Star in the Storm, Chapter 13

Lody- "Meet the Castaways"

"C'mon Shane! Beat Chimera!"

"You'd better beat her! If the Leader finds out you failed us…"

Reb crossed his arms and yawned. "Pokémon battles," he said dismissively, "are a boring waste of time. Rising, you laggard; you should have made short work of that girl hours ago."

"I'd like to see you up here," Shane answered good-naturedly. "Poseidon!" he called calmly out to his Starmie. "Confuse Ray!"

A flash of light emerged from the Starmie's ruby gem and hovered into the space of air between Shane's Pokémon and my charging Tyranitar. Throwing sizzling sparks in every direction, the Confuse Ray attack zoomed forward and sent Sahra flying forcibly back.

"Good one, Poseidon!" Dissembler yelled. "Wow, look at that, folks! Shane's Starmie sent out a Confuse Ray attack, evading Tyranitar's Crunch and simultaneously Confusing it! Will this state of Confusion wear off in time for Lody to make another move? Let's hope not."

"Will you quit doing that already!" Ruki roared.

"But Ruki," Dissembler protested in surprise. "I thought you wanted her to lose."

Ruki's fists clenched so tightly that her knuckles turned white. "Of course I want her to lose, you idiot!" the older girl snapped. "But at least give the girl a fighting chance!"

"Ruki and her twisted sense of honor," Reb said wryly, shaking his head. "Sure, why not? I'll root for the underdog. Region knows, they need it." Cupping his hands around his mouth, the boy began to call out into the air. "C'mon, Lody! Show Rising a thing or two."

Chip was the next to pick it up, less than a second later. "Lody! Lody!" he chanted, jumping up and down beside his sister. "You're the ultimate battler in the…uh, entire universe!"

With an impish grin, even Dissembler threw down her imaginary microphone and stared cheering. "Go, Lody, go! Girrrl power!" she screamed out happily, doing a little dance on the sidelines.

Only Ruki, with her steely eyes and clenched fists, refused to say a word. But I thought I saw the faintest trace of a smile glimmer through her eyes.

"You have some strange friends," I informed Shane icily. "Or are changing loyalties part of being in Team Rocket?"

Shane cocked his head, then smiled back in a stately manner. "Oh, we like rooting for losers," he said casually. "And it's just that Team Rocket is usually the one who loses. But not any more. Go, Poseidon! Thunderbolt attack!"

Loser? I'll show him loser.

"Sahra, shake off that Confusion!" I yelled as a bolt of electricity came hurtling towards my Tyranitar. Sahra turned its great head towards me, waved dopily, then spun back to face Poseidon, all the while seeming a bit unsteady on its feet.

The Thunderbolt streaked past Sahra's tough outer skin with a sharp crackle.

She didn't even flinch. Baring her teeth, the Tyranitar stepped forward and bellowed mightily.

"And it looks like Lody's Sahra has thrown off its Confusion at last!" Dissembler crowed into her imaginary microphone. "Way to go!"

"Sahra!" I yelled. My heart was racing wildly, for victory was now right within my grasp. "Use Hyper Beam! Now!"

With an enormous explosion that rocked the very ground we stood on, the Tyranitar reared back, then fell forward again, delivering a brilliant blast of light from between its jaws.

Poseidon didn't have a chance.

Shane's Starmie was hurtled violently into the air and out of the battlefield. Spinning uncontrollably, it crashed into a faraway tree and skid to the ground, the ruby gem at its center blinking sporadically.

"And Poseidon is DOWN!" Dissembler shouted triumphantly. "Lody Chimera WINS the match!"

Cries of "Lody! Lody!" rang through the air and echoed back again and again. The Team Rocket Castaways were cheering for me, elated in my victory against their fellow teammate.

Recalling Sahra, I ran forward to where Shane was checking his Starmie for injuries. He looked up as I came and smiled.

"Is Poseidon…is it okay?"

"Poseidon will be fine," Shane replied, recalling his Starmie. "It looks like you won the match after all, Lody Chimera. I keep my promises. What's your choice, Lody? Will you join the TRC or not?"

Now that the initial thrill of winning had finally started to wear off, I looked at Shane through new, clearer eyes.

Shane was a skilled battler. Everyone had known and admitted that freely. So why had I, a trainer who had only battled once before in her entire life, won against him?

