Chapter 4

A Sad Farewell

(3rd-person narrative)

(Team Rocket HQ)

As previously organized, Giovanni walked towards the Board Room on the stroke of 9am. Whilst they were waiting for him, both the Team Rocket executives and the former Team Galactic admins were quarreling quite loudly inside. One did not need to look at his devilish smile to see that Giovanni was full of vibrant confidence as he now sought to assure Team Galactic's co-operation in his grand design.

"Are all of them present and accounted for?" he asked his secretary, who was waiting just outside the closed door of the Board Room, where the incessant chatter continued.

"Yes, sir. They are waiting for you as we speak," she nodded.

"Including Charon?" Giovanni crossed his hands behind his back.

"Yes, sir. Special Agent Miyamoto extracted him from his hideout in Mt. Coronet, and had arranged transport with two other undercover agents in the Sinnoh region to escort him here."

"And where is Miyamoto now?"

"She's uh…" the secretary drifted off slightly, before speaking again with clarity. "She is still undertaking the final phases of her original mission in Sinnoh. She said that she will report back to headquarters as soon as they have been completed."

"Very well. You may return to your duties, then," Giovanni said after awhile, moving towards the door. His secretary bowed slightly, before returning to her desk. With his hand on the doorknob, Giovanni could tell that there was ample distrust and animosity between the two groups inside, as he smirked and entered.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen," he greeted them. "I trust that our hospitality last night was to your liking?"

"If you can call it that," Mars scoffed. "But sure, it definitely beats lounging around in a cold and dark prison cell."

"I'm glad to hear that," Giovanni chuckled lightly. "Well then, shall we get on to business?"

Giovanni then seated himself at the end of the table, his Team Rocket executives to his right and the Team Galactic admins to his left. The two parties still persisted in giving each other small, yet noticeable looks of contempt, before turning to face Giovanni as he continued.

"The reason why I have summoned you here today, is that I am in need of your talents and abilities. For too long have both our great organizations been languishing in the shadows, instead of rising up and grasping the respect and recognition which we deserve. I have long known of your organization's ambitions to reshape the very world and universe as we know it, and in fact, laud and support your ideals, now," he coerced them with lies and deceit. "And, in the last few years, I myself have also come to a state of awakening. For so many years, I have devoted this organization to the stealing and capturing of rare and powerful Pokémon in order to sell them for great profits, but now I seek to change all that. As such, with a new mission in mind, I am in genuine need of your expertise."

"So why exactly do you need our help?" Saturn asked him.

Giovanni then smirked as he reached under the desk and pushed a hidden button, which caused the face of the wall behind him to shift with various panels moving in all directions, revealing a wide screen. As it flashed on, it displayed what appeared to be a broad map showing all the known regions: Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Unova. But a more striking feature captured the attention of all – several red, glowing dots which spotted numerous areas throughout the map.

"What…what is this?" Jupiter murmured.

"This is, as you can see, a map of all the regions close to our own," Giovanni stood up, walking to the side of the screen and facing all of them. "But more importantly, these red dots you see detail the exact position of every major radio broadcast tower in the globe."

"But what on earth would you want with radio towers, sir?" a Rocket executive asked him.

"Perhaps it is best that I remind you of a certain experiment we have been conducting and aiming to perfect, in the last two years," Giovanni explained. "We have conducted numerous tests using cheap, disposable Pokémon such as Pidgey and Rattata, exposing them to a certain pattern of radio waves. After numerous and repeated 'failed subjects' over the last two years, we have finally achieved what we believe is a radio transmission signal which will reach out to the very DNA of Pokémon alike, rearranging patterns in their brain waves in order to ensure their total obedience."

"Reach out to the DNA of Pokémon? That's preposterous!" Saturn scoffed, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms.

"No, Saturn. In fact, it is a perfectly feasible practice," Charon corrected him. "You may be aware of the fact that any two humans share a 99 percent overlap in DNA, with only a tiny fraction of the remaining one percent going towards constituting the features which make us visibly different from one another, in terms of gender and race. The same can be said about Pokémon: if you truly think about it, they will also possess a similar amount of identical DNA with each other, regardless of species – even the mighty Tyranitar will have a similar DNA structure to a weakling Magikarp."

"That is absolutely correct, Charon. Thank you for that explanation," Giovanni smirked. "And now, onto the next phase – gaining control of the radio towers. It is imperative that we avoid a 'frontal' approach by using means of force, at all costs. Doing so would only attract unwanted attention from a certain…boy…" he gritted his teeth slightly at the indirect mention of Ash. "And so, we will take a more subtle approach: I have organized several dozen agents who will act as multi-millionaire businessmen and women, feigning 'interest' in the private acquisition of all of the radio towers outlined in this map. Meanwhile, I ask for your co-operation in the undertaking of a more…grand project," he said, walking back to the table and seating himself in business-like fashion, with his hands joined.

