She found Ethan standing in the middle of the smoking runway, admiring his work most likely. Wiggler turned and saw her approaching, letting out a squeak as he did. He turned around and smiled at her. "Hey Mika—"

"Don't hey me anything! How about you explain yourself?"

"You mean why I'm with Team Rocket?"

"Yes! And why you acted like such a jerk and why…you and Jasmine went behind my back? What the f***?"

He folded his arms. "All right, I'll explain myself. First, about Team Rocket. Giovanni gave me an offer I couldn't refuse…when he threatened to harm my family and friends; I felt I had to do something to appease him. I know that several of the executives have expressed how much they wished I would see the light and join Team Rocket so I figured if I join unconditionally, he would leave them alone. So, that's what I did."

"Unconditionally? Don't you even know what that means?"

"Homika…I don't want to think about what would happen if they did try to harm you or anyone else I cared about. I couldn't let it happen so…there you go."

She frowned. It was as she thought but it still didn't sit right with her. Especially that unconditional part. "And why were you being such a jerk? To drive us away?"

He sighed. "Yea…if my plan doesn't succeed, I could be stuck in Team Rocket for awhile. The last thing I want is for you guys to get dragged into it. If I caused you to hate me…you also wouldn't waste your time trying to rescue me—"

"Well you know what I'm gonna say about that? Too f****** bad! We're gonna do our best to get you out of this mess! You don't belong with Team Rocket and all those slime balls…you need to be by me—I mean us," she said. She thought it over in her head and shook her head. "F*** that, I want you by my side again!"

He smiled, "Thanks. Well I can't ask you to rescue me but—"

"And what about you and Jasmine? What's going on between you two?"

He looked away for a bit. "That…well…how do I explain this? Well…I guess some things were said in the heat of the moment…that probably shouldn't have been said."

She folded her arms. "And?"

"Jasmine and me need to talk that one over—'

"I hope you aren't expecting me to switch places with her. Like hell if I'm gonna work for Team Rocket!"

"I don't expect you to. How are things over here?"

She noticed Iris appear from behind him. If she could keep him distracted a bit longer…"Well…we're managing so far. We tried to rescue the other gym leaders but…Jasmine kind of threw a wrench in those plans and it seems like—"

"Sorry but that was my idea to move them—"

"You really have taken a turn for the worse."

"Well…the only way I can earn their trust and get them to leave you all alone…is to do what they ask and go above and beyond."

"You're willing to destroy your entire reputation to do this? Just to stop Team Rocket? What good is it if you end up loosing yourself in the process?"

He sighed. "I know, I know. That's why I'm going to depend on you to save me. I know you'll do everything you can to stop me from going that far—"

"You bet motherf*****. I am the HBIC here and we won't let it happen! Almost everyone knows and likes you to some degree, some of us more than others obviously."

"HBIC?"

She smiled. "Head b**** in charge!"

Iris inched closer but suddenly out of nowhere, Pitch dove out of the air and swooped down at her. She cried out and jumped back, getting his attention. As he was distracted, she reached over and grabbed a few Pokeballs off his belt. "Hey!"

"Turnabout is fair play, you steal our Pokemon and we can steal some of yours! Plus you'll be easier to capture without some of your Pokemon," she said with a laugh.

Ethan frowned. "Did you do that on purpose?"

"Well I wanted some answers…but I figured if we could swipe some Pokemon from you as well, why the f*** not?"

"You learned that from me…"

"You betcha!" She said, beaming with pride. "Now…we got you surrounded—"

"You forgot I still have Chase," he said as he summoned the little ghost candle. Homika cursed aloud when she realized she hadn't grabbed one of the Pokeballs holding him, though it was her intention. Soon Ethan and his Pokemon vanished and she stomped her foot.

"F*** f*** f*** f***************! He got away again! How did he just slip out from underneath our noses like that?"

Iris just looked at her as she cursed up a storm. "Umm…well didn't we still get some of his Pokemon? Doesn't that count?"

She stopped her tantrum and tried to think it over. It was true…he had got away but now he was short a few Pokemon. She would have preferred that they capture Wiggler or Chase but some was better than none, right? "Ahh…well…yea, I guess you're right. I bet we ended up stealing Bolt and Sam."

Iris nodded. "Maybe, next time we can somehow nab Chase?"

"If we grab that f****** candle, that would maybe prevent him from making those escapes. If we can get him and Wiggler…we'll be in even better shape—"

"Iris, Homika!"

She turned to see Skyla run up and she realized who wasn't with her. "F***! Don't tell me Jasmine got away?"

