Chapter 37
Woke Up This Morning
The next morning, Liza woke to see news of Team Rocket grunts all over Johto being arrested, with the Rockets losing their entire foothold in the land. Something about it made her a little upset; it was that Sabrina was right again. Now all that was left to rub it in was…
I told you so.
Liza looked over to see Sabrina standing in the room with her. "Why do you have to rub it in?" Liza asked.
"Oh, just having a little fun," Sabrina laughed. "What's the use of being psychic if you can't enjoy it?"
"I guess," Liza said. She then thought about Will. "Will's going back to work, right?"
"Yes," Sabrina sighed. "I told him he didn't have to, but he wants to buy me an engagement ring so badly... he's so cute."
The two psychics then continued watching the television, seeing peace restored to Johto.
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There was furious knocking on the front door of Whitney's house. Unfortunately for Gold, he was the only one who was awakened by it, while the others slept right through the noise.
This figures, he thought. The guy with two broken legs gets woke up by the noise, and the three people in this house with perfectly fine legs don't.
So he tried wiggling his way off his bed onto the wheelchair, eventually getting there after some significant struggle. Then he rolled his way to the front door, where knocking was still occurring.
"Where the heck have you been?" he shouted, upon opening the door to Gary and Melody.
"Oh, us?" Gary asked. "Well, you see, I left some stuff behind at the island where we came from, so we went back to get it early one of these mornings. But Melody- she doesn't like that place too much, so we came back here, because I also left some of my stuff here."
"Why so early?!" Gold screamed. "I'm trying to sleep, and you have to come here, wake me up!"
"Sorry," Gary replied. "But anyway, do you think I could go get the stuff I left here?"
"Oh, go ahead," Gold muttered.
Melody rolled her eyes as Gary went to find the things he had left in Whitney's house. He's so forgetful, she thought. Who knows where else he's forgotten things.
"Okay, I got them!" Gary shouted.
"Good for you," Gold responded in annoyance. He then shut the door behind Gary and Melody as they left the house.
Now, finally time to get some sleep, he thought, as he wheeled back towards his room.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
Why is Silver's alarm so loud? he thought, getting back into his bed.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
Only Silver could sleep through that, he thought. What a start to this day.
Meanwhile, Gary and Melody flew on Lugia back to Viridian City, to check on his gym. As they came closer to the town, they thought they saw a red-suited man walking through the woods towards the Pokémon League Gate, but they couldn't be certain.
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Janine and Falkner sat amidst the trees, as they were in a forest not too far from Goldenrod City. Falkner's wounds were healing, although he still did not feel too strong. He was surprised, however, why Janine continued to rest instead of charging on ahead to her destination.
"Your father… where is he?" Janine asked.
"He went on a journey, to a far-off land, somewhere called Sinnoh, I think," Falkner replied.
"How long ago?" she questioned.
"Probably about three years ago," Falkner responded. "He said he wanted to find all sorts of new Pokémon and train to become a great trainer, then return after five years. He trusted Violet City in my care…"
His words trailed off, as he began to think about what had occurred in Violet City recently.
"I failed him," he said. "Instead of being strong and standing up for what I believed in, I agreed to help Team Rocket, taking this awful shirt. Now my city's gone, my gym destroyed… nothing left from my father. It's all ruined."
He tried keeping himself from crying.
"I understand," Janine remarked. "I, too, was entrusted with a gym. But I fought against my father, right before he died. Then I lost sight of my aunt, allowing her to be killed as well. I still have the gym, but what good is it? I've wasted everything my father gave me."
"Not everything," Falkner replied. "Your ninja skills… did your father teach you them?"
"Yes," Janine sighed. "I only wanted to be like him."
"It's the same with me," Falkner said. "But I made a mistake, and I ruined everything I had worked for. I only wish that my father will forgive me."
Something about that statement struck Janine. Forgiveness. Something she had decided to forget…
Her mind flashed back to right before her father's death. She had just fought him, as he took Team Rocket's side. While they fought, Giovanni poisoned him, causing him to die. Yet before he died, there was no anger in any of the words he spoke to her. He told her she fought with honor. Could she still say that she fought with honor?
