Chapter 3
The sun won't come out, tomorrow
Today was the day, the day of the big meeting, the day when they found out what Prof. Oak's plan was, and most importantly the day when they all got to meet the man in black.
"MISTY WAKE UP!" Duplica ran into Misty's hotel room shouting at the top of her lungs.
"Ahhhhhhh!" Misty jumped up from her peaceful sleep on her comfortable bed, and fell flat on her face onto the floor.
"It's 8:00, get up, we have to get ready, we are going to meet the man in black today," Duplica trumpeted excitingly.
"I could have sworn I locked that door," Misty said as she rubbed her aching head after she had fallen on it.
"You did, I picked the lock, so come on get up."
Misty gave, the hyped up on to much caffeine, Duplica an irritated glare as she clumsily got up off the floor.
Duplica, satisfied that Misty had gotten up started to exit the room.
"Oh and you better not think that you are going to have him all to yourself, he is fair game, and I am an excellent player," Duplica stated while giving a playful wink in Misty's direction.
Misty just rolled her eyes upon Duplica's departure.
It was true that a good amount of Misty's dreaming that night was spent solely on her and the man in black. However there was also that other portion of the night, the part just before she fell asleep, that was spent wondering about the familiar Pikachu. The Pikachu and the person he belonged to. Finding out if that Pikachu is the one she thinks it is was Misty's top priority, well, that and getting to know the man in black a little better.
'A lot better.' Misty blushed at the thought.
But Misty also knew that she was up against some stiff competition. Duplica wasn't joking when she said he was fair game. Knowing Duplica anything goes in this competition. Unfortunately Duplica might be the least of her worries. While Duplica is a good friend of Misty's, Giselle is not, and seeing the look in her eye when she found out about the man in black, well, let's just say Giselle is the Snorlax and the man in black is a big juicy steak. Giselle was known to always get what she wants, and she didn't have to try hard to get it. Men were always drooling over her, all she had to do was snap her fingers and they'd come running. It was disgusting really.
'How can I compete against someone like that.' Misty viewed herself in the mirror. She was wearing pink pajamas with Horseas on them, perhaps a little immature for an 18 year old but she thought they were cute and most importantly comfortable. Her hair was a tangled red mess. Sure she was pretty, maybe not much right now, but when she fixed herself up she was quite stunning, turning heads with the best of them.
The only problem was that she lacked self confidence.
'Look what happened with the painter guy, if you can't even talk to him how are you going to talk to the man in black. Wait....I forgot about the painter, I wonder if he lives around here? Oh great Misty like you don't have enough to worry about with the man in black, and maybe you-know-who's Pikachu, you don't need to add the guy who thinks your a brush craving lunatic to your list of things to obsess over.'
"Misty calm down, you'll figure things out, everything will be okay." Misty looked around the room for a moment.
"And now your talking to yourself."
'You did it again,' Misty began to rub her temples as she ventured into the bathroom to take a shower.
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It was now 10:00 and Misty was dressed as she headed downstairs to the lobby. She was wearing a cute black tube top and her favorite pair of jeans. She had 4 hours before the meeting and she planned on spending it investigating the whole Pikachu mystery. She put a hand to her face to brush her hair, which was left down that day, back behind her ear. The first place she was going to visit in her investigation was the most obvious choice, his house.
'I just don't understand it, if he is in Pallet why didn't he come visit anybody, he must know we are here. I mean I understand why he wouldn't visit me...' Misty suddenly looked up at the elevator numbers with a downhearted expression on her face 'but Brock or Duplica, or even Gary. Something is just not right.'
The elevator chimed as the doors opened to reveal a carpeted lobby. Sitting in the chairs next to the doorway were Brock, Duplica, and Giselle. They had all stayed in the same hotel except for Gary who stayed at his grandfathers house. Misty walked up to the group while noticing the scantily clad Giselle. She was wearing an extremely short and tight red skirt and an even tighter matching top. Brock tried to avoid staring but it was pretty obvious that he was failing miserably. Duplica was dressed in her usual casual attire, a short blue shirt and pair of black jeans with a picture of a ditto on her back pocket.
"Hey Misty, what took you so long, we were about to leave without you," Duplica stated.
"What are you talking about the meeting isn't until two."
"It was at two but Tracey called and said that the Prof. wants to have the meeting right away, he says it's pretty urgent," Brock explained.
"But I was going to.."
"Misty you can do what ever you want after the meeting is over. The Prof. said that he won't start the meeting until we are all there. Which means if someone is missing, no meeting, and no man in black. And I will not let that happen, it would be too cruel to deny the man in black the pleasure of meeting me," Giselle said egotistically while giving a almost sinister grin.
