Disclaimer: I do not, nor have I ever, owned anything related to Nintendo's Pokémon franchise.

Legend:

"A human or a Pokémon is talking."

'A human or a Pokémon is thinking.'

"A machine is being used."

Chapter 12:

(Kanto—Route Four—Near Mt. Moon)

After Giovanni had ended the call, Jessie, James, and Meowth knew that they absolutely had to get their hands on the Moon Stone. They all knew that, if they didn't get that stone, then it would be their lives on the line. If they failed, they wouldn't be coming back.

There was a brief moment of silence before Jessie took charge. She told Meowth to go back to Mt. Moon to ask and threaten the local Pokémon about the location of the Moon Stone. He had agreed without protest, a rarity for him, before he set off towards Mt. Moon.

"What do you want me to do, Jess?"

Jessie looked at her partner for a moment, a thoughtful expression on her face. What did she want James to do? What was there she could have him do now, considering the circumstances?

The memory of their battle with those two twerps in the tunnels of Mt. Moon flashed behind Jessie's eyes, causing a viscous scowl to form on her face. Even with all of their Pokémon's experience and obvious strength in battle, they had been bested by sheer numbers.

Meowth had been taken out of the fight after two of the twerp's Pokémon had ganged up on him. Ekans had been captured after a battle with that female twerp's Abra, and Koffing had been knocked out by two more of the twerp's Pokémon. That could not be tolerated; they were Team Rocket and they could not be defeated by grass-green Pokémon Trainers.

"We will both go out to capture some Pokémon for the mission." Jessie answered, scowl still present on her face. "Ekans and Koffing were defeated because those twerps had more Pokémon then we did, and overwhelmed us with their numbers. If… No, when we face them again, we need to have a team powerful enough to crush them!"

"We'll show them that they only won based on luck… and make them realize the true power that Team Rocket possesses." James stated.

Jessie nodded. A few moments passed in silence before both Rockets sprang into action, separating as they ran in completely different directions. As each of them knew where their temporary headquarters was, they would meet up there after they had caught, or stolen, some Pokémon for their future heist.

XXXXXX

(Meanwhile—With Ash and Anabel)

After the initial excitement over catching his fifth Pokémon had worn off, Anabel had begun to lead Ash deeper into Mt. Moon's tunnels. It had only been Anabel's prior knowledge of the tunnels and her flashlight that kept them from getting lost. Along the way, they had seen numerous Pokémon; Zubat sleeping on the ceilings, some Paras and Sandshrew crawling on the ground, and a few Geodude here and there.

At the moment, the two Pokémon Trainers were sitting on the shore of a lake that they had spotted when passing over it on a rock-bridge. They had both decided to climb down the somewhat steep slope at the end of the bridge to get to the lake so that they could refill their empty canteens. However, once they got to the bottom, they had realized how hungry they actually were.

Soon afterwards, Ash had offered to go looking for some firewood, which Anabel had accepted. After leaving Clefairy with Anabel—and assuring a teary-eyed Clefairy he would be back soon—had then climbed back up the slope and over the rock bridge before he walked over to the copse of trees he had spotted near the entrance to the tunnel they had came out of. Once there, he managed to break off enough branches for some firewood before he began heading back.

After they had started a small fire, the two Pokémon Trainers pulled off their backpacks, rummaged through them, and began pulling out some stuff for dinner. It took them a couple of minutes to get everything out—mainly the bowls of PokéChow for their Pokémon—before they were done.

"Let's call everyone out, then."

Ash nodded before he and Anabel reached for their belts and retrieved their Pokémon's Poké Balls before they threw them into the air, "C'mon out guys; its dinner time!"

In the next moment, both Trainers were temporarily blinded by six flashes of white light as their Pokémon materialized. Said Pokémon looked around in confusion before they spotted their food bowls and, stomachs grumbling, wandered over.

However, instead of heading over like the others, Paras didn't. This was because his new Trainer had called him over to him before he began to rummage through that strange thing he had on his back when Paras first saw him. "Paras?"

