A young woman fought her way through the crowded square, seeming like a fish 
fighting a losing battle against the current. She pushed her way to the center 
of the square where a large fountain stood, towering over shoppers. The fountain 
was sculptured marble, carved into a horsea, squirting a stream of water from 
its mouth. She climbed atop the small marble rim that circled the fountain, then 
straightened up to her full height of 5'6". With a deep breath she began.

"Team Rocket oppresses us!" she cried. "Before they came to power they were 
nothing but criminals. Lowlifes! What makes you think they have changed?"

Few passersby turned to stare at her, while others continued their shopping, 
used to the young troublemaker's rants.

She continued, oblivious to the lack of enthusiasm the crowd offered. "We have 
no privacy! Cameras are placed at every available location." True to her word, 
several cameras, some on buildings, others attached to streetlights, were turned 
on her right now, recording everything she said and did. She paced the rim of 
the fountain, her hands flying in dramatic gestures. "They tap our phones! 
Monitor our e-mail. We are forced to carry ID cards to keep us marked like 
cattle!"

Several people had stopped and were now intently listening.

"Don't you remember when we could be out past eleven and not be arrested? Don't 
you remember what it was like to own pokemon?"

A young man who had been standing near the back of the crowd suddenly forced his 
way through the people, rudely jarring them from their positions without so much 
as an "Excuse me." He made it to the front of the assembled crowd and without 
warning he violently shoved the woman.

She flailed her arms in a desperate attempt to remain balanced, but was 
unsuccessful and landed on her rear in knee deep water.

"Fool!" the young man cried, loud enough for the people across the square to 
hear. "You do not know who you are dealing with." He turned and stalked away, 
leaving the startled young woman sitting in the fountain, water dripping from 
her eyelashes.

Her face reddened with anger and embarrassment. As the crowd began to disperse 
she cried, "You see? They even infringe upon free speech!"

She stood up, her clothes heavy with water, weighing her down. Her red T-shirt 
had turned the color of rust and the dye was slowly beginning to run down her 
waist and turn her blue jeans a light red. Muttering under her breath, she 
pulled her long water-logged braid over her shoulder and wrung it out. When it 
was dry, the braid hung loosely, falling from the nape of her neck until it 
reached the small of her back. But now it simply felt like dead weight, pulling 
on her head. She angrily climbed from the fountain, aware of the slight laughter 
aimed in her direction. She stormed from view, never noticing the small nick in 
the marble horsea caused by a bullet, which would have hit her had she not been 
shoved out of the way.

~*~*~

A pair of gray eyes watched from the shadows as a young man strode through the 
ally, his face obscured by the dark. A voice spoke, but didn't startle the man, 
for he had already sensed the other person's presence.

"Do you think that was wise Satoshi?"

The man turned, allowing his features to become visible. Golden brown eyes 
scanned the alleyway, searching for the source of the voice, while a light 
breeze blew his slightly longish ebony hair from his handsome face.

"What else would you have me do, Shigeru? Watch her die?" the man responded as 
another figure appeared from the shadows, also male, but slightly older than 
Satoshi.

Shigeru regarded him with his gray eyes. "No, I knew you wouldn't do that," he 
said as he laced his fingers through his auburn hair. "I don't think the boss 
will be too pleased though."

Satoshi smiled suddenly at the small yellow pokemon that had appeared at 
Shigeru's feet. "Hey Pikachu."

The pokemon grinned then scampered to him, using his claws to climb up Satoshi's 
pants and shirt until he settled himself upon his shoulder. Satoshi returned his 
attention to Shigeru. "The boss doesn't even know that I knew about the 
assassination. I simply made it seem as though I was an angry Rocket, shutting 
up a loud mouthed girl."

After a moment of though Shigeru responded. "That's true."

They began to walk from the ally and emerged into the brightly lit square once 
more. Satoshi smiled.

Shigeru, noting this said, "What are you smiling about?"

Satoshi's mouth broke into a full grin. "I was just thinking. Misty hasn't 
changed at all," he said, referring to the redheaded girl he had pushed into the 
fountain. "She's still a bossy loudmouth."

"Oh, I think she's changed quite a bit, Ash," Shigeru said, using his partner's 
real name. A smile began to form on his lips.

"How so?" Ash asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Let's just say, she's *grown*," Shigeru said, his eyes bright as he forced 
himself not to laugh.

Ash's eyes widened. "Gary!" he hissed, also using his partner's real name.

At the look of horror on Ash's face, Gary broke into a fit of laughter. "Oh come 
on Satoshi," he said, reverting back to his code name. "You're twenty one, 
you're allowed to look!"

