Chapter 21 - An A-Team Moment

Joshua let out a sigh as he looked around at his repaired quarters for the umpteenth time. He knew without pushing the wall that it had been reinforced with some sort of alloy that his home world couldn't even hope to create.

He also knew - according to his Gengar - that Khrista was going to be out of the building for some time, much longer than a day or two. This meant that Saturn was going to be sent out on a wild goose chase, completely failing to find Joshua's cousin.

Joshua walked over to his bed and sat down on it before putting his hand to the left side of his head.

"I'm back in my cell," he muttered under my breath.

It took a minute before another voice jumped onto the private connection.

::About time:: Mist muttered. ::It was bad enough when I was waiting for you to move from that old lab back to your own place::

"At least I managed to find time to contact you and Raze when I was there," Joshua muttered in reply. "Anything happen while I was off the radar?"

::Not unless you count that dramatic exit Raze made:: Mist replied in a sarcastic tone. ::Word's spread faster than the higher-ups can keep it smushed. The Rockets in my sector of the Gym have been whispering about it almost all the time::

Mist paused for a moment before she added, ::I heard from an Ariados that there was a girl wandering around the area who managed to transform from a Sprite to an Insect. Care to elaborate?::

Joshua raised an eyebrow. "It actually talked? Raze said she'd leave right away and not show herself to anyone else if the Insect didn't do anything."

::Well, that obviously backfired. What was Raze doing? Testing your 'freeing kids with their names' theory?::

"Apparently, she was working on her own Ability. There isn't anything more that I know on the circumstances."

::Ability? Wait - you saw her? Did you tell her -::

"It was before she left, and yes."

There was the sound of something bonking against the steel door, and Joshua turned his head.

"Gotta go," Joshua muttered quickly. "Talk to you later."

::Sure, Boggart::

Mist went silent just as the door opened and a familiar Rocket member with teal hair entered the cell. The door moved slightly, but it didn't close all the way because of another figure on the other side of the door.

Joshua caught sight of Cassidy's cautious face through the sliver of an entrance before turning his attention to Butch, who actually looked more bold than he had been the last few times they had crossed paths.

Joshua looked on in growing surprise as Butch removed a red and white sphere from a pocket of his black pants.

"What are you doing?" Joshua asked, suddenly feeling not so safe. He eyed the PokeBall as Butch maximized its size and bounced it a little in his hand. "You're not going to -"

"No," Butch replied. He minimized the PokeBall again and held it out to Joshua. "This one's yours."

Joshua looked at Butch curiously, not moving to take the PokeBall. "Why are you giving me that? Did Cyrus order you to distribute them?"

"Call it...intuition," Birch responded. He quickly pressed the PokeBall into the teen's hand. "I would've given one to your friend, too, but she's not here."

He looked about quickly, then added quietly, "Cyrus has been acting weird lately."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, his left hand moved up to cover his mouth, but stopped before it got there and fell back to his side.

Joshua looked mildly interested. "I don't suppose you have any idea why?"

"There's a rumor going around that there's a Darkrai following him everywhere." Butch gripped his left hand with his right to keep it from going up to his face as he continued, "He's getting more and more emotionally imbalanced."

"How long has this been going on, do you think?"

Butch glanced about again, then whispered, "Since the day his machine broke."

At this point, his left hand overpowered his right and slapped over his mouth. Joshua had to resist chuckling at the sight of Butch angrily glaring down at his own hand.

Butch forced his hand back and added, "He thinks your friend sent the Dark-Type to torture him when Ash isn't." There was another slap as his mouth was covered.

Joshua examined the PokeBall as Butch struggled to force his hand away from his face.

"I suggest you be careful of what you say from now on," he stated. "If Cyrus' emotions are getting the better of him, you don't want to have the short end of the stick."

He pocketed the spherical capture device, then turned his attention to the ex-Rocket member. "Why did you come, anyway?"

"Sentry duty," Butch responded, his left hand dropping to his side again. "The cameras are going offline all over the place." He grinned nervously. "Cassidy and I're going to be switching off." With that, he slipped out the door and disappeared.

Once the door was shut and locked, Joshua brought out the PokeBall, bringing it up to full size so that he could look into it and identify the Pokemon it contained. As if by some sort of mental command, the red half of the sphere became transparent, revealing its contents.

The teen, smiling after seeing its contents, minimized the PokeBall, the red becoming opaque once again as he pocketed the object.

As the midmorning alarm sounded, Joshua smirked as he muttered, "Everything's coming together."

Heh heh. I couldn't resist putting that in there at the end.