Scene 17: Prodigy

School was out and the summer heat was just begging for Kari to go outside and play in the water; however, Giovanni wouldn't give in. He saw no point in paying for a babysitter, besides, there was hardly anyone he trusted now-a-days, and it would be too much of a bother to travel all the way to the next town over, Pallet, just to ask Delia to watch Kari. And so, the only solution was to bring Kari with him to work.

There wasn't much work to do at the Viridian Gym these days, hardly anyone made attempts at challenging his gym due to his reputation for being the most brutal gym leader in all of Kanto. Giovanni was quite pleased with his work, though. He now had plenty of time to work on elevating his corporation's current standings.

Just over a year ago, Giovanni had built-up his mother's old foundation, Team Rocket, and had made it his own. Just in the past few months was business really starting to sky rocket. Through secret operations, Team Rocket had been able to raise enough fundings to set up several secret headquarters throughout the Kanto region and would soon be expanding to Johto. It was a long and grueling process that took up all of his time, but he knew it would be worth it in the end. Soon Giovanni would have enough resources to do what the police could not all those year ago: find Silver and bring him home.

Giovanni spent most of his time in the office, he never had to get his hands dirty personally, he just oversaw the organization as a whole. At this particular location potential applicants were trained and groomed to join Team Rocket. He would receive updates of all the branches and groups throughout the region and their progress in bringing recognition to the Team Rocket name. He believed that the bigger his organization became, the easier it would be to get what he wanted without a hitch. The organization was making a name for itself, and no one was standing up against them…

This morning when Giovanni had told Kari that she would be staying at work with him, she thought he had meant the gym. To her knowledge, he didn't have any other job. But they had passed the gym nearly an hour ago and had continued to the outskirts of the city. Kari had never been to Daddy's new work. Although she wished she could be cooling off in a stream somewhere, she had to admit: she was actually kind of excited to visit Daddy's work.

They had reached the mountainside. Kari was getting tired and very thirsty by this time. She was about to ask how much farther they had to walk when she saw it. In the distance, a large building was protruding out of the mountainside. She had never seen anything so big! As they got closer Kari noticed the giant letter "R" glowing in red on the front.

"Daddy? What does that mean?" She pointed at the sign. Giovanni smirked, " 'Rocket.' Kari, welcome to Team Rocket's headquarters." She kept looking up at the tall structure… 'Team Rocket'? She had never heard of the place, but it looked important, and really cool.

When they finally reached the front doors, there was a woman standing there waiting. She bowed her head, "Good Morning, Giovanni, Sir." He nodded and continued inside. The lady followed close behind, reading from a clipboard in her hand. Kari looked her over: she was very pretty. She was tall and had pale-skin that really complimented her short black hair. She wore glasses and often adjusted them up the bridge of her nose. She continued reading her report all the way to the elevator. On the very top floor they reached a small office space with a single desk and large wooden double-doors that stood on the opposite wall. Without stopping, Giovanni walked straight to the double-doors. He turned to the woman, "Send that report to me immediately. And get Viper on the phone, there's a job I have to discuss with him." She bowed again, "Yes Sir," and opened the doors for his entry. Inside was a large room with windows lining the whole right wall. To the left beautiful pieces of art were hanging, and alongside the back wall sat a single wooden desk.

Kari ran to the large window, "Woooooow!" From up here you could see everything beyond Veridian City! "Do you like it?" Kari turned around- the woman, who Kari now realized was her father's assistant, was standing behind her. She nodded, "It's very pretty!" The lady smiled, "This location was chosen for it's view. See that tall mountain in the distance? It's called Mt. Silver. And beyond that, do you know what's out there?" Kari shook her head. The woman pointed towards the rocks in the distance, "Beyond Mt. Silver is a land known as the Johto Region. It's a land full of culture and mysteries."

"That is quite enough, Dana." Giovanni was also standing there. Miss Dana, a bit flustered, bowed her head out of respect and showed herself out, closing the doors behind her.