Everyone knew what she had in mind for the man in black.
"Is there any way you think we could warn him ahead of time," Misty whispered to Duplica while giggling.
"Good idea, hey Brock by any chance do you have a slut detector on you?"
Giselle gave Duplica a dangerous look.
"Oh never mind I have one right here." Duplica pulls an invisible slut detector out of her pocket and pretends to scan the area around her "nothing yet, wait a second.." Duplica points the slut detector at Giselle who looks like she is about to burst(out of her outfit or out of anger, you be the judge) "BEEP, BEEP, BEEP we have a winner!" Duplica was grinning from ear to ear.
Giselle on the other hand was about to do some serious damage with one of her stiletto heels but decided against it for fear of actually popping out of what she was wearing.
"You are just jealous because you know that the man in black will be looking at me and laughing at you."
"Please, if the man in black shows any interest in you then I wouldn't want anything to do with him. That would mean he is a shallow jerk who just wants one thing. And if that's the case then you can have him," Duplica stated proudly.
"Jealous," Giselle said with a impudent grin.
Duplica growled at Giselle as Brock waved his hands in the air trying to get the girls attention.
"Girls stop saying the man in black, people are staring at us," Brock whispered.
"Brocks right, the Prof. said to keep quiet about his appearance."
"All right, all right," Duplica said.
"Fine," Giselle sighed.
"Well I think we should get going before we attract anymore attention to ourselves," Brock stated as they all nodded in agreement.
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They arrived at Prof. Oaks lab a little after 10:20. As they walked into the lab Misty's mind was still on the Pikachu.
'I hope this meeting doesn't take to long. Maybe I should just ask Prof. Oak if he is here. But if he was I'm sure Prof. Oak would have mentioned it already. Uuughhh, I have got to stop thinking about this, about him.'
Misty's thoughts were interrupted by the large computer screen flickering on in front of them.
Prof. Oak, Gary, and Tracey walked out.
"Welcome everyone, as I said yesterday, the plan to stop Team Rocket will be revealed to you today. However, I was not aware of the urgency of the situation until I found out from my source that.."
"Where is the man in black?" Duplica asked excitedly interrupting the Prof.
"He will be here."
"When?" Giselle asked just as excitedly.
"Soon," the Prof. answered while beginning to get annoyed.
"How soon?" Duplica questioned once again.
"HE WILL BE HERE EVENTUALLY, THAT IS ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW!" the Prof.'s patients had run out as he shouted at the teens.
Duplica and Giselle were startled but soon recovered.
"How soon is eventually?" Giselle inquired.
The Prof. sighed, as he listened to yet another question from the hormonal girls.
"Would you please leave the Prof. alone," Tracey pleaded with the girls.
"I don't know what you see in this guy anyway, for one you don't even know what he looks like," Brock stated.
"Garydos face," Gary stated simply.
"Excuse me?" Duplica questioned the remark.
"Look all I know is someone who is good looking would not cover his face with a big black hood."
"I think the fact that we don't know how he looks or who he is just makes him sexier, right Misty...Misty?"
"You keep telling yourself that," Gary replied.
"Misty what's up?"
"Hmmm, oh sorry I was just thinking about something, and no it wasn't about the man in black."
"What's on your mind then, ooh are you thinking about the painter guy?" Misty shook her head "Then what?"
"Children can we PLEASE get back on topic here," the frustrated Prof. begged.
"Your just jealous because he is the fantasy of women around the world and you are the nightmare," Giselle teased Gary who glared at her enraged.
At that moment a deep voice that sounded slightly amused was heard in the next room "Wow, women around the world fantasize about me, I'm honored." a tall dark figure stepped through the doorway. He was dressed all in black with a long cloak covering his body and a hood covering his head. His face was hidden in shadows and even in the bright light of the laboratory his face was still not visible.
"The, the, man in black!" Duplica stood in awe as he walked passed the group of teens and stopped next to Prof. Oak.
"Although I must say that I didn't realize I was so popular," his voice still held an amused tone.
The girls just stood there awe struck, not believing what they were witnessing.
"Oh thank God your here, please help me," the Prof. begged.
The man in black laughed slightly at the Prof.'s desperation.
"All right everyone you all know the reason you were chosen for this mission. You also know that this is a serious and urgent situation so there is no time for fooling around. The fate of the world rests in our hands. So do we agree that things should stay serious from this point on?" the man in black questioned the group.
"Yes," the three ladies said in unison as they stared dreamily at the dark figure.
