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Chap. 47: Villainy

It took two hours for the pair and their teams to feel like they had gotten clean. The mineral soak had done wonders for sore muscles and Elle swore up and down that her skin was refreshed and silky-smooth, though Alex couldn't feel much of a difference. Washing down their Pokémon afterward had drained the purified water tanks that the miners had left, but Squirt and Shooter, who had insisted on playing in the hot springs a little longer, didn't mind cold water either, so they were content with the last wash.

The way out of the chamber was up, thankfully up a lift that seemed well maintained if a bit old. It rose up into a narrow tunnel where everything was dark except the lift's running lights and, every ten or so seconds, another yellow-orange construction light seemed to move from the ceiling to the floor, while the cables continued to rattle and creak. Half-way there, a heavy block moved past for a moment, just visible in the nearest light next to the lift car.

Elle grinned, looked up at Alex, and kissed his cheek. "This is fun. I wonder who put all this stuff down here? Clearly it's well-traveled enough. The lift's even clean, barely any dust on it."

"Didn't the guide say the mining was shut down?" Alex said with a frown. "I swear the guide in the museum mentioned they closed down all mining operations here a hundred years or so ago. Something about protecting the habitat...?"

"That and Moon Stones were drying up," Elle added thoughtfully. "I wonder, then... I'm not an expert, but it looks like mining equipment to me."

"Maybe they're doing geological work? Science, or something?"

"Maybe. But there were still digging tools and equipment. Did you see the size of the drill on that big machine? It was taller than you are and twice as long."

"It was pretty-"

That was when the lift started to slow.

Over the next ten or so seconds, they arrived at the ground level of a much larger, wider tunnel than the one the pair had traversed to get to that point, one that sloped and curved away up to their left, and was more or less straight as it went down to the right. Stairs had been carved in several spots to assist in climbing the steeper areas, and as they looked around, an automated mining cart, far more modern than the antiques that might have been left behind should have been, trundled under its own power up a track set into the pathway next to the stairs. It was empty, but a fine white powder, granite Alex thought, coated the visible areas aside from a couple of visual sensors, which were occasionally brushed clear.

What neither of them knew was that the machine, like all of its kind, had more functionality than simply carting material from one place in the tunnels to another. A radio signal was sent out just as it passed them, a simple alert, before visual data from one of the very same sensors was beamed along the tunnel-wide network to a command center some distance away. There, a man smiled, "Got 'em. Alert teams... nine through twenty-six. They're in that area, no doubt heading for Cerulean or the Peak. Stop them at all costs. We want them alive. Kill their teams if you have to, but don't do more than injury or gas the humans. Bring them all in alive if you can. Willing is better."

"Yes, Operative," one of the Agents that reported to him replied with a crisp Rocket Salute.

He had taken over this operation a month and a half ago looking for good recruits, just as he had done with others. He had gotten several. The more gullible, his people simply fleeced or outright robbed as they passed through the tunnels.

But the savvy ones, like the ones that had escaped, well... they were worth talking to in a more amicable way. Why cut off a useful finger in a larger hand? No, better to get them working on Rocket's side. These invaders didn't seem to know what they were, after all. But Rocket did.

Yes, Operative Barlow had been... upset, to the point of foolish violence, when he had been summarily replaced. It would have been just temporary if the foolish man hadn't escalated things badly. After all, the man didn't want to be in charge of the mining operations here. He only was because it was of secondary importance, to the Boss and Executive Archer, so his operation had to take priority, even if Barlow didn't like it.

Now the man was dead, and his team was working for a new Operative. At least he would happily bow out to the next scientist willing to take up the lead role here.

For now, he could put the digging and mining aside. Moon Stones and Fossils were all well and good, but he had some human prey to capture, first. "Oh, and Agent? Well done for the timely report."

The Agent in question smiled, her pretty face made a little prettier that way. "Thank you, sir."

Her surprise at the compliment made the Operative frown. "Barlow never gave you guys any respect, did he?"

"No," the woman replied after a moment, then spat to the side, "None at all. Took all the credit, gave us all the blame."

