Rocket Red: New Recruit

by Orijin

Still traumatized by the dark events of her past, Aiya Sinel joins the ranks of Team Rocket in order to stay by the side of the one person in the world she has left. Taunted by the other trainees and terrified that she might fail, Aiya is kept standing only by her faithful Sneasel, Core. Together, they are determined to become full members of Team Rocket.

2. Chapter 1: The First Day

Chapter 1: The First Day

Aiya Sinel lay curled in a tight ball with both arms wrapped around her head. The small cot on which she lay was a recent addition to her brother's room at the Mahogany Town headquarters of Team Rocket. When she had first woken in this room two weeks earlier, the shock of everything that had happened had prevented her from feeling anything. As the days had dragged by, the realization that her beloved older brother was a member of the most powerful criminal organization in Johto had sunk in. At first she had simply felt confusion. Geoff was kind, playful, and extremely passionate about Pokemon. He had begun his Pokemon journey when she was only four years old, and she had waited eagerly to hear about his adventures and about the Pokemon he had encountered.

Never once over the next six years had he given any indication that he was planning to become a member of Team Rocket. He loved rare and powerful Pokemon, but he was not the type to steal them from other people.

Aiya sniffed softly and rolled over the cot, keeping her arms over her head. Everything in her world had come unraveled so quickly. The events of two weeks previous…well, compared to [i]that[/i], Geoff becoming a member of Team Rocket was nothing. Still, it was what she chose to focus most of her thoughts on. It was far easier to think about Team Rocket than to think about that. Despite their terrible reputation, Team Rocket was turning out to be not so bad. After all, they were allowing her to stay at the base, eat their food, and had allowed her the chance to join their ranks so that she could stay with her brother until it was safe for her to go out on her own. One of the Rockets, a friend of Geoff's called Marty, had even agreed to care for Core while she recovered and during her training.

Core. Some of the tension in her small body seemed to ease when she thought about him. He had been the most solid thing in her life over the last two weeks. It was he who convinced her to get up each day, to eat, and to walk around some. The day before he had even encouraged her to attempt to slip through the forbidden door, the one that marked the edge of where she was allowed to venture inside the base. Of course she had been caught before she could get the door open, and had been scolded by the woman, but it had been the first time that she'd felt any excitement in a long time.

It occurred to her that Core's behavior was not what one would expect from such a young Pokemon, and indeed, one who had only met his trainer two weeks ago. However, the bond that had formed between Aiya and Core had been almost instantaneous, and it had strengthened so much in such a short amount of time that the small Pokemon could hardly help but do what he was doing.

It was as she was thinking this, that there was a scratching at the door. Aiya stayed where she was, her eyes tightly closed. The scratching came again, followed by a high, muffled voice. Aiya gave a small grunt and flipped over onto her stomach. Something hit the door several times, speaking very loudly as it did so. Aiya huffed and sat up, her disheveled, light blue hair falling around her face in a tangled mess. "You know how to open the door! You don't need me to do it for you!"

There came a loud snickering and another few thumps on the door. Aiya let out another huff and swung her small legs off the cot. She stumbled irritably to the door and pulled it open. A small green-black Pokemon with red eyes sauntered into the room, walking rather awkwardly on his hind legs. The smaller than average red feathers on his head and back, and the underdeveloped claws on his hands and feet, combined with his small size showed that he was a very young Pokemon. The little Sneasel grinned up at his trainer, revealing rather pointed teeth.

"It's six o'clock in the morning," said the girl, stomping back to the cot. Her bare feet made almost no noise on the thin carpeting. "I'm allowed to still be asleep at six AM."

"Sno," said the Sneasel, leaping onto the cot as well.

"What's that supposed to mean?" This question was half annoyed, half curious. The sounds her Pokemon made had, at first, sounded exactly as Pokemon sounds always had to her. Grunts, chirps, squeaks, and the distinctive speech patterns that earned most Pokemon their names. As their bond had grown, however, some of the sounds had started to make more sense to her, so that she felt she could understand what Core wanted to communicate. Within the last few days, some of the noises had even started to sound like normal speech.

"Snea sel, sneas sneas sneasel," replied Core, raising one small claw to point at the clock on the dresser.

Aiya looked up, squinting slightly. "Oh," she said, feeling her face turn red. The hour hand on the clock was pointing at the nine rather than the six, and the minute hand was almost at the thirty mark. "So I overslept a little. It's still pretty early."

