"It’s a pokemon museum so hence, there isn’t much left of it. Even some of the workers and scientists here gave in to Team Rocket and joined them, completely out of fear. There’s only a few left that stayed behind and live in this place. One of them, Joyce Barber is a good friend of mine. The day Team Rocket took over was her first year of her career, at the time she was getting along quite nicely with everyone else. Here, we have to go around this way. The front’s all locked up…" Brock said, Ivory noticed boards of wood nailed to the front doors from the inside with chain at the handles.

"C’mon," Brock said quietly, she eagerly followed. For some reason, she felt like she was being watched…

"Here," They went through some bushes and Ivory spotted a side-door that was equally barricaded.

"Are you sure someone still stays here?" Ivory asked uncertainly.

"Yep, come here every now and then to deliver her groceries, she hates going outside now you know?" Brock said as they went up to the door and he knocked softly with the side of his right hand. "Joyce! Rock with friend!"

"Rock with friend?" Ivory repeated, Brock shrugged.

"In case anyone is listening." Brock said, obviously referring to Team Rocket. But how would that help them if they were watching them right now, all they had to do was barge right on in…

Ivory jumped when she found another pair of eyes stare at her, a whole face she could see however. It was a pale woman with violet hair brought back in a long French-braid and weary silver eyes.

"Ah Brock, and you are?" she opened the door with ease, it became clear that she was only faking people out with the boards (that were actually glued to the door). Ivory looked at Joyce.

"My name is Ivory Koguu ma’am," Ivory answered, Joyce smiled.

"So you’re that trainer Brock told me about," Joyce said, Ivory looked up at Brock questionably.

"We’ll talk about it inside," Brock said as he placed a hand on Ivory back and hurried her in, shutting the door behind himself. "I call her on her own poke’gear at least five times a week, mostly about news from the ‘Outside’ or daily things." Ivory nodded in understanding, in a place like this, how was a phone capable of working?

"So why are we here then? I don’t see you carrying any groceries," Ivory pointed out, Joyce laughed.

"Didn’t tell her eh Brock?" Joyce asked with mild amusement.

"Thought you would like to explain most of it," Ivory looked from one eager face to the other. She found it hard to believe she just met them.

"Well, all right. It’s this way, found it just the other day when I was doing a bit of organizing." Joyce said as she led them out of the tiny back room they were in.

Oh yes, marvelous job… Ivory thought sarcastically as she fond herself along with Joyce and Brock a room that appeared to have had a tornado disaster.

"Where’s Caleb?" Brock asked as he jumped over a broken cashier. Ivory made her way through piles of trash, Joyce must have hidden well through this raid…and cobwebs were just about everywhere, Joyce must have done the exact opposite of ‘organizing’.

"With it," Joyce answered as she came to a door, slowly she opened it and then opened it wide enough for them to come in. "Hurry," Joyce motioned for them to hurry inside; she instantly shut it after Brock.

"What is it?" Brock asked, turning to look at her.

"Oh nothing, must have been my paranoia," Joyce replied.

"What was it Joyce?" Brock asked, Joyce shrugged.

"Thought I heard footsteps, but I hear things I shouldn’t nowadays…" Joyce said, Brock however, still fondled with a poke’ball at his waist, Ivory itched for one of her own as well. She was getting uneasy now that Joyce mentioned it, if not before she entered the building. "This way…"

Carefully they treaded through another dirtied room, Ivory and Brock constantly on the lookout. Ivory had to wonder how the woman lives with this, no pokemon, no noise, only with one other person? Being alone with all those memories of that day…

"Caleb? They’re here," Joyce said to no one Ivory could see, but when she opened a door and a bit of light streamed through the widening crack, Ivory saw the aged man named Caleb clearly. He was balding but there was still a bit of white hair around his scalp with a mustache under his nose. You could tell however, that he was smiling when his eyes fell on the young trainer and gym leader.

