Ryan barely slept that night, and come morning, he was exhausted. All he saw when he closed his eyes were those two large eyes locked behind the bars of the cage. They had looked at him, and for a moment, he had felt a connection with the Pokémon inside. I wonder if that really was a legendary Mew. Dex said so… but he's just a computer. What does he really know?

Regardless, Ryan and Logan rose early in the morning, left the smoldering ruin that was Lavender Town, and plodded off down Route 8 towards Saffron City. Logan was in good spirits, for he had gotten a good night's sleep. Funny that he would be the one to get good sleep here of all places. He's the one afraid of ghosts, not me. Route 8 was a quiet route, barely inhabited by Pokémon or travelers, and they made good time to the city. Ryan only met a few wanderers and Super Nerds on the way, but his Muk dealt with them easily. The money he won from beating them he knew would be crucial in getting him some breakfast in the big city. As long as there aren't any Old Man Jenkins in Saffron, I shouldn't go broke again.

When they arrived in Saffron City, it had begun to rain slightly. The sun was a lonely, cold beacon in the sky, and grey clouds crowded around it. Saffron City was the biggest city Ryan had ever seen. It was so vast, it took his breath away. Through the eastern gate the two boys went, and almost immediately, skyscrapers surrounded them on all sides. Cars sped through the streets, spraying water everywhere, and people hurried across the sidewalks in seemingly endless streams. It was overwhelming.

"Man, this place is huge," Ryan said to Logan. "We could get lost here easy."

"Don't worry, I know this city. I used to live here."

"Oh nice. So where's the gym?"

Logan pointed to the street intersecting the one they were standing on. "You just have to go north until you reach the end of this road, and then go west. The gym's all the way down the west road. You can't miss it."

"Uh, aren't you coming with me?"

"Nah, I have to check some stuff out first. I'll meet up with you later."

"What stuff?"

"Just stuff…" Ryan raised an eyebrow. "Well, you know, I used to live here. I just wanted to check up on a friend of mine I haven't seen in a long time. Don't worry, I'll meet you at the gym."

"Okay," Ryan replied.

Logan walked off in the other direction and soon he was lost amongst the throngs of sapiens. Ryan sighed and pushed on. It wasn't raining so hard that he needed an umbrella, but he was still annoyed by how wet he was getting. After walking up the street for a few blocks, he saw a Poké Center, went inside, and purchased a new black-and-white hoodie. Then, he rested his Pokémon for a few minutes and exchanged Swirlie Whirlie for his new Haunter, whom he had named Spectre. Spectre would be his ticket to beating Sabrina, he knew. No one else mattered in the upcoming battle. Ghost Pokémon are the best counters to psychic Pokémon. He made sure his new Haunter was healthy, then gathered his Poké Balls, and set back out into the city.

It had started raining harder since he had gone in the Poké Center, and now the sidewalks were swamped with rushing water. People were running past him, and when lightning began to crack across the sky, Ryan ran too. He ran all the way to the gym, past the people, past the lights of cars and lamps and buildings, all blurred together in blues and reds and greens. He was out of breath when he found the Saffron City Gym, tucked away neatly in the northwestern corner of Saffron City. His heart beat like a drum, not just from exertion, but from anticipation. This was the single most important Gym Leader for him to face, he thought. She was well-renowned for her skill and intuition. Sabrina would be the first true test to see how well he'd do in the Indigo League. Without hesitation, Ryan went inside.

This place looks more like a temple than a gym, Ryan thought. Pillars of stone with lit torches dotted the room, while curved walls gave way to the darkness beyond. As he moved forward, Ryan noticed tables full of young trainers trying to perform various psychic maneuvers. One girl was trying to bend a spoon with her mind, while others were trying to guess cards. A big fat man was trying to catch a bullet with his teeth, and a hobbling British fellow looked like he was about to saw himself in half he was so saturated with orange juice. Ryan shook the water off of himself like a Growlithe, which horrified the guard standing at the door, and walked over to the table with the cards.

