"Warning, intruder alert," the android repeated. James immediately panicked; they were out of time. It was hopeless. Their getaway car was totaled and Morada's vehicle a half mile too far. Not to mention that his electronic companion refused to budge and although she was surprisingly light for someone made from metal, he couldn't carry her if she remained stiff like that. "MORADA!" James yelled, turning to face the stairs. "We have to leave NOW! Somebody's come for-er-Jessie!" he cried, still not used to calling the android that. He didn't want to get used to it. Morada appeared at the top of the stairs. "But I'm not packed! And who's come?" The android answered that one for her. "Twelve body heat signatures have been detected by infrared sensors," she said, still unmoved with voice flat. "Usage of semicircular attack tactics has been confirmed. Probability of escape: 14.5%" James started to look around for something heavy. If they couldn't escape they had to fight. "And as lovely as those statistics are," replied Morada, "I still would like to know exactly WHO is after us!" "Somebody's after us?" Ash asked, appearing near the banister and struggling under the weight of three suitcases that all appeared to be Morada's. "Who?" "We'd all like to know that, wouldn't we?" James muttered. He turned and tried to shake the android's shoulders. "Come on! I can't carry you out of here, you have to move!" "Two intruders detected at rear entrance," she replied. "Three detected at front entrance, four on east side, two on west side, one pokemon heat signature on roof." "Waaagghh," Ash cried, dropping the suitcases ("hey!" shouted Morada. "I need those!") "We're surrounded." "I need to get my equipment or we're screwed," muttered Morada, rushing past James to the basement. "Hey!" James shouted after her. "We don't have time fo-" but before he could even finish, the blades of a scyther chopped into the doorframe. Cassidy was escorted to the truck by three lower agents, all wearing "R"s on their uniforms. Her suspicions had been correct, Team Rocket was behind this after all. While in her cell, she'd tried to convince herself that maybe the traitors hat stolen her, that maybe Vicious had ordered her kidnapping, but she was wrong. Giovanni-it had to be-was the one to blame. There were just too few older Rocket agents that knew about her past history with the criminal organization. She'd always had a sneaking suspicion her boss would fire her, or even kill her, as soon as she wasn't needed. But Cassidy had tried her best to be a valuable agent, somebody Giovanni could depend on, because she knew surviving would be hard with him as an enemy. But everything was starting to make perfect sense. The Boss was getting rid of her-getting rid of all the Rocket Children. Killing off anyone who knew his name. And just to prove her theory, the doors of the transport opened and the thugs roughly tossed her in the back, next to her childhood rivals. Jessie included. None of them ever expected to be alive for the revolution. "I'm sorry Mrs. Ketchum," said Nurse Joy. Behind her, Tracey was trying to restrain Brock from jumping at the videophone before she could find out what she needed to know. "I haven't seen your son since he left with a man early yesterday evening. And there hasn't been any girl in the Newbark Pokemon Centre that fits Misty's description." "I don't understand," Mrs. Ketchum sighed. "If something were seriously wrong, he'd have called me from the first Centre he got to." "Maybe that man he left with distracted him," Professor Oak offered, trying to comfort her. "Nurse Joy, can you describe him?" "Yes, he came into the Centre a few minutes before Ash did, and he called a young boy. I expect he came in to use the phones, because he didn't even enquire about a room or pokemon," she said. "It didn't seem like they planned to meet, because they had an argument of some kind that I didn't quite catch, but as for the man... he was a little taller than average, and had long, blue hair. I'm sure I've seen him before somewhere...but I just don't remember. He sounded...not exactly British, more posh." "THAT SOUNDS LIKE JAMES!" said Brock and Tracey together. Actually, Tracey said it, but Brock sounded like "MMPH SSOMMMPHH LIFF JAMPHHH!" due to Tracey's hand clamped over his mouth to prevent him from screaming "I love you Nurse Joy!" "James...that young man from Team Rocket that I saw a few times a while back?" Prof. Oak asked. Brock and Tracey nodded. "Oh dear," Mrs. Ketchum said, standing up. "Does this mean Team Rocket has my Ash?" "We can't really be sure," replied Tracey, finally letting go of Brock, who charged at the video phone and commenced in asking out Nurse Joy. "Ash was always able to beat Team Rocket before...and if I remember correctly Jessie's Arbok did more of the battling, and James's Wheezing was more for defense, so I don't see how just James could be a threat to Ash..." "Hold on!" Brock snapped, looking up from his rejection by the nurse. "That didn't sound right. 