His Haunter had done it, laughing out its name wildly and floated around its master. James had insisted they pick the ghost Pokemon up, for the benefit of the battle he would get out of Giovanni. Ash hadn't minded the suggestion at first, not until Haunter had finally joined the group and started bothering him with making faces and swiping things from his person. Now wasn't the time for playful antics, and Ash was more than willing to voice that.

"Hey, what's the big idea!? That's my hat!" Ash grumbled, but James didn't look threatened, or sorry. Haunter went on laughing.

"My head sticks out too much, a lot more than either of yours," James told him, then looked at the breeding center," The Calamity Starr Breeding Center is the one my old boss has always used because he found people there with pull in the company. They're real easy to bribe."

"Who are they? Are they part of Team Rocket too?" Misty asked.

"Sort of, they get as much in bribes as I got in one pay check, so he's got them well fastened under his thumb. The three that are due out there at the end of each week are Billy, Jane, and Belle. That's why we need the wigs," James explained," The eye color doesn't matter cause these guys are so stupid, they come in looking like spies in lab coats, wearing their cheap sunglasses and all. They really are a joke, but they do their job right, I never saw him yell at them for anything except their attire."

"Well, that's where you lose me. Misty bought two girls' wigs and one guy's....and we....only have one girl here. Ewww, you're going to wear a dress again."

"No....I'm not. I gave up those detestable and embarrassing disguises a long time ago, Ashley." James said, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

Ash stared at him, then at Misty, and back at James, his words slowly dawning on him. His face soured. "No way! One dress was enough, but two?! I will not go to fight team Rocket in a dress. I'll never live it down." Ash hollered, turning his back to them.

"Hey, no problem, I'll make it a little more fair. We'll do a coin toss. Tails I win and heads you win, but you lose with tails and wear the damn dress. Fair enough?" James chuckled, pulling a coin out of his shirt pocket.

"Oh no you don't. Reformed or not, a con is a con. I choose what makes me win. Tails I win and you lose, and heads I lose and you win. No way am I going to let your decisions spell my fate. Not when my dignity is at stake. And let the coin hit the ground, I want to see it when it lands." Ash put in, turning about with a stern look.

James just shrugged, saying," Suit yourself. Up it goes." He flipped the coin up into the air and the three watched it twirl for a moment in mid-air, then come spinning down to land smack on the sidewalk. They all watched, Ash not daring to breath as it spun around on the concrete, slowing down gradually before it came to a clinking halt.

"Ahhh! Heads! No! Not heads! Do it again, I want to flip it. You cheated." Ash said, trying to grab up the coin, but James beat him to it, holding it tightly in his hand.

"Sorry, Ashley, but a coin toss is as fair as it gets. I wouldn't argue with fate if I were you. And don't you worry, you'll be dressed up as Belle, she delights in wearing long skirts, very conservative lady, for a bubble head. Come on, time's a wasting, my family needs a rescue right quick." James snickered, entering the breeding center with Misty trailing.

Ash was still grumbling on the street as they did, not seeing James lift up the coin he had used, but Misty did. He twirled it back and forth, smiling back at her, as she saw both sides were heads. "You did cheat. Oh , you little sneak." She chuckled, trying not to laugh out loud.

"I swore I'd never wear another dress again, and I meant it. This may not be as a good a payback as beating him senseless for trying to suffocate me, but it'll do for now. But enough about my trickery, on with the plan, dear lady." He smiled, cramming the coin back in his pocket as Ash finally began to follow them in.

"Welcome to the Calamity Starr Breeding Center, where we take care of the perils of Pokemon and they come out shining. My name is Brenda, how may I help you?" the bubbly, green-haired receptionist chirped out, smiling.

"Brenda, well, the thing is we have a Pokemon emergency. Our Pokemon have just not gotten the treatment they deserve and we heard that this place is the best in the world for all Pokemon and their needs. We're willing to pay up front for your most worthy and caring breeders." James said sweetly, charming the girl and waving a thick wad of cash under her nose. She followed the money more than his face, almost salivating at the sight of it.

