Nightmare on the Job [PG-13]

[Yuki of Team Rocket]

Table of Contents
Chapter One (You are here)
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five (in the works)

Author's Note:
This is a rewrite of my earlier fic "Nightmare on the Job". I'm rewriting it in the way it was originally intended to be--interesting and funny. Not chock full of paragraphs upon paragraphs of useless information. I hope it's more enjoyable the second time through!

Rated pg-13 for the occasional swearing and possible violence up ahead.



Chapter One: Two Days

"Well, this conversation already proves that you're not dead, but you look around halfway there." A man on a video-phone screen chuckled to himself, amused by his own joke. He kept his image partway concealed in the darkness, and was using a voice modifier. The woman on the other line didn't seem all that amused.

"It's been a rough morning for me, sir," she replied bitterly, though trying to not offend him at the same time. The man was her superior after all. She glanced around; making sure no one was looking or listening in. She had been really lucky to find a payphone along the route she'd been traveling, let alone one with a video feed screen.

The woman was in her late twenties, though a bit on the short side and easily mistakable for an older teen. Her white hair was in perfect contrast with her black uniform and concealed the headband she wore with a triangular shaped cloth in the front. She adjusted her red scarf, baring a black R on either end of it. The emblem was of great significance to the woman. She was a Grunt working for Team Rocket.

The man on the other line chuckled a bit as he took a good look at her.
"The last time I saw you, you had hair just about reaching the floor," he mused. "Whatever happened? Decided to go for more of a fringy look?"

"Funny, sir. Really funny," she replied bitterly. True to the man's word, the woman's hair was a bit shorter than the average popular hairstyle. It hadn't been cut, but rather burned off. The blackened fringes of her hair reached just under her ears. As rough as her day so far had been, she learned something exceedingly valuable: hair burns fast!

"Joking aside, whatever happened to you?" the man asked, his grin facing and displaying a disappointed scowl. "We were seriously considering labeling you as 'deceased' on your file. You've gone missing for quite some time."

"I got lost," she said simply, a light shade of blush appearing on her cheeks. Once again, amused, the man began laughing loudly and obnoxiously. 'At least my excuses are keeping him from being angry at me,' she thought to herself bitterly. It wasn't that hard to 'amuse' her superior, Lonnie, one of the Executives in the Johto branch of Team Rocket. She couldn't fathom how this man climbed so high in the ranks with such immature behavior.

Then again, she had little to no room to judge. She'd been in Team Rocket for a good portion of twelve years and she still was at the rank of a lowly grunt. Her only excuse was because she kept moving around. She began in the Kanto region for several years, then voluntarily transferred to the Sevii Isles for some time, and was currently stationed in Johto. At least, that's where she should have been.

"Enlighten me then, Yuki," Lonnie chuckled. "How did you get lost? I sent you on a simple collection mission to the Sevii Isles. I believe you're quite familiar with the area, yes?"

"Yes, but—"

"Then how in the name of Ho-Oh did you get lost in an area you're familiar with? Are the rumors really true? Is your sense of direction as terrible as your past superiors have warned me?"

"It's… It's not exactly like that, sir," Yuki insisted, the blush on her face getting brighter. "It's not a simple matter of misdirection this time, I promise. I… I kinda got on the wrong ship. Instead of heading to the Seviis, I ended up in an entirely different region. I'm only now contacting you because I couldn't find the privacy to do so. And I kinda forgot the area code for Johto…"

There was a very long silence and Lonnie was very still. Yuki tapped the screen a few times, fearing that perhaps the video phone had malfunctioned. It was partially exposed to the elements after all.

"Where did you end up?" Lonnie asked, in the process of figuring out how someone could make such a mess-up with transportation.

"I ended up with a place called the Sinnoh Region, sir," Yuki reported. The silence resumed, as well as Lonnie's stillness. Yuki tapped the screen again. He seemed to turn in his chair, checking his computer beside the phone. Apparently the Johtian Executive had never heard of the region in question. Yuki didn't blame him. It was far away, and few knew of it unless they were from some of the smaller neighboring regions. After a quick Ditto-Search on the computer and a check over a few maps, the Executive was laughing louder and much more obnoxiously than before. Yuki hung her head in humiliation. She was tempted to just hang up on him and walk away in shame.

"How the hell did you end up over there!? That's almost 600 miles away from here!" Lonnie roared, actually clutching his sides from laughing. "Yuki, you have got to have the most messed up sense of direction out of all the Grunts I've ever hired."

"I already told you, it wasn't a sense of direction problem!" Yuki argued, a fire sparking in her eyes. "I just got on the wrong ship, and by the time I figured out my error it was too late!"

"And you haven't returned, why exactly?" he questioned, trying desperately to pull a more serious face.

"Well, as you know sir, there's no Team Rocket branch in the Sinnoh region," Yuki explained. "So I don't have any 'help from home' to get back, and I because I pretty much failed my last mission, I'm short on funds to return home."

"Ah, yes. That does make a difference, doesn't it?" he chuckled. "Well, I can't very well just abandon you out there. Grunt or not, you're still a valued member of the organization." Yuki mentally rolled her eyes. She knew that was a lie. All grunts were perfectly expendable. He just didn't want to have to through the replacement process and paperwork regarding her termination. "Tell you what; I'll cut you a little break. If you can send some Sinnoh-native Pokemon to our storage boxes by the end of the month, I'll wire some pay into your account, as well as the costs for returning to Johto." Yuki smiled. It wasn't much, but it was the most generous thing Lonnie could offer. She frowned once the mission at hand fully registered.

"Lonnie, sir, you're aware that the month ends in two days if you don't count today, right?" she questioned. Lonnie nodded and smirked. "Are you nuts? I hardly have any Pokeballs on hand, and a perfect heist will take weeks to prepare! Look at my hair!" She paused and gripped a bit of her singed hair. "This is what happens when I storm in for a heist unprepared. Growlithes are fast runners you know! And what their fangs can't nab, their annoying flamethrower makes up for!"

"Your point?"

"It's impossible!"

"Sounds like you would prefer I terminate your employment, Miss Hana."

"…No, sir," she whimpered. She needed this job! "Two days… You got it."

"That's much better! Doesn't everything get easier when you're not being insubordinate? Now, I'd get straight to work if I were you. Time flies when you're on the clock," Lonnie chuckled, shooting another cocky grin before hanging up. Yuki could only stare at the blank screen for several minutes. Two days. Two days to either capture a lovely handful of Pokemon and send to her employed branch, or two days to pull a perfect heist to obtain Pokemon from other trainers.

No time. No co-workers. No equipment. No plans. Nothing.

"I'm starting to wonder if I keep this job for the abuse," Yuki whined, finally placing the phone back on the receiver. Being in Team Rocket wasn't supposed to be easy, but it also shouldn't have been this annoying at the same time. She was meant to be a common criminal in her rank. She steals something, she gets paid for it. A simple A to B job. But with most jobs, if she made a simple mistake, she had to pay for it. She had no one else to blame here.

"Augh! This bites. TICKER! Wake up, you bag of hot air!" Yuki called upon leaving the phone box. Sitting on top was a huge purple balloon Pokemon, Drifblim, whom had 'drifted' off to sleep during the phone call.

"Bli? (Morning?)" he yawned, stretching his thin arms a little before moving off the box and lowering himself towards the ground a bit, hovering ever-so-happily in front of his master.

"We gotta get to the nearest city quickly, Ticker," Yuki instructed, already grabbing two of Ticker's arms and tying them around her waistline. "And I mean quickly this time! No stopping in mid-air to admire the clouds or saying hello to any of the passing Drifloons and Starlies. We have to get to the next city as soon as flippin' possible!"

The Pokemon just stared at her blankly with his beady red eyes. He seemed to understand the situation at hand just the same. Once she was perfectly secure in his arms, he raised his two free hands nice and slow, waited for a breeze, and quickly lowered them, kicking off the ground with a powerful Gust attack and taking to the skies fairly quickly. A Staraptor would have been a much better choice for transportation in the Sinnoh region, but Yuki didn't care. She was too picky and stubborn over her Pokemon type of choice.

