COMPLETE: GSTA: Johto (TEEN)

[Noteleks]

The sequel to Gotta Steal Them All?

Summary: Sam is now in Johto hunting down Team Rocket three years later. During these three years, both sides have been planning and watching... Waiting for the other to make their move. So far, no one has moved. Riley has all but given all reins of control to Sam, now 20-years-old and he has done everything possible to ensure that Team Rocket thinks that the Guild has given up... And after these years of silence, Team Rocket finally emerges from the depths.

Genres: Action, Crime, Comedy and if Suspense is a real category- I'd say it fits that too.

Posting Schedule: One chapter a day.

Teen for: Language, dark tones, and mild sexual themes.

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1: Just below
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16

- Character Concept Art -
*This is the link to my deviantArt profile- or, truthfully, the link to the folder where all of my GSTA pictures are stored. You should know all the characters there by this point.

~Noteleks

 

[Noteleks]

No copyright infringement intended.
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It was night time in the city of Goldenrod. The night air was crisp and carried a chilly wind. Whitney wrapped her pink Clefairy sweatshirt around herself tighter and pulled up her hood with cute, little Clefairy ears attached. Grumbling and huffing to herself as she walked through the dark streets up to the radio tower. At the very top on the walkway around the dome, she found who she was looking for. He was leaning on the railing. His dark brown hair blowing in front of his handsome, tanned face.

She wrapped her arms around his chest. "Couldn't you at least leave me a note that tells me where you're going?"

His cold, brown eyes glared at her and he pushed her away. "I'm not interested in your company."

"Hmph... Fine," Whitney sniffed. She sat down by the dome and he resumed his earlier pose of leaning on the rail. "You're so cold, Sammy." He flinched slightly at the pet-name, but remained silent. "What are you doing up here anyway."

"Trying to get away from you."

"Well, too bad. The Thief Lord said that I was supposed to watch out for you while you were here. So-"

Sam cut her off by slamming his fist into the glass dome, furious. "I don't need a babysitter!"

Whitney cowered and teared up. "You can't take this out on me, I'm just following orders!" she sniffled.

"You're not looking out for me, its more like stalking," he growled back.

Whitney smiled. "I think we could be good friends," she flirted.

Sam rolled his eyes in open distaste. "How you ever came to be a captain is beyond me. I'm not interested."

"Whatever. It's been three years and you're still as bitter and cold as when you came," she got up and stormed off.

He turned to watch her as she left. Once he made sure she had actually gone, he pulled out his phone and returned the missed call.

"Matt, what have you found out?"

"You were right."

"Do you-" Sam began, but Matt cut him off.

"No. I'm sorry, Sam. I still don't know where any of them are. But, and this is a good, I promise-"

"It had better be," Sam warned flatly.

"Okay, well. Adriana was Giovanni's love interest if not wife. They had two kids. A daughter and a son."

"Do you know where they are?"

"The daughter was sent to an orphanage and eventually adopted by out-of-region parents. But their son is still in Johto. He is living with his foster parents."

"And you know where he is, I take it?" Sam said in a much happier tone of voice.

"Violet City, the boy is quite the troublemaker."

"Violet City, huh? That's not too far away."

"It's hard to say whether he'll still there or not, he has a habit of running away, it seems."

"Of course, runners are always fun."

"Yep. So are you going to make the report to the Thief Lord?"

Sam sighed, "I suppose. ... Matt?"

"Yeah?" Matt voice sounded apprehensive.

"Good work." He snapped his phone shut and stood by the railing. Suddenly, he whipped out a dagger and threw it with incredible speed and accuracy at a cutout of a red R. "Finally, three years later. I know you, Adriana; even if you don't care about your son, you'll care that something of yours is being threatened. You're possessive, and it will lead to your downfall. This is just the pawn I needed." He walked over to his dagger and yanked it out of the cutout. As he put the dagger back in its sheath, he kicked the R over the edge and watched it fall.

Heavy wing beats reached his ears- a large Noctowl was flying towards him carrying a message container. Sam took the container away from the Pokemon and look out the piece of paper- it was a picture of the Giovanni's son, the boy with red hair.
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Way back in Sinnoh, Riley was sitting in his office, head in hands. Steven was sitting in a nearby chair reading a book. Finally, Steven broke the long silence between them. "As your most trusted adviser, I advise you to stop thinking."

Riley stared at him. "What?"

"I said stop thinking. You're stressing yourself out."

"Oh."

Steven glanced at him. "Seriously. You look like shit. What has got you so moody all the sudden?"

"Nothing..." Steven made a face so Riley continued. "Fine, something... Sam."

"I thought he was behaving himself... Relatively."

Riley laughed. "He has, sorta. It's the 'sorta' part that is getting me."

Steven nodded sagely. "I stopped worrying about what he was doing and why an hour after I first met him, and my hair still turned gray. You better watch out."

"Your hair was always gray." Riley chuckled. "How old was he when you first met?"

"Seven, and he was trouble from the start. Ask Norman, he could tell you."

"It's been three years since he went to Johto... He's changed a lot."

"Yep. And don't get your hopes up out him giving up anytime ever."

Riley shook his head. "No, I given up on that hope. But... Do you think he'll go back to his old self once he gets Ditto back?"

Steven put his book down and looked at Riley directly. "No. Sorry, but our old friend is gone. Maybe if he'd found Ditto three years ago he would have been okay."

Riley sighed. "He's a trouble maker either way, I suppose."

"Hold up the depression train- I only said that he won't just snap back to that. Time did this to him and only time will undo it. I'm sure that eventually, he'll lighten up."

Riley was about to reply when his phone rang. "Speak of the devil- I'll put it on speaker... Sam?"

"I finally found... A little pawn we can use to our advantage."

"What do you mean by 'a little pawn'?" Riley asked suspiciously as he looked over at Steven.

"Adriana was Giovanni's love interest. They had two bastard children, one of them is still in Johto."

"Are you serious?"

"Dead serious."

"I mean, are you serious about using a child to lure them out?"

"I won't hurt him. Simply flaunt the fact that he's in danger."

Riley sighed. "Fine, whatever."

"So what's the verdict. Do you want any of your precious captains in on this?"

Steven nodded from across the room, Riley ignored him. "No. If this is the path you're going to take, you do not have my support or the support of the captains. You are on your own, Sam."

The other side of the line was silent. Steven gaped and then used various different hand gestures to try to communicate to Riley to take it back.

"A wise choice. However, the other thieves may not be so understanding. You will look like the bad guy to them, and I won't tell them otherwise."

Riley smiled slightly. "Wouldn't have it any other way. Good luck, you'll need it." He hung up the phone.

Steven was staring at him, completely confused. Riley gave him a look of mock-surprise. "Looks like the advised has surpassed the adviser."
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All across Johto, thieves were watching their phones carefully- each hoping that the meeting of the ring leaders would bring the good news they needed to hear. Many thieves lost Pokemon to Team Rocket before they 'disbanded' and 'disappeared.' These thieves formed a little syndicate of their own dedicated to hunting and eradicating Team Rocket. Unfortunately, the syndicate was disorganized and many weren't sure where to start at first. Eventually, a few thieves rose up and took control.

The ringleaders were five powerful thieves from the Kanto and Johto regions: Hayle, a rich thief from Blackthorn- A favorite among thieves for her looks as well as cunning. She'd lost her most precious Granbull and she would cut throat to get it back. Barrakus, a less successful thieve from Azeala Town. He was level-headed and offered more wisdom than vengeful wishes. His Steelix had been stolen and he missed it something fierce. Danatallion, a skilled, wealthy thief from Ecruteak. He funded and still owned half a share of the theater there; much to Morty's distaste. It was more due to the fact that he was possessive than that he actually cared that his Sentret was stolen. Tao was a cold, but beautiful thief who was Arthur's girlfriend before she found out that he was using her for information. Now she wanted blood and she was going to get it. When he betrayed the League and her, he took her Houndoom with him.

The unofficial leader was Sam. After everything he'd done in his thief career and the show down with Team Rocket, he'd become a legend. Everyone wanted to be on his good side. No one could argue that he was an intelligent in the field of battle strategy. If anyone could root out and eradicate Team Rocket, it was undeniably him. He'd been nicknamed among the underworld, 'The Hunter' and 'Scythe' derived from his fighting style and the fact that his trademark dual daggers were modeled after a Scyther's blades.

As usual, Sam was the one with all the useful information and the one laying out a plan of action, or inaction, depending on what seemed appropriate. A cry of outrage went up at the Thief Lord's refusal to aid their cause.

Barrakus had to pound on the table to regain order. Once the noise died down, Sam took the floor again.

"It doesn't matter if we have the Captains on our side or not. I've found something I can use to lure them out. Giovanni has a son and I know where we can find him."

"That's a lot of 'I's and not enough 'we's," Tao commented angrily.

Sam turned to her. "Yes, I will take care of it. You want revenge or Arthur, I get it, and when the time comes for someone to finally take him out, he's all yours. In the meantime, this game is between me and them. I'll call for you guys when I need you."

"We can help," Hayle said gently.

"I don't need help right now. There is no plan B. If plan A doesn't work then it's over. I don't have a third chance at this. I won't risk you screwing this up. This all has to go down a certain way."

"And you can do this all by yourself?" Danatalion asked sarcastically.

"I've done a pretty good job so far," Sam returned flatly. "As of right now, Team Rocket doesn't even know that we exist and they think I'm dead. That is our biggest asset right now."

"So why are you out there if they're supposed to think that you're dead?" Danatalion argued.

"They wouldn't recognize me and I don't intend to get caught. Look, if you want your Pokemon back or your revenge, let me take care of the prelude to fight."

The thieves turned to Barrakus for advice. He looked around and cleared his throat. "I understand where you're coming from, Sam. If you've got a plan, then you're the only one who does. I'm with you, just tell me what to do."

Slowly, the other thieves nodded their consent.

"Let me make something clear to you, though," Tao warned. "No one gets to take out Arthur but me."

"I had no intention otherwise," Sam returned cooly. Tao glared at him, but he ignored her and walked out. Outside, Matt was waiting for him.

Matt was not as tall as Sam and he was chubby. He had curly blonde locks of hair and always wore some type of green polo shirt that 'brought out the color of his eyes' as he always told Sam.

