"Now isn't the time to initiate," Looker shouted into his earpiece, he had installed a camera onto his unwilling female partner to make sure she didn't do anything stupid. Sadly, the camera and his supervision proved to be ineffective as the female officer and her Lucario were clinging onto a high-speed train that was barreling toward Lumiose city at speeds that no human should bear without protection.
"Why? He's all alone in his little train car," She replied, she hopped onto the train's roof right when it was leaving the station and spent a good portion of an hour locating Tori while trying not to fall off the fastest method of transport in Kalos. Lucario dropped down onto the cable holding the two train cars together, "If we break this train car off, we can easily capture him."
Looker sighed into his microphone, "Kid, we're trying not to make a scene. I think disconnecting a Whole Freaking Train Car counts as making a scene."
"Alright, geez," the officer sighed. Her Lucario patted her on the back in an attempt to console her.
"Just sneak in, arrest him, and leave," Looker said, in a tone that he hoped was patient "The more time he spends outside of bars, the worse it becomes for us."
The officer unlocked the train car door and returned Lucario to his Pokeball. She wandered around the halls to find the room Tori was in, however, she discovered that it was a lot more guarded than she expected.
"What you doin' here?" A bodyguard had completely blocked the whole area of the door.
"Well, umm" The officer mumbled, she fidgeted her hands. Her whole body was shaking. She needed to think of a good lie.
Looker whispered back into her earpiece, "This train car's so big, I'm kind of lost here. Can you help me find my room?"
The Female officer shakily repeated the lie.
"This room isn't yours," The bodyguard said suspiciously, "Beat it."
The Female officer awkwardly left the train car. Thankfully, the guard blocking the door didn't think to follow her. She hopped back to the roof to avoid being asked any more questions by him.
"Looker, I respect your opinion, but don't you think you're being a bit too passive?"
"The whole point of this mission is to be secretive," Looker replied.
"Why?"
"The reason was in the case file I sent you," Looker said, "Wait did you even read the file?"
"I might've skimmed it," The female officer lied. Looker could hear her voice shake through the bad audio quality.
"Those files have important information!" Looker said. He felt like he had to give the same warning every time he did a mission with her.
"In my defense, those files are so boring," The female officer replied. Her confident decleration turned into a light mumble as she tried to explain why the files weren't worth reading. For a few minutes, the only thing Looker could hear was a train going to Lumiose City.
"So," The female officer said, "Why do we have to be so secretive."
"I won't tell you."
"Oh, come on, "The Female officer pleaded, she looked into the camera with puppy eyes, "I need to know, if I don't curiosity's going to eat me alive."
"Serves your right for not reading the file," Looker said, he disconnected his earplugs and enjoyed the sight of the officer saying a whole monologue about why Looker should tell her the reason for such secrecy.
Other than some strange bumping on the roof the trip was quite silent for Tori. Alexa had simply collapsed on a chair and was snoring away before the train left the station. Her Helioptile (After accidentally angering Lily by smelling her flower) was curled in the corner carefully watching Lily clean the train car. He had spent his time carefully thinking about how to make a good first impression with Professor Sycamore. After all, he was probably one of the fastest ways for him to connect with a professional Pokemon Trainer.
After broadcasting one last advertisement the train screeched to a halt, finally arriving at Lumiose City.
"Alexa come on we have to go," Tori said, he almost touched Alexa to try and wake her up before thinking that touching her might insult her. Instead, he repeated his last sentence with more urgency.
"What?" Alexa asked groggily, she rubbed her eyes, "Sorry, Tori. It's just that these last days have been exhausting." She got up and stretched.
Tori opened the door to the train car but was blocked by a bodyguard who effortlessly took up the area of the entire door, Tori turned around and asked Alexa "Who's this?"
"Oh, him," She replied, picking up her cowering Helioptile, "He's just a bodyguard that Sycamore hired, don't worry about him."
"A Bodyguard?"
"Yeah, Sycamore takes the security of children seriously," Alexa said, she walked toward the door and said to Tori, "After you."
Tori hesitated.
"You are the guest of honor."
Tori walked out of the train car first, he awkwardly waited as Alexa took her things and followed him outside of the train station.
When Tori saw Sycamore, riding his Gogoat outside the train station, he couldn't speak. His carefully planned scenarios disappeared from his head when he saw the person who could change the trajectory of his life, make his future brighter, the…
"Professor Sycamore," Alexa proclaimed like she was showing a gift to a king, snapping Tori out of his panic, "I present to you Tori Windsoar of Vaniville Town."
Professor Sycamore carefully hopped off his Gogoat, he offered to shake Tori's hand, "Hello, Tori. It's an honor to be among such a prodigy."
"Yes, and it's such an honor… to be with you as well," Tori stuttered, he put his sweaty hand over Sycamore's and shook his hand weakly.
Professor Sycamore looked at a watch and said, "We should go, we don't want to keep your good friend waiting." He had a twinkle in his eye like he was preparing a big surprise for Tori.
"You mean, Hop?" Tori asked.
Sycamore deflated like a wet sponge left out a sunny day, "How did you know? Who told you?"