'Just James'...really I can't seem to picture it! It's always JESSIE AND James." "Well there was nobody with this James," called Nurse Joy from the screen. "I'm sure of that." "This sure is getting interesting," commented Oak, but nobody was listening. "This is weird...and I don't like it," Brock's voice was taking a turn for the dramatic. "Misty vanishes, Ash goes disappears with James of all people, Jessie asks for Ash's help-but apparently it's just her who's asking because the inseparable Jessie and James aren't together!" Tracey opened his sketchbook to an older picture. "Nurse Joy," he asked, "Was there a pokemon-a Meowth-with James that could walk on two legs like this?" he pointed to the picture. She shook her head. "Strange. I thought those three were joined at the hip." "What's strange is how they just stopped coming," Brock muttered. He snapped his fingers. "Just like that, gone. About five years ago. We'd all a assumed they'd gotten fired." "Something must really be wrong," Mrs. Ketchum sat back down again, suddenly feeling feint. "And Ash has gotten caught up in it." She turned to Professor Oak. "What should we do?" "Well," he answered, standing up. "I suggest we go to Newbark town and search for clues so we can get to the bottom of this." "But Professor!" Brock argued. "Misty said she was either in Mahogany Town or Viridian City. Shouldn't we look for her?" "Viridian is on the way to Newbark. We'll stop to see of Misty's there. If she's not, Newbark is on the way to Mahogany so we'll have to go there anyway." "Then we'd better get moving." "Where are we?" Misty asked Mondo. All she could see was trees. "In here," he pointed to the ground, and brushed some dead leaves away with his boot. There was something there. A door? Yes, that was it. Mondo knocked a few times, and the rapping made a little tune that Misty recognized as a song she'd heard Jessie and James sing. It seemed to be the password. The door opened silently, and a familiar face looked up at them. "You brought the brat, Mondo?" Butch asked. "Well she help us?" "I wanna know exactly what the problem is and what you want me to do before I agree to anything," Misty replied haughtily, pushing Butch out of the way as she climbed down the ladder and into the room below. It seemed like an old bomb shelter, converted to a base of some sort. Maps hung on the walls, and the long table in the center of the room was covered in blueprints and schematics. An old TV reported the news in one corner, and some electronic recording devices lay on a shelf near a transistor radio. There was food on a makeshift counter, and in the far corner was a crate of some sort, a crowbar jammed into the side, ready to pry it open. And it was filled with Rockets. Men and women in different uniforms--mostly black, but white or gray here and there, and all sporting the red R. "What IS this place?" Misty demanded, moving next to Mondo. "This is the resistance," he answered. "Well to be more exact, this is the base of operations for it." She looked around the room and took a quick head count. "There are only a little over twenty people. Some resistance." "There's more than this," Butch informed her. "Have a seat and we'll explain the whole thing." "Oh this'll be fun," Cassidy muttered, pulling at the ropes that tied her wrists together with no avail. "Stuck in a car with YOU for who knows how long." "Yeah," Jessie answered sarcastically, likewise pulling on her own bonds. "Fun's just the word for it-they couldn't have thrown you farter away from me?" "Oh can't you two stop it for ONCE," another survivor of Madame Boss's era snapped at them. Jessie recognized her-Raquel was her name. She'd grown up with this girl. She'd grown up with all of them. "I don't know what happened to you two, but put it aside for now." Cassidy shot her a look. "As soon as we get out of this we're gonna settle our old score," she warned Jessie. "Raquel, Doris, Elsie, Tiara, and Lyn," Jessie counted off the girls in the cargo hold. "Don't tell me we're the only one's left." Lyn shook her head. "No, we're just the last batch. They've been moving the others out months before. About half of us are still around-I heard we're being moved to the Boss's estate on Seafoam." "Boys got moved first-a shame too," Elsie's eyes began to take a Brock-like gleam. "I