For a moment the gathering of Rocket Grunts was silent – then Black began to chuckle, the sound evolving into full-on laughter as a few of the other grunts joined in. “The old smoke bomb trick! Haven’t seen that in years!” He removed his cap to fan himself, revealing short hair that was honestly kind of boring.
Hoshi shook off some of his post-tournament lethargy. “They said to go now. Should we… go now?” If Everheart gave me that order I’d scramble to obey; the man is a hardass of the highest calibre. But those two seem less… serious.
“Oh, you’ll probably want to get on it before too long.” The grunt looked his way, and seemed to read his mind. “They’re pretty lax, up to a point – but hit that point, and you’re in for some…” He chuckled again. “Remedial lessons. Ha.”
Oh, amazing, we’ve progressed to euphemisms for punishment. Maybe those Unovan gangster movies were worth something after all.
“In any case,” Black continued, readjusting his cap, “You should be fine to grab a drink or three before you go.”
----------------------------------------
Okay, this is a little closer to what I was expecting.
When Casca had told him about her own training as a fresh Rocket Grunt, she had described something not very different from what Hoshi would have imagined; getting dropped a hint by a fellow street rat, showing up at a warehouse half-expecting it to be a sting, then a few weeks of small jobs – everything from burglary to slipping something into a target’s drink at a club. The pay was shit, but she had been desperate.
It was only at the end of that period that his girlfriend had learned who she was working for, and officially became part of Rocket. The pay got better, the jobs got more intricate, and eventually she was shipped off to Veridian to go through the Electric Academy.
Being directly scouted by a recruiter let Hoshi skip right to the ‘end’ and become an official grunt on day one – but he had still been expecting something more… gang shit, as Danny would say. But no, it was weird uniforms and a tournament and bosses who sang a theme song for the organisation while dressing their Pokémon in a suit.
In comparison, the business-party type of thing happening now was much more normal. If he deleted the old-fashioned grunt uniforms, he could easily slot the scene in front of him into Mabosstiff II: The Boss Returns; men and women in suits sharing expensive drinks as they openly discussed crime, with a casual air as if poaching and bribery were no different from office gossip.
Hoshi himself was sipping his own drink – some sort of extra-sweet wine he couldn’t pronounce – letting the built-up emotions from the tournament slip away. Somehow he had gotten swept up as part of Ryan’s entourage, so he was mostly going around the old money side of the room, bouncing between different cliques and letting his third-round placement be patronisingly congratulated.
“Ah, our young semifinalist,” gasped a middle-aged woman in a revealing dress she really didn’t have the figure to pull off. “Please, chat with us for a moment, would you? My friends and I are simply dying to get a look at that little sweetheart of yours.”
Ryan smiled brilliantly at the cluster of women, and Hoshi prepared himself for a litany of ‘oh what a precious baby’ and ‘you simply must meet my daughter’ type statements. The fakeness of it made him want to throw up, but these were his superiors – he had to schmooze a little, and taking cover behind Ryan’s back was better than doing it himself.
He endured the tedious conversation, then the cooing over the hyperactive little dragon when Ryan deigned to release it, and he even managed a half-sincere smile as he received a round of plastic compliments about defeating the Rocket Executive named Garcia, who was apparently well-liked.
At least the liquor is good, he thought, as they went from one cluster of suits to another. Then, mercifully, an electronic jingle sounded out from Ryan’s bag.
“Pardon,” said the rich blond Rocket Grunt to a trio of two executives and a scientist. “That was my Pokégear – we really must be getting back to the Senior Executives. If you’ll excuse me?”
A man with impressively large eyebrows covering nearly half his face grumbled out something pardoning, and Hoshi stepped away with the rest of the hangers-on. “Hah,” exhaled Black, “Been a minute since one of us grunts made it to semifinals. Always gratifying to see them bend their ears.”
Ryan opened his mouth, but Hoshi undercut him to ask something that had been bugging him for a while. “Hey Black, I’ve been meaning to ask… why is that?” The man turned his way.
