First and only Author's note that should keep everyone held off for the whole story:
For anyone who stumbled upon this story somehow, this original story came up when I did writing in High school as a senior. The papers got shuffled back into binders, and slowly I stopped writing since I never had an audience outside a friend or two who were as into Pokemon as much as myself.
This is the story with the pages I've salvaged and a lot of it re-written. A lot of this is based off the manga, but a lot of it will be original writings as well. This does not follow a timeline and I will be incorporating Alola pokemon as well.
I promised myself a long time ago I would finish writing out this story but never had an audience. Now I do, and have the time and better writing and grammatical skills than I did so many years ago. I truly hope you all enjoy it.
A small disclaimer: Nothing is really sacred for me in this story. Some things will be touched upon while others will never be brought up. People may get hurt or die, and world domination doesn't come without a price. Things may get random (I mean some of the characters will be teenagers), things will get gritty, ugly and cruel. This is my story, this is an original works, so there will be characters who do not exist in the Pokemon universe at all. Overall I hope it to be consistent ad to not have too many loose ends.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. Again, I truly hope you enjoy the world I'll be writing.
Me
Something felt off. I cracked one eye open and looked out past the end of my bed. Everything was perfectly normal. Or as normal as it could be with how dark it was.
I opened my other eye and blinked a few times to get my eyes to adjust, squinting a bit to try and hurry the process along. Desk, my chair with all my accessories, and tucked in the corner of the room was my Espeon.
She was looking right at me; her gem was reflecting what light there was in the room and I could feel the same presence that woke me up. It was her way of nudging me I guess any Pokemon would when it's hungry, but she wasn't up and about. She was still curled up on her bed, just staring at me.
"Something up?" I asked with a voice hoarse from the process of waking up. 'Water would be nice...' Was the only prevalent thought in my mind, pushing myself to throw my legs off the bed and bring my feet on the incredibly cool surface of the floor.
I curled my toes and cursed to myself, "Sick of being stuck down here." I muttered to the still watching Espeon, unmoving and patient as most psychic types tend to be.
Here, of course, would be within a submarine that's a couple hundred feet down in the Hoenn ocean.
Days tend to blend together when it comes to things like this, and Archie wasn't at liberty to give much information to the grunts. Only the upper admin, Shelly, Matt, Amber really had an inkling of what was going on.
But I wasn't much of a grunt either. More of hired help, and while I don't mind being used for what I'm good at, I didn't sign up for being cooped up down here.
A sudden knock on the door. Light, tentative raps as if the person was trying to be as quiet as they possibly could.
I rubbed my eyes, pushing a hand through my hair and walked to the door. Each step on the cold steel made me grit my teeth a bit harder, and I twisted the handle to my door and pulled it open.
It was another grunt, dressed in the typical Team Aqua gear. Pirate-like getup from top to bottom, a focus on the blue, and the Team Aqua insignia of an A sporting bones for the legs.
"A-Ah, you're up." She practically whispered, hands folded in front of her and looking like she's trying to make herself as small as possible.
"Yes. Though without any thanks to you." I muttered, still feeling the weight of Espeon's gaze behind me. "You had a bit of assistance." I state vaguely, running a hand up and down the back of my neck.
Her face turned a bright red. 'Newbie.' I thought, trying not to let my eyeballs roll to the back of my head.
"Well, uh, Archie wanted to see you, I was sent to uh, send you." She stammered over every word, unable to meet my eyes even though I was only just a hair taller than her.
"I'll make my way." I grunt, looking behind me with a sigh. 'This can't be good.'
"Uh, okay. Right. Thanks." The grunt squeaks before turning on her heel and walking away as quickly as she could without running and disappearing when she took a turn at the furthest end of the hallway.
The hallway was empty with doors filling every available space in neat lines. Not much a soul in sight, and I figured I must've slept most of the day away. Probably could have slept through the night as well if they let me.
I entered back into my room and shut the door behind me. I grabbed my usual clothes, black pants, loose undershirt, black jacket, black dress socks to go with my shoes. I ran a comb through my hair just to get rid of whatever bed head I possessed and looked down to Espeon. "Let's go."
Quick to move, she sprung out of her bed and walked over to the door before sitting down in front of it. I grabbed my scarf, wrapping it around my neck loosely and opened the door to let her out first.
I shut the door firmly behind us, adjusting my scarf and starting down the seemingly endless hallways. The doors without numbers could easily get you lost, the gloom of the hallways was barely improved by the flicking bulbs. The only ambiance may have been the occasional snoring grunt, but the most you heard was the occasional 'clang' or groaning of the submarine way down here.
I straightened whatever wrinkles I could find, though my outfit made me look like I was ready to go to a wedding or some kind of formal event. Secret was, though, I always dressed like this, and I wore it all in a rather sloppy manner.
My undershirt wasn't buttoned at the top or bottoms, showing off the upper part of my chest and baring the lower part midriff. My jacket wasn't hemmed so the sleeves went past my hands, and the collar wasn't tucked.
I probably looked like an emo teenager; dressing in all blacks and whites, not wearing it all correctly, not caring about others opinions of me. But hey, that's just me.
Somehow, I found my way to Archie's room, turning my hand to knock a few times against the door with just enough force to make sure he could hear it.
"Yeah." Was all that came from behind the door. Acknowledging my presence and hopefully giving me the okay to let me in.
I turned the handle and pushed in, opening the door and letting myself into an incredibly furnished room.
