Chapter 21: The Dream Team
Mom and Dad
Due to being in the wrong place at the wrong time and events that were completely beyond my control, I have become public enemy number one of Team Rocket. To protect my identity, I have changed my name and to protect you this will be the last time I contact you until everything is taken care of. I have Axel with me along with a few trustworthy allies so don’t worry, I’ll be completely fine. I love you both.
-Your one and only son.
P.S. Burn this letter after reading it. I don’t want my enemies to trace this to you.
I held the envelope addressed to my parents which contained that letter in my bandaged hand staring at it for a solid two minutes before tossing it into a blue mailbox at the corner of a street in Goldenrod. It was only 11:30 in the morning, but already it was turning into a hot day. The bright August sun made the city glow like its namesake. I don’t think any Grass-type would have trouble launching a Solar Beam today if there were to be a battle.
“You ready?” asked Axel empathetically.
“Yeah, we can go.” I said turning away from the mailbox. All I could do at the moment was turn as my destination was across the street and I had the red light. I stood patiently waiting until the light for the cars turned red and I got the white walking signal. At that moment I casually walked across the street to the building that housed my squad’s temporary base.
Raiden had rented us a four-bedroom apartment paid for by Team Neos. The Team will support us until we get our first mission and start making money at which point our squad funds will pay for our finances. The way I understand it, mission profits are divided into three categories; what goes to Team Neos to keep it running, what goes to the squads to support their field work, and what goes to individual members to keep them happy.
The apartment we were staying in was on the first floor so all I had to do was walk in the main entrance and go down the hall to room 109. As I put my key in the door, I heard yelling and screaming on the other side.
“What the hell is going on in there?” Axel wondered out loud. I quickly turned the lock and pushed the door open. Standing in the middle of the floor was Eve dripping wet wearing nothing more than a white towel. She was staring daggers at Zack who had his arms up palms out with a nervous grin on his face. Chane was standing by the doorway to Eve’s bedroom with a concerned look. She probably heard them fighting and came to investigate.
“What is going on here?” I asked in confusion.
“Zacky boy though it was a smart idea to walk in on me in the shower!” Eve said angrily.
“I told you, I only wanted to see if you needed help scrubbing your back. My intentions were entirely pure.” he replied like he did nothing wrong. “Help me out here Brian. I know we haven’t known each other long, but we men have to stick together.” he said looking to me for support. My mouth slowly curved into a demented smirk as I realized what was going on here.
“What are you so happy about?” Eve questioned venomously. “You better not be siding with this lecher!”
“I’m not siding with anyone nor will I get involved. This is between you two. I’m just thrilled to watch.” I said happily. I closed the front door and leaned against the wall. “As you were.” I instructed. This will definitely keep me entertained for a while.
“C-can’t we all just get along? M-maybe we could sit down and maybe g-get to know each other? W-we are a team now s-so why argue?” Chane proposed fidgeting around nervously.
“And miss all the fun?” I asked sarcastically raising an eyebrow. Zack used this distraction as an opportunity to run over to Chane. Comparatively, he was about nine inches to a foot taller than she was.
“I for one agree with the idea.” he declared wrapping his arm around her shoulder. I’m not sure if it was intentional of accident, but he had his hand on one of her boobs. Chane definitely noticed as she was wide eyed and blushing bright red. “It will be a nice way to settle our differences and become better comrades.” Zack went on.
“U-u-umm…” Chane stammered trying to get Zack’s attention. He looked down at her realizing what he was doing. Zack pulled his hand away with a shameless laugh.
“Sorry, old habit.” he confessed modestly. He then turned to Eve. “Eve, as much as I love seeing you dripping wet in nothing but a towel, how about getting dressed so that we can get better acquainted. Then maybe later we can really get acquainted.”
“Not going to happen!” said Eve spitefully. As she walked past Chane and Zack to go to her room, Zack thought it smart to grab her ass. Needless to say, no one was surprised when Eve turned around and elbowed him in the face before slamming the door.
“I might have deserved that.” Zack said holding his nose as he crouched to retrieve his glasses. Already I like this squad! Although by the looks of it, one of us was missing.
“So where’s Master Raiden?” I inquired pushing myself off the wall and walking to the rest of the group.
“Master?” asked Zack regaining his composure.
“Well yeah, I respect him and he is our superior. That is why I call him Master.” I clarified.
“He has a warped sense of respect.” Axel threw in for the hell of it.
“R-Raiden w-went to pick up our n-new uniforms.” answered Chane with a stutter. It’s too bad he’s going to miss our Q&A session. I would suggest postponing it until he got back, but I don’t know how long he’ll be and Eve might kill Zack in that time span. Speaking of the devil herself, Eve came walking out of her room fully dressed but still emanating a wrathful aura.
“If we’re doing this, I’m sitting out of Kaguya’s reach.” Eve said sounding calm, but her tone was laced with anger. We all gathered in the common area and sat on the various furniture laying about. Zack, Axel, and I sat on a grey three cushion sofa, Chane sat in a red recliner with her hands folded nervously in her lap, and Eve laid on her side on a blue two cushion sofa with her head propped up in her hand glaring at Zack. Poor bastard’s made it on her hit list it seems.
“Well the first question I think that should be asked is; why did you all join Team Neos?” asked Zack starting everything off. “I myself joined for the chicks. Chicks dig a man in uniform and we have one badass uniform.” he said concededly with his hand on his chin and a smug grin. Somehow that doesn’t surprise me with his behavior this morning.
“I joined for the fun of it. Seeing the humiliated faces of people when you beat them is just so satisfying and some of their expressions are just priceless!” Eve sneered joyfully. “Isn’t that right Brian?”
“Quiet you!” I yelled at her. “Your turn Chane.” I said more calmly.
“W-w-well… m-m-my brother always took care of me and looked out for me, b-but w-when he got hospitalized, I decided to join s-so that I could become stronger a-and protect him for once.” she explained. Somehow though I don’t think we’re getting the whole story on her.
“What about you Brian?” inquired Zack pushing up his glasses.
“Me? I want to change the world. I want to destroy all crime and tear down the world government. Only then can things be rebuilt the way they should be. A place where both Pokémon and humans can be happy and free: that is my goal.” I said straightforwardly. Everyone in the room gave me strange looks. Eve broke the silence by laughing mockingly.
“Oh what a vivid imagination the child has.” she taunted.
“I-I think it is a wonderful goal.” Chane agreed with me.
“Why not? We’ll help each other achieve our goals.” declared Zack. “The three of us will work on getting Chane stronger for her brother, you all can help me get laid, especially you ladies, we can assist Brian in destroying the world, and Eve can have herself the time of her life doing all of that. Whadaya say?”
“Fuck off.” Eve answered flatly. Figures she would be unsupportive.
“Next question! What Pokémon do you all have?” Axel brought up. I kindly translated for everyone and ran down my list of Axel, Aerodactyl, Riolu, Piloswine, Snorlax, and Beldum, the six I was currently carrying.
“I have a Banette named Diva, a Luxray, a Steelix, a Nidoqueen, a Roserade, and a Walrein.” Eve told.
“I-I have Beautifly, Lunatone, Pidgeot, Chansey, Azumarill, and Breloom. Th-their names are Celia, Luna, Jace, Lucy, Kermit, and Izzy r-respectively.” listed Chane.
“I’ve got a Golduck named Lloyd.” said Zack. “Up until a month ago I was a Pokémon Ranger so I was only allowed and only needed one partner.” he said bluntly.
