Chapter 6

The Ties That Bind

"M…mother…is that…really you?" Jessie murmured, moving her hand slowly towards the monitor. Miyamoto did the same, as they were both overwhelmed by their fateful encounter, after more than 30 years of no contact. Jessie could see that her mother was now visibly older than the last time she remembered seeing her – she was now approximately 57 years of age. But still, she maintained a youthful look about ten years younger than her actual age, as well as a slender figure for performing her missions.

"Jessie…how much you've changed…how beautiful you are, now…" Miyamoto cried tears of joy as she wiped her eyes with her glove.

"Where have you been all these years, mom? Even Giovanni wouldn't tell me anything about where you were!"

"I've been, uhh…" Miyamoto sighed, "…in all kinds of places. Giovanni has made me continue my search for Mew, as well as assigning me various clandestine and spying missions. I'm so sorry, Jessie…" she sobbed. "I promised you that I would come back for you…but I never did…"

"It's alright, mom," Jessie smiled with tears. "You were doing your job – I can understand that." She and her mother then looked at each other for awhile, as they did not have the chance to do so for decades. "Mom, this is Meowth, one of my best friends," she introduced him to her.

"How d'ya do?" Meowth smiled in front of the monitor.

"Very happy to meet you, dear," Miyamoto smiled, then turning her head to James. "And who's this?"

"This is James," Jessie told her while smiling warmly at him. "James, I'd like to introduce you to my mother."

"It's good to finally make your acquaintance," James bowed slightly.

"Huh? Have you been…waiting to see me?" Miyamoto looked at him, confused.

"Mom, I…" Jessie grinned, slightly embarrassed. "James is my husband. We married about two years ago, and, uhh…well…I'm proud to say that you're finally a grandmother."

"G…grandmother…you mean…" Miyamoto murmured.

"Yes, mom. I've given birth to twins – a boy and a girl – a few months after our wedding. Their names are Alex and Jenna," Jessie explained.

"That's…" her mother continued crying tears of joy as she held her hand over her mouth. "That's so wonderful to hear…your father will be so proud of you, Jessie…"

The last words of her mother's sentence jolted Jessie's memory; she still didn't know what became of her father. "Umm…mom, I've been wandering about…about dad…where is he? What happened to him? Is he still on a mission?"

"He's…" Miyamoto looked down glumly, before looking up to Jessie with a sullen expression on her face. She opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't as she was overcome with sadness, breaking down into tears instead.

"Mom…you can't possibly mean…that…" Jessie whimpered in horror.

"He's dead, sweetheart," Miyamoto finally admitted the fact. "He got trapped in an avalanche approximately eight years after we left you."

"Dad…why…" Jessie placed her head in her hands and wept, as James tried to comfort her with a hug from behind. "How could you leave me…?"

"I'm so sorry, darling…I tried to do my best to save him, but the force of the avalanche was so great that I lost my grip on a rope I extended down towards him…"

After taking a few moments to compose herself, Jessie brought her face up to meet her mother's again. "It's alright, mom. You tried to save him. That's all I could've asked for," she smiled sadly. "But for now, we have more important things to discuss: what kind of plan is currently in motion within the organization?"

"Hm? You mean…you don't know, darling?" Miyamoto said, surprised.

"Umm…the three of us don't know what's going on here, mom – we were never told. We, uhh…took two years of absence from Team Rocket, during which we got married and had our children," Jessie replied with confusion in her voice.

"Then that could only mean one thing, Jessie," Miyamoto said, taking a small pause to emphasize the seriousness of the situation. "Giovanni suspects of the three of you."

"Suspects us? Why?" James asked.

"Every single Team Rocket personnel – every high-ranking officer, agent and executive, and even the low-rank grunts – are aware of what's going on, albeit to varying degrees. The high ranking officers like myself are also given a limited amount of information as necessary to perform our tasks, but the true nature and details of the plot are shared only between Giovanni himself and his board members. It could only mean trouble for you, that Giovanni didn't disclose to you any information about his latest plot. But why would he do such a thing? From your uniforms, I can see that you're Advanced Troop Agents now, therefore indicating that you've been members for a long while!" Miyamoto said to them, unaware of their true motive.

