John stifled a yawn behind a gloved fist and tried to blink the sleep from his eyes as he walked down the metal corridor leading to the boss's office, the few grunts he passed on the way barely even sparing him glances while they delt with their own early morning wakeups. While he had been no stranger to late nights and limited hours of sleep in the past, gaming, coding, and shitting out reports and academic papers in a panic were a bit less physically taxing than life-or-death fights with pirates and magical dogs. Especially with the arsekicking that had come with it in an unwelcome package deal, more than a few bruises dotting his arms and shoulder. A few extra hours of sleep to recover would have been welcome, but he'd had little choice in the matter considering the very specific (and loud) message sent to his pager ordering him to deliver his mission report in person. And, of course, in uniform.

Orders were orders though, and the boss wasn't a man who appreciated being kept waiting.

The reception area to the office was deserted with no one present to man the modest desk that John had become increasingly familiar with on his frequent visits. Such familiarity was about to increase, the grunt recalling the details attached to his unwelcome wakeup as he rounded around the back of it to crouch down and look underneath. Spying the set of colourful buttons and switches hidden on the underside he made sure to only press the blue one as instructed, not being game enough to test out whatever the assortment of bright red options did. John was rewarded with a loud thunk from the ornate double doors leading into the office itself, and with the locks disengaged he stood back up and entered.

Similarly empty just like the previous room, John bypassed the executive desk that dominated the large space and instead made for the doors set into the far-right wall at the very back. He was about halfway there before one of them slid open with a light hiss, one of the last people he wanted to see that day stepping out with his face scrutinising an open folder of documents.

"Smith?" Joben asked, having immediately noticed his presence. Looking up from the files in his hands he gave the room a quick scan. It must have just been the early morning brain fog, but John could have sworn that the normally prim and proper assistant in his usual black suit looked a little wary. "Who let you in here? Reception isn't staffed until eight and the doors were locked."

'Ah, great. My day just got shittier.'

"Good morning to you too," John managed out in reply, forgetting to add a 'sir' or any other honorific but at least hiding his true thoughts behind an attempt at a smile. "No-one, I let myself in. Got a message from the bossman and he told me about the desk buttons."

He was unable to tell if the resulting frown and inaudible mutterings were because of the explanation or just the aftermath of Joben having to suffer his presence, but the thin man seemed to recover some of his usual snobbishness to stare down his nose at him through his glasses.

"The boss is busy at the moment with his morning routine. You should return outside and wait to be called." Adjusting his spectacles with a finger and setting a stray strand of short black hair back in place, Joben's green eyes were unblinking. "His office isn't the medical courtyard or training domes; we can't have grunts just loitering about wherever they please."

It was a struggle, and John wasn't quite able to stop himself from pursing his lips and wrinkling his nose, but he managed to force himself to remain polite with the man who was arguably his superior.

"Yeah I understand the reasoning behind that mate, but I probably should clarify that the boss was very specific. He wants my report now, from me in person, direct to him and him alone. Said that I needed to take the elevator in his office down to level three."

"What!?" If Joben was wary before, now he just looked at John with straight-up disbelief. "He told you to take the elevator? To level three as well?" A dismissive snort, the folder in Joben's hands was quickly shut and stored under an arm. "Impossible, you must be mistaken. Level three is restricted to the boss and selected maintenance staff only; not even I have been down there."

John only shrugged. "Dunno what to tell you then, except that it's what he wants to happen."

"I refuse to believe it. Show me the message he sent you, I'm certain that you've got the wrong floor." With a quick shake of his head, Joben's voice dropped to a murmur just loud enough for John to overhear. "Smith of all people?"

Now, John had the option of handing over the pager in his pocket so Joben could verify the instructions for himself. It would be easy, and while the man could possibly continue to deny it based on his preconceived notions, at the very least John could then pass the buck of any delay onto the personal assistant himself if it happened. However, John wasn't exactly in the mood to play the usual office games with the finicky prick standing before him, not helped by his short period of sleep nor the events of the previous twenty-four hours and the dull aches still plaguing him as a result. More importantly, it was Joben of all people. Man had a way of getting under John's skin that had yet to be matched by the normal Team Rocket rank and file.

With that in mind, John's curt answer was easy.

"No."

"Excuse me?"

"Answer's no," repeated John, narrowing his eyes into a glare and dropping all pretence of politeness to try and help get the point across. "Now excuse me and let me past, boss is waiting for me." He couldn't help but curl his lips up into a smirk, the next shot a dirty one but too tempting to pass up. "Down on level three."

Joben blinked a few times, taken aback at the open insubordination, but he soon recovered with his hands clenching into fists by his side.

"You forget your place, grunt." His voice remained steady, but Joben's words packed more venom in them than an ekans. "I'm an executive in rank, a personal assistant, and right-hand man to the boss himself. If I order you to provide proof of him requesting your loathsome presence, then you will provide it. Understand, Smith?"

Any chance of both parties reaching a shared agreement like reasonable and level-headed adults hadn't just gone out the window but had instead jumped out with a noose tied around its neck while doing a flip. Sealing the fate, rather than backing down and surrendering the pager, John took a step forwards and gestured to the door behind Joben with a slow nod.

"Or what?" Another step, the distance between the two becoming very uncomfortable. "Are you going to try and stop me, personal arse-istant? Got a pair of pokeballs hanging around in those fancy pants of yours, or are you going to put up your dukes and come at me like a man?" To hammer home the point he made sure to look down at the shorter man while puffing out his chest and flexing his biceps, as if Joben needed any reminder that the aggressive mass of a criminal standing before him was a few weight classes above his own.

Given that, and the surprise hostility he found himself targeted by, it was fairly understandable that Joben appeared to struggle for a response with his brows furrowing and his mouth moving without a word. "You… you…"

"Take it up with the boss," John growled with his own gloved fists slowly unclenching, his breathing slowing as he consciously tried to turn off 'flatten a cunt' mode. Leaving Joben to process what had just happened, he stepped around to the side before squeezing past him and into the short corridor the assistant had just come from. "I'm sure he'll be thrilled to hear you tattle on me because you just can't accept that someone else is in his good books for once."

It was a complete lie of course, John's name just as likely to be featured on the top Rocket's 'nice' list as Giovanni's was to be on Santa's, but Joben wasn't likely to know that. Confirmation of the suspicion came just a few seconds after the claim, right as John had found the entrance to the small and surprisingly plain-looking elevator he had been ordered to take.

"Don't make the mistake of thinking things have changed that much, Smith," Joben called out from the doorway he was still standing in. "You may have gotten lucky once, with the boss's deciding to keep you around as a novelty pet, but such luck won't last. No matter what lows you sink to, or how many you murder for him, you will always remain what you always were: a freak not even fit to be a grunt." As John turned back around to lean out of the elevator to face the seething man, Joben spat out a final judgement. "Absolutely nothing, aside from the textbook example of a complete failure."

