A/N: This chapter got done surprisingly quick. Admittedly, there wasn't many questions I needed to alter into story related content and most of the additions are expansions to stuff already present in the chapter such as better descriptions. I'd say this is a pretty exciting chapter and one of those which really allowed me to flex my writing skills back in it's original upload. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did writing it back then and editing it into existence recently.
Nanka's Pokémon Miiverse Adventure Act 4 Continued Further!
"Rocket Game Corner?" Nanka read from the sign, which displayed the 'R' proudly in a dark red, "T-that's an unfortunate name to have. Someone could easily mistake it for being associated with Team Rocket."
Nanka had suggested that her team do something relaxing for the day, but the game corner she had heard so many city folk talk about was… louder than she had expected. The sounds of dropping pennies, rowdy cheering and frustrated yelling boomed from the 'playground for grownups.'
"W-well… we might as well check it out whilst we're here." Nanka said hesitantly, followed inside by her team of Pokémon.
Nanka and Jolt entered the Game Corner and were immediately assaulted by a barrage of sounds and sights. Energetic music blasted from the speakers as lights flashed from every corner of the room.
As Nanka's Pokémon fanned out to check out the area, with Venom keeping a constant eye on the eager to run off Arid, Nanka carried Chu-Chu and made her way to the service desk. Jolt followed on beside her, briefly casting curious looks at the blinking and beeping rows of slot machines.
"Excuse me, I was wondering how I"-Nanka stared to inquire as the clerk turned towards her, a glasses wearing man with a well toned body, visible due to how he wore little but a Machoke stylised pair of trunks and belt-"Plaaay-eeep!"
"Welcome to Rocket Game Corner! Do you need some game coins?" The barely garbed clerk asked the blushing girl.
"I-I-I guess…" Nanka stammered out, shifting uncomfortably as she avoided looking at the immodestly dressed man.
"Oh, sweetie! A precious gal like you'se come here to has some fun on tha slots." Nanka heard a woman address her, seeing a curvaceous lady garbed in a figure hugging Goldeen styled leotard approach her. "Y'know, you'll need in a Coin Case before a darling like ya can join in the fun."
"Thank you! T-T-Thanks, miss!" Nanka blurted out, turning her head away from the female clerk as well, the sight of both the 'sensually' garbed man and woman causing her teenage body to heat up in ways that she wasn't fond of.
Having been informed by the clerks that she would need an official Rocket Game Corner coin case to use the slots, a still blushing Nanka started to make her way to the exit, glancing about for her Pokémon. "Please come back here everyone; we're going."
Nanka waited for the remaining four members of her Pokémon team to walk back over to her, when a man on a nearby slot machine shouted out to her, "Hey! A trainer like you shouldn't be here!"
Nanka spun around to see the Celadon City's Gym Aide, looking rather identical to the others in appearance, addressing her as he continued to pull down the slot lever, "You have better things to do, champ in the making!"
The Aide briefly paused to check his slot results, cursed, then turned back to Nanka. "You should go take on Erika; Celadon City's grass type gym leader."
"I… guess we're going to take on the gym today instead." Nanka mumbled uncertainly as jingling coins from the game corner still echoed in her mind.
"Pika!" Jolt fist-pumped the air, thrilled to be heading for a gym battle so soon.
Jolt began to head towards the scents of battle and flowers, followed closely by his trainer, who wandered about the path with muddled thoughts. His trainer was lost in her own world, so it was no surprise when she accidentally bumped into someone.
"M-my apologies! I wasn't looking where I…" Nanka began to apologise, only stopping when she noticed the Team Rocket uniform this 'someone' she had bumped into was wearing.
Frightened by the sudden encounter with the nonchalant Rocket, Nanka ended up taking shelter in the nearest building. Thankfully for her, said shelter was a restaurant, allowing Nanka and her Pokémon to finally have a relaxing moment.
As her Pokémon munched away at berry sandwiches, Nanka somehow got stuck in a conversation with a stranger. The depressed stranger started telling his tale of woe to Nanka, how he had gotten cocky after winning a few times at the slots and his earnings had vanished. He parted life lessons onto Nanka, to be thankful of the smaller blessings; to sometimes leave and be content with what you've got rather than risk it all.
