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Chap. 61: Answers? Or just more questions?

"Let them go, and we'll talk," Elle all-but shouted, attracting the attention of several of the nearby park-goers. The male Rocket scowled, but the woman seemed not to care at all.

"That's not how this works, girlie," she retorted, "And don't bother crying for help. We own this town, even the cops won't come after us here. We could blow both their brains all over the grass, and nothin' would happen to us. So don't go thinking you're gonna play hero, any of you. You aren't. You're gonna walk over here, and we're gonna have a nice, civilized chat. Then, if our bosses think you've given us enough info, we'll think about letting these fools go."

Alex glared, not at the Rockets, but at Robin DeVerl. She shrugged, "I didn't have anything to do with this. Best do what they say for now, though. I've kept a lower profile than you, so they don't know what I can do… probably. Not sure my team can keep those two from dying."

"Damn it," he growled, then nodded, "Lower the guns, then. No need for twitchy fingers to have accidents. We'll keep our hands off our Pokéballs as long as you do the same, but the guns come down first."

The two black-dressed individuals shared a look, then the man nodded. His weapon moved first, but it stopped behind Kinta's back. Alex was sure he'd only kept it pointed at him still, just a little lower, because the boy who was younger than even Elle still looked terrified. The woman holding Megumi's arm lowered hers fully, even holstered it behind her own back. But with her now empty hand, she took Megumi's other arm and folded it behind her back, making the woman yelp in discomfort, though Alex noticed she didn't try to resist or struggle.

That was probably wise.

He led the way closer, keeping his hands near the belt with his 'balls, but just as clearly not touching them. He could hear Elle and Robin behind him, the blonde on the left and the rosette on the right, but wished they had stayed back. Not that any distance wasn't too close considering the weapons and Pokémon the Rockets had, but coming closer just put them at even more risk. But he couldn't very well tell them to stay back, either, not after the Rockets had told them to come closer.

Both, he noticed, were watching him and Elle warily, but they seemed a bit confused by Robin's presence. Maybe, just maybe, they could use that…? "What are we talking about?" he asked bluntly.

Again, it was the man who answered first. "We got some questions for you. Questions from our bosses. Answer enough, and we're supposed to let you and these fools go. Lie, and we shoot them. Lie again, and we shoot you. Well… maybe we shoot the kid and you. The girls we might just take alive for… fun. Our local boss always needs more girls in the brothel, after all."

"Yeah, that's not happening," Alex grunted, "we'll talk, but the moment we see a hint of violence, people start getting hurt… and it's not just gonna be us. You might've noticed, but some of our 'mons are already out. We walk around with them. Sure, we'll get hurt… but we aren't the only ones."

"Tch," the woman clicked, glancing around.

Indeed, just as he'd said, two of Alex's Pokémon were visible, along with one of Robin's and one of Elle's, though he was sure Loki was floating around nearly invisible as well. Cock and the Nidoran female that was Robin's were getting to know each other (thankfully mostly conversing in their strange way) some twenty or so feet off when the situation had begun. Now they were both much closer, watching intently from Alex's left. Somewhere behind him and to his right, Kole and Surtr had been prancing among the bushes, racing back and forth in a fast-paced game of either tag or hide-and-seek, or maybe both. Now the Growlithe was, well, growling from about a dozen feet behind him and beyond Robin.

Who stood beside them, at least, her own slender fingers twitching over her belt. She looked quite annoyed, no matter what else was going on.

"Whatever," the woman grumbled, "Fine. Boss's only want the information anyway. Question one: Vaan wants to know how you got here, to our world."

Alex blinked. "Wh- What? What do you mean?"

Robin snorted, "I'll handle this one. We got here the same way your world seeded others hundreds of years ago: Hoopa. Or at least, we think it's Hoopa. Golden ring portals. We've only got the one, and it's only semi-stable… but I don't know where it is. We're unconscious when we're brought through."

"How the fuck do you know that much?" he heard Elle whisper.

"Not now," Robin murmured quietly through clenched teeth. He turned his head to the side to see her forcing a tense smile onto her face that looked more out-of-place than the cheerful one he was growing used to seeing.

"What's a Hoopa Portal?" the man grunted.

Robin shrugged, "Hoopa's a Legendary Pokémon. Genie, kind of? I'm not super clear on it. Like I said, I don't know where the thing is on this end, so that line of questioning's a dead end. Not trying to be stubborn, I really don't know."

For the first time, Alex thought he might've caught her in a lie. Robin did know… at least something about where the portal was. How he knew that, he couldn't be sure, but he was quite sure she was hiding the truth.

They seemed to buy it, though.

"Anyway, one of the things it does is make these… rings. It can summon other Pokémon with them, travel through them in a point-to-point sort of way… your bosses probably already have a file on him, he used to be pretty famous. Not as much lately."

