Clock In, Clock Out

Of all the gruntly duties that Cal was usually assigned, stakeouts were his second least favourite. You were stuck sitting down in one place for extended periods of time, with only tiny permitted bathroom breaks and only being allowed to eat food that could be consumed on the go and without making too much noise. In fact, the only thing worse than it was guard duty, and that was only because it was basically the same thing as a stakeout except it was indefinite.

Stakeouts, however long they may have been, would always end sooner or later; and that was your few drops of water to help swallow the bitter pill that was staring at jack shit for hours on end. Of course, there were ways to combat the boredom. Cal's personal favourite time-killer was imagining what he would actually do with his life once he finally got enough money together to get out of both Team Aqua and the region.

The fantasy he was going with at that current moment was one of his best, if he did say so himself. It was a lovely cottage in the Kalosian countryside, where he would live out his days in peace as a humble berry farmer, unbothered by the outside world and other people save for his occasional trip to market. Team Aqua would be a distant memory, and he would never have to worry about rent again.

He must have let out a contented sigh in his musings, as Wade's voice snapped him out of his musings. "Cal? You alright there, buddy? I know that forest is real beautiful and all, but I didn't know you were that into them." Like a balloon prodded with a needle made of reality, Cal deflated.

He turned to Wade, one eyebrow raised. His comrade appeared to have been in the middle of his thirtieth game of Tic-Tac-Toe, judging by all the drawings in the dirt by the public toilets they were currently using as cover. Wade's opponent, a Makuhita named Sticks, glared back at Cal, clearly frustrated that his twenty nine game win streak had been interrupted. Ignoring Wade's Pokémon, he shot back. "Well, Wade. I thought I'd appreciate the scenery considering we've been staring at it for so long." Cal stopped for a moment, noticing that they were missing two members from their merry band. "Where are Seline and the new girl? Didn't take Seline for someone who'd up and abandon our noble cause."

Wade shook his head, indicating behind him. "Seline got a call from the higher ups a couple of minutes ago. The newbie went to have a bathroom break." He made a face, then checked his watch. "Been in there a while though."

"Don't blame her. Chef really outdid himself with last night's slop. Didn't even notice the hair this time." Cal replied bitterly, leaning against the concrete wall on his right. To this, Wade raised an eyebrow.

"You know he only gives that stuff to people that get on his bad side, right?"

Cal only grumbled in response.

"Just saying, man. It wouldn't kill you to be a little more friendly with our colleagues." Wade suggested, cursing as Sticks let out a victory cry. Clearly, it had achieved that win streak.

"Why? Only person I work consistently with is you, and that's plenty tiring already."

"So you keep saying, but seriously. Archie said Aqua's like a family, so you gotta stop acting so cold, like you're one of those Magma goons." Cal let out a non-commital grunt, heavily suppressing the urge to roll his eyes as he knew how much Wade bought into the whole cult of personality that Archie had established.

It was something that Cal often paid no mind to, but clearly it was a major part of the Team Aqua business model to present the entire group as some sort of big, dysfunctional family fighting to save the environment. It was part of the reason that the Team was able to draw in so many new recruits in such a short period of time. There's never a shortage of kids with delusions of grandeur, paranoid pokemon fanatics and failed trainers who just wanted somewhere to belong in the world; and Archie was able to find a way to use all these misfits as an incredibly eager workforce. If Cal was a betting man (He wasn't), he'd wager that Wade was somewhere between the first or second categories.

As for himself? He was the fourth type of person places like Team Aqua attracted in droves. Someone who wanted a stable source of income without any questions asked. Hell, he would've gone for the better paying Team Magma had Aqua not also have offered free dental.

In short, he wasn't there to get attached. It was a simple clock-in, clock-out arrangement; and none of the work would bother him as long as he was getting paid.

Well, unless it was battling. He could never quite get the hang of that.

