Team Rocket Neo

by BenRG

Have you ever wondered what the world would be like if good became evil and a hero had to choose sides? How would Ash and Misty handle being part of Team Rocket?

3. Shades of Grey

Team Rocket Neo

A Pokémon nightmare by BenRG

Legal Disclaimer

Pokémon, the Pocket Monsters, their human friends and enemies and all technologies of the Pokémon universe are the legal property of Nintendo Entertainment, Game Freak Software and 4Kids Productions. No violation of any legal property intended. This is a non-profit work for free distribution through the Internet.

Author's Notes

Please re-read the first three parts. I have cleared up some continuity errors and generally tightened them up.

Believe me, Ash and Misty are going to be very OOC. After four years of stealing and roughing up Team Rocket's enemies, you should expect it.

Shades of grey alert. There are no heroes in this story, only those who are slightly less bad than others. Sometimes the price of survival is a lot higher than people expect.

Text in [Squared Brackets] is translated Pokémon talk.

Text in Italics, but not in quotes is thought or telepathic communication.

Text in "Quotes and Italics" is a communication by radio or videophone.

Censor: R for violence and swearing

Ages: Ash is 18; Misty is 18; Rocketboy is 17; Naomi is 13; Buddy is 28; Holly is 24; Giovanni is 40; Gary is 20; Daisy is 26; Brock is 26; Violet is 24; Lily is 21.

CONTENT WARNING: CHARACTER DEATH. Graphic description of one particular death and implied sexual activity.

What has gone before…

Four years have passed since Ash Ketchum and Misty Waterflower, victims of a brutal betrayal by their family and those they considered their friends, were forced to seek shelter with the terrorist group Team Rocket. They have spent this time growing in their terrorist skills and developing their own fearsome reputation amongst the law enforcement agencies of the Indigo region.

Now, promoted to the leadership of their own Field Team, Ash and Misty must face the ultimate truth of the path they chose freely four years before. How far are they willing to go in the service of Team Rocket? And do they have any other options open to them?

Part 3 – Shades of Grey

Chapter 1 – Compromises

"Ash this is the single dumbest stunt you've ever pulled," was Misty Waterflower's opinion. Ash turned from where he was slopping paint on the Founder's Memorial in the centre of Cerulean City's Founders Park.

"Well it was this or our conducting a raid on the Pokémon Centre," he reminded his lover and second-in-command. "Which would you prefer?"

Misty sighed deeply and went back to her own act of vandalism on another side of the four-sided obelisk. It was true that Ash had worked hard to find an alternative to the usual violent opening move for a new Team Rocket cell, but Misty felt there should be more to the Cause than this. Somehow, it felt… childish. Ash had been worried, Misty knew, about the inevitable compromises he would have to make now that The Boss had promoted them to their own field operations team. For all its' lack of elegance, this particular idea was enough to satisfy both their oaths to Team Rocket and their consciences.

The two Rockets were almost invisible in the night; their white Field Agents' uniforms invisible behind three-tone-grey camouflage smocks. Most of Misty's doubts were because she felt a little exposed in the middle of the park. However, she knew Ash was a fine tactician and that he had all of the bases covered.

Officer Jenny Wyle of the Cerulean City Security Police walked into Memorial Square and could only stare at the two figures, virtually invisible in their camouflage, who were clearly daubing paint on the Founders' Memorial. Cerulean City did not have much of a vandalism problem, and especially not here, in the most historically important spot in the city. The sheer strangeness of the situation stopped her from radioing for back up immediately. "Hey!" she called in a half-hearted tone of amazement. "Get away from there!"

"Shh!" hissed a voice from behind her. Jenny whirled to see a man and a girl watching her from the shadow of the bandstand. The man was heavily built with dark hair. The girl was short with long blonde hair and a very nervous posture. However, the red capital letter 'R' on the tunics of their paramilitary uniforms attracted Jenny's eyes and kicked her brain into gear. It was… Team Rocket! She reached for her service pistol.

"Sinuous, Sleeper Hold!" The man said in a confident tone.

Something long and alive arced towards Jenny with a hissing cry of "Ek-ansss!" Jenny screamed in terror as the Ekans wrapped around her neck and squeezed tightly. The creature hung on as Jenny fell to her knees. She struggled hysterically to loosen the poison-type's crushing grip for ten long seconds before lack of oxygen sent her tumbling into the darkness.

Black Rockets Charles 'Rocketboy' Reilly and Naomi Athena stood over the fallen Security Police officer. "Where did you learn that move?" Naomi asked in awe.

"Late Night Wrestling," Rocketboy replied casually. "You would be surprised what you can pick up late at night in the Recreation Dome."

Naomi snorted sceptically and lifted her walkie-talkie. "Back Stop to Vanguard. One party pooper down, over."

"Roger that, Back Stop," Ash's voice crackled from the speaker. "Dead or sleeping?"

Perhaps it was Naomi's imagination, but she thought she could hear a little concern in her team leader's voice. "Definitely sleeping, Boss. She'll ache in the morning, but she will wake up."

By the obelisk, Misty watched as Ash sagged with relief when he heard Naomi's report. She reached out and touched his shoulder. Eventually, they both knew, they would have to face that challenge. Fortunately, it had not come tonight. "That's good, Back Stop," Ash said into his walkie-talkie. "Get the Carrier ready to go. We've finished here."

"Yes sir," Naomi replied and disconnected.

Ash drew in a deep breath and managed to shoot Misty a mischievous grin. "You know, I would give a lot of money to see people's faces tomorrow," he told her.

Misty grinned wryly. "I'm more interested to see how they react," she replied. "I'm not sure The Boss would approve of this level of initiative."

"Do you care?" Ash wanted to know. Misty just chuckled and shook her head. No, so long as Ash could keep them from sinking too far, she didn't care what Giovanni thought at all. The two White Rockets left the Memorial and went to join their backups at their Armoured Personnel Carrier, which was camouflaged as an Arcanine. Within an hour, they were back at their base.

***

Officer Jenny was very surprised to wake up with the dawn sun glaring in her eyes. She groggily got to her feet and rubbed the aching bruises around her throat. I should be dead, she thought in surprise. Why didn't they finish me?

These questions had to wait. A large crowd was standing around the Founders' Memorial obelisk. There were sounds of outrage and confusion. Jenny staggered to her feet and walked over to the confused crowd. "What…" she began hoarsely. She coughed and tried again, but her voice wasn't much easier to understand. "What's going on?"

Seeing the Security Police officer, the crowds separated and gave her a clear path to the monument set up in remembrance of the colonists who founded Cerulean City half a century before. On each face of the mighty obelisk, someone had painted a bright emblem. It was a red hoop with a stylised red capital letter 'R' in the centre, the emblem of Team Rocket. Jenny was no fool. This wasn't just an act of vandalism; it was a statement of intent.

***

That morning, a group of Novice Trainers was working their way through the forest. They had recently begun their Pokémon Journey from nearby Viridian City. They still were nervous about being out in the forest of their own. Two of them had only two Pokémon to their names, thus far, and one had three.

"I still say that my Charmander is better against plant-types than your Dratini, Sara," Danny Morrison told the girl who had joined up with him and Jace Dillon without their permission.

"Oh right," Sara Wade replied with a scornful laugh, "the only problem is that you incinerate them instead of knocking them out. That is why I caught me an Oddish and you only have a pile of ash."

Danny looked away with a deep, resentful scowl. If there was one thing that he hated more than being wrong, it was being wrong and that… that girl being right. "Jace, what do you think?" he asked, appealing to his best friend.

The taller boy with his ginger hair in a ponytail laughed. "Don't get me involved, man," he said. "I'm sticking to bug-types." He patted the Pokéballs containing his Caterpie, Kakuna and one of the newly discovered Eightlegz (a spider-like Pokémon). He was the first Trainer on Indigo to capture one of these, and he was immensely proud of that fact.

Suddenly, Sara stopped and sniffed the air. "Guys," she said quietly, "do you smell something?"

From the bushes, a ragged figure watched the three young Novices with an expression that you could best describe as 'ravenous.' Once… once he had a name. He could recall that clearly enough, even if the actual name escaped him. He remembered that he also once had a purpose, dreams and friends to take his part. All that was gone now, leaving behind only pain and a remorse that he could not understand, but kept him praying for the oblivion of death.

His desire to escape wasn't so great, however, that he was willing to starve. He had been tracking this group of novices for a day now in the hope he could scavenge scraps after their next meal. Now he paused uncertainly as all three stopped and began to sniff the air, wrinkling their nose at whatever they could smell. Uh oh… what if it is… me?

"Yuck!" Sara shouted, jumping back as she spotted the hairy being in the trees. "What is that?"

"He's no kind of Pokémon, that I know," Danny replied.

"As much as I hate to admit it, I think he's human," Jace commented wryly.

"Please… please don't be afraid," the man said, rising up to his impressive full height. "I… I'm hungry," the man announced in a strange way. It was almost as if he wasn't used to talking. "I can't remember the last time I ate a decent meal… Please, can I have any spare food you might have?" It was difficult to see his face through the tangled beard and long hair. He was wearing the much-patched remains of a pair of blue jeans and a green tee shirt. There was also what looked like a tan or orange body warmer with pockets down the front. It was difficult to tell, though, because it was all so badly damaged.

Danny's face twisted with disgust as he looked at the derelict. "Tell it to a charity worker, pal," he snapped. "I'm not risking getting some disease by letting you get closer." Danny picked up a rock and threw it at the ragged figure. "Get out of here! Go on, get out or I'll set my Ghastly on ya!" While Sara looked on in a kind of horror and Jace grinned in malice, Danny threw a few more rocks at the retreating figure, shouting abuse.

The man fled through the woods, the branches tearing at his already almost-destroyed clothing. Strangely, though, his thoughts were somewhere else. Rock… he thought to himself in puzzlement, once that was important to me somehow… but why? It could have been a start, but his hunger and his broken mind conspired against him. Instead of thinking on the puzzle, he instead began to look for a fruit tree or bush to raid.

***

"The damage caused by these villains has provoked fury throughout the City and County of Cerulean," the TV reporter said grimly. "A group of outraged citizens are lobbying the City Council to take action to remove them from the area immediately."

"For God's sake, it is paint," Ash shouted at the TV. "Don't scream and shout, just give some parking violators a few bottles of white spirit to wash it off!"

Ash's mock outrage at the TV report of their redecoration of the Cerulean City Founders' Memorial made Naomi giggle. Ash was sitting on the couch with Misty, looking very comfortable, tucked up beside him. Rocketboy was sitting on a tall wooden chair. Naomi was perched on the back of the easy chair. Buddy the technician and Holly the medic had also made an appearance to watch the TV coverage of Team White November's first operation.

"'Remove them from the area!' They're talking like we're a rat infestation or something," Misty added with a genuine and happy laugh.

"If they respond this way to us painting the sigil on their monument, how will they react when we really start doing damage?" Rocketboy wanted to know.

Ash smiled, but Misty could see that it was a hollow smile. When we really start doing damage. That was something Ash dreaded, but knew he could not avoid. More than ever before he knew what Misty said to him once before was right. The moment they realised that Team Rocket was their only remaining hope, then they had sold their souls and there was no turning back.

"Hopefully we will be nice and discreet and they won't realise," Ash announced.

"Nice and discreet?" Rocketboy blurted.

Misty laughed. "You've worked with Butch and Cassidy too long," she commented. "The best way to achieve objectives is to work from the shadows." She sat up straighter and shot Rocketboy a look that conveyed conviction and certainty. "We could just go on a rampage, but it will make it a lot more difficult to actually achieve anything."

"You always can tell when they are fresh out of Command Class," Rocketboy told a surprised Naomi.

Suddenly, there was a loud 'bleep.' A flashing 'R' icon appeared on the TV screen. "Communication coming in," Naomi said unnecessarily. There was a long pause while four comfortable people engaged in a battle of wills.

After Misty pinched his arm, Ash grunted and got up. "Okay," he said in an annoyed tone. "I'll get it."

***

Ash completed the usual decrypting protocols for a live audio/video transmission and then sat back. To his surprise, the person on the screen wasn't a duty communications officer at Headquarters. It was Giovanni himself. Ash sat up straighter. "Uh, afternoon Boss," he said nervously.

"Hello Ash," Giovanni said neutrally. "I saw your little redecoration of the Founders' Memorial on the TV news. A most… unusual opening operation." Ash tried to read the Boss's expression, but his poker face was perfect. Still, if he were angry he would have said so. Ash briefly thought about defending his decision, but thought better of it. Giovanni could read his report like everyone else. "Now you've got settled in, what is your next move?" Giovanni asked.

"The usual stuff," Ash said evasively. Giovanni quirked an eyebrow and Ash decided that he wanted details. "Mostly what you would expect. We'll start reconnoitring all the local Breeding Centres, drop in on some travelling Novices, just so they know we are here, and keep our ears open for any word of unusual or rare Pokémon in the area."

"No raid on the Pokémon Centre planned yet?" Giovanni wanted to know.

Ash licked his lips uncertainly. Well, he had made the decision and he wasn't going to apologise for it. If Giovanni wanted to know… "No sir," Ash confirmed. Giovanni raised that expressive eyebrow again. "The Pokémon Centre is something of a holy ground to most Trainers, as you know. If we violate that convention too easily, it will just harden their attitude against Team Rocket and its' operations. I want, as far as possible, to ensure people don't just view us as bad guys. After all, we aren't really."

Giovanni's face was still unreadable and Ash didn't know whether the man approved, disapproved or just didn't care. "Well, it is your theatre of operations," he finally said. "You should proceed as you see fit." Giovanni touched a button out of Ash's view and the image of someone who looked somewhat like Ash, but had a lighter build and brown hair, replaced that of The Boss. "Richard Yeager," Giovanni announced. "He is in your area right now. He has the most incredibly well-trained Charizard."

"Yes sir, I know," Ash said uncertainly. "He calls him 'Zippo,' if I remember correctly."

"Yes, I know you were associates once," Giovanni confirmed. The image on the screen blinked back to Giovanni's face. "That Charizard knows attacks and defences unlike any other," Giovanni continued. "That is why I want you to claim it for Team Rocket."

There was a long silence. Ash felt a massive agony in his chest. He looked down and saw that his hands were shaking. "I'm sorry sir," Ash said gently, his voice toneless, "have you assigned us to… steal that Pokémon from his Trainer?"

"Yes that's right," Giovanni said, his voice suddenly laced with menace. "Do you have a problem with this assignment that I should be aware of, Mr. Ketchum?"

Ash swallowed dryly. "No sir, none at all," he replied.

"Then I await your report of your success," Giovanni said. There was a brief musical bleep and the screen blinked off.

Ash sat back and felt sick to the core. The blood roared in his ears and he couldn't stop his hands from shaking. I always knew this day would come, he thought hopelessly, but I never guessed it would affect a friend. Tears began to run down his cheeks. Ash staggered to his feet and began to pace restlessly around the communications bunker. He had to think of something, think of a way to seem to do his job without actually doing it.

Misty chose that moment to join Ash. "What's up, Ash?" she asked easily. She noticed the torment in Ash's eyes immediately and the way his arms and legs were shaking. "God! What's wrong?"

Ash had to draw in a deep breath before explaining. "We… we've just received our first special assignment, Misty," he said. Misty's face clouded and she waited for Ash to continue. "We've got to steal someone's Pokémon."

Misty sighed and shook her head. "Well, we always knew that we would have to do an up-close-and-personal theft eventually," she said quietly.

"Yes," Ash said quietly. He swallowed convulsively before continuing. "It is the 'who' that hurts, Misty. We've got to kidnap Richie's Charizard, Zippo."

