TEEN: - Ongoing Silver (R)

[Evil Raichu]

Writer's Notes: This is a Team Rocket fanfiction. NOT Jessie and James, mind you, but the other, lesser known Rockets that have only been seen once or twice in the anime. The fic is centered around an original character of mine, but many Rockets from the anime will make an appearance or play key roles in the story. Usually my work is short, and rarely do I ever publicize it, especially when it isn't finished. But...I really like this one.

THIS FIC IS RATED R. It isn't too bad right now, but I know how I am and there will probably strong language and adult themes later on.

Any comments, praises, and/or criticisms are welcome and encouraged. If you don't like something, tell me. PLEASE help me become a better writer. Also, if you do like it, please don't hesitate to tell me so. Positive feedback really inspires me to write. And now, on with the show. ^_^

Silver: PART 1

She knew that she was overreacting. Still, she had to satisfy her extreme paranoia. A female Rocket could never be too careful. Unisex bathrooms, locker rooms, and more were becoming a common thing nowadays. With the male population of Rocket members greatly outweighing the female population, Giovanni was no longer wasting time or money on gender specific facilities within the main base.

It was a dangerous move, she thought, but what did he care about the occasional rape within a band of criminals? Money made the world go round.

Just the thought of one of her male counterparts in the same shower she herself would later use, the expression of pure self-gratification betrayed on his features almost comical, was enough to make Ria shudder.

The pregnancy test came up negative.

With a sigh of relief she threw it away and washed her hands, all of a sudden feeling very silly. She had never even participated in sexual intercourse.

Thus was the weekly ritual of Rianne Daliney.

Ria splashed cold water on her face and studied her reflection. She was going to be late for her mission briefing, and somehow this didn't bother her in the least. It wasn't that she didn't like her job...she had nothing against her fellow teammates, though at first they had seemed wary of her, nor did she dislike the professor. In fact they were all fairly pleasant to work with, the latter in an especially eerie sort of way, given that she did everything asked of her immediately and without personality in an almost robotic fashion.

Her recent promotion was everything she or any other agent could have dreamed of. Achieving what had been her father's last rank was all she'd thought about for a while. The fact was, however, now that Ria had a taste of what it was like, she had decided things might be better for her if she were demoted to her previous rank.

It wouldn't be hard. Only two people need be agitated; said professor and Giovanni himself. This far up the ladder, the Boss would occasionally monitor individual progress, and if the growth was not sufficient, she would surely be knocked down a rung or two. Glancing at her watch, she realized that she would arrive about ten minutes late, conveniently not so much as to seem intentional, but just enough to get on a certain someone's nerves. She glanced around the restroom to make sure there were no remaining traces of her home pregnancy test, and left. How lucky was she to have found total privacy in a public restroom. In the back of her mind there appeared for just a second the possibility of cameras in there...

A salute from a passing grunt distracted her from another bought of anxiety. He hadn't seemed particularly interested in saluting, but it was her uniform that demanded so. It was required to salute any uniformed officer of a higher rank than yourself in passing. That was a rule, which had been around since before Giovanni had taken office.

She wore her father's uniform. He was a small, lithe man, and rather than his daughter, Ria could have passed as his female twin. They were almost identical in size and stature. She mirrored his facial features, had the same deep green eyes and reddish brown hair. Upon her promotion to his last rank upon death, she had been gifted with her father's uniform. It had been her immediate decision to wear it; the average Team Rocket agent had few material possessions, and this was all she had to remember him by. Although it was Bashou who really was the leader, the uniform Ria wore was the one that depicted the blue trim to signify a division captain. It was unspoken between them that he was the experienced leader and she was the newbie, and there had never been a problem otherwise.

She arrived at what most agents referred to as the Rhododendron Room, named such for the tacky fauna in the corner and artwork depicting it's likeness on two of the walls. The meeting had already been in progress, but came to a halt just long enough for Professor Sebastian to shoot her a rather nasty look. She seated herself on the arm of the couch nearest Buson, without so much as an explanation or even an apology in regards to her tardiness. It wasn't her lateness, but the fact that she seemed almost satisfied with herself because of it that sent a pang of irritation up his spine. He never lost his famously cool and collected air, however, and continued on as if it had never been an issue in the first place.
*~~R~~*

 

[Evil Raichu]

Silver: PART 2

As the professor proceeded to beat around the bush, her attention drifted to her fellow squad-mates. Bashou sat with an expression of interest, but not quite as much as Tyson, who followed the professor with his eyes and sat rigid as a board. In truth, sometimes his military obedience made her sick. Buson remained casually indifferent, and she assumed that he knew Bashou would pay attention and fill him in later.

