Nightmare on the Job

[Yuki of Team Rocket]

Chapter 1: Two Days

“I had better be hearing nothing but good news from you. It’s been months and you haven’t sent anything to headquarters.”

Yuki gripped the telephone cord and twirled it around her hand a bit, reminding her of exactly how her insides felt in that instant. She looked around, trying to figure out a way to properly word her report to her Boss, watching her Drifblim, Ticker, float around a bit and becoming a bit of a distraction.

“I’m waiting!”

“Er…sorry…I…uh…what if I don’t have good news?” She asked, snapping back to reality.

“Then I hope you have other employment plans.”

Yuki felt her insides twist even more and could have sworn her heart sank down to where her liver was meant to be. She couldn’t afford to lose her job. Not now. Not ever!

She was a member of the infamous Rocket Gang. She had been a loyal member for 7 years, and although she was still at Grunt Ranking, she was still considered somewhat valuable. She normally turned in a lovely bounty of stolen Pokemon every month, or even captured very powerful wild ones. Of course, she wasn’t perfect. Especially not now. Ever since she’d set foot in the Sinnoh region, she’d gotten nothing for the Boss to even consider an attempt with her work. Every plan had gone horribly wrong by a stroke of bad luck and inconvenience.

“Well…the truth is, the heist went badly,” She admitted. “But I do have a very good excuse for why it went wrong! Please give me a chance here!” There was a long pause from the other end. She prayed her Boss was considering letting her talk, rather than putting her on hold to terminate her employment.

“Enlighten me,” He finally said. Yuki felt her insides return to their former shape. “What excuse could you possibly have for me this time?” Yuki dug into her pocket and dug out more coins for the payphone. She knew this would be a long talk.


----


It was the early hours of the morning. The sun wasn’t even peeking over the horizon just yet. Everyone was asleep, including the staff and Pokemon of the Floraoma Town Pokemon Center. Yuki had been planning this heist for over a week and couldn’t see a single flaw in the plans. A Pokemon Contest had just come and gone, ensuring there would be plenty of Pokemon resting in their Pokeballs in the building. She’d entered herself, leaving with only a participation ribbon. No one liked the looks of a scary Dusknoir, no matter how well the attacks were coordinated.

“Just shove a pretty little Skitty or an energetic Buneary out there and the crowd goes nuts!” She ranted to herself, picking up a Pokeball off a shelf and dropping it into a bag. “Or how about a cute little Eevee? Even a Magby outdid me. That thing was ugly! No one appreciates the beauty of Ghost Pokemon anymore. They just want something cute and fluffy and…I’m getting sick thinking about it!” Yuki picked up another Pokeball and put it in the bag.

Yuki was well known amongst the Team Rocket Grunts as a Ghost Trainer with a hot temper, especially if people insulted her partners. Being born and raised in Lavender Town had given her plenty of knowledge over the type, fearlessness over their mischievous antics, and a different perspective of their appearance than most people. Not everyone could see them in the same light as her, and she wouldn’t accept that.

Ten Pokeballs in the bag before she paused, making sure no one was already waking up and wandering around. After being in the clear, she picked up another ball from the shelf. If this were any heist job in Kanto, the authorities at the contest would have known right away she would be up to no good. She wore a relatively typical Grunt Uniform, being entirely black. The only thing she was missing were her gloves. Also, instead of a big red R on the front shirt, she wore a blood red scarf around her neck with a black R on either end. Instead of a hat like other Grunts wore, in a poor effort to protect their identity, she wore a white headband with a triangular cloth on the forehead. It was an effort to warn people ahead of time that she was a Ghost Trainer.

It wasn’t always a helpful accessory though. Many superstitious old fools thought the headband meant she was a ghost herself and would attempt silly rituals to send her back to the depths of hell or the spirit world. It all depended on if they were hostile towards spirits, or friendly. They were annoying to her just the same.

Thirty Pokeballs off the shelf and into the bag. It was halfway full already. She glanced around and listened again. She could already see a hint of daylight from one of the windows, telling her to get a move on and finish up her work. She glared at one of the Pokeballs just before she bagged it. If she could see which contained truly amazing Pokemon, rather than something possibly freshly caught from the surrounding forest area, it would make her job much easier.

Forty Pokeballs stolen.

“I’ll be lucky enough just to get my paycheck from the Boss this time,” She sighed, pausing a moment to rub her temples. The topic of the Boss was very painful to her. Most Grunts feared him. Even Admins feared him. The very idea of disappointing him made them want to flee home to their mothers. Almost everyone especially feared how crazy some of his plans for the higher ranks were. Yuki was no exception to this fear. Giovanni was the only human being she feared in the world. At the same time, he was the only man she considered to be as insane as a Spinda.

Seven years in the Rocket Gang, and still a Grunt. Most Grunts either left or were promoted within their first year or two. Yuki was stuck at the bottom because of one particular dispute with Giovanni the day she was meant to be promoted. Rumors had been spreading of a Pokemon by the name of Raikou being sighted in a particular forest area. Before the rumors started, Yuki’s promotion task was to capture a different Pokemon. A very aggressive Rhydon that had been causing mountaineers problems, and had potential to be a valuable tool for the Rocket Gang. Once the rumors had spread, however, Yuki’s task had been changed.

“I should have kept my big mouth shut,” She growled, tugging at her hair a bit before continuing to bag the Pokeballs. No grunt in their right mind would question orders from the Boss. Especially not to his face. Not when a promotion, and probably their job was on the line. Yuki had argued against the idea of hunting down the rumored Raikou. She’d gone on about they would be wasting valuable resources on a silly rumor with no proof of being real. She even had the gull to claim no one, not even the Rockets, should attempt to gain control over such a being with legendary power.

Yuki bagged the fiftieth Pokeball, no longer pausing to check for waking staff and trainers, nor checking the time.

“If I had just taken the job, I would be an Admin by now,” She growled. She shivered, nearly dropping the bag. The look on Giovanni’s face back then had been enough to scare the living daylights out of her. And being raised in a town well known for its Ghost Pokemon population, that was a difficult task. To that very day she considered herself lucky to have kept her job at all. Giovanni’s punishment to her was to keep her at the Grunt Level until she truly proved she was loyal to him and respected him.

The dispute had been much more colorful than that, but she didn’t wish to recall the details. She couldn’t be taken very seriously afterwards. Not by her fellow colleagues, and especially not by and members of higher ranks. For years, she’d continued her normal Grunt work. Steal some Pokemon; send them in. Steal more Pokemon; send them in. Steal more Pokemon, get caught, report the bad news after nearly killing herself in the escape, and get yelled at. Then the cycle would repeat itself.

Her success to failure ratio was better than most, but the Boss didn’t care. Sometimes she wondered if she was being kept at the Grunt Level on purpose just because of that one argument. She could have very well quit, but with her temper and partners of choice, it was hard to find work anywhere. She was cornered.

She noticed only then that she had filled the bag up entirely, leaving little room to close it. She stretched the fabric a bit and managed to twist it shut, not having enough space for a proper knot.

She glanced towards a nearby window and saw the sky quickly transitioning from a navy blue to a soft pink. She took every step from the storage room to the front door very slowly and carefully. The bag was slung over her shoulders and resting on her back, already proving to be heavier than she’d anticipated.

“Bit off more than I can chew,” She muttered, considering leaving about ten or twenty behind. She was in too deep already. All she had to do was leave the town, hide for a while, then journey to the next town and find a transporter machine to send every last Pokeball to headquarters.

Although the plan seemed simple enough, there was always bound to be a snag somewhere. She looked out the windows for any people before pushing against the door for her leave. She could hear nothing but her pounding heart. After months of failing, she was finally going to get a heist completed.

“KROW!”

Yuki only made it a few feet away from the Pokemon Center doors before it happened. She stumbled forward as something hit her in the back of her head with amazing force! Being as full as it was, the bag of stolen Pokeballs opened up and spilled a large amount of its contents all over the ground. Yuki’s head whipped back up towards the sky, seeing a Murkrow flying overhead. It flew away a large distance before circling back, a sinister smirk on its beak and a mischievous look in his eyes.

Yuki knew this Murkrow well. She wished time and time again that he would just leave her alone, but her wish was never granted. Murkrow were well known to be cruel to travelers by getting them hopelessly lost, stealing their food, or pulling a prank on them. This one was just evil to Yuki. Whenever he caught up to her, he’d take the opportunity to make her life a living hell one way or another.

The last time they’d met was in the sky several miles from the town, when she was using her Drifblim for transportation on a windy day. After that encounter, she constantly questioned why she used a temperamental Pokemon for flight. The bird only had to poke and peck Ticker a few short times before trying to get rid of the bird in the most lethal way: an explosion. The signs of such behavior were easy to identify, even for Yuki, when she was dangling by his arms. If it hadn’t been for the lake below, she would have very well shattered a few bones in her legs or hips. She wasn’t so fond of flying after that, but she had no choice most of the time.

“I don’t have time to play with you!” Yuki spat, trying to collect the Pokeballs into the bag. The Murkrow took her words more or less as an invitation. He swooped down beak first, narrowly missing her as she sprawled to the ground, only making the Pokeball mess much worse! “Go away! You can make my life miserable later!”

The Murkrow landed on the roof of the Pokemon center and ruffled up his feathers a bit. He watched as Yuki scrambled to collect her loot again, dropping one or two from time to time in her rush. The dawning light was flooding through the town now, already waking up the flowers, and soon it would be the people waking up. She struggled once more with closing the bag, stretching the material in order to at least twist it shut before slinging it over her shoulder.

She considered summoning Ticker to make the getaway easier, but wasn’t so sure where was enough of a breeze to carry them away with such a heavy bounty in tow. Her Mismagius, Yurei, was out of the question too, being much too small for transportation purposes. Just as she was considering her prized Pokemon for her final option, the sound of flapping wings alerted her. She turned around, expecting to see the Murkrow coming at her again, but instead it was just climbing higher into the sky. Yuki didn’t even get a moment to think she was getting a break before the horrible sound of screeching and squawking filled the air.

She wanted to cover her ears badly, but with her hands full, she had to endure it. She started to the edge of town. With the Murkrow being as loud as he was, it was only a matter of time before she’d be found out. She wanted to reach down and pull out her Pokemon, but she had to keep both hands on the bag at this point. It was too heavy for one arm, and she’d risked dropping it and letting it spill all over the place again.

The squawking stopped, but she didn’t. Her mind was set to getting out of there as fast as she could. She felt herself suddenly pushed to the ground, and the bag opened up again, spilling the Pokeballs all over the place. She didn’t even have to guess twice that the perpetrator was the Murkrow. Again she scrambled up and tried to recollect the stolen Pokeballs.