Giovanni made his way to the desk and settled in. Before Kari could follow him, she felt a soft tug on her dress. She turned to find Persian sitting beside her. Persian, like Wartortle and Growlithe, had belonged to her mother. Persian was her absolute favorite- he had been her contest partner from the very beginning. Kari had played with Persian quite often ever since she was a little girl, and she had wondered where he had gone after her mother's death. She would never have guessed that her father had taken him. Persian seemed to be Giovanni's way of keeping Celeste and her memory close. Kari gave Persian a hug, "Persian! I can't believe it's you! I've missed you so much!"

For the next few hours Kari sat around the office keeping to herself. There were no games or books to indulge in. She spent some time doodling on loose papers, or playing with Eevee and Persian. They had to keep quiet, however, due to Giovanni's workload. He never spoke a word to them. Giovanni spent most of his time reading over documents or having loud phone-calls to other team members. It was nearly lunchtime when Dana rang him, "In the lab? No. That was never approved, the fool. Yes. Yes, I'll be right down." He hung up the phone and stood out of his chair. As he passed Kari on his way out he turned to her, "I'll be right back. Persian, you're in charge, and keep out of trouble." Dana was waiting outside the office for him and together they entered the elevator.

Kari waited a few minutes until, "I'm bored!" She was sprawled out on the floor. For the past 4hours she had done nothing and she felt that it was time to get out-and-about and moving. She stood up and started walking towards the doors, "Let's go, Eevee. Maybe there's something more fun to do downstairs." As they neared the doors, Persian blocked their path. "Aaw, come on, Persian! It's not like we're gonna get into any trouble." Persian shook his head, "But Persian, we are SOOoooo BORED! Do you really think Mommy would want me to be unhappy like this?" She knew it was a low blow, but she had no other choice. Persian considered that. He looked at Eevee, who played along, eager to find something fun to do. Persian let out a sigh. He moved aside to let them pass, "Yay! Persian, you're the best!" Kari gave him another hug and hurried to the elevator door. When it arrived she walked inside, "Well? Aren't you coming?" Persian smiled, and joined them.

Since she knew nothing about the organization, this building, or where anything was, she just decided to push random buttons. She walked several different floors: One full of cubicles & bored-looking employees, several with large rooms behind glass doors, a gymnasium where adults were exercising, and even a tea room. She didn't pass many employees, and when she did, they seemed too busy or preoccupied to even notice her. On one of the floors she visited they found a large room behind another glass window. It was different from the others that were filled with high-tech equipment. This one was black and completely empty. Curious, Kari found the door.

She and Eevee walked into a small entry-way. Here, there sat a desk laden with monitors. A second door seemed to open to the large room they had seen before. Kari opened the door and she and Eevee walked in. There really wasn't anything exciting, "Hmm, there's nothing here. I guess we could try another floor?" She turned to leave, Persian leading the way back to the room with the monitors. As she neared the exit, Kari noticed a small green button beside the door. Without a second thought, her curiosity took over and she pressed it. The door immediately slammed itself shut, locking Kari and Eevee in the room and Persian out. Lights went up in the room and a woman's voice began to speak: "Welcome to the Team Rocket Battle Simulator Challenge. Test your skills as a trainer and see whether you have what it takes to join the ranks of the highly esteemed Team Rocket Organization."

After her eyes had fully adjusted, Kari was finally able to see the markings on the floor. She was standing on a battle field. Although there was no one in the room with her, the voice spoke again, "Are you ready to begin?" Kari looked around her: there was no way out. She could see Persian scratching at the window trying to get in. And although she didn't fully understand what was going on, she figured the only way (and most exciting way) to get out, was to play this game. She went over to stand on the edge of the field, "Ya! Let's do this!"

