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Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 94: Give me Reliability

In the parking of the Viridian City gym, Ash's Charizard had just landed near Giovanni. Ash was still on the pokemon's back as he revealed the unexpected dilemma. "Mom's been kidnapped! It was some guy with red hair; I couldn't get a good look at him. He moved so fast, it's like he wasn't even human! I lost them in the forest."

The description fit perfectly, Ash had probably seen number ten. He had been taken by Iblis and might think of Delia as his target, even if he was more wild than rational. "I'll find them," just as Giovanni took his little Rocket cell phone, it rang in his hand. "Is this about Delia and ten?" He immediately asked, then listened to the report from the hidden cameras in the forest. "Don't let him get away!" Another call interrupted, Giovanni noticed on the cell phone screen that it was from Comet, marked as urgent.

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The crew wagon of the Antilles Oceanus train was quite comfortable. It was large and had plenty of space for the crew's belongings, snacks and so on. It had a couple of tables in the corner with cushioned booths to sit at. Pixel was taking the train to attend a conference in Cerulean City. Misty had boarded with her to return home. She was allowed in because of the link the Waterflowers now secretly shared with Team Rocket. Either way, the cargo of the above ground train held no secrets.

Coincidentally, Jessie and James were on the train as well. They were heading back to Saffron City so they would remain on board past the Cerulean City stop. They would have to wait for the crew to take care of business with the cargo at Cerulean, but it didn't really matter. They had come armed with a handheld videogame, a deck of cards and enough snacks for the journey. Besides, it was free transportation and free things were not to be wasted.

Laiki had gone off to visit Rex and Comet had decided to take a walk around Viridian City before returning to headquarters. He saw the bridge at the edge of the city under which the train would soon pass. He heard the engine as the train started moving out of Viridian City. It wouldn't fully speed up until it was out of the forest area. Coming from the thick forest, Comet spotted a most shocking sight. A man with red hair, holding some significant physical resemblance to himself was running with an unconscious Delia thrown over his shoulder. She had hit her head on a low hanging tree branch during number ten's get away.

Number ten froze upon seeing Comet running towards him. There was something about that particular human that seemed too familiar and it frightened him. Normally, his first instinct would be to destroy, but the woman he carried... there was a mental order telling him to take her to someone, except he didn't know where. The remnants of Iblis attempt of hypnotism were blurry. Then there was that man running towards him, there was something different yet familiar about him. Number ten didn't like it, he had to get away. He jumped off the bridge and landed on top of the passing train below.

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Outside of the Viridian gym, "I found ten, he had Delia, they're on Gallade," Comet's voice came from Giovanni's cell phone sounding as if he was running as he spoke. The name of the train was the Green Gallade.

"Don't lose track of them!" Giovanni urged, "I'll be there soon." He sent a signal for his agents to head to the location.

"Did they find mom? Are they getting her back? Where is she?" Ash questioned. It was odd to think of his mother as being safe if she was with Team Rocket.

"Not too far from here," Giovanni released Flygon from his pokeball and jumped on his back, "let's go."

"Right!" Ash followed Giovanni and Flygon on Charizard as they headed towards the train's tracks, following them to the train ahead.

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In the forest-like area surrounding Giovanni's mansion between Viridian City and Victory Road, Purry and Persian were facing the legendary Bloody Killer. After so many years had past, he no longer possessed all the power he became known for, even if he was still a very deadly opponent. The being growled and went on the attack again. Purry didn't think twice before jumping at the mutant creature with her claws bare. If he managed to push her away, she would get up and fight again.

'This is insane, what is that thing?' Persian was really regretting having gone out for a walk. He would find a way to communicate what had happened to his father. When he found out he would have all of Team Rocket out there to avenge him.

Upon thinking about the situation further, Persian remembered certain things he overheard while half paying attention to the conversations Giovanni was having. That thing was one of the monsters Team Rocket was trying to capture. While the scruffy servant pokemon kept that creature busy, Persian would go and get help. More importantly, he would get someone to prepare a bubble bath for him and sponge off all the filth that stuck to his fur as a result of his annoying little adventure.

With that plan in mind, Persian was about to follow his earlier decision of locating the mansion and running towards it as fast as he could. His dash was interrupted by Purry being thrown several feet away from her opponent, in front of Persian's path. Persian looked back at where the Bloody Killer was wiping away the blood that had fallen in his eyes from the scratches on his head. He seemed unable to completely open one of his eyes.

'Why are you still here?' Purry hissed, getting up once more despite her bruised state. She stumbled upon realizing that one of her hind legs was broken.

Persian shook his head, 'undignified uncivilized-'

'Move!' Purry tackled Persian out of the way of the Bloody Killer's charge.

