Nurse Joy looked stunned by his outburst, touching her chest gently in surprise. "He left a few hours ago. He said he had to leave on an emergency case, a private one. I'm not allowed to tell anyone where he is." She said in an annoyed tone.

"But its very important, Nurse Joy. He's....he's in terrible danger." Misty piped up suddenly, shoving Ash away. Tears filled her crystalline blue eyes, her lips quivering with sorrow. "Really? From who? Who are you to him?" Joy asked, her eyes curious.

"We're very dear friends of his, and we don't want him to get hurt or arrested." Misty cried, waving his wallet in her face. "Arrested? What for?" Joy gasped.

"His wallet, we caught the thieves who took it from him, but then they escaped us. They said they would hurt him when they found him. We've got to return his wallet to him and warn him of the danger he's in. Please, if you have any compassion, you have to tell us where he's gone! It's a matter of life and death!" Misty wailed, the tears flowing faster.

"Ok....ok, he's in Lavender Town for his relocation. He's at least a day away. If you can help him, please do so. He's such a sweet young man. He doesn't deserve to be hurt after all the fine work he's done for his patients." Joy wept, tears now streaming down her cheeks.

"Thank you, don't you worry Joy, we'll take very good care of James. Bye!" she sniffled, quickly dragging Ash out of the Pokemon Center.

"Hmm, what nice young people. It's rare to be so caring for one person's welfare. How sweet." Joy sighed, waving at them kindly.

Misty kept weeping until she and Ash were out of Joy's view, wiping the tears away and running swiftly down the street.

"Nice job, Misty. Didn't know you had it in you to be so deceptive." Ash commented.

Misty didn't smiled, but replied with," I wasn't lying completely. We do need to find him and keep him from getting hurt by Team Rocket. They didn't seem too happy to see him. And Jessie told us he died in an explosion the last time we battled her. He looks pretty lovely.....uh lively....for a dead man. We catch him first in Lavender Town and find out what he's up to, agreed?" Misty explained.

"Oh, whatever. Doctor or not, he's still the enemy. Let's get back to your house and change, then we'll take my car to Lavender Town." Ash puffed out, sprinting ahead of Misty.

"Yeah, you got it." she replied, a sad look in her eyes. 'James....what are you really up to? Why didn't you run from me the first time....why did....you kiss me?' she thought to herself, looking up dreamily at the starry sky as she ran on.

Two heads poked out from beside the Pokemon Center as she vanished over the horizon, their eyes slanting down wickedly. "Lavender Town....huh? And he's a doctor now? My, my, James has been a busy little boy. The boss isn't going to like hearing this or that we failed." Butch grumbled, his fists clenched.

Cassidy patted him on the shoulder, smiling. "Yeah, but Jessie will be even more ticked off, and she knows how to control him. Even better, she's already in Lavender Town poisoning the river. We'd better call the boss on the way to Lavender Town so dear Jessica knows to expect us." Cassidy chimed out, and they both ran off through the dark alley.

"Ash, would you keep your head down. He's going to see us." Misty whispered, yanking Ash back down into the bushes. It had been a long and tedious trip, Ash talking about how many different Pokemon he was going to beat James up with after he was done with him, then went onto hogging the phone to talk to Vera. Misty didn't know how long they'd talked, but it was enough kissy noises and pet names to drive her insane. She hypothesized that the walls of the hotel must have been made out of paper.

She was glad when they arrived in Lavender Town late in the afternoon the next day, sleeping for a few hours next to the Pokemon Center, in Ash's car. His snoring was slightly more tolerable than his late night phone calls to Vera. She was ready to strangle him if she hadn't seen James pass by the alley with a ghost Pokemon trailing behind him, a small metal case in his hands. Misty had to kick Ash awake and get him up to tailing James.

Now they were watching James taking out samples in test tubes at different sections of the river, Haunter carrying the little case around still, putting it down every so often. What puzzled them was that he was talking to Haunter as if he was a person, and Haunter would respond simply with its own language and James would reply as if he understood.

That had been roughly two hours ago, and now James was filling the test tubes with colored tablets and fluids, the color of the water changing almost randomly. Haunter was watching him, as were a few new ghostly guests that decided to join the pair, Gengar and Ghastly. Those two ghost Pokemon were swirling around Haunter and James like glowing windstorms, laughing out their names and frightening any other Pokemon that came near them.

"It looks like a meeting or something, but what are the test tubes for?" Misty whispered.

"He's probably planning to make some kind of potion to hurt Pokemon or control them. He's James, does it need to be anything else?"

