Author's Note:

Here we are with another chapter. My excuse this time...a slow as f...udge computer. I have a replacement now, though. Hopefully another chapter coming this weekend or maybe a wild week next week. Anyway, on to the aftermath of the attack on Jessie and James that happened last chapter.

Chapter 52: A Mega Project

"Do you remember what this hunter looked like? Anything he was wearing, or any distinguishing features that could make him recognizable?" Officer Jenny's voice was straining with the effort to stay calm, despite the situation, and Ash couldn't blame her. If people were now being attacked and having their Pokemon stolen, there was no telling what could be next.

"I...don't remember," James answered, eyes staring at the ground of the Pokemon Centre. Ash and his friends, accompanied by Henry, had been quick to take Jessie and James there when they'd found them, knowing that Officer Jenny had been keeping in touch with Nurse Joy in case anyone brought Pokemon in that were potentially hurt by the hunters.

Jessie spoke up next, sounding very different from her usual fiery self. Ash would've thought it was another person if he hadn't been looking at her. "It happened so quickly. We were looking...and then Meowth was gone a moment...and then he came back..."

They waited a moment, but it appeared Jessie wasn't going to continue, so Officer Jenny gently pressed for more information. "Did something happen after Meowth came back?"

James answered this time, taking a deep breath as he seemed to struggle to remember clearly. "He had...someone with him."

"A Pokemon," Jessie added, looking up thoughtfully. "The goat Pokemon."

"A Skiddo?" Henry asked, standing a little bit away, but close enough to pay attention.

Jessie nodded. "We'd wondered where Meowth had gone, and then he'd come back with that...Skiddo. It looked like it had been hurt."

"I think it must've been caught by the hunters," James added, straightening up a little as the memory seemed to come back to him. "Meowth had found it, and then freed it."

"That's when the hunter showed up," Jessie murmured, shivering a little with the thought. "He had...an Aggron."

"Yes...and it attacked us right away." Both paused a moment, wincing as though the attack was happening again. Officer Jenny waited patiently, and then James continued. "We called out our Pokemon to fight back, and Meowth joined in, trying to protect Skiddo. The boss..." He looked suspiciously at Officer Jenny and then shook his head. "We had just gotten some of our old Pokemon back that had been gone for awhile, and we started calling them out. Mime Jr. and Jessie's Seviper were the first..." He trailed off, shutting his eyes.

"Wobbuffet tried to get in the way," Jessie added, clenching her fists. "I wanted him to use Counter. He wasn't fast enough, though. Before we knew it, they were all knocked out. When Meowth tried to help Wobbuffet, Aggron grabbed him and threw him down towards the hunter. By then we had our other Pokemon out, but the hunter was too quick for any of them. He had something that was shooting out ropes that tied them up and shocked them...and..."

Ash narrowed his eyes, not sure how to react to that. It sounded a bit like some of the things Team Rocket had used on him in the past, although perhaps a bit more dangerous and better made. He would never wish this happening to anyone, but he did hope that Team Rocket might learn from this. Stealing a Pokemon from its trainer was evil. Nobody deserved it, and nobody had the right to do it.

"It was all happening so fast then," Jessie continued. "We tried to attack the hunter, but Aggron used Hyper Beam on us. The next thing I remembered was...the twerps." She looked awkwardly at Ash, before returning her gaze to Officer Jenny. "I don't know what else I can say."

Officer Jenny noted a few things down, before sighing and looking out the window of the Pokemon Centre. Ash followed her gaze, seeing the peaceful activity of people walking about the city. It was strange knowing what was lurking, while so many seemed unaware and busy with other things.

"You've given us some useful information," Officer Jenny finally said. "We know many of the Pokemon they have taken recently now, which can help the police and travellers be on the lookout. We have a better idea of where they've been and the more aggressive actions they're taking as well. And at least we know that one of the hunters is using an Aggron, so we'll need to be prepared to take on a strong Pokemon like that."

