Pokémon: True Love Protected

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Summary of plot: Ash and Misty are too afraid to tell each other their feelings. They are threatened by Team Rocket, and a strange man in a Trenchcoat saves their lives. He seems interested in Ash and Misty’s feelings for each other. Who is he and why did he help? Find out when This dark protector tries to save all hope of them getting together in Pokémon: True Love Protected

Nightfall. Ash, Misty, Brock, and Pikachu are all sitting around a campfire. Brock climbs into his sleeping bag and goes to sleep. Pikachu falls asleep moments later next to Ash. That leaves only Ash and Misty awake. Ash is looking into the fire, trying to avoid Misty’s eyes. <Why do I feel so nervous?> He thought. He knew the answer already, but was trying to avoid it. <Do I really like her that much? If only I could tell her...but she’d just laugh.> He sighed. Misty could tell that something was bothering him.

"Nothing. Just tired, that’s all." He replied. She looked him over. She couldn’t believe he still thought the only reason she followed him was to get a new bike. She smiled at the thought. He sure was dense sometimes. <If he’s so dense, then why can’t I stop staring at him?> She wondered. Ash got into his sleeping bag and was snoring seconds later. Misty decided to follow his example and went into her own sleeping bag.

Above them, a dark figure watched. <Love...it is strong in these two> it thought, <And yet their inability to communicate may be the end of them. I Must do something, I cannot allow their Love to end...like mine>. A pair of black wings opened and the strange creature watching over the Pokémon trainers flew off into the distance, to plan his next move.

Pikachu was the first to wake up the next morning. He looked at Ash, his best friend in the world. He knew that Ash had feelings for Misty. He wasn’t sure about how Misty felt, but it seemed odd that she would follow Ash only because of a bike. Pikachu sighed. Sometimes he just couldn’t understand humans. He walked over to Misty’s sleeping bag and woke Togepi up. The small egg-like Pokémon rubbed it’s eyes. It got up and hugged Pikachu. "Togie togie briiii! (Good morning, uncle Pikachu!)" Togepi greeted.

"Pikapipikachu pika pi.(morning Togepi. I want to ask you something.)" Pikachu told him.

"Pikapi pikachu CHUpikachu.(How does your mommy feel about Ash?)" Pikachu asked. Togepi looked confused.

"Briii? togie? (Who’s Ash? OH! You mean daddy!)" Pikachu looked shocked (no pun intended).

"Awwww! How cute!" Pikachu looked to see Misty watching them. Fortunately, only Ash understands Pikachu. Pikachu decided to wait till later to ask Togepi, just in case. Pikachu hugged Misty then ran over to wake Ash up. Easier said than done. Pikachu pulled at Ash’s hair, to no evail. "Here, let me." Misty said. She walked over, bent down to Ash’s ear and shouted at the top of her lounges; "WAKE UP YOU SLOB!!!!" Ash jumped up. Unfortunately, he was still in the sleeping bag when he did it, so he fell down on his face and landed on Pikachu’s tail.

"PIKA! CHUUUUUUU!!!!" Pikachu gave Ash a thunderbolt, while Misty and Togepi stood there laughing.

"ALRIGHT! I’M UP! I’M UP! OW! STOP IT ALREADY, PIKACHU!!!" Pikachu pulled his tail out from under Ash and walked over to wake Brock up. Ash got out of his sleeping bag and glared at Misty, who was still laughing. "You know, you could just shake me or something." He told her.

"I would, but then it wouldn’t be as funny, would it?" Misty replied, trying to stop laughing.

"At least I’m not a slob like you! You can’t even get out of bed without being shocked!" They continued to argue until Brock announced that breakfast was ready. They didn’t even notice when a dark figure ran past at record breaking speed.

Halfway into breakfast, some visitors arrived in a big balloon shaped like a Meowth.

"Meowth! That’s right!" Ash, Misty and Brock looked at them, and then went back to eating. "Hey! We’re here for your Pikachu, not to watch you eat!" Jesse shouted. James’ stomach growled.

"But while we’re here...can we have some?" James asked. Jesse and Meowth fell Anime style. Jesse hit James over the head with a mallet.

"But I’m hungry!" James Whined. Jesse glared at him and he shut up. What they didn’t notice is that Ash had already called out his Charizard, and it was charging at them. In fact, they noticed about five seconds before Charizard got to them.

CRASH! Charizard whacked into them, slashed them, then tail whipped them, sending them flying.

"Looks like Team Rocket is blasting off again!" They shouted as they flew off into the distance. Ash called back Charizard and they all went back to eating breakfast.

"I’m not the stupid one! You should look in a mirror!" They argued while Pikachu and Brock got a big sweatdrop on their forehead.

