The Incredible Poke-Odyssey chapter 17

Reiko's Reunion

Our heroes were now in Fuchsia.  They had hid their new R.V. behind a 
cluster of trees and they were on their way to the Fuchsia gym so 
Cameron could compete for a SoulBadge and hopefully hide from Team 
Rocket for a while.

"So which way is it to the Fuchsia gym?" asked Bill.

"According to my map", said Jenny, "If we head south down that hill, 
we'll find the gym that's almost as big as one acre."

"And was it ever long too!" groaned Misty remembering all the twists, 
turns, and boobie traps that that particular gym had.

Well then lets get going!" smiled Cameron as he released Sandy, "Ready 
to win me another badge champ?" he asked.

"Shrew!" said Sandy ready to take on his next opponent.  Just then, a 
little girl in a Japanese school uniform jumped out from a nearby bush. 
"That's a neat Sandshrew you have there", said the girl in a cute 
Japanese accent.

"Thank you", said Cameron as he and Sandy both bowed to the girl.

"But is it good against my Charmander?" smiled the girl as she released 
a cute little orange lizard with a flame on its tail. "CHAR!" it said.

"What do you say we have a battle?" asked the girl bowing to Cameron.

"How about it Sandy?" asked Cameron, "So you can warm up before our 
big match against the gym leader?"

"Shrew!" said Sandy as he jumped right in front of Charmander ready to 
put out its flame.

"Charmander, fire spin!" commanded the girl.

"CHAR!" shouted Charmander as it breathed fire and trapped Sandy in a 
red-hot tornado making him unable to escape or fight back.

"Quick Sandy, dig to freedom!" shouted Cameron.  When the fire cleared, 
they found Sandy gone and a hole from where he was standing last.

"Uh oh!" said the girl.

"Char, char!" said Charmander knowing what was gonna happen next.  
Suddenly Sandy burst out of the ground from where Charmander was 
standing knocking the poor lizard on its head.

"Charrie!" cried the girl as she picked it up and rubbed its slightly 
bruised head.

"I'm sorry we had to do that to your Charmander", apologized Cameron.  

"That's okay", said the girl bowing to him. "I'm going to make my 
Charmander stronger so in case we meet again, it'll be sure to beat 
your Sandshrew."

Sandy and Charmander both bowed to each other and then Charmander got 
back into the Pokeball the girl was holding out.  She bowed goodbye to 
everyone and left. "Congratulations Sandy", smiled Cameron as he was 
about to pet him.  But then stopped for Sandy was starting to glow.  It 
looked like tiny little quills were sprouting out of his back. "Sandy, 
what's happening to you?!" gasped Cameron.

"I believe that Sandy is about to evolve", said Seymour taking out a 
pad and pencil so he can study the evolution of a Sandshrew.

"Yes, you might be now getting a Sandslash", said Bill who was also 
fascinated.

"A Sandslash?!" said Cameron excitedly as he took out his Pokedex and 
looked up Sandslash.  On the screen appeared a mouse that looked almost 
like a Sandshrew.  Except it was bigger with huge sharp claws and long 
brown quills sticking out of its back.

"SANDSLASH: The mouse Pokemon, the evolved form of Sandshrew", replied 
Dexeena, "Curls up into a spiny ball when threatened.  It can roll 
while curled up to hunt for food."

"Cool!" smiled Cameron excitedly, "I can't wait to get me a Sandslash!"

"I didn't know you liked Sandslashes", said Misty.

"Back in my world, everyone on the net had a debate on which Pokemon 
was the Slash Master and most of them voted for Sandslash, including 
me!" smiled Cameron as he watched Sandy who was still glowing. 
"Go Sandy go!" shouted Cameron, "Let's see you work your Sandslash 
magic!"

All of a sudden, Sandy stopped glowing.  He took a deep breath and 
sucked the tiny quill points back into his back. "Sandshrew!" said 
Sandy who was still the same Sandshrew he always was.

Cameron became shocked, "Why did you stop?" he demanded, "You were just 
about to become a more stronger, powerful Pokemon!  Why did you do that 
to yourself, and to me too?"

"Shrew, shrew, Sandshrew!", said Sandy trying his best to explain why 
he didn't evolve.

"I can't understand a word you're saying", said Cameron very annoyed!

"Can you understand what he's saying Bill?" Stella asked him.

"What?" grumbled Bill, "You assume that I can speak the language of 
Sandshrew just because I have a rodent's body?!"

"But you did say you knew the Rattata language by heart", said Brock.

"Rattata yes, but Sandshrew's kind of a whole different language", said 
Bill. "Oh, all right.  I'll find out what's up with Sandy!" Bill ran up 
to Sandy and tried his best to speak his language.  When they were 
done, Bill approached Cameron while Sandy looked at his master hoping 
he'd understand.

"What did Sandy say?" asked Cameron.

"I'm not sure", said Bill, "It sounded something like my purple-striped 
suited cable guy is drinking a wine glass of dishwater." Everyone 
looked funny at Bill.

"At least I know that there was an "a" in his sentence", protested Bill.

Cameron then approached Sandy, "Come on Sandy", he said in a reasonable 
voice, "Why won't you evolve for me?"

"Sandshrew!" said Sandy who was now speaking in an annoyed voice and 
quickly turned his armored back on his master.

"Fine!" grumbled Cameron, "If you're gonna be like that, you can just 
get back in your Pokeball!" and he pulled out Sandy's ball and sucked 
him back in. "SHREW!!!" Sandy growled out loud just as soon as the ball 
closed up on him.

"Don't you think you were a little hard on Sandy?" asked Misty. 

