Finally I decided to write this down. I had the idea in my mind but never found the chance to actually write it. It's a little comedy story about Team Rocket. I always wanted to write something funny about them, something different from Hotaru no Hikari.

For some funny moments I took small ideas from 'The IT crowd'. And I wanted to give the TR characters more background and development. Especially some funny moments to show their work life. We've never seen that in the anime, and I had my own imagination for that.

If someone wants a specific character from Team Rocket to appear in this story, please tell me! (Game and Anime)

Please leave a review, I'm collecting them :)

Disclaimer for the whole story: I do not own Team Rocket and Pokemmon! They belong to the people who have created them! I only own my OCs!

Team Rocket's Apprentice

Chapter 1: The Job Interview

It was never an action of desperation. In fact, Rachel was happy about her life and the tiny apartment she lived in. The move to Saffron City felt like it was the right step in the right direction. It was actually another step in the independence and it felt great. Since she always lived with someone together or shared an apartment, this felt like freedom, even though her current flat had only one tiny room and she had barely space to turn around. Having a guest in her home wasn't possible, they couldn't even turn around.

But it was a beginning. Rachel had saved her money for her plan long enough and now she had a new chance. The job interview for a place in the famous Silph Co. was only minutes away. After small jobs as waitress, cleaner and caterer, she finally had a chance to a better life. Head secretary in the company. It didn't sound that interesting but it was enough for the woman.

With a last brush through her hair, Rachel ended the procedure to get her hair under control. In a swift move she grabbed her lipstick and brushed the red color across her lips. The color peaked out on her spotless make-up. It wasn't too much but good enough for a job interview. "Perfect," Rachel mumbled to herself as she looked in the mirror. The woman ran her hand through her hazel brown hair again. It almost reached her shoulders and was as soft as silk. Thanks to her new shampoo.

"Hello," escaped the sound her throat. Rachel was about to stand up but suddenly all of her weight pushed her down to the chair again. A small red spot next to her nose caught her attention. "That's bad luck." A pimple had dared growing in her face. It almost screamed 'touch me', but Rachel kept her hands away from her face. She didn't want to make it worse. Normally, such a tiny thing would bother her and ruin her day, but now was not the time to curse.

Quickly, the woman collected all her documents she needed. Her CV, application, notebook and her handbag. A last brush across her skirt to get all wrinkles out of the fabric. Rachel grabbed her keys and prepared herself to leave. "I'm ready!" she took a deep breath and closed the door behind her.

Shortly after she left, the door opened again and Rachel rushed into the room. She took one last look in the mirror before she was finally able to leave.

Her CV was almost perfect and her description. Rachel Megan. 26 years of age. Aquarius. Born in Violet City, Johto. Good grades in high school. Had worked in two cafés and in a hotel in Azalea Town. And things she knew about herself: shoulder-long hazel hair. Green eyes. Single. Love for good food. Hates bad food. Hobbies: shopping, reading and talking to people. Lots of experiences in bringing coffee.

A work place in Silph Co. would be perfect. Not a long way to walk. Perfect connection with the subway, bus and the Silph Cooperation was one of the most famous companies in Kanto.

Just the imagination made Rachel smile.

"Good morning, Professor. The results have arrived today and the lab in Viridian City has accepted the examples. They said it could take one week to get the program finished," the secretary reported as she entered one of the main offices in the Silph Co. building. Her name was Wendy and she was the proud secretary of Team Rocket's base in Saffron City. Without her the organization was nothing. She had the most important work to do and that included reporting news, calling other bases, bringing the files and documents in order, and the most most most important work, nobody else was allowed to do, bringing the head scientists their coffee. Every. Single. Morning.

"Good," replied a scientist. Seemingly, he was in his late 30's or early 40's. He had jet black hair with a white streak that showed up on the left side, wore glasses and a white coat. "What about the new technology in Viridian City?" he asked, not in a mood to hear bad news.

