Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or its characters.
"To whoever was responsible for this incident… responsible for this attack. I will say this: I will find you and I will bring you to justice." Steven's voice ringed through the large screen on the wall.
"Ho… the brave rich man is pissed off." Rush held one hand in front of his mouth faking a shocked reaction. "Hey Josh, aren't you scared?"
The mossy-green haired youth is sitting on large round fluffy puff sofa at the left side of the room that now turned into sort of recreation room for all five of them. Closest to him is Violet, sitting on a high wooden stool dangling her feet on the air and swinging her head from side to side like a little dance.
Leaning with his back against the wall is Raz; he is the closest to the giant monitor installed at the large wall on the backside. The giant of a man is glaring at the images like a mad dog eying his prey. At his left side, there is a big, luxurious and comfortable armchair; made with dark leather and premium wood. A seat that none other than Leyla has chosen for herself, the blond beauty is sitting on her seat with her legs crossed, while holding a fine teacup on her hands.
And for last, closest to the exit door at the right wall of the room is the last member of the enforcer. Josh is laying down on a sturdy looking wooden chair, with his legs resting on the right arm of the brown furniture and his back resting on the other arm, his head hanging low with long bangs of his jet-black hair hiding his eyes away.
"Hahahaha, he's coming to crack you down." Raz the giant mean-looking man pointed to the raven-haired man and laughed. "What a joke."
All other enforcers turned their gaze to their comrade, all eagerly waiting for his response, which always intrigues them in some manners. However, he just stood on his chair with his arms crossed and his shoulders limping downwards, his eyes staring boringly to the wall and a disinterested sigh escaping his mouth.
"Huh… What is the matter with him?" Violet pointed to the man. She looked at him, one eyebrow raised and her features furrowing into a funny face. She jumped from her spot and casually skipped her way toward him. In a child-like manner, the girl brought her left hand up to his forehead and knocked on it as if she was hitting a wooden door. "Hey… someone there?"
The soft bumps of her knuckle hitting his skin got the man's attention, but he clearly disliked the gesture as his face went from bored to angered in a blink of an eye. "What you want?" Josh said in a deadly voice. His serious gaze making the easygoing girl jump away from him and raise both arms in self-defense.
"Josh, honey. You are acting a little strange; even I am getting curious now." Leyla looked at him from the corner of her eye, wrapping a long lock of hair around two of her fingers. "Would you care to share your thoughts on this?" With her free hand, she pointed to the large monitor.
Josh shifted the gaze of his red eyes toward the frozen image of Steven, the steel-blue haired man pointing to the camera and his glare piercing through as if it is reaching for personally. "I don't care..." He responded with disinterment, going back to his previous position and locking his gaze to the wall again.
"Hah, that's a given." Raz shouted from his place. "A weakling that can only talk rarely amounts to much."
"Don't take what I said from the wrong angle." Josh replied right after. "That man pointing at us." He motioned to Steven's image. "He is not weak, I can see in his eyes. However, he is not my problem. I was alone when I brought that place down, but it was an action for our cause and our leader. He is coming after all of us, not only me."
"Then how come you don't care?" Rush jumped in. "I mean if he is trouble and he is coming after all of us."
"Because I did the job this time, so I'm off the rook." Josh turned his face and looked to Rush, giving him a playful smirk. "Talking about it, aren't you supposed to be the next one making a ruckus out there?"
"Yeah…" The green-haired young man raised an eyebrow as he answered.
"See, not my problem. You guys will have to deal with him." The raven-haired man responded with a chirp little laugh, then his face went back to its bored state of before. A tired sigh escaped his lips as he went back to staring to the wall.
"Oi… isn't he really strange today?" Raz leaned in closer to Leyla, hiding his mouth behind one hand as he whispered. "Way stranger than normal?"
"That he is…" Leyla's blue eyes stared intensely at Josh. She was never able to understand him properly; something strange, considering that she feels very proud of being able to read each and every person that she meets, her associates included. "Maybe last night got to him, even Josh must feel something after that…"
"Yeah… probably." Raz nodded his head. He looked at his raven-haired comrade and for the first time, he felt sorry for him.