Misty's mouth dropped open and she shook her head in disbelief. Ash saw her mouth just one word: 'No.' He nodded mournfully and helped her to sit down before she fell down. "I… I'm trying to figure a way around this," he explained, "but I'm not getting very far."

"There's got to be a way," Misty insisted. "Jessie and James faked trying to kidnap Raichu while he was still a Pikachu for three years!"

Ash sighed and shook his head. "I talked to Jessie about that," he said. "She had the feeling that Giovanni wanted me to keep Pikachu. Who knows why?" Ash didn't mention that Giovanni once claimed to be his uncle. That first waking moment, four years distant now, had the unreal nature of a dream, and he didn't want to start basing his strategy on such a strange possibility. Ash saw Misty watching him worriedly and snapped back to 'here and now.' "Anyway, I didn't see any room for compromise here, Misty. He actually seemed angry, really angry for the first time I can remember, when I hesitated for a second."

Misty had begun to cry and Ash hugged her and tried to comfort her. It was difficult, as he really wanted to be comforted himself. "Ash," she sobbed, "we… we can't do this."

Ash held on to her. "We'll run, then," he said. "We'll change into some civvies, grab our Pokémon and run to the very ends of the Earth."

Misty looked up into his eyes. "And go where, Ash?" she asked. "Everyone thinks that the 'real' Ash and Misty are dead. We're wanted criminals now, so we can't go anywhere near a town or a city without risking arrest… We can't live as fugitives forever!"

Ash felt a spasm of pain and of hatred for Professor Oak, who more than anyone else did, had made this exile to hell possible. "That old man closed off every door," he muttered. "He made sure that we would have no one to turn to."

"Yes," Misty whispered, "he was so careful…"

FLASHBACK – FOUR YEARS PREVIOUSLY

There were many things Flint Slate expected when the doorbell of the Gym Leader's residence rang first thing that morning, but two young people in the uniform of Team Rocket were not among them. Flint could only stand there and boggle as the two young terrorists grinned up at him nervously. "Mr. Slate, you probably don't remember me," the boy said. "My name is Ash Ketchum."

But I do remember you, lad, Flint thought. Only it is impossible for you to be here… you're dead! Flint took a step back. "Who are you really?" he asked angrily.

"I know it's hard for you to believe, sir," Ash said, "but I'm alive. I've come because we need your help!"

Flint shook his head and looked at the black-haired boy with a Pikachu and the ginger-haired girl with a Togepi. They were the utter spitting images of Ash and Misty, of that there was no doubt.

"Sir, we need your help," Misty said. "We're desperate and we don't have anyone else to turn to!"

Well, never let it be said that a Slate ignored a female in peril. "All right," he said, "you'd better come in. But no funny stuff, I've got my Pokébelt on and I am good enough to handle you!"

Unlikely, Ash thought, and dismissed the thought from his mind.

***

An hour later, Flint and his guests were in the kitchen. The Pewter City Gym Leader was staring at his hands in horror as Ash and Misty completed the story of their betrayal and how they ended up in the hands of Team Rocket. "So we decided that we should try to let someone know we are all right," Ash concluded. "My mother has disappeared, Misty's sisters are too close to Daisy for us to risk it and…" Ash sighed and wiped the eyes with his arm. "And no one else that we thought were our friends are anything of the kind."

"Brock… betrayed you," Flint grated. His mind couldn't get past that horrific accusation. It was on this that the pair's story stood or fell. "Why?"

"I wish I knew," Ash said. That made his story minutely more credible in Flint's eyes. If the boy had an elaborate explanation, that would be suspicious. However, this confusion and helpless pain was the mark of either an amateur con artist or the real article. "He said that he felt we were no friends of his and that we were holding him back... then he beat Misty so badly she nearly died. I would prefer to think it was someone altered to look like him."

Flint nodded thoughtfully. The girl, allegedly Misty Waterflower, had started crying sometime during their tale and was leaning against her friend for support. "I have to think," Flint suddenly announced. "Look, uh, help yourself to more coffee, okay?"

Ash watched him go in worry. Flint was really their last hope. None of the other Gym Leaders were close enough to them to be able to tell whether they were real or fake. Richie, A.J. and the other wandering Trainers were friends, but had no power base. Contacting them would only add them to Professor Oak's 'to kill' list. "Do you think he believes us?" Ash asked quietly.

Misty tried to pull herself together. "I… I hope so," was all she could say.

Flint returned a few minutes later. "We need to talk some more," he said. "Follow me."

Ash and Misty rose and followed the man into the Gym. The Boulder Gym was its' usual ill-lit place with boulders and obstacles placed randomly to make challengers' lives that bit more difficult. Ash's nerves began to tingle as he watched Flint walk up to his fighting platform. The man turned and smiled at them. "You know, you two are pretty convincing," he said. "I normally wouldn't even think of believing a story like that, but you told it well."

Uh oh, Ash thought. This was not going well.

"You must have been desperate, or maybe just ambitious, to try to imitate two such good people for your own ends," Flint announced. "But you must have been demented if you thought you could convince me that my oldest son could do something like that," he added in a hiss. Flint's face hardened. "Unfortunately for you, Professor Oak thought to warn the UN Security Force about the possibility that Team Rocket might imitate his dead students. They passed that warning on to all Gym Leaders."

"Flint, don't you understand that this is what they want you to believe," Ash said desperately. "They would say that whether this were true or false! Give us a chance and we'll do whatever it takes to convince you."

"Save your breath," Flint said quietly. He looked past Ash and Misty at the entrance to the Gym and continued in a formal tone as he turned to leave. "They're all yours gentlemen."

"Freeze!" shouted a voice. Ash and Misty spun to see a group of Peacekeepers, or simply 'PKs' members of the mercenary army controlled by the UN Governing Committee of the Pokémon Islands. Before Ash and Misty could even begin to react, the lead PK fired a Net Caster, launching a heavy steel net that dropped over them and, weighed down by the lead weights at each corner, began to tangle them.

The PKs wandered over, smirking at the ease of their victory. One of them raised his combination sub-machinegun/taser stun gun. To Ash's horror, the soldier didn't curl his finger around the trigger of the taser, but the trigger of the sub-machinegun! "Standing orders," the man said quietly, grinning sadistically. "You two are going to be killed 'resisting arrest.'"

Ash grabbed Misty by the arm. Misty nodded and turned to Togepi. "Togepi, Telekinetic."

"Togi-priii!" the little egg-like Pokémon replied, waving his arms in time to a silent rhythm. The net rose off of the two young Rockets and dropped out of sight.

"Now, Kinetic Wave!" Misty added. Togepi generated a wall of force that flashed out and sent the PKs reeling back.

Ash turned to see Flint leap back onto the platform. "Hang on, fellas!" the Gym Leader shouted. He threw two Pokéballs. "Onyx, Golbat, I choose you!" Flint's two largest Pokémon materialised in between their Trainer and the fast-developing melee. "Golbat, use Leech to drain their Pokémon and Onyx, bind them!"

"Oh heck," Ash replied as Flint's rock snake and energy-stealing bat advanced on them. Rock types were very resistant to electricity, but earth-types like Golbat… "Pikachu, Scale!" Ash instructed. Pikachu ran forward and scaled Onyx's rocky hide, the massive animal almost tying itself in a knot as it tried to track the speedy little electric type.

"What the… Golbat, pull that rat off of Onyx," Flint ordered.

Ash risked a quick look at Misty. Bullets and taser pulses flashed off of Togepi's Psychic Shield. As Ash watched, Misty released her Team Rocket-issued Starmi.

Confident that his partner had her end of the fight under control, Ash turned back to Flint. "Pikachu, Thunder-shock on Golbat!" he ordered.

"Pika-chu-ka, Pika-pi," [Coming up, Ash,] Pikachu chattered. From his place on Onyx's back Pikachu released a powerful electrostatic discharge, which flared around Golbat as he swooped into the attack. The bat-like creature was stunned and dropped to the floor with a loud groan.

"Now, Thunder Pound!" This was an attack that Ash and his little friend had worked out between them. Pikachu leapt from his place on Onyx's back and dropped towards Golbat, simultaneously building up a powerful electrical charge. When he struck Golbat, it was with the combined force of a Pound attack and a Thunder-shock. The massive explosion of energy knocked Golbat out.

Flint froze when he saw that, though Ash didn't know why. He was too busy dealing with Onyx, who was still under orders to bind Misty and him. "Great job Pikachu. Now, return. Charmander, I choose you!"

Ash released his TR-issued Pokémon and used a series of quick fire attacks to weaken Onyx before finishing him off with a Body Slam. Still, Flint did not react, preferring to stare at Ash in horror and amazement. As he looked back, Ash would say that the Gym Leader looked like his whole world had suddenly come to an end.

In the other direction, Misty had used a combination of Togepi's Terror attack and Starmi's Water Gun attack to drive the PKs back to the Gym entrance. "How are you doing, Misty?" Ash asked.

Misty drew in a deep breath. She shot a tormented look at Flint before turning back to her friend. "I… I'll be okay Ash. Let's just get out of here, okay?"

Ash nodded. He recalled Charmander, and released his Abra, the first Pokémon he had captured in this new beginning. "Okay Pikachu, a Stun Shock for the 'dog soldiers,'" Ash commanded. The electricity sparked around the PKs who screamed and tumbled to the floor nervelessly. It would be several seconds before they could move again. "And now Abra, Teleport."

With that, Ash and Misty fled the Boulder Gym and lost their last hope that they could reclaim their former lives. And all Flint could do was stare at the place where they stood, and weep helplessly.

END FLASHBACK

Ash shivered as he remembered that day. He looked at his distraught lover and stroked her hair in an attempt to comfort her. "If we won't steal Zippo, they we have to run. We don't have any other options, Misty," he warned.

Misty swallowed. "I know," she whispered. The image was clear enough in her mind. A thousand names, a thousand faces, never making friends or putting down roots; To live in fear of arrest or assassination for every day for the rest of her life. Nevertheless, she would be free, and she would have Ash. If she could have him, she could endure anything. However, she knew she wasn't the only one involved. "But… but what about the others?"

Ash grimaced. He knew the answer as well as she did. "The Boss would consider them negligent for not realising we were about to go renegade," he said in a toneless voice. "They would, at best, be demoted. But they could just as easily be disciplined, maybe even placed in detention for the rest of their lives. Worse…" Ash didn't have to continue. The ultimate sanction for incompetence was dismissal from the Team, and no one left Team Rocket, so 'dismissal' was the code word for 'execution.'

"We can't do it," Misty gasped through her sobs. "We can't put four other people's lives on the line."

Ash agreed, but the alternative was almost too horrible to contemplate. "Then we don't have any choice," he grated through his pain. "We have got to face Richie, and steal Zippo."

Misty began to cry again. "Oh, how did this happen? When did we take that wrong turning?" She asked through her tears. She buried her head into Ash's shoulder and her tears began to soak through his tunic. He held on and rocked her, hushing her gently. "We're lost Ash," she said, her voice desolate. "We've got nothing left. Nowhere to run, no alternatives left and no one to turn to. Nothing can save us now."

Then the tears began to flow from both of them. Choices that seemed right at the time, choices they now recognised that they had no alternative but to make had left them trapped. They had no way out, no way back. Only a bleak, dark future awaited them.

Chapter 2 – Richie

Rocketboy looked closely at his Team Leaders and felt a sick worry in his stomach.

There was something wrong with Ash today. He was pale and looked like he hadn't slept well the previous night. He had not eaten any breakfast except to grab a bottle of beer from the fridge and stride out of the mess room with an angry scowl. What disturbed him even more, however, was Misty's state. Her face, though well made-up, was clearly marked with tears. Her eyes were bloodshot a bright red and she seemed to have shrunk in on herself since yesterday's opening triumph.

Rocketboy shot a look at Naomi, who looked very worried. What the hell is happening? he thought desperately.

"Okay," Ash said in a hoarse tone. He coughed violently and took a moment to try to gather himself before continuing. He hadn't slept at all last night, in between Misty's continual nightmares and his own bouts of sickness. He was far from optimum condition. "Okay, we have our first special assignment," he said gently. He had to keep professional for the others' sake. If he and Misty screwed up, Giovanni would hold their support team just as responsible.

Ash handed the two Black Rockets each a glossy picture of Richie, smiling and happy at the moment he won his first Divisional Championship. "This is Richie Yeager," Ash said neutrally. "He is a Champions League Trainer. According to our information he, and at least one companion, are travelling through our theatre of operations. Our orders are to acquire his Charizard for Team Rocket's own use."

Ash used all of his self-control to keep himself from shaking. Misty was hugging herself hard and trying to keep calm by checking and re-checking her six Pokéballs. "Now I want you to be careful," Ash said. "Mr. Yeager is a very dangerous and very skilled Trainer. He has beaten the best Team Rocket has to offer before."

Ash drew in a deep breath. He felt like a pile of shit a mile deep, but he had no other real choice. The only thing he and Misty had left was their oaths and their determination to keep as many innocents safe as they could. "I do know, however, that he has several weaknesses," Ash added. "One of his companions is a young woman called Marina Jjones. I know for a certainty that the two are emotionally involved, so he will certainly take extra risks to protect her. Additionally, I have noticed that he tends to use ranged attacks in bouts where that isn't appropriate. So, my plan is to threaten Ms. Jjones and then launch a close attack with earth- and rock-types. When he is subdued, we'll find the goods and take it. Any questions?" Ash almost physically jerked when he heard his own words. The easy tone in which he was describing assault, theft and the moral equivalent of kidnapping and enslavement causing him a pain inside deeper than anything else he had ever experienced. Somehow, he held back a groan of pain.

"Uh, Boss?"

"Yes, Naomi?"

"Uh, how do you know his strengths and weaknesses so well?" the young Black Rocket asked. "I mean, it isn't the sort of thing intelligence briefings usually mention."

Ash swallowed hard. "Let's just say I have personal knowledge of the target," he growled. Then he left the room, fast.

"What is wrong with him?" Rocketboy gasped.

"When they were children," Misty suddenly announced, her usually cheery voice quiet and icy cold, "they were the best of friends." Misty stood and moved to follow Ash. She paused and looked back at the two back-up agents again. "This is what he has sworn to do for Team Rocket, and he means to keep to his oath, no matter how much it hurts," she continued, her quiet voice filling the room. "Remember that. It is a trial we all have to face, sooner or later."

Rocketboy and Naomi looked at each other in horror and surprise as the other White Rocket left the room, almost dragging herself along the floor.

Misty found Ash in one of the toilets, kneeling over the bowl. "How are you doing Ash?" she asked and kicked herself mentally for asking the dumbest question in human history.

"I feel like the worst human being alive," Ash replied, wiping the vomit from his mouth. "I'll make it, but I don't hold out much hope for my soul."

"Then we have to make sure we don't lose that most important part of ourselves," Misty insisted. "We've got to ensure we never cause more suffering than is absolutely necessary. We've got to protect the innocent whenever we can, and we've got to make sure that we never, ever start to enjoy it when we have to do things like this."

Ash nodded. "It is going to be a hard life, Misty," he said. "I'm sorry I got you into this."

"I made my own choice, Ash," she replied with a weak smile. "We both know we haven't had a choice since the moment Brock betrayed us."

Ash stood up and half-heartedly tried to tidy up his uniform. "We've got an assignment to do," he said unnecessarily. "Somehow we are going to do our best and not compromise what few principles we can still claim without hypocrisy." Misty sighed, tears threatening her eyes again. "And God have mercy on us," Ash added, "because I don't think anyone else will."

***

About half an hour later, two Trainers were walking through the forest about five miles inland of the coast. In the lead was Richie Yeager, a Champion's League Trainer and widely regarded as the next best Trainer on Earth next to the new Master, Gary Oak, and the late Ash Ketchum. Walking next to him, arm-in-arm with her head resting on his shoulder was a woman with long black hair and haunting blue-grey eyes, Marina Jjones, a water-type specialist from the far distant Johto Forest region.

