The next morning was relatively uneventful. At the foot of his bed, a newly
tailored suit was set down for him to put on the next morning. It was the
usual male Team Rocket uniform, but had a cape, and a neck clasp to keep it
around the neck. It had the six stripes on the right arm, sewn in expertly.
To top it off, black boots sat on the floor on the side of the bed.
With a mutter, Eric sat up and proceeded to put on the uniform. They all fit snugly over his body, as he was sure they would, and as he clasped the cape so that it stayed around his neck, he felt kinda.. well.. important. He could understand what Giovanni meant when he said that he would be important to people, and he was right.
His Pokeballs lay on the table, all six of them, and they looked to have been shined down. He was quick to recognize the Pokeball that his Slowking resided in, and gave it a tap. "C'mon out."
It took a few seconds, but the Pokeball soon opened on its own, releasing the Slowking, who looked none too happy. "Now, I told you to keep me out of my Pokeball, and look where it gets you. You're part of some accursed cult, now, aren't you? I'm supposing you'll have to slit your wrists to get out, now, won't you?"
"Listen, I only accepted so I could get out of that godforsaken cell, okay? My options were severely limited sitting all by myself in a cell, with no way to escape," Eric muttered, glancing over at his Pokemon, before taking a seat. "So you can see why I had to accept Giovanni's offer. He wasn't going to just simply let me out if I hadn't accepted and beg for forgiveness.."
The door opened, and Eric hushed himself, looking over towards the door. Giovanni and Mistral came walking in, and Eric felt his stomach fall into that bottomless pit again. "Ah. It seems my right-hand man is awake. You slept for a while. As you see, you have your own tailored uniform.. ah, you're way ahead of me. You already have it on. Well, it looks nice on you."
"Yeah, thanks," Eric nodded, looking away from the two. His boots were a nice distraction. Slowking turned to look at Giovanni and Mistral, shooting evil glares towards both of them, none too happy about the present situation.
"Well, we'll be leaving on that mission I was talking about soon, so I want you to prepare your Pokemon. As you can see, they've all been tended to. Bring them all if you must. We'll be leaving in about four hours, as soon as the helicopter is prepped and supplied. Oh, and I must say, i'm impressed you managed to catch a Dratini so early in your Gym Circuit. Anyways, i'll leave you two alone to talk. You have alot of catching up to do." Giovanni gave a nod, and walked out, closing the door behind him, leaving Mistral, Slowking, and Eric in the room.
"Betrayal of the highest form, I say! Traitor! Even you have decided to follow this accursed cult! Why, i've never been more ashamed of a human in my entire life!" Slowking ranted, wagging his finger at Mistral, who slowly took a seat next to Eric, who put his elbows on the table, resting his head in his hands. "Quiet down, Slowking. I'll figure a way out of this."
Mistral opened her mouth to speak several times, only to close it again for a few minutes. Finally, she worked up the courage to speak. "L-listen.. Eric.. I tried to warn you. They had all the Whirl Islands patrolled, and Cianwood, looking for you. I tried to warn you, but I didn't want you to know I was in Team Rocket.." she muttered, looking at her reflection in the glass of the table.
"Yeah, well, I didn't know who to trust. Sure, I could've trusted you, but.. ah. My direction's just all fucked up now," Eric muttered, leaning back in his chair, resting his arms back at his side again. It was true.. he wasn't sure what to do, now, except to follow Team Rocket until he found a good opportunity to leave. "So why don't you just leave, and go boss around someone, since you're an administrator."
"Is that an order?" Mistral whispered sadly, her eyes beginning to moisten.
Eric closed his eyes, and thought for a moment, before nodding. "Yeah.. That's an order."
Mistral rose, and moved towards the door. Though his eyes were closed, he could imagine Mistral ready to break into tears. For some reason, however, he called to her. "Mistral."
She stopped, looking over at him. "You can stay if you want."
Eric heard the door open, and then close. He opened his eyes, expecting to see her gone, but she had returned to her seat next to him, silently. Neither of them exchanged glances, or even spoke, for a few tedious minutes.
"I'm sorry, Eric," Mistral finally apologized, rubbing her eyes with the sleeve of her uniform. "I know how much you must hate me for.. betraying you, but you have to realize, I tried to prevent you from being forced into this. I was supposed to keep an eye on you to see how well you were coming along.. and I was told to lead you to Whirl Islands.. but.. I fell in love with you.. and I didn't want to see your dreams shattered.."
Eric's eyes wandered to Mistral, whose eyes were tearing up, and she was suppressing sobs, tears trailing down her young face. "When did this happen?"