Wendy shifted from leg to leg nervously. She knew it wasn't her fault but she, as the secretary, had to feel the consequences. There was always a person who had to be complained at, and usually it was the innocent and not guilty head secretary. "Well... I haven't received an answer yet."

The tension in the office grew silently. The scientist sighed slightly annoyed.

"Calm down, Sebastian. Since we gave them the blueprints last week, it will certainly take a while," said another scientist. He was obviously older, had white hair, a long white lab coat and wore a monocle on his left eye. As to make his colleague angry, he reached for the cup of coffee and took a sip in silence and inner peace.

"I will not disagree with you, Zager, but it won't change the situation. To mention it, where is the new head scientist they wanted to send to us? Our project has the highest priority at the moment," Sebastian asked as he turned to face the secretary. He turned back to his documents to work on them. It wasn't in his nature to look at people when they were talking. Just listening to them while filling in some documents saved a lot of precious time. In his opinion at least.

Again, the secretary hesitated with her answer. One bad message was already bad enough, and she knew the people she worked with very well to tell their impatience with answer or messages. "I have talked to the head quarters and they told me, that she had some difficulties on a project she was working on. But they promised me to send her to Saffron City as soon as possible," Wendy explained, heading for the door to leave this uncomfortable atmosphere.

"She?"

It was just another unnecessary question that prevented Wendy from her important work. "Yes, her name is Professor... Rachel... I think..is the head scientist in biology and engineering in Viridian City."

The awkward silence became worse. It was the right decision for Wendy to leave the office now.

"Please call them and ask them again. Since we need a specialist to solve the difficulties, we can't wait any longer," Sebastian mumbled, but cursed silently under his breath. Everyone knew, that 'difficulties' was a euphomism for 'problems', but it sounded less incompetent.

"Yes," Wendy replied and finally made her way to leave until a scratchy voice interrupted her.

"But on you're way, try to get some of the crunchy chocolate bars. I'm starving and I need energy to work," a third scientist told her. He hid his head behind some documents he was reading. Only an orange, bushy beard and bushy eyebrows stuck out.

"Of course, sir," Wendy sighed. The moment she had left the office and made sure that the door was closed, Wendy bit into her folder she had carried around the whole morning. Her rage overcame her and she clenched her teeth in anger. It was up to her to be responsible for everything. She had to manage everything and even had to deliver the damn coffee to the scientists! And then there was never a 'thank you' or 'well done'! They didn't care about her work. "Oh, where is the new scientist? Then she can bring them their stupid coffee!" the woman hissed as she made her way back to her desk.

Meanwhile in the entrance hall of the Silph Co. building.

Rachel waited impatiently for the woman at the reception. She tapped her finger in a constant speed on the desk and shifted from leg to leg. Her gaze wandered to the clock on the wall every five seconds until the secretary came back. She was and elder woman and took her time with her work. The receptionist finally mentioned Rachel to come. "Hello? How can I help you?" the woman asked.

"My name is Rachel Megan and I have a job interview in the Silph Co. now. I'm a little late because the subway came too late," she explained hastily. The woman had to admit it. She was nervous. Really nervous.

The old receptionist searched in her notebook for the correct information. "Yes. Someone is already waiting for you. Tenth floor in the conference room," she told her.

"Great, thank you." Rachel rushed past the reception and dashed into the elevator before the doors closed. She pressed the button for the tenth floor and waited.

The feeling of taking the lift pushed down on ber stomach. She couldn't even tell whether it was her nervousness or the lift. Rachel stared at the screen that showed the current floor, for her it took endless time.

Suddenly, the elevator stopped. Much to Rachel's misfortune. The doors opened and a woman with green hair hopped inside, she almost violated the button for the eleventh floor with her free hand. She held a bunch of papers, documents and folders in her hand and struggled not to lose them. Silently, the woman cursed under her breath.

Rachel became even more nervous and chewed on her inner lip.

As the green-haired secretary lost one of the papers, Rachel quickly picked it up for her.