"Well, can we move on now, or do you two want to flirt some more?" Brock teased. He immediately regretted saying it. Both Ash and Misty Turned on him and started pounding him. Pikachu decided that Brock should survive since he was their chef, so he thundershocked them all. After recovering, they packed up and started heading towards their next destination: Seafoam Islands.

The figure in the shadows watched them duke it out with disgust. <Foolish children. How can they love each other so much and yet seem to hate each other?> Then he thought of the Team Rocket members that they had dispersed so easily. <Giovanni isn’t going to be happy when he hears about that. They may not be as safe as they believe...>

Jesse, James, and Meowth looked at the screen with the form of their boss, Giovanni. "So you failed me once again. You fools! Why don’t you just deal with the trainers, then take the Pokémon?!"

"It’s simple, you impotent fool! Kill the trainers! In fact, if the trainers don’t die, You can say good bye to Team Rocket!" The screen went blank. Team Rocket stood there in shock.

"I...guess we could do that..." Jesse said doubtfully. Even Meowth didn’t look to happy with Giovanni’s orders.

"But if we don’t we’ll get kicked outta Team Rocket." Meowth said, "And da boss doesn’t usually let people live after dat." They all nodded in agreement.

After walking for over an hour, Ash and the gang stumbled upon a huge lake. "Yeah! Now I can catch some more water Pokémon!" Misty exclaimed. She and Ash got out their fishing rods and casted into the water. No luck. They casted again.

"Not even a nibble." Ash said bitterly. On the third cast, however, their luck changed. Ash’s rod bent way down. "I GOT ONE!" He exclaimed.

"Uuuh you sure?" Brock asked, "It looks like it’s got you!" Ash was being dragged towards the lake. Misty grabbed his arm to help him pull, but it didn’t even slow down the pull. Brock and Pikachu grabbed on and pulled as hard as they could. Suddenly, a Tentacruel burst from the water.

"Whooa! Pikachu, get it!" Ash ordered. Pikachu jumped forward at the Tentacruel. "Pikachu, thunderbolt!"

"PikaaaaaaaaCHUUUUU!!!" a huge yellow blast came from Pikachu and hit Tentacruel full force.

"Alright! Tentacruel, you’re mine! Pokéball, go!" Ash threw the pokéball at the jellyfish Pokémon and it was caught. "Yes!! I got Tentacr-" Then Ash thought of something. He picked up the pokéball Tentacruel was in and handed it to Misty.

"I know that you really love Tentacruels and Tentacools, so I think you’ll enjoy having one more than I would." Ash said. Brock looked surprised. If he could open his eyes (why are his eyes closed?) they would be wide open. Ash hardly ever did something nice for Misty.

"Thank you, Ash! Thanks a lot!" Misty exclaimed. Then, after a moment’s thought, "I guess you’re not that bad a jerk."

"I said you weren’t that bad!" Misty shouted, "Why do you have to be so sensitive?!" They argued for a while and Brock sighed with relief. He knew that the peace couldn’t last long. Then, three familiar figures appeared. It was Jesse, James, and Meowth of Team Rocket, but they didn’t look too happy.

"We’re not in the mood." Was the reply. Suddenly, they pulled out guns. "Now GIVE US THAT PIKACHU BEFORE WE HAVE TO BLOW YOU TO BITS!!!" They hoped to intimidate Ash enough to just hand it over without having to kill him. It didn’t work. Ash took a step forward.

"Go ahead, shoot!" He yelled at them. Misty was horrified. She ran up to Ash and tried to pull him back, but he wouldn’t budge. Jesse and James tightened their fingers on the triggers. Ash closed his eyes and got ready for the shot. Misty was hugging close to him.

"Don’t be so stubborn, Ash! You’ll get killed!" She told him. He ignored her, and finally, Team Rocket fired. the three bullets wizzed by Ash’s head, and one grazed him. He crumpled to the floor. "ASH!!!" Misty cried. Team Rocket looked as horrified as Misty. Suddenly, a man with a trenchcoat and hat seemed to appear out of no where, and grabbed Jesse and James by the throats. He kicked Meowth and lifted the two into the air.

"I know you two don’t like the idea of killing someone, but unless you agree to leave at once, I’ll be forced to snap both of your necks like twigs."

"Aaaaugh! Let go! We’ll leave! Promise! Just let us go!" They cried. The man dropped them and they ran off as fast as they could. He walked over to Ash, who was on the ground. Misty, Brock, and Pikachu were kneeling down by him. Misty was in tears. The man picked Ash up.

"He’s ok. He’s just in shock. We need to get him to a hospital." the man’s deep voice said. The others all nodded in agreement, and they followed him. He knew the way, and got to a hospital very quickly.

