She awoke steadily. Her eyes didn't need to adjust to the darkness of the cavern. She was one with the darkness. That didn't mean she moved recklessly, however. With her eggs, she would need to—
She stopped as the memories rose unbidden.That was right; her eggs were gone. Destroyed by some man-made device that had appeared within her nest. The cave itself had been broken. Her eggs—the small, delicate things that she had struggled to nurture—had split.She shut her eyes and tried to push away the pain. If she could only deny that it had happened. Without knowing it, she opened her mouth and let out a painful croon.She'd had things so well set up this time. It wasn't going to be like the other times when only one egg hatched from a clutch. She'd gotten clean, fine sand to surround the nest while blocking the entrance enough that the wind couldn't come through like it had in the early days of her claiming her old home.If she'd still had… No.She couldn't think of the past. It was too painful.She instead opened her eyes and tried to summon the energy to get up....…She slumped down onto the cave floor, and dust bloomed from her body as it thumped down.Empress sighed heavily.It was so hard these days to care. Even then, she felt drained despite having just woken up. She felt like she didn't have any energy.And why should she get up? What was there for her to look forward to?The world was a cruel place.She'd had so much hope for it as of late. With her child's trainer delivering that warm rock, things had been downright easy! All she had to do was nudge her eggs or run a claw around in the sand to keep the heat even. Not at all like her previous attempts, where she'd had to nearly lay atop the eggs to keep them warm.So often, that ended in accidents happening.Empress opened her eyes and looked at the ground where she'd shifted. Clawmarks all along the floor and gouges from where her spikes or her tail had dug into the ground, met her gaze.Power. She'd chased it for so long, thinking it would project what she wanted, only for that same strength to be the thing stopping her from easily raising a full clutch of eggs.A scrapping noise had her lifting her gaze from the floor and toward the entrance of the cavern.Her son appeared and paused, sniffing the air as his eyes swept over her form."Mother," he rumbled in greeting. "Would you like to come outside? It isn't good for you to remain cooped up down here."Empress eyed her son. If this had been another pokemon, such as Bertha, she might have mustered the energy to growl at being approached so casually.Then again, Bertha was strong enough to not be scared off by a mere growl.Her son didn't warrant such behaviour. He had always been a dutiful boy… and a surprise. A very welcome one with how his egg, despite being stolen from an earlier clutch, had managed to hatch. More than that, his scent had a strength to it.From what she'd thought to be her smallest egg, to the strongest child she'd seen from any of her clutches to date. The world was, as she had learned many times throughout her long life, a strange, cruel place."Mother," Titan said, stepping in and leaning down to nuzzle at her. "Terra is going to fight Cranidos."Despite herself, she couldn't stop the whuff of amusement. Two baby pokemon brawling. They were ridiculous in how harmless they were with their pitiful strength. To see them trying so hard, though… It made her lift her body to get her hands underneath herself before heaving upwards."Very well, I shall come," she said, standing tall.Titan looked up at her and nodded before moving ahead. Empress watched her son stalk the caverns of his trainer without fear. A surety in his step despite the small markings that showed he still wasn't fully healed. They walked past the lagoon cavern, which contained a fresh spring along with a group of pokemon that were deemed 'ancient' despite most of them being babies in truth.Atop the highest point, Don, the Aerodactyl, screeched at them."Don't even try coming in here! This is my cave! Mine!"Titan gave him a dismissive huff. "Settle down, Don." He shook his head and moved on as Don shuffled back and forth. From the lagoon, Shin and Shelly waved at Titan and herself."Yeah, you keep walking!" screeched Don.Empress stopped and turned, her eyes locking on the whiny gnat. She rumbled out a growl that shook the entire cavern. Don's eyes widened as he seemed to realise he'd made a mistake.Then, instead of backing down, he gave a savage grin. "Oh! Got some fight!? Good! I'll fight you!"Empress narrowed her eyes and considered smacking him around, only for Titan to step back and put a hand on her shoulder."Ignore him, mother; he's always like this. He talks big, but he needs to learn control." Titan locked eyes with Don. "I shouldn't need to remind you that of all of us, you were the worst off from facing Moltres. You need to shut your mouth and open your mind more going forward."Don's jaw clicked shut, and he glowered at Titan, but nothing else was said. Titan nodded while Shin and Shelly emerged from the lagoon, having vanished when Empress growled. They still eyed her warily.Titan waved her on, and they marched up past the crackling electrified cave that housed the strange geodude line. A large golem rolled out of the cavern."Top of the morning to you! I'm off to train! Let's do our best this morning, eh Titan!?" the rolling Golem called back at them."Indeed Sanchez," Titan said to his teammate. When Sanchez was far enough away, Titan glanced at her. "You might need to apologise for scaring Shin and Shelly like that," he said.Empress sniffed. "I will not apologise. They had good instincts to avoid a fight." She smirked. "Not that it would have been a fight. I would have smacked down that overgrown pidgey with a single hit."Titan chuffed. "Don is a braggart, but I don't think you'd take him out that easily," he said. When Empress merely laughed at her son's caution, he eyed her. "Well, at the very least, watch out if he uses Hyper Beam on you; he is very proficient at—"Titan stopped talking when Empress merely laughed louder. "What is so funny about that?" he asked when she regathered herself. Empress merely shook her head and waved his words away. Truly, being warned of another pokemon's Hyper Beam?Ah, her son! So young! She thought to herself as she emerged from the caverns."Mother!" shouted Terra. Empress raised her head only to find that Terra was in the middle of a 'fight' with her friend the Cranidos.Cranidos didn't hesitate to leap forward at his foe's distraction and knock Terra onto her backside. He then whacked her again causing Terra to fall onto her back with a small 'woof' of air escaping her.Cranidos stood tall and raised his tiny arms up. "Ha! I am the greatest! I have defeated you!"Terra shook her head and stood up. "That wasn't fair! I was distracted!" she said.Empress chuffed. "Never grow distracted during a fight daughter. Cranidos defeated you because of this.""No! No, I won because I'm awesome!" shouted the Cranidos. When Empress leveled her gaze upon the baby pokemon, the runt quivered but held her gaze."That is still to be seen," Empress said before waving a claw. "Again, daughter," she said as the human girl who cared for Terra cheered. Terra straightened and widened her stance, keeping her body low."That's it! Just like we practised!" said Yolanda. Empress inspected the human girl as she fervently watched Terra dodge, duck, and weave. She was doing well, but she was thinking like a human, all hands and legs. She still overpowered the Cranidos, much to the loud denials of the Cranidos, but it was scrappy.Empress crossed her arms and huffed. Titan shot her a look. "Something the matter?""She's forgetting to use her crest. She