“Adam?”

 

“Hm?” the teenage figure grunted as he looked up somewhat unenthusiastically. The group of unsettled travellers had been quick to make their exit from Nintencu City once Denise and Cory had rejoined them, releasing their Pokémon for added security; Adam had kept to the back with Cyzel, his previously worried face over Denise’s safety having swiftly reverted to an unconcerned scowl as he had taken note of the inventress’ improved mood.

If Denise didn’t feel the need to apologise, then why should he go out of his way to do the same? Adam had spent the first few minutes of the journey gazing firmly at the floor passing under his boots until a somewhat concerned voice aroused him from contemplation. Looking up, the figure felt his cheeks get slightly hot as he realised Denise and Aquarill were wandering alongside him.

“I'm sorry for being so inconsiderate earlier,” she murmured, hands behind her back. “I should have realised that not everyone has been fortunate enough to experience technology in a good way like I have.”

“S’ok,” Adam responded softly. A few moments of silence passed as the pair listened to the chattering of their companions who were walking some distance ahead. Finally the boy gathered his courage and took a deep breath, feeling the persistent thudding of his heart against his ribcage. “I’m sorry too… I shouldn’t have called you a Techno Geek.”

Cyzel couldn’t help but chuckle a little at this. Adam’s slightly insulted expression at what he thought was amusement over his apology soon turned to one of surprise as a small plastic bag was waved in front of him.

“For you,” came the explanation. Adam blinked before cautiously peering into the bag.

“Woah…” he commented, picking out the blue presentation case within and opening it. A shiny red Fire Stone gleamed back at him. “This must have cost you loads!”

“However corny it might sound, you really can’t put a price on friendship,” Denise beamed. Rilly nodded in agreement. “The flames of your determination and your rock-hard dependability… it couldn’t help make me think of you!”

“Heh… thanks,” Adam replied faintly. Part of him was crying out in over-enthusiastic appreciation since no one had ever bought him a present before, but the rest of him settled on keeping such expressions of happiness under strict control. Denise looked crestfallen over this lack of response, but decided to say nothing further about the matter.

 

“Glad you like it,” she smiled, if somewhat sadly.

 

 “My feet are killing me!” James whined, as Growlie glanced up and looked somewhat saddened that he wasn’t large enough to take the weight off his owner’s feet by giving him a ride. “When can we stop?”

“Just a little while longer,” Caley murmured, scanning the area with his PokéGear. “We should be able to take a short rest once we get across those hills.”

“Heh, you’ll be lucky to get any rest at all, now,” a gruff voice spoke up.

 

“Especially after all that effort you put in to get yourselves noticed.”

 

Jessie blushed deeply as the remainder of the group turned their heads to see where the voice had come from. Lazing casually under a large tree was Butch with Radeu sat proudly beside him. Cassidy leant nonchalantly upon the tree trunk while Persep conversed happily with Noxitar.

“You!” Rose exclaimed angrily, while the others glowered in the duo’s direction and Triply took to snarling and raising the creamy coloured fur upon its back.

“Quit getting your knickers into a knot,” Cassidy muttered without looking up. “If we were after capturing you we would have done it already.”

“Good point,” Errol remarked, his voice taking on a puzzled tone. “So what’s goin’ on? Why ain’cha in uniform?”

“Uniforms are an employee-only requirement,” Cassidy explained smoothly.

“An’ we were made redundant, in more than one sense of the word,” Butch concluded, folding his arms.

“No longer members of Team Rocket?” James spluttered. Cassidy shot him a withering look.

“Congratulations, brainiac. You got it in one.”

 “Yeah, so anyways we figured that if we’re on the wanted list now we might as well join you guys. Safety in numbers an’ all that,” Butch told them with unusual ease. Unlike Cassidy he seemed to have settled into his newfound freedom a lot more comfortably. But nevertheless the majority of the exiles were no more pleased about his presence. Especially a certain trio amongst them.

“No way!” Jessie snapped.

“Nuh uh!” James agreed firmly.

“I thought youse were too skilled ta need others,” Errol sniffed. Cassidy rolled her eyes at this.

“Well I can see nothing’s changed in the maturity department while we were away.”

“Do you think trusting those two enough to let them travel with us would be a wise idea?” Denise inquired in Caley’s direction. The trainer frowned slightly, looking to Kota for his opinion. In turn, the mention of trust brought the uncomfortable expression back to Cory's face yet again.

“We don’t think it would be very fair to leave them as victims for the Team Rocket hunters,” Caley mused after a pause. “Besides if something does go awry there are more of us to make sure things don’t get out of hand.”

“I guess so,” Denise nodded. “They do seem different to me this time around.”

“Okay, it’s settled,” Caley announced to the figures under the tree.

“Feel free to follow. C’mon, guys.”

 

***~~***~~***~~***~~***

 

Upon the raised portion of the hillside overlooking the dirt track two female Team Rocket elite operatives were poised, surveying an area a short distance away from the exiles current position. The taller woman with voluminous blue hair held back with a dark red band stood watching the sun dipping toward the western side of the sky. After a few minutes of this she turned her attentions toward her turquoise-topped partner who was crouched beside her satchel, counting sticks of dynamite with a bored expression.