“Third time’s a charm,” She muttered, glancing up every so often to keep her eye on the bird Pokemon. This time it was flying away, apparently bored with Yuki since all she was doing was falling instead of reacting to him. She heard someone screaming at her from the Pokemon center. The bag wasn’t even halfway full again, but she had to book it anyways.

“At least it’s something!” She told herself over and over, trying to not give into temptation and go back to collect just a few more Pokeballs. “Something is better than nothing. At least you have proof you tried!” She continued to run, even when she’d passed the town gates. With the staff of the Pokemon Center aware of her theft, it was only a matter of time before the cops would be on her tail.

If there was any time better to be proven wrong, it would have been then. It wasn’t long before she could hear the faint bark of a Growlithe and the roar of a motorcycle behind her. With her loot halved in weight, she was able to pull out a Pokeball, releasing Ticker, her only means of escape.

“Use Gust to get us outta here!” She cried, still running even as she grabbed onto two of his four arms. He lifted the two free arms a moment, then lowered them quickly, kicking up a powerful gust of wind, just enough to get them off the ground. “Again! We need to get higher!” Yuki cried, holding onto both Ticker and her loot for dear life. Even as they were climbing higher and higher into the sky, it was clear that Officer Jenny and her companion weren’t giving up anytime soon.

A few yards up into the sky and they were still in danger of being caught. Ticker was already becoming tired from the excess weight, and there was no natural winds to help him with the getaway. Yuki looked around desperately for some means of escape. “Keep going east!” She commanded. Not far east was a river much too wide for either Jenny or Growlithe to cross, even if there was a ramp for the motorcycle on one side. Ticker raised his two arms again, then lowered them to keep them going.

Jenny was aware of the river ahead, already slowing down. “You have one shot, Growlithe. Make it count!” The police dog paused and positioned itself carefully, its eyes locked onto Ticker.

“Higher! Higher!!” Yuki screamed, her legs flailing a bit in a futile attempt to help with their altitude. Just as Ticker raised his hands, the Growlithe opened its mouth and launched a stream of fire in their direction. Ticker lowered his hands again, climbing up just a few short feet, and turning Yuki into the primary target of the fire blast! She cried out and dropped the bag of Pokeballs, clinging to Ticker for dear life.

She waited, expecting indescribable pain to wash over her body. Nothing happened. She just felt a soft breeze. She opened her eyes, dazed over the fact that she was perfectly unharmed. It took her a few seconds to realize what had happened. When she’d dropped her loot, Ticker was able to climb even higher into the sky without the extra weight anchoring him down.

Yuki could only watch as Officer Jenny and Growlithe collected the Pokeballs down below. Ticker crossed over the river just fine, but that was besides the point. The heist had failed horribly, and she had nothing to show for it. Escaping from arrest was almost meaningless. She hadn’t salvaged a single Pokeball. She hung her head low a bit, groaning in misery and disgust.

“The Boss is going to kill me!”


---


“As you can see sir, I’m very lucky to even be alive,” Yuki finished. Giovanni had been very quiet during her story, which worried her sick. She only knew he hadn’t hung up because there was no disconnection tone just yet. Ticker continued to hover around her, unaware of the severity of the situation with his master. He was just happy to have made it away without being burned up. If ignorance was bliss, this Pokemon had plenty of it.

“Boss? Are you still there?” Yuki asked, inserting her last coin into the payphone slot, just in case. There was still silence. She could only imagine the annoyed look on his face. He was probably rubbing his temples as she waited for him to speak.

“Because your tale amuses me so much,” He spoke up, startling her, “I am going to give you until the very end of this month. If you do not send me something of value, be it one Pokemon or a hundred, I am terminating your employment.” Yuki was about to heave a sigh and thank Giovanni for his generosity before an important fact hit her.

“The end of the--THAT’S IN TWO DAYS!” she cried. If she hadn’t spent so much time to find a payphone to report the incident, she would have still technically had three. It was already late in the afternoon.

“I don’t care! You’re slipping! I cannot have incompetent fools like you mucking everything up,” he snapped. He raised his voice a bit, forcing Yuki to hold the phone out a few inches from her ear. “The excuse is always the same. If this Murkrow is as mischievous as you say, why don’t you just capture it and send it to me? If you’d done this years ago, you would have less problems now, wouldn’t you?” He raised his voice more, and Yuki held the phone out at arm’s length.

“While your excuses are entertaining, I have no time for childish antics and games any longer! I have plenty of young interns who perform better than you do with their job!”

“But Boss, I’ve--”

“NO EXCUSES! You send me something by the end of the month, or you find a place in the unemployment line!” There was a loud click as the call was disconnected. Yuki stared at it for some time, her mouth open in pure shock. She pulled the phone out by the cord and tossed it away, screaming in frustration.

“I’ve been perfectly loyal to that lunatic!” She cried out to no one in particular. “I don’t even take vacation time anymore! He overlooks everything I’ve done for him over a few minor failures?” She had been a part of schemes and heists in the past with other members of the Gang that were all at a higher rank than her. While some of them had been a grand success, there had been some that were a total failure. She and the other Grunts would always get yelled at, while the people in charge always got a free pass.

“I swear I’ll never understand how that man works!” She kicked at the phone booth, leaving a tiny dent in the metal, and a jolt of pain in her foot.

“Blim?” Ticker hovered up to her and rested two of his hands upon her head and left shoulder to make sure she was alright.

“We have two days to make an important delivery to the Boss,” She growled, not taking his concern into consideration. “We can’t try that town again. They’ve probably got guards all over the place now.” She turned around and faced Ticker with a determined look in her eye. “Get ready for a long night, Tick, cause we have to get to another major city by morning for this to all work out! Either one rare Pokemon, or a hundred common ones. If we don’t impress the Boss somehow, we’re screwed!”

Ticker appeared to nod, even though his body type technically didn’t allow such movements without a neck of some sort. He hovered over her and wrapped two of his arms around hers. With one mighty flap of his free arms, the two were airborne again. Yuki had no idea which direction to go, other than to avoid the one they’d come from. She hoped the winds would blow in her favor and take them to the perfect place to score.

A few short flaps and the two were high enough to avoid trees without worry, and confuse most flying Pokemon in the area. Yuki was worried of the Murkrow showing up and picking on them again, but her fear of the Boss was heavier.

“I have only one request,” She called to Ticker. “If for any forsaken reason you need to drop me, please make sure I land on something soft!” There was a sound from Ticker that could only be interpreted as a giggle. That didn’t make Yuki feel any more comfortable as she clutched on Ticker’s arms for extra support, not daring to look down.

 

[Yuki of Team Rocket]

Chapter 2: Broken Coordinator

Most of the flight was uneventful. There was the occasional flock of Pokemon of various species passing by, but that was it. It wasn’t even worth the energy to try capturing some of the Starly or Pidgey.

“If I’m going to keep my job, I’m going to have to really impress the Boss,” Yuki sighed. She was still dangling in Ticker’s hold, the trees below them looking like bushes at the distance they were in the air. “We’ll have to consider ourselves lucky if there’s as many Pokemon available in the next town as there was in the last. Next time I’m using Skully for the heist. He’s the best henchman I’ve got for these things.”

Skully was Yuki’s prized Pokemon. The same Dusknoir she’d entered in the Floraoma Town Pokemon Contest. He was more than just a sinister and scary Ghost Pokemon. The two had a very long history that extended many years before she became a Rocket. Before she would put her life on the line just to impress some maniac. Long before she became cold and cruel towards other people, especially in contests and battle. She gazed towards the ground, a distant look in her eyes as she remembered everything.

Back in Lavender Town, ghosts of most species were available for trainers to attempt to capture. Most failed because of their lack of knowledge over their weaknesses. Yuki’s family was one of many that had adapted with the Ghost Pokemon over generations. Many young trainers raised in the town would play with the Pokemon and grow a bond with at least one or two of them. Such a bond made it much easier for them to become partners once they were old enough to become trainers. Yuki was one of those young trainer, but she was picky. She could have chosen a Gastly, a Shuppet, or even a Misdreavus for her first partner, freshly picked out of the wild. Instead she’d chosen Skully, the family pet at the time.

Originally he’d been a wonderful Pokemon to use for contests at the beginning of her training career. He was so shy and energetic when he was a Duskull. Most people especially loved him when he’d try to hide his face with his cloaked hands and hide behind Yuki. She still had the ribbons from those days. Before she became a rocket, and when Skully was still considered cute. Those were the only and last high ranking ribbons she held. Everything changed the day he evolved into Duskclops.

They were at the top of their game, performing beautifully coordinated attacks that required accurate aerial moves and focus. Duskull’s ability to levitate gave the two so many options for the visual aspect and battle portions of the contest, not to mention his special ‘Ring of Fire’ move with his Will o Wisp attack. In the middle of that last special move, he evolved. He was so excited over the idea of winning another ribbon, he couldn’t hold back. He wanted to make Yuki proud of him and to wow the crowd. Evolving proved to be their downfall. Dusklops was much heavier than Duskull, and the “Ring of Fire” couldn’t even finish being executed before Skully landed on the ground without even an ounce of grace. Yuki wasn’t mad at Skully. Not for that. Not for anything. She hated the people at that contest though. The judges, audience, and even other contesters had all laughed at them. Skully wasn’t used to his excess weight and new shape, which made it virtually impossible for them to continue. It was the first of many ‘Participation Ribbons’ Yuki had collected since then. Even after practicing special moves in his new form, Skully just couldn’t wow the crowds like he used to. He lost his cuteness. Even if he tried to hide his face behind his hands, it didn’t help. He just looked silly.

Yuki had seen much more aggressive Pokemon enter contests before and won higher ranking ribbons than her. She was still furious that a Nosepass outranked her many years before. After a while, she and Skully both decided that their Contest Career was over and it was time to get serious with training. After that day, Yuki’s temper became a vital part of her personality. It practically defined her. She hated people for laughing at Skully when he evolved. He hated people for their perspective of Ghost Types. And she especially hated the judges at contests who only ever seemed to favor the cute Pokemon over her own.

“Idiots…all of them!” Yuki snapped, swinging her fist in the air to vent her frustration for a moment. Ticker stroked her back with one of his free arms, understanding her pain. Contests were the one thing that kept Yuki’s mind and soul at peace. The only time she could be happy. The only time she felt human.

A few short years after Yuki’s debate with Giovanni, she’d tried again at becoming a Coordinator. She’d captured a Misdreavus, in which she’d named Yurei; a term used for spirits in Japanese culture. Plus it was fun to say. The two had practiced long and hard, and even with Yurei’s habit of wandering off to scare nearby trainers, Yuki felt she was ready to go back to being a Coordinator. Yurei was beautiful in every aspect, even for a ghost. Her gliding was flawless, her coat had a healthy sheen, and Yuki worked very hard to make sure the jewels around her neck were polished regularly and without a single scratch.

