Once again the Boss was not the one to greet them in his office, not that it was really expected considering they were just a pair of grunts. Instead it was Joben who awaited them by the desk in his usual plain black suit, the personal assistant adjusting his rectangular glasses as they approached.
"Ah, the transport team returns. I take it that your mission was a success?"
The smaller of the two grunts went ramrod straight, Carlos's gloved hand going up to his head in a perfect salute. John meanwhile just gave Joben a shrug and lifted the case in his right hand up with a pointed look. Ignoring the sideways glance Carlos gave him, a silent plead in his green eyes, John took a step forward and grabbed the briefcase by the bottom end.
"Here is the case as ordered, all safe and sound." It was presented handle-first to the suit-wearing assistant. "The handover went smoothly; there were a few police cars on the highway heading back but that was all we saw." John smiled, keenly aware of Carlos's stare on him. "Nothing else to report, though the local radio channels need some different tunes."
Joben raised an eye at him, but John was certain that it wasn't because he'd just lied. It was confirmed a second later, Joben giving him a look of distaste before walking towards him.
"While we may have a shared opinion for once, Smith, I expect after-mission briefings to only contain information relevant to your actual task." He took hold of the case by the handle and John let go, Joben taking it back to the desk before he carefully placed it on the polished surface. The assistant fiddled with a hidden mechanism near the handle before he paused and looked to the two of them with a tilt of his head.
"You two did open it to check, didn't you?" A tut. "If the expected contents are not here…"
"Um…"
Carlos looked to John, but the larger grunt was preoccupied with grinning at Joben.
'Nice try.'
"Of course not," came the quick reply. "Orders were to return the case. There was nothing in the briefing about opening it. Could be empty for all we know, that's something you'll have to take up with the forest boys."
Joben merely scoffed at that with Carlos starting to sweat, but John's smile grew wider at the warning look he received.
'Maybe next time you'll trip me up.'
Locks and clasps clicked open and Joben lifted the lid the metal case, and any displeasure or other foul mood vanished from his expression in a heartbeat when he inspected the contents. With what seemed to be a small nod to himself Joben shut the container a few seconds after opening it, leaving the two grunts clueless as to what the contents were.
"Good." Joben left the case on the desk and turned to the grunts, one hand gesturing to the double doors behind them. "You've earnt your usual pay, and a small bonus for a swift and uneventful successful mission. You," a look towards Carlos, "go. Smith, you will be required to stay for a further minute more."
"Thank you sir," was all Carlos hastily said with a smile of complete relief, before he made for the door with a quick pace without looking back. It left John in the room with Joben alone, the shorter Asian fellow focusing his eyes on him when the doors shut with a click.
"Congratulations on your first successful task, Smith. Even if it was a simple one." The tone was completely neutral, John doubting that Joben was anywhere near impressed in the slightest.
"No problem, I hope everything from now on goes as smooth if not smoother." John really did not want to ever have to ride shotgun with a grunt like Carlos again, but he doubted that he'd be able to pick his future partners. "I hope everything is in order."
Joben smiled, a thin smile, but it was still something. "It certainly seems to be, thankfully. However, your role in this particular operation is now over. With that, we come onto the topic of your pay."
John couldn't help it; it had been a difficult day. "Oh boy, my very own pokedollar!" He spared a thought to Carlos. "At least fifty would be swell."
The way Joben's smile actually grew at the mentioned amount caused a bit of worry to shoot through the joking man.
"Surprisingly not that far off," praised the personal assistant with a clap of his hands. "Normally a simple, single day job like this could net you a few hundred, more with bonuses such as the small one you earned today. Of course it goes without saying that this payment is tax free."
A nod from John. "Yeah, that makes sense. Everyone loves a good cash in hand."
"However," Joben continued with his smile still strong. "Due to your extra privileges compared to the other grunts, such as your private room and excessive food costs, it has been decided that a portion of your normal earnings should be withheld to help pay for expenses. That should leave you with…" Despite the show Joben was making about doing calculations in his head, John was certain that the smug little man already knew the exact amount down to the cent. Or pokecent, most likely. "Around one-hundred and twenty-five pokedollars, give or take a dollar. Congratulations again on your first illegitimate earnings."
He wasn't sure if Joben was expecting him to get mad, or to possibly complain at the low amount. What he did notice was the way Joben's eyes raised when instead of that John chuckled, a nod going towards the boss's personal assistant.
"Ah, well it's far better than the fat zero I started with," he said with a shrug and a smile. "Understandable, I do eat a bit don't I?" He laughed again with Joben seemingly struck silent by his jovial response. "Nah, I get it. Besides, a nice hundred to go on a day trip in the countryside isn't the worst thing, sure beats robbing servos and getting my arse kicked. I saw some cool pokemon on the way as well, even a skull dino." He stopped his chuckles, a legitimate question popping into his head.
"Although I have to ask about cash and that. I read in the orientation book that the bankcard you guys set up for me is safe to use outside in cities and towns, but what about in the base?" John quickly clarified. "You know, like with the vending machines and noodle joint?"
The fairly mundane question gained Joben's attention and he appeared to get over his surprise at reasonable response, his orange eyes blinking before he answered. "The vending machines?" John was treated to a fresh stare of disgust, the PA's normally collected poise breaking momentarily with a flick of his tongue as though there was a bad taste in his mouth. "That… is still one thing I refuse to believe from the doctor's report. No one, not even you grunts, should find those things acceptable to eat. I won't even grant them the label of food."
"Hey, I like most of the stuff in them; the pot noodles are great."
Joben almost retched in a rather unrefined manner.
"Blegh! Certainly not! I tried one once and it almost killed me, impressive considering I couldn't eat more than three bites!" The assistant shook his head while John grinned at him, and he plucked at his suit collars while collecting himself. "You can tell that the experience has stuck with me, I rarely lose my composure." A rare hint of something other than barely disguised distaste flashed in his eyes. "I'll give you one piece of insider information, Smith. Avoid the food, the drinks are… tolerable." An amused huff. "Although the items for pokemon are of surprisingly decent quality, not that you'll be needing to worry about those given your current record."
A raised eye from John, deciding to not push the matter. Of course, once again pokemon received the priority treatment. "I'll consider that, but what about my question?"
