Starr is hammering away at the controller of her PlayStation.
    On the screen, Cloud, Tifa and Vincent are pounding the hell out of Jenova LIFE.
    Just as Starr is about to unleash Bahamut on Jenova and finish it, a loud WHUNK outside the door makes her jump. She presses the wrong button, and Jenova wipes out the entire party.
    "DAMN'T!" Starr exclaims, sticking her head out the door and yelling, "ALL RIGHT, WHO'S THE SOON-TO-BE-DEAD PATHETIC WEASEL WHO MADE ME KILL CLOUD?????"
    At first glance, no one appears to be present. The little flames dancing in the background go out and Starr loses the two little fangs, feeling kind of stupid.
    Then she looks down and notices a very smashed James lying on the floor twitching. Around him are the shredded remains of twelve red roses.
    Starr rolls her eyes, then looks down the hall to see Sami—or rather Faris—brushing off her hands.
    "Hey Faris, could you kick him down the hall into someone else's door next time? When he hit the door I messed up a command and Jenova killed me."
    Faris shrugs and grins. "Sorry. Next time I'll kick him into Jessie's door."
    Starr begins to head back into her room, then turns back and calls, "Oh, yeah…any hints on killing Jenova LIFE? That damn thing keeps mangling me."
    Faris rolls her eyes. "I always just pretend she's James, and that makes smashing her all that much more FUN."
    Starr blinks. "O…kay."
    She retreats to the safety of her bedroom. It's never good when Faris' eye twitches like that…
    Raichu is poking at the controller and watching the pretty wavy lines dance on the screen from the static he generates when Starr plunks back down on the floor and sighs, restarting.
    "I have to watch that depressing cinema agaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin…" she mumbles.
    "Chu, chu." Raichu pats Starr's shoulder comfortingly.
    When the cinema ends, Starr is sniffling, as she always does after this particular part in Final Fantasy VII.
    "Frickin' Sephiroth. I'd massacre him if he wasn't so beautiful."
    Raichu, who's now wearing a 'been-there-done-that-got-the-T-shirt' expression, pokes the controller again for fun, making the screen turn trippy colours.
    "RAICHU, cut it out." Starr grabs the controller away and the screen stops tripping.
    Raichu displays a faintly Sephiroth-ish Evil Grin.
    Starr admires the dent James' head has made in her door. She's surprised he's not brain-damaged by now, since whenever Faris kicks him down the hall, he seems to land headfirst.
    "Maybe he can't get any stupider…" Starr muses. After all, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that when the girl you're chasing keeps smashing you into walls and doors, she doesn't really like you all that much.
    She actually feels a little bit sorry for James. Clueless and dumb though he is, being rejected stings—even more than hitting doors at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour.
    Starr can now hear James whimpering outside the door. She opens it and he falls into the room.
    "Hi," Starr says.
    James only sniffles.
    "Did you hit the doorknob this time?" Starr asks, getting a bit concerned. James usually whines, but she's never seen him look like he's about to cry before.
    "I don't understand it…" James sniffs. "I've tried everything they say you're supposed to do when you like a girl…flowers, candy, romantic poetry…but she still keeps kicking me into the wall every time I come near her!"
    "Maybe she doesn't like roses," Starr guesses.
    "Why not, though?" James jumps up off the floor, whipping out a trademark red rose from the void. "Red roses are the flower of true love!"
    "Maybe she thinks that's cliché and it bugs her," Starr suggests, shrugging.
    James blinks. "Hm…"
    Starr can practically SEE all the little gears in his head going full tilt.
    Five minutes later, James is still staring straight ahead in deep thought and Starr is getting bored.
    "I think the hamster just fell off the wheel…" she says to Raichu, staring into James's ear.
    Suddenly James flings out his arms. "I'VE GOT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!"
    "Got whad?" Starr says, rubbing her sore nose from where James clobbered her.
    "Uh…oops…" James turns red.
