The room came into a better focus. It was lit by a wide-angle spotlight that gave the equipment a threatening appearance. Errol groaned heavily and tried to make out the shapes that surrounded him as he lay, strapped firmly to the cold, hard surface of an examination table. As one of the figures came nearer Errol managed to pick out an unmistakable gravity-defying spiral of golden hair; Bonnie Radwell's identifying mark.

    "So here you are," she smiled nastily, brandishing a syringe.

 

    "The one that didn't get away."

  

Errol spat distastefully. The very sight of the woman sent a bitterness coursing through his veins for reasons far beyond his recent capture and retaining within the walls of the Team Rocket organization. But once again those reasons evaded him.

            “Whaddya want wit me?” he growled.

            “We have specific evidence that points the blame of the recent break-in directly at the now-defunct Intermediate Department," Bonnie remarked cooly. "You are the only remaining member with any knowledge of the plans that unfolded there.”

            She drew even closer to Errol and dangled the syringe tauntingly.

            “Tell me…who began the mutiny?”

            Errol’s brow furrowed, then a smirk erupted upon his face. He then began to chuckle to himself in disbelief that the woman would consider him shallow enough to give out such information. Bonnie pulled back in annoyance - It was an emotion that was short-lived.

            “Delcatty got your tongue, I see," she concluded. "Fine. If that is how you want it, then I certainly won't complain."

            An evil grin soon made itself present.

           

            “I’m going to enjoy this.”

 

            She stepped away and gave the syringe to the assistant that was standing next to her.

            “Administer the memory expellant,” she said. “And don’t let up on the dosage.”

She swung her icy stare upon Errol, who returned it just as easily.

“I’m going to get every scrap of information…

 

...even if it kills you.”

 

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

 

 

                What are dese…thoughts?

 

What are dese visions?

 

Did dis really happen… … or is it jus’ my imagination?

 

…it all seems…so surreal…

           

Errol’s eyes rolled as each wave of drowsiness and nausea brought on a new wave of memories. The drugs had taken a definite effect, and all the things that had been buried deep in the back of his mind were bubbling to the surface without him having any choice over the matter.            

He remembered now. He remembered it all; every failed heist, every misguided attempt at capture. Every smile and every heartache of his past. He remembered the faces of the two companions he had come to know so well, almost as family.

 

 Darkness…darkness for so long…

Behind da glass…sensin’ da movement outside, I can feel da liquid around me, da dull thrum of pain dat has taken a hold of my body and never let go.

             I wish I’d never said yes…never agreed…

It all seemed such a great idea at da time. I vowed to make myself equal, to make myself jus’ like dem.

 

Jus’ like dem…

 

            Suddenly he was brought back to that fateful day…two years ago. A Meowth standing there in a mixture of despair and anguish as those same two best friends of his grew closer and closer. He was being pushed away…and there was nothing he could do about it.

 

… I was jus’ too diff’rent…

 

            Eventually the Pokémon had decided upon the impossible. He had to make himself human. Really human; not just in his behaviour but in his looks as well. There was no other way about it.

 

            Dat was da day I left Jessie and James…and never returned…at least not in da same way.

 

            The scientists pounced upon the opportunity to carry out their new genetic research. Pokémon cell structure modification at the time was an unheard of process, but Team Rocket was willing to try every angle, at any cost to the experimented. Weeks passed, the tests and mutilation were constant and agonising. Hooked into a stasis cylinder the creature that had once been a Pokémon waited in anticipation as the figures outside the glass noted his physical progression.

 

Dose scientists were goin' ta throw me out after they had ‘finished wit me’ like I was some used garbage. Cast into da hands of humanity wit'out a lesson or advice…

            I returned to my partners’ quarters, hoping for a joyful reunion, but receiving somet'ing much more hoitful.

 

            Why didn’t dey see it my way?

 

            Dere was someone though…someone who sacrificed herself jus’ ta help me…she was da only one who ‘ad really cared about me since I ‘ad become human…

…my only friend……da name seems out of reach in my mind…

 

…where did she go? Where is she now…

 

…where?

 

The scientists around the table retracted as Errol wrenched upwards in an angry fury, his freakishly wide blank eyes staring through the figures in lab coats that surrounded him. 

“GLORIAAAAAAA!” he screamed, in desperate heartfelt misery.

“Gloria..uh..

 

...huh..

 

 

...hghhh…”

 

 

His exclamation trailed off into sobs, as he closed his eyes and fell back onto the table, shuddering. The final memory had been salvaged, and the reaction to its reminiscence had been a violent and painful one. After all that time, Errol finally remembered what had become of the only one to help him reach his deepest feelings.

The tears were streaming down his scarred face now, and Errol could not stop them, just as he could not stop the memories flooding into his mind. He opened his mouth and uttered one last sentence, before the next wave pulled him back under once more, into the realms of unconsciousness.

 

“Dey…took you away…from me…”

 

 

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

 

            “His brainwaves aren’t altering ma’am,” one of the messenger drones explained nervously that evening. “He just keeps blabbing about ‘being in the dark, behind glass’ and some other nonsense about a woman called Gloria.”

Bonnie flashed the drone an acidic stare. None of those details were of any use to her.