"I don't care where we go… As long as we get there soon, I'll keep my job," she sighed, double checking her bindings as they got higher.

Two days.

Starting now.

 

[Thundagere]

I like it. It has quite the beginnings of an excellent plot. Your grammar was excellent, and from here, I have to wonder where it will go! I look forward to reading the next chapter.

 

[MasqueradeOfSilence]

Nice story. I already put in a comment on this on serebii, but I'll do it again!

Yeah, you have good grammar etc., no errors there, and it's cool that you used Drifloon

 

[Yuki of Team Rocket]

Chapter Two: Trenton and Murkrow


“Tired already?” Yuki noticed Ticker was beginning to lose altitude. There was still plenty of open space below to land without injury, but if Ticker needed a break, that meant even more lost time for her little mission.

“Blii… (Sleepy time…)” Ticker yawned, stretching his free arms a little bit. Yuki hung her head a bit. She’d have to keep up a brisk walking pace if she was going to get anywhere.

“You can’t rest for too long,” Yuki warned. “We have work to do. I’ll give you time for an hour-long nap, but that’s all you’re getting.” She pulled on her sweater sleeve and opened up her Poke’tech, fiddling with the alarm clock settings.

“Drifblim! (Hey, we’re not landed yet!)” Ticker cried, puffing up a bit in annoyance.

“Don’t care. One hour, starting now,” Yuki said, starting up the clock. In retaliation, Ticker returned to his own ball at that moment, leaving his owner to fall seven feet to the ground below! She landed on her feet and lost her balance, stumbling forward and planting her face into the ground. If Ticker had still been out and about, there was no doubt that he would have been laughing at her. “This is just not my day. Now my own Pokemon are being smart with me,” she muttered, sitting up and using her scarf to clean her face.

After a quick check to make sure nothing was broken, cut, or scraped up, she was back on her feet and heading in the same direction Ticker had been drifting. As long as no wild Pokemon would get in her way, she should have made good distance.

Trainers, on the other hand, she knew she’d had a problem with. She wasn’t sure what it was, but a lot of trainers, young and old, had this one-track mind. If they noticed another trainer passing by, they absolutely had to battle that trainer, no matter what. If said trainer had only one Pokemon on the brink of going into a coma from an earlier battle with a really angry Aggron, it didn’t matter. You just had to battle them.

Didn’t seem to make much of a difference if you were a criminal either, which Yuki found amusing whenever she wasn’t in a rush. It was becoming customary to give the winner a bit of money as a reward, be it pocket change or a wad of cash. She normally left with the whole wallet as well as a few supplies, and maybe the loser’s Pokemon. She smirked to herself thinking about it.

“Now, maybe if I did run into an idiot trainer, I wouldn’t have to worry so badly about a heist after all,” she spoke aloud to herself. “Eh… Knowing my luck, no one’s gonna cross paths with me until after I’ve gotten everything done and over with. Typical.”

“Well, I’m not sure about running into an ‘idiot’ trainer,” a voice mused. Yuki flinched and rubbed her temples from a very sudden migraine. She wasn’t going mad and hearing voices. No, she knew that ‘mental voice’ too well. She glanced around the path and off to the surrounding clearings, knowing she’d eventually see something.

“Hello!~” the voice called, this time vocally rather than ringing in her head. Yuki flinched and turned around, face to face with a very smug individual whom was about six inches taller than her. He wore a very strange outfit that looked as though he were trying out for a space-ace role for a TV show. Yuki recognized the outfit, especially with the yellow ‘G’ emblem on the chest, and the ‘uniform’ complete with a very ridiculous bowl-cut haircut on the man.

Most Sinnohians were familiar with this sort of wardrobe and strange sort of individual, but shrugged it off. Yuki knew people dressed as such were a part of another criminal organization housed in the Sinnoh Region. Team Galactic. She knew this very individual as well. It was obvious he was new to the organization, as he hadn’t quite been brainwashed to yet and didn’t take his job entirely seriously, nor wore his uniform haircut correctly. His bangs weren’t cut, and thus covered his eyes. He didn’t need to see though. At least, not by normal means.

“I’ve woken up late, dropped hundreds of Pokeballs from being greedy, chased a good two miles by a mutt of a Growlithe and got my hair damn near entirely burned off, and I have to impress my boss in two days or less,” Yuki listed off in a very grouchy tone. “I suppose the best way to top off my misery would definitely be to run into you, Trenton.”

“Awww… Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed,” Trenton mocked, shooting a very smug smirk at Yuki as he tilted his head a little. “Aren’t you happy to see me, Rocket Grunt? Even a little?”

“I’m never happy to see any of your kind. I didn’t the first time I came to Sinnoh and I sure as hell don’t now,” she insisted, turning around to continue her little journey. She could hear the Galactic Grunt following her. She wasn’t even sure how long he’d been following her before he spoke up. It creeped her out a little.

“You know, if your job is really that much of a pain, perhaps you can consider defecting to Team Galactic. I’ve seen you work. Although there’s room for improvement, the leader could use a woman of your talents,” Trenton offered, faking a very sweet voice to make the offer sound like the chance of a lifetime.

“Absolutely not,” was Yuki’s immediate reply. Trenton pouted a bit and tilted his head again at her.

“Why not?” he asked.

“One, you’re in Team Galactic; two, you’re in Team Galactic; three, I’d rather hang myself than to subject to Team Galactic’s uniform type; and four, you’re in Team Galactic,” she listed out, holding up all five fingers at first, then counting down until she was delivering the single-bird salute to the Grunt following her.

“Ah. Good reasons,” he remarked. “These uniforms do ride up from time to time, but you get used to it.”

“Don’t care, the answer is still ‘no’,” she snapped, her temper on the rise. Trenton was one of the first people belonging in a criminal syndicate that Yuki had managed to meet upon visiting Sinnoh years before. An unfortunate day. He reminded her too much of one of the ‘fresh’ Grunts at Team Rocket whom hadn’t yet been broken by the training.

He was nosey, obnoxious, smart, yet lacking common sense, and worse of all, she was the one type of person Yuki hated more than any other group of people in the world.

Trenton was a psychic.

Not a powerful one, but strong enough to annoy Yuki to no end with his telepathic abilities, short foresight, and light telekinesis. His smart-ass nature made everything worse ten-times over. Yuki still had yet to find something more annoying than a smart-ass psychic.

“You listening to me, or are you blocking my voice out again?” Trenton called, making Yuki flinch. “Eh, you probably weren’t listening. There’s a bunch of breeders holding a little get-together in Floraoma Town. They should be there for about a week, so you can catch up can probably grab a few of their Pokemon when they have a moment of weakness. Should be enough to complete a heist for your boss.”

“Eh? How did you know—”

Trenton smiled smugly.

“Fuck you and your psychic powers,” Yuki snapped. She always felt horribly violated whenever he read her mind.

“Love you too.”

“Why are you even telling me about the breeders? Shouldn’t you be getting together with your co-workers to plan your own heist?”

“Team Galactic only wants strong Pokemon lately,” he explained with a shrug. “The Admins keep changing their minds on their targets. Breeders don’t always have very powerful Pokemon, especially when they go on trips like this. They want to show off the newly hatched Pokemon they’ve very carefully bred with special attacks and sometimes unique colors. If they’re too young, they’re useless to Team Galactic. But for Team Rocket, I’m sure you can begin your harsh training on them early and be able to use whatever specially bred power they have to a very high advantage.”

Yuki stopped walking and raised a brow at him.

“…You work for Team Galactic, yet you have the perfect mindset to become a Team Rocket Admin,” she said. “I’m starting to think I should be the one trying to defect you.”

“And I have my own reasons to stay in Team Galactic,” he chuckled, smiling at her. She hated his smile. He had a gap in his teeth where his top two front teeth had once been. Apparently before joining the criminal world, he had a very nasty close encounter with an angry Shieldon. “And you’re not nice to me, so I’m not telling you.”