A few moments passed, both men glaring at each other with about the only thing they shared in common: mutual hatred. Then, John spoke.

"You know what Joben? You're right on one thing." With his finger hovering over the button for floor three, John continued to fix his foe with his coldest stare. "I've gone and fucked up so now I'm the boss's discount hitman, useful in his eyes for little more than putting cunts that piss him off in the ground, so I guess 'scumbag murderer' isn't the most inaccurate thing to call me. However, in saying that you should remember that the boss is a man who we can both agree is far from stupid, and if he thinks for some reason that I've got potential as a paid killer on his payroll then…"

His dry chuckle was, in a rare case, completely lacking mirth.

"Maybe you should check yourself and reconsider every time you want to open your mouth and spew shit at me from now on, because you never know. One day the last of my limited patience might drop faster than peoples' confidence in the democratic process, and I'll finally yank out the stick stuck up your arse that's serving as your spine before beating you around the head with it. Then we'll finally see just how much favour you've managed to suck out from the boss and how far it'll get you, huh mate?" With a thumbs up, he mimed tipping an invisible hat to the personal assistant before pressing the button for level three. Just before the doors started to close, John got in one final salvo. "Now run along Joben, boss needs his papers filed and coffee fetched. Chop chop."

Then with a clunk, both individuals were separated by solid metal, left to steam in their own irritated lonesomes and rue even waking up in the miserable morning.

When the elevator door opened with a ding and John stepped out into a corridor shaped like the one on the previous floor, it was with a frown on his face and his eyes narrowed in a glare. With a grumble to himself about bad mornings and even worse people he looked over a couple of fancy wood doors secured with keypads before he settled on a third passageway that was currently open, the plain metal door held open by some kind of hidden mechanism as the sound of loud thuds and rock impacting on rock could be heard from the other side. Giovanni hadn't specified a room or any instructions aside from the level itself, so John inwardly shrugged and headed for it with his gloved hands shoved into his pockets. His polished boots stomped forwards with the finely patterned hardwood floor underneath them an expensive choice compared to the rest of the HQ's utilitarian look, and combined with the wrought iron wall lights giving off a warm glow it was a cosy change to the usual cold, sterile metallic vibe.

John found the area beyond the door to be similarly well-furbished, even if it appeared to just be some sort of storage and entrance room. Tables stocked with stacks of bottled water, assorted packages of various foods and snacks separated into piles for pokemon and humans respectively all with sport or fitness themed labels, and wall cabinets loaded with bottles of supplements and medical supplies. Gym equipment and clothing were neatly packed away in boxes and crates against the walls, most of it still pristine in packaging yet to be opened, and there were racks of enough weights and barbells to fully stock even the largest commercial fitness club. The most unusual of all however was the bank of humming computers mounted upon a sturdy desk with fat cables connecting them to the walls, with John able to make out the words 'safety and structural fields active' on one flat monitor.

Assuming that it wasn't wise to dick around with the unfamiliar computer systems, especially given the words on the readout accompanied by the occasional shake of the ground and smashing noise, John instead went for another metal door on the opposite side and pushed it open. "Boss?" he called out through the crack before stepping through, a light feeling of static washing over him when he walked through and stepped out into a massive underground space.

It was some sort of subterranean gymnasium if the numerous weight machines and hanging punching bags were any indication, John even spying a small swimming pool and attached spa over in one far corner. The floor was almost the same hardwood as the outside corridor but the unnatural sheen it had gave it a much more artificial feel, with John not able to spot a single scratch or dent on it at all. The walls were made from a combination of thick concrete slabs and solid steel, with sturdy support columns of the same material supporting a ceiling up above with at least five times his height in clearance. The entire space was lit up from the rows of lights embedded in its underside, and with the aid of their bright glow John spotted his boss standing at the other side of the gym in one of his usual smart grey suits.

Not just the boss however, John raising an eye and losing some of his grumpiness as he beheld the two bipedal pokemon facing off against each other in some kind of boulder-strewn sandpit the size of a small football field.

The smaller one John was able to recognise easily thanks to its similarity to the nidorinas he'd seen both in his identification cards and under the command of Rocket agents, the nidoqueen an impressive beast with a sturdy frame, blue skin like natural armour plating, and a back covered with numerous spike protrusions. Its stance was wide, and the thick tail was planted flat against the ground as additional stabilisation. Blood dribbled from the creature's nose and dripped onto the sandy floor, with various scratches and fresh rents marring the pokemon's body with raw gouges despite the tough skin. Not that the nidoqueen even seemed aware of any of the injuries, large eyes narrowed and horn pointed at the pokemon opposite it while the trio of stubby claws on each hand flexed in preparation.

Likewise the other creature was fixated on its opponent, John recalling it from his binder of cards and identifying it as a rhydon. In many ways it was similar to the nidoqueen in appearance in that it also possessed a large and armoured bulk of a body, two claws on the feet and three on the hands, and a large tail that was currently helping it hold a strong upright stance. Its skin was a strong grey instead of a blue, however the segmented plates protecting the beasts' bellies shared the same cream colour. While the spiny ridge down the rhydon's back appeared far less sharp compared to the nidoqueen's own back spikes, the spiralled horn mounted just above its flat nostrils was larger while also looking somewhat like a drill head. Even though the pokemon was huffing slightly with its own pockmarks from unknown impacts and assorted fresh battle wounds, its red eyes blazed with life and its sizable mouth was locked in a grin.

"Again," Giovanni commanded from the sidelines, as stern and detached as usual. "Take Down."

The way the rhydon surged forwards with a deep roar caused John to pause his advance and that was before the large creature, a good head and shoulders taller than the nidoqueen it was charging at, made contact with a powerful smash and deafening crunch. The nidoqueen grunted and was pushed back through the sand even though it had braced itself with sturdy arms crossed over its chest, the two creatures kicking up a swirl of sand and grit while they bellowed at and smashed against each other. However, the grunt managed to will himself to keep walking towards the thunderous fight with John focusing on how his boss was perfectly fine to just stand close by and observe with an emotionless stare. To John it was if Giovanni, despite having a ringside seat to an angry dinosaur brawl, was somehow able to appear bored.

With the initial impact over the two pokemon started to grapple and scrap with each other, the boss not giving out any further orders or even saying anything until he noticed John cautiously approaching from behind.

"Ah, Smith," he called out over his shoulder, neutral expression breaking out into an amused smirk once he noticed the large grunt's slow pace. "You can approach, I was just finishing up. It should be mostly safe, my pokemon are well trained after all."

With a lot of effort going towards trying to ignore the bellowing creatures battering each other, the nidoqueen now having gotten her jaws around a massive grey arm, John did as asked and hesitantly stood next to the smiling leader.

