Episode V:

The First Job

The snow-covered trees surrounding Moxy shot high towards the cloudy, afternoon sky. Behind a thick grove hid Moxy, Team Magma hood donned and a spherical device cradled in her sweaty, gloved palms. The cold wind bit her knees despite wearing thermal tights.

Moxy trained her eyes on a tall-eared, brown pokemon with a white and fluffy lower body. Its beady, black eyes scanned the area as it hopped along, stopping only to smell a daisy that the snow hadn't yet devoured.

Moxy crept her hand upwards.

"Freuu?!" the Buneary's ears shot up in alarm.

Shit! Moxy didn't waste a second as she flung her pokeball at the escaping Buneary, a multi-colored flash drowning the shadows before a blue, winged creature screeched loudly.

"Get it, Zubat!" Moxy yelled, kicking snow as she ran. Another crackly screech later and Zubat zoomed forward like a jet.

"Be-EEECK!" A yelp sounded just ahead of her.

"Zuba- Oh Arceus, not again…" Moxy grumbled before hurdling a bush to her pokemon.

Her prey was sprawled out in a spot of dark-red snow, unmoving as Zubat covered its wings around the Buneary's neck.

"Mrack?" Zubat's lips were covered in a thin layer of blood when he turned towards Moxy's voice.

"Chloe told us she wants it alive!" Moxy trudged over to the Buneary and placed two fingers on the side of its neck.

There was a faint pulse.

"Ugh…" Moxy shook her head in disapproval and reached into a side pouch, pulling out a roll of medical wrappings. Zubat, unaware, sniffed again and tried to suck more of the Buneary's blood.

"Zubat, stop! I'm not bringing Chloe a deflated carcass!" Moxy shooed him away.

"Eep…" Zubat looked a little hurt. Huffing, Moxy began to treat the Buneary's wound. It took a while for the bleeding to stop before she cleaned and applied antibiotics to the bite mark.

"Eh, this will have to do," she spoke to herself upon assessing the shoddy work of her bandaging. Satisfied, she captured the Buneary into a spare pokeball. She finally noticed Zubat, who was still looking down in sadness.

"Tu, tu," Moxy clicked her tongue twice, feeling bad for the poor guy. Zubat ears perked before he fluttered up to Moxy's outstretched arm, perching upside-down under it.

"Good boy," Moxy reached into her back pocket and offered an Oran Berry, which he gladly accepted with an energetic stab of his fangs. She continued up the snow-ridden hill, each clomp tougher than the last until she reached a small cliff.

Lilycove City she marveled at the area where buildings stood between a green landscape and the great, Hoenn Ocean. They weren't as big as the skyscrapers in Rustboro, but seeing them all from her perch was just as breathtaking. The southwestern port was crowded with ships and boats of all kinds, their ship bells tolling as they rocked over the fierce, eastern waves. Palm trees were stationed between its flat streets, and the largest building, the Lilycove Department Store, was planted right in the center of the city for all to see.

A cold breeze blew through her hair. As amazed as she was, she couldn't help but feel small against such prominence. Lilycove City was the city with the best lounges, restaurants, and views in all of Hoenn. She had dreamt of visiting when she was a kid, yet she couldn't fathom that dream had turned into a reality. She should have considered herself lucky if not for the fact that everything else in her life was a complete mess. Right now, she felt like a pesky Durant invading a Heatmor nest.

I don't deserve to be here.

Zubat chirped as another breeze struck, his tails tightening around Moxy's arm so as to not fly right off.

"Don't you think this view is just-" Moxy stopped herself. Zubat's can't see, dummy.

With a sigh, she recalled her Zubat. Turning away from the neon city, she clenched a fist and made her way down, hoping all her efforts of integrating with Team Magma weren't for naught.

The door to the lab hissed open. It was as cold as ever, despite the weather outside, and Moxy found Chloe sitting near the operation table at the end of the room. Her pale face was buried into a document on her clipboard while one of her knees fidgeted up and down in impatience.

"Hey Chloe," Moxy greeted, startling her.

"Moxy. I didn't hear you come in."

"I've, uh, got the Buneary," Moxy said, yet her voice was small and muttered. Chloe swiveled her chair around and gave Moxy a squinted stare.

"I feel there's a 'but' somewhere," she deadpanned before taking the ball from Moxy's open hand. After priming and releasing the Buneary, Chloe made a long sigh.

"Your Zubat again, I presume?" Chloe shook her head upon seeing the bandaged pokemon on the operation table. The Buneary was wheezing in pain, its beady eyes frozen in fear under Chloe's harsh glare.

"Y-yeah, b-but it really isn't that bad." Moxy made a crooked smile. "See? I even patched the wounds up-"

"I only want excellence, dear." Chloe lowered her gray brows before pulling out a long, two-pronged device from her lab pocket, and without missing a beat, tapped it against the Buneary's thigh. Moxy was startled by the snapping electricity as the Buneary yelped and fell unconscious.

"Half-pay," Chloe said simply before jotting something into her clipboard.

"Oh come on!" Moxy exulted. "You can't keep doing that! Do you know how hard it is to catch a fucking Buneary? They're too fast! I only have a Zubat to catch them!"

"It seems you still have a lot of training to do. Not reading that book I gifted you?" Chloe's eyes were still glued to her clipboard as she continued to scribble notes.

Moxy gritted her teeth. "You can't be serious. It's a fucking winter wonderland out there. I'm freezing my ass off, and you're going to give me a measly 30 dollars for this? You promised me there was equal pay with the Infiltrators two weeks ago when you forced me to join your… stupid division!"

