Bad Moon Rising

Chapter 13

"Giovanni...," Wendiga's words came out in a long, low hiss of pure rage and hatred, like a curse.

Giovanni snickered slightly, brushing his slicked hair back a little, staring at her for a minute before switching her gaze to Meowth, who was now standing in front of Jessie protectively. His claws were out, and he glared at the Rocket Boss with a murderous look. His tail swished in warning, and his pupils dialated as he bared his fangs...Meowth looked like a wild cat about to strike - not only because of Giovanni, but because his arch enemy, the boss' Persian, was standing behind him...

But Meowth grew confused as he looked over at his evolved form. The Persian had a frightened look on his face, eyes full of fear and sorrow. It mewed silently, but said nothing.

Giovanni smirked slightly, and turned to Jessie, clicking the gun and making sure it was loaded before he pointed it at her. Fear flickered over her face momentarily as she saw the claws that were growing out of Giovanni's fingers...and the fur...and the fangs that filled his grin with bloodlust. However, the fear faded away, replaced with one of hatred, of anger, of malice, and of murder. Jessie stood her ground, clenching her hands into fists as her sapphire eyes gleamed brightly with so many emotions that it would be impossible to name them all.

"Bastard...," she hissed through clenched teeth. "It was you, all along, wasn't it?"

Giovanni nodded with that same sickening grin on his face. "Yes, it was me...you finally figured it out?" He snickered slightly. "About damn time, it took you long enough!"

Jessie was about to say something when Wendiga stepped up beside her, flashing a hand in front of her as a sign to stop. The former experiment's eyes fell on Giovanni, who now flipped his aim to her.

"Blood-thirsty, are you?" Wendiga hissed, narrowing her eyes. "Cold-hearted? A homicidal maniac? That's what you are?"

"I suppose it is," Giovanni said with a snicker. "You were no better yourself, you know. Those gaurds you murdered while you were here were innocent...just like these three people...these...disgraces to Team Rocket."

Jessie and Meowth blanched, then narrowed their eyes. They glanced nervously at Wendiga, whose face of angry was replaced was one of guilt. She shook her head softly, looking at the two and nodding.

"Yes, I killed them," she whispered. "It was the only way to escape...I didn't know how else to permanently get away from this bastard..."

"Yet you murdered," Giovanni snickered softly. "Just like me...but your efforts were futile, correct?" He smirked. "I've caught you again more than once!"

"Which is why I managed to stay away from your claws for a very long time...what was it...a year and a half?"

"The only reason you weren't caught was because I already managed to get...," he motioned to the door James had locked himself behind, "...another specimen."

"Specimen?" Jessie hissed, lurching forward. "SPECIMEN?! You tortured him, you cruel asshole!"

"Tortured him?" the Team Rocket boss cackled as he clicked his gun, pointing it at Jessie's head, causing her to recoil. "No no no...you don't see...I didn't torture him, Jessica. It was mental strength against the lycanthropy virus, which was eating away at his own cells, and his mind. Which side do you think won?"

Jessie growled softly, taking a step backwards and clenching her hands into fists. Meowth hissed, looking down at his claws, and then staring at Giovanni, waiting. When the former Boss' gaurd was down...he would strike...

Giovanni sudenly froze, and his smirk was replaced with a wide grin. He kept staring at Jessie and Meowth, as well as Wendiga, and spoke in a cold, cool voice. "Butch and Cassidy?" he hissed. "About time you two showed up. C'mon and show yourself!"

Jessie, Meowth, and Wendiga exchanged glances filled with confusion, and fell silent as they watched two figures stalk in from behind Giovanni. One was a boy, with short, green hair. The other was a woman with yellow hair tied back in two, star-tipped ponytails. Each had a look of shock on their faces as Giovanni pointed the gun at them.

"Move over by them," he hissed, motioning towards Wendiga. "And don't try anything, or you won't see the break of dawn."

Meowth and Jessie looked about ready to rip the two other Rocket members. After all, it was them who had dragged James to GIovanni's lair...it was them who knocked him unconcious...

...But the two Black Rockets cast their faces downward, ashamed to look up at Jessie and Meowth. They sighed and walked beside them, to the left, raising their heads to look at Giovanni. Cassidy looked at Jessie, her purple eyes filled with sorrow.

"Jessie-" she began.

Jessie cut her off. "Shut up," the redhead hissed. "I don't want to hear it."

Cassidy blanched, then looked over to the Boss, eyes narrowed, face pale. Butch looked almost the same, but his face was stern and shocked. They had listened in on most of the conversation before Giovanni had caught them...