"Look at them Smith, see what a man can achieve when he takes the time to mould a pokemon into a useful form." As he spoke the rhydon socked the nidoqueen in the gut with a rumbling growl, the smaller pokemon letting go of the rhydon's arm and stumbling back. "Primal power, honed and refined in ways only possible under human guidance. Lesser pokemon would have crumbled from that single hit alone, but not mine." As if to punctuate the point, Nidoqueen struck back at her foe with one kick rapidly followed by another, the latter striking Rhydon in the shin and sending it down to one knee. "Strength bolstered with discipline, and discipline enforced with strength. This is the key to training powerful and loyal pokemon, the grounding bedrock that serves as the foundation of success." While Giovanni spoke the rhydon pushed itself to stand back up with a grunt, a huff of air puffing out from its nostrils as retook a steady stance.

John, watching the mock fight with his frown still prevalent, crossed his arms in front of his chest and furrowed his eyes.

"Righto. I'll keep that in mind, Boss." With Giovanni turning to look at him, John nodded his head towards the two fighters and grunted out an observation. "Have to say though, it seems a bit easier to talk about honing strength when you're throwing pokemon like those two around. They're not exactly the bird you find in your backyard or the small rat that you catch in the back alley."

"Enough!" The command wasn't directed towards him, instead Giovanni held up a hand towards the pokemon who immediately ceased their glaring at each other to stare at their master. Then the boss returned his attention to John, the look he gave as hard and unyielding as the boulders littering the sandy field. "While you are correct about my pokemon, my advice applies to all no matter their typing. Even humans can benefit, with some in particular needing a good reminder of the 'discipline' part."

A roll of his eyes. "Yeah, I've heard it all before already. It's a work in progress alright?" Wrinkling his nose, John managed to just hold back a dangerous scoff. "Please tell me that you didn't ask me down here this early just to show off your pokemon and lecture me again, I'm really not in the mood Boss."

Giovanni's brow raised at that, even as the suited leader's previous smile vanished. "Careful, Smith. You're even more careless this morning, be sure to not cross the line." Both of the pokemon chose that exact moment to lumber up to the pair of conversing humans, neither of them saying or doing anything but watching and waiting, although John didn't miss how their ears twitched with their attention focused primarily on him.

"I had a rough night," he grunted out as an explanation, deciding to omit his recent clash with Joben upstairs. "Along with an early morning wakeup and splitting headache, so excuse me if I'm not the usual ray of sunshine you know and love."

A hint of the boss's previous smile resurfaced. "So I've been told. In fact, the Doctor has been quite busy filling up my message inbox since you returned. Something about a medical condition he's found to be most interesting, but I've only had time to skim over the details. Since you're currently standing here I can only assume that you have good news to report about your task?"

John huffed out through a frown. "I think we both have a different definition of 'good', but yeah I got it done in the end. Some stains on the concrete, holes in a few mattresses, and it was a bitch to dig a big enough pit with one of my arms torn up, but your pirate problem is delt with."

"Pirate?" With a raised eye, Giovanni continued on before John could explain further. "I'm sure your full written report will be interesting, Smith. I expect it on my desk by the end of today, use the computers in the HQ library when we are done." As he spoke, the boss dipped his hand into his suit pocket to pull out a miniaturised pokeball. Nidoqueen was the first to be returned, Rhydon following quickly after with both of the pokemon keeping their stares fixed on John right up until they disappeared. "For now I'll be satisfied with a brief overview in person, and while you're at it you can tell me what's gotten Yari so worked up. It will save me from suffering through pages of meaningless medical jargon."

Doing as asked with just the smallest of grumbles, John recounted to the boss the events of the previous night. The meeting with Pete and the subsequent fight in the criminal's soundproofed room, the poochyena, burying the two of them together in a nearby field while rain bucketed down, and the treatment of his arm that led to Doctor Yari discovering that pokemon potions had an overzealous healing effect when applied to him. The boss remained mostly silent and allowed John to recount things with only the occasional question accompanied by unreadable twitches of the mouth whenever particularly 'exotic' word choices and phrases were used, his expression neutral and tone strictly professional all the way through despite the gruesome subject matter. Then, as John rolled up his uniform sleeve to show the fresh bite mark scars that were the result of Yari expertly shaving down the growths that the potion treatment had produced, Giovanni started to smile with a glint of interest in his eye.

"Perhaps Yari was right in his enthusiasm," the boss hummed, rubbing his chin with a hand while John slowly rotated his arm to give him a full look. "If Team Rocket can harness this quirk of yours and replicate it as a treatment option, we'd have hospitals and doctors climbing over each other with cash in hand to get access to it. It would do wonders for the continuing health of my bank accounts."

John snorted with mild amusement at the less-than altruistic observation. "And here I was thinking you valued me for my work ethic. Does this mean I can go back to normal grunt work as long as I continue to play test subject on the side?"

"No," the boss replied immediately, snuffing out that hope before it could even leave the ground. Still, his smile remained even while he regarded Smith with an appraising look. "While your side-effects of existence have the potential for great profit, your apparent talent and stomach for dirty work is something of a rarity to find and even more troublesome to normally buy. You should be thankful, as it has secured you a comfortable spot on my payroll."

"It doesn't exactly feel comfortable though…"

"How about 'well compensated', then? I'll have your money in your account by the end of the day, and I'm sure the amount of digits will go a long way to washing away any doubts. Just like the grunt team I sent to clean up after you will take care of any lingering evidence of our involvement." Turning away from John while ignoring the grunt's incoherent grumbling, Giovanni gestured with one arm out around the underground gym with the other held behind his back. "Our work is often what others consider unethical, Smith, but the rewards it brings are hard to refute."

John couldn't help but agree as he followed his boss's arm sweep with his eyes passing over the lavishly equipped underground gym. "I suppose. Can't lie, it's a pretty nice place you've got down here." Recalling Joben's comments about the rarity of being granted access to level three, he took the opportunity to press for more information. "Your own personal space away from us riffraff, huh?"

"This and the entire floor, save for maintenance issues," Giovanni replied with a satisfied smile. "While it's not quite one of my mansions, vacation homes, or the Cerulean Tower penthouse, the proximity to my main office is hard to beat." Before John could comment, he found the boss's attention returning to him. "I'm also sure that you understand the want for a good gym, based on Yari's reports on your enthusiasm to improve your fitness."

Sparing a look down at himself, John nodded before following it with a shrug. Most likely thanks to his newfound metabolism and glut of stem cells, over the last month and a half he'd lost a bit of fat and gained a more noticeable amount of muscle. Then again, it was just as likely that being forcibly removed from the luxuries of personal computers and actual daily exercise was the main driver of improvement, but either way gains were gains.

"I'm not that much of gym rat," he grumbled, but still with a small smile. "Thanks for noticing though, Boss."