    "Neber bind. Whad idea did you ged?" Starr inquires.
    James blinks and goes into thinking mode again.
    Starr realizes this could take all day and kicks him. "TELL ME YOUR IDEA!"
    "Oh, that…I'll just keep trying! Eventually Faris will see how much I love her, and she'll love me, too! Thank you so much for your help, Starr!" James flings his arms around Starr, a large goofy grin pasted all over his face. "Thank you thank you thank you…"
    "Aaaacckkk...get OFF!" I have to breathe!" Starr gags, pushing James off. He hits the floor, gets up, and runs out of the room humming some demented song under his breath.
    "That failed miserably," Starr mumbles. "I hope Faris keeps her promise about not kicking him into my door."
    She sits down again, then blinks, wondering what the heck that cologne is that James always wears. It's kind of nice…
    "BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!" Starr screams. "YECH. I can't believe I THOUGHT that! My mind is weirder than I thought." She shivers. "Seeing Sephiroth should calm me down…"
    Starr goes back to FFVII, and soon all thoughts of James leave her mind as Sephiroth appears on the screen.

    WHUNK.
    "FARIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS!!!!"
    "Sorry…"
    The routine begins again. Starr sighs and restarts FFVII.
    She doesn't get to play far, though, because the videophone on her dresser beings yammering away. *Ring ring ring, phone call, phone call!*
    Starr picks up, and the image of a black-haired, brown-eyed guy appears on the screen. Behind him are two other guys—one with light brown hair and blue eyes, the other with brown hair and green eyes.
    They aren't paying much attention to the phone, though—the guy with black hair is too busy trying to stop everyone else from badgering him.
    "Hi," Starr grins.
    All three guys stop annoying each other. "Hi, Starr!" the guy with blue eyes says.
    "Hey, Alex. You made me kill Cloud," Starr informs him.
    "Oh, sorry," Alex sweatdrops. "Where are you in FFVII now?"
    "A little after the City of Ancients."
    "SAVE! SAVE!" the green-eyed guy screams.
    "I WAS! I WAS! And I think you just burst Kenji's eardrums, Jason," Starr says, watching Kenji (the black-haired guy) start twitching.
    "Oops," Jason says, though he doesn't look like he really means it.
    "So what do you three psychopaths want?" Starr asks. "How's life in Pallet?"
    "Boring. I miss you," Alex shrugs.
    "How's being a Team Rocket member?" Jason asks, shoving Alex out of the way. "Geez, of all of us, I figured you were the least likely to become an evil genius. I was sure it was gonna be Kenji."
    Starr nods. "Don't worry. He'll be an evil overlord before we know it."
    "Oh leave me alone," Kenji mutters, grinning and getting a sweatdrop.
    Suddenly a little icon flashes up in the corner of the screen. "Oops—I have a call on the other line. Hang on, I'll be right back. Enjoy the singing Pikachu screen saver!"
    Alex and Kenji both scream. Jason cracks up. For some reason, Kenji and Alex find large groups of Pikachus frightening, especially when they sing.
    Jason enjoys watching them both have a spaz whenever Starr puts on that screen saver.
    Starr snickers and answers the other call.
    -Starr, I'm very pleased with the work you and Sami did on the last mission.-
    Starr jumps at the sound of Giovanni's voice, but composes herself and says, "Thank you. I was concerned you'd be disappointed with the mishap at the convention."
    Giovanni actually laughs a little. –Compared to the nonsense I've seen from those idiots Jessie and James, that's hardly a matter of concern. Besides, you completed the mission. Team Rocket has acquired many rare Pokémon thanks to Sami's and your efforts. Good work, and stand by for your next mission. You'll be going alone.-
     "By myself…?" Starr blinks.
    -You've more than proven your capability.- Giovanni presses a button on the arm of his chair (large chairs are necessary for any villain) and the mission brief downloads onto the videophone's screen. –I expect the same quality of work this time. I know you won't disappoint me.-
    Giovanni hangs up and Starr switches back to the other line. She sees Alex and Kenji pretending to die and Jason with a serious case of the hiccups.
