Rating: PG-13, not only is this one deep, but it's also sad and violent.

Other: This story kinda branches off from The Game of Life; it's in the same time period, anyway. I decided to kinda dive into Butch, Cassidy, and Mondo, Team Rocket's less famous members. Also, I show the dark side of Team Rocket. Nope, this one definitely isn't all fun and games. Send letters to Jayhawkfan13@aol.com, and thanks for reading!

Dedicated to Shawn, one of my all-time best friends.

"1410, Maple Drive," Cassidy read the address. "This must be the place."

The two of us walked inside, to find an enormous garage. A truck was positioned near the door, and several Rocket members were milling around.

"Cassidy! Butch!" a voice called.

We looked over, to see Mondo running towards us. He stopped sharply, smiling wide. "Am I glad to see you! I didn't think I'd know anyone here!"

I glanced around the semi-crowded building. "Where are Jessie and James?"

Mondo waved an arm. "Around. Didn't you know? They quit the team a couple months ago. I'm not sure why, the Boss was never real specific about it. Have you met the leader of this whole operation?"

Cassidy shook her head. "We're not even sure what the operation is yet."

Mondo gestured for us to follow him. "You've gotta meet him! He's really cool. He'll explain everything to you."

We followed Mondo to the cab of the truck. Leaning against the door was a guy about my age with sandy-colored hair. I knew him immediately.

"Chase!" I exclaimed.

He turned to face us. "That's my name -- Butch, is that you?"

I nodded, grinning. "I haven't seen you in years!"

"Uh, are you two friends?" Cassidy questioned.

Chase flashed her a blindingly white smile. "Butch, is this your partner?" he went over, kissing Cassidy's hand. "You sure can pick 'em."

Cassidy blushed.

"Cassidy, this is Chase," I introduced. "We went to school together."

Chase snorted. "That's an understatement. We were practically joined at the hip!"

"Hey Chase! We need you to check cargo over here!"

Chase strode over to where the voice came from. Cassidy, Mondo and I followed.

"So what exactly are we doing?" Cassidy asked.

"Just your basic Pokémon Center robbery," Chase explained. "Five or six guys go in. Three of 'em hold up Joy and the Chanseys, the others grab the Pokémon. Meanwhile a couple people wait out by the truck. They'll put the Pokéballs in the back. Then we hop in, I step on the gas, and we're outta there."

Chase arrived at a table lined with guns. He picked each one up, checking to make sure they were in working order.

"I didn't think Team Rocket was into armed robbery," I commented.

"There's a lotta stuff about Team Rocket that you don't know about," Chase replied mysteriously.

I'm not sure why, but something about the way he said that scared me. This wasn't the same Chase I remembered.

* * *

Mondo, Cassidy and I were seated in the back of the truck with a few other people. Chase at up front with the other co-leaders.

"Once we get there these guys here'll storm into the Center. Meanwhile you three will stay out here and take the bags of Pokéballs from them. Got it?" Chase asked for about the third time.

Once again we nodded.

The truck came to an abrupt stop.

"Let's roll!" Chase ordered.

The truck doors flew open, and everyone but Chase and we three came pouring out.

"This won't take too long. These nurses are pushovers," Chase remarked dryly. He turned around so he could look through the window at us. "How does it feel to pull off a Pokémon heist?"

"Nerve-racking," Cassidy and I both said at the same time.

Within minutes the other team members came racing around the side of the building. They threw the bags to us, and we set them down on the shelves.

"Nurse Joy called the cops on us!" one of the Rockets told Chase. "They'll be here any second!"

The sound of approaching sirens warned us to get going.

Chase took control. "Mondo, close the back doors! Everyone get in! Sit tight, we're gonna have to lose 'em first!"

Chase slammed on the gas pedal, and the truck went speeding down the road. I looked out the back window to see about four squad cars racing after us.

"Chase, how do you lose them?" Cassidy wondered.

Chase swerved the truck, taking a side road. "You just gotta know the right moves!"

We skidded around in the back of the truck, trying not to collide into each other.

"Maybe we should just give it up," Mondo suggested.

"Scared kid?" Chase wondered, a reckless gleam in his eye. "Don't worry so much. I've been doing this for years!"

The truck went swerving down the main roads and back alleyways of Viridian City, but still the police cars kept up.

Chase cursed. "They're gettin' better at this."

He took a few swift turns, and suddenly we were out on the main road, heading for Pallet Town.

I sighed. It looked like we'd pull it off.

"How'd they do that??" Mondo exclaimed, pointing ahead.

I looked to where he was pointing. There sat four other squad cars, blocking the road.

Chase pulled the wheel hard to the right. "We'll get around 'em!"

As he tried to go back to the left, his hand slipped off the wheel. We went sliding down a steep incline, the truck rolling over and over.

The back door sprang open. Mondo, who was closest to it, was flung out of the truck. I saw Cassidy hit her head on the truck wall, and pass out. I tried to make my way to her, but the truck hit a bump and went flying forward. I wen through the front window, hit my head on a rock, and passed out.

* * *

I woke up, dazed and confused. The past events came rushing back to me, and I looked around. A good twenty feet below me sat what was left of the truck; a burning piece of metal.

As I tried to stand up, a wave of pain came up from my arm. I looked down, and almost threw up. My right hand was completely gone. Gritting my teeth, I tore off part of my shirt to wrap it up in. The bleeding slowed slightly.

I stumbled down the hill, looking for signs of life. Near a piece of the truck, I saw a flash of orange hair. Cassidy!

I ran down the hillside, skidding to halt in front of her. Her back half was under the truck. I leaned down, to see if she was alive. Her breath came out raspy and shallow, as if she fought to breath, but she was alive.

