He peeked out from behind the enormous teal curtain and looked out at the huge crowds that had gathered again. There were even more than the last one and they were all chanting for her. He closed it and walked over to her. "Wow, even more than last time. I can't even imagine it getting bigger than this."

Homika looked up at him and smiled. "You watch, we even got a bigger concert planned next. The biggest yet but…" she said before looking sad. "Stupid Team Rocket, they stole that Pokemon right under our noses."

"Stop worrying about it. We'll get them back. You just worry about giving them the show they want."

"Yea but it still bugs me that they've pulled the rug out from under us twice in a row. First by distracting us and then stealing that Pokemon! It just…urgh!"

"You should use that direct that energy to the concert. Knock their socks off. I can take a look around the area and see if they show up again. I don't expect them to since they got what they wanted but I'm sure they would love to cause trouble again."

She grabbed his hand. "Don't bother. Why would they need to cause any trouble? They'd just be pushing their luck and I'm pretty sure they aren't dumb enough to do that. Just sit back and enjoy the show!"

The chants grew louder and louder for her. She smiled and pumped her fist as if the cheers gave her energy. It probably did to be honest. She always seemed to be a more energetic person on stage. "Okay, no problem."

She nodded and pulled away from him as the curtains began to part. He made his way down the back stairs but for some reason, he still had this nagging thought that Team Rocket would get involved somehow. Why was he so paranoid? He let out a sigh and looked at Pitch. "Let's go take a look around Pitch. I still have this feeling that Team Rocket is lying around, waiting to cause a little more trouble."

He walked around the backstage area for a bit, exchanging small talk with the workers back there but not finding much in the way of Team Rocket. He began to think he was just worrying about nothing and was on his way back when he noticed someone sneaking around back where all the power for the concert was being controlled. He walked over and soon found a Team Rocket member poking around. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

The guy looked up at him and smiled. He looked like he was in his thirties but with all the lines and wrinkles on his face; you could easily mistake him for being older. His face seemed to light up when he realized whom Ethan was. "You!"

"Yes, me. That's beside the point! Ha, I had my suspicion that you guys would try something and look what I've found!"

"No, look what I've found! I've been waiting for this day for a long, long time. Do you realize how much trouble you caused me? Do you?"

"Well…no. What are you talking about?"

The man glared at him. "You trounced me when you invaded our gig at Azalea Town! I got into so much trouble for letting a kid trainer beat me! They berated me for days, threatened to send me sleeping with the Magikarp for my failure! They even sent me off to the frozen tundra of Sinnoh for a bit. And all because of a stupid kid trainer!"

Ethan's mouth fell open. "Ahh but…who are you? I don't remember fighting you in Azalea. I know I fought some Team Rocket grunts before me and Crystal fought Proton but…yea."

The man growled. "You don't remember? How can you not remember?"

"I'm sorry, I've fought so many of you guys that it's hard to remember. And you all wear masks so…forget that, what are you doing back here?"

He chuckled. "I was going to pull the plug on this stupid concert but I was hoping you would show actually! Now I can finally get my revenge and—"

"Not if I can help it!"

The guy summoned a Charmleon and a Piplup. "Let's see if you can handle this! I swiped them from some kid entering the concert."

"I bet that really makes you feel like a hero, doesn't it?" Ethan said as Pitch flew off his shoulder. He took out the ball holding Bolt and let him out as well. The guy laughed.

"A bug? You're bringing a bug into the fight? How stupid—" He didn't get to finish as Pitch nosedived at the Charmleon and pecked him in the face. He flew up and away to avoid a counterattack. While the lizard and even the penguin were distracted, Bolt scattered over to the Piplup and latched on. "That stupid bird! Charmleon, use Flamethrower!"

Charmleon opened its mouth and spat several large fireballs at Pitch but Pitch was able to maneuver out of the way with ease. He seemed to enjoy it actually. The Charmleon was less than amused and let out an annoyed growl before firing off more fireballs at it. The Piplup lost interest in Bolt and watched this battle. "Your Pokemon is a bit of a hothead."

"Shut up! You think you're so funny!"