"You're right, Richie," she sighed after a moment. "The Viridian Forest is beautiful at this time of year. It reminds me of home."

"Then I'm glad," Richie said quietly. "Did I ever thank you for coming with me?"

"Every night and in the most wonderful way possible," Marina replied with a laugh. She leaned over to place a kiss on Richie's cheek.

Standing in a tree, Ash scowled at that act of affection and only felt worse. Then and there he swore that not one drop of blood would be spilt today if he could avoid it. It was the only redemption left to him. He looked at Misty, in the next branch over, and nodded to her. Stand by…

"Yep, it's good to get away from the rat-race once in a while," Richie added with a gentle sigh. "No press, no battles, no trouble…"

Now that was a cue if Ash had ever heard one. Here goes… and God forgive me… God forgive me… "Did you say 'trouble?'" Ash shouted.

"Well prepare to make it double!" Misty chimed in.

The two young people jumped from the trees and landed agilely in front of a startled Richie and Marina. "To protect the world from devastation," Misty announced.

"To unite all peoples of our nation," Ash continued.

"To expound the joys of truth and love,"

"To extend our reach to the stars above,"

"Misty,"

"Ash,"

"Team Rocket, blasting off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender, or prepare to fight!"

Raichu jumped off of his own tree branch and landed in between his friends. "Raichu! Rai-ai-rai!" [Raichu, that's right!]

Richie almost jumped out of his skin. Instead he grabbed a Pokéball and waited for the Rockets to make the first move. He had heard of these two, of course. Although he couldn't understand why Team Rocket would go to the trouble of altering two of its' agents to resemble Ash and Misty, he had to admit they had done a great job.

The man was exactly as Richie imagined Ash would grow up. Tall, powerful and with the firm gaze of a man born to lead. The false 'Misty,' too, was just as he imagined the girl from Cerulean City would grow up. She was a vision of beauty with long ginger hair and emerald green eyes. There was only one thing wrong: Ash and Misty would never wear that uniform. There was something in their eyes too… a harshness or pain.

I won't start a fight… I won't start a fight… Ash was telling himself over and over again. "Hi Richie," he said quietly. "It's been a long time."

"We've never met, creep," Richie spat back. "And pretending to be my two dead friends isn't helping you."

"Do you really believe that?" Misty asked, a desperate tone entering her voice. She held out her arms in supplication. "Richie, stop thinking how they want you to think and look at us." She shook her head and moved slightly closer to Ash, fearing a battle was inevitable.

"It's us, Richie," Ash said. He drew in a deep breath before continuing. "With a lot more pain and many regrets. For instance, I'm sorry that I won't get to sit beside you at the Master Trainers' table as we hoped."

There was a long, stricken pause. "How… how did you know he told me that?" Richie asked in horror.

Marina clutched Richie's arm desperately. "Richie," she whispered, "just look at their eyes… It's them."

Richie swallowed. If the eyes were the windows of the soul, then he did know these two. "If you are Ash Ketchum," he said, "tell me what you called Team Rocket when they attacked us during the 2061 Indigo Challenge Cup."

Ash laughed. "I have never told Jessie and James this, because I know that they would never let me live that one down," he remarked. "I called them 'Team Loser.'"

Richie began to shake. "You and I were the only ones there," Richie said, tears starting in his eyes. "Ash… how did this happen?"

"It is a long, ugly story," Ash replied. "And it doesn't matter in the end. In many ways you were right. The Ash and Misty you knew are dead." Ash brushed his Team Rocket uniform nervously. "We've had to adapt to a world that is filled with a lot more bad things than I ever thought possible. Which is why I'm here now."

Now that sounded like bad news. Richie braced himself and tried to be ready for anything. Marina tensed too. "What do you mean?" Richie asked, trying to keep his tone of voice neutral.

"Richie…" Ash sighed and shook his head. "I'm afraid that Zippo's strength and skill has come to the attention of my superiors. I am under orders to bring him to them. Please hand him over." Ash stepped forward and held out his hand to receive a Pokéball.

"Forget it!" Richie shouted, backing off. "I won't hand over one of my friends to Team Rocket. Ash, if there is anything of my friend left in you, you won't do this."

"Richie we don't have any other choice," Misty snapped. "Do you think we like being thieves? Terrorists? We have spent the last four years compromising every one of our principles while trying to keep true to ourselves and to the organisation that was keeping us alive in a world filled with enemies. Right now, we are trying to protect people who are our responsibility, people who will be put in danger if we don't do as we are told."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Richie asked acidically.

"That doesn't matter," Ash announced, his voice desolate and hopeless. "All that matters is this. I don't want to fight you, Richie. I don't want to hurt you or your friends. Please give Zippo to me, now. I personally guarantee his safety and well being and I swear that if it is in my power I will see him returned safely to you."

Richie sneered and pulled out a Pokéball. "I don't know what you two have been through over the last four years," he commented, "but it has clearly screwed up your minds. Team Rocket's promises aren't worth the breath it takes to make them. Now get out of here or I'll drive you off."

"I'm sorry, Richie," Ash announced, genuine grief and shame twisting his features. "Raichu, Stun Shock attack."

"Sparky, I choose you!" Richie released his own Raichu. "Thunder Shield!"

"Go Staryu!"

"Togetic, Psy Beam!"

The entire area suddenly turned into a free-fire zone as electric, water and psychic attacks flashed back and forth. A century-old tree was struck by a one of Togetic's Psy Blasts and fell to the earth with a crunch. Ash was blown backwards by a Water Gun attack from Marina's Staryu. Raichu ran over to Ash and threw a Thunder Shield over his friend as he recovered from the attack.

Misty kind of snapped when Ash went down. She recalled Togetic and unleashed her Gyarados. "Madcoil, Dragon Rage attack!" she shouted.

"Misty, no!" Ash shouted as he staggered to his feet. "Pull him back, now!" Dragon Rage was notoriously difficult to control. There was too great a risk of injuries. "Raichu, stay close," he ordered, pulling out a Pokéball. "Rose-Roar, I choose you!"

Rose-Roar, Ash's Ivysaur materialised. In a move Ash had rehearsed a dozen times, but never expected to use against a friend, she seized Sparky in her vine whips, flipped him upside down and banged his head against the ground several times. Then she tossed the semi-conscious electric type into a tree.

"Sparky!" Richie shouted. "You bastard!" Richie recalled his fallen friend and unleashed his Rhydon.

"Misty, use Madcoil on Rhydon," Ash ordered. He pointed at Marina and her Staryu. "Rose-Roar, Solar Beam!" The concentrated blast of solar energy slammed into Staryu, blowing the water-type back into its' Trainer's arms and sending the two of them tumbling helplessly across the ground.

"MARINA!" Richie screamed. Ash winced. He knew exactly how he would feel if Misty were hit like that. More than ever before, he realised how much he had… fallen… in the last four years. His one-time friend ran across to grab his fallen lover. "You scum!" he hissed tearfully. "Well you wanted him, now you'll get him! Go Zippo! Fire Storm attack!"

Ash was ready. He gestured to the right, ordering Raichu to scale the trees and hide in the canopy to Richie's right. Simultaneously, he recalled Rose-Roar and deployed his Wartortle.

Zippo emerged with a bellow of defiance and prepared to launch the most powerful attack known to the fire-type. "Wartortle," Ash said, "Seltzer!" That was an attack Ash first taught his first Squirtle, now long gone. As Zippo opened his mouth to attack, Wartortle fired a Hydro Pump attack down his throat. Zippo hiccuped and blew out a cloud of steam, his fires temporarily dampened. He was so shocked by the sudden pre-emptive strike that he didn't see the follow-up. Wartortle tumbled through the air and slammed his hard shell into the dragon's head, knocking him out.

"Zippo… NO!" Richie shouted.

"Raichu, Stun Shock," Ash ordered. The electric charge flashed across Richie and Marina's bodies, making them writhe in pain before blessed unconsciousness claimed them. Simultaneously, Madcoil threw Richie's unconscious Rhydon to the ground next to his Trainer. A long silence fell over the battlefield.

"Hey… I think… have we just won?" Misty asked.

"No…" Ash replied helplessly. "We've lost, Misty." He sagged into himself and began to cry. "I've become everything I hate."

"We had no choice, Ash," Misty said gently. She touched his shoulder and jumped back in fear when she saw what was in her lover's eyes.

"Then we are going to start making choices, Misty," Ash promised. "I'm done with dancing to Giovanni's tune. From now on, we play the game by our rules."

Richie was slowly regaining consciousness. He watched in horror as Ash pulled out a Master-type Pokéball and captured Zippo. The look on Ash's face… well there was nothing there. The guy was crying, but he could see no emotion at all. "My friend really is dead," Richie croaked, drawing Ash's attention. "Both of you are. The Ash and Misty I knew would never have done this!"

"Yeah, well I half agree with you," Ash grated. "I'm really sorry, Richie. My promise stands, I'll bring him back to you if I can." He turned to leave.

"You hypocrite!" Richie shouted. "How can you live with yourself…?" Suddenly Ash was on him. He pulled the other Trainer off of the ground by the lapels of his coat.

"You self-righteous idiot, don't you dare presume to judge me," Ash snapped. "Do you have any idea the hell we have experienced?" Richie cowered away; he was sure Ash was going to kill him. "Brock, Gary and Daisy did this to us, Richie," Ash hissed. "They conspired to steal away our lives and, when that didn't work out, decided to leave us for dead. They brainwashed all of our other Pokémon and, through Professor Oak, made sure that if we showed our faces in any League facility, we would be dead. They managed to have us declared dead and turned almost every friend we've ever had against us. So if we've had to compromise, it is only because the so-called 'good guys' aren't as pure and clean as you seem to think."

Ash dropped Richie and stepped back, his shoulders slumped. "In this world, there is no black or white, good or evil, Richie," Ash said gently, "only shades of grey. I've adapted to that truth. I suggest that you do the same." Ash sucked in a deep breath and turned to Misty, who was watching him with deep concern. "Let's get out of here," he ordered.

***

"Well done, Ash," Giovanni said with a broad smile. "A successful acquisition on your first try! I must admit I had my concerns whether you were ready for this so soon, but I am glad to say that you put my concerns at rest."

Ash tried to smile and tried to feel good at Giovanni's praise, but instead he felt filthy all over. He had spent maybe ten minutes today outside of the shower. He had almost washed the top layer of skin off his body. "Thank you, sir," he managed in a hollow voice.

Ash looked over to where Buddy was setting up the teleportation equipment. The preparations were ready, so he put the Master Ball in the transmission apparatus. He nodded at Ash. "Transmitting now, sir," the technician said formally. Ash nodded back.

"One stolen Charizard teleporting over to Headquarters as we speak," Ash told Giovanni, allowing the bitterness into his voice. "Wear it in health."

"Are you alright, Ash?" Giovanni asked in a genuinely concerned tone.

"Yes, of course I am," Ash said in a sarcastic tone. "After all, I've only just assaulted two friends, kidnapped one of their Pokémon and finally destroyed any illusion I had that I might still be a good person. Wouldn't you feel alright?"

"Ash," Giovanni said gently. "I know this is hard for you, and I do appreciate how having to do this must make you feel. All I can say is that this is necessary. We have to…"

"Use every weapon in our armoury to fight this war," Ash finished. "Yes I know, sir. Now if you excuse me, I've got a few more lives to ruin today. Seashell Base out." Ash cut the connection and jumped to his feet.

Almost immediately, the communications console began to beep again. A shocked Buddy checked the smaller status screen to see the source of the message. "Um, Headquarters are trying to raise us again, sir," he said gently.

"Let them leave a message in our communications buffer," Ash said, boiling mad. He strode out of the communications room and up the stairs to the living area. Buddy watched him go and tried to fight down the terror he felt at seeing such a lot of nothing in Ash's eyes.

***

Ash joined Misty, who was sitting on the top of the stone bluffs hiding the entrance to the hanger cavern. "If you are planning to jump, I am going to have to insist on joining you," Ash said bleakly.

Misty somehow managed to laugh. "No, I'm not suicidal yet," she said. "I'm not sure if that is a good sign or a bad sign." Ash sat down next to her and sagged in exhaustion. She hugged him. "My poor Ash," she said gently. "You always were the idealistic one. I guess my sisters' behaviour made me a bit cynical. It is easier to survive when you expect the worst of the world."

"Survival is nothing if you can't have what matters, Misty," Ash said. "I'm telling you here and now that this is the last time we do this for Giovanni. I don't care what the consequences are; I am through rationalising actions like this. I meant what I said in the forest: we are going to start making our own choices up if there are no others available."

"And the risk?" Misty asked.

"Any risk is worth it if we do the right thing," Ash said. "When we first joined Team Rocket it was out of gratitude for their saving us. We kept on as Jessie and James' back-ups for four years because everyone thought we were dead and we didn't think we had any choice but to serve the organisation and do it well. Now the price of that is to compromise everything we ever held sacred and ruin innocent lives at every turn." Ash sighed and buried his face against Misty's breast. "We were fooling ourselves, Misty," he groaned, "We can't live like this." Ash straightened up and continued in a tone of utter certainty. "From now on we follow our agenda and keep to our standards. And I don't care about the risk anymore."

"I would face anything so long as I could be with you," Misty told Ash with utter sincerity. Ash looked up with a broad smile and kissed her. They made love there, that night, under the stars to seal their promise that, from now on, they would no longer by the loyal little Rockets. Survival was no longer enough. They were going to live again.

Chapter 3 – Penance and Redemption

"So this device can sample a Pokémon's DNA even if that Pokémon is in its' ball?" Ash said thoughtfully, examining the device Holly had shown him.

"That's right, sir," Holly said. Buddy had told her what had happened during the Team Leader's conversation with The Boss. It made her nervous. "It is a standard diagnostic tool that all Pokémon Medics carry."

Ash nodded with a smile. "I want to have one of these issued to every member of the team," Ash told her. "And I will need some kind of container, a pouch of some sort that we could use to carry multiple sample slides safely."

"Sir," Holly said, "can I ask why?" Holly had survived for some time. She wasn't about to get disciplined because this madman was going renegade.

"You can ask," Ash said with a laugh. Holly didn't laugh, and the look of uncertainty she shot him made Ash roll his eyes. "Look, we can either steal a rare Pokémon, causing its' trainer who knows what inconvenience and pain, or we can sample its' DNA. You know how good the organisation is at cloning."

"Well… it is hardly standard procedure," Holly said helplessly. "It is easier to simply re-train a captured Pokémon."

"Easier?" Ash asked. "Perhaps, but it isn't right. I think the time has come for Team Rocket to start caring about such issues." Holly nodded uncertainly. "Look, Holly," Ash said with a sight, running his hand through his black hair, "if it will make you feel better, I will make this official. This is a direct order. Issue DNA samplers to all team members in time for this morning's patrol or I will have you court-martialled for insubordination, okay?"

There was something about Ash's friendly smile that made Holly's stomach do a back flip. She felt thoroughly intimidated. "I understand… sir," she said in a frightened tone of voice.

***

"And frankly, Ms. Waterflower, I did not appreciate your team leader cutting me off mid-sentence," Giovanni growled from the communications screen. He was angry, and more than a little scared that he was losing control of his prize agents. The languid posture Misty was adopting in her chair and the sultry smile she was directing in his direction didn't make him feel any better.

"Of course you didn't sir," Misty said brightly. "I do have to apologise for that. Ash wasn't feeling very well at the time."

"I guessed," Giovanni snapped. "Where is he anyway?"

"Oh, he is talking with our medic about changes to our field equipment," Misty said. "He told me to handle any routine communications while he was dealing with that."