got put in a cell with Rav, remember him? Still so cute..." There was a universal, and sarcastic, "Uh huh" within the truck. Doris glared at the two newest editions to the relative company. "I blame you, Jess, Cass," she said. "You brought too much attention to the Team-all that media exposure, especially from Jessie and her lunatic ("and cute!" added Elsie) partner." "He's not a lunatic!" Jessie snapped back, "and what do you mean by media exposure?" Tiara crossed her arms. "Before you came waltzing into a city, chances are they hadn't heard of Team Rocket," she noted, and as Jessie remembered, that was true. She and James had constantly walked around in public wearing their uniforms, and nobody had cared, unless they actually tried something. "But then you two would pop up, say that motto, and make a bunch of things explode. Then BOOM-everyone knew who we were." Jessie glared at Tiara, remembering why she and the girl had never been friends. She had a knack for saying the truth in the least of flattering manners. "It made people fear us. Once they knew about Team Rocket, the weaker trainers just handed over their pokemon. It saved the Team a lot of trouble." "Sure," Tiara agreed, but there was a hitch, of course. "But that was when you were successful. After you two blew that pokemon center assignment, you went downhill. We'd see you on the news every so often, blasted sky high by some kid with a pikachu. A PIKACHU! Couldn't you have at least gotten fried by something bigger?" "It WAS pretty embarrassing-for the whole Team, that is," Doris nodded in agreement. "After that, nobody took Team Rocket seriously-or at least right away. We had to spend loads of money on new weapons, mechs, and all that-just to make us look intimidating enough." "I ran into trainers who laughed at me when I told 'em to hand over their pokemon," added Lyn. Cassidy, who'd been snickering throughout the conversation, could no longer hold back her laughter. "Well they've really got ya there, Jessie," she chortled. "Really, if all that media exposure hadn't happened, the police wouldn't be on our case so much. We'd have it easier if those Jenny's weren't riding down our backs. But that's what happens when losers--" "I wouldn't talk if I were you," Doris interrupted before Jessie could. "You and your partner ("Butch?" Elsie squealed, "Oh he was cute!") lost to the Team's biggest failures! We'd come to expect it from Jessie and James, but you and Butch were doing so well-then that breeding center...really, now THAT was humiliating." Cassidy and Jessie exchanged looks over Doris's shoulder. "Temporary truce?" "Deal." Due to the remarkable ability of Rocket agents to have their hair defy gravity, and the fact that the two insulted and angry girls had their hands and feet tied, Doris soon found herself being bombarded with surprisingly heavy hairdos. *Thump* There was a sound from the cargo hold. "Check the window, Al," ordered the driver. His partner opened the panel to look through the small window into the back of the truck. "Oooooh," he smirked. "Meowth fight." "My money's on the blond." "Really? That red head's got some temper-ouch-that had to hurt." -- Msity sat in a large chair at the head of the table, most of the Rocket agents sitting along the sides or near by. Butch lounged across from her, looking far more at home with his head resting on his wrist. "Let's start at the beginning," he said. "Do you know what happened in Team Rocket five years ago?" Misty tried to remember. Five years ago she'd been following Ash around, lost, on his pokemon journey. It'd become the norm for her, and it was the same the year before and the year after. Three years ago Brock left the party to start his own breeding center, but that wasn't what he was talking about. Butch was getting at something different. Something that happened five years ago...familiar faces had disappeared...things were more peaceful but... "Jessie and James vanished about five years ago!" she announced, finally getting it. "They stopped coming...Ash was jumping at rustling bushes for months afterward, but they just...vanished..." she felt her voice grow more quiet as the Rocket agents stared at her. Some seemed angry, but not really with her. The others seemed almost sad, but that was impossible, right? Team Rocket didn't have feelings... "Exactly," Butch broke the silence with his affirmative. "Do you know what happened to her?" "Her?" Misty questioned that last word. "As in just Jessie? Not all three?" "Exactly. Do you know what happened to Jessie?" "Ummm..." Just Jessie didn't exactly sound right. Those three were never apart, least of all Jessie and James. "I dunno...what