Ethan took out the ball holding Dodger and let him out as well. Dodger took one look at the Charmleon and quacked in laughter. The Charmleon shot a glare at him, only to get pecked by Pitch again. He really seemed to enjoy that hit and run away strategy. Dodger flew toward the Piplup and quacked at him as he flew by. The Piplup chirped in anger at him and tried to spray him with water, like that would do any good. It did cause him to forget about Bolt and that proved to be its undoing as Bolt unleashed some of that electricity it had stored up from draining Thundurus, knocking out the poor penguin in an instant. "You really didn't learn anything from our last fight?"

"Quiet!"

Ethan watched as Dodger sprayed the lizard with water. This fight wouldn't last much longer. "Maybe if you stopped stealing Pokemon and tried to train some Pokemon of your own, you might do better."

The man stomped his foot. "Charmleon, show this guy who's boss!"

"Huh?" Ethan said before the lizard turned and breathed a blast of fire in his direction. He fell to the ground in an instant to avoid it. The guy laughed. "Not so tough now, are you?"

"Would you be if a Pokemon attacked you?"

The man puffed out his chest. "Once I take you down, I can drag your hide back to Giovanni. You know how big of a price he has on your head?"

"Enough for you to get a life?"

"Five hundred thousand dollars! Five hundred thousand!"

"Wow, maybe I should pretend to turn myself in—"

"You idiot! I'm going to take you in and collect the reward! Maybe then they will finally acknowledge me and I can get in their good graces once again!"

He hadn't notice how long he had been gone but he noticed that it wasn't as loud before. Had the concert ended already? She was going to kill him if she knew he had skipped out on her concert. "If that's what it'd take to get in their good graces, I feel kind of bad for you."

He noticed a familiar pair of boots appear in the darkness behind the Team Rocket guy and gritted his teeth. "What's with all of these smart a** quips? You're pretty cheeky for a guy who—"

He didn't get to finish as Homika smashed a wooden guitar over his head. Pitch and Dodger chirped and quaked in response. Pieces of wood fell everywhere as the guy fell face first on the ground next to his Charmleon. He looked up at her and she tossed the rest of it on his back. "And stay down you—"

"Homika! I don't think you had to go that far. I was doing fine."

"It's just a prop, he'll be fine," she said. "What are you doing back here? I was looking for you during the concert and didn't see you anywhere out in the crowd! And then when the concert was over, I asked where you went and they said you went backstage somewhere!"

He laughed nervously. "Sorry but it kept nagging me. I thought Team Rocket would cause some trouble and guess what? He was! He was going to cut the power to the concert. I couldn't let him do that."

She relaxed a bit. "He was? He was going to cut the power on me? Why I…you idiot, b******! F*** you, I hope you—"

"Homika, Homika. He's knocked out, he can't even hear you now."

"I want to make sure he can hear me in la-la land! I want him to hear me when he wakes up from his little nap and is rotting in prison! How dare you try to kill my concert! I hope you burn in hell, you hear me?"

"I'll…just leave you alone," he said as he summoned his Pokemon back, except for Pitch, who went back to his usual perch on his shoulder.

By the time he made it to her trailer, he found a guy decked out in gear with her face plastered on it. He looked more like an advertisement than anything else and it looked a bit odd to him. He figured he had to get used to it sooner or later. "Oh, are you looking for Homika?"

"Huh? Oh, I was looking for you!"

"Me? I'm not part of the band!"

He shoved a replica Pokeball and a pen in his direction. "I know you aren't part of the band but could I still get your John Hancock?"

"What?"

"Your autograph."

"Oh…I've never had someone ask that before. Why do you want it though?"

"Are you kidding? You know how much better she is now? She was getting really outlandish and crazy but it seems ever since you've been around, she's calmed down a bit. Her last two concerts have been the best ever! And everyone is really looking forward to her next concert; it'll be the best ever. Honestly, I thought you would be a horrible influence on her but the exact opposite!"

"I uh…" He said, unsure what to say. He took the pen and signed in. "Glad to be of help."

The guy flashed a thumps up toward him. "Yea, you too! I'm really looking forward to that next concert now! It's gonna be awesome, especially since she seems to be concentrating on just singing!"