Then, to avoid ever leaving himself exposed to temptation again, the stranger gave Nanka his Rocket Game Corner approved coin case.
Having been gifted with a coin case from a retiring gambler, Nanka decided to return to the Game Corner. For as uncomfortable as she found the place, with its loud sounds and suggestively dressed staff, she was having a hard time getting the sights and sounds of spinning roulettes and raining coins out of her head.
She had planned on purchasing coins, but it appeared to be her lucky day; she was finding many forgotten coins on the floor.
"S-see, Jolt! I did win!" Nanka exclaimed as she pointed to the line of Koffings displayed on the yellow slots. "An I'm sure I can win more! One more time!"
Jolt slowly nodded, worry plain on his face. He was concerned for his trainer. She took thirteen attempts to win, had less than she started with, yet she was happy about it. It made no sense to Jolt.
As his trainer continued to pull the slot lever, screaming with joy when she won the slightest amount and screaming with anger when she lost, the Pikachu considered if he should stop his trainer.
"T-That's a… a lot… hehehe…" Nanka began to chuckle as she saw the three flashing bar signs light up on the slot machine. "Whoo! See Jolt! We're winning tons right now!"
Game coins splurged from the machine, a pay-out of a hundred credits being counted down. Jolt sat beside Chu-Chu, the two of them worrying over their trainer and unnerved by her behaviour. Thankfully though, it seemed lady luck was on her side.
Lady luck abandoned her.
"Nonononono, nooooo!" Nanka cried out as she received another dud reel, hearing the now familiar message of 'not this time.'
Jolt witnessed as the three bar's one hundred credits were wiped out from successive losses. His trainer brushed off each failure as she pulled the lever a total of two hundred times, resulting in one hundred and twenty seven failed attempts to win big.
"Okay; a few more tries won't hurt." Nanka declared, as many more jackpot failures occurred.
"Nooooo! Don't take me away from slotso! I'm winning!" Nanka cried out as she clung onto the slot machine.
Jolt was not worried about his trainer losing at this point; four hundred tries in and lady luck once again blessed his trainer, leading her to win one thousand four hundred and seventeen credits. What he was worried about was how long she had been playing, a concern shared with the rest of her tired and hungry Pokémon.
The clock was ticking close to midnight, her trainer having stuck herself down before the affectionately named 'slotso' since early afternoon. Having refused to budge, Venom had grabbed hold of Nanka by the waist, and was pulling Nanka away from the slots with the assistance of Jolt, Arid, Ion, and Ribbon.
To their surprise, Nanka's travelling companions learned that when their trainer was determined, or obsessed in this case, she could be surprisingly strong. Even Venom, as a bulky Nidoqueen, was unable to pry their trainer away from the gambling machine, and it was only thanks to help from the others that she was able to yank Nanka away. The group also found out that their trainer had a surprisingly strong grip, the lever of the machine being pulled clean off, still within Nanka's hands. They also accidentally let go of their trainer in the yanking process, sending the young girl flying through the air and into a waltzing by Rocket.
Nanka was rather disoriented as a fuming Team Rocket member stood over her, yelling something about a poster.
Seeing his princess, dazed and confused, the valiant Chu-Chu hopped over to defend Nanka. Seeing Chu-Chu the Magikarp about to be hyper fanged to oblivion, Venom stepped in and double kicked the rocket's giant brown rat Pokémon unconscious.
"Dang!" The Rocket guard yelled as he returned his Ratticate and then flipped a switch behind a nearby post. "Out hideout might be discovered! I better tell the boss!"
The Rocket then ran over to a now not-so-secret-entrance.
Still quite disoriented; she still had a firm grip on the broken slot lever, Nanka allowed curiosity to guide her down the not-so secret entrance. Her Pokémon followed; Arid and Jolt eagerly dashing down the stairs to the mystery place, and Ion simply glad to be away from all the machines and technology of the Game Corner.
