She opened her eyes and sighed, burrowing back into the pillow while she fully woke up. She felt good, well rested and still full of energy from last night's events. She and Katrina had come in second in the Half-Moon Festival, which she was very proud of.
Meg smiled at the sunlight on her face and got up, walking over to the mirror and grabbing a hairbrush. She quickly combed out her hair and turned to the small dresser in her room. In the top drawer was her uniform. She pulled it out and touched the fabric with a smile at the edge of her lips. This had always been something she wanted, to be part of a team, and after training for a few months, she was finally a real member of Team Rocket. It was unbelievable to her how lucky she had been. She started her journey alone, and when she ran out of supplies and got lost, Katrina had found her and brought her here. She had thought Team Rocket was disbanded, but seeing this group made her realize this was where she fit in.
She changed into her uniform and grabbed her poke balls, shutting the door quietly behind her as she left her room. She walked out the dorms and past the training area to the dining hall. It was half full, many people just finishing up. Mitch saw her coming in and walked over.
"How are you feeling?" He asked.
Meg hesitated. "Great. But why?"
He put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm glad you're feeling better. You were sick all night after the tournament. We were worried about you, and when Katrina was sick too-
"Is she okay?" Meg interrupted.
"She should be fine. The doctor thinks it was just over-exertion from the Half-Moon Festival. You just needed more sleep to recover."
He brought his hand away and Meg nodded. They had put a lot of energy into the tournament, so she understood what he was explaining, but it was still a bit of a shock. "The last thing I remember is you announcing that the tournament was over. The rest is a blank." She shook her head as if to clear it. "So how long was I asleep?"
Mitch looked at his watch. "You stayed in bed for a little more than a day. The Festival was two nights ago. But don't worry" he said when her expression became one of more shock, "everyone knows what happened and completely understand. They've been the newbies too at one point, and for you to come in second place." He whistled. "You showed them you belong here. Now go eat breakfast. Training's started again."
Meg bobbed her head with a glint of pleasure in her eyes and went to get a plate of food. She grabbed a bagel and smeared it with cream cheese and put it on her tray, also grabbing an apple and a glass of milk before sitting down at a table with three others. "Hi." She said.
The man in the middle looked up and Meg recognized him as Mitch's partner from the Festival. She struggled for a name for a minute, but it came to her when he smiled at his friends. Joey. And the man next to him… Meg had never spoken to him. She hadn't spoken to anyone but Mitch, Joey, and Katrina, she realized.
"I'm sorry, but I don't know your names." She said to the two on either side of Joey.
The man gave her a friendly smile. "I'm Gabriel. Glad to see you back on your feet." He couldn't be more than twenty, with icy blue eyes. Marks around his eyes showed he smiled a lot.
The woman sized her up with her eyes and gave her a cold stare. "The name's Abby." She had black hair in a pixie cut and luminous green eyes.
Meg found her stare unnerving and cleared her throat, looking away and taking a bite of bagel. "Do you know what the next big thing is going to be?" she asked.
Gabriel paused in his eating and looked up thoughtfully. "We don't typically have 'big things.' The Half-Moon Festival, sure, and sometimes other events randomly, but not much. We're not active because we're waiting for the right time to make a comeback in Johto. The Boss hasn't given us any information on when that will be though, so we have to keep up a strict training schedule."
"Thanks." Meg said. She went back to her bagel and focused on eating. She was very hungry after a day without food, finishing quickly. "See you around." She said as she picked up her tray and brought it back to the front of the room. The sun was warmer than it had been before when she exited the dining hall, and she stopped just outside and closed her eyes, taking in the light.
"Meg!"
Meg jumped and looked for the source of the sound. It was Katrina, running towards her with a grin on her face. She wrapped her in a hug and pushed her away, holding her tight in her grasp. "Are you okay? I heard you were sick too."
Meg laughed. "I'm fine!" She stepped out of Katrina's lock on her shoulders with a shrug. "I'm just ready to train."
Katrina looked like she was holding something back when she smiled at Meg. "I definitely want to train with you again today."
"What are you hiding, Katrina?"