"Ash! Keep your voice down....and quit making accusations. Why would the Pokemon Center give him a few vials, bottles, and glass tubes to take over the Pokemon world? Do you have any idea how stupid that sounds?" Misty shushed him, her eyes going back on James. Haunter and the others were no longer with him, but he hadn't seemed to notice, still staring at a vial of water that had turned black.

"This is not good. Someone's poisoned the water, but the toxic pattern is familiar. I have to take this back to the Pokemon Center....but maybe a few more tests will make the lab tests easier." James was saying, putting a cork in the test tube's opening and placing it back in the small metal box. He took out another vial of water and a bright red tablet.

As he dropped the tablet in, the once clear liquid turned black again, and James started biting his lip. "Not good at all. I have to bring this back now." He told himself, corking the tube shut and putting it in the box. He shut it tightly, looking around himself steadily. "Haunter! Time to go! Tell your friends good-bye for now!" he called out, standing up slowly.

His back turned to them, calling out again, and to Misty's horror, Ash started lifting his head up again.

"Cut it out! Do you want him to run again?" she hissed out.

"Stop worrying, there's no way he can see or hear us. Just relax," He whispered out, yelping a little as Pikachu started pulling on his hair," Pikachu, quit it."

"HAUNTER!!" a voice screamed, sending Misty and Ash leaping out of the bushes in fright. James' hair stood on end a moment before he whipped around to face them. Misty could have died as the color drained from James' face, his jaw dropping.

"Misty?! Ash! How'd you find me!?" he screeched, backing up as Haunter re-materialized before him. "Yeah, James, we tracked you down here to stop you from going through with your plans. Never thought we'd find you huh? Not only am I a Pokemon Master, but an excellent detective too!" Ash boasted.

"For Pete's sake, Ash, we have his wallet. It doesn't take a genius to use that....Hey, where's James?" Misty shouted, her head whipping in every direction. "He made a run for it. See there he goes!" Ash shouted, running beside the river. Misty went after him, seeing he was right. James was running away from them with the small metal box, Haunter no longer with him.

"You won't get away, James! Venusaur, I choose you!" Ash shouted, tossing his Pokeball square into James' back making him stumble a bit.

"Venusaur!" announced the Pokemon.

"Venusaur, Vine whip! Catch that creep!" Ash commanded, and Venusaur did so, shooting out its brown vines, lassoing James' legs, then his arms to his sides, sending him crashing into the ground. The small metal box hit the ground as well, but it didn't open as it bounced across the grass hard.

"OW! Haunter! You and your practical jokes! Next time lick people spying on me!" James screamed, rolling onto his back to see an angry looking Ash and a confused Misty standing over him. "Hold him, Venusaur. He has a lot of explaining to do." Ash said grimly.

"I do not. You'll just twist my words so you have an excuse to beat me up." James muttered, wriggling against the vine ropes about him. "Oh yes you do, like what you were doing at Misty's sisters' big ball? Huh? Trying to steal the treasure all by yourself and Butch and Cassidy got in your way is what I say happened."

James smirked, then looked at Ash as he rolled his eyes. "I went for the food, for fun, I don't do crime anymore. I just went for a short vacation, that's it! I didn't plan on those rejects crashing your party. I wasn't even going to help....until they threatened to....hurt people." He drawled out, turning his head towards the river, away from them both.

Misty took a step forward, pulling his wallet out of her duffel bag, rubbing it hard with her now sweaty fingers. "You're sure....that's it? Didn't you think my sisters or I would be there? They would have recognized you."

"You and Daisy didn't, then again, you were fighting in front of me. And that's why I was wearing the sheik costume, so you wouldn't see my hair. Lot of good it did me when I got hungry, and danced....umm, never mind." James said, sweat forming on his face.

Ash grabbed him by the head and made him look at them. "Yeah, like we believe that. Venusaur, put the squeeze on him. Maybe then he'll start telling the truth." Ash ordered.

James' eyes bulged, tears pouring out from them as his teeth grit hard. "ACK! I'm telling the truth! Stop it!" he screamed, struggling harder," Or else."

"Or else what? Haunter abandoned you and you can't reach your Pokeballs either. I doubt a little weirdo like you can even challenge Venusaur. I dare you to try anything, come on!" Ash taunted.

"Ash, stop it! You said we'd get him to talk, not kill him. Stop it already, you big jerk!" Misty shouted, yanking Ash away.

"You should listen to her, 'Ashley.' She's got more brains than you'll ever have, at least she's not abusing her Pokemon privileges. You're never supposed to use your Pokemon for personal conflicts, especially, *gasp*, not on doctors either! Don't make me hurt your Pokemon!" James warned, his face turning red.

"Try me. Go ahead, I dare you. You haven't got the grapes to do it, or the ability." Ash grumbled, shoving Misty away, right into a tree.