Unfortunately for Ion, this new area was also brimming with flickering lights and wall-to-wall tech. It was a brightly lit basement overall, many flashing lights making clear the many Team Rocket insignias placed just about everywhere they could be painted.
Before Nanka could even think about running away from the den of thieves, she heard the exit close behind her.
"Oh no." Nanka uttered as she ran to the firmly sealed exit. "Oh no! We have to get out of here!"
Her disorientation was washed away with worry, dread cleansing her head of the sound of slots. Nanka's focus was on escape, but despite the efforts of her physically stronger ground types, the exit wasn't opening.
"Hey! You!" A man called out, and Nanka quickly turned to find a Rocket marching towards her. "You broke into our operation?"
"You're not going to get away with this, brat!" The defeated Rocket yelled to the fleeing girl.
"Okay, okay! J-just calm down." Nanka reassured herself as she ran away from the Rocket whilst carrying her Eevee. "Y-you did great, Ion. You bested two Ratticates!"
Nanka was running about to find a safe spot to hide, to have a chance to heal up Ion, when her body suddenly stopped; unable to move, let alone run.
Nanka, Jolt and Ion were all frozen still, psychic energy wrapped around them and gently lifting them off the floor by mere centimetres. They struggled as a teal haired Rocket member waltzed on over to them, a Drowzee walking beside him with outstretched glowing hands.
First removing a pair of small headphones connected up to a pocket radio on his belt, the Rocket looked to Nanka and her travelling companions with sharp teal eyes and barked, "Who are you? How did you get here?"
The Rocket opened his mouth to yell some more, but stopped, tilting his head as he leaned forward to closer inspect his captives, "D-do I know you?"
Ion shook his head, but Nanka and Jolt exchanged glances with one another, looking back to the Rocket and his sneering Drowzee and feeling that something was very familiar about them.
"Aha!" The Rocket proclaimed, pointing a finger towards the suspended Nanka. "You're the Swimsuit Vigilante!"
"No! No, I'm not!" Nanka screamed at the very mention of the name, as memories of her encounter with a thieving Rocket in Cerulean City flooded back to her.
It was at this moment that Arid chose to burst out from his Pokéball, greeting the familiar faces as cheerfully as ever, "Sla, sla, slash!"
"An you were that Sandshrew I tried to nab!" The fuming thief pointed out, his accusing finger shaking with anger as Arid waved back to him.
"You stopped me from stealing and loitering!" The Rocket stated; his Drowzee joining in with the scowling towards the oblivious Sandslash. "It's time for payback for the humiliation you gave me, you weird swimwear freak!"
"Y-you!? Humiliated!?" Nanka fumed, her embarrassment quickly shifting to pure rage. "The whole of Cerulean thinks I'm some swimsuit garmented crime fighter because of you! You humiliated me, you Pokémon and clothes robbing perverted Rocket thief!"
"First of all, the name's Carl, and secondly I am not the weirdo who ran out into the rain in a one-piece! You should of just stayed at the Pokécentre and let me steal your stuff!" Carl retorted, steam blowing out his ears.
Meanwhile, Arid was happy to see old friends again. He remembered having quite a fun time with them back in Cerulean city.
Like last time, one mighty slash from Arid brought down the Drowzee, freeing Nanka and her travelling companions from the psychic hold.
"Grrr, Machop! Get out here and karate chop this pest!" Carl shouted as he hurled his Machop's Pokéball at the floor, the grey skinned humanoid popping out and ready for battle.
With little wasted time, the Rocket's Machop spotted Arid and proceeded to run up with an arm raised high, a karate chop prepared. Said Machop was hardly the speediest of Pokémon though, and by the time he had swung his arm down, his Ground type foe had dug his way underground. Before the Machop could even contemplate what to do, Arid sprung out of his dug-up hole and took down the Machop with a single hit of Dig.
"Oww! Beaten again!" Carl the Rocket thief yelled and cursed, stamping the ground so much that his pocket radio fell off his belt, breaking when he accidentally crushed it beneath his boot. "An now you broke my radio! You dissing me?"
"You broke that yourself!" Nanka was quick to snap back, having little patience for the villain before her.