Gary looked on unimpressed and Brock just nodded his head in agreement.
All previous thought had left Misty's mind as she concentrated all her attention on the man in black. She couldn't believe she was in the same room as him.
'He is standing a few feet away from me, I can't believe this.'
"I just got word from my sources that Team Rocket is planning to cause a panic."
"How?" Brock inquired.
"They have arranged some way to block out the sun."
"Huh?!" Gary was bewildered.
"Oh no!" Duplica gasped.
"But how is that possible?" Tracey asked while the others stood in shock.
"It's the new Pokemon, the one I told you that no one has ever seen before," the Prof. explained.
"I tried to get some information about it but my sources were not allowed access to it. They haven't even tried to put it up against me yet. I guess they were saving it for something like this."
"But blocking out the sun, how could any Pokemon be strong enough to do that?" Giselle wondered.
"Well shrouding the world in darkness is definitely a good strategy to cause panic," Brock stated.
"I have already told the mayors of the major city's to alert the public ahead of time, that way maybe we could limit the amount of panic," the Prof. explained.
"I can't believe this is happening, how did Team Rocket gain so much power?" Misty pondered to herself as the man in black turned to look at her.
"I bet that new Pokemon had a lot to do with it." When Misty realized that the man in black was talking to her she immediately turned bright red.
"Your probably right, ah, yeah, your right," Misty stuttered nervously.
'Misty said I'm right, that's a miracle,' the man in black thought.
"Well what are you going to do about it?" Gary asked in an annoyed tone as he stared impatiently at the man in black.
"There is nothing I can do about it at the moment. That Pokemon is heavily guarded, there is no way I could get to it."
"Hmmppff, some great warrior you are, you're just a big chicken. I bet I'm ten times the better Pokemon trainer then you are. I knew all that stuff about you defeating groups of Team Rocket thugs single-handedly was just a bunch of hype. Now that I see you up close its pretty obvious that you couldn't scare a Caterpie."
The man in black turned his attention away from Misty and onto Gary.
Gary couldn't see the man in blacks face, the face that was now staring at him silently. Needless to say this was making Gary uneasy. Gary tried to show that he wasn't scared but when the man in black took a step forward Gary backed up about 5 feet.
Everyone began to laugh except Gary who looked embarrassed and angry, and the man in black who was still silent but was definitely smiling to himself.
"If I tried to get to that Pokemon then I would alert Team Rocket to the fact that we know about the their plan. If that happens we will have little to no chance of stopping them, right now we have a slight advantage. So tell me Gary, would you want to risk that advantage?"
Everyone looked at Gary waiting for an answer.
"No," Gary sheepishly answered.
"It would save you the embarrassment of looking foolish next time if you think before you speak," the man in black spoke in a calm tone as he turned away from Gary who was cursing under his breath.
"Beep beep, beep beep" a large red dot flashed on the computer screen.
"Oh no Team Rocket has just taken over another city," the Prof. examined the screen.
"Which one?" Tracey asked worriedly.
"Celadon City," the man in black answered.
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Prof. Oak, the group of Pokemon trainers and the man in black, had spent the last 5 hours discussing their plan and possible strategies to stop Team Rocket. The man in black had been working with each trainer to get a better idea of what they were capable of and where their strengths lied. Up to this point all the trainers had been acting very professional. However he was now talking to Giselle who was unashamedly flirting with him.
"So are you ever going to remove your hood so we could see your face?"
"I doubt it," the man in black stated coldly.
"Well maybe you and I could go somewhere private where you show me your face and I show you, well, anything you want me to." Giselle gave the man in black a sultry look as she inched closer to him.
Misty and Duplica were watching the scene with scowls on their faces.
The man in black remained silent to Giselle's advances as she was now trying to press up against him. She had just gotten close enough when the man in black suddenly turned and stepped to the side, leaving Giselle to fall flat on her face.
"I think I'm done here," the man in black said as he walked away.
"Did I mention how much I like him?" Duplica said cheerfully to Misty who was laughing.
The man in black started to approach Misty and Duplica. He had spoken to everybody but Misty so far.
"Oh my God he's coming over," Duplica whispered.
"uh," Misty didn't know what to say 'I hope I don't act like an idiot.'
"Ladies," the man in black gave a slight bow of his head as he turned to Misty "I believe it's are turn."
"Okay," Misty said a little too excitedly.
At that moment the phone began to ring.
"Tracey could you please get that," the Prof. told the artist who nodded his head and exited the room.
"Now Misty, what kind of water Pokemon do you have?"
