Dinner at the pokécenter that night was somewhat disappointing, the caterers hadn’t shown up — or maybe their tour had been over? What did I know, I was a pokémon — so the food was late and of so-so quality, but it was at least hot where it should be, and tasty and filling enough.

Later that night, the six of us did our best to stay awake even as Ed and Becca tried to bed us down, not that they cared too much since we were, after all, their pokémon. Some trainers and pokémon sleep in the same bed, but since getting all this fur and my tail, covers were just too much so I usually contented myself with the luxury that was being able to pad about on a bed many times bigger than I now was and being able to sleep anywhere. Especially on Ed's face. For some reason his warmth just felt... good.

To be honest, it was quite easy not to fall asleep; my heart was thudding in my little chest the whole time as I contemplated every way that Ed — or indeed Becca — could either realize I was awake or figure out something was wrong. I don’t think I could have slept a wink had I even intended to. I wasn’t really sure how we were going to get any of this done, but clearly we had to do it without waking our trainers. I also had to hope that Team Rocket not only were where I thought they were, but that the police station was, too. The worry in my chest was if they woke up and we weren't there, then what? But that way lay madness. I bit the thought off before it took hold.

Midnight came and went, and I gingerly picked myself up and hopped off the bed. I winced as all four paws hit the carpet with quite a thump, but Ed didn’t so much as roll over. Truth be told, as the rest of us left his bed, his sleep probably got easier. Time to get this show on the road. I padded over to the hotel room door, and my stomach sunk. It was built for humans, without a delcatty flap in sight. Worse, it was activated with a keycard, of which there was only one and I couldn't get it.

"How are we gonna get the door open?" I hissed, as quietly as possible, once we were all assembled.

"How are you so bad at this?" asked Tully, covering his beak with a wing, his croaking caws barely audible. "To think you were going to go it alone!"

The tips of my ears burned hotly. "I didn’t think about it, alright!" I hissed again, wincing as Ed snorted lightly, then turned over in his sleep.

"Just... come here." Tully sighed as he waddled across the room away from the door. I followed, confused. "None of you are that big, alright? I can’t fly you up, but I can certainly fly you down." Tully fluttered up to the large, friendly windowsill... and pushed open the window. The window which was conveniently operable by flying-type pokémon in case they wanted to take a wing outside. I felt more dumb than usual, but vindicated. We could do this.

"What about getting back up then?" I asked.

"Pokéballs. Or just, you know, floating up in Guy’s case. I could always drop your pokéballs out the window with you in them to get down as well, after all trainers throw them around all the time, but lets not."

I shuddered; me and 'broken' pokéballs wasn't something I wanted to get back into any time soon.

I took a deep breath. "Alright, let's do this."

One by one, Tully ferried us down. For Tully himself and Guy, this was simply a case of the former listening for the all-clear from the latter. For the rest of us, a scary few seconds where we had to hope that Tully could withstand the pull of gravity almost exactly in the way the rest of us, bar Guy, couldn't. I didn't begrudge the swellow a perch on my back once we were all down; he was breathing quite hard, for all that he visibly worked harder during battles. I looked around at our small team — myself, Tully, Guy, Ziggy, Barb and Lucky — and shared a grin. Six pokémon; the world had trembled at such. Surely we could pull off a caper like this without issue. I didn't say that aloud of course, im no Jinx.

"Which way now?" asked Ziggy.

"I'm ready and waiting to follow where you lead, Princess. I'll just be admiring the view," said Lucky. I fluffed my tail in annoyance in his direction, then wished I hadn't at his appreciative leer.

"Normally I'd go down main street, but we want to stay out of the public eye," I said. "Just an eevee wouldn't cause much of a ruckus, but all of us together?"

"There won't be much going on down Market Way," suggested Barb, "and there might be quite a few wild pokémon about, fighting over food scraps. The six of us together won't stand out too much if we don't look like a team... to humans, at least?"

I nodded, slowly, "good idea. Let's go!"