Pointing at the girl who was holding three cards up, but facing them away from the boy who was trying to guess them, Ryan said recklessly, "Queen of hearts, seven of clubs, and the jack of spades."

The girl let out a squeal before dropping the cards onto the table; thus were the very same three cards Ryan had guessed revealed. "Y-you're psychic! Wow, you have great telekinetic powers!" she said, awe in her voice.

"Yep. That's all skill, baby," Ryan grinned, before marching off, leaving the group to wonder how he had managed to do that.

Ryan came upon another set of doors further in, where a second guard stood. "I want to battle Sabrina for a Marsh Badge," he explained, and the guard bowed before opening the door and letting him in.

Ryan stepped into the stage, which was dim-lit, surrounded by pillars and torches, and rather confined. On the far side, a woman sat in a chair. She was pale-skinned and wore a crimson tank top that revealed her flat belly, and white pants. She's pretty, for a Gym Leader. But she's nothing compared to Olivia. Her face was blank, but her eyes watched Ryan as he moved into his spot.

"I'm here for a Gym Battle!" Ryan shouted, his voice echoing through the chamber. "I challenge you for a Marsh Badge!"

"As you wish," Sabrina said. Ryan thought he saw a red glow in her eyes. She stood and drew a Poké Ball. "Three on three. Is that okay with you?"

"Sure."

Sabrina nodded curtly. She threw her ball, and out popped a sleeping Abra. Daggers cut through Ryan's heart seeing the Pokémon, opening old wounds he had wished to forget. I wanted Abra to help me beat this gym more than anything. But now I'd just settle for seeing him again. He felt his nails digging into his palms again and had to stop himself before he drew blood.

Ryan threw his Poké Ball, and out poofed his Haunter. Spectre hovered over the sleeping psychic Pokémon, grinning slyly.

"Use Hypnosis," Ryan urged his ghost Pokémon.

"Flash, now," Sabrina commanded calmly.

Haunter dodged the Flash and then proceeded to hypnotize the Abra. He's already asleep. I wonder if Hypnosis will actually do anything. But apparently it did, for when Haunter's attack was finished, Abra collapsed on the floor, arms and legs splayed in all directions, snoring as loud as Rahul after a particularly good episode of Doctor Who. Ryan almost laughed. The lazy abandon of it all reminded him of someone he once knew.

"Perfect, great work Haunter. Now use Dream Eater!"

"Haunter, Haunter," the Haunter cackled, not listening to Ryan. He proceeded to Lick the Abra, which did minimal damage.

Still the Abra slept.

"Use Nightshade!" Ryan commanded.

Spectre licked the Abra again.

"Come on, Haunter, listen to me!" Ryan complained. "I'm your new master!"

Spectre turned to face Ryan. He bared his teeth at the teal-haired boy before doing a somersault and sticking his tongue out. He doesn't take this seriously. But why? I have five badges. He should listen to me!

"Abra, return. Go Kadabra," Sabrina said.

This time, Spectre tried to use another Hypnosis, and Ryan wasn't sure if he was listening, for that was the move he wanted his good 'mon to use. But the Kadabra deftly dodged the sleep-inducer, leaving Spectre vulnerable.

"Psychic!"

Haunter could not dodge that attack, and it hit him square in the face. The ghost Pokémon flew back into the wall, and sank to the ground, his eyes closed, his mouth open in surprise, a little bit of spittle running down his sharp purple teeth.

Ryan's heart sank with his newest buddy. But… Haunter was supposed to be the Pokémon to defeat Sabrina. How could he lose so badly? Scrambling, Ryan took out his next Pokémon - Aegon. He hadn't hoped it would come to this, and he didn't really have a strategy for what to do now that his Haunter was down. He knew the battle was already over. He wanted to run out of there, he was so embarrassed.

"Go Aegon."

"Psychic!"

The Charmeleon was hit savagely by the attack, instantly knocking him out. Ryan reached for his next ball, which held Thurnax. You're my last hope, girl.

