Eight and Beyond!

JayJay took the Card gently and tucked it away with his. He looked at her closely.

"I just need to know she's okay. She's my friend. I'm protective of my friends. I need answers. Noon, please don't be late" He almost whispered once more, he couldn't find his voice, and even if he could, he didn't want to use it

Luna could tell he was worried for her like she was for him. She turned around before he could see the tears on her face. She tossed the Pokeball up into the air, summoning Pigeot again. She jumped off the roof and landed on Pigeot as it flew away. When her face was out of JayJay's sight, she wiped away the tears at her face.

JayJay sighed, then called out his team for a meeting. Though he didn't speak Pokemon, they all understood each other. They would sleep on the roof tonight and meet her again at noon. He didn't know what he'd do if she didn't show. He and his Pokemon needed answers and they needed them soon. Letters would only hold them off for so long. Soon, all his Pokemon had fallen asleep and so did he

Luna returned to the headquarters. Shadow met her at the training facility as she walked down the hall.

"So..."

"So, what?"

"How'd it go?"

"He expects answers tomorrow, and I can't without speaking."

"Well, can you disguise it?"

"He'll catch it."

"I have a plan. One more night of training."

"What's that going to do?"

"You'll see."

An entire nights worth of training went by and when dawn came around she found that her voice was very hoarse. It sounded practically nothing like her real voice."

"Was this your plan?" she struggled to ask.

"Yep. Now, you've got just a few hours before you meet up with the kid. I suggest you get some sleep."

JayJay awoke much before dawn, and after he and his Pokemon ate, they began simple work-outs. After a few hours, JayJay checked his PokeGear for the time. 9:48. He put his PokeGear away. He knew he was being watched. His Pokemon knew it, too. He scanned the area and found seven Grunts hiding or trying to be in disguise all around him.

Luna awoke later that morning around eleven, giving her just enough time to grab a bite of breakfast and head out. Her voice was still hoarse, which was good news for her. When it was just five minutes to noon, she headed out to make it on time to meet up with JayJay. She was successful. Her cloak glimmered slightly under the sun.

JayJay nodded and recalled his team.

"Thank you for being here, but we need to go. There are at least seven members of Team Rocket around here watching me. I figure they're about to try and take me down. I'm in no mood for games today. Follow my lead" He said, then made his way down the building and into the crowd to obscure the vision of those watching from above. After a few minutes, he made it out to the south edge of the city and waited for her to catch up

Luna quickly caught up, taking a moment to catch her breath. It wasn't easy to run in winter clothing when the weather was fairly warm. She quickly glanced around. Though, she was sure that when the grunts spotted her they'd back off. She couldn't necessarily blame them wanting to be there for back-up.

"Is she alright?" JayJay asked, his voice a mix of softness and stone cold steady

Luna struggled a bit to maintain a portion of her voice to communicate with JayJay.

"For now," she said. "But, first of all, I think I should introduce myself while a portion of my voice remains. My name is Luna. I couldn't speak with you before because of my loss of voice, which I'm sure you can tell now. It hasn't returned, but I had hoped that I'd gain some of it back if I sent letters rather than even attempted to speak."

JayJay caught the lie like a hot potato, but ignored it. It didn't matter why she didn't talk, he at least knew her name.

"Alright, what is the puzzle and what makes you think I'm a piece?" He asked

"When you and Claire battled it out with Team Rocket, I gained word of the news from the news report that went on regional radio. I was staying here in Saffron at the time. There's been a lot of home hijackings lately because Team Rocket lingers here. However, I started snooping around trying to find out what they were up to. I later found out that they were trying to take over Kanto.

I ran into one of the grunts one day, but he wasn't a regular grunt. I was demanding to know what was going on. He revealed himself to me as a spy from the inside. I know, from him, that Claire was taken from Vermilion because Giovanni wanted both of you contained. That grunt was in the mission of getting one of you. Claire was the first person they ran into. He said that sooner or later they would catch one of you, and it was best that if he led the mission and took her in instead of some other grunt doing it. She'd have protection with him.

I know you two are a piece of this mysterious puzzle I'm trying to sort out because both of you stopped a crucial mission that was launched on Mount Moon and Cerulean. And, because of that, you two are on the run with Team Rocket. You're already known to them and proven you're a threat. It's enough to get some of them running scared.

Now, about Claire, my friend is currently protecting her in a secret location. She's having to hide because they believe she's trapped in the underground cells. She's not, and if they find out then they'll capture my friend and there will be no chance of stopping Team Rocket. I had connections to Claire because of him, and she trusted him enough to trust me.

From what I'm understanding, Claire's asking you to continue on your journey in the mean time until my friend has gained more information. She wants to see you, but with grunts coming closer to discovery she's been protected. My friend has found a way for her to help us, but he refuses to tell me.

If this succeeds, you both will be heroes of Kanto. I understand you are worried about her, but she's in safe hands right now. Safer than she would be in the open. If it hadn't been for the ambush in Vermilion, this wouldn't be the case. But, be warned. They're after you as well."

"Let them come.
I don't care if it's Giovanni himself."
JayJay looked down, his rage building
"Tell her I'll continue the journey without her . . . But know this, and take it to heart."
He looked back up, and looked deep into Luna's eyes and made sure he had her undivided attention before he spoke this ultimatum
"If I find out she isn't safe, I'll find Rocket HQ and demolish it. No one will stop me. Team Rocket will never have Kanto, or any other region. I will make sure of it"
His eyes were serious and Luna knew he meant every word. He would back off for now, but Team Rocket was going down and not even Giovanni would stand a chance

JayJay thanked Luna and headed back into the city, the west for Celadon City

Luna sighed and left back to headquarters. Once again, Shadow met up with her.