'Those eyes… is he really a guardian?' Josh pondered to himself. The frightened look on Brendan's eyes never left his thoughts. 'Maybe he is not ready or he lost his way… Should I threaten someone close to him?' He clicked his tongue and sighed once again, sinking even down on his seat. 'What would he do?'
"You know… He is kind of cute like that." Violet said with a little blush on her cheeks.
Rush turned his head and gave her the most uncomfortable look ever. "What are you going on about?" He asked.
"Josh. Normally he is just so cold and has that superior air around him. But now he is mopping sadly, looking like a lost puppy." She clapped her hands in front of her chest, gasping in a lovely way. "I would love to cuddle with him, just to feel his misery up close."
"For someone with the cutest face on the planet, you have the ugliest personality. Geez." Rush cringed away from the girl, not wanting to imagine what she would do to someone she really loves.
A female Grunt barged into the room, holding one hand in her chest, gasping for air. "Ha… ha… Rush, sir. I-It is r-ready." She stuttered in her words, her face frowning with fatigue. "T-The boss is calling y-you to the orange room."
"Really? It is ready?!" Rush jumped from his spot, feeling refreshed and full of energy again. "Haha, now it's my time to shine. I will put to use my acting skills, it will be awesome." He quickly walked over the door, clapping the woman on her shoulder, a faint blush appearing on the Grunt's face.
"I will be looking forward to your performance." Leyla said with a genuine smile.
"Heh, me too." Violet said with a wide smirk. "That whole plan sounds kind of fun."
"Yeah… Good luck..." Josh said without taking his gaze away from the wall.
"Don't screw this up kid or I will crush your head with my fists." Raz growled in his usual rude way, but his honest smiled betrayed his foul mouth.
"I will prove how badass I really am." Rush looked at them and smiled. "It's show time."
A faint line of grey smoke still lingers on the grim remains of the once magnificent building of the Devon Company, ashes and darkened wreckage serving as a depressing reminder of the dreadful events of the previous night. A few meters away from this sad view, the lucky employees of Mr. Stone's company, built a makeshift little stage with just enough space for one person to stand in front of a grey mess of microphones stacked on top of each other.
A sea of reporters and camera operators are standing right in front of this little stage, all of them eagerly waiting for a specific person to walk up there and finally talk to all of them. Further back, standing far away from the mass of people, Steven is eying the scene regretting every with all his heart the moment he decided to speak publicly in his father's stead.
"What the hell do I do now?" Steven sighed tiredly, his eyes traveling down to his feet.
"You're going to be fine. I've never met a man more capable to stand in for Joseph than you." A man with shining baldhead tapped Steven on his right shoulder, giving the younger man a soft smile.
"Mr. Mark… Thank you." Steven replied with a thankful expression. The little words of the old man giving him a large confidence boost.
"Don't mention it boy." Old man Mark made a little gesture with his head, pointing to the mass of people a little ahead of them. "Go there and soothe their confusion and pain… We all need some comfort right now."
Steven nodded, showing all the appreciation to his senior in the bright glint of his eyes without the need for words for it. He took a deep breath and stepped away from the bald old man, walking with elegance and confidence towards the huge crowd waiting for him.
Meanwhile, Zinnia is sitting alone in a large bench at the beautiful and quiet green park close to the ruins of the building. She is watching the commotion unfold, just waiting for something out of the ordinary to pop-up on her sights.
"Hey there, what is a lady so pretty doing alone in a place like this?" Max said with a quirky smirk. The strange police investigator walked over from the long street, catching the draconid woman by surprise.
"Max... I will tell your wife." Zinnia said with an annoyed hiss.
"Hey, hey. No need to snitch on me. I'm a faithful gentleman; I only like to tease you a little bit, no ulterior motives at all." He placed his right hand on his chest raised his entire body in a formal salute. "Talking about being faithful... where is lover boy? I thought you would stick at his side all day."
Zinnia's bright red-eyes glided over to her investigator partner, she stared at him in silence for a few moments and then closed her eyes sadly. "I took him to his house… Brendan is no condition to be out here today."
"So you left him alone?" Max asked curiously.
"I asked Aster and his huge Sceptile to look after him. Brendan is sleeping, safe and sound… he needs a bit of rest." She looked down bringing both hands to her face, Brendan's desperate voice still echoing in the back of her mind, the feeling of his fingers pressing so aggressively onto her back still lingering on the surface of her skin. "I will find what happened last night..." She said gritting her teeth.
