Right, okay, now prepare for a major rambling apology.

[Very long rambling apology session]

I am so very sorry it has taken this amount of time to update. I haven’t updated since 20^th December- 8 months ago. Now this is bad even in my books. Even worse I’ve had a fair amount of this written since New Year, although I made a large change to it (Thanks Grocko for helping me with that part- remember, the gym dilemma I had back in January? Even though it hasn’t really affected it now, I completely changed the plan last week!), affecting how this chapter was gonna end, so it took a bit of rethinking in my head, and changed my plans- a few times! But I do have my excuses, some extremely valid, some out and out lame, but they stopped me from working on this. Won’t say every single one, but the valid ones included I had to revise for a Science exam, but we had only learnt half the specification. On top of that, we had another 3 science exams and one Maths exam. This was a real pain, ‘cos I was constantly learning how to do equations in science (energy equations such as potential energy- bleh, plus electricity equations… such as potential difference= nah, I won’t bore you.), only to be written over again by how to do many interesting and wonderful things with fractions, throwing them out the window not included unfortunately, ‘cos I would have got an A* for that!

Right, and one very lame excuse for this being how late it is… moping over England losing to Australia. I moped for a week, then I oh so very nearly did a ritual burning of my England shirt, but nah, saw the bad side of it. I’d lose a football shrine!!!

Anywho you will never know how sorry I am about this, and I am also sorry for rambling. I will now shut up and let you read on.

[/Very long rambling apology session]

Disclaimer: I’m rolling in the money at present, but I’d need to multiply my money by 100,000 to buy out the Pokémon Company probably. So, I still don’t own Pokémon.

Well here’s the long awaited- *looks for enthusiastic readers, sees none -_-* * new chapter. Please enjoy, and review at the end… please? Here you go!

This chapter will be updated with a proofread version, read by my writing partner, and buddy Prof. Clo aka Karoi- Chan. Just please make do with this version. I don’t think much will be changed, but hey! I can never be sure.

Misty’s Journey

By Misty’s Double

Chapter 8- Team Rocket returns!

*~*~*~*~*

“Okay Misty, I’d better let you get to sleep then…”

“No, you’re alright. I’m absolutely fine, honest!”

“Oh, okay then. So umm… what have you been doing the past few days?”

“What do you think? I’ve been resting up… of course! It’s been so peaceful at the Gym, my sisters have been running around like headless chickens trying to keep the Gym organised, and looking after me… Where are you guys?”

“We’re on the Kanto side of Tohjo Falls, training.”

“Oh Ash, come on, I want to speak to Misty too…” Jo moaned. Ash ignored her.

“*Ahem* Ash, can I have a turn… ASH!!!”

“Alright Jo, don’t use Dragon Rage…”

“Why you little… Ash, get here!!!” Jo shouted, running after Ash.

“Err… Ash? You still there? Ash?”

“Oh, sorry Mist. Just got a problem with Jo… you know, she’s definitely got the same Gyarados personality as you…”

“Grrr… ASH, DON’T YOU DARE SAY THAT ABOUT ME!!!”

“Heheheh… OWW!!” Ash had been stopped in his tracks by a tree root, which he tripped over, sending him to the floor, this allowed Jo to catch up with Ash and hit him in the face.

“Oww…” Ash moaned as Jo took the Pokégear out of his hand.

“Ash, what’s wrong now?”

“Misty, it’s me. Ash err… isn’t available anymore.” Jo laughed

“Hi Jo. Why, did you do something to him? I heard what he called you…”

“Heh, I whacked him in the face… not in a particularly good mood with him…”

“Why?”

“He’s got us lost in a forest we don’t even need to be in!”

“Uh, okay, hit him again, from me this time, and tell him not to be so dense!”

“Just a sec…” Jo replied as she walked up to Ash, just as he was sitting up again, reaching her arm out, hand clenched in a fist. Ash stared wide-eyed.

“No, no, not that again…” Ash said, trying to edge away from Jo. He failed miserably, and Jo planted her fist on top of his head.

“AARRRGGGH!!!!!” Ash screamed. Jo smirked.

“Oh, and by the way, Misty says don’t be dense.” Ash sighed in defeat before sprawling on the floor again.

“Done and dusted.” Jo said, walking away from Ash.

“Thanks Jo! So… what do you want?”

