Ash walked out of the Celadon Department Store after she had reorganized her bag and checked her Pokedex. She had spent an outrageous amount of money — more than she spent on food in a month — but she assured herself everything she had bought was necessary. The Wild Pokemon she was encountering were getting stronger, and sooner or later Ash would have to train herself up to catch the truly elusive and powerful Pokemon of Kanto. Ash smiled as she looked at the inner panel inside her Pokedex. There were now 50 entries.
Ash considered calling Prof. Oak to update him, but she knew that he had likely seen the latest entries on his own. She told herself she shouldn't use the Pokedex as an excuse to call him. Then again, she had yet to tell him about the massive Moon Stone supply she still had. Maybe the Professor would have some suggestions about what to do with the extras. Or how to convince Dinah to finally use one.
Ash was still debating the idea of calling the Professor when she jolted upright at a familiar sound — whistling. It was the same tune she had heard not long ago, in Mt. Moon. Ash looked down the street, and sure enough, the Team Rocket Grunt was there; meandering down the sidewalk with his hands shoved in his pockets and whistling without a care in the world.
Ash followed him at a distance, but froze up every time the man even so much as glanced to the side. At one point, he practically stepped over a homeless man in a green coat on the sidewalk. The thought of him recognizing her was terrifying, but Ash felt safer with the bustle of Celadon around her. This wasn't Mt. Moon. The man stopped whistling for a moment to stop at a vending machine and buy himself a soda. Ash imagined herself slapping it out of his hand as she watched him open it and take a sip.
Ash followed him down several blocks, unsure what she even planned to do when he finally arrived at his destination. But Ash's thoughts were cut short when she watched him turn into an alley between two buildings. Ash considered leaving it at that, but she couldn't resist the need she felt to see where this Grunt was going. She peeked around the corner just in time to see the man enter through a side door.
Ash left the alley and walked back around to the front of the building he had entered. She looked up. The name of the building was written on a giant neon sign in white, cursive letters against a red background.
Celadon Game Corner!
The sign was bright, even in the middle of the day. The building was attached to a hotel next to it, the two buildings separated by the alley the Grunt had entered through but connected by a skywalk above the alley.
Ash hesitated. Even if the door the Grunt entered through wasn't locked, she knew 13-year-olds like herself weren't allowed inside casinos. But she had to get inside. Somehow, she knew that Rocket Grunt was doing more than just gambling in there.
Ash's phone buzzed, and she fished it out of her pocket. "Who is this?" she said.
"It's Josh," he answered, "don't you have me in your phone?"
"I just got a new one," Ash said.
"Oh, cool," Josh said, "anyways, listen, I need help."
"I'm kind of busy right now," Ash said, still staring up at the sign.
"I'm in Celadon, and… I can't get to the Gym, or the Department Store, or anywhere," Josh blurted out.
Ash stifled a laugh. "What's the matter, country boy? Never had to use the metro before?"
"Obviously not," Josh said. Ash could picture him looking away in embarrassment. "I'm looking at a map right now, this thing is ridiculous!"
Somewhere down the alley, a homeless man in a green coat slumped against the wall of the Game Corner.
"You know Saffron is even worse, right?"
"Don't remind me," Josh groaned, "I've been avoiding Saffron this whole time because I knew I'd get lost. But Celadon is just as bad!"
Ash was about to tease Josh even more, but then she saw a group of schoolgirls led by a teacher walk into the hotel. All of them were in identical uniforms and carrying cases for musical instruments.
Now there's an idea, Ash thought.
"Okay, get a prepaid card," Ash said quickly, "it's a white card with a pink bus on the front, they'll be selling them in one of the stores. Buy the one month version and that'll be good for you here and in Saffron. The blue line will take you to the Department Store and the Gym. Make sure you get off at the stop before it crosses the green line. If you hit the green line; you've gone too far. Bye."