“S-so you quit to join Team Neos?” inquired Chane.
“Quit?” he replied with a confused look. A nervous smile then appeared on his face. “I was kicked out for way too many sexual harassment charges!” stated Zack shamelessly pointing his thumb at himself. “It’s part of a Pokémon Ranger’s job description to stay fit and athletic so who can blame me if I was turned on? I mean those are some sweet lookin’ hotties in that profession.”
“Figures.” Eve said unamused as she rolled her eyes. Chane simply looked to the floor blushing while I just started giggling uncontrollably. Was this guy for real?
“You are a horrible person Zack and yet I just can’t help but think you will be the source of much amusement!” I declared between giggles. It had been awhile since I laughed like this at something genuinely funny and not at ripping people’s limbs off. “Next question?” I proposed after catching my second wind.
“Are you ready to try on your new uniforms?” All five of us turned to the front door where none other than Raiden was standing wearing his “civilian” clothes consisting of long black pants, brown tennis shoes, and a sleeveless navy blue shirt. Slung over his shoulder was a white gym bag which I’m guessing contains our uniforms.
“Sure, why not? Kaguya was making me nauseous anyway.” said Eve getting off the sofa and walking to Raiden.
“Ouch. That hurt.” Zack said pretending offence.
Raiden emptied four uniforms out of the bag and passed them out to us, sending us to our rooms to get changed once we had one. Those who had rooms anyway. Since there were only four bedrooms, one person would not get a room. I was the first person to call the floor as I am fully capable of sleeping anywhere. As such, Raiden sent me to his room. It was rather basic with only a bed and dresser occupying a moderate amount of space.
“Can you believe it Axel? Things just keep moving forward. At this rate we’ll fix this world in no time!” I mused optimistically while getting undressed. I held the pale grey hoodie out in front of me admiring the shining silver X on the chest.
“Yup. As much as I liked our previous lifestyle, we only fought for ourselves. Now it seems like we’re putting our talents to better use.” acknowledged Axel with an outlook I hadn’t really considered. I mean I knew what I was doing, I just hadn’t heard it put into words like that before. That monkey can be wiser than me sometimes.
After applying the whitish grey gloves, I proceeded to look myself over in a mirror on Raiden’s dresser. Zack was right; we do look pretty badass in this outfit. And here I thought I only looked good in black. I finished off by throwing the hood over my head to get a view of what my enemies will see. I must say, I’m quite pleased with the results. As far as the fit went, the pants were comfortable around the waist and baggy in the legs, just the way I like my pants, and the hoodie was loose giving me room to breathe. The gloves and boots were also perfect fits. It’s almost as if Raiden bleached what I normally wear and gave it back to me.
“Dude. You rock.” Axel complemented looking me over.
“Indeed I do. Now come! We must join the others.” Outside Zack was already standing fully dressed with Raiden. Aside from being two inches shorter than me, we could have been called twins. Joining us a minute later was Chane. Eve was the last one to come out but she had modified uniform just as she promised she would. She had cut the top of her shirt open to expose her cleavage, and rather than wearing the pants she was given, she wore her own skirt and platform boots. Raiden did a slow motion face-palm with a sigh and shook his head. Chane was a stuttering mess as she tried to form the words she wanted to say.
“Wh-wha-what did you do!?” she finally got out.
“Simple, this shirt was too tight and I do not wear pants.” declared Eve arrogantly.
“Hell yeah!” Zack cheered at her comment.
“Get over yourself jizz stain. It’s not gonna happen.” she shot down mercilessly.
“Ow. My feelings.” lamented Zack. Twice in one hour. How much more can he take of this before Eve breaks him for real?
“Enough nonsense.” Raiden scolded. “While you were all getting changed, I was informed that the spies we have infiltrating Team Rocket reported that the Rocket’s plan on raiding the Day Care Center on Route 34 to steal the Pokémon the elderly couple living there are taking care of. Their reasoning for doing this is of no concern to us; your objective is making sure theirs fails.”
“Our objective? What about you?” I questioned with a raised eyebrow.
“So far we are the only squad in the area to be informed as the report only just now came in. I have an errand I need to run, but the four of you should be more than enough to handle it. Now stop wasting time! Get going!” he told us. Without a seconds more hesitation, we left the apartment.
“Well that was random.” Axel said as we ran outside.
“Agreed.” I affirmed.
“What kind of leader is he anyway? Sending us to do all the dirty work.” Eve protested.
“A good leader also needs to know how to delegate. If Master Raiden were here it would be serious overkill.” I pointed out both to annoy Eve and defend Raiden. I looked at the many buildings lining the streets then up at the sky. I determined the fastest way to get to where we need to go would be by air so I quickly reached for Aerodactyl’s Pokéball to release him.
“Good idea Brian.” Zack complemented when the Fossil Pokémon materialized in a red beam of light. “You mind if I ride with you? I don’t have a Flying-type.”
“Sure, hop on.” I instructed jumping on first followed by Axel. Aerodactyl growled in disapproval as Zack also mounted. The only other time he had been forced to do a three-seater was with Madison and she was a light weight. At the same time, Eve joined Chane on the latter’s Pidgeot. When everyone had their rides sorted out, we took to the sky. “Sorry Aero.” I whispered in the dinosaur’s ear as he flew us.
“I guess I need a flier?” posed Zack realizing Aerodactyl’s stress.
“It would be helpful.” I approved. “Eve should get one too if she doesn’t already have one.”
“Yeah, I’d love to have the option of mounting either her or Chane.” Zack said enthusiastically.
“You mean their Flying-types?” I suggested wondering if he meant it to sound the way it did, or if he just forgot a word. Axel was snickering at the very thought of it.
“That too.” he said not bother to correct his mistake. “But what about you? Which do you think is cuter?” he inquired flirtatiously.
“We’re here!” I dodged pointing down to the small ranch. Unfortunately, we were late as I could see several figures below dressed in black harassing the Pokémon at the Day Care. What worried me was that I couldn’t see the elders anywhere. Hopefully they were just being held hostage in the house and not hurt in anyway. After all, I know full well what those bastards are capable of. The very thought of it makes my blood boil!
Jace came from behind Aerodactyl in a nosedive toward the ranch. I led my flier to do the same. Four Rockets looked up in alarm as the two Flying-types landed and the five of us dismounted.
“Ah! It’s them! It’s Team Neos!” one of them screamed fearfully, this one male.
“It seems our reputation precedes us.” I said sinisterly. I glared at my foes like a predator looking for the weakest link to feed on. Looking around the group I count two males and two females accompanied by a purple bipedal canine with massive jowls curved up in two pointed fangs and a black collar around its neck, a red snail made of lava with huge yellow eyes and grey hardened lava forming a shell, an angry white furred monkey with a red crest on its forehead and two long black claws on each hand, and a cyan colored rabbit covered in short poisonous barbs. Just one Pokémon each? Can’t they do better than that?
“Relax, there are only four of them and six of us. We can handle these punks.” said the other male confidently. What a delirious fool. Still, that meant there were still two more unaccounted for.
“Oh no! They have us out numbered! Whatever are we going to do?” mocked Eve sarcastically. I could almost laugh now that her quips weren’t directed to me for once. I was also amazed that it required six of these clowns to hold up a Day Care.
“You’re not making fun of us now, are you Little Girl?” taunted what sounded like an older female from behind us. Eve simply laughed the woman’s comment off.