This was getting a bit silly but he just smiled. The guy soon left and he went inside the trailer. He kind of expected more fans around but the guards usually did a good job of keeping the throngs controlled. Pitch fluttered over to an open window and chirped. "Yea, it is kind of stuffy in here."

He reached over to open a nearby window and tried to open but to no avail. He bent down to get more leverage but it refused to budge. Suddenly a hand reached over and flicked a switch on the side and it opened up. He looked over at her and laughed. "Oh, I guess I didn't see that."

"You're so silly sometimes," she said as she walked over to the door and closed it. She sat down on a nearby chair and grabbed a water bottle.

"I'm sorry for not being at the concert—"

"What are you apologizing for? You stopped that…goon from messing up the concert."

"Yea but I know how much it would have meant to you for me to be out there in the crowd."

She shrugged. "Wouldn't have mattered if he pulled the plug," she said. She slammed down the bottle on a nearby table. "Ethan, if you apologize once more, I'm gonna throw this at your head!"

He did as he was told and laid down on the futon she had in the corner. "It was just some guy I had beaten years ago and I guess he held a grudge that long. I was shocked someone would hold a grudge for that long. What's the point?"

She sighed and got up and sat down on the edge of the futon near his chest. "For someone pretty young, you've sure made a lot of enemies already."

"Well someone had to stop them. I guess me and my Pokemon were the lucky ones, if you call that luck."

She sighed. "Sorry for how I acted back there."

"Back…where?"

She undid the barrettes on her hair and let it fall down. "Backstage when I went ballistic on that guy."

"Oh that. Well he did try to kill your concert so I understand your outrage. I don't understand why you bashed him over the head with a guitar but you often say how much you want to do that to Team Rocket so I guess they had it coming."

"Yea but still it seemed silly."

He sat up. "Homika, if you keep apologizing…I'll…hmm…I'll bring Bolt out."

She grabbed him by the collar but not with her usual anger. It seemed like more out of jest. "You are so bad at threats."

"I guess I am."

She smiled at him and let go of his collar. "I'm just…not like that. I was angry at him but not like that."

"So then why did you do it?"

"Because no one deserves to see the real me. They only deserve to see the fake Homika, the crazy rock star. You're about the only one who deserves to see the real me. Besides—"

They heard a tapping at the door and she let out a frustrated sigh. "I wonder who that is?"

"Pests. That's what they are. This had better be good, real good!" She said as she got up and walked over to the door. She opened. "Yes, what is it?"

He couldn't really hear what the other person was saying and he began to get up. She motioned over to him, looking a tad annoyed while she was at it. "What's up?"

"This chick wants to see you. I forgot her name…"

Homika stepped aside and he walked over to see Jasmine standing outside. She waved at him. "Oh hey Jas—"

"Maple," she said, still donned in that new look she had gone with. He almost felt like telling her original look was much better but considering who was standing next to him, it was probably better he keep his mouth shut for now.

"Good to see you but what are you doing here?"

She blushed. "Uh, could we walk around a bit?"

He couldn't see it but he could feel the death glare from Homika. He laughed. "Sure—"

"What?"

He looked back at Homika. "Oh calm down—" but he didn't get to finish as she first pushed him out and slammed the door behind him. He looked at it for a few and scratched his head. "That Homika."

Pitch flew over to his shoulder and Jasmine sighed. "I'm sorry if I got you in hot water. I didn't mean to."

He patted her on the shoulder. "Oh stop being such a worrywart. We're friends. She can throw a little tantrum if she wants."

She nodded. "I suppose you're right."

He began to walk toward the stage and she followed. "So what have you been up to? Learned anything new about Team Rocket?"

"Not really. The trail has gone cold. Ryan and me thought we had a lead on something but it turned out to be a dud. Then he had to go take care of something so I've been working alone."

"Alone? You didn't have to do that! You could have worked with us, we could really use your help."

Jasmine looked away. "I think I'd just be intruding."

"You wouldn't be intruding, what makes you think that?"

She sighed. "Because the two of you are…"

"Well I know that but you're still my friend."

Jasmine muttered something under her breath but when asked to clarify, she laughed. "Oh, nothing, nothing."