Ash hung up, not bothering to wait and see if Josh even understood everything she said. Then, she tightened the strap on her bag and marched toward the hotel.
#
The Celadon Department Store was massive and complicated. Josh had thought that navigating would be easier once he made it inside the building, but evidently not. The maps detailing the different stores and each floor were a jumbled mess that gave Josh a headache just from looking at them. After his phone call with Ash, however, Josh had well and truly abandoned his pride and simply asked the nearest person where he could find what he was looking for.
He headed straight for the fourth floor, pushed his way past a crowd of Trainers gathered in front of the store, and pressed his face up to the glass where they had Evolutionary Stones lined up on pedestals for display. They were wildly expensive, but Josh had plenty of money after exploring the Rock Tunnel. And after his battle with Surge, Josh knew exactly what he wanted.
Josh spent almost two hours total waiting in various lines, but he walked out of the Celadon Department Store with a plethora of TMs, Great Balls, Super Potions, and a Thunder Stone. It was surprisingly heavy. Holding it in his hand felt strange, Josh could feel the hairs on his arms stand up as he passed it between his hands. Every movement seemed to reflect a different area inside the stone, but Josh could clearly see the outline of a jagged thunderbolt in the center.
Josh called out his Eevee and knelt down to hold the stone up to his Normal-type. Eevee approached the stone curiously.
"You remember that Pikachu we battled on the S.S. Anne?" Josh asked. Eevee nodded. "And you saw that Raichu that Surge had? I got you this Thunder Stone—"
Josh stopped mid-sentence. He hadn't even asked Eevee if he wanted to evolve into a Jolteon. Josh tried to remember if the store accepted refunds, but Eevee lunged forward before he could and touched his paw to the stone. Immediately the stone and Eevee began to shine a brilliant white, so bright that Josh had to look away. Josh could feel the stone dissolve into nothing in his hand, and by the time he looked back his Eevee was no more.
His Jolteon looked around. His eyes were no longer as big and brown as they had been as an Eevee; they were a deep, dark purple. They were smaller, but more alert-looking. Jolteon's eyes darted back and forth, and he spun in place, trying to catch different views of his body. His every movement was quick and precise like a machine, and Josh had a hard time keeping track of where Jolteon was even facing despite the fact that he was moving in place.
Suddenly, Josh felt a jolt of static electricity hit his hand, and he glanced at his watch. It was a digital watch he had gotten years ago as a birthday present, and the numbers had disappeared. Well, that's totally dead now, Josh thought to himself with a grin. But he couldn't have cared less.
Josh walked down the sidewalk and to another store front with floor-to-ceiling glass windows and called his Jolteon over. Jolteon darted next to Josh and finally looked at himself in the mirror. Only once Jolteon had closed the distance did Josh realize the very air seemed to be charged with Jolteon's electricity. He could feel it next to his leg, and every time Jolteon's bristles shifted as he moved.
Satisfied with his self-inspection, Jolteon looked up at Josh and gave a happy bark of approval. Josh smiled.
"I know exactly what to call you," he said, "you'll be Zeus."
#
The concierge of the Conrad Hotel in Celadon was already watching Ash as she entered the lobby. Ash made sure to look around exaggeratedly as soon as she burst through the doors, power-walk to the desk, and brush the hair out of her face before speaking.
"Hey, my class is here for a recital, and I'm totally lost," Ash said, deliberately stammering.
"Oh, honey, you just missed them," the concierge said. "But, why aren't you wearing the same uniform?"
Crap, Ash thought to herself, I totally forgot about that.
"Mine's in my bag," Ash said quickly. "That's why I have to get up to my room. Before I get in trouble."
The concierge nodded and gave a sympathetic smile.
"Over there, and to the left, that's where the elevators are."
"Thank you so much," Ash said, returning the smile and quickly turning away.
After that, it was a simple matter of waiting for a guest to use the elevator, following them in, and guessing the right floor on the elevator to reach the floor that had the skywalk connecting to the casino. There was no one else on it, and Ash walked across as discretely as she could.
