"Ha-ha, well that's two gyms down already! I tell you, I wonder why so many of these people join Team Rocket? They're so hopeless and so dumb, you almost pity them—"

"Yea, if they weren't stealing Pokemon and mistreating them on top of that!" Jasmine said, interrupting Marlon.

"I can't believe you thought about pitying them Marlon! They are the worst villains…like ever! I'll be so glad when we kick them out of Unova."

He laughed. "You got that right. Well between the three of Ethan and Homika, us and Iris, I think we'll be fine. Jasmine already told us that Ethan helped stopped them before."

"He did."

Skyla laughed. "Wouldn't it be hilarious if they only came back because Giovanni wanted revenge on Ethan for defeating them before? How petty could you get?"

Marlon slapped his knee. "I would personally love to wipe that smug look on his face but I guess he's only interested in fighting Ethan so…I guess I hope Ethan can do it for me instead! So…what's next?"

Jasmine looked down at the map laid out between the three of them. She pointed toward one city. "Well, we already took care of Seigaiha and Opelucid City. It looks like next on our list…since Mistralton is taken care of…well it looks like Icirrus is next!"

Marlon leaned forward and nodded. "Yea, yea…that looks like it! Well if our first gyms are any indication, we'll be done in a jiffy! I hope Ethan is having just as much luck or else he won't get much training in to take on Giovanni!"

"Do you think…we should have let him do all of the gyms himself?" Jasmine asked. Skyla laughed.

"What? No way! We don't have that kind of time to waste."

Marlon nodded. "I see your concern Jasmine but yea, we can't let him do that. That would just allow Team Rocket to further their goals and cause even more fear in the general public. It's best this way. You said he took out Team Rocket and is the third most powerful trainer from your region, I think he can handle himself!"

Skyla laughed. "Don't tell me you're trying to sell your boy…friend short."

Jasmine blushed. "He-he-he isn't my boyfriend—"

"Huh? I didn't say he was. I just said he's a boy…that's your friend!"

Marlon chuckled. "Now you're just teasing her."

Skyla winked at them. "Maybe I am! Maybe I am. Man I'm starved, I'm gonna get a bite to eat!"

"Yea, I think I'll get something too. Coming Jasmine?"

She turned red. "Oh…umm, I'll pass! I want to look over this a little more but I'll join up with you two!"

"Okay…but I'll make sure to save you some food! You look like you could use it!"

"Skyla, do you ever stop teasing people? Marlon asked as they walked off. Skyla held up a finger and waved it at him.

"Hey, hey! I know when to stop teasing!"

"Yea, I'll believe it when I see it!"

Man, they seemed like such a happy little trio. Laughing, joking around, harmless teasing. And then look at what she had done to their group, sparring with Iris, accusing Ethan of cheating on her and then even stopping herself just short of punching his lights out. Homika let out a groan thanks to the sick feeling in her stomach as she approached Jasmine, who was busy looking over the map, humming a little tune as she did. Lying nearby was her enormous Pokemon, Rusty, who had one eye closed and one eye open, keeping vigilant watch over her. She could almost imagine Ethan being just like that for her. She could only imagine what he would turn into if someone hurt Jasmine. How would Jasmine react if she knew someone had tried to hurt him?

Rusty moved around a bit and Jasmine turned to see her. "Oh…Homika? W-what are you doing here? Why aren't you with Ethan and Iris?"

She grabbed her arm. "Jasmine…I…I…"

"What is it? Did something happen between…you and Ethan?"

"Well…you might say something like that happened. J-Jasmine…I almost did it."

She raised an eyebrow but still had a pleasant look on her face. How long would that last? "Did what?"

She hung her head. "I almost knocked Ethan out."

Jasmine didn't say anything for a bit, only looking down at the ground. Why wouldn't she anything? The least she could do was lash out, smack her or sic Rusty on her? And this is all she could do, be quiet? That's what she did best! Or…maybe she didn't hear her. "What?"

"I…almost knocked him out. I don't know what happened…I didn't mean to—"

"You. Did. What?" Jasmine said, pausing between each word. Homika began to back up but suddenly found Rusty had maneuvered his tail behind her. She wasn't going anywhere and then Jasmine stood up.