Images and scenes flashed in rapid succession before my eyes. Shane healing my Arcanine with the Antidote, and offering for me to leave the newly cured Pokémon in the match. Shane exposing his Dragonite's critical weakness and letting me exploit it to my full advantage. And finally, in that last round; Poseidon's streaking Thunderbolt attack deflecting harmlessly off my Tyrantiar's rocky skin. Shane could have used a Water attack and finished Sahra off right then and there. Instead, he had given Sahra a chance to recover from her Confusion and retaliate.

Did Shane feel sorry for my Poisoned Arcanine, or the way the rest of the TRC rooted against me? Or was he simply too slow to realize and correct the mistakes he'd made?

No. Shane had set up every single one of those incidents. He'd given me an opportunity every single round to take the advantage against him. And I'd done so more than once, unaware that I was playing a rigged match.

Shane wanted me to join the TRC, for some reason unbeknownst to me and probably his teammates as well. I snuck a quick peek at the rest of the TRC members, who were coming up behind us, waving and cheering. Did they suspect what Shane had done?

"What was your answer, Lody?" Shane said, forcing me to look back. "I don't think I caught it."

"Oh," I said, swallowing. The door lay open before me now. I could remain a captive.

Or I could become a member of Team Rocket. From there, I knew I'd be able to find a way to escape. I had no loyalties to any illegal organizations whatsoever. I could even do some spy work against them.

"Okay, Shane," I said, taking his hand and shaking it firmly. "I'm in."

"Really! That's so totally great!" Dissembler squealed, swiveling me around and pulling me to my feet. "Hey, everybody! We've got a new member of the TRC!" she yelled, twirling me around exuberantly in a little dance across the field.

Reb grimaced. "I'd start running now if I were you, Lody," he said dryly. "Next thing you know, Dissembler'll get you rigged up in one of her affected so-called uniforms…."

"Do you like black or silver better, Lody?" Dissembler asked, causing everybody to break up into uproarious laughter.

As we headed back across the field, I caught the steely, suspicious eye of none other than wildcat Ruki. She looked away quickly enough, but that one moment had been enough.

Ruki was beginning to suspect what Shane had done. Or she already knew.

"Ta da!" Dissembler crowed several hours later, pushing me forward into the room. I, for my part, planted myself firmly in the doorway and refused to budge.

"I look like an idiot, Dissembler," I stated plainly.

"Nonsense!" the other girl laughed, slapping me on the back. "Go on, Lody. Show everybody your new uniform."

Reluctantly, I slunk forward a few more inches in a half-hearted slump.

The rest of the TRC were arranged in various positions about the room, all attending to their various tasks. Reb was bent over a new pile of diagrams and sketching busily away with a pencil stub. Ruki and Chip were practicing several fighting moves on a punching bag in the back of the room. "Not like that, squirt," I could hear Ruki telling her young pupil. "You need more force. Like this!"

With a loud crash, the punching bag went soaring into the air, knocking a nearby lamp into the wall and startling Gauntal into a bark.

"Not again, Ruki," Shane chuckled from where he and Gauntal were resting by the heater.

"Like this?" Chip asked, copying his sister. With another wild swing, the bag sent the table the lamp had been resting on moments before clattering to the ground.

Shane shook his head, smiling tolerantly.

"Hey, everybody!" Dissembler called, waving her arms up and down wildly. "Look at Lody's new uniform! I made it myself!"

A few indifferent faces glanced briefly in my direction, then were forced to stifle small chuckles. I groaned inwardly. Now I knew why no one, save for Dissembler, went out in full Rocket regalia. Tight gloves and tall boots covered my arms and legs, making me uncomfortably hot in the warm room. And the large red 'R' emblazoned on my shirt felt especially conspicuous, giving me a sinking feeling just staring down at it.

"You look, er, nice," Shane said with a grin. "I hope."

Dissembler swatted him on the head with the side of her hand. "Don't mind Shane," she sniffed. "He doesn't know anything. Now everybody, sit down on the floor. Dissembler's got some nice presents for you, straight from Goldenrod City!"

"I hope you didn't steal anything," Reb commented wryly as the assorted TRC members arranged themselves into a large circle.

Taking a large pack and setting it reverently in the center of the circle, Dissembler snapped open one compartment and emerged with a set of new drawing pencils. "These are for you, Reb. And yes, I paid for them out of my own pocket money."

