Disclaimer: Je ne pas ... own ... le Pokémon.  ^_^*  My French teacher would be so proud ...  Er, maybe not ...   ¬_¬  ... People need to practice when they won't be at school for 6 weeks! 

Back on topic ...  I'm sorry its taken me so long to get this (short) part out, but me and my boyfriend have been spending waaaay too much time together, and I haven't been focused enough to work on the fic.  But this part, and the next three to follow, fills in slightly about what happens when everyone had to split up and run from Team Rocket.  You also find out about the past of our friends in:

How Much Can Happen in a Year?

"I don't like this," Delia spoke out between exhausted breaths as they raced along through the forest.  Just after they had begun running, Brock had released his Crobat, using him to help guide them a way to somewhere where it might be safe, and to warn them if they had any uninvited guests.

"I don't think any of us do," Brock agreed with her, slowing down and coming to a stop, leaning heavily against a tree.  Delia joined him and together they stayed and caught their breaths for a minute or two, Crobat circling constantly above them. 

Her breath regained, Delia straightened up and blinked her eyes, the light fading rapidly now.  Luckily, around them the un-evolved Metapod and Kakuna attached to the trees had lit up slightly, providing a useful and guiding glow for them.  "It's beautiful," Delia sighed out, the past few days forgotten for a brief few seconds before they took priority in her mind once more.  "Shame we're not here under different circumstances, isn't it?"

"I know," he agreed.  "We could have camped out.  Tents, campfire, sing songs ... " he trailed off, looking towards Delia with a smile on his face.  "And put up with Misty moaning to Ash about one thing or another."

Delia's mood dropped at the mention of them.  "Do you think they'll be ok?" she asked him sincerely.  "Misty has to take it easy, with the baby and all, and Ash only has Pikachu to protect them both.  They'll be such an easy-"

"Hey," Brock consoled, putting a hand on her shoulder.  "Ash is one of the few people I know that can get himself out of any situation alive, along with anyone with him.  He won't let anything happen to Misty."  Hearing slight voices in the distance, he turned his head to listen and then quickly turned it back.  "We should keep moving and find somewhere to rest for the night.  The closer to Pallet, the better."

"Yeah," Delia agree, nodding her head.  Brock leading them, they continued heading into the forest.  The sky was now completely black, a few stars dotted around in places, from what they could see as they glanced up every now and then.  They each tripped over tree stumps, fallen branches, or even small holes in the ground.

"Hey, wait a second," Brock mumbled as he helped pick Delia up from her latest tumble.  Instead of urging her to carry on running, he sank to his knees and, using both of his hands, examined the depression in the ground that had caused Delia's trip.

"What is it?" she asked him, joining him on the forest floor.  She watched as Brock, seeming to possess super-human strength for a few brief moments, lifted a nearby fallen tree slightly out of the way of the small hole.  But, it wasn't small no longer, for it revealed to them a large space that would easily fit around 6 people in it.

"Get in," Brock almost ordered, waiting until Delia had gotten herself inside, dropping a foot down.  After returning Crobat to his Poké ball Brock followed her, pulling the remnant of the tree back to where it had been, covering their shelter.

"Brock, it's totally dark in here!" Delia whispered out, her flailing arms hitting Brock on more than one occasion.

"Hang on a minute," he said, a quiet thudding noise being heard as Brock placed his bag on the ground and searched through it for what he was looking for.  His hand touching upon it, he pulled on it, managing to retrieve it, now holding it in his hand.  "Found it," he informed her.  A strike of a match was heard, and their shelter was illuminated with the glow from Brock's camping stove.  He reached up and pulled wood from the tree covering them, as well as twigs scattered around the place, and began to build a fire.

"You come prepared for any situation, don't you?" Delia asked, watching him as he finished the fire and turned the stove off.

"Well when we set off to find you a few days ago, we had no idea how long it'd take," Brock told her, sitting down by the fire and rubbing his hands together.

"Ash is lucky to have friends like you," she remarked sincerely, walking over to him and taking a place by the fire.  "When did you all twig that something was wrong?"

"Firstly, you didn't come home that night," Brock began.  "Tracey was really worried, so he called me at the Gym.  May was staying with us for a while, she'd got a crush on my brother."  He stopped, smiling to himself before the smile disappeared and he continued. 