"So, how'd it go?" he asked hopefully.

Sam rolled his eyes and straightened his jacket. "Unfortunately, that could be considered 'better than expected'."

"Well, what's the plan now? What are we going to do with the boy?"

"He's in Violet City, right?" Matt nodded. "I suppose I'll just have to pay him a little visit," Sam said flatly.

"Got any other threads you want me to follow?"

"Not right now, we've got something good here. Let's hope it leads somewhere."
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Silver was packing his clothes quickly. He was beyond sick of the sages of Bell Tower. One of the sages there had taken him in as his son years ago, but the two had never gotten along. Silver wasn't interested in their peaceful mumbo jumbo, but his 'father' kept trying anyway. Silver had never gotten very far when he ran away before because he was scared of being attacked by wild Pokemon. He had a plan now; there was a way to get to New Bark Town without going through the wild grass. Unfortunately, he didn't have any other clothes beside his novice, sage, training uniform.

He descended the stairs of Bell Tower on socked feet so no one would hear him and escaped through the door. Once outside he tied on his running shoes and ran as far as he could before dawn came. The sages believed in the strength of the human body so he was able to run all the way to Cherrygrove City before stopping to walk. When he finally arrived in little, sleepy New Bark Town, he looked around carefully for anything or anyone suspicious. It was quiet enough, the laboratory was easy to pick out, but he was tired. He trudged over to the far corner of the lab and curled up on the ground there and fell asleep.

Only minutes later, he felt someone else's presence. Dazedly, he opened his eyes. A black, blood-stained combat boot was close to his face. Silver closed his eyes again and held his breath, hoping that who ever it was, wouldn't be the police. After counting to sixty and nothing happening, he opened his eyes again and looked around; no one was there. Not a trace that anyone had ever been there. Silver backed up closer to the wall. He still felt like someone was still around, but nothing stirred. He shivered and stayed awake for the rest of the night.
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Once the sun's rays reached the sky, the small town awoke. A girl with light brown hair and bright hazel eyes came flying out of her house with her Marill.

"Alright, Marill! Tag, you're it!" she shrieked happily as she touched the Marill. It puffed out its cheeks unhappily and chased after her as she skipped off. The energetic pair wove a fast path around almost every house in the small village. Sam watched stoically from his high vantage point in a nearby tree. Eventually, the Marill tagged the girl back and the game changed to hide-and-seek. Looking for the little blue Pokemon, the girl went into the side door of the laboratory.

Then the door to another house opened. It was a boy with dark indigo hair. The Marill accidentally ran into him while trying to hide in the house. The boy did not look pleased. When the girl came out of the lab and saw the Marill, they ran to each other and then off on their tag course again.

A quick glance showed Giovanni's son peering into the laboratory's window. Sam remained quietly sitting, his black clothing allowing him to blend almost perfectly with the dark foliage behind him. After a minute, the other boy came back out of the laboratory and the girl practically accosted him. The boy went into his house, presumably to talk to his mother and then left town. The girl ran into her house and returned with something in her hand. Sam watched her as she walked out into the wild grass. Once she found a Sentret, she threw the Poke Ball... and missed.

"Ugh! I know I can do this! C'mon Lyra, you got this!" she picked up the Poke Ball looked for another Pokemon to catch. Sam watched for awhile in amusement before intervening.
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"Need some assistance?" A man's voice came from behind her.

Lyra wheeled around, startled. She'd never seen the guy before in her life and he seemed to appear out of nowhere. "What? Me? No! I-" he gave her mildly sarcastic look. "Okay... Maybe a little."

He walked closer to her and held out his gloved hand for the Poke Ball. "May I?" She handed it to him and watched as he turned the small white ring around the round white latch. "You have this Poke Ball set on release. To catch a Pokemon, it needs to be on this symbol. Now, all you have to do is throw the ball once you weaken a Pokemon."

He started to hand it back to her, she bit her lip and blushed as she looked at the ground. "Could you... Maybe demonstrate... Please?"

"Sure, pick a target."

Lyra pointed at Sentret down the road and looked up at him. "That one?"

"No problem," he said with confidence. Then he held up his right hand and clenched it in a fist. Lyra only felt a slight breeze as a Scyther shot by and tackled the Sentret. It immediately rolled out of the way and the stranger threw the Poke Ball with force and accuracy. It flashed and the Sentret was taken inside the little ball. The Poke Ball shook and then latched- signifying a successful catch.

Lyra stared at him open-mouthed. He noticed her gaping and pat her on the shoulder. "You'll get the hang of it." He strode over to the Poke Ball, picked it up, and brought it back to her.

"Thank you, sir! I wanted to teach Ethan something to help him out with his Pokemon journey, but I needed some help myself," she admitted sheepishly.

"It's okay. Just keep practicing, you'll get better at it."

He turned to walk back into New Bark, Lyra bit her lip and scuffed her shoes in the dirt. "Um... Do you have any extra Poke Balls I could have to practice with?" Wordlessly, he disappeared and came back with a bag. Still silent, he dumped a giant pile of Poke Balls on the ground.

She stared at the pile in astonishment, when she looked up to thank the stranger, she found that he was gone. Startled, she ran into town looking for him. The boy with the red hair ran past her in a huge rush.

She put her hands on her hips and shook her head. "Well, we get the weirdest visitors here in New Bark, don't we, Marill."
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AN: Lyra is not the gym-junkie because I need her sweet and innocent and Ethan has to be the gym junkie for another storyline necessity. (May will be the gym junkie next, in case you were wondering.)

Thanks to Foonator, my beta and Soulmaster, who always catches my typos.

Chapter 2 coming soon to a fan fic near you...

 

[Soulmaster]

Nice way of portraying Lyra. I wish we know more about Matt though.
As for the typos...

Spoiler

He descended the stairs of Bell Tower on socked feet so no one would hear him and escaped through the door. Once outside he tied on his running shoes and ran as far as he could before dawn came. The sages believed in the strength of the human body so he was able to run all the way to Cherrygrove before stopping to walk. When he finally arrived in New Bark he looked around the sleepy town. It was quiet enough, the laboratory was easy to pick out, but he was tired. He trudged over to the far corner of the lab and curled up on the ground there and fell asleep.

These aren't mistakes but at least for New Bark I think Town should also be there. Cherrygrove is fine just depends if you do it one way for consistency.

 

[Noteleks]

Nice way of portraying Lyra. I wish we know more about Matt though.
As for the typos...

Spoiler

He descended the stairs of Bell Tower on socked feet so no one would hear him and escaped through the door. Once outside he tied on his running shoes and ran as far as he could before dawn came. The sages believed in the strength of the human body so he was able to run all the way to Cherrygrove before stopping to walk. When he finally arrived in New Bark he looked around the sleepy town. It was quiet enough, the laboratory was easy to pick out, but he was tired. He trudged over to the far corner of the lab and curled up on the ground there and fell asleep.

These aren't mistakes but at least for New Bark I think Town should also be there. Cherrygrove is fine just depends if you do it one way for consistency.

Oh, Lyra... You haven't seen anything from her yet. My beta hated Lyra until she read my story and now she loves her. She said the Lyra was probably the greatest humor outlet in this installment. And you'll learn plenty about Matt soon enough.
Well... I decided to fix the 'town' thing... But then I had 'town' twice in the same sentence so I reworded it afterwards.

 

[Soulmaster]

Well it's Cherrygrove City so that is a bit of a problem there.

 

[Noteleks]

Well it's Cherrygrove City so that is a bit of a problem there.

Ha ha... I knew that. Though- it really isn't much of a city.

 

[Soulmaster]

True but it is one.

 

[Noteleks]

No copyright infringement intended.
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Silver hugged the stolen Pokémon to his chest. He did feel somewhat bad about stealing from the professor, but he couldn't work up the nerve to ask him. Plus, he wasn't sure that the professor would have even given him one.

"No matter what, now, this Pokémon is mine... Yeah! We'll be unstoppable! I'll become strong and prove to everyone that I can be the champion! I'll need a team of powerful Pokémon, that's all that matters." The strong scent of flowers assailed him as he got closer to Cherrygrove City. As he looked up, he saw the boy from New Bark Town rushing out. Silver stopped him abruptly; the boy stared at him with surprise.

"You got a Pokémon at the Lab. What a waste. That's a Pokémon that's too good for a wimp like you... Don't you get what I'm saying? Well, I too have a good Pokémon. I'll show you what I mean!" With that, the boy released his Totodile.

Sam watched the proceedings of the battle intently, measuring the level of talent the two displayed. Unfortunately for the boy with the cap, Giovanni's son had caught him unaware and unprepared. The battle was close, but the Totodile won out. Needless to say, the boy displayed a strong sense of love and care towards his Cyndaquil, something Sam respected. Giovanni's son was predictably ruthless with his Pokémon.

"That apple did not fall far from the tree," Sam muttered under his breath.

"Do you want to know who I am? ... I'm going to be the world's greatest Pokémon trainer."

As the Giovanni's son left with a forceful shove, the boy bent down to pick up his fainted Pokémon. As he knelt he picked up something else; a white card. Giovanni's son came flying back spouting some garbage about his name being known as he went humorously pale. Once again, he just flew off after taking the card back.

The boy just stared after him with a blank look. With a shrug, he picked up his Cyndaquil and rushed to the Pokémon Center. Sam allowed a larger distance between him and his target as he pulled out his cell phone.

"Hey, hey! What's up, Sam? How is it going with the kid?" Matt greeted cheerfully.

"He's predictable. What's the kid's name again?"

"Umm, Silver? ... Yeah, Silver. Weird, huh? You'd think-"

"I think it doesn't matter that much."

Matt sighed, "Fair enough. Need anything else?"

"No-" Sam stopped as he spotted a Ledyba attacking Silver and a thought occurred to him. "Wait, do you have a bug we can track him with? Maybe something we can install in his phone?"

"Uh, yeah. Hang on; I can get one booted up for you. It'll take me a few hours but I can do it. When do you need it?"

"Soon, I can't just keep following him all the time. Meet me in Violet City to deliver it. The timing should work out."

"No problem. I'll show you how to work it when I get there. Then I'm assuming you've got some way to get to the kid's phone?"

"I always have a plan."