The first time, however, turned out to be a total fluke. Misdreavus, a Pokemon said to feed on human fear, got spooked out. Once she saw so many people before her, she passed out and couldn’t wake until the contest was over. It was to be expected for a first time, but not every time. Contest after contest, Yurei would pass out in front of the large group of people and Yuki would have to try to compete with Skully instead. Either way, she always left with a participation ribbon. Even when Yurei evolved, the problem didn’t change. Once she got a glimpse of all those people staring at her all around, she couldn’t take the pressure and was out like a light.

Yuki’s third try had been with Ticker only a few months recently. Drifloon were very popular of a species, even for being partially of the Ghost Type. Nothing said ‘cute’ like a purple balloon Pokemon, apparently. The two had come across each other on accident. Like most Drifloon, Ticker had been caught and carried off in a powerful current of wind, only to bump into Yuki, far away from this rest of his flock. In the beginning, Yuki had ignored Ticker, finding him to be a little too cute for her liking. Either by stroke of luck with the winds, or by Ticker’s own will, the balloon Pokemon ended up following her for several miles before Yuki gave up and caught him effortlessly.

A few more weeks passed on with some heavy training to properly coordinate his attacks before the two went for another contest. Yuki tried it in a much smaller town to avoid the same stage fright problem Yurei had, and it proved to be a great success. Every move was executed flawlessly, and she’d defeated her opponent in battle without breaking a sweat. The problem with Ticker started when the judge tried to give him his ribbon. He’d yanked on one of his arms much too hard for his liking, forcing him to angrily evolve. It didn’t take long for Yuki to discover that Ticker had the same explosive temper as her. Although his was a bit more lethal. Again, she wasn’t angry. That time it had been clearly the judge at fault. She’d even laughed herself to sleep about it that very night.

“Just a bunch of flunkies, we are,” She mused, patting Ticker’s arm and smiling. “At least we’re persistent, yes?” Ticker cooed happily in response. Ever since his explosive exit, Yuki had gone back to trying again with Skully. The reaction was always the same. Disgust and fear, in both the audience and the judges. She never understood why they didn’t like Skully so much, even as a Dusknoir. “Such is the curse of being a Ghost Trainer,” She sighed poetically, “I see the beauty and grace the rest of the world is much too ignorant and blind to see.”

Ticker’s altitude began to drop after a long while of silence. The sun had set many hours before while Yuki was thinking. Only when she yawned did she realize it was late.

“So much for finding a place to jack,” She said. Below there were nothing but trees for miles around. The lowering altitude was Ticker’s only way of letting her know he was done for the day. The poor balloon Pokemon couldn’t take to the skies for much longer. “Just land somewhere, buddy. I’ll find a place to sleep, or maybe I’ll walk. You did good today.” She pet his arm again to let him know she meant what she said, smiling as he seemed to give off a happy purr.

Slowly they descended to the ground, narrowly avoiding sharp branches of the trees and keeping away from any obvious Pokemon nests. She dropped to the ground once they were close enough and let Ticker return to her side. She gave him a few gentle pats on the forehead and returned him to his ball.

“Either sleep, or walk,” She yawned. She took a good look around her. It was a night with a new moon, leaving very little light in the sky, aside from the stars. She was used to the dark, but it was a bit much for her in a dense forest. She could bump into roots and rocks all over and eventually slam into a tree if she wasn’t too careful. The idea of sleeping was a good one, especially with having to wake up so early before. “Sleep it is, then.”

Carefully she wandered about, seeking anywhere on the forest floor that looked remotely comfortable. There was a bit of tall, soft grass that was very tempting to her, but she knew it would be crawling with disgusting insect Pokemon that would go to her for warmth during the night. She shivered at the thought of waking up with a Spinarak on her face. Sleeping in the trees came to mind as well, but it was a forest, not a jungle. There were no vines to use for reinforcement, making it very possible that she would very well fall in the middle of the night.

A bit further along, comfort was tossed aside. Even if she only got herself a few hours of sleep, it was something. She stopped at a large tree and decided it would be her headboard for the night. She took off her scarf and bundled it up to use as a pillow. She laid down and yawned a good five seconds.

“Two days.…two damned days,” She muttered to herself. She closed her eyes to take the first step of trying to get some sleep. “I don’t like spur of the moment plans, but it seems I have no choice here.” She yawned again and rested her hands upon her chest. She tried to not think about the upcoming task of impressing Giovanni. Sleep was more important now, and vital.




Without the moon, or a watch, Yuki had no way of determining how long she had slept. Five minutes could have truly been three hours. Or even vice versa. All she knew was that she shouldn’t have still seen stars in the night sky when she opened her eyes again. She was wide awake, and the reason why was audibly obvious. All around her, there was a constant commotion from a very noisy sort of Pokemon. Types that both Bug Collectors and Musician Trainers adored to death, but travelers hated. Kricketot and Kricketune sounded like they were rehearsing for a spectacular concert, their chirps and cries echoing all over the forest.

“Bugs….stupid bugs…” Yuki sat up and wrapped her scarf around her head to cover her ears. The sound was still there, but very muffled. She laid back down for her second attempt to get some sleep, even as the bug concert continued to play.


Time seemed to stand still. Yuki was sure several hours had passed, yet in all reality it was only a few minutes. The noise wasn’t going away, nor getting quieter. Even with her scarf covering her ears, she found it to be nearly impossible to ignore the sound. It only got worse for her as a particular solo artist decided it would be a wonderful idea to play his part standing right next to her.

Yuki sat up with a start, a Kricketot’s chime ringing in her ears. At night, everything sounded much louder, especially their noise of all things.

“Get away!” She snapped, slapping the bug away. The poor
bug bounced away a few feet, before he scurried off. The noise still didn’t stop. Apparently his only warning to the rest of his kin were that there was a cranky lady in the forest. She groaned in agony, wanting the noise to stop.

“No sleep for me…” She returned to her feet and wrapped her scarf around her neck where it belonged, making sure the R insignia was still visible out of habit. After a few stretches of her tired legs, she continued through the forest, reaching out a few feet to make sure she couldn’t crash into anything. She stayed on what appeared to be a path created by repeated travel from past trainers and Pokemon alike to keep from being lost.

“As long as I end up close to a town or city, I don’t care where I’m going,” She sighed to herself, keeping herself from smacking face first into a tree thanks to her mummy-like walk. She was sure many of the nocturnal Pokemon were laughing at her. “Note to self--flashlights are a must have for future night travel.” Even her own sarcasm couldn’t lighten up the mood. The noise, the darkness, and the possibility of making herself lost only annoyed her more and more.

While her arms prevented her from crashing into trees, there was one thing she wasn’t prepared for, and that was the sudden decline on the path she was on. Her foot sank several inches further than it should have in order to reach ground. That step was the first of many to follow. Yuki lost her balance and found herself running down the hill in an effort to keep from falling and tumbling the rest of the way. A few branches reached out and smacked her in the face and scratched her arms, but she kept on running, worried of the possible sharp rocks on the hill that would only put more damage on her body.

She kept going a few seconds longer before her running came to a very abrupt stop. Her luck on the decline ran out once her foot got in contact in a rock just at the foot of the hill, sending her flying in the air a few feet before she crashed to the ground face first.

“It’s almost not worth it,” She whined. Her fingers combed into the grass on the ground and pulled it out by the roots mercilessly before she pushed herself up to her knees. She made sure nothing was broken on her body and that she wasn’t bleeding. All the scratches had been minor, and her face plant into the earth hadn’t even caused a nosebleed. She got to her feet and turned around to face the object that had tripped her, having no doubt what it was. There was a rock placed right at the foot of the hill, black as night itself, as if placed conveniently just to mess with travelers whom would suffer her same fate.

“Even the earth itself is against me!” She cried out. She ran up to the rock, rage boiling her blood and blocking any form of common sense. Her right leg bend back, then swiftly swung forward, kicking the rock in a fashion that would lead to a textbook perfect penalty goal in a professional soccer game. Before Yuki could consider the lightweight of the stone, it bounced off the trunk of a tree and came flying back at her, smacking her dead center on the forehead and forcing her onto her back. She laid there for some time, dazed as she gazed at the stars above. It was uncertain if the stars were the real ones in space, or somehow formed by her own hallucinations from the blow to the head.

“That’s not a rock,” She groaned, rubbing her forehead. Not only had she been able to kick it without breaking every bone in her foot, but it hadn’t left no more than a small bump on her forehead when it had come back to bite her. She began to suspect it was actually a ball, but it hadn’t felt like any sort of material she knew sports balls were made of. The surface was too hard and smooth. She could have sworn there were also cracks in it just as it had hit her, caused by her kick and bouncing off the tree. Perhaps a few smaller ones were caused by the impact to her skull.

She turned onto her belly, finding herself to be too dizzy to get up to her feet just yet, and looked around for the bazaar object. It was just a few feet away from her, and was moving ever so slightly back and forth. She blinked a few times, her mind still blank from the impact, and just watched it continue to move around. Her eyes opened widely once the object did something new, outside the rocking.

The object began to break, and something slowly began to emerge from it. She sat up and watched carefully. With only the starlight to go by, it was hard to determine what was happening to the exact detail, but there was one thing she did know. It wasn’t a rock or a ball she had kicked, but something considered to be much more precious. She’d just kicked a Pokemon Egg around, and she was watching it hatch right there and then!

Yuki looked around, making sure there weren’t any larger Pokemon around, fearing the wrath of the possible parents. Other than the Kricketots and ‘tunes singing in the distance, there didn’t appear to be any Pokemon nearby. Not even the parents. She looked back at the egg, making out what appeared to be a small hand emerging. She reached out and gently took it between her index finger and thumb. It was very cold and gave off a very familiar feeling most Ghost Pokemon did when they were scared.

The shape of the hand itself was very unfamiliar to her. There was clearly three fingers, shaped in what would could be described as claws. To her knowledge, the only Ghost Pokemon she knew of with such hand shapes were Haunter, and they didn’t hatch directly at that stage from eggs. The egg continued to move and break. The young Pokemon inside was still very weak, possibly disoriented from being kicked around just before birth.

‘I don’t know if I should feel sorry for it or not,’ she thought, watching the shell crumble further. ‘I don’t even know what this thing is. If feels like a ghost, but which one? Will it even survive after all that abuse? Probably not.’ She continued to hold the little hand, trying her best to identify the creature while letting it free itself from its egg. She felt another little hand cover hers a little. A chill ran down her spine. ‘Something’s not right. No Pokemon should ever feel this cold.’ She withdrew her hand and tried her best to figure out the Pokemon’s species in the moonless night.