"Ah…Brock, nice to see you again. You must be Ivory Koguu I assume," Caleb greeted, shaking Ivory’s hand and giving Brock a warm pat on the back. "I suppose Joyce told you all about what I came across. It’s been here the whole time and we haven’t discovered anything peculiar about it till just a few days ago…" Ivory looked at Brock, he was grinning ear to ear.

"What?" Ivory managed to ask, as Joyce and Brock seemed frozen at the time.

"You see this?" Caleb picked up something and turned around and showed it to her, he revealed in his hand a round, smooth amber piece, something was frozen inside – a bug perhaps?

"This is Amber, a fossilized remnant of sap with what I suspect as Pokemon DNA from over a million to 5.2 billion years ago. I can’t detect the exact date however, but the lab on Cinnabar should provide you with what information there is on it." Caleb explained, Ivory’s eyebrows went in two different directions.

"What’s it to me? And why are you all smiling like that?" Ivory growled, looking from one person to the other. She felt extremely left out on something…

"Don’t you get it dear? As soon as Brock met you and you defeated him, he knew you would be the one." Caleb said, his eyes twinkling.

"Uhhh…" Ivory looked blank.

"We want you to deliver this tot he lab on Cinnabar along your travels," Joyce explained quite promptly.

"Ohhh…that’ll all? No sweat, I just need to figure out how to get to Cerulean in one piece and then so on and so forth. There is no concern over me to get to Cinnabar now is there?" It was no mystery to them that she was just being sarcastic, Ivory beamed. "Sure, I’ll do that." No one lightens up anymore…

"Excellent!" Caleb rejoiced.

"Not so loud sir," Joyce scolded, Caleb muttered an apology.

"But we would feel more comfortable if you trained a bit more you know? You were almost killed by Team Rocket if I hadn’t come along." Brock said.

"I can make it all out myself I assure you-"

"No, that rescue was by complete luck! You were luck that Onix and I were tunneling that day," Brock explained firmly. "We would all be very much more comfortable about your survival if you stayed for a bit and trained up a level or two." Ivory started.

"What? I didn’t get all the way from Pallet and through Viridian by chance you know! I’ve got instincts and they’re quite-"

"Don’t be so naïve, we know you’re young, I know I’m young. But I’ve done face-to-face battles with Team Rocket before; back then they were hardly as dangerous as they are today. They didn’t have power back then but they as sure as hell do now, so please, just do this for us." Brock stated sternly, Ivory sighed. Knowing all three pair of eyes was on her. Inside their balls, Kameko and Aldara sighed, knowing what was going to happen.

"Fine, if it’ll make you happy." Ivory agreed dully; defeated. They all let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you young lass," Caleb said. "Now…you better get going." He took her hand and put the Amber in it.

She closed her fingers around it.

"Sorry you didn’t get to see much of the museum," Brock apologized as they walked back to the Pewter gym. Ivory sighed again, throwing her arms behind her head.

"Whatever…"

That night Ivory safety assumed that Brock knew she was going to bed as he tucked in his family along with Flint. Both wished her a good night and she shut the door and locked it. Ivory hurried to her bed and placed her emo bag on it.

I can’t stay…thanks though… She quickly jotted down a thank you note on paper and folded it up and placed it on her pillow as she then sat down on the bed. She would wait till the rest of the lights went out and Brock and Flint were deep in slumber. She would leave then…

Unnoticed.

Eventually, the faintest light was put out and footsteps went dead as the night wore on. Thankfully Ivory’s energy had yet to diminish and she carefully opened her window, the emo bag swung over one shoulder. Kameko and Aldara’s balls strapped to her belt. As she climbed out and shut the window the best she could from the outside, she began scaling the roof for the tree not far from the rain pipe.

She remembered what Richard told her, Team Rocket scouted the areas after dark. She sincerely felt like a Nina there in the shadows of the crevices of the roof. It felt awesome!

She grabbed hold of the skinny tree that swayed slightly with the breeze the night gave. Firmly putting her legs around it she began climbing down. Keeping her ears and eyes on full alert. Thankfully she wore mostly black.