"Go Thurnax."

Sabrina was a spammer if Ryan ever saw one. She used another Psychic attack, but that bounced rather harmlessly off of Thurnax's belly.

"Hyper Beam!"

"Araghrahah!" Thurnax bellowed. She was hit with another Psychic, but it was no matter. The two beams had only inflicted flesh wounds.

The stage lit up and a bright white light overcame Kadabra. The Psychic Pokémon screamed in horror as it was overwhelmed with energy. When the smoke and light cleared, there stood Kadabra, covered in scrapes and bruises, and he looked as overcooked as a Thanksgiving ham at my Grandmother's house. He let out one hollow 'Kadabra!' before falling over.

"Return, Kadabra. Go Alakazam," Sabrina said calmly. It was like she hadn't even lost a Pokémon.

It's down to this, Ryan knew. All I have to do is beat one more Pokémon, and I will have my sixth badge. Come on, Ryan, you can do it!

"Finish him off with a Hyper Beam, Thurnax!"

"Psychic," Sabrina said calmly.

Thurnax was hit with the beam first, and this one did far more damage than the Kadabra's, Ryan knew. Thurnax let out a howl of pain and wobbled in place before falling on her back. His Pokémon was running out of time. Thurnax is at less than half health now, he guessed. Thurnax's Hyper Beam shot wildly in the air as she fell over from the Psychic, hitting the ceiling and causing a large chunk of it to fall onto the stage. Ryan's heart sank even further. It was definitely at the bottom of the sea now. For a moment, there had been hope. And then, it had all gone away, as smoothly as an old man easing himself into a bathtub.

"Finish it off with another Psychic."

"Hyper Beam!" Ryan screamed desperately, but it was no use. Thurnax was slower. The Psychic hit first. And it was a crit if Ryan ever saw one. Thurnax collapsed, defeated; then, the boy returned her. He knew it wasn't her fault. She did good. It was his fault for overestimating his team. He had always thought he could beat Sabrina if only he had a ghost Pokémon… but that was more fantasy than reality. Ryan shrugged his shoulders forward and held back the tears he knew were coming. Even this far into his journey, a defeat such as this was hard to stomach. Speaking of stomachs, Ryan thought, glancing up at Sabrina again. Man, she's nice.

"Good game," Sabrina said before sitting down again. "Your Pokémon are strong, but you need to train them some more. I look forward to our next match."

"Th-thanks," Ryan replied, not looking at her.

He turned to leave, when Sabrina spoke again. There was not a trace of emotion in her voice. "Next time before we battle, I'll make sure I put on some makeup. Would you like that, kid? I know I'm no Olivia, but beggars can't be choosers, right?"

Ryan's jaw dropped. "Wait… how do you know…?"

Sabrina smiled thinly and then opened the far doors with her psychic powers. Ryan stood there for another moment and then sprinted out. Did she read my mind? Did she know everything I was thinking? Ryan felt his cheeks flushing in supreme embarrassment, even though he was now no longer in the room with Sabrina. Oh well. Next time, I'll beat her, and she won't have anything to say.

He waited for Logan for a long while. He waited almost fifteen minutes. But Ryan was an impatient boy by nature, so he soon decided to leave the Saffron City Gym. He knew he'd find Logan somewhere somehow, before this was all over. That was a certainty in a story like this. Ryan returned to the Poké Center, healed his Pokémon, ordered a sandwich, and began to think. How am I supposed to beat her if my ghost Pokémon isn't actually the counter to psychic types? Thurnax did good, but I don't think she could last forever. And her Pokémon are all faster than mine. Aegon and Reek'll get knocked out before they can attack for sure. Maybe Myrrah could last a turn or two, but could she outduel the Alakazam?