Lycanthrope..., Butch wondered. Aren't they...werewolves?

He shook his head firmly, then raised a single hand, pointing a shaking finger at the Boss.

"L-Let Jimmy go...," he whispered slowly, his frog-like voice trembling with fear. "W-We shouldn't ha-have brought him here..."

Cassidy nodded curtly, glaring at the Boss. "Yeah...let him go, even he...doesn't deserve this..."

Giovanni laughed at their words, and soon, he was clutching his chest from the pain of laughing so hard. He grinned and stared at them, eyes twinkling with humor. "I really don't think that's your choice, Butch, Cassidy. It's mine...and it's already too late for your friend."

Jessie lurched forwards, thrusting out her arms in defiance and reaching out as if to strangle him, but didn't get far as Wendiga and Cassidy grabbed both arms, holding her back. Meowth hissed dangerously, while Butch looked back at the door James was behind, unsure of what to do.

"It is NOT too late!" Jessie screamed, trying to pull away from Wendiga and Cassidy's grip on her arms. Her eyes flared with anger, and she looked about ready to tear everything that got in her way apart. "We HAVE the CURE!!"

He shook his head, and motioned to the ceiling. "You wouldn't know...the moon is rising, a full one. It is his end..."

Jessie's eyes widened in disbelief. "You...monster...," she hissed.

Giovanni nodded, then began to walk towards her, still pointing the gun at her. He grinned, showing his rows of fanged teeth, and his eyes bored into her soul. "I am a monster...A great monster...Do you know how it feels to kill and devour a living thing?" He didn't wait for an answer. "It's incredible...and as I kill, I see volcanoes...supernovas..." She placed a claw at her throat, but didn't press so hard that it would puncture the skin. "I'm a godamned force of nature, much more superior than weaklings like you..."

He took a step back and reached into his left pocket, pulling out a syringe of red liquid...thick red liquid...that looked like blood. "Do you know what this is?" he asked, twirling the syringe quickly.

Jessie shook her head, but Meowth and Wendiga answered at the same time. "Blood," they whispered in usion, and Wendiga continued. "I can smell it...Who'se is it?"

The Team Rocket Boss smiled, nodding towards the locked door. "A certain blue-haired Team Rocket member's...I took a blood sample from him yesterday...and this blood is crawling with Lycanthropy cells."

Meowth gave a low hiss and lurched foreward, but Giovanni fired a single shot, and the cat jumped back, narrowly missing the bullet that zipped past his leg and into the ground. The scratch cat narrowed his eyes and stepped back, side by side with Jessie. Cassidy and Butch exchanged nervous glances, and Giovanni proceded to take the cap off of the syringe, placing the needle point against his wrist, aiming for the main artery. Wendiga hissed and jumped forward, teeth bared and claws ready to strike.

"What the hell are you doing?!" she cried out.

Giovanni simply grinned as he injected the blood into his body. He winced slightly at the pain that was caused by the Werewolf cells entering his bloodstream, but he could feel the cells join with his own Lycanthropy virus, mutating, growing...

"You...do the ma...math," he whispered through gritted teeth, feeling more pain as the two combined virus infected cells began to mutate his body. "James' cells...mixed with my own Lycanthrope cells...will make me stronger...mutate me...make me more powerful...that you have ever...ever imagined..."

And with those words, he threw his head back, emitting a loud, blood curling shout of victory and anguish and pain and lust. All of those things joined together, just as the cells had, and it shook the walls and nearly made the ground tremble. Jessie and the others covered their ears, Wendiga and Meowth nearly screaming, seeing as the sound almost doubled when it hit their sensitive ears.

And, just ahead of the underground building, Mondo, Ash, Misty, and Brock covered their ears, while Pikachu neatly fell off of Ash's shoulder, clutching his ears painfully while Togepi tried to cover its ears with its stubby little arms. Wasting no time, they bolted towards the new Team Rocket headquarters, and, by the time they got through the doorway, the scream had stopped, but echoed throughout the building.

**********

Blood. Must. Eat. Flesh. Hungry....

No...no no NO! I'm...not a...monster! Leave...me alone!

Virus. Lycanthrope. Werewolf. Full moon. Blood. Attack. Kill. EAT.

Jessie...? Meowth...? Anyone...! H...elp!

James' body, now limp in its unconcious state as it leaned against the door, began to convulse violently. His hands shook, his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and his skin began to stretch. He tried to gasp for air, but found none entering his lungs...