Ash ignored Paras' question or seemed to not have heard it, busy looking in his backpack for something. Some time passed before Ash spotted what he was looking for and, with a triumphant 'Aha!', he pulled the items out. The items were revealed to be his bottles of Potion that he had bought at the PokéMart. Uncapping it, he then turned around and called Paras over.

Once Paras had obeyed, Ash began to spray Paras' body with a Potion wherever his newest Pokémon looked hurt. The Potion caused Paras' bruises to slowly fade away while the cuts and scratches on Paras' body steamed slightly before they vanished. While he didn't see any more wounds, Ash checked Paras over a couple of more times before he sent Paras off to eat.

Then, capping the half-empty bottle of Potion, Ash returned that and his unopened bottle back into his backpack. When he was done with that, he turned around, only to be surprised to see Paras in the exact same position that it was in before. Why hadn't Paras gotten off to eat like he had told it to?

"Paras Ras Pa-ras?" Paras questioned.

Understanding dawned on Ash, "... I just couldn't leave you like that, Paras. Not when I could do something to help you..." He made a shoo-ing motion, "Now go eat your food! You don't want one of the others to eat it, do you?"

While still confused, Paras obeyed his Trainer before he scuttled over to what he assumed was his 'bowl'. He had to fight off his Trainer's Rattata for it though, as it appeared that Rattata had finished its bowl and was still a bit hungry. After a brief scuffle, he managed to drive Rattata away and, victorious, took a bite of his food. Liking the taste of it, he began to dig into the meal with gusto.

As this was happening, Ash had moved over to see how Clefairy was doing. While Clefairy had eaten some of the slurry, it was obvious that Clefairy wasn't going to be eating much more. This was proven true when she stopped eating a minute later, shakily picked up her bowl, and walked over to him.

"Fairy, Cle-fairy Fairy... Clefairy Fairy Fairy..."

Taking the bowl from his Pokémon's hands, Ash held back a frown. He wasn't really upset with Clefairy. No, he was upset at Damien Flatts, Clefairy's former Trainer. The mere thought of him make Ash's eyes narrow in anger; how could anyone abuse their Pokémon? That was just plain wrong

However, while he was angry at Damien, he couldn't allow his anger to show through. That would only scare Clefairy after all she had been through. So, pulling open the lid to 'Clefairy's Slurry', he poured the remains of Clefairy's meal back inside. He then took out a spare rag from his backpack and began to clean it. Cleaning the bowl only took a minute or two and, after he was done, he stored it back in his backpack.

Seeing that her Trainer was free, Clefairy quickly walked over to Ash and began nuzzling his arms with her head. Ash looked down at her for a moment before he wrapped he moved one of his arms and began to pet her fur. Clefairy purred.

Distracted as he was with Clefairy, Ash didn't notice when Anabel and the other Pokémon finish with their meals. This led to him almost given a heart attack when Eevee—the Stun Spore having worn off when she was in her Poké Ball—seemingly Tackled him as she tried to jump onto his shoulder. Wide-eyed and spluttering, he toppled over to the side, bringing Clefairy and Eevee with him.

In their impromptu dog pile, Eevee looked up at her Trainer questioningly. "Ve?"

Ash shook his head in response. As he and the others were getting up, he heard someone laughing. He looked up to see Anabel sitting down some distance away, laughing at him. Upon closer inspection revealed that even her Abra was laughing at him!

"Don't laugh at me!" Ash demanded. It didn't help his case when Anabel noticed the red on his cheeks and began to laugh anew. He scowled, "STOP LAUGHING!"

Anabel clutched her stomach, "The look... on your face... was priceless!"

"Ab-ra Ab-ra Ab-ra!" Abra chuckled alongside his Trainer.

Ash's eyes narrowed. So, Anabel and Abra didn't want to listen to him, eh? Well he could certainly fix that. She may be a good Pokémon Trainer but she would soon learn that he had numbers on his side. With an order to 'seize' Abra, Ash rushed forward with a devious glint in his eyes.

