You can find more of this on by Subscribe/Star (dot adult slash KajaWilder), it's posted past Ch. 120 there. You can find the same on my new (via Discord per their ToS), under /WildErotica. The DISCORD is at h-t_t-p_s-:_/-/_discord-._g-g_/-N9yDASt6Cw (taking out hyphens and underscores, 'cause FFnet). If you prefer direct links, go to my Discord and follow the 'links in general' section to find the ones you want. All of my fics are well ahead of what I post here, often 10-30 chapters ahead.

You can also read my original fiction on Kindle, or Kindle Unlimited for free. My author page: www ._amazon ._com / stores / Kaja-Wilder/ (this time taking out underscores and spaces, but leave the one hyphen).

Enjoy!

Ch. 86: Payoff?

Perhaps the Nugget Challenge was a bit unfair. It was supposed to be, after all.

No part of it was designed to be easy. Well, the first few Trainers, maybe, but Rocket had set them there to lure others in, to make them think it was easy. That was one of the reasons Adisa Chuke, when she was running the operation for a while, had been so good at it, and why they made so much money.

Cherry and Brody had looked over the records, after all. They'd seen the spike in ROI. Payments to try it had gone up thirty percent over the two months or so she was in charge, and they'd handed out sixteen percent fewer Nuggets, if only because she actually trained- or helped train- her subordinate 'guardians', and was an effective Trainer herself.

Then Chuke had apparently gone off the deep end. Scarpered, made off with not just twenty-nine Nuggets, but half her stupid-ass subordinates, too.

Or, if not off the deep end, then certainly rogue. Betrayed Team Rocket, who'd set her up for success in a way the League never could. Betrayed Morley Vaan, personally. Betrayed their Division, under Executive Ariana. And that, Cherry and Brody had not been able to tolerate.

Some of the kids had already given up, come crawling back, or had never left with Adisa in the first place. The ones who'd stayed, they were rewarded with stronger Pokémon. Those who'd come back soon after recognizing the error of their ways, well… they were probably relegated to a position no higher than Grunt for the rest of their lives, but both of the Agents knew that being a Grunt- one step down- wasn't the worst place in the world to be. They'd been there until recently themselves, after all.

Those who had come back later, after more than a week? Well… the girls were cleaned up, and sent to the Executive for 'processing'. Even the not-so-cute ones could be useful in the glory holes, or for the cheaper clients. And the boys were at least useful in some ways too. Cheap labor, mostly.

It was sad, Brody thought, that they'd screwed up their whole futures over a moment or a month of relative insanity, but kids needed to learn. Learn, they would. One way or the other.

You don't fuck with Team Rocket.

The Nugget Challenge wasn't supposed to be easy.

But Brody and Cherry had been keeping close tabs on this group, getting after-action reports in a way, since they had first started the run.

And he knew they were going to lose. That was alright, though. It wasn't like they had to pay for their Pokémon's healing, after all. Even if Rocket didn't take are of it, with Potions and the like in the field and regular Healing Machines in towns and cities where the power requirements could be met (and bought caretakers, of course), the League had a policy about not turning down healing for any Pokémon in need, League members or not. In theory, even a wild Pokémon could wander up to a PMC and be taken care of, no questions asked.

… Likely that Pokémon would be in Rocket's care within the week, but, eh, their eyes and ears probably missed a few, too. If that happened, anyway. Stray or abandoned Pokémon were seen as wild by the League, so they didn't care, anyway. It was just an easier capture, really.

Not easy like this guy, and those ladies.

They weren't easy at all!

In fact, Brody and Cherry had agreed to a six-on-six match: Three of each of their Pokémon vs two of each of the challenger's. Mostly fair, right? The challengers were a bit younger, and in theory there senses should've been dulled by a post-orgasmic rush, or something.

Cherry was down to her last Pokémon, and Brody had two, both about to either pass out or die of blood loss. The challengers hadn't lost anyone. Somehow, they were more coordinated than the two Grunts, who'd been working together, training together, for three years! "Didn't you guys just leave Pallet like, three months ago?" Brody gasped, breathless from dodging stray attacks and calling out commands."

"Y- Yeah," Cherry groaned, jabbing an accusing finger at Robin, "And you've only been with them since Cerulean, right? How're you guys this good?"

The man, Alex, frowned and looked between the Rockets with his legs slightly spread and arms folded over his chest. Brody hated to admit it to himself, but he found the other man, a good six years his junior, intimidating, at least a little. And his dumb little Larvitar and Nidorino were actually scary as they growled at his two remaining Pokémon.