Pain overtook him...too much...

Gah...make...it stop!

Flesh. Blood. Tear.

Jess...

Please...help...

His snout became tipped with a black nose...a wolfish one. His legs arched and twitched, and fur coated his body. His stormy gray-blue hair melded with his skin, forming fur on his head. His ears stretched and sharpened into those of a dog's. Most of his skin was bare, and pieces of clothing dangled off of him loosely. His teeth, now long and sharp and craving for flesh, gnashed dangerously.

Feed. Blood. Flesh. Meat. Kill.

With all sane thoughts gone, with any trace of the real James gone, the fully changed Werewolf charged at the door, ramming at it, trying to get it open. He could smell humans on the other side of the door. He could smell blood, and he wanted it...he wanted to feed.

**********

BAM!

Something was ramming against the door James had locked himself behind. It was denting the door, leaving imprints in the steel, but nothing that could describe what was trying to get out. Wendiga recoiled, falling to the ground with a hiss, eyes narrowed. She smelt a Lycanthrope, and not just a newly infected one...a fully grown one...one that seemed to be very, very hungry.

ShitshitshitSHIIIIT!

She looked at Jessie, who had jumped back, holding her hands over her mouth, trying to hold back the scream of sadness and fear and sorrow that threatened to escape. Meowth simply stood and stared, eyes wide, not even trying to run. Cassidy and Butch were hugging each other in fear, backing up into the wall and trembling like a pair of leaves in the wind. Giovanni was another story.

He was holding the needle in his wrist, grinning like a maniac. His eyes swirled red and yellow, as well as black, and his skin twitched and stretched. Cassidy and Butch stared at him nervously, while Jessie and Meowth were staring at James' door with equal looks of terror spread across their faces. Wendiga blinked, then stared at her hands. She nodded, and silently crawled into a shadow.

Giovanni gave a hiss. "See? Your James has transformed!" He fell to his knees, twitching violently. "And...he will die after you are dead!"

Jessie lunged at him, screaming out in total rage, but was thrown back as Giovanni struck her across the face with such force that it threw her to the side. She cringed, holding her face, gritting her teeth and staring at the boss with anger-filled eyes. Giovanni laughed, standing up straight before collapsing, his skin stretching and blood forming on the floor below him.

Giovanni hissed in pain, but beared with it as transformation took place. His skin tore apart, revealing blood and bones, and letting flesh fall to the floor. A grotesque sight that almost made the group lose their dinner, but it didn't matter. Giovanni's back arched and flexed, and his hands and feet enlarged and shaped into wolf paws. His body became covered with a thick coating of blood-soaked black-brown fur. His face enlarged into a pointy snout, and his jaws were wide open, revealing two rows of sharp fangs on each jaw. His ears became long and huge, giving him a good sense of hearing, and a tail emerged from his backside. The claws that emerged from his fingers were about nine inches long, and the fangs were about four inches. He stood on all fours and up to about seven feet, around three times the size of what a normal Werewolf would be.

He mutated, all right.

'Giovanni' began to walk towards Jessie and Meowth, then grinned. It spoke, but in a voice so low and distorted that it sounded completely inhuman. "Who shall I kill, first?" he whispered, looking from Jessie, to Cassidy, to Butch, and to Meowth. He didn't realize that Wendiga wasn't there...

He pulled back a paw and stared at Butch. "You will go first," he growled, and struck out.

"BUTCH!" Cassidy screamed, running towards him and pouncing on him, sending the green-haired boy sprawling to the ground with his partner on top of him. They blushed momentarily before they watched Giovanni miss, and snarl, turning to them and lunging.

"Perrrrrsiaaaaaan!" a feline voice hissed.

Persian was standing in front of the two, eyes narrowed, tail flicking behind him wildly. Its teeth were bared in a low snarl, and its claws were bared, ready to lash out. Giovanni froze, staring at the cat for a minute. "Persian? What do you think you're doing?!"

The cat shook it's head, and Meowth, who was now about a foot in front of Jessie, was awed at the words that came out of it's mouth.

"Persia sian purr siper siaaaaaaan....Persiaaaaaaaan sian purrr..."

"Meowth...?" Jessie whispered softly, looking down at the de-evolution of the larger cat with disbelieving eyes. "What...what did it say...?"

Meowth didn't look at her, but spoke in a slow, low, and shocked voice. "He said...he said, 'Master, this isn't right...stop it...'"

Giovanni hissed loudly, lowering his head to stare at his Pokémon, a look of shock and rage mixing in his face.