On the back wall an HP Gauge appeared, and below it a timer- it was counting down from 60seconds. A bright light from above shone onto the battle field and from it stood a virtual, computerized, Caterpie. Kari and Eevee looked at each other. What were they supposed to do? The counter had gotten down to 10seconds- Caterpie seemed to have just noticed the two of them in the room. As the counter hit zero, Caterpie attacked. Eevee easily avoided the attack, "Woah! That was close!" Caterpie turned and lunged again but this time they were ready, "Eevee, use Tackle!" The attack landed and the HP Gauge dropped to zero. Beaten, Caterpie de-pixelated immediately.

"Congratulations. You move onto Level 2." Everything reset: The timer, the HP Gauge, and this time a virtual Weedle materialized. Like before, the Weedle didn't seem to notice, or even care, that Kari and Eevee were there.

"Please feel free to replenish your energy with this Oran Berry." A tray on the wall opened to reveal a single berry. Kari went to retrieve it, "Oh, I see! It's like a game!" Eevee looked at her, "Don't you get it? All we have to do is battle the Poke'mon and keep leveling up! I bet once we get to a certain level, we'll win something!" Eevee got excited, he loved battling games. As before, Weedle sent his attack as the counter hit zero, a Poison Sting. But Eevee was too quick for it. Another easy win. With their new understanding of this game, Kari and Eevee were finally enjoying themselves. They continued to win battle after battle for 40minutes straight. They had reached level 32 and they weren't planning on stopping there.

"Man, I'm starved. I can't believe that old Serg. kept us so late..!" A pair of Team Rocket trainees were just leaving their battle lesson. They were both wearing red uniforms, a guy with fuschia colored hair (the one complaining), and a young woman with blonde hair, "Aw, come on, Georgie. You know the only reason why we had to stay behind was because of how bad you screwed up that last match..!" Georgie glared at her, "Well, Amy, if you would just learn to work as a team maybe I wouldn't have to cover for you!" Before Amy could respond they both heard the voice from the Battle Simulator down the hall. "Huh? Is someone really doing a challenge right now?" Georgie peered down the hall towards the battle area, "I thought everyone was at lunch?" Ignoring him, Amy walked pass and towards the simulator. Gerogie followed.

"Hey, look at that, Georgie." She was pointing to the scoreboard hanging outside, "Looks like they've already passed up your ranking. Then again, most of the level 39 Poke'mon aren't very challenging." He looked disgruntled, "That's not true! Besides, it's not like you got much farther, Miss Stuck-On-Level-45-for-two-months!" They both had reached the window and looked in, "….W-what the…?" Georgie couldn't believe what he was seeing. He looked over at Amy, "…Is that-!?"

"Will you shut up?" Amy couldn't believe this. What was a kid doing inside there? This had to be a joke! They watched in awe as this little girl and her puny Eevee knocked out a Poliwrath with an entourage of Swift attacks. Eventually a bell rang signaling the end of lunch. Trainees and other members made their way from the cafeteria one floor below to their destinations. With several having battle lessons, the hall slowly filled with trainees and professors. They all stopped to see who was challenging the battle simulator, and like Georgie and Amy, could not take their eyes away from this mystery child. The little girl kept winning, like no big deal, and eventually the whole affair became a bit of a spectacle.

"Alright! You did it, Eevee!" Kari was bouncing with joy. She and Eevee hadn't trained in such a long time, she was surprised that Eevee was doing so well. As everything reset, "Congratulations. You move onto Level 60. Please feel free to replenish your energy with this Oran Berry." After playing the game for over an hour Kari and Eevee had gotten the hang of things. They were on a winning streak, and they weren't going to give up so easily. A virtual Rhydon appeared.

Kari and Eevee looked up to its face, "Wow… That's a big one, huh…?" Eevee gulped. Kari pat his head, "But don't worry! I know you can take it on!" She smiled at him. Eevee felt a burst of confidence- he was ready. The timer hit zero and Rhydon jumped into action with a Horn Attack. Eevee barely dodged it. It went for the attack again, "Be careful, Eevee! This one's strong!" Eevee dodged again. "Alright- let's start with a Tackle!" Eevee landed his attack, but Rhydon wasn't down for long. Once it was back on its feet, Rhydon went into an immediate Stomp Attack, sending Eevee for a loop. A bit out of it, Eevee was still ready to fight. "He's really, really strong…" Kari had to think fast, "Eevee, listen up!" Eevee had dodged another Horn Attack.

