"I wonder if Cassidy is okay," said Jesse. "If she and Butch get blasted off, she won’t be walking for months."
"I’m not going to be walking for months anyway," said a voice. They all turned around and Cassidy came limping out the trees, balancing on two crutches. She was a little worse for wear. Her black dress had been torn at the hem, she was missing a glove, and her sticking-out blonde hair was in tangles.
"What happened to you?" asked James.
"Damn twerp and his Umbreon," said another voice. Butch, Cassidy’s Team Rocket partner, walked out of the trees. He was little better than Cassidy. His usually green hair had somehow turned magenta, he had several cuts on his face and a large tear on the torso of his shirt.
"What in da world did ya do to ya hair?" asked Meowth.
"Don’t ask," said Cassidy and Butch simultaneously.
"Anyway," said Jesse, "have you heard anything about Holly and Lily? Even if the police got them, I’d love to have the privilege of strangling them."
"Oh yes," said Butch. He pulled a newspaper article out of his trouser pocket and handed it to Jesse. "Read that."
Jesse scanned the newspaper and gasped.
"What?" asked James and Meowth.
"Look," she said, giving them the paper.

Flower Power!

Notorious mass murderers, Holly and Lily, who were recently captured due to numerous charges of death, have managed to escape from their cell in the Viridian City Jail. Nothing was damaged in the process of the girls escaping, but they are still at large. Keep your eyes peeled for any suspicious behaviour. There is a £20,000 reward if anyone has any information leading to their whereabouts.

"Oh God," said James, burying his face in his hands.
"Not again," groaned Meowth.
"Yep," said Butch, taking back the newspaper and rolling it up.
"You know, we might as well go ask your twerps what happened to Misty," said Cassidy. "She did help us quite a lot, and suffered a tranquilliser in the shoulder blade just to get them…"
"That would be great, but we don’t know where she is," said Butch.
"Like I said, we’ll ask the other twerps," Cassidy grinned at Jesse. "How do you know where those kids are all the time?"
"Tracking device," said Meowth. He reached up and pulled the charm on his forehead off. On the opposite side was a little screen and several buttons. On the screen was the figure of Ash, Pikachu and Brock walking through Viridian City. Strangely enough, they were discussing the escape of Holly and Lily as well.
Butch stared at Meowth with a mixture of revulsion and amazement.
"I don’t know whether to clap or vomit at you showing us that," he said semi-seriously.
"Why didn’t you tell us, Jess?" asked Cassidy.
Jesse and James continued staring at Meowth.
"We didn’t know!" they said in unison.
"It was just a small upgrade da Boss gave me," said Meowth smugly.
"Well, we’re right next to Viridian City," said James. "Look, they’re outside the Pokemon Centre now."
"What are we waiting for then? Let’s go!" said Meowth eagerly.

In the outskirts of Viridian City, Ash, Brock and Pikachu were all sitting on a bench outside the Pokemon Centre.
"I hope Misty’s okay," sighed Ash.
"Chu…" agreed Pikachu.
"Keep your guard up, Ash," said Brock. Whatever passed for his eyes were darting around the landscape, looking for something. "Those two mass-murderers could be anywhere around here. They’ll probably want revenge for what we did. I think Onix is going to be traumatised for the rest of his life now."
"Brock, those two girls aren’t going to come strolling up to us, put those electrocuting handcuffs on us and drag us off to the Team Magma Headquarters!" said Ash irritably.
"Don’t be so sure, prepare for trouble!"
"We’re here to warn you on the double!"
"To protect the world from devastation."
"To unite all peoples within our nation."
"To denounce the evils of truth and love."
"To extend our reach to the stars above."
"Jesse!"
"James!"
"Team Rocket, blasts off at the speed of light."
"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"
"Meowth, dat’s right!"
"Oh, not this again," said Ash.
Jesse, James, Meowth, Cassidy and Butch came out of the smoke cloud, arguing.
"Our motto is much better!" said Butch.
"Of course it is, it would win the ‘Most Rubbish Motto Of The Century’ award!" said James.
"Why you-" Butch leapt on James and pinned him to the ground.
"Hey, hey, break it up!" said Brock, dragging James and Butch apart.
"It worked!" said Cassidy.