"We will… trust me, we will." Max sat at her side, and placed one arm around her shoulders, not in an insinuating way or to tease her, but simply to offer some comfort to the agitated woman. "Oh, looks like is about to start." He pointed out the fact that every reporter that was quietly waiting, now are rushing inside the crowd forming in front of the improvised stage.
Steven quietly stepped up on the firm platform, breathing in slowly with his eyes scanning every gaze that is pointing at him. While his little talk with Mark helped him ease his nerves, the giant monitor posed behind him transmitting everything on a live feed, made a cold sweat slid down on his cheek.
"First, I will like to say thank you for all of you, for listening to my demands yesterday and to prepare this space in such short notice… I really appreciate your patience." Steven gave a respectful little bow, an action that brought sudden warmth to the cold mood surrounding everyone. "Before we start, I would like to give my condolences to the victims and their family… such a terrible event is traumatic to all of us." He closed his eyes, placing one hand on his chest and fell into a moment of silence, everyone else following his example.
Sadly, the quiet moment quickly faded away, with the restless crowd getting noisy all over again.
"Mr. Stone, do you have any leads about the cause of such accident?" A female reporter with bright red hair asked loudly.
"Sir, yesterday you talked about bringing a culprit to justice. It's confirmed that someone is behind this tragedy?" A male reporter with blue hair shouted, waving a thin pen on the air.
"Right, you have any pieces of evidence for this claim?" Another reported asked even before Steven could open his mouth.
The unending barrage of questions overwhelmed Steven at first; he sighed in exasperation but showed no other sign of wavering. In a swift action, he shot both hands in the air and threw a mildly annoyed glare to the mass of questioning people. Like magic, the unnerving amount of voices shouting at the same time vanished, giving space for the man on the stage to speak.
"We still have little information on the attack itself, the safety and health of our injured was the first priority," Steven said with his stoic manner, instantly winning over everyone with his charm. "And yes, I said attack. An explosion like that was not possible in any shape or form on an office building like ours. So the only option left is a direct attack by someone or something; that is still up to debate."
"A few sources confirm a quite large number of deceased. But strangely enough, save for a few exceptions most victims have light injuries. Any words on that?" A reporter asked which was followed by a few nods and agreeing grunts from others.
"I... I was close to the premises at the time of those terrible events. I rushed inside together with a friend, we helped some trapped persons on the second floor and then we split and went on separated paths." Steven felt a few confused gazes fall onto him as the rambled way more than he intended to. "While making my way to the top floor searching for my father, I didn't spot a single fatally injured person. Therefore, I assume that every poor soul that died yesterday was on the same floor, most likely on the point of impact of the attack."
"W-What… what is happening with the cameras?" A reporter asked in panic, pointing behind the stage.
Static noises erupted from behind the stage, the massive monitor began to flicker and the clear image of Steven slowly started to disappear, overtaken by a blurred mess of colors and two strange silhouettes appearing at the center.
"The connection is being redirected… Someone is taking over the transmission." A camera operator yelled all the way from the back.
"Hey- Is- really working?" A broken static voice sounded from the big grey colored screen.
"It is, it is… Please don't hurt me." A second voice came and with it the static blur faded away, the image getting clear as it can be.
The two shadowy figures from before turned into a man with brown short hair and a woman with a jet-black curly hair. Both are using a dark set of clothes with a big multi-colored R at the chest part of their black shirt.
"Who, who are those two?" Someone yelled from the crowd. "They are inside our studio!"
"Heh, looks like they can see us." The female Team Rocket Grunt said with a cocky smirk. "I want all of you to pay attention to what we are about to say. I don't like to repeat myself, so don't test my patience." She looked to her criminal partner and nodded with her head, signaling for him to proceed forward.
The lazy-looking man stepped forward, getting even closer to the camera in front of him and took a large piece of paper from one of his pants pockets. "We are the team Rainbow Rocket and under the leadership of our brilliant master, we came here today to declare our demands." He stopped his speech from a moment, lowering his hands and taking his eyes away from the paper. With a long breath, he prepared himself and pointed forward with one hand. "From this day forward, Hoenn is ours!"
"What is he talking about?" A confused voice came from the mass of people, many other soon following it.
