John's Team

Tyrant - Slaking

Vordt - Ursaluna

Smough - Snorlax

Klee - Blissey

Port - Mantine

Zephyr - Pidgeot

Klaus - Wyrdeer

Luna - Clefable

Pixel - Porygon2

Euphie - Eevee

Ornstein - D-Zigzagoon

The New Normal – 6-1 – The Hunt Begins

I had a lot of time to think while I was flying over to Hoenn on Port. Namely, what did I think the goal of Team Rocket was when they made this attack on Devon Corp? Drake had said that he felt that there was more to this than just some random attack, and I agreed wholeheartedly with his analysis.

Team Rocket wouldn't have dragged themselves out of hiding for no reason, after all. They had to be planning something. And I suspected that what they were planning had to do with the specific files that they stole from Devon Corp.

But from canon, I didn't remember anything about Devon Corp that was relevant to them. In fact, they weren't even IN Hoenn. Only Team Magma and Aqua were. And regarding the latter two teams, I know in the games they stole the submarine parts for their underwater expedition from Devon Corp, so perhaps this was what they were going for again? Was that it?

I let the thought sit in my head for the entire journey through as I tried to come up with a better explanation, but in the end the whole exercise was just a huge waste of time. Without knowing more from the facts, my internal explanations were no better than just random guesses.

Therefore, I tried to keep my calm as I waited out the rest of the journey to Hoenn. After a couple hours of exhaustive flying, Port valiantly delivered me to Rustboro City, where I saw many different people rushing about urgently. From Jennys to Joys, it was a whole debacle.

With a thankful pat to Port, I withdrew him to his Premier Ball and allowed him to rest. He had done very well today. And just as I put away his Premier Ball, a few Jennys immediately mobbed me.

"Elite John, thank you for coming over so quickly. Elite Drake has asked me to escort you to him." She said in a rushed manner, her faced lined with exhaustion and stress that only highlighted the seriousness of the situation. Not wanting to cause her any further trouble, I simply nodded and allowed her to escort me to the Devon Corp building.

As the building drew near, I frowned as I bared witness to the damage. In truth, it was far from as bad as it could've been. There was no fire or smoke, meaning that the property damage was probably limited to just internal damage. If it wasn't for the large police cordon surrounding Devon Corp, you would be hard pressed to find out that the building had been recently attacked unless you looked really closely.

Eventually, I found Drake standing there with a grim mien. Joseph Stone was standing next to him with a similarly unhappy expression. At least their eyes brightened as I made my approach.

"Ah, John! Great of you to come here so quickly." Joseph greeted with a small smile, "You have my thanks for your timely assistance."

"It's nothing, Joseph. I'm just happy to help. I'm sorry for your loss." I replied, trying to put as much sincerity as I could into my voice.

"Don't worry about it. It could've been far worse." He waved me off easily, but I could tell that he was inwardly quite concerned about this whole incident. "I got enough worrying from Steven. He almost took the next ship back here to check up on me; but I convinced him otherwise."

I nodded just as Drake gave his own greetings, which was far less joyous.

"Thank fuck you're here John, this isn't my speciality." Drake said to me with his signature roughness. "They're still digging through the files now to see what went missing. You came at a good time; they should be done pretty soon."

"I see." I nodded, idly staring at the building, "And what of the injured? You mentioned that before."

Joseph spoke up, "A couple of my employees that were on the floor were pretty heavily roughed up, but the Nurse Joys have assured me that there isn't anything fatal." He frowned, some anger leaking into his tone, "I already offered them huge bonuses for their bravery. I hope it sees them through."

I saw Drake's mouth curl upwards for a brief moment before it quickly disappeared back into a grimace, "In a way, we got lucky that Team Rocket got a bit too fist-happy when in there. Otherwise, the Hoenn League might really be able to shove all this under the rug."

I gave Drake a curious look, "Is it really that bad? Is the Hoenn League really looking to try to cover up something like this?"