"We arranged to meet in Viridian the next day, me and May managed to get transport down there.  And ... we managed to break into the facility.  We found a Rocket hiding in Viridian, and he told us of how he'd seen a pregnant girl in the cells.  Tracey threatened him with Scyther, and he showed us where we could sneak in.  Boy was he scared though," Brock finished.  "He was only a kid."

"Thank you though," Delia repeated.  "You saved my entire family tonight, and I'll never forget that."

"We didn't find everyone though," Brock countered.  "What about Dan?  He wasn't-" he stopped, seeing Delia's head droop down sadly.  "What happened?  Did they hurt him?"

"Dan ... was using us.  Using me, to get to Ash and Misty."  She raised her head to look at Brock.  "He was in Team Rocket."

"Oh ... " Brock exclaimed sadly. 

"And that's not the worst of it," she continued.  "Dan's boss, Giovanni ... I knew him when I was younger.  We were Mark, G and D ...  Best of friends, just like you are with Ash and Misty.  And then once, on Giovanni's birthday, he got too drunk and ... " She stopped, taking deep, comforting breaths. 

"You don't have to say-"

"I want to," she interrupted.  "He's evil and ... you need to know what lengths he'll go to.

"On his birthday, he took things a little too far.  I told him to stop, but he wouldn't.  Mark heard me screaming and he rescued me from him.  I'd always liked Mark, and Giovanni had pretended to be him just to ...  We never spoke to him again, and through what happened, me and Mark got together, and Ash was conceived.  Unfortunately, Giovanni heard about it, having just taken over Team Rocket.  He kidnapped me and Mark and held us at gunpoint.  He wouldn't believe that the baby wasn't his, and he put the gun to Mark's head, forcing him to say that the baby was Giovanni's. 

"Mark wanted to be a part of Ash's life so much, that he did, thinking that would spare him.  Giovanni shot him anyway.  He turned the gun on me, saying I had to stay with him, or we'd both die.  I told him I'd rather die, and he tried to shoot me.  I found strength that I never thought was possible, and I miraculously escaped.  Problem was, that was enough to induce my labour.  Ash was born early, without his father ... early enough for Giovanni to be totally convinced that he was his.  Sam Oak was an old friend of the family, and he helped me move to Pallet Town and start a life there.  We did and Ash grew up, safe from Team Rocket.

"Something even worse happened tonight though," she continued, Brock listening intently.  "We were taken up to Giovanni's office, and Ash went in on his own.  Domino, another agent, took Misty away, although not quietly.  Then ... soon afterwards there was a gunshot from inside the office."

"What!?" Brock exclaimed angrily.  "He tried to kill Ash!?"

Delia shook her head.  "That's what I thought, so I managed to get away from Dan and inside the office.  It was ...  I saw Ash, in tears ...  Misty was lying on the ground, blood everywhere ... "

"I don't get it," he murmured.  "But, we saw Misty.  She's with Ash right now!"

"The thing is, that wasn't Misty," Delia told him.  "When Giovanni was younger, he used to be very good at creating holo-images and things like that.  He's gotten better over the years, I'll certainly give him that.  And it was that he shot.  He hit the off switch accidentally, and she disappeared."

"Poor Ash," Brock thought out loud.  "Having to watch her die and then find out it was faked."

"That's why he wouldn't let go when he found her again," Delia explained.  "See ... this is why when we moved to Pallet Town, and as much as I loved Pokémon, I never had any in the house.  I was afraid that Giovanni would try and get to Ash if he ever left home to be a trainer, so I tried to discourage his interest in them as much as possible.  I couldn't though.  Ash inherited his desperate love for them from his father, and all I could do was sit and watch as he planned his life as a trainer."  She began to laugh, cheering up the desolate mood that had been in place.  "You should have seen it Brock.  He even wrote it down!"

"What did he put?" he asked, a smile forming.

"Just the words "I'll be the greatest Pokémon Master ever!" on every single page of his notebook!" she chuckled out, causing them both to laugh out loud.  "Another thing was that he said he'd do it by himself, no Gary Oak or people to push him around.  I remember being so relieved when he told me that he wasn't travelling alone.  At least then, there would be someone to help him if Team Rocket did go after him.  And help him she did."