"I realized that I loved you when you went on that date with that woman.. Whitney. It was just so sudden, but while I was sitting there in that Pokemon Center with Edd, I felt something within me crumble, and.. I realized that I was simply in denial of my feelings, and I thought that if you knew about what I was doing, you'd hate me.. make me go away.." Mistral began, still fighting back tears. Eric nodded, still listening, his face emotionless. "So I kept following you.. when my boss, Giovanni, told me that I should direct you to search for rare Pokemon in the Whirl Islands, I tried to steer you clear of it. You would've been able to defeat the ones waiting for you at Cianwood with me and Edd's help.."
Mistral finally broke down into sobs, and she was trying hard to get herself under control.. and he was actually beginning to feel sorry for her. When he had first seen her in her Team Rocket uniform, so helpless in that cell, being watched like a hawk, he had hated her. He had wanted to grab her and hit her as hard as he could.. but now, he pitied her. She looked just as helpless as he had looked in that cell.
"I just didn't want you to hate me. I wanted you to realize on your own, I wanted you to seek out your own feelings. I wanted you to love me.. every night that passed after that, I wanted you to hold me. I couldn't stop wanting things.. from you.. I just.. I.." Mistral muttered, breaking down into sobs again. "P-please.. don't hate me.."
Eric felt his heart sink in his chest. How could he find the room in himself to forgive her for betraying him.. she had gone out, flat out lied to him.. and he had trusted her. She had helped him.. but he had to forgive her. It wasn't her fault.. she was only following orders, and she had gotten much more than what she had been offered for the job. She seemed.. overwhelmed.
"I don't hate you," he muttered, looking over at the golden Persian statue in the corner of the room. It was shiny, and vaguely reflected the contents of the room.
Mistral lifted her head to look at him, taking a deep breath. "What?"
"I don't hate you," Eric repeated, looking back at her, his eyes locking with hers. "I understand."
"R-r-really? Y-you don't h-hate me?" Mistral muttered, trying to contain her sobs. A smile slowly crept over her face, and she was quick to tackle him off the chair, wrapping her arms around him.. but not before breaking into tears first. Eric pat the back of her head gently, looking up at her as she tried to control her crying. "Thank you.. I got you into this mess, I promise to get you out."
"You don't have to. I can think of a way out myself, and you can stay with Team Rocket for as long as you like," Eric shrugged, watching her open her eyes again, whiping them off with her sleeve. At this rate, her right sleeve would be drenched in no time. "So you don't get in trouble. I'm in enough trouble as it is."
Mistral shook her head, and kissed his lips, closing her eyes as they began to exchange kisses. Slowking shook its head, and clambered off towards the bathroom, probably to use the jacuzzi that had been put in.
"Tonight.. When you get back from your mission.. come find me. Please," Mistral begged him, kissing his lips again, gently. "Promise me. I bet i'll have a plan devised by then and everything.."
Eric stared up at her for a few moments, before nodding a bit. "Okay. I'll come find you. Where do I look?"
"Third story, on the west side. That's where the women's bunks are. I'm not sleeping alone anymore, so make sure to be silent when you come in," she advised, slowly moving up so he could stand, reaching a hand down to him.
He took the hand, and stood up, brushing himself off. "Alright. I'll see you tonight, then."
"Yeah. Hey, how about we talk a walk down to the hangar before you leave?" Mistral suggested, shrugging slightly at the idea.
"Sure. Why not?"
Slowking made its way out of the bathroom, still steaming slightly from the bath it had taken. "Ah. Though this is a cult, it's very cutting-edge. Never felt water like that, no sir."
------
"All of the floors are connected by elevators. If you need to know where to go, just ask a grunt, or look on the wall. There should be a map on it that displays all the floors. Like, the cafeteria is on the third floor," Mistral gave an example, thumbing towards the map as they waited for the elevator. The doors finally opened, allowing the two in. A few grunts got off at that level, leaving the elevator empty except for them.
Eric jabbed the button for the second floor. The doors closed, and the elevator began to climb.. finally stopping at the second floor. The doors swung open, allowing them to step outside of the elevator as a group of grunts, and a few administrators, stepped in to occupy it. "Certainly seems busy," Eric commented, glancing around.
"It's like this before they go on a major mission.. do you know what kind of mission you're going on?" Mistral asked, walking east, where there were less people. Eric followed. "No."
"It's a pretty easy one. You're going out and catching Kangaskhan.. Someone sighted a swarm over to the west of Kanto's Safari Zone, so it's free game. I think you'll get to keep one if you can capture it," Mistral added, turning a corner, only to stop. "What's taking you three so long? You're supposed to be cleaning the top admin's bathroom in fifteen minutes!"
"I keep tellin' these two dimwits to get movin'! They keep talkin' amongst themselves!" the Meowth yelled, looking frantic now. Slowking blinked, and slowly moved over to the Meowth, poking it. "Hey, hey! Easy on the fur!"
Eric stopped next to Mistral, looking over at the individuals she was talking to. He vaguely recognized the three, but was pretty sure he knew who they were when he heard the talking Meowth. "Wait a minute.. You two are Jessie and James.. and their infamous talking Meowth," he chuckled, shaking his head. "I thought you guys were in jail.."