"Team Rocket is spreading out but I'm working out a plan to take them down. You may have to reveal yourself if he passes by a town that's on the verge to being taken over."

"He's going to hate my guts."

"But it's better than him being worried forever."

Luna pulled her hood back, the mask down once more. "I hate deceiving him like this, but I just have no choice..."

As JayJay made his way to Celedon, he tripled his training, and his Pokemon volunteered to do the same. He spent the night on the route. His mind was spinning like a blender.
"What would Team Rocket accomplish by taking over Kanto? Why not go after Johto? Why now?"
He didn't sleep much, but his body was used to it by now. That was good thing, because under the radar, a squad of Grunts was following him. They were using long range radar to follow him, and when they thought he was asleep, ambushed him

"Listen," Luna started. "I need to go find out where he's headed. I'll keep a phone on hand to contact you when I've found him. For now, you need to try to find out what Team Rocket is doing. Where they're moving. If we can predict their movements, we can stop them before they take over."

"Very well, but remember that by risking going into the fight you also risk the grunts going back to Giovanni."

"We'll take care of them before that happens."

Luna pulled the hood back over her head and tightened her mask. She took her Pigeot and soared in the sky to search JayJay before he spotted her.

It was dark out when the grunts attacked JayJay. The eight of them sent out over 40 Pokemon and JayJay was surrounded. He sent out his team and asked for their help. His pokemon roared out and charged for the Grunt's Pokemon while JayJay charged the Grunts. The first two each grabbed one of his arms while his Typhlosion made a fire storm and his Arcanine darted through, trampling any Pokemon smaller than himself. JayJay wrenched his arms free of the Grunts and smashed his elbows into their heads and shoving them back with massive force. Venusaur was taking hits like no ones buiseness, not even flinching as he drained the energy from every opponent around him. Pupitar became a wrecking ball, smashing his way through their ranks. JayJay hefted one of the Grunts up chucked him into a tree, then back fisted another before they all tried to dog pile him. Typhlosion and Arcanine became a hurricane of fire, scorching and torching the Pokemon in their path. Just when the Grunts thought they had JayJay, they were sent flying as he picked them up and slammed them down. He socked a Grunt hard enough to dislocate his jaw and choke slammed another into a tree. Venusaur suddenly began to grow to enormous proportions before hurling Sludge Bombs at the dwindling numbers of Rocket Pokemon. Soon, only one Grunt was conscious and he Charged JayJay head on . . . Then met JayJay's size 11 and a half foot in a round house kick to the gut. JayJay roared out with all his might, enraged and in pain. Not physically, but emotionally. He was a very emotional person. His Pokemon joined him and soon they were all roaring at the top of their lungs. After a moment they stopped and started to round up the Grunts and recalled their Pokemon. He picked up one who seemed to be coming to

"Is She Safe?!" He shouted in the Grunt's face, but the Grunt was out of it. He threw the him down in rage, then tied them all up with the rope they'd brought for him. JayJay took their Pokemon and kept them. He was going to send them to his father. He began making his way to Celedon once more, the crater from the fight still scarred on the route

By the time Luna had made it to the battle zone, it was all over. JayJay had already progressed far from the spot. She hopped off the Pidgeot and observed the grounds. Pain surged through her every time she had seen JayJay's reaction to Team Rocket. He was looking for her and he just didn't know that she was right in front of him.

Luna, as Claire, knew that she had to stay as her alter ego to avoid discovery. If Giovanni had found out she had been working under his nose, he'd do everything possible she would stay jailed and then hunt for JayJay. They were severe threats to him and he didn't like this. Luna had to write a letter to him but knew it wouldn't do him much good as just a letter. Luna wanted to meet with JayJay once more to hopefully heal part of his broken spirit.

JayJay made it to Celedon, turned in the Grunts and sent their Pokemon to his father's PC. He then rested at the Pokemon center. Exhaustion was catching up on him and soon, sleep found him. It was almost midnight by the time the nightmares started

Luna called back her Pigeot and walked the streets of Celadon, monitoring any signs of Team Rocket nearby. She glanced at the Pokemon Center, wondering if JayJay was still awake. She sighed and turned her attention to the sky.

"Why did I get myself into this?" she thought to herself. "Jay's in pain and I can't help him without showing myself, and if I do that with this town invaded with grunts then Giovanni will make sure that the plan fails. It's been nearly a week since he's last heard from the real me, and I know it's hurting him so much..." She went down an alleyway and sat on a stone fence. She cried silently, not wanting someone to hear.

JayJay awoke with a start. He felt something. Something in the very air. He quickly dressed himself and dashed out the door. He wandered until a figure down an alleyway caught his eye

Luna could feel eyes watching her from a distance. She wiped her eyes, though the wound she had began to sting.

"You're very smart," she said. "Claire would be impressed, I'm sure."

JayJay walked up to Luna and offered her a hand

"Yeah, sure I'm smart, I'm just a puppet on invisible string's for giggles" He replied, though he couldn't seem to bring himself to be mad at Luna "I'm sorry, that was out of line"

"You have a right to be angry with her, you know. Even she told me when I spoke with her that she was expecting you to be angry. She's been fighting with herself to come find you, but my friend insists that she stays under Team Rocket's radar. With both of you at risk, he didn't want to have Giovanni capturing one of you. That would only make matters worse."

JayJay stood for a moment, dumbfounded.

"I'm not mad at her, though. I'm hurt, but I'm not mad at her. I'm mad at Team Rocket. I'm going to destroy them, I wouldn't even think about laying a finger on her. I'm just so worried about her. We all are, my whole team and I . . . we miss her" JayJay leaned against the wall and looked down. He sighed deeply, his breath making a large cloud.