Bad Moon Rising

Chapter 11

"I will help you, if you do not mind," the Werewolf's feminine voice hissed, its voice lined with a growl.

Jessie and Meowth recoiled, but the Scratch Cat narrowed his eyes, leaping in front of Jessie and drawing his claws, glaring menacingly at the wolf, growling loudly. He was trembling with fright, but he didn't care. He was scared, but he would protect his partner. Jessie gasped and reached out to pull the cat back, but Meowth growled at her, shaking his head before he stared at the beast that lumbered ahead of the two.

"Whadd'ya want?!" Meowth snapped. "Anodda one of Giovanni's henchmen?! Come ta finish da dirty woik?!"

"Did you not hear what I just said?" the wolf whispered, lips curling into a toothy grin. "I said, 'I will help you, if you do not mind'."

"How do we know we can trust youse?!" the cat hissed. "How da we know yer not luring us into a trap?! How da we know dat we can trust youse?!"

"I'd answer if I could...but you're the only one that can answer that. I cannot make you trust me, you'll have to decide if you can trust me for yourself."

Meowth blinked, but still stood in battle stance, claws glinting under the little moonlight there was. He growled yet again, backing away slightly and kneeling to look like he was ready to strike. Jessie, however, stepped up beside him, ignoring the cat's screech for her to get behind him.

"What do you mean?" the woman whispered, gulping as she tried not to show the panic in her voice. "Why do you wish to help us?"

The Werewolf paused, and looked at her, blinking, then smiling softly. "I overheard your conversation at the Magnet Train Station," the wolf whispered. "You're friend is in danger, if Giovanni has him..."

Jessie blanched slightly, then narrowed her eyes. "In danger...?! What do you mean? What does Giovanni want to do with James!?"

"I am not too sure," the creature rumbled, looking up at the moon. "It cannot be good, though. Giovanni's a selfish bastard...the freak wouldn't give a damn if his precious Persian dropped dead in front of him...He's too in touch with the bloodlust of his Lycanthrope form. And since Giovanni is already known to kill people because they make simple mistakes, the mixing of those two personalities means red alert."

A pause, and the Werewolf looked at both Meowth and Jessie. The cat looked at the wolf, then cocked his head. "How would youse know? I mean, how'd ya know dat Giovanni's a Werewolf...?"

The creature grinned ever so slightly, staring at the cat. "I was his first experiment."

Meowth gulped, then blinked again. "How can youse control your Werewolf form, den?"

"Giovanni was what I liked to call a scientific freak. He knows all about the plants that can cure the Lycanthrope genes... He injected himself with Wolfsbane, a plant that is thought to cure the Lycanthropy virus...however, it is only a half-cure. That means Giovanni can turn into a Werewolf whenever he wishes to, and that means he can control his intentions when he shifts, and it also means that he can use his voice, he can talk, just like I am speaking now...Regular Werewolf cannot speak...Wolfsbane enables them to speak..."

"He injected me with Wolfsbane, and I am now eternally cursed. I can no longer be cured, or fully turn into a Werewolf. The Wolfsbane remains permanent in the body, just like Monkshood and Belladonna. Once fully cured, you can never become a wolf again...once half-cured, you cannot be fully infected or cured..."

The Werwolf grinned, now staring at Jessie. "Of course, I got fed up with him. I escaped a few times, but was always caught...Luckily, I escaped before the Viridian City hideout was destroyed...and by then, I guess they found that they had no use for me anymore...But, I believe they were looking for another guinea pig...Probably your James."

Jessie's eyes narrowed so they looked like slits, and she growled softly. "Giovanni...that...BASTARD!"

"That's why I came to help you," the wolf continued. "The Magnet Train to Kanto is down, but I am quite fast on foot in this Werewolf form. It will take about a week to get to Kanto, and maybe a few days to arrive at Mount Moon."

Jessie and Meowth rose their brows, then exchanged glances. They were getting help...from a Werewolf? Meowth looked at the Werewolf with wide eyes, then nodded, answering for Jessie.

"We'll...let you help. What's yer name?"

"Wendiga...," the Werewolf whispered.

"Well then, Wendiga," Jessie began, walking up to the Werewolf. "Welcome to our group of..." She paused. "Our group of...ex-Rockets...Just don't try to eat us."

"I have no intentions of doing that," Wendiga laughed. "I'll only eat Giovanni and his evil minions...the other white meat."

Wendiga knelt down so Jessie could get onto her back, and Meowth, still very wary, jumped onto Jessie's shoulder, clutching onto her arm tightly as the Werewolf took off into the shadows.

Perhaps there was still some luck on their side.

**********

Two days later, two people walked along the Route to Fuschia City, heads bowed and staring at the ground. They were a boy and a girl, both around the age of 18. The woman had yellow hair, tied in two ponytails that ended in somewhat of a star shape. Her eyes were violet, and each of her ears had a pink, upside-down triangle earring on it. The man had short, green hair that went down to the tips of his ears, and his eyes were a brownish-black in color. Each were wearing black Team Rocket uniforms.

Butch sighed and looked over to his partner, giving a small smile. They were both thinking about the same thing, about what they had been ordered to do about three days ago.

Poor Jim...Even I feel sorry for him...

What did the boss want James for? Surely it wasn't good...Giovanni had ordered Butch and Cassidy to tie the blue-haired Rocket member to a gurney before they left...and they saw the viscious gleam in his eyes. That look had sent chills up and down their spines, and they had left as quickly as possible.

"Hey Cass," Butch whispered quickly. The woman looked up at him and blinked.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"What do you think...the Boss anted James for?"