"We got out. The boss was nice enough to bust us out, bless his heart," Jessie stood, rubbing the back of her head.
"Of course, we simply were stuck with cleaning duty until we shrivel up and die," James cried, hiding his face in Jessie's shoulder, who tried to push him away.
With a glance over at Mistral, Eric nodded slightly. "Well, you three work for me now. The only cleaning you'll be doing is to my room. I want you three to accompany me on the mission today, so get your uniforms on as quick as you can, and meet me back here, okay?" Ah. The seat of power. In all honesty, Eric pitied them. Such wasted talent.. though, he could understand how they got caught. Team Rocket members were usually captured and thrown into the pokey by law enforcement, but since there as such a lack of it, there was never that much danger.. for criminals, anyways. Supposedly, Cinnabar Island had a rundown mansion full of escaped convicts, and no-one knew until someone went looking.
Jessie and James blinked, looking at themselves in disbelief. "D-do you mean it?" James muttered, still with a clueless look on his face.
"Yeah. No-one can tell you otherwise, unless it's Giovanni," Eric pointed out. "Now, get into your uniforms. You're wasting time.."
With lightning quick speed, they tore off their cleaning outfits to reveal their Team Rocket uniforms underneath.. they were good at pulling that off.. "Ready to go, boss!"
"Don't call me boss, call me Eric," Eric corrected them. "Also, Mistral is your superior, so when i'm not around, you'll take orders from her."
Jessie and James saluted, looking tremendously thankful. He could understand why.. who knew how long they were supposed to stay on cleaning duties. A lower ranking admin strolled past Eric and Mistal, noticing the three not cleaning. "Yo! Why you not cleanin', huh? Must I whip you 'gain?!"
"I ordered them to stop cleaning. They're working under me, now," Eric muttered, glancing over at the other administrator.
"'zat so? Well, I overule your decision. Get back to work, you three!" the admin commanded, and Jessie and James put on confused looks.
"You can't. I'm your superior. You only have four stripes.. I've got six," Eric muttered, trying to keep his cool. He hated bossy people like that. Pet peeve.
"Eh.. So, you're the boss's new right-hand man? Well.. If you want to take these losers on as your helpers, you'll probably be carryin' them most of the way," the admin laughed, walking off. As soon as he turned the corner, Jessie stuck her tongue out, muttering under her breath.
Eric turned back to the three, and nodded. "Alright, then. Walk with me. Let's get a few things straight, shall we? If my rules are too strict, tell me."
"Let's hear 'em, boss.." Fwap. James gave the Meowth a good hit over the head. "Ow! Erm, I mean, Eric."
"First off, don't come into my room at night unless you know for sure i'm awake, or it's an emergency. You three will sleep wherever you sleep now," Eric began, watching Mistral stop at another elevator, waving to him before stepping into it when it opened. Jessie and James gave a quick nod of recognition. "Second, don't take orders from anyone other than Giovanni. I'll be the one giving you orders, and if you're having a problem, feel free to see me.
"Third, though I know you've probably been cleaning for a while, you are to tend to the upkeep of my room. The room shouldn't be hard to take care of, and it's only that room."
They gave a sigh of relief, looking a bit put out by the fact they still had cleaning duty, but relieved that it wasn't as much as they were previously assigned.
"Fourth, i'll be teaching you how to become proper trainers. Your Pokemon are powerful, but you aren't utilizing them correctly. I'll think up some more later, but it's time to go. You two have your Pokemon, right?" Eric asked, looking the two over.
"Of course! I never go anywhere without my Weezing.. Jessie?" James blinked, looking over at the long-haired woman next to him. "Always. Let's get going already!"
--------
The hangar was a large space carved neatly into the rock of the seacliffs of Cianwood. Mostly, the hangar was littered with helicopters of all types, but there was an ancient looking airplane in the corner. The helicopter they were to take was a large one.. the kind for personell. Eric climbed aboard, as the engine was turning on, Jessie, James, and Meowth taking seats next to him.
"Are you sure you wanna take them?" a grunt asked, looking over at Jessie and James.
"Yeah. They have experience in the field, so it's not going to hurt anyone," Eric replied, the noise of the blades above them drowning out the rest of his sentence. The helicopter lifted slowly off the ground, and lurched forward, out the open hangar door, and over the open seas.
--------
"We're coming upon the place that has been pinpointed on the map!" the pilot yelled back to them. The two grunts unbuckled themselves, and loaded up what seemed to look like cannons.
"I see 'em! Fire when you got a clean shot!" the second grunt yelled at the top of his lungs to be heard over the noise. There was a brief moment when they seemed to struggle to keep themselves aimed, then the one on the right fired. It wasn't an explosive device, but a giant net, with heavy weights, to keep the Kangaskhan in place. Though Eric couldn't see them, he could sense that they were in distress.. the second net was fired, adding even more weight and netting to the first. The helicopter touched down next to the group of Kangaskhan, and the ones aboard climbed out, with large bags hanging from each arm.