"Why, certainly, sir. But....I'm sorry, our best are due to visit the Viridian City Gym in an hour. They could only take one of your Pokemon in, your friends will have to wait, as will your other Pokemon." She said, her voice a little flustered.

James shrugged, moving away from her slightly. "Fine by me, nothing is too good for my fabulous Pokemon. They'll be even better once you star employees see to their needs. I'll take my prize Pokemon to these three, just take me to them." James sighed, trying to sound disappointed. Brenda got up from her desk, her fancy white shirt and light brown skin hugging her form gently, the black high heels she wore clicking down the hall as she led James away.

Ten minutes later, James came back alone, with bags, clothes and lab coats. "The idiots were sleeping, so it was easy to tie them up." James said, smiling. "You get a kick out of doing this, don't you?" Ash grumbled, getting a lavender dress tossed at him and white shoes.

"Humiliating Team Rocket for all they've done is just half the battle, Ash. I intend to make them suffer, just like I did. They'll lose everything, and I'll be laughing at them. Just like you always laughed at us. It feels good not to be on the receiving end for once." He smirked, tossing Misty a yellow dress and ducking behind the desk to put on his disguise.

"I'll go dress in one of the rooms." Misty sighed, walking down the hall a little, opening three different doors before going into one. Within a few minutes, the three had their disguises on, Ash the first one to close up his lab coat, his face red with embarrassment.

"Doesn't he look adorable." James teased, trying not to laugh. "Ah, shut up. This is something to save your family, not bother me. Can we just go?" Ash mumbled, trying to cover his face.

"You're right, let's get the wigs, then we have a bit of walking to do," James smiled, and ran out the door," And the final part of my plan." Misty and Ash just shrugged and ran out after him, Ash tripping on the fancy shoes Belle had been wearing. "How can women wear this stuff, my feet are killing me." Ash groaned.

"Think about that pain the next time you say Vera didn't dress up enough." Misty said, sprinting ahead to the back of the car. James had already fastened the brown wig on his head, the sunglasses covering his emerald eyes fully. He gave Misty the blonde wig and tossed the red one at Ash. "Ok, for safety's sake, Belle just giggles and curtsies at all the team members. When asked a question, just make your voice a little higher answer. She's shy, so she doesn't say much at once, ok, Ash....I mean, Belle?" James said, trying to be serious.

"I get it, I get it. I play the shy airhead. What a surprise you didn't want to wear the dress." Ash muttered, putting his sunglasses and wig on.

"Misty, you are Jane, Billy's, that is, my assistant and you just be yourself. Jane is a real spirited lady, so you're almost a perfect match in personality. Bad thing is that she hates water Pokemon, so never call them cute and scream if they push one near you. Just think about bugs if you have to, I know how you hate bugs." James went on, a little more serious now," There's should be some lipstick in her right coat pocket, put some on Ash and your own lips, so he looks a little more feminine. Don't want a cover blown over the slightest detail, now do we, Ash?"

Ash just grumbled, making gagging sounds as Haunter held him still for Misty to put the lipstick on, then on her lips.

"Good, Haunter. Now, I want you to go invisible until these two lovelies keep the team members busy, then materialize near where I point. You will plant blaster balls throughout the vents, I mean everywhere. Then, when I call for you, you come to the battle arena. That means our cover's been blown and we're forced to battle. Got that?" James told Haunter, who smiled.

"Haunt....Haunt." it said, then vanished. "Just follow us Haunter, you'll know when its time." James said aloud, a faint reply coming from the ghost Pokemon.

"Blaster balls? We don't have any blaster balls in the car. And how are we supposed to sneak them in?" Ash whined, but James just waved his hand at him.

"That's a piece of cake, I already dumped out all their bags for the breeding crud, we can stuff these full of them. There's always a place to buy blaster balls, so that's no problem either. I'll just give a bag full of them to Haunter when he goes in the first vent and he'll be sort'a following us to each vent. At each vent, one of us has to make an excuse for stopping....trip, or heck, knock over the member leading us to the battle arena. I'll hand the next bag to haunter and get the empty one back from him. Its foolproof." James explained.