The baby struggled a bit further, trying to squeeze itself out of the egg. After figuring it the opening was still too small, it began to push against the top part of the egg until it broke off. With half the egg in ruin, the baby was able to emerge, crawling on the ground for a while. It stopped in front of Yuki’s hand and looked up with its pair of glowing green eyes, filled with fear.

Yuki’s eyes were just as equally filled with fear. She rose to her feet quickly and looked around one more time for a parent Pokemon for the newborn. Again, she faced nothing but pure darkness. There was a bit of added weight to one of her boots and a weak tug on her pant leg. She looked down to find the baby clinging to her, shaking all over either in fear, or from the cold night air.

“This could either be a good thing, or a bad thing,” Yuki whimpered. Out of all things that could have hatched from the egg, she had come across a species very few people in the world knew anything about. At that moment, a baby Darkrai was clinging to her leg for dear life.

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Yeah, see, that's a LOT better than what you posted on Serebii. It's more involved, for one.

There's still some issues though, and one that stands out to me the most is that you have strange capitalization.

“That’s not a rock,” She groaned, rubbing her forehead.

"She" is part of the same sentence as the spoken part and should therefore be undercase. That comes up a lot in the fic.

Anyway, another thing--please give a longer time in between posting chapters so people have a chance to actually read them.

 

[Chryseis]

This is AMAZING. I thoroughly enjoyed that story. Cant wait for the next chapter *hates One Piece*

 

[Nekusagi]

It's not often we get enjoyable Team Rocket fics around here. Keep up the good work, I'm liking what I'm reading so far.

 

[Legacy]

There's still some issues though, and one that stands out to me the most is that you have strange capitalization.

"She" is part of the same sentence as the spoken part and should therefore be undercase. That comes up a lot in the fic.

Anyway, another thing--please give a longer time in between posting chapters so people have a chance to actually read them.

Very minor issue IMO...it could be changed, but it doesn't take away from the story whatsoever.

And the chapters aren't going anywhere, you can read them at your own pace. haha

Anyways, to the author...Good story, I'm liking it!

 

[Yuki of Team Rocket]

Glad you guys are enjoying the fic so far. I'll try to watch out for those capitalization errors in the future!

I'll try to get the next chapter done soon! Will probably be in a few days or so, depending on what life throws at me.

 

[woops]

Hmm, pretty nice there. Not many grammar errors, and it's too late for me to go over them. I look forward to another chapter.

 

[Yuki of Team Rocket]

Chapter 3: Lex and Luna


“Well…this certainly isn’t something that happens every day,” Yuki chuckled nervously, staring down at the young Darkrai. He just continued to stare at her, his green eyes glowing faintly in the night. The glow was plenty of light for Yuki to see the figure. There was no mistaking the species. The only abnormality on the child was a large bump forming on the side of his head. Yuki replayed her encounters with the Darkrai Egg from start to finish, wincing with every memory of the egg going through abuse. “Yikes. Doesn’t that hurt?” She carefully squatted down and gently stroked the top of the infant’s head, then felt at the bump.

The Darkrai didn’t flinch or react to Yuki’s investigation one bit, almost like the pain was non-existent to him. She quirked a brow and poked at the bump again. Nothing. Any other Pokemon, even one that wasn’t freshly hatched, would have been crying or roaring in pain.

“Weird. Apparently your species doesn’t feel pain,” she mused. She glanced at the child’s eyes and flinched. They were quickly filling with tears and she could hear a whimper increasing in volume. Yuki covered her ears as the entire forest filled with a high-pitched cry that rivaled nails on a chalkboard in terms of pain and annoyance. The child was clearly in pain now, displaying a very late reaction to all the tumbling about and even Yuki poking and prodding his injuries.

Yuki lost her balance and ended up on her back, still covering her ears in an attempt to protect her eardrums from the sound. Other Pokemon in the area either followed Yuki’s example with covering their ears, or fled the area to escape the hair-raising sound. The baby continued to cry, showing no signs of calming down. He just continued to cling to Yuki’s leg and scream his little heart out.

‘Any more of this and I’ll go deaf!’ Yuki thought, risking her right ear as she reached for one of her Pokeballs on her belt and opened it. The Darkrai wasn’t even distracted from the glow emerging from the ball and forming into Yuki’s Mismagius, Yurei. Before the ghost could even give off her signature chime, she too did all she could to cover her ears, even crying out in pain along with the baby.

“Make faces! Make it laugh! Use Perish Song! Do anything!” Yuki cried, screaming as loud as she could for her voice to be heard over the baby. “Just make it shut up! Don’t hurt it though! It’ll probably just scream louder!” Yurei wanted to go back in her ball where it was safe, but Yuki kept it out of reach until she’d do as she’d been told. Yurei lowered her arms from her cat-like ears and hovered closer to the injured baby, crying out a few times to get his attention.

“Miii!” Yurei began to tug at her cheeks and stuck her long red tongue out, wiggling it around like a worm and twitching her ears a bit. The Darkrai’s cries decreased in volume just a bit. Yurei continued her silly act by making her eyes spin a few times and tugged on the hairpiece upon her head that looked much like a witches hat, then pushed it back up. She repeated these motions and the baby’s cries were reduced to hiccups and sniffling. Even though the child had stopped its ear-splitting sobbing, Yurei continued to make various silly faces and sounds until she got the Darkrai to laugh.

“That was the worst sound I ever heard,” Yuki whimpered. Her ears were still ringing and her head aching from both the egg smacking her in the forehead, and the sound. “I’d rather endure a blast from Exploud up close and personal than to hear that again.” She tried to sit up, but her headache forced her back to the ground.

“Mii?” Yurei put her face right up to Yuki’s, a goofy little grin upon her face as she made sure her master wasn’t injured or anything. The Darkrai infant started climbing up Yuki’s leg and crawled across her torso, curious over why she wasn’t moving.

“Off!” she snapped. Yurei picked the baby up and placed him beside her, but the baby was still curious. While Yuki was waiting for her ears to stop ringing, he began to examine her. The pain in the bump on his head seemed forgotten now. Yurei kept her eyes on the baby, ready to make faces the moment he threatened to start screaming again.

The baby picked up one of the ends of Yuki’s scarf and began to flick it up and down, watching the wave of the fabric with every movement. Once he was bored and put it down, he reached up to Yuki’s hair, feeling at it and tussling it a bit, marveling at the feeling. His fingers wrapped around her headband and his curiosity drove him to pull it off her.

“Make sure he doesn’t break it,” was Yuki’s only instruction. She was too tired and in too much pain to snatch the headband away at that point. She just assumed to let the kid do whatever he wanted to prevent him from screaming again. The baby giggled as he put the triangular cloth piece over his head. It was big enough to cover up his face so he could have the illusion of hiding. He uncovered his face and giggled louder. “Great…it’s discovered peek-a-boo,” She groaned. Yurei didn’t seem to mind, playing his little game was well by hiding her face behind her arms and uncovering them, chirping happily every time. The game continued for several minutes before Yuki’s headache subsided just enough to let her sit up again. She watched the baby play while her mind began to race.

She knew well that she had not only found, but downright hatched, a very rare Pokemon. Not quite one of absolute legend like the Raikou she’d been blindly sent out to find before, but it was still rare. Darkrai were said to never be around people and preferred absolute darkness as their habitat. She looked up at the canopy and discovered that the branches and leaves of the surrounding trees were so intertwined with one another, very little starlight was able to peek into the clearing, making it a perfect nest for any lover of the dark.

“I could give you to the boss,” She said out loud, catching the baby’s attention. “You’re rare enough to not only save my job, but give me a lovely promotion. But, since you’re a baby, you’re bound to be a pain in the *** for everyone back at headquarters. No one knows how to deal with children there, and considering that awful wail of yours, turning you in will end up getting me fired!” She cringed, imagining such a phone call with Giovanni after turning in the infant. Termination by noise pollution. That would be one the grunts would talk about for years on end.

“I can’t keep you though. I shouldn’t even be here!” She quickly got up to her feet and looked around her. There was absolute silence in the forest ever since the baby had stopped crying, and she couldn’t see any evidence of Pokemon dwelling nearby. “Your parents are probably on their way back!”

“Mii?” Yurei hovered up to Yuki, assuming it was time for them to bolt. Yuki turned around at the baby, already hearing a faint whimper.

“Ah crap! Please don’t cry!” She pleaded, getting down on her knees. The baby stopped and looked at her blankly. “I don’t know if you can understand me, but I just can’t keep you with me. You’re too noisy! And I don’t know how to take care of kids myself.” The infant simply tipped his head to the side in an attempt to be cute. “You don’t understand a single word I’m saying…” The baby backed up her words by covering his face again with her forehead cover, and squealing with happiness as he uncovered his face again. A faint smile appeared on Yuki’s face, but only for a second.

“Yurei, make him some sort of nest to sleep in real quick,” she instructed. She gently took back her forehead cover from the baby and untied the string while Yurei hovered around, collecting leaves from the trees and some soft tall grass. The baby watched as Yuki unfolded her forehead cover until it was a long rectangular piece of clothe. She carefully began to wrap it around his head, being careful especially over his bump, and used the string to secure it. “There you go. Now you won’t have a need to cry in pain again.”

“Magiiiii!” Yuki turned around, impressed that her goofy ghost partner had succeeded in making a small nest for the Darkrai baby. It resembled a bird nest, but it still looked comfortable. Yuki carefully picked up the infant and brought him to the nest, using some of the leaves as a blanket for him. The Darkrai simply looked at her blankly, not having a clue as to what was going on. Yuki stood up once he was secure in the nest and placed both her index fingers into her ears.

“Put him to sleep, Yurei,” She instructed, backing away from to two. The ghost spun around in the air a few times, like a performer on stage. She opened her mouth wide and her voice softly rang out. Darkrai listened carefully to Yurei’s soothing voice, getting slightly drowsy to the sound after only a few notes. Yuki watched the baby carefully, waiting for his eyes to close and for him to fall asleep.

While the Mismagius species was incapable of singing a true lullaby like other species, such as Jigglypuff or Skitty, they were able to learn a powerful melody known as the Perish Song. If sung out with full force, the melody was said to be powerful enough to knock out anyone who heard for several days. However, there was a way to manipulate the song. The softer it was sung, the less potency it would have. Perish Song could be used in the same manner as a Lullaby, though the sleep the listening Pokemon would fall into would be very deep and dreamless.