Core shook his head, pointing at the neat stack of clothes lying on Geoff's bed. Aiya looked at them too and for a moment couldn't understand what her Pokemon was trying to tell her. Then it clicked and she leapt off the cot. "Oh no! I'm going to be late!" She dashed over to the clothes, snatched them up, then sped out the door and down the hall towards the showers. Core let out a chirp of laughter and darted after her.

By the time he reached the showers, Aiya was already inside, attempting to brush her teeth and wash her hair at the same time. Core shook his head and hopped up on the bench next to the shower door. "Sneasel?"

"I can't be late. Geoff had to work really hard to get me accepted for training. He said I only get one shot to make a good impression." The water clicked off and Aiya jumped out of the shower, nearly slipping on the wet floor. She grabbed the clothes Geoff had laid out for her and pulled them on with one hand, drying her hair with a towel with the other. Once dressed, she turned to Core. "How do I look?"

Core examined her appearance quickly. She was dressed in a white t-shirt that was slightly too big for her and emblazoned with a large red R. Black shorts and white sneakers completed the outfit. Overall it was fine for the purposes of the day. Her hair, however, was still wet and stuck up at odd angles. Core shook his head, pointing at her head.

Aiya glanced into a mirror then scampered around the shower room looking for a brush. Core spotted one sitting on the sink and tossed it to her. She pulled it through her hair until Core gave a nod of approval, then tossed it aside and sprinted out of the room.

The Mahogany Base was located in a thick forest of trees and bushes. Only two stories of the building were actually above ground, with the rest extending under the surface. The training ground for new recruits was located directly behind the base on a clearing spotted with various pieces of equipment. An obstacle course was set up near the edge by the trees. A large group of people had gathered in front of it, all of them at least five years older than Aiya. Team Rocket did not accept new recruits before the age of fifteen, with very few exceptions. Occasionally they would allow a talented fourteen year-old to join, but never in anyone's memory had a ten year old been allowed the chance to try.

When some of the teenagers saw Aiya jogging towards them, they broke into raucous laughter, drawing the attention of the rest of the crowd. All but a few clearly senior members of the group were dressed like Aiya, with white t-shirts and black shorts. Some of them looked surprised to see her, others amused, and one or two looked concerned.

Aiya skidded to a halt, panting, next to two of the younger recruits, probably fifteen or sixteen. The two boys looked down at her as she brushed her damp hair out of her eyes.

"Hey runt," said one, grinning, "shouldn't you be at home with your mommy?" A girl nearby laughed.

Aiya blushed and looked down at the ground. "I'm here for training," she said quietly.

This caused all but one of the people nearby to erupt in laughter again. "Training?" Said the boy nearest her. "This is Team Rocket, we don't have time to be potty training any babies here."

"Yeah," shrieked a girl, "go back to mommy. I'm sure it's nap time for you, anyway."

Aiya felt tears sting her eyes, but she looked up defiantly at the girl. "Go ahead and laugh, but I'll show you. I'll be better than all of you today!" It was a pretty bold statement, but Aiya was determined to do well for her brother.

The boy and girl laughed again. "Oh, big words for such a little runt," said the girl, reaching down to give Aiya a shove.

Aiya would have tried to shove her back, but a young boy with brown hair pulled the girl away. "Lay off her, Mallory. She's just a kid. If the bosses want to let her dress up and play Team Rocket for a while, who are we to argue?"

The girl snorted and pulled her arm out of his grip. "Well, whatever, she'll make a fool of herself today and be gone tomorrow. What do I care?" She turned and marched off towards the front of the crowd.

Aiya glared after her, her red eyes shining with suppressed tears.

The brown haired boy laid a hand on her shoulder. "Relax pipsqueak," he said grinning, "she's just jealous that you got in so young."

"I'm not a pipsqueak," muttered Aiya grumpily.

The boy laughed and steered her forward towards the front of the crowd. "You're definitely a pipsqueak. There's not one person here who's not head and shoulders taller than you. But don't take that the wrong way. Your small size may give you an advantage over everyone else. Remember that." He winked at her and moved away as an older woman with sharp, blue eyes and pale pink hair stepped forward. She was wearing black cargo pants and a black tank-top stamped with the Rocket R.