There was a scoff in reply. "Don't flatter yourself Smith, you have a long way to go yet. Speaking of…" Giovanni raised an eye while his smile grew. "I'm reminded of your encounter with our departed friend's pokemon. Of course you should have had a pokemon yourself, as I have repeatedly stated, but for now I'd like to see you how well you can fight. Sheer mass isn't the only important thing, especially if one finds themselves trying to fight pokemon without any assistance." As he spoke, Giovanni walked over towards a storage crate up against one of the walls and pulled out a large pair of protective bag gloves. Throwing them at John underarm, the boss pointed towards one of the sturdy boxing bags hanging from the ceiling nearby. "Put them on and show me how you punch."

"Boss?"

"Do I need to repeat myself Smith?"

"Uh… no?" Blinking away his confusion, John did as ordered and donned the gloves. It wasn't exactly the most difficult task that the boss had given him but he couldn't help but question the purpose behind it, Giovanni watching him while he squared up in front of the designated bag. Taking a breath and trying to focus on his punches instead of the leader's gaze, it was a conscious battle to squash the niggling reminder that the worst workplace fuckups always seem to happen right in front of the blokes in charge.

'Got to just ignore him, pretend it's just another morning in the normal gym. It's just hitting a boxing bag, not backing out too quickly and totalling the work van…'

His gloved fists gave the bag a few meaty thumps, starting slow but the speed and strength of the blows increased as he started to get into the swing of things. Giovanni watched without comment while John hammered away, expression giving nothing away while the chain holding up the punished vinyl groaned in protest. With the familiar routine helping him keep focus and his scarred arm feeling perfectly normal despite the fact that sharp teeth had been lodged in it barely twelve hours past, John was just starting to work up a decent sweat when his employer spoke again.

"Enough."

Stepping back with a huff, Smith watched the bag continue to swing for a few seconds more before turning to raise his brows towards Giovanni. "So?"

"You're at least able to hit fairly hard, but your technique leaves a lot to be desired," Giovanni flatly stated, a dismissive wave aimed at the abused piece of gym equipment. "Using your fists against any pokemon taller than your knee is a desperate last resort even for properly trained fighters, and you're not going to rival Bruno anytime soon. That's putting it nicely." With a slight wrinkle of his nose, the boss crossed his arms and allowed himself a single tut. "I can see why you struggled so much against that poochyena; we likely wouldn't be talking if it had been a fighting type instead."

John had a nose wrinkle himself, but one far more pronounced and born of offence. "Steady, I wasn't exactly prepared for a bloody dog with big bloody teeth to jump me just before I could pepper pirate Pete with my pistol." Narrowing his eyes, John let out an indignant snort and crossed his arms before the boss could comment. "Maybe if the guys you sent to scout the place weren't all dressed in black jumpsuits with massive red r's all over them then Long John Silver wouldn't have suspected that he'd been marked with the black spot in the first place. How's that for a technique that needs improvement?" Noticing Giovanni's look hardening with a frown threatening to return, John grumbled. "So why don't we just forget about last night for a bit, and besides, I didn't exactly have you pegged as the type who needs to get his own hands dirty. No offence Boss, but you aren't the guy you'd find getting his teeth smacked out in an MMA ring or in the bar after a few beers."

While true it was a potentially dangerous play to state it to the leader's face. After all, Giovanni wasn't one you'd call a softie even with his luxurious tastes and measured mannerisms. As such, it was a quiet relief when the man instead responded to the observation with a smug smirk rather than another round of admonishment.

"Is that so, Smith?" Not giving John time to reply, Giovanni strolled over to the bin of boxing equipment with his hands already reaching for his green tie. "You might be in for a surprise then. Just because I run the entire business doesn't mean that I spend my days lounging around, and you also forgot that in my more public life I do hold the position of Gym Leader of Viridian." The tie was removed with one hand and stuffed into a suit pocket while the other fished out another pair of gloves. "The most difficult badge in Kanto to obtain, and there's far more to reaching such a level with pokemon than just learning type matchups and how to shout commands." The orange suit jacket was draped over one side of the equipment box, fingers unbuttoning the white dress shirt underneath. "I could easily have a seat in the Elite if I wanted, with the title of regional champion once being within my grasp. The only thing stopping me was my timely inheritance of the family business."

John's understandable surprise that his boss, the leader of Team Rocket himself, was currently taking off his shirt and talking as if he was about to throw hands was quickly overridden when the actual shirt itself and a number of jewelled rings joined the suit jacket off to the side. It left the man bare chested and armed with only his pants and shoes remaining on, Giovanni grinning at his visible shock as a single word popped into John's mind.

'Mogged.'

To put it simply: his boss was buff. Toned abs, sculptured pecs, and the arms that had previously been hidden under a suit worth more than John's combined earthly possessions were loaded with enough muscle to make even the most protein-obsessed gym rat blush. Combined with the net worth of a cartoon supervillain it was no wonder the man exuded unwavering confidence and power even while relaxed. Especially at present, with the boss smirking again and showing off his biceps with a not-so-subtle flex.

"Fuck me, someone ate their weetbix every morning," John breathed out, before following it up with the obligatory: "No homo, but holy hell Boss. What, do you keep all your money in gold bars and just bench press that daily?"

Sliding on his gloves and lacing them up, Giovanni allowed himself a short chuckle. "Hardly, I'd need to enlist the help of a crane in that case. No Smith, this here," he tapped his beefy chest with both gloves, "is a product of a lifetime of hard work and dedication to excel. A young man's pokemon journey has many benefits, and the path a trainer walks doesn't encourage weakness. It shapes you into who you are, and while I neglected focusing on fighting types I picked the better option." His foot stamped down for emphasis, heavy and radiating power even while protected by thousand-dollar business shoes. "Ground, strong and reliable. Just like ground types easily shape the earth with their attacks, in training them you shape yourself into a more robust man alongside. It takes a strong mind to properly master their power, and a stronger body to withstand the occasional missed shot."

Stepping up to the bag that John had been wailing on before, Giovanni rolled his shoulders and raised his dukes with a smug grin.

"Now watch and learn Smith."

Giovanni needed no warmup, his gloved fist shooting out to send the bag rocking. Another punch caught it when it swung back, the shirtless boss laying into it with a meticulous tempo that kept the bag from ever crossing back over the hundred-and-eighty-degree line. Each powerful blow was perfectly primed to lash out just as the previous fist was pulling back, each wallop driven by cultivated muscles and practiced ease. Such was the intensity of the slaughter that John started to fear for the bag's integrity, the synthetic outside strained to its limits while the chain suspending it from the roof groaned louder than the chairs he sat on. All the while his boss showed no signs of tiring, barely a single bead of sweat on the man's forehead despite the intense pace of the workout.

When Giovanni stopped punching five minutes later it was with a wide smirk, and the boss casually stopped the swinging bag with a single touch of a hand. "Child's play," he stated with a dismissive wave, no heavy breathing or any noticeable trace of exhaustion escaping him. "It's always easy to hit a target that's not able to fight back of course, but surely you at least noticed my superior timing and form regardless? Or my endurance, compared to you running out of breath a few minutes in? I would hope so, given your own amateur attempt. What did you learn?"