Decisions made, we headed down some side streets out of the brighter parts of the city to the less commercial — at least during the night — Market district. Night clubs, restaurants and other businesses that did a roaring trade during the twilight hours attracted most of the human traffic. The Market district, devoid of the hordes of stalls and vendors present during the daylight hours, held little but infrequent street lights and plenty of uneaten food. That left rattata, pidove and other opportunists to make the most of the available leftovers. Of course it didn't take long until the biggest bottom feeders decided to make something of it.

"Hey, you's better not be stepping on the Don's turf," grumbled a pack of rattata, as we trundled past, "thinking you can waltz through here without paying tribute. You come through our territory, you pay the toll."

"Calm yourself, keep your tails on," Ziggy growled, "we're just passing through, we're not taking any of your trash. If we wanted some of it, we'd take it and you wouldn't be able to do anything about it, but we don't, so keep it."

"Big words, big words... you think you can come here and disrespect the Don like that though?" piped up another, scrawnier rattata. I looked him over, and wasn't very impressed. "It don't matter if you came here to our territory on a site-seeing trip, you still gotta pay the Don."

"I don't see no Don," said Ziggy, raising his hackles. "just some rattata with too big a mouth."

"Hey cool it," I hissed to Ziggy, trying to quiet my own growing anger. "We don't need to cause a scene here, these are just punks."

"That's right stripes, listen to your little girlfriend, she'll keep you safe." Jeering followed, which made Ziggy growl low in his throat. "She knows her place, make sure you know yours."

I grit my teeth, before baring them at the spokes-rattata in a brilliant smile that glimmered faintly in the nearby streetlights. "Any one of us could clean your clocks up and down all night long, so I suggest you leave it off and we'll be out of your fur in a few moments."

"Girl, you can clean my clocks any time," sniggered the head rattata.

"Wait don—" Tully started saying, but he was just the teensiest bit too slow.

With a screech of anger, I leaped at the rattata, throwing the swellow off my back. I dove underground in a Dig, then came up beneath the mouthy rodent and head-butted him in the jaw; it may have been my favourite trick but it was a faithful one. Not wasting the advantage — such as it was due to my almost inevitable pique of anger — Tully was already lifting up another of the rattata crew in his talons, having used my leap to get himself airborne rather than bite dirt.

He'd swooped down, picked up the flailing assailant in a single neat snatch of his claws and launched it into the trash bin, where it landed after a long, screaming arc through the air. Ziggy took more out two with a well-timed, if noisy and showy, Surf whilst Barb also head-butted the mouthy leader once I was clear, giving him a good dose of Poison as she did so. The rattata doubled over, twitching. The rests were all cornered by Lucky and Guy, all of them looked worse for wear and more than a little worried — in every sense of the word. Lucky was spitting out bits of fur from his muzzle and at least one tail-tip lay twitching on the ground.

"I'll have you know, not only is he my boyfriend," Barb growled, "but he's able to look after himself." She pawed the ground angrily, digging great ruts with her claws. "Though I bet you wish you'd just got a bath and a haircut like the rest of your buddies, huh? Instead of being poisoned, right? Though you're probably used to a small prick, right?" Barb put her paw on the rattata's head, forcing the whimpering creature's muzzle closed. "I won't ask you to apologize, because frankly your voice makes me sick. If I ever hear you talking near me again, you won't get up, clear? Just nod." The rattata nodded. "Good. Now listen closely; I know what you smell like. I have a long, hungry friend who can track your stink for days, and she gets very hungry, very easily. If you want to try being cute, to try making this a home delivery by bringing your filth to my front door, she'll be more than glad for the snack. Now, I suggest you scurry off, and next time you think about tackling a full league team, think again. Now get."

Barb slapped the stupid out of the rattata as she casually tossed the creature away from her. Scrabbling to their paws, the leader and the rest of the soaked, chewed and cowed rattata retreated, leaving their trash-canned compatriot to stay very, very still and hope we'd leave him alone. I kicked the can just in case as I passed it, and thought I detected the stink of just a hint of liquid regret in the air.

"Right, where were we?" I asked. "Ah, yes, the police station. I said it was that way, right?" I pointed up one side of the wide, cobbled square. Barb nodded.