"I got to admit, the trail is kind of cold for us as well. We thought they were up here in Undella but they got away and now we aren't sure where they could have gone next."

"Well that's good to know."

"So what was that lead you had, the one you said turned out to be a dud?"

Jasmine tapped her chin. "It was something about an old destroyed lab. Something got out and destroyed everything there and it may have still been lurking around."

"That sounds real interesting but how did it turn out to be a dud?"

"Well we went to the person who might have known more about it but he was…well out of his mind so to speak. Not sure we can trust the word of a madman."

Pitch chirped and he nodded. "Yea but…maybe we should go see him again. It's about the only lead we have right now. Maybe he is crazy or maybe he was just pretending."

She looked at him with a skeptical look. "He looked and acted pretty crazy to me."

"Trust me, if he's acting, Homika will make sure he isn't acting anymore. Where was he at?"

"He was living in a hut near Twist Mountain."

"I don't know where that's at but we should go check it out all the same!"

Jasmine laughed. "Well if you want, you two can—"

"What? It's not fair that we work together while you have to do it alone. You should come along."

Pitch let out a chirp and he looked over at him. "Huh? What do you mean Homika won't go for it?"

"Exactly, I don't think I'd be welcome. You two can go investigate it and I'll…work with one of the gym leaders here. I know they're working on it too so I'll have someone to help me. Oh, I wanted to give you something!"

She dug into her bag and pulled out his phone and his Pokedex. "Oh wow, thanks!"

She blushed. "I found it when we came across an old Team Rocket base. I still haven't found any of your old Pokemon though. I wonder what happened to them?"

"I'm not worried, they're all pretty tough. We almost won the Pokemon League Championship together, I know they can take care of themselves."

She reached over and pet Pitch's head. "He's kind of cute. What kind of Pokemon do you have now, other than Rai?"

He motioned to Pitch. "Well he's kind of taken Wiggler's role for the one who likes to hang out with me outside of his ball. I've also caught a Ducklett named Dodger and a Joltik named Bolt."

She laughed. "You need a steel Pokemon."

"You and Homika are gonna force a steel and Poison Pokemon on me, I know it. I'm pretty much holding out a spot for them because I know it's going to happen."

She winked. "Well if I do come across a steel Pokemon I think you'd like, I'll give it to you and you better use it!"

By the time he got back to the trailer, he found Homika sitting on the steps, playing her guitar. She didn't look up at him as he approached but before he could clear his throat, Pitch let out a really loud chirp. He was kind of surprised the little guy had it in him. Homika jumped and shot a glare at him. "What was that for? Stupid freaking' bird."

"He just wanted to get your attention."

"Well I was avoiding it. Why are you back so soon? I thought you wanted to spend more time with your…friend."

He laughed. "She is my friend so why are you acting like this?"

"You seem to have a lot of friends that are girls. Are you some sort of playboy?"

"Well…I think I tried to at one time but I was pretty bad at it so I decided to quit it. Then it seemed I was able to make friends a lot easier."

She nodded. "Figures."

"Maple did tell me about a lead we could look into. Apparently some guy near Twist Mountain knows about a lab that might have belonged to Team Rocket."

"Twist Mountain, huh? I know where that's. Just a weird location for some guy to be at. Well, we can go check it out. Is that chick tagging along or something? I know you tried to—"

Pitch chirped something at him and he nodded. Leave it to one of his Pokemon to chime him in on something he didn't realize. "Homika would you please quit it? She's my friend, that's all. She is not trying to steal me away or something so you can quit acting so jealous!"

She looked at him, almost in shock. She looked like she was ready to respond but didn't seem like it and just looked away. Pitch let out another chirp and he shot him a look. "What do you mean I'm getting banished to the couch? What couch are you—"

"Your bird is a loudmouth. A real loud mouth."

"He does his best."

She set down the guitar. "Okay okay, I'll try to cool it—"

"Try to?"

"Okay I'll cool it."

Twist Mountain was a solitary mountain in the middle of a thick evergreen forest. From what she had told him, it was home to an impressive amount of mines inside but you couldn't really tell from the outside. Perhaps they were all in the back? He looked up at the rocky peak and whistled. "It's kind of weird for a mountain to be here all by its lonesome."

