Chapter 6
"Best Friends"
We followed them around as they searched for wild Pokémon. As we walked, I explained to them what had happened in more detail, even the super glue.
"…That's terrible!" Misty said, "I can't believe even Team Rocket would stoop that low!"
"If I had known about that earlier, I would've started looking for you right away," said Richie.
"Thanks guys…" I smiled.
"…What's that?" Billie asked.
"Huh?"
We looked where she was pointing. Instinctively, I reached for my Pokédex.
"Oh yeah…" I glared at Billie, "I don't have it anymore…"
She shrugged. "Part of being on Team Rocket. Get used to it."
"Huh?" Misty asked in confusion.
"She made me lock up just about all of my stuff," I explained.
"Oh…"
"Uh…guys? Don't we have a bigger problem on our hands?" asked Richie.
"Yeah…I think we've seen this thing before…" said Brock.
I looked at it. It was smaller than me, and it did look familiar…The upper part was yellow, and the lower part was brown…
"Oh yeah! Last time we saw one of these, Misty thought that she was a Seel!" I grinned at that memory.
She glared at me, but somehow refrained from hitting me.
"Ash…I'm gonna capture it for you," said Richie, "…Whatever it is. Go! Zippo!"
"Char!" Zippo said as it appeared.
"Zippo! Flamethrower attack!"
"CHAAAARR!!"
"Drowzee…" said the Pokémon.
"Now I remember!" said Brock, "That's Drowzee, the hypnosis Pokémon. It has psychic powers."
"Wow! I bet the boss would love that!" gleamed Billie.
"…It's a shame we have to give it to him in the first place…" I muttered.
Zippo spat out a stream of flame at Drowzee, but Drowzee emitted some kind of psychic waves, and the flame turned straight back for Zippo.
"Char!" it cried in alarm.
Zippo got burnt.
"Mander…" it whimpered.
"Drowzee!" Drowzee said, standing up.
It moved its hands around in a strange pattern, and more psychic waves approached Zippo. Finally, Zippo fell over and started sleeping soundly.
"Oh no! Zippo! Return!"
"It's pretty strong…" I commented.
"I can handle it," said Richie, "Happy! Go!"
"Frreeee! Frrreeeee!" cried Happy.
"Happy! Sleep Powder! Now!"
"Sleep Powder?" asked Misty.
"If it wants to put my Pokémon to sleep, I don't see why I can't try putting it to sleep," replied Richie.
"Butterfreee!" said Happy.
It flew over Drowzee and lots of tiny blue specks fell from its wings. Drowzee looked up in confusion.
"Drow?…Drow…zee…?" It blinked sleepily. Then it collapsed and started snoring.
"Great job, Happy! Pokéball! Go!"
Richie threw a Pokéball at Drowzee, and it was sucked inside. The Pokéball wobbled back and forth for a while, but it finally stopped.
"All right! I caught Drowzee!" cried Richie.
"Yeah! Great job!" I congratulated him.
"Um……One question…" said Misty.
"Yeah?" we asked, glancing at her.
"What are you really going to do with it? Don't you need psychic powers to control psychic Pokémon?"
"We don't have to worry about that," I said, "The boss is the one who's gonna keep it."
"…If you say so…" Misty sighed.
"Happy! Return!"
Happy went back inside its Pokéball. Richie picked up Drowzee's Pokéball. Like all of Richie's Pokéballs, it had a yellow star on the red half.
"…You'd better not let this one get mixed up with my other ones," Richie grinned.
"I won't. Don't worry," I assured him.
He handed me the Pokéball. "Take good care of Taper, okay, Ash?"
I took the Pokéball from him. "…Taper?" I asked.
He nodded. "I give a nickname to all the Pokémon I catch."
"Oh…" I grinned. "Don't worry. Taper's safe with me!"
"But just how long are you keeping it, eh, Ash?" Billie reminded me.
I didn't say anything. I didn't want to remember that part. I didn't want to think about what I was going to do to Taper…
"…Do you want us to catch more, or do you want to go ahead and give Taper to…the boss?" asked Brock.
I didn't say anything. I didn't know the answer to that.
"Come on, Ash. Let's go back to the HQ," said Billie.
"But…what about these guys?" I asked, gesturing to Brock, Misty, and Richie.
"…They'll be fine…As long as they don't tell anyone our secret," she said.
"Why not?" asked Misty.
"Huh?" Billie said.
"Why can't we tell anyone?"
"Do you want him to ever get his Pokémon back? The boss isn't going to let him do anything if he knows that the police or someone else knows that Ash is on Team Rocket."
"…Really?" I asked.
She nodded. "That's why you shouldn't have even told these guys."
"But I trust them! They're my friends! They won't let me down. Right guys?"
They nodded their agreement.
"See?" I asked Billie.
She shrugged. "Promises are cheap."
"Not for me," I said.
"……Same here," said Richie.
Brock nodded.
"…I don't break my word either……but I won't mention anything about bicycles…" Misty said.
I cringed.
Why did she have to bring that up?
"Huh?" asked Billie and Richie.
"Don't mind her," I said anxiously.
"…Well…You guys better keep your mouths shut, if you know what's good for you," Billie concluded. She turned to me. "Let's go…Tom."
"Huh?"
She gave me my wig back. "You can't risk being seen without this. Come on."
I sighed and put it on. Then I followed her back to HQ, leaving my friends behind.
I hope we know what we're doing… I prayed.