“Why is what? Why are we at the bottom of the totem pole?” His smile was sarcastic. “Isn’t it obvious?”
Hoshi stood his ground. “Not really, after thinking about it. You guys have boots on the ground; shouldn’t your Pokémon be stronger?”
The older grunt took a long pull of his drink as they walked. “Ah, I see what you’re saying,” he eventually answered. “But you’re thinking about it wrong. Sure, a lot of Rocket Executives paid their way up, but those aren’t the ones that come here, you get me?” He gestured in a circle, indicating the room at large.
“These little tourneys must attract a certain type of person,” Ryan broke back in. “That’s what you refer to? The less… active members of Team Rocket would not come down to tussle with the new recruits.”
Black snapped his fingers. “Exactly. Usually the prize isn’t much to speak of… And it isn’t like being a grunt automatically means you fight a lot, anyhow. I mostly do paperwork.”
“Yeah,” continued one of the two other grunts riding Ryan’s coattails. “The poaching and stuff is what brings in cash, but the political power we mostly get through corporate ops. Been like a year since I went out in the field; it's almost all threatening businessmen and greasing palms and doing banking shit.” She rubbed at her forehead. “So the higher-ups probably get a lot more training done, actually.”
Hoshi grunted in understanding, and the group of five spent the next minute gathering up the other Rookies. Then Black and his friends split off, and Hoshi and his new coworkers – also a group of five, coincidentally – took a discrete door out the back of the room, going behind the stage.
Corporate ops, huh? he thought as he left the large auditorium behind. I don’t think I’d be very good at that. Hopefully I can get into something a little more active.
After all, if they’re putting time and money towards machamp and other Pokémon evolutions, they’ve got to be doing something that needs some… heh, heavy lifting.
----------------------------------------
The backstage was… well, it was a backstage. Probably not too different from an actual theatre’s; mannequins wearing different costumes were strewn about between boxes of props and even more clothing, with cardboard cutouts simulating different locations dotting the warehouse-like space.
Just past the door they found something of an open-air dressing room, and also a guide.
“Meow,” said the persian, in its oddly human voice. It stood up from a raised, cushioned chair set before a vanity table, and stretched its back before jumping down. Its claws made sharp clicks as they touched the ground, despite the impact being feather-light.
“…Hello,” ventured Ryan.
“Yo, it’s that sick-ass cat!” Moony said for the rest of them. “You gonna show us where the other two are, right?
The feline had changed back into its mob boss outfit – been changed; it’s not like it has thumbs – the alternating black and dark red stripes of its suit and hat contrasting strongly against its greying tan fur. They got the shoulders right, was the only thought that Hoshi could muster, as absurd as it was. I can’t guess how long it would take to translate those little details into a completely different body type – do they have a custom tailor, just for this Pokémon?
Or maybe all the duo’s Pokémon had their own outfits.
“Meow,” replied the persian, and it turned, padding away with the tails of its coat bobbing along on either side of its actual tail.
“Does anybody else feel really weirded out about this?” Nerine asked, her voice a touch slurred, and Hoshi nodded along with Puce.
“Naw,” Moony refuted. “This is super cool. Back at the Passage, we had a granbull that would open the door for people – but it would’a been twice as neat with a bouncer outfit. Should go back and suggest it some day.” He started following the large cat, and the rest of them mimicked him a beat later.
The Passage? Probably where he did his wrestling; the name is tacky enough to let him in.
They wound around different sets, and it became clear that either Rocket actually did use this place as a theatre, or they were really committed to making it look like they did. Hoshi saw a dozen different doors peeling off, some labeled dressing, or lighting, or simply numbered.
Finally, they reached an unlabeled door. The persian went up on its hind legs to grasp the knob, and with an unsettlingly human motion it popped open. “Meow,” the Pokémon ordered, beckoning them forward with a wave of its head.
