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It had only been a few days since Jonas had been inducted to Team Aqua, and as such, he was having a bit of difficulty adjusting. The underwater base was pleasant and cool enough, but he longed for the wind in his hair and the rains that frequently fell in Lavarre Town. But most of all, he missed the Great Tree. It had been a while since he had last seen his precious little green friend, but Jonas sure the small Pokemon was fine.

The TADS began beeping, snapping the young man back into reality. He flipped it open and read the message displayed on the dual screens, asking for any Team Aqua member available to report to the Backlot Mansion's Trophy Garden. Wanting to make friends with more Pokemon, Jonas stood from his perch on the bunk bed and headed towards the Teleporters he so dreaded. They were nothing like how he expected them to be...

--

After the usual painful process of molecular reassignment, Jonas found himself somewhere in the Trophy Garden of the Sinnoh Region. Bushes trimmed to perfection, flowers, and expertly cut grass surrounded him. It felt a little like home. Taking his first steps around and blinking his blue eyes to adjust to the sunlight, he took to finding the team mate that had issued the call.

"Hello?", his brassy voice called out.

Noting the girl appearing near him, Jonas turned to face Kasumi. "Hm?" He allowed her to speak before nodding in understanding. "Oh, no worries. I was just looking at maybe letting my own Pokemon make some friends. The base also gets really lonely sometimes, too." He reached into his pocket, pulling out three Poke Balls, then calling out his Pokemon.

A Totodile, Tyrogue, and Pichu with a peculiar notched ear emerged from their rest, happy to be called out of their Poke Balls. The electric rodent dashed up it's Trainer's body to rest upon his shoulder, looking at Kasumi with curiosity. The other two Pokemon cried out joyously before running a little further up in the garden to explore.

"Lily, don't be shy now. Say hi." Jonas encouraged the Pichu, who responded by puffing her cheeks with static electricity.

Jonas looked at the three pre-historic Pokemon which Kasumi had just summoned with much interest. He had once seen a plethora of them on one of his adventures with his small friend. Lily, on the other hand, was terrified. She jumped behind Jonas's head and clung to his hair, desperately hiding herself from the Aerodactyl.

"Sure thing. I should really go make sure that my Pokemon aren't uprooting the flowers too... I'd hate for them to be yelled at by Mr. Backlot." Jonas waved to Kasumi before starting after his Totodile and Tyrogue. It then occured to him that he had not gotten her name. Was is common practice among Team Aqua not to refer to one another by name? He shrugged, spotting Zero and Mac just further up ahead, poking at a small tree.

Finally catching up to his Pokemon, Jonas looked down at Zero, his Totodile. He raised an eyebrow, observing it biting down on a small bonsai. "Come on now, Zero. Someone worked very hard to groom that little tree, and you're just going to eat it?" Jones shook his head and then pointed to Mac, who then began pulling on Zero's tail to get him off.

The Tyrogue struggled momentarily before finally tugging his friend off of the small decorative tree. Most of the leaves were currently in Zero's mouth, who began to quickly spit them all out in disgust. Jonas shook his head as both he and Lily looked down in disapproval.

Suddenly, something moved atop the hedges above them. A quick shadow was cast on the group and as quickly as it came, it vanished. Lily starting puffing her cheeks full of electricity again, obviously alarmed. Jonas looked over to the Pichu, wondering why she was all riled up. Suddenly, he felt as if though he was being watched...

Everything tensed up for a minute. Mac assumed a fighting stance and Lily continued to power up. Zero, on the other hand, was much too busy picking out leaves from his mouth. A small rustle in the underbrush made Jonas, Lily, and Mac turn to face the direction of the sound.

From the darkness that was the bottom of the bushes, an evil cheshire-like pair of eyes stared at the Trainer and his Pokemon. A smile quickly crawled along the face that stared at them, and before they could respond, they were under attack.

Darting out of the bushes, the Meowth first targeted Zero. Striking with a vicious Fake Out to stun her already distracted opponent, the Meowth proceeded to attack the stunned Pokemon with a Slash. Without being able to even respond, Zero was already down for the count. She leaped to the top of the bushes and assessed the situation quickly. The feline Pokemon then spotted the rodent resting on Jonas' shoulders and licked her lips in anticipation of a meal.

"Mac, use Mach Punch!" Jonas ordered, reaching into his pocket to capture the fainted Zero.

With unmatched agility, the Tyrogue leaped into the air and landed a swift punch onto the Meowth, who had been so distracted with Lily she had not paid attention to the fighting type which was currently assaulting her. Mac took an unsteady foothold on the bushes, assuming a fighting stance once again. The Meowth staggered backwards and extended her claws, ready to strike back.

"Hit her with a Bullet Punch!" Jonas ordered, looking up at the battle.

Mac looked back to his trainer and nodded, charging at his opponent with a fist worthy of its namesake. The Meowth saw the powerful attack coming and immediately leaped into action. Using Foul Play, she quickly intercepted the punch, much to Mac's bewilderment, and redirected it towards him. Being struck by his own punch, the Tyrogue staggered backwards on what was already unsteady footing and fell to the ground. He struggled to stand up, which prompted Nick to recall the brave Pokemon.

"You did well, Mac...." He whispered to the Poke Ball, watching as the Meowth smugly licked her paws. "Lily, you're up." Jonas motioned for the Pichu to enter the fray. She shook her head wildly, refusing in fear. Before Jonas could protest, the Meowth leaped from atop the bush and swallowed Lily whole, rebounding off of Jonas' shoulder and landing near the bonsai.

"LILY!" He yelled in fear, watching in horror as the Meowth tried to bite down on it's prey. Suddenly, it opened it's eyes in pain, screeching and meowing in horrible agony. Thunderbolts escaped from its gaping mouth, followed by Lily bolting out of the Pokemon's mouth and clinging to Jonas' leg. The Meowth collapsed, unconscious on the floor.

Quickly recalling Lily, Jonas reached into his pocket and pulled out an extra Poke Ball, tossing it at the feline. It was caught quickly, and he picked up the Poke Ball, heading back to where he had met Kasumi.

He spotted the girl again and approached her, pondering as to why this particular Meowth was so aggressive and so strong... She easily took care of Zero and almost wiped out Mac. She was quite the beast. "Hey there, Kasumi. I'm Jonas." He waved to her, looking at her newly caught Pokemon. "Yes, actually. I caught myself a Meowth as well. But mine is a little too vicious... I guess cats really are mean." He shrugged, watching the Pokemon hand her a Poke Ball.