They were all waiting outside Ash’s hospital room, waiting nervously. Misty looked at their strange savior. His trenchcoat covered most of his body, he had a long rimmed hat that shadowed his face, and he wore black gloves. Misty wondered if he was a psychic, like Sabrina, because the psychics they had met had covered themselves up too. But they never used physical force, like he did. "Who are you?" She asked him suddenly.

"Pikapikachu? (Yeah, and why’d you save us?)" Pikachu forgot humans couldn’t understand him.

"Who I am is of little consequence. I saved you because I know something about your emotions which you are not yet sure of, and I wish to protect that." The man replied. A doctor came out of Ash’s room. They all stood up.

"He should be fine. He’s fast asleep now, but you can go in if you want." They did.

Inside, They saw Ash asleep on a confertable hospital bed. The strange man stayed in the shadows of the room while Brock, Misty, and Pikachu went over to their sleeping friend. After a while, Pikachu fell asleep on Ash’s chest, and Brock left for a hotel. Misty and the man stayed. Misty sat there, looking hard at Ash’s face. <I almost lost him today> She thought, <What if this happens again?>.

"You’re afraid that he may leave you, aren’t you?" The man inquired, "You’re afraid that something will happen to him and you won’t have time enough to tell him how you feel about him." Misty was a little startled, but there was something about this man that made her feel she could trust him.

"Y-yes." She admitted, "But I don’t have the guts to tell him...what if he laughs?"

"If it’s any consolation, I don’t think he will. But I don’t expect you to believe me." He assured her.

"Thank you anyway." She said, "Who are you? You should at least give me a name."

"Hush! He’s waking up." Ecthros pointed out. They both looked to see Ash open his eyes. The first thing he saw was Misty, then a strange man he’d never seen before.

"W-what happened? Who’s that?" Ash asked weakly. Misty held back tears when she heard him spoke.

"Team Rocket tried to kill you. This man, Ecthros, saved us." Then Misty couldn’t hold back any more. She hugged Ash and cried. "I thought you had died! Don’t ever scare me like that again!" Ash was a little surprised, but enjoyed having Misty so close...though he wouldn’t admit it.

"Of course I do! You still owe me a bike!" She teased. Pikachu had woken up and was fussing over Ash as well.

"Oh yes...and I believe this is yours. Team Rocket tried to steal it as they left." Ecthros handed Togepi to Misty.

"TOGEPI! I’m so sorry! I forgot about you in all the worry!" Misty hugged Togepi and held him in her arms.

"PikapikachupikaCHUchupika.(He says that it’s ok, he was with ‘Uncle Ecthros’)"

"It’s ok, I’ve been called worse." Ecthros told them. Finally, Misty had to leave to go back to the hotel, and took Pikachu and Togepi with her. Ecthros stayed behind. After they had left, Ecthros started talking to Ash. "Your emotions are confused and Jumbled, Ash Ketchum." Ash looked surprised.

"I know how you feel about Misty, Ash. That’s why I’ve been watching you for a while. That’s why I’ve made sure that you haven’t been hurt...too badly." Ecthros said, as if it were obvious.

"I don’t know why..." Ash said, "But I trust you. It’s true, I’m madly in love with Misty, but too afraid to tell her. But, why do you care what happens to us? This is the first time we’ve actually met."

"Because I know what it’s like to loose someone you Love, and I don’t want that to happen to anyone else." Ecthros replied.

"For what? There’s nothing you could do about my past, it was before you were born."

"I know. I’m sorry I brought it up though." Ash said. What Ash didn’t know was that concealed in one of Ecthros’ pockets was a tape recorder. They talked through most of the night, till Ash fell asleep. In the morning, Ecthros was gone.

Brock, Misty, Pikachu, and Togepi met Ash outside the hospital, and they decided to continue their Journey. They walked for the whole day, talking about Team Rocket and how weird they looked when they shot at Ash. They talked about Ecthros, and about how strong he was. Finally, at nightfall, they set up a camp site. They needed firewood, and Misty volunteered to go get some. She picked up Togepi and Pikachu followed after them. Deep into the forest, Ecthros appeared from behind a tree. "Hello, friend. I have a gift for you." He then disappeared. Where he had been standing there was a little tape player. Misty put it in one of her pockets to listen to later, and started gathering firewood.

They all stayed up that night around the fire, and Ecthros visited them once more. "We have to talk about Team Rocket." He said.

"Of course, but only if I have to. You three can take care of yourselves usually."

"I believe that Giovanni is performing more genetic experiments, and this time he could be on to something. If he succeeds, he will probably go after you three...I mean, four, first. He will want to test it on old enemies." They all opened their eyes wide with fear (except Brock).