"There used to be other mountains around but I think they all eroded away or something—"

"How do you erode away a bunch of mountains?"

She looked at him with an amused look. "Your guess is as good as mine. I never bothered to look into it. They're just mountains, if I cared about them, I would be a rock type gym leader! How boring is that?"

He began to speak but she pressed her finger against his lips. "W-what?"

"I know you're gonna give me some speech were you extol the virtues of Rock Pokemon and how they're soooo overlooked and how we need to appreciate them and realize the love they need. Then I tell you to stuff it because I think Rock Pokemon are boring and that's final."

He smiled. "Pretty much."

She winked at him. "Then we can just skip that. Now let's find that old hippie."

"I see a cabin up there on a ledge, you think that's where he's at?"

"Probably."

He looked at Pitch. "Hey, go see if you can get his attention."

"Oh he can do that."

Pitch took off and flew up to the cabin, flying through an open window. What followed afterwards was a string of loud chirps and a bunch of cursing from someone inside. Pitch flew out the window, followed by a few thrown objects. The door opened and a balding man dressed in rags walked out. He noticed the two of them and looked down at them. "Is that your freaking bird that woke me up?"

"Woke you up? It's noon you idiot! How about you get off your lazy a** and—"

"I'm sorry about that sir. I asked him to get your attention but—"

"Well I didn't ask to be woken up. I was having a wonderful dream about a sexy Gothitelle who was—"

"We're not here to hear about your sick fantasies!" Homika yelled.

"Well I'm not here to hear from some pineapple head freak—"

"Who are you calling a freak? I'm gonna come up there and—"

He put his hand on her shoulder and she seemed to relax, a little. "Sir, we just needed to ask you something. Could you come down real quick?"

"I can't. It's a full moon tonight and I may not be of a right mind!"

"What?"

"I'm sorry but you'll have to ask the next cycle. I may be of my right mind. Or I may have turned into a Kirlia. I…no the moon decides my fate and I can't answer to your whims!"

Either he was crazy or just faking it. "He seemed pretty coherent for a bit."

Homika took out a Pokeball. "I'm gonna get him down from that ledge. I hope he can stand a little poisonous gas!"

He looked over at her. "Now hold on. I don't think we have to go that far—"

"We don't have time for this. Team Rocket is up to no good and it's up to us to find them before their plan succeeds. We don't have time for his f***ing games!"

"I…well…try not to hurt him that badly."

She summoned a Koffing and directed him to the ledge where the man was. It soon emit large clouds of poisonous gas, causing the man to cough and gasp. "You better come down here or else that Pokemon is going to keep following you!"

The man hurried back inside but the Koffing followed him in. Soon large clouds of poisonous gas began to pour out the windows. He cursed it multiple times but soon hurried out of the house and disappeared from the ledge. Not too long after, he walked down to their level, the Koffing close behind. She called it back to her with a snap of the fingers and the man coughed and gasped until he gained his breath back. "You blasted pineapple! My beloved Pokemon was just—"

"Shut up and tell me what you know about the Team Rocket lab?"

"Team…Rocket? That sounds like a wonderful ice cream? Do you like ice cream pineapple? You look like—"

She stomped her foot. "I said Team Rocket! They're a gang of Pokemon criminals. They were all black and have a red R on their shirts!"

"They sound like splendid ice cream makers. I say, you look like a wonderful ice cream—"

"Do you know anything about…quit blathering you idiot!" She yelled, causing the man to fall backwards. She stepped forward and put her boot just between his legs. "You said you had a naughty little dream about a Gothitelle right? How about I make sure you don't get to see how that ends?"

"Pineapple—"

"If you call me pineapple once more, you're gonna learn real quick about steel toe boots!"

"S-s-stop! Don't! I'll tell you what I know! Just don't stomp—"

"Tell me! And why were you acting like this?"

The man looked downtrodden. "The lab…it's to the north of here, deep in the woods. It looks more like an old mansion to be honest, I guess that made it easier for them to conceal what they were doing."

"Well what were they doing?"