"Uh," John began, still trying to process the revelations of the past five minutes. "You punch… good?" He had to quickly clarify when Giovani's expression started to harden. "I mean I noticed that you had better timing and yeah, you're not even puffed, but I mean you said yourself that you've at this for longer than I have. I'm working on it."

The resulting scoff from Giovanni was partnered with a pointed look to John's left arm.

"Perhaps not often enough," the head of Team Rocket judged with a raised brow. "The same could be said for some other aspects of your training."

"Yeah, righto. I haven't heard that one already."

Maybe it was dismissive tone that did it, but his reply seemed to spark something in the musclebound leader. With Giovanni staring at him, John felt a wave of unease wash over him as the other man's smug smirk of superiority was joined by a dangerous glint in the eyes. The feeling that something was about to go terribly wrong was compounded upon when the boss moved his legs into a wider stance and shifted his fists up in front of his chest.

"If that's the case then let's try a different learning method, I've got most of this morning free after all and it's been a while since I've sparred." Grin wide and brimming with condescending confidence, Giovanni tapped both of his gloved fists together. "You might even finally learn something of use Smith, but even if you don't..." Giovanni's eyes narrowed ever so slightly while his smile remained strong. "Well, at least it might be a humbling experience. Entertaining even, at least for one of us." The gloves were tapped together again, before one was used to make a 'come here' gesture. "Now try to land a blow on me, lets see if that money I've been spending on you has been wasted."

Face with that proposition, John blinked. "Wot?"

"Do I need to repeat myself Smith? Throw a punch."

"Uh…" While it was true that any red-blooded man had likely salivated over the mere possibility of their boss asking them the same request for a fully sanctioned flogging, for John the fact that Giovanni was, well, Giovanni complicated the matter. Disregarding the shock of the request itself and the sheer toned bulk that the beefcake of a man normally hid under tailored suits, the boss wasn't exactly someone you wanted to piss off. After all, the response to finding out that John had killed someone boiled down to 'I want to pay you to do it again to people I don't like'.

John wasn't exactly happy with his place in the matter, but he certainly knew that it was better than being on the other side looking down the barrel. Even if no one else in the team was apparently able to pull a trigger he couldn't be sure that Giovanni wouldn't just order Persian to gnaw his balls off or something equally nefarious. How could he be sure that he wouldn't accidently prompt such a response by doing as asked and socking the boss one in jaw?

"Smith, I'm waiting."

"Ah, yeah Boss I… I'm just not sure if it would be a good idea to hit you, you asking for it or not."

"Don't worry. You won't."

Despite the complete self-assurance in the answer, John still took a few moments to mull the choices over in his head. Unfortunately for him it was a few moments too long, the boss's muscles tensing as Giovanni raised an eye and followed up through his smirk.

"Very well, I'll go first to break the ice. Put them up."

John's own gloved hands had barely made their way above his nips before he received a hammering blow to the side of the face, rattling his teeth and adding a throb of pain to accompany his surprise. Unprepared, he staggered back with the sole saving gracing being that he didn't just topple straight over backwards in a humiliating defeat, but unfortunately that just meant that his boss could continue to wallop him with a follow up punch. The opposite cheek was the receiver this time, swiftly followed by a harsh jab to the large target that was John's stomach. Finally a haymaker to the chin was the blow that sent him down to the gym floor, the large grunt collapsing with a wheeze to one knee while Giovanni adjusted his footing with a wide smirk plastered on his face.

There hadn't even been a chance to fight back.

"Pathetic," chortled Giovanni with a roll of his shoulders. "What was that?" An eye raised when John grunted out a curse, the larger man wincing before forcing himself to stand back up. "Persistence is admirable but consider this one of your first lessons: Don't let your opponent take a free shot, and if you have the chance to act first then you should seize it."

"Easy to say when you're a sneaky piece of-"

The punch to John's nose was lightning quick returned him to the gym floor with a loud 'oof!'. Feeling his head spin, he barely registered the ache from it even when he touched his face and saw the wet splotch of red on his glove.

"Lesson two: Don't backtalk your boss." Standing over him, Giovanni grinned wider. "Especially when he's stronger than you. Can you guess lesson three?"

'Everyone needs to sleep sometime, even buff billionaire criminals,' was the first thing to pop up but went unvoiced. Probably a good thing considering that Giovanni could have taken it as the threat that it was. Instead, while the boss backed off and allowed him to drag himself up to his feet again, John spat out another irritated answer. "I dunno, something about fighting fair?"

It was answered with an accompanying scoff and nod. "The winners set the rules, Smith." Another stance change, Giovanni shifting on his feet to lead with his left side. "But at the moment I'm sure that's an alien feeling for you. For all your size, you can't even hope to begin to threaten me. You haven't even managed to raise a fist." A pointed look at John's hands, one covering his vulnerable gut while the other was limp at his side. "Can you even manage to hit me today? As amusing as this exercise has been, I was expecting some retaliation." Already grinning with pride and oozing self-confidence, Giovanni waggled his eyes. "Maybe some incentive is in order, a carrot before I continue on with the stick. Let's say… two hundred. A pittance for me, but it could be yours."

Narrowing his eyes but maintaining his smile, the boss raised his gloves to the ready.

"A simple hit. You land just a single blow and I'll add on two hundred right here and now."

John glared at his superior with his throbbing jaw clenched, Giovanni matching it with cocky self-assurance. The 'helpful' and impromptu lessons hadn't exactly done very much for his mood and would likely be leaving him with a number of fresh bruises to accompany his eviscerated ego, so all care about what the boss thought of him was tossed out of the ring. John took a step towards the smiling man who at first drew in his readied fists in preparation to respond, but then paused when the grunt made a show of undoing the strap of his left glove.

"Giving up?" Giovanni scoffed, although there was a hint of genuine disappointment garnishing the mockery. Relaxing his guard, the top rocket first watched John take off his glove before he snorted at the way the larger man threw it down at his polished business shoes in submission. Looking down at the discarded glove and shaking his head, the Boss tutted. "A shame, I was-"

John charged.

Snapping his focus back up from the surrendered glove, Giovanni had just enough time to process that the large mass clothed in a black grunt uniform was moving forwards. More specifically, towards him, at speed. It was credit to him that despite John's rapid locomotion and the short distance between the two men Giovanni was still able to get off a quick jab, but the large grunt had already covered enough ground that the quick shot to burly chest wasn't able to hit at full power. With his body already moving to the side in an instinctual dodge and his eyes homed in on his opponent's gloved hand the Boss was already preparing to perform a deflection or counter, but he failed to account for one thing:

It wasn't a punch his underling was going for.