is grappling and fighting with her hands."Titan scratched at his chin. "Hmmm good point; you should tell her," he said."Terra!" Empress said, causing her daughter to snap her head away from Yolanda and to her."Yes Mother? Did you see? I won! I've been working hard!" said the little Larvitar enthusiastically.Empress snorted. "You dragged it out longer than you needed to. Neck time, use your crest, it isn't a weak point, so swat that charging fool aside and take him from the side!" she growled.Terra tilted her head, her hands reaching up to tap at the base of her crest. She toyed with it while scrunching up her face in thought. It took a few moments, but eventually, her eyes widened. "Ohhhh! I think I see what you mean!" She turned her head and said, "Mummy Yolanda! Mother wants me to smack Cranidos around with my crest!"This time it was the human girl's face that scrunched up. Her gaze drifted up to Empress, who met her gaze. She was pleased that the girl didn't flinch or turn away."Use your crest?" Yolanda said.Terra nodded, and Yolanda tilted her head. "I hadn't thought of that. I suppose it's going to be a strong point for you as well. Alright, give it a go!"A boom and a shake of the earth caused the group to pause and look up. On the other side of their tiny arena, Titan was demonstrating how to roll and get back into a crouched position for Cranidos."And then you can launch another attack," Titan said.Empress growled at the sight. "Son! What are you doing teaching Terra's foe how to be stronger!? She is to beat him! Are you not going to support your sister!?" she snapped."Mother it's not like that!" said Terra plaintively as the human girl flicked her gaze between Titan and Empress.Titan stood and dusted himself off without a care, rankling Empress with his nonchalance. "It is not a matter of only one of them needing to grow stronger. Cranidos is part of the team… or pack if you will."Empress snorted at that but turned her head away. She kept an eye on the next fight, however, and this time when Terra locked gazes with Cranidos, she did so with her previous low stance and her head lowered while looking up. Empress approved the correction.This time Cranidos charged, and Terra met him with her crest. She fumbled the knock away, but the smaller pokemon was still deflected off to the side, where he stumbled. Before Terra could pounce on him, he rolled until his feet were underneath him again. From there, he sprang back up and lined himself up on Terra."Good adjustments, both of you!" Titan praised.Empress sniffed but nodded. Terra kept her eyes forward, and while she won the match, she still had to work for it. Both Terra and Cranidos were exhausted after that, and Yolanda scooped them both up. "Come on you two, let's get you breakfast!" she said.Titan smiled and waved them off before gesturing for Empress to follow as he walked. As they did so, they encountered a variety of different pokemon.She found the large Rhyperior, Bertha, holding out a hand for a tiny Clefairy to Pound away at. At their side, a Geodude demonstrated how to throw punches while a Teddiursa watched on. When it noticed them, it made to follow."Teddiursa! Pay attention to this next sequence, as there are some moves Izumi can teach that will be perfect for you beyond just technique!" said Bertha."Ah! Sorry!" said the Teddiursa as it snapped its attention back to Bertha.Titan nodded at Bertha. "Make sure to give them rest breaks!" he called over his shoulder before they moved on to watch a Steelix clash against a rather agitated Poliwrath.Before the Poliwrath could knock the Steelix unconscious, Titan barked a warning. "Hypno! That's enough! You're not fighting to improve; you're just looking for a punching bag!"The Poliwrath slumped and bowed to Titan and then the Steelix. "He is correct! I apologise Jormungandr."Jormungandr shook itself out. "I do not mind hard training Hypnotoad, but if it is the same to you, I shall rest for a while." Steelix moved off and lay down in the morning sun while Hypnotoad sighed.Titan put a hand on Hypnotoad's shoulder. "I can tell you are frustrated, but remember that control is key," Titan said. Hypnotoad bowed again, and Titan gestured to the pond. "I would suggest doing some energy work; no one will mind if you destroy some earth with a few Hydro Pumps." This seemed to cheer up the Poliwrath as it darted away to do that.Titan continued to walk slowly around the others. Here and there he would pause to offer commentary, or suggestions to the pokemon. Empress walked with him and was surprised when Titan didn't stop with just the pokemon that she knew belonged to the Elite section.When he was done, Titan moved back to the area where the other Elite's were assembled."I feel like you have been trying to teach me something," Empress voiced before he moved to join his fellow Elite, as they were known. She shook her head. "What was it?"Titan blinked. "Oh? You picked up on that?" He nodded thoughtfully. "I wanted to show you that the pokemon around this reserve?" he gestured in a wide arc. "They are all part of the team… or pack if you would. It is not a matter of limiting growth to only a few but of helping all. We all find a different way to achieve this," Titan said.He nodded to the side, and Empress was surprised to find Knight walking towards his fellow Elites with Aron all over him. The smaller pokemon bit and growled playfully, but, without any noticeable effort, Knight avoided stepping on them or brushing them off without hurting them.Knight smiled at them as only an idiot could, clueless as to how harsh the world was. "Hi Titan and Titan's Mum!" he crowed, causing the other nearby Elite pokemon to laugh.Knight brushed off the rest of the Aron and shooed them away before joining his fellows.Empress blinked and realised she'd been watching Knight so much she hadn't noticed her son observing her. "What?!" she snapped."Nothing," Titan said, glancing to the side. "I should be going; Brock has woken up and will want to address yesterday's match."Empress snorted. She wasn't sure what to think of seeing a human fight with all the pokemon matching up against each other. It had been controlled, and orderly. Not at all like the chaos of two wild pokemon fighting for territory or food.But that hadn't meant the pokemon hadn't been strong. She wasn't sure about some of what had occurred, but she had heard the other pokemon and humans observing the match to understand that Brock's opponent had done something bad, and still the Elite Pokemon of Brock's team had rallied."Tribe," Empress said to Titan's back.Titan paused and looked back at her. "Excuse me?" he asked.Empress snorted and turned her head away. "It's not pack you're thinking of, but tribe. You are working to make the tribe stronger," she said.Titan nodded slowly and turned away, shooting her thoughtful glances as he joined his friends.Empress remained where she was. Just far enough away to make it clear she wasn't part of their group but close enough to observe them bickering and playing with each other. She huffed and remembered a different group of pokemon. She remembered a time with a young girl…"Oh, hey there, Empress, morning," said a voice, disrupting her memory of a time, long, long past now.She looked down to find Brock looking up at her without a hint of fear. He met his gaze and felt the memories of that girl stirring up again. There was so much concern in those eyes…She flicked her eyes down, noting the Oran berry. A memory rose about how the girl had liked to tease her.She nodded and smirked before reaching out and swiping the fruit Brock had in his hands before popping it into her mouth.Brock gaped at her before snorting in amusement.Then he reached out and