Author's Note: Hey all you people out there. How are you doing? I'm the Penguin King, and I'll be the one writing this story today. Now, please have a little patience, as this is my first fanfic ever. I have a general outline of what I want to do with the story, but this is just the first chapter. And, since I am a Pokeshipper, so will this fic. Probably not a whole lot of shipping until a few chapters in, but who knows? I might find a way to squeeze it in sooner. Alright. (looks at keyboard. Cracks knuckles) Here we go!
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"Here are the reports you wanted, sir," a man said as he entered the office room, his arms full with boxes of papers and files. Behind him, in the hallway, was another three dollies stacked with boxes. It wasn't a large office, but neither was it small. It was comfortable in size, deceiving of the man who would own such an office. And though it even looked very common, as far as such places go, there was something unnerving about it, something almost sinister. Deception is the one rule that this man lived by. Seem harmless, be brutal.
There was no response. All the man could see was the back of a large chair behind the desk, and the cityscape outside the wall of windows. A clock ticked on the wall, counting away the seconds. Tick, tick, tick, tick. His arms were starting to quiver slightly under the weight of the paper. "Sir?" he asked again, hoping for a response.
"Set them on my desk," a smooth, silky voice said.
"All of them, sir?"
The chair squeaked as it turned around. The man with the boxes started to sweat, and it had nothing to do with the weight in his arms. There sat one of the most powerful men on the planet, the president of Team Rocket, Giovanni.
Giovanni set his elbows on his desk, leaning forward, and crossing his hands under his chin. "How many reports are there?" he asked, a puzzled expression on his face. The delivery man opened the door wider to show the dollies full of boxes, as well as the boxes in his own arms. Giovanni's expression didn't change at all. He sat for a moment, staring at the boxes of papers. Tick, tick, tick, tick. He turned around again to look outside the window. "Set them next to my desk, then take that dolly out with you."
The man quietly went to work, unloading the boxes of papers. He stacked them so that the oldest ones were closest to Giovanni and on the top. When he was finished, he rolled the dolly out of the office and left, going back to the report room to return the dolly. He let out a shaky breath, now that he was outside. That man scared him. Maybe it was the emotionless tone of voice he used. Maybe it was the constant calm. Maybe it was the knowledge of what Giovanni could do. Whatever it was, he was glad to be out of there. He did, however, pity the person those reports were about.
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Giovanni sat silent for a while after the grunt had left, staring out the window, and thinking about the boxes of reports. They had only recently come to his attention. How they could have gone unnoticed for so long was beyond him. Incompetent staff, probably. He made a mental note to give the person who brought this to his attention a promotion. All the reports were about a man and his pokemon. Or, more specifically, a group of people and their pokemon. It seemed like these people followed Team Rocket everywhere, foiling all of his important plans. He had heard the excuses of his agents, and had summarily dismissed them from his services. After all, how was it even possible that a group of young trainers could best his most elite agents? They didn't know that he had dismissed them, of course. He just sent them out on another mission, and sent an anonymous tip to the authorities as to where they were and what they were doing. They would be held for a good, long time.
Two days ago, however, a new junior member of Team Rocket had asked his supervisor where to find another file box, as the others in that category were filled. The supervisor had thought it a good idea to show the new member how to properly make room in existing boxes. When he found that it was a file about another trainer, he laughed at the newcomers' inexperience. Insisting that he must have looked in the wrong room, the supervisor went to the files of trainers Team Rocket had run into over the years. No trainer had done enough harm against team rocket to require even one full box, let alone several. The supervisor was shocked when he found stacks of boxes about this one trainer: Ash Ketchum. The supervisor immediately brought it to the attention of Giovanni directly, not wanting to waste time with intermediaries. This trainer warranted the attention of the highest echelons of Team Rocket.
Before, Giovanni would have laughed at the excuse of a child foiling missions. Now, however, he was willing to examine what had been said about these…children who had disrupted his plans. Time after time he had come close to complete domination. Millions had been spent over the years. Millions that were forever lost. If Giovanni found the reports consistent, he would make these trainers pay heavily for what had been done to him.
Turning around, Giovanni pushed the button on the intercom to his secretary. "Heather, reschedule all my appointments for the next week and take messages on all my calls. Make up something to tell them, I don't care what."
"Right away, sir," came the prompt response.
Giovanni had a lot of reading to do. Pulling the first box onto his desk, he pulled out the very oldest report and began reading, taking notes on a legal pad on the side. He didn't trust his incompetent paper pushers to sift through this. They couldn't be trusted to bring something like this to his attention. They certainly couldn't be trusted to find the truth behind all of this. There had to be a mistake in this somewhere. Somewhere…..
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The majority of the reports came from two very low ranking field agents, Jesse and James. They had followed this group of trainers from day one, hoping to capture this trainers Pikachu. They claimed that this Pikachu was strong, unusually strong. Several of their claims seemed impossible. It sends them flying hundreds of feet with a single thunderbolt. It generates enough electricity to overcome specially designed electrical insulators. It has defeated multiple Raichu, several Ground-type pokemon, and was even able to use a Thunder attack to form a sort of armor around itself. The more he read their claims, the more he thought they were making up stories to justify their expenses and losses.
But there were other reports from more reliable field agents. Anne and Oakly. Butch and Cassidy. Agent after agent said with earnest conviction that this Pikachu was out of the ordinary, that it was special. Once or twice speculations were made as to its strength if it ever evolved. If it was this powerful now….
