Chapter 5: Team Rocket Again
Mandy's POV

As night fell, Teresa and Al slept in their warm sleeping bags in the treehouse. I, however, was wide awake, thinking about what had happened. I grew worried.

'Will Eevee still want me as his trainer?'

That question kept running through my head. It frightened me. I looked at Eevee, who was resting near Freedom as the wind howled through the night. I tried to sleep, but I just couldn't. I was still awake at daybreak.

~*~*~*~*~

The next morning, Teresa woke up early and stretched her back. She noticed I was awake already, seeing me standing near the window of the treehouse.

"Mandy? You okay?" she wondered. I nodded. "You don't look it."

"I'm... just worried," I admitted.

"Worried about what?" Teresa questioned. I looked over my shoulder and gave Teresa a meaningful look.

"D'you...d'you think Eevee will still want me as his trainer, after what happened?" I only wanted to be a good trainer to my Pokémon. I looked away, feeling troubled.

"Let me ask him," Teresa said. I looked back at her with a shocked look on my face. Eevee was already awake, yawning. Teresa sat down in front of him and began talking in his language. I wish I knew what they were talking about, but I guess only they knew.

~*~*~*~*~

Omniscient

Do you still want Mandy as your trainer? Teresa asked. She's worried you won't.

Eevee looked at her like she was crazy, but replied anyway.

Mandy's not a bad trainer, Eevee told her. I wanted to have the stones used on me, only all at the same time. I didn that on purpose. And besides...

Teresa looked him, puzzled, waiting for him to continue.

The reason why I chose to do that was because...I want to protect her, Eevee explained. Teresa looked at him, startled. Eevee finished up his thought.

She protected me when we first met. Now it's my turn to return the favor, he said. Teresa nodded and relayed the message to Mandy.

~*~*~*~*~

Mandy's POV

I couldn't believe my ears. I hugged Eevee, who looked quite uncomfortable, and cried with joy. Al, Lightning, and Evolution woke up.

"What's going on?" Al wondered. Teresa was about to answer him when he looked at his watch.

"Is that the time? We have to get going if we want to get out of here!" Al exclaimed. "Come on now, pack up."

I wiped my tears away and Teresa and I packed up our stuff and followed Al out of the treehouse. He looked at us.

"You want to go to Pewter City, correct?" he asked. Teresa nodded.

"Both of us want to battle for a Boulder Badge," she told him.

"Then, onward we go!" he declared. We looked at him with raised eyebrows and he blushed. "Sorry. Always wanted to say that."

I smiled and declared, "Well, then, let's go onward!"

Al and I laughed while Teresa sweatdropped and spoke to Evolution. Evolution facefaulted and replied back to her.

As we walked, Teresa and I saw lots of Bug Pokémon getting out of our way. Word had apparently spread that there were Pokémon trainers abound. I guessed that Daniel had passed through, causing an uproar. We stopped for lunch, and I let Pika out to eat. Hopefully, he would behave. Al checked on my burns.

"They're coming along fine, but I think we need to replace the silk. Teresa, if I could borrow Q-T-Pie again..." Al's voice trailed off. Teresa nodded and let Q-T-Pie out of her PokéBall. Al took new silk and wrapped it around my burns. I wondered why he hadn't use Freedom. Maybe he wasn't strong enough to produce good silk...

Teresa headed over to Pika, who suddenly growled at her. Teresa yelled back at him, taking him aback. He was apparently shocked that Teresa was talking to him in Pokémon instead of human. They had a conversation, which ended with a growl from Pika and a Thunderbolt. Teresa quickly dodged the attack.

"What did you do?" Al demanded, coming over.

"All I did was try to talk to him," Teresa snapped. Al went over and pett Pika.

"Now, Pika, there's nothing to be afraid of. We're all friends of yours," Al said to him kindly. He was smiling, not noticing what Teresa and I were seeing. Pika was starting to charge up.

"Eh, Al?" I said timidly, but he didn't listen.