Moony barrelled forward, while the others paused another beat before moving. Okay, it has to be something like Benny the machoke. Is Dabi turning Pokémon superintelligent? Is that what his mom was doing with machop? Hoshi nodded to the cat as he passed into the next room. Whatever it is, I’m going to be real fucking polite.
Their destination appeared to be another dressing room, though it was also furnished like an office; filing cabinets and two desks holding up computers decorated a wall, while the middle of the carpeted room was taken up by a long conference-style table.
And seated at that table was-
“Hoshi!” Casca yelled. “I saw your matches! You were so close to beating Mister Seto!”
The woman practically flew out of her chair, and Hoshi found himself trapped in a hug, then a long kiss. Puce looked away, blushing, while Ryan turned his eyes away more discreetly and the other two simply stared, nonplussed.
“Casca,” he breathed out after the kiss ended. “I didn’t expect to see you here.” His eyes went to the table, where the two Senior Executives were still seated, watching amusedly.
“Don’t worry,” she whispered. “They love me.” Then she took his hand, letting the rest of him go. “But that’s enough pleasure, let’s talk business,” she continued at normal volume, leading him to the table.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
“Yes,” said James. “There will be plenty of time for socialising later!” While less booming than his stage voice had been, the Rocket still spoke with a certain bombast.
A bombast shared by his peer. “We’ve got a mission for the five of you; something to cut your teeth on!” Like her partner, Jessie’s voice filled the entire room, larger than life.
Hoshi sat, his girlfriend taking his lap, to his mild embarrassment. “A mission?” he asked. On my first day? The other grunts found their own seats, the Executives waiting for everyone to be seated before answering.
“Of course!” Jessie finally said. “Idle hands are the Dexus’s plaything, as they say!”
“But don’t worry, we won’t be throwing you in the deep end right away!”
“Meow.”
The unexpected noise caused Hoshi to jolt; he hadn’t noticed Meowth enter behind them. Ryan raised his hand.
“And what does this mission entail?” he asked. The man was poorly trying to hide his excitement, a smile breaking through his professional veneer.
Moony’s fists met the table. “Are we beatin’ up some fool? Catchin’ rare Pokémon?” Unlike the younger grunt, he didn’t attempt to hide his emotions at all.
“Oh,” Jessie said, teasingly, “A little of column A, a little of column B…”
James drew a remote from under the table and pressed a button, dimming the lights. From somewhere along the computer side of the room a projection shone, turning the opposite wall into a map of the city.
“But mostly column C! If you’ll draw your attention to the south-west, along the coast…”
“To that little star…”
“You should see a very recognisable building!”
Of course, Hoshi didn’t need to search for even a full second – the target couldn’t be more obvious. “The Gym?” he asked, his heart in his stomach. Fuck. Fucking shit! Casca, did you know about this?
Her hand found his under the table, and her reassuring squeeze seemed to say keep listening, trust me.
“Exactly!” Jessie exclaimed. “But don’t worry, we aren’t sending you into the lion’s den!”
“The security on that baby is too much for us, let alone a handful of grunts!”
“Meow.”
“That was a decade ago, they’ve obviously changed the locks! Anyway…”
James tossed the remote to his partner, who changed the projection to a blueprint-style diagram of the interior. “You’ll be going in as normal trainers challenging the Gym. Rocket Grunt Mutsu, part of your job will be educating your fellow grunts on the workings of the Gym.”
“Layout, security, when the Lightning Lieutenant’s attention will be away, that sort of thing,” James clarified.
But I don’t know ‘that sort of thing!’ I… The thought trailed off as he realised that actually, he pretty much did.
“Your target is in the basement.” Jessie continued, pointing to a spot on the diagram. “The records room!”
“Inside, you should find a computer, one hooked up to the League’s central database!”
“Your mission is to get into that room, and insert a little widget made by our wonderful Professor Hypno!”
“Meow.”
“And then get out, yes. Without being spotted!”
Hoshi's guts settled down, just the smallest amount. Just bugging a League computer? “Is there a reason we aren’t going after an unguarded one, like the public terminals in a Pokécentre?”