"I-I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do it! I was just—"

"I trusted you to treat him well. I gave up my chance to confess my feelings to him because I believed he would be happy with you. I set aside my feelings a second time to go to you and convince you to go back to him and apologize. I did…all of that…for you. He treated you with kindness, he turned the other cheek and…and…this. Is. How. You. Reward. Him?"

She sank to her knees. "I know, I know. You did do all of that and I'm sorry. I really am."

Jasmine didn't even look up, clenching her fists at her side. "You think that's enough? You think after saying sorry, saying that you really are sorry…that I'll just say it's okay and to go back to him?"

"No," she said. "I don't want to go back to him. Well I do but I can't. I tried to turn over a new leaf, I really did. He suggested I try to be like you, to be kinder and gentler. To be more patient and less of a jerk. And I did. I gave it a shot and you know what? I liked it. It made me feel good, especially that I was more kind and gentle with him. And then…then…I accused him of cheating on me, even though he would never do that. He tried to explain, I wouldn't let him. Part of me urged him to not do it, to just take a deep breath and wait for him to explain but I didn't. I grabbed him and prepared to knock him out. It's only when I took that swing and stopped myself…that I realized what I was."

"You…"

She covered her face and sank lower to the ground. "I was ready to seriously harm the one person who cared about me. I was really going to do it. Then…I realized what a b**** I am. There's no hope for me. I'll never change. I can't. I'm worse than that, I'm a literal psycho. The last thing he needs is me around."

Jasmine seemed to relax, only just a bit. She slumped onto the bench and looked down at her as Homika looked up at her. She was still very angry but looked just a bit sympathetic. "That's what you've learned?"

Homika nodded and sat up. "Yes, I see it now."

"Why did you accuse him of that? He's the most decent person—"

"You two are the most decent people I know. And it was because…he wanted to work with someone. Someone I didn't trust. She's all nice and sweet but there's something about her I don't trust. And I don't have any proof either, that's the worst about it. Maybe she really is harmless and I'm just jealous. I get jealous over anyone who comes too close. You know how dumb that is? It's because I know in my heart, how twisted I am and how much I don't deserve to be around him. Then I see someone treat him better and I get jealous. That's why I could never be comfortable around you."

"W-w-well, you seem pretty comfortable around me now."

She nodded and gave a faint smile. "That's because I see it now. I have a favor to ask of you."

"H-huh?"

She nodded again. "I want you to be with him. The only person I can think of. You've sacrificed so much that you're the only person I can think that would make him happy."

"Don't say that."

"I mean it. After the hell I put him through…being with you will be a breath of fresh air."

She sighed. "And you? What do you plan to do?"

She nervously laughed and began to pretend a guitar was in her hand. "The only real thing I can think of. You know how there are so many strings on the guitar? I'm amazed at how strong they are, no matter how many times I strike them, they never break."

"You…wouldn't."

"I would. It's what I deserve. He can't come back to me if I'm dead, right?"

"Homika…the only way for it to end is if you go back to him and tell him it's really over. Until then, he'll be bugged about it—"

"I can't go back to him."

"You have to. Only way for it to be over. You owe him that much, right? That's the only way I can imagine for it to do the trick. Once he is over it, only then I can confess to him."

She sighed. "Yea right. I bet if you confessed to him right now, he would dump me and go with you."

"He's too decent to do that as well."

Homika sighed. "But if I go back to him and explain myself…if I try to get him to understand it's over…what if he takes me back? That can't happen. That's why I can't go back."

"If you're honest…he should get it," she said. "And…if you turn out to be right about this person, you would have to go back anyway, to help him."

"N-no. You can go back. Just tell him I asked you to. No, ordered you to. He would take the hint then…I think."

"Homika, you need to face him. Stop being a coward. I won't let you run away. You need to go back and face him. Tell him yourself. You owe him that much."

She sighed. "Okay…but I'm only doing it for you two. Once I do, I'm done. Out of here, out of his life and out of yours. It's the least I can do."

Castelia City was pretty barren when they arrived. He hadn't been there for long but he remembered it being a city full of hustle and bustle. Full of people with places to visit and things to do and to see it now was pretty startling. He stepped out into the middle of the street. "Where is everyone? It's like a ghost town."