"Al..." Teresa said slowly. He shushed her. Pika continued charging. "Al!" He shushed her again. "AL!"

"WHAT!?" he yelled. Then, "YAAAAAAHHHH!!!" Pika had unleashed a massive Thunderbolt on Al. He lay there, twitching with pain. We had tried to warn him, but he just didn't listen.

After lunch (and after Al had recovered), we continued on the road to Pewter City. Al pointed out a shortcut. "If we go this way, we'll reach Pewter City in five days, give or take a day or two," he told us. Suddenly, we heard laughter echoing in the forest. I didn't like the sound of it.

"You won't be going anywhere!" announced a female voice. "Prepare for trouble!" (A/N: No, it's not Jessie.)

"Or else make it double," a male voice warned. (A/N: And, no, it's not James.)

"To cause peril and devastation!"

"To create our own Team Rocket nation!"

"To destroy the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Clarissa!" A teenage girl jumped out of the bushes.

"Clyde!" A teenage boy jumped out as well.

"Sander!" A Sandshrew jumped out.

"Team Rocket, stealing Pokémon at the speed of light!" Clarissa shouted.

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight, fight, fight!" Clyde exclaimed.

"Sand! You got that right!" Sander finished. Eevee and I stared at the three. For some reason, it sounded like a motto I'd heard on television, but I wasn't too sure. Maybe they'd adapted it from there.

"Somehow, I'm not impressed," I said. Clarissa muttered something I couldn't hear.

"Finished your little show?" Teresa sneered. "Because we have to get through now. I have a little appointment with the Pewter City Gym Leader."

"We're not letting you pass until we get that Eevee!" Clarissa declared. "Go! Staryu!"

"Growlithe, I choose you!" Clyde shouted. A Staryu and a Growlithe burst out of their PokéBalls and stood before us.

"Using two Pokémon in battle is against the rules!" Teresa exclaimed.

"Oh, really? Let's make it four then," Clyde sneered. "Go! Paras!"

"I choose you! Gastly!" Clarissa shouted. A Gastly and a Paras joined Growlithe and Staryu. I gasped.

"A Gastly!" I exclaimed, and took out my PokéDex. Teresa and I spoke at the same time.

"Dexter, analyze!" we ordered in unison. Both PokéDex analyzed in unison.

"Paras, the Mushroom Pokémon. This Pokémon burrows to suck tree roots. The mushrooms on its back grow by drawing nutrients from the bug host. Paras evolves into the Mushroom Pokémon, Parasect. Gastly, the Gas Pokémon. Almost invisible, this gaseous Pokémon cloaks the target and puts it to sleep without notice. Gastly evolves into the Gas Pokémon, Haunter."

"This is bad," I moaned. I knew Gastly was a real tricky Pokémon. I didn't know whether any of our Pokémon could go up against a Ghost-type Pokémon.

"Go! Evolution!" Teresa shouted. I looked at her. She seemed confident. Then again, she did grow up with a Pokémon Researcher as a dad.

"Gastly, use Hypnosis!" Clarissa ordered.

"That's a psychic attack! Use the power of Umbreon to negate it!" Evolution glowed with Dark energy and the psychic attack was somehow reversed. I was shocked to see a new attack. I quickly scanned the attack with my PokéDex.

"Mean Look. Normally used to prevent a Pokémon from running away, or a trainer from switching Pokémon. This Eevee has somehow combined Reflect with Mean Look into a Dark Reflect attack."

'Mean Look?' I thought. 'That must have been the attack Eevee used in his Umbreon form!'

"Alright! Go Evolution! Now use your Hypnosis!" Teresa shouted.

"Eevee vee, Eevee!" Evolution said. Teresa smiled. I guess that something going on between them was amusing. Evolution used her Hypnosis and Gastly fell asleep. Evolution faded from sight.

"What the-!?" I gasped.

"She disappeared!" Al exclaimed at the same time.

"Vee ev-ev?" Teresa called. Suddenly, Gastly was knocked to the ground and Evolution reappeared, jumping off it. Its eyes were closed; it was knocked out.

