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Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 51: Give me Communication

Ash, Lando and the Waterflower sisters were at the Vermilion City hospital, when Ash received Brock's call. "I have to go," Ash suddenly exclaimed, taking everyone by surprise. "Thanks for telling me Brock, I'm on my way," he ended the call before Brock could say anything more. "Let's go Pikachu," he picked up the yellow electric pokemon, glanced meaningfully at Misty and rushed out of the room.

"Ash, what's going on?" Misty hurried out of Lando's room after him. Lando's head was finally starting to clear up for real. He and the Waterflower sisters were worried and perplexed by Ash's sudden reaction.

"I don't know, but Brock just called me saying mom's in trouble," Ash hastily explained in alarm. Misty was walking beside him down the hall towards the elevator. "I don't really understand, but it looks like Team Rocket is involved." A theory occurred to Ash, "maybe Team Rocket is behind the false accusations to Giovanni. They must be trying to frame him for something and mom got caught in the middle of that."

Ash slammed his finger repeatedly against the elevator's button. Daisy watched from the door to Lando's room up the hall. Violet was standing mid way down the hall and hurried to Ash and Misty. "Everything will be alright," Misty reassured more so to Ash than her sisters. "I'll call later." The elevator finally opened and Ash and Misty got in leaving the other Waterflower sisters to stay at the Vermilion hospital.

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In Pallet Town, Gary rushed into his grandfather's house. The elderly professor Oak was fast asleep sitting on the couch in front of the TV, which displayed a documentary about pokemon. "I'm going to track down an evil Rocket and protect Pallet Town. I might not be back for a while," Gary rushed past his grandfather and got six of his pokemon from the lab. He ran out again as he hastily explained.

Professor Oak drowsily woke up at the voice. It puzzled him how Gary could be so energetic after staying up all night dealing with that loud mouth insomniac Electabuzz. He didn't quite catch what his grandson was saying, but Gary was already out the door before he could inquire about it. The young seemed to have an infinite supply of energy.

xoxox xox xoxox

On the road from Pallet to Viridian a voice called out, "Pixel!" Upon hearing her nickname, Pixel stopped running. She looked at the expensive neon-cyan colored convertible car that stopped on the side of the road next to her.

The hood of the car was up and the windows were tinted like mirrors. The driver soon lowered the mirror glass and Pixel immediately recognized her. "Akira?" She was surprised to see Akira there, despite being unaware of her connections to the incident in Vermilion City.

"Get in, I don't think you should be running around in plain sight with all that's been going on," Akira invited.

"Thanks," Pixel got into the passenger's seat and Akira continued on her way. "Some guy saw me in Pallet Town. I don't think he had any pokemon, that's how I managed to get away. Don't tell anyone about that. I was looking for someone who escaped from the boss' mansion. Have you seen a woman with long brown hair around here?"

"I haven't," Akira's voice was monotonous, rather than cheerful as it usually was. "Have you seen a little dark green car?"

"No..." Pixel observed her friend, "are you worried about Team Rocket?" She would think Akira of all people would be able to handle the pressure. Pixel perceived her as being very brave.

"I lost them," Akira frowned, "listen Pixel, I don't want you involved so I'm just going to drop you off at HQ." She drove towards Viridian City in a hurry.

"What's going on?" Something was wrong with Akira, Pixel could guess that much. It was more than just stress.

"I can't tell you," Akira admitted, "there are some things I'm going to do that the boss may not approve of. I don't care, I want them dead."

"What?" The situation was obviously more serious than Pixel had imagined, "who?"

"I've said too much as it is," Akira went silent, her expression a mix of frustration, anger and sadness.

"Akira," Pixel insisted, "what are you planning? Why are you doing this? You're not one of them are you? One of the traitors?"

Akira gripped the steering wheel tightly, "don't even think of it. They are the ones I'm going to kill," despite having intended to remain silent, it was all too much to keep bottled up. "Don't you see? The boss isn't going to kill them because he needs someone to blame. He'll capture them and they'll take the blame. Then Team Rocket will be off the hook, but that's not enough for me!"