'Get off,' he growled, one more look at the wild creature that came towards them again was enough to make him stop arguing and climb up the nearest tree.

Purry followed him up the tree, using mostly her front paws to get herself up. Number three was beginning to show signs of fatigue as he tried to climb up the tree and slipped back down. 'Look, we can see the mansion from up here,' she pointed at the portion of the structure's roof that was visible amidst the trees. 'I'll distract him and you can make a run for it.' She paused and glared, 'and I'm not a servant pokemon.'

'Of course you are,' Persian spoke smugly. He wasn't used to being in danger. The situation felt unreal, since he was accustomed to always being by Giovanni's side. Persian thought of his father as the most powerful human in the world, with many humans and pokemon at his command. He was always safe. 'Why else would you be doing all this?'

The Bloody Killer charged at the tree as if trying to knock it down. The tree, which was not one of the thickest around, shook every time the mutant collided with it. It's not like the two pokemon had time to be picky about which tree they climbed. Seeing the blood lust in the mutant's half closed glare, Persian could almost feel his strong grip again. The feeling of danger returned to him and he could no longer push it away. He was always safe with his father, but his father wasn't there.

'Because I... um... I kind of like you,' Purry admitted. This wasn't what she wanted. She was supposed to have evolved into a beautiful Persian before her beloved saw her. There she was, stuck in a tree, looking her worse, with a murderous monster trying to kill them; that was certainly not a romantic setting.

'Don't be ridiculous,' Persian growled as he moved through the branches, looking for the best way to jump to a different tree. He saw a steady branch and walked onto it, then jumped to a neighboring tree. That tree was larger and much sturdier than the first. 'I'm a high class pokemon, my father is the boss of Team Rocket, you have no right to say something like that.'

'Maybe not,' Purry jumped from the relatively small tree to the larger one, trying not to further damage her broken leg. She winced in pain, but refused to cry out, quickly regaining a serious face. 'Right now, like it or not, I'm your only hope. I'm not doing this because I have to, I don't have to and no one can make me. I'm helping you because I want to, no matter how much you may not like it, someone is having mercy on you.'

It didn't matter anymore, even if by some miracle she evolved into a beautiful Persian, he had already seen her at her worse. He would not forget this, he would always think of her as a monster. She felt her eyes water, but this was no time to cry, it was time to fight. Maybe she could allow herself one last indulgence before she accepted the reality, she would never have him. It was just one last little pleasure, one that he would never forgive her for.

Persian's eyes traveled to the growling creature at the base of the tree, trying to climb up. Number three climbed a considerable distance, but slipped off the tree and fell. As he hit the ground on his side, his arm twisted in an unnatural angle, adding to all the mistreatment it received when the mutant was ramming into the other tree. The creature growled and tried to pop his limp right arm back into place to no avail.

Persian shuddered, distracted by the monsters doings below. Then when he least expected it, the scruffy little servant pokemon was too close for comfort. He was about to harshly protest and criticize her for the invasion of his personal space. Perhaps he would even push her away despite the limited space of the tree branch they were on. However, none of those actions could be carried out fast enough. Before Persian knew what in the world was going on, Purry kissed him, then leapt off the tree.

Purry landed on three paws, keeping her broken leg from getting further damaged. The mutant stopped trying to fix his arm and went on the attack, while Purry skillfully dodged, despite the pain, even getting a few extra scratches in. Up in the tree Persian was shocked. He finally recovered enough to start yelling at the top of his lungs about the uncivilized, impulsive unworthy creature and her unforgivable actions, for which his father would certainly make her pay.

Persian's voice called the mutant's attention back to the tree. He momentarily ceased the attack on Purry and tried to climb the tree again. However, all hope of accomplishing the task had already been lost when his right arm became immobile. Number three glared at the Persian up in the tree and growled at him one more time before turning his attention to the Meowth on the ground. She wasn't where she had been a second ago.

The Bloody Killer spun around looking for his prey, only to have her jump on his head from one of the branches above. She had made good use of the distraction to climb up another tree and get ready to attack. 'Go now!' Purry hissed.

Persian knew it was his only chance to get back home and away from this mess. He would never run off on his own again. He jumped down from the tree and gracefully landed on his feet. He looked back only once, wondering why in the world that Meowth fought so hard. She should know she was a low ranked servant pokemon and that she would be so, no matter what she did. It didn't make sense to him that she would try so hard if she claimed she didn't feel she had to, why would she want to? What did she hope to accomplish if he had clearly already rejected her? He decided not to try to make sense of that stubborn Meowth's strange behavior and just get out of there. He ran in the direction of the mansion as fast as he could.

