Green and I were camped out in Route 8, both contributing to the meal we were about to eat and operating mostly in silence.

"This is good. We're getting better at cooking," Green said idly, munching the stir fried rice with a delighted expression.

"Mhm," I nodded in agreement.

We continued eating in silence.

"So…"

Yep, there we go.

"...You really were experimented on… by Team Rocket?" she asked tentatively, gazing at me with sorrow in her gaze.

I grunted, stamping down my disgust at her pity.

"I don't remember anything but yeah," I frowned. "The specifics are a bit of a shock to me as well but not much we can do about it."

So I was implanted with Mewtwo's cells. Much like how Mewtwo was implanted with Mew's cells.

What did that mean for me? What were the specifics behind that?

Did that mean I had the ability to use psychic abilities? How strong would they be?

To find out more of what happened to me, I'd need to find and speak to Blaine.

If he refused to comply, well that recording was going to help me out quite a bit. Gym Leader Blaine was a recluse. People hardly saw him but despite that, he was well renowned across the world.

If I leaked this information, there would be an uproar. With how dire of states Kanto was already in, that might be a tipping point.

But I really didn't give a damn. I needed every resource possible to push me towards stopping Mewtwo and Team Rocket.

The power of blackmail was something special. A world as naive as this would never see it coming.

"So Team Rocket have access to a Legendary pokemon inspired by Mew?" Green said in horror.

"Yeah," I said idly.

"...Was that what destroyed the S.S Anne?" she asked tentatively.

I nodded. "I felt it. That's why I woke up. That's also probably why I was too tired to battle you."

Green said nothing, biting her lip as she thought about all she heard.

"So… you have the cells of a legendary clone inside of you," she mumbled.

"Sounds about right. What? Wanna capture me?" I asked in amusement.

Green giggled slightly at that but attempted to sober up at the weight of my past.

"No! It's just… wow, I didn't know your past…"

"Sucked?" I finished.

"Yeah... not to mention that thing with Blaine. You're telling me that both Blaine and Giovanni have ties with Team Rocket?" she mumbled, nervously rubbing her arms.

"It's crazy to think about," I sighed. "You alright? I didn't really intend on overwhelming you with all this info."

"I'm... probably gonna have trouble sleeping tonight," she admitted. "But I'm still with you 100%! All I can think about is how sad I felt thinking you were dead and... I never wanna feel that again," she admitted.

I stared at her in surprise, before sighing with a small smile.

"You can sleep in my tent tonight if that'll help," I told her.

"How can you be so relaxed about this?" Green asked with a sad frown.

I sighed and leaned back slightly, petting Loki's fur as he burrowed into me.

"I've done enough moaning and bitching about the unfortunate reality that is my life. All that's left, is for me to take action," I said truthfully. "If you want something done, you've gotta do it yourself so instead of crying, I'll focus my anger on getting back at everyone who wronged me," I swore.

Green nodded after a moment, looking properly moved by my words. "I'll help you in anyway I know how! That's seriously messed up… we're both only 12 so to think it happened to you when you were even younger… that's not right at all! It pisses me off just thinking about it!"

It was pretty fucked up. Green would probably be even more furious if she found out Giovanni was my dad…

But that wasn't something I planned on revealing ever. Giovanni would have to disappear without that information getting out.

The two of us had been traveling through Route 8 for the remainder of the day, having left Fuji's house during the evening and immediately departing the city after the interrogation.

We had been walking mostly in silence, accepting any battles and winning them handily until it was time to take a break for the day.

It had taken about two hours of walking so by the time tomorrow hit, we'd only need another hour or two to make it to Saffron, which we'd cut through to make it to Celadon.

We could have cut through that underground road that led straight to the outskirts of Celadon, but Green wanted to enjoy the city sights of the largest city in Kanto.

As a result, we'd cut through Saffron early tomorrow morning and head straight to Celadon.

It would be early morning so not many people would be awake hopefully. It would be pretty good for us to walk through and just enjoy the sight.

We polished the rest of our meal off, allowed our team to finish theirs as well and decided to get some sleep.

"I will keep watch. Rest."

"Thank you, Metang."

"Let's go to sleep, Leaf," I grunted, getting my tent ready.

"Kay! Goodnight, Silvy!"

"Goodnight."

With that, I stamped out the fire and went to bed.

----------------------------------------

Route 8 was peaceful in the early morning. Besides the fact that I kicked a delinquent in the nuts for trying to intimidate us, it was pretty relaxing.

We ate some breakfast, did some light training and paced ourselves through the relatively small route.

"I can't believe you kicked that guy in his special spot," Green whispered in horror.

"He kept trying to intimidate us. When I get intimidated I attack people," I said dryly.

"How do you always have a smart response for everything?" she muttered.

"The key is in the question you asked. "Smart" response," I emphasized.

She shook her head with a tiny giggle.

The two of us continued to converse about mundane things, just enjoying the temporary melancholy of the quiet route.

I did enjoy traveling in the early morning. It was always so peaceful. The sun was mostly at the right temperature, the breeze wasn't erring too hard to one side.

Now that the trip with S.S Anne was done... now that I was finished with Hoenn, I realized that I didn't have to rush through the region as frantically as I was doing before.

Green and I could take our time traveling the region now and amassing our strength. We could dedicate more time to training our bodies, training our pokemon etc. We could allocate more time towards stuff like that and sure, it'd make the trips in the routes longer but you couldn't rush becoming the strongest.

I could certainly speed up the process, but actually pacing myself was important.

Though, that didn't quite apply here considering Route 8 wasn't really a big route. We made it to Saffron fairly quickly despite not being in a rush.

I imagine our path from Celadon to Fuschia was going to take a really long time. That was a really big route and at our slowed down pace, I imagine it'd take at least a month to reach Fuchsia.

Saffron City was enormous in every sense of the word. It was a complete metropolitan city, with tall buildings everywhere, completely paved streets and of course, the most famous company in all of Kanto and Johto…

Silph Co.

Even in a city full of tall buildings, Silph Co. headquarters stood out starkly from the rest. It was a real skyscraper of a building, colors dominated by a yellow and blue.

It was tallll.

"When we come back we should explore it. I heard they allow visitors all the time," Green said to me, rubbing her eyes as she resisted the urge to yawn.

"Sure," I said absentmindedly, keeping a single eye on her to make sure she didn't fall over from exhaustion.

We didn't need to stock up on any provisions, having stocked up quite a bit in Vermilion, and Celadon was right there anyways. It would take us probably another hour or two to get there.

Saffron was fairly close to Celadon, Cerulean, Lavender and Vermilion. You could use it to make it to any of them at a pretty reasonable pace. That was another reason the city was so wealthy. It connected to all the other hotspot cities.

It was typically the quickest, standard, route to take. There were things like underground roads as well but most people who didn't own bikes, didn't go such routes.

Honestly, it was really surprising that a city as big as this one, was largely empty. Normally, time of day wouldn't affect the bustle of such a city but no… it was quiet and peaceful as Green and I quickly moved through it.

"So remind me again why you don't wanna battle Sabrina right now?" I asked, not quite caring about the request but still wanting to know why.

"Sabrina is one of the strongest gym leaders in both Kanto and Johto period!" Green gushed, momentarily forgetting how tired she was. "If she wasn't so set on staying as the Saffron City Gym Leader, they say she could have easily made a case to join the Elite 4!"

"That seems to be the case for a lot of the Kanto gym leaders," I said dryly.

Green nodded. "Well, the Johto League is… kinda newer than the Kanto League and the Gym Leaders there are really young compared to other circuits!"

Jasmine told me the same thing. Her, Bugsy, Falkner and Whitney were all around the age range of 16 – 18, while Morty and Claire were a tad older, then you had Chuck and Pryce who were middle aged and ancient respectively.

In comparison, all the Kanto Gym Leaders were quite a bit older than them. The youngest were the Sensational Sisters who were all 17, then there was Erika who was 20 and finally Sabrina, whose age was unknown but she definitely was in her mid 20s.

"So you want to face Sabrina later on so that we can get a tougher fight?" I mused.

Green nodded enthusiastically. "6 – 8 badge gym battles are the real deal! I actually wanted to battle her seventh, but Cinnabar is way too inconvenient to go to without messing up our pace completely!" she explained.

