South Pallet Town, 10:45 PM
The mission was taking longer than it should have. Team Rocket grunt R-13 knew that, yet he wasn't concerned. He had his own mission now, his own goals, so Dirk's plan, along with Team Rocket's dreams and ideals, seemed oddly insignificant. For the moment he had a new master, who gave him new orders. And those orders were now all that mattered.
Professor Oak's laboratory was not a small structure. Dirk had ordered the five members of Squad 2 to surround the building--because of the lab's size, the grunts could barely see one another at the edge of the darkness. Each grunt had been ordered to guard a potential exit: there was the main entrance at the front, two lesser exits at either side, and a row of tall windows toward the back. Two grunts had been order to guard the rear of the lab, though it didn't seem feasible that a man as old as Oak could escape through thick windows that rested almost ten feet off the ground.
R-13 was stationed at the rear. Another grunt stood some fifteen feet to his left.
R-13 knew what he had to do.
The signal. He would act when he saw the signal.
Professor Oak's Laboratory, 10:48 PM
Scarlet snapped her fingers.
From the opening where Scarlet had a dropped from the ceiling came a huge plume of smoke. Hiding there was a Koffing, R-13's Koffing, which continued its Smokescreen attack, quickly filling the lab. Scarlet, Daisy and Oak were lost in the smoke, and Dirk screamed for them to be found.
Scarlet, meanwhile, had returned her Blastoise. She grabbed the arms of both Oak and Daisy and ushered them to the back of the lab, where the row windows stood above her. Scarlet snatched another Pokéball from her belt and tossed it; the large, winged form of an Aerodactyl materialized into view.
"We're going through there," Scarlet said to Daisy. "We need a tight hold on your grandfather."
"There?" Daisy said, ingesting a mouthful of smoke in the process. She put an arm to her mouth and coughed, then continued in a muffled voice: "Can't we--?"
"No, I'm sorry, this is the only way. Climb aboard and hold on."
Carefully the three of them piled onto Aerodactyl. Oak sat between Scarlet and Daisy, and the two of them anchored him firmly to the Pokémon's back. Scarlet opened her mouth to give the order when Dirk, batting furious at the smoke, stumbled into view. Looking up, he spotted them immediately.
"Ha!" he said. "Grunts! Over here, they're--!"
"Hyper Beam," Scarlet said. "Aim low."
Aerodactyl swung its head toward Dirk, spread is massive jaws, and unleashed the attack. The beam hit the ground a few feet in front of Dirk, blasting a large hole in the floor; the impact sent Dirk flying back into the thick of the smoke.
"Sorry," Scarlet said. "I'll compensate you for the damage later."
"Yes," Oak replied, "that's quite all right…"
Scarlet nodded. "All set, then? Good. Let's fly, Aerodactyl. Brace yourselves!"
South Pallet Town, 10:50
The smoke was the signal. R-13 saw it funneling out of a small, nearby chimney. He called forth his Machop; the Pokémon had been injured earlier--knocked out, even--but something had restored its health. R-13 didn't question it. He ordered Machop to attack his partner, the other grunt who had been ordered to guard the windows.
"Karate Chop," R-13 said, in a voice devoid of emotion.
Machop sprinted at the grunt. Before the grunt knew he was being attacked, Machop had laid him out, knocking him unconscious with a fierce chop to the back of the head. R-13 smiled at his success. Now all that was left was to allow whoever it was to escape through the windows. Once that happened, his mission was complete.
He didn't have to wait long.
With an enormous crash, Scarlet and company, riding atop Aerodactyl, burst through the windows. R-13 simply watched as Aerodactyl flapped its wings--rising higher and higher, soaring further and further. Soon they were out of sight.
R-13 smiled again, then collapsed to the ground.
Rocket Viridian Compound, 12:02 AM
Sub-Executive Dirk knew the mission had been a tremendous failure--most likely his largest to date. And for reasons unknown, he was already on poor terms with Blue. God knew why; Dirk would love to death an underling that did all his work for him. But the way things stood, he would be demoted for sure.
The memories of his failure pained him again and again, not unlike a bad canker soar or a paper cut on the tongue. He had been defeated--and not just defeated, but trounced--by some masked freak dressed in a suit and cape. Scarlet, she called herself. Dirk's insides boiled with rage. He had made a fool of himself in front of the grunts, and demotion loomed on the horizon. He had to make better the situation.