A thump and a crack, John's forehead making contact with the boss of Team Rocket's nose in a spiteful headbutt. It was followed up a moment later by the eventual result of a large mass in motion colliding with a smaller one that was stationary, Newton's theory swiftly validated when Giovanni was knocked straight back onto his rear on the ground. Huffing after his mad bull rush, John ignored the new pain in his head while he smirked down at his boss, the former unassailable superior now possessing a bewildered expression along with his freshly bloodied nose.

"How's that for a lesson three, cunt?" With adrenaline and the sweet drug of victory surging through him, John chuffed out a follow up. "I'll be taking those two hundred dollary-doos now, thank you very much."

Of course, while drugs are great at the start they always lead to a comedown crash, and John's came in the form of the realisation of what he had just done. More importantly, who he had just done it to.

"Oh shit, Boss…" John's grin of elation dropped as it all sunk in, while on the ground Giovanni touched a glove to his face and stared at the blood now covering it. "That… ah, I might have gone a bit overboard."

The Boss delivered his opinion on the matter a split-second later, in the form of a swift sweep kick from his spot on the floor that knocked John's legs out from under him. Crumpling like a sack of potatoes, John's mind conjured up a single silent thought right before he smacked down to join his boss on the floor.

'Huh, guess the Boss really knows a lot about ground fighting after all.'

It was followed by a very verbal "Oof!", John landing on his front and kissing the gym floor with the side of his already ringing head. With a pained groan he tried to roll over onto his side, but as he lifted his head he was met with his bloodied employer gazing down at him with intense judgement. Perhaps Giovanni hadn't just been spewing out empty brags since he was able to apparently recover that quickly from the hit, not that it was of much consolation to John as he met his boss's look with an attempt at an apologetic wince.

"I… give up?" He moved to quickly clarify. "For real this time?"

Giovanni sniffed, a single drop of blood dripping down from his nose and splashing down just next to John's hand, but otherwise his composure didn't budge.

"On your feet, Smith," he ordered, solid stare unwavering and locked on his grounded subordinate. "We're far from done."

"Uh…Boss?"

The corners of Giovanni's mouth twitched up into the start of a dangerous smile.

"Congratulations are in order; you have managed to impress me somewhat. As a reward, along with your deviously earned money, I've decided to help you with more training." Another dangerous glint of glee in the eye. "And as I said earlier, I've got a decent amount of free time this morning."

John, still on the ground, closed his eyes for a few seconds.

"Oh, that's… great to hear."

"Thanks again for coming all the way out here from Celadon, this case has been stagnant for days."

Officer Jenny, Celadon Police, nodded at her Pewter City counterpart's words while she focused on the cream-coloured two door hatchback in front of her. With worn tires caked in dried mud, the vehicle had evidently been stationary for some time judging by the coating of leaves from the forest canopy above mixed with a few dried splotches from the bird pokemon that lived in said canopy. Standing back up and turning to reface her cousin, Jenny let her growlithe conduct a sniffing investigation of his own while she quizzed her mirror image.

"When did you say the car was found?"

"A few days ago, a passing trainer reported finding it here after trying to shelter from the rain," Pewter Jenny answered, a glance going around the surrounding forest they were both standing in. Assorted pokemon chittered and called out from the trees around them in the distance, but the wild pokemon possessed enough sense to not try and tangle with the two human law enforcers and their well-trained fire-types. Two police motorbikes sat barely half-a-minutes' walk away where the edge of the forest met grassy field, thick bushes doing a good job at concealing their spot from the main road in the distance as well as providing shade from the midday sun. "Myself and a few rangers gave the area a pretty good search but we turned up nothing else of use. If I had more officers I could extend the search area, but the mayor is still paranoid from the Team Rocket heist we had a few weeks ago and most of them are stuck guarding the museum."

Celadon Jenny pursed her lips and nodded at that. "I know the feeling. You probably heard about the breeder robberies we had last month? Team Rocket was involved in that as well. Hopefully we can stop them, preferably before they try to rob an entire cruise ship again. Jenny from Vermillion still won't stop complaining about the paperwork." After they both shared a sympathetic wince at their relative and co-worker's bad experience attention was returned to the matter at hand, that being the car. "I checked out the plates before coming out and it's registered to a Mr Brooks, freelance journalist apparently. No missing persons notice yet, no family or registered pokemon either, but I spoke to his neighbour back in Celadon and she said that he's usually gone for weeks at a time for work."

"So not much to go off, then."

"It doesn't look like it." Sighing, Jenny watched her growlithe wrinkle his nose and move closer to a rear for a more intense inspection. Raising a white gloved hand to her chin, she hummed in thought and studied the abandoned car some more. "Still, I have to wonder about the timing. You said Team Rocket hit Pewter a few weeks ago?" She continued on after the nodded confirmation from her cousin. "That could line up with the amount of time this has been out here, and for a freelance journalist Team Rocket is a pretty good scoop… Hey! Growlithe!"

Both cops stared at the canine pokemon, the four-legged officer turning his head to look at them with his rear leg cocked in the air near the car and his eyes wide with silent query.

"That's still evidence! There are plenty of trees around, you know."

With head bowed the admonished officer slinked off and left the car be, his superior sighing again with a roll of her eyes.

"Sorry about that, he's one of the newbies and you know how they are." Already confident that her thoughts were shared, Celadon Jenny continued on from where she left off. "Anyway, as I was saying a Team Rocket story would make for good news if you could find a paper or station willing to publish. The owner of our mystery car could have been here to track them down."

"But why here?" The other Jenny furrowed her eyes and gestured with a hand towards their bikes and the road behind them. "Pewter is an hour away from here at least. You'd think that he'd park his car a bit closer, imagine how long it would take for you to walk."

True, it was a bit out of the way. Rubbing her chin again, Jenny thought back to her experience with Team Rocket in her own city. A thought popped into her head, spurned on by her memory of speaking to a young trainer who'd told her about his assault at the hands of a particularly large and vulgar costumed criminal in a derelict warehouse. "Hey Jen, I've just had an idea. Are there any places of interest close to here, maybe somewhere a bunch of Rockets could hide some vehicles close to the road?"

Her counterpart shrugged and tilted her head to the side. "Well there's the defunct quarry about half and hour down the road towards the city, but that's just a bunch of old holes in the ground with some stacks of stone and dirt." Another moment of thought yielded a second answer. "Oh, and the lumber mill I suppose. It's still used normally, but the city council declared that it halt operations for a while. Something about disturbing a new colony of beedrill and giving them some time to adjust." Another shrug. "You could probably fit a few trucks and other things in there, why do you ask?"

Jenny felt a shiver run down her spine but in a good way. She could feel it, that she was onto something.

"Just a hunch," she admitted, sparing a glance to her guilty growlithe who was sheepishly making his way back from a grouping of trees further into the forest gloom. "During their spree in Celadon Team Rocket used an old warehouse to store their loot in before taking it back to their hideout. I wonder if they did the same thing when they robbed Pewter?"

