The Secret of MissingNo

By Mandy Nader

The male officer roughly shoved Rose and Jeremy through the door of the first cell on the right wall. He quickly slammed the door shut, turning the key in the lock. Aside from one small window, the only source of light came from a flickering fluorescent bulb in the corridor. Jeremy blinked repeatedly, trying to adjust his eyes from the bright sunlight outside to the dimness of the prison.

A few minutes later, footsteps approached the cell.

"Hey, kid." Jeremy looked up to see a prison guard staring at him through the barred door. She was a heavyset, middle-aged woman with spiky black hair. Her face wore a perpetual scowl.

"Me?" he asked, pointing to himself.

"Ya get one phone call. Follow me."

The guard quickly opened the door, grabbed Jeremy by his arm, and slammed the door shut. Jeremy shrugged to Rose as he was marched off.

The guard led Jeremy to a small room at the other end of the corridor and closed the door behind them. Releasing his arm, she pointed at a grimy telephone a few feet away. "Make it quick." She crossed her arms and glared at the young trainer.

Shakily, Jeremy lifted the receiver from the phone and stared at the numbers. Who am I gonna call? he wondered, anxiously drumming his fingers on the top of the phone. I can't worry mom and dad... but I gotta get outta here! Finally, he sighed and began to dial. The phone rang once before a voice answered.

"Dad?" began Jeremy timidly.

"Jeremy!" came his father's cheerful voice from the other end of the phone line. "This is certainly a surprise. Have you beaten those Elites already?"

"Um, no," the boy answered, voice shaking. "Uh, Dad...? This will probably sound kinda weird. There's this... crazy old guy lying in the street, right down from where you stand guard at the Gym."

"O...kay," said his father skeptically. Jeremy could almost feel him arching an eyebrow.

"I need to speak to him. It's... kind of important."

"Well, it sounds pretty strange... but if you'd call me all the way from wherever you're at to talk to this guy, it must be important. Just a minute, I'll be right back."

After a few endless seconds, the Viridian guard picked up the phone again. "Ok, Jeremy, I think this is the guy you wanted to speak with. Good luck, hope to hear from you soon!"

"Bye."

"Yessssh?" slurred a voice on the other end.

"This is Jeremy," the young trainer said impatiently. "I don't have time for your idiotic games."

"Hey, cool it," came Eric Stone's normal voice. "Geez, kid, you sound even more caffeinated than me! You gotta learn to relax."

"Relax? RELAX?!?" shrieked Jeremy. "How can I relax when I've just been arrested?"

"Arrested? Aw, Jer, what'd ya do this time?" Stone seemed to be taking this whole disaster as one big joke.

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" screamed Jeremy. "If I hadn't tried to be a nice guy, and help you catch those stupid Glitch things, I never woulda gotten into this mess!"

"Wait a minute," interrupted Stone, "what could this possibly have to do with me? Or the Glitches?" After a second, the professor began to giggle. "I never knew MissingNo was a master criminal."

"Would you stop it!" yelled Jeremy, quickly losing what little patience he had left. "Now listen to me! There was this girl on Cinnabar named Rose, an expert on Pokemon mysteries. She and I were going to hunt down those Glitches together, when..."

"...Rose? Really? Wow. It all comes full circle."

"What, you KNOW her or something?"

There was silence for a moment.

"Hey, you still there?" demanded Jeremy.

"Oh, sorry. Just remembering." Stone's voice suddenly sounded distant. "She and I used to attend Pokemon University together, back in the day. We had been good friends, but somehow we lost touch after I graduated and began my cloning studies. Funny how life turns out, isn't it? I wondered if I'd ever see her again."

"Yeah, well, you can see her all you like if you get down here to the police station at Pallet. They've got her and me locked up. Something to do with a Team Rocket scam."

"Team Rocket?!? You mean she joined up after all? Whoa. I mean, we always talked about signing up for active duty after graduation but I never thought she'd go through with it. Good for you, Rose!"