Cherry, on the other hand, looked at the man across from them and felt nothing but arousal. He was just her type. Strong, powerful, controlled. He was in charge, and he knew it. The girls were dangerous in their own right, and if it came to it, could probably at least hold their own against him, but they yielded authority almost instinctively. Just like she wanted to.

But she had to win to prove she could be worthy, and that didn't seem likely.

"Spike, Cock, you know what to do. Fuck 'em up," the young man said quietly. His Starter and probably next most powerful Pokémon nodded, looked at each other, nodded again, and then turned their attention back to Brody's Raticate and Murkrow, the latter of which was suffering from a nearly-severed wing and flightless, while the former had been forced to mostly fight the Rock-type, so even his super-hard teeth were broken and chipped.

The little blonde hottie grinned, "Let's even this up. Loki, you can keep fighting that Tangela, I know you're having fun. But Gobbler, why don't you switch to Vine Whip that Raticate. Three on two's a bit more fair than four on one, right?"

"I hate you," Cherry groaned, "but thanks, I guess. Fine… Whippy, you haven't been able to really even hurt that Happiny, so just- just try and smack that Rattata around!"

The pink-haired girl only grinned, "Actually, if you don't mind, I'm gonna switch out my- nah, never mind. Go ahead, finish them off, Nibbler and Bliss. Just Pound and Tackle, it's not gonna last much longer, not with all three of you on it."

Indeed, she was right. They all were. There was no real challenge at all, not even for them, two full Agents who knew these three had been coming.

Executive Ariana's orders had been clear: Challenge them as best you can, but don't expect to win. Push them, if you can, see what they can do… and report back. Give as little information as you can, and get what you can. Strengths, weaknesses, chinks in the armor, chinks in the team, in the friendships, any of it. Most of all, find out what they're after. What they want.

So when his Pokémon fell, and Cherry's Tangela, the last 'mon standing on their side, was shredded and barely standing a few seconds later, Brody didn't mind when she raised her hands, "I surrender. You win. Shit, you guys are strong."

It wasn't like they were going to win anyway, and Brody knew she had a soft spot for her little grassy tentacle-monster. He couldn't blame the woman. He didn't really care for his team aside from as tools, a common sentiment among Rocket, but he wasn't fucking them, either, and he was pretty sure the Tangela who had been Cherry's Starter when she was young and naive had been enjoying her body for years.

It was kind of hot, really, even if it wasn't his thing.

Still, they'd lost, and badly. But even that was information, in the right hands, and Brody stuck his hands in his pockets, barely working at all to pretend a sullen, defeated expression. The motion disguised him using a small remote to turn up the microphones hidden in the trees. Now that the battle was over, the listeners wouldn't be deafened, and would need to hear what was going to be said.

Even if it was only for Brody and Cherry's sake. Ariana might be the 'nicest' of the Executives in Rocket, but only if you did your job. Fuck up, and you were as dead as dead could be- or worse. Brody liked sex, but he didn't want to be a mindless fuck-slave, especially since Ariana's punishments would usually mean he was on the, uh, receiving end of some rather large things he didn't want in his body. So best they didn't screw it up.

"Here," Cherry grumbled, casting him a knowing wink as she turned away, "You guys already got your Nuggets, but for a thrashing like that, I think you deserve a little more."

"No, wait- what are you- Ugh, fine," Brody grumbled, though he was acting. Badly, perhaps, but they seemed to think it was believable. "I guess they earned it. Hate giving it up, but…"

"What's this?" the rosette, Robin, asked as Cherry dropped a small case into her hands.

"The key," Cherry murmured, "then you just slide that through… it's four Hyper Potions, and two Revives. They're meant to be for our teams if some of our Pokémon get thrashed, but… well, we're gonna need to hit up a PMC for this one." She gestured out at the wreckage of the battle, their battered Pokémon, the damaged landscape from the scuffle.

Brody shook his head, "Yeah… I guess the Nugget Challenge will be down a few days while we pack up our gear, hike into town, wait on the Center, and come back to get set up. May's well take those anyway, I guess. Uh… so, you know, you have our clearance, I guess, to go down the side trail there. That's the one we're guarding, this road heads out to Cerulean Cape, though I don't know why you'd really wanna head down that way. Town's a dump, if you ask me. Not even a PMC! Anyway, like I said, you can go down there. But we're supposed to remind everyone that we guard it for a reason. It's fuckin' dangerous."