            “Seems our little ‘experiment’ has more will than I thought…” she growled. Then a sickly smile crossed her face. “Hmm…I thought of another way…” She faced the drone that was fiddling uneasily with the folds of her uniform. “Have you tried to find out where Errol was going to go had he escaped?”

            “He did mention he had to ‘find the others’…but how’s that going to help?”

            Bonnie laughed softly. “All we have to do then…is let him out.”

            “But-”

            “I KNOW WHAT I AM DOING!” Bonnie screeched suddenly, making the drone almost fall over in alarm.

            “Yes..m…ma’am.”

            “Let the little creature out to pursue his goals, and at the same time he will lead us straight to our prey…the ones who gouged a big hole in our operation,” Bonnie continued. “Attach the best tracking device you have and release that freak.”

Bonnie slammed her fist upon the table.

 

“Time will then be all it takes until we have those insolent exiles!”

 

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

 

“Well, tell me? What’s wrong with him?” Cassidy yelled at the scientist who was jabbing frantically at the control panel next to a small portable console that Butch had been hooked up to. The guy was in quite a bad shape; even though he was wide-awake he was shaking with a mixture of nervousness and the potency of the drugs the dart had contained.

            “Waswron wi' me?” he slurred, unable to string together a decently spoken sentence.

            “I..it’s hard to t..tell with this backup equipment, but it looks like your bloodstream has been infiltrated by cell-modifying antibodies,” the scientist stammered.

            “What are they supposed to do?” Cassidy sniffed obliviously.

            “Well, they have the ability to deprogram the biological structure of a cell, enabling the organism to gain totally new physical properties," the scientist explained. "They were dealing with stuff like this in the lab. In fact, it wasn't long ago before they found the antibodies worked, if but only temporarily. Making them permanent was set to be the next step."

            "Well its nice to hear your geekish babble and all," Cassidy dismissed the figure with utmost rudeness. "But how are you going to fix Butch? He can't have that kinda thing floating around in his system, who knows what it could do to him!"

            "Oh, I most certainly agree," the scientist exclaimed anxiously. “However we can’t remove the antibodies since our Citascope Units were completely ruined in that explosion. But according to this InsiScanner, the antibodies are dormant and so should not have any adverse effects for the time being. Hopefully your disorientation and speech problems will wear off soon.”

 

            Butch sighed, and fell back onto the chair.

 

            “What did I miss?” Jessie asked as she entered the room, uniform looking more than creased and hat put on at an awkwardly sharp angle. It was obvious she had only woken recently following the restoration of the HQ's psyshield

            “Oh, nothing your brain would understand,” Cassidy remarked dryly. “Butch was shot with this dart by that snivelling excuse for a life-form, Errol. Turns out it contained some sort of antibodies.”

            Jessie hid a smile at the thought of the ‘unfortunate accident’, but it quickly vanished as the tannoy in the room crackled into life.

            Operatives E-554-B-982, E-702-A-305 and E-703-A-306 are to report to Third Floor, Office A immediately.

            Cassidy hid an anxious grimace and turned to Butch, who was covering his eyes with his free arm.

            “I suppose we’d better go and face the music…sooner or later it’s going to hit us.”

            “Salready hi’ me…” Butch remarked. He yelped as Cassidy grabbed his left arm and yanked him into a sitting position. “Whav ised abou dointha?”

            “Don’t complain Butch. We’ve got to see the Boss as a team!” Cassidy snapped.

            “Buh cantspe proply!” he exclaimed with annoyance, but his partner wasn’t listening. She just walked over to the door and looked expectant. Jessie rolled her eyes.

            “Who cares if you can’t speak properly? That’s pretty much the same as normal!” she stated. Butch glared at her. “Anyway, if you’re that bothered about it, keep your mouth shut. It might do all of us some good.

 

Now let’s go already!”

 

The scientist looked up from the InsiScanner and drank deeply from a cup of coffee on the desk beside it. He had witlessly failed to notice the green alert window that had appeared in the corner of the screen.

Warning ~ Cell mutation process shall become active if cell system is contaminated with foreign DNA ~ Warning

The message disappeared from the screen along with the important information that would never reach the ones who needed to hear it, as the scientist shut down the device, and left the room to return to his duties.

 

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

 

            “I never thought I’d say this to you two but…that was a despicable display of extreme proportions!” Giovanni spat at the Elites who stood shakily in front of his desk. “How dare you try and take matters into your own hands, knowing full well that S-E supervision was needed!” S-E was the term given to Super Elites, top skilled operatives put in charge of the most important missions.

            “But…” Cassidy lifted her hand.

            “No buts!” Giovanni was past reasoning. “Your egotistic attitudes have cost the organisation dearly! This mess will take weeks, no, months to repair!”

            There was a stifling silence while Giovanni sat down and tried to calm himself by stroking the furry head of the Persian who was draped across his lap as usual. “Now those bumbling misfits are running free, along with an entire array of Team Rocket Information and the majority of my important scientific specimens!”

            “Dozis meayoo gonasakus?” Butch murmured with a worried glance at Cassidy for emotional support. Giovanni shook his head.

            “Not quite. I know from your previously almost spotless record that this was just a fluke. And to prove my point I am giving you a chance to redeem yourselves.” The man's eyes narrowed.