“Dinah! Are you quite done setting up the avalanche trigger?” she snapped, causing the woman amongst the dynamite to jump in alarm and look around nervously. Noticing her accomplice’s vacant expression the blue-haired woman couldn’t help but let out a heavy sigh. “What have you been doing all this time?”

“Ummm… double-checking that I’m not running low on explosives?” Dinah grinned hopefully.

“We already know you’re not running low on explosives!” came the harsh reply. “We checked the stockpile to make sure we had the exact amount this morning! Now if you haven’t been trying to blow up flowers and trees again there’s no reason why we wouldn’t have the right amount now, so stop stalling and GET ON WITH IT!”

Dinah uttered an amusing squeak and began rummaging hurriedly in her satchel while muttering under her breath.

“Maya’s such a meanie.”

“Ghh…I get the worst luck with partners,” Maya groaned to herself, running her gloved hand across her forehead. “Why couldn’t I have got to work with Cass instead of this dimwit?”

Dinah smirked to herself as she overhead this statement. She’d be happy to trade partners any day; then she would finally get to spend more time with Butch. This sent the woman into a dreamy state, but it didn’t last long. Maya’s bellowing wasn’t hesitant to trample all over Dinah’s happiness.

“Hurry up! We need that dynamite ready to blow in under five minutes!” she ordered, before retreating into her own thoughts.

The sooner I press that plunger, the sooner this hillside will bury those traitors, putting an end to all this bother…

Then maybe I can ditch this bothersome twerp, and get back to business.

 

***~~***~~***~~***~~***

 

The travellers continued northward toward Alia Summit, but already tensions were beginning to arise amongst them. James certainly wasn’t happy with Butch as an accompaniment but wasn’t sure whether to be more unnerved or annoyed. Jessie took to glowering at Cassidy as she walked, while the latter refused to look at anyone and stared at the path instead.

“According to my PokéGear our next location will be Cosma Town, just up this passage,” Caley stated, unaware of the animosity occurring behind him. Denise glanced toward the aforementioned location; it consisted of a steep but fairly narrow dirt track across ridged hillside framed by dense forest. 

“Too bad we couldn’t have brought that mecha with us,” Adam grunted as he took in the sight. “Would have beat walking all this way.”

Butch and Cassidy shot a look in the adolescent’s direction.

“You had a mecha?” the former spluttered.

“We did,” Adam muttered. “Until three certain morons wrote it off. It ended up going right back to the guy who made it.”

“My uncle would have let us take it with us if I hadn’t told him to keep it since it was his first project!” James retorted. Cassidy pulled a face.

“Ugh… if any of James’ relatives were involved, it was better you hadn’t brought it,” she remarked.

“Like you could build any better!” Jessie growled. “You’d probably be too concerned about breaking your nails!”

“Hah! I wouldn’t have to stoop to such a level,” Cassidy replied haughtily.

“And I thought Adam and James could be an unstable combination sometimes,” Denise commented under her breath to Caley in slightly worried tones. “Maybe it was a bad idea letting those two tag along.”

“Well everyt’ing was going swell until ‘sparky’ there had ta ignite mattas all over again,” Errol grumbled, motioning toward Adam as Jessie and Cassidy locked icy gazes upon each other. The youthful figure responded in quite a distasteful manner. Cory watched anxiously, mentally tossing around the word 'unstable' in the back of his mind. The urge to tell someone of what he had discovered about himself in the Team Rocket Pokémon database was getting stronger by the moment.

“We don’t need this!” Rose exclaimed at last, sending the others into an unsteady silence. “Our success and survival depend heavily on us working as a team, not squabbling like kids.”

Jessie and James both looked at Rose for a moment, before becoming slightly ashamed.

“Sorry, ‘bout dat,” Errol spoke on behalf of all three of them. “Ya right - if we don’t cooperate wit’ eachudda, t’ings are jus’ gonna fall apart.”

“Exactly. No machine works right if all the parts refuse to function together,” Denise nodded.

“Like Teiresias said, friends are important,” Caley added, beginning to smile. “We need to stick together. Now let’s press onward - we need to keep focused for potential ambushes.”

 

***~~***~~***~~***~~***

 

            “It’s a lovely evening for blowing stuff up!” Dinah sang flatly, rolling out a long length of wire. Maya ground her teeth together.

            Preferably annoying partners, she muttered inside her mind. Boy, wouldn’t I like to blow her up right now…

            Before the woman could finish her internal grumbling, Dinah skittered up the hillside with a detonator in both hands. Maya was quick to snatch it from her.

            “Hey! I’m the ammunitions expert around here - I should get to bury those goody goodies!” Dinah exclaimed in protest.

            “Shut your yap, whine-co” Maya grunted, making herself comfortable amongst the foliage. “You couldn’t blow up a balloon without taking everything else out within a 100 yard radius.”