"Typical, I suppose," he sighed, "Sometimes Rocket really does just attract riffraff. You're doing alright, though. Well, in fact. Your whole team is. In fact... why don't you and your partner go take personal charge. I'd like to see how you do in the field. If you do well, I'll put in a good word. Remember: Better they're alive than dead, even if it means we have to try again later. Retreat is an option for now."

"Yes, sir," the woman grinned.

Morley Vaan watched the woman's hips and delicious arse sway behind the long, deep crimson ponytail that curled up to the side. She was a good Agent, recently promoted from a Grunt herself. Her partner was a little more experienced, but perhaps less talented. He cared about his Team a little too much, in Morley's opinion, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

But the woman... what was her name? Jerry? Jazzy...? Jessie. Yes, Jessie. She, he would keep an eye on in more than one way. Adisa was a great fuck, but he was already growing bored of her, and he sensed she was getting bored with him, too. The fact that he'd had to reveal he knew she was an invader might have soured their relationship further, as well. Jessie would tide him over.

Well, Jessie and his Pokémon. They weren't always the best to satisfy his urges, but they could at least serve.

Of course, that could wait until he saw what the interlopers could do.

The first indication that something was wrong was when Kole, currently in the lead to provide a bit of extra light as they followed the line of constructions lights and the slowly-moving cart uphill, was a shout. "Now!"

A moment later, Kole was slammed against the left wall of the slowly twisting, rising tunnel as someone leaped from behind a boulder that had fallen in from a long-ago collapse, then been left there. The person was dressed completely wrong for spelunking, not that Alex or Elle were any better, or for mining too. They were tall, muscular but not overly so, with long, dark brown hair tied back in a ponytail. The man's face was a little unkempt, and his eyes hard as he pointed toward Elle's sole Fire-type, "Nice shot, Houndour! Smash him with Takedown again!"

"What the fuck?!" Elle shouted, "That's cheating! If you want to fight, you have to-"

The man only smirked, as another person dressed in the same tight black, long-sleeved turtleneck and black trousers and boots, with the same black cap on his head, stepped out. They weren't twins, not by a long shot, but the resemblance was still uncanny in their build and demeanor. "Well done, C. My turn, though. Rattata, Hyper Fang on that guy's Nidorino!"

Alex was too taken aback by the surprise assault, like his companion, to call out a response. But his Starter was a bit more ready for things. While the Rattata the black-clad man had ordered to attack his Team was able to close its sharp jaws around Cock's left foreleg, it was much smaller than the Poison Pin, and it showed. A quick shake and a return thrust with the large horn on his forehead had the Rattata recoiling, hissing and spitting almost like a cat.

"Don't hesitate, Houndour, keep up the attack!"

"Thrash 'em, Rattata!"

"Hey!" Elle called again.

Alex had already come to the conclusion that this was not going to be a sanctioned, fair fight. His hands were already on his belt, flipping through the various Pokéballs he had ready to go. "Surtr, Spike, go back up Kole! Sappy, Lingus, with Cock!"

Elle followed a moment later, the rest of her team appearing in flashes of multi-hued light. Loki alone stayed hidden, taking advantage of the cave's natural darkness to follow along in secret. "You want to cheat?" she shouted angrily as her own battle companions appeared, "Fine! You ambush, we fuck you up! Get 'em!"

One of the men was smart enough to realize how badly they were suddenly outnumbered. A Zubat joined their team a moment later. The other only smirked confidently, "You've got too many, kid... one strong Pokémon is worth a dozen weaklings! Time to pay for your mistake! Rattata, Bite on that kid's Drowzee!"

"Shit," Elle swore next to him, but Alex didn't have time to respond. Not even, really, to his own battle. Something had just popped up in his field of vision, starkly drawing to his attention that, no matter how real it seemed, they were playing a game.

It was a simple holo-screen-like field, flashing red with golden lettering. Free Battle Initiated! Fight!