Skyla blushed. "I-I'm sorry. I was gonna lock her up somewhere but she surprised me with a sneak attack and got away while I was trying to recover. She used her Pokemon to make my limbs numb for a bit!"

She grumbled. "That f****** sucks. Man, they've really gotten high on the evil. They are the last type I could see acting like this."

"What do we do?"

She let out a sigh. "Well…uh…I don't know right now but we did steal some of his Pokemon! Iris and me were hoping to capture him or some of his more useful Pokemon but…well…you know."

"I'm so so so—"

"Augh, shut the f*** up Red! It's okay…those two are becoming expert escape artists already, it's what Team Rocket knows to do best, run away with their tails between their legs like the f****** cowards they are! Well I'm not saying those two are cowards but…you get what I'm trying to say? If you hang out with the Tepigs, expect to get dirty…or burnt…or…f*************! You two are smart, you get it, right?"

Skyla smiled. "It's okay Homika. We get it."

"I think I do," Iris said. Homika nodded.

"Good."

"I still can't believe they…huh?" Skyla said as she began to inspect the runway. Homika watched her walk around, inspecting the areas where the smoke rose from and she looked a bit troubled. "This is so weird…I could have sworn these were explosions but just from looking around, it doesn't seem like he did all that much damage here."

"Really?"

"Yes but I don't get it."

"Maybe…umm…it was…a show of force? I mean…why would they damage this place that much; it seems like a pretty important place to use. Perhaps they wanted to shake everyone up, flex their muscle and show that if they step out of line, Team Rocket will really f*** s*** up!"

Skyla folded her arms. "Hmmm…I think I see what you're getting at Homika."

She smiled. "Yea, exactly. Or I dunno, maybe he just made it looked like he did a lot of damage but spared us—"

"The damage Jasmine caused was very real. All of those computers will have to be replaced."

"Yea well…f***! Those two have really made a mess of things! I wish they had talked this over…then again, I guess he didn't really have time to do a powwow about this but still…f***!" She said. She felt like curling up in a ball and just hiding in a corner. Or…"F***…maybe I just need a drink."

"Don't even think about it!"

"Huh?" She asked, looking over at Skyla. Skyla waved a finger in her direction.

"You think alcohol is going to help?"

"Well…a lot of it would. I could just forget about all of this. It's so frustrating!"

"We're all going through stuff but getting drunk isn't going to help you. You'll get hung-over and then feel even worse about being hung-over. Don't do it! We'll get through this. You think Ethan wants to see his cute girlfriend a disgusting drunk?"

She stomped her foot. "F*** him! He's made a mess of everything. Well maybe not him…f*** Team Rocket! F*** them to hell! I can't wait until we give them the boot. Just thinking about it makes me feel like I'm on f****** cloud 9. And then you know what I'm gonna do next?"

"I'm…kind of afraid to ask," Iris said.

"He's gonna be really f****** sore after I get through with him," she said, clasping her hands together. Iris looked confused but Skyla only turned as red as her hair.

"Oh well…that's nice. So what do we do now?"

She sighed. "F*** if I know. We'll have to think it over."

"What about the Elite Four?"

"F***! Yea, you're right. We better go check up on them. I bet they'll want to take care of them too since they are the biggest threat to Team Rocket right now!"

"So should I go get the others?" Skyla asked.

"Yea, go get them. We need to meet up and discuss this. And we can fill them in on what we know."

Skyla hurried off and she sank to her knees. She sat down on the runway cross-legged and buried her face in her hands. "H-h-how does he do it? How does he handle this? I'm like a nervous f****** wreck! What if I screw up?"

"But…you haven't."

"I'm going to f*** this all up…somehow. I sometimes wondered what he was thinking when he was in charge, like when he welcomed Lyra into the group and such. I even thought I could probably do better but…f***! I'm so gonna—"

"Hey, you're supposed to be our leader! And how can you say you've screwed up when we're still around?"

"We've barely done anything…"

"We've barely been together as a group! Ethan and Jasmine may have got away but they both know we can't be underestimated. And we were able to steal some of his Pokemon, right? Are you saying it was wrong for us to believe in you?"

She looked up at Iris. "H-huh? I…I…no. No, I want you to believe in me. I don't want to fail…I can't. If I…if we fail…" she said before hitting the ground with her fist. "F***, we can't fail! We don't have a choice."

"Hey you two! I'm back!"

Skyla returned with Marlon and company in tow, causing Homika to get up. She dusted herself off and smiled. "All right, so did Red explain what we know?"