"Dangerous how?" Alex asked, relaxing a little to call back his monstrous team.

Cherry and Brody shared a look, this one genuine as far as either knew, of unsurety. "I don't know," Cherry admitted, "You, Brody?"

He shook his head, "No. I just know what the rumors say: Very few people who go in that cave ever come back, and the closer you get the more you put your mind at risk. Terrible nightmares… some people even commit suicide after getting close. It's been off-limits for years, I don't know why the League opened it up for investigations again."

"That is weird," Robin agreed, "But I don't think we need to go down there, not yet anyway. Maybe when we're stronger."

"Right. Well, anyway, I guess that's all we've got for you," Brody told them, shaking his head. "That way's Cerulean Cape, that one the dangerous cave, and of course back the way you came leads to the roads and Cerulean City again. So… have a nice day, I guess, and thanks for the fight. It was fun, even if we didn't have a chance."

"Any time," Elle grinned, still bouncing on her feet excitedly as Robin crouched to stow their winnings in her pack. "We'll probably just go to the Cape, anyway. See the sights, even if there's not much to see."

"Suit yourself," Brody shrugged.

And a few minutes later, exhaled in relief as they were gone.

He shut off the cameras and microphones first, then turned a serious eye to Cherry, who looked as worried as he did. Good, she was smart, she probably knew what he did. "We have to clear out, get out of here, as fast as we can. If they come back, decide a trip to nowhere isn't worth it, or worse, get into the cave somehow, past all the security, we're fucked. I'll radio the others to get packed up. Scatter into the city for now, meet back up with the earlier higher-ups for each of the trainees. Those guys are worse than I thought. I think they could even give Vaan a run for his money, and right now, he's Rocket's go-to badass."

"You haven't seen the twins," Cherry muttered, "I know they 'lost' at Mt. Moon, but if that stupid scientist hadn't betrayed us… anyway, I think you're right about packing up. What're we gonna do with the package, though?"

He frowned as he scowled back through the trees toward their semi-hidden camp. "I don't know, I'll ask what Greg thinks. Between the three of us, we should be able to contact at least an Operative for instructions pretty quick. If I can't raise one fast after calling Greg, I'll start packing and you can start calling."

"Roger," Cherry nodded, not bothering to countermand him or remind Brody that she was technically the senior Rocket by a few months. There wasn't time, anyway, to fight about it. Not if they wanted to live through the shitstorm both feared was coming. Even if they hadn't done anything wrong.

The three of them were a half-mile away, down the trail and long out of earshot, when Elle suddenly stopped in her tracks. "We have to go back."

Both of the others paused a few steps past her. "What? Why?"

Elle shook her head, "No time to stand here and explain, just trust me! It's an emergency!"

Alex and Robin shared a look as the smallest of them turned and started jogging back the way they'd come. He sighed, and looked down at Surtr, who was currently outside his ball as the Ponyta was probably his freshest Pokémon. "Come on, little guy, let's go see what's going on. Hey, Elle, wait up!"

"No time!"

Robin fell into step beside him a moment later, her face frowning in concentration as she started following. They caught up to the shorter-legged girl quickly, but as soon as they did, Elle put on more speed. "Sorry… Can't explain… much… have to… breathe!"

Still, for two and a half minutes or so, she did her best to explain between gasping for air, carefully weighing that need between focusing on just breathing so she could run a bit faster.

She was half-way through what would've been the already-brief explanation when Alex grunted, leaned forward, and started to sprint himself. It had been a while since he'd run a mile, or even a quarter of one, but they had been walking for miles daily, or training, since coming to this world. It helped to know that Robin hadn't even been winded, probably because of being a Combinant. But knowing that some of their current bodies were too, well…

He at least imagined it helped. And he did have the stamina to burn, even if Elle didn't. So he ran, trusting that she was right.

And if she wasn't, well… it was just a waste of effort, no harm done.

But if she was right, and Loki's report of a human being kept in a cage, naked, half-starved, at the camp was real, well…

Cherry and Brody were dead.

He'd make sure of it.

When he got to the camp, Alex told Surtr, "Watch for an attack, buddy- we might be ambushed." Then he called out Cock, Spike, Shooter, and even Sappy, who started crying, but at least mostly listened and started walking around the clearly well-used, semi-permanent campsite, looking for clues.

But they were gone.

No tents, though a few pegs had been left, likely dropped in haste. No food, no water, only a single camp chair, also well-used and sun-bleached, tucked behind a tree near a stream.