~*~*~

Squish, squish. Squish, squish. Her waterlogged shoes were annoying her to no 
end, she could feel the water in her shoes every time she took a step. She loved 
the water, but she loved it when she was in a bathing suit. Not fully dressed. 
She squished along the tiled floors until she reached a carpeted room in which a 
young man sat on the couch, flipping through a magazine. His dark brown hair 
complemented his tanned skin perfectly. He glanced up at her, bringing his hand 
to his square jaw. A look of confusion washed over his features.

"Is it raining?" he asked, taking in her sopping clothes and her hair, which was 
now dripping small droplets of water onto the carpet.

Her eyes became aquamarine daggers as she glared at him. "No," she said through 
gritted teeth. She began to pace the room. "Some bastard pushed me into the 
fountain!"

He made sure to hide the smile that threatened to form upon his lips.

"It was some goddamn Rocket!" she cried, still pacing, her shoes squishing in 
time with her steps. She stopped, then sat down next to the man with a dejected 
plop. She slumped over and rested her chin in her hands. "I don't understand why 
so few will listen to me, Brock."

He smiled sympathetically. "They're afraid, Misty. Team Rocket has killed many 
of those who stand up to them. In fact, I'm becoming quite worried about you."

Misty straightened up, her blue eyes becoming cold as ice. "As far as Team 
Rocket knows, I'm simply a loudmouth who can't even rile up a crowd. Why would 
they come after me?"

~*~*~

Ash and Gary walked silently through the streets of Cerulean. Civilians took one 
glance at them and shied away. Although neither of them were dressed in their 
Team Rocket uniforms, walking around with Pikachu was about the same as having 
red R's emblazoned on their foreheads. Civilians had been forbidden to posses 
pokemon for years, so it was obvious that one belonged to Team Rocket when he 
had a pokemon sitting on his shoulder.

Besides the general looks of terror that were thrown his way, Ash was enjoying 
the walk. Which was why he was caught off guard when he was tackled from behind. 
Gary, help that he was, stood above him, curiously watching what would happen. 
Pikachu had leapt to Gary's shoulder as Ash had fallen, and he too leaned over, 
watching as a young boy, perhaps seventeen or eighteen, straddled Ash's back. 
Grabbing hold of Ash's black hair, he pressed his head into the ground and said, 
"It's against the law for civilians to posses or train pokemon. I hereby place 
you under arrest."

Ash gave a muffled "Mmmph" as a response, seeing as his face was still 
uncomfortably  forced into the ground. Meanwhile Gary and Pikachu had burst out 
laughing and were of no help at all in the situation. Ash struggled to free 
himself.

Feeling the movement, the boy threatened, "I will knock you unconscious if I 
have to."

Upon hearing this, Gary doubled over laughing, now completely incapable of 
talking. Ash, who had been growing exceedingly impatient, did a quick move that 
allowed him to turn over and gain control of the situation. Before the boy knew 
what had happened, Ash was out of his grip and had a firm hold of his neck. Ash 
glowered at the thoroughly surprised boy.

"Perhaps next time you should check ID before tackling a superior to the ground 
and declaring him under arrest," he growled, flashing his ID at the boy, who 
eyes widened in horror at the realization of his mistake. Ash released him from 
his grip and stood, brushing himself off. "Now go, before I report you," he 
said.

Rubbing his raw neck, the boy stood and hurried away, hoping to avoid more 
trouble. Ash turned to Gary who was snickering. He shook his head. "You're a big 
help you know that?"

"What?" Gary said, shrugging.

"Satoshi," a voice behind them said. Ash and Gary turned to see a tall man with 
green hair standing behind them, his head poking out the door of the building 
that they were in front of. "The boss wants to see you," the man said, his voice 
so scratchy it made nails on a chalkboard seem pleasing.

Ash nodded at him. "Okay, Butch." They walked into the building and headed to 
the elevator. Ash pulled the ID he had shown the boy from his pocket and used it 
like a credit card, swiping it through a panel, where the buttons would be on 
normal elevators.

An electronic voice spoke. "Agent Ketchum. Codename: Satoshi." The elevator 
doors opened, revealing a mirror covered inside.

The headquarters of Team Rocket was large, almost as big as Silph Co. before it 
had closed down. There were nine floors, each one devoted to a specific purpose. 
The bottom floor was set up to give the impression of a political office, after 
all, Giovanni was the pokemon master. Although many people believed he cheated 
to win the title. Which, Ash thought, was most likely true. Giovanni was smart 
though. As soon as he was sworn in, he announced the cancellation of the Pokemon 
League, due to "conflicting opinions." Whose opinions, or why they conflicted, 
was never revealed. All that was known was without the Pokemon League, there was 
no one who could challenge him, or take his place. Giovanni was in full control.