Matt rolled his eyes on the other side of the line and 'hmphed'. "Apparently. Well, see you later then."

Sam snapped his phone shut and stared at Silver who was still trying to offset the attacking Ledyba. He shook his head in disbe "It's going to be a long morning..."
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True to Sam's prediction, it took Silver a long time to make it back to Violet City. Once Silver went into the Pokémon Center for a short break, Sam found Matt.

"Alright, here you go." He handed the small chip to Sam and instructed him in its use. "It fairly simple, all you have to do is insert this chip into the battery, like this, and we're set."

"That's all?" Sam asked him, somewhat incredulous.

"That's all." Matt grinned happily.

Sam stared at him. "What are you so happy about?"

"So about Whitney..."

"Don't even go there."

Matt went on, "She's been moping ever since you turned her down..."

"Good, maybe she'll be too busy moping to stalk me then."

Matt put his hands on his hips. "What's your problem? She's cute! I think it's adorable that she's that obsessed with you."

"Don't you have something else to do?" Sam returned, irritated.

"Not unless you give me something else to do," Matt shrugged.

Silver happened to walk out of the Pokémon Center at a strange time. He heard the two men arguing before he actually saw them. One was wearing almost all black and the other a green polo shirt with khaki shorts. They had unknowingly attracted a sizable amount of attention. The people listening in could only decipher that a woman was involved, the guy in black was irritated, and the young man in green was the one who started it.

"Stop being to cold all the time! It wouldn't kill you to be nice to the girl, you know."

The man wearing the black walked closer to the other and stared him down, and growled, "You know, I could easily beat the shit out of you and I wouldn't feel bad about it for a second."

"Ya know what?" the one in the green announced, "I am going right back home and I'm not ever going to pester you about this ever again!" He laughed nervously and fled. Several of the women around giggled and sent the remaining guy coquettish looks. He ignored them as he straightened his jacket. Without a word he brushed past Silver, stealing the unknowing boy's phone as he passed.

Silver stared after him in admiration. Now, he's strong! I bet he's gym leader somewhere... Or even champion! The man wasn't overly tall, but he was not short; he wasn't huge, but he was lean and possessed sinewy muscle; and his clothes hinted that he had plenty of money to back his ventures up. Someday, I'll challenge him to a fight. But for now... Silver touched the Poké ball with Totodile in it as he glanced uneasily at Sprout Tower. "I can do this," he reassured himself out loud.

After checking to make sure he also had his Ghastly and Zubat, he took a calming breath and headed into Sprout Tower.
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Sam leaned against the gym; he hadn't necessarily expected the kid to go into the Sprout Tower. Now he had to wait for him to come back out so he could slip the phone back in the kid's pocket. He watched the other boy from New Bark walk past from the shadows and he'd seen the girl flying around town as well. As he stood quietly, the sun's last rays were flitting through the tree line.

"If it isn't Sam! What brings you to my neck of the woods?" Falkner asked lightly after stepping outside the Gym.

Sam shrugged. "My little investigation."

Falkner laughed dryly and nodded. "Right. We were told by the Thief Lord that your 'little investigation' was your problem alone and that we weren't supposed to get involved."

"Yeah, I knew before you did," Sam yawned, disinterested.

"Any idea why? It's not like I'm going to directly defy his orders but- I don't understand why we're the ones being shut down." Falkner shrugged.

Sam gave him a sarcastic look. "You make it sound like you'd help if you hadn't been 'ordered' not to."

Falkner looked offended for a moment before slowly nodding. "Fair enough, I suppose. I never heard the full story about what happened in Kanto, but I heard about the captains and all of their 'helpfulness'."

"That's a mild way of putting it," Sam commented dryly. "How's the old man?"

"Crazy. Sits in his chair all day with feathers stuck in his hair and wings attached to his rocking chair so he can 'fly'."

Sam smiled in amusement. "Reminds me of a certain old woman... Did you ever meet Madame Widow? She's as crazy as she is old."

Falkner made a face. "I vaguely remember her. I heard she's gotten even crazier recently."

Sam laughed dryly. "You should find some way for your father and her to meet up. I'm sure they'd get along great."

"Not funny... So not funny." Falkner shook his head.

Sam watched Silver reappear in front of the entrance to the old tower. "You better get back to your gym. There are some challengers around."

"I see... Take care of yourself, Sam." Falkner walked back in his gym, Sam disappeared into the shadows and as Silver walked by, he gently, but quickly slipped the phone back in the Silver's bag. With his mission accomplished, Sam turned his back to Silver and watched the wavering reflections in the clear pond's surface.
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Lyra and Marill were having a grand time playing tag in the unfamiliar town. The sun had set and with the moon shining, the pair became even more energetic. Inhabitants of the traditional town watched in good humor- no one was really bothered by extra life they brought with them.

In their frenzy of running, neither Lyra nor Marill noticed the dark figure standing in front of the pond until it was too late to stop.

Marill was going to dive into the water; instead, she slammed into the man's leg instead. He almost lost his balance but caught himself. Lyra knew that he was there now, but she had too much momentum to stop herself. She slammed into his back and that was enough to send all three into the water with a big splash.

Lyra floundered in the icy water, trying unsuccessfully to reach the surface. She, like most people, could not swim. Marill found her and managed to pull her up for air. Terrified of drowning, Lyra clung to Marill's buoyant tail as the small Pokémon tried to drag her to safety.

The tail wasn't quite enough to hold her up. One of the sages from the tower was trying to get a rope and the townspeople gathered worriedly around the edge. Just as she was about to sink again, a strong arm grabbed her. Someone pulled her over to the bridge and between the monk and him; they got her out of the water.

"Are you okay," the monk asked, concerned, as he wrapped a towel around her.

"I'm okay." Lyra blushed with embarrassment, then her eyes went wide,

"Oh, no! My bag! I must have lost it in the water!" Then she noticed that whoever was helping her was gone. She looked around for him. Moments later, he hauled himself out of the water and dropped her sopping wet bag next to her.

"Thank you so much! I'm so sorry! I knocked you in the water and you still..." she sneezed and shivered. The night air was no longer invigorating, just cold.

He stared down at her, his hair dripping in front of his strangely familiar, young, and notably handsome face. "It's not a problem, but you really should be more careful."

"Yessir," she responded meekly. He nodded in acknowledgment, and slicked his hair back out of his face.

A nurse scurried up carrying another towel. "Are you two okay? Come on to the Center, you'll catch the pneumonia if you stay out in the cold like this."

Lyra nodded and stood up and followed beside her rescuer. She deliberated asking him his name, but decided against it. Once they got inside, the nurse went and found them simple gray sets of clothes to change into.

Warmer and dry now, Lyra went walked out to the lounge. The guy who saved her was already there and had set both their shoes near the fire and placed her bag there as well to dry.

Not used to silence and somber atmospheres, Lyra felt the need to talk. "So... You can swim?"

He sent her a quick glance from the chair he was sitting in across the room. "I always thought it was a useful skill to have."

Lyra blushed in embarrassment. "Yeah... Maybe swimming lessons would be something to try." She looked over at him; he looked quite a bit different in plain gray clothes. Then she noticed that he was had a bandage and a fingerless glove on one hand that he was rubbing gently.

"Well... Oh! I should introduce myself! My name is Lyra and this is Marill," she exclaimed happily.

"Nice to meet you."

"Aren't you going to tell me your name?"

"Sorry, sweetheart, but no."

"Then I'll make up a name for you," Lyra bounced happily in her chair as she pondered it, "Hmmm,... How about, 'Mr. Violet'? Because you saved me in Violet City?"

He stared at her with an amused expression, then just shook his head. "Whatever, I guess."

Lyra giggled happily. "Okay... Mr. V!" Marill clapped her little paws, influenced by her master's delight. Half an hour later, Lyra found herself dozing off. She'd sneezed a gazillion times and was feeling a little sick. Mr. V hadn't complained, coughed, sneezed or shivered. Occasionally, he would rub at his chest like something was causing him pain, but for the most part he kept messing with his hand.

Through half-closed eyes, she saw Marill approach him and sniff at the gloved hand. Finally, the nurse came back in. She saw Mr. V rub at his chest and an expression of concern was clear on her face and in her voice. "Are you okay? Are you having trouble breathing?"

"No." She looked confused by the flat answer so he elaborated, "It's just an old injury that tends to act up. It's nothing new."

"Oh, okay." she glanced at his hand, "Is your hand-"

"Previous injury."

"Okay... Your clothes should be dry now," she informed with a cheery smile. Immediately, he got up, took his boots, and left.
__________________________________________________
It wasn't long after that the Sam was back in Goldenrod. Unlike most people, any thief could pass the 'wiggly tree' with ease. It was almost midnight then. Matt had returned to his apartment overlooking the sea to the south after arguing with Sam. Now he had his favorite music station playing and was all but dancing in his chair as he played with various different tech programs on his computer. He almost jumped out of his skin when someone started pounding impatiently on his front door.

As soon as he unlocked his front door, it slammed open and Tao stormed inside.

"Can I help you?" Matt asked with tact.

Tao scowled. "Where the hell is Sam?"

Matt stared at her; she glared back. "Why? What makes you think I know? It's not like he lives with me," Matt returned.

"You're his friend aren't you?" Tan shot back venomously.

"Yeah, so? He has his own place around town. The best I can offer is to pass along a message," Matt suggested as he put his hands up in mock surrender. Tao wasn't exactly known for her kindness.

Tao scowled angrily as she tapped her heel on the floor as she glared at him. "Fine. Tell him I want to talk to him."

Matt gave her funny look. "What, like a social visit? At midnight? Girl... Good luck with that."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Matt gave a pointed stare at her thigh-high leather boots, skin-tight jeans, and cleavage. "Honey, no body asks for a business call with a guy like Sam at midnight."

Embarrassment and anger flushed her cheeks. "What? What do you mean 'a guy like him', you-"

"Tall, dark, and handsome. Need I say more? I'm not judging, I'll tell him you said 'hi'."

"Fine, but if you breath a word about this-" Tao took a step closer.

"I won't tell a soul. Your secret is safe with me," Matt tactfully reassured her.

With a final, threatening glare, she stormed out. Matt went back to playing with his computer and half and hour later, Sam showed up.