"Pi?" said Pikachu, who was confused to why there were two Team Rockets.
"We knew you’d probably run away after we said the motto, so we set this up," said Jesse.
Ash picked up Pikachu and started backing away.
"We just want to know what happened to da Misty twerp!" called Meowth.
Ash stopped, and his eyes filled with tears. Pikachu leapt in front of him defensively.
"Pika pika pika! Chu pi pika chu pi!" said Pikachu angrily. Electricity sparked around its body.
"It says what has it got to do with us," said Meowth.
"We just want to know if she’s okay!" said Cassidy, sounding hurt. "You all helped us, and we are concerned for your safety. If we were capturing your Pokemon, it would be a different matter."
"Fine," said Brock. He lowered his voice. "Misty’s in hospital, and is terminally ill."
Cassidy almost fell over and broke her other leg, but Butch caught her just in time.
"WHAT?!" gasped Jesse and James.
"Yes," said Brock, nodding his head sadly. "The tranquilliser that guard shot was full of a very toxic poison, and it’s infecting more of her body. If the poison levels go up too high, then she might…" A tear slid down Brock’s cheek.
"But…they’ll be able to find a cure, surely?" asked Cassidy, with a note of panic in her voice.
"That’s the problem," said Ash. "They haven’t seen a drug like the one in the tranquilliser before, so they can’t predict the results. If they don’t know what the poison is, they can’t find a suitable cure."
"But they have those weird machines that analyse the ingredients in the drug!" said Butch.
"Tried that. Didn’t work. The toxic levels actually broke the computer they were that high. It couldn’t contain it. What if that happens to Misty?" whispered Ash. His voice was barely audible.
Brock put a hand on Ash’s shoulder.
"We won’t let that happen, Ash," he said, but he didn’t sound so certain himself.
"Pika pi chu," said Pikachu miserably.
Jesse felt an emotion she hadn’t felt in a very long time. Pity.
"Brock’s right. We won’t let that happen," she said defiantly.
Ash stared at Jesse.
"Are you offering to help?" he asked, surprised.
"Duh!" said Cassidy.
"She helped us when we needed it most. What would have happened if Jesse got shot and not Misty? But Misty valiantly said she wouldn’t care if she died, as long as we got them," said James.
"Well, if she died now, she wouldn’t be so pleased. They’re still on the run," said Ash nervously. He glanced around just as Brock had done before, as though expecting for the two murderers to jump up out of nowhere.
"See here, kid," said Meowth. "We are not, I repeat, not, gonna let that girl die. She has a lot o’ guts ta take on those Team Magma agents. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she’s related to Jesse, and that’s saying something."
Jesse produced a paper fan out of her pocket.
"What was that, Meowth?" she asked sweetly.
Meowth sweatdropped.
"Uh… nothin’," he said.
Cassidy suddenly clapped a hand to her forehead, overbalanced, and nearly toppled over again.
"Why didn’t I think of it before?" she said.
"What?" everyone asked.
"If someone knows about cures, it’s Harriet," said Cassidy, pulling a mobile out of her pocket. "She used to be one of the scientists at Team Rocket, but gave it up after a Victreebel she was experimenting on developed a certain habit for biting everything in sight."
"That was my Victreebel," said James sheepishly.
Cassidy dialled a number into the phone. The black screen suddenly took on the form of a lobby. The Team Rocket Headquarters’ lobby, to be precise.
A young woman with black and orange streaked hair and glasses answered the phone.
"Hello, Team Rocket Headquarters, Harriet Mild speaking," she said cheerfully.
"Harriet! We really need your help. Misty’s been poisoned and we don’t know if there’s a cure," said Cassidy urgently.
"Oh, hi Cassidy! Your leg all right? How’s- what?!" she shrieked, registering what Cassidy has just said.
Ash took the phone from Cassidy and started speaking at hyper-speed.
"My friend Misty is seriously poisoned from that tranquilliser that fool Raymond shot into her shoulder-blade and I don’t know what to do and she might die and…" Ash broke down and dropped to his knees.
"Let me get a word in edgeways, Ash!" said Harriet. She put her head on one side in a remarkable imitation of a Psyduck. "Right. First, I need to have a sample of the drug. Which hospital is Misty at?"