The boy's blue eyes lit up as he reached for the pencils. "Those are perfect for my new design of the TRC-16!" he exclaimed happily.

"The TRC-what?" Chip said, looking up confusedly.

"He means the copter, squirt," Ruki replied, punching her little brother gently in the arm.

"Not so fast!" Dissembler cried, holding the pencils out of Reb's reach. "Before you get your present, you have to introduce yourself to Lody. That way she'll get to know all of us better. Since I didn't get you a present, Lody, think of this as my gift to you." She winked impishly at this.

"I'm sure she'd prefer thinking of us as deranged lunatics and mental ward patients," Reb countered sarcastically. "As opposed to deranged lunatics and mental ward patients with whole life stories."

"Hang on, I think Dissembler's got a good idea there," Shane broke in. "Go on, Reb. It can't hurt."

Reb gazed longingly at the drawing pencils before heaving a great sigh. "For my poor TRC-16, I will lay my soul before you, Lody Chimera," he drawled reluctantly. "My name is Reb. I'm thirteen years old and enjoy designing machines for TRC use. Like my precious TRC-16. Anything else you want to rip out from me now?"

"Tell Lody how you became a member of the TRC," Dissembler urged, waving the pencils above Reb's face.

With another long-suffering sigh, the boy consented. "Oh, fine," he said, rolling his eyes pointedly. "When I was about ten or so, my family and I were driving down to the next city, where I was going to get my Pokémon license. We were on the highway, and it was getting a bit dark. Emile, my little sister, was doing something annoying again, chanting the Pokérap, I think."

"Electrode, Diglett, Nidoran…" Chip started off proudly. Ruki cut him off.

Reb rolled his eyes exaggeratedly before going on. "Well, anyway, we're just driving along, when this stupid Stantler steps out into the middle of the road and freezes there," he said bitterly, doing a deer-in-the-headlights imitation. "My father tried to turn the car away –he didn't want to hit the darn beast– but we crashed head-on into the Stantler anyway. I ended up like this." He gestured down at the wheelchair he was sitting in. "My mom, my dad, and Emile died. And you know the thing that really gets me? That idiot Stantler survived!"

Dissembler shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Uh, you can just talk about the part where you joined the TRC, Reb," she said hesitantly.

"Fine. The people that saved me were TRC members. You and you, in fact," he said, pointing to Ruki and Dissembler in turn. "They said something along the lines of 'Hey, do you want to join this super-secret organization that gets to torture those stupid Pokémon that you hate so much'? How could I refuse?" Sitting sullenly back in his chair, Reb rolled his eyes yet again. "Now that you've listened to my whole sob story, can I please have my pencils now?" he demanded.

Dissembler tossed them to him without a word.

"Next is a present for you, Chipper," she said, reaching into the pack again. "But first, you have to tell Lody about yourself."

"Okay," Chip agreed eagerly. "I'm Chip and I'm six years old." He held up six fingers and wiggled them to demonstrate. "I like brownies, popcorn, and all kinds of Pokémon. My big sister is Ruki and she's the bestest big sister in the entire world. Can I have my present now?"

"Sure," Dissembler said, handing the little boy what looked suspiciously like an old-school PokéBall. With a squeal of delight, Chip grabbed the PokéBall and pressed the silvery button at its side. With a flash of brilliant red light, a small, furry Pokémon emerged. And almost instantly, it jumped forward to lick Chip's grinning face.

Gauntal barked out in surprise, causing Shane to frown. "Dissembler," he said sternly. "Don't tell me that was one of the Eevee we picked up on our latest raid."

"Oh, Shane!" Dissembler giggled. "Hear how much fun Chip's having? It's about time he got a little Pokémon friend to play with. And recite the Pokérap to. Someone to keep him company when the rest of us are off on another mission."

Ruki's face softened as she petted Chip's new Eevee. "Thank you, Dissembler," she said grudgingly. "You did good on this one."

"I always do!" Dissembler stated proudly. Reaching back into her pack, she pulled out a carefully wrapped parcel and waved it at Ruki. "This one's for the resident wildcat," she said with a playful grin. "You know the drill, girl. Tell Lody about yourself."

Ruki sighed and turned to me. "My name is Ruki and I'm Chip's older sister," she growled. "I'm sixteen years old and can beat up anybody in this sad group with one arm tied behind my back. And don't they forget it!" she snarled, looking daggers at Dissembler.