With hardly any effort, she dropped down the rest of the way and landed clumsily against the ground, gaining her balance she stood still. Listening and watching for anything out of the ordinary. She didn’t want to catch attention and stir up trouble when she was just now escaping from a gym!

Silently, she hurried around the corner and behind some bushes, she herself felt like a Rocket for a minute there, scouting; seeing if the path was clear she zoomed across to another batch of bushes. Free of those cowardly criminals here too. Her luck was at its top notch after all!

For the next forty minutes it was like this, quiet, and still. Shockingly, Ivory found the beginning of Route 3 without as much as a sinister pair of Rockets in sight!

Maybe this journey won’t be any harder than any other normal pokemon trainer after all! Ivory thought hopefully as she looked around again for Team Rocket. When she neither heard nor saw anything, she made her way out of the bushes, but almost at once, did footsteps come to her ears.

"Hurry it up! We are to be at Mt. Moon by midnight tonight! No excuse to tardiness!" a gruff voice shouted, Ivory dived back into the bushes, soon after a troop of Rockets ran by, it came to her that it was the same ones that cornered her with those camerupts. The leader the same too.

Mt. Moon? Why are they heading there? Oh yes…security reasons… Ivory thought with a hue of sarcasm. She watched them disappear down Route 3, she quickly pursued. The route was pretty lifeless, trainers were rumored to gather here to battle out their prized pokemon, but it didn’t seem met to be. There were batches of grass, but neither wind nor pokemon disturbed their motionless state.

"You two station five, the rest of you follow me!" It was the ‘RT Executive’ (the leader of the troop) ordered, Ivory peeked out through the long blades of grass she had recently hid herself in. She was now in Route 4, Mt. Moon’s cave entrances only about twenty-five meters away. With two measly Rockets guarding, partially asleep. They weren’t suspecting a thing! Did they even think twice about who they chasing down earlier?

As much as I feel the need to battle…I think I better stay hidden… her thoughts were interrupted when she spotted Rockets running past her hiding place. Or better get a move on before I am found! My best chance of doing this is knocking those two out! She smirked, as soon as the coast was clear she strolled out of the grasses, apparently looking like an innocent by-passer.

"Hey kid! Get back home its way past curfew!" one of the Rockets (whom finally spotted her when she was ten feet away from them,) shouted. She pointed at herself and blinked innocently.

"Are you by any chance talking to me?" She asked in a sweet voice, they jumped, but recovered quickly.

"Yes we are! Scram would ya! Don’t feel like callin’ up the boss!" the same Rocket replied.

"Who? That guy? I just saw him pass by looking quite determined, you shouldn’t go calling people back it could make him very mean!" Ivory cried out, "and if he’s mean then all three of us could get in trouble! And all I want to do is get back home!"

"You live in Mt. Moon here?" the other Rocket asked, slightly confused.

"Of course not! I live in Cerulean, I accidentally got lost searching for berries a while back and discovered a cave. I grew curious and wandered inside, by the time I found a way out, I found myself in Pewter City. A bunch of you went into the cave soon after and I was scared so I came this way through Mt. Moon!" Ivory’s eyes shined. The Rockets sweat-dropped.

"Well…"

"Please! My Mama must be so worried and she’s sick in bed! So I’m the only one who can cook for my seven brothers and sisters that are only five or so years old! My daddy works all day so if I’m gone any longer! What’ll happen to my family?" Ivory faked tears this time, the Rockets looked at one another and looked back at her, smiling very oddly. They obviously didn’t smile very often…too much smirking she supposed.

"Er…go ahead, just don’t let anyone see ya!" The first Rocket said.

"Oh thanks a bunch!" Ivory cried as she ran in headfirst. The Rockets looked at one another, than shrugged. Unknown to them, Ivory was anything but a harmless little berry-picker.

