Chapter Forty-One - Sneaky Sneaky

Choco bounced at the front of the group. He was bouncing quietly though, small little hops that he did with his arms spread out so that his weight was distributed evenly, and both of his ears were tucked in close to make himself as small as possible.

He was being very sneaky.

Which was better than he could say about some of the others in their group.

Jazz was good at sneaking. She kept low, moved quickly but quietly, and stayed in the shadows. Her clothing was all dark colours. Lots of purples, which didn't quite fit in the cave, but it was dark purple. Even her pokemon were good. Zubat was back in his ball after that fight where he took out that other zubat, but Bellsprout was tip...rooting along next to Jazz, and Sage was gone, like a fart lost in a drafty room.

Broccoli was alright at sneaking. She was tip-toeing along and generally avoiding making too much noise, even if her armour clinked and clanked a little sometimes. It wasn't all that bad. Azurill was keeping silent in her arms.

It was mostly the new girl and her krabby who were problems.

Tabitha stood out like a torch, walking in the middle of the path through the cave dressed all in white. The others were at least making some effort not to stand out!

Choco shook his head and kept sneaking forwards. It didn't take too long for him to find the next couple of grunts they'd need to fight.

There was a small camp set up in a large opening with the cave. It was up a sort of natural ramp that overlooked a corner of the cavern. Large metal-barred cages were set up at the far end of the space filled with pinkish pokemon, and there were three large tents off to one side.

A small sofa was set out with a TV across from it playing something, and there was a small cooking station up against one of the cavern walls, using some natural cuts into the wall as shelving for large bags of pokefeed and human food. There was a machine in one corner making a rumbling noise, and a bunch of wires ran across the floor all the way to it.

"Looks like they have a cozy set up," Jazz whispered.

"Looks like it," Broccoli whispered back. "So, do we charge out and capture them too? How many are there?"

"Two," Tabitha said as she came up behind them. She eyed both for a moment, then crouched down as well. "There's a second within the smaller tent near the cages. I can take them."

"You sure?" Jazz asked.

"I'm certain," Tabitha replied.

"That'll leave one grunt for both of us," Broccoli said. "I think we can manage that."

Jazz hummed, then nodded. "You take him, I'll keep an eye out on the passage over there. Tabitha, you said there were five Rockets here, right?"

"Yes. The strongest member is missing. I can sense them deeper in the cave," the new girl said.

Jazz nodded. "I'll keep the entrance safe. You two take out the two that are here, then we'll all be free to tackle the boss."

"Sounds like a plan," Broccoli whispered. She gave everyone a thumb's up, and Choco did the same. "On three?"

Tabitha nodded, then picked up King Krabby and held the crabby pokemon close to her chest. "I'm going in," she said.

Just like that, Tabitha stood up to her full height and walked up and over to the Team Rocket camp. She walked right past the grunt on the couch, who jumped on seeing her, but just sat and stared, then she deposited King Krabby on the ground outside of the tent and pointed within.

"Prepare yourself to fight," she demanded.

"Oh shoot, we need to move," Broccoli said. She placed Azurill down and gave her head a pat. "Stay out of the way, okay? I don't want to see you getting hurt!"

"Azu..." Fine...

Azurill didn't look happy about that, and Choco supposed he could understand. He'd be annoyed too if he was set aside and told to just sit there. But also, he wasn't, so it wasn't his problem! He stuck his tongue out a little, then hopped after Broccoli as she stepped up and into the light of the camp.

"Hello! Please stand down, we really don't need to fight, but I do have to arrest you, sorry!" Broccoli said to announce herself.

"Bun buneary!" That's right!

The Team Rocket grunt on the couch stumbled off of it, then stood to their... her full height. She was a human girl in a similar all-black uniform as the others, only she had a skirt on instead of pants. "Ah, man, I knew this assignment was a mistake," she said as she fumbled for a pokeball at her waist. "Should have picked another job."

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"Yeah," Broccoli agreed. "Being an evil organisation's grunt isn't really a great career choice."

The grunt...ette paused. "Huh? Oh no, it's actually great."

"It is?" Broccoli asked.

"Oh yeah. Pay's excellent, there's great on-site training, free uniforms that are tailored and they're actually pretty high quality. There's a whole bonus system in place if you work harder and it's pretty easy to climb the ranks."

"You like the uniform?" Broccoli asked. "That skirt looks very small."

The gruntette stood taller. "It makes my legs look longer! I picked this out, you know!"

"Oh. Sorry then!" Broccoli said. "I didn't think that being a grunt would actually be a good career choice."

"I mean, it's got its downsides, but we're treated pretty well. Pension, health insurance, daycare, free hygiene products in the locker room, four days off a month. The cafeteria is fantastic. But this assignment has me living in a cave with some morons. At least, until we beat the lot of you up and make a run for it. Ready to fight, girlie?"

The Team Rocket gruntette palmed a pokeball, then threw it out. "Go, rattata!"

"Choco! Get ready!" Broccoli called out.

Choco bounced on the spot a couple of times to limber himself up while he eyed the rattata. It was about the same size as him, maybe a little bigger, with buck teeth and long whiskers. Choco wasn't sure, but he felt like he was the stronger of the two here.

"Rattata, Quick Attack, then Bite!" the gruntette shouted.

"Dodge it!" Broccoli gasped.

Choco quickly gathered energy in his legs, then fired it off all at once. He blurred to the side. It was a little disorientating, but he was slowly getting used to it and the feeling of strain in his legs. He'd need to grow stronger still if he wanted to master this move, but he was getting better at it.

The rattata had launched his own Quick Attack, but it missed entirely because he was just a little slower than Choco.

"Bun!" Yah!

He bounced over towards the pokemon's side, then used his old one-two-Pound move to smack the rattata in the side with his glowing ears. The rattata stumbled, then glanced at its trainer for suggestions. "Bite him!" she snapped.

Choco hopped back, avoiding a big chomp from the rattata whose yellowed teeth were covered in scary wisps of darkness.

"Choco, careful there. Make some space and maybe buff yourself up?"

Choco nodded and hopped backwards, then flexed all of his muscles while pumping energy into them to make himself tougher. The Defence Curl rushed through his body, and he felt a lot more ready for a close-up fight.

Which is about when the rattata's next Quick Attack reached him.

"Unf!" He was sent stumbling back onto his butt. That wasn't good! He could barely fight from the ground. Thinking quickly, Choco summoned up some basic non-Cleaning energy and flung it at the rattata in the form of a spikey ball.

The rattata's eyes went wide and he tried to dodge, but Choco had the move turn at the last moment to smack the rattata in the face.

It went down in a faint.

"Woo! Well done, Choco!" Broccoli cheered.

Choco grinned, then turned around to push himself back up to his feet. "Bun, buneary!" I am the strongest!

"Yeah!" Broccoli said. "Do you have more pokemon, or are you going to fight yourself?" she asked the Team Rocket gruntette.

The Team Rocket grunt reached towards a second pokeball, then winced as there was a big clatter from the tents.

Choco glanced over to see King Krabby holding onto a pair of zubat, one in each claw. The other Rocket grunt was on his knees, crying.

"Damn," the gruntette said. "Okay, fine. But I want you to tell the cops that I was lenient and came without a fuss."

"Uh, oka?" Broccoli said.

That's about when there was a loud Boom! from the part of the cave Jazz was guarding. Choco spun in time to see a fainted Bellsprout being flung back to crash into Jazz's chest.

A man stepped into the room, wearing a neat suit and surrounded by a pair of strong-looking pokemon.

"Uh oh," Broccoli said. "Looks like that's the boss."

***