A moment of silence. Cassidy shrugged and shook her head. "I dunno, Butch..."

They fell silent again, still walking towards Fuschia City. This time, Cassidy broke the silence.

"Butch?"

"Mmhmm?"

"Should we go back...?"

Butch blinked, looking at her. She had stopped walking, and was now watching him intently. Butch stopped, then thought for a moment.

"Yeah... I guess...Something's not right..."

Cassidy nodded. "Yeah...Giovanni...was acting wierd...like he was seriously up to no good...the death kind of no good..."

"Let's go back...," Butch whispered. "We'll see what he wanted with Jim..."

**********

Sanity was slowly dripping away from James. The hunger was taking control of him...the Lycanthropy virus slowly gripping onto his mind and refusing to let go. Time was running out...his life was slipping away. He could feel it. Every day, a little bit of his mind disappeared, and every day, his hunger grew stronger. His body was in total pain, changing and transforming rapidly. His mouth was now lined with fangs...only a few normal teeth left. His claws were now razor-sharp, and the stub of a tail he had had grown so large that he had to cut a hole in the back of his jeans because he could no longer hide it. His normally blue hair was dimming, fading away into a bluish-grey.

Jessie...

James had dreamed about her ever since he was kidnapped by Butch and Cassidy. He had reached out to her in his dreams, but was never able to say anything. She would only stand there, watching him struggle until darkness would come over him, the darkness of death. He would never see her again, he knew that now. He had spent ten years of his life with her, refusing to leave her side, both out of friendship and love. And now, he was passing away slowly, and Jessie wouldn't be there with him when he died...

The dreams had also changed. The knife in his dream was gone, and so was the vision of his Werewolf form attacking Jessie and Meowth. The dream was replaced with two faces - Jessie's angelic smile, and Giovanni's sinister grin. In every dream he had, he was surrounded by two liquids...One a crystaline blue...promising life, promising serenity. The other was a deadly white, promising death, promising suffering.

In the real world, Giovanni kept forcing James to attack other Pokémon, but not just to cause a few scratches or bruises to the creatures. Giovanni was making him eat them, and, although his mind hated it, his body loved it. He could no longer control the hunger...he would even attack one of the gaurds once in a while, but he was always restrained before he could do any damage.

He was now in his dungeon cell, staring at his wrist, and gulping. He had one of his claws pointed at it, and he was now longing for death. He didn't want to live a life where he was to suffer every day, he didn't want to become Giovanni's slave, he didn't want to die without Jessie there.

He placed the claw the his wrist and stifled a sob. There was no point in living anymore, was there? No point at all...True, the Twerps had gone to look for Monkshood...True, Jessie, Meowth, and Mondo were probably looking for him...But ti would be too late when they found him...He would have already transformed...

And even if he didn't transform, he would no longer be sane. He would see the humans and attack. He wouldn't be able to stop...Giovanni had forced him to learn how to never stop attacking someone, no matter what...and his wolfen side had adopted that technique. He had become merciless.

I'll always be with you, Jess...even as a spirit...

A pause, then he dug his claws into his wrist, wincing. He gritted his teeth and slowly dragged the claw down his wrist, vertically, along the vein. Blood began to sprout form the freshly made cut, dripping off of his wrist and onto the floor below.

But James stopped when he was halfway finished. He forced himself to stop, knowing that this wasn't right. He couldn't die like this...he couldn't leave Jessie forever. He couldn't leave Meowth forever...He couldn't leave any of them...He quickly removed his claw and stared down at his wound, watching as it quickly began to seal up again. The blood began to dry, and he rapidly tried to wipe it off.

I can't leave you, Jess...But I may not make it either...

He sighed, then stared at the ceiling tearfully. He probably wouldn't make it, he knew that, but he would wait...there had to be a little luck left for him...hopefully.

I love you, Jessie...Although I don't know if I'll ever be able to say it...

**********

"C'mon, Ash...," Mondo whispered. "C'mon...pick up, it's important..."

Mondo was still at the Inn, holding the telephone to his ear. He had dialed the number of Ash's PokéGear, hoping that it was turned on, hoping that Ash picked up. Mondo had only met the Twerp kid once, and didn't know how much he could trust him, but it was the only thing he could do. Ash had given Team Rocket his PokéGear number, just in case they needed to contact him.

On the third ring, Ash picked up the phone, and his voice came through. Mondo could see him through the videophone.

"Hello?" the Twerp asked, then blinked, staring into the tiny image of Mondo that was on the PokéGear's videophone. His eyes widened in shock as he saw the numerous cuts and bruises on the younger Rocket member's face. "What the hell happened to you, Mondo??"

"Long story," the boy replied quickly. He watched as Misty and Brock leaned over Ash's shoulders to watch Mondo. "Where are you guys?"

"Halfway to New Bark, why?"

"We've got a situation on our hands..."

**********

Giovanni stared at his desk, his eyes glued to the empty syringe that was lying on the wooden structure. He grinned malicously and picked it up, twirling it around in his fingers and daydreaming about what it would be like to be in control of everyone's lives. Once Johto and Kanto fell to him, Giovanni would reign supreme, and he would have all the power he ever wanted, all the money he wanted, all the Pokémon...all the blood, all the flesh...

When James would be on the brink of transforming, Giovanni would take a blood sample from him. Afterwards, he would inject James' blood sample into his own veins...giving his Lycanthrope more power than he would ever imagine. He would become the ultimate killing machine...

And no one...no one...would be able to stop him...