Chapter 5:

"You alright there, kid? Need some water?" a gruff voice asked.

"I need anything but water …" Arthur replied quietly as he fought back his urge to throw up.

While the ship kept a stable course, every wave that hit it spurned on his stomach once again. The only saving grace of this torturing journey was the reason for it happening. The higher ups in Team Rocket had finally decided that his proposal was a good one, but wanted to test him first. Which was why he's on a ship to Cinnabar Island now.

"Then I fear you've come to the wrong place. Sure, Cinnabar has a beach and a volcano, but everything else is water. You know you'll have to take this trip again, right?"

Arthur let out a knowing whine. After graduating a semester after Jessie and James, he'd been sent here to intern at Blaine's Gym. Other younger recruits that graduated would normally be kept at the academy for further courses, assisting in work, or be trained towards certain branches that needed manpower. But since he had to prove himself, he'd train under Blaine, probably assist him in his experiments, and do a lot of work around the Gym that Blaine didn't want to do himself. He'd have preferred to go to Viridian instead, if only to not have to ride a boat, but considering what Giovanni was doing besides being a Gym Leader, he could see why he didn't.

After how his last semester went, he was happy not to be there with the other young graduates anymore. Contrary to what he'd believed, Jessie had been right in her teasing him about getting some attention once she's gone. It was both embarrassing and uncomfortable for him. Being a presumably young adult stuck in a body going through puberty was bad enough, but with a handful of girls tormenting his every free moment made it even worse. It was a good thing he had enough reasons to excuse himself to prepare for lessons or to learn in solitude. While it wasn't a pleasant experience for him specifically, it would've been for anyone else in his position that wasn't struggling with being in a younger body. He wondered what the real Arthur would've done, because the only thing he did is try to avoid them or letting them down as nicely as possible. It wasn't their fault after all, and he couldn't stomach making them feel bad for something neither them nor he had any control over.

He calmed himself by playing with his only possession and link to his time before Team Rocket; a pendant in the form of a knight shield with the emblem of a white lily. It wasn't anything expensive, as the pendant was made from cheap lead, but it held sentimental value. It was the one thing linking him to his parents, which he didn't know that much about other than the stuff he'd written for them himself. And with this being a completely different world than intended he didn't even know where they could be from and why he'd been in Orre in the first place, as he didn't know any kingdoms in this world that would make their jobs that he knew about plausible. Maybe he should've paid more attention to the movies after all.

When the captain sounded the horn that told them that land was in sight, he put it back under his clothes. Since he couldn't wear his Team Rocket uniform in public, he'd been given a plain grey tracksuit instead. It was a bit too big for him, going over his hands and needing to be put in his boots to not hinder him walking, but he's confident that he'd grow into it. That or he'd get other clothes. Being situated on an island for the time being did limit him in what he could do and who he'd be able to make contact with, which is why he hoped that he could support Blaine in a manner that would allow him to do more than grunt work. Blaine was a scientist first and foremost, so maybe he could use what knowledge he had and get some support from the man in return. Maybe he'd even get so far as see Mewtwo, who they'd still be building up at this point in time? It was a scary thought, but also exciting. Perhaps he'd even get a chance to give it some positive reinforcement, rather than the exploitation it got from Giovanni. Wishful thinking, since he'd most likely never get anywhere close to it. But since he was in another world to begin with, he could always dream.

He hurried off the boat once it arrived at the docks, his light bag with another set of clothes slung over his shoulder. Never did sinking into coarse sand feel so good as his stomach began calming down. The beach stretched far to either side of the docks, a few Krabby scuttling around here and there. The crab pokemon were pretty small, probably newborn from what he'd say. He'd seen some Magikarp and Tentacool while trying to hold in his breakfast earlier as well, which only made the realization that this was his new real hit harder. That and the volcano. It sure was a sight to behold, but that didn't help with it being dangerous in the slightest. Would he have to go into it for helping out with the Gym like how Blaine fought Ash in the show? Hopefully not.

After asking a worker for directions, he went into the village proper. It wasn't that big with the volcano taking up a big part of the islands landmass and there weren't many shops or attractions that he'd categorize as tourist attractions. Which was a shame and a wasted opportunity in his eyes, this was an island with hot climate after all. There were a lot of elderly and middle-aged people around, with a few kids running around between the shops and the beach. They threw some curious looks at him, so he waved in return. The small gang of possibly similar aged children noticed and talked animatedly with each other but ultimately didn't engage him.