"That'll get us there, but we'll need to cross the main street. Try to look inconspicuous... that sadly means no more playing with the rattata."

Some twenty minutes later, Guy phased into invisibility and then floated out into the street. Nobody noticed whilst the ghost-type did a spot of reconnaissance, before he returned to the side alley and became visible again.

"I can't see anybody, so I think we're good."

"Alright."

One at a time, we sauntered across the brightly-lit road to slip down another side-alley. Some time was spent trying to look even less conspicuous than pokémon usually did by heading off in random directions to circle back and regroup, but after a short period we were all more or less together in the shadows beside the police station.

"Now what?" Tully asked.

"Now we check the windows on both sides of the building until we find the one with Team Rocket, or at least their Meowth, in it. Spread out, but alert the rest of us if you find them."

It didn't take long until Lucky came running to get me, and sure enough the six of us were secreted around one of the small, half-moon windows. Gingerly, I snuck up to it, but stuck to the shadows. From where I stood, I couldn't see in, but I wanted to stay as hidden as possible from any possible viewers or recordings, so I'd take what I could get.

"Psst! Hey, Meowth!" I called.

"[What? It's one of the twerps!]" rang out Meowth's voice, in human.

"Shh!" I hissed. "Let's keep this between us pokémon, alright?"

"[No, not the electro-mouse twerps, the local twerps! Yeah, the brat with the eevee and that monster seviper.]" Meowth was chattering with his team-mates, oblivious or uncaring of my strangled noises of frustration from above. On second thought, I realized, as he continued to blithely ignore me, it was definitely uncaring, or rather the wrong sort of caring.

I head-butted the wall as Meowth kept meowthing off to the two Team Rocket members in the cell with him. "Arceus' teeth you are a pain in the butt!" I growled. "Look, if you could stop getting us in trouble with anybody who speaks human, I want to say we might be able to come to a mutual understanding here, if you can keep it on the down-low."

"Oh yeah? And what's on da menu?" At least the cat-scratch pokémon was talking in pokémon now.

"You're in a cell, and I'm kind of trapped too, just in a different way."

"So what? What way are you trapped?"

"I'm... look, you gotta promise not to be too shocked, alright?"

"Nyaa, get on with it, kid."

"I'm a human, I got transformed into an eevee and I'm trying to find a way to turn back."

There was a moment of silence, then a snort of utter dismissal.

"Oh, is that all? What was it that did ya? Magic potion, mysterious virus, ancient curse-slash-machine?"

"Ugh," I complained. "Just once I'd like somebody to be surprised. It was a pokéball, alright? Me and the eevee got sucked in, and... I came out."

Meowth was silent for a long moment, not letting out any snorts of even smart catchphrases. I almost risked a peek to see what was happening, when he finally spoke again.

"A pokéball malfunction, you say? Dat's a new one. Alright, look. I gots an idea that can help you. You get me two pokéballs, I'll set something up that'll help. We can discuss your side of the bargain once you've gotten me da balls."

"You just want... pokéballs? That's it?"

"Yeah, empty ones. Two of 'em. Any type, don't matter what. I need two for... the resonance cascade. Integration matrix resolution enhancement. Look, it gets technical and I don't think you'se gots enough time fer me to be 'splainin' all o'da details, nyaa?"

"I don't have pokéballs on me! And I don't have any money to buy them!"

"Not my problem, kid. No pokéballs? No deal. Do you want me to help you'se or not? Take it or leave it."

I sighed, growling under my breath, then looked around. There was a poké-mart down another of the roads behind me. "I'll be back."

"No fur off my butt, I'm not goin' anywheres. Not until theys move us, and then where's we gonna be, nyaa?"

I gave a short barking growl of annoyance, but the petty criminal seemed to have something in mind. I backed away from the window, then rejoined the group. "What do you guys think?" I asked, after I'd explained what the cat-scratch pokémon had asked for.

"Well, stealing pokéballs isn't the biggest of crimes," offered Guy. "Pretty sure eating a magikarp is several times worse in the grand scheme of things."

I shot the gastly a withering glance. "So, we're doing this?" I asked.

"You think they can help?" Barb asked.