" To get to the point," Sebastian finally relented with the elaborate introductory speech filled with words from his large vocabulary and intellectual jokes that none of the agents really cared for. " I've received sufficient funding from Giovanni for my next project, and I would like for you all to assist with the field testing."

Of course his polite request was a mere courtesy. In reality, they hadn't a choice to accept the assignment or not. It was their job to ensure the success of Team Rocket's larger scale operations. Being the head of the research department, in addition to a nice corner office and a six-digit salary, Professor Sebastian was also entitled to the privilege to request whatever agents he felt were needed to assist at the time being, and was given priority over many other assignments they might have already been given.

His being on personal terms with Giovanni didn't hurt, either.

" Are all four of us really necessary, sir?" Tyson was the first to vocalize the concerns of the group entire. It was their entire division, after all, that the professor was commissioning. The Silver Squad had always been a relatively small, exclusive group. There had been more than four, but never more than seven members at once in the past.

Sebastian's ever-present smirk remained unwavering as he stared at Tyson down the bridge of his nose.

" It has been my personal experience that the few of my experiments which have failed met their demise due to insufficient security. If I double up on the better agents, I believe my success is assured. I will tell you that you will very soon accompany me to another region, one not familiar to you, but the exact date and time of departure will be e-mailed at a later time. The details of what exactly this assignment entails will be revealed to you upon arrival. I thank you for your cooperation in this matter. You're dismissed."

It was actually policy now that the agents did not receive a detailed briefing until the very last minute. Unfortunately in the past, a few agents had let important information slip, by accident of course, whether they had been inebriated, under extreme emotional stress, or whatever other circumstances might come up.

This, however, was a risk that Professor Sebastian was no longer willing to take.

As he was leaving, he made a point to walk directly beside Ria, stopping just long enough to mention his displeasure.

" You should make an effort not to be late for the actual mission, alright?"

It was more of a statement than a question, and had she cared to respond he wouldn't have given her the opportunity, anyways.

" Did you forget, Rianne?" Bashou approached her before the professor had even made it out the door.

" Yes." she lied. She offered not the details of her absent-mindedness, only the fact that she had forgotten the meeting. That was it; she had simply not put forth any conscious effort to remember where she was supposed to be.

He didn't believe her. It was almost as if she had grabbed his suggestion right out of the air and disguised it as an answer to his question. An experienced liar himself, Bashou could often call them when he saw them.

For some reason, though, this time he chose not to call her out on it.

" Well," he opted to level with her instead, " if you know what's good for you, you'll find Sebastian and butter him up a little bit. He isn't the kind of person to exactly let you know when you're in his bad graces, and it's best not to incite his wrath. It could cost you your rank."

She nodded at the plausibility of his remark. Sebastian did seem like the kind of fellow who might actually enjoy putting in the word to Giovanni suggesting he fire the unsuspecting hard-worker. That may actually end up working to her benefit. She quickly remembered who she was talking to, however, and gave a quick, obligatory bow.

" You give good advice, Bashou."

She hoped he couldn't tell that she had no intention of following it.

" We're going to train later this afternoon." he changed the subject. When she only gave another nod, he ventured, " ...that was an invitation."

Ria raised her eyebrows at this. She had never been invited to train with him, or the other two for that matter, and the sudden proposal had caught her off guard. Part of her surprise was due to the fact that Bashou knew very well what kind of pokemon she yielded, and there was no way he couldn't realize that he would be at a clear disadvantage. Perhaps he had forgotten?

" Bashou...you know I train fire-type pokemon." she seemed almost stupefied, to his amusement.

" Steelix knows some ground-type moves. If you think it would be an easily won battle, then you are poorly mistaken."

" Um...alright." she frowned. His tone was saturated with confidence.

" If you come," he continued, " at least Tyson might stand a fair chance. He would never admit it to you, but his Fearow fare quite badly against Buson's and my steel-types. I expect you to be there. Don't disappoint me."

Ria nodded, and Bashou collected his partner outside the door before departing. Tyson followed suit, giving Ria a short nod of acknowledgement only when she glanced up at him. It was almost as if he never knew what to say on a social level.

Really, it wasn't only Ria that Tyson unintentionally confused. For reasons only known to him, Tyson rarely ever publicized his personal thoughts and thus remained somewhat of an enigma to many.