"Tsk, tsk, Ruki has such a temper," Dissembler chided. "Now, how did you and Chip join the TRC, Ruki?"

Eyes blazing, Ruki spat out in enraged tones, "My parents died when Chip was just a baby! Either that, or they left us to starve on the streets, I'll never really know. Then Miss Goldilocks comes along and offers us a roof over our heads and three square meals a day, in exchange for working with some organization called Neo Team Rocket, which personally, I'd never heard of before." She pointed accusingly at Dissembler. "So that's why I'm here, instead of sleeping out in the street," she said bitterly. "Is that good enough for you, Curly?"

"Stellar, Ruki!" Dissembler answered, throwing the package in her direction. "Open it!"

Tearing off the brown paper with her fingernails and teeth, Ruki looked down to find a pair of orangey-gold gloves resting in a cloud of tissue paper.

"Gloves, Dissembler?" she asked. "What's with the gloves?"

Dissembler slipped one over her own hand and flexed her index finger. Instantaneously, a pointed silver claw shot out of the glove's fingertip, glittering dangerously in the dim light. "Not just any gloves," she said proudly, taking a swipe at the air. "Wildcat gloves, guaranteed to boost your fighting potential by 101%! I happened to hear this one shady-looking character bragging about these here gloves, so I challenged him to a game of chance."

"Which would be?"

Dissembler grinned. "Slots. I was in the Goldenrod Game Corner. You should've been there! I beat that guy about a million coins to one! I was so good, I practically had coins coming up to my elbows."

"Rigged another machine, I see," Reb said sarcastically. "Ever since our last assignment in Celadon, Dissembler can't get enough of cheating at slots."

"Hey, I'm good at it!" the other girl protested. "And look, I managed to buy some spiffy new TMs for our local battling champ!" Rummaging through her pack, she held up three small boxes, each labeled with a small golden number. "Blizzard, Thunder, and Fire Blast!" she announced proudly. "They can all be yours, Shane Rising, for the incredibly low price of one life story."

Shane smiled and laid a hand on Gauntal's head. "I'm Shane Rising and I'm twelve years old," he began smoothly. "I do a lot of Rocket infiltration work. My earliest assignment was to Blackthorn City, where I posed as a Junior Trainer to the Gym Leader Clair Rising. Clair was given the impression I had no family, and consequently decided to adopt me. Which is why my surname is now Rising. And about joining the TRC, I didn't really have a choice. My…family, like Dissembler's, has been in Team Rocket for generations."

I turned to Dissembler curiously, who had put a hand behind her head sheepishly. "That's right, isn't it!" she cried. "I haven't said a word about myself! Well, let's see. My name's Dissembler…well, my code name's Dissembler. See, we're all supposed to have code names, only the other guys don't remember to use 'em, ever."

"Don't remind me!" Reb called out sarcastically.

Dissembler stuck out her tongue at him. "Well, I'll be turning twelve in a couple of months," she continued. "And apparently, I'm the only one who ever cares about sticking to Team Rocket customs. It runs in the family, you know. My mother was one of the best agents Team Rocket ever had! Unfortunately, she and my dad were blown up in one really dangerous mission, and I've been on my own ever since."

"I'm the one who started the TRC, in fact, as a specialty division for Team Rocket members who didn't really fit in as normal members of Team Rocket," Dissembler added quickly. "Like if they were too young to be considered a real Rocket or didn't really wanna mix with some of the meaner members."

Ruki snorted. "That's why we're called the Team Rocket Castaways," she said bitterly. "Just like everybody else, nobody here wants us around."

"That's not true!" Dissembler protested. "The TRC has been one of the most successful divisions in the entire Team. We do mostly infiltration work --kids like us can get away with almost anything-- but Reb's got it made with designing new tech stuff and Ruki's good whenever we need some brute force."

"Thanks a lot," Ruki growled, rolling her eyes.

Dissembler shot her a cheerful thumbs-up sign and cleared her throat. "I'll like all of you to know I rewrote the TRC motto to include our newest member, Lody Chimera!" she announced triumphantly, standing up and striking a pose in the middle of the room.

A chorus of groans and moans rose up from the others. "Please, not the motto!" Reb called out. "Anything but that!"

