A GAME OF WITS
The job was simple.
Bag the pokemon. Deliver them to the agreed location. Collect the bounty. If the bounty was not delivered on time as agreed prior to the meeting, kill the client. She needed to maintain a reputation, after all.
The pokemon in question were an entire herd of Machamp. The price was 1,000,000 poke-dollars in Indigo currency. And she'd be meeting at the old abandoned factory just south of Mount Silver with none other than the reclusive head of Team Rocket himself.
She didn't particularly need the money. Nor did she need to reclaim her reputation as #1 most wanted bounty hunter in the world. She was simply bored. The job had stuck out to her among the many, many requests flooding in from potential buyers (along with a recovery plea for thirty Tauros from the Safari Zone that she'd been considering just to see how much cash she could squeeze out of them).
She took the Machamp job, naturally. Team Rocket had been making heavy duty military buys over the black market for several months now, and her interest had been piqued. So much so, that she'd sent a number of spies to closely monitor the transactions they made. She'd received what remained of all of them in a box, along with a paper marked, "DO NOT PLAY WITH BEEDRILL-HIVES, MS. J."
Of course, that just made her even more determined to find out what was about to go down (Heavy duty weapons and pokemon disappearing off the black market and the consequences wouldn't be major? She wasn't born yesterday.).
And so she'd taken the airship, a selection of her best men, and put the ship in stealth mode until they were over Kanto. She wasn't as much of a presence there as she was in Sinnoh, so cruising low through the fog of the mountains was sufficient cover for now.
They'd been keeping time with the Machamp for a good hour now. There were five of them in total, and they were all running at a speed the ship's scanners estimated to be well over 70 miles per hour. Her pilots were having enough trouble keeping the ship clear of glaciers and cliffsides.
The Machamp hadn't seemed to notice the looming aircraft flying through the fog just behind them. In fact, they didn't seem to notice much of anything at all, running and jumping and literally swatting rocks and other obstacles out of their way as they ran. And at the speed they were running…
J barely had time to order her pilots to swivel the ship around before something slammed into one of the ship's side cannons.
She couldn't see what it was through the fog; only that it was coming in for another round-
This time, a beam of solid ice hit the side of the ship and froze the support wing through entirely. THEN the creature slammed into the ship again, bringing the full force of its weight against the frigid iced-over wing and smashing it entirely. The ship began to tilt over…
J's men all leapt to their feet when J walked in the door—Apparently they'd all been playing poker—and had grown even more frightened when she told them they'd all have to jump overboard. She'd instructed the pilots to crash the ship cleanly, so as not to hurt either potential bounty.
All five men were handed parachutes and sent flying out of the aircraft, which was rapidly tilting towards the mountains now. She trusted they'd keep the Machamp busy long enough for her to collect them properly.
The surprise catch—whatever that monster was—was quickly making a round turn for the aircraft. She'd underestimated the size of it. It was larger than a house; easily large enough to dwarf the aircraft she was flying in. The ship never had a chance. She quickly grabbed the last parachute available, and jumped out of the airship before the creature got to it. It caught the ship midair in its talons and threw it up into the air, roosting on a mountain as it caught the sorry piece of metal in its beak.
J watched from her landing spot in the snow not with horror; but with something between warped interest and greed. She held her right arm out straight ahead of her—the arm with the sleeve that had the built-in petrifying gun—and fired.
Once. Half the creature's wing turned to stone. It tried to flap in vain, but instead settled for a deafening shriek in J's direction. J fired again. It's new stone talons rooted it to the mountain.
The giant bird was starting to understand how much of a threat J was. It began to charge another ice beam…
J fired at the head this time. The shot went to the side and bounced harmlessly off the mountain. The blaster recharged, and fired again. This one went over the bird's head and knocked down some snow.
She recharged the gun again, preparing to fire-
-But the bird spat out a beam of pure ice first. It left the ground even more frigid where it landed, and J dived out of the way just before the ice reached where she'd been standing.
Her cannon recharged, she fired once more-
-And this time, the bird's head turned to stone. The effects of paralyzing the head spread to the rest of the bird's body, and soon the entire bird was a two-story stone statue perched on the mountain.
J took a moment to catch her breath. That was surprisingly unprofessional for her. Then, without warning, she spun on her heels and blasted all five of the Machamp in the distance.