Giovanni clearly caught the implication that he was considered 'routine.' The insult and insubordination was all-too clear. Anger gave strength to his next orders. "Well if that young primadonna of yours has recovered from his sulk, I expect you to start standard patrols immediately," he commanded in his most menacing tone.

"Oh, we're just preparing for our first patrol now," Misty said with a broad smile.

"You are?" Giovanni said in some surprise. He shook his head. Strategic and tactical abilities off of the top of the scale, he thought, recalling the psychological evaluation of Ash Ketchum when he first joined Team Rocket. Why do I even try to stay a step ahead of him? He turned his attention back to Misty, whose smile was bordering on patronising. "Well, just remember that I want results. I don't know what moral issues you and Ash might have and I don't care. You are Team Rocket and I expect you to remember that and your oaths to serve this organisation."

"Sir," Misty said in a tone of reproach, "you can be sure that everything we will do will be in the best interests of the organisation." Whether or not it fits in with your idea of what the organisation needs doesn't really matter, she added silently.

Giovanni knew there was something up here, but he couldn't tell what it was. He felt angry and frustrated. It was like dealing with Joe and Miyamoto all over again. They were always, always making up the rules as they went along. Now it looked like Ash and Misty were going down the same path. He sighed. "Just remember that I will not tolerate insubordination or deliberate failure," Giovanni snapped. "I await your first patrol report. Headquarters out."

"Seashell Base out," Misty confirmed. When the screen blinked off she added: "Asshole." Buddy stared at her in shock as she rose and moved to leave the communications room. She noticed the stare. "Buddy," she said, laying on the irony with a shovel, "if you take a photograph, it will last longer."

***

In a far distant part of the Viridian Forest, Sara Wade, Danny Morrision and Jace Dillon were continuing on their Journey, more than a little proud of the fact that they had won their first Gym Badge at the Cascade Gym. "I don't think Gym Leader Daisy is all that good," Sara stated.

"She was good enough to nearly wipe out your Oddish," Danny sneered.

"Yeah, but I still won the Badge, didn't I?" Sara said, slightly defensive.

"I wish you two would stop arguing," was all Jace would say. His newly evolved Beedrill buzzed in agreement, making him laugh.

Unknown to the three Novices they were being followed, from downwind this time, by a certain ragged figure. Hunger had overcome fear, and the girl seemed likely to offer some kind of food if she were not around her harsher male colleagues.

Suddenly a moment of violence lashed forward over the party. "To protect the world from devastation," a woman's voice called out.

"To unite all peoples of our nation," added a man's voice

"To expound the joys of truth and love,"

"To extend our reach to the stars above,"

"Misty,"

"Ash,"

"Team Rocket, blasting off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender, or prepare to fight!"

"Raichu! Rai-ai-rai!"

"What the hell?" Jace blurted in horror.

"It's Team Rocket!" Sara screamed, her knees buckling in terror.

"Go Charmander!" Danny ordered. He released his loyal fire-type. To his distress, the two white-uniformed terrorists didn't even bat an eyelid.

"Raichu, Thunder-shock," ordered the man, the obvious leader. His electric squirrel unleashed a powerful shock that staggered Charmander. Then, at an order that was little more than a gesture, he charged forward and slapped his electrically charged tail across the fire-type's snout, sending it reeling back.

"Guys," Danny shouted desperately, "I could use some help here!"

"Pin Missile Attack, Beedrill," Jace ordered.

"Psy Shield," the woman countered. A Togetic fluttered down from the sky and dropped a blue-white energy field across the two attackers. The pin missiles struck the shield and dropped uselessly to the ground. Charmander went down as the Raichu fired another Thunder-shock attack. Simultaneously, at a command of 'Kinetic Punch,' the Togetic generated an invisible club that slapped Beedrill from the air.

Danny suddenly knew fear. He was no coward, but these two were good. Jace swapped Beedrill for Caterpie, but Danny didn't hold out much hope for the small bug-type. "Let's get out of here!" he shouted.

"Oh no you don't," the man shouted. Do it, Misty!"

"Togetic, Tripwire!"

"Togi-togi-tii-gee!" Togetic reached out psychically and pulled the two boys' feet from under them, sent Danny and Jace sprawling. Sara was still standing where she was at the outset, frozen with fear at the speed of the dreaded terrorists' attack.

There was a long pause. "Have you two got that out of your systems?" the one who called himself 'Ash' asked severely. "You might want to find out what someone wants before you attack them in the future." Ash walked over to Sara and waved a hand in front of her eyes in some concern. "Are you okay, kid?" he asked.

"Please… please don't… don't hurt me, mister…" the girl sobbed, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I won't," Ash replied, his expression softening briefly. "I promise." Ash strode over to look at the two male novices, who had put up a fairly abysmal performance all told. Ash smiled slightly. Was I much better when I first started out? He asked himself. It is possible that they misinterpreted his smile. They cowered back from him.

"You… you won't get away with this," Danny said uncertainly.

"Get away with what?" Ash asked. "Defending myself when you and your buddy set your Pokémon on us for no obvious reason?"

"You're thieves!" Jace almost shouted. "Everyone knows about Team Rocket."

Ash smiled at the ginger-haired boy. "Everyone knows about the way Team Rocket was," Ash corrected. "Let's just say that the game plan is changing."

The woman, Misty, laughed. She walked over to Sara and touched her gently. The girl almost screamed at the touch. "Don't be frightened," Misty said in her quiet, caring voice. "We won't hurt you. Just sit down and we'll get this over with as quickly as possible." Sara swallowed. She stepped back and, finally, sat down.

"Now, let's see what you three were so keen to protect, hmm?" Ash said. He extended a foot and flipped Danny over onto his face. He knelt and examined his Pokéballs, taking a moment to read the ID tags. "Hmm… a Pikachu and a Squirtle. Fairly routine."

Misty patted Sara on the shoulder before checking her Pokéballs. "An Oddish, a Spearow and a Dratini… hey, I like them!"

"P… please don't take Hydra away, miss," Sara begged.

"I won't," Misty said with her most reassuring smile.

Ash raised a brow at Jace, who sighed and handed over his one still-filled Pokéball. "An Eightlegz?" Ash said. "I don't think one of these has ever been captured before!"

Jace looked up at Ash bitterly. "And now you're going to take him away," he predicted.

"I said that the game plan has changed," Ash reminded the boy. He pulled a cylindrical device about the size of a pocket torch off of his belt and connected it to the recall lens of the Pokéball. The device made a 'tweedle-tweedle' noise for a few seconds and then 'bleeped' cheerfully. Ash threw the Pokéball back to Jace and pulled a glass slide from the device, which he then carefully inserted into a pouch that he had attached to his belt. "Young man, I think you should congratulate your Eightlegz," Ash said. "He is about to get a whole band of identical brothers."

"What?" Danny asked in amazement and more than a little disappointment. "Is that it?"

"You were expecting something else?" Misty asked with a mocking smile.

"Uh, yeah," Danny said. "Don't you guys steal Pokémon?"

"Sometimes," Ash admitted. "But only special kinds of Pokémon. Is there any real reason why we should want to steal yours?" He grinned at the shaking heads. "Isn't it nice when people co-operate Misty?"

"Isn't it indeed, Ash," Misty agreed.

Ash… Misty… the derelict thought. He knew those names… knew those faces… knew that incredibly efficient fighting style. He rose from his crouch, his face suddenly twisting with horror. Ash and Misty… yes… they were… they were my friends… but they were not from Team Rocket when I knew them. We fought Team Rocket together… travelled together… I am… I am…

"Now what do we have here?" a voice asked from behind him. He whirled and saw two young people in the black uniform of Team Rocket fighters. The man in the lead grinned in a very threatening way. "Are you a spy or just in the wrong place at the wrong time?" he asked.

"Get… get away from me!" the derelict howled. He tried to charge past the man, but got less than a foot before he got hold of him and punched him hard in the gut. The derelict swung out blindly, connecting with nothing. The man lifted him up and delivered a hard right cross to the jaw. The universe turned to sparkles and derelict went down.

"Crazy idiot," Rocketboy said with a scowl.

"We should take him to Ash," Naomi said. She continued in a slightly supercilious tone. "He might decide this bit of gutter slime is important."

Rocketboy shrugged. Ash's behaviour was getting weirder and weirder, but it was a refreshing change. He still had nightmares about how Butch and Cassidy treated Novices they captured. Anything, no matter how unorthodox, was better than what they would have done to those three kids by now.

Rocketboy and Naomi dragged the derelict out of the bush. "Hey, Boss, look what we caught," Rocketboy said jovially. "What do you think? Human or Mankey?"

The derelict looked up at Ash, his face twisted with pain and terror. "Ash…" he whispered. He turned and looked at Misty. "Misty… who… who am I?"

Ash's face went white. He knew that voice. He knew it very well. "Brock," he said. Misty physically jumped and cried out in surprise.

The ragged man's narrow eyes opened wide when he heard that name. Brock… that is my name… my name is Brock Slate and… and oceans of pain and self-loathing dropped down on his from the sky, making him suddenly scream in horror.

Ash was a blur. His initial charge tore Brock from the two Black Rockets' grasp and sent both of them tumbling across the ground. Somehow Ash kept hold of the older man's throat through the entire tumble. He came out on top, kneeling on his chest. He drew his Berretta P93R automatic pistol and pressed it to Brock's forehead. "You piece of shit," he shouted. "Everything is your fault. All of it! Every pain, every compromise, every sin we have been forced to commit in the last four years is because of you!" Ash leaned forward to scream in the man's face. "Well we are going to end it here and now. You are going to pay for what you did to us! Do you understand? Do you?"

Brock had started crying. He lay there, not offering the slightest bit of resistance. "Please…" he wept. "Please…"

"Please what?" Ash shouted. "Please don't kill you? Please have mercy? The same mercy you had on us, stealing our friends, leaving us for dead and giving us no choice but to join Team Rocket? That was no mercy, Brock, and you won't get any now!"

"Please…" Brock continued as if he hadn't heard Ash, "please… kill me. Stop the pain, Ash… for the love of God kill me now…"

***

Brock was sitting in the centre of the small clearing, Ash and Misty standing over him. To one side, a nervous Rocketboy and Naomi were standing guard over the three captured Novices. Ash had calmed down a lot, but they could still see the anger and pain in his and Misty's eyes as they looked down at the man whose incomprehensible betrayal had brought them to this place and this time. Ash and Misty had survived, but only by stripping themselves of all but the tiniest core of their honour and principles. Oh, the reasons were right, and the choices excusable, but they were not choices they would normally have even considered. However, It seemed that the cost to Brock had been greater still.

"Well Brock," Ash suddenly announced, "it looks like the world has passed you by."

Brock had yet to meet their eyes. He did not know why they were hesitating to kill him. Certainly it wasn't a blessing in his view. "Can we dispense with the melodramatics, Ash?" he asked bitterly. "I know you hate me and that I have ruined your lives. Now, just do me favour and get this over with, okay?"

"It isn't that easy," Misty said quietly. "You see, we have some questions first."

"Questions?" Brock asked with a hollow laugh. "Don't flatter yourselves, you two. You are Team Rocket now, thanks to me. Just do your duty."

"We might wear the uniform," Ash said, "but our duty is our decision." He knelt in front of Brock and tried to meet the man's eyes. "Right now, our duty is to find out what happened four long years ago. Why did you do it?"

"Does it matter?" Brock asked. Going over those memories would be almost too painful for words.

"I think it does, Brock," Ash said. "You were once my closest and truest friend next to Misty here. I want to know what changed that."

"Gary did," Brock replied. "Oh, not in the way you think, Ash." Brock looked in upon himself. "It was when we were in Seafoam City on the way to Viridian for the League," he explained. "I walked into a bar to get a fruit juice, and who should be there but Gary and Daisy…?"

FLASHBACK – FOUR YEARS PREVIOUSLY

"Brock, man, how are you doin'?" Gary called, waving him over. Brock rolled his eyes when he saw Ash's greatest rival. Gary was everything Ash was, with a massive ego and an absolute lack of ethics added on for good measure. This made him probably one of the most insufferable people he had ever known.

"Gary," he replied, nodding politely. He joined the young Trainer at the bar. "I'm fine."

Suddenly something that smelt of the sweet tang of the sea moved into his perceptions. "Why Gary! Like, aren't you going to introduce us?" Daisy Waterflower, Misty's oldest sister, glided over and adhered herself to Gary's side, tilting her body to stick all her extremities out at a provocative angle. Brock began to sweat and he had difficulty concentrating. Then again, all of the 'Sensational Sisters' had that effect on him, even Misty.

Daisy smiled at Brock, making him blush. "This is Brock, Daisy m'darlin'," Gary said. "You remember him don't you?"

"Oh, yeah!" Daisy said with an expression of revelation. "One of Ash and Misty's friends. Good to see you again, Brock!" Daisy's seductive smile made Brock blush a bright red.

"So, what are you doing in Seafoam, Brock?" Gary asked politely. He waved to the barman and ordered a tall, cooled glass of Seafoam's famed Citrus Punch for the Breeder-in-training.

"Oh, I'm here with Ash and Misty," Brock replied. "We're on the way to Viridian for the Indigo League this year."

"So, I'll be able to face off against Ash-boy at last," Gary said with a cruel smile. "I can't wait."

"And against Misty too," Brock shot in proudly. "She qualified for the League this year."

"Yeah?" Daisy said in some surprise. "Well good for you, baby Sis!"

"It's funny you should mention Ash and Misty," Gary said in a thoughtful tone. "You know, Brock, we've never been close, you and I, but I try to keep all my wheels turning. How long have you been travelling with them now?"

"On and off, maybe three years," Brock replied.

Gary nodded carefully. At that moment the barman slid over Brock's juice. Gary caught it. If the finger with his large signet ring paused over the lip for a moment or so, Brock did not notice at the time. He passed the juice to his guest. "You aren't a League Trainer," Gary commented, "so why do you hang around?"

"Well, I'm training to become a Pokémon Breeder," Brock said, taking a sip of the cooling juice. "Travelling around with Ash is a good way to learn the tricks, and it is never boring!"

"Yeah, that's a Pokémon Journey alright," Gary said with a laugh. Suddenly he became serious. "How much progress have you made towards your goals, Brock?" he asked.

Brock found the question puzzling. "Well, I spent a year apprenticing with Professor Ivy out in the Orange Archipelago," he said. "Of course, I had to leave to rejoin Ash and Misty…"

"That's friendship," Daisy said with a broad smile.

"Yes…" Brock said. He took another sip of his drink. That statement seemed rather hollow, but he couldn't figure out why.

"I don't think so," Gary contradicted firmly. "A friend doesn't drag you around while he pursues his goals. What about your needs, Brock?"

"Well, they are my friends," Brock said lamely. "Ash is fun to be around, so is Misty… even if she can be a little short tempered."

"Still has the mallet huh?" Daisy asked sympathetically. "She uses it on me and the other girls whenever she wants her own way!"

Brock laughed. "She uses it on me and Ash too," he admitted. He took a longer pull of the drink, finishing it. Gary gestured for another.

"Who gets it the most?" Daisy asked.

"Me," he confirmed. "I'm pretty sure she's got a crush on Ash, so it limits the temper tantrums a lot."

"Do they ever seem to appreciate you?" Gary asked. "I seem to remember they've got quite a few choice names for you. 'Pathetic' comes to mind." Gary shook his head. "Do you really think that they care?"

For some reason, Brock couldn't think of a single reason for not answering the question. "I do wonder," he admitted.

Brock took a sip of his second drink and reflected on how friendly Gary and Daisy seemed. "The thing is, Brock," Gary said, "we're worried about you. Ash and Misty seem to be dragging you around for their own benefit and you don't get anything out of the arrangement."