"Sam! What's up?" Matt called from his desk.

"What the hell happened to your door? It looked like someone attacked it."

"Tao happened."

"That explains the dents. What did she want?" Sam asked as he took a chair beside Matt.

Matt looked at him with a wide grin "You."

"What?"

"You. She said she wanted to talk to you, though it was clearly not a business discussion. Which is kinda weird you know... She's what, twenty-four? And you're nineteen."

"Twenty."

"What? You are not... No, you aren't because you were sixteen when you came here and it's been three years!"

"Actually, I was seventeen. Birthday."

"Oh... So, I missed you birthday again?"

"They are an annual thing," Sam responded flatly.

"When is your birthday?"

"Recently."

Matt 'punched' him in the shoulder. "That is not what I meant. I want the actual date."

"I don't know either. My parents abandoned me when I was young. All I know is that it's somewhere in the first half of June."

Matt went back to playing with his computer slowly. "I'm sorry... I-"

"What?" Sam interrupted, slightly amused. "Didn't mean to pry? Spare me; you always stick your nose in other people's business. It doesn't bother me much anyway."

Matt shrugge., "Well, anyway. Are you going to go see Miss Tao?"

Sam glared at him. "Why are you always digging into my personal life?"

Matt considered the question. "You're right, it's not fair that we always talk about you. Well, let's talk about me since you've made it perfectly clear that you don't want to share. I saw Bill today and-"

"Absolutely not. I don't want to hear about that."

Matt smiled. "Then, are you going to go see Tao?"

Sam rolled his eyes. "I don't know. Probably not, she's not really my type, okay?"

Matt squinted at him. "She's not your type?"

"No."

"Hmmm... So that means that you've turned down Whitney, the sweet little girl type and Tao, the ultimate bad-ass... So your type of girl must be sugar and spice and everything nice," Matt stated sagely. Sam sighed with impatience. Matt went on, "But wait... There was also this saucy rumor about you and Daisy... Though according to the rumors, nothing ever happened between you two. Which is sad, Daisy's sweet and nice. I guess she's lacking in spice?" He turned to Sam for confirmation of his theory.

"You know, I came here for a reason."

Matt shrugged. "True, you don't come to visit me very often. Watcha need?"

Sam pulled out his cell phone and set it in front of Matt. "Water-damage. Fix it."

"Okay. Anything else?"

"No." Sam got up and left before Matt could ask another question. The air outside was freezing. He pulled his jacket a little tighter and shoved his hand into his pocket to keep it warmer. He walked through the dark streets alone for a while before returning home, unaware of the storm brewing in the farthest depths of the underworld as Team Rocket prepared returned to the surface.
__________________________________________________
AN: Capitilo dos... Ha! Spanish~ Moving on- Still setting the stage at this point. Chapter 3 will have a little flashback in it... And yeah... After that, the story really starts rolling.

Thanks to my beta: Foonator - and Soulmaster.

 

[Soulmaster]

Matt is awesome I think he is becoming my favorite character!!
I will just cut to the chase and say I didn't see any mistakes. (I am practically asleep so not very creative with my way f telling you that.)

 

[Noteleks]

Lol... I love Matt. He's so funny. X) Lyra is funny too. You haven't seen her at her best quite yet.

I was wondering where that spoiler was. :| Actually, not doing it was a great way to catch me off guard. I searched the whole message for it, even though it was obviously not there.

 

[Soulmaster]

I was wondering where that spoiler was. :| Actually, not doing it was a great way to catch me off guard. I searched the whole message for it, even though it was obviously not there.

Wow so I need to mix my ways up of telling you. Hmmm?

 

[Noteleks]

I was wondering where that spoiler was. :| Actually, not doing it was a great way to catch me off guard. I searched the whole message for it, even though it was obviously not there.

Wow so I need to mix my ways up of telling you. Hmmm?

... ... Ha ha ha... Nah, I like the spoiler ^^' ... Yep.

 

[Noteleks]

No copyright infringement intended.
*Scythe=Sam. It's his thief nickname.
_________________________________________________________________________
After fleeing Kanto, the four executives and the remains of Team Rocket hid in the only safe house they had in Johto. It was an old laboratory, but it was good enough for their purposes. With all their stolen Pokemon moved there, the operation had long since been set up and running again. The Guild had remained oddly silent and passive through the years.

Proton had become even more bitter and cruel after his confrontation with Sam. As far as most grunts knew, it was because he had wanted to kill Sam himself, but the caving in building had killed Sam instead. The truth was known only to him and the select few that had escaped with him.

Archer did not take the direct seat left by Giovanni, but he did become their leader. He was Giovanni's right-hand man and as much as many feared Proton, they didn't want him in charge. Archer lead wisely enough as far as the public opinion went; they weren't dead yet. That counted for something in their book.

Petrel had managed to perfect his impersonations and had proved himself a valuable asset. He never said anything about Sam. Archer could sense his loyalty dying, and was somewhat concerned. It was obvious that the only reason Petrel hadn't turned them all in was because it would not cut him a deal with the thieves. The current Thief Lord, whoever he was, had laid down the law and he didn't make deals with those who broke it.

Ariana fashioned a nice little niche of power for herself. Most of the Rockets didn't know that she was the wife of Giovanni. Even fewer knew that she'd had children with him. Over the years, she'd heard about how her love had escaped the clutches of the thieves. She had ears enough to even know that her son, Silver, had aided Giovanni for a short time. The boy had run in the end, but she reasoned that he was young and didn't understand the goals of Team Rocket.

She'd beguiled herself into believing that if she could talk to her son, he'd join Team Rocket and he could be an executive and heir to the black throne. It seemed that Giovanni had finally accepted his son and thus, he would want him involved in his family's brainchild. The whole operation was started many generations ago, but the cruelest and wiliest ruler of the legion was undoubtedly Giovanni's mother. By killing her husband, she'd taken control of the vast black market empire. In her care, the operation had remained a secret and flourished. Giovanni had eventually taken power, as his father's will had wished for when he turned 30, and he was the one who wanted to make his reign known, and it had almost ruined them. His mother, called 'Madame', had ridiculed him for his decision and disappeared. Ariana couldn't help but admire Madame as much as she hated her for making life hell for Giovanni.

Power hungry and even further corrupted by time, she was now trying to find her son. She'd been having little success, but her fortunes finally changed.

"I need to leave the base, now," Ariana demanded.

Archer sighed, "How many times do I have to tell you? We're safe as long as we stay hidden? I don't want you to go out there and rain down hell on us. What is so important, anyway?"

"Giovanni's dreams. You know he's still alive... He's probably just waiting for us to continue his work so he can return safely!"

"Well, isn't that just peachy for Giovanni? He's safe in hiding and we're supposed to get ourselves killed trying to do his job for him?"

Ariana slapped him across the face. "How dare you speak badly of him! Giovanni is- This was not his fault! It was Proton who did this!"

Archer rubbed at his red cheek and frowned. "Proton? What did he do?"

"By 'getting us killed'- you're obviously talking about the Guild. Proton was the one who advocated stealing that nightmarish Ditto from Sam and look what happened!"

"No one could have foreseen Sam just snapping like that! And what does is matter anyway? The kid died when Pokemon Mansion collapsed. There's no way he could have survived," Archer protested.

"Exactly, but he had powerful friends in the Thief world. Captains and Generals alike. Everyone knows that General Steven and Sam were like father and son. You should have listened to Petrel- he was right all along. We never should have taken that Ditto," Ariana fumed.

"Oh, come on... Alright, fine. It was a bad idea, but what do you want me to do about it now? We're so close to creating a Mew. Just what exactly do you want me to do?"

"Let me leave... And Proton as well. There's been a demand for Slowpoke Tails among black market clients," Ariana pointed out evenly. "We need to get some money, and I'm out of your hair for a little while."

Archer glared at her distrustfully. "As nice as it would be to have you away from here, I still don't know what your motives are. You tell me what you intend to do, and I'll let you go."

Ariana stamped her foot and almost screamed in impatience; Archer raised his eyebrows at her childish outburst. "Fine! I think I've found my son. If I can talk to him, he could join us and be stronger than any our grunts."

Archer folded his arms across his chest. "Your son? Arceus, Ariana, he's probably as hot-headed as you are! He didn't help Giovanni- what makes you think he'll be any more useful now?"

"He was just young and he didn't understand our motives. I can talk to him and he'll understand."

Archer put up his hands in surrender, seeing no point in fighting her any more. "Fine. Fine. Go do whatever. But if you come back with enemies on your trail, I'm not going to help you."

"I don't need your help," she sneered as she strutted away.

Archer rolled his eyes. "No wonder Giovanni tried to send you as far away from him as possible."
_________________________________________________________________________
Ariana found Proton surrounded by clamoring fan girls. He, of course, enjoyed the attention. He waved them off when he saw Ariana.

"What?"

"You and I have a mission."

Proton shrugged. "Okay, But I thought Archer was too much of a pansy to go outside?"

"Let's just say I convinced him." Ariana smirked.

Proton smiled. "I believe that. What's the mission?"

"Pretty easy work. There's a well in Azalea Town that is home to a large portion of the Slowpoke population. Since there's been a demand for SlowpokeTails, he wants you to cut some off for profit."

"That's my mission?" Proton sniffed in distaste.

"Yes, all in the name of Giovanni, of course," Ariana countered his implied refusal with tact.

"Of course. I'll get a team ready." Proton sneered.

Ariana nodded curtly and left him. Both executives were ready to go in a matter of hours. Proton had his hand-picked team ready for travel and she'd packed her bag with what she'd need; a weapon in case something happened, a set of dark colored clothes for hiding, and a set of normal clothes for during the day.

They left their secret base on the backs of Golbat and Crobat. Sailors looking up only saw a dark flock making its way toward the homeland.
_________________________________________________________________________
The sages of Bell Tower watched the same flock pass over their heads.

Silver's adoptive father shook his head sadly. "If only he'd listened. All is lost now."

"Not yet." the elder's old voice cut through their murmurs of agreement. "We are not the only ones watching."

"Who else is there, elder?"

"The other sage towers will not get involved in worldly affairs."

"The gym leaders haven't lifted a finger against outside forces."