Joben returned to his usual self at the reminder. "Hmm, fine. Yes, you are safe to use your provided card anywhere inside the HQ and other facilities of ours. Everything that accepts a bank card is registered to the regional banking network through legitimate means, thanks to our shell companies and other legal enterprises. You can also ask Human Resources to withdraw cash from your account if needed, but obviously we have placed limits on the amount." A mirthless smile. "We can't have grunts withdrawing large amounts of cash and just leaving, can we?"
"No, of course not." Truth be told, John didn't like dealing with HR ladies normally. It tended to draw a particular type of woman to the role, and if that wasn't bad enough in normal companies he really didn't want to meet the sort that did the job for Team Rocket. "Thanks for the answer and the… health advice." He nodded with his smile genuine. "Do you need me for anything else?"
Tilting his head, Joben examined him for a moment before stepping over to the boss's desk. Reaching down behind it he retrieved a white envelope, a little bit of heft to it.
"One final matter. Despite my advice the Boss wants you to have this, on the condition that your first task went well and that I deemed you followed orders to an acceptable level." He offered the envelope to John. "A proverbial carrot rather than the stick, it was described as. A small one-time bonus to encourage you to behave."
John was honestly surprised that Joben was pleased enough to give him reward despite the repeated cheek, and he took the envelope with another nod.
"Thankyou." He even added on the honorific. "Sir."
"Good work and profits are rewarded in Team Rocket, Smith. Success, no matter the size, is always valued." Joben's eyes raised. "Although I wish I could say the same about your fellow co-workers under Doctor Yari."
The last sentence gave John pause, even as he was rubbing the envelope in his hands and feeling the notes it contained. "Excuse me?"
"They'll likely be in the medical centre, licking their wounds," Joben clarified with a gesture to the double doors leading out of the office. "They unfortunately have not shared in your success, I'm afraid."
"Shit," John cursed under his breath, Joben frowning at him as a result. Still it was ignored, and John turned and left without so much as a goodbye. Even the envelope was largely forgotten and stuffed haphazardly into his pocket.
Joben shook his head and waited until the double doors had closed after the large grunt's departure, deciding to not make a great deal out of the rudeness. Instead he returned to the desk and pressed a button on the intercom, remembering Giovanni's other request.
"Fleet services," a gruff male voice answered over the radio. "Manager Guzza, what'ch want?"
"This is Joben, send Van Eight's recording from today to the Boss's computer. Within the hour, if you may."
"On it."
The line clicked off, the quick and blunt vehicle manager a man of few words and rough nature. His job almost done, Joben picked up the silver case and headed deeper into the admin area, with his destination being the boss's personal vault.
The medical centre seemed fairly busy as John walked in, his eyes scanning the reception area as soon as he stepped through the front doors. A pair of grunts were slumped in the chairs in one corner, the uniformed men groaning while they held bright blue cloth bags to their bruised faces. John winced at the various lumps that covered them as well as at the bandaged noses, both of them looking like they'd gone a few rounds with a bare-knuckle boxer.
Another injured grunt with a swollen face and cloth ice pack was sitting a few seats away, looking to John to be barely old enough to drive. The red-headed girl had her uniform cap in her lap and a chittering zubat with a bandaged wing held in her free arm, the eyeless purple bat missing half of a lower fang. A lone chansey with a nurse hat sporting a red R instead of the expected cross glanced at John with beady black eyes, before returning its focus to the zubat and holding up a stubby pink arm towards it.
John ignored the small wave of pink energy that washed over the injured bat and stepped up to the counter. After waiting for a moment he pressed the small button below a bell icon and glanced at the clock mounted above the desk, noting that it was about four-sixteen in the afternoon. It only took a few moments after ringing the bell for the left door marked 'Humans' to slide open, a frazzled young nurse in grey medical scrubs peeking out at him through thick round glasses.
"Another one?" she sighed with her hand running though her mousy brown hair. John started to shake his head and reply, but nurse continued to speak before he could with an 'ah' of realisation. "Oh, you're Doctor Yari's pink grunt. You should come back later as we are very busy at the moment. He's in surgery fixing some poor grunt's ruptured spleen."
"Christ," John said with a wince. The nurse gave him an odd look, John brushing off the unspoken question with a short wave. "I'm sorry for interrupting things. I was told that the doctor's other grunts were in here, I was hoping to check up on them and see if they are okay."
The nurse paused for a second in thought, before she gave him a small smile and a nod. "Ah, yes. I believe they've already been seen; you'll find them in the courtyard with their pokemon. Follow me."
He hurriedly did as said, dwarfing the diminutive young women when he fell in behind her. Passing through the door with it sliding shut behind them, John spared a look towards the medical stretcher beds to the left.
'Ouch…'
There were three stretchers set up in the large triage area, and he spotted more than eight casts shared between the occupants. Evidently the grunts sitting in the waiting area were the lucky ones. Another chansey and two more nurses were fluttering in between the beds and around various machines that buzzed and beeped, a lab-coated doctor humming to himself while he examined a clipboard.
John had initially been surprised at how much of Team Rocket's money had seemingly been poured into employee healthcare and medical benefits, Giovanni not coming across as a philanthropist, but he was starting to understand why the medical team was given the funding it was.
The nurse was about to turn down the short corridor that led to the courtyard and hospital amenities area, but John stopped her with a raised hand.
"I'm good to get there from here, thanks." Turning to raise an eye, the nurse nodded a second later when she remembered who he was. "Good luck with the work."
She scoffed but it was accompanied by a smile. "Thanks, I'll need it."
With that she was gone, whirling past John and heading off somewhere else. Resuming his task, he maintained a quick pace down the bright white corridor before reaching the pair of doors that opened out to the indoor courtyard. Stepping out into the familiar green space and breathing in the fresh air that filtered down from the transparent roof above, John searched the small area for his fellows.
They weren't hard to spot, the only two humans in the area still wearing their black uniforms save for the caps while they sat on a bench under the shade of a small oak tree. Surprisingly Vivian had Weave out and in her lap, the pokemon's red feathers easily standing out against the grey of her own fur and the dark uniform of her master. Weave seemed friendly enough with humans in John's limited experience with the pokemon, although she hadn't yet gotten within ten metres of him since their first meeting, but he wouldn't have figured she'd be comfortable as a lap pokemon for anyone.