happened?" "She vanished," Butch said simply, and the serious tone of his voice made Misty nervous. "Vanished?" Misty repeated, shrinking her shoulders. "What happened?" she didn't know why, but she was worried. Not just about Jessie, but about all three. They'd been like those crazy cousins you try to avoid at reunions, but when they go, things just aren't as interesting. But actually, she was feeling a bit guilty. When they'd stopped coming, Brock had suggested they look for Team Rocket, but she'd opposed the idea and Ash just thought his "superior training skills" scared them off. Not likely. They were too resilient for that. She should have known something was wrong... "Well our best guess is that the same thing happened to them as what happened to everyone in this room," said one of the agents. "Take James for example," Mondo continued. "Jessie, James and Meowth were summoned by the Boss--about five years ago, approximately fifty teams, Jessie and James included got summoned. One member of the team would be called in to see the Boss to represent his or her partner-in Butch's case, it was Cassidy, and for James it was Jessie who was called in-and that person would go in, and didn't come back out." "According to the Boss," Butch started, picking up where Mondo left off, "Those members were promoted. Usually to level five teams, or intelligence sects-it was so we couldn't ask for their location." Misty had to admit, she felt shocked. "Did you ever find out what happened to them?" Butch silently handed her a piece of paper. 'Dear Butch, I'm doing well where I am, and I think it's time to let go of the past. I believe that I've changed, and for some personal reasons, I'm forced to tell you that we can no longer be friends. You gave me some good memories, but I have to move on now. Please understand. --Cassidy' Misty finished reading and put down the sheet. It looked in good condition, folded neatly and not yellowed at all. Butch had obviously taken care to keep it. "That's horrible!" she cried, outraged. She felt angry-angry with Jessie, with Cassidy, the whole lot! "Your partners just give you up for a stupid promotion, and you-you call them FRIENDS! I don't see..." She trailed off as each person in the room (save herself and Mondo) held up an identical piece of paper. "They were fakes," Mondo said shortly. "Meant to throw us off our guard." "The Boss thought that if he ended our friendships for us," Butch's voice grew worse with his anger, "that we wouldn't look for them." "Oh..." Misty tried, staring at the floor and not knowing what to do. "Fifty teams..." she finally said, after doing the math, "That's a hundred people...fifty gone missing just like that..." she looked up suddenly. "You don't think they're-that..." "No," Mondo assured her. "We're pretty sure they're alive. I traced some movement of prisoners to the estate at Seafoam Island. I think the Boss is moving them-" "Oh my gosh!" Misty shouted suddenly, jumping up. "I don't believe I forgot! When I was captured, they stuck me in a cell with Cassidy, then some guys came and took her-" "You saw her!?" Butch demanded, cutting her off, grabbing her shoulders. His hands felt heavy on her shoulders and it seemed as if he'd hurt her if Misty couldn't give him the answers he wanted. Frankly, he scared her, but she honestly felt more surprised. Behind the glare...somewhere in there...there was worry. He wanted her back, that Cassidy. Misty slowly scanned the room, trying to take in the expression of each person. Those people, those Rocket agents, they looked...wrong...somehow. It was like Ash without Pikachu, or even Jessie without James. There was somebody else who should be standing next to every one of those agents, but that person wasn't there-gone missing. "How come..." she tried slowly, feeling she was treading on unsteady soil. "If there were fifty people vanished, why are there only around twenty of their partners here." There was silence in the room. Each of those Rockets, trained to be brutal and unfeeling, felt too embarrassed to answer what Misty already expected. "Not every team was as close as Jessie and James," Mondo finally said, trying to explain for the rest. "But those who are here are the ones who ~were~ close with their teammates-the ones who had their best friends stolen." Misty took another look at Butch, who avoided eye contact with her, cheeks growing a bit red. "You mean," said Misty, "You're trying to rescue the people who you fell in love with." There was a group silence, but by Team Rocket standards, Misty chose to take that as a yes. "All right," she consented. "I'll help you." - "This is bad..." Ash shouted, back pressed against the