“I want to speak… very tedious talking to a half brained twerp all day you know! So how are you feeling?”

“I’ve felt better, but I’m okay, honest!” Misty reassured.

“Where are you right now?”

“About 2 miles north of Goldenrod. Tomorrow we’re hopefully going to get past National Park.”

“So, you’ve fought Whitney huh?”

Misty had fought Whitney two days ago, one day after leaving hospital. Misty’s Bellsprout was put against Whitney’s Clefairy, which used Metronome and seriously damaged Bellsprout with Fire Blast. Misty decided it was best to return Bellsprout and use another Pokémon, which turned out to be Starmie. Whitney ordered another Metronome, which this time didn’t quite work too well, making Clefairy use Explosion on itself! Whitney’s second choice was a Granbull. The round started well for Starmie, after using a chain of well-chosen moves, Granbull didn’t have much HP remaining. But Whitney’s quick thinking caught Misty off guard when spotting an opening, and nearly knocked Starmie out for the count with a well-aimed Headbutt. After some strategic moves Starmie turned around the tables, and with minimum HP, knocked out Granbull. Although a few moments later fatigue got the better of Starmie and it fainted also, but Granbull’s fall counted, meaning Misty won the round! The final round was Whitney’s Miltank (surprise surprise!) pitched against Ash’s birthday present to Misty.

*Flashback*

“Right, no time for games now, this is serious. Go Miltank!” Whitney said with determination in her voice. Misty frowned.

‘I guess this is as good a time as any for a debut’ Misty fingered the Pokéball on her belt. She sighed.

“Beginner’s luck is probably what we need right now, so go, whoever you are!!!” She called as the Pokéball sprung open and emitted the light. After the light died down, Dewgong was revealed. Misty gasped at this rare Pokémon’s colour.

“It’s… beautiful.” Misty said in awe. Whitney nodded.

“I am inclined to agree, but this a battle. Miltank, Attract!” The attack failed.

“Well, let’s see your attacks then…” Misty smiled, directing her Pokédex towards her Pokémon. It scanned, and the tinny computer voice spoke:

“Dewgong’s attacks. Number 1. Aurora Beam. Number 2. Surf. Number 3. Recover. Number 4- Blizzard.” Misty’s smile grew even wider.

“Well then, you’re pretty strong aren’t ya? Blizzard attack!” Dewgong obeyed, and unleashed the devastating attack, freezing Miltank!

“Brilliant! One hit, and it’s nearly finished!” Misty exclaimed. When she saw Whitney’s face, Misty’s expression changed.

“No, I don’t think so…” Whitney retorted coldly as the ice melted off Miltank. Misty widened her eyes, and was about to say that wasn’t possible, until it struck her.

“Wha- a Burnt Berry.” Misty said, as it registered. She looked down for a moment. Mentally, she was scolding herself for getting egotistical and not thinking about anything like a Burnt Berry.

“Miltank, Rollout! Come on, this isn’t over yet!!!” Whitney shouted. Misty scowled, and her head shot up.

“Oh no you don’t! Come on Dewgong! Aurora Beam!” Dewgong emitted a sub-zero beam, slowing Miltank down drastically, but it still homed in on Dewgong, who took a fair amount of damage.

“Right Dewgong, you’re gonna have to be quick if we want to win this! Surf followed by Blizzard immediately, don’t leave yourself open!” Misty ordered. Miltank was powering up for Rollout again as Dewgong unleashed Surf. It slowed Miltank down again; this time it was enough to give Dewgong time to evade Miltank.

“That’s it… NOW!!!” Misty shouted as Dewgong unleashed Blizzard head on with the approaching Miltank. It kept rolling, and soon began to slow. When it stopped, it stood up, only to keel over and faint! The referee held up the corresponding flag for Misty.

“Miltank is unable to battle. Dewgong is the winner, and Misty wins the match!” The referee announced.

*End flashback*

“Yup, and it was quite a battle too. I won of course!”

“Hey, don’t get an ego the size of Ash’s!” Jo joked.

“I heard that…” Ash growled, walking out from behind the bush.

“Heh, Ash?” Jo said. Ash looked at her.

“What?”

“Shut it. I’m talking to Misty if you don’t mind. Oh, and please respect other peoples privacy…” Ash shrugged his shoulders before walking off in a random direction.

“Come on Pikachu, we’ll make ourselves useful…” Ash said to Pikachu, which had just appeared from behind another bush.

