Lightning-Dono: It continues! Many, many transitions in this chapter!

Soft Flame Matthias – Yes, he's dead...but that's not the end of the line for Misty (Most luckily)! Jessie and James are pretty much quitting and in this chapter you'll know why. :) I'm on Spring Break right now! Actually...I just got on it, but that's okay! Thank you so much for the many compliments made!

Inumaru12 – Yeh...oh no. I know! You'd think Jessie and James would be hospitalized after all of that damage done to them. xD

-

"Why the hell are you quitting?" Butch demanded, feeling rather grumpy.

"I'm sick and tired of seeing your face around here! The boss won't even pay us money, complains that our efforts aren't worth spit, and he's planned to fire us from the start!" Jessie screamed, sounding close to tears. "I'd rather die than pledge my allegiance to such a power-hungry pig!"

Cassidy sniggered. "Atleast now you'll be able to sleep without worrying that I'll creep into your living quarters and sneak poison into your water pitcher!" Wiping a trickle of sweat from her temple, she continued to laugh maniacally, much to Butch's displeasure.

"You know, it's feuds like this that get us no where, Jessie," James said quietly, slowly dragging her away. Where could he go now? All he had was the few cents of change clinking sadly in his sorry, thin wallet and a person whom he knew he certainly liked, but could possibly never get to. After all, since he quit, his parents would probably round him back home like a lost bull and force him into a marriage with Jessebell, the last person he ever wanted to be with.

"IN ADDITION TO THAT, WE HAD TO HAND MEOWTH OVER TO THAT MONSTROSITY THAT SITS IN HIS DAMN OFFICE ALL DAY!" Shrieked the red-haired woman. There, she had spoken her mind. This whole time all she had ever wanted was the fame and respect her boss had received thus far in the Pokemon world. Even though nothing she had done could satisfy her taste for such glory, Jessie eventually realized that she could never possibly climb her way up the corporate ladder when she couldn't even render a young boy helpless. Her partner was helpful, yes, but how could they keep working together if whenever she saw those emerald eyes she wanted to melt? Jessie loved pretending to be tough, arousing arguments that were needless and making-believe that her hair was the entire world to her. Now she'd made a cover for herself that no one could see beneath – all they knew that she had all her priorities wrong and was harder to break than a Cloyster shell. Somehow, she needed to pry that shell open and reveal herself, just to show everyone that her mind wasn't only consumed by self-centered thoughts. That the only reason she had persisted with Team Rocket was merely to continue standing by James' side. But quite frankly, she was tired of providing a hand to a team member who couldn't care less about a Pikachu that could thundershock them into oblivion. Their only bond to this mission was through Meowth, who had been taken away by the head honcho of the organization the moment they signed their resignation forms.

"Calm down, Jessie!" Cassidy exclaimed haughtily. "If you're not working for him anymore what does complaining do? Just leave! We'll keep the Pikachu." A malevolent glint shone in her eyes for a split second. "How immature," she snorted. "All because he did you no favors...The boss helps no one, you have to help yourself."

Butch felt the need to interrupt this chain of insulting. "Favors go a long way to them, two failures who can't even keep a few kids from prying at their nerves. They need all he help they can get."

"That's true, but look at them. Where did they expect to go with Team Rocket? As of now, they've just left each other as partners. They're already helpless with each other, and now without...?"

"Why do you even care?"

"I've known Jessie for a long time now," Cassidy replied shortly, observing her fingernails, even though the last thing to even come to her mind was the fact that four of them were chipped. "It isn't a matter of caring, but more a matter of curiosity."

"Curiosity killed the cat."

-

The walls were splashed with black paint, enough to cover an entire planet had the layer been thin enough. A desk lamp that shone brightly at the stack of papers was the only thing that lit up the room. The only thing Meowth could concentrate on was the steadily rising temperature of the room, other than the fact that a middle-aged man was running his rough fingers up and down his back.

"Perfect," the man muttered, an aura of evil trailing the end of this word. "I do believe I can trust you to be with this group and cooperate. Your history very much points to them."

Meowth blew a raspberry. "Just make sure they aren't idiotically goofy and have their eyes set on world domination, not what they'll be eating in the next few seconds."

"Don't be such a hypocrite, Meowth," the man growled. "I've signed you up with a team that's very fitting for your nature."