The top floor was devoted to Giovanni himself. His huge office presided at the 
end of a long hallway, the only room on the entire floor. The elevator dinged 
and Ash and Gary stepped out, Pikachu once again perched atop Ash's shoulder.

Gargoyles made out of black stone lined the hallway, each face wearing a 
different snarl. They were placed there to intimidate. The first time Ash and 
Gary had been summoned to Giovanni, the foreboding hallway had scared them 
senseless. That had been five years ago though, and now they sauntered past the 
gargoyles, hardly noticing their presence.

They were silent as they walked, black leather boots making little noise on the 
tiled floor. Both men were dressed in civilian clothes; jeans and a T-shirt made 
walking through the city much easier, unless Pikachu was with them of course.

Ash rolled his eyes when they reached Giovanni's door. Giovanni loved to show 
off, his door being a prime example. Covering most of the door was a picture of 
a persian. It wasn't a normal picture though, when one looked closely he could 
make out millions of tiny different colored jewels. Pearls made up the tan 
pokemon's gleaming coat and rubies were used for his charm. Other precious 
jewels from diamonds to sapphires, were lavishly woven into the picture.

Ash rapped upon one of the few places on the door that the wood was bare.

A gruff voice answered the knock. "Enter."

Ash turned the solid gold doorknob and entered the room, Gary in tow. The office 
was as large as one's house might be, full of statues and paintings (all of 
Giovanni of course). The room was dimly lit, especially in the center, near the 
back wall, where Giovanni's desk was. A large muscular man sat behind it, thick 
fingers folded comfortably upon the desk. His dark black hair looked greasy, 
slicked back with a little to much gel. His dark eyes narrowed and he gestured 
for them to sit in the two chairs that sat before the desk.

They each took a seat, noting that their chairs were deliberately shorter than 
Giovanni's, giving the 5'9" man the appearance of being taller than the them, 
which was a feat, considering they were both around six feet tall. They sat in 
silence, staring across the desk.

A large persian leapt gracefully onto the desk, hardly making a noise as it 
landed. The cat pokemon laid across the desk, baring it's sharp teeth as it 
yawned lazily. Giovanni lovingly scratched between the persian's ears, avoiding 
the ruby red charm that adorned the cat's forehead. The pokemon purred 
contentedly and flicked his tail.

Ash and Gary were used to this, Giovanni treated his persian better than all his 
agents combined.

"Boys, I have a problem," the older man began, scowling slightly at the two. His 
voice sounded as greasy as his hair looked.

Ash and Gary remained impassive, although they both had a fairly good idea about 
what his problem was. Giovanni fixed his gaze on Ash. "You pushed a young woman 
into a fountain today."

Ash nodded. "She was badmouthing the organization."

Giovanni narrowed his eyes. "Yes. Did you know, Satoshi, that that there were 
orders for her to be assassinated?"

Ash feigned surprise. "What?"

"I understand you and the girl used to be close friends," Giovanni continued. "I 
would hate to think you deliberately ambushed the assassination."

"I didn't even know it was planned," Ash lied. "Besides, I would never betray 
this organization."

Giovanni continued to stare at him. "I'm glad to hear that, because I have a new 
assignment for you."

Ash raised his eyebrows but remained silent.

"You're a good agent, Ashton. One of the best. And because you unknowingly 
stopped today's assassination, I'm going to give you an opportunity to redeem 
yourself." Giovanni paused and gave Ash a look that would have caused chills to 
run up the spine of a normal man. "You are to reacquaint yourself with Ms. 
Waterflower. Get close to her again, find out how large her operation actually 
is."

Although Ash's expression remained impassive, his stomach had contorted into a 
large knot. He swallowed, his mouth having gone dry, then said, "What about 
Shigeru?"

"He will go with you. Make up your own story about why you are together."

Gary nodded. Giovanni waved his hand, dismissing them from his office. They rose 
and slowly headed to the door.

"Oh, and Satoshi," Giovanni said. Ash turned to look at him. "When you find all 
there is to know, I want you to kill her."



A/N: I was doing a homework assignment for history about the fact that some of 
American's rights may be slightly infringed upon to make it easier to find 
terrorists. Especially the right to privacy when it comes to tapping phones and 
monitoring email. As I read I began to think, what if it got out of control and 
America became something like a dictatorship. And then I thought that would be a 
great basis for a story. And here, almost a month later, is the beginning of 
that story. I'm sure you're all wondering how in the world Ash became involved 
with Team Rocket. I promise, it will eventually be explained. Just not yet. ;)

Please read and review, and tell me what you think. Should I even bother to 
continue?

Disclaimer: How many times do I have to say it? Do you honestly think I would be 
posting this on ff.net if I owned the characters? I would be publishing this 
baby and making money... (or so my bloated ego tells me). I do not own pokemon 
and am not making any money from this.