"The one in Viridian City," said Brock promptly.
"Okay. I’ll get Maria to take my place for now," she said. "I’m gonna hang up now. I’ll meet you as the hospital in about half an hour, right?"
"Okay! Bye!" said Cassidy. The phone went dead.
Everyone looked at each other, wondering what to do. It wasn’t very far to the hospital from where they were, so they had plenty of time.
"We can’t stand here all day," said Butch eventually. "Anything could happen to Misty in the meantime. We better get down there."
They set off in the direction of the hospital. Everyone talked in monosyllables, except for Ash, who said nothing at all. He stalked along with his hands in his pockets. Brock and Pikachu tried to get him to talk, but he refused with sign language.
"Pi chu! Pikachu pi pi! Pika-pi! " squealed Pikachu.
"He says cheer up, no point wasting your life moping around," translated Meowth.
"Come on Ash, what’s up? Persian got your tongue?" asked Brock.
Meowth’s fur bristled with anger.
"Never mention a Persian again," he said threateningly.
Ash sighed.
James bent down to Ash’s eye-level.
"Listen up, kid," he said quietly. "We all know you have a thing for Misty, which is most of the reason why we’re helping you. I know what it’s like to see your loved one in pain, believe me. We’re not going to let her leave. Okay?"
Ash didn’t look convinced. James grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him.
"No matter what you believe, we will keep her here!" he said.
Ash stopped, and a single tear fell down his cheek.
"How do you know?" he asked.
"I just do," said James simply.
Jesse stood in front of Ash and looked him straight in the eye.
"I’m not going to let her go without having some sort of reward for her courage," she said firmly. "Dare argue with me and you’ll be swimming with the Magikarp!"
"Don’t say anything, or you’ll meet da receiving end of her paper fan," whispered Meowth.
"Hey, don’t insult the Magikarp!" said Brock.
"In case you are forgetting, James nearly got us killed the time he kicked his Magikarp and it evolved into a Gyarados!" said Jesse. She gave James a stern look.
"It was an accident!" he protested.
"Ah, da good side of it is we have a human evolving-device," said Meowth. "On da down side, they often end up giving us long lasting injuries, often involving long periods of time in da hospital."
"Shut up, unless you want to evolve into a Persian!" said James, shaking his fist.
Meowth stepped backwards smartly and gave him a petrified look.
"You have something to blackmail him with now, Jamie," grinned Cassidy.
"Quit making eyes at him, you have Butch!" joked Jesse.
"Aw, come on, how about a swap?" pleaded Cassidy.
"Hey!" said James.
"We’re not a pack of Pokemon Cards, you know!" said Butch indignantly.
"Yes, but both of you are handsome to the core," smiled Cassidy, winking.
"And if you don’t shut up now I’ll do a Jesse and whack you with a mallet," said James.
"I still have my paper fan," said Jesse, gesturing.
"Stupid lovebirds," muttered Cassidy.
Ash couldn’t help grinning at them. He knew they were deliberately trying to cheer him up, and they were succeeding.
"I often wonder if you guys could get any stupider, but you certainly are good entertainment," said Brock.
"Time for the Team Rocket song, then!" exclaimed Jesse.
"No!" yelled Ash and Brock.
"Pika pi!" screeched Pikachu.
"You know us as Team Rocket and we fight for what is wrong,
We’re tired of our motto do we thought we’d try a song!" sang Jesse and James.
"SHUT UP!" screeched Ash. Seemingly out of nowhere he raised a frying pan above his head and brought it down on Jesse and James. This was an amazing feat, since Jesse and James were both about a foot or two taller.
"He has good Team Rocket potential," said Jesse, rubbing her forehead.
"He gets it from you," said Meowth.
"Insult her one more time and you really will become a Persian- just like the Boss’s one," said James.
"Look, I know you to are together now but ya don’t have ta take it out on me!" said Meowth.
Jesse and James glanced at each other, and nodded.
James held up his rose and threw it at Meowth. Meowth shrieked and ducked just in time, as the rose exploded, red petals drifting down from the smoke cloud.
"Believe it or not, Holly and Lily taught me a very important lesson," grinned James. "Never leave home without an exploding flower."
"Oh, very important!" said Meowth sarcastically. "Where’s your purse-bomb and your poison lipstick?"