“Are you just jealous because, unlike you, I still have my looks you ugly old hag?” she retorted not missing a beat. A silver spoon held by a yellow three fingered hand swung around Eve’s throat threatening to slash if the owner didn’t like the next remark out of her mouth. The rest of us were entangled in blue vines save Axel and the fliers. The morale of the other Rocket members seemed to shoot up at seeing us taken out so quickly.
“If your Pokémon are smart they won’t dare attack my Tangrowth or my Kadabra unless they want their precious Trainers to be crushed or have her throat slit.” warned the woman stepping into our view. I’m guessing she was in her mid-thirties. She had grey eyes, red hair done up in a ridiculous perm, and wore a fancy white uniform with the trademark red ‘R’ on it that would look magnificent stained with blood. She also had white heeled boots and on her waist was a gold belt. I nodded to Axel and Aerodactyl to let them know to stay at bay for now.
“That’s Ms. Charmaine for ya. There’s no winning with her unless you agree with her.” said one of the two females proudly. That meant this woman was the leader of this operation. I will enjoy killing her.
“What do you want with this Day Care anyway?” inquired Zack.
“We have no reason to explain ourselves to you NEOphytes.” mocked the male who was originally scared of us. I love how they act so tough when things end up in their favor.
“Pff. Nice pun. Did you hear it from your mommy?” Eve ridiculed. Kadabra pulled its spoon closer to her neck causing Eve to grunt in annoyance.
“Watch your tongue girl. To answer your question young man, we heard there was a Pokémon staying here that was bred from a good stock so we decided to acquire it. Unfortunately, that well-bred Pokémon just turned out to be this weak little thing.” she criticized holding up a small blue Pokémon with white cheeks and a zigzagged black tail ending in a blue ball the same size as the Pokémon. The poor little Azurill looked panicked and terrified as the vile woman held it by its bubble like tail.
“Azurill!!” Chane shouted in distress. That’s right, she did say she had an Azumarill, the fully evolved form of the victim. Was Chane empathizing or were this one and hers related? Chane began struggling to get free of Tangrowth as hard as she could.
“What’s wrong? Did I hit a nerve?” tormented the leader. “What if I were to do this?” The woman began playing paddle-ball using the ill-fated Azurill as the ball with its own tail the paddle.
“Stop it!” Chane cried desperately.
“How typical of a stupid Rocket.” I scoffed. The wench stopped her assault and looked at me curiously to see what I was up to. “You told our Pokémon that if they were smart, not to attack. Well they’re not the ones who should be smart. It’s you! On our side are two Flying-types and a Fire-type. On yours is a Grass-type holding us hostage.” I smiled darkly giving the female Rocket wide eyes full of fright. “Axel! Flamethrower Tangrowth now!”
“You got it!” Axel agreed willingly. He spat a long tongue of fire at the hapless Vine Pokémon behind us. I could feel the intense heat as the creature behind me writhed in agony. The vines around me and my partners weakened enough for us to literally break free. Eve took the opportunity to elbow Kadabra in the side to escape while it was distracted by its companion’s agony.
“Time to play Diva.” she said evilly as she removed a Dusk Ball from her belt.
“Jace! Aerial Ace that woman and free Azurill!” Chane commanded. The Pidgeot wasted no time in dive bombing the leader in the chest knocking the wind out of her and causing her to drop Azurill. At once Chane rushed over to catch the baby Pokémon as it fell. “You’re ok now. You’re safe.” she whispered to it comfortingly. Kadabra instantly Teleported away from the possessed doll known as Diva to aide its master.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Eve questioned rushing after her chosen opponent.
“How dare you hurt Ms. Charmaine! Use Flamethrower on the girl with Azurill Magcargo!” ordered the second male Rocket. Before I had a chance to react, the Vigoroth was attacking me with its arm raised over its head. Axel swiftly jumped in the way to parry the Wild Monkey Pokémon’s Slash and threw it to the ground.
While we were distracted by Vigoroth, Chane embraced Azurill tightly as the stream of flame neared its intended target. A blast of water suddenly came from behind Chane cancelling out the fire. She looked up and behind her where Zack stood next to a blue kappa with a long tail and a red jewel on its forehead. A few drops of water dripped off the Golduck’s beak onto the ground.
“You ever think about hurting my friends again or you’ll have me to deal with.” Zack said threateningly. I couldn’t see her face under her hood, but I think Chane was looking at Zack as if he were Lance of the Elite Four as he chuckled before saying “Don’t give me that look. We’re teammates, we lookout for each other.”
“R-right.” she answered. While holding Azurill in one arm, Chane stood up in addition to pulling out a Luxury Ball. From the ball came a pink egg shaped Pokémon with small arms and legs, small frills hanging off the side of its head like hair, and an egg in a pouch on her belly.
“Lucy, I need you to take Azurill and heal it with Soft-Boiled.” Chane told the Chansey handing off the baby Pokémon. Lucy wasted no time in pulling out her egg and feeding it to the young Azurill. “Now it’s your turn Kermit!” The fully evolved Aqua Rabbit materialized from his Net Ball with a very pissed off look on his face. Either the Azumarill was aggressive anyway, or sensing what happened to his kin from inside his ball put him in a bad mood. “Please use Hydro Pump on the Magcargo!” she commanded. Kermit gladly complied, blasting water from his mouth like a fire hose. The lava snail was quickly taken out by the attack.
“Hey, you’re kinda cute. Why not ditch Team Rocket and join me? I will give you as much passion and romance as you want.” Zack said hitting on one of the female grunts. This one was the owner of Nidorina. Has he no shame?
“Get real.” was her annoyed response.
“Too bad.” Zack sighed lowering his head. “Lloyd! Use Psychic!”
I had no time to observe any more of the battle as I was in one of my own. “Vigoroth! Attack with Ice Beam!” called the monkey’s Trainer. Vigoroth screamed as the cold pale blue ray shot from its mouth. Axel threw his arm in front of the beam to block it only to have his arm frozen.
“Axel, I think you just learned Ice Punch. Use it!” I called. The Flame Pokémon pulled his fist back followed by a devastating jab to the enemy monkey’s jaw which cracked the ice around Axel’s arm. “Follow up with a Fire Punch! Same arm!” Axel punched the Wild Monkey Pokémon in the stomach causing the ice to shatter, not only from impact, but also from the Infernape’s flaming fist.
“That’s better.” Axel declared while staring at his hand as he moved his fingers. He was suddenly struck from behind by a Headbutt from Granbull. The monkey landed on all four limbs and growled at the purple canine.
“How dare you interrupt a monkey battle!” I yelled at the female Rocket who had issued the command while I was distracted with Vigoroth and its Trainer.
“Hey I had this!” agreed my opponent. I was actually surprised he wasn’t grateful for the assistance seeing that he had nothing but a humiliating loss ahead of him.
“Well sooorrrry for helping then.” she said snidely.
“Not yet you’re not.” I said vehemently. “Aerodactyl! Lunch is served! Granbull or human? Which do you want today?” I called over to my prehistoric beast who had been sitting bored and idle since we landed. The revived terror shrieked with delight as he flew over to us with his mouth wide open.
“Oh Arceus no!” the female Rocket cried running away with Granbull close behind as Aerodactyl fast approached. A yellow dust filled the air around the two causing them to stop dead in their tracks.
“Just thought I’d lend a little assistance. You can hardly take care of yourself.” teased Eve. She stood with a small green human shaped creature that had white hair, a leaf like cape, a green mask, and two bouquets for hands, one red the other blue. “Roserade’s Stun Spore should last ten minutes or so, so don’t take too long torturing them.”