stroked her on the snout.Empress didn't freeze, she wasn't weak enough to react so poorly to a surprise.Said surprises usually presented themselves as Ursaring charging her while she drank from the water's edge rather than something… nice. Something… familiar."Good to see you're feeling better, Empress," Brock said as he walked off.Empress watched him go, confused about what had just happened. She touched her nose and rubbed at it. She hadn't been touched like that in…"Hey Gang!" said Brock as he announced himself to his pokemon team.Empress straightened and pretended nothing was amiss. She did step back into the boulders, however, to watch and listen as Brock spoke with his team. He spoke of their match and his dissatisfaction. He spoke of lots of things, but it wasn't the words that caught Empress' attention but it was how he said them.Every pokemon within earshot clung to them, and slowly they became more motivated to grow stronger. Brock gave them a direction, and they responded.Empress tilted her head. It was like watching a tribe's chief talk. They would show the way and either lead the tribe to plenty, or to ruin.A small noise near the end of Brock's speech alerted Empress she wasn't the only one listening in. She turned her head and found Yolanda with Terra, but also another man. One that made Empress straighten. Here was a man that was a chief of chiefs.She could smell the power on him.He glanced in her direction and merely nodded at her, as one would to an equal. Then his eyes flickered upward, and he blinked in surprise.Empress snapped her head up only to find nothing there but a shimmer. A trick of the light?She shook it off and looked down, only to find the man gone and Brock finished with his talk. The various pokemon of the Elite team were breaking off to work on various drills. Titan urged them on while Brock indicated a few tasks for some pokemon such as Teddiursa to work on.Before long, Brock reached into a pack and began laying out trays with food heaped up onto them. Empress watched as the Elite team moved around the small rocks with flat tops. When they received their food, they bowed in thanks. When every pokemon at their table had some food in front of them, they began to eat.Titan waved to Empress and indicated to a plate at his and Bertha's side. Bertha shot her a smirk, and Empress decided she wasn't going to back down. She joined them for their meal, and it was a meal, if a strange one. She didn't need to hunt as of late, but this was different from merely collecting her food. It was more organised.More human. She blinked when she realised that the various groups of pokemon were all talking about how to get stronger or what they needed to watch out for. The youngest of the groups remained quiet as they listened to their older, wiser pokemon amoung them.Empress found herself interested, again, despite herself. This wasn't just a meal, but a meeting and sharing of strength. How novel.When she had finished her meal, one conversation caught her attention. That of the large Lapras, Tide, and Don."—need guarantee it hits and knocks them out or else they knock you out. It usually isn't so bad if you do cause you get the time to recover with a big hit.""Perhaps we couldn't use as much energy, though?" said Tide."Stronger is better!" Don screeched.Empress snorted at their antics, causing both pokemon to glance at her. Tide nodded in respect, while Don bristled. "Got something to say?! Huh?! Huh!?"Empress gave both pokemon a critical look. The Lapras was big, but did he have the energy? She doubted it."It's hilarious that you think you can talk of Hyper Beams when I doubt yours is very good."Both pokemon stiffened at that. Tide glowered. "Care to back that up?"Empress lifted her chin. "I would.""Oh! It's a Beam off!" shouted Sanchez the golem. He was quickly joined by Bertha and Knight.The other pokemon showed some interest, and soon Empress, Tide, and Don were lined up facing out towards a series of rocks and earth that were being stacked up to assemble a series of walls.Bertha jogged back with Knight, only Bertha was caked in mud, making it look like Knight had done no work. Empress eyed the Aggron, was it lazy?Bertha flopped onto the ground, and Empress realised that her assessment was faulty. Knight wasn't lazy. Bertha just enjoyed caking herself in mud.Titan coughed and gestured at the assembled rocks and walls. "As usual we have set up the field with ten walls and cleared away any pokemon. Each of you will unleash a Hyper Beam with the strongest pokemon being evaluated based on the amount of walls knocked over."Empress nodded; it was a simple solution that should work to prove who was the strongest.Don puffed himself up. "I'll go first!" he shouted inhaling and then calling forth the small orb. When he unleashed it, he did so with much more power than Empress had been expecting.She glanced at the walls and noted that four walls had been blasted through which earned him a smattering of applause from the crowd of pokemon.Don snapped his head towards the lazing Bertha. "Did you make my walls thicker!? I managed eight the last time we did this!" he growled.Bertha glanced at him. "Yeah, of course I did, we're getting stronger than last time. I made each wall a finger wider," she said, raising up one of her positively thick fingers to demonstrate the width.Don relaxed at that and then snorted at Tide. "Your turn!"Tide snorted and shot Empress a look. "Ladies first?"Empress snorted. "I'm no lady; I kill my meals most of the time!" she said proudly. She flicked her claws dismissively to indicate he should get on with it.Tide merely nodded and turned his attention to the walls. He too, inhaled and then launched a large blast. He seemed to channel his Hyper Beam longer, however, and when the beam dropped away, it revealed the smoking remains of the walls."Six walls!" cheered Sanchez. This drew a louder cheer, and a few pokemon even booed Don causing the pokemon to snap his fangs in agitation."We're going to have a rematch!" Don snarled.Empress snorted. "No need," she said, and then, without a hint of buildup or breathing tricks, she unleashed the flow of energy. A Hyper Beam was unleashed instantly, and this blast rocked the field they were all standing on.Empress held the energy blast for a full five seconds before letting go. She heaved in large lungfuls of air, and slowly the smoke cleared to reveal the damage.Unlike with Don's or Tide's walls, a circular hole was not bored through, but rather each wall was destroyed totally.Sanchez rolled out and made a show of counting. He held up three fingers on both sides, and his moustache pointed up at the tips. "Eight walls!""E-eight walls!" cried Don in surprise.Tide likewise gaped. "How did you do it without any buildup?"Empress snorted. "Skill," she said, eying the last two walls of the ten that had been assembled.She shot Bertha a look, but Bertha met her gaze without a hint of shame. "They're all the same width," Bertha said, eying the walls. "Impressive you got to the last wall," she said.Empress hummed and turned her attention back to Don and Tide. Tide bowed his head. "Can you teach us?"Don growled. "Fuck that! Rematch! I had the sun in my eyes!"Empress snorted before smirking. "Very well, if you boys want to play that game. I shall indulge you." She found herself smiling as Bertha rose with a huff to rebuild the walls they'd use.Despite herself, Empress was rather enjoying her time at Titan's home.When they were done and it was obvious that she was the strongest pokemon around, she stalked around the plateau to join the Elite team with a meal before going to sleep. She noted that once more it was set up on the raised rocks where the various pokemon could