“Sorry Mist.” Jo said, reverting back to Misty.

“It’s alright. I know how immature he is; he’s gone sulking hasn’t he? Anywho, Beth says dinner’s ready, so I’d better go.”

“Okay, I’ll talk to you soon! Bye!” Jo finished the conversation.

“So, how is she?” Brock asked, as Jo came walking back into the clearing where they were staying the night.

“She said she was fine, but she sounded a bit off…” Jo replied, sitting down on the ground.

“But it’s not exactly as if she’s going to feel better really quickly. I’m still very surprised at how quickly she was discharged from hospital… even though she recovered quicker than usual to say what she went through, if she was in Kanto I think she would still be in hospital for another week at least…” Brock reasoned. After a couple of minutes with none of the two speaking, Brock broke the awkward silence, which had engulfed them.

“Where’s Ash?” Jo looked up.

“Oh, he went off in a sulk ‘cos I hit him on the head twice, told him to shut up, and he heard me telling Misty not to get an ego his size…” Jo sighed.

“He’ll be back as soon as his stomach grumbles or it gets dark…” At that moment, Ash emerged into the clearing.

“So hungry… need food…” Ash moaned, clutching his growling stomach. At this remark, Jo laughed.

“What now?” Ash scowled

“Oh nothing, we were just talking about you…”

“Humph, like usual…”

“What?! Ash Ketchum, stop being so melodramatic!”

“I’m not being whatever that word was!”

“Yes you are!”

“Right, both of you shut up. Ash, go set out the sleeping bags, Jo, you can help me cook the spaghetti. I’ll make the bolognaise.” Brock butted in before the argument got ugly. Ash moaned.

“But…”

“Ash? Shut up and do what you’re told!” Brock warned. Ash sighed, and did his task before he got shouted at or what seemed like the tenth time that evening.

*****

“Misty, you are going to take a break now, whether you like it or not!” Beth ordered. Mark turned to look at Misty with pleading eyes. Misty reluctantly agreed.

“If we must…” She said before slumping down on the ground. Mark grinned before following suit. Beth Mark and Misty had been trekking to Ecruteak since 8:00 in the morning due to Misty wanting to get started early. It was now 2:00 in the afternoon and the trio were seriously flagging. Misty stared into the distance, feeling the early summer sun beating down.

“God, I’d pay anything to be relaxing on Cinnabar beach soaking up the sun…” Beth sighed, putting her rucksack down and laying herself down on the fresh cool grass.

“No way! I’d be out surfing. No time for relaxing when there’s killer waves to surf!!!”

“I guess I could I agree with you Mark… but I’d be with Ash and Brock travelling…” Misty agreed.

“Well, if you were with Ash and Brock, what would you be doing?” Beth asked

“Well, if Ash was being as stubborn as I am right now, which I will apologise about, we’d be walking… otherwise, we’d be taking a day off, giving the Pokémon some good exercise…” Misty sighed. Beth reached into her rucksack for a drink.

“Okay then, so which way do we go from the end of this path?” Mark asked. Misty looked at the map.

“Well, we can go left, and follow a path through National Park, or we could go right, and cut out National Park, but there’s another forest… urgh… that means more bugs.”

“But if we go through National Park, there’s more bugs there.” Beth pointed out. Misty sighed.

“Good point. So which way? I’m not bothered.”

“How long is each route?”

“Well, if we miss out National Park and go through the forest, it’s a lot shorter, but the downside is it’s a bit hilly… if we follow the proper route, there’s one big hill going into Ecruteak and that’s it. So come on, pick!” Misty explained. Mark looked over her shoulder at the map.

“Hmm… the hills along the shorter route aren’t steep, look at the contour lines, they’re okay. I say the shorter route. How about you Beth?”

“I’m not bothered.”

“Okay, shorter route it is then! Come on then, let’s go!” Misty said getting up.

“No not yet Misty, 10 more minutes, please?” Beth begged. Misty agreed before sitting back down.

“Oh come on Beth, we want to get going. This is boring… come on…” Mark moaned. Beth ignored him and turned to the map Misty put down. She began looking at the routes for Mahogany and Olivine. The group were silent for 5 minutes, when Beth broke the silence.

“Okay, come on then…”

“Finally!” Mark and Misty said in unison as they stood up, put their bags on, and walked down the right path in the fork towards Ecruteak City.