"Oh well I have several, lets see, I have a Seaking, two Staryu, a Garydos, a Corsola, a.."
Misty suddenly felt very strange. She got a tingly feeling inside her as she realized she was standing extremely close to the man in black, too close actually.
'How did that happen.' she thought as she looked at his shadowed face.
'What are you doing are you crazy, this is Misty here, you are the man in black, you can't do this to her.' the man in blacks conscience was battling his heart, which was winning, as he moved even closer to her 'I can't help it.'
'Oh my God is he gonna..' Misty held her breath as she was now close enough to the man in black that she could feel his breath on her face.
"Hey A, uh, man in black, it's your partner he says it's an emergency, something about the boss has got a job for you or something like that."
"Huh? Oh, uh, I'm sorry I have to go." The man in black backed away from Misty as his voice held a tone of disappointment.
"Oh, okay," Misty said to the departing figure.
The man in black passed Tracey and ran out the door. Tracey shrugged as he looked at the confused trainers.
When the man in black was no longer in sight Duplica ran over to Misty's side.
"I hate you, you know that right?"
"Huh?"
"The man in black was totally into you."
"You're crazy."
"Come on, did you here how disappointed he was when he had to leave. And for a minute there it looked like he was going to.."
"Don't say it, oh I can't believe this, the man in black was about to ki, kiss me." Misty was now smiling like crazy.
"But you know what was weird? That phone message. I didn't know he had a partner, and what was with the boss thing?"
"Got me."
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Everyone had left the lab. about an hour ago except for Duplica and Misty. Prof. Oak was showing them a way to combine their Pokemon's attacks to make them twice as powerful against the enemy. They were also discussing having Duplica's Dittos transform into Misty's water Pokemon so they would have an even greater advantage over Team Rockets fire Pokemon. The Prof. said that they should be prepared for anything, he made sure to express the seriousness of the situation.
"Listen girls, I have a feeling that the sun won't be their only target tomorrow."
"You think they will try something else?"
"It's definitely a possibility. All right, I think we have done enough today. We'll meet tomorrow morning at 10:00, if it still looks like morning that is," the Prof. sounded seriously upset.
"Don't worry Prof. we'll stop them, plus we have the man in black on our side," Misty stated positively.
"Your right, it's just, every time I think about what we are up against it seems a little impossible to overcome."
"Prof. we have a great team and a great plan, and no matter how strong they are they are still Team Rocket," Duplica stated with a grin.
"Good point," the Prof. said as they all laughed.
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A man dressed in blue jeans and a blue t-shirt walked passed Prof. Oaks lab carrying a big bag over his shoulder.
"I can't believe this, I'm 18 years old, I'm a great Pokemon trainer, I've saved the world, I've defeated Team Rocket several times, and what am I doing now? Helping my mother with the gardening by carrying a bag full of sh.."
"Well maybe if you used water gun and then hydro pump it would...huh?"
Duplica stopped walking as she spotted the young man with the bag over his shoulder.
"Misty stop, look over there." Misty stopped as she looked in the direction her friend was pointing.
"The painter," Misty recalled yesterday's meeting.
"Go talk to him."
"I can't, don't you remember what happened last time?.... I wonder where he is going."
"Go talk to him and find out."
Misty gave Duplica an annoyed look and then went back to staring at the departing figure of the painter.
"Find stand here all day and stare, I'm going to go get something to eat," Duplica began to walk away. She noticed Misty wasn't following 'Hopeless' she shook her head and headed down the street.
When Misty finally did turn around to look at Duplica she saw that she was gone. Then when she turned back she saw that the painter was also almost out of sight.
'What the hell.' Misty ran to catch up with him.
When she reached a distance of a few feet away, she heard him talking to himself.
"I can't believe this, she still treats me like a child."
'Hmmm his voice sounds familiar. Of course it does Misty you've talked to him before, idiot.'
"I'm going to get even with Pikachu for doing this to me," the painter mumbled angrily.
'Pikachu? It can't be.'
At that moment Misty remembered what she was going to do before the meeting started. She decided to follow the painter to where ever he was going. She stayed a distance of a few feet behind him all the way. Five minutes later she stopped suddenly when a small house came into view.
Misty gasped in shock.
"No, it couldn't be!"
A/N: Well that was a good cliffhanger huh? Sorry about that, I was hoping I could fit the sneaking around in this chapter but it is already much longer than my usual chapters. At least you got to meet the man in black, right? I promise the next chapter will have a lot more interaction between Ash and Misty and more sneaking around. As always I thank you for your wonderful reviews and ask you to please review again and tell me what you thought of this chapter and this story so far.