"I don't think it will be that simple," Pixel quietly voiced, "but why do you want them dead? I know you really like Team Rocket. If you just said they are necessary, then why?"

"It's not about Team Rocket!" Akira growled, "it's about Mirta and revenge. They killed Mirta so I'll kill them. She was the only one who knew, the only one who could tell me. In the end, she left me with only a small clue, but it doesn't matter anymore. Mirta raised me and protected me. She had a reason to keep me in the orphanage for so many years. She feared I would be discovered, but I still don't fully understand what that means. When I was a teenager I decided to leave. I wanted to live my life, but I couldn't let go of my past." Akira stopped; they were just outside Viridian City. Abundant tears ran down her face and her vision was a blur.

"Akira..." Pixel didn't know what to do to comfort her friend. She couldn't even make sense of the things Akira was saying.

"That's not my name," Akira whispered almost inaudibly. Her hands still gripped the steering wheel, her forehead resting on top of it. She felt Pixel's hand on her shoulder but could draw no comfort from it. What Akira wanted the most was to understand her origin. She feared she would never obtain it. "It's just a name my agent gave me," he adopted her, but he could not be called a father. "Secura, my real name is Secura. It mean's 'to heal', Mirta was a very hopeful person. She thought everything could be healed in time. She kept me at the orphanage to protect me. She didn't really explain much about it. She only gave me a clue; she told me my mother was a Rocket."

In the sky above Akira's car, Gary flew away riding on his Pidgeot. He saw a few cars below. Among them there was a very brightly colored one in neon-cyan that stood out. He didn't see the Rocket girl anywhere. He didn't want to go further away from Pallet Town; it would be left unguarded without him. Gary resolved to return to town for the time being. She got away, but he would capture her if she returned.

xoxox xox xoxox

At Pewter City, Delia was looking out the window at Rock On. She watched as Giovanni's car stopped in front of the structure and he got out. She was opening the front door before he had time to get within a few feet of it. Brock had been asking questions as delicately and casually as he could and Delia had been giving him excuses. She didn't want to reveal anything that might get him involved in Team Rocket's problems.

"What happened to you?" Giovanni paused in front of the door. Delia was clearly in a hurry to leave, it made everything all the more suspicious.

She had changed out of her torn clothes, now wearing jeans and a yellow t-shirt. The clothes were borrowed from Yolanda, one of Brock's sisters. However, despite having gotten cleaned up, she still had her bruises from her battle to escape her kidnappers. "I'll explain on the way." She glanced back inside where Brock stood, looking concerned and worried. "Everything is fine now, sorry to barge in on you like that. Just forget it ever happened," Delia gave him a bright smile, though it was obviously forced.

Giovanni began to silently theorize about the situation. The young man at Rock On was the same one he had seen with Ash before. It solidified his theory that Delia was being used by the enemy. She didn't do her job of spying on him and getting information, so they hurt her. He watched her get into the passenger seat of his car with Persian jumping on her lap to be petted. Giovanni paused, typed a small message into his little cell phone and sent it, hoping that it made it through the system despite its recent malfunctions.

He felt a different kind of anger towards the enemies. With the suspicion that the one at Rock On had hurt Delia it took every ounce of will power he had not to march in there for an immediate violent vengeance. Such rash actions would only bring trouble for Team Rocket, for himself, and for Delia. Delia didn't see the message and she didn't think too much of it when she saw Giovanni typing something in his cell phone. Soon after, he shut it off again.

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At the Viridian Rocket base, Laiki received an email marked as high priority. A small icon on the bottom right of her computer screen next to the time flashed to alert her of it. She opened the email immediately, realizing it was from Giovanni. First there was a password composed of random letters and numbers. The password was correct confirming that this was a real order from Giovanni. If he was putting her on field duty it meant he got tired of waiting for her to figure things out. The thought frustrated her as an information gatherer, but she was at least trusted with a mission. At least that proved that the boss knew she wasn't a traitor.

Next to the password there was the order, 'code red, Rock On, Pewter, plan 3'. Translated, the spy movie style gibberish meant that an establishment called Rock On located in Pewter City was discovered to be an enemy base. It had to be secretly taken over. The order required immediate action, thus Laiki left her theories for later. She got ready to put a squad together and storm Rock On. She knew she better not mess up that mission. Field work was not her forte, but she wouldn't have to worry about combat if she was well armed.

