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Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 27: Give me Protection

The loud noise of an explosion that shattered the peaceful Cinnabar Island morning was followed by the sound of falling rocks, several small ones being thrown hard enough to fall on the hotel's ceiling. "What was that?"

"I don't know, but it sounds like a panic out there," Giovanni quickly recalled his pokemon into their pokeballs and picked up Meowth.

Delia called back her pokemon as well and followed Giovanni to investigate outside. People were running out in alarm, "you have to leave!" One of the hotel employees urged, "there are explosives up there, at this rate, the volcano will-"

Another loud explosion shook the land, more rocks avalanched down the volcano's side as sparks flew. If the explosions dug a hole on the volcano's side, lava would start spilling out, endangering the entire area.

"Giovanni, Delia! I'm like so glad I found you dudes, but I was like totally too late to stop the explosions, you know?" Luke rushed over, his expression frightened beyond what anyone who knew him would expect, even in that situation.

"What's going on?" Giovanni demanded to know, not bothering to question his presence there, maybe he took a mission involving the supervision of the construction project. No one person could keep up with every mission every member took.

"Some dude who like doesn't like Team Rocket like totally planted explosives in the volcano, you know? I like heard a rumor, but couldn't like get here on time, man! There's like no time, leave the island, but don't like take the chopper, it might be like sabotaged, you know?" Luke urged.

"This is too much of a direct challenge, I'm not going anywhere," Giovanni didn't expect anyone to so openly challenge Team Rocket, not now that they were so powerful, he was angry that someone had dared.

"I'm staying too; we can't let whoever did this get away with putting so many people in danger!" Delia was filled with the same fire and determination she showed when facing the Tempest Gang in the past, her thirst for justice and her instinct to protect the innocent surfacing again.

Another explosion resounded and the volcano's wall gave in as more sparks flew, causing several of the buildings at the foot of the volcano to catch on fire. Lava started flowing down the volcano's side at a slow but steady pace.

"Dude, like what do we do, man?" Luke appeared more nervous and out of place than ever. Giovanni took note of it, but attributed it to how unexpected the attack was. Perhaps Luke had grown accustomed to things working out more easily for Team Rocket lately. Delia noticed Luke's reaction as well; he had been braver than this in the past, but she determined that he was not afraid for himself; he must have been worried about his recently found brother.

"We'll find the one who's challenging Team Rocket," Giovanni started to make his way to the coast, away from the lava, with Delia and Luke following at a hasty pace.

"How do we stop the lava?" Delia inquired, holding on to the hope that it would be stopped. There had to be a way, for those on the side of good to win, there always was.

"There's nothing that can be done about that, all we can do is set up an investigation to find out who's responsible. We can head for Viridian City after that, until we get a lead," Giovanni concluded, giving the volcano one last bitter glance.

Delia looked back as well, though she kept following Giovanni, "yes, there is something," she stopped, "there's always something that can be done. Think about it!" Delia tried to find the right words, the way to phrase the situation that would convince Giovanni to do something about it, a way to make him see it was necessary. "If we let this happen, the attackers will think that Team Rocket is powerless to stop them and they'll keep doing things like this. Wasn't there a construction on this island that's part of the new business Team Rocket has been expanding into? It will be destroyed over and over again, because even if we catch the culprits, more will join the opposition knowing they can do some damage."

Delia's argument caught Giovanni's attention and he saw the truth in her logic. He looked back at the lava advancing slowly and at the burning buildings at the foot of the volcano, "water, ground, flying and anything big and strong, fire would be resistant to the heat, all of them could make a difference."

"Like what?" Luke was confused and so was Delia for a moment.

Giovanni then spoke into his cell phone, setting it to target all Team Rocket individual communication devices within a reasonable range to make it in time. He sent a signal with his exact location while explaining the plan, "this is Giovanni; everyone is ordered to report to the location in this tracking signal immediately. The explosion at the volcano was a challenge against Team Rocket, but we'll turn this attack into a useless effort. The water pokemon will put the fire out and after that's done they'll help cool the lava that escaped. The ground pokemon will use the terrain to contain the lava and stop it from advancing. Any pokemon that are strong enough to climb up the volcano carrying rocks will cover the flow of lava at the opening on the volcano's side; flying pokemon will cover the opening with rocks thrown from above."

"Cloyster, Kingler, let's put the fire out, water gun!" Delia sent out her pokemon urgently.

Luke released his pokemon as well, "Poliwrath, Tentacruel, like totally water gun that fire out, dudes!"

"Golem stop the lava from going any further," Golem focused his power in making the earth lift in a small wall, little by little in front of the lava, causing it's flow to be temporarily contained. The lava was certainly dangerous, though not too liquid so it was very slow. "Machamp, Rhydon, go up the volcano and fill up the opening with rocks."