"Well once I heal my squad up, we're going to make you pay." Carl said as he returned his downed Pokémon and stormed off. "Count on that, Swimsuit Vigilante!"
"Stop calling me that!"
Having dealt with the familiar Rocket member, Nanka resumed her search for a safe place to rest, or preferably a means to escape. Finding every door shut on the floor she was on, Nanka was left with no other option but to venture deeper down into the Rocket Hideout.
Making her way down the stairs, she was immediately ambushed by a Rocket member; a mighty wave of Pokémon sent out to attack her. Jolt and Ribbon were the first to respond; the latter handing the rushing group with confuse ray. One Zubat though, snuck around the waves, flying out towards Ribbon's back with fangs bared.
"Ribbon, look out!" Nanka warned as the Rocket's Zubat closed in on her Golbat… when said Zubat was batted aside, tackled to the floor by Chu-Chu the Magikarp.
Surprisingly, Chu-Chu managed to take down the Zubat, a cause for celebration in his books. Beginning a victory splash, Chu-Chu yelled out joyously as he began glowing brightly.
"Chu-Chu… you're evolving!" Nanka squealed with a smile that grew bigger and bigger as her Magikarp in turn grew bigger and bigger.
"Piii-kaaaa!" Jolt cheered as his fished up catch begun to stretch out and change shape.
Chu-Chu's body was indeed stretching out, his body becoming larger and longer, as his mouth opened wide with large fangs forming. His body shone as his lengthier whiskers begun to sway and his red scales changed to blue. Soon, in place of the small, dopey-looking Magikarp was a towering, menacing Gyarados.
"C-Chu-Chu…" Nanka mumbled, dwarfed by the fish she used to carry about in her arms, "…you've gotten big."
The Rocket uniformed guard and his Machop stood by the stairs, prepared for anyone coming down to the minus third floor. As expected, someone did; a green haired girl with a smirking Pikachu was intruding on their territory.
"We got word from upstairs that you were coming!" The Rocket stated, his Machop cracking his knuckles.
The girl looked to the Rocket member with an innocent smile, "Go! Chu-Chu!"
A Gyarados hurtled down the stairs, roaring fiercely.
After much running about, Nanka finally managed to find a safe hiding spot, free from patrolling criminals or security cameras alerting said criminals to her group's presence. Collapsing down with a sigh of relief, Nanka began to hand out a bottle of fresh water to each of her parched Pokémon.
"Here you go, Venom." Nanka said as she passed the drink bottle over to her Nidoqueen, whose horn glistened, perhaps due to having recently been taught horn drill. "Drink up and refresh yourselves everyone."
Nanka sat back down as she opened up her own water bottle, glancing to each of her Pokémon. She watched as they re-energised themselves with gulps of water, the clean liquid flowing down to their lips… and it was then that Nanka realised a problem. Looking down to her open bottle of water, it dawned upon Nanka that she had been sat down at the slots for ten hours straight… and that she now really needed to use the ladies room.
"J-Jolt, not so fast." Nanka called out to her Pikachu as she looked to-and-fro, trying to find any signs of a lavatory. "Y-you wouldn't want to step on any of those strange panels by mistake."
Jolt turned around and tilted his head, before looking over to one of the glowing arrow marked titles on the floor and pointing to it. Nanka nodded in response, unsure as to what said tiles did, but weary of stepping on anything glowing and humming in a criminal's lair.
She was admittedly curious herself though, walking on over to closer inspect it herself… and then was playfully pushed onto the tile by Jolt.
"Jol-eeeekkkk!" Nanka ended up screaming as, before she could reprimand her Pikachu, she was propelled forwards by the tile and spinning constantly.
"Piiii!" Jolt squealed excitedly, joining his trainer in the fun as he jumped onto the tile himself, being launched after his trainer.
Upon spotting the unidentified trainer sprinting in his direction, the Team Rocket Grunt began shouting, "Intrud-," only to be ignored as the trainer rushed by him, heading into the hideout's lavatories.
The Rocket looked to the doorway to the toilets baffled, and then looked down to the intruder's Pikachu, who was standing at his side.
