Chapter 10: Welcome to Team Rocket
My feet pounded against the dirt as I ran, ducking and weaving around trees. The beating of wings and the thud of claws on the ground followed not far behind. I had to be nearing the end of the forest—it felt like I'd been running forever. A quick glance at my watch showed that twenty minutes had passed since we started. Alright, not too bad. I was making good time. Just had to keep going.
A rustle in the bushes to the left caught my attention and I froze. Swift noticed it and launched into a series of powerful flaps to stir up a Whirlwind in that direction. The force of the winds was a lot stronger than I was used to—I had to plant my feet firmly on the ground not to lose my balance. Still… nothing flew out. But I didn't let my guard down. There was something nearby—I could feel it.
The crunching of leaves behind me. That was no mistake.
"Everyone dodge now!" I called out, jumping aside as a group of Pokémon leaped out at us from behind. I whirled around in an instant to size up our attackers. Nidorino, Spearow, Wartortle—alright, our opponent definitely had to be Rudy.
"Swift, use Sand Attack on Wartortle. Firestorm, Scary Face!"
"Water Gun, Fury Attack, Peck!" Rudy yelled, jumping out from his hiding place.
Firestorm stood his ground and flashed a horrifying snarl at Nidorino. Spikes quivering with fear, the poison-type's movement slowed, letting Firestorm easily jump out of the way. Swift then swooped low over the ground to kick up a rush of sand at Wartortle before he could do anything. The turtle stumbled backward, rubbing his eyes. Spearow rushed in and jabbed Firestorm in the back with her beak while he was busy avoiding repeated blows from Nidorino's spikes. The flame-tailed lizard whirled around to scratch with his heavy claws but was caught in the leg by the Fury Attack. Swift beat his wings forcefully to send a Gust attack flying forward, throwing Spearow's flight off-balance and letting Firestorm focus on avoiding the—
I almost didn't notice it. The soft padding of paws on the ground behind me. I lunged to the side just before Ebony went hurtling past me. The black firedog landed nimbly on the ground near the ongoing battle, looking rather disappointed that she'd missed. Judging by the mischievous grin on her face, she wasn't planning on giving up so easily, though, and I had to duck behind the nearest tree to avoid another lunge from the Houndour. Meanwhile, Wartortle had just washed the sand from his eyes and proceeded to tackle Firestorm to the ground, pinning the Charmeleon under his shell.
Rudy grinned confidently. "Water Pulse!"
"Er—use Ember!" I blurted out, trying to keep a good view of the battle.
Firestorm was faster. As Wartortle was inhaling, the fire lizard spat a flurry of red-hot flares right into his face. The turtle recoiled backward instantly, coughing and sputtering in pain, feathered ears smoldering a bit.
The sound of excited panting turned my attention back to Ebony, who was still in hot pursuit. But then out of nowhere, Swift shot forward like a bullet and struck her with a Quick Attack. The Houndour was completely bowled over from being struck by a bird so much larger than her.
"Alright, that's one hit on each of 'em, time to run!" I called out.
Firestorm immediately jumped out of the battle area and rushed over to my side. Swift banked hard and soared back towards us, his crimson head feathers trailing in the wind. I spun around and dashed off with them. Rudy's Pokémon weren't far behind.
"Use Pursuit!" he ordered.
Crap, I should have been ready for that. Had to avoid it somehow.
"Use Smokescreen!" I called out.
Firestorm spun around and quickly spewed out a thick cloud of black smoke behind us, completely obscuring Rudy's Pokémon. Alright, that would probably do the trick.
Nope. A red-winged bird shot clean through the smoke and struck Firestorm just as he had turned tail to run again. Swift pulled back to go for another attack, but Spearow had already vanished after getting her last hit in. Firestorm growled in frustration.
Great. Rudy was the second trainer in the lineup who had managed to land a hit while we were escaping. The whole point of this exercise was to not get hit.
"*Evasive tactics like Smokescreen won't work on Spearow—she has Keen Eye just like I do,*" Swift pointed out.
"Right. I forgot." Keen Eye. A lot of birds could see right through stuff like Smokescreen and Sand Attack. "But then how are we supposed to avoid Pursuit from them?"
Swift didn't answer. He seemed to be in deep thought over the question. Either way, it was best if I didn't focus on it right now. We still had to finish the exercise, and there were two more trainers to fight in this forest. At least Firestorm and Swift were still in decent shape after that battle. Good thing too, cause I didn't have many healing supplies left. Just two potions and a handful of berries.
Salty sweat stung eyes my eyes as we ran, and I brushed it out for what felt like the hundredth time. The burning hot August sun beat down us from above, and even the shade couldn't keep out its oppressive heat. After about three minutes, I started scanning the trees for signs of our next opponent. They had to be around here somewhere, and I didn't want to be caught off guard.
Twin blurs of orange shot out of nowhere. Swift barreled upward at the last second to avoid the first, but the second one landed a glancing blow on Firestorm, who spat out a flurry of embers reflexively. The attacker slowed to a halt after being scorched by the flares, and only then could I see the sleek, two-tailed otter now blocking our path.