            “Bring me those exiles and the Pokémon experiments, and you shall be greatly rewarded. But if you make another slip up…not only will your work record be disregarded, but I shall see to it you never do an ounce of active duty again! You shall be forced to work as inner-HQ drones for the rest of your days! You hear me?”

            The three Elites gulped deeply, and nodded.

            “I am glad I have made myself clear," Giovanni nodded, calming slightly. "Very well. Pack your belongings and report to the executive office for further instructions.

 

            That is all.”

 

            As Butch, Cassidy and Jessie left the Main Office, Jessie heaved a big sigh of relief at the passing of what she thought would be a severe demotion. Cassidy brushed back part of her fringe.

            “That was fortunate. We got off lightly that time.”

            “But when we cross those deserters…” Butch growled, and consequently showed his idea by slapping his tightly clenched right hand into his left one. “They won’t be so lucky”

            Cassidy smirked at her partner, who looked at her with a puzzled expression.

            “I hear you’re talking normally again.”

            “More’s the pity…” Jessie muttered under her breath, and then cast a glance out of the window at the dark sky beyond. “You’d better watch your back, James, I’m coming for you.

 

Then you’ll find out why you should never mess with this woman’s pristine countenance.”

 

 

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

 

As the first rays of the sun poked their way over the tips of the clouds and across the green, tree-speckled grasslands of Tatto, it lit upon the stationary craft, laden with its slumbering passengers. Denise had driven all night until the others had drifted into a heavy sleep, and eventually brought the vehicle to a standstill in a clearing about a mile or so from Pyra City.

Caley opened his eyes and stretched in an attempt to ease the aches that had formed overnight from sleeping in the back of a hovercraft. His sleep had been so unsettled that it was proving hard to recall what part of his memories had been real and what had simply been the result of dreams. The trainer rummaged blearily amongst the contents of the satchel for a moment, before bringing out a vial of orange-green substance. At least obtaining James' antidote had actually happened.

In fact, Professor Gordon's response to what Caley had done had been surprisingly accommodating. Shocked at what the trainer had seen of Lance, Alistair praised Caley for his brave decision to take back the WaveOne generator, and his kindness in helping some of its misplaced operatives to regain some semblance of freedom. After giving him the serum that would hopefully be the answer to James' mutation problems, the professor told Caley he considered it best to stay at his student Julian's house until the Police had dealt with what was left of Team Rocket on the region.  

The trainer smiled faintly as he gazed upon Adam who was sprawled across the cargo shelf with his mouth wide open and Cyzel draped over his belly. He had been thankful to Mondo for rescuing his newfound friends' Pokémon, and doubly so to Errol who had retrieved his own treasured articles. However, he couldn't seem to rid himself of the confusion over Cew's last words and the guilt for Errol's recapture by Team Rocket; something which he felt partially responsible for.

And all those Pokémon, even the enhanced ones, just running free about Tatto - that'd hadn't been the plan at all. It was a mixed bundle of feelings that Caley experienced at that point in time. On one hand, it felt like a victory - on the other, it felt like a miserably unravelled defeat.

“What ime issit?” Adam mumbled, as Cyzel gave a tremendous yawn and stood up.

“The time? That’s a good quest-” Rose began, trailing off shortly afterward as a yell pierced the air. The yell happened to come from James who had also woken to discover that something was dreadfully amiss.

"I have...a tail!" he squeaked, turning around to show the long black arrow-tipped appendage that slinked out from between the narrow gap in the back of the labcoat he was wearing. Without a further thought, Denise took the vial from Caley hands, flung open the door and brought her foot out of the hovercraft. Another loud yell ensued, causing the girl to retract in surprise. This time it had come from Mondo, who was lying on the ground beside the hovercraft and was now rubbing his arm.

“Mondo?" Rose blinked, peering over the side of the vehicle. "Have you been sleeping down there all night?”

“I guess so…” Mondo responded. “I musta got pushed out. It’s real cramped in that thing.”

Caley raised his eyebrows as Denise took off to see to James.

“And you didn’t notice?”

“Nope!" Mondo grinned sheepishly.

 

"I’m a heavy sleeper."

 

"What's going on, Neesee?" James asked worriedly. "Didn't the antidote work properly?"

"We haven't actually had a chance to give you it," Denise chuckled, showing the man the vial in her hand. "Once we got the stuff from that professor friend of Caley's, I didn't dare stop driving until we were fully sure that Team Rocket was no longer chasing us. By that time, we were all too exhausted to stay awake."

"You drove that thing?" James marvelled, looking the hovercraft up and down.

"Well technically I designed it, too," Denise smiled.

"Amazing!" James grinned, before ruffling the top of Denise's hair playfully and making her blush. "I always knew y'had it in you. So...how did things go? I see you managed to get the generator out in one piece - how about the Pokemon?"

"That went as expected," Denise replied, looking somewhat downcast. James noted the expression and aimed his gaze at the hovercraft's cargo shelf before moving it over those still sitting upon the seats. His mouth dropped open shortly afterward.

"Where's Errol? And Jenna...and Kevin?"

"They...didn't make it," Rose sighed, approaching James. "Kevin and Jenna leapt off the hovercraft to lighten our load and Errol...well, he never made it out of the HQ. I only hope they are all still alive."