Machamp and Rhydon ran up the volcano's side carrying rocks from those that had fallen after the explosions. The opening was big, but they got to work immediately trying to cover it up. Unfortunately, the rocks were carried away by the lava and at the foot of the volcano Golem was having trouble keeping up with the increasing amount of lava.

A team of local Blastoise arrived, the presence of the firefighters and the police made Giovanni consider abandoning the scene, but he reminded himself that he was not on the run, Team Rocket was too strong for that and he was too proud to hide. If he left after answering to the challenge, it would be the same as losing.

Several undercover members of Team Rocket arrived; releasing their pokemon and having them follow the established plan adding Beedrill, Spearow, Golbat, Golduck, Primeape and Vaporeon to the team. Along with the four Blastoise from the Cinnabar Island fire department. The flames were controlled and kept from spreading until they were put out, but the lava was still flowing slow but steady.

"Get the water pokemon up on the volcano and have them use water gun on the rocks the others put in," Giovanni ordered, changing the strategy to stop the problem at its source.

The new plan worked, with the water helping fuse the rocks to the cooling lava, instead of letting them be carried away. The pokemon continued the same process until the opening on the volcano's side was completely sealed. The rocks were held in place long enough to fuse into a solid wall with the lava's heat on the inside and being cooled from the outside to stay in place.

The final step was to make sure the lava that had escaped was fully contained, which the pokemon did, piling rocks in its path and using the same strategy to make the lava fuse them together. With the situation under control, the water pokemon focused on cooling the lava, to help it become solid faster, but the emergency had passed and the Blastoise could finish the job on their own.

"Call back the pokemon, we're done here. Everyone has the new mission of investigating who caused this," Giovanni ordered. The Team Rocket members quickly obeyed, recalling their pokemon into their pokeballs and hurrying away in separate directions. Giovanni left towards the port, followed by Delia.

The police didn't try to stop the trainers as they left, there were rumors about Team Rocket's influence on Cinnabar Island, but there was not enough proof and business was being carried out carefully, besides, they had been of vital help.

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As the ship left Cinnabar Island's port, Delia looked back at the helicopter sitting motionless near the coast. She wondered if it had really been sabotaged, she was looking at it, thinking about the recent turn of events, when an explosive went off on the helicopter, causing a chain reaction with its fuel tank that lead to a large blast. The ship was far enough not to be damaged, but a few near by buildings caught on fire from the flaming pieces that were thrown at them.

Delia stared at the fire as it became a small light in the distance as the ship sped towards the sea, the Blastoise from the fire department were exhausted but mercilessly fought against the flames until they were extinguished. "Someone is trying to kill us," Delia whispered in a voice so soft it was inaudible. Who could possibly hate Team Rocket enough to do this? The organization had its faults, but it wasn't that bad, at least she liked to believe it wasn't.

Giovanni was, understandably, in a very bad mood. Someone dared to challenge Team Rocket, to make an attempt on his life and had gotten so close to it. He was glad he had fully answered the challenge instead of going right to the search for the culprit. Now that had become his new priority, to find out who did this and get revenge. It would be known how dangerous it was to pick a fight with Team Rocket.

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Delia and Giovanni returned to Viridian City, an investigation was already on its way to find out who was behind the attack. Luke had stayed in Cinnabar Island to investigate, Leah should have been there too, but Delia didn't see her during the emergency, she hoped Leah was alright, maybe she was with Han.

Delia's cell phone rang and it was Luke according to the display, she wondered if he had found any important clues and why he wasn't reporting to Giovanni if that was the case. She answered immediately, "hello?"

"Delia, I have to like tell you something, you know?" Luke sounded more afraid than Delia had ever heard him. "Are you like alone?"

A few minutes ago she had gone off to check on the pokemon at the Viridian headquarters while Giovanni continued his duties commanding the team and overseeing the investigation despite the distance. "Other than the pokemon, yes, what is it?" The need for so much secrecy puzzled Delia greatly.

"Don't like get mad, you know? It's just that I like know who attacked," Luke was worried, guilty and terrified, he was at a loss of what to do, how to make things right, what choice to make...

"It's okay, you can tell me," Delia encouraged him, feeling the tension in his voice and trying to hide her own.

"It was like Han, my twin, you know?" Luke confessed.

"Why?" Delia was in disbelief, she expected what Luke had to say to be shocking, but she never expected this, "why did he do that?"

"He said Team Rocket is like evil, but he like wants to talk to you. Leah convinced him, you know? Dudette, you like have to come! You need to like talk some sense into Han, if he like challenges Giovanni it'll be like totally bad. Please Delia, like save him!" Luke begged.