"Thank you," Wendy said. The fact that a strange woman helped her more than her own work colleagues bothered her. "I've never seen you before. Can I help you?" Wendy asked.

"Eh, no. I'm here for a job and..." Rachel asked but got cut off.

"May I ask for your name?" Wendy interrupted.

"Rachel Megan," the woman replied.

Wendy sighed in relief. "Oh, thank god. We were waiting for you all the time. There are some difficulties that need to be solved. Great that you came today. We have no time to lose," the secretary explained.

Somehow Rachel didn't really understand her. She was here for a job interview, wasn't she? Why would they need someone new to solve some difficulties or problems in a company she had never worked for before? It became even weirder when Wendy stopped her from going to the tenth floor. Wasn't she supposed to have a job interview first before she started to work? Or maybe the receptionist had made a mistake.

As the lift stopped at the eleventh floor, Wendy shoved Rachel out of the lift and literally dragged her along a corridor. "Hurry. The others are already waiting for you, the green-haired secretary dragged her along.

"Eh... shouldn't I have the job interview first?" Rachel asked her quite unsure.

Wendy threw a confused glance at the woman. "There is no need for that. I assume somebody in your rank has all the knowledge to work with our head scientists without any problems. But I am impressed of your age. The Viridian Base said you are one of the best scientists there." The secretary eyed her from head to toe. It was a little strange for her. The most people she worked with had reached a specific age in their ranks. Someone as young as Rachel was a rare sight. She quickly lead her to a big office with four workplaces. One was tidy and clean, the second therefore looked chaotic and... dirty. And the third... too many books and documents to tell whether it was clean or not. "Well, this is your new workplace" she said, pointing at the desk in the left corner.

Rachel's jaw dropped. This was a dream, wasn't it? An own desk with pc, enough place to work and close to a window, what meant enough light. It was so neat, so clean... so awesome. She walked around and simply could not believe it. Was that only luck that brought her to this place? The woman stumbled through the office and walked in circles around her work place. She still couldn't believe it. But what was the thing with the scientist? Somehow, Rachel's gut feeling appeared again.

"Here," Wendy threw a white lab coat at Rachel and helped her to slip into the sleeves. "Hurry, they are already waiting for us. Leave your documents-"

Suddenly, the door to the office opened, and three, very strict-looking, scientists entered. One of them had jet black hair that contained a single white streak and a goatee, the second scientist had orange bushy hair and a mustache, and the third scientists wore a monocle and had white hair. Somehow, they appearance let Rachel shiver.

"Perfect timing. This is Professor Rachel, she had just arrived," said Wendy and shoved Rachel closer to the scientists. She instead left the office with one last sentence. "Good luck, Professor!"

The woman earned some very strange gazes. They contained a mix of disbelief, anger and somehow, she had described it as jealousy? It didn't make her feel comfortable, in fact, it scared her. At the other hand, Rachel's presence made the scientists feel much older, like old grandpas. The woman seemed even younger than Wendy.
How was she supposed to be a Professor at her age? What did she do to earn this state? This reputation? And since when had Team Rocket teenagers as head scientists? Wasn't she supposed to be in their age at least? All these kinds of questions flew around in the scientists' heads. And with a short glance, they shared their thoughts.

"Well...eh, hello," stuttered Rachel. She forced herself to be friendly and polite.

"That's a joke," replied the shortest of the scientists, totally ignoring her. It was the man with the bushy, orange hair. "How old are you?" he asked her in a strict tone.

Stuttering, Rachel tried to give an answer. "Eh, twenty-six," she replied to his question.

The tension in the room grew. It could be cut with a knife already. Literally. The scientists looked at each other in disbelief with open mouths. "And why do you think you are here?" Professor Sebastian asked her very suspiciously. He wondered about her age. Especially her age. Someone as young as her was able to work with him, the head scientist from the Johto region, together? What sort of offense was that? Did Team Rocket intend to make a fool out of him?

Rachel came to the point directly. "Working? I'm here for a job?" It sounded more like a question than an explanation. And it wasn't even a lie. It was only the truth.