"Are you thinking that the journalist could have been there? That's why his car is here instead of in the city?"

With a slight frown, Jenny looked to the road before answering.

"Maybe, it's not much to go on but it's all that we have. For all we know he could just be camping out somewhere snapping pictures of flying-types. I'd like to have a look regardless, gut feeling."

She needed to say no more to convince her local counterpart, the other Jenny already nodding with a knowing look. "Say no more, feel free to take a peek around and let me know if you find anything. I'll stick around here and have another look around the area, beats spending more time guarding a museum like every other cop in Pewter."

"Will do. Growlithe, we're heading out. Return."

One pokemon recall and a short motorbike ride later, and Officer Jenny found herself pulling up to a stop right before the open gates of the Pewter City lumber yard. True to her cousin's words the place was silent and seemingly abandoned, although the buildings still looked well maintained and yet to fall into disrepair with the piles of neatly stacked logs under plastic tarps awaiting the eventual return of the workers. Kicking out her motorbike's stand Jenny dismounted, gloved hands adjusting her uniform belt before she withdrew her pokeball from the attached holster.

With an eager bark as he was released from his pokeball once more, Growlithe wagged his tail at the large metal-walled building that dominated most of the fenced in yard. Jenny didn't stop him from bounding off to investigate all of the interesting smells that accompanied human industry, instead she followed his lead and approached one of the large roller doors set into the nearest wall. After a brief test and finding it unlocked she bent down and, with a grunt as her shoes sank down into the damp earth, Jenny lifted it up high enough to allow her entry without ducking down.

Growlithe yipped and shot past her into the gloomy interior, Jenny giving the inside of the spacious shed a quick look over as her pokemon partner got to work with his powerful nose. Her initial inspection yielded nothing save for a few tyre marks on the concrete and quiet rows of electric woodcutting equipment, and her hope for finding anything tangible steadily started to die with each further peak into shadowy corner after shadowy corner.

"Hello!?" She called out, without expecting any response. "It's the police!"

Nothing. Well, nothing save for Growlithe barking back from his spot over by some standing saws. Briefly closing her eyes, Jenny let out a sigh before answering her partner.

"Not you Growlithe, you're not our missing journalist."

The series of short barks in reply caught her attention, something in the canine's tone sounding more than just a simple confirmation. Her interest raised, and with admittedly not much else going on in the abandoned warehouse, Officer Jenny made her way over to where her pokemon was pawing at the feet of one table saw in particular.

"Hmm? Found something?"

The brief surge of hope at his rapid nods floundered almost immediately upon Jenny crouching down for a better look at his prize, her face stony as she gingerly picked up the 'evidence' with her gloved hand.

"A half-eaten snack bar," she huffed, looking at her excited partner and waggling the abandoned food still nestled in its foil wrapper. Taking another look at the thing, Jenny rolled her eyes at the smiling grass-type on the wrapper holding some sort of nut. "It's just some protein bar Growlithe, old and dirty too. It's not much of a lead I'm afraid." Standing back up she considered just tossing the thing, but upon reconsideration it was instead dumped in one of her blue uniform jacket's least used pockets with a sigh.

Even though she had found it already on the ground in the shutdown lumber yard, Jenny couldn't bring herself to actively litter.

Noticing her pokemon's wide eyes and hearing his whine, Officer Jenny could only shake her head when Growlithe gave a pointed look to her pocket and sat back on his rump with his forepaws folded up in front of his chest.

"No, even if it's not evidence you definitely shouldn't eat it anyway. Focus on the job, there's still a bit of lumber yard that we haven't searched yet."

Even as the words left her mouth she was already doubting the utility of continuing the search, another glance around the deserted shed and continuing silence save for her partner and herself just another nail in the coffin of potential success. It was the sad whine from the rookie growlithe that finally buried the last bit of hope in the ground though, Jenny relented with long huff of disappointment.

"Fine, we probably aren't going to find anything here anyway. Let's head back to car and see if Jen knows a good place to grab lunch in Pewter."

The yip of earnest agreement was soon followed by the sound of a roller door being closed, at least one of the law enforcers leaving the lumber yard with a smile on their face.

"Hmm…"

Giovanni leaned back in his executive chair and drummed his fingers on the desk, brow furrowed at the report shown on the screen of his laptop. Yet another low-level operation had almost been bungled by his grunts due to the interference of a third-party, another occurrence of some small-time local criminals thinking that they could muscle in on Team Rocket's business. It was starting to happen so often that he would have suspected some sort of organised move against him if it wasn't for the ill-preparedness of the attacks, and as far as regions went it was true that Kanto wasn't exactly known for effective government authority. Isolated towns and villages located away from the major cities generally governed themselves after all, aside from the rare one with a League sponsored gym, so a few opportunistic thugs seeking an easy payday wasn't out of the question.

"Still," the Team Rocket Boss murmured to himself with a finger scratching at the gauze dressing covering his nose, the soft packing on the inside of his nostrils far from comfortable. "Maybe I should task Petrel to see if there's anything more to the matter, and perhaps have Smith get a little more practice in."

Giovanni smiled at the thought while Persian down at his feet softly growled out something in the middle of his slumber at Smith's name, the criminal millionaire taking a few minutes break to fondly recall the latest briefing from his 'special' employee as well as the resulting lessons he had imparted. There was a lot of work to do to get Smith up to an acceptable level, if such a thing was even possible, but he had to admit that having access to such a man with an unusually blunt method of handling 'problems' opened up a few more doors when trying to run a profitable underground empire.

The harsh tone of his desk intercom broke him out of his thoughts, and Giovanni straightened back up as he pushed the button to answer.

"Speak."

"Sir, it's Joben. I have a report from our Hoenn scout team, and I'm pleased to say that you'll be interested in it."

Giovanni's smile widened, his afternoon already shaping up to be a great one. First a far too rare chance to get some morning boxing practice in with his usually busy schedule, and now some apparent good news from two of his favourite A-rank agents.

"Excellent Joben, I'm sure I won't be disappointed. Enter."

The locks on the twin doors to his office clunked and deactivated, allowing his personal assistant to stride in with an illuminated electronic tablet in his hands and a confident smile on his face. The pokemon laying down on the carpet by Giovanni's feet cracked open an eye to give the interloper a lazy once-over before managing out a rumbled purr of greeting that was answered with a brief nod.

"Good afternoon sir, we've just received…" Joben stopped mid-stride with his eyes widening, one hand going up to quickly adjust his glasses while he squinted at his superior. "Sir? What happened?"

Guessing that his assistant was referring to his amply bandaged nose and the red marks across his face, one of them likely to develop into an impressive black eye come the next morning, Giovanni waved off any concern with a hand and a chuckle.

"Nothing, Joben. Smith and I spent a bit of time in my gym after his debriefing this morning and I decided to test him on his fighting skills."