James pointed his way. “Good question! Now computer literacy has gone down in recent years…”
“So a technical explanation wouldn’t mean much to kids like you. Suffice to say that a Gym Leader has access to different files than the general public!”
The room went silent for a moment as the grunts digested their bosses’ words, and then Ryan nodded. “This seems doable. Get in, have one of us slip away, and distract the Gym personnel with the others’ challenges. Is there a time limit?”
“Not as such,” answered Jessie.
“Meow.”
“Yes, but we would prefer you get it done as quickly as possible.”
“Remember that none of you have to actually win, just get the mission done and bug out!”
The group made a smattering of affirmative noises, but under his breath Hoshi muttered. “But obviously it would be better to distract him for longer… Rather than winning or losing, we’re trying to buy time for the infiltrator.”
This time it was Jessie who pointed. “Exactly! You five seem like smart cookies – we’re sure you’ll do fine!”
“Meow.”
A few more minutes passed as the other four asked questions about the mission, and Hoshi stewed in his head. This doesn’t seem like anything too bad. It’s not like I’m doing something to Bob, just his bosses.
It was almost too easy to rationalise, and he wondered if the Rocket duo had designed this specifically to ease him into the organisation.
Well, if my next mission is to kill somebody, at least I’ll know they’ve stopped treating me with kid gloves. The morbid, half-joking thought brought a morbid, half-joking smile to his face.
“And we’ll only be getting the one device?” Ryan asked. The blond had been leading the conversation for the most part; Moony was too dumb to ask questions, and the other two were too passive – or possibly drunk, in Nerine’s case. I suppose it’s too much to ask a teenager to not get drunk if there’s alcohol about, especially with the good shit they were pouring out for free.
Jessie nodded. “Sadly yes, there’s only the one for this mission.”
“This isn’t like your licences; this thing needs to go all the way to the juicy centre!”
“And that means being built to form!”
“Meow.”
A nod. “Understandable.”
Moony broke in. “Are we getting it now? We could have this whole thing done tomorrow!” He grinned, and Hoshi’s nose wrinkled.
“Yes,” James affirmed. “Rocket Mutsu will receive it; he has to go down to get his uniform anyway, so we’ll just kill two pidgey with one Rock Throw.”
“You’ll stay behind for a moment, Rocket Mutsu,” the red-headed Executive shot his way.
Hoshi saluted. Ryan hummed, not showing any emotion, and the meeting soon came to an end.
The four grunts went back the way they came, guided by Meowth the persian, while Hoshi remained in his seat. Casca slid off his lap, taking her own seat.
“Was that necessary?” he asked, receiving a cocky half-grin in return.
“Just staking my claim. Can’t let anyone else get their hooks into you!”
One of them’s a teenager – with a scrawny figure to boot – and the other is built like my dad. “I don’t think you have to worry about that.”
A tittering chuckle came from the opposite side of the table, and Hoshi’s focus shifted to his new bosses.
“I have to say,” began James, “That Jessie and I were quite surprised when Miss Kichi brought in a file on the Gym Leader’s godson.”
Hoshi’s girlfriend purred. “What can I say?” she said with a toss of her hair. “I know how to pick ‘em.”
“Quite!” Jessie agreed. “We were skeptical at first – wouldn’t a League lackey’s son be a League lacky too? – but after giving is some thought-”
“And having some people look into your history.”
“-We were swayed by our little girl’s arguments. Any comments on your upcoming mission, Rocket Grunt Mutsu?”
Hoshi shifted defensively in his seat. “…Not really. If you wanted me to hurt Surge I’d tell you to go fuck yourselves, but this is just planting a bug on his work computer. It basically doesn’t involve him at all.”
James smiled. “Language, grunt. This is a school after all.” The two of them chuckled again. Okay, this is turning a little more ominous. “We’ll be looking forward to how you perform.”
“Yes, I can’t wait to see how you corral all those different personalities.”
Hoshi’s eyes narrowed. Oh, fuck me. “You’re implying that I’m… going to be in some sort of leadership position.”