"Mom, to tell you the truth…" Jessie's heart began pounding as she wondered whether or not she should tell her mother about the reason behind their 'return' to the organization. As she opened her mouth to speak again, James placed a hand in concern on her upper forearm, but she placed her own hand on his to reassure him. "…c…can I tell you the truth?"

Miyamoto gave a soothing motherly look to Jessie as she nodded. "Anything, my dear. To me, you'll always be my daughter, before you're a member of Team Rocket. You can trust me, as you always have."

Jessie smiled. "Thanks, mom. You see, the truth is…" she looked around the room briefly after hearing a small tap and clank of the metal floor near them. Meowth, silently nodding to her and James, decided to stand watch to the left of their workstation. After making sure that there were no recording devices hidden in her surroundings, Jessie continued, "…the three of us unofficially quit being members of Team Rocket two years ago, following the great battle for Kanto. I'm sure you heard about it?"

"Yes, darling. The loss of life was terrible," Miyamoto gave a small sigh of sorrow. "But please, go on."

"Well, after that day, James and I decided to put away our uniforms for good, and live together as husband and wife. Since that day, we've made many great friends who used to be our enemies while we were a part of Team Rocket. But after the fire on Cinnabar Island this week, we talked with them, and agreed to come here to undertake a…spy mission to observe what's going on and keep them updated on any developments…" Jessie looked down, feeling a great amount of shame and fear at the same time within her. "I don't want to lose my family and my children for…for this…"

After a few seconds' silence, Miyamoto gave Jessie her reply. "…I understand, Jessie. You mean more to me than anything else ever will, and your happiness is what I truly care about. Don't worry – your secret is safe with me. In fact…" she paused, continuing after her daughter brought her face back up to meet hers. "I'll help you."

"You…you'll what?" Jessie gasped.

"I'll help you with whatever you're planning to do. You see, during my entire career, I've lived by one single saying and motto, concerning profitability and Pokémon. Team Rocket has always sent out some assassin units to deal with individuals in the past, but they've never committed an act of mass massacre, up till a few days ago. Since then, I've…I've been having conflicting thoughts of my own. I can be glad to say that I've never been assigned an assassination mission in my life, and nor has your father. Swindling, stealing and committing high-profile burglary, I can deal with. But the actual act of taking another person's life…I could never drive myself to do such a thing. And that is why I want to help you."

"Mom…thank you…" Jessie cried, overwhelmed with emotion as she held her hand out in an attempt to hold her mother, but withdrew it in disappointment as she realized that it was only a monitor.

"Jessie, one day we will be a family again – I can promise you that. But for now, you must listen to what I've got to tell you. Giovanni has tasked me with overseeing operations here in the Sinnoh region, from a concealed position within Mt. Coronet. My task is to ensure that the lower-ranking agents properly perform their duties of acquiring control over all the major stations broadcasting radio signals in towns and cities. Beyond that, there's nothing else I can tell you – my job is only to ensure that the towers are secured."

Although she wished that her mother could've told her more, Jessie knew when she was being perfectly honest with her. "Alright, mom. Well, I guess I'll maybe…hear from you again, sometime," she said, readying her hand to end the transmission.

"Just before you go, honey," Miyamoto stopped her. "…how is your sister?"

"Huh? I…I have a…sister?" Jessie gasped in shock, as James and Meowth looked on in bewilderment.

"Yes. You do, but I didn't know whether you had been told about it or not. Judging by your reply, I'm guessing you haven't," Miyamoto said. "About thirteen months before your father's death, the two of us met again by chance in the mountains of the Unova region, where we were both assigned different scouting missions. We became…overwhelmed with emotion, and I later conceived your younger sister. She was sent to HQ soon after she was born, so that the two of us could continue on with our missions."

"What did you name her?" Jessie asked.

"Julia. She had blue eyes, just like you."

"I…I don't know, and didn't come across anyone in the organization by the name of Julia, mom…I'm sorry…" Jessie sighed.

"Well, alright then," Miyamoto gave a slightly disappointed smile to Jessie, before looking at James. "Please, take care of my daughter, as well as yourself and your companion."

"I will. It was nice meeting you," James replied.

"Goodbye, my darling. I'll miss you, until the next time we meet," Miyamoto tearfully farewelled Jessie as the picture faded into static.