Shelves covered in books, aquariums, hard wood flooring with a carpet at his desk. You wouldn't take a crime lord for someone who keeps himself furnished and well read, but Archie tended to be someone who wanted to understand everything that was relevant towards the goal he was working towards. A few books caught my eyes that managed to have titles on their spines, books about the tide, books about the phases of the moon, floods, hurricanes, storms, if it was relating to Team Aqua's goals then it was probably there.
"Took yer time." The large man shot my way, waving his hand to motion shutting the door to which I did promptly.
"I'm not sure how long she stood at my door knocking. She wasn't exactly the best candidate... sir." I tried maintaining an air of respect, but somehow the words just rolled off sarcastically and the final word took a bit of effort to get through my teeth.
Archie raised both brows, hands folded on his chest over that anchor pendant he always wears. "Has to get used to things, she does. Isn't going to get far if she's as timid as a Rattata."
"Yes, sir." I manage and my Espeon flicks her tail before looking up at me. Empathy tended to be what she does best, but I kept my eyes glued on the man before me. "How can I be of assistance?" I inquire while keeping my voice steady and as respectful as I can manage.
"Flattery doesn't suit you, kid. I hired you for the grit, not for being as smooth as velvet." Archie sneered, pulling his legs off his desk and standing up. He was a head and a half taller than me, and I had to look up to maintain eye contact. "We'll be reaching land soon, and I'll be letting you off. I'm going to recover a meteorite, and you're going to take a handful of grunts and storm Devon Corporation."
"As discussed prior, yes, sir." Vocally airing my caution, I press a bit further with those words, not certain where he's going with this. "Though I've pointed before I work better alone."
"One of my grunts failed in getting the Devon goods, some trainer getting in the way." He continues, completely ignoring my first statement and running a hand through his beard. "I want those goods, and you'll take them by force if required." He throws my way with an air of agitation and frustration, approaching the closest shelf to him.
"What's so important in this package? Certainly nothing too important if you had a grunt go and grab them." I state, throwing my opinion towards him as he stares at a purple pokeball sitting on a small pedestal upon the wooden shelf.
"I handpicked a few grunts to help you on the way, and there will be no further discussion on the matter. You go in, get the goods, and then you get out. I don't want too much attention to be raised in response to this." Archie turned to face me, eyes focusing and narrowing on me. "Bloodshed is an absolute last resort. The head of that corporation is the champion's father, and I don't want him on our asses. Understand?"
"Transparently." I state, hands on my sides and feeling my toes curl against my shoes.
He grunts, seemingly pleased before sitting back down on his chair and kicking his feet onto his desk. "You'll be assisted by a girl. Kanto girl, actually. Had a string of bad luck and ended up with us. She doesn't have any real knowledge of Hoenn, or know much of our Pokemon. May have to be a bit patient with her." He grins, baring his teeth in some kind of twisted amusement.
I keep my expression neutral but I'm almost fuming, and I can see Espeon's fur starting to bristle a bit. I exhale slowly through my nose and try to relax, there isn't going to be any discussion about who I can and could not bring as Archie assured me. I'd still prefer to work alone and avoid any potential screw ups that are out of my hands.
"Country girl, alright. But if she doesn't know anything why are we risking a fumble? It's already happened once." I ask, keeping my eyes level with him.
"Experience. Have to learn somehow. You didn't become who you are by not doing anything." He responds a bit simply, not seeming very interested in answering my questions.
"How many grunts will I be working with?" I follow up, finally relaxing a bit enough to adjust and toy with my scarf.
"Nine, that includes Kanto girl. With you it'll be ten. None of you will be in uniform. Rustboro city is home to a gym leader, you'll have trainers there who'll jump at the chance for the sake of better nature." His features curl and his lips turn to a distinctive sneer. "Two of the grunts guarding the doors will have more than your typical Poochyena and Zubats. But you and the girl will be the strongest there. Show her the ropes, ensure she knows what she's getting into."
"And if she gets cold feet?" I ask nonchalantly, raising a brow and picking off a strand of hair off my scarf.
"Then you send her packing." He grunts, "Our goal is made clear from the start. She'll just be one less person to see it achieved and be part of it."
I nod once, not even bothering to push the matter further and frustrating myself again.
"Archie." Comes a voice from a radio not too far from his desk.
The man pulls his feet off the desk and leans forwards, pressing down on a button. "Go ahead."
"We're not too far off the coast. There's no port immediate on Rustboro, so we'll have to surface and they can raft or surf across." The voice came from the radio full of static. Poor reception for only coming from the main deck.
"Shouldn't be a problem." Archie grunted before taking his finger off the button and nodding towards me. "Get ready. Pack whatever you need and report to the main deck."
I gave a single nod and turned to the door, leaving Archie's room as he stroked his beard and stared off to the distance. Whatever going through his mind didn't concern me. I had to figure out how we were going to do this on top of having to bring a newbie along.
"I'm not paid enough for this kinda crap." I mutter to Espeon on the way back down to my room, already seeing a few of the grunts being woken up.
Maneuvering past each one, I grab what little supplies I have and toss them into my bag and run a hand through my hair with a final sigh of good riddance.
Grabbing Espeon's pokeball I point it her way and recall her back to a safer place, keeping the sphere gripped in my hand I leave my room hopefully for the final time. I'm never too far from her, the closest thing I'd call a friend. 'As soon as we make land, she'll be right back out.' I assure myself, rubbing my thumb over the pokeball one last time.
Shutting the door firmly behind me, I take my first steps forward with every intention of getting back on land as soon as possible.