The huddled-up cream and purple rodent pokemon in Max's own lap was far less of an oddity, after all Ratterick seemed eager to join even John on benches when they were both in the base's main atrium, but the sling that Maxwell wore on his left arm was certainly a fresh addition. Heading towards them with his arm already raising in a wave, John's eyes widened when he saw the swelling and bandages that covered their faces.
"Oi!" he called out, the pair looking up at him with their pokemon not stirring as he approached. "Holy shit, what happened to you sorry lot?" Thankfully no one else was around to be bothered by his swearing, John stopping before them and letting out a low whistle at their injuries. "You look like you lost a fight to some construction equipment."
Maxwell just let out a long, drawn-out sigh as he sadly stared back down at his own booted feet, and Vivian lacked her usual impish energy when she looked at him with one eye covered by a pad of medical gauze.
"Just my favourite thing, John." She paused with a flash of anger flickering in her blue eye. "Filthy fighting types."
Well, that explained all of the blunt trauma injuries, but in John's mind something else popped up from his books.
"There's worse types to lose against I think," he tried to reassure. "At least it wasn't those green bug dudes with the blade arms."
Vivian just snorted through her nose, but quickly regretted it and winced. "Maybe, but at least Weave would've had a bit more of a chance against them. She got the worst of it."
At the sound of her name the pokemon curled up in Vivian's lap lifted her head, more than a few feathers missing from her head crown and a large plaster completely covering her small nose. John winced again at the lumps and bandaged cuts that covered the weavile's face, the right side of Weave's jaw almost double its normal size.
"Vile…" Weave groaned out, her mouth opening just enough that John was able to spot that a fair chunk of teeth were missing. Still, the pokemon struggled to sit up in Vivian's lap with a grimace, her master's hand hovering over her head in what seemed like a silent debate over whether to stop her. Sitting up straight and resting her back against Viv's chest, Weave stared at John with narrowed red eyes before shaking her head and mumbling out more words. "Eve-vile weave. Vile eve."
"She agrees with me that fighting types are filthy," Vivian roughly translated for John, Weave nodding afterwards.
"How can you tell?"
"You learn to get the basic gist of it after a while, apparently when you spend months with a 'mon you can work out a pretty good understanding," she told him, one gloved hand carefully and gently starting to rub Weave on the head while avoiding the bumps. The weavile weakly went to raise a clawed paw to brush the arm off while giving her trainer a pointed glance towards the largest of the three grunts, but Vivian intercepted it with her free hand. "Stop it Weave, John won't think you're weak just because of a simple head-rub, relax." The weavile grumbled to herself but didn't make another attempt to stop the show of affection.
John shook his head with a smile. "Viv's right, I'm not judging you." More grumbles, the pokemon looking away and crossing her arms over her chest. That earned a scoff from the female grunt, John attempting to divert the topic away for Weave's sake. "Are they going to be able to fix your teeth?"
"No need," Vivian answered for Weave. "Pokemon heal up pretty quick, and carnivore 'mons like Weave can grow teeth and claws back even without healing machines or medicines. With the medical centre, she'll be back to new in a day or two." A dull chuckle. "Can't say the same about me or Max, we're looking at a week."
John nodded and then turned his attention to the mentioned grunt, his smile bolstered by further sympathy. Maxwell was well and truly down in the dumps, usually the grunt was locked onto every conversation that John and Viv shared but now he was just staring at the grass.
"Speaking of, how are you going Max?"
Being addressed brough the grunt's attention back, Maxwell looking up towards John with a slight smile after a moment.
"Well, not the best, obviously." He tried to wiggle his slinged arm for emphasis but winced quickly after, but John still appreciated the attempt. "It looks bad, but the others came out of it worse I think." The blonde grunt chuckled softly and shook his head. "I think Vivian actually made it worse when she punched one of the mankey straight on the nose and made it cry, the primeapes weren't happy about that."
"They aren't ever happy, not that they ever deserve to be," Viv scoffed from beside him, still petting Weave. "At least I did more than try and use Defence Curl on the ground, they just went easy on you out of pity."
The one-sided exchange wasn't unusual for the two, but still John thought it was best to change the topic when Maxwell sighed again. Looking down at the rattata seemingly asleep in Max's lap under the arm in a sling, he couldn't see any bumps or cuts on the rodent's face.
"How's Ratterick?" he asked with a nod towards the pokemon, Maxwell's tiny smile disappearing completely at the reminder. Instead of talking he made the effort to lift his injured arm off of the sleeping rodent, John grimacing at the thick wad of bandages and padding that were wrapped around most of the small pokemon's torso and rear end. Light pink skin was visible around the edges of the dressings, the pokemon's purple coat likely shaved to allow proper treatment.
"It was a trainer's charmander," Max softly told him. "Ratterick's battled against fire-types before, but this one was probably some kid's starter from a pokemon professor. Pokemon raised by breeders for the labs tend to be more powerful than normal. I swear, his Ember was like a Flamethrower it was that hot." A sniffle, John actually worried that he was about to witness Max openly cry. "Ratterick managed to push through the initial heat, but he got a really nasty burn that only got worse with the second attack. I… I kept him out for longer than I should have, and there was another ember and the way he screamed…"
Max trailed off, returning his gaze to the grass beneath his feet while he carefully stroked the sleeping rattata's head with a thumb. Even Vivian was unusually silent. John had expected her to call Max a pussy or something to that effect, or at least direct some snarky insult to the charmander responsible, as was the norm.
"Bloody hell," John muttered. "Alright then, I regret asking now. Sorry for bringing it up."
Sniffing again, looked back at him with a shake of his head. "No, don't be. It's fine." He didn't look fine. "I didn't have a burn heal or a rawst on me, not that we really had time to use them anyway before the mankey swarm attacked, so he was in his pokeball all the way back to base." A glance back to Ratterick, a small smile returning to Maxwell's face when he looked at his rattata.
"He went straight into the pokehealth machine for a bit, and when he came out from that the nurses shaved him and treated the burns. He'll be sore for a couple of days and his fur will take a bit longer to grow back, but he'll also be fine." He paused petting his sleeping rat to wipe away a tear. "I'm overreacting a bit, I know."
'Well, probably just a little.' The memory of Maxwell being perfectly willing to sic Ratterick on John's temporary battle partner, teeth and all, was pushed back and stamped out for the time being. 'Nah, stop thinking like a vindictive prick, not the time for it.'
John, looking at his sullen colleagues and their wounded pokemon while also aware of the weight in his pocket, decided instead to try and make an attempt to improve the day.