            “For your information I came top in the ‘Projectiles and Explosives’ class!” Dinah growled, her fists shaking. “And it’s ‘Pineco’!”

            “Whatever” Maya remarked carelessly.

 

            “Our targets are almost within range. And I don’t want this to go wrong,”

 

            Dinah pouted, but instead resorted to surveying the scene below as means of amusing herself. The group of exiles they had been tracking across eastern Tatto were now visible; proceeding carefully along the rather narrow path with their Pokémon by their sides. Yes, Dinah could see them all: the cheeky red-haired trainer at the front followed by know-it-all Rose. Tailing her was drama queen Jessie and her whiny accomplice James, shortly followed by that odd-looking guy with the scars on his face and some golden-haired kid whose identity she had no idea of. Behind them walked the overly nice inventor girl and her moody brown-haired counterpart. And at the very back strolled loud-mouth Cassidy and-

            The woman suddenly paused in the midst of her analysis, her mouth dropping open.

            “…Butchy?”

            But Maya had not noticed the two extra additions to the travelling mass; her eyes were afire with cruel excitement as one gloved hand hovered decisively over the detonator’s plunger, waiting for just the right moment. Before Dinah could say a word, her blue-haired partner rapidly jammed the plunger downward, causing a thunderous rumble to echo down the hillside as the stacks of explosives that had been carefully arranged were discharged in unison.

“Wha-what’s going on?” Adam yelped, glancing up from the path with wide eyes as the ground began to shudder. The more youthful members of the group exchanged worried expressions of confusion but the older ones were much more accustomed to the signs of such an occurrence. Nevertheless, they weren’t any happier about it.

“Dat sound…it’s unmistakable,” Errol grimaced. Rilly uttered a shrill cry upon noticing a mass of boulders tumbling relentlessly toward them, throwing a large cloud of dust into the air.

“AVALANCHE!” Rose screamed, diving out of the way as one of the more sizable chunks of rock coursed between Sia and herself. Figures darted this way and that while the thick cloud swirled about them; panic overtaking logic as they tried to avoid the falling earth. Suddenly the ground under their feet began to break away under the force of the rock slide’s relentless pummelling. Once the air had cleared and the rumbling subsided the watching Team Rocket agents saw that a large portion of the path had vanished into the forest below.

“Direct hit!” Maya rejoiced, while Dinah just stared down with an expression akin to that of a Pokémon caught in an ice beam.

“Buh-buh-buh,” she gibbered. Maya shot her an irate glare.

“What’s your problem?”

“Butchy was down theeeere!” Dinah wailed, leaping to her feet and running down the portion of the upper hillside that still existed in some attempt to get a better idea of where the man had ended up. Maya raised an eyebrow at this fractious statement.

“You don’t say…” she smirked, shouldering her backpack and following. “Ah well, if he’s hanging around with those punks you’re better off without him. In my opinion, you’re better off without him regardless.”

Dinah wasn’t at all convinced. If Butch was following the group of exiles there had to be a valid reason. What if he had been working undercover? Now Dinah would never know if Butch felt the same way about her as she did for him! Screwing up her facial features into the tightest bunch possible Dinah thrust out her lower lip and proceeded to enter a massive sulk. Maya ignored her.

“Well if you’re quite finished behaving like a baby you can clear up the mess you made,” she remarked, unphased.

“We need to go down there and check the exiles are truly disposed of.”

 

 

***~~***~~***~~***~~***

 

            Caley wasn’t certain of just how far he’d fallen. As the feeling slowly returned to his limbs the trainer gazed up between the branches of the tree he had landed under and began to realise just why his mother had always insisted on him eating up his poached Remoraid every time it was served for dinner. After all, without the benefits of Pokémon proteins, his body would never have been resilient enough to survive such an onslaught with little more than a few cuts, bruises and a splitting headache.

            Before Caley managed to get his bearings he heard a volley of muffled curses from amongst a particularly prickly bush. Staggering to his feet the figure ran over and hauled Adam out of the plant’s thorny clutches.

            “You okay?” he inquired anxiously.

            “If you mean ‘am I alive?’, yeah. Just about,” the adolescent grunted, trying to brush the remaining spikes from his clothing without getting them embedded in his hands. A moment later there was a loud thud as Butch hit the earth after toppling from one of the nearby trees. Adam couldn’t help but snicker at this.

            “Hey look,” he commented while Caley glanced around with a horrified expression. “It’s raining idiots.”

            “Watch it, twerp,” Butch glowered, sitting upright as he waited for his head to stop spinning. Adam advanced, brow deeply furrowed.

            “I. Ain’t. No. Twerp.”

            “Now is not the time, guys,” Caley insisted, wandering out a short distance. “We’re missing a lot of people.”

            Adam flinched upon hearing this, resorting to searching nearby foliage soon after.

            “Oh no! Denise! Cyzel!”

            “Jessie and Triply aren’t here either,” James sadly informed the others as he clambered down more carefully from the tree he’d landed in. “Neither are Errol, Cory and Growlie.”

