Note: Sometimes I use other people’s ideas in my story. I usually acknowledge anyone I take an idea from. If you or someone you know has published the idea for a fanfic similar to this one, please tell me. I’ll put you or whomever published their story first in my disclaimer, ‘kay? Oh yeah, this is one of my many lame attempts at a decent piece of fanfiction. I need reviews!! I won’t post any more of this fic until I get five or more reviews (good or bad).

Manhunt

Part Three: The Message

By Umbreon (Master of Darkness)

Ash, Misty, Brock, Nurse Joy, Tai, Richie, Pikachu, Chuchino, Zippo, Shadow, and the surprisingly quiet Team Rocket ran into one of the long since abandoned buildings.

" Man, I’m pooped. I think I’ll just take a little snooze," Tai yawned as he sat down on a bench.

" Don’t you dare go to sleep, young man," Nurse Joy said sharply.

" Why not?" Tai yawned once again, this time rubbing his eyes.

" If you go to sleep, you may never wake up again," Joy warned.

Brock searched his backpack for his First-Aid kit.

Misty held Tai’s left hand to her breasts, causing an immediate response from the latter.

A goofy grin spread across Tai’s face as he blushed furiously.

" Oh brother…" Ash and Richie sweatdropped and sighed.

Nurse Joy took the small First-Aid kit and removed a roll of gauze and some Ace bandages. She then preceded to take off Tai’s T-shirt. After that, she cleansed the ugly wounds that crossed his back.

" You’re lucky that these cuts are shallow. Very lucky…" Joy muttered as she patched up the Dark-type trainer.

Tai winced as Joy applied some antiseptic. Finally, she wrapped the wound in the gauze and Ace bandages.

" I’d have to say that went well," Richie grinned in an optimistic tone.

" Yeah…" Tai sighed as Misty wrapped her arms around his neck.

" Beeeeeeep! Beeeeeep!" rang the small watch-like device that was strapped onto Tai’s right wrist.

" What’s that?" Richie asked.

" Oh, it’s called PokéGear. It works as a phone, holo-map, and radio," explained Tai as he answered the odd-looking phone.

" Hey Tai, wassup?" asked a very familiar-sounding voice.

" Oh, hiya Tracey. Listen, now probably isn’t the best time for you to be callin’--," Tai began.

" TRACEY!?" Ash, Misty, and Brock yelped.

" This is really important though," Tracey begged.

" What’s it about?" Tai asked.

" Team Rocket."

" I’m listening."

" Um, is Ash within earshot of you?" Tracey asked, obviously nervous about something.

" Yeah, sort of, why?"

" Well, this kinda involves him…"

" Continue…"

" Well, I just heard that Mrs. Ketchum was kidnapped!"

Tai sweatdropped and turned around to see Ash’s reaction. It wasn’t pretty…

" (explicitly deleted with even more of a vengeance than before)!!!!!!!!" Ash screamed, his face turning bright red.

" I’m guessing that didn’t go over too well…" Tracey said softly.

" Ya think?" Tai said in a silky, too calm tone that he only used when he was extremely P.O.ed.

" They got Delia?" Richie asked, trying to avoid Ash’s "fists of fury".

" Thanks for the tip off. Remind me to tell your ex-girlfriend that you’re dating her best friend," Tai muttered before he hung up.

" Ash, chill. We’ll get her back, don’t worry!" Richie exclaimed, trying to calm down his friend.

" You don’t know where she is!" Ash yelled.

" Correction,* you* don’t know where she is. I do," Tai grinned as he began to fool around with his PokéGear.

" But Tai, you have to rest, remember?" Misty reminded the Dark-trainer while pointing to his back.

" That’s why I’m happy I have this ‘Manacle of Ho-oh’ thing attached to my wrist," Tai grinned, stopping what he was doing and holding up his left arm (*666* Too much of "The Mummy" cartoon series can be bad for you! J ). The large bracelet-like charm on his wrist began to glow without warning.

" What is it doing?" Nurse Joy asked.

" This thing is healing those cuts right now. I’ll be fine," Tai reassured Misty.

" Where are they headed?" Richie asked, changing the subject.

" Oh, right…" Tai switched the holo-map on and began to type in a jumble of letters and numbers. "Lessee here, aha! They’re not far from here. There’s a ‘secret’ door in the woods that leads to their new headquarters…" Tai zoomed in on a section of forest "… I had a Growlithe and his name was Bingo! Found it!"

" You did?" Jessie asked, speaking for the first time in what seemed like forever.

" Yep," Tai grinned and switched off the map.

" So what are we gonna do?" Richie asked.

" Find my mom…" Ash said in a low, angry voice.

" Yeah, but first we need a plan," Tai explained.

" No. We’re going in there and getting my mom out and that’s final!" Ash yelled at Tai (which wasn’t at all surprising).

" Ash, stop. You don’t know what the Rockets are capable of---," Tai warned, grabbing the back of Ash’s vest.

" Like you do…" Ash sneered.

" Ash, there are a lot of things you don’t know about me. One of them is the fact that I’m a certified member of Team Rocket. They know me as agent #666," Tai explained.

" WHAT!!!!" Ash, Misty, Brock, and Nurse Joy all yelped in unison.