While this was happening, Eevee took charge and led the 'attack' on Abra. As she rushed forward, she was flanked by Rattata on the right Pidgey on the left. On the ground behind Pidgey scuttled Paras, who was keeping pace with a hesitant Clefairy.

Anabel opened her eyes just in time to see a black blur before something crashed into her body, knocked her down, and forced the breath out of her lungs. When she recovered, she looked up, only to see Ash sitting on top of her chest. "I warned you! Now, take this!"

With that, Ash's fingers descended towards her and quickly discovered all of the places where she was especially ticklish. She had struggled against her 'captor' for a while but she couldn't budge him. He was simply too strong for her. She laughed.

XXXXXX

(Route 4—With Jessie, James, and Meowth)

"Are you sure Meowth?"

After hearing this question, Meowth turned away from Jessie and glared at James as his claws extended. How dare James suggest that he had the wrong information he had spent the last several hours getting? Did James actually think that he would come back without the correct information? Did the man think him that stupid or incompetent?

"Of course I'm sure! I tracked down one of those Clefairy and followed it around through the blasted mountain and found where they are keeping the stone! " Meowth hissed. "Why else do ya think I would tell ya and Jessie, huh?" His eyes flashed dangerously. "Do you think I'm about to risk my life on false information?"

James backed up from Meowth, gloved palms in the air to ward off the angry feline. He had no intent to anger Meowth; he only wanted to make sure if Meowth had the right information. He had not, however, expected Meowth to lash out at him for such a question. "I'm sorry, Meowth... I was just making sure that—"

Meowth huffed.

"Stop acting like a couple of children!" Jessie snapped, scowling as she looked at her two teammates. "We don't have time for any childish nonsense. Or do you not remember that, if we don't complete this mission, it'll be our lives on the line?" She paused for a moment to reign in her anger before she reopened her eyes. She then turned to Meowth. "Good work. You'll be able to lead us to the Moon Stone, correct?"

Meowth grumbled a bit but nodded, confirming that he could lead them to the Moon Stone now. Not waiting to be ordered to do so, he began walking out of his team's temporary headquarters and into the woods. Besides for the sounds of the nocturnal Pokémon as they went about their ways, everything was quiet.

After trudging through the woods for a bit, the three Rockets came across a formerly-unknown cave into that Meowth led them into. The two Human members of the group had to pull out flashlights as everything around them went dark, making it hard to see clearly. With their flashlights, they kept pace behind Meowth as he led them down a number of tunnels and inner chambers before they exited Mt. Moon altogether.

The group then marched up a somewhat large, steep hill before he came to rest 20 feet away from another cave entrance. In an instant, Jessie and James realized this was the cave that held their target and glanced at each other briefly. They put away their flashlights before, following Meowth, they crept into the shadowed entrance of the cave, making sure to remain unseen. There, the three Rockets saw their target.

The Moon Stone was a massive boulder-like stone that was sitting on a raised platform in the middle of the room. A ring of smaller moon stones surrounded the Moon Stone's base, each glowing a faint silvery hue in the moonlight. Looking closer, the three Rockets could see that the Moon Stone itself was giving off a silvery sheen.

In the cave alongside the Moon Stone were three types of Pokémon that Team Rocket were vaguely familiar with. These three Pokémon were Cleffa, Clefairy, and Clefable; Pokémon that seemed to worship the Moon Stone.

Cleffa were small pink-colored Pokémon that were vaguely star-shaped in appearance. In all actuality, they looked like their evolved form, Clefairy, with their small bodies and brown-colored ears. These Pokémon also possessed a small curl on their foreheads and small tails; however, they did not possess the small wings their evolved forms did.

Clefairy were the evolved form of Cleffa, and possessed much of the same features. They had stocky limbs and round bodies, making each of them look a bit chubby. These Pokémon also had large, brown-colored ears that were sensitive to sound and a pair of small, pink wings on their backs.

Clefable were the evolved form of Clefairy, and were a bit larger than their pre-evolutions. Their wings had grown larger, and had darkened considerably, though they still seemed incapable of flight. The paws on a Clefable lacked the nails that they had as a Clefairy, but they had gained an extra clawed toe on each of their feet in exchange for that.

