{3rd person POV}
Erika walked into the league building, she was surprised at the sudden meeting that Lance called, especially since this would be the first time she would attend one, she had never actually met any of the other gym leaders face to face before.
Well, that's not entirely true, she had talked to some of the other gym leaders, She only recently became Gym leader last year taking over from her mother, so she didn't have time to familiarize herself with them.
And that goes double since the position of Gym leader is more than just a glorified battle house, they took care of their respective towns and acted as mayors, it was their responsibility to make their cities thrive and protect them.
As she walked in and took in the decorated halls of the building, it really was far more impressive, compared to her Gym, she never got the chance to come here since she inherited her gym.
As she got closer she felt a tap on her shoulder, she slightly flinched and jumped back only to see one of the few Gym leaders she recognized, Janine, since they were both the newest Gym leaders they stayed in contact.
Erika breathed, "Goodness, Janine please don't do that, I don't know if my heart can take a surprise like that."
Janine elbowed her friend, "Come on, don't tell me the rumors of you being as delicate and fragile as a flower were true,"
Erika sighed, "You know I dislike that rumor, I am just as capable as anyone and I don't need to be protected."
Janine shot finger guns, "That's the friend I know,"
Erika sighed as she began walking and Janine quickly followed.
–
Blaine was walking through the halls after talking with Ash, he didn't really want to fly so he just had Magmortar use [Teleport], it wasn't perfect and it took far longer than with a traditional psychic Pokemon but he got here.
As for Ash, well the conversation was weird, the way he talked was almost unrecognizable from how he acted in or out of battle, it was almost like he had 3 different personalities, and he was extremely smart.
He was a scientist that specialized in DNA and things related to that, Volcanoes just happened to be with his fire-type specialty, but from what Ash had told him he just studied to be a doctor, and he was just 10 yet talked like he studied this topic for years.
If only Blaine knew he only knew that information because in his previous life, he got really curious about volcanoes in Hawaii, he even considered majoring in it and becoming a volcanologist, but in the end, Doctors made more money.
Anyway, from what Ash told him the plan could work, but that wasn't the thing that made Blaine lost in thought, it was what he wanted to do after.
Obviously, if he goes with this plan Cinnabar Island will expand, and a lot of people will try to capitalize off that, himself included with things like bathhouses and more hotels, the thing was that Ash wanted in on it too.
The exact thing Ash said he would invest 50 million, while Blaine would tend to it and handle repairs along with staff, and for that he suggested a 50-50 split, which was completely ridiculous at that point Blaine would be robbing Ash at gunpoint.
Blaine suggested that Ash take 50% and he would tend to everything with his 50, but Ash insisted on it staying how it was, Blaine didn't know what Ash was thinking, he was putting in a lot more if he and Ash both put in the same he would understand but Ash was investing so much that if it failed Ash would lose everything.
Of Course, Blaine had to make sure Ash even had the money, then almost felt his eyes bulge out of his head when he saw he did and more, so Blaine dropped it for now but he would try again later to convince him.
But that was all completely relevant at the moment, he was here for the Gym leader meeting, he already knew why but he had to come, which meant that 'he' also was here, which made his spine shiver.
As he tried thinking something else he felt a strong slap on his back that made him fall over and a hearty voice laugh, "Hey gramps, how ya doing!"
Looking up he saw the towing figure of Lt. Surge smiling at him, "How have you been, I haven't seen you in a while!"
"O-oh Surge, everything is fine, just a little tired." Blaine sheepishly responded.
Surge finally noticed Blaine's hand so he smiled and raised his own bandaged arm, "Hey look at that, I guess we're matching, ain't that funny!"
Blaine looked at Surge's cast and at his own bandaged arm, and couldn't help but let out a small chuckle, "Yeah, I guess it is,"
They kept walking and talking about stuff.
–
Sabrina teleported into the hallway, she hadn't actually been to the League building, she would always just skip them, so this was her first time here, which is why she could only get inside the hall instead of in the meeting room like she wanted.
She sighed and looked around for the way when she suddenly saw 2 People walk towards where she was. It was Erika and Janine, talking to each other seemingly not noticing her yet.
"Wait-wait-wait, how much did you say that Kimono is worth," Janine asked.
"Well, it was designed by Valerie, like I said I don't know how much my specific wardrobe cost but from what I've heard some of her designs could cost more than 500 Big Pearls."
Janine shivered and looked at her hand, "Man, I don't even want to touch you anymore, just the thought of that thing getting dirty, I knew your family was loaded but not that much."
Sabrina slightly flinched, she wanted to teleport away, and she would have, but she remembered why she was there, so she took a breath and stood her ground waiting.
"Yeah my outfit is just made of Ariados silk, lightweight and strong, probably the exact opposite of your stuff."
"Well I think it suits you, it matches you well!" Erika reaffirmed the ninja girl.
Then they looked forward and saw Sabrina standing awkwardly, she raised her hand and spoke, "Hello, Sabrina here!"
"..."
"..."
"..."
The room was silent for a moment and Sabrina felt like she messed things up at her first time interacting with the other Gym leaders, she felt like teleporting away for a moment before she heard Erika.
"Oh, Sabrina! It's good to finally meet you,"
Janine nodded, "Yeah, I've heard rumors about you but you're nothing like what they said you'd be."
