Sonya sighed deeply as she watched the snow fall. There were children playing, building a snow Snorlax. It was almost the gift giving season. She had spent nearly a whole year in service to Team Rocket. She actually missed her family. The fourteen year-old Pokemon trainer sighed and looked longingly out the window of the cafe.
Her silence was broken by a familiar piercing screech of a voice.
"What's wrong, Sonny?" Mindy asked.
Sonya winced at the sound and growled. It seemed like Mindy was being obnoxiously loud on purpose. Rocket grunts barely got a chance to sleep as it is, so she had developed a very low tolerance for loud noises. Still, though, she tried to remember her manners. With a sigh she looked at the red head and gave a small frown.
"Do you ever miss them?" Sonya asked.
"No," Mindy replied quickly and flatly.
Sonya raised her eyebrow and shot the fourteen-year-old a look.
"I didn't even get a chance to tell you what I was talking about!" Sonya said in a mild growl.
"You're right, but I'm assuming you meant your family, since it's the holidays and all," Mindy said in a voice that was almost a whisper.
Sonya sighed, flipped her short brown hair out of her face, and took a sip from her coffee cup.
"...but if you were talking about anyone else, I'm all ears," Mindy said, while trying to smile and twirling her medium length red hair.
"You got it right; do you want a prize?" Sonya said.
Mindy scoffed then sighed and got up to put away her tray.
"I wonder what they're going to have us do this time? Take over a hospital, rob charities, steal Pokemon from innocent children?" Sonya asked. There was a tone of disgust in her voice.
"Who knows?" Mindy said. Her tone was flat with what seemed to be just a hint of sadness.
Sonya let out another loud disappointed sigh.
"Hey! you know what you signed up for, okay?" Mindy said.
"Yeah, yeah, I do," Sonya said.
Mindy looked at Sonya with quizzical expression.
"Try to cheer up!" Mindy said.
Sonya turned and tried to ignore her. Something wouldn't quite allow that, though.
"It doesn't bother you, does it? The people we hurt?" Sonya asked.
"We shouldn't discuss this, Sonny..." Mindy said.
"Why?" Sonya asked.
Mindy suddenly met Sonya's innocent-looking brown doe eyes with her world-wise hazel eyes and glared.
"Look, we do what we have to do to survive; you can either work with us or try to escape, but I promise you if you play turn coat and try to escape, no one will be able to help you, and they'll probably hunt you down; I hear they have a special room in the 'experimental ward' for deserters," Mindy said in a low, dangerous voice. She then gave a loud exaggerated sigh before turning and slurping a soda.
Sonya stared at Mindy with a look of surprise. Her headache suddenly returned, full-force. She pinched the bridge of her nose and put her head down.
"I thought you were over the whole goodie-two-shoes act! Sometimes I wonder if there's any hope for you at all! It's amazing this place hasn't eaten you alive already," Mindy said.
"Sorry, I just..." Sonya said.
"...and there you go with the 'sorry' and 'excuse me' and all of the apologies. Wise up, already, that kind of attitude will get you hurt here; people will see you as a pushover and try to take advantage of you! I've helped you so far, but if you stop trying, I'll stop trying!" Mindy said. She then got up and stormed out of the cafe.
Sonya sunk back into her chair, bruised by Mindy's harsh words. Everything she'd struggled with since her first days as a Rocket grunt came flooding back. She sat miserably in her chair unable to say a word.
It was true. She had made compromises to survive. She had stolen Pokemon and robbed places of business. She had sicked her Pikachu and Raichu on law enforcement. She had used Pokemon to commit awful crimes. It was all to protect herself and her friends, but she was far from the innocent naive little lab assistant who accidentally signed a Team Rocket membership contract a year ago.
Sonya put her head down and stared at her reflection in the her coffee. She looked like a full-fledged Rocket grunt, dishonest face with dark circles around the eyes and all.
No wonder they wear masks. She thought.
The change scared her. She had found ways to justify her deeds this whole time, but now, now at the gift giving season, crime was the last thing she had on her mind, but opposing Team Rocket was just too dangerous.
She quietly sipped on her drink and listened to the cafe television.
