Pokémon: Masters
Chapter Two – Taking Care of Business
A guard knocks against the wall of the telephone booth. "Five minutes, Rocket."
"Yes, sir," Giovanni replied. He thought in about four more weeks he running this place. The warden was corrupt enough for him to control, but the guards would take time.
"So how is little Phil?" he said into the receiver.
"He knows his place now, Dad," the voice on the other end replied. "Shane is watching right now."
"Now that Phil is taken care of," Giovanni said as he eyed the guard other in the corner, "I have a little favor to ask you."
"What?"
"Arrange for a lawyer to get Butch and Cassidy released," he answered. "Their sentence is almost up anyway, so that shouldn't be too hard of a problem."
"I get on it right away," the voice replied. "Anything else?"
"That's all for now," Giovanni said as the guard came to return him to his cell.
After spending three days in the Safari Zone, Jessie and James had collected their limit of pokémon. Jessie had besides her Arbok and Lickitung a Doduo, a Scyther, a Pinsir, and a Paras. James had made a big haul on the first day with getting a Tauros, an Exeggcute, and a Slowpoke, and he later captured a Ponyta. Ash, Misty, and Brock on the other hand did not do as well. They decided to let Jessie and James collect some more pokémon since they already captured a new pokémon each.
"Where to now?" James asked as they walked away from the Safari Zone.
"How about Fuchsia City?" Ash suggested.
"Why do you want to go there?" Misty asked.
"No reason," Ash replied. "It's just the closest town."
"Well, I want to go to Celadon," Misty said. "I want to see if Erika has any new perfumes."
"That sounds great," Jessie said. "We could hit the mall there."
The mention of that four-letter word sent a chill down the boys' spines. "Think we should suggestion something else?" Brock whispered to Ash and James.
"And end up air born," James replied. "There's no way around this."
Ash nodded. "James, that may have been the smartest thing you said this week."
After leaving Pikachu, Togepi, and Meowth with the rest of their pokémon at the Pokémon Center, Misty and Jessie dragged the three reluctant boys to the mall. Brock had it easy since neither of the girls were his girlfriend, but that left Ash and James carrying their load.
"A little help here would be nice," Ash complained to Brock. Ash was carrying a pile of boxes twice his size while Brock only had two bags.
"The price you pay for having a girlfriend," Brock laughed.
"What about me?" James whined since he was carrying all of Jessie's purchases. "She's not even my girlfriend."
"Right," both Ash and Brock replied.
"Oh, look, Misty," they heard Jessie squeal. "I bet this swimsuit will look great on me."
"And I really like this bikini," Misty replied.
"Bikini," Ash sighed as he began to daydream.
"But Misty, isn't that a size or two small for you?" Jessie asked.
Brock and James almost fell over when Ash ran past them.
"You know," James commented as he tried to regain the stability of the stack of boxes, "Ash is starting to act a lot like you."
"Yeah," Brock smirked. "Our little boy is growing up."
They decided to return to the Pokémon Center and leave their stuff there before going to see Erika. "Mind if I make a phone call?" Ash asked the others.
"Go ahead," Misty said as she went to pick up their pokémon.
Ash dialed up Professor Oak.
"Hello?" the voice of a young man asked.
"Tracey," Ash replied. "It's me, Ash."
The video monitor came on revealing the Pokémon Watcher. "We just got your Nidoran," Tracey said. "It looks very healthy."
"That's good," he replied. "We just came back from the Safari Zone. I'm thankful I didn't catch another herd of Tauros."
Tracey laughed. "So that's where they all came from."
"Jessie and James captured a bunch of new pokémon," Ash continued. "I wonder if they are going to go off and collect badges soon."
"Oh, that reminds me," Tracey said as he walked out of the camera's view. He returned with a flyer in his hands. "They're looking for a new gym leader in Viridian since Giovanni was arrested."
"I'm surprised they haven't done it already," Ash replied.
"Seems no can best the test," Tracey answered. "Maybe you should try."
"I'll think about it," Ash said.
"Ash, come on," Misty yelled from the exit.
"Gotta go," Ash told his friend as he hung up.
"After several accidents in its laboratories, officials at Silph Co. have announced that they have everything under control," the radio in Erika's shop said.
