Diary of a Rocket Grunt
By Cari Sanosuke
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the licensed characters used in this work of fiction. I do claim my own original characters. Pokemon is property of Nintendo, not me. Also, if I find anyone ripping me off on my plot or ideas, I will raise hell. So don't do it.
Entry #1
I began my journey with Team Rocket at the age of 15. My parents put out "missing" posters, but because I had registered with the Pokemon League as an official trainer all they had to do was go to the Center and ask of my position. All trainers are tracked as they go from Pokemon Center to Pokemon Center. And besides, the poster was a picture of me before I joined the Rockets. I had cut my hair several inches, to the point where it hung just past my chin. The hat that was issued with the uniforms effectively hid my eyes, and I was no longer wearing glasses. I went out and bought some contacts instead, and they were colored as well, making my eyes green instead of brown.
So, with my identity hidden and changed, I was free to roam the streets of my own town without given a second look. Not that I needed it, but it still came in handy on several minor occasions.
Team Rocket had done several smaller crimes – robberies, forgeries, anything to get powerful Pokemon. Eventually the Boss gave the executive in charge of the troop I was a part of the order to move towards Mount Moon. Apparently there were fossils of rare and extinct species buried there. We were to establish control of the cave system, take out any threat of outside trainer attacks, and find the fossils. The scientists on Cinnabar Island had discovered a way to revive these species of Pokemon through extracting their DNA from the fossils. Of course, we must always give the best to The Boss, so we took our orders and set off.
The first step was easy: eliminate the threat of a trainer attack. We planted one member in disguise at the entrance to Mt. Moon route. Then, all we had to do was bribe the other trainers in the area to fight whoever managed to pass with a little money, and they agreed. We were soon inside and passed by several wandering trainers without much interference.
We got to the second level of the cave and started searching for fossils. We knew there were two the Boss was after, the Helix and Dome fossils. Our group was split into two – half of us were to catch the Pokemon in the area (Geodude and Zubat, mostly) and the other half were to find the fossils. I was assigned to the catching half, and I regret not putting up a protest to join the other group. I did my job fine, catching several low-level Zubat, Geodude, and even some Onix and Paras to be assigned to new recruits.
The other half didn't fare so well. They were all defeated by a mysterious trainer clad in red. They all fell, defeated. By the time we met up again, the fossils had been claimed and the Super Nerd that found them was nowhere to be found. We had failed.
We reported back to the Boss in Viridian City that night, our heads hung in shame. There was nothing in that cave that he had wanted more than those fossils. He asked if we had anything to compensate. Nobody said anything. I knew it was up to me then, I had something they didn't… my Graveler.
I offered it to him. It caught his eye – it was a higher level than the other Grunts' Pokemon and if I traded it to him it would immediately evolve into a Golem. He offered me an Ekans in return, and I accepted, knowing I had no other choice. I traded my Graveler, got the Ekans, and left with my comrades for our next destination: Lavender Town.