There were no locks and no guards to the casino here, just as Ash had hoped. Ash emerged from the doorway onto a mezzanine overlooking the Game Corner. The entire building was a labyrinth made out of every kind of game imaginable, it seemed. There were rows and rows of arcade cabinets, slot machines, poker tables, pool tables, even dance simulators. Everything was lit with neon flashing lights. The sound of the gamblers and their games was deafening. Ash could see a bar and a few tables at one end of the Game Corner, that entire section of the wall was covered in liquors. Towards another wall was the prize area. Ash could see large neon signs displaying the prizes. Ash gripped the railings as she read the largest sign, listing various Pokemon that could be awarded: Abras, Horseas, Pikachus, Vulpixes, Scythers, Porygons… and Clefairies.
Ash thought back to Mt. Moon. She had managed to reunite with Dinah not long after she had left Josh with the Dome Fossil. She had lost her patience for carrying the duffel bag filled with rocks and called out Pat and Haigha to help her drag it around. That was when Dinah had found her. Ash could tell immediately that something was wrong. Dinah wasn't singing to herself, and she wasn't skipping playfully like she always does. She ran into Ash's arms as soon as they locked eyes and Ash could feel Dinah shivering in her arms. She had asked her what was wrong, but Dinah only looked into Ash's eyes with a look of fear.
Ash could guess at what Dinah had seen — or not seen, rather. There was a reason there were no other Clefairies on Mt. Moon. They had always been hard to find, sure; but they shouldn't have been hiding from one of their own kind. They were gone. Ash had assumed the lack of Moon Stones had disrupted their habitat, but as she looked at the neon sign in the Game Corner she understood the real reason was much more simple. They had been taken. Why stop at stealing Moon Stones when you can capture some of the rarest, most sought-after Pokemon in all of Kanto?
Ash had shown Dinah the bag with the Moon Stones and explained what had happened, and her heart sank as she watched Dinah's face crumple and start to silently weep. Ash had offered a Moon Stone to Dinah, but she wouldn't take it. She had slapped it out of Ash's hand and turned away. The thought of people like those two Rocket Grunts she had met putting their hands on Clefairies; the idea that Dinah might never see her family again, made Ash sick to her stomach. Ash had sworn that night she would make the people responsible pay for what they had done.
Ash stepped away from the rail of the mezzanine and looked around. She saw a fire alarm on the wall. Ash didn't hesitate as she marched over and pulled it. Immediately, the lights shut off, but the place was still illuminated by the neon lights from the game cabinets. The clamor of the Game Corner stopped only for a moment, but was quickly replaced with panic when the sprinklers and alarm sounds started to blare. The gamblers screamed and quickly made for the exit, but Ash stood silently watching them from the mezzanine as the water from the sprinklers completely drenched her.
One man in the crowd didn't leave. The Rocket Grunt. Ash watched as he looked around — confused, but not alarmed. Once the Game Corner was empty, he finally noticed Ash standing on the mezzanine. She stared daggers into him. He reached into his pocket and called out his Golbat. Ash called out her Wartortle.
#
Josh's battle against Erika had gone even better than he had hoped. Zeus and Hermes wreaked havoc with their attacks, and Erika's calm demeanor couldn't disguise the fact that she was struggling. Best of all, Josh didn't miss a beat when Erika sent out her last Pokemon, a Vileplume. He switched Hermes out just in time, sending Pan forward to absorb the Vileplume's Sleep Powder. Erika nodded in approval, and withdrew her Vileplume.
"I concede defeat," she said, stowing her Poke Ball in the sleeve of her kimono, "You are remarkably strong. I must confer you the Rainbow Badge."
The Rainbow Badge was easily the most intricate Badge Josh had gotten so far, and Josh felt quite accomplished as he reached forward to take it — then proceeded to let it slip from his fingers and clatter to the floor. All of Erika's apprentices giggled as Josh scrambled to pick it up and stow it in his case, his face burning with embarrassment.