Her eyes were wide; her face froze with open mouthed shock, her hand trembled gripping the small cell phone, "where are you?"

"We're like still in Cinnabar Island; no one like knows who caused the explosions, you know? Please dudette, totally keep it like a secret!" Luke emphasized the need for secrecy; he knew the consequences would be dire for Han, Leah and himself if Giovanni found out.

"I understand, I'll be there," after the call ended, though she had given her word to keep the secret, Delia thought it would be foolish to throw herself into the hands of a would-be murderer, even if he was Luke's brother.

Perhaps Han was the evil twin like in a movie, or the amnesia he suffered had resulted in him developing an entirely different personality, a terrible one. Delia feared for Luke and Leah's safety. Maybe the reason Leah didn't answer the call to all the Team Rocket members in the area during the emergency was because she was being held hostage. The theories haunted Delia as she ran to inform Giovanni. He would come up with a plan, he would save them all; Delia was sure she could rely on him.

xoxox xox xoxox

The investigation team was working on compiling a list of suspects to blame for the attack, among them people who had initially been against the construction project on Cinnabar Island, people who for various reasons held a grudge against Team Rocket and current members who had originally belonged to other gangs. Of course, the real culprit was not on that list, only a few had learned that Han Eisley, alias Noel, was still alive.

"Giovanni, I need to talk to you, now," Delia was discrete but urgent, her tone sharp and worried.

"Keep working on that list," Giovanni left the investigation team to their task, following Delia down the hall, until they were away from anyone else. "This better be important."

"It is, I just got a call from Luke, he thinks Han was behind the attack, I thought it was suspicious, he might have Leah hostage," Delia revealed, "don't blame Luke; I'm sure he never saw that coming."

Giovanni took a moment to process this new information, "who is Han?"

"Luke's twin brother, who was thought to be dead, but actually had amnesia and left Cinnabar Island to start a new life. He was recently reunited with Luke and Leah. Luke wanted me to go to Cinnabar Island and try to talk Han into backing off, because he knows he doesn't stand a chance against Team Rocket. What are we going to do if he really does have Leah hostage? She was there in Cinnabar Island but she wasn't there during the volcano emergency, it has to be because Han stopped her and you should have heard how nervous and scared Luke was." Terrible theories formed in Delia's mind and her worries showed on her face.

"Stay calm," Giovanni thought about what she had revealed, it was a lot of information to receive so suddenly. He focused; his expression analytical, while the little Meowth perched on his shoulder remained confused with the conversation.

"You're right," Delia took a deep breath, "we can handle this, everything will be fine," she continued trying to convince herself of that, as she always did.

Luke had not given Giovanni the report, instead sneaking behind his back and trying to make Delia walk into a trap. That was unexpected, and unforgivable, "are you sure that was Luke who called you?"

"Positive, it was his number, his voice and who wouldn't recognize his style of speech? That was definitely Luke talking, but I don't think he's a traitor," Delia insisted, convinced that Luke was a victim to the situation.

"He tried to cover for the culprit and lead you to a trap, he is a traitor," Giovanni would not forgive Luke for this betrayal, even if he was a part of Team Rocket since the beginning, perhaps especially because of that.

"Leah might be a hostage and evil or not, Han is Luke's twin brother. He was there during the Volcano Princess act at the flame festival, Han was the Magmar who told the story and the other was Luke," Delia revealed. "Those were Han's Flareon, how could he train pokemon so well and be so evil?" Delia had always believed pokemon to be good, and if they participated in wrongful acts they must be being forced. She thought pokemon wouldn't want to willingly follow a trainer who was truly evil.

From Giovanni's point of view that didn't help make the situation look any better for Luke, who had been playing at the festival instead of being out on a mission. It didn't hit him until then, the possibility of Team Rocket's size making it easy for certain members to become traitors and get away with it unnoticed until it was too late. Giovanni couldn't trust them, not the way he used to; he couldn't trust any of them.

"Giovanni?" Delia observed his bitter expression with worry, but he must be coming up with a plan, he had to.

"We'll draw them out; learn their plans, how many allies they have, as much information as possible, then we'll capture them all." After thinking about it, Giovanni concluded no one would be daring enough to attempt such an attack alone, but he also had no specific idea of who Han's followers could be, aside from the long list of people who held a grudge against Team Rocket, but there was no proof against them yet.

"Infiltration?" Delia summoned all her courage, "I'll do it!" The recent danger had been very real, but Delia was convinced she would be alright. She trusted that Giovanni and Team Rocket would protect her and her friends.

To be Continued

Disclaimer, I don't own Pokemon.