Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, nor am I a part of it, much to my chagrin.

Chapter 7

Copper's POV

AJ sped down the hill on the back of his Dratini, Dragonair, Dragonite, Lance and I rushing to keep up with the small boy and his baby dragon. He found out where the odd signal was coming from, and apparently it was back in Mahogany Town.

The Dratini stopped right in front of the weird shop that supplied less than the Cherrygrove City Poke Mart. Oy, how I should have known this was right in this building! But how in the world…did something that powerful come from a building this small?

Lance, hopping off of his Dragonite, rushed to the front door of the shop and kicked it down. Must he do vandalous acts while being heroic? "Law enforcement!" he shouted.

Inside, a creepy shopkeeper grinned. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he chuckled, obviously lying, "Do you want to fight about something that doesn't even exist?"

"Lance, that evil man is lying through his teeth, as you say about Clair," AJ pouted.

"Well, since you're such a terrible liar, I will challenge you!" Lance cried out. I was worried about Lance. What if this guy was packing heat? Guns did exist in the Johto region…

"Go, Golbat!" the shopkeeper unleased a large bat with its mouth stretched wide open. It looked rather garish, and I remembered that Silver had one of these.

I also remember they were supposed to evolve through friendship.

"Dragonite, Hyper Beam," Lance muttered, "This has to be the weakest battle I've done in years." The Dragonite shot a beam of pure antimatter towards the bat, knocking it out upon impact. The shopkeeper gave him a disgusted look.

"Behind the bookcase," he snarled, "is a stairwell. Down there is the hideout. There are many powerful agents down there. Have fun."

Dragonite practically threw the bookcase over to reveal a dark stairwell. Lance ran through it, AJ on his Dratini following him. I decided to follow, since I wanted to get to the bottom of this.

I made my way through the warehouse, defeating quite a few Rockets. I knew they were behind this, no one else would dare to mess with Pokemon this way. I had just gotten the password to get to the Executive Petrel, and was trying to find the man…

…when I encountered a certain redhead in the stairwell.

"Okay, seriously, why are you here?" he growled at me, "This is MY quest. Aren't you supposed to be going around collecting Gym Badges and challenging the Champion? Arceus, and I thought I was a pain in the ass." He shoved pass me, having to because the hallway was so thin.

He stormed off.

Why can't I just get an opportunity to talk to the boy?

Gritting my teeth, I went up the stairs to find Petrel and his Murkrow…

…after that battle was over, and I had the password to the generator, I rushed downstairs. Lance and AJ were waiting for me right by the generator.

"You ready to do this, kid?" Lance asked.

"Am I ever," I grinned as I set loose my Typhlosion.

"HAILGIOVANNI," the Murkrow shouted into the speaker. The doors instantly clicked open. We started to walk into the area around the generator.

"Just who do you think you are to mess with Team Rocket?"

I whirled around to find the one woman I may actually be able to kill without any remorse.

Silver's mother.

"Team Rocket will take over soon. I'm not going to let some snot-nosed brat get in our way!" Ariana shouted.

"It's not just her," Lance came back at the woman, "You're going against the master of dragons as well!"

"OK if we win, we keep control," the grunt next to her sighed, "If we lose, we leave."

"Let's get to it, then," I said, a creepy grin, gleaming across my face.

Of course, we won. Lance's Dragonite kicked everyone and their mother's ass. The bitch and her current manservant left, and we freed all of the Electrode.

We reunited a back in the shop room. The shopkeeper was long gone, and no one was left in the building. AJ was holding onto his much older brother for dear life.

"I guess I'll see you around, Copper," Lance smiled at me, "Take good care of AJ for me, will you?"

"Nononononono!" AJ sobbed into Lance's side, "I don't wanna be separated ever ever again! I wanna live with you forever and ever!"

I looked at the little boy. He must have missed his brother dearly. How they even had gotten separated in the first place is beyond me.

"I think you should let him come with you, Lance," I consoled the small child, "You have been separated for months."

AJ looked up at me and smiled through his tears, "Copper, will I ever see you again?"

"Of course you will, kiddo," I giggled, "I'm here for you if you need me here."

"Good," he stood firm now, "I don't want you to go like Mommy and Daddy did."

"Our parents died in an incident involving the Distortion World a few months back," Lance explained, "He doesn't want anyone else to die."

Instantly I felt sorry for the child. To only be seven and lose both parents to a Pokemon, and then raise the same type of Pokemon that killed your loved ones had to be horrible.

"I understand why he wants to go with you, then," I said, hugging the boy one last time, "Don't do anything stupid, kiddo. Okay?"

"Okay!" the boy exclaimed, "Take care of your Pokemon! Especially Celebi! It's telling you a lot of things you need to know!"

I watched as the two dragon masters of my life flew into the sunset, and a small tear formed in my eye. I let it go, allowing myself to be sad for a moment. Then I took my Pokemon back to the Mahogany Pokemon Center.

END

Had to do this! Back to the Goldenrod moment next chapter!