Rustling all around us. I spun around in all directions, hoping to get an idea of what Pokémon we were facing. The shaggy-furred rat that had initially jumped out at us was still bouncing around, trying to land a hit on Swift. Swift kept a safe distance from it, dodging each of its tackles one after the other. But then a large, brown owl shot out of the trees straight for him, forcing the Pidgeotto to make an awkward dive straight down, only narrowly missing the ground.
"Use Quick Attack when you get the opportunity! Firestorm, back him up with Ember!"
Firestorm had just opened his mouth when he was suddenly tackled into the ground out of nowhere by the leaf-necked dinosaur that had been hiding in the bush right next to him.
Buizel, Raticate, Noctowl, and Bayleef… Liam? Pretty sure our opponent had to be Liam. He was the only rebel with a Johto starter.
Sure enough, a tall, pale boy with spiky black hair stepped out from behind a tree, pointed at us, and ordered, "Noctowl, use Hypnosis!"
"Firestorm, use Smokescreen!" I yelled back.
The Charmeleon immediately filled the clearing with a thick black haze. Alright, hopefully that would give us a better chance at dodging their moves. I could make out a large flapping shape hovering over the battlefield—probably Noctowl, judging by the forked crest on its head. It whirled around to face its opponents one after the other but couldn't seem to lock eyes with any of them in order to pull off a Hypnosis. Good, one less thing to worry about.
"Not bad with that Smokescreen," Liam said. "Guess we'll have to kick it up a notch. Bayleef, Razor Leaf; Buizel, Aqua Jet; Raticate, Quick Attack!"
Swift made a last second lunge to avoid the Buizel surging toward him in a torrent of water, but wasn't fast enough to dodge the Quick Attack from Raticate. Firestorm rushed forward to help repel his attackers but then was caught in a flurry of razor-sharp leaves, slicing him all over. The fire lizard growled and slashed wildly at the leaves before breathing out a burst of embers, burning up most of them.
"Come on, use Ember on Bayleef!" I called out.
Firestorm whirled around, sending a spurt of scattered flares in the direction he'd been attacked from, but Bayleef wasn't there any more—it had retreated back into the shrubbery.
"Good job, Bayleef. Raticate, Buizel, don't let the Pidgeotto get an opening. Noctowl, use Confusion," Liam said calmly.
"Swift, use Gust behind you! Firestorm, aim your Ember upward!" I yelled, desperately hoping it would work. The fight was taking way too much time, and we'd be screwed if we didn't finish it quickly.
Swift flipped backwards in an instant and flapped his wings to send a spiraling vortex of air straight at his pursuers. They were so close on his tail that they didn't even have a chance to avoid it—Buizel and Raticate were both swept up by the Gust and thrown into the nearest tree, and the rush of wind thinned the smoky haze somewhat. Firestorm craned his neck upward and shot another Ember straight up into the air, scoring a direct hit on Noctowl, who was right in the middle of charging up a wave of psychic energy. And then, without me saying anything, Swift dove straight into a Quick Attack, aimed at one of the bushes nearest Firestorm. Bayleef looked up in alarm at being spotted, right before the tawny bird struck it headlong, throwing it to the ground.
"That's all of them! Time to run!" I called out, my heart pounding with excitement. In an instant, the tables had turned in our favor. Firestorm spun around and didn't waste a second running after me, and Swift didn't take long to regain his flight speed and catch up to us.
Liam grinned. "Bayleef, Magical Leaf; Raticate, Pursuit."
Crap. Not Pursuit again. No matter how many times we tried running from it, fleeing only made Pursuit stronger. What were we supposed to do? Running away wasn't an option. That only left… standing our ground?
I locked eyes with Swift, and it was obvious we were thinking the same thing. The Pidgeotto banked hard in order to land facing our opponent, wings outstretched. He stood there, tensing up as the orange-furred rat shot forward, cloaked in dark energy. And then at the last second, he leaped aside and smacked Raticate with his wings, sending the rat face-planting straight into the ground.
I pumped a fist into the air. "All right! Now dodge the—"
Too late. A whirling storm of multicolored leaves zeroed in on Firestorm despite his best efforts to avoid them. The fire lizard sank to his knees, flailing his arms around trying to knock the leaves away, but they didn't want to stop. Moving as quickly as I could, I dashed over and grabbed him roughly by the claw, trying to ignore the tiny cuts being inflicted on my arms by the leaves.
"Come on!" I exclaimed, pulling him to his feet and attempting to run with him in tow. And with Swift flying alongside us, we finally managed to flee the battle area without getting hit by anything else.
It wasn't until we were a good distance away that we paused to catch our breath. I leaned against a tree before sinking to the ground, feeling dazed.
"Well, so much for our escape," I said, still breathing hard. "Come on, let me spray you both with the potions."
Swift fluttered over and I pulled the first Super Potion from my bag and sprayed it all over him. He shook his head and ruffled his feathers, looking relieved. Firestorm was still standing a ways away, staring at the ground.