"I can help you destroy the complex where Giovanni does his experiments, but you’ll have to do most of the work." They all agreed to do it. Ecthros disappeared, leaving them with more questions than ever. When they all got in their sleeping bags, Misty put Togepi in his, and got out the tape player. She put the earphones on, and heard all of the conversation Ecthros had had with Ash. Tears welled up in her eyes. Did he really like her? Was it possible? She couldn’t wait till morning. She walked over to Ash’s sleeping bag and woke him up. "Ash?" She whispered.

"We need to talk. Can you come into the forest with me?" she asked. Ash was surprised by the kindness of her voice, and followed her. They were completely alone.

"Ash...Ecthros taped the conversation you had with him the other night." She said. Ash’s eyes went wide. She knew! <curse that Ecthros!> He thought. He looked down to the ground. <She must be feeling sorry for me.> Ash thought. Misty put her fingers under his cheek and made him look at her. "Ash, I love you too. I always have!" Now Ash really didn’t know what to say. He opened his mouth to say something, but found that his mouth was busy doing other things at the moment.

Up in the treetops, Ecthros watched. <I should be happy for them> he thought, <and yet all I feel is emptiness.>

In the morning, Brock found that Ash had moved his sleeping bag next to Misty’s. He could guess what that meant. <So, they finally admitted it to themselves.> Brock thought. Ecthros jumped down from a tree and landed in front of Brock.

"Tell me the truth, you had something to do with Ash and Misty getting together, right?" Brock asked. Ecthros grinned, a frightening sight. White, razor sharp teeth glinted in the sun. Ecthros quickly closed his mouth. "What’s with your-"

"I didn’t notice you wake up, Misty. Here’s some breakfast." Brock handed her a plate of eggs. Misty smiled at Ecthros. Ecthros grinned a little, so that his teeth wouldn’t show. Ash got up with Pikachu a few minutes later. "Wow, Ash got up by himself today. Will wonders never cease." Brock grinned. He handed Ash a plate. Ash looked at Ecthros and smiled.

"You taped our conversation, you big jerk." Ash said playfully. He grabbed Misty’s hand and squeezed it.

"Shame on me." Ecthros said. "Today I will take you all to the Team Rocket complex. After Breakfast, follow me."

Jesse, James and Meowth stared down at the floor as their boss yelled at them. "It was a simple mission, how could you fail?!?! You don’t deserve to be in Team Rocket! Now, as punishment, you have to go to the prison tower and stay there on guard duty for a month!" James groaned. Guard duty was the most boring assignment they could get.

"But boss," Meowth complained, "We ain’t ever killed anyone before! We froze, and then this big guy grabbed us-"

"A Large man grabbed you?! Did you see what he looked like?!" Giovanni demanded, looking a little afraid.

"That changes everything. Find this man and bring him to me. Alive. But that goes without saying , doesn’t it? This is your last chance. Don’t fail." The screen went blank. The outlaws looked at each other, surprised at how to boss had reacted.

"He seemed really scared right after we told him about the guy in the trenchcoat...like he knew who it was." James pointed out.

"Who cares? At least now we have a job to do that doesn’t involve killing someone." Jesse sighed. They all nodded and went out to their blimp to search for the man.

Ash, Misty, Brock, and Pikachu followed as Ecthros led them to the Team Rocket complex. "How much farther?" Ash asked. It was already getting dark, they had been walking all day.

"Well, we’re getting there. We won’t make it before dark, so we will have to camp somewhere nearby, but not too close." Ecthros replied. Misty squeezed Ash’s hand.

"Well, it’s pretty dark now," Misty pointed out, "How much farther should we go?"

"Ah, forgive me, I didn’t notice. We can camp out here if you want." Ecthros told them. They immediately started unpacking their sleeping bags. Brock started a fire and set up to cook dinner. Pikachu and Togepi laid down next to each other. Ash and Misty sat leaning on each other, and Ecthros stood in front of the fire. As they sat there, Misty decided to try and question Ecthros.

"Ecthros?" She called. He turned to her. "Why do you wear all that stuff over your face?"

"Come on, you can tell us," Ash pushed, "You saved us all! I don’t care if you’re a murderer, I owe you my life." Under the shadows of his hat, Ecthros smiled.

"Oh, it’s nothing like that, it has nothing to do with crimes. Well, not my crimes, anyway. Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll find out soon enough, no matter how hard I try." He replied.

"Do you know that your answers only give us more questions?" Misty teased. Before they could say anything more, Brock announced that dinner was ready. After dinner, they all went to sleep. All except Ecthros, that is.

In the morning, Misty woke up first. Her sleeping bag was right next to Ash’s, so she gave him a little push to wake him up. After he opened his eyes he smiled at her. "Morning Misty." He said

"Good Morning Ash. I guess today’s the day we whupp Team Rocket." Misty told him.