At the moment, Clefairy and younger Clefable were dancing around the Moon Stone while older Clefable simply watched. The Cleffa stood or sat behind what Team Rocket assumed to be their parents with some peeking beyond to see just what was going on.

Jessie turned, "I think it's time to test out our new Pokémon."

James smirked alongside Jessie before a faint 'I do' escaped his lips. All three of them then backed away from the entrance of the cave before they retrieved a Poké Ball from their belts while Meowth simply extended his claws. There was a brief silence before Meowth snapped, "Let's just get on with this already!"

Tossing their Poké Balls into the air, the three Rockets then watched as two Pokémon materialized in two identical flashes of white light. When this light faded, it revealed Jessie and James' new Pokémon in all of their glory.

Jessie's new Pokémon was a Jigglypuff. Like the others of its kind, she appeared to be a round, pink ball with small, cat-like ears and very large eyes. She also had rubbery, balloon-like skin. She had small arms, but rather large feet and no tail. She also appeared to have a hair-like curl on her head.

Jigglypuff looked around before she took a deep breath, her cheeks puffing up. "Puff!"

James' new Pokémon was a Mankey. He was a tailed, bipedal Pokémon with a round body covered in whitish, messy fur. Mankey's ears were triangular with brown insides, and his arms, two-toed feet, and his curved tail was tipped with brown coloration. Mankey also had a nose similar to a pig's snout.

"Mankey man-key!" Mankey chittered.

"Alright." Jessie said, drawing everyone's attention to her, before she continued. "We are going to begin this operation, so be ready." When they nodded, she turned to Jigglypuff, "You know what to do, Jigglypuff. Sing!"

Jigglypuff nodded before she opened her mouth and closed her eyes. Infusing her voice with her own energy, Clefairy then began to sing. This caused numerous multicolored, three-dimensional musical notes to fly out of her mouth before they travelled towards the inside of the cave.

When these musical notes entered the cave itself, they began to release a soothing melody that lulled the Pokémon near them into a drowsy state. All of the Cleffa within the cave fell asleep while most of the Clefairy fell asleep or became drowsy. The remainder of those awake looked around in slight confusion, confusedly wondering what had just happened.

Seeing this, James gave a final rub to Mankey's head. Mankey preened under the touch for a couple of moments before his Trainer took it away, causing him to look up. "It's time for your part, Mankey." His Trainer said. "Do your best."

Mankey nodded before he launched himself out of the shadows, followed shortly by Jigglypuff. The remainder of the Clefable and Clefairy never noticed Jigglypuff as Mankey attacked a rather young Clefable, screeching all the while to draw their attention to them.

"Fable!"

"Clefable Fable!"

"Fable Cle!"

Mankey back flipped off the Clefable he had attacked and landed softly before he crouched, hands extended away from his body. He then jumped forward, hands extended, and landed on the face of his dizzied opponent, clawing at its face.

"Fa-ble!"

Mankey was soon slapped away by his opponent's claws, landing on the stone floor with a dull thud. He got up before the Clefable could hit him again, jumping into the air, before he kicked the Clefable in the face. When the Clefable fell towards the ground, a small amount of blood escaping its mouth, Mankey spun around and avoided the clawed fist of another Clefable. He then engaged this new opponent singlehandedly, even though he was getting pretty tired.

Mankey suddenly dropped to the floor, swinging his legs to trip his opponent, but this turned out to be a mistake. The earlier Clefable that he had knocked out had gotten up by this point, and sent him flying towards the wall of the cave with a single punch.

The wall cracked as Mankey's body impacted it, before he slid down towards the ground. Seconds later, another Clefable was Mankey's face, and slapped him around with its powerful arms. The force of the repeated blows caused Mankey massive damage, which led to him going unconscious at the tenth slap.

"Mankey, return!"