He shook his head. "Terrible, horrible experiments on Pokemon and humans alike. They were obsessed with trying to create the ultimate Pokemon, one that would crush any Pokemon it came across. They finally came up with one but one of the Pokemon broke loose and went crazy, killing a bunch of people there and Pokemon alike. I think they took the one that didn't go crazy and abandoned the lab."

"Oh…wow."

"I was a researcher there and it was just horrible what happened. I couldn't believe Giovanni would go to such lengths."

"So then why do you pretend to be crazy? If you spoke up, more people would know about it, like the authorities. I'm sure they would have loved to know this," Ethan said. He shook his head.

"No, no…if they learn, Team Rocket will find out and they'll come after me!"

"Have you ever heard of witness protection?" Homika asked.

"No, no. That won't work. Once Team Rocket unleashes their plan, the authorities will be useless. They'll be too powerful for anyone to stop."

She laughed. "Yea, right. We'll stop them. They took over the biggest cities in Kanto and Johto and they were still stopped. This is just the same thing, just a different plan."

He folded his arms but didn't bother responding. It was true that this seemed like the usual Team Rocket scheme but this was the first time he could remember them backing up their plans with a super powerful Pokemon, one no one else had seen before. And what worried him more was that they had duplicated the Mewtwo experiments and Mewtwo had went crazy and killed a bunch of people as well. What happened if they lost the reins on this one? He noticed Homika glaring at him and he smiled at her. "What?"

"Hey, back me up here! You've tangled with them before, you're practically Team Rocket enemy number one!"

"I am but I'm kind of worried about them now. It seems like they're learning from their failures and I'm not sure how we'll handle a—"

"What the f***? Oh…don't go anywhere guy, we need to talk real quick!"

"I'm…not going anywhere," he said in a weak voice. Homika nodded and grabbed him by the sleeve and dragged him away. When they were a good distance away, she shoved him to the side. "What gives? Aren't you Ethan, the same guy who helped thwart their attempts at a comeback in Johto, even putting a stop to the legendary Giovanni himself?" She asked, jabbing her finger into his chest.

"Yes but—"

"Then why are you acting like such a coward? You've beaten them before and you can do it again! Shoot, if I was in your shoes, I'd be laughing my head off at them!"

"Homika, it's less about Team Rocket and more about that Pokemon they have. I'm not too worried if it comes to taking on Team Rocket, even if I don't have all my old Pokemon. I beat them usually with crazy plans that they never saw coming. It's just that one Pokemon I'm worried about."

"Yea yea I get that but—"

"They tried to create the ultimate Pokemon. If they even succeeded, we have to worry about what happens if it goes crazy like Mewtwo did."

"Ethan, there are plenty of strong trainers around. Including the various Pokemon League Champions. You don't think that with their help, we could stop it?"

She had a point there. He rubbed the back of his head. "Haha, yea I see your point. Sorry about that."

She seemed to relax. "Good, you had me real worried there for a second."

Pitch let out a surprised chirp and he couldn't help but agree with him. "Worried? Worried? I really don't expect that coming from you. You have even more confidence than I do—"

"You don't…you know, I'm not really all that confident."

"Of course you are—"

"Ethan, you don't realize how depressed I was. I was the queen of rock and roll but who could I go to when I was feeling down or depressed? No one! I just drowned my stupid sorrows in alcohol. And then you came along…and it's been sort of like a breath of fresh air. It's a lot easier to be brimming with confidence when you have someone who believes in you."

"But you have all your fans. They all believe in you—"

"That's different! And they're just fans, fanatics, and goobers. They only know me as a rock star and that's all. They don't know the real Homika, the one behind the mask."

He looked away. "Oh, I see your point."

"And I don't understand but ugh! Seeing you look all down and not confident about our chances…it fills me with a little doubt and I don't want that! I hate feeling like that! I can't force you to be more confident about our chances and all but it'd sure be better if you believe in yourself a bit more!"

He and Pitch exchanged a look. He really was getting to see a side of Homika no one else did. He did see her point in a way, even if it was a super powerful Pokemon, they had so many others that could help them out if it came to that. He smiled and laughed. "Yea, we'll stomp them out like usual. I doubt Giovanni's ego could take losing to me once more."