Yeah, I'm totally the stuff Champions are made of, Josh thought to himself.
Suddenly, a phone buzzed. Erika reached into her sleeve and pulled out a cellphone.
How does she do that? Josh wondered.
Erika's face darkened as she read the text message on the screen.
"It seems I'm needed downtown," she said, "Reiko, come with me. The rest of you, stay here."
"Downtown? We can take the blue line there," Josh said, pulling out his pass.
Erika gave a patient smile. "That's kind of you. But we have a car."
#
Ash stepped over a puddle of spilled beer as she walked toward the screen still displaying the awards. The Game Corner was just as uncomfortable to be inside while it was empty. The Rocket Grunt was unconscious on the floor, knocked out by a Rapid Spin from Pan.
Ash walked to the awards desk, jumped onto it, and then hopped back down the other side. She made her way to the back rooms, knowing full well that the police might show up at any minute. But she had to find them first. She came to a room lined with multiple shelves of Poke Balls. She approached the nearest one and twisted the top. It revealed a Vulpix. It whimpered in its ball, its eyes wide with fear. Ash checked the next one, and the Scyther inside of it held up its claws to cover its face, unwilling to look at her. Ash felt tears well up in her eyes, but she forced herself to check another. It revealed a Porygon. Ash consulted her Pokedex.
Perfect, Ash thought to herself once she had finished reading.
It looked up at Ash with strange, mechanical movements. Its pupils shrank and it shied away from Ash within its Poke Ball.
"It's okay," Ash said as gently as she could, "I'm not here to hurt you. I want to help you."
The Porygon trembled in its Poke Ball, but nodded.
"You see that computer?" Ash said, pointing to the doorway she had just come from, "If I release you from your Poke Ball, can you get inside there and help me? I need to free all of you here, not just you."
The Porygon's geometric body lit up and it nodded, its whole body vibrating in the process.
Ash pushed and held the button on the Poke Ball until it snapped open, and a blue mass of light emerged. The light quickly morphed into hard angles and became the body of the Porygon itself. It floated in the air, its small trapezoid-like feet swinging back and forth. It raised its head and gave a high-pitched hum of excitement, its pupils morphing into ^ shapes.
Ash giggled and watched as the Porygon did a flip in the air and finally settled down. Then it followed her as she led it back to the computer at the awards desk.
The Porygon shimmered and shrank, seemingly being absorbed into the computer itself. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the computer lit up. Ash saw the login window flash on the screen for a second before immediately being replaced by the desktop. Every program on the computer was opened and shifted around the screen, letters and numbers flashed across the screen in seemingly every language that existed. The alarm in the Game Corner shut off, and the lights came back up.
"Thank you, maybe I can walk away from this without going to jail," Ash said, "But I'm not done here yet. I need to know everything about this place, and who owns it."
A flurry of files opened on the screen. Ash saw financial records, building floor plans, mugshots — of Grunts and policemen — and a list of names. A file browser window opened. Ash pulled a flash drive out of her bag and plugged it in. It was shaped like a Pikachu's tail, and the last time she had used it was for a school project. Immediately, dozens of file transfer progress bars appeared.
"This is great!" Ash said as she jumped in place, "Keep going. Make sure you let every Pokemon back there out of here — not all at once! Start with the smallest and slowest ones, and let them out one at a time. And make sure the Clefairies get out of here no matter what, okay?"
The computer screen flashed a giant image of a thumbs-up. Ash smiled as she heard the sound of Poke Balls snapping open in the back room behind her, and every door in the Game Corner flying open. The screens on the game cabinets were replaced with giant red arrows pointing to the exits.
Ash whipped her head around at the sound of paper ripping. One door had ripped a poster apart on the wall. Ash walked to the door cautiously. She ripped the poster off of the door itself. There was no doorknob, or any indication that it was a door at all. But the opening behind it led to a stairway that was lit with fluorescent lights.