Deciding to change the subject before his lack of cult-like reverence became too apparent, Cal opened his mouth again. "When do you reckon Seline'll get back? Must be urgent if a call from HQ is going on that long."

"Uh, should be about- Oh, there she is." Wade checked his watch briefly, before looking back up at Cal. Well, looking at something behind Cal. "Oh shit."

Cal craned his neck, wondering what had caused Wade's face to pale so quickly. What he saw was Seline with a face of thunder, storming towards the public toilets like she had the intent to kill.

"Wade, what did you do?"

"I swear, this wasn't me."

When she finally got close enough to be in earshot, she took a deep breath in; in a failed attempt to calm her nerves. Somehow, this made Cal even more nervous. Seline was usually one to just let it all out.

"They got the wrong day."

Cal's stomach dropped. "What?" He had heard her the first time, but he was just holding out a naive hope.

"They got the wrong fucking day." Seline repeated, her voice growing in volume.

"You are joking."

"I really wish I was."

Cal pinched his nose, struggling to contain his disbelief. "We have been waiting here. For five hours. And you are telling me, they got the wrong day?"

"Do you want me to run on over to Johto and spell it out to you with Unown? Yes. They got the wrong day."

Wade piped up, the optimist in the party, although his voice was wobbly. "At least we got some knowledge of the terrain though, rig-" A joint glare from both of his fellows and a jab in the ribs from his own Pokemon told him that he wasn't helping, and thus he took the smart option and shut his mouth.

So, you know that part about Cal not being bothered with the work as long as he was paid? This was the exception. He unconsciously tried to run a hand through his hair, but had forgotten that he was still wearing his Aqua bandana; which led to him displacing it and then only getting more frustrated as he had to readjust it.

It was then he remembered himself, and took a breath to regain his composure. Chill out, Cal. Just more time you're getting paid for. Better off being bored to tears than doing actual work. He mentally reassured himself, finally able to put a stony expression back on his face. For her part, Seline had lit herself a cigarette; taking a couple of calming puffs that, judging from the fact that her face still portrayed the intent to kill, wasn't exactly working out for her.

Wade remained silent, kicking some dirt over the games of Tic-Tac-Toe and recalling a protesting Sticks to his ball in a flash of red light. He eventually opened his mouth, always eager to break the silence. "So, uh. When are we actually going to carry out the operation?"

"They said tomorrow, thank Arceus." Seline responded shortly. "And if it isn't, I might have to punch someone."

"So what do we do until then?" Cal asked, though he felt he already knew the answer.

She shrugged. "Getting a drink would be a start. Where's Zinnia?"

"Still in the bathroom." Wade replied.

Seline tilted her head at this, but her opening her mouth was cut short by the woman in question coming around the corner of the building, tailed by her Whismur and wearing an expression as unreadable as ever. "I'm back. Did I miss anything?" She asked simply, that same distant smile on her face. It was at this moment that Cal realised that he had never actually heard the girl speak until now, and to be honest this just felt anticlimactic.

"Higher ups, uh, got the wrong day. We were supposed to do this tomorrow." Wade supplied when he realised both of his colleagues were still too sullen to reply. For her part, the newbie looked mostly unphased, though a twitchy eyebrow betrayed that she was just as happy about it as the rest of them; even if she was trying to uphold her mystique.

"Oh." Was all she said, wisely choosing not to comment further, lest she drew Seline's ire.

Speaking of which, Cal gave her a look.

"So, about that drink…"

Eventually, the four were able to locate a serviceable, if a bit rundown, bar on the western outskirts of Rustboro. It wasn't glamorous, but they couldn't exactly stroll into a high-class joint when they were still in their incredibly noticeable Team Aqua uniform. It wasn't too bad, though. At least they wouldn't really be pestered by anyone if they were visibly a member of an outfit. Unless that 'anyone' was from their rival organization, of course.