"It's way too strong for you to just knock it out like regular, we're gonna have to switch things up!" Eevee was confused and left his focus for a moment to look at Kari. In that moment, Rhydon struck Eevee with a powerful Thunderbolt. For a full 30seconds, Eevee was out. Kari gasped, "Eevee! Eevee, are you ok?" He got back onto his feet- these two were just alike, they didn't plan on going down so easily!

"Alright, Eevee! The only way we can beat this Poke'mon is if we fight his power with your speed. Got it?" Eevee responded- he understood. "Alright- now go, Eevee!" They knew it was going to take a lot of time and energy, but it was the only way. Eevee was slowly chipping away at the Rhydon's HP. Swift Attack after Swift Attack, followed by a multitude of both his Tackle and Bite attack- they knew this slow and steady method was the only way they could win. And Eevee's random bursts of speed was confusing the computerized Rhydon- it never knew where the next attack was coming from. Finally, after nearly 10 tiring minutes, Eevee put all of his energy into one final Tackle Attack and the Rhydon's HP dropped to zero. Eevee, having realized he had won, plopped himself onto the floor for a break.

"Congratulations. You move onto Level 61. We will now take a 5minute break before the next match. Please feel free to replenish your energy with this Full Heal." After every ten matches (they had learned) the game allowed for a 5minute break and offered a powerful Full Heal medicine rather than the typical Oran Berry. Kari sighed in relief, she had worried they were going to lose that one. As she regained her composure and was about to retrieve the medicine, she heard someone call out from behind her.

On the other side of the glass was a whole crowd of people. She and Eevee had only just now noticed them, "Woah! Where did they all come from?" A boy in the front, he had dark blue hair, was smiling and cheering her on. And he wasn't the only one. Most of the people were calling out words of encouragement, others were just watching with baffled looks on their faces. She suddenly felt a bit of stage-fright.

"90seconds till the next match." She was brought back to her surroundings. As a virtual Blastoise appeared, Kari remembered that she and Eevee still had a lot of work to do. Kari rushed to Eevee's side and administered the Full Heal.

"You ready for the next one?" Eevee stood up, now completely healed, and nodded in agreement. They both returned to their starting positions as the timer hit zero and the next match began.

Giovanni and Dana were making their way down the Battle Hall. They had just finished dealing with an imbecile of a doctor. Dana wrote quickly as Giovanni spoke, "Put an ad for a new Pokemon Geneticist out. And this time, I want to speak with him before he goes messing around any of our laboratories."

"Yes, Sir, Giovanni." The two had just come down to where a crowd of on-lookers stood. Someone was engaged in a Battle Simulator Test. This was a mechanism of Giovanni's own design. One could train and level up their Pokemon without ever having to leave the building. This was also how the Team Rocket Members determined their ranking, and for the trainees, their class level- the longer you lasted, the higher your ranking. This determined whether you were just a lowly grunt, or good enough for classified missions.

"Well, it looks like someone is getting good use out of my Battle Simulator." As they neared the room, Giovanni noticed the Pokemon sitting at the desk. It was Persian. He ran the last leg of the hall and yanked the door open. Inside, Persian had settled himself in the desk chair- he had given up trying to break into the Simulation Room 30minutes into the game. When the door slammed open, Persian jumped out of his chair, surprised. Upon realization on who it was, however, he made himself disappear in the shadows of the desk.

Dana had followed Giovanni inside. She took one look at the monitors and understood the situation, "Just one moment, Sir, I'll have this shut down right away." She made for the desk, but he blocked her. She looked at his face, "Sir?" There was something of a triumphant & gleeful look in his eyes.