"And what is that?" Jupiter questioned.

"We will construct a satellite," Giovanni replied.

"A…a…satellite?" a female Rocket executive gasped.

"Indeed. I have detailed plans for the construction of a satellite which will be put into orbit in one month from now, emitting the 'master signal' to all radio towers on this side of the world, once every one of them is under our control. In turn, the radio towers will emit the signals, quickly bring all Pokémon under our control. the radio And this is exactly why I have need of your assistance – my scientists are specialists in Pokémon gene research and exploitation, but not in space projects, like yours," Giovanni answered, looking at the Team Galactic admins.

"But we have no human resources to work with," Mars complained. "Do you expect us to work with nothing but our own hands? Not to mention that a timeframe of one month to create a satellite is near impossible to work with!"

"I must inform you, that my agents in the Sinnoh region are extracting more and more of your former personnel as we speak, including scientists and grunts. I assure you, that you will have no issues relating to a lack of personnel. And as for the timeframe…I have established numerous 'checkpoints' for development on a daily basis, and they too are perfectly reasonable. Now…do we have an accord?" Giovanni asked them.

The Team Galactic admins then talked amongst themselves, discussing whether or not they should place their trust in Giovanni. But Giovanni knew better, and that they would definitely say 'yes' to his offer – to whom and where else would they turn to, should they refuse?

"We have an accord," Charon nodded, much to Giovanni's delight, before raising his right index finger. "But on one condition…"

"I'm listening," Giovanni leaned forward slightly.

"Promise us that once this project is achieved and we have achieved dominance, you will take steps to restore Team Galactic to our former glory and power, and that you will assist us in our plans to locate and retrieve our former leader, Cyrus," Charon stated.

Giovanni clenched his teeth together as they lay hidden behind his closed mouth, which didn't give the slightest hint of his frustration at the fact that Charon made a demand of his own. Then, putting on a false smile which would always win over the trust of even the most wary, he responded to Charon's request. "It would be my pleasure. It is truly a privilege to have you with us. Now, shall I lead you to the area in which we will construct the satellite?" he rose from his seat, gesturing them out of the board room and down the corridor.

After the last of the executives and admins exited the room, Giovanni lead them down the long corridor to exit the main administrative building and travel to the engineering bay.

'Pathetic fools…' he smirked as he thought to himself. 'They remain helplessly oblivious to the true nature of my grand design. The DNA basis my scientists used to conduct the experiment was that of Mew itself, duplicated from the original eyelash used to create Mewtwo. After Fuji modifies the signal to reach out specifically to Mew and Mewtwo, and the radio signals are emitted into the farthest depths of space, not only will I possess every Pokémon on Earth, but I shall also gain control of two of the most powerful Pokémon in existence. And with the immeasurable power I will gain, I shall be unstoppable, and these fools will be of no further value to me, disposed of, like the rest…"

(Ash's POV)

"Sabrina, kids, we're home!" Misty called out to her upon our arrival back at our house.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Claire came running towards us with a broad smile on her face, hugging Misty and me. She was followed by Alex, who ran to hug Brock as he crouched down to hold him. Sabrina walked up to us with Jenna in her arms and handed her to Brock, before kissing Brock and giving me and Misty a hug. I then handed her back her Alakazam's Pokéball.

"Glad to see that all of you are alright. I saw what happened on the news today…it was terrible," she said with relief, followed by sorrow.

"We were just too late to do anything about those people," I sighed sullenly. "The fire had already been raging for quite awhile, before we even got there."

"We managed to save an Officer Jenny who was wounded on the scene, though," Misty said. "She was hurt pretty bad with a bullet wound when we found her hiding in a dumpster, but she managed to pull through."

"That's good to hear, Misty," Sabrina smiled, before noticing Misty's expression darken. "…is there something wrong?"

"We expect that Team Rocket's involved," Brock sighed. "From the recount of events the Officer Jenny said to us after she recovered, it's them for sure."

"Wait a second…then does that mean…" Sabrina's face went slightly pale. "That the people inside that building…were actually executed before the fire? The news report I saw said that they simply died in the fire!"

"I'm afraid so," I looked down in disappointment.

"That's so horrible…why would Team Rocket go so far?" Sabrina gasped, placing her hand over her mouth as she began to draw tears.