"Me too," James murmured. "Me too..."

"At any rate, we'd better get this antidote inside you," Denise reminded the man. "Before things get any worse." She motioned toward James' tail as means of emphasis - it was enough to make him pay attention, taking the vial and opening it before hurriedly swallowing the contents within.

"Bleaugh!" he exclaimed, pulling a face like he'd chewed on a Skuntank. "That tasted worse than my nanny's cough medicine."

"So long as it does what its meant to, who cares what it tastes like?" Adam muttered. "Sheesh, you complain even when we're trying to help you."

"You're trying to help?" James snorted. "That's a new one to me." He winced shortly afterward, as the tail that had been waving behind him suddenly went exceedingly stiff, twitched, then rapidly retracted back into his spine. Caley had to rub his eyes to convince himself that he'd actually seen such a thing happen. It had been fascinating, yet disturbing all at the same time.

"It worked! It worked!" Denise exclaimed excitedly. "How do you feel?"

"Kinda light-headed, come to think of it," James chuckled, scratching the back of his head.

"From all the relief, no doubt," Rose smiled. "I know we're all very relieved."

"Reel heaved, yeah..." the man responded. His speech had become distant and oddly slurred at this point. "Hey hissit just me...or athings darkuh all surden?"

Before anyone could answer him, let alone work out what was going on, James had collapsed face down upon the grass. Fearing the worst, Denise uttered a yelp and quickly threw herself to her knees to turn James onto his back. He was still breathing, and didn't appear to be unconscious. In fact, the man's eyes were wide open like he'd been force-fed ten cups of Rouba Brand Coffee. However in complete contrast, his pupils were exceedingly dilated, giving James a disturbingly unmindful, childish appearance.

"Is this supposed to happen?" Rose bit her lip, waving her hand across James' face.

"Who knows," Caley replied, getting out of the hovercraft to join his female companions. "It was experimental, after all."

"Well I sure hope its not permanent," Rose winced as James started to poke his tongue up his left nostril. Adam began to smirk. Then snigger. Very soon he couldn’t hold in his laughter and was rolling around on his back. Denise turned on him.

“How dare you laugh at another’s misfortune!”

“He doesn’t care,” Adam grinned, while James rolled about on the grass chuckling for no other reason except that Adam had been doing the exact same thing previously. Denise groaned.

“Perhaps if we get him to drink lots of water," Mondo suggested. “Or give him a scare."

“That’s for hiccups, stupid,” Adam told him rudely.

“Let's just give him a little more time for the antidote to work through his system,” Caley insisted. "I mean, besides this...uh...unexpected side effect, the antidote did what it was meant to, right?"

“Maybe, but I don’t know how much more of him ‘being like that’ I can stand…” Denise mumbled. “But if you think that’s the best thing to do…”

James belched noisily at this conclusion, sending some half-chewed grass flying into the air in the process.

“In the meantime,” Rose continued, trying to ignore the disturbing behaviour. “We’d better find some new clothes to wear. It’s going to be highly suspicious if people see four figures in Team Rocket uniform (and one in nothing but a lab coat).”

“Plus we need to get some food!” Mondo exclaimed with a pleading gaze.

“Yeah……before the drugged-up dimwit munches any more nature,” Adam groaned as James took to pondering thoughtfully over a clump of daisies.

“But how are we going to buy all that stuff?” Denise exclaimed.

“We don’t have any money!”

Caley fished about in the front of his backpack and brought out a small wad of notes, which he set about counting.

“I got about…five thousand PokeDollars.”

“Hmm…that would buy at least two of us a new set of clothes…” Rose remarked, and consequently shoved her hand down her left boot, pulling out the remains of her wages. “And I have about one thousand. But that’s still not enough for all of us to get something to wear, and get a decent breakfast…”

Everyone looked forlorn, even James, who had run out of things to devour. Then Rose struck upon an idea.

“I know…Sia might be able to help us out here”

“Who’s Sia?” asked Caley.

“My Meowth,” Rose replied, with a flick of her wrist as she gracefully tossed her Pokéball into the air. Out of the light sprang a feline figure, landing upon the grass in a dramatic stance.

“How can that Pokémon help us?” Adam sniffed, while Mondo looked on with excited wide eyes.

“Simple," Rose smiled coolly. "Sia knows a very special move unique to the Meowth species. It's called ‘Pay Day’, and it grants her the ability to gather dropped change from the surrounding area and use it as projectiles for an attack. The drawback occurs when there isn't much change to find, not to mention it takes up a lot of energy to use this move.”

“At this point, we could use all the help we can get,” Denise pointed out brightly.

“Yeah! And I've always wanted to see Pay Day in action,” Mondo exclaimed, waving his arms.

 

“Show us, Rose! Show us!”

 

Rose looked down at Sia to make sure her Pokémon partner approved, and upon receiving a nod in response the woman glanced back at her watching friends.

"Okay then," she began. "Which of you is going to volunteer a Pokémon as Sia's opponent?"

"Opponent?" the majority of the group chorused in puzzlement. Mondo snapped his fingers.

"Of course! For Pay Day to be successful, the Meowth has to be battling against someone. But I think my Amitera would be a little too strong for such a task."

