The Year of Rocket's Revenge
Session: February, Part 4 (02.20.06/11.08.07)


I can't believe he went back to them. To the PTA! Okay, maybe just as a freelancer, but that's beside the point! He went back to them! I can't believe he'd do something like that! It just vexes me... OOOHHH!

I'll never forgive him for this. Never. Ever!

What's this? Another note? Grrr... he's not THAT stupid, is he?

Wait a minute... this isn't addressed to Arius! Or is it? A love letter from someone named Wallace, to someone named Winona? Isn't Winona somewhat similar to... Luna? It is them, using aliases! So he really is cheating on me too!

Ooh... if Arius thought he got a piece of my mind earlier, he's about to get an even BIGGER ONE!


Monday, February 18th, Saffron City

The beginning of another week was evident on the faces of the residents and commuters alike, as the streets were filled to the gills with people heading to work or school - the city in a better state than it was a few weeks ago. Or, if they were a Pokémon trainer, either to the Pokémon Center or to the gym to challenge the tough-to-beat psychic enchantress, Sabrina.

But some lovers of Pokémon would rather spend their time at the headquarters of the Silph Company, makers of such modern gadgets for the everyday trainer like the Pokéball, the Potion, and the Silph Scope. This 11-story glass-windowed building served as the home base of some of the greatest inventors and researchers in history. But where great minds and technology grew, there were sure to be a few bad eggs waiting to use them for their own evil deeds.

"Good morning, Cassidy and Butch!" greeted the chipper young receptionist at the front desk. "Another fine day, isn't it?"

Cassidy and Butch, dressed in light blue maintenance jumpsuits, each pushing a dolly with a large cardboard box on it, waved hello to her.

"Someone's been hitting the ABC pills again," Butch remarked.

"Oh, come on," she blew him off casually. "You know we have a no drug policy!"

"He was being sarcastic, dear Annie," Cassidy explained.

"Oh. Well... good sarcastic bit then, Butch!"

As Annie waved goodbye, Cassidy and Butch stopped by the elevator, with the latter reaching for the call button. One set of doors belonging to an empty car opened immediately, and the two of them rushed in. Butch pressed the 'close doors' button and held it shut, while Cassidy reached up to her right breast pocket and pulled out an ID card. As she did, a small compartment opened up just underneath the main control panel, revealing a 12-button keypad and a card swiper.

"I swear that girl gets dumber by the second," commented Butch as Cassidy swiped her card and punched in an access code.

"Better dumb than smart," Cassidy said in reply. "She could get herself in a lot of trouble if she ever figured out who we really are and what we're doing here."

As the elevator started moving downwards, odd because the normal panel indicated there were no floors beneath the ground floor the duo had just gotten on at, the two of them threw off the jumpsuits in a flash, revealing their black Team Rocket uniforms.

And with that, they started reciting their motto.

"Prepare for trouble!" Cassidy started it off, as usual.

"And make it double!" continued Butch.

"To infect the world with devastation!"

"To blight all people in every nation!"

"To denounce the goodness of truth and love!"

"To extend our wrath to the stars above!"

"Cassidy!"

"Butch!"

"We're Team Rocket circling Earth all day and night!"

"Surrender to us now or you will surely lose the fight!"

"That's right!" the two finished, in perfect unison.

The two of them glanced all over the car, as if they were expecting someone or some 'mon to come out and wrap it up. But alas, their wishes fell on deaf ears.

"I forgot about Raticate," Cassidy stated, bowing her head.

Butch sniffled, wiping away a tear from his right eye. "He was two days away from retirement."

"He had even picked out his mate already, too."

"Lucky son-of-a..."

Suddenly, the car stopped moving and the doors swung open. The two agents stepped out and onto a metal walkway overlooking a busy underground hangar. Walking up to the railing, Cassidy and Butch could see dozens of their fellow agents below, working on assorted projects. There was everything from creating new Pokémon-capturing devices to mind-controlling accessories in the midst of final testing.

And somewhere down there, twirling a black tulip between her fingers as she wandered among the mess mass of experiments, was one of Team Rocket's elite officers. She was the only female of the squadron, but that didn't seem to phase her at all, especially considering she could go toe-to-toe with even the best of them. No one amongst the Rockets dared mess with her, for fear of getting their insides turned out... or worse. Ruthless couldn't even begin to describe her. Anyone who took so much as a tiptoe in the wrong direction in her eyes, and they were as good as dead.