And this one trainer alone had seen almost every legendary pokemon that Giovanni could think of. Mew on several occasions, Articuno, Moltres, Zapdos, Raikou, Entei, Suicune, Lugia, Ho-Oh, Celebi, Regice, Registeel, Regirock, Regigigas, Latias, Latios, Kyogre, Groudon, Rayquaza, Jirachi, Deoxys, Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, Cresselia, Darkrai, Shaymin. The list was enormous. And somehow, for some reason, this trainer got sucked up into every major plan Team Rocket had come up with since the first file on him was reported.
He looked at the names. Ash Ketchum, Brock Slate, Misty Waterflower, May Haruka, Max Haruka, and Dawn Hikari. As each name had come up on his searching, he had ordered a discreet background check on all of them.
Ash. A trainer from Pallet Town in Kanto, and a close friend of Professor Oak. His mother, Delia, still lived in Pallet Town. His father, unknown name and location. Presumed deceased by many.
Brock. Former Gym Leader of Pewter City. Currently attempting to become a known pokemon breeder. Father Flint and mother Lola currently living in Pewter with nine children, all younger than Brock.
Misty. Former companion of Ash and Brock. Current Gym Leader of Cerulean City. Three sisters, all older, Lily, Daisy, and Violet. Parents presumed deceased.
May. Pokemon Coordinator of some renown. Father is Norman, a gym leader in the Hoenn region. Mother Caroline, home maker.
Max. Younger brother of May. Pokemon Trainer.
Dawn. Pokemon Coordinator of some renown, currently traveling with Ash and Brock. Mother, Johanna, former Coordinator of great renown. Father unknown, presumed deceased.
Giovanni also had a list of all pokemon possessed by each trainer, as well as what pokemon they were currently using. Looking at the list for the umpteenth time, he couldn't help but be amazed. Of all of Ashes pokemon, very few of them were evolved. Most of them were at the first stage. Either they were insanely powerful specimens of their breed, or his agents were poor strategists. Looking at the incompetence of his office workers, he was willing to bet it was a bit of both.
After finally sifting through years of papers on this group of people, he decided he needed some fresh information. Pushing away from his desk, Giovanni ruffled through a drawer before finally pulling out a bottle of advil. Leaning back in his chair, he put two in his mouth and swallowed them with some water he had on his desk. He took a few breaths, collecting his thoughts. He leaned forward and pressed the button to talk to his secretary. "Heather, send a recall order to Jesse and James in the Sinnoh region. Tell them that they are to drop everything and come immediately to the Kanto headquarters. Give them the password and location to the airfield. Have Deakon fly them in one of the stolen military jets and destroy it afterwards."
"Yes sir. Anything else?"
"Send a message web to the Sinnoh Pokecenters that Ash Ketchum and Brock Slate are needed in Cerulean City ASAP, and to the Hoenn Pokecenters that May and Max Haruka are to find Ash in Cerulean City. There has been an emergency. Don't specify the emergency, just say that there is one. And have them prepare my jet in the airfield. I need to get to the Kanto headquarters and wait for Jesse and James."
"I'll do it right away sir. If I may ask, what's going on? Your clients aren't very happy."
"This is a top priority assignment, Heather. There is a growth that has been left unchecked for too long. It's time that I removed it." He let go of the intercom button and picked up his office phone. He had some calls to make while he waited for the plane. With any luck, Jesse and James would be able to fly in sometime tomorrow. He didn't expect the others to arrive in Cerulean in less than three days.
Dialing quickly, he listened to the phone ring. A woman picked up on the opposite end. "Rachel's Flower Boutique, this is Rachel, how can I help you?"
"I'm looking for some Chinese Fire Rockets. Do you carry any?" Chinese Fire Rockets. The activation phrase for his sleeper cells. He had hundreds, scattered across the globe. All he needed to do was utter the activation phrase, and they would do his bidding without question.
"What can I do for you sir?"
"I need you to organize several simultaneous abductions."
"How many, where, and when?"
"One in Twinleaf Town, Johanna Hikari. Two in Pettleburg, Norman and Caroline Haruka. Three in Cerulean, Violet, Daisy, and Lily Waterflower. Eleven in Pewter, Flint and Lola Slate, along with their nine children. One in Pallet Town, Delia Ketchum."
"So many sir? When do you want this done by?"
"You have two days to organize and execute the plan. I need them detained simultaneously and transported to Our base in Sinnoh. Failure will result in termination. Am I understood?"
"Yes Sir. Your orders will be executed as directed."
"Carry on."
"Right away sir."
Giovanni let out a sigh as he hung up the phone. His secretary beeped him. "Your plane is ready for transport, sir."
"Very good. Have my car ready when I get outside. And have Patrick and Jane come with me."
"Yes sir."
Picking up his coat, he headed out the door. This was going to end, one way or another.
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Secret messages went out around the world. Team Rocket was going to kidnap and detain eighteen people in their base in Snowpoint City. Their targets were well known and potentially dangerous. Plans were made. Letters were forged. Sleeper cells were awoken, and given instructions.
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At the same time, other messages were sent to pokecenters in the Hoenn and Sinnoh Regions. They were traps for their victims, waiting to be sprung. These children had prodded a sleeping beast. Now, it had woken up, and they must face the consequences of their actions.
AN: Okay, so I know that the chapter wasn't a whole lot. But it's setting up for more stuff down the line. Please bare with me and be patient. And there hasn't been any pokeshipping yet, but there will be! I swear! Please review with likes and dislikes. And also, if the timeline of events seems unrealistic, it is because the story itself is a work of fiction and I as the author have the right to bend the laws of space and time. Criticism is welcome, as long as it's constructive. Again, this is my first fic. Penguin King, out!