"Wait. Wait a minute. YOU were gonna be a Rocket?"

"Uh. Jeremy? Didn't you ever realize that I technically WAS a Rocket member? I worked in the lab, but Giovanni paid my salary. Just like he pays Dad's."

The young trainer was stunned. "Dad... Dad's a Rocket too?!?"

*****

Rose paced around the holding cell, bored. It seemed like Jeremy had been gone for hours. Sure, he was just some twerp, like any ordinary kid she had battled, but it was nice to have someone to talk to. Jeremy certainly didn't seem as arrogant as most young trainers, especially the ones from Pallet Town. Maybe, if the circumstances had been different, they could have been friends. Rose casually pulled a concealed Poke Ball from somewhere in her outfit and released a small, cream-colored cat. The cops had confiscated all of her visible Poke Balls, but she always hid her favorite Pokemon's ball, in case of emergency situations like this. She hated nothing worse than being alone.

"Meow, Meowth?" the cat asked quizzically.

Rose bent down and scooped the little cat into her arms. "Nice to see you too, Kitty," she said softly, scratching her Pokemon in the spot between his ears and his golden charm. The kitten began purring softly.

"Huh. You still trainin' that thing?" muttered a gravelly voice from the opposite end of the cell. Rose spun around to see a young man with teal-colored hair, about her age, sitting sullenly in the corner. He glared up in her direction.

Rose barely acknowledged him. Maybe there was something worse than being alone. "Arrested again, Botch? What'd they get ya for this time?"

"The name is Butch," he growled dangerously, "and you're in no position to comment. I see even a goody-goody like you can wind up with a prison record."

"I'm NOT a goody-goody!" she said defensively. "I just don't happen to be like you, cruel and unusual. Emphasis on the unusual part."

*****

"...so are you gonna get me outta here, or what?" demanded Jeremy. It seemed like the world he thought he knew was falling to pieces. His dad... his brother... that girl with the Blastoise... was EVERYONE employed by some part of Team Rocket?

"Well... um... I'm not exactly sure how I can do that."

"Look," said the young trainer impatiently. "You're already hiding out from the underground authorities. Can your situation GET much worse?"

"Do you have any idea what might happen if I'd get caught? It's too dangerous!"

"Says the guy who used to work for Giovanni himself. Besides, if I don't get outta here, there's no way I can help you find those Glitches. You wanna hide out in Viridian for the rest of your life?"

There was hesitation on the other end of the phone line.

"Well?"

"Well..." began Stone haltingly. "Well... I'll see what I can do. But what was it you said? 'No promises'."

*****

As Jeremy was placed back in the holding cell, the guard motioned for Rose to follow her to the telephone area. The Meowth silently leapt from her arms and crouched in the shadows, curling itself into a ball to avoid detection.

As he watched Rose leave, the young boy sat miserably on the floor of the cell. He wished the guards hadn't confiscated his backpack and Pokedex. At least looking through the digital encyclopedia would've given him something to do... anything to divert attention away from his awful surroundings. The filthy cement floor was very cold. Jeremy crossed his arms for warmth, casually glancing into the gloom behind him. He jumped in surprise when he realized he was not alone.

"Oh, you startled me," he remarked to the sitting figure.

The figure didn't acknowledge his presence, continuing to glare at dust bunnies on the floor.

"Uh... hi. My name's Jeremy," he began, trying to be somewhat friendly.

"Punk kid," snarled the figure's raspy voice. "Leave me alone."

*****

"But... but Mom!" pleaded Rose anxiously into the telephone receiver. "They caught me! What am I supposed to do?"

"I'm sorry that happened to you, I really am. But there was no time to reach you. We just received word that the cops were coming, moments after I called you, and we barely had enough time to escape ourselves."

"But... but... I'M IN PRISON, MOM!"

"There's nothing I can do. You'll just have to deal with it somehow."

"Deal with it? You- you've gotta get me outta here!" Rose was getting frantic.