Rustboro itself was a lot more unremarkable than Calder was expecting. Aside from the massive Devon Corporation (Company? Cal could never remember), the place was more a town than it was a city; with only a few apartment complexes sticking out of the otherwise low skyline. A lot of the business the place saw was either from trainers on their Gym Challenge, the poor lifeless saps working for Devon or travellers who were taking a stop to enjoy the more relaxing nature without having to contend with more aggressive wild Pokemon. If it weren't in Hoenn, it might've been a prime candidate for Cal's early retirement scheme.

When they entered the bar, Cal was slightly taken aback by just how full up it was. There were plenty of businessmen/women weeping into their drinks about missed opportunities in their past or an impossible upcoming deadline they were going to lose their job over, but there were also plenty of younger people dotted around; including a trio in a familiar red getup sitting in one of the corners.

Shit.

Luckily, it seemed that only Calder noticed them; and judging by the fact the three Magma grunts were still talking amongst themselves, it seemed they hadn't noticed them either. Good, I really don't have the patience for a battle right now. Cal let out a relieved sigh, which was luckily only noticed by Zinnia. She gave him a shrug, but otherwise didn't question it.

Soon the four were seated, and once the other three had pulled rank it was decided that Zinnia was going to be the one to fetch the drinks. Once she had walked up to the counter and left earshot, Wade spoke.

"It just me, or is there something off about new girl?" He murmured quietly, in a strangely astute observation from directly opposite Cal, who was now the one to give a shrug.

"She's probably just nervous." Seline mentioned, sitting on Wade's left. "She's only been here a couple of days, and Aqua's now a pretty big Team. I mean, I'm her partner, and she's only ever said a few words to me, let alone initiated small talk."

"Sounds familiar." Wade said in mock wonder, the remark clearly pointed to his own partner. The Grunt in question grunted in response, his attention still squarely on the Magma grunts. It was unusual to see them this far into the South West, and he couldn't help that making him suspicious. Naturally not because he was worried about them interrupting their plans or anything; they just tended to be colossal dicks.

Realising that the other two were watching him curiously, he responded uncharacteristically quickly. "Just give her some time!" He spoke, trying to draw attention away from the opposing grunts. He couldn't get a read on Zinnia, but he was sure the other two would jump into a confrontation headfirst. Remembering himself, he once again turned stoic. "Like Seline said, it's a lot to get used to. I still get overwhelmed with this stuff sometimes." He was a bit too open than he would've liked, but he had to keep his colleagues' attention somehow.

"You do? But you do jack shit." Wade observed, and Cal had to bite back a grin.

"When was the last time you cleaned your and Cal's room again, Wade?" Seline added, her own smirk playing on her face.

"Around the same time Cal last battled."

He really isn't going to drop that, is he? Calder leaned back on his seat, hands behind his head. "See? That works out perfect. It's like we're symbiotic. You do all the work, I do the tidying sometimes. Pure synchronization." He added, his tone even. It was probably a bad idea to let himself get familiar with his coworkers like this, but he would take anything to pass the time at this point.

"And here are our drinks. Thanks, Z." Cal had to suppress a shudder as he turned to his right to see Zinnia already handing out the drinks. A bottle of alcohol-free Deinoken for Seline, a ginger beer for Wade, a cola for Cal and a glass of water for herself. The squad leader took a swig from her bottle, crinkling her nose. "And this still tastes like shit." She muttered, setting the green bottle adorned with a cartoonish stumbling Deino on the label.

Cal was confused. "Why'd you order it, then?"

She shrugged. "Can't drink on the job."

Cal was more confused. "Then why didn't you just-"

A new voice cut him off. "Well, well, well. I thought this bar stank of Magikarp." Cal took in a deep breath, his eyes scanning the bar before he actually looked at the intruders. As he feared, the seats that were previously occupied by the Magma grunts were now empty. Seline slowly reached for her belt, while Wade went to respond; which in Cal's experience could only end well. He tried to say Wade's name, but was too slow on the draw.

"You sure?" Wade responded, looking around the bar in mock curiosity. "But I don't see your mom anywhere. Sure it isn't you?"

