"Misty, why won't you just tell me where you are?"
"Because I don't want you to know?" Misty rolled her eyes. "I know what I'm doing."
"You're going crazy," Ash groaned. "You're gonna get hurt and it's all for nothing."
"I need to do this," Misty told him sternly. "Until I find the real leaders of Rocket United and stop them, none of us are safe."
"But the Rockets have already retreated! They're no longer a threat!" Ash retorted in frustration. "You killed Lance yourself, remember?"
"Then explain why our pokéballs aren't working."
"What makes you think it's even them?"
"Because it's always them! This whole thing stinks of Rocket! What makes you think they're not manipulating us all yet again?"
"Because they're not smart enough for that! Last time they had the Elite Four to direct them. Now they're broken and leaderless. The Elite Four are gone, and Giovanni, James and Meowth are all good guys! This obsession is just ridiculous! You need to get your ass back here and calm down! You're part of the new Elite Four, and you need to start acting like it. We have work to do, even if you seem to think you don't have to do it."
"Ash, do me a favour."
"What?"
"Leave me alone!"
Misty threw her phone into a wall, smashing it into dozens of pieces. Fuming, she continued on her way towards Bill's house.
It wasn't far, and before too long she'd reached the front door.
"Ah, Misty. Please, come in. Make yourself at home," came Bill's pleasant and refined voice through the intercom.
"Thanks Bill, but I really need to get going," she told him as she entered and walked through his enormous house. "I just need you to help me quickly."
"Of course," he answered. "You will find me in the study. Take a left at the end of the hall, then your second right."
As she entered the study, she found Bill seated at a computer. He wore thick-rimmed glasses and was hard at work with something.
"Misty," he smiled, turning his chair around to face her, then getting up to greet her properly. "You look beautiful as ever, although I must say, you seem a little worked up about something."
"It's Rocket United," she sighed. "They're up to something, I just know it."
"The pokéball crisis," Bill nodded. "I had a feeling this is why you wanted to see me, so I took the liberty of researching it."
"Have you found anything?" Misty's eyes lit up. She grabbed Bill's wrists, shocking the very gentle Bill.
"Please, Misty, you're hurting me," he protested. "I haven't found much yet, I've been trying to find the source of the problem."
"I'm sorry," Misty sighed again, letting go of him.
"Misty, what's the matter? I know you're usually quite aggressive, but this seems different."
"Someone I was close to...she was killed by the Rockets. By Lance, actually."
"I see," Bill nodded. "I found their betrayal very difficult to take, although clearly nowhere near as difficult as you've found it. I'm very sorry to hear of your loss. If there's anything I can do –"
"Just...find out what you can about this, please."
"Very well," he answered, sitting back down and turning to face the computer again. "Ah, something's come up!"
"What is it?" Misty asked eagerly, slamming her palms on the table and peering closely at the monitor.
"It seems that there is some sort of signal being broadcast. It's almost entirely obscured by other frequencies, I'm not surprised nobody's noticed it yet."
"So? What of it?"
"It's the exact frequency that your common pokéballs use to activate," he explained. "Very clever. You see, pokéballs used to rely on various sensors to track whether it contained a Pokémon or not. Unfortunately, that system was unreliable, as the sensors could be tricked. However, around thirty years ago, Silph switched their technology to sonic sensors. These were much, much more reliable, as the specific frequency combination emitted by a captured Pokémon was not one that is ever found in nature."
"So someone's broadcasting this signal and it's blocking the pokéballs from detecting what's inside them?" Misty raised an eyebrow, trying her best to understand.
"Not exactly," Bill answered, raising a finger. "Usually, the frequency is emitted inside the balls. Now, it's coming from both inside and outside, and the pokéballs get confused."
"So they just stay closed…" Misty realised.
"Precisely."
"Can you tell where it's being broadcast from?"
"Unfortunately, no," Bill shook his head. "It's extremely powerful, and seems to be everywhere at once. My best guess would be that it's coming from multiple sources."
"So what am I looking for?"