"You two drink soft drink?" he asked with a smile and a start towards the doors on the opposite side of the courtyard. "Like a coke, or soda I suppose?" He was already halfway when Viv picked up on the intent, the grunt perking up with a grin.
"I'd kill for a Cheri Crisp right now."
"Oh… thanks, but I don't need anything."
John paused at the doors and pointed a finger at Maxwell. "Nope, you're getting something. Either you tell me what you want or I'll pick something at random." The resulting conflict on Maxwell's face was visible even from where John was standing. Vivian rolled her eyes before she whispered something to him, John guessing that it was along to the lines of 'Just accept the offer.'
"Okay," Max huffed, but there was a twinkle in his eyes. "A Blastoise Blast if there's any left, if not then a Feraligatr-Aid, please."
"Done."
John just decided to ignore the second requested drink for the sake of sanity and walked through the doors into the amenities area. Going past the doors for the showers he rounded around a few tables and chairs to head towards the line of vending machines against the back wall. Joben's advice from earlier completely ignored, he first went straight to the two machines with the apparently dreaded food items in them. All he'd had since lunch had been the bag of chips he'd extorted from Carlos, tasting a bit like honey and garlic but not quite the same, and he was hungry enough to not care. Not that he really did before.
He pulled out the envelop and tore the top off, a peek inside revealing a heavy number of tens and a few twenties that he guesstimated as being about a couple of hundred. Briefly he wondered if lack of larger notes was due to Giovanni expecting him to blow it on the vending machines, but then rationalised that it wasn't likely that the Boss was paying that much attention.
John's stomach rumbled, and he quickly exchanged a tenner for two protein bars and a packet of what looked like sultanas but slightly larger. Stuffing his haul into his pockets, he moved to the drink machine. Another note secured the requested cheri soda and the deep blue 'Blastoise Blast' beverage, as well as a plainly labelled bottle of 'Super Soda' that promised to contain 'zero calories with one-hundred-and-ten percent flavour'.
He was watching his weight, after all.
Drinks under an arm, he was about to leave before he considered something else. Moving to the last vending machine, he inspected the contents that were all labelled 'Meant for Pokemon Only'.
Giovanni's assistant had said that the pokemon items were of a good quality, and after looking at the prices John hoped that it was true.
"Twenty bucks for a single fruit bar!?" he wondered out loud, eying the brightly wrapped snack that claimed to be thirty percent Sitrus. It was one of the dearer items in the machine but there were a lot of runners-up barely below it, the cheapest treat sitting at a hefty five for its small size. In contrast to items made for humans each wrapper had a small gold sticker on it, an official label of quality testing and endorsement by the regional Pokemon League. "Maybe I should drop out of crime and start a pokemon food factory," John scoffed quietly, once again reminded that pokemon was serious business to these people.
Still, despite the price he found his eyes wandering back to the Sitrus bar, remembering that berries were supposed to have healing properties or other beneficial effects on pokemon and even humans. To be fair to the bar it was also of decent size, and the yellow colouring with orange spots visible through a clear window in the wrapper seemed appetising. But it was the promise of a 'soft chew' that made up his mind, John giving in and putting a whole forty bucks in for a pair of the bloody things.
Snatching them out of the receptacle he quickly left before he could make any further financial mistakes, not stopping until he was back at the bench.
"Okay, one strange blue drink for Max, a cherry soft drink for the dainty lady, delicious protein for me…" The gifts of sugar water were distributed, Max smiled with a thanks while Vivian narrowed her eyes at him before she relented upon flipping the cap off of her soda and taking a swig. John allowed himself a few moments to devour one of his protein bars after he saw that Max was able to get his own drink opened with only one working arm, the nutty and chocolate taste not bad in the slightest.
Setting the rest of his haul down in the grass, John stood back up with the two berry bars in his hand and a smile on his face. "Of course, I didn't forget about the other two either."
Weave, resting with her eyes closed while leaning back against Vivian, cracked one open at his announcement. The other quickly followed when one of the wrappers was opened, a wince crossing her face when her nose wriggled of its own volition. Vivian, about to take another sip of her drink with a dopy grin on her face, paused when she spotted the incoming treat. "Hang on, is that…"
After testing the consistency of the bar through the wrapper and indeed finding it to be very malleable as claimed, John held it out to the pokemon sitting in her lap. "It's just a pokemon treat from one of the machines, Viv." He paused. "Oh shit, I probably should have asked you considering she is your pokemon." Weave didn't share his concern, the weavile quickly but gracefully snatching the offered snack from his hand before he could pull it back. Taking a moment to give thanks that he avoided being scratched by the sharp claws, he looked at Vivian with a shrug.
"Nah, you're all good on that front," his co-worker told him, Max watching the entire thing with realisation slowly dawning on his face. "But that better not be one of those verified berry bars."
They all looked down to Weave, who obviously had no qualms about the offered treat as she softly chewed on it with the good side of her mouth and a jolly jiggle while she did so. Her eyes were closed with contentment, and quiet mutterings were said in between each bite.
"So what if they are?"
"Dude," Vivian barked out with a laugh, her already wide eyes going even wider. "Those things cost the same as a full meal, you can't spend that much on a pokemon." Max nodded along with her in agreement, causing John to frown and eye the remaining bar in his hand.
"Don't they have berry stuff in them though?"
Max answered this time. "They do, but-"
"So they work like a berry does?"
"Well, yes, slightly worse than a pure berry but yeah they work."
That was all John needed, the last bar being torn open before it was offered to Maxwell.
"No, John I can't accept that." Despite the protests, Ratterick's nose started to twitch even in his slumber. Glancing down at his rattata while it started to wake, Max returned his focus to John and shook his head. "They're far too much."
"Well, it's already open."
Yes, it was forcing it upon him, but John was certain that the point was a good one. Anyway it wasn't needed, Maxwell's further complaints dying in his throat when his pokemon blinked his eyes open.
"Tat… ata."
"Thanks," Maxwell said at last, taking the treat from him and looking down at his injured rat. "Hey Ratterick, John bought you something." The rattata seemed to completely forget that healing burns covered more than sixty percent of his body when the food was waved under his nose, his ears twitching and his teeth already quivering before Maxwell handed the item to him. Two cream-coloured forepaws shot out to get a firm hold, the small pokemon eagerly digging into the berry bar with chattering squeaks.