Cal suppressed the urge to groan. Guess he wasn't getting that relaxed night at the bar after all. Especially since the Magma grunt responded with a sneer, smacking Wade's drink right of his hand. Wade responded by quickly standing up, the squeak of his chair causing Zinnia's Whismur to give a nervous cry and hide under its trainer's seat. Cal followed suit, if only to grab Wade's arm.

"Wade." He murmured in warning.

"I'm not just gonna take that, man." Wade replied in protest, shaking his arm off. Cal scanned the three. The group consisted of two girls and one dude. The guy, the one who had just knocked the drink out of Wade's hand, continued his sneer.

"I wasn't expecting sophistication from you rabble, but a 'your mom' joke? Really? I was prepared for at least something akin to a battle of wits; but you all appear to be unarmed." Usually, Cal would've vouched to just leave and forget about it, but ooh he had such a punchable face. Unfortunately, they couldn't fulfill that urge right now. Especially since they were on the clock and in a pretty crowded area.

"I know." Cal continued. "But let's use our Pokemon instead of our fists. We're here for a reason, remember?" Wade tensed, but nodded. The ginger beer clearly weighed heavily upon him.

"Aw, what's the matter? Di-" One of the girls began, but was cut off by Seline joining the conversation. She gave Cal a nod and a hand up.

"Before you say whatever dumb shit you were going to, let's take this outside." She gestured around the bar, most of home were glaring in disapproval or whispering among themselves. "I'm sure these fine patrons are all too willing to call the cops; and I'm sure that that isn't good for whatever you guys are planning."

They guy, clearly the leader of the outfit, allowed his expression to falter momentarily. "Indeed." He murmured. "Let us take this outside."

"Z, stay put and watch our drinks." Seline added, as the newbie in question gave a quick nod; before taking a leisurely sip of her glass of water.

As the two rival groups exited the bar in a tense silence, led by the Magma leader and Seline; Calder allowed himself to grumble as he stared back at his seat longingly as Zinnia allowed her Whismur to take it.

He hated battling.

They found a large enough park after a little while spent wandering, with only a few mumbles between each Team and an occasional verbal potshot from the Magma grunts. Cal kept silent, but nevertheless kept an eye on Wade; who clearly was the person in the trio who was the most invested in the upcoming battle. Seline also seemed to catch this, turning to face her two underlings.

"Wade. Cal. You two take the small fry, I got the pretentious one." Wade opened his mouth to protest, but Seline waved him off, continuing brusquely. "I know, I know, you're still deep in mourning; but it's late and I want to deal with these assholes as quickly as possible."

Cal's partner seemed to relent at this, and gave Cal a side eyed glance. "You wanna team up, then?"

The grunt in question hid a sigh of relief. If he worked with Wade, that at least spared him some effort. Of course, he wasn't going to let that show. "Thought you'd never ask." He replied dryly. "I'm sure Seline can handle herself."

And that was a fact. Despite how short tempered she was, Seline was a pretty decent battler by Team Aqua standards. In fact, she was the only one of the three that boasted a fully-evolved Pokemon. Granted, that Pokemon was a Delcatty, but credit where credit was due. She turned to the opposing Team, who were probably still verbally jerking themselves off about how much more 'refined' they were than their pirate-themed counterpart.

"Hey, asshat." For some reason, the pretentious one knew that was referring to him. "You're up against me. Our underlings fight each other, deal?" Wade mouthed 'Underlings?' to Cal, who offered a halfhearted shrug. It was technically what they were.

"It is acceptable." Pretentious nodded, while his two 'Underlings' had a similar exchange to Cal and Wade. The guy turned on his heel, wandering to the other side of the park and Seline followed, but not before flashing the other two a brief thumbs up.

When they were gone, Cal shared a brief glance with Wade; who egged him on to officially start off the battle. Cal rolled his eyes, before stepping forward. Might as well do this properly. "Names?" He more stated than asked.