"Your turn," I said, and the fire lizard finally wandered over to let me spray him as well. He'd sustained a lot more injuries from the battle, but at least it looked like they'd all be healed by the potion.
"*That was stupid. Can't believe I got hit so much,*" Firestorm muttered while the slices on his crimson scales closed up. "*And how did a grass-type's moves cause this much damage?*"
"Ever think it might've been 'cause we were caught off guard?" I asked, giving him a hard look.
The Charmeleon snorted but didn't say anything.
I sighed. "In any case, that last part was my fault. I think Magical Leaf is a sure-shot move. They'd have followed you even if you dodged in time."
I quickly guzzled some water from a bottle before replacing it in my bag with the empty potions. Time to run again. We set off along the marked path towards what would hopefully be the last battle. Within a few minutes I finally started to recognize the scenery. We were near the stadium—we had to be. That meant we'd almost reached the end of the course! But that also meant there was probably another fight coming soon.
Sure enough, in a clearing up ahead, I spotted my opponent.
Oh man—it was Ray. Figures he'd be one of the enemies—he almost always got assigned to that role. He wasn't even hiding or anything. He was just standing there out in the open wearing the same frustratingly calm expression he always wore before completely destroying you.
My heart was pounding. "Swift, use Gust; Firestorm, go for a Scratch!"
His Charmeleon and Luxio lunged forward the instant we were within range. Swift flew into position and stirred up a blast of wind at the opposing fire lizard. But then he wasn't able to dodge the electrifying tackle from Luxio seconds later. The Pidgeotto cried out in pain as sparks coursed through his feathers. Meanwhile Firestorm and the other Charmeleon had collided with each other, growling and slashing at each other in a ball of claws and flames and crimson scales.
"Scary Face," Ray ordered. His Charmeleon responded by flashing a terrifying grimace at Firestorm; the latter recoiled backwards, his movements growing sluggish.
"Firestorm use your own Scary Face; Swift, get out of range and use Sand Attack on Luxio!" I called out, mentally smacking myself for not thinking of it sooner.
And then for whatever reason, it hit me. He was only using two Pokémon. Crap… that could only mean—
No sooner had the thought entered my head than a huge violet snake burst out of the trees above Swift, unfurling its hood and flashing the bright face pattern at him. The Pidgeotto dropped to the ground at once, frozen in shock. And then a crazed ball of tan fur and gangly limbs jumped into the fire lizard brawl, landing repeated blows on Firestorm.
What, seriously, Mai too? It wasn't bad enough we had to fight Ray at the end here, but now Mai too? There was no way we'd be able to get past both of them! I mean… yeah, we were still fighting a total of four Pokémon, but… seriously Ray and Mai?
At least this exercise was in the woods so she couldn't use her Gyarados.
Anyway… I had to focus. Swift's best trait was his speed, so I desperately needed to cure his paralysis. I just hoped that Firestorm could handle being the only target for a few seconds. I whipped out Swift's Pokéball and recalled him before immediately re-releasing him next to me and giving him a cheri berry. He gulped it down and then bolted back into the fray, already whipping up a Gust around the other combatants. The swirling winds pulled them apart from each other, allowing Firestorm to wrench himself free from the melee, looking bruised and bloodied. He lashed back at his opponents with his tail, striking both of them with the flame. Ray's Charmeleon was barely fazed, though the Mankey's fur was singed.
"Poison Sting," Mai said coolly. And then I caught sight of Mai's Arbok slithering up the tree nearest Swift while he was focused on the others.
"Swift, look out!" I yelled.
He whirled around in an instant, but it was too late. The snake opened its jaws and fired a wave of poisonous needles at him. The Pidgeotto recoiled backward, flapping his wings frantically to get out of the line of fire while also staying out of Luxio's range. The thunder cat made another lunge at Swift, electricity coursing through its pointed black mane. But it couldn't manage the height needed to land a blow.
"Swift, Quick Attack; Firestorm, Ember!" I called out.
"Dragon Rage." Ray's voice was confident, but intrigued, like he almost wanted to see if we'd make it through the fight.
"Karate Chop." Mai, on the other hand, just looked like she just wanted the fight to be over as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, Firestorm had to duck and weave in an attempt to dodge blows from Mankey, who wasn't giving him a moment to breathe. The fire lizard's movements were still slow and forced from before, and his injuries certainly weren't helping. Swift barreled to the left to dodge the spurt of blue flames from Ray's Charmeleon but then finally got the opening he needed to shoot forward and strike Luxio right after it landed from a failed pounce. The blue-furred cat was knocked reeling backwards.
And then Arbok made the mistake of closing in on the melee just as Firestorm spun in a circle, spouting embers all around just to keep his attackers at bay. A few flares managed to hit the violet snake and that was it—we'd landed at least one attack on all four of them! I couldn't believe it. Swift and Firestorm realized it as soon as I did, because I didn't even need to say anything before they both took off from the battle as fast as possible. Firestorm was still struggling to keep going. But before I could say anything, Swift whipped up a huge whirlwind behind us, knocking back our opponents and preventing them from giving chase. I still kept expecting a hail of sure-shot moves to follow us even as we ran.
