-Part V -
As the trio reached Mahogany City, they took a break at the fountain located in the middle of the place.
"Ah! Finally I can spend the night in a nice comfy bed!" Misty said, happily. Ash was polishing his pokèballs, not taking any notice of Misty's comments or anything else. He lifted Jessie's pokèball to the light and smiled as it caught the light before polishing it again with a soft cloth. Ok, so he's had difficulties with his new capture, but it wasn't like he hadn't gone through it before. He'll earn its trust sooner or later.
Officer Jenny strolled by and Brock blushed. Misty nudged him. Ash looked up a bit puzzled.
"How are you, Officer Jenny?" He asked, putting the pokèball away and smiling.
Officer Jenny exchanged the smile and took out a notepad.
"I am fine, young man and I'd like to ask you something," she said.
"I'll be happy to have dinner with you and then we could-" Brock started before Misty pulled him hard by the ear. Jenny sweatdropped.
"Err…no thank you. I need to ask if you've seen a blue-eyed Flareon anywhere around here. I've been assigned to track it down and return it to…" she glanced at the notepad. "The 'We-love-Pokèmon' Society. Apparently it had run away and the owner is very desperate to have it back. Have you seen it around?"
Ash gulped slightly. It had to be a lie; he had caught it with a pokèball…only wild pokèmon could be captured inside a pokèball…or were there exceptions? In any case, the Flareon he had must have had a good reason to run away-if it had-...like Charmander had and he DID capture it fair and square... He decided to use the most obvious tactic.
"Well-" Misty and Brock started.
"Nope, haven't seen any near here, Officer," Ash said, grinning a bit nervously, clasping a hand over Misty and Brock's mouths. "And we're rather tired after our journey so, we'd better go find a pokèmon center, bye!"
The boy then picked both of his companions up and rushed away in a cloud of dust. Officer Jenny blinked, a bit puzzled about what just happened.
Ash stopped a bit outside of Mahogany city and collapsed, dropping of his rather annoyed friends.
"Whew! I thought she would have caught us!" Ash panted.
"What are you doing, Ash?! You just lied to Officer Jenny and know that you have the possession of a lost pet!" Misty screamed. Brock set two hands on her shoulders to calm her down and she calmed down…a bit.
"Come on, Mist. I didn't lie COMPLETELY. She only asked if we had seen Flareon around the city, not if we saw one eight miles from it or if we had caught one."
"You idiot! you'll get us in trouble if we run into her again and she sees Flareon!" Misty pushed Brock away from her and shouted the last three words separately and deliberately, spraying Ash with spit before stopping to catch her breath. Ash wiped his face with a dirty sleeve and pushed her away, giving Misty a bit of a shock. The nerve of this boy! Sometimes she wondered why she even liked him or tagged along…oh yeah…it was because of the bike…
"Jeez, Misty! I caught Flareon fair and square with a pokèball! You're just still jealous that I caught it," Ash barked.
"Why you arrogant-" Misty started, red in the face.
"Chill! We're not going to go back to Mahogany City anyways. Ash dragged us out of town for miles," Brock sighed, looking at his map and then at a road sign. "We'd better head for Crimson City then. Its only six miles away over that hill."
"Oh no…more hiking.." Misty slumped over and began to cry small anime tears. "And I wanted a nice comfy bed…"
*********
"Where am I?" Consciousness had hit Meowth like cold water. Groggily, he shook his head and looked around. The first thing he noticed was the 'Grunt' (elite members often referred to recruits and Dan'in members as 'Grunts') whom had conked him out. She was facing other direction, cooking a soup of some kind.
The smell of ginger and mushrooms reached Meowth and reminded him of the odors at the oriental potion shoppe owned by that Cassandra lady and her grandmother. Meowth groaned softly and got to his hind feet. He quickly fell back down, yowling with pain.
The Dan'in member turned around and glared at the cat. Lacking rope to tie Meowth up with, or a cage to put him in after she catnapped him, she had broken his leg so he wouldn't get away but at this rate, James would hear his yowls and try to find him anyways.
"Shut up!" she slapped the cat across his face. Meowth was backhanded into a tree. He slid down and rested at the base, swirly-eyed and unconscious again.
"Clark should be back by now" the girl thought to herself as she removed the shades she wore and rubbed her eyes. It was often that her eyes were hidden behind shadows, so it made no difference if she wore sunglasses; it looked the same.
"Terri!" a male voice called out. "Have you got lunch ready?"
"No. It's nearly done though," Terri looked up at her partner and gestured to the boiling pot of soup on the fire. Clark ran his fingers through his partner's short hair.
"Smells good. I saw James wandering downstream; reckon we throw in the rest of Jessie's stuff?"
"Yeah, I guess. Take these and toss them into the river. He'll find it as it floats downstream and hopefully stop looking. I smell a promotion ahead of us."
The Dan'in member named Terri tossed Clark the locket that was found on Jessie and he in turn, flung it into the river.
"Now how 'bout some lunch?"