II.
Articuno. That was the name of the beast she'd shot down over the Indigo Mountains, and news of it had been circling around Kanto for months. As J and the remainder of her crew transported the petrified pokemon down the mountain, they'd seen a number of aircraft strewn about the place- some with the blood red Team Rocket insignia on it. She'd made a note of that. She knew better than to bring it up in front of her employer, however.
The meeting would be held tonight. J had held her first conversation with the leader of Team Rocket over the phone. J was to have the pokemon at the foot of the mountain by sundown, where a group of Team Rocket grunts would transport them and J to the meeting site. J declined and offered to be transported personally by her own crew instead. The Rocket boss had grudgingly agreed to that.
Once J and the goods were safely at the predetermined location, the Rocket Boss's personal guard would secure the facility. Any and all intruders would be dealt with in the most discreet and ruthless of manners. None of J's men, pokemon, or weapons would be permitted to go in with her, and likewise; the Rocket Boss would also leave his bodyguards—human and pokemon—outside. J had grudgingly agreed to that.
And so it was settled. It took an entire truck to transport each Machamp, and two trucks alone just to carry the Articuno. J had an inconspicuous van rented for the occasion.
The factory had clearly been hastily renovated in advance. The dirt and the grime and the machinery had all been moved out, and the place was now a glorified storage room. Albeit; a storage room large enough to hold the two-story Articuno. J took notice of the newly-installed security cameras rigged all over the roof.
He wasn't at all what she was expecting him to be. Sitting in an armchair, he looked almost like someone had mixed together a businessman and a computer and thrown in a pinch of bad style (The orange suit alone was garish) while the pot was simmering. As promised, he'd come without his bodyguards.
They both stood silent. The Rocket Boss distastefully eyed the blaster on her arm.
"I might know your name."
It had been an inquiry; not a statement. The Rocket Boss looked confused, then… almost impressed.
"I see we have our priorities in the right places."
His hands never moved; neither did his feet. Everything about him was sending a message of calculation and discipline.
"You may call me Giovanni. I have no need to learn of your name a second time, Jacquelin."
J wisely kept her shock to herself. She'd told no-one her real name since…
…Since she'd had it removed from the register while under alias. Seven years ago. They were good. A little too good.
"However, I am intrigued as to the reason why you have violated our contract by bringing that weapon on your arm here."
Giovanni's eyes flicked over the cannon repeatedly; studying it intently in immense distaste. J kept her face stoic. She didn't want to clue him in on… anything, really. Not before she knew exactly what she was dealing with.
"It is required to reverse the effects of petrification. No good will come to you of them while they are still made of stone."
That was only half true. The cannon DID reverse petrification, but it also doubled as a weapon. Not her weapon of choice, however.
Giovanni's eyes finally met J's. They were stoic. Unreadable. She desperately hoped hers were the same.
"I-I will request the payment now. As agreed. After the payment has received and validated, I will rejuvenate the bounty."
If Giovanni was contemplating this; he wasn't showing it. Something about the entire meeting felt 'off' to her.
"I must warn you, Giovanni. Good things do not befall the people who attempt to swindle me."
That made her feel a little better. Giovanni was expressionless; like a mask.
"…I will now bring in two of my bodyguards to deposit the payment in briefcases. There will be nothing harmful contained in the cases, nor on my bodyguards' person; they will deliver the payment and leave immediately afterwards. Is this acceptable?"
It wasn't, but the prospect of leaving the bunker to claim the bounty herself was far less safe an idea.
"It is."
Giovanni simply nodded. He pressed leaned forward and pressed a red button on the desk; a buzzer sounded, and two of Giovanni's henchmen brought in a total of four immense cases. J was almost giddy despite herself at the sight of it.
The men set all four cases on the table, and turned to leave. They were almost as expressionless as their boss. Not quite, however.
She wasted no time setting one of the briefcases down flat and opening it to check the contents.
There were dollar bills. Hundreds upon hundreds of crisp, fresh, bright purple dollar bills sitting in the case. But now wasn't the time for celebration. She closed the case and set it upright. Then she checked the other three cases, just to be sure.
"I will request that you fill your side of the bargain."
His face remained expressionless.
"And I must warn you, Jacquelin. Good things do not befall those who run afoul of Team Rocket."