He cleared the screen with a thought as he finished reading it, but unfortunately, another popped up in its place. This one was longer, though the font was much smaller, and closer to the peaceful blue background he was familiar with. Free Battles occur when a Trainer is attacked by another Trainer without regard to the formalized rules of the local Pokémon League. Like in a Wild Battle, Trainers are not limited to only using one Pokémon at a time, or one move per round. They are dangerous, fast paced, frenetic, and can be very rewarding.

A Trainer initiating a Free Battle outside of certain story-related circumstances is a Criminal Act, and consequences will follow should you be caught. These two are, in fact, Criminals.

He read it as quickly as he could while distracted by the battle, then swiped the screen away, "Yggdrassil says they're criminals, let's crush 'em, Elle!"

"On it, I saw the popup too- surprised you took the time to read it!"

"Someone had to," he snorted, "and my team can take more hits. You guys are doing great, but why is that Houndour still alive? Squirt, blast it with Water Gun! Cock, Double-Kick! And Sappy, why aren't you fighting? At least go help against the Rattata!"

Elle was, in fact, struggling more than he was, because the other Pokémon, while smaller and weaker than Cock, was quite agile and more than able to avoid most of the attacks Elle's team sent its way. On the other hand, it was doing quite a lot of damage to her own team, its speed and sharp teeth, not to mention the Type Advantage, leaving Morpheus with a half-dozen major, bleeding bites all over its legs and even snout.

Then, just as suddenly as it had started, it was over. When the Houndour went down to the combination of Fighting- and Water-type moves he had ordered a few seconds later, the first man in black had broken and run, calling for his Zubat to slow them down then run itself. It started tossing Confuse Ray and Sonic Shrieks around like a madman, uncaring whether they were aimed at friend, foe, or even Trainer.

Unfortunately, the tactic was effective. Cock and Spike were confused almost at once, and left reeling, stumbling around and momentarily unable to tell friend from, foe as they swiped or stabbed at each other. Surtr knickered and neighed, tossing his fiery little mane back and forth as blood began to dribble from one ear after the sound-based attack. Squirt, in his hand still, was unable to keep up since there was no water for the Remoraid to swim through quickly. Sappy was, suddenly, sobbing on the ground without fighting.

Which left Lingus. She was far too slow to stop the man, but she a whip-like lash of her muscular tongue slapped the Zubat out of the air, then pummeled it against the rocks several times like the bat-creature was the head of a ten foot long hammer before she relaxed, scowling over at the Rattata.

The Rattata that, somehow, was still making Elle work for it... but she was winning, clearly. It was poisoned by Cock's attack, and getting slower by the moment. One leg was singed, the paw hanging at an odd angle where Kole, injured but standing and still much larger than the Rattata, had chomped down on it, slowing it further. Morpheus was hurting too, but he was a hardy Psychic, and even the Rattata's painful Bites hadn't taken him out of the fight just yet. He had, however, successfully Confused the Rattata. With both Poison and Confusion working against it, Alex knew it wouldn't be much longer before...

Chomp.

The entire Rattata vanished inside Gobbler's suddenly much-larger, squirming body. The mouth closed, leaving only the squirming, worm-like tail.

The man seemed to realize he was fucked, and glanced toward where his companion had been fighting, to see him gone. "Wh- C? C! Fuck, where did you- I'm outta here!"

He ran, too, and Alex was too shocked by the violence of the situation to chase after him. He did notice something he hadn't before, though. As Surtr, still grimacing in pain in his pony-like way, charged after the man the faint glisten of a different material shone on the man's shirt, softly reflecting the orange light. An R?

What did that mean?

"You okay?" Elle asked.

"I'm fine," Alex grunted, "What about you?"

"Oh? I'm fine," she shrugged, "But I was talking to Morpheus. Poor baby... Here you go, buddy. You did really good, taking all those hits. You might just be my team tank at this rate. Here's a Potion for you."

Alex would've snorted at the misunderstanding, or her lack of concern for his well-being, but Elle's tender treatment of the mind-bending Pokémon was honestly kind of sweet. It also reminded him that he had neglected his own. "You guys doing okay? Kole, you alright, buddy?"