            Butch said nothing, but the look on his face clearly dictated he was concerned about the welfare of both Cassidy and his Pokémon. Adam let out a loud unhelpful groan.

            “We’re screwed.”

            “Not necessarily, Ad,” Caley said calmly. “We just need to take a moment to think this over, and not go losing our heads.”

 

 

***~~***~~***~~***~~***

 

            “GET ME DOWN FROM HERE!” Cassidy screeched, kicking her legs wildly amongst the branches of a tree some distance from where Adam, Butch, James and Caley had landed. Underneath the very same tree Jessie sat upright, gently massaging the back of her neck and looking none the worse for her experience, minus a few leaves in her hair.

            “Well that wasn’t too bad,” she commented.

            “What do you mean ‘not too bad’?” Cassidy exclaimed in utter disbelief. “It was awful! Terrible! Horrific!”

            “If you had been through half of what I’ve experienced, that would have been like a walk in the park to you,” Jessie responded coolly, removing a brush from her phase pack before setting about making herself look more presentable. A moment later Cassidy landed on top of her as the branches she was caught amongst gave way under her weight.

            “Serves you right,” she smirked, before getting thrown off.

            “Urgh…” Denise mumbled, sitting up from between some thick clumps of grass. “Feels like I got hit by a Wailord at ninety miles an hour.”

            “That was no natural occurrence,” Rose stated firmly as she glanced back up at the fractured hillside.

            “Nope, but it sure was a pretty desperate attempt to kill us off,” Jessie sniffed. “We’re made of stronger stuff than that!”

            “Maybe it wasn’t intended as a death blow,” came the unsettled reply. “Maybe they wanted to drive us apart deliberately.”

            “Yeah,” Denise piped up. “If they’d planned to kill us, they wouldn’t have used something half the group has lived through before.”

            “Of course,” Cassidy responded. “There’s a greater chance of us defeating our opposition as a large group. Split up that group and-“

            “You’re cutting down that chance,” Rose nodded. “Even more so since we’ve been driven apart from our Pokémon.”

            “Not all our Pokémon,” Jessie reminded her, motioning toward the Pokéball containing Triply she had been keeping in her phase pack but now held in her hand. Cassidy snorted in amusement.

            “You expect that thing to be able to protect us?”

            “At least Triply would be determined enough to give it a shot,” Jessie snapped. “More than that self-centred creature of yours would do.”

            “That’s uncalled for,” Denise frowned, stepping between the two women. “Both of you. Right now we need all the help we can get!”

            Cassidy turned her head aside and uttered a noise of dismissal, causing Jessie to fold her arms and look the other way.

            “Like Pokémon, like owner. Always the same,” she muttered. It was Rose’s turn to step in.

            “Listen. If we’re going to make this work you two are going to have to call it quits on this schoolgirl behaviour, ok?”

            Jessie shot Cassidy a sideward glance.

            “She started it.”

            “It doesn’t matter who started it,” Denise growled, almost losing her temper.

 

            “We need to find the others!”

 

            This wasn’t going to be as simple as it sounded, for there was a third conglomeration consisting mostly of the group’s Pokémon that had somehow ended up located a good distance apart from the other two.

            <Wow…> Kota breathed as he looked out over the landscape and realised just how far they’d all travelled. <That was some blast>

            “You can say that again,” Cory winced. Unfortunately for him his overly-flexible body had become jammed inside the hollow of a tree and he was having trouble getting himself loose. Rilly was too busy watching Errol’s seemingly lifeless form sprawled across the ground to notice much else.

            <Where is everyone?> Stian blinked, while Persep desperately tried to clean the mud stains from her skin somewhere in the background. Nijiro flew round and round in a state of panic.

            <Can’t see them! Not in the eyes or in the mind!> he cried shrilly. <His mother shall be most upset if I don’t fulfil my duty. Most upset!>

            <My senses aren’t picking up their presence either> Kota spoke up sadly.

            <Or mine> Persep cut in, before returning to washing.

            <Kooky> Li blinked. Cyzel looked very concerned at this point.

            <Then that must mean->

            <That they’re dead?> Radeu spluttered, almost biting his lower lip in the process. Growly began to whine while Rilly let out an ear-splitting yell, clutched at both of his long ears and began to rock back and forth.

            <That’s not what I was going to say> Cyzel insisted, but his fractious blue companion wasn’t having any of it.

            <But that’s what you meant, right?> he whimpered. <You just didn’t wanna break it to me so harshly; I know how this stuff works! Oh Deniiiiiiise!>

            <Surely not…> Sia gasped. <Rose and I… we’ve been through fire and ice together>

            <I barely get to see James for a moment and he’s taken away from me again!> Growlie howled. Stian looked on helplessly as Rilly promptly went to crying all over his furry shoulder, but the aqua mouse soon fell silent as a loud grumpy exclamation was heard from behind. Noxitar stumbled forward, clutching at his head with one large claw.