"Misty?" Brock asked her, suddenly realising that there couldn't be anyone else who it could have been.  "You know, from the beginning I thought they were related.  Brother/sister, cousins, or something.  They argued like cat and dog at each other, every single day.  Most of the time it drove me round the bend but ... when I stayed on Valencia Island, I actually missed it."

Silence hung in the air when Brock finished talking.  The humour-filled mood evaporated and Brock moved away from the fire, curling up by the not-so-far wall.  "Brock?" she asked him quietly, standing up and walking over to him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.  "I've told my secret, so why don't you get yours out?" she suggested, Brock's eyes meeting hers as she sat back on the ground.  He looked so hurt and upset, almost like a child that he had never been able to be.  "What happened between you and Professor Ivy?"

"It's ... " he began timidly.  "I've never told anyone what happened.  I've never had the nerve.  I was such an idiot."

"Idiot about what?" she asked gently.

"About her and everything about her," he said gloomily.  "I was such a young fool back then, and ... I suppose I still am."

"Brock, don't put yourself down," Delia said soothingly.  "You just haven't met the one for you yet."

"That's just it!" he emotionally exploded.  "I thought she was the one for me!  Every time she looked at me ...  She could be covered in dirt, or soaked from head to toe but every single time I saw her I thought she was an angel.  The girls had figured it out and they kept on telling me what I should do to let her know.  And like a fool, I listened to them."

"What happened?"

"After about three months, I felt like I was going to burst, and so I decided I'd tell her.  I cooked a meal and everything, planned it all.  The only thing was ... she didn't turn up."  Brock's face saddened at the memory.  Delia opened her mouth to speak, but closed it when Brock continued.  "She'd had a date, but with the last person I'd ever expected it to be ...  Nurse Joy, from the Pokémon Centre."

That shocked Delia.  "You mean ... " she sighed disbelievingly.  "Well ... I can see why, thinking about it.  Did the assistants know about it?"

"They more than just knew about it," Brock murmured angrily.  "Ivy had ... 'done favours' for them before, and they led me on.  I know they don't look like the kind of people to do that, but they are.  So, as soon as I could, I got out of there and tried to get back to Kanto, I knew Ash would have headed there to Professor Oak.  It was one long case of island-hopping, but I got there eventually, and I headed to Pallet Town."

"When me and Mimey ran into you," Delia finished, smiling.  "I'm sorry about that, it seems silly when I look back on it."

"It's ok," Brock told her.  He sighed again, pausing before talking again.  "It's like I'm cursed, when it comes to love," he continued.  "Why do I fall for girls, but the girls never fall for me?  Like Lara, she was just on the rebound.  She never liked me, and as soon as Rob called she went running back to him.  When will I meet someone who I love, who loves me back?"

"You will soon Brock, I'm sure of it," she reassured him, smiling.  "Don't go out looking for love, Brock, and it'll find you.  That always works."

"Yeah," he pondered.  "I'll do that."  They heard footsteps running above their heads and they suddenly became on-edge, Brock's hands hovering near his Poké balls on his belt.  Delia quickly stomping out the small fire, they stood, listening to the Rockets just above them.

"Any site of them?" an obviously annoyed female voice asked.  Delia's hands clenched, recognising the voice.

"Angel," she hissed out, suddenly remembering they had to be quiet.

"We suspect they've split up," another woman answered.  Brock's ears pricked up at the voice, knowing he had heard it somewhere before.  She obviously wasn't an underling to the first one, as her voice had the same superior edge to it.

"Damn!" Angel exclaimed, kicking against the huge tree stump that hid Brock and Delia from them.  "Domino, we can't fail this!"

"Domino!?" Brock whispered out to Delia.  He hadn't seen her since the early part of their journey through Johto, at Purity Lake and the Mewtwo incident. 

"Who?" Delia asked in a whisper.  Brock raised a finger to his lips.

"Hey, have the Black Sister's ever failed the Boss?" Domino asked her, cutting off Brock's reply to Delia.  "We'll find them, and we'll make them pay."

"Domino, we have to get them before they get back to-" she stopped, a ringing noise being heard.  A further beeping noise was heard before the phone was answered.