Drake nearly snarled, "Yes, though using the term 'cover-up' might not be fully accurate. Otherwise, Joseph over here would definitely make a ruckus that they won't be able to silence."

He shook his head, "No, it's more like they'll designate this whole incident as a lone event, and so there will be no need to mobilize anything more than the standard Hoenn Police." He explained, "No disrespect to the Jennys, but they alone won't be able to uncover anything without more direct action from higher up."

"And this is where me trying to stay politically neutral has bit me in the ass." Joseph sighed, "Devon Corp might be one of the largest businesses in Hoenn, but most of that money is reinvested into science and R&D. Not politics. We don't have the political influence that others might have in our position."

"It's not all bad, though." Drake continued, putting his hands into his pockets, "Wallace is firmly on my side, and he's given me unofficial authority to hunt down Team Rocket. He's also given you official permission for you to be here and help out, and the Hoenn committee won't be able to revoke that. But if we aggravate the public too much with our actions, then the Hoenn League might forcefully step in and shut us down. It's why the other Elite Four aren't here, their presence would signal a massive escalation and the committee don't want that."

"So…basically what you're saying is that we need to hunt down Team Rocket WITHOUT risking widespread panic?" I confirmed, getting two nods in response. My face quickly turned into a frown; I thought the Hoenn League would have a more proactive response to this. This was far too half-hearted.

But then again, I could see why the politicians were so eager to bury this incident. Any kind of unrest looked bad for them and harmed their chances of re-election. It was a decision born from selfishness, but it was far too common of a sight.

Drake must have saw the expression on my face because he patted me on the shoulder, "Don't feel too down by this. I'm fucking pissed too, but I've come to expect such stupidity from politicians. We just have to make use of what we have and work around them. Fortunately, most of them are idiots, so it shouldn't be too hard."

Joseph nodded, "Indeed. And I was just telling Drake before you arrived here that we've already figured how they got in."

"How?" I asked, my eyes narrowing as I listened intently.

"One of our employees was a turncoat and simply let them in through the employee-only entrance." Joseph said, his face slowly morphing into one of rictus fury. "I never expected one of my employees would stoop so low as to support terrorists, but I suppose a company-wide inspection might be necessary after this. I must have gotten lax with the hiring procedures. THAT, or HR is going to have some very serious explaining to do."

That was a side to the usually joyful Joseph that wasn't commonly seen, but I returned my focus to the matter at hand, "Where is this employee now?"

"Gone in the fucking wind." Drake growled, "Must have left with his criminal pals of his. The coward. But we do know who he is. He's called Tabitha, and was a scientist working at the company."

My eyes widened in recognition as I heard the name. Tabitha. An admin of Team Magma. Suddenly, the puzzle pieces were starting to come together. Team Magma must have recruited the remains of Team Rocket, likely under Proton, and used their outfits to disguise the existence of their own team.

It was a cunning plan. After all, who would suspect a Team known for their acts of terrorism and Pokémon thievery to suddenly be planning to terraform the world using a Legendary? No wonder many suspected this to be an act of corporate espionage, it was a reasonable fit for Team Rocket's previous money-driven actions.

But I, and I suspected Drake as well, knew better. If this really was a Magma operation, then the files MUST have something to do with the Legendaries of Hoenn. I couldn't think of any other reason why they would reveal themselves like this otherwise.

A sting of guilt ran through me as well. Did my actions accidentally cause this to happen? Was I responsible for this attack taking place? But then, as quick as it came, I quickly shook those thoughts away. Blaming myself for something out of my control was not productive. At least not now, I could berate myself for these mistakes later.

For now, I tried to wrack my brain for what I remembered of Team Magma's actions from canon.

"You're thinking hard, John." Drake suddenly spoke up, interrupting my thoughts. "Something you figured out?"

"Maybe…" I said unsurely, "I think I have an idea. But I have to see what files are missing before I say anything else."

"Then let's go." Joseph declared, walking forwards into the building. "The Jennys must have had enough time by now. I'm not going to waste any more time standing around; this is MY building damn it. I'll bring you to the files myself."