"Will you get Meowth and the others back?" Jessie asked, a hint of her fire back in her voice.

"We'll do our best," Officer Jenny told her. "We still need to-"

"I don't just want your best!" Jessie snapped. "I want to know we'll get Meowth and our Pokemon back!"

"I can't guarantee-"

"If you can't get them back, we'll have to resort to our own measures!" Jessie declared, folding her arms. Ash was sure she would've stormed off if she hadn't been so wiped out from the fight with the hunter.

"We'll help you get them back," Ash found himself saying after a moment of awkward silence. "It's not just you looking for your Pokemon. Others need to find theirs as well. And we can't let this keep happening."

Jessie glared at him a moment, looking as though she wanted to snap at him as well. He knew she wouldn't, though. When it came to protecting Pokemon from bad guys, she knew that Ash would never stop. She was mostly on the other end of it. "Fine then," she finally said. "I guess we're on the same team, twerp."

"I'll help, too," Serena promised, Clemont voicing his agreement.

"I can get my fellow bug Pokemon researchers to keep an eye out in all our favourite research locations," Henry added. "The bug Pokemon will know to be careful as well, and keep an eye out. It won't be easy for the hunters to show themselves now."

"They may be more careful for awhile now," Jenny murmured, putting her notebook away. "If they've captured a lot of Pokemon recently, they might be less tempted to go out into the open. Especially after being so bold with you two. I'll contact some of my cousins and see if they've had any attacks in the other cities as well. They may have been looking to corner a few trainers to steal a larger supply of Pokemon at once before hiding away again." With that, she stood up and prepared to leave. "Stay safe out there," she told them all. "Try to stay in groups, and don't get separated from each other or your Pokemon."

When Officer Jenny had left, Ash and the others looked to Jessie and James uncertainly. The two Team Rocket members seemed equally unsure of what to do next, but Jessie seemed to make up her mind a moment later. James sighed and followed suit as she stood up.

"Well, I don't care what she says, we're going to find out where Meowth and the others are as soon as possible, and we don't need anyone with us!" Jessie glared at Ash and his friends, and seemed to dare them to argue with her.

"You don't have any Pokemon with you..." Ash said after a moment. "I would go with you guys but we don't know where to start..."

"We don't need you, twerp!" Jessie snapped. "We'll find Meowth ourselves. Meowth has probably already escaped, and Wobbuffet probably drove the hunters crazy before then."

Ash got the sense that Jessie was just trying to convince herself things would be okay, and he couldn't help but feel that she needed someone to agree. "Yeah...yeah, you're probably right." He looked to Serena and Clemont, noticing them looking sympathetically towards the Team Rocket members. "If you find anything...let us know. We'll fight them together if you want."

Jessie snorted at that, but still nodded, before heading for the exit. James followed after her a moment later, but nodded to Ash and the others before leaving. As they departed, Ash couldn't help but feel like he needed to do more. Unfortunately, he had no idea what that could be right now.

"I can't believe they were attacked like that..." Serena finally said, sitting down after a moment of awkward silence. "And we were so close...we could've helped them."

Ash had been thinking the same thing. If they'd looked a little harder, they might've spotted Team Rocket, or even the hunter, and been able to stop what happened. He looked at Henry, seeing worry in the man's eyes, and knew he was thinking of Anton's lost Pokemon.

"You don't know if you could've helped them," he finally said. "Those two...they might not be the toughest of trainers, but to overwhelm them like that, the hunter must've been quite strong and well equipped. I would be very careful about how you approach this in the future."

"You don't think we should look for them anymore?" Ash asked, narrowing his eyes. "You just said you'd be looking around with your researcher friends."

Henry took a deep breath before answering. "I might not look it, but I'm a capable battler, Ash. Anton didn't get his skills all on his own." He gave a short laugh at that, and then looked outside. "I won't actively seek them out, however, and I recommend you keep your distance for now as well. As Officer Jenny said, they might be more cautious after this, and whatever they've been up to recently might've given them enough room to stay hidden for awhile. They've clearly captured a great deal of Pokemon."