*****

“AAARRRGGGHHH!!! Get it away from me!” Misty screamed as she ran away from a curious Weedle. Mark laughed.

“It likes you Misty. There’s no need to run away from it, it’ll be more scared of you than you are of it!” Mark said before bursting into laughter again.

“Well I’m only coming back if you get rid of it. Besides, I’m not sleeping here; can’t we sleep in a clearing? It’s safer…” Misty shouted, as there was a significant distance between the two. Beth decided to speak for Mark, as he scooped the Weedle up and put it down away from Misty.

“Misty, it’s dark, we can hardly see where we’re going. Just set up camp here.”

“But there’s a lake and clearing just a little that way. Bugs won’t come out into the clearing… or water…” Misty reasoned. Mark and Beth hastily inclined.

“As soon as we’re there, we’re setting up camp and I’m off to sleep. I’m tired.” Beth moaned.

“Fair enough.” Misty finished, as the trio followed Misty into a clearing in silence. 10 minutes later, they made it.

“Well, at least the bugs won’t come out here…” Misty said cheerfully.

“Yeah whatever. Can we please have the tents set up now?” Beth moaned, slinging her bag on the floor, and following the bag onto the floor with the same soft thud.

“Right, Mark, can you manage your tent? I’ll help Misty with ours. Take it no one wants supper?” Beth asked, not waiting for Mark to answer the first question. Both shook their heads towards the supper question as they got up and began erecting their tents.

*The next morning*

Mark was the first to rise that morning, partly due to the fact it had rained overnight, and because he had rushed putting his tent up so he could go to sleep, he woke up in a puddle of ice cold water. He sat up, and looked at the state of the ‘tent’ (which had collapsed overnight) from inside, and cursed under his breath. He attempted to get free of his sleeping bag to try and find the exit to his tent, when he realised it was useless, and just called for help.

In the girls’ tent…

“Mmm… okay, okay, I’ve finished with the butter thank you very much… huh, what?” Beth said half asleep before her head got together someone was shouting.

“HELP!!! I’M STUCK IN MY TENT!!!”

“Mark, will you shut the hell up? Go to the zip, it’s easy enough, now if you don’t mind, I’m off to sleep again…” Beth answered. This was shortly followed by another string of curses from Mark’s tent.

“But… I can’t find the zip. The tent’s collapsed!” Mark sighed in defeat. Beth sat up at this remark, and giggled, before shaking Misty to wake her up.

“Misty, come on, you’ve go to see this, Mark’s tents collapsed, and he’s stuck in it…”

“Look, TODAY would be nice you know!” Mark shouted.

“Hey! You were supposed to be the ‘camping expert’ I recall…” Beth shouted, before bursting out into more giggles. Misty yawned, and then asked what was occurring.

“Beth, come on, what have you done to me? If you’ve drawn all over my face, I’ll…” Misty threatened, thinking Beth was laughing at her for some reason, but was stopped abruptly by another shout from the other tent.

“Look, I don’t care what you wanna say about me, just PLEASE get me out of this stupid tent, NOW!”

“Okay, keep your hair on… honestly. What kind of wake up call is that?” Misty moaned as she got out of her sleeping bag, and quickly got dressed, as Beth followed suit. Within minutes, they were outside, and laughing at Mark’s ‘tent’, and helping a very irate and embarrassed Mark out of his tent.

“Well, where’s the thanks then eh? See if I ever save you again!” Misty said as she went to get her sleeping bag and bag sorted.

“Well who got out of the wrong side of her bed this morning?” Mark said, receiving a death glare from Misty.

“Would you be pleased with being woken up by an idiot who’s stuck in his tent at- 5:45 in the morning?! Christ!” Misty said after checking her Pokégear for the time.

“Well, I AM sorry! Next time I will just sit there in a collapsed tent for 2 hours right?” Mark said sarcastically. Misty shot around and glared at him right in his face.

“Well, how about you do that next time?” Misty hissed before going into her tent to sort her stuff out.

“As you can see, she’s not in the best of moods this morning, I don’t think she slept well, so please be nice Mark,” Beth pleaded. Mark nodded.

“Okay, I guess I should. I’ll dry this out, and start breakfast for once, you go help Misty”

Two hours later, after a hearty breakfast from Mark, the tents were packed, and the trio were back on their way to Ecruteak.