More soft mutterings of consent filled the room. "There is another." A hush fell upon the room. "A powerful spirit of vengeance who has been watching for a long time with a legion of followers to back him up. His blades will reach them and his revenge against them knows no bounds." A younger sage came carrying the revered Noctowl of the Elders. The old sage wrapped a scroll to the old owl's talons and with a gesture of his hand, the bird flew off into the night.
_________________________________________________________________________
Ariana soon found that locating her son was harder than she anticipated. All she had to go on was that he'd run away from home again- though whether he lived in Violet City or Azalea Town was still unclear. She scoured Violet City first, but couldn't find a trace of her son anywhere. After searching through Azalea Town and finding nothing, she made a mistake that would cost her dearly; she put up posters for her lost son.

A young woman with caramel-colored skin and auburn hair saw the posters and made a phone call immediately. Ariana saw her and thought she might know something.

"Excuse me, do you know anything about my son?" Ariana asked with a pleading look in her eyes. She knew how to act.

The woman stared at her quietly before holding a finger for a moment, she spoke to the person on the other side of the phone. "Oh, the boy's poor mother is here. Do you know anything that I can pass on to her?"

Ariana let some crocodile tears spill down her cheeks as she smiled gratefully. The young woman smiled as if to say 'you're welcome' as she listened to the person on the phone. After some time, she hung up and turned to Ariana. "I might know where you can find your son!"

"Oh, thank you so much! You're so sweet! My name is Ana."

"Anything I can do to help! My friend says that he might have seen a boy like that in Goldenrod."

Ariana's face fell a bit. "Goldenrod is big city."

"He said to check around the southern underground entrance at night. I hope you find your son."

Ariana smiled brightly. "Thank you so much!" Excited by the glimmer of hope, she ran off.

The young woman watched her with amusement before pulling out her phone again. "She believed me and she's heading your way as we speak."

A man's voice answered. "Excellent work, Lizeth."

She chuckled. "You can call me Zeth. I honestly thought that she wouldn't go for it. 'By the underground at night' is the most suspicious thing I've ever heard!"

There was a dry laugh. "Perhaps, but I know her and she's as hot-headed as they come."

"Yep. Well, is there anything else I can do for you, Scythe? Any plans?"

After a slight pause, he responded. "There's been word circulating that Slowpoke Tails are a new fad in the black market. Team Rocket is sure to get involved... Keep an eye out, it'll probably be Proton."

"I'll call you if I hear anything." Sam apparently took that as goodbye and hung up. She slipped her phone back into the pocket of her tan cargo shorts. The night was a little cold, but she was wearing an orange v-neck sweater. Zeth leaned against a tree and put her large red and gold headphones on and started listening to her music. Another girl in dressed in dark jeans and dark blue t-shirt came up beside her and leaned against the tree.

Zeth slipped her headphones off again. "Hey, Tobi."

"Hey, so did you see those posters with the red-headed dude on it?" There was a triumphant look on the girl's face as she played with the dark blue bandanna around her neck coyly.

"Yeah, and I already called Scythe, so there."

Tobi scrunched up her nose. "I wanted to call him!"

"I know, I'm such a meanie head, huh," Zeth sighed with a cheerful grin.

Tobi didn't find it all that funny. "Hmph... Is he going to come here? I've heard so many stories about him; I want to know what he looks like!"

"Then I guess we'd better hope that Proton is here. Otherwise, Scythe has his hands full with a certain red-headed psycho." Zeth winked at Tobi as she put her headphones back on. Tobi smiled and flounced away.
_________________________________________________________________________
Ariana had put on her dark clothes and stood in the shadows waiting for her son to arrive. Finally, she heard footsteps heading toward her. As they got louder and closer she realized that the footsteps could not possibly belong to her eleven-year-old son. They were light and deliberate footsteps that belonged to long stride.

Nervous, she put her hand on her dagger. "Who's there?" The footsteps stopped, but no one answered her. "I said who's there! Come out where I can see you!" She spun around, searching her surroundings for anyone. Finally, the person stepped into the street light to the north. The soft light showed the silhouette of a man wearing a hood and all black. The light caught the buckles and leather throughout his attire. More importantly, the moonlight was reflecting off the large dual daggers.

Ariana held out her own, small dagger. "I don't know who you are, but don't you dare come any closer!"

She heard his dry chuckle as he pulled down his hood. "What? You don't recognize me?" She squinted at his face, trying to identify the person. He shook his head and his voice lost the joking undertone. Now it was just cold and deadly. "I'm your worst enemy."

Before she even had time to react, he rushed her. The force slammed her into the ground. Still laying on the ground, she attempted to bring up her own dagger to defend herself; there was a metallic clink. With horror, she watched the blade of her dagger fall to the ground. Like every villain and bully, she was a coward at heart and when faced with someone stronger than her, she fell apart.

"Don't kill me, please! I'll do anything you want!" she sobbed.

He came closer and knelt down in front of her. Using his dagger, he lifted her chin so she was looking at him. "Kill you? Please... You will be a valuable asset to me, Adriana." His voice was dangerous purr. As she stared at him, she slowly began to recognize him.

"S-Sam? No, it can't be! You died in the rubble... Pokemon Mansion collapsed on you!"

He smirked, a cruel glint in his eyes as he spoke softly. "I'll bet that's what Proton told you. You know, he begged me not to kill him, just like you. His Gengar is what saved him, nothing more."

"What are you going to do with me?" she sniffled.

"Nothing, really." He shrugged. "As much as I'd love to kill you, I need you to let me know the whereabouts of Team Rocket."

"I'm not going to tell you anything!"

He pulled out a small chip as he laughed cheerfully. "Of course not! That's what this is for. Hold still, this won't hurt too much." She tried to punch him or anything to deter him, but Sam was faster. She barely felt the quick blow to the head that ended her struggles in darkness.
_________________________________________________________________________
Petrel and Archer were both lazily meandering the halls of their hideout when Archer's phone rang.

"Its Ariana...? Hello?" He listened for a sound, but all he heard was her phone hit the ground like she'd dropped it. "Ariana? Ariana!" There was just soft breathing on the other side of the line. Archer kept his phone open. "Petrel! Run and get a tech grunt! I think Ariana is in trouble, we need to trace this call immediately!"
_________________________________________________________________________
Soon enough, Archer arrived in Goldenrod. It was still night, but he could see her lying in the back of an alley. He ran to her and checked to make sure she was still breathing. He shook her a bit and her eyes snapped open.

"Ariana? Are you okay? What in the world happened?"

She looked around wildly, then put her hand over her heart and took several deep breaths. "I- I don't remember."

"You don't remember anything?"

"I... It's really fuzzy. I just remember... Someone... He had a hood... I couldn't see his face."

"What did he do?"

Ariana put her face in her hands and smoothed back her red hair. "Nothing... He didn't do anything. I don't remember... He attacked me and then I think he left."

"Okay... Let's go, then. We should go back to the hideout."

Suddenly, Ariana pushed him away. "No! No.. I can't go back to the hideout!"

"What? Why not?" Archer was genuinely shocked.

"I don't remember why... But I can't. I just-" She broke down into sobs. Despite solace in returning somewhere safe- her subconscious was telling her that it would lead to ruin... How she didn't know. Just that it would.

"Okay! Okay, go to Mahogany Town, then! I need someone to protect some grunts I sent there anyway."

Ariana sniffed and nodded, quickly over her outburst. Archer shook his head as she walked away. She must have been faking it. Go figure, she just doesn't want to go back to the hideout so she invented this ridiculous scheme. He rolled his eyes, "Giovanni, what ever possessed you to date her?"
__________________________________________________
AN: In case it wasn't clear- the beginning of this is like a flashback that covers the actions of Team Rocket and the rest of the world. The Noctowl from the first chapter was from Sprout Tower... And again Sam's little nickname has changed to 'Scythe.'

TY to my beta, Foonator and my editor- Soulmaster... The master of souls.

OC: Lizeth goes to Fearless Neko- Hope I got her character right.

OC: Tobi goes to Jestie Uchiha

 

[Soulmaster]

So Ariana is bugged. hmmm? The plot is beginning to show up. So much wondering to be done.

Spoiler

"Pretty easy work. There's a well in Azalea Town that is home to a large portion of the Slowpoke population. Since there's been a demand for slowpoke tails, he wants you to cut some off for profit."

Two things here. One Slowpoke isn't capitalized. Two SlowpokeTails is one word.

 

[Noteleks]

So Ariana is bugged. hmmm? The plot is beginning to show up. So much wondering to be done.

Spoiler

"Pretty easy work. There's a well in Azalea Town that is home to a large portion of the Slowpoke population. Since there's been a demand for slowpoke tails, he wants you to cut some off for profit."

Two things here. One Slowpoke isn't capitalized. Two SlowpokeTails is one word.

Don't hurt yourself trying in all your wondering. ;P

 

[Soulmaster]

Too late.

 

[Noteleks]

No copyright infringement intended.
____________________________________________________________
Matt had fallen asleep at his desk. Sam had come to him for a tracking chip that some people put in their Pokemon at two o'clock in the morning. He'd made Matt toy with it so it would work just as well in a human.

"Matt, wake up," Sam said with light punch to his shoulder.

"Dude, no," Matt lazily responded.

"Matt," Sam insisted with a stern tone of voice.

"Ugh! Fine. What time is it?"

"Three in the morning."

"For crying out loud, what do you want from me?"

"Check to make sure that chip is working," Sam responded calmly.

"Seriously? This can't wait till morning?" Matt asked sleepily.

"No."

With a sigh, Matt sat up and started typing commands into his computer as he ranted. "Come in here and wake me up at damn o'clock in the morning and then expect me to work... The chip works just fine."

"Good. You can go back to sleep now, though I would recommend you sleep in your bed. I doubt sleeping over your desk is very comfortable."

"I will... depending on what you plan on doing now. If it's something work related then I might as well stay up," Matt yawned.

"It's plausible that Proton is in Azalea. I'm going to go check it out," Sam said with a shrug

Matt stared at him in utter disbelief. "Are you crazy? Seriously, when do you sleep?"

Sam tilted his head to one side. "Sleep? I don't. If you're not going to go back to sleep, then I'll assume that I can call if I need something."

