A month later at the Celadon City Pokemon Center…
"I hate this!" Ash moaned, dropping down on the bed. "All this waiting! Can't we just go out and search for them ourselves?!"
Yohana shook her head at the conversation they'd been having every day for weeks. "You know we can't, Ash. The police are still watching over us to ensure our safety. They'd notice if we left without telling them. I promised we wouldn't go it alone. Besides, we have a better chance of succeeding with the police on our side. It's not like the time has been wasted. Both we and our pokemon are stronger due to the training we've been doing. That also gives us a better chance of success."
Ash sighed. "I know, but…"
There was a knock on the door to the room they'd been staying in. Yohana and Ash exchanged glances and Ash used his aura to sense who was outside the door before getting up and letting them in.
"Hello, Officer Jenny." Yohana said. "Have you located them yet?"
Officer Jenny nodded. "That's what I came to tell you. I need you to come to the police station with me for the mission briefing."
Ash and Yohana exchanged glances again, this time with excited smiles instead of worried frowns. They quickly grabbed their stuff and followed Officer Jenny out of the Pokemon Center, down the street, and into the police station.
Waiting there were a redhead with four men and one woman dressed like him, five more Officer Jennys (from Cerulean City, Pewter City, Pallet Town, Fuchsia City, and Vermilion City), and at least thirty more police officers.
"Hello, I'm Lance of the Pokemon G-men." The redhead introduced.
"You're the Pokemon League Champion." Ash noted with surprise.
Lance noted. "That I am. These are my pals: Hedrick, Kevin, Gerald, Randy, and Kate."
The five greeted the two kindly.
"I'm Yohana and this is Ash." Yohana introduced. "We're here to help rescue the captives."
"You do realize that is only part of the mission, right?" Kate asked.
"Um… no… What's the other part?" Ash inquired, confused.
"We're going to try to take Team Rocket down from the inside." Lance explained. "That's why there are so many people here. It's not just because Professor Oak is such a high-ranked professor. This mission is to take down Team Rocket."
"We're in! Right, Yohana?" Ash asked.
"While I do want to take down the organization that killed my parents, I'm not sure you're up for it, Ash. Remember, you just got out of the hospital three weeks ago." Yohana replied.
(Anime collapse: Ash) "But Yohana we've been working for this!"
"Ash, we've been working for the rescue. We haven't been working to take down Team Rocket completely. We're not ready for that yet. Leave it to the adults." Yohana reasoned.
Ash sighed in disappointment. "I guess you're right, but what if…"
"No what ifs. Let's wait to hear what we're supposed to do." Yohana said.
Celadon City Officer Jenny tapped a microphone. "Can everyone hear me?" Yes's echoed through the crowd. "Good. Now, there will be three groups taking part in this mission. Group A will be trying to rescue the captives and Group B will be trying to take down Team Rocket completely. Group C will surround the base, guarding the exits from a distance. Here are your groups:"
She rattled off a list of names for each group. Ash, Yohana, and Randy were in group A, along with the Officer Jennys from Pallet and Pewter, and a third of the other officers. The rest of the G-men were in Group B with the Officer Jennys from Vermilion and Fuchsia and another third of the officers. The Officer Jennys from Cerulean and Celadon led Group C with the last third of the officers.
Officer Jenny then continued on with the plan. "Groups A and B dress up in Team Rocket uniforms and enter the base from any exit by boy-girl pairs. Group A will be wearing blue wristbands to show they are good guys, while Group B will be wearing green wristbands. If anyone asks why, say you found it somewhere and thought it was cool. To make sure you are facing a friend, you will ask 'Beautiful weather today, isn't it?' To prove you are one of us, you must answer 'I thought I saw a rainbow earlier.' Don't ask questions about the answer. None of the criminals will ever guess it. Once inside, Group A will search for the captives and do what they can to free them. Group B will do what they can to find and defeat the Team Rocket leader. Group C will stay outside to arrest any rockets who flee. Most of the time inside the base will be improvising, understand?" Everyone voiced that they understood. "We'll drive to a couple of miles from the base and travel the rest of the way on foot. We leave at 1900 hours. Move it!"
"That gives us thirty minutes to get ready." Yohana noted. "Let's take our stuff and store it at the police station as we might not be going back to the Pokemon Center."
"Good idea." Ash agreed and they went to get ready.
Meanwhile…
"Argh! How long's it gonna be until someone rescues us?!" Misty shouted, her voice echoing through the cell. She plopped down on the cot that they took turns sleeping on. "I want to get out of here already!"
"Yelling about it isn't going to help." Brock told her.
"I know, but…" Misty began.
Professor Oak interrupted her. "My question is why they want us."
"I'm curious about that too." Delia put in. "They want Yohana, so why didn't they take her when they took us?"
"That's a good question." Brock said. "Another good one is why do they want Yohana in the first place? I mean, she just a kid who just started her pokemon journey. What's so special about her?"
"Yohana mentioned something to me about Ash being her only human friend for five years. If she only had one human friend and her parents were dead, who raised her?" Misty asked.
"These are all good questions. We'll have to ask Yohana next time we see her." Delia said.
"If we see her again." Misty said. "There's no guarantee of that."
They were all silent for a few moments.
"We have to keep faith that we'll be rescued." Brock said. "They won't give up on us, especially with Professor Oak's status."
"You think Professor Oak's status will get us found?!" Misty snapped.
Brock withdrew. "I just meant it will keep them looking longer than they would for the average person."
Misty blew her bangs out of her face. "Whatever." She paused. "Don't you think it was weird that Yohana didn't look mournful when the rockets told her Ash was dead?" Delia started crying at the reminder. "Sorry, Mrs. Ketchum, but the question's been bugging me for a while now."
"That's been bothering me too." Brock said. "You'd think she didn't care about Ash, but we know she cares because she barely left Ash's side while he was in his coma."
"It's almost like… not to get anyone's hopes up or anything, but it's almost like she believed he wasn't dead." Misty said.
Everyone was silent again at that.
"But we saw them shoot him twice. There was blood, proving there was a chest wound." Brock said. "What you're suggesting isn't possible. Ash wasn't even awake to defend himself and Yohana wasn't even in the room when he was shot."
Misty sighed. "You're right. Sorry for mentioning it at all."
"It's okay. Let's just not mention it again." Brock said.
Professor Oak didn't say anything. In his mind, he was remembering how the blood on Ash's shirt had just disappeared when Yohana had entered the room. Almost like it had been an illusion. Almost like the bullet hadn't hit Ash at all.
The door to the cell swung open and grunts came in to escort them to the questioning room.
Three of the four prisoners went without fighting back. Misty, as usual, was just the opposite, struggling her hardest in an attempt to get free.
Once in the questioning room, they were tied down and, of course, questioned.
Giovanni was frustrated with them because they didn't know much about Yohana.
Misty wouldn't stop struggling.
This was going to be a long questioning session.
A/n Bad ending to chapter, but I didn't know how to bring it to an end without revealing the next part. As you can see, Brock, Misty, Delia, and Professor Oak are starting to question Yohana's actions and her connection to Team Rocket. Misty and Professor Oak are also starting to question whether or not Ash is really dead, although Misty's been convinced he really is. Next chapter: Rescue and Take Down: Part One a/n