"It's just that when I played my Gameboy, all the Pokemon I owned were 
willing to evolve for me", said Cameron. "And I just don't see how 
Sandy can be a good Pokemon if he doesn't evolve."

"But remember Cameron", said Seymour, "This isn't your game.  This is 
real life!  Our world may not seem real to you, but you're now in our 
reality and you just can't treat Pokemon like computer chips in a game 
system."

"I remember when Ash's Bulbasaur was about to evovle, it stopped 
itself", said Brock, "Ash was able to respect Bulbasaur's wishes and 
Bulbasaur became one of the toughest Pokemon I've seen even if it was 
still in its first stage."

Cameron looked at Sandy's Pokeball and started to feel pretty small.  
He wanted to be like Ash and forcing a Pokemon to change itself if it 
doesn't want to was very un-Ashlike. 

"Besides", continued Stella, "Wasn't it you who taught me that Pokemon 
should be loved, not mistreated?"

"You're all right", said Cameron with tears in his eyes.  He opened up 
the ball and released Sandy.  He was actually crying and his tears were 
hurting his sand-covered body. "Sandy, I'm sorry", cried Cameron as he 
lifted up his Sandshrew and cradled him like a baby. "I had no right to 
force you to become something you didn't want to be.  I still don't 
know why you don't want to become a Sandslash, but I'm going to respect 
your wishes from now on.  You can stay the cute little Sandshrew who 
rescued me from Team Rocket the very first day I came to this world.  
Can we still be friends?"

Sandy looked up at his sorry-filled master, then smiled and started 
licking his face showing that he was forgiven. "Aw, thank you Sandy!" 
smiled Cameron. "You're the best Pokemon and friend a kid could ask 
for!"

"Sandshrew!" said Sandy while winking at all of Cameron's friends who 
were smiling at the dynamic duo.

*      *      *      *      *      *

Our heroes had finally reached the entrance of the Fuchsia gym. "Well, 
I guess we all should go in", said Jenny.

"Just watch out for any spinning walls, upside down rooms, and hidden 
Voltorbs", said Misty.

"And for any cute girls throwing metal stars", said Brock.

"Don't worry Brockie", smiled Stella, "If any cute girls go after you, 
I'll personally put 'em in their place!" and she took out her circus 
whip.

When they all stepped in, they found a hallway that was almost a mile 
long. "No doubt that there are invisible booby traps just waiting to 
eat our flesh", said Misty nervously.

"Leave everything to me", said Bill as he took one tiny crumb of cheese 
and threw it through the hallway.  Suddenly, the walls started to spin 
around while metal stars, seltzer bottles, itching powder, and TVs 
showing the Teletubbies started to pop out all over the place.  Soon 
all the chaos stopped while our heroes were still standing near the 
entrance unharmed.

"Now that I've taken care of all the booby traps, shall we proceed?" 
asked Bill.  Everyone walked through the mess of liquid and weapons on 
the floor while Cameron noticed something on the wall. "Hey everyone, 
look at this." He called out.  Everyone looked at the huge portrait 
that consisted of a man, a young lady, and an eight-year-old girl.

"I recognize that guy", said Misty, "That's Koga, the gym leader of 
this place."

"And that young lady is his little sister Aya", said Brock who was 
about to blush, but then stopped himself for Stella was still holding 
onto her whip.

"But that little girl looks so familiar", said Cameron studying the 
pretty face of the girl in the red kimono with a toy katana in her hand.

"Have you seen her on your TV show?" asked Misty.

"No", said Cameron, "But if she were a little older like 14, I could 
swear that she's....." But then the picture slid back and a huge 
rectangle-shaped hole in the wall appeared.  Then a powerful vortex 
started to suck Cameron right into it.

"Hold on Cameron!" shouted Stella as she used her whip to snare 
Cameron's ankle, but unfortunately she got pulled in as well.

"STELLA!!!" shouted Brock as he grabbed onto his girlfriend while Misty 
grabbed onto Brock while Seymour grabbed onto Misty while Jenny grabbed 
onto Seymour while holding Bill in her other hand.

"Why are you holding onto me?" shouted Bill as they were being sucked 
in, "I'm supposed to be holding onto you!"

"Oops, sorry", said Jenny blushing while our seven friends plummeted 
out from a ceiling and onto a soft mattress.

"Could this thrill ride get any more scary?" moaned Seymour.  Just 
then, two sets of swords held by two dark shadows suddenly surrounded 
our heroes.

"As an officer, I should outlaw this unsafe ride", thought Jenny.

"Those who enter the Fuchsia gym without knocking will feel the wrath 
of the ninja", said one of the shadows in a pretty female voice.

"Hold it sister", said the second in a male voice, "I believe the lady 
here is an Officer Jenny.  The law has every right to come in here 
unannounced."

"Oh, very well", sighed the girl as she put away her sword and lit a 
Japanese lantern.  There they saw Koga and Aya who were helping them 
off the mattress.

"Greetings officer", said Koga bowing to all of them. "Aya and I want 
to apologize for this most unpleasant way of meeting all of you.  Are 
we in some kind of trouble?"

"Oh, none at all", smiled Jenny, "But you should really buy a burglar 
alarm for your gym instead of all those life threatening gadgets.  The 
reason we're here is because my friend Cameron wants to challenge you 
for a SoulBadge."

"Hello young man", smiled Koga studying the blond-haired kid with 
glasses. "You know, that hat you're wearing reminds me of another boy 
I knew a while back.  Isn't that right sister?"

"Yes indeed", smiled Aya. "You're talking about Ash Ketchum.  The boy 
who saved our gym and Pokemon from those dishonorable Rockets."

"Oh, Ash!" thought Misty as she was about to go into tears again, but 
then stopped herself and smiled when the ninjas looked at her and Brock.