"I am going to bed right now. Good night... Or good morning or whatever time you think it is right now." Sam didn't respond so Matt turned around only to find that Sam had left. Matt waved it off. "And make some noise when you leave, geez."
____________________________________________________________
Unfortunately, Ethan had managed to become a double-edged sword in a battlefield of two powers. On one hand, he'd made himself an enemy of Team Rocket when he defeated them at Slowpoke Well. On the other, he'd come between Sam and his target by chasing Team Rocket off to the safety of their hideout. Fortunately for him, he had left Azalea before anyone knew what he'd done.

Zeth and Tobi were standing in front of the well sheepishly when Scythe, aka Sam, arrived. The sun had barely risen.

"Tell me what happened," Scythe demanded, oddly calm.

The two girls were startled. Of their many different images of Scythe, he didn't quite match them. Zeth was the first to recover. "Proton had a small group with him. We found the tunnel through which they escaped if you want to see it."

Sam ignored the tunnel part. He cut straight to business. "Who chased them away?"

The two girls looked at each other, Tobi answered this time. "Apparently, an old man named Kurt tried to get rid of them, but he hurt his back. But there was some other trainer kid who went in and finished the job."

"What was the kid's name?"

"We don't actually know. We tried to get a description from people, but the kid didn't stay long. The best description we could get was that it was a boy with a red sweater and a hat," Zeth shrugged.

Scythe gave her a funny look and then laughed dryly. "Of course he has a hat. What prodigy trainer doesn't?"

Tobi scuffed her black vans in the dirt. "Sorry... What were you planning on doing?"

"Doesn't matter now," Scythe dismissed her coldly. "Right now, someone needs to find this upstart prodigy and stop him from interfering with Team Rocket again. Either do that yourselves or find someone who can."

Zeth nodded. "No problem. I'm on it."

Scythe didn't say anything further, just left.

Tobi tugged on Zeth's sleeve. "He was a lot nicer in the stories."

Zeth laughed. "But he's much hotter in person. But hey, give him credit, he just got jipped by some punk hero."

"True enough." Tobi smiled. "Too bad he didn't stay longer."

"Well, I'll get to see him again," Zeth grinned. Tobi pouted but Zeth ignored her, her favorite song was playing.
____________________________________________________________
Sam had barely walked through the gate of Goldenrod when his phone rang, after a quick glance at the caller ID, he answered it.

"Matt? I thought you were sleeping."

"Meeting of the thieves. Tao is pissed so watch out."

"Lovely."

"Yeah, I might have to come with you... I almost want to see this."

Sam chuckled dryly. "Everyone loves a good drama. I don't care what you do."

"Hmm... Well, I might see you there, kay?"

"Kay." Sam hung up. With an irritated sigh, he headed for the safe house under the casino that was used for the meeting place.

The other four thieves were already there and had given Tao plenty of extra room. Sam completely ignored her and sat down in his customary seat. "I hope there's a reason this meeting has been called," Sam commented nonchalantly.

Tao responded immediately, "Arthur was here. In Goldenrod."

Sam stared at her cooly. "Were you under the impression that I didn't know?"

Waves of anger radiated from her as she stormed closer to him. "Of course you knew. You were there! You saw him, you could have called me, and I could have killed him...! And you let him go!"

Calm and unmoved by her outburst, Sam's voice was even as he answered to her accusation. "Of course I did. Now, perhaps you should sit down before your little tantrum embarrasses you further."

Tao's hand instantly went to her dagger, Sam didn't bat an eye at the violent gesture. Her wild ice blue eyes were bright with malice and rage.

Barrakus stepped in tactfully. "Tao, Sam wouldn't let him go without reason." Tao didn't back down. "Sam, now would be the time to explain."

Sam stared Tao down calmly as he spoke with the same even tone as before. "Killing him wouldn't have solved anything. Ariana would have notified Lance and Patrick and they would have taken all of their stolen Pokemon and fled again. I've been trying to draw them out for the last three years... For three years, my Pokemon and the Pokemon of good people have undergone their harsh and cruel experiments. At this point, there's no telling how many have died... We don't have a third chance at this." Tao backed away slowly, Sam continued with his voice dripping with sarcasm and contempt. "So yes, I could have called you and you'd walk away happy and your selfish need for revenge would be satisfied, but the world doesn't actually revolve around you."

Tao scowled and sat down. Sam yawned and glanced at the other thieves, "Is that all you wanted?" No one answered "Great. I have better things to do." With that, he left. The other thieves got up and slowly filed out except Tao who was still scowling and pouting.

Matt met Sam outside, "I can't believe you actually said that to her! Man... That was awesome."

"I'm so glad you enjoyed it."

Matt shrugged. "Anyway, Ariana is still in Mahogany... So, what trouble are we going to get into today?"

Sam glanced at him. "I have to check on my team. I'm not losing anyone this time."

Matt nodded. "That is really sad with what happened to your Abra... What was her name? Cat?"

"Yeah..."

"Has that paralysis worn off yet?"

Sam shrugged. "Steven said that she's gotten better, but she's still very weak."

"Ah... Well, I'll leave you to your training then. See ya later." Matt waved cheerfully as he left. Sam kept walking to where he kept all his Pokemon.
____________________________________________________________
Northeast of the town, Sam had found a small clearing beyond the dense trees that lined the wilderness. After some renovations, this clearing spread up the cliff and looked down on Goldenrod. While recovering from the events of Kanto, Sam had kept track of what Pokemon had been stolen by Team Rocket and which executive would be likely to take what. Once his list was complete and he'd recovered enough to travel, he went through Johto and caught Pokemon that would have a type advantage as well as those that matched his rough outline of a plan of attack. Usually, he caugth more than one of each.

When he was done, he'd taken them all and put them in his own training field. Plenty of wild Pokemon flocked there and his Pokemon would also fight amongst themselves. Sam found a retired nurse, Anabelle; a groundskeeper, Martin; a secretary of sorts who managed the area in his place, Ryan; and young thieves were always willing to volunteer. If not because Sam was a hero to them because his Pokemon were incredibly strong.

Martin and Ryan met Sam at the top of cliff. Sam surveyed the field. "How are things going here?"

"Excellent. We sent them through some tests and calculated the ranks. The average was forty-seven." Ryan smiled proudly.

Sam frowned. "The weakest?"

Ryan sighed as she flipped through her clipboard. Heaven forbid that good could just be good enough for him."Um, an Ampharos at level thirty-eight."

"Only as strong as the weakest link. Bring it's level up, it won't be too much longer now before we get to knock down Team Rocket's front door."

Martin leaned on his shovel, and whistled softly. "Last I heard, you had no idea where they were. Boy, you've made progress since we last talked. "

"Its about time too," Sam commented flatly. "Anyway, are we good on supplies? Are things still running smoothly or do I need to go find something?"

Ryan put on her glasses and gave him a devious look. "Well, since you asked."

Sam grimaced and listened quietly as the list went on and on. "The berry trees we've grown aren't keeping up anymore, we'll need some time of replacement food so the trees have time to recover; some of the fencing is damaged, so we'll need stone of some sort and some wood, you know what to get... Charcoal, water; the office needs some work, it got damaged from a battle... And that's it for the grounds," she flipped through her clipboard again. "I, however, need some more paper, batteries, ink, a warmer blanket because it's cold and my little house here needs some work as well... Oh, and it'd be really nice if you could bring me a book to read because I get really bored."

Martin jumped in right after she stopped. "Nails, some pots, and two bags of fertilizer."

Sam looked at both of them. "Note to self; check in more often. I don't suppose-"

"Here's a list." Ryan laughed as she handed to him. "And there are too little pickpockets willing to help you out."

"Great, I'm probably going to need them."

"Alright, there's a boy, Clint, and a little girl who's very shy, her name is Stella."

Sam smiled a little. "Stella is the little girl with the blond pigtails petting the Rapidash, isn't she."

Ryan grinned. "She's so cute. She's totally in love with Rapidash- it's adorable. I'm impressed that you guessed so easily."

Martin laughed. "I won't be impressed until you can guess which one is Clint."

Sam played with his amethyst necklace thoughtfully. "The little boy with black hair and green eyes who's having a pretend battle with that huge Machamp?"

Martin gaped, then looked suspicious. "You've already met him, haven't you."

Sam pretended to be hurt. "What? You don't think I'm just that good of a guesser?"

Ryan and Martin answered simultaneously, "No."

"Ouch, you know, that really hurts. I thought we were closer than that."

Ryan gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder. "We're close enough to know that you are a very good liar."

Sam grinned. "My charm, right?"

"Whatever." Ryan laughed and elbowed him. "Now, get going. That list is very important."

Sam made a face. "Alright, fine. I'll go get those little monsters and leave." He stepped forward and tossed one of his famous daggers several feet into the air. The sunlight caught the amethyst pommel stone and the blade shone brightly. It had the desired effect- the children looked up and saw him. He waved and then held out his hand and expertly caught the blade.

Clint rushed up as fast as he could and Stella approached quietly with a blush rapidly spreading across her round face.

Clint was looking up at Sam in awe. "You're... Scythe! The Hunter of the underworld!"

"Among many other things, though I'd prefer you call me Sam."

"Okay!" Clint responded enthusiastically. Stella was hiding behind him.

Ryan handed both of them a copy of their long list. "You are to help him out, alright?" Clint saluted happily and Stella nodded quietly.

"Alright, let's go." Sam gestured in the direction of Goldenrod.
____________________________________________________________
Two hours later, Sam came back. "I come bearing gifts."

Ryan took stock of everything they'd bought. "That would be everything. Good job, Sam. Did you find everything okay?"

Sam answered sarcastically. "No, we got lost on floor three for the last three hours looking for the charcoal."

It took Ryan a few moments to figure out he was joking, then she laughed. "You weren't even gone for three hours!"

"I know, but the cashier who asked me the same question didn't know that."

Ryan gaped. "You didn't really say that, did you?"

"Of course I did. Seriously, how do you not find anything?"

"Oh my god, that poor woman."

"Anyway, between me and Martin, we should be able to fix your house by tonight," Sam stated.

"Well, good. But what about this giant pile of stuff?" She looked to the supplies.

Sam shrugged with a smirk. "It's your job to put them away. Stella and Clint can help you." With that he walked away.

"Ugh... Alright, Stella. We can do this. Girl power!"