talk and eat together.Clefairy eyed the plates. "How come Brock sets us up to eat like this while the others eat in feed troughs or separate bowls?"Titan paused while talking about how to angle an uppercut. "Ah, that is due to Brock wanting to treat us like equals. He makes sure we don't eat off the ground."Empress hummed. What a strange human."Does that mean we're better than the others?" said Teddiursa, who was trying to eat his large plate of food but had to keep being pulled back from falling into it with how tired the little pokemon was.Titan shook his head. "You don't know this, but it is actually a choice that each pokemon is given for the pokemon that work for the gym. They are often asked again every few months in case they have different desires."Teddiursa. "But I wasn't asked?"Titan nodded. "But you wish to grow strong, yes? Eating with us and talking, listening to how matches played out for us, and asking questions are all part of Brock's method of making you stronger!"Teddiursa blinked sleepily and turned back to his food. "Good, I want to be strong, as strong as I can be," said the little pokemon.Clefairy nodded quickly. "Yeah! Me too! Like you, Bertha, and Izumi, and Jorm! And Titan!" He then turned his beady eyes to Empress. "And you too, Titan's Mum! You're really strong!"The others laughed at her being addressed as 'Titan's mum' once again for some reason, but Empress decided to ignore them. She instead stared at her empty plate.Empty… like her nest."Strength isn't everything," she said, instantly shutting down the good mood of the other pokemon.She stood and marched away. Titan made to follow her only for her to raise a claw and signal him not to follow. She stalked down into the caverns and into the cave she'd been given.Her empty, cold cave. She allowed herself to fall to the ground and caused a small quake that shook the cave with her careless actions. She couldn't find it in herself to care, even if the cavern caved in. Part of her might even welcome it.She languished in her dark thoughts until she heard a small set of feet scraping against the ground. She opened an eye to find Teddiursa sniffing and tapping his way forward. When he reached the edge of her cavern, his nose worked quickly.He lingered there, unsure, for a long while. Eventually, Empress grew tired of waiting and huffed, "What do you want little pokemon?""I… I'm sorry for your loss," Teddiursa said. Empress hissed and was about to reprimand the little pokemon only for what he said next to floor her. "I lost my mother when Moltres flew… so I know what it's like to be sad… You weren't strong enough for your children, just like I wasn't strong enough to help my mother…"Empress huffed. "Most of my eggs don't make it due to me being too strong… you would do well to learn strength, but don't try holding things too delicate close to you if strength is what matters to you now."Teddiursa shifted. "Couldn't I just learn control and strength? Titan and Bertha can play with me and Clefairy and the other small pokemon without hurting us?""... perhaps," Empress said with a huff.Teddiursa tilted his head. "Couldn't you as well?"Empress didn't reply to that and instead huffed. "You should go to bed; I saw you almost falling asleep before."Teddiursa nodded, only to shiver. "You're right, it is cold down here in the caverns." Teddiursa turned and sniffed at the floor. He left, and Empress lay her head back down, her body at rest, as her mind furiously tore over the idea of working with the other pokemon to learn control.It… wasn't unappealing.A light snuffling made her open an eye to find Teddiursa sniffing his way back to her cave. "Are you lost?" she rumbled.Teddiursa paused and lifted his head. "Uhmmmm yes?" he said as though unsure. Before yawning and shuddering again. "Brr, it's cold."Empress considered escorting him out, but she didn't have enough energy for that. Still, he couldn't continue wandering around the caves.She rolled slightly. "You may sleep with me tonight," she said.Teddiursa quickly scamped up next to her, curling into a tight ball. "Thanks, Titan's mum!" he said.She huffed and allowed herself to carefully curl around him. "Good night little one."
Sabrina released her Alakazam and a Hypno to help transport us all to the site that she'd discovered. We teleported in a flash of light. When I blinked my eyes, I noticed that the sun itself had shifted in the sky. I glanced around and caught sight of a vaguely familiar landmark.Oak beat me to the punch, merely giving his surroundings a cursory glance before humming. "We're north of Lavender Town? An interesting location for a Team Rocket facility to be set up."Sabrina inclined her head. "I believe they are in fact set up in a temporary facility, as most of the base is made up of tents instead of anything more permanent.""You were able to get close?" I said with surprise.Sabrina shook her head. "Not too close, the Zubat and Golbat that live in the Rock Tunnels react poorly to sudden flashes of light; if I teleported in, I would attract a swarm and potentially alert Team Rocket."Flannery rubbed her chin, eying Sabrina, "Huh, that was clever of you… and in a way, clever of them too. A natural defence that acts as a sentry and warning system if we come in too hot."Sabrina nodded. "We can walk in; however, we will just need to be careful with how we move."Roxanne reached into a satchel she had slung over her shoulder. "Alright! If we're going into the tunnels, we need to set ourselves up with rope, a dark light, fresh water—"Brawly coughed. "Like, Roxanne? We're not going for a long expedition, we're going in and raiding the place."Roxanne flushed. "I also have some repels."Brawly and Flannery made faces and Roxanne scoffed. "Synthetically made repels! This isn't some cheap market made repel."Flannery relaxed. "Good, cause do you have any idea what they actually put in that stuff?" she said with a shudder.Oak perked up. "In fact, I do! The natural excreme—" Flannery shot a hand over his mouth."And ah no thanks! I don't need any more brain bleach for that particular subject!" She jutted her chin at Roxanne, "How potent is this stuff?""It's rated as good for an hour!" she said holding up the bottle. She then sprayed it on herself. Her face twitched, and a shiver ran up her body. She gave us a sickly-looking smile. "It's… great!" she said unconvincingly.Brawly stepped closer and sniffed her. "Urgh! Smells like old gym socks left in a hot locker!"Roxanne shot him a less than impressed look. Brawly raised his hands in supplication. "Alright! Alright! I'll put it on!" he said, spraying the substance onto his arms and legs with a shudder."Ahem," said a polite voice. We turned back to find Professor Oak with a pokemon floating over his shoulder. He smiled and scratched at the back of his head. "I suppose this is a bad time to mention that I can use my Chimecho to repel other pokemon?"Roxanne blinked in surprise. Brawly barked a laugh, and Flannery, who'd just accepted the bottle of repel and been about to apply it to her own body, sighed in relief at dodging a bullet."Huh," I said, impressed with the utility of such a pokemon. "That's a neat role to have.""It's rather useful in the field to be able to have pokemon either approach you or be repelled from you when you are wandering around. It doesn't help as much in the more powerful areas, but it does decrease the odds of a bad encounter by having Chimecho release a very low cry that calms or makes other pokemon avoid us."Sabrina eyed the little floating wind chime pokemon. It approached her and waved its little arms. "I had not considered such a pokemon before. This is a Hoenn pokemon no?""Indeed!" Oak said while preening. "My good friend sent it to