“The N-L0KR will have the containment security disabled in one more minute, Cass” Butch murmured, as he intently watched the device at work upon the computer console.

             “Excellent” Cassidy grinned, rubbing her hands together in satisfaction. With Jessie and James out of the way and the remaining occupants of the mansion in a state of hallucination-induced delirium, the fossil haul was as good as hers.

            Or so she thought. A moment later a high-pitched, angered yell was heard from the vault doorway. Cassidy stiffened in alarm as a small girl with magenta hair and noticeably oversized clothing stormed into view. Despite the figure's size, the darkened expression upon her face caused the child to look unsettlingly intimidating.

            Before either Team Rocket Elite could utter a word, a lavender-haired boy skidded into the room. His bare feet were unable to keep a grip upon the shiny tiled floor; as a result he ended up spiralling across it and slamming into Butch's legs, throwing the surprised man forward.

“Urgh! Get off me, Buhtch!” the boy squealed as he wriggled. Part of the baggy shirt he was wearing had ended up becoming trapped under the Elite's fallen body.

"The name's Butch!" he snapped, swiftly levering himself upright. Then the man flinched; the inaccurate exclamation was very familiar. He glared down at the youth that had managed to remove his clothing and was now trying to look defiant. Now he thought about it, the similarity of these stunted intruders to their long-term rivals Jessie and James was unmistakable.

“Hmmmm…it seems you two have been downsized” Cassidy murmured craftily, having noticed this also. Butch growled, picking up James in one swift movement and leaving him to dangle in the man's grip like a caught Magikarp.

"Didn't you ever learn to read?"

As a demonstration the emerald-haired man flicked his arm forward, sending James flying across the room. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, expecting a very painful impact. But then the boy felt himself halted in midair. Upon opening his eyes again, James realised Brock had caught a hold of him before he had a chance to hit the wall.

The twerps really aren't that bad when they're not intent on charging me full of electricity, he thought with a grin as he was lowered to the ground again. Misty glowered at the Team Rocket Elites; Jessie and James may have been a persistent source of annoyance but taking advantage of their regressed status in such a way was just downright low. Especially when, for some unknown reason, the Intermediates had decided to take the side of righteousness.

“You’re disgusting!” she spat, but Cassidy dutifully ignored her and continued to aim her attentions at Jessie.

“Fancy working in tandem with children," the woman remarked.

"I never thought you could sink any lower than you already had done but I guess you proved me wrong.”

             “What are they talking about?” Kim asked, looking puzzled. Jessie furrowed her youthful brow in annoyance.

             “It’s not important,” she muttered, gritting her teeth in Cassidy’s direction.

             “No more talking. Lets battle!”

             "That's more like it!" Ash exclaimed, grinning and bringing out two of his Pokéballs. But Ruby held them back.

            "You can't fight Pokémon in here!" she exclaimed.

            "This room contains some very sensitive equipment; if it gets destroyed..."

            "We understand," Brock nodded, moving toward Ash and pushing the trainer's raised arms down by his sides.

            "Don't we, Ash?"

            "Awwww..." the adolescent whined in response. It was obvious that despite understanding, he didn't appreciate the fact his show of bravado had been cut short. The device behind Butch bleeped, having completed the process of unlocking all the fossil containment units.

            "Well we'd love to hang around and chat, but time is of the essence," Cassidy remarked, slipping on a gas mask and lifting one of the unit lids.

            "So here's an essence that I'm sure you'll all enjoy!"

            Brock and Ruby dashed forward to intervene only to be engulfed in a thick violet plume from the Adenoid Stimulatory Fabrication Unit in Butch's gloved hands. Jessie gasped and hurriedly covered up her mouth and nose, but the air was now so thick with modified Stantler scent that she was having trouble seeing much at all. Ash coughed and scrabbled for the Pokéball containing Noctowl that was on his belt, then someone's hand grasped his arm tightly. Looking up in alarm, the trainer gasped as he took in the sight of a tall, well-built figure with slightly ruffled dark brown hair dressed in a Tauros-hide jacket and jeans.

            "D-dad?"

            "Back down, Ash," the figure boomed

            "These criminals are too strong for you."

            "What do you mean?" Ash spluttered.

            "I've fought them before! I drove them away!"

            "And only because of that Pikachu by your side," came the stone cold response.