"K- Kole? Fuck, I forgot! Here, sweetie, c'mere, mommy will give you a Potion, too."

Alex rolled his eyes, but smiled as the Growlithe trotted over, slightly favoring one side. "I'll just keep watch then. Come on, Sappy, chin up. Seriously, what's wrong? I don't understand..."

His confusion only seemed to make her cry harder.

Adisa grinned as her opponent faltered. "You've lost, lady. Give up now, spare your Pokémon the pain."

"N- Never," she grimaced, "I've got a Cascade Badge, how can I lose to someone like you without even one? Get up, Magnemite! Come on, come on! One more Thundershock should do it, you can do it!"

To her credit, the Steel/Lightning-type did rise once more, and slowly twist in the air to face Machop.

Asida gave her a nod, "Well, I suppose I respect your determination. It won't serve you well... if you can't beat me, there's no way you'll be able to beat what lies beyond me. Machop: Finish it off with another Karate Chop."

A moment later, it was over. Adisa let herself smirk, though she hated doing it. "Go home. Come back when you're stronger, if you dare challenge me again."

"You fucking suck," the woman, her own age perhaps, maybe a year or two older or younger, grumbled as she picked up her unconscious Magnemite and returned it to its ball.

Adisa snorted, "We can fuck if you want, but if you don't have a cock, what'm I gonna suck?"

It had been a half-hearted jest at best, but it made the woman blush and turn away. She didn't say anything else, only yanked up her pack, much poorer than she had been when she had started trying to reach Adisa's guard post.

She grinned, though her own heart wasn't in it. Over the last couple of days, what had been a thrilling bout of debauchery with her Pokémon (which was, she thought, still fun) and protecting the weak from the dangers of what lay beyond her...

Well, it all seemed wrong. Not her Pokémon. Not herself, really. But the situation.

Her being here, like this. Spending her days pleasuring or giving pleasure (and now not just to her Pokémon, but to half of her team of guards. It was almost a rite of initiation as new ones transferred in that, once they stopped someone, Adisa would fuck them if they were old enough, or do something else if they weren't, as a reward).

But what was she protecting them from? Morley had not told her. And they hadn't talked since he had pushed her against the wall and called her an Invader. Whatever that meant. Did he, an NPC, somehow know she was a real person playing a game? It couldn't be her dark skin, people like her were as common in the game as they were in Pacific: ubiquitous. By and large racism had been a thing of the past a century earlier, with only the cultural divides to separate Mega-Cities as 'tribes' any more.

And what... why? The blue eyes she still dreamed about gave her the creeps. Something, she felt, was coming. Something she was avoiding dealing with. Shirking her responsibility. Wasting time. Yes, she was getting stronger, in fits and starts, as some of the better Trainers made their way past her team to her.

Why didn't it feel like enough?

Wasn't there... more to the game?

More to life?

She was basically working a nine-to-five once more, only she was on-location, on-call, the whole time with only a multitude of orgasms and decent pain to make up for it.

"I should quit," she muttered darkly, wondering how Morley would take it when he found out.

Then again, while he was a good lover, they hadn't really ever connected emotionally. So... did she care? She didn't think he was really abusive, there had to be a reason for his outburst, but... then again, did she want to take that risk?

She would have to think on it. At least, after she got her jollies off to take her mind of crushing the hopes of yet another talented, but not that talented, Trainer. "Come here, Machop. You deserve a reward. Want to fuck?"

"Ch- Chop!"

Elle crouched low, a finger on her lips as she turned to look over her shoulder. "Two more," she whispered. Alex nodded behind her, and dropped to a near-crawl himself, then signaled for Spike and Cock to hang back. Now he had two out, like Elle, though only Squirt was visible in her arms, with Loki once more flying ahead, nearly invisible. "They're just up past those rocks," she pointed over her shoulder as Alex reached her, one hand falling to her knee to help steady himself as he knelt, too.

"How many?"