"He called me," Tori replied apologetically, "I'm sorry I ruined your surprise, assuming you had one."
Sycamore struggled to climb onto his Gogoat he gestured Tori to get on, "It's fine, just get on."
Alexa jumped onto her own Gogoat and she led the way through the Lumiose City traffic while Tori continued to apologize to Professor Sycamore.
When Tori, Sycamore, and Alexa arrived at the lab Sycamore whispered to the three of them, "Be as quiet as possible."
"Why?" Alexa asked, jumping off her own Gogoat.
A red-haired girl wearing a lab coat over a pair of overalls flung open the doors. She angrily looked at Sycamore.
"That's why," He sighed.
The girl angrily shouted at Sycamore, "How could you leave the lab so suddenly?" She said it with such force that even Tori shrunk a bit after hearing her words.
"Mairin, I had to greet Tori," Sycamore replied.
Mairin replied, "I know, but you're an old man. You can't just run off into Lumiose City anymore, especially without telling anyone." She glanced at the streaks of grey hair on Sycamore's head.
Sycamore sighed, "I can still take care of myself."
"Yeah, but until Alain gets home you and the lab aren't safe," Mairin said.
"She's right, Sycamore," Alexa said sternly, "You are not as young as you were before and the attacks on the lab are not getting any better. Plus, you should have told Mairin, there was no need to make her worry."
"What attacks?" Tori asked.
Sycamore walked past Mairin and put on his lab coat, thankful that Tori had switched the subject, "Come on, I'll tell you inside."
Tori and Mairin followed Sycamore through his maze of a laboratory into a giant terrarium. A river flowed and split the uneven terrain right down the middle. Plants of every shape and size covered the ground. Pokemon frolicked happily inside the fake habitat. However, when Tori walked by, they all cowered away, hiding behind small bushes and plants.
"Don't take any offense," Mairin said, her mood had changed so rapidly it was like she was never mad at Sycamore in the first place, "These Pokemon haven't had such a good time with other people. They'll get used to you eventually."
"So, Tori. I was hoping you could help me get rid of these raiders while you're here," Professor Sycamore, "After all, you are a great Pokemon battler."
Tori just saw a light gray powder on the ground, other than that there were no signs of theft, Alexa caught on to his confusion and said, "Look up."
The glass roof covering the terrarium had been completely shattered, and a red R had been emblazoned on what remained on the ceiling.
"Team Rocket did this?" Tori asked, he had only heard of the dastardly crimes the terrorist group had done, "Don't they only stay in Kanto?"
"Not exactly, but what makes these attacks special are that they keep coming," Professor Sycamore said, "Before they had more a hit-and-run strategy."
"We had another attack yesterday," Mairin said solemnly, "Your friend, Hop, tried to help."
"Did he succeed?" Tori asked.
"You could just ask me to my face."
Tori turned around and saw his good friend Hop. He had grown a bit taller than the last time he saw him and despite the sun beating on his face he still wore a heavy blue jacket.
"Nice to see you," Tori exclaimed, he pulled him in for a hug.
"Hey, where's your Wooloo," Tori asked when he pulled away from Hop, "I was looking forward to seeing him."
Hop scratched his head nervously, "Yeah, he's not doing so hot right now." He released his Wooloo from his Pokeball. One of the Wooloo's feet had been wrapped in bandages, the once white wool had been stained red. He limped over to Tori and weakly tackled him.
"What happened to him?"
"That damn Team Rocket, man," Hop said angrily, "That's what happened. They friggin' busted my Wooloo up and dipped."
"And they took half our remaining Pokemon with them," Mairin said, equally mad as Hop.
"Am I supposed to get them back?" Tori asked, his mind already forming a plan to track down the members of Team Rocket.
"No. I mean if you can that's great," Professor Sycamore corrected himself, "You're here to get a Pokemon. The information's all in the letter, how we got the Pokemon, what moves it has-"
"He never got it," Alexa said.
That surprised Sycamore enough for him to stop talking, "Really?" He looked at Tori for confirmation and Tori nodded nervously.
"Well, okay then," Sycamore said, picking up his composure, "Do you want me to get the file for the Pokemon?"
"No."
Sycamore was surprised by his response, "There's a lot of important information in there."
"I don't want it."
"Whatever's fine by you," Sycamore said with an undertone of judgment, "Because you came so late there's only one Pokemon left for you," He looked around the Terrarium, "It's the Fennekin over there."
The orange fox had laid itself on a rock on the far side of the Terrarium, she watched the four of them move with one open eye. There was nothing around the rock except dry, dead, soil.
"If you don't want it, I can find another Pokemon for you," Professor Sycamore said, Fennekin suddenly glared at Sycamore, he stepped back, "She is a bit deadly."
"She looks afraid," Tori noticed, he inched closer to Fennekin, she watched him warily.
Professor Sycamore replied, "Yeah, we found her on the streets," he saw Tori walk towards her and said, "Get back here, she's not friendly!" Hop, after hearing this, chased after Tori.
"Hey, it's okay," Tori said comfortingly, The Fennekin growled athim, spews of fire shot out of her nose, "I'm not here to hurt you."