    "Look what you dumb-asses did to me!" he yells, still laughing.
    "The Pikachus are gone now…" Starr informs them.
    "WHEEHEE!" Alex cheers.
    Kenji is still twitching.
     "Alex, could you hit him in the head, I can't get him from here," Starr says. Usually when Kenji won't be serious, Starr either flicks him in the ear, messes up his hair (Kenji is even more hair-obsessed than Rufus Shinra) or yells TREEEEEEEE and latches onto his arm, refusing to detach until he calms down.
    Alex understands this tradition and opts to flick Kenji in the ear.
    "OWWWWWWW!" Kenji falls over.
    Starr laughs. "Guys, I'm serious, could you get to the point of the phone call? I'm busy, I have a mission."
    "DUN-DUN-DUN!" Jason intones. "What is it?"
    "I don't know, I never checked." Starr starts to click on the icon, but is distracted by a scraping sound outside her door. "Hey."
    "I think it's the enemy agents," Alex remarks.
    "You Bond-obsessed nutcase. I'll call you guys back later."
    Starr hangs up, tiptoes over to the door…and abruptly hauls it open, sending Jessie tumbling into the room.
    "What the heck are you doing, listening in on my conversation?!" Starr snaps.
    "You're going on a mission ALONE?!?!?!?! What does the Boss think he's doing, sending you alone?!?!?!" Jessie shrills.
    Raichu hides under the bed.
    "He thinks I can do it," Starr shrugs, "so I will."
    "What mission did he give you? Something easy, I'll bet," Jessie sneers, calling up the mission on the phone.
    "HEY! Get out of there, that's my business and not yours!" Starr shoves Jessie out of the way and calls up the mission.
    Jessie reads over her shoulder.
    A pair of green eyes and a pair of blue eyes go very, very big as they see:

            Get Pikachu.

    "But NO!!!!!" Starr exclaims.
    "How can he send you alone to go after that lousy little kid and his Pikachu?!?!?! James and I can't capture it when we're both working together, and we're geniuses! What makes the Boss think YOU can do it????" Jessie snarls, acquiring little fangs.
    Starr twitches.
    Jessie bangs her fist on the bedside table. The videophone jumps. "Of all the dumb luck! The only reason you made the last mission is because James and I were helping! You're just a goody-goody novice KID!"
    Starr's eyes narrow.
    "You'll see how hard it is! When it comes down to it, some of us have it and some of us don't and—"
    Starr now resembles Sephiroth on a very bad day. Jessie notices and promptly shuts up, but Starr pitches her out the door anyhow, slamming it as Jessie breaks Mach 3.
    "Rai raichu?" Raichu blinks.
    Jessie has by now landed with a very resounding THUD, but Starr is too angry to enjoy it. "Goody-goody novice, hmm. I'll show her a freaking novice."
    Starr slams open the door and stalks down the hall, running head-on into James and plowing him over.
    "Oh, Starr, you're just the one I wanted to see! How does this poem sound?" James clears his throat, and begins. "Roses are—EEP!"
    Starr has turned the Sephiroth Glare on James, who squeaks, "Bad timing?"
    Starr calms down. "Tell you what. When I get back from stealing that friggin' Pikachu, I'll listen to your poem."
    "Stealing Pikachu?" James blinks twice as Starr storms out to the vehicle storage area.
    Faris cracks her door open a little. "Starr's going to steal that kid Ash's Pikachu on her own? Cool! She has a lot of potential, and I'm glad Giovanni had the brains to see that. It's a shame, though. Ash seems to be a pretty good trainer…" She shrugs. "Oh, well, what are you gonna do. She'll just have to think about what's best for Pikachu."