“Thanks.” I told her. I looked over at my ancient warrior who already had his claw on Granbull and was tearing out the Fairy Pokémon’s throat. “Aerodactyl thanks you too.”
“You… You ate them!” panicked my foe slowly backing away.
“No. He ate them.” I corrected pointing back to the scene where the Fossil Pokémon was devouring Granbull leaving behind bloody bones. “Or rather is eating them. Now are we going to finish this monkey battle or not?” I demanded.
“*Grrr* Vigoroth! Double Team!” the Rocket ordered. One Vigoroth soon became seven attempting to surround us. “Now use Fury Swipes!” The seven monkeys all came at me and Axel with their claws swinging wildly. We stood back to back knowing that the real one would attempt to take either me or him out. I punched at the nearest one only for it to vanish. This would be so much easier if I had a sword, then I could take two or three out in a single stroke.
“Gah!” I heard Axel scream. Sounds like he found the real Vigoroth. I turned around to see my monkey grab the other monkey by its head followed by several rapid kicks to the stomach. At last the Vigoroth fell unconscious.
“Now it’s your turn!” I said victoriously turning toward the Trainer. He tried to run away, but when he turned around Aerodactyl was standing behind him with blood lining the sadistic grin on his maw.
“P-please… spare me.” he begged getting on his knees.
“Ok.” I said in a friendly tone.
“Really?” he asked nervously.
“Sure.” I walked over to the Rocket and extended my arm in a gesture to help him up. However, the moment he accepted my hand, I thrust my palm into his elbow snapping his arm in the wrong direction. Over his pain written scream I added “You’ll live, but you’ll be a cripple. I call that a fair deal.”
After breaking the Rocket’s other arm and shattering both of his knees with the help of Axel and Beldum, I looked around to see what else could be done. The Trainer with the Magcargo was fast asleep as a result of Luna’s Hypnosis and Chane’s mercy. The Nidorina was laying on top of her Trainer, both alive but in rough shape. I’m actually surprised Zack didn’t try to rape her. Could it be he has a chivalrous side? The other female Trainer shared the same fate as her Granbull being nothing more than a pile of broken bones in a pool of blood. There was no sign of this group’s leader, her Kadabra, or the sixth member that was spoken of.
As I walked around the side of the house into the ranch the Pokémon stayed in, I was greeted by Chane who was sitting with a Paras, a Rattata, a Politoed, and a Flaafy. Kermit was holding the Azurill from before and Lucy was tending the wounds of a Nuzleef.
“Um… H-hi Brian. A-and Axel.” she greeted cheerfully while petting the Rattata.
“Hi yourself.” I responded. “You really care about Pokémon don’t you?” I observed.
“I-I had to make sure th-they were alright. Team Rocket w-was being so cruel to them.” said Chane in despair. “B-but everyone’s ok now!” she said happily.
“Yup. You did great today. I can see why Master Raiden chose you.” I praised.
“Th-thank you…” she said shyly.
“Oh yeah! Where is everyone else!” I asked when I realized they were still missing.
“I-I don’t know. As soon as Luna p-put that Rocket to sleep I came back here to check on the Pokémon.” she answered looking side to side. I guess she didn’t witness my massacre then.
“Come on! I haven’t checked the house yet!” I said running to the side door. I threw open the screen door to see Charmaine standing in the living room holding a knife to the Day Care Lady’s throat while the Day Care Man was knocked out on the floor with a big bruise on his bald head. She looked like she had been put through hell as her hair was a mess and her clothes were dirty and ripped in several places including a gash in her shirt that exposed her entire bleeding shoulder. Standing in front of her were Zack, Lloyd, and Eve who were looking on motionlessly.
“I was wondering where the rest of you Neophytes were.” the Rocket wench ridiculed. “As I told your friends, one wrong move and the old lady dies!” she warned pushing the knife harder to the elder’s throat. That would explain why the others weren’t attacking. But did they have a plan?
“So where’s your Kadabra?” I interrogated not seeing it as I looked around.
“I fainted it.” Eve admit proudly. “But she called it back before I could have any more fun.” she pouted. I rolled my eyes. How typical.
“Shut up! All of you!” the Rocket demanded furiously. “Now that I have you all in one place, I can finally escape. You may have ruined our plans, but none of you will leave here alive!” she announced. The woman pulled a black rectangular radio from her pocket with her free hand and pushed down a red button. “Are the Electrodes ready?” she asked into it.
“Yes ma’am.” came a response on the other end.
“Very well. Get down here so that we may take our leave.” ordered the wench. A moment later the sixth Rocket came running down the stairs followed by a muscular grey skinned man with a black crotch and a big gold belt with a red ‘P’ on it. The size of the Machoke’s red veined arms gave it a slight hunch. They must have been holding the couple hostage before we arrived which is why we didn’t see them until now.
“You should feel lucky Old Woman. You get to live.” the sixth Rocket told the Day Care Lady spitefully.
“You scoundrels will never get away with this!” the elder warned defiantly.
“Hostages should know better than to talk.” growled the leader pushing the knife harder drawing some blood.
“She’s right though. You won’t get away.” Eve said confidently. On cue a black ghostly hand came out of the woman’s head. The fingers on the hand curved into claws before raking back through the Rocket’s skull. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head as she fell lifelessly to the ground. Axel and I both shuddered as we realized that could have been him when we last battled Eve. Diva came walking through the wall with a satisfied look on her zippered face.
“My word!” gasped the old lady looking down at the scene.
“You bastards!” yelled the last conscious survivor. “Machoke! Crush them!” There was no response from his Pokémon. “Machoke!” he yelled angrily turning to the Super Power Pokémon. Machoke groaned as it collapsed to the hard wood floor crackling with electricity.
“I was wondering what was taking you four so long.” Raiden said bluntly. He stood in his Neos uniform with his arms crossed and an orange mouse with yellow cheeks, big curly black ears, and a long black tail tipped with a yellow lightning bolt standing with him. I remember that Raichu! It’s the one I lost to in my and Raiden’s last battle.
“There are five of you now!? I can’t take this! I surrender!” moaned the final Rocket falling to the floor in defeat.
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Once the Day Care was safe, and all the surviving Rockets gathered up and sent to the police, we returned to the apartment for some well-deserved rest. And a lecture which none of us were quite thrilled about.
“Your first mission was a success, but you all could have done a lot better. I want to see more teamwork. Things will go by much faster if you work together.” Raiden told us.
“Says the man who didn’t show up until the end of the fight.” Eve retorted.
“Next time I will be with you so that should help smooth things over. As squad leader, I will also find ways to utilize each of your individual talents to their fullest. Zack Kaguya, the ex-Ranger. Your specialty is using the environment to your advantage. Chane Turk, you care a lot about Pokémon. Your performance today only proves how passionate and determined you are to protect them from harm. Eve Illuminati and Brian Xelbu. You are both cunning strategists. Eve, you use your charm and wit to throw enemies off balance allowing you to control the battle. You, Brian, can adapt to any situation for better versatility. Then there is myself. Like Eve and Brian, I am a strategist. I strive to overcome my weaknesses while exploiting the weaknesses of my foes. Just as I have found ways to compensate for my Electric-type Pokémon’s weakness to Ground-types, I will find ways to compensate for each of your weaknesses to make our squad unstoppable. That is all I have to say, so you may do as you like now.” he finished.
*******************************
So I figured I should point something out with this chapter. It was written before HGSS was a thing so Charmaine was based on the "generic" female Rocket Executive from GSC, hence the similar appearance. Her name comes from the Pokémon Special manga's name for that character.