"A regular cellular tower would be sufficient to broadcast a signal such as this."
"But I can't just go and destroy every cell tower in the world!" Misty grumbled.
"You won't need to," Bill smiled. "Simply head to one of the Kanto communications hubs. There's one in Cerulean City. I'm sure someone there will be able to assist you."
"Thanks, Bill," Misty muttered as she turned to leave.
"Wait! Would you like a cup of tea or something? You only just got here!" Bill asked, quickly getting up and going after her.
"I have to stop the Rockets," Misty told him, stopping where she was, but not turning around.
"You think it's them? I thought you defeated them? I've seen no signs that they've done anything sinister lately."
"It's them, Bill. I'm going to end them for good this time."
She continued on her way, heading straight for the front door. Bill watched sadly as she left.
"Very well, then," he sighed. "I was rather hoping you'd stay for a little while. I'm terribly sorry about your friend, and I wish you the best of luck."
This time Misty did turn around.
"Thanks."
With that, she opened the heavy front door and left, closing it softly behind her.
"I do hope she's alright," Bill said. "Ash warned me she wasn't behaving normally."
"That twerp is no longer your concern, Bill," a shadowy figure answered, stepping out from behind a large column. She was tall, and dressed in tight black leather. Her thigh-high boots clopped loudly as she walked, and the bright ceiling light gleamed off her very short skirt and boob tube as she sauntered past Bill sultrily. She ran her tightly leather gloved hand softly over Bill's cheek, then turned around to face him.
"What are you going to do?" Bill asked.
"That's also none of your concern," she snapped, grabbing his face roughly. "You've done your part, and for that, you get to live. But if you disappoint me in any way, I won't be the sweet, beautiful girl you see before you now. Are we clear?"
"Yes, of course. I understand."
"Good," the woman smiled wickedly, releasing her grip on Bill's face and softly caressing it instead. She turned on her heels, whipping his face with her long crimson hair as she spun.
"So she just left without saying anything?" Brock asked, stroking his chin thoughtfully as he considered what Gary had told him, but Ash knew he was just trying to appear clever. He paced back and forth slowly, humming to himself as Gary and Ash looked at each other quizzically.
"Nope, I've got nothing," he finally said, causing a collective sigh from Gary and Ash.
"I still say we leave her," Ash folded his arms, frowning.
"Well you might wanna let her rush off on her own, but I happen to care about her," Gary argued.
"I did speak to Bill the other day, why don't you ask him?" Ash waved him off dismissively.
"That'd make sense," Brock nodded, still stroking his chin. "He is a bit of an expert on pokéballs and all that kind of technology."
"I'll give him a call," Gary offered, taking his phone out and walking to a quiet corner of the room.
"She's been nuts lately," Ash told Brock. "She's barely spoken since we took over as the new Elite Four, and anyone who does try to talk to her gets yelled at. It's a good thing no one's tried to challenge us yet."
"They're probably more concerned with getting their lives back on track after all the recent calamities that've taken place, than trying to challenge you guys," Brock shrugged. "But have you thought that maybe Misty's still a little upset about Amber?"
"It's been ages though," Ash frowned again. "We have a job to do. In any case, that whole business with Rocket United is over now. It's done. We're supposed to be helping the whole world get back to normal, or at least Kanto. She's not helping at all."
"She lost someone she loved, Ash," Brock scolded him. "Have some compassion, and some patience. You're supposed to be her best friend."
"And she's supposed to be mine. But if running off chasing imaginary conspiracies is more important to her than I am, then I couldn't care less about her."
"Ash, you're being ridiculous," Brock groaned, raising his voice a little. "What's up with you? Any normal person would be trying to help her, or at least comfort her. You're being a jerk for no reason at all."
"Who's being a jerk?" Ash yelled, finally losing his cool. "I've done all the work while she's sat about moping and chasing ghosts, then she takes off on a wild Psyduck chase and I'm supposed to comfort her?"
He stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him as Brock stood there dumbfounded. Gary finished his phone call to Bill as it happened, and wandered back over to Brock with a very confused look on his face.
"That's a very expensive door!" came Professor Oak's voice, yelling from the lab on the other side of the house.
"What the hell crawled up his ass?" Gary asked, pointing a thumb back at the door.
"He's just being typical immature Ash," Brock answered, throwing his hands in the air and turning to face a window. Outside he could see Ash's Pikachu asleep on the grass, which was the only Pokémon Ash currently had that wasn't trapped in a pokéball.
"Because of Misty?"
"He says he's pissed off because Misty hasn't been pulling her weight lately. He doesn't get just how much Amber meant to her."
"In a lot of ways, Ash is still just a kid," Gary agreed. "He's been lumped with a lot of pressure, being in the Elite Four and everything."
"You're Elite Four as well, and you're handling it great," Brock countered.
"Yeah, but I've been in a famous family my whole life. It's not such a huge step for me. For him, it's like a whole different world."
"I suppose you're right," Brock sighed.
"That said, he is being a dick. Misty could really have used a friend like him. She probably feels like he's abandoned her."
"I'd bet my Onix that's how she feels. Regardless of what Ash thinks though, I think we should go and help her."
"I think so too, but I can't go," Gary shook his head. "Ash might be being a dick, but he's still right. The Elite Four still need to show we're around, to give the people hope. The world is still recovering, and with this pokéball crisis happening, it's important that at least half of the Elite Four are a presence in Kanto. I think Sabrina might help you though. Her and Misty are pretty good friends."
"Yeah, you know, I think I might just give her a call. Thanks, man," Brock smiled, sticking his hand out at Gary.
"Don't mention it, Brocko," Gary grinned back, taking Brock's hand and shaking it firmly. "Just make sure our girl comes back safe. I think she's on to something, whether Ash thinks so or not."
"You think it's Rocket United?"
"I'm not sure, but I have a bad feeling about it. You and Sabrina keep her safe, okay? And when you see her, give her a big hug for me and Erika."
"You got it, man," Brock nodded, before turning and walking out the door.
Misty stormed straight up to the Cerulean Communications Hub, unhindered by any of the people of her home town. She'd dyed her hair again recently, knowing she was going to be investigating the pokéball crisis, for exactly that reason. She'd trimmed it to shoulder-length, and it was now raven black. She'd also decided to change her clothes for the exact same reason, ditching her usual denim shorts and crop top look for a much more badass black leather jacket, simple low-cut black singlet top, skin tight faded black jeans, and knee-high black leather military boots. To complete the look, she wore thick, dark eye makeup.
As a result of her outfit change, no one recognised her at all. A few people turned their heads, as Cerulean City was a fairly tame sort of place, and there weren't many people that looked like she did. She walked straight up to the front reception and planted her hands firmly on the counter.
"I need you to trace a frequency being emitted from this tower," she said to the receptionist coldly.
"I'm sorry, who exactly are you?" the receptionist asked, rolling her eyes slightly.
Misty sneered at the young lady, who was perhaps in her mid-twenties, then leaned slightly over the counter and proceeded to hiss threateningly at her in a low whisper.
"Listen to me, because I'm only going to say this once, alright? I'm Misty Waterflower of the Elite Four, and I have it on good authority that this tower and many others are emitting a frequency that is jamming everyone's pokéballs from opening. I don't care what you have to do, but someone here needs to help me trace this frequency to its source so I can stop it."
The receptionist nodded mockingly as Misty explained, and kept nodding as she began pushing a panic button under her desk. Misty growled under her breath, grinding her teeth in anger as a security guard approached with a Machoke.
"What seems to be the problem here?" the security guard asked with more than a hint of irritation at Misty's presence.
"Um, so let me try and remember all this," the receptionist giggled. "Miss 'Waterflower' here, wants us to trace a frequency being emitted from this tower, because it's blocking pokéballs. That's right, isn't it?"
"You forgot the part about me being in the Elite Four," Misty seethed, restraining herself from reaching over the counter and strangling the receptionist.