"Jess…are you…alright?" James placed his left hand on her shoulder and held her hand with his other.

"I'm fine, James," Jessie smiled as she wiped a tear from her eye. "It's just that I missed my mother so much over the years, and…talking to her again…it's really made me feel at peace again."

"Da coast is clear, and I didn't see or hear anyone who could've eavesdropped on us," Meowth said as he walked back to them.

"I don't know…I still have a bad feeling about all this. I can't help but get the feeling that we're constantly being watched," James whispered.

"Just act like you're comfortable, James. I'm sure that we'll pull through in the end. And plus, mom's helping us out, now. You can trust her," Jessie tried to reassure him with a smile, but didn't succeed completely as he half-smiled back in reluctance.

"Well, I guess we should give Ash a call to tell him what we've found out so far," said James. Jessie and Meowth nodded and the three of them then moved to find a secure location, wary of any eyes or ears that may be tracking them.

(Ash's POV)

After leaving Ethan and Claire with Mom and Dad to spend some time with them, Misty and I dropped by to pay Sabrina, Brock and his parents a visit at the Pewter City Gym, which was surprisingly empty; Brock's parents were out grocery shopping, and only he, Sabrina, Alex, Jenna and Forrest – the full-time leader of the gym, now that Brock was completely focused on his Pokémon breeding and treatment center within the gym – were present. As Forrest was currently training his Pokémon in the gym in preparation for the day's challengers, he was not with us as we enjoyed some morning tea in the living room – and Pikachu and Marill a bottle of ketchup and sweet mustard, respectively.

"I wonder how Jessie, James and Meowth are doing," I said, looking down at the marshmallow I was swirling around in my mug of hot chocolate with my spoon. "They haven't called us since getting into Team Rocket HQ."

"That's true – it's been a few hours. You'd think they'd have contacted us by now," Brock agreed, peering over to Alex and Jenna who were playing with – or rather causing some soft toys to levitate using their psychic powers. The cheeky and mischievous Alex would, on occasion, send a soft plush toy at his sister's head, giggling to himself as it made contact with her; the two were adept with telekinesis, but were still quite far off from getting the hang of telepathy like their mother.

"Alex, Jenna, no," Sabrina said sternly. Jenna gave a 'hmph' at her grinning brother, as well as the 'I hate you' look, before they moved on to playing with the toys with their hands like normal children, rather than their powers.

"Hehe. I see that Alex is still as cheeky as ever," Misty grinned.

"Yeah. I swear, I don't know who he picked up that habit from. Certainly not his mother!" Sabrina crossed her arms as she looked jokingly at Brock, poking her tongue at him.

"Hey, don't look at me!" Brock chuckled. "You're the one who had Haunter ever since that battle at Saffron Gym, years ago!"

"Haunt-oh, God…" Sabrina covered her face with her hands, puffing out four short breaths. "…I should've known…"

"Well, what'd you expect?" I laughed. "It doesn't take a psychic to know what he's thinking about, never mind what kind of effect he'll have on people."

Sabrina gave me a kidding glare as she smiled. 'Sometimes, I don't know how Misty deals with you around the house when you're this cheeky,' she said to me in my mind, through our psychic and aura powers.

'Well, if you traveled with him for two years, been married to him for four and known him for fourteen, you get used to it pretty fast,' Misty replied to her question through aura, as I grinned at her. 'You just gotta keep a mallet or something similar handy on you, for when things get really annoying,' she gave me a slightly evil grin, causing me to gulp in fear. I still kept up my grin, but it was now a false one which was merely an attempt to keep her smiling, and her hand away from her 'doomhammer'; my not-so-affectionate nickname for it.

"Hey guys, come on!" Brock wailed, throwing his hands up in the air. "You know I hate it when I'm left out of the loop like this, with all the psychic and aura messages! Gimme a break!"

"Hehe…sorry honey, it was nothing important," Sabrina grinned cheekily, just like her son.

"Yeah. We were just talking about Ash," Misty chuckled, before I flicked her on the arm. "Ow!" She poked me on the side of my head in light-hearted retribution in return, as I was left rubbing the spot while frowning at her.

