*~~*Chapter Five: A Problem Already: Silver's Viewpoint*~~*

I sighed and rubbed my temples as the sharp stabs returned to my head. I'm a half-hour into this mentorship and I've already got a headache! I frowned as I recalled how vicious Alonso had been towards her. I'll have to keep an eye on him; that creature gets jealous faster than anything I've ever seen. Well, there's only one thing that can cure a headache... I let out a groan and headed towards my bathroom, hoping to have at least a half-hour to soak before I had to give my new apprentice a tour of the headquarters.

I let out a pleased sigh at the warm water, my muscles already relaxing as soon as they touched the waterline. I quickly jabbed the button to turn on the jets and sank into the water. Now I can relax...

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of my communicator ringing on the vanity sink, all the way on the other side of the room. "Crap!" I growled as the device continued to ring, barely noticing Alonso padding past the door.

"Alonso!" He froze and peeked inside of the room with a frown. "Get me my communicator!"

"...I'm sorry, Master." He smirked as he twitched his whiskers. "I'm afraid I'm not allowed inside of your bathing chamber~." He turned away and flicked his tail as he padded on past the door.

"ALONSO!" I yelled at his tail as the device continued to ring, furious by his sudden attitude. "THAT'S AN ORDER, YOU STUPID BEAST! GET BACK HERE!" He ignored me completely and disappeared out of my sight.

I turned to the still ringing communicator with a glare. This had better be important. I let out a groan as I struggled to reach my towel without falling out onto the floor. I managed to grab the black towel closest to me and wrapped it around myself, letting out an involuntary shudder as I was blasted by cold air.

I stormed over to the sink, still growling under my breath as bumps began to rise on my skin. I snatched the device with one hand—seeing as I had to hold my towel around me with the other—and slammed the answer button.

"WHAT IS IT NOW?!" I let my breath come out in huffs as the person on the other line let out a small sound.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, sir. I wanted to inform you that the disturbance has been handled; all grunts are now returning to their duties." Archer, I should have known it was him... He always seems to call when I'm in here.

"That's just wonderful, Archer." I rolled my eyes at him, even though I knew he couldn't see it. I was honestly one step away from punishing him for his ill-timed calls. "Now, could I please be left alone?! I have work to do today!"

"That's true, Ms. Soul still requires a tour of the base... Not to mention a change of outfit." I heard him let out a sigh and mutter something away from the device before he went on, "I'll make sure to collect as much data on her as possible, sir."

"Good." I nodded, the action scattering a few water droplets from the bottom of my hair. "I want medical records, school records, League records...everything that has anything to do with this Kotone Soul, understand?"

"Of course, sir. I'll get on that right away..."

I growled and slammed my right foot to the hard stone tiles below, actually hurting the limb with the force. "No! Petrel can do such petty chores, I need you to find a few of the standard beasts for her training."

"...Even the Grimer and the Koffing, sir?"

I sighed and shook my head at his foolishness. "When I said all of them, I meant all of them, you twit! Now, get to work!" I pulled the device away from my ear and jabbed the end button, hanging up on him as I groaned.

"Now," I tossed the heavily-encased electronic onto the counter. "I'm going to finish what I was doing before someone else decides to call me for some stupid reason!"

I sighed as I pulled on a clean suit jacket, staring at myself in the long mirror inside of my room. Ugh, now I get to play tourguide. Just how I wanted to spend my evening. I gave the jacket one last tug before heading towards the door. I glared at the resting Alonso as I passed, still infuriated by both his refusal to follow commands and his earlier attack on my apprentice.

"Don't think I'm not going to punish you for your behavior, Alonso." He lazily opened one eye and smirked. "I won't tolerate your petty jealousy."

"Who me?!" He lifted a paw to his chin and yawned. "Jealous of that human female? Nonsense! She won't last a day here, flawless battler or not. You might as well preorder her coffin...if you plan on burying her like the rest of the grunts."

I clutched the emerald doorknob and glared at the Classy Cat Pokémon. "Is that a threat, Alonso?" His lone eye gleamed as he laughed.

"Perhaps, Master. Perhaps it is."

I knocked on her door roughly, growling as she still refused to answer. "Kotone Soul, open this door! Don't you dare keep your mentor waiting!"

The door burst open to reveal the girl hopping on one foot, trying to pull one of the thigh-length boots on with a grunt. "I-I'm sorry, sir! I just...can't seem to fit in these clothes!" She scowled and tugged harder on her footwear. "I think they're too small!"