"No…" Brock said in a lame tone. "No… they are my friends…" Jeez but this stuff tastes good. Gary smiled as Brock finished his second glass and called for another.

"Do friends treat you that way?" Daisy wanted to know after Brock had received his third drink. "Hitting you? Laughing at you? Stopping you from attaining your goals just because they want your company?"

Brock tried to think, but his head felt as if it were filled with cotton wool. "I guess… no… not really…" he said quietly.

"But we're your friends, aren't we?" Gary said. "We're treating you well, and worrying about you. Who do you think is your friend?"

"Well, you guys are being nice," Brock admitted. "So what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that, maybe, you should think about who your friends are," Gary said with a broad, cruel smile that made Brock feel warm and safe. "Maybe we should tell you about our problems with Ash and Misty. Perhaps, as you are our friend, you can help us."

END FLASHBACK

"Some kind of poison," was Misty's opinion. "It must have been in Gary's ring. He smeared it on the lip of your glass. Every sip you took would have increased the effect."

"I have to assume so, yes," Brock admitted. "It made everything they said sound so… reasonable," he said. "Within an hour, I would have agreed to pull my arms and legs off 'for my friends.'" He laughed bitterly. "They shot me some cock-and-bull story about you two conspiring against them and me. I bought the whole line and agreed to help them. I was… I was so proud. God help me, I actually believed that I was taking a big step forward in my life."

Brock looked down for a moment. For a few seconds, he had looked like his old self. Now he retreated back inside his shell of pain and self-loathing. "Most of the rest you know," he said. "We ambushed you and left you for dead. I had a difficult time figuring out why when Gary and Daisy had told me that they just wanted you to stop hurting them." Brock smiled bitterly. "They told me that it was probably for the best, that you would only find some ways to be mean to us again. I was so tanked up on their idiot-making poison by that point that I bought that line too. I gladly helped them brainwash your Pokémon and publish lies about your last wishes so that they could steal everything that you had. Then…" Brock stopped and looked at his two… friends. "How did you end up in Team Rocket anyway?" he asked in puzzlement.

Ash shrugged. "Gary, Daisy and Professor Oak arranged it so that we had no other choice, except maybe to go and live in the wilderness," he explained. "Team Rocket rescued us and put us back together. We both realised that the Oaks had ensured we could never live a normal life again. At least in Team Rocket we had some friends and some kind of cause to keep us going in the dark nights." Ash sighed and looked at Misty. "It was a… questionable decision in retrospect," he admitted. "But it really was the only one left."

"It certainly was," Brock agreed. "A cause to keep you going… I wish I had something like that. Anyway, it finally happened shortly after your duplicates… well it must have been you two for real… wrecked Professor Oak's new laboratory. I heard once that repeated exposure to poison allows you to build up an immunity to its' effects. I guess that is what happened to me. I was having a harder and harder time understanding what I was doing. Eventually, I decided to face Gary and Daisy…"

FLASHBACK – FOUR YEARS PREVIOUSLY

"This really isn't a good time, Brock," Gary said, brushing past the big man from Pewter City.

"Well, make the time," Brock snapped. Gary stopped and scowled at him. "The more I think about this, I'm having real doubts about this whole thing."

Gary looked Brock in the eye thoughtfully. "Have you been eating out again?" he asked. "Daisy and I have warned you that you shouldn't eat food without the medical supplements we put in it here at the Gym."

"No I haven't," Brock almost shouted. "I do not like being treated like an idiot child, Gary. Now are you going to talk to me or not?"

Everyone in the atrium of the Cascade Gym had turned to stare at the two men scowling at each other. Gary grimaced and beckoned Brock over. "Jeez, keep your voice down," Gary said. "Okay, if you are busting, meet me in Daisy's office."

A few minutes later, Brock was sitting opposite Daisy while Gary paced around the spacious office, looking very nervous. "I'm worried," Brock announced. "I'm worried about those two Rockets made up to look like Ash and Misty and I sure as hell am having second thoughts about what we did to the originals."

"Brock," Daisy said placatingly, "like, calm down. We're your friends. Don't you trust our judgement?"

"Don't try to soft-soap me, Daisy," Brock sneered. "I'm tired of following your lead like an idiot. I want you two to explain the whole deal to me, bit by bit."

Daisy shot Gary a worried look. The Trainer shrugged worriedly. "There isn't much to explain," Daisy said. "We told you that those two were more trouble than they were worth. Now I admit that I didn't want them to die, but in the long run…"

"In the long run, we murdered them," Brock shouted, leaning forward over the desk. "Over relative League performances and Misty's refusal to do dances at the gym! My God! What were we thinking?"

"That's enough," Gary snapped. Brock turned to look at him. "I don't know what has got into you, Brock," Gary announced, "and I don't care. However, if you will not be a good boy and simply accept what we told you, you will regret it, right?"

Brock stood up and, much to his satisfaction, noted that he still towered over Gary. "Don't try to threaten me, Gary," Brock said quietly.

"Brock, like, sit down and shut up," Daisy snapped. "You will conduct yourself like a civilised man in my office. That goes for you too, Gary."

Gary looked chastened. Brock turned back to face the Gym Leader. Suddenly a green vine wrapped around him and lifted him off of the floor. "What the…?" Brock turned to see the Bayleef that had been Ash's Chikorita. She had ensnared him with her vine whip.

"Well," Gary said, "I guess it was bound to happen eventually." Daisy laughed and walked over to join Gary as he pulled off Brock's Pokébelt. "More for the collection," Gary giggled maliciously.

"What… what are you doing?" Brock asked desperately.

"Tying off a loose end," Gary said.

The door burst open and four Peacekeepers barged in. "Gentlemen, can you remove this intruder?" Daisy asked sweetly.

The four soldiers marched Brock to one of the rear exits of the Gym. "You aren't welcome here, Brock," Gary announced. "Pretty soon, when everyone knows how you have been selling Pokémon stored at this Gym to Team Rocket, you won't be welcome anywhere. And a word to the wise: Don't try to publicise that little disagreement we had with Ash and Misty. You will find that my grandfather's… sponsors… have very little appreciation for the free press." Gary nodded and the PKs threw Brock hard onto the tarmac. Brock clearly saw the man's sneering face as the doors closed.

END FLASHBACK

"Sponsors?" Ash snapped, latching onto one interesting point. "What did he mean, Brock?"

Brock blinked in surprise. "He must mean the powers behind the U.N. Governing Committee," Brock said.

"The power behind the UNGC is the UN Council of Ecology and Bio-diversity, or at least that is what everyone is told as school children," Misty said gently.

"That's a lie," Brock said with a deep scowl. "Gary let it slip once. The UNCEB is a cover organisation for a branch of the Security Council. There is some kind of secret international arrangement behind nearly everything that happens in this region."

"The Security Council?" Ash said in disbelief. If this was right, it changed everything. And every one of those little hints dropped during Team Rocket indoctrination suddenly took on a sinister new meaning that completely altered the moral dimension of the organisation's actions. "What is the connection between the Professor and the Security Council?" Ash asked desperately.

"I don't know," Brock groaned, rubbing his eyes. "I have only heard hints and rumours. All I know is that the UNGC and the League are both connected at the very top and that the Professor is in deep, that he might even be their top man here on the ground."

Ash had to think for a moment; he paced around the clearing. "So what happened to you?" Misty asked.

Brock laughed bitterly. "Essentially, I ended up here," he said. "I was furious and desperate. I tried to report Gary's theft of my Pokémon to the Security Police, only to find there was a warrant out for my arrest. I spent most of the next month dodging Security Police in every city from Cerulean to Pewter. Finally I reached my father, to find you two had beaten me there."

Brock sank down into himself. "I think I must have only missed you two by days. Everything was still in an uproar…"

FLASBACK – FOUR YEARS PREVIOUSLY

Brock approached under the cover of darkness. The last few weeks had taught him caution and a healthy fear of daylight. He had to reach his home Gym and his father. Perhaps, together, they could convince the League of the terrible crimes that were being committed. Perhaps there was some kind of redemption left to him.

Brock had lived very nearly all of his life in Pewter City. He knew it far better than the Peacekeepers. It was child's play for him to gain entrance to the Gym through the ventilation system. Once inside the Gym he went to the entrance of the Gym Leader's residence. His home. Distrusting anything electronic, he knocked at the door.

For a very long five minutes, he fretted that there was no one home. Then he saw the passage light come on. The door open and his father stood there, wiping the sleep from his eyes. "It is two in the morning," Flint said, "this had better be… Brock?"

"Hi Dad," Brock said. "I'm sorry to get you up, but I am in deep trouble."

"That you are," Flint said, his face hard. He made no move to admit his eldest son. "How could you do it, Brock?"

"What?"

"How could you have betrayed Ash and Misty like that?" His father asked, scorn and horror filled his voice. The man began to cry. "Do you have any idea what they have suffered because of you?"

"How… how do you know about that?" Brock stuttered. In retrospect, it was the very worse thing he could have said.

"How do I know, Brock?" he hissed. "Why do you ask? Were you expecting them to be warm and quiet in whatever grave you and your new friends dug for them?"

"I… I…" Brock stuttered. Flint looked close to violence and he backed away from his father as fast as he could. "Dad, it wasn't like that… Gary and Daisy screwed around with my mind! I didn't know what I was doing!"

Flint paused in his denunciation. "What are you saying, Brock?" he asked.

"I think they must have used some kind of drug, Dad," Brock explained. "It made everything they said seem reasonable. I… I couldn't think straight. I'm only just beginning to recover now."

"You know," Flint said in a strangely detached tone, "when I was a teenager, I actually went on a hypnosis course, mostly as a laugh… The things you learn change how you look at everything… But one of the most important things you learn is it is fundamentally impossible to force someone to do something that they don't want to do." Flint fell silent and allowed the implications to settle on Brock. "I'm sorry, Brock, but I really don't think you have anything else to say to me."

"Dad," Brock pleaded, crying now. "Please, Gary and Daisy turned on me when they realised their drug had worn off. I… I've lost everything. You've got to help me!"

"Just like Ash and Misty. I blame myself really," Flint said in a detached tone of voice. "I wasn't there to help you learn the difference between right and wrong. That is my burden, Brock. Yours is to find some way to live with what you have done. Or, if you prefer, you can choose not to live with it. That is your decision to make." Flint stepped back and began to close the door. "Don't come this way again, Brock," he said in a quiet, broken tone.

"Dad… It wasn't my fault… I… you… you can't just throw me onto the streets!"

"You've done worse," Flint said. Then he looked up, and the shame and hatred that shone out of his father's eyes staggered Brock. "And don't call me 'Dad,' young man. I don't know you. I've never known you. I don't have a son called 'Brock' anymore."

"Father, please!"

"Aren't you even interested in how I know what you have done?" Flint asked. He snorted. "No, you are too worried about your own hide. Those 'duplicates' from Team Rocket were here just a few days ago. I didn't believe their story at first. Then, when the Peacekeepers came for them, the boy and his Pikachu used a move that only Ash Ketchum knows. I just wish I had believed them earlier. Whatever they have to do to survive from now on will, at least partly, be my fault. Goodbye, Brock."

Flint closed the door. Brock banged on it, screaming to be let in for almost two hours before Flint called the police and Brock fled, never to come this way again.

END FLASHBACK

"Well I wish I could say I sympathise," Ash said quietly. "But I can't really. As much as I understand that your mind was clouded, I still can't really feel sorry for your suffering."

Brock nodded. "I'm not looking for sympathy," he said. "I know what sins I've committed. You see, Ash, my father was right. A part of me enjoyed betraying you and nearly beating Misty to death. What kind of a person am I to have something like that inside of me?"

"It makes you human," Misty said tonelessly. She was touching Ash's shoulder as he knelt before their onetime friend. "We've all been forced by one thing or another to do what should be anathema to us."

Ash made to rise. "Come on, let's get you back to our base," he said. "A shave and a clean set of clothes might make things a bit easier to think about."

"No," Brock said. "I don't want your charity, Ash. What I want is…"

Ash paused. "What do you want, Brock?" he asked, half dreading what the man might say.

"Kill me," Brock said. "Please." Ash almost physically jerked away from Brock, his face blank with horror and disbelief. "Please," Brock continued. "I've wanted to die ever since that moment I ran from Pewter, but I am too much of a coward to throw myself off of a cliff or hang myself from a tree. Just do it, Ash. Put your gun to my head and pull the trigger." Brock mimed a gun with his fingers and made a 'bang, you're dead' motion.

"Brock, no," Misty whispered.

"Don't ask me for that," Ash begged. "For God's sake, man. No matter what is between us now, we were friends once…"

"Ash, I don't want to live!" Brock almost shouted. As if he were hypnotised, Ash drew his Auto-Nine and pressed it to Brock's forehead. "Please," Brock begged, tears streaming down his face onto his matted beard. "Just… just do it. If you ever held me dear in your heart… if you ever loved me as a friend… then do it…"

Ash's heart broke as he heard the utter desolation in Brock's voice. He thought he had known pain, but it was nothing compared to this. "Brock…" he whispered helplessly. "Please, I can't do this to you…"

Brock actually smiled and reached up with a filthy hand to cover Ash's lips. "Shh, I know," he said gently, and he was a sixteen-year-old again, soothing the nightmares of his two ten-year-old friends. "I know it's hard, Ash, but it is the only just penalty for my actions. I know it is difficult for you to do this. However, seeing you and Misty here has helped me realise the scale of what I have done even more clearly. I must die. It is my only choice I have left. And… I think I have enough courage and strength to help you one last time." Brock reached up and grasped his hand around the Auto-Nine's grip. His thumb came to rest over Ash's trigger finger. Ever so gently, he began to push. "Ash, please," Brock said, his voice very calm, "as a friend, set me free."

Ash was blinded with tears. Somehow he managed to release the safety catch. "Goodbye, Brock," he whispered.

"Goodbye Ash," Brock replied, smiling in a way that would haunt Ash's nightmares for the rest of his life. "I love you, little brother."

Ash's finger closed spasmodically on the Auto-Nine's trigger. The hammer fell, driving a long steel/titanium alloy pin into the percussion cap of the loaded cartridge. A cordite charge detonated driving a 9mm hollow tip bullet forward just over twenty centimetres before it struck the front of a skull. The bullet began to deform, creating a fast-expanding flat plate of metal that tore through the soft grey matter, tearing apart the essence of a lost soul. Finally, the bullet and a large amount of organic material exploded out of the back of the skull through a fist-sized hole, creating a spray of blood, brains and bone shards that splattered to the ground up to three yards away.

The dead thing that once, a long time ago, had been Brock Slate slumped backwards to the ground, the remains of his face showing a strangely peaceful expression. Ash fell sideways to his hands and knees, dropping his gun. He vomited violently and repeatedly. After a long moment, he could look up through his tears at the look of horror and anguish on Misty's face.

Somehow, Misty managed to wipe the tears from her lover's eyes. "He is free now," Misty said gently. "You did the only thing you could that would help him."

Ash coughed violently and looked at the three young Novices who looked utterly horrified at the execution-cum-suicide-cum-euthanasia. "Go!" Ash growled. "Get out, and remember this: Never, ever defy Team Rocket. GO!" They fled into the woods.

"Let's get you out of here," Misty said gently. She would have liked to support Ash, but he supported her just as much, and it was left to Rocketboy and Naomi to guide their Team Leaders back to the waiting Blimp.

Chapter 4 – Sensational Sisters

Naomi had never felt so helpless in all of her thirteen short years of life. Since the death of that drifter out in the forest, Ash, already acting strangely, had descended into a deep depression. He had even started shouting at Misty, who had previously been like the other half of his soul. It was an indication of how deep the Team Leader's trauma was that, for the very first time, Misty had slept in the women's quarters rather than in the room that was technically Ash's private room.