They were sweet! Probably don’t have enough ‘Rocket spirit’ in them. I wonder if they were forced to join Team Rocket… Ivory thought as she whisked away from behind boulder to boulder.

"…If I stand here any longer I’ll fall asleep standing up…" someone moaned.

"Stop whining already! I’m tired too," someone else snapped. She peeked over a small rock and spotted a couple more Rockets, armed with poke’balls at their sides. She spotted machinery behind the cavern wall they leaned against.

Could they be looking for the moonstone? Ivory thought.

"It shouldn’t take so long to find it I mean, would a moon stone look like any other stone?" the first asked with a yawn.

"Dunno, never seen it myself. Ever since they took everything from the Pewter Museum, the only things possibly left of it all is in the labs down in Cinnabar." The other growled.

No! Ivory felt the bulge in her pocket where the Amber was, were there going to be any helpful scientists down there now that would help her with this? Probably not…but it was worth the struggle to find out. She was after all, curious about this possible pokemon that dwelled within it.

Ivory maximized Aldara’s ball, if there was a time for battling, it was now.

"G-"

"Rocket Grunt 556 and 783! Are you chatting away again?!" a voice bellowed, she stopped her arm in midair and nearly lost her balance. There were more, possibly an executive? She couldn’t take on those yet! They were an upper class Rocket after all! The two Rockets stood straighter as an angry looking man appeared, big and bulky; he adorned a head full of ruffled green hair and piercing gray eyes. Ivory shivered, good thing she stopped when she did. She just hoped no one heard her…

"No sir!" they replied in unison.

"Good, I already dealt with the mangy mutts they put at this post before you two," he said, throwing a poke’ball up and down in his right hand, the other on his hip. "I don’t want to waist anymore of my energy on you! Now shut up and do what you came here to do!"

"More like forced to do…" one muttered.

"What was that?" the executive growled.

"Nothing sir!" the executive walked toward the Rocket, heavy footsteps echoing along the walls. He bent down and went face to face with the smaller Rocket.

"Know your place before I put you there myself Grunt," the executive hissed dangerously, the Rocket nodded quickly. Seeming satisfied, the executive’s back went straight and he walked back around the cavern wall. Ivory sat down on her rear, thinking.

Silently, she sat there. She heard all of it, the two Rockets whispering to each other in hopes that they wouldn’t be heard and the executive not too far from them grunting and growling to himself about ‘stupid plan strategies’ and ‘having no idea what they’re doing’ sort of junk.

She was sure she was going to sleep till a loud beeping awoke her from her deep thinking and the two Rockets from talking. It was the executive’s phone.

"Yeah? Team Rocket Executive Rico speaking," the executive greeted gruffly. "WHAT!?! THIS HAPPENED WHEN? OH SO YOU DIDN’T THINK OF TELLING ME!"

If she wasn’t awake before Ivory was now as she was now on full alert and planted on her feet and hands, ready to bolt if necessary. The two Rockets fiddled with their guns, looking nervous and twitchy.

"Yeah! I kinda figured they would head this way!" TRE Rico continued to shout Ivory grimaced. "I’m have the troops ready!" there was a loud bang Ivory figured was the receiver hitting the rest of it as TRE Rico slammed his fist against something.

Wires connected to lights that Ivory hadn’t spotted before blared red and gave off a horrid sound! Ivory slammed herself against the wall; there were Rocket troops heading from directions she couldn’t distinguish apart from the noise. She could only hope no one would see her among the boulders.

"ALERT! ALERT! Everyone to Mt. Moon stations at once!" the alarm bellowed through the cave halls. Hundreds of thousands of feet passed her, thankfully no one seemed to have come across her yet. Kameko and Aldara squirmed within their poke’balls. Ivory then realized, she had to get out of there. It certainly sounded like a battle; an angry one out for blood too as seething Rockets ran passed. When no one else came and with the alarm still going, Ivory stood up and looked around. Everyone had deserted their posts and went for the entrances to Mt. Moon, she could see several backs to her, but she did not see any executives.