"Pika pika, Kachu." Jolt tried to explain, imitating a slot machine, a clock, the act of drinking and the need for a bathroom.
A short while later; Nanka exited the lavatories with a content smile on her face. She skipped on over to Jolt, and then turned around to face the nearby grunt.
"I'm sorry about ignoring you like that sir. I had been… focused on other things and hadn't been in a while." Nanka apologised, the memories of the fun and addictive slot machine still fresh in her mind. "Now, what were you saying before?"
The Rocket nodded in understanding, recollected himself, and then shouted, "Intruder alert!"
"It appears-" Nanka said, pausing to finish off the rest of her chocolate bar before continuing on to say, "-to need a key."
Having taken care of her hunger somewhat and… relieved herself of her other pressing matter, Nanka had now mostly dealt with the issues caused by long hours on the slot machine. This left her to resume her search for a way out, to which she soon came across the underground hideout's elevator. She thought said elevator would be her ticket out, but it appeared not, at least not without a key to open the doors.
"Now where could that elevator key be?" Nanka mused aloud.
Arid's mighty slash attack struck the Zubat, launching the opposing Pokémon into it's villainous trainer.
"Oh no! I dropped the lift key!" The grunt yelled as he crashed down to the floor, something indeed dropping from his hands and onto the floor.
Jolt quickly darted and nabbed the lone key, presenting it to his trainer, "Piii-ka!"
"Good job, Arid! You too, Jolt. Hopefully we can get out of here now." Nanka said with a pleased but exhausted expression.
Previously preoccupied with more pressing matters, Nanka saw the propulsive tiles as nothing more than an inconvenient way to travel.
"Whoo-hoo!" Now though, they were a pure delight to travel with.
"Pi! Ka! Chu!" Jolt joined in cheering with his trainer, as he was propelled forth after her, spinning around and around.
The odd, dizzying tiles almost made Nanka forget she was locked in a secret base of criminals; allowing her to relax.
The elevator descended down to the basements fourth floor slowly; offering Nanka and her Pokémon a chance to rest. This was both a blessing and a curse.
Her Pokémon had time to prepare themselves; Jolt had started shadowboxing, Venom snacked on a bottle of PP-UP, and Chu-Chu was guzzling down a fresh water. Thinking about it, the Rocket Hideout elevator was surprisingly large and strong, fitting her large and heavy Pokémon.
In any case, the smaller and lighter Nanka busied herself with small thoughts and tasks, trying to fight off the temptation of sleep. A villainous lair was hardly the most appropriate place to have a nap.
As the elevator doors opened, Nanka and Jolt were greeted by darkness, the Pallet town trainer having returned her other Pokémon at this point. Stepping out of the elevator though, they had little time to wonder where the light switch was as several blue and red lights began to appear.
"Not another step, brat!" A woman shouted out, drawing Nanka and Jolt's attention to three figures concealed in the shadows. "Prepare for trouble!"
"Make it double!" A man sung along with the woman, the two voices familiar to Nanka, causing the young girl to smile at the familiar lyrics.
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all people within our nation!"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
"Jessie!" A red spotlight illuminated the white uniformed Team Rocket member.
"James!" A blue spotlight presented the other familiar Team Rocket member as he held out a rose.
"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"
Then the entire room lit up with a yellow glow of the regular ceiling lights, a third smaller figure jumping down and introducing himself, "Meowth! That's right!"
Nanka immediately began to applause, "Wow! You're as wonderful-"
"Quit your fake tears!" James snapped with tears of his own in his green eyes, interrupting Nanka.
"Yeah, you're not tricking us with that good girl act this time!" Meowth accused.
"Awww, you think I'm a good girl. That's real sweet; thank you." Nanka replied, looking away with a large and happy smile.
"That wasn't a compliment!" The Rocket trio yelled. "You humiliated us at Mt. Moon!"
Nanka looked to the angered Team Rocket, the sweet girl bowing her head as she apologised, "O-oh… d-do you mean… I'm ever so sorry about that! Jolt, please apologise as well; you were the one who zapped them after all."
Jolt turned to the Rocket trio, a grin growing on his face as he slowly replied, "Pi. Ka. Chu."