Not to mention, our sudden business with Blaine. Battling him seventh was important for us as well because we'd be quite a bit stronger...

Naturally, that wouldn't help much if he used his real team to burn us alive but we could definitely buy more time to raise suspicions if it came to that.

"If that is the reason you wish to battle me sixth, then you may visit again after collecting all 8 badges. I will give you the battle you seek."

Green and I paused at that, gazing at the person who said that.

I snorted as my companion let out a strangled squeal of excitement.

Guess we knew who her favorite Gym Leader was.

Sabrina was a beautiful woman, with long black hair that had shorter layers around her face and small eyes that were reddish-purple in nature. She wore a red and black dress that was fairly small, though it didn't matter because the parts that would be exposed were covered by black leggings along with red boots.

If I were a lesser human being, I'd whistle. But fortunately, I wasn't a freak.

"S-Sabrina!" Green gaped in awe. "Wow! I'm such a big fan! One of my dreams is to battle and —"

"Crush me?" Sabrina finished her sentence, expression as serious as all the rumors about her said it was.

Green's cheeks burned red. "Well, I wasn't gonna say that outloud but… uh yeah, I wanna crush you!" she exclaimed.

If Sabrina was offended by that, she didn't show it. She just continued to gaze at Green with those strange eyes of hers.

"You are strong, Leaf Green. I look forward to our battle in the near future," was all she said.

Considering Sabrina didn't compliment anyone, it was fairly justifiable that Green was over the moon at such a statement.

Good for her, it was about damn time someone showed my rival some love and not me…

Though, I may have spoken too soon because Sabrina finally turned her gaze towards me and I watched as her expressionless face transformed…

Into wariness. I imagine if she were anyone else, that would be outright fear.

Good on Sabrina for not being super expressive.

"So you are the abomination," she said with an actual frown on her face.

Nevermind. I was going to kick her fucking teeth in.

I sighed. I guess it was expected that someone as intune with psychic energies as Sabrina, would be bothered by me.

At least she was looking at me with thinly veiled disgust.

"What," I said flatly, not even bothering to make it sound like a question. "Just say what you wanna say and let me move on with my life. Be warned that if you say something else that's offensive you may get attacked."

"S-Silvy!" Green hissed, immediately pushing me behind her with an astonished look. "You can't assault a Gym Leader! She's a Gym Leader!"

"Wanna test how much how I care about that?"

"...N-No."

Sabrina seemed to realize that she was making an out of turn face and quickly schooled herself.

"You are the one who has been interfering with my abilities," she stated matter of factly.

"Oh I bet," I grunted. "Lemme guess. It was bad, but the moment I stepped in the city, it got worse?"

Her silence was probably as close to confirmation as I was going to get.

"I feel myself growing steadily unwell in your presence," Sabrina stated bluntly, getting disturbingly close to me.

I let out a strangled grunt, leaning back at the abrupt action.

"Get the fuck away from me you freak!" I shouted, instinctively shoving her away.

Sabrina's eyes widened at the action and I genuinely wouldn't be surprised if no one ever made human contact with her because she flailed about and fell flat on her butt in a rather uncouth display.

"Oh my Mew," Green moaned miserably, hiding her face behind her hands. "Silvy you just shoved Sabrina. I don't think anyone has ever even touched her."

"Did you miss the part where she got so close to me, I could feel her cold ass breath?!" I asked incredulously. "One wrong move and that freak would have kissed me!"

Green opened her mouth and shut it.

"You know... that's actually a fair point. Are you alright, Sabrina?" she asked in concern, gazing at the Gym Leader with wide eyes.

Honestly, yeah she looked kind of terrible. Her cheeks were steadily flushing over as well, though it didn't appear that she noticed. The woman didn't even get off the floor, just staring at me with glowing eyes.

"You should probably get away from me," I told her warily, watching in real time as her condition worsened.

The last thing I wanted, was to be charged for causing Gym Leader Sabrina to get horribly sick.

Psychic pokemon were already unable to stand my presence. I didn't even want to think of what I'd do to a psychic human.

"Um Sabrina… you don't look too good," Green pointed out with a worry. "Maybe you should go lay down."

Sabrina ignored us both.

"What... are you?" she eventually asked.

"Seriously, go home," I said warily, ready to bolt out of the city.

I did not like the way Sabrina was looking at me at all. This was seriously concerning.

She was just staring at me. It almost looked as if she were in her own world —

I stood stock still as I felt an almost tentative prodding in my head.

Was she a dumbass?! What the hell did she think she was doing?!

To no one's surprise at all (except for everyone besides me I guess), Sabrina jolted back violently as my mind forcefully repelled her and I watched as her condition grew even worse.

By now, I was already grabbing Green in preparation to run off because Sabrina's nose just started gushing.

Yeah that's right, the Saffron Gym Leader was suffering from a nosebleed.

Woops.

Was she some type of freak? Why exactly was she subjecting herself to this?!

"Such a repulsive presence. I've never encountered such a thing," she muttered to herself, not even seeming to notice the blood.

Green let out a panicked gasp and grabbed a napkin, rushing forward to wipe at the woman's nose as she continued muttering to herself.

Oh... now I get it.

Sabrina really was a freak.

My existence was an anomaly to Sabrina and as someone who was so in tune with her psychic energy, my repelling mind fascinated her. It was probably doubly so since my existence was one that hampered her very own.

As one of the few psychics in the world (the alleged best human psychic as well), it was probably unheard of for Sabrina to find someone stranger than her…

Especially when that stranger entity was making her existence miserable.

Oh my god. Sabrina was basically a pampered princess who was used to having things go her way. My existence was antithesis to that and she was trying to figure out why that was.

Finally, my presence seemed to become too much for the gym leader because Sabrina forcefully banished the glow from her eyes and unsuccessfully tried to get rid of the flush staining her cheeks permanently.

She wordlessly accepted the napkin out of Green's hand and neutrally wiped the blood away.

I was impressed that she was able to do that with such a straight face.

An Alakazam materialized by her side and I watched as she shook her head at its questioning gaze.

The woman turned her gaze back towards me and I narrowed my eyes as an almost threatening gleam entered those reddish eyes of hers.

"Ala," Alakazam said calmly, wrapping Sabrina in a psychic sheen.

The powerful looking psychic seemed to be communicating with her and eventually, she nodded.

Our eyes never left the other. It remained like that for far too long before Sabrina finally turned away.

Without so much as another word to me, she vanished in her own version of Teleport.

That self teleportation was cool as fuck.

"That was so strange," Green muttered. "Do you think she maybe got drunk on… yknow?"

I thought about it and shrugged. "Who knows. I'm willing to bet she's a freak who just gets fascinated by strange things that don't normally happen to her. Also, she nearly attacked me there."

Green mulled it over. "She... she did?! Wow... she was staring at you for a really long time."

"She has the gall to call me an abomination. She should be glad that I don't leak pictures of her blushing with a nosebleed. Wonder what the world would think of that."

"...When did you take a picture of her?"

I showed her the picture. Out of context, it really did make her look like a giant pervert.

Green looked stunned at the image.

"Silvy, Sabrina was my favorite gym leader... w-why did you just do this to me?"

"If that's your reaction, imagine hers when we meet again and I show this picture."

"You might actually be a monster."

----------------------------------------

Our strange meeting with Sabrina, was the only thing that happened to us on our trek to Celadon that was out of the norm.

...But that encounter was really weird. Sabrina must have lowkey been quite the morbid person deep down. It was clear that she couldn't stand to be close to me but that only seemed to ignite her curiosity.

Hah. She was probably spoiled deep down and wasn't used to being denied something.

Either that, or that curiosity must have correlated with why she was so damn good with psychic abilities. Psychics were curious by nature, fueled by their boundless thirst for knowledge. Things that confused them, only made them want to understand why they were confused.

Sabrina was likely no different.

Oh well.

"Wow! From one huge city to another!" Green awed, admiring the sights of Celadon with wide eyes.

I nodded in agreement and admired the city, taken a bit more by this place then with Saffron.

Saffron was full on metropolitan. It was a city that was completely overtaken by humans with almost nothing showing in the nature aspect. It was by far the most similar city to something I'd run into back where I used to live.