No, he knew. He needed his Pokémon to get stronger. But Ryan was in a quandary. While he could very well stay here for weeks training his Pokémon, and undoubtedly, that would produce a victory against Sabrina, he lacked the time to do that. He had to meet Rahul and Alex in Celadon soon. He was already behind schedule, he knew. I was supposed to be there already. I don't want them to leave me behind. He liked Logan, but he didn't want to give up traveling with Rahul and Alex for his newest companion.

Ryan left the Poké Center and began to wander through the city. There were few people out now, even though the rain had died down a bit, and he liked that. He pulled his hoodie up and began to pace like a hobo madman. Ryan didn't get many ideas as he was walking about, but soon, he found himself in front of a curious building with a large sign that read 'Fighting Dojo'. That sounds promising, he thought. So he went inside.

It was a hot, dusty place inside, as different from the rest of Saffron City as Ryan could have guessed. The floor and walls were made of bamboo, and there were piles of cardboard boxes stacked about the room in a patternless but deliberate way. In the center of the room, there was a large fighting mat, with four wooden posts, and a man wearing a white gi was kneeling in meditation in the middle of that. Everything looked so balanced, so harmonic to the teal-haired boy, that at once he felt at peace. Ryan shook himself off and then walked up to the man, who might've been asleep. He's snoring. Ryan was having flashbacks to Koga. I don't want to make this man scream like a girl either, so he tapped him lightly on the shoulder.

Still the man sprung up, his eyes darting this way and that, his hands out in a fighting pose, a shrill exhale escaping from his lips. Ryan put his hands over his ears, but it was too late. The pain in his poor sensitive ears made him tear up. When the man saw him, he frowned and lowered his attack stance.

"What are you doing in here? And are you crying?"

"No!" Ryan said earnestly, wiping away the tears. You're one to talk. You just screamed like you were high on helium. "I wanted to know what this place is."

"Oh." The man looked around, as if trying to figure out if Ryan had come with anyone else. "Did you want the guided tour, or were you looking for the brochure?"

"Well, I wanted to see if this was a place I could train my Pokémon. I need to beat Sabrina by today, and my Pokémon just aren't strong enough yet."

The man laughed and sat back down. "You can't even beat Sabrina, and you're coming in here? Do you know what this place is?"

"Nope."

"We used to be a gym, just like Sabrina's place. We specialized in fighting type Pokémon. But, there can be only eight!" The man shouted that last line and jumped up again to point his index finger as high as he could. "So we battled, and Sabrina won. It didn't take long for Gym Leader Kiyo to leave here. Now, I'm the only one left. I was his first student."

"That sucks." Ryan sat down across from the man.

"It was most unfortunate," the martial artist nodded. "Fighting types are of course weak to psychic Pokémon, so we stood no chance. She ran us out of business."

"So why are you still here then?"

"It's my duty, as the last student of Master Kiyo, to uphold his trainings and philosophy of raising the most disciplined and technically-proficient fighting Pokémon!"

"So do you have a lot of fighting Pokémon here?"

"I may." The man's answer was more cagey than Ryan had anticipated.

"Can I battle against them to try to level up my 'mons a few times?"

"You have to battle me before you can use the dojo," the man said. He stood up and took out a Poké Ball. "Are you ready to defend your honor against me?"

"Uh, yeah. Okay. How many?"

"Two on two."

"Sounds good."

"I'm Ryan, by the way," Ryan said.

"Hideyoshi," the man grunted, and then bowed. "I will show you the true power of fighting type Pokémon."

Yeah, sure you will. I bet these are the same ones who lost to Sabrina, just like me. We're just a bunch of losers fighting each other. This is going to end really well. That did not give Ryan much hope of getting his own Pokémon any stronger, but he had no other options.

"Go Spectre."

"Primeape, I choose you."

"Thunderbolt," Ryan ordered.

"Rock Slide!" the man roared.

The Haunter was faster, much to Ryan's relief, and the bolt of lightning that he hurled at the Primeape was as blindingly fast as it was lethal - as soon as the electricity exploded and vaporized around the pig monkey thing, Primeape fell over, unconscious.

