It was the 10th of September, and I was probably the most nervous boy in Johto.
I had been contemplating my decision to work with Team Rocket on and off all week, and my contemplations always ended with me dismissing the idea, then realising I didn't have a choice, as they had poor Banjo.
I was hoping that my job would involve very little indoor time, as I wanted to train my Pokémon and collect all the john Gym badges. Fat chance, I thought, laughing bitterly.
At 6:30 in the morning, I was cold as hell, and I wished that I could be put into a Pokéball like Goku and Jasmine were in right now.
But I couldn't worry about that now. I had finally made it to Mahogany Town, where the card had instructed me to go.
It was a lovely old town, and the sun could clearly be sun rising in the distance, casting a pleasant orange light over the place.
I enjoyed it while I could, as it could very well be the last time I saw the sun for a very long time.
Walking around for a bit, I soon came to a funny old place called Just a Souvenir Shop.
Not the most clever name in the world, I thought, going inside, but I won't judge. Out loud at least.
Going to the counter, I said hello to creepy man behind the counter, and I spoke the key sentence the card had instructed me to say to him, "Nice day for Golbat hunting, isn't it just?"
He just nodded, and walked around the counter towards a large gold cabinet. Feeling a bit too important for my own good, I went over next to him.
When he made sure that no one was around, the man pushed back the cabinet, revealing a staircase that led downstairs.
"Remember these directions," he said softly, "two lefts, a right then left up the stairs. Make another right..."
"Hold on a second," I said, stopping him, "do you reckon I could write this down?"
He huffed and went back behind the counter to write down the instructions.
Giving me the piece of paper, I thanked him and walked down the stairs to meet my future.
As I stepped up to the final door, I was shaking. Wanting to slap myself, I knocked on the door.
"Come in," said a familiar voice.
I slowly opened the door, and found myself in a fair sized office. It had maroon walls and a wooden floor, the only furniture was a desk and four chairs. There were two men in the room, one I recognised as the Admin who gave me the card. The other man i didn't recognise, he was tall, with not a lot of hair. I assumed he was important, and I found out later that he indeed was.
"Mr Maxfield, I presume?" said the Man, stepping forward with a hand outstretched, "how was the journey from Violet City?"
"It, uh, was fine, thanks, Mr...?" I said nervously, shaking his hand.
"Giovanni," he said, withdrawing his hand, "and am the head of Team Rocket." I had definitely heard that name before.
"I assume you've met Archer, one of my four Admins?"
I nodded, feeling like a genius for figuring out that he was an Admin.
"You're a few days early," said Archer, and I nodded again.
"Now, take a seat and I will tell you about your new job," Giovanni said, going being the desk and taking a seat. Archer and I grabbed two of the remaining three chairs and took our place on them.
"It has come to my attention that you are skilled with computers, correct?"
"Yessir," I said, "how..."
"Save your questions for after I am finished talking," he said darkly, "now, Team Rocket's goals are many, ranging from Pokémon experimenting to Pokémon appropriating. Your job is appropriating."
"What, stealing?" I said, heart racing. Theft was definitely not my forte.
"In a way," chuckled Giovanni, "using your computer skills, your job is to access random PCs and withdraw any Pokémon you find into our PC."
Absolutely beating up my conscience, I actually considered this being a fun thing to do.
"I'm usually against stealing," I said, hating myself for saying it, "but this sounds like something I can work with."
"Marvellous!" said Giovanni, clapping his hands together, "now, I would like a demonstration." He leaned over on his desk and turned on a large PC.
"I would like you to log into your PC," he said, turning the PC around to face me, "and I would like to see you withdraw a Pokémon from my PC to yours."
"Uh, okay," I said, pulling my chair in closer to the desk, "but judging by what you want me to do, I could be accessing anyones PC!"
"Because my PC is on the same computer, shouldn't you be able to hack into the system?" said Giovanni, and I almost slapped myself for sounding stupid.
"Right, I'll do that then," I said sheepishly, starting the hack.
"And I would like you to tell me what Pokémon I have in it," said Giovanni, leaning back on his chair and opening a newspaper to read. Archer followed suit, only without a paper to look at.
After about five minutes, I spoke up.
"Okay, so you have a Kangaskhan, Onix, Rhyhorn, Nidoqueen, Dugtrio, Nidoking, Rhydon..."
"Woah there," said Archer, looking surprised. Giovanni quickly grabbed a notebook and pen from his desk draw. "You're done already?" said the boss.
"Well yeah, it was pretty simple hacking," I said modestly. Both Archer and Giovanni were looking more impressed, and I felt very pleased with myself as my conscience had his neck broken.
"Alright, please start from the beginning," said Giovanni, turning to a certain page in his notebook.
I did so; "Kangaskhan, Onix, Rhyhorn, Nidoqueen, Dugtrio, Nidoking, Rhydon, Persian, Murkrow, Geodude, um... Sandshrew? Yeah, Sandshrew, Gastly, Charmeleon, Machoke, er... Sciz... no sorry, Pinsir. And Gyarados."