After Persian was gone, Purry had her paws full with the fight. The Bloody Killer was clearly tired, his left eye remained closed and his right arm didn't move. None the less, he kept throwing punches and kicks desperately, as if he rather rip himself to pieces than let all of his prey escape. He had already lost one of them and that was too much. The mutant's right fist collided with the base of a tree as Purry dodge the hit. He tried to kick her and succeeded in reaching her as she dashed to the side. She was thrown several feet back out of breath with a few broken ribs.

The momentum of the hard kick was too much and the mutant stumbled to the ground, his head hitting a rock. He took the bloodied rock, not caring about his injuries, and threw it. Purry rolled out of the way of the rock and further damaged her ribs with the sudden movement. The mutant was trying to get back on his feet. His ankle, which he had twisted earlier when he fell off the tree, finally gave in and broke as he placed his weight on it while trying to get up. The creature screamed loudly and panted heavily. He would have his prey even if it killed him.

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Not too far from the battle of mutant versus pokemon, Rex was searching for Persian. If Giovanni found out his precious pokemon disappeared from the mansion, the entire staff would be in big trouble. He didn't exactly disappear though, he was caught by the security cameras jumping over the fence and leaving. That new PorygonZ that began to inhabit the system for additional security let him go, understanding that the master's favored pokemon was free to go in and out as he pleased. The PorygonZ, codenamed Quartz, informed Rex of Persian's departure by showing him the images on the screen when the butler inquired about it.

There were also other PorygonZ that had recently begun to inhabit the Rocket security systems for constant live monitoring against hackers and viruses. The idea was inspired by Prism, who was currently a Porygon2 partnered with Pixel. The main PorygonZ of the Viridian Rocket base was codenamed Ruby. Ruby, Quartz and all the other Rocket system PorygonZ answered to the leader PorygonZ, Diamond. Diamond's color was predominantly blue were PorygonZ were usually pink. The pokemon was constantly trained and given new data to keep it ahead of all other technology outside of Team Rocket. Diamond inhabited the main Rocket satellite in orbit.

"Persian! Persian!" Rex called out as he searched the forest area surrounding the mansion. "Persian, please come back!"

Laiki had gone to visit Rex and arrived to find the mansion staff in a panic because Persian was out on his own. Annoyed that her date was ruined, she joined Rex in the search. "He's not a baby," she insisted, trying to soothe his seemingly purposeless panic. "Persian's a big boy. He can go for a walk on his own and come back on his own just fine. He was probably fed up with everyone getting in his face all the time."

As Laiki was trying to calm Rex, Persian bolted towards them from between some bushes. "Persian, he's injured!" Rex rushed towards the pokemon followed by Laiki.

"He's not injured," she concluded after a quick examination to the precious pokemon. "He's just a bit dirty and a little bruised and scratched, but not really what I would call injured. I'm sure he'll look a lot better after a nice warm bath."

Loud noises were heard from near by, "that sounds like a fight, do you think it was wild pokemon that got him into this state?" Rex inquired and Persian hissed, saying something in his own language.

Laiki interpreted Persian's attempt at communication in her own way, "I guess so and it looks like someone wants vengeance. Hitmonchan could use some exercise." Laiki released her pokemon from his pokeball and pointed forward in the direction from where Persian had come, "charge!" She ran ahead followed by Hitmonchan, who was quick to catch up and take the lead.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Rex followed them, along with a vexed and curious Persian.

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Purry had been fighting the mutant the entire time Persian was gone. The urban legend just didn't give up even if he was clearly exhausted. His breathing was harsh and labored and his movements were getting clumsier. Even so, he was still strong, but Purry was determined to win. With a final burst of power, the Meowth glowed brightly as her body began to change. She was larger though still slightly smaller than Giovanni's Persian. All her pain and injuries were gone and her bones had somehow mended.

Purry had feared that evolution wouldn't turn her into a refined creature and thus unconsciously held back. Now she had nothing to lose, evolution or not, she had already been rejected as she was not born high classed. She had nothing left to fear and let the power surround her in a burst of energy and light. After spending time with Peachy, Purry had mastered a few electric attacks. With a bright light and powerful atmosphere, she released a massive thunderbolt that finally knocked out number three.

Some rustling in the bushes were heard and a Hitmonchan arrived. A voice called out, "wait for me," alerting Purry that a human was approaching. Neither the pokemon nor the human were strangers to Purry. That Hitmonchan was Laiki's pokemon, so it must be her who was following after him. Maybe Persian was with her, but Purry didn't want to face him again, she had resolved to give up on him.

The next one to emerge from the vegetation was Persian himself. As if answering to her well practiced secret stalker reflexes, Purry immediately ran for cover. He saw her as she dashed away and she thought she heard him say something, but she didn't stop.