back door in a vein attempt to keep the intruders from outside getting in. Meanwhile, James was trying to keep the scyther from chopping down the door by sticking a metal pole through one of the holes it already made. "It would help," he answered, but not talking directly to Ash, "If she would do something besides stand there!" he shouted, referring to the android. "Didn't she say she's a tactical defense thing or something?" "I expect," Morada offered, appearing in the room once more, carrying a large briefcase full of her supplies. "That she's on defensive mode right now, taking scans et cetera, but if I read the schematics correctly you need a password or something...oh I dunno, but don't expect her to play bodyguard for you-it's not in her programming." "What exactly IS in her programming!?" James shouted back, jumping out of the way as the scyther blade punctured the wood once more. "I think she's programmed to defend the person who made her" Morada replied, fishing through her pockets "...or maybe she's designed to be the Boss's bodyguard-I imagine that would be useful. Ingenious idea, honestly-" "Compliment him later," Ash and James snapped at once. "For now, DO something." She glared at them. "Fine, don't get snippy. I imagine you all have pokemon?" They nodded. "Good. Then James, get away from that door and let's take 'em down." "All right!" Ash cried, happy to finally be in his element. Pikachu shouted in agreement. Immeaditely after James had cleared the way, the Scyther chopped into the room, trainer following. Another person came in after the first trainer, and two entered through the back door when Ash stepped back. They all had their eyes trained on the redhead replicant. "All right, don't come any closer!" Ash ordered, "Who are you and what do you want?" "You know what we came for," growled one, apparently the leader. "Now hand her over." "Not a chance!" Ash snapped back, pulling out a pokeball. "Ivysour I choose you!" James, meanwhile, was attempting to figure out where these people came from. They were all dressed in black body suits, like lower Rockets, and they certainly had that look-the look of those Rockets he'd always stayed away from. Most members joined Team Rocket because they had to, but there were some people...they reveled in violence. But the most surprising thing was the uniforms themselves, not who wore them. The chest of each jacket bore a blazing red letter-but it wasn't an 'R'. Morada came quietly up behind him, and murmured in his ear (actually, more of his shoulder since she was so short) "They aren't from Team Rocket. What does the 'V' on their shirts stand for?" "I dunno..." "Ivysour go! Solar beam!" they heard Ash shout from nearby. Three out of the four mystery opponents were blasted out of the house along with their scyther, but two more entered through a window and all reached for the pokeballs at their belts. "Sandslash!" "Bayleaf!" they called, and the monsters appeared, ready for battle. "I'll take the sandslash," Ash yelled to James and Morada, but didn't waist time in looking back at them. "James, make yourself useful and Morada if you have pokemon now would be an excellent time to-" "No," James interrupted. "No time for that, we'll take care of the battling. Morada, we have to get-to get...to get Jessie out of that 'security mode' or whatever you call it." "I'm on it!" she chirped, and opened the briefcase to start her work. Ash had called out his other pokemon and they formed a protective wall around the doctor and her off patient. One of the men in black turned to his partner, mumbled something, and the other nodded. They were planning something and James didn't like the looks of it at all. They had to get out, and fast, but they could do nothing until...until...until Jessie snapped out of what ever it was that kept her frozen like that. "Wheezing, Victreebel go!" Both pokemon appeared and charged at the Bayleaf, but they weren't doing so well. Wheezing couldn't use smokescreen until they A: had a place to run to, which meant at least clearing one of the exits to the cabin, and B: Morada had to finish her work, and she certainly couldn't operate a computer with smoke filtering in from all directions. That left wheezing with tackle and sludge, but with the grass types speed advantage those didn't help too much. Victribeel, on the other hand, was only slightly more useful. With grass vrs. Grass type the match was decently even. It had learned, finally, not to bite James when it appeared. James would often have to show his pokemon to get a job, and if they didn't make a good impression they didn't eat, and the pokemon had learned that quickly. James wished that