"Hello."

"Y- You're the ghost, aren't you?"

Sharp, piercing laughter rang through the tunnel. "Ghost?" She walked over and grabbed the other girl's wrist, leading her to an area unlit by torches. "I'm very much real..."

She got scared easily... "St- Strawberry, Pineapple, Cherry, go!" A Vulpix, a Staryu, and a floating Jigglypuff came out of the girl's Pokeballs. To her attacker, she was weak, too.

The 'ghost' drew out one Pokeball. "Blaziken." The Pokemon seemed to be half-bird, half-human, with a mostly reddish-orange body, yellow near its feather-hidden feet and on its chest, and large, cream-colored feathers on its chest and on its head that resembled hair. It let out a screech that reminded its foes of a bird's call. "Earthquake." The birdlike creature shook the entire mountain, knocking Vulpix and Staryu out within seconds but not affecting Jigglypuff, which was still in the air.

The girl stared up at it with tears in her eyes, realizing what would happen. "Cherry... give Butterfree back to Leaf." As the Balloon Pokemon flew off with the stolen Pokeball tightly grasped in its stubby arms, Blaziken pinned its terrified trainer down with one clawlike hand, holding up one of its legs until it burst into flame.

"Who are you?"

"Glitch." It was the last thing Lass would ever hear.

VS Charmeleon

Leaf slowly picked herself up, surprised at the silence of the tunnel. As far as she could tell, there had been around fifty Team Rocket members in it...

Unfortunately, their silence was caused by their staring at her.

Suddenly, the brown-haired girl found herself facing hundreds of Poison-type Pokemon. There was only one thing she could do...

"Clefairy, Bulbasaur, Butterfr-" The Pokemon came out, all except for one, which was replaced by a confused-looking Peach. "What!" Calm down, Leaf, she thought to herself. It can still fight... that Thunderbolt thing'll do the trick. A little less surprised, she commanded, "Clefairy, Doubleslap! Bulbasaur, Razor Leaf! Peach, Thunderbolt!" The three attacks rained down on the opposing Pokemon, knocking out a few and severly injuring many others. Confidence restored, Leaf ordered another round of attacks...

Suddenly realizing that Leaf wasn't Lass, Peach turned around, pulled down her right eyelid, and stuck her tongue out as the other two Pokemon attacked, slamming the Rockets' Pokemon with fists or leaves. The two were an effective opposition, but they were getting hit as well... things weren't going as well as she'd hoped. She reached for the Pichu's Pokeball, hoping to recall it before it started pouring Thunderbolts into her instead...

An enormous tremor knocked her, Clefairy, Bulbasaur, and the Rockets off their feet and instantly took out Peach and all of the opposing Pokemon. Suddenly, there was a light at the end of both the proverbial and literal tunnels... Returning Peach to its Pokeball, she thought of a plan, calling to mind a somewhat boring lesson in school. Many Grass-types could release spores into the air, one kind of which was...

"Bulbasaur, Sleep Powder!" Leaf held her nose and mouth shut as green spores shot out of the dinosaur-like Pokemon's bulb. Rockets were soon falling asleep left and right. It's a good thing, she thought to herself as she ran for the exit. Clefairy and Bulbasaur can't take much more of this...

A mournful, wordless song serenaded her after she'd made it into what had to be the last chamber. She turned in its general direction, and found Lass's Jigglypuff floating towards her. It stopped a few feet away from her and expertly threw the Pokeball, releasing-

"Butterfree? Hey, wait a minute!" The pink deliverer sighed as Leaf put two and two together. "Lass stole it!" Jigglypuff bobbed up and down, which Leaf took to mean 'yes'. "But... why are you here? Won't Lass know you're gone?"

Jigglypuff sang a few more notes of its song, not meeting Leaf's gaze. It then bobbed up and down again and floated to a corner of the massive tunnel, where the rock had been worn down to sand. The pink Pokemon drew a stick figure wearing her hair in strange pigtails... the ghost from before. A long-haired stick figure wearing a skirt was next... Lass. Then, a larger figure with one big foot and two antennae on the front of its head joined them. A sick feeling grew in Leaf's stomach as Jigglypuff finished drawing it... its other foot connecting with the Lass figure's neck.

Leaf suddenly felt very lightheaded. "Lass... she's..."

"Hold it!" It was another Rocket. A familiar face looked up at her from underneath the beret, and Leaf stared at him with surprise- not just because of his being there, but also the Team Rocket uniform he wore. It changed everything she'd thought about him, turning him from mysterious friend to enemy in her eyes...

