Chapter Twenty One- Headquarters of Crime

"So here it is, Team Rocket headquarters. Sixteen months of grueling training and you're finally here. Feels good doesn't it?"

You've finally emerged out onto the surfaces after walking for what seemed like hours through a system of underground tunnels. You're standing in a canyon. Before you stands a young and pretty red-head in a white gown. You've never seen her before, but she looks important.

"Ariana, Giovanni's chief advisor and military strategist. Are you coming in?"

You follow her into a towering, heavily guarded fortress with a large red "R" on the front. This would surely catch the attention of the cops if any happened to be flying overhead. You bring this point up to the woman.

"Well you're a clever one, aren't you? But Team Rocket wouldn't have existed for as long as it has if we couldn't think of solutions for such problems. Go on, take a guess."

It would probably be some sort of advanced technology, or a pokemon. Psychic? You suggest this idea.

"An Alakazam to be specific. It mediates on the room all day and creates strong winds around the canyon. It would be impossible to pass through unless you had an extremely powerful flying type. And even then, most trainers prefer to fly around."

You continue to stare at the top of the fortress as you enter. You are unable to see the Alakazam from your current vantage point so you resolve to go to the top and get a better view later.

"The grunts usually don't come here too often. Just once in a while to restock on supplies, or take a nap and on the rare occasions the boss wants to give one of his speeches. Most of the time, it's only a couple of dozen scientists, and whoever is on surveillance duty."

She opens a door. Inside is a bed and a small table.

"These hallways are the barracks. You can sleep here once in a while if you're in the area, but unless you become and elite officer, you'll be sleeping outside most of the time."

"Hey, Ana! Who's the runt?"

An obnoxious green haired man in a black uniform and cap approaches. He is carrying a knife in one hand and an apple in the other. He slices a section off the apple and slides it into his mouth.

"Don't you have anything better to do than to harass me, Proton?"

The man thinks for a moment.

"Nope."

"No wonder the boss is thinking of firing you."

The woman gestures for you, and you follow. Proton stares at his co-worker, dumbfounded.

"Hey, Archer said something like that earlier. He was bein' serious?"

The woman turns to you.

"Haha, I knew you guys were jokin' the boss loves me!"

"Do you want to look at the labs next? Dr. Zager's working on something interesting I hear."

"Come on Ariana, were you being serious or not?"

"Let's go."

"Hey, hey, hey! You trying to bore the kid to death on his first day? Take him to the weapons warehouse!"

Proton turns to you.

"Name's Proton, weapons expert. Team Rocket ain't just restricted to pokemon trainers. So what'd say kid? Want me to show you how to blow up a police station with a bazooka? It's not as fun as in real life, but you'll get your shot."

You suggest something.

"You're a trainer through and through! Nice change from some of the recruits who just sit on their asses after they complete their training, huh Proton?"

"Bah! What good is a recruit who can't fight with his bare hands?!"

As Ariana leads you off, Proton wanders off in the opposite direction in disinterest.

"Well here we are!"

Ariana spins the wheel on a vault and the steel door swings open.

"The Pokemon vault! You won't be able to use pokemon you already have until you re-register them-"

She enters the vault and picks up a pokemon on a shelf. You look around to see all the pokeballs have a black top have.

"-under Team Rocket. Your regular pokeballs are all registered under your trainer ID give by the League. The police have a special device they can used to automatically scan pokeballs. They could have all your information within a few seconds of standing near you in battle."

She tosses you a black pokeball.

"You can have this guy to start with. He's a tricky one for beginners, but I think you can handle it."

You push the button and a purple goblin with sharp teeth and two large jewels where its eye should be.

"Sableye!"

"Most of the grunts here use Normal types. Even elite officers tend to prefer poison, but I've always had an affinity for the dark."

Ariana smiles at you.

"How about you? Are you afraid of the dark too?"

"Come on, Ariana! Don't go scaring the new kid."

You turn to see a tired looking purple haired man standing just outside the vault. He steps over the ledge in the doorway and enters the room.

"I'm just giving him helpful advice for the future."

"Take it from me kid and call human resources while you still have a chance."

"Now who's scaring him, Petrel?"

The man shrugged.

"Just some helpful advice..."

"That's our head of undercover operations, Petrel."

"Zager says the Nerve suit is close to being finished. He's looking for different people to test it on. Maybe our new recruit is interested?"

"Oh yeah! You're in for a really treat."

They approach you with grins on their faces. You shake your head furious and politely decline the offer. They ignore you and grab you by the arms and drag you down the hall.

"Hey, no worries, it's not like you'll get electrocuted or anything... probably."

They toss you into a cold room and lock the door behind them. You can hear their footsteps running down the hall, back the way they'd come.

"And you are?"

Before you is a man with pale blue hair. He stands straight with his hands behind his back. You give him your name.

"Never seen you around before. You're new, yes?"

You nod.

"Commander Archer, Giovanni's number 1."

You look confused.

"Giovanni's the boss, and you will refer to him as such. The honor of calling him by his name is reserved for me alone."

You see a strange piece of clothing on a desk.

"What that? Just Zager's little project. If he wants to the organization's resources to mass produce these, he'll need my approval first."

He turns to a door leading to another room.

"Zager! Hurry up! I don't have all day!"

"Yes, yes. Patience, my boy! Why are you always in such a hurry?"

"I have other things to do."

"Hush."

The bespectacled doctor picks up the suit and tosses it to Archer.

"Put it on!"

Archer stares at it with distaste. He looks to you and points to the suit.

"You're new and expendable. Put it on."

"Stop being a baby! Man up and put it on!"

"Er..."

He goes into the back room and reemerges in a sleek black suit with lines jutting through every corner of his body. The lines merged at the palms of his hands and the center of his chest.

"Get a pokeball and put it on your chest."

Archer placed a pokeball at the center of his chest and the lines on the suit lit up.

"So what do I do-"

You leap out of the way as a flames burst out of the executive's mouth. The flames ignite a shelve of bottle chemicals.

"What the?!"

A jolt of electricity surges through his body and Archer pulls the pokeball from his chest.

"That was ok. Oh well, we'll call that a test run and try again later."

The doctor exited the room calmly.

"And I'll be expecting replacements for the chemicals you destroyed. Just leave them in my mailbox when you get a chance. Hohoho!"

"Zager!"

A/n: Not super happy with this one. But I said I'd do it, so here it is, a 2nd person tour of the Team Rocket base. This is by far the longest one-shot here.