A/N: It's been a while. Let me know if you like the story.

Game Corner (Part 2)

I mean OF COURSE Erika was Green.

Green was known to operate around Celadon City, whose city gym was GRASS AND PLANT themed, for crying out loud. Green was careful not to be caught on security cams, but what few blurry pictures we DID have always shown a thin, smaller frame of body… because she was a woman.

It seemed so obvious now that Erika (in her tight black suit) was right in front of me. The gentle and seemingly frail demeanor she let off as Erika the Gym Leader was probably a genuine side of her, but it also did serve as a face to hide her incredible mental acuity and physical combat abilities. It was a classic superhero's secret identity, and I was totally digging it.

It was obvious with Erina, my friend from Mt. Moon standing beside her now, that the two of them were sisters. How the heck did I not see it before? The two of them were very obviously sisters with their jet black hair, fair skin, and pretty faces. But I'm telling you that NO ONE, not including me, would've ever imagined in a thousand years that the soft-spoken, delicate Erika in her kimono was the Rocket-ass-kicking vigilante-in-a-motorcycle-helmet agent Green.

"There's time later to talk," I said, putting my Jigglypuff mask on. "Let's get out of here before more of them show up."

"NO!" Erina almost shouted. She reached into a hidden pocket and produced a keycard. "This is the only chance we can get rid of Team Rocket from Celadon."

"This…" Erika took the keycard from her. "This is what I needed to get into the command center. How did you…?"

"Sis… you have to take them out, and get the evidence we need to go to the authorities-" But Erina was in bad shape. A fit of coughing stopped her mid-sentence.

Even though she had regained a small burst of energy upon seeing me and her sister, it was clear that she needed to go get medical help.

"Erika, go," I said, taking the keycard from Erina's hand. "Take Erina to the hospital. I can take it from here."

I felt the internal dilemma in each of the sisters. Erina wanted Erika to help me take out the Rockets. To rid Celadon from the Rockets was, after all, what Erika wanted the most. To leave now might mean that a better chance would never present itself.

Erika knew this too, and I could see it in her eyes. But the hesitation was only there for a fraction of a second. Nothing was more important than her family.

"The lift is that way," Erika said, giving me directions. "I'll be back as soon as I can, after my sister is in a safe place."

The Rocket reinforcements were already swarming.

"Here, put these on," Erika said, giving me a gas mask. As she helped Erina put hers on, Erika's Gloom was letting out a thick clog of purple Poison Powder.

"Argh! It's Poison Powder! Retreat to the staircases and get the ventilation going on at max level!" a Rocket lieutenant shouted.

If it was just Erika and me, we would have no problem fighting through, but with Erina, we needed a safer route out.

"Come this way!" I led them to a wall, an edge of the infrastructure.

Graveler easily ripped open the concrete wall, revealing the dirt. Then, it was all up to my Diglett.

"You know what to do, buddy. Lead them away from the noise and come out somewhere quiet, okay? Then doubleback and cover your tracks."

Erika looked back and nodded at me in thanks.

With the sisters out of harm's way, it was easy for me to get around the Rockets. The building was still being lit with emergency lights, so going from dark corner to corner, I quickly made my way to the lift. Fortunately, it was still being powered by the emergency generator. I used the key card and it opened without a problem.

I had to use the key card again to be able to press the buttons inside the lift, and I selected B4. There was a secret room there that was only accessible through this elevator.

I expected the door to open to a whole gang of Rockets waiting for me, but it opened to a wall 10 feet in front of me, and was quiet. The whole area was decked out in fancy carpets and wallpapers, and since it was lit by oil-lamps, was better lit than the upper floors. I cautiously walked out and turned to the right, since the left was a dead end. Peeking over the corner, I could see one Rocket guy standing guard, and a part of the large wooden door he was guarding. There was probably another one standing on the other right side of the door.

"Hey! Who are-"

The guy could say no more before my Pikachu electrocuted both guards. I tied them up tightly to take them out of the equation.

The wooden door was the only way forward. And normally I would've been more cautious, but I knew exactly who was behind the door.

