Pokemon Tales: Red Chapter 29: Rocket Man.
Darkness. Red tried closing his eyes and opening them back again but there was no difference. The uneasiness of not being able where he was became big enough to cloud his mind and prevented him from remembering how he could have got himself in such a situation. The thing that helped him cope with this was his touch.
He tried to stand up after noticing that he was sitting, propped up against what felt like any other wall, but when he tried to move his hands there came feeling that they couldn't stray too far from each other. He moved his fingers around and inspected what must have been a pair of handcuffs. Having this information to work with, he made a couple assumptions. First off, he wasn't dead. Secondly, by trying to swing his body to sides he came to know that there was enough space for some movement, more than he would have if he was in even a fairly big coffin. So they didn't kill him and it didn't seem like they planned to, at least not yet.
"They?" he thought to himself as he struggled to focus on the most recent memory before waking up.
He remembered meeting Erika, getting annoyed with her and challenging her to a fight. They solved their differences and after that Green appeared.
"Green!" Red shouted as cold sweat suddenly ran over his body after remembering that he wasn't alone before passing out.
Even though he still didn't understand what happened, he started to recall their adventure at the casino and how they entered Team Rocket's base and fought against a bunch of the criminals. He tried to analyze why they would want to keep him as a prisoner instead of getting rid of him and whether it was possible that his friend was in a similar situation. There were people at Team Rocket who were familiar with him and could possibly try to torture him in hopes of getting out information on how to open the cave Cross closed himself within. But aside from being his acquaintance, there was no reason for them to believe that Green could provide them with any such intel.
"Calm down."
He forced himself to stop worrying after noticing that his breathing got irregular from all these worrisome thoughts. Since he couldn't see even a sliver of light, he couldn't tell if the place he was in had any doors. If it did, it would mean that the cracks in them were fairly small and that he didn't have a lot of oxygen to work with. What would be worse is there being no escape route at all, which meant that each breath was actually bringing him closer to death. Already calmed down, he decided against trying to do any excessive movements in case the second option was the true one. But that would mean that he still would die, the only difference being that he would have more time to come to terms with his death. Many other similar thoughts occupied his head for what could be either minutes or hours since his dark confinement was getting to his head and keeping him from being able to relax in any way, starting to mess with his perception of time.
At some point his thoughts were interrupted by what he thought was a sound of steps somewhere in front of him. Since his eyes got used to the darkness, he could tell that there wasn't anyone in the room but it certainly seemed like there was someone very close to it. The wall in front of him, which he realized at that moment was in fact a door, opened, letting in a light so bright that because of the darkness he was kept in, he had to close his eyes and slowly open them to get acclimated to the new brightness.
Soon after, two Team Rocket members entered the room. His eyes wandered between their faces, but neither were instantly recognizable. They could very well be someone he encountered in the past but aside from the admins and Roger, whom he was able to remember mostly thanks to the fact that he heard his name the first time they met, he couldn't tell any of the criminals apart. What was clear to him however was that they didn't come there to hurt him. One of them stood by the door while the other approached the teenager, carrying a tray of food in his hands. There was an apple cut into 6 slices, a cup of juice, soup with a bunch of vegetables swimming in it, a bowl of rice, a cooked fish and a small bottle of soy sauce.
"We don't want any trouble. I'm going to place the tray on the floor and take off your handcuffs so that you can eat. Try to be quick with it. The soup isn't too hot so that shouldn't be a problem. And don't try anything. We have stun batons and, even if you try to run away, you're in what we call the prison block, one of the few places that are constantly being filmed by a bunch of cameras." the person said before pausing in order to give Red a chance to respond.
The boy nodded and soon after he was taken out of his cuffs. He massaged his wrists which became slightly sore and looked towards the tray of food with suspicion. There was no reason to think that there was any poison in it but there were still other possibilities, like a truth serum or just drugs that would make him more prone to following suggestions. He didn't get a chance to think through these ideas too much since he realized how hungry he has become. While his mind was occupied with other things it was hard to notice but once he was presented with the food, his urges surfaced. He picked up the tray and put it atop his crossed legs as he sat with his back to the wall. The person who gave it to him kept a watchful eye for about a minute before looking away, either bored or weirded out, turning to their friend to have a chat with them.