The amber-eyed boy didn't seem too happy to see her, either. "This," he sighed, "is a mistake, okay? I can get you out of here without any trouble, as long as you promise to leave Team Rocket alone." Leaf, meanwhile, was mentally kicking herself. I should've known! That Rattata was too powerful for a normal trainer trying to catch a Pokemon in the Viridian Forest... and that can't be the only one he's got. Refusing him would bring trouble, but agreeing would be a flat-out lie. And, between this conflict, there was a part of her that wanted to trust him, despite everything he'd probably done...

She made the decision. "I..." Before she could answer, a brown blur slammed into the boy's side. He fell to the ground, teeth gritted in pain, as a small, light blue turtle popped out of its brown shell.

"So, Fire, you just couldn't catch a thing and had to join the losers' club?" Another boy wearing a black shirt and purple pants stepped out from behind a large boulder, laughing. The turtle ran over to him, and Leaf decided that the boy was probably its trainer. Though it was obvious that he wasn't a Team Rocket member, Leaf was reminded more of a stereotypical one by his obvious attitude problem. He stepped over to her, flashing a handsome smile. "Don't worry... I can protect you. The name's Tsunami."

She motioned her three remaining Pokemon forward despite the fact that two were already tired, still regarding him with distaste. "I can take care of myself, thank you."

He took out two more Pokeballs. "Whatever you say... Fearow! Sandshrew!" A huge brown bird with a tan beak and red, spiky feathers on top of its head crowed menacingly as it materialized in a flash of light. Its companion was a familiar face, except much tougher-looking... a yellow mouse with black, beady eyes and a white belly. The six Pokemon stared down Fire, and he responded by releasing three Pokemona Raticate, a red lizard that, in her opinion, looked pretty cool, and a pink blob.

"Butterfree, Tackle on Raticate! Clefairy, Doubleslap! Bulbasaur, Razor Leaf!" Fists and a large body flew towards the three Pokemon, but all it did was drive them back a few feet.

Tsunami sighed. "Geez, I forgot how much of a difference these things make," he muttered, pulling out a red-and-black device like the one Fire had been using. He pointed it at all of Leaf's Pokemon while commanding, "Squirtle, Water Gun on Charmeleon! Fearow, Wing Attack! Sandshrew, Scratch! Repeat as needed!" His blue Pokemon shot out a stream of water at Fire's Flame Pokemon while the other two charged toward the opposition.

"Number one: the pink thing's a Ditto," the darkly-clad boy said, turning to Leaf. "It'll either copy my strongest Pokemon or yours, so you'd better have a good idea of what would counter yours most effectively.

"Two, Clefairy and Bulbasaur aren't at full health, in case you haven't noticed, so give them a Potion soon." Leaf pulled out the one in her bag, and Tsunami looked at the lone remedy in disbelief. "You've only got one?" Leaf gave him a withered look, which he conveniently ignored. "Geez... Of your unhealthy Pokemon, Clefairy'll be best. Bulbasaur, being a Grass-type, is weak to Fire-type attacks, and that's just what Charmeleon will use." I hate to listen to someone like him... but he does seem to know what he's doing. Leaf sprayed the Potion onto Clefairy, and it jumped up and down to show that it was ready for battle.

Tsunami continued, "Try commanding Clefairy to use Metronome and Butterfree to use Confusion. And four... I'll get to that after the battle." They turned back to the fightsure enough, Bulbasaur was gasping for breath, not getting a chance to attack as it maneuvered around blasts of flame... but Charmeleon didn't look like it was at full health either, wincing from the hits it took from Squirtle's Water Gun. Butterfree was faring well, landing hit after hit on Raticate and flying up to dodge the Rat Pokemon's lunges, and all of Tsunami's Pokemon were doing pretty well.

Leaf took out Bulbasaur's Pokeball, thought for a moment, then replaced it. "Clefairy, Metronome on Charmeleon! Butterfree, Confusion on Raticate!" Clefairy wagged its fingers left and right, seeming to keep time to imaginary music... then clapped its hands together. The pink Pokemon slowly pointed them upwards as money began to appear in them, which was hurled at Charmeleon. The attacks coming in Bulbasaur's direction halted, and the little Pokemon laid spreadeagled on the ground, panting.

Fire, however, had had enough of his Pokemon getting beaten. He seemed a bit interested at Leaf's command of "Confusion"... "Ditto, transform into Butterfree! Charmeleon, Flamethrower on the real Butterfree!" There was no need to give a command to Raticate... it was unconcious. Fire looked at it sadly and recalled it.