Eric noticed the same pack above his seat (he figured they were parachutes.. so much for safety), and quickly snatched his up, leaping out of the helicopter. Jessie and James followed, and Meowth was quick to join them. They too carried bags, except for the Meowth.
"Alright! Let them struggle for a few minutes to make them tired, then release a Pokemon that won't cut the net, incase a few do escape!" Eric commanded, looking around to the other trainers. They each released a Pokemon.. the first released a Cubone, another, a Murkrow. The third and last one released a Dodrio. Jessie and James were quick to release their Pokemon; Weezing and Arbok.
The Kangaskhan struggled against the net, looking weaker and weaker as the minutes passed. Finally, Eric nodded to the grunts. "Okay! Start capturing! We've got another group to go before we can go home!" The grunts seemed to like the idea that the faster they got done, the sooner that could get home and put up their feet. Pokeballs were flying towards the group of Kangaskhan, and though some missed, most of them hit their marks, and the Kangaskhan were going fast.
"May as well take one for myself," Eric muttered, throwing his own Pokeball into the fray. It slammed into a Kangaskhan, which disappeared into its Pokeball, before returning to the one that had thrown it. It was an odd occurance, but it was what was happening with all the grunts. However, Eric's disappeared from his hand in a bright flash of light, which meant that it was going his PC boxes.
"Alright! Get back on the helicopter and load up the next round of nets! Let's go!" Eric commanded, nodding to Jessie and James, who were looking quite pleased with themselves for having caught so many rare Pokemon in only fifteen minutes than they had through most of their careers.
As the helicopter lifted off the ground, each grunt conversing amongst themselves with their lips close to the ears of the listener, so they could talk over the noise.
"You took one for yourself, I noticed. The boss probably won't be happy that there's one less," Jessie said into his ear, looking straight ahead. Eric leaned towards her, and put his lips next to her ear. "Don't sweat it. I'll just tell him that one of my Pokemon cut the net as we were rounding the last ones up, and it got away."
Jessie laughed, though he couldn't hear it. He glanced over at James, who was looking out the window, before leaning back in his seat.
-------
Only an hour and a half later, they were nearly through with the last group of Kangaskhan. Their Pokemon were out, patrolling the net, looking for ones that might try to escape. A few grunts mentioned to him that the boss would be pleased at how fast and efficient the job would get done, and for once, Eric felt like he had accomplished something.. but then his heart nearly skipped a beat. Was he really beginning to enjoy the power, the control he had over people.. the respect he had with people below him.. with his own superiors? He tried not to think about it.
"Alright. We've got 'em all, let's wrap up the net like last time for re- use, and get back in the heli-"
"Not so fast! Stop right there!" a female voice yelled. At that moment, four Arcanine leapt from the trees around them, and began to run in a large circle. There would be no way they could escape on the helicopter.. it moved too slow. A few women, each with the same looks, the same blue hair, and the same uniform, moved out of the brush. "You're all under arrest for Pokemon poaching!"
"What do you we do?!" James muttered, looking around frantically.
"Keep calm. Our Pokemon are out, we outnumber them. It's only law enforcement, so have your Pokemon stun them any way you can, and let's get out of here," Eric commanded, releasing his own Gastly. "Gastly, take the one circling on our immediate right.. yeah, that one. Knock him out with Hypnosis."
His Gastly laughed, and floated across the field, quickly knocking out the Arcanine with a powerful Hypnosis. The other grunts were inspired, and turned to their Pokemon.
"Murkrow, Mean Look!"
"Cubone, Earthquake!"
"Arbok, use Pin Missile!" Jessie commanded her Pokemon.
"Weezing, Toxic!" James commanded.
"You too, Meowth. Use Fury Swipes or something," Eric commanded the idle Meowth, who looked around frantically, before nodding in determination. It, too, entered the fray, and was holding its own. Attacks were flying in every direction, as the grunts battled it out with the Arcanine. The Arcanine were either getting knocked back, or beaten completely.
"Perfect, James! Keep having your Weezing use Toxic. Your Pokemon is a poison type, so it's more effective!" Eric encouraged James, who grinned, looking pleased.
Before five minutes had passed, all four Arcanine; even the one Eric had dispatched temporarily; were recalled to their Pokeballs, and the Officer Jenny were forced to back down. "Alright, guys. That's enough. They don't have anything to stop us with, so let's just get outta here."
The engine had started, and the trainers climbed aboard, leaving the Officer Jenny behind looking perplexed. All the grunts were giving each other high fives, and looked better than he had seen them any of them since his arrival at the seacliff base. Though, as he thought to himself, his thoughts returned to his thoughts from before.. was he really getting to like where he was?