"You're not sorry at all!"
"J-Jolt! What did you say?" Nanka asked, seeing Meowth seething.
"Pika, Pi, Pikachu, kaaa!" Jolt continued, cheeks buzzing in anticipation.
"Nyarrr! Best day ever! You'll enjoy thrashing us again! Well we'll see about that!" The talking Pokémon shouted back, glistening claws popping out of his paws. "It's payback time!"
As James and Jessie threw out their Pokémon, Nanka turned to her excited starter and cried out, "Jolt! What did you say!?"
"Piiikaaachuuu!" The numerous malicious sounding Jolt's that filled the room chanted.
"W-which one's the real one!?" Meowth cried out in alarm.
"Grrr, stop running away already!" Jessie snapped, gnawing on her red lip in frustration as the double-team's of Jolt ran about the room.
Hearing the Team Rocket member's request, Jolt was happy to comply, his real self running forth from the illusions and assaulting James' Koffing with a Thunderbolt.
"My Koffing!" James screamed, reaching an impressively high pitch as his unconscious Koffing floated down to the floor.
"I'm so sorry, James!" Nanka cried out as her ecstatic Pikachu 'bullied' the friendly criminals before her.
"I'll get you for that!" Meowth shouted out, only for Jolt to charge towards the cat Pokémon and body slam into him.
"I'm truly sorry!" Nanka continued to cry out her apologies as the critical hit struck Meowth crashed down on top of the fainted purple ball that was Koffing.
Jolt landed on top of the pile of fainted Pokémon, flipping off of them quickly with sparking cheeks, looking over to the Ekans with delight. The small purple snake barely had time to yelp in fright as Jolt frazzled it with a mighty zap of his thunderbolt.
"S-so… so sorry." Nanka murmured, knowing no one was hearing her over Jolt's victorious rampage.
Jolt skipped merrily into the last room of the hideout, content with blasting off his favourite Rockets… to beat up of course. Nanka followed, eyes glued to the floor, glumness over the events that had unfolded keeping her head down.
"They seem so nice… I'm sure we could have talked it out." Nanka said with a sigh, before raising her head, looking around the office area. "I guess we should start looking for a way to open the doors."
Throughout their journey in the hideout, Nanka and her travelling companions had searched every nook and cranny for a key or a switch or simply any means to open up the exit, though to no avail. The dimly lit office area that Nanka and Jolt had found their way to, visible only due to the glow of several monitors, was their last hope for a way out.
"So…" A sudden voice caused the duo to jump, their eyes turning towards the far side of the room, where they could just about see a seated man cloaked in shadows, "…I must say, I am impressed you reached here."
The man was barely visible due to his large chair blocking most of the light from the monitors behind him. Shadows blended with his dark hair, dark suit and even dark eyes. The only thing clear to Nanka was the Rocket logo on the man's chest and his confident smile.
Nanka gulped, and even Jolt seemed apprehensive before this stranger.
"I-I was just… ummm, looking for a way out… s-sir." Nanka explained with an unsteady smile.
"So you're just a lost girl then?" The broad man said with a warm smile, as he tapped a button on his desk. "Then here you go; the doors are now open."
Nanka's face lit up, "T-thank you very much sir! I truly appreciate it!"
Nanka and Jolt turned to leave immediately, wanting to hurry out of the place as soon as possible, when the man called out, "Now hold on, lost girl. Before you leave, I'd like to know your name."
Nanka was compelled to stop and turn. She felt she had to answer. She was not asked; she was ordered… and she was terrified of not following that order.
"My name is Nanka." The young girl forced out her lips, feeling an immense and intimidating pressure from the man, despite the kind smile plastered onto his face. "An next to me is my Pikachu, Jolt."
The Team Rocket member rose from his seat, his small eyes burning with cruelty as they stared Nanka down, as his very posture proclaimed power, "And I am Giovanni… leader of Team Rocket."
A shiver ran down Nanka's spine. Terror clutched her, as the leader of Kanto's largest and most feared criminal organisation walked to her, his malicious intent focused on her.