Then, as the phone of my Pokégear began to vibrate, I picked it out of my pocket and looked at the screen. "Hey, it's Jessie! They must've gotten in alright!" I said to Misty, Brock and Sabrina, who then gave me their undivided attention.

"Ash? Ash, is that you?" Jessie said to me in a hushed voice as I received the call.

"Yeah, Jessie, it's me," I answered. "Are you guys alright? Are you inside the HQ?"

"Uh-huh. It was really nervy and I thought we were found out for sure at first, but Giovanni has let us back into Team Rocket again. We don't know exactly what's going on, but I've got some leads from my mother," she explained.

"Huh? Your mother?" my eyes widened slightly.

"I'm sorry, but I can't talk about that in detail right now – for the moment, it's enough that you know that I've talked to my mother again. She told me that Giovanni has ordered Team Rocket's senior agents in the Sinnoh region to acquire the major radio broadcasting satellites, but wouldn't say exactly what for. The plan seems to be in motion, and-" she was interrupted by a moderate racket in the background, which hastened her response. "I'm sorry, I've gotta go! I'll fill you in on what's happening later!"

As the line went dead, I couldn't help but feel concern for the three of them, an uneasy feeling sinking in my chest. "They've made it in. We can be glad for just that," I remarked, sitting back down on the sofa next to Misty.

"What's going on with them, Ash?" Misty looked at me.

"They've been accepted back by Giovanni, and Jessie's received some information about what Team Rocket's planning, from her mother," I said. "They're planning to dish out millions in cash to acquire all the major radio stations and satellites in the Sinnoh region. And I can take a guess that they're planning on doing the same elsewhere."

"Then that should be simple, shouldn't it?" Sabrina said. "The authorities and League HQ of each region could just prevent any acquisitions and purchases of satellites from the existing owners, by simply disallowing them!"

"I don't know, Sabs. I've got a bad feeling about this…" Misty shook her head as she lightly exhaled. "I have a feeling that Team Rocket will find other ways to acquire them. Even if they don't purchase the stations and satellites themselves, they could always resort to other measures like blackmail and personal threats, to keep owners' mouths shut while they go about achieving their own plans. And I don't know how the League HQ is going to keep an eye on that."

"And even though Jessie, James and Meowth can tell us the exact location of Team Rocket's Headquarters, it won't do us any good," Brock added. "That place would be really difficult to find, let alone penetrate – it's most likely heavily guarded and fortified. It'd take an army to seize it, and even if they could organize the army to storm the place, we wouldn't want the three of them to get hurt, or even worse."

"Mommy, daddy, is something wrong?" Jenna toddled over to Sabrina and placed her hand on her mother's, which were joined together on her lap.

"No, nothing's wrong, honey," Sabrina smiled, trying to keep her daughter distracted as she lifted her up and kissed her on the forehead, before placing her back down on the carpet. "Just keep on playing with your brother!"

"But we're bored of playing now," Jenna yawned. "And Alex keeps on sending fluffy toys at my head when I'm not looking!"

"Alex!" Sabrina mildly berated him with a disappointed look. "How many times have I told you not to pick on your sister?"

"Hehehe…" Alex chuckled, before looking up as a strange, clear liquid began falling on his forehead from apparently nowhere. "Huh?"

"Cut it out, Haunter," I groaned, and soon enough, Haunter materialized into view, cackling mischievously while clutching his 'sides'. "Why don't you go and see how Forrest is doing, instead?"

"Haunter, haunt," he smiled and nodded, wriggling his fingers about with gleeful excitement.

"And behave yourself!" Sabrina called out to him.

"Hauuunt…" he sulked, his arms drooping downwards with his head as he levitated away down the hallway.

"What else can we do, mommy? We're both so bored!" Jenna continued to whine.

"Pikachu, Marill?" Misty spoke to them.

"Pikachupi?"

"Marr?" the both looked up at her.

"Would the two of you mind looking after and playing with Alex and Jenna for awhile? It's just for a few minutes."

"Pi!"

"Marill!" they happily agreed, moving towards the two children and beginning to play with them and the toys.

"Y'know, it's too bad that we couldn't go to the Sinnoh region to pay Dawn a visit," I sighed. "Things must be real tough for her, being a single mother and all. Not to mention the emotional impact of what she has to go through every day."