Not that avoiding her was easy. After all, she was the perfect specimen of beauty, physical fitness, and intelligence. It only took her looks to draw an unsuspecting victim into her trap. She could then use one of her other two attributes to finish the job. That would explain the reasoning between her being nicknamed as the 'Black Tulip' - pretty on the outside, a dark heart on the inside.

But most people referred to her by her self-appointed nickname.

Domino.

"Everybody do their best today!" she said as she passed by the various stations. Giggling.

Yes, giggling.

All of the scientists and agents were shooting back odd looks and scratching their heads in confusion as Domino skipped through the hangar area, towards a lonely, dark corridor at the other end.

Wait... she was skipping too? Why?


"And can you feel the love tonight?" Domino sang. "To-night!"

Believe it or not, Domino was now actually singing as she skipped her way to and stopped at a metal door with a latched knob. She seemed to be ecstatic as she was holding a photograph in her right hand and was raising it up to look at it.

THE photograph.

In it stood Domino, at the ceremony in which she was appointed elite officer status. Her head was turned to the left and looking up, right at the other figure in the picture, who was handing her a ceremonial crystal black tulip, modeled after her trademark weapon of choice. The man giving it to her?

Why, no other than Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket.

"I can't believe that was three years ago!" she squealed. "It feels like only yesterday!"

She stared dreamily... yes, dreamily, at Giovanni's picture, recalling that very day. The day when it was officially declared that she was not only one of Team Rocket's finest operatives, but that Giovanni was now the one and only person she had to answer to. Talking with the boss front-and-center on a daily basis was her dream for years. She'd never admit it openly, but she admired everything evil about him. She'd do anything to be by his side as often as possible.

"This must be the day!" Domino figured. "It's the promotion I've been waiting for! He's gonna make me his right-hand woman, his second-in-command! This is the day I've been waiting for!"

Domino reached a steel metal door on her left, at which she stopped and stood in front of for about a minute. She gave herself the once over - checking her uniform for wrinkles, lint, and other blemishes, adjusting her beanie so it fit snugly over the top of her head, and fiddling with her hair to make sure it parted just right.

Once all that had been done, she took a deep breath and then exhaled, assuring that her nerves were calm so as to continue to present herself in a dignified manner. The only manner that Giovanni cared about.

Ready to receive her promotion, Domino reached for the doorknob and turned it to the left, creakily opening the door into the room. Immediately, she spotted the boss sitting at his desk, giving her a cold stare that made it felt that he was five inches in front of her, not five yards. Domino put on a dastardly smirk in response, as apparently Giovanni's dark, grim side was the thing she liked most about him.

"Agent Domino reporting as requested, sir," she barked as she stepped in.

"Come in... and close the door behind you," Giovanni ordered.

Domino did so without haste, but as she stepped in and saw the rest of the room, she spotted someone else sitting nearby. His presence had been obscured by the door, which opened up to block Domino's right side as she entered, and only now was she seeing him.

"Oh, yes... I don't believe you two have ever met personally," Giovanni recalled.

Yes, they had never met personally, but Domino took one look at the teenager and instantly knew who he was.

"Oh ho ho... you're the one everyone's been talking about. The so-called 'diamond in the rough' that became Pokémon Junior Master, yet strived to do something... more productive in life. I have to admit... it took some guts to do what you did."


"This is the best New Year's..."

Maria never got to finish her statement, as a series of explosions rocked the square, including several around the stage. Cheers of joy turned to screams of fear as stage debris and bodies were blown every which way, some not even completely intact. As the revelers ran for cover, large fires quickly sprung up around where the stage had been, and panic and chaos spread amongst those still able to move.

All the while, there was somebody smiling from atop one of the nearby skyscrapers as he watched the madness unfold below. It was a blue-haired young man sporting a black Team Rocket uniform. But more surprising was the Pokémon standing next to him. Unlike any Pokémon in existence, it was hard to tell what it looked like with the limited amount of light up there. From what could be seen, though, it seemed to have two sets of wings... one from a Charizard and the other from a Skarmory.