"Hey, we only have a day or so left to get there, we don't have time for perfect plans. We have to go with what we've got....or his family is going to die. Maybe ours will follow, just to hurt us for helping him. We have to go now, Ash....Belle, darn, being someone else is hard." Misty breathed.

"You don't know the half of it." James muttered, passing by them both. They followed, all walking down the street, hoping that their efforts would not be in vain.

"Well, if it's the Magnificent Trio. Hey, Jane, I have a cute little Tentacool with you name on it. What do say?" a large, mustached Rocket member greeted. He was leaning against the wall as the three walked in, some food stuck in his facial hair, his breath smelling like a sewer. James was standing a ways from them, standing near a ventilation grate.

The man breathed on Misty and Ash, and it was all she could do not to keel over. His breath was enough to make Misty wretch, but she held it in, using his disgusting appearance in retaliation, and keep the poor excuse for a human being from seeing what James was really doing..

"Ewww! That's so gross, so slimy, and disgusting. Keep it away! I hate water Pokemon, they're all so totally gross!" she screamed, nearly knocking the man over.

"Whoa, ok, fine. Jeez, you just can't take a damn joke, Jane. Belle, honey, you have to work on her attitude. If she was as quiet as you, she just might be cute....like you." he smiled, the food in his teeth making Ash grimace in his disguise.

In a high-pitched voice, he giggled," Oh hee, hee, I dunno, oh, dear. My stars....I'm not that, oh....hoo....hoo....hoo....hoo."

"See, now why can't you be more ladylike, like Belle is?" the man said.

Misty folded her arms, sticking her nose straight up in the air. "How rude. I ought'a kick your ungrateful hide in for that. At least I can form a sentence." Misty hissed out, and Ash went on pretend giggling.

The man was about to open his mouth again when James stepped up, only holding one bag now. "Excuse my little pretties, they really are in a sour mood today," he said, his voice lower and hoarse sounding now," Its just that time of the month for Jane....and Belle, well, she just misses all of the boss' Pokemon. You know women."

"You got that right, Billy boy. Now, how about's we get to the arena. The boss is growing impatient. Why do you three always got's to be so late?" The man said, moving off down the hallway.

The trio followed, and James went on talking. "Some geek came in today demanding our services, he was carrying a fake wad of money and expected us to believe it was real. We had the moron carted off to jail for trying to insult our intelligence. Not to give excuses, but well, that's what happened."

"Billy, it don't really matter to me, I'm not the one you gotta answer to. The boss is. So quit your yacking and move it. Hey! Why'd you stop?" the man asked, reaching for his gun.

"I stepped on a tack. Belle, would you hold my back? It would really haunt me if I kept walking. I have to yank this out, then we can continue on." James said gruffly, pretending he was in pain.

Ash grabbed the bag, following James eyes to another ventilation grate, and nodded. "Sure! Tee hee. Grrrrr...." He said in a high voice, moving to the vent as Misty got in the guard's face. "How dare you question my superior's actions. You're right, we don't have to answer to you, we answer to the boss. And how are we supposed to do our jobs when Billy is hopping up and down on one foot trying to care for the Pokemon. Your boss would have your hide if one of us couldn't come or was injured, and it would be all your fault!" Misty shouted, kicking the man in the shin.

"Ouch! Jeez, Jane, you're really full of spitfire today. I give up, all right?! Go ahead and fix your foot, Billy, just get this Amazon off me." the man yelped.

James got up, and pretended to throw something away. Ash handed him the bag, squirming in his dress. He looked inside the bag and smiled. "Good girl, not single bottle broken this time. You're getting better." He commented, patting Ash on the head as if he was a pet.

Ash mumbled something under his breath, gritting his teeth angrily. "Why thank you, sir. Tee, hee, and you don't keep those adult magazines in there anymore. I'm so proud of you. Hee, hee."