"Are they really that big of a baby? Don't they know how many times Team Rocket has been defeated?"

"Yea but Team Rocket has stepped up the ante. They've taken over not only the Pokemon League but the gyms as well. Don't you think that would scare anyone? No wonder people are hiding away," Lyra said. She grasped his arm. "What do you think Ethan?"

He folded his arms. "Yea, I think everyone is just afraid but that's what we're here for."

"Wow, do you see that?" Iris asked. He looked to where she was pointing, one of the skyscrapers, which had a Team Rocket flag atop it. "You think they took over that building too?"

Pitch let out a chirp. "Man I hope not. That means we'd have to evict them from there too!"

"Did you really expect them to just take over the gyms?"

"No. I figured they would branch out but they moved a bit quicker than I thought. Well just more training for my team."

"Huh, that building is the Battle Company. They produce a lot of the items that trainers use, like items for battle and they do a lot of research for the Pokeballs—"

"So kind of like Silph."

"Silph?" Iris asked.

Lyra laughed. "They're one of the companies that mass produces Pokeballs for everyone. They also invented a lot of other items you use for Pokemon training."

"Really? Why haven't I heard of them then?"

"They're based in Kanto so that's probably why. I'm surprised you know about them though," he said toward Lyra. She laughed and winked at him.

"Silph? Of course I know about them silly, I'm from Johto!"

"You are?"

"Yep! I used to live in New Bark Town, if only for a short while. Don't you remember me?"

He racked his brain, trying to think. To be honest, he didn't remember that many kids from New Bark. He spent a lot of time riding his skateboard and getting chased by wild Pokemon until his neighbor and childhood friend Crystal, had dragged him along on her journey to become the Champion. "No, sorry. Doesn't ring a bell."

She looked sad for a bit. "Oh…well, that's okay I guess. Well, we're together now!"

"Uh, yea."

"I'm going inside there and check it out. Maybe they really haven't taken it over and are just messing with us," Iris said as she hurried off before he could stop her.

"Well time to go after her. She may be the Champion but—"

Before he could follow after Iris, Lyra hooked her arm under his and he looked over at her. "Not yet."

"Huh but what about Iris? We can't just leave her by herself like that, Champion or not."

"She is the Champion though, stop selling her so short. While she takes care of Team Rocket there, we can go to the gym!"

He and Pitch shared a look. She may have had a point but he still wanted them to stick together. The more, the merrier. She flashed him an innocent look. "Lyra, I see your point but still—"

"Please? I know between the two of us, we'll be able to kick them out of the gym with ease and then we can hurry back to help out Iris. If she even needs the help," she said as she stroked his arm. Pitch didn't seem to care for this and let his concerns know with a few chirps. He pet him on the hand and folded his arms, allowing himself to pull away from her.

"Even so, the last thing we need is the Champion of Unova getting captured because she fell into a trap. We need all the allies we can get."

Lyra sighed. He expected her to flash him another sympathetic look but she only smiled at him and squeezed his hand. "Okay, I understand. You are the boss so lead the way!"

Well that wasn't too hard. They entered the Battle Company through the revolving door and stepped into the main lobby. Just like the streets outside, it was pretty empty. Sure there was the large wooden reception desk in the middle of the room and the large plants giving the place some much needed color but not much else. Certainly no people. He put his hands on his hips. "Even inside? Are they all hiding in a bunker or something?"

"It's…a bit too quiet, don't you think?"

He didn't say anything for a bit and noticed it as well. Not even music playing in the background. "I hate it. Let's try and find Iris."

They walked around the large desk and to the elevators in the back. She walked up to a sign that sat between the two of them. "It seems the top floor is the executive office but do you think we can access it from here?"

"If it's like Silph or even the Radio Tower, no. You can only go so far and then you have to find the actual elevator that will take you up to the top."

"W-wow, really? You're really smart, you know that?"

He chuckled. "You wouldn't be the first to tell me that."

She leaned against him and laughed. "You know, maybe after we evict stupid Team Rocket out of Castelia, we should go grab a bite to eat, discuss what to do next and learn a bit more about each other."

"A…date?"