"What do we know?"

"I guess not. Well…we were able to corner Ethan but he got away, as usual. I did find out that he joined Team Rocket out of fear for what they might have done to his loved ones."

Marlon chuckled. "So it's just like you thought."

"Yea but he seems to think the only way we can win is for him to…well I guess he didn't care to fill us in on all of those details but somehow it involves him gaining their trust. And if that means he has to do bad things…so be it."

"He makes an awful villain," Skyla said.

"Yea, he does. What terrifies me is how good he is at it. I'm not used to Team Rocket being effective and so slippery like that. I don't know all the details about his plan but our only choice is to drag him out of there but…I guess we'll worry about that later. Right now, we need to meet up with the Elite Four. I bet that is Ethan's next target."

"Don't you mean Team Rocket?"

Homika shook her head. "I wish but I bet the more he earns their trust, the more eager he'll be to keep trying to earn it. And it looks like some of these attacks…were his f****** idea!"

Cilan frowned. "That's even worse news."

"I know…that's why we have to do all we can to stop Team Rocket. If we don't…I don't think we can trust Ethan and Jasmine to. So…we will need to make sure the Elite Four is okay. Sooo…Marlon, can I count on you and Elesa to go make sure they're cool?"

"Wait…just the two of them?" Skyla asked.

Homika winked at her. "Why not? Besides, we can't have all of us go there. What if Ethan shows and rolls over all of us with ease? Then what?"

"No problem. I think Elesa and me can do the job. Maybe Ethan will be thrown off by some of our Pokemon."

"He will…at first. I figure he'll get around it so you two will have to be careful. Meanwhile the rest of us will…figure out what to do next. We just gotta figure out where they might strike next…and beat them to it."

She sighed. Something was bugging her about his involvement with Team Rocket but just what was it? She knew she didn't like him working with Team Rocket but something about how they were using him didn't sit right with her. "Huh," Cilan said. "HBIC, could I ask you something?"

"Sure!"

He folded his arms. "Well…haven't you noticed that the rest of Team Rocket has gone AWOL? Like, they don't seem interested at all in using the rest of Team Rocket. They're perfectly happy to just let Ethan do it all. Well him and Jasmine."

She nodded. "Y-yea, I see what you mean but isn't that obvious? He's doing all of this to prove his allegiance to them."

"I mean…what if it isn't that? What if they're just giving him enough rope to hang himself? By letting him do all these crimes and letting people see it, he's quickly torpedoing his reputation."

"But we know that, right? That's what he's hoping to do."

Cilan nodded. "Yea I know but what if it works too well? What if it works so well that he can't come back? It almost seems like they could be setting him up for that."

"Not come back? Of course he can! If he helps defeat Giovanni's enhanced Pokemon and put an end to their scheme, it'll all work out. People will be mad at him of course but when they see that—"

"That's assuming world domination is still their actual goal."

"Of course it is! Why else would they do all of this? You really think they would do all this just for them to frame him as the scapegoat for everything?"

He chuckled. "Well no. That would be pretty dumb but I'm sure getting everyone to believe Ethan is too far gone would be a really nice perk for Giovanni."

She cursed aloud. "Yea yea…I could see how they're in on his plan and just encourage it. If they're in on it, they might…"

"They'll just keep encouraging him to do worse and worse acts, making him more and more hated. It might get so bad that he might realize that there's no real way he can redeem himself and…n-no! F*** it, I won't let that happen! I can't let him do that! If he ends up like that…we can't let it happen!"

"Yea but like what can we do?" Skyla asked. Homika folded her arms.

"We need…a distraction. A distraction big enough that will force Ethan to ignore Marlon and Elesa as they help the Elite Four," she said. She snapped her fingers. "Haha, of course! A concert!"

"A concert? You think that will be big enough to warrant Ethan coming out to crash it? Wouldn't that be too obvious?"

Homika laughed. "It's so blatantly obvious that they would think it's too obvious but would be forced to check it out anyway because it's so obvious that it can't possibly be that obvious, right?"

They all looked at her with blank looks and finally Iris responded. "What?"

"F*** it, concert time! I've been really itching to do another one. I can only be away from my guitar for so long. I start to get the shakes, I forget things and I start bleeding in random places."

"What?" Iris asked.

"Stop looking at me like that!"

Archer tapped his fingers on the desk as he finished up his report. "So how did the people of Mistralton react to your actions?"

"Well they were pretty heartbroken. They had been attacked before but had real hope that they could get back on their feet. The attacks on the runway and the control tower. I think their sadness will soon turn to anger if you ask me."