We quickly followed Joseph into the building. Some gave us curious looks, but none barred our way. We swiftly made our way to where the files were being stored, and I looked around to survey the damage as Joseph and Drake addressed the Jennys.

I think I saw marks of what was likely a Pokémon battle, but the battle must have been either over quickly or utterly one-sided. Filing cabinets were smashed and knocked over, and the entire room in general was trashed as Team Rockets must have scrambled for the paperwork. Considering they had insider access, the fact that they couldn't IMMEDIATELY find what they were looking for meant that the files they were searching for were likely very important.

That only added to my theory of what the true goal of Team Magma was.

I turned to ask Joseph a question, "How high of a rank was Tabitha at your company? What level of security access did he have?"

He rubbed his chin as he pondered the question, "From his employee file, he was just some middling scientist. One of many that we employ, so he wouldn't have high level access to many important files. But what was concerning was that Tabitha was not a recent hire. He was someone who had stuck it out at the firm for many years."

"Very odd for a long-time employee to defect like that." Drake commented, "Any sign that held grievances against your company?"

"Not that I know of." Joseph responded, "I like to think that my company's policy for employees is fair and reasonable. If he had worked here for as long as he did, he should have been due for a promotion any time soon now. But you make a good point, I'll speak to his supervisor to see if he knows anything else."

"Good. You do that." Drake said, before turning to the Jennys. "Hey! Did you go through the record for the most important files? I'm fucking sure that that those files were their target."

One of the Jennys nodded before bringing out a record of said files to Joseph, who casually passed it over to us. Apparently, Joseph didn't care about accidentally revealing company secrets to us. Which was a nice show of trust.

The three of us silently inspected the list. Immediately, one item caught my eye. It was an old piece of research into the functionality of the Red and Blue Orbs, and their supposed properties to be able to control Legendaries.

"There!" I shouted, pointing to the Orb research. "That's what they were looking for."

"…The Red and Blue Orb research? Why would they go for that? It says here that the project was deemed to have gone nowhere." Joseph questioned with a frown as he looked over the notes. "Wouldn't they go for something like my fossil research machine? It's far more valuable. In fact, I'm surprised they didn't even touch it."

I shook my head, "Monetarily, you're right. But these are terrorists. What they value can be completely different to what we value."

"And what's so important about the Orbs?" Drake asked, equally as confused. "Sure, they're culturally significant. But I don't think terrorists care much about cultural significance unless it can earn them a lot of money."

Because they were the key to controlling Legendaries! Is what I screamed in my mind. But I had absolutely no way of proving that, not without bringing up far more questions that I did not want to answer. I frowned; my gut was yelling that this was what Team Rocket was going for, but how would I prove it to these two?

And then, almost like I had been struck by divine inspiration, the bullshit just started to flow out of my mouth.

"Back in Olivine, when I arrested the leader of the Team Rocket cell that was trying to escape, he mentioned that the leader of Team Rocket was a very power-hungry man, who wanted to rule the world." I explained, "I didn't think much of it at the time, but he also mentioned about how the leader of Team Rocket believed that there was power in Legends. And how acquiring such power would give him the ability to rule the world."

Drake snorted, but not in disbelief, "That's fucking stupid. They're just orbs. Culturally significant maybe, but not much else."

"And don't the records say that the project was a failure?" Joseph interjected, "What use do they have of notes that went nowhere?"

"No, look here." I pointed, "The project was cancelled due to a lack of funding and interest, not because it was proven that the Orbs were not of importance. And by the looks of it, they've done extensive research into it before it got cancelled."

"…And since the leader of Team Rocket is apparently obsessed with the power of Legends, he would have wanted something to confirm his delusions." Drake finished for me, his head tilted in thought.

"Exactly." I nodded, "And now that they have the notes in hand, it is very likely that they will target the Orbs next."

"…But they'll never get away with stealing such priceless cultural artifacts." Joseph stated with a frown, "They'd have to know that the Hoenn League would be forced to respond if they did."