"Alright!" Ryan said. "Good work, Spectre!" He's listening to me again. That's a good sign.

"Unconventional move for a Haunter," the man replied in a gruff voice. "I was not expecting that! Go, Machamp!"

"Okay Spectre, do a Hypnosis this time!"

"Haunter, haunt." Uh oh. I know that tone.

"Earthquake, Machamp!"

The Haunter drifted lazily over to the Machamp and licked him long and hard, like a lollerpop. Ryan was horrified. As gross as it looked, he knew that was the weakest of Spectre's moves. A second later, the stage began to rumble, and Haunter, though he was a floating Pokémon, was evidently damaged by the move. Ryan called haxs, but alas, this was not his dojo. Spectre was severely damaged by the attack.

"Haunter, put the Machamp to sleep!" Ryan pleaded. "He's going to KO you if you don't! Stop using your weakest moves and obey me!"

"Haunter!" Spectre sneered. He gave Ryan a foul look; he most certainly did not want to be bossed around like that. Too bad. It's the job of every Pokémon to listen to their master.

Haunter proceeded to use Dream Eater on Machamp, which was just about the stupidest thing Ryan had ever seen. The move, of course, only works on sleeping Pokémon, so it failed on Machamp, who was as lucid as Phillip Wang. "You're a Haunter!" Ryan shouted, outrage clear in his voice. "You know what your moves do! Why would you do that?"

"Haunter…"

Another Earthquake followed, and that put Spectre in the ground. Ryan returned him, annoyed as he had ever been. He threw that match. He knew exactly what he was doing. Why would he do that? Why doesn't he like me? I was never mean to him. I never hurt him or made fun of him… I treated him like all of my other Pokémon. Why can't he see that?

"Go, Tauros."

"Let's try a Submission, heh!"

"Stomp him NaVorro!"

"Now this is a fight!" the man laughed. "Yeah, let's see some tackling! Show me what you got Machamp!"

Well, Machamp was the slower of the two, so he didn't show much at first. Tauros slammed his hoof into Machamp, sending the four-armed freak spinning and nearly careening out of the fighting arena. Machamp caught himself at the last moment before flinging himself on NaVorro in a duplicitous Submission attack. It hurt a lot, Ryan could see, but his Tauros was still standing.

"You good, boy?" Ryan asked his Pokémon.

"Heiahaha!" the Tauros huffed.

"Nice, that sounds like the voice of a winner to me! Use Blizzard!"

It was a strange move for a Bull Pokémon to use - an icy blizzard attack - but Tauros had practiced it to perfection. Somehow, he conjured up a snowstorm, and then he hurled the blizzard right at poor Machamp. Machamp took the hit like a champ, which is to say he didn't take it well at all, and fell over defeated almost as soon as the storm hit him.

The martial artist bowed. "Looks like you won, kid. Nice job. I can see I'm no match for you."

"Thanks," Ryan replied. "Uh, not to sound rude or anything… but are those your strongest Pokémon?"

Hideyoshi scratched his head and thought. "Uh, the boss may have left a couple old gems somewhere in the back, still in their balls. We could check. Otherwise, you can train against all of the other fighting Pokémon we have here. Most are about as strong as my Primeape and Machamp."

"Thank you so much!"

Ryan went to run off, in order to find the other Pokémon, but Hideyoshi stopped him with a brutal front chop. "Whoa kid, you can't go running off before I give you your prize."

"Prize?" Ryan cocked his head to the side, not understanding.

"You beat me fair and square, so here, take this." He held out a canister and gave it to Ryan. On the front of it, the word 'Earthquake' was written in thick blocky script. Ryan thought that was so polite. "You can teach that TM to any of your Pokémon."

"Awesome! Thank you!"

"I saw that you were using some TMs already, heh… Blizzard on Tauros, and Thunderbolt on Haunter. Been a while since I've fought against other TM users."

"Yeah, my friend told me about that. He says those are the best moves."