"Next question," the woman nodded, clearly satisfied with the information thus far, "how many of you are there? How many invaders?"

"We aren't invaders," Alex answered, "We were told were playing a game. An advanced game. We've had Pokémon games in- in our world- for a couple of centuries. This is just the newest one, which isn't even out yet. We're testing it. That's all. We- Elle and I- only got told it's a real world the other day."

"Bullshit," the man snarled, and Kinta winced as the gun must have dug into his back when he was jerked to the side, "Like I'd believe-"

"It's true," Robin interrupted loudly, "I'm the one that told them. I work- well, technically we all work, for this company that made the game. But they created me, so I know more about what's going on as far as that goes. They didn't know it was a real world until yesterday. In fact, none of the other players do, as far as I know. They aren't invaders, they're just trying out a new game. I might qualify… but we aren't doing an aggressive invasion. We just want to live, explore, have fun."

"As for how many," Alex said after Robin finished, before the Rockets had a chance to say anything else, "We don't know for sure, none of us do. Somewhere between two hundred and a thousand. I know, that's a big range, but I don't know if the people in the 'regular playtest' group are included in that. There's only three hundred in the 'special beta' that we're in. So maybe three hundred, though a couple have- have died since it started."

Both Kinta and Megumi winced. Which made the rest of what Alex was about to say even harder, but he had to try, "Including- Including their dad. He died about a week ago. Now you're holding them hostage? Fuck, just let them go. I don't mind answering your questions as long as we're civil. You don't need to make their lives even worse."

For a moment, he hoped it might have worked. The woman's face softened, a little, at least.

But the man only scowled, "So the fuck what? I don't care what happens to some cunt's old man. They stay until the bosses are satisfied. Three hundred… how many are competent?"

"That depends on how you define competent," Elle answered, stepping right up to Alex's flank to mirror Robin now. He really wished she wouldn't, but it was done, and he wasn't getting within arm's reach of the others, either. At least now the few people who'd seen them were moving away, out of harm's reach. No one wanted to get involved… but maybe that was better than them catching a stray bullet if things went south. "As good as us? Maybe fifty percent, I'd say we're middle of the road. We've only got one Badge, and I know there's at least a few with two or more."

"I don't even have one," Robin added unnecessarily. Or maybe it was tactically advantageous. If she was as good as she said, but they thought she was worse…

Not for the first time, Alex wished he knew what the pink-haired woman's game was.

"Tch," the woman clicked again, "What are your goals in Cerulean? Not your invasion force- you two."

Alex's eyes widened. That hadn't been a question he had expected at all, not that this whole encounter hadn't thrown him for a loop. "Uh…"

Again, Elle spoke up when he stalled, "We're here for the usual. Badges, sightseeing, a bit of fun. Then we're moving on. We're taking the Challenge this year, after all. We can't delay too long."

The man's eyes narrowed, but he nodded. The woman now seemed more frustrated, as if she hadn't wanted to hear that, but had expected it all the same. He asked the next one, "Which Badges are you after?"

Robin told him, "I'm going for the Water first, I might do both. We're actually here to train in Group Battles today. Or we were, before we got sidetracked."

"As for having fun," Alex added, "We didn't have any specific plans. Some sightseeing, visit the lake beaches maybe, see the clubs one night."

"And the strip joints," Elle finished.

He blushed, but nodded.

That actually made both Rockets laugh as they shared another look, this time actually amused. "Try the Scaled Fin," the woman snorted, "That's my personal favorite."

"Fuck, Indigo, don't go givin' away everything," the man snorted, though he sounded more amused again than irritated.

"Hey, I at least remembered the right code-name, Indigo. I'm Violet."

"Whatever. Fuck you."

"You wish I'd let you. Back on task, eh?"

"Whatever," he muttered again, then looked back at the trio of Trainers, seeming a bit more relaxed now that they'd gotten a few questions in without violence. "Personally, I like the Frigid Bitches joint, but that's just me. Trust me, the girls there ain't… at least not in the metaphorical sense. Anyway, uh, y- yeah. How long do you- your party- intend to be in Cerulean?"

"Just a week or so?" Alex answered, glancing in both directions, "I think we were in Pewter a bit longer than that, but I doubt it'd be even two full weeks."

The Rockets nodded together. The woman's next question threw them both for a loop, though it was asked just as casually, "Where are our missing Stones from Mt. Moon?"

"Your… what?"

"Don't know anything about that," Robin shrugged, "I wasn't there."

Elle nodded, "She wasn't, and I don't know, either. What stones?"

"Stones," the woman growled, all relaxation gone from her body language. Once again, the gun was in her hand, though she hadn't yet drawn it again. "Our inventory records each and every Fossil or Moon Stone our operation gathers. We tracked four missing rocks from the very cavern where you first fought Rockets… before you went off-camera, somehow evading our security team after a cave-in."