Ash had even started drinking heavily. Finally, she could take no more. She was a loyal member of Team Rocket and liked to consider herself a team player. She wasn't about to let her life get screwed up by her new Team Leader going insane on her.

Taking her life into her hands, she went into the Team Leader's office. "Sir, can I have a word?" she asked.

Ash looked around at the youngest member of his team. He wasn't a pretty sight. He hadn't been sleeping properly for some time now and the alcohol, although it slowed his nerves and thoughts to the point where the pain was dulled, was also delivering the nastiest headaches. "I really don't have the time for this, Naomi," he croaked.

"When… when will you have the time, sir?" Naomi asked. Ash looked at her in shock. "When Misty's heart is broken? When you end up in detention or restricted to a medical ward? Sir, you are coming to pieces, we can all see it!"

"Maybe… it is none of your business!" Ash almost screamed.

Naomi quailed back, but she was committed now. "Sir, with all due respect," she blurted, "you are being a… a selfish pig!"

Ash's jaw dropped open in surprise. Naomi continued apace, sure she would die any moment. "We are all in this together," Naomi said. "That is what you told us when we set out, remember? I don't know what has happened to you, but if you can't trust your team to help you, who can you trust? Sir, you have to open up to one of us or we will all end up suffering!"

Ash held the girl's eye for a long moment. "Do you really want to know?" he asked. Naomi held his gaze. She was frightened, but she was determined to help. "Brock Slate, the man I executed yesterday, was once my closest and dearest friend. We shared everything together and were as close as brothers. One day, for reasons I didn't understand until yesterday, he betrayed Misty and I. We were both nearly killed by him and his two allies-in-treason. Four of Team Rocket's most senior agents saved our lives. Because of gratitude, and in recognition of the fact that many of our kin and our dearest friends had turned out to be enemies, we decided to join Team Rocket in a desperate hope that we could find meaning to our lives again. It is a decision we both regret. It has forced me to the point where I stole from one of my friends and murdered another. So as you see, Ms. Athena, I am really not in the best of moods right now."

"Sir, why are you punishing yourself?" Naomi asked. "You made the only choices you had available to you. You are beating yourself for choosing to try to rebuild your life and choosing to honour your oath to the organisation. You can't blame the organisation for what we have to do. It is painful, yes, but it is necessary! It is like they tell you in indoctrination: this is a war. We do what we have to for the greater good!"

You can always tell a fresh recruit, Ash thought. "'Greater good?' I wonder if there is such a thing," Ash said. "I have a hard time seeing it right now, Naomi."

Naomi sighed and sat down. "Perhaps you are looking too closely," she said. "Stealing and killing, it is wrong. Everyone knows that. But you have to look at the bigger picture, Ash," she continued desperately. "Look at what we are achieving in the way of the organisation's ultimate objectives. 'We are liberators,' that is what they tell us in indoctrination. Instead of bemoaning what you think is wrong, then act to make it right. You have a lot of freedom of action as a Field Team Leader. You can use that to ensure that you can follow your ideals."

Ash was surprised at the girl's incredible passion. Two issues suddenly came foremost in his mind. 'Look at what we are achieving' and 'Follow your ideals.' Could he do that? Before that terrible final confrontation with Brock, it didn't seem so, but now he knew that there was something rotten in the state of Indigo. He also knew that what Giovanni had implied time and time again was true, that they were at war. Indeed, it seemed that they were at war with a conspiracy as global and as powerful as Team Rocket itself.

As to the rest… Well, he had already started to change how he performed field operations to reduce the suffering caused. There were other ideas he had pending the acquisition of the appropriate equipment. Maybe he was concentrating too fiercely on the pain that came from hard choices. Perhaps…

Ash looked up, blushing slightly as he remembered he had a visitor, who had been waiting patiently for him to finish brainstorming. "Naomi, I want to thank you," Ash said after a long pause. "I understand now that I have let myself get too wrapped up on the wrong things that lie in the past. Now, like you say, I want to act make them right in the future." Ash got up from behind his desk and then, much to Naomi's surprise and embarrassment, he kissed her on the cheek. "You are wise for your years," he said.

Ash walked out of his office and winced at the sunlight shining down the hall. Raichu walked up nervously and peered up into his Trainer's face. "Rai-chu-ai-ai-rai-ra-rai, Rai-ai?" [Are you better now, Ash?] he asked.

Ash laughed and tickled him. "I'm on the way pal," he said. Ash walked down the corridor to the sleeping quarters. "Misty?" he called. The woman stuck her head out of a doorway. "I'm going to try to get some sleep. You're in charge until I can drag myself out of the sack." Misty blinked at his sudden cheer; it was welcome, even if it was a little forced. Ash walked over to her and kissed her gently. "And I'm sorry. I hope that you will forgive me."

Ash walked off. Misty touched her lips in surprise. "Is he okay?" Holly asked from where she was checking some records. Misty didn't answer. She walked off and followed Ash to his room. She locked the door behind her and proved to her lover that she did forgive him.

***

"Like, are you sure this is the right area?" Lily Waterflower asked her older sister, Violet. "This just looks like a small cabin near some sea cliffs to me!"

"Those guys at the 'Big R' Ranch seemed pretty sure," Violet replied. Her scheme was both foolhardy and incredibly courageous. It was well known that the 'Big R' Ranch was involved with Team Rocket somehow, even though the Security Police could never prove it. Taking their lives into their hands, they had gone into the ranch on a pretext, then used Lily's Drowzee and Violet's Psyduck to cloud the workers' minds. From their unguarded comments, they learnt that the new Team Rocket cell operating in the area was based somewhere along the Seashell Coast.

The coast was rocky and generally inhospitable. A few areas had sandy beaches and had large and high-priced beach house developments. That was obviously an area Team Rocket would avoid. Then there were the areas where the Coast Road ran along the cliff-tops. Finally, after more than a little detective work and luck, they had found an old beach house near some cliffs. The more Violet looked at the cliffs through her binoculars, the more it looked artificial somehow.

More than that, however, some instinct told her that the answers to the questions that tormented her awaited her in that small cabin down there.

"We've found them," Violet suddenly said in a tone of certainty. "Now we have to figure out how to get them to lead us to Misty without them killing us first." Both women looked at each other nervously. They were NOT looking forward to this.

***

"Hey, what's that?" Rocketboy asked, leaning forward to look at the monitor in Command & Control.

"What's what?" Buddy asked, turning around too late to see anything.

Rocketboy thought for a moment. "I saw a flash of light out on the western bluffs," he said. "Looked like metal or glass." He moved to another console and his eyebrows shot up to his fringe. "Motion detectors and heat sensors are going wild, we've got intruders."

"What… what do we do?" Buddy asked nervously. He thought of the hidden defensive weaponry of the small base. He also thought of the violence the four field agents were trained to meet out to their enemies.

Rocketboy declined to answer the Technician's question directly. "Keep an eye on those traces," he instructed. "Keep me updated to their position." Rocketboy jumped to his feet and ran up the stairs into the 'cabin.' "Naomi!" he shouted. "Call Ash and Misty, we've got visitors! I'm going to reel 'em in!"

He didn't wait for her confirmation before he was out onto the porch. "Blaze, I choose you!" he shouted, releasing his Charizard.

***

Ash and Misty didn't get much rest after all. They still lay on the bed, naked save a fine film of sweat, their bodies utterly relaxed. "I'm glad you've come out of your shell," Misty said mischievously. Her tone became solemn again. "Have you decided what you are going to do?"

"Yes," Ash said. "For the first time, I finally understand a little of what is happening. This was never just about us, Misty. I can see that now. It makes no sense that Professor Oak would risk so much, use such influence and such methods just to help his Grandson become a Master. Something else is happening, and I realise now that Team Rocket may be the only way we can fight it."

"What are you saying?" Misty asked.

"I'm saying," Ash paused and sighed, "that we are going to have to stick with Team Rocket. We have to grin and bear it when Giovanni orders us to steal." Misty was about to interrupt but Ash covered her lips with his fingers. "No random pillage, I promise you that, Misty. But we need the time to find out what that conspiracy Brock heard of actually is. Team Rocket has the resources to fight it. In a way, I think that is the reason it exists. Like it or not, I think we may have dropped by accident onto the good guys' side of the wall."

Misty shook her head. "But Ash… the things we will have to do…"

"Must be endured," Ash finished gently but firmly. "It won't be easy. We will use whatever methods we can to reduce the hurting to a minimum, but sometimes… sometimes you just have no choice but to cut away some healthy flesh to remove the cancer."

"You are certain," Misty said.

Ash nodded. "Like I said before, from now on we make our own choices, choose our own methods and write our own orders. We will do our duties and still remain true to ourselves." He leaned forward and kissed her again, sealing his oath. Rockets they may be, but that did not mean they had to abandon their ideals.

Suddenly there was a loud banging on the door. "Sir!" called a young, excited voice. Naomi. "Sir, we've detected intruders within the perimeter! Rocketboy has gone out to get them!"

***

The attack, when it came, was almost too fast for the Waterflower sisters to follow. There was a roar of wind and a fire-red object shot overhead at incredible speed. Its' slipstream threw both women forward. Before they could recover enough to even think of using one of their Pokémon to defend themselves, a massive grey-black flying reptile soared towards them from nowhere.

"Jurassic," called a voice, "Sleep." The Aerodactyl's eyes flared a bright green colour and the universe went away.

Rocketboy walked away from where Blaze sat patiently. He recalled Jurassic and looked at the two unconscious (and very beautiful, he noted) women. He suddenly realised that in his perfectly executed surprise attack, he had forgotten one critical element. "Hey, how am I supposed to get these two back to the base?" he asked himself. He could be wrong, but he had the strangest impression that Blaze was laughing at him.

***

"And next time, Rocketboy, hesitate in your death-or-glory charge long enough to consider taking them conscious," hissed a male voice. Violet winced.

"Yes sir…" another male voice replied, sounding a bit chagrined. Violet grimaced. Be quiet! she wailed silently. Like, I've got a headache from hell!

"You know," a kind female voice said from much closer by, "I do think they are recovering."

"About time," the first voice said. "Misty, are you sure about this?"

"It's them all right, Ash," said a blessedly familiar female voice.

There was a long pause before the first female voice spoke again. "Violet," she said. "Violet, can you open your eyes for me please, dear?" Violet winced in anticipation of the pain, but still managed to open her eyes. She blinked fiercely for a few moments to clear her vision and saw a pleasant blond-haired woman with intelligent and caring blue eyes looking down at her. She raised a hand. "How many fingers am I holding up, Violet?"

"Like… just the four, you've got your thumb tucked in." Violet said in confusion.

"She's all right, Ash," the woman said to someone out of Violet's view. "No concussion, no lasting neurological injury from that Sleep attack."

Two new faces moved into Violet's view. First was a man, tall and strong with thoughtful chocolate brown eyes. There were the signs of recent stress, but whatever it was, the humour and essential kindness in his eyes was undimmed.

The second was a woman. Tall, athletic and beautiful; her face was framed with long ginger-red hair. Caring and worried emerald green eyes looked down at her. The high cheekbones, the wide but full lips… "Misty… Misty, please let it be you," Violet said quietly.

"It's me, Sis," Misty said, smiling gently. "I won't say I'm not glad to see you, but you and Lily picked a hell of a time to visit."

Violet swallowed. "If it is you," she said, "tell me what you used to call me when you were little."

Misty blushed and Ash, for it had to be him, looked at her in confusion. "I… oh God," Misty stuttered. "I never could handle sibilants when I was a kid. I called you 'Big Didter Two.'"

Ash grinned maliciously and Misty blushed even more deeply. "No one outside our family knows that," Violet said. She threw herself off of the examination table and into her baby sister's arms. Both women began to cry. "It is you!" Violet sobbed. "Oh thank God, you're alive… you're alive… you're alive."

***

Violet and Lily soon found themselves installed in the lounge of the Team Rocket base. They looked supremely uncomfortable around the six people in paramilitary uniform. "So, ladies," Ash said in a cautious fashion, "to what do we owe this visit? Considering how difficult it must have been to even find us…"

Lily snapped out of her trance. She had been rather busy watching Ash move. She hadn't seen him for four years, after all, and he had metamorphosed from 'cute' to 'hunk.' It's a pity Misty has got there first, she thought irreverently. "We… like, we wanted to know if you were still alive," Lily said at last.

Violet took up the story. In a surprisingly short time, she revealed to the Rockets how Daisy fell deeper and deeper into darkness after her marriage to Gary Oak. She also explained how, after the attack on the League Headquarters Building, she had become convinced that Misty was still alive. "Like, I couldn't let it rest," she concluded. "If you were still alive, then it meant everything Daisy and Gary were saying was a lie. I had to find out… and now I know."

"Yeah," Ash said gently. "Now you know. The question is, what are you going to do about it?"

Rocketboy tensed. Ash couldn't just let these two civilians leave, now that they knew the location of the base. Even thinking about challenging a Team Leader went against the grain, but he wasn't going to let Ash's weird ideas screw up his life.

"Um…" Violet said uncertainly. "We wanted to know if you understood why Daisy and Gary lied."

Ash looked at Misty. "Perhaps you should explain," he said. Somehow, Ash thought, it might be easier coming from her.

By the end of Misty's story, her two sisters were in tears. The story of betrayal, cruelty and evil was enough to move any heart. Misty left out the moral torments she and Ash were increasingly facing. If all went well, Ash's new determination would make that a thing of the past. "Like… this explains so much…" Lily wailed. "Daisy gave me your Starmi… but he wasn't your Starmi. He didn't remember you, and he didn't know any of the attacks or defences you taught him!"

"But why?" Violet sobbed. "I don't understand why."

Ash sighed. "I had hoped you would be able to tell us," Ash said gently. It was painful, but the two women had a need to know. "Yesterday… we ran into Brock Slate for the first time in years. He was able to tell us a little about what's being going on at the Cascade Gym."

"Yeah, he was creepy for those few months he was there," Violet said. "For a while it was 'Yes Daisy,' and 'Yes Gary.' Then he started getting confused and one day he was gone! They said he had been stealing, but I know he wasn't."

"Brock was as much of a victim as us," Ash explained. "Gary and Daisy drugged him and forced him to do things that tore him apart inside. He… well let's just say that he's free of that now. He'll never be hurt again." Violet guessed what that meant. She even got a tiny hint of 'how' in the tear that trickled down Ash's face and the way Misty hugged him briefly and whispered a word of comfort. After a moment, Ash could continue. "Brock told us that Gary and Daisy are mixed up in something big, something very big that goes beyond what they did to us. It also involves Professor Oak in Pallet Town, and maybe even the League Commission itself. I was hoping that you could shed some extra light on that."

"Like, we don't know anything," Violet said with a helpless shrug. "Daisy keeps us at arm's length. Gary doesn't even like us being in the Gym."

"Yeah," Lily added, "we don't have anything to do with the management of the Gym any more."

Ash hummed thoughtfully. It was a pity they didn't know anything, but it wasn't a surprise really.

"Hey! Like, I forgot!" Lily suddenly shouted, making everyone else jump. "There is one thing that is kind of odd. Just after Gary moved in, about two months before your 'deaths,' the League installed a new computer system in the Gym. The funny thing is though, we don't have access to most of the system. Gary and Daisy never access any of that stuff when we're around, and the main server room is under constant guard."

Ash sat up straight, hope suddenly blooming in his heart. "And there are all those UNGC memos that Gary receives," Violet added. "Classified stuff! Like, it gets delivered by Peacekeeper couriers by hand." Ash's expression took on an excitement that effected everyone in the room.

"A new computer system with classified files," he repeated. "And classified memos too… all when Gary started living there…" Ash grinned. "You know, I think that most of our answers are right there, waiting to be found. Ladies, you've already been very brave. Now I need your help. Can you get us past security and into the Gym? If we can get hold of that stuff, it might really let us do some damage!"