"It was too bad about Paul," Misty looked down glumly. "I had negative first thoughts about him as well because of what you told me about how he used to be when we were younger. But when I saw him for the first time on that day you saved me two years ago, he didn't seem at all to be like that anymore. It's just really unfortunate that he's gone…"

Brock nodded. "We should try to pay Dawn a visit sometime, after this whole crisis with Team Rocket is over. But I'm worried for Max, May and Drew, as well – who knows, this event might have dire and widespread consequences just like you said, Ash."

"I really hope that May will be alright through all of this," Misty said. "She's like a sister to me, just like you are, Sabrina," she smiled at her, receiving a smile in return.

"Well, I guess we should contact Lance at the Indigo Plateau, Ash," Brock said to me after a moment's silence.

"Yeah, we should," I agreed with a nod. "I'll get to it right away. Where was your video phone again, Brock?"

"Just to the right of the kitchen counter, Ash," he replied. I gave him a small wave to say thanks and then walked to the video phone, dialing the number for the Indigo Plateau. After a brief amount of waiting, a familiar voice picked up on the opposite line.

"Indigo Plateau reception, how may I help y-" Claire Joy responded as her picture came up on the screen, surprised to see me.

"Hi, Claire, it's been a long time!" I smiled. "How have you been?"

"Hi, Ash!" she smiled back. "Everything has been fine here recently, and there doesn't seem to be much commotion going on anywhere since the Cinnabar Island fire."

"That's good to hear. Hey, um…Claire, is it possible for me to talk to Lance right now? It's rather urgent. It's about Team Rocket," I told her.

"Oh. Alright, I'll patch you through to him," she replied, fairly surprised.

"Thanks, Claire. Well, it was nice to talk to you again. Take care," I smiled.

"You too, Ash. Bye now!" she smiled back, and the screen changed briefly into a gray static before showing Lance's figure.

"Hi, Lance, it's me – Ash," I said.

"Greetings, Ash. I understand that you've got something urgent to tell me about Team Rocket?" he greeted me.

"That's right," I nodded. "We've just found out about their plan: it seems like they're planning on acquiring all the major radio broadcast satellites and stations in the Sinnoh region, and I can have a guess that they're planning on doing the same everywhere else."

"That's rather concerning. But we don't know exactly what they're up to, yet," Lance pondered in thought. "I'll have to have a talk with the other members of the Kanto Elite Four, and also contact the respective members of Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh, as well as Unova. But by the way, Ash…how did discover something like this?"

I froze for a minute with strong concern for Jessie, James and Meowth, hesitating to tell Lance the truth. "I…err…it's not that important."

"It is important, Ash," Lance iterated. "We have to know whether or not the source you're giving us is trustworthy."

"Well…alright, then…" I sighed. "Three of our friends who used to be part of Team Rocket have agreed to infiltrate the HQ, and provide us with information about what they're planning, from time to time when they can." Lance's silence prompted me to continue on. "And umm…I have a favor to ask of you, Lance."

"What is it, Ash?"

"I was wondering whether the three of them could…umm…each receive official pardons from both the League, as well as the authorities. They only joined Team Rocket in the first place because of circumstances which were beyond their control, and they're all good people. They even helped us out in the battle for Kanto, two years ago."

After a moment of thought, Lance assured me with a smile. "Alright, Ash. I'll see to it that it's done. What are their names?"

"James and Jessica Kojiro, and their other companion is a Meowth. Jessie's maiden surname is Musashi, and she married James two years ago."

"Ok, then. I'll have a meeting with the Elite Four, and try to make contact with the other regional leaders. Well, until next time," Lance farewelled me with a gesture of his hand.

"Bye, Lance. I'll fill you in on anything else that we hear," I said, and the line ended. Walking back to the living room, I stopped dead as I saw Misty sitting with her arms crossed, glaring at me.

"Hey, Mist. What's the matter?" I nervously said.

"Who's Claire?" she said abruptly and quite angrily.

"Aah, Claire!" Brock remembered. "Isn't she that Nurse Joy who works at the Indigo Plateau? She was so very nice, and-" he was about to go on, but was stopped as Sabrina gently elbowed him on the side and gave him an unapproving look.