"Is this an elaborated prank? This is not funny, you moron." An exalted reporter shouted angrily.
"Silence!" The woman dressed in black shouted louder than all the other voices. "All of you are standing right in front of our first message. Do you really want to go against us?" She said with a threatening tone.
'They are the ones…' Steven clenched his fists, he could not hide the enraged feeling taking over him as scowl took over his facial features.
While most people present only shared a couple of glanced with each other and stood there watching what would unfold, a small number of them quickly walked away, wasting no time to get at the studio where these criminals invaded. Two specific individuals were the first ones to leave, a certain draconid woman, using her trusted Salamence, took to the skies as soon as she heard where to find those people, with Max hopping right behind her wrapping his arms on her waist. If Zinnia was not in such hurry, she would have kicked the daring investigator out of her dragon but with time going against her she has little choice but to let it slide… the man holding her with a goofy grin on his lips, got lucky this time.
"Look! Something is happening down there." Max pointed to the city right below. "Those punks really invaded TV Mauville…"
"Not for long. Hold tight, we are going down." Zinnia tapped her blue dragon on its back and he quickly obeyed, diving straight down to the open center area of Mauville.
The ground of the main square trembled vigorously as the mighty blue dragon landed with a ferocious roar. To the pair's surprise, the city is practically deserted without a single soul at the vicinity to see their arrival.
"Over there, invaders!" Two Rainbow Rocket Grunts came running to the center of the town, both holding a pair of Poké-Balls in hands and shooting a mean looking gaze to the newcomers.
"You have the guts of calling us invaders?!" Zinnia growled in response. She pushed Max out of her Salamence with a fierce kick at his right side, she then jumped on the ground and pointed forward. "Let's dunk on those freaks." She commanded with an imposing voice and her Salamance responded with a loud roar.
"Hah, let's see who will dunk who." The Grunt on the left tossed his Poké-Ball forward, a Pyroar appeared in front of him growling angrily to Zinnia.
"You will regret this, girl." The other one followed suit, a grumpy Pangoro came out of the Poké-Ball, stomping the ground to show his strength.
Max brushed a few dust marks from his pants and walked over Zinnia, giving a light tap on her right shoulder. "You got this?" He asked.
"Go do your thing." She spat back not taking her eyes away from her opponents.
"That's my partner." The easygoing investigator displayed a wide grin and then dashed to a side exit.
"Oi! You are not running." A Grunt shouted and stepped toward the fleeing man.
"Dragon Claw!" Zinnia shouted her command.
Despite its big size, the Salamence flew at a high speed and crushed the ground right in front of the running Grunt, the force of this impact shoved the man away and blocked his path after Max.
"Grr... Wanna play like that? Fine!" Gritting his teeth in anger, the Grunt jumped from the ground and walked closer to her. "Pangoro, forget about a battle. Use Body Slam and squash that bitch!"
The grey-bear Pokémon cried loudly, pounding one fist on his belly, and then he bolted in a frenzied manner, barely keeping his body straight. Sinking his heavy feet on the ground, the Pangoro jumped in the air and aimed his fall at Zinnia's direction.
Zinnia gave showed no reaction, she gave her Pokémon no order and only stared as the heavy beast was coming toward her. As Pangoro leaped in the air, the draconid woman gave three little hops to the side and let the grey bear fall face flat on the floor.
"Pangoro! What the hell are you doing, smash her!" The Grunt shouted even more aggravated.
"Weak trainer equals weak Pokémon…" Zinnia said with a taunting smirk. "Crunch!" She pointed to the fallen Pokémon.
Salamence flapped his wings and flew with haste, landing right on top of the Pangoro. The blue dragon opened his jaws as wide as he could and then sank his fangs on the soft fur of the bear. Pangoro cried in pain, shaking under the heavyweight and power of Salamence attack. After a few moments, the noises stopped and Pangoro fainted without any signs of coming back.
"Pangoro!" A pained shout came from the Grunt; he stared at his Pokémon, frowning without being able to react.
"Dammit… Pyroar, let's get them! Use Flamethrower." The second Grunt stepped in, taking the battle onto his hands.