The door was unlocked and revealed a very elegant room furnished with the wooden antique furniture of the highest quality. There, sitting behind the giant mahogany desk, was Giovanni.

The room was very dimly lit so at first, I could not see his eyes. It also didn't help that the thick smoke from the cigar in his mouth was also obscuring his face. When the smoke cleared up a bit, I could see him. Giovanni, in the flesh, with his black Rocket blazer and white turtle-neck.

If he could've seen under my mask, he might've been upset that I was stifling a laugh.

"So who are you supposed to be?" Giovanni said, still sitting in his leather seat. "A Jigglypuff mask. I've gotten reports of your activities since you meddled with our shipments in Vermillion… it's quite surprising to see you'd walk into our business here in Celadon. Should've known you were working with this pesky Green fellow."

I said nothing, but readied myself for battle. He got up from his seat with a Pokeball in his hand.

"I need to make an example out of both of you," he said. "To show the world what happens if you mess with Team Rocket!"

An Onix came out, and thank goodness that this particular room was very spacious and had high ceilings, otherwise we would have all been crushed. I don't think the original Pokemon game designers really thought through some situations deeply, like having water Pokemon "swim" on land, or using Dig, Surf or Fly indoors in tight spaces…

In any case, I judged that it would be best to restrict Onix's movements in this indoor space.

"Onix, use- hey, wha?" Giovanni was surprised to see Ivysaur thrashing Onix around with vines wrapped around him. Compared to Brock's Onix, Giovanni's was pathetic.

Giovanni recalled his Onix and sent out his Rhyhorn.

"Tackle, full speed!" he instructed.

I don't know what he expected, but my Ivysaur was a tanky boy. He wasn't going to do any damage. But the leader of Team Rocket wouldn't be the leader of Team Rocket if he wasn't a cheating douche. As Rhyhorn was charging, I caught Giovanni throwing a second Pokeball somewhere behind me in an underhanded toss. I knew what was up, and released a Pokeball of my own.

Giovanni's Kangaskhan came out of the Pokeball behind me, and seemed to have no reservations as it tried to punch me. If it wasn't for the fact that I expected Giovanni to play dirty, I literally would have died. Luckily, I never underestimate anyone, and that's why Kangaskhan's punch didn't hit me, but rather my boy Snorlax right on his big tummy.

"Goooorrr?!" Snorlax was less than pleased. Of course he was! He came out of his Pokeball expecting a feast in front of him, only to find a punch into his stomach. This is not the snack I wanted, he seemed to scream.

Very few Pokemon can withstand the wrath of a hungry and annoyed Snorlax. Kangaskhan tried to guard against the furries of Snorlax, but ended up eating a dozen chubby fists in the face.

Snorlax then turned to find Ivysaur's vines holding Rhyhorn up in the air, and started charging at him. Ivysaur released Rhyhorn on my command, and Snorlax body-checked him mid air, towards Giovanni. If he didn't jump out of the way at the last second, he would've been crushed by the giant Rhyhorn.

"Hmph, seems like you're more skilled than you look, Green," he said, trying to sound calm. It wasn't lost on me that he was trembling a little bit.

It would've been all too easy to put an end to Giovanni right here now, perhaps hurt him enough to hospitalize him for many months. Years, even. But I didn't know what would happen at the Viridian City gym if I hurt him here. Maybe it'll change the course of the narrative too much. No, this wouldn't do. I still needed certain things to unfold the original ways. This is why I decided to give Giovanni a way out.

"I'll get you next time," he said, trying to slowly walk out of the room.

And yet… he DID hurt my friend, Erina.

I had Ivysaur grab Giovanni with vines and threw him across the room. He was knocked out instantly. On Giovanni's desk there was a computer. Unlocking it with Giovanni's thumbprint, I was able to destroy all traces of Green and me from the surveillance systems.

As expected, he had a thick wallet, and I promptly emptied it. His office cabinet and drawers also had some nice things in them, including a few gold bars (wow!) and a large bag of game corner coins. And finally, I did see a thing that looked like night vision goggles so I snatched that as well.

With all these things done, I swiftly made my escape out of the Rocket lair and disappeared into the night.