Caley glanced at the Pokéballs attached to his waist with a somewhat downcast expression. He didn't feel his Pokémon were trained enough to take on another one belonging to a Team Rocket member. Adam simply looked the other way; in his opinion, Cyzel was just too much of a scaredy-cat to be involved in such a thing. Denise looked around at the others before uttering a slight groan.

"Fine," she murmured, bringing out her Rocket Ball and releasing the contents within.

 

"Rilly could use the experience, not to mention the confidence-building."

 

"A cat Pokémon versus a mouse Pokémon, eh?" Rose grinned, while the Aquarill took a nervous glance in Sia's direction. "Well get ready then, 'cause here we come!"

"Alright, Rilly... you know what to do!" Denise cried, thrusting an arm forward. Rilly took an attempt at a determined stance, before turning around with a confused expression. Truth was, he didn't know what to do. He didn't really know what attacks he was capable of; he just knew he could spray water on things. And Denise didn't happen to be any wiser on the matter. While this exchange of puzzlement was going on, Sia leapt toward her target, front paws raised high. A speck of light glinted from the charm on the Meowth’s head and scattered into the air above it.

"Focus, you two!" Adam snapped, noticeably anxious. Rilly swung round in surprise to see Sia diving straight for him. With a squeal of fright the Aquarill scuttled clumsily behind Denise, resulting in the unfortunate girl being pelted with several rounds of tiny glowing discs. Her work completed, the feline returned to a sitting position.

“Wow…” Mondo’s admiration was obvious as he counted the coins upon the ground while Denise rubbed at the sore spots upon her arms.

“I'd say there was about…five hundred and seventy three PokeDollars here.”

“That'll have to do,” Rose smiled, gathering up the money. “Now, we’d better get moving; we want to get to Pyra City before too many people are there to notice us.”

"Yeah, and I need to get this generator back where it belongs as soon as possible," Caley insisted. Just then, Sia leapt into the air screeching as James became bored of the conversation and decided to grasp hold of her tail. She retaliated by swinging round angrily and cuffing him sharply across the face before retreating to the safety of her Pokéball. Adam rolled his eyes as James began to whimper loudly at his unexpected punishment.

“The sooner he’s back to normal…” Denise began. “…the better for all of us.”

“Especially Sia” Rose sighed, picking up her Pokéball.

 

 

“Come on you lot, let’s go”

 

 

The Team Rocket members had removed their upper shirts that displayed the insignia, leaving only the inconspicuous grey ones underneath. Caley had leant his navy blue trousers and grey boots (from the drone uniform he had worn) to James, even though they were slightly too small for him, and a great deal of trouble was experienced by all trying to get James to wear them. The man was also doing his best to act his worst as the gang entered the already bustling atmosphere of Pyra City’s inner depths. And it wasn’t pleasing the others one bit.

“I never thought I’d say this but I’ve got a good mind to throttle him,” Denise remarked tightly, as James began trying to unbutton the lab coat he was wearing while at the same time making growling noises of annoyance.

“It wouldn't do any good,” Rose replied, pressing the call button on the pedestrian crossing. “He’s totally oblivious to his own actions right now. We’ve just got to put up with him.”

“Try to imagine we're looking after a mental patient,” Caley suggested.

“Yeah. A drive-you mental patient,” Adam added, gritting his teeth. The group crossed the street, Mondo tugging on one of James’ sleeves to prevent him from straying into the traffic awaiting the green light on each side of the road. Upon reaching the other side, Rose gazed up at the dizzying heights of the multi-storey shopping mall ahead of them.

“Now, which floor has the clothes department?”

Rose shrieked as she felt something grab her backside. Swinging round she brought her hand sharply into contact with her assailant, then drew back in alarm. It was hard to tell who was the more shocked; James for receiving the blow or Rose for giving it. The gap between the two figures widened as Rose shuffled in reverse, hand to her mouth.

“I…I’m so…sorry…”

Everyone just stood frozen to the spot in anticipation, watching James' eyes with their unnaturally dilated irises begin to flood with tears. They could tell what was going to happen next a mile off. The man burst into a volley of highly exaggerated wailing, sending the others around him into frantic attempts to calm him down. The display was naturally achieving a repelling affect from the public. And Adam couldn't help but contribute to it.

“Six-foot two-year-old for sale!” he announced dryly to the crowd that had gathered within a seven-metre radius.

“Shut up! Denise snapped. “Why don’t you try making yourself useful for once and-” She trailed off as James’ childish outburst had subsided. He was now engrossed with gazing through Caley's pair of black-rimmed, yellow ski glasses while chortling to himself.

“Well done,” Rose sighed with relief in the trainer's direction. “Now let’s get this over with before anything worse happens.”

“Or we all die of embarrassment,” Denise added, watching as the crowd slowly began to disperse, sending glances of curiosity and disgust over their shoulders as they left.

“You'll owe me if my glasses get broken, Rose,” Caley reminded her. Mondo offered the woman a rather disgruntled glower.

“Why’d you just flip out like that?” he exclaimed.

“Yeah, what happened to ‘we’ve got to give James leeway cause he doesn’t know what he’s doing’?” Adam muttered.

“I guess…I forgot and acted on impulse…” Rose looked the other way guiltily. “Anyway, that’s all water under the bridge now.

 

 

Let’s get out of here.”