Mom and Dad
Due to being in the wrong place at the wrong time and events that were completely beyond my control, I have become public enemy number one of Team Rocket. To protect my identity, I have changed my name and to protect you this will be the last time I contact you until everything is taken care of. I have Axel with me along with a few trustworthy allies so don’t worry, I’ll be completely fine. I love you both.
-Your one and only son.
P.S. Burn this letter after reading it. I don’t want my enemies to trace this to you.
I held the envelope addressed to my parents which contained that letter in my bandaged hand staring at it for a solid two minutes before tossing it into a blue mailbox at the corner of a street in Goldenrod. It was only 11:30 in the morning, but already it was turning into a hot day. The bright August sun made the city glow like its namesake. I don’t think any Grass-type would have trouble launching a Solar Beam today if there were to be a battle.
“You ready?” asked Axel empathetically.
“Yeah, we can go.” I said turning away from the mailbox. All I could do at the moment was turn as my destination was across the street and I had the red light. I stood patiently waiting until the light for the cars turned red and I got the white walking signal. At that moment I casually walked across the street to the building that housed my squad’s temporary base.
Raiden had rented us a four-bedroom apartment paid for by Team Neos. The Team will support us until we get our first mission and start making money at which point our squad funds will pay for our finances. The way I understand it, mission profits are divided into three categories; what goes to Team Neos to keep it running, what goes to the squads to support their field work, and what goes to individual members to keep them happy.
The apartment we were staying in was on the first floor so all I had to do was walk in the main entrance and go down the hall to room 109. As I put my key in the door, I heard yelling and screaming on the other side.
“What the hell is going on in there?” Axel wondered out loud. I quickly turned the lock and pushed the door open. Standing in the middle of the floor was Eve dripping wet wearing nothing more than a white towel. She was staring daggers at Zack who had his arms up palms out with a nervous grin on his face. Chane was standing by the doorway to Eve’s bedroom with a concerned look. She probably heard them fighting and came to investigate.
“What is going on here?” I asked in confusion.
“Zacky boy though it was a smart idea to walk in on me in the shower!” Eve said angrily.
“I told you, I only wanted to see if you needed help scrubbing your back. My intentions were entirely pure.” he replied like he did nothing wrong. “Help me out here Brian. I know we haven’t known each other long, but we men have to stick together.” he said looking to me for support. My mouth slowly curved into a demented smirk as I realized what was going on here.
“What are you so happy about?” Eve questioned venomously. “You better not be siding with this lecher!”
“I’m not siding with anyone nor will I get involved. This is between you two. I’m just thrilled to watch.” I said happily. I closed the front door and leaned against the wall. “As you were.” I instructed. This will definitely keep me entertained for a while.
“C-can’t we all just get along? M-maybe we could sit down and maybe g-get to know each other? W-we are a team now s-so why argue?” Chane proposed fidgeting around nervously.
“And miss all the fun?” I asked sarcastically raising an eyebrow. Zack used this distraction as an opportunity to run over to Chane. Comparatively, he was about nine inches to a foot taller than she was.
“I for one agree with the idea.” he declared wrapping his arm around her shoulder. I’m not sure if it was intentional of accident, but he had his hand on one of her boobs. Chane definitely noticed as she was wide eyed and blushing bright red. “It will be a nice way to settle our differences and become better comrades.” Zack went on.
“U-u-umm…” Chane stammered trying to get Zack’s attention. He looked down at her realizing what he was doing. Zack pulled his hand away with a shameless laugh.
“Sorry, old habit.” he confessed modestly. He then turned to Eve. “Eve, as much as I love seeing you dripping wet in nothing but a towel, how about getting dressed so that we can get better acquainted. Then maybe later we can really get acquainted.”
“Not going to happen!” said Eve spitefully. As she walked past Chane and Zack to go to her room, Zack thought it smart to grab her ass. Needless to say, no one was surprised when Eve turned around and elbowed him in the face before slamming the door.
“I might have deserved that.” Zack said holding his nose as he crouched to retrieve his glasses. Already I like this squad! Although by the looks of it, one of us was missing.
“So where’s Master Raiden?” I inquired pushing myself off the wall and walking to the rest of the group.
“Master?” asked Zack regaining his composure.
“Well yeah, I respect him and he is our superior. That is why I call him Master.” I clarified.
“He has a warped sense of respect.” Axel threw in for the hell of it.
“R-Raiden w-went to pick up our n-new uniforms.” answered Chane with a stutter. It’s too bad he’s going to miss our Q&A session. I would suggest postponing it until he got back, but I don’t know how long he’ll be and Eve might kill Zack in that time span. Speaking of the devil herself, Eve came walking out of her room fully dressed but still emanating a wrathful aura.
“If we’re doing this, I’m sitting out of Kaguya’s reach.” Eve said sounding calm, but her tone was laced with anger. We all gathered in the common area and sat on the various furniture laying about. Zack, Axel, and I sat on a grey three cushion sofa, Chane sat in a red recliner with her hands folded nervously in her lap, and Eve laid on her side on a blue two cushion sofa with her head propped up in her hand glaring at Zack. Poor bastard’s made it on her hit list it seems.
“Well the first question I think that should be asked is; why did you all join Team Neos?” asked Zack starting everything off. “I myself joined for the chicks. Chicks dig a man in uniform and we have one badass uniform.” he said concededly with his hand on his chin and a smug grin. Somehow that doesn’t surprise me with his behavior this morning.
“I joined for the fun of it. Seeing the humiliated faces of people when you beat them is just so satisfying and some of their expressions are just priceless!” Eve sneered joyfully. “Isn’t that right Brian?”
“Quiet you!” I yelled at her. “Your turn Chane.” I said more calmly.
“W-w-well… m-m-my brother always took care of me and looked out for me, b-but w-when he got hospitalized, I decided to join s-so that I could become stronger a-and protect him for once.” she explained. Somehow though I don’t think we’re getting the whole story on her.
“What about you Brian?” inquired Zack pushing up his glasses.
“Me? I want to change the world. I want to destroy all crime and tear down the world government. Only then can things be rebuilt the way they should be. A place where both Pokémon and humans can be happy and free: that is my goal.” I said straightforwardly. Everyone in the room gave me strange looks. Eve broke the silence by laughing mockingly.
“Oh what a vivid imagination the child has.” she taunted.
“I-I think it is a wonderful goal.” Chane agreed with me.
“Why not? We’ll help each other achieve our goals.” declared Zack. “The three of us will work on getting Chane stronger for her brother, you all can help me get laid, especially you ladies, we can assist Brian in destroying the world, and Eve can have herself the time of her life doing all of that. Whadaya say?”
“Fuck off.” Eve answered flatly. Figures she would be unsupportive.
“Next question! What Pokémon do you all have?” Axel brought up. I kindly translated for everyone and ran down my list of Axel, Aerodactyl, Riolu, Piloswine, Snorlax, and Beldum, the six I was currently carrying.
“I have a Banette named Diva, a Luxray, a Steelix, a Nidoqueen, a Roserade, and a Walrein.” Eve told.
“I-I have Beautifly, Lunatone, Pidgeot, Chansey, Azumarill, and Breloom. Th-their names are Celia, Luna, Jace, Lucy, Kermit, and Izzy r-respectively.” listed Chane.
“I’ve got a Golduck named Lloyd.” said Zack. “Up until a month ago I was a Pokémon Ranger so I was only allowed and only needed one partner.” he said bluntly.
“S-so you quit to join Team Neos?” inquired Chane.