Would he be able to tear himself from this seat of power? The seat of power so simply given to him, that it would almost seem insane to throw it all away for a dream that seemed so far away?
"Maybe what Giovanni said was right.."
-------
End Chapter 15
With a mutter, Eric sat up and proceeded to put on the uniform. They all fit snugly over his body, as he was sure they would, and as he clasped the cape so that it stayed around his neck, he felt kinda.. well.. important. He could understand what Giovanni meant when he said that he would be important to people, and he was right.
His Pokeballs lay on the table, all six of them, and they looked to have been shined down. He was quick to recognize the Pokeball that his Slowking resided in, and gave it a tap. "C'mon out."
It took a few seconds, but the Pokeball soon opened on its own, releasing the Slowking, who looked none too happy. "Now, I told you to keep me out of my Pokeball, and look where it gets you. You're part of some accursed cult, now, aren't you? I'm supposing you'll have to slit your wrists to get out, now, won't you?"
"Listen, I only accepted so I could get out of that godforsaken cell, okay? My options were severely limited sitting all by myself in a cell, with no way to escape," Eric muttered, glancing over at his Pokemon, before taking a seat. "So you can see why I had to accept Giovanni's offer. He wasn't going to just simply let me out if I hadn't accepted and beg for forgiveness.."
The door opened, and Eric hushed himself, looking over towards the door. Giovanni and Mistral came walking in, and Eric felt his stomach fall into that bottomless pit again. "Ah. It seems my right-hand man is awake. You slept for a while. As you see, you have your own tailored uniform.. ah, you're way ahead of me. You already have it on. Well, it looks nice on you."
"Yeah, thanks," Eric nodded, looking away from the two. His boots were a nice distraction. Slowking turned to look at Giovanni and Mistral, shooting evil glares towards both of them, none too happy about the present situation.
"Well, we'll be leaving on that mission I was talking about soon, so I want you to prepare your Pokemon. As you can see, they've all been tended to. Bring them all if you must. We'll be leaving in about four hours, as soon as the helicopter is prepped and supplied. Oh, and I must say, i'm impressed you managed to catch a Dratini so early in your Gym Circuit. Anyways, i'll leave you two alone to talk. You have alot of catching up to do." Giovanni gave a nod, and walked out, closing the door behind him, leaving Mistral, Slowking, and Eric in the room.
"Betrayal of the highest form, I say! Traitor! Even you have decided to follow this accursed cult! Why, i've never been more ashamed of a human in my entire life!" Slowking ranted, wagging his finger at Mistral, who slowly took a seat next to Eric, who put his elbows on the table, resting his head in his hands. "Quiet down, Slowking. I'll figure a way out of this."
Mistral opened her mouth to speak several times, only to close it again for a few minutes. Finally, she worked up the courage to speak. "L-listen.. Eric.. I tried to warn you. They had all the Whirl Islands patrolled, and Cianwood, looking for you. I tried to warn you, but I didn't want you to know I was in Team Rocket.." she muttered, looking at her reflection in the glass of the table.
"Yeah, well, I didn't know who to trust. Sure, I could've trusted you, but.. ah. My direction's just all fucked up now," Eric muttered, leaning back in his chair, resting his arms back at his side again. It was true.. he wasn't sure what to do, now, except to follow Team Rocket until he found a good opportunity to leave. "So why don't you just leave, and go boss around someone, since you're an administrator."
"Is that an order?" Mistral whispered sadly, her eyes beginning to moisten.
Eric closed his eyes, and thought for a moment, before nodding. "Yeah.. That's an order."
Mistral rose, and moved towards the door. Though his eyes were closed, he could imagine Mistral ready to break into tears. For some reason, however, he called to her. "Mistral."
She stopped, looking over at him. "You can stay if you want."
Eric heard the door open, and then close. He opened his eyes, expecting to see her gone, but she had returned to her seat next to him, silently. Neither of them exchanged glances, or even spoke, for a few tedious minutes.
"I'm sorry, Eric," Mistral finally apologized, rubbing her eyes with the sleeve of her uniform. "I know how much you must hate me for.. betraying you, but you have to realize, I tried to prevent you from being forced into this. I was supposed to keep an eye on you to see how well you were coming along.. and I was told to lead you to Whirl Islands.. but.. I fell in love with you.. and I didn't want to see your dreams shattered.."
Eric's eyes wandered to Mistral, whose eyes were tearing up, and she was suppressing sobs, tears trailing down her young face. "When did this happen?"
"I realized that I loved you when you went on that date with that woman.. Whitney. It was just so sudden, but while I was sitting there in that Pokemon Center with Edd, I felt something within me crumble, and.. I realized that I was simply in denial of my feelings, and I thought that if you knew about what I was doing, you'd hate me.. make me go away.." Mistral began, still fighting back tears. Eric nodded, still listening, his face emotionless. "So I kept following you.. when my boss, Giovanni, told me that I should direct you to search for rare Pokemon in the Whirl Islands, I tried to steer you clear of it. You would've been able to defeat the ones waiting for you at Cianwood with me and Edd's help.."
