Chapter 39

Red almost didn't recognize himself when he caught a glimpse in the mirror. His usual clothing had been replaced by the iconic black uniform of a Team Rocket grunt and the black hat was pulled down to his eyebrows. Of course, he couldn't wear this around in public, so he would hide it underneath a large coat. Even so, it was unsettling to see himself dressed as the people who had been hunting Leaf and him for so long. And soon, he wouldn't just be impersonating them, he'd be infiltrating them.

Since stealing the uniform, Red and Leaf had visited the gaming corner a few more times. With their heads kept low, they did their best to remain inconspicuous while staking out anything suspicious. While there was more drinking, smoking, and music blaring, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Red still couldn't believe that it was completely legal to let teenagers inside places like that where they could easily blow all their money in one night. He supposed it wasn't too much more dangerous than sending teenagers out to explore the world with only one pokemon companion.

"Are you ready?" Leaf nervously picked at the seam of her dress as she looked up at him. Her long, dark hair had been thrown up in a meticulously messy updo with two pieces left out to frame her face. She wore just enough makeup that she looked to be much older than her 14-year-old mug shot depicted her to be. Red wasn't sure if he liked that.

Red nodded firmly. "And if anything goes south, we are getting out of there immediately."

Leaf sighed heavily, moving on from her dress to fidget with her hair. "I still don't like the idea of you by yourself in there. Something could go wrong, and I'd have no idea. I wouldn't be able to help you. And there are still so many unknowns about this."

"It's a risk," Red agreed, "But, we have to do something, and this is our best chance of getting ahead of them for once."

"Yeah, yeah. I know you're right. Just still sucks." Leaf stuck out her tongue and then stood up from her bed. Her usually sporty attire was replaced by a black dress that hugged every curve of her body.

"We should get going, it's almost time," Red said, grabbing his coat and the room keys.

The walk to the casino didn't take long, but in that short time Red played out what felt like hundreds of scenarios in his head. They had agreed that pikachu was too recognizable to be out, so Red walked down the dimly lit streets alone. Leaf had stayed behind, planning to enter the casino on her own shortly after. Red approached the back exit, struggling to slow the racing in his heart and steel his face. Leaf had done her best to alter his appearance with the limited makeup skills she had, but there were no guarantees he wouldn't be recognized. His hand hesitated as it hovered over the handle. Taking a deep breath, he collapsed it down and pushed.

Inside the door was another set of double doors. And, standing in front of those double doors were two very large men. One of them scoffed as he looked down on Red, tilting his head as a wicked grin spread over his face.

"Don't you think you're a little young to be messing around here, kid?" He taunted, leaning down towards Red.

Red forced himself to stare back into his beady eyes and keep his chin up. His mind was blank, but his mouth seemed to move on its own. "The boss doesn't seem to think so."

A moment of silence passed. Then, the man raised his hand and brought it down quickly. Red couldn't help but flinch as the huge hand came down on his shoulder. A throaty laugh erupted from the bouncer as a matching smile spilled over his face.

"I like you, kid. Keep that same attitude."

With a shove, Red was suddenly stumbling through the open door into a long hallway. At the end of the hallway was a woman sitting behind a large desk, her long nails clicking against her keyboard. Her dark eyes pierced him from behind her pointed glasses as they shifted from the screen to his face. She pursed her bright red lips, waiting impatiently for him to say something.

"Uh, it's my first day here," Red mumbled, immediately wishing he would have sounded more confident.

"Giovanni really will take anyone these days," she huffed, returning to clicking away at her keyboard.

Red waited a few moments before realizing that she was done talking. "I'll head in there, then," Red said, pointing towards the door as he started inching deeper into the headquarters.

"No, you won't," she replied curtly, stopping Red in his tracks. He tried to steady his heartbeat as he turned back towards her. "Someone is coming to get you."

Just then, a grumbling man clad in the team rocket uniform turned the corner and headed straight toward them. Red resisted the creeping urge in his fingers to grab his pokeballs. The man let out a sigh when he finally reached the desk and looked down at Red. His pale face was covered in peppered stubble and the dark circles under his close-set eyes made Red wonder when the last time this man had slept was.

"Come on kid, we've got a busy night ahead of us," he grunted, turning away. Red quickly caught up with him, struggling to maintain the fast pace the man was moving at. This wasn't exactly part of the plan, but after getting through the doors, there wasn't much of a plan, to begin with. Instead, they had settled on three goals: find out as much information on Team Rocket as possible, don't get caught, and get the hell out of there. As an entry-level grunt, Red doubted he would be privy to much valuable information. It never hurt to try, though.

"Where are we heading?" Red asked after a minute of silence and winding hallways. So far, there was nothing to distinguish this headquarters from your typical, corporate building, besides the insidious uniforms every worker donned. Despite the supposed mundaneness of everything, he attempted to take in everything around him on the off chance it might prove useful. To Red's surprise, he also spotted what appeared to be scientists walking around in white lab coats.

