A/N:

Kani: (Reading over the reviews) Wow, you sure are loved, Sandstone

Sandstone: (Shuddering) Why do I always get hated in real life, and loved digitally? How about a little ballance?

Kani: (Smiles, and goes back to her readings)

Chigy: Right... (Backs away slowly) You do that. I'm going to go work on WoH and BoBF now.

seantheimp: No, I'm not murdering them. However, Tssalyo and other Rockets might die, thanks to a certain DP and a few other crazed pokemon... there's a hint for you. Chew on it for awhile.

Fjord Cannon: Mmm... cookies... yummies.

Jedi Master Kyre AKA JMK AKA Chaos Storm: (Slowly climbs out of the glomp) Uhm... right.

Kani: (Snicker) Heh. Poor Sandstone... having a life sucks, doesn't it?

Sandstone: Yeah. More than you can ever guess.

Soren Whitebird/Killer Storm X: Celebrate... I've played that DDR song, it pissed me off to no end. Oh, and things are going well. I've even found a way to include Rockets in the mix.

Doom18769: Sick, sick mind. You know that, right?

Lyfe.exe: Right... (Backs away slowly)


The Rockets' Futile Attack:


Chris slowly climbed out of bed, and slipped on some clothing over his pjs, which consisted of a beat-up pair of shorts, and a raggedy t-shirt. Once he was dressed, he nudged Kani until she yawned, stretched, and got to her feet.

The two of them walked outside of the center, which opened early thanks to the proximity of the Safari Zone.


Ash woke up, and stretched slowly. For one, he'd woken up early, rather than sleeping in, like he usually did. He looked around, recognizing Chris's pokemon, but the gifted one and his Espeon weren't there. His Ninetails was just waking up as well, but yawned, before jumping forward, and disappearing into empty air. Ash took a moment to recognize it as a Faint Attack.

Yawning, he got dressed, and picked up Pikachu, who was still sleeping.


Outside, the two Rockets and one familiar Meowth hid behind some bushes. Meowth said softly, "That's one of the twerps we saw with the twerps."

Jessie peered towards the pokemon by his side, unable to see what it was thanks to the rising sun. They were just standing there, watching it rise apparently. "What's that pokemon at his side? I can't make it out."

James squinted, and said softly, "That's an Espeon. But it looks like it's got a darker fur color than normal ones."

Meowth's jaw dropped, and he said (like he'd been hit by a brilliant revelation), "We should steal that pokemon, and give it to the boss!"

James and Jessie gave him skeptical looks. "Why would the boss want a freakshow Espeon?"

Meowth crossed his arms, and said, "Because, different colored pokemon are worth a lot more to collectors. Even if da boss doesn't want to keep it, he can still sell it for oodles of money. And you know what he'll say, either way? 'I should reward Meowth and his friends for giving me this rare and valuable pokemon.'"

Jessie and James had visions of promotions and money floating in front of their eyes for a moment. Jessie was the first to shake it off, as she stared at the trainer. "He's a lot older than the twerps, though."

James shuddered. "What if he's been training for years on end? It never goes well when we take on experienced trainers."

Meowth growled, and extended his claws. He scratched James on the face, and said wickedly, "Anything else to say, Jimbo?"

James covered his face, and babbled a 'no'. The three Rockets snuck away.


Chris silently stood beside Kani, watching the sun rise. It was an Espeon ritual, but it was also peaceful (you never saw trainers who rose at the dawn, even the morning-types), and it helped clear his mind when he needed some peace.

Kani's forehead gem was glimmering brightly in the morning light. The sun was halfway risen when Mathrara basically stepped from nowhere (he'd used Faint Attack to leave the room), and plopped down next to them. Sometimes, he liked to show up, according to Kani. She didn't care, because the first time he'd tried to bother her (before he'd evolved), she had sent him flying like a toy. Dawn was an Espeon's prime time, in terms of power. The morning sun gave them a massive boost in vitality, like a fire type gained power from Sunny Day, or a water type under a downpour.

The three remained silent, until the sun fully rose. Kani nodded silently, and Chris gave her a return nod, before turning back to the pokemon center, and walking inside.

Inside, they caught a slightly-bleary eyed Ash and Pikachu just starting to eat breakfast. Chris looked towards his room, then shrugged, and sat down at Ash's table. He asked curiously, "You're up at this hour?"

Ash gave him a humorless smile, and asked in return, "Why are you up?"

Chris shrugged, and looked over in Kani's direction. "When you train an Espeon, you get involved in a few things. One of them being a sunrise greeting ritual."

Ash winced, before he caught Chris's grin, and then said quickly, "You're joking, aren't you?"

Chris laughed. After a few seconds of mirth, he explained with a grin, "I don't have to go, but it helps clear my head."

