nature

It was another busy day at one of Viridian's parks. The sun shone and kids frolicked everywhere as they went about their business of playing tag and chasing after wild Pidgey and Rattata. Some of them even ran to their loved ones and begged for some pocket change to buy ice cream or a hot dog. From an outsider's point of view, the scene was probably brimming with art inspiration from all of the people spending their time at a park like it was the most ordinary thing to do.

But Matori was never much for the outdoors. Screaming children made her uncomfortable, and all of the pollen in the springtime air flared up her allergies, but there she sat on a park bench with a sandwich in her hands and a box of Kleenex by her side, with a nine-year-old boy sitting on the ground as her companion for the day. Her usual uniform was swapped for a pink hoodie and some sweatpants. It was still a bit too cold for her comfort. And why did kids like the park so much anyway?

She contemplated a little as she bit into her sandwich. Ham and mayo, with just a few olives to give it a boost in taste. The boy was making scratches in the dirt with a stick; even when he was inattentive (which was most of the time), he made the best listener for her frustrations. "Kid, I never thought I was going to be an underworld boss's secretary for almost twenty years," she started. This was an understatement. She never thought she'd live to be an underworld boss's secretary for almost twenty years. "I was in Pokemon Tech's top classes, studying to be a paralegal. I was at the top of everything, even had a proposal to join this very strong law firm in Saffron City."

Matori pointed a finger at the boy, squinting. As always, the boy continued to ignore her. "Then this asshole a few years younger than me buys out that very firm, even scooping up the proposal contracts, including mine. Then he has the gall to offer me a different contract at a slightly lower starting pay. Only Giovanni would be so arrogant. I had some student loans stacking up, so I accepted."

She smiled. Others would think she was so foolish, but she knew better. Even at such a young age, Giovanni had wielded more power than most of the bigshots in the western Kantonian area. What he offered was a lot different than a cushy paralegal job. "Most of the field agents and grunts at Team Rocket have given me a dirty look at least once. They think my job is so easy. But kid, it's no cake walk." Scrunching up her nose, she took another bite. Tonight she had to check her fridge and see if the olives were going bad. "I'm the top noodle, so Giovanni relies on me for pretty much everything. Schedules with other business clients, schedules with grunts who wear Velcro shoes, publicity appointments, pokemon grooming appointments. I can't count how many times his pokemon have tried to maul me trying to take them to the groomers, especially Persian."

Two appointments ago Persian chomped at her arm and it took half of the staff at the grooming place to yank him off of her. After that she had to tag in the new recruit, Mondo, to go to the emergency room, and Giovanni had still docked her pay for apparent negligence. She wasn't sure who was the real beast in that situation. "Often I also have to deal with the paperwork for the new and rookie recruits, which was always a mess. This last batch was a clusterfuck. First I had to train this new secretary who transferred to Johto, and she wouldn't shut up about this smoothie bill she had to pay. And then the other five…two harpies, a hot one, a chain-smoker, and a talking Meowth. That Meowth…he's so unnatural0."

The first time she had bumped into that Meowth, he made her trip over herself and spill coffee everywhere by suddenly asking her how was the weather. Why did a pokemon need to know how the weather was? And why could he talk? Had she been in charge of his employment, she would've certainly tossed his application into the file shredder. Shuddering, she sipped from her water bottle. "Kid, sometimes I ask why I stay. I work over twelve hours every day, including today, 'cause babysitting some boss's little brat wasn't part of my off-day plans. No offense."

"None taken."

"Huh? Oh, so you are listening. Thanks. But your dad is an asshole most of the time. And I never get enough sleep or have time to watch Golden Girls reruns. And sometimes Giovanni's clients play dirty and try to threaten me. And more often his pokemon try to threaten me. It happens often enough that whenever I don't fall asleep right away, I think about why I don't ever step down as top noodle."

The boy was fully attentive now, staring at her with his wide, brown eyes. His expression was similar enough to that woman's to unnerve her. "Miss Matori, I'm gonna be ten next year and set off on a pokemon journey," he said, "and I still wonder why Mom is married to Dad instead of Professor Oak or someone else 'cause Dad does do a lot of bad things and he doesn't visit us often, and sometimes when he does we're stuck with each other. But Mom says she's happy, even though she knows Dad can be awful. Are you happy with your job, Miss Matori?"

"Kid, don't ask such blunt questions!" Matori snapped. Then sighing, she ran her clean hand through her hair and chuckled, looking up at the sky. If she kept her head like this for enough seconds, she'd go into a coughing fit. "I'm not sure if I'd call it happiness, though. When I get a challenge thrown at me, I still find a thrill deep within me that feels the same as when I first started working for Giovanni. It's like high-stakes gambling…or a pokemon battle. I don't know if working like this will always be satisfying, but for now I'm almost never bored. And I'm never broke. I can afford to feed brats like you park food."

"Hey, that's not nice, Miss Matori!"

"I'm not your mom. Um. But you're still easier to watch than Persian. Here, have the rest of this sandwich. Don't eat the olives."

She stood up and handed the boy the other half of her sandwich, and they began walking through the park again as she blew her nose. She wasn't even sure if she could be considered to be satisfied, but there were worse jobs out there. At least the pay was nice…

(Original notes: Matori's greatest wish would probably be a good supply of thick margaritas. )

Originally written March 2, 2016 on tumblr for pkmnfanweek's villain prompt. It's nice to give the more minor characters some screen-time.