Chapter Four: The Gym Leader of Fuschia

a/n: Enjoy the chapter! It's kind of short, but it's the best that I could do. Suggestions are appreciated! Reviews are treasured!

The threesome entered the small, dimly lit room. Inside sat a raven-haired girl, who sat motionless on a plain wooden chair.

Blue squinted, but then recognized her. "Janine?" Koga's daughter, the fill-in gym leader of Fuscia City, was sitting before him.

Janine looked up, her small lips curling into an 'O' of surprise. But then she stared at the floor, her lips pursed together tightly. Outwardly, she looked very calm, but somehow Blue could tell that the girl was anxious.

Then it hit him. "Wait. So you're the person who hurt my grandfather?" Honestly, Blue was surprised. He had always suspected that the cold girl would follow in her father's footsteps, but she couldn't be any older than him.

Though he was sympathetic to the girl, he remained cool on the outside. "Are you the one who hurt my grandfather?" he demanded.

Janine looked him in the eye, and Blue was surprised by the hard look.

"No," she stated, emphasizing the single word.

"If you didn't," Blue hissed, "who did?"

Janine's look faltered, and she stared down at the floor again. And then she broke.

"I don't know!" she suddenly sobbed, holding back tears, "I don't know!"

She began to bawl, holding nothing back.

Suddenly, something came to Blue's mind. "What are you doing on this ship?" he looked at her, hoping for a response. "I doubt that you came to party... you don't seem like much of a socialite to me."

"I came to find my father," she sobbed, covering her pale face with her hands.

Green looked at the girl, and suddenly something in her snapped as well.

"Get out," she told Blue and Red. They looked at her quizzically. "C'mon, get out!" she shooed them out of the room.

Green shut the door behind her, and turned to see a puzzled Janine.

"What - What was that for?" Janine asked.

Green shrugged and pulled up a chair. "Had to get them out," she replied nonchalantly. "So, you're looking for your father?"

"Yes," Janine replied in a small voice.

"I was looking for my mother and father, too. I was kidnapped when I was really little. I can sympathize with you."

Janine snorted. "I might has well have been kidnapped, for all the time I spent with my father.He was a gym leader, a ninja master... and now I realize what he was doing with the little free time that he had left..."

"Team Rocket. Yeah, that must have been bad," Green comisserated, "But you know what? I found my parents."

Janine's eyes flashed with sarcasm. "Wonderful. You get your happy ending."

"I think everyone deserves a happy ending."

Janine didn't respond to that, she just sat there.

"So," Green prodded gently, "did you try to murder Professsor Oak?"

Janine slowly shook her head. "No," she insisted, "I don't even have an Arbok. Well, I do have my father's Arbok... but it won't obey me. Other than that, I only brought Ariados with me."

Green was convinced that the girl was telling the truth. She left the room, leaving a solemn Janine by herself.

"I think she's telling the truth, guys," she said to a curious Red and Blue in the hallway.

"How can you tell?" said Blue, furrowing his brow.

"I can just tell," Green dismissed.

"I believe her," Red volunteered, "but if she's right, whose Arbok poisoned Professor Oak?"

"I have absolutely no idea," Green confessed, "I mean, Janine has an Arbok, but it -"

"Wait!" Red said suddenly. "What if it was that Arbok?" Green gave him an odd look.

"I thought we established that Janine didn't do it," Green told him.

"Yeah, but what did she say about the Arbok?"

"I was about to get there," Green pouted, "she said it wouldn't obey her. That it's Koga's."

"What if," said Red, his eyes glinting from his new idea, "Koga is controlling the Arbok from a distance? Like the Elite Four controlled their armies?"

"I don't think so," Blue said, "Koga wouldn't have had the power for that."

"Still," Red reasoned, "It's possible, isn't it?"

"I suppose..." Green said hesitantly.

"Come on," Blue said, "we're not going to figure this out any time soon. Let's go back to our rooms... I'll tell you some suspicions I have about this whole setup..."