"It's certainly weird, I'll give you that. You'll catch a lot of people by surprise. I hope you can use Earthquake to such use as well."

Ryan took the old napkin Alex had given him from his pocket and looked it over. Aegon and NaVorro… they both need Earthquake. This is great. That'll help a lot against Sabrina. Now I just need to make sure everyone is a little stronger before I challenge her again.

He looked up at Hideyoshi. "Okay, I'm ready. Let's train some Pokémon!"

Hideyoshi bowed again. "It feels good, knowing that perhaps my training will help you beat the gym that put us out of business. It is a small level of revenge, to be honest, but I'll take what I can get at this point. Come, follow me. Your Pokémon are going to get quite the workout."

Ryan followed the man into the back room, where another training mat was laid; dozens of Poké Balls were arranged neatly on a table just behind the mat, too.

Hideyoshi picked one up and threw it. Out came a Hitmonlee. Ryan took out Spectre's Poké Ball and released his sleeping Haunter. Then, he sprayed a revive on the ghost Pokémon, waking it up. The Haunter looked annoyed to be back in the living world, and he had a particularly cruel look reserved especially for Ryan.

"Okay Spectre, we have to train you for the Gym Battle now." The Haunter folded his arms and turned away from his master. "Come on buddy, don't be like that. I caught you fair and square. Why are you doing this?"

"Haunter, haunter. Haunt hau!"

"Yeah, I don't speak Haunter, so you're just going to have to listen to me, okay?"

"Haunter!" Spectre growled.

Ryan sighed and shook his head. "What do you think? How can I get him to follow me?"

Hideyoshi stood still as a stone. A small smile spread across his face. "That Haunter has a damaged pride. I see it in his eyes. He's ashamed he allowed himself to be caught by you. He thinks he's weak. He's depressed. But… when he sees all the training your other Pokémon will get, he won't stay out of the battles for long." Hideyoshi walked over to Haunter and looked him right in the eyes. "After all, Haunter wouldn't want the other Pokémon to surpass him, would he?"

"Haunter?" Haunter's eyes widened in fright. "Hau hau, haunter!"

Hideyoshi whispered coolly, "Yeah, that's right Haunter. I know you want to be number one. Well, go prove it to your master. He may have caught you, but you can show him you were worth catching. Come on, don't you want to level up?"

"Haunter!"

"I thought so."

How come everyone in this world except me can speak Pokémon languages?!

Hideyoshi stood up and retreated to his side of the mat. His Hitmonlee stepped into the ring, ready to battle. "Your Haunter will be willing now. Try him. See if he will listen."

"Okay, Spectre, go into the ring. Battle that Hitmonlee," Ryan said helpfully. "Use Hypnosis as your first attack."

"Haunter!" the Haunter barked. He glided into the stage, and before Ryan could even take his place on the other side of the mat, Hitmonlee had already hit the floor, fast asleep. Ryan could not contain his broadening smile. Maybe we have something here. Maybe there's a chance.

She swore under her breath when she dropped the syringe again. Picking it up for the tenth time, Jessica tried to hold it steady, but she couldn't. She was shaking too much. Why is this happening? I'm not scared of it. I'm the second in command of Team Rocket. I captured the legendary Mew. I should not be afraid. Yet, her hand could not lie. She called Gilly over after she dropped the syringe again and ordered him to hold it.

"Just like this," she explained. "Ease it under the fur, into the skin. I want a pure blood sample. No air bubbles. The boss wants as much Mew DNA as he can get."

"I'm on the case! I'm the Supreme Extreme, and there's nothing a god like me can't do!"

Some days, Jessica wished Gilly had been born a dog; that way he would have been drowned at birth. Other days, she loved his company because it made her feel smart. Days like today, though… well, she didn't know what to think. He annoyed her like no one else, except perhaps that teal-haired boy who had ruined her plans in Pewter City. But Gilly was good at one thing. He could be ordered around like a mindless slave. He definitely acts like a god.