"To the warehouse. I have some important orders to fill," The man responded, "The name's Brad, by the way."

"Josh," Red replied coolly. Brad led them through another set of doors and into a large warehouse. Inside grunts were busy packing boxes full of various items and hauling them over to large idling trucks. Grunts grumbled as they scrambled around, struggling to collect the needed items while their superiors chided them. A few of the leaders, identifiable by the cigarettes hanging out of their mouths and the superiority complex they carried, grunted a hello as Brad retook his position. From the slaps on the back and the cigarette they offered him, Red guessed that Brad was in good standings with his superiors.

"Want one kid?" One of them laughed, holding out the cigarette.

No, absolutely not. But Red felt himself snatching it out the extended hand before he could hesitate. The cigarette hissed as the flame licked at its tip. Red put it up to his lips, hoping he looked more confident than he felt, and took a long drag. Almost immediately, his lungs seemed to catch fire, and he burst into a fit of coughing. Laughter erupted from the three team rocket members as they doubled over and slapped their knees. Red blinked away the tears stinging the corners of his eyes as a flush crept over his face. As if this wasn't embarrassing enough.

"Ah, don't worry about it, kid," Brad managed between laughs. "Nobody can quite get it right their first time."

The two superiors were still chuckling as they left to go yell at some grunts who were slacking. So much for keeping a low profile and staying inconspicuous. Red spat out the cigarette and crushed it under his heel as soon as their backs were turned, grumbling to himself.

It turned out that Brad had good reasons to be buddy-buddy with his superiors because this guy was a hard worker. Before Red knew it, he was filling orders for all sorts of people and things. It shouldn't have surprised him to see them filling the packages with things such as drugs and illegal contraband, but Red found himself struggling to mask his face as he prepared the orders. The worst part was the pokeballs that he had to place in the boxes. His fingers lingered over a pokeball as he wondered just what type of fate awaited the poor creatures.

"Don't even think about taking anything for yourself," Brad warned him. "They track everything and watch you like a hawk."

Red threw him a glare. "I'm not stealing anything. I'd be dumb to waste this opportunity on something like a bag of weed."

"Smart kid." Brad patted his head and continued working.

Red glanced around, wondering if this was really all there was to this gang. Just a glorified contraband distribution organization? His time was ticking, and so far, he hadn't learned much at all.

"Is this all there is to this place? I heard rumors about Team Rocket, but never thought it'd be like this," Red grumbled as he stuffed packing peanuts into a box.

"Look, there is a lot more. But, until you learn to keep your head down and work, you won't be doing anything but packing boxes," Brad paused a moment and then continued, "I'm telling you though, kid, the adrenaline rush, when you're out on missions, is fucking wild. With Team Rocket backing you up, it feels like nothing can stop you."

Red glanced up at him, surprised by the note of bloodlust in his voice. Red forced the corners of his mouth to curl into a smirk. However, he couldn't bring himself to continue the conversation. That must have been how the grunts felt trying to kidnap and kill Leaf and him. The thought made his stomach roll. If a single one of these criminals recognized his face, there would be little Red could do. He needed to collect information and get the hell out.

"So, what was up with those dudes in the lab coats? Are there mad scientists here or somethin'?" Red nonchalantly changed the conversation.

"I suppose you could call them mad scientists. All I know is they get paid the big bucks and do some pokemon research." Brad shrugged.

"Pokemon research?" Red pressed.

"Yeah, not sure what exactly they do. Something to unlock the secrets of pokemon and make them stronger." Brad raised his eyebrow at Red.

"Weird," Red grunted, putting his head down and returning to his work.

The minutes seemed to drag by as Red anxiously tried to keep up his facade. Even Brad had begun to ignore Red and started to banter with some of the other grunts.

"I'm gonna take a piss," Red grumbled, motioning towards the main building as he began to walk away. Brad didn't even bother to glance up at him as he just gave an acknowledging wave of his hand. Red willed himself to maintain a casual pace as he moved through the warehouse and back into the main building. A few of the grunts passed him, but nobody seemed to pay him much attention. In the hallways he paused, debating if he should head back in the direction he had come from and look for those scientists or if he should explore the hideout further. With a backward glance, he turned away from the pokemon research area and deeper into the hideout. If this place had any important secrets to hide, they wouldn't be in such an easy place to access. Farther down the hallway, the sound of chatter and laughter grew louder. A pair of double doors were propped open, and inside people were seated at long tables either eating or talking.

Red continued walking, noting the green exit sign hanging above a door on the right. He wondered how long it would take Brad to realize he had been gone too long. How long it would take for him to realize that Red wasn't just lost looking for the bathroom? He stopped in front of an elevator door as his fingers hover over the buttons. If he was going to do top-secret criminal activity, he would probably do it in the basement. Red struggled to look nonchalant and impatient as he waited for the elevator to open. His heart lurched every time somebody passed him, but so far nobody seemed to suspect anything. Thankfully, the elevator was empty when it finally opened. Red quickly located the basement button and then repeatedly jabbed the close button while the doors seemed to inch together. The basement turned out to be very similar to the rest of the hallways that he had walked through so far except for…

"Hey! What are you doing down here kid? This is strictly a top personal and research area only."