The older girl started walking slowly. "You've become adept at the obstacle course, so I devised a new training method for you today: catching a Pokémon without battling. You choose which Pokémon, but you have to use your mind and body to get close enough to it to capture without using violence. Are you up for it?"
Meg jogged ahead. "What do you think?!"
A short time later…
Meg was standing at the division of the path. On the day she had caught Poliwhirl, Katrina had led her straight from the training area to a water habitat. She was trying to decide which type of Pokémon to catch. She knew it was good to have one of each of the basic types, fire, water, grass, and electric or flying, but she was stuck on which one to look for first.
She went through her team in her head. Cyndaquil was a fire type. Furret was a normal type. And Poliwhirl was a water type. 'I could either go with grass or electric.' She thought. 'So I should probably go for grass first.' She looked at Katrina. "Where can I find the grass-type Pokémon?"
"I thought you'd want a grass Pokémon next." Katrina said happily. She turned to the right. "Down this way. There's a field here with trees and burrows for the Pokémon. We leave it untouched, as far away as you can get on the compound." She moved her gaze back to Meg, her expression serious. "I have to leave you alone now, so I can observe you, but I'll stay close. Good luck, Meg."
Meg gave her a thumbs up and started walking in the direction Katrina had told her to.
"One more thing!" Katrina called to her. Meg turned back and raised an eyebrow. "We have some special Pokémon here. This used to be a center for raising them, so you might be surprised by what you find."
"Thanks." Meg said as she started walking again. She didn't know what to expect now. If Katrina had thought it necessary to warn her, something really strange must lay ahead. After about ten minutes of walking, Meg noticed the area around her become more green, with less evidence of human involvement.
She tuned her senses to be on guard for any movement as she took in the area, searching for a spot to conceal herself in. A black berry bush lay a few paces away, so she crouched behind that while she thoroughly looked over the field. Some of the Pokémon must have heard her approaching, because they were looking around with ears perked. She waited with carefully controlled breathing until they relaxed and went back to their normal activities. There were about fifteen small Pokémon in the middle of the field, including the typical Bellsprout and Caterpie. There were also a few Oddish and Spinarak. And in the middle of the group…
"No way." Meg said under her breath. There were three Pokémon in the middle of the group with green-blue coloring, and green bulbs on their backs. "Bulbasaur."
The last word was spoken too loudly and the Pokémon pricked their ears and turned towards her. She put up her hands slowly and rose to kneeling position, moving into full view of the Pokémon. About six of them bolted as soon as she appeared. The others tensed but stayed in their positions.
"I'm not here to hurt you." She said softly. She walked as slowly and quietly as she could to near the center of the field, where the Pokémon were gathered. They ran to the edge when she got too close, so she sighed and sat down on the grass, closing her eyes.
It was impossible to tell exactly how long she sat there, but she felt peaceful and content sitting crisscross in the grass. The light coming through the trees was patchy but consistent, and she felt calmer than she had in days when she opened her eyes. Two red eyes stared back at her from a few feet away and she jumped before realizing it was a Bulbasaur.
They locked eyes and seemed to have a staring contest while they studied each other. This was the first Bulbasaur Meg had ever encountered. She knew they were the grass-type starter Pokémon in the Kanto region, but they were extremely rare in the wild. Especially outside Kanto. This must have been what Katrina meant when she said there were special Pokémon here.
The Bulbasaur took a hesitant step forward. She realized it was smaller than the others, most likely the youngest. Meg held out an open hand and it walked up to it and smelled it before pushing its head against her hand. It was a sort of bump, as if to test how firm her hand was, and Bulbasaur backed away after doing it, looking at her with puzzled eyes.
"My name is Meg." She said. The Pokémon tensed again but stayed put.
"Bulba." It said in a high voice.
'I hope this doesn't scare it off.' She thought. She reached out her hand and let it hover over the Pokémon's head. When it didn't move she gently placed her hand on its head – and waited. Bulbasaur froze and looked at her with wide eyes and its mouth open, and then sat down where it was. Meg smiled and rubbed its head encouragingly.