“Right, how far we got until Ecruteak then?” Beth asked.

“The route we took is 12 miles long, and we covered 8 miles yesterday, so we only have 4 miles. We’ll climb this hill, which won’t be hard, and we should see Ecruteak at the top of the next hill.” Mark informed.

“So as soon as we get in, which should be about 11, shall we get some lunch, and head off to the gym?” Misty asked, her temper now non-existent.

“Sure, sounds great, lets get going” Beth said. They set off after Misty took painkillers, as she had told them over breakfast her arm was really hurting her.

*****

Brock and Jo woke up the next morning to find Ash’s sleeping bag empty. Brock, panicking as it was so early (The early morning mist was obscuring the dim sunlight slightly), got out of his sleeping bag immediately to check around the area of their campsite. After checking and finding nothing, he noticed a white note on Ash’s rucksack.

“What does it say?” Jo asked sleepily, sitting up. Brock read the note aloud.

“Brock+Jo,

I’ve gone for an early morning jog with Pikachu and my other Pokémon, be back in 30 minutes.

-Ash.”

“What? You mean Ash? Exercising?!” Jo said shocked.

“Yeah, he’s getting into his training programme well, I’ll say that.” Brock said, surprised at the letter. He put it back down, yawned, and began rolling up his sleeping bag. Jo followed suit after getting out.

“You know, it might be a good idea for me to do that, or go swimming with my water types. Get their stamina’s up for the League, they’ll get strong battles in the league.” Jo pondered.

“Yeah, good point. Now, shall I start breakfast? Bacon okay for this morning?”

“Yeah, fine. Ash’ll probably want anything as long as it’s food.”

“Yeah.”

10 minutes later, everything was packed apart from the cooking stuff, when Ash came panting from behind the bushes.

“Nice morning jog Ash?” Jo asked

“Went… too far… uphill… painful. Need… food.” Ash collapsed on the floor.

“Ha ha, here ya go Ash, have some orange first. Where’s all your Pokémon?” Brock asked.

“*Gulp* They’re all right behind me. Totodile was way behind from the beginning because he was trying to run how he dances…” Ash said after having his drink. Jo laughed at the image, which was playing in her mind of what Totodile would look like running.

“So I’d better get some food out for them, and it would be best to get some water for them too I guess.” Brock thought aloud, fetching some Premium Pokéchow out of his bag, and emptying half a bottle of water into 3 bowls for the Pokémon to drink out of. At that moment, Pikachu and Cyndaquil emerged from the forest, followed by Noctowl in the air.

“Noctowl, I hope you flew faster than you are now, it’s supposed to be fitness training…” Ash moaned. Noctowl landed on Jo, and cocked his head before hooting. Ash sighed. A few minutes later, Bayleef, Phanpy and Totodile came through the same patch of trees and collapsed in a heap next to Ash.

“Well, I guess that all of you are pretty tired from the run…” Ash paused

“Chu/Toto/Bay bay/Phanpy/Quil/Hoot!” (Yes!) The Pokémon moaned.

“Chu Pikachu Pikapi Pi Chupika…” (If Ash makes us do that again, he’s gonna regret it…) Pikachu mumbled in a low voice.

“That means that… if we do that distance every morning, we’ll all get strong enough to take it, then we’ll run even further!!!” Ash finished triumphantly, but didn’t get the reply he expected.

“Pika…CHU!!!” Pikachu shouted as she used Thunderbolt on Ash.

“Hey! I thought you lot wanted to win the league!” Ash shouted.

“PIKA!!! Pika, pipichu Pichu Pikachu!!!” (Of course we do, we just don’t want to do that again!!!)

“Ash, I don’t think all your Pokémon thought this was the exact idea of League training, and I think you pushed them that *little* bit too far this morning to say they hadn’t done anything like this before,” Brock reasoned.

“Yeah, I guess so, but you guys are still going to do training like that every morning… just not so far right now.” Ash quickly added, seeing Pikachu’s cheeks sparking again. He sighed with relief when the sparks disappeared.

“Right, breakfast’s ready, Ash it’s bacon, not burgers, and eggs, okay?” Brock called, although nobody was too far from him.