"You're right. But trying to understand the reasonings of a deluded fool will get us nowhere." Drake exclaimed, "So far, John's theory is the only lead that we have on their future actions. Admittedly, I still have doubts about this, but I've been at this crime scene for long enough and still don't have any better ideas. Still, it doesn't matter what Team Rocket are planning to do after they take the Orbs, we need to be there to stop them."

He turned to me, "Are you sure about this theory? It's a lot to bank on."

I met his stare with one of my own, trying to project the surety that I felt from my gut. "It is."

Drake's eyes searched mine for a moment, and I could feel his eyes boring deeply into mine. It took some time, but eventually he nodded, "Good. Then we have a plan. I'll speak to Wallace. Thank Arceus you were here to think through this shit, John, because I wouldn't have been able to." He then reached for his phone to dial up Wallace.

"Wallace, it's Drake." He said into his phone, "…Yes, we think we've figured it out…we believe it's to do with the Orbs…yes…ok…I'll put him on now." He then switched his phone to speaker mode and brought it closer to me.

"…Hello? Can you hear me, John?" Wallace's effeminate voice came crackling through the speakers, but luckily remained audible enough for a conversation.

"Yes, I can. How can I help you, Champion Wallace?" I asked politely.

"Please, no need for the pleasantries. We here in Hoenn all share our sincerest appreciation for your timely assistance." He replied pleasantly, "I heard about your theory from Drake, and he assures me that you're confident with it. Is that right?"

"I am." I confirmed. "Targeting the Orbs makes the most sense for them." I then went through a summary of what I had just explained to Drake and Joseph.

"Good. Then, with my position as Champion, I will grant you both the authority to pursue and capture Team Rocket before they can achieve their objectives." He stated, "I will give you authority over the Hoenn Police for you to use. Feel free to include them in your planning."

"Thank you." I replied, "That would be most helpful."

He chucked bitterly, "Don't thank me just yet. Drake might have told you this, but the committee aren't exactly happy with pursuing this much further. While I can pressure them with my own influence, I cannot authorize a full region-wide manhunt. That means no breaking into houses, no collateral damage, no doing anything that might cause the public to panic."

"However, if you DO manage to successfully capture a few Team Rocket grunts, then I think I'll be able to persuade the committee to be more lenient on your actions." Wallace added, "Capturing a few grunts would go a long way in painting your actions as justified."

I shared a look with Drake before saying, "We understand. We'll keep it in mind."

"Marvellous! Otherwise, Champion or not, this single incident wasn't enough to rile up public opinion enough to warrant such large-scale actions like you did in Indigo." He reminded with a slight warning, "The committee here might be able to convince the public that you and Drake's actions were overly aggressive and reckless. So please try to minimize damage as much as possible."

"Understood. We'll do our best to keep the damage to a fucking minimum." Drake growled, "And thanks for the support, Wallace. I'll buy you a drink later. The good stuff."

"Hahaha! I'll be glad for it." He laughed melodically, "In the meanwhile, I'll be back here playing damage control as best I can. Anyways, good luck boys, I look forward to the good news." He then hung up.

"…I couldn't help but overhear that." Joseph said as he approached us, "So you have your marching orders?"

"We do." Drake replied gruffly, "It isn't ideal, but better than I was hoping for. Come, John, let us share our findings with the Hoenn Police so we can start coordinating together."

We then parted ways with Joseph, but only after exchanging a promise to find Team Rocket and punish them for their crimes. In return, if we proved successful, then Joseph promised that I would be 'suitably rewarded', whatever that meant.

After that, we headed over to the temporary command tent that the Jennys had set up and begun explaining our observations to them.

Fortunately, it seemed like my reputation preceded me. Being known for being one of the principal reasons for why Team Rocket was driven out of Indigo gave a certain weight to my words. That, coupled with the fact that my theory was better than the random guesses they were previously thrown out, and it didn't take long for them to be brought on board as well.

This just left us to decide what we were going to do in the future. While we wouldn't be putting all our eggs in one basket, we unanimously agreed to set up a trap for Team Rocket, but we differed on how we would execute it.

