Chapter Eleven: Catch Me If You Can

Cinnabar, ca. 2959

Celebii perched on a blackened tree branch, soaking in a bright noon-day sun. He had been flying around Kanto for five months, ever since he escaped through time to avoid battling Mew. He didn't like to bring pokemon through time. Nature was a delicate balance, and there was no telling what could happen.

Celebii noticed some fishermen resting on the black beach of what used to be Cinnabar Island. The only sign of the volcano was a five-story lump of molten rock. Celebii had been trying to assess what kind of damage had been done.

It wasn't that Celebii was a coward.

Really.

Something was WRONG with that Mew - very wrong.

Celebii watched the fishermen as they stopped napping and started poking the carcass of a rotting Sharpedo as it bobbed up and down at the edge of the tide. The ash from the volcanic explosion had claimed the lives of hundreds of marine life, the water too acidic to promote life.

Celebii wished Suicune was here, though he was more of a freshwater pokemon. They had become great friends, ever since he had fallen asleep one morning and nearly had the back of his head chopped off when pokemon hunters tore through his precious forest with huge machetes that left snarled, broken twigs, sap dangling from them, swaying.

Suicune had nursed him back to health, with pure water from the lake he had created. Suicune did that kind of stuff all the time - creating restorative lakes throughout Johto. When Celebii had to face the darkness as hunters manipulated him into destroying the forest, somewhere, deep down, he knew his friend would be there to save him.

He had reason to hope.

Celebii waited until nightfall, after the rest of the humans left, and soared high above the charred ruins of Cinnabar Island, tossing seeds into the dead earth. This was what Celebii loved - creating new life out of death, contributing to the continuation of the planet.

There was always hope.

ZZZZZZAAAAPPPP!

Celebii shot upwards, narrowly avoiding the red energy bolt signifying potential capture by a pokeball.

Jennifer glanced back quickly at James and Meowth, scowling as she held the GS ball. "This thing - can I try it again?"

James nodded nervously as Meowth screamed, dodging a shower of razor-sharp leaves slicing through the air.

"We gotta get outta here!" shouted the feline pokemon. Pokemon thievery was great and all – until they started getting attacked, then it wasn't fun anymore.

Jennifer glanced around as they stood atop the volcanic remains, then grit her teeth as she stared intently at the pokemon that caused Mew to get like this. "I'm staying - arrgh!" she yelled as she dodged several vines shooting up from the ground where she stood moments earlier, "- I'm staying until this aggravating chunk of flying grass gets shoved into this tiny little ball!"

Jennifer ran after Celebii as it headed for the beach. Without averting her gaze, she shouted, "What are you waiting for?"

James and Meowth looked at each other. "Oh. Right. Yeah," they responded in unison.

James hurled a pokeball into the air. "Cacnea, go!" A squat, spiky cactus pokemon materialized and was about to rush James when Meowth jumped in front of her, unsheathing his claws, growling.

"Focus, moron! We got bigger fish ta fry!"

Cacnea let out wave after wave of tiny needles from her tough skin, herding Celebii toward the surf. As the grass/psychic pokemon flew toward the churning ocean waves, a huge glob of purple liquid flew past him. Celebii glanced downwards, spotting a large black and purple snake writhing across the land, brashly spitting venom at the Legendary Pokemon. Celebii shot out a large vine, sending it straight for this new attacker.

A long red-haired woman popped up from beneath a black shawl and caught the vine with her heavily-gloved hand. With a quick yank, Jesse jerked Celebii out of the sky. He landed with a hard thump on the rocky ground, his legs sprained and a wing slightly bent. Celebii looked up at the woman and her Seviper, panting. Jesse wrapped the vine around him as Seviper hissed menacingly. Jesse towered over her victim, fighting the urge to gloat. This was the most important capture she had ever accomplished, the Boss would be ecstatic (well, when he regained conciousness, anyway), and here was a Legendary Pokemon, right in her grasp -

"That's enough gloating!" ordered Jennifer as she, James, and Meowth finally caught up. They were all breathing heavily from running over to Jesse and Seviper.

Jennifer, wiping the sweat from her forehead, grabbed Celebii by the throat with her gloved hands. She fit in one of Jesse's uniforms pretty well, although Jennifer couldn't shake the emabarassing thought that she was exposing too much skin. She grinned maliciously at the small green pokemon.

"You listen to me, you bag of lawn clippings! You're going to get in this ball and... "

"- Hey!" Jesse shouted, her blood vessels throbbing around her temples. "I caught this poke ...". Jennifer shot her a devastating glare, and Jesse said no more.

Jennifer returned her glare toward Celebii, " - like I was saying, you're going to get in this ball and take care of this problem or I'm going to feed you to these people here, with some peanut butter on top. Or perhaps I could dunk you in the ocean. They say poison hurts you more because you're made of grass, and this water looks pretty deadly to me." She brought her captive closer, just inches from her face. "Are you going to help us? Or am I going to have to sprinkle your leaves on a baked potato just to see how it tastes." In the corner of her eyes, Jennifer could see Jesse and James cowering on the ground, whimpering in fear of her tantrum. She fought the urge to smile.

Celebii nodded, while a chime resounded, signaling a trip through time.