It wasn't what the scientists expected, but they felt the strange feeling as well. Something was wrong, but no one did a move to ask. Even the three Rocket scientists wanted to be polite and didn't ask anymore. Mentioning to follow them, Professor Zager went to the door, intending to leave the office. "Well then, welcome, Professor... Rachel was it?"

Rachel nodded. "Yes, thank you...ehm..." she started.

"Doctor Zager. Let me introduce you to your other colleagues. This is Doctor Numba."

"It's Namba," the shortest of the men hissed.

"And this is Professor Sebastian, he will be your supervisor until you are familiar with the work here and the technology," Doctor Zager explained.

Professor Sebastian was the person who scared Rachel most. His gaze hit her like an arrow and literally screamed 'You don't belong here!'. He even refused to say something to her. He was that type of person you would always avoid to meet. In Rachel's opinion. All that lowered her 'great-workplace-scale' to zero, though she had a beautiful office. But here came the next point. Her place in the office was the brightest, she had enough sun and more space than the others. And assuming from their looks, they were kind of angry at her.

Rachel gulped deeply as a strong shudder met her spine. That was even stranger for her. Scientists? Technology? No secretary work? And no job interview? And what was that with her lab coat? How weird... perhaps she should say something and ask about her actual job offer, but she didn't want to get the scientists on their nerves after the rough introduction.

It was an action of desperation, to clear that negative mood in the room. "Well, shall we go? There is a lot of work to do." Finally, Zager left the office, followed by his colleagues. The last person who left the room was Rachel, and simply the gesture gave her the feeling of not being accepted.

The walk was through a corridor, it seemed endless. Rachel followed the scientists quietly, she didn't dare saying anything. Maybe it wasn't the perfect workplace for her.

As they walked around a corner, the end of the gangway was a huge glass door. It had no doorknob, no handle, nothing. Only an electric lock on the side. Doctor Zager pulled out a card with a magnetic stripe and scanned it with the lock. The door opened and showed the room behind. It was a cold, sterile lab with lots of computers, screens and some kind of scary devices. On the right side of the room were some desks and shelves, but it made it even scarier. Rachel gulped, her jaw almost dropped. She followed the scientists inside, because she had no other choice. "Wh...what is that..." she asked silently.

Her question only earned more confused looks. The scientists turned to face her. "The main lab of the Saffron City headquarter, as you should know." Doctor Namba went to one of the shelves and picked some documents with formulae and whatnot. Something that Rachel definitely couldn't read.

"And that?" Rachel asked, pointing at one of the robotic devices. It looked like a huge weapon to her. Suddenly, the woman shrieked and twitched as the door closed behind her. She felt like a lab rat, caught in the lab.

"I expected that you were introduced to the technology before you came here. Such a pity. It's a system that allows us to transport Pokémon from their Pokeballs directly to this machine without the trainers noticing it. Though, it only works in a specific range, and we still have difficulties to analyse the code for Pokeballs," Professor Sebastian explained, rather hissing.

Rachel suddenly felt herself becoming sick. "Isn't that...stealing?" she mumbled.

It was another question that made the scientists suspicious. "In other words, yes. That's what we are paid for," Namba snickered in a mocking way. "So, Professor, what do you suggest? Since you are specialiyed in wave -and frequency technology."

Slowly, Rachel understood that she was in a completely wrong place. That was never the job she had to do, right? And what about the technology? "That was never in my job description," Rachel stuttered.

"What?" asked Professor Sebastian as he arched an eyebrow.

"I don't understand this! Shouldn't we have a job interview first? And I have no idea about scientific work. My job description said nothing about all this! I am supposed to do paper work and call people," she explained.

The scientists stared at her and stepped closer to the young woman. "Wait, we received a message that the new head scientist would come from the HQ in Viridian City. Professor Rachel, what is this supposed to mean?" asked Sebastian and stepped right in front of her, causing her to duck.