     Starr is going full-tilt down the road on the motorcycle she's borrowed. Raichu is hanging onto the back for dear life. He's never SEEN Starr so ticked off. This can't be good.
    Starr swerves to avoid a bunch of Squirtles crossing the road on the way to the park, yells "SORRY!" over her shoulder, and slows down a little.
    "I need to calm down," Starr sighs, bringing the motorcycle to a halt. "I can't let that skanky freak Jessie get to me. She's not worth spazzing over."
    "Raichu," Raichu agrees, pulling off his helmet. "Chu chu. Rai raichu?"
    "Of course I have a plan, Raichu," Starr grins. "Devious schemes are my specialty."

    "Look at this, Ash!" Misty giggles, pointing to the sign on the door of Starlight City's Pokémon Center. It's getting late, and true to its name the city sparkles like a thousand stars. Lots of people are still walking around, though.
    Ash turns away from Brock, who's drooling over a girl walking her Growlithe, and asks Misty, "What is it?"
    Misty continues to giggle. Togepi stares up at her wonderingly from her arms. "Pikachu obedience training! I know someone who could use thaaaaaat…"
    "Cut it out, Misty! Pikachu and I are fine the way we are! We're friends!" Ash says crossly.
    "Pika," Pikachu agrees.
    Misty shrugs. "Sure didn't look that way in the last battle, when you tried to get Pikachu to fight and got thundershocked."
    "Toge, brrriii!" Togepi adds, smiling cheerfully.
    "I didn't know Pikachu wasn't feeling well!" Ash defends. "I can train Pikachu just fine without some know-it-all telling me what to do!"
    "Obedience courses don't mean you don't know how to train Pokémon, they just give you some tips," a lady's voice sounds behind Ash. "And I hope that I'm not a know-it-all."
    Ash, Misty and Brock turn around to see a redheaded, green-eyed Pokémon trainer standing in the doorway. She's wearing a black T-shirt, blue jeans, and dark blue sneakers, and she doesn't look angry about Ash's comment—in fact, she looks like she thought it was funny.
    Brock doesn't seem to notice. "Ash! Don't you know never to insult a girl?" he yells, then dashes up to the girl and bows. "I apologize for Ash's behaviour…"
    The girl laughs. "It's all right. Some instructors can be know-it-alls, believe me. That's why I'd never be. Come on inside. You might learn something new."
    She opens the door and Ash walks in.
    In the room are about ten trainers, each with a Pikachu. There are mats on the floor, an obstacle course at one side of the room, a table with cookies and milk at another (which Pikachu keeps eyeing) and at the front of the room is a Raichu.
    "Pi pika pi!" Pikachu waves to the Raichu, who jumps.
    "Rai rai?"
    "D'you know that Raichu?" Ash inquires.
    "Pi~~~! Pika pika pi!" Pikachu replies cheerfully, still waving.
    Raichu just looks confused.
    "All right, everyone," the trainer claps her hands. "Let's get started. Training an electric Pokémon like Pikachu can be tricky and takes real talent. It looks to me like everyone here has that talent since nobody's been shocked yet and the cookies are still here."
    Everyone laughs a little as the trainer goes on, "I'm just going to teach you some basic tips on Pikachu training, as well as some interesting facts you may not have hard. Now, the first thing we have to do is find out your Pikachu's level and electric potential."
    She indicates a scale. One by one, all the trainers place their Pikachu on the flat surface, and a level and voltage reading flashes up on the screen.
    As Ash goes by, the trainer blinks. "Wow, your Pikachu's really advanced for its level! You must be a great trainer."
    "Well...heh heh heh…" Ash blushes and puts his hand on the back of his neck.
    Pikachu sweatdrops. "Pi pikachu."
    Misty, who's been smiling and watching all the cute Pikachu's play around, suddenly looks hard at the trainer. She's sure she's seen this girl someplace…
    It's something about her eyes…
    The trainer catches Misty's gaze and Misty abruptly looks away, but the trainer smiles.