"Heh, heh, isn't she cute?" James laughed, squeezing Ash's throat with his arm, choking him," Don't push it or I'll break every bone in your face."

"Yeah, she's adorable, her face just gets prettier and prettier," the man said, gesturing with his head suddenly," Come on now, the boss is still waiting."

"Certainly," James said, releasing Ash and stepping on his foot," Come on, girls, we don't want to make him any madder than he already is."

The walk to the battle arena seemed to take forever, James and Ash taking turns the entire way to give Haunter bags of blaster balls every five ventilation grates that they passed by. James was surprised, as he could tell his companions were, at how easy things were, and it scared it.

'You're planning something, but why would you let me get so close to my goal when you know what I have to fight with? Or are you just too stupid to realize what you're dealing with? Giovanni, it doesn't matter what you do, you're going to lose....even if it kills me.' he thought, the doors of the battle arena finally coming into his view.

"Well, you know the drill. Go on in, explain yourselves and then do your thing. I'll wait out here to let you out." the man said, opening one of the doors. "Yeah, this is going to hurt, but we don't get paid by the hour. Might as well take a beating and get this job done with." James sighed, a defeated look crossing his face, walking into the arena slowly, Ash and Misty following in tow.

"You don't know how right you are." The man said, his tone less than comforting.

"What?" James yelped in his real voice as the door slammed behind them, the lock clicking.

"Uh-oh....we've been played." James grumbled, and the three tore off their costumes as the lights of the arena came shining down upon them. He looked up, and saw him, a from he hadn't seen in person for ten long years, the shadowy form of Giovanni.

"I thought you'd never get here. My special guests never lost hope, but when your life is at stake, what can you expect? Welcome home, James, did you hear that Hartmans? James is home at last." Giovanni said, his voice haughty and venomous.

"No...." James mumbled, his eyes moving away from Giovanni, from left to right until his eyes met with those of his family, his mother and sister in tears.

"What does he mean, Jimmy? Why did he take us away from the house?" she wept, but James couldn't look at them anymore. The pain in his little sister's eyes was too much for him to stand.

"He didn't tell you the truth did he? So much for forgiveness," Giovanni laughing, his Persian rubbing up against him," You don't mind if I tell them what you were, what's hiding beneath the haircut, the license, the happy family. I knew you wouldn't."

"Stop it." James grumbled, but Giovanni just laughed, his Persian snickering. "James used to work for me, stealing Pokemon, as bad as he was at it. He destroyed public property, he attacked innocent people with his Weezing. Vain, wearing disguises, even dresses, all to steal Pokemon. He's a common criminal, a mere child thief hiding behind that man you see. A fraud. What do you think of your pride and joy now, Mrs. Hartman?"

"I....I....," Nurse Joy mumbled," James, please look at me. Tell me, from your own mouth. Is it true? Just tell me the truth."

James looked up slightly, tears streaming down his face. "Its true. I couldn't tell you....or you'd hate me. I'm not perfect....I got a second chance with your family....to have one of my own. A mother, a father, then a sister....I didn't want to ruin things by bringing my past into it. I didn't want anyone to get hurt, but....I was wrong....dead wrong. No matter how careful I tried to be, I screwed things up. You can hate me all you want, it won't change anything. I'll still be me."

"Oh James....I....I'm so sorry....Oh Max." she wept, leaning against her husband.

"I don't care about myself anymore, Giovanni, I only want them to be safe. I'm challenging you, right here and now, a battle to decide my fate. If I lose, go ahead and shoot me, but let them go....and Meowth." James challenged, raising his fists towards Giovanni.

"Meowth....heh, friendship. How touching. Fine, since you've never won as many battles as I have, I can just see that bullet passing through your empty skull. Fine, I accept, as if I care why you want Meowth or people who aren't even blood relatives. Get ready, little man, you're about to experience the last painful minutes of your life." Giovanni laughed, snapping his fingers.

The doors below his throne pulled away from each other with a grating sound, like stone on stone, revealing James first challenge. "Trio, trio, trio." the Dugtrio uttered, the mole Pokemon moving through the dirt quickly.