"What kind of attack was that!?" I shouted.

"Vee ev vee. Vee-vee ev vee," Evolution said to Teresa. She nodded. Clarissa was furious, and Sander had to hold her back while Clyde got Paras ready to attack.

"Paras! Stun Spore!" Clyde ordered. Paras sprayed spores at Evolution, but she used her Water Gun to stop them.

"Evolution, return!" Teresa called. Evolution jumped to her side. "Go! Q-T- Pie!"

She threw Q-T-Pie's PokéBall and her Caterpie appeared in a blast of white light. Clyde wasn't even fazed, but I knew Teresa too well. There must be some strategy up her sleeve.

"Paras! Scratch, now!" Clyde ordered.

"String Shot, Q-T-Pie!" Teresa shouted. Paras ran straight into Q-T-Pie's attack and got wrapped up in the sticky substance. "Now, Tackle!"

Q-T-Pie tackled Paras, sending him flying into Clyde, who in turn got knocked into a tree. Suddenly, Teresa's Caterpie glowed with a brilliant white light and evolved into Metapod.

"Q-T-Pie evolved!" I gasped. I scanned her with my PokéDex.

"Metapod, the Cocoon Pokémon. This Pokémon is vulnerable to attack while its shell is soft, exposing its weak and tender body. Metapod is the evolved form of the Worm Pokémon, Caterpie. Metapod evolves into the Butterfly Pokémon, Butterfree."

"Grrr... Go, Staryu! Rapid Spin!" Clarissa ordered.

"Quick! Use Harden!" Teresa instructed. Q-T-Pie hardened her shell just as Staryu was about to attack, making Staryu bounce off her shell. "Now! Jump and Tackle!"

Q-T-Pie jumped and btackled Staryu before it had a chance to get out of the way. Staryu fainted, causing Clarissa to grow even more furious.

"Staryu, return!" she yelled. Then she hissed, "Send out Growlithe, Clyde."

"Go, Growlithe!" Clyde shouted. Growlithe jumped in front of him.

"Return, Q-T-Pie!" Teresa called. Q-T-Pie went back into her PokéBall in beam of red light. "Lightning, let's finish this."

"Pika!" Lightning said. He jumped in front of her, ready for battle.

"Thunderbolt, now!" Teresa shouted. Lightning charged up and sent a strong blast of electricity at Growlithe. His fur was singed, but he didn't faint.

"Growlithe! Use your Ember!" Clyde ordered.

"Dodge it, Lightning!" Teresa instructed. Lightning dodged all the embers, except one. He didn't let the pain stop him, however.

"Now! Quick Attack!" Teresa ordered. Lightning shook off the ember that had hit him and ran towards Growlithe, zigzagging along the way. He knocked him out.

"I guess it's up to me again," Sander said. Before he could make a move, Lightning fried him to a crisp.

"I...guess...not..." he gasped, then fainted. Clyde grabbed him and they ran off.

"Team Rocket is blasting off!" Clarissa and Clyde shouted in unison.

"They're starting to bug me," Teresa said. Al nodded in agreement. Eevee and I blinked twice.

"Who were they?" I wondered.

"More members of Team Rocket," Al told me.

"They tried to prevent us from reaching you when Wave, Rage, and Spike tried to steal Eevee," Teresa explained.

"Oh, okay," I said. "But y'know something, that motto sounds familiar. Well, let's continue heading to Pewter City, shall we?"

"Sure," Teresa and Al said together.

"Jinx!" Al said quickly. Teresa looked at him and held in laughter.

"Teresa?" I asked.

"Teresa," he said. Teresa burst out laughing. Unexpectedly, Al kissed her on the cheek. Eevee and I stared at them with wide eyes and dropped jaws. Teresa giggled harder.

"I knew it!" I exclaimed. We all laughed, leaving the Pokémon clueless. I heard Eevee and Evolution talking.

"Eev ee vee?" Eevee asked Evolution.

"Vee ee," she replied.

I wondered if that was about us...