me! She clued me in to the use of Chimecho in such a function. Hoenn professors are rather clever like that! Being able to go into the wilds and avoid pokemon chasing them!""The new guy kinda gets himself into a lot of trouble exploring the wilderness, from what I hear!" said Flannery brashly as she shoved the repel into Brawly's chest, accidentally spraying some more on him. She made a gagging noise and wiped her hand on his shirt, making him whine."Not cool Flans!" he said as he tugged at his shirt in annoyance.I chuckled, and straight away I got the idea that Professor Birch wasn't privy to this little trick. I turned back to find Chimecho playing with Sabrina, its tail wafting out to lightly brush against her nose. I raised my transceiver and took a picture before coughing."Right! So, we can get close to the Rocket base now, but we also need to secure any Rocket Administration that we find; they are usually the most slippery and the fastest to run."Sabrina bobbed her head up and down. Flannery snapped her fingers. "Don't members of Team Rocket like to wear uniforms? Things that identify them as crooks?""Yes, yes they do," I said with a grin. "So, we need to find some Team rocket uniforms—""Or some Team Rocket grunts?" said Brawly with a curious tone of voice."Yeah?" I said, glancing at him, only to turn and notice that he was eyeballing a crack in the local walls where a group of Rocket's had just emerged."Ah, well, that's perfect," I said, pointing them out to the others.It looked like it was time to rustle up some disguises."Urgh! Tell a better lie man!" said one of the Grunts.Joe, a card-carrying member of Team Rocket —albeit, one of their grunts— scowled at his group leader. "It wasn't a lie! I had to have a Team of Rangers, a pair of Gym Leaders, and the damned Champion take me down when I was running my sting in Mt Silver! I should be in charge of this op!"The group leader shook his head. "Honestly, I can see why you were bumped down to Grunt status from what you'd been. You need to learn to lie better."Joe glared only for George, his buddy in this group, to nudge him and shake his head. Joe ignored him. "I wasn't lying!"The Leader shook his head. "Listen, a good story needs to have a sliver of truth. You had that with the team of Rangers, yeah? But then you got greedy, Two Gym Leaders, and a champion? What would they be doing hanging around like that? Your story makes no sense; it's no wonder an executive took one look at it and dismissed it out of hand when we sprung you out of jail!"The man held up his hand to forestall Joe's protests. "Don't, just don't. I've heard it all before. A good story is allowed to stretch the truth no more than… like two hundred... No! Three hundred percent embellished!" He pointed at Joe. "You say a team of Rangers? Should have stuck with two or three and left it at that. Way more believable, even if it only took one to take you down."Joe glared harder."Honestly it's unbelievable. You're as bad as that rookie who's always picking fights with people stronger than him. Only you tell the most stupid stories. No one's ever going to believe you about two Gym leaders and a Champion.""Yeah, that's like crazy," said a voice from their side. The team of Rocket grunts all turned as one towards the voice. They stiffened when they found Brock, the Gym Leader of Pewter city sitting on a boulder.Before the Rocket's could reach for their pokeballs another voice spoke from behind them. "Indeed, two Gym leaders? It wouldn't be believable."The group turned to find Sabrina, the Saffron Gym Leader hovering down to the ground."Think they accept future Gym Leaders?" asked another voice. The Rocket grunts whipped around to find…Joe tilted his head. "Who are you supposed to be?"The aqua haired teen winced. "I'm a future Gym Leader?" he said. "What? That doesn't work for you?"Joe sighed. "I guess you'll do, this time I have witnesses," he said reaching for a pokeball. With people around, he needed to at least appear to put up a fight."Ahem," said a polite voice. Once more the group of Rocket Grunts turned only to blanch when they found Professor Samuel freaking Oak smiling politely at them. His smile turned slightly evil. "I'm sorry to announce… no one will ever believe you regarding this story, young man!"Joe gaped.He didn't even see the judo chop that the aqua teen used to knock him out; he was still reeling from the situation he'd found himself in.He had to be the most unlucky Rocket around!I chuckled as Brawly dispatched the last Grunt. "Man that one guy can't catch a break. Lance and I caught him on Mt Silver!" I said.Flannery hummed. "Huh, now I get what he was whining about." She shot Oak a smirk. "And damn Professor, that was cold."Oak chuckled. "Most people either overestimate or underestimate my legend, and therefore don't believe in encountering me in the wilds. Or, as is growing to be more the case these days, many of the younger generations forget my role as a Champion of Indigo.""Hmmm a shame," Roxanne said politely. "What are we going to do? This group was only made up of five Rocket members and there are six of us?"Oak raised his hands. "I might hang back from infiltrating the base if it's all the same. I am sadly a very well known figure… that and an old Team Rocket grunt might be harder to overlook."I nodded, agreeing with his suggestion even if I didn't like it. "Alright there's only two girl Rocket so who's wearin—""Dibs the pants!" said Flannery as she walked up to a thinly built Team Rocket Grunt before unbuckling his belt and ripping his pants off.Brawly raised a finger. "What were you going to do if he was going commando?"Flannery blushed, her stolen pants held in front of her. "I… well. Whatever! He didn't! Good luck taking your guy's clothes off! Chances are someone is going commando!"That caused Brawly, Roxanne, and I to eyeball the rocket grunts that all had similar builds to us. Were they—"Everyone is wearing underwear," announced Sabrina.I heaved a sigh of relief. Good, I hadn't wanted to see some grunt's junk… or wear his clothes afterwards… that… urgh, just would have been weird.Brawly chopped his hands towards Sabrina. "You can tell if someone is wearing underwear with your psychic abilities?"Sabrina nodded her head seriously. "I looked into the future, and the future foretold underwear on all of them."I wasn't sure what to make of one of the oddest uses of Sabrina's abilities I had ever encountered to date, so I just shrugged and stripped my Grunt before donning the Rocket uniform. "Alright, Roxanne we need some rope to tie them up."Roxanne perked up and gave Flannery a superior smirk. "I knew that rope was a good purchase!"Flannery rolled her eyes. "Sure, sure, you've been hanging onto it for months now, and this is the first time you've gotten to use it.""Better to have it and not need it than—" Roxanne began to lecture, only for Flannery to wave her off."Yeah, yeah. Tie up these punks already."Soon we were all changed into our Team Rocket uniforms. I had to admit that Sabrina's uniform suited her a little too much for my liking. Or maybe the issue was that I liked her looking like a villain a bit too much. She looked good. Or rather bad… but in such a good way.I ended up having to drag my focus away from Sabrina's outfit and back to the reason we were here. I tugged my Rocket cap down over my eyes a little more and adopted a villainous smirk. "Excellent, we all look suitably mookish. Time to infiltrate this Team Rocket facility!""Huhahaha!" said Roxanne with a deep laugh while crossing her arms. "Evil!" she said. She then coughed. "Sorry, I was just trying to get into character."Flannery snorted. "You're such a dweeb!"I chuckled at the girls banter before coughing. "Alright, time