"Ecthros said that Team Rocket was doing genetic experiments again. What did he mean by that?" They looked at each other in confusion.

"Just another mystery added by Ecthros." Misty whispered. She kissed him on the cheek and got out of the sleeping bag. Ash got up and woke Pikachu. Misty picked up Togepi and went over to wake Brock. After they all woke, Ecthros appeared.

"We have company." he said. He pointed up at a large, Meowth shaped balloon.

"Meowth, that’s right!" The trio of outlaws jumped from the balloon and landed in front of them.

"Oh yeah...sorry about the gun thing. Can’t disobey orders! But we’re not here for Pikachu. We’re here for your friend there." Jesse pointed at Ecthros.

"like this!" Someone shouted from behind them. They heard Misty cry out. They all spun around to see another Team Rocket member holding a gun to Misty’s head.

"Hahaha! With pleasure!" He threw Misty back at them and Ash caught her. The four Team Rockets held Ecthros and started to lead him to the balloon when the one with the gun immediately turned and shot at Ash and Misty.

"NO!!!!!" Ecthros flung them off and ran as fast as he could at Misty and Ash. He managed to, with unbelievable speed, jump in front of them and take the bullets in the chest.

"Fool! The boss wanted him alive!" Jesse shouted at the other member of Team Rocket. Ecthros was on the ground.

"You’ll pay for this, Team Rocket!!!" Ash shouted. The man cocked his gun and aimed at Ash. Everyone froze. Then Ecthros stood up. He wasn’t bleeding, but the skin showing was black.

"YOU....MONSTERS!!!" He shouted, enraged, "YOU WANT ME?! YOU’VE GOT ME!!!!" Suddenly his trenchcoat burst and huge black wings came out. His gloves practically exploded, revealing razor sharp black claws. what was left of his trenchcoat fell off, revealing the rest of his black skin. He had huge muscles. He threw his hat off, revealing his face. He bared his teeth, each sharp. His ears went up and looked more like a dog’s perked ears than humans. His hair was spiky and yellow, and looked a lot like a Jolteon’s fur. Everyone was too afraid to move. He lunged at Team Rocket and kicked the one with the gun in the teeth, sending him flying off into the horizon. He opened his mouth and a huge blast of fire charred the other three. he threw them into the balloon and popped it, sending it flying off. Jesse and James were too afraid to shout out ‘looks like team rocket’s blasting off again!’ Instead, they just looked at each other in fear.

Ash and Misty were holding each other, and everyone there’s jaw dropped. "Wonderful. Now I need a new trenchcoat." Ecthros said, casually. Then he looked at them. "Sorry for the shock, but I think now you’ll understand why I didn’t let you see me like this earlier. I couldn’t allow them to hurt you, I had to do something." They all calmed down, a little.

"W-well, you’re still the one who s-s-saved my life, so I don’t care that you look like this." Ash stammered, trying to sound unafraid.

"Well, at least this explains a lot." Misty said, "You were Giovanni’s first experiment, weren’t you?" The big black thing nodded.

"He wanted to create a Team Rocket member with the strength and power to do anything he wanted. His scientists mixed my DNA with that of several Pokémon." Pikachu walked up and climbed up to Ecthros’ shoulder.

"Pikapipikachupikachuchu!(Well, becoming more like a pokémon could only have been an improvement for a human!)" Ecthros smiled and petted Pikachu.

"You seem pretty human to me, Pikachu." Ecthros told him. Pikachu pretended to take that as an insult and ran back to Ash. Ecthros smiled, revealing all his fangs.

"briii! togie togie briiiii! (Why does uncle Ecthros have Charizard wings and Jolteon hair?)" The baby Togepi asked. Ecthros disappeared suddenly. Misty squeezed Ash’s hand hard.

"Did you notice how he could understand what pikachu said?" Ash asked. They all talked about it for a few minutes more when Ecthros reappeared, in a new trenchcoat and gloves.

"Now, onwards! Team Rocket must be stopped!" Ecthros said. They all followed him.

As they walked, Ecthros fell into memories. He had been an honest person, he had never once stole. He had known his best friend, Anna, practically since they were born. Then she got involved with Team Rocket. He begged her not to, but she ignored him. Finally, he joined as well, just so he could watch out for her. Giovanni had given him a modest job, with a partnership with Anna. He was happy, then, even if he had to steal some Pokémon every now and then. He was with Anna every waking hour, and soon their friendship grew into passion. They would hold hands in public without realizing it, they would flirt in front of their friends, things like that. And then Giovanni had announced a special project. He said that the person chosen for the project would be given large amount of cash if he did what he was told. A month later, Anna handed him an envelope. He opened it. It was a letter from Giovanni, saying simply:

you have been chosen to participate in our special project. Come to the Headquarters with your partner tomorrow night.