The shops he walked past were some typical small stalls with snacks and drinks, as well as some rentals for surfboards. He was just about to turn the corner when he noticed an older lady dropping a big crate she was carrying and in turn rubbing her back with a frown. One of the wind chimes that spilled out of the crate rolled up against his feet, so he picked it up and walked over to her, collecting more of them on his way.

"Excuse me, miss, but do you need help with that?" he asked and put the chimes back into the crate, which also held some rolls of cloth.

She looked at him, then at the crate, and sighed before looking back at him. "I hoped it wouldn't be too much, but it seems my age has finally caught up. I don't want to trouble a young lad like you with that though, you surely have better things to do."

"Nothing that can't wait" he countered simply and lifted the crate without too much effort. It was heavy, but not too heavy for him to carry around. Seemed like all those sports lessons during grunt-training had indeed paid off. "Lead the way."

The woman looked at him before smiling. "It's not too heavy for you, my boy? Alright then, my shop isn't that far from here, come on." She led him along the block of small shops as she asked. "You're not from around here, are you? I believe I'd remember a nice young man like you."

He laughed it off. "Thank you, but I just arrived today."

"Oh? Are you here to visit your family?"

"No … I'm here to intern at Cinnabar Gym under Blaine" he responded, pausing a moment at the thought of family. One he didn't have here.

She looked at him before chuckling. "Oh dear, I hope you know what you've signed up for. Blaine's a loner, you know. We only ever see him when something's up with the Gym or one of his experiments went off with a bang."

After shacking the uncomfortable thoughts away, he looked at her bewildered. "But isn't he supposed to lead the city?"

"He's more than happy not to. Even paying the mayor to pick up his work because he can't be bothered with it." The woman explained with a huff as they arrived at her shop. She opened the sliding door and waved him in. "And since the mayor has so much work to do, the whole city, if you even want to call it that, falls behind."

"There's not much of a tourist attraction from what I've seen. I'm sure there could be some improv-" he added before stopping in his tracks.

The lady petted the cause for the sudden panic building up in him. An Ariados as tall as him dropped from the ceiling, accompanied by half a dozen Spinaraks, who were all clicking their mandibles excitingly.

"Thank you for carrying everything back here, could you please drop it here on the counter?" The woman asked, but since she didn't get an answer she turned back to him in confusion, only to give him a slight smile. "Oh, you don't have to worry about any of them. They're just here to help me with making clothes, you see."

He gulped and carefully stepped forward to put the crate on the counter, before instantly retreating a few steps back. Bugs, spiders, basically everything that had more than four legs had always been a problem for him, and the fact of one as tall as him being in the same room unnerved him to the point of sweating profusely. He'd really hoped he wouldn't react like that, because weirdly enough he really liked Bug pokemon, probably because they were designed to be way cuter and nicer than the real deal.

Seeing him struggle with keeping calm, the old lady sent her army of spider pokemon to the back of the shop together with the new materials, so he relaxed a bit. "I'm sorry if they made you feel uncomfortable. There are always a few guests who don't like being around them, but I haven't seen anyone react like you in a while."

He took a deep breath. "Sorry about that, I guess I'm just not that good with Bug types in general," he laughed it off weakly.

"Ah, don't worry about that. Everyone's got a few things they struggle to deal with. I don't like deep water, you know." She played along before mustering his clothes. "Those are a bit too big for you, aren't they? How'd you like me fixing them to your size for helping me out?"

A nod prompted her to led him behind a carpet so he could freely undress out of the tracking suit so she could do her work. It was weird for him to just sit there in his underpants and black shirt, but she was done faster than he could see. With the rearrangements she made, the sleeves stopped right where they should.

"Thank you, this'll make working a lot easier," he thanked her as they went back to the entrance.

"Think nothing off it. If you need some help with your clothes, just come by. And don't let that stubborn man work you to the bone, you hear me?"