Mistral finally broke down into sobs, and she was trying hard to get herself under control.. and he was actually beginning to feel sorry for her. When he had first seen her in her Team Rocket uniform, so helpless in that cell, being watched like a hawk, he had hated her. He had wanted to grab her and hit her as hard as he could.. but now, he pitied her. She looked just as helpless as he had looked in that cell.
"I just didn't want you to hate me. I wanted you to realize on your own, I wanted you to seek out your own feelings. I wanted you to love me.. every night that passed after that, I wanted you to hold me. I couldn't stop wanting things.. from you.. I just.. I.." Mistral muttered, breaking down into sobs again. "P-please.. don't hate me.."
Eric felt his heart sink in his chest. How could he find the room in himself to forgive her for betraying him.. she had gone out, flat out lied to him.. and he had trusted her. She had helped him.. but he had to forgive her. It wasn't her fault.. she was only following orders, and she had gotten much more than what she had been offered for the job. She seemed.. overwhelmed.
"I don't hate you," he muttered, looking over at the golden Persian statue in the corner of the room. It was shiny, and vaguely reflected the contents of the room.
Mistral lifted her head to look at him, taking a deep breath. "What?"
"I don't hate you," Eric repeated, looking back at her, his eyes locking with hers. "I understand."
"R-r-really? Y-you don't h-hate me?" Mistral muttered, trying to contain her sobs. A smile slowly crept over her face, and she was quick to tackle him off the chair, wrapping her arms around him.. but not before breaking into tears first. Eric pat the back of her head gently, looking up at her as she tried to control her crying. "Thank you.. I got you into this mess, I promise to get you out."
"You don't have to. I can think of a way out myself, and you can stay with Team Rocket for as long as you like," Eric shrugged, watching her open her eyes again, whiping them off with her sleeve. At this rate, her right sleeve would be drenched in no time. "So you don't get in trouble. I'm in enough trouble as it is."
Mistral shook her head, and kissed his lips, closing her eyes as they began to exchange kisses. Slowking shook its head, and clambered off towards the bathroom, probably to use the jacuzzi that had been put in.
"Tonight.. When you get back from your mission.. come find me. Please," Mistral begged him, kissing his lips again, gently. "Promise me. I bet i'll have a plan devised by then and everything.."
Eric stared up at her for a few moments, before nodding a bit. "Okay. I'll come find you. Where do I look?"
"Third story, on the west side. That's where the women's bunks are. I'm not sleeping alone anymore, so make sure to be silent when you come in," she advised, slowly moving up so he could stand, reaching a hand down to him.
He took the hand, and stood up, brushing himself off. "Alright. I'll see you tonight, then."
"Yeah. Hey, how about we talk a walk down to the hangar before you leave?" Mistral suggested, shrugging slightly at the idea.
"Sure. Why not?"
Slowking made its way out of the bathroom, still steaming slightly from the bath it had taken. "Ah. Though this is a cult, it's very cutting-edge. Never felt water like that, no sir."
------
"All of the floors are connected by elevators. If you need to know where to go, just ask a grunt, or look on the wall. There should be a map on it that displays all the floors. Like, the cafeteria is on the third floor," Mistral gave an example, thumbing towards the map as they waited for the elevator. The doors finally opened, allowing the two in. A few grunts got off at that level, leaving the elevator empty except for them.
Eric jabbed the button for the second floor. The doors closed, and the elevator began to climb.. finally stopping at the second floor. The doors swung open, allowing them to step outside of the elevator as a group of grunts, and a few administrators, stepped in to occupy it. "Certainly seems busy," Eric commented, glancing around.
"It's like this before they go on a major mission.. do you know what kind of mission you're going on?" Mistral asked, walking east, where there were less people. Eric followed. "No."
"It's a pretty easy one. You're going out and catching Kangaskhan.. Someone sighted a swarm over to the west of Kanto's Safari Zone, so it's free game. I think you'll get to keep one if you can capture it," Mistral added, turning a corner, only to stop. "What's taking you three so long? You're supposed to be cleaning the top admin's bathroom in fifteen minutes!"
"I keep tellin' these two dimwits to get movin'! They keep talkin' amongst themselves!" the Meowth yelled, looking frantic now. Slowking blinked, and slowly moved over to the Meowth, poking it. "Hey, hey! Easy on the fur!"
Eric stopped next to Mistral, looking over at the individuals she was talking to. He vaguely recognized the three, but was pretty sure he knew who they were when he heard the talking Meowth. "Wait a minute.. You two are Jessie and James.. and their infamous talking Meowth," he chuckled, shaking his head. "I thought you guys were in jail.."
"We got out. The boss was nice enough to bust us out, bless his heart," Jessie stood, rubbing the back of her head.