She nodded. "You're darn right! He won't admit it but I bet you're a big reason he came back. He really wants to get revenge on you for taking him down. His ego wouldn't be able to accept losing to you again and I want to see it happen! Now that we got that squared away, let's see if we can learn anymore from him."

"Eh, let's just narrow down where it's at and be done with it. No need to waste a lot of time interrogating him. It seems to be a touchy subject for him."

"Fine, fine. I'll try not to be so hard on him. No promises though."

She turned and began to walk away but he cleared his throat and she turned around to look at him. "Oh and thanks. It was nice to hear that from you."

She blushed a bit before looking away again. "Y-y-you be quiet! I swear, you're turning me into the biggest sap around!"

From what the guy told them, the mansion was a bit to the west of Dragonspiral Tower, off an old route that was used a long time ago but had since been abandoned and fallen into disrepair. After poking around a bit, Pitch spotted the path and they were soon on their way. First thing he noticed off the bat was how dead the forest seemed. He was used to being surrounded by Pokemon in every forest he had been but this one didn't seem to have many. Pitch flew a few feet in front and kept chirping about how there didn't seem to be any Pokemon around. "Well this is pretty weird. I wonder why the forest is like this?"

"It gives me the chills. Where are the freaking Pokemon?"

"It's weird. Like for a while we saw Pokemon around and once we hit a certain part of the trail, nothing. It's like they know something we don't and want to stay away."

Homika grumbled. "Stop trying to freak me out more."

"Hey think of it like going to a haunted house."

"I…hate haunted houses. They're stupid and…dumb. Why would I pay to get myself scared witless?"

He laughed. "I think they're kind of fun."

"Well if this is like a haunted house, I'm gonna be like those stupid girls in horror movies and just cling to your arm and hide behind your back. If you die, I'll just use your body as a shield so I can get out."

"If I die?"

She jabbed him in the side. "I was joking!"

"I know, I know but I was personally hoping you'd at least cry over my dead body before you use me like a shield."

She brushed aside her hair. "You smart a**."

Pitch flew back over to them, chirping up a storm. Ethan held out his hand to calm him down and Pitch relayed what he saw. "So the mansion is just right up ahead? Did you notice anything unusual?"

From what Pitch said, he thought he might have seen something crawling around inside but it didn't appear to be anything he was familiar with. Homika sighed. "I wonder if it's one of their unholy creations."

"A new Pokemon maybe?"

She stomped her foot. "You're excited to see a new Pokemon that could just be some twisted experiment?"

He smiled. "Maybe they are an experiment but I'm sure if they had an owner that cared for them, they would turn out all right. Look at all the Ghost Pokemon around. They all can be pretty sinister looking at times but in the hands of an owner who cares, they can be pretty good."

She sighed. "Sometimes I wonder if you got rose colored glasses on or something. You spew rainbows of love, friendship and goodness almost 24/7."

"Hey!"

She leaned against him. "But that's okay. I guess even the queen of rock and roll needs to hear it every once in awhile. Just don't expect me to turn into some bubblegum pop singer or something, singing about love, and friendship and—"

"You know, you keep saying you won't become a pop singer but I think you should give it a shot."

"What? Hold up, hold up…. why are you even suggesting this?"

Pitch flew back to his shoulder. "You're popular enough, if you wanted to do an experimental album, I'm sure it would fly. You could almost do a parody of the pop genre if you wanted. If you did it that way, people would like it even more. Who would expect someone who sings about anger, hate and rage to suddenly produce an album about the exact opposite?"

She didn't answer at first and then burst into laughter. "You know, that sort of sounds like a cool idea. I could never stand all those dumb pop artists and their songs so parodying them sounds like loads of fun!"

They came across the grounds of the old mansion, a large three story building with a decaying exterior. Large vines of ivy covered the front of the building like a thick carpet, eating away at the bricks and mortar. Many of the windows were either broken or boarded up but none were in decent shape. The doors were broken off and the steps leading up to the front door were broken in many places. "All we need now is for a storm to roll in and lightning to flash behind it."

"Cute," Homika said. He looked at Pitch.