The one who Seline had interrupted back at the bar stepped forward first. "I'm Gwen." She was a little shorter than Wade; but stood with more unwarranted confidence than Cal could amass in a lifetime. Her amber-eyed gaze flitted between the two, as if she was ready for the two to come at her swinging. Cal only nodded, before turning to the other.

"And you?"

"My name's Teri. A pleasure to meet you." Well, she had manners at least. She was by far the tallest of the people present; having a couple inches on even Cal. However, any intimidation factor this may have lent her was offset by the fact that she wasn't even meeting their eyes. At last, Cal had found a kindred spirit in someone who really didn't even want to be there.

"Pleasure to meet you too. He's-"

"Wade! And my partner here is Calder, but everyone just calls him Cal." Cal couldn't resist the urge to pinch his nose. What was the point in even getting him to ask their names if he was just going to hijack the challenge request? Ignoring this or more likely not even noticing, Wade continued. "Gwen and Teri, we challenge you to a double battle. Each person will only use one Pokemon each. Any objections?"

There were no objections.

"Perfect! Now get ready to have your shit rocked." With the cockiness you would associate with a regional champion, he reached for his belt and chucked one of his Pokeballs. "Let's go, Sticks!"

The yellow humanoid emerged from a flash of bright light, making as close an approximation of flexing as possible with his little stubby appendages. "Hita!" He yelled triumphantly, readying himself for combat.

"Dazzle them, Lila!"

Gwen was next, throwing out her own Pokeball. From it, emerged a… Numel? Cal shouldn't be surprised that a Magma grunt had a Numel, but he didn't quite see what was so dazzling about it. The Numel itself was seemingly pretty average, dozily eyeing its trainer and the Makuhita facing it.

Wade was clearly of a similar mindset. "A Numel? I was expecting something more, I dunno, pretty?"

"Shut up!" She shot back, walking forward to pat the absent-minded Numel on its head; despite it not even noticing. "She's plenty pretty, aren't you, girl?"

It did not reply.

"I, um, choose you, Eclipse!"

From Teri's ball, emerged something that Cal definitely wasn't expecting. Now, Lunatone were uncommon enough as is, but a grunt using one? That was basically unheard of. Teri didn't meet either Cal or Wade's confused stares, instead keeping her eyes locked firmly on the ground. The Lunatone itself was mostly stoic, but eyed Sticks in a curious manner.

Ah well, not any of my business anyway. Cal reminded himself internally, before noticing the expectant gazes being sent his way. Without any regard for showmanship, he just shrugged and underarm threw the only Pokeball he possessed.

"Hendrix, you're up."

From the fourth flash of light, a small black canine emerged. It blinked a couple of times, its yellow and red eyes gazing around the park curiously. It looked between the Lunatone and the Numel in front of it, then at the Makuhita on its right. Then, Cal let out a sigh as the tail wagging began.

The Poochyena let out an excited bark, turning to Cal and running up to its trainer, running figure eights between his legs. "Alright. That's enough." Cal said evenly, trying not to betray the fact that he felt his face heating up. He looked to Wade, who only offered him a shit-eating grin as Hendrix (who had completely ignored him) barreled off to say hello to Sticks, licking the Makuhita.

Sticks didn't seem too bothered, in fact he seemed to share a few words with the small dog Pokemon, while the two trainers they were supposed to be battling just looked on with confusion.

He only offered them a grimace.

"Hendrix." Cal repeated again, more assertive this time. "We're about to have a battle, you can play with Sticks later, alright?" Another excited bark. He was successful in getting him off the Makuhita, at least; but this success was offset by the fact that the creature was now pawing at his shins whilst balancing on its hind legs.

"You, uh, alright over there? We can do this like, later."