“Quit?” he replied with a confused look. A nervous smile then appeared on his face. “I was kicked out for way too many sexual harassment charges!” stated Zack shamelessly pointing his thumb at himself. “It’s part of a Pokémon Ranger’s job description to stay fit and athletic so who can blame me if I was turned on? I mean those are some sweet lookin’ hotties in that profession.”
“Figures.” Eve said unamused as she rolled her eyes. Chane simply looked to the floor blushing while I just started giggling uncontrollably. Was this guy for real?
“You are a horrible person Zack and yet I just can’t help but think you will be the source of much amusement!” I declared between giggles. It had been awhile since I laughed like this at something genuinely funny and not at ripping people’s limbs off. “Next question?” I proposed after catching my second wind.
“Are you ready to try on your new uniforms?” All five of us turned to the front door where none other than Raiden was standing wearing his “civilian” clothes consisting of long black pants, brown tennis shoes, and a sleeveless navy blue shirt. Slung over his shoulder was a white gym bag which I’m guessing contains our uniforms.
“Sure, why not? Kaguya was making me nauseous anyway.” said Eve getting off the sofa and walking to Raiden.
“Ouch. That hurt.” Zack said pretending offence.
Raiden emptied four uniforms out of the bag and passed them out to us, sending us to our rooms to get changed once we had one. Those who had rooms anyway. Since there were only four bedrooms, one person would not get a room. I was the first person to call the floor as I am fully capable of sleeping anywhere. As such, Raiden sent me to his room. It was rather basic with only a bed and dresser occupying a moderate amount of space.
“Can you believe it Axel? Things just keep moving forward. At this rate we’ll fix this world in no time!” I mused optimistically while getting undressed. I held the pale grey hoodie out in front of me admiring the shining silver X on the chest.
“Yup. As much as I liked our previous lifestyle, we only fought for ourselves. Now it seems like we’re putting our talents to better use.” acknowledged Axel with an outlook I hadn’t really considered. I mean I knew what I was doing, I just hadn’t heard it put into words like that before. That monkey can be wiser than me sometimes.
After applying the whitish grey gloves, I proceeded to look myself over in a mirror on Raiden’s dresser. Zack was right; we do look pretty badass in this outfit. And here I thought I only looked good in black. I finished off by throwing the hood over my head to get a view of what my enemies will see. I must say, I’m quite pleased with the results. As far as the fit went, the pants were comfortable around the waist and baggy in the legs, just the way I like my pants, and the hoodie was loose giving me room to breathe. The gloves and boots were also perfect fits. It’s almost as if Raiden bleached what I normally wear and gave it back to me.
“Dude. You rock.” Axel complemented looking me over.
“Indeed I do. Now come! We must join the others.” Outside Zack was already standing fully dressed with Raiden. Aside from being two inches shorter than me, we could have been called twins. Joining us a minute later was Chane. Eve was the last one to come out but she had modified uniform just as she promised she would. She had cut the top of her shirt open to expose her cleavage, and rather than wearing the pants she was given, she wore her own skirt and platform boots. Raiden did a slow motion face-palm with a sigh and shook his head. Chane was a stuttering mess as she tried to form the words she wanted to say.
“Wh-wha-what did you do!?” she finally got out.
“Simple, this shirt was too tight and I do not wear pants.” declared Eve arrogantly.
“Hell yeah!” Zack cheered at her comment.
“Get over yourself jizz stain. It’s not gonna happen.” she shot down mercilessly.
“Ow. My feelings.” lamented Zack. Twice in one hour. How much more can he take of this before Eve breaks him for real?
“Enough nonsense.” Raiden scolded. “While you were all getting changed, I was informed that the spies we have infiltrating Team Rocket reported that the Rocket’s plan on raiding the Day Care Center on Route 34 to steal the Pokémon the elderly couple living there are taking care of. Their reasoning for doing this is of no concern to us; your objective is making sure theirs fails.”
“Our objective? What about you?” I questioned with a raised eyebrow.
“So far we are the only squad in the area to be informed as the report only just now came in. I have an errand I need to run, but the four of you should be more than enough to handle it. Now stop wasting time! Get going!” he told us. Without a seconds more hesitation, we left the apartment.
“Well that was random.” Axel said as we ran outside.
“Agreed.” I affirmed.
“What kind of leader is he anyway? Sending us to do all the dirty work.” Eve protested.
“A good leader also needs to know how to delegate. If Master Raiden were here it would be serious overkill.” I pointed out both to annoy Eve and defend Raiden. I looked at the many buildings lining the streets then up at the sky. I determined the fastest way to get to where we need to go would be by air so I quickly reached for Aerodactyl’s Pokéball to release him.
“Good idea Brian.” Zack complemented when the Fossil Pokémon materialized in a red beam of light. “You mind if I ride with you? I don’t have a Flying-type.”
“Sure, hop on.” I instructed jumping on first followed by Axel. Aerodactyl growled in disapproval as Zack also mounted. The only other time he had been forced to do a three-seater was with Madison and she was a light weight. At the same time, Eve joined Chane on the latter’s Pidgeot. When everyone had their rides sorted out, we took to the sky. “Sorry Aero.” I whispered in the dinosaur’s ear as he flew us.
“I guess I need a flier?” posed Zack realizing Aerodactyl’s stress.
“It would be helpful.” I approved. “Eve should get one too if she doesn’t already have one.”
“Yeah, I’d love to have the option of mounting either her or Chane.” Zack said enthusiastically.
“You mean their Flying-types?” I suggested wondering if he meant it to sound the way it did, or if he just forgot a word. Axel was snickering at the very thought of it.
“That too.” he said not bother to correct his mistake. “But what about you? Which do you think is cuter?” he inquired flirtatiously.
“We’re here!” I dodged pointing down to the small ranch. Unfortunately, we were late as I could see several figures below dressed in black harassing the Pokémon at the Day Care. What worried me was that I couldn’t see the elders anywhere. Hopefully they were just being held hostage in the house and not hurt in anyway. After all, I know full well what those bastards are capable of. The very thought of it makes my blood boil!
Jace came from behind Aerodactyl in a nosedive toward the ranch. I led my flier to do the same. Four Rockets looked up in alarm as the two Flying-types landed and the five of us dismounted.
“Ah! It’s them! It’s Team Neos!” one of them screamed fearfully, this one male.
“It seems our reputation precedes us.” I said sinisterly. I glared at my foes like a predator looking for the weakest link to feed on. Looking around the group I count two males and two females accompanied by a purple bipedal canine with massive jowls curved up in two pointed fangs and a black collar around its neck, a red snail made of lava with huge yellow eyes and grey hardened lava forming a shell, an angry white furred monkey with a red crest on its forehead and two long black claws on each hand, and a cyan colored rabbit covered in short poisonous barbs. Just one Pokémon each? Can’t they do better than that?
“Relax, there are only four of them and six of us. We can handle these punks.” said the other male confidently. What a delirious fool. Still, that meant there were still two more unaccounted for.
“Oh no! They have us out numbered! Whatever are we going to do?” mocked Eve sarcastically. I could almost laugh now that her quips weren’t directed to me for once. I was also amazed that it required six of these clowns to hold up a Day Care.
“You’re not making fun of us now, are you Little Girl?” taunted what sounded like an older female from behind us. Eve simply laughed the woman’s comment off.