Drops of sweat covered the young woman's forehead. She could ask the same question. "I don't know. And why are you calling me 'Professor'? What is all this here? That's not the Silph Co!" The confusion increased from second to second. Either it was just a big misunderstanding, or Rachel had applied for the wrong job.

"Indeed, this is the Team Rocket headquarter in Saffron City. And you are in the middle of the science and technology research department," replied Doctor Zager.

Team Rocket. Team Rocket... Wasn't that the organization Rachel had heard of so much? In the news? Newspaper? The organization that only caused trouble in Kanto and Johto? The organization that stole Pokémon, sold them on the black market, and experimented on them? The criminal organization!? That Team Rocket?! And Rachel stood right in front of three of Team Rocket's head scientists in a middle of the lab? "Holy Arceus..." mumbled Rachel, suddenly feeling very dizzy. She glanced over her shoulder to the door that was locked, there was no way out. But how did this happen? How did she end up here? It didn't matter. She had to get out. Fast! And call the police! Fast!

Professor Sebastian sighed. Before he was able to ask her another question, the door opened and Wendy interrupted him. She carried some papers with her and was quite nervous. "I'm sorry, but I received a call from the Viridian base. They told me that Professor Rachel had to stay in Viridian City due to some unwanted problems she has to solve. I told them, that Professor Rachel has arrived today, and they laughed at me," she told them.

The moment came, when all gazes were directed at the young woman. It was an icy and nightmare-like atmosphere.

"May I ask for you name again?" Doctor Namba asked the young woman.

"Rachel Megan," Rachel replied instantly.

Wendy raised one eyebrow. "That's weird. That's exactly the name of the head scientist, Rachel Me-" suddenly, she gagged. Her left eyelid twitched as she looked at her papers again.

The scientist with the goatee and the glasses narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "What is it, Wendy?" he asked.

The secretary looked up again. She had to admit that she had done a fatal mistake. "The scientist's name is Rachel... M-M...Morgan. Not Megan," she stuttered.

Rachel bit her tongue. She sneaked around the scientists to the door, but got caught by Team Rocket's gazes. It was a pitiful attempt to open the door, because she had no idea how to open it. And she had no magnetic card for the lock. Slowly, Rachel turned to face the scientists and the Rocket secretary. She gulped, because she suspected a lot of trouble.

"For the last time. I had no idea! That woman just pushed me into this place! I had no idea it was the HQ of Team Rocket!" Rachel explained and dug her fingers in her hair frustrated. She lowered her head.
After half an hour of discussing, explaining and arguing, she was still at the same spot like before. Rachel was kept in the office where she had met the scientists before, she sat on a small couch in the corner and tried to explain everything. She was not guilty! It was only a big misunderstanding. The glares of Professor Sebastian and Doctor Namba hit her and made the atmosphere even worse. It didn't help her at all.

With a sigh, Sebastian clearly showed his annoyance. "And you had the intention to apply for a job as secretary?" he asked.

"Yes. For the Silph Co! And then I ended up here," Rachel whined in frustration. She was at the edge of a mental collapse and just wanted to disappear. Team Rocket kept her in that office, and she had to argue with the two head scientists Professor Sebastian and Doctor Namba to come to a conclusion. Their gazes hit Rachel and made her feel even worse. The atmosphere in the room was horrible.

"You said Wendy brought you to us?" asked Namba.

Rachel rolled her eyes and slightly face-palmed her forehead. It was now the twentieth time that she had told them the story. "Yes. She asked me for my name and I answered, then she suddenly exclaimed that she knows me and we have to hurry. That's how I ended up here. I had no idea that it was Team Rocket's headquarter! I am not a spy or anything, I'm just a regular normal woman looking for a job!" At this point Rachel nearly cried. She was exhausted and just wanted to go home, she wanted to forget everything. It wasn't even that she wanted to go to the police anymore. She. Just. Wanted. To. Go. Another sigh escaped her lips and her head fell in the palms of her hands.