 

 

            The travellers located themselves inside one of Pyra Mall's many clothing stores, amongst an array of exciting and sophisticated outfits. Rose preferred to shop alone when it came to purchasing new things to wear; unfortunately there was one figure she hadn't managed to shake off.

                “So…what about this?” Denise asked, holding yet another garment up in front of her companion’s face. She wrinkled her nose in response.

            “Um...Shouldn’t you be looking for your own outfit?”

            “No need. Already done it,” Denise beamed, holding up a hanger. Upon it hung a sky blue tank top with yellow rim and overlapping it a shirt with a dark russet colouring that blended into olive green at the bottom.

            “I’ll keep my own pants and shoes,” she explained. “After all, you can’t improve on what’s already good!”

            Rose’s mouth was still open from the amazement.

            “You’re done already?”

            “Done and dusted!” Denise nodded. “I don’t like to look too long. You see too many things you like, you start having trouble deciding. Now, let me-”

            “No!” Rose blurted out. Denise backed off, puzzled.

            “No, I mean…I’ll be fine choosing my own clothes. Why don’t you go and see if the boys are finished, huh?”

            “Sure thing!” Denise left, clutching her garments, and Rose heaved a sigh of relief. She knew the kid was only trying to be helpful but, in a manner of speaking, their tastes in clothing didn’t exactly match.

 

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

 

            Adam groaned as Mondo raced over to the sports footwear rack and started examining its contents. Having grown up wearing the same clothing day after day, he couldn't care less about what he was dressed in, so long as it wasn't humiliating. Trudging around places like this seemed like a huge (not to mention torturous) waste of time.

            “Level 5 Luminosity stripes and Base Air Pressure Dispersers," Mondo exclaimed, picking up some sneakers. "How that’s what I call technologically advanced!”

            “Bleh. How come Rose and Denise escape scot-free while we have to hang out with nut job and Shoe Boy?” Adam muttered. Caley frowned at him.

            “James is not a nut job!" Caley retorted in defence. "He’s perfectly-” The trainer deadpanned as he caught sight of his aforementioned companion trying a pair of boxer shorts on his head.

            “Perfectly weird, I hear ya," Adam continued in the same tone. “I still don’t see why we have to look after him. He’s Rose’s friend.”

            “He’s our…friend…too” Caley replied, straining to haul fourteen stone of James in the opposite direction of where he wanted to go.

            “Nawaay!” James wailed miserably.

            “Friend. Huh. Speak for yourself,” Adam remarked. Caley raised his glasses and shot him a quizzical look.

           

             “What have you got against him anyway?”

 

            A terrible scream, followed by a loud noise of colliding shelving, echoed around the shop. Other customers looked up in surprise and horror at the sound of the commotion, and Caley, followed by Adam, ran to the aid of Mondo, who was lying rather dazedly in a pile of shoes.

            “What happened?” Caley exclaimed.

            “The label sure doesn't tell you how sensitive the Base Air Pressure Dispersers are,” Mondo groaned, his eyes rolling upwards. “Damn things blew me backwards into these racks here. My back’s killing me but…I think I’ll be ok.”

            “Say…it sounds oddly quiet all of a sudden,” Adam mentioned, turning round. Then his eyes widened. “Oh no! He’s gone!”

            “Adam!” Caley yelled. “You should have been watching James!”

            “Me?” Adam returned the tone. “What about you? He’s your responsibility too!”

            There was a crash and some angry shouting further inside the store. The boys exchanged worried glances.

            “Oh forget who should have been watching him,” Mondo exclaimed. “We’ve got to get him back, before something real bad happens!”

 

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

           

Denise wandered past the women’s nightwear and lingerie department, stopping now and then to gaze longingly at a few choice items, when out of the corner of her eye she saw a black and red streak flash past. Peering round the shelf she was standing behind, Denise picked out a figure in a repulsive polka dot dress, wide brimmed summer hat and ill-fitting high heeled sandals running in a ridiculous fashion towards the other end of the shop, pursued by a security guard.

“Yeeheeheeheee!”

Denise did a take. “Hey…I recognise that laugh…”

Her fears were confirmed as three more familiar figures shot by, waving madly.

“Jaaaaaaames!” Mondo yelled. “Come baaack!”

 

“Give me strength…” Denise groaned, and, taking a deep breath, she darted after the others.

 

This escapade was certainly attracting attention from a majority of shoppers in and outside the clothes store, though Rose wasn’t one of them. She was engrossed in finding the perfect travelling gear for her journey.

“Too bland…” she mumbled, tossing aside each of the garments, one by one. “Pff…too childish…

…too formal…

 

…too weird!”

 

            “Woo, ain’t this just a perfect day out," Adam muttered, causing Caley to grit his teeth as the frustration set in. "Running through a department store after a senseless guy in a dress. Boy, I don’t know what could make this more complete.”

            At this point the heel of the right sandal James was wearing snapped, sending the astonished young man flying forwards, landing face down upon the shop floor. As the legs came up, so did the edge of the dress, giving all and sundry a glimpse of James’ obvious lack of underwear. A mixture of stifled gasps and giggling rippled about the bystanders. Denise winced in embarrassment, as she skidded towards the others, a little too late.