The Jennys initially suggested ramping up the protection for the Orbs, but that was quickly shot down. Drake and I didn't think that Team Rocket was suicidal enough to target something that was obviously going to be heavily guarded. Plus, it would give away the fact that we had cottoned on to their plans, which would just give them the opportunity to slink away back into the shadows.

No, we had to bait them into launching an operation, where we could then catch them in the act and interrogate the captives for further leads. We all knew that preventing them from stealing the Orbs was only the first step in eradicating Team Rocket; we also had to target their main bases and the source of their manpower and funding.

We were also going to be tracking the money to see if we can find anything from there, but I wasn't too hopeful about our chances on that.

However, the Jenny's opposed such a plan, saying that it put too much of the public at risk. They ideally didn't want a fight at all; and thought prevention was the best way forward. In turn, we disagreed, thinking that a trap was the best way in order to obtain information.

Thus, after a heavy back-and-forth discussion, a plan finally came into place. We agreed that if Team Rocket were to ever launch an attack, it would be very similar to the attack at Devon Corp; a precision strike consisting of a small group of grunts. Speed was likely the key for their success, so they wouldn't bother trying to overwhelm us with pure numbers.

That gave us an opportunity. If we could somehow hold off the initial assault until reinforcements could arrive, then cut off their attempts to escape, then mopping them up would be easy.

Hence, the plan was to replace all 4 of the usual patrolling Jennys at Mt. Pyre with their elite counterparts, since we felt that this number was just low enough to not arose any suspicion. They would be fielding their strongest Pokémon in hopes to buy as much time as possible. And, to reinforce them, I would be entrusting a heavily vetted Nurse Joy, which was a common sight at Mt. Pyre, with Klee.

Klee would be disguising herself as a 'regular' Blissey, the ones usually assigned to Nurse Joys. If Team Rocket did strike, she was under orders to buy as much time as possible to fend off Team Rocket from stealing the Orb and escaping. It was a high-risk role, but she agreed with the plan. Plus, none of our other Pokémon could reasonably be disguised in this way.

In the meanwhile, Drake and I would make ourselves visible actively running around Hoenn, pretending to be searching for them. That should give them the confidence to launch the operation and also minimize the chances of them launching other operations in other areas.

It was a risky plan, and a lot of it came down to my prediction being right and the Jenny's and Klee's ability to hold off Team Rocket for enough time for us to arrive, but it was the best that we could come up with.

Just in case my prediction was wrong though, the rest of the Hoenn Police would be engaged in regular patrols as was standard procedure.

The issue now was that we didn't know when the operation was going to be launched. It could be in the next hour, or the next week. So, we had to maintain a state of alertness for a long period of time.

Still, we didn't have any better plans, so we spent the next several minutes or hours trying to refine the plan and locating a Nurse Joy that we could unequivocally trust with Klee. Eventually, we did find one, and I might have accidentally intimidated her when I gave her Klee's Premier Ball. Whoops.

With that out of the way, the meeting was about to wrap up, and I was about to leave the room with Drake before I heard all of the Jennys' phones pinging simultaneously. They all went to look at it before a look of horror etched itself on their faces.

"Sirs, you need to check the news." One Jenny told us firmly with a frown.

With a sense of dread coursing through my veins, I went to check the Pokénet, and my eyes widened with alarm as I read the first news article I saw.

"Silph Co responsible for the attack at Devon Corp?! Porygon information stolen from Devon Corp?!"

"Fuck." Drake uttered, which I wholeheartedly agreed with.

This might turn into quite the shitshow.

A.N. ANNNND here is the first chapter of the "Environmental Terrorists Arc". Hope you enjoyed all the conversations here in this slower chapter. Plenty of setup for the rest of the arc! Thanks to Allute for BETAing this chapter! Cheers!

And to anyone who wants to support me, please check out my p atreon at CartecTNN where you can read 8 advanced chapters! Thanks to those who have supported me already!