"I'll certainly ask the Boss about it, but I wouldn't expect much. He wasn't in any hurry to bail out those two friends of yours, and you're the same rank as they are. He's even getting fed up with bailing out Black Rockets."

"W-w-what am I supposed to do then?"

"Play the slots, that's the only advice I can offer you. It's a shame, Giovanni just doesn't care about his underlings like he used to," sighed Rose's mom. "I gotta run, this phone line is probably tapped. Good luck..."

"Yeah, good luck to you too," muttered Rose as the phone line went dead. Play the slots. The Rocket code for "try to escape". Not much chance of that. And apparently, Butch was in for the long haul as well, at least if it was true that Giovanni wasn't bailing members out like he used to.

*****

The guard marched Rose back to the cell and slammed the door, rattling the heavy ring of keys in the lock and pushing several buttons on a computer terminal set into the wall. "Double security," she grunted as Jeremy watched in nervous fascination. "Gotta be careful, what with the likes of you in here." She scowled a final time, then turned and walked briskly down the corridor, her heavy footsteps echoing through the prison.

There was an uncomfortable silence as the three inmates tried not to look at one another. It was Jeremy who eventually broke the silence.

"So... uh... when's dinner around here?" he said nervously, his stomach beginning to protest audibly.

Butch rolled his eyes. "Of all the people to be stuck with. You're bad enough, but did ya have ta bring along a comedian?" he growled at Rose and the cat on her shoulder.

"You think I wanna be stuck here?" she retorted angrily. "This is supposed to be my day off, and I get called in for backup and wind up in here! With you of all people! Nice day off."

"What, can't you handle the pressures of active duty?" sneered Butch. Rose glared at him, and her Meowth hissed, flexing its tiny claws from its perch on her shoulder. "Cause I'd be glad to tell the Boss you wanna go back to being a minion in HQ."

"If you even dare..." she began in a dangerous whisper.

Jeremy's stomach growled loudly, interrupting Rose's threat. Butch turned to the young trainer, pure hatred in his eyes. "Would you SHUT UP already, you little..."

"Leave him alone," Rose cut in, clenching her fists. Jeremy was shocked. Why would this Rocket girl be standing up for him? "I've had just about enough outta you. The kid was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's all a big mistake."

"Huh. His only mistake was gettin' mixed up with a screw-up like you," shot back Butch, who didn't appreciate anyone arguing with him, especially not a lower-ranked Rocket. "Can't even handle a basic mission without screwin' it up."

"Oh, like you're so perfect?" she retorted. "This is, what now, the fourth time you've been arrested? Or is it the fifth? I seem to have lost track."

"You better shut it," he said in a dangerously low voice.

"Or what, you'll tell the Boss on me? I'm so sick of you Black Rockets lording it over everyone else, thinking you're so special, treating the rest of us like we're inferior life-forms or something. Ooh, you'll run and tell the Boss on me. Well guess what? I don't know when you'll get the chance, cause he's not bailing you out this time."

Butch gasped audibly. "You're lying..." he muttered numbly, trying to keep the panic from his voice. "You're lying." His mouth hung open in disbelief.

"Huh, I wish I was," she said, pacing the cell. "Cause if he was bailing you out, there'd be a chance I could get out too. But he ain't coming. I made my phone call, and was told ta 'play the slots'." Rose turned to face the wall, becoming more upset and frustrated with every word. "Yeah, that's the best I heard. Try to bust outta this joint cause there's no shot at a second chance. I'm doomed to spend the rest of my life here... alone." Rose stared out the barred window, desperately trying to hold back the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks at any moment. The Meowth patted her shoulder sympathetically.

Butch just stared at the floor, feeling a mixture of panic, rage, and complete helplessness. Rose's words had really hit him hard. What if it was true... what if the Boss didn't come?

"I... I don't know what's gonna happen ta me," the male Rocket muttered. "I've never been in the slammer more than a day or two. Boss always personally bailed us out right away. Here it's been almost a week, and... nothin'. What if he's not..." Butch slumped against the wall, a look of utter defeat on his face. "I need a smoke."