            “Ugh…that’s put me off my lunch…” Adam groaned. Mondo heaved a sigh as the shop assistants surrounded James, who just happened to be crying again because he’d ended up skinning both his knees. The security guard hoisted the mournful-looking figure to his feet by one arm before marching toward Caley and his companions.

            “Is this man with you?”

            “Err…yeah,” the trainer remarked awkwardly. “We’re sorry, we only took our eyes off him for a second…”

            “You keep a closer eye on him, kid," came the irritable reply. "People like that need a tight rein. And remove those clothes off him. They’re store property!”

            As the security guard stormed off, muttering something or other about ‘nutters’, the group shared a collective sigh while James looked on obliviously.

 

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

 

            “Rose, you clever girl," the woman murmured to herself with a smile. "You may have found yourself a stellar outfit…original and stylish.” She stepped out of the cubicle and marvelled at her choice in the full-length mirror. Bootleg jeans and white sneakers made up the lower half, whereas a similar coloured short top overlaid by a long flowing leather coat crowned the upper half. 

            Triumphantly exiting the changing rooms with the garments slung over one arm and footwear in another, Rose spotted Denise and the worried expression that occupied her face, not too far away. As she approached, Rose’s face fell. She had realised something had gone awry.

 

 

            And it was going to cost them dearly. Literally.

 

 

“Aww crud,” Mondo said later that day. The gang were seated on a bench in one of Pyra’s lesser-populated streets, most of them with their heads in their hands.

            “We’re broke, and we’re hungry,” Adam moaned bitterly. “And you have no right to complain, Mondo. You were the one who ruined some good pairs of shoes.”

            “Well James didn’t help either," the figure protested. "He broke some sandals and ripped apart a dress!”

            “Don’t remind me…” the others chorused miserably.

            “At least we had just enough to buy the clothes for ourselves,” Denise pointed out. “Even if it did mean forfeiting breakfast.”

            “And lunch…” Caley murmured.

            “And dinner!” Mondo wailed.

            “For the next month,” Adam snorted. Denise shot him a testy glance.

            “Now you’re just being silly.”

            “No…I think he’s right.” Rose sighed.

 

            “That’s how non-existent our money supplies are now…”

 

            There was a period of silence, only broken by some muffled chewing noises. Rose looked up to see that James had crammed part of his green turtleneck sweater into his mouth.

            “We’d better find some way to fill James, at least” Mondo replied hurriedly, as Rose struggled to remove the garment.

            “How about three tonnes of cement?” Adam suggested unhelpfully. The others glared at him.

“There is a possibility that Dai and Finlay may offer us a meal in exchange for bringing back the generator,” Caley mentioned. This caused some depressed faces to light up.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Mondo exclaimed, standing up.

 

 

“Let’s fetch that machine and take it back where it belongs already!”

 

 

Inside Pyra City’s Energy Lab, work had not ceased since the day the WaveOne Generator had been snatched from its rightful place. The scientists had been busy soldering damaged circuitry and repairing other damage caused to the computer terminals by the sudden improper removal of their most important device. Finlay had pitched in with his fair share of help while Dai wandered back and forth with a trolley, transporting essential pieces of machinery and tools to their rightful places.

Dai’s Elchog, who, up until now had been acting perfectly fine, started to growl and arch its back. It had spotted a figure skipping down the corridor towards them, and appeared to recognise it. Dai sat up and looked in the direction of his Pokémon.

“Who’s that?” Finlay said ponderously. His younger brother blinked in puzzlement.

“Whoever it is, Elethan sure doesn’t like them.”

It didn’t take more than James to come within a few feet of the electric hedgehog before it snarled and fired a vicious thunderbolt directly at him, lighting up half the laboratory in the process. There ensued a collective scream from the others, who had arrived a second too late. Dai looked up, and his confused stare changed to a look of delight at Caley’s arrival.

“Was he with you?” Finlay inquired worriedly, pointing in James’ direction. Surprisingly enough, he was still standing with the same wide-eyed stupid grin on his face, but now he was charred a sort of brownish colour and was smoking faintly, every hair on his head sticking in all directions like a lavender toilet brush.

“Yes…” Denise said through gritted teeth. “And that’s no way to welcome the people who risked their necks to bring back your generator!”

A smile lit up Finlay’s features.

“Really?” he exclaimed. “You did?”

“Uh-huh,” Caley nodded, motioning behind him. A few moments later Mondo staggered in with the generator balanced precariously upon his arms. Finlay ran toward Mondo with a panicked expression, grabbing the other side of the generator and carefully helping it to the floor before examining it for damage.

“Hey! There's a dent in the Wave Capacitor!”

“Yeah…sorry about that," Mondo scratched the back of his head. "It’s all Kevin's fau…

...ohhh…”

At this point, the young man's gaze had lit upon the technical splendour around him. His dark eyes filled with happiness and he trotted over to the scientists clustered in the corner, to see what they were doing. Dai watched him go with a weird look on his face while Rose chuckled at the reaction.

“He’s always been like that around machines,” she smiled. Dai nodded absently, then turned to Caley with an apologetic expression.

“I’m sorry about what Elethan did to your friend, Caley. It’s just…he looks exactly like some guy who tried to steal my Pokémon from me a few years back while me and my bro' were visiting Hoenn. Only that guy was wearing a Team Rocket uniform and hung around this woman with weirdly styled purple-y red hair and a talking Meowth.”