*****

“Wow, what a lovely view of Ecruteak!” Beth cooed as she reached the top of Woodo Hill, named so for the Sudowoodo once found in the forest on the other side, where 4 routes meet. When Mark and Misty caught up, they agreed. Ahead of them was the renowned city in the north of Johto. It was 10:15, so the morning mist still lingered over the top of the hill, where Ecruteak laid. Peeking out of the rooftops were two large towers; the Burnt Tower and the Tin Tower, both legendary in their own rights, just visible through the mist.

“The mist makes Ecruteak look so pretty doesn’t it? Especially with the mountain backdrop and the towers peeking out at the back of the city… so romantic…” Misty said in awe. Mark and Beth just looked at her.

“Err… right, okay. Is it true there are a load of ghost Pokémon in Ecruteak?” Mark said, quickly changing the subject.

“Yeah, around Burnt Tower there are, and Morty uses them too.”

“Who?”

“*Sigh* The Ecruteak gym leader idiot.”

“Well how was I supposed to know Beth?”

“It’s just logical. All you have to do is think.”

“Yeah, but that’s always difficult for lads isn’t it Misty?”

“I’d say so, yeah, but I’m gonna stick up for little dense head here and say he isn’t the worse I’ve seen,”

“See, Misty likes me!” Mark said, staring Beth down.

“But, he’s one of the worst.” Misty finished.

“Oh, well thanks for sticking up for me.” Mark said sarcastically

“Okay, can we get going down the hill? The more rests we take, the longer it’ll take us to get to Ecruteak.” Beth said quickly]

“Yeah, true. We’ll get going then.” Mark replied. Misty nodded, and they began descending quickly down the woodland route. 10 minutes later, they were in the Ecruteak valley, at the foot of the hill leading to Ecruteak city.

*****

Ash, Jo and Brock were taking a slow walk just past Tohjo falls, finding a perfect training spot for Ash and Jo. For the past 10 minutes, Ash and Jo had been talking about Pokémon attacks.

“Jo, how does Mirror Coat exactly work?”

“Ash, you mean you don’t know how Mirror Coat doesn’t work either? Right. Let’s see… say you use a special attack against let’s see, my Corsola. Say you used Razor Leaf. I would use Mirror Coat, and it will send the damage back at your Pokémon. But, if you use something like Take Down or Poison Sting- they’re both physical attacks- then Mirror Coat wouldn’t work. I would have to use…” Jo left the sentence for Ash to finish.

“Counter instead. Right, Mirror coat, special attacks. Counter, physical attacks.”

“Finally! Ash has finally learnt the difference between the two attacks…” Brock said with fake cheer.

“Hey! It’s really difficult to understand those attacks!!!”

“Yeah, I know, it’s just you’ve taken so long. Anyway, can we stay here? I think it’s the best place we’ll find for your training needs…” Brock suggested. Jo looked round.

“Can we keep going a little further, I’d like somewhere with water for My Gazza and Corsy. Gazza especially, you don’t know how grumpy he can get do you?”

“Yeah, okay. I think going on a little further would be better, I mean, we haven’t even been going for an hour.” Ash reasoned.

“Okay, I reckon we should get close anyway. Let’s go.” Brock finished.

*****

In a Team Rocket Base (one of many) near Mt Silver…

Jessie, James and Meowth were walking towards Giovanni’s office in the base.

“James, stop messing with that stupid toy… I know it may go beep, but we’ve got business to do. The boss wants us.” Jessie said to James, trying to stop him from playing with a free toy he got with his lunch.

“But Jessie… it’s so cool, look! You can see Scooby through that window! It’s a perfect model of the Mystery Machine!” James cooed. He had got the toy free with a kiddie meal at the fast food joint in Violet City, and was amazed by the thing. Scooby Doo had recently been released in Johto, and was the latest thing.

“James, just think, if you hand over dat stoopid toy now, so we can go see da boss, we can get our next mission over with, get paid, and you can get the whole collection of the toys!” Meowth reasoned.

“Yeah, come on James, hand it over before the boss sees it, he’ll go mental with you.” Jessie reached to snatch it away from him.

“No! You’re not having Scooby Dooby Dooooooo!” James wailed.

“Oh look, there’s the loser team.” Butch sneered as they exited a room in front of James.

“Well, hello Jessie. What’s this your boyfriend’s got? Oh look, he’s playing with Scooby Doo. How sweet.” Cassidy sneered also. Jessie growled.

“He can’t help it! You do realise he’s been suffering from… err…” Jessie faltered.