Mathrara commented dryly from his plate-full of meat, (Yeah, and we all know your head needs clearing sometimes…)

Chris just snorted in response, and gave him a 'look who's talking' look. Mathrara smirked in response, and went back to his meal.


The others trickled in one by one. Brock was first, and commented in shock the moment he saw Ash up, "Ash? What're you… I've never seen you get up this early before!"

Ash laughed embarrassedly, and Brock went up to Chris, and studied the teenaged trainer, before saying, "It's nice to meet an early-rising trainer for once. You won't believe all the times Ash has slept in, and made us miss our boat…"

Ash reddened at Brocks commentary, while Chris just laughed. "Well, no worries there. Kani would kill me if I overslept."

Mathrara snickered, while Kani shot a dark look at the two males. Chris just grinned in return, and she shook her head helplessly, defeated by the fact that it was true.


Teskara and Anekiro were next, and the girls were last to arrive, about an hour after Brock had woken up. Misty and Ash kissed briefly (obviously, they did that every day, because Brock didn't comment), but it caused the supposedly 'destined' pair to look at each other for a fraction of a second, before looking away, both of them slightly red in the face.

Brock started to comment, but Sanja shot him a look promising doom on him if he said a word, and he shut his mouth quickly. Chris gestured wordlessly to the buffet that was set out, and the girls went up to eat, the others just trying to chat idly while they ate, or nibbling on something.


Brock asked as they left the Pokemon Center, "Chris, what do you know about this Tssalyo person's pokemon team?"

Chris shook his head. "Half poison types, enough to satisfy the league, and the other half are types that counter out poison type's weaknesses. That's all I got from the other Rocket executive. The guy's sort of a lunatic, or something."

Misty commented, with a fire burning in her eyes, "You have to be crazy to join Team Rocket."

There was a sneeze from overhead, and the humans / pokemon looked up, to be greeted to a floating Meowth-shaped balloon. Ash, Misty, and Brock shouted at once, "Team Rocket! What do you want this time?"

"Prepare for trouble." "And make it double." "To protect…" Ash shouted, "We know! 'to protect the world from devastation, to unite all peoples within our nation'… we've heard it so many times, how could we NOT remember it?"

Jessie called down (a vein in her forehead sticking out), "Relax, twerp, we're not after your Pikachu."

Meowth commented, "But we'll take the Dragonair and Espeon!" Two rubber-gloves reached out, and grabbed the pokemon, pulling them aloft. Anekiro squirmed within the grip, then ran a Thunderwave across his body, but neither freed him.

Ash looked over towards Chris, who had a slight smirk on his face, as he merely looked up at the balloon. He (Chris) called out, "Hey, Sanja? Want to bet how long it takes for the two of them to slip away?"

Sanja crossed her arms, and tilted her head skyward. The three others were confused by their actions, as the Rockets started to sail out of sight, their cargo intact.


Kani freed herself from the grasp of the hand by her… strange gift, and appeared dangling on Anekiro's tail. She gasped, and had to dig her claws into Anekiro's skin before she 'teleported' them up into the balloon's basket, causing the Dragonair to cry out in mild shock as her claws pierced his skin.

The Rockets were looking down towards the hands, as they appeared on the edge of the basket, Kani standing easily on the ledge thanks to her catlike grace, Anekiro contenting himself with hovering in place.

Meowth said, "Myah…" The hands hadn't been forced open, and they'd paid a bundle to make them attack-proof, even from psychic attacks. Jessie shouted, "I thought you paid them so that no psychic attacks would work, Meowth!"

Meowth said, "Well…"

James said curiously, "Wait, they're not broken. That means they slipped out somehow, or are invisible."
Meowth said, "Well, that's no help! Espeon can't teleport, and that Dragonair couldn't have slipped through the hand's grip!"

Anekiro poked the three with a slap of his tail, and the Rockets turned, and were greeted by the sight of him giving them a Leer, while Kani perched on the edge. She jumped on top of Anekiro, and the two of them flew off, returning to their trainer.

James shouted in frustration, "Cacnea, Pin Missile!" The Cacnea instead turned, and gave him a spiney hug, causing him to scream as the two drifted out of range.


Chris gave a grin towards Kani and Anekiro, as Anekiro hovered about a foot off the ground, and Kani jumped off him. Ash said, "Wow. I wish getting Pikachu back from them was that easy."

Brock laughed half-heartedly, as the Rocket's balloon turned, and the Rockets jumped out of their basket, landing on the ground. Jessie shouted, "We worked hard to steal those pokemon, and we paid good money for those traps, so we're keeping them!"

Meowth added, "Yeah!"