"And you're Brock", smiled Aya, "I remember the way you last looked at 
me all red and giddy."

"Oh yeah", whispered Brock who was about to do it again, but then 
remembered that Stella was a lot more dangerous than Aya.

"And you're Misty", smiled Koga, "The girl who owned that impressive 
Psyduck.  Do you still want to trade him for my Venomoth?"

"Uh, no thanks", smiled Misty, "No matter what, I'd never want to give 
away Psyduck." Then Psyduck popped out of Misty's backpack and gave 
her a huge kiss on the face. "YEEECCH!!!" cried Misty, " Psyduck!  
Don't let me take back my last sentence!!!"

"Psyduck?" wondered Psyduck.

"On second thought", said Koga, "You keep him."

"Tell me", asked Aya, "Why isn't Ash here with you?"

Misty was about to break down until Brock got in her way and said, "Uh, 
he couldn't be with us right now.  But Cameron here would really like 
to be a great Pokemon trainer like Ash.  Can you help him out by 
letting him compete for a SoulBadge?"

"I'd be honored if I can battle you Mr. Koga", said Cameron as he bowed 
to him.

"My what a polite boy you are", said Koga, "But unfortunately, I cannot 
battle you."

"But why?" asked Cameron.

"Because I'm not the gym leader here anymore", said Koga, "I'm now a 
member of the Elite Four.  Agatha is supposed to be retiring soon and 
she chose me to take her place as one of the Elite Ones."

"I do remember Agatha telling me that she was planning on retiring 
soon", said Seymour, "And she was going to find someone to pass on the 
mantle to.  Congratulations Mr. Koga, I know she chose well."

"Arigato Mr. Scientist", said Koga, "I just received a visit from 
Agatha a couple of days ago.  I plan on doing her proud."

"Congratulations Mr. Koga", said Cameron, "But I'd still would've liked 
to battle you for a SoulBadge."

"Why don't you ask the new Fuchsia gym leader?" smiled Koga.

"Who is he?" asked Cameron.

"You mean she!" said Aya as she leapt in front of Cameron with a 
katana, just like someone he knows. "Yes, while my dear brother goes 
off to become an Elite Pokemon master, I will take over his burdens and 
defeat and humiliate any trainer that dares to enter and take on the 
powers of the Fuchsia gym." And he pointed her katana at Cameron's 
chest.

"Please sister", scolded Koga, "I wish you wouldn't do that to every 
person who is younger and smaller than you.  You remember what happened 
six years ago."

"Forgive me please", said Aya bowing her head down in shame.

"What did you exactly do six years ago?" asked Stella.

"Never mind about that now", said Aya now with a smile, "I have my very 
first battle as a gym leader to look forward to." And she grabbed 
Cameron's wrist and rushed him into another room while everyone 
followed them.

*      *      *      *      *      *

Outside the gym, Team Rocket was studying the huge gym trying to 
figure out a way to get in. "Oh Cameron-san", Reiko mumbled in Japanese. 
"It's bad enough you had to come to Fuchsia, but did you also have to 
come to this gym?!"

"Those rebels must be in that gym", said Jessie, "They've already 
visited 5 so far.  We've got them now!"

"But don't you remember that particular gym?" whined James, "It's 
filled with spinning rooms and explosives.  I can feel those migraines 
coming back to me!  Get them out of my head!"

"My pleasure James-san!" groaned Reiko as she bopped him on the head 
with her mallet.

"Thank you Reiko", said James smiling, or what little smile he had left 
since some of his teeth fell out.

"Your majesty", Reiko turned to Jessie, "Allow me and my Pokemon to go 
in there alone and take on all those rebels and the dangers of that gym.  
A ninja like me can dodge and fight anything that gym can throw at me."

"Are you sure about that?" asked Jessie, "What do you say James?"

"Sure, let her go alone", said James hoping he wouldn't have to go into 
that gym and also hoping he'd be far away from that harmful Reiko for a 
few minutes.

"I shall return", said Reiko as she rushed over to a bottom window of 
the gym and crawled in.

"Ah, it feels good for a change to have someone else do your dirty work 
for you", smiled Jessie as she pulled a deckchair out from nowhere and 
sat down in it.

"I though I was the one who always did your dirty work?" whined James, 
"Don't tell me I've been replaced?!"

"Here's some dirty work just for you!" grumbled Jessie as she rubbed a 
clump of dirt into James's face.

"You do still care about me!" said James in dirty tears.

*      *      *      *      *      *

Our heroes were now in a large training room where Cameron was on one 
side and Aya was on the other. "We'll use 3 Pokemon each", said Aya, 
"No time limit.  You release your Pokemon first."

"All right", said Cameron, "Buzz, I choose you!" and out popped 
Electabuzz who saluted Cameron as usual and let out his usual, "BUZZ, 
EL BUZZ!"

"Your Electabuzz sure looks disciplined", said Aya, "But is it good 
enough against Ekans?!" and she released a pink rattlesnake that 
hissed, "EKANS!!!"

"Electabuzz, use your thunderpunch!" commanded Cameron.  Buzz balled 
up his fist that caused a lot of sparks to fly out and was about to 
strike the unmoving snake.

"Ekans, screech attack!" commanded Aya.  Ekans let out a loud 
screeching noise that caused everyone in the room to cover their ears 
including Buzz. "All right Ekans", smiled Aya, "Get him with your wrap 
attack!" Ekans then coiled itself tightly around Buzz pinning his arms 
to his sides and started squeezing him very hard.

"BUZZZZZ!" gasped Buzz while sparks were shooting out of his antennas.