The baby appeared to yawn after a few verses and nestled comfortably in the leaves and grass of the makeshift nest. Yuki smiled once his eyes had closed and its only motion was of a soft breathing. She nodded at Yurei, signaling for the song to end and approached in the infant.

“I hate to say it, but he’s kinda cute,” she chuckled. Yurei hovered up to her and rested on her shoulder, peering at the baby for a while with its signature grin. The two looked around only after the night sounds of the Kricketots and Kricketunes resumed. “Better go now. I don’t want to be here when the parents return. The kid’s only weapon may be his cry, but I have a feeling Mama would have a much more painful attack in store for me.”

“Maagius!” Yurei chimed sadly, not wanting to leave the baby alone. Yuki didn’t argue, nor give in to the cuteness of the infant or the sad look on her face. She looked around once more before leaving the clearing, trying to find the path again. Yurei turned around to make sure the baby was still secure in his nest, and kept her eyes on the clearing until it was out of sight.

“Heh…on one hand, turning that thing in to the Boss would have promised me a very high position,” Yuki said to herself after a while. She kept Yurei up front as her guide in the dark not. She didn’t desire to fall down another decline and repeat history somehow. “On the other hand, with pipes like that, the kid would probably force everyone to quit just to escape the noise. Even the Boss wouldn’t be able to shut him up without probably killing him.” She quirked a brow, wondering why she was even thinking about the child anymore. Darkrai wasn’t a Ghost Pokemon, so she held no interest in keeping it for herself, even if there was no possible danger of a parent hunting her down after the fact. She finally came to the conclusion that she was tired and started looking for a comfortable place to sleep again, even with the horrible noise from the surrounding bug Pokemon polluting the air.


---


“Tell me again why we’re out here in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night?”

“Stop complaining or I’ll shove you in a Bedrill nest!”

Yuki wasn’t the only villainous trainer wandering the woods that very night. Two others wandered around, seeking out any and every Pokemon they could attempt to capture. They dressed in black and white, skin-tight clothes that appeared to be made of space-age material; almost like they were trying to look like potential astronauts. Each had the same bowl-style haircut and had dyed their hair a light blue. The final touch of their uniform was a yellow emblem on their chests that resembled a fancy letter G.

“There’s nothing but bugs and rodents out here,” One of them complained. The youngest of the two, and the male of the duo, Lex. “Maybe we should just head back to headquarters tonight. I’m exhausted and it’s apparent that there’s nothing worth handing over to the boss in this forest.”

“It’s that sort of attitude that keeps us from pleasing the boss! Now shut up and keep looking!” the second one snapped. She was more or less the leader out of the two, and rather snappy. She was known as Luna to her partner, as her true name was always kept hidden, as if she was afraid someone else would recognize her. Both trainers were grunts in an organization quite similar to The Rocket Gang. They shared very similar goals of achieving insane power and their boss wanted the world all for the glory of his organization, the Galaxy Gang.

Unlike The Rocket Gang, however, they were very open to the region of Sinnoh in being criminals. Especially Lex and Luna. Any time they would journey to a small village, town, or a large city, they would let every one know they had arrived and would proceed to steal Pokemon upfront. No subtle moves or hiding in the dark. The Galaxy Gang wasn’t afraid of being caught, as they already had themselves set up for full exposure. Even getting caught would be considered good publicity for the organization.

Of course, that did not mean people feared them any more or less. Grunts were hired without experience in battle left and right, making them easy for smarter trainers to mop the floor with and chase off. The promises of becoming the most powerful beings in the universe didn’t quite match up with as often as Grunt-leveled members were beaten or caught. In the eyes of most Sinnoh citizens, they were just a bunch of idiots whom were all bark and no bite. Even those whom have had their Pokemon stolen from them normally found themselves reunited with their partners by dusk that very day.

Lex and Luna, on the other hand, were supposedly one of few Grunt Duos that were nothing but bite. Though, that was only judging by Luna’s behavior.

“Just another Buneary,” she growled, pocketing her Pokeball and glaring a the rabbit Pokemon. The rodent whimpered a bit and tugged on her fur a bit in an attempt to hide her face before bouncing off to hide.

“That Buneary could have been useful,” Lex whimpered. “Maybe not as it is or anything, but when it evolves and such…” before he could continue to ramble, he received a slap on the face from Luna.

“Do us both a favor and shut up,” she snarled. “Don’t even speak unless spoken to! Just find something that will help the boss with his plans!”

“Oka--”

“I said shut up!”

“But you--” Lex was slapped once again, and he kept his mouth shut this time. Even though he had clearly been spoken to before, there was no way of properly reasoning with Luna when she was in a bad mood. He always prayed that he would someday be reassigned to another partner, but that never happened. He was the timid one, and she was the hostile one. One would say that opposites work well together, but this was one of those rare exceptions in which being opposite only made their work harder.

The two continued onward, looking high and low for any rare or powerful looking Pokemon. There was the occasional Noctowl, but they always flew away before the two could even reach for a spare Pokeball or could send out one of their Pokemon to battle. Lex almost attempted a quick capture with a sleeping Mothim, but it too flew away once it broke free of the ball. He had to cover his mouth to keep from mentioning their rotten luck verbally.

“Someone’s been here,” Luna spoke up, pausing at a steep drop off and noticing a solid path of overturned dirt and broken branches the entire way down. She looked around, noticing how silent this particular area was in comparison to the rest of the forest. Lex inched forward, calculating the velocity on which a typical person would have to maintain to keep from falling down the hill. His partner smirked, raising a foot towards his hunched over form while he was busy.

“Make yourself useful and see if anyone is down there,” she instructed, just as she pushed him down the drop off without care. Lex stumbled down slowly at first, but picked up speed from the lack of branches and stones in his path from the most recent traveler. He cried out every time he caught himself on a broken twig or a thistle covered plant, and felt nauseously dizzy once he reached the bottom. He laid on his back and gazed at the canopy of the trees, very dazed and waiting patiently for the world around his vision to stop spinning.

“Heartless…she’s heartless,” he whimpered to himself once he pushed himself up to a sit. There were a few small rips and tears in his uniform from the fall, a few bruises throughout his body already forming, a tiny cut on his face, but other than those minor injuries, he was perfectly alright.

“Do you see anything?” Luna called, making him wince. She still hadn’t come down the drop off after him. She hadn’t even asked if he was alright. He glared in her direction before looking around. The clearing was pitch black with the canopy covering the starlight. He dug into his pocket for his mini flashlight, illuminating the area just enough to check for any sleeping Pokemon or people. His first observation left him with nothing. The second time, however, he looked around a little slower and paid perfect attention to the details.

His eyes widened upon gazing at a sleeping figure in a small nest. He had to rub his eyes a few times and make sure his flashlight was at the peak of its brightness before looking at it a second time. He approached with caution, not even allowing himself to step on a single dried out leaf or fallen twig on the forest floor. He lowered his light’s brightness to keep from waking up the creature, his eyes still wide open with awe. Once he was sure his vision wasn’t playing with him, he turned off the flashlight and scrambled back to the steep drop off and climbed as fast as his legs could carry him, his heart facing with excitement.

“Well? Did you find something?” Luna asked, crossing her arms and tapping her foot impatiently once Lex resurfaced from the darkness.

“I…it….sleeping….dark….” Lex panted, dropping to his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

“Out with it already! What did you see?” Lex continued to pant just a bit longer, putting his thoughts together in the proper order before putting them into words.

“There’s a baby Darkrai down there, and it’s sleeping!” he cried. It was Luna’s turn to have her eyes open in disbelief. “I’m not kidding! I thought it was an illusion or my eyes playing tricks on me, but I swear on the boss’ dream there is a Darkrai infant sleeping in a little grass nest down there. It didn’t even wake up from my flashlight. It’s probably in a very deep sleep right now.”

“And you didn’t grab it?” Luna snapped. Lex flinched as she grabbed him by the collar of his uniform. “What if the baby has woken up and run away? We’ll have blown our last chance to be on the same level as the boss for sure!”

“I’m sorry! It’s just…I don’t think a normal Pokeball will work on this thing,” he confessed. “Darkrai is suppose to be a very powerful Pokemon from what I’ve heard. And they don’t succumb easily to humans, even in a harsh battle.”

“Just put it in a net and let’s get out of here,” she snapped. “It’s a baby, right? It probably doesn’t have the intelligence to know any better about humans, especially not the Galaxy Gang.”

“But I--”

“Forget it. If you want something done right you just do it yourself,” she groaned, letting him go and turning towards the drop off. The pathway was a lot cleaner with Lex having stumbled down and climbed back up. She jumped down and slid down the dirt path standing upright without any branches or stones in her way.

“Showoff,” Lex muttered, waiting until there was distance between the two before he attempted to slide down as well. He jumped down in the same manner as his partner, but aimed a little too far. He couldn’t hold his balance once he started to slide down and fell forward, tumbling down the hill in the same manner as he had when he’d been pushed.

“Can you be any louder?” Luna hissed. Lex found himself on his back, dazed, and gazing at the canopy yet again, all while his partner was examining the Darkrai infant he’d mentioned before. The baby was still fast asleep in his nest. A sinister smirk formed on her lips, seeing that the baby appeared to be very healthy, aside from a bump on its head. It appeared to her that a kind traveler had already treated the little one. “The fresher they are, the easier to manipulate,” she said to herself, picking up the infant as her partner prepared the net hold it in without making it even stir in its sleep.

AUTHOR'S APOLOGY

I am sorry it took until just now to update this thing. I lost my inspiration halfway through the third chapter because I felt inclined to rewrite it several times in order to appeal to a certain audience. I'll try to be faster about it in the future.

 

[kaeim]

mmm, Team Rocket vs. Team Galactic...the potential is amazing! I can't wait to read more of your brilliant work! I've never seen a decent Rocket!Fic before and from the looks of things, I should've!

 

[Yuki of Team Rocket]

Chapter 4: Rivalry


“Can you read what this sign says?”

“Miiii!”

“Yeah, that was probably a dumb question, wasn’t it?” Yuki laughed, rubbing her eyes a bit as she tried to figure out the lettering on the sign before her. If people took the extra time to carve the words in, there would have been no issue. She had to feel along the surface carefully for where the paint job would begin and end in order to make out what it said. All she could truly make out were the first three letters in “city” and an arrow supposedly pointing in the correct direction of it. Once she was sure it was pointing out her potential destination, she stood straight up and stretched a bit.

“Hopefully we can reach the city by sometime tomorrow,” she yawned, letting Yurei follow her. “Doesn’t matter if it’s the morning, noontime, or evening. We just have to finish the heist by tomorrow night and send the loot to the boss by morning. Shouldn’t be too hard…right?” Yurei simply grimaced at her, not sure if they had enough planning time or resources. “Yeah…my thoughts exactly. We’re going to need a lot of luck to pull this off.”