It was the moment Doctor Zager re-entered the office with a paper cup filled with hot coffee in his hand. He hand the cup to Rachel who took it gratefully. At least one person in this godforsaken building was nice to her and didn't blame her for a mistake she hasn't even done. "Here. Stress doesn't help at all right now," the man said.

Thank you," Rachel mumbled before she took a small sip.

"Well, try to explain it again, how did you end up here?" Namba's question was as useless as stupid, because he already heard the answer a thousand times.

Rachel almost spat out the brown drink. She swallowed it and jumped to her feet, it was quite hilarious. "For the last time! That woman had made a mistake. I just said I am Rachel Megan, and she suddenly dragged me to this freaking office! I don't want to know anything about Team Rocket, and I would never interfere! Please, just let me go. I won't even tell anyone!" It was a pitiful begging and soon turned into sobbing. "I will do everything!"

The scientists all shared a suspicious gaze and stared at Rachel again. "I'm afraid that we can't do that, you've seen too much." Sebastian's answer was clear and harsh, it made Rachel squeal. Suddenly, he turned to face his colleagues. "But what are we supposed to do? We can't just lock her away and let her starve. And for our tests she would never give a good subject."

The woman was now breathing heavily, her face became pale like chalk. Bad thoughts came into her mind, horror thoughts, thoughts and pictures you would only see in a nightmare. It made her feel very sick out of all sudden.

"The solution for this problem may be simple, but isn't it obvious? She cannot leave anymore, but she was looking for a job. Wasn't Wendy complaining that she had to do all the office work by herself? What about sending Wendy her as help. That would save all of us a lot of trouble." Doctor Zager smiled after his suggestion. Finally a somehow good suggestion that didn't make Rachel want to vomit. But there was still the problem. Rachel? Working for a criminal organization? For Team Rocket? Somehow, she had imagined her first day of work different. But everything was better than being locked up and starve to death.

Suddenly, the door opened again and Wendy entered the office. Judging from the expression she carried on her face, she was the one who had to suffer all consequences for that stupid fault. "I called the main base. They laughed at me and hung up. Did you already found a solution for our problem, professor?" the woman asked and gestured at Rachel at the last part of her sentence.

Professor Sebastian kept quiet and crossed his arms. Obviously, he didn't agree t Zager's idea, but Doctor Zager interrupted his thoughts again. "Yes, I think we found a new assistant for you. As long as we still don't know what to do with the girl, she can help you with the paper work."

Wendy's jaw almost dropped to the ground in disbelief. She stared at Rachel, then at Zager, then at Namba and Sebastian who simply shrugged.

"But what shall we do with the new technologies? Since there is another head scientist missing, we can't work sufficiently." Professor Sebastian gazed at the woman for a short moment before he spoke again. "You. Do you have any certificates or practice with pokemonistic science, pokemon biology or physics?"

The question was ridiculous in Rachel's eyes. If she had such abilities or talents, would she honestly work as a normal secretary? Stupid question. "Well, I had an A in biology in highschool."

It was the perfect moment for a giant face-palm, but the scientists supressed to show their annoyance. The atmosphere in the room was already thick enough to cut it with a knife. Any kind of comment would have made it even worse.

"Well, do you know how to work on your own?" Namba hissed at the woman.

"Yes."

"What about any kinds of recommendations? Are you specialized in something?" Doctor Zager didn't hesitate to ask.

"Ehm, well, calling people and checking mails..." Rachel mumbled.

Now she had done it. even Wendy couldn't stop chuckling anymore. She just touched her forehead and shook her head in disappointment.

"Oh and I can bring coffee," Rachel added proudly, hopping to make the situation bit better.

The Rocket scientists had heard enough. More explanations or questions weren't useful anymore. Doctor Zager simply clapped his hands together. "Good, you got the job. Welcome in Team Rocket," he chirped.

Rachel forced herself to smile, but actually she wanted to cry as she saw Wendy's look and hatred, Professor Namba's heavy breathing and Professor Sebastian's glare in annoyance. She already knew, working here would be like a nightmare. A never-ending nightmare...