James grabbed Meowth by the scruff of the neck and looked him in the eye.
"See here, you furry hairball. Jess and me may be together now, but that doesn’t give you any right to insult us or our friends in any way. Got it?"
He dropped Meowth to the ground.
"Gee, James, I didn’t know you cared," said Jesse in a girlish voice.
"Shut up," blushed James.
"There’s da hospital!" shouted Meowth. He started running up to a big white building that appeared to be deserted.
"That’s the hospital?" said Cassidy incredulously.
"Yeah. Just got reconstructed a few weeks ago," said Brock.
"Pi chu ka pika pi chu," reassured Pikachu.
"He says it’s better on da inside," said Meowth.
"Anything would be better than the outside," rasped Butch.
"Look, Politoed boy, what the hell happened to your voice?" asked Jesse.
"You really, really don’t wanna know," said Butch gravely.
"Let’s just say it involves several Scyther’s and a very damaged voice box," whispered Cassidy.
They entered the hospital. Jesse shivered. She had always hated hospitals, having visited them many times in her youth. The sight of those operating rooms was sometimes too much to bear.
At the desk a smiling Nurse Joy rifled through a pile of documents. Cassidy and Butch shuddered. The sheer happiness this woman emitted was practically inhuman.
"Oh, hello Ash, Brock, Pikachu!" smiled Nurse Joy. "Ah, Jesse, James and Meowth, right? Many of my sisters and cousins have been talking about you! You seem never to be out of hospital!"
Meowth winced as he replayed all of the injuries that they had had. He could barely list them all and each time he met a new Nurse Joy it got more and more confusing.
"Hey, I thought Nurse Joy’s only worked at Pokemon Centres?" asked Cassidy, confused.
"Oh, no!" said Nurse Joy. "Some of us are actually trained surgeons or just common doctors for humans, some for animals and some for Pokemon!"
"This is Butch and Cassidy," said Ash, introducing them. "They are also members of Team Rocket, but they’re not here to steal anything, I swear."
"Pikachu pi!" squealed Pikachu.
"I believe you," grinned Nurse Joy. "Now, your friend Misty."
She paused to rifle through some documents. Her eyes scanned down the writing and she frowned slightly.
"She…isn’t improving," she said slowly.
Ash’s eyes brimmed over.
"We’re trying everything we can to save her," said another Nurse Joy, coming out of an operating room.
"Thankfully, the poison hasn’t penetrated her brain yet," said the Nurse Joy at the desk, "But it is only a matter of time."
"Right little ray of sunshine, aren’t ya?" snapped Meowth.
"Sorry about our friend," said James apologetically. "He’s just a bit upset. You see, Misty helped us out of quite a tight spot recently, and it’s lucky any of us are alive."
He began to tell the full story, with the others elaborating and the Nurse Joys occasionally asking questions such as "And what next?" and "And then what?"
Once they had finished the story, the two Nurse Joys stood, gaping at them.
"Dear goodness," said one of the Joys faintly. "You’ve been through a lot."
"Especially with the injuries," said the other Joy, glancing at Cassidy’s broken leg and then at the stitches clearly visible through James’s hair.
"Don’t worry. The reason that casualty is our second home is because of that damn Pikachu," said Jesse.
"Pika pi chu," said Pikachu sheepishly.
"As for us, a twerp who has an Umbreon," said Butch. "Ouch."
"You do realise you should get the wounds treated immediately in case of infection or damage?" asked the receptionist Nurse Joy sharply.
"Wounds?" laughed Cassidy. "We have bones made of rubber. If we didn’t, we would have been wiped out a long time ago."
"Can we see Misty?" pleaded Ash. "Please?"
Nurse Joy held open the operating door for them.
"Normally we wouldn’t, but considering the things you’ve done recently…" she gave a theatrical shudder.
Ash peered fearfully into the operating room. Misty lay limply on the bed, connected to all sorts of machines. Tubes criss-crossed each other as they were connected to various places on Misty’s body. She wore an oxygen mask, but even with that her breathing was shallow.
"Misty?" asked Brock timidly.
Misty’s eyes fluttered for a moment.
"Where…am I…?" she said faintly.