Pat hopped up to the stairway and sniffed at the first step. He growled.
"Porygon," Ash called behind her, "Keep it up, I'll be right back."
Pat scampered down the stairs on all fours, followed by Ash. The only sound that broke the silence was the squish of Ash's soaked sneakers on the tiles. The entire floor was white, unlike the rainbow neon lights of the Game Corner. There were no sprinklers either, although this part of the building was still empty.
Ash walked quickly through the sterile white rooms, not wanting to think about what could have been done in them, until she reached a door unlike the others — a wooden one. It looked like the door to a fancy manor, but was incredibly out of place in the white walls and fluorescent lights it was flanked with. Ash reached forward and turned the handle. She pushed the door open.
The door swung open and revealed an office. There was a mahogany desk, a black leather office chair, and an open briefcase sitting on the desk. There was a man standing behind the desk, with his hands in the briefcase, apparently in the middle of packing it. He was wearing a black pinstripe three-piece suit, a dark gray shirt, but no tie. He had black, slicked-back hair and a square jaw. The man looked at Ash with steel-gray eyes that showed no surprise, or any emotion at all.
For a moment they stared at each other. Pat growled at the man but Ash rested a hand on his head to restrain him. Then the man slowly shut the briefcase closed on the desk and stood up straight, slipping his hands in his pockets.
"Are you the man in charge?" Ash finally said.
"I am," he said. "And I'm very curious what you're going to say next."
"Maybe I'll just stand here and judge you," Ash said.
"To think you have the nerve of ruining my business here and then wasting my time with your childish taunts," the man said. "But my gut tells me I already know who you are. You've been after me for some time, haven't you? Yes, I think I remember having to call one of my employees here to explain himself and why he failed to accomplish a simple assignment. He was supposed to be in my office by the end of today, but he never arrived."
The man walked around the desk and stopped in front of it, hands still in his pockets. Pat's growl grew louder as he approached, but the man didn't even glance down at the Water-type. His every movement was slow and measured, but Ash felt as though he might reach out and grab her by the neck at any moment.
"In my business, you do not fail to answer to me," he said. "Which means his failure to come to me is because of someone else. And that someone else is you, am I right?"
Ash stood there, her hand still resting on Pat's head as he growled, and could think of nothing more than how hard her heart was pounding in her chest.
"So you've ruined two of my operations now," the man continued, "and you've kept one of my own employees from answering to me, which never happens. So now I'm very, very curious what you're going to say next. And it had better be very good; because if not, you're going to regret ever having set foot in my office."
"I thought I might pull the fire alarm first," Ash said, trying to keep her voice steady, "then I'd beat up your henchman, and then wait for the cops to get here and watch them put you in handcuffs."
The man's lips cracked into the most imperceptible smile. A chill ran down Ash's spine.
"No dice, kid," he said, "that would've made for a nice story, though."
"I pulled the fire alarm, they have to—"
"Have to what? Do their job? Their job is whatever I say it is," the man snapped, "I'll have dealt with you before anyone gets here. The fire alarm will be just that: a false alarm. Do you see me in a hurry to leave?" The man gestured to the briefcase still sitting on the desk. "The most you've accomplished here is water damage to my casino. No one will know I was here. Or that you were, for that matter."
The man stepped forward, but Ash stepped back and held out her phone.
"You might regret doing that," she said, "Because I also hacked your computers and leaked all of your information."
The man stopped.
"You're bluffing," he said.
"Maybe," Ash said, "are you really going to bet your precious 'business' on it?"
The man showed no emotion as he considered Ash's words. Then, he pulled an Ultra Ball out of his pocket and called out a Persian.
"What you have or haven't done is irrelevant," he said, "I'll deal with you now, and whatever the future brings, I'll deal with just as easily."
