nurse walked up to Doug. She handed him a glass of water. "You're finally awake," she was saying to him. "That girl has been awfully worried about you," I winced. I had deliberately not told him that. "She sat here until she knew you were okay."

I turned all the way around and continued into the bathroom to change. I needed to get my mind off Team Rocket, and guys, and the Radio Tower, and back into Pokémon. I had strayed quite far from my original starting point.

Author's Notes: Chapter Twenty-Six: I cannot even begin to explain how terrible I feel. There are two main reasons: One) I didn't post a chapter yesterday. :[ I'm very sorry. And two) because I'm sick. I got like an hour of sleep last night, slept for about eighty percent of the day away and I just feel like poop. I have a cold in May, wtf?

But here is chapter twenty-six. Assuming I'm feeling up to it and not asleep and drooling all over my pillow, I'll post another chapter within the hour. If not, I'll post two tomorrow.

If you're ever wondering what has happened if I don't post a chapter a day, go to my profile. I normally post if something has come up that is preventing me from posting. So yea, check there for updates!

Enjoy this chapter.

And as always, thank you to all of you who have reviewed and subscribed. I can't even explain the feeling that I get whenever I received an email that someone has reviewed or subscribed. I'm sorry for not mentioning all of you by name in this chapter but I will make it up to you. (: Honest.

And remember, all you other people, review/comment and subscribe! :]