Chapter 7: Breaking in


     There was something that Jenn had completely forgot about: the
tree.

     How did she expect to get all the way to the high window without
climbing a tree? This was NOT good. Nothing in her girly-girl lifestyle
had come close to preparing her for climbing a tree.

     As they headed closer and closer, she became more worried. "You
guys," she whispered frantically. "I don't know how to climb a tree."

     "You what?" cried Clayton.

     "I never learned how to climb a tree."

     "How did you escape from your house then?" questioned Jeff.

     "I climbed from my window to the tree and then I jumped and my
Meganium caught me with vine whip."

     "Then why don't you have your Meganium use vine whip to lift you up
to the window?" asked Jeff. DUH. That idea was only looking her directly
in the face. 

     They approached the base with the leaf-crunching footsteps that had
risked her life only hours before. The guards at the front door were
still intact. "Okay, now's the time," she told them in a low voice. Jeff
and Clayton nodded. "Good luck."

     "You too," Clayton grinned. The two began to walk away from her and
towards the guards. Jenn knew she would never forget this.

     "Hey Chris, did you hear?" Jeff asked loudly. It had been his ideas
to use fake names, in case the guards heard their names and tracked them
down.

     "No, what?" replied the blond.

     "Ash Ketchum is coming on the Magnet Train to stop Team Rocket!"
announced Jeff gleefully.

     "What? Are you kidding me, Jake?" questioned Clayton in mock
surprise. He wasn't a bad actor. But then, neither was Jeff.

     "Why would I be?" Jeff passed a sidewards glance to the guards who
were looking quite interested.

     "Hey, you two!" called one of them.

     "Us?" inquired 'Jake'.

     "Yeah, you. What's this I hear about Ash Ketchum coming to bust
Team Rocket?"

     Both Clayton and Jeff had looks of terror written all over their
faces, and Jenn honestly couldn't judge on whether they were fake or
real. "He's coming on the Magnet Train as we speak," squeaked 'Chris'.

     "You can go," said the second guard, merely glancing at the two
like they were bugs or something. Clayton and Jeff scurried off in the
direction opposite of Jenn.

     "We should go warn Giovanni," said one of them.

     "One of us needs to stay here," the other said. Oh, this was even
more perfect. She could handle one of them. It all depended on something
that Brooke had always said she should enhance more: her 'bad girl'
(Brooke's words, not her's) looks. With a small grin and a hand on
Meganium's PokeBall, she loosened the leather jacket, showing off the
tiny belly shirt she wore underneath. "Thank God Brooke convinced me to
buy this," she muttered to herself.

     She coughed a little bit, and then lowered her voice. "Hey, you,"
she called to the remaining guard.

     The guard looked around wildly. "Me?" Jenn stifled a laugh as she
continued on with the charade.

     "Of course you," she whispered in a kittenish voice.

     "Where are you?" he asked, his face turning beet red. It surprised
even her how she sounded older than thirteen. Apparently, everything
that her older sister had ever taught her was going to come in handy in
beating Team Rocket.

Well, except how to apply false eyelashes.

     But that could wait. She had a job to attend to. "The bushes. I'm
right in front of you, baby." Oh dear, now she just wanted to make
herself barf. This was getting just weird.

     He walked cautiously over to the bushes and she was the first
person he saw. Well, duh, she was kind of the only person out there.

     With a sickening crack, he hit the ground, a bruise already forming
on his jaw. "Wow, Bobby was right. This left hook really works." She
grabbed her PokeBall and enlarged it. In a flash of light, Meganium
materialized in front of them. "Tie him up with your vine whip!" she
ordered.

     The guard reached for his walkie-talkie, more than likely to tell
his superiors, but Jenn kicked it out of his hand. "I don't think so,"
she whispered, feeling more powerful and in-command by the minute.

     The vines wrapped themselves tightly around his torso, his arms
stuck to the rest of his body. Jenn tied the vines together in a few
knots. "I need another vine, Meganium. He can't be able to yell for
help."

     The overzealous grass Pokemon happily used the attack again. In
mere seconds, she ran directly to the doors and let herself in.

     Surprisingly, there was no one in the hallway, not even a grunt.
But didn't one of the members in the forest say that Giovanni had
something to tell them about some sort of plan?

    She had the odd feeling that someone was following her but that
couldn't be valid, could it? They were all in some sort of meeting.

     After about thirty minutes, she found the door. Solid oak, with a
gold nameplate stating that it was the entrance to Giovanni's door. It
shocked her more than a little that it was no problem to open it.
Giovanni should really be more careful with doors when he wasn't in the
room.

     But that wasn't the case. Giovanni and about fifty other Team
Rocket members stared at her. All eyes on Jenn. It was silent for a
fraction of a minute, but it seemed like forever. "Attack!" yelled the
leader. Dozens of PokeBalls were enlarged.

"Oh shit."