Unlike the rest of the people he had passed, this man stalked right up to Red. His face was pressed into a scowl, the glare of light against his round, large glasses making it impossible to see his eyes. The lab coat seeming to swallow his small, scrawny body was a dead giveaway to his particular job in the gang. Red struggled to keep his face blank as his mind raced wildly for something.

"I'm here to deliver an urgent message from Giovanni," Red's voice was cool and curt as he boldly met the researcher's gaze.

The man tensed, tilting his head down so that Red could see his small black eyes narrowed. The pounding in his chest was so loud Red feared that the man could hear it. If he really was on such an important mission, he needed to act like it.

"Well, are you going to take me to the head researcher, or do you want to explain to him why it took so long?" Red huffed, crossing his arms.

The man's face paled ever so slightly as he turned swiftly away from Red.

"Follow me," he grumbled as he sulked away.

Red followed a step behind him, mentally trying to map out the layout of the building as they rounded a corner and went through a set of double doors. Somehow he had managed to get access to their top researcher, which could present a possible valuable source of information. He slipped his hand into his pocket, checking the flash drive, small notebook and pen were all there. Should the opportunity present itself, he needed to collect as much information as quickly as possible.

The next set of doors they passed through revealed a large room with a multitude of benches breaking up the space. Various men and women milled about, pipetting liquids into beakers, inserting samples into large whirring machines, or measuring various substances. Red resisted gawking as he saw pokemon large glass windows being put through multiple experiments. An arcanine, much too large for the small space, rested its head on its paws as it watched them with one open eye while a rattata struggled against its captor holding a large syringe.

"This is Dr. Namaba's office," the grunt said, gesturing towards the door in front of them. Red nodded and began to move towards the door.

"Err, one more thing," he stopped Red, breaking eye contact to look sheepishly off to the side, "Would you mind putting a good word in for me with the Boss?"

"Yeah, sure." Red gave a wave of his hand and reached for the door. The man sitting behind the large wooden desk glanced up from the paperwork he was reading as Red walked through the door. His thick, pink hair stuck out in large tufts on either side of his head and was noticeably lacking in the bald center. He raised a bushy eyebrow as Red gave an awkward salute.

"There better be a good reason why you're interrupting my work," he grumbled, his pink mustache twitching as he talked.

"Of course, sir. I've been sent by Giovanni. He said he has something to discuss with you, and that it's urgent," Red said.

Dr. Namaba's face paled slightly as he muttered something under his breath. Obviously trying to feign annoyance and confidence, he huffed, "What's he grumbling about now? I better go assure him we're making the progress I said we would."

He stood up quickly and pushed past Red. Without so much as a look back, he rounded a corner and disappeared from view. Red's heart leaped in his chest. He couldn't believe it had actually worked. Quietly shutting the door, Red hurried around to the desk to the computer. Dr. Namaba was in such a rush he hadn't even bothered to closer down what he had been working on. Red jammed the flash drive into the port and started to scan the computer for any file names he thought might be relevant. Most of it was so complex it was impossible to understand, but his chest tightened when he saw one word. Mew.

Without bothering to read the file, he dragged it into his flash drive and opened his email. Adrenaline pumped through his body as the files loaded slowly. Scrolling through the emails, he noted most of them to be junk or irrelevant. He paused over one titled Cinnabar island and clicked. Without context, the contents didn't make much sense. However, Red noted the mention of their previous failures at the pokemon mansion. After making a quick note of it, he was relieved to find that the files had finished uploading. Red snatched the flash drive and quickly closed any suspicious open files. Taking a moment to compose himself, he confidently exited the room and began making his way out of the lab.

Everyone was too immersed in their experiments to pay him any attention as he hurried out. He let out a sigh of relief as he stepped back into the long, gray hallways and left behind the hum of machines and cries of pokemon. Excitement coursed through him as he began retracing his footsteps. He had pulled it off and right under their noses. A smile slipped over his face as his fingers tightened around the flash drive in his pocket. Whatever information he had found on that computer would bring him one step closer to taking Team Rocket down for good. All he had to do now was meet up with Leaf and get the hell out of this city.

"Red, how nice of you to visit," A low voice rang out behind him, freezing him in his tracks. Red turned slowly to find a tall, dark-haired man standing before him. The large red R gleamed on his well-tailored suit as he leisurely approached Red. His eyes devoured the sight of Red, and his lips curled into a smug smirk. At his side, a large cat-like pokemon bared its teeth, the muscles on its back rippling as it walked. The man pulled one of his hands out of his pockets and extended it towards Red in a mock invitation to shake. Red's hand shot to the small pokeballs hanging on his hip as he stepped backward.

"We had been going through so much trouble to find you, and here you just delivered yourself," The man's icy voice sent chills running down Red's spine. "It's so good to finally meet you."