The sun won't come out, tomorrow
Today was the day, the day of the big meeting, the day when they found out what Prof. Oak's plan was, and most importantly the day when they all got to meet the man in black.
"MISTY WAKE UP!" Duplica ran into Misty's hotel room shouting at the top of her lungs.
"Ahhhhhhh!" Misty jumped up from her peaceful sleep on her comfortable bed, and fell flat on her face onto the floor.
"It's 8:00, get up, we have to get ready, we are going to meet the man in black today," Duplica trumpeted excitingly.
"I could have sworn I locked that door," Misty said as she rubbed her aching head after she had fallen on it.
"You did, I picked the lock, so come on get up."
Misty gave, the hyped up on to much caffeine, Duplica an irritated glare as she clumsily got up off the floor.
Duplica, satisfied that Misty had gotten up started to exit the room.
"Oh and you better not think that you are going to have him all to yourself, he is fair game, and I am an excellent player," Duplica stated while giving a playful wink in Misty's direction.
Misty just rolled her eyes upon Duplica's departure.
It was true that a good amount of Misty's dreaming that night was spent solely on her and the man in black. However there was also that other portion of the night, the part just before she fell asleep, that was spent wondering about the familiar Pikachu. The Pikachu and the person he belonged to. Finding out if that Pikachu is the one she thinks it is was Misty's top priority, well, that and getting to know the man in black a little better.
'A lot better.' Misty blushed at the thought.
But Misty also knew that she was up against some stiff competition. Duplica wasn't joking when she said he was fair game. Knowing Duplica anything goes in this competition. Unfortunately Duplica might be the least of her worries. While Duplica is a good friend of Misty's, Giselle is not, and seeing the look in her eye when she found out about the man in black, well, let's just say Giselle is the Snorlax and the man in black is a big juicy steak. Giselle was known to always get what she wants, and she didn't have to try hard to get it. Men were always drooling over her, all she had to do was snap her fingers and they'd come running. It was disgusting really.
'How can I compete against someone like that.' Misty viewed herself in the mirror. She was wearing pink pajamas with Horseas on them, perhaps a little immature for an 18 year old but she thought they were cute and most importantly comfortable. Her hair was a tangled red mess. Sure she was pretty, maybe not much right now, but when she fixed herself up she was quite stunning, turning heads with the best of them.
The only problem was that she lacked self confidence.
'Look what happened with the painter guy, if you can't even talk to him how are you going to talk to the man in black. Wait....I forgot about the painter, I wonder if he lives around here? Oh great Misty like you don't have enough to worry about with the man in black, and maybe you-know-who's Pikachu, you don't need to add the guy who thinks your a brush craving lunatic to your list of things to obsess over.'
"Misty calm down, you'll figure things out, everything will be okay." Misty looked around the room for a moment.
"And now your talking to yourself."
'You did it again,' Misty began to rub her temples as she ventured into the bathroom to take a shower.
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It was now 10:00 and Misty was dressed as she headed downstairs to the lobby. She was wearing a cute black tube top and her favorite pair of jeans. She had 4 hours before the meeting and she planned on spending it investigating the whole Pikachu mystery. She put a hand to her face to brush her hair, which was left down that day, back behind her ear. The first place she was going to visit in her investigation was the most obvious choice, his house.
'I just don't understand it, if he is in Pallet why didn't he come visit anybody, he must know we are here. I mean I understand why he wouldn't visit me...' Misty suddenly looked up at the elevator numbers with a downhearted expression on her face 'but Brock or Duplica, or even Gary. Something is just not right.'
The elevator chimed as the doors opened to reveal a carpeted lobby. Sitting in the chairs next to the doorway were Brock, Duplica, and Giselle. They had all stayed in the same hotel except for Gary who stayed at his grandfathers house. Misty walked up to the group while noticing the scantily clad Giselle. She was wearing an extremely short and tight red skirt and an even tighter matching top. Brock tried to avoid staring but it was pretty obvious that he was failing miserably. Duplica was dressed in her usual casual attire, a short blue shirt and pair of black jeans with a picture of a ditto on her back pocket.
"Hey Misty, what took you so long, we were about to leave without you," Duplica stated.
"What are you talking about the meeting isn't until two."
"It was at two but Tracey called and said that the Prof. wants to have the meeting right away, he says it's pretty urgent," Brock explained.
"But I was going to.."
"Misty you can do what ever you want after the meeting is over. The Prof. said that he won't start the meeting until we are all there. Which means if someone is missing, no meeting, and no man in black. And I will not let that happen, it would be too cruel to deny the man in black the pleasure of meeting me," Giselle said egotistically while giving a almost sinister grin.