            <What’s with the noise?>

            <Our trainers are missing> Cyzel explained. <And some of us were assuming the worst. But there’s no need to jump to conclusions - they’re probably out of Kota’s psychic range>

            “Or woise, someone’s distoibin’ da signals,” came a slightly laboured voice from below. The Pokémon looked down to see that Errol had at last regained consciousness and was struggling to sit upright. “Wow… dat felt almost as bad as da time I got blasted off into a pit full of angry Primeapes.”

Noxitar wandered purposefully over to where Cory was before pulling the figure sharply from the trunk of the tree.

            <I hate to say it but signal tampering seems the more likely cause for none of our three psychic companions being able to detect the others> Stian remarked. <Which means our time to find them again is very short and lessening by the minute. 

            We need to keep moving, at least until one of us picks up their scents>

 

 

***~~***~~***~~***~~***

 

            “No…” Maya growled as she wandered along the forest floor passing a small device in her palm back and forth across the rubble. Dinah followed unenthusiastically, still wearing a sulky expression. “NO! There are no organic signs under these rocks whatsoever…the little runts escaped!”

            Dinah’s eyes widened considerably.

            “Then Butchy is…” she began.

            “Yes. Still alive,” Maya snapped, pressing a few more buttons upon the device. "And we won’t be for much longer if we don’t find where those exiles have gone!”

The blue-haired woman then took off in-between the trees without hesitation, leaving Dinah to hoist her satchel with its remaining explosives over her shoulder and stride cheerfully after her partner with a dopey grin upon her face.

 

***~~***~~***~~***~~***

 

            Jessie, Cassidy, Denise and Rose walked until there was barely enough light to navigate by; at which point they settled down beside a stream to build a campfire and rest as best they could, considering the circumstances. While Rose searched the surrounding foliage for edible fruits and berries, Denise set about modifying a communicator Jessie had tucked away in her phase pack while the magenta-haired woman searched the same area for something to light the bundle of dry twigs arranged in front of her.

            Cassidy sat a good distance apart from the other women, watching them with a sullen expression tinged with upset. They were all so used to each other’s company that it felt like she shouldn’t be there. So why couldn’t she just pull herself together and blend in?

            Maybe because she’d never been able to blend in. In the seer community she had always stood out from the other children due to her longing to see what the world had to offer. When out in that world, she had stood out because of her desperate desire to be just like everyone else. Even in Team Rocket the outcome was the same.

She snorted angrily and threw herself back against something warm and soft: that circumstance was hardly her problem. Cassidy was soon shaken from her darkened mood when the object she had leant against began to shift and growl irritably.

“Well done, Cassidy,” Jessie grunted, stepping away from the lit fire. “You’re hazardous to the environment, y’know that?”

Cassidy probably would have sharply retaliated if she hadn’t been slowly backing away from the rounded figure that had recently stepped out from amongst the trees and was now glaring down at her. Rose turned her head and looked at the creature with noticeable surprise. Its fur pattern greatly resembled that of a Snorlax, but its body was slimmer and better toned and upon its forehead there was an odd three-pointed marking in various colours.

“Is that a Snorlar?” Denise blinked.

“Sure seems to be,” Rose nodded, shoving the berries she had just picked into her jacket pockets. “It’s not very often you see one of those just wandering around in a forest.”

“Or at all, for that matter,” Denise commented. “Up until now I thought they were just a rumour.”

“Well that rumour looks like it’s about to give Cassidy a talking to with its fist,” Jessie pointed out. By this time the Snorlar had plucked Cassidy from the ground and was dangling the screeching figure by her shirt. Triply looked the lofty figure up and down before flattening its pointy ears and skittering forward.

<Could you put her down please?> it inquired. <I know she’s a jerk but that screaming really hurts the ears!>

The Snorlar thought this over for a moment.

<Fine> it grunted, returning Cassidy to the floor somewhat roughly and slumping under a nearby tree. <But next time don’t let your humans run rampant. I was having a good dream about cake>

<I’ll try not to let it happen again> Triply chuckled nervously, while the remaining three women looked on with blank faces. <By the way, why do you have that strange gold, purple and pinkish star on your forehead?>

“Amazing!” Rose exclaimed, turning to the others. “If my research serves me correctly we’re actually in the presence of a Psychic/Fighting/Dark type Snorlar, one of the rarest kinds of Snorlar to exist!”

“Would that make it rare squared?” Jessie pondered.

“Either way, try not to get it any more irritated,” Denise remarked. “Those things are said to be a lot more energetic than their previous forms and a lot harder to send back to sleep.”

<She got that right> the Snorlar muttered in Triply’s direction. <Took me four hours to drop off last time>

“So what now?” Cassidy spoke up, a little shakily. “How can we sleep with this giant overshadowing us?”

“Easy,” Jessie told her. “We persuade it to act as our bodyguard until we find the others.”

<Are you guys lost then?> the Snorlar inquired. Triply nodded furiously, causing its Pokémon companion to look most sympathetic.