"Isn't that exactly why we should be looking for them?" Clemont asked, sounding as surprised as Ash felt at Henry's words. "There are trapped Pokemon that need help."

"If we knew where they were, we could take all the trainers in Kalos and attack them right now," Henry said calmly. "Unfortunately, they seem to be well hidden, and we know what they're capable of when they find trainers unaware and in the dark. It's frustrating, but we need to find more information. They'll slip up eventually. In the meantime, anyone who can help must be prepared. Train hard here at your school. Be ready for when you can fight the hunters."

Ash wanted to do something right away, but he knew Henry was right. At least for now. "I guess we don't have much of a choice."

"We will train hard, though," Serena said, looking Ash in the eyes. "We'll still be doing something. We'll be getting ready to fight back when we can. I'm not giving up on making sure that the people who hurt Absol will never hurt any other Pokemon."

Clemont nodded his agreement. "We'll learn what we can here, we'll win the IPL, and then we'll stop those hunters when we're the strongest that we can be."

"That's the spirit!" Henry said, smiling. "And Ash," he said, turning back to him. "I'm in this for Anton. When this fight happens, he'll be in it for his Pokemon. I don't think he's ready, but I'm sure you can help him get ready. Give him the best battle you can in your next match, and show him what true battling is all about."

"I will," Ash promised. "You can count on it."

When Ash, Clemont and Serena walked into the dining area that night for dinner, they found their friends there already, apparently having just sat down. Once they had got their meals ready, they joined them, the others very eager to hear what had happened. Marie had heard some of it from Nurse Joy earlier, but the full story was still quite shocking even for her.

"I can't believe I'm saying it, but...I feel so bad for Team Rocket," Dawn said, staring at her plate of food with wide eyes. "I can't imagine having one Pokemon taken away from me, let alone all of them. Is there really nothing we can do right now?"

"Officer Jenny doesn't seem to think so," Ash answered, picking at his food, not feeling particularly hungry for a change. "Henry seemed to agree. I guess it's not going to get any easier to find them, though, and it seems like they're pretty dangerous right now."

"The more time they have, though, the more time they can prepare for whatever else it is they want to do," Trevor pointed out, a surprising amount of anger and frustration in his voice. "Who even knows what they might be able to do to the Pokemon they've imprisoned if we wait too long."

Ash nodded, not able to think of anything to refute that. "I know...but we don't know where to go. We don't even really know what we're up against. Team Rocket might not be the strongest of trainers, but they had a lot of Pokemon with them, and they were beaten immediately."

"Sitting around here isn't going to help, though," Tierno argued. "We need to be searching with every other trainer out there. At some point we have to be able to find them."

"I don't think it's that easy," Clemont said, looking as exhausted as Ash felt. "They must have a pretty good hideout somewhere. Sure, we've found some places they've been, but they were obviously abandoned long enough to move out a lot of Pokemon. They're hiding them somewhere that seems to have been hidden for years."

"But if we need to know more about what we're up against, we should be out finding more information," Shauna suggested, absentmindedly stroking her Skitty's fur. She looked quite nervous. "We should be able to at least figure out something."

"Officer Jenny knows more about investigating these kinds of things than we do," Serena said, although Ash could tell she wanted to be out there as much as everyone else. "And Henry seems to have been looking for the hunters for a long time, so he must have some idea of what to keep track of with his bug researcher friends."

"We just need to make sure we're as strong as possible for when we have a chance to fight back," Ash told his friends. "We'll train harder for the IPL than ever before, and we'll learn everything we can in our classes."

Despite their agitation, the others voice their agreement. Ash supposed there wasn't much else they could say, knowing how hard it would be to do anything else right now. Then, Marie spoke up, appearing a little uncertain.