"Very nice sister", called out Koga, "I'm glad I have at least one 
sister here who can take care of this gym." And then he closed his eyes 
and went into a deep sad thought.

"Quick Buzz", shouted Cameron, "Use your flash attack!" Buzz 
concentrated and let loose a blinding flash in the entire room causing 
everyone to forget their sore ears and rub their eyes.  Buzz was now 
free while Ekans was spread out on the floor blinded. "All right Buzz, 
finish it off with your strength!" smiled Cameron.  

"BUZZ, EL BUZZ!" shouted Buzz as he grabbed both ends of Ekans and 
started to use it as a jump rope and a lasso.  Aya became shocked when 
Buzz started tying up Ekans in knots. "Buzz truly is a boy scout", said 
Brock as he recognized some of the knots his brothers who were boy 
scouts used.

"GRRRR, you'll pay for that!" said Aya annoyed as she sucked Ekans back 
into its ball and pulled out another. "Go Grimer!" she shouted and 
released a huge clump of purple sludge that shouted "GRIME!"

"Grimer is pure liquid Buzz", said Cameron, "I bet you can finish it 
off with a thunderbolt attack!"

"BUZZ!" smiled Buzz as he started charging himself up.  Just as he was 
about to launch his thunderbolt, Aya shouted out, "Grimer, minimize 
now!" Buzz released his powerful bolt, but it hit the nearby wall 
instead with Grimer nowhere to be found. 

"Oh no!" gasped Cameron, "We killed your Grimer!"

"Relax young warrior", smiled Aya as she threw him a magnifying glass. 
"Grimer's very okay.  He's just harder to hit now." Cameron looked 
through the glass and found a very microscopic Grimer waving at him.

"Oh good", said Cameron now relieved that Grimer was still alive, "And 
oh drat!" he groaned for he forgotten how annoying it was battling a 
minimized Pokemon.

"Grimer, body slam now!" commanded Aya.  Buzz suddenly fell to the 
ground all paralyzed. "Buzz!" cried Cameron as he took the magnifying 
glass and found the tiny Grimer waving its slimy hands in victory.

"You may as well give up boy", scoffed Aya, "There is no way on Earth 
you can beat my tiny Grimer!"

"Oh yeah!" said Cameron as he pulled Buzz back into his ball and took 
out another ball. "Sandy, I choose you!" and Sandy popped out of the 
ball ready to show his master what a simple Sandshrew can do.

"Grimer, sludge attack!" commanded Aya.  Grimer may be small, but his 
sludge attacks were still enormous.  It was like an invisible man was 
throwing sludge at Sandy.  But Sandy managed to dodge all of Grimer's 
pollution.

"All right Sandy, use your swift attack", smiled Cameron for he knew 
that no Pokemon can escape the very accurate swift attack no matter if 
they're up in the air, underground, or very tiny.  Sandy threw all his 
swift stars at what looked like an empty spot on the floor.  Aya took 
out her own magnifying glass and found Grimer splattered on the floor.

"I guess you win this round too", said Aya as she sucked Grimer back 
into its ball and then pulled out her final ball. "Let's see how your 
little Sandy does against his superior form.  Go Sandslash!" and out 
popped a Sandslash that looked like the exact copy Cameron found in his 
Pokedex.  It sharpened its huge claws and spread out its long quills 
ready to humiliate the tiny Sandshrew.

"A Sandslash?!" gasped Cameron, "Uh, oh." But Sandy just smiled and 
wiggled its finger at Cameron for he wanted to show his master that he 
didn't need to evolve into a Sandslash to be a great Pokemon. "All 
right Sandy", sighed Cameron, "Get 'em with your rock slide!"

"SHREW!" shouted Sandy as he started to make and throw some boulders 
at Sandslash. "Sandslash", smiled Aya, "Live up to your last name now!" 

"SLASH!!!" shouted Sandslash as it slashed up all the boulders into 
tiny pebbles. "Now give that little pipsqueak your poison sting attack!" 
smiled Aya.

"SLASH!!" smiled Sandslash as it started shooting glowing needles from 
its quills trying to hit Sandy.  But unfortunately, Sandy did get hit 
by one of them and fell to the ground all poisoned.  

"Oh no, Sandy!" cried Cameron as he tried to suck Sandy back into his 
ball, but dodged the beam. "You can't seriously want to keep fighting?" 
cried Cameron, "You've just been poisoned!  Let me send Zubat out.  
She's immune to poison attacks!"

"Sandshrew!" cried Sandy as he jumped back into the ring for he still 
wanted to battle and defeat his evolved form. "It's too bad your 
Sandshrew's not as disciplined as your Electabuzz", laughed Aya. "But 
I'll be glad to punish him for you.  Sandslash, finish him off with 
your fury swipes!"

"SLASH!" shouted Sandslash as it was about to slice up the poor 
poisoned Sandy to pieces.  But Sandy smiled and sprayed a box load of 
sand into Sandslash's eyes causing it to go blind.  Then the small 
Sandshrew quickly knocked the large Sandslash onto the ground and 
started fury swiping its belly more than a hundred times.  Then 
Sandslash fainted while Sandy jumped off and made his trademark 
victory sign at Cameron.

"Nice job Sandy!" said Cameron proudly then became worried when Sandy 
fainted for the poison had finally sunk in.

"Since all 3 of Aya's Pokemon have been defeated", said Koga, "I 
declare Cameron-san the winner!" and he approached both Sandy and 
Sandslash and fed them some revive potion.  Sandy looked up at his 
smiling master and let out a soft, "Shrew?!"

"I'm so proud of you Sandy", smiled Cameron, "You've just proved to me 
that you don't have to be evolved to be a great Pokemon.  I like you 
just the way you are."