"O-oh, u-um thank you," Sabrina responded.
Erika clapped her hands together, "Well both of us are new here so that makes you our senior, so please take care of us!"
Sabrina felt taken aback, "Err, about that."
—
A few moments later almost everyone was sitting in the conference room, with the addition of Flint and the 3 Waterflower sisters.
Flint remained stoic for the most part besides the Occasional jabs from Surge about how he finally came crawling back.
As for the 3 sisters, Daisy, Violet, and Lily, they were mingling with the other 3 girls in the room, since they unlike the other two had experience with Sabrina's previous personality they were the most interested in the change.
"Like are we positive this is the same Sabrina," Violet said looking her up and down.
"I am the real one," Sabrina responded sheepishly
"I dunno, like when we met you you didn't even talk to us, and we just wanted to complement your hair. It is really pretty." Lily said.
"Y-yeah, I'm sorry," Sabrina responded looking down, "I- I guess you could say I had some troubles back home."
Erika frowned and clapped her hands, "Well you heard her, she's sorry so now let's all get along!"
"Hmm, OK but you have to tell us your hair routine, it's like super cute!" Daisy said as the other two nodded behind her.
Janine slightly puffed since she was feeling left out, being the only one the sisters didn't compliment, but she didn't say anything.
Sabrina and Erika both noticed but before either of them could say something Lance walked into the room, making everyone sit down, even though they were still 1 Gym leader short.
"Hello everyone, Sorry to contact everyone on such short notice, but I appreciate that you all made it."
"Well, I wouldn't say all," Surge said looking towards the empty seat.
"Yes I'm afraid it seems like he isn't here yet, but this matter is of utmost importance so I'm afraid we'll need to start without-"
"Without me? Don't worry I'm never late," a familiar deep voice said as through the door came a man with a suit and a smile on his face, causing 3 people to react differently.
Surge smiled seeing his friend appear, Blaine shivered seeing his smile, and Erika was shocked since she only saw this person once in the sewers, it was Giovanni.
Giovanni took a seat as everyone watched him, "Sorry about this, I needed to reschedule some meetings due to the sudden call."
Lance smiled, "Don't worry about it, but how about you make it up and try to take over as champion again, I do miss having someone strong to fight."
Giovanni shook his head, "We both know those weren't real fights, neither of us used our full strength, anyway I'm not interested, not since Sa-Oak retired, he was the only one that really gave me a challenge."
Lance and Surge both chuckled, "Yeah, I remember you two would end up trading the championship position every other week, it made planning for all the champions impossible."
No one thought much of this exchange, except Erika who was struggling to process seeing Giovanni here. She knew that the man she and Ash faced in the sewers wasn't actually him, but it felt weird, especially with a suit that looked exactly the same, just without an 'R'.
This was so much for her to process that she unintentionally muttered, "Team Rocket."
With the room being as small as it was, everyone heard her, making everyone fall silent and Erika felt like she met up, she just accused Giovanni of being a member of Team Rocket.
Lance looked at her and said, "Oh right your new, you wouldn't know."
Erika immediately felt confused as she looked up seeing Giovanni sit next to Surge as Lance expanded, "You see, Giovanni, Surge, and even Janine's father Koga were once part of Team Rocket. But they were part of the reason we were able to capture the then Boss."
Giovanni took over, "Yes, you see we were all relatively high-ranking members, but none of us actually wanted to be there so we teamed with the League to take down Madame Boss and bring her in,"
"Yeah, I'm sorry we should have informed you," Lance apologized.
Erika sat down not wanting to talk about her experience and Sabrina noticed it from reading her surface thoughts, something she does unintentionally, but from it, she knew there was something else.
So with a breath, Sabrina stood up, "Sir. Champion, with all due respect I don't think that is what Erika was referring to."
This made the room's attention go to her, including Erika who now had a complex expression.
Lance looked at Erika, "Is this true?"
Erika felt conflicted, she didn't want to make a bad first impression but Sabrina just stood up for her, so with a breath she spoke up, "Yes, there is something else."
That made everyone's attention go to her as she continued, "You see a while back me and... a friend ended up finding an undercover Team Rocket base in the sewers, when we got there I saw him, but I later found out it wasn't, just someone impersonating him, so I apologize for my outburst."
But Erika's explanation surprised the older members as they sacked, "Could you describe what this imposter looked like."
"W-well, he was thin, he had purple hair with a swirl and a short purple beard, oh and he said his name was Petral"
That answer made the older members (Except Blaine) look at each other surprised, "So he was here, but how, he was captured in Johto before he escaped."
Erika looked confused so Giovanni looked at her,e "It seems that you encountered an Executive we don't know much about him other than his superhuman ability to disguise himself as other People, in fact back in the day he would disguise himself as Gym leaders to cause havoc in towns."
Lance nodded and looked at Erika, "We can discuss this later, but for now, we need to discuss what we came here for, but this is very important."
Erika nodded and sat down, she wanted to thank Sabrina, but she didn't hear her, she was busy seeing what Lance thought.
But he thought exactly what she expected, what surprised her was when he heard Giovanni's thoughts and she heard nothing, absolutely nothing, she could hear that of those next to him but not in his mind.
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