Could they be in the front or were they planning a strategy from somewhere high or out of sight?

But she was willing to take the chance; it was either stay behind and possibly be killed or run for it for the chance of survival? The latter sounded good to her. With one glance back at the backs of the Rockets she leaped over boulders and went running past the cavern walls, no was there, and something shiny caught her eye. She stopped; whatever caught her attention was gone. She shrugged and hurried on.

She heard noises from Rockets shouting and pokemon crying out as she ran pass hall by hall, they were everywhere! And every one of them led to a guarded exit! She couldn’t simply dig out of here!

A ladder? Ivory spotted a rusty ladder bolted to the floor and up to a hole in a wall, well, she could climb to the top and climb down towards Cerulean…if it was possible. But her luck was still high, hopefully not going too low too fast…

I’ll take my chance! She ran to the ladder and began climbing it. When she came to the hole and she looked above, no one. She hopped up and looked around more closely; it was a lab of some sort. A pokemon lab…she spotted many pre-evolved and evolved pokemon locked in glass cages, all asleep or simply frozen in laying position. When she came closer, she paled.

She backed away all the way till she nearly fell down the hole she came up from, she was going to be sick…

They’re-they’re…oh gawd! She turned around, holding her stomach and mouth. Those weren’t cages! Those pokemon were wired within glass cases!

Dead.

What were they doing? What were they hoping to achieve through this inhumane act? Daring to turn around, she looked at them once more. They were pokemon like sandshrew, zubat and even a clefairy…all dead within those cases. But lined alone the back against the walls were cages, none of them were occupied but one. Slowly she walked around the cases, holding her mouth at the same time and approaching the cage. Her fingers rightly closed around the bars as she peered in.

It certainly wasn’t dead, but it was shivering.

A small ball of brown fur. It seemed to be only a baby. Ivory looked around, there had to be keys somewhere…there was a padlock on it.

But where could they be?

"He he…so you discovered our pokemon lab? Did you enjoy your visit?" a slick voice asked.

Ivory jerked around with Kameko’s ball in hand.

"Who are you? What are you doing to this place? What have you done to these pokemon?" Ivory shouted questions at the man; his black hair slicked back with a rat-like face and a lab coat. On first sight, she wanted to strangle him.

"Pardon, but I do agree that introductions are appropriate. My name is Professor Sebastion, I am the leader of this whole Mt. Moon unit." The man said, Ivory hissed. This was the man behind that Lake of Rage incident not too long ago.

"You’re name? I would like to know it before you are executed." The professor asked.

"Yeah right! You’re acting like I’m going to tell you! Go Kameko! Bubble!" Ivory cried as she threw her turtle’s poke’ball.

"Squirtle!" Kameko cried, the Professor gasped as the pokemon lunged forward, releasing a jet of a more powerful blast of bubbles then when she faced off against Onix. She was leveling up.

"Knock him out Kameko! One more Bubble!" Ivory ordered, Kameko launched another attack, this time the professor tried to scramble away but the attack caught him by surprise, he stumbled and his head made impact with the rocky walls, he fell to the ground unconscious.

"Awesome job Kameko now keep a look out for a minute!" Ivory said as she hurried over to the professor and searched his coat. "Ah ha!" she pulled out a silver ring of keys and hurried back over to the cage.

"Squirtle?" Kameko asked.

"They’re all dead but this one Kameko," Ivory stated in a disgusted manner as she tested out each key into the padlock. She didn’t need to look to see Kameko wince as she saw her fellow pokemon race lay dead as test specimens on the tables. "We can’t do anything for them, I’m sorry but we can only save one and this one is it." A soft click penetrated the stillness and the padlock opened.

The small shivering ball froze; two large ears stood up, but weakly lay back down. Large eyes blinked up at her, it was indeed an eevee pup.