A red-colored beam shot from the shadows, connecting with Mankey, before it absorbed the Pig Monkey Pokemon and receded back into the dark. The Clefable, and Clefairy, looked on as the Rocket Trio emerged from the dark, with James putting away his Mankey's Poké Ball.

"Hand over the Moon Stone… or else." Jessie demanded.

"Fable Clefable!"

"Clefairy? Fairy Cle!"

"Clefable Cle, Fable Clefable!"

"Fairy!"

"Clefable Cle!"

"Fable!"

"I guess diplomacy didn't work, Jess…" James sighed. "… Oh well."

"You pathetic star-gazers will give us the Moon Stone because my associate, that Meowth over there, is holding your knocked-out 'babies' hostage." Jessie announced with a vicious smile on her face. "You wouldn't want us to hurt them, would you?"

The Pokémon spun around to see if what those Humans were saying was true. To their horror, their eyes told them that the Humans were indeed telling the truth. A Meowth was standing before their children, who had been gathered up into a medium-sized net. They then saw a Jigglypuff move from out behind the net before it went to stand by the Meowth, looking particularly smug.

"Hand over the Moon Stone… and we'll leave you pathetic star-gazers alone. We'll even give you your children back, safe and unharmed…" Jessie offered, before her voice hardened. "However, if you resist, you can say goodbye to them forever."

XXXXXX

(Meanwhile—Mt. Moon—With Ash and Anabel)

Anabel lurched upwards with a startled gasp, one of her sweaty hands racing towards her chest in an attempt to calm down her racing heart. She stayed that way for a couple of moments, trying to calm down as the memories of her nightmare played beneath her eyelids.

However, Anabel knew that this was no mere nightmare; it was a vision. A vision of what would happen if Team Rocket managed to get their hands on the Moon Stone—a boulder-sized evolutionary stone she hadn't known about until just now. She had seen the numerous, hellish things that villainous group would use it for. Those images alone were sure to inspire nightmares for many nights to come.

"Ash! Ash, wake up! Wake… up!"

Even as she was shouting at Ash, Anabel was already packing up their supplies as fast as she could. She had just finished placing everything back into their backpacks, besides Ash's sleeping bag, when Ash woke up with a yawn. "… What time is it?" He asked groggily, before he yawned. "And… why is it so dark?"

"We don't have time for that, Ash!" Anabel said. "Hurry up and get up! We have to get going, to that cave before it is too late!"

"What..? Before what is too late?" Ash asked, sounding confused.

"We have to stop Team Rocket before the steal the Moon Stone!"

Ash's Pokémon Team:

Eevee (Female): Level 14.

Attacks: Growl (Normal), Helping Hand (Normal), Sand-Attack (Normal), Scratch (Normal) Tackle (Normal), Tail Whip (Normal).

Pidgey (Male): Level 11.

Attacks: Sand-Attack (Ground), Tackle (Normal), Gust (Flying), and Quick Attack (Normal).

Rattata (Male): Level 12.

Attacks: Tackle (Normal), Tail Whip (Normal), Quick Attack (Normal), and Bite (Dark).

Kakuna (Male): Level 12.

Attacks: String-Shot (Bug), Poison-Sting (Poison), Bug-Bite (Bug), and Harden (Normal).

Clefairy (Female): Level 7.

Attacks: Pound (Normal) and Sing (Normal).

Anabel's Pokémon Team:

Abra (Male): Level 15.

Attacks: Teleport (Psychic), Psyshock (Psychic), and Confusion (Psychic).

Jessie's Pokémon Team:

Ekans (Male): Level 20.

Attacks: Wrap (Normal), Leer (Normal), and Poison Sting (Poison).

Jigglypuff (Female): Level 8.

Attacks: Sing (Normal) and Pound (Normal).

James' Pokémon Team:

Koffing (Male): Level 20.

Attacks: Tackle (Normal), Smog (Poison), and Selfdestruct (Normal).

Mankey (Male): Level 12.

Attacks: Scratch (Normal), Covet (Normal), Low Kick (Fighting), and Leer (Normal).

A/N: Author's Note: This chapter was updated as of 6/27/2012.