After he had left the old woman's shop, he made his way over to where he had been told to. There really wasn't much going on in the city beside a few fishermen and workers, but it was a rather remote island after all. The only reason for trainers to come here was for Blaine's badge, and other people might come for vacation time at the beach, he guessed. When he arrived at the rundown hotel he remembered from the show, he couldn't help but sigh. Blaine must either be an extreme workaholic or blissfully ignorant of the whole cities potential to let all this go to waste. With how run down everything on the island was, a bit of effort would surely make an impact on tourism and income. And a researcher always needed money.

He rang the bell and waited. And waited. And waited. After a good ten minutes he decided to just go in. The entrance wasn't any better than the outside, but at least the floor wasn't breaking apart when he walked over it. Since he had nothing better to do, he decided to have a look around the building. Aside from a few locked rooms and the traditional hotel rooms, which weren't equipped to house anyone, there was a neglected outdoor bath on the backside, which could make a beautiful hot spring if given the proper care. There was a large kitchen, but again nothing to use except for a boiler and a fridge that was stocked with a lot of premade food and coffee.

He decided to brew some coffee and make notes about what he could potentially do here to pass time. He preferred tea, but it's not like he had a choice as of now. Since Blaine was a Fire type specialist, he'd most likely learn a lot about those, along with some theory about whatever it was that Blaine's working on. Fire types were powerful and good to have, as well as a good type for coverage moves, so perhaps he'd catch some pokemon that were capable of learning them once he was done proving himself here. He had no doubt he'd manage it. If it got as bad as needing to present more value than by just interning, he'd get Blaine some fossils. He knew where some could be in theory, and if push came to shove, he'd try and borrow some pokemon to get into Grandpa Canyon.

Back to the topic of what to catch, he didn't know much about what was available to him at this point. He had access to Kanto and Johto native pokemon, sure, but what about others? Aside from viable party members, he'd have to look for a fitting starter. If the media, both in this world and the last, had told him anything, then it was that one's starter was the most important pokemon on a trainer's team. With that in mind, he pondered about the potential candidates as he finished preparing the coffee. The no-brainer for that question were the regional starters, of course. But while they're all good in their own rights, he saw better alternatives if he'd be restricted to just Kanto and Johto pokemon.

With powerhouses like Alakazam, Gengar, and Nidoking around, the regional starters got outshined in his opinion. Strong base pokemon like Scyther or Tauros would be great as well, but he doubted those to be starters one could get his hands on. With Blaine being a Fire type specialist, he'd potentially get the chance to obtain a Vulpix, Ponyta, or Growlithe. Two of those needed a Fire Stone to evolve and those were most likely more expensive than they'd been in the games. Another no-brainer would be an Eevee with the plethora of options it provided, but how high were his chances of getting that? A regional starter would be easier to get than an Eevee, and those were only given to those that were sponsored by a regional professor like Oak or Elm. Good thing he had the knowledge and skill to get their approval, at least he thought he had.

He poured two cups of coffee and spiced them up like how he made them for Jessie, James, and himself; with just a touch of cream and cinnamon. After walking around all morning, he needed a good drink. One of which he handed to the yawning man in a lab coat that just entered the room. Aside from a wide white moustache there was no hair on his head and his eyes were hidden behind round shades, Arthur noted absentmindedly. They nodded to each other and took a big sip before simultaneously letting out a sigh of relief. They looked at each other for a few moments.

"You the new intern?" the man asked as he sat down.

"Yup, just arrived earlier," Arthur replied and took the chair on the opposite side, quickly falling back into his earlier thought process. If he didn't get the chance to get one of the pokemon he wanted as his starter he'd probably retort to just getting a regional starter. Maybe he could ask the professors for something else too? The pokedex he'd receive from either of them was more important anyway.

The man mused and sipped from his cup. "That's a damn good coffee, boy."

Arthur nodded in thanks. "Didn't do much, but I'm glad you like it."

"Hm …" the man pondered. "Well, if you work as well as you make coffee, I might give you more than just my approval."

It took Arthur a moment before it hit him. He'd expected Blaine to look more like his anime counterpart, but how could he miss the indications of this being him? "I'll do my best, Gym Leader Blaine." He said with a nervous smile.

"Blaine's just fine unless it's something official," he was waved off with little concern. "So, I was told you got quite a bit of Pokémon knowledge and even more ambition …" Blaine rolled his wrist towards him.

"Arthur Anderson, sir."