Celadon was kinda similar but they seemed to respect nature far more than their neighbor. The buildings were as tall as Saffron's and the streets were paved as well but they still made way for a plethora of foliage, grass, trees etc. There were even fountains and small ponds.

It was a nice balance. Unlike Saffron, it looked like they just built Celadon in the middle of a forest and only got rid of the necessary trees to do so, leaving the rest of nature alone.

It was pretty neat.

Such a shame that I was going to commit the most heinous of crimes while in this city.

"Green, let's quickly go set up our gym appointment," I muttered to her.

She sensed something in my tone (wow I was actually getting really proud of her) and nodded. "Business to do after?"

"Depending on what I find, yeah," I nodded.

Green hummed at that and nodded in agreement.

If there was one thing I liked about Green, it's that she was always willing to follow my lead.

"How good are you at stealth?" I asked randomly.

She blinked warily. "I've never tested it… why?"

I pursed my lips at that. "After we get our matches scheduled, we'll test it."

"...Why, Silvy?"

"Don't worry, I can already tell that you're a natural. You managed to spy on me after all."

"You seriously need to answer my question!"

"…"

"Why did I agree to this?"

"Because you're an earnest idiot who's bad at knowing when to bow out."

"OH SO YOU'LL ANSWER THAT ONE?!"

----------------------------------------

"Who the fuck spilled their box of perfume, combined it with 30 other perfumes and then added Gloom shit to it?" I grunted immediately, furrowing my nose.

"I think Gym Leader Erika runs a side business manufacturing perfume," Green commented.

"What does she manufacture it with? Muk ass?" I asked with a scowl. "I feel my sense of smell dying as we speak, how strong is this shit for it to reach over here?" I grunted.

It probably could have smelt good, if there wasn't a million different concoctions combining and assaulting my nose.

"Let's just get our matches scheduled," I grunted, marching towards the woman at the reception desk and making a point to pinch my nose shut.

She was currently giving me the stink eye and I immediately glared at her.

"We gotta problem?" I snarled in annoyance, releasing my nose just to say that sentence. No chance was I ever gonna come off as nasally to anyone.

She flinched at my ferocious glare and Green sighed tiredly, stepping in front of me.

"We're here to schedule a gym battle. I'm Leaf Green, three badges. This is Silver, three badges," she said with a strained smile.

The receptionist took her eyes off me hastily and nodded at Green's words, typing something quickly with manicured fingers.

"3 days from now, you both will be scheduled to battle Erika in a 4 badge gym battle. Are these conditions okay?" she asked as professionally as possible.

"Yep!" Green chirped, already dragging me out of the building. "3 days? Alright! We'll be there! Thank you so much!"

She smiled politely at Green, before glaring at me and I flipped her off as we departed.

"You are so foul," she sighed as soon as the door shut.

"Like that gym," I replied. "Alright, we got 3 days. It's time for me to tell you what we're going to do."

Green perked up at that and gazed at me with wide eyes.

"What is it?" she whispered a little eagerly.

"Infiltration," I muttered. "The Game Corner. I'm pretty sure it's a base for Team Rocket. When night hits, we're gonna infiltrate and sabotage them. By the time we're done, it'll be completely outed and they'll take a massive hit."

Her eyes widened at that and I put a hand out.

"You don't gotta come with," I informed her seriously. "I'm totally fine doing this alone but I figured I'd tell you since you want me to trust you... and I want to trust you."

I was being genuine here, despite how manipulative my words would normally come off. I actually didn't mind if she came with me or not.

I would actually prefer if she didn't come because this was risky business.

"W-Well… as long as they're bad guys, I guess I don't mind," Green muttered, steeling herself. "In for a penny, in for a pound!"

I stared at her. "Seriously, Leaf… you don't have to force yourself to do this. You're uncomfortable as hell."

"Yeah I am… it's kinda scary but... it's scarier leaving you alone," she admitted quietly. "B-Besides! I'm also a little excited! I've never done anything so bad!"

Exciting? Was little Green enjoying the thrill of being a rebel?

Based on my observations, she did have the talent necessary to be a great thief like me so if she found it thrilling, then I guess I couldn't judge her.

All I could do was ensure she didn't get caught.

"Alright, let's go find a secluded area. We'll do light training with our teams while I test out how good you are."

Green nodded, understanding the implications of what being bad probably meant.

She really was trying her best to not be a liability all for the sake of helping me out.

She… was a good friend.

----------------------------------------

"Nervous?" I mused in the dark of night.

"Yes. I don't wanna mess this up," Green muttered in her black outfit. The dress was gone, replaced by a skin concealing pants and shirt combo.

Faraway from what she normally would wear but good for hiding her identity.

"You won't fail," I reassured. "I tested you and you passed with flying colors. If you keep it up, you'll be just as good as me."

She lit up at my truthful compliment and grabbed the mask I threw towards her. It was white, with a set of eyes and a mouth on it that showed none of her features.

Her brown hair was a little impossible to hide so I adjusted by dying it black and tying it into a long ponytail that I needed to brush down.

"The dye wears off with some water so don't worry," I muttered.

"I'm more shocked that you know how to tie my hair into such a neat ponytail!" Green exclaimed in a whisper, tentatively touching her hair with wide eyes.

I grunted at the random skill I seemed to have. "Besides the fact that we're going to sabotage Team Rocket, we're gonna get stronger too."

Green blinked. "We are?"

I nodded with a smirk and we began moving.

"Where are we about to infiltrate, Leaf?" I asked.

"The Celadon Game Corner that's secretly a Team Rocket hideout," Green replied automatically, remembering because I drilled the plan into her head repeatedly while we trained.

I nodded my head. "But just because it's a Team Rocket hideout, doesn't stop it from being a Game Corner."

Green blinked, before her eyes widened in realization.

"Oh!" she whispered. "You want to steal some goods from Team Rocket and the Game Corner?!"

"Yup," I popped the p, gazing at the still open game corner with an inquisitive gaze.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

The Game Corner was open 24/7 so there was never a perfect time to infiltrate it.

That didn't mean there weren't better times though.

I placed my mask on and put up my hoodie.

"An anonymous message is going to be picked up by the Celadon Police Force in about an hour and thirty minutes and that's when they'll probably come to investigate. We should be done in an hour at the minimum," I informed Green, tapping a window experimentally.

Without any prompting, Loki's eyes began glowing purple and at the same time, cracks began appearing all over the glass.

Gaia's vines slowly snaked out and nudged a single panel of the glass, catching it before it could crash into the floor.

She repeated the same with every piece until there was nothing left and I shot her a thankful smile.

"Thanks girl," I muttered gently.

"Bay," she whispered, batting her head against me.

"Wow," Green and Vee awed at our action.

"I'll go first," I muttered to her, returning Gaia.

I placed my thick gloved palm on the edge, ignoring the shards of glass and I leapt into the room.

I made no noise as I landed on the floor and blew out a cold breath.

It was chilly tonight.

We weren't in the main building of the game corner. The prize corner of the casino was a whole different structure that was attached to the actual game corner to the right of it.

As such, it was quite a bit emptier and at this time of day? Nearly midnight? Yeah the only one in here, were probably the folks who were in charge of transactions.

The little room I was in, was empty. There were items strewn about. A bag splayed haphazardly on a bench and I inspected it for any goods.

My eyes narrowed as I reached into the bag and pulled out a knife, inspecting it with calculating eyes.

Weapons were quite rare in this world and the more dangerous, the harder it was to secure them.

It was actually a very healthy way to go about things. Even simple weapons like this were quite the hassle to get.

This wasn't some kitchen knife too. This looked like an actual dagger.

Hm. It looked dangerously sharp too. I wonder if it was made with pokemon parts.

I slipped it into my pocket and took the time to inspect the rest of the room.

This must have been the break room for their staff.

Green quietly stepped up next to me and I gazed at her.

"Three people," I put three fingers up, taking wads of cash out of their bags and putting it in my own.

"Two boys, one girl."

Green's brows furrowed at that.

"What do we do?" she whispered.

I smiled and reached into my bag.

Green's curiosity, turned into abrupt horror as I pulled out a baseball bat.