“Are you just jealous because, unlike you, I still have my looks you ugly old hag?” she retorted not missing a beat. A silver spoon held by a yellow three fingered hand swung around Eve’s throat threatening to slash if the owner didn’t like the next remark out of her mouth. The rest of us were entangled in blue vines save Axel and the fliers. The morale of the other Rocket members seemed to shoot up at seeing us taken out so quickly.
“If your Pokémon are smart they won’t dare attack my Tangrowth or my Kadabra unless they want their precious Trainers to be crushed or have her throat slit.” warned the woman stepping into our view. I’m guessing she was in her mid-thirties. She had grey eyes, red hair done up in a ridiculous perm, and wore a fancy white uniform with the trademark red ‘R’ on it that would look magnificent stained with blood. She also had white heeled boots and on her waist was a gold belt. I nodded to Axel and Aerodactyl to let them know to stay at bay for now.
“That’s Ms. Charmaine for ya. There’s no winning with her unless you agree with her.” said one of the two females proudly. That meant this woman was the leader of this operation. I will enjoy killing her.
“What do you want with this Day Care anyway?” inquired Zack.
“We have no reason to explain ourselves to you NEOphytes.” mocked the male who was originally scared of us. I love how they act so tough when things end up in their favor.
“Pff. Nice pun. Did you hear it from your mommy?” Eve ridiculed. Kadabra pulled its spoon closer to her neck causing Eve to grunt in annoyance.
“Watch your tongue girl. To answer your question young man, we heard there was a Pokémon staying here that was bred from a good stock so we decided to acquire it. Unfortunately, that well-bred Pokémon just turned out to be this weak little thing.” she criticized holding up a small blue Pokémon with white cheeks and a zigzagged black tail ending in a blue ball the same size as the Pokémon. The poor little Azurill looked panicked and terrified as the vile woman held it by its bubble like tail.
“Azurill!!” Chane shouted in distress. That’s right, she did say she had an Azumarill, the fully evolved form of the victim. Was Chane empathizing or were this one and hers related? Chane began struggling to get free of Tangrowth as hard as she could.
“What’s wrong? Did I hit a nerve?” tormented the leader. “What if I were to do this?” The woman began playing paddle-ball using the ill-fated Azurill as the ball with its own tail the paddle.
“Stop it!” Chane cried desperately.
“How typical of a stupid Rocket.” I scoffed. The wench stopped her assault and looked at me curiously to see what I was up to. “You told our Pokémon that if they were smart, not to attack. Well they’re not the ones who should be smart. It’s you! On our side are two Flying-types and a Fire-type. On yours is a Grass-type holding us hostage.” I smiled darkly giving the female Rocket wide eyes full of fright. “Axel! Flamethrower Tangrowth now!”
“You got it!” Axel agreed willingly. He spat a long tongue of fire at the hapless Vine Pokémon behind us. I could feel the intense heat as the creature behind me writhed in agony. The vines around me and my partners weakened enough for us to literally break free. Eve took the opportunity to elbow Kadabra in the side to escape while it was distracted by its companion’s agony.
“Time to play Diva.” she said evilly as she removed a Dusk Ball from her belt.
“Jace! Aerial Ace that woman and free Azurill!” Chane commanded. The Pidgeot wasted no time in dive bombing the leader in the chest knocking the wind out of her and causing her to drop Azurill. At once Chane rushed over to catch the baby Pokémon as it fell. “You’re ok now. You’re safe.” she whispered to it comfortingly. Kadabra instantly Teleported away from the possessed doll known as Diva to aide its master.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Eve questioned rushing after her chosen opponent.
“How dare you hurt Ms. Charmaine! Use Flamethrower on the girl with Azurill Magcargo!” ordered the second male Rocket. Before I had a chance to react, the Vigoroth was attacking me with its arm raised over its head. Axel swiftly jumped in the way to parry the Wild Monkey Pokémon’s Slash and threw it to the ground.
While we were distracted by Vigoroth, Chane embraced Azurill tightly as the stream of flame neared its intended target. A blast of water suddenly came from behind Chane cancelling out the fire. She looked up and behind her where Zack stood next to a blue kappa with a long tail and a red jewel on its forehead. A few drops of water dripped off the Golduck’s beak onto the ground.
“You ever think about hurting my friends again or you’ll have me to deal with.” Zack said threateningly. I couldn’t see her face under her hood, but I think Chane was looking at Zack as if he were Lance of the Elite Four as he chuckled before saying “Don’t give me that look. We’re teammates, we lookout for each other.”
“R-right.” she answered. While holding Azurill in one arm, Chane stood up in addition to pulling out a Luxury Ball. From the ball came a pink egg shaped Pokémon with small arms and legs, small frills hanging off the side of its head like hair, and an egg in a pouch on her belly.
“Lucy, I need you to take Azurill and heal it with Soft-Boiled.” Chane told the Chansey handing off the baby Pokémon. Lucy wasted no time in pulling out her egg and feeding it to the young Azurill. “Now it’s your turn Kermit!” The fully evolved Aqua Rabbit materialized from his Net Ball with a very pissed off look on his face. Either the Azumarill was aggressive anyway, or sensing what happened to his kin from inside his ball put him in a bad mood. “Please use Hydro Pump on the Magcargo!” she commanded. Kermit gladly complied, blasting water from his mouth like a fire hose. The lava snail was quickly taken out by the attack.
“Hey, you’re kinda cute. Why not ditch Team Rocket and join me? I will give you as much passion and romance as you want.” Zack said hitting on one of the female grunts. This one was the owner of Nidorina. Has he no shame?
“Get real.” was her annoyed response.
“Too bad.” Zack sighed lowering his head. “Lloyd! Use Psychic!”
I had no time to observe any more of the battle as I was in one of my own. “Vigoroth! Attack with Ice Beam!” called the monkey’s Trainer. Vigoroth screamed as the cold pale blue ray shot from its mouth. Axel threw his arm in front of the beam to block it only to have his arm frozen.
“Axel, I think you just learned Ice Punch. Use it!” I called. The Flame Pokémon pulled his fist back followed by a devastating jab to the enemy monkey’s jaw which cracked the ice around Axel’s arm. “Follow up with a Fire Punch! Same arm!” Axel punched the Wild Monkey Pokémon in the stomach causing the ice to shatter, not only from impact, but also from the Infernape’s flaming fist.
“That’s better.” Axel declared while staring at his hand as he moved his fingers. He was suddenly struck from behind by a Headbutt from Granbull. The monkey landed on all four limbs and growled at the purple canine.
“How dare you interrupt a monkey battle!” I yelled at the female Rocket who had issued the command while I was distracted with Vigoroth and its Trainer.
“Hey I had this!” agreed my opponent. I was actually surprised he wasn’t grateful for the assistance seeing that he had nothing but a humiliating loss ahead of him.
“Well sooorrrry for helping then.” she said snidely.
“Not yet you’re not.” I said vehemently. “Aerodactyl! Lunch is served! Granbull or human? Which do you want today?” I called over to my prehistoric beast who had been sitting bored and idle since we landed. The revived terror shrieked with delight as he flew over to us with his mouth wide open.
“Oh Arceus no!” the female Rocket cried running away with Granbull close behind as Aerodactyl fast approached. A yellow dust filled the air around the two causing them to stop dead in their tracks.
“Just thought I’d lend a little assistance. You can hardly take care of yourself.” teased Eve. She stood with a small green human shaped creature that had white hair, a leaf like cape, a green mask, and two bouquets for hands, one red the other blue. “Roserade’s Stun Spore should last ten minutes or so, so don’t take too long torturing them.”