John chuckled and picked up his sugar-free soda while the trio of grunts watched the ensuing snack slaughter. "Jesus, it's like pokemon crack or something." He opened the ring-pull tab and took a tentative sip, finding the cola taste a little weird but not chemically unpleasant.
"Ha, yeah," Viv snorted, only to wince afterwards and touch her nose. "Ugh. Ouch." Rubbing it, she looked to John and shrugged. "Whatever 'crack' is. They don't really get many treats, maybe it's just that."
"I was watching something about berries once," Max was still patting Ratterick on the head while he ate. "Pokemon researchers think that injured pokemon are drawn to the scent of berries like Oran and Sitrus, and studies suggest that the taste of them improves as some kind of natural incentive to heal."
"Or they just like the taste normally, Max."
A shrug conceded the point, the youngest grunt deciding to not challenge it. John for his part was just glad that the pair were all smiles and laughs again, and he sat down in the grass to enjoy his guilt-free soda.
"Where'd you get the money for that anyway?" grunted Vivian with a hand wiping her mouth. "You were actually able to complete a mission?"
A scoff from John. "Despite the other grunt's best efforts, barely. I was about ready to kill him I swear. Luckily we managed to get it done anyway, got a small bonus so I don't mind a bit of a splurge."
"Still…" John turned to Max, Ratterick and Weave also listening into the conversation while they ate. "You didn't need to spend it on us."
"Okay enough!" A laugh, a free hand waving away the doubts. "I don't want to hear anymore complaining on that front. I had a shit day, you guys had much worse, and I got a bonus at the end of it. A little bit of money to sweeten it up a little for all of us is money well spent." John shook his head while continuing to chuckle. "You've got to shout your friends when they're down sometimes fellas, it's the bro thing to do." He took another sip of his drink, Vivian sitting quietly while nodding to herself in contemplation.
Maxwell was about to say something after a few seconds, but someone else got in first.
"Ratta rat."
All of them, Weave included, looked down to Ratterick as he laid in his master's lap. The rodent had paused his eating and was staring at John, who noticed just how expressive even a pokemon like rattata could be with the wide smile and twinkling red eyes. A small paw lifted off the half-eaten bar and was held out, more squeaks from the creature being directed at John.
"Tatta-rat tatta!"
Taking a few moments to think of how to respond, John leaned over and offered his outstretched hand palm-up to the rodent, his fellow grunts remaining quiet while even Weave stopped eating. Three furry digits, claws retracted, wrapped around his index finger to give it a shake.
"Tatta."
John waited for the pokemon to let go before retracting his hand, Ratterick still beaming at him while Maxwell was opened-mouthed and looking like he was about to squeal with delight.
"Uh…" John gave a quick and pleading glance to Vivian for support, but only found a wide-eyed stare so he refaced Ratterick. "No problem, little guy?"
It appeared to be the right choice, the rat pokemon happily squeaking with delight before returning to devouring the snack bar with improved gusto. With his two fellow humans not looking like they going to add anything apart from silent amazement, John quickly finished his drink while trying to think up a way to balance out the oversaturation of cute he'd just been exposed to.
'Hopefully I didn't just agree to marry him or something similar.'
Focusing his eyes on Weave, the pokemon tore her own wide gaze away from Ratterick at the attention. He gave her a slight nod, before gesturing with his hand towards her own clawed forelimbs.
"I'm just going to assume that you feel the same, but it might be for the best if we don't repeat what he just did." A wink. "No offense."
Weave's stare moved from his hand to his face, before she scoffed with a shake of her head and a short "Vile." However a grin, or at least as much as one as she could form with a half-busted mug, was plastered over her face while she returned to her gifted treat.
Vivian was the first to break out of her daze, a hearty laugh ringing out that was soon echoed by the others sharing the courtyard with her.
Unnoticed by the group, a solitary man in green medical scrubs was watching and listening in through the cracked open door leading to the main hospital, Doctor Yari chucking with his own amusement through a blood-spotted surgical mask.
"Well, so much for the claim that nothing happened."
Sipping a golden whiskey while petting Persian in his lap, Giovanni paused the video on his laptop and smiled to himself. The events that had occurred in van number eight after the successful retrieval of the package were… illuminating. Whatever had happened inside the 'servo' and out of the reach of the hidden surveillance devices appeared to be serious enough to warrant potential punishment at first, but on further thinking about the matter he had decided that the 'Carlos' responsible had likely received proper admonishment already.
"Besides," Giovanni murmured, half to Persian and half to himself while he reversed the video to just before the two grunts left the fuel station. "What it lacks in useful information it most certainly makes for good entertainment."
The Boss of Team Rocket settled back into his chair with another sip of his drink and a smile, as the video started playing again just as Smith started to rage.
"Finish her with a Quick Attack!"
"Dodge it, use your own… shit."
Quick Attack earned the name, John's rattata barely able to let out a squeak of surprise and his own order cut off midway when Vivian's loaner rattata slammed into it and sent it flying. The lighter of the two pokemon crashed down a metre away, rolling twice on the smooth floor of the indoor arena, before sliding to a stop. She didn't move and her eyes were looking in different directions, her chest moving with subtle breathing the only indicator that the female rattata was still alive. John winced, partly with sympathy for the rattata but more in preparation for the shit-talking that was sure to follow his defeat.
"John's rattata is unable to battle," Doctor Yari announced, quickly typing something on his tablet before holding out a pokeball. A red beam shot out and returned the knocked out pokemon, the doctor nodding to the huffing rat still standing and the grunt behind it. "Ms Vivian and her rattata are the victors."
"Pssh," Vivian dismissed with a wave of her hand and a smirk. "Who didn't see that coming? Even with a low-level borrowed rattata I'm still grunt number one." The mentioned rattata seemed too busy sauntering around the arena with his head high and chest puffed out to notice the pokeball she held being raised, a grin still on his face even as he was returned to the ball. "Nothing personal Johnny, but if I was using Weave you could use a hundred rattatas and still lose." Viv shot a glance to the side of the arena where Max stood with Ratterick in the arm without a sling and Weave standing up against his side.
John raised an eye at her when she refaced him with a smirk. "Probably true." He shrugged, continuing before she could follow up. "Guess I'll probably ask for a mankey then."
That dropped her grin down a few steps, Viv's hand absentmindedly touching a large bruise on her face before she recovered and crossed her arms in front of her chest.