The beautiful lion with enflamed mane jumped right in front of the blue dragon. The brown royal Pokémon roared loudly and then took a long and full breath. Swinging his head violently, Pyroar unleashed a wave of fire, the heated flames flying aggressively on its target. Salamence stood his ground and took the attack head-on, only lowering his head to protect his face. An orange explosion flared up, engulfing the dragon's body, not leaving even a little part of him visible.
"Hah! How did you like that?" The Grunt said proudly.
A sarcastic snort escaped from the draconid woman, she reached her face with one hand and shook her head. "Finish this." She said coldly.
Following her words, a deafening roar came from the fireball; with a powerful flap of wings, the flames vanished away. Salamence came out of it safe and sound, with not a single bruise or mark on his body. The blue dragon flew upwards, as high as the ceiling of the city and then he turned around and dove with his nose aiming down.
"Don't stand there doing nothing. Use Flamethrower!" The Grunt commanded, punching the air in front of him.
Pyroar pointed his mouth up, aiming at Salamence. The brown lion made the same ritual from before and fired another wave of fire, but as the attack flared from him; Salamence was already on top of him smashing his forehead onto Pyroar's face. A dust cloud puffed into existence, a loud sound of impact coming with it. Pyroar went flying away, smashing his back at a sidewall of the main square, and then falling on the floor completely out of combat.
"W-What… What is this Pokémon?!" One of the Grunts said in panic.
"Let's get out of here!" The other one showed an even more terrified expression. Both men called their Pokémon back and ran away as fast as they could, going directly to the south exit of Mauville.
"Clowns…" Zinnia said quietly. "I have no time to waste, let's see who is in charge of this mess." She tapped Salamence on his head and dashed onto the main street, turning at a corner where will take her to the right building.
To Zinnia's surprise and uneasiness, the path ahead of her is completely quiet but is not devoid of peoples present. Laying on the streets are more than a few police officers and their Pokémon partners, all of them unconscious and with heavy bruises on their bodies; clear signs of battles are showing through all the sidewalks and buildings nearby.
"Another! Look, there's another one." A female Grunt came rushing out of the TV Mauville building.
"Tsk, I lost that guy…" A male Grunt came from the building, a very annoyed frown on his features. "What?! Another one?"
"I just said that, you moron." The woman shot a glare at him. "Whatever, I can take care of her." She tossed a Poké-Ball on the air, a sparkling Honedge appearing in front of her.
"Na-ah, I will blast her away." He called a Pokémon of his own, a second Honedge appearing next to the first one.
"More of these clowns… I have no time for this!" Zinnia shuffled around on her pockets, grabbing another Poké-Ball onto her hands. "Go and push them out of our way!" She shouted, tossing her Poké-Ball next to the two flying swords.
In a flash of light, her massive Tyrantrum came out of his Poké-Ball, immediately charging forward, holding his head down and not stopping for nothing. The reddish-brown dinosaur tackled both Honedge at the same time, his scale and power overwhelming both Pokémon and sending them to the air; the force of this attack knocking them out of their senses.
"Wait, stop… Not here!" The female Grunt gasped as she noticed that Tyrantrum was not stopping.
"Go away! Go away!" The other Grunt turned to flee. "Gaaah!" Both before he could take one-step away, Tyrantrum bashed his head on both of them, sending both Grunts to the side of the building, the trainers suffering the same fate as their Honedge partners.
With the hindrance finally out of her way, Zinnia walked over the entrance but stopped before charging in. "Since you two can't follow me inside, stay out here and keep guard." She said looking to both Tyrantrum and Salamence. "If anyone using that stupid uniform comes out or tries to walk in, you take them out. You hear me?" She gave a stern glance to them and in response both Pokémon gave a reply in the form of a growl or a grunt. "Heh, I know I can count on your guys. Wish me luck. No, wish luck to whomever I find in here… They will need it."
"Please… we did what you asked. Just let us go." A voice sounded from the newsroom. A middle-aged man is crouched at the corner, holding two other coworkers in his arms, all of them shivering in fear of the woman glaring at them.
"I said to shut it!" The woman with curly hair yelled. "Can't you see that he is trying to give a speech?" She pointed to her partner; the man is holding an extensive piece of paper and his still going on in his passionate speech.