"...and there has been an outbreak of robberies this gift-giving season; we suspect that the perpetrators are the Pokemon terrorist organization Team Rocket; we encourage all Pokemon trainers to guard their valuables and Pokemon, and if you see any suspicious activity, report it to the police."
"..thanks Officer Jenny; up next is Chad with the weather..."
"it's going to be perfect weather for ice Pokemon in the upcoming days with snowy weather and lows in the mid teens,"
Sonya sighed and shivered as she looked back toward the window at the children playing. A small smile found its way to her face as she watched them play.
Her thoughts than turned dark. Almost involuntarily, she imagined a grunt in a Rocket uniform pointing a gun at the kids and demanding their Pokemon. The expression on her face turned sour and she felt a knot in her stomach.
I hope they don't make me hurt anyone.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a buzzer that told everyone to return to base. That usually meant they were going to get a mission pretty soon.
Sonya slowly left the cafe and strolled down the dark hall.
Maybe it won't be so bad? Maybe they'll just give me a job poaching Pokemon somewhere far away from people and their families?
She could only hope, but chances were the boss didn't care about who got hurt or how much his agents hurt to do it. Sonya swallowed more bitter thoughts as she walked toward the meeting room.
For some reason, there was holiday themed music blaring through the speakers. Sonya covered her ears, almost ashamed to listen to it. Having that music here was a mockery of the holidays being sung about.
"we wish you a merry season..."
Her head started pounding from the stress. She shook herself and continued walking down the hall.
She then heard the squeaky wheels of a cart.
"A merry gift-giving season to you, miss!" the supply boy yelled.
Sonya glared at him a bit but he didn't notice. Defeated, she continued walking.
Did no one else here feel as guilty as she did?
A cold draft came over her skin as she was walking, and the hypocritical holiday music was getting louder and louder.
Sonya finally reached the meeting room. She peered cautiously through the door. The music was extremely loud and the room was decked in ribbons and festive decorations.
She rubbed her stomach and felt sick. If it hadn't been a requirement to attend this meeting, she would have turned around and gone back to her room.
Cautiously, Sonya walked into the room and took a seat. The door was closed behind her.
"Now that you are all here, I have an announcement from the boss himself," a grunt began.
Here it comes. What innocent people are we robbing this time? Sonya thought.
"We know the way everyone feels this gift giving season, and we know that some a you want nothing more than to steal yourselves a nice sack a money or a new car," the grunt said.
Sonya winced as she heard cheering in the background.
"..but as much as all a you probably wanna do that, the boss has given special orders for us to refrain," the grunt said.
There were disappointed groans in the background. Sonya suddenly felt as if a weight were lifted off of her shoulders.
"Turns out we managed to earn ourselves a really bad image, worse than usual, and recruitment is down, so no crime in populated areas under the protection of Team Rocket until after the holidays are over; that's final!"
There were more disappointed groans, but Sonya felt like cheering. A wave of relief washed over her; she couldn't believe what she was hearing.
Someone shoved a wrapped box into Sonya's lap.
"Here, I got you something," Mindy said.
Sonya quirked an eyebrow.
"...and before you say anything, no, I didn't steal it; I bought it, or rather won it, anyway it's legal, or if it's not, I don't know about it," Mindy said.
Sonya discretely unwrapped the gift. Inside was a Poke Ball.
"Thanks," Sonya said.
"Aren't you going to open it?" Mindy asked.
"There's a Pokemon inside?" Sonya asked.
"Well, duh!" Mindy said.
Sonya pressed the button on the ball, shrunk it, and put it in her pocket.
"I think I would rather keep it a surprise," Sonya said.
"Just don't try to release it; that thing was expensive," Mindy said.
Sonya was interested in the contents of the Poke Ball, but she needed time to adjust. She yawned deeply.
"I think I'm going to go back to my room," Sonya said.
"For what it's worth, sorry about what I said to you at the cafe; I guess I was preparing for the worst," Mindy said.
"You're apologizing?" Sonya asked, an eyebrow quirked.
"Don't get used to it," Mindy said.
Relieved, Sonya carefully exited the party and quietly started back down the long dark hall to her room. The holiday music faded to low static and she tried to ignore the remaining negative thoughts.
I can think about escaping another day. Sonya thought.