Cal only responded to Gwen's remark with a half-hearted glare, electing to pick the Poochyena up from under its forelegs. "Hendrix." He stated, the dog in question staring happily back with its tongue hanging out. If Cal was being paid enough for this work, he would have found it cute. "Fine. Do you agree to stop doing this if I promised to get you a treat after this battle?" Hendrix responded with an enthusiastic lick, before worming out of Cal's grip and taking a ready stance on the makeshift battlefield; even going so far as to start growling.

Hendrix, as you could probably tell, was a master of psychoanalysis and a devious manipulator. Cal couldn't help but respect it.

Wade, who was red in the face from trying not to laugh out loud, finally found an opportunity to clear his throat. "Alright, let's get this show on the road! Sticks, start us off with a Fake Out on the Numel!" He spoke fast, like a toddler trying to win a playground argument. Miraculously, it seemed to work, as the sputtering opposition didn't have time to react.

Sticks surged forward, giving a disarming battle cry as it struck the enemy camel thing with unexpected speed. The Numel in question was sent reeling, having not expected the move as it was distracted by a passing Wurmple. Its trainer was none too happy about this.

"What the hell was that?! You can't jus-" Gwen began, before being cut off for the second time that evening.

"Well I just did! Shouldn't have let your boss waste my drink like that. I was looking forward to it!"

Cal followed Wade's lead and took a chance while one half of the opposing duo was distracted. "Hendrix. Bite the Lunatone." Hendrix barked in affirmation, sprinting up the side of the battlefield to try and get the jump on the Psychic type. However, as he leaped at the Psychic type with open jaws-

"Eclipse, stop it with a Rock Throw!"

-He was met with a rock directly in the face. The Poochyena soared through the air in a perfect arc, before landing in a heap. Cal bit his lip. This complicated things.

Teri wasn't finished, however, now turning her attention towards Sticks; who was in the process of delivering the still recovering Lila a point-blank arm thrust.

"Now, help Lila! Confusion!"

Sticks faultered, clutching at its head. Well, as well as it could with boxing-glove hands. It looked up, just in time to take a point-blank Flame Burst from the now-recovered Numel.

The Makuhita stumbled a few paces back, which allowed the Magma Pokemon to press forward and finally bring the fight out of their corner and into the center of the court.

All in all, it was not going very well.

Cal sucked in a breath as Hendrix stirred, not beaten yet; but judging from the heavy breathing he wasn't far off. He turned to his right, and saw Wade being oddly silent; gears visibly turning in his head. They both knew that Sticks was the stronger of the two, but the Lunatone not only had the type advantage but was also clearly on a whole different level.

Wade murmured to him, catching his attention. "Any ideas?"

Cal nodded. "That Lunatone's a problem."

"Yeah, no shit. Not an idea, though."

"I wasn't finished. I think we should try to overwhelm it. I'll get Hendrix to cover them with an assload of Sand Attacks, you get Sticks to beat the hell out of it."

"Simple, but I guess as long as it works."

"Are you two done?" Gwen yelled out, and it was only then that Cal realised that the Team Aqua side had all assembled in something resembling a huddle, Pokemon included.

"Yeah, yeah." Cal replied tiredly, before looking back at his team. "Alright, you both know the plan, right?" He asked, and both Pokemon nodded. "Okay, get back out there. With a strategy like this, what could go wrong?"

Three minutes and fifty two seconds later

In retrospect, plenty of things could, and did, go wrong.

Firstly, the Magma grunts caught on far sooner than expected; no doubt because they had probably used the exact same tactic on some poor trainer in the past.

Secondly, neither Aqua Pokemon could do jack shit at range. Cal probably should have realised this, but he still felt it was somewhat unfair that they could do exactly what they could do and better at a larger range, but he thought that was offset slightly by the fact that their entire tactic revolved around being as cheap as possible.

It only took a couple of well-placed Fire Blasts and Confusions, and here they were.

He looked to his right, seeing Wade rub the back of his head sheepishly as he recalled an unconscious Sticks and apply a revive to his Pokeball. Hendrix was already snug in his ball, having passed out at around the two minute mark. Cal could only raise his hands in defeat. "Welp."