"Move, cat," the boss snarled, bearing his fangs and curling the lips of his muzzle. "Or you shall pay..."

"Persian purrsian sian perr pers pursianpur!"

"It said, 'I won't let you hurt them'," Meowth translated, eyes wide. He caught a glimpse of his evolution grinning at him sadly, and heard it whisper a Persianese "I'm sorry for everything".

Giovanni gave a beastly roar, and swung out his already sprung back back, striking the Persian in the chest and burrowing its claws deep inside. The cat yowled in pain, and its eyes stared at Meowth and his group...but didn't see them. It could see nothing anymore...and never would, for, a second later, Giovanni removed his paw...with a dying heart speared at the end of his claws. The Persian seemed to gasp before it fell to the ground, more still than a board, not breathing, not seeing, not hearing...

...and Giovanni raised the speared heart to his muzzle and sniffed it, then bit into it and tore, pulling it off of his claws and swallowing it whole. Meowth gave a sharp gasp and recoiled, watching as the newly transformed Giovanni began to head for Butch and Cassidy again. Jessie made to strike out at the boss, but it was too late, for the boss was already standing over the duo, claws raised-

-and was knocked to the ground as a blur shot out of James' locked door, or rather, through it, slamming into the boss and bouncing off, landing swiftly on the ground. The wolf-creature landed, snarling and spitting madly, eyes wide and a pale, poisonous green. It's fur was white, but with bluish-gray highlights, and parts of its skin had no fur at all. It's fangs were long and sharp and deadly, and its claws were sharp and hooked, ready to rip someone's throat clear out of their body if anyone made a bad move. Bits and pieces of clothing were on its body...as well as part of a white tee-shirt that had a ripped red 'R' printed on it.

"James...," Jessie breathed softly, eyes wide and staring. This couldn't be happening...he was still alive...he still had a chance...right? She looked up at him to look for any trace of the real James, but there was no familiar spark in his eyes, no emotion...he was gone...

Because of me, all because of me! THIS IS MY FAULT! How could I have yelled at him in Ilex Forest?! If I didn't, he wouldn't have gone into the woods and got bitten...THIS ISN'T HAPPENING!

Meowth stared at James, eyes wide. This was his best buddy? This wasn't possible...they were too late?!

Butch and Cassidy were still wrapped tightly in each other's arms, nervously watching as Giovanni slammed his paw into James, slamming him to the ground and holding him there. He grinned, and raised a single claw at James' throat, aiming for the jugular. He looked at Jessie and Meowth with a sinister smile on his face. "I told you...he's gone!"

Jessie swallowed. "No...why did he attack you?!"

"I'm certain you've heard that Pokémon, as well as wild animals, are very territorial. Besides, he doesn't wish to have another Lycanthrope near him." He smiled, pressing the claw against the snarling James' neck. "Say goodbye to your...'friend'."

And as he was about to slit the former Rocket member's throat, another creature rammed into Giovanni's side, causing him to loose balance and accidentally release James, who jumped away, spitting and growling, and leapt at the boss, burying his muzzle into the boss' skin and tearing. Giovanni howled, striking James across the head and sending him sprawling to the ground. He snarled and looked towards the creature who attacked him, eyes narrowed as he saw that it was Wendiga...transformed.

"Lycanthropes are forces of nature," she hissed suddenly, lurching forward. "You've said it yourself...but nature isn't to be screwed with, for it has ways of getting revenge."

She leapt at him, burying her teeth into him, while James attacked from the other side, ripping a piece of flesh off of the mutants body. Giovanni hissed, shaking his body and sending them flying, watching as they quickly gained footing. "I am nature, child," he hissed. "If you screw with me, you die."

"We are nature, as well," Wendiga added, grinning. "And nature has its ways...it cannot be controlled."

James and Wendiga leapt at the same time, clinging onto Giovanni and climbing up towards his neck, where they bit into the skin and hung on tightly as the boss tried to shake them off. His attempts were futile, and he howled out in pure rage as the two Werewolves managed to clamp their jaws around the overly large mutant's neck. Together, they twisted it, snapping the spinal cord in two.

Giovanni howled out silently, eyes rolling back into his skull, jaws open wide and blood poured form his mouth. The boss' body fell to the ground, limp, and blood pooled around the neck, staining his fur and the ground. His body began to shrink to the size of a human, and continued to do so until Giovanni's naked and dead body lay limp in the center of the room. None of them heard the small crackling of his neck as it quickly pieced together again.