“Amnesia. He suffered a heavy blow to his head during the last mission, which, may I add, we did succeed in. He’s only just come back from sick leave, and we’re the ones who had to look after him.” Jessie finished. James looked up.

“But… I don’t have amnesia…”

“Heh, ignore him, he doesn’t know what he’s saying.” Meowth said hastily.

“Oh, well, I hope you get well soon James, I really don’t think that Giovanni wants a vegetable on his next mission. But I seriously do feel for him. Could I ask, was it by any chance you who hit him on his head?” Cassidy said.

“No!!! I wouldn’t do that to him! He… got knocked over by a bus. In Goldenrod. That’s it.” Jessie spat.

“That sounds like it would hurt…” Butch said

“Of course it would! Anyway, we hope he recovers soon. We must go now; Giovanni is briefing us on our next mission in 10 minutes. See ya later Jessie.” Cassidy said before she sauntered off in the same direction they were headed.

“That was close. James, in here a minute.” Jessie said once Cassidy and Butch were out of earshot. They went through the door in front of them, and sat on the seats.

“Right, James, give me that now. You can have it back once we’ve seen Giovanni.” Jessie said, taking the mystery machine off James.

“But Jessie, why did you say I have amnesia? I don’t do I? A bus hasn’t hit me, and we didn’t succeed in our last mission either.” James whined

“I know, it was an excuse for you having the mystery machine, ok? But now we’ve said that, you’re gonna have to act like you have amnesia in Giovanni’s office, right? But you are NOT having your toy, is that clear?”

“Yes…”

“But Jess, if Jim’s acting like dat, he’ll take us off dat mission. And we need da money.” Meowth said uncertainly.

“Meowth, we need him to act up like that, didn’t you hear Cassidy? They’ve been called to Giovanni’s office too. Anyway, I think we should go down there now, last thing we need’s being late to our briefing.” Jessie said before leaving the room followed by James and Meowth. As they continued down the corridor, Jessie spoke up.

“Remember James, make your “amnesia” subtle, okay?”

“Okay, so shall I just act as if I don’t remember things?”

“Yeah, but whatever you do don’t do it about the boss, he’ll go nuts. Right, here we go, just sit down and wait, okay?”

“Right.” Jams finished as they turned down the corridor leading to the Giovanni’s office. Once they got to the bottom, they noticed Cassidy and Butch sitting on the seats outside his office. Jessie and James sat down on the end seats, next to a pair of Grunts whom they didn’t recognise. They stared at the opposite wall for a few moments before:

“Oh, so the boss has called you three to this briefing then? I didn’t expect that.” Cassidy said innocently.

“Yeah, well, it’ll be James’ first mission back for a month. There wasn’t another briefing for 3 days.” Jessie explained. Cassidy just nodded her head, and went back to reading the magazine she had. There was a stony silence for a few minutes before Giovanni’s door opened, and three scientists piled out.

“The- the boss w-would like to see you all now.” One of the scientists said shakily. He caught up with the other to scientists, and the three walked quickly down the corridor. Everybody quickly stood up, and made their way into Giovanni’s office.

“Everybody sit.” Giovanni ordered. Everybody abided, and sat down on the row of seats in front of his desk. There were three seats leftover.

“Now, you all have been called to this briefing, because I have a lot of faith in your skills-” He began, but was interrupted by a cough by Cassidy. She noticed him glaring at her.

“Oh, I am awfully sorry sir, my throat is extremely sore. Please, continue.”

“*Ahem* As I was saying, you have all impressed me recently, so I have called you all together for an important operation which is about to begin.” Giovanni faltered for a moment, looking at James’ blank expression. He continued.

“During this operation, you will be working alongside 3 Team Rocket 00 Agents very closely- Black Tulip- enter!” A door behind Giovanni at the opposite end of the room opened, and a Rocket Agent entered.

“Good afternoon sir, what could I do for you sir?” Black Tulip politely asked her boss.

“Wait here please, the briefing has just begun. Where are the others?”