"Oh God, she has amnesia," groaned Ash. He seized James by the shoulders. "You’ve had amnesia before! What are the symptoms?"
"Let go of me!" James pushed Ash into one of the plastic chairs next to Misty’s bedside. "I was only faking amnesia, but if my thoughts are correct, it’s a bit like getting Stun Spore. I know that feeling all too well."
"Is that…James?" asked Misty.
"Yep. And Jesse, Meowth, Cassidy and Botch," said Ash soothingly.
"It’s- oh, never mind," said Butch.
Misty’s eyes opened a little wider.
"Thank you…for coming," she said weakly.
"Misty, don’t say anything, you’re too weak," said Ash. His own voice was strained, as if trying to keep himself from crying again.
"Mist?" Jesse asked tentatively.
"Hi Jess," said Misty, her eyes closing again.
"We want you to know what you did was very brave," said Jesse awkwardly. She wasn’t used to saying thanks to people.
"Thanks," said Misty distantly.
"Is it just me or is she starting to sound like you when you’re thinking of a plan?" Jesse whispered to James.
"She probably caught a few habits that time we escaped from the Ursaring," shrugged James.
Misty’s monitor suddenly started bleeping violently.
"Misty!" yelled Ash.
Everybody froze and stared at Misty, silently praying.
The two Nurse Joys ran into the room. They breathed a sigh of relief.
"It’s okay, that’s a good sign, it’s just her heart rate speeding up a little. The machine will calm down eventually," said the Joy on the right. Both of them walked back out.
The monitor gradually slowed down and began beating at a normal pace. Everyone let out a sigh.
"Hello?" a cheery voice called from the lobby. Harriet sashayed through the doors, holding a metal briefcase. She was dressed in a short black dress similar to Cassidy’s with the insignia of Team Rocket on the chest. A white lab coat covered her shoulders and her hair seemed to have grown several inches. The black and orange contrasted with the white. Her red square-rimmed glass flashed in the light of the lamp hanging from the ceiling. It was a miracle how she could walk in the high heels she was wearing. They were a metallic blue and the heels made her at least a foot taller.
She stopped mid-sashay and stared at Misty.
"Oh my goodness…" she whispered. "I didn’t realise it was this bad."
She turned to the others.
"I think you better go," she said softly. "Watching this isn’t gonna be nice."
Ash looked as though he was about to be sick. He turned around and started to walk dejectedly back to the lobby.
"Hold on, Ash," said James, stopping him. He held out his rose. The petals shone under the light of the lamp. "This is a non-toxic one. Give it to Misty."
Ash nodded, took the rose and lay it beside Misty.
"Sleep well, Misty," he said, a tear dripping down his cheek.
Misty didn’t respond. Ash sighed and followed the others out of the room.
Harriet began unpacking her briefcase. If she had turned around, she would have seen that Misty’s hand was clasped tight around the rose, despite the thorns.

Outside the hospital, Ash collapsed onto the same bench they had been sitting on not so long ago. He broke down in tears.
"Shh, Ash," said Brock, looking helplessly at the sobbing Ash.
Cassidy glanced at James.
"Come on, you must know what to do!" she said.
"Why me?" asked James.
"Well, you cry more than Hutch, and you seem to know how to handle these situations in a more… sympathetic manner," Cassidy finished.
"Thanks, Cass," said Butch sarcastically. But he couldn’t help laughing.
Ash made a strange sound halfway between a laugh and a sob.
James looked at Ash. Inspiration struck him.
"Ash. We fought those girls just using our brain power and skills, correct?" he said.
Ash nodded, tears still streaming down his face.
"Well, we can save Misty using the same strategy," said James firmly. "No arguments, we will save her."
"And if ya disagree ya will have my Fury Swipes ta deal with!" said Meowth, sharpening his claws against a metal bin and raising them threateningly in the air.
Ash wiped his face and looked at Meowth.
"Okay," he said bravely. "Let’s do it!"
"Pikachu!" said Pikachu, waving his paws in the air.
"Wobbuffet!" cried Jesse’s Wobbuffet, saluting like a soldier. It had materialised when no one was looking
"Get back in your Pokeball, Blobbo," sighed Jesse, returning Wobbuffet back to his Pokeball. She burst out laughing, and everyone joined in.