Wendiga backed away from James quickly, for it was not a good thing to be near a hungry Werewolf...even if she was one, as well. She quickly transformed back into her human form and backed up into Jessie, where she stood and watched with the others as James began to lurch towards them, eyes swirling with hunger.

Footsteps were heard, and everyone, including James, jerked their heads tooward the direction of the sound. Four people came into view, with a Pikachu trailing behind them, and a Togepi clutched tightly in the girl's arms. They stared in shock when they saw the boss' 'dead' body lying in the middle of the floor, but the silence was short lived as James howled out and lurched forward, charging at them with jaws wide.

The four quickly tore out of the way, and the Pikachu leapt onto Ash's shoulder gingerly, hissing at the Werewolf. Jessie looked over at Mondo and Ash nervously, confusiong dawning on her face when she realized that Mondo was with the twerps, but she shook it off. "It's about time," she hissed in a frightened voice. "Do you have the cure?"

Mondo nodded and handed a syringe to her. She looked down at it for a minute, then smiled slightly. The liquid inside was a crystaline blue...Monkshood. She nodded to them and removed the cap from it, then slowly advanced towards James, who growled and arched his back, preparing to leap...

"James...," Jessie whispered softly, hoping that he could hear her somehow. "James...do you remember me? Do you remember Jessie?"

The wolf snarled and took a step foreward, teeth gnashing dangerously, threatening to tear. Jessie gulped and ignored it, then raised the syringe so that James could see it. The Werewolf froze, then tore back with a low, guttural growl. The Lycanthrope inside him didn't like that liquid...but he charged instead of running, wanting to taste blood among everything else.

He leapt onto Jessie, pushing her to the ground and proceeding to try and rip her throat out, while the redhead screamed and pulled back her arm, slamming the syringe into James' stomach and pushing the plunger down. James froze, eyes wide, jaws open, and shuddering as the fluid flowed through his body. He fell back, causing the needle to exit his belly, and stumbled backwards to where Giovanni's form lay, and collapsed.

After a moment, James' form began to shrink, and a human lay in the spot where the Werewolf once was. His skin was pale, showing that he was drained of all energy. His hair had returned to its normal blue color, and his body was covered in bits and pieces of clothing, which were tattered and bloody. After a moment, his voice came out weak and muffled.

"...Je...ss...?"

Jessie ran forward almost immediantly, grabbing James shoulders and lifting his head so that he would look at her face. His eyes rolled slightly, and one eye opened weakly, then the other. She felt a surge of happiness as she watched them return to their emerald green color. SHe grinned and lifted him up, letting him use her to lean against.

"James!" she cried out. "James! You're alright! You're alive!"

The words flooded his mind, and the world span. What happened? He transformed, that was the last thing that happened. But did he attack her? Did he hurt anybody?!

To answer his own question, he looked to the left, where he saw Giovanni's dead body. He recoiled, gasping, both from realization of what he had done, and from something else. Were those wounds on his neck healing?!

"Jess," he whispered slowly, looking over at her with a look of concern and confusion. She looked up. "Is he...?"

"Yeah, he's d-"

She cut herself off as she looked at Giovanni's body, for she also saw the healing wounds. She gasped. "No no no...no way in Hell...," she hissed as she began to pull James away-

-and Giovanni's arm lashed out. She could barely make out a pointy and sharp object in his hand before it slammed into James leg. The blue-haired boy gave a small squeak of pain as he looked down, watching as Giovani proceeded to inject a milky white fluid into his body from the syringe in his hand. The boss looked up with a look of grim triumph, and he smirked. Jessie screamed and pulled away as James began to lean against her for full support, finding that he was beginning to weaken severely.

"I...told you...James," Giovanni whispered. "Only...mortal flesh...wounds can kill me...you're done for..."

Wendiga hissed out, lunging for Giovanni. She grabbed him and impaled his chest with her now clawed right hand. When she pulled her hand out, it was covered in blood, and Giovanni was now completely limp, gurgling and taking a deep breath for the last time before he fell into an eternal slumber. Wendiga hissed and licked the blood of the boss' impaled heart off of her fingers, smiling madly, a look of triumph on her face.

"Oh, it seems you have been killed, Gio," she hissed, kicking the limp body. "YOU are done for..."

She knelt down and picked up the empty syringe from the dead man's hand, and lifted it to her nose, taking a sniff. Her body stiffened, and she dropped it quickly, eyes widening. She turned to James, who was now paler than he should've been. His pupils dialated, and his body shuddered, while Jessie tried to coo him into relaxing. But the redhead was afraid...he was getting cold.