Suddenly, a police helicopter, which had been hovering over the square, aimed its search beacon towards that spot. But when it lit up the building's roof, there was nothing there at all. The helicopter moved on, continuing its search for suspicious characters. Those inside were unaware, though, that they had just missed the perpetrators, as police officers and fire and rescue crew down on the ground moved towards Ground Zero...


"It's nice to finally meet the man that started Team Rocket's road to world domination! So how does it feel to be the 'it' guy... Marco Pereira?"

"I don't go by Marco anymore. Just call me 'Mark.' As in... I ALWAYS get my mark."

"I see," Domino acknowledged, before turning to Giovanni. "So, you wanted to see me, sir?"

"I wanted to see the both of you. You see, I have a special assignment for the two of you."

"Two?" Domino wondered in confusion, glancing at Marco... eh, Mark, and then back at the boss. "But that means..."

"Yes, Domino... I want the two of you to work together."

"But... but..." she stuttered, "I'm a one-woman team! That's what being a special agent means... going on solo missions!"

"I'm sending you two away to take over our joke of a headquarters in the Johto region. Your responsibility is to clean house, get rid of the garbage."

Giovanni reached over the desk and handed a manila folder to Marco, but as he was about to open it, Domino snatched it away and looked through it herself.

"Whichever one of you does the best job setting HQ there straight will become the new director of Johto operations! You'll be the one in charge, answering to me and ONLY me! It's an opportunity neither of you will hopefully refuse. In fact, neither of you will."

"As you command, sir," Mark obeyed, bowing his head in respect.

Unfortunately, Domino wasn't as easily persuaded.

"But, sir," she started to uncharacteristically chatter in a panic, "I love doing field work... and I love being here with you! Isn't there any..."

Giovanni slammed his fist on the desk, shutting Domino up as she instinctively took a step back in fear.

"Such a glorious offer, and you DARE turn me down, 009?"

"But..."

"SILENCE! Either compete against Mark to be the new director of the Johto branch, or you'll spend the next six months as a grunt! If you're lucky..."

Domino gulped. As much as she wanted to stay near Giovanni, she wouldn't risk being demoted to such a lowly position akin to being excommunicated from the boss' inner circle. Replacing her distraught looks with a facade of seriousness, she jumped back up to attention and accepted the orders as given.

"Yes, sir! As you wish."

"That's a good girl," Giovanni smiled, finally calming down. "Start packing, the both of you... you leave in a hour."

"Sir, yes, sir!" the two confirmed, in a saluting pose.


Saturday, February 23rd, Cerulean City Gym

"Now don't forget... that all has to be done by the time we get back tonight, okay?"

"Daisy, c'mon! We have to be one of the first ones in line!"

"Yeah! Otherwise, we'll get the fashion-backwards wedding gowns!"

With that, Daisy bolted out of the door of the Cerulean gym, joining her sisters on a well-deserved, at least to them, all-day shopping spree. Tracey Sketchit had been watching from the entrance to the arena, next to the receptionist desk, holding an empty bucket in one hand and a mop in the other. Apparently, he had been stuck with cleaning duties for the day. He could've taken it like a man and complained and spew non-feminist nonsense about how it's the woman who does all the housework.

But Tracey frankly just didn't care. Not because he was a pushover, but because he didn't mind. That's because it was all for her.

Just her.


Tracey went into the arena and began draining the pool for its dreaded first cleaning in a month. Dreaded because it was such a large pool... and a lot of gunk and waste tended to collected at the bottom, despite the fact that only the Pokémon and the Waterflower sisters were the only ones who swim in it. And they're usually sticklers for keeping the arena, at the very least, clean.

But Tracey knew they were neglecting their pool cleaning duties, which were supposed to be every week, for good reason. Mostly because only three of them around. After Ash and Pikachu were kidnapped a few weeks ago, Misty disappeared on them again. But this time to find her boyfriend, rather than run away from him.

That once again left the three elder Waterflower sisters to run the gym by themselves, just like in the old days.

That was until the day after Valentine's...


On that day, Tracey walked through the gym's front doors, holding a package from Professor Oak addressed to the Waterflower sisters. Normally, such a job would be left to the postal service, but given the cargo inside, this required special circumstances.

As in Professor Oak usually makes the trip, but since he had Tracey...

"Hello?" Tracey called out. "Anybody here?"