During a normal heist, Yuki would spend at least a week figuring out every possible security flaw in a Pokemon Center beforehand, as well as plotting an escape route, and finish it off with determining the next town she would visit in order to send the stolen Pokemon to the Rocket Gang Headquarters. For once, Yuki had to make everything up as she went.

“I suppose I could let everyone just run loose throughout the city to distract everyone,” she thought out loud. “Ghost Pokemon tend to freak everyone out during the night, especially if they’re not typically seen in the area. You all can use your contest coordination to spook everyone off and if anyone tries to battle, you should be skilled enough to handle them on your own. You’re all experienced enough to not rely on my orders all the time, right? Well, maybe except for Ticker. He’s still new.”

Yurei smiled as she listened to her master go on and on, both planning as best she could, as well as keeping herself awake for the journey. The heist wasn’t the only thing on her mind though. She had discovered a very rare infant Pokemon, and most likely risked a great deal just leaving it behind. Part of her was actually worried for the baby, while the other was more focused on keeping herself any possibly confrontation with a parents.

“Bah! The mother or father is probably already in the clearing or something,” she decided. “Either tending to that bump on its head or throwing a fit that someone had harmed it. Why do I even care!?” Yurei giggled a bit and flew ahead of her to keep her from bumping into the trees. Both of them began to slow down as the night air was no longer just filled with the sounds of bug Pokemon, but humans arguing with one another. Yuki listened long enough to determine one voice was male and the other female. “Sounds like I’m not the only one lost around here.”

Yurei flew ahead to meet up with the source of the commotion, thrilled with the idea of scaring two unsuspecting Trainers. With one of the voices being louder than even the Kricketunes, it didn’t take long for her to catch up. She peered at them from the trees, waiting patiently for them to get closer. She shivered all over with every inch they got closer, her excitement becoming overwhelming.

“--if you had just taken a map, then maybe we wouldn’t have--”

“Are you trying to imply that it’s my fault we can’t find our way back?” the girl snapped, raising her hand to smack her partner. Yurei moved forward, her eyes glowing, and her dress-like-body flowing in unfelt winds to make her look bigger before them. She cried out loudly, catching both of them by surprise. The two screamed in unison with Yurei’s cry, starting almost all of the flying Pokemon that had been sleeping nearby.

“And that’s my cue,” Yuki said, pulling out a Pokeball and running towards the screams. The only thing that was on her mind was the opportunity to rob the unfortunate travelers blind with the help of her ghosts. If she was lucky, she wouldn’t have to worry about a heist in the next city. “One powerful one, or a hundred puny ones,” she said, remembering Giovanni’s instructions. Just as she was about to release her second Pokemon to further spook the travelers, their appearance made her come to a halt.

“YOU!” They all screamed in unison. Luna stared down Yuki, while she stared her down back. Lex stayed behind his partner, trembling in fear as Yurei continued to hover about, smiling happily from the amount of fear she had been able to feed off the two.

“I thought I’d seen the last of you both when I first got to this forsaken region,” Yuki growled, clutching her Pokeball. She was very familiar with the Galaxy Gang members, and not too thrilled with them. Luna had gone off about how the Galaxy Gang’s goals were to use Pokemon not to take over the world itself, but to recreate the universe in their Boss’ desired image. Such goals made Yuki’s blood come to a boil, not because they sounded insane and dangerous, but because such goals reminded her all too much of the Rocket Gang’s goals. Although, Giovanni hadn’t thought as far as using Pokemon to recreate the universe. At least, not yet.

“If you hate seeing successful people like us, why don’t you just go crying back home and leave us alone to do our work?” Luna scoffed, seeing Yuki as just another lowlife trainer. Even being part of the Rocket Gang didn’t scare her. She, like most Galaxy Gang members, didn’t even know what the Rocket Gang was. As far as Luna and Lex were both concerned, they had their goals first, while the Rocket Gang were the copy cats.

“I don’t see any successful people around here right now. I need a mirror for that,” Yuki snapped back, flustering Luna quite a bit. She smirked at her, finding a personal victory in making the gang member angry. She glanced over at Lex, finding that the man was attempting to hide something from her view. In the dark, she couldn’t make out much. What she did know, was if the two were snooping around in the dark with something valuable, it was hers now.

“I don’t know what you two flunkies are up to, but I’ll take whatever it is you’re hiding there, and your Pokemon too,” she announced, pointing at Lex and almost making him drop the net. “Steal Pokemon for profit. Exploit Pokemon for profit. All Pokemon exist for the glory of Team Rocket!”

“Yes, you told us that the first time you ran into us,” Luna spat, pulling out a Pokeball. “And sorry, but your little plans for theft aren’t going to work. I’m ready to take you out myself this time.”

“This time? So you admit that you lost last time,” she said, smirking again as Luna looked flustered.

“Enough! My Purugly will finish you off!” She threw the ball forward, releasing her Pokemon in a flash of light.

“Purugly?” Yuki covered her eyes a bit as the Pokemon emerged. Her previous encounter with the Galaxy Gang had been an interesting one. She recalled that Luna’s Pokemon of choice had been a feline Pokemon called Glameow. The battle hadn’t lasted long, as Luna had only taught her Pokemon normal-type attacks. Now, instead of a slim kitten with a beautiful curly tail and hypnotic eyes, she was gazing at a fat cat whose legs looked as though they could barely support its body, its tail was still curly, but looked like one that a Grumpig would have, and its eyes were more tired looking than beautiful.

Yuki almost dropped her Pokeball laughing at the absurd transformation the Pokemon had gone through during its evolution. Normally when it came to feline Pokemon, they grew more beautiful. Meowth evolved into a classy Persian, beloved by many tycoons around the world, her boss included. Skitty evolved into Delcatty with aid of the Moonstone, which was every Coordinator’s dream Pokemon, its beauty giving them points almost instantly in contests. But for Glameow to turn into Purugly was a horrible joke. It was as if the beauty of evolution had gone backwards.

“What’s so funny?” Luna snapped, her face turning red from both anger and embarrassment. Yuki had almost fallen into a sit by now with all her laughing, only for Yurei to catch her and keep her upright. Even the Magical Pokemon was laughing a bit, not because of Purugly’s appearance, but simply because her master was laughing. “Stop laughing! It’s not like your Pokemon get any prettier when they evolve! Your Mismagius is just downright hideous!”

Yuki’s laughing stopped in an instant. The grin on her face melted away as her expression of glee turned into one of fury and hate. No one ever insulted her Ghost Pokemon if she had anything to say about it. Especially not some criminal wannabes like the Galaxy Gang.

“You’re going to live to regret those words,” she hissed, holding up her own Pokeball. She pressed the release button and let her prized Pokemon of choice emerge from his ball at long last. The one Pokemon the Galaxy Gang had not yet seen on her team, was ready for battle. A cloud of dark smoke emerged from the ball, rather than a bright light. Lex trembled in fear as he saw a red eye glowing in the smoke, almost sure that he was about to wet himself in fear. Luna kept up her guard, not willing to let herself be scared by another Ghost Pokemon. Even Purugly was growling warningly at her approaching opponent.

“Noir!” The smoke cleared almost all at once, followed by a short-timed sparkle as Skully raised his hands in a threatening pose. Rather than being scared or looking for a way to insult Yuki and her Pokemon, both Galaxy Gang members’ jaws dropped. Not only were Dusknoir exceedingly rare, even in the Sinnoh region, but Skully was something special. Dusknoir naturally had a grey coating throughout his body, dark and light shades. Skully’s coat was primarily a dark blue, while his head and hands were a lighter blue. Yuki’s most precious Pokemon was indeed precious in more ways than one. Not only was he her first partner, a former Contest champion, but his coat was a very unique color.

“How the hell did you get a Pokemon like that?” Luna screamed. “Not even our boss has gotten his hands on a Pokemon with unusual colors like this! Where did you get it?” Yuki quirked a brow and looked over at Skully, who dropped his frightening pose and looked towards his master in equal confusion. “You have no idea how valuable that Pokemon is, do you?” Luna continued, trembling all over in excitement. Now she had to defeat Yuki at all costs, in order to deliver Skully to her boss.

“It’s just a genetic mutation,” Yuki said, with little to no excitement in her voice. “I’ve run into Pokemon with unique colors before. They’re not that special. I’ve seen a yellow Caterpie back in Kanto, a red Gyarados in Johto, a red Skitty in a Pokemon Contest in Hoenn, and I’ve run into a brown Starly and an orange Combee since I got here. I don’t see what the big deal is. So it’s a different color. Big deal. Two brown-haired humans can produce a blonde-haired baby, but I don’t see people making a big deal about it.”

“Shut up! Just shut up!” Luna snapped. “You obviously have no idea how valuable certain Pokemon truly are. You boss must be ashamed off your narrow-mindedness!” Again, Yuki merely quirked a brow, failing to see why Luna was so excited. “I’ll take that Dusknoir off your hands and hand-deliver it to the boss. He’ll surely give me a promotion then!”

“One gang stealing from another,” She replied, thinking it over. “Yep, the world has definitely gone mad.”

“I said shut it! Purugly, use Bite!” Yuki looked up just as Purugly began to run forward, her fangs giving off a subtle glow in the night.

“Shadow Sneak,” she commanded quietly. As Purugly leaped up to sink her fangs into Skully’s arm, the Ghost Pokemon vanished without a trace in the ground, blending in with the shadows.

“You’re such a fool! Apparently you’ve forgotten that Ghost-type attacks have no effect on a Normal-type Pokemon,” Luna laughed.

“Whoever said I was going to attack with that move?” Yuki asked, wiping the smirk off her opponent’s face. “Now Skully, emerge with a glorious Fire Punch!” The ground at Purugly’s feet began to glow red and turn warm. Before Luna could command her Pokemon to dodge, Skully emerged, sending the fat cat flying with a fist of flames. “I never train my team to hold attacks of only the Ghost type,” Yuki reminded, watching the cat bounce a few times as she landed, a little scorched from the blow, but still willing to battle as she got back onto her fat feet.

“What are you just standing there for?” Lex flinched as Luna turned redirected her frustration at him, smacking him upside the head once for good measure. “Do you want a promotion or not? Help me take down this moron!”

“Y…yes, ma’am,” he whimpered, reaching into his pocket for his own Pokeball. It opened and released his own Pokemon in a flash of light, but that wasn’t the only thing the Pokemon was emerging with.