"All right grunts," she shouted, causing the crowd to go quiet, "my name is Officer Mylla Sand. You will address me as Officer Sand. I am your team commander. This," she indicated the dark haired man to her right, "is Officer Malcom. He is your physical training leader. He's the person who will be testing your physical abilities and assessing your progress in that area for the next two months. This," she now indicated the much older man on her left, "is Officer Jen. He is our strategy specialist and the person who will test your ability to think." She paused to smile slightly at this remark, then continued, "Both of these men report your progress to me. If at the end of these two months you've shown to be capable members of Team Rocket, you will face a final challenge with me. Pass, and you will be initiated into Team Rocket. Now," she stepped forward and looked around the group, her eyes lingering on Aiya for a few moments longer than the rest, "the first part of today's training will consist of general physical and mental assessments. You will be split into two groups to complete your training.

"As you are undoubtedly aware, Team Rocket has several divisions within its ranks. Many of you may be here because you wish to join the Stealth division. I'm here to tell you that most of you will fail miserably in this endeavor. The Stealth division requires a great deal of skill and nerve, and looking around me I can see that most of you do not have either. However," she raised her voice as some of the people around Aiya started muttering, "all of you have something that will make you well suited for one division or the other. The Strength division, the Analysis division, the Personnel division, and so on. These are all important columns in Team Rocket's architecture, and each requires dedication and hard work. If you are not willing to give at least that, then you should turn around and go home now."

Officer Sand waited, looking around once more. No one moved, so she continued, "Very well. I am going to come around now and place each of you into a group. If, for any reason you do not like the group to which you have been assigned, tough. I'm not here to be your friend and I don't care if you're unhappy."

Aiya felt a deep sense of foreboding as Officer Sand started assigning people to either group Beta or group Omega. When she reached Aiya, she looked down at her for a few long moments, then instructed her to join the rest of group Omega. Aiya's sense of foreboding increased when she noticed that Mallory and a few of her cohorts were also Omegas. The kind boy with brown hair was not there. He had been sorted into Beta. She sighed, wishing heartily that Core could have been there with her, but she knew recruits were not allowed to bring their Pokemon to training until week three.

As she approached, Mallory looked up and smiled rather unpleasantly. Aiya sighed again. This was not going to be a fun day.

The first half of the day was spent doing push-ups, jumping jacks, jogging, and other types of physical exercise. Aiya was not prepared for such exhaustive exercise, and consequently began to fall behind the others within the first hour. It didn't help that her legs were so much shorter than those of her teammates. When instructed to run three miles, Aiya was the last to finish and "with the worst time any new recruit has had in five years." Officer Malcom shook his head in disgust. "Why they even allowed you past security…"

It was downhill from there. Despite her earlier claims at being top of the class, Aiya was simply not in the best physical shape. She had not led a pampered life before then, but she had not had a difficult life either. She had been doing some general exercise routines in preparation for her Pokemon journey, but two weeks curled up on a cot had sapped most of her physical reserves. By the end of the exercise portion of the day's training, which lasted nearly four hours, Aiya was covered in sweat and dirt, more exhausted than she had ever been in her life, and so sore she could barely stand.

On top of that, she had to stand and listen to Officer Malcom praise Mallory for her performance. The older girl looked as if she'd barely broken a sweat and she had come out top of the group. She looked particularly smug as Officer Malcom said he wished he could have ten more recruits just like her.

"Thank you, sir," she said, lowering her head in what was supposed to be a gracious gesture. "I've already been training for three months. I just wanted to do the best I could do to make Team Rocket proud." An unpleasant smile spread across her face again. "I just wish everyone could love Team Rocket like I do. Maybe then they'd be able to at least keep up with everyone else," she stared pointedly at Aiya. Several people laughed and Officer Malcom smiled as he dismissed everyone to their lunch break.

Aiya walked inside, feeling miserable at her inability to even keep up with the older trainees. How was she ever going to succeed in Team Rocket if she failed at training? Officer Sand had said she had to do well to even be able to take her test, whatever it was. What if she was kicked out of training before she even had the chance to get better? Geoff had risked his reputation to get her accepted for training and she was going to make him look like a fool.

"Snea snea Aiysa," a quiet voice from a bush outside the door made her jump. She looked around and spotted two large red eyes grinning at her from between the leaves.

"Core?" Aiya kept her voice low, glancing around her to make sure no one could hear her. Almost everyone had gone inside the base to eat, and the few stragglers that remained outside were busy talking amongst themselves. She turned back to the bush to see Core's claw poking through the leaves. He gestured for her to come closer. Aiya glanced around again then slipped into the bush with Core. "Oh Core," she said, seizing the small Pokemon and pulling him into a hug. "This is horrible. I'm never going to catch up with everyone else."

Core patted her gently on the back. "Sneasel snea yes snu sill."

Aiya sniffed a few times, trying to hold back tears. "How? Mallory's already been training for months. How can I possibly catch up with her?"