"Nice try. Beedril! Go!" James shouted, tossing a Pokeball before its opponent.

"Twin Needle attack, now!" James added.

Beedril obeyed and swooped down at the Dugtrio, but Giovanni yelled," Dugtrio, dig!"

The Dugtrio disappeared under the ground and Beedril smacked into the ground, its stingers stuck fast in the ground. It buzzed like crazy, trying to pull itself free, managing to get one out.

Then it shrieked, falling over, a small dart in it's hide. "A tranquilizer dart!? That's cheating." James hollered, but Giovanni was ignoring him.

"Dugtrio, fissure strike!" he called, and the ground shook, the entire building sounding like it would crumble at any second. The ground went electric as it split open beneath the Beedril, the explosion of the cracking ground knocking it out.

"That was a dirty trick! Who shot my Beedril?" James yelled, looking at his beaten Pokemon," Ugh, Beedril, return!"

As it came back, his sister's voice rang out. "That ugly Jessie lady did it. She's got a gun, she hurt the buzzer."

"Shut up, you little brat, or my Arbok will have you for dinner. Arbok, go! Teach her a lesson." Jessie hissed, tossing the Pokeball as she holstered the gun.

"Arbok!" it uttered, then looked over at James. He was touching his crystal again, and Arbok's eyes went wide. "ARBOK! ARBOK!" it screeched, and wrapped about Jessie, binding her arms at her sides.

"You overgrown water moccasin! Let go of me!" Jessie screamed, struggling wildly as the other members looked on.

"Now that this is really fair, choose you next Pokemon, Giovanni. Or would you like to forfeit right now and make this easy on yourself?" James said, trying to look brave.

"Big talk from such a small brain. Fine, Persian, go!" Giovanni sighed, his Persian leaping down from his lap and down to the arena, hissing.

"I'd have a bigger problem fighting Meowth than this wimp. Primeape, go!" James shouted, tossing another Pokeball.

"Primeape!? He's got a Primeape!?" Ash squeaked out," I really have to talk to his professor big time."

"Shut up, Ash. This is serious business. Let's try and get his family away from Team Rocket. We have to distract them while he distracts that tyrant."

"Yeah, yeah, lead the way, oh valiant master." Ash grumbled, following Misty around the arena.

"Persian, fury swipe!" Giovanni ordered. The Persian leapt up at the Primeape, its sharp claws aimed at the angry Pokemon. "Primeape! Tuck and roll, counter with fury attack!" James yelled, the Primeape rolling under the Persian in a split second.

"PRIMEAPE" the creature yelled, smacking its fists together, then charged at the cat Pokemon, bashing at it repeatedly. Shot after shot, into the Persian's face, its stomach, then it back, and it kept going till the Persian broke free.

"Show no mercy, Primeape. Seismic toss!" James called out, the Primeape nodding to him.

"Primeape!" it growled, grabbing the Persian by its tail and spun it around at incredible speed. The Persian yowled loudly as it spun faster and faster, until James cried out," Toss it now!"

Primeape threw the Persian into the air, smack into Giovanni's face. The man fell over, it Persian mumbling with a dazed expression on it face.

"He beat it? Hey, he beat it! All right James, way to show that stupid Persian who's boss! Hah, hah, ha, ha! Persian is a loser!" Meowth was laughing, hopping up and down like crazy, much to Team Rocket's disgust.

"Shut up, if it lost, that means we're losing. Keep it down or you're going to join his family with a few more holes in your head." Cassidy hissed out, rapping Meowth on the head with the butt of her gun.

"Meowth! That hurt!" Meowth yelped, rubbing the lump on his head.

"Argh, you were just lucky, you still have three more Pokemon to face, traitor!" Giovanni growled out, snapping his fingers. The doors beneath him opened up again, this time to reveal the hulking, light blue Nidoqueen moving slowly into the arena.

"Ok, Primeape, return. Haunter! Go!" James called, his Primeape going back into his Pokeball, then nothing. James' face fell, looking around frantically. "Haunter! I said go! Its time to battle, not play!" James yelled, but Haunter was still nowhere in sight.