She laughed. "Not much of a date when Iris is along with us, right? Although, if you want to, we can make it just between the two of us. I'm sure Iris won't mind."

He couldn't believe she even asked that. He really didn't want to think about it either right now. "I'll…think about it."

That seemed to have satisfied her as she walked over to the elevator. "Well it seems many of the floors are just cubicles but it says Floor 47 is the first one we can go to. I guess that's our first stop?"

"Looks like it. You go on ahead, I need to head to the Pokemon Center and grab something from the PC, just to be on the safe side."

She flashed him a thumbs up and entered the elevator. Once she was gone, he let out a big sigh and walked over to the desk. He leaned against it. "Man…I don't know what to think about her. What about you Pitch?"

He chirped a response and Ethan frowned. "I think we can trust her but…she sure is a bit pushy. And she even asked me on a date!"

Pitch chirped. "Yea, I don't know. She's really affectionate though, kind of wished Homika was like that."

Pitch let out an amusing chirp and he blushed. "Do I wish Jasmine was like that? You stupid bird! How dare you suggest that!"

He grabbed at him but Pitch flew off his shoulders and hovered in the air, taunting him with a chirp or two. "Ahh forget it. Besides, I don't think I could handle Jasmine being like that. I'd pass out. Besides that, what do we do about Lyra?"

Pitch flew back down to him and chirped an answer as he returned to his perch. "You aren't sure what to think about her? Yea, me too. Still, she's been kind of helpful so I can't hold that against her. If she wants to stick around and help us some more, I won't mind."

They rode up to the 47th floor and didn't see either Lyra or Iris around. They entered what looked like a small break room. A steaming cup of coffee lay next to the coffeemaker and they exchanged a look. "Unless Iris or Lyra cares for coffee, seems like we aren't alone in here—"

"Hey, what are you doing? You better not be trying to take my coffee!"

He jumped in surprise and turned to see a Team Rocket member standing nearby, who turned white when he saw whom it was. "Isn't it a bit late to be drinking this stuff?"

"You, w-w-w-what are you doing here?"

"What do you mean? I'm here to kick you guys out. Did you really think I would let you just take up space here? Nope! Not happening here!"

The guy began to back away. "B-b-but you aren't supposed to be here."

"What are you talking about?"

He turned and hurried away. Ethan smiled as he gave chase. He turned the corner, around a few cubicles and to his annoyance, noticed how high the walls of the cubicles were. It made it tough to see where the guy had run to, especially since it seemed like the whole place was some sort of maze. Had they set it up like this? Pitch took to the skies and he did his best to follow after him. And where was Lyra? Maybe she had already moved on to the next floor? Pitch suddenly let out a chirp and he followed him into a corner of the room. Laid out on the ground was Lyra. Had the Team Rocket guy knocked her out? He walked over to her and picked her up off the ground. "Hey, are you okay?"

"H-h-huh? Wh-where am I? Oh…Ethan," she said before chuckling. "I guess I was a bit over confident. He must have snuck up behind me and knocked me out."

"I hope Iris didn't suffer that. Can you stand?"

"Ahh, I think so," she said as he helped her to her feet. She smiled at him and nodded. "Thanks. Well, we better get going."

Pitch fluttered down and chirped at him. "Oh, he retreated back to the elevator? And he went upstairs? Great, maybe we'll run into Iris."

She grabbed a hold of his arm. "Is it okay if I just hang onto you for a bit? I'm still a bit dizzy and it's hard to walk around like that?"

"Uh, sure," he said as they strode over to the elevator. They only had to wait a short time before the doors opened. "What bugged me was how shocked they were to see me here. Did they expect me to just let them stay here?"

"Maybe they just thought you would be so distracted in dealing with the gyms that you would miss it."

"Hmm, maybe so. Still—"

"You're thinking too much about this."

He rolled his eyes. "It's my job to."

She looked up at him and rested her arms on his shoulders. "And that's the problem. Someone shouldn't have to bear all of this on their shoulders. You don't have to do this alone."

"I'm not doing it alone—"

"Hehe, I guess you're right. And now that I've decided to help, you have even more hope of succeeding."

"Well I guess—"

"You guess?"