His heart skipped a beat. After Anna congratulated him with a small flurry of kisses, they went to tell their best friends about it. They met up with Jesse and James in a small park. They were congratulated, and James whispered in his ear to be careful. When he asked why, James had just said that Giovanni was known to betray people, even if they worked for him. That got him a little worried, but he shrugged it off.

The next night he and Anna went to Headquarters as Giovanni had instructed. A net had fallen on them, and they were separated. He threw the net off and rushed to Anna. They Kissed each other on the lips and held it until they were both pulled away. That was the last time he had ever saw her.

"Hey, Ecthros! What’s wrong?" Ash asked suddenly. Ecthros remembered where he was. He had stopped automatically, without thinking.

"The building is just beyond that patch of trees." He replied. They walked up slowly and peered past the trees. A large building was right in front of them. Ecthros showed them where the window was, and they crept in. Ecthros followed them. Once inside, Ecthros gave them a map. "You’re on your own from here," He told them, "I have some...business to take care of."

"What?! But...but..." Ash stuttered. But before he could get out anything intelligible, Ecthros was gone.

"How does he do that?" Brock wondered. Then he looked at the map Ecthros had given them and groaned. "Wonderful. We always get lost, especially when we have a map! What’re we going to do?" They studied the map and tried to figure it out. Just then, Jesse, James, Meowth, and the boy who had shot at them walked in. Ash wasted no time. "Charizard, go!" The gigantic fire Pokémon appeared. The Team Rocket members were startled by the sudden appearance of the creature, and Ash took advantage of this. "Charizard, knock them out! And make sure to hit the younger one especially hard!" Ash ordered, smiling. Charizard whacked them over the heads, leaving them unconscious. "Charizard, return!"

"We need to get into their clothes before they wake." Brock said. They nodded, and got to work.

Ecthros walked into an all too familiar room. "So, you’ve come back" Ecthros had already seen Giovanni in the corner. Ecthros had nocturnal vision, and often couldn’t tell when it was night just by looking.

"Yes, I’ve come back to seal your doom." Ecthros replied. Giovanni gave a cold, emotionless laugh.

"You can’t kill. Never could. Much like your friends, Jesse and James. They were so sad when I told them you had been killed when the building collapsed."

"I don’t kill for evil, you monster. I kill in the name of Good and Love, while you only kill for your own gain."

"Good? Love? Ha! What difference does it make killing for Love than it does to kill for evil? It doesn’t matter what you kill in the name of, you still don’t have the guts to kill someone like me." They stared at each other for a while.

"Let me show you a few things about killing." Ecthros growled. He extended his claws and they tore through his gloves.

"You don’t want to kill me. If you did, how would you be able to find...Anna?" Ecthros stiffened. "I knew that’s what you wanted. Well, follow me, she’s waiting."

Ash, Misty, Brock, and Pikachu walked through the halls of Team Rocket HQ unnoticed. Pikachu was holding Meowth’s charm, which he had pried off the cat’s head. Brock was looking at the map. "According to this map, the lab should be..." he turned the map upside down, then left, then right, "somewhere in this building." Ash and Misty fell back Anime style.

"Thank you for clearing that up, Brock," Misty said sarcastically. A man walked down the hall. Misty smiled and walked towards his. "Let me handle this my way." She said. When the man was about to walk by her, she ‘tripped’ and fell into his arms. This mad Ash grit his teeth, but he remained silent.

"Whoa there! Gotta be more careful, miss." The man said, helping her to her feet.

"Yes, how lucky I was to have a big strong man like you to save me." Misty replied seductively. The man was turning a little red.

"C-can I help you in any other way, m-miss?" He stuttered. Ash was disgusted. <How pathetic can you be?> He thought.

"Well, if you could be so kind as to tell me where the lab is, I’ve got an appointment with the boss." Misty said gently. The man gave her directions, and they walked off.

"Probably not. Sorry." They all walked off. Once around the corner, They al cracked up.

"Did you see the look on that guy’s face?" Brock laughed, "Man, have you guys ever seen someone so desperate for a girl? hahaha! Hey! Why are you looking at me?!" This caused them all to laugh harder. In a much lighter mood than before, they headed in the direction the love-stricken man had pointed. Ash squeezed Misty’s hand and looked at her to make sure that was all just an act. She kissed him on the cheek for an answer.