Dirk sat in his office, drumming his fingers on his desk. A grunt hurried by his door, which had been left purposefully ajar for reasons Dirk was on the verge of bringing to light.
"You!" he snapped at the grunt. "Stop right there!"
The grunt froze. "Yes… sir?"
"Come in here."
The grunt did as he was told.
"Any luck locating Scar-- er, Professor Oak and company?"
"No, sir. With all due respect, sir, Aerodactyl is one of the fastest Pokémon in the world, and with the Viridian Forrest nearby, I seriously doubt--"
"Spare me," Dirk cut in. "Is R-13 conscious yet?"
"I don't know, sir."
Dirk rose. "I had better find out, then, hm? You're dismissed."
The grunt was out of Dirk's office before two seconds had passed.
As he made for the door, Dirk sniffed in annoyance. En route he went into his pocket and slid out a piece of gum; he had recently replenished his supply with a fresh pack. He chewed angrily down the hall, to the elevator, then into the basement. Upon reaching his destination, he spat the gum into its wrapper and handed it to one of the two grunts who stood guard.
"Throw this away for me, will you?"
The grunt stared at him.
Dirk returned that stare. "Now."
The grunt finally obliged, hurrying off. Dirk stuck more gum in his mouth before addressing the second grunt.
"Is he conscious?"
The grunt nodded. "Yes, sir, he is."
"Good. Step aside."
The basement level of the Viridian Compound--originally Giovanni's Viridian Gym, but with some modifications--was filled entirely with cells. It seemed like a waste to Dirk; he knew that they were rarely used, and there were over fifty different cells. In fact, he had only made two or three trips to basement level during his six-year-long employment.
R-13 didn't look angry, as Dirk expected him to. He didn't look sad, either; just confused--very, very confused.
"Greetings, R-13."
"Sub-Commander Dick. Hello."
Dirk crushed his gum between his front teeth. "That's… Dirk."
R-13 blinked. "Oh. Of course it is. Sorry, sir."
Dirk observed the grunt. "Are you feeling all right?"
"Oh, sure--quite well, sir. Never better."
"Never better?"
"Yes, sir."
Dirk licked his lips. "Never better despite the fact that you are mostly responsible for the failure of the mission you took part in just a few hours ago?"
"Oh." R-13 blinked again. "Did that happen? Apologies, sir"
"I'm sorry, did you just say 'did that happen?' "
"I guess I did, sir."
"You guess."
"Er… I did, sir."
Dirk narrowed his eyes. "Why did you do it?"
"Do what, sir?" R-13 asked.
"You're telling me you don't know what you did?"
"I gue-- uh, I mean, that's what I'm telling you, sir."
"So you're telling me you don't remember allowing Scar-- er, a masked girl dressed in a cape to use your Koffing as a smokescreen, then letting her, along with Professor Oak and his granddaughter, to escape through the back windows of Oak's Laboratory by attacking one of your own men with your Machop then standing by and watching as they flew out of sight."
"Uh. Can't say I do, sir."
Dirk pursed his lips. "So what do you remember about tonight?"
R-13 shrugged. "Not much, Sub-Comander Dick."
Route 25, 12:41 PM
Daisy was, once again, worried about her grandfather.
Fortunately, their rescuer--the masked girl, Scarlet--seemed to share her sentiments. After their initial escape, she had kept Aerodactyl flying at a deliberately moderate pace. They had also taken breaks, and for that Daisy was very grateful. Her grandfather was not at all youthful--far too old to be flying across Kanto on the back of an Aerodactyl.
A few minutes back, they had passed over Cerulean. Like most of the cities and towns of Kanto, it had remained mostly untouched--mostly on account of the Gym, which had been burned to the ground after Misty's defeat at the hands of Team Rocket during their takeover eight years ago. She, along with the other Gym Leaders that refused to cooperate Team Rocket, were sent out to sea and imprisoned on Seafoam Island.
Daisy's thoughts were jarred when she felt the flesh under her hands tremble.
"Are you all right, grandpa?" she asked. "Do we need to stop again?"
"No… well, yes, perhaps…" Oak sneezed. "Ah, I thought my adventuring days had ended a long time ago."
"Scarlet," Daisy said, "can we please rest again?"
"There's no need," Scarlet replied. "We've reached our destination."