"Very well done, Maxfield," Giovanni said, showing me his notebook. He had previously written down all the Pokémon in his PC, and had ticked them off when I called them out.
"Alrighty, so now what?" I asked.
"Now, take the Gastly and swap into your PC without withdrawing it," he said, getting up from behind the desk and taking a seat beside me.
"Okay..." I did just that, and the Team Rocket Boss seemed even more impressed.
"Now you can withdraw it," he said. I did just that as well, and a Dusk Ball appeared from a burst of light on a small attachment to the PC.
I picked up the Pokéball and pressed the button. After another burst of light, a Gastly flew out.
"Very good Maxfield," said Giovanni, watching the Gastly zoom around the room, "as your one off payment, you may keep that Gastly."
"Thanks a bunch," I grinned, and summoned the Gastly back into its Dusk Ball, "does he have a name?"
"It does actually," said Giovanni, stroking his chin, "I traded a Weedle for him when I was younger, and the boy I traded with said his name was Ledger."
"That's fine with me," I said, and clipped the ball onto my belt with my other Pokémon, "and now, I have a few questions."
"I suppose I've had my say for everything," sighed Giovanni, "ask away."
"How did you know I was a hacker?"
"I didn't at first, but I knew of your father. I knew he wouldn't be keen on joining us, so my Grunts kept an eye on you on your journey to see if you'd show any sign of being handy with a PC."
"Okay," I said, "and one last question; now that I've joined, may I have my Teddiursa back?"
"I suppose," said Giovanni, turning to Archer, "where did you put it?" I hated how he kept referring to Pokémon as 'it', but I held my tongue.
"It's actually in the next room sir," Archer said, standing up, "I'll go get it now."
"Thank you," I said meekly. The Admin just ignored me as he stepped out of the room.
"While we wait, I have one last thing for you," said Giovanni, going back behind his desk and grabbing a vest from one of the draws. Handing it to me, I had to admit that it looked pretty cool. It was nothing fancy, just a black vest with a small Team Rocket logo just over where my left lung would be. When I put it on, it actually went well with my navy blue shirt, to my relief.
"Welcome to Team Rocket," sneered Giovanni, and at that moment the door burst open.
"Teddi!" Banjo came running over to me, and I gave him a big bear hug. (I am not sorry)
"Good to have you back Banjo," I chuckled, "I'm very glad you're okay."
I had been contemplating my decision to work with Team Rocket on and off all week, and my contemplations always ended with me dismissing the idea, then realising I didn't have a choice, as they had poor Banjo.
I was hoping that my job would involve very little indoor time, as I wanted to train my Pokémon and collect all the john Gym badges. Fat chance, I thought, laughing bitterly.
At 6:30 in the morning, I was cold as hell, and I wished that I could be put into a Pokéball like Goku and Jasmine were in right now.
But I couldn't worry about that now. I had finally made it to Mahogany Town, where the card had instructed me to go.
It was a lovely old town, and the sun could clearly be sun rising in the distance, casting a pleasant orange light over the place.
I enjoyed it while I could, as it could very well be the last time I saw the sun for a very long time.
* * *
Walking around for a bit, I soon came to a funny old place called Just a Souvenir Shop.
Not the most clever name in the world, I thought, going inside, but I won't judge. Out loud at least.
Going to the counter, I said hello to creepy man behind the counter, and I spoke the key sentence the card had instructed me to say to him, "Nice day for Golbat hunting, isn't it just?"
He just nodded, and walked around the counter towards a large gold cabinet. Feeling a bit too important for my own good, I went over next to him.
When he made sure that no one was around, the man pushed back the cabinet, revealing a staircase that led downstairs.
"Remember these directions," he said softly, "two lefts, a right then left up the stairs. Make another right..."
"Hold on a second," I said, stopping him, "do you reckon I could write this down?"
He huffed and went back behind the counter to write down the instructions.
Giving me the piece of paper, I thanked him and walked down the stairs to meet my future.
* * *
As I stepped up to the final door, I was shaking. Wanting to slap myself, I knocked on the door.
"Come in," said a familiar voice.
I slowly opened the door, and found myself in a fair sized office. It had maroon walls and a wooden floor, the only furniture was a desk and four chairs. There were two men in the room, one I recognised as the Admin who gave me the card. The other man i didn't recognise, he was tall, with not a lot of hair. I assumed he was important, and I found out later that he indeed was.
"Mr Maxfield, I presume?" said the Man, stepping forward with a hand outstretched, "how was the journey from Violet City?"
"It, uh, was fine, thanks, Mr...?" I said nervously, shaking his hand.
"Giovanni," he said, withdrawing his hand, "and am the head of Team Rocket." I had definitely heard that name before.
"I assume you've met Archer, one of my four Admins?"