And yet… nothing? I glanced over my shoulder, unable to believe it, but they really weren't following us. Maybe they didn't have any sure-shot moves? Or maybe the Whirlwind had worked better than I expected?
Well, the fight was miserable, but at least it was over quickly. I could see sunlight piercing the edge of the treeline ahead of us. We stumbled out of the forest weakly, and a rush of joy swept over me now that training was over. Except it wasn't over. Stalker was waiting next to the stadium, his cold blue eyes focused on us, and a look of calm expectation on his face. I had no idea how he could still wear that long overcoat in this kind of heat.
"How many times were you hit while escaping?" he asked.
I took a deep breath. "Three. But that's only because everyone was using Pursuit. And I figured out how to deal with that! But I still don't know what to do about sure-shot moves. I mean… they're impossible to dodge, right?"
He didn't answer. He just motioned for us to step forward.
I swallowed hard. It wasn't going to be a real battle. I knew that much by now. He could wipe the floor with the entire Rebellion at once, so a real battle would have been pointless. Even the idea of a mock battle was intimidating. But we still had to do it.
I pulled a handful of bright blue oran berries from my bag and fed them to both of my Pokémon. Firestorm in particular gulped them down ravenously, and his wounds slowly scabbed over.
"Are you ready?" Stalker asked.
I clenched my teeth and nodded.
I didn't even see him throw the ball. There was just a sudden white flash, and then a tall, bright green reptile was bounding toward us. Firestorm rushed forward to meet it, brandishing his claws and slashing wildly. But Sceptile leaped straight over the fire lizard with a midair somersault before landing behind him and spinning in place, smacking him face-first into the dirt with its leafy tail. It glanced up suddenly to see a tawny-feathered blur closing in from above, but then dropped to the ground to dodge the blow before jumping up and striking with its pointed arm leaves.
Stalker shook his head. "Come on. Will a direct attack really work in this situation?"
No… no of course it wouldn't. Why had I let them?
Sceptile landed nimbly from its attack and made a "bring it on" motion with its claws.
"Firestorm, use Scary Face; Swift, Sand Attack!" I really wished we had better disruption moves, but that was pretty much it right now. And even with its movements slowed and sand in its face, Sceptile was still impossibly agile and precise. Firestorm rushed in, mirroring the forest reptile's leaps and bounds as best as he could. The grass-type grinned wildly and increased its speed slowly, seeing if the Charmeleon could keep up. Firestorm was panting hard but refused to let the opposing reptile get away from him.
"Good, now use a Metal Claw, I know you've been working on it!" Stalker called out.
Firestorm clenched his teeth and drew his arms back, claws glowing. He lashed out wildly, Sceptile blocking each blow with its leaf blades. It didn't seem different than any ordinary attack, though.
The fire lizard growled in frustration. "*It's hard to concentrate.*"
"Of course it is!" Stalker shot back. "You're changing the composition of your claws—it's going to be hard!"
The Charmeleon let out a snarl and pressed the attack harder. The sounds of frenzied slashing and the dull thud of claws striking leaves filled the air. Swift circled the battle overhead, waiting to see what the outcome would be.
And then the light faded from his claws to reveal a silvery sheen, and the strike against Sceptile's block reverberated with a metallic clang. Firestorm froze in shock, staring at his claws with wide eyes.
"You did it!" I yelled, unable to keep the excitement from my voice.
Stalker nodded approvingly. "Good. Now it's your turn," he said glancing up at Swift. Sceptile suddenly jumped back from Firestorm and launched a flurry of leaves into the air, forcing the Pidgeotto to drop down to ground level to avoid them. With a powerful flapping of his wings, the tawny bird sent a vortex of air rushing at his opponent. The forest reptile crouched low to weather the attack.
"Put more power and rage into that Gust!" Stalker called out. So he was hoping Swift would be able to pull off that move finally?
The Pidgeotto closed his eyes in concentration, wisps of energy trailing through the wind from his wings. But it faded before it could reach the swirling column of air.
"Get closer to your opponent," Stalker instructed. "Use the adrenaline to your advantage."
Swift put on a burst of speed before making a tight circle around Sceptile, who made occasional swipes at the bird. Energy streamed off his wings once more, but with a final burst of flapping, the Pidgeotto was able to force it into the gust. The winds suddenly intensified into a cyclone of white energy tearing at Sceptile, who leaped out of its center and landed some distance away before flashing a thumbs-up at Swift.
"Not bad, I wasn't expecting you to pull off a Twister for another week at least," Stalker said, holding a hand up to show that the exercise was over.
Firestorm sank to his knees, still panting hard but with a look of crazed triumph on his face. Swift landed next to him with a reserved, yet clearly self-satisfied look.
"Oh man, I'm so proud of you guys," I said, jogging over to them. It was hard to believe, but we were actually making progress.