"You may not embrace us at first, but our leader's ideal and dreams will soon reach your heart. Soon all of you will understand the greatness that is waiting for us." Without stuttering and with very few breaks to breath, the lazy-looking Rainbow Rocket member is talking with impressive spirit all the while his eyes keep averting to a little screen at his side that is showing the live feedback from Rustboro City.
"Gaaah, get out of my way already!" An angry and energetic female voice exploded from the hallway. Not only that, a member of Rainbow Rocket went flying inside the room, his eyes rolled backward and spit escaping his mouth. "Ha… Ha… I found you! I finally found you!" Zinnia barged inside the newsroom, fits high and ready, and a sole sweat drop sliding from her chin down to the floor.
"Huh…. What?" The female Grunt looked at her surprised and confused. "Where are our guards? Didn't we leave a lot of member on the front part of this place?"
"That we did… who is this one?" The other Grunt stopped his speech, being left somewhat speechless from such brazen entrance of this strange woman.
"I beat the crap out of them that was what happened." Zinnia proclaimed in a boisterous manner. "Now tell me where the hell this leader of yours is, I have a few things I need to ask him about."
"Look at the stupidity of this one, she comes here and picks a fight with our troops… Now she wants to see the boss." A wild sense of anger took over the female Grunt mind, her face features suddenly marred by an ugly scowl. "I will break her neck." She spat even angrier. One of her hands traveled to her back, aiming to one of her pockets.
"Oh no, you don't!" Zinnia dashed in fast as a wild Pokémon, she jumped at the woman before she could take any of her Poké-Balls out, and gave a direct uppercut on her chin. The other member of the criminal gang stood up from his seat and threw himself at Zinnia's back, wrapping one of his arms around her neck. The pushed and pulled, doing his best to take her balance away, but displaying an insane control of her body and a surprising amount of strength on her muscles, Zinnia twirled around and tossed her attacker on the ground, the man hitting his forehead on the cold floor.
"Crazy bitch, what's the matter with you?" The female Grunt yelled, rubbing her chin and hissing with pain.
"I will ask you just one more time. Where is your boss?" Zinnia's red eyes flared up as she shouted, she walked up to the other woman and grabbed her by the collar of her shirt. "What… What did you do to Brendan?"
"Who?" The woman responded with a genuine confused expression.
"Don't play dumb… If you make me angry, you will regret it." Zinnia waved her fist on the air, threatening to clash it on the woman's face.
"Who did what with me?" A familiar voice sounded from behind them, coming from the entrance door.
This voice instantly took Zinnia's attention; she could recognize this voice anywhere. The fingers lost the strength to hold onto the Grunt's shirt, forcing her to drop the woman on the floor. Slowly, Zinnia turned her head over, her gaze fixing on the person standing there looking sternly at her. "Brendan?!" She asked baffled.
"Yes?" He responded. The man standing in front of her is non-other than Brendan himself, with his long hair and handsome face. However, instead of his normal clothing of choice, he is using a pair of dark black pants, grey boots and a black long-sleeved shirt with a rainbow-colored R at the center.
"What… What are you doing here?" Zinnia asked, her furious voice getting a lot more sweet, her persistent angered frown easing up. "You should be resting up." She walked over to him and placed one hand on his left cheek.
"Resting up? Hah." Brendan's lips parted in a cruel smirk. "You asked what I'm doing here. I will tell you." His right fist came flying from below, hitting her square on her stomach. Zinnia gasped and bent in pain. Then his fist came swinging once again, hitting her on the right side of her face, throwing the draconid woman on the floor. "I'm following my master's wish, that's what I'm doing." Brendan turned his attention to the camera fixed on him, an even wider smirk appearing on his lips. With a poised form, he stared firmly at the camera. "If any of you didn't believe before, then believe it now. Hoenn is now ours. Hoenn belongs to Team Rainbow Rocket!"
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DOOT76 chapter 10 . Mar 23 – I'm glad that my representation of Steven's personality is being faithful. I always feeling unsure about characters that already have a personality themselves, so reading that I am doing a good job, really makes me glad.
On Steven's case, personally, my first "encounter" with Steven was in a funny video with him popping out of the bushes out of nowhere to lay a piece of plot information to Brendan. At the time, I didn't know who Steven was, since I hadn't played the game yet, but I found so funny that I kind of embraced that bit and now I cannot see him any other way other than a fun guy with a big heart.