"We have to get him help," she hissed suddenly. She looked at the others. "Do any of you have a strong flying type Pokémon?"

After no one else spoke up, Mondo stepped forward, raising a single pokéball. "It's not a flying type," he whispered, "but it's just as good. A Ditto."

"Good, see if you can get it to transform into...what...and Aerodactyl...it'll be large enough to carry us all."

Mondo nodded and called the pink blob out, whispering something to it. The blob chirped and nodded, glowing faintly as its body grew larger.

"What's wrong?" Jessie hissed to the half-wolf, face contorted in worry and fear. James was safe, wasn't he?

Wendiga didn't answer. She simply watched as the DItto quickly transformed into a stony purple monstrosity with wings. Its spaded tail twitched slightly, and it lowered its head. Mondo got on first, followed by Jessie and James, with Meowth perched atop Jessie's head. Then Ash and his group got on, followed by Butch, Cassidy, and Wendiga. The 'Aerodactyl' looked at its back, making sure everyone was on safely before pumping its powerful wings and careening into the ceiling.

Misty called outher Psyduck and clutched it tightly, then gave it a sharp thwap on the head. It groaned softly from a building headache, and, within a minute, the girl whispered a small command. The Psyduck nodded, and a large, transparent purple barrier appeared around them, protecting them from the debris of falling rocks. Below, the building caved in, burying any trace of a Team Rocket Headquarters being there, as well as the dead boss' body.

If the Ditto was in pain, it didn't show it. It was more determined to get them out of the cave. Within a second, it gave a loud battle cry as they emerged from the cave and through the final layer of rock. Fresh air whipped at the giant creature, and it gave a soft growl, turning sharply to the right and heading towards Pewter City, towards the Pokémon Center.

"Wendiga," Jessie hissed again, and the half wolf turned to look at her, eyes wide and emotionless. Jessie took a deep breath and spoke again. "What's wrong with James?"

She paused, fell silent for a minute, then replied with a grim response. "Giovanni, he injected him...with..."

"With what?"

"He...injected him with...Belladonna..."

Jessie's eyes widened, and, in the moment those words had been said, she felt like her world had been shattered. She gasped and looked down at James, who was staring at her with a solemn expression on his face. He blinked. "Jess...?"

"James...yeah?" she whispered softly, choking back the tears that threatened to fall.

"I'm...sorry..."

"Sorry...?"

James nodded slowly. "Yeah...I...failed..."

"Failed...?" she whispered, not believing what she was hearing. What did he fail? Why was he sorry?

"Yeah...I...failed you..."

"You didn't-"

"I'm dying, Jessica..."

She froze. He rarely used her full name unless he was serious about something, and he was hardly ever serious. She looked at him, letting a tear roll down her cheek. James weakly reached out an arm and brushed the tear away, then closed his eyes. "I didn't want...to die...without telling...telling you..."

He trailed off, opening his eyes again and looking down. Jessie shook her head, then moved his head so that he had to look at her. "Tell...me what?"

"I...love you, Jess..."

The moment those words were said, his eyes rolled back, and his eyelids closed. He shuddered before he fell still...but he was still breathing, in deep, shallow breaths. Jessie stared at him, eyes wide, hands shaking. She took a deep breath, then stroked the unconcious boy's cheek, letting a tear roll down her face and onto his chest.

"James...," she whispered slowly, closing her eyes, for they were burning. She opened them again and stroked his hair, face solemn, but filled with sadness and loss. "Stay with me...don't go...I love you, too...don't go..."

Everyone else watched them in awe. Ash, Misty and Brock exchanged glances, each with a look of confusion and realisation on their faces. Pikachu wandered up beside and open-mouthed and teary-eyes Meowth, whispering something sadly, and Togepi chirped lightly. Butch and Cassidy simply stared, eyes wide, but softened, and Mondo just watched, rubbing his eyes and looking down with a blank expression. Wendiga watched them and sighed, shaking her head. Another life might be lost because of Giovanni...another death...but this was worse...for this human was in love with another, and if he died, she would be torn apart...perhaps to the extent of suicide, like her parents had done.

She reached over and patted Jessie and the shoulder softly, but the redhead didn't respond. She simply watched as James slept...and, if they didn't get to a Pokemon Center quickly enough, he wouldn't wake up.

And the moon above was glowing a blood red, tinted with orange - the Wolf Moon, the Blood Moon...the Bad Moon. It was almost like a death omen, or a threatening storm that hovered above the world...