Daisy squinted, gazing down at the landscape bellow. The sky was clear now, with the moon and starlight illuminating the world in silver radiance. To Daisy's right was the sea, dark and vast. To her left was a smallish cottage, set between rows of tall, leafy trees. The land rose above the water some thirty feet, with a steep cliff sloping down to the sea.
The cottage, the cliff, the sea--all of it radiated an air of romance. And sure enough, as Aerodactyl descended further, Daisy spotted a couple. They looked to be kissing. Before she could stop herself, she imagined an eighteen-year-old Red standing at the edge of the cliff, behind him the great, looming ocean. She pictured him looking back, smiling, holding out a hand.
"Daisy, I think your grip is loosening just a touch…"
"Oh!" With a slight jolt, Daisy returned to reality. "I'm sorry, grandpa." She retightened her hold.
Oak looked back at her, offering her the biggest smile he could manage while hanging off the back of a Pokémon flying over a hundred feet in the air. "This is a nice place, isn't it?"
"Yes," Daisy replied. "It is."
"Romantic, too, wouldn't you say?"
"I… Yes, I suppose." Not wanting to discuss anything of sort with Scarlet in earshot, Daisy quickly changed the subject. "But, um, Scarlet, do we have a purpose for coming here? Oh. Um… ah, that sounded rude, didn't it? What I meant was… um… could you, uh, maybe tell us why you chose to fly here as a opposed to… somewhere… else?"
"We're here for Bill," Scarlet said.
"Bill lives here?"
"That's right."
No further exchanges were made. Aerodactyl's decent was quick and smooth; Scarlet directed his Pokémon toward the back of Bill's cottage, where it landed with no trouble. Daisy and Scarlet carefully helped Oak off the Pokémon--when the professor's feet hit the ground, he wheezed a sigh of relief.
"Please cover your ears for a moment," Scarlet said. "I'm going to have Aerodactyl use his Supersonic to search the night for any unwelcome company."
Oak and Daisy obliged, and Scarlet ordered Aerodactyl to perform the attack. After about half a minute, Scarlet appeared to be satisfied. She nodded to Oak and Daisy, and the two of them uncovered their ears.
"Come," Scarlet said; she returned Aerodactyl, then made for Bill's front door. "Let's pay Bill a little visit."
"Is he expecting us?" Oak asked as he and Daisy followed.
"No. But he was involved with tonight's success."
"He was?" Daisy asked.
"Yes. With his technological ability, he was able to learn of the attack before hand."
Daisy froze; Scarlet and Oak stopped along with her. "You knew of the attack, yet instead of warning us, you chose to save us dramatically at the last minute?"
Scarlet sighed. "I'm sorry. I made a choice for you. Neither of you fit in a world dominated by Team Rocket… this I assumed. Nor, I believe, would you have trusted the warning of someone unwilling to show their face to you. I did what I thought was necessary--forgive me. You have joined the rebellion now."
"Just like that?"
"Just like that."
Scarlet continued toward Bill's house. Daisy hesitated.
"We could leave, you know," Oak said. "Leave this… Scarlet and her ambitions for rebellion. It may be wise for us to not get caught up in this; the chances of it ending well seem rather bleak."
Daisy shook her head. "No… Scarlet's right. Team Rocket is no doubt scouring all of Kanto for us--she made the choice, and there's no turning back. She will treat you well, though, grandpa, because I won't have it any other way."
Oak nodded, and the two followed Scarlet to the door. It seemed as though Scarlet had already knocked. A minute passed before Scarlet drew a radio from her suit. She pressed a button.
"That's me at the door."
Several more seconds passed, and the door opened. From beyond the threshold, Bill raised his eyebrows. Then a small smile appeared on his face.
"Well," he said, "looks like y'all made it out all right. That's good." His eyes turned to Scarlet. "And you must be Scarlet." He offered her a hand. "Looks like yer dressed for the part, I s'pose."
Scarlet took his hand and shook it firmly. "Thank you for your help."
"That's fine and all, but it's time fer you to hold up yer end of the bargain. I reckon Team Rocket suspects my involvement, so they'll be showin' up 'round here any time now…"
"I thought so as well. I'm prepared to handle to it. Now, Bill… I have another task for you."
"Oh, boy. What's that, now?"
"You're going to help me capture the Viridian Compound."