Red quickly went through each of the dishes, completely forgetting for some time about the situation he found himself in. Even though he was hurrying, it took over ten minutes to finish everything. He took a sip of water at the beginning but left the rest for the end in case he would get hiccups from eating too fast. The other two didn't seem to notice that he was done with his meal, being too invested in their conversation, so he pretended to cough after putting the tray on the floor, in order to get to their attention. They noticed that and the one who gave it to him, quickly picked it up and handed it to his friend. After that, Red allowed himself to be handcuffed again. It looked like they were about to leave but after taking another look at the tray, the teenager came up with an idea that could help him to get a better understanding of his situation.
"Can I ask you something?"
One of them was already inside but the other person, preparing to leave, turned around and stared him down before responding "We were told to bring you food but I'm not sure that we're allowed to provide you with any information."
"Welllll... It's more of a request. It's a little embarrassing but... I need to go to the toilet."
The criminal turned to his colleague, as if they hoped to get an answer to the question of what they should do in such a situation. But since there was no response, they looked back at the boy and approached him while out a black piece of material from their pocket. Whoever ordered them to bring him food, apparently was also prepared for this. After putting the blindfold on Red, the two people lead him to the toilet. He counted the steps in order to estimate the distance but it turned out that it wasn't too far away so there was nothing to be learned. One of them went inside the stall to make sure there wasn't anything that could be used as a weapon before letting the teenager out of his handcuffs and taking off the blindfold. They allowed him to do his business in peace and to even wash his hands before covering his eyes again and leading him back to his room. After making sure that everything was in order, they were sure that this time they could actually leave.
"By the way..." Red interrupted them again "...Is this complete darkness supposed to psych me out or are you just trying to cut back on electricity usage?"
This time, the Team Rocket member didn't look too happy. It seemed like they didn't like Red's attitude but they still turned to their companion in order to get their opinion but the other one just shrugged so the first one decided to leave to not answer the boy's question and to leave without turning on any lights.
"Aaah. Next time I'll have to try and be nicer." he said to himself while trying to find a more comfortable position, although the cuffs didn't make it easy "I hope that Green and the Pokemon are okay."
. . .
The interactions with the two lackeys made Red a lot calmer and even though he wasn't happy about spending his time in this small, dark room, he could think a little clearer. He decided that it was too early to think about ways of escaping. As long as he was kept alive, an opportunity was bound to appear. Because of that, he decided to find some other ways to occupy his mind. During the next couple hours, he hummed a bunch of his favorite songs, thought extensively about how he would tell his parents about his journey if he ever returned home, and finally got bored and tried to take a nap.
"Rise and shine." a familiar voice woke him up before he managed to properly fall asleep.
He lifted himself off the floor and noticed that the room was lit up by a light hidden behind the panels covering the ceiling and in front of him was none other than Alex, the Team Rocket Admin he met inside the caves of Mt. Moon.
"It's so good to finally meet you again. I've been hearing about you, on the TV and from the two assholes I have to put up with, and at last we're reunited. It's a shame that it happened in this way. I'm sure you put up a good fight before being caught. I'm also sorry that it took so long for me to visit. I was kinda busy. But I assure you that I came as fast as I could after learning that you're being held. I heard that you already ate but I brought a bottle of juice just in case, and I turned on the lights since I wanted this place to feel more welcoming even though it's... you know.. basically a prison." the man stopped himself after realizing that it must have sounded like he was rambling "But enough about that. What's up with you? How did you get yourself into this? Overall, how are you feeling?"
"I know that I acted friendly when we first met but that was because we were in a position where we felt, I assume, a mutual respect for each other. There isn't anything similar about this situation. You seem like a smart guy so I won't pretend that I like the situation I'm in since that would insult your intelligence. It will be a lot easier if I'll just ask you... What do you want from me? Not what you "expect" but what you "want"."
"You sure seem to understand that I prefer when people tell me things I want to hear. But I won't get mad even if you disappoint me. I've got ways of changing your mind even if how you respond to what I want doesn't align with my desire. Without beating around the bush, I want you to join Team Rocket." he looked down after saying that and his eyes wandered around the room "I think this would work better if I had a chair to sit in backwards, and maybe a baseball hat. But I assume your answer would either way be..."
"Sure thing." Red finished the sentence.
"Hey, hey, hey. Buddy, you're making this too easy. I want you to join but I also need to have my fun before that. Don't you have your own desires that would collide with what I want? You should at least make some requests before agreeing and I would be like "Heh, no way in hell". Got anything like that?"