Archer shrugged. "That's fine. As long as they see that we mean business and that if they try to do anything, things will only get worse."

Ethan smiled. "Yea but when they realize we didn't do much damage to the runway—"

"Eh, it's the thought that counts. Good job Ethan. We don't have anything for you to do for now so you're dismissed."

Ugh, it felt sick to be praised by Archer but he smiled. "Glad to hear it." He said as he left Archer's makeshift office. He hadn't been able to get close to Giovanni like he hoped and now that Homika had stolen that Hypno; he couldn't stop that Pokemon of his either. Jasmine stood outside the small office they had given him and smiled at him as he walked up. "How did it go?"

"They were pleased, that's all. They don't have anything else for me though."

"Well that's for the best. At least they aren't disappointed or anything."

"Let's talk outside."

Outside of the Pokemon League building, he walked over to the nearby fence and looked out across the landscape. She stood next to him, shoulder to shoulder. "So what is it? Something's bugging you."

"I don't know how much longer I can do this. I feel more and more dirty for working with them."

"Y-yea, me too."

He shook his head. "And the worst part is that the more I do, the less disgusted I feel. I'm almost getting used to it now."

"But now that you're in so deep, can you really turn back now?"

He pursed his lips. "Well I suppose I could but I don't think it would turn out well for anyone. They would see it and punish everyone for it. And they could just threaten me that they'll do even worse if I disobey the next time…I really am stuck."

"You aren't stuck."

"Yea I am. If I disobey, everyone I care about gets hurt. If I don't disobey…then…everyone will hate me. I thought I was okay with that before but now…I don't think people will forgive me even if I help stop Team Rocket."

Jasmine didn't respond and he stared up at the sky. "I think they'll forgive you. It will take some time…maybe a lot of time even but they'll come around?"

"I've seen what people are saying. They feel betrayed, furious even at me. What's worse is how Homika will suffer. Her career will be over if she stays with me. I don't want her to suffer like that. I don't want any of my friends to suffer any more…"

"Then…what can you do?"

He looked down and sighed. "I don't know. Is there anything I can do? Well…I guess I could just become so bad that everyone I know will be disgusted with me and not have want anything to do with me."

Jasmine grabbed him by the collar and forced him to face her. "A-a-a-are you serious? You can't do that…can you?"

"It's a thought…I don't know…I'm just at a total loss what to do."

"Maybe this was a bad—"

"You might as well get out. You still have your reputation largely intact."

"I told you I'm sticking with you until the end, you can't get rid of me that easily."

"Even if I end up becoming as bad as Giovanni? Come on Jasmine, you can't do that. I won't let you—"

"E-Ethan…I've already thrown everything away. I can't go back. I won't go back. If you have to become as evil as Giovanni…then so will I."

"But…" he began to say before tearing away. He entered Victory Road and walked down one of the caverns for a bit before he stopped at a wall and began to lightly bang his head against the wall. "I'm such an idiot. Why did I do this."

"Stop running away!"

"I told you to get out of here! If I'm going to end up going down this road, I'm doing it alone!"

"I already told you I'm with you until the end."

He spun to face her. "I won't let you Jasmine."

She stuck out her tongue at him. "Oh really, then what are you gonna do? You think you can defeat me?"

He took out a Pokeball. "Of course I can. I've done it before and I can do it again. Once I beat you, I want you to get out of here."

She took out a Pokeball herself but suddenly flung it at his hand, knocking his own Pokeball out of his hand. He jumped back against the wall, trying to shake off the pain of getting smacked in the hand like that. He began to go for another Pokeball but she suddenly kneed him in the stomach, causing him to slump down against the ground. While he was trying to recover, she reached down and took his remaining Pokemon. "You know, I wasn't exactly just sitting around and playing sidekick for you. I learned a few things or two from how you defeated all of the gym leaders and Iris without a single battle."

"Ugh…I…I don't remember physically attacking anyone."

"You used your Pokemon, didn't you?"

He looked away. "Ahh yea…I guess you're right…so you've beaten me…what do you want?"

Jasmine blushed a bit. "What do I want? Huh…you know, that's an interesting question. Ahhh I know…you will promise not to ask me to leave ever again."

"Ever?"

"Ever."

He sighed. "Well okay but—"

"No buts!"

"No buts," he said with a sigh. The pain had begun to subside a bit and he got to his feet. She pursed her lips and put her hands behind her back. "What's wrong?"

"Oh…there was something else but…well maybe it's okay now since…"

"What is it?"