"I was kidding. I welcome your help."

She laughed. "So would you two have an issue with it if…maybe I stuck around past Castelia City? It looks like you have an opening in your group and if I could slide in and offer my help—"

"Augh you two! I leave you alone for a few minutes and you're all over each other! Get a room!" Iris said. He noticed the doors had opened and she was standing in the doorway, hands on her hips. Lyra moved away from him and walked past Iris, rubbing her hand in her hair.

"Stop being silly. So did you learn anything?"

Iris folded her arms. "Not a thing! I have barely run into any Team Rocket guys too. Are they even here?"

He nodded. "I did run into one downstairs. He got away though and if he isn't on this floor, I guess he went upstairs."

Iris shrugged. "Well there isn't anyone on this floor, I checked it all. Let's go upstairs then!"

She hopped inside the elevator and Lyra stepped back in as well. "This is really turning into a waste of time."

"I agree. Maybe they set this up to distract us," Iris said. "So stupid!"

"Well it wouldn't be the first time. Or the second."

"So this has happened before?"

He nodded. "A bit more than I would like to admit."

"Well you could have told me, sheesh! It probably is nothing but a distraction, let's get out of here."

She reached forward to press the button for the ground level but the elevator came a stop and the doors opened. He stepped out into the floor and looked around. Nothing but more cubicles, even on the top floor. Then where was the executive's office then? He folded his arms and glanced at Pitch. "Hey, go see if you can see anything. I'll look around too. That Team Rocket guy has to be somewhere around here."

Pitch took to the skies and he began to look around himself. He entered a row of cubicles, looking down each one, hoping to see something or someone. He kept an eye out for any Team Rocket stuff but to his surprise, there wasn't much of anything. So why was the flag there? What was that lone Team Rocket guy doing here? He reached the end of the aisle and found him huddling under a desk. "Hey, get out of there!"

"No!"

He reached under but the man slapped at his hand. He whistled for Pitch, who zipped over. "Hey Pitch, see if you can encourage this guy to come out of his hiding spot, please?"

Pitch flew under the desk and he heard the man cry out, bang his head against the top of the desk and crawl out, covering his head as he did. Ethan followed him to the elevator where Lyra and Iris waited for him. He looked up at them and then back at him. "Ahhh umm—"

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I was staking this place out. I thought it would be the perfect place for our new headquarters. I figured that since you would be too distracting dealing with the gym, that I would have all the time in the world to getting the place ready. Now…"

"Yea, so much for that idea! As far as I'm concerned, you guys better get out of the city now or else I'll have to do it by force!"

"By force? Umm…uhhh—"

"I'm serious. Get that word across to your Team Rocket buddies."

"Yea and if you don't, things are gonna be much worse for you!" Iris said. The guy got to his feet.

"Okay, okay. I'll let them know. Just don't let that bird attack me again!"

Ethan nodded as Pitch returned to his shoulder. "He'll behave but only if you do what we say. Otherwise, Pitch will have to teach you a lesson again."

"Or maybe I can get my dragons to teach you a lesson."

"And I'm sure that Bayleaf would love to—"

"Okay okay, I'm gone!" He said as he hurried into the elevator. Once he left, they looked at each other.

"You think he'll really do what we said? Or will he just go get backup?"

Ethan folded his arms. "That's a good question. He may listen to us or he may not. I think we should go to the gym and check it out, just to be safe."

"Great, let's go over there and check it out! I kind of hope they took the hint!"

"That will be the day."

She poked her head around the edge of the wall and noticed the three enter the Castelia Gym. And just as she thought, Lyra still kept close to him. "Urgh, she makes me so mad!"

"So tell me why again are we spying on your ex?" Ryan asked. He let out a groan and she turned to grab him by the collar.

"He's not my ex! At least, not yet. I still have to break up with him!"

He sighed as she let go of him. "Okay so he's not your ex but it's pretty clear to me that you two aren't a couple anymore. Why are we spying on them?"

Homika let out a sigh. "Look, I just don't trust Lyra, at all. Not even one bit."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

He chuckled. "Sounds to me like you're just jealous."

She looked at him. "Jealous of a girl who dresses like a kid? Jealous of a girl who can't keep her hands off a guy?"