“They are both with the other agents, waiting for your call. Could I please ask why 004 is included in this mission? You know we don’t get along, and she is the one to blame for losing our Cinnabar Island base-”

“I will not tolerate your mere jealousy towards 004. She is one of our best in assassination operations, and she is included whether you like it or not. 004; 008; enter.” At this call, a woman and man entered through the same door. The woman was very tall, and Jessie was amazed by how pretty she was, but how her looks would probably be deceived by her nature. She had mid length blonde hair tied in a high ponytail, and she wore a silver top with a pink “R” in the middle, and silver mini skirt with black boots. The man was tall with jet-black hair spiked up, and wore a white top with a green “R” in the middle. He wore white trousers, and white shoes, closely resembling a Rocket Grunt’s uniform apart from the colours.

“Yes sir?” The man spoke.

“Stand next to Black Tulip, the briefing has begun. Now then, I would like you all to meet our 00 agents you will be working with very closely over the next few weeks- Agent 001- Black Tulip, also known as Domino; 004- Silver Rose, also known as Michelle; and Agent 008- White Dragon, also known as James.”

“Hey, that’s my name!” James said abruptly.

“No you idiot, it’s another James. Please excuse him sir.” Jessie said.

“What is your problem you blundering fool?!” Giovanni boomed

“Sir, I thought you knew, James was in a bad accident in the last mission-” Jessie was cut short.

“You will explain later.” Giovanni ordered.

“Yes Sir. I’m sorry.”

“Back to the briefing. As you are all in your own little teams, and have been for some time, for this operation, one 00 agent will be assigned to each team. Domino, you will be assigned to Butch and Cassidy, Michelle to Jessie and James, and James to Billy and Kim (Billy The Kid, Jesse James, geddit? Never mind…). The 00 agents will be known as their codenames or their agent numbers for privacy reasons unless stated otherwise by the agent. Is that all clear?”

“Yes sir” All the Rockets said monotonously.

“Good. Could the agents please take their seats next to their partners? Right, onto the main mission briefing. Simon, bring in the Intel.” Giovanni ordered. Almost immediately a short young male wearing glasses rushed in with a pile of papers, followed by another male carrying a whiteboard. They placed what they were carrying, and then quickly left the room.

“Right, please take one of these booklets each.” Giovanni said, moving his hand towards a pile of paper on one side of his desk. Kim, the closest to the desk picked them up and handed them out to everyone. Jessie flicked through hers, while James looked at the paper dumbfounded.

“Jessie, what is all this? I don’t understand a word of it.” James whispered to her.

“It’s ok, I’ll help you in a moment. Just keep quiet a minute okay?” Jessie replied.

“Right then. Let’s get started. This operation will be known as Operation Hunter, and whenever you are speaking about it to anybody, it will be known as that codename. Now, as some of you may already know, this is a murder operation. Your objective is to find, kidnap and kill the targets. If you turn to page 4 of your booklet, there is a picture of the targets. Please take a moment to read the background info, and familiarise yourself with the targets.” Giovanni told the group. Everybody turned to the page, and began reading the page. Jessie saw the picture, and gasped, but didn’t say anything. James’ eyes widened, and he was going to say something, but remembering the plan, decided not to.

“Well, as you can see from the picture on the page, we are after young, innocent looking trainers. However, you must know that we have our reasons. The group of them consist of 2 former Kanto gym leaders, and one Pokémon trainer. The three of them were last seen in Blackthorn 3 months ago. We are not certain of the whereabouts of these trainers at present, however we do know their destination is Indigo Plateau for the Silver Convention in just over two months time. One of your tasks is to find these trainers, to find out exactly where they are. This is your first task. I will give a tip to you- try phoning every Pokémon Centre in Johto to see when they last came into them. But, the main operation objective is to kill Ash Ketchum, Misty Waterflower, and Brock Slate.” Giovanni finished.

*~*~*~*~*

Oooooh, well, what will happen to them? Will all of Team Rocket go through with it? Even I don’t know yet! I know it isn’t fair on Misty, but it’s part of the storyline. That’s life, that’s what all the people say…

Please do a review for me, I really wanna know what I’ve got wrong/right, what you wanna see, scold me for taking so long etc. Not just please continue soon and that kinda thing. I wanna know exactly what you think of it. Oh, and if you aren’t doing a signed review, please leave an email address with your review, I’m replying to every review!

Anywho, on to the next chapter, I dunno when it will be up, because of school starting in a week, which means I’m in the final year, which means… GCSEs…

Oh, one more thing, I don’t own Scooby Doo either. It’s someone like Hanna and Barbera, I dunno, just not me!

~Misty’s D xxx