I nodded, feeling like a genius for figuring out that he was an Admin.
"You're a few days early," said Archer, and I nodded again.
"Now, take a seat and I will tell you about your new job," Giovanni said, going being the desk and taking a seat. Archer and I grabbed two of the remaining three chairs and took our place on them.
"It has come to my attention that you are skilled with computers, correct?"
"Yessir," I said, "how..."
"Save your questions for after I am finished talking," he said darkly, "now, Team Rocket's goals are many, ranging from Pokémon experimenting to Pokémon appropriating. Your job is appropriating."
"What, stealing?" I said, heart racing. Theft was definitely not my forte.
"In a way," chuckled Giovanni, "using your computer skills, your job is to access random PCs and withdraw any Pokémon you find into our PC."
Absolutely beating up my conscience, I actually considered this being a fun thing to do.
"I'm usually against stealing," I said, hating myself for saying it, "but this sounds like something I can work with."
"Marvellous!" said Giovanni, clapping his hands together, "now, I would like a demonstration." He leaned over on his desk and turned on a large PC.
"I would like you to log into your PC," he said, turning the PC around to face me, "and I would like to see you withdraw a Pokémon from my PC to yours."
"Uh, okay," I said, pulling my chair in closer to the desk, "but judging by what you want me to do, I could be accessing anyones PC!"
"Because my PC is on the same computer, shouldn't you be able to hack into the system?" said Giovanni, and I almost slapped myself for sounding stupid.
"Right, I'll do that then," I said sheepishly, starting the hack.
"And I would like you to tell me what Pokémon I have in it," said Giovanni, leaning back on his chair and opening a newspaper to read. Archer followed suit, only without a paper to look at.
After about five minutes, I spoke up.
"Okay, so you have a Kangaskhan, Onix, Rhyhorn, Nidoqueen, Dugtrio, Nidoking, Rhydon..."
"Woah there," said Archer, looking surprised. Giovanni quickly grabbed a notebook and pen from his desk draw. "You're done already?" said the boss.
"Well yeah, it was pretty simple hacking," I said modestly. Both Archer and Giovanni were looking more impressed, and I felt very pleased with myself as my conscience had his neck broken.
"Alright, please start from the beginning," said Giovanni, turning to a certain page in his notebook.
I did so; "Kangaskhan, Onix, Rhyhorn, Nidoqueen, Dugtrio, Nidoking, Rhydon, Persian, Murkrow, Geodude, um... Sandshrew? Yeah, Sandshrew, Gastly, Charmeleon, Machoke, er... Sciz... no sorry, Pinsir. And Gyarados."
"Very well done, Maxfield," Giovanni said, showing me his notebook. He had previously written down all the Pokémon in his PC, and had ticked them off when I called them out.
"Alrighty, so now what?" I asked.
"Now, take the Gastly and swap into your PC without withdrawing it," he said, getting up from behind the desk and taking a seat beside me.
"Okay..." I did just that, and the Team Rocket Boss seemed even more impressed.
"Now you can withdraw it," he said. I did just that as well, and a Dusk Ball appeared from a burst of light on a small attachment to the PC.
I picked up the Pokéball and pressed the button. After another burst of light, a Gastly flew out.
"Very good Maxfield," said Giovanni, watching the Gastly zoom around the room, "as your one off payment, you may keep that Gastly."
"Thanks a bunch," I grinned, and summoned the Gastly back into its Dusk Ball, "does he have a name?"
"It does actually," said Giovanni, stroking his chin, "I traded a Weedle for him when I was younger, and the boy I traded with said his name was Ledger."
"That's fine with me," I said, and clipped the ball onto my belt with my other Pokémon, "and now, I have a few questions."
"I suppose I've had my say for everything," sighed Giovanni, "ask away."
"How did you know I was a hacker?"
"I didn't at first, but I knew of your father. I knew he wouldn't be keen on joining us, so my Grunts kept an eye on you on your journey to see if you'd show any sign of being handy with a PC."
"Okay," I said, "and one last question; now that I've joined, may I have my Teddiursa back?"
"I suppose," said Giovanni, turning to Archer, "where did you put it?" I hated how he kept referring to Pokémon as 'it', but I held my tongue.
"It's actually in the next room sir," Archer said, standing up, "I'll go get it now."
"Thank you," I said meekly. The Admin just ignored me as he stepped out of the room.
"While we wait, I have one last thing for you," said Giovanni, going back behind his desk and grabbing a vest from one of the draws. Handing it to me, I had to admit that it looked pretty cool. It was nothing fancy, just a black vest with a small Team Rocket logo just over where my left lung would be. When I put it on, it actually went well with my navy blue shirt, to my relief.
"Welcome to Team Rocket," sneered Giovanni, and at that moment the door burst open.
"Teddi!" Banjo came running over to me, and I gave him a big bear hug. (I am not sorry)
"Good to have you back Banjo," I chuckled, "I'm very glad you're okay."