"I'm really concerned about this – it seems so…odd," I noted. "Team Rocket always resorted to stealing and extorting Pokémon all for profit. Why they'd attack a lab and kill everyone inside is beyond me…"

"We've already contacted the Indigo Plateau and the Elite Four, and also visited Jessie, James and Meowth earlier," Misty told Sabrina. "The three of them have agreed to go undercover into Team Rocket's headquarters and find out what this is all about, though Jessie and James were very reluctant at first to leave their kids behind. I can understand how they feel."

"Alright, then," Sabrina said, braving a smile. "But for now, you guys should really get some rest. You've had basically no rest for the entire day, and only about four hours of sleep the previous night. Go to the living room, and I'll fix you all a bowl of warm soup."

"No, honey, it's alright," Brock held her hand. "I'm not that tired, actually. I'll just-" he turned to move to the kitchen, before he was stopped by a soft hold on the left side of his chest by Sabrina, who looked at him with pleading eyes. "Well…alright, then," he kissed her again.

The three of us then turned to go into the living room, before sighting Ethan who was standing close to the top of the staircase, looking at us rather blankly. "Ethan?" I said, smiling and holding my arms outwards to him as I crouched down. But Ethan coldly turned around and ascended back up the stairs, not saying a single word as he most likely went back to his room.

"I'm sorry, Ash…I just didn't know how to reach out to him while you were gone…" Sabrina sighed. "Although Jenna can be like my old, emotionless self at occasional times, Ethan…I'm really worried about him…"

"Don't worry about him, Sabrina. We'll figure it out one day," I smiled to reassure her, although I was torn on the inside from my son's reaction to me. "But for now, I'll be in the laundry room – I still haven't washed the blood out of my handkerchief."

"B…blood?" Sabrina held her hand to her mouth again, this time going a little blue. She hated the sight of blood more than anything, as it made her sick.

"Yeah. Ash held it against the Officer Jenny's wound as it began to bleed again after he pulled her out of the dumpster. He got it back after we checked on her in the hospital room," Misty told her. "And boy, Ash, were you gentle with her."

"Hey, she was hurt and frail at the time! Of course I spoke gently to her! Did you expect me to talk to her in that old voice I always used to talk with as I walked into a gym, looking for the gym leader?" I said with slight humor.

"Well, at least it was you who tended to her, and not Brock, over here," Misty exhaled, looking at him teasingly from the corner of her eye. "I'm just glad that I didn't have to pull him away by the ear like I used to all the time, when we were young."

"Ahehe…" he rubbed the back of his head with an embarrassed grin on his face, receiving a chuckle and a shake of the head from Sabrina as she walked to the kitchen.

(Meanwhile, at James' family estate)

(3rd-person narrative)

As Jessie and James opened up the doors to the large wardrobe room adjacent to their bedroom, they gave a heavy sigh of reluctance due to what they now had no choice but to do. Meowth, however, was not as sullen as his two friends due to the fact that he didn't have to make any change in attire, but was sullen nonetheless. They looked out to the open window, from where they could hear the happy cries of their two children who were playing in the meadow together, with the supervision of James' parents. Sad and concerned about the fact that they had to leave them behind for what would surely be a lengthy period of time, the trio turned back to the wardrobe to retrieve their old Rocket agent uniforms, which would surely be dusty by now.

"I can't believe that we have to go through this, all because of Giovanni…" Jessie sighed. "Why can't that jerk just quit it with his evil schemes, and get a life?"

"I know, Jessie. I agree," James said, holding her hand as they approached a locked red chest on the floor in a corner. "But you know our old boss – once he sets his mind on something, he quickly becomes obsessed with achieving or acquiring it."

"I just…I don't know if I can really go ahead with this right now, James," Jessie leaned her head against his shoulder. "I don't want to leave our kids behind…I love them so much…"

"Me too, Jessie," James kissed her on the head. "But if we don't find out what that devil is planning, then we could end up losing everything. And this time, it doesn't seem like he's after just any old Pokémon. He could threaten to destroy so much more than that lab in Cinnabar Island, if he's not kept in check. We're the only two people who can do something about this. We have to try."

"Yeah…I guess you're right, darling," Jessie sighed, bringing her head back up as they stood in front of the chest. Reaching into the pocket of a coat where the key to the chest was hidden, James pulled it out and unlocked the chest. Within it lay Jessie and James' old Special Agent uniforms, the black clothing covered with dust which had accumulated in the past two years.

Taking out their respective uniforms, Jessie and James dusted them out by patting and flapping them about, much to the displeasure of Meowth who coughed incessantly.

"Do ya have to dust dat thing off right in my face?" he wheezed.