The two looked at each other, then back to him. His eyes slid Casca’s way, but she only nodded, her expression bright and cheery.
“Usually grunts get split up into pairs,” said Jessie.
“But with things about to pop off, it’s better to get people used to working in larger groups.”
His heart quickened. “Are you implying..?”
It was Casca who answered. “You heard the Professor’s speech, Hoshi.” She beamed. “This is what you wanted, right? Action, people doing something about the League. Am I wrong?”
He passed a hand through his hair. Well yeah, but… “I thought I’d be working up to it. I don't even have the uniform yet!”
Another, quieter paired chuckle. “Oh, don’t complain,” said James.
“It’s a fair price for skipping all the way to Senior Grunt.”
His lips pressed against each other. “I’d have assumed that Ryan would get a leadership role, if anyone. The strong Pokémon, second place in the tournament, and apparently his family pedigree..?”
Jessie waved her hand. “Oh, the bagon was from Archer; he has his city, we have ours.”
“We’re all just waiting for the real Boss to come home, after all.”
For the first time, Casca lost a bit of her mirth. She looked away, coughing into her fist.
The two posed for a moment, nodding to each other, the air of vague menace that had been developing blowing away as they had some sort of internal conversation before snapping back.
“Anyway,” James continued, “We hope you succeed!”
“Genuinely! Now before you two lovebirds go, let me give you a map…” The female Executive rooted around under the table for a moment, before her expression went flat. “James, do you have the map?”
“Do I have the..? Of course not, you have it!”
“I could have sworn it was in this box here, but now that I’m looking…”
Hoshi awkwardly cleared his throat. “I have a map already. If you just tell me what room I’m looking for..?”
The two looked at each other. “Elec 303,” they said simultaneously.
Oh, amazing. It was a strange mix of relieving and infuriating to see the facade crack a little – though there was a part of him that thought that even this might be some sort of bit. “Thanks. That’s in the basement, right?”
Two nods. “Indubitably!”
“It’s good to see you already on top of things. The two of you are dismissed!”
“Have a nice night!”
They waved, still in-sync, and Hoshi and Casca stood. “See you later!” his girlfriend exclaimed, while Hoshi only grunted. Okay, I’m starting to fill back up on weird. I’ll need to get another drink on the way-
“Meow,” came the voice of an aging gangster from directly under his nose, and Hoshi almost brought the two of them to the ground with how hard he jumped.
“Son of a-!”
The persian padded past the two grunts. “Meow,” it repeated.
The executives each put a hand to their heads. “Oh, you’re completely right!” said James.
“How could we have forgotten?” Jessie asked to herself, before the two recovered and pointed Hoshi’s way a third time. “Try to nickname your Pokémon!”
“Yes, if you ever have to command a squad, it makes things so much less confusing!”
They looked at the cat, who had jumped up onto one of the computer seats and was… No, that can’t be right. It has claws, how is it typing? Hoshi blinked. But the strange situation failed to change. I take it back; I need to have drunk less.
“Anything else, Meowth?”
“Meow,” the Pokémon said, typing away.
“Splendid.” They waved a second time. “That will be all!”
----------------------------------------
Hoshi let the door close behind him, the tonal whiplash he had experienced still leaving him a touch dazed.
“So,” Casca said, turning his way. “What’s the verdict? Do you love them, or do you love them?”
She grinned, her eyebrows waggling as Hoshi blinked.
“They’re a couple of characters, alright.” he answered. I feel like its going to be 100% endearing right up until I want to strangle them.
She pumped her fist. “Yes, I knew it!” But then her good mood evaporated. “Ugh…” she groaned.
“What’s up?”
“Elec 303… That’s the science lab! We’re going to have to deal with that pair of creeps!” Another long groan. “Maybe there’ll just be one of them…”
“The science lab, huh?” Hoshi stepped forward, and his girlfriend toned down her theatrics as she followed. “Okay, you might not believe this, but unless Rocket’s found a way to make evil clones…”