“Oh, my feelings are oh-so hurt,” she commented bitterly, walking passed him.

“Eh? Where you going?”

“Floraoma Town is in this direction.”

“Uhhh…no…you were going the right way. That way is Eterna City.”

Yuki blushed as she turned around again. Lonnie’s wisecrack about her sense of direction had been right on the dot. She didn’t even have a map-app on her Poke’tech, making things even harder for her. She solely relied on road signs and instinct to get around.

“Oh! I know. How about I just teleport you there?” Trenton offered.

“Absolutely not,” she snapped without having two seconds to think about it. “You’re going to want something in return for that favor.”

“Damn… You’re good.”

“No, you’re just obvious.” Trenton pouted again to her remark.

“Are you always this grouchy?”

“No. You’re a special case,” she replied. For once, Trenton couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic or not. “Just the same, thanks for the information. Maybe luck is moving to my side for once after all.”

“Hey, when you’ve hit the bottom, the only place left to go is up, right?” Trenton laughed sheepishly. Yuki smirked. That was victory enough for him.

“I’m still not joining Team Galactic,” she called. Trenton hung his head in defeat.

“Eh, if you ever change your mind, I’ll put in a good word for you,” he promised, sounding like he was about to give up following her for a while.

“Sorry, but your organization is a little too vague for me to consider. At least our oath makes sense,” she said.

“What, ‘Raid on the City, Knock Out, Evil Tusks’?” he asked. Yuki blushed again.

“That’s the acronym…and that last part was a typo. It’s supposed to be ‘Evil Tasks’ but someone couldn’t figure out where the ‘a’ key was for a moment and it was never fixed,” she insisted. “Our oath is “Steal Pokemon for profit, and exploit Pokemon for profit, as all Pokemon exist for the glory that is Team Rocket’.”

“Hmmm, straight to the point,” Trenton admitted with a nod. “I don’t think Team Galactic has an oath. We should make one! Although, if people know exactly what we’re up to with our oath, our operations won’t be so secret anymore. The Leader wouldn’t like that one bit, and it’ll make our enemies aware of what we may be after in the future.”

“Shut up and go away,” Yuki muttered, continuing down the road. Everything was finally quiet. She paused and turned around. Trenton really was gone! “Heh… Stupid teleportation ability.”

“Not so stupid if it makes travel faster,” Trenton insisted, making Yuki jump. He was right behind her again, smirking sinisterly from the frightened look on her face. “Ah, I was gonna give you a little freebie with my powers before I go.”

“The teleporting?”

“Nah. Fortune telling!”

“You’re kidding me…”

“I’m serious. Just a tiny glimpse in your future. It’s a bit vague, but I see a lot of shadow in your future. Not sure entirely how to describe it. It’s not like a literal shadow like what follows you, but it’s something else,” he said, scratching his head a bit as he thought it over. “Hmm… Yeah, it’s too fuzzy for me to say much else. Hope it helps!”

“Gee, thanks,” she muttered, turning around again to continue on her way. This wasn’t the first time she’d gotten a ‘freebie fortunetelling’ from the Galactic Grunt. The last time he looked, he said he saw a lot of burning and smoke in her future. She paused again and gripped her singed hair. “Son of a—”

“Be seeing you! Good luck impressing your boss,” Trenton called, vanishing before Yuki could turn around and vent her anger at him, as if her hair burning off had been his fault.

“Psychics… hate em,” she muttered. “I hope those Galactic people break his spirit soon. So annoying.”

---------

“Ticker, wake up!” Yuki called, tossing the Drifblim’s Luxury Ball into the air. “Your hour is long over. We gotta go!” The giant purple balloon Pokemon appeared in a bright flash and stretched his arms a bit, giving off a yawn that deflated him just a little bit. He took a deep breath, regaining his proper size.

“Blim, drifblim! (Morning, Master!)” he called happily. He could have used another hour to nap, but was in no position to argue. Yuki tied two of his arms around her waistline like before without so much as a ‘hello’ to the Pokemon.

“We’re heading the Floraoma Town,” she said. “We should be able to fly right over Eterna Forest and be right on the path to the town by morning. We need to keep the stops a minimum, understand?”

“Drif-blim! (Yes-sir!)”

“Don’t get smart with me, I’m still ticked about you dropping me earlier,” she snapped, glaring at him. He appeared to smile nervously, having forgotten his act in retaliation already. He raised his free arms, and then lowered them quickly, kicking up a powerful gust and gaining altitude quickly.

“Drif bli blim? (Why Floraoma Town?)” he asked once they were high enough into the air and riding a westbound air current.

“I got a little tip from someone that some Breeders are hanging out there for a while,” she said, making sure she was secure.

“Drifblim? (And you trust their word?)”

“Eh, at this point, I have to take what I can get,” she said with a shrug. “Even if the tip is bogus, I can still attempt a really quick and pathetic heist at the Pokemon Center or try to pickpocket some people. As long as Lonnie gets some Sinnoh-Native Pokemon, he won’t fire me.”

“Drif! (At least he’s not picky!)” Ticker said happily, even wiggling his free arms a bit as if attempting to dance. Yuki rolled her eyes a bit.

“True… If he was anything like my last employer, we’d be in big trouble. I’m glad I’m just a Grunt at times like these. Expectations are low, but specific. For Admins or higher, the expectations are really high, and the details tend to be vague.” Ticker cooed happily as he rode the wind. She seemed happier now that she had some sort of idea on what to do for her heist. Not much was planned, but having a location and target was a start.

“Drif blim blim, drifblim!~ (Just hang on tight and we’ll be there in no time!~)” he promised her, petting her with one of his free hands, messing up her hair and nearly knocking off her forehead cover at the same time.

“Just stay focused. We can’t afford any distractions,” she said, fixing her shortened hair a bit. She made a mental note to get a haircut later. The smell of burnt hair was sickening.

It got quiet for a while. Peaceful, really. A word Yuki hardly ever used to describe anything most of the time. She closed her eyes, enjoying the wind in her face as Ticker carefully navigated. The balloon Pokemon could already see a mass of trees ahead. Beyond that would be their destination. He happily flailed his arms a bit and climbed higher in the sky, enjoying the peacefulness almost as much as his master.

Yuki opened her eyes after a bit and glanced around a bit to check on her surroundings. No other Pokemon were nearby. No Starlies, Mothims, Chatots, or even Drifloons. The sense of peace melted away quickly. She didn’t like it being so quiet outside. Something was wrong. Her paranoia only strengthened as she caught something slowly falling at the corner of her eye. A long, thin, black feather.

“DOWN!” she screamed. Ticker quickly expelled some air and lost altitude.

“Murkrow!~” Yuki looked up as the screeching black bird dove passed them, narrowly missing the opportunity to grab Ticker with his talons thanks to her command. Ticker took a deep breath to inflate to full size and used his arms to gain altitude, attempting to keep an eye on the mischievous bird.

There were very few Pokemon that Yuki could say she downright hated with every fiber of her being. She hated Psychic Pokemon because of the age-old rivalry between Psychics and Ghosts. She hated anything absurdly cute, like Eevee, Skitty, and Buneary, because they stole all the glory in one of her side hobbies. She hated Dragons because of their arrogance for being so powerful and rare. She also hated rodent Pokemon for personal reasons. She didn’t hate Dark Pokemon, despite the advantages they had against her beloved type.

Murkrow, on the other hand, was the most hated Pokemon Yuki could imagine. The only Dark type Pokemon she ever dreaded to encounter. Especially this one. She didn’t know why, but it had been following her since her younger trainer days. It wasn’t rare for Murkrow to follow trainers and jump at the opportunity to mess with them, steal their supplies, or just get them lost. Normally they get bored after about a week and move on to someone else to ‘play’ with. This one was too persistent for its own good.

“Krow!” it screeched loudly, turning around and taking aim at Ticker again, looking for a perfect weak spot to exploit.

“Dammit! Not now!” Yuki cried. “Go play with someone else for a while! I’m busy!” A smirk seemed to form on the crow Pokemon’s beak. If Yuki was busy, that made her even more fun to play with!