I wasn't kidding when I said weapons were hard to get. Since they were difficult... it was time for me to get innovative.

"Where did you get that?!" she gaped at me.

"I'm going to use it on them."

"That is not what I asked you!"

Before I could make good on my words to assault the disguised rockets, Green put her hands out and stopped me.

Slowly, she released Saury from his ball and beckoned towards her serious and gigantic Ivysaur.

I blinked, absentmindedly tossing a sweet snack towards the Ivysaur.

All of Green and I's pokemon had been caught up on everything so they were all briefed on this mission.

We were naturally not going to use some but the chance was always there so they were alert.

"Saury, Sleep Powder as soon as we exit this room. There should be three people out there. Don't even let them scream," she whispered to him.

I blinked at that and nodded.

That was fine too.

I placed my bat back into my bag… for now and followed Green and Saury out of the room.

There were three bored adults there. One was dozing off, the other was scrolling through their phone and the last was filing their nails…

None even noticed they were slowly inhaling the powerful sleep powder from Saury until they all fell asleep, thudding to the floor.

"Nice," I grunted, not bothering to tie them up. Saury's powders were very potent and on a human, they were sleeping for the rest of the night.

Green was looking at the unconscious bodies with wide eyes.

"I can deal with incapacitating the Rockets," she whispered to me, a strange glint in her eyes.

I huffed in amusement at that and nodded, before walking up to the counter.

Much to my delight, discs were littered all in front of me. I smirked wildly at the expensive pricing of them but to my slight confusion though, there were no pokemon being sold.

"They got rid of that years ago," Green answered my question. "Game Corners aren't really… thought highly of. It promotes bad things you know? Selling and keeping pokemon didn't give it a better light and it put a stigma that was frowned upon… so they shelved the idea and just limited it to TMs only."

Ah when it came down to it, it was always morals.

That sucked. I was hoping to get a Porygon or a Scyther from these idiots.

Hm… alright then. I'd just take the TMs as a consolation prize. At the very least they didn't appear to be changed and the best part?

All permanent.

Ice Beam, Iron Tail, Thunderbolt, Shadow Ball, Flamethrower… wow I felt spoiled here taking all this good stuff. All they needed was Earthquake and Protect and I'd have been golden.

"They're permanent so we can just share these," I grunted. "Better this way to avoid raising suspicion. We're done here now, let's go to the actual Game Corner."

Green was a little slack jawed, looking at all the expensive TMs I was storing in my case and then she gazed at me.

"Ready?" I grunted.

"Y-Yeah!" Green said, dipping back into the break room with me so we could exit the Prize Corner.

"Last chance to back out," I warned her. "There's probably going to be actual Rockets in there and they'll want to hurt us."

"I've got your back, Silvy," Green said firmly. "We're in this together until we take them all out and set you free."

Set me free…

I pat her on the head. "I'll make sure nothing happens to you. Would hate to explain to your mom that you died," I snorted, tapping Loki with one hand and grabbing Green with the other.

Green squeaked and then watched in fascination, as my first pokemon began exuding black energy, that wrapped around the both of us until we looked like a nondescript adult couple.

Loki's illusions were impressive but they had limits for the little Zorua. Things like camouflage/invisibility were a tad harder for him over something like masking us as other people but for it to be effective on both Green and I, we needed to remain close and keep contact.

Less area to cover. Very nice all around.

"Be calm," I muttered to her, watching as Vee jumped into her disguised shirt to stay hidden.

Holding her hand showed me how nervous she was. My companion was squeezing it tightly as we weaved through the late night addicts, who had their eyes glued to the slots.

All ages were allowed inside the game corner but near midnight, it was mostly adults that remained…

And those adults were extremely addicted. They didn't even spare Green and I a glance as we marched past them.

I wrinkled my nose a bit at the stench and just shook my head.

Some things changed, others did not. Degenerates existed in all manner of worlds and gambling addictions were universal.

My eyes narrowed slightly as I furtively glanced about for any clues. I didn't know the exact location of where their hideout would be but I could take a wild guess and say it was in some secluded area in the far back.

The corner was way bigger, but the layout in general, was very similar to the games…

I turned into a corridor that suspiciously led to nothing and made sure know one saw us waltz into it.

After double checking, I effortlessly moved a poster to the side and pressed a very nondescript (no really, this wasn't sarcasm at allll) button.

A tiny rumbling occurred before Green and I's eyes as the floor made way for a set of stairs.

We watched it with wide and unimpressed eyes respectively.

Ridiculous. But I guess if you wanted to stay hidden, this was the way to go about things.

I chanced a glance back to make sure we weren't being tailed and then I headed down the stairway after confirming that the coast was clear.

"So there really is a secret base down here," Green muttered quietly.

"Yeah," I grunted with a frown, watching as our disguises wore off. "Be as quiet as possible. I'll lead."

She nodded and adjusted her mask slightly, falling in line behind me.

Neither of us made a sound, as we navigated the underground facility. It was cold in here and there wasn't a soul in sight currently...

I pursed my lips after pushing open a door and paused at seeing an empty seat on the other side.

Someone was supposed to be guarding here but they weren't…

Footsteps alerted us to the arrival of said person and my eyes went sharp.

"Maaaaan this shift fucking sucks," the grunt complained, idly scratching his pants as he lazily sat down. "Why the fuck do I always get stuck with this shift? It's not like anyone actually knows where this is. But here I am, with no one to fucking talk to while the other guys get to fuck off and do whatever. Couldn't I at least get Ana to keep me company? Nope."

He never noticed two sets of eyes glaring at him. He definitely didn't notice the violent rage in the catlike silver gaze that was me.

I wasted no time leaping off the roof I was perched against, slamming both my feet onto the unsuspecting guy's back.

I heard a wheeze of agony escape his mouth, before vines swiftly wrapped around him and shut him up.

My mask protected me from the aroma of Saury's Sleep Powder quite well and we shot each other a nod of respect.

Green's strongest pokemon was a real trooper. He was utterly unfazed by his set of orders and just carried them out with a chilling efficiency.

"Oof," Green said quietly, landing on the floor with a slightly unbalanced stance.

I idly pulled her up and gazed coldly at the body, before stripping the man of anything he could use as a way to get out.

I left his outfit on though, so he could be easily identified. The big R wasn't doing him any favors.

"Should I have Saury tie him up?" Green asked curiously.

"No. Sleep Powder is enough. Harder to identify what put him in this state and he'll be unconscious for a long time," I denied, pushing another door open and stepping into a massive hallway.

I confidently walked through like I owned the place, never making a sound and making sure Loki would alert me of any sounds. His hearing was much better than mine and I trusted him wholeheartedly.

"You're so calm," Green whispered, trailing me. She wasn't as confident as I was but that was to be expected.

It was still much better than I expected someone as nervous as her to be. That was another reason I was taking the lead, so that she could calm her nerves by looking at me.

Loki twitched slightly and I immediately ducked into a corridor, Green hastily following me.

I put up two fingers and released Gaia from her ball.

No sooner did I do that, did two rocket grunts appear from around a corner of the corridor to the left.

"It's cold as balls in here man," the man complained.

"You wanna take that complaint up with Proton? Let's see if you win the roulette and leave the room with only one limb," the woman offered.

I paused at that and frowned.

As they walked past us, both Gaia and Saury lashed out with their vines, immediately immobilizing and dragging them into this little pocket with us.

They weren't even allowed to scream due to the vines wrapping tight around their mouths.

"Don't knock them unconscious yet," I grunted, watching as the two rockets struggled fruitlessly.

I effortlessly stomped on the fingers of the one attempting to nudge her pokeball and watched as she squealed under the muffle of Gaia's vines.

Green winced slightly but I was ruthless.

"None of that," I chastised coldly. "If you value those limbs that you talked about, you'll answer some of my questions."

To stress my point, I pulled out my bat and aimed it at the man's leg.

"You're going to nod for yes, shake for no. If I feel like you're lying, I'm going to smash a limb. When I run out of limbs, you should get very afraid," I warned them.

They almost looked like they didn't believe I was capable of something like that and I scoffed.

What was with these idiots underestimating me because I was a kid? I was fully disguised. I could have just been a short adult.