Meanwhile, Charmeleon made Butterfree into a new source of light with the help of its Flamethrower. Knowing that Butterfree wasn't going to recover, Leaf recalled it, beginning to worry. Its presence was remembered on the battlefield, though not in a way that Leaf and Tsunami's Pokemon appreciated. Ditto-Butterfree had already taken Sandshrew on a fatal spin with its newly acquired Confusion attack, leaving two Pokemon on the Rocket's side and four on his rivals'.

Tsunami finally changed his attacks as well. "Fearow, Wing Attack on Butterfree! Squirtle, use Bite on Charmeleon's tail!"

This didn't seem to worry Fire much. "Charmeleon, Metal Claw, but avoid Squirtle at all costs! Ditto, stay on guard!" He didn't pay any attention to Leaf's Pokemon... and that was his mistake.

"Clefairy, Metronome! Bulbasaur... uh..." While Clefairy waved its fingers left and right again, Bulbasaur aimed its bulb at Ditto-Butterfree and shot a seed at it. Roots seemed to crawl into it, weakening the Transform Pokemon. Bulbasaur, on the other hand, seemed to get stronger, looking even better than it had when the battle had started. Clefairy was breathing strange, greenish flames at Charmeleon, who stopped for a moment. This allowed Squirtle to clamp onto its tail, hiding the flame on its tip from view.

Squirtle getting away with its attack worried Fire much more. "Charmeleon, try to shake off Squirtle! Ditto, use Confusion on Bulbasaur!" Charmeleon looked at Squirtle apologetically, then slammed it into the ground again and again, stopping only when the Pokemon's unconcious body slid off, revealing the red lizard's flame again. Tsunami recalled it in silence.

Bulbasaur wasn't doing well, either. Ditto picked it up with its Confusion attack, smashed it into the ceiling, and dropped it, letting gravity damage the Seed Pokemon for it. It struggled to its feet, getting a bit of energy from the Leech Seed still in the Butterfree copy.

"Finish Bulbasaur off! Use Flamethrower and Confusion!" Ditto-Butterfree picked up Bulbasaur, holding it still as Charmeleon gave Bulbasaur an apologetic look similar to the one it had given Squirtle and torched it into submission.

Leaf grimacedshe was down to one Pokemon already! "You did well, Bulbasaur... return."

Her opponent turned his attention to Tsunami's last Pokemon. "Charmeleon, Slash on its wings!"

Tsunami gritted his teeth for a few seconds before commanding, "Fearow, fly higher!" It was no use... Charmeleon leapt up onto Fearow's back as it ascended and sunk its claws into one of the bird's hollow bones in its wing, breaking it. The huge bird screeched in pain and toppled to the ground as its attacker leapt off, landing seconds before Charmeleon. It wasn't out of the fight yet, though...

Meanwhile, Leaf decided to go after Ditto-Butterfree. To her surprise, Clefairy was getting stronger from the parasitic seedit apparently healed whatever was on the other side of the battlefield. "Metronome!" She waited for the finishing move... and watched as the Fairy Pokemon blew nearly harmless bubbles at Ditto. The Transform Pokemon barely even flinched. Leaf groaned.

"Metronome again!" This time, a huge burst of blinding light flew out of Clefairy's mouth, turning the imitation Butterfree's body into its original state of pink glop. Though Ditto fell to the floor, Clefairy toppled over as well, gasping for breath.

Fire's remaining Pokemon had obviously finished off Fearow... Charmeleon raked its claws across Clefairy's back, knocking it out instantly. "Ditto, Transform into Bulbasaur! Sleep Powder!" Leaf picked up Clefairy and ran... but the Grunts were awake now, and they shoved her back into the cloud of green. She noticed Tsunami being dragged off by a few Rocket members with gas masks before she succumbed as well...

Is Lass really dead? Who the heck is Glitch? Will Leaf and Tsunami be able to stand each other for long enough to escape from Mount Moon? Sleep Powder is green, right? Is Fire all that bad? How do you spell 'parasitic', anyway? I'm talking... er, writing... to myself, aren't I? Why is FF.N deleting my attempts at formatting this? The world may never know...

I've decided that this is a good ending point (yeah, it could be better... but I wanted to get this off my computer, where it's been sitting since February). I thought anyone who reads this would like to know what happened to Lass and who Fire was... besides, there really won't be chapters with loads of things happening until Lavender Tower, and that wouldn't have come for quite a while. I have a few chapters of this typed up, but nothing complete to connect them with this. Maybe I'll finish the connecter or I'll post another unfinished fic I've got lying around... you'll just have to wait and see. Many thanks to all of my one-chapter reviewers for at least giving this crud a passing glance. I probably would've found some way to end it in Viridian City if I didn't know that someone was reading it... farewell?