“Murrr!!” it called, suddenly gaining speed through the air, aiming for the yellow cross over Ticker’s face.

“UP!” Yuki screamed. Ticker quickly raised and lowered his two free arms to gain altitude, just enough to avoid being hit. Now Murkrow’s target had changed from Ticker to Yuki! “Beak shot!” She swung a foot forward, connecting with the annoying bird’s beak just as he was about to collide with Yuki’s chest with a Sky Attack. She laughed as the bird flew back from the impact several yards and started plummeting like a rock. Ticker wiggles his hands in a victory dance.

“It’s not over yet,” Yuki called, watching as Murkrow quickly recovered from the kick and glided around in a few circles before climbing higher into the sky, seeking revenge for its bent beak.

“MURKROW!!!” it screeched loudly and angrily, seeing red.

“Hey, you started it,” Yuki taunted before glancing up at Ticker. It was very dangerous to battle in the air like this, but she didn’t have time to land. “Ticker, take aim and use your Thunder attack,” she commanded, holding onto Ticker’s tied arms carefully.

“Blim! (You got it!)” he called, waving one of his arms in a salute-like manner. The large cloud sitting atop the Drifblim’s head began to turn a light grey color. Yuki focused on Murkrow as Ticker charged up. It was getting closer and was still screeching angrily.

“Hurry, Ticker. It doesn’t even have to be a full blast!” she commanded nervously. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to get a clear ‘Beak shot’ a second time. The first time was dumb luck. The cloud turned a darker shade of grey and small sparks began to discharge from it. Ticker began to puff up a little and glared as the bird got closer.

“One shot Ticker. One shot to get this bastard before he screws us over,” Yuki said.

“Drif… Drifblim, (Great… No pressure,)” he groaned, now beginning to get nervous. Yuki’s hair began to stand up a little from the rising static emitting from the blimp Pokemon. The cloud on Ticker’s cloud was almost black by now, and the smaller sparks were growing bigger and more threatening. Yuki’s hair looked like the mane of a Jumpluff by now, and the Murkrow was getting too close.

“Now! Thunder!”

“BLIIIIIMMMM!!!”

Yuki had to cover her ears as the loud crackle of thunder clapped overhead, a huge bolt of lightning shooting from the darkened cloud on Ticker’s head, aimed right for the Murkrow…

…and missing entirely.

“How the hell could you miss!?” Yuki screamed. Ticker didn’t get his chance to explain as Murkrow clashed with the blimp Pokemon beak-first, using the cross over his face like a target. The bird sunk into the Ghost Pokemon’s body a little from the impact, not doing much damage. It didn’t matter. The crow knew it didn’t take long for the entertainment to begin. Murkrow was suddenly thrown back, as if making impact with a trampoline, and quickly regained its composure and climbed higher into the sky.

“Ticker, are you alright?” Yuki called, leaning forward to see if there was any damage. Although Murkrow had used its most powerful attack, he seemed to be completely unaffected. On the outside that is. Ticker grew furious. The bird’s beak had poked him! Pricked him like a needle! He hated that sensation! The blimp Pokemon scowled and began to rapidly inflate, seemingly forgetting that his own trainer was tied up.

Swearing under her breath, Yuki began to yank and pull on Ticker’s arms to free herself. She had only seconds. Murkrow hovered high overhead, seemingly smirking as he watched the trainer struggle. As Ticker was reaching his limit, Yuki finally managed to get herself loose.

“This is gonna suck!” she whimpered, looking at the trees below her. It was a long way down, but what choice did she have? She gave one last pull and freed herself from her Pokemon, beginning the long plummet to the forest below. Seconds after being freed, she heard the familiar sound and felt the heat wave of Ticker’s Explosion attack. Murkrow was probably laughing, but the wind in Yuki’s ears deafened her too much to know for sure. She reached into her pocket as she got closer to the canopies of the trees, retrieving a Pokeball decorated in black smoke seals.

“Skully!” she cried out, throwing the ball downward with all her might. The ball opened, and in a puff of smoke, a large figure emerged, somewhat resembling a combination of a genie and a grim reaper with a blue and grey cloak with yellow decorative marks forming an angry face on his front, and a happy one on his back. Skully, the Dusknoir, looked up at Yuki as they both fell with his red eye. He began to slow his own fall a bit and held out his arms, eventually able to catch Yuki as he caught up with him and held onto him tightly as he slowed down further.

He crashed through the forest canopy, getting a few scratches on both himself and his master from the branches, and managed to stop himself mere inches above the ground, hovering safely.

“Dusknoir? (Ticker again?)” he asked as he carefully put Yuki down.

“Do you really need to ask?” she replied bitterly. Her heart was beating a thousand miles per hour it seemed. That was too close for her comfort.

“Ah! I forgot to mention!” Yuki groaned and looked up at one of the trees. Trenton had returned, casually lounging in its branches. “I did see something about a black bird in your future. I didn’t mention it because I didn’t think it was that important.” Mockery was clear in his voice, making Yuki’s blood come to a boil.

“You did that on purpose and you know it!” she snapped.

“So now you’re the mind reader?” he questioned, smirking at her.

“Skully, Shadow Punch!” she cried out angrily.

“DUSKNOIR!!”

“Time to go!” Skully’s shadow-covered fist collided with the branch just as the psychic vanished without a trace. The only one who suffered the gripper Pokemon’s attack was the poor branch, which snapped from the trunk and fell to the forest floor in splinters.

“Dammit! I hate that guy!” Yuki growled. “Honestly, can my day get any worse!?”

Ticker’s deflated form suddenly fell on top of Yuki like a blanket, momentarily blinding her, and not making her feel any better about her predicament. Although, her Dusknoir found the sight relatively amusing and seemed to chuckle a bit in a low grunting noise.

“Shut up!! You’re both not helping!!”

Spoiler

Sorry for the delay! I got wrapped around a lot of written projects. Also, if there are spelling errors and the like, PLEASE let me know in a polite manner!! I looked over the chapter a few times, but I still could have missed something!!

 

[Rob Anybody]

I like it. It makes Grunts more human. And is Murkrow a nod to Snubbull in the anime?

 

[Yuki of Team Rocket]

I like it. It makes Grunts more human. And is Murkrow a nod to Snubbull in the anime?

Slightly, yes. Out of all the possible Pokemon who could follow someone for the sheer pleasure of it, I think Murkrow would be the absolute worst to have on your tail, considering their mischievous nature.

 

[Thundagere]

I agree with Mikey Boy. Also, I do like how you put what the Pokemon's saying in parenthesis. It's quite amusing to see what they have to say!!!

 

[Yuki of Team Rocket]

I agree with Mikey Boy. Also, I do like how you put what the Pokemon's saying in parenthesis. It's quite amusing to see what they have to say!!!

I was inspired by Bobandbill to do that, especially since it will give readers more insight to the personalities of Yuki's Pokemon. The only ones I will not translate are wild Pokemon.

 

[Yuki of Team Rocket]

Spoiler

Sorry this took so long.

Excuse: I got injured not long after starting the third chapter. It took me about two weeks to fully recover, but then I had art commissions and job searching to do, plus I was wasting my time playing some video games. I'm TRYING to be good about these updates! Stuff just keeps getting in the way! XD Sorry!!

Chapter Three: Karma Hurts

“Can you read this?” Yuki asked, looking up at a signpost. A hovering mass of purple, appearing to be wearing a witch’s cloak and hat, tilted her head a little bit a few times, her eyes glowing red, just enough to illuminate the sign. Eventually she gave up and turned towards the Team Rocket Grunt with a sheepish green on her face. “Yeah, that was a dumb question wasn’t it? Honestly, why do people paint directions on signs? Don’t they realize it’ll fade away with the elements?”

“Miiii! (Blame whoever hired them for not paying them enough!)” the Pokemon replied, tilting her head again as she looked at the sign. They could vaguely make out some faded arrows pointing in different directions, but the names of the destinations are completely gone.