"So you didn't see any evidence of anyone living inside? Other than some creature?"

"Who would want to live in here?"

"Who knows? Just thought it'd be best to ask."

Homika took out a Pokeball. "Before we step in there, why don't we smoke whatever is hiding on the first floor out?"

"You mean with your Pokemon? That would work but what if they are part Poison too?"

"Then…"

"But send them in. If it doesn't work, I know you're Pokemon will just give up and return to us."

She nodded and summoned Koffing and Weezing to the field. She told them the plan and they soon floated into the mansion to complete the task. She folded her arms and sighed. "Really hope I'm not sending them to their doom."

Pitch let out a chirp. "Sending them to their doom? They're poison Pokemon. If they need to get away, they can just use Toxic and fly off while their victims are suffering. And you're a gym leader, you should be the last person worrying about her Pokemon."

She looked at him with an amused smile. "Why you little…haha, I love it!"

He looked at Pitch. "Hey, why don't you and Dodger take another look around in the meantime? You could help out—"

Pitch let out a chirp, letting him know that Dodger's help wasn't welcomed but he tapped him on the beak. "Ah ah ah, you need to get along. He's your teammate too!"

He let Dodger out of his ball, who was pleased as peach to be out. Pitch flew down to him and right off the bat the two were arguing. Pitch seemed convinced he could do it himself and Dodger letting him know that he didn't agree. Ethan looked over at her before stomping his foot, getting their attention. "That's enough, both of you! I don't want you two getting into an argument every time you're together. You're supposed to be part of a team! I'm not asking you to be best of friends but learn to get along. Neither of you is going anywhere so you better get used to it!"

They soon flew off and she laughed. "Are all your Pokemon like that?"

He put his hands on his hips and let out a sigh. "Nope. Wiggler was my first Pokemon and my favorite but none of the other Pokemon had an issue with him or each other. They all got along just fine. This is the first time I've had some Pokemon that hated each other."

"Well hey, at least they listen to you."

"If they listened, they would try to get along."

She tapped her chin. "To be fair, it's hard for them to get along when you only have one of them out of its ball most of the time. How else are they gonna get along if you don't have them together more often?"

"Ahhh…well yea, you got a point there."

She smiled. "So you might as well just have them both out at the same time. That way they have no choice but to get along. Like…us I suppose."

About an hour later, her Pokemon returned, along with Pitch and Dodger but sadly with nothing to report. She grumbled. "S***, whatever is in there must be immune to poison or isn't bothered by it."

Dodger quacked and he nodded at him. "Yea, we're going inside. We don't have much of a choice—"

"Uh, yea we do. It's called calling in more help."

"We'd just be wasting time."

"Ugh, I'm supposed to be the impatient one here! Look there's a gym leader in the town to the south of here. I'm sure if we could get his help."

He looked over at her with an amused look. "Where was this suggestion before? If you want to get him, you can go back. I'm going in! This could be kinda fun."

"Fun? Fun? Exploring a half destroyed mansion that might have a deranged super Pokemon inside is fun?"

"I'm not forcing you to come with me. You can stay out here. It might be safer that way because if something happens to me, you can go get help."

He walked up to the front door and grimaced a bit at the smell. Pitch landed on his shoulders and let him know how bad it smelled. Dodger didn't seem near as annoyed by it. "Alright, I'm depending on you two. If you see anything strange, let me know. In a place like this, we have to be prepared for anything."

He heard what sounded like creaking and looked around. "Huh, where is that—oof!" He said as someone shoved him from behind. He and Homika tumbled forward as part of the roof over the door fell down where he once stood. He stared at it for a bit as her Koffing and Weezing floated through the dust and then over at her. She coughed a few times and glared at him. "Augh! I wish you would be more careful!"

He laughed. "Oh, so that's what—"

"It's not funny! You could have gotten really hurt! And then what?"

"I'm sorry, I guess I should have been more careful."

She got to her feet and dusted herself off. "You're hopeless sometimes. Be glad I'm around to look out for you," she said as she offered her hand. He took it and pulled himself up.

"Oh I don't know about that but I know you're just poking fun at me."

She winked at him. "Of course."