The Pokemon grinned in the eerie shadows of the room, allowing the man to fondle the scruff of his neck with dancing fingers. "Who are they?" The fingers curled and clawed his back.

"They are a duo who have been serving their purpose quite well. A team I have been able to thoroughly trust, most unlike your former friends who had their ambition scared out of them the moment they caught air of someone beating them to their goal."

Meowth's mouth went dry. Suddenly, he knew who these people that he was about to be sent off to were. "Is it who I think it'll be?" His voice was barely above a small squeak, almost nonexistent.

Giovanni pressed a button for the intercom to go on live. "Will Cassidy and Butch please report to the boss' office? This request is immediate." A satisfied grin consumed his gaunt visage, making him seem all the more threatening. Pearly teeth gleamed in the minimal rays of sunlight shining through the partially closed blinds. "They'll suit you so much more than those two failures you've had to cope with for so many years. Never again will you be forced to fail with them."

"But they already have a Raticate!" Meowth pointed out, in hopes set way too high that he could be placed into another partnership. He certainly didn't have doubts that the group he would be sent to would abuse him. The images brought into his mind weren't exactly ones that he fancied, either, unless one day he really wanted to be clubbed for being off-task.

Giovanni removed a curl-ended pipe from his mouth and heaved a mouthful of smoke on Meowth's general direction. "Raticate? No, no, no. They sent THAT Raticate shipped off to Lavender Town's Pokemon graveyard the moment it lost for the hundredth time." The feline Pokemon felt a chill roll down his spine, making him visibly shudder. "I must say that this group could do with some anger management lessons, perhaps from my own tutor." The boss shook the pipe carelessly with a finger, trickling a thin layer of ash onto his shining desk.

The sound of his own breathing mingled with the sound of acids sloshing wildly in his stomach was all Meowth could hear.

-

Ash was dead. No, she couldn't believe it. She wouldn't believe it. How could she consume the fact that a best friend that had just told her that he enjoyed her company days before had passed away in such a bloodthirsty vie for power? Misty cursed Team Rocket's persistence. They couldn't have had their sights on any other Pokemon, could they have? Only Pikachu would do, and they would even take a single life for it, a life that could've helped the world evolve from the mess it is now into something beautiful. Team Rocket's goals were ridiculous, Misty concluded, her heart pounding in her chest like an tiger running through a jungle.

Misty's life would never be the same. Now, she would no longer have to walk roads that were unknown to her with the aid of two companions. Instead, she would tread paths that were all too familiar with dormant tears held inside and resting Pokemon strapped to her back.

"He hadn't done anything wrong," the confused girl mused, giving the gray trees dark glares. "And to pass on in such a horrible place...it's so lonely here." She shuddered, hugging her backpack to her tightening chest. Her fists clenched tightly as she trudged down the dusty road aimlessly. Invariably, if she continued this behavior, Team Rocket would eventually show up to steal her Pokemon and ambush her already tender mind some more.

"I don't have Togetic, I don't have Ash...not even Brock." Brock was such a coward, fleeing the scene the moment gunfire entered the set. He doesn't care about Ash, does he? He only cares for his pitiful life and those supposedly lovely girls he has yet to see. I can't blame him...it was scary. But how many times will he regret the loss of his friend, a friend he wasn't even there for in his last moments?

"May is at home with her brother, visiting her parents..." Ash was supposed to meet her at the Petalburg Pokemon Center next week...I don't know how she'll feel about this. They argued like two lovers, like Ash and I used to back at the beginning of their journey. Even so, I didn't view her as a rival – she's just so nice...I know she'll cry...Maybe it's best if she doesn't know. Just the idea sent tears to her eyes, but she stubbornly wiped them away with the back of her hand. No...it's better to know than to be clueless. I suppose I'll go tell her.

"But I have Gyrados..." He's too large to come out and comfort me, but atleast he can provide me some confidence for now. It feels awful to be alone...Misty faced the sky. "Where are you now, Ash? If you can hear me, I want to tell you something." All of the musty air around her gathered into her lungs, fueling her for something big; dramatic. But nothing came to her mind. She just couldn't say anything, despite the fact that the streets were empty and the only person in the radius of two miles was Nurse Joy and herself. Her knees buckled, allowing her to collapse weakly to the ground. There, she stared at the ravaged, deserted plaza smeared with crimson from the night before.

"I love you." Was all she could utter.