to be serious. Let's get in there. Sabrina? Lead the way, yeah? Oak you're on repel duty with Chimecho." I rubbed my chin, thinking how else I could utilse him. "You alright with being on overwatch in case we need help?"Oak shot me a thumbs up.Sabrina took the lead, and we wandered into the dark tunnels. The others clicked on some torches, and I took a moment to remember that it would raise some eyebrows if I was walking without a torch, so I stepped closer to Sabrina to 'use' her torch for light.For a few minutes, we walked through a tunnel with a number of twists and turns, only to open into an expansive cavern. I could see a few tents set up on the other side of the cavern and was surprised by the lack of light that was seeping out of the facility. They should have been bleeding light, but they were very much 'running dark'."Alright," I began to say as we closed in. "Oak will take a position of overwatch; make sure we've got backup in case anything goes wrong." Like a wild Mewtwo appearing, I thought to myself.I gestured to the rest of us in Team Rocket garb. "We're to infiltrate and find the most highly ranked people we can… Unless you can detect something, Sabrina?"She shook her head. "They have their dark emitters up still."I rubbed my chin thoughtfully. "Can we alter them to stop incoming and outgoing?"That caused the group to shift. Oak coughed. "It is possible to calibrate the dark emitters, but these days there is a central console. You would be best to find where the highest ranked Team Rocket Member is, then get access to their computer.""Woooah, you like, have it all worked out, Oak man!" said Brawly.I shot him a look. Oh, that's right, he might not associate Professor Oak, the face of Pokemon research in the Indigo region, with the man who ended a war, and united two regions. Oak would probably have the biggest knowledge base of all of us on how to raid an enemy encampment.I shot Oak a look but didn't see any hardening of his expression or anything that made me think he wasn't just an affable elderly man out for a walk."Right," I decided to say eventually, settling on just putting that realisation to the side for later examination. "Let's wander in, nice and casual."I stood and rolled my shoulders while the others followed. Roxanne marched robotically.Flannery rolled her eyes with a groan. "Roxy! Just loosen up a bit!" She then draped herself over Roxanne's shoulders and whispered with her while they walked. Sabrina dropped back to be included in the girl talk.Brawly and I shot each other looks, and I just knew his ears were twitching to hear anything spoken between them as much as mine were.It took a moment to recall that we were… Actually, on second thought, this set up worked perfectly. We were just a group of young men and women walking along, instead of people trying and failing to act casually.I wasn't sure if Flannery knew what she was doing, but she relaxed Roxanne which helped. We wandered past a few Rocket members with pokemon out that were watching the various sides of the camp. They nodded at us, and a few eyed the girls, making me want to walk over and lean on them a bit, but I resisted and instead made my way further into the center of the encampment.Without meaning to, I started to play with a pokeball. Sabrina walked back up to me and eyed the pokeball."You alright?""Yeah, I'm doing good," I said with a wink. I eyed another cluster of rocket grunts and chewed my lip. "Just surprised that there are so many. If they all have their carry limits… then there's going to be a lot of pokemon around here. I've seen twenty so far.""Flannery has an idea about that," Sabrina prompted, making me hum and toss Flannery a look. She shot me a thumbs up, and I grunted and looked back ahead as we came upon a larger tent. It looked like it had a lot of foot traffic with how the ground in front of it was tramped down.We entered to find an array of tables and chairs with some laptops and paperwork scattered about. I eyed those before flicking my eyes up to the man who commanded the central table. I almost slumped my shoulders when it only revealed a man in a lab coat.Hmmm, a Pokemon researcher or some type of scientist. I'd known Team Rocket had members like this, but I hadn't considered I'd bump into one here, especially not as the leader of this base. What were they researching? The closest point of interest was the Lavender Tower… or the Power Plant that was set up in the hills far to the east of Cerulean.Huh. Why did they have the power plant so far out? Was it nuclear? I thought it ran off pokemon like Electrode? Perhaps that added an element of danger to it? Maybe Surge would know?I made a discrete gesture for the others to fan out around the room to get close to rest of the Team Rocket members in the tent with us. Roxanne was tugged over to a pair of Grunts that perked up at their approach. Sabrina approached a woman in a lab coat, and Brawly nodded his head at two other men.I stood in front of the 'boss'. "Yes?" he said with a nasal tone, not looking up from his work."Reporting in from our—" The man held up a finger and I felt my heart hammer in my chest. Did he know I was a spy? Shit! I shouldn't have said anything! This is most likely a small, tight-knit group."You're the group that was sent over from Gamma base? No don't say anything, its obvious with how lacking in respect you are." The researcher straightened up and adopted a pose that he must have thought made him look suave. "I run things differently here. This is a tight ship where respect for your betters is given!"I heard one of the men near Brawly sigh and mutter. "Shit, here he goes again." Hmmm interesting. This man was a known authoritarian, but he didn't truly have their respect.I grunted. "Isat so," I said, donning a tough guy accent while sneering in such a way that practically begged him to take umbrage.He narrowed his eyes and stood up. He walked around the desk and poked me in the chest. "I run things around here, and if you have a problem with that I will—" I channelled some rock energy into my head and headbutted him.He folded like a Mr Mime acting out the part of a dropped wet spaghetti. He hit the floor, and the woman next to Sabrina blinked and looked up. "Oh dear, another one of those rough Grunts," she said with a shake of her head. "Listen you can't go beating on Dave like that. He's an asshole, but he does run things. What's your name?" she said like someone that was going to write me up on report.I snorted and released my Sudowoodo. He smiled widely as a new plan took hold in my mind."You don't get it do you?" I said with my fake tough guy accent. Behind the woman, Sabrina released her Hypno without anyone being alerted."Get what?" said the woman. "This is highly inappropriate!"I snorted and chopped my hand towards to people still on computers. Sudowoodo leaped across the room and chopped his arms into both of them. I let my smile turn into a smirk. "Proton wants this shut down," I said deciding to sell the fiction this was an internal spat rather than a raid. It suited my purposes and who knows it might muddy the water for Team Rocket a bit. He was thus far the only 'executive' that I knew about.Around me, people stood in surprise at he sudden violence, only for Sudowoodo to knock out another two before they could get pokeballs out.The town men near Brawly dropped when he punched them both. He then sprinted over to the Roxanne and Flannery, who had thrown themselves at the other men.Flannery had hers in a chokehold while Roxanne was hugging hers around the waist. It was ineffective at bring him down but he couldn't get at his pokeballs either. He had all of a second to try and rip her off but she was like a Shellder