“Oh my god, what is that smell?” Yuki cried, covering her nose and her eyes already beginning to water. She had been on missions where she had to deal with Pokemon of various smells, such as Gloom, Muk, or Koffing, but this smell topped their smells combined. She had to back up a bit, the smell becoming too much for her as the Pokemon fully emerged. Lex’s partner Pokemon, a simple and lazy Skuntank, had also evolved since Yuki had last encountered the Duo. The Pokemon was almost three times larger than his original form, and that much more smelly.

She wasn’t the only one suffering from the horrible stench, though. Luna was regretting asking her partner for help as she covered her nose and coughed a bit. Purugly walked away from the giant skunk, but still remained close enough to battle. She even hissed at him a bit, possibly letting the Pokemon know just how much he stank in the most insulting way. It showed by Skuntank’s discouraged look once Purugly stopped . The only ones who were not effected were Skully and Yurei, because they had no sense of smell, and Lex, who had gotten used to the smell long ago.

“Are you trying to battle me or suffocate me?” Yuki called, coughing a bit from letting the smell into her mouth. She rearranged her scarf to cover her mouth and nose tightly, making it difficult to breathe. “And I thought it was bad enough I have to battle a fatass cat. Now I have to deal with a Pokemon who smells like the trainee’s locker room after training on a hot day!”

“Enough insults!” Luna called, her voice taking a turn for the worse with her nose plugged. “Either we battle now, or we take your Pokemon while you’re busy thinking of more!”

“Fine with me. Looks like this is upgrading to a two-on-two battle then. Yurei, you’re up!”

“Miiii!” The Magical Pokemon hovered forward to team up with Skully, both not the least bit bothered by the smell and in better battle condition than both of their opponents.

“Yurei, use Mean Look. Skully, use Will-o-Whisp,” Yuki coughed. Yurei stared down both Pokemon, her eyes glowing brightly and her dress-like body flaring up to make herself look bigger once again. Both Pokemon seemed to flinch, but were otherwise unharmed. Skully put his hands close together and formed what looked to be a spirit flame. With one mighty thrust of his arms, the flame shot forward and broke apart into multiple smaller once, grazing both Pokemon ever so slightly and leaving tiny burn marks. They hardly seemed injured at all.

“Is that really all you can do?” Luna laughed. “You talk big, but if I were to guess, most of your Pokemon’s best attacks are of the ghost-type. Purugly, use Faint Attack on that Dusknoir!”

“Uh…Skuntank…use Screech?” Lex commanded timidly. Skuntank opened his mouth and let out a loud, high-pitched cry. If any Pokemon were still in the area, they had left to avoid the sound. Yuki flinched a bit from it, as did Yurei and Skully, but weren’t impacted in the most potent way possible. Purugly, on the other hand, was thrown off course in the middle of her attack, crashing into a tree rather than attacking Skully.

Once Skuntank stopped screeching, Yuki watched as Luna grabbed her partner by the throat, screaming at him louder than the attack had sounded off, threatening to torture, maul, and even kill him when they got back to Headquarters. Without their master’s commands, their Pokemon were left in the dark, and were perfect targets.

“Yurei, use Psybeam on the fat cat. Skully, use Fire Punch on the stinky one,” Yuki commanded while the two Galaxy Gang members were busy. The targeted Pokemon looked towards their opponents in pure confusion as both attacks hit. Yurei’s Psybeam sent Purugly tumbling back to her master, as did Skully’s Fire Punch on Skuntank. Lex dropped the net upon impact, struggling to get the 83-pound skunk off his rib cage.

“And just because I’m a cheater,” she continued pulling out a third ball and releasing Ticker in a flash of light. “Ticker, use Shockwave!”

“Blim!” The cloud on Ticker’s head got darker and darker, and he began to rub his arms together, sending static electricity to it in preparation for his attack. Before either Galaxy Gang members could get up, he unleashed the sure-fire attack upon the, taking out the Pokemon and their masters all in one shot. Yuki had to cover her eyes from the bright flash of electricity, ending volts of energy through their bodies and numbing them terribly so they wouldn’t be able to attack any further.

“Smells like a barbeque out here now,” she commented, lowering her hands as Ticker’s attack finished its work. Both gang members’ hair was standing up on end and there were various burn marks on their face and uniforms. Both of their Pokemon were out cold and down for the count. “Looks like I win again.” Yuki stepped forward and picked up the two Pokeballs belonging to Lex and Luna, returning their defeated Pokemon to them and placing them in her pocket.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Luna growled, shivering a bit from the traces of electricity still running through her body. “Those belong to us, you little cheating rat!” Yuki couldn’t help but grin before she gave her her answer.

“Steal Pokemon for profit. Exploit Pokemon for profit.”

“All Pokemon exist for the glory of Team Rocket,” Lex finished, not wanting to hear it. Luna glared at him, making a mental note to hurt him terribly once she could move again.

“Sounds like you’re beginning to catch on,” she laughed at the two, returning Ticker and Yurei to their Pokeballs and also pocketing them. She walked over to where the net had fallen, hoping to be able to catch a third Pokemon or something else equally valuable. To her disappointment, the net was empty. Whatever it had been Lex had dropped had escaped. “Eh…oh well. Two down--ninety-nine to go.”

“You’re going to be sorry when the boss hears about this,” Luna promised, trying to move, but her numbed muscles wouldn’t let her. Skully picked Yuki up and let her sit on his left shoulder, both of them glaring at the fallen gang members.

“Trust me, if your boss is anything like mine, he won’t care,” she insisted. “I’d be more worried about finding replacements for your weak Pokemon and thinking of a very good excuse to give to your boss over why a lone member of the Rocket Gang wiped the floor with you both. You two have horrible coordination skills! I could have beaten you when I was still a rookie! See you, fallen stars.” Skully grunted at the two and turned away, carrying Yuki off.

“Hold on a second. Why did you use Mean Look? The effects weren’t even needed!” Luna called, a little annoyed that Yuki had wasted an attack and still managed to defeat them.

“I just wanted to make sure you weren’t going to run off like the weaklings you are when you realized I had an advantage,” she mocked. “Nice to know that even with extra precautions, I can destroy you. See ya!” Skully resisted the urge to laugh as he carried his partner off, both of them soon vanishing in the night. The two Galaxy Gang members were left alone in pure silence for several minutes. Not even the wild Pokemon would return to the area to make noise.

“When I can move again, I’m going to kill you,” Luna threatened. “Not only did we lose to that moron, but you lost that baby Darkrai!”

“I didn’t mean to!” Lex whined, flinching just a little. He could see the net at the corner of his eye. It was still tied tightly, and there didn’t appear to be any holes in the threadwork. He wanted to tell Luna it somehow escaped through the shadows, but kept his mouth shut, feeling she was furious enough at the moment.

 

[Yuki of Team Rocket]

Chapter 5: The Plan

“And our final participant for the Master’s Contest is a talented young Trainer from Lavender Town in the far off region of Kanto. She’s renown for her coordination skills and impressive team, not to mention she’s a snazzy dresser. But don’t take my word for it, meet her yourself. Introducing the famous, Yuki!”

With a subtle smirk, Yuki took her cue and stepped out from the curtains, enjoying the loud applause and whistling from the audience. She had time before the contest to have a beautiful outfit made for her, resembling the flowing figure of a Mismagius, complete with the hat, and in place of the rubies around her waist line were Pokeballs, containg her star Pokemon, ready for action. Just as the audience was quieting down, she spun on the stage to show off her outfit and pick out two Pokeballs with a swift, subtle movement.

As she reached center stage, she tossed them into the air, letting them open with their seals giving off the effect of mysterious black clouds, followed by a silver, glitter-like shimmer. The smoke faded, unveiling Skully and Yurei, whom gracefully descended in a waltz-like movement with one another. The audience looked on in awe, having never seen such well trained Ghost Pokemon perform so peacefully. Their entire outlook of the Ghost type seemed to change in that very instant. All opinions the audience and even the judges had over the cute Pokemon before were nothing compared to how they felt now.

The two were soon at level with their master and bowed to the audience as their introduction ended, enjoying the sound of applause and whistling just as much as Yuki was. Even she was impressed with how well the performance held without poor Yurei fainted from the sight of so many people.

‘If this keeps up, I’ll have another beautiful Gold Ribbon to add to my collection,’ she promised herself, summoning the two back and giving her own quick bow before casually walking to her spot on the left side of the stage, ready for the battle portion of the coordination contest. ‘Even if my opponent is a pathetic Eevee or Skitty, I have this whole thing in the bag. Nothing can beat my Ice Punch-Psywave combo!’

She smirked proudly to herself as her opponent approached from the shadows, though she couldn’t yet see his face. It was a bit unusual for her to confront male coordinators, though they seemed to be becoming more and more common the further into Sinnoh she journeyed. However, most of the male coordinators she’d seen were rather on the skinny and wimpy side. Her opponent looked fairly well built and even intimidating, though she could only see parts of his face at the moment.

“Alright everyone, we’ve seen everyone’s introduction and their Pokemon of choice, now it’s time to see them in battle! Good luck to Yuki of Lavender Town, and her opponent, Giovanni of Viridian City!”

“Gi…Giovanni?” Yuki squeaked, her skin going pale as the man took one last step forward, allowing the stage lights to illuminate his entire figure for Yuki and the audience to see. For some reason, no one felt his presence was out of place, except from the now terrified Rocket Grunt. Giovanni had been well known as a very powerful Gym Leader in Viridian, and had vanished from his position as Gym Leader many years ago to keep his identity of Leader of the Rocket Gang a secret, and to keep a better eye on his subordinates. It didn’t seem in his character to suddenly come out from the safety of Headquarters to participate in a Coordination Contest Yuki just happened to be in.

“Boss…I don’t understand…what are you doing here?” She called, nervously gripping Skully’s Pokeball.

“I should be asking you the same thing. Shouldn’t you be doing your job right about now?” he asked back, holding a very cold grin. His voice sounded off--almost demonic. “I pay you to do a very simple task, and here you are, wasting my time at a Pokemon Contest. A freshly recruited grunt could have done your job twice over in the time you’ve spent here.”

“Please be reasonable Boss! I get plenty done! I do more than the average Grunt can do!” Yuki argued back, almost forgetting she was in the middle of a Pokemon Contest. “I’ve handed over bags and bags of Pokemon freshly picked off of naïve trainers on several occasions and you’ve never praised me once for it! You always tell me to do better! Now I can’t even have some time for myself?”

“I don’t pay you to participate in these contests, now, do I?” he asked. “You put the entire organization to shame and are a horrible example of a proper member.” He pulled out a poke ball from his pocket, reminding Yuki where she was, and tossed it towards center stage. In a flash of light, Yuki found herself in front of a very large and angry looking Rhyperior! She had never seen any of the Boss’ Pokemon before, but she knew enough that he specialized in Ground Pokemon. She still held Skully’s Pokeball, trembling before the towering Drill Pokemon. It seemed a lot larger than she had read about, even casting a shadow over her.