Stella looked at her with worry and shook her head. Fortunately, all the other little thieves were willing to help and they got everything squared away. Sam and Martin fixed her roof and repaired her broken door before sundown. Sam's Scyther had helped by cutting the boards neatly. When they were done, both had disappeared.

"Martin, did you see where Sam went?" Ryan asked with another glance around.

"I'd imagine they went up the cliff a ways to do their super-fast ninja-dagger whatever training, or whatever you want to call it," Martin answered while he chewed on a blade of grass.

Ryan smiled. "Let's just call it ninja training from now on, kay? Well, I think I'm going to watch."

Martin waved a lazy goodbye. "See ya tomorrow. G'night, Ryan."

With a nod and smile, Ryan climbed up the cliff and weaved through the thick trees until there was a sudden break and a short drop into a crater. In the center, Sam and Scyther were parrying each other's blades.

Ryan sat down and watched, all but hypnotized by the sun's scarlet light reflecting off the blades. Every time one ripped through the air, it left a path of light that would remain for a second. As always, neither could gain an upper hand. The longer they went, the faster they would get until no mortal eye could keep up with what happened.

Both of the skilled fighters' faces showed nothing more than cool, calm confidence. Each time, there was a silent agreement to continue until one ran out of energy or if one of them missed a block and was cut. That didn't happen very often anymore.

At one point, Sam got very close to catching Scyther's chest. In response, the Scyther leapt back to create distance. Sam let his blades drop to his sides and side stepped to the right. Scyther side stepped to the left, then changed his mind and shot like lightning at Sam. Sam was just as quick. He dodged and aimed a slice at Scyther's back. The Pokemon ducked quickly and their blades met again in their familiar duel.

More than an hour later, they finally stopped; they had called it a draw with blades at each other's throats. Sam sheathed his daggers. "That was a good run."

Scyther sat on his haunches and panted. Sam looked at the old Pokemon with concern. Over the past few months, Scyther had started losing his energy a lot faster. Scyther saw his master's worry and scowled. Sam smiled and put his hands up in mock surrender. "Alright, I won't say anything. But hey, don't overdo it." Scyther nodded in simple understanding. Sam climbed out of the crater using the shallow footholds. At the top, he saw something reflecting brightly. It was a watch.

Ryan was laying there, asleep. Sam considered waking her up, but decided to just pick her up and carry her anyway. Halfway to her small house, she woke up.

"Do you want me to put you down?" Sam asked slightly amused.

Ryan looked at him sleepily and then put an arm around his neck and cuddled closer to him. "No."

When they reached the door to her modest house, Sam put her down. She sighed and pulled out her keys. With the door unlocked, she opened the door and left it open.

Sam was straightening his jacket when she turned around. "I don't suppose you were planning on doing anything tonight," she asked coyly as she played with his necklace.

He smirked. "No... I wonder what you could possibly want."

She smiled back and let his necklace drop as she walked inside.
____________________________________________________________
AN: Another day, another chapter. Yes- this is where the 'mild sexual themes' comes in. T_T You'll understand Ryan a little better later... Towards the end. All will be revealed later- I promise... Matt, Ryan, and Sam will have some character clarification moments. This story arc is about more than just revenge.

OC's
Zeth goes to one of my readers- FearlessNeko
Tobi goes to another one of my readers- JestieUchiha.
If you'd like to submit a character- I'll try to fit them in.

My Beta has returned! XD Thanks to DarkAngelTorchic! Chapter five will be back to the high quality since next time she'll be able to edit plot and story choices as well. (Yeah, she disappeared for a few months... But she came back! And she's still around!)

Also- thanks to Soulmaster for his error/typo-catching awesomeness. (I'm expecting some errors this time. I feel like I didn't do a very good job of catching them myself.)

 

[Soulmaster]

Sigh Sam doing the shopping one of the best scenes ever.

Spoiler

Ryan sighed as she flipped through her clipboard. Heaven forbid that good could just be good enough for him."Um, an ampharos at level thirty-eight."

There were also a few times with the "kay"'s I think a apostrophe is supposed to be at the start of that.

 

[Noteleks]

I know right? I didn't realize that until when I posted it today. But it's okay... He needs to do something useful, lol.

Eh.... I'm just going to leave the 'kay's. Otherwise it looks like - "'Kay" and I don't care for the triple apostrophes... Even if it is grammatically correct.

 

[Noteleks]

No copyright infringement intended.
___________________________________________________________
Sam was sitting in his temporary apartment twirling a dagger in one hand as he looked out the window to where his battlefield was secluded. He'd left Ryan's house almost an hour ago and after a quick shower and change of clothes, he was once again bored and oddly restless considering it was almost one o'clock.

Sam sighed. "This city is the 'liveliest city you'll ever see'... in the daytime. I've seen small towns with more action at night than this place," he muttered to himself sarcastically. With one final bored glance at the clock, he slid the dagger back in its sheath and left to meander the dark streets.
___________________________________________________________
Lyra was having a lot of trouble. She'd wanted to stay ahead of Ethan and ended up way in over her head. And now it was past midnight.

"Ooh... Marill... What am I going to do?" Lyra cried as she sat next to a tree in Ilex Forest.

Marill looked very concerned and took her hand in its little blue paws.

Lyra smiled. "I know. But we're hopelessly lost." She sniffled. Marill bounded off then stopped to turn and stare at her. "But... Let's just keep going, huh? You're right; we won't get out of here if we just mope around." She stood up and clenched her fists to give herself strength.

"But... Which way did we come from again?" Lyra stared at the grass in embarrassment. Marill squeaked at her and pointed excitedly at something. Lyra followed slowly and sure enough, she could see a light on the other side of the pond. Re-energized, they both shot down the path to their right. When it turned up, they didn't even stop to think; they just kept running.

"C'mon, Marill! Its just down this path!" she cried excitedly. Both girl and Marill stopped and almost cried tears of joy to see the large ancient gateway. Lyra stumbled inside numbly and hugged the first person she saw warmly. The other girl was completely confused. Lyra let her go and continued to walk forward.

Outside, she could see the lights of Goldenrod City glowing in the night. She was so tired that she forgot to look for trainers.

"This is where I do my training!" the youngster cried.

"Wha! I am so sorry!" Lyra jumped and ran away. The boy was so startled that he just stared after her. She ran past several other trainers, but didn't stop until she passed the Daycare. Wheezing, she sat down in the grass and Marill plopped down beside her.

Suddenly, a flash light illuminated them. "Who goes there?"

"Lyra?" she answered back, confused.

The policeman walked closer and stared at the young girl sitting in the grass. She had leaves and twigs stuck in her hair and she was covered in dirt. Not sure what to think, he simply said, "Are you okay?"

"I'm just trying to get to Goldenrod," she wheezed.

"Well, uh," the police officer began hesitantly, "it's right there," he said with a jerk of his thumb to the large city almost directly behind him.

"Yessir."

The officer nodded and walked away stiffly. Slowly, Lyra stood up and walked through the gates of Goldenrod and into the doors of the Pokemon Center.

The nurse was insanely joyful. "Hello, how are you?"

"I'm so tired. I need a room," Lyra said.

The nurse's face fell a bit. "I'm so sorry, but we're booked. I can heal your Pokemon for you if you'd like?"

"Okay..." Marill jumped up on the counter and after a few minutes they were back on the streets. She looked around for a hotel, there seemed to be one by the little shop past the department store.

She walked inside and approached the brunette minding the counter. "I need a room, how much does it cost?"

The brunette looked at her with contempt. "Sorry, sweetheart, we don't give rooms to children. Go to the Pokemon Center."

"Right." She checked two more hotels, but got the same answer. She sat down by the Pokemon Center and shared a dejected look with Marill. "I guess we don't have a choice. We'll have to get some camping supplies... But I don't know how to set up a tent! And I need a shower!" Lyra complained. Tears welled up in her hazel eyes and she had almost started to cry when she saw someone familiar.

She couldn't see his face, but the skin tone and hair color were the same.

She looked to Marill who was also staring at him. "Mr. Violet?" They shared a wondering glance. Impulsively, Lyra got up and ran after him.

"Mister! Mister! Wait up!" He stopped and turned to look at her. Now that she could see his face, it was undoubtedly him. "Oh, thank goodness. It is you! I don't know what I would have done if it wasn't!" she laughed.

Sam was completely taken off-guard. "...Lyra?"

She looked up into his confused face and blushed as she stared at the ground. "I... I need your help." She scuffed her shoe in the dirt before looking back at him.

"Okay...? What's wrong?" He seemed willing to help, but still very confused.

"Well, you see, I was trying to beat my friend Ethan here, so when it got dark I kept going and then I got lost in Ilex Forest for, like, ever. And I'm so tired and afraid of the dark and I don't know what to do because the Pokemon Center is full and they don't have a room for me so then I went to the hotels and they said they don't give rooms for children. So then I was going to buy camping supplies but I don't know how to camp!"

He was giving her the weirdest look, she sniffed and blushed. He slowly nodded as he sorted through everything she'd just said. "So... You need somewhere to stay... And you need me to get a room for you?"

Lyra nodded. "Yessir."

"I see," he chuckled.

Lyra was mildly offended. "What's so funny?"

He shook his head. "Nothing, nothing... I'll help you." He reached over and pulled a twig out of her pigtails.

"Oh, thank you so much! I promise I'll never ask for anything again, sir!"

"Lyra."

"Yessir?"

"Don't call me 'sir'."

"Okay."

He motioned for her to follow. Not wanting to lose him, she grabbed his arm. The gesture surprised him, but he didn't push her away. He escorted her to the hotel near the bike shop. The brunette from before looked up, saw him, and dropped her magazine in surprise.

He didn't react to that at all, simply walked up to the counter with a gentle, disarming smile. "Hi, I know it's late, but my sister and I need a room for the night."

She gaped for a bit before she found her voice. "Um? Oh, right. We should have a room open... I just have to get the keys." She brushed her hair out of her face and rushed to the back room.

"She's a lot nicer to you than she was to me," Lyra commented.

"It's amazing what good looks and a charming smile can get you," he answered with smirk.

Lyra watched as the brunette came back dangling the keys. "Here you go... Have a nice night. Your room is one-O-five."