clamping onto a Slowpoke with her grip."Damn it let—" was all he got to say before Brawly slammed into him.I turned to find Sabrina pointing her Hypno to various people and making them fall asleep. The researcher who'd been reprimanding me for headbutting the boss ended up being the only person left standing after a brief scuffle that barely got louder than a few grunts and loud coughs as either Sudowoodo or Brawly knocked them out."Proton won't get away with this! The big boss will hear about this through Executive Archer!"I snorted and kept my face down. With my cap pulled low, she couldn't see my face too well. The darkness of the cave helped with that. "Don'tcha know? He's on the way down. Boss Proton is on the rise!" I said with a fake-sounding confidence I'd heard all too often from kids facing me with pokemon that really wouldn't help them.Sabrina turned the woman to face her Hypno and soon the woman was fast asleep.Brawly clapped me on the shoulder. "Nice improv my man!"I held up a hand. "No names from here on out. I don't want it getting out who we really are." I shot him a wink and eyed the tent. Chances were there might be recording equipment observing some of these people. Chances were that I wouldn't get away with this, but it still seemed like a good idea. I had no idea if Rocket had such internal politics but with Daniel's arrest, they might also point the finger at another criminal organisation if I played things right."Let's get this place blacked out," I ordered. I pointed to Flannery. "What did you have planned to round up the others?"Flannery grinned and tugged off the research coats. She swept them over her and Roxanne's shoulders. Sabrina made a gesture, and a few small cameras were torn from the walls and crushed. She then took over the main computer.Brawly bounced up next to her. "Oh! Oh! Look into the future and find out the pas—"Sabrina reached under the desk and drew out a sticky note with the password on it. Brawly deflated like a balloon. "Awwww," he said morosely.I snorted and nodded to Flannery, who readjusted her hair into a serious-looking plait before pulling out some wide-rimmed glasses. She donned them and smiled widely. "I call this my nerd disguise! I styled it after Roxy!"Roxanne shot her friend an affronted look. Flannery ignored Roxanne as she also put the Labcoat over her Team Rocket uniform. "Right! So I did some investigating into these Rocket people, and I learned this interesting little factoid when I was talking with one of your police officers!"I nodded, following along easily."So they mostly don't keep their own pokemon on them! The Team Rocket Organisation gives them out and recalls them when they want.""Oh, I see," I said as her plan registered with me. "That's pretty bold.""But it'd work, no?" Flannery said with a leer.Roxanne and Brawly looked between us. "What are you two talking about?" Roxanne said as she readjusted her hair into loops around her ears.Sabrina spoke up from the computer she was playing with. "They're going to call in the Rocket Grunts, ask them to hand in their pokemon and then deal with them."Roxanne gaped at us. "What? No! That has no chance of working."Sabrina and I shared a look. I made a so-so gesture. "It has a pretty good chance to work, actually."Roxanne gaped at us. Thankfully, she shut her mouth when we walked out and told a few Rocket members that there would be an announcement."Urgh, Dave wants to grandstand again?" One Rocket Grunt asked.I nodded in commiseration. "Yeah, I pissed him off, so he's got me running around like this.""Yeah, he's not gonna settle for just that man, good luck on your job assignment for the next week chump!" he said as he marched off.I chuckled to myself and continued to round up other Rocket members, making sure to keep my face shadowed or tucked under my cap.I kept an ear out for any struggles or signs that things weren't working out for us, but it seemed to be going well. Eventually, everyone was assembled in front of the main tent. Roxy and Flannery, dressed in their labcoats, stepped out and handed out two large sacks."We're going to be trading out pokemon for the next raid! We need to give you all some specialty pokemon for the coming raid!"A few grunts looked sad at this, but most handed over their pokemon without complaint. I watched them do so disdainfully. Not a hint of a bond or attachment to be seen…One clutched onto his pokeball. "My Ekans likes to be read stories at night! Do you think you can keep doing that?" he said. A few other Rocket Grunts snickered at him, but Roxanne put a hand on his shoulder."We'll make sure they are looked after," she said comfortingly. This got a few more snorts of derision, but the Rocket Grunt looked relieved. I eyed them with interest, a single person showing compassion for his pokemon in a crowd of people? I wondered, perhaps for the first time, what their stories were, and how they ended up in cahoots with a criminal organisation.With their pokeballs returned to them, the tent flaps opened once more, and people perked up; they were obviously expecting their leader, Dave, to be giving a speech. Instead, Hypno walked out.At the same time, Brawly released a Hariyama in between one row of tents, while between another row, Medicham appeared. I crossed my arms and nodded. At my signal, Sudowoodo wandered forward with a leer, right as Hypno's eyes glowed and he started to sweep his medallion in front of everyone's eyes.A few stumbled and fell to the ground, while others gasped and took in the trap they'd stepped into. "Oh shit! It's a set-up!" shouted one Rocket grunt causing the still awake Rockets to stagger and reach for now absent pokeballs. One Rocket member proved to be a sneaky sort as an Abra appeared in front of him.He grabbed it by the head. "Get me outta here!" he barked, only for Abra to twitch but not flash away.Medicham launched itself at him and the Abra and dispatched them both.Flannery grinned cruelly. "Everyone else! On your knees! Prostate's orders!" she barked.That caused a few men to gain sickly looks as I facepalmed. Roxanne walked over and whispered information into Flannery's ear. I could tell the exact moment that Roxanne explained what Prostate meant to Flannery, as Flannery's face turned bright red."I meant Proton! Not that other thing! Just! Urgh Yuck! Knock 'em out already!" she shouted at Brawly who did as asked, chuckling all the while.When the Grunts were all squared away, I stood up. "Alright, let's make copies of all their information, just in case, and then call in the police for a pick up of this group.""We're not going to stick around?" asked Roxanne."Nah, this actually works out better for us; Team Rocket won't know what to do when they get information on this raid. It sounds more like an internal raid, but there is enough to muddy the waters of what's going on for them to double-guess themselves.""Won't the first group we knocked out give the game away?"I chuckled. "I think our friend had the right of it. No one's ever going to believe them."I walked back up to Oak and read him into the situation. He laughed and agreed to go along with what I had planned. "Oh my, I think this plan would make even Koga smile!" he said with a hearty laugh.He sat up. "Still, it's a shame I never got the chance to show off for you all." He winked. "Oh well, it was wonderful to see you young trainers come together like you did."I nodded, still curious if that was his true reason for coming here. I knew Oak was a much more complex man than he appeared, but he played up his characteristics as a helpful old man to a T. I decided to just nod in the end, and call the police.When the flashing lights were within sight, Sabrina teleported us into an overwatch