Stalker walked over with what looked like a pleased expression, but as always it was hard to tell. "You're improving. Keep practicing the things you know you need work on." He paused, then continued, "Oh, and you shouldn't even be trying to dodge sure-shot moves. Just brace yourself for it. They're weak—enduring the hit puts you in a perfect spot for a counterattack."
I nodded before recalling both of my exhausted Pokémon.
That was when I noticed the rest of the trainers that had already finished the exercise, all standing off to the side near the entrance to Midnight Stadium. I had been so single-mindedly focused on training with Stalker that I'd completely overlooked them. They likely had been watching my battle, but now that it was over, most of them had turned away and started chatting amongst themselves.
"There's only one more person running the course after you, right?" Stalker asked.
I thought back to when the group of us had started the run on the other side of the forest. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I was second-to-last."
We didn't have to wait long. Within a few minutes, the final trainer in the lineup stumbled out of the forest—a small, skinny boy with scruffy blond hair and large green eyes, currently wearing the most frustrated and incredulous expression. Alongside him, a Meowth dragged its paws and a Zubat struggled to stay aloft. Even his Voltorb didn't look like it could roll anymore.
After a few seconds he just sort of dropped all pretenses of finishing the training and sank to the ground. His Pokémon looked more than happy to stop.
Stalker folded his arms. "You don't look very ready to fight me, Reed."
Reed stared up at him in disbelief. "Why did we have to fight Ray and Mai at the same time? Everyone knows they're the best."
"You just answered your own question." That got a few laughs from the crowd.
A girl with long, braided hair walked over to help pull him to his feet. "Maybe if you trained more often this wouldn't happen," she said, snickering a bit.
"I train plenty," Reed snapped. "I'm just not crazy enough to do double time like you, Kris."
"Well, since you're in no shape to fight now, we'll postpone our battle," Stalker commented. "Next time there's a training session, you're getting special attention."
Reed groaned but didn't say anything.
Stalker turned to face the rest of us. "By the way, this was the last exercise limiting the Rocket players to double your team number. Next time they can use their full team—even if they're tag-teaming you. Be ready for it."
Figures that would happen eventually. I really had to think about adding another Pokémon to my team. Maybe Rudy could buy me some Pokéballs at some point.
Stalker turned to walk away from the gathering. "Have a rest, everyone. I'll be giving an important announcement in the battlefield in one hour."
After a shower on my part and a quick stop by the healing machine for my team, we were back in the stadium and eagerly awaiting the announcement. Even though he hadn't explicitly said it, everyone was pretty sure it was gonna be a mission announcement. I mean… what else could it be? We'd been here for over a month, and the days of generalized battling lectures were mostly over and replaced by one-on-one training sessions like today. And I'd actually improved. That fact alone was mind-boggling. I mean… yeah, that was one of the reasons I'd even joined the Rebellion, but the idea of it actually happening was still weird and foreign.
"Hey Jade!" Rudy shouted, running over to me. "That was an awesome fight earlier! Ha, I bet you thought you were gonna escape from me without getting hit."
I snorted. "Yeah, well, at least it went better than our previous battle. Besides, I figured out how to deal with Pursuit, so there."
"Aw, you did? Lame," he said, frowning. "Guess I'll have to try harder next time. But anyways… what are the odds we're getting our first mission now? I'm thinking at least 150 percent."
I rolled my eyes. "I don't think it's that high—more like only 110 percent."
"You're on!"
I stared. "How… how do we even tell who wins that bet?"
Rudy was spared the details of trying to figure it out when Stalker walked into the battlefield and waved an arm to get everyone's attention. The entire crowd instantly stopped what it was doing and turned to face him. I was pretty sure he'd never be able to enter the room without it being a big dramatic deal to everyone.
"So, today's the day you finally get your first mission."
The reaction was immediate. The entire group let out a cheer, most of them throwing a fist or two into the air, and it wasn't hard to see why. We'd finally be getting the chance to put everything we'd learned to use.
"I'll be formalizing your mission groups now," Stalker continued. "Rockets are generally assigned one or more partners for carrying out small-scale activity, and we'll be doing the same. I've settled on groups of three, so there are sixteen mission groups. Twelve groups will be assigned to sabotaging the Rockets' upcoming mission. The remaining four are going to be stealing some of their resources for us to use against them. Either way, you'll all be infiltrating the ranks and putting on the appearance of a genuine Rocket. So this will test everything you've learned from me over the past six weeks."
I clenched my fists. If this was a test, then I felt ready. As unbelievable as it was, I actually felt prepared to show that we could make a difference in this fight.
"When I call your name, come up and get your ID and a Rocket Communicator. Group 1—Ray, Mai, and Sasha."
No surprise the two best trainers on the team would be in the same group. Sasha was a bit unexpected though. I'd seen her hanging out with the other two occasionally, but her Pokémon choices were… a bit weird. I mean, no one else had a Farfetch'd.
"In my absence, the members of Group 1 are in charge," Stalker said. "I want everyone to report to them during multi group missions like this one." He then proceeded to call out group members as the rest of us waited with bated breath for our names to be called.