"Squeeze tighter, Gaia," I grunted.

I couldn't stop the well of satisfaction at seeing the sheer panic in their eyes, as Gaia began squeezing tighter and tighter.

"Don't think I have any sympathy for you, Team Rocket. Especially not after that stunt you pulled with the ship," I said coldly, nudging my bat against the man's skull hard enough to make it bounce off the wall behind him. "You kill, steal, assault… you're scum of the world so I will break every one of your limbs if you don't comply. Got that?"

They both nodded eagerly, fear in their eyes.

Good. I'm glad they were complying. I really didn't fancy scarring Green here more than she likely already was.

I spared a glance towards her and she gazed back at me, eyes almost certainly wide behind that mask, but nodded shakily at my unspoken question.

"I'm okay for now. They've done worse," she whispered quiet enough for only me to hear.

A liar. That's what she was.

I sighed and ignored it for now because this was important for our plans.

"Is Executive Proton in this building right now?" I asked calmly.

Hesitance.

My eyes narrowed and I stood poised with my bat, swinging it through the air.

"Mmmm!" the man nodded hastily and I stopped mid swing.

I scoffed. "Is he overseeing a big project?"

A shake of their heads and I pursed my lips.

"So he's just visiting?"

A nod.

"What rotten luck."

Funnily enough, they nodded sagely at that.

Proton was unhinged. Don't ask me how I knew that, I just did. He was very easily the most unstable of the Executives and had the worst temper to boot.

We needed to approach this differently.

"You guys hold pokemon hostage here right?" I asked coldly.

A hesitant nod.

I nodded towards Saury and briefly had him remove his vines from the girls lips.

Why? Because she was more likely to care about her looks of course. I had a bat aimed directly at her skull so she understood exactly what was going to happen if she screamed.

The female rocket was gazing at me like I was about to kill her and I merely nudged the bat against her to have her understand that I was not messing around.

"Where do you keep them?" I asked lowly. "I want full instructions of how to get there. Don't speak louder than necessary or you can kiss your pretty face goodbye."

She nodded fearfully. "A-A-All the pokemon are in the same room. It's to keep stock of them easier… they're behind cages. You just have to make it to the third floor and you'll f-find them."

Green glared at the duo and I nodded in satisfaction, before Saury immediately put them to sleep.

"New plan," I grunted to Green.

----------------------------------------

Green and I continued stealthily moving through the Rocket hideout, taking out Rocket after Rocket in our silent rampage.

Most didn't even get the chance to battle us, we captured and slept them easily. That was better for us because we needed to conserve our energy as much as possible.

I was a little confused that none of them had their pokemon out, but the few rockets we did battle made it clear why.

Those were not pokemon that could just be left out. Most were drugged to oblivion and it made Green more and more furious with the rockets for so callously abusing their pokemon.

We rid them of their pokemon and just left them somewhere for the investigators to pick up their pokeballs. With any luck, they'd be sent somewhere for rehabilitation so that they could get whatever junk was in their system flushed.

But I suppose there was one benefit to seeing those pokemon and that benefit was riling Green up something fierce.

A more motivated Green, meant a more confident Green and as we traversed I began to worry less and less for her… enough for me to divulge a new set of actions.

"Hold it right there you little shit."

I stopped at that and cursed my luck, before turning to face the voice of the perpetrator.

He was of average height, with a black hat that hid a full head teal hair. There was a smile on his face, but his equally teal eyes reflected the fury he was currently feeling.

"I was wondering why I was barely running into any grunts. Turns out we got a little cheeky fucking Rattata scampering around," Proton grunted in feigned amusement.

My masked face revealed nothing to him, but I was eyeing the 6 pokeballs on his waist warily.

"Mask on… body hidden… are you some type of vigilante?" Proton asked incredulously, smile twitching a bit. "Are you a fucking freedom fighter? Who the hell do you think you are?!"

I said nothing.

Proton snarled in annoyance. "Don't think you can go around interrupting my work. Team Rocket doesn't like anyone sticking their nose in our business! You won't expect any mercy from me!"

Nothing. I didn't say a word.

Proton's waning patience snapped in half.

"Quiet type huh? Let's see how quiet you are when I'm ripping out the information of who you are!"

Proton threw his pokeball out and I watched warily as a Weezing popped out.

It was an ugly thing, with two spherical heads that were connected by a tube with yet another sphere on it. It's eyes, both sets, were half lidded as it immediately honed in on me.

Without any hesitation, I turned on a heel and ran for my life.

Proton's eyes bugged in rage. "OH NO YOU FUCKING DON'T! AFTER THAT LITTLE SHIT! DON'T TEAR THEM TO PIECES YET!"

The sound of another pokeball opening, showed a Crobat with bloodthirsty eyes that flitted off after me, turning the corner as well at incredible speeds.

Proton was hot on his pokemon's heels, eyes bulging in his rage as he stormed off with the Weezing.

I watched him go with a lazy expression, sitting atop the cage of a fuming Nidoqueen.

"That's the guy that captured you all huh?" I asked her quietly, allowing the illusion to melt off of me.

One really neat thing about Loki's illusions, was that he could control it a certain distance.

It would increase when he evolved, but the moment that illusion of me had turned the corner, it dissolved. Proton would very likely thing I teleported away or was way faster than led to believe.

So I had some time.

Nidoqueen growled in affirmation at my question.

"Don't you worry girl. I'll free you all from your cages, then you can get all the revenge you want," I smiled thinly, right as Green poked her head into the room.

"You just have to promise not to hurt me… and be careful. That guy is pretty strong… so just cause a lot of chaos until the people come to save you."

I leapt off the cage and looked the Nidoqueen in her eyes, stamping down my innate dislike for ground types.

Of all the drugged and caged pokemon, this one seemed to be the most coherent… so I watched her nod in affirmation, respect in her gaze.

"Found the key?" I asked Green with a small and smug smirk.

"Yeah, the plan worked perfectly. You distracted the executive and gave me time to find the keys to the cages," Green said, showing off a ring of keys.

Once learning that Proton was here, I had to adjust my plans a little. I didn't have a set goal here, I was just trying to fuck them over…

But trying to fuck over Team Rocket with an executive nearby was a death wish.

So do we leave?

Fuck no.

We continue with the mission but just adjust how we go about it. We just needed to do one last thing before heading out and there was bound to be good things to loot.

Cue, distracting Proton so that Green could raid his room and steal anything valuable.

"Got anything else besides the keys?" I asked curiously, going through the process of unlocking every single cage, starting with Nidoqueen.

The poison type rumbled as she stepped out and I gazed warily at her… but she snorted and nodded respectfully at me, trudging past me and heading directly towards a cage full of Nidoran, Nidorinos and Nidorinas.

"Yeah," Green nodded. "I got a lot of loot, we can split it half after its all said and done. They had a lot of money too."

I shot an impressed look at her, clinking open the cage of a Machoke.

I was mostly freeing the Pokemon that looked coherent. I'm not gonna lie, I didn't trust those drugged up ones to not attack me. When the investigators came they'd deal with it.

"I'm proud of you," I said truthfully, returning the bow that the Machoke shot me.

"I can't believe the first time I hear a compliment from you, it's because I've become your partner in crime… literally," Green sighed, also bowing.

Machoke raised its head and I watched its reptilian face scour the crowd of caged pokemon, before walking up to a cage and ripping it open with its bare hands, allowing a coherent Medicham to slowly walk out.

"Thank you," I said truthfully, shooting a nod of respect as Machoke began assessing who was safe enough to release. "Help will be on the way to get the ones who can't fend themselves, so play it safe," I announced to them.

I absentmindedly opened the cage of a terrified Teddiursa and watched it shrink into the cage.

"Hey, I'm not here to hurt you," I reassured with a disarming smile. "You're free to go now. You can escape."

The Teddiursa nodded hesitantly and tentatively walked out the cage, gazing at me with caution.

"Right, we've stayed here long enough," I grunted, turning away from the free army. "The police should be getting their message soon, so that means it's time to go."

Green nodded in agreement. "We did good. We just have to make sure this place gets found out."