Laiki arrived at the scene, "don't run off without your trainer like that, Chan," she was about to say something to Persian who had also run ahead, but stopped upon seeing the unconscious mutant on the ground. She was already on the phone with headquarters when Rex caught up to the group.

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Meanwhile, Jessie, James, Misty and Pixel were in the crew wagon of the Antilles Oceanus Cargo train, Green Gallade. "Is it just me, or are we going backwards?" Misty asked as she felt the shift in movement.

"Maybe they forgot something," James offered. None of them rode that train regularly, no one except the crew did. Thus it was hard to tell if the occurrence was normal or not. Yet it seemed out of place that they would forget something and have to go back for it.

Suspicious noises were heard overhead, as if someone was running on the train's roof. "What's that?" Jessie looked up instinctively, though her eyes could add nothing to the apparent presence that her ears had perceived.

"I'll go ask," Pixel got up and left the table where the group was sitting. She headed to the control cabin and found that the conductor looked rather nervous. "Is something wrong?"

"It had to happen now," the conductor muttered.

Pixel had noticed a few crew members coming and going through the train's wagons, but thought little of it until those noises became more noticeable, closer. "What's wrong?"

"He's out there," the conductor whispered, his uniform was the standard forest green of all Antilles Oceanus employees, regardless of if they worked on land or the sea. The sea was the biggest trade route, with a train on each region that distributed the cargo that was not picked up at the ports. "A dangerous enemy of Team Rocket known as number ten. No one knows who or what he is, except of course the higher ranks. We were warned about him and recently received communication that he was here, right on top of this train. We're staying in the forest's cover until the situation is resolved. It just had to happen now when we have such an important guest on board. I'm sure you already know this, but Misty Waterflower is Ash Ketchum's fiance. He's the son of Delia, whom the boss is dating."

One set of footsteps stopped on top of the control cabin and another kept approaching, then stopped suddenly, a little further back. There was a voice and some growls, but it was too muffled by the train's structure to be understood. The train came to a full stop in the middle of the forest. "I better go out and help," Pixel went back to the crew wagon along with the conductor.

The conductor was quick to apologize, "I'm sorry for this delay, we're having a few small technical difficulties. Please don't worry; we should be on our way to Cerulean City again soon."

"Right... Jessie, James, since we're in Team Rocket and all, we should go give them a hand," Pixel hinted.

"Wait a minute," Misty found the entire situation to be very suspicious, "what's really going on?"

Jessie and James looked confused, so Misty looked at Pixel for answers. The blue haired girl thought of her options for a moment then shrugged, "what's to stop you from going out and taking a look? You're on our side anyway. Have you ever heard the legend of the Bloody Killer? There's someone similar on the loose and we need to catch him. I'm off to the battle field." Without further explanations, Pixel exited the train.

Jessie and James didn't seem to know much about the situation, but remembered receiving a warning to be on the look out for a supposed criminal that was apparently on Team Rocket's black list. "Let's go, this will be our chance to do something big!" Jessie was full of determination as she rushed out of the train.

"Wait for me!" James called after her and quickly followed.

Seeing that everyone was going out, Misty rushed out as well, ignoring the conductor asking her to stay inside the train. She was still confused about the current occurrences, but came up with her own theories. If the one they were trying to capture was similar to the horrific urban legend, then that would mean he was a serial killer. She had heard about gangs being protective of their territory. Maybe he committed a crime in Team Rocket's territory and that's why they were trying to capture him. If he really was so bad he had to be stopped, it didn't matter if it was by Team Rocket or the police.

Outside of the train, a man with red hair stood atop the motionless train's engine. A few feet back was Comet. Misty gasped as she realized who the woman the criminal was holding hostage was, "Delia!" To further add to her worries, Delia seemed to be unconscious.

Giovanni spotted the train among the thick vegetation of the Viridian Forest. Flygon hurried towards the engine and stopped next to Comet. Ash followed on Charizard, stopping on Comet's other side. It seemed they were at a stand still with number ten threatening to break Delia's neck. The mutant twitched occasionally as if it was difficult to maintain his focus.

"He's losing it," Comet quietly warned, he could see it in the mutant's eyes. What little perception the creature had of the world around him was slowly fading away.

"Iblis' hypnotism must be wearing off," Giovanni reasoned. He understood that the knowledge of being surrounded would do little to tilt the situation in their favor. Giovanni's cell phone rang, causing number ten to growl.

Ash kept trying to reason with him, telling him to let his mother go. His words were lost to a being that couldn't truly understand them.

To be Continued

Disclaimer, I don't own Pokemon.