"We're going to be pretty busy even without training. We've got an assignment that Professor Sycamore is assigning all the students." She noticed the blank looks on the faces of Ash, Clemont and Serena and seemed to remember that they had missed their last class. "I guess you guys didn't hear. It's a project all the students need to complete to pass the year."

"What is it about?" Clemont asked, seeming more relaxed now that the topic had turned to regular schoolwork.

"It's about Mega Evolution," Dawn answered, pulling out a piece of paper that seemed to have the assignment instructions on it. "We work in pairs and study various aspects of it depending on what we want to focus on."

"It's gonna be easy for Trevs and me," Tierno said proudly, patting his friend on the back. "We can base it all on him and Charizard."

"Too bad I don't have a Mega Stone for the Key Stone I've got," Ash said, glancing at the assignment as Serena looked over it next to him. "I wonder if I could do something with Greninja..."

"I think I have an idea of what I could do," Serena said quietly, reading over some of the topics. "The quest for Mega Evolution...if I went to Kiloude City..." She trailed off, her mind seeming to go elsewhere.

"I think I've got some ideas of what to do as well," Marie said, not noticing as she turned to Dawn. "How about we work together?"

"Sure, I bet I can learn a lot more about Kalos doing this project," Dawn said, looking excited. "Mega Evolution certainly seems to be a big deal."

"Since we did such a good job with Skitty, how about you and me again, Clemont?" Shauna asked, giving Ash and Serena an amused glance before looking to a surprised Clemont.

"Um...sure," Clemont answered, a hint of confusion in his eyes.

"I guess that means you and me, Serena," Ash said, smiling towards her. She seemed oddly distracted, though, and didn't seem to notice, other than a quiet, "yeah".

The rest of the meal time was fairly quiet. Ash knew the others were either thinking about the lurking danger of the hunters, or perhaps their new assignment, and his mind also seemed to bounce between the two things. It still frustrated him that he wasn't able to go out and challenge those hunters somehow. He knew it didn't really make a difference that he wasn't travelling like he used to, as the hunters were too well hidden anyway. It didn't stop him from feeling like he was boxed in, though.

I want to get out there, he thought, eyes looking towards the door that led outside. Regardless of how things had ended with their outing today, it had felt good being out and about. He needed to be active.

He sighed as he went back to his food, though, knowing that despite his urge to be travelling again, he still had much to gain here. Ash had always been on the move, and he supposed that he'd never quite learned to stop. Maybe it had been good for him to slow things down and take in more things as he had been doing here at the school. He'd definitely learned a lot he hadn't before, and he'd gained a great group of friends. And after coming so far in the Kalos League, the IPL had continued to give him a good challenge.

I need to work harder, though, he told himself. Whether it's the hunters, the IPL, or just the schoolwork, I want to do the best I can. He couldn't help but think Professor Sycamore's new assignment might be a good way to start.

As everyone began to finish up, those who resided in the other buildings began to leave, Tierno and Trevor setting off first, before Marie and Dawn followed. Shauna went up to her and Serena's room next, and before too long, Clemont was tiredly saying he was heading up as well. Eventually, the dining hall was growing very quiet as more students left, and before Ash knew it, he and Serena were among only a few still there.

"You okay, Serena?" Ash asked after a moment, seeing her staring at nothing in particular, a distant look in her eye.

She blinked in confusion, but then looked to him, seemingly remembering where she was. "I was just thinking...about the assignment."

"I was, too," Ash said, grinning. "I think it could be good for us. Lots of things to learn about Mega Evolution, and it could give us a lot of training opportunities." He shrugged, unable to shake the feeling that it could be important for more than that. "You never know what else it might lead us to."

"That's the thing," Serena said, nodding in agreement. "I think this assignment could be really helpful for us. I mean...for school, for the IPL and even..."

"The hunters?" Ash asked, leaning forward in interest. Pikachu tilted his head curiously from where he'd positioned himself next to a bottle of ketchup.