"I've got that handled," I grunted, turning on a dime and rushing out of the room. "Try not to kill anyone not wearing an R on their shirt! They want to help heal you! Hurting them will only be bad for you all in the long run! Comply with the allies!" I barked to the freed pokemon.

I didn't wait to see if the Pokemon registered my words because I was already sprinting with Green.

Proton seemed like a dumbass but by now, he was sure to realize that something was amiss and I very much doubted the pokemon were going to be quiet.

Right on cue, we heard the pokemon begin roaring in fury and that motivated me to get far away from that noise.

"Our missions complete, it's time to get far away from here," I mumbled to her as we ran.

"Yeah!" she nodded. "This was… scary and crazy but it was also kinda really thrilling!"

"Yeah?" I mused, wondering if her adrenaline pumped the way mine did in the middle of something dangerous. To me, the high of committing such a high stakes heist, was a little intoxicating.

Judging by the little gleam in Green's eyes… she was more like her manga counterpart than I thought. I knew they had a lot of similarities but this was a surprise.

…

My eyes widened and without any hesitation, I gripped Green and lunged forward.

"O-Ow!" Green shouted in shock, tumbling with me and clutching her side in shock as her outfit shredded slightly.

I placed her behind me as we caught our footing and snarled in annoyance.

We both watched watched as a tiny ghost materialized behind us. It was bipedal with sharp claws, dripping in some blood, and sharp teeth, with gemstone like eyes and a red gem in its chest.

Sableye… didn't think he'd have this pokemon in his possession.

"You really thought I was gonna let you get away?!" Proton hissed furiously, a Toxicroak at his side that leered at us, lip curling in anticipation.

The executive looked pissed as hell, eyes smoldering with murder in his eyes.

I pursed my lips as Crobat flitted into view and banished any thoughts of successfully escaping.

Crobat's were far far too fast for the human to react to. To be honest, if you were alone with a Crobat, you were already dead and only living as long as it wanted you too.

The fact that Proton of all people had a Crobat meant the two actually had a bond with each other... which meant that it was almost equally as violent as he was.

"You're fucked," Proton promised violently, gritting his teeth. "You think I can't stop that little rebellion down there? You think I'm afraid of a few wild pokemon? Once I deal with you, it'll be nothing for me."

"…" I pondered the situation. "Maybe you should be more weary of those wild pokemon."

Proton raised a brow, but his eyes widened in shock as the ground underneath him began shaking.

Toxicroak only had a moment to react as a horn attempted to gore through Proton. It leapt into action, parrying the horn with that long red claw on its arm.

Nidoqueen snarled violently, and the very world around us began shaking as it no doubt used Earthquake.

Toxicroak's defense was short lived, as a Sandslash burst from the ground and a torrent of flames, courtesy of a Rapidash, attempted to bathe the rest of Proton's team.

"Run!" I barked, dragging Green and pushing her ahead.

I watched as the crowd of rampaging pokemon grew larger and larger and decided that the commotion was probably going to get picked up on soon.

It was really time to get out of here. Proton was a spiteful piece of shit —

"Oof," I grunted, as I got tackled to the ground. I landed face first on the floor and felt cracks make its way to my mask. Bits began falling off and I hissed in pain.

"I don't give a fuck what happens, I'm taking you out."

I could practically feel the spit hitting the back of my neck with how hard Proton was frothing at the mouth.

I hissed as a foot crashed into my ribs and flipped me over, meeting the angry teal eyes of Proton and Crobat.

"You caused me a lot of damn problems you shitty little brat," he hissed, crouching lowly to regard me. "Now let's see who you are behind this mask —"

I spit a wad of blood through the cracks of my mask and aimed directly towards his eyes without any hesitation.

"AGH!" Proton shouted, clawing at his face as the spit struck true. As his grip loosened on me, I lunged forward with wild eyes and stabbed the dagger into his side without any hesitation.

My theory of it being made of some pokemon material was looking more and more true because it sunk into him with way too much ease.

I ignored the urge to wince, eyes unnaturally focused as I glared hatefully at the stupid fucking group that blew up the S.S Anne.

"ARGHHHHH!" Proton howled in agony, clutching the gushing spot as I ruthlessly ripped out the blade.

At the same time, a baseball bat connected directly with Proton's head and I felt myself getting dragged from underneath him.

"Cro!" Crobat hissed, instinctively turning towards Proton in visible concern.

The slight distraction allowed Saury, who was wrapped in an illusion, to wrap a flurry of vines around the giant bat. I noticed a slight sheen to them and realized they were seeped in Sleep Powder.

The makeshift chloroform rag performed its job admirably, because even the much stronger Crobat was unable to resist. Soon, it fell asleep and Saury discarded it to the side with a grunt.

Loki was atop the Ivysaur, glaring fiercely at both Proton and Crobat and showing me exactly how the giant Ivysaur managed to sneak up on them.

"ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!" Green stammered, pulling me up and rushing with me. She was holding my baseball bat and it was obvious who had used it to get me out of that predicament.

"I'm fine," I huffed, clutching my side slightly. "Thank you, Loki, Leaf and Saury. That was a sticky situation that I was in and you guys got me out of it."

"Of course! I promised that I'd have your back, now let's go!" Green urged, tugging my hand forward. "Loki can you wrap us in an illusion again? We'll need to be invisible this time so we can leave without being questioned."

Loki nodded and got to work quickly.

I took a deep breath and stood up straight, as his illusion washed over us and we began swiftly marching towards the exit because Loki wouldn't be able to keep this up for too long.

As we made it back to the actual game corner. The noise from down here wasn't quite reaching them but I know that earthquake must have been felt… so I just slapped a sign on a wall with a big ass arrow (Green began sweating slightly at that) and we got the hell up outta there.

There was a noise of confusion and a wave of anxiety from the few addicted gamblers in there and I watched as they contemplated leaving this place, or continuing with slots.

Sickening. I already knew what my decision was.

As Green and I made our way out of the Game Corner, we turned on a dime and rushed off, heading directly to the forests of Route 7.

The both of us collapsed next to each other with twin sighs, releasing our entire team in the process.

"Bay," Gaia muttered, approaching me and inspecting my wounds. She began glowing slightly and I sighed as the pain dulled into something much more tolerable.

"Come here Green," I grunted, beckoning her over.

Green blinked and rolled a single time, closing the distance immediately.

She let out a strangled shriek as I lifted her shirt halfway, revealing 3 gashes on her side.

"Sableye got you," I frowned. "Does it hurt bad?"

"K-Kinda," she stammered, fidgeting under my intense gaze.

I sighed.

"Loki, could you channel some dark type energy on it? It should help get rid of some of the potential ghost energy that entered her system."

Loki nodded and deftly leapt next to us, placing a gentle paw on her wounds and using a harmless amount of dark energy.

Then, Gaia wrapped her vines around the wound and began glowing, channeling a Heal Pulse and making the wound close up.

"A little better?" I asked.

"Much," she replied thankfully.

"Wanna go to a Center?" I muttered.

She shook her head. "I'm okay! If we go now, we might become suspects. It really does feel way better now," she grinned reassuringly.

I watched Gaia remove her vines and gazed at the spot where she got wounded, nodding slightly at not seeing it scar over.

I idly pulled a Full Restore out of my bag and sprayed once on the spot, getting a surprised hiss out of her.

"There we go," I nodded in satisfaction.

Green rubbed the spot slightly and gazed at me, before smiling.

"I can't believe we did that," she gasped, hugging Togee with an awed expression.

"What? Did you enjoy it?" I asked, groaning slightly as I tentatively peeled my black coat off.

Proton kicked me pretty damn hard. It wasn't enough to break bone thankfully, but it was definitely going to bruise.

"Don't tell anyone… but it… was kinda fun. You know, before that executive showed up," Green admitted in a mumble, running a hand through Vee's fur.

"Good. You did great today," I informed her, watching as Gaia hawked in on my bruised ribs and immediately got started again.

What a gem.

"Really?! I'm glad. I was really hoping I didn't let you down," she said quietly.

"You didn't. You did the opposite. I'm honestly surprised a goody two shoes like you was willing to do this and you did it to an impressive degree too."

Green stuck her tongue out at me. "S-Shut up! I can be a little rebellious!"

"Yeah you proved me wrong. I can't believe you used my bat before me," I sighed despondently.