He smiled at her sweetly. "Thank you so much. You have a nice night too. C'mon, Lyra."

She continued to clutch at his arm as they walked up the stairs and up to her door. The hotel was very dark and she'd seen some men and women along the way that gave looked at her in a way that made her uncomfortable. She noticed that her escort had given each of them a warning glance that starkly countered the charming, kind behavior he'd shown until then. Still, she knew that he wouldn't hurt her so it made her feel safe.

He handed her the keys. "Here you are. Goodnight, Lyra."

She looked at the keys with uncertainty. "Umm... Could you; this is going to sound really weird, but... Could you stay for awhile?"

"What?"

"I just... Don't know if I... Oh, nevermind," Lyra reached for the keys but he moved them away.

"You don't feel safe," he inferred. Lyra nodded. He sighed. "I'll stay for an hour and then I'm leaving."

Lyra brightened up instantly. "Okay!" He unlocked the door and opened it for her. She skipped in humming and Marill bounded after her. She surveyed the room. It had a bathroom in one corner walled off from the rest of the floor. There was a very small kitchen, a living room type area, and a bed in near the corner.

"It's so... Mister?" She looked around, he wasn't right behind her. He had walked out to the balcony while she wasn't looking. She followed him. "You aren't going to stay inside?"

He pulled out a chair from the cheap table sitting there. "Well, I'm assuming you're going to take a shower... So, I'll just wait out here. I prefer being outside anyway."

"Oh! Yes, of course!" She rushed back inside.

Marill stayed behind and crawled into his lap happily. While she was gone, Sam continued planning and thinking through every possible step for tearing through Team Rocket's base, which is what he had been doing before Lyra came out of nowhere. He thought of every floor plan, counter attacks, attacks, any traps they might have, and what and how many of his Pokemon would be sent to do what.

Lyra came back showered and in a gray shirt and pink pajama pants. Marill ran over to her happily. The sudden movement made Sam jump a bit. He glanced at her as he yawned and stretched. "Do you feel safe yet?"

"A little," Lyra smiled.

Sam nodded and stood up as he said, "Would it make you feel better if I left one of my Pokemon to guard you instead?"

Lyra tilted her head. "What kind of Pokemon do you have?"

"A lot of different species, but I think you'd be better off with a Scyther."

"Oh... Do you have one with you?"

"Not at the moment, but I can get you one for tomorrow," he offered.

"That'd be nice," Lyra responded happily. She turned and skipped off to the bed. Within minutes she was sleeping soundly.

He looked at the clock. "Only two in the morning... Damn." He sighed and brushed his hair back with his hand. Seeing Lyra asleep only served to remind him how tired he really was. He took her extra key and opened the door to leave. There were two guys standing just outside.

"Do you need something?" Sam asked politely.

One of them pulled out a small knife and picked at his teeth with it. "Cute little sister you got there." The other laughed.

Sam laughed with them for a moment and then punched the one with the knife in face. The blow was hard enough to make the man stagger back and fall. In the next instant, Sam had a dagger out and held at the other man's throat. "Get out of here. And tell your little buddies that I'll be waiting for the next man fool enough to even look at her the wrong way."

The thugs ran off, fighting to be the first down the stairs. Sam locked Lyra's door and waited patiently before descending the stairs himself. The streets were still completely void of life. Sam got back to his equally quiet apartment, and like Lyra, was out in a matter of minutes. But while her dreams were peaceful, his sleep was broken by the ever familiar nightmare.

It started off the same as every other time; watching Ditto taken. He wasn't there when it really happened, but in his nightmare, he was not only there but couldn't move. He could only watch. Then it would skip to Pokemon Mansion. Everything would follow what really happened until the battle with Proton. In the nightmare, all his Pokemon would fall and disappear. Once again he jumps in between the Gengar and Cat in an attempt to save her. Right before the slash would rip through his chest again, he snapped awake in searing pain.

For whatever reason, every time he woke up from that nightmare, the scars left from the Gengar would feel like they were burning. At first, the large wounds had healed like any other cut, but they had gradually darkened until they turned black. As the scars darkened, the pain that always followed the nightmare got worse and would linger even longer. Now, it was almost unbearable.

He tried to ignore it and the pain lessened a little bit. The passage of time seemed incredibly long. It was interrupted by a knock on the door.

Sam jumped at the sudden noise and stared at the door. A glance at his phone and several missed calls told him that the person was Matt. "Damn it all."

"Stop ignoring me! I will stand here and knock all night," Matt threatened beyond the door.

Sam sighed and tried to put on the facade that he was fine. He opened the door and Matt immediately brushed right past him.

"Do you know how much danger I'm in? I swear, man. You've pissed off Tao something fierce and the crazy woman isn't about to let it go. And apparently, since she can't find you anywhere, she's started targeting me! I mean," Matt finally turned around and looked at Sam and stopped talking. "Are you okay?"

Sam glared at him. "Matt, get out."

Matt stood his ground, Sam was never sick. It simply didn't happen, but his face was unusually pale and he almost looked like he was shivering. Matt shook his head. "Dude, seriously. What's wrong? You look like hell."

Knowing that he didn't have the patience nor ability to argue with Matt, Sam sighed and walked back to the couch, "What do you want me say, Matt? No, I'm not. Now go home, if Tao won't leave you alone then give her my number and I'll take care of it tomorrow."

As soon as Sam sighed, he dropped the act instantly. His voice lost the strength it had before and now he just sounded tired. The sudden change weirded Matt out. "Well, I came because of Tao, but I'm not leaving til you're okay. What's the matter? Are you sick or something?" he asked.

Sam laughed and then flinched. "If it only it were that simple."

"Then why-?"

"I don't even know that," Sam rubbed at his chest. He was still shivering a bit. He seemed more like he was in pain than anything else.

"How long has this been going on? Is it just now or..."

Sam flinched again as another wave of pain struck. "... Damn it," he kept silent for a moment, "Only every time I have a nightmare."

"So not that often?"

"Every time I fall asleep."

"That can't possibly be healthy. Have you talked to a nurse or doctor something?"

"No, I can't," Sam admitted.

Matt crossed his arms. "And why not?"

"Steven would find out. He's got ears everywhere. If Steven finds out, he'll tell the Thief Lord for sure and there's no way he let me stay here if he knew. Steven had to convince him to just let me come to Johto. If he'd had it his way, I would have been sent home after the incident in Saffron." Another wave of pain caused him to stop talking for a moment. "I am not just going to quit because of this."

Matt shook his head. "Surely you could convince Steven not to talk then?"

"The guy is practically my father. He let me come here because he thought I was okay. If he finds out that I'm not, he won't hesitate to do whatever it takes to get me back in Hoenn."

"Then what are you supposed to do?"

Sam laughed. "Shut up and deal with it. Same thing I've been doing. That and stop sleeping."

"Seriously, how do you function like this?"

"You get used to it. I typically don't even want to sleep... If I do, I get about two hours of sleep and an hour of pain. Nighttime in general gives me so much anxiety now that I can't calm down unless I have something to do."

Matt thought about everything that'd happened over the last few years. "That... Explains a lot."

"Doesn't it?"

"Though, you could just let someone else take your place in taking-"

"No."

"Be reasonable, Sam. It doesn't have to be you."

"Yes it does. This whole thing wouldn't have even happened if I'd just figured it all out sooner. I had a bad feeling about Giovanni from the start and if I'd said something to the Thief Lord about it sooner then nothing bad would have ever happened. I screwed up, and I got another shot at Pokemon Mansion, but I wasn't fast enough. I screwed up again... If I'd just taken a little more time to plan..." Sam was forced to stop as another wave of pain tore at him.

Matt took that opportunity to speak. "This is not your fault."

"Don't argue the semantics with me. I could have... Should have done something. You can't justify that."

"No one could have predicted how that was going to go. If anything, blame the Thief Lord. That whole Team Rocket thing should not have been your problem. And if it weren't for Steven, you wouldn't have gotten involved."

"I didn't say other people didn't share the blame. I know what I did and this is the last chance I have at making it right."

Matt sighed. "You make it sound like there's not even going to be a third time. Like Team Rocket and every Pokemon they've stolen is just going to disappear."

"Look, it really doesn't even matter how this turns out. I won't make it another three years like this, maybe not even another month. Scyther doesn't have it in him anymore either. So win or lose, I walk away. It'd be nice to know I didn't waste three years being miserable."

"What's wrong with Scyther?"

Sam shook his head with a small smile. "He's old. Really old... I didn't realize it when I first got him... But back then everything was invincible. Truth be told, I'm amazed he didn't keel over months ago. My guess is, he won't rest until we find Ditto."

"So he's in your boat?"

"Yeah..." Sam chuckled, "Cat and Ditto look up to him so much. He loves it... He loves them both. And he was devastated when he found out what happened to Cat and when Ditto was taken. He'll probably manage to hold out until we find him, but I doubt I'll be taking him out of Johto alive, unfortunately."

"What are you going to do if he doesn't make it?"

"Nothing. I can't do anything about it. I've known for a long time how this was going to end. If that old battle-scarred warrior wants to live his last moments in battle... I'm not going to deny him that." Sam smiled and laughed. "I can't imagine him going out any other way."

Matt thought about it, then agreed grudgingly, "I guess so... But that's still really frickin' depressing."

"Welcome to my world," Sam returned with smirk.
___________________________________________________________
AN: Really depressing... Highly dramatic... And Lyra was the light, humorous moment- Chapter 5. GSTA: Johto is meant to be dark and is the overall darkest of all the planned installments... Which isn't to say that the others won't have their moments, but Johto has a lot.
-For the record: Sam doesn't have any, shall we say, special feelings for Lyra. He just has a bit of an older-brother mentality in him and just feels like he should protect her.

Big thanks to my Beta; DarkAngelTorchic. Also, thanks to Soulmaster!

This chapter really explains a lot about why things are the way they are. I didn't want Sam to stay cold and dark forever, but flipping too suddenly would be unrealistic (or bi-polar). So, the answer finally came to me long time ago while I was mulling things over; he hasn't changed at all- He simply never took the time to recover from the events of Kanto and is slowly losing his ability to function! (Sad in itself, but for those of you who miss the old Sam; he'll make a comeback... Though, he'll be even MORE of a smart ass.)