Tracey put the large package down on one of the seats in the waiting area, then turned to look at the Poliwhirl-shaped clock above the receptionist desk. It read 12:20... yet there was no one sitting at the desk!

"Maybe they're on lunch break," the watcher deduced. "I hope they don't mind me joining them!"

He picked up the box again and started trotting over towards where the kitchen was. But upon arriving there, he found it empty as well.

"They're not here either?"

Suddenly, Tracey heard the cries of many water Pokémon in the air. Practically at all once! Forgetting about the package for now, he ran as fast as he could towards the tanks. In them, he found plenty of Horsea, Seel, Tentacool, Magikarp, Shellder, and other water-types. But almost all of them looked out of it, as if they hadn't been fed yet that day.

"I've never seen Pokémon this hungry before, and all at once! I know Misty's sisters can be lazy at times... but to forget to feed the Pokémon? That's it... when I find them, I'm gonna give them a piece of my mind!"


Tracey stomped his way up to the second floor, and to the sister's quarters. Each of them had their own rooms, each door denoted by a headshot photo of their respective girls. Tracey first came upon Lily's door, and promptly knocked on it, hoping for an answer. But after a few knocks, he got none.

"Maybe she's out?"

He then went to Violet's door, right next to Lily's. He knocked on this one as well, and just like before, there wasn't a response.

"Her too? Something's not right."

Finally, Tracey came to Daisy's door. Once more, he started knocking on it. And knocking on it. And knocking on it.

And once more, not a peep could be heard. Tracey was worried.

"She's not home either? How can that be... IT'S FRIDAY!"

"LIKE, WHO'S OUT THERE MAKING ALL THAT RACKET?"

Tracey gasped with relief. That was Daisy's angry voice on the opposite side. Tracey waited with anticipation as he heard Daisy fiddle with the doorknob - only to find it locked. Tracey then heard Daisy struggling to get the door unlocked. Finally, the door opened inward, and Tracey was happy to see Daisy!

She must have been happy to see him too, given she was wearing nothing but her underwear.

Even though her face showed she was half-awake and fighting a terrible headache.

Tracey blushed and quickly did an about face, just as Daisy remembered him.

"Hey... you're one of those other boys that likes Misty, right?"

"Uh, Daisy? I know you're still desperate, but isn't that going a bit far?"

Daisy looked down and figured out what Tracey was referring to. She quickly ran back in, slamming the door behind her.


A minute or two later, Daisy came back out practically covered up - a white knit-cap bonnet, an orange and maroon striped scarf, a cerulean blue hooded sweatshirt, hood down, and matching-colored sweatpants. Tracey didn't see any of it... he hadn't moved from his spot, still facing the opposite wall, afraid to turn around.

Daisy wanted to rectify that in a hurry, so she grabbed Tracey's left arm and spun him back around.

"I'm sorry," he quickly apologized, cowering in fear.

"Look," Daisy said, though she was trying to avoid eye contact. "Let's just forget it happened, like, k?"

Tracey quickly nodded in agreement. "I won't tell if you won't."

"I'll hold you to that. Now... what are you doing here?"

"I was dropping off a package from Professor Oak when I found the gym empty at this time of day."

"This time?" Daisy wondered as she turned her gaze to a nearby hallway clock. "IT'S A QUARTER TO ONE?"

"Well... yeah."

"Like, where's Violet and Lily?"

"I was hoping you'd know. I knocked on their doors, but neither of them answered."

"Oh crap!" Daisy shouted in a panic as she bolted for the stairs.


Disgruntled challengers, an answering machine full of complaints, and a gym of starving Pokémon were among the mountain-load of problems Daisy found upon reaching the receptionist area. Daisy found her headache getting even worse, but even she ignored the pain as she raced to get things in order. Tracey wandered about, doing what he could to help... but he quickly became as overwhelmed as Daisy was.

Two hours later, as Daisy and Tracey finally got the gym to some semblance of working order, Violet and Lily walked trotted in through the front door.

"And where were you two all day?" Daisy asked, livid. "If you were, like, going out, you should've woken me up! I just spent the past two hours catching up!"

"I helped too," Tracey proclaimed, though apparently none of the sisters had heard him.