"Kalos is a pretty unique place when it comes to Mega Evolution, right?" Serena said, Ash nodding as she looked at him intently. "There must be a reason the hunters are so focused on catching Pokemon around here. Sure, they might have reasons as simple as selling them like what seemed to be happening with Absol. But...maybe they're up to something more."

"You think they're doing something with Mega Evolution?" Ash asked, not liking it, but finding himself agreeing with the idea. "I guess...Korrina mentioned finding a Mega Stone near Shalour City didn't she?"

Serena nodded. "Exactly. They might be exploring using Mega Evolution on some Pokemon, or trying to find a way to get its power. Whatever it is, knowing more about it might help us."

"So where do you want to start?" Ash asked, exchanging a curious look with Pikachu. "I have that Key Stone, but I'm not sure what we can do with it right now."

"I have an idea," Serena said, narrowing her eyes in determination as she pulled out a pokeball. Ash knew it was Absol's.

Ash couldn't help but smile, his heart starting to race with excitement. He could sense a quest coming. "You mean...?"

"I want to go to Kiloude City. I want to find the Absolite!"

Dark.

Cold.

Cramped.

Quiet.

Meowth had been awake for a few hours now, after finding himself stuffed into a tiny cage. He'd quickly realized he'd been put onto a truck, with dozens of other cages around him. Some were empty, and some were occupied. Most of the occupied ones seemed to have familiar Pokemon in them. To his left, was the Skiddo he had thought he had rescued, and to his right was Jessie's Seviper. Both of them had been unconscious.

It had been a very bumpy ride to wherever it was that they were being kept. Meowth was surprised that the other Pokemon remained knocked out. At least, he was at first. His own pounding headache made him realize that they'd probably all been hit hard by...something. He didn't remember whether that was Aggron or whatever weapons the hunter had used on them. All he knew now was that he hurt all over and he was trapped.

There was a little bit of stirring when they had arrived. A few Pokemon gave some muffled cries when the truck they were in came to an abrupt halt and the back had been opened up, a bright light blinding them after they'd sat in darkness so long. That didn't last too long, however, as they'd immediately had their cages covered in blankets. Meowth supposed that was to block them from having any view of any potential escape routes if they somehow managed to get out. He didn't know if that was very likely though.

Eventually, after listening to grunts and yells from outside, along with some panicked Pokemon cries, he felt his cage being roughly lifted onto something, and then he had been moved somewhere yet again. When the movement stopped, nothing happened for a moment, before another grunt came and he was roughly pushed off of whatever vehicle of some sort that he'd been on and then pushed into position. The blanket had then been pulled off of his cage and he had seen the feet of someone walking away down a dark hall.

Meowth had sat there in silence until now, trying his best to get his bearings. He had hoped his eyes would adjust to the darkness, but there seemed to be a bright light that would come on in whatever room he'd been put in every few minutes. It blinded him when it came on, and then when it went off, he was thrust into darkness again. He had no idea how he would be able to sleep with that happening, let alone see anything at any point.

After awhile, he decided he'd try to just face the back of his cage and keep his eyes squinting as much as possible. It wasn't perfect, but eventually he did seem to be able to make out some shapes, and he was able to time the light coming on somewhat and shut his eyes tight when it did most of the time.

Eventually, he was able to realize that he seemed to be in a hall filled with cages. Not all had Pokemon in them, but most did. They seemed to be stacked five high, but he didn't know how long the hall went, so he had no idea how many total were there with him. He supposed others were in other rooms as well, which made him nervous.

Once he had figured out how the cages seemed to be stacked, however, Meowth was able to find that he seemed to be on the third level, with two cages below him. He didn't know what Pokemon, if any, was in the bottom one, but he had been able to hear the soft whimper of what seemed to be a Growlithe directly underneath him. Directly across from him he could see a Fletchinder, and above that, he could see a blue shape.

He gasped in realization as he noticed the big blue body shift uncomfortably. "Psst!" he hissed. "Wobbuffet!"