Ecthros followed Giovanni, remembering all that had happened after he had awakened from his transformation. Furious and heart broken, he had torn off the restraints like paper, and then used energies within himself to cause a huge explosion, destroying the lab. The explosion weakened him, and he had to escape somehow. That was when he noticed the wings. It struck him finally what had happened, and he had been in tears. He flew away from there and hoped never to return. He had named himself Ecthros, the Latin word for evil. He hated his very existence. He learned more and more, and grew stronger as well until he had become a very different person in the end. It had never occurred to him that Anna was alive, and the idea made him nervous and overjoyed at the same time. But he knew that once reunited, Giovanni would try to betray them in some way again. He would have to be ready.

Ash and the gang approached a door with a large sign saying "LABORATORY: STAY OUT UNLESS ORDERED OTHERWISE". Brock turned around to walk away. Misty grabbed his shirt.

"W-well...you read the sign, guess we have to leave..." Brock said nervously. Misty took out her mallet and whacked him on the head.

"You guys are never going to let me forget this, are you?" Misty asked playfully.

"Nope. We’ll make sure to tell your sisters..." Ash teased. They approached the door again and looked inside through a window. They gasped. Inside were Giovanni and Ecthros, talking about something. They listened and found that they could easily make out what they were saying.

"Patience, Alex. She will be here in a matter of moments." Giovanni replied coolly. Ash, Misty, and Brock looked at each other. Suddenly, the door gave way, and they all fell in. Ecthros and Giovanni stared at them.

"Ah, you made it. Good, when this is over, you can take care of the lab." Ecthros said. Misty noticed that Ecthros’ claws were out of his gloves and wondered what had happened. Before she could ask, a woman in a heavy costume with a big red ‘R’ on it and a mask walked in. Misty noticed that Ecthros had frozen in place looking at the woman. Giovanni hit him on the back. "Well? What are you waiting for? Go talk to her!" Ecthros walked up to the woman. Ash looked and saw that the woman had claws that were about to strike, and shouted out. "LOOK OUT ECTHROS!" he shouted. It was too late, the woman’s claws had slashed Ecthros across his face, knocking his hat off. He concentrated his strength to burst out of his trenchcoat and avoid the woman’s next swipe.

"GIOVANNI, YOU TREACHEROUS BASTARD!!" He shouted at Giovanni, "YOU SAID YOU WOULD BRING ANNA TO ME! NOW WHERE IS SHE?!?!?" Giovanni laughed his cold laugh.

"Right in front of you, trying to kill you!" Giovanni laughed, "You see, I had her mutated like you! And, like you, she didn’t cooperate! But recently, we developed a hypnosis formula, and she now does our every bidding!" Ecthros avoided all her attacks. He was her equal, and yet...he couldn’t harm her. He loved her, and knew this wasn’t her fault. "She’s as strong as you, and we added the fangs of a Golbat for a lovely blood-draining touch!" Giovanni said mockingly.

"Ash, Brock, we have to do something!" Misty said, as the woman drew some of Ecthros’ blood with her fangs, "Ecthros is getting killed out there!" Ash nodded.

"Charizard, squirtle, Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Pigeotto, Go!" He sent out all his Pokémon.

"Help Ecthros against the woman!" Ash ordered his Pokémon. Misty ordered her Pokémon to do the same, and so did Brock. They all attacked the creature, but they were defeated fairly easily. <I can’t let her harm them> Ecthros thought, <I’ve got to do something...NOW!> While she was distracted with the Pokémon, Ecthros gave her a kick in the stomach, knocking her into the wall which collapsed as soon as she hit it. She immediately jumped at him and pinned him down by his throat. Ash looked at his remaining Pokémon. Only Pikachu and Charizard remained, and all of Misty and Brock’s Pokémon were down for the count. Charizard blasted her with his flamethrower, but she sucked it in and blasted it back at him. Charizard was pulled back into it’s Pokéball, and only Pikachu remained. "Pikachu...HIT HER WITH EVERYTHING YOU’VE GOT!!" Ash shouted. Pikachu used his thunder attack, an impressive display. The woman creature felt it, but it wasn’t enough.

"Maybe I can be of some assistance...." Ecthros gasped. He could barely breath, but he knew he had to do something. His yellow hair started to spark, and soon an electric attack almost as big as Pikachu’s came out. It combined with Pikachu’s and Anna cried out in pain. "I’m sorry...Anna..." Ecthros said. He pushed his power to it’s limits, and Pikachu did the same. Anna fell to the ground, defeated. She was unconscious. Ecthros felt her pulse. She was alive. "Now you are going to tell me how to get rid of this hypnotic formula you used, and you will tell me now, if you value your life!" Ecthros shouted at Giovanni, who was silent. Suddenly, Jesse, James, and Meowth ran in with only their underwear on.

"Boss, you’ll never believe what happened-" James started, then he saw Ecthros, and the creature on the floor.