"Not quite yet, Dana." He was watching Kari through the glass windows, and she was having the time of her life. After having defeated another opponent, Kari and Eevee were jumping around celebrating. He hadn't seen her like this in ages. They were both battered and looked exhausted, but they were happy. He looked at the scoreboard. She was on Level 74. He couldn't believe it. Only his top ranked members had ever lasted this long. He, himself, had set the high score of 115 and here Kari was acting as if this was some easy video game..? Giovanni chuckled, "Let's see how much longer she can last."

Inside the room, Kari and Eevee were ready for their next challenge. They were exhausted now. Eevee more than Kari, naturally, but they had been locked in this game for well over an hour now. A holographic Gengar materialized. The counter reached zero, and the match began.

Gengar started out with a Shadow Ball attack. Eevee dodged it easily. "Alright, Eevee! Counter with Swift!" The attack landed but the Gengar never slowed. It returned with a Sucker Punch, launching Eevee into the air. Rather than falling limp towards the ground, Eevee retaliated with its own Bite Attack. Eevee was using all his strength to hold on tight. Gengar eventually threw Eevee off. Eevee landed on the edge of the battle field. Before Eevee could get his footing, Gengar had swooped in for an entourage of Shadow Ball Attacks. A cloud of dust swirled within the room, "Eevee!"Kari could barely see anything. She could hear Gengar's cackle, followed by another large thump.

By the time the air had cleared, Eevee was laying at her feet. On the board, she saw that his HP had almost reached zero, while Gengar's was still half full. Eevee struggle to his feet. He was breathing hard and his legs were shaking, but Kari knew that he would never give up- not until the very end. There were voices behind them, whether they were cheering or cat-calling, Kari didn't care. All that mattered was this battle. And they needed to finish it, fast.

"Alright, listen up, Eevee. I've got an idea." She spoke swiftly, before Gengar could attack again, but this time they were ready.

"Here it comes!" Eevee dashed forward to meet it halfway- Gengar had readied another Shadow Ball, but before it was released Eevee picked up speed and jumped. He jumped straight through Gengar's body to its backside, twisted midair, and let out a fully charged Hyper Beam. The whole room shook, pieces of the original flooring flew all over, and when the smoke cleared Gengar was gone.

"Congratulations. You move onto Level 75. Please feel free to replenish your energy with this Oran Berry." Kari scooped up Eevee and fed it two berries from their past winnings. It was hard to tell from inside the room, but the crowd outside seemed to have gotten a lot rowdier after that last match. Kari knew how much energy it took for Eevee to use his Hyper Beam, so they hadn't. She gave him a smile, "You ready to take this up a notch?" Eevee nodded. Now that he didn't have to hold back, he was excited and pumped for the next match!

"Did you see that!?"

"Well, duh! I'm standing right next to you!"

"That was a Hyper Beam, wasn't it?"

"I've never seen one up-close!"

"Man, who is that girl?" Giovanni looked on proudly. He could hear the jealous ramblings in the hallway. No one, not even Giovanni himself, could have dreamed that these two little ones would be able to make it this far. But Giovanni had noticed that they were holding back. He knew full well that Eevee was capable of using the powerful Hyper Beam Attack and he wondered why Kari hadn't used it earlier. But now… Now that they were going all out, they defeated their opponents easily. No one was surprised when 20minutes later, they had made it to level 88. By this time, Persian had deemed it safe to come out from hiding, and was enjoying the show like everyone else.

Inside the room a Charizard had appeared. Eevee was finishing up the last bits of an Oran Berry when the Charizard let out a roar.

"Geeze! Someone's pumped to get things started..!" Kari was covering her ears. She looked down at Eevee, "You ready, Buddy?" Eevee readied himself on the arena. The counter reached zero and Charizard flew into attack mode. But it wasn't the only one. Eevee had bounded forward- he was still quicker than his opponent. He put all his weight into a Tackle Attack, but when he looked up he realized it had done very little damage. A split-second later, Charizard whipped its tail around and Eevee was flying backwards. He hit the window and landed on the ground. "Eevee!" He heard Kari calling for him. He stood back up and dashed forward, ready for the next command.