A few minutes later Laiki was in the weapons storage room when Pixel rushed in looking for her, "Laiki!"

Laiki tried to even her breathing and heartbeats, which jumped in speed when she was startled. "Don't pop out of nowhere like that, especially when I'm holding a bazooka!" She scolded, setting the bazooka aside. She was in good shape in terms of looks, but her fighting capabilities were that of an average person, she needed to be armed. "What are you doing here? Did something happen? Who were you chasing? Did anyone see you come to HQ?" Laiki took another look at the bazooka. She decided it was too large to work given the secrecy of the mission, plus it was uncomfortably heavy. "Now that I think about it, how did you get inside this room?"

"I know all the pass codes for the Viridian HQ. I took them from the system with Prism's help back when I was in hacking training. Don't tell anyone, it's not like I've done anything bad with this information," Pixel hurriedly excused herself. She then replied to the rest of Laiki's questions in a similar rush. "I was chasing Delia; the boss had her locked up in his mansion. She got away and I lost track of her. Some guy from Pallet Town saw me, but I got away from him. No one saw me come into HQ. Akira gave me a ride and dropped me off in the forest so I rushed over here through one of the secret doors."

"Delia? Akira?" Laiki froze, almost dropping the revolver she held. "You know where they are? You've spoken to them recently?"

Laiki's tone hinted to Pixel that she was aware that something must be going on. Maybe she had some answers, "yes, Akira is heading to Saffron City. She must be passing through Pewter City by now. I don't really understand what's going on, but Akira was a mess. She kept saying something about getting revenge for Mirta. She said her mother was a Rocket and that her real name was Secura."

"Mirta was killed in the Vermilion City attack," Laiki began to explain. "She worked at the orphanage. That's where Akira or Secura grew up. The name is not really a secret, though I'm already used to calling her Akira. Mirta raised Akira so I can understand that she wants revenge. If she does something, it'll be troublesome for Team Rocket. Things are already a big enough mess. As for her mother being a Rocket, I have no idea who her parents could be."

"I didn't know Akira grew up there. So that's what she meant when she said the boss wouldn't kill them because he needed someone to blame. It was about the fake Rockets." Pixel concluded. "She also mentioned looking for a little green car."

Laiki had been staying up to date with the news through the internet. "There was an accident involving a green car that crashed into a store in Pewter City. A Rocket was arrested after he started trying to shoot an unknown woman who ran out of the car after the accident. His accomplice got away. I didn't have time to wait for visuals. I only read the bulletin before they published anything else. I'm not sure what the people looked like, just that two of them were dressed as Rockets."

Laiki continued, "where is Delia now? How much does Akira know? I thought she was in Vermilion, what business does she have in Saffron?" Laiki could feel the beginnings of a strong headache. "When I last saw the boss, he was heading to the mansion to interrogate Delia. Something needs to be done about Akira and the communication system is still malfunctioning. I also have a mission to tend to... too many things at once!"

Laiki took a deep breath. "I have to go on my mission, but I can't leave the base to fall apart. I'll get my teammates and go. But before that, I'll help you round up a squad here too. You can clean up the base. I'm beginning to suspect that the ones who are supposed to be cleaning the viruses off our satellite mainframe are taking too long. It's too suspicious, no more of that innocent until proven guilty stuff. We can't wait for the boss to do everything; we'll have to show him we're capable agents."

"Clean up?" It was chasing Delia which made Pixel run into Akira. That led her to return to the Viridian headquarters and placed her into her current position. From that point on, the chain of events that made her regain her confidence would be inevitably set into motion. If not for getting locked up with Delia, Pixel would be on break and half way to Cerulean City in a taxi to attend a sci-fi convention.

"You don't have a choice. The boss gave me an important mission and I have to go, but things can't be left as they are here." Determined, Laiki exited the weapons storage room.