"Shrew!" cried Sandy as he hugged his master.

"Don't you have something to give to our friend, sister?" Koga asked 
Aya.

"Oh yes", said Aya as she was about to approach Cameron.  Just then, a 
cloud of smoke burst into the room.  When the smoke disappeared, there 
was a ninja standing right in the center of the room.

"Reiko?" wondered Cameron for it looked like her body, but her head was 
covered with an even bigger mask with only her eyes showing.  The ninja 
just said nothing.  She threw some tiny bits of string at everyone 
trapping them in huge spider webs.  But Koga and Aya managed to escape 
thanks to their swords.

"How dare you come in here and try to cause us all harm!" shouted Koga, 
"Prepare to feel the wrath of the Fuchsia ninjas!"

"Let me deal with her", said Aya, "After all, I am the one who'll be 
running this gym now."

"Very well", said Koga, "But be careful dear sister." Aya and the ninja 
started to have an awesome fight that could make Bruce Lee jealous.  
While the fight was going on, Sandy released all the other captives 
from their nets with his claws.

"Aren't you whipped yet?!" demanded a tired Aya.  The ninja just 
silently knocked the sword out of Aya's hand and put her sword up to 
her sister's neck telling her to surrender.

"Venomoth, stun spore now!" shouted Koga as he released a huge purple 
moth that covered the ninja with a strange yellow powder.  The ninja 
suddenly dropped her sword for she was completely paralyzed.

"Now we shall see who this scoundrel is", said Koga as he removed her 
mask.  Everyone kind of expected who it was while Koga and Aya shouted, 
"REIKO?!!!"

"You two know her?" asked Cameron.

"Do we?!" stuttered Koga, "This is our long lost little sister!"

"The one who ran away six years ago just because I always seemed to be 
better than her at everything", said Aya.

"But like the fully evolved Venomoth that overtakes its lesser powerful 
Venonat sibling, I finally have defeated you dear sister", said Reiko.

"I see you still haven't stopped using those corny metaphors", said Aya.

"My metaphors are not corny!" shouted Reiko, "I use them to confuse and 
to strike fear into my enemies!" and she tried to attack Aya but 
couldn't for she was still stun spored.

"Well Little Miss Ninja", smiled Jenny with delight, "I finally got you 
where I want you!" and she snapped her cuffs on Reiko's wrists. "You 
have the right to remain silent.  Anything you say..."

"Wait a minute Officer", interrupted Koga, "We don't want to press 
charges.  She's our sister and all she did was bust in here and try to 
sustain us to show us all that she's just as good a ninja as all of us."

"Yes, that's right", said Aya, "I have to admit she beat me fair and 
square just now."

"Arigato brother and sister", said a tear-filled Reiko.

"But I'm still going to have to arrest her", said Jenny, "She is a 
member of the evil Team Rocket and she has caused us quite a lot of 
trouble on our journey."

"Reiko!" said Koga shocked, "You mean you ran away so you can join an 
evil organization like Team Rocket?!  Did we really treat you that 
badly that you'd go and do such a thing?!"

"Please let me explain dear brother", sobbed Reiko, "If that's all 
right Officer Jenny."

"Very well", sighed Jenny remembering some of her own family that was 
imprisoned.

START OF FLASHBACK

An eight year old Reiko was sparing with Aya.  They were trying to 
knock each other off a wooden beam with long staffs.  It looked like 
Reiko was about to win until Aya called out, "Look, it's the Good Year 
Blimp!" and she pointed up in the sky.  Reiko looked up which gave Aya 
the advantage.  She knocked her little sister off the beam and she 
landed face down in the mud.

"Hey, that's not fair!" whined Reiko.

"It's your dumb fault for letting your guard down", snickered Aya. 
"Maybe that fertile mud will make your brain grow bigger. HA HA HA HA!"

"I have seen enough", said Koga sternly.  Reiko felt happy for she 
thought her big brother was going to scold and punish Aya for what she 
did to her. "Aya, I've decided that you will be second in command of 
the Fuchsia Gym."

"Arigato my brother", said Aya bowing to him, "I promise that I will 
not fail you.  Unlike some sisters who like keeping their heads in the 
clouds and sometimes the mud."

"WHAT?!!!" shouted Reiko, "But she was the one that cheated!!!"

"She used cunning youngest sister", said Koga, "You should've kept your 
focus which you need to work on.  And besides, Aya has seniority over 
you.  She will run the gym after me.  Now come Aya, it is dinner time."

"Right away brother dear!" smiled Aya as she made a mean face at Reiko 
while Koga's back was turned.  Reiko sadly followed them until Koga 
stopped her.

"Get yourself cleaned up first", he demanded as he pointed to the 
bathhouse. "Soiled hands along with a soiled body will unpurify your 
food along with your body and soul." Reiko sadly walked over to the 
bathhouse.

*      *      *      *      *      *

That night when Koga and Aya were asleep, Reiko snuck out of the door 
wearing a small backpack. "Like the Magikarp that cannot evolve without 
a kind and caring trainer, I'll never become a great ninja with 
uncaring teachers like them.  Farewell siblings, I'm off to make a name 
for myself and I won't acknowledge either of you when I become an all 
powerful ninja!" Then she went to the nearby lake, fished out a tiny 
Tentacool who would later become Tentacruel, and left her Fuchsia home 
ready to seek her fortune unknowing it would be a misfortunate one.

*      *      *      *      *      *

A few months later, Reiko caught a Krabby, who would later become 
Kingler, by a riverside near Pallet Town.  She planned on going to the
Pallet Pokemon center to rest up, but became disappointed when she 
found out there was no Pokemon center there.  She was about to leave 
when all of a sudden, a huge electric wall surrounded the town sealing 
her in along with all the townspeople.  Reiko quickly hid in the sewers 
and watched from above as hordes of Rockets started seizing the 
citizens and bringing them to meet their new rulers.