" ‘Bout time you told them, Moony," Jessie sneered.

" You knew about this?!?" Misty screamed, moving to strangle the female Rocket.

" Of course we knew about it. He was working with us in the Orange Islands," James said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Tai sweatdropped.

Richie ran his fingers through his light blonde hair and sighed. " So, you never told them, I imagine?"

" Well, uh, I guess you could say that… Heh heh heh…" Tai said with an all too fake laugh.

" Great, just what we need. One of my best friends is a friggin’ member of Team Rocket. Just great…" Brock muttered.

" Well, actually, that’s not the whole story…" Tai said softly.

" And why should we believe you?!" Ash snarled. Brock, Nurse Joy, Pikachu, and Misty all glared at Tai.

The Dark-type trainer sighed and looked into Misty’s eyes. " The Rockets think I’m still a member, but I quit a while back." Tai sighed again and added "… Don’t you believe me, Misty?"

Richie rolled his eyes as Shadow and Zippo gagged. Chuchino, Jessie, James, and Meowth all sniffled at the extremely touching (*666* And sickeningly sappy…) scene.

A miniature battle was being fought inside Misty’s head. Her brain told her to keep up her guard and ignore Tai’s plea. Her heart (and certain parts of her body) said to believe him. Eventually, her brain was overwhelmed. She wrapped her arms around Tai’s neck and kissed him on the lips.

" Awwwwwwwwwww!/ Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Team Rocket and Chuchino cooed.

" Yuck! Eeeeeew!/ Meleon!" Richie, Shadow, and Zippo all gagged as one.

Brock and Nurse Joy sweatdropped.

Ash snarled something to Tai that sounded an awful lot like a string of Japanese curse words.

After (reluctantly) pulling Misty off of himself, Tai grabbed his shirt, slipped it on, and moved toward the door.

" I’m guessing we’re leaving," Shadow said to Zippo, Chuchino, and their trainer.

Tai nodded and pushed open the door.

" Hold it!" Richie yelped.

Tai raised an eyebrow. " What’s up?"

" Don’t we need to change into our Rocket uniforms first?" Richie asked.

" Hmmmmmmm, you’re right," Tai stated, closing the door and unzipping his backpack instead.

" R-Rocket uniforms?!" Ash, Misty, Brock, and Nurse Joy yelped.

" Yeah, why?" Richie inquired.

Ash sweatdropped. " Richie, what do you mean by ‘your’ Rocket uniforms?"

Richie gulped. " Well, um, uh, ya see, heh heh…"

" Just spit it out twerp! We haven’t got all day!" Jessie ordered angrily.

" Oh, well, alright…" Richie sighed. " There’s somethin’ about me that you guys don’t really know…"

" Like…?" Brock pried.

" I- I’m a… member of Team Rocket too…" Richie said in a barely audible tone.

" Huh?" Ash and his friends asked.

" You didn’t just say that you’re a member of Team Rocket too, didja kid?" Meowth inquired.

Richie nodded.

" WHAT?!?!" Ash, Misty, Brock, and Nurse Joy screeched.

" So the truth comes out…" James sneered.

" That’s not the whole story though…" Richie whimpered.

" Continue…" Jessie encouraged.

" Are you actually encouraging someone, Jessie?" Tai asked, a bit surprised.

Jessie ignored him.

"… Well, I was kind of born into the business, like Renegade and Ash were," Richie took a deep breath, " It’s kind of a long story. I don’t want to go into it right now…"

" Fine. Let’s just get changed. We can take things from there," Tai said, pulling on a black shirt with a big crimson "R" on the front.

Approximately six and a half minutes later, Tai and Richie both looked like certified TR agents. Even worse was how similar they looked to begin with. Both boy's had blond hair (Tai's was darker) and blue eyes (Richie’s were blue-green actually).

" Alrighty then. What’s next?" Richie asked, smoothing out his jet black pants.

" Well, I’ve been toying with an idea for a short while. I think it’ll work," Tai said.

" What’s your plan?" Misty asked, admiring how good her boyfriend looked in the TR uniform.

" I figure that Hiroshi, Ash, our Pokémon, and I will go in first. Everyone else will stay outside as back up, just in case we’re found out," Tai explained.

Nurse Joy, Brock, Misty, and (surprisingly) Ash nodded.

" What about us?" James asked in a slightly hurt tone.

" You can come if you like. But you’d better not say anything. As far as you know, Hiroshi and I are bringing Ash to the Rocket HQ so he can become a full member of Team Rocket, got it?" Tai explained.

" Right," Jessie, James, and Meowth agreed.

" Woba!" Wobbuffet agreed.

" Who asked you?!" Jessie roared, whacking the blue blob with a fan and returning it to its PokéBall.

" Well, we’d better get going," Tai said as he, once again, pulled open the door.

" Alright," Ash and Richie agreed.

The trio and their Pokémon set out into the night…

(*666* Hmmmm, interesting huh? Will Ash, Tai, and Richie manage to infiltrate the TR HQ without being caught? Will we ever find out why Tai keeps calling Richie "Hiroshi"? Will we ever find out who Richie’s parents are? And what about Naomi? Well, you’ll just gonna have to wait until I type up the next chapter!)