<Wow, tough deal> was the comment. <I know how humans act when they’re alone; they’re totally defenceless without their Pokémon by their sides. I’ll keep watch until you find your friends>

<Thank you!> Triply cried happily, causing the woman to glance at it in surprise. Shortly afterward the Snorlar stood up, reached into the tree above its head and brought down a nut-laden branch before laying it carefully at Jessie’s feet.

“I believe someone’s already beaten us to the negotiations,” Rose chuckled, picking some of the produce from the severed branch. Triply grinned before leaping up onto the now-recumbent Snorlar’s stomach and lying across it.

“And you thought it wasn’t good for anything,” Jessie smirked, glancing in Cassidy’s direction.

“Yeah yeah…” the latter figure grunted, sitting down and crossing her legs. “It got us a guardian, big hooray. Now pass me those Aspear berries”

 

 

***~~***~~***~~***~~***

 

 

Hunger was also on the agenda for the trio of male figures that had set up camp for the night as well, but in a small clearing. Caley sat upon a log gazing wistfully at his Pokédex watch while Adam’s stomach took up competitive complaints against James’.

“No chance of catching any wild Farfetch’d around these parts?” Butch inquired. The trainer shrugged and began to search in his satchel; it was the first time he had visited east Tatto and as such had no idea as to what types of Pokémon one could find there. Adam shuddered at the thought of encountering any birds and began to shudder all the more at the following image of having to prepare one as his dinner. Then out of the corner of his eye he noticed Caley pull a rather crumpled chocolate bar from the bottom of his satchel.

“Mine!” he exclaimed, snatching it from the surprised trainer’s hands. James was quick to relieve the adolescent of his newly-acquired confectionary before putting it behind him.

“Don’t be so greedy, twerp,” he sniffed. “We’re going to share this like civilised adults.”

“Like hell we are,” Butch laughed, snatching the chocolate bar from behind James’ back. “You two are amateurs!”

Caley sat there in utter astonishment as he watched Adam and James dive at their emerald-haired accomplice in unison. Butch was swiftly pinned to the ground, the chocolate bar flying out of his hand in the process. As it was thrown upward a Hoothoot flew overhead, caught the sweet-tasting item in mid-air and fluttered off amongst the trees with hysterical cries.

“Nice going, Botch!” James glowered, walking away and sitting upon another log.

“The name is BUTCH!” the figure responded icily, sick of the continuous accidental (but usually deliberate) attempts people made to mangle his identity. James simply stuck his tongue out.

“The nickname fits better, so wear it,” he said.

“I’d watch my mouth if I were you, Mr. Frequent Flyer Miles.” Butch growled. Caley twitched slightly as his psychic abilities were once again nudged into life by the sheer potency of the bickering men’s anger.

“Look who’s talking!” James almost laughed. “I heard you got blasted off enough times without us around!”

Adam looked most uncomfortable as he noticed Caley’s face beginning to turn almost as red as his hair. But James and Butch were far too engrossed in their petty squabbling to have taken much notice at all. At least not until the trainer practically erupted beside them.

 

“QUIIIIIIIIIIET!”

 

            The exasperated yell echoed into the air, scattering wildlife in all directions. Maya glanced up from her scanner display, a darkened smile emerging upon her face.

            “Did you hear that?”

            “What didja say?” Dinah asked, rubbing at the sides of her head. “My ears are ringing.”

            “We’re getting closer to them,” Maya remarked smugly, moving toward the origin of the sound. “Stupid fools, giving away their position like that. Now, did you bring any extra explosives?”

            “Huh?” Dinah murmured as her hearing returned to some kind of normality. Maya groaned.

            “Just get out a stick of dynamite and be ready to light it when I tell you to!”

            “Oh…okay!” the turquoise-haired woman grinned, retrieving the aforementioned item and a lighter from her bag and catching up to Maya who was poised behind the foliage surrounding the forest clearing.

            “Perfect,” she chuckled in lowered tones. “They’re distracted. Now, throw it over the bushes!”

            Dinah lit the dynamite and pulled back her arm, ready to lob the explosive intro the clearing. Then her eyes caught sight of a certain emerald-topped male figure sitting moodily upon a log. Maya blinked as her partner lowered her hand and began frowning.

            “What are you waiting for?” she spluttered.

            “You wanna blow up Butchy again…” Dinah pouted, folding her arms. “Well I ain’t gonna do it!”

            “Fine!” Maya growled before snatching the sparking crimson rod from Dinah’s hand. “I’ll do it myself!”

            Before the woman managed to even aim the dynamite however, it exploded. Adam swung round in a panic at the combined noise and the shudder it brought to the ground under his feet. He was still on edge after almost being crushed with boulders earlier on in the day.

            “What was that?”

            “Sounded like an explosion,” James replied.

            “You don’t say…” Butch remarked, rolling his eyes. Caley kept silent; his head was still reeling from the unexpected anger that had been channelled into him from the others via his psychic Cho’moken.

            “What if some Team Rocket elites have found the others?” Adam spluttered, looking all the more anxious for this thought. Butch stood up and slowly wandered toward the bushes, prompting the others to follow. A gaping hole in the ground was the only remaining proof of Dinah and Maya’s presence.