"Argh! So be it!" James choked out, his face going blue as the vines tightened," Haunter, Dream Eater!"

Haunter materialized as his name was called, hovering over Venusaur with a blackness forming about him. They became black orbs that seemed to melt into Venusaur's skin. Ash could only stare as his Pokemon got a surprised look on its face, then total fear. It began screeching out its name, the vines loosening around James.

"What the heck is Dream Eater?" Ash gasped, whipping out his Pokedex, lifting it up towards Haunter.

'*Beep* Dream Eater, this gas Pokemon's most effective attack. It sucks out the opponent's soul, putting them in eternal sleep.' his Pokedex clicked out, Ash's face going white.

"Their soul!? No! Venusaur! Resist it!" Ash cried out, but it didn't do his Pokemon any good. It was already too weak to stand up, slumped on the ground limply as Haunter continued its attack. James had already gotten free and on his feet, and was now staring at them both. "Haunter, cancel attack. Time to jet!" he ordered and sprint off past them. The Haunter obeyed him as its attack halted and went after him.

"OH, Venusaur! Are you ok?" Ash yelped, stumbling towards his injured Pokemon. "Ve....venus....aurrrrr." it croaked out, breathing shallowly.

"He didn't kill it. He cut off the attack when he was winning....James could have killed Venusaur, but he didn't. Don't you see, Ash, he might just be telling the truth." Misty rang out, patting the grass Pokemon's cold head.

"Yeah, maybe, but we have to get Venusaur to the Pokemon Center right now or he will die. And that means James has nowhere to run if he is what he says he is," Ash said quietly," But until then, Venusaur, return!"

Butch was sitting languidly in a cut up old easy chair while Cassidy adjusted their video-link to headquarters. He got out of it when Cassidy threw a Pokeball into his face for not helping, forcing him to kneel down and help her out.

"It's done, no thanks to you. You're starting to get very lazy, Butchy." Cassidy hissed, her fingers poking at the controls angrily. The screen fizzed for a while, then the two saw their boss sitting, as usual, in his throne-like chair, his Persian laying peacefully in his lap.

"It's been a long time, you two. Were there any problems with the treasure heist?" he asked, petting the Persian delicately. Butch looked at Cassidy, who in turn looked at him, their expressions nervous.

"Well? ANSWER ME!" Giovanni shouted.

"Sorry boss, but we didn't get the treasure and some real bad news that prevented us from getting it. Still, we went back for the treasure, but it was worthless, just a bunch of dresses and silk shirts worn way back when. Not even the lock was made of gold, eh, heh, heh. So you can see why it's not a total loss." Butch chuckled out, sweat streaming down his face.

"I'm still not happy that you FAILED!" their boss screamed, slamming his hand on his throne," So what is this other bad news! If it's that Ash brat or Jessie, I don't want to hear about it!"

"It's much worse than that, sir. Its....well, its James." Cassidy put in, gulping as Giovanni made a slight strangled choke. "James? What about him? You found more body parts, correct?"

"No sir, we found all of him, very intact and alive. He's been hiding from us all this time....and....you won't believe this, he's a doctor. We're in the town he fled to after the Cerulean City thing." Butch drawled out.

"Has he talked?" Giovanni asked.

"We aren't sure, but he has some very high level Pokemon. We followed him here to Lavender Town and copied off his file at the Pokemon Center, when he left to take samples of the river water. Jessie and Meowth's handiwork, I presume." Cassidy added, pushing Butch aside.

"Mmm, you have to bring him back, we have to make sure he hasn't talked before we re-fire him. And yes, Jessie is stationed where you are. Are you saying she's close to being discovered?"

"No sir, we, as much as this will shock you, need those two to help us capture James. Maybe we could use his new talents to the fullest. Think of all the medical bills you'd save on with him back under your thumb, and his Pokemon can steal thousands more if we motivate him in the proper manner." Cassidy smiled.

"You have my interest, Cassidy. How will we get him to come back? And don't make up stupid elixirs and gases to do the trick. I tire of such foolishness." Their boss grumbled, the Persian wide awake now and nuzzling against him.

"We copied his personal file from the Pokemon Center, sir, and it had a delightful phone number that's in Sunnytown. We found out he has a little sister, as well as new parents. And at the party, he was making out with that pest Cerulean Gym leader, Misty. If we could kidnap them all, hold them hostage, he would have to give in to us. There's no way James would let innocent people be hurt over him. He proved that much when he saved that red-headed goody-two shoes from Charizard, and all those guests he didn't know. Believe me, sir, I have a good feeling this will really work, for the benefit of evil." Cassidy explained, looking up at Giovanni's image earnestly.