"Lost girl, Nanka!" Giovanni said, pulling a Pokéball from his chest pocket. "Whether you meant to or not, you've been interfering with my ambitions."
Giovanni released his Onix into the office, the rock snake coiling out and glaring at Nanka as the Rocket boss declared, "For your insolence, you will feel a world of pain."
Giovanni didn't say a word. He simply gave a thumbs down and his Onix threw out a rock throw towards Nanka and Jolt. With his trainer frozen to the spot, Jolt sprang forth, leaping between his trainer and the oncoming rock attack.
Seconds before impact though, a long blue tail grabbed Jolt and Nanka, pulling both of them out of the way.
"Thanks Chu-Chu!" Nanka cried out as Chu-Chu let go of her and Jolt. "Please, take down that Onix."
"You were quick to send out your Gyarados…" Giovanni said with a smirk as Chu-Chu bit into his Onix. "…but I'm not afraid of a child whose just gained fangs."
Chu-Chu reeled back from the Onix, his bite leaving the earth serpent unfazed. Giovanni's Onix roared, throwing rocks into Chu-Chu's face, knocking the giant Pokémon down to the floor.
"C-Chu-Chu!" Nanka gasped in disbelief, her seemingly unstoppable sea serpent lying injured before her.
Chu-Chu struggled to get back up as another rock throw attack was hurled in his direction.
"Chu-Chu! Come back!" Nanka shouted out, returning her Gyarados.
The large rocks hit the floor, the heavy impact crushing the tiles and shaking the area; knocking Nanka and Jolt off their feet. As Nanka scrambled to her feet, Giovanni went over to his Onix and sprayed something over the Pokémon's rocky body.
"Whilst you're dawdling, I might as well enhance my Pokémon with a guard spec." Giovanni hummed, only turning to Nanka and her now sent out Nidoqueen when he used up every last bit of the spray can. "You should have let that last attack hit. All you've done is wasted time."
Nanka scowled, trying to bury her fear with bitter feelings, "Venom, go double kick that Onix!"
Venom nodded, charging forth and striking the Onix with two mighty kicks. It evidently hurt the Onix, but not enough, as the angered rock type hit back with rage.
"Try double kick again!" Nanka suggested, the opposing Onix seemingly laughing at the announced attack.
Overconfident in its durability, the Onix did not expect the next double kick to strike twice as hard, knocking the Pokémon down and out.
"…A failure then." Giovanni noted as his Onix attempted to get back up, but instead dropped back down and remained unconscious.
"Rhyhorn! Eliminate them!" Giovanni ordered as he sent out a rocky, horned Pokémon.
Giovanni's Rhyhorn had barely touched down before it charged forth. Venom prepared for this oncoming charge, only to watch the Rhyhorn pass her by, instead heading towards Nanka and Jolt.
"V-Venom! Horn drill; quickly!" Nanka screamed.
With the rock plated quadruped focused elsewhere, it was easy for Venom to land her attack.
Giovanni looked to his defeated Rhyhorn and grinned, "Team Rocket captures Pokémon from around the world."
Nanka looked to the Rocket Boss, tense from battle, and confused as to the sudden speech.
"They're important tools for keeping our criminal enterprise going." Giovanni carried on as he returned his Rhyhorn and released a large creamy cat. "Some tools have been sharpened better than others!"
For as much as Nanka's heart raced from tension, her brain had slowed with confusion.
"Persian!" The cat growled out a second time, doing little to halt Venom's advancing poison sting.
The attack struck the Persian, this time poisoning it. Yet the Persian seemed unbothered, even grinning afterwards.
Nanka looked from the Persian to Giovanni, the latter looking very amused with the battle.
Giovanni snapped his fingers, and his Persian knew to use Pay Day. A single gold coin flew from the red jewel embedded on Persian's head, and struck Venom. The single coin bounced off of Venom, and burst into several coins, scattering about the room.
"Tell me... Nanka, was it?" Giovanni asked as he grabbed one of the falling scattered coins, "What is it you want in life? What do you aspire towards?"
Venom endured the hail of pay days from Persian, and then proceeded to double kick the Persian into Giovanni's desk. Giovanni didn't look to his fainted Persian, his focus only on Nanka.