Now alone in the room, Ria had no reason to linger about. Especially when she felt it again, a violent tingle that ran up her back, that feeling not exactly of being watched, but of having no secrets. She focused her attention on the plant in the corner, the only object around available to her inspection, only to realize after pulling the leaves about and studying the area that the innocent plant indeed had nothing to hide. ??There was a sadness about Ria as she finally did make her exit. If anyone were to ever witness her impulsive behavior, they would surely think her a fool.
*~~R~~*

 

[Evil Raichu]

Silver: PART 3

If Bashou had never been right about anything else, he was correct in saying that his Steelix would not be easily defeated. Ria had ordered Ninetales through an assault of Fire Spin and Flamethrower only being moderately successful. A battle that should have been over in five minutes had been dragged out to nearly half an hour now. Unfortunately, Ria had not counted on the fact that Steelix knew Dig and a selection of other highly effective ground-type moves.

Ninetales had nearly had enough.

Buson watched the fight through the ever-present sunshades he had seemingly grown so attached to. What most people were not aware of was that they were prescription. His eyes had always been bad, and for some reason explained to him by doctors but unimportant to Buson, he was extremely sensitive to light. The glasses were so much more than an accessory to pump up his image...though they didn't hurt that, either.

" I'm not fighting her." he leaned over to half-jokingly confide in Tyson, who had just barely lost his sparring match with Rianne.

" Bashou's doing well."

" Well Skarmory doesn't know Earthquake."

" So you admit that she has more skill than we originally gave her credit for?" Tyson's discreet smirk went unnoticed by Buson, who continued to watch the battle. He continued to stare at the agile yet unsuccessful Ninetales intently before cracking a smile.

" Bashou calls it unrefined talent. I have to side with him."

Tyson shot him a sideways glance before returning his focus to the battle. It was no surprise that the blonde had once again adopted his partner's thoughts as his own. He was a reasonably intelligent man, Tyson thought, but he hadn't yet realized his own potential.

" She's too young to call what she has skill." Buson continued, and Tyson again silently disagreed with him. He had guessed her age at twenty or twenty-one. Buson had no room to talk, and neither did Bashou, for that matter. They were only twenty-six and twenty-seven, respectively.

Tyson held seniority at twenty-nine. Except for the professor, of course, if he even counted.

" I forfeit, Bashou!" Ria's surrender broke his concentration. Steelix had been in mid-attack, however, and an Iron Tail delivered at about half-force sent Ninetales flying a few feet back. She approached it and recalled it to the pokeball immediately. It would need to be healed later.

Bashou's expression betrayed disappointment. He really couldn't stand to win by forfeit, as it didn't feel as glorious as an actual victory. He didn't push for anything more, though, as it was obvious Ninetales really had had too much, and there was no way he could hope for an easy match against Raichu.

It was just too old.

Twice already in the short time he had known her, Ria had simply refused to send Raichu out to fight....and he couldn't blame her, really. Just looking at it, he couldn't bet that it would be around this time next year.

Had he not known Raichu in its days of vim and vigor when Ria's father would command a powerful Thunder attack that could wipe out numerous enemies at once, he would have suggested that she send it to the labs to be euthanized long ago.

In another truly rare occasion, the four of them wound up in the cafeteria. The quality of the food was really less than satisfying, but the location was so convenient and the food was free. All they had to do was swipe their ID cards.

" You get what you pay for." Buson had commented after just the first bite of the supposed meat.

Eating at headquarters was also much safer. Even when an agent donned civilian clothes and went into town, there was always the risk of being recognized by anyone, even Officer Jenny herself.

The conversation at the table was less than enthralling. Buson, being the only extrovert, made most of the attempts at conversation while secretly fuming at Bashou for bringing the others along. Two was company enough.

The most interesting notion that came from the seemingly nervous Ria was to please pass the salt. Tyson kept mostly to himself, though he would agree with Buson in a quite jovial manner on some things throughout the course of dinner.

Bashou and Buson had realized long ago that the key to a working partnership was to establish a considerable personal bond between all parties involved. Buson assumed that his partner's motives were, in the end, selfish. If the entire Silver Squad worked as well together as the two of them, then success would follow and surely a promotion was in order.

" I have to get going." Tyson declared shortly after he had finished his meal. " I'll see you at Phase 2 of the mission briefing."

" I suppose we should all head out." Bashou nodded. " If I know Sebastian, he's already sent the e-mail."

He glanced at his partner to signal that they should also be on their way, and Buson greedily shoved the last half of his watery, tasteless Jell-O into his mouth.

" Lesh go."

" See you later." Bashou ignored the gluttonous Buson and bid her farewell. Tyson nodded his acknowledgement and followed them out.

She had barely cut into her meat when a rather boisterous voice nearly scared her out of her chair.
*~~R~~*

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Very interesting so far. Although what's with the random question marks?

Anyway, good job!

 

[Evil Raichu]

The random question marks were a mistake. To be honest with you, I don't even know how they got there. ;; But I'll take care of them.

I'm glad you like it!