She didn't say anything in response to that. It wouldn't have been wise to. She simply turned, aimed her cannon, and fired at the statue-
-But the blast went straight through it like a bullet through thin air. The statue she'd shot at rippled for a second afterward, and suddenly, the entire place seemed all wrong, hues and shades bouncing everywhere as things enlarged and shrank; getting shinier and brighter…
…And then it was all back to normal, like nothing had happened in the first place.
She spun around to face the armchair where 'Giovanni' sat. it all made sense now. His face; his movements; his entire body had been expressionless since the beginning of the meeting. It wasn't a trained poker face, it was a bad imitation of one.
She raised her cannon, now not in self benefit but in self-defense.
"For how long have I been taking orders from a pokemon?"
And she saw it- the thing that was pretending to be the boss of Team Rocket grinned.
"Very astute, Jacquelin."
Everything began to shimmer, then disappear- the statues, the factory, the cases of money…
The last thing that remained as the final pieces of the fake Giovanni was swept away was his inhumane grins full of pointed teeth, and even that begin to evaporate on its own time-
-J fired her cannon. The shot went straight to the other end of the room. The walls became grimy; the bright fluorescent lights turned into cracked, desolate lightbulbs; the floor turned into a half-foot deep muddy pond. She silently cringed as she felt the mud sloshing around in her boots.
Harsh, sinister laughter seemed to come from every corner of the room- no, from every corner of her head. She pointed her cannon wherever the laughter seemed to be coming from the loudest, but then it suddenly sounded like it was coming from somewhere else…
She fired at the roof in frustration and fear- real, actual fear.
"Where are you?!"
She coldly spat the words out, suppressing the nasty pit in her stomach. She was a bounty hunter, she'd been in more dangerous situations than this before-
"What do you want from me?"
She yelled it louder this time and fired another shot.
For a split second, the outline of a Zoruark appeared in the middle of the room. She fired at that, but it was gone as fast as it had appeared.
"Your comprehension. Then, your death."
It was time to leave. She discreetly eyed the entrance to the factory. The double doors had been broken down. All she had to do was yell for help-
-Then the illusion faded, and the doors suddenly leapt back onto their hinges and slammed shut.
"Don't even try it. No-one will help you. No one is there."
She whipped her head back towards the factory.
"My men… My men didn't survive in the mountains, did they?"
The silence that followed told her everything she needed to know. Then, finally, the voice spoke, and it uttered a single question.
"How many?"
J had calmed down a little, but still kept her gun trained in front of her.
"How many what?"
The voice spoke again, this time with rage-
"How many of us did you kill? How many did you encase in stone, and then drop to the bottom of the lake, never to be seen again? How many did you sell off to cruel masters, who forced them to do their vile bidding for them? Did it never occur to you that the creatures you entrapped and tortured and sold had thoughts and feelings? That you might have made enemies that weren't human?"
The voice paused to let it all sink in.
"My client was the mother of a Teddiursa you captured, back seven years ago. She searched the world for her child after you took her for six years. Do you know where she found her child? On the fur coat of a rich human. You sold her for 20 dollars."
It all clicked. J began to charge her weapon again. The Zoruark had almost ended its monologue, and once it finished she'd be out of time.
"And now you've been hired to kill me."
She could just see the sneer on its face.
"Correctomundo."
Out of time. J fired her cannon. Not at the roof. Not at the Zoruark (wherever it was). The shot went straight through the locked double doors standing at the entrance. She knew what the illusion was now. Not of the doors being open, but of them being closed.
She made a run for it. She could hear the Zoruark landing nimbly behind her, then the whoosh of air as its claws just missed the back of her neck but she kept running anyway-
-A large metal wall rose up out of the marsh, between her and the door, but she ran harder…
…And went straight through it. She kept running for another good ten minutes. Apparently the Zoruark hadn't followed.
She finally relaxed, leaning against a tree trunk. It had been a complete train wreck.
In any other situation, she would have returned to Mount Silver and collected the pokemon she'd petrified (Clearly they'd still been left upon the mountain). But not this time.
She pulled out a flip phone and dialed a number into it.
"This is J. The mission failed. Get me a lift back to Sinnoh."
She'd gotten in over her head this time. She was going to return to her base and not take any more jobs for an entire week. Then, if she was feeling extra lucky, maybe she'd take the Safari Zone up on that retrieval plea.