"Yeah right, you can't even handle rattata well. Try your luck again next time, maybe Maxie will take pity on you and step in for me." She chortled at that, turning on her heels and swaggering off towards the other grunt standing off to the side with the gloating already primed on her tongue. Shaking his head at her, John walked over to Yari as the doctor was finishing some further note typing.
"Well, that time wasn't much better."
The doctor looked up at him with a smile. "Oh, I wouldn't say that John. You were faster with your commands, there was no stumbling over the attack names, and of course you only swore twice this time." Despite the compliments, John could tell that Yari wasn't fully convinced of what he was saying himself. "It's not terrible considering your lack of experience with pokemon, and slow improvement is still improvement."
"That's just a nice way of calling me developmentally challenged, Doc."
Yari chuckled and tucked his tablet under an arm, his free hand giving John a pat on the shoulder. "You'll get the hang of it eventually; you're adapting well in every other aspect from what I can tell." A glance went up and down John's body. "How are you feeling?"
John rolled his neck around to clear up some kinks. "A bit tired from this morning, the usual workout is a bit more draining after a certain vampire doctor removes about half your blood." His hand was held out and turned over a few times for emphasis, notably far less pink than it had been the day previous. "See? I'll be back to my normal whiteness even quicker thanks to your bloodlust."
"Nonsense, you've been losing more of your pinkness every day without our help." Another soft laugh from Yari, although he did give John a more sympathetic smile. "Unfortunately we require your blood for some tests, but I can say for certain that the amount taken was far from half and was well within safe limits." John wasn't able to bring up that so far in his experience Team Rocket didn't know the meaning of safety before Yari asked another question. "How are your legs?"
John glanced down at his uniform pants. "A little bit of dull pain is still there, but it's no biggy." He returned his attention to the doctor. "Those needles were pretty large."
"You had local anaesthetic," Yari brushed off with a wave of his hand. "Any lingering pain should be gone in a few more hours."
"I don't doubt it, but you needed some bone marrow samples for what, exactly?"
"Well… we wish to see if there's something unusual with your bones, given your increased weight and their apparent solidity beyond normal levels."
Yari may have been a good physician, but he was a terrible liar. John was able to clearly see through the lie despite the attempts to coat it in half-truths. No way it was as mundane as Yari was trying to pass it off as, not with the way the Indian-looking science chick was muttering to the vials afterwards like some kind of nutter. Still, he'd been mostly truthful so far, and John would willingly bet his left nut that Giovanni had ordered the man to keep things quiet from him.
"Anyway," Yari said with a cough into his hand, not able to look John in the eyes. "When I was asking how you were feeling, I was talking more about your recent battle." He looked back up with a tilt of his head. "You seemed to have taken your second loss much better than your first, despite your opponent's…" a quick frown was shot towards Vivian, the grunt's back to them while she spoke with the others off to the side. "Sadly expected display of poor sportsmanship."
A scoff. "Pokemon battles are pretty much the number one thing around here, and it turns out that I'm plain shite at them. Guess I'm just resigned to my fate, Doc." He shrugged, Yari shaking his head softly at the announcement. "And Viv's just trash-talking, nothing out of the ordinary."
"Hmm, if you say so…" Another pokeball was procured from a lab coat pocket, and Yari glanced over to the other grunts while he tossed it up in the air. "The loaner rattata that you just fought is still pretty fresh, it wasn't a long fight." He almost flubbed the catch when he realised what he had just said but continued when John just snorted with amusement. "What I mean by that is that I have a zubat here if you are willing to go another round."
John eyed the ball as it was bounced up and down, a hand rubbing his smooth chin. "I dunno Doc, two arse-kickings in one day? Plus I struggle enough with the little rat guys, chucking a bat into the mix is, eh…"
"You never know, maybe you'll have better luck with a poison and flying type. That could be your ticket to a win."
"If you want me to win, loan me one of those massive dragon pokemon."
Yari laughed at the suggestion. "I want you to learn how to win in a fairly equal exchange first. Besides, if you have trouble commanding rattatas then I don't quite trust you to keep a dragon-type under control, not even the small ones." A look at the ball held in his hand. "Come on John, a zubat is a nice change of pace."
John sighed, just about to give in to the doctor's request, but then the two were interrupted by a loud series of beeps from John's belt. Snatching his pager and looking over the screen, John's eyes zeroed in on the text visible on the display. More specifically, on the last word printed out.
Smith, report to the Boss's office immediately. Mission.
"Going to have to postpone my beating for another day," he told Yari while reattaching his pager. "I'm needed."
"Giovanni?"
John shook his head, already walking over to where Max and Vivian were conversing. "Nah, probably just Joben. Thanks for the training sesh Doc, I'll catch you later." Leaving Yari, John closed on his fellow grunts with the pair already turning to face him.
"What's going on?" Max asked, Ratterick poking his head out from his arms to smile at the approaching grunt. The rattata's bandages had been removed in the morning for another round of burn treatment, John pleased to see that the little rat pokemon was already regrowing some of his missing purple fur. The medical tech in this world seemed to be pretty bonkers already, and pokemon indeed appeared to be durable creatures.
"I've got to go, I've-"
"He's running away, what else?" Viv cut him off, hands on her hips while she gloated once again. "Afraid I'll demolish him again. Sure, it's the pokemon battle equivalent of picking on the blind, deaf, and mute kid, but I'm getting paid to do it so why not?" Beside her stood Weave, the weavile laughing along with her master with her arms crossed. It was a weak laugh due to the pokemon's face and nose still being bandaged, but John could spot that most of her missing teeth seemed to be halfway regrown already.
John raised at eye at just how pleased with herself Viv seemed to be. By her and his own admission he was far from a challenge, and he would have thought that with a pokemon that looked as suitable for battling like Weave did Viv wouldn't be a stranger to wins. Well, maybe she wasn't, and was actually just happy to be getting one over on him specifically. It was almost enough to make him feel flattered.
"Joben wants to see me in the office, something about a mission." John ignored Vivian and focused on talking to Max, the other grunt listening with a tilt of his head. "I'll be heading off to sus it out."
"Another one already?" Max shook his head at the news, but with a smile. "When I first started I was waiting weeks to be picked for jobs. Geez."
Viv muscled her way back into the conversation with a huff. "Yeah, what are they thinking?" A thumb was pointed at her own chest. "They didn't even ask me, and I can at least handle a pokemon properly."