The next few years were a nightmare for poor Reiko.  She had to keep 
stealing to feed herself and her two Pokemon and she had to keep moving 
from hideout to hideout whenever the Rockets decided to tear down a 
building or house to build another factory.  One day some Rocket thugs 
finally caught Reiko and were about to do some unpleasant things to 
her.  But unfortunately for them, they had no idea that Reiko was a 
ninja and she was able to slam, kick, and stuff them into their own 
Pokeballs while their Pokemon ran away scared.

Suddenly, a huge limo zoomed up right next to her.  A door opened and 
out popped Jessie wearing her royal attire.  Jessie looked down at the 
3 Pokeballs that were moaning in pain.  Reiko looked at the very queen 
of this town in terror and was about to defend herself.

"Hey, take it easy kid", smiled Jessie in a sweet voice. "You've just 
defeated 3 of my toughest Rockets.  I like your style.  And I'd like to 
make you an offer that wouldn't be smart to refuse!"

"I'm listening", said Reiko in a cold, emotionless voice.

END OF FLASHBACK

"And so I joined Team Rocket and became Queen Jessie's favorite 
intern", said Reiko. "I didn't really have any other choice.  If I was 
going to be stuck in that town forever, I may as well become an 
important person there.  I understand if you both want to disown me 
forever", and she started sobbing.

Koga just went over and hugged his youngest sister lovingly. "No 
Reiko-san", he said sadly, "Mostly all of this was my fault too.  I 
only used those harsh words so you would train yourself harder to 
become better and stronger.  But I had no idea that it would all turn 
out this way."

"And please forgive me too Reiko-san", said Aya humbly, "I should've 
supported you and helped you with your training.  But all I ever cared 
about was being the best.  I never did think about how you'd feel."

"Can you please forgive the both of us?" they asked Reiko together.

Reiko sat there quietly for a minute with tears in her eyes and then 
whispered, "You're forgiven." 

"Arigato, Reiko-san!" said both Koga and Aya as they hugged their long 
lost sister.  Reiko wanted to hug them back too but she was still 
handcuffed to do so.

Cameron felt teary eyed seeing Reiko reunited with her family and 
hoping that he might be a part of it one day.  Misty felt happy for her 
too, for she knew how it felt being mistreated by older siblings and 
being reunited with them with no longer any grudges.

"Say you'll rejoin our gym so we can be a happy family again", said 
Koga.

"I'm afraid I cannot", said Reiko sadly, "For I took a ninja's oath to 
serve Team Rocket.  And you've always taught me that a true honorable 
ninja never breaks her oath."

"Yes, you are right", said Koga disappointedly, "Breaking a ninja's 
oath would bring great shame and dishonorment to you and your entire 
clan."

"Isn't there any kind of escape clause in this ninja's oath?" asked 
Cameron.

"The only way I can think of is if the entire organization of Team 
Rocket gets dismantled and disappears forever", said Koga.

"That is correct", said Aya, "If all the Rockets were suddenly put in 
jail, there'd be no more Team Rocket and you'd be free from serving 
them."

"Well Reiko", smiled Jenny, "If you agree to help us apprehend Jessie 
and James along with all the Rockets in Pallet Town, I'm sure I can 
convince the judge to let you off with a short jail sentence.  What do 
you say?"

Reiko sat there quietly and was about to speak.  Just then, two figures 
stumbled into the room covered with tar, feathers, mousetraps, 
bear-traps, and half their heads shaved.

"We could've waited just a few more hours for Reiko", whined James. 
"Just look at what's left of my gorgeous blue hair!"

"Your hair?!!" shouted Jessie, "Just look at mine!  Whoever runs this 
gym is gonna be my personal shampoo slave for this!"

"And I believe I see them", said James, "And it looks like they've 
captured our all powerful intern too!  Hee Hee Hee!"

"You two will pay for corrupting our poor little sister!" shouted Koga 
as he took out his sword.

"Reiko, you're this man's sister?" demanded Jessie.

"All ninjas from around the world are considered brothers and sisters", 
said Reiko, "I've never seen this man or this woman next to him before 
in my entire life!"

"Well I guess you won't mind if we take 'em prisoner then along with 
these rebels", smiled Jessie, "It's time to prepare for trouble!"

"And better make it double!" continued James.

"Reiko-san, why did you say that?" whispered both Koga and Aya while 
the two Rockets were saying their motto.

"I'm sorry my siblings", said Reiko, "But I cannot let them know who 
you're really are.  For it would be very dangerous to all of us if they 
found out we're family!"

Jessie: "Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!"
James: "Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"LICKIE!!!" shouted Lickitung substituting for Meowth.

"Lickitung, bring Reiko back to her rightful family", commanded Jessie. 
Lickitung grabbed Reiko's cuffs with its long tongue, dragged her back 
to Team Rocket and snapped the cuffs off of her for the tongue is 
supposed to be the strongest muscle in the body.

"You sit right here and relax Reiko", smiled Jessie, "Your Queen and 
King will handle this."

"I certainly hope not", whispered Reiko in Japanese.

"You give her back or I'll have to teach you a very hard lesson", 
shouted Aya making a scary ninja pose.

"Do you think a ninja who dresses in pink is gonna frighten me?" 
laughed Jessie, "Lickitung, wrap her up in a nice wet package!" 
Lickitung launched its tongue at Aya, but she quickly pulled out two 
large chopsticks and started curling up Lickitung's tongue like a long 
wet noodle.  Once she dragged Lickitung over to her, she kicked the 
poor pink Pokemon across the room and right into Jessie's stomach 
knocking her down and covering her with Poke-drool!