Chris looked over at Ash, who had a sly grin on his face. The Rockets called out a Seviper, Chimcho, Dustox, and Cacnea. Chris motioned for Kani to go up, as Ash's Pikachu took another position, facing off against Chimecho.

The third pokemon was Teskara,. Chris turned to Sanja, and then asked, (Mind taking the fourth pokemon?)

Sanja nodded, and released Dasban, who crossed her 'arms', a dark smile on her face.

Sanja mimicked her pokemon, and moved up beside Ash and Chris. Chris crossed his arms, and said, "Your move."

Seviper launched a Haze attack, but Kani countered it with a reflect wall, causing the smoke to blind only the Rockets. Chris only took a moment, before he said softly, "Teskara, fire off some Razor Leafs into that smoke. You'll hit something, if you aim straight ahead."

Teskara gave her a strange look, saying (But there's a… whatever.) She swung her leaf forward, and sharp leaves rushed to the barrier, then passed straight through it, into the cloud. Meowth's screech was heard as he was apparently cut up by the Razor Leafs.

As Ash began to look confused, Brock said as if hit by a revelation, "I get it. The Reflect blocks physical attacks, like a haze attack. But special attacks, like a Razor Leaf, go straight through it!"

The smoke cleared up enough to reveal the Rockets, the Seviper in the process of biting the Chimecho, and the Cacnea, strangely enough, was giving James a spikey hug. The Reflect faded away, and Teskara took a moment, before she burst out laughing, her leaf swaying from side to side as she laughed helplessly at their predicament.

James managed to remove the desert pokemon from his body, and said, "Chimecho! Use a Sing attack!"

Chimecho started to sing, but none of the pokemon were affected by it. Seviper went charging forward, fangs and tail bared, but Dasban charged it, her type protecting her from the Seviper as she went claw to fang (or tail) with it.

Chris called out, "Kani, Psychic. Levitate the Dustox onto the Cacnea, the spikes should damage it. Teskara, hit the Chimecho with a Body Slam."

Ash watched as the various pokemon went to work, his Pikachu remaining in the back. Then, as Dustox rammed Cacnea again and again, Pikachu grinned, and raced forward, his tail glowing. Just as Dustox rammed Cacnea again (distracting it yet again from being able to use Pin Missile), Pikachu nailed the two pokemon with an Iron Tail – a direct hit. The two went flying past the fighting Dasban and Seviper (Dasban holding the Seviper's tail with one pincer, and the jaws off with her other), and into the confused Chimecho, who had just dodged Teskara's Body Slam attack. The result was that three of the four pokemon were piled onto each other, and Dasban added to the pile by kicking Seviper, and caused it to loosen up in shock, then smashing it into the heap of pokemon.

Pikachu, smiling, stepped calmly towards the four pokemon, who were struggling to get up, well aware of what was going to happen. But all four were surrounded by a white barrier, which refused to let them loose. Pikachu stopped a foot away from them, and Ash called out, "Thunderbolt!"

The electrical attack (hitting at the same time Kani stopped producing the Reflect) sent the pokemon flying into their Rocket owners, and then sent the said Rockets flying off with a hasty, "Team Rocket's blasting off again!"

"Woba Wobaaaaa!"

Chris shook his head tiredly, then motioned onwards, saying lightly, "So far, that's four Rockets… well, five, if you count that one guy at the Tower. I don't know why I'm so worried." They walked slowly as they talked, Pikachu listening from his perch on Ash's head.

Ash shook his head, and Misty said warningly, "Those two are really incompetent. The other Rockets are a lot better, so don't get overconfident."

Chris looked curiously at the three trainers, and Misty elaborated, "We've had a lot of problems with Team Rocket, we've faced a lot of them."

Sanja asked, "So why aren't you out trying to stop them?"

Brock, Misty, and Ash took on guilty expressions. Brock said softly, "I've got a family. If they find out I've been foiling plan after plan, they'll take them hostage, or kill them."

Misty nodded, adding, "I don't want my sisters to get in big trouble because of me. Even if we don't get along, I don't want them ending up dead."

Ash remained silent, until Misty nudged him. He said in a tired voice, "Mom was killed by the Rockets. I've gotten so tired of them attacking me, I just want some honest pokemon battles with no threats. Besides, they'd go after Misty's family if I did too much."

Misty rested her hand on Ash's arm, and he reached over, hugging her waist to himself as they walked. The two looked like a couple going through a problem they'd faced a lot before, and weren't afraid… not much. Worried for each other, certainly, but not worried excessively.

Chris mused softly, "And we are the movers and shakers of the world… forever and ever it seems…"

Brock asked, "Arthur O'Shaughnessy, right?"
Chris nodded softly, but otherwise seemed to be in a silent discussion with his pokemon.