"Oh, be quiet!" Violet exclaimed. "I didn't notice I spent the whole night in jail until three hours ago because I was arrested for public drunkenness!"

"And I didn't notice I got drunk off my rocker and end up at the house of that fanboy I went out with last night 'til two hours ago," spouted Lily, half-proud, half-ashamed.

"Figures that I'm the only responsible one around," Daisy remarked, before feeling her headache hit her at full force.

Daisy stumbled over to the receptionist desk and pulled a bottle of headache pills out and took about three or four of them.

"Someone had quite the hangover," Violet and Lily both noted slyly.

"At least I drank at home and didn't make a fool of..." Daisy began before realizing how pathetic that made her look - spending the night of V-Day cooped up at home.

"Looks like we all had a night we'd rather forget," realized Violet.

"Let's never speak of it again!" Lily hastily proposed.

"At least until White Day!" Daisy added.

"Agreed!" the trio shouted in unison, sealing the deal with a group hug and a gaggle of laughter.

"Uh... ladies?" Tracey cut in, pointing behind them.

"Oh," Violet said, noticing him for the first time. "Don't I, like, know you from somewhere?"

"Yeah!" Lily chirped. "Yet, I can't seem to remember your name..."

"Girls, you remember Tracey from the New Year's Eve party, right?" Daisy reminded. "One of Misty's friends?"

"Right!" Lily recalled. "The stalker!"

"Stalker?" Tracey freaked, nearly doing a facefault.

"Uh... pardon me..." a meek voice piped up, though not enough to be heard by the foursome.

"That's too harsh," Violet commented. "He's more like a third wheel. Or was it fifth... just how many guys does Mist have in her entourage now?"

"Oh, come on," Daisy harped back. "You know Misty isn't hot enough to have an entourage and you know it!"

"Hello?" the meek voice stated, trying to cut in again.

"How would you know if Misty is hot enough or not?" Tracey scolded.

"BECAUSE WE'RE HER SISTERS!" Violet and Lily fired back.

"Hey, hey," Daisy tried to calm them down. "Doesn't Tracey deserve the benefit of the doubt? If he has the hots for Mist, then maybe we should just let the whole bit play out. It would make the next few months fun!"

"If only she was here to do it," Violet yelled. "Don't you remember why she's not here? She's searching for Ash... like, her actual boyfriend!"

"You don't have to rub it in," Tracey grumbled.

"Excuse me!" the meek voice shouted one more time, finally grabbing the attention of Tracey and the sisterly trio - by walking in to a point to where she was in the midst of the group.

"Look at you," Daisy said with adoration of the voice's owner, a young girl, "aren't you a cutie?"

"Why didn't you tell us you, like, had a younger sister?" prompted Lily.

"Because I... don't," he replied.

"I'm here to get my first Pokémon!" the girl announced. "Isn't there a cute Squirtle waiting for me?"

"Wait a minute..." Daisy said, glancing over towards the calendar on the wall. "That was today?"

"Eeee!" Lily squealed. "We're so, so, so, so, so NOT ready!"

"Why didn't you remember?" Violet yelled at Daisy.

"You expected me to remember with you and Lily leaving me to run the gym alone with this hangover?" Daisy yelled in return.

Tracey snapped his fingers. "Oh yeah... that's why I came here."

"The package!" Daisy recalled, before slapping her forehead with the palm of her right hand. "I forgot about that!"


Ten minutes later, the young girl skipped happily out of the gym, with a Pokédex in hand and her brand-spanking new Squirtle tra-la-laing right next to her. Inside, Violet and Lily had absent-mindedly wandered off to go waste the rest of the day, leaving Daisy and Tracey alone in the lobby.

"Thanks for coming... you really, like, saved all of us today."

"Aw... it was nothing."

"Say! Like, I've got it! We could always use some extra help with Misty away."

"I don't know..." Tracey hesitated. "I mean, working with Professor Oak is such an honor..."

Daisy gasped. "You'd rather spend a day with him than with three beautiful, extravagantly gorgeous, desperately-in-need girls?"

"Well..."

"Fine... I'll throw in a few lessons on how to impress Misty."

"Deal!" Tracey hastily agreed.

"Tee hee," Daisy replied, leaning over and giving Tracey a peck on the cheek. "I knew I could count on you!"