Gilly did the good lord's work, and produced a vial of Mew's blood. Jessica looked at it greedily, just thinking about how Giovanni would praise her for this latest success. I have saved Team Rocket. But there was more work to be done. The Painted Dragons still need to be dealt with before we can return to our former glory. With a Mew at her side, Jessica would be unstoppable. She knew the main Painted Dragons base was in Viridian City. An insult, she thought angrily. They took over our old base. But we'll take it back. We'll remind everyone who's really the top cat in Kanto.

"Shouldn't we put it to sleep before doing this?" Gilly asked. "One time I had a dream that I was on the planet at the center of the universe called Planet Supreme and it was a huge one with food as far as the eye could see. And there was a big fat man who was the chef of the whole world, known affectionately as the Gourmet Emperor of the Universe, and he had a Hitler mustache and he tried to bake me into a cake. I told him that was pretty sweet but I wanted to eat nummy food too so he made me a seaweed and cranberry pie, and it was so good Jessica, when I woke up, I was eating my pillow. I swear it's true, I do, I do. I teleported into the dream world, and it was just like real life, only I was more powerful and I could fly and I could hover and sometimes I could shoot energy blasts from my hands when I was thinking a really good thought. I'm always thinking really good thoughts, Jessica!"

"Shut up, you cretin," Jessica whispered. "Just for that I'm demoting you from god to demi-god."

"No, no, no, you can't! You can't, please! I'm a tier one warrior!"

"Not today you aren't. And if you keep rambling, I'll knock you down another tier, you half-breed fool."

"You're really mean, Jessica," Gilly pointed out. And you make Magikarp look like Michio Kaku.

But he's right, she knew. Just looking at the frightened Mew, all curled up in a corner of the cage, made even Jessica's heart feel something. When she saw it, and the look it gave her, the way it begged with its eyes, she almost felt regretful. Almost.

Haunter sprung from his ball and put the Mew to sleep. At rest, the thing looked beautiful and streamlined, its blue fur swaying back and forth with the wind from the overhead fan. There was no power in its appearance. But that's its greatest asset. It has the element of surprise on its side. For Jessica knew that the Mew was likely more powerful than any other Pokémon in all of Kanto.

I wonder how much I could sell him for. Mew are rare enough as it is… but a shiny one? She would never do that, of course. She needed the Mew. It was to be her newest Pokémon. It was to be her secret weapon against the Painted Dragons. Not today, and not tomorrow. But soon… soon it will learn that I am its master now. And soon it will start to do my bidding.

Just thinking about that sent shivers up Jessica's spine. I always wanted to rule the world. And now I can. Giovanni's too weak to command Mew. It'll be mine. And if Giovanni died… well, Jessica knew that would be soon. The sooner the better, she thought. She had not always wanted him to die. Indeed, mere days ago, she had cried herself to sleep as she had laid in bed thinking about Giovanni dying of lung cancer. But now… with the Mew in her grasp…

"Gilly, leave."

"But I have two more samples to take!" the boy whined.

"Out! Or I'll make you a mortal for a week!"

Gilly scrambled out without another word. Then it was just Jessica, Haunter, and the sleeping Mew. "What do you think, Haunter? Is this Mew going to turn around? How long will it take to tame it?"

"Haunter hau haunter hau haunter."

"You're right," she said. "Now is not the time for patience. We have to move. Time is not on our side. The Boss doesn't have long… and the Painted Dragons are going to try something soon, I know it. They'll know about what happened in Cerulean City by now, and they'll want revenge. The longer we wait, the harder it'll be to destroy them. Oh well. Mew will have to learn its new role on the job."

She stood up and smirked. Slamming Mew's cage shut, she picked it up by the handle and walked out. Giovanni wanted three samples. He'll get one. And he should be happy he's getting that much from me. It's me who's running the show now. With a legendary Pokémon at my side, I'll be unstoppable.

"Hey Haunter, what do you think about taking a trip to Viridian City?"