"I hoped that giving you the thing you want right off the bat would speed things up."
"Well, no. You're wrong. A person whose ready to give up everything in their life without as much as a single question isn't someone I could trust and expect others to trust. Right now, you're a card I'm about to gamble on. I have yet to decide if the risk is worth it. Come at me with what you've got in my and I promise to treat everything you say seriously. How's that for a deal?"
"Alright. The thing I should probably start with is asking you if my Pokemon and my friend are safe. So... are they?"
"They are. Your Pokemon are kept in their pokeballs and in a machine that keeps them in something like stasis. They won't get hungry or try to escape since feeding them would be too hard without the risk of them trying to attack our people. The other guy is in a room much like this one. We treated him in the same way as you although he seemed less relaxed than you are when I talked to him."
"You visited him before me?"
"I was curious about the kind of people you hang out with. I didn't expect Professor Oak's grandson. I already gave him a similar offer but I can't reveal to you what kind of answer he gave me. I will come to a decision only after hearing you both out and taking my time to think things over."
"Alright. I don't want to tire you out by bombarding you with all the questions I have so I'll ask just one more for now before allowing you to leave."
"Allowing me to leave, huh?"
"Is Team Rocket responsible for the Pokemon disappearances in Celadon City?"
Alex seemed surprised that this would be the one thing the boy needed to know, showing that he wasn't so good at psychoanalyzing as he would like to think himself to be, but he gave his response straight away "No. That's not us. Assuming that this is what brought this question on, the things we did at Mt. Moon were an organized operation. Stealing Pokemon at random isn't our style and doesn't sound too smart either. It's probably the work of these fools from Darkness Gang or some other lowlifes. But it saddens me that you would ask such a question. After talking to me some more and learning about us, you'll come to learn that Team Rocket isn't as bad as people think us to be. A lot of us are just... bitter. I prefer not to think of myself in this way but... trust works both ways. I'll bare my soul for you because of how much I think you would be worth to our cause."
Red was taken aback by Alex's words. He wasn't about to believe everything he just heard without going over it in his head but the saddened look on the man's face, when he was leaving the room, felt genuine.
. . .
Alex kept returning to visit Red every day of the following week. As they discussed various stuff that about the boy's journey and the thing the man could reveal about Team Rocket, they started to trust each other. To make him feel more welcome, the Admin provided him with ways to improve his stay there day by day. He received a bed and he didn't have to wear the handcuffs as long as he was in his room. The following day he was presented with a device that would alarm a nearby guard in case he would need to go visit to the toilet. The day after that, Alex noticed that Red began to smell and allowed him to take a shower while also providing him with a change of clothes, the standard uniform worn by Team Rocket members. On the fourth day, the man asked him if he wanted to lend him any of his books so that he wouldn't get too bored by his stay in the room. It was already the seventh day, and Alex came to visit Red once again, this time being the one who brought him his lunch instead of the usual duo of henchmen.
"How's it going, boy wonder?"
"Please... don't ever call me that again." Red responded in a joking tone, while showing his face from behind the book he was reading.
"I have good news for you. I'm ready to release you from this place." Alex said while placing the tray with food on the bed.
"You can't be serious. There is no reason for you to trust me this much. I want to get out of here eventually but I expected to earn your trust."
"The fact that you're willing to do anything possible in order to get out is already enough. I can't check if I'm right by trusting you without giving you room to prove your loyalty."
"Okay. But before that... There's some final things we should talk about."
"They're not going to be final. It's not like you're just going to go back to how things were before you were captured but... Yeah, sure. Go ahead."
"We talked a lot about what Team Rocket's activities and it seemed like a lot of the stuff you said were opposite of what the public perceives you... us... to be like."
"Not really. We are breaking various laws in order to reach our goal and that doesn't sit well with the public. Our goals may seem selfish but... Each and every one of us is mostly looking out for themselves. Even if you make some friends here, you still won't trust someone completely. We're all just people who went through some shit in their lives and decided to gather around the boss since his charisma when talking about how he's going to change the world is just that infectious. While I may care only for myself, I think that the boss truly wants everyone to be happy... Well... mostly everyone. I've never killed anyone but if someone gets in our way, we're not afraid to hurt them in order to get what we want. This organization kept growing for years and when we'll finally get M2, we will be able to take control of Kanto. From what you told me about yourself, you've lived a pretty leisurely life. I don't want to make myself sound weak but... I don't think any of the physical scars you got during your journey are as palpable as emotional ones I or any other person in this place received. We could talk about it someday but today... today is about you."