"W-what I want..?" Nanka responded, her mind calming with each of Venom's victories. "I just want to travel... and have fun with my Pokémon."
Giovanni's eyes appeared to darken as he inquired, "That's it?"
"Y-yes!" Nanka replied.
Giovanni's brow furrowed as he asked, "So you just wish to travel? No plans to become a champion, or to capture the legendaries?"
"N-not really. I... I just want to have a fun time with my Pokémon." Nanka answered, worried about the Rocket's questions.
"With all that talent! With all that... power!" Giovanni seethed through gritted teeth. "An you just want to have fun!"
Nanka stepped back, as if Giovanni's venomous stare had lunged for her, "I see... a child like you would never understand what I hope to achieve!"
"W-what do you..." Nanka began to ask, only to notice Giovanni storming towards her.
Jolt and Venom stepped in front of their trainer, glaring intensely at the Rocket Boss, prepared for anything he'd tried to do. Giovanni paid them no mind as he proceeded to walk by the three of them, his fists clenched tightly.
As Giovanni reached the doorway, he suddenly stopped and immediately said. "Lost, fun-loving, girl! If you wish to grasp quite what you're meddling with, you should visit Pokémon Tower!"
Nanka looked to the facing-away Rocket, "What I'm med"-A sudden shove knocked Nanka to a wall, razor-sharp claws quickly around her neck.
Jolt and Venom had blinked and missed it, turning to the wall, to find their small trainer pinned to it by Persian.
"Kachu! Pikachu!" Jolt bellowed, lightning bolting from him.
The Persian paid no heed, taking one of his pearly white claws to Nanka's face, slowly scratching her cheek.
"Persian! Here!" Giovanni ordered, the feline Pokémon reluctantly withdrew it's red nail and let go of the terrified trainer.
As Jolt leapt into Nanka's shaking arms, the Persian made his way back to his own trainer, giving a brief hateful look at Venom before turning to and snickering at Nanka and Jolt.
Nanka didn't quite hear the rest. The Rocket leader said something about a present, about ghosts, about Silph. Nanka barely heard any of it over her own thundering heartbeat.
Jolt cuddled up to his scared trainer without his usual embarrassment for affection, no concerns for being seen as soft as he comforted her. With his tail, he carefully wiped away at Nanka's scratched cheek and snuggled up to the thankfully safe girl.
They had been trapped in the lair of Kanto's most feared criminal enterprise since midnight, and yet despite the odds, they all came out of the hideout safely.
A/N: Thus ends Nanka's Pokémon Miiverse Adventure Act 4 Continued Further, the tenth chapter of NPMA. Despite how this would've been a perfect spot to end Act 4, there is still another chapter of the fourth act to go. Act 4 shall end with the next chapter and the events at the infamous Pokémon Tower; another Team Rocket incident. It's actually kind of strange how close together the Team Rocket incidents are to one another; you could actually do all of them in a row without a break if you wanted to, though I feel the pacing is very off doing that; particularly for a story.
So what to mention here? Well as mentioned at the start, there wasn't much in the way of additional content here. I expanded upon what the Rocket Game Corner was like with added descriptions of the casino's hosts. I added some more interaction between Nanka and the recurring Rocket Thief; Carly Grey Archer, as well as some extra details to the first time Nanka used the hideout launch panels. Like I said, this proved to be an easy chapter to write out because it was solidly constructed before; my main task was fixing typo's and missing words (y'know the kind, where you have sentences missing the word but it is very clear what you meant to write down).
I had a lot of fun writing Giovanni, giving my take on the character. It's not a unique take per say, but it makes for a great antagonist and a great contrast to the friendly and humorous Team Rocket trio. I did utilise Giovanni's Persian a lot more though; really adding a sadistic and cruel character to it that allowed me to demonstrate the general wickedness of the Rockets. The Persian attacking Nanka scene took my original readership by surprise and I hope it had the same affect on you all on this site. Most of all though, I hope you enjoyed this latest chapter of Nanka's Pokémon Miiverse Adventure and I thank you for reading as always.