Author's note: Well, here we go. The story should be done soon. This is a bit of an expositional chapter, and it might be a bit confusing, but please bear with me.
Butch and Cassidy waited outside the Viridian City Pokémon Centre. And waited. And waited. Cassidy's foot began to tap impatiently. They'd been waiting for two hours, and there was still no sign of that twerp with the Pikachu.
After storing that girl Misty safely aboard their nearby hidden air balloon, they had maintained a vigil outside the Centre ceaselessly. However, now they were getting bored and cranky.
Finally, Butch cracked. He reached into his pocket and produced a mobile phone and dialled a number into it. He waited for a while as the phone rang, then heard the receiver lift and a cold voice growl, "Yes?"
"Boss, it's me, Butch".
"Report, Butch".
The Rocket member smiled to himself. Giovanni was among the few people who could remember his name.
"Well, boss, we managed to capture the kid's little girlfriend Misty, after we were tipped off by our source. Has the source contacted you yet?"
"Yes, indeed. He's on his way here now, at my personal request".
"Ah, good. Um…pardon me boss, but where is "here"? I mean, where are you situated now?"
"At the base in Cinnabar Island. Now, on with the report! Have you got Ash Ketchum yet?"
"Er…no sir. We left a note instructing him to meet us at the Viridian Pokémon Centre if he wanted to see the girl again, but he hasn't shown up".
"Hmm. I see".
There was a long silence. Butch looked over at Cassidy and shrugged.
Finally, Giovanni spoke again, "Well, return to Cinnabar immediately with the girl. We'll come up with another plan. Well done, you two. Giovanni out".
Butch looked up at Cassidy, "We got to head back to the Cinnabar Island base. Let's move".
They turned and walked off, heading for the mountains, in which was a hidden path that led directly to the Pokémon League. They were unaware they were being watched. From the shadows of the Pokémon Centre, around the corner from where the two criminals had stood, Tracey Sketchit watched them go.
Team Rocket weren't the only ones who could be sneaky if they needed to.
He turned to face Ash and Brock, "Okay, guys. That guy Bilf was talking to his boss on the phone…"
"Um…isn't his name Butcher or something?" Brock wondered.
"Actually, I think it might be Bob", Tracey considered,
"What did they say about Misty?" Ash yelled, suddenly jarring them back to reality.
"Oh yeah", Tracey continued, "They're heading to Cinnabar Island, to a secret base. They're taking Misty with them, I think".
"Cinnabar Island!" Ash despaired, "How are we going to get all the way to there?"
"Calm down, Ash", Brock spread his hands in an attempt to placate his love-stricken friend, "Well, Viridian City hires out Fearows to use as taxis, not far from here. It'll be expensive to travel such a far distance, but we got no choice. They know the way home and fly home when we're done with them".
"Alright, let's get going", Ash set off, dashing down the streets of Viridian City with a surprised Brock, Tracey and Pikachu running after him.
OoOoOoOoOo
Misty was helpless. Tied and gagged, she was desperate and scared. Stuffed in the basket of Butch and Cassidy's hot air balloon that had landed somewhere obscure, all she could do was wait, with a feeling of terror and worry for Ash and her friends creeping over her. Togepi was nearby, shut away in a small cage. Unaware of their situation, it had promptly fallen asleep.
After hours of waiting, when the tears had finally dried on her face, she heard footsteps. The foliage covering the balloon was pulled aside, and the smug face of Cassidy glowered down at her.
"Well, hello hun. Miss us?"
Misty glared at her, eyes wild with fury.
"Oh good. Me and Butch are going somewhere special, and you're coming with us".
The woman leapt aboard the basket, and Butch followed a second after. They ignited the balloon's fuel, and it slowly rose into the air, levitating like a dreaded Ghost Pokémon.
"Well, you're little friend didn't show up. I guess you're not worth anything to him", Butch sneered.
"That's right. How heroic", Cassidy's face was the very essence of smug sarcasm.
The look Misty threw at her was icy and cold, and it chilled Cassidy somewhat. But she regained herself and turned away, returning to steering their vessel in the direction of the distant Cinnabar Island.
OoOoOoOoOo
A full day and night passed before the Team Rocket balloon began to descend upon the remote, large island that was Cinnabar. And not far behind them, riding upon three majestic Fearow, were Ash, Brock and Tracey.
They had crossed many horizons, but had always stayed just out of sight of the balloon, relying on Tracey's binoculars to keep track of it. And all the time, Ash had been thinking about Misty, his blood surging through his body at alarming velocity and fury as he thought what the Team Rocket members might be doing and saying to her.
A large building, with a flat roof, seemed to be the destination of Team Rocket. Tracey reached for his binoculars and watched. As the balloon descended, the roof slid open to allow it to enter.
"That must be Team Rocket's new base!" Tracey said, "We'll land in the town, and investigate on foot".
"Right, we better take it slow, the last thing we want is to rush in there like morons and get ourselves caught", Brock muttered, "Right Ash?"
There was no answer.
"Ash? Ash?"
He turned to look, "Where's Ash gone?"
Tracey was again using his binoculars, "Oh no!"
The balloon was still sinking into the building, and next to it, looking like a tiny toy in comparison, was a Fearow with a passenger on its back. It was rocketing in a full nose-dive into the open building. At the last moment, Ash leapt off the bird, and it veered away, making for the skies. Apparently Ash had told it to head back for home.
Ash fell, clutching Pikachu in his jacket, and as he dropped he just had the presence of mind to reach out and grab a metal strut on the inside of the building that was part of a supporting piece of scaffolding. The force of his fall caused him to swing violently, and it was some time before he could steady himself.