"Alright. I'm nothing if not a... Is there like a name for a person who likes to do new things?"
"Adventurous?"
"Is that what that means? Well, let's go with that. If you claim that Team Rocket isn't as bad as people paint it to be, I'm willing to see the other side of the,,,:
"The coin?"
"Wow. You're really good with your words."
"And you're really good at talking in a way where I'm not sure if you're trying to make fun of me. But the important thing is that we agree... For now."
"For now."
They exchanged a handshake which signified the benefit of the doubt they were willing to give each other.
. . .
"So this is my new place?" Red asked Alex after being led by him to a completely furnished room in another part of the underground complex "Hmm? There are two beds here. Is it wise to put me in and Green in the same room?"
"It's not. That's why you'll be living in different rooms, even on different floors. We've assigned you a roommate whose job from now on is going to be keeping an eye on you and reporting any suspicious behavior. If you behave and show good results as a Team Rocket member, I'll tell him to relax bit by bit." Alex explained.
"And where is that...?"
"I'm here! Private Nets reporting for duty!" a voice coming somewhere from inside the room interrupted Red's question.
They looked around and, without saying anything, agreed that the owner of the voice must have been in the closet built into a wall. After approaching it, Alex opened it and someone rolled out of there like a gumball from a machine. The person was a red-headed, scrawny boy with big, round glasses, placed on his forehead instead of the eyes. He quickly got up and looked around before realizing that he couldn't see without his spectacles. He put them on his nose and surveyed the area once again.
"Sir Alex! It's an honor to see you!" he shouted way too loud while bowing, almost hitting the Admin with his head.
"You're not a private. This isn't an army. We don't have a rank like that." Alex said while letting out a sigh "What were you doing inside there anyway?"
"I was moving some of my stuff to make space for my new roommate but I got tangled up in a bunch of cables. Speaking of "roommate"..." he turned his head towards Red "...You must be the one. It's nice to meet you. I'm your senior here so don't be afraid to ask me about anything you're unsure of."
Ignoring the hand the boy was extending to him, Red looked at Alex with a worried face "Are you sure about this?"
"I wanted you to feel welcome. There's a lot of people here who lost to you in the past so I couldn't put you together in a room with any of them. Nets doesn't really leave this building since he's part of our science division so he has no reason to bear a grudge. He may not look like it but he's pretty smart. In some ways he's smarter than me."
"Getting praised like that by you, Sir... I'm truly not worthy." the redhead said while getting ready to kneel on one leg.
"Alright, alright. Calm down." Alex ordered him "I actually have a mission for you."
"A mission?" the scientist immediately perked up.
"It's nothing special. I just want you to not leave Red out of your sight. If he wants to go to the toilet or to take a shower, you're to go as far with him as you can without invading his privacy. After eating dinner, you're to dismantle the electronic lock so that he won't be able to leave this room during the night."
"But why such preca..."
"I'm not done talking. Lastly, I'll contact you tomorrow and you're to bring Red to the place I specify. Is that clear?"
"I... Yes, Sir!
. . .
The rest of the day passed uneventfully. At first, Nets tried to get out of Red the reason for why he was to be under his surveillance but when he refused to answer him about a dozen times, he decided to give up. He did exactly as ordered and the next day, when he received a message from Alex, he led his roommate to the location chosen by the Admin. Instead of the metal floor, there was ground beneath their feet and white lines painted on it. Red instantly understood that this must have been a placed used for Pokemon battles. It had balconies protected by hardened glass, for observers, and what looked like a device that could somehow change the appearance of the battlefield. But what got Red's attention was that he finally was able to see his friend, Green, who was already waiting there with Alex and another Team Rocket member, probably the person he shared his room with. Green also noticed him but he didn't feel from him the same excitement that was rising up within his own body.
"Alright, alright. Toot sweet, greet each other, guys. We're going to get down to business." Alex said, seeing how reluctant they looked about talking to each other.
"Hi." said Red.
"Yeah... I mean... I'm glad that we both chose to agree... Did he t..."
"Hey, hey. That's enough, my boy." Alex interrupted him before turning to Nets and the other henchmen "You two will wait outside. We should be done in a couple minutes."