The Persian snarled, its shoulders swaying as it approached. Pat lunged forward, but the Persian planted its feet and finished him with a Thunderbolt.
"Absolem, Spore!" Ash called out as she returned her Wartortle and brought out her Parasect.
Her Bug-type hadn't even been able to land on the ground before the Persian jumped in the air and slashed it across the face with a claw oozing with purple energy. Absolem landed on the ground limp and defeated.
"Dinah, Metronome!"
Dinah emerged from her Poke Ball and floated in the air. She lifted her hand up, and the tip of her index finger started to glow a pale white. Then, Dinah's entire body started to glow and a high-pitched sound rang out and both Ash and the man had to avert their eyes from how bright the Clefairy was glowing. Ash looked back, the black circles burnt into her retinas slowly fading, but the man and the Persian were still there, unfazed.
"You're quite the gambler," he said, the ghost of a smile returning to his face, "I'm impressed you've made it this far at all. But our little game ends here."
The Persian gave a low growl that rumbled in Ash's bones. She clenched her fists to keep her hands from shaking as she watched the Persian lick its face and stalk forward towards Dinah. Dinah stepped back and whimpered. Ash was out of tricks, and both Pokemon knew it.
The Persian raised its paw, oozing with ghostly purple smoke, but a crescent shaped leaf slashed it across its face and sent it rearing back. The Persian yowled in pain and looked past Ash. She whipped around. There was an entire herd of Clefairies standing there, it looked like at least 30 of them. Ash heard Dinah cry out in joy. Ash watched as one of the Clefairy sent the second Razor Leaf flying towards the Persian and again hitting it in the center of its face.
Then, the entire herd raised their hands and sang in unison, their fingers glowing, and chaos ensued. Ash ducked just in time to dodge a Flamethower that flew over her head and sent the Persian scampering away. Ash saw cherry blossoms fall to the floor and smelled the fragrance of Sweet Scent. Dinah pulled Ash back to her feet by her shirt. The man in black dodged a Rock Throw that split the desk behind him in half and sent the briefcase tumbling to the ground. The man reached for it, but was knocked off balance with what felt like a Magnitude that shook the entire building.
Without thinking, Ash snatched the briefcase away. The man yelled at her, but she was already running away. Some of the Clefairies cheered as Ash ran past them and flew alongside her, urging her to the stairs she had come from. Ash stole one last look back towards the office. The man had brought out a Nidoking, even larger and fiercer than Lory, and was furiously yelling at him to stop her. The Nidoking got on all fours and charged. It plowed through the Clefairies like a rugby player, sending them flying in every direction.
Ash ran up the steps three at a time, her heart pounding in her chest. She felt the ground rumble as the Nidoking got closer. As soon as she reached the top of the stairs and got past the hidden door, it swung closed behind her. Ash felt the entire wall shake as the Nidoking evidently slammed into the door — but incredibly, it held.
Ash quickly pulled out the flash drive from the computer and ran out of the casino and onto the street as fast as she could. There was a flurry of Pokemon from the casino all around her, running into every alley they could find. Ash laughed as she ran down the street, but her face slammed against a wall and she fell back, dazed. Ash blinked away tears of pain as she rubbed her forehead and got up. She reached out, and her hand felt a smooth surface push back against her. There was nothing there, and yet Ash could feel the wall that she had just run into. She slid her hand to the right and felt a corner, and then another, and then another. She was boxed in. Ash looked around, panicked, how could the man in black have caught up to her already?
Then, Ash saw the culprit. A Mr. Mime was standing in front of her, leaning on an invisible wall. It wagged its finger at her disapprovingly.
"You have no idea what you've just done, blondie," a voice said.
Ash turned to her left. A figure emerged from the alley between the Game Corner and the hotel. A homeless man in a green coat. Suddenly, Ash remembered. She had seen him twice before already. The Rocket Grunt had walked over him when he had past the Celadon Department Store. Then he had walked into the alley. And now he was here.