He laughed again. "You really don't know much about guys do you?"

"I know enough—"

"Ha, most guys would be overjoyed to have a girl all over them."

She looked at him. Was he serious? "But she's like all over him! It's like anytime they're together; she has to be touching him, grasping his arm or…augh! And…maybe you're right but he doesn't look all that comfortable about it at times."

He shrugged. "So she's a bit clingy. Give her time and she'll tone it down just a tad so he's more comfortable—"

"No. I can't let that happen! She's no good for him."

"Oh, she isn't?"

Homika stomped her foot. Why did he have to be so argumentative? "No! He should be with Jasmine. They're perfect for each other!"

"Oh you mean Toots!"

She looked over at him and leveled her eyes a bit. "Toots? Does she like it when you call her that or—"

He laughed and looked away. "Well she shot me a look and said Rusty might have to teach me a lesson or two. I didn't really expect that from her."

"She'd probably only accept being given a nickname by Ethan."

"But her?"

"Yes, her. Once I get Lyra away from him and I break up with him, I'm dragging Jasmine over here."

"So getting back to my first point…why do you hate her? You say she's bad news but I'm not seeing it."

"Call it a girl's intuition."

"Do you even know what that is?"

"Shut up!"

She peeked again and saw the three come out again. She shook her head as Lyra pointed over to a nearby outdoor café. Ethan didn't seem all that interested but seemed to relent. "Well you are right about her being a little pushy—"

"Little isn't the half of it."

Watching them at the café seemed like the longest two hours she had ever experienced. What made it worse was when Iris went inside for a bit, Lyra and Ethan seemed to be enjoying themselves. She still kept close to him, often playing footsies with him or something and he wasn't even bugged by it. To anyone else, they looked like a nice little couple. "Well…can we go now?"

"I feel sick."

"Yea, it's getting super sappy over there. I'm sick of watching, let's go—"

"No. She's up to no good, I know it. I just need some proof."

"What if there is no proof? What if she's innocent, just a bit on the clingy and affectionate side? Then what?"

She closed her eyes and sighed. He couldn't be happy with her, could he? On the outside, it was beginning to look that way. And that just made it worse. What if Ryan was right and Lyra was harmless? Then what? She didn't want to think about that. "I don't want to think about it."

"Huh, looks like Lyra is stepping away. I wonder—"

"Stop talking. Let's get closer. Maybe she's up to something."

Lyra ducked inside a nearby alley and the two of them entered from the opposite end, getting close by ducking behind some nearby dumpsters. It sounded like she was having a conversation of sorts. "Hello, this is Lyra. Oh hello Archer, how are you?"

"Isn't that one of the Team Rocket execs?" Ryan asked but she shushed him instead.

"Huh? It's not my fault! You were supposed to have more people in that tower. You really think one is enough to capture the Champion? That's right, there was only one guy in there, pathetic! I even tried to buy a little time so maybe some more could show but nothing!"

So was she some sort of double agent or what? Homika smiled as Lyra kept talking. So maybe she didn't have a recorder on her or something but this was just the sort of thing she wanted to hear.

"Well okay, I guess you'll just have to set the trap in the next town. I hope it's a good one. Huh? W-w-what did you say?"

"Why did she get all nervous?" Ryan asked in a very low tone. That's what she wanted to know but it sounded like Lyra had heard something she didn't like. They heard what sounded like a trash can being kicked.

"What did you say? I don't think you understood me before Archer. You can have the Champion. You can have the Elite Four. You can have Jasmine, Skyla and Marlon but there is one person you can't have! What? I never said I was turning over Ethan to your hands. Nope, sorry!"

"So she really likes this guy."

Lyra laughed. "I know how much Giovanni wants to crush him but I don't care. I would hand over anyone in the world to you but him. If you don't want to see it that way, then perhaps I will just stop our little deal and let him crush you anyways. It happened before and it'll happen again. Even if I'm the only one by his side."

"Okay so she's starting to creep me out, just a tad."

She shot him a look. Just a tad? What would be considered really creepy?