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After leaving Rock On, Giovanni and Delia were on the road to Cerulean City. He intended for Delia to stay there, if he could get her to stay in one place. "Don't run away again, you're just going to get hurt," he warned. "After this, I don't think you'll want to cooperate with them anymore."

"Cooperate with who?" Delia had caught a glimpse of the deadly glare Giovanni had given Brock. She saw how Brock paled as if Giovanni was draining away his very life with his eyes. "You're not trying to say you think Brock hurt me, are you? It's not like that."

"Then who did?" Giovanni inquired urgently.

"After I escaped from your mansion two people dressed in Team Rocket uniforms came to find me. At first I thought they were real Rockets that were taking me to you. After I got into their car I realize they were not real Rockets. I tried to escape from the car when they stopped at a traffic light. I caught them by surprise because they thought they still had me fooled. I guess that's why the man didn't have time to use his gun at that point," Delia realized.

"You were kidnapped by armed traitors?" Giovanni didn't know the situation was like that. He didn't think the traitors would go after Delia, let alone in such a way.

"Yes, but I got away." Delia explained, "when I tried to escape the man who was in the back of the car with me stopped me. I managed to throw the door open and yell for help. The people on the street realized I was being kidnapped. The woman driving tried to get away before the police was alerted."

Delia continued, "I kept trying to get the man to let me go and was finally able to grab the woman's hair. I pulled it as hard as I could. She was driving really fast and lost control of the car. She crashed into a store and the man and I felt the impact in the back of the car too. Fortunately, other then a few bruises and cuts there were no big injuries. I escaped thanks to the crash and ran across the street from side to side. I was trying to lose those two between the cars. That's when I realized that man was armed. He started shooting at me and hit a few cars. I don't think anyone got injured, but there was a lot of property damage."

"Jenny arrived and sent out her Arcanine. Arcanine attacked the man, but I kept running. When I finally looked back, the woman wasn't chasing me anymore. She must have given up after the police showed up. I didn't want to be taken in for questioning so I hid at Rock On. Brock doesn't know anything, so please don't get him mixed up in this. He's a good boy and I don't want him to be in unnecessary danger," Delia's face was filled with worry. She could almost feel the rush of adrenaline returning to her. This time she was all too conscious of the fact that she wasn't an invincible vigilante.

Giovanni took in all the information. He was not fully conscious about how his expression had turned into a grin for a moment, before becoming serious again. "I almost forgot that you are capable of defending yourself well. That was still very dangerous. What about Team Rockets enemies, what can you tell me about them?"

"Nothing, I honestly don't know what in the world is going on!" Delia emphasized, "why have you been acting so strange?"

"You're not a spy," Giovanni realized, "you just have bad timing. Is that all? It doesn't make sense."

"You're the one who's not making any sense," Delia argued.

"I'm having problems with some traitors. You happen to show up with some secret information to give me concerning Ash, but you didn't tell me in the end. It was all too suspicious, enough games, tell me the truth. Is Ash involved with Team Rocket's enemies? That man from Rock On was with Ash before, is he involved in this? Is the redhead girl in it too?" Giovanni finally asked all the questions directly, looking completely serious.

"It's not like that," Delia was shocked, "Team Rocket has tried to steal Ash's pokemon in the past. They have tried to cause trouble and he stopped them, but that's just because he was there. He was involved without trying. It's not like he goes around picking a fight with Team Rocket. He definitely would never be involved in anything like what happened in Vermilion City. Don't you even dare think that way of him!"

Delia felt as if her voice was being choked by a pain in her heart. She pushed herself to continue, "is that why you asked me to stay with you? You thought I was trying to cause trouble? You thought I was trying to do something that would harm you? Is that what it was all about? Obtaining information from me, that's all you wanted? I don't know what's worse, that you used me or that you thought I would try to hurt you... No, the worse thing is that you thought such terrible things of Ash. He's completely innocent. My timing was bad, this is... terrible," Delia finished in a whisper.

To be Continued

Disclaimer, I don't own Pokemon. Secura doesn't actually mean 'to heal', but 'se cura' means 'it heals' in Spanish so it's close enough. If you have a minute, vote for your favroite Rocket OC in the poll on my profile.