"Yeccch!" groaned Jessie as she put Lickitung back into its ball.

"At least Lickie's drool removed some of the tar and feather stains", 
said James.

"Yes, I must thank them in some way", said Jessie, "And I know how.  
By making their miserable lives end!  Come on James, let's double team!"

"You got it Jess!" smiled James as he released his Weezing while an 
angry Jessie released her Arbok.

"I remember those two Pokemon", said Aya, "And I still have nightmares 
from the last time I saw them."

"WEEZ!!!"  "BOOOK!" moaned the two Pokemon who just had their feelings 
hurt.

"Aw, Weezing", said James, "Don't feel that way.  Let's just show them 
how wonderfully nightmarish you can be.  Poison gas attack now!"

"WEEZING!!!" said Weezing as it sprayed its green gas all over the 
place.  But Koga's Venomoth was able to absorb all the poison into its 
body for it was completely made of poison.

"Good work Venomoth!" said Koga, "Now let's finish it off with 
psybeam!" Venomoth complied by shooting a psychic beam at Weezing 
knocking the poor ball out cold.  Just as Venomoth was about to make a 
proud hum, Arbok snuck up behind Venomoth and bit down hard on it.

"Venomoth!" cried Koga as he saw the fang marks on his poor Venomoth's 
wings.

"HA HA HA HA!" laughed Jessie as she patted her Arbok's head. "No 
Pokemon I know has the stealth and cunning of my Arbok!"

"How about my Sandslash?!" shouted Aya as she released her prickly 
rodent once again. "Sandslash, poison sting now!" she commanded.  
Sandslash fired its needles at Arbok which didn't seem to poison the 
big snake at all.

"Even a poison trainer like you should know that poison attacks can't 
hurt other poison Pokemon", laughed Jessie. "Arbok, show up that 
pincushion with a glare attack!" Arbok made a scary face at Sandslash 
causing it to stand there paralyzed in fear. "Now bite its cute 
unprotected underbelly!" said Jessie.

"Oh no, Sandslash!" cried Aya as Arbok showed its fangs ready to pounce 
on the defenseless mouse.  Sandy who couldn't bear to see a fellow 
rodent harmed jumped out of Cameron's arms and tackled Arbok onto the 
floor.

"No Sandy!" cried Cameron, "That Arbok's too big and dangerous for you 
to take on!" But Sandy didn't listen.  He was too busy holding onto the 
back of Arbok's neck with his mouth.  But Arbok managed to whack Sandy 
away with its tail causing the poor mouse to fly across the room.

"Sandy!" shouted Cameron as he leapt up in the air and caught his 
friend.  But unfortunately, Cameron landed right on top of the 
paralyzed Sandslash.  Cameron yelled as he fell onto the floor with 
some long quills stuck in his chest.

"Cameron, are you all right?" asked a worried Misty along with all his 
worried friends.

"I think I now know why you don't want to become a Sandslash Sandy", 
moaned Cameron as the poison started sinking in. "SHREW!!!" cried Sandy.

"Cameron-san!" whispered Reiko while trying to hold her emotions so 
Team Rocket wouldn't see her breakdown.

"Oh dear, what have we done?!" gasped both Jessie and James, "We 
actually managed to do away with one of those rebels", said James.

"And doesn't it feel great?!" laughed Jessie out loud while James 
laughed back too.  Sandy's eyes suddenly turned red with fire and 
launched himself at both Jessie and James scratching them like crazy.

"Arbok!" shouted Jessie, "Send this rat to the afterlife with your 
poison sting attack!

"AARRBBOOOK!" shouted Arbok as it spit out some its own glowing needles 
at Sandy.  But Sandy managed to dodge out of the way causing the 
needles to hit Jessie and James making them fall down too.  Then 
Sandy started fury swiping Arbok causing it to faint as well.

"It looks like they might be joining me in the afterlife", said Cameron 
who was still poisoned and then totally blacked out.

*      *      *      *      *      *

Cameron soon awoke and found himself lying on a cot, with some white 
bandages wrapped around his torso.  He sat up and gazed at a beautiful 
face sitting in a chair right next to him. "Reiko?" he asked groggily.

"Yes it is me Cameron-san", smiled Reiko as she placed her hand on his 
shoulder leaning him back down. "Like the Metapod that patiently 
awaits to become a Butterfree.  You must rest as well." And she kissed 
him on the cheek.

"Thank you Reiko", smiled Cameron but then frowned, "You didn't take 
me back in Rocketville, did you?"

"No Cameron-san", said Reiko, "You're in my old bedroom in the Fuchsia 
gym.  I removed all the quills from your chest and treated your wounds.  
Getting poisoned is very common here in this gym so we all had to learn 
how to treat each other whenever that happens."

"But where are Jessie and James?" asked Cameron.

"They're in another room", said Reiko, "We treated their wounds too but 
they're still unconscious.  But truthfully, I was saving most of my 
prayers for you Cameron-san."

"Reiko", sighed Cameron as he sat up and looked into the red eyes of 
his beautiful nurse.  Reiko looked lovingly into Cameron's green eyes 
as well.  Just as they were about to do something, Seymour's voice 
called out. "Hey everyone, Cameron's awake!" All of his friends rushed 
in to check up on Cameron.  Reiko quickly stood up and moved over to 
the side pretending that nothing was going on between the two of them.

"How is he sister?" asked Koga.

"I believe he will pull through", said Reiko, "He is strong like the 
skin of lava dwelling Rhydon."

"Are you feeling better Cameron?" asked Misty. 