"Monica," Erika said to her assistant. "Please switch it something else."
"All right," Monica replied as she changed the station.
"Ash, I hope you won't embarrass me like you did last time," a voice from outside said.
"Meowth, I don't want to dress him like a girl again," another said. "One cross-dresser is enough."
"Hey," a third voice said. "If you had better costumes, I wouldn't had to…"
"Hold it," Erika said as the group walked into her store. "I don't want any fighting in here."
"Sure thing," Brock said as he ran up to Erika. "You're so pretty."
"Monica," Erika called to her assistant. "Bring me the essence of Gloom."
"No!" Jessie, James, and Meowth cried. They pulled Brock away from Erika.
Erika laughed at their reaction. "What can I do for you?"
"I wanted to see if you had any new fragrances," Misty said while Meowth leashed Brock to a pole outside.
"Try this one then," Erika said as she pulled out a vial containing a blue liquid.
Misty dabbed a bit on her hand and sniffed it. "That's wonderful," she exhaled.
"Let me see," Jessie said as she sampled the perfume. "It's good but not my style."
"Well," Erika smiled, "how about this one?"
She had a vial containing a green liquid in her hand. Jessie washed off her hands and sampled the perfume.
"That's better," she sighed.
While the two girls continued to sample Erika's perfumes, Pikachu and Togepi were allured by another sent.
"Pika?" Pikachu sighed as he sniffed the air.
"Yeah, I smell it too," Ash replied. "I don't think Erika keeps ketchup-covered apples here, though.
Pikachu dropped his head. He knew Ash was probably right.
He looked out at Brock outside. "Meowth, don't you think tying him to that pole was a bit harsh?"
Meowth looked up at him. "And getting a whiff of that essence of Gloom isn't?"
Ash thought about that. "You got a point," he admitted.
"Seeing that you have several favorable reports from the administrator of your correctional facility," a judge said to the two defendants before, "and that your sentence is almost completed, I hereby grant you six months parole."
"Thank you, your honor," the defendants' lawyer replied.
"Court is in recess," the judge said as he walked to his chambers.
"Well, Cassidy," a hoarse voice said, "look's like we're free."
"Yeah," the blond girl replied. "Time for some Love Power."
They walked outside and saw a limousine waiting for them. The window rolled down, and a voice told them to get end. They complied since they recognized the chauffeur as Julie, Giovanni's former assistant.
When inside, they saw a thirteen-year-old blond-hair boy sitting in front of them. "I hope everything went well," he said as Julie closed the door.
"We're here, aren't we," Cassidy replied. "I didn't expect one of Giovanni's brats to spring us."
"Ah, Cassidy," Butch whispered to his partner. "I don't think it's such a good idea to mouth off to the boss's kid."
Jake leaned forward. "Be grateful you're dealing with me instead of Matt," he told them. "He's been on edge ever since Dad was arrested."
Butch and Cassidy looked at each other. They had heard rumors about this but never thought it possible. "Who's running Team Rocket, then?" Butch asked.
"Dad still is in charge," the younger boy replied, "but Shane handles the day to day operations."
The boy pushed a button on the console next to him. "Julie, take us back to HQ."
"Right away, sir," she replied.
He turned back to the older teens. "Dad, wanted you out," he told them. "Since Shane and Rob are both busy with other matters, you'll report directly to me. Got that?"
Butch and Cassidy sighed. "Yes, sir."
After leaving Erika's store, Brock spent five minutes complaining about being tied up. Ash and James then spent the next ten minutes dragging his body after being knocked unconscious by Jessie.
"Jessie," Ash said as they finally arrived to the Pokémon Center, "you really need to learn to control your temper."
Jessie eyed him causing Ash to retreat behind Misty.
"Coward," Misty laughed.
"Smart, I think," Meowth muttered under his breath.
"Pikachu," the yellow pokémon laughed.
Jessie ignored the comments from the peanut gallery as they went up to their rooms.
"See you, tomorrow," Ash said as he and James dropped Brock on the floor of their room.
"No, kiss good-night?" Misty asked with a smirk on her face.
"Oh, brother," Meowth sighed as the two kissed. "Are they going to be like this for now on?"
"Pika?" Pikachu shrugged.
"I think I preferred it when they were always fighting," Meowth added as he got into his bed.