The two of them looked at each other with confusion before leaving the room.
"So, are you ready?" Alex asked enthusiastically.
"You still haven't told us what it is we're going to be doing." said Green "It looks like you want to have a Pokemon battle with us for whatever reason but we don't have our Pokemon with us. Unless you brought them out of that stasis thing?"
"Close, but no cigar. I want to test your abilities. I've already fought Red in the past but I didn't bring my best game with me that time. I shouldn't preach about fairness since I'm a "bad guy" but that time it was a 1 versus 3 type of deal. This time I'll be the one getting a handicap. What I mean by that is that I can't give you your Pokemon until you gain my trust. That's why each of you will get a Pokemon from me as a show of good will. We'll have a battle to test out your compatibility. You'll probably lose but that's a first step to winning sometime in the future. We'll have these battles daily until you win. I'll also allow you to train with these new Pokemon whenever and however you wish to do it. Is that a good enough explanation?"
"It'll do." Green answered begrudgingly.
"Here they are." the Admin said while presenting them with two pokeballs, allowing the boys to pick whichever they wanted.
They looked at each other to make it clear which one they would be reaching for, even though it had no meaning if they didn't know what Pokemon they were getting.
"Go!"
After releasing their new partners from their pokeballs, the first thing that stood out was that both of their Pokemon were purple, which seemed in line with what most of Team Rocket were using in Red's past encounters with them. Even though he never met one, Red recognized the Pokemon he got as one of the Pokemon who took part in that Pokemon League battle which got him interested in becoming a trainer in the first place. That Pokemon was Nidorino. He greeted him and recognized that it must have received some training beforehand since its response seemed unnaturally calm and respectful for their first meeting.
"A Jynx, huh?" Green commented while looking at his Pokemon "I probably would never try to catch one but I can work with this."
"I see that you're both satisfied." said Alex "So, who will be the first one to face me?"
Red looked at his friend with hopeful eyes and the latter made a waving movement with his hand which meant that the former could go ahead. Green and Jynx moved to the side while Red and Alex took their places on the opposite sides of the battlefield.
"Let's do it, Nidorino!" Red shouted as his Pokemon jumped forward, making a more aggressive expression.
"Which one should I go with?" Alex pondered while holding three pokeballs in hands before settling for one of them "This one should be fine. Go, Vaporeon!"
Red looked in awe as an unrecognizable Pokemon, resembling a combination of Eevee and a Gyarados, appeared in front of him.
And so we started the second big arc of this story. I say big but I'm really not sure how long it will be. I have the two next chapters planned out but beyond that there's just a loose web of things that need to happen but don't have any particular order assigned to them yet. These couple chapters were also planned more point by point so the final product is 90% in line with the original idea while some other ones retain only like 30%. But this is probably the first chapter that I'm actually satisfied with. I was meticulous about describing the way Red was treated and tried to make it clear why Alex acted in specific ways while also keeping it hidden while he's actually a part of Team Rocket. I hope that you find his behavior and little quirks as charming as I do.
I'll probably talk more about Red and Green's new Pokemon once you get to know them better in the following chapter. Besides that, there's not much else to discuss. I didn't come up with Nets' personality, name and looks until writing the chapter but I'm not even sure how big of a role he'll play, although there are some vague ideas appearing in my mind.
The title of the chapter comes from an Elton John song.
Any reviews greatly appreciated. I don't need an ego boost. You can say how much you dislike it but if I get over a 1000 views and only 1 review during this month, I'm wondering why people don't want to write even one word. You know it doesn't cost anything, right?
Useless fact about me: I ordered Hanafuda cards on the internet since I got interested in them because of watching Summer Wars. I already know how to play Koi-Koi so I'm hoping to teach it to my friends.
Red. Team: Nidorino.
Stasis: Eevee, Charmeleon, Raichu, Gloom, Gyarados, Pidgeotto.
Badges: 4
Green. Team: Jynx.
Stasis: Venusaur, Nidorina, Jigglypuff, Hitmonlee, Vulpix, Horsea.
Badges: 3
Blue. Team: Bellsprout(Bell), Wartortle(Tori), Zubat(?), Graveler(?).
Badges: 3
Alex. Team: Ditto, Vaporeon, ?, ?.
Angie. Team: Dragonair, Sandslash.
Peter. Team: Dodrio, Haunter, ?.