"Not bad, but why waste such a good plan right now? Keep tailing him, with Jessie and Meowth from now on. If the lot of you can't force him to come back, knock that nitwit out and then kidnap all of these....hmmph....special people. You have your orders, get going and don't you dare fail me again. Over and out!" he hissed, the screen going blank in a flash.

"You heard him, Butch. Let's get to the reservoir and tell Jessie. I can't wait to see the expression on her face when we tell her that James is still alive. She'll freak....then she'll beat the living daylights out of that traitor." Cassidy grinned, slapping Butch on the back.

"Yeah, then we get some payback too. Show that back-stabber what it means to cross us." Butch added, raising his fist up high.

"What do you mean you don't want me to go in? Venusaur's going to die if I don't get him in there, Misty! The Center is going to close soon!" Ash shouted, shoving the Pokeball in her face.

"You tried to kill James back there! And that's not like you! That was downright homicidal! You're not interrogating him again, I am." She stated.

"I'm going in too then. I don't trust that weirdo!" Ash countered. Misty shook her head, snatching the Pokeball away from him. "You are not, not until you cool down! I'm doing the interrogating from now on if you're going act so insane," she scolded, backing up towards the glass doors," You just hate because he and Jessie fooled you so many times with their disguises. And got you to wear a dress! It was for the sake of Pokemon, for you both."

"He's still a jerk and weirdo. You don't how humiliating and nauseating he is to me. He hasn't kissed you on the cheek! He's demented."

"That's....not the point," she said, blushing," It doesn't matter, beating the snot out of him isn't going to tell us anything except that we're cruel, worse than he ever was. I won't let you go in, Ash!"

"Try and stop me!" Ash challenged, his head lifting up as the Pokemon Center started to close up. "I will. Like so!" she growled, kneeing him in the groin. Ash shrieked loudly, falling to his knees, forced to watch in pain as Misty ducked into the Center, the metal gate blocking his way inside.

"Whew! Never thought anything could hurt that muscle head," Misty breathed, looking back at the metal gate," Well, if he's not here, I'm in for a long and boring night."

"Chansey...." Said a chirpy little voice. Misty looked before her to see the pink, egg shaped Pokemon in nurse attire, the little egg in its pouch, smiling at her. "Is uh....darn, I never really learned Pokemon language, but, would you nod if Dr. James Hartman is still here?"

The Chansey nodded. "Chansey!" it beamed, taking the Pokeball from her.

"Oh, well, the attack was Dream Eater. My friend was using his Venusaur to....catch a Haunter, it didn't want to be caught. So, can you do anything to help it? Oh, and tell me where James is?" she asked, getting another nod and the Chansey started to waddle off towards the emergency ward double doors. Misty pushed it open for the Chansey, following it down the long dim hallway.

After a few minutes, they reached a maternity ward, passing by a large window shielding eggs and babies, and numerous other Pokemon newborns. They were all quiet, which was eerie. Pokemon babies had the same habits as humans, crying or howling out whatever they could. It seemed strange to Misty that none of the babies were crying or even cooing at all.

"Chansey! Chansey!" her guide chirped out, pointing towards a smaller window on the opposite wall. Misty crept up to it, and peered inside cautiously. James was in the room she was looking into with a large Arbok, one that was very much in pain. Poison was leaking out of its mouth, but there was a glass tub under its bed catching it, sizzling and bubbling with it toxic juice.

"Arbooooooookkkk!" it moaned, its shining purple body writing in agony, but James just patted its head with one rubber gloved hand. "Shhh, I knowit hurts, but you're almost through. Childbirth is painful, but it'll be over soon. Begging for your death is not going to make it end any sooner." He told it, the Arbok calming a little, then it made a face as James took out another shimmering egg.

Misty watched in awe as he and another Chansey assistant took great care with each egg, as if they were made of gold. He took out ten more eggs before he stopped reaching his hands in. "Ok, Arbok, its all done. Your babies are going to the incubation room, they'll hatch in the best of care, trust me. Your owner will be very proud of you, so many babies from such a slim figure." James commented, administering a shot into Arbok's coils. It looked up at him, flitting its tongue out gently, and weakly cracking a smile. "Arbok....Bok. Arbok." It said weakly, then fell slowly to sleep.

"Yeah, don't you worry, I won't break any of them. And trust me, Joy will see you out by tomorrow afternoon." He offered, patting its head gently, before walking away. Misty heard a sink being turned on, then James' humming. She started to back up, turning towards the Chansey, but it was gone. 'It had better things to do, like saving Venusaur. You came here to confront James, just wait for him to come out and he's trapped. He wouldn't dare make a scene in a hospital.' She thought, moving away from the window into the center of the hall.

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