            “Guess it must have been a wild Electrode,” Caley murmured. James leant down, his eyes widening in excitement. It appeared the blast had also disturbed a nearby tree, causing it to scatter its produce into the hole below.

            “At least it was a generous one,” he grinned. “Look at all this fruit!”

            As Caley, James and Adam took to gathering the fallen delicacies to take back to camp; Butch knelt down to examine the hollow and shook his head. The faint smell of diatomaceous earth was all too familiar; prompting the man to mutter to himself,

 

            “That weren’t no Electrode.”

 

***~~***~~***~~***~~***

 

            “Don’tcha worry about keepin’ watch,” Errol remarked to his Pokémon companions as they settled down to sleep for the night, some more reluctantly than others. “Me an’ da kid’ll be lookin’ out for yas.”

            <Thanks, Errol> Li smiled faintly, as Aquarill snuggled up to the electric feline. In turn, Li wrapped her wiry tail around Aquarill as means of extra security - he wasn’t at all used to sleeping outside his Pokéball, but Noxitar didn’t seem to notice any difference. The hulking reptile leant back upon a tree next to Radeu while Persep located herself nearby on a moss-covered rock and Stian, Growly, Cyzel and Sia huddled together for extra warmth.

            “Well Cory,” Errol murmured to his pinkish-skinned friend as he watched the other Pokémon quickly drift into slumber. “Looks like it’s just you and me now, buddy.”

            "Seems that way,” Cory responded softly. Errol blinked as he sat down upon an upturned tree stump.

            “Well ain’t youse gonna try and get some sleep?”

            "I can’t…" Cory sighed, arranging himself next to the man. Errol examined the Copi's face.

            "Why? What's botherin' ya, kid?"

            "I..." came the unsettled reply. Cory took a deep breath and gathered up all the courage he could muster. This revelation could easily sever the ties of friendship between him and the figure he felt most comfortable around.

            "While we were in the Team Rocket HQ, I hacked into an office computer to find out what they'd had planned for me as a Pokémon enhancement," he began shakily.

            "They...I...

 

            I was destined to be an... an assassin, Errol. A cold-blooded killer."

 

            The man said nothing, but his solemn expression spoke volumes. Cory glanced back at him with desperation - the silence only served to worsen his state of distress. Assumptions bubbled and frothed in his mind, but he did not dare even try to peer into Errol's. What if he could not handle what he saw? Instead, Cory sat there forcing himself not to think of the worst possible scenario. He had to break the tension, it didn't matter how.

            "Please don't hate me," he whispered brokenly. Errol turned to his companion with raised eyebrows and a tilt of the head.

            "Now why would I possibly do dat?" he inquired.

            "In Kalnya, while I was down in the pipes looking for your charm, I lost control to the assassin 'programming' that had been buried in the back of my head," Cory responded with deepest shame. "Maybe it was as a result of my anger at being mistreated by the thugs I'd encountered down there, I don't know. But what I do know is...I don't want it to happen again."

            "You've been lettin' dat eat away at youse all dis time..." Errol murmured with a sad shake of the head. "I'd have said ya could'a told me, but I still remember how much noive it took for me ta admit to James who I really was."

            "So you still like me?" Cory blinked.

            "Of course I do!" Errol chuckled. "I should'a known Team Rocket'd try somet'ing like dat. But it ain't your fault. Youse a brave soul, kid."

            "Thank you, Errol," Cory nodded, forcing a smile onto his face. "But what if...what if the worst does happen?"

            "Dat's a bridge we'll hafta cross when we come to it," Errol replied softly.

 

            "Jus' remember, dat whatever happens, I'll always consida you as one of da most kindest, considerate and undastandable friends I ever had."

 

            Cory's smile grew into something more genuine at this point. Now someone else knew of his plight, he felt able to turn his mind to other matters. And other people.

            "Caley's got a lot of strengths and determination, hasn't he?"

            “Not ta mention a whole bunch o woik ta do,” Errol added, a little sadly. “All dat responsibility restin’ on one guy…it doesn’t seem fair.”

            “Maybe not, but we’re still here to help him complete what he’s been sent to do,” Cory nodded wisely. A temporary silence descended. Cory gazed down at Kota who had fallen asleep with Nijiro in his arms, then back at Errol quietly enjoying the night sky.

            "Do you…miss them?" he asked softly direction. "Jessie and James, I mean."

            “Of course I do, dey’re my friends,” Errol responded. “But me, I’ve got used ta bein’ apart from da ones I love. An’ anyways, I’m not alone. I gots youse guys ta keep me company.”

            "I know," Cory responded faintly, feeling his eyelids beginning to grow heavy with tiredness. "I just hope we find them soon."

            Errol gave a slight nod.

            “We will soon enough, kid,” he said.

 

            “Soon enough.”