“Thanks.” I told her. I looked over at my ancient warrior who already had his claw on Granbull and was tearing out the Fairy Pokémon’s throat. “Aerodactyl thanks you too.”
“You… You ate them!” panicked my foe slowly backing away.
“No. He ate them.” I corrected pointing back to the scene where the Fossil Pokémon was devouring Granbull leaving behind bloody bones. “Or rather is eating them. Now are we going to finish this monkey battle or not?” I demanded.
“*Grrr* Vigoroth! Double Team!” the Rocket ordered. One Vigoroth soon became seven attempting to surround us. “Now use Fury Swipes!” The seven monkeys all came at me and Axel with their claws swinging wildly. We stood back to back knowing that the real one would attempt to take either me or him out. I punched at the nearest one only for it to vanish. This would be so much easier if I had a sword, then I could take two or three out in a single stroke.
“Gah!” I heard Axel scream. Sounds like he found the real Vigoroth. I turned around to see my monkey grab the other monkey by its head followed by several rapid kicks to the stomach. At last the Vigoroth fell unconscious.
“Now it’s your turn!” I said victoriously turning toward the Trainer. He tried to run away, but when he turned around Aerodactyl was standing behind him with blood lining the sadistic grin on his maw.
“P-please… spare me.” he begged getting on his knees.
“Ok.” I said in a friendly tone.
“Really?” he asked nervously.
“Sure.” I walked over to the Rocket and extended my arm in a gesture to help him up. However, the moment he accepted my hand, I thrust my palm into his elbow snapping his arm in the wrong direction. Over his pain written scream I added “You’ll live, but you’ll be a cripple. I call that a fair deal.”
After breaking the Rocket’s other arm and shattering both of his knees with the help of Axel and Beldum, I looked around to see what else could be done. The Trainer with the Magcargo was fast asleep as a result of Luna’s Hypnosis and Chane’s mercy. The Nidorina was laying on top of her Trainer, both alive but in rough shape. I’m actually surprised Zack didn’t try to rape her. Could it be he has a chivalrous side? The other female Trainer shared the same fate as her Granbull being nothing more than a pile of broken bones in a pool of blood. There was no sign of this group’s leader, her Kadabra, or the sixth member that was spoken of.
As I walked around the side of the house into the ranch the Pokémon stayed in, I was greeted by Chane who was sitting with a Paras, a Rattata, a Politoed, and a Flaafy. Kermit was holding the Azurill from before and Lucy was tending the wounds of a Nuzleef.
“Um… H-hi Brian. A-and Axel.” she greeted cheerfully while petting the Rattata.
“Hi yourself.” I responded. “You really care about Pokémon don’t you?” I observed.
“I-I had to make sure th-they were alright. Team Rocket w-was being so cruel to them.” said Chane in despair. “B-but everyone’s ok now!” she said happily.
“Yup. You did great today. I can see why Master Raiden chose you.” I praised.
“Th-thank you…” she said shyly.
“Oh yeah! Where is everyone else!” I asked when I realized they were still missing.
“I-I don’t know. As soon as Luna p-put that Rocket to sleep I came back here to check on the Pokémon.” she answered looking side to side. I guess she didn’t witness my massacre then.
“Come on! I haven’t checked the house yet!” I said running to the side door. I threw open the screen door to see Charmaine standing in the living room holding a knife to the Day Care Lady’s throat while the Day Care Man was knocked out on the floor with a big bruise on his bald head. She looked like she had been put through hell as her hair was a mess and her clothes were dirty and ripped in several places including a gash in her shirt that exposed her entire bleeding shoulder. Standing in front of her were Zack, Lloyd, and Eve who were looking on motionlessly.
“I was wondering where the rest of you Neophytes were.” the Rocket wench ridiculed. “As I told your friends, one wrong move and the old lady dies!” she warned pushing the knife harder to the elder’s throat. That would explain why the others weren’t attacking. But did they have a plan?
“So where’s your Kadabra?” I interrogated not seeing it as I looked around.
“I fainted it.” Eve admit proudly. “But she called it back before I could have any more fun.” she pouted. I rolled my eyes. How typical.
“Shut up! All of you!” the Rocket demanded furiously. “Now that I have you all in one place, I can finally escape. You may have ruined our plans, but none of you will leave here alive!” she announced. The woman pulled a black rectangular radio from her pocket with her free hand and pushed down a red button. “Are the Electrodes ready?” she asked into it.
“Yes ma’am.” came a response on the other end.
“Very well. Get down here so that we may take our leave.” ordered the wench. A moment later the sixth Rocket came running down the stairs followed by a muscular grey skinned man with a black crotch and a big gold belt with a red ‘P’ on it. The size of the Machoke’s red veined arms gave it a slight hunch. They must have been holding the couple hostage before we arrived which is why we didn’t see them until now.
“You should feel lucky Old Woman. You get to live.” the sixth Rocket told the Day Care Lady spitefully.
“You scoundrels will never get away with this!” the elder warned defiantly.
“Hostages should know better than to talk.” growled the leader pushing the knife harder drawing some blood.
“She’s right though. You won’t get away.” Eve said confidently. On cue a black ghostly hand came out of the woman’s head. The fingers on the hand curved into claws before raking back through the Rocket’s skull. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head as she fell lifelessly to the ground. Axel and I both shuddered as we realized that could have been him when we last battled Eve. Diva came walking through the wall with a satisfied look on her zippered face.
“My word!” gasped the old lady looking down at the scene.
“You bastards!” yelled the last conscious survivor. “Machoke! Crush them!” There was no response from his Pokémon. “Machoke!” he yelled angrily turning to the Super Power Pokémon. Machoke groaned as it collapsed to the hard wood floor crackling with electricity.
“I was wondering what was taking you four so long.” Raiden said bluntly. He stood in his Neos uniform with his arms crossed and an orange mouse with yellow cheeks, big curly black ears, and a long black tail tipped with a yellow lightning bolt standing with him. I remember that Raichu! It’s the one I lost to in my and Raiden’s last battle.
“There are five of you now!? I can’t take this! I surrender!” moaned the final Rocket falling to the floor in defeat.
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Once the Day Care was safe, and all the surviving Rockets gathered up and sent to the police, we returned to the apartment for some well-deserved rest. And a lecture which none of us were quite thrilled about.
“Your first mission was a success, but you all could have done a lot better. I want to see more teamwork. Things will go by much faster if you work together.” Raiden told us.
“Says the man who didn’t show up until the end of the fight.” Eve retorted.
“Next time I will be with you so that should help smooth things over. As squad leader, I will also find ways to utilize each of your individual talents to their fullest. Zack Kaguya, the ex-Ranger. Your specialty is using the environment to your advantage. Chane Turk, you care a lot about Pokémon. Your performance today only proves how passionate and determined you are to protect them from harm. Eve Illuminati and Brian Xelbu. You are both cunning strategists. Eve, you use your charm and wit to throw enemies off balance allowing you to control the battle. You, Brian, can adapt to any situation for better versatility. Then there is myself. Like Eve and Brian, I am a strategist. I strive to overcome my weaknesses while exploiting the weaknesses of my foes. Just as I have found ways to compensate for my Electric-type Pokémon’s weakness to Ground-types, I will find ways to compensate for each of your weaknesses to make our squad unstoppable. That is all I have to say, so you may do as you like now.” he finished.
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So I figured I should point something out with this chapter. It was written before HGSS was a thing so Charmaine was based on the "generic" female Rocket Executive from GSC, hence the similar appearance. Her name comes from the Pokémon Special manga's name for that character.