John couldn't resist, a quick wink to Max and Ratterick before he looked at Vivian and shrugged.
"Dunno Viv, but yesterday had the pokemon handling you and not the other way around."
"Oh fuck off."
He laughed at her indignant snort and the resulting wince that came after it, Viv rubbing her still-healing nose with a mutter. Max and Ratterick both seemed amused with grins despite their own injuries, John still a little amazed at how well rattata could display expressions. Weave for her part didn't find the humour in the situation, the pokemon looking up at John with a frown.
John waved a dismissive hand at the Weavile. "It's just a joke, relax. Viv's a big girl, she can take a little verbal jab here and there." He chuckled again and eyed Vivian, the grunt guessing that he wasn't done and pointing a finger of warning right at him. A warning that was ignored. "As well as some nonverbal ones and…" he gave an exaggerated wince at his colleague's face, "what looks like a few right hooks."
"Careful Johnny," warned Vivian with a raised fist, although it lacked real threat. "Or I'll show you a few good left hooks for comparison."
Grinning at that, he raised his hands in mock surrender. "Whoa, no need. Let's all have some calm; you need to take it easy while you recover." Conscious that he was burning time, John waved a hand again. "Anyway, it's probably just another transport job and it'd be a waste of your battling expertise."
A scoff. "It probably is." Still, she said it with a slight smile. "Go on then, go play postman. Me and Max will probably have a great time hanging around base."
Starting to walk away from them and heading for the door, John gave them a final finger point. "You better, when I get back I expect to see you all rested up healed and happy. That includes you as well, Weave and Ratterick." With that said, Ratterick squeaking out a quick goodbye with Max joining in with a small wave, John left through the large doors without them following.
With him gone Max turned to his fellow grunt, Vivian shaking her head at John's departure.
"I wonder if he's right, two jobs in a row isn't common." He shifted his arms while ensuring that Ratterick was still secure in his hold against his chest. "Even if they are just transport ones."
"Pfft, not like it matters if he is or not. The suits say you go on a job, you go on that job. It's not for us grunts to worry about." Vivian dropped a hand down to her side, scratching Weave behind the ears without protest. She glanced at Max. "Who do you think was the grunt he was paired up with yesterday? There's a lot of stuff going on, so there probably wasn't a large number of us in the base. I wanna know what happened, and John-John refuses to tell."
Max gave a pointed look down at his arm. "I haven't really had the time to ask around." He frowned. "Not that we really should be trying to find out, that will just lead to trouble." Ratterick backed him up with a nod, Vivian rolling her eyes at them.
"That's the attitude that keeps grunts as grunts, Max. We're Team Rocket, we should be looking to cause trouble constantly." She fired a grin at him. "You have to take a risk sometimes Maxie, and I think I know a good place to start." Before he could stop her, Viv turned around and waved a hand in the air. "Hey Doc!"
Doctor Yari, still standing at the side of the battle area typing away on his tablet, looked up from his work.
"Yes, Miss Vivian?" he called back.
"We want to ask you some stuff." A pause, Vivian tacking on another detail with a smile. "About Johnny."
It worked, the doctor nodding as he walked over to join them. The tablet he was typing on was forgotten for the moment, Yari storing it under an arm.
"I'm not sure I can provide you with much information of use," he started, looking at the pair of them. "A lot of information is confidential, and the two of you are starting to spend far more time with the man." A smile of his own. "I should probably be asking you the questions."
"Ah, come on Doc." Vivian glanced to Max, then back to Yari. "Me and Max were just wondering what happened yesterday, don't hit us with the 'confidential' thing. Why's John-John suddenly so popular with the suits?" Max saw her look to him for support, and he supposed that asking Yari about it was the safer option compared to having Viv attempt to track down the grunt involved. She wasn't a subtle person, after all.
"I suppose I want to know as well," he added, Ratterick looking up at him while he spoke. "He's been talking to us more like you said Doctor, but he didn't really want to talk about the job." Max paused, furrowing his eyes. "All he implied was that the other grunt he was with screwed up, but that they still managed to complete everything."
Yari raised an eye at that, a warm smile on his face. "Really? John told me something similar this morning, that there were a few issues that occurred, but he didn't go into details. I also haven't heard anything to the contrary from higher up myself, so I just assumed it was minor. He seemed far more focused on asking questions about the four of you and your own incident, actually."
Max was surprised to hear that as he wouldn't have considered it to be really that exciting. It was fairly standard as far as grunt assignments tended to go in his experience: Team Rocket wants something or hears about a group of pokemon, the ones above decide that it's worth stealing, and then they attempted to steal it.
Shamefully, Max had to admit that he'd been involved in more failures than successes, hence his continued status as a grunt. Trainers both professional and amateur spend large amounts of time training with their pokemon to build strength, something he admittedly struggled with. Ratterick always preferred watching documentaries with him or being read to instead of battling anyway.
"Dunno why." Vivian voiced her own opinion on the revelation with a shrug, abet more bluntly then he would have. "Sometimes stuff doesn't work out, we were fine." Weave was rubbed on the head while Viv was talking, the weavile paying attention to the conversation with a measured expression. "He was probably just looking for some dirt, especially now that he's Mr Successful." A scoff, and Vivian rolled her eyes. "Thinks he's a big man just because he finished some stupid transport job. Doesn't help that the guys in charge seem to think that the sun shines out of his rear or something. John's got a big enough head as it is."
Looking at his colleague with raised eyes while she complained about someone else having a big ego, Max could only shake his head. Yari himself seemed quite amused at Vivian's assessment of things, and he chuckled with a finger waggling at the grunt complaining.
"Now Miss Vivian, careful what you say." Yari gave a pointed look around the indoor arena, although his good humour remained. "I may have a good tolerance for some risky talk, but the other 'suits' as you call them might not." Another short laugh. "Some of John's worst habits are already rubbing off on you, your use of swears for one. Let's not also have his, shall we say, 'dangerous confidence' added to the mix as well. The pair of you have been very helpful and useful so far and I would rather not have one of you thrown off the team over a snide remark made to an executive, or worse."
Max didn't miss how the warning was aimed at only one of them, and the way Vivian stopped petting Weave and instead folded her arms across her chest showed that she had noticed it as well.
"Yeah, I know Doc," grunted Viv. "Still, doesn't change that I'm mostly right though, does it?"