"Well…if you're going to be like that, conversation over," she said as she hung up. Homika peeked around the dumpster and saw her began to pocket the phone before she held it close to her chest and slumped to the ground. "Ugh, why am I doing this? Why do I even need to bother with them? They're a bunch of idiots anyway; Ethan will crush them with ease. It's just…what am I going to do about her? That stupid rock star is out of the way but what about Jasmine? I can't have her around, can I? No, no…if she's around, he might fall in love with her and…no. He can't fall in love with anyone else, especially not her," she said. She pulled the hat down over her eyes and began to giggle. "No, no, it's okay Lyra. There is still that trap waiting for them in Icirrus. Yep, that will take care of that little problem."

She almost felt like going after her right now but she stopped herself and just counted to ten until her anger began to subside a little. It was even worse off than she imagined. "I hate her."

"Ahh but I'm just so close. Let them have those three gym leaders. Ethan and me can crush them with ease. I don't know how I can get rid of Iris but she's just a little kid, she won't be in the way. Once Jasmine is gone, then the only person he'll have will be me. The only person he'll ever need," she said. She let out a sigh and smiled. She left the alley and Homika looked over at him.

"There's your f***ing proof!"

He laughed. "She's a real case."

"I knew there was something about her but I can't believe she's a double agent. Ugh, worse than that! She's using both sides for her own benefit."

"You mean for his benefit. She thinks she's doing this all for his sake."

"Yea but—forget it! Forget her for now; we have to get to Icirrus City! We have to make sure those three are okay! We're gonna need your flying Pokemon like now!"

"Okay okay, you're just as pushy as she is. Wait, we don't even know what the trap is!"

"It has to be connected to the gym. Team Rocket knows what we're targeting so it'll be there! If we can just prevent them from going inside, that should be enough, right?"

"I guess…"

They arrived in the snow-covered town half an hour later. His Mandibuzz dropped them off not very far from the gym itself. She hopped down and slipped on the snow, falling on her bottom. She jumped up and knocked the snow off. "Oh s*** that's cold!"

"Well it is snow."

"No one asked you, you know? Now…I wonder if they're inside already? Let's go check real quick!"

"D-do you ever slow down?"

She ignored him and ran over to the gym, almost slipping again a few times but catching herself just before she face planted. She even slid a few inches over to the door and grasped it by the knob to steady herself. She opened it and peeked inside. "Well, I don't see anything or anyone."

She opened the door further and stepped inside. As she did, she thought she heard what sounded like gas. She looked up but couldn't really see anything but began to feel a bit drowsy. She fell to one knee but felt someone grab her underneath her arm. "Hey, snap out of it?"

"H-huh?" She said but everything was a bit hazy. She felt herself being dragged out of the gym, and along the snow covered ground. The snow against her legs snapped her out of it and she jumped to her feet. "That's c-c-cold!"

Ryan shrugged. "You looked like you were about to fall asleep—"

She turned and kicked the door shut. "I was falling asleep! Those jerks, that was sleeping gas! Or maybe they had some Munna in there but whatever it was, that was the trap all right!"

"So what if they were already captured and we were too late?"

She frowned. "I…didn't think about that. You stay here and I'll go around back!"

She took out a Pokeball and summoned her Koffing. They hurried around to the back of the gym and just as she turned the corner, she saw a large black van in the back. It was unmarked but looked like a cargo van, the perfect vehicle to transport a few unconscious gym leaders. "It's running too. I…hey Koffing, if anyone tries to drive off, give them a blast of poisonous gas! That will stop them short!"

She hurried to the back, taking out another Pokeball as she did. She saw the doors slam shut and heard voices. "Well that takes care of that. So where are we taking them to?"

"Eh, Giovanni asked us to bring them back to the Pokemon League."

"Great! So all that is left is Ethan and the Champion? This is looking better already!"

One of the Team Rocket members walked around the side and saw her. She realized the Pokeball was empty and cursed to herself. "Eat this f*****!" She yelled as she flung it at him, nailing him square between the eyes. He fell backwards and she heard Koffing spraying some gas. She left the guy and walked around to the other side, as the other guy fell out of the cab, covering his mouth. He stumbled away and crawled toward the back until he came a foot of her.

"H-h-huh?" He said, looking up slowly. He gave her a clean shot of his face and she used that to kick him in the face real hard. She pumped her fist and laughed.