"Huh? A Nurse Joy? Then does that mean…" Misty took a little while to get it around her head, before raging at me. "You named our daughter after a Nurse Joy?"

"Mist! Please, calm down!" I waved my hands in front of me. "You must understand! I admit, I should've told you about Claire's name as we were about to name her two years ago, but it slipped my mind then!"

"And what's so special about this Nurse Joy, that you name our daughter after her?"

"She's the one who…healed Pikachu after my victory over Lance which won me the title of Pokémon Master, years ago," I murmured, looking down at Pikachu who looked up at me. Misty's expression began to soften, and soon changed into a calm smile.

"Oh…I see how it is, now," she said. "Well, in that case, then I'm perfectly fine with it – happy, even. After all, Pikachu is like family to us, and I wouldn't know for myself what I would've done had I found out he was gone forever. I'd have done something similar to what you've done, had someone saved Marill for me, or any one of my Pokémon. And besides," she smiled at me. "Claire is a very pretty name."

I grinned. "It sure is."

"And, uhh…I'm sorry for snapping at you, Ash…I should know by now that you'd never do anything to hurt me, and that I've been so selfish all the time…" she sighed, small tears forming in her eyes.

"You're not selfish, Mist," I reassured her, holding her by the hand as I sat down next to her on the sofa. "You've made so many sacrifices over the years for me, as well as your sisters. To me, you're the most wonderful and beautiful person on earth, and I couldn't ask for a better person to spend my life with."

"…thank you, Ash…" she sobbed into my shoulder, hugging me tightly as I stroked her hair and kissed her on the forehead.

"Claire most definitely is a gorgeous name!" Brock cried out after a few seconds' silence, and then held his wife's hands in his own. Misty and I broke our contact, giving him an uneasy look. "Honey, if we have another daughter, could we please name her something similar?"

"I…err…" Sabrina said as she bit her teeth gently together in nervousness. "Well, I…guess I'll have a think about it…"

"Oh, thank you, honey, I love you!" Brock hugged her tightly, as Sabrina continued to grin sheepishly and rub his back.

"Gee, Brock, how many kids are you thinking of having?" I remarked.

"I don't know – I have no idea, really!" he laughed, rubbing the back of his head as he and Sabrina separated from their hug. "I just naturally love kids, like my parents, I guess!"

Sabrina glanced at him from the corner of her eye, before pinching him on the earlobe and causing him to wince and tense. "I love kids too, Brock, but please don't even think about going overboard with them. I don't know how on earth your mother managed to stay looking great and keep a slim waistline after having so many kids, but I don't wanna find out how hard it'll be for me!"

"Point…taken…gaah!" Brock wailed before giving a great sigh of relief as Sabrina released her fingers from his ear. Misty and I chuckled, and the four of us enjoyed the rest of our morning tea, going over to the gym battle grounds later to check on Forrest and cheer him on in his upcoming challenger match.

(At Team Rocket HQ)

(3rd-person narrative)

"I'm sorry, I've gotta go! I'll fill you in on what's happening later!" Jessie frantically said, turning off her transceiver and putting it away just as a pair of footsteps approached the three of them.

"Well, well, well, look what we've got here, at the wrong place and the wrong time!" Butch mocked as he and Cassidy stopped in front of Jessie, James and Meowth.

"Grr! What do you want this time?" Jessie growled.

"Oh, nothing," Cassidy said slyly, pompously brushing off some dust from her gloves – if there indeed was any dust at all. "We were just…wondering what the three of you were up to."

"Nothing – we were just wandering around after receiving a report from an agent on a mission," James replied. "It's been more than two years since we were last in here, and we need some time to re-familiarize ourselves with this place!"

"Hah! That's certainly likely to be a requirement for three inexperienced amateurs, like you!" Butch smirked, aggravating the three of them, as if they were rubbing salt onto wounds.

"You mentioned something about an agent?" Cassidy tilted her head sideways. "Which particular agent are you talking about?"

"He wouldn't say," Jessie lied to them. "The idiot was so hyped up about giving his report, that he didn't even give us his name – just his report."

"I always wondered why the boss hires such idiots to become agents every now and again," Butch grunted, looking straight at them and making their frustration grow.