"Let's go," she told Falkner, trying to fight the thoughts that entered her mind. Falkner, now strong enough to walk, got on his feet and followed her through the forest.
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Will began to work at his computer at the Silph Company. He was always faster at his job than anyone else there, as he could always see one step ahead. This allowed him time to go through the files on his computer. This had been useful in the past, when he discovered a couple of devices that Team Rocket had created during their time in charge of the Silph Company.
As he looked through the files, he again found a folder labeled "Rocket." Thinking he was onto something, he opened it up, only to find a bunch of silly photos of Jessie, James and Meowth.
Boy, are these crazy, he thought, seeing some of the most ridiculous costumes he could imagine. Jessie holding a baseball bat, James with a glove, and Meowth wearing catcher's gear? They really did have too much time on their hands.
He was just about to close the folder, when he saw one last file, a text document labeled "Big Top." Figuring it was some sort of circus act those crazy three former Rocket members put on, he decided to look at it, just for laughs.
But when he read what was in the document, he was definitely not laughing.
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That afternoon, Whitney took Gold back to the hospital, to see if he needed any more treatment. There were construction workers attempting to fix the small part of the building that was smashed by the giant Pokémon.
"Boy, I'm glad I got out of here when I did," Gold commented.
A Nurse Joy then met up with the two and told Gold that all he needed to do was stay off his feet for a few more weeks, and his legs should heal soon. Encouraged by the news, the two went back over to Whitney's house.
After a few hours, they went out to dinner with Jasmine and Silver. The four trainers were in a better mood today; despite the terrible news they had received the day before, they knew that they had to move on, so they tried to enjoy themselves.
Meanwhile, Falkner and Janine walked into the city and split up. Falkner was going to buy a new shirt, to replace his "R" shirt, while Janine of course had her own plans. She walked in and out of buildings without anyone noticing. It was almost like she was just a breeze in the wind; she'd come and go within seconds.
She looked for places where Silver might be. The hospital? Too much security… but if necessary, she was willing to try to sneak in there. First, though, she wanted to try other places. She saw the time in one store- 6:16 pm. Just about the time when Silver may be eating.
She checked several restaurants, just looking inside, then leaving quickly, failing to see any sign of Silver. She then saw a small diner, and she decided to check it.
Silver was sitting with his friends in the back, listening to a music player located at the table. That was when Janine tried sneaking in. She could only see Whitney and Gold clearly; Silver had his back turned to her, with a large man named Cueball sitting back-to-back to him, blocking her from being able to see Silver. She did, however, catch the sight of Jasmine's pigtails, and instantly recognized her as the girl who had been with Silver.
Before she could do anything, however, she was interrupted by a hostess who wanted to serve her. This would ruin her attack, if she was to have to be walked to a table; so she told the hostess that she simply came in to use the restroom, and asked where it was.
After being told the location of the restroom, she continued looking over at the table, trying to catch a glimpse of the person sitting next to the girl with pigtails. She walked slowly in the direction of the restroom, then saw a streak of red hair- immediately realizing it was Silver. She began walking away from the restroom and towards Silver's table.
"Ma'am, the restroom is to your right," the hostess called.
Janine did not even hear these words, however. She continued creeping in the direction of Silver and his friends, who were listening to the music, not paying attention to anything else. She walked up closer, and closer, and closer…
Silver sneezed, then turned his head to the side. He saw Janine- but only for an instant.
Then everything went black.
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"Sabrina! Sabrina!" Will was yelling on his phone, with a rather annoyed Sabrina on the other end of the line at her house.
"Yes, Will," she replied with irritation.
"There's something of Team Rocket's I found on this computer- something very scary!" he shouted.
"Pictures of Jessie, James and Meowth in various costumes?" Sabrina asked.
"No," Will answered. "It's what Giovanni plans to do if everything goes against him… and it's not pretty."