Pikachu looked at him and shook his head, amazed but proud at his recklessness. Below them, the balloon landed in a vast hall, and above them the roof whirred and clicked shut.
Fortunately, the two remained unnoticed. Cassidy and Butch stepped out of the basket, then Butch reached in and grabbed Misty roughly by the arm and dragged her out. Cassidy picked up a cage containing Togepi and carried it off. Ash and Pikachu tensed at the sight of their friends being roughly escorted to a large door, which evidently led to an even bigger room.
"Misty…" Ash whispered.
"Pipipi…" Pikachu murmured.
Ash looked along the scaffolding they were balancing on. It led directly to the next room, as the wall didn't reach up to the roof, as it needed to retract effectively. Ash began steadily crawling along the struts, and Pikachu followed, deeper into the heart of the Team Rocket Headquarters.
OoOoOoOoOo
Brock and Tracey stared dumbfounded at the closed roof, as if expecting Ash and Pikachu to remerge at any second. They didn't. The Fearow hovered patiently. Finally, Brock spoke.
"If Ash ever gets out of there, I'm going to kill him myself".
Tracey nodded, "Oh yeah. But first, we better go help him".
"Right. Let's land, and try to get inside the building".
Upon receiving orders, the Fearow began to spiral down to land on Cinnabar, at a more sensible and respectable distance from Team Rocket's Headquarters.
OoOoOoOoOo
Ash looked down. He and Pikachu were above a massive, circular room, where everything was bare, stripped to the raw metal, all industrial and harsh. Swarming less than twenty feet below him were dozens of Team Rocket members.
Wearing their traditional black uniforms and caps, they were gathering around in a massive, wide circle, organized and disciplined. Misty, Butch and Cassidy were at the inner rim of the circle. The Rocket members seemed tense, as if waiting for someone.
Ash had a good idea who they were waiting for.
Butch ungagged and untied Misty. She glared at him fiercely, still unbowed and proud, and Ash's heart swelled with admiration and pride.
A gap opened in the circle, and four figures walked into the centre of it. Flanking the middle figures, as if bodyguards were a familiar looking Rhydon and Nidoking. One of the middle figures was relatively small, a sleek, graceful Persian,
The other was the man Ash recoiled from in a mixture of disgust and terror from at the sight of him. The man who had relentlessly ordered his agents to hunt Ash and his friends down for years. The man who had shown no remorse in invading his house and crippling his mother. The man who now glowered triumphantly over the girl he loved more than anything in the world.
Giovanni, dressed smartly in his orange-red suit, smiled, and Ash could see his face all too clearly and hear him all too well.
"Well, well, Miss Waterflower. Welcome to our humble home".
Misty didn't answer.
"You do us a great honour. Rarely does someone do us such a great favour. You know, of course, why we have you here?"
Still no response.
"But of course you do. To tempt your moronic friend here, and then our business with him will be complete".
Misty clenched her fists and roared to life all of a sudden, "How can you do this to people? People are not to be played with and manipulated! Don't you care, don't you know what it's like to love, don't you know what it's like to be scared, don't you know what…"
She cut herself off as she saw the expression on Giovanni's face. He seemed thoroughly amused, as did his smug Persian.
"Young lady, I assure you I understand the concept of love and fear. I know how to use them, to wield them like weapons. They are very effective. But let me assure you, I have…no personal awareness of them".
He half-turned away, as if finished with her, "Well, your friend should be here soon. Well, at least I hope so. Sadly, he's so dense we may be in for a very long wait. Perhaps a week or more. So you'll be kept in a first-class cell until then. Cassidy, Butch, take her away".
Giovanni turned to talk to a Rocket member, stooping slightly as he was much taller than his minion. Nidoking, Rhydon and Persian turned with him. They were now facing away from Ash. The circle of Rocket members began to fragment, as they formed their own groups. Cassidy and Butch closed in on Misty to take her away.
Ash suddenly found himself remembering one of his more pleasant memories. He and Misty, maybe a month after they had confessed their love to each other and defeated Giovanni for the first time, had gone alone to a peaceful, quiet field outside of Pallet Town alone. They had joked and teased and run around like young people in love do. When they were finally tired, they had sat down under the shade of a tree, and Ash had cuddled up to Misty as she sang quietly.
"Together forever, no matter how long,
From now until the end of time,
We'll be together, and you can be sure,
That forever and a day, that's how long we'll stay,
Together and forever more".
It was one of the sweetest things Ash had ever heard, and he found himself astonished that the girl who was usually so hot-tempered and impatient could be so tender to him. Him of all people, the dopey, bizarre trainer from Pallet Town who had overslept on the first day of his Pokémon journey. He had to help her.
Ash was often called reckless, dangerously random and even outright crazy with regards to his sudden decision-making. There were many times when Tracey, Brock or particularly Misty had yelled at him as he rushed off into another crazily dangerous situation, and he hadn't heeded their words, instead plunging headfirst into startling adversity.
Some would call him brave, others would say he had a death wish. Some simply dismissed him as dense. Personally, he preferred to think of it as "impulsive".
He could at least wait until the Rocket members split up, and he could then sneak off and try to free Misty secretly, although it would still be mind-crushingly dangerous. But no, not Ash Ketchum. As he looked at his beloved in danger and being moved away from him, his impulses and instincts took over, and before he really knew what he was doing, he took his like-minded buddy Pikachu hand in hand, and leapt down.
Twenty feet, into a circle of villains and robbers, all who would have gladly killed him at a moment's notice. In striking distance of Rhydon and Nidoking, who were a brigade's worth of firepower in their own right. And of course Giovanni, the most powerful trainer Ash had ever encountered, the sinister genius behind the largest criminal organization, who just happened to be his mortal enemy as well.
But because he was Ash, he leapt down to face them.