"No-one told you that you have to be in here while we're changing, you numskull!" Jessie raged. "And besides, you should instinctively know that you have to clear out when a lady's changing her clothes!"

"What 'bout him?" Meowth said, pointing his left paw at James whilst continuing to cough into his left. "Why doesn't he have to move?"

Jessie and James then exchanged 'he has got to be kidding' looks, before glaring at Meowth. "Because I'm her husband, you clueless idiot!" James sucker-punched him on the head, causing him to wail as he stumbled dazedly out of the room, the door closing behind him.

"Hmm…I wonder if they'll still fit us," Jessie wondered, pulling her arms out of her shirt to try on her old uniform.

"Don't fret, Jess! I'm sure that we'll definitely-"

"WO~~BBUFFET!" the consistent nuisance of the household erupted from his Pokéball, thinking that James had called out for him as he said 'fret'. Jessie squealed in embarrassment as she quickly covered herself, before angrily smacking the Pokémon on the head with a strong knuckle and booting him out of the room to join Meowth, who was languishing on the floor of the bedroom.

"Heh. You too, huh?" Meowth lazily said to Wobbuffet as he let out a heavy sigh. "Sure is a cruel world…"

"Wo~bbuffet…" his companion agreed from his unchanged side-on position on the carpet.

"Argh! My shirt and skirt aren't coming on properly!" Jessie complained, tugging at them to put them on.

"I told you to cut down on the chocolate mousse, Jess!" James giggled. "It's obviously had an effect on your waistline, and...mmpff!" he moaned as Jessie stuffed a shoe in his mouth.

"You try giving birth to twins and having enough energy to take care of them, genius!" she kneed him gently on the side.

After a few moments, both of them were fully re-attired in their old black uniforms with white gloves and boots. "Well, I guess we better head out now, and…" James said, pulling up his gloves before he looked at Jessie and started to grin.

"Huh? What's funny now, James?" Jessie growled. James said nothing, instead pointing to Jessie's head as she peered up, but could see nothing. Rushing over to the nearby mirror, Jessie shrieked – her hair was covered with white dust she forgot to remove from the inside of her shirt.

"Aah, come on, Jess, it's only dust!" James smiled as he helped her get it out of her hair.

"Urgh! No!" his wife fretted almost maniacally, waving her hands which moved faster than a Doubleslap attack as she tried to get the dust out of the curls of her hair.

"But you know, Jess…" James said, hugging her by the stomach from behind and placing his chin on her shoulder as they looked at each other in the mirror. "I've never really noticed just how…good you look in that old uniform."

"Oh, stop it, you…" Jessie stopped her wild bouts of arm-waving, blushing as she caressed the side of his face with her fingers.

Moments later, Jessie, James and Meowth were outside with James' parents, the children, as well as Hopkins, ready to say goodbye to them with heavy hearts to depart for Team Rocket HQ. After hugging and kissing her son and daughter-in-law, James' mother was then met with the eyes of Meowth who also wanted a hug from her, but drew back and stood upright again.

"No thank you, dear," she said to his disappointment and left him holding his arms in the air. "I've never honestly been one for furs."

Meowth sighed heavily. "I'll never get it wid' dis family…" he said, as Hopkins simply rolled his eyes discretely from where he stood. James then knelt down to speak to his beloved Growlie, as the Arcanine rubbed itself against him in affection.

"I'll miss you, Growlie. Please take good care of everyone while we're gone," James said as he hugged his friend who gave a low purr in response.

"We'll be back a few weeks, most likely," Jessie said to James' parents. "Until then, please take care."

"Don't you worry about us, dear," James' mother assured her. "You just be careful now, and bring yourselves home safely."

Finally, Jessie and James knelt down and hugged their children tightly, kissing them lightly on their foreheads. "Demetry…Belle…I promise that mommy and daddy will be back soon…I promise…" Jessie cried.

"Take care of your sister and grandparents, now, Demetry," James told him.

"Okay, daddy," Demetry answered him with a smile.

"Mommy, when will you be back?" Belle rubbed Jessie's face. "Tomorrow?"

"No, not tomorrow, darling," Jessie smiled sadly, the tears falling down her face.

"The day after that?"

"No, honey. We'll be gone for quite a long while, but don't you worry – we'll be back as soon as we've finished what we have to do," Jessie said, giving her daughter a kiss. "I'll miss you so much…"

And with that, the trio departed for Team Rocket Headquarters, determined to stop the evil schemes of their former boss once and for all.

(End of Chapter 4)

A/N: Sorry if this chapter seems a bit short – I'm still kind of psychologically recovering from writing the massive rewrite of Book I, Chapter 1.

Please leave your reviews for this new chapter. : )