"What the- who are they- I mean what are they- where what what?" James stuttered.

"Don’t you recognize me, old friend?" Ecthros asked. Jesse and James looked confused and frightened. Meowth was busy trying to get his Charm back from Pikachu.

"It’s me. Alex." at the mention of his name, Jesse and James looked surprised, then angry. They turned to Giovanni.

"You inhuman Jerk!" Jesse added. Giovanni took one step forward, and they jumped behind Ecthros.

"Meowth too!" Meowth said, remembering the things Alex had done for him. Pikachu gave him his charm and smiled at him.

"Ha! We outnumber you, and Ecthros here could take on hundreds of your men! What are you planning to do?" Ash laughed.

"I’m planning to fill the room with poisonous gas which is lethal even to Ecthros and to which I myself am immune." Giovanni said coolly. Suddenly, one of Misty’s Pokéballs opened, and Psyduck appeared in front of them.

"Psyduck! Get out of here! We’re in danger!" Misty shouted. It was futile. The psyduck held it’s head and looked at her, puzzled.

"psy...duck? psypsyduck?" It asked stupidly. Then it walked up to Giovanni, who called his Persian out to attack it. The Persian bit Psyduck on the head, and then knocked it backwards. It was about to attack again, when Psyduck started to glow.

"What’s this? What kind of game are you playing?!" Giovanni demanded. Psyduck raised it’s arms, and suddenly Persian was thrown across the room by an invisible force. The Persian crashed into Ecthros, who backhanded it.

"Good job, Psyduck! Now, get back in your pokéball." Misty called the duck back.

"Curse all of you! I’ll end this now!" he reached for a button. Ecthros ran up, but wasn’t fast enough. Just as the button was about to be pressed, someone grabbed the evil Rocket boss from behind. Ecthros was amazed.

"Anna!?!" Anna was holding Giovanni by the neck. She lifted him into the air.

"You will pay for what you’ve done to us!" she shouted. the pressure increased on Giovanni’s neck and he screamed. Ecthros walked up to her and pried Giovanni out of her hands so that he was holding him.

"This is no time for an attack of conscience, Alex! This man must be stopped!"

"Not like that!" Ash cried out. They both looked at him. Misty tried to stop him, but he walked up to the two huge creatures that were arguing in front of them.

"A friend of Ecthros’. Look, killing Giovanni won’t solve anything." Ash said.

"All it’ll do is make you a murderer." Misty put in. Anna looked at them, then at Ecthros. Then both of them disappeared, along with Giovanni.

"That is getting really annoying!" Brock said. They looked at Jesse, James, and Meowth.

"I guess we’d better get going to the camp site." Brock said. They started to walk out of the hole in the wall, and Ash looked over to the former Team Rocket.

"Yes, we would. Come on, lets get going." The group headed back towards the camp, overjoyed.

That night, Ecthros and Anna came. They were both in trenchcoats, but they had their hats off. "Giovanni is in prison." Ecthros said, "Team Rocket is dispersed."

"Most of the Rockets didn’t complain, except for one, who claimed that he was searching for a beautiful woman that had fallen into his arms. Frankly, I think he was drunk." Anna said, happily. She was holding hands with Ecthros.

"Pffft! hahahaha! He sure looked it" Ash burst out laughing along with Brock and Pikachu. Misty stared at them, scowling. Anna laughed, and Ecthros smiled.

"I guess the combined power of Alex and your Pikachu was enough to override the formula" Anna said. Then they saw Jesse and James. The two former Rockets rushed up to the friends they thought long deceased.

"He told us you two died!" James stammered. They went out into the woods to talk about old times. Brock fell asleep, as did Pikachu, who was exhausted from the battle. That left Ash and Misty alone.

"Misty...this was dangerous and, well, I’m worried, what if something happens to either of us? I mean, What if the Team Rockets people want revenge?" Ash asked, worried. Misty kissed him.

"After all this, I don’t think anything can hurt us." She told him. He smiled and lay down on his back. Misty lay down next to him. They turned after a while to face each other, and kissed each other and held that kiss for a long time.

In the woods, Ecthros smiled. he sensed what was happening at the camp, and decided to delay his friends as long as he could. "SO we’re joining up with Ash and all his friend..." James said.

"Give us a second." Anna told them. She walked off with Ecthros into a remote part of the woods. "So how about it, Lover, are we going to spend the rest of our unnatural lives with our new and old friends, helping them become Pokémon masters?" Ecthros smiled.

"Sounds like a Plan to me!" He kissed her and told her to go tell, he’d be there in a few minutes. <And who knows,> he thought, <Maybe they’ll find a way to make us human again...> He walked off after Anna to start his new life with her.