"By the way…what were you muttering a while ago, Jessie?" Cassidy raised an eyebrow at her. "I could've sworn you were talking to someone, and it didn't seem like you were talking to these two."

Jessie puffed at her, before giving her answer. "We were…practicing our new motto."

"Hah! As if!" Butch laughed.

"Hey! What's so funny about that?" James growled at him.

"Your mottos are pathetic! They're so bad and unoriginal, that people start yawning from the first line!" Cassidy giggled.

"Oh yeah? Well, at least our motto wasn't stolen from someone else's, like that of two idiots that I'm looking at right now!" Jessie yelled, shaking her fists by her hands, before looking at them with a smug smile. "And besides, your coordination and improvisation is quite possibly – no, definitely – the worst I've ever seen! You can't even get it right half the time, because of it! So why don't the two of you just scurry off right now, and get swallowed up by a Victreebel or something? Because this place sure would become a helluva lot greater if it was two idiots shorter!"

Butch and Cassidy then looked at them with furious, fuming expressions, while James twitched about behind Jessie at the unpleasant memories of being drenched up in Victreebel's slime. Then, something else came to Butch's mind. "Oh yeah, we heard about your little…relationship! Hahaha! You actually went through all that trouble, and stayed out of the action for two whole years?"

"Hahaha, that is just plain stupid!" Cassidy laughed, holding her side. "What did you plan on doing – have kids?"

"And what's wrong with that?" Jessie gave a small puff, folding her arms. "What might possibly be so bad about having kids?"

"They're a nuisance! I'd much rather concentrate on my career, instead!" Cassidy retorted.

"Keh! Suit yourself. We're off," Jessie grunted as she, James and Meowth walked past them and back towards the communications room. Butch and Cassidy gave each of them condescending looks as they walked out, before departing themselves back to their previous posts at the security center.

"Do ya 'dink dey suspects us?" Meowth whispered.

"Definitely. We'd better steer clear of them if we can," Jessie replied in a hushed voice. Then, her head swiftly turned to look down an adjacent hallway as she heard rapid footsteps upon the metallic rail floor.

James gulped, his eyes filled with worry. "Chances are, those two aren't the only ones keeping an eye on us…"

(In the Pokémon Experiment Lab)

As Giovanni entered through the entrance of the chamber where all kinds of experiments on Pokémon were conducted, he instantly looked away from an experiment table where a scientist was about to administer a prototype neural neutralizer on a Rattata which shriveled into the corner of its glass cage in fear. Moments later, the Rattata was forever silenced by the combination of cyanide and chemical toxins, not moving a muscle. But Giovanni didn't care for a Pokémon species which he deemed to be one of the lowliest of all Pokémon: his attention was fixed upon the figure robed in a white lab coat, working tirelessly – almost obsessively – compared to the others around him, on the special radio signal designed to enslave both Mew and Mewtwo, amongst thousands of other Pokémon.

"The initial planning stages for the properties of the radio signal transmission is complete, sir," Dr. Fuji said as he sensed Giovanni's presence behind him, his voice sounding half dead. "We are currently tweaking the signal's wavelengths and frequencies, according to plan."

"Good. I shall expect a full report from you on today's developments, by six o'clock," Giovanni said, turning around to walk out of the lab before he was stopped by Fuji's voice.

"I assume, sir, that you will honor our agreement, once your plans have been accomplished?"

"Of course, Fuji. I assure you that you will be free to pursue your previous goal and experiment of cloning your daughter, once this task is finished," Giovanni replied gruffly, then lowering his voice almost to a whisper, which was heard by Fuji only. "…and keep an eye on the Galactic scientists working alongside you…we don't any of them to discover our true objectives. Remember what you must do, and I shall grant your reunion with your family."

"…yes, sir…" Fuji said with resent, turning around to continue on with his grueling work. His seemingly lifeless eyes burning with ruthless intent, he sat back down in front of the computer and recording equipment, never for one moment forgetting the smiling face of his beloved daughter and the memories of his destroyed life.

(End of Chapter 6)

A/N: I'll try to upload the next chapter as fast as I can, and I also think I can get the plot moving faster with it as well, as I've now passed the 35,000-word mark. It'll probably be up within a week.

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