"Yes", said Stella, "That looked pretty painful, landing on a Sandslash 
like that."

"That's like having a witch doctor working his voodoo magic on you", 
said Bill.

"I think I'll survive", said Cameron.

"That's good to hear", said Brock, "And someone here is happy to hear 
that too." Brock stepped back and Sandy ran up to Cameron jumping onto 
his sore chest.

"Ooooh!" said Cameron in a little pain.  Sandy just happily sat on his 
master's chest and started licking his face. "Oh Sandy", laughed 
Cameron as he hugged his Sandshrew. "Now I understand your feelings.  
If you became a Sandslash, you'd have all those poison quills too and 
we could never be this close again.  I wouldn't want that.  So please 
make us both happy and don't ever change on the outside and on the 
inside!"

"Sandshrew!" smiled Sandy as he gave Cameron another thankful slurp.

"I remember when my own Sandshrew became a Sandslash, I couldn't become 
close to him anymore", sighed Aya, "Except for a friendly hand and claw 
shake.  You have a brave and noble Sandshrew Cameron-san and always 
stay friends with it.  Also, I'd like to give you this."

Aya handed Cameron his shirt all sewn back up.  But just as he was 
about to put it on, he found something pinned on the front.  It was a 
badge shaped like a cracked pink heart. "A SoulBadge!" smiled Cameron.

"Yes Cameron-san", smiled Koga, "A SoulBadge for a boy with a kind 
soul.  Reiko-san, you could learn a thing or two from this fine boy."

"I believe I already have", said Reiko winking at Cameron.

"I'm so glad you're okay Cameron and that you won yet another important 
badge", smiled Jenny, "But now it's time to take all the Rockets to the 
nearest jail."

"Even Reiko?" asked Cameron.

"I'm afraid so Cameron", said Jenny as she took out a pair of spare 
handcuffs and approached Reiko. "Now Reiko", she said calmly, "Like I 
said earlier, if you agree to help us apprehend the rest of the 
Rockets' I'll convince the judge to..."

"Let me off with a short jail sentence, I know!" sighed Reiko, "Sorry, 
but that cannot be right now!" and she quickly threw yet another smoke 
bomb into the room, kissed Cameron, and when the smoke was cleared, she 
was gone.

"I believe I taught her that smoke bomb move too well", said Koga sadly.

"I don't believe this!" shouted an angry Jenny, "I gotta stop her 
before she takes the Rocket King and Queen away with her!" and she 
quickly ran out of the room.

"So our sister's decided to stay with the evil ones", said Aya as she 
hugged her brother sadly.

"It looks like she left something for you", said Cameron as he found a 
note on his lap and handed it to Koga who read it out loud.

"Dear Siblings,

Though I truly enjoyed our reunion, but I still took an oath of loyalty 
to Team Rocket.  Even if you send Jessie and James to jail, there are 
still over a hundred Rockets in Rocketville that I'm still obligated to 
serve.  But do not worry, I believe that Team Rocket will be finished 
one day and I will be free and we will all be together once again.  
Until then, try not to be like the bacon that clogs your arteries black 
and follow the dark path I've been walking these past years.

Your youngest sibling, Reiko.

P.S. This is for you Cameron-san. XOXOXOXOX"

Everyone stood there silently thinking about the words Reiko just 
wrote.  Just then a steamed Jenny burst into the room.

"Did she get away with Jessie and James?" Seymour asked her.

"Does this answer your question scienceman?!" grumbled Jenny as she 
pushed a button on her hat while a whistle popped out of it and blew 
out some raging steam.

*      *      *      *      *      *

The next day, it was time for our heroes to say goodbye to Koga and 
Aya. "Cameron-san, I want to give you something that might help you on 
your quest", said Aya as she handed him a tiny little machine with a 
light on it. "This is an X-Speed device.  Aim it at any of your Pokemon 
during a tough battle and it will become faster than lightning."

"Also take this", said Koga as he handed Cameron another device that 
looked like the first one. "This is an X-Defend device.  If it looks 
like one of your Pokemon is about to encounter a tough opponent, aim 
it at your Pokemon and it will become heavily guarded."

"Thank you both", said Cameron. "I just wish that Reiko was still here 
with you."

"Yes, it is sad about what had happened to our sister", said Aya, "But 
she is a strong warrior and I believe in all the heavens that she will 
make it out okay in the end."

"And maybe someone like you can turn her around as well", said Koga 
winking at him. For he knew that his youngest sister seemed to have a 
thing for this kind blond-haired kid.  Maybe he might even become a 
member of their Fuchsia gym family too.

"Arigato", said Cameron bowing to both of them as he and his friends 
walked away from the gym while waving goodbye to the siblings of Reiko.

*      *      *      *      *      *

Meanwhile Jessie and James suddenly woke up.  They found their torsos 
covered with bandages and they were looking up in a cloudy sky. "Have 
we actually made it to Heaven?" asked James.

"I hope not!" groaned Jessie, "I hate dressing in white.  Send me down 
and dress me up in red hot leather!"

"No my queen, you and James-san are not deceased", said Reiko who was 
sitting across from them.  Jessie and James got up and found themselves 
floating in their balloon.

"We're back in the sky?" asked James, "But what happened to the rebels?"

"They managed to escape while you were poisoned", said Reiko, "I had no 
time to apprehend them.  The welfare of my two monarchs needed to come 
first."

"Well don't worry kid", smiled Jessie, "We'll get them another day.  
Team Rocket will not rest until those freedom loving rebels are gone 
from this Earth forever!"

"That's reassuring", said Reiko who was secretly hoping that all of 
Team Rocket would finally be put to rest permanently one day."

TO BE CONTINUED