"Right, but I'm not that old yet!" Blaine countered with a mock laugh. "While I could just hand you a test, which I give to every trainer that wants to work at my gym, I have another idea for that." He stood up and motioned Arthur to follow.

Turns out that one of the locked doors led to the gym-portion of the building after following a closed off mountain pass. Aside from the reception area, which wasn't manned, a break room, and a door that led to the storage for Poké Balls and pokemon that weren't out at the moment, another door led toa secluded area which was filled with life. There were Growlithe, Ponyta, Vulpix, and even a few of their evolved forms as well as a handful of Magby around. The air was hot, no doubt thanks to the large mass of Fire types present, the ground dusty with only a few specks of grass further away from the mountainside, and a positively steaming pond of water in the back was currently used by two Arcanine to bathe. The whole area was near the volcano, as there was one high earthen wall to one side, while the other side was a vast open land with a pair of safely secured gates along high fences on the opposite side of the building.

Blaine whistled loudly and waved over a group of seemingly younger pre-evolved pokemon. He talked loud enough for all to hear him, however. "Alright you guys, this is Arthur, our new intern. He'll be training and feeding you every day for the time being, so be sure to teach him properly while I'm busy!" The older pokemon shouted in agreement, while the younger ones ogled the new arrival curiously. He looked at Arthur with a grin as he pointed at the young ones. "See these? You'll be teaching this lot how to use Flamethrower by the end of the week. Food and tools are in the room just next to the entrance here, and I'll have your room prepared by the end of the day. If you can manage to do this, I'll give you some material to work through while I'm busy with my experiments and you're not on training duty, otherwise I'll send you straight back to the academy. Got that?"

Arthur shook himself free of the awe he felt when looking around the area and the pokemon, refocusing on Blaine instead. "Alright, anything else I should know?"

"If some of them want to get brushed you should wear the heat-resistant gloves that are stored somewhere with the other supplied. Can't have you get burned and unable to work by something like that." Blaine snorted and handed him a pass with his picture on it, the text reading "Cinnabar Gym Intern – Arthur Anderson." "This'll give you access to all the facilities except for my lab and the room where the Poké Balls are stored. I'll take care of that myself."

He couldn't help but nod along, surprised by how much was already put on him with little to no explanation whatsoever. But from what he'd heard about Blaine from the old lady earlier, he wasn't too put off by it. Just to make sure, he asked further questions. "How can I reach you if needed? What about food and water for myself?"

"There's a phone in the reception area with both my mobile and labs number saved. Food is in the fridge in the kitchen and you can use the money in the cashbox that is in one of the cupboards as well. I'll be around at around this time every day and briefly in the evening to check in on you." The man explained. "Oh, and do me a favor and make that coffee every day at around this time." Then he stormed off, presumably to his lab.

With his orders given and a group of pokemon staring expectingly at him, he couldn't help but laugh at the situation. "It's what … half an hour to twelve o' clock? That's one hell of a late morning, but oh well." He turned to the small group of Fire types in front of him. "Let me just grab some stuff and I'll ready for your training."

The group consisting of two Growlithe, Ponyta, and Vulpix each howled in return, while the others got back to their business. Blaine wanted him to teach these pokemon how to use Flamethrower in a week? He'll be surprised when Arthur would show him more than he bargained for. The man was aloof but clearly interested in results. And results he shall have.

Hey everyone and thanks for reading! Nice to see that there are people out there who're interested in this stories idea. I wasn't sure what kind of story to write first for Pokémon, but the idea of having the Rocket gang around most of the time made me decide on this one. They won't be around for a while, since they have to do their work and Arthur show off his worth, but they'll be back soon enough I'd say.

Aside from the nice reviews telling me they like the story - thanks again 3 - there were two guest reviews that I'd like to address to end the AN.
First regarding interaction with kids his own age, I decided to skip that part at the start, since Arthur would move away from the academy starting this chapter. Instead I opted for a short explanation at the start of this chapter and a hint towards proper interaction with the children on Cinnabar. Who knows, maybe they'll become more relevant?
Second, I have no idea if posting this story on AO3 or any other sites would be benefitial, as I myself mostly use FF to read and write. I'll look into it, but either way I'll keep posting here.

Hope y'all didn't mind the sudden skip forward and instead enjoyed this chapter. See you next time!