"You really wanna use the bat," Green said dryly. "...I can kinda see why."

I snorted and it erupted into a small chuckle.

Green giggled as well and we both laughed at the bizarreness of the situation.

It was ridiculous to think about, but that's what made it so funny.

Eventually we settled down and Green sobered up slightly.

"So what do we do now?" she asked in concern.

"Wanna camp out for the night? Or do you wanna waltz back to the Center? I've already got an excuse lined up for that option so."

With the exposure of the Game Corner, there was a solid chance that the city would be in a bit of an uproar. So Green and I's alibi would be that we had been training off route and set up camp/or slept in the center right after.

"Let's camp!" Green decided immediately.

I nodded. "Wanna sleep in my tent again? It's much comfier," I added.

Her eyes widened and she nodded eagerly. "Yeah! It'll be fun! Another sleepover!"

I simply snorted and got my tent ready… only to go alert as a rustling noise suddenly hit my ears.

At once, everyone in the clearing went alert and I narrowed my eyes.

I beckoned with my arm for them all to be ready to start blasting.

Green mirrored my movement and all of our pokemon got ready…

Only to stop in confusion at seeing what stepped through.

It was a bipedal pokemon that was covered in orange-brown fur while looking very ursine in nature. It had a light brown muzzle with a tiny black nose and small black eyes that had white irises.

To top it all off, there was a crescent moon marking on its face.

The Teddiursa shuddered in terror, beginning to nervously lick its paws as it noticed all the eyes on it. It looked as if it wanted to bolt at any given moment and I tilted my head.

"A Teddiursa?" I muttered in confusion, waving my hand slightly to tell my team to ease up.

"Wait, is this the one from the Rocket Base?" Green asked in confusion. "Wow! Did you follow us all the way over here?! How did you do that?!"

Teddiursa flinched and nodded tentatively at the question, before pointing at its nose.

It tracked us by scent? It managed to pick our scent in all that mayhem and follow us here?

Well, it was a bear I guess. Stood to reason that a super powered bear would have fantastic sense of smell.

I blinked. "Why would you do that?" I asked bluntly.

"If you had stayed there, you woulda got rescued by the Officer Jenny's and the rest of the police force," I grunted.

"Teddi…" Teddiursa mumbled after a moment.

"It does not trust humans," Metang translated.

"You don't trust humans?" I asked with a raised brow.

Teddiursa nodded reluctantly. "Ted Teddi ursa," it explained.

"Humans took both its mother and it from their home and transformed her into a mindless beast. They seemed to have experimented on the little cub as well."

I scowled at that.

"That's fucked," I frowned.

"What's wrong?" Green asked me.

"The Teddiursa and it's mother were both experimented on. Team Rocket turned its mom into a mindless monster…"

Green gasped in horror. "That's horrible… the poor thing," she said sadly, gazing at the Teddiursa with pity.

"But I don't get it. You don't trust humans, you were set free and you had the skills to escape the Game Corner without being detected," I pointed out.

Teddiursa shrunk a bit at my piercing gaze.

"You don't have to trust humans anymore. You're free. Just go live in the forests now. Why are you here?" I asked bluntly.

By this point, Teddiursa was now licking both its paws as its nervousness began to climb higher.

"T-Teddiursa," it stammered.

"While it does not trust all humans. It… admires and respects you in particular. From my point of view, it has latched onto you because you saved it."

I blinked.

It latched onto me?

"You like me?" I asked the little thing curiously.

"Ursa!" Teddiursa exclaimed eagerly, black eyes looking up at me.

"It hopes to be as brave as you some day. I do believe it wants to join us."

I figured but just to be sure…

"You wanna join me?" I asked the little fella, crouching down directly in front of Teddiursa.

"Teddiursa!" Teddiursa nodded happily.

"Despite not trusting a single human, for good reason too, you mustered up the courage to approach two humans and you wanna join one of them..." I mused.

This little fella didn't trust any human. It got experimented on. It practically lost its mother to those same humans…

Yet it still had the courage to approach me, a human to ask for my help.

It was like looking at a pokemon version of myself… except Teddiursa was way braver than it gave itself credit for because it had the strength to willingly put its trust into someone.

I… was still working on that.

I never even once thought about catching a Teddiursa. Like it hadn't passed my mind a single time… it just wasn't a pokemon I cared about…

But how could I sit here and deny this guy a chance to join me? It's not like I was starving for a sixth pokemon… it's not like I knew who was going to go there.

Why not them? Besides, don't I originally have an Ursaring? Might as well have at least one matching member.

Most pokemon held in captivity, normally suffered once they actually made it out in the wild anyways. Unless trained, it was unwise to release them because they'd lag behind their natural counterparts.

Heh. Look at that. Looks like I didn't completely lie to Dr. Fuji. I really was rescuing a pokemon from being experimented on.

Maybe Mewtwo's cells had given me precognitive abilities.

Wasn't that a thought?

"Alright Teddiursa, you're in luck. I've been needing a sixth and I've also been pretty indecisive about it so I think you'll make a fine addition to the party," I smirked sardonically, holding a Luxury Ball for him.

"Tap the button and you'll be apart of the team. Once you do this, you'll have a whole new life to look forward to," I told them.

"It'll be hard. I won't lie. I have high expectations for my team members and I have high expectations for myself… and you'll have to match that. But, I can promise you that if you stick it out, it'll all be worth it. You won't be a coward, you won't be weak… and you'll be able to avenge your mother," I swore to them.

Teddiursa looked captivated by my words, eyes shining in awe, as its paws fell limply to its side.

Then, it raised one of those wet little paws and tapped on the Luxury Ball without any hesitation.

I watched as it was sucked into the ball, not even struggling once before signifying a successful capture.

I gazed at the ball with a contemplative expression.

A Teddiursa…

"Well guys, looks like we have our sixth member," I informed my team. "Be nice to them, alright? They seem a little shy so we'll be patient."

Gaia, Loki and Freyja all showed their support to the newest member, while Metang said nothing and Ares rumbled.

"So long as it has its uses, I will not complain. The same goes for the dragon who's trapped in its shell."

I grunted at that.

"That… was so inspiring!" Green beamed. "Now we both have 6 members! Oh but technically you have 7! The egg!"

I blinked.

Oh shit. Right, I had the egg.

"I'm going to have a team of 7 soon. Don't tell anyone."

Green blinked. "Oh right… you have nowhere to put extra pokemon."

I nodded and stood up, dusting myself off and groaning as I stretched out the kinks in my body. "Yeah I don't. Not for the foreseeable future at least. I'll be caught dead before I send a member of my team to Viridian so I'll have to illegally go over the limit."

She nodded sympathetically. "And it would be suspicious if you requested a new area… alright, that makes sense."

I smirked at her. "Thanks, Leaf… now let's go to sleep. I'm pretty tired."

"Kay Silvy!"

----------------------------------------

Proton let out a gasp of agony, as he was suddenly enveloped in a sheen and transported out of the Game Corner.

His side was bleeding heavily after getting fucking stabbed and he was still furiously wiping at the blood in his eyes.

"Proton."

Proton froze at that and hesitantly opened his stinging eyes.

What he saw, made a chill go down his spine.

All the Executives were staring down at him currently. From Petrel's lackadaisical smirk, Jesse and James pensive expression, Ariana's unimpressed sneer and Archer's irritated glare.

But all of that paled in comparison to the figure in the middle, sitting rigidly in his seat as his grey eyes coldly bore into him.

"I believe an explanation is required," Archer stepped forward immediately. "How is it, that the Game Corner has been compromised the one time you were tasked with going there."

Petrel put a hand into his ear lazily. "Yeah man, that base meant a lot to me. I'm normally the one who's watching over it you know? How'd you mess that up?"

"Brute's are only good for one thing," Ariana snarled, mood foul for reasons unknown to anyone.

Jesse and James said nothing, awkwardly watching the affairs.

Proton snarled. "There was someone sneaking around! Someone who knew about the hideout! They were working right under my nose and ended up freeing all those damn pokemon. When I get my hands on them... I'll make them regret crossing Team Rocket!"

"When?"

A tense silence washed over everyone at that and every single agent gazed at the mostly silent Giovanni.