I glared at her and shook my head. "No, you're just accustomed to wearing clothes that swallowed you whole. Now, get that boot on and hurry up!"

Her foot slid in with a squeak of rubber as she nodded, bringing a smile to her face. "I'm coming!" She then marched proudly to my side, tugging on the bottom of her skirt. "So, what's the first thing on the list?"

I rolled my eyes and motioned for her to follow me, ignoring her stares as I slammed her door shut and headed to the elevator. "You're going to have a quick run-down of the important rooms in the base, then you'll be given a set of standard grunt Pokémon to train with." I pressed the call button and glanced towards my door, Alonso's threat still ringing in my mind.

"Um, sir?" I suddenly felt a poke on my head, making me spin around and slap her hand away. "Your hair's wet..."

"I know it is, you idiot! Now, no more talking unless spoken to, got it!?"

She gave a furious nod just as the machine chimed beside us, the metal doors slowly opening with a whir. I quickly stepped inside as Kotone followed, staring at her new boots and avoiding my face. Great, she's one of those sensitive people. I jabbed the button for the tenth floor and sighed as the doors closed us inside of the small space.

My eyes kept slowly locking on to my new apprentice, watching as she glanced around the elevator nervously. I narrowed my eyes as I noticed a red spot forming on her sleeve. I then cleared my throat, snapping her back to attention.

"...Is your arm still bleeding?" She let out a small squeak and gently placed her right hand on the growing blot.

"I-It must have broken open again when I changed my clothes, this top's a tad tighter than my jacket." She gave the top another pull and let out a gasp of air. I rolled my eyes and focused on the numerous buttons for each floor. You're only constricting your chest when you pull, idiot. I glanced back to find her cringing and trying to slow the bleeding.

I suddenly jabbed the button for the twentieth floor nearly seconds before we passed it. The machine growled and stopped short, jolting us inside of the basket.

I shoved my hands in my pockets as she frantically looked around the space with wide eyes. "W-Why did we stop?! What's going on?!"

"Relax." I turned my attention back to the doors as they slid open. "We're just taking a small detour before we start." I stepped out into the blinding white room before the doors were fully open, leaving her to scramble behind me as I headed towards a young woman in a white alteration of the Rocket uniform. I held out my left arm, stopping the girl from going any farther. I then narrowed my eyes as she let out a small cough and stood up straight. I turned back to the black-haired woman and frowned.

"...Fix her arm. I can't have my apprentice bleeding to death during her training." She gave me a quick nod and scurried away with the girl, Kotone letting out a small squeak of protest as they disappeared behind a corner.

I looked up at the blank ceiling and frowned, squinting to protect my eyes from the harsh lights.

...Why did I even bring her here? It's her fault she received that bite in the first place! Any idiot who can't even tell when a Houndoom is closing in deserves to be bitten! I shook my head and looked back towards the way they left, waiting for the wound to be sown up. I suddenly heard a sharp scream followed by loud sobs, the crying growing louder as each second passed. I turned away quickly as Kotone's voice let out another wail. What a weakling.

Around a half-hour later, Kotone came limping out with puffy eyes, still sniffling as she clutched her arm. The nurse followed shortly behind with a plastic bag in her hands. I frowned as my apprentice rushed to my side and hid from the woman, cringing as her eyes drifted towards the pocket on the nurse's right hip.

"Well," The woman handed me the bag with a sigh. I raised an eyebrow as I found a Houndoom tooth fragment inside of the plastic, bloodstained and jagged. "We found this inside of the bite, most likely the creature had a bit too tight of a lock on her arm. Her arm's sown up now, but I wouldn't recommend any rough activity with that arm for today, sir."

I nodded and turned towards Kotone as she let out a shiver. I gave her a growl, starling her to stand straight. "...Good. We have basic touring to do, anyway." I started to walk past the brunette with a small frown, shoving the tooth into my pocket for now. "Come along, apprentice. You have work to do before the day's end."

"Y-Yes, sir!" I looked over my shoulder to find her scurrying to my side. I let out a sigh and pressed the call button, the nurse turning away and walking back towards the operating rooms.

The doors opened fairly quickly, Kotone dashed inside without any complaints. I slowly walked back inside and pressed our floor yet again, watching as the doors shut the white lights out and lurched as we began to rise.

Author's Note: This had a lot of transitions... and no, the bath scene is not fan-service. Headcanon fact in the Rocket AUs that Silver soaks in hot water when he's had a rough day...and this would count as a rough day.

Thank you all for your support so far, I love hearing from all of you!