position to bear witness to the Police storming the Rocket base. They seemed rather bemused when they discovered the men and women already tied up and everything set up for them.Roxanne fidgetted. "I still feel we should have stayed down there. What if our not being there allows some of them to escape being convicted of anything?"Sabrina shook her head. "There is plenty of evidence regarding items, information, and stolen pokemon throughout their camp. Enough to implicate all of them. Also, Team Rocket is a recognised criminal organisation."Brawly nodded. "I kinda like this method. We're like heroes from cartoons! We rush in and smash the baddies, then get out as the police do their job." He puffed himself up. "Like, I call Hero Blue if that's what we're doing!"I snorted, only for Flannery to speak up. "I'm Hero Red then!"Brawly made a noise of protest, only for her to glare at him. She glanced at the rest of us before nodding when no one else protested. She wrapped an arm around Roxanne. "She's Hero Pink!" This caused Roxanne to squawk in protest."Brock is Hero Black; I will be Hero Yellow," Sabrina said with a firm nod.I bit my lip and decided not to point out how childish this all was.Oak coughed and adopted a pose. "Well, in that case, I have no choice but to be Hero Gold!"Flannery hissed. "The hell you do, old man! You can be the butler!"I laughed and waved Sabrina to teleport us out, and like heroes, we left the scene in a flash of light.Later, Sabrina and I deposited the information with the Guardians to be perused for any information they could garner. I was pleasantly surprised when Agatha appeared on her screen."What's this I hear of you going on a raid near my home territory, Brock?""You were incapacitated," Sabrina said loyally.I offered Agatha a shrug. "I thought I'd clean up for you while you rest. You know how it is; we young ones have to blow off steam occasionally.""Indeed, I caught the highlights of your match against that upstart!" she said and my face tightened into a sneer."A lot of information has been garnered from that match in particular," I said, alluding to the information I'd discovered regarding Will and my theory that he'd signed on with Team Rocket. Koga and Agatha nodded."We saw the information you sent us. There are too many coincidences. The attack on Mt Silver was bold of Giovanni, too bold unless he was sure of himself. Having faced the pokemon in question, I now understand that he is very sure of himself."Koga inclined his head. "It was a good idea to obscure your identities the way you did. Many of the Rocket members are already speaking between themselves of internal politics or Team Magma due to the pokemon more commonly found in Hoenn being used to take them down. I have covered up your earlier slip-up for you, however."I nodded to Koga. "Thanks; I have to admit I got caught up in the whole event so fast I didn't stop to think it entirely through."I worked my jaw. "I can't throw punches at an enemy that won't stand up and face me, so the other option is to give them shadows to waste energy on."Koga nodded. "This is the way of the shinobi, yes. It is a method that has worked many times. Often, people may suspect, but they will not act unless they are certain. We have the luxury of knowing who our foe is. He knows some of us as well, however. Caution is key going forward," he said while slowly chopping his hand in my direction.I nodded, accepting the light rebuke for what it was. "One thing that still doesn't make too much sense to me was Oak. He came along and sure he helped but… he could have probably soloed that place on his own, right?"Agatha snorted. "There is no probably about it. He could have had it if he desired it. He, however, likes his peace too much to move openly.""So why come at all? He said he wanted to see the bonds we were making, but that doesn't seem entirely true." I scratched at my chin.Agatha snorted while Koga chuckled. I blinked in surprise. Sabrina ended up being the one to speak up. "Brock, remember when you mentioned Lance talking about Oak spending time with him before and after he made a play for the champion position? Oak is making sure that if you ever decide to be Champion, you will be a good Champion for Indigo."I blinked. "Oh," I said eloquently. Now that she'd said it… it really stood out, didn't it?"Naive!" shouted Agatha. She pointed at Sabrina. "You're just as much on his radar little girl! And for good reason! I've said it before, and I'll say it again! You could be more!"Sabrina merely smiled and shook her head. "I'm happy."Karen retched in faux disgust. "Urgh, spare me your soap drama! What is our plan going forward?"I rubbed my chin as Koga and Agatha talked about monitoring the situation and finding more points to apply pressure to Team Rocket. They also discussed how they might further muddy the water and get Team Rocket looking in the wrong direction."Will," I said, causing the group to look at me. "He's gotten past me but he will still need help to fight other people. Other Gym Leaders. If we can get proof of him needing assistance against Surge or Erika, then we can nail him and drag him into the light.""Hmmmm," Koga said thoughtfully. "This has merit. I am not sure he will need it against Erika—" Sabrina's eyes narrowed slightly. "—but Lieutenant Surge… He will be a much tougher fight, as he will not hold back his considerable might. We will monitor any further incidents as well. I don't want any more Mt Silver episodes."Sabrina stiffened. "I will need to set up a security detail for Erika then. She has volunteered to reseed and assist with the regrowth of the forests of the Silver Ranges that were recently burned down. She is exposed more than usual due to this."Karen sniffed. "Will's not going to bother tripping her up; she's not that strong.""She is my friend, and she is not weak." Sabrina glared at Karen, and Karen smirked. I sighed, Karen was going to remember this. She'd gotten a rise out of Sabrina. I didn't doubt she would want to keep jabbing that weak point for all it was worth.The meeting ended once plans were set up for Surge and Erika to have protections placed around them, and when I logged out, I collapsed back onto my bed. Sabrina teleported into my room.I ran a hand down her back. "Hey, wasn't sure you wanted to stay the night," I said. She murmured into my shoulder.She lay next to me for the next few minutes and didn't say anything, her fingers played across my chest. I waited, knowing she wanted to say something. "I'm sorry for leading you into that raid. I hadn't considered how that might put you at risk. I just meant to help you feel better."I smiled and wrapped my arms around her. "Don't sweat it; I adapted a plan that I don't think I would have thought up if I was given time. I think we happened on a weakness of Team Rocket's that I plan to keep exploiting."She nodded. "And you? How are you feeling about your match with Will?"I sighed. "Better," I said, shooting her a smile. She leaned up and pecked me on the lips."That's good. You're much more handsome when you smile… although your frown is attractive as well."I chuckled and smiled at her. "You looked pretty good in that Rocket outfit," I said leadingly.She smiled a playful smile and teleported away. When she returned, she was wearing nothing but the Rocket outfit and a teasing smile. I stood and kissed her, more than happy to play this game with her.When we were done, she lay on my chest and slumbered. I looked up at the ceiling, feeling much more relaxed and at peace. I still had to go back to work tomorrow like nothing had changed."Man, that's going to be weird," I said aloud.I'd be right as well, except there would also be a rather nice surprise waiting for me.