One could almost be led to believe that he hadn't said anything in the first place but it was impossible to miss their bosses voice.

"The Game Corner supplied us with almost 43% of our funds," Giovanni listed idly, expression not betraying anything. "It is the driving force in allowing us to have a steady income and in just one day, that steady income has ceased to exist."

"Not only that, underneath the Game Corner, was a hideout that was used to test and restrain countless of pokemon. Pokemon that we eventually planned on selling for an even greater profit, or using for ourself."

Proton began shuddering.

"You understand correct, Executive Proton? To experiment and test, we naturally need supplies. Those supplies are expensive. We no longer have access to the supplies in the Game Corner," Giovanni stated matter of factly.

Horror dawned on his face.

"Now you understand," Giovanni praised quietly. "We did not just lose the Game Corner. We lost many, many resources that we used there. It's not as if I placed all my eggs into a singular basket, but some baskets are more important than others and because of you, I lost one of my baskets."

"So explain to me your side of things, Executive Proton."

Proton crumbled immediately. "T-There were two of them! Both short! They had disguises on! They were running around the base and dispatching all of our members! I never saw it coming! When I caught one of them, they stabbed me! I didn't expect it so they got away."

He bowed his head to the floor pleadingly. "Forgive me sir. I'll work to rectify this mistake immediately! I'll find those bastards and bring them in!"

Ariana scoffed silently, while the other Executives remained silent.

Giovanni said nothing as well, just gazing at the man with a neutral expression.

"Tell me then Proton. What pokemon did those trainers have?"

Proton nodded vigorously and mulled the question over —

He went pale.

W-What pokemon did they have? Surely there was one he spotted right?

Was it that Nidoqueen...? The Rapidash?

Wait... wait.

"Well?" Giovanni raised a brow.

"I... I didn't quite see any of them," he explained.

"...I see," Giovanni nodded. "Very well, Proton. Did you glean their appearance? Any bit of evidence that might lead us to finding out who caused this?"

"T-They were disguised. I nearly broke one of their masks... right! They both had white masks on!" Proton explained desperately.

"Masks. Your best piece of evidence... is that they wore masks?" Giovanni asked.

If Proton was of sound mind, he would have mentioned a key detail. He would have mentioned that one of the two had spat their blood on him.

But Proton was not of sound mind.

"Just give me a chance Boss Giovanni! One more!" Proton begged. "I promise I'll find them. I'll get them back for the glory of Team Rocket!"

Giovanni nodded at his request.

"And how do you expect to do that?" he asked suddenly.

"I'll head out right now! I won't rest until I find them! There was two of them and one of me, yet they ran away from me the entire time! My team has to be stronger than theirs—"

"What team, Proton?"

Proton went still.

He hesitantly reached for his belt and shook as 6 empty pokeballs greeted him.

"They've been captured. Taken by the League," Giovanni supplied helpfully. "You released every single member of your team, didn't catch a single good hint on who the perpetrator was and compromised one of our most important locations."

It was then Proton noticed.

Giovanni stopped adding the Executive title in front of his name.

"I believe you misunderstand something, Proton," Giovanni informed him. "I did not rescue you because of your value. I rescued you because you hold valuable secrets."

"But your use has clearly run out. Executive Archer. Petrel."

Two hands suddenly gripped Proton and the man shakily looked back to see a Dusclops staring at him, pulsing red eye glowing ominously.

"Sorry man, no hard feelings but you kinda screwed us big time," Petrel shrugged helplessly.

His shadow cackled unapologetically, grinning maliciously as two red eyes gazed at him.

At the same time, the sound of a pokeball opening alerted Proton to a new presence and he gazed in horror, at the sight of Archer's Bisharp.

"Pathetic. It's truly a shame that we've allowed you to sully our names for this long," Archer scoffed.

"Escort him out of the room if you would. Afterwards, continue the missions you've been assigned," Giovanni said calmly, leaning back into his seat.

Proton's eyes widened in terror. "No sir wait! Please! Give me another chance! Please!"

"You boast the highest amount of failed missions among the Executives. You have garnered the least of the grunts loyalty and earned the most of their fear. You are the only Executive with a bounty on your head. You are nothing but a Primeape, aimed at structures to break. Unfortunately, you have broken mine," Giovanni stated boredly.

"I grow tired of this conversation. Escort him out."

"You can't do this to me! Stop! Let me go! After everything I've done for Team Rocket?! I shed blood, sweat and tears for this organization! I did everything in the honor of Team Rocket! You can't — SOMEONE HELP ME! PLEASE! ANYONE?!"

Giovanni's face never even twitched. He merely ran a hand through his pet Persian, eyes roving over a document lying on his table.

"Executive Jesse and James."

The two jumped straight at that, eyes finally leaving the door that Proton had been dragged through.

"Excellent job. You are to resume your mission as you see fit," Giovanni said, not even looking at them. "Your efforts have been noted."

"Y-Yes Sir!" They saluted shakily. Not wasting anymore time, the duo swiftly departed.

Ariana followed suit. The woman made to take a step out of the meeting room—

"I've allowed you to brood long enough. Inform me of the meeting between you and Silver. That's very clearly the reason you are this belligerent."

—Before stopping at his voice. Ariana bristled and turned around mechanically.

"The meeting didn't go as planned," she grit out. "Clearly you undersold just how belligerent he became."

"Is that so?" Giovanni mused. "In that case, there must be a reason as to why you didn't bring him back with you. You are not the type to sit idly by as someone verbally tears into you."

"You must know so much about me," Ariana sneered, fury building at his accurate assessment. "I will collect him at another given time. He's doing well for himself and taking him now, will only lead to resentment."

"That is what I said," Giovanni informed her.

"I know that's what you fucking said!" she barked in annoyance, whirling around for him. "I merely saw it fit as his mother to pay him a visit. I haven't seen him in months after all."

"So you did miss him."

Ariana scowled and marched out of the room, ending the conversation without saying a thing.

Now she felt better for not telling that damned annoying bastard what Silver planned on doing.

Smug know it all huh? Figure that out —

Ariana went pale.

"You plan on becoming our enemy, don't you?"

No. Surely not.

Surely the one who had raided the Game Corner wasn't...

...

For the first time since Proton had been transported into the room, Ariana began to feel uneasy.

Surely it wasn't Silver that had ruined the Game Corner, was it?

How did he even know there was a secret base in the Game Corner? That wasn't possible! Giovanni gave explicit orders to never inform Silver of the happenings of Team Rocket until he was of age. He couldn't have possibly known about that base!

So if it really was him, how could he have known?

How had he been able to outmaneuver Proton so masterfully, to the point where the man didn't even know a single pokemon he used?

...The Zorua. That's how.

"Oh no. He was even more serious that I imagined," Ariana thought in horror.

This wasn't something small. This wasn't stopping some grunts. Giovanni would want the blood of whoever destroyed the Game Corner.

What would he do if he found out it was their son?

...

Ariana nearly bit her tongue with her inner musings.

This sudden situation was not one she had ever expected to be put into.

Silver was recklessly serious about freeing himself from Team Rocket's clutches. The same little boy who used to be so clingy, was now gazing at his mother like she was a stranger, while working to tear down everything his father worked towards.

What would happen if Giovanni sent Mewtwo after the perpetrator? Surely it wouldn't take the legendary but a second to find out.

"A second is an understatement of my power, human."

Ariana felt a chill crawl down her spine at that baritone voice.

"Y-You know?!" she asked in horror.

"It hardly required focus. Such was the volume of your thoughts."

Oh no. If Mewtwo knew then... what did that mean for Silver?

"You need not worry. Such miniscule affairs mean nothing to me. This familial matter is something that you humans may deal with. They have very little to do me."

With that, the psychic's voice vanished and Ariana held her head as a strong headache bloomed.

Mewtwo was aware of Silver's involvement...

No wait. Mewtwo had always been aware of Silver's involvement. Yet Giovanni had no idea of their son's involvement in either events.

A cold bead of sweat formed on the woman's face as she came to a horrific realization.

Mewtwo had secrets and some of those secrets involved their son.

Silver wasn't the only one in his rebellious stage, there was a Legendary who had just entered one too.