Tracey's face quickly became one of a blushing shade of red. Daisy headed into the arena, to get ready in case any challengers should come in later.


"And that's how I fell in love with Daisy," Tracey said with a goofy smile on his face, his head resting on the top of the handle end of the mop.

All of a sudden, Daisy burst back through the front door, startling Tracey and nearly causing him to lose his balance.

"I wasn't daydreaming on the job, honest!" Tracey quickly bumbled up an excuse.

"Forget the 'job,'" Daisy exclaimed, running over and grabbing Tracey by the arm. "I almost forgot... how could I forget you? You're, like, the most important person to me right now!"

"Really?" Tracey gaped, his heart aflutter.

"Let's go!" she said with a smile, pulling him out the door, leaving the cleaning work forgotten for yet another day.

But Tracey didn't mind. He abandoned it just for her.

Just for Daisy.


Thursday, February 28th

Footsteps of someone being heard walking along the wooden planks disrupted the peace and quiet of the otherwise empty docks on this dark, cloudy, and chilly night. Not even the tropical air was enough to keep Misty warm at this time of year, even dressed in a gray windbreaker and matching-colored, yet unfashionable and unattractive sweatpants. Still, that wouldn't stop Misty from doing what she came to this small island to do.

She took a flashlight out of her pants pocket and immediately shined it at a nearby wooden sign. It read...

MT. PYRE - HOME TO THE DEARLY DEPARTED POKEMON WE SO CHERISHED

Misty gulped as she prepared to walk into the equivalent of a cemetery, one buried within the inner core of one of the hugest mountains in the Hoenn region. But she knew there was no turning back now - she had to go in.

"Don't worry Ash," Misty thought to herself. "I'm GOING to save you."

End Session: February
Storyline to be continued in Session: March!


Author's Notes for 'Session: February':
Nothing like something resembling a "Love Hina" moment at the start of the session to get back in the saddle! Just glad to finally have the final portion of this session up after a more than two-month delay. (For why there was a delay... see my profile page or my website!)

In case you weren't paying attention - the "Hina" moment was near the end of Part 1 of this session. If you still don't remember... go reread that part!

As for notes for the rest of the session...

I could swear I thought I had mentioned Sally before, but to learn who she is, go read the "Dreams Do Come True" arc of Season 1 of the "Adventures Series." She kinda helps guide Ash through the first few weeks as a member of the Pokémon League. I do encourage you to read up on her if you're not familiar... an appearance from her can't be too far away?

Just in case you're not familiar with the rules of Valentine's Day in Japan, they're stated here. Or, in Giselle's story, to be precise. Girls are supposed to give chocolates to guys she works with or are good friends of it. Even more precisely, if a girl gives a guy homemade chocolate, that means that she loves him. Which, of course, Giselle attempts here for Joe - who, sadly, aren't together anymore, as the flashbacks show. I hated to break them up... they make a pretty good couple. Now I'm regretting it.

There was originally supposed to be a scene just for the uncut version in which we see Giselle giving out said chocolates to her co-workers... and their reactions (i.e. the women extremely jealous, the men simultaneously head-over-heels in love and wondering how they'll pay her back - since on White Day in Japan, one month after Valentine's, any guy that gets chocolates has to on that day return the favor, giving a gift at least three times the value of the chocolates received). But because of irrelevance to the overall story, it just ended up getting cut completely.

Speaking of stuff that I'm (not?) sorry for... Arius crying "IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK!" - a reference to the slogan in FUNimation's ads for one of their shows, "School Rumble." Which is an anime full of misunderstandings. A heaping hilarity of them.

Yes, in more uncharacteristic Domino... yes, she is singing "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" from "The Lion King" soundtrack.

And so much for Misty's older sisters being role models...

Speaking of Misty... hmm, why is she in the Hoenn region all of a sudden?


'Session: March' Trailer:
You've probably been wondering... what's the deal with these odd powers that Ash, Misty, Brock, and Marco have? Well, next month, prepare to get the answers you've been waiting for. Meet someone who was once blessed and cursed by those same powers. Learn of one last discovery Erika made before her death. And have you been following the clues? The identity of the fifth and final 'Legendary One' is revealed at last... in a shocking way you won't believe.

-cue ear-piercing scream-

'Session: March' is a month of revelations that you don't want to miss!