The man walked to Ash and met her on the street. He fed his Mr. Mime a candy. Then, he reached into his coat and flashed a badge.
"Interpol," the man said. "You're coming with me."
#
Ash was Teleported to the local police station, directly into an interrogation room. The man in the green coat said nothing as he confiscated her bag, the briefcase, and left her alone in the room.
She sat at a bare table, aware of the one-way mirror to her right, and waited. She felt as though she was kept waiting almost an hour, although it was hard to tell with no clock in the room.
Finally, the man returned. He locked the door and regarded Ash in silence. Up close, Ash could see through his disguise. His blond hair was messy, but not unwashed. His teeth were perfect. And he had the faintest smell of a Repel on him.
The two of them looked at each other in silence for some time before the man finally spoke.
"Why were you in the Game Corner?" he said.
"If you're a cop, why weren't you in there?" Ash shot back.
"I'll be asking the questions."
"Give me my stuff back!"
"Including the briefcase? Doesn't seem to suit you."
"I don't know why I took it," Ash blurted out, then calmed herself, "I just… didn't want him to have it."
"Didn't want who to have it?"
Ash pursed her lips as she gathered the details in her mind. "The man in charge. I don't know who he is, but he attacked me. He had a Persian and a Nidoking. He said he would make me regret what I'd done to his 'business'."
The man's eyebrows furrowed. Ash could see a flash of concern in his eyes. "You know him," she said.
"In this business, we all know him," the man said. He sighed, then pulled up a chair opposite to Ash and sat down. "I'll be honest with you, blondie: if someone else had told me what you had just done, I wouldn't believe it. The fact that you don't even know who you just pissed off makes it hard to believe, even now."
"My name's Ash Delaney," she said, "Who is he?"
"His name is Giovanni. He's the head of Team Rocket."
Ash sat up in her chair, eyes wide as saucers.
"Yeah," the man said, "that's the Beedrill's nest you just kicked. You've stumbled into a whole different world. So believe me when I say I'm trying to help you, Ash."
Ash tried to speak, but her voice trailed off at no more than a whisper. She took a breath, then tried again. "I… I just had to help the Pokemon. They were keeping them in Poke Balls in there, they were clearly terrified. I don't know what they might have done to them, but it couldn't have been anything good."
The man said nothing, but nodded. His face had softened from his usual bad cop routine.
"I got a Porygon to help me, I downloaded everything on their computers to a flash drive, it's in my bag," Ash continued. The man raised his eyebrow. "Take it. Whatever it takes to bring them down."
The man frowned, and shot a glance at the one-way mirror. This time, the man had to clear his throat before he spoke again. "I'll see what you have in there. But—"
The door opened. A Celadon Police officer was standing there holding the door open, accompanied by a woman in an elegant red-and-green kimono.
"Thank you, Eiji," she said as she walked in the room, "And hello, Tinker Bell."
Ash stifled a laugh. "Wait, is that some kind of codename? Tinker Bell?"
Tinker Bell grimaced and glared at the woman.
"I'm in the middle of an interrogation, Erika," he growled, "what do you want?"
"I simply came as soon as I heard the heroics this young lady had accomplished," Erika said, "Would you give us the room, please?"
Despite her wording, it didn't sound like a request. But Tinker Bell didn't move. "Or I suppose you could share the story of how you got your name with our mutual friend?" Erika suggested.
Tinker Bell sprang out of his chair and walked to the door. "Five minutes," he muttered, then shut the door behind him.
Erika smiled at Ash and then sat down in Tinker Bell's chair. She smelled like cherry blossoms, and Ash felt the tension in her shoulders melt away.
"Is it really that embarrassing of a story?" Ash asked.
"Oh, I don't think it's embarrassing at all," Erika said, "I think it's quite sweet, really. But he is so insecure about it."
Ash giggled, and Erika smiled back at her. But Ash's laugh disappeared as she thought for a moment. "I'm in a lot of trouble, aren't I?"