Everyone knew what she had in mind for the man in black.
"Is there any way you think we could warn him ahead of time," Misty whispered to Duplica while giggling.
"Good idea, hey Brock by any chance do you have a slut detector on you?"
Giselle gave Duplica a dangerous look.
"Oh never mind I have one right here." Duplica pulls an invisible slut detector out of her pocket and pretends to scan the area around her "nothing yet, wait a second.." Duplica points the slut detector at Giselle who looks like she is about to burst(out of her outfit or out of anger, you be the judge) "BEEP, BEEP, BEEP we have a winner!" Duplica was grinning from ear to ear.
Giselle on the other hand was about to do some serious damage with one of her stiletto heels but decided against it for fear of actually popping out of what she was wearing.
"You are just jealous because you know that the man in black will be looking at me and laughing at you."
"Please, if the man in black shows any interest in you then I wouldn't want anything to do with him. That would mean he is a shallow jerk who just wants one thing. And if that's the case then you can have him," Duplica stated proudly.
"Jealous," Giselle said with a impudent grin.
Duplica growled at Giselle as Brock waved his hands in the air trying to get the girls attention.
"Girls stop saying the man in black, people are staring at us," Brock whispered.
"Brocks right, the Prof. said to keep quiet about his appearance."
"All right, all right," Duplica said.
"Fine," Giselle sighed.
"Well I think we should get going before we attract anymore attention to ourselves," Brock stated as they all nodded in agreement.
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They arrived at Prof. Oaks lab a little after 10:20. As they walked into the lab Misty's mind was still on the Pikachu.
'I hope this meeting doesn't take to long. Maybe I should just ask Prof. Oak if he is here. But if he was I'm sure Prof. Oak would have mentioned it already. Uuughhh, I have got to stop thinking about this, about him.'
Misty's thoughts were interrupted by the large computer screen flickering on in front of them.
Prof. Oak, Gary, and Tracey walked out.
"Welcome everyone, as I said yesterday, the plan to stop Team Rocket will be revealed to you today. However, I was not aware of the urgency of the situation until I found out from my source that.."
"Where is the man in black?" Duplica asked excitedly interrupting the Prof.
"He will be here."
"When?" Giselle asked just as excitedly.
"Soon," the Prof. answered while beginning to get annoyed.
"How soon?" Duplica questioned once again.
"HE WILL BE HERE EVENTUALLY, THAT IS ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW!" the Prof.'s patients had run out as he shouted at the teens.
Duplica and Giselle were startled but soon recovered.
"How soon is eventually?" Giselle inquired.
The Prof. sighed, as he listened to yet another question from the hormonal girls.
"Would you please leave the Prof. alone," Tracey pleaded with the girls.
"I don't know what you see in this guy anyway, for one you don't even know what he looks like," Brock stated.
"Garydos face," Gary stated simply.
"Excuse me?" Duplica questioned the remark.
"Look all I know is someone who is good looking would not cover his face with a big black hood."
"I think the fact that we don't know how he looks or who he is just makes him sexier, right Misty...Misty?"
"You keep telling yourself that," Gary replied.
"Misty what's up?"
"Hmmm, oh sorry I was just thinking about something, and no it wasn't about the man in black."
"What's on your mind then, ooh are you thinking about the painter guy?" Misty shook her head "Then what?"
"Children can we PLEASE get back on topic here," the frustrated Prof. begged.
"Your just jealous because he is the fantasy of women around the world and you are the nightmare," Giselle teased Gary who glared at her enraged.
At that moment a deep voice that sounded slightly amused was heard in the next room "Wow, women around the world fantasize about me, I'm honored." a tall dark figure stepped through the doorway. He was dressed all in black with a long cloak covering his body and a hood covering his head. His face was hidden in shadows and even in the bright light of the laboratory his face was still not visible.
"The, the, man in black!" Duplica stood in awe as he walked passed the group of teens and stopped next to Prof. Oak.
"Although I must say that I didn't realize I was so popular," his voice still held an amused tone.
The girls just stood there awe struck, not believing what they were witnessing.
"Oh thank God your here, please help me," the Prof. begged.
The man in black laughed slightly at the Prof.'s desperation.
"All right everyone you all know the reason you were chosen for this mission. You also know that this is a serious and urgent situation so there is no time for fooling around. The fate of the world rests in our hands. So do we agree that things should stay serious from this point on?" the man in black questioned the group.
"Yes," the three ladies said in unison as they stared dreamily at the dark figure.