I had to get her out of there. Thinking fast, I pulled Drowzee's Pokéball from my belt.

"Drowzee, can you lift this truck up?" I asked.

The Pokémon nodded. Using his psychic powers, Drowzee was able to life the truck up long enough for me to pull Cassidy out. I called him back, then inspected Cassidy. Another wave of nausea engulfed me. Her legs were a bloody mess.

"Butch!"

I looked up. Mondo was making his way down the hill to me. As he got closer, I could see he had some cloth wrapped around his eye.

Mondo looked down at my wrist. He grimaced. "Oh geez. You okay?"

"I'm fine," I lied. "You?"

He bit his lip to hide the pain. "I'll live. Musta cut my eye on a rock or something." He noticed Cassidy. "Oh God. Is she..."

"She's alive," I answered. "Barely. Mondo we've gotta get her to a hospital!"

He nodded. "There's a pay phone not too far from here. Can I leave you two here?"

"Yeah. Hurry, I don't know how much longer she can hold on."

Mondo ran back up the hillside, leaving me alone.

I cradled Cassidy in my lap. I kissed her forehead. "Hang on Cass. Help's on the way. Just hang on."

I passed out about five minutes later, from loss of blood.

* * *

I was in a hospital bed. Mondo had come through. I tried to sit up, but my head started spinning.

"That's probably not the smartest idea," someone commented. "You lost a lot of blood."

I looked over. Mondo sat on the other bed, a patch over one eye.

He smiled crookedly. "Well, we're alive."

"Is Cassidy-"

"She made it. Helluva miracle too," Mondo said sadly. "But..."

"But what?" I questioned.

He sighed. "They couldn't do anything about her legs. They were crushed."

"And...?"

He uttered only one word. "Gone."

I gulped. "How's she taking it?"

"Okay," he shrugged. "She's pretty quiet."

"Er... can I see her?"

He pressed a button on the bed. "A nurse'll be here in a bit. You can ask her."

In a couple minutes a nurse came into the room.

"I'd like to go talk to Cassidy," I told her. "Can I?"

The nurse nodded. She pulled a wheelchair out and bade me to sit in it. "You probably shouldn't walk around too much right now."

I did what she said, and she wheeled me down into a room a few doors away. Cassidy sat, gazing out the window. She had on a pair of jeans; knotted at the knee.

"You've got a visitor ma'am," the nurse said.

Cassidy turned. "All right."

The nurse left us alone.

I wheeled myself over. "Hi Cass. How's it going?"

She shrugged.

"Um, you okay?"

Cassidy changed the subject. "They're all dead. The others, I mean."

I gasped. "Chase and everyone else?"

She nodded. "They found the bodies a day ago. You've been unconscious for a while."

I looked down at my bandaged stump.

Cassidy followed my gaze. "Are you okay?"

I nodded. "Could be worse."

"Yeah, you could be like me," she said quietly.

"Cass, it's not-"

She turned away. "Yes, it is. I'm never gonna walk again Butch." She lowered head. "You shoulda let me die."

I put a hand on her shoulder and kissed her hair. "Don't talk like that. We're alive, isn't that enough?"

"Just leave me alone," she whispered.

Sighing, I left the room. Cassidy had a lot to think about. She deserved some privacy.

* * *

Two weeks later, we were ready to leave. The three of us had quit Team Rocket, and Giovanni found us a nice apartment complex in Vermillion City.

I stretched my new hand. I loved modern science. Looking over at Cassidy, I sighed. If only she'd been as lucky.

Mondo shifted awkwardly. "I guess I can get a job somewhere in Viridian. We'll stay in touch though, right?"

I smiled slightly. "Mondo, you know you're welcome to come with us. We could use an extra pair of hands when we move in."

He grinned. "Thanks. You guys are the best!"

I helped Cassidy into the car, and we were off. After two hours, we finally arrived at our new home. I grabbed some suitcases.

"It's not the Ritz, but Giovanni did a pretty good job," I admitted.

Mondo helped us unpack everything and get settled in. I invited him to stay with us, and he accepted.

* * *

It was winter. Nearly a month since we'd left the hospital. Cassidy was unusually quiet.

I looked up from the paper. "Ya know, there's an opening in the hair salon down the street. You're a whiz with fashion."

She shrugged.

"Cassidy, you've got to get on with your life. It's not healthy to just sit around like this," I told her.

"Easy for you to say!" she snapped. "Mondo got out of there with one less eye, you with one less hand. And-"

"And the others didn't get away at all," I said quietly.

She stopped. "Butch..."

I stood up, throwing on some shoes. I opened the door, stopping just before I left. "My best friend next to you is gone forever. And all you can worry about is some disability."

* * *

I walked through the Vermillion Cemetery. Finally I stopped at the grave of Chase Treman. Kneeling down, I started crying.

"God Chase, why'd you have to try and lose the police?" I questioned angrily.

"Slumber through twilight, sleep through dawn.
Bright in our memory from first light each morn.
Rest through the winter beneath the soft snow.
And in the springtime, when bright blossoms grow.

"Our Rocket friends, who gave all you could give.
Your lives snatched away just as you started to live.
No one can tell what my heart longs to say,
when you left this world, and I had to stay."

I turned around. The sat Cassidy, smiling slightly. I knew that poem, it came from a book I'd read once. Cassidy'd changed the words around a little though.

She wheeled over. "I'm sorry about how I've acted. It's just, what with all that's happened..."

"I know," I interrupted.

Cassidy leaned against me. "Oh Butch. Will it ever get any better? When will it stop hurting?"

I put a hand on her shoulder. "I don't think it'll ever stop hurting Cass. But it will get better. It has to."