Suddenly memories that weren't his own flooded into Tori's mind. He saw a little Fennekin being abandoned by her family and then by her trainer. She saw her fend for herself on the Lumiose streets. His head throbbed as new memories took up space in his brain and he fell backward.
The Fennekin also seemed to have a similar experience, she winced heavily, tripping and falling off her rock.
"Are you okay?" Tori asked, Fennekin looked at him with less hatred but still dashed away before he could touch her.
"What was that?" Hop asked.
Tori rubbed his forehead, "I have no idea."
"Really, cuz it looked like Fennekin attacked you and you jumped away," Hop said, he looked around the nearby bushes, "If she did just say the word and I'll make her pay."
"Yeah sure," Tori said, remembering how Hop had no Pokemon in fighting shape.
"Wait, do you hear that?" Hop asked. He gestured for Tori to be quiet while he twisted his head in the air like he was pinpointing the location of the sound.
A light beeping noise came out from the bushes, Hop crawled under and took out a high-tech camera, "What's this?"
"I don't know, maybe it's to see the Pokemon do things?" Tori said.
Hop flipped the camera and something caught his eye, a shiny red R emblazoned on the side of the camera.
Alexa had snuck off after Tori saw Hop, she had spent the past week traveling across Kalos and Galar just to get two kids to Sycamore and she just wanted to go home and take a break.
After spending nearly, a whole day inside a train car, Lily was starved for sunlight had sat down on a nearby chair and absorbed every ray of sunlight she could.
In a tired daze Alexa bumped into Lily, in shock, Lily summoned a few leaves that grazed the side of Alexa's skin, causing enough pain for Alexa to wake up fully.
Lily, after realizing what she had done, apologized to Alexa. She seemed to have accepted the apology but, of course, as a Pokemon Lily could never know. To make sure she had won back Alexa's trust Lily decided to serve her some things she found around Sycamore's lab.
When Lily returned with some food on a tray she had found lying around, Alexa had already patched up her wounds. Alexa politely accepted the food, sharing a bit of it with her Helioptile. Lily, quite proud of the work she had done, decided to also drink some of the things she made.
The coffee, instead of making them more awake, pushed the three of them into a deep slumber.
"I didn't think that would work," James said.
"Give me some credit, my genius hasn't diminished over the years," Jessie replied. The Rocket trio had spent months trying to poison Sycamore and his Garchomp. All to make sure the Pokemon in the lab have nobody left to protect them.
"You can't lose what was never there," Meowth said, laughing at his joke. He leapt away from Jessie's fist.
James shuffled a pile of collector Pokemon cards, "But those two don't look like Sycamore and Garchomp."
Jessie flipped through the various cameras that she had Meowth planted over the lab, "At least we got someone," She continued staring at the dim screen. It was the only thing illuminating the warehouse they were staying in because the Rocket trio had blocked of all the windows, preventing any light from entering.
"Looks like we're gonna have to stick with plan A," Meowth sighed.
James lovingly put the cards back into their cases, "Then we won't have any sleep powder left."
"So what? If we gas the whole lab, there'll be nobody left to stop us, we don't need the powder for a get-away anymore," Meowth said, he looked up at the Pokemon that they had stolen from Sycamore's lab. They were all drugged with sleep powder and locked into cages, "The real question is whether these guys will stay asleep for long enough."
Meowth started calculating how much sleep powder they would have to use to drug everyone in Sycamore's lab when Jessie suddenly tapped him in the back. He fell off the stool he was sitting on, "What was that for!"
Meowth got up and saw Jessie's pale face, she said quietly, "We've been found."
James looked up from his cards and saw two teenagers studying his precious camera, "Those twerps better not mess up that camera, that's the newest Rocket model."
Meowth slapped James across the head, "You idiot, don't you know what this means?"
James replied, "What's the big deal, Sycamore already knows we're stealing his Pokemon."
"Yeah, but now, he has proof," Meowth explained, "And that camera has a signal, a signal that leads to us."
"So, if we don't act fast," Jessie said the thought going through all three of their heads, "We're going to get caught by the Police."
The three of them sat in silence, the only light in the dark warehouse they rented came from the glowing cameras. James slapped his cards on the table, "Then what are we waiting for, let's go!"
"Hey, I'm the leader around here! I should say that," Jessie shouted, she cleared her throat, "Then what are we waiting for, let's go!"
The rocket trio packed their various gadgets and climbed up into their hot air balloon.
"Just think," Meowth said, "When we deliver this last load of Pokemon, Giovanni may notice us!"
James followed, "And to think a few years back we were still catching Ash's Pikachu."
"I kind of miss those times," Jessie said, the two males looked at her, "What, don't you think those days were fun."
"Yeah," James said, he stiffened up, "But we have serious things to do now."
The three of them nodded solemnly. Their hot-air balloon rose through the warehouse roof, its Meowth-shaped head completely blocked the moon. They soared over to Professor Sycamore's lab, preparing for the heist that would change their lives. But they felt nothing because, without an Ash or a twerp to chase, the Rocket Trio were just as empty as the balloon they were flying.