"Not a clue, but what're they going to do with two pokéballs? After all, you already caught my heart, sweet-cheeks."

"Throw them at the guards?" suggested Ziggy.

"Capture the guards? At least the pokémon ones?" Lucky pondered. "Do they have pokémon guards? Do you think they'd use lickitung or growlithe or what?"

I shrugged, ignoring Lucky harder than usual. "So, 'not much' seems to be the consensus, so it's probably safe to get the meowth what he wants. Alright; Guy, you and... who wants to go with you? Ziggy?"

"Is this a statement about the bandit mask?" Ziggy asked, chuckling.

I stuck my tongue out at him. "No, but you said you two wanted to help? This is how you can do it. Guy, you get to be invisible, you can sneak into the shop and grab two pokéballs. Ziggy, you're the one getting the door open so he can get in, or at least out. You're the distration. Easy peasy."

Marty was bored. Marty had the night shift at the poké-mart, which was never that exciting, unless Team Rocket attacked. Or Team Magma. Or Team Aqua, but how many times in a season does that happen to one shop? There was always the creeps buying too many Lures and Escape Ropes to brighten his night, or the pokémaniacs in their costumes buying the top-shelf magazines... and then there was the pokémon that were out and about during the dark hours doing whatever weird shit it was that pokémon did when humans were sleeping.

"Hey! Quit that!" he called, as the doors slid open and shut for the fifteenth time in thirty seconds

Marty seriously thought about picking up a pokéblock from the big glass jar on the counter and throwing it, if only he wouldn't be made to pay for it, because the zigzagoon outside was running up to the glass doors and dancing around in a circle until the doors whooshed open, only to run away again so they'd close. At the third attempt at getting the stupid creature to knock it off, he gave up and fished a couple of pokéblocks out of the jar, dropped a couple of poké into the jar for it and got up from behind the counter and walked to the doors. He held the pokéblocks out, waving them from side to side to catch the attention of the pokémon.

"You want this? Huh, huh? You want it, fella?"

"Zigzag! Zagoon! Goon!"

"Alright... if you promise not to bother me again... you can have it, alright?"

"Zig zig!"

"Go fetch!" Marty drew back his arm, and then lobbed the pokéblocks into the bushes opposite his store. The zigzagoon looked at him one last time, studying his face for a long few seconds, then it turned tail and ran after the snacks. Marty shivered as a blast of cool night air ran up his spine, then he turned back inside and shuffled across the empty shop floor to settle behind the counter once more. He snagged one of the more choice top-shelf magazines and began reading idly.

"Oh, Lucario, you naughty, naughty pokémon you," he mumbled, putting his feet up on the other stool. The night shift was boring, but it had its moments.

"Hey Meowth... we got 'em."

"...Ow!"

"Sorry! Now, tell us what we want to know!" I lobbed the second pokéball down into the cell, careful not to have it catch the meowth, not that I thought it would activate from a pokémon throwing it, but you never knew. What would I even do with a meowth, let alone that meowth? Would his crimes all be my fault? I shook my head. "Hurry up!"

"You'se wanna know something that'll help with you'se predicament, yeah?" I heard some funny noises, almost like a pokéball being pried open with some claws and being fiddled around with by a dextrous meowth who happened to be a master inventor and part-time criminal. "Well, funny you should mention pokéballs, cos dat's something I knows quite a lot about, nyaa? Dey's tricksy things, pokéballs. They's really gotta lotta smarts in 'em, too! Shall I tell you something dat dey do?"

I growled, rolling my eyes and glaring skywards. "Is this going to be useful at all? Or are you just wasting my time?"

"Heh, wasting time, she says. Listen, sweet cheeks, I'm telling you da secrets o' da universe here. Dese 'ere pokéballs have a trick in 'em for when you'sen trainers gots more'n six o' yas wif 'em. You know what it is?"

"They send the extras back to the registering professor, right? So what?" asked Tully, quicker on decoding the meowth's abominable accent.