The piercing look in the giant Pokemon’s eyes was enough to freeze Yuki in fear. If this were anyone else’s Rhyperior, she wouldn’t have felt the least bit threatened. A Rhyperior--no--any Pokemon trained under Giovanni’s power was a dire threat to her. He could send an Eevee out and still be in pure terror, not knowing how her Boss may have altered it or heavily trained it.

‘This…this can’t be happening,’ she thought, holding out Skully’s ball. ‘I must be hallucinating. I can’t possibly be facing off against the Boss. Can I? Why would he even be here? How did he even know I was here?’ She clicked the button on Skully’s ball to release her most powerful Pokemon and most trusted partner. In a blast of smoke and rain of glitter, he emerged--but not as the Dusknoir Yuki had poured so much blood, sweat, and tears into training. Skully had somehow been de-evolved into the shy and scared Duskull she had first met him as.

Giovanni laughed cruelly at Yuki’s predicament, making her feel miserable on top of being embarrassed and confused. As far as she knew, not even the Rocket Gang had the power to de-evolve a Pokemon.

‘What’s going on here? This is all going wrong,’ she cried, feeling a little dizzy as the stage lights appeared to grow hotter and brighter. Skully tried to hide his face behind his torn cloth-like arms, hovering backwards as Giovanni’s Rhyperior glared at him, making him feel inferior to the towering beast. Giovanni’s laughter was soon joined by laughter from the audience and the judges, some of them sounding rather familiar to the ghost trainer. She looked around, trying to identify the familiar faces matching the voices. Within the audience were all the Rocket Gang members she’d ever met, and some she was sure were freshly recruited.

They all laughed at her with a cold look in her eye, making her feel worse and worse by the second with the increased laughter. Skully couldn’t even take it anymore, retreating into his Pokeball, unable to protect his master from such humiliation. She sank to her knees, her head feeling as though it were spinning a million miles an hour. She looked up again, seeing her peers again, though in Admin-class uniforms rather than the Grunt-wear she had last seen them in.

‘Everyone…everyone has been promoted? Everyone…except me?’ she asked herself, having to hold her head and cover her ears in a futile attempt to stop the sound. The Judge’s Panel even had the most powerful Executives of the Rocket Gang glaring at her, taking notes, most likely on how weak they saw her. Yuki felt sick to her stomach, not sure how much more she could handle. The Boss belittled her for wasting time She felt weak for sending a Duskull against his Rhyperior She felt insignificant compared to the same peers she had entered the cooperation with many years ago. She felt lower than a Wurmple under a rock in front of the entire gang.

“Enough! If your Pokemon won’t fight, then I suppose you’ll be a suitable substitute,” Giovanni called, silencing the hall instantly with his words. Yuki looked up at him as though he were a madman. Naturally, no human could ever match the strength of any member of the Rhyhorn family. Going up against a Rhyperior was pure suicide. She had no say in the matter, however, as the mighty Drill Pokemon charged her way, raising one of his mighty arms to begin the battle. She could do nothing but sit there and scream in horror.







Yuki screamed loudly and flailed all her limbs, crying out for Giovanni to halt the attack and for someone to help her. She felt her end was approaching fast.

“NOIR!”

“MAAGII!”

“BLIIM!”

Her eyes flew open and she gasped for air, feeling practically soaked in her own cold sweat. She faced the orange and pink colors of the morning sky overhead and could feel the cold ground below her. She even gripped the patch of grass below both her palms and pulled it out by the roots, just to make sure it was real. All three of her Pokemon soon came into view, looming over her, each carrying a worried look upon their faces. Yurei looked the absolute most terrified, as she had been the first to witness Yuki’s ‘temporary insanity’. It took her several minutes before she truly came around and realized what happened.

“A nightmare…it was just a horrible nightmare,” she gasped, closing her eyes and giving a heavy sigh of relief. She used part of her scarf to wipe the sweat off her brow and spent just a few more minutes laying down to let reality settle in. She wasn’t at a Pokemon Contest, Giovanni, her peers and superiors weren’t there to belittle her, and Skully was there, in his proud and powerful Dusknoir evolution.

“Noir?” he ventured, offering his hand to his master, still worried for her condition. She accepted his gesture and got to her feet with his help. She wasn’t even sure when exactly she’d fallen asleep, but apparently it had been not long after she and Yurei left the forest, seeing she was in the middle of the dirt road and the dense forest was far behind them. She looked at her Pokemon again, whom looked back at her with still worried expressions.

“Heh…I’m fine. It was just a really bad nightmare,” she promised, smiling at them reassuringly. “It was probably caused by stress. I’ll be okay now that I’m awake.” Her Pokemon seemed a little worried just the same, but trusted her word for it. She still needed a few minutes to recover, the nightmare still fresh on her mind. She was actually worried the nightmare may have been more than just stress-related.

‘Better keep a low profile the next time I even think about participating in a Pokemon Contest,’ she instructed herself. ‘Probably a good idea to make an alternate identity for myself later…much later…the heist has to come first…alter ego later…just gotta keep calm for now.’

“Dusknoir?” Skully ventured again, resting his hand on her shoulder.

“I’m fine, okay?,” she cried out, shoving his hand off her, “I’m a badass ghost trainer! It’ll take a lot more than some stupid nightmare to spook me! We have a job to do, remember? There’s no time to waste because I had a bad dream.” Whether the three liked it or not, they had to take their master’s word for it for now. They knew just as well as she did how important their current job was.

Once she felt she was awake enough to walk without collapsing from the aftermath of the nightmare, Yuki set forth, already formulating a plan to make the heist absolutely flawless. The only variable that normally would set her off would be the Murkrow from before.

“Alright…the people in the next town aren’t used to seeing Ghost Pokemon,” she began, grabbing their attention, “I have a feeling you three can cause plenty of havoc to keep them off my tail just long enough for me to clean the Pokemon center. It might not be enough though. Skully and Yurei, you’ll be going through the town causing as much trouble as possible. Scare the living daylights out of as many people as possible. Skully, I want you to use your Shadow Sneak to steal Pokeballs from the belts of the freaked out trainers and hide them in your torso. DO NOT SWALLOW THEM!”

Skully flinched at that order and began complaining right away. Only once before had he ended up swallowing stolen Pokemon, and not even he knew what happened to them. They could have ended up in another dimension, another part of the world, or he could have very well eaten the Pokemon. There were just some parts of Pokemon anatomy not even the Pokemon themselves know enough about.

“Just don’t let it happen again,” Yuki concluded, ending the argument with him. “Ticker will be with me at the Pokemon center. If you two cause enough commotion, everyone will leave the building, including the nurses. Ticker, you use your Shock Wave to destroy the cameras in the room before we do anything else. If there’s a transfer machine in the Pokemon Center, it’ll make our work a lot easier. In the event of the machine being there, you will raid the storage room, while I hack the machine to send as many of the Pokeballs as possible to headquarters without the authorities able to trace it. Once that’s done, you can go and find Skully and trade places with him so we can finish the job.”

“If we’re lucky, and that’s a really big ‘if’, the heist will go smoothly, the Boss will get everything on time, and he’ll stop bothering me for a while. If it doesn’t go well…I have a feeling I’ll be doing ten to twenty behind bars if I get caught,” she said, combing her fingers through her hair, missing the presence of her headpiece already. “We have to be careful though. I can’t afford to lose my job and I can’t afford to be put in the slammer. I don’t even know what will happen to you three if I’m imprisoned.”

Yurei, Ticker, and Skully all looked at one another and nodded, agreeing in unison to accompany their master every step of the way. They made a silent vow to keep her plans from failing, even if their feathered pest were to show up at the worse possible moment.

“Lastly…the means of escape,” Yuki called, pausing at a signpost and turning towards them. “I don’t think there’s going to be enough wind tonight to escape by normal means.” Ticker blushed a bit, feeling bad for having to use the very forces of nature as a crutch. “Once every last Pokeball has been sent to the Boss and I eliminate the connection, Skully will hide me in the shadows and very slowly make his way back to this point. Yurei and Ticker, keep your senses sharp so you don’t cause trouble for too long and miss us entirely when we leave. Once you know we’re leaving, make your own little grand exit as well. Think of it as practice for a contest.”

“Once we’re all out here, Skully will let me go from the shadows and we’ll run back into the forest to hang low for a few days. I’ll think of what to do after that. Maybe if the wind picks up, Ticker can carry me off to another town or village so I can give a call to the Boss to get an evaluation on our work. You all think you can commit to this plan?” All three Pokemon nodded, holding determined expressions and giving off powerful ghostly auras. Yuki smiled proudly at them, happy to have such a competent trio in a dire time of need.

“Alright…Skully, Yurei, you two stay out here for now. Once the sun starts going down, make your way to the town straight ahead,” she instructed, “Ticker and I will go forth for now and investigate the weaknesses of the Pokemon center and battle anyone we can so their Pokemon will end up in the storage tonight. Anyone with something either valuable or weak will be perfect for the heist. I need as many as possible.”

With one final nod, the two Pokemon hovered off to find some decent shade to hide in until the evening, even discussing their own plans on how to play their roles in the upcoming heist. Ticker obediently returned to his own Pokeball, and Yuki turned once more and headed for the town. Her heart was beating rapidly in her chest. The plan had come out of nowhere and sounded absolutely flawless, but there was still a part of her that dreaded the possibility of total failure. If the heist went horribly, she would lose her job. If it went well, but she’d get caught, her career would be over. Being caught scared her the most, knowing that there was no one in the world who would ever bail her out. No one in the Rocket Gang was ever bailed out. It was what made working in the gang so risky for those who weren’t careful. Yuki was plenty careful. Fate, on the other hand, was just never on her side.

“Let’s just hope fate and luck are both on my side tonight. I’m going to need everything and more to get this done right,” she sighed, using her scarf to wipe the sweat off her brow again as the town became visible ahead, ready and waiting for her and her plans.

Sorry it took me so long to post here. I actually forgot about this place (shame on me).
The Beast who has been making me spend weeks upon weeks per chapter seems to have vanished from Serebii, where I originally started posting this. Because she is gone, I will be able to slowly turn this fic towards the humorous feel I originally wanted for it, rather than it being all serious all the time. Yay!

 

[woops]

YUSH. REMEMBERANCE.
I was waiting for this to come back...
And waiting...
And Waiting...
You get the idea.

 

[Yuki of Team Rocket]

I'm very sorry it took me so long to post here again. I am trying to be better about getting the chapters finished a little faster, without reducing the quality in the process. I hope to have the next chapter finished and uploaded by the end of the month.