"I'd like it if we could be friends." Meg said. Her tone was still just above a whisper, soft and full of warmth. She liked this small Pokémon, she realized. It was quiet but courageous, and kind of reminded her of herself. At least, how she thought she behaved. This was the Pokémon she wanted on her team. "Do you think that could happen?"
"Bulba, Bulbasaur." It said, nodding its head.
Meg smiled. "Great. You see, I'm looking for another Pokémon to train as part of my team, and I think you and I could have fun together."
It stepped forward until it was as close to her as it could possibly be and looked her in the eyes. It seemed to be measuring how honestly she was speaking, deciding how much trust to put into her. After a moment it blinked and nodded. "Bulb." It said in agreement.
Meg tentatively reached out and picked it up, pulling it onto her lap and holding it close. "We're going to have a lot of fun together." She whispered into its ear. "You won't regret coming with me."
Her poke ball touched its head and the Pokémon was absorbed by the beam of red light. The ball flickered and wobbled twice, and then was still. Meg stayed seated for a second to absorb the fact that she had just caught an extremely rare Pokémon for her region, unable to make the smile leave her face.
Then she stood and walked back to the path leading to the base. Katrina was waiting for her by the division in the path that led to the different places in the wild for various types of Pokémon. The older girl had a huge grin on her face and was bouncing on the balls of her feet when Meg reached her.
"That was incredible! It only took you about half an hour!"
"Was that all?" Meg asked. "I couldn't tell how much time had passed. And I see what you mean about 'special' Pokémon here. Bulbasaur? Care to explain that?"
Katrina laughed. "This used to be one of the breeding centers. It was shut down years ago, and most of the Pokémon rounded up and sent to roam in Kanto, but a few couldn't be captured. They had made a family here, so the breeders let them be. They've been here since before Team Rocket found this place."
Meg felt comforted by this. "I'm just glad they chose to be here. I would hate to think some trainer had abandoned them."
"I know exactly what you mean." Katrina arched an eyebrow. "Race back to base?"
Meg made sure her poke balls were secured before starting to run. "Absolutely."
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"I told you she was the one we needed."
Mitch tried not to show his hatred of the man he was seated next to. They were in the main office of the base, watching the camera footage of the expansion areas, as they were called by the trainers. Each area had an expansion for a team of Pokémon. Mitch found the name very accurate.
"Did you hear me, Mitch?"
He put a false smile on. "Yes sir. You were right."
The man studied him. "You still don't believe I've made the right choice." He finally said.
Mitch lost the smile. "Are you sure she has to stay here?"
"The girl is needed for our research, Mitch. Surely you understand that? With her ability with Pokémon, we can get close to the Legendary Pokémon; push our research forward by leaps and bounds. She can connect with the Pokémon on a level we are unable to, which is an ability Team Rocket has been searching for for years. This may be the final step towards being active in the Johto region again."
Mitch willed a look of hope onto his face. "That sounds great! I had no idea we were that close to coming back!"
The man appeared satisfied with Mitch's reaction. "No one does besides the two of us, and it's going to stay that way for a while. We're not nearly ready yet, so it may be a few more weeks."
Mitch thought as quickly as he could. He knew the man would plan every detail intricately if he had time, so there was no chance he could stop it. He had to convince the man to act faster. "Why wait? I can help with final preparations, and we can be ready in a matter of days."
"But you are determined!" He thought for a moment. "Alright. I'll keep you updated. You're dismissed."
Mitch took one last look at the frozen image on the screen before leaving. The image of a girl with long auburn hair, sitting in a field with a small green Pokémon on her lap. Meg. And she looked happy.
He had to act fast, but he had no idea what to do to stop the man. 'I need to be in deeper to stop Team Rocket.' He thought. 'I'm respected here, but I don't know much that could convince people to follow me out of Team Rocket.'
It was then that he decided something important. He wouldn't be leaving Team Rocket as soon as he'd planned. He couldn't stop the man's plans either. He had made a promise to himself to do everything in his power to bring down Team Rocket, and that would require more time. Time he didn't have to mess up. It pained him when he thought of Meg and Katrina, but his mind was set. He just hoped someone else would save the girls, if he couldn't.