Core looked at her quizzically, clearly asking why she had to catch up with the best in the class.

"Because I have to. I have to do well so that Geoff won't get in trouble for getting me accepted. And I want to do well so that I won't get kicked out." Core tiled his head, the same expression still on his face. "Okay, I also want to beat Mallory. I want her, and everyone, to see that I'm not just some runt."

Core held up one short claw, examining it, then looked back up at Aiya. "Sneasel…runt?"

"No!" said Aiya quickly, rubbing Core's head. "You're not a runt. You're just young and…and you haven't gotten much training. And I promise that'll change. I'll start being a better trainer."

Core smiled and looked at his claw, then at her. He reached out and touched her small hand.

Aiya smiled in spite of herself. "Okay, you're right, we're both just young and untrained." Core nodded, then grinned and stood up straight, tapping himself proudly on the yellow jewel embedded in his chest. "You'll help me?" Core nodded. "All right, we'll help each other get stronger. Yeah, then when week three comes, we'll show them! Together we'll be so good that it won't matter how bad I was today."

Core nodded enthusiastically. "Sneah!"

After a quick lunch, the new recruits headed back outside, Beta to start their physical training with Officer Malcom, and Omega to have their first test in strategy from Officer Jen. Aiya passed the kind boy with brown hair as she stumbled along after the rest of Omega. He smiled sympathetically at her.

"Didn't exactly come top of the class, did you Pipsqueak?"

Aiya shifted uncomfortably. "No," she said quietly.

"Don't worry, it takes time for some people to get there. Keep trying and you'll catch up." He winked at her again and moved away to join the rest of Beta.

Training with Officer Jen was significantly better than training with Officer Malcom. For the first hour, Officer Jen started by instructing everyone to sit down and take a paper test about Pokemon. The questions concerned types, advantages and disadvantages, regions, levels, commonality, and more. After that, he tested each trainee's balance and coordination by having them catch balls while standing on a balance beam. Despite being so sore, Aiya performed reasonably well in this exercise. Then each person was asked to display a various emotion on command. Aiya was asked to display sadness and immediately burst into tears, allowing some of the emotions she had been feeling that day well up.

"Very convincing," said Officer Jen in approval before moving on.

Aiya smiled. It was the first compliment she had received, even if it was for such an easy request. She doubted he would have been so pleased with her performance if he'd asked her to act happy.

The final two hours were spent listening to Officer Jen lecture about the importance of thinking before doing, observing one's surroundings, paying attention to people's behavior, and blending into the background. It was very interesting, but Aiya was so tired by the time he finished that she could hardly keep her eyes open.

A whistle sounded from somewhere nearby and everyone looked up to see Officer Sand standing in the middle of the clearing motioning for them to join her. Aiya struggled to her feet, feeling a bit off balance as her tired muscles tried to remember how to walk. She had only moved a few paces when someone's foot caught around her ankle and caused her to fall, knocking the wind out of her. She looked up, gasping, to see Mallory laughing down at her.

"What happened, runt? Did you get a boo boo?"

Aiya felt dislike rise up within her. She shoved herself angrily to her feet and marched off towards Officer Sand, fuming. Mallory's laughter, coupled with that of a few others, trailed after her as she went.

"All right grunts," said Officer Sand as they all assembled, "I trust you've had a productive first day. For the next six days you will meet here at ten am and gather into your groups. Each day Omega will begin with physical training and Beta will begin with strategy." Aiya let out the softest of sighs at this news, thinking about how awful physical training was. Unfortunately Officer Sand noticed. She looked at Aiya. "Is there a problem, Sinel?"

Aiya gulped and shook her head. She hadn't known that Officer Sand knew her name. The older woman glared down at her for a few moments, then turned her attention to the group as a whole. "I don't care about your happiness, remember that. And I certainly don't care how big or small any of you are, I expect you to do the same amount of work. No one is going to slide by in my outfit, no matter how pitiful their story is." She looked back at Aiya, who stiffened and looked defiantly back at her.

"I don't want pity," she said quietly.

Officer Sand raised an eyebrow. "Did you say something, Sinel?"

"I said, I don't want pity. I'm going to be just as good as everyone else…better. And I'll get there on my own." She felt her voice falter on the last few words. Her heart was beating so fast and so loudly that she was surprised she could hear Officer Sand's next words.

"You've got a big mouth, grunt. I hope your reputation can keep up with it." Somewhere to her left, Aiya heard Mallory's unpleasant laugh. Officer Sand gave a half glance in her direction, then addressed the group again. "I will review the reports from your instructors tonight. I expect to hear that all of you are pulling your weight. Dismissed!"