She suddenly turned and kicked the wall opposite of him. "Why did I tell her that?"

"Tell her what? I don't understand what you're getting at."

She sighed and walked over to him. She suddenly pressed him against the wall and looked down at the ground. "Ethan…why is it that when we're finally together—"

"Huh but we've always been together as friends. Still are—"

"You don't get it, do you? I didn't tell you I loved you because I meant it as a friend. I didn't make out with you because that's what's friends do and I certainly didn't…" she said as she paused at the last one. She poked him in the chest and smirked. "And what happened at the cabin definitely was—"

"If you were so sincere about that…then why did you—"

"That…yea I guess that was really stupid of me. I thought I would be okay, that I could live with it at first but…ugh. I was wrong for thinking that."

He looked away. "I…this is all my fault. I thought trying to take out Team Rocket from the inside would work but I'm going to end up a bigger villain than Giovanni, I'll alienate everyone more than I expected and…" he said, a sick feeling rising in his stomach. "I've screwed up. I…guess the only good from this is…Homika will hate me. She'll hate me so much that she'll do anything to bring me down. She already has learned to get the drop on me. Maybe she can—"

"But if you lose…"

"If I win…I lose and if I lose…"

"It's going to be okay."

He shook his head. "No, it's not."

She pulled him up by the collar. "It will be okay. We'll get through this, together. Didn't you just tell me you didn't want to let me get dragged into—"

"That's why I'm asking you to leave. If anyone is gonna suffer, it'll be me and only me. That's—"

She pressed against him and locked lips with him, interrupting him mid speech. She pushed him down to the floor but he didn't feel anything from it. Only disgust for himself and what he had gotten everyone into. She pulled away and he felt dazed and confused. "The last thing you can do is stop believing in yourself. If you think you've been defeated, you've already lost. And you haven't lost, not by a long shot."

She dragged him to the ground and hunched over him. "How can you say that…when…"

She pressed her nose against his and smiled. "You're a smart person and I'm not half bad myself. If we put our heads together, we can think of a way. You aren't out of this by a long shot."

"I…" he started to say. There couldn't be a way, could there? He couldn't think of anything. What was his plan in the first place anyway? How pathetic…he couldn't even think of the plan he had. He noticed her leaning in again and he sighed. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize for anything."

Homika leaned back in a chair of the now abandoned Team Rocket HQ in Castelia and put her hands behind her head as she watched the match playing before her on the screen. It was an old match in the Johto Pokemon League Tournament between Ethan and Crystal, one of the few times she remembered seeing Crystal lose. The door opened and she saw Skyla walk in, phone in hand. "Oh hey Homika…what are you watching? Hey, isn't that Ethan?"

"Yep, it's an old match between him and Crystal, the eventual Champion of the Tournament. From what Ethan told me, they grew up together and she was the one who trained him to become a Pokemon trainer so she knows how to deal with his tactics."

"W-w-wow, I didn't expect you to study this. I thought you would be practicing on your guitar."

She laughed. "I don't need all that much practice. I'm f****** awesome, so good that I can go up on stage and give them the show of their lives even if I haven't practiced for s***!"

"Oh, I see. Still it's nice to see our HBIC trying to stay on top of the game!"

Homika closed her eyes and smiled. "Of course! He's gonna be against me dragging him out of Team Rocket so he'll do everything he can to win. I've got to be prepared for anything."

"Well shouldn't we all be watching it together then?"

"Ahh…f***. Yea, you're probably right about that. S***, get everyone in here! We—"

"Oh but first there's someone on the phone for you."

Homika turned to face her. "Huh, someone for me? Who is it?"

Skyla thrust the phone forward. "She didn't say. I didn't recognize the voice to be honest."

Homika took it and gave Skyla a confused look before answering. "Hello…Homika here."

"Ahh hello. Homika huh? I've heard so many things about you."

"I hope it's good. If it's bad…f*** whoever told you that! They're dirty liars!"

"So I've heard that my dear old friend has taken a turn for the worse."

"Yea that f***** decided to join Team Rocket and he's gonna end up becoming worst than Giovanni the way he's going!"

"Is that so? Does the HBIC have room for a Johnny come lately?"

Her heart jumped a bit. "Ahhh well…f*** that sounds kind of good. We could use the help, especially since that jerk stole all our Pokemon. Uh…pardon for asking but who the f*** are you? You sound pretty confident about taking him on."

"Huh? Oh, I suppose I have been a bit rude in not introducing myself. I'm actually an old childhood friend of his and the Champion of the Pokemon League for Johto and Kanto, Crystal."