"Ha-ha, stupid Team Rocket! You think you were going to get the drop on something or us? Well…I guess you did but I bet you didn't expect me, huh? Huh?"

She walked back to the back and opened the doors. She heard the car cut off and looked around the corner to see Ryan walking up. "So they were about to get away."

"Were. Key word there," she said. She opened the door and found the three gym leaders lying inside, unconscious. She let out a sigh of relief. "Glad they're okay. Let's pull them out and throw them in the snow."

"Throw them in the snow?"

She winked at him. "What's wrong? That icy cold feeling will wake anyone up. It did for me and I'm a hell of a heavy sleeper!"

"If Toots finds out I agreed to that…"

"She isn't Toots and I'm gonna tell her that you kept calling her that. I'm sure she'll be pleased!"

"I got a better idea. Let's just toss some snow onto their faces instead. Same thing, same result."

She shrugged. "Fine, fine. Let's do it."

She scooped up some snow with her hands, not a lot but enough to have an impact and tossed it up toward Jasmine's face. She jumped up almost at once, wiping it off her face and clutching her shoulders. "Oh, that's cold! Wait, Homika? What was…what are we doing inside of a van?"

Homika winked at her and motioned her out. Jasmine slid out of the van and Homika grabbed her by the hand and led her away. "Don't struggle, I need to talk to you in private."

"Ahh okay but do you have to be this forceful?"

"Oh, sorry," she said as she let her hand go. Jasmine nodded.

"Okay, lead me on."

She led her a few feet away and keyed her in on what she had learned. Jasmine turned white when she described in detail the conversation Lyra had and how she acted afterwards. "S-s-s-so she tried to betray all of us."

"Well to be honest, I think the other two were just collateral. She seemed really focused on getting you out of the way, it was pretty creepy."

"G-get me out of the way?"

Homika shrugged. "By the way she made it sound, it was almost like that was supposed to be permanently but you can't be sure with a loon like her."

Jasmine looked away and sighed. "I'm just…you actually came out here to rescue us?"

She shrugged. "Well rescue you but since those two were with you, I guess those too—"

"But…why? You hate me!"

Homika sighed. "Didn't I already explain it to you Jasmine? Ethan doesn't deserve to be around someone like me. And he definitely can't be around a lunatic like Lyra either. It can only be you!"

She blushed. "I-I-I know what you're saying but I can't confess to him—"

"You want him to end up with that clingy psycho? Because if you don't step in, that's what is going to happen!"

"Have you even broken up with him yet?"

She looked away. "Oh…yea. I guess I better get to that. Well then you can come with me anyway! I'll let him know that we are done and that you should be with him instead. Oh and I'll make sure to give Lyra a piece of my mind. I'm gonna really enjoy telling that creep to buzz off!"

Jasmine put her hands behind her back. "You rescued me."

"Yes, of course. If Ethan heard you got harmed or seriously hurt…he'd be crushed. Maybe even depressed. Or maybe he'd finally snap. I can't let that happen. It's the last thing I want to see but when you're around, he seems to be more pleasant and happier. Almost to the point of being a total sap but…you see where I'm getting at?"

"I'm just wondering…do you still want to break up with him?"

Homika didn't answer her for a moment but closed her eyes and hung her head. "No. I miss him. I miss hearing him talk about love and friendship and that dopey look on his face. I miss him telling me about his other Pokemon or his previous adventures…I…ugh, listen to me! I'm terrible. I don't know how I'm going to face him and tell him that. I have to though! It's for his own good! And like I said, you'll treat him right."

"I can't do that. I can't confess. What if he doesn't—"

She grabbed her hands and stared into her face. "What are you babbling about? He treats you like the most important person in the world! You guys are pretty much are a couple…you just don't act like a pair in love."

"You're getting to be as bad as Erika."

"Huh?" She asked as Jasmine grasped her hands.

"Okay, okay, you can stop. You're becoming pretty silly! Okay, I'll tell him."

Her heart sank. Well she had pushed for it but hearing her say it was quite another. This was…going to take some time to get over. "Good, I'm glad to hear it. Well I guess we better hurry and find him!"