Violet and Lily naturally hesitated at the thought of helping Ash plan a terrorist operation. Rocketboy saved them the trouble of replying. "Sir, I protest!" he said. "They are civilians, not even part of the organisation! You can't be thinking of involving them in a special operation."

"Yes I can," Ash replied.

"Sir, at least clear this with Headquarters," Rocketboy pleaded.

Ash shook his head. "I'd normally agree," Ash said, "but Headquarters takes forever to decide on this kind of stuff. We should act as soon as possible."

"Sir, this could be a trap," Naomi added urgently. "What reason do you have to trust them?"

Misty was about to explode at the girl, but Ash forestalled her with a touch to her hand. "What about it, ladies?" he asked, turning to Lily and Violet. "Why should we trust you?"

Lily looked at Violet and nudged her. "Like, we brought you a gift," Violet said gently. "Only one of your Pokémon seemed to be anything like normal. He said crazy stuff about a fight and people trying to steal away who he was. It didn't make sense before now." Violet reached behind her and pulled out a red-and-white Pokéball. Seeing this, Rocketboy and Naomi tensed and reached for Pokéballs of their own. "He was the one who first told me you were alive, Misty," Violet said. "He was sure from the first moment. I never told Daisy, I suppose I kind of guessed that she and Gary would try to destroy him. It's only right that I return him now."

Violet activated the ball. A white flash of light resolved itself into a familiar shape that threw itself towards Misty with an excited cry of "Psy-yi-yi!"

Misty gasped with amazement and joy as she stooped to hug Psyduck. "Oh Psyduck, it would have to be you who would survive Rehab!" She looked up at her sisters with a hint of tears in her eyes. "Thank you for not letting them destroy him."

"I couldn't have," Violet said. "He is your friend." She smiled gently. "He will confirm everything I've said."

***

"Sir, I still don't like this," Rocketboy protested as Ash handed him an M-21A1 assault rifle from the armoury. "This flies in the face of all our procedures. First you defy The Boss, then you start finding alternatives to normal Pokémon acquisition and now you are going to launch an assault on a major Gym without clearance! You could get us all disciplined or even dismissed!"

Ash looked at the veteran Black Rocket levelly. "Rocketboy, we've been over this," Ash said. "We've got to get that information. It is of the highest importance to the organisation; you know this. If I'm right, we are about to blow the top off a conspiracy that affects every Trainer in the region. Can you imagine what we could do with that sort of information?" Rocketboy pursed his lips and shook his head. Ash grinned and thumped his arm. "My old mom always said: 'It is better to ask forgiveness than seek permission.'"

"Did she?" Misty asked from where she was checking the breach on her G11 assault rifle.

"No," Ash admitted as he pulled on his white kevlar vest with its' Team Rocket sigil, "but she would have if she had been in this situation."

"Sir, I must formally protest about this course of action," Rocketboy said through his teeth.

Ash looked at the other man again. "Well that is your prerogative," Ash replied. "Let's put it this way, Rocketboy. If you feel that strongly that Misty and I are overstepping the bounds, then you should arrest us immediately and hand us over to Internal Affairs for discipline. If you don't feel strongly enough to do that, then I suggest you are just nervous."

Rocketboy scowled but knew he was cornered. He submitted with as much ill grace as he could muster. "I am going to name my first ulcer after you, Ash," he muttered darkly.

At that moment, something happened that didn't do anything for his stomach's acid balance. Naomi led Lily and Violet into the armoury area. Both women's hair was tied back into a neat braid and they were wearing a black uniform with kevlar body armour. Rocketboy groaned when he saw the Team Rocket sigil over the two ladies' hearts.

"Like, I feel weird," Lily said.

"I think you look human at last," Ash replied. "Have either of you fired a gun before?" The ladies swallowed and shook their heads almost in unison. Ash smiled reassuringly and handed them both a snub-nosed .38" police revolver. "I don't expect you to have to use these," he said as he handed them a box of .38" bullets each. "It is just a precaution."

"Like, I'm not sure I know how," Violet admitted.

"It's simple," Misty said with a little too much cheer. "No safety on the piece. If someone gets in your way, point the gun at the person and keep pulling the trigger until they aren't in the way anymore."

Violet went pale and Lily swallowed as she regarded the gun like a venomous snake.

***

"This is the central junction box?" Naomi wanted to know. She, Violet and Misty were crouched by an electronics box high up in the Cascade Gym's atrium. They had gained entrance through the building's glass dome.

"Yeah," Violet whispered. "All the security cameras and motion detector alarms are routed through here. I've listened to Gary complain when the system fritzes out."

"I can't believe there isn't a redundant system," Naomi complained quietly.

"Remember this is a civilian Gym," Misty reminded the girl. "It was never designed to be secure. According to Lily and Violet, all the extra security around the Servers is controlled from a separate room."

As Misty kept watch, Naomi began to rewire the cameras and motion detectors so that the security guards would see only what they wanted to see: an empty, secure Gym.

***

"Like, hi there!" The Peacekeeper security watch commander looked up from his coffee with some surprise. He smiled at Mrs. Oak's pretty youngest sister.

"Miss Lily," he said. "It's good to see you! What are you doing up tonight?"

"Oh, I'm just not sleeping well," Lily said. She walked, no, slinked, into the special security room for the computer system, using every feminine wile she knew to keep the guard hypnotised by her movements. She paused in the centre of the room in front of the control desk and looked around casually, confirming that all the standard cameras were showing the false image and also confirming that there was only one guard on the Server Room door.

"You know, I could get in a lot of trouble letting you in here," the guard commander said. "Mr. Oak doesn't like having you and your sister around."

"No he doesn't," Lily allowed. Suddenly she had her .38" revolver out of its' holster and levelled at the guard's face. "Like, guess what? He was right," she hissed. "Reach for the sky, doggie soldier!"

The guard was utterly amazed by this and could only open and close his mouth like a landed Magicarp. Then he saw the stylised red 'R' in a red ring over Lily's heart and his brain went into drive. He lunged towards the alarm button, but something seized him and hoisted him into the air. Rose-Roar slammed the guard's head against the wall a few times and dropped him to the ground.

"That was dumb," Ash said. "Wait for me, next time!"

"Like, this is all the thanks I get for helping you guys out?" Lily asked with a pout.

Ash rolled his eyes as he recalled his Ivysaur. Ash quickly used the controls to shut down every alarm and automatic detector in and around the server room. Then he raised his silenced M-21A1 assault rifle and emptied a full clip of .22" explosive bullets into the console, making it impossible to turn them on again.

***

The Peacekeeper guard outside of the Server Room in the Cascade Gym was bored and tired. It was three in the morning, and he was starting to jump at shadows. He had already almost dozed off once before. It was stupid keeping a guy up all night. Yeah, dumb. No one was about to attack; maybe… maybe he should try to get some sleep…

Ash caught the man before he could hurt himself by tumbling to the ground. "Nice job, Kadabra," he congratulated his psi-type quietly. "Over to you, Rocketboy!"

Rocketboy slid over and began to work on the lock. It was a simple enough electronic lock, using either a magnetic strip reader or a numerical keypad. Normally, they would break the combination, but with security neutralised, there was no need for subtlety. Rocketboy exposed a small plastic card to the air and it began to smoke, acids becoming active. He put it in the strip reader and the electronics shorted out. The door swung open and the server room was breached and ready for the plucking.

"I want full and decrypted copies of files, remember," Ash instructed his team. As soon as he was sure they were handling matters properly, he touched Misty on the arm. She nodded and Ash turned to the oldest of the Waterflower sisters. "Violet, keep guard," he instructed. "Misty and I… uh… have something to do. We'll be back before the others are finished."

Violet felt incredibly excited. She pulled out her pistol and posed like the lady cops on her favourite TV shows. No one would get past her.

"Hey, where are they going?" Lily asked.

Violet watched Ash and Misty heading towards the Gym Leader's residence and felt the fear snake slither around her guts. "Like, I don't want to know," she replied.

***

Gary and Daisy were in their bed together, sleeping peacefully. Suddenly, Gary awoke, sensing something was wrong. Daisy was lying beside him, her arm flung across his chest. She might be smaller than he was, but she inevitably took up more space in their king-sized bed. Gary looked around and saw shadows in the bedroom. Moving shadows. He tried to get up, but suddenly realised that he couldn't. He was tied town with some kind of webbing that covered the entire bed.

Something huge and spider-like dropped down onto the bed from the roof with a hiss of "Traaap-doooom!" The spider-like Pokémon's sudden arrival awoke Daisy, who screamed. No one responded, of course. According to the chief of security, next morning, Gary and Daisy were both still sound asleep according to his board.

Gary tried to struggle, but he only became more tangled up in the webbing. Daisy screamed again and began to whimper pitifully. "Shh, Daisy," a feminine voice murmured, "you'll wake the neighbours."

The moving shadows walked into the moonlight and Gary saw something from his worst nightmares. Never again would he believe that he had done the job. Never again would he believe his grandpa was crazy. Never again would he believe that Team Rocket had a pair of duplicates of Ash and Misty. "Ash?" he whispered. "Ash? Is it you?"

"You were expecting perhaps the ghost of Jacob Marley?" Ash asked dryly.

Misty, looking stunning in her heavily modified uniform, slinked over to Daisy and sat beside her. "Hi, big Sis," she said mockingly.

"M… Misty? You're alive?" Daisy whimpered.

"Yep," Misty said with a sneer, "you couldn't even get a murder done right! Whatever would Mom and Dad say?"

"Why are you here?" Gary asked, his face pale.

"Oh, the usual stuff," Ash said. "You know, revenge, rape, murder. The sort of stuff you two seem to enjoy when it happens to other people."

"Please… please don't hurt me Misty…" Daisy pleaded with her sister. "It was all Gary's idea, him and his grandpa!"

"Oh we know," Ash said gently. "I'm just here to deliver a message, Gary. Make sure you pass it on to your dear granddaddy. I know everything. And when I am finished, you and your grandpa are going to wish that I killed you instead." Ash smiled in a way that made Gary grimace and try to sink into his mattress. "You have only achieved one thing with your barbarity, Mr. Oak. You've made enemies who are going to bring you down."

Gary tried to find some bravado to wave around. "You have no idea what you are dealing with, Ash," he hissed. "If you are smart, you and your bitch are going to slide back underneath your Team Rocket stone and try to forget you ever came out."

"Oh!" Ash said, wincing, "wrong thing to say, Gary!" Ash was suddenly standing in between them in the centre of the bed. His Auto-Nine was right at Gary's face, making the man whimper and cower back. "Eenie," Ash said. He pointed the gun at Daisy, "Meenie," Ash said. Daisy shrieked, on the edge of hysteria and began to cry, shouting that she would do anything, anything so long as Ash would promise not to kill her. Ash turned the gun back to Gary, "Mynee…" There was a long pause before Ash, who allowed his eyes to grow wide and his face to take on a psychotic sheen, said "Mo!" The roar of the Auto-Nine on burst fire mode was very loud in the bedroom. Three bullets punched through the mattress between Daisy and Gary. Daisy screamed again, more loudly than ever and kept on screaming hysterically. Gary felt wetness spreading out from between his legs and realised that he had wet himself.

Ash stood back with a contemptuous laugh. "So much for the 'great Pokémon Master' and his virtuous wife," Ash sneered. "Give me Team Rocket any day. We might be thieves and terrorists, but at least we don't try to dress it up in hero's clothing."

Misty was still leaning over her big sister, her long, cruel survival knife waving over the older woman's face. "Ash," she complained in a childish whine, "you promised me I could have her nose!" Somehow, Misty was keeping herself from laughing. This act was so out-of-character, yet Daisy and Gary seemed to be buying it hook, line and sinker.

"Now, now, Misty," Ash said. "What have I told you about mutilating people without giving them a chance to talk first?" Misty pouted. "Oh, what was your restricted access password again, Daisy?" Ash asked in a reasonable tone of voice.

"Water Queen!" Daisy screamed. "W-A-T-E-R, underscore, Q-U-E-E-N!"

"Shut up, you stupid bitch!" Gary shouted.

Ash jumped forward and punched him in the face. "I'll warn you only once more, Gary. Don't cuss at a lady," Ash said reprovingly. "Admittedly, your whore isn't much of a lady, but she'll have to do right now."

Daisy moaned as Ash smiled at her carnivorously. Misty had no doubt whatsoever that Daisy would do anything at all to prevent Ash from hurting her. She shook her head in contempt at how her eldest sister had so totally sunk into the depths. "I think we have everything we need," she remarked.

Ash pulled himself out of his anger and nodded. "You're right, Misty," he said. "Besides, I've got to get the stink of petty betrayal and cowardice out of my lungs. Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Oak, for your co-operation. Team Rocket is in your debt." He and Misty turned to leave.

"Ash! What about this damn webbing?" Gary shouted.

"Oh, Trapdoom's Web Net attack usually disintegrates after an hour or so," Ash said. "Just sit tight. You two might even get to enjoy it!" Ash waggled his eyebrows Groucho-style. He and Misty left. The only sound in the room was now Gary's quick, shallow and panicked breaths, and Daisy's sobs.

***

"Like, you haven't hurt anyone, have you Ash?" Violet asked with a scowl.

"Me? Hurt anyone?" he asked with a fair imitation of wounded innocence. He was leafing through an interesting series of classified memoranda that he had taken from a safe in Daisy's office.

"Hardly, Violet," Misty said with a roll of her eyes. "We just let Gary and Daisy know we were keeping our eye on them, that's all."

"Hey, Boss!" Naomi called. The girl walked out and presented Ash with a bag of filled memory units. "It was a big job, but we've got it decrypted and we've got it all."

"That's good," Ash said with a broad smile. "Come on, people, let's get out of here before the rent-a-cops wake up."

Chapter 5 – Shades of Grey

"It was them, Grandpa!" Gary insisted. His eyes were wide and exited. "They broke into the Gym and stole virtually everything regarding the Project! It was incredible, they have changed so completely!"

"Shut up!" Professor Oak snapped. "Shut up you impossible idiot! I know it was them; you are probably the only person on earth who believed that ridiculous story about Team Rocket creating duplicates of Ketchum and Waterflower." Oak pulled at his bottom lip nervously. He knew that this day would have come eventually, but he had never expected the Chosen One's first move to be so ambitious and so decisive. "Gary, I want you and Daisy out of that Gym by the end of today," Oak announced. "I want you both in Pallet so we can decide how we are going to respond to this."

"How we are going to respond?" Gary asked. "No, no. Forget it Grandpa, there is no 'we.' I've never been part of your conspiracy, no matter how you've tried to pull me in."

Oak grunted contemptuously. "Don't kid yourself, Gary," Oak said. "You've been more than willing to be part of the Project when you needed our help and when you wanted to enjoy the fruits of our power. You can't pick and choose when you are part of it at this late date."

"If you think I am going to join in your war and fight against that psychotic…"

"GARY!" Oak snapped. His grandson fell silent and paled in fear. Oak smiled. Looks like you've still got it when it counts, Sammy-boy, he told himself. "Gary, you are in. You are ours body and soul and you have been ever since you solicited our help to deal with Ketchum and Waterflower. You can either fight willingly, or you can go to jail. Your choice." Before Gary could reply, Oak cut the videophone connection and scowled. He had no doubt that Gary would obey. For all his bravado, his strutting around and playing the Pokémon Master, the boy was a coward and Ash's determination had exposed that to the core.

Oak sat back from his desk and covered his eyes. He had to prepare a counter move before the Chosen One could make use of his plunder. He had to think… he had to think…

***

Ash was sitting in the communications bunker, trying to understand what he was reading in the classified UNGC memos his team had stolen from the Cascade Gym. Despite the pleasant climate-controlled warmth of the underground office, he felt a distinct chill.