While it continued to be a persistent source of amusement for Giovanni it was clear to see that Joben didn't hold the same opinion, the normally composed man going ridged where he stood.

"Smith… did that to you!?"

With a raised eye at the unexpected venom in the reply, Joben's tone laced with a cold current of rage just beneath the surface, Giovanni took a moment to decide how to respond to his trusted subordinate. He wasn't an ignorant fool, neither of the pair were ever concerned with hiding their mutual dislike of each other from him (or anyone else), but while the large grunt was a difficult man to corral he hadn't expected Joben to show such a passionate reaction. Noting it as something to monitor in the future, as the two dynamically opposed men were going to be working together for the foreseeable future due to the nature of their positions, he decided to try and help Joben calm down by sharing a little more information in the meantime.

"I assure you that he came off far worse," Giovanni answered and laughed off. "I'm not the one who's still in the medical centre."

On the topic of irritated subordinates, to say that Doctor Yari wasn't exactly pleased with him for how the training session with Smith had ended up was putting it mildly. Joben also seemed to fail to grasp the humour of the situation, although at least he appeared to have ceased gritting his teeth with his next reply.

"He still hit you though. You're the boss!"

"I did give him permission," he admitted, his smile growing just an inch. "Although I wasn't expecting him to actually be able to." Subconsciously rubbing his bandaged nose which served as a painful reminder of the vicious headbutt, Giovanni continued to smile while recalling the downright evil perfidy that was Smith's 'surrender, distract with thrown glove, then strike' tactic. Far from honourable, yes, but if there was anything he respected in an opponent it was the tenacity to seize the win. Doubly so when they were working under him.

Standing opposite him Joben conceded the point with a sharp sigh, the personal assistant sending a brief glance downwards towards his own shoes before looking back up with his lips pursed.

"If you say so, sir. However, while I trust in your judgement of the situation and of course your ability to… control Smith if he gets out of hand, I have to admit that the idea of him being allowed to strike a superior and get away with it no matter the justification… well it doesn't sit right with me." Narrowing his eyes, Joben wrinkled his nose. "It would be a dangerous familiarity to foster in any grunt, and I feel like I have to remind you that is Smith we are talking about specifically."

Giovanni couldn't help but chortle again with his response, his hand waving the problem away. "Relax Joben, nothing bad will come of it. Sometimes, much like some pokemon, a man like Smith needs a physical reminder of the proper hierarchy and responds better to lessons of a more direct nature. It's no different to when I decide to test the employees with surprise inspection battles; crushing his ill-trained pokemon with a single attack from Persian isn't possible at the moment, so I had to settle for breaking his nose instead." He maintained eye contact with his assistant and tapped his fingers on his desk twice. "I saw it in his eyes, Joben. The entire experience was a complete shock to him, from the very start all the way up until the point when I finally allowed him to limp back off to Yari. Mark my words, that egotistical lout is going to work twice as hard at his training now that I bested him." He chuffed with amusement. "I might have even beat a little respect and humility into him if we're lucky."

There was no reply, a few moments passing between them, before Giovanni settled back into his chair and shrugged.

"Well, what's done is done. Let's move on to this report."

Joben seemed relieved at the change of topic, some colour returning to his face as he returned his attention to the tablet in his hand and cleared his throat.

"Very good sir. As you recall, Agent Cassidy and Agent Butch were assigned to recon the Hoenn region to see if it would be suitable to expand our operations there. Well, along with a very detailed report on local law enforcement capabilities and potential targets, they appear to have decided to go above and beyond."

It was just win after constant win, Giovanni grinning and interlocking his fingers with his elbows on the arms of his chair. "I expected nothing less."

Thankfully Joben also brightened as he continued the explanation, the man having regained all of his usual composure as well as a bonus smile of his own.

"I echo the sentiment. While they've stated in the report that they've remained undetected and are under no suspicion in their primary mission, I believe that they must have gotten a little bored." With a look up from the tablet in his hands, Joben continued to smile with the light blue glow of the screen reflecting off his eyeglasses. "We've received a shipment of fresh captures they acquired in their spare time, with any former owners none the wiser as to who is responsible. If you'll direct your attention to your computer, I'll share the full list with you right now."

Of course Giovanni could only lean in and focus on his laptop with ample glee, seasoned with a healthy dose of quiet pride towards his organisation's top performers.

With a few seconds fresh information popped up on his screen, pictures of various pokemon arranged with plentiful details helpfully displayed in an ordered list.

"A whismur to start off, normal type. They actually caught this one legitimately, well, as legitimately as can be with our modified pokeballs failing to informing the local league of a successful capture. Timid, finding a buyer should be simple."

The picture of a round, pink pokemon with yellow-tipped ears was replaced by purple creature with gleaming gemstones for eyes.

"Sableye. It's duel dark and ghost typing will make it a natural fit for recruitment if none of our usual clients make an offer."

Next up was a large crustacean, its carapace a rather stand-out shade of red. Giovanni looked up from his screen to share a knowing smile with Joben.

"I think we both know the name of this one," Joben dryly remarked in a rare display of good humour, the two of them focusing back in their respective devices as the crawdaunt's information and picture was filed away. The next pokemon up prompted a light 'ahh' from the personal assistant.

"Now this one is an uncommon find especially since it's not local to the region, apparently it was captured while wandering through a back alley. The species is rare to see outside of their home region of Kalos and are recorded to have sparse populations in the wild. Nothing too extraordinary to note regarding potential for recruitment, but it should fetch a high price from a buyer on the local market. It's…"

Joben paused his explanation at the raise of his boss's hand, Giovanni focused solely on the picture accompanying the details with an intense look on his face.

"No."

"No, sir?"

"No." Already generous smile growing wider still as a plan clicked into place, Giovanni's mind swam with thoughts of entertaining possibilities and endless chances for amusement at one particular employee's expense. "Not that one." His anticipation only grew when he took a few moments to read the pokemon's accompanying description, and even though it was only the brief summery that was standard on the relatively new 'pokedex' issued to modern trainers, it was enough to elect a chortle from him as he handed down his verdict.

"Set that one aside for me, I have plans for it."

It earned raised eyebrows from Joben. "Sir?"

"You'll see," said Giovanni with a clap, and he was unable to hold back a laugh of genuine dark amusement.

'I wonder how he'll try to deal with this particular surprise!'

AN: Cue the Rocky training montage because someone is in dire need of it. Not only did Giovanni ship out a delivery of humility on the knuckle express, same day delivery to 33 John's-Face Avenue, but the vile employer now has something else in store for Team Rocket's most rotund grunt. Just what evil will he burden Smith with next chapter, who can say for sure?

(actually it will probably be pretty easy to guess, given that Kalos doesn't have the largest roster to its name).

All that can be certain is that whatever it is, John will no doubt be thrilled.