Musical Inspiration: Pokemon X and Y- Battle! Lysandre Rock Cover by Haawke
"Sir Valadin. The operation is finally complete," Darren said as he arrived in the head office on the top floor of the embassy.
Valadin kept his position, pondering out the window onto the land's vastness, arms behind his back. He held a solemn glare in his eyes that towered over even the highest of mountains in the distance.
"Certainly you can't ever call that operation complete," replied Darren's boss.
"It's as close as we can get for now. We've extracted as many powerful Pokemon as we could find through the online storage system," Darren cleared his throat. "Though we never expected the process to take as long as it did."
A silence then reigned throughout the room and Darren looked away from Valadin's back. It gave him time to notice the soft ticking of the black rimmed clock hanging on the far wall of the office.
Without making a sound, Valadin's Liepard slunk stealthily out from behind the mahogany desk in the middle of the room. The Liepard's purple catlike fur was settled in place on its streamline body, but it shot Darren a look as if he was a threat. The Pokemon's sharp green eyes made him feel uneasy. Liepard curled up in front of the desk with its "S" shaped tail in the air still standing, as if it was listening in. Valadin spoke.
"You've failed to find any Pokemon in the system of legendary status."
Darren silently exhaled. There was no hiding anything from his boss.
"That would be correct, sir."
Valadin grunted. "To be expected. No one would keep a treasure like that hidden in a box anyway."
Darren stood attentive. His boss understood.
"Have you found anything more on looking for the legends ourselves?" Valadin asked dryly.
"Unfortunately not, sir. And we're unprepared as a team to go seeking them out in the first place."
"'Unprepared'…!" Valadin gave a short, quick laugh. Darren gulped. This wasn't the Valadin he knew. The Valadin he knew was collected and saw everything coming. But as he turned, Darren saw a rage that filled those furious blue eyes of Valadin's that beamed out at him now. Darren looked away as much as he could, as if looking into them for too long could bore a hole through his head.
Suddenly, Valadin flared up as he slammed his fist into the wood of the desk, causing the sound to reverberate throughout the room like an earthquake.
"Unprepared… Just like that idiot Giovanni…" Valadin growled through clenched teeth.
Darren stood back as if the boss could blast the building to smithereens on anger alone. Valadin tried to take a breath, but the steam of his mind let off first through his teeth. "I was recently informed by the head of Team Rocket in the Kanto region that… this organization…the entire organization…"
The first bead of sweat had formed on Darren's head. Now, he felt unprepared for what his boss was about to say.
"Has been officially disbanded."
Darren looked upon the now heavily sullen Valadin. A man he held the highest respect for. A man who saw the dog-eat-dog world for what it was. A man who would do anything to take what he wanted. And now, a man brought to shame by the mere words of his boss: a man who simply wanted things more.
The ticking clock seemed to stop. A moment of silence.
"But yet, Darren, here we are."
The clock resumed ticking away, as if without a care in the world. And yet, that time was wasting, very precious time, of what little it seemed they now had left. Valadin's Liepard made a quick move and was on the desk in a quiet touchdown.
Valadin seemed to cool himself as he stroked the Liepard's fur. It laid itself in the small crater Valadin's fist had made in the desk.
"I am now personally ashamed to be standing here under the "R" of Team Rocket today. Our leader has gone to such far lengths to keep the empire alive and falling so quickly under unknown circumstances is unheard of. Giovanni seems to have plans to fell his own endeavors quietly and to leave as little trace as possible. However…" Valadin turned back to the window.
"I have no such plans."
It wasn't hard to hear in Valadin's voice that he was re-assuring himself as much as he was his right-hand man.
"Sir, if you don't mind me asking," Darren paused and then continued. "You mentioned that he wants to leave without a trace…why?" He quickly scolded himself. It sounded like such a stupid question now.
"In all other cases, your question is very inappropriate, Darren, and you would be just as much an idiot as Giovanni for asking it," Valadin turned to look down at his Liepard, which was cleaning its claws. "But if I did that now, I'd be calling myself an idiot as well."
Valadin took a deep breath.
"However, if the rumors are true, the great opposition of Team Rocket might just be a young boy by the name of 'Red'," Valadin added with contempt. "Although I say 'young', he clearly possesses skills far beyond his age to defeat Giovanni in the art of Pokemon battling multiple times. It's really quite the feat in and of itself, let alone him also bringing Giovanni and the organization to its knees."
He looked out the window once again, his figure silhouetted against the blazing orange sun in the distance.
"And do we know where Red is now? If he plans to take down the rest of our operations?" Darren asked.
"The boy wonder has apparently gone on to face the greats of the Kanto region. He doesn't seem to know of Team Rocket's international connections, so we are safe from his decisions. The sad excuse for a boss we have, however, may take more action in ridding us of our progress, judging by his little change of heart." Valadin replied. He paused, then spoke again.
"We may be alone and have the rest of the crumbling company after us, but we still have time left to disband without losing copious amounts of ground and revenue. After all, the black market was never meant to be a place for hanging around."
"Right, sir." Darren replied obediently.
"…So the storage boxes have been filed, all physical storage areas for the Pokemon secured…?" Valadin asked subtly, turning his head slightly and eying Darren out of his peripheral vision.
"Yes, Sir." Darren replied proudly.
"Good," Answered a more satisfied Valadin. "And just one more order of business for the day."
Valadin turned around and pulled out a manila envelope with text and data-filled papers trying to escape. He set it on the desk beside his Liepard, which might have jumped if such a full envelope were dropped, but which instead gave Valadin a small nod and went back to dozing with how softly he set it on the table.
"Darren, I want you to look into this. You know how powerful my word is, don't you? I told you I had no plans for my branch of team Rocket to go without a trace." Valadin said as he looked up at Darren. The smirk on his face, however, would've made a Sableye cringe.
Avoiding Valadin's gaze once more, Darren looked down at the manila envelope, on which the outside was painted an "R". Except, the "R" on the envelope didn't match the same format of the harsh lines and bright red that characterized the letter on the workers', Team Rocket's, shirts and jackets. It was a smoother, rounder "R", and the biggest distinguisher was that it was a midnight blue.
"I am very truthful about having no such plans to slip into nonexistence. But to keep my integrity…" Valadin looked proudly upon the folder. "These are my plans."