A lot of what he read was in a kind of code. Holly told him that there were references to Pokémon biochemistry and several common procedures used in rejuvenating injured Pokémon. There were also continual references to secret UN Security Council resolutions dating back to the discovery of the Kanto Islands back in 1999 and repeated mention of something referred to as simply the 'Project.'

"Sir," Buddy announced, "I have some interesting data here from the historical files."

Ash stood up and walked over to the technician. He had been going through the stolen data, especially looking in the 'History' directories for mention of previous major operations. Ash had hoped that he could tie in the 'Project' with events in the real world. It might give him some clue as to what was going on. "What have you got, Buddy,"

"It is a saved version of an email memorandum from a user named 'Pallet1,' sir," Buddy explained.

Ash nodded. "That is probably Professor Samuel Oak. What is it about, Buddy?"

"The date is 3^rd October 2052, sir," Buddy continued. "It makes a direct reference to all the weird weather phenomenon that took place in the late summer of that year. Listen to this: 'After the defeat of our agent, The Collector, there can be no doubt whatsoever that the young man referred to in my memorandum SSO/Secret/51/0224 is, indeed the prophesied "Chosen One." I cannot emphasise to the committee enough the potential threat that this individual poses to the Project and its' ultimate goals. If this one were to attain to his full powers as a Trainer, then he may destroy everything this Project hopes to achieve and unleash upon the world the chaos it was instituted to prevent.'" Buddy shook his head in amazement. "It sound like something from a comic book! What could this be about?"

"Well, the 3^rd October 2052 was the day after I freed the three Legendary Birds from Laurence III," Ash said. "He must be 'The Collector.' So! He was working with Oak all along. That would explain why he was so shocked that a Trainer from Pallet Town was opposing him…"

Buddy looked up in some confusion. "Sir, do you know what this means?"

Ash didn't reply. He understood a little too clearly. 'The Chosen One;' That is what Lugia called him. At the time, a 12-year-old Ash Ketchum didn't understand what that meant, and in his innocence he reported the conversation verbatim to his tutor and surrogate father, Professor Oak. "Buddy, run a search string for any more mention of 'The Chosen One' and download any message or data file that comes up to my personal buffer," Ash ordered. He threw the uninformative memoranda aside and strode out of the chamber.

***

In a small forest clearing a short distance from the base, three young women stood together. One was wearing a white uniform with a black armband, and the other two were wearing dark dresses. After a moment, the woman in white knelt and placed a bunch of flowers against the small marker stone over the patch of recently turned earth.

The marker stone had a simple inscription:

Brock Slate; 2042-2069;

Free at last.

This memorial erected by his friends, Ash Ketchum and Misty Waterflower.

"Like… he must have hurt so much," Violet said through her tears. "If only we knew, we could have helped him."

"I think… I think he was beyond any human's help," Misty said gently. She placed her fingers to her lips and placed her kiss on the marker stone. "Rest in peace, old friend," she whispered.

After a long, contemplative moment, Misty stood up. "So," she said at last, "have you two decided what you are going to do yet?"

Lily shrugged. "Well, we can't go back to the Gym," she said. "Like, Gary has probably got our faces on 'wanted' posters from one side of the continent to the other by now. Besides, I certainly never want to see her again." She was referring to Daisy.

Violet scowled. "I want to make them pay," she said. "I want them to pay for all the horrible things they've done." Lily looked at her thoughtfully and then nodded in agreement.

"Well then," Misty said with a slight smile, "perhaps I can help you…" Suddenly her walkie-talkie crackled. She pulled it off of her utility belt. "Yeah, go," she said.

"Misty," Ash said, "it's worse than I even imagined. I need you all back at the base immediately."

***

"Ash, while I appreciate your enthusiasm, I cannot condone you undertaking such a risky operation without first clearing it with the Inner Council," Giovanni was saying from the communications screen. The man shook his head in disbelief. "Do you have any idea how much danger you put yourself in? How much danger you put all of us in?"

Ash frowned and noted the vindicated look shot at him by Rocketboy. He also saw Misty's barely concealed grin at his discomfort. "I was aware of the risks, Boss," he admitted at last. "But I felt that the potential benefits far outweighed them." Ash shook some of the stolen memos at the screen. "We have proof here of a conspiracy to control the Pokémon of the Kanto region that goes as far as the UN Security Council!"

Giovanni rolled his eyes. "Has it ever occurred to you that we already know about this, Ash?" he asked. "We have been aware of this since its' inception. It is one of the reasons why Team Rocket exists."

Ash's response was completely different from the one Giovanni expected. He grinned at him. "I guessed that, Boss," Ash said with a laugh. "But from what Brock told me, I have somehow got involved in their plans. I have found repeated mention to me in several memoranda and tactical simulations. It's quite flattering, really." Ash deliberately left out the bit about being 'The Chosen One.' He didn't know what to think about that himself quite yet, and he certainly did not feel comfortable discussing that with the Boss.

"You are involved by name?" Giovanni asked, surprised. Ash nodded. "Now that was unexpected, but in retrospect perhaps it shouldn't have been. I assume you are going to send the data to our intelligence unit?"

"Of course sir," Ash said. "I've also got my most recent patrol report and a little something extra." Giovanni raised an eyebrow and waited for the White Rocket to continue. "I encountered a novice who had captured an Eightlegz."

"Really?" Giovanni said excitedly. "Well, I look forward to seeing it in action!"

"You will see a lot of them in action," Ash told him. He raised the DNA sample slide he took from Jace Dillon's Eightlegz.

"What is that?"

"A DNA slide, Boss," Ash said. "From this you can clone any number of Eightlegz."

There was a long pause. "Ash," Giovanni said, letting the sarcasm into his voice, "did it occur to you that it might have been simpler just to steal the damn thing?"

"Simpler? Yes," Ash said. "But better? I don't think so. Sir, Team Rocket is viewed as little more than a band of scavengers by most Trainers. I intend to change that."

"You are not a policy maker, Mr. Ketchum," Giovanni warned.

Ash swallowed, but Misty grabbed his hand out of view of the camera and it gave him the strength to follow his determination. "Perhaps, sir, but I swore an oath to uphold the best interests of the organisation. I am doing that as best as I can."

"So you are refusing to take Pokémon when ordered to do so?" Giovanni asked, his voice dangerously bland.

"No," Ash replied, "I will take any Pokémon you specifically order me to do so. However, as a routine, I will not simply take any Trainer's friends away on the grounds that they may be useful." Ash let his passion leak into his voice. "I have experienced that pain, sir, and I am damned if I am going to inflict it on anyone else."

There was a long pause while Giovanni chewed over that. "This is about Richie Yeager's Charizard, isn't it?" he asked at last.

"Partly sir," Ash admitted, "but I have been working towards this for some time. Sir, I will remain loyal to Team Rocket, but I am not heartless. I will not inflict random pain because it makes our research section's lives easier."

Giovanni scowled. "Unfortunately, I cannot discipline you for that, Mr. Ketchum," he spat. "You have, in effect, taken all we really need from that Eightlegz, so I would never be able to sustain a charge of dereliction of duty." There was a long pause while Giovanni searched Ash and Misty's faces for a hint of fear or uncertainty. There was none. "Very well," he snapped, "I will accept your… modification of normal procedure, but do not take this as licence, Ash." Giovanni's voice became laden with menace. "I will not tolerate open insubordination or disloyalty. Is that clear?"

"Clear, sir," Ash said without a hint of penitence.

Giovanni shook his head. It was almost as bad as trying to keep Butch and Cassidy reined in. "With reference to Mr. Yeager," Giovanni said, "I have a small package that needs to be delivered to him. He should still be in the area, so you can do it for me."

Ash looked at the teleportation apparatus. There was a hum and a crackle of ozone. A Master-type Pokéball materialised. Ash recognised it immediately. "This is the Pokéball I used to capture Zippo," he said. He showed it to Misty who nodded in agreement, her expression confused. Ash returned to the screen. "What do you want done with this, Boss?" he asked curiously. Several awful possibilities occurred to him.

"Please return it to Mr. Yeager with the organisation's thanks," Giovanni said. "We have no further use for his Pokémon at this time."

Ash's mouth dropped open. "Uh…" he said stupidly.

Giovanni shook his head again. "Ash," he said with a sigh, "what do you think we do with these high-level Pokémon we steal?"

"Well, I assumed that we kept them and that they were issued as needed to our agents, sir," Ash replied.

"That would be pointless," Giovanni responded. "High-level Pokémon have all developed such a bond with their Trainers that they could never be coerced to work with anyone else." Giovanni smiled. "Of course, we could rehabilitate them, but that would defeat the object as it would return them to Experience Level 0 and destroy all those skills that our field agents went to so much trouble to acquire."

"So," Ash said in an incredulous tone, "if Jessie and James had stolen my Pikachu, they would have returned him eventually?" Ash was completely taken aback by this revelation.

Giovanni laughed. "He would have been returned, yes," he confirmed. "We would have examined him, sampled his DNA for cloning and recorded how he performed his unique attacks and defences so that we could teach our own electric-types those tricks. Then we would have sent him back to you. We have hundreds of different clandestine methods for such a task. In this case, however, given how this whole incident seems to have affected your attitude, I thought you might want to do the job yourself." Ash smiled in gratitude and nodded. Giovanni's smile took on a tired aspect. "I thought that you could trust me, trust us, Ash," he said in disappointment. "Do not write us off as villains. We do what we must, but we are not wicked people, you know."

"I'll… try to bear that in mind," Ash said. Giovanni nodded and cut off the transmission.

Ash looked at Misty and saw her happy smile. "You did it, Ash," she said.

"I did it?" Ash asked. "I completely misjudged the organisation and nearly drove us into the wilderness! What did I do?"

"You forced a concession about stealing ordinary Pokémon," Misty reminded her lover, "and got him to accept your right to act autonomously. We have taken a long step forward today, love."

***

Giovanni paced around his office restlessly. His conversation with Ash haunted him. He did not know what the boy was getting up to, but Giovanni was deathly afraid that he and Misty were slipping out of control. Matters were too far advanced to allow such a disaster to take place now. He had to be sure that they would be reliable at the critical moment. They were so much like Joe and Miyamoto it was giving Giovanni a bad case of Déjà vu. What was worse was that Ash was questioning the moral underpinning of the cause.

Giovanni shook his head. He had to make sure that he could keep them both in line. He had to make sure he wasn't losing them. He reached out and toggled open his intercom. "Communications," a voice replied.

"Open a channel to Team White Bravo," Giovanni ordered. "I have a new mission for Jessie and James."

***

Marina Jjones had never worried for her lover's soul and sanity as much as she had done now. Ever since that horrible day, less than half a week past, when Ash and Misty stole away poor Zippo, Richie had been in a violent rage. He had sworn that he would recover his friend, even if he had to take that Master Ball from the dead hand of the leader of Team Rocket himself.

Marina barely knew her lover anymore. He had become uncommunicative and violent. He had refused to talk to her and discuss his pain. He had taken to keeping apart from her and suggesting that she go home rather than be risked in his quest.

Finally, she lost her temper and had her Golduck use a Sleep attack on him. The man had to rest before he fell down. Now he was slowly recovering. "Wha…" Richie moaned. "What happened?"

"I put you to sleep before you fell down," Maria replied tartly. "Now, are you going to eat something?"

"I… I've been sleeping?" Richie gasped. "How long?"

Marina shrugged. "I don't know, maybe eight hours?"

Richie screamed incoherently and slapped the bowl of soup she was offering him from her hand. "Eight hours?" he yelled. "Eight hours? You silly woman! Do you have any idea how far away Ash could have got with Zippo in that time?" Richie jumped to his feet and tried to start running in a mad pursuit. However, hunger got the best of him and he tripped over his own feet.

Marina rushed over to him. "Richie!" she shouted in distress.

"Get… get off of me," Richie sobbed. "Let me get after him! You bitch; you're one of them! Aren't you?" He slapped Marina with all of his strength and she fell.

There was a long pause filled only by the sound of Marina's sobs. Richie fell to his knees beside her. "Oh God, what have I done?" he asked. "Marina… I… I'm sorry. Please forgive me."

Marina looked up and saw the suffering etched on Richie's face. However, she also saw the love there too. She got up and hugged him. "I forgive you," she whispered. "Poor, darling Richie. You are suffering so badly, aren't you?"

"I can only think about what poor Zippo must be going through," Richie grated, on the edge of tears himself. "What those bastards must be doing to him. He was my first, Marina. He is my closest friend and I am afraid I will go mad if I can't get him back."

"You will," Marina said. "I am sure you will find him, even if Ash doesn't keep his promise."

There was a long pause. Richie looked at Marina in surprise and then snorted. "His 'promise' is nothing but hot air, Marina," he said hopelessly. "You can't trust Team Rocket."

Suddenly someone cleared his or her throat loudly. Richie looked up and saw a familiar figure in a white Team Rocket uniform. "Ash!" he hissed. He stumbled to his feet and pulled out a Pokéball. "I don't know why you are here, and I don't care! Tell me where Zippo is or I will tear it out of you one scream at a time!"

Ash smiled slightly, even though he was screaming inside at the torment his friend was clearly experiencing. "Spare me the stereotypical heroics, Richie," he replied. He pulled out the Master Ball and held it up to the firelight. "As I promised, I am now returning him to you." Ash threw the Pokéball forward and it split open. A flash of white light resolved itself into Zippo, who rushed forward and grabbed Richie in his powerful arms, dangerous in his delight at seeing his Trainer again.

"Aargh! Zippo… get off… can't breathe!" Richie gasped.

"What have you done to him?" Marina shouted angrily, trying to prize the dragon off. "Have you turned him into some kind of slave?"

Zippo groaned in shame and released Richie. Instead he began to stroke his metre-long head against Richie's face, making the man chuckle. "He… he's all right," Richie said in disbelief. "He remembers me… and he isn't hurt!" Richie looked at Ash in gratitude as Marina, also crying, hugged both dragon and Trainer. "Thank you, Ash," Richie said through his tears. "I know what a risk you are taking, doing this."

"No risk, Richie," Ash responded with a smile and a shake of his head. "We don't hurt special Pokémon like Zippo. We learn from them, then return them to their friends. That is the way we always operate." Richie looked at him in disbelief. "As I told you before, Richie, there is no good or evil in this world, only shades of grey."

Ash turned to leave, but first he had a parting shot for Richie, over his shoulder. "The good guys and the bad guys aren't always who and what you think, Richie," Ash called. "Think about that very carefully, old friend. Choose your side with both eyes open. I hope that you make the right choice."

To be continued…

Next Time on Team Rocket Neo...

Jessie looked around the base's main hanger with a definite patronising air. "Why Ash dear," she said with a smirk, "we've been sent here to make sure you are still loyal to Team Rocket!"

…

"My dear Mrs. Ketchum," the man in black said to the terrified Delilah, "you have no idea how important you are. Where you are, your son will shortly come. And when we have him, we will control him." The man laughed sadistically. "And he who controls The Chosen One controls the future."

…

Ash stared at Tracey's broken body with a sick sense of horror. Everyone who got close to him seemed to end up being hurt. Sometimes just keeping breathing was difficult. "Ash…" Tracey whispered.

"Yeah, buddy?" Ash asked, moving his head closer.

"They… they took Delilah…" Tracey gasped. "I'm sorry I couldn't look after her for you…"

…

Ash slid the 40-round magazine into his rifle and pulled back the cocking lever. "Jessie," he said with simple certainty, "I am going to rescue my mother and God help anyone who stands in the way. So, you can either help, or you can get out of my way because I am getting very bad at telling friend from foe these days!"

***

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