Gwen stepped forward, recalling an infuriatingly vacant-looking Lila to her ball. "Was that all?" She smirked, clearly trying to get a rise out of the two of them. Teri, for her part, just stood back, stroking and mumbling reassurances to her own Pokemon.

"Yes." Cal replied. "As you can see, there are indeed no more Pokemon on our side." When people showboat like this, Cal found that it was always better to just keep a level head and speak calmly. Granted, that was his tactic for basically all forms of social interaction, but it had only failed him several times so far.

"What my emotionally stunted colleague here is trying to say is: 'Wow, thank you so much for the amazing battle!'" Seline chipped in, having apparently done with her own battle. Which apparently went better than the partner, judging by the fact that her opponent was still at their court, on his knees and staring at his hands like he was suffering a particularly potent existential crisis. The Aqua squad leader indicated the Magma underlings over to their 'boss'. "You might want to go grab him. It's getting late."

They looked between each other, before obliging and jogging towards their mentally destroyed comrade.

"You haven't heard the last of us!" Gwen yelled over her shoulder, and Cal silently wished that she was incorrect, especially since now he had Seline staring at the both of them; her arms crossed and an eyebrow quirked.

"We lost."

"I have eyes, Cal. I want to know why you lost."

"Our Pokemon were defeated."

"Cal-"

Wade took this opportunity to de-escalate the conversation. He, at least, could tell that Cal was in a somehow worse mood than he was usually. Which was the other part of why he hated Pokemon battles so much. Losing sucked. Although, he couldn't quite put his finger on why. He was usually able to get over minor things like losing, but something about losing Pokemon battles just gave him this weird, heavy feeling in his stomach.

"They had this weirdly strong Lunatone. We couldn't even get close to it."

"I see." She replied, putting a hand to her chin as a devilish smile found its way onto her face. "Well, a real shame about that… You know, I could let Archie know about your embarrassing blunder here tonight. Or, you guys could take over the stakeout tomorrow and let me take a day off, and I'll just forget about it."

"You wouldn't."

Wade whispered dramatically, but Cal remained unmoved. Unlike Wade's nigh-on Messiah-like view on the man, Cal knew that Archie couldn't give two shits about a minor tussle between grunts; and he wasn't exactly bothered with moving up the ranks either. He wasn't just going to fall for a simple ploy like this.

"Really, Seline? I thought better of yo-"

"Did I mention that something like this may lessen your chance of getting a bonus?"

"Deal." Cal immediately answered.

"Perfect. Well, let's not keep Z waiting." Seline marched off, her gait filled with confidence; most likely more from exploiting her own coworkers than actually winning a battle and shattering some dude's view of themself. Wade followed, digging around in his pockets to see if he could at least scrounge up enough for another ginger beer.

But Cal? Cal just stood there, breathing in the cool night air and coming to terms with the fact that he had been so easily manipulated twice in the space of around ten minutes; once by his coworker and once by his fucking Poochyena.

He took another breath, looking down at the Pokeball Hendrix was residing in. "That treat'll have to wait till morning, bud." The ball laid dormant for a while, before giving an affirmative, if grumpy, shake.

Cal let out a dry, smileless, chuckle before setting off down the street after his colleagues.

He wasn't there to get attached. It was a simple clock-in, clock-out arrangement; and none of the work would bother him as long as he was getting paid.

Little did he know just how complicated this job was going to become.

A/N:

Hey all, been a while.

Can I just say that I regret having the first ever battle of this fic be in the doubles format? If the brevity of it didn't tip you off, it was a pain to write.

All in all though, I'm pretty happy with how this turned out. We got some more interaction between the main crew, and even an opposing group of Team Magma grunts. Will they show up again in the future? Probably.

Also, I forgot to mention this last chapter, but once again thanks to all of the lovely peeps over in the Fanfiction Treehouse Discord Server, the link to which is right here: discord .gg/9XG3U7a