“As if my sense of direction wasn’t bad enough,” Yuki sighed, taking a gamble and taking the bath to the right. Yurei followed her happily, her red eyes glowing bright enough to keep her from tripping over any large twigs and stones in her path. Most of them, anyway. The purple Pokemon was another partner of hers. Her third: Yurei the Mismagius. Between her and Skully, she was the best travel companion at night, as the species had an acute sense of sight in the dark and could smell nearby Pokemon. While the second strength was normally used so her kind could sneak up on them and scare them, being a trained Pokemon meant she used such strengths to protect her Master.

Although, the absolute worst attack Yuki could imagine in Eterna Forest would be a Burmy hopping down from the trees and splatting on her face for the sheer thrill of it. She shivered in disgust to the thought. There was nothing more disgusting than getting bug slime out of your already damaged hair.

“Misma? (Dead end?)” Yurei chimed, seeing that the trees around them were becoming closer and thicker, to the point where it was nearly impossible go get through any longer. Yuki didn’t care.

“Keep going. You’re a ghost. You go through stuff,” she said, carefully squeezing through the low hanging branches of trees and carefully guiding herself between the close trunks of the trees.

“Mismagius miiiii, (We should go back,)” Yurei commented worriedly, grabbing one of the ends to Yuki’s scarf before she could go far. The stubborn Rocket Grunt just kept going, dragging the Magical Pokemon behind her, forcing her to phase through the trees rather than allow herself to bump into them.

“If we go back, we’ll probably just end up going in circles,” Yuki called after a bit, struggling with a few low-hanging branches, interlocked with each other almost like a fence. “If we’re lucky, we’re taking a shortcut.” Yurei had a sheepish grin fixed upon her face. Every time Yuki ever mentioned a shortcut, it ended up being anything but.

“Misma… (If you say so…)” she sighed, giving up prematurely in convincing her Master to go back. She was way too stubborn for her own good sometimes. She watched her push against a few more branches that just didn’t want to give. It was rather amusing to see her doing a job Skully could do in about two seconds.

A few good pushes did nothing. She backed up and tackled into the locked up branches, only to bounce back and fall into a sit. Yurei cackled a bit, shutting up as her Master glared at her in warning. Didn’t keep her from smiling though.

“Minor setback,” she grunted, getting up and tackling into the branches again and, once more, bouncing back and falling first into a sit, then onto her back, dazed for a moment. “What the hell? Is the tree made of rubber or something?”

“Mismagi? (Want me to help?)” Yurei offered, the gems on her body glowing a little.

“No. I can do this by myself,” she replied, disappointing Yurei a bit. Perhaps ‘too stubborn’ was an understatement. Yuki backed up a little and held up her arms as she ran into the branches again, finally breaking through them…

…and falling down a very steep hill the lay just beyond it as a result.

Yurei hovered forward, flinching and whimpering as Yuki tumbled down, getting scratched by a few rocks and branches along the way before she slowed and stopped in a pitch black clearing surrounded by trees. From the top of the hill, Yurei didn’t like the look of the area. Compared to the rest of Eterna Forest, that particular area just looked out of place. It was as if it had been altered by something to ensure it was absolutely pitch black and that no one would disturb whoever lived there.

Hearing Yuki’s dull cries of pain snapped Yurei out of her worried thinking. She quickly and safely hovered down the hill, able to see the path Yuki had formed quite well. Her Master was only a few feet into the pitch black clearing, laying on her back, and crying out loudly, trying to recover from having the wind knocked out of her. After a few bouts of yelling, she was able to breathe again and remained laying there, trying to catch her breath.

“Not…a word…out of…you,” Yuki gasped as Yurei hovered over her and opened her mouth to lecture her. The ghost clamped her mouth shut and merely grinned at her, almost in an ‘I told you so’ manner. “Yeah yeah… I know, I know,” she grunted, a little dizzy from the tumble. “Every time I don’t listen… I get in trouble. I know.”

“Mismag… (Maybe you should fix that…)” Yurei commented, reaching down and helping her sit up and looking over her wounds. She seemed fine, save for the tiny scratches on her face, scuff marks on her palms, and possible bruising where they couldn’t see without lifting up her clothes.

“I think I bruised a rib. Or two. Or four. Or all of them,” she groaned, finding it a little difficult to get up at first. After feeling at her torso a bit, she figured it was merely the aftermath of getting the wind knocked out of her. She glanced up the way she came, able to see just by mere starlight alone that the hill was too steep to climb back up in the dark.

“Not a word,” she repeated, seeing the ‘I told you so’ face on Yurei again. “Failed heist, impossibly deadline, annoying psychic, homicidal bird, and now I’m lost,” she listed out, frustration becoming stronger and stronger in her voice as she listed off her series of unfortunate events since that very morning. “Can this day get any worse!?” She swung one leg back and kicked forward, intending to simply swipe it across the surface of the ground.

Her foot came in contact with a fairly heavy object. Not stone-heavy, but enough to know she hit something. In the dark she couldn’t see what it was or where it went. She and her Pokemon both heard a light ‘thud’ sound just ahead. Seconds after kicking the object, Yuki found herself laying on the ground again in a daze and her vision blurred. Not that there was much to see.

“Mis ma? (Did that hurt?)” Yurei asked, looming over Yuki.

“I’ll let you know when you stop spinning,” she groaned. She felt a slight throbbing pain on her forehead, like she had just slammed it against a desk or an equally solid object. Whatever it was she’d kicked had apparently bounced off the surface of a tree and hit her back. Karma was generally bad for a criminal, but this was just ridiculous!

“What hit me?” she asked once she was able to sit up. Under her forehead cover and bangs, she could feel a nasty looking bump forming. Yurei pointed out the direction the object had bounced off from Yuki’s head, and then hovered around, looking for it. Even with her wonderful sense of sight, she had trouble locating it. She hovered in circles a few times before she finally saw it. Most of the object was as black as the night itself. There was a ring around it in red, and a very small part of it was white. If it hadn’t been for these two colors, she would have never noticed it until her Master would have kicked it again.

“What is it?” she asked, kneeling down to have a better look at it. Feeling at its surface alone told her exactly what it was. It wasn’t a rock or anything of the sort. The smooth surface accompanies with the cracks caused by both the tree and Yuki’s forehead told enough. She’d come across a Pokemon Egg. “Oh shit. I think I killed it,” she commented, picking up the egg and holding it close to Yurei’s eyes to have a better look. Normally when an egg was broken prematurely, goop would be oozing out of it and making a mess.

She nearly dropped it as she felt movement inside.

“MIIIII!!! (IT’S HATCHING!!)” Yurei screamed excitedly, spinning and flailing around the clearing.

“Ya think?” Yuki commented as her partner continued to freak out over the impending hatching. It was like a switch flipped in her personality.

Yuki carefully put the egg down, trying to get a good look at the markings the few times her partner was close enough for her to see. A red ring over black with a white cap. She sat down as the egg continued to move. She thought long and hard, remembering the patterns of Pokemon eggs from a few breeding center heists. None of them matched the description of the egg moving in front of her.

“If this Pokemon is rare… I won’t have to pull off a heist after all,” she said, smirking sinisterly as she patiently waited for the Pokemon to reveal itself. It sure was taking its time; probably dazed and dizzy from the Rocket Grunt kicking it. Yuki ignored Yurei’s continuing freaking out (“IT’S HATCHING! IT’S HATCHING!”) and focused on the egg. She smirked as whatever was inside began to push against the cracked surfaces of the egg rather than just wiggle around.

“Yurei, hold still for five minutes and get over here!” Yuki snapped, almost having to yank her by her robe to get her to listen. The Magical Pokemon peered at the egg excitedly, providing the light Yuki needed. A few more wiggles and another push, and a large piece of the egg began to move almost like a door opening. A tiny black claw wiggled out from the opening, gripping the side of the egg and trying to push again. It still wasn’t enough for Yuki to identify it.

Another push, more wiggling, the need to tell Yurei to shut up, and yet another push later, the top of the egg began to crack just enough to where the baby could push its little head out and look around. Yuki saw the faint glow of a green eye for a moment before the baby shyly retreated inside.