"A cave-in your people caused," Alex growled, "that nearly killed us."

"Bad tactical decisions were made," the woman replied firmly, "but nonetheless, four stones that had been logged in our inventory were not recovered from the cart. We could not ascertain what happened to them, there was too much Smokescreen in the air, but our members were recovered and did not have them. The area was searched thoroughly, and no other Stones were present. Which means you have them."

"We don't," Elle repeated, "I'd have known if I had them, and Alex isn't the type to just pick up random things. Even if he should be."

"And I wasn't there."

The man frowned, but he nodded as he tapped an earpiece Alex hadn't noticed under his shaggy hair. "Yes, Sir. Rocket has decided to… allow you to keep them, for now, in light of your victory over Agent Jessie and Agent James. Agent Jessie sends her regards and wishes for a… rematch. Soon."

Alex shuddered. "A- Alright…"

"That's all we- Wait. Yes, Si- Oh, sorry! Yes! Yes, Ma'am! Of course, Ma'am! Absolutely!" Alex shared a confused look with the two young women, as the burly, shaggy-haired Rocket continued to repeat affirmations over his head-set for several long seconds.

Then he nodded once more and stood tall, pushing Kinta toward Alex. A moment later, with a shrug, Megumi stumbled toward him, too. He caught her half-way on instinct, and when he was able to focus on the Rockets again, their weapons were both holstered. The man was red-faced, standing tall almost like he was at attention.

The woman was only slightly less formal, but at least she only looked annoyed, rather than embarrassed.

Still, it was him that spoke again, "Our local Boss, the Executive in charge of operations in Cerulean, wishes to extent her personal apology that- that innocent people were brought into this, and that, uh, unnecessary and unwarranted harm was brought when Team Rocket was only trying to gain information that could have been gained through less drastic methods. Uh… As an apology, she wishes to, er, extend an invitation for the three of you to attend any brothel, strip club, bar, or club, within Cerulean for the space of one week with an open tab she will pay for… all expenses, including meals and acc- accommodation. And if you want to get a more personal apology, you are also invited to- to meet with her?"

The man coughed again as someone screeched, loudly enough he yanked the earpiece from his ear and that Alex could hear it from a half-dozen feet away, "Y- Yes, Ma'am! Of course, ma'am, I was just surprised! Yes! Yes!"

He exhaled slowly as the screaming subsided, then pushed the thing back in with a sigh. "And to Mr. and Miss Sugimoto, the same invitation… with no threat to you or yours, and our sincere apologies for getting you involved in something like this when you should have been allowed to mourn in peace. It won't happen again. Oh, uh, and yes, you can meet with the Executive herself at any time during business hours at- at the Sea Dragon's Bounty, in her office. Just ask for- for Executive Ariana at the front desk, and tell them who you are. That goes for all of you. Even- even you, Rosey."

"It's Robin," the girl chirped.

"Y- Yes, Ma'am. Of course, Ma'am. Yes. Thank you, that's most, uh, most generous of you."

He swallowed.

The woman next to him rolled her eyes and mouthed, "Sorry," to Alex and his friends.

Then she grabbed her team-mate's shoulder and started walking away, pulling him along as he continued to stammer half-formed apologies of his own not to them, but over whatever radio he was using.

They waited until the Rockets were long gone, and most of the normal activity in the park around them had resumed before Alex asked quietly, "Are they still around, Robin? Do you have any way to check?"

"Not without my eyes and ears," she replied quietly, "but I think so. Honestly, I'm surprised they got so close without me noticing. But we're probably safe to talk, now, if that's what you mean."

"Fuck," he shouted, making Megumi, who was still in his arms, jump. "Sorry, I… how the hell did those guys get you?"

In his arms, Megumi started to tremble. Kinta kicked the ground sheepishly, "I… It's my fault."

"Go on," Alex urged, holding his sister tightly. "Why would they even go after you?"

Kinta plopped himself down onto the ground right there in the park and hugged his knees to his chest. For a moment, all Alex could see was a young boy who looked scared and lost, not another Trainer like him with powerful monsters under his command. "I… I think that's my fault, too. I was… I went to a… a brothel. I snuck out of the PMC early this morning to, uh… to go, well, to…"

"To visit a brothel," Alex murmured, "We understand."

Kinda nodded, but kept his face between his knees. His ears were burning red, though Alex thought it was not out of embarrassment, but shame. "I just… I got talking. The w- woman… we talked. We didn't even get to… but she asked questions. She seemed so nice. Asked who I knew. I said your names, and she got really interested… made a phone call, and asked me to tell Megu where I was. Then… the lady took me back to the lobby, and they already had security guys all around Megumi. That's when those guys took us, and Security just, uh…"

"Their Security are probably all Rockets, too," Robin volunteered quietly.