 

***~~***~~***~~***~~***

           

            As the hour approached midnight, Caley, Butch and Adam lay in an unsettled state of repose while James kept watch. However the man was finding it hard to concentrate on the task at hand, his mind flitted back and forth between thoughts of where his companions could possibly be and the seemingly impossible notion of discovering their location before the Team Rocket Elites did. If all those distractions weren’t enough, James found himself glancing in Adam’s direction while the sleeping adolescent flinched and twitched with his eyes shut tightly.

            James stood up momentarily and stretched his arms, deciding that he’d better go and make sure Adam wasn’t choking on something without realising it. Drawing closer to the perspiring, violently shaking figure the man foolishly reached out a hand and prodded his brown-haired companion in the shoulder.

            “You okay?” he whispered. Seconds later James found himself almost breathless as Adam’s eyes shot wide open before the boy reached out and grasped tightly at the man’s shirt. James uttered a yelp, and Adam promptly released his grip; panting heavily as he stared out at nothing.

            “Wow… that must have been some pretty awful nightmare you were having,” James murmured, stepping back a little way should the stunted figure decide to lash out at him again. But Adam seemed completely disconnected from the world around him; the expression on his face was one of childish confusion that James wasn’t at all used to seeing on the boy. It prompted him to continue.

            “Do you want to talk about it?” he inquired in softer tones. “I know we aren’t on the best of terms but-“

            “Have you ever stopped to wonder what life would be like if you were out on your own?” Adam interrupted him, still gazing at the floor. “I’ve been on my own ever since I can remember; no mother, and some guy that called himself my dad telling me how to live my life. I used to spend some nights wondering how things would have been if Team Rocket had never existed.”

            “No mother?” James gasped.

            “Well not one I can remember,” Adam replied, his voice growing somewhat shaky.

 

            “I recall somebody, but the images are so blurry and they…they hurt so…”

 

            James looked on in surprise as Adam forced back a sob. This was a side to the normally sullen and cold figure that he was never aware existed. But knowing that Adam had such a side came off as strangely inviting to him. James found himself wanting to get to know the boy more; to take on the big brother role and try to make Adam feel better.

            “It’s okay,” he told the shuddering figure in what he hoped was a reassuring tone. “You don’t have to force yourself. I understand.”

            “How could you understand?” Adam hissed.

            “Well regardless of what you might think, my life hasn’t been all rainbows and buttercups,” James responded in annoyance. “Forced to follow a strict regime as a child by my never-satisfied parents, assigned to marry a woman who knew not how to love, only how to cause me endless pain. Enduring repeated failure after failure after failure does things to a guy, y’know? I might have been smiling on the outside but I was being torn apart within.”

            A tenuous silence followed. Adam glanced up at James, and for the first time since they’d met he noticed a faint glimmer of respect in the boy’s eyes. But it was quick to be overthrown by remorse.

            “Haven’t been the best of travelling companions, have I? I’d spent all my time wallowing in my own jealousy, thinking that you’d had it easy. Seeing how well you got on with the others. I wanted that life, those friends, but now I realise it wasn’t how it seemed.”

            “That’s not completely true,” James smiled faintly. “I do get on well with the others, and they are my friends. They’re yours too; you just got to open up a little more sometimes and show them that you appreciate their company.”

            “One more thing,” Adam continued, appearing desperate to tell all he could before his internal defences shut his emotions off from the rest of the world yet again. “Back when I first met you I guess your appearance threw me off. The colour of your hair kinda reminded me of my dad.”

            “That would explain the huge grudge you had against me from the start,” James commented, glancing up at his tiny forelock. “To be honest, your face reminded me of someone too.”

            “It did?” Adam blinked.

            “Yeah,” the man replied guiltily. “Your eyes and the hair coming down across the forehead - it’s vaguely reminiscent of the kid that used to toss me, Jessie and Errol into the air daily.”

“Heh,” the adolescent smirked, before realising what he was doing was rather heartless and consequently smothering the expression. This caused James to chuckle.

“So you do care,” he grinned cheekily. Adam responded by lifting his hand and scratching the back of his head awkwardly; all this confession and realisation was beginning to make his brain hurt.

“We got more in common than I realised,” the adolescent nodded. “I’m…sorry for how I’ve acted these past few months.”

“It’s okay,” James replied warmly. “The past is the past. Just because things were difficult between us then doesn’t mean they have to be now, eh?”

“You’re right,” Adam said, a peaceable smile returning to his face as he lay back down to sleep.

 

“Thank you…James.”  

 

The man couldn’t help beaming upon hearing Adam refer to him by his name for once. It seemed that this period of separation had drawn the youth to give deeper thought to his circumstances. And if that had been a glimpse of Adam’s true self, then James figured he could even grow to enjoy being around him. He might have looked somewhat like Ash, but he lacked the bravado and egotism that had made that particular trainer so obnoxious.

Getting to his feet, James tilted his head to one side and gazed down at Adam’s slumbering form in much the same way as a proud father might inspect his son. Tomorrow would bring many challenges, but for the moment James’ younger companion rested in the knowledge that he’d overcome a few of his own that night.