Rose turned around slowly, a look of surprise on her face. Never before had she seen the tough Rocket look so despondent. "Your partner, where...?"

"...she got away, and never looked back," Butch mumbled, mostly to himself. "I thought partners were supposed ta stick together, no matter what. I thought she'd at least come back for me, get me outta here... but she never came. When the cops hauled me off, she was long gone." A single tear slid down his face. Butch angrily wiped it away with his dirty, gloved hand.

"I'm... I'm so sorry," said Rose softly.

"Huh. Why should you care?" he growled, hating for anyone to see him like this. "You don't know what it's like... you never had a partner."

Rose stared at the floor. "No, I never did. I had to go through life on my own, no help, no company, no nothing." She looked up, tears welling up in her large brown eyes. "You have no idea how awful it is, always being alone. Especially when two of your friends have the closest partnership there ever was. Sure, they weren't on the Boss's good side, and they never did get that brat's Pikachu, but they always had each other. You have any idea how often I wished... that just once... I could have a partner like that?"

The Meowth on Rose's shoulder looked over at her sadly, and gently licked her face. Rose smiled a little.

"At least I still have Kitty with me. He's the only friend I have."

"Now wait a minute," interrupted Jeremy, who had been silently watching the drama unfold up to this point. "Aren't we friends?"

"I don't know, are we?" asked Rose, turning to the trainer. "You went Surfing on my Blastoise, I got you arrested. Sounds like a REAL promising friendship, kid." The Rocket girl sighed heavily. She wore the same hopeless expression as Butch.

"Look, I'm not just some twerp. I- I want to help you."

"Help?" She looked at him skeptically.

"Find the Glitch Pokemon. And get outta here."

"How ya gonna do that?" grumbled Butch, from the floor. "I tried, there's no way outta here. Not without tools or nothin'."

Jeremy glanced down the corridors of the prison, and motioned for Rose and Butch to move closer. He dropped his voice to a confidential whisper. "I called my brother. he's gonna try to bust us outta here!"

"Pfft, your brother," snorted Butch. "That's a good one."

"No, I'm serious! He's a Pokemon Professor... or at least he used to be. At any rate, he said he'll do what he can."

"And exactly why should he help us?" asked Rose cynically. "You, I can see. But why's he gonna bail two Rocket failures out?" Butch grunted in assent.

Jeremy fidgeted for a moment. "Well, he doesn't quite know about that part yet. But Rose, he used to be friends with you, back at the Pokemon University. Professor Eric Stone...?"

Rose's expression brightened a bit. "Eric? Eric Stone? The Pokemon genetics guy? So he's your brother, huh? It's been ages since I heard from him." She smiled. "We used to be pretty good friends, at least whenever he didn't have his nose buried in his laptop."

Suddenly Butch anxiously jumped to his feet, a look of utter terror on his face. "You- you guys ain't gonna leave me here, are ya?" he asked, panic rising in his voice. "I- I- I don't know what they'll do ta me here! ...Take me with you!"

"What?" asked Rose and Jeremy simultaneously.

"I need ta get outta here. I'll go crazy bein' locked up." Butch hesitated, having difficulty saying the next word. "...please?"

Rose looked from Butch to Jeremy. "It's your brother. You've gotta decide."

Jeremy chewed his lip nervously as he weighed the options. If he didn't agree to get this guy out, Butch might beat him up so badly that none of them could escape. Of course, he didn't fancy the idea of allowing a four-time criminal back into society. Well. he's been arrested four times already, he rationalized. So I'm sure if he does anything else they'll drag him back again. Then let somebody else worry about breaking him out.

"Ok, you can come along," said Jeremy reluctantly. Butch almost did a joyful leap into the air, then remembered his rank as an elite Team Rocket member and sat back down.

"Thanks, kid," he grunted instead. "'ppreciate it."

"Yeah. And the name's Jeremy, not 'kid'."

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