Caley bit his lip as the figures behind him exchanged awkward expressions. From the sounds of things it had been James who was involved in such an escapade, but the travellers knew better than to blab about their previous 'employment' to such people. Gym Leaders had links to the Elite Four after all.

"Sure hope he won't be too mad at me," Dai murmured worriedly.

“I think you're safe,” Denise sighed, watching James who was dopily poking at the Elchog’s spikes while giggling and receiving jolts of static for his trouble.

“Someone get him away from that thing before he short-circuits all his brain cells…” Adam remarked, with his arms folded. Finlay stood up from giving the generator a once-over and held out his hand.

“Thank you for your hard efforts, Caley. It must have taken a lot of guts and skill to retrieve this from under the noses of the Team Rocket organisation.”

“Well I couldn’t have done it without these guys,” Caley responded modestly, directing Finlay's attentions to his companions.

"I have to say I’m very impressed," he exclaimed. “Having such forethought as to gather accomplices to help you break into the Team Rocket HQ successfully. You certainly have much potential as a Pokémon Trainer.”

The others murmured between themselves, but made no moves to correct Finlay's mistaken assumption. It was probably better he thought of it this way. Finlay took to rummaging around in the right-hand pocket of his jeans and brought out a glittering, jewelled object shaped like the scientific symbol of resistance.

“This is the Ohm Badge, proof that your caring attitude surpassed even thoughts of your own welfare. We will be forever in your debt.”

“If there’s anything we can do, then tell us!” Dai said enthusiastically. As if on cue, Caley’s stomach rumbled loudly and he gave a sheepish grin.

“Well…it sounds like you’re in need of a good meal,” Finlay smiled. “That’s no problem at all! Just follow me; we have a canteen on the upper floor of the lab."

 

“Awesome!” Adam exclaimed.

 

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

 

            The group sat around the long canteen table with expressions of anticipation upon each of their faces. Finlay brought in a box containing an assortment of snacks, and no sooner had he placed it upon the surface of the table had James reached into it and brought out two handfuls of items.

            “Hey! Save some for us, you Grumpig!” Adam yelled. Finlay chuckled at the remark.

            “Your friend certainly has an appetite.”

            “Uh-huh,” Caley nodded slowly, gathering his next sentence. "I...I'm sorry I didn't manage to bring back Li with the generator."

            "That's okay, Caley," Finlay smiled. "As luck would have it, she managed to find her way back home herself. She's been helping with our repairs all morning."

            A cheer resounded from downstairs, which caused most of the group to drop their snacks, leap up and run to the balcony to find out the source of the celebration. The scientists had Mondo perched upon their hands and were carrying him above their heads in triumph while Li danced about their legs, uttering happy metallic chirrups.

            “What’s going on?” Finlay called down to them.

            “This fantastic boy here has solved all our problems!” the gym leader's father answered happily. “He’s fixed the Amp Spindles!”

            Finlay’s face was overcome with relief. The others looked at him for an explanation.

            “The Amp Spindles are the motorised turbines that are a major key to processing the energy,” Finlay told them. “Without them, even having the generator would be useless, as the energy produced by it would be too concentrated to pass into the terminals, and it would blow the circuits.”

            “They’ve been trying to get those things to work for ages,” Dai added.

 

            “He must be really good to be able to make them go just like that.”

 

            Rose gazed at Mondo, who was still being paraded by the younger scientists. His face was a picture of joy; it was clear that he’d finally found his niche in the world. She heaved a sigh and turned away from the balcony. The little guy had always meant something to her. After all, he never seemed to wear a frown for very long, he was constantly thinking up ways to cheer her and the others up when they were feeling low. And all that from a kid with no recollection of his real home, his parents…

            …or even his own name. Ever since he’d arrived at the Team Rocket HQ, he’d been known to all as "Mondo". No one could remember why the operative that discovered him gave him such a title either.

            Mondo had never outwardly seemed to want to find out about his past. It’s as if the ones he knew were the only family he’d ever need. There had been days when he had asked the odd question: “Where did I come from?” or such things, but it never seem to bother him that often. But Rose got the feeling he secretly wished to know something about himself and the reasons for his seemingly-unique ability to avoid Psychic manipulation.

 

            Maybe building on his technical talent would be the key to discovering that identity he'd forgotten.  

 

            “So you’re going to stay?” Denise inquired in shock from the front seat of the hovercraft that afternoon. Dai and Finlay had walked back with the group to the location of their transport, which had been an unexpected manoeuvre on their part. Even more expected had been Mondo's news for his companions.

            “Yup” the young man beamed, patting Li on the top of her shiny head. “This is a dream come true for me. I’ve always wanted to be a legit technician and this is the chance I’ve been waiting for!”

            “Mm…” Denise trailed off miserably. Rose gave Mondo an unconvincing attempt at a smile. Even Adam was showing signs of upset; their friend’s farewell was hitting them hard. James whimpered, sensing the aura of negation.

            “Mondo won’t let you down…” Caley said firmly to the Pyra Gym Leaders. “He’s been a great team player.”

            “I see," Finlay nodded. "It's understandable why you look so sad then.”