"Of course, we simply were stuck with cleaning duty until we shrivel up and die," James cried, hiding his face in Jessie's shoulder, who tried to push him away.
With a glance over at Mistral, Eric nodded slightly. "Well, you three work for me now. The only cleaning you'll be doing is to my room. I want you three to accompany me on the mission today, so get your uniforms on as quick as you can, and meet me back here, okay?" Ah. The seat of power. In all honesty, Eric pitied them. Such wasted talent.. though, he could understand how they got caught. Team Rocket members were usually captured and thrown into the pokey by law enforcement, but since there as such a lack of it, there was never that much danger.. for criminals, anyways. Supposedly, Cinnabar Island had a rundown mansion full of escaped convicts, and no-one knew until someone went looking.
Jessie and James blinked, looking at themselves in disbelief. "D-do you mean it?" James muttered, still with a clueless look on his face.
"Yeah. No-one can tell you otherwise, unless it's Giovanni," Eric pointed out. "Now, get into your uniforms. You're wasting time.."
With lightning quick speed, they tore off their cleaning outfits to reveal their Team Rocket uniforms underneath.. they were good at pulling that off.. "Ready to go, boss!"
"Don't call me boss, call me Eric," Eric corrected them. "Also, Mistral is your superior, so when i'm not around, you'll take orders from her."
Jessie and James saluted, looking tremendously thankful. He could understand why.. who knew how long they were supposed to stay on cleaning duties. A lower ranking admin strolled past Eric and Mistal, noticing the three not cleaning. "Yo! Why you not cleanin', huh? Must I whip you 'gain?!"
"I ordered them to stop cleaning. They're working under me, now," Eric muttered, glancing over at the other administrator.
"'zat so? Well, I overule your decision. Get back to work, you three!" the admin commanded, and Jessie and James put on confused looks.
"You can't. I'm your superior. You only have four stripes.. I've got six," Eric muttered, trying to keep his cool. He hated bossy people like that. Pet peeve.
"Eh.. So, you're the boss's new right-hand man? Well.. If you want to take these losers on as your helpers, you'll probably be carryin' them most of the way," the admin laughed, walking off. As soon as he turned the corner, Jessie stuck her tongue out, muttering under her breath.
Eric turned back to the three, and nodded. "Alright, then. Walk with me. Let's get a few things straight, shall we? If my rules are too strict, tell me."
"Let's hear 'em, boss.." Fwap. James gave the Meowth a good hit over the head. "Ow! Erm, I mean, Eric."
"First off, don't come into my room at night unless you know for sure i'm awake, or it's an emergency. You three will sleep wherever you sleep now," Eric began, watching Mistral stop at another elevator, waving to him before stepping into it when it opened. Jessie and James gave a quick nod of recognition. "Second, don't take orders from anyone other than Giovanni. I'll be the one giving you orders, and if you're having a problem, feel free to see me.
"Third, though I know you've probably been cleaning for a while, you are to tend to the upkeep of my room. The room shouldn't be hard to take care of, and it's only that room."
They gave a sigh of relief, looking a bit put out by the fact they still had cleaning duty, but relieved that it wasn't as much as they were previously assigned.
"Fourth, i'll be teaching you how to become proper trainers. Your Pokemon are powerful, but you aren't utilizing them correctly. I'll think up some more later, but it's time to go. You two have your Pokemon, right?" Eric asked, looking the two over.
"Of course! I never go anywhere without my Weezing.. Jessie?" James blinked, looking over at the long-haired woman next to him. "Always. Let's get going already!"
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The hangar was a large space carved neatly into the rock of the seacliffs of Cianwood. Mostly, the hangar was littered with helicopters of all types, but there was an ancient looking airplane in the corner. The helicopter they were to take was a large one.. the kind for personell. Eric climbed aboard, as the engine was turning on, Jessie, James, and Meowth taking seats next to him.
"Are you sure you wanna take them?" a grunt asked, looking over at Jessie and James.
"Yeah. They have experience in the field, so it's not going to hurt anyone," Eric replied, the noise of the blades above them drowning out the rest of his sentence. The helicopter lifted slowly off the ground, and lurched forward, out the open hangar door, and over the open seas.
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"We're coming upon the place that has been pinpointed on the map!" the pilot yelled back to them. The two grunts unbuckled themselves, and loaded up what seemed to look like cannons.
"I see 'em! Fire when you got a clean shot!" the second grunt yelled at the top of his lungs to be heard over the noise. There was a brief moment when they seemed to struggle to keep themselves aimed, then the one on the right fired. It wasn't an explosive device, but a giant net, with heavy weights, to keep the Kangaskhan in place. Though Eric couldn't see them, he could sense that they were in distress.. the second net was fired, adding even more weight and netting to the first. The helicopter touched down next to the group of Kangaskhan, and the ones aboard climbed out, with large bags hanging from each arm.