Gary looked on unimpressed and Brock just nodded his head in agreement.
All previous thought had left Misty's mind as she concentrated all her attention on the man in black. She couldn't believe she was in the same room as him.
'He is standing a few feet away from me, I can't believe this.'
"I just got word from my sources that Team Rocket is planning to cause a panic."
"How?" Brock inquired.
"They have arranged some way to block out the sun."
"Huh?!" Gary was bewildered.
"Oh no!" Duplica gasped.
"But how is that possible?" Tracey asked while the others stood in shock.
"It's the new Pokemon, the one I told you that no one has ever seen before," the Prof. explained.
"I tried to get some information about it but my sources were not allowed access to it. They haven't even tried to put it up against me yet. I guess they were saving it for something like this."
"But blocking out the sun, how could any Pokemon be strong enough to do that?" Giselle wondered.
"Well shrouding the world in darkness is definitely a good strategy to cause panic," Brock stated.
"I have already told the mayors of the major city's to alert the public ahead of time, that way maybe we could limit the amount of panic," the Prof. explained.
"I can't believe this is happening, how did Team Rocket gain so much power?" Misty pondered to herself as the man in black turned to look at her.
"I bet that new Pokemon had a lot to do with it." When Misty realized that the man in black was talking to her she immediately turned bright red.
"Your probably right, ah, yeah, your right," Misty stuttered nervously.
'Misty said I'm right, that's a miracle,' the man in black thought.
"Well what are you going to do about it?" Gary asked in an annoyed tone as he stared impatiently at the man in black.
"There is nothing I can do about it at the moment. That Pokemon is heavily guarded, there is no way I could get to it."
"Hmmppff, some great warrior you are, you're just a big chicken. I bet I'm ten times the better Pokemon trainer then you are. I knew all that stuff about you defeating groups of Team Rocket thugs single-handedly was just a bunch of hype. Now that I see you up close its pretty obvious that you couldn't scare a Caterpie."
The man in black turned his attention away from Misty and onto Gary.
Gary couldn't see the man in blacks face, the face that was now staring at him silently. Needless to say this was making Gary uneasy. Gary tried to show that he wasn't scared but when the man in black took a step forward Gary backed up about 5 feet.
Everyone began to laugh except Gary who looked embarrassed and angry, and the man in black who was still silent but was definitely smiling to himself.
"If I tried to get to that Pokemon then I would alert Team Rocket to the fact that we know about the their plan. If that happens we will have little to no chance of stopping them, right now we have a slight advantage. So tell me Gary, would you want to risk that advantage?"
Everyone looked at Gary waiting for an answer.
"No," Gary sheepishly answered.
"It would save you the embarrassment of looking foolish next time if you think before you speak," the man in black spoke in a calm tone as he turned away from Gary who was cursing under his breath.
"Beep beep, beep beep" a large red dot flashed on the computer screen.
"Oh no Team Rocket has just taken over another city," the Prof. examined the screen.
"Which one?" Tracey asked worriedly.
"Celadon City," the man in black answered.
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Prof. Oak, the group of Pokemon trainers and the man in black, had spent the last 5 hours discussing their plan and possible strategies to stop Team Rocket. The man in black had been working with each trainer to get a better idea of what they were capable of and where their strengths lied. Up to this point all the trainers had been acting very professional. However he was now talking to Giselle who was unashamedly flirting with him.
"So are you ever going to remove your hood so we could see your face?"
"I doubt it," the man in black stated coldly.
"Well maybe you and I could go somewhere private where you show me your face and I show you, well, anything you want me to." Giselle gave the man in black a sultry look as she inched closer to him.
Misty and Duplica were watching the scene with scowls on their faces.
The man in black remained silent to Giselle's advances as she was now trying to press up against him. She had just gotten close enough when the man in black suddenly turned and stepped to the side, leaving Giselle to fall flat on her face.
"I think I'm done here," the man in black said as he walked away.
"Did I mention how much I like him?" Duplica said cheerfully to Misty who was laughing.
The man in black started to approach Misty and Duplica. He had spoken to everybody but Misty so far.
"Oh my God he's coming over," Duplica whispered.
"uh," Misty didn't know what to say 'I hope I don't act like an idiot.'
"Ladies," the man in black gave a slight bow of his head as he turned to Misty "I believe it's are turn."
"Okay," Misty said a little too excitedly.
At that moment the phone began to ring.
"Tracey could you please get that," the Prof. told the artist who nodded his head and exited the room.
"Now Misty, what kind of water Pokemon do you have?"