"Think we'll be in the same group?" Rudy asked after a few groups had gone up.
"It seems like he's grouping people together based on their usual training partners, so yeah, I'm guessing we will," I said.
We didn't have to wait long to find out. After a few minutes, Stalker's voice rang out saying, "Group 12—Jade, Darren, and Rudy."
I barely had time to react to the high five that Rudy threw my way. We wasted no time in walking forward through the crowd to claim our IDs, Darren joining us along the way. Upon receiving it, Rudy stared at his ID like it was the coolest thing he'd ever seen. And then it hit me—here I was training Pokémon without an ID, and I had just received a Team Rocket ID first. It was ridiculous. But somehow kind of cool at the same time.
As for the R-com… I had already seen them before, on the Rocket plane and the S.S. Anne. Still, it would be interesting to actually own one. I pressed the only button on the front, waking the device up and causing it to display the message: "To begin, scan user RID card."
I tapped my ID to the port on the top of the device and it immediately brought up a digital record of my information: "Name: Allie Farias; Born: 6 September 2983; Registered: 11 July 2998; Rank: Trainee." Flipping through the various apps, it looked a lot like a cheap Pokégear from what I could tell, aside from the fact that the texting and calling was limited to other R-com devices.
"And lastly, Group 16—Reed, Wes, and Kris," Stalker called out, snapping my attention back to what was going on. The last three trainers walked forward, Reed and Kris shoving each other lightly along the way and Wes looking like he desperately didn't want to be involved in any of it.
"Take this moment to add your mission partners to the contact list on your R-com," Stalker announced once they were done. "For security reasons, don't add everyone on the Rebellion. Group 1 will be in charge of keeping contact between everyone on multi-group missions."
That was easy enough. The contact number was just our agent ID. I punched in the numbers and the device showed that I had successfully registered "Toni" and "Andy" as their Rocket names were called.
"Which Rocket base are we going to?" one of the rebels nearest Stalker asked.
"Groups 1, 5, 12, and 16 will be going to Cerulean," he replied. "Groups 2, 6, 9, and 13 to Viridian. Groups 3, 7, 10, and 14 to Saffron. And groups 4, 8, 11, and 15 will be going to Celadon—those are the ones that will be recovering supplies and Pokémon for us. With so many groups going, that does mean you won't all be able to leave today. We'll space it out over the next few days so you don't all show up at the bases at once."
He had warned us previously that we'd never all be going to the base at the same time. Obviously, it'd be completely suspicious if we did. But it was still kind of frustrating—I was almost certain out of the Cerulean groups it'd be Ray's group going first, so ours would have to wait a few days. Rudy didn't seem to have pieced that together quite yet, otherwise he would have looked way more disappointed.
But then… there was one important detail Stalker hadn't exactly revealed yet. I glanced around at the crowd, and it was obvious from their wide-eyed stares that everyone was in suspense over the same thing. Finally, one kid spoke the words everyone was thinking: "What mission are we going to stop?"
The edge of Stalker's mouth curled into a faint grin. "Within the next two weeks, Team Rocket will attempt to capture a Legendary Pokémon. Your job is to find out which one and do whatever it takes to stop them."
Team Rocket's Northern HQ was a rather unassuming office building right in the heart of downtown Cerulean. Stalker's Charizard and Dragonite dropped us off in a nearby park and then we walked the remaining couple of city blocks to the base. It had been a while since my last time walking through such busy streets, and I found my attention constantly grabbed by all the sights and sounds of the city after spending over a month in a quiet island town. It felt even weirder to be here since we'd gotten dressed in our Rocket uniforms ahead of time, though at least we had vests to hide the signature logo on the shirt.
"I wasn't expecting it to be so out in the open," Darren said, tilting his head as the building came into view.
"Stalker did say that Team Rocket's not exactly a secret, just the Legendary-catching regional takeover stuff is," I said, shrugging.
"I wasn't expecting it to look so boring," Rudy added once we'd gotten a closer look at the headquarters. "Kinda wish we'd been sent to Celadon. I heard that base is inside a casino—how cool is that?"
I wasn't even going to bother with a comment, but Darren countered with, "If we'd gone to Celadon, we wouldn't be involved in the Legendary mission."
Rudy's face fell immediately. "Alright, forget I said anything! Let's just go in."
The front lobby was a stark contrast to the outside of the building, with shiny black stone tile floors and sleek, red-papered walls covered in gaudy decorations. Something glinted in my peripheral vision and I had to stop myself from jumping upon seeing the life-size Persian statue perched on a pedestal next to the entrance.
Alright, I couldn't stare too much—any ordinary Rocket who'd gotten registered in Cerulean would have been here before. Though at least it would be expected that I hadn't seen much more than the lobby and an office or two.
Straight ahead of us stood a glossy marble front desk with a lone receptionist seated at it. She hadn't looked up when we entered, and still had her face glued to the book she was reading. I wandered forward vaguely, unsure if she had noticed us enter or not.
"Hi, uh… we're new recruits and we've been assigned training at Northern HQ," I said awkwardly.