Eric noticed the same pack above his seat (he figured they were parachutes.. so much for safety), and quickly snatched his up, leaping out of the helicopter. Jessie and James followed, and Meowth was quick to join them. They too carried bags, except for the Meowth.
"Alright! Let them struggle for a few minutes to make them tired, then release a Pokemon that won't cut the net, incase a few do escape!" Eric commanded, looking around to the other trainers. They each released a Pokemon.. the first released a Cubone, another, a Murkrow. The third and last one released a Dodrio. Jessie and James were quick to release their Pokemon; Weezing and Arbok.
The Kangaskhan struggled against the net, looking weaker and weaker as the minutes passed. Finally, Eric nodded to the grunts. "Okay! Start capturing! We've got another group to go before we can go home!" The grunts seemed to like the idea that the faster they got done, the sooner that could get home and put up their feet. Pokeballs were flying towards the group of Kangaskhan, and though some missed, most of them hit their marks, and the Kangaskhan were going fast.
"May as well take one for myself," Eric muttered, throwing his own Pokeball into the fray. It slammed into a Kangaskhan, which disappeared into its Pokeball, before returning to the one that had thrown it. It was an odd occurance, but it was what was happening with all the grunts. However, Eric's disappeared from his hand in a bright flash of light, which meant that it was going his PC boxes.
"Alright! Get back on the helicopter and load up the next round of nets! Let's go!" Eric commanded, nodding to Jessie and James, who were looking quite pleased with themselves for having caught so many rare Pokemon in only fifteen minutes than they had through most of their careers.
As the helicopter lifted off the ground, each grunt conversing amongst themselves with their lips close to the ears of the listener, so they could talk over the noise.
"You took one for yourself, I noticed. The boss probably won't be happy that there's one less," Jessie said into his ear, looking straight ahead. Eric leaned towards her, and put his lips next to her ear. "Don't sweat it. I'll just tell him that one of my Pokemon cut the net as we were rounding the last ones up, and it got away."
Jessie laughed, though he couldn't hear it. He glanced over at James, who was looking out the window, before leaning back in his seat.
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Only an hour and a half later, they were nearly through with the last group of Kangaskhan. Their Pokemon were out, patrolling the net, looking for ones that might try to escape. A few grunts mentioned to him that the boss would be pleased at how fast and efficient the job would get done, and for once, Eric felt like he had accomplished something.. but then his heart nearly skipped a beat. Was he really beginning to enjoy the power, the control he had over people.. the respect he had with people below him.. with his own superiors? He tried not to think about it.
"Alright. We've got 'em all, let's wrap up the net like last time for re- use, and get back in the heli-"
"Not so fast! Stop right there!" a female voice yelled. At that moment, four Arcanine leapt from the trees around them, and began to run in a large circle. There would be no way they could escape on the helicopter.. it moved too slow. A few women, each with the same looks, the same blue hair, and the same uniform, moved out of the brush. "You're all under arrest for Pokemon poaching!"
"What do you we do?!" James muttered, looking around frantically.
"Keep calm. Our Pokemon are out, we outnumber them. It's only law enforcement, so have your Pokemon stun them any way you can, and let's get out of here," Eric commanded, releasing his own Gastly. "Gastly, take the one circling on our immediate right.. yeah, that one. Knock him out with Hypnosis."
His Gastly laughed, and floated across the field, quickly knocking out the Arcanine with a powerful Hypnosis. The other grunts were inspired, and turned to their Pokemon.
"Murkrow, Mean Look!"
"Cubone, Earthquake!"
"Arbok, use Pin Missile!" Jessie commanded her Pokemon.
"Weezing, Toxic!" James commanded.
"You too, Meowth. Use Fury Swipes or something," Eric commanded the idle Meowth, who looked around frantically, before nodding in determination. It, too, entered the fray, and was holding its own. Attacks were flying in every direction, as the grunts battled it out with the Arcanine. The Arcanine were either getting knocked back, or beaten completely.
"Perfect, James! Keep having your Weezing use Toxic. Your Pokemon is a poison type, so it's more effective!" Eric encouraged James, who grinned, looking pleased.
Before five minutes had passed, all four Arcanine; even the one Eric had dispatched temporarily; were recalled to their Pokeballs, and the Officer Jenny were forced to back down. "Alright, guys. That's enough. They don't have anything to stop us with, so let's just get outta here."
The engine had started, and the trainers climbed aboard, leaving the Officer Jenny behind looking perplexed. All the grunts were giving each other high fives, and looked better than he had seen them any of them since his arrival at the seacliff base. Though, as he thought to himself, his thoughts returned to his thoughts from before.. was he really getting to like where he was?
Would he be able to tear himself from this seat of power? The seat of power so simply given to him, that it would almost seem insane to throw it all away for a dream that seemed so far away?
"Maybe what Giovanni said was right.."
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End Chapter 15