Jessie's pokemon had not vanished along with her, for they obviously weren't on the android anywhere. Wabbufet would have made an excellent shield for Morada while she worked. Arbok was the principle battler of the team, and although they always lost to Ash and co, Jessie was honestly an excellent battler as she'd proven in the Girls Day festival. "Come on, girl!" Morada hissed at the android. "What's your name? Jessie? Be reasonable and get off of this security lock out!" "Access denied," came the monotone reply as Morada punched in another code. "Arrgggg..." she didn't think she could take this much longer. The port on the android's forehead didn't work, so she tried the small computer panel on its neck with similar success. "Work with me here!" "Authorization code required." Morada felt her eye twitch. She took a deep breath and tired to calm down. Perhaps she didn't understand the problem. "Okay... now let's see..." ::there's a battle going on outside. What's happening? Why are these strangers here?:: "There's a problem with your circuit programming," Kokuan Morada. "You can't attack an enemy you can't identify if you go by this program-who installed this thing? It's useless in a fight!" :: Who are these people? These intruders... :: "There!" Kokuan Morada, "Try it now. Try identifying those dudes in black now, I think I fixed you." :: Who... :: searching... searching... Intruders identified: Traitors to Team Rocket. Orders: Destroy. "Uh-oh," Morada mumbled, stepping back from the android a few paces. James saw her out of the corner of his eye, "Uh-oh? What's uh-oh?" "I think I...did something," she answered, watching intently. "Oops." The android looked different. She no longer stood stiffly, but instead her knees were bent and fists clenched, ready to pounce. Bright blue sparks started to appear from the circuitry on her skin, and as her eyes slowly opened, they glowed red. She faced one of the black-clad intruders, and he involuntarily stepped back in alarm. "Identified." She said it slowly, and her voice sounded unreal-not like Jessie's at all. "Traitor to Team Rocket. Destruction must be initiated to insure the rise of our corporation." She raised her arm, the one that was covered in those thin metallic strips, and something happened to it. The strips seemed to move and grow, elevating to a few inches over the rest of her simulated skin, and a hole or some kind of port appeared behind the metal. "Is that a gun?" James asked, starting to panic. Morada started to back behind Ash's Heracross. "Um...maybe..." It wasn't a gun-not exactly. It didn't shoot bullets, but instead a long, steady stream of horrible electric light left the port, and hit one of the intruders head on. "All right!" Ash shouted happily. "She's finally starting to fight!" James looked less pleased. "Look closer, twerp." He did. "Is that guy...dead?" James didn't answer, he wasn't sure at all. The body of the man she'd hit looked completely still, and it shone with in eerie purple glow that might have killed or might have paralyzed the guy, James couldn't tell. The intruder's partner didn't look so shocked. "You should have handed her over before you messed with it!" he shouted at Morada. "You have no idea what program you activated!" The android turned to face this man as well. "Traitor identified." She said it again, and lifted her arm once more. This time, energy seemed to filter into the port, rather than out. Her weapon was charging, the trespasser didn't have much time. Morada poked her head out from behind heracross. "It looks like," she said, smirking just a little, "That I activated a program for her to blast all those who betrayed Team Rocket. Seems pretty good in our situation, dontcha think?" The man couldn't answer. The weapon hit him first. The last man with a "V" on his shirt looked a little paniky, but still ready to fight. He tossed something at the android-a small, gray cylinder-and she stared at the thing for a moment before saying. "Neutralizer identified." She jumped out of the way just as cylinder started to screech, and emit an odd pulse. The intruder cursed. "Traitor Identified." The weapon powered up once more. The man in dark clothing turned to Morada with a hateful glare. "Yeah, you started the traitor extermination program all right," he growled. Morada was still smirking. "But that guy," he motioned to James, "Isn't he a traitor too?" The smirk froze, and became a look of realization and shock. "How do I stop the program!?" she yelled, but the weapon fired and the man fell. "Oh no... James! Run!" Lucky for James, five men-five Rocket men-entered the cabin and distracted the android Jessie. (although, it was