"Hey there little guy, yep…it’s a he…" Ivory stated as the eevee’s tail swished warningly. "It’s all right…calm down…erm…what should I call him…eh! No…that won’t work…how about…Panther? Sounds good to me you know? So how about it Panther? You come with us and you’ll get out of here, sound good?" it was still just a pup, whether it knew the language she spoke in didn’t matter as Ivory was taking the eevee whether it liked it or not.

"…" Panther stared at Ivory with those big eyes, calming down but greatly shaken.

"Come on…there’s a good boy," she picked up the tiny pokemon and wrapped him safely within her jacked, the eevee remained silent, but eyed her fingers carefully.

"They’re called fingers," Ivory said as she twiddled them in front of his eyes, he continued to watch them with interest.

"Squirtle!" Kameko cried as she rushed to her side.

"They’re coming huh? All right, grab on! I don’t want to recall you since I know I’m going to need you some more," Ivory as she leaned down and Kameko sat on her emo bag. Ivory ran through the passageway, the other echoed of noise.

"Hold it right there!" a voice shouted as she ran past another hallway, apparently filled with Rockets. She kept on running however.

"Halt!" the Rocket shouted.

"Fine! Have it your way! Go! Houndour! Flamerthrower!" the Rocket ordered. The loud cry from the dark dog pokemon flew to her ears, the pokemon was gaining on her and faster, did the attack attempt to reach her.

"Squirtle!"

Oh yeah! I have a Water pokemon don’t I? She thought with sudden realization, but a sizzling sort of sound came to her ears, she looked down at Kameko, Kameko had been using Water Gun this whole time? Putting out the fierce flame?

"Great Kameko! Just in time! Uh oh! They’re not stopping!" Ivory pointed out as she looked around towards the running Rockets and houndour on her heels. "Look at that houndour! It’s adorable!" Ivory exclaimed. "Too bad its Team Rockets…probably darkened its spirits…ugh!" Another Flamethrower raced out of the dog’s mouth.

"Water Gun Kameko!" Ivory shouted, Kameko let out another surge of water, dousing out the large flame. "I know you can’t keep this up for long but do your best till I think of something! Oh dear…"

"Squirtle?" Kameko squeaked, afraid of what shocked her trainer.

"We’re kind of at a…" she felt her trainer stop after they came out of the cave, they were outside. "…dead end."

On a cliff!

Below them were the forests and if you looked up, you could see the city lights of Cerulean, they were out of Mt. Moon, but not out of the woods just yet.

Literally…

"Ugh…" she looked around frantically, hardly anything to climb down of and jumping was suicide…

"Ha ha! You can’t run from us now brat!" the Rocket shouted, smirking as he and many others hurried out of the cave, the houndour growling and baring its teeth.

"Not good…huh?" Ivory blinked as she looked down.

"Squirtle?"

"Well, might as well. No other choice now is there?" Ivory asked no one in particular. Kameko looked at her questionably. "Don’t kill me for this if this doesn’t all right Kameko?"

"Squirtle?" Kameko looked at the edge of the cliff and back up at her trainer, then back at the cliff; she looked back up at Ivory with pleading big eyes.

"Squirtleeeee…"

"Sorry," Ivory said as she turned around, clutching Panther through her jacket and one hand over Kameko’s shell.

"Squirt,"

"Well, ladies and germs! I bid you all a bad evening! Bye bye!" she jumped off the cliff, disappearing. With Kameko ‘Sqqqqqqqqqquuuuuuuuuuuuuuiiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrttttttllllleeeeeeee’ ing all the way down till the Rockets hurried over to see tree leaves jerk back upwards and the bushes below close back over from the girl’s impact.

"There’s no way she could have survived that, it’s like a five story drop." It was still dark, so none of them volunteered for the search of a possibly dead body.

"Let’s go, as long as no one knows she was here…"

"What about Professor Sebastion? He saw her, who else could’ve knocked him out?"

"I’ll think about that one, now let’s hurry! The Earth Organization is still here!" the Rockets ran back inside, meanwhile back down outside of Mt. Moon…