"No, I suppose it doesn't." The surprise conceding of the point was accompanied by a nod, Yari rubbing his chin. "There is an unusual leniency towards his quirks of character, I have to admit. I find John to be a refreshingly jovial man if a bit bold, but I doubt those traits are seen as desirable to Team Rocket from the perspective of the Boss and his administrators." A few moments of silent contemplation from Yari, before he shook his head with a smile. "Or perhaps I'm just wrong on that assumption and they really do enjoy his bad jokes and backtalk. Who knows?" His smile grew. "He certainly seemed to be getting along with you in the courtyard yesterday, and with your pokemon."
"Ratta ta-ta!"
Max looked down at the rattata nestled in his arms, most of Ratterick's body lying on his good arm. His pokemon chittered with a grin of his own much to the doctor's apparent delight, Yari leaning in with one hand reaching out while the other adjusted his glasses.
"You saw that, huh?" Vivian shifted on the spot with the question, much of her previous bravado gone. Still, her arms remained crossed and her nose with accompanying plaster was high in the air. "Don't think that I'm getting soft like Maxie or something, I just had a bad day was all. He cheated and bought me a soda; I could probably ease up on anyone for a few minutes if they bought me sodas more often." She gave Max a sideways look.
Ignoring how she accused him of being soft, half because he was used to it by now and half because he didn't consider himself to be much of the opposite, Max rolled his eyes at her while Doctor Yari carefully examined the edges of Ratterick's healing burns with a finger. Silently, he was quite proud of the way his rattata remained still and behaved for the doctor even though the feeling was likely uncomfortable.
"I'm about as broke as you are," he told her. "Buy your own."
"Tch, typical."
"A blessing in disguise maybe." Yari said it with a chuckle, hand still on Ratterick. "Soda is something that should be enjoyed in moderation."
That earned another scoff from Vivian. "Yeah easy for you to say Doc. You're practically a suit yourself, bet you have a nice nest egg saved up."
"Oh, not as much as you would expect. Most of it goes to my family, I'm just careful to keep a healthy amount for a nice retirement in a few years." He grinned, nodding at Ratterick while withdrawing his hand. "Speaking of healthy, your burns are healing up nice and fast. You'll be once again able to help me train John up in battles before the end of week."
"Tata-rat!"
"You should consider yourself lucky that you have a trainer that cares about his rattata's health, not all of the grunts are as nice to their pokemon as Mr Maxwell is."
That caused a swell of pride in Max, accompanied by a nice and warm feeling when Ratterick nuzzled against his good arm. Sure he wasn't the best battler or criminal, and he was reminded constantly of it thanks to his fellow grunts, but at least he could get something right. Even if it wasn't exactly a priority of the organisation as a whole, unfortunately.
"Now," Doctor Yari continued with his attention turning to the weavile of the group. "What about you, young Miss?"
Weave eyed the approaching hand warily, but her gaze shifted up to meet Viv's when the women put her hand on her pokemon's shoulder. "Relax, the Doc knows what he's doing."
"Vile-weave." Despite the mutter, Weave relaxed somewhat and allowed Yari to gently test the right side of her face with his fingers.
"Hmm, a nice decrease in the swelling so far. Are your teeth regrowing as they should?" The hand was pulled back and Weave nodded, her mouth opening just a little with a slight wince. Max craned his head around to get a look while Yari leaned down to examine the weavile's maw, the Doctor rubbing his chin and shaking his head with a smile. "Everything looks like it's growing back in perfectly fine, I always find myself presently surprised at the reminder of just how fast pokemon can bounce back from their wounds."
Standing back up straight, Weave closing her mouth and rubbing the side of her jaw with a hand, Yari's smile turned sympathetic. "I'm glad the two of you are getting better, you should have seen John's face when I told him about the short time it takes pokemon to heal!" He laughed again, giving Weave a quick and affectionate pat on the head much to her restrained chagrin. "While I still can't understand his like for the vending machine fare and I don't wish to encourage the supplying of sugar to your trainers, I am glad that he didn't forgot about the pair of you. Berries are truly a natural marvel, aren't they?"
"Weave, eave-a-vil."
"Tatta-rattata!"
The tone of the two responses were remarkably different, Ratterick his usual cheery self while Weave was far more neutral. Still, the weavile did have a small smile on her face at the end, and Max knew that she was just acting tough in an attempt at emulating Vivian. Thankfully the mentioned grunt was equally as amused as Yari was at Weave's façade, the weavile grumbling again when her trainer gave her head feathers a ruffle with a snort.
"Well, at least recovery is going well," Doctor Yari stated, before refocusing on Maxwell and Vivian with his smile still strong. "I'm sorry that I can't tell you anything more about what happened yesterday, but I truly don't know any other information. We're all in the dark."
With Ratterick happily nestled in his arms, Max shrugged with his own grin. "Don't worry about it Doctor, we understand."
"Yeah," added Viv with a nod, Weave mimicking the action with her arms crossed. "If Johnny wants to keep secrets for now, fine. He'll slip up eventually, I know." She followed up with a short laugh of her own before anyone could reply. "Who knows, maybe this time he'll be the one getting the crap beaten out of him. Take him down a peg or two!"
Maxwell didn't quite share Vivian's enthusiasm. Sure John certainly had his prideful moments and could rival Vivian in the insult department, but he'd been pretty civil to them so far, so Max didn't wish a beating upon him. Viv was probably just joking around, but it did cause Max to wonder if she wasn't yet used to taking the smack that she often dished out on others.
Doctor Yari just shook his head at the declared hope, but surprisingly didn't chastise Vivian for wishing harm on a fellow member of the team.
"I'm sure that John will handle himself with professionalism and care, Miss Vivian." A glint shone in Yari's eyes. "If he can survive a tough grunt such as yourself, getting along with other members of Team Rocket and finishing his missions should be child's play."
It was hard for Max to suppress a laugh, Vivian just scoffing at the Doctor and waving it off.
"Yeah whatever Doc, I'll just take that as a compliment." A smirk. "You're not wrong though, he's apprenticed under me for how to act and assert yourself with the other knuckleheads. Me and Max have taught him all the right things to do when dealing with grunts, he'll blow them away with smarts and a masterful display of collected cool."
It was the final straw for Max, his resulting laughter at the statement echoing around the inside arena for a decent while.