    "What, am I that scary? You think I am, you should see my friend Kenji," she says.
    Misty blushes and laughs nervously.
 

   The rest of the evening goes by fairly smoothly. The trainer knows a lot of neat facts about Pikachu, and soon Misty's forgotten about any initial déjà vu. While Togepi's playing with the other Pikachu in the class, she's completely fascinated by the trainer's level of knowledge…
    Then, abruptly, the lights go out.
    "What's going on?" one of the female Pikachu trainers says nervously.
    The obedience trainer turns on a flashlight. "Don't worry. Another thing about Pikachu is, a large amount of them in one place can cause electrical disruption. We probably just blew a fuse. I'll be right back."
    The obedience trainer leaves.
    "Something's funny about this," Misty mutters.
    "She's really pretty…" Brock says, staring after the obedience trainer.
    Misty clobbers him. "This is serious, Brock! Something about this whole class is really weird! I'm getting nervous."
    "Maybe you're just worried about the new Team Rocket members," Ash suggests. "They're really good. The only reason they messed up a little is because of Jessie and James."
    Misty agrees, "Yeah. I hate to think what'd happen if those two replaced Jessie and James for good."
    The lights flicker back on and the obedience trainer returns. "I was right, it was just a fuse, nothing to do with Pikachu power—RAICHU, get out of those cookies!!!"
    The trainer's Raichu jumps off the snack table and she crosses her arms. "He's supposed to be trained, but I guess we're all hungry. Break time, everyone!"
    Everyone stampedes at the snack table.
    Ash is inhaling cookies at a high speed when Misty yawns. "That's weird…usually I'm not this tired this early."
    "It's been a long day," Ash yawns too.
    "If you're tired, you can sit down awhile. Training's tiring," the obedience trainer says sympathetically.
    Soon, all the trainers and Pikachu are sleeping peacefully around the room.
    Except the obedience trainer.
    "Nice, Raichu," she says. "You finished spiking the punch just in time. Now all we need to do is find Ash, get his Pikachu, and leave. No destruction, no chaos, no stupidity."
    Starr searches the room. Ash has zonked out against the slide on the obstacle course, and his Pikachu is sleeping on top of his head.
    "There you are…shh…" Starr whispers, picking Pikachu up gently and cradling the small yellow Pokémon in her arms. "Come on, let's go."

    An hour later, Ash wakes up, yawns, stretches…
    And realizes he can't find Pikachu anywhere.
    The other trainers, after checking to be sure their own Pikachu are safe, help him to search the Pokémon Center for Pikachu, as do Nurse Joy and Togepi (who's crying for its missing friend), but they have no luck.
    "Pikachu…" Ash says worriedly.
    "Did you see anyone weird-looking leave the gym?" Misty asks Nurse Joy. "Anyone from Team Rocket?"
    Joy thinks for a moment, then shakes her head. "No…the only person who left in the past while was the girl running the obedience course…she was very polite…I think her name was…Starr Evans."
    Upon hearing the name, Ash, Misty and Brock crash to the floor.
    "Is something wrong? You don't look well," Nurse Joy says, concerned.
    Ash doesn't reply, he just charges out the door with Brock and Misty close behind.
    "Ash, wait!" Misty exclaims.
    "I have to find Pikachu!" Ash yells, searching frantically in the bushes outside the Pokémon Center. "Who knows what Team Rocket might do! They might hurt Pikachu! I have to—"
    "Calm down!" Misty yells. "Don't panic! It's late, so she can't have gone far. We'll tell Officer Jenny and look for Pikachu, but we should go to sleep soon and try again in the morning."
    "How can you think of sleeping??????????????" Ash yells.
    "Misty is right," Brock interrupts. "If Officer Jenny puts up a roadblock, Starr won't be able to leave in the morning. Come on, let's go tell her what's happened."
    Ash nods, calming down. The three of them charge off to the police station.