The crowd dispersed slowly, talking excitedly together. Aiya trudged towards the base alone, fear starting to swell within her. She should have kept her mouth shut. It was one thing to make claims to Mallory, she was just a trainee. It was another to tell her commander that she was going to be a big success. She was getting enough attention because of her size and age as it was.

Core was no longer hiding in the bush beside the door, nor was he anywhere to be seen as she meandered down hallways and down staircases towards Geoff's room. She wondered, briefly, how much longer she would be allowed to stay in his room now that she was a trainee. Trainees did not usually get such nice accommodations, so she had been told.

She reached Geoff's door and tried to turn the handle, but it was locked. The tugged harder, feeling slightly panicked. Geoff had never locked the door before.

"Ah, there you are! Sorry kiddo, I was going to come and get you at the training grounds but you were already gone by the time I got there." Aiya turned to see Marty, Geoff's tall, red headed friend smiling apologetically down at her.

"Where is Geoff?"

"He's been sent on a mission. I think the bosses wanted to see how you'd do without him. Some of them think his reputation might be the only thing that gets you through training, so they were keen to separate you two for a week or two. Don't worry," he said hastily, seeing the look on Aiya's face, "I'm here to look after you. I swore to Geoff that I'd keep you out of trouble. Though if you're anything like that darned Sneasel of yours, that's a pretty big promise." He grinned.

Aiya smiled in spite of herself. "Where is Core?"

Marty shrugged, gesturing for her to follow him. "I have no idea. As soon as we saw that you weren't at the training grounds, he took off to look for you. That's the fourth time today he's slipped away from me. I would have put him in his Pokeball, but I have no idea where that is."

"It's locked in Geoff's room," Aiya replied, almost smugly. "He'll appreciate that."

The red-haired man laughed and ruffled Aiya's dirty hair. "Yeah, I bet he will. By the way, kid, how did it go?"

Aiya sighed and tugged at the corner of her dirt-stained t-shirt. "I…it was…not so great."

Marty chuckled. "I figured as much. You look like hell. I mean that in a nice way," he added quickly, seeing the hurt look on her face. "The first few days are always the worst. Don't let it get you down. Ah, here we are." He stopped beside a room with a picture of a Skitty on the door. "This is Jennifer's room. Jennifer is a friend of mine and she's agreed to let you sleep here until the bosses decide where to put you."

"Why don't they put me in the trainee quarters?"

Marty hesitated, then said gently, "well, most of them think you won't make it through the first week, and they don't want to waste a room on you until you prove them wrong."

"Sneasel!" came Core's angry voice from behind them. The young Sneasel marched up to them and poked Marty in the leg with one of his claws.

"Hey, easy, it wasn't my decision."

"It's not his fault, Core. I don't think anyone thinks I'll make it through. I'm not sure I do…"

Core turned to her and shook his head vigorously. He pointed at the jewel on his chest, then at her, and Aiya remembered the promise they'd made to each other earlier that day. She sighed and reached out for him. He jumped into her arms and patted her shoulder.

"He's a loyal one, for sure. Don't get so down, kid. I'll help you out when I can and once Jenny gets a look at you she'll insist on doing her part. She can't say no to anything cute and fluffy." He paused, smiling slightly at the look of annoyance on Aiya's face, then continued, "but maybe you should get a shower before you turn those big red eyes on her. Off you go. I'll come and find you for dinner."

After a long and wonderful shower, Aiya and Core returned to Jennifer's room. The woman wasn't there, but an air mattress had been set out on the floor for her. A soft pink blanket was folded neatly on top of the fluffy pillow Jennifer had set out for her. A note on top of these indicated that she would be back quite late and would meet Aiya in the morning. The small girl felt slightly relieved. She didn't really feel up to being social at the moment. Instead she sat down on the air mattress, which proved to be very comfortable.

Core stepped gingerly up next to her, holding his claws at an awkward angle, clearly afraid he might puncture something. Aiya let out a small laugh and pulled him close. Core chirped and touched her stomach.

"Yeah…but I think I'll just lie down for ten minutes before I go to dinner, okay?"

Core rolled his eyes but didn't object. He sat down on the edge of the mattress, his eyes fixed on the door. He would guard his trainer until he was sure Jennifer was an acceptable roommate. Aiya unfolded the blanket and wrapped it around herself then laid her head on the amazingly soft pillow. She was fast asleep before Core could do anything but shake his head.