"Dat's da ting. A few years ago, back in Kanto, we, me an' my humans, we found something out. It's not fun fer humans, but dat recall beam? Dere's no real reason dat it only gots ta work on pokémon. Here, you keep dis one. When you'se ready ta find out what happened to the rest o' ya? Hit the return sequence. I suggest you'se keep dat ball separate from da rest o' da stock, and only use it fer finding out what happened to ya's. If'n it does weird things to your trainers, you get to keep the pieces left over."

"What?" I asked, stunned, as a pokéball came flying out of the small window, having been expertly lobbed by presumably the meowth. "What do you mean, it's not fun for humans? Pokeballs don't work on humans!"

"Yeah, dey really, really don't. Toodle pip!"

"What do you mean, 'toodle pip'?" I shouted, running to the window. Secrecy be damned, I wasn't about to let Team Rocket escape! Unfortunately, there was an 'if I had anything to do about it' I should have tacked onto that statement, because I didn't have anything I could do about it.

Meowth adjusted the pokéball he was fiddling with, lining it up, before he tapped a claw in the 'return' pattern, and a red beam of light shot out of the ball.

"[Ooh! That's worse than being hit with the Kanto brat's pikachu's ten million volts!]" said James, grimacing, as red lightning travelled up and down his body.

"[This hurts worse than the time we almost lost Weezing and Arbok to those poachers!]" moaned Jessie, her hair sticking out and smoking.

"[Ah quiet down, we've all been through worse!]" snarked meowth, forepaws crossed.

"Wobbuffet!" their blue companion said, saluting.

"[Back in your ball, idiot! Team Rocket are blasting off aga-!]"

The red glow grew to envelop all four of the criminals and the pokéball... and then the whole lot disappeared.

"Yveltal's breath!" I swore, then looked down at the remaining pokéball on the ground next to me. "What in the reverse world did they do?"

"I think... I think... that they returned themselves?" Barb said, incredulously. "Somehow? How? How is that, how did they?"

"To... where? And the ball went with them!" I hissed.

"They convinced the ball that their team had more than six pokémon on them, that Jessie and James were pokémon too maybe, and so when it... when it captured them? Kind of? It instead used the pokémon storage system! They're inside the pokémon storage and transport system!" Barb replied, astonishment written across her blue muzzle.

"Well how are they going to get out again?" I asked.

"Arceus only knows... I've heard about experiments to do this sort of thing, it's kind of what we do to get porygon out into the real world, just... completely not. If that meowth wasn't lying, then that pokéball," and Barb gently put a paw on the pokéball that had been rolled into the middle of our small group, "is set to do the same thing. You... do you want to head into the pokémon storage system?"

I was silent for a moment as I contemplated things, then I shook my head. "Not at least tonight. Tonight, we've got to get back to Ed before he wakes up and none of us are there. Let's think things over for at least a few days."

"Good idea," said Tully. "Shrink the ball down, we'll put it in the Key Items pocket of Ed's bag with the Master Ball, he'll never touch it there. Let's get back."

Ed yawned, stretching as he woke up. Something was odd... something was... where were his pokémon? Why was the window open?

"Guys?" he called, then whipped his head around as the potty flushed in the little pokémon's room. Lux trotted out, trailing toilet paper.

"Vee! Eevee!"

"Oh... Lux! Look at you! Wait, no... wait! Stop! Good grief... that's better." He snatched the eevee up into his arms and snagged the paper. Tearing off the trail, he bundled it up, used what he could to clean the facilities and then once more exited the toilet. He was met with the rest of his team trying to get in.

"You lot are up early!" he said, yawning. "Sorry if I didn't let you guys do your business properly last night. Tully, you went for a bit of a fly?"

Tully chirped in the affirmative, then fluttered up to the perch. The flying type stretched his wings, then settled down for what looked like a nap.

"Going back to sleep? I guess you all just... you guys want to sleep in a bit today, huh?" There was a general chorus of agreements, and Ed chuckled. "I guess it is a bit early still. Now that I'm up though, I'll visit the little boys' room too, then catch up on some email downstairs. You guys just rest, you've earned a morning in I guess. I wonder if Team Roquette is back this morning? They made such good food."

Lux yawned, flicking an ear, as if something had just occurred to her, then she turned around several times and went back to sleep.