‘Black claws…green eyes…Sableye? No wait, those are purple… Sneasel? No… They have white claws… Could be a Houndour…but why the red markings? Looks like I need to wait,’ she thought. If she had one of those Pokedex things like most younger trainers had, this would have been easier.

“Miii… Mismagi!~ (Awww…. It’s okay!~)” Yurei cooed at the egg, gently patting the side of it, trilling in a reassuring tone. The creature peeked out a little bit, its green eyes glowing almost as brightly as hers. “Misma. Mismagius!~ (That’s it. Come out!~)” she continued to coo encouragingly. The baby began to wiggle around in the egg again and push on its walls. One last mighty push and its protective egg it had called home for an untold amount of time finally split open. “Mismagi!!~ (Welcome to the world!~)” Yurei cheered happily.

Yuki wasn’t nearly as thrilled as her partner. Her eyes opened widely as the light inside her mind went off. She identified the Pokemon based on some old paintings and sketches from some Sinnohian books on legends and lore. The pudgy baby Pokemon looked like it was wearing a black cloak, a bright red collar, and had a short mane of white hair covering most of its face. Its shoulders looked like a black blaze was resting on them, leading down to three-fingered claws, and its body was literally an hourglass figure.

“Oh… shit…” was all she had to say at her discovery. Yes, it was indeed a rare Pokemon. So rare, no one knew if nests of these monsters actually existed anywhere in the world. It could grow up to be powerful, to the point where it would be difficult to train and control. It held a power that discouraged even the most well seasoned of trainers from having a go at capturing and training any of its species.

Yuki had accidentally hatched the king, or rather prince, of nightmares.

Darkrai.

“Close…but…not quite what I was hoping for,” she squeaked, getting up to her feet. Sure, it was a baby, but even baby Pokemon had attacks and abilities they could use. Yurei merely looked up at her in confusion. The baby was her definition of ‘cute’. Why was she suddenly afraid?

The infant Darkrai looked up at her curiously, his eyes still glowing a bit. Yurei continued to hover around wildly in the clearing, celebrating the birth of the Pokemon. Yuki blinked. It blinked back. They just stared at each other for a while, both ignoring the Mismagius like she wasn’t even there. Yuki noticed there was a bump on the Pokemon’s head, nearly identical to hers in size and placement.

“Heh… is that where we met?” she commented nervously. The baby tilted his head. Her heart nearly melted. All ghost-like Pokemon were adorable to her. What were considered monsters to others were the cutest things alive to her. As frightening as the tales of Darkrai were, this little guy was no exception to her cuteness rule. The cuteness went away as its curious expression suddenly shifted to one of pain. It just realized it was injured. And it hurt!

“Uh oh…please no…please don’t,” Yuki pleaded. The Darkrai began to whimper and whine, and she was sure she saw a huge tear forming in one of its eyes. Yurei suddenly stopped hovering in circles as Darkrai began to loudly wail in pain, gripping his head where his bump was. Yuki wasn’t sure where the sound was coming from, as a mouth wasn’t visible, but it had to be, hands down, the most ungodly deafening sound she had ever heard all her life!

“MAKE IT STOP!!” She yelled, covering her ears. “MAKE IT STOP! FOR THE LOVE OF CELEBI, MAKE IT STOP!!”

“MIIIIII!? (WHAT DO YOU SUGGEST I DO!?)”

“IT’S A BABY! MAKE IT LAUGH!!”

Yurei quickly moved forward and lowered herself so the Darkrai could have a good look at her. She began stretching her cheeks a little, sticking out her tongue, and rolling her eyes around a bit. The baby almost instantly silenced, looking at Yurei in shock and awe, most likely wondering just what in the world she was doing. She continued to make silly faces and sounds long enough for the baby to have forgotten the fact that it had been crying moments before, or why it was even crying at all. It made a strange purring sound, probably laughing, as she continued to serve as entertainment.

Yuki took the opportunity to let her ears recover. There was a loud ringing echoing in them for a while.

‘Not even Exploud could rival that,’ she thought, glancing at the baby. She knew from stories that it could cause horrible nightmares, born from ones more horrid of memories and deepest, darkest fears; but the deafening cry was a new one for the books. ‘Thank Ho-Oh its parents didn’t hear that. I’d be dead!’

She squatted down to have a good look at the baby while her Pokemon continued to cheer it up. Other than its slight roundness, it was nothing more than a miniature version of the scary nightmare king she had seen in books. It was still very cute to her.

‘Better do something about that bump on its head before it starts wailing again,’ she instructed herself, scratching her head a bit before she thought of a solution.

The baby looked up as she opened up a Pokeball, letting her Dusknoir out. He didn’t appear frightened; just curious of the sudden appearance of the Pokemon.

“Ice,” Yuki said simply, holding out her forehead cover. Skully took it, held it in his fist tightly for a moment, and gave it back, coated in a very thin layer of frost. She squatted down, getting close to Darkrai and wrapping her forehead cover around its head, over the nasty bump. “There. No more crying, alright? The last thing I want is for Mama Darkrai to carve my stomach for making her baby cry.”

Darkrai tilted his head at her.

“Stop being cute!!”

He tilted his head again.

“Ugh… Forget it. Alright, that’s my good deed for the day. Let’s get out of here before we’re found,” Yuki groaned as she stood up again.

“Dusknoir? (Do I need to ask?)” Skully asked Yurei, pointing at the pitch-black Pokemon sitting on the forest floor.

“Misma! (It’s a baby!)”

“…Noir… (…I can see that…)”

“Mismagi!~ (Now you know!~)”

“Dusknoir…. (Never mind…)”

“Chit-chat on your own time!” Yuki snapped at them, making them flinch. “Let’s go! I already wasted way too much time down here!”

“Misma!~ (Yes, Master!~)” Yurei called, hovering up to her happily. Skully followed suit, still somewhat confused. Yuki didn’t get far before she heard noise behind her. The baby Darkrai was following her, merely crawling on the ground.

“Ah! No no no no no! You stay here!” she instructed, picking it up and putting it back where it had been when it hatched. “You may be rare, but not even my job is worth pissing off an angry Legendary-class Pokemon! Stay here for Mama to find you!”

He tilted his head cutely again.

“And stop that!! AUGH!! So fucking cute!”

“Noir? (That’s a problem?)”

“I don’t need to hear it from you! Let’s go!” Yuki snapped, beginning to venture off to find a path to follow. Again with the noise. “Not again…No! You stay!” She turned around, picked up Darkrai, and put him back in his nest spot. “Stay. Don’t go anywhere! Do you understand that?” she asked, squatting down and narrowing her eyes at it.

It reached its little rounded claws at her and grabbed her nose.

Yurei and Skully both couldn’t resist laughing.

“Shut up!” she snapped, gently pulling the baby’s hand off her face. It tilted her head at her again before seemingly yawning. “That’s right… sleepy time, okay?” she cooed gently, picking up a few discarded leaves around the area and making its nest somewhat softer. It approved, nestling against the leaves and closing its eyes. Yuki very slowly got back up to her feet and quietly started backing away from it.

If Skully had two eyes and eyebrows, he would have most likely risen one of them at his Master’s behavior. She always had to make things more difficult for herself.

“Alright…let’s go,” she whispered, able to start making her way out of the clearing again, without the little Darkrai following her like a lost Growlithe.

For now.

 

[Yuki of Team Rocket]

Chapter Four: Nightmare Kings and Outdoor Gym Battles


Sinnoh is famous for its myths and legends. Many researchers, archeologists, and cryptozoologists alike flock to the region at least once in their careers to get an up close and personal look at the region’s history and lore.

Many seek to know how the lake guardians came to be. Some strive to know which of the Sinnohian deities surfaced first. Others seek out even just a glimpse of the more elusive Pokemon, famous for their rarity rather than power.

Most avoid one of the more infamous legends that rest in the darker corners of the region. The king of nightmares, said to be the most evil of all Pokemon.

Darkrai.