"Eevee! Try a Swift Attack! And don't hold back!" Eevee circled around and around, trying to confuse the Charizard, all-the-while bombarding it with continuous Swift Attacks. It seemed to work for a moment, at least, the Charizard seemed to be getting dizzy. Eevee took his chance and leapt into a Tackle Attack. Charizard toppled over.

While Eevee caught his breath, Charizard took the time to straighten itself out. Eevee had already used up a lot of energy running around, but Charizard looked unharmed.

"Looks like we're gonna have to use the big one!" Eevee steadied himself. He took deep breaths, focused on building up the energy inside him. He could feel the ground shudder as Charizard came towards him.

"Just a little more. A little more." While most people, and Poke'mon, would have been running for the hills by now, Eevee trusted Kari. And he knew that when she gave the cue, his aim would be true. Charizard was so close that he could feel its warm breath- "Now!" He opened his mouth and released all of the built up energy- right into the Charizard's face. The force of the blast threw Charizard up against the back wall. They couldn't tell if Charizard was down, but Eevee hoped so. He was already exhausted and was so ready for another juicy berry.

Kari studied the fallen Charizard. Was it out? She couldn't see the HP Gauge behind all the smoke. She squinted her eyes to try and see, "…I think it maybe- " But before she could finish her sentence, Charizard was on its feet & gliding towards them.

"Eevee! Look out!" Eevee was still catching himself up from the last blast. Charizard plucked the little Eevee up into the air & flung him across the room. Eevee lay still where he landed.

"EEVEE!" If anything happened to him…! And without thinking, she ran straight onto the field. She didn't care that hundreds of voices were calling for her to come back. But she did notice the giant virtual Charizard preparing for a powerful attack. She made it to Eevee, scooped him up, and jumped out of the way just as Charizard's Flamethrower burst from its jaws. The attack blasted the ground beneath her, so although she had dodged the attack itself, the force of it all rebounded her against the wall. She knocked her head and crumpled to the floor, out cold.

Giovanni dashed inside, Persian on his heels. The moment he realized what Kari was doing, he ordered Dana to stop the transmission. But it was too late. The Charizard dematerialized only after the attack had been shot. And by the time Giovanni was able to force the doors open, Kari was already unconscious on the ground. He picked up her limp body and felt her breath.

"She's bleeding." Dana was standing just behind him. She turned to the watching crowd, "We need a doctor! Now!" Not a moment later, 5 men wearing lab coats were clawing their way inside the room- each of them trying to put themselves in good favor with the boss. No one knew who this mysterious little girl was with the souped-up Eevee, but she must have been important to The Boss. Everyone watched in silent whispers as the girl was carried out of the room, she and Eevee sharing a stretcher, Giovanni following close behind.

Dana stopped before the audience and glared at them, "Don't you all have some class to get to?" Immediately, the crowd broke up and scrambled away. No one wanted to catch Dana's fury. She turned away and caught up with Giovanni at the elevator.

"Man, that was crazy..!" Georgie and Amy were making their way down the hall and towards the cafeteria. They had still not eaten anything.

"Yeah, can you believe that little girl!?" An arm shot out from behind them and locked itself around Georgie's neck, "She was so strong!" The owner of this arm was another boy wearing red trainee uniforms- the boy with dark blue hair Kari had noticed earlier, his name was Eric.

"And I thought Emily over here was scary!" He laughed until a book came in contact with his head. Emily, a girl with light blue hair, grabbed Eric by the collar, "What was that?"

"Ehh, nuthin,' nuthin' at all..!" Eric knew better than push his sister's buttons. Amy picked up the book that had landed by her feet, "So, what do you think of that girl?" Emily dropped her brother. Amy handed over the weapon of choice, "She made your high score look like a cake-walk." Emily looked down at her book: Ancient Ruins of Alph- Demystified. Emily may have been a quiet student, but she was still the top-ranked out of their whole class. She followed the rules, read all of the required readings, and even stayed after to polish the pokéballs. She deserved her spot at the top, and who was this little girl coming in to steal her glory?