The receptionist looked up at us slowly, and it was obvious that she'd known we were there but was just waiting for us to say something. In a flash, she shut the book and assumed a more professional posture.
"Do you have your IDs already?" she asked.
I nodded, and we each handed them over. She inspected them closely and ran them through her scanner before handing them back.
"Alright, I'll call a recruitment officer up and they'll give you the tour. You can wait over there in the meantime," she said, gesturing to the couches along the side of the wall.
Well, that was easy. Not that we'd been assuming it would be hard or anything. The three of us wandered over to plop down onto the couches, which were unbelievably squishy and made of leather.
"We're in a Rocket base right now," Rudy said quietly, like he was still having a hard time believing it.
"Don't say anything you'll regret," Darren warned him with the slightest bit of a taunting edge to his voice.
Rudy shrugged. "Wasn't gonna. It's still weird and cool though." I almost laughed at how quickly he'd changed opinions of the base. Still… I had to admit that being inside one was a lot more surreal than just seeing it from the street. We were actually here, inside a Rocket base, and it was perfectly okay. I still half-expected someone to appear out of nowhere and chase us out.
After several minutes, the elevator on the far side of the lobby dinged, and out walked a man in his mid-thirties wearing a black Team Rocket uniform with white boots. He had rather frazzled brown hair and the worn face of someone with too much on his plate. The officer guzzled the remainder of a coffee before tossing out the cup and walking over to us, tablet in hand. He paused in mild surprise upon seeing how young we were but didn't seem too taken aback by it. Rockets our age were a bit uncommon, but nothing unheard of.
"My name's Warren, I'm a recruitment officer for Cerulean HQ, heard you were just assigned here?" It was all said a lot more quickly than I was expecting.
"Yeah, we've already been registered," I replied as we held out our IDs for the second time.
"Right, that'll make my job easier," he said, tapping the IDs to a card scanner on his tablet. "Let me just pull up your files." He swiped through a few pages on the screen, reading the stats out loud to himself.
"Toni, Allie, and Andy… looks like you all applied for membership a month ago, got your executive approval all in order, background check good…" He nodded approvingly. "Alright, welcome to the team. It's my job to give the new recruits the rundown on how things work around here, so I'll be showing you around and explaining things as we go. You're already been issued an R-com, right?"
I held mine up to answer his question.
"Alright, good. It looks like all three of you already have Pokémon, so we won't need to loan you any. And before you ask, grunts are not issued firearms. Agents who reach officer rank on the combat unit can apply to receive one, but it's no guarantee." Owning a gun was not exactly on my priority list. Good to know that the average grunt shouldn't be expected to have one, though.
He led us to the elevator on the far side of the room and pressed the down button. Once it arrived, he held the door open and motioned for us to enter.
"The top floors are mostly offices and public relations," Warren said, pushing one of the elevator buttons. "You've never seen any of the floors where the real activity is, have you?"
"No, not really," Darren said.
"Looking forward to it though!" Rudy added.
Warren chuckled. "It's good to see enthusiasm in new recruits."
The elevator doors opened to reveal a huge lower lobby full of Rockets going about their business—some of them carrying goods or paperwork around, some of them accompanied by Pokémon. They all sported a wide variety of uniform types, from the standard black clothes and gray boots, to white boots with red stripes, to white uniforms, to completely unique outfits with rank patches and equipment belts.
"Typically only grunts in training or on active duty spend a lot of time at the base," Warren explained. "But since we have a high-level operation coming up in the near future, you'll see more members than usual on active duty right now. Mostly combat unit types—we've got the second largest combat unit on the force," he said proudly, motioning for us to step out of the elevator.
Warren led us through the bustling main room towards one of the hallways, which was significantly less crowded. As we walked, he continued with his explanation on the workings of the team.
"So, as a member of Team Rocket, you'll be expected to serve the team's best interests in whatever you do, whether it's carrying out missions or performing base duties. The team is divided into several divisions all working to further the team in different ways. Of course, the majority of Rockets are assigned to acquisitions—obtaining and selling goods and Pokémon. But the others are equally important. The business division keeps large corporations in check and allows us to fund our projects. The tech division breaks new ground in science and technology, strengthening our forces with new equipment and enhanced Pokémon. And the combat unit enforces our will against those who would threaten us, as well as handling the acquisition of particularly rare and powerful Pokémon."
It had a somewhat rehearsed feel, like he'd definitely said all of this many times, but still believed in it.
"All new recruits go through orientation and training, so I'll be assigning you an officer to watch you and track your progress," he continued. "Once initiated, grunts carry out tasks for their officer. All officers report to a senior officer, who reports to an executive. Everything a Rocket does is a reflection of those higher than them. So you see—you work hard not for yourself, but for those who have taught and guided you… and for the overall good of the team. And if you prove your loyalty and dedication, you could even become an officer yourselves… once you're old enough, that is."
"Old enough?" Rudy asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Age limit for officers is 15. For executives, it's 17—adults only."
"Is executive the highest rank?" I found myself asking. I'd already run into at least one executive previously… was she the toughest kind of opponent I'd ever encounter?