Not many have seen the Pokemon and remained sane long enough to tell the tale. Some never even return after venturing in its rumored domains. The Pokemon could lull anybody, human or Pokemon, into the deepest slumber and slowly torture them with horrifying images of their darkest fears and most terrifying memories. Most don’t have the mental will to endure the torture for long, becoming yet another victim of the Pokemon’s ability.

Rarely one very powerfully willed soul will survive Darkrai’s nightmares, just long enough to write down notes to share with their colleagues, or sketch an image of the monster, if they had been lucky enough to have seen it. Only a few sketches of the monster exist in the world, and even those could be described as fairly crude and perhaps exaggerated. No one could ever blame the artist. It’s difficult to draw something you cannot see.

Darkrai nest in the absolute darkest places in Sinnoh, and emerge only when there is no moon to illuminate the night sky. Whether it’s because they draw their power from the darkness or prefer to stay hidden is a mystery to this very day. If a Darkrai is nesting in an area, it’s commonly recognized based on the unusual amount of darkness; a warning sign to Pokemon who were already living in the area.

Of course… that doesn’t keep curious humans for venturing close to it.

And curiosity killed the Skitty, as well as many foolish travelers.


---

“Is there a single entry that isn’t cryptic?” Yuki groaned, closing the book in her hands. She was sitting upon her Dusknoir’s shoulders, having him navigate around a bit while Yurei provided light for her to read, looming over her shoulder with her glowing eyes and a creepy grin. “Skully, open up.”

“Noiiiiii….” Skully paused and opened up the mouth on his torso for her, allowing her to toss the book inside and vanish in the darkness without leaving even a ‘thump’ to signal it landing anywhere.

“Three different books and none of them have any proper information on Darkrai. Just scary bed time stories,” she groaned, crossing her arms grouchily as Skully closed his torso up and began looking around. He was almost certain they’d already been here. He didn’t say anything, not wishing to annoy his master any further. “Darkrai is scary. Darkrai causes nightmares. Darkrai is mysterious. Yeah, I get that after the first time it’s said. Did it really need to be reworded in different texts? Why’d I even steal those books in the first place? Useless information.”

“Misma…. (Here we go again…)” Yurei sighed, rolling her eyes again. Another night, another rant. All was normal in the close-knit group as long as Yuki was irritated.

Skully rolled his eye a bit, looking around for forest a bit before deciding on a well-traveled looking path, carefully marking a few trees along the way with a tap of one of his fingers lightly charged with fire, normally used for his Fire Punch attack. Yuki continued to rant about books and their useless information until she trailed to a topic completely void of the Darkrai information she’d been seeking out.

“Dusknoir dusk dusk… (Even though I have no ears, I want to rip them off...)” Dusknoir muttered, only to have his antenna smacked.

“I heard that, you smartass!” Yuki snapped. “If you don’t like it, stay in your Pokeball for a while!” She slid down and off his shoulder and returned him to said Pokeball before he even had a chance to object. Without him out to pay attention to his markings, she would only get lost again. Yurei almost spoke up, but a quick glare advised her otherwise. She continued to follow Yuki down the grassy path, only the sound of Kricketot and Kricketune off in the distance keeping the nice from being completely silent.

“I wonder how far off we are,” Yuki said after a while, looking up at some of the trees. If it were a moonlit night, she could climb up as high as possible and look around for any landmarks off in the distance. Of course, Yurei could do the same thing with even better results, moonlight or no. Before she had the chance to ask, she suddenly found herself face-first on the ground again. “You and I have been seeing a lot of each other today,” she muttered, feeling something tugging at her leg.

“Mismagius!!~ (Grass Knot!!~)” Yurei informed, carefully tugging on the thick grass caught around Yuki’s ankle so she could get up.

“That’s a Pokemon move, right? Can’t be from a wild one…” she observed, taking a better look at her surroundings. There were Grass Knot traps laid out everywhere. It had been a wonder how she hadn’t stepped in one sooner. “Someone’s here. Look alive, Yurei.”

“MIIIII!? (EXCUSE ME!?)”

“Shut up! You know what I meant!”

Ignoring the comment for now, Yurei began to survey the area. Their surroundings were almost entirely void of Pokemon. There weren’t even Burmy sleeping in the trees. They both turned heads as they heard a snapping twig.

“MIIIII!! (Power Gem!)” Yurei screamed, orbs of light forming over her arms before shooting in the direction of the sound, like catapulting little stones at an enemy. Yuki smirked as she heard multiple yelps, followed by branches snapping and an unpleasant ‘thud’. Someone had been spying on them from the high branches of the trees. She was glad that, for once, it wasn’t her eating the dirt.

“Augh…ghost Pokemon….”

“Mind telling me what you’re doing way out here?” Yuki called, keeping Yurei in front of her on guard.

“I could be asking you the same thing,” a woman’s voice called. “Most trainers who travel through Eterna Forest would find a clearing to sleep in by now. If you’re awake, that means you’re up to something!”

“By what logic?” Yuki asked, raising a brow at the voice. “For all you know, I’m nocturnal and travel best at night.” Her own body foiled her excuse as she suddenly yawned, unable to stop it in time. Yurei rolled her eyes at her trainer.

“There’s been a lot of shady characters roaming my forest lately,” the voice called. “People who call themselves Team Galactic. You may not wear the same clothes as them, but you certainly fit under the same category as them.”

“Now that is just offensive!” Yuki snapped. “You can’t put me on the same level as those people! I’m not like them! I’m a very proud member of Team Rocket!”

“Mismaaaa…. (Idiot….)” Yurei commented with a light facepalm. It looked like both lying and subtly were out of the question.

“Team Rocket, huh? Sounds plenty suspicious to me,” the voice continued. Yuki flinched from a flash of an opening Pokeball. “Whoever you are, I won’t let you continue any further.”

‘What the hell is it with people and their need to be vigilant? For once I have done nothing wrong!’ Yuki complained in her mind, wondering just who this person was and why they felt it was her business to stop Yuki from traveling.

“Roserade, use Sunny Day!”

“Rose!”

Another blinding light filled the area, making even Yurei have to shield her eyes. The light shot up into the air and flooded the clearing, giving the illusion that it was daylight again in the forest. Yuki looked forward and flinched once she could identify the person who’d confronted her.

The woman was young, probably close to Yuki’s age, had red hair, wore a green poncho and a bright orange pair of shorts. She probably wore a shirt too, but it was obviously very skimpy, as her stomach was visible. She was the Gym Leader of Eterna City, and was famous for her love for protecting Eterna Forest and its Pokemon, Gardenia. And like most Gym Leaders, if they came across anyone shady, that person was in trouble. A common annoyance.

“Looks like I’m not getting far without a battle then,” Yuki mused, smirking. “If I beat you, does that mean I’m qualified for a gym badge?”

“For once, I’m going to have to be biased here and say no,” Gardenia said, smirking back.

“Eh, I’m more of a ribbon person anyways. Yurei, let’s go!” Yuki called.

“MIIIIIIII! (Battle time!)” Yurei screeched as she hovered forward, her eyes glowing as she grew excited.

“Roserade, you think you can handle this?” the gym leader asked.

“Rose!” The Floral Pokemon posed, looking ready to take Yurei down quickly and perhaps painfully. Roserade wasn’t a fairly common Pokemon. It looked like a walking bouquet of roses to Yuki. She knew enough about Roserade’s previous evolutions to know she had to be careful. They were very fast, and with the tiny poison thorns on their bodies, she had to resort to non-physical attacks. Yurei was perfect for the job.

“Magical Leaf!” both trainers cried out. Roserade aimed one of her arms at Yurei like a gattling gun and shot a barrage of multi-colored glowing leaves, while Yurei spread open her arms to summon similar leaves with her magic, guiding them at Roserade. The leaves met halfway, slicing each other into confetti-sized shards and falling to the ground. Only one leaf from each attack made it to the other, hardly causing more than the damage of a paper cut.

“I’ve always wondered how the same attack at the same time would look,” Yuki chuckled.