"Wob?" the shape shifted, and Meowth could see the face of his Team Rocket companion pressed up against the bars of his cage. It seemed way too small for him, and Meowth realized he was actually fortunate with his smaller frame, as these cages appeared to be one size.

"You okay, pal?" Meowth asked, knowing that obviously nothing was okay right now. However, he was still relieved he hadn't been separated from all the Pokemon he knew. "Can ya see me?"

"Wobba..." The sound from the Patient Pokemon was depressing, and it all but sucked the life out of Meowth. All the times Wobbuffet had emerged from his pokeball with his loud cries had made Meowth think he could never be fazed by anything. Sadly, he seemed to know the dire situation they were in, and he was very clearly in a particularly uncomfortable spot.

"Don't worry big guy," Meowth told him. "We're gonna get outta here, okay?"

Meowth didn't know how that would be possible, but he knew he was going to try until he'd exhausted everything. He knew that twerpette's Absol had escaped these hunters, so there must've been others. And no Pokemon they'd ever caught would've been as smart as him. Maybe he could even talk his way out. I could convince them Team Rocket is on their side.

He shook his head, knowing right away that would be a bad idea. With the way these hunters seemed to work, they didn't care about allies. They definitely didn't seem to need any. Not to mention, he'd probably be guarded even more carefully if they found out he could talk. Luckily, the guy who'd grabbed him and the others didn't seem to have caught onto that. To them, he was just a normal old Meowth.

"Meow meow meow," he tried to murmur. He needed to sound convincing if he was going to hide his talking ability. The last thing he needed was for them to think he was unusual just because he didn't sound like a Meowth. If they thought something was wrong with him who knew what might happen. He didn't know what would be worse for them to think.

His thoughts were interrupted a moment later as the lights came on again. He shut his eyes quickly to avoid the brightness, but he realized they seemed to be staying on, and he slowly opened them up, blinking rapidly and squinting as he tried to adjust to the light. Eventually, he was able to see that two men had entered the hall they were in.

The guy from da forest, Meowth realized, peering out through the bars, trying to appear like a normal, scared Meowth. The man was once again wearing a suit, looking around and nodding as his companion, who looked like he was a hunter, but likely much lower ranked than the suit guy., pointed out different Pokemon. Raphael, Meowth remembered the man's name, the call they'd overheard coming to his mind.

"Here's part of the haul we received earlier today," the one hunter suddenly said, pointing to Meowth's cage, then Wobbuffet's and then another one a couple to Meowth's right. "They were taken from a couple trainers that were wearing strange outfits with R's on them.

Raphael seemed displeased by that, turning to the man immediately. "You stole from Team Rocket members?" He shook his head, looking to Meowth's cage, and then Wobbuffet's. He then glanced at the third cage that Meowth couldn't see, and moved over to it, giving it a little kick.

"Doo-oo-oo!" came the familiar sound of Skiddo, and Meowth couldn't help but wince, feeling bad for the poor Pokemon that had almost had freedom.

Raphael suddenly gave a short laugh. "Must've been weak ones. It doesn't appear to be an impressive haul." He looked to Wobbuffet again, then Meowth, and then back to his companion. "Perhaps we can experiment on the Wobbuffet. We'll see if the Meowth can evolve into a Persian, too. The Skiddo, though...they're fairly useless. We can sell that one."

"Yes sir," the other hunter said, nodding. "Would you like to see the rest?"

"Very well."

A moment later, the two were walking away, and before Meowth knew it, the lights were off again. He sighed, sitting back and leaning on the back of the cage. If he didn't know before, he knew now how dangerous things were. He didn't like the sound of them "experimenting" on Wobbuffet, or trying to get him to evolve, whatever that meant.

"Jessie...James...please help."

He didn't sleep that entire night.

Author's Note:

Aww...poor Meowth. Hopefully this isn't getting too dark. Things will look up soon, though. Especially if Serena gets her prize.

Let me know what you think, and I'll see you next time.