She continued walking, "I don't know, but if a little girl like that was able to blow my high score of 70 out of the water, what does that mean for you lot?" The others followed close behind, "Hmm, good point." Georgie added, "But you know, I don't think she was a student at all…"

"Now that you mention it," Eric made sure to stay far away from his sister's throwing arm, "What was with The Boss rushing in? And Madam Dana didn't look too pleased, either…" They walked on. And just like everyone else that witnessed the strange event, they questioned who the mysterious little girl was and wondered where she had learned how to be so strong…

…

Something smelled sweet. Sweet and cinnamony. When Kari opened her eyes, she was in her room. That was confusing. She could have swore she was at Daddy's work. Team Rocket was what it was called, right? She sat up in her bed and immediately wished she hadn't. Her head was throbbing- what had happened? Then it all started to come back to her, as if on slow-mo.

She remembered the Battle Game. She remembered fighting long and hard and that she and Eevee had been doing well, when- "Ah, you're awake." Kari looked up. Her father was standing in her doorway wearing the kitchen apron. And even more strange, he was smiling. He took her hand, "Come. I've made your favorite." Giovanni led Kari to the Kitchen and to the source of the sweet/ cinnamony smell. He had indeed made her favorite: Oatmeal. It was something her mother used to make for her- her special recipe with a dash of cinnamon. Except, she would only make it for Kari on special occasions, and as far as Kari knew, her birthday had already passed…

Eevee and the others came running into the kitchen from the yard. There was oatmeal in their bowls, too. Kari sat down and scooped up a spoonful- it tasted just like Mommy's cooking. It actually made her a little sad…

"Sooo… What's the occasion..?" Giovanni walked around the table, "Do you remember your little jaunt around Team Rocket Headquarters yesterday? And the Battle Simulator?" Yesterday? Was that yesterday? Oh, she remembered now! She had been blasted away by Charizard's attack- and she must have hit her head. She reached up- yup, there was a bandage up there. Well, that explained why she had a headache.

"Uhm, kind of. You mean the game Eevee & I were playing?" She tried to act innocent. Giovanni wasn't having any of it, "Well, that 'game' just so happened to be high end battling technology that cost a lot of money. And within just a couple hours, you and Eevee completely demolished it." Kari tried not to meet his eyes, "Oh, uhm… I'm sorry. We were just- "

"Sorry?" Giovanni had stopped walking, "Why, quite the contrary, my dear, I am astounded and even perplexed that you were able to do all those things!" Kari looked up, "…You were?… Wait, what do those words even mean…?"

"I made you your favorite oatmeal because we are celebrating!" By now Kari started to think her father had finally gone crazy, "Celebrating what, exactly?" Giovanni chuckled to himself, "Your entrance into the Team Rocket Academy, of course." Kari almost choked up her oatmeal in that instant, "Wait, what?"

"Starting tomorrow, you will be joining me everyday at work. Except from now on, you will be attending the same classes that all the members of Team Rocket do. And, within a year, your already impressive battling skills will be that much more." Giovanni had the same triumphant and gleeful look in his eyes like when he watched Kari battling.

"Woah, woah, woah- wait! But what about my vacation? What about school?" What was happening, now?

"What's the point of you attending normal schooling when everything you need to know will be taught to you in the safety of my workplace. Plus, you'll be able to learn all about Pokémon battles. Isn't that what you want to learn anyways?" Giovanni, clever as he was, found it easy to manipulate his 6year old daughter. He knew he couldn't force her to do things, he couldn't have that on his conscience. But if she chose to do this of her own free will, well, then his work was done. A brief pause.

"I- I guess that's true…" Kari didn't quite understand what was happening, but he was right… Wasn't he..? After all, all Kari wanted to do was grow up and become a Pokémon Trainer and at this Academy she could. Plus, like he said, she'd be able to spend more time with her father… Maybe this was a good thing… Maybe…?