"You'd better choose a Pokemon you have, not one you need." Giovanni laughed, and James growled at him. "Fine, since Haunter is fooling around again, Poliwhirl, go!" James exclaimed, tossing his next Pokeball.

"Poliwhirl!" the Pokemon uttered, just in time to see the Nidoqueen leaping at it. "Nidoqueen, poison sting!" Giovanni ordered, and Nidoqueen obeyed with a painful bite into Poliwhirl's body. "No! Poliwhirl! Use your hypnosis attack! It's the only way!" James shouted.

Poliwhirl got free of Nidoqueen, wobbling as it tried to start up its hypnosis powers, but Giovanni shook his head above them, laughing. "Nidoqueen, Tackle attack. Finish it off!"

Nidoqueen towered above Poliwhirl, then toppled its armored body onto it with a near deafening roar. Poliwhirl cried out under the crushing mass, its eyes dazed and full of pain.

"Not again. I almost had him. Poliwhirl, return," James said, taking up another Pokeball," Two chances left and I have to win them both. Haunter, where the heck are you?!"

"I choose my Nidoking next, and when I win, you lose everything, starting with the little girl. Then your precious mother and father, your girlfriend....and that stuck up little braggart you brought."

"Braggart!? Who are you calling a braggart!" Ash yelled, right behind Jessie. She looked back at him, grumbling out something, but Arbok squeezed at her again. Sadly, Butch and Cassidy got in his and Misty's way, guns raised.

"Nice going, big-mouth! So much for the element of surprise." Misty hissed, rapping him on the head.

"This is not good. Haunter! Materialize already! Where are you!?" James shouted, collapsing down on his knees.

"Haunt....haunt?" a voice said by his ear.

"Haunter?!" James yelped, looking next to himself to find Haunter floating there. He knew he'd let James down, and his sad expression really showed it.

"Forget the past Haunter. We've got to beat this creep, for Mom and Dad, for Kara," James told him, patting his head, then whispered," Use your dream eater on it. No mercy."

"Are you quite done with your little bonding ritual? Giving up right now would be best." Giovanni said slyly, pointing his finger down at the large, lavender Nidoking," Horn attack!"

"Haunter! Go, dream eater that creep!" James shouted, Haunter zipping past the charging Nidoking in a flash, hovering high above it as its attack began. The small black, humming balls circled Nidoking, sticking with it even as it tried to use its horn to knock them away.

Nidoking wobbled gradually, its eyes spiraling with sickness, then fell flat on its back, groaning out weakly as it hit. "Yeah, I beat you!" James laughed, Haunter circling around its opponent happily. "Hauuuunter!" it cackled.

"So what? You have one left, then it's a tie and we have to break it with a final battle. And, for my next warrior, I choose Rhydon." Giovanni growled, standing up now with his injured Persian in his arms.

"Only two left....ah, hell, water and water, but which one should I use....Man, I don't have time to be picky, Gyarados, go get him!" James yelled, tossing his Pokeball into the arena," Hydro pump! Now! Finish it now!"

"Not in this lifetime! Horn drill, destroy him!" Giovanni raged, banging his hand against the balcony his throne rested upon, gritting his teeth together.

Rhydon and the roaring Gyarados charged at each other. Rhydon raised its horn up high, snarling as it ran towards the giant water serpent. "Gyarados, use your quick abilities, dodge it and counter with hydro pump! Give it everything you've got!" James shouted, his Pokemon slithering out of the way as Rhydon closed in. It arched its head back and its mouth shot forth a powerful gush of water at the rock armored beast.

Rhydon wailed out, falling down hard as the water soaked it, its voice getting louder when Gyarados kept pouring it on.

"Keep it coming, Gyarados. Finish it off with hyper beam!" James commanded, getting a roar in reply. A few moments later, the water ceased and a ball of light came out in its place, knocking the Rhydon off its feet and sailing over James' head then through the door.