Erika's face darkened as well. Her face was hard to read, but Ash thought she could see pity in her eyes.
"You've sparked the anger of a very dangerous man," Erika said. "Team Rocket does unspeakable things to Pokemon and people alike. And those who try to stop them are often never heard from again."
Ash slumped in her chair. "Giovanni said the police do whatever he tells them to do."
"I'm afraid that's true, in many cases."
"I just told him about a flash drive I used to download everything I could get on Team Rocket," Ash whispered, "I just threw away all that evidence."
"Tinker Bell is a good man," Erika said, "but he can only do so much. I'm afraid Team Rocket's influence reaches far beyond him, and even his superiors, in Interpol."
Ash looked down and clenched her fists. She wanted to scream.
"I'll make sure your belongings are returned to you," Erika said gently. "It's important that you not speak of this to anyone. Did you tell anyone in the Game Corner your name?"
"No."
"Good. Nothing you've done is connected to you or your loved ones," Erika said. She reached forward and took Ash's hand in her own. "You've done a great thing, and as the Gym Leader of Celadon City I am eternally grateful to you. But, please, let this be the end of it. Don't interfere with Team Rocket anymore."
Ash nodded. Erika gave her hand a squeeze and smiled.
She stood up, and escorted Ash out of the police station.
Erika greeted every police officer by name, and they lit up as they saw her. Erika led Ash to the evidence locker and asked for Ms. Delaney's belongings, and the woman at the desk brought them to her. Ash was reminded of Misty. Everywhere she went in Cerulean, she was on a first-name basis. She visited the classrooms of every school, she taught swim classes, and she always cheered for the Cerulean Starmies at the football stadium. Whenever there was a problem — whether it was a battle on the Nugget Bridge that had escalated too far or an escaped wild Pokemon from Cerulean Cave — Misty was there. Ash could tell by the way Erika was treated that she was just as respected as Misty was in Cerulean. Why hadn't Ash just called Erika?
Ash checked her bag as soon as it was in her hands. The flash drive was gone. She grimaced and looked at Erika. She gave Ash a patient smile, and they continued through the station. Ash made eye contact with Tinker Bell as they left. She resisted the urge to scowl at him, but he only looked back at her with a blank stare.
Ash was surprised to see Josh Dale with one of Erika's apprentices in the lobby. She was gorgeous and tall. Ash could see Josh blushing furiously and she rolled her eyes. Even so, Ash ran up and hugged Josh tightly, almost knocking him over.
"Whoa!" he said, "what's up with you?"
Ash pulled back from the hug but stayed close to him. "It's just nice to see a friendly face. I've had a really rough day."
"I heard," Josh said, "you're like a superhero, beating up Team Rocket everywhere you go!"
"I'm done with that," Ash said quickly, catching Erika's eye.
"I imagine Josh will want to head to the next Gym," Erika said, "why don't you accompany him, Ash? I'm sure you two would make good traveling partners."
"Uh, yeah, sure," Josh said, "why not?"
God, you're clueless, Ash thought. She could tell by Erika's tone that this was not a suggestion.
"I will," Ash said.
The four of them took Erika's car, although her apprentice drove, skillfully weaving her way through the Celadon City traffic. Josh couldn't keep his eyes off her and didn't notice Ash scoff at him.
Erika dropped Ash and Josh off near Route 7, thanked Ash for her 'good work' and Josh for their 'enjoyable battle', and left them there. The two of them stood watching Erika's car shrink into the distance, back toward the bustling city.
"Oh, I almost forgot," Josh said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a flash drive shaped like Pikachu's tail. "Erika told me to give you this once we left the city. She said it was important."
Ash snatched it out of Josh's hand and inspected it. She couldn't believe it.
"What's so important about it?" Josh asked.
Ash closed her hand around it and shoved it in her pocket.
"Nothing," she said, "nothing you need to worry about."