And a cage, in which a dark-skinned woman was chained by one ankle to a corner bar, with food and water dishes like a bowl, clearly unconscious. She was, at least, clothed, though she was in terrible shape. Bruises darkened her already deep brown skin, and her hair had recently been shaved, though now a thin layer of thick black covered her scalp unevenly.

There were no keys.

"Fuck," he swore, looking around.

Robin had already set her small team out on watch too, even Onahole, though the Magikarp, unlike his own fish-Pokémon, had been tossed into the stream to watch there, while Shooter had been sat on the chair. "Fucking hell," she growled, "A cage? Look at her, Alex… she's one of us. I've seen her face."

"I have, to," he realized, "At the meetings. She's part of the 'special beta'.

"That's what I'm saying," Robin said quietly, then glanced over her shoulder. Elle, despite having a head start, was now at least a minute from the camp thanks to her shorter legs and general lack of endurance compared to the others. "We gotta get her out. This is… fucking unbelievable."

"They do seem to think we're invading," Alex growled, "They think of us as the enemy."

"We are, in a sense," Robin reminded him, "Willing or not. Just by breeding, if any of us do, we'll eventually overwhelm every bit of populace here with our kind, remember?"

"Still, a cage? Haven't they ever heard of the Geneva Conventions?"

"Probably not, since I haven't," Robin admitted, "But we should keep looking. They wouldn't have left keys, probably, but they might've. Let's give the camp another look. She's breathing, color's okay aside from the bruises. Drugged, for sure. She should be alright for a few more minutes, at least. If she hasn't woken up or her breathing starts to change, I'll give her an Antidote or something."

Alex nodded, then turned without a word to cut off Elle, lest she see the cage and freak out, like he was so close to doing.

Only after he'd explained why she shouldn't look behind that particular bush, scowled and stalked around him, "I've been dealing with that kind of person my whole life, Alex, I can handle it."

What that meant, he didn't know, but Elle did indeed keep her cool as she stepped up to, and then crouched down next to the cage, before picking up the woman's limp hand and pressing her fingers to her wrist. "She's got a steady pulse, at least. Bit slow, but if she's tranquilized that makes sense."

So she, too, started searching the camp.

What they found as they collected again a half-hour later wasn't much, but it was telling. The latrine, buried just in the last hour since they had left, was well-used and by more than a dozen people on a regular basis. There had, not so long ago, been a half-dozen tents just in this area, not scattered back to and even across the bridge. Dozens of scattered, disused water bottles, food wrappers, and even Potion bottles that had been lost over months.

Another campsite with six tents, and another with two a bit beyond that, were close-by as well. At least, spots where the grass and undergrowth of the forest was just starting to grow back from where it had been killed off, the marks still easily visible even to their city-based lives.

But no keys.

What there was, however, was both damning, and a little relieving. If it was to be trusted.

I hope you find us gone. The woman isn't our problem. Higher-ups wanted her here. No we didn't get the key. They said she turned traitor, and was being used as an example. If Brody finds this, or knows I'm writing it, I'm dead, so I have to hide it. If you're smart, you'll find her, find it. If not, well… she might die.

Brody radioed a team, though, so she might be getting picked up in the next day, before dehydration gets her.

She had Pokéballs. Four of them. I hid them in a stump on the opposite side of the stream beneath a rock, and put some empty ones in their place. Don't think Brody suspects.

Don't rat me out, I'm taking a big risk even leaving this letter. But you guys are alright, for a bunch of invaders.

-C

"Shit, fuck, and damn," Alex grumbled. "Now what?"

"We get her out," Robin growled, her voice raspy, "I spent my whole life in a tube, even if I didn't remember it. I can't imagine what it would be like to spend even a few hours in a cage like that."

"I know that," Alex muttered, "I mean, how?"

"Burn it, break it, Acid Spray, whatever it takes," Elle replied quietly, "Gobbler, stay here, listen to Alex and Robin. I'm gonna go look for those 'balls. Maybe her Pokémon can help get her out, if they'll listen to us."

"Be careful," Robin agreed, then looked down at her Rattata, "Nibbler, go with her, and keep her safe, okay?"

"Rat!"

The biggest problem, Alex thought, was that all of their attacks and moves that might help were, well, either acidic or fiery. And all of them risked harming the woman, who couldn't even say it was worth the risk to her. Maybe it wouldn't be?

Even if he dreaded waiting until she woke up to find out. If she woke up.