Training was not easy. Every day at six they would wake the recruits up. They would have them finish breakfast by seven before putting them through military training drills. The kids would go through stretching routines, obstacle courses, running, marching with weights on their backs, and swimming. They would be instructed to lift weights, do push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups and the like, before training would move to hand-to-hand combat. They would then break for lunch before moving into the afternoons with classes on Pokemon and other necessary things (reading and writing for those who could not do it for example). And then it was dinner at eight, a run after and then bed at ten.

And anyone who failed to accomplish even one of these things was taken away. The boy never saw them again.

It was hard, the days moved by quickly, but he enjoyed every moment of it. How could he not? He had a place to live, food for his belly, and a shower to clean himself in. Hell, they even gave him a room of his own!

Besides, how could he not be excited for the day when he'd initiated into the ranks of Team Rocket? The Organization was not a new thing for the boy. Over the many years that he could remember, he had heard of this organization from many people on the streets. Even his father had some business with them. He was not a member, no way that man would survive this training regiment.

So with the goal of one day joining this organization, the boy trained hard, pushed himself even harder, and prepared himself.


Six Years Later


There were a hundred and fifty of them at one point.

But over the years many had fallen off.

Now there were only five.

James was as the boy first judged him to be. He was a rich kid who had run away from home because his parents were too much for him to handle. They even had a wife in line for him. The boy felt bad for James, especially considering how nice he was. But where there was niceness, there was a drive to escape. He lasted this long because he was driven by the fact that if not here, he'd need to return home. The boy respected that drive.

Jessie was an orphaned child. She claims her mother was a member but she had nothing to prove that. Her mother vanished one day and Jessie was put into the system, from where she'd escaped and decided to join Team Rocket so she could track down her lost mother.

The boy did not know much about Cassidy or Butch, other than the fact that both of them had something against Jessie and James. Neither really spoke about their pasts, something the boy respected. They either had some twisted background or they were leaving it all behind and starting fresh, just like he was. Nobody knew his story either.

The five stood in attention as the man from the screen all those years ago came forward. It was the same man that had bought the boy from his father and brought him here.

"You five have passed intensive training and will now be recruited at Grunts for Team Rocket" the man stated calmly. "Grunts are the lowest of the low, the bottom feeders in the barrel. You will be assigned simple tasks and nothing more. But that does not mean you will stay in that position forever. Do good and you'll find yourself promoted. What that promotion title is for us to know, and what duties it entails will be told to you once you've reached that rank. For now, do as you're told and keep your heads down. Understood?"

All five newly recruited grunts declared the positive at the same time.

"I will now call on your name and you will come forward and take a Pokeball from here. This will be your partner Pokemon. Do whatever you want with them, but I would suggest you keep them close until you get stronger Pokemon in your hands. Now, Butch!"

Butch stepped forward, took a Pokeball and moved to the side.

"Cassidy!"

Cassidy stepped forward, took a Pokeball and moved to the side.

"James!"

James stepped forward, took a Pokeball and moved to the side.

"Jessie!"

Jessie stepped forward, took a Pokeball and moved to the side.

Finally, it was his turn. The man looked at him and smirked as if he knew he'd find the boy here six years later.

"Step up then."

The boy stepped forward and looked at the table on which the Pokeballs were kept. There were five slots, but only one had a Pokeball in it. Not surprising considering that four people before him got to choose.

The boy took the last Pokeball.

"Have you come up with a name for yourself yet? Or do we continue to call you boy?" the man asked, almost sounding as if he was teasing.

The boy smirked.

"I am quite attached to my name" the boy admitted, making the man chuckle. "But… Yeah, I have. My name is Niall.

"Naill" the man shook his head before motioning for him to move along.

Naill joined the other four, the Pokeball attached to his belt.

Five grunts in uniform approached the five recruits, a tray with uniforms on them and a small box. Naill opened the box to find five Pokeballs and a black rectangular device with a camera on it. It was a flip phone, Naill found out when he took it out.

"Some Pokemon you will find in the wild that might catch your attention and you might think that they would be a valuable addition to Team Rocket. It would be better to catch those with Pokeballs instead of using things like a net" the man explained. "The other device is a flip phone that only works on our wavelength and network. You can only contact those within Team Rocket with that device. It can also scan your Pokemon and tell you what moves they know. An ingenious device made by those working in RnD. All our members carry such devices these days. Now you may all go and change. You will all be called upon once your missions are chosen for you."


It was a funny thing how the uniform fit him so perfectly. It was as if they were tailor-made for him. Though the giant R at the front grabbed too much attention for his liking.

"I look absolutely stunning in this" Jessie declared, showing off her outfit to everyone. "Unlike someone else."

"We have the same uniform!"

Cassidy and Jessie were in each other's faces right away, while Butch and James stood back and sighed. Butch brought his Pokeball out and summoned the Pokemon inside.

It was a Mankey.

Following his example they all brought their Pokemon out. James had a Koffing, Jessie an Ekans and Cassidy a Rattata. Naill had chosen a Zubat.

"Guess the uniforms weren't the only thing tailor-made for us" Jessie taunted and Cassidy was back in her face. Butch and James, along with their Pokemon sighed. Naill though was fully focused on the Pokemon he had, his Zubat. He was checking out the Pokemon's moves when all their phones rang.

Naill picked his phone up and a woman on the other side spoke words that made him stiffen.

"You're to go to Crimson Town."


Nothing had changed in the six years he'd been gone from this place. Those same stained streets, the same shops with people chattering away.

It made him feel sick.

"Collect the package from the location and report to this location."

Both locations Naill knew. One of them made him sick.

The walk to the collecting spot was short from where he was and once he got there he knocked on the door and waited for the man to answer, adjusting the mask over his face. It would be foolish of him to show his face everywhere.

The fat man opened the door and immediately stiffened.

"I am here for the package," Naill said.

The man grunted before going in. The door was left open so Naill stepped inside. The place had become a pig sty without him, the smell of rotten food and stale beer hanging heavy in the air.

"Here" he came back, shoving the box in his hands, "now get out."

Naill took a step back and then out the door. But just as the man was about to shut the door, he turned and put his foot in between the door and the frame. The man swore but Naill pushed through and back in. A swift kick to the knee forced the man to the ground and a swift kick to the head knocked him out.

"Asshole" the boy muttered before walking out.


Naill sat at the pickup spot and waited for the pickup vehicle to come and pick him up. It was a little over pickup time, which worried Naill. What if they had been captured?

His worries were washed away when the van arrived and a man wearing the Team Rocket uniform stepped out.

"All there?" the man asked.

Naill nodded and as he was about to step in, people jumped out from the bushes. It was the police, their location had been outed.

The worries came back in full force.

The Police sent out their Growlithe while the man from the van sent out a Raticate. Naill sent his Zubat out.

"Return your Pokemon now!" Naill barked before making Zubat use Supersonic and then Haze. The Growlithes were confused, and the Haze allowed the van to get away after Naill the man and Zubat got in.

"It was the fucking drop off man" Naill swore, ripping his mask off his face. The driver said nothing, nor did the other guy, too focused on losing the Police tail. Naill kicked the back doors open and commanded Zubat to use Haze again. The Haze surrounded everything behind them and the driver took this opportunity to take a sharp turn into an alleyway.

The trio ditched the van and quickly hijacked a car before driving off in it.

"That was some good thinking Grunt," the man with the Raticate said. "What's your name?"

"Doesn't matter, let's just get this thing back safely to base or wherever we're going" Naill muttered.