"Loki says four. Two of them are digging, I think, one with a pick and another as shovel, he says. One is sorting rocks, and the other is talking on a radio? Or something like that."

"Okay," Alex grunted, "We sure about this? If we do this... well, if they're criminals, it's one thing. The game seems to reward being a vigilante. But if they're Trainers, we might be kicked from the game anyway."

"I remember the warning you got," she murmured, "But yes, I'm sure. Look, see?"

She lifted the small display of her Pokégear without activating the holo-screen. He had to squint to read it in the dimly lit cave on the tiny screen, but eventually managed. Engagement: Mount Moon. You are currently infiltrating a known base of operations for a criminal organization. Congratulations! You may initiate a Free Battle against any member of Team Rocket without repercussions until you leave the area successfully or are captured.

Alex let out a slow breath. "I guess that confirms it, then. Shit. I mean, all the games have their Villain Teams, but Rocket? At least I'm pretty sure that symbol I saw was an R. Don't know what else it'd be."

"Rocket had some variations, like Rainbow Rocket, and they're still the most common Team to be fighting against in a game, but it's less than five percent of the total villain teams," Elle told him, "so I'm not sure. I mean, it could be, I wouldn't rule it out, but there's no guarantee. Except for the fact that Yggdrassil told us it was them. 'Any member of Team Rocket'."

"Yeah... fuck. Alright, well, let's get a little closer. Not that I don't, uh, trust Loki, but he's a fucking liar and trickster."

"I love him," she snickered back, "but you're probably right. Try not to be seen? You're really loud, too. Oaf."

"Bitch," he hissed back without heat.

"Your bitch."

"... Elle, remind me to fuck the shit out of you when we get to Cerulean."

"Yes, Daddy," she fired right back, almost moaning the last word, as she moved out from behind her own hiding spot next to his, and stuck to the shadows as she crept forward.

It took a couple of minutes for Alex, more slowly to try (and he hoped succeed) and be more quiet and stealthy as he joined her by the next large outcropping of rock. Just on the other side, perhaps forty feet away, he could hear two men- no, a man and a deep-voiced woman- talking while rock clattered quietly, regularly. This must be where one was sorting stones.

The woman was the first he heard speak, "So what's got the new Operative all in a tizzy?"

"Intruders, I think," the man replied, "like last week. This one seems worse, but... whatever."

"Worse? How?"

There was a brief pause, and the stones stopped clacking for a moment, then started again as he heard a quiet sigh. "Nothing much, really, just... I joined up to make a difference, you know? Make some scratch- some good scratch- and help the world. Like Rocket's supposed to do. Barlow was a bastard, I hated him. I know he made a few passes at you."

"Fucker tried, I broke his finger last year," the woman snorted. "Only reason he didn't come after me is 'cause he knows I'd have ratted to his boss that he was that big a weakling that a simple Grunt made him cry."

"Vaan's definitely better," the man agreed, "More competent, anyway. He, uh... kinda gives me a bad vibe, though. Like, I don't know what he's really after."

"Fossils and Moon Stones, same as the last two Operatives this base has had," the woman replied with a chuckle. "Shit, this cart's almost full already. Only found a couple Moon Stones, but there's quite a bit of Fossil data in there, I bet, for Miguel's team to sift through."

"What are they doing with fossils?" Elle whispered.

"No idea," Alex replied, "I'm curious, though... More curious about the Moon Stones, for this little guy. If I had one, I could Evolve Cock to stage three right now."

"Maybe," she hissed back, "and stay quiet. Remember we're trying to be sneaky? Anyway, they changed a bunch of the rules, added things, remember? Might not just be a Moon Stone."

"True, true..."

"Hey, you hear that...?" the man behind the rocks growled.

A moment later, the woman hissed, "I think I did. Might just be a Geodude again, or one of those stupid Clefairies..."

"Or it might be Vaan's intruders."

"Might be. Let's go check it out. Rattata, come on out."

"Koffing, you're up."

"Shit," Elle swore as she stood up, Alex following a moment later. Apparently, the jig was up.