Somehow, that didn't help Megumi's trembling. "Wh… What were they… what were they threatening us with? I get the- the guns, but…"

Elle and Robin both sighed, but neither elaborated. Alex thought it terribly unfair that he, a man, and apparently a source of comfort, had to be the one to say it, but he also wouldn't have wished it on either of them. "They've made similar threats to Elle before. If I had to guess… they'd have drugged you up with some sort of aphrodisiac and kept you on it until you didn't mind getting raped constantly. Basically forced you into prostitution."

Kinta's eyes widened. "You mean, that lady- the one I, uh, p- paid for- she would've been a- a slave?"

"Maybe," Robin admitted, this time speaking up, "Our Statistics- Game Freak's, since they're who I work for- department estimated they control all of the Brothels in Cerulean, and well over ninety percent across all of Kanto. It's their main source of income. But not all the girls are forced into it, apparently. It's a lucrative profession if you go into it willingly, from what we understand. It's not like our world, where the street-walkers are the norm. Prostitutes here are kept well-fed and healthy and happy, mostly. But there's always the exception that… that never have a choice. In fact, one of the 'hotels' in the city, the one he mentioned, the Sea Dragon's Bounty? It's… kind of famous for being 'one-hundred-percent slave-free, all the time'. But, technically, slavery's also legal here, in Kanto. In most of the world, in fact. It isn't enforced much, but prisoners- like criminals that get arrested and tried, prisoners- are forced into indentured servitude or slavery to help work off their sentence, things like that, too. That's probably the second-most-common. But even then there's laws to protect them. The prostitutes? They're probably… oh, we don't really know, Alex, so don't give me that look, and it's not like the MegaCorps are any better.

"They raised me in a tube after buying me from my parents, remember? I'm glad they did, but I was a lucky one. They're worse in so many ways, since the corps have all the power. They're what this world would be like if Rocket and people like them won.

"At any rate, the Sea Dragon's Bounty is probably where the Executive, Ariana I guess is her name, according to that guy, runs things from. We… we should go. Before or after the Gyms, but before we leave Cerulean."

"What the- why would we go there?" Alex hissed.

Robin sighed and ran a hand through her hair, sounding and looking frustrated. "Mr. and Miss Sugimoto probably don't have to. They can claim they'd be too traumatized, or whatever, and I don't think that'd raise too much trouble. I might be able to skip out as a relative nobody. But you two? You'll need to go, and it's probably best if you have some backup. I'm in, of course."

"But why?" Elle asked, sounding just as lost as he was.

"Because if you don't, one of the most powerful people in the country will take it as a personal insult, and she's got the ability to make your lives hell. Because it's probably best to get in and get what information we can, while giving out as little as possible. I don't think we gave out too much they didn't already know, but we gave them something or they'd still be asking questions. And because you really should experience the night life here. Just meeting this Executive Ariana is a golden opportunity for us. We don't know any of Rocket's higher-ups, remember? Snøgrav is the highest ranked person we can name… until now. If we can put a face to her, maybe we can do more. That's worth a bit of risk."

Alex hated it, but… He sighed, "You're right. Fuck. Let's do it after, though. I don't… I don't feel ready to take on a team like those two Agents again, much less someone that can level a city block."

"To be fair, your teams can probably level a house," Robin shrugged, "Just not quickly. It's doing it in one stray attack that separates you. And why all the houses here have water, fire, earthquake, and so on insurance, and why many of them are warded against Psychics, Ghosts, and all sorts of other things. Even Fairies can be super dangerous… I'm dreaming of the day I get a powerful one, not that Bliss won't be eventually."

Megumi pulled away slowly, then, tears slowly drying on her face. "I- I want to help, too."

"Are… are you sure?"

She nodded.

Kinta did, too, "I'm in."

"No."

"Yes! I want to help!"

"No," Alex repeated along with Megumi.

Of course, then Elle murmured, "I… I actually think we could use him. He never did get his, uh… V-card taken, right? He might be a good in. A reason to go back for Megu… only she can help him choose a better girl, yeah? And because he's a kid, they might let something else slip."

"You're a kid," Alex snorted, but he already knew he'd lost that argument when the Nipponese girl he'd just been holding tightly frowned, but nodded.

"Alright, Kinta, but just this one time, and I swear, if I have to rescue you again you're leaving the Beta for good!"

"Deal," he muttered seriously.

Alex had a severe sinking feeling, but all he could do with everyone else agreeing was nod. "Alright. But practice first, we can strategize later. No one talks about Rocket until after we're each a Badge stronger."

"Also deal," Robin agreed.