            "How would you have fared without? Face it, Ash... that Pikachu has been the main reason for what 'successes' you've had."

            "No..." the trainer felt his knees beginning to weaken as his voice wobbled. How could the one person he'd respected and sought praise from strike him down in such a way.

            "You're a disappointment to your father," the figure continued regardless.

            "Lazy, short-sighted and far too reliant upon luck. I suppose you didn't even reach the top five in the Indigo League Tournament.

            You'll never reach my standards as a Pokémon Trainer."

            "I can do better! I promise!" Ash pleaded. But the figure was not listening. Instead, he heaved a dispirited sigh and began to walk off.

        Jessie winced as she felt the effects of the Stantler scent beginning to sink in. A short distance away Ash was crumpled upon the tiles sobbing with his head in his hands while Brock was backed up against a wall jabbering frantically at nothing in particular. Ruby and Kim clung to each other with looks of utmost terror upon their faces, Misty screamed about non-existent Gyarados and James ran around in circles yelling that he seriously didn't want to get married.

        Hanging her head with a slight groan, Jessie's eyes shot wide open as she noticed tufts of magenta scattered about her feet. Raising her hands upward, the youthful figure uttered a horrific yell upon discovering the worst thing possible had happened. Her beautiful long hair had been severed from her head, leaving nothing but a stomach-churning stubble to greet her fingertips. 

Cassidy laughed musically as she watched this ridiculous scenario unfold. Each of their victims was trapped in a world of their own, completely oblivious to reality and no longer a threat to them.

"Got the lot, Cass," Butch announced, hauling the sack filled with fossils over his shoulder.

"Good," came the simple reply.

"Now let's get out of here, before that Stantler scent gets up my nose too."   

Suddenly a torrent of icy water came out of nowhere, raining down upon Butch and Cassidy’s heads and causing them to cry out in shock. A creamy coloured feline Pokémon wearing a gas mask and holding a bucket soon followed; leaping through the hole in the ceiling the Team Rocket Elites had made earlier.

"Nyahah!" it exclaimed, falling into fits of laughter shortly afterward.

“You little…!” Cassidy began vehemently in the creature's direction, then she stopped at the sound of her own voice. It had altered slightly. She then took a look at her partner, and screeched wildly.

“Your…your hair!”

“Your face!” Butch choked. The duo had, by some twist of fate, aged almost forty years. Cassidy had gained an array of deep facial wrinkles and Butch had an unsightly bald spot where his hair had left the top of his head, not to mention an equally unsightly potbelly.

            “My beautiful body!” the two wailed in unison as they gazed down at themselves, collapsing against one another with dramatic sobbing. Meowth took this opportunity to search for the vault's air conditioning system and turn it on to its highest setting. As soon as the Stantler scent had been filtered from the room the panicking occupants came to their senses. Ruby was quick to call the Police while Brock, Misty and Ash watched over Butch and Cassidy while trying to suppress bouts of sniggering. But it was obvious the Elites weren't concerned with escape in the slightest; even when the officers arrived to arrest them they were far too busy blubbering about their innate ugliness to care.

            "What just happened there?" Misty inquired, once the commotion was over and the fossils had been returned to their re-secured cabinets.

            "How come those two looked so old?"

            "I can only think of one explanation," Ruby groaned.

            "Jyngu spring water."

            "Jungle what?" Ash blinked.

            "Water from the Jyngu Spring situated outside Prism Town has most unusual qualities," Ruby explained.

            "But I had only been aware of it's ability to restore the youth of those who bathed in it, if only temporarily. The spring water's greatest flaw was that if the user got immersed in ordinary water, they would return to their rightful age. As a result Prism Town Council declared the spring an out of bounds area,"

            Brock's face had taken on a fiendish expression; it was more than apparent that he was plotting something. Kim, on the other hand, looked most upset having been more concerned with the sudden disappearance of her newfound friends Jessie and James. Ruby noticed her younger sister's expression and knelt down again to try to comfort her.

            "They've probably gone back to bed," she told Kim calmly.

            "It's been an eventful night, after all. And it's best we all get some rest,"

            "They could have at least said goodnight," Kim muttered, picking up Nico yet again. Ruby smiled sadly and gave a nod; she knew that with an idea of the spring antidote in his head James or his loud-mouthed companion wouldn't be around for much longer.

            But how could she possibly tell Kim that?