"Yeah! I beat you....fair and square!" James laughed, looking dead at a frowning Giovanni. "That's insignificant. So what of you won, all you win is this." The man grumbled, throwing a small object at James. He caught it easily and looked it in his palm, then back at his former boss.

"An Earth badge....the last badge. That's not what I came here for, I want my family back....I want you to leave them out of this." James hollered back, Haunter appearing behind him.

"Oh, did I say I'd do that? Well, well, well, now isn't that something. And as the ex-villain you are, you should have known better than to trust me. Butch! Cassidy! Shoot them, shoot them all! The baby brat gets it first!"

"Damn you, I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this, but you've forced it on yourself," James yelled, grabbing at his necklace," Now I'll have to teach you like I thought I taught those three losers!"

"Cork it, Jimmy, you're the loser, like always." Butch hissed out, aiming his gun at James and fired.

James fell backward with a cry, blood oozing down his right arm. "Ahhh, man, that smarts....but you're a bad aim. I'm not that unlucky," James gurgled out, getting up to his feet," Piouso, rise!"

Bright, blue lights swirled out of the crystal, wrapping around James just like in the forest, but this time all the Rocket members were watching him with their eyes open wide.

Misty and Ash took this as a chance to get James' family away, but Ash was tripping since he hadn't seen this transformation like Misty had. "What's he doing?" he asked.

"Taking care of business....I hope." Misty uttered, untying little Kara quickly, then helped Ash free the parents, the light starting to fade.

"What the devil is this?" Giovanni grumbled, his Persian looking up in awe."Not quite, human. I'm not surprised that disgustingly vain female and those other two wastes of flesh were too big headed to tell you they lost to me, and too dumb to look up the word vassal."

"Team Rocket has better things to do than finger through books to get ahead in life." Jessie sneered, still bound by her Arbok, which was calm now.

"James told me how stubborn you are, but he neglected to tell me how much, or how dumb. Its means slave, silly girl, James is my slave, my host body, all thanks to you." Piouso growled, his body changing colors like before.

"My fault? What did I do?" Jessie griped, finally pulling free of Arbok, but her dart gun was crushed. "You stole my chosen body the same day I melded with this boy's body, the Charmander was my original vassal. Though I would have been short for a while, having the advantage of human height is most....interesting, as well as the extra strength he gives me with his anger. That's why he hates you, not just your betrayal, but the fact he became my vassal because you stole the real one. Now....isn't that nice?" Piouso explain, putting his clawed hands together as if in prayer, then reached on out towards the ground.

Jessie flinched a little, but nothing happened. Not to her anyway. "MEOWTH! Put me down!" Meowth screamed," I didn't do anything to you! I didn't cheat this time! Let me go!"

"Not to worry, my feline child, no longer will you be abused by such losers. James may have been one of them, but he is not the same....he never will be again. He wanted you saved as well from this pit of stupidity you are kept in by such a cruel master. It is something I owe him....for all the tolerating he's done for carting me around in his soul. As well as something else....I owe him a great deal more, which I intend to repay." Piouso uttered, tucking Meowth under one arm, then reached back towards where he'd plucked Meowth from.

Jessie turned around, knowing full well that Piouso meant James' family. "Arbok! Poison sting! Wrap, every.....huh? They're disappearing!"

They were all yelling something towards Piouso, but there was no sound in their voices. The family, Misty, and Ash were all vanishing right before her eyes, the Rocket members too stunned to even fire at them.

"Haunter, ready the detonator. Team Rocket is about to go blasting off....for the last time." Piouso's voice piped up, all eyes on him once more, the Haunter behind him with a small gray detonator in its hands.

"Misty, James says he's sorry....for everything. He hopes you can forgive him for this sacrifice." Piouso said solemnly, and Jessie looked back at the fading people, Misty's face erupting with tears as she tried to reach out towards him. Within seconds, they were all gone, leaving Team rocket alone with Piouso and Haunter. "Now Haunter! For all the Pokemon they've hurt and stolen! Liberation for my children!" he added, Haunter pushing down before anyone could blink. next page