only a minorly lucky curcumstance) "Okay, James, you know who we're here for," said one of the Rockets. "Don't pick a fight and you won't have to worry about your safety." "Sorry," he glared at the agent who appeared to be the leader of the group. "I'm not letting her go." The agent smiled. "Don't you think that's up to her to decide?" he asked nonchalantly. "Come here, Jessica Miyamoto," he ordered, and James didn't like the way he'd said her name one bit. She lowered her arm, and the weapon retracted itself. "Identify yourself." "I am Level Four Scout Division Leader Wallace," he said clearly. There was a pause, then, "Confirmed." The android walked towards the man. ::Wallace? Who's Wallace? Never met him before... Why is this body taking orders from him?:: "Jessie no!" Morgan, James. "Don't listen to that guy, come back here!" :: I want to! I don't want to go with Wallace, but my body's not listening... :: Visual processors confirm: Morgan, James is a Team Rocket deserter. Traitors must be destroyed as per orders. Activating Plasma Rifle. ::No! This body...it's not real...it's beyond my control... Why? I don't want to shoot James! James found me! I don't want to go with Wallace! Why won't my body listen to me!? :: "Traitor Identified." Powering up Plasma Rifle. Charging...charging... :: NO! No, no, no, no!! I don't want to shoot James! Stop it! STOP IT NOW!!:: Charging... ::DON'T!:: Some guy came rushing into the underground shelter. "Butch!" he yelled, waving a floppy disk like a crazed maniac. "We gotta go! Gotta get out there now!!" Misty looked up as the guy entered, and as he dropped the disk to grab Butch by the collar, she picked the thing up. "We gotta get them before they're too far off to catch!" the man cried in Butch's face. "Hold it, Deija!" Butch shouted, removing the hands from his collar. "Get who?" "And what's this?" Misty added, holding up the disk. "That," Deija stated proudly, plucking it from Misty's fingers, "Is an intercepted transmission from the Base in Mahogany to the estate in Seafoam. A transport truck left the Rocket prison with some top priority inmates. Mondo thinks some of our partners are inside-including Lyn, Jessie, and Cassidy!" "What!?" Butch grabbed Deija's collar this time. "Are you sure?" Getting tired of the redundancy of it all, Misty separated the two. "Stop double checking everything and lets get going!" she snapped. "I don't believe I'm saying this, but let's rescue Jessie." Butch gave Deija a careful look. "The real Jessie? Or 01?" "The real one." Misty felt confused. "01? What's that?" But she got no answer. "Stay here, Twerp," Butch called, rushing up the ladder. "There's a directory in one of the drawers. Call up James, tell him not to worry. We'll get Jessie out, safe and sound-if Cassidy hasn't already killed her...or vice versa." "Um...Okay," Misty consented, moving towards the cabinet to search. "But you have to go to the pokemon centere to call," Deija yelled from the trap door. "Lines are all tapped here." "Are you sure I can't come?" "We can't let anyone know you're helping us. It's too dangerous to the mission and for you. Just meet us back here, k?" "Oh, all right..." Misty mumbled, and she heard the door close. "Oh well..." she sighed. "I suppose I'm just a romantic at heart. (Somewhere, miles away, Ash coughed) James'll be happy when he knows Jessie's all right, and maybe he'll know were Ash is, or at least what 01 is..." "James, if you stand down, I'll order her to stop," Wallace smiled at him. James glared back, but said nothing. "Hmph," Wallace grunted, turning to his associates. "He's one of ~those~ guys. Take a lesson from me, boys, and never fall in love with your partner." There was snickering from the Rocket side, a "eew" from Ash, and an "aawww" from Morada. The Android appeared to have no effect... Charging... ::STOP CHARGING!! I don't want to hurt anyone!:: 88% Charged and rising. :: Oh no...my body will probably kill him...why doesn't he run!? :: "See what I'm talking about, James?" Wallace. "Love gets you killed." :: Love? What's that? :: searching... searching... definition: found. Love: a strong, emotional bond with another. 2- caring deeply for a family member 3- caring deeply for a non blood relative, often resulting in mirage 4- physical attraction or passion towards another. ::I don't understand...:: 94% Charged and rising. :: Does James "love" the person I'm supposed to be? :: 96.8% charged and rising. :: I want to understand... :: 98% charged and rising. :: I want to understand!!... :: 99% charged... "I WANT TO UNDERSTAND!!" Wallace picked up his radio communicator. "Boss? It's starting." 100% charged, preparing to fire. Tbc. BACK