"Oh well I have several, lets see, I have a Seaking, two Staryu, a Garydos, a Corsola, a.."
Misty suddenly felt very strange. She got a tingly feeling inside her as she realized she was standing extremely close to the man in black, too close actually.
'How did that happen.' she thought as she looked at his shadowed face.
'What are you doing are you crazy, this is Misty here, you are the man in black, you can't do this to her.' the man in blacks conscience was battling his heart, which was winning, as he moved even closer to her 'I can't help it.'
'Oh my God is he gonna..' Misty held her breath as she was now close enough to the man in black that she could feel his breath on her face.
"Hey A, uh, man in black, it's your partner he says it's an emergency, something about the boss has got a job for you or something like that."
"Huh? Oh, uh, I'm sorry I have to go." The man in black backed away from Misty as his voice held a tone of disappointment.
"Oh, okay," Misty said to the departing figure.
The man in black passed Tracey and ran out the door. Tracey shrugged as he looked at the confused trainers.
When the man in black was no longer in sight Duplica ran over to Misty's side.
"I hate you, you know that right?"
"Huh?"
"The man in black was totally into you."
"You're crazy."
"Come on, did you here how disappointed he was when he had to leave. And for a minute there it looked like he was going to.."
"Don't say it, oh I can't believe this, the man in black was about to ki, kiss me." Misty was now smiling like crazy.
"But you know what was weird? That phone message. I didn't know he had a partner, and what was with the boss thing?"
"Got me."
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Everyone had left the lab. about an hour ago except for Duplica and Misty. Prof. Oak was showing them a way to combine their Pokemon's attacks to make them twice as powerful against the enemy. They were also discussing having Duplica's Dittos transform into Misty's water Pokemon so they would have an even greater advantage over Team Rockets fire Pokemon. The Prof. said that they should be prepared for anything, he made sure to express the seriousness of the situation.
"Listen girls, I have a feeling that the sun won't be their only target tomorrow."
"You think they will try something else?"
"It's definitely a possibility. All right, I think we have done enough today. We'll meet tomorrow morning at 10:00, if it still looks like morning that is," the Prof. sounded seriously upset.
"Don't worry Prof. we'll stop them, plus we have the man in black on our side," Misty stated positively.
"Your right, it's just, every time I think about what we are up against it seems a little impossible to overcome."
"Prof. we have a great team and a great plan, and no matter how strong they are they are still Team Rocket," Duplica stated with a grin.
"Good point," the Prof. said as they all laughed.
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A man dressed in blue jeans and a blue t-shirt walked passed Prof. Oaks lab carrying a big bag over his shoulder.
"I can't believe this, I'm 18 years old, I'm a great Pokemon trainer, I've saved the world, I've defeated Team Rocket several times, and what am I doing now? Helping my mother with the gardening by carrying a bag full of sh.."
"Well maybe if you used water gun and then hydro pump it would...huh?"
Duplica stopped walking as she spotted the young man with the bag over his shoulder.
"Misty stop, look over there." Misty stopped as she looked in the direction her friend was pointing.
"The painter," Misty recalled yesterday's meeting.
"Go talk to him."
"I can't, don't you remember what happened last time?.... I wonder where he is going."
"Go talk to him and find out."
Misty gave Duplica an annoyed look and then went back to staring at the departing figure of the painter.
"Find stand here all day and stare, I'm going to go get something to eat," Duplica began to walk away. She noticed Misty wasn't following 'Hopeless' she shook her head and headed down the street.
When Misty finally did turn around to look at Duplica she saw that she was gone. Then when she turned back she saw that the painter was also almost out of sight.
'What the hell.' Misty ran to catch up with him.
When she reached a distance of a few feet away, she heard him talking to himself.
"I can't believe this, she still treats me like a child."
'Hmmm his voice sounds familiar. Of course it does Misty you've talked to him before, idiot.'
"I'm going to get even with Pikachu for doing this to me," the painter mumbled angrily.
'Pikachu? It can't be.'
At that moment Misty remembered what she was going to do before the meeting started. She decided to follow the painter to where ever he was going. She stayed a distance of a few feet behind him all the way. Five minutes later she stopped suddenly when a small house came into view.
Misty gasped in shock.
"No, it couldn't be!"
A/N: Well that was a good cliffhanger huh? Sorry about that, I was hoping I could fit the sneaking around in this chapter but it is already much longer than my usual chapters. At least you got to meet the man in black, right? I promise the next chapter will have a lot more interaction between Ash and Misty and more sneaking around. As always I thank you for your wonderful reviews and ask you to please review again and tell me what you thought of this chapter and this story so far.