Chloe's hand paused. One of her gray eyes glanced at Moxy dangerously. "Stupid?"

Crap, Moxy gulped when Chloe rose from her seat, eyes trained in a glare as she jabbed the pen at her.

"The Medical division is just as important as every other division! If it weren't for me, none of these sniveling auxiliarus would have the slightest idea about the dangerous pokemon they face on their missions. Do you know Lopunny's have the leg force to snap your neck with one kick? I presume not! They also…"

As Chloe rambled, a dreadful feeling welled up in Moxy's throat.

She hated this division. If the field assignments she was forced to partake in didn't anger her, then it was Chloe chewing her out like a pack of gum that did. The task of tracking pokemon, waiting all day for them to appear, and then capturing them was already taking a tiresome toll on her. Rather than waste her skills on wild pokemon, she could be using them to help the Infiltrators. Instead, Moxy peeked under her shirt, where in conjunction with her silver necklace, there were steel dog tags of a Blissey. The insignia of the Medical division.

"…the measly 30 dollars I would have given you is a reflection of your incompetence, but I'm reducing it to 25 based on your attitude!" Chloe finished with a harrumph.

"BULLS-" Moxy was interrupted by the hiss of the lab door.

"Hello?" a familiar voice called from the door. Moxy turned around, all her anger dissipating like dust in the wind upon locking eyes with the newcomer.

"Aiden!" Moxy was surprised. "When did you get back?"

"Just now." Aiden entered with caution. Moxy's face turned red when she realized he may have been listening in on their conversation.

"Nobody knows how to knock anymore…" Chloe gave him a single glance before spinning back towards the Buneary.

"How is Moxy doing as your assistant, doc- uh I mean, praefecti?"

"Swell." Chloe undid the Buneary's bandage and worked at the wound with an antibiotic. Moxy crossed her arms and turned away. An awkward silence fell upon the room.

"Um, Chloe, would you mind if I stole her for a second?"

"Go right ahead. I have absolutely no use for her at the present." She didn't even hesitate when responding.

Moxy gladly stomped out of the room. When the lab door closed behind them, she plopped down on the steel bench beside the medical ward and crossed her arms. Aiden's black hair was windswept as if they'd braved a storm coming here, and his forest-green eyes seemed to study Moxy before he took the seat beside her.

"You don't look happy." Aiden clasped his spidery hands together. "Are you fighting with the doc?"

Moxy tapped her fingers against her knee silently. Grunts in military gear marched down the crowded hallway, their boots drowning out her furious heartbeat. She noticed the tension between them because Aiden's sigh had become more of a huff.

"I don't get it, Moxy. You were practically begging to be an infiltrator two weeks ago. Instead, you're in the medical division and unhappy from the looks of it."

"What are you getting at?" Moxy was coarse.

"Why did you join her? You didn't have to join the medical division." Aiden asked, his voice tinged with confusion and annoyance. Moxy watched two Poochyena's follow a grunt down the hallway, the ceiling light reflecting against their shiny manes.

"It's complicated." she slumped in her seat. However, she glanced to see Aiden giving her a serious face now.

"I don't know what is going on between you and Chloe. Judging from the way things sound, it's like she has some kind of… hold over you. If you need any help-"

"I'm fine, Aiden!" Moxy exasperated. "Is this why you came here? To pester me because I decided to join the medical division instead of Quinn's?"

More silence, and this time Moxy found herself tightening the cloth of her red skirt. She couldn't bring herself to tell him the truth. That Chloe blackmailed her into joining. That she actually died that day, except she was brought back to life like a zombie.

Her gaze shifted to her mudded boots. She felt like a zombie. All of her time was consumed with Chloe, and she never felt emptier.

This is the way it's gotta be.

"Actually, I came because I wanted to ask if you would join us on our next mission," Aiden announced.

"What?" Moxy was surprised.

"It'd be a nice change of pace." Aiden leaned back, folding a leg on his thigh. "We need a medic for the mission anyways, and I'm sure Chloe is just going to tell me she's busy again."

"Oh, she'll be busy alright. Busy sending me off on another errand," Moxy grumbled. "What makes you think she'll let me join you?"

But Aiden seemed as relaxed as a Slaking. "I don't. You can make your own decisions, Moxy. She isn't your mother. She's not going to kick you out of her division over one small thing."

Moxy mused over that. He wasn't wrong but…

"I… well, it would be unfair if I just left her alone. She doesn't really have many people to help her, you know?"

"Pft, she'll be fine. This is a good opportunity for you, Moxy. You can learn a bit about how we plan and execute missions. Don't turn me down like last time."

"Hmm, depends. What's the mission?" Moxy tried to be as cool as she could to hide the desperate girl who wanted to get the hell out of the base. However, Aiden caught onto her bravado, because he just stood up and extended his arm out for her.

"I'll tell you on the way there."

Moxy was smitten. His gesture was kind and confident with that elfish smile he wore proudly. He made it seem like if she took his hand, she would be tagged along for the adventure of her life. It was a far cry from the boring errands Moxy was constantly running for Chloe. Maybe getting some real, first-hand experience on Team Magma recon operations would be good for her.

She took his hand.

"I'm going to talk to Chloe first. She'll be furious if I just left without letting her know," Moxy said before gazing up at him. "But sure, I guess it would be a nice change of pace."

Aiden turned around, placing his hands into his hoodie pockets. "Sounds good. We're leaving tomorrow morning. Make sure you prepare and get some sleep."

Moxy watched him go, and she found herself smiling involuntarily before composing herself. And with a pep in her step, she walked back inside the medical ward.