"Okay, come with me," the security guard sighed. "At least you're young and small, and not much of a threat. Machoke?"
"She's a bigger threat than you realise," came a very familiar, soft, feminine, and yet deeply frightening voice from behind them. They turned around to see Sabrina standing there, dressed in one of her many shiny vinyl mini-dresses, with a deep frown on her face. Misty turned back around to face the receptionist and said nothing.
"Rai!" Misty's Raichu warned the Machoke.
"Thanks for lending me Raichu, Mist," Sabrina said to her, not changing her tone. "So are these idiots going to help us? Or do we get to have some fun with them?"
"Hey, aren't you Sabrina from the Elite Four?" the receptionist asked, completely bewildered as to how she just materialised before her eyes.
"Which means that she's probably right about being Misty Waterflower, correct?" Sabrina added.
"Misty has red hair though," the receptionist argued. "She's clearly not her. You can do what you want, Sabrina, and we're happy to help you, but this girl needs to get out. Now."
The security guard's Machoke took a step towards Misty, but flinched when a stray spark appeared to fly out of Raichu's cheeks and hit it in the arm. The Machoke looked down in horror as it realised its entire arm was now numb. Raichu grinned in satisfaction.
"Okay then, I want you to do what Misty says. Immediately. Don't make me ask you again, because you won't like it," Sabrina frowned a little deeper, her voice becoming slightly more menacing.
"Fine, I'll speak to my manager," the receptionist huffed, waving the security guard off. "Wait right there."
She picked up a desk phone and dialled a four-digit number before continuing to speak.
"Sir? I have Sabrina from the Elite Four here, with a girl claiming to be Misty Waterflower. They want us to trace a signal coming from this tower. Uh-huh, sure…okay…sure, I'll send them right up."
She put the phone down and looked back up to Sabrina and Misty.
"Take the lift over there," she gestured to the girls' right. "Go to the tenth floor, someone will be waiting for you there."
"Who'll be waiting for us? Your manager?" Misty asked impatiently.
"The Hub Manager," she answered. "He's the big boss of the Cerulean Hub. Tenth floor."
Her tone was totally condescending, and Misty was furious. She wanted to scream at her, but felt herself moving towards the lift involuntarily.
"Sabrina!" Misty complained. "I can walk on my own."
"Let's try to keep this low key, alright?" Sabrina suggested softly. "For someone wearing a disguise, you're doing a pretty shitty job of staying inconspicuous."
"How else was I supposed to get their help? And what are you doing here anyway?"
"You could have just asked to speak with someone about a complaint you have, or something like that. And Brock called me. He said you'd disappeared, and might have gone to see Bill, and that he was going to go looking for you, in case you needed help. So I told him I'd go and see Bill, and he told me you might be here. So here I am."
"And what do you think about all this?"
"I think you're probably wrong about it being Rocket United," Sabrina admitted as she pushed the 'up' button to call the lift down, "but I also think you're right about investigating it. Besides, I missed you, and I wanted to make sure you were okay."
"I'm fine," Misty groaned. "But, thanks. It's nice to know I still have friends that care about me."
"Ash?" Sabrina asked rhetorically.
"He's just such an asshole sometimes."
"He's still very young, and immature at times. Give him a few more years and he'll grow up."
"I don't care if he's immature, he's supposed to be my friend, and friends are there for each other. All he's done is complain that I'm not helping him make speeches to the media, and crap like that."
"He'll come around," Sabrina assured her as they both got into the lift with Raichu leading the way. "I'm not sure he's really used to the pressure of being in the public eye so much. All the same, he really could be more understanding."
"That's all I ask!" Misty put her hands up in a defensive gesture. "He'll see I was right to go investi- GET DOWN!"
She grabbed Sabrina by the shoulders and dropped to the floor as the lift doors opened on the tenth floor, just in time to avoid five shards of ice shooting straight at them, which flew barely an inch above their heads and stuck into the back of the lift behind them.