“It was just luck that we spat the same attack! Roserade, use Grass Knot!” Gardenia called. Her Pokemon stepped forward and lifted her other arm, using her powers to make the grass below Yurei grow in a very tangled fashion that would normally constrict a Pokemon and leave them open for an attack.

Normally… If they weren’t hovering in the air.

“Mii? (That’s it?)” Yurei asked, looking down at the mess of grass below her.

“A gym leader uses a ground-based attack on a levitating Pokemon?” Yuki questioned, raising a brow. “Somehow, I feel as though I have just lost all respect for gym leaders.”

“Sh…shut up! I’m tired! And I don’t battle ghost Pokemon often! I don’t like them!”

“MISMAAAAA!! (JERK!)”

“Insults aside, maybe you should head onto beddy-bye, flower girl,” Yuki chuckled. “Like I said, I’m just passing through. I have no reason to battle you.” ‘Although…it would be nice to pick your Pokemon off you once I’m finished here. Lonnie could use some floral decoration in his office.’

“Nice try, Rocket-girl. Even if I’m half asleep, I’m keeping you from going any further! Roserade, use Magical Leaf again!”

“Roserade!” This time both arms were pointed at Yurei, promising a powerful attack.

“Ensure that she’ll ‘perish’, Yurei!” Yuki called. The Magical Pokemon formed a huge grin upon her face before suddenly opening her mouth and wailing a song made of notes so horribly distorted, if one were to listen to it for long, they would surely go mad!

“Roserade!!” The bouquet Pokemon began shooting at Yurei with the colorful and sharp leaves, slicing at her robes and parts of her body enough to turn the distorted song into yelp of pain.

“Hang in there, Yurei,” Yuki called. “Counter it with your Power Gem!”

“Mismaaa! (Raining rocks!!)” she screeched in excitement, opening her arms again to summon orbs of energy of various sizes to pelt at the flower from above. Gardenia smirked. An expression Yuki wasn’t exactly fond of seeing right now.

“She’s wide open! Use Shadow Ball!”

“Yurei, dodge it!!” Yuki screamed. Yurei was caught in a bit of confusion, unsure if she should dodge or attack first. The thought process lasted too long as Roserade formed an orb of black energy in her hands, aimed well, and shot at the ghost Pokemon. Not only did the attack hurt her, but it nullified her attack, making the orbs vanish. “Yurei no!!” Yuki watched in horror as her Mismagius lost altitude and landed on the ground, right into the mass of Grass Knots. She may as well have landed in a net!

“And I’m supposed to be the tired one,” Gardenia mocked.

“Doesn’t matter anyway. Time’s up,” Yuki called, smirking as she watched Yurei faint for seemingly no reason. There was no way that Roserade could have done enough damage to drain her entirely of energy, even with her landing in the Grass Knots.

“Time…what!?” the Gym Leader could only watch as Roserade suddenly collapsed, out cold and out of energy just like Yurei.

“You missed it before. That horrible screeching you heard before was a Perish Song,” Yuki called, returning Yurei to her Pokeball. “I figured I wouldn’t have much of a chance against a Gym Leader’s strongest Pokemon, so I had to use a trump card.”

“You do realize that would mean we both lose, right?” she asked, returning Roserade as well.

“Not quite. I still have one more Pokemon.” Yuki pulled out Skully’s Pokeball for the sole intent to show off. It felt good to rub victory in the face of a Gym Leader!

That victory was soon soured as she pulled out two more Pokeballs.

“I hate you.”

“Looks like our battle is just beginning! Turtwig! Cherubi! Go!” she tossed the two into the air to let them out, just as Roserade’s Sunny Day was wearing off. Yuki had enough time to see the Snapping Turtle Pokemon and the fruit-like Pokemon appear. They looked fairly young and weak.

“Advantage point for me! Skully, Fire Punch on both of them! I’ve wasted enough time out here!” Yuki called, tossing the ball forward. There was no flash of the Pokeball, just a burst of black smoke. Gardenia noticed a bit of a sparkle on the Pokemon as he was let out. Once his eye began to glow, she was able to identify him.

“Not another Ghost Pokemon!” she complained, trembling just a little bit in Skully’s presence. “Sunny Day, Cherubi! We can’t battle it in the dark!”

“Cheru!~” The cherry Pokemon sang, creating a ball of light and shooting it into the air, once again bringing light to the clearing. Yuki only smirked sinisterly and Gardenia was almost certain that the face on Skully’s torso was grinning evilly.

“Thank you for the second advantage point,” Yuki cooed. “Continue, Skully. Fire Punch, powered by Sunny Day!”

“NO!”

Skully moved forward, both fists igniting in enormous blazes, lighting up the area even further and warming the clearing up.

“DUSK….NOIR!!!”

Both Pokemon didn’t even have a payer as both Turtwig and Cherubi were stricken by the mighty blazing fists. Even a fully grown Venusaur would have had trouble keeping to its feet after being hammered by the Dusknoir’s fists!

“Two for one victory!! Things are finally looking up for me!” Yuki cheered as Skully backed away from the knocked out Pokemon, the flames on his fists going out.

“Dusknoir dusk? (Wasn’t that overkill?)” Skully questioned, seeing how stunned the Gym Leader was to the sudden assault on both Pokemon.

“Nah. No such thing as overkill when you need to end it quickly,” Yuki assured, waving her hand in dismissal. Skully still wasn’t sure.

“That’s not fair! You must have cheated somehow! I know your type! You never have a powerful Pokemon unless you stole it from someone!” Gardenia shouted, returning her beaten Pokemon to their Pokeballs.

“Contrary to popular belief, not all criminals stick with the weak ‘default’ Pokemon they’re given when they sign up,” Yuki insisted, sounding a little insulted. “Some of us actually put time and effort into training our Pokemon long before we ever join the syndicate.”

“Dusk! (That’s right!)”

“Liar! As if a suspicious type like you could ever raise a Dusknoir by yourself! It’s not even a normal color! The odds of scum like you encountering a uniquely colored Pokemon in the wild are almost non-existent!”

“Not really…you just have to know where to look,” she continued, raising a brow. “While I was lucky to have met Skully, I’ve run into at least three oddly colored Pokemon since I got here. A brown Starly, a yellow Shinx, and I’m certain I saw a golden Magikarp jump out of the water just the other day. If I had Pokeballs on hand, I would have caught all three of them for my Boss.”

“And your boss probably would have done horrible things to those Pokemon! Even if I’m out of the battle, I’m still not letting you pass!” the gym leader snapped stubbornly.

“I don’t have time for this crap. Skully, Hyper Beam!” Yuki commanded.

“Hy….wha….You wouldn’t dare!”

The mouth on Skully’s torso suddenly opened up, and Gardenia could see a yellow light forming from the center. He was charging up for a Hyper Beam aimed directly at her! She screamed and quickly dove down, covering her head in hopes it would help somewhat.

“Let’s go!! NOW!” Yuki called, using Skully’s arm to help her climb onto his shoulder as he closed his mouth and moved forward, passing the terrified Gym Leader. It took her a few seconds to realize the Hyper Beam was all a bluff.

“I’m not letting you leave this forest!!” She screamed, getting up to her feet. “I’ll come back with the cops and more than enough police dogs to track you down and then…and then…huh?” Something was tugging on her poncho. She turned around slowly, just as Cherubi’s Sunny Day ended, meeting a pair of glowing green eyes belonging to a creature with a flowing white mane and attacked to a pitch black body with a blood red collar. Gardenia’s blood went cold and she stood stunned and silent for a moment. Darkrai!

She let out a loud scream as the monster gave a very light grunt and barely moved one of its claws.

‘No…more…ghosts…’ she whimpered as she collapsed to the ground and fainted. The baby Darkrai hovered downward and poked her a few times, giving off light squeaks and grunts of confusion, even tilting its head a little. It circled over her a few times, but quickly grew bored. She wasn’t much fun to play with. It looked off in the direction Yuki and Skully had went off and gave off what could be interpreted as a very happy cry before hovering forward, trying to find them or another playmate. Whichever came first.