Dissembler cleared her throat again, more loudly this time, and began to recite from memory.

"Prepare for trouble, more than you can dream!

You're in for a struggle, once you've met our team!

Shane's the fearless leader, Dissembler's got the flair,

Witness Ruki's nerves of steel, plus her icy glare.

Chip here's our wonder kid, Reb's the techie ace.

Lody, our newest member's, soon to carve her place!

Though we're from different backgrounds, we've set our sights!

Beware, the Castaways are prepared to fight!"

"Eevee!" Chip's Pokémon chirped happily. Gauntal, too, chimed in with an enthusiastic "Umbreon!"

"You've got that right!" Chip giggled as the Eevee jumped up and curled itself around his shoulder.

"Is it over yet?" Reb asked, peeking tentatively out from under his hands. "Geez, Dissembler. Do you know how positively degrading it is to be referred to as a 'techie ace'?"

"Poetic license!" Dissembler countered with a sniff. "Did you like it, Lody?"

I grasped for something to say. "Very…er, creative," I approved.

"Somebody tell me why we have to have a motto again," Ruki said, glaring at Dissembler. True to Dissembler's words, Ruki had one of the iciest glares I'd ever encountered.

"It's a grand Team Rocket tradition!" Dissembler announced proudly. "Hey, you know, Silver Star hasn't heard it yet! And I still have to give her a present! C'mon guys, it's about time for Lody to meet our final member!"

"No way," Ruki said, shifting her icy glare from Dissembler to me. "Lody can't know about…"

"She's a TRC member, Ruki," Shane said in that familiarly light voice of his. "She has a right to know."

Sullen, but silent, Ruki bowed her head and let me file out the door behind Dissembler. After what seemed an hour's walk through the dark, twisting hallways, during all of which I could feel Ruki's surly glare burning at the back of my neck, we came upon a tall metal door hidden at the end of one empty corridor. Painted on its surface in bright red letters were the words "KEEP OUT!"

Apparently, these words didn't apply to the TRC. Knocking loudly on the door, Dissembler called through the keyhole, "Nurse Hope? Nurse Hope! It's us, the TRC. We're here to see Silver Star!"

A rush of footsteps sounded on the other side, and moments later, a young redheaded woman unbolted the door and slid it open the tiniest fraction of an inch. "Password?" she asked brusquely.

Shane stepped forward, Gauntal's leash in his hand. "Star in the storm," he said in a clear, smooth voice.

With a nod, the nurse beckoned us inside.

Most of the TRC members crowded around the small bed at the center of the room, but Shane held me back with an outstretched arm. "You're a member of Team Rocket now, Lody," he whispered to me. "It's your responsibility to return what belongs to us."

I stared at him. "What are you talking about?"

Shane's voice remained as smooth and polished as ever, but now there was just the slightest edge to his tone. "The files on Silver Star, Lody! You're about to see Silver Star in person, Lody. Why hold on to those files?"

"What files?"

Shane's voice pitched itself just the slightest bit lower than necessary. "Don't take me for a fool, Lody Chimera," he hissed. "I know you have them. You were watching me when I brought them up, that night in the Professor's lab. Lody, listen. We can't let other people get their hands on those files! If they ever do, it would put the entire organization at risk. Silver Star, most of all."

"Shane," I said, mimicking his low, deadly-serious voice. "I swear I don't know what you're talking about. I have nothing that belongs to you. It wasn't me that took your files!"

Shane stopped, face contorted. "You're telling the truth, aren't you?" he whispered.

Gauntal whimpered in the back of its throat.

"That's why you wanted me in Team Rocket, isn't it?" I said disgustedly. "You thought I had your silly files, and that I'd be forced to give them back as soon as I joined."

Shane bowed his head. "I've made a grave mistake," he whispered, more to himself than to anyone else. "Lody…"

"Does this mean I go back to being a hostage?" I challenged angrily.

Shane was silent for a moment, then shook his head. "The TRC does not go back on its word," he stated firmly. "Now come. I want you to meet the last member of our little group. Lody Chimera, meet Silver Star."

Notes:

My gratitude goes to Mystical Star, who kindly reviewed my story. And as always, to Theo 'Blitz' Leung, who must be the most dedicated reader on FanFiction.Net. Don't worry about pestering me with reviews; taking the time to read my story and give me your comments on it is exactly what I hope for people to do!