Warren paused. "Not quite… the boss has an inner circle of admins who run things behind the scenes. They plan most of the important missions and delegate authority to the executives in control of the different branches, bases, and units. Oh, and the head of the combat unit normally holds the rank of commander… though the Kanto force doesn't have a commander right now. Executives are pretty much the highest ranked agents we'll ever see, though."
More questions were suddenly jumping out at my mind—the few things that Stalker hadn't told us. "Have you ever seen the boss?"
"Well… he runs things from the Viridian HQ, so… no. And I've heard that he's always surrounded by the top executives there, so even the Viridian Rockets don't see much of him. But everyone says he commands the respect and awe of everyone around him."
A bold feeling suddenly struck. This was the second time I'd heard mention of the commander, and I had to know. "Why doesn't the Kanto force have a commander?"
Warren jerked slightly, taken aback for just a second before regaining himself. "He resigned. Apparently there was some drama involved, so it's not talked about often. I don't know the details." He stared straight ahead as we walked and didn't say anything more. Rudy flashed me a look that clearly read "what are you doing?" while Darren just gave a cheeky grin and a thumbs up.
Warren led us to the end of the hallway where a huge pair of double doors stood. He pushed through them, and suddenly we were in the middle of a battlefield, much smaller than Midnight Stadium, but a lot more high-tech. The walls and ceilings were lined with passive energy fields to absorb stray blasts, and the far corner had training dummies for practicing moves on. Warren glanced around at all the various faces in the room until he found who he was looking for.
"Hey Karen, I heard you were looking to train up a few subordinates."
A young woman with waist-length black hair turned to face him upon hearing his words. She had a piercing expression and small, dark eyes that seemed to bore right through us. Her uniform was of the white clothes with dark boots variety.
"Did I say that? You'll have to refresh my memory," Karen commented dryly.
Warren raised his hands in a disarming manner. "I'm just here to make good on my offer. Got three new recruits for you."
She gave us a dismissive glance before staring at him. "I wasn't planning on training a bunch of kids."
"All the lower-ranked officers currently stationed here are already maxed out on grunts," he said simply.
"Send 'em to another base then."
"Their training in Cerulean has executive-level clearance," he said, giving an innocent shrug with just the slightest bit of a smirk.
Karen stared incredulously. "Okay, now I know they're just screwing with us." She sighed. "Fine, I'll train 'em. You owe me for this one, though."
Warren chuckled a bit and then turned back to us. "This where I leave. Welcome to Team Rocket. May you and your Pokémon prove to be useful assets to our cause." He gave a slight wave and then walked off. I kind of didn't want him to leave—he seemed a lot friendlier than our new officer… even though that was probably because it was literally his job to be accommodating.
"Alright, you three, agent numbers, now."
That got our attention in a hurry. I scrambled to pull my ID from my pocket, as she already didn't seem like the sort of person we'd want to keep waiting. One by one, we announced our agent numbers. Karen whipped out her R-com and entered them in. She then pocketed the device and gave us a long, hard stare.
"Listen up, kids. The way this works is I train you, teach you how to succeed, you work hard for the team, and that reflects good on me. Mutually beneficial, right? And then maybe I can finally get that promotion I was promised six months ago only to have it withdrawn at the last second because I 'didn't have enough experience leading subordinates.'"
I gave Rudy and Darren sideways glances. I… wasn't really sure what that had to do with us.
Karen sighed and regained her composure. "So why did you join Team Rocket?"
Easy, I'd had an answer prepared weeks ago. I had run away from home after failing the trainer exam, stolen some Pokémon, and then found myself unable to get by without being able to take part in League-sanctioned battles, so I had to turn to Team Rocket.
I opened my mouth to speak and got cut off immediately.
"Actually, I don't care. You can keep your past to yourself because it doesn't matter now. You're a Rocket. All that matters is that you're serious about serving us now."
I stood there feeling more awkward by the second. I guess overall it was a good thing that she wasn't interested in prying into our personal matters, but I still felt increasingly uneasy about having her as our officer.
"Pokémon out now!"
Okay, I was just gonna have to get used to sudden demands out of nowhere. I grabbed my Pokéballs from my pocket and fumbled with the buttons, trying to be quick. Rudy and Darren had theirs open first, and I let out Firestorm and Swift to join their teams. Firestorm took one look around the Rocket battlefield before drawing himself up in a tall posture with a very serious expression.
Karen paced back and forth in front of our nine Pokémon lineup, mumbling to herself.
"I don't have time for kids who can't battle. Lucky for you, it looks like you already know a thing or two about fighting. That'll make things easier for both of us. Good type coverage going on here too. You'll be a decent unit… once you're cleared for actual missions that is. You've got a long way to go until then." She stopped in front of us and paused, looking contemplative. None of us dared say anything unless she addressed us first. Finally, she crossed her arms and gave an affirmative nod.
"Alright, I think I can work with this. Get used to the way things work around here today. Watch and learn. You're Rockets now. We'll start your training tomorrow."