"Domino," the voice replied crisply and coolly.  "Yes boss, we're searching for them ...  What?  Sir, I highly suggest that ...  But they're here in the Virette Forest!" she shouted, obviously very angry.  A brief silence was followed by a loud sigh from Domino.  "Yes sir, we shall recall all our agents.  Domino out."  The phone snapped shut and the sound of someone kicking the tree could be heard yet again. 

"Damn him!" Angel cursed.  "Doesn't he see how big a fool he's being?  There's no way they could escape us!  He's letting that brat get to him."

"That brat getting to him is what he's worried about, I think," Domino spat.  "He's loosing it ...  Anyway, we'd better recall everyone, now."

"Yes sir!" Angel said sarcastically.  "Remind me, which one of us is number nine, and which is number five?" she asked as they walked into the distance.

"At last," Brock said with relief, sitting back down in the darkness that their eyes had now adjusted to.  "I think, if we wait here a while, we'll be able to get back to Pallet Town safely."  He moved over to Delia, who was now hunched up against the wall, and sat down besides her.

"At least we know where we are," she said positively.  "Virette ... I thought we were more towards Pewter than Pallet, but that shows my geography skills for you!" she joked.  She suddenly yawned, surprising even herself.

"Why don't you have a nap for a while, I'll keep watch," Brock offered. 

"You're not the one who's been knocked out for the past couple days.  I'm sure you need the sleep," Delia argued, yawning again.

"Ok then," Brock bargained with her, knowing there would be no other way of letting her get the sleep she needed.  "You have a ten minute nap, and I'll wake you up then."

"You promise?" Delia asked sleepily, lying down on the floor, her rolled-up cardigan from dinner under her head.

"I promise," he lied. 

"Night," she whispered as her eyes drifted closed and she fell into a deep sleep.

"Delia ... " a voice whispered to her in her dream.  She stirred in the darkness and opened her eyes, light flooding in so brightly that she immediately shielded her eyes against it.

"Who's there?" she called out into the room.  Even though the bare room seemed small, the sound of her voice echoed and echoed all around her.  Suddenly scared, she sat up, finding it difficult because there was an extra addition to her body.  "I'm pregnant ... " she murmured.  She struggled to her feet and leant against the walls, feeling them to be cold and smooth. 

"You'll listen to me!" a voice drifted from down a corridor and, her intrigue getting the better of her, she followed it, the bright light diminishing enough for her to remove her hand and for her to be able to see more easily.  Her footsteps clacked along the floor, and her apprehension increased.

"Leave her alone!" a male voice shouted angrily and Delia's heart froze in disbelief.

"Dan!" a female shouted emotionally and Delia stopped in her tracks, seeing the scene in front of her.   A scene from nearly 18 years ago ...  The night Mark died. 

"Stay out of this!" he shouted to her and she watched as her younger self hung back, shock and fear on her face as she watched another male figure raise a gun and point it at Mark.

"I know you're both lying!" shouted the voice of Giovanni, desperation on his face.  "And I swear I'll use this unless you tell me the truth!"

"We are telling the truth but you're too blind to see it!" her younger self shouted out, but her reply fell on deaf ears.

"G, the baby's yours," Mark whispered, Delia's face displaying nothing but shock.  She protested, but he interrupted.  "That medication was wrong," he said as he turned to her, giving her a small wink, indicating for her to play along.  He turned back to Giovanni.  "So I suppose congratulations are in order?"

"Not for you, they're not," Giovanni replied, a loud bang resonating outwards as he pulled the trigger of his gun.  Mark, who could only be described as surprised, looked down at his injury, before gasping and collapsing to the ground.

"MARK!!!" her younger form screamed out hysterically, running over to his body and rocking it against her, trying to keep him with her.

Delia, the observer to the entire dream, wandered over to her younger self and watched as she sobbed into Mark's body, her tears and his blood mixing together on the floor.  Tears appeared in her eyes as she re-lived the emotions she went through that night, and wasn't surprised at the events that happened next. 

"Serves him right for lying to me," Giovanni said.  "All those months he went around, so happy that 'he' was going to be a father, when all along it was me."

"Murderer!" she screamed at him, struggling to her feet.  "He lied!  I know, because I had a pregnancy test after 'that night' of ours!  Negative!  The baby is ... was ... Mark's ... " she sobbed.

"There's no use denying the truth Delia," he said arrogantly, pointing the gun at her.  "I don't want to force you but ... you are going to stay here, with me.  Our child will have the best of everything, I can-"

"My child won't grow up with his father now, thanks to you," she spoke dangerously.  "And I'd rather die than stay here with you."

The muscles on Giovanni's face visible twitched in anger.  "Have it your way," he said calmly, raising the gun again and pointing it at Delia.  Her eyes widened more than could seem possible, and as the gun was fired Delia ducked suddenly, the bullet ricocheting around the room.  As the present day Delia watched as her younger self ran straight through her and down the corridor, she turned around and heard Giovanni gasp in pain, the bullet having grazed his shoulder.  She stood and stared at him, before feeling the need to speak.

"Why?  You killed his father, tried to kill his mother and kidnapped the mother of his child.  Is there something inside of you?  A secret, that'll disappear if he or his child was killed?"  She stood and stared at Giovanni, about to turn when, unexpectedly, his head turned and he looked straight at her.

"Only you know the answer to that, Delia," he said calmly.  Extreme unease filled her stomach as Giovanni walked off, the scenery around her beginning to fade to black.

"Ah!" Delia screamed out as she woke up, startling Brock so much that he fell backwards, Delia going with him.  After they landed roughly and Delia stood up shakily, Brock shook his head and climbed to his as well.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack there!" he said, shaking the dust from his clothes.

"I ... had a strange dream," she apologised, still disturbed from the events that had transpired in her dream.  "I ... guess it just freaked me out a little.  But what was it?"  She looked around at her surroundings, particularly noticing the beautiful sunny sky above them.  "Where are we?  How long did you let me sleep?"

"We're in the fields leading up to Pallet Town," he answered.  "I waited about half an hour after Angel and Domino left, picked you up, and carried you.  It's morning now ... I'd guess about nine."

"Brock, I told you to wake me up after an hour!" Delia sternly told him.  He smiled at her childishly, and she couldn't help but smile.  "I'm glad you're not depressed anymore," she finished, and they continued walking towards Pallet.

"Before you ask, I haven't seen any of the others," he told her after they had been walking for twenty minutes.  "Not a word from Team Rocket either.  It doesn't seem right.  Everything is too quiet."

"I just hope Misty is ok," Delia murmured.  "Sleeping outside with no overhead protection or warmth is exactly the opposite of what she should be doing in her condition, six months pregnant ...  But I know my boy'll look after her."

Silence hung heavily in the air as they continued walking, until Brock felt the need to interrupt it.  "What are we going to do when we all get back?" he asked her suddenly.  "Shouldn't we call Officer Jenny?"

She paused before answering.  "Yes," she said after a while.  "But, you don't know how good Team Rocket are at covering their tracks.   Kidnap, attempted murder ...  It'll just go on a huge list of their crimes.  They are terrorists, after all."

"Yeah," he reluctantly agreed.  "Hopefully they'll have to answer for those crimes one day.  At least if we ... " he trailed off, stopping in his steps and staring ahead of him.  Besides him, Delia had also stopped and her right hand was raised to her mouth, tightly clasped over it. 

"Oh no ... " Delia trembled when her hand had dropped back to her side.  The tears were in her eyes as she looked at the scene displayed in front of them.

"W ... what ... ?" Brock breathed out with disbelief.  "Come on, quick," he said to Delia, grabbing her wrist and pulling her along behind him as they raced into the scene that outstretched beyond them ...

*~*

END PART SIX

Well ... there is Brock and Delia's part for you.

Oh, and about the cliffhanger ... ha ha ha ha ha.  I'm not gonna give anything away ... cos to tell you all the truth I don't know for certain what the cliffhanger is!  -_-*  When I first posted this I was chapters ahead and now ... it's write it as it comes into my head ...